As per usual, this is my obligatory disclaimer, I do not own nor have I ever owned Attack on Titan. And I never will.
So this is another story that I asked the wonderful, XxpurpleskiesXx to take over and finish writing. I believe she's deleted everything except for the first chapter by this point. The story's name is 'Going Nowhere '. As with her other stories, I will be reworking some of the story to my style but since I have the outline of her original story so I'll be incorporating some of her ideas as well as my own. Please be a little patient, updates will be slow, as life takes a front seat and I'm also writing 4 stories at the same time. If there are any warnings I'll add them to the beginning same for any trigger warnings. Oh and the rating may go up because of language and themes but nothing will be graphic. Please review if you feel like it. I apologize for grammar errors, that's not my strong suit. And with that, on with the story. Enjoy!
Italics= character's thoughts
Chapter One: Time stands still
Time seemed to come to a standstill as amber orbs meet honey brown ones. Minutes ticked away slowly and felt like hours as an auburn haired woman blinked and replayed her husband's words in her head over again. She briefly wondered if she was actually awake or if it was some dream she was having. Her mind raced as they processed what he had told her mere seconds ago.
'Did he really just say what he said?'
Silence filled the room for several more minutes as did the tension. Feeling uncomfortable and having addressed what he needed to, he got out of the chair, which made a loud scratching noise against the wood floor of the dining room. He turned around, breaking eye contact with his wife. As he walked away to go to the living room, that's when he heard a whispered, "Why?"
The sound of the chair scratching against the floor was what brought the young woman out of her reverie. She watched her husband as he got up from his place at the table and walked away. She finally found her voice and managed to mutter a bit louder, "Why?"
As hushed as her tone was Jean seemed to have heard her, because he stopped short and turned to face her. She watched as his lips curved downward forming a frown and his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as if he was genuinely confused or upset that she didn't know why he had suggested the break.
"Sasha, don't play stupid, you know damn why. So why are you so surprised?"
That did it. The accusation of her playing dumb, made the bubble of anger that was in the pit of her stomach rise and explode.
"I'm not playing stupid Jean!" she shouted, "How could you even say that to me!?"
Jean watched his wife, his eyes softened and he immediately regretted his choice of words. Nonetheless he let her speak, knowing that it wouldn't end well if he interrupted her now. Sasha slammed her hands on the table and rose up from her seat.
"We're married, Jean! Married! Or did you forget that?" the auburn haired woman cried out, "We're not fifteen or some fling you can just break off when you're done with!" she added.
The ash brown haired male frowned.
"I know we aren't fifteen Sasha, but we need this break. All we do is argue about the stupidest thing lately, we're both overworked from our jobs and frankly I'm tired of the cold shoulders you give me. I'm tired of the silent treatments… Damn it Sash, we don't even sleep in the same room anymore!" he yelled out.
Taking a breath he added, "I don't want a divorce, but we need to fix this sooner than later, or else that's exactly where we're headed."
Sasha pursed her lips but didn't say anything. Deep down she knew he had a point, but she wouldn't let him know that. She subconsciously let out a breath she hadn't even known she was holding. Glancing up at him, she finally asked.
"How long?"
Jean sighed and placed his hands in his pockets. "Two months," he told her, "I think that will be enough time that it will help us."
"We should be able to talk everything out , now. A relationship isn't a good one if you can't communicate."
"Please, Sasha. We can barely talk without it turning into a screaming match."
"That's because you never want to-"
"Please just give my idea a try." He asked to cut her off before they started another argument, he watched as his wife let out a sigh and nodded.
Jean walked over to his wife and placed a kiss on her cheek. "I'll be leaving in the morning. I'm staying with Marco for the time being. I'm going to head up to bed. Goodnight." and with those words he turned away and headed to their bedroom.
Sasha watched his retreating form, she bit her lip as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. Once he was out of her line of sight, she sat back down on the chair she previously occupied. Staring at the food on the table, she contemplated eating after all she had spent all afternoon cooking his favorite meal as a sort of peace offering. Deciding against it, she pushed the plate away from her. The woman sat in silence until she felt something trickle down her face. She reached up to wipe it off and knew they were tears that she had been trying to hold back earlier. And that did it, she finally broke down. After calming herself down, feeling numb and emotionally drained, she walked out of the kitchen and towards the guest bedroom not wanting to get in Jean's way as he packed his things, and not wanting him to see her crying.
'If that's what he wants to do then we'll do that.'
It was a little after 9:00 am the next day when Marco heard a knock on the door. Walking over to it, he opened the door a bit to peek outside and see who it was.
"Oh, hey Jean it's you," he said, opening the door wider in order for his best friend to walk inside. "Come on in."
Jean raised an eyebrow in question but didn't say anything, grabbing his duffel bag up from the floor he walked inside. Marco closed the door, locked it and followed behind him.
"I knew you were coming over, but I wasn't expecting you this early."
"I said I'd be here in the morning."
"I know but your definition of early is usually after 10 in the morning and today is Saturday which typically means noon for you.
Jean shrugged and put his duffel bag on the floor beside the sofa. "I wanted to leave before Sasha woke up…to avoid the awkward…" he started saying but trailed off.
Marco gave his friend a sad smile,having understood what he was trying to say.
"You wanted to leave before you saw her and changed your mind?" he asked?
"Tch," the ash brown haired man said, "No."
Marco knew then that he hit the nail right on the head. Deciding he should wait a little bit before he pressed Jean for any details or asked about the situation he patted his friend's shoulder.
"Come on I'll show you the room you'll stay in and then we can go out and grab breakfast soon, because I don't have any food in my refrigerator."
The sun's rays peeked through the curtains. Sasha mumbled something incoherent and rolled over on her side facing away from the window. Seconds after getting comfortable in her bed, the loud sound of her phone's ringing filled the quiet room.
Groaning, she sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. As tempted as she was to ignore whoever it was that was calling her and go back to sleep, she knew that it'd be futile. Yawning, the auburn haired woman reached for her phone on the nightstand and flipped it open.
"Hello?" She answered groggily.
"Morning Sasha," she heard a soft but energized voice speak.
"Morning Krista."
"I didn't wake you, did I?"
"Um...not directly, no."
"I'm so sorry. I'll call back-"
"Krista, it's ok. I'm not going back to sleep. The sun woke me up."
"Ok...if you're sure."
"Yup," she assured her, "so what do you need?"
"Are you busy?"
Sasha glanced at the empty spot in the bed and smiled sadly but nonetheless she answered, "No, I'm free today."
"Oh good. Would you like to have lunch with us?"
"Who's us?" the auburn haired girl responded skeptically.
"Ymir and myself."
"Oh, okay in that case, yes." Sasha said. Maybe a day out with her friends would do her some good.
"Who did you think I meant?" the pretty blonde asked.
"I thought it was a group thing."
"No, not this time, Ymir says she can only stand to do group get togethers once a month, and even then she complains."
Sasha let out a chuckle. "Sounds like Ymir. But sure, I'm going to get ready. So where do you want to meet up?"
"Ok, can you meet us by the French bistro that's a mile from your condo in say, an hour and a half?"
"Yeah I'll see you there then."
"Oh Jean, we are more than welcome to come with you." she told her. She heard Ymir in the background let out a groan followed by a 'No'.
Sasha bit her lip but before she could reply, Krista added quickly, "See you later!" and then she heard a click followed by the dial tone. Sighing, Sasha flipped her phone shut and placed it on the nightstand. Crossing her arms across her chest she frowned. 'Stupid Jean,' she thought to herself, as she got up from the bed and made her way to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
Marco watched as Jean stirred the sugar in the coffee cup for the umpteenth time. He also observed his face, he looked tired and his eyes looked dull.
'He misses her,' he thought to himself. Deciding he'd waited enough, he cleared his throat to get his attention.
Jean looked up acknowledging him with a, "Hmm?"
"So do you mind telling me what's going on?" the freckled man asked. "You were very vague with the details last night."
His friend let out a sigh. "I really don't want to, but I'll tell you anyway."
Marco gave him a sympathetic look. "What brought this on?"
"Marco, all we do is argue."
"Do you mean you both argue or do you argue?"
"I resent that remark and no we both do."
"All couples argue, sometimes." he reasoned.
"About everything!" he started explaining. "Like literally stupid shit, for example, if a cup was on a table without a coaster underneath." he paused for a moment. He was hesitant to share what was going on but he figured maybe talking out would make him feel better. And maybe Marco could offer some advice on the situation. "We don't spend any time with each other because we're both working, and if I'm off she's off at work and vice versa."
"Mmm.." the freckled man said, taking a sip from his coffee.
"Then there are days when we're so upset at each other we won't speak for days at a time, Marco, we don't even sleep in the same room anymore. It's gotten to that point and I don't know what to do so I suggested we take a break."
Marco then noticed his friend's cheeks turn a pink hue.
"We don't even have sex anymore Marco."
Marco sighed, but continued to listen as his friend vented. "Is there something else you need to tell me?" The ash brown haired male ran a hand through his hair.
"Well?" Marco pressed.
"She wants kids." he blurted out after seconds of silence.
At his statement Marco raised an eyebrow. "And you...don't?" he asked.
"No...Yes…I don't know. I don't know."
'Bingo', Marco thought to himself, 'that's probably the underlying issue.'
"It'll be okay."
"It's just I'm tired of the fights, I'm tired of being so fucking indecisive, she doesn't deserve that."
"Have you ever sat her down and talked to her?"
"She's tried to make conversation about the topic but I always brush it off or find a way to avoid it." Jean admitted.
"Have you thought about seeking couples counseling or therapy?" Jean shook his head.
Marco bit his lip, he wanted to say something but he knew that'd he'd probably flip out on him. It was a miracle that he'd even told him as much as he did, so the remaining waitress came up to their table to take their orders. 'I'll save that conversation for another day.' He thought to himself, as he placed his order.
"Are you ready to get out of here?" Marco asked his friend. They had spent the last hour and a half at the diner catching up.
"Yeah let's go." The ash brown haired man said he happened to catch the waitress staring in their direction so he waved her over.
"Hey can we have the check?" he asked her as she stood next to their table.
"Sure thing, let me go get it."
"Thanks."
"Hey I'm going to meet Mina today after her shift ends."
"It's cool. I have the spare key. I'll pick up some groceries for the both of us and drop them at your house, I may go back out."
The freckled man gave him a look but only nodded. "I'll also be stopping by the grocery store on my way back home, just buy what you're going to need and not anything I need."
"Here's your check." She placed it on the table and gave Jean a wink as she walked away.
"She's been eying you the entire time we were here." Marco told his friend once she wasn't in earshot, his friend shot him a 'you're kidding me right' look, but didn't respond.
"It's true." he chuckled and went to reach for the check but before Marco could get to it, Jean grabbed it and opened it. Looking through the check he looked for the amount due, pulling out his wallet he placed enough to cover the bill plus enough for a tip. He looked at the customer copy receipt and found a telephone number with a note that simply read 'Call me sometime.'
Shaking his head, he closed the check book leaving the receipt in. "I'm not opening up that can of worms." He muttered.
Marco raised an eyebrow, "What was that?"
"You were right, she wrote her number on the customer copy receipt. So I'm going to leave it in there and pretend I didn't see it."
The freckled man chuckled. "Alright let's get out here then." Both men stood up and made their way out of the diner.
"Alright Jean, I'll see you later.
"Later man.Tell Mina I say hello."
"I will."
Jean watched Marco walk away before turning and heading in the opposite direction toward the supermarket.
Sasha slammed the car door and quickly hit the alarm button and walked down the busy street as fast as her feet would let her. She was going to be late if she didn't hurry. This bistro was always busy and it was sometimes hard to not only get a seat quickly but reservations were also hard to make. So if you miss your reservation you have to wait in line, and those lines could be ridiculous.
'No way are we waiting on that line, not today.' With that thought she kept walking. A few minutes later she reached the bistro, and her friends spotted her quickly. The blonde smiled before greeting her.
"Hi Sasha."
"Hey Krista."
"Took you long enough." Ymir teased.
Sasha's eyes widened. She wasn't late was she? "I didn't make you guys wait too long did I?"
The blonde elbowed the tall brunette. Ymir let out a hiss. "Fuck Krista, that hurt."
"No of course not, Ymir and I got here about five minutes before you." Krista informed her friend.
"I was just messing with you." Ymir said, rubbing her side.
"Well let's go in then, I don't know about you two but I am starving."
Sasha smiled and nodded. "I'm starving."
The three girls walked inside.
"What can I get you ladies today?"
Krista put her menu down as she smiled at the waiter, "We still haven't decided yet." Krista told the waiter before asking, "May we start with drinks?"
The waiter nodded, "Of course." He pulled out his order pad, "What will you have."
"I'll have a glass of Pinot Noir."
"I'll have a caramel macchiato with an espresso shot."
The waiter turned his attention to Sasha.
"I'll...um.. I'll have a glass of lemonade?" she finally answered although it came out as more of a question than a statement.This reply caught the attention of the two women at the table, the brunette knew that her beverage choice was going to warrant questions.
The man nodded as he wrote down the orders and smiled at them. "Your drinks will be here soon." And with that he dismissed himself from the table.
The two women waited for the man to be an earshot away before turning their attention to the brunette.
Sasha glanced at them both, "What?" she asked innocently, eyes darting from the table to anywhere else but her friend's faces.
Ymir raised an eyebrow but it was Krista who asked. "Lemonade?"
"I'm in the mood for lemonade." She lied.
"Really?"
"Yeah…?"
Bright blue eyes looked at her questionably but it was Ymir who spoke. "Sasha, why did you order lemonade? You order everything but the kitchen sink but you have never once asked for lemonade."
"Cause I wanted lemonade today. It's hot and other than water that's the best option?"
"Oh there are plenty more options." Ymir said matter-of-factly.
Sasha slapped her hand over her forehead knowing she messed up. There was no way she could lie to them anyway. They've known her since they were in middle school and she was the worst liar of the entire group. Krista pursed her lips. In the years she'd known Sasha the girl never once intentionally lied to her. Not that she was ever good at it to begin with. It made her upset that there was something going on and that she felt like she couldn't tell her.
"Sash, you hate lemonade and always have. That's the one thing in the world of foods and beverages that you do not like, so.. do you want to tell us the truth?" Ymir asked.
The waiter walked back over to them, placed the tray of drinks and handed each girl her drink. "Can I get you anything else?"
"Can you give us a few more minutes please?" the brunette asked.
"Of course, I'll be back in a few."
"So?..."
"Ymir," Krista said, "don't pressure her to tell us. If she's not ready to tell us what's wrong then don't press the issue."
"That's fine Krista, I'll just ask Jean then, I mean sure I can't stand him but I'm sure I can get the information out of him."
"Ymir you can't just threaten-" the blonde stopped mid sentence when she heard a sigh. She watched as Sasha took a deep breath trying to calm herself down, eyes shining with unshed tears.
Sasha knew she needed to talk to somebody about the situation and needed to get it off her chest. It wasn't healthy to keep it bottled up and she knew that.
"What's the matter?"
"I'm going to tell you two things I haven't told anyone yet. But I need you to promise that what I'm going to tell you will stay between us and only us."
"Of course." Krista said, reaching over to place her hand over hers. "You have my word."
"I won't tell anybody either." Ymir assured her.
"Okay… You see. I'm not sure how to tell you this so I'm just going to come right out and say it...I'm pregnant."
There.
It was out in the open and it felt good to reveal the news she's been holding in. Even if the situation she was gently sucked into and nothing was working out it was still amazing news that she's been dying to share, even if the one person whom she wanted more than anything to share the wonderful news with had pushed her away. Seconds of silence passed before either woman spoke. The blonde was the first to speak up. Grasping her hand again she smiled at her friend.
"That's great news!"
Ymir's hand went to the back of her head, rubbing her neck, "Yeah congrats Sasha."
"Thank you."
"Does Jean know yet?" the blonde asked.
The brunette shook her head.
"You haven't told him either?"
"It's… complicated." the brunette sighed.
"Okay now I'm confused." Krista muttered.
"Uh yeah me too, mind telling us what's going on, cause I'm confused as fuck right now."
"Alright I suppose I should tell you from the beginning so it makes sense."
"He.. he wanted to take what now?" Krista stuttered, trying to process what her friend had just told them.
"He just asked for a break and I agreed. It's too much stress and I just can't deal with that right now."
"Is everything going well with the pregnancy?"
The brunette sighed sadly, "I'm being labeled a high risk pregnancy."
"But how-"
"I'm pregnant with twins Krista." Sasha explained.
Krista's eyes widened, "Oh gosh."
"And prior to getting pregnant I had fertility issues. The reason I even went to the doctor in the first place was because I got dizzy at work and I almost fell, lucky my co worker grabbed me in time, and one of my managers was about to call an ambulance but I promised to see my doctor as a walk in so I left work and went straight there," Sasha paused for a minute. "So the stress from not only work but the situation at home and as I said before I had problems conceiving and being pregnant with twins, my obstetrician wants to be on the safe side so he's keeping a close eye on me."
"I am going to fucking strangle him!" Ymir shouted as she slammed her hands on the table.
Sasha winced at her friend's sudden outburst but it didn't surprise her, she and Jean had never gotten along.
"Ymir! That won't solve anything. All we can do is be here for Sasha. Violence solves nothing and we shouldn't get involved. Especially since we along with Sasha and her doctor are the only ones who are aware of her pregnancy and I'm sure she wishes to keep it that way." Krista scolded her girlfriend.
"That doesn't mean that I still don't want to strangle him."
"Thank you both for listening."
"Of course! That's what friends are for."
"Hey! Can we have the check now?!"
"Ymir! Stop making a scene, don't be so loud."
"Funny that's not what you told me to do last night." Ymir replied nonchalantly as Krista's cheeks turned a shade of pink.
Sasha couldn't help it, she started laughing at their mini 'argument.'
"What are you laughing at?"
"You two are so cute and too funny and I needed a good laugh."
"Glad that we could entertain you."
"Now come on, let's go. We have loads of plans to do."
Sasha glanced at her blonde friend confused by what she said.
"A lot of planning for what?"
"You and the two buns in the oven, honey bun." Ymir answered.
"Well you have to tell us all about the babies and I have to start planning not only the baby shower which will stay a secret between us three for now until you let the secret out, but I'm going to look into medical care-"
"Krista, you really don't have," Sasha interrupted. The shorter woman gave her a look that said it all.
"You know how she gets when she gets fired up and all excited, so she does what she wants. Now let's pay so we can get out and head out. May as well make the most of the day."
"It's nice to hear you be so optimistic and nice."
"What was that?" Ymir asked.
"Nothing."
"Great so shall we head to our condo then? We can hang out like back when we were in middle school. And talk about things in a more private setting."
The freckled woman shrugged and Sasha nodded.
The three arrived at Krista and Ymir's condo. Sasha took in the decor in awe, they did a beautiful job at redecorating.
"I like what you did, your condo looks amazing."
"Thanks," the blonde smiled at her, "did you want a bottle of water?"
The brunette nodded, "That'd be nice. Thank you."
"Let me get it, go ahead and make yourself at home."
Several moments later she returned with two water bottles. She handed one to Sasha and one to Ymir.
"Alright so let's talk a bit more openly now that it's just us three."
Ymir leaned back on the couch grabbing one of the cushions to get comfortable. Sasha nodded, taking a sip of her water.
"Have you been taking care of yourself?"
"Not really. I mean obviously I am now, but prior to finding out, I wasn't really taking care of myself at all."
"When did you find out that you were pregnant?"
"Less than two weeks ago."
"So, did you try to tell him?"
"I did, yesterday night I made him dinner to apologize for the way I've been treating him lately and to tell him about the twins,but then he told me he wanted to take a break." Sasha croaked out.
"Sasha you're married to the biggest asshat in the world."
"Ymir! She doesn't need to hear that now."
"Baby doll, I ain't going to sugarcoat shit. Plus she knows that I just don't like him. But wait, you said that you've been having issues with him prior to this right?"
Sasha nodded.
"Then how did you get pregnant if you guys weren't on good terms?"
Sasha's face turned red as she looked over at Krista for help. Leave it to Ymir to ask a question like the one she just asked.
"Maybe they had make up sex, or angry sex Ymir. Nevermind how it happened, that isn't the point nor our business." Krista explained as she glared at her girlfriend. Turning her attention to Sasha, her eyes softened, "Remember I'm here for you, and so is Ymir in her own weird way. Anything you need, come to us."
The brunette smiled at them. "Thank you."
The amber eyed man sighed as he tried to find something on tv. Flipping through the channels he couldn't help but to think about Sasha.
'I wonder how she's doing.' He honestly felt bad about how the situation had gone down. All that was marred in his memory were the way her eyes shone with unshed tears and then the look of defeat on her face as she ultimately agreed to the break, and that hurt him.
With a sigh he turned the television off and placed the remote on the end table. 'I need to go out and take my mind off of things." Getting up from the couch he walked to the guest room and grabbed up his keys and wallet. Heading back toward the front door he was about to open it but it was pulled open by Marco, carrying three bags of groceries.
"Hey are you heading out?"
"Yeah, do you need help with the bags?"
"No, they're not heavy."
Jean nodded and held the door open for him to walk inside, once he was inside he turned to his friend before saying, "Don't wait up for me, see you later."and with that Jean walked out and headed down the street. Marco watched his friends retreating form, 'There's no way he's going to make it the entire month.'
Sighing, he walked inside. 'I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid.'
*
'How many drinks was that already?' Jean asked himself. He was sitting at a bar, with empty shot glasses lined up. His initial thought process was get as drunk and fucked up as you can and then you won't think about anything. Needless to say, it wasn't working.
"One more shot." he slurred. He felt a hand on his shoulder and a voice spoke up, "Maybe you shouldn't order another shot buddy, I think you've had enough."
"Hey, no one asked you for your-" he slurred as he turned his attention to the person talking to him he was about to tell them off until he realized who it was, "oh hey Eren. Why are you here?"
"How much have you had to drink?" Eren asked, ignoring his question.
Jean shrugged, "I don't know man, I stopped keeping track after 5."
Closing his eyes and shaking his head in disbelief, "Alright I think it's time to get you home. How did you get here?"
"I walked here...I think.."
"You walked here? From your house?" Eren asked in disbelief.
"I am staying over at Marco's so it wasn't a long walk."
'That makes sense. Walking from Marco's is about 15 minutes,' he thought glancing at Jean, it would take him about 30 minutes to walk back to his house assuming he even made it back. 'And I can't just leave his ass here.'
"Listen, stay here, I'm going to go get Mikasa and we're going to take you home."
"Eren look I like you and all and you're good looking but I don't think Mikasa would approve of us-"
Eren face palmed. "Shut up man. You are like passed fucking drunk," he spotted his girlfriend from where he was, "stay here do not move I will be right back." without waiting for a response, he headed towards Mikasa. He grabbed her hand which got her attention.
"Hey Mika, I know we were going to leave but do you mind if we make a pit stop?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Where to?"
He cocked his head in the direction Jean was seated.
Mikasa followed the gesture and her eyebrows furrowed.
Eren sighed, "He is piss drunk and literally won't make it home safely so mind if we take him?"
"Of course. Do you need help getting him outside?"
"Nah, you can meet me in the car," pulling his keys out of his pocket he handed them to her, "see you in 5 minutes." Mikasa nodded in agreement and made her way to the car.
Eren knocked on the door as he tried to hold Jean steady. Moments later, Marco opened the door.
"Hey Eren what brings you he-" the freckled male trailed off as he noticed his best friend barely standing upright. "What happened?" He asked Eren.
"We," he motioned to the car where Mikasa was sitting, "found Jean here drunk at the bar." Marco let out a sigh as he opened the door wider to let Eren in with Jean. The green eyed male barely made it inside the house without falling down trying to hold him up. Moments later Marco walked up to them and held Jean up on the opposite end. "Help me get him to the couch and he should be fine."
Nodding in response the two men walked over to the couch and placed Jean down.
"Thanks for driving him back."
"Yeah that's what friends are for. But why is he staying here? Shouldn't he be at his house?"
Marco didn't want to lie but it wasn't his place to tell. Placing his hands on Eren's shoulder, he explained, "It's not my place to tell you. I've been sworn to secrecy. But he'll tell you once he's ready."
"I understand. Well then I will catch you later. See you man."
"Bye Eren." He watched as he walked out. Looking over at his best friend he sighed sadly as he walked over to the linen closet to grab a spare fleece blanket.
'I hope you figure all this out before it's too late, Jean.If this is only the first day, it's not going to end well.
So that wraps up chapter one. Nothing really new yet, there are a few minor edits on this chapter, but nothing that deviates much from the original story and the first two chapters of it. Anyway if anyone is reading this let me know what you think and if you're interested in me finishing the story up. Thanks again to XxpurpleskiesXx for giving me permission to finish these stories! Thanks to anyone who reads and I'll see you in the next chapter!