❝ HOLDEN OPEN THE DOOR ! i'm not doing the stupid knock ! ❞ she called out kicking the bottom of the door , she was still dressed in scrubs dark circles under her eyes and a coffee in each hand . she had been so stupid thinking moving would solve everything , that A would just disappear off the face of the earth . it was so stupid .
⠀⠀⠀⠀so . ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀KICK .ᐟ
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀very .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀KICK .ᐟ
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀stupid .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀KICK .ᐟ
she craved something so impossibly out of reach apparently , she just wanted peace and to be normal .
collette wasn't an actress, it was why paz had her stick to the shadows. she was sure if dex or holden were here, they'd concoct a string of lies that shone the light directly on their enemies – but collette was a bit more heavy-handed than that, so she chose to stick to the facts. and try not to spit in this detective's face.
❛ his girlfriend made a lot of enemies. you'd be better off talking to her than me. ❜
IT WASN'T HARD TO SEE that he wasn't all that welcomed . but he wasn't there to make friends with the other , just make sure this was quickly and quietly nipped in the butt . he took a moment longer to gauge the others reaction , ❝ erin spencer , right ? ❞ name drop with eyes focused on her face . ❝ i talked to her , she didn't really have a lot to offer . but no ones going to admit to making enemies , can you tell me about that ? ❞
it was almost impossible to stop the laugh from leaving laurel's lips, especially when she managed to elicit such a reaction from dex. it was satisfying to know she had caught him off guard, but it was even more satisfying witnessing the physical response. ❛ wow, if i'd have known you were going to jump like that, i would've done this ages ago. ❜ she stood from her previous seat and shrugged, nonchalant about dexter's decor and his empty apology for it. instead, she moves a few steps towards him, eyes hollow and distant as she stares at him for a moment, all traces of her previous amusement dropping from her features as she weighs the situation up again in her mind. dex had spent so much of his time in her life being duplicitous, it was time she returned the favour.
❛ i know you're helping a. ❜
❝ IT ONLY WORKED BECAUSE i wasn't aware you knew where i lived . ❞ dexter said not even looking in the others direction anymore but still his agitation was evident . ❝ you're the last person i'd want to know where i live in fact . ❞ he added closing a cabinet and finally paying her another glance , the change in demeanor wasn't lost on him . there was no smile , no quick wit on her tongue to cock and shoot at him . his brow furrowed as she got ever closer pulling more items out of one of the bags . he froze as she spoke , his shoulders tensing up and it was a slow motion of him looking up at her again . clenching his jaw and his shoulders squaring .
when paz asked collette to do something, it wasn't a matter of if she would do it, it was a matter of when, so it was no surprise that she seemed to be the first one to arrive at their new hideout. it was very fitting to their shadowy leader, high ceilings accompanied by cold architecture and brutalist concrete, as unwelcoming as it was practical. she looked up and around as she walked into the space, taking in as much of it as possible, mapping out exit routes and hiding spots in her head before she'd even blinked. finally, her eyes fell back to the large metal table in the middle of the room, dex occupying one of the surrounding chairs with that usual stupid look on his face.
❛ overachiever. ❜ she scoffed, hiding the fact she was somewhat disappointed that she wasn't the first after all. ❛ what, you run here or something? ❜
THERE HE SAT his legs up and crossed on the table and his phone in his hand as he scrolled and waited for the others to get there . he liked the space well enough , it would still take a good amount of time to get used to though . blue hues looked over the phone as he heard the other , something of a smile playing on his lips . he laid his phone face down on his chest and folded his hands over it leaning his head back .
❝ someone sounds disappointed that they weren't first . something like that , my apartment is two blocks away . ❞
keep the carefully crafted facade with a warm smile . it wasn't the girl's fault , she'd just have to actually get a hold of oliver to figure out where that shop of his is , ❝ age grants you a better ability to read people . you work at the gas station down the street , right ? ❞
IT WAS A PAINFULLY SLOW DAY , so when one of the fresh thornhill residents came in with a box full of things faye was able to give her undivided attention . she hummed looking through the clothes , ❝ i could probably take the clothes for two hundred , some of them are really good brands . i don't even know where to start with the jewelry without low balling you . i hope seized doesn't mean stolen . ❞ hypocrite .
❝ MAYBE NEXT TIME wait until you have the drink in hand before telling your bartender that . ❞ the words left his mouth with a snort as he held the drink just out of reach .
❝ promise it's the last one and you'll get an uber home and maybe i'll just forget i poured this and leave it on the counter to help someone else further down . ❞
FOR ONCE , HE WAS AT A LOSS AS TO WHAT TO SAY . the ridiculousness of the question wasn't something he expected from the other , and he couldn't help the short lived nervous laugh that left his lips .
❝ uh . something like that , poor tracker . ❞
closed for ; @duskbleached ( rafaela .ᐟ )
setting ; a kitchen somewhere .ᐣ.ᐣ.ᐣ
❝ WHEN YOU SAID , ' i need help ' i thought you were in trouble or like needed help burying a body or something . didn't think you'd rope me into helping you do kitchen prep work . ❞
❝ is it for a party .ᐣ any girls going to be there .ᐣ ❞
❝ preferably . ❞ the two words leave the detectives lips as he tries to figure the young girl out , it was by chance he came across one of the thornhill's new residents at the diner . most of them seemed guarded especially after the events that had transpired .
❝ thornhill sees a boost in population then one of its new residents is attacked . i'm just trying to make sense of it . ❞
❛ come in. i just need to pack a bag. ❜
before anthony could say a word, she turned and swiftly moved up the porch steps into her home, suddenly acutely aware of all the pictures she had of devlin dotted around the place. they had brought her comfort in the time since his death, but she now worried that they might have the opposite effect on ant. after all, she had no idea how he felt now. she supposed he held the same sentiment about her.
as she slung one bag onto her shoulder and grabbed the other two, she turned to him, pausing for a moment finally to speak. ❛ how is he? ❜ she asked, almost too terrified to ask about tommy's condition.
his still mouth hung open as she spoke first .
and then he found himself stuck on her steps tapping his hand against the railing before he took the last final steps up it to just stand in the doorway . anthony hadn't so much as said hi to her since devlin's funeral and now here he was to check on her after narrowly avoiding planning another one .
he didn't mean for the awkwardness , of standing in her doorway peeking into the new life she had built for herself . all he could see was dev , he had already felt a certain way but this was just something else to further somber his emotions .
❝ still waiting for a complete update . but they got him in time . erin was getting ready to speak with a detective last i talked to her . ❞
laurel waits for dex to shut the door behind him before making herself known, voice light and unbothered, as if she hadn't broken into his home and made herself comfortable in his living room. ❛ finally! ❜ she exclaimed, a generous eye roll accompanying her voice as she shot the usual unimpressed disdain towards him. ❛ do you know how long i've been waiting? ❜ truthfully, she didn't really know how long it had been, the only thing she did know is that the sun sat low in the sky when she arrived and now it was pitch black outside. ❛ you should REALLY invest in some more comfortable furniture. ❜
❝ oh my fucking god , jesus christ .ᐟ ❞ dexter said , he should've known she'd pop her head out , it had been too long since he'd last seen her . ❝ i'm going to ask paz if it's okay if i put a tracker on you or something , shit . ❞ shaking his head he tosses his keys on the counter and places his bag of groceries down with it , a frown already at home on his features always annoyed always wound up . ❝ sorry it doesn't meet your standards , princess . ❞ the word coming out a sneer , he could say he was surprised but hardly anything about laurel surprised him anymore .
❝ to what do i owe the displeasure of your presence .ᐣ ❞ dexter asked as he goes about putting up the things .
" hey . you asshole . you can't escape me that easily . it's supposed to be us until the end of the line and i was hoping we'd get married before we got there . " erin said her voice cracking on the words as her hand wrapped around tommy's tightly , he was asleep and deserved it she had listened to the explanation and extent of his injuries and it just made her stomach churn and she blocked out what was really said .
she hadn't been far from the house when the sirens passed her , the sinking feeling in her stomach told her what had happened before she pulled up and they were loading him up . she was the honest definition of a mess sitting in the hospital chair , her foot tapping her jaw locked she didn't want to look at her phone because she had a sinking feeling she knew who it was . but she ended up standing up leaning down to press a kiss to tommy's forehead as she slipped out into the hall to make a call .
he used to love being an identical twin but no one ever thought to sit him down and give him a heads up of how it would feel to lose his reflection . he was always meant to be the follower ready to nod his head and smile at whatever devlin suggested , but now he was lost and had someone snapping their fingers asking him to jump even if he didn't have much more to give . he was tired physically and mentally exhausted . it's why him and pia left , he had no intentions of being anywhere A could get them and leaving her there wasn't an option , he could just hear devlin scolding him .
he was waking up again before the sun and alarm . another cold sweat , another nightmare , another day feeling like a huge chunk of him was taken out of his side . and it was . he couldn't look in the mirror , he either actively avoided or covered them anymore .
anthony changed from his night clothes into running ones , lacing his shoes he stuck his earbuds in his pocket and went right out the door . locking it and setting the alarm from his phone to make sure his sister was able to sleep peacefully before he was off .
he wouldn't have been able to even name one song that played as he ran , a comfortable habit he had found himself in it helped clear his mind better than the doctor had . the bitter taste of antidepressants still seemed to coat his tongue . anthony always made excuses as to why he forgot to take them or why he couldn't attend another session , but it was all because he didn't like how either of them made him feel .
yeah at the current moment he felt like he was drowning in a sea of emotions , but he still felt like he was in control as odd as it was to admit to . no pharmaceutical dependency or someone to list off why things weren't his fault when he knew full well that if he were to spill his guts about the things he'd done the tune would change to ' maybe you had a hand in your own self destruction ' .
maybe he could relate to what oppenheimer had said , i am become death destroyer of worlds .
he stopped , breathing heavily his forehead coated in a thin layer of sweat he wiped away with the back of his hand as he cleared his throat and sat down at a park bench . anthony leaned back and closed his eyes humming for a moment . anthony would never take away the pain his sister and father felt after devlin , but the only person that could fully understand the gravity of his , he pushed away until the divide between them looked like a chasm . and he didn't think she fought it that much , they were identical . and devlin was , for everything it was worth , the love of her life .
it was fifteen minutes before he got up from the bench to start the run or rather jog at this point back to his car . he could probably make breakfast for his sister knowing she'd probably still be under her blanket when he got back ; eggs , bacon , waffles , coffee , and either grits or oatmeal .
it wasn't long before he was back home , showered and changed standing in the kitchen thinking about another ghost he would've liked to dance with in the kitchen . laughing and stumbling , smiles plastered on their faces as he twirled and dipped her .
as he reached for the fridge door his phone started going off ERIN .
there was a moment of hesitation before he actually answered leaning against the counter , guilt for icing her and tommy out written on his face as a script played over in his head over what would be said , " hey . sorry i -- what . " his features turned from soft to sharp as he stood straight again his brow creasing as the other spoke , " no i haven't . . . . shit . no , no , no . you get a hold of reggy and abs . i -- i've got the rest and domi . " this was supposed to be a safe place . " just stay there with him . " he said hanging up .
finally looking at his texts all he could do was groan .
titsay
ellievsbear
vaporwave
gummygunk
turnnoffyourmind
andulkaphoto
