Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End → Favorite Moments (1/?)

Dumb Kids In Love

Okay, so I may have gotten a little carried away with this one… Let me know what you think & if you would like more imagines like this in the future!💙 

Jax knocked on the front door of her house, rocking back on his heels as he waited for someone to let him in. After only a few seconds, her mom swung the door open. She was putting an earring in while simultaneously fumbling with her car keys. A smile that reminded him so much of her daughter came over her face at the sight of him.

“Hello, Jackson,” she greeted, waving for him to come in. He entered the house, and she kept the door open, one foot already outside. “In kind of a rush. Don’t want to be late for work,” she explained briefly.

“No problem,” Jax assured her.  

“Right. Well, she’s in the backyard. And I’ll be back in a few hours. You two kids have fun!” and with that, she was gone, the front door closing loudly behind her. 

Jax chuckled to himself, pulling out a cigarette from the pack he kept in the front pocket of his jeans. He placed it between his lips, pulling out his lighter as he slowly made his way to the back of the house. Opening the back door, he lit the cigarette, leaning against the house once he got outside.

Sure enough, there she was. Lying across a towel she had set out in the grass. She was quite a vision. Her sun kissed legs seemed to glow in the California heat, her long hair spread out above her in a wave. She was wearing an old shirt that she had cut to accommodate the warm weather, and she had on a pair of black heart shaped sunglasses that made Jax smirk. She had really grown up. It was hard not to notice. He had known her since they were in middle school, and now that they were both seniors in high school, things were definitely different.

She was so wrapped up in the book that she was reading that she hadn’t even taken note of Jax’s presence.

“Good book?” He finally spoke up, taking a toke from his cigarette.

Her head turned to the side at the sound of his voice, a bright smile spreading across her face at the sight of him. “Good enough.”

She closed the book, setting it to the side before rising to her feet and strolling over to Jax. She stood in front of him, pushing her large sunglasses up into her hair. Her bright green eyes stood out in the sun, sparkling as they looked up at him. “Haven’t seen you around much, trouble maker,” she mused, snatching the cigarette from between his fingers and taking a long drag of her own.

Jax watched as she held the smoke for a moment before exhaling. It got in his face a little, but he didn’t even mind. “You shouldn’t smoke.”

Her eyebrows rose in amusement. “Oh, okay. Thanks, Jax. I’ll never even look at another cigarette. You save lives.”

Jax grinned, throwing the cigarette butt onto the ground before crushing it with the toe of his white sneakers. “Glad to be of service.”

He lifted his head, and their eyes met. Held. There was an air of unspoken words. A soft smile graced her face after a few seconds, the dimple in her left cheek making an appearance. “Missed you.”

Jax’s heart ached a little at her words. He had missed her too. More than he would admit. He hadn’t been around for the last 2 and a half weeks; he hadn’t even been going to school. He felt like shit for not even checking in with her during that time, but he couldn’t bring himself to talk to her because he knew it would only make him miss her more. He had to get out of Charming for a while, no matter how brief. Too much shit was going on with his family. Between his father’s death, and Thomas… it was all a little much. Even though he knew that he could confide in her as a best friend, he didn’t want to put that weight on her. It didn’t seem fair.

“Missed you too,” Jax stated lowly, an easy smile turning up the corners of his mouth.

“Can’t just expect me to hang around here, tending to your obnoxious fan club,” she scoffed with a laugh, rolling her eyes. She breezed past him into the house, and he followed after her. He trailed after her as she entered the kitchen, opening the fridge and retrieving a jug of lemonade.

“Sorry about that,” he rolled his lips together, reaching into one of the cabinets and pulling out two glasses.

She shook her head, pouring out the liquid before handing him one of the glasses. “I swear to God, if one more girl came up to me and asked where you were, I thought I was going to lose it,” she teased, sipping her drink.

Jax shrugged a shoulder. “It ain’t easy being so damn cute.”

“Wow. Cute and humble? You’re quite the catch, Teller.” Sarcasm dripped off of every word, and Jax felt the weight that had been on his heart lightening up a little. It always did when he was around his best friend. He chastised himself a little more for not reaching out to her while he was gone.

He set his glass back down on the counter, reaching a hand out for her. She looked at him, setting her own glass down as he pulled her towards him, her eyes full of amusement. He let one hand rest on her hip, the other entwining their fingers together. He pulled her closer so that they’re chest were touching, and she let out a breathy laugh, face alight with curiosity. “What are you up to, weirdo?”

“Dance with me.”

“Jax, there’s no music,” she raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t care,” he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, pulling her even closer so that he could rest his chin on the top of her head. After only a few seconds, he began to sway, slowly making his way around the kitchen. She let out a laugh, and he felt the vibrations against his own body. He grinned.

He stepped back from her from a moment, spinning her around with their linked hands. An amused giggle escaped her lips, and he pulled her back towards him, dipping her dramatically. Her laughter grew louder, her face turning red as he hung her upside down. Slowly lifting her back up, Jax felt like all the things that had been plaguing him over the past month were making their way out of his mind. He was glad to be back with her. Glad to be back with his best friend. Bella. 

                        _______________________________________________

 ONE MONTH LATER

Jax sat on the couch, his leg bouncing up and down as he watched TV. Bella was on a date with the guy she had been seeing for a few weeks, and Jax was just wishing that he could focus on literally anything else. Despite the fact that he couldn’t stand that douche bag Bella was dating, he wished that the fact she was out with him didn’t bother him so damn much. But it did. It bothered him to no end.

As if sensing his need for a distraction, the home phone rang. He was home alone that night, so he knew that it couldn’t be anyone from the club, unless something bad had happened over at the garage and they needed help. Jax cleared his throat before answering picking up. “Hello?”

“Jax?”

His eyebrows furrowed at the sound of her voice. It was Bella. “You okay?”

She let out a shaky breath, and Jax’s back straightened. Something was wrong. 

“Bella,” he urged.

Bella let out a harsh laugh, devoid of humor. “I’m at some fucking gas station in Tacoma. Can you pick me up?”

Jax clenched his jaw. She sounded angry, and he knew she often used anger to cover up whatever else she was feeling. That asshole she had been out with really fucked up. Why else would she be alone at some random gas station in Tacoma?

“Yeah, babe. I’m coming.”

Only about 30 minutes later, Jax’s Harley pulled into the parking lot of the gas station Bella had told him she was at. She was leaning against the small convenience store building, arms crossed across her chest and ankles crossed. At the sight of him, she pushed herself off the wall, walking his way at a brisk pace. Despite the awful circumstances, Jax couldn’t help but take note of how stunning she looked. She was wearing a black quarter-sleeved dress that stopped just above her knee, and a pair of tan flats. Her hair fell all the way down her back in a soft wave, tucked behind her ears so that the pair of rose quartz earrings she was wearing were visible.

As she got closer, Jax could practically feel the anger radiating off of her. She stopped a few steps away from him, her soft features contorted in frustration. “You wouldn’t believe how absolutely fucked up my night has been,” she snapped out, her teeth digging into the corner of her bottom lip. She shrugged on the simple denim jacket that she had draped over her arm, flipping her hair out of the collar.

Jax watched with raised eyebrows as she pulled a joint and a lighter out of the pocket, sticking it between her full pout and lighting it with a frustrated flick of her thumb. She took a long drag, and Jax began to nod slowly. “Wanna tell me about it?”

Her blazing green eyes flashed to his. There was a line between her brows, the one that always formed when she was thinking too hard or just damn right frustrated. Jax wanted to reach out and smooth it with his thumb.

“Ryan ditched me,” she stated as she exhaled her smoke, her eyes leaving his to look out into the street behind him.

Jax ground his teeth together. “Where did he go?”

Bella shrugged a shoulder. “Probably back to Charming to fuck the girl he’s been seeing behind my back.”

“Bella-“

“I should’ve known,” she sighed with a shake of her head. “That asshole thinks girls should just bow at his goddamn feet.”

“Don’t do that,” Jax managed to get out, trying hard to not sound as pissed as he felt. “It’s not your fault he’s such a prick.”

Bella’s eyes met his baby blue ones again, a tight-lipped smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes appearing before she took another toke of her joint. “Right,” she dismissed shortly, flicking the rest of the joint onto the ground. She only smoked when she needed to take the edge off, and she didn’t feel like right now was the best time to get high.

“Let’s go then,” she said, nodding towards his bike.

She went to step around him, but he caught her wrist in his hand. There was a moment of expectant silence. Jax turned his body so he was facing her, and he tugged on her wrist a little. Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, he could see the hurt behind the tough exterior she was sporting. He placed her chin between his thumb and index finger, making her look at him. Really look at him.

“You deserve better than him. Or any other dickhead for that matter.”

“Jax-“

“No,” he stated firmly, holding her eyes. He didn’t let her interrupt – not this time. “I’m serious, Bella. No asshole deserves you. Unless they can give you the fucking moon, because that’s exactly what you deserve.”

Bella’s eyes filled with tears, and a brilliant smile spread across her face. Full dimples and everything. She let out a laugh, and Jax did the same, shaking his head in droll amusement.

“Thank you,” she murmured sincerely, going up on her tiptoes. She rested a hand softly against the side of his face, her lips pressing a soft, slow kiss to his cheek. She let her lips linger there for a moment, and Jax closed his eyes, relishing in the feeling of her mouth against his skin.

Breaking the moment, she pulled away, her fingers tugging on his earlobe in a playful manner. “C’mon, trouble maker. Take me home.”

                         ______________________________________________

 A FEW YEARS LATER

The heavy bass of the music filled the room, the strong scent of booze and cigarettes invading everyone’s senses. Laughter floated throughout the clubhouse, the night alive with possibility. It was Bella’s 21st birthday, and they were doing it up big. No one expected any less.

She was at the bar with Jax and Opie, bouncing on her toes as they all continued to down shots. She threw her 4th one to the back of her throat, placing the shot glass back on the bar with an excited laugh, her nose scrunching with the force of it. Opie coughed a little, chuckling at Bella’s excitement. It wasn’t as if she had never drank before, because she most definitely had. She was just ecstatic about what the night held for her.

“That’s how it’s done,” Jax’s grin was impossibly large as he looked at Bella.

Opie shook his head at his brother. It was as though neither of them even noticed the thing that was obvious to the rest of them. It had been obvious ever since high school, and nothing had changed. But they were all still left baffled as to why the hell the two crazy kids hadn’t gotten together yet.

Bella returned Jax’s grin at full wattage. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes practically beaming. She slapped her hand down on the bar, getting the bar tender’s attention. “Another round!”

“Take it easy there, tiger. Don’t want you passin’ out on us,” Jax joked, giving an appreciative nod to the bar tender as he sat their shots out in front of them.

“Don’t bring me down, Jackson,” Bella chastised, wagging her eyebrows. The three of them all downed yet another shot, their throats burning as the alcohol made its way down.

Opie brought a hand down on Bella’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze to get her attention. “I’m gonna talk to Chibs,” he lowly slurred, pressing a rough kiss to her temple before making his way across the room to the highly intoxicated Scott.

Bella diverted her attention to Jax now, biting down on her bottom lip in excitement.

“What’s the plan now, birthday girl?”

Bella tilted her head to the side, as though considering it. “Birthday present,” she finally said.

“Birthday present?” Jax repeated.

She hummed in confirmation. “You said you’d give it to me today. So unless you forgot to get me something, I’m pretty sure you owe me a present, Teller.”

Jax let out a breath. “Yeah, okay. Fair enough.” He looked around the room, figuring their absence wouldn’t really be noticed if they left for a few minutes. “Follow me.”

He took her by the hand, both of them trying not to trip over their own feet and the other people crowding the clubhouse. Making their way to the dorm rooms, Jax pushed his way through the door to his room, tugging Bella in behind him. She squeezed his hand before letting go, looking around the room as though he had done something different with it. “Bring me back here to seduce me, Jax?”

Jax snorted, opening his bedside drawer and pulling out a small item that was wrapped in brown paper. “Was thinking about it. But I have some decency.”

Bella scoffed. “That’s news to me.”

He thrust the package in her direction, watching as she took it before sitting on the edge of the bed. Her bright green eyes flashed up to him, and he smiled in encouragement. Carefully ripping the paper away, a line formed between Bella’s eyebrows as the gift came into view. It was a beaten up copy of Catcher In The Rye. She looked up at Jax, as though waiting for an explanation.

He cleared his throat. “You were reading that the day I came back from Washington during senior year. You were lying out in the backyard of your old house, remember?” Bella nodded slowly, her lips parting before he continued. “It’s the exact copy. Had to dig through a few boxes of your old shit, but I managed to find it,” he laughed, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck. “Open it.”

Bella was already feeling a little dizzy by the sentiment of the gift, but she gingerly opened the cover, taking hold of the photo that fell out. It was a picture of her and Jax when they were just teenagers. She was wearing short levi cut-offs, and a white bikini top. He was dressed in a pair of baggy jeans, his torso bare. The two of them were leaning against a tree, basking in the shade of it. Her head was tilted back, her eyes closed. Jax’s head was turned to the side as he looked at her, an easy smile gracing his features. Bella let out a sad laugh, remembering that day. It was hotter than all hell, and the two of them had just got done doing some yard work for Gemma. Bella didn’t even know that this picture existed.

Flipping it over, she felt her stomach tighten. “Jackson and Bella, two dumb kids in love. Summer – 1994”

“Kinda crazy,” Jax chuckled after a few drawn out moments. Bella nodded dumbly, not really knowing what to say.

“Jackson –“ she started.

He held a hand up. “Don’t mention it. Really. We’re all good, darlin’.”

Bella’s responsive nod made both of them laugh. He was standing in front of her, and she tilted her head back to look at him. She scrunched her nose teasingly and Jax stuck his tongue out at her. She scoffed, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly as she hooked her fingers into his belt loops mindlessly. “You’re such a fucking child.”

“Oh yeah?” Jax challenged, taking a few unconscious steps forward as she tugged on his belt loops.

“Definitely,” Bella confirmed, the corners of her mouth twisting.

“Huh. Well I think you have the wrong idea, babe.”

“Maybe.”

“Definitely.”

They were both laughing, the alcohol catching up with them a little bit. Their laughter didn’t falter as they somehow seemed to get closer to each other, and before either one of them knew what was going on, Jax’s hands were on either side of her face, his lips only a whisper away from hers. The laughter died out a little, and Jax’s eyes were glued to Bella’s lush mouth.

“I think we might be a little drunk,” Bella mused lowly.

Jax swallowed. “Maybe.”

“Definitely,” Bella corrected with a breathy laugh, touching her tongue to her upper lip.

“A little dizzy,” Jax commented, his thumb rubbing against her cheekbone.

“Lightheaded?”

“Yeah, that too.”

Bella gave a jerky nod, and suddenly, they were kissing. His lips were on hers, her bottom lip slotting between his as though that was where it was meant to be all along. Jax’s hands moved from the sides of her face to tangle into her soft hair, the action causing her to push her lips harder against his with a hungry little noise. He groaned, wanting nothing more than to coax the sound out of her again and again. He wasn’t even sure how they started kissing, or why, but it felt so fucking right. Like kissing her was what he should have been doing since the day he met her.

Breaking away from the kiss, Bella gasped, leaning her forehead against his. “Jax,” she started breathlessly, words failing her.

“Kiss me, Bella,” he spoke lowly, his eyes still closed, his breathing shallow. “Just a little longer. Please,” he murmured, the sound of his voice not doing great things for her self-control.

She had handfuls of his t-shirt, and her grip tightened momentarily. She shook her head. “We can’t.”

“Don’t say that,” he rasped. “Don’t say that.”

“Jax,” she whispered, her heart beating erratically. “We can’t do this.”

His eyes finally opened, his blue irises filled with a certain desperation. “Yes we can.”

“I’m leaving soon, and –“

“I’ll go with you,” he interrupted, as though it was the simplest thing in the world.

“No,” Bella stated softly. He wasn’t thinking straight. She knew that. “You can’t. You have to stay here. The club is in your blood,” she practically recited, hating the way the words tasted on her lips. But the flirt on their breath and the passion between them almost made it seem like a real possibility, if only for a moment.

“Stay then,” he breathed. “Stay.”

“Jackson,” she said around the lump in her throat. “I can’t. I can’t stay here.”

Her statement brought both of them back to the harsh reality of what their lives really were. Jax slowly pulled away, straightening his back and adjusting his kutte. Bella gazed up at him, tears standing out in her eyes. She hated this. This wasn’t the goodbye she wanted to give him. This isn’t the way she expected to leave things.

“I know,” he finally said, a small, sad smile turning up the corners of his lips. “I know you can’t.”

This town had brought her too much pain. Too much heart-ache. She had so much ahead of her in life, and he would always resent himself a little if he was the reason she decided to stay in this dead-end town. He couldn’t do that to her. He loved her too much. She stood up from the bed, straightening out her shirt and running a hand through her long hair. Their eyes met – green against blue – and the air around them seemed to get lighter. Almost simultaneously, they both let out loud laughs, as if the whole situation was the most ridiculous thing ever.

Bella pressed her hands to her flushed face, shaking her head at the whole fucking thing. How typical.

When their laughter finally died down, Jax flashed her a charming grin. “You’ll call me everyday, right?”

“Everyday. I’ll call you so often that you’ll get sick of me after the first month.”

“Unlikely.”

“Guess we’ll have to see about that, Teller.”

                           ________________________________________

 5 YEARS LATER

Bella stepped off the plane, her hands already beginning to shake. It had been a long time. Too long. But all the shit that had happened in the last five years didn’t seem to matter right now, because she was back in Charming. Back in the town she wasn’t sure she’d ever see again. She hadn’t even talked to Jax, her old best friend, in a little over a year. He had gotten caught up with all of the club shit, and they just ended up falling out of touch. As sad as it was, Bella forced herself to not think about it as much as she once did. It was the past, and she knew there was no real point in making herself sad about it any longer. She was back in Charming for a reason, and spending time worrying about Jax Teller wasn’t that reason.

When she had all of her luggage and was in the taxi she had called to take her to the motel she was going to be staying in, she exhaled an exhausted breath, leaning her forehead against the cool glass of the window while letting her eyes slip closed. Bella didn’t know what her visit to Charming had in store for her, but she could only try to prepare herself for the worst. 

                        ______________________________________________

 An old blue ’67 Impala pulled into the parking lot of Teller-Morrow, catching Jax’s attention. The old car reminded him of high school. It was the car that Bella’s mom used to drive. He hadn’t really seen her around since Bella left all those years ago, but he never really thought to go check in with her. He didn’t want to be reminded of Bella - to be reminded of losing her.

Watching the car with wary eyes, Jax nearly choked on his own spit when he saw the woman with familiar long brown hair step out into the lot. She was wearing a baggy green sweatshirt, and a pair of slightly distressed jeans. She turned her head in the direction of the garage, as if she was looking for someone. When he saw her face, Jax felt like the wind had been knocked out of him.  She was just as beautiful as she was the day she left Charming.

Before his brain could catch up with his feet, Jax found himself walking her way, his eyes locked on her. He was sure she hadn’t noticed him yet, because she was looking towards the clubhouse with that line between her brows.

Jax’s throat felt like it was full of cotton. When he was only just a few feet in front of her, the sound of his footsteps finally caught her attention. Her eyes snapped to him, and Jax’s heart nearly ached at the wave of nostalgia that washed over him at the sight of her warm green eyes.

Instead of making things awkward, Bella offered him a small grin. “Hey, stranger.”

Jax swallowed. “Hey, trouble maker,” he shot back, the exchange making his heart ache even more than it had been before. He rubbed his knuckles against his chest, willing for it to go away.

“How’ve you been?”

“I’ve – uh – I’ve been pretty good.”

Bella raised a brow, her eyes flicking to the patch on his kutte that read V. President. “I can see that.”

“Right. It’s not a big deal or anything,” Jax dismissed half-heartedly.

She let out a laugh, the sound making Jax’s heart jump in his chest. “Don’t give me that shit. The club was all you ever wanted. I’m happy for you,” she trailed off, her mind going back to the night of her 21st birthday when they had almost this same conversation. The club was in his blood.

“Why are you back in town?” He asked, unable to contain himself. He had to know if she was just visiting or if she was back for good.

Bella looked down at the keys she held in her hands, fidgeting with them a little. “My mom is getting pretty bad. Had to come see her. Arrange some things.”

Jax felt like shit. He didn’t even know that her mom was sick. What the hell was wrong with him? “I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. He reached out to place a hand on her shoulder, both of their eyes following his hand. The contact made Bella want to wrap herself in the safety of him and never come out.

Shaking out of that state of mind, Bella waved her hand. “Don’t even worry about it. I actually, um, came here for Opie.”

That shocked Jax. “Opie?”

“Yeah,” Bella laughed, as though she couldn’t really believe it either. “We’ve kind of been talking lately. Said he’d come down to the hospital with me. My mom is more than excited to see him,” she rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

“Oh,” Jax said dumbly, for lack of better things to say. “Well he’s just back in the clubhouse. You can go in if you want.”

Bella offered him a stunning smile. “Thanks Jax.”

As she walked in the other direction, Jax kicked himself for not saying anything else. “Bel?” He called out to her.

She stopped, looking at him over her shoulder, waiting for him to continue.

“Wanna get a drink later? Catch up?”

She seemed to consider his offer for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. Sounds good.”

                        ___________________________________________

 “There’s no way!” Bella laughed loudly, pressing the back of her hand to her mouth.

“Wish I was joking,” Jax chuckled, circling his finger around the rim of his beer bottle.

“Too bad I wasn’t there,” she came down from her laughing fit, taking a sip of her own beer.

“Yeah,” Jax’s sad eyes met hers momentarily. “Too bad.”

There was a moment of silence that stretched between them. Everything that they hadn’t said in the last 5 years seemed to come to the front of their minds. So many unspoken words, so many lost hopes.

The corners of Bella’s mouth twisted, and she looked away. “It’s getting kind of late. I should get going.”

Jax ran a hand over his hair before rubbing the back of his neck. “Probably a good idea. Where’re you staying?”

“Some shit hole motel right at the edge of town,” Bella scoffed, standing up and shrugging on the black hoodie she had brought with her.

“Want me to follow you over?” He offered, not liking the idea of her staying in some shady motel that wasn’t even close by.

“You my bodyguard now, Teller?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Might be a good gig. God knows how much trouble you get yourself into.”

Bella laughed. “I guess that’s fair.”

                                ___________________________________ 

They slowly made their way up the stairs, talking and exchanging dumb stories. Seeing Bella’s bright smile and hearing her contagious laughter after all these years made it feel like Jax had never even been apart from her. Not even for a second.

The two of them finally made it to the door of her room, and Bella pulled the room key out of her pocket, leaning her shoulder against the doorframe. “It was good seeing you, Jax,” she said, goodbye heavy on her breath.

Jax tried not to look as disappointed as he felt. “Yeah, Bel. Always a pleasure.”

“Such a gentlemen,” she mocked.

“For you? Always,” Jax teased. But there was something else behind his words. Something that made both of them ache with longing.

Bella diverted her eyes. “Maybe I’ll see you around sometime. When the stars align and all that.”

Jax cracked a grin. “Sure, darlin’. I’ll be seeing you.”

With that, she slid her room key into the slot of the doorknob, turning the handle when the light turned green. Jax gave her a short nod before turning away, making his way back towards the staircase. He hated this. Hated that she had to leave again. Hated that he wasn’t doing something. The sudden thought stopped him in his tracks. He wasn’t letting this shit happen again. No. He had gone without her for too fucking long.

He turned back around, taking fast steps in her direction. She was only half way into her room when he made it to her. He placed a hand on the back of her neck, the other one going to her hip, and suddenly, his lips were on hers. The kiss was hot and languid, their lips moving together slowly. It brought back everything that they had been feeling from the very beginning, and suddenly they were both dumb kids again. Dumb kids in love.

Bella’s hands grasped the front of his kutte, tugging him further into her, and he let out a low noise of pleasure.

As fast as it started, it stopped, Bella parting their locked lips with a shuttered breath. “Jax-“

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” Jax interrupted, ignoring whatever she was about to say. It wasn’t important. And he didn’t want her saying those things that she said all those years ago. He wanted this. Needed this. He shook his head in a rush. “I’ve thought that since our first day of high school. You came over to the house, pissed off that your favorite pair of Chuck Taylor’s had a hole in them,” he cut himself off with a choked laugh. “You were so worried about your damn shoes that you didn’t even notice you had dirt on your cheek,” he swiped his thumb across her cheek as though he was reliving the memory. “I reached over to wipe it off and you smiled at me. It was the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen.” He clenched his jaw, shaking his head. “Don’t leave again. Don’t.”

Bella’s eyes were filled with tears waiting to spill out. “I love you,” she whispered, so low that he almost didn’t even hear her. Nothing else in that moment seemed to matter. The years seemed to melt away. Bella didn’t care about anything else. Didn’t care about her problems, or what the future was going to bring. What mattered was that moment. Nothing but that moment.

A blinding smile transformed Jax’s face at her words, and he let out a watery chuckle. “God,” he breathed. “I love you too. I love you so fucking much.”

With that, they were kissing again, the world around them disappearing.

I Am Heath Ledger (2017)

a hufflepuff finding out that their partner cheated on them

Coming up with ALL the revenge ideas.

The real OTP commits to all four | insp.

“I spent years trying to find you. Praying that one day I’d wake up and find out it was all a dream, and you’d be right beside me. But everyday I’d open my eyes and find myself alone, again. How could you do that to me!?”

Hello hufflepuff here💛

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7 Rules of Picking Names

Most Common Surnames ***

Minor Character Development

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Characters With Enhanced Senses

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36 Core Values For Building Character

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4 Ways to Make Readers Instantly Loathe Your Character Descriptions

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Character Archetypes

25 Ways To Fuck With Your Characters

Building Platonic Relationships Between Female Characters

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33 Ways To Write Stronger Characters

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How to Make Readers Love an Unlikable Character…  

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Career Masterpost ***

Creating Your Character’s Personality ***

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DON’T EDIT>>> REWRITE THE WHOLE THING FIRST

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Why You Would Read Your Novel Out Loud ***

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Saving Your Story: Finding Where It Went Wrong

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Write or Die

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Authonomy Teen Ink Figment Fiction Press ReviewFuse

These Are Trusted Critique Sites ;)

“I can’t believe it,” Vex said, glaring at Brynjolf across the tavern. 

He grinned at her and leaned back in his chair as he filled his mug with mead. “I knew she’d come through,” he said. “Never doubted her.”

“Not that,” Vex sighed. “I mean, yeah, pretty impressive - but what I can’t believe is that you had a plan all along to get those payments, and you kept it up your sleeves so you could use it as a damn test!”

“Aye, but it worked, didn’t it, lass?” he pointed out, and paused to drink deeply from his cup. “And we’ve got all the payments.”

“Yeah, yeah, your new girl’s real impressive,” Delvin agreed, sitting down next to him. 

“Hush, Delvin,” he replied lightly, and laughed. “Look, both of you, I’m telling you - she’s the one. She’ll turn our luck around and we’ll finally start to see things looking up around here. I’m certain of it.”

“Well, you’re looking up, at least,” Vex said, and he thought he saw a hint of a smile on her face before she turned away.

“Give it a few days,” he told her. “You’ll see. Things are about to change.”

The Writer’s Guide to Burns, Part 1: Depth and Percentage

First, I would like to start this post with a little bit of a disclaimer. Burns are absolutely horrific things. They can destroy our sense of self, of even being able to see ourselves as truly human. They inflict pain in such types and amounts as to be mind-boggling, perhaps even debilitating. This series comes with content warnings for burns, childhood burns, pain, critical illness, ICU stays, and comparisons of human flesh to that of animals. Ultimately, it’s what we are.

A quick image search will turn up horrendously graphic images of people whose lives have been completely changed–some might use the word “destroyed”–by burns. I’m endeavoring to keep the images to illustrations, rather than actual photographs. I may succeed, I may not. I strongly recommend you do NOT search for these images. They’re absofuckinglutely horrific.

For my own part, I’ve collected people out of fires, and not all of them have lived. I’ve done my best to keep them alive and deliver them safely to the burn unit. I’ve also spent a brief amount of time rotating through the burn unit at a major, world-known medical center and have been fortunate enough to get lectures from their staff on a  couple of occasions.

Being exposed to people who’ve been burned like that changes you.

It changes the way you’re willing to perceive human lives. We are no longer indestructible. We are knit of flesh, and we roast, just like any other. We are so very, very fragile.

In this series of posts I will do my best to keep these memories out, to stick to the medicine and not the experience. But it may creep in around the edges.

So this series is dedicated to burn victims, to their families, and to the godsdamned courageous Burn ICU nurses and doctors who care for the most-badly burned. Thank you for all that you do.

Burn Depth and Degree

There are multiple ways to classify burns. However, I’ll use the two most common ones, which classify burns based on depth.

Burns are typically classified into degrees, which talk about how far into the skin burns go. I’ll go into detail after this handy illustration, courtesy of Medscape (WARNING: That linked slideshow contains graphic images).

Courtesy of Medscape.

First-degree burns are the least serious. They damage only the top layer of skin (the epidermis), and tend to come from the coolest sources around. The skin may turn red, and be painful, but won’t be permanently damaged. Humans can develop first-degree burns from thermal (heat) sources, or from UV radiation, such as a sunburn.

Second-degree burns are more serious. As you can see above, the dermis, the underlayer of the skin (which contains things like sweat glands and certain nerve endings). Burns like this may blister – this is a relatively reliable indication of a second degree burn.

I cannot overstate this enough: second degree burns are extremely painful, especially across large areas of the body.

Third-degree burns are burns that have made their way through the entire layer of the dermis and into the subcutaneous tissue. These are the burns that destroy underlying blood vessels and cause them to coagulate, that destroy nerve endings.

The tissue itself may look waxy and white in color, or it may char over or turn brown. It may gain a leathery appearance.

Third-degree burns may also continue to burn deeper, causing damage to the underlying muscle and even bone. Burns, under the right circumstances, can cause amputations, though these are rare.

One other thing  worth noting about 3rd-degree burns: the center of them doesn’t hurt, because the underlying nerves have been burned away. However, no 3rd-degree burn is isolated. Because that tissue retains heat, it will always burn the area around it. A third degree burn will always have a circumferential a second degree burn around it, and that second degree burn will hurt all to hell.

4th-6th degree burns: You may sometimes see people referring to burns as “4th degree” burns, all the way up to 6th degree burns. This is an older nomenclature; these numbers indicate burns below the depth of the skin, into the muscle tissue and underlying organs. But this is, at least in my service area, outdated terminology. Burns this deep are still categorized as 3rd degree.

Partial- and Full-Thickness Burns

This is an easier way of classifying burn depth. Partial-thickness burns only involve the epidermis and potentially part of the dermis layer – 1st and 2nd degree – while anything worse involves all of the dermal layers (3rd degree). The burn unit I’ve worked most closely with actually prefers this nomenclature, but the other is so well known I had to include it as well.

Common Burn Sources

Burns can come from one of several sources. They may be because of direct heat, such as in a house fire, or from a hot liquid splashing on someone. Critical burns have come from coffee cups and frying pans, especially in small children, who love to grab at things without understanding why grabbing the pot handle on the stove may be a terrible idea.

This blog does not give real world advice. However, if there are small children near you, turn your godsdamned pot handles IN on the stovetop. Childhood burns are preventable. Prevent them.

Yes, I’m willing to break a very strict blog policy I’ve had since day one for this. It’s that important, and it’s that simple. Don’t give them anything to grab.

The Rule of 9s

Estimating burn size is an inexact science, but we’ve sure tried! The Rule of 9 gives a quick estimate of “percent” of the burn – specifically, the percentage of the patient’s Body Surface Area that’s burned (%BSA in medslang).

The chart looks like this:

Image courtesy of WebMD

As you can see, each aspect of the body accounts for 9% of total body surface area, except for the genitals, which account for 1% of BSA regardless of configuration or size. As my EMS instructors like to say, even Ron Jeremy’s 1% is still only 1%.

So a person with complete circumferential burns of one leg would have burns over 18% BSA (Anterior: 9, posterior: 9; 9+9=18%). Meanwhile, if the burns encompassed the abdomen and anterior right forearm, their %BSA would be 13.5 (9% + 4.5%). A burn over the entire lumbar area, half the upper back, and entire left arm would have (9% + 4.5% + 9% = ) 22.5% BSA burns.

For smaller areas, the area of the patient’s palm is equivalent to 1% of BSA.

For writing, %BSA is only important as a throwaway comment, but it’s worth the quick math to figure out how much the character is burned so a medical character can sound like a smartypants. (“Mister Rogerthorn has full-thickness burns over 36% of his body” sounds quite official!)

That’s It for Part 1!

This post is running long, so we’re going to stop here for now. Next time on this series we’ll talk about burn first aid and field care, along with co-morbidities we might see (including inhalation burns and carbon monoxide poisoning).

Thanks so much for your time, and for your attention, and I’ll see you in Part 2!

xoxo, Aunt Scripty

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