take care

hollis carlisle / 21 / junior 

[lennoncampbell-blog]

“I’m sure she would be, but i’m not looking to do that. And I know she wouldn’t find anyone else, but I want to be near her. Violet is my whole life, man. I need to have her close by or else I would lose my mind.”

[holliscarlisle]

“Violet? How the hell did you snag her up? Did you see her at the winter ball thing? Man, she had people eating in the palm of her hand. She looked like she was almost the only one having a good time,” Hollis mused, trying to remember the blonde’s face. “I think I have class with her, but it’s one of the big seminars and she’s always coming in and sitting in the back. You’re lucky, man. Seriously.”

[winniepark]

     “I think undying love is moving a little too fast for me. Give me, like, another couple days at least.” She let out a short sigh, a hint of a grin soon following. It’s not uncommon that words fly out of her mouth without her first thinking about them, especially around him. For a moment she took a pause to listen to what he was saying and think about her response rather than spurting something out. “Tell me some good things, then. So I don’t have to think about the bad things. Not — about me… a story or something. Anything. I like the idea of hearing about high school Hollis, maybe. — Also, dig?”

[holliscarlisle]

“Ah, right, a couple more days,” Hollis laughed, his teeth taking his lower lip between them. Habitually, he chewed on the flesh, tearing his eyes away from the red heard and back down to his shoes. “High school Hollis wasn’t all that great. I mean, I guess he was but he was head over heels for a girl and big into football and was a total momma’s boy,” he told her, keeping his hands in his pockets. His hues shot back to Winnie, frowning a bit. “Yeah, --dig. Sorry, I’m actually a total idiot.”

[lennoncampbell-blog]

“You caught me, man. Yeah i’ve got to live here to keep my girl around. She’s a dime. If I leave her alone she could run off and find someone better, which I can’t have happen.”

[holliscarlisle]

“She wouldn’t be willing to do the whole long distance thing? I bet she wouldn’t up and find someone else, don’t be so unsure of yourself man. Who is this girl anyway? Someone special if you want to stay in New Haven I assume.”

[winniepark]

     “How studious of you. I am kind of proud of you, actually. I like the idea of rubbing off on you.” She took a deep breath, a grin remaining on her face. She still felt somewhat groggy, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand as she sat on the end of her bed. “It really sounds like you’d be changing a lot for me. Mac and cheese is a classic, okay? I think I’ll be the only astrophysicist with a dog farm. White wine… but I’m not always picky. You’re gonna wake up some mornings with thirty-two messages about aliens and magic tricks and dogs and tectonic plates and you’re gonna wish you never said that. I just think you’re looking for all the good things and ignoring all the bad. I don’t want to disappoint you sometime so I’m setting you up for any surprises.”

[holliscarlisle]

“You should be proud. I’m proud of myself,” Hollis grinned, one of his hands running through his hair, though it just messed up the precisely placed strands. “I’m not changing anything. I don’t expect anything from you, either, Winnie. Honest to god, this isn’t me coming here to profess my undying love for you because, fuck, I’m not even sure I’d be able to feel that again. But I can’t get you out of my head and I just needed you to know it. Okay, well who wants to dwell on the bad things? If I dwelled on all the bad things I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed in the morning. You can’t disappoint me because I have no expectations. I just came here to kiss you. To tell you I dig you, like a complete and utter idiot. That’s all.”

[crazy-about-ryan]

[holliscarlisle]

@winniepark

[winniepark]

     “I don’t like the idea of distracting you from school. I know these are mixed signals but if you’ve got stuff to do, you should go.” She couldn’t help but laugh at his answer, letting her hands fall to her side. Lips pursed together, searching for an answer but sighing as she came up short, so she just attempted to lengthen the list. “I’m really, really bad at meeting new people. I’m a really picky eater. I complain about the tiniest, most unimportant things. I have the urge to buy every dog I see. I only drink wine and it’s usually alone, in my bed, watching Gilmore Girls. It freaks me out how much I like talking to you and sometimes I have to stop myself before sending you like, fifteen messages in a row. I hate children. — Feel free to let me stop when you decide you might hate me.”

[holliscarlisle]

“This paper isn’t due for another week. You should be proud if anything, I was getting a head start on it,” he told her, his smile not willing to waiver. Hollis shook his head, holding back an eye roll as Winnie kept rambling. “I’ll be the buffer between you and new people. We’ll only eat what you like and I won’t tease you for not eating something simple like mac and cheese. I think your complaints are cute and valid and even if I want to shut you up, I couldn’t because your voice makes me happy. I love dogs. Let’s own a farm of them. I’ve seen every episode of Gilmore Girls and I’m stoked for the revival their cooking up and I happen to be a fan of girls who drink wine. White or red? Or are you a blush kind of girl? Send me those messages. Do it. I don’t have any children. --I can’t hate you. I just can’t.”

[winniepark]

     “Another second? Wow. Um… I mean, I want you to come in. If you want to come in, that is. If you don’t, I can’t make you. No promises I won’t fall asleep on you, though. Plus, I don’t have anything until a study group tomorrow afternoon. You’re practically obliged to stay if you don’t have anything to do tomorrow.” Stepping into her room slowly, she reached for his hand to pull him inside. “I’m bad at a lot of things, actually. I can’t keep up with exercising. I’m not that good at writing. I’m a terrible artist. I can’t dance. I burn pancakes every time I make them. Quantum physics makes me cry. Everything makes me cry, actually. — Now that I think about it, I see why you might not wanna come in.”

[holliscarlisle]

“Yeah, I was writing this paper and I couldn’t get my head straight. Which is dumb, I know--” Hollis sighed, though his face lit up once she told him that she wanted him to stay. His grip on her hand tightened just slightly, a goofy smile pulling on his lips as Winnie pulled him inside her room. “I can be your motivation at the gym, there’s a bunch of writing workshops on campus if you’re interested in getting better at it. I’m not into art unless it’s listening to music. I’ll lead. I’ll make you the best pancakes you’ve ever had or I’ll take you out to get them. You can cry all you want as long as you won’t hide it from me, okay? Look, I’m a problem solver. I just solved all your problems.”

[winniepark]

    “I couldn’t… it’d take a lot for me to be mad at you. I’ll be okay.” She nodded, a hint of a grin forming. She’s not quite sure what to do with herself, fingers nervously toying with one another as she looks up at him. “I’m glad you did. I mean — is that a weird thing to say? I… I’m bad at this. And in my defense, I’m tired. No, um, you should stay if you want. I can stay up. I think I’ll survive.”

[holliscarlisle]

Hollis reached out, brushing a little bit of hair off the girl’s shoulder before shoving his hands in his pockets of the jacket he was wearing. “You don’t have to let me stay, Win. I just wanted to do that, that’s all. I’ll let you go back to sleep. You’re not bad at anything, okay? I just...couldn’t go another second without --yeah.”

[winniepark]

     She hated how easy it was for her to snap into focus on him from her sleepy state, trying to ignore the fact that she was in a big t-shirt and looked like this when he looked like that. Keeping herself close to him, she pulled back from the kiss reluctantly, eyes glancing toward the ground with a quiet laugh. “I should be mad at you for bothering me past my bedtime again, you know. You’re a bad influence.”

[holliscarlisle]

“Are you mad though?” he asked her, letting the girl step away from him. Hollis wasn’t going to force kisses on Winnie, that wouldn’t be fair, even if it was all he could think about coming to her room. “I might be a bad influence, but you kissed me back. I can leave if you’d like?”

[holliscarlisle]

☎

“Winona. I just found out that’s your real name, but I guess I should have known. No one names their kid Winnie. I think it’s such a pretty name, Win. You’re pretty. You’re great. You’re smart. And, fuck, I know it’s like two in the morning and you are sleeping but Christ, you’re so great. I thought maybe you’d answer but I’m an idiot compared to you and can you even tell what I’m saying? I’m drunk. I’m so fuckin’ drunk. Winnie, you make me wanna be better and that’s not fair, it’s not ‘cause that shouldn’t be your job. You wanna be awesome and work for fucking NASA and be amazing and I’m nothing compared to you I’m a fucking shit show with a dead wife and a fucked up relationship past but hell, you’re you and I’m me. Fuck. I gotta go or this is gonna end up bad. --How the hell do you delete voicemails from the other end? Shit.”

Send me a ☎ for a drunk call from my muse!

[winniepark]

     Despite the conversation about it, that was the last thing Winnie was expecting — either he did a good job playing it off as a joke or she was a complete idiot. Her reaction was slow, standing firm before her body shifted toward his, fingers grasping the fabric of his shirt and open palm moving up to lean against his cheek. There was a lot running through her mind in such a small amount of time but none of it seemed to form coherent words when she was so easily distracted.

[holliscarlisle]

Even though he reaction was slow and steady, Winnie kissed him back which was a good sign. She could have pushed him away, argued, pushed back --but here she was moving closer, her lips sweet tasting like the best dessert he could have dreamt up. One of his hands moved to the small of her back, the other threading through her hair as Hollis pulled her closer, deepening the kiss just slightly, his thoughts muddled and faded. 

[siennaxlawson-deactivated201809]

“Are you trying to convince me that you’re the devil in disguise? ‘Cuz I highly doubt it. Listen…. I.. You know what I don’t even have a good excuse, but now you can take me to go get some!”

[holliscarlisle]

“Maybe? --No, not really. Of course I’ll take you because it’s absolutely ridiculous that you’ve never tasted it. Let’s go, Is. Before I implode out of sheer shock.”

[winniepark]

    Rubbing tired eyes, Winnie pushed long red locks behind her shoulders as she got up to open her door, assuming it was one of her sorority sisters. When she saw Hollis at the opposite side of her door, green eyes widened in surprise. She was almost positive he didn’t tell her he was coming over, but later she’d probably check her phone to be sure. “Are you lost or something?” She asked, leaning against the doorframe as she looked up at him. “We’re not really taking refugees tonight and you didn’t really make a reservation, so.”

[holliscarlisle]

Even sleepy, Winnie was gorgeous. Hair a little out of place, her eyes not as shiny, though shit she was pretty. He pushed himself off the frame, shaking his head at her snarky comments. “Shut up, Winnie,” Hollis mumbled, not giving the girl a chance to protest before closing the gap between them, his large hands cupping her face, fingers caressing her slim neck while his thumbs rested on her jaw. He was quick to move, pressing his lips against her pouty ones, kissing her firmly without reservation. 

[lennoncampbell-blog]

“Where is the safest place to buy a house around here? Asking for a friend.”

[holliscarlisle]

“Is this friend, you?” Hollis asked, perking up at the other male’s question. “Planning on living in New Haven after graduation?”

[watsoms]

[holliscarlisle]

@winniepark

[holliscarlisle]

It was past ten, which probably meant that Winnie was in bed. But Hollis couldn’t get his head quiet, especially not about the strawberry blonde. He knew this was probably an awful idea, especially with his track record, though at this point, leaning against the threshold of her door, his eyes trained on the ground, he didn’t exactly care. After a few short knocks, Hollis held his breath. Part of him hoped she wasn’t even in her room, the other hoped that she’d open up quickly --his patience at this point was wearing thin.

@winniepark