So background of my family dynamic… I am the youngest out of 3 kids… My mom and dad are still together but not legally married, both are in their 70s… My father is a veteran, who is at 100% disability status… We as a family take care of him, under the same roof.. Since my sister WFH, naturally she does more for our parents are far as taking them to Dr’s appointments and grocery shopping… Before we all moved into the house we are at now, my parents and I lived in another smaller home, and it was on me to get them places and do the shopping, since neither of them are able to drive anymore… IT WAS LITERALLY ALWAYS ON ME, since I was the only child there with them… Background of my parents relationship, my mother and father have always fought, as far back as I can remember, I am now 40 years old.. Their fights would range from arguing, yelling, and sometimes physical altercation…My mother has stated that she does not love my father anymore because of past issues, but has no problem spending his VA money, mind you mostly on frivolous Amazon buys, ie: Phone cases, apple watch cases, shoes and clothes, that she doesn’t even wear anywhere, remember my parents do not drive… Pretty much any extra money her or my father has, she spends it on herself, never puts it into the household to help everyone… She has always been money hungry and manipulative and very selfish… Which as you can imagine being who I am a very considerate person and mainly kind… I admit 2 years ago I wasn’t that kind, I realized I had mental issues, and sought help with therapy and medication… These days I am much more patient and kind… I was sick mentally and didn’t realize how bad my depression and anxiety got, until I had a nervous breakdown… Anyway, I resent my mother for her ways, and how she treats my sister compared to how she treats me, and how she treats my father, regardless of their past history, both parties have done wrong in my eyes back then… Of course I love my mother, I just see her for who she is as far character… Now, a friend of mine explained to me about becoming a caretaker for my father, and how the VA will give caretakers a stipend every month to help take care of the veteran in your life… I mulled it over for months before even bringing it up to everyone, mainly my dad.. Who was all for it because again it would help the household out with extra money… I told my mom about it and she was at first skeptical, and didn’t actually believe it was a thing, so she basically said I don’t care… Well of course that changed when I told her the amount a caretaker could receive… Weeks went by and no one asked anything about it…Fast forward to last week and I decided to go ahead and fill the applications out… I put me down as primary because I was filling it out and brought it to everyone’s attention about the program, and I put my sister down as the second caretaker… Again no one really cared about the program until I got the ball rolling… Today 3 envelopes from the VA came to the house addressed to my father, sister and me… I read my letter and it stated that our application had been withdrawn because the 2nd caretaker( my sister) withdrew the application…Confused ofc and slightly enraged, I asked my mom, how could they deny the application, she stated she didn’t know, smh… Then I asked if my sister withdrew it, she said to ask her.. So I called my sister downstairs to get to the bottom of this, atp I am irate… She comes downstairs and I ask if she withdrew the apps and she said yes, I asked her why, and she says because Im not the primary, not realizing she inadvertently caused no one to receive money, unless we apply again… She then says, in the mist of me going off on everyone except my father, that she had already applied again as the primary, I then looked at my mom and asked who is the second caretaker, which she implied she was, even tho she had just stated she didnt know what happened… I giggled to prevent myself from being more angry and from slapping the literal piss out of my sister, I grabbed my things and stormed off to my room, while my mom is telling me to calm down… They didnt even care about the program until I got that ball rolling, and then went behind my back and removed me all together…Side note, my sister does do a lot for the household, so im not disputing her being a caretaker, I am hurt and mad because they went behind my back and removed me, from getting receiving a stipend…And this is not the first time they have deliberately cut me out of something… So AITH?

Hi everyone,
I need some advice on the best way to manage an inheritance my disabled father received a couple of years ago. The amount is £55,000, and due to concerns about potential reductions in his means-tested benefits, the money has been kept in his sister’s bank account since then.
Here are some specifics about our situation:

1. Inheritance Amount: £55,000
2. Benefits: My father receives housing benefits, council tax reduction, and other means-tested benefits typical for a disabled person.
3. Main Residence: He lives in a housing association property. While we understand that owning his main residence wouldn’t count towards the limits, he doesn’t have enough to pay off the house (worth around £100,000).
4. Trusts: We have looked into setting up a trust, but it seems quite expensive.
5. No Urgency: There is no immediate need to access or reorganize these funds, but we want to make sure they are managed correctly.

Given these details, what would be the best way to organise this inheritance to ensure my father continues to receive his benefits? Are there cost-effective alternatives to trusts that we should consider? Any advice or experiences with similar situations would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your help!

Throwaway because he uses Reddit.
So, I (f16) have known a guy (let's call him Sans, m15) for 4 years. This guy has always treated me like he didn't care a bit about me and has always been pretty disrespectful to me and and to my "sister-by-heart." For the first 3-and-a-half years, he always pretty much didn't seem to care about me, and we only talked when he needed to vent or had something to share. I went to middle school with him, we were in the same class, so I saw him everyday and for the first year I even had a crush on him, in fact we dated for 9 months (6 on his behalf, but it was from November to May) before he broke it off saying he wasn't ready, something completely understandable. We've been good friends ever since, and I stayed silent through all the things he did to me over the years: touching me when we went to the cinema with a couple of his other friends, and all the shit he threw at me with his problems (family, friends, love life ecc... I never had the occasion to do the same). Long story short, he's always been the class clown, and that was all his personality in and out of school. To be clear, I also own some fault in all of this because I could've talked about those things with him, it was just never an option I thought to be worth considering.
All changed when he introduced me to my now boyfriend (18m), I had the courage to talk to him about the situation and, with the help of my sister since because of some at-the-time-recent drama he blocked my number, I sent him a message that contained all the anger I kept inside and ended the friendship ultimately. It was August 2023.
After that, I continued to talk about it to both my boyfriend and his mom (basically my second mom, I'm really close with her) and what came up it that the mother of one of Sans' best friends told my bf's mother that Sans was head over heels for me. I didn't believe it at first, since two years prior he advices me to stop "flirting" with him or he'd end the relationship, but this thing is also supported by the fact that, as far as I knew, he still kept an old note I gave to him back in the first year of middle school with something sweet written on it, I don't really remember what.
Now, a couple of days ago (so May 19th) he showed up at my house at 10pm completely changed: he looked totally different, had a perm, seemed more contained, a bit better dressed and actually had the balls to apologize to me AFTER I apologized first in an Instagram story, explaining that I've changed and I'm not immature anymore, and that I was sorry to all the people that I was an ass to in the past. Fortunately my boyfriend was there that night or I don't know how I would've handled it. We shook hands and declared peace. Now, he's started to say hi on the bus again.
My question is, how do I handle him coming back out of the blue? I've got a completely different life now, new social circle he'd hate to hang out with ecc..., so I really don't know that to do. I don't even know why I accepted his apology in the first place tbh.
(P.s. sorry for any mistakes, English is my second language)

For the context, I am from India. And in India, in-laws/parents have a major role to play in the affairs of a married couple. Thankfully, I am not having to live my in-laws. But I do remember how when I was pregnant, they never bothered to call or ask me how I was doing. They have also never been very approving of me because their son went against their wishes and married an intercaste person.
Anyway, I had my elective Caeserean Section a month ago. As soon as I was out and back to my hospital room, I remember my mother-in-law holding the baby. The baby was never brought or shown to me in the hours following the delivery. I remember asking her to show me the baby's face and then she reprimanded me saying, "You just keep quiet and rest!" She kept the baby to her and even my own mother came and whispered into my ears, "I wanted to hold the baby but never got a chance". And then out of nowhere, my mother-in-law alongwith her own sister came and started putting the baby to my breast pressing hard on my CS scar. I screamed in pain but they didn't stop. They kept squeezing my breasts and not a single drop of milk was to be seen. Then they dismissed me off as someone who was too unhealthy to produce milk (according to them, thanks to my older food habits) and immediately put my newborn to bottle feed. They repeated this for the next 5 days and then I was discharged. The in-laws and their family would spend the entire day at the hospital and be with my baby. I had to ask someone to take a video of the baby and show me because he was never brought to me. The husband was also negligent towards me. Once discharged, I was asked to travel immediately to their hometown which is ten hours away and the condition of road is extremely bad. There were potholes and bumps and I had to cry my way. Neither my husband nor my parents showed any compassion or tried to stop this travel. I was still not able to produce much milk during my stay at my in-laws. They kept judging and commenting on me, thereby ruining the first month of my recovery as well. I was expected to be prim and proper to entertain their deluge of guests and was called "disrespectful and selfish" for staying in bed all day. My husband also totally supports his parents and it irks me to no end. This disguised patriarchy and domination has literally ruined my bonding experience with my baby and I'm still not able to breastfeed him or produce enough milk.
I would see videos and pictures of mommas holding their newborns right after delivery. Some on their chest, some to their cheek. And videos of husbands holding and helping their wives walk after surgery. When I asked my husband to help my out of bed, his mother commented that I was too fat for her son to help and it would take 4 persons to pull me out of bed. I was so hurt by this comment that I ended up getting out of bed, unassisted, took bath unassisted and had my first walk post surgery unassisted. But I regret how everytime I tried to hold my baby, I was either told I'm too weak and should rest or that I don't know how to do it. So I could never snatch my baby and exert my right. My husband even called me "failure of a mother" when I was unable to breastfeed in the hospital.
All of these incidents keep playing in my mind and I am just not able to be the mother that I could be or wanted to be. I feel like it is too late to teach my baby how to latch and that he would be on formula milk forever. I feel like it is too late to produce enough milk for my baby and that my breastfeeding journey has truly been a failure.

Throwaway here
Up until a few days ago I (39m) was dating/just establishing a relationship with a single mother (41f). We have been seeing each other for just over 2 months. Not a long time I know but the ease in which we connected really felt very unique and different than past relationships. A fact she acknowledged more than once. We share similar perspectives, find enjoyment in many of the same things, equally dorky and awkward. We really felt in sync.
I know the intensity of feelings I felt towards her were disproportionate, in a typical sense, to the amount of time we spent/knew each other. When speaking with friends I even said it was stupid I felt this strength of connection so quickly. I know it's easy to think I was naive or seeing things that weren't there, but I am confident that's not the case. There were real reciprocation of feelings and intensity in moments that we both identified. I think I communicate well, I am clear, and understanding, and a good listener. She really appreciated this quality and as such was very open and clear about her feelings towards me as well. Saying things like how she's never dated someone like me (I've been through some shit, did therapy, became pretty emotionally intelligent and self-reflective as a result), telling me how appreciative she is for me, gave me a card stating this on the day she started to pull back actually, how my touch gives her tingles. Straight up telling me a week before how she really likes me.
Yes we were intimate a few times. Intense and mutually satisfying, had improtu spicy chats during the day including the day before we last saw each other. On top of her words and discussions there were actions that also spoke to her really being serious about the connection we were developing. She happens to live right next to her parents and her sisters family. Now she could have kept me separate from all that, but she didn't. I met her sister pretty early on when having a date night at her house. Then a week later she invites me to her sister's house for a little BBQ, was an excellent night. And I ended up meeting her parents too. Not by happenstance either, but rather here come inside my parents house and say hello. And she was having conversations with her son about me and trying to get him comfortable with the idea of meeting me. I even helped her move appliances with her and her dad 3 days before the pull back and 1 week before she ended it. I even installed the washer and dryer for her, then encouraged her to go to an event for her son right after I got done, without me. I didn't do it for any other reason than I really liked her and acts of service are one of the ways I show how I care and it made me feel good to do it, to be there for her. This all has a certain connotation or level of seriousness in a relationship all in its own.
My emotions fed off of her words and actions, maybe my openness and honesty felt like a bit much at times, like I was oversharing. But it was honest and reciprocated every time. There were palpable moments of electricity between us.
Then came the pull back...she is a nurse who works 12 hour shifts and has shared custody of her son. I work a typical m-f schedule. So as we are building this whatever it was, spending time together was a challenge sometimes. I completely respect her keeping me separate from her son until the time was right, never pushed, always accepted that her role as a mother comes first.
So she asks me if I want to do dinner at my house for this past Tuesday. Tuesday is my golf night, but I made an effort to go to work early, leave early, get my match done early so we can have a nice evening. I even took the morning off in case we were up late, so we could maybe wake up next to each other and enjoy sometime together in the morning. She was really excited about this, or rather implied that she was. Even had the spicy talk the day before.
Then she arrives and I can tell something is off. Shes not as receptive to my touch, dynamic is off. After dinner we sit on the couch and she breaks down in tears. She's feeling like we are moving fast, she feels like our texting is taking away from time with her son, wants to dial it back. She has her son for a 5 day stint starting the next day, doesn't want to feel tethered to her phone, wants to feel present. Okay, I get it, respect it, no problem at all. She then tells me about how her divorce went down, kind of wild and not exactly how she made it seem at first. She definitely still is working through that stuff and the ex dynamic is poor and I think he bullies her and knows her buttons. I straight up told her that if I was her partner I would be there and defend her and not let his bullshit slide (maturely, I'm 40 and don't need to be physical). She did say a few times that she was always waiting for the other shoe to drop with us because of her past relationship trauma. But guys, I have no other shoe. I'm a god damn gentleman doing his best to operate in a time when women are more independent, and I support it and respect it.
I send her an email the following day apologizing if I came in to strong, I believe in what we are building, I respect boundaries and her and all her terrific attributes. She responds by saying it was beautiful and she looks forward to moving forward with me. I also suggest phone calls or Video chats in lieu of texting moving forward. And I assured her I didn't need to be in contact 24/7 and that I like my independence as well.
Over the next couple days I let her lead the conversation. If she texted I responded. Typically it wasn't immediately but within 15 minutes unless I myself was busy. I wouldn't try and engage in long discussions. Just little check ins it seemed like. Then her text style changed again, less frequent, no emoji, no real engagement from her in to my activities. I felt it coming.
She was ill over these past few days with bronchitis and was having her period, she felt cruddy and I felt bad I couldn't be there for her like I wanted to. I would ask how she was doing, if she needed anything. Her response was that I was sweet but she could manage. But she began to not ask me about what I was up to, or really engage much at all.
Saturday she ends it, says she hasn't really put all her focus on being a mom since her divorce (4 years ago), she made some relationship mistakes post divorce, still healing, really wants to be there for her son (kid sounds amazing btw). But okay, yeah I am bummed but I respect it. What else can I do right? Kid comes first, I get it.
But you know what really bothered me is that when asked about what we were felt for each other, if it was real, she denies we had this special connection and that she thinks she was forcing it....so my long winded question here is... After all that, does that sound like she was forcing it? She said she felt there was an incompatibility but couldn't identify what it was. She's sorry for leading me on, then tells me not to lose her number. Like wtf? I think she is either lying to herself to make herself feel better or there is something else going on. My hypothesis is that our potential scared her, she doesn't want to get big time hurt again and is anxious about it and somebody put the bug in her ear that the feelings she is having is because she is forcing it (she mentioned a comment a coworker made to this extent about it being forced because she wasnt as giddy as she had been, I think she was fearful and this person labeled it as force). I say this because it all doesn't make sense, I am probably wrong, help me make sense of this, please.
Tl;Dr built a wicked connection with a woman, have evidence it wasn't one sided, special connection, met her parents, installed her appliances, got dumped a week later and was told it wasn't real but forced.

I feel like I am in a coma. I’m gonna start from the beginning. Back in February 2023 my mom started dating a guy we will call John. John didn’t look like any other guy she’s dated. She usually dated taller white guys with more mature personalities. But this guy was short and black and acted like he was 16. I’m 13 and at this time I was 12 and live with my mom, (31f) my sister, (10f) my grandma, (60f), and John 36m. We lived in New Jersey btw. Wedidn’t have a car but John did and he moved in a few days after my mom and him started dating. He worked at a mall in king of pressia which is around a 40 minute drive. My mom would drop him off at work at around 7am and pick him up at around 8pm. Me and my sister would go with her to pick him up but we got really bad motion sick so we took this over the counter medication that helped but made us really drowsy so we would usually fall asleep on the way home. (On the way to pick him up I would sit in the front seat and after we got him I would go in the back). My sister eventually stopped going but I didn’t. The first time I felt weird was one day we were driving to pick John up from work and I thought about needing batteries for my Xbox controller and after a few seconds she asked me if I was out of battery’s yet I said yea but didn’t mention anything about it. This happened at least 4 more times. Sorry but this part needs more background first. My mom grew up living in a trailer park which can give you a good idea how much money we had. Then one day my grandma was driving home from work and got hit buy a drunk driver. Her car was destroyed and she sued him. His defense was he was trying to eat a sandwich but that was complete bs. She was awarded 100k and she bought a house in a good part of nj. She wanted to pay a years worth of taxes in advance but my grandfather convinced her not too. After a while that money was gone and my grandfather left my grandmother for a girl my moms age and my grandmother couldn’t work and my mom moved out after she got addicted to h. After he left my mom came back and we started having random people come to our house trying to sell it because of how behind we where on taxes. But it never actually got sold. Until last year. March of last year we were told we had to leave and we had 2 months. I had lived in this house for 8 years and It was hard. We moved to Philly in a row home and my parents are scared I’ll get hit with cross fire if I got outside cause the area we live in so I can’t go past my porch. It just doesn’t feel real and I’ve felt really drowsy this whole time. It feels like a dream and I’ve always had and still have really vivid dreams. Sorry for the long post but thanks for reading.

Throwaway here
Up until a few days ago I (39m) was dating/just establishing a relationship with a single mother (41f). We have been seeing each other for just over 2 months. Not a long time I know but the ease in which we connected really felt very unique and different than past relationships. A fact she acknowledged more than once. We share similar perspectives, find enjoyment in many of the same things, equally dorky and awkward. We really felt in sync.
I know the intensity of feelings I felt towards her were disproportionate, in a typical sense, to the amount of time we spent/knew each other. When speaking with friends I even said it was stupid I felt this strength of connection so quickly. I know it's easy to think I was naive or seeing things that weren't there, but I am confident that's not the case. There were real reciprocation of feelings and intensity in moments that we both identified. I think I communicate well, I am clear, and understanding, and a good listener. She really appreciated this quality and as such was very open and clear about her feelings towards me as well. Saying things like how she's never dated someone like me (I've been through some shit, did therapy, became pretty emotionally intelligent and self-reflective as a result), telling me how appreciative she is for me, gave me a card stating this on the day she started to pull back actually, how my touch gives her tingles. Straight up telling me a week before how she really likes me.
Yes we were intimate a few times. Intense and mutually satisfying, had improtu spicy chats during the day including the day before we last saw each other. On top of her words and discussions there were actions that also spoke to her really being serious about the connection we were developing. She happens to live right next to her parents and her sisters family. Now she could have kept me separate from all that, but she didn't. I met her sister pretty early on when having a date night at her house. Then a week later she invites me to her sister's house for a little BBQ, was an excellent night. And I ended up meeting her parents too. Not by happenstance either, but rather here come inside my parents house and say hello. And she was having conversations with her son about me and trying to get him comfortable with the idea of meeting me. I even helped her move appliances with her and her dad 3 days before the pull back and 1 week before she ended it. I even installed the washer and dryer for her, then encouraged her to go to an event for her son right after I got done, without me. I didn't do it for any other reason than I really liked her and acts of service are one of the ways I show how I care and it made me feel good to do it, to be there for her. This all has a certain connotation or level of seriousness in a relationship all in its own.
My emotions fed off of her words and actions, maybe my openness and honesty felt like a bit much at times, like I was oversharing. But it was honest and reciprocated every time. There were palpable moments of electricity between us.
Then came the pull back...she is a nurse who works 12 hour shifts and has shared custody of her son. I work a typical m-f schedule. So as we are building this whatever it was, spending time together was a challenge sometimes. I completely respect her keeping me separate from her son until the time was right, never pushed, always accepted that her role as a mother comes first.
So she asks me if I want to do dinner at my house for this past Tuesday. Tuesday is my golf night, but I made an effort to go to work early, leave early, get my match done early so we can have a nice evening. I even took the morning off in case we were up late, so we could maybe wake up next to each other and enjoy sometime together in the morning. She was really excited about this, or rather implied that she was. Even had the spicy talk the day before.
Then she arrives and I can tell something is off. Shes not as receptive to my touch, dynamic is off. After dinner we sit on the couch and she breaks down in tears. She's feeling like we are moving fast, she feels like our texting is taking away from time with her son, wants to dial it back. She has her son for a 5 day stint starting the next day, doesn't want to feel tethered to her phone, wants to feel present. Okay, I get it, respect it, no problem at all. She then tells me about how her divorce went down, kind of wild and not exactly how she made it seem at first. She definitely still is working through that stuff and the ex dynamic is poor and I think he bullies her and knows her buttons. I straight up told her that if I was her partner I would be there and defend her and not let his bullshit slide (maturely, I'm 40 and don't need to be physical). She did say a few times that she was always waiting for the other shoe to drop with us because of her past relationship trauma. But guys, I have no other shoe. I'm a god damn gentleman doing his best to operate in a time when women are more independent, and I support it and respect it.
I send her an email the following day apologizing if I came in to strong, I believe in what we are building, I respect boundaries and her and all her terrific attributes. She responds by saying it was beautiful and she looks forward to moving forward with me. I also suggest phone calls or Video chats in lieu of texting moving forward. And I assured her I didn't need to be in contact 24/7 and that I like my independence as well.
Over the next couple days I let her lead the conversation. If she texted I responded. Typically it wasn't immediately but within 15 minutes unless I myself was busy. I wouldn't try and engage in long discussions. Just little check ins it seemed like. Then her text style changed again, less frequent, no emoji, no real engagement from her in to my activities. I felt it coming.
She was ill over these past few days with bronchitis and was having her period, she felt cruddy and I felt bad I couldn't be there for her like I wanted to. I would ask how she was doing, if she needed anything. Her response was that I was sweet but she could manage. But she began to not ask me about what I was up to, or really engage much at all.
Saturday she ends it, says she hasn't really put all her focus on being a mom since her divorce (4 years ago), she made some relationship mistakes post divorce, still healing, really wants to be there for her son (kid sounds amazing btw). But okay, yeah I am bummed but I respect it. What else can I do right? Kid comes first, I get it.
But you know what really bothered me is that when asked about what we were felt for each other, if it was real, she denies we had this special connection and that she thinks she was forcing it....so my long winded question here is... After all that, does that sound like she was forcing it? She said she felt there was an incompatibility but couldn't identify what it was. She's sorry for leading me on, then tells me not to lose her number. Like wtf? I think she is either lying to herself to make herself feel better or there is something else going on. My hypothesis is that our potential scared her, she doesn't want to get big time hurt again and is anxious about it and somebody put the bug in her ear that the feelings she is having is because she is forcing it (she mentioned a comment a coworker made to this extent about it being forced because she wasnt as giddy as she had been, I think she was fearful and this person labeled it as force). I say this because it all doesn't make sense, I am probably wrong, help me make sense of this, please.
Tl;Dr built a wicked connection with a woman, have evidence it wasn't one sided, special connection, met her parents, installed her appliances, got dumped a week later and was told it wasn't real but forced.

I (F38) am separated from my husband (M49), with a child (F6) and trying to work it out. I unexpectedly fell pregnant and it’s a big mess. I’m high risk being older and on medication difficult to come off. My husband and I are in shock and have a lot to sort through. Telling our family and friends is going to come with lots of questions and potentially upset people.
A few days ago I told my sister as she is the only person I know who has gone through the emotions of an unplanned pregnancy (she was 19 at the time). I said it’s only early, and even without the other complications I wouldn’t want to tell anyone until the first trimester is over. Please keep it private.
Well… she told my 13yo niece who immediately told my 7yo nephew. “Couldn’t help herself”
I’m pissed at my sister. Kids can’t relied on to keep these things to themselves, it’s not fair on them to try. Pushing aside that our whole family will probably find out in a matter of days now (we live interstate to them all) our 6yo daughter who won’t know she’s getting a very much wanted sibling until first trimester is over. In case of the worst, and because she will tell everyone and sundry before we’re ready.
So I told my sister that she shouldn’t have done that and her response was if I didn’t want her children to know I shouldn’t have told her and why haven’t I told my daughter?
I put the boundary down that because she broke my trust, I won’t be trusting her with any other private information because she’s said she will tell her children. Second, that her kids can’t FaceTime my daughter (they live interstate) until we tell her at 13 weeks, just over a month.
She’s said if I’m going to shame her the I can f*ck off out of her life and now posting on Facebook quotes about the power of stepping back from relationships etc. My nephew has been trying to call constantly repeatedly since he found out. AITAH?

It was my cousin sister's wedding and we are Indians, so if you are Indian or know Indian friends/weddings, you know the drill - the daysss long wedding events, the heavy dresses and jewelry, and also, some serious family dramas.
My cousin and I are very close even if there is a huge age gap between us. Naturally, when her wedding came around I was very excited and I helped a lot with the planning and decoration and the food - literally everything. It was exactly as we have imagined her wedding to be like. Just perfect in every way possible. But again, it's a wedding. How is a wedding ever complete with a Drama Llama? So dear potato community, here is the tea.
The man that my cousin was marrying to, my current BIL, is an amazing man who has been with my cousin since their college days. They were friends in their college days and when they started working they joined the same company so they remained close to each other. Friendship turned into love and they decided to date and eventually get married. Both the families were informed and everyone was very happy with their decisions, except just one person. BIL's sister. She didn't have any personal problems with my cousin, her only issue was that her best friend liked my BIL, let's name this friend the 'idiot' (because she truly is an idiot and this is honestly the nicest word I can use for her).
When idiot found out that BIL loved someone else and is getting married, she went ballistic. She has been trying to get his attention for so many years and he didn't even turn towards her even for one day and he was being head over heels for my cousin. I understand her being upset, I have been a girl in love and in heartbreak too, but I wouldn't try to break someone's marriage because of my heartbreak.
Yes she tried to stop their marriage via BIL's sister. The two forged all types of absurd accusations on my cousin and tried to anonymously sneak in the accusations in means of messages from unknown numbers to my cousin's then future FIL and MIL, to emails and even letters delivered to their doorstep. My cousin was really stressed because she thought the FIL and MIL would think the accusations are true and would stop the wedding. I told her, "don't worry sisso, I am here." (add dramatic music here and imagine a cape on my back).
My cousin's father (my maternal uncle), me and my brother first went to the FIL and MIL to let them know that all of this was false and that my cousin is innocent. We asked them for some time and that we will find proof of who has been sending them those false news and will let them know of everything and then they are free to judge and make decisions from their side. We got the permission from them and decided to get to work immediately.
One thing I forgot to mention was that BIL used to live in his own house in a different state from where his parents lived after he got a job. Before this, my cousin and BIL used to live in one town and went to college together. Once they got their jobs, they both came to my city, BIL got his own house and my cousin came to live with me. His family came to live with him when he told them that he wanted to marry so they came help him with the wedding arrangements. What's unfortunate is that the sister also brought her best friend, the 'idiot', who was in love with my BIL since she was 15 and BIL was 17.
I mentioned BIL having his own separate house in a new town because it was important to mention. Both his sister and the idiot didn't know he installed security cameras in his house and that the camera was pretty well hidden so they couldn't have noticed either. We asked BIL if we can see the camera's recordings and we saw someone early in the morning at 4 am dropping a letter. Guess who it was... THE IDIOT!! We showed it to my cousin's FIL and MIL and they cross questioned the idiot about it and she was in tears and admitted to everything. She and BIL's sister apologized for everything. They were forgiven and it was a happily ever after... or so you thought...
Everything after that was pretty peaceful, all the arrangements were made and we are now at the wedding day. My cousin was really jumpy and on her toes at all times, she was panicking so bad about everything. My brother and I had to sit her down and talk her out of her panic. She however mentioned that she was scared that idiot might try to pull up some sick stunt to ruin her wedding day. I however told to her calm down cause I wouldn't let my precious angel's wedding get ruined. I have seen enough Charlotte's videos to know that we must always have a backup plan prepared in advance in situations like this. And so I did. I collected a lot of information and evidences and kept them in place in case they come in handy.
I had my suspicions that they would do something to mess up the wedding way before it even became a thought in my cousin's mind, so I did a little research about the two. Since we all belong from the same hometown, I got in contact with my friends who still lived in the town that my cousin and my BIL used to live in. I asked around about these two baboons and found out that BIL's sister had a boyfriend and has even slept with him. Premarital smex is a big no no here. As for the idiot, I found out that she was slowly getting BIL's sister into illegal substances and into becoming a call girl. Again, a big no no. And I think no parent in this world would want their child to do something that would end up in trouble for them and the child as well. I knew my cousin's FIL and MIL would be worried about their daughter and take actions immediately if I let them know of this. I would have told them this after the wedding was over anyway, but that would have been in private so no one else would know, but I guess the girls wanted something else.
Once the wedding ceremony started and the guests were all there, they were enjoying, everyone was having fun and giving their blessings to the new husband and wife to be. These two pain in the asses were going around and gossiping about my cousin to everyone. We noticed that, and we came up with a quick solution. I asked two of my male friends, who is very attractive to go and talk to the girls. However I told them to switch on their recorder and be with them no matter what. God bless my two friends, they did exactly what I told them without thinking twice. They came to me after an hour or so and told me what was going on.
The two girls were planning to ruin her wedding dress. When I tell you that shit was costly, IT WAS COSTLY. It was really heavy with all the heavy stone work that was done on the cream colored lehenga and if it was stained it would be ruined. We could not afford that in any cost. She was taking a glass of juice from the juice counters and tried sitting right behind the bride but I stepped in and told her to go sit behind her brother and that I would sit behind my cousin. She was trying so hard but me and my brother kept pushing her off and away from my cousin. Eventually she did manage to throw it but it accidentally landed on someone from the groom's side and she got scolded by her. While her grumpy face was funny to see, I still had enough because if that aunty wasn't there, it would have been my cousin. After the wedding was over and people were going to start taking the photos with the couple, I announced that me and my brother had some things to say. Initially we talked about the bride and the groom but then we shifted the attention to the groom's sister and her friend. We played the audios of the calls I had with her friends in the hometown as a surprise to the groom's sister. There were a lot of angry faces, some on the sister and some on me and my brother. I tried to explain, that had she and her friend not try to ruin my cousin sister's wedding dress, this wouldn't have been broadcasted to the entire wedding venue. I then called my two male friends and both of their faces was in gasps. Both of them pulled out their phones and I played the recordings on one of the phones, which explained how they were still spreading fake news about my cousin and also them planning to ruin my cousin's dress. We also got the video recording of them actively trying to throw the red colored drink on my cousin's dress.
Both of them got kicked out from there and weren't allowed to enter until the rest of the ceremony was over. Both of them stood outside, making attempts to convince anyone who would listen to them and let them in, but no one paid heed to them. Once everyone got home they were scolded badly and my BIL's sister kept screaming at me that I was so mean and rude to have their truths exposed to not just her family, but to every relative and friends who was there to witness the show. While my cousin was glad that I had her back and my brother is standing in support of me, my parents and some of our relatives think that it should have dealt within the family and shouldn't have been exposed to anyone outside of the immediate family members. AITA?
Note: I am so sorry if the post ended up being too long but I just wanted to give all the context that would be required to judge the entire situation and my actions as well. Also if something doesn't make sense just blame it on my sleepy head cause I wrote it in half sleep mode.

This is more for me to work out my own feelings than needing advice although advice would be helpful. I am still debating on if I want to talk this out or let it go. So yeah, as the title says, only one person from my friend group showed up to my (28F) Birthday Dinner. I am primarily coming to Reddit because it is embarrassing and shattering my vision of myself. I fear seeking comfort from my out-of-state friends because I do not want them to think less of me. I have always been deeply aware of how lonely I feel/am. It is one of my biggest vulnerabilities, so should other people be aware of it? or imply it with none of my friends who came to my birthday dinner? I can open up about anything else, but this feels too exposing.
But yeah, my friends did not show up for my birthday dinner, and I am not sure how I feel about it. One person did, but he(M29+) is my boyfriend's(32M) friend more than mine. To be honest, this makes it even more embarrassing. Having to search The Feelings Chart, I primarily just feel abandoned, embarrassed, fragile, disrespected, etc. Watching the door and waiting for your friends to show up while conversing with your partner and their friend is difficult. Suddenly, I was 17 again, only having one singular friend going to lunch with me before having other friends and dropping me off at an empty house. I think my parents were at a sibling's game or tournament. or a party? I am not sure; I just remember being home alone for my birthday a month after a suicide attempt. Or I was back at 11, having my birthday overshadowed by my sister's first communion. Or I was back on my 20th birthday, taking myself to see Captain America: Civil War.
Most of them did not even tell me they were not coming. That is what really hurts. I know my birthday sucks for everyone, time-wise. My parents made that very apparent by pushing any family celebration to Father's Day/my dad's & uncle's birthday. Yet only one of the four got back to me two hours beforehand about being unable to make it because they were tired from preparing for their family member's wedding a week from now. However, the thing is, I had gauged the group chat about doing it this weekend a week ago. To be fair, there were acknowledgments of seeing it, but no one directly responded with a conflict. I even sent a message 24 hours before letting everyone know I made a reservation, and people, again, liked the message but did not directly say if there was an issue. That is what is primarily keeping me from having a conversation with anyone. There was obvious acknowledgment of the plans, but no one asked if they could go.
It is apparent I have a lot of baggage around my birthday. I worry I unconsciously make it a test for people and myself. I saw how much people love and value me and based my self-worth and relationships on that. Possibly hope they do not show in a sick way of confirming my deepest insecurity. The rationale part of me acknowledges that it is a lot to put on someone, and things, unfortunately, just do not work out sometimes. On the other hand, this is the third event I have planned as the host where people were busy and canceled at the last minute. Usually, I would just take that as a sign of people not wanting to be friends, but some of them were legitimately interested in it when I briefly discussed it in April. Furthermore, they keep inviting me to their events.
Fundamentally, I do not know where to go from here. Only one of them has reached out, apologizing for not communicating more and saying that they will celebrate at a better time, while the other two have been silent. I think I need more time to process it before having an actual conversation with anyone about it. I am still primarily in the hurt phase, and no communication will be about their actual behavior. For example, with the apology, I was dishonest and said no worries. I wish I did not do that; it caught me off guard, but I did not want it to sit for too long and have them think I was ignoring them out of malice. If I had been in a better headspace, I would have responded with a thank you, acknowledged reading their message, and just be honest about needing more time before talking about it. I just feel sad.
Added context: We are all in graduate school. This is their last quarter before graduating, so they are legitimately busy and finishing up their practice experience/integrative projects and applying to fellowships. Ages range from 25-30.

tw: mentions of weight
i've struggled with bulimia for the past decade and because of this i've been 120-140 pounds my entire life (for context i'm 5'3) since my weight would fluctuate a lot. some years i'd be 120, some 140. and sometimes both within the same year. every time i saw my extended family, i'd get a comment about my weight. every. fucking. time. and they were very fucking blunt too. my grandmother would just straight up say how fat i was, my aunts/uncles would look me up and down and say how "different" i looked, my cousins would make jokes if i was getting something to eat, etc. and it doesn't help that my two sisters have always been really skinny and stayed the same size. fast forward, i lost 25 pounds in the fall due to losing my appetite from stress (i'm a college student). i reached down to 95 pounds. it was actually really unhealthy because i ended up staying overnight at the hospital due to low blood sugar and dehydration. while i hadn't seen a lot of my extended family in years (covid, they're mostly in brazil or different states in the U.S.), they had seen me in pictures posted on facebook. and of fucking course they all made comments or texted my parents or even texted me congratulating me on my weight loss or showing concern. that shit pissed me off so fucking much i wanted to say the nastiest things to these people. the years of shame and ridicule hit me like a fucking truck. and now i'm terrified of seeing these people again. i've gained about 10 pounds since (which i feel good about), and am now at 105 pounds but my grandmother is coming to visit this weekend and i have so much anxiety. i don't know if she'll compliment me or point out that i'm 10 pounds heavier than november but either response makes me sick. i have woken up everyday from nightmares having to do with her and my weight and i can't fucking do this anymore. i feel like i'm going crazy. i just wanna get this over with already. i don't know how i allowed her to have this much power over me. i'm fucking pathetic.

I am making this post hoping somebody can gain some help/insight from this. Even if it is comparing and deciding that their event(s) is nowhere nearly as bad. I am just hoping this helps. I have multiple events and they all make me a sick disgusting monster, most likely incomparable to all of you.
I have ocd, and have struggled in the past but I have been on a roll for the past 2 years with very few slip ups. This stuff that pertains to real events is way different than any other area of my life that ocd has effected.
I am going to add a bit of background about my childhood. This is in no way an excuse or justification for my horrible actions. I am currently a 21 year old male. Living with some friends away from family going to college and working.
Both of my parents were addicts fresh out of treatment, my dad left when I was really young. They had a horrible emotionally and physically abusive relationship. My older brother who is almost exactly 3 years older than me was my only guidance at the time as we didn’t have many friends from moving a couple times. This same older brother sexually abused me for a couple years, I was complicit because I didn’t understand anything was wrong, I figured this was normal for kids. It happened from 7-13 years old. It started as exposing me to porn and teaching me to masturbate, then it turned into sexual touching and sexual acts such as convincing me to give/recieve oral sex, and almost attempt penetration. This was not often, however it happened on a few occasions all within a month. We also practiced kissing. I am not gay. I do not struggle with my sexuality. I like women.
He eventually went to high school and met girls and I’m guessing he left this in the past. So did I for a while, I had no idea the impact it had on me.
Below I am going to list my actions since then and why I am so distressed. All of this behavior occurred from 13-20 years old before I had the big realization.

1. I was totally hypersexual I had inappropriate fantasies involving people in my life, including my own family.
   
2. I masturbated to pictures of cousins and my sisters, all close in age, but still blood family.
   
3. I took a couple pictures of my sister in my early teens, nothing naked or exposing, but still inappropriate and for the wrong reasons. (Under 10 photos, still inappropriate, not a justification.) (since deleted.) (never sent them anywhere or did anything else with them)
   
4. I realized this was an invasion of privacy, I just had absolutely no moral compass and 0 sexual outlet, so I just masturbated to get rid of the “desire” or “thoughts”
   

I knew touching or initiating with any of these people was absolutely wrong or forbidden. I never even considered it, however I still masturbated to these thoughts and images.
In my head it was a way to release sexual energy. I even thought this was something that others may relate to later in life and laugh about. Since then I have realized I am most likely alone, and if I shared these events, people would despise me.
What bothers me is that I genuinely thought there was nothing wrong with my behavior. Legally there wasn’t, but morally there absolutely was. Legal is all I had to go off. And that’s what sometimes make me feel better is the fact that i genuinely didn’t know better. I knew better than not to touch anybody and not to watch anything illegal, however, that’s about it. I thought everyone was curious around this time.
Side note: my dad had a group chat at this time where they would send many pictures of women out in public to each other and rate them, maybe this is why I thought this was okay ? (The taking photos part)
I never ever thought twice about my actions. They seemed justified, they seemed normal for me, don’t ask how, I’m yet to figure that out. I am disgusted with myself.
I found myself recently looking this up all day everyday and finding a couple people that relate but there were a lot of comments that said people like me were the scum of the earth, and I’m having a hard time not believing that.
What hurts the most is nobody knowing, everyone always commends me for how good of a person I have became and all my accomplishments despite my tough childhood. But I feel like they just don’t know who I was and what mistakes I’ve made.
It feels like I’d rather be a serial killer or something I feel like the worst person on the planet to be honest.
I don’t see a way out of this. All my friends and peers love me, but they don’t know this. And I know it would make them disgusted with me. Which I am okay with at this point because I deserve it.
I also know that I would ruin my family life, but i deserve to be despised.
I am posting this hoping that somebody could see this and understand they don’t have it as bad as they think. These were all my actions though and I take full accountability.
I am curious to know how anybody could justify this or explain to me that I’m not just as bad as a rapist or a sex offender or pedophile. As far as I’m concerned, I am and I deserve to be treated as So.
I am going to sleep I hope I’ve helped somebody to know whatever their event is, you’re not alone, or it could be worse. Not trying to minimize, I just know how it is, believe me.
And before you tell me to go to therapy, I am already in the process.
I just want to share in hopes of somebody relating, or telling me I was a sicko, either way I don’t care, I just want feedback.
I know a lot of peoples events are related to sexual stuff. But I’m sure these are some of the worst of the worst.
Thanks for reading. Sorry if I wrote too much. I’ve been needing to let this out.
Any questions or anything, advice, criticism, are welcome here or in dm.

Welcome to the book club New Voices! In this book club we want to highlight books by debut authors and open the stage for under-represented and under-appreciated writers from all walks of life. New voices refers to the authors as well as the protagonists, and the goal is to include viewpoints away from the standard and most common. For more information and a short description of how we plan to run this club and how you can participate, please have a look at the announcement post.
It's time for second chances! I've selected a few books from previous polls, that didn't quite make it and deserve a second chance:

Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Hutchings

Fleeing the final days of the generations-long war with the alien Felen, smuggler Jereth Keeven's freighter the Jonah breaks down in a strange rift in deep space, with little chance of rescue—until they encounter the research vessel Gallion, which claims to be from 152 years in the future. The Gallion's chief engineer Uma Ozakka has always been fascinated with the past, especially the tale of the Fortunate Five, who ended the war with the Felen. When the Gallion rescues a run-down junk freighter, Ozakka is shocked to recognize the Five's legendary ship—and the Five's famed leader, Eldric Leesongronski, among the crew. But nothing else about Leesongronski and his crewmates seems to match up with the historical record. With their ships running out of power in the rift, more than the lives of both crews may be at stake.

Bingo squares: book club

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

The book tells an intergenerational story of a mother and son struggling to relate to each other—the mother an immigrant to the United States who wants to make a home for her family in an unfamiliar country; the son trying to figure out the best way to come out to his parents. Through telling each other fairy tales, they're able to find common ground.

Bingo squares: bookclub

Bacchanal by Veronica Henry

Evil lives in a traveling carnival roaming the Depression-era South. But the carnival’s newest act, a peculiar young woman with latent magical powers, may hold the key to defeating it. Her time has come. Abandoned by her family, alone on the wrong side of the color line with little to call her own, Eliza Meeks is coming to terms with what she does have. It’s a gift for communicating with animals. To some, she’s a magical tender. To others, a she-devil. To a talent prospector, she’s a crowd-drawing oddity. And the Bacchanal Carnival is Eliza’s ticket out of the swamp trap of Baton Rouge. Among fortune-tellers, carnies, barkers, and folks even stranger than herself, Eliza finds a new home. But the Bacchanal is no ordinary carnival. An ancient demon has a home there too. She hides behind an iridescent disguise. She feeds on innocent souls. And she’s met her match in Eliza, who’s only beginning to understand the purpose of her own burgeoning powers. Only then can Eliza save her friends, find her family, and fight the sway of a primordial demon preying upon the human world. Rolling across a consuming dust bowl landscape, Eliza may have found her destiny.

Bingo squares: bookclub

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca in this debut supernatural suspense novel, set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, about a remote house, a sinister haunting, and the woman pulled into their clutches...
In the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father is executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost.
But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined.
When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz’s sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Rodolfo’s sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz’s fears—but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? Why does the cook burn copal incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark its doorway with strange symbols? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano?
Beatriz only knows two things for certain: Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will help her.
Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, Andrés will have to rely on his skills as a witch to fight off the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda and protect the woman for whom he feels a powerful, forbidden attraction. But even he might not be enough to battle the darkness.
Far from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz’s doom.

Bingo squares: bookclub

The Heretic‘s Guide to Homecoming by Sienna Tristen

WINNER OF THE 2019 READERVIEWS AWARD FOR FANTASY! WINNER OF THE 2019 IPPY AWARD FOR FANTASY!
“Life is transformation. You change or you die.”
Ashamed of his past and overwhelmed by his future, Ronoah Genoveffa Elizzi-denna Pilanovani feels too small for his own name. After a graceless exit from his homeland in the Acharrioni desert, his anxiety has sabotaged every attempt at redemption. Asides from a fiery devotion to his godling, the one piece of home he brought with him, he has nothing.
That is, until he meets Reilin. Beguiling, bewildering Reilin, who whisks Ronoah up into a cross-continental pilgrimage to the most sacred place on the planet. The people they encounter on the way—children of the sea, a priestess and her band of storytellers, the lonely ghosts of monsters—are grim and whimsical in equal measure. Each has their part to play in rewriting Ronoah’s personal narrative.
One part fantasy travelogue, one part emotional underworld journey, The Heretic’s Guide to Homecoming is a sumptuous, slow-burning story about stories and the way they shape our lives.

Bingo squares: bookclub
Do you like the selection? Have you already read one of the books and want to recommend it to others? Do you know any additional Bingo squares for any of the books? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Click here to vote

Voting will run until May 27 and the winner will be announced on May 28

So, I, 23F, have always placed high value on my friendships. I am usually friends with other women as I don’t feel comfortable around men due to many negative experiences (being sexualised, stalked, etc.) I don’t date and only care about my friends and family.
I’ve noticed, the closer I get, like comfortable close, the more things go wrong and somehow, it’s always my fault? Like I say something that never bothered them before and all of a sudden they freak out on me, yet act all kind to everyone else. Maybe it’s because they feel more comfortable with me that they can let loose but it always leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I always hold back my true feelings about being hurt or bothered by something they do since I’m afraid they’ll get hurt if I point it out and blame it on me.
I’m always the pacifist in my friendships and have to quell all and any arguments even though there was nothing to argue about in the first place.
Example 1: My friend, who is also my co-worker. texted me the day before. I didn’t get any of her messages. The next day, I came in, and she’s acting cold towards me. While in class, she’s not helping or translating anything I say to the students as usual (I’m an English teacher in Japan, she’s the main Japanese teacher for English). I ask her what’s wrong and she said I ignored her feelings and I told her I don’t know what she was talking about. I showed her I didn’t get any of her texts and she showed me that she sent texts about the brownies I made were delicious…I do not think me not answering about brownies warrants such a cold shoulder, especially since it was the day prior. Like, having access to other people via text and call is a privilege and I’m not always available to answer 24/7.
Example 2: I asked a friend of mine, who lives 5 minutes away from the bus stop I would be getting off at, if she would be willing to pick my sister and I up and drop us off 5 mins away at the place I parked, which is a 30 min walk. I thought we were super close friends and I’ve driven hours for her when she needed someone to cry to. Her face instantly dropped and turned cold, as if I killed a puppy or something. She said she would try, but she goes to sleep at 10pm, which I know is not true, she usually goes to sleep at 12am because she’s always up and messaging me at that time. I told her if she doesn’t want to, she doesn’t have to and she spun it around, saying that I’m making her feel guilty.
These are just two recent examples. I just want to have a close friendship with another woman without it going bad as soon as we get close. Anyone else experience this?

I don't even understand what the fuck her problem is. She was also a victim of my uncle, though not on the same level as my mom. I think she's pissed that everything my uncle did also has highlighted her in a bad light as the distant sister and aunt that did nothing.
Had this lovely phone call. I don't remember much of it since I was so pissed off, but I can try to piece it together. For context, ill be calling my aunt Aunt Cin.
Cin: Hey sweetie! Long time no talk!
Me: Yeah. What's up, Aunt Cin?
Cin: Well, I heard that you got your uncle arrested for some things that he threatened and such.
Me: Yeah? He threatened to piss on my grandpa's grave, Aunt Cin.
Cin: Well, all the things you said about him seem to also cast me in a bad light.
(YUP, AT THIS POINT I'M DONE ENTERTAINING HER)
Me: visibly angry Well, maybe if you didn't stand by and let the shit that happened to Mom and by extension me happen you wouldn't be cast in a negative light. It's not my fucking job to kiss your ass.
Cin: I'm not saying it is, sweetie. But what I am saying is that you didn't need to air out the family's dirty laundry like this.
Me: Like what, Aunt Cin? Like how you actively either did nothing to help your own sister or, worse yet, reveled in her misery because you also weren't an unwanted child? How Grandma and Grandpa left you with tons of shit and left my mom with near nothing? Like how Uncle Rob would have you run interference when he was actively beating my mom up or attempting to kill her? Let's not forget he too got you fucking raped by Great-Uncle, who also tried to molest me at 3 fucking years old. It is NOT my fucking job to make you appear in any kind of light. It is my job to destroy the generational traumas that my mom suffered so my kids don't ever deal with the shit she and by extension myself went through. And if that means that the truth paints you as the distant older sister that allowed for all of this to go on to your baby sister, then so be it. Instead of complaining to me about it, Aunt Cin, how about you fucking take some goddamn responsibility for once?
At that point she began to say something, but I hung up and muted her calls and texts. I'm not interested in her goddamn excuses.
No wonder my mom is as fucked up as she is.

Wade held Jasmine in his arms as he flew a low height down the long road to another section of the staryard, Tina on his back and Nathan and F right behind them in the air. Together, the five glided across the base grounds, taking care as to not irritate the aerial security during their search for the meeting room. Being outside for the flight, the group considered it a blessing that Wade's 'enhanced cooling unit' allowed his body to tolerate the breaching sun in the still cloudy sky, which, according to F, was dangerous to drones like her due to the inefficient cooling she and disassembly drones like her suffered from. Given F's physical fault, she had to fly under shady areas in order to safely traverse the base at day.
Originally, Wade and his friends had planned to walk to the meeting zone, but after running into a trooper experiencing a health mishap, the group did what they could to help the distressed officer. By the time he was brought to the medical ward by other soldiers, Wade found that him and his team would be at least a few minutes late if they kept on their way with their walk.
Deciding to speed things up, Wade, understanding the concern for performing such an effort, opted to carry the Fowleys around the base to the meeting area. Reluctantly, F decided to come along, carrying Nathan in a similar manner that Wade was carrying Jasmine. Taking notice of the time on his HUD, which read, "9:47 AM", Wade scouted for the building he and his friends were directed to. "8072" He said to himself, the number being for the building that would house the imminent meeting.
"They said it was down here, right?" Wade asked aloud to Tina before stopping himself in mid-air, the girl holding onto him tightly as he tried to speak over the growing sound of a retrofit Apache flying overhead.
Looking about, Tina nodded as she spotted the target building. "Yes, I believe that's the one over there!" Pointing past his head, Wade followed her finger to a large building ahead at his right. The structure was moderately tall, only about two stories high, with several soldiers and officers going in and out of the building. Wade smiled as he noticed the target number, as well as the big, bold words describing the building's designation. "8072, Briefing Center B"
"Good eye, honey. Hang on!" Continuing his low glide, Wade zoomed towards the building's entrance before stopping just meters above the ground, his two friends close behind as they slowed down as well. The troopers around them initially looked startled by the sudden arrival of Wade and his group, but quickly regained their composure as Wade hovered still above them.
"At ease! Just visitors." One of the soldiers declared as they identified the newcomers, who touched down before Wade let Jasmine down to her feet, Tina hopping onto the ground along with her.
Putting his hands up, Wade apologized for his swift surprise. "Sorry for the scare, we got delayed for a meeting we're invited to."
The soldier gave an understanding nod as he replied to the former worker drone sternly. "I can see that, just be a bit more careful next time, Mr. Carter. You gave the boys here quite a scare."
Wade returned the gesture in embarrassment as F put a hand to his back, chuckling at his efforts as Tina questioned the officer. "Is Mrs. J in there? She's the one who called for us."
The guard gave his reply as Wade and Tina pulled out their IDs for clearance. "Yes she is, Miss. The meeting's set to begin in under ten minutes." Checking the two drones' IDs, Jasmine and the others pulled out theirs as well, the watchman motioning another trooper over to verify the group. Once the guard finished checking the five's cards, he nodded in approval as the watchman spoke once more. "You're clear to enter."
"Thank you Sir, again, sorry about that spook back there." Wade replied with a smile as the trooper gave one of his own, the disassembly drone and his allies making their way towards the office door before stopping upon the call of a voice.
"Hey, Felice!" Wade turned to find the origin of the voice, F doing the same as the two quickly spotted a quartet of soldiers walking excitedly towards F. The disassembly drone glanced to her friends with a smile before turning back to the approaching entourage.
Wade examined the four troops as they got closer: Two human men, one woman, and a male worker drone. One of the male soldiers had short, blonde hair, and a small scar to the right side of their face. The second man bore a tan skin tone and had black hair, with blue strips that went down slightly in a mullet style. The woman bore a set of long, dark green hair, with the hair going down and over her left shoulder. As for the worker drone, he wore the standard green soldier helmet, single eye visor and all. He had no hair on him from what Wade could tell, and bore a pair of whiteish purple eyes on his visor.
As F walked over to the soldiers, the same one that called to her spoke again. "Felicity, I didn't expect to see you around here today! Where you been?"
The girl soldier interrupted his initial chatter. "Hang on Carlos, do you even know if she remembers us?"
"Aye, don't she have one o' them memory locks, or sumthin?" The drone added in a heavy Scottish accent.
F waved her hand as she replied to the group. "Easy, everyone. Thankfully I still got my memories, courtesy of my technician back at Central." Lowering her hand, F let down her usual persona as she gave a wide smirk to the soldiers, clearly pleased to see them. "Good to see you guys around here."
The soldiers gave light cheers to F as they all embraced her, the group having a surprise reunion as Wade and the others watched in surprise. These must've been F's old colleagues from when she was in the service, Wade thought. Quite the coincidence for them to be here at this base of all places.
Not bothering with the convenience of the matter, Wade shook the thought off as he and his friends watched F and her old friends breaking the hug, Tina wrapping an arm around her boyfriend as the second male human spoke to her in what the two discerned as Spanish. "Ay, who your new friends, F?"
"Oh, these guys?" F replied in the same language, quietly startling Wade and the others as they had never heard her speak like that until now. Glancing over to Wade, F motioned him and the others to come over. "Everyone, these are some friends I made in the past few days. Wade, Nathan, Tina, and Jasmine." She pointed her hand to the four as she said each of their names. "I met the boys here during my time on Ceres. Jasmine and Tina here are sisters."
The four soldiers gave various forms of excitement, ranging from hearty laughs to low woops and even a whistle from one of the guys. As F stood next to her old teammates, they each introduced themselves to Wade and his friends. The blonde soldier went first. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all, name's Carlos, Lieutenant Marksman."
"I'm Private Alvaros, good with close-range and stealth operations." Said the tan soldier with a salute.
"Sergeant Lucia Vasquez, usually the one who leads this bunch around these days." The female warrior stated with a humorous smirk.
"And Corporal Duncan Wallace, at your service!" The soldier drone stated proudly as he saluted to the bunch in front of him, who gave warm smiles as Wade shook his hand.
"Quite honored to meet you all, seems you have quite the history with F." The former worker drone said as Carlos patted F on her back.
"Oh, we do! She's the one who took charge when we didn't! Did you all hear of the Pasting of Nola VI?" Jasmine and Tina gave nods of affirmation while Wade, not as familiar with such history, held his hand up in a questioning manner.
"I think, wasn't that the battle where the Navy just barely held the outpost in that system? From the Stryker Clan?" Wade asked as Carlos nodded approvingly to him.
"That's right, and if Felice weren't there, WE would've been the ones getting pasted!" Carlos' statement brought victorious cheers and "oorahs" from the group, F letting a blush loose as she chuckled at her team's praise of her efforts.
"Well, that's not wrong." Although she didn't want to break off from her friends and discuss the past few years since they'd last met, F remembered the briefing. Clearing her throat, she continued. "And as much as I'd like to chat about the good times, I've been called to a meeting here, as have Wade and his crew."
The soldier group gave understanding looks to F as Lucia spoke up. "Thought so, Carl here was real eager to see you, though."
"Maybe we can talk after the meeting?" Nathan proposed as the soldiers collectively nodded in agreement, F readying a smartcomm attachment before turning to face her friends again.
"We're probably getting low on time, you all go in, I'll catch up in a sec." Wade nodded in acknowledgement before taking Tina's hand, the lover drones continuing towards the briefing center as Jasmine and Nathan followed behind them.
Passing through the door, the four guests observed a short hallway, which seemed to split into two paths as they came closer to the other end. Looking to a sign on the wall above, they saw arrows pointing to two separate areas, "Primary Briefing Room; Main Lobby + Secondary & Tertiary" Going to the right, they entered the moderately active lobby, several officers walking and standing about in mass chatter. Walking over to the desk up against the wall to their left, Wade and his group waved a hand to the occupying attendant.
"Welcome, what do you need?" The desk attendant asked as Tina raised a finger to reply.
"We're here for a meeting, Mrs. J called us here."
The attendant nodded in understanding before directing an arm towards the other end of the room, where a single door stood. "She should be in the second briefing room down that way."
"Thank you." Tina replied warmly before she and Wade began walking towards the door, their friends behind them as they proceeded into the room.
The room beyond the door was quite sizable, a large circular table occupying the middle with several chairs surrounding it. The walls went up a few meters, with four whiteish blue lights illuminating the room. On the wall opposite to Wade and Tina were three monitor screens, all of which showed the USN in bright blue. In several of the seats were faces both familiar and unfamiliar, several men and women in varying styles of uniforms conversing about quietly or taking notice of the recent visitors. Standing up near the monitors were three people: A decorated officer whom Tina identified as a ship captain, and the so-called operatives, Tessa, albeit as a hologram, and J.
Walking slowly into the room, Wade gave a low wave of his hand as he tried to hide his nervousness. Noticing his shyness in front of the officers, Tina held his hand and rubbed his arm comfortingly while returning a pleasant smile to the staff in the room.
"Ah, Wade, Tina. Glad to see you all here." J stated with a smile as she scanned the group, raising a digital eyebrow as she noticed one missing guest. "Or, most of you, I see. Did F run off somewhere?"
Wade shook his head as he replied to his fellow disassembly drone. "Oh, no. She just ran into some old friends, she should be back-"
"Right now." F finished aloud as she entered the room, seemingly having heard Wade speaking about her absence. The warrior drone fast walked to Wade's team, taking a seat near them as they prepared to do the same. "Not too late, are we?"
"Not at all." The standing officer answered as the group took their seats, Wade and Tina sitting next to each other as they got comfortable. The captain examined the lot for a moment, glancing to J as he asked about them. "So, these are the ones you helped rescue from the Mojave?"
"Yes Captain, and they helped us out greatly in turn. This is Wade Carter, one of the captured drones whom became a disassembly drone before we could mount the rescue. The luckiest one, if you ask me." Motioning her arm over the others, she continued. "And there's his girlfriend, Mrs. Tina Fowley, and her sister Jasmine." Smirking to F and Nathan, she finished her friends' introductions. "And these two are Serial Designation F and Mr. Nathan, whom I've heard were once under your ranks."
The military captain gave a welcoming smile to the five as they returned the gesture, eyeing F and Nathan specifically before speaking to them. "Indeed they were, we still have records on their contributions to the colonies." Eyeing F, he continued. "Though, in Mrs. F's case, I won't blame her if she doesn't remember us. We've been very well aware of JCJenson's 'memory suppression' protocols when it comes to their DDs."
F laid back in her seat with a smug look as she replied to her former superior. "Well, my friend on the station's a good tech gal. She's... waived that hindrance from me."
"I see, that means your still with us, am I right, Mrs. Lee?" Unlike her friends next to her, F was not startled by her original name being said aloud, rather smiling proudly as she saluted to the captain. "Good to see you again."
"Pleased to be here, Sir." F replied as she lowered her arm, glancing to her companions next to her as J spoke up.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Captain Preston Mitchell, commander of the USNV Vickers down at the stardock."
Wade gave a respectful salute to Preston as he spoke first. "It's an honor to meet you, Sir."
"Thank you, Mr. Carter. I've heard about your efforts from J, you did an admirable job back there, son." Wade failed to hide an embarrassed blush from the compliment, but it quickly faded as a beep sounded from a small device on the table. It was swiftly silenced by the captain as he tapped a button on the small, pyramid shaped timer, then facing Wade's group before continuing. "Though, as much as we could use some small talk, it'll have to wait till later."
"Indeed, we're running late at this point." Said another officer, a highly decorated member of the base with dark skin, dark grey hair and a thin beard. He immediately won the attention of everyone in the room as he spoke up. "I'm General Hugh Hood, overseer of this base. I'm certain you know some of the reasons you're here with us, correct?"
Wade nodded as he spoke to Hood. "Yeah, it's cause of those rogue agents from the JCJenson corporation." Glancing to J, the corporate drone nodded in affirmation before speaking herself.
"Tessa and I spent the last hours of yesterday evening clearing up the matter with General Hood, along with several other officials stationed here." She stopped as the middle monitor behind her flashed with a banner at the top, reading, "INCOMING TRANSMISSION", and in place of the USN emblem was a textless version of the JCJenson logo. Below the profile image was another two lines of text. "N. Jenson (Company Exec); Comms Source: Yottrite IV"
"And also told our boss about what happened here too, he wanted to give his say on this ordeal." Looking to the general, J asked him, "May I put him on?"
Hood only gave a nod of approval to the corporate drone before she picked up a remote on the table and tapped a button, accepting the call as the picture shifted to show a middle-aged man in a pristine-looking business suit on the screen.
Wade and Tina glanced to each other before J introduced their guest on the screen. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the CEO of JCJenson: Mr. Noor Jenson."
Jenson gave a pleased nod to his subordinate as he spoke to J. "Thank you for the pleasantries, J. I see we are ready to discuss our plans on dealing with this 'recall' disaster I've bore witness to on the news this morning?"
J nodded as she replied to her boss. "Indeed, I've explained to General Hood here about our efforts yesterday, and, as of recent, we've just received a message from a source we believe to be close to the company."
Mr. Jenson looked down to J attentively as he spoke to her. "Well, that's quite intriguing news, J. Do you have this message available for us to view?" J and Hood both nodded in affirmation, but didn't get an immediate reply as Jenson gazed to Wade and his friends. "...And I presume these are some of the drones rescued from one of the factories?"
Again, J nodded to her superior before explaining her colleagues. "Yes Mr. Jenson, the two drones at the front in particular were among those taken by the Administrator and their subordinates." Pointing an arm to Wade and Tina, she introduced the drone couple. "The disassembly drone here is Mr. Wade Carter, a brother to his-technically speaking-owner, the late Ron Carter. The latter helped us recover Wade during an initial raid inside the Nevada facility." When bringing up Ron, J gave an apologetic look to Wade as to show she did not mean to be offending on him and his brother's relationship. "And this is his romantic partner, Mrs. Tina Fowley. I heard she and her sister Jasmine are pilots."
Jenson looked over the two drones as his obedient employee described them to him, quietly sighing as Wade and Tina returned the gaze with nervous smiles. Once J finished, Jenson spoke to Wade. "I... would say it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Carter. But, given recent events, I don't hold fault to you for feeling frustrated at me for my... former subordinate's actions."
Wade shook his head lightly, taking Jenson's light apology with a faint smile as he replied to the CEO. "Actually, I don't. The only person I have such feelings put towards is," He hesitated for a moment, his anger at Dr. Halloway returning for a short moment before he eased himself. "..That bastard Halloway."
"The feeling's mutual, Mr. Carter. Dr. Halloway has been trying my patience for years now, especially with you and your fellow disassembly drones." Looking to J, then F, he returned his gaze to Wade before questioning him on his new body. "I don't know if J has told you of this, but if there's one truth my company has admittedly not held up to for a while, it's our quality. Recently, some of my research staff here made blueprints for an upgraded variant of the disassembly drone design. It's intended to fix several faults we expected to be nonexistent previously, most notably that atrocious cooling unit."
As a schematic pulled up on the left monitor, everyone glanced to the improved design before F spoke up about it. "If I may ask, Mr. Jenson, how big of an improvement is this new cooling unit supposed to be?"
"Good question, F. Frankly, it's supposed to do away with the issue entirely. Saves us from sacrificing enormous supplies of oil for the poorly built unit in the previous iterations. We even tested it with a repaired drone just a few days ago, and it worked flawlessly." Then, glancing to Wade again, he questioned the former worker drone on his new form. "Speaking of, how does your enhanced body feel, Mr. Carter? I'm certain it feels better to not have to-"
"Actually, Mr. Jenson," Wade interrupted, pulling out one of his canteens as he answered the CEO on his upgrades. "I guess Halloway changed up the blueprints, cause unfortunately this new cooling unit didn't cure the overheating problem. I... kinda learned that the hard way." Wade glanced to Tina apologetically, still feeling bad from her seeing him eat the corpse of the dead murder drone back at the factory.
The corporate CEO grimaced in frustration as he took in Wade's statement, already intolerant of the head researcher's actions as he replied. "...I was worried about that, Edgar always likes to run things his own way, making excuses for that 'Administrator' he watches over." Taking an agitated breath, he continued on with his spew on the two culprits of yesterday's events. "It was only because of all the very impressive creations and enhancements she and her research team provided that I tolerated them for so long, but this..." Sitting up straight in front of the camera, Jenson finished sternly. "J said the Administrator... Cyn, I believe? She was apparently something worse than we presumed originally, and I'm very inclined to believe so after yesterday."
"As well as the program tied to the Administrator, the AbsoluteSolver." J clarified before receiving an agreeing nod from Mr. Jenson, standing corrected on his placing of blame.
Raising a hand, Nathan asked about the supposed plans. "Yeah, about this "Solver Project", what do we plan to do about that?"
"Good question, Nate." Tessa replied as she crossed her arms before looking to Jenson and beginning her explanation. "Initially, we were going to investigate the other factories spread across Earth in order to get some more info on the Administrator before things get worse. But, just this morning, it seems someone else saved us the trouble." Just as Tessa neared the end of her sentence, J held up the remote again, tapping a few buttons before the left monitor shifted to show a slightly grainy video onscreen.
The video only showed a single being, a worker drone, dressed in a chrome suit and bearing a set of yellow eyes. Behind them was what appeared to be a vacant room, a few shelves holding many books within them standing still in the back. The drone's visage indicated they were filled with immense anxiety, terrified of being caught as they spoke quietly to the camera.
"I can only hope someone gets this in time, they're gonna be on me once they find out the transmitter screens are down!" Turning the camera, he showed what appeared to be a large factory room, several more of the mysterious conveyor belts like at the factory slotted next to each other. It was hard to discern every detail due to not only the window reflection, but also the dark lighting in the inactive conveyor room. Filming the room beyond, the drone continued. "Dr. Halloway's a madman, he's got more of those stolen drones being brought here and he's going to be overseeing it in the afternoon tomorrow! I've seen what happened back in Nevada, I can't take this any longer! I'm at coordinates ##.######, -###.###### Please, send someo-"
The suspicious, partially scrambled transmission immediately cut off to static, leaving Wade, Tina, and their friends with confused expressions as Tessa spoke up. "Yeah, that caught me by surprise too."
"So, that guy says they got more drones being sent 'there', but... where is there, exactly?" Jasmine asked with immense curiosity.
"I was hoping you'd ask that, Mrs. Fowley." The technician replied as she glanced to J, who tapped a few more buttons on the remote before speaking over her boss-friend.
"While the transmission itself isn't much to work off of, our friends from Comms over here managed to intercept the signal earlier, and even better, discern where it originated from." As J started her explanation, the screen shifted once more to show a large city, with one skyscraper highlighted in red as it was zoomed towards on the screen. "That scrambled audio wasn't a simple glitch, it was intentionally done so as to hide key information for us to uncover. Upon cleaning up the message, we managed to recover a set of coordinates, which direct to this structure here, in San Francisco."
Wade and his friends stared at the building in shock, examining the tall structure as it stood over the shorter buildings in the city. Tina broke the silence in her gaze. "So, this is another factory? It looks... terribly different from the one we got out of."
"Not exactly, Mrs. Fowley." Mr. Jenson answered, Tina and the others looking to him as he continued. "THAT is the Administrator's main laboratory, its location was kept on the down low so other authorities and terrorist groups wouldn't find out what the buildings true purpose was." Sighing, Jenson completed his reply. "But, with this recent mistake of Halloway's, that place has lost all purpose for us at the company."
Wade raised a hand to speak. "So, we're going to pounce on that place? Get Halloway before he runs off again?"
"Exactly." General Hood replied as he looked up to Mr. Jenson. "This whole 'recovery/recruitment' effort has gotten out of hand all across Sol. We've gotten countless reports of people being killed because of this, be it the brutal robberies here in Nevada or the bloodbath on Ceres. Even if Mr. Jenson refuses to cooperate, this has become a dire matter for us now. One way or another, this insanity will be stopped with due haste."
The CEO nodded in acknowledgement before explaining his own plans for the mission. "Speaking of cooperation, upon seeing what was happening at Earth, I ordered a detachment of our corporate starships in orbit at the time to depart for Sol in order to help with investigating the situation. They're not warships, but they are well-armed. I'll dispatch them to your authority upon concluding this call." Glancing to Wade and his team for a moment, Jenson continued. "As for the mission, I may not have much of a say, but let it be known that you have my blessing to do whatever it takes to end this madness. I don't care what you do with Halloway or any of his lackeys, or what happens to that facility down there... I want that program shut down."
"Thank you for the extra hands, Mr. Jenson. We'll make sure this Administrator is dealt with." Hood replied gratefully as Wade sat firm in his seat, Tina and the others following suite.
"General?" The former worker drone said aloud, catching Hood's attention before he made his request. "I know I'm not a soldier, but I want to help with dealing with Halloway and his grunts. After what he did, after losing my brother, I can't rest until I see that man stopped."
Tina raised a finger as well. "As do I, Wade could use a hand with those people, and given how we did during our escape run out of that place, I think the two of us make quite the duo." She glanced to Wade with a smirk as she referenced their combat prowess when flying together.
Nathan and F stood up before the latter gave her own request. "Sir, I wish to take part in this mission as well. I can also recommend Wade for you too, as I fought alongside him during the factory raid."
"Wouldn't mind giving a hand myself! And I'm sure my pal Kurtis would love to help, he's here at the base too!" Nathan added with a confident smirk, the group's determination encouraging Jasmine to stand up as well.
"I'd like to help too." She stated simply, a smile on her face as the general and his companions observed the five guests.
Admittedly, Hood knew it would be a bit absurd to allow these people to take part in an operation which would certainly involve bloodshed, especially considering most of them merely had civilian status at the moment. But, upon careful evaluation of the five, their desire to see this problem dealt with, and the fact that some of them had experience on the field...
He paused his train of thought as Captain Mitchell spoke to him. "General? I read up on the Fowleys' files when we recovered Mrs. Jasmine here, they provided service in their early careers." He smirked to the pilot sisters as he finished adding his say. "And to be frank, we need more people like them here. The records we have of them showed them to be damn fine pilots."
Tina blushed at the praise from Mitchell as she spoke to the general. "That is true, we uh... did get discharged for our... 'fancy maneuvering'."
"Sir?" Jasmine said, the general's attention on her as she added to the conversation. "Even if our flying is a bit out of protocol, Tina saved a lot of people on that starjet a few days back. I can promise you, she's an excellent woman to have at the wheel."
Glancing to Wade again, Hood took in his face, one of begging desperation as he spoke once more. "Please, Sir. My brother, the troops he brought from the Coalition, Halloway's gotten them all killed cause of this. I want to do this. I HAVE to do this, at least for them."
The good general took a deep, quiet breath, considering his decision once more before finally revealing it to Wade and his friends. "Mr. Carter, Fowleys? I'm probably making myself a fool for saying this, but you're permitted to assist us in this mission."
The drone couple contained their gratefulness in the form of ecstatic grins as Wade replied to the general. "Thanks, General. We won't let you down."
"And Mrs. Lee?" Hood said as he glanced to F, who returned the gesture as he told her, "You're technically under Mr. Jenson's authority, whatever his answer is, it's mine as well."
Bringing her yellow-orange eyes to her CEO, F awaited Mr. Jenson's answer. "F, yes? I heard Mr. Hood call you by a different name just now, I assume you have some experience with the army?"
The warrior drone nodded as she explained herself. "I once inherited the name of Felicity Lee, Mr. Jenson. I served under the USN Defense Forces before joining the DD Division." Then, glancing to the military staff near her, she finished with, "I had hoped to provide my enhancements to the Force one day."
Jenson gave a hint of a proud smile as he finally gave his decision. "Well, it seems you'll finally get that chance. From now on, even after this mission on Earth is over with, you're hereby dispatched to serve under the USN."
F admittedly couldn't hide her excited smirk as she flung a salute to her now former boss. "Thank you Sir!"
Looking up to Jenson, General Hood asked the CEO, "Mr. Jenson, how long until your ships can reach Earth?"
Jenson glanced down at his communication console as he answered the military leader. "At max speed, their Ion drives should be able to bring them into orbit in as little as one to two days. I believe there should be some ships within the system that could help as well."
"Signal them when you can, Mr. Jenson. We could use all the help we can get from them." The CEO nodded to Hood as he stood firmly to the viewer, the general turning to face Wade and his colleagues. "And Mr. Carter? We'll be mobilizing our forces immediately after this meeting concludes. It'll be a minute, but I want you to gather whatever items and belongings you'll need for this operation. Be ready to head to the flight pads in no more than three hours."
"Understood Sir!" Wade said with a salute, Tina, Jasmine and Nathan giving their own as Jasmine raised a finger.
"What about the area around the lab? That place looks like it's in the middle of the city."
J raised a finger as she told Jasmine and the others about their resolution of the civilian obstacle. "Shortly after reporting our findings on the transmission, Hood told us that they were sending in some teams to clear out the civilian population within several miles of the facility. Once we get there, it should be of no concern."
Jasmine sighed in relief as Tina spoke up. "So the people should be safe from any sort of danger?"
"Correct, Mrs. Tina." Preston answered before continuing. "Given the resistance Halloway and his men showed during the Coalition's raid, they most certainly won't hold back there."
"One more thing, Sir." Nathan asked. "The Coalition's going to help us out with this too, right?"
"You can count on it, Mr. Nathan." The Vickers' captain replied as he looked to J, then to Jenson as he spoke further. "I met the leader of the Coalition's detachment working with us when I was introduced to J and Mrs. Elliott here, they intend to see this conflict finished. I highly doubt they're willing to sit back and let us do this by ourselves."
"And their help will be much appreciated." Hood added, everyone's attention returned to him as he looked to Tessa, curious eyes scanning her holographic form. "And Mrs. Elliott, if I may. Do you mind heading down here to assist us in our investigations later on?"
"Funny you say that, General. I'm almost done with my own snooping around on the JCJ up in orbit, Cyn has some small departments of hers aboard, and I thought I'd gather some more intel before coming down." Glancing to Mr. Jenson, she saw him giving an understanding nod before returning her gaze to the military staff. "I should be down there by the evening, judging by where you're located."
"Do what you must, Mrs. Elliott. We could use whatever you find." Hood replied firmly as he turned once more to the JCJenson CEO. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Jenson. We will get to the bottom of this."
"It's my pleasure, General." Glancing to J and Tessa, he spoke to them once more. "J? Contact me when you've finished with Halloway and his Administrator."
"It'll be done, Mr. Jenson." The obedient servant answered before saluting firmly, receiving a final nod from her boss before he ended the transmission.
With their off-world guest out of the way, Hood looked to Wade and his friends, J, Tessa and Captain Mitchells sharing the gaze with them as the general spoke to them in finality. "Well, you know what comes next everyone. You're all dismissed for now. And remember, landing zone by 1300."
"We'll be there Sir." Wade said with a nod as he and his friends stood up, pushing in their chairs before making their way out to the door.
As they neared it, Wade stopped for a moment as they heard Hood call to one of his friends. "And F?" The soldier drone looked to the general as he continued. "Before we depart, would you mind changing your uniform? I believe it could help with identifying you from the other disassembly drones more easily." Glancing to J, then back to F, he finished with, "I recall hearing about the most formidable drones having clones prepared, yes?"
"Correct, Sir. I'll stop by the nearest barracks while I can." F replied before turning back to the door with her colleagues, Wade opening the door for them all as they passed through. After them, Wade passed through himself, shutting the door to the meeting room as he returned to the lobby.
Walking about together, F spoke to Wade and the others. "Well, that went smoothly. I'll be heading down to the barracks, then head over to your place to help out."
"Actually," Wade replied, raising a finger up as he asked his fellow murder drone, "You think you could bring your friends over? We could get to know each other while we're getting ready."
F glanced to Nathan with a smile before returning her eyes to Wade. "I could see about that. You're gonna like them, I can promise you that."
Taking Tina's hand, Wade walked with his girlfriend alongside Jasmine and the others, nearing the hallway they came through as they prepared for the walk back to the apartment.

Wade's visor beeped to life as his alarm system went off, the murder drone's clock showing the time, "8:00 AM", changing to his green-yellow eyes as he woke up. Tina's visor activated as well, the drone girl's own alarm activating she awakened from slumber with Wade.
Stifling a yawn, Wade looked to Tina as he rubbed her back, easing her as she rose upright. "Good morning, sweetie."
"Morning, Wade." Tina replied quietly as she looked to Wade, the two drones smiling warmly as they took in each other's presence. Noticing they were both almost completely bare of clothing, the two drones blushed as Wade began to move off the bed.
"Well, I should get something on." The former worker drone stated as they touched down on the floor, Tina grabbing her green shirt from the counter as she tried to get dressed as well.
"So should I." Tina said back as she put the shirt on, memories of their recent night together still fluent in her mind as she slowly walked over to the kitchen.
The last hours of the past night had been calm for the most part, Wade and his friends detailing their tragic capture, the loss of his brother Ron, the rescue of the drones, and finally, Tina and Wade's miraculous escape from the factory before returning to the base. After the chatter in the bar, the group split off to go their separate ways for the time being, Jasmine going with Wade and Tina to help them into her place before leaving them to watch it while she went to get some food for the next day. During their quiet stay in the apartment, Wade and Tina made small talk over what to do in the future before having what humans would call a... very pleasant night together.
And now, with the new day approaching, the drone couple had to get ready for whatever came ahead. Walking over to his clothes on one of the vacant chairs in the living room, Wade picked up his shirt, slapping it on him before glancing to Tina, who merely wore her copper brown pants and green shirt from yesterday. Smiling at his girlfriend, Wade spoke to her as he turned back around to continue redressing himself. "Seems Jasmine went out somewhere this morning. I don't see her anywhere."
Tina listened to Wade as she inspected the counter, noticing a small sticky note lying on it as she took hold of it. Tina could tell it was left by Jasmine, given the handwriting. The note said, "Morning you two! Went to get some food I forgot to pick up, I should be back shortly after you wake up. - Jasmine"
The pilot drone smiled as she read her sister's note, then turning to the living room to speak to Wade. "She went to get some breakfast, we should expect her to come back any minute now." Opening the fridge, Tina grabbed two cool cans of oil, one for herself and another for Wade. Setting the cans down on the counter, Tina closed the fridge before taking hold of the cans again, taking them with her to the living room where a fully dressed Wade now resided at.
As Tina took a seat next to Wade on the couch, the disassembly drone examined his built-in smartcomm, trying to add all the still active contacts he remembered off the top of his circuits as he spoke to Tina. "It's gonna be hard, being my own person without Ron." Chuckling, Wade smirked at Tina, finding himself unsure at his own words. "Or maybe I'm just overreacting."
Tina chortled at Wade's inconfidence as she tried to bring him some, handing him one of the oil beverages as she spoke. "I think you'll do fine, honey. I've run into some disrespectful humans in my life too."
Wade nodded in understanding as he took a sip of the oil, the sound of the front door opening catching the drones' attention as Jasmine walked in. Carrying a paper bag full of food items, the human pilot spoke aloud. "Morning, you two! Just had to finish an errand I screwed up last night."
"Oh, it's not a problem for us, Jass." Wade replied as he took a sip of his oil, Tina looking over to the kitchen wall as she listened to her sister.
"How was your night? You lovers passed out on me when I came in, so I just rested on the couch." The lover drones gave looks of apologetic concern as Jasmine walked back into the living room, the woman noticing Wade and Tina's faces as she continued speaking. "It's nothing, though. I slept well."
"I hope so, we didn't mean to take up the whole bed." Tina responded as she gave a blush of embarrassment, Wade nodding in agreement as Jasmine replied back.
"I did, really. Besides, you two deserved the bed after all you put up with yesterday. Gotta have some place to blow some steam."
Wade and Tina smiled at Jasmine's comment, then blushed as Wade questioned about her phrasing. "Wait, you mean that as a euphemism or...?"
A knock at the door shut up the discussion, Wade standing up as he offered to handle the visitors. "I'll get the door." Tina nodded as he walked over to the apartment entrance, checking the small peephole before opening the door. Looking down, he saw two beings: a human and drone soldier whom he assumed were from the Coalition given their specific body gear.
While he took notice of the militia duo, the drone soldier spoke up to him. "Good morning, we're looking for a..." He lifted up what appeared to be an ID card, Wade glancing at the object as he heard the drone continue his question. "...Wade Carter? We heard he resided here since last night." Looking to Wade again, the drone stopped himself upon finishing his sentence, then picking himself up as he spoke further. "Come to think of it, you look like him."
Wade smiled warmly as he spoke to the two guests. "That's right. You need something?"
"Eh, more like the other way around, actually." The drone soldier replied as he handed Wade the ID, the former worker drone taking it in his hands as he glanced over it. The ID showed him from when he was still a worker drone, but was thankfully untarnished from the factory as Wade held it tightly. Before he could speak, the human soldier handed him a pouch carrying what Wade presumed were a few more of his personal belongings. The drone soldier spoke once more as Wade took the pouch. "We found these while scavenging the storage bays at the factory, we've been heading around delivering them back to those they belong to."
Wade smiled brightly before finally speaking in a grateful tone. "Thanks, Sirs. If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know."
The two soldiers nodded as the human one replied. "Just doing our job, Mr. Carter. Have a pleasant morning." With that, the troopers departed the apartment complex, leaving Wade to himself as he shut the door.
Heading back inside, Tina and Jasmine looked to Wade as the former spoke to him. "Who was that?"
"Just some boys from the Coalition, and just like Nathan said, they finally found my ID!" Wade answered before showing the card off, Tina grinned happily as she saw it, Jasmine giving a simple smile as he spoke further. "Feels good to have it back, I think that was what was keeping me down a little yesterday."
"Well, at least you won't have to worry about that anymore." Tina replied as Wade put the card in his pocket, taking his seat again before setting the pouch at his legs. Taking notice of the pouch, Tina asked, "What's in that? Battery candy?"
Wade shook his head as he began pulling out the items inside the bag, speaking to Tina as he examined them. "Oh, no, looks like some more of my belongings." Once he was done, Wade put the pouch on the couch's cup holder, on the space behind the drink holders themselves. The items were other various cards and papers with various personal information of Wades written on them, along with Wade's wallet. Wade found it almost comical that the items were all separated from each other, rather than being inside the wallet after getting cleared out.
Tina seemed to agree with Wade's thoughts as he began reinserting the cards into his wallet. "Well, that's silly. They just put everything in that little pouch instead of putting it all back in that thing."
Wade chuckled as he put his ID into the frontal window pocket of the wallet. "Yeah, guess they had to clear every little part of it before sending it off." As he finished restocking his wallet, Wade glanced to the pouch before continuing. "Besides, that IS a nice pouch."
"It sure is." Tina replied before taking another sip of her oil can, Wade putting his wallet away as she spoke again. "On another subject, however, you think we should go see if Nathan's around? Him and Kurtis could come by and have some small talk."
Wade nodded as he started to speak, but stopped as Jasmine spoke first. "Actually, I ran into F earlier while at the market. I heard from her that Nathan was going to be joining her for a date later this afternoon." Glancing to Wade, she finished with, "So he might be already busy for the moment."
Taking his own oil can, Wade shrugged his arm as he replied. "Eh, no problem with that. Don't wanna kill a growing relationship, now do we?"
Tina chuckled lightly as she agreed with her boyfriend. "Indeed, if it were us, they'd probably do the same fo-"
The chatter stopped as another knock sounded at the door, Wade moving to get up again as he glanced to the ladies in confusion. "Another visitor?"
"You think it could be F?" Tina made a wild guess as Wade approached the door, glancing out the peephole in slight surprise before opening the door.
Wade felt as if their talk about the Ceres couple had been a form of summoning as he saw F and Nathan standing at the door, bearing strangely serious expressions as they were greeted by the former worker drone. "F! Nathan! Funny timing, we were just talking about you. Come on in, have a seat."
As the two walked past Wade, F pat him on the shoulder as she spoke to him. "As much as I'd like to visit Wade, I'm afraid we're not gonna be here long, nor are you and the Fowleys."
Wade raised an eyebrow at her reply as he followed Nathan and F, the two simply standing in front of Tina and Jasmine as Wade returned to the living room. "Oh?"
"We're leaving? Should we get dressed and pack our things ASAP?" Tina asked with mild concern as F replied to her.
"Yep, you're on the ball with getting ready, but we're... not exactly leaving." The disassembly drone's words brought a confused face from Tina as Nathan clarified his crush.
"We got a call from J, just as we were heading to one of the diners here." The two drones paused for a moment, glancing to each other as they almost spewed out about their date, but shook it off as Nathan continued with little hesitation. "She told us that Tessa had intercepted some kind of transmission, one that might help us clear up this situation with the company faster than we initially thought."
F gave an affirming nod on Nathan's explanation before adding to it. "Her and J are playing host to a meeting held by the general stationed here, and she wants us to attend." Glancing over Wade and the Fowley sisters, she finished the explanation with, "They especially want you two to come as well, given what you both went through."
Wade and Tina gave blushes of embarrassment at the news, honored by the invitation but also a little uncomfortable with their elevated status as they glanced to each other. After taking a moment to process what they heard, Wade broke the silence. "Well, I did make that promise at the factory, and to J and Tessa earlier... and I intend on acting on said promise." Looking to Tina, his girlfriend gave an agreeing nod as she stood up with him.
"Glad to hear it. We don't have to be in that much of a rush, though, the meeting doesn't start until 10." F stated, Wade and Tina both glancing at the clock to check the time before looking back to their murder drone friend with nods of acknowledgement.
Standing up from her chair, Jasmine stretched as she announced her goals to the room. "Well, in that case, I should hit the shower."
"Right, I'll get myself fixed up too." Tina replied as she looked to Wade, the two sharing warm smiles before heading to the kitchen. Noticing the still unstored items on the counter, Tina spoke aloud. "Jasmine? You mind if Wade and I help store the groceries in the cabinets here?"
"Sure, thanks!" Jasmine answered in a grateful tone as she went off to the bathroom in the back of the apartment, Tina glancing to Wade as she began to take some food out of the bag.
"I'll get the refrigerated stuff." Wade stated simply as he took some items out of the bag, Tina putting her chosen food stuffs into one of the cabinets as they worked to unload the fresh consumables from Jasmine's errand.

My wife "26/F" and i "25/M" have been in a relationship since 2016. We got married in 2019. For a while we have been having problems. In the begining it was great. We would talk, make love, and communicate. Along the ways things have gotten complicated. Ive worked for most of the relationship. She was going to school and has gotten her bachelors in psych. She also wasnt a citizen for a long time. During the relationship we've delbt with quite a few problems. For me it began that i would pick her up from uni and shes get really mad that i was 5-10 munuites late from her class ending. I would always tell her that waiting that long isnt too bad. Before we were married she expected me to share half of my income with her.
Before i go on in venting about her id like to say i too have had my own share of problems.
I was constanlty smoking weed and wasnt the best student. I dropped out of college and focused on work.
For a while i was working labor jobs at a big city 2 hours away to help us out. Id come home to her telling me i need to do more around the house even though i was away for most of the week and she was at home. She was done with school but still couldn't work because of her lack of citezenship.
Through this time i decided was looking for jobs around me. I landed a job as a car Salesman. It was tough to say the least. Im not the best with people but i did my best. It was a stressful job and trying to meet my quota for commision was hard enough alongside the long hours. Still shed get mad at me for no feeding ou pets before i clocked into work at 730am. Id always try and brush it off.
During this time she got really into spiritualism. (Taro cards, zodiacs, horiscopes). She wasn never into thay stuff before. In the begining we would both make fun of thag stuff. I figured since she spends so much time at home without anything to do. That it was an outlet for her.
Still if come home from working 10+ hours a day to her telling me she needed more help around the house. Id be beat every day. Dealing with customers and handling the stress of trying to meet my quota for commision. It came to the point where i quit the job because shed send me text during work about how she was unhappy with me.
I went back to working labor jobs/delivery apps. Id express to her my stress and struggles but she didnt seem to care.
Eventually she got her citizenship after we married. In my mind i thought that after shes able to have a job shed realized how much work i did to keep us afloat. Still we only had one car and she wasnt the best driver. For a while i was driving her to work 30 minutes away from home. Had gotten a job as a sushi line cook that was still really stressful. She still expected more from me.
I did mt best to handle chores at home and work mt job. Eventually i had a falling out with my managers and i was out of a job. Weve had a car payment since 2021 and i was paying all of it till the beging of 2023. Even though I was making all the payments for 2 years out of the 3 year leae she would get mad of me for having to pay it for a while.
Shes always had a temper. My sister got married in 2023. It took me a while to convince her to come along. She hasnt been very willing to get along with my family. Still we had a great time in the begining of the wedding. We were getting close to checking out of the hotel so we could go to my sisters ceramony. We had to check out by 11am and i was getting ready as fast as i could. I gave told her multiple times that we had to check out by that time ( my sister payed for the hotel and i didnt want her to get charged). As I was finishing up and grabbing all out luggage i told her we needed to hurry. She got really mad and screamed at me a lot of terrible thing. Hoping that id get ra*** and that i suck a di**. It really threw me off gaurd and i just continued doing my thing.
The rest of the day went well aside from all the bs. I still brushed it off.
She came off birth control in may 2024. So I once again thought shed have a more level head because i understand it can mess up your hormones quite a bit. Weve had multiple talks since then.
Ive told her id like for her to have a good relationship with my family and for her to get less angry. Id like for her to communicate and have talks with compassion. Shes been making an effort.
Recently i told her i need space and have slept in the guest room. We had a conversation and she said shes not willing to have a good relationship with my family. I do my best to have a good relationship with hers and it really hurts that she isnt.
Ps. Sorry for my lack of grammar and cohesiveness. My mind is all over the place and there is a lot of stuff i didnt include. Judt typing this gives me a good way to vent and bring be more clarity.

I'm a 23-year-old male who works at a gas station alongside my full-time studies, so I'm busy seven days a week.
One day, while I was working, my sister offered to pick me up with her husband since they were in the area. I agreed, as long as it wasn't too much trouble for them.
After my shift ended, I was waiting for them when a young man on a motorcycle approached me and asked how to use the self-service pump. I explained it to him, and just then my sister arrived. I also explained to him that he could only pay with bills or a card. He asked if I could pay with my card and he would give me the cash, as he didn't have his card with him. I declined, not just because he had enough cash, but also because I was tired from my shift and had to get up early for college the next day. So I wanted to get home quickly.
In the car, my sister started questioning why I didn't help him, saying he would have given me the money. My brother-in-law was on my side and said that since he had enough cash, I did the right thing.
When I got home, I took a shower while my mom made dinner. She went for a walk with my sister, leaving me to finish cooking, set the table, eat, and then clean up.
As I was lying down, I heard them talking about the incident through the open window. Not wanting to argue, I pretended to be asleep.
For extra context, I lost my father when I was 15 and have taken on responsibilities since then. My mother doesn't work, but we're financially stable—not wealthy, but doing okay. I started working at the gas station to pay for a car, which we needed. I took on extra shifts to cover the initial costs and now I'm paying it off. I don't go out often or buy new things as long as the stuff I have (clothes, shoes) is still usable to avoid unnecessary spending.
They said some hurtful things, labeling me as cheap for not buying new stuff. They also mentioned that someone else would have paid for the young man since he was young and the amount wasn't significant.
This made me wonder, am I the asshole for not paying for him?

Hello autistic lesbians of reddit! First off, if minors are not allowed on the subreddit I do apologize. I also apologize in advance if this is too long or has grammar issues, part of my autism is a written language disability.
With that out of the way, I have some questions about getting my first short haircut. I have had very long hair my whole life, not because I liked it, but because I was afraid to change it. I hate it so much, It feels way too feminine and gives me sensory issues. I'm changing schools after going to the same on for 9 years, so I don't have to worry about peoples reactions to the change. So the end of this school year, I getting off my ass and getting my hair cut.
For one, should I go to a barber or a hairdresser? because I have so much hair (waist length) I'm not sure if a barber would know how to handle that. Should I just hack it all off first? But I'm concerned about a hairdresser just giving me an ugly pixie cut, or trying to push me to do something more girly.
Second, my hair texture. My hair is mostly very straight (the only straight part of me) but all of the shorter areas of my hair have some pretty strong waves. My curly/wavy haired friends said that if I cut it shorter, it will likely get wavy, and think that due to the wavy parts, and the way my hair acts the straightness is just the length weighing it down. Is this something I should be mention to a barbehairdresser, or factor into what hair style I'm getting.
Third, hairstyle. I'm thinking about doing something like a fauxhawk, but I'm very open to suggestions/ideas. Something lower maintenance would be awesome, due to haircuts being autistic hell, but not necessary. I would definitely like something shorter around the sides. I have an oval face shape, if that matters. Honestly If I cant decide, I might just buzz it. Maybe I'll dye it green too so I can be a tennis ball...
Forth, if I do go to a barber should I ask them if they cut women's in advance, and if so how should I phrase that. And should I notify them that I have autism, I don't want them to think I'm rude (when I'm overwhelmed I'm very curt and blunt) but I don't want to be turned down or infantilized.
I would really like to know exactly what I want and how to phrase that first, haircuts are already stressfully, the effort of having to decide something while I'm there would likely be to much to handle. I cant really get advice/help from parents/family on this because my dad knows nothing about hair and will let me do whatever, and my mom/sister are trying to push for me to not do it, or get something more girly.
Thank you so so much for reading all that, I hope you have an great day!

TLDR AT THE BOTTOM.
This might be long, I'm sorry. My ex (23M) and I (25F) dated for an entire year in 2022, and then broke up and for the past year and little bit have not spoken or seen each other once. We met at a local bar and the way he came up to me as forward and sweet, he was younger than me but super confident and it worked. While we dated, we had a pretty great relationship and it was very much best friends/lovers, our whole group was amazing, and my current friend group now was essentially his group of friends first. He was always gentle with me, he let me be 110% myself, and I was his first love/his first girlfriend. He treated me really well.
Why did we break up, you ask? He was in his senior year of college at the time, and when he drank too much he'd get a little aggressive (not with me, like if someone bumped into him at the bar type vibe) and his sister was a fucking menace. She was my age, and so codependent on him she was mean to me because I took up his time instead of her. I was nothing but nice to her and tried to make it work, but she ruined my birthday that year, lied to him about how she treated me when he wasn't around, and was in general just really awful to me every chance she got. What's worse is I was his first girlfriend and that was her first time not having him to herself, and he didn't know any better and couldn't stand up for me when he needed to sometimes. It caused so many problems. Our friends hated her, too. That's the umbrella.
The actual breakup was because he was particularly difficult one night drunk and said something super mean to me, and when I wanted to talk to him about it he couldn't really face what he did. He had plans to go home that next day (an hour away, where his sister also lives) and said we'd talk on the phone later. Well, he called me, and he broke up with me over a 3 minute phone call. He didn't even sound like himself, he was distant and cold and the opposite of how he was with me any other time we'd ever gotten into an argument or discussion, and I KNEW it wasn't coming from him. I got over it pretty quickly because I was over his sister's shit and knew it was for the best regardless of how it happened.
We went this entire past year no contact, not seeing each other, nothing. Our friends saw him probably 3 times but he always left town before anyone went out and I'm 90% sure it was because he was avoiding seeing me.
ANYWAY. There's the back story, here's us seeing each other the first time.
This past weekend, one of our good friends had a really important event, and my ex was in town. My best girlfriend told me he would be, and my attitude toward it was truly whatever, I was fine seeing him and over it. We met everyone at the same bar he and I met at, which is basically our spot, and he was coming out of the bathroom when he saw me. His eyes went huge, he looked shocked. I thought it was a little funny, so I went up to him and gave him a a hug and said hi. He awkwardly said it was really nice to see me, and then went to the bar to get a drink. I went with my two friends to get a drink at the bar a few minutes later, and he was standing across from us literally glancing at me every 2 seconds.
I ended up going up to talk to him because we were obviously in the same group, and he asked me how I was. I said I'd been great, asked him how he was, pleasantries. He then goes, "but how are you really?" and I was like ?? No, like I've been great, dude. From there it was like nothing had changed between us. We were firing inside jokes off to each other, talking and laughing, and we pretty much turned into a unit from there. He was buying my drinks, giving me a piggyback ride to the next bar, arm around my waist the whole night, holding my hand, etc. If something funny happened I was the first person he was looking at.
At the end of the night we were talking and I asked him where he was staying, told him he could stay at mine if he wanted. He said he really wanted to, but he was seeing "kind of seeing someone". I asked him point blank if this was a girlfriend situation because I didn't want to ruin anything for him, then said I was seeing someone casually, too. He said he had no idea and basically brushed it off, was super nonchalant about it and didn't seem worried. I then said it wasn't like I wanted to do anything but it would be really nice to sleep next to him. He said he really wanted that, and we ended up back at mine. I had my head in his lap the whole uber ride to my house, he was brushing my hair out of my eyes, etc.
Nothing happened at my house, we stayed up and talked and laughed and cuddled and slept. The next morning we were up early talking and laughing more, catching up, etc. and went to our friend's brunch. The whole entire day he's looking at me like he did when we first met, watching out for me, at one point even pulled me into him and told me I was "really hard not to look at". It was like we were dating again.
We went back to our friend's apartment and hung out with everyone, and it was him in a being bag chair and me between his legs. He was playing with my hair the entire time, massaging my shoulders, leaning into me to laugh at everything we were the only ones noticing. We didn't even talk to hardly anyone else the whole 3 hours we were there. I left at the same time he did because he had an hour to drive home, and our goodbye was so emotional??
He hugged me so tightly for 3 minutes, said "well one of us is going to have to let go" and kissed me so hard it was like he was going off to war or something. I told him I had no idea what I was supposed to say, and he said he didn't either, and we kissed again really hard and we held hands until I was walked off far enough and had to let go. I got in my car and cried for 5 minutes, but I wasn't sad and I wasn't sure why.
I don't know what to do now. He hasn't texted or reached out and I'm sure he's just as confused as I am. I don't have rose-colored glasses on, I know there would need to be a ton of discussions before we ever revisited an "us", but this weekend just threw me because of how he ended our relationship. He's had a lot of things happen the last year that I know made him grow up and mature a lot, but I just don’t know. Am I delusional or does it seem like he's not over it either? He ended it but he also initiated all of this, so I shouldn't reach out, or should I?
TLDR; My ex (23M) and I (25F) saw each other for the first time after a year of no contact and it was like nothing between us changed, we were electric. He very obviously wasn't over me at all/looking at me the entire weekend like he did when we were dating/taking care of me/acting like he did when we dated. I'm not sure what to do because it made me realize I'm not over it either, even after going the entire last year thinking I was. I don't know where to go from here.
Any input is helpful, I'm sorry this is so fucking long lol