Just transferred my Dublin photos to my laptop and came across this one. Forgot I’d taken it, despite snapping it in the middle of a gift shop (was typically at the bottom so was almost sat on the floor) then turning to a friend and saying ‘it’s a fandom thing’
This was more difficult for me to write than I expected it to be. I’m so sorry. And I’m so sorry for how long it’s taken me to fill this prompt, anon! Hopefully the result will make the wait somewhat worth it!
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Over the years that had followed since Zane and Ty had
announced their relationship – and later their marriage – to Zane’s family,
coming to Texas was no longer as stressful and as uncomfortable as it had been
for as long as Zane could remember. In fact, he had started looking forward to
the visits to the ranch with his husband. Beverly was still working on
accepting her son for who he was, but she was constantly making progress.
Slow progress, sure, but progress nevertheless.
Zane and Ty would travel to Texas for holidays,
birthdays and sometimes even just long weekends out of nowhere, just like they
did with Ty’s family in West Virginia. It had become a pleasant experience, and
it wasn’t rare for Zane to be feeling excited in the days leading up to the
flight home.
However, when he had to travel to Texas because his
father was in the hospital, being kept alive by machines from a horrific car
accident, excitement was the very last thing Zane was feeling.
Zane
clutched the phone in his hand, holding it firmly against his ear as he waited
for the tone to be replaced by the voice he so desperately wanted to hear.
His body
was shaking, the remains of his nightmare still clinging on to him, even thirty
minutes after he’d woken up. Zane couldn’t even remember what the dream had
been about, but he remembered it being bad enough to have him waking up gasping
for air, as the memories of every horrible thing that had happened to him,
starting with Becky’s death, flooded his brain all at once, leaving him nearly
paralyzed with the intensity of it all.
It was a
rare occasion for Zane to be so shaken by a nightmare that he still hadn’t calmed
down after half an hour, and it had been so long since the last time it had
happened that Zane was reaching for his phone and finding Ty’s number before he
knew what he was doing.
It took six
rings before Ty’s gruff voice answered.
“Grady.” He muttered, the introduction
giving away the fact that he hadn’t even checked the display of his phone
before taking Zane’s call.
atmospheric light pillars are created by the reflection of light – here from artificial suburban light – off millions of flat hexagonal plate shaped ice crystals that have become horizontally aligned as they float in the freezing cold air near the ground. photos by markoriikonen, tatu räty, mike reva, robin dahling, jari kankaanpaa and mike hollingshead
darktwinkle 