broken

Garrett Booth. 33 years young. Small town boy from Texas who went to serve his country and found himself living in Bellevue, WA as a carpenter.

[garrettxbooth-blog]

“Okay I think you should be good to go.” Garrett called out from the top of the ladder. He liked to consider himself a handyman and when he wasn’t fixing up his own place, he enjoyed helping out his neighbors. People much preferred to hire him rather than a professional mainly because his fee didn’t consist of money. A case of beer was good enough for him. “You might want to watch out for a little shock when you turn it on, but trust me that’s totally normal.”

[garrettxbooth-blog]

katrina-unger·:

Katrina watched the whole exchange in confusion, working on her cigarette until her supposed Good Samaritan came back. She’d almost reached the filter when he spoke in her direction, but she turned her attention to him critically. “I’m not paying you back for that,” the brunette said pointedly, gesturing towards his suit before taking a step towards her own vehicle. 

The woman didn’t appear to be the friendliest person walking down the street, but Garrett didn’t mind. He understood that everyone showed their feelings and thoughts in different ways. “I wasn’t looking for any payback, just lending a helping hand.” He admitted before raising his hand in a waving form. “Get home safe and maybe avoid parallel parking from now on.”

[paulwezly]

[garrettxbooth-blog]

katrina-unger·:

Katrina looked up, lifting a shoulder at the random act of kindness that crossed the street to lend a hand. She ditched her cigarette, sending it unlit and careening for the gutter before fishing out her keys. “Yeah, tell him,” her tone warped accusingly as she glared at the other man who had come out to yell at her for her parking, “That there’s nothing wrong with the way I came in and that there are about fifteen other spots up the block that they could have taken instead.”

Without saying another word Garrett went towards the other man, saying a few words and then handing him something. After a few seconds the car drove away and he turned back towards the woman. “I don’t think he’ll be bothering you anymore.” He replied with a smile and a nod. 

[garrettxbooth-blog]

salemcoldwater·:

“Sarcasm is my middle name Garrett and I’m glad you’re not an idiot then.” She stated and motioned for him to sit down beside him. Pursing her lips together, Salem chuckled and raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “Do people seriously think that those excuses work on people?” She asked shaking her head in amusement. “Ah well, most people aren’t me and I know when someone is joking. I do after all work in law enforcement and to be honest, I don’t think anyone is being their true selves. Maybe that comes with the job of being a detective.” Salem explained and shrugged her shoulders. “Anyway. What do you do for work Garrett?” Salem asked hoping that he wasn’t mistaking her kindness for flirting as the brunette was very much gay and would usually get annoyed when she continuously had to explain that. Hopefully that wouldn’t happen with her new drinking buddy and that Garrett would pick up on it. 

“Well I’m not an idiot most of the time.” He admitted with a smirk. There had been many moments in his life where Garrett was a fool. He wasn’t a saint by any means and his stupidity often outweighed his better judgement. Thankfully today he found that his head was in the right place and apart from the alcohol, his thoughts were clear. “A detective? What can you detect about me so far?” He asked out of curiosity. It would be interesting how he portrayed himself to a stranger and he wanted to see how good she was at her job. “I was in the army for a little over a decade, but now I call myself a carpenter. Chairs, tables, benches, whatever you need I can make for you.”

[zekehcndrix]

Cigarette burning, white wisps of smoke dancing away in the soft breeze, Zeke sat with a sketchbook in his lap. There was a custom design taking shape on the page, something commissioned by something of a regular customer. But he was staring off, lost in the thoughts that momentarily seemed to take away his ability to function. Memories and longing had a funny way of doing that to a person, catching up with you and hijacking your peace. Or, in the very least, one’s concentration on what was a task at hand. The sounds of someone nearby, possibly settling nearly him pulled Zeke from his stupor. “Guess I ain’t the only one lookin’ for a quiet spot.” At that moment he thought about the flask in his pocket, silent yet teasing, unable to be enjoyed now with present company and keeping up appearances of having given up the sauce once again.

[garrettxbooth-blog]

Since moving to Bellevue, Garrett had been on the search for a few quiet places to collect his thoughts. Leaving the army came with demons that sometimes no amount of alcohol could fix. Thankfully, he had found a spot that brought him a sense of peace. One night as he made his way to that spot, Garrett found another resident already occupying the silence. Then the man spoke and he nodded with a smirk. “Who knew a roof top would be so popular?” He shuffled towards him, hands shoved into his pockets. “You were here first, I can leave if you want to be alone?”

[edenashtons]

it was safe to say, sloane’s day hadn’t gone so well. things weren’t going her way on a deal in her company and she found it incredibly frustrating, especially as someone with the pathological need to always be right. the moment everything went in another direction, she got frustrated, while she was classy enough not to throw a full-blown tantrum, she was close to doing so that day.

leaning against the wall out in the courtyard of a trendy downtown bar, sloane brought a cigarette to her lips after taking a quick look around the vicinity to see who was there. “don’t tell my wife that i’m smoking. i told her i quit… in return for that promise, help yourself.” the brunette said to the person nearest to her, holding out her engraved cigarette case.

[garrettxbooth-blog]

Since returning home from the army Garrett had his good days and he had his bad days. Today happened to be a more difficult day which was why he found himself at a downtown bar. Alcohol tended to help with the unwanted memories, but lately he had been craving something a little stronger. He made his way out to the courtyard to see another woman there, offering him a cigarette. “I promise.” He replied while taking a cigarette, placing it between his lips and lighting a flame. After exhaling a puff of smoke Garrett leaned up against the wall beside her. “What the wife doesn’t know, won’t kill her right?”

[lukecxlloway]

“This thing is broken – don’t look at me like that.” Luke pressed a few more keys on the piano beside the bar, his drink resting on some of the other keys. “I used to play a wicked Mary Has a Little Lamb, but I can’t play on a broken piano. I should probably stick to drinking. Round three?”

[garrettxbooth-blog]

“Is the piano really broken or is that just an excuse?” Garrett spoke in a sarcastic tone as he leaned up against the piano, his own drink in hand. “Besides I’m more of a fan of hot cross buns.” A smirk appeared over his lips before he nodded in agreement. “Round three if you’re buying.”

[garrettxbooth-blog]

meredithayes‌:

Maybe she was freaking out too much? After all, she often felt like she forced the relationship on him. It was clear she wanted more with him and he didn’t, but she kept pushing and pushing for more. Now they were in a place where neither knew what to do anymore and that was eating away at her, no matter how badly she tried to not let it. “I don’t know if I would’ve been okay, you never gave me the chance to find out. You never gave us a chance. Instead of letting us see what could come of it, you played the whole thing out all by yourself and decided on the outcome.” Truthfully, it would’ve been hard, and she saw the point she was trying to make. But that didn’t mean she didn’t want to try. For all she knew, they could’ve survived it. Now they’d never know, however. “Well you better figure out a way to, because you showing up and saying you need to find me and you can’t explain why, isn’t exactly helping your case.” Taking a deep breath in, Meredith turned back around toward her car before letting out the heavy sigh. She had to take a moment to figure out an answer and honestly, she didn’t know what she wanted. And out of pure frustration for not knowing, Meredith bent down, pulled off her flip flop and as a response to his question, she proceeded to turn back toward him and chuck the shoe at him. 

Garrett was hearing her, but he wasn’t truly listening. One of his flaws was his stubbornness, because once he had decided on something it was difficult to change his mind. Which was why no matter how much his heart was telling him to be with Meredith way back when, his head kept telling him no. However, near death experiences had a way of changing someone’s perspective on life. Unfortunately that change came too little, too late for them. Before he could say anything else, Garrett was dodging a flying flip flop that had been thrown his way. “What the hell was that?” He questioned in a raised tone of voice with confusion written over his face. “You’re throwing shoes at me now? That’s new.”

[garrettxbooth-blog]

salemcoldwater·:

Raising her eyebrow at the stranger who sat down beside her and continued rolling with his one liners made Salem laugh. “I mean, hey. I actually kind of like that one.” The brunette stated and took another sip of her drink. At least he wasn’t smiling at her or winking at her - the dude seemed to be in just as much of a bad mood as she was which was a welcome change. “I’m Salem, and I have to say you didn’t actually do to bad. I like your dry humour, y’know. Everyone usually takes my sarcasm so freaking seriously.” Salem added and couldn’t help but think that if she was straight, this guy would definitely be the type of guy she’d go for. “Anyway, what are you drinking? I’ll be you another - if only for making me laugh. If that’s alright with you, that is.”

Once he heard the sound of laughter Garrett knew that his attempt at a joke must have worked. Most women didn’t pick up on his sarcastic and cheesy one-liners so he was thankful that the stranger did. Then he heard her name and offered her a friendly grin. “Well Salem I’m happy to know that there’s another sarcastic individual present at this bar. If I had used that one liner on anyone else I’d probably get a pity laugh and then a lame excuse for them having to suddenly leave. My favorites are the my apartment is flooding or my dog got into my wine.” He replied with a smirk. Despite his loner nature he did enjoy having casual conversations with others. The only problem was that most people often mistook his kindness as flirty. “Only an idiot would say no to free alcohol. I’ll just take a beer and the name’s Garrett by the way.”

[garrettxbooth-blog]

meredithayes·:

“Don’t do that,” she deadpanned almost instantly. Meredith wasn’t exactly here for any sort of his nonsense. At least, to her it was nonsense. “This isn’t going to be some cliche where you tell me it was never supposed to be like this and then I forgive for it all. If you didn’t want to hurt me, you wouldn’t have. Plain and simple.” Meredith was doing her best to add some bite to her bark. She wanted to make it clear that it wasn’t going to be some Taylor Swift love song and the two of them were going to find their way back to one another. “That wasn’t your choice to make. I knew what I was getting into—risks and all. But instead you took it upon yourself to decide for the both of us. But now what? Now you’re back because you… want to feel something? What does that even mean? And do you not even bother to think about what I want or don’t want? Like come on, Garrett.” 

“Life isn’t always plain and simple.” Garrett mumbled under his breath with green hues glancing at his feet. He knew that things between them weren’t going to go back to normal in a blink of an eye. He was in the wrong and he had accepted that, but a part of him hoped that she would understand where he was coming from. Of course, how could she understand when she didn’t know how he was truly feeling? “You didn’t though, you didn’t know the risks and the loneliness of being an army wife. You’re telling me that as a twenty-something year old beautiful girl you would’ve been okay with waiting for me for months at a time, not knowing if I would come home? You would’ve been okay with the constant goodbyes and only seeing each other for weeks at a time? That’s not how a new relationship should start.” Being in the military himself and having a solider family gave Garrett an insight into what a military marriage was all about. He saw with his own eyes the pain his mother suffered when his dad was sent away and even more when officers showed up at their door with a flag and his hat in their hands. It was a pain he didn’t want anyone to suffer, especially not Meredith. “It’s something I can’t explain...” He whispered regarding his desire to feel something. After taking a deep breath Garrett took a step closer to her and shrugged his shoulders in defeat. “What do you want?”

[garrettxbooth-blog]

nathangarrettx·:

“Well…let’s just say my parents weren’t exactly the watching cartoons in the mornings type. My mom used to play the piano though, so maybe I got it from that. I didn’t really watch any TV anyways when I was a kid now that I think about it,” Nathan shared, his brows knitting together. He wished that he could’ve made memories like these with his own family but he hadn’t been so lucky. Knowing a little about what Garrett had gone through in his life though, he was happy that he had known things like the Flintstones theme rather than Mozart’s greatest pieces. At his question, Nathan chuckled and brushed a hand through his hair. “I do get a little bit of extra money from them, yeah – but it’s not a lot. Enough to buy us the next round though,” he joked, nudging the other male. “You’re definitely right about that. It makes it feel a little less like you’re actually working,” Nathan agreed, reaching for his own pint. “You said you were a carpenter, right? Did you specialize in anything?”

“Let me tell you one good thing about being an adult and that is we can do whatever the fuck we want. Sure your parents weren’t the cartoon watching type, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t follow in their footsteps. I’m going to petition that you watch some Saturday morning cartoons with me.” Garrett insisted with a smirk. Cartoons were an essential part of childhood, no, an essential part of life. Being the helpful type that he was, he had to make sure that his new friend had simple yet memorable experiences. At his nudge, he nodded in agreement and let out a quiet chuckle. “Well I can’t so no to free booze.” Apart from the free reason he had others as to why he could never refuse alcohol. Reasons involving his time in the military that he was lucky enough to talk to Nathan about. When the question about his job came about Garrett slowly shook his head. “I am, but no specializations. In high school I worked with a carpenter and he kind of taught me everything that I know. Most places don’t want to hire a veteran and since I didn’t go to college I figured that I’d take making my money into my own hands, literally speaking.” It might not have been a good pun, but it caused him to chuckle.

[bellevue-rp-blog]

❝the moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to.❞

resident • lake hills • carpenter • thirty-three • male (he/him)

hey there, garrett booth!

Life had never been simple for Garrett despite the way he grew up. Small town Texas taught him about a slow-paced life and not wanting more than necessary. His father being in the military taught him honor and what being a man was all about. Becoming a man became quick for Garrett when his father was killed in the line of duty, leaving behind a wife and two children. The death of his father brought a quiet confidence as he began working part-time jobs to help support the family. He also played football in high school which taught him strength and responsibility. If he failed, everyone else around him failed. That mindset continued when he followed in his father’s footsteps once high school ended. The bond he had formed with his brothers in arms meant more to him than he realized. However, with that brotherly love came pain. Having friends die in his arms took a toll on his mind and faith in humanity. The only people that he could trust was his family and his brothers. The distrust continued after he was shot and sent home to Texas. Garrett found solace in carpentry because it allowed him to be alone and work with his hands. Being back in Texas didn’t give him the space that he desired. His mother, sister, and old friends were always checking in on him and making sure that he was okay. To be free of the constant worry he decided to move to Bellevue, to a place where no one knew who he was. Garrett hopes that this fresh start will give him the clarity that he needs

[garrettxbooth-blog]

nathangarrettx·:

“Full disclosure – I’m not even listening to classical music in my day to day life a whole lot anymore either but for some reason it’s always been a huge part of my life and musical education. It just has this elevating feeling to me, I can’t even describe it,” Nathan gushed before chuckling. “I’m glad you thought it was but hey, Johnny Cash’s not so bad of a choice either,” he said with a wink. Country hadn’t really been a genre that Nathan was too crazy about but he could see the appeal. “Yeah, I think it’s gonna be a nice change and I won’t have to run back and forth while trying keep a conversation going,” he added with a grin before joining Garrett and taking a seat next to him. A smile remained on Nathan’s lips and he mirrored the other male’s smile. “To new friendship,” he echoed, raising his glass before downing the shot, pulling a face at the sharp taste of the liquor momentarily. He tilted his head, looking back at Garrett before thinking for a moment. “I try to play kinda regularly so I don’t get out of practice, you know? It’s something to look forward to so I’d say at least once a month. It really depends on how busy I am or whether they want me to play or not,” he admitted. “I go to open mic nights every now and then, too but I like it when it’s a little more official and people come here with some sort of expectation.” Watching the bartender for a moment, Nathan turned towards Garrett again. “Not gonna lie, I wish it was more often.”

“I always wonder how people get into classical musical at a young age, because the only song that I knew as a kid was the Flintstones theme song.” Garrett admitted, smiling at the memory. Saturday mornings as a child held a special place in his heart. Whenever his father was home from a tour overseas, the two would spend those mornings watching cartoons with his favorite being The Flintstones. Once they finished their shots and Nathan began to speak, Garrett called over the bartender to order a round of beer. “Do these official gigs get you any money? Because if they do that’s a pretty sweet gig, it’s always great to get paid doing something you love to do.” He admitted, taking a swig of his beer once the drinks arrived. 

[katrina-unger]

“Wait, wait, wait,” Kat called, running out to the car parked crookedly across two spots from under the overhang of the building. Her cigarette hung from her lips unlit, muffling her speech as her fingers fussed with matches. “Before you call a tow truck, I’m just about to move it.” She made a face. “As soon as I figure out how to get out of the parallel without hitting the other two cars.”

[garrettxbooth-blog]

Garrett had been out for a nightly run when he noticed a slight altercation between a woman and someone annoyed by a crooked park job. As per usual he was always willing to lend a helping hand which was why he crossed the street to the two strangers. “Maybe another set of eyes could help fix this parallel parking situation.”

[garrettxbooth-blog]

meredithayes‌:

Was she being a bit dramatic? Of course. That’s how it always was with Meredith. She was one extreme to the other. So right now, she was giving a lot of her anger to him, though she could easily get worse. Which wasn’t fair to him. After all, they had been friends for so long that to act this way wasn’t exactly the most mature way to go about things. “Well I don’t really see why else you’d be here if it wasn’t for that. You made it clear, Garrett. So to see you here now and you claiming that it’s for me makes me kind of assume it’s just to poke at my pain some more.” The last bit was a slip, something she didn’t want him to know. Confessing that she was in any sort of emotional pain over him was just too much information to give and as soon as she let it out, she was mentally kicking herself over it. “If you’re not in a good place now, Garrett then why did you come? Why? Why did you need to find me? We’re literally right back to where we were before, so….”

Hearing her words, a hint of sadness rushed through his body. Garrett hated causing people any type of pain especially when it people he cared about. Purposely inflicting pain was something he would never do and knowing that was what she thought of him felt like a punch to the gut. “You know that I would never do that, I never want or ever wanted to hurt you.” He spoke from the heart, knowing that she probably wouldn’t believe him. “I didn’t want to love you back then, because I didn’t want to leave you. What if I had died overseas? It would have killed me all over again knowing that you would’ve had to sit through my funeral. I couldn’t do that to you.” Garrett admitted while nervously rubbing the back of his neck. “But now I needed to see you, because I thought it would remind me how to feel something, to feel anything.”

[garrettxbooth-blog]

HELLO NEIGHBOR WITH @dr-cassidy-jacks 

Garrett had never been a social kind of guy. He never had the confidence or social skills to strike up a casual conversation with someone while walking down the street. It was also a reason why he hadn’t talked to any of his neighbors yet. That and the fact that he was also doing a complete renovation of his new home. Thankfully, after a few months the renovation was almost finished. Garret was finishing on some final details when he heard a knock at his door. Instantly his dog, Ranger, began to bark and ran towards the front of the house. “Quiet.” Garrett called out before putting down his tools and opening the door. “Hi.” He greeted the woman in front of him in a slightly confused and surprised tone. The confusion came from not knowing her and the surprise coming from someone actually showing up at his door.