blow that piece of junk out of the sky

they had been so careful -- kinny had known from the very first kiss that the relationship between her and adam was fragile, that they were a match waiting to be lit. not only did it truly feel like they were on fire whenever they were together (she swore she saw sparks when they touched) but the fear of someone, anyone--other than her cousin and his brother, of course--finding out about their secret affair felt like flames engulfing her. that would mean the end and she wouldn’t, couldn’t, allow that to happen. not when she had fallen utterly and madly in love with him.. a fact, as of now, she hadn’t had the chance to tell him of yet. 

the man sworn to protect her -- who held both her life and her heart in his hands.

only.. it seemed to be happening and there was nothing she could do about it.

“the name barlow means something in the world, kinsley. it brings fear to some and envy to others, we cannot allow ourselves the same frivolous miscalculations others can. you know this, mon chéri.” frivolous miscalculation.. she had to bite her tongue as her father spoke to her, her mother standing off to the side, her back to them as she stayed silent. adam ward was a lot of things but a frivolous miscalculation? it simply wasn’t possible. not in her eyes, or her heart (where he lived). as she opened her mouth to correct him, her mother finally turned and met her gaze, stopping her dead in her tracks.

“you will end this.. fling with your bodyguard. it is over, as of this moment. he will be moved to your cousin’s duty and we don’t want to hear another word on the matter.” kinny blinked away her tears, vowing not to allow her parents to see her break. she rode from her chair, without a word, and turned her back to them both to leave. as she walked out of her father’s office, she heard her mother continue. “this is for your own good, mon chéri.”

it had been a busy day at the flower shop. as strange as it seemed, halloween had been a rather busy time for little blooms. despite not living in that small of a town, the people shiloh called her friends and neighbours sure did enjoy perpetuating the 'small town' vibe -- going all out for any and every holiday, decorating every last inch of their little slice of heaven, creating every instagram influencer's dream (endless photo ops and adorably perfect, aesthetically pleasing backdrops).

little blooms, shi's own pride and joy, was no exception. the tiny brunette had her 'spooky' window installed by mid-september, replacing the flowers before any had the chance to wilt since -- -- a hauntingly beautiful scene straight from the scenes of a tim burton movie, shades of grey and black perfectly blended together to create a wedding taking place in a graveyard.. every last inch of it created from flowers and plants.

now, shiloh wasn't one to brag (yes, she was) but she sure did out-do herself this time.

knee deep in orange and black bouquets, prepping for the rush of morning customers she was expecting tomorrow morning (dirty old men stopping on their way home from a booty call, stopping to grab their misses a treat to ease their discontent -- she didn't judge though), shiloh almost missed the rather large bang from outside her shop door.. almost.

"what in the worl--.." her own voice was cut off by another, large bang.. the sound of the handle of her door jiggling violently soon after.

she'd been warned, by more than one visitor today, to watch herself tonight -- kids, they said. always spent the night before halloween messing with some of the local shops. it was only shiloh's second year of owning her own flower shop, so this was all relatively new to her.

at the sound of what she could only describe as a body slamming against her front door, the pair of scissors she'd been holding only seconds below fell to the ground beside her. she felt her heart beating through her chest. shi quickly, but carefully, made her way through the bunches of flowers surrounding her, until she was tucked away in the back of her shop -- cowering behind a row of plants so tall, they hid her tiny body right from sight. with shaking hands, she tugged her phone out of her apron and dialled one of the few numbers she knew by heart.

"please pick up.. please pick up.. don't 'ya dare send me to voicemail 'ya idiot." she whispered to herself, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. shi thought, for a second as the sound of her call ringing through continued, that she should have called someone, anyone else (911 maybe) but as soon as she heard the guff, unmistakably him "what the hell do you want?" on the other end, she knew she had made the right choice.

                  THE MEMORIES OF THE night they shared had been on constant reply from the moment she set foot in his office  — so much so, that the brunette wondered how she was keeping it together. the sight of his desk alone, send a chill down her spine… the good kind, mind you. which was her entire problem: she didn’t care about his girlfriend, she didn’t care about the fact that he wasn’t hers to have and most certainly not hers to keep not past that ONE night anyway. she’d treasure it regardless, keep it locked away in the back of her mind as the single happiest and most passionate moment of her life. 

because that’s what it had been, the two of them, finally giving room for all that tension to become more than a ‘ feeling ‘ everything had become action and the way her name had slipped his lips that night… had tricked her into thinking that perhaps he felt what she did. that maybe one small part of him cared for her the same way that she did.. which was selfish, because she’d blown it, time and time again she’d pushed him away because she wasn’t ready… she was afraid. 

still doe eyes remained glued on him, brows furrowing slightly as she watched him klutz his way around the desk she’d come to know so well. gaze faltering for a moment as she suppressed the urge to smile as he stumbled through his words, no instead her eyes softened and concerned replaced that brief hint of amusement. “ mr… carter. “ her voice was low, as she walked those few steps around his desk so she could be standing beside him.  they were way past formality at this point. “ i thought… did we not agree that you’d address me by name? “ they had, because they were friends.. or had been… who knew at this point. an awkward paused as doe eyes found his. “ do you… “ she stopped talked, and shook her head, the sensation of stinging in her eyes making her realize that she was going to burst into tears. “ i quit. “  the words had come out before she even considered them, because clearly sanity had left her long ago.

he felt her beside him before he even saw her, granted he was doing all he could to keep his eyes on the contracts he held against the wall and off the woman who was now hovering far too close beside him.. so close, in fact, that he could smell her oh-so-familiar scent. he had to physically hold himself back from leaning in closer.. hiding his face in the softest corners of her beautiful neck.. -- carter closed his eyes, cursing himself. he couldn’t be this weak of a man, he refused. he could and would hold it together, he had too.

until -- “you what?” fitz snapped his head towards her, his eyes landing on those doe orbs he longed to spend his nights lost in. how she went from overwhelming him to frustrating him in a matter of seconds was beyond him. if there was one thing carter was sure of, it was that caitlin sullivan was some type of witch sent to drive him utterly insane. “you can’t quit, miss sul-- caitlin. we.. we have work to complete, quitting is out of the question.”

starter. → ( @lilyshale​! )

               AWKWARD HAD TO BE THE understatement of the century, only she could think that having sex with her ex ‘ never defined ‘ something and now boss was a good idea and in his office of all places, not that she hadn’t enjoyed it — she absolutely had, but it was the part that came after that concerned her the reason? he was in a relationship, which seemed to be the trend in their story. ‘ right person, wrong time ‘ was exactly what she and carter were and the sane thing would have been to quit, to be the one who walked away because he had someone to go home to every night and she’d almost married someone else. 

yet here she was, still working for him and walking into his office with a string of papers in her hands, clearing her throat as to catch his attention the brunette felt a blush rise to her cheeks. “ if you’re busy… “ she mused voice trailing slightly, almost as a way to test the waters between them. she’d run out of his office so fast the night it happened and hadn’t really spoken to him since then, that she wasn’t sure what he thought. “ actually, i need these signed. “ and she finally stepped inside, closing the door behind her with a light thud. “ you’ve read over them, or so linda says. “ because that’s what you said to your boss after he threw you on his desk and… who you were in love with right? maybe she should make a video diary about it but that would be? no she’d draw that line. placing them in front of him, caitlin kept an obvious distance, doe eyes avoiding his as she played with her hands as she waited for him to do as she asked.

carter hadn’t done many stupid things in his life. he had always been the one to ‘do the right thing’. he was the calm, cool and collected one. the thinker. At times, the boring one even. he never stepped out of line, always handed in his assignments on time as a student, was a reliable and fair boss, he was the perfect son and as he’d grown, became what some would call a good man. he wasn’t so sure of that himself.. not anymore anyway. maybe if you had asked him a few months ago, even weeks but that was before.. before he’d done the one thing he’d never before done in his life —— acted without thought, without reason. followed his heart.. his deepest desires.

not since he’d thrown caitlin across his office, onto his desk, and done things to her behind that closed door even he blushed when thinking about.

speaking of.. much like the devil, caitlin seemed to appear whenever fitz even briefly thought of her.. which, if he was honest with himself, was a hell of a lot (and that, you see, was where his problem laid).

“i uh..” he quickly stood up behind his desk to greet her, knocking over his mug of coffee in the process. “damn it!” he quickly reached from a napkin and began dapping the spill, shaking his head at how much of an idiot he must look like. he hadn’t seen her since.. the incident and here he was, couldn’t even say hello. she must think he was a complete fool. fitz was sure she regretted their actions (her lack of contact had made that incredibly clear).

“the.. papers right yes, they looked good. yes. i can sign them, miss sullivan. not a problem at all.. let me just..” he glanced at his desk and the spilled coffee and all he could see was caitlin.. spread out before him, bare.. and there was the blush. carter quickly grabbed the papers from her hands and turned away, holding them against his wall as he signed his name quicker than he ever had before.

starter. → ( @lilyshale​! )

               SHE’D BEEN WORKING ON wedding cake design presentations for most of the day, doing her best to not strangle a newly kicked out of her store finnley but managing to toss a spatula at his head as she she shook her head. “ and don’t come back unless you’re AMBER! “ the brunette yelled as she waved a closed fist, before her attention turned back to her ruined display, a huff slipping past her lips as she tilted her head sideways, not really noticing that her yells had completely cleared her shop. with her back the customer side of things, riley grabbed a frosting bag and a tray of different shaped gingerbread cookies, icing was relaxing for her or at the very least it kept her from murder. 

which was still frowned upon in fairwood. placing her air-pods in her ears the young woman put on the most ridiculous christmas song she could find and loudly began to sing along, her store already looking like it could throw up mistletoe, only noticing the man who’d entered her store once he tapped her shoulder. pressing the pause button the woman smiled. “ so… “ she gestured forward. “ what do we think? “ she questioned with a light smile as she looked down. “ too much? “ the correct answer was no, it was always no but she enjoyed ‘ challenging ‘ the odds anyway. “ see the gingerbread man with the scowl on his face and ugly cap? “ she pointed towards a carefully frosted cookie. “ any guesses as to who that is? “

he knew he shouldn’t play her games, it was as close to playing with fire as noah would ever come but what was that saying about the moth and the flame? he was an honest man and would be the first to admit he was a god damn moth when it came to riley moore and her undying, beautifully perfect, fire. “you bet your damn ass it’s too much.” he offered, a eerily similar scowl on his features as to the gingerbread man his eyes trailed to from hers then back. “you better not say that’s me, woman or you’re asking for it.”

what she was asking for exactly, noah knew was a swat against her ass.. which, now that he thought about, was looking incredibly good with that apron knotted around her small waist. he took a step towards her, his scowl twisting into a smirk. his hand acted quickly, tapping against her bottom—and giving it a good squeeze—before he leaned against the counter beside her. “you gonna bake the whole crazy town? ‘cause i was hopin’ we had a few more years before I had to ship you off to the looney bin.”