stressed, but unbowed

adelaide landry twenty-two. littlest landry & twin. ♣️

[adelaidelandry]

𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒚​:

     Sebastian had a feeling he’d end up drunk at the end of the night, throwing up on a ride and sleeping in a ditch but if that didn’t happen at least he had set the bar low enough to be impressed if he at least woke up at home or on someone’s couch. The least he could do was spend a couple of hours with Adelaide. Not that he wasn’t enjoying it but he still felt like he owed her for disappearing so often. ❛ Like you’d even remember. You were a baby when I could have taken this sport to the Olympics, ❜ he told her, an amused smile on his lips as he was clearly joking. Sebastian tossed away another ring and miraculously it landed right. The man gave out a short triumphant yell, although he had hardly won anything yet. Then he sighed over-dramatically.  ❛ Fine but then you’re taking it home. ❜  Not that he would have taken the big bear home himself, it would also have been hers but they weren’t that good. Maybe next year, if they practiced.

Bash never failed to bring a smile to her lips, even when she was in the worst of moods (which she’ll admit her mood was certainly more worse than best since Ewan’s grand gesture a few weeks ago). He was forever her favorite older brother, even if his only competition was Eli. “That’s right, I forgot how much of an old man you are now,” Adelaide teased, holding out a few dollar bills for the game runner to take in exchange for the rings he then handed her. Although she stuck to her claim that she wasn’t much better than him when it came to carnival games, especially ones that involved good aim, she was also stubborn enough to rise to the challenge of beating one of her siblings at a game. “Alright, deal. Although you get to hear it from Leona when she trips over it in the middle of the night because Croissant’s inevitably claimed it as his own and left it in the middle of the floor.”

[adelaidelandry]

𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒓:

“Sure fucking does,” Mateo added with a grin as he made his way into Adelaide’s apartment. Looking around for a moment, his eyes focused on her once again and he had to admit that he was pretty excited to see what the evening would bring. He was usually the person people came to with their chaotic choices so he felt oddly flattered by the fact that Adelaide had chosen him to grant her the wish of mixing things up a bit. They’d bonded quickly and with ease – which was no surprise considering Adelaide’s nature but they also shared something that had changed either of them forever and it was almost morbidly reassuring to have someone around who Mateo knew understood his pain. He rarely talked about what was going on with him as it was but the few times he had, felt almost liberating as much as shameful. He hated sharing these parts of himself and yet, he’d felt relieved when he’d admitted just how much it had hurt and affected him. Usually though, Mateo took pride in acting resilient and rebellious when in reality, it all stemmed from pent up rage. A constant war he was fighting within himself.

Their experiences had aligned with one another in the loss they’d endured and for once, Mateo had felt okay about breaking open. While Adelaide seemed to have developed much healthier coping mechanisms, Mateo had never been able to do so. He was over being reasonable and without a real drive or desire to do anything with his life at all, he felt like he’d given up years ago. Sometimes he couldn’t help but wonder if there was more – if twenty-five was too early to give up but then again, Mateo was merely trying to live his life to the fullest. Whether it was self-destructive or not. Thankfully, he had people around who at least tried to help him, when his father had also long given up on him. “Insane or sick?” Mateo joked with a smirk, patting her head as he walked passed her. “No backing out now. We’re doing this and you’re gonna look really cool,” he added. Twisting his mouth to the side, Mateo shook his head. “No promises but I’m gonna try my best, I swear. I feel like you could pull it off so we gotta wait and see,” he pointed out with a wink, looking around. “You got some towels and gloves? I don’t wanna mess up your place on top of your hair,” Mateo joked, trying to get her to freak out a little more when in reality, he’d prepared so he wouldn’t mess up after all and while he would never admit it, he’d never dare to mess up Adelaide’s hair on purpose.

"Definitely insane,” Adelaide laughed with a shake of her head, although she couldn’t help but hope that this decision may result in something cool and edgy and completely what she usually was not. Although it had been growing for awhile, it wasn’t until she was faced with Ewan’s grand gesture, the one that felt like more of a punch to the face than an actual grand gesture, that she realized how much of a change she needed. Big change was something that her early life provided her with, causing her to discover how to adjust to life without a mother and how to live that life in a new state and a new town that she knew absolutely nothing about, which led her to make very little change after that, even changes that could be attributed to good results. In her mind, it just made sense to not deviate from the stability of what continued to work, deep down fearing the loss of anything else in her life.

Being in the same space as Mateo made it easy to forget about those worries and Adelaide found herself willingly grabbing a towel from the closet closest to the tiny bathroom and gloves from a bucket that held most of their meager cleaning supplies she and Leona shoved under the sink. “It’s just time for a change, you know? Something new, something fresh, something... that doesn’t make me feel like I’ve been sitting in a dusty attic for twelve years,” she sighed, handing him the supplies before gesturing to the kitchen surrounding them. “I figured we could just do it in here. There’s not much room elsewhere and Leona won’t be home until tonight, so what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

[adelaidelandry]

𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒉𝒂𝒎:

He’d made a mistake.

He wasn’t sure how he knew, but he did. He swallowed thickly, her question ringing through the air like a gong. How it was possible he felt it rather than heard it, he wasn’t sure. But even as his eyes traced the room, as his brain conjured the painstaking hours he’d spent getting it just perfect, he knew that he’d done the wrong thing.

His words came out like a rush, as if they couldn’t leave his mouth fast enough. “I just thought– you know, we talked a little about your mum and how she loved this stuff. I, uh… I went to see Leona. I told her my idea and she sort of pointed me in the right direction. I thought… I don’t know. I thought you might like a place your mom would have loved. Like, you could be close to her somehow. It’s— it sounds a lot worse coming out of my mouth than it did in my head.” He winced, scared to look at her. His head moved slowly as he turned in her direction. “Do you hate it?”

His explanation hadn’t made this any easier to stomach. In fact, him answering the obviously rhetorical question, one that she asked despite being able to assume exactly what this was, somehow made it worse. There was a certain ache in her chest as she eyed her mother’s things set in front of her. Blinding, suffocating. The Landry’s had left most of her stuff in New Orleans, only taking with them the things that held the greatest sentiment, most of which had been carefully stored in her dad’s attic ever since the move. When she was little, there were times when the secret pain of missing her mother would hit her, even when Adelaide gave the appearance that she had moved on, and she’d climb those rickety stairs when everyone had left the house, leaving her alone among the dusty items that still smelled like her mother if she closed her eyes for long enough. It was a secret she had kept closely, hidden, not sharing with Ewan for a reason. 

That reason being fear that the man would attempt something like this, something he ended up attempting anyway after she shared the little facts about her mother and the woman’s death here and there over their budding relationship. He was always someone who got lost in grand gestures and fairytale moments, the majority of which Adelaide had found herself falling head over heels for, a certain storybook quality that she had always adored when she was in love. But this... this grand gesture had crossed a line, a line that she knew that Ewan never even realized existed, but she was too frustrated, too upset, too angry to consider a fair reaction in that moment. Being confronted with items, memories of her mother, that she preferred to keep hidden in a faraway attic that she could ignore existed caused her chest to continue tightening and her head to shake in disbelief, glancing at Ewan. “Hate it? You went behind my back and somehow had the fallacy that I’d somehow jump for joy at seeing my mom’s dusty old things and being reminded of her stupid magical belief that didn’t do shit when it came to her own future. So yeah, Ewan, I do hate it.”

[adelaidelandry]

𝒃𝒂𝒔𝒉 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒚:

    carnival starter for @adelaidelandry​

      It had been a lifetime and a half since Sebastian actually got the opportunity to attend something happening in town. For the last couple of large events happening he had been out of town due to his impulsive adventuring and he’d missed a couple of things including missing Leona’s drive-in reopening and a fucking fire. Although, he was happy he missed the latter. unfortunately, some other people didn’t and it still haunted him and the rest of the town for sure. Thankfully, he was in town, alive and well, for the carnival so he met up Adelaide to head out, the first thing he noticed was the ring tossing. ❛ I used to be a pro, I swear to you, ❜ he laughed as he missed another shot.  ❛ Win the big bear for me, will ya’? ❜  

Adelaide grinned toward her older brother, a roll of her eyes quickly followed. It was a typical reaction when it came to Bash - ever the annoying, foolish, messy clown in their family. But he was their clown and she decided very early on that no one else would ever be able to roll their eyes at any of her siblings without a fight from her. She couldn’t help but be happy that her brother was back in town. Despite everything that had happened recently, she missed him more than she had realized. “Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better,” Adelaide teased, twirling the ring in her hand as she spoke. She was sure she wasn’t much better than Bash at the silly, probably rigged, carnival game, but playing until they won something surely beat walking around the carnival only to end up near a certain tent that would inevitably remind her of their mother and the buttons that Ewan had inadvertently pushed. “How about we compromise for the small tiger? I’m not sure I’m much better than you when it comes to ring tossing skill.”

[adelaidelandry]

𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒓:

In contrast to Adelaide, Mateo had always been someone who thrived on chaos. Order just seemed so terribly boring and so did making decisions that were considering right and good. He wasn’t interested in pleasing anyone and stuck to whatever made him feel good instead, which often led to some poor decisions but the young man had always considered those learning lessons rather than mistakes in the first place. So when Adelaide Landry, ever so put together and composed, had reached out to him to dye her hair, Mateo had agreed in a heartbeat. He’d bleached his own hair before. Gave himself a buzzcut. Shaved the sides of his head and put some color in his hair so he was aware of just how good this kind of change could feel and he was eager to help Adelaide experience it. Being impulsive was in his nature and hell, if she wanted help, Mateo was definitely the right choice for that. 

As he knocked on the door, bouncing a bit on his feet and a broad grin settled on his lips, Mateo couldn’t help but laugh at her comment once the door opened. “Are you kidding? I’ve been bored out of my mind so you’re doing me a favor,” he told her before his eyes fell to the box dye and he couldn’t help but snort. “Hell, Ade. How long have you known me by now? If anyone loves horrible decisions, it’s me and I think this is a great decision. You’re gonna look dope,” Mateo said excitedly. “I don’t want you to freak out though so I did do some research. Better say a prayer before we start – may the hair gods be with us and this virgin hair,” he said in a dramatic manner as he picked up the box to skim over the descriptions. “You got virgin hair right? Or did I miss you dying it before? Either way, we might do this twice and apparently I gotta start with the lengths, not the roots. No wonder mine turned white when I did this.”

"It feels like too long most days,” Adelaide joked as she let him inside while he teasingly asked her how long she had known him for. His chaos seemed to extend throughout her entire life, even though she hadn’t even moved to Redwood Bay until she was almost a teenager. Despite their different personalities, they seemed to click almost instantly - especially when it came to one very important shared trauma in their lives. Talking about her mom wasn’t something she did a lot. In fact, outside of the little stuff she had shared with Ewan, Adelaide never really talked about her mother with anyone, not even her siblings. It was always so much easier to pretend like it didn’t affect her than to explain the anger that raged inside of her over the loss. It was always a combination of her needing to be the steady support for her siblings and her feeling like if anyone had a right to be messed up about the loss of their mother it was always Leona and not someone who was barely old enough to understand what had happened at the time.

Still, with Mateo it had been like a dam breaking, her feelings and thoughts and memories falling past it and spilling into the world. She shared her past with him and he did the same thing with her, sharing a connection with each other that they had with no one else. Since then his chaos had always been a welcomed addition into her life, vicariously living through his questionable choices as she stayed on the right side of the track, constantly trying to keep him stable and alive, which had been the way they worked together until today, Ewan gifting her an entire space filled with things that belonged to her mother and things that reminded her of her mother and she felt suffocated and called out enough by it that she felt the urge to do something impulsive, something different. She couldn’t help but wonder if this is how Mateo felt all the time? “I’ve never been religious, Mat. Let’s just get this over with before I realize how insane this decision is and I change my mind,” Adelaide expressed, a soft huff of laughter and a roll of her eyes accenting the sentence. She lifted a piece of her hair before dropping it back onto her shoulder with a sigh. “Nope, first time. I feel like it’s time to do something a little crazy though. Just don’t burn it all off, okay? I need crazy, but bald might be a little too far for me.”

[adelaidelandry]

a glance into adelaide’s i n s t a g r a m;

ft. @mateobarker​, croissant the cat, & an honorable mention for ewan.

[adelaidelandry]

𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒉𝒂𝒎:

God, he was nervous. 

Adelaide had snuck beneath his skin like some sort of… under the skin ninja. A skinja? Whatever it was, it was as if she’d become a staple in his life seemingly overnight. He wanted her opinion on the books he read, he texted her stupid things he found on the internet that he thought she’d enjoy or find funny, he found himself thinking of Adelaide first when he had something he wanted to share with someone. And now, he found himself wondering if this gesture was not the thing of stories at all, but rather crossing a line that couldn’t be uncrossed.

But she was standing before him now and there was no turning back. He focused instead on her words and scoffed. “Murder you?” He feigned offense, pressing a hand to his heart as if he’d just been mortally wounded. “Ads, I’m like a cooked spaghetti noodle, I think you could take me.” And he had no doubts Leona would follow up on that promise. No, that was not a risk he was willing to take. “Okay,” he said, blowing out one last breath before he scooted up beside her, watching intently as he waited for her to close her eyes. Once she did, he slipped his hand into hers and tugged her gently forward. 

He pushed open the door to the Hobbit Hole– and decidedly ignored the jagged, hollow feeling that came from stepping inside it these days– and led her in. He weaved her carefully through the shelves and narrowly missed a collision with a stack of books resting haphazardly on the edge. He was glad she had her eyes closed for this because his little shop was in a sad state of disaster. He looked down at himself with a wry grin and ignored that parallel.

His heart beat harder still as he led her further into the room, through a new entryway that, until a week ago, had belonged to the empty store next door. Now it was filled with a new life. Some of the items before him were new, most ordered hastily on obscure websites he’d never heard of after he’d peppered Leona with entirely too many questions because this had to be perfect. It wasn’t so much the new stuff he was worried about. Among the shiny newness of the room– the smell of fresh paint permeating the air– sat things Leona had snuck out of their dad’s attic at Ewan’s request. Stuff that had once belonged to Adelaide’s mother. Things from her time as a fortune teller framed by a space inspired by each and every one of them. He was taking huge leaps of faith here, taking a chance that she wouldn’t hate his meddling, wouldn’t feel trapped by some kind of horrible reminder of the past. The chance that she’d hate it far outweighed the chance that she wouldn’t. But, he thought, how much it could mean to her far outweighed the never trying at all. He was no stranger to a grand gesture falling flat, so at the very least, he was prepared for the worst. “Before you open your eyes, I just want you to know that you don’t have to like it and you’re allowed to say no.” He leaned in towards her ear, his voice so quiet it barely left his lips. “Okay. Open them.”

Their hands fit together in a way that Adelaide had never expected them to when she walked through the doors of the bookstore for the very first time, having greeted the man before her right now with furrowed eyebrows and a question about where to find a certain book she needed for a college course. It was difficult to believe that one simple moment like that could lead to a complete stranger becoming one of the most important people in her life seemingly overnight. But somehow, Ewan just fit in her life, like sliding the last book of a series into a set you’ve been working on completing for awhile or filling up the last page of a notebook you’ve had for years. He, somehow in a life where she constantly felt like she was missing a part of her, made her feel complete. So yeah, maybe if he did end up murdering her after all of this she would have Leona bring her back only to haunt him, but Adelaide knew in that moment that it’d be less about reeking havoc on him and more about the fact that she would struggle to feel at rest in any lifetime without him. 

She, of course, chose not to think about how murder would change any of those feelings and allowed herself to melt into the moment instead, hand gripping his, fingers tangling together as she followed him throughout the bookstore, bobbing and weaving through the shelves and around piles - a hard swerve had her imagining just how much of a mess the store was, Ewan never quite seemed to be able to find a place for all of the books he gathered. She felt the atmosphere change and realized they were no longer in the warmth of the bookshop, not able to help herself when she mumbled, “Okay, I’m starting to think murder is actually on the table.” A nervous chuckle fell from her lips, but it quickly fell silent as Adelaide felt his presence next to her ear, the whisper causing chills to trail down her spine. Her eyes opened, blinking a few times to adjust to the lighting and when they did, when her gaze caught sight of what was laid out in front of her, a lump formed in her throat, the chills that Ewan had just sent across her skin now burned bright hot. She glanced across the area, eyebrows furrowing when she recognized the items, the set up. “What... what is this?”

[adelaidelandry]

location: adelaide and leona’s downtown apartment status: closed starter for @mateobarker​

Adelaide had always been the stable and steady Landry, the one with her head set straight on her shoulders as she watched her siblings make chaotic decisions throughout their lives, only to either clean up after them or shake her head disapprovingly at them. Even as the youngest, she had still found herself acting instead like one of the oldest. Her decisions were always informed, always thought through, and never impulsive. Nobody who knew her well enough to really know her would have ever expected to see Adelaide Landry standing in the middle of her small apartment kitchen with a box of blonde dye in her hands as she waited for Mateo to show up. Yet, there she was, reading over the words on the box for the millionth time, as though she was trying to keep her mind busy in a vain attempt to stop herself from backing out of the not entirely thought through, completely impulsive decision she had made just an hour ago when she had sent Mateo a text that said nothing other than I need a change, help me dye my hair?. Her life had been so stagnant lately, save for Ewan who was a shining ray in her otherwise dark and gloomy schedule, that Adelaide found herself making one of the first impulsive choices in her life. The knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts and she dropped the box of dye to the table, quickly unlocking the door to let Mateo inside with a timid grin and a, “Thanks for doing this and not telling me it’s horrible decision.”

[ewangraham]

WHERE: the hobbit hole. WHO: @adelaidelandry​ & ewan.

Ewan’s palms were sweaty. He rubbed them together vigorously as if it would magically rid him of the nerves. It didn’t. Ever since he’d gotten the help from Leona, he’d thrown himself into the work. He’d done research, he’d spent nights painting, he’d learned how to use Pinterest and then followed Pinterest boards to achieve the look he’d been going for. Weeks, he’d spent getting it just right. It felt perfect and he felt ready. Cut to the exterior of the book shop and he could be found pacing, running said-sweaty hands down the front of his pants, glancing down the street every few seconds to see if she was coming. He was beginning to think maybe this was a bad idea. His thing had sort of become grand gestures going horribly, horribly wrong, so he wasn’t sure why he’d expected this might be any different. Pulling the phone out of his pocket in a sudden rush, he contemplated sending her a quick text to forget it. Just kidding! Let’s go get ice cream instead. She wasn’t even late yet, if he just opened his contacts, hers would be the name at the top. He could just—

He slipped the phone back in his pocket, a rush of nerves like a stampede of butterflies (which was stupid, butterflies didn’t stampede, but whatever) in his stomach as he looked up just in time to see her round the corner. No going back now. “Addie!” Ewan’s voice rang out down the sidewalk and he took a few long strides to meet her. The nerves manifested in a jabbering of sorts, an over-enthusiastic greeting as he led her towards the shop. “I want to show you something, but it’s a surprise. So you can’t look, okay?”

[adelaidelandry]

When Ewan asked her to meet him at the book shop, she didn’t think anything of it. They had been spending a lot of time together, between the evenings when she finished with classes and found herself lingering in the very same bookstore and the weekends when they would meet up somewhere else that didn’t involve on of them working. Things with the man were nice and sweet and Adelaide found herself growing closer to him, opening up in ways that she didn’t normally open up to people who weren’t part of her sibling pack. The death of her mother left her with a chip on her shoulder and there were very few people in Redwood that she allowed past that chip, Ewan now being one of the select few.

It occurred to her as she rounded a corner of Downtown Redwood, making her way one step closer to Ewan’s store, that she should have grabbed some tea from Brew’s Brothers for them to enjoy during what she assumed was going to be a chill afternoon spent among the books in the shop. It wasn’t out of character for them to find themselves hidden behind stacks of new books, sorting through them as they restocked the shelves, finding themselves lost in lands that didn’t exist outside of their heads with a warm cup of tea from Adelaide’s own job. Yet, as she finally approached Ewan, her name falling loudly from his lips, she forgot about the regret immediately, instead greeting the man with a smile as she smoothed down the invisible wrinkles in her shorts. “Hey,” She greeted, slightly more quiet than her own greeting had been. Her eyebrows furrowed at his request and she began to wonder if there were something more to the afternoon than just hanging out doing what they normally do. With a soft laugh and a shake of her head, she closed her eyes and murmured, “Alright, but if this is you finally murdering me, just know that Leona will bring back my spirit and I will haunt you for the rest of eternity.”

[adelaidelandry]

𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒂𝒉 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒛:

“Adelaide…,” soft murmuring as he stared out into the burnt grounds. “I would never take money from you. I promise I’m fine.” The twinge that shot up the back of his leg begged to differ, but he refused to mention it. No need to make his oldest friend worry. Knowing that all the Landry’s were safe and sound was the smallest comfort to him; especially after all they had done for him throughout the years. “That’s good,” he replied quietly, letting go of her shoulder. “Y’know, August…he’s really smart. He took care of me and so many people in that tent…,” the flashbacks were vivid. Firefighters rushing in and out, medical equipment being tossed around all laced in a chorus of yelling. “Take care of that kid, okay? He’s too good for us.”

They both knew Isaiah would always claim he was fine even if he wasn’t, but she chose to leave it be. No sense in pushing something when he’d continue to deny it even if he were in pain or needed help. All she wanted was for him to know she was there for him if he needed her to be and she accomplished that much in the moment, pulling away from him with a smile as he started complimenting August. Her twin had always been her better half and Adelaide had no doubt he was a rockstar that night. “One day he’ll share his brain cells with me,” She teased, responding softly with a pinch to Zay’s cheek which she punctuated with a laugh. “I’m glad he saved you though, not sure what I’d do without you.”

[adelaidelandry]

𝒌𝒂𝒊𝒚𝒂 𝒆𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒈𝒆:

“Oh, yeah, Grayson is fine. He got out of there pretty fast, he’s just taking it easy now,” Kaiya shrugged. It had been worrisome when she had first heard that her brother had been hurt in the fire, but now that he was safe and in recovery it was easy for Kaiya to just shrug it off as no big deal. She’d seen far worse, so her reaction to the whole tragedy felt a lot duller than it was with many other people she had been talking to since it happened. Her eyebrows furrowed together as the younger woman spoke, not sure how much she liked the idea of fate. “Do you believe in it? Fate or destiny or whatever the hell people want to call it?” Kaiya asked, eyebrow lifting as her head tilted curiously to the side. It was something that came up a lot in her time in the military, especially around times of loss. Everyone rationalized it in their own way, having their own set of beliefs that helped them keep going when everything else felt so bleak. “But ah…yeah. Yeah, I guess I do. Technically only two in my family, but I’ve been in the military for twelve years and you don’t serve for that long without your family growing a whole hell of a lot.”

Her eyebrows furrowed, curiosity peaking as she recognized the name. She told herself it was a common one and she was as sure there was more than one Grayson in Redwood as she was sure there were more Landrys, but she couldn’t help but question anyway. “Your brother wouldn’t happen to be Grayson Eldridge, would he? I, uh, had a job shadowing appointment set up with him and I got an email saying he wouldn’t be available for a little because of injuries, but of course there are probably as many Graysons in Redwood as there are Landrys, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m completely off-base,” Adelaide rambled, only stopping herself when she realized she needed to take a breath or she may be the kind of person that ironically faints at a memorial site. A slight frown marred her expression. “I... did. Once upon a time. But it’s all bullshit. Things happen because of the stupid choices people make, stars aren’t just out there aligning so you know what side to get with your dinner.” Her words were sharp and firm, catching the slip of memories of days spent sitting on her mother’s lap turning over cards one by one or nights laying outside of their house gazing at the constellations with her siblings. “How do you keep in touch with everyone? I have six siblings and I’m sure I’d never hear from them again if we weren’t all in the same town.”

[adelaidelandry]

𝒋𝒐𝒉𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒊𝒏:

John knew that apologizing to people experiencing grief usually didn’t do much but he was never sure what else there was to say. There were no words in the world to make it better or take the pain away from someone but he hoped that the young woman knew that he didn’t choose them to pity her or as a generic response but because to him they implied empathy. Losing those near and dear to him was one of the biggest fears he had and just getting a taste of what it’d be like to have some of his friends in danger had been enough to throw him off. His brows furrowed subtly when she was quick to shrug it off but he made a mental note not to push. It wasn’t in his place and he relaxed a little when they moved on from the topic rather quickly. A curious expression settled on his features when she spoke up again and for a moment a hint of confusion joined in as his brain tried to make a connection. Nothing had really clicked though so he was thankful when she introduced herself and it was then when a knowing grin spread across his lips. “Landry! Oh my god – no…this makes so much sense!” He told her under a chuckle. “There really are quite a few of you running around town. I definitely ran into your brother before so it’s nice to meet you, too, Adelaide,” John said with a friendly smile. “What are you doing here anyways? If you don’t mind me asking that is.”

Adelaide’s gentle laugh fell in line with the man’s, a soft smile curving on her lips as he mentioned meeting her brother- one of them, at least. She didn’t bother specifying which one, by the look of how put together John was, it was clear that the brother he knew certainly wasn’t Bash. Her best guess was her oldest brother, someone who was definitely put together on the outside, but she knew that appearance could be deceiving. Regardless of which brother the man had actually met, Adelaide was sure they had left some kind of impression on him. “It’s nice to meet you too,” She nodded along, sighing at the circumstances under which they met. It really would have been nicer to meet at the gallery, or even Ewan’s bookstore, but John was nice and that was enough to momentarily forget where they were standing. “I was just... walking. Morbid curiosity, I guess. My sister’s not far from here and when I left her house, I just... walked. It’s wild how something can change a town like this. Were you just passing by?”

[adelaidelandry]

𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒂𝒉 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒛:

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. Isaiah didn’t have many words that could properly sum up his feelings, so this would have to do. “Hurt people get to move on. Dead people don’t get that chance, that’s why it sucks.” Fingers tapped against her shoulder absentmindedly as he shook his head. “No way. That shit’s expensive.” If any pain persisted, he’d just call Emilia who would first yell then tell him what to do. “All it needs is ice and for me to chill out. How’s the rest of the family?”

There were many things that had surprised her about Isaiah over the course of the years they had known each other, but the amount of affection he offered was always one of them, even coming from a family of six siblings, the physical affection always caught her off guard for just a moment before she melded into it, appreciating the reassurance he offered. “Yeah,” Adelaide agreed softly, a slight nod of her head against his shirt, the tap of his fingers on her shoulder a nice distraction from losing herself in the thoughts she had so desperately avoided for the last eleven years. “Ice and rest doesn’t fix everything, you know. Let me know if you need help, okay? I’m broke, but I’m sure we can come up with the money somehow.” She sighed, a soft out of place huff of laughter falling out at the idea of just how broke she was. Her job at the coffee shop barely paid her share of the bills and she looked forward to graduating that spring and moving on to something that offered a little more to her lifestyle. “They’re good. Safe, unhurt, and still driving me crazy. I appreciate it a little more now though.”

[adelaidelandry]

𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒚‌:

When it came to her own method of processing grief and sadness, Elodie had always the route of regressing into her introverted tendencies. It’s not to say she didn’t actively express those emotions along with everyone around her, but she’d always been someone to push it all down as far as possible and instead offer support to whoever needed. Still keeping true to the fortuitous card drawn by her mother to unveil what sort of destiny befell her life, which she sometimes still grappled with. As much as she loved the nature of everything the woman believed in, she teetered on the thin line between realism and optimism, and fate clearly dealt one too many cruel hands. Brow quirks partly at her sister’s words, eliciting a small chuckle. ❝ Well, what else am I supposed to do with my big time author money, then spoil my favorite sibling with a bunch of sweets. ❞ She paused for a moment, peering around as if to be cautious any of their other siblings were around. ❝ Don’t tell them I said that. ❞ Jesting lightly, she nudged Adelaide a little with a smile as they made their way over to the bakery, expression softening at the mention of a sleepover. ❝ It really has been huh, you know what, I’d love one, just tell me when and who’s place, I’ll be there. ❞

A sense of relief came in the action of stepping away from the park. Morbid curiosity had brought her back to the sight of destruction, but that curiosity had lingered unfulfilled, a sense of something deeper bothering her in a place she didn’t want to bother reaching to, at least not any time soon. Adelaide had avoided dealing with it for eleven years in lieu of being the sense of reason, she certainly wasn’t going to break now. Thankfully, Elodie didn’t seem to mind veering away from the subject at hand and moving on to the lighter topic of their trip to the bakery and the woman’s career, the comment about which caused her to release a soft chuckle, the tension of the visit to the memorial going along with it. “You have six options and I’m your favorite? Don’t worry, secret’s safe with me, I wouldn’t want to embarrass you if it ever gets out. You had so many cooler options to go with. I mean, Leona? Bash?” Adelaide teased, a raised eyebrow and a bump to her sister’s shoulder as they walked, approaching the bakery quickly. “When are you free? I’ll tell Leona to start picking the movies now. Croissant’s missed you.”

[adelaidelandry]

𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒈𝒆:

“It’s alright, I understand. As I said, we weren’t close friends or anything so it didn’t hit me as hard as it hit those who were close to him,” Grayson assured the younger woman. Although saddened by Levi’s passing, he wasn’t going to pretend that he was closer to the deceased than he actually was. The entire community of Redwood Bay was in mourning, whether they were close to the dearly departed or hardly knew them. “I’m still processing it, honestly. Not just Levi or the Abernathys - everything,” he admitted, sighing as he remembered his own experience in the middle of the blaze, doubled over and being saved by Ryder Irving. “I’m glad you have some time to finish your assignment, not just because I was looking forward to having you shadow me, but I know it’d be better once a lot of the aftermath is cleared up. Maybe we’ll even be here for a half-day next week,” he mused. “How are you feeling about everything?” he asked Adelaide, wondering how much of a toll it took on her.

Her eyebrows raised, acknowledging his comment about the catastrophe with a gentle nod. Even just a few days after, she could still see how clearly this event had affected the small town, even if someone hadn’t known the deceased. Many were still suffering injuries caused by the fire and Filbert Park had been such a central location for the population of Redwood Bay, the loss of the location and the environmental repercussions were sure to shake everyone off balance. “A big life change always seems to do that, it doesn’t help that you’re still suffering with a reminder every day. Do you know if there are any plans to repair the park? I’d like to help out somehow,” Adelaide offered. “I’m looking forward to it too, even if it is just a dumb requirement. If I’m being honest, I have no clue what I’m doing. I have a few other shadows that I’m hoping help me figure it out. You’d think after seeing six siblings go through this process I would have been more prepared.” She knew, deep down, the true reason she wasn’t prepared though and it had nothing to do with not being able to decide what she wanted to do with life, but more so that she had already discovered her passion long ago and was actively choosing a path opposite of it. “I’m okay. All seven Landry’s are accounted for, I’m grateful for that.”

[adelaidelandry]

𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒂𝒉 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒛:

He exhaled deeply through his nose as he truly thought about her question. Had it been anyone else, Isaiah would’ve answered with a generic, “I’m good!” but Adelaide would see through that. It was like she had a sixth sense. “Honestly? I’m bummed,” he said with a shrug. “My ankle hurts all the time and I can’t…I can’t even walk without it reminding me of everything that happened.” It was a small thing to get irritated over considering someone died and Isaiah knew it. “Everything’s just fuckin’ dumb right now, Addie.”

Isaiah’s honest response didn’t surprise her. The man could hide very little from her, call it one part intuition on her end. Adelaide had grown up with so many siblings that she very quickly learned to observe the differences between a generic answer and a truthful one, something that had always lent a hand to her being the voice of reason within the seven of them. Isaiah was someone she had known for awhile and that voice of reason and intuition had begun to extend to him as well. “I know,” She sighed, a frown curving downward on her lips. “I think people are always so distracted by mourning the lost, they forget about the hurt that the people left behind are feeling too. Are you getting therapy for it?”

[adelaidelandry]

𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒕:

If there was ever a moment that Rose wanted to magically evaporate into thin air, now would have been the time. She could easily admit that the world of journalism could get dark and scummy, and she was equipped to handle the backlash from that. Never would she ever put herself in the position to work for places like TMZ, but she could get why people would be weirded out by the “answers” she was forced to collect. She could also handle being spoken harshly to, hell John often joked about whether or not she had just morphed into being a woman made of steel as they’d grown older but this was a new territory she was foolishly trapezing over. This was the younger Landry sibling that she knows Elodie mentioned at least once or two but she was too busy looking at the curvature of her lips. And if the woman before her already felt negatively about her, she was blowing her already non-existent chance with Elodie. “Uh, yeah!” Rose perked up. “Sure, I’ll walk you over to Elodie’s.” 

As stuck as she wanted to be on the weird situation of the woman photographing a memorial, knowing that in the end it was her personal bias that gave her the jaded negative view on taking photographs of events such as this and that news reporters did it all the time, Adelaide instead found herself distracted by the nonchalance in which the woman mentioned Elodie’s name with, a clear tell that they apparently knew each other. Her head tilted, eyebrows furrowed, curiosity now coating her expression in lieu of the annoyance that had once been there. “Wait, you know Elodie?” Of course, Adelaide wasn’t a stranger to someone she’s just met knowing at least one of her siblings, there were six others after all. It’d be more difficult to find someone in the small town that didn’t already know one of the Landry’s.