[chlosparrow]

the answer to the riddle || open

[darlinglittlerose]

chlosparrow‌:

Chloe raised her brows at the response, and also the way Rose was looking around as if they were making a drug deal in broad daylight in front of a police station. “Oh! Long distice, very adult of you.” She commented quickly, before finally cottoning on. “Ohhh. Oh my gosh, go! Get out of here! Have fun.” She wiggled her head slightly, giving a dramatic wink.

Rose was surprised with how Chloe was responding to this all, but after all, it wasn’t like her friend knew the whole story. Maybe she’d tell her one day. “Thank you,” she smiled, feeling a calm wash over her, and adjusted her bag. “You too,” Rose laughed at Chlo’s wink. The blonde started to turn away, but then spun back around. “Chlo, would you mind...covering for me, if I’m not back in time tonight?” 

[darlinglittlerose]

[chlosparrow]

the answer to the riddle || open

[darlinglittlerose]

chlosparrow‌:

“Oh, okay. Maybe another day then?” She suggested, still wanting to spend some time with Rose. She’d been so grateful to find someone that she got on with so well at this school. “Ooh, yes! Is he on the trip with us?” She stopped and looked at her excited. Details on the elusive boyfriend had been sparse so far, but from what she gathered what she knew already was more than what most people knew. 

Rose pulled a slight grimace, glancing to the side again, palms starting to feel slightly clammy. “Well, not exactly,” she rocked back and forth on the balls and heels of her feet. “He lives in town. And...well,” Rose swallowed, feeling like she was trying to keep cotton balls down her throat. “I’m not really supposed to see him, but if I don’t go now, my mum may catch on and end up doing something stupid like last time.” She explained quickly, pressing her lips together.

[chlosparrow]

the answer to the riddle || open

[darlinglittlerose]

chlosparrow‌:

“Well thank god you found me first!” She giggled, looking sideways at Rose and tucking her chin to her shoulder cheekily. “I’m not sure yet, maybe a bar or a club? Somewhere nice. I was going to ask one of the French students for a recommendation. You want to come with?” She asked, “We could make a whole day of it!” Chloe enthused, it would all be so much better with a friend. 

Rose opened her mouth to answer, glancing off to the side before biting her bottom lip. First rule of friendship is honesty. “I’d like to come, but I’ve kind of already made plans,” she started, running her tongue along where she bit, before looking back at Chloe. “Remember when I told you I had a boyfriend?” She asked, raising her brows and taking a quick look around them. She didn’t know if this was the best place to do this, especially with Chloe standing there in a towel, but if she didn’t, she might not have the courage to do it later.

[chlosparrow]

the answer to the riddle || open

[darlinglittlerose]

chlosparrow‌:

“Hey Rosie!” She turned and walked backwards a few steps to watch her friend catch up. “The Lourve.” She deadpanned, running her hand down the towel. “This dress is all the rage these days.” Chloe joked, pausing when her foot came out of the slipper. She tucked it back on, turned and went on frontwards. “There’s a spa! I used some of my savings, it sounds amazing down there. I’m going to get a massage, a mani pedi and a facial. And then I’m gonna get myself pretty and go out tonight because I’m lonely and need attention.”

Rose giggled at her joke, crossing her arms. “Oh that’s good to know, I was about to head out in this and make a fool of myself,” she returned, and then nodded at her real explanation. “Oh nice! That sounds awesome.” Rose replied, making a note to check out the spa herself. “Where are you going tonight?” She asked, genuinely curious. She and John usually did dinner somewhere and then wandered around the city when they went out, not fluent in where the hottest clubs were.

[darlinglittlerose]

chlosparrow‌:

Chloe was so grateful that Rose had covered her while she went off on her manhunt. “Well I think! He’s got my number, and a picture of me, so here’s hoping… I think I made it clear I was interested. Do you think he understood?” She questioned in one long flurried sentence. “That woman over there properly thinks I’m a whore. You might need to deal with her kids.” She raised her eyebrows knowingly. 

“Ooh, I’m sure he did; if he didn’t, you don’t want someone that dense anyway. You’ve got to keep me posted on that,” she giggled, and then glanced over at the crotchety woman she’d seen earlier. “Yeah, I noticed that. Needs to mind her own business, is what it is.” Rose offered a scowl in the lady’s direction, hating her more with each passing moment. 

[chlosparrow]

the answer to the riddle || open

[darlinglittlerose]

chlosparrow‌:

Paris was divine. It was all Chloe could think about, how beautiful it was here, even the people! She heard someone saying something bad about it, but she always saw the best in everything, and what she saw was the Paris from the movies. Romantic and meant for lovers. Unfortunately she was alone, but she didn’t mind too much. She’d found a way to entertain herself - a spa day in the hotel. She was using savings from her job, but classified it as a Christmas gift to herself and that made it vaguely okay to spend the money. She wrapped the towel around her chest and rolled the top to keep it in place, and padded in slippered feet down the corridor towards the spa, phone and bottle of water in hand. 

Rose couldn’t believe her luck; one day it felt like the world was out to stomp on her and John’s love, and the next thing she knew, her school was unwittingly bringing them back together. Not only that, they had put all the students up in a beautiful inn that she and John had strolled past a hundred times and dreamed about staying in. Almost as soon as they arrived and were allowed to explore, she snuck out to surprise him; when she made her way down the hall, heart pounding so loud she thought it’d pop right out of her chest, she spotted Chloe sporting a towel round herself, and she followed, catching up with a quick, “hello!” so as not to startle her friend. “Where are you headed?” She asked, both interested and anxious to go.

[darlinglittlerose]

chlosparrow‌:

The young girl smiled with a shy thank you, taking the red and white swirling candy and holding it closely. She looked happy, and that made Chloe feel all warm inside, and less icky about why she’d actually come over, especially when she saw the guy smiling down at them. “Do you think daddy wants one?” She asked the little girl, giving her a cheeky smile, and the girl looked up at the man, nodded big and yipped a ‘yes!’. She stood up to her full height and smiled at him, automatically reaching out and touching his arm. That was her standard, and usually effective, move. “She’s really sweet.” It felt as if her heartbeat was audible to the whole room. He laughed and looked down at his daughter, nodding. 

“Yeah, yeah, apple of my eye.” He agreed, taking the candy cane when Chloe held it out. She was already out of words, but couldn’t walk away when all she wanted was to pull him somewhere private. Instead, she introduced herself and made him laugh with a silly anecdote about an incident with Santa that had happened when they were setting up, but it was top secret and not for his daughter’s ears, which meant whispering and leaning in closer. After a little while, when one of the mothers down the queue started audibly tutting, Chlo took his phone from his hand, took a selfie (first shot was a winner) and added herself as a contact. “Call me, if either of you need a direct line to Santa.” 

There was an audible “Oh good god” from the mother further down the queue, but Chloe just lifted her shoulders with a cutesy smile, said goodbye to little Abigail, and turned back to Rose with her mouth open wide in a half silent scream and half ecstatic grin. She stayed silent until she reached Rose, then let out a quiet, but high pitched, squeal of excitement. 

Rose helped guide people up to Santa, continuously glancing over to see how Chloe was making out. She was so impressed with how bold her friend was, and couldn’t help grinning proudly until some woman in line began tutting rudely. Rose glared at the woman but smoothed her frown when the lady glanced her way. She didn’t want to be fake nice to her, but she also wasn’t keen on losing her job; something about wanting to stick to it the whole way through the season to prove that she didn’t need her mother to support her. Liddell raised her brows when Chloe took the guys phone, and giggled to herself before handing out a couple candy canes. “How’d it go?” She asked when her friend returned, digging her elbow gently into Chlo’s side.

[darlinglittlerose]

chlosparrow‌:

“Mm,” Chloe hummed sarcastically, widening her eyes and tipping her head to the side. She eyed the man again, drawing her fingers to her mouth as she thought over the idea. “I could do that. I could do that!” The honey blonde reached into their stash and grabbed a handful of candy canes, steeled herself and nodded. “Cover me. And wish me luck.” Chloe walked over to the queue, gave a candy cane to a couple of the kids along the line, until she reached the one holding his hand. “Hey sugarplum, want a candy cane?” 

“Luck!” Rose chimed as her friend took her advice with a few candies, grinning as she watched her work. She wished that she had that kind of outgoing personality. Meeting John had been easy; he’d started the first little chat, and moved things along nicely. Rose normally kept to herself; her mom thought she’d be the most popular girl in school, what with Alice’s fashion business. She was for a bit, actually, hanging out with the cool girls, going shopping and having sleepovers every other day. It wasn’t until she decided to test it that her three ‘friends’, Alisha, Noelle, and Cynthia, showed their true colors; they’d only been interested in her for her money and connections. After she’d stood firm and wouldn’t give them what they wanted, (gifts, mostly), they abandoned her and spread awful rumors around school about her, forcing her into a social solitary confinement. It seemed like a lifetime ago, to know people like that. The one upside of going to Elias was meeting people like Chloe. In all honesty, however, Rose didn’t know that there was anyone else like Chloe. The thought of having her for a friend made Rose smile.

[factly]

[darlinglittlerose]

chlosparrow‌:

Chloe turned towards Rose with an excited smile, “Do you think so?” She raised up on her toes, holding her hands together in front of her chest. “You’re terrible, but you’re absolutely right.” Chloe glanced back to the man, hopeful. “What do I even say? Hey, your kids real cute, fancy making out?” Chlo said in a faux flirty voice. 

Rose giggled, shaking her head before turning it to a nod with a serious face. “Yes, that’s definitely the right way to start that conversation. Right to the point.” The blonde laughed, her hat jingling as her head moved. “Bring over some candy canes and just start chatting,” Rose offered, shrugging. She’d never been good at starting conversations with strangers.

[darlinglittlerose]

chlosparrow‌:

Chloe nodded, because it was awesome. That’s not to say dorm life couldn’t be cool, sometimes when Seb was being cringe she wished she could live the solo life in there - and then she remembered they couldn’t afford the fancy apartment style dorm and would have to double up with a roommate. Then she loved her brother and his place again. “So fit!” She exclaimed, eyes wide and mouth agape as she turned back to Rose after looking at him again. “Oh god Rose, it’s been forever. I haven’t touched a guy since I got to this place. And just look at him!”

Rose glanced around the guy, wondering if he was with someone, and glanced specifically at his left hand. “I don’t see a ring,” she grinned, turning her head and hiding her smile in her shoulder. “You should take a break after they’re done and go talk to him,” she encouraged quietly. “At least one of us should get felt up; it is Christmas,” Rose giggled.

[darlinglittlerose]

chlosparrow‌:

“Oh yeah totally.” Chloe waved it off like it was nothing, that having a cool older brother that bought her drinks was nothing. “He used to go to the school but he graduated, but he’s still living in town. I actually live with him rather than in the dorms.” She explained, holding onto a strand of her hair and twirling it around her fingers. Chloe was looking through the crowd while she’d been talking and she paused, eyes stuck on a guy who was bringing his daughter to see Santa. “Hey Rose,” She leaned sideways and covered her mouth with her pretty manicured fingers. “Look at that guy, isn’t he so hot?” 

“That’s awesome!” Rose enthused, and then gave a shy but kind smile to a little boy hiding behind his mother’s coat in line. She wondered if she did really well in her classes, if her mother would consider letting her have an apartment in town. It was doubtful, of course, seeing as suspicions would arise and visions of her mother sending private investigators her way came to her like a nightmare. “Hm?” Rose leaned in a bit to hear Chloe, and followed her friend’s gaze. “Oh my,” Rose commented upon seeing the guy, and looked away as quickly as she had spotted him. “He is really fit,” she murmured, turning a little pink as she made eye contact with the little one she’d smiled at.

[darlinglittlerose]

chlosparrow‌:

“Plum?” Chloe questioned, she supposed it wasn’t that weird when you thought of all the other kinds of liqueurs, but the idea of it felt unpleasant. When were plums ever ripe and tasting good? Only for about a minute. “Ooh, yeah, I bet they have a billion different cute Christmas cocktails in festive colours.” Chloe giggled, waving at a kid in the queue. “Oh don’t worry, my brother’ll do it.” She gave a single finger gun to Rose with a click of her tongue

Rose shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t know,” she chuckled, more than happy to move on, and getting a bit excited for miming mixologists with her later. “Ooh, will he? I didn’t know you had a brother,” Rose commented, glad to have met Chloe and being able to get to know her better. She was the first proper friend Rose had ever had. 

[darlinglittlerose]

chlosparrow‌:

“Well I love super sweet.” She stated with a slight lean back, it was practically her entire personality, all bubblegum and lollipops. Chloe waved another little girl over, stepping towards her and Santa to help her get up. “Here you go sugarplum, now smile.” She skipped back to Rose, her outfit jingling. “I don’t even know what slow gin is… is it just a new name for gin?” She laughed to herself, shrugging her shoulders. 

“Me too,” Rose smiled, and watched as Chloe took charge again, grateful to have someone who knew exactly what to do as a coworker. “Erm, I think it’s sort of like a plum liqueur made with gin?” She tilted her head slightly, trying to make herself think of other things; thinking of John only made her devastatingly sad. “We can look up some suggestions on Pinterest later if you want! First we need to find someone willing to buy us some liquor,” Rose chuckled, lowering her voice at the last bit.

[darlinglittlerose]

chlosparrow‌:

“That’s sweet,” She smiled sideways at her friend, glad that Rose had applied with her. The whole thing was cute, but if she’d been standing here alone the time would probably pass extra slow. “Oh, I would love that! I’ve never tried eggnog, I really want to, it looks interesting.“ Chloe smiled down at the little girl, “Have a nice day!” She grinned at the mother, giving a little wave. “Are there other Christmas drinks? I can’t think of them.” 

Rose smiled politely, knowing that Chloe couldn’t possibly know how horrible her mother was, so why wouldn’t it be sweet? Still, she supposed it was a cute thing to do with children. “Yeah, it’s supposed to be super sweet; I’ve not tried it either, but I’ve seen enough movies to know it’s a go to for Americans around the holidays,” she grinned, and glanced back to check the quiet line. “Joh-My boyfriend likes sloe gin, but I haven’t tried that,” Rose’s mood broke slightly as she finished the sentence, remembering that they had meant to have it together their first Christmas together, only to have that plan dashed into the snow by her mother.

[darlinglittlerose]

chlosparrow‌:

over mulled wine || open

Chloe kneeled down and tucked her hair behind her ear when it fell forward. “Hi sweetie, are you excited to meet Santa?” She asked the little girl who was chewing on her sleeve. The girl nodded dramatically, making Chlo smile. “Yeah? Well it’s your turn now! Come on..” she stood and held her hand out, walking the girl over to the acting Santa and lifted her onto his lap. “Okay, big smiles!” She pointed out and moved out of the way so the photographer could do their job. Chloe went and stood near Rose, fixing up her elf dress since it had bunched when she bent down. “Don’t you wish Christmas was as magical for us as it is for them?” She asked absentmindedly.

Rose watched in amusement as Chloe interacted with a sweet little girl. She was still getting used to talking with children, and enjoyed seeing Chloe do it so effortlessly. The blonde smiled wide when her friend joined her, and nodded at her question. “Oh, I know. I miss being a kid sometimes. My mum used to make ‘snow tracks’ in our living room.” Rose sighed, the thought warming her for just a minute before she was reminded how quickly her mother bored of her when she got older. “Best thing to do this year is hope someone can buy us some spiced rum for egg nog and cider drinks,” she added, and then put on a smile and gave a candy cane to the little girl skipping away from Santa.