Once Upon A Time
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He could leave at any time. He could. It was all within his power. He was strong enough. He could walk away, make it all stop. He was in control of that, always had been, always will be.
That was the mantra Izzy kept repeating to himself as he parked up his car in the street behind the bar. Turning off the engine, he let his hands rest on the steering wheel for a moment, taking slow, deep breaths. No one would know. He just needed to act normal. He’d been doing that for months now, no one had said a word.Izzy tries to break free of his abusive relationship with CJ, going to the only people in the world he knows he can trust - his ex-husband Edward Teach and his new boyfriend, Stede Bonnet.
Inspired by the song 'Happier Than Ever' by Billie Eilish. Please mind the tags, abusive relationship, descriptions of violence and injury. But then lovely care and cuddles after.
Series
- Part 1 of Once Upon A Time
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"What's your name then?"
Izzy's eyes cast up from where he was staring intently at the zip on his jacket, just so he /wouldn't/ be staring intently at this new stranger, who seemed to have purposefully placed himself in his field of vision.
"Izzy," he mumbled and then that was it, eyes falling back to his lap. Shit, he was gorgeous.
"Izzy.... Izzy...." The stranger kept saying it, like he was testing how it rolled off his tongue. "Izzy... hmm, what's that short for?"
"Israel," Izzy mumbled back, keeping his gaze up this time.
"Israel, eh? Wow, biblical!" The grin that spread across the strangers’ face, so wide, so bright, so fucking genuine, like he was so pleased with himself that he'd remembered something like that, had a smile tugging at Izzy's lips too, against his will.
"You don't know the half of it," Izzy muttered back. But before he would let the stranger dive on that comment, he purposefully met his eyes. "What's yours then?"
"Ed," the stranger responded, before leaning closer from where he was sat, like he was about to attempt to share a secret. "Short for Edward..."
Prequel to 'Happier Than Ever'. Can stand alone as an Ed/Izzy origin story.
Series
- Part 2 of Once Upon A Time
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Summary
And just like that, it all tumbled back into Izzy’s memory; everything they had been, everything they were, everything they could never be again. Like fuck does time and distance heal. But that still couldn’t stop the smile that Ed’s laugh was pulling from him in return, intrinsic, muscle memory, from the days when that was a regular occurrence and the only tears were ones from joy, from laughing so hard it hurt.
“I was worried about you. Where did you go?” he asked, voice now quiet in direct contrast to all the shouting.
“All sorts of places,” Izzy replied, just as quietly, holding Ed’s gaze.
“And did it help?”
Izzy has returned home, to find his (now) ex-husband in the arms of another. Of course he's going to seek comfort in the arms of someone else too...
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Picks up directly from part 2 'Forever and Always' and builds up to part 4 which picks up directly from part 1.
Title and chapters from Taylor Swift's 'Cardigan'.
Series
- Part 3 of Once Upon A Time
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Summary
Home had meant different things at different times to Izzy. Sometimes it was just a room, a place where he existed, managed to survive. Other times it had been truly a place to live, to enjoy, somewhere he did more than just survive in. He had expected, when he was a young naive kid and the world hadn’t poisoned his positivity yet, that he could go from simply just existing in a room under some else’s roof to having a home that was his own, that he loved, and that would be the end of it. He never used to think he would revert, tumble back down the ladder, fall back in to the abyss of simply existing in a room because a basic human need was shelter.
Ed was all the home he ever needed, in the end.
Izzy's got a new life to navigate as he heals - he's safe, he's being looked after, and he's learning how to be in a polyamorous relationship with his ex-husband and his new(ish) boyfriend. But his past won't leave him alone, not just yet. All he wants is his happy ending, which he knows he will have. Eventually. But you can't heal wounds that people don't know you have...
Picks up directly from Part 1 - Happier Than Ever. Title and chapters from Taylor Swift's 'The Archer'.
Series
- Part 4 of Once Upon A Time
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Summary
“I need to…” He faltered, and Ed shifted towards the edge of the sofa, like he was ready to gather Izzy in his arms any second. He was. He always was. “Brains fucked. Nightmares are back… random fucking anxiety attacks. I don’t know, it’s… it’s coming up to a year and it’s like…” Ed was on his feet then, moving carefully towards Izzy, but still giving him space to finish. “I’m being stupid, I’m hiding it from you. And I don’t want to. I shouldn’t and I don’t want to.” It was the steadiest sentence he’d said, defiant, solid.
Healing wasn’t linear. Sometimes it was two steps forward and ten steps back. But the fact he was stood there now, ready to admit he was hiding, and that he didn’t want that anymore was… huge.
It's been almost a year since Izzy arrived on Ed and Stede's doorstep, beaten, bruised, and almost broken. He's started to settle into this new chapter, but it doesn't mean it all just goes away - he still trips sometimes. But with Ed, Stede and Ivan at his side, his found family surrounding him, and a new baby in his life, there's enough people to always pick him back up again.
Series
- Part 5 of Once Upon A Time