Blue Royalty | Miscellaneous Thread

[CerealKiller]

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February 13th, Beryl hospital

”You’re a stong one Valerie, most pregnancies don’t last this far in your condition, especially with twins and at your age.” The doctor said after finishing running tests on Valerie. For the past few days she had been at the hospital considering she herself almost drunk herself to death. Not a smart thing to do while pregnant, but at this point she wasn’t really in a good place enough to thing of good ideas. She was mostly in a place of falling back into old habits of coping with pain, with loneliness and disappointment. You know, she used to tell herself that if you expect disappointment, then you can never really be disappointed. But I’m a way, Daniel taught her that wasn’t always the case. Well, until it is, and when you least expect it your life starts crumbling apart. ”I’ll leave you for now and come back later to check on you, seems like you have a visitor” the doctor added glancing over at Veronica who was standing at the door looking at the two. ”thank you doctor” Valerie said before the doctor left the room

”Hey mom” Veronica said softly with a light empathic smile, coming closer by her mother’s bed ”hey baby, I missed you. What are you doing here don’t you have school?” she asked, taking the girl’s hand ”I do but I wanted to check on you first. I missed you too” the girl said looking at her mother. In all the years of her life, Veronica looked up to her mother, she always saw her as this strong woman that can go through everything, but seeing her now, she was a broken women, she just looked sad, and weak, that spark of hope in her eyes was slowly fading and Veronica hated seeing that so much. If anyone in the world deserved better, it was her mother.

Later that day, Hell

”Took you long enough” Veronica stated as playing with a whiskey glass in her hand as she sat on the bar stool looking at the surprised man who had just came back to his little playhouse which was supposed to be empty, but you plan stuff and life just laughs in your face isn’t it so?

”Surprise.” she said as smoothly sliding the glass over to the other side of the counter before pouring another one for herself, neat, just like Parkers do it. I bet you’re probably asking yourself how did she even get there? Well, she the daughter of a hacker genius for nothing, it comes with some useful skills, especially when you learn from the best.

”Let’s skip the bullsht part, I didn’t come all the way to bloody Norway to be a daddy’s girl and make you love me or forgive me, honestly, I was stupid, I tried so hard to win and make you proud of me in any way possible and didn’t realize all I was causing was havoc. But I’m not the issue right now” she started, cutting to the chase we can’t be arsed to bs around. Of course she wished he’d forgive her eventually, but right now that wasn’t the issue.

”Disown me, fine, I bloody deserve it. But Peter doesn’t, and neither does mom.” she told him after taking a long sip of her drink. ”found your divorce papers, let’s just say they never quite reached their destination. I find it ironic considering you seemed to be disconnected from everything and everyone, yet you still willingly left your wife regardless of her being pregnant.” she told him. Yeah we know mother dearest said she never told him, but if he knew about the coaster incident, he knew about the pregnancy for sure, we ain’t dumb around here. Wouldn’t be surprised if he knew she was in the hospital and even the Jordan tragedy, I don’t even know anymore, nothing seems to make a lot of sense lately.

”You do realise she can’t cope without you right? You’re her rock. I always thought she was the strong one on her own, but it’s not true, you’re strong together, she’s strong with you ” the girl rold him, letting out a huff of air out her nose as she lightly shook her head looking out the window at her first question. Norway was pretty nice if we’re being honest, would come again under better circumstances for sure. ”She needs you, auntie Jez needs you, Peter needs you.” she added ”just come back, please”

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@benitz786 Dan
@Littlefeets Jez lowkey mentioned

[benitz786]

Amiesbannerthingythatsayshernameandshowsherlilinnocenceokay?okay

You know what put a dent in her weekend plans? This… this right fcking here. In other words, if you haven’t figured out what Amelia Grace means, she means being in Fin’s goddamn house, acting cordial with HIS friends and family when honestly all she wanted to do was go home. Or… maybe she should specify, home in this scenario meant JP’s condo, since that was the closest to home as she could get. Sure… maybe Amie’s mom wanted her to come back home but that was a big N.O. in Amie’s book. Sorry mom, but Amie rather not hear excuses to why you told her father that you were done with him.

What Amelia Grace would rather be doing was wearing her favorite Minnie mouse PJs, grabbing a pint of her banana nut Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, and watching reruns of criminal minds or Friends without a worry in the world. Where was she instead? Wearing this stupid dress, entertaining people she didn’t really know while Dean Klein watched her like a hawk probably wondering what the hell she was doing there. Well, to answer your unasked question, Dean, your son sucks. Amie could see out of the corner of her eyes, the man ROLLING his eyes at her gesture to his father, so of course she stepped on his foot to make sure the Dean didn’t see that. Like, come on Fin, at least go along with what she was saying and sell it – you’re terrible at this. I mean… not to say Amelia wasn’t TERRIBLE at lying. Because trust her, she was. Most of the time, lies would result in stutters with her accidentally messing up the lie. But after months of practice with JP, the sheer fact that she was more confused than nervous, and simply her annoyance overrode any stuttering that usually would have peaked up by now. Annnnd… well Amie was telling half-truths. That’s what JP taught her… if she couldn’t tell a good lie, then just tell half truths and technically, since they’re true, she’s not really lying…

Like the stuff about Biology and American History, technically that would be what she was tutoring Fin with if he EVER SHOWED THE HELL UP to her sessions. You know what the problem with her lie was? Besides the fact that she said that Fin studied, which everyone knew was not the case. The bigger issue was the fact that the man next to her had the audacity to tell the dean that she was so excited and wouldn’t let him go change. Right, because it was her fault that you looked like you just woke up. Go to hell, Fin. Go. To. Hell.

Despite the frown that made it’s way on her lips, she attempted to hide it with a laugh as she ew touched Fin’s shoulder. “I just didn’t want him to keep his family and friends waiting, but I’ll definitely take the blame for that one. I guess it’s a good thing he has a room here, which is perfect because he can definitely go up in a few minutes and change into a suit. Isn’t that right, Fin?” Amie asked gently, and with a grace that even surprised her. Hell, maybe her middle name wasn’t simply meant to be the opposite of what she felt like she was most of the time – especially around Fin. Sure, Amie was usually a klutz, but Fin just had a way of amplifying that and so her nerves about this whole situation was already amplified. Truly, every time Fin was around, Amie would somehow hurt or make a fool of herself, and she truly wasn’t feeling that today. Honestly, best case in scenario would be to just let this day finish and then run the hell away from the man who forced her here and his threats.

So yes, she gave him an out – partly because he was going to trip their story up with the dean, and also because if he was around, she’d probably drop a drink all over herself. It… had happened before. What’s the opposite of a rabbits foot lucky charm? Amie could tell you that answer easily, because his initials were F.K. which was close enough to fck that she rather not risk any more.

So Amie stayed, talked to the Dean for a moment longer who basically interrogated her before someone stole his attention, made her way through the crowd introducing herself as Fin’s friend and tutor and NOTHING more, because that would NEVER happen. Even the friend thing would likely never come true. And, by the end of the first 40 minutes, she had basically talked to everyone, and was exhausted. Also… where the fck did Fin go. Oh… you have to be fcking kidding. He left didn’t he? Of course he would fcking leave. What should Amie have expected from him? A groan left her lips as she scanned the party, meeting only the slightly familiar faces of those she had met moments earlier. Sneaking away, Amie found herself walking up the, gently allowing her hand to trail on the wall as she looked at the pictures on the wall.

For a second, she almost even forgot what she was doing – her eyes going to a picture of a little blonde boy and a young dean that looked almost… forced. You know those portraits hanging above the mantel place with everyone frowning and clearly looking like they hated being near one another? Yeah, many of the photos screamed that atmosphere and it almost made Amie uneasy. Amelia had always had a blessed childhood. A best friend that was always by herside because they were twins… a mother she… used to love with her entire being, and a father that meant the world to her. Soon, their family only grew with Xander and Lexie, who Amie adored as well. In a way, Amie couldn’t imagine being an only child… at the same time with what Phoebe… did…. she… you know what… this is irrelevant and off topic. Let’s not bring more negativity on a day where she was stuck with Fin Klein.

Finishing her walk, Amie ended up at the top of the staircase, facing a hall with endless doors. Rich… yep. Filthy rich, just like all the other students at Cerulean High. Keeping her hand trailing, Amie walked into the first room which seemed to be the bathroom. After a second of looking at her tired self – even an hour with Fin would do that to a person – Amie walked out, resigned to go downstairs with the knowledge that Fin had dipped when she heard a sound come from another room. Turning around, Amie walked towards the door, making her way to knock before simply opening it. After all… knowing Fin, he’d just ignore the knock anyways… but if it wasn’t him well… then let the apologies occur. Amie was, after all, good at apologizing by now. However, as she expected, laying on his bed, she found Fin with his eyes closed – unmoving to the sound of the door opening.

Amie said nothing as she allowed her eyes to trail the empty room, not even a picture in sight. It was… it felt… lonely? “So this is better than talking to your family then? I mean… I can’t blame you. I’m not exactly on speaking terms with my family,” Amie started casually before walking towards his closet and opening it up. There were a few clothes left, clearly some of Fin’s more professional clothes that he likely didn’t deem needed to be brought back to him at his new place. Amie gently looked through the clothes, picking out gray slacks, a black top, and a suit top in the very back. “Here, if you’re going to hide out, at least make it look like you had a reason to,” Amie added, throwing the clothes towards him, though as she did, she found a piece of paper falling to the floor likely coming from one of the many pockets men had the privilege of getting.

Bending down, Amie picked it up, turning it around to see a petite blonde woman holding a baby in her arms. “Hey… is this… your mother? Um… she was… pretty?” With that, Amie took a seat next to the man before handing him the crumbled photograph. “You look like you were a happy baby once. What happened?” she added, trying to lighten the tension in the room – though also simply curious since he didn’t exactly look happy in the family portraits outside.

@astxrism

[benitz786]

You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch,
You really are a heel.
You’re as cuddly as a cactus, you’re as charming as an eel, Mr Grinch

“OH FOR FCKS SAKE COULD YOU TURN THAT FCKING OFF?” Dan screamed in English at the Norwegian cashier at the coffee shop near his… secret hideaway. Daniel Parker had been at his usual spot, drinking his usual Black coffee, on his usual computer when the stupid fcking song played for the third fcking time. Maybe the song hit too close to home, or maybeeee IT WAS ALREADY AFTER FCKING CHRISTMAS SO THEY COULD STOP WITH THE CR*PPY MUSIC? Yeah, the second one was totally it. Dan always knew Christmas sucked, and just look at what happened this year. So can anyone blame him for being a little fcking over it all? Bloody hell.

Maybe you’re wondering why world-renowned Daniel Parker, aka hacker extraordinaire, aka Co-CEO of Parker LLC, aka cinnamon bun roll according to a random kid named Chid currently on a website that created Daniel’s entire world was in a country far away from his family with no intention of returning home? Well, if you wanted an answer, it’s none of your fcking business. Okay fine, maybe it’s because, at the moment, Daniel didn’t have a family. Not really…

After all, his… soon to be former wife would do simply fabulous without him, his kids would be happier without him, his sister and cousin would probably thrive without his presence. Honestly, he was simply better off alone. That’s how it was always meant to be, and fate has a funny way of re-writing the wrongs of the past.

So, for the first time in Daniel’s life, he did the least selfish thing he physically could – he let his family go so they could be happy without him. Valerie could be with what’s his name from what’s that movie or what’s that show that no one cares about… okay, fine it was her costar but let’s just not talk about that because if Daniel starts thinking about that, he will probably do something irrational and send the man to Antarctica to die with a penguin. But no… if he makes Val happy… well then… whatever makes her happy. If she wanted to be with him, he wouldn’t get in the way which is exactly why he sent the divorce papers…. She deserved the world…

VC could go marry whoever the fck she wanted at 18 and have a kid, whatever…. At least his grandchild would get to live a life without him in it. Probably will be a good one…. No… it would be a great one because no matter what he thought… Veronica Charlotte had her mother’s best traits. Technically, he’s setting up both his future grandchild and child; Valerie was a good mother… an amazing mother… the best mother…. She never needed him holding her back. Not to mention Dorian would probably be ecstatic meaning Jess would probably be happy, and now, he wouldn’t mess up Jezebel’s plans or company. See. HE WAS DOING IT FOR THEM. Peter would also be better without Dan fcking up his life like he did with Vc. So don’t call him a coward, that was the least fcking coward thing he had ever done.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t help himself and check up on them. He tried not to… he really did. But… well…. He needed to watch out for them. He couldn’t physically not make sure they were okay. Jezebel was struggling a little… yes… but Dan made sure Jordan had the best there was in the world and she also had Jessica. She’d be fine. Val… well… he came to her after the hospital… but she’d also be fine with the doctors he got her. Everyone would just be… fine. It was better this way

Sadly, however, now…. Fcking NOW, he was stuck in the middle of cold fcking suburbia, with the stupid cashier playing Christmas songs all fcking day. Why didn’t he go to a tropical Island instead? Oh yeah… because if he went to Malachi Sucks Island, or Dorian is an Ass Island, then Jess and her Spidey skills would find him. He knew she had already looked there after getting a one-day ticket to get to the islands. Hopefully she had fun… Dan had converted both to a theme park, because, both Dorian and Kai were full of sht – just like theme parks.

Anyways, a frown met his lips as the cashier started cursing him out in Norwegian. Excuse YOU. DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS IS….wait…wait no. We’re not doing this… we’re going to stay under the radar… okay who was he kidding? Of course he cursed back in Norwegian until he got kicked out. Some could say he kinda got kicked out of the pits of hell… mostly because the coffee shop was in the middle of the city. In annny case, he’d make it up to the store later… probably by becoming the new owner. But for now, back to his hell cave.

Everyone knew Daniel Parker liked his secret hideaways, and his home in Hell was no different. Braving the snow, Dan got in his sports car and cruised far above the speed limit to a hidden entrance that led down to his garage. It was a little on the outskirts of the city, but that made room for all of the features he added – including the fact that the entire house was fully automatic, just like the one at home.

“Hello JARVIS, how’s it going buddy,”

Dan asked, jumping out of his car as he headed through the underground mansion to the elevator which led to the above ground version.

“Good sir, though there is an alert we got that you may… want tok now about,”

“Nope buddy, I’m going to drown myself in a drink and go the hell to sleep,”

“But sir… before you go… you should know…”

Well, suffice to say, Jarvis didn’t get to answer that because once the elevator opened, sitting at his bar was… well… his daughter. After the initial shock wore off, mostly prompted by Jarvis telling him “I tried to tell you sir…,”

“Next time, Jarvis, get the the fcking point,” Dan sighed, before walking hesitantly towards the girl who slid whisky towards him, which he gladly took. Trust him, he needed it after this surprised. Daniel didn’t know whether to be… impressed or almost slightly scared. She was good, he had to give his little girl that. Taking a slow drink, Daniel perched himself away on a bar stool a few seats away from her as he looked towards her direction. He didn’t even have to start to say anything before she… well… went off on him.

Daniel had never been… great at listening, but he did this time. He shut his mouth, drank his whiskey, and let her speak. “Darling, I’m not disowning you. I’m disowning myself. “ he finally responded in the middle of her rant, looking away from her eyes as she told him about the divorce papers he sent. What was he supposed to do? Kid, this stuff is out of your league, trust your dad. Yes he did know his wife was pregnant, and yet he also knew she’d be better without him. Some things weren’t simple, sweetheart.

However, any words he was going to say were halted with her words that his wife couldn’t cope without him. That much he knew wasn’t true. Valerie Wood was always the strong one out of the two, and she would be fine without him. “If that’s what you came all the way here to say, Veronica Charlotte, you came a long way for the wrong reason. Your mom will be fine. Your mom’s always fine. And trust me, you, Jez, and Peter don’t need me. Let’s be honest, I’m toxic. I know I am, and I’m doing all of us a favor and dancing with the devil in Hell. So, do you need a flight back? Jarvis can set something up.”

Okay… yes it kind of hurt to say that. It hurt to keep a straight face and act like her words didn’t hurt him, but for her… he needed to remain impartial. She thought she needed him, but honestly, Daniel only ever held the people he loved back. He understood that now, and he was dealing with it in his own way.

@astxrism - Dori Mentioned
@CerealKiller lots of ya characters mentioned
@Littlefeets jez mentioned
@unsungcheerio - you mentioned

[Littlefeets]

If it was physically possible for Quinn to have left Paige at that point, he would have, but the f^^king door was apparently impossible to open from that side. Of course, Paige didn’t believe him. Not a surprise. Though, even her getting up and trying to open the door proved futile. However she accused him of orchestrating the whole situation, which brought out an eye roll from Quinn. “Yes Paige, I managed to get you to walk in here so I could follow you and get stuck in a f^^^ing ice cream freezer myself. I should be the one asking you that Paige, after all you’re the one who got us in here to begin with.” What she would possibly want to have him alone for, he didn’t know, but to him it seemed a lot more likely that she led him in to f^^k him over somehow than it could have been for him to have intentionally caused the situation. At that point, Paige sat back down, telling him to stay far away and not talk to her. The problem was, it was going to be a long while before anyone was there to let them out. He sat in silence for a while, before deciding to follow Paige’s example. After all, they were locked in a freezer full of ice cream. It doesn’t matter if it’s cold, you still eat the ice cream. That’s why he ended up walking over by her, grabbing a spoon and simply glancing at her as he grabbed a container of ice cream for himself.

@benitz786

[CerealKiller]

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”Do you say that because you actually think it’s true or because it’s easier to run away from your problems than to deal with them?” the girl asked, looking at the man after listening to everything he said in response to her little speech. Nothing he said made sense but how do you knock sense into the mind of an overachieved genius? Because clearly in his mind, everything he thinks is right. It’s just how it works.

”You think after all this time I still haven’t figured out how your mind works? You’re not the rich assh0le of a successful bachelor you make yourself look like. You’re doing the same thing you always do, you eliminate what you think is the source of the problem, when it’s not, because it’s the easy way out.” she added again, finishing her drink and putting the glass down on the counter.

”They do need you. We need you. And we bloody miss you. I miss you.” she said ”peter stands at the window every single day looking out and waiting for you to come back, mom tried reaching you more times that I can bloody count, she leaves you a voicemail every single day just talking to you because she needs you. I got my college acceptance letters and the first person I wanted to tell about it just wasn’t there. I came all the way to bloody Norway to find you, do you really think I would have done that for nothing? everyone makes mistakes sometimes, you might be a genius but you’re not a robot. Be as toxic as you want to believe you are, we love you just as you are.” she finished giving yet another speech. But what can I say, when you’re passionate about your goal, a speech isn’t half of the words you have inside in order to make it work. And let me just tell you, she bloody missed her dad, and she hated seeing how everyone else missed him too and had nothing to do about it. So unlike them, she actually had the power and knowledge to find him, so she did. Not for herself, but for her whole family.

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@benitz786 Daniel

[astxrism]

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Finley knew that sooner or later someone would ruin his peace and quiet, look for him and drag him back downstairs to hell and he was hoping it would be later rather than sooner but when have things gone right? That was one of the reasons why he didn’t even move when the door to his room opened. Another was that he knew it was no one from his family because they’d have an unpleasant reaction to seeing him in there even before entering the room. So he could take a couple of guesses… There was just no need for that because the girl soon spoke up and hearing it was his new friend he simply remained silent. Really not in the mood to discuss his family situation or listen to you talking about yours, I don’t remember him asking you anything?

He did finally look at her with a rather confused expression at first when she threw something at him, only to roll his eyes when he realized what she was doing. ”I don’t care what they think,” instead of protesting as you might think he would do especially after mumbling his words, Finley straightened up, looking at his clothes that were now next to him. Sure, maybe she was right… If he wanted to avoid comments and complaints he should just listen to her but let him be grumpy first.

”Hm?” Finding the girls sitting down next to him, Fin looked at what she was holding, not really paying attention to it until she dared to say he doesn’t look happy now? What makes you think that? ”I thought you were nicer,” taking the photo from her, with a sarcastic smile he looked up at her before shifting his attention to that photo he hasn’t seen in a really long time. Did Amelia say mom? Yeah, no, that was not his mom. ”I don’t know who that is,” and he didn’t. Or he was trying to make himself believe that it wasn’t his mom because Sam was always repeating the same thing: it doesn’t matter who that is, it’s not important who your mom is, she was just someone who helped me get you. That didn’t mean Finley was never curious… Why shouldn’t he know that? He deserves to, no matter what the situation was but he never got far so eventually he gave up. Plus it didn’t really matter, why would he need her now? ”It might not even be me. That’s a happy baby and do I look like I’m happy? I don’t think a baby can change that much.” Don’t joke with her, she’s not your friend… ”Yeah,” throwing her back that photo, Fin looked back at his clothes, his good old self coming back. A subtle smirk appeared on his lips as he continued, ”If you don’t mind… But I don’t think you do.”

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@benitz786 - Amie

[benitz786]

Could the man in the room be any more… frustrating? It wouldn’t be a far stretch to note that even a simple look at the man annoyed Paige, and now she was stuck in a room with him for god knows how long? Nope? Paige will take the check and skedaddle… or she would if there was any way out. Honestly, realistically Paige hadn’t actually talked to the man in about a year, and she had no intention to do so today. Despite that, she couldn’t help but blame him for the situation they were in. After all, if he hadn’t followed her in the first place, then they would never be in this mess. She hadn’t asked to be stalked, and look where it got them. “Clearly, darling. How about next time, you mind your own business so we don’t get stuck in situations neither of us want to be in. For now, shut up okay? To break that down for you because I know you’re an idiot; I won’t talk to you, you don’t talk to me and we wait until whoever it was I fcked comes and lets us out.”

With those words, she did just that. With a quiet annoyance, Paige stayed to her side - eating out of the container and going on her phone that had no signal to look at photos she had taken recently and delete the ones she didn’t need. After all, there wasn’t exactly anything else she could do and the alternative of even looking or talking to Quinn seemed highly unappealing. If it was anyone else, she might have considered sleeping with them to pass the time, but clearly, that wasn’t happening either.

Her frustration only grew as he clearly ignored her earlier statement and had the audacity of getting up and getting an ice cream that was situated behind her. “Clearly you don’t understand what it means to sit your arse down and stay quiet? Go figure, you weren’t ever the brightest one.” Paige responded to his avid defiance. Honestly, he was just p!ssing her off more and more. “Why the hell are you even back in town? Shouldn’t you be in Chicago fcking some blonde on a subway station? That’s all you’re good for, after all darling.”

@Littlefeets

[Littlefeets]

“Fine, whatever.” he said, agreeing to neither of them talking to the other, because he was just frustrated. How long had it been since they last actually talked? Who knows, but it had been a very long time. Back then, when they were actually friends, everything was so different. So much had happened since then. He didn’t know why he tried even saying anything to her in the first place that day, but it seemed something made him do it, and look where that got him. He was stuck with her and there was nothing he could do. No way out, no cell signal, nothing but the two of them and a freezer full of ice cream. Though, when he did give in and get into the ice cream himself, she snapped at him. “I’m sorry, was I disturbing you? Just chill the f^^k out, since you’re the one who decided to talk this time.” He may have moved closer to her, but it was just for the ice cream, otherwise he had been keeping his mouth shut, so she was the one who decided to give up on the agreement to be quiet. “And you surprise me Paige, checking in on where I’ve been? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me.” When their friendship first fell apart it was just when he first left Beryl. Everything was a mess and he never did explain what was going on, and that he was moving to Chicago when it all happened. They hadn’t actually been on speaking terms since. “Like you’re good for more than that either.” Quinn responded with, rolling his eyes. “I came back because Finch is f^^king dead. Someone f^^ing killed my sister, so that’s why I’m back, Paige. Because of her. Because someone has to pay for what they did to her.”

@benitz786

[unsungcheerio]

Valentine’s Night

Today was definitely going to go down as the worst Valentine’s that Daiane had ever experienced. Waking up, there was no way that she could’ve predicted the way that the day’s events were to unfold; that last conversation with Embry, the unopened envelope that sat on her dresser… all of it made her want to cry just thinking about it. Well, cry more, really.

Sitting with the knowledge that she’d lost Embry (again) and it was her own fault (again) was a gasping, sobbing sort of pain that Daiane couldn’t deal with, not while also remembering all that she was looking forward to doing with her this Valentine’s. She needed to… not think about it. Not think at all. Turns out there was always some party to go to if you looked hard enough, and so there she was, clad in knee high boots and a short black dress and ready to just… forget. Or, at the very least, not remember.

Reuben accompanied her to this random-ass Valentine’s party, just like any good friend would. His day had been significantly better than hers; she’d heard some about it, but he’d been sympathetic enough to spare some of the cutest details and she was too heartbroken to pry. Or maybe she was just too bad of a friend. Well, add that to the list of things she didn’t want to think about.

It was a night of recklessness she usually didn’t allow herself, one filled with bottomless shots and dancing on tables, the drunken actions further distancing herself from her reality. In a sense, it was freeing; for a few moments there, she really wasn’t thinking. She hadn’t been this drunk in… well, ever, really, but she thought that she deserved to drown her sorrows this one night. And wow, was it fun! And she felt more like normal Daiane, able to ignore the sadness and just be happy happy happy.

It was all going great, really, until she thought she saw a flash of Embry and decided to follow it, forgetting to tell Rueben where she was going. She would’ve simply called or texted to make sure, but Reuben had confiscated her phone for the night after she’d made a tiny tinyyyy suggestion of calling Bry, so following was the only option. So she followed the glimpse for a while, calling out Embry’s name ever so often, but then she disappeared around a corner, and Daiane couldn’t see her anymore, even as she turned the same corner. Frowning, she looked around at the room she’d ended up in, coming face-to-face with a garment of clothing. It startled her, so she swatted at it, moving back, but then somehow tripped on her unsteady feet and landed flat on her butt.

“Owww,” she said to herself, rubbing her backside. The room was spinning a little, so she decided to stay seated and wait for the room to fix itself. This closet was a good place to rest anyway, after working so hard not thinking and everything. She took a sip of the cup she tightly held, though the contents seemed significantly less—had she lost some in her fall?—then closing her eyes as she laid her head back against the wall.

The sound of the door slamming shut woke her, and her eyes flew open, darting around briefly to settle on Hera, who stood just in front of her, staring at her. “Huhh?” She mumbled in confusion, brows furrowing. Quick question: WHY WAS SHE HERE. They hadn’t officially been added to the list of things she didn’t want to think about, but seeing them now, Daiane decided that they were and so she wanted her to not be here. But THEN, to make matters worse, as they turned to leave, they both saw that the door had locked behind them. “'Course it is. Is just like this f*cking HORRIBLE day. Not that you’re horrible too, but I’ve been hiding from you and so you’re on the list now Hera Hera Heraaaaa. That a song? Feel like that’s a song, someone should make a song, singing, Heraaaa the heartttbreakkerrr… um, that, breaks heartsss. And confuses peopleee but neverrr really goes awayyy.” She giggled to herself, looking down at her cup and frowning when she realized it was empty. “Imma get another drink…” she murmured, getting up unsteadily and walking over to the door—only to find it locked. “It’s locked. Locked locked locked.” Daiane pouted, stumbling back over to the far side of the closet, where she sat back down, holding her long legs to her chest.

Hera said listen and so Daiane tried her very best to, keeping her ears open enough to listen. She didn’t really want to listen—she wanted to drink and dance and have fun!—but being stuck here meant she couldn’t do anything but that. The serious tone of Hera’s words annoyed Daiane (see: she wanted to have fun), and so she rolled her eyes, sighing very obnoxiously, but by the end of their small speech, she was even more annoyed because of how sad she felt. So sad. Sad because of so many reasons, but mostly because she had lost the best that she clearly did not deserve. The tears were rivers on her cheeks that she couldn’t stop, and she tucked her head into her legs, audibly sobbing.

@raviola hi

[astxrism]

{ Phoebe on a date with a rando | 2039 }
panic cord

---

Phoebe grew up knowing nothing but true, pure love. She could say she was lucky enough to have parents who loved each other and their kids more than anything else in the world and were always making sure they knew that. Her father only showing them what it really meant to treat someone right and make them feel like they were the most important person. That’s how she knew her mother felt and that’s how he wanted his girls to feel someday. Phoebe was that kid that admired what they had and wished she would have that for herself but what changed? Nothing… really… Deep down she still wanted that but sometimes you see that there are more fun things to do in life. That’s why her dates always end the same way.

Dates… Yes, she does go out on dates but she doesn’t call them that. It’s just some pre fun before the thing she accepted the offer because of happens and she never really hangs out with the person again if they’re not interested in being friends with some benefits when life gets boring but Phoebe would usually be the one to back out because being with the same person over and over again is simply boring and pointless. Now that contradicts what I said earlier, doesn’t it? Admiring how her parents were together for so long? It does, yes… Just don’t question her ways. She figured out that kind of life was not meant for her and there was nothing she could do about it.

”Mmmm,” throwing her head back with her eyes closed and leaning back again the car seat, Phoebe was only enjoying her bite of the best burger in town. The sun was already down and she was sitting there with her clothes still slightly wet, in a car of a boy she didn’t really know well but spent quite some time with. Kian was the guy Phoebe both involuntarily and voluntarily spent a lot of time with at the beach over the past few weeks. He was a surfer that couldn’t miss a chance to annoy another girl who was surfing and take his shots and Phoebe being the way she is let it happen. How do you not enjoy such moments? She always loved that kind of attention so eventually she agreed to go out with her new friend. It’s been a while since she’d done something like this and she… missed being kind of close to someone in this way so she let herself enjoy this before getting another thing she wanted and going their separate ways. After some surfing, Kian drove them to get some food and now they were parked in the middle of an empty parking lot, eating. Ideal date if you ask Phoebe.

”You should’ve ordered this. I told you you’re making a mistake but nooooo Phoebe, chicken wraps are way better,” before taking a fry, she noticed him looking at her as if he was looking at the most delicious thing and… He was. Her burger, that’s why she made that comment. ”Stop it,” or it wasn’t that. Whispering she threw the fry she picked up just seconds ago at him, making him laugh and making herself take another bite of her burger to hide the shy smile that appeared on her lips. ”What?” all cute, he threw the fry back at her, his sweet lil smile remaining on his lips. Woah, Phoebe was getting a little shy? No, she wasn’t, she was just not that used to… this. So instead of answering, she just shook her head and finished eating her food.

”No, no, noooo, I was the best little surfer in South Africa, you can’t compete with that,” after a while they found themselves on the back seats just laughing and talking, Phoebe’s legs over his as she was leaning back against the door. And… This really was the most fun she had in a while. ”I was waxing my own board like a little professional and you were doing what exactly at that time? Oh yeah… Anything but that. When did you even find out that surfing was a thing? Last year? Explains why you suck,” a cheeky smile on her lips, Phoebe continued this little game of teasing or whatever you would call it that they started before he gently pulled her leg so now she was on her back on those back seats. ”I suck?” ”Mhm,” bitting on her lower lip to suppress the smile, she watched him slowly move on top of her. ”Simply awful. Terrible.”

* * *

”Right here,” looking back at her friend who just parked in front of her house, she offered him a sweet smile as she was gathering her things, ready to just get out and… See him around on the beach? I don’t know? This was where she just leaves the person and not really do anything but that was not what he had on his mind. Leaning in to kiss her goodnight Phoebe quickly pulled back and nervously pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. Uhm… No. Enough of that. ”Thank’s for tonight. I’ll be seeing you around, yeah?” Acting as if nothing between them happened, she got out of his car and leaned against the door to add a few more things since his window was rolled down. Pleaseeee don’t say anything. No, this meant nothing to her. ”Still think you suck-” ”Phoe-” ”Or not. … Okay, okay, I’ll give it to you. But I do still think my burger was better, not changing my mind there. OH, it’s so late… Better not make my parents worry, not like they will, I’m almost always out this late… I meant to say - See you around!” After every word she slowly backed away, keeping her sweet smile on before just turning around and rushing to get inside of her own house.

[benitz786]

How was there a point in Paige’s life where she actually enjoyed being around Quinn Castillo? That seemed… such a long time ago now. If she could go back and talk to a younger… her, one of the first things she’d tell herself would be to drop him, and realize that she couldn’t trust anyone but herself. However, sadly, she couldn’t go back in time (clearly she didn’t know about her Cousin’s time machine) - and now she was stuck here. It was honestly getting colder, and she found herself pushing her tub away and wrapping her arms around her body to conserve any warmth she could get. Maybe she should have conserved her energy more, but how could she with the devil sitting across from her? He drew out the fcking words from her cold, uncaring mouth.

“Yes, you were disturbing me. I’m glad you can put two and two together, maybe you’re not as bloody daft as I thought,” she noted, rolling her eyes with frustration - though that may have been more driven by his next sentiment. She hadn’t realized that she revealed something she wasn’t supposed to know, or give a sht about. Look - there wasn’t much to do in the fcking hospital okay? So yeah, maybe she had done some slight checking up on instagram why her bestfriend had decided leaving her was worth it. However, that time was long gone now. She no longer cared… not about him… not about anyone. “Get your head out of your arse, Castillo. I just saw someone from Beryl post something about it, so don’t flatter yourself because we’re friends with the same people. Hopefully they’ll gain some better taste in friends one day,” . Sure it was a bald face lie, but one that was passable. After all, they had a few of the same friends from Beryl.

“At least I can do it right, sweetie. When was the last time you left someone satisfied? If you want some tips… well don’t let me know because I don’t really care about how well you’re fcking game is, got it?” However, any crude comment was turned off with his next words. That was another thing she had found out through the internet. Overall, she didn’t really know Finch as well as she knew Quinn, but she could maybe understand how terrible it would be to lose a sibling. After all, even with her outing with Mason, she still didn’t want anything to happen to him. Family still… meant a lot to Paige. That being said, the someone killed her part she didn’t know. She knew the girl had died, but the details had never been revealed clearly. Hit and run is what she had heard. For a long time, Paige didn’t respond to that. But after a while, she looked at him - her eyes meeting his own.

“Never pegged you as someone to go on a revenge escapade like a superhero… or Villain. You do know how those stories usually turn out right?” Paige questioned skeptically. “So who’s paying, darling? Because from what I’ve heard, they don’t know who killed her.”

@littlefeets

[benitz786]

In his life, there were a handful of things Daniel Parker never expected to ever happen. 1. He never expected to find someone he loved so fcking much that his entire world revolved around them. Say what you want about Daniel, but he loved Valerie Wood with his entire life. He loved her… and he loved his kids… so much that he was prone to making more than one mistake with them. 2. On the topic of mistakes, he never expected Dorian DeLoughrey to become family… that was just absolutely disgusting… something to work on becoming untrue again. 3. He never expected to leave the family he had created with his… well except for Dorian, that was an acceptable loss. He did love them, but he loved them so much that he had realized what steps needed to be taken to protect them.

Honestly, Daniel was being really damn introspective right now by pulling away from those he could potentially hurt. Pat on the back Daniel, Good job. So if that was CLEARLY the case, please explain why his heart hurt at every word his daughter said. Like it was truly a damn stab in the heart with ever word that left her lips. SO he kinda just stayed quite and had a clear frown on his face as he drank his scotch.

To answer her questions. Yes, he said that because he actually think’s it’s true and NO he’s not running away from his problems. THIS ISN’T RUNNING AWAY FROM PROBLEMS KID, THIS IS DEALING WITH THEM. OBVIOUSLY. Right? This was definitely dealing with his problems in the correct way okay… maybe. Fine, maybe VC was making him question somethings, but either way, that didn’t mean he wasn’t RIGHT. This was Daniel Parker, he was always right. That being said, even if he had wanted to say something after her words, he couldn’t as she continued telling him that she knew him. Well, kid, maybe you don’t because maybe he was a rich assh0le bachelor who could do anything he wanted. “Not what I think is the problem, kid. What I know is the problem. Come on, VC. Let’s be honest for a minute. I know you too, and I know you’ve wanted me to butt out of your life for years. I was doing what I thought was right, but clearly I was wrong so I fixed the issue. I erased the bug in the coding, and this time, the bug was me.” Daniel explained, finishing his drink before putting it down on the counter and moving his finger as a refill so that his robot AI would come over and do just that. Did Daniel make a robot bartender over the past week because he had nothing better to do? So what?

“Old Fashioned,” Dan stated, watching as the robot made the perfect drink. Maybe he would have enjoyed it more if VC didn’t decide to continue on her rant. Well… that and the realization that she had just put her cup down… a cup that definitely wasn’t filled with soda. Worry graced his features though he kept his eyes glued to the drink on the counter that was hers. That mixed in with her words about what had been going on while he was gone just hurt. He stayed silent for a moment as she finished, before allowing his eyes to meet hers. “I know,” he replied to the sentiment, placing his head in his hand and rubbing his forehead before moving his head back up and walking towards her before pulling her in for a tight hug. “I know you got your college acceptances and I’m… so damn proud of you VC. I’ve always been proud of you, and I always will be proud of you. I knew the moment your colleges made the decision… which trust me, I had nothing to do with those acceptances because they all realized you were amazing themselves because you… bloody are amazing.” Dan finished, moving away with a soft smile at his little genius. Though as he continued, his smile faded And…I know your mom leaves voicemails… and I haven’t listened to them because I know it’s just going to hurt and… I know peter waits… but kid, I also know that love doesn’t fix everything. We both know If I go back, I’ll mess something else up and… you…and Peter… and your mom don’t deserve that. You all deserve better than that… and for fcks sake WHY the bloody hell are you drinking VC because I am not fcking going through what I went through when I found out your mother was in the hospital so come on. We’re going to get you checked up because I will not be known as a shtty grandfather too," Daniel finished, grabbing his car keys with every intention of taking VC to the hospital in hell. There’s an oxymoron if Dan had ever heard one.

@CerealKiller

@astxrism - Dori trashed I forgot to mention

[benitz786]

Amie still wasn’t the biggest fan of being… here. But… well… make the best out of the situation right? That’s what her mother always told her when she was still… well… her mother. But… well where it came from was besides the point. Amie was trying her best just to survive the next few hours. Maybe she could have done that by herself downstairs instead of looking for Fin, but people downstairs were asking questions and it was far more awkward to be down there than to be up here… even if she HIGHLY disliked the person she was looking for.

So yes, she was there… in his… truly depressing room trying to at least help him find an excuse for disappearing for over the last half an hour. She found her almost rolling her eyes at his sentiment… if he truly didn’t care at all, then why was where here? No really - could he not have invited one of the many girls from school who actually found him attractive? You may be surprised, but yes, there was a handful of people who had a crush on Fin and it was only something Amie was aware of due to the Cheerleader’s locker board which consistently had photos of FIn and a few of the other guys, along with comments. Okay… off track a little bit, but you get where Amie was going with this. If Fin didn’t care, he could have brought any girl here to actually enjoy his time or he could pull the classic Fin and just disappear as he did for their Dean Mandated tutoring sessions.

She did find herself surprised at the photo of baby Fin… shockingly enough. Though she still wasn’t a fan of the older man that sat on the bed, the little kid in the photo was… just a kid. No baby Fin hate will be tolerated in these parts, okay? I"M LOOKING AT YOU MICHELLE. Baby Fin may have turned into… the creature in the same room as her… but at least in the photo that kid had even a semblance of innocence. With his words, and grabbing of the photo, she rolled her eyes. "I am nice… to people who are nice to me " Amie responded. Any lack of confidence she felt around him dissipated over the past hour. “You don’t exactly… technically fall in that category… but… I’m just observing,” Amie continued, almost backing her previous statement… or trying at least. She took a seat next to him as he looked at the photo, turning her head in slight confusion as he told her that he didn’t know who that is.

“Well… I mean I’m not positive but she has your eyes… and hair… so I’ll just make the general statement that I think it’s your mom,” Amie responded, looking over his shoulder at the photo before pointing at it. “Like right there, that’s definitely your nose too,” she continued before he started making some excuse about the baby not being him. “Fin if you’re seriously trying to convince me that you were never an innocent kid at one point, you’re seriously not winning that argument.” she responded. “Just admit it, you totally used to be less of a rude grump when you were a kid.” Amie joked back… ew… was she joking with him right now. You know those involuntary shivers you get when something creepy happens. Yeah. Insert that please. Looking at the photo one last time before he handed it back to her, Amie sighed since clearly that didn’t last long. Taking the photo… she looked at it for a little longer almost getting distracted by it before hearing the… annoying words that left Fin’s mouth.

“Nope nope I’m good,” Amie stated immediately, walking into his bathroom and closing it behind her so he could change in peace and so that he would actually change. His bathroom was just as bare as the exterior of the room. “You know, Fin. You could do with a splash of color. This room is depressing,” she revealed through the closed door.

Taking a seat on the edge of the bathtub, Amie looked at the photo one last time as she waited for him to get ready. After a second, she placed the picture in her dress pocket, not really knowing what Fin wanted her to do with it, and walked over the sink to look at herself. She looked tired… though a day with Fin would do that to anybody. With a soft sigh, Amelia went to splash her face but when she turned the knob for the face, no water came out. What the heck. Closing it, she tried again. She even tried opening both the hot and cold sides at the same time and nothing. “Fin is your water off or something?” Amie asked slightly hiding the facet… and yes… she means slightly because it was LITERALLY a light pat. Amelia definitely did not expect the entire thing to fcking combust and water to start spraying in every direction. Fck. Attempting to cover the spraying water with her hands truly did nothing except completely drenching her faster.

Fck fck fck sht oh MY god ITS GOING EVERYWHERE. Fear filled her knowing that if more water started dripping to the floor, it would likely sink into the first floor. “FIN” Amie yelled, letting go of the facet that was spraying and running towards the door to get the idiot to help her… turn it off or do something… GOD ANYTHING.

Well…

Fin didn’t have to be standing RIGHT outside of his bathroom when she opened the door because the minute she slammed the door open, she found it colliding with his body followed by a yell… and then him falling to the floor covering… well… the more intimate parts of his body. Sht.

@astxrism

[CerealKiller]

---

”oh bullsht, if I wanted you to *’butt out of my life’i I would have done that. Nobody is forcing me to stick around with you” she said, putting up air quotes at the butt out part. He was trying so hard to give excuses for his decisions and honestly none of them made sense to vc, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t gonna try.

”it doesn’t help me that you knew, I wanted you to be there, bloody be there and actually show me you’re proud of me” she said, taking a deep breath and leaving that subject letting him go on, what he said was again bs but say what you wanna say Daniel, ”well we rather have you mess something up than not be there at all” she added tho he kept talking about what they deserve and oop- wait.

”put down the keys we’re not going” she said. She knew this would probably make him mad at her but she couldn’t keep this up since it was what started tearing her family apart in the first place ”I’m not pregnant” she said looking down in shame ”it was a task and I tried so hard to do them and win and make you proud that I didn’t realize i was hurting everyone around me and I’m so bloody sorry dad, I really am” she said and might have slipped a tear out of her eye but totally ignore that because Parkers don’t cry. Or… maybe they do, when it’s something that really mattered. And in all her life, making her family proud of her was one of the main think she constantly did, she loved her family it was the most important thing to her, though never truly realising they were proud of her enough either way, until she tore them apart with her own bare hands. ”so no, the bug in the code was never you, it was me”

---

@benitz786 Dan

[benitz786]

Hello Old Friend - 2026 - Part 1

***

Long distance was the fear of any high school student transitioning into college…. Especially when that couple had no plans on breaking up with their significant other. Maybe… Jessica’s situation was slightly different…. After all, she had only started dating Dorian at the end of senior year. They had exactly four months together before both of them had to start college and it wasn’t that they were even in different states from one another… no they were in different countries. Maybe most people didn’t believe it would work between the two of them… well screw those people because it did. 6 months later, and the two were still together with no intention of breaking up any time soon. Well… on that note, that (that being that it was soon going to be their one-year anniversary) was exactly why Jessica was currently walking across the airport and towards baggage claim in the Miami Airport. It wasn’t her first time in this Airport, and probably would not be her last.

As she walked past the point of no return, aka the area one can’t come back to because it’s for people flying and one would have to go through security again, Jessica had every intention to go out the doors and get an uber back to Dorian’s place as he was currently supposed to be at soccer practice. What she hadn’t expected was her boyfriend to be standing out there with a little sign that said… well she wished she could say it said her name, rather it said “5-year-old obsessed with SpongeBob” in bold letters.

Her smile grew as she met his eyes, and immediately, she walked towards him not even letting the man get a word out before her lips were on his. She didn’t really know how long she stayed like that, but after a while she pulled away slightly though kept her arms wrapped around his neck.

“Hi,”

“Hi”

“Hi,”

She heard a laugh leave his lips as he pulled her tighter against him, quickly pecking her lips before pulling away to whisper yet another. “Hi”

“You’re a bloody idiot, but I love you,” Jess mumbled in response, before kissing him once again.

***

A soft gasp left her lips as her eyes opened. “Sorry for waking you up ma’am. We’re starting our departure; we’ll need you to buckle in.” Jess nodded, placing her buckle on as her mind wondered to the dream… memory she just… recalled. It had now been 5 years since that had happened so why was she remembering it now? Well… maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was landing in Miami airport? Visiting the very person that was the star of her dream…. memory?

Shaking her head, Jessica tried to get the thought out of her mind. She was going to see her best friend… a man she loved even if she wasn’t with him. And on the note of love, Jessica had a boyfriend who was possibly one of the kindest men she had ever met: a man who was supposed to be sitting next to her currently, however, after a last-minute press event that his manager had set up, he had told her he wasn’t sure when he’d be able to come. Part of the reason for the trip was to introduce Dorian to her boyfriend, and hopefully they’d still be able to do that. But for now, it would just be her and her best friend. No awkwardness – afterall, Jess and Dori had gotten past that years earlier.

It was about half an hour before she was finally out of the plane, once again in the familiar Miami Airport that hadn’t truly changed much over the years. What had changed was… well… the people. She had changed over the years; finding a job she loved, getting a Pulitzer for her first expose on North Korea. Dorian had changed as well, being drafted to the Inter Miami CF team and truly doing a great job – to the point where he had already become one of the most famous team members and was being recruited to other teams that were higher in ranking. It truly was everything her best friend wanted and… well it reminded her that the decision she made all those years ago was the right one. They were both happy… happier than they could ever be but honestly Jess was glad she could still share that with him.

As she walked towards baggage claim, a strange sense of familiarity hit once again and part of her immediately looked for Dorian where he stood all those years ago. It wasn’t strange, however, that he wasn’t there – waiting as he had all those years ago. He was a busy guy, and honestly why would she expect him to?

Feeling her phone buzzing, Jess grabbed it and a small smile met her lips seeing Trevor’s name. “Cheerio, darling. Yes, before you ask, I did just land and I am in one, whole, piece though I can’t promise I’ll stay in one piece by the end of the day. How’s the press stuff going?” Jess asked with a soft laugh.

“I’m glad you got there okay, babe and one piece or two piece, I’ll stillllll love you the same but maybe try to stay in one piece? Annnnnnd I’m glad your phone was charged so I could call you, so pleaseeeee keep it charged even though I’m not there to charge it. Anyways, the press stuff is such… urgh… bs. I may have to stay another day to finalize some things but I’ll let you know when I can get there.”

“Wow, WOW are you saying that I’m bloody bad at charging my phone. Honestly, darling, I take that to offense but fineee. I’ll try to keep it charged. It’s fine Trev, deal with the press. I’ll be fine here just let me know when you can.”

Walking towards the baggage revolver, there was a soft grin on her face when talking to the man. He always had been slightly protective of her and while Jess usually didn’t like that, she found it cute when it came to Trevor.

“NO no not at all, I’m saying that you are bloody terrible at charging your phone. Bad doesn’t really cover it all, Jess. I just feel bad about it because I really wanted to be there with you and meet Dor…”

Jess heard someone on the line calling her boyfriend’s name and a sigh meeting his end.

“Sorry that’s my manager telling me I have to go out for the autograph signing. I’ll see you soon okay? Tell Dorian I said hi AND to remind you to charge your phone.”

With a laugh, Jess said her goodbye’s, hanging up and placing the phone in her pocket as she found her luggage finally coming out. Pulling the item, Jess started walking towards the exit when she saw a group of people surrounding someone a few feet away from her. Maybe curiosity killed the cat, but she found herself walking towards the crowd to see what the ordeal was about. Maybe someone was giving free food? Which in that case, Major YES for her.

Sadly, however, she soon found that it wasn’t free food – rather, someone she hadn’t seen in… a while. Surrounding Dorian was a line of people getting pictures and autographs which was unsurprising with his recent win. Following suit, Jess waited behind a few people. Hey – if they were getting free merch, she should too right?

It had taken a few minutes for her to get to the front of the line – a smile on her lips as Dorian entertained the group in front of her. “Okay I have to go soon so this will have to be the last one,” Jess heard the man say, still not looking towards her as he sighed an autograph for someone.

“Oh you have to be bloody kidding me. Now that’s bloody bullsht. I did not just wait in line for 20 minutes not to at least get my boobs signed,” Jess stated loudly with an apparent frown though that disappeared as the confused idiot finally looked up at her.

“Jess I thought… wait no your flight doesn’t land until” she found him looking at his watch and the frown on his lips deepened “Twenty minutes ago. Fck. I’m so sorry, I had this whole plan and this sign,” Jess’ smile grew seeing a sign on the floor that said “6-year-old obsessed with Spongebob”. Maybe she wasn’t the only one who remembered that moment. Putting her things down, Jess walked up to him pulling the man in for a tight hug.

“Hi,” Jess whispered in his ears, mimicking what she said all those years ago.

“Hi”

“Hi,”

There was hesitancy in Dorian’s voice as she pulled away, though he repeated the words “Hi”

“You’re a bloody idiot but I… I missed you…. So… am I driving or…”

It didn’t matter that Jess hadn’t seen Dorian in months, their friendship had surpassed far past time constraints. They could have been apart for years and still fallen into their routine like they had never been apart. It was good… honestly Jess had missed him. They still talked all the time when she was away – through face time and text, Jess had made sure to keep in touch with the man. For four days, the two had been enjoying each other’s presence and also getting into their normal shenanigans. Day one, Jess had begged him to go out with her and the two ended up hitting most food trucks in their vicinity and exploring Dorian’s town before ending the night.

Day 2, Dorian had a home game which Jess went to and supported him… which did, of course, result in her cursing out the referee and almost getting kicked out. Almost because Dorian practically promised the ref that Jess would shut up for the rest of the game, and then proceeded to buy her various food items which kept her quiet. Nice one Dori.

Day 3 was a post-game party at the David Beckham’s multi-billion-dollar mansion, which Jess and Dori hit and allowed her to meet all of his new friends and teammates. Honestly it was fun, and yes, it was a foam party which Jess didn’t know happened after college but clearly it did and ended up with Jess creating a fake foam beard for Dorian in the pool. Bloody fun times if you ask her.

And Day 4, the two just spent at his place – eating in and watching movies and playing games while they talked and caught up about everything. Currently, Jess was laying on the couch next to the man, her head on his chest as they watched the movie. That’s usually how their nights ended, either watching a movie in each other’s arms or Jess sneaking into his bed to talk some more… and consequently end up sleeping next to him. Though it didn’t really matter – they were friends. Even before they were dating, the two acted in similar ways and it was just… their normal. Within four days, they had gone though everything… life… relationships… everything. “You know you’re a bloody cheat right? You’ve never been good a poker, so I don’t believe that you beat me three times, darling.” Jess stated, looking up at the man from where her head was laying.

She felt the man laughing, and a sigh left her lips. “Yes please laugh, darling when I have such a good position of kicking you in the balls,” Jess stated.

“Jess… ignoring the kicking my balls thing… I’ve been wanting to tell you something for the last few days.”

Jess looked up, her attention on him as he said those words. He looked serious, though who knew what it could be about. “Are you trying to kick me out? Because if you are, you’re paying for the Uber,” Jess started jokingly.

“No… Jess… I…”

Before he could finish that, Jess heard the doorbell ring, and she looked at it with confusion. “I know we just ate, but please tell me you ordered food,”

With a smile, Jess got up off the couch and walked towards the door. Without making any attempt of looking at the little peep hole, Jess opened the door – her eyes instantly widening at the man standing there. With his suitcase, AND a pizza in hand, Jess grinned as Trevor stood there. Immediately, Jess wrapped her arms and legs around the man, “I don’t know if I should be bloody happier about the food, or you,” Jess laughed, kissing him before jumping off. “Doooriiiiiii, This is Trevor and Pizza. Trevor and Pizza, this is Dori,” Jess smiled.

“So what were you trying to tell me before?”

@astxrism

[Littlefeets]

All Quinn could do was roll his eyes in response to Paige’s comment. If anything, she was disturbing him now. However, when she began to explain how she knew he had been in Chicago, it still seemed slightly off, but it didn’t really matter. ”Maybe they will when they drop both of us.” Paige wasn’t so much better than he was, even if she was trying to come off like she was. Her next comment, there weren’t even words to say, not more than another eye roll could cover. Though, when it came to the topic of his sister, there was a shift in the mood. Quinn knew she had a family that mattered to her, just like she knew that for him his sister was extremely important to him. Now, there was no denying that she was gone. Just, few people knew how. The full story had never been released, and there were more rumors than facts, but Quinn knew, he knew exactly why Finch was at the wrong place at the wrong time. For a time, there was silence, but then Paige’s eyes met his and she questioned him about his want for revenge. ”What does it matter? I just need everyone who hurt my sister, to hurt” Paige then asked who he was determined would pay, and Quinn stayed silent for a moment. He looked to his phone, finding the saved voicemail. ”I don’t know who killed her, but I know just who is the reason she’s dead. She called me just before…” he trailed off slightly, as he hit play on the recorded message.
“Quinn. Come on. Quinn, pick up your stupid phone.” she paused for just a second. ”A^^hole. Fine whatever, don’t answer me. I have to go help Annie anyway. There’s some s^^t she’s not dealing with so I’m stepping in to help her so it doesn’t get worse. So, call me back, or just… I’ll talk to you tomorrow. That’s probably better, just pick up your phone next time.”
The message stopped and Quinn looked over at Paige. ”My sister is dead because of her.”

@benitz786

[astxrism]

---

She is only nice to people who are nice to her? That wasn’t exactly true from Fin’s point of view but how would he know that? She has this one job she’s constantly failing at - tutoring him, and it doesn’t seem like she likes him so… She was even nice to people who weren’t nice to her. Case closed. So that meant she was a liar and boring… He doesn’t want to talk to you about himself as a baby or about how “grumpy” or “rude” he is. Excuse you? He wasn’t grumpy. ”I don’t remember.” Was all he said, again just a bit annoyed, trying to stop this… conversation from continuing.

Asking her if she minds wasn’t really a question. He minds which might come to some as a surprise, and he doesn’t want Amelia there so sweetie, if you could just leave him alone that would be wonderful. Even if he had that smirk on his face, he was glad she got up and…. And didn’t leave his room. Fine, it’s fine, locking herself in his bathroom was still better than having her next to him. If only she could shut up, but it was a good thing Fin could just ignore her. It used to be a good thing but he’ll soon find out that wasn’t as good as he thought it was. Getting up himself and starting to undress, Fin completely ignored her concerns about his… water? What did she say? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that he was just one piece of clothing away from being naked, on his birthday may I remind you, with a girl just behind that door and that wasn’t going in the direction it usually would. NOT that he was complaining. He’d rather move back here than do anything with… Amelia. The only thing she was good for was making his dad act normal.

Grabbing the shirt she picked out from his closet and putting it on, still unbuttoned, Fin walked over to the mirror that was right next to the door and that right there… Was the worst mistake of his life. How could he know Amelia would open that door with such a force that she could kill a man if she wanted to? Good thing she didn’t kill him but that would’ve been better than what actually happened… That door collided with a part of his body that wasn’t meant to be touched in this way. It was one of those things he didn’t wish any man would ever have to experience. But oooh… He wasn’t expecting this to be this bad.

Do you know how many swear words are there? Way too many, and Fin knew many which he proved once he was on the floor, experiencing the worst pain of his life. Never did he hear his dck making a sound it did at that very moment and that wasn’t a good sign. The pain only supported his theory. Do you know what he wanted to say to Amelia… Scream at her? Something along the lines of “Are you mental!? Are you crazy? Are you stupid? What’s wrong with you? You broke my dck.” You did. Yup. But what he actually ended up doing is staying down on the floor, his hands still over his injury, his eyes still closed as he kept swearing. The only thing he managed to say besides that was, ”Call the… fcking… ambulance.”

---

@benitz786 - best friend

[benitz786]

“Oh fck off,” Paige noted immediately with his words, laying down so she was now staring at the frozen ceiling instead of him. Truthfully, such a better sight than his bloody face was. Paige let her eyes close, and letting her mind run. Truthfully, she had better things to think about than Quinn Castillo, so she simply wouldn’t. Easy peasy. Though, she did mention a few things, after all, he was her only source of entertainment in this fcking hell hole. Okay maybe not a hell hole, she was surrounded by ice cream. Usually, that was a good thing, the hell part was simply brought by the man beside her.

It was clear from the instant silence with her next words, however, that she had struck a sore spot. Part of her felt bad for him… though she was trying to keep an appearance of nonchalance. However, with his words that everyone that hurt his sister would get hurt, Paige opened her eyes to meet his. “Well, fine. Respect. I’d do the exact same thing, so do you even want me to try and tell you what 99% of the population would say? Oh Quinn, don’t do it. It’s not going to make you feel better. This isn’t the path you want to walk Type of sht?” Paige asked. It was true - maybe both Paige and Quinn were irrational people, but at least both of them could take action instead of sitting on the sidelines waiting for life to pass them by.

Though, Paige never expected what happened next. Her ears perked up at the voicemail, and for the first time in the last few minutes, Paige Pierce actually sit up and listened to the words on the phone. Even more curious was hearing Annie had something to do with it. Was there an irony in the fact that Paige’s sister had something to his sister’s death? Perhaps, but that wasn’t something she wanted to talk about. “Damn,” Paige let out as the voicemail came to an end. “So you came back to Beryl to hurt a girl because she supposedly had something to do with Finch’s death? Dude, it doesn’t even seem like Annie knew about it. I know you, Castillo because you’re like me. We do sht without thinking. If Finch was the same way, can you really blame Annie?”

Why the fck was she taking Annie’s side? Paige didn’t even like Annie… but part of her didn’t think ti was 100% her fault either. “Don’t get me wrong, Castillo. I don’t give a fck what you do, as long as it doesn’t involve me.”

With a sigh, Paige stood up, walking around the small space trying to stay warm. “So that’s your genius plan? Come back, hurt everyone around you, and then disappear. Sounds like you Castillo.” Page stated, a soft laugh leaving her lips.

@Littlefeets - Quinn
@novella - Annie Mentioned

[benitz786]

@benitz786

He was totally grumpy. Hell, Fin seemed to get more grumpy with her calling out his grumpiness. Sorry Fin, it just was who you were. Poor baby Fin, so innocent and unknowing of how grumpy he’d become. Though with Fin’s words, he clearly wanted to end the conversation and honestly, that wasn’t something Amie minded. As much as Amie could play pretend today - they weren’t friends. Honestly, they had a lack of any relationship whatsoever. Maybe it even fell more into the category of being a negative relationship. For some reason, Fin’s presence always made her more clumsy and usually resulted in her hurting herself so no thank you Fin. Another no thank you was seeing him naked, so of course, she immediately disappeared into the bathroom.

Remember when she said that something always happened to her when Fin was around? Honestly, Fin was bad luck for her. There was no explaining it but there was something about her being near him that just ended in chaos EVERY SINGLE TIME. Do you want an example? Really. Well… Fine, before we come back to reality, let’s go back to the past decade of her life. Not considering the first time she met him and the whole Pluto incident where she TRIED TO HELP HIM by telling him Pluto wasn’t a planet, which, by the way, got Amie late to class and she was in time out with Phoebe for part of class

@astxrism I made a guess about the dean lmk if I’m wrong

[benitz786]

“Hey, just because you’re 18 now doesn’t mean you’re not my little girl, darling.” Daniel sighed, responding to her sentiment that no one is forcing her to stick around him. Sure no one is making her stick around, but technically before recently, she’s been 17 meaning the law was forcing her to stick around if we were going there. Why couldn’t this kid just understand he was doing this for her, for her mother, and for her siblings? It wasn’t that hard to understand okay… hmph. Unlike Dorian DeLoughrey, Dan actually CARED about his family enough to know when to leave. When would he learn that? Who the fck knew?

Whatever words he had in defense turned off as she continued, telling him that he needed to be there. But… look what was the point of being there if he made more of a mess there than not… it just… didn’t make sense to Daniel. A frown met his features, looking at his daughter. It’s part of why he didn’t say anything as he grabbed his keys… well that and he didn’t know how to respond. He was ready to take his daughter to the hospital, until her net words. “You’re not… you faked it for a task?” . Oh Dan was mad. Maybe he wasn’t showing it, but part of him was p!ssed… more at himself than he was at her but still. “I thought I told you that I don’t want you winning that game, for fcks sake VC do you ever…” and he shut up. He knew what he was doing… he was doing what he always did. Forcing people to do things because he saw the bigger picture. Seeing her cry broke him inside, and after a second, he walked towards her again and pulled her in for a hug for the second time. “I… fcking hell VC,” Dan started, taking the seat beside her as he looked in her eyes. “I think it’s partially my fault. I always… I always tell you not to do things without telling you the reason and maybe… maybe I need to. Sht…” Dan sighed again, rubbing his head. “I think it’s time I tell you why I hate blue royalty,”

---

Over the next two hours, Daniel Parker did just that. He told her… exactly why he hated the game - something he didn’t usually repeat because Malachi Azure was… well… as much as he hated to admit, her cousin. Val and he had made a deal that it wasn’t worth talking about, but clearly, she just needed to know. So he told her about it all… about Jess and what happened when they were kids and part of why he hated Dorian and Andy, but that wasn’t the focus here. He told her about his own tasks which involved her mother. He told her about her mother’s tasks, and the eventual pain all the bloody tasks caused. In the end, the focus was Kai, the game, and the results of the game which truly have no benefit. He told her about Leo… and Akielah… the two who were now running the game.

Would she understand? God, who knew. Daniel always had his reasons for doing something, but he never explained them. He never saw the need to and for the first time, he was letting his daughter ask any question she wanted and responding fully.

“Do you get it now? God, even Jessica has her own plan on taking the fcking game down.” Dan added with a sigh, though as those words left his mouth he realized maybe that was something he shouldn’t have said. It’s okay… distract. “Is there… do you have any questions. Anything else you want to know? No, I’m not answering why I hate Dorian again. He’s an idiot. Anything besides that?”

@astxrism - Idiot mentioned
@CerealKiller - Kid