Hurt And Comfort - Blog Posts

Everything will be okay

A little self indulgent BMFM dabble I wrote to comfort myself after a really, really bad day. Fluff, Modo x OC

Modo knew something was wrong the moment he walked into the room. Roxanne’s head was lowered, her shoulders slumped. She tried to give him a smile when she noticed him, but it faltered almost immediately and she turned away as if to try and hide her sad expression. His heart went out to her and he quickly followed, crossing the room to her in a moment.

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Day 2: Keep Me Close (Cockwarming)

Kinktober 2022 Masterlist

Set between the First and Second Season of The Mandalorian

Pairing: Din Djarin x GN!Reader

Summary: When guilt strikes, the reader takes it upon herself to remind Din that there will always be ways to enjoy one another's presence even after a long and tiring day.

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: established relationship, unprotected sex, fluff and smut paired with hurt and comfort

Word Count: 1501

You knew when you had signed up to be a scout, life would become immensely difficult. It took a certain soul to chart the stars for new hyperspace routes, explore unknown planetary regions, and navigate virgin patches of new worlds that many have seen but few have ever touched whether out of fear for Wild Space or respect for what may or may not be out there. 

You knew when you had agreed to follow the Mandalorian and his green ward into the Unknown Regions on their own journey that life would become complicated. The toughness of your job translated over to his well enough to where any violence rarely caught you off guard, and your knowledge and skills paired with the warrior’s upbringing were a complimentary mess of blaster residue and star drafts.

You weren’t sure when it had started or how, but the feelings you didn't even know you had for The Mandalorian metamorphosed into something deeper somewhere between the cantina fights and never-ending nights on undocumented planets. Somewhere along the way, the stars you were hired to chart had found their way into the reflection of the warrior's armor. And somewhere along the way, caught up in staring at the blinking lights twinkling in beskar, you had looked up to find the visor in which the universe the stars belonged to stared back. 

Gentle touches, lingering stares, and hushed voices deep into the night on backwater planets and in the hull of The Crest filled your heart with a love you thought had been reserved only for your family and work. Your first time together had been a heated moment where clothes were shifted enough to get the job done, but later the warrior treated you to hours of the most tender sex under a bright moon while the child slept safely aboard the ship. 

You knew your relationship with the Mandalorian was going to be complicated, but you hadn’t predicted how immensely difficult it would be to keep up between being full-time parents to Grogu, picking up jobs to feed the three of you, and balancing two different careers despite living aboard the same ship. 

The tender moments you had at the budding of your relationship were still there, but spaced out due to bad timing and exhaustion. When you had a moment to yourselves, it was almost overwhelming trying to decide how to spend that moment. Do you get lost in each others' bodies? Nap? Spend time together alone that didn’t involve dirty cantinas or shootouts or patching up wounds? 

Regardless, exhaustion always won out and you’d sleep long and deep knowing the world was on pause. Even if it was for just for a few hours. But you missed Din. And you could feel the same ache he had with you, but tailored with guilt and remorse for breaking unspoken promises and expectations. The weight of the galaxy sat on his broad shoulders, and any verbal attempt to reassure him fell on distracted ears. 

The bounty Din was currently hunting was supposed to take two, maybe three days tops. But when nearly two weeks rolled by, stretched thin like your worry for the man, you couldn’t help but fear the worst. It was in those moments that doubt and guilt weighed down on your own shoulders, wondering if your relationship demanded too much of him when life already demanded enough as is.

You were on your feet the moment the ramp hissed and lowered itself, the relieved sigh you let out taken back when you witnessed just how exhausted your warrior was. His stride was slow as if he were wading through thick mud and not up the flat incline to his ship. His shoulders were somehow both lifted in stress and drooping with fatigue, and he had very little care for the unconscious body he dragged behind him. 

You didn’t miss the way his body wavered after throwing the quarry into the carbonite chamber, or the sway in his steps as he made his way over to Grogu’s pram and gently stroked his sleeping son’s ear before turning to you. You didn't miss how his head nearly dropped as he lowered his helmet to your forehead in a keldabe kiss, or the weakness in his grip as his hands rested on your hips. 

You could feel the fatigue, the frustration, the guilt, and the shame rolling off of him in waves; in the weakened way his hands tightened on your hips and how he’s stubbornly ignoring his body to try to show you an ounce of the affection he had for you. Your heart ached for this man.

You gently pried his hands off of your hips and led him to his bunk, guiding him to sit. Din lifts his hands as if to find your hips again but you gently swat them away, opting to take off his armor piece by piece instead. You ignored the way Din stared, and you refused to answer the unspoken question that weighed heavily in the air. You took each piece of beskar off as if it were your own, showing the metal the respect it both deserved and earned for keeping Din alive all these years.  

When the armor was off, sans helmet, you kneeled in front of Din and used your shoulders to spread his legs open. Your hand found his crotch and you gently rubbed at it through his flight suit, the other hand untying the laces of his boots and sliding them off, not once allowing your eyes to stray from his helmet. When he was hard under your hand and his boots and socks were off, you stood, ignoring the way your knees popped. 

You reached out to Din just as he had and found the hidden zippers in his suit, peeling off the layers until The Mandalorian before you revealed the man underneath the armor. A strong body of flesh marred with scars and softened with age, a body you knew every inch of intimately. Your eyes grazed over his body and landed on his now hard member, leaking and red and asking for attention. 

With a roll of your shoulders, you slipped off your own clothing with far less grace than you had reserved for Din's armor and reached out to the man once you were as naked as he was. With one knee on the bunk, a shaky hand rested on your belly. You clasped your hand over Din's, rubbing soothing circles into the skin. Despite his state of arousal, you hadn't noticed the way his body curled slightly with insecurity and that same exhaustion that had been plaguing him for far too long. 

"Meshla, I... I'm sorry, I can't, I-... I'm so tired..." Din's helmet tilted away and the way his voice cracked at the end broke your heart. You patted his hand and brushed it aside, the limb sliding down and falling to the bunk with little fight.

"It's okay, Din. I'm not asking that of you. Not tonight. I just want to remind you that you'll always have me and that I just want to be as close to you in any way I can. Okay?"

"Okay," his voice croaked after a pause.

You climbed into the bunk with him, encouraging him further in until his feet were safely in the confines of the sleeping quarters. Once satisfied that his comfort was met, you positioned yourself over his erection and slid down. Din's moan was deep and long, your own fingers splaying on his chest rumbled with the sound deep in his chest. You dragged your fingers down to his stomach right above the base of his cock, then up again in a soothing way that had Din replacing his moan with a longing sigh. A sound you missed dearly.

Ensuring he was tucked deep in your core, you shifted and sprawled yourself over the man like a blanket, burying your face into his chest. Din's arms wrapped around you a moment later and you didn't put up a fight when he rolled the two of you onto your sides, hiking your leg over his hip and burying his helmet into your neck. Once satisfied your comfort was met, Din wrapped his arms tightly around you and squeezed you close to where you weren't sure where you started and he ended. But you wouldn't trade that for the world.

Being a scout was hard, and being the partner of a Mandalorian was difficult, but it was all worth it to be close to the man who had given you a home to return to and a family you had always wanted. You knew one-day things will slow down, that your jobs won't demand as much and Grogu will be returned to his kind. But until then, you're happy to take and give what you can, and enjoy the warm moments of closeness that not even Wild Space or cantina shootouts could ever take away from you. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Ah, yisssss day 2 is complete. I think I can post one or two more in the next 24 hours but I'm slowly catching up. Days may be switched, and to be inclusive these kink prompts will be friendly to readers who are/were AFAB, AMAB, or gender-neutral.

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

welcome to my page!

Hi there! I'm Reny.

I've been writing fanfiction for about 12 years now, and my current favorite rarepair to write about is Vi and Sevika from Arcane (although my wife has been known to draw a JayVik drabble or two from me). A lot of my works are 18+ so please proceed with caution!

My lovely wife is my muse, however unfortunately for them (and you, dear reader) I tend to channel my inspiration into gut wrenching angst that borders on body horror. Whoops.

On this blog, we are trans inclusive (as a trans myself), inherently queer, mental-health positive, and pro ship whoever you like. I love interacting with everyone (a comment always begets a comment), and all I ask is that we keep it kind, friendly, and civil.

Without further ado; my Arcane fanfiction masterlist!

Vi x Sevika

Multichapter Fics:

dying to live - 54.6k words, finished, rated E.

desc: Vi loses her father and her future in the span of a few minutes. She's left to pick up the pieces and fit them back together - but nothing will ever be the same. There's a lost relationship with her estranged sister to navigate, a bar to run, and a mysterious regular who seems intent on helping Vi despite her insistence on doing things alone.

cover me in gasoline - 16.5k words, ongoing, rated E.

desc: Rockstar Vi AU. "If her music was a monster, Vi was its teeth. Vi was its claws, sinking into the meat of the world and ripping so she could feed the starving jaws of Zaun. She found solace in the violence of screeching chords and banging rhythms, felt her heartbeat in the bassline beneath the music. She shook with the rage, with the determination, with the dogged desperation of a town being erased by for sale signs and developers with faceless corporations ripping apart their wildlife and planting cement time bombs at their apex."

Series:

without you is how i disappear - 38.2k words, 4 parts, complete.

part one: these terrors gripping my throat - 5.6k words, rated E.

desc: canon divergent. Vi has some old wounds that never healed. Sevika likes to pick at them. They find a way to start healing them together.

“You good?” Sevika asks, and Vi barks out a laugh.

“Oh yeah. Fucking peachy.” She says through grit teeth, then sucks in smoke harder than was necessary to avoid elaborating.

Sevika leans her shoulder against the wall beside Vi, looking down at her, expression unreadable. There was a bruise forming in the shape of Vi’s knuckles on her jaw. Lucky shot. The only real hit Vi had managed to get in.

“There’s some girls at Babette’s who can’t do penetration either,” Sevika offers, and Vi bristles.

part two: as the blood runs down the wall - 10.3k words, rated E.

desc: Vi and Sevika fall into each other.

“You - You’re letting me move in?” Vi can’t help the shock and disbelief in her tone.

Brown eyes roll and glance into the contents of a half empty coffee mug. “Yes. For now. You pull any stupid shit and I’ll have you on your ass.”

“But why?” It comes out of her mouth before she can have a second to think.

They sit in silence for a moment, Vi clutching her bowl of oatmeal like a lifeline, Sevika considering the depths of her coffee cup.

“I owe your old man a solid.” Sevika says finally.

The disappointment that hits Vi startles her. Ah. She understood - debts had to be paid, and a dead man couldn’t exactly call in favors. But the hunted thing in her, the part of her that never seemed to stop bleeding or weeping or howling, cowers from the words. It was just another reminder that Vi was on her own, at the mercy of others until they cast her aside or died or betrayed her. She picks at her oatmeal and wonders which one Sevika would inevitably choose.

part three: as these days watch over time - 9.4k words, rated E.

desc: Vi breaks. Sevika bends. They find a way forward, together.

“It’s therapy and house arrest, or Stillwater. You pick.”

Vi’s eyes narrow. She pulls one foot onto her seat, wraps her arms around her knee and inspects the dried blood beneath her fingernails. Therapy. Like she was some sad Piltie who didn’t get enough sun. “I don’t need some shrink to tell me what to do.” She mutters.

“Well, the Council says you do, so. Pick one.”

Vi’s knee bounces. She bites at a hangnail, the taste of copper sitting heavy on her tongue. Either way, it was a trap. She’d stay here, haunted by newer ghosts and picking apart wounds, or she’d be sent back to be haunted by old ghosts and inevitably get new wounds. She had no doubt everything she said in a shrink’s office would be fed back to Sevika. To Caitlyn. To whoever asked for it.

Then again, they wrote reports on the prisoners in Stillwater, too. She couldn’t imagine how many eyes had been on hers over the last decade.

“Fine,”

part four: so long and goodnight - 12.8k words. Rated E.

desc: Epilogue.

Healing is a long, arduous journey.

Vi had been on it for a few months now. She’d grown out her hair a little, let it fade back to the vibrant pink of her youth. She picked up weight lifting instead of fighting, keeping herself in good enough shape to fight if need be, but not in the constant adrenaline rush that came with actually beating someone to a pulp in front of a crowd. She’d pierced her other nostril. It was a little crooked, but she liked it that way.

Oneshots:

bleed me to death - 9.9k words, rated E.

desc: Vampire Sevika, religious Vi, and a good amount of yearning. Set in the 1800s!

Vi had heard stories about the house on the hill.

She’d been warned of the depravity that lived within. She’d heard whispers about the guests who went, the weary travelers who stopped and never left, the parties that went for hours and the people who went missing afterwards. But most of all, she’d heard about the woman who owned it.

There were rumors about what she was. A witch, maybe. A woman with the proclivity to sleep with the devil in exchange for worldly possessions. A succubus. A monster. A devil in her own right.

my vow to you - 9k words, rated E.

desc: omegaverse, alpha!sevika and omega!vi, a wedding, and a baby.

Sevika was a little old fashioned, so she insists Vi and her wait until after they were married to share a heat or a rut together.

It was fine. This just gave her more time to make sure she could properly take care of her alpha, or properly make her own heat enjoyable for her soon to be mate.

let me find our future under the stars - 6.1k words, rated T.

desc: omegaverse, alpha!sevika and omega!vi, teen romance, girl next door sevika, age appropriate teen angst.

Vi had always been a vibrantly energetic kid. Her parents had put her into sports early as a kid, just to burn off the energy she came home with every day. She was scrappy, too, and could hold her own in a fight. She inherited her alpha father’s temper, and her omega father’s wit, and both of those combined made a deadly combination. Everyone assumed from the day she was born that when she presented, she’d be an alpha.

That was why, when Vi finally presented (late, at sixteen), she was horrified to discover she was not an alpha. She was, in fact, an omega.

doomsday - 6k words, rated M.

desc: zombie apocolypse au, selective mutism vi, one armed sevika.

Putting a bullet through your father’s head long range was one thing. Putting one through your sister’s, while she begged you not to, while the light died from her eyes, was entirely different. Vi stared her sister in the eye, listened to the snapping of bones in a leg hanging onto her body by the threads of torn muscle, as it tried to reconnect itself and her skin flushed hot with a virus that felt more like a wildfire - and she pulled the trigger.

vagus - 1.4k words, rated M.

desc: there were some days Violet wanted to pry open her chest and break her ribs off one by one. Mental health study.

She’d stack her ribs in a pile, wiping the blood on her fingers off on the bone. After, she’d reach into her bared chest and take out her heart. Untangle the veins and arteries that kept it in place, watch it spout blood uselessly. She’d stick her fingers in the valves she swore were clogged, dig around to pick the muscle clean so maybe it would hurt less when it beat.

Tumblr Prompts:

Vi edges Sevika or vice versa please? - 1.3k words, rated E.

amnesia Vi x potentially guilty Sevika - 623 words, rated G.

Unaware touch starved Sevika x (un)surprisingly observant Vi - 1.1k words, rated T.

Vi/Sevika Sickfic - 1k words, rated G.

How about something like Sevika finding out that Vi has chronic pain (in my head it's canon) and taking care of her? - 1.7k words, rated G.

Jayvik:

(I'll be so honest, you JayVik shippers terrify me. Speaking as someone with a wife who is one!)

not really here, just an intrusion - 7.4k words, rated M, ongoing.

desc: A character study in two acts - season one, and then season two.

“Who authorized your research?” He asks, and Jayce’s annoyance slides over his face before he can hide it.

“It was an independent study.”

Those words alone send a thrill through Viktor. He can’t say he isn’t distracted as he collects Jayce from what had essentially been deemed a crime scene. The possibilities that had opened up to him - if an experiment like this could go unnoticed, what else could be done?

This masterpost is ongoing. As always, drop an ask or a prompt in my inbox <3 happy reading!!

Worth The Risk

Hello everyone! Sorry I’ve been MIA, it’s been a long couple of weeks, and they’re just about to get longer. Pray for me. Here’s the last part of my Children of the Sea series, I hope you like it!

(I may add to this, I’m thinking about opening commissions for Christmas, so if you like this and want more, let me know!)

*

Lance had fucked up. He had royally fucked up.

After he had been rescued by a panicky fisherman neighbor and taken back home, fussed over by his mother and put to bed, he realized just how big of a mistake he had made. In his cold medicine induced haze, he had realized that the siren had talked to him. Okay, so maybe it had been telepathic, but it still counted!

God, and his voice had been lovely. Soft and crooning, curling around the corners of his mind delicately, like he was afraid his words, his presence in his mind, might scare Lance off.

The poor thing had been scared, he realises, for Lance. And after his outburst, because of Lance. And… he had yelled at the creature for things beyond his control. It was likely he was never going to see him again. If anyone had yelled at him for doing his best to help, the Cuban certainly wouldn’t want anything to do with them, not to mention the amount of damage his pride would take.

With a groan, Lance rolls over onto his side, pulling the pillow over his head. He was going to have to fix this, and fast.

*

Keith didn’t go back to the surface, even after the storm had calmed. Shiro had been waiting with baited breath for his little brother to escape the minute the waters had evened out and returned to normal, ready to drag him back by his tailfin if need be. But… it didn’t happen.

In fact, the little siren was more subdued and quiet than he had been since Shiro had taken him in all those years ago. He stuck close to his brother or Pidge’s side, never daring to stray outside of the territory lines. He hardly spoke, hardly ate, hardly took interest in play fighting or teasing his brother. It was worrying. Shiro was very worried.

Keith, he tries one afternoon. Do you want to go to the surface and try to help me find your human? It was his only hope. As much as he hated how happy this human made his brother, he couldn’t bear seeing him like this any longer.

Can we? His little brother gives him a surprised look, his fins flaring with interest. They droop after a little while, his expression falling with them. No, he shakes his head, he doesn’t want to see me. He doesn’t like me.

I’m sure that isn’t true, Shiro offers, but he wasn’t absolutely sure. Keith’s expression told him that this was clear on his own face, his amethyst eyes wide and sad.

It is. Red scales flick nervously, his injured tailfin lagging just a bit more than the others.

And you’re absolutely certain of this? His older brother gives him what he hopes is a reassuring smile. It seems to work; Keith falters, glancing up at the distant surface.

No…

Well, then. Why don’t we go see if it is? Shiro offers him his hand, and after a moment’s hesitation, Keith takes it.

Some small part of him hoped Lance was waiting. But another part was making doubt curl unpleasantly in his belly, reminding him of the harsh words and even harsher look he’d been given.

*

Nobody was there.

Shiro had set him in one of the shallow tide pools just shy of the shore, close enough where Lance would be able to see him and far enough away for Shiro to be able to pull him to safety. His brother was lingering in the shallows, waiting and watching, out of sight.

But… he wasn’t here. Keith waits, and waits, and… waits. He waits until the sun sets and the salt has crusted over his scales, until the tides are coming in and he blames the spray of the foam for the water on his face. He wasn’t crying. He… wouldn’t cry over a human. Not again, anyways.

The little siren was crying, though. It started slow, just a little prick of tears that could’ve been caused by a number of things. But as more time passes and nobody shows up, his mind starts replaying the storm and everything in it. Watching Lance get thrown from the boat. Dragging him through the water to safety, begging and praying to Poseidon that this human would live, that he would spare this one human.

It isn’t long before he’s crying in earnest, pressing his webbed fingers to his face to stifle his quiet sobs, his gills flaring in confusion as he hiccups for breath. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why had he come back? He obviously wasn’t wanted.

He stays there, crying quietly and feeling terribly pathetic. What kind of siren sheds tears over a human, his mind scoffs. Not any proper ones.

Keith doesn’t even notice he’s not alone before someone sloshes the water next to him and gasps a soft, “You came back?”

He jumps with a soft shriek of surprise, recoiling when his human crouches down next to him, his blue eyes wide and lovely and beautiful.

Lance sits there for a moment, stunned and flooded with relief and happiness. “I can’t believe… you came back! It’s really you, isn’t it? I’m so sorry,” He reaches over, cupping Keith’s cheeks, his eyes searching Keith’s own. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have said those things.”

The siren’s wide purple eyes watch him a moment before he sags, nuzzling into Lance’s palm, closing his eyes. You didn’t mean it?

“No, no, of course I didn’t mean it. Oh, baby…” A thumb brushes under Keith’s eye, Lance’s voice cracking. “Were you crying? I’m so sorry…”

The human shuffles into the tide pool, clothes be damned, and scoops the siren into his lap. He whispers apologies in a language Keith doesn’t understand, rocking him and holding him close. It was everything he had hoped for and dreamt about.

His tears dry, his anxious nerves soothes by the soft words from his human, the hand brushing lovingly against his scales, cradling him close like he was something precious. Like something that was meant to be cared for.

He tilts his chin up once he was calmed, looking up at his human, bathed in the soft golden glow of the setting sun. He was breathtaking. Keith reaches up, brushing his fingertips over his cheekbones and smiling faintly when his thick eyelashes flicker, blue irises flicking to amethyst.

The little siren realizes almost immediately that he was in love. Oh, was he in love. Wasn’t that a scary thought? A siren in love with a mortal. He’d been taught all his life that it was a terrible idea to consort with them, that they would take things to keep for themselves. He knew now what they meant by that - but Keith had given his heart to this human.

I don’t know your name, he blinks.

The Cuban laughs. “I don’t know yours, either. I’m Lance.”

Keith, the siren offers shyly.

“Keith,” His human - Lance - repeats, causing a shiver to run up his spine at the slow way it rolled over his tongue. “That’s a beautiful name. It suits you.”

Thank you. He blushes, biting his lip with sharp little teeth, weighing the next words he wanted to say. Can… Would it be okay if… May I kiss you?

Lance blinks, his cheeks heating and turning a shade darker. “I, uh- Yeah! Yes. You may. Please.”

The siren lets out an amused little chirrup, tipping his chin up. Lance smiles, flustered, and leans down, connecting their lips in a soft kiss. It was the best kiss either had ever experienced - and this was only the little siren’s first.

It wasn’t hard to decide that he wanted this human - tides, it wouldn’t be hard for anyone to decide to want this human. But there was an art to keeping one, and Keith had every intention to do just that. So as the sun set and as Lance kissed him until his lips were red and tender and his face matched, Keith was glad for all of this.

Maybe it was silly of them, to fall in love even with how different they were. But once you’re in love, it’s hard to simply walk - or in Keith’s case, swim - out of it. Besides, who would want to give up something as lovely as this?

Yes, Keith thinks to himself, around the third time Lance pulls him back into a devastatingly gentle kiss, remembering all the times he’d been lectured on the dangers of humans and snuck out to see them anyways. This was definitely worth the risk.

Regrets of Loving Her

I sit on my bed, crying for another night. I’m curled up around my giant black bear, Isadora got me for my birthday. It still smelled like her. “My Isadora…” My cries grow in volume, burying my face into the bear’s soft fur. “Vivienne.” I hear a knock at my door and I almost instantaneously change my facial expression and my mood entirely. “Yes?” He opens the door and makes eye contact that I can’t break. “Sir.” I bow my head respectfully. He sits on my bed, making me look at him. “What’s wrong.” I shake my head.

“Nothing.” I cross my arms but I end up holding my stuffed animal tighter. “Let it go and throw it away.” My eyes widen. “No.” My voice is stern and full of venom. “You’re blaming yourself about Isadora’s death.” I look away from him. “Can we not talk about that.” He snaps his fingers twice making me look at him. “We are going to talk about that.” I sigh, sitting up, bringing the stuffed animal with me. “What do you want.” I cast him a hard glare and he just smiles and shrugs.

That’s my father, sly as a fox when he wants to be. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.” He says brushing a thin strand of hair from the way of my face. “Now, what’s wrong?” I sigh, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind my ear. “I regret it…” He looks up, “Regret what, princess.” I glare at him, “Queen.” I roll my eyes, “I regret loving her.” He tilts his head, keeping eye contact. “You shouldn’t regret that, Vivienne.” I throw my hands up, “Well I do! I got her killed!” My father grabs my hands, holding them looking me in the eyes.

“Don’t regret love. Love is powerful even if I hurts.” I tug on his hands. “Sir, I got her killed do you not understand?” He tugs my hands, “Don’t call me Sir when we’re having Father-Daughter time.” I nod, averting my gaze. “Look at me.” I make eye contact with him and he tilts my head up. “It is not your fault, princess. You can’t control everything.” I don’t mean too but I raise my voice a bit. “I got her killed! You said that people like us shouldn’t love. I should have listened…” He runs a hand through my hair.

“I was angry and heartbroken when I said that.” I roll my eyes, “When are you aren’t?” He sighed, “You loved someone and you lost them. I know how that feels but it’s not your fault.” I raise my voice again, this time meaning to. “Yeah, it’s their fault for falling for us. They’re fools for doing so. As you said, it’s not my fault.” I growl under my breath. “I was angry when I said that! What do you not understand?” He started to yell, and I did right back.

“I understand everything! I understand that you are so full of yourself that you can’t take the blame for something I did and won’t let me take the blame for what I did on my own!” I yank my hands from his. Taming the anger on his face, he sighed rising from my bed. “Pull yourself together. We have things to do.” He closes the door before giving me a second to respond. I bury my face in the fluff of the stuffed animal and scream. “Quit that!” I hear my father yell before I hear the slam of another door.

“It’s going to take everything in my being not to come up to him one day in slap him in his face.”