Don't Wanna Lie Here

[louiscartwright]

Louis shook his head a bit, not sure how he'd got so wrapped up in the situation but not wanting to leave now that he was in it. He didn't have to say anything, his face reflecting the sympathy he felt towards everything she was saying. "You're not stupid, Annabelle. Okay? You're not. It's never stupid to care about someone. If anything, you're dealing with this so much more rationally than I ever would. I'd be outside his door in a Michael Myers mask." He failed to mention the part where that wasn't fully a joke but decided that tidbit should stay with him for the time being.

His brows raised, gesturing to her in a 'you see?' type of motion. He didn't know this David dude well, but from everything he'd been told, he clearly had his own myriad of issues to deal with. "No offense taken, the company was much appreciated," he offered a small grin, feeling it fall as the weird background to her ex just got deeper and deeper. He let out a short sigh before leaning towards her slightly, hands splayed outwards on the table as he was ready to dive into it. "You wanna know what I think? I think him breaking up with you was a blessing in disguise. Hear me out," he held his hands up, making it clear that he meant it in support of her. "Everything you're telling me about this guy just makes him sound like, for a lack of better words, a dud. His ex comes back from wherever she's been hiding, and instead of talking it out with you, his first thought is 'ooh, I'm gonna dump my hot girlfriend to be with her'? That is such weirdo behavior. Like, I genuinely am sitting here and questioning the guy's sanity. If all of that works for him, great I guess, but you? You deserve a million times better."

[annabellelandry]

"I wish," the corners of Annabelle's mouth quirked upwards into something like a smile. "Unfortunately, I don't actually own a Michael Myers mask." She briefly mused on wondering where she might get one, before she locked in and listened to him. When she was done, she let out a long sigh. "I hate that you're making so much sense right now," she admitted, softly, stirring her coke with the straw. "I think the worst part is I really didn't want him to be a dud, you know? Like, I was all in."

It was embarrassment that she felt right now, her cheeks glowing a bright red the more she thought about it. Louis didn't ask her to spill her guts, she'd done that voluntarily, and though he was a good listener, a part of her wondered if that was a mistake now, letting someone she'd only recently met witness her humiliation like this. "I guess I've never really felt like this before." Instead of shutting up, clearly now the floodgates had opened, she couldn't help but trauma dump on the poor guy. "Not about David. I mean, I liked him a lot, but I wasn't in love or anything," she shrugged. "I mean I've never really felt so replaceable, you know? He'd already made up his mind what he was going to do the second his ex popped back up, and I was just the placeholder until it happened. He said he was sorry and all that, but it was like nothing really mattered to him until I insulted his feelings for his precious Piper." She'd never met the girl, and didn't know if she deserved the venom with which she said her name, but in that moment, Annabelle didn't care. "It just sucks."

[louiscartwright]

Louis wasn't exactly sure how he'd ended up across from Annabelle, stirring his straw around in his half-empty milkshake glass. He wasn't even sure it was in his best interest to be there, considering the whole having a girlfriend thing didn't really mesh with whatever all this was. He was allowed to have friends that were girls, though. Hell, his brother had a habit of only befriending girls, much to everyone else's amusement. This was different, though. From the moment he laid eyes on her at that crazy Superbowl party, there was something that made him feel magnetized to her. Still. All he was doing right now was listening. It was fine. Besides, he'd be a real prick if he saw her sobbing in a diner booth and decided to shrug it off and carry on down the sidewalk.

"Wait, so let me get this straight: he dumped you, and then he got angry when you didn't react well to that?" He shook his head, brows lifted in astonishment. It was shaking even harder at the prospect of her having any wrong doing in the situation. "Nah. For the sake of being completely honest here, I think you dodged a bullet...actually, no, I think you dodged a full nuclear blast. Also, is this the same dude that hid off in the bathroom with his friend at the party? Cause that was really fucking weird. I mean, there were a lot of weird people at that party, but still." He thoughtfully took a sip of his now melted shake before speaking again. "I also think he's nuts for many reasons, but breaking up with you is pretty high up there on the list."

[annabellelandry]

Annabelle made a face. "I might have went off and called him and all his friends weird and co-dependent," she explained. "Not my finest moment, I'll admit, but he fully blindsided me. My stupid ass actually thought things were going well." She sighed, reaching for another fry and gesturing to the tray for him to help himself. "He starts telling me his ex is back in town, and I actually started trying to comfort him, you know?" She let out a tired laugh, because if she didn't, she'd cry again, and rubbed her face with the hand that wasn't covered in salt from her food.

She hated to admit it, but Louis words sparked a bit of a revelation within Annabelle. When David and Rocco had first shuffled off to the bathroom, she had barely thought about it. When they'd disappeared from the party, she'd been worried, but not wanted to come across overbearing if he was having fun. She now knew what he was actually doing, but given she had found out about thirty seconds before getting dumped, she hadn't had time to dwell. "Yeah. Yeah! That was weird, wasn't it? Like, who takes their girlfriend to a party full of strangers and then abandons her there to drop acid in the bathroom?" She shot Louis and apologetic look. "Sorry. I did have a good time with you, don't get me wrong. You kinda saved the night for me a bit." In truth, it had taken her longer to notice David was missing than it should have, and that was because she had genuinely enjoyed her conversation with Louis enough to lose herself in it a bit. "Oh, and the guy he snuck off to the bathroom with? The exes brother." She slapped a hand on her table, like she was a lawyer slamming her key piece of evidence on the judge's bench. "You get where I'm coming from with the co-dependent stuff now?"

[annabellelandry]

In the movies, when girls got dumped, they always reached for chocolate and ice cream. Annabelle was different. Once she'd made her grand exit from David's friends apartment, who also happened to be her cousin's ex, all she'd wanted to do was stuff her face with salty snacks. That was how Louis had found her, sobbing into a tray of french fries in some shitty diner. She'd calmed down a bit, though, enough to have told him the story of why she was bawling like a baby in the first place.

"...and then he had the nerve to get mad at me, like I'm the asshole here," she gestured wildly, fry still in hand, not noticing the blob of ketchup that flew off the end of it and hit the wall. "Listen, I know you don't know me that well, but if there's something seriously wrong with me, I need you to tell me now. Honestly, I can take it. You'll save me a lot of time in the long run, because clearly there is if my boyfriend would rather be with the girl who cheated on him and played dead for years. I just haven't seen it yet."

@louiscartwright

[savannahxlandry]

Savannah leaned into the hug, not totally sure how to feel about the whole thing herself. "I think he's just..." She trailed off, not wanting to speak on Rocco's behalf but also not sure how to define it properly. Traumatized? Struggling to just stay afloat after what happened? "Not doing great, I guess. He's had a lot hit him all at once, and I think that it's beyond anything I can do to help. I honestly feel like I'm part of the problem sometimes, but I don't know what to do other than just try and be there. I just wish he'd give me a sign if he feels different. I think he loves me, too, but I don't want him to feel like he has to stay with me or anything, you know? I don't want to tie him down if he can find happiness somewhere else." Sav's jaw set as she listened to Annabelle's side of things. She was usually quick to react, but never with her. If she was going to hear anyone out, especially when it came to matters with Whitney, it was her. "Oh," she sighed, assuming the word would've gotten back to her pretty quick. Or maybe it didn't because her rat of an ex actually did as Savannah asked and went no contact. "I don't know. You're a Landry, you know how stubborn we get. It's just...I told her he was bad, and I spent so much time consoling her that I put Rocco on the back burner, and everything just got messed up. I think I'm mad at all of them for that," she confessed. "I'm mad at Whitney for willingly jumping into that fire and thinking I'd just quietly stand back and watch it happen again, and I'm mad at him for expecting me to read his mind and perfectly understand every piece of his grief. I'm just one person, you know? I know I could've done better with the both of them, and I feel bad about not being able to, but I have my own shit, too." She felt tears pricking at her eyes, not realizing how much she'd been repressing all of her own anger and hurt. "Sorry. I didn't mean for our visit to turn into the therapy session I've apparently been puttin' off."

[annabellelandry]

"Hmm," Annabelle pursed her lips. The whole situation sounded complicated and heartbreaking and shitty, and way beyond her capacity to offer advice, but she could also tell this was something Savannah had been grappling with for a while, so she wasn't about to interrupt her mid-flow. "I mean, I get it, and it's sad but sometimes, things go bad. You can't struggle forever, or make the people who love you struggle to. You go to therapy and life goes on, right?" Somehow, she wasn't getting the vibe Rocco had been to therapy. "Especially if he's making you feel like you're making it worse. I know you love the guy, but that's fucked up." There was an attempt at sugar-coating, but she was still speaking a little more bluntly than she wanted to. "And what about you?" She peered at Savannah, her concern obvious. "Because I'm sorry, Sav, but you don't exactly look happy. Do you not think you deserve that, too?"

Bringing up Whitney felt like a gamble, but luckily, Savannah seemed to be listening to her rather than doubling down. That was a positive sign. "I mean, maybe she didn't want to tell me about it? We haven't spoken in a while. Nobody back home really hears much from her anymore. She told me some stuff, though, and that definitely wasn't brought up." She tried to put herself in both Whitney and Savannah's shoes, but that didn't really help. At best, it just seemed like a very messy situation where neither of her cousins were particularly innocent. "I guess she just wasn't ready to hear it. And Rocco isn't ready to accept that he needs to move on from what he's got going on. It's hard, but you can't push people before they're ready, I guess. It's like when you're riding a horse. You gotta prepare it to jump over the fence, or it'll dig it's hooves in and throw you off." She waved off the apology, giving Savannah's hand a small squeeze. "Dont you ever apologise for that, Sav. Sounds like you've been bottling stuff up for far too long."

[savannahxlandry]

"Tourist, schmourists, Annie. It's so cool, we'll go to some greasy diner one of these evenings then check it out. It's kinda meh in the daylight, but at night...it's all lit up and alive and makes me feel like something special is happening, and I need you to experience that along with me." She wanted to keep talking about all things New York, but she knew Rocco was included in that and that if she had to be honest with anyone, it was Annabelle. "I guess it's cause I love him," she shrugged. "And he's kind of it for me, you know? I've never met anyone that matches my weird quite like him, and despite all the shitty stuff that's gone down, I don't want to throw it away over some bumps in the road. Big bumps, but still. Is that stupid?" She'd never considered there to be another option, and that might've been foolish, but the Landry's were all stubborn. She loved Rocco and consciously chose to love him at the same time. "Yeah. I ran into her ex while doing the touring stuff and, uh, I pretty much made him go no contact with her. Pretty sure she found out, so it's been radio silence since and even before that...but you know, it's whatever." Savannah huffed, the tell-tale sign of a rant wanting to break through. "And, like, what's so bad about that anyways, Annie, huh? So what if I told her garbage ex to never talk to her again? I just don't get why I'm the bad guy for doing that. It's a good thing. I shouldn't be villainized for protecting her if she can't protect herself."

[annabellelandry]

"Well, now I have to save it for when you're with me. Like, sure I could just go, but it won't be the same, you know?" One of the perks of Savannah's move was that Annabelle had her own built-in tour guide for her trip. It wasn't quite worth how much she'd missed her while they'd been apart, but it was a silver lining all the same. She wasn't sure how she'd cope in a city like this without at least one person she knew, and the fact it was Savannah was even better. "Oh, Honey," she wasn't quite sure what to say. She'd never been in a relationship that felt like 'it', so instead, she wrapped her arms around Savannah in a loose side-hug. "And what did he say when you spoke to him about it? Or is he just not engaging in the talking side of stuff at all?" It hadn't occurred to Annabelle that Savannah hadn't tried to talk to him at all. That just seemed far too insane to comprehend. "It's not stupid at all. If you love the guy, you need to do what you can to protect that." Which led her neatly to her next point. "Which was probably how Whitney felt about whatever trashbag she was dating at the time." She'd spoken to Whitney briefly when she pitched up in the city - and her version of events didn't match with Savannah's at all. "I saw her," she confessed. "And she didn't mention that. If she knows about it, she isn't talking." She sighed, releasing Savannah to run a hand through her hair. "There's nothing wrong with it. You're not a bad guy for looking out for your sister. But I can't really blame her for being hurt by it all either. Sorry." She didn't want to piss Savannah off, but she didn't want to lie to her, either. "Is it all really worth not speaking to each other over, though? I mean, that's your sister."

[savannahxlandry]

"Trust me," Savannah said after a large swallow of Dr Pepper, "it's like free entertainment. Not that our family isn't full of that, but still. Nothing like a little city visit to really open your eyes. Have you seen the Elmo in Times Square yet?" Sav's smile grew upon hearing Annabelle say she missed her, but there was no way to hide how it faltered with the mentioning of Rocco. "He is, although between you and me, Annie, I'm...I don't know. I was gonna say surprised we're still together, and I hate that I'm thinking that way, but...it's just been rough." That was an understatement. Savannah loved Rocco, but in her mind, their relationship was hanging on by a thread. There was so much that had happened between them and no real conversation or sit down attempt to clear it up. "I bet Whitney's just loving it, though, knowing I'm down in the dumps. Not that I've heard anything from her, but I can imagine."

[annabellelandry]

Annabelle shook her head. "Haven't quite been brave enough to head into Times Square yet. Besides, everyone I've met here said not to bother. That stuff's for tourists. Which I kind of guess I am, but I'd like it to be less obvious." She didn't miss the way Savannah's grin waivered, the reason for that becoming clearer the more she spoke. "I see." It wasn't the news she wanted to hear from her favourite cousin. Annabelle leaned forward, cupping her chin in her hands and resting her elbows on her knees. "I guess that begs the question - why are you still together if it's been that bad?" She wasn't trying to convince Savannah that they shouldn't be together - just wanting to get the lay of the land. At the mention of her other cousin, Annabelle grimaced a bit. "Talking of rough," she muttered. "You guys still on your non-contact thing?"

[annabellelandry]

"You know, I thought people back home were a little funny," Annabelle said between mouthful of chips. "But these New Yorkers are something else. I don't know how you stand it, Sav." She was in town on an indefinite basis, but she wasn't sure she'd ever really get used to the city. "If I hadn't missed you so damn much, I swear, I'd be on the first plane back to Georgia. Bad back and all." Having her cousin nearby was definitely the highlight of her trip so far. "Your boy seems nice, though. I'm glad I got to meet him." Admittedly, this Rocco guy didn't seem to have much going on between the ears, but he was definitely a decent enough guy.

@savannahxlandry