the chariot.

william b. finch.

[knewitalls]

william finch: a study.

dossier: intro (mobile friendly). skeleton. pinterest. playlist. insp tag.

[pixiiewings]

⸻　　somewhere in heaven ( upstairs ) ,  early-ish midway ⸻　　closed  for @knewitalls

　　♡　　georgia was trying her best to have a good time .  for their group, it seemed that was against the odds. like, really against the odds. when had maths ever stopped her ? pretending everything was great all the time was a skill georgia had spent the better part of her life perfecting — but admittedly, the stakes had been lower before. each new thing just seemed to stack, nothing ever replacing anything. there was everything she had been balancing before. then add crazy stalker ! take away two best friends ! she didn’t know much about construction, but she could give a first hand account of how unsteady things felt when you started ripping out support beams.

still, there were some bright spots. notably, things had been going well with william. it was hard to think of their budding romance without thinking of the previous year’s halloween party. tilly’s, specifically. or maybe it was the other way around considering where they were. regardless of which thought prompted the other, georgia had taken a break from the dance floor and gravitated towards the quieter level of the house.

it wasn’t sneaking up or surprising him. even she knew better than to do that in the midst of all this chaos. just a tap on the shoulder. making sure he knew it was a friendly touch was so focused on the gentleness of it, logic failed to advise that she should have stayed in place for a moment after it. not that she went far — just that she had continued to move.

her eyes remained on william, taking a few steps backwards. upstairs was less crowded, or people moved out of georgia’s way, but there was no collision. her index finger curled to make it clear she wanted him to come with her rather than just saying hi in passing.

there was probably somewhere in there that an actual hi would have been beneficial, but georgia was on a mission. besides, it wouldn’t be the first time she had roped william into something with little to no context. new year’s eve being a notable example, and look how well that had turned out ! luckily, covering a little bit of distance upstairs was less of a journey than leading him out on the roof of the porter house. within a few moments, it was obviously clear what she was trying to do.

a few quick, short steps to get to the other side of the fish tank than him removing what little doubt was left. it was cheesy ( and probably a little stupid ) but they deserved the sense of normalcy, if you asked georgia. her fingers combed through her hair. mostly to make sure that it wasn’t caught on her wings. a brief moment spared to actually look at the fish before her eyes flickered up to where she hoped he’d play along.

[knewitalls]

william did not like parties. a serious introvert, he'd never really seen the point. why go to a party when you could read a book at home? watch a movie at wrensted watches? do something with your time that you'd be able to remember in the morning? yet, he'd still gone to a fair amount of such gatherings over the past year.

and why was that?

last october, when he'd gone to tilly's halloween party as romeo + juliet's romeo (an inside joke with his grandma, because she thought he sort of looked like leo; he disagreed), he'd been trying to get out there and make new friends after an extended break from almost every single person in his hometown. it had been an attempt to make his temporary exile from his doctoral program more bearable, to build up a social life that could distract him from what he knew he was missing out on.

what he hadn't anticipated when walking through the doors of tilly's house that evening was that her party would result in an even better outcome. nothing about it had been all that different from the handful of parties he'd been to in high school, back when he and sarah would find the nearest video game console and block the rest of the world out, but the innocent moment he'd shared at tilly's freakishly large fish tank with georgia had kind of changed everything.

now, georgia liked parties, so william tolerated parties. her attendance that night was part of why he'd attended in the first place... especially since tilly's personal vendetta against him after liza's disastrous surprise party had him seemingly removed from the invite list. he would've been all too happy to stay home and continue his recovery, to hobble around his apartment and spend quality time with his cat while watching a movie. instead, he'd dressed in a white so stark it brought to mind new lab coats, the lowest possible effort for a costume still declaring him angelic enough that no one really cared when he showed up. he'd still gone for his go-to, finding a quiet spot to hang out and observe, but just showing up in the first place, after everything, showed how serious he was about a) the mystery at hand and b) compromising for his girlfriend.

he'd lost her to the crowd a while back, but he'd managed to keep himself entertained in the interim. he'd engaged in a couple of conversations, stumbled his way over to a collection of finger-ish-food, read a couple of chapters of his book, and narrowly avoided being recruited for a karaoke song. and his reward? a light tap on his shoulder, georgia leading him wordlessly to the fish tank where it had all started.

he'd seen the movie. he knew to play along. so, he pretended to look at the fish for only a moment before catching her eyes and moving (perhaps a bit more slowly than before, due to the many injuries he'd since sustained) to another part of the tank. a kind of flirty, unpracticed hide and go seek... from someone who really did learn everything he knew about romance from the movies.

[sundrifts]

LOCATION  :  tilly's party. OPEN  STARTER  :  uncapped.

the  music  in HELL  pulses  through  the  walls  like  the  house  itself  has  a  damn heartbeat  -  bass  rolling  under  the  floors,  curling  up  through  the  soles  of  her  heels -  and  blythe  has  been  sitting  with  it  for  the  better  part  of  an  hour  now,  doing  very  little.  watching  people.  nursing  the  same  drink  she'd  poured  when  she  first  arrived,  condensation  slow  around  her  fingers,  the  ice  long  since  surrendered  to  the  warmth  of  the  room.

in  typical  blythe  fashion,  she  looks  like  she's  dressed  for  a  softcore  bdsm  event  she'd  been  personally  invited  to  by  the  devil.  all  black  -  corset  laced  tight,  fishnet  stockings,  black  feathery  wings  pinned  at  her  back  like  something  clipped  mid-flight,  and  a  halo  sits  nestled  in  the  dark  waves  of  her  hair.  a  fallen  angel.  she'd  thought  it  was  a  bit  on-the-nose  when  she  put  it  together.  and  then  she  thought  -  well,  yeah,  duhh  !  that's  the  point.

she  clears  her  throat,  turns  her  head  toward  the  person  beside  her,  and  extends  her  cup  outward.  an  offering  more  than  a  question.  " d'ya  want  this? "  cue  a  beat  while  the  cogs  in  her  brain  begin  to  turn.  " …  i  think  i'm  staying  sober  tonight. "

[knewitalls]

with a final clearance from his doctors for his concussion, william could finally enjoy some of the rowdier aspects of parties... in theory. the drinking, the loud music, the flashing lights - about ten minutes in the presence of it all, he had to admit that he hadn't missed any of it. which was why he'd settled into a spot on a couch long ago, an e-book pulled up on his phone now that no one could yell at him for using it.

after being stabbed and hit in the face a few weeks ago, he wasn't exactly in a party mood. but where his anonymous tormentor declared he must go, he did (begrudgingly). dressed in white, with some of georgia's glitter having rubbed off on him, he blended into the crowd nicely enough that he'd only gotten a couple of second glances thus far (for being notably accident prone and not invited, probably). but it was william that had to glance twice when he realized who had been sitting down next to him for at least a couple of minutes.

his girlfriend's it's complicated status best friend.

"no thanks," he murmured in response to blythe's offering. if his refusal sounded tentative, it was only because he wasn't quite sure how to approach a conversation with her when he knew more than he was likely meant to.

"that seems like a wise choice, with everything that's happened," he added on after a moment's consideration, deciding that feigned ignorance would likely be the best approach. his words therefore were not a statement about her poor choice of hookup partners, but more on the fact that the last time everyone had gathered together, there has been several stabbings, beatings, and hospitalizations.

it was kind of sad that the easiest conversation topic he could reach for was their number one mutual hater, but... that was just the life they seemed to lead these days.

"i mean, if our masked friend is here, it's probably best to be on high alert."

[tcmperanced]

⸻　　hell’s kitchen ,  mid party ⸻　　closed for @knewitalls

　　☆　　the plastic pitchfork had long since been surrendered to a group that had obviously pre gamed .  the sword fight that ensued proved that they would enjoy it more than amara was. her ‘ everything is fine and i’m totally not being held hostage in my hometown ’ pics had already been snapped.

evident of that, the horned headband had been removed from her head. at least these ones were still dangling in her hand ! when tilly inevitably complained about her not wearing a costume, she would cave and put it back on. for now, the cheap plastic band was giving her a headache.

she walked alongside the downstairs table, critically surveying the spread that had been provided. luckily, the presence over her shoulder was a welcomed one. “ none of this is appetising, ” amara commented, no attempt to hide her disdain for the finger-esque hot dogs.

“ it’s not just me, right ? ” if anyone was willing to share in her judgment, he seemed the most likely.

[knewitalls]

"no, it's not just you," william acknowledged, a brief shake of the head accompanying his words now that he could move his head without additional pain. the typical timeline for healing a non-displaced nasal bone fracture was three weeks, and at the very least that part of his recovery had gone smoothly. it was the walking that was presenting a little more of an issue...

so why was he at a party where walking seemed to be necessary? especially given that he was not actually invited to said party? good question!

he'd been lying low ever since the storm, but one text message from his anonymous hater had forced him out of his pity party and back into investigation mode. if he was meant to be offering thoughts on who was suspicious at an event, he had to actually go. but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it.

amara's remark on the food caught him at his most annoyed, his regret at having wandered over to say hello immediate due to an accidental elbow from a stranger to an area entirely too close to one of his stab wounds. wincing and unsteady on his feet, he tried his best to not make his discomfort obvious. instead, he allowed himself to slowly let out the breath he'd sharply inhaled just a moment ago before speaking up again.

"the fact that i don't want to be here might be coloring my experience, but also i kind of expected more from tilly. i don't really associate heaven or hell with... hot dogs."

[knewitalls]

[silcntfigvre]

where: backyard bill trailer park, the carson resident who: nic carson & william finch @knewitalls

"i found it all in the house," nic muttered, motioning towards the kitchen table littered with audio listening devices. there was a hidden camera, that had been behind a clock. three audio recording devices that had been found throughout the house, including nic's bedroom, and an air tag from their car. everything had been disabled, and would soon be on it's way to the dump, but nic wanted to show william first. "i know it's not why you're here, but i wanted to let you know. we should probably tell the others, make sure they at least are aware of it."

running a hand through her hair, let out a sigh. this shit was way bigger then any of them had anticipated when they first got those texts. "i'm not even sure i got all of it. but i hope i did. anyway," nic started to walk towards her bedroom, motioning for william to join. "sorry about the freak out last night. it was a lot. but uh..." how did she explain what she was about to show him. "this is gonna be rough, okay? just... i'm sorry."

once in her room, nic closed the door behind them and walked over to the closet. they disappeared inside for a few moments, pulling out an old shoe box hidden behind and under other useless junk. something that would not be of interest to a random person. walking towards william, nic opened the shoe box and pulled out a jump drive. "we can watch it on my old high school laptop. i haven't used it as my personal computer for years, but it should have enough power to play this." and there was no reason tag would suspect it of being used. hopefully no spyware installed on it.

[knewitalls]

"shit," william muttered mostly to himself as he looked over what nic had found, the collection of items so similar to the ones he and liza had found in his own home the previous night. (except for the airtag, the sight of which clued william into where he unfortunately needed to look next, given that there was only one place it would be worthwhile to put it!)

for someone who prided himself on being so observant, it had been a rude awakening to discover so many spy devices in his own home. one of which, though disguised within a clock, had been in plain sight! but the hit to his pride wasn't going to keep him from encouraging the spread of information. he was quick to nod in agreement with nic's suggestion, a statement of support immediately following.

"yeah, we should. liza and i found a bunch of these in our apartment last night too. there was a camera in our living room clock, plus listening devices there, in my room, and in the kitchen." a clear indicator that their stalker had money, but that was a conversation for another day. "they're in my car, actually. i didn't know what to do with them except... bring them to you."

he was tech savvy, and with some time he probably could have figured it out, but when you had someone in your circle whose job was dealing with technology, was it not better to just bring things right to the expert?

luckily, they didn't linger on the listening devices portion of their conversation for much longer. soon enough nic was leading william to their room, and though he brushed off her apology for freaking out at liza's party with an easy "you're so good," he could not as easily dismiss their warning and next apology. for that, he had no response. after all, how could he say anything without knowing what he was about to see? he remembered what they'd said the previous night, but it still didn't fully compute for him.

eyeing the shoe box in nic's hands with a curious tilt of the head, his intrigue grew exponentially the second she revealed a flash drive (a fascinating storage location for that!) and mentioned watching it on her old high school laptop.

obviously everyone needed to be highly suspicious of technology these days, but the last time he'd used a flash drive was... high school.

oh.

something bad happened at the cabin. i can't talk about it, but i can show you.

"okay," william nodded from where he'd settled, probably too calm all things considered. was he about to see something that was going to unravel the whole mystery? or was he going to watch something that made the tangled web they all found themselves in much worse? there was only one way to find out! "ready when you are."

[knewitalls]

a closed starter for: liza @loverzhq location: the girl (and william's) house when: immediately after liza's birthday party

it gave william finch zero pleasure to tear apart his apartment in search of listening devices. the space had been carefully curated over the past nine months to perfectly suit his needs, and they'd just gotten to the point where he felt comfortable with the small changes that had occurred after liza moved in. better safe than sorry, though!

his room had been the first to be disassembled, his minimalistic approach in his private quarters allowing for a quick discovery. from there he'd moved onto the kitchen, which had quickly fallen into a state of disarray but had revealed yet another horrifying discovery.

now, it was onto the living room. william was in the middle of removing books from the bookshelf one by one, shaking out each as he did so, when liza walked in. and though he hated to be the bearer of bad news, it felt important to update her on what he'd found as soon as possible.

"okay, so, do you want the good news or the bad news first?" he asked, pausing his search to address her. maybe she'd found something too, so it wouldn't be as distressing?

[antdesilvs]

open starter: february sims time (0/3) location: sullivan memorial park, sometime in the morning

despite feeling like he was still waiting for the other shoe to drop, anthony was trying to make the best out of a really weird fucking situation. even his sisters had asked him about the party, to which he had to come up with some bullshit to placate all of their questions. it was torture. in spite of it all, ant, however, was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. everyone had made it through the party safe and alive, and above all, wren was free. for once, his daily runs were nothing but training, no longer an avenue for stress relief or silent planning about what he needed to do about the fucked up situation they’d all found themselves in.

as he rounded a corner on the trail, his watch buzzed to let him know he completed another mile. he slowed to a jog, planning to stop at the next bench he passes. however, anthony de silva, whose foot-eye coordination should be spectacular given his career in soccer, clips the toe of his sneaker onto a rising root in the trail, tumbling face first into the dirt.

“fuck,” he grunts, pulling himself up into a sitting position to examine the damage on his ankle, “fuck, fuck, fuck.”

[knewitalls]

there were several reasons why it made no sense for william finch to be at the park on a cold february morning. for starters, there was the fact that it was... a cold february morning. as a man who had narrowly avoided hypothermia just the other month, the cold wasn't exactly calling to him. add on the fact that just walking around without a particular destination in mind felt pretty pointless, and it was kind of a miracle that he'd shown up at all.

but according to his doctors, fresh air and moderate exercise was supposed to help his healing journey. and sometimes william did decide to listen.

thus, the park. a little wandering. a small chunk of time specifically devoted to private reflection on the latest mystery that had been plaguing him. he wasn't lost in his thoughts, per se, but he was definitely distracted when he noticed someone else approaching.

seeing the man take a tumble snapped him out of things pretty quickly.

"damn, that sucks," william spoke up from where he was presently leaned against the side of a bench. and though his words were technically sympathetic, given that it was ant who mother nature had decided to temporarily strike down, there was a tinge of amusement that snuck its way into his tone.

luckily, he wasn't a total asshole. so after only a beat of hesitation (would anthony even say yes to his help?), william tossed out an offer... still from his spot next to the bench. "do you need help? or?"

[rosecoloredjordan]

closed starter for @knewitalls, located outside of the cabin.

"you know, i'm glad you didn't actually bring your whiteboard out into the middle of the woods for obvious reasons," jordan said to her best friend, sitting with her back against the base of a tree, not caring if the dirt below her left stains on her light colored jeans once she stood. logistical reasons, she meant. would the whiteboard even fit in his car, or would they have to drag it the entire way? "but, it is a shame because i do have some information to share." if she didn't share it as soon as possible, jordan worried she'd forget to tell him at all.

[knewitalls]

it had been a surprisingly good night for william finch. the last little pieces of the why section of the anonymous texter puzzle seemed to coming together, he and georgia had made things official, and he'd gotten to spend a decent amount of time with some friends he hadn't seen in a while. but with each new twist and turn to the night came a new task, and the most pressing one of all involved finding his best friend to share his good news.

armed with news he was certain that jordan would appreciate, it was with a slowly fading smile that william took in what she was saying from their secluded (and phone free!) part of the forest. "i have something to share with you too," he volunteered, lowering himself to where she sat against a tree.

as much as he wanted to be the one to share first, given their present location and the number of unfortunate anonymous-texter-related incidents he'd personally had, there was no question that the mystery took top priority. william glanced behind him to make sure that they were truly alone before lowering his volume to a whisper, just in case.

"but you go first, obviously."

[wrenpoe]

THE CHARIOT⟶ WILLIAM BELLAMY FINCH

we are what we repeatedly do. excellence, then, is not an act but a habit - wd

[silcntfigvre]

nic nodded, glad that will had understood and stopped asking qusetion's. there was no use. nic wasn't going to answer them tonight. "and leave your phone in your car tomorrow. just in case." and just in case, nic was doing a sweep of their room tomorrow morning. checking for any kind of mics or other recording devices. actually, they were going to check their whole house, and their mom's car. and after that, make sure no one had somehow hacked into their computer. because there was no way in hell nic was going to risk anyone finding out what she was planned on showing will.

at his question regarding paige, nic nodded her head. "we used to play together when we were kids. before her family stopped talking to mine." before her dad was committed. before her family was considering an embarrassment. the dazeys were one of the only families in town who knew the truth, and they shoved the carson's aside like they were trash.

paige had been the only one who had attempted to reach out to nic after that. leaving birthday notes in their locker and waving at them in the halls at school. nic's mom had kept up with the family on facebook, so nic heard all the updates that way. it's why paige being in town was so shocking. "she's supposed to be in europe. paris maybe? she was there for college. i didn't expect to ever see her again, you know, since her family moved... but she's back. said she's about to start going to college here." nic's head dropped as they sighed, "still a nice as fucking ever."

[knewitalls]

nic didn't have to tell william twice. he had already been thinking up ways to survive without his phone, his screen addiction broken the second it became obvious that a hacked device was the easiest way to listen in. once again, they were on the same page.

"i don't want them tracking my location either, so i'm just going to leave it at home," he admitted. and if he needed to take notes on anything nic was showing him? well, there was a reason he always had old school pen and paper on him.

intrigued by the paige dazey of it all, william listened intently as nic detailed gave a vague outline of their childhood spent together, a single quirked brow indicating his curiosity as to why the dazeys would have stopped talking to the carsons (growing up, he'd been in his own world, and had little time for town gossip). that felt like a question for another time, though, when the current focus of their conversation was now on paige. and her unexpected return.

her conveniently timed return.

was that not suspicious to anyone else?

"wait, she's starting college here?" he nearly interrupted her to ask. "why?" he didn't even try to keep the judgment out of his tone. who would choose the one college in wrensted over one in paris? and why would someone suddenly return to the place where their sister went missing (or, left) years prior after having been away for so long? for revenge, perhaps? she may be nice, but maybe it was a front. "do we know how long she's been back?"

[blindedbystarshine]

truthfully, she couldn’t fully remember if alex and william had been close. obviously he was younger, but not everyone was in each other’s pockets like she and peyton had been.  so instead of being put off by his demeanor she just smiled, shifted in her seat as she got comfortable. “we were little better friends back before my family left,” she explained softly, trying not to make it awkward but it was a fact. her family had left and it hadn’t been for fun reasons.

“but we’ve kept in a little contact since then. birthday messages between then and now kind of things,” it was true, of course. every year she made sure to send a handmade birthday card to wherever he had been staying or living at the time. “i guess it was kind of weird after peyton... disappeared. to see me around or keep in contact but alex was great!”

clearing her throat, she pushed aside any feelings that dragged up in her, doing her best to once again, not make it awkward. at this point paige just thinks she is the awkward one. everyone else had moved on. who cared about a missing girl who had been gone for so long? “i just wanted to say that i think it’s great that you and your friends are doing this for liza,” she continued softly, this time her eyes moved to the fire before looking out towards the woods.

“the moment i set foot here the rumor mill was churning out nuggets of info and if even a little bit of it is true, i think it’s pretty amazing that you’re all trying to add a little happiness back into her life.” 

[knewitalls]

william nodded along at paige's brief explanation of her connection to his brother, the fact that they were probably around the same age doing enough of the heavy lifting to explain the connection. there were only so many kids in wrensted, so alex was bound to have gotten to know her at school.

still, it was a little bit of a surprise that they'd kept in touch since she moved away. continuing a long-distance friendship through the rest of high school and into college was a serious commitment (william would know, given his elementary school penpal-ship with jordan!), which meant that alex must've truly cared about her. especially to still be trading birthday messages to this day. william wasn't about to be dismissive of that.

"it's not weird to keep in contact with your friends," he insisted, but he didn't offer much more of an opinion on that front (and he definitely avoided the topic of peyton). instead, he focused on alex. "but good to know that he's managed to maintain friendships in between practice and games at ut. from the family group chat, he always seems really busy." not that william participated in it much himself, but alex was his favorite brother. he kept tabs.

luckily, once that well of conversation had run dry, paige found her way to one that was much deeper. one mention of liza and the rumor mill and suddenly william, who had only been partly engaged before, was paying very close attention to the redhead beside him.

"yeah, well, we all care about liza," he insisted, even though none of them had actually planned the party for her (in their defense, based on their conversation earlier it was clear that she had not wanted one). still, the sentiment was true.

that wasn't the intriguing part of what paige had said, though, and soon enough william was shifting the conversation to focus on her later comment. "when did you set foot here?" was his first question, quickly followed by "rumors have a tendency to spiral, obviously, but i'm sure some of it is true. what have you heard?"

[pixiiewings]

　　♡　　“ good because i was actually about to start quizzing you on that . ” an absent minded wave of her hand to the rest of the forest. “ pick up random sticks and get you to tell me how long they’d take to burn. ” though, realistically, she had no plans of leaving william’s embrace until they had gotten sick of the fire.

he always had a way of making things sound so convincing, being so sure in his words. often when he was talking through the facts of something. the toast repeated back, so sure and so solid, like it was another fact. sealed with the soft tap of their desserts.

there was something charming, so him in the way that asking georgia out started with for clarification. “ oh my gosh, william. ” but her words held nothing but laughter. “ you have to ask me properly. ” it was just a formality, considering they had been exclusive for months. the right moment just never came around.

despite the teasing, she fully believed he had found the right moment.

nothing would be truly perfect in their circumstances, so it was easy to ignore the fact it was a tag hosted event. it was everything else that made it right. a beautiful anecdote to share whenever someone asked how long they had been together. the kind the made you smile no matter how many times you had told it before.

naturally, thinking about that made her think about their friends’ reactions. that jordan would come up to her already beaming, obviously william would be the one to tell her first. they were best friends ! just like georgia’s, blythe would probably laugh at her insistence. that soft laughter that was reserved for her alone, so full of fondness that condescension couldn’t sneak in if it tried. anthony would say something along the lines of ‘ took him long enough ’ , but she would catch the smile on his face.

[knewitalls]

even though it had been a more familiar feeling to him as of late, it still wasn't often that william was confused. however, georgia's request to ask her properly earned her a curious tilt of the head.

was that... a thing? because he'd been in two relationships before (three if you counted his elementary school relationship with jordan, which he did not), and at no point had there been a formal declaration. with sarah, it had felt like an unspoken decision - they had been around each other enough, they were going to prom together... it was an assumption that became a reality. and then with his college girlfriend, at some point along the way, spurred on by their friends calling them boyfriend and girlfriend, they'd eventually adopted the terms themselves without much fanfare. both relationships had had definitive endings, but the start? had there been other key relationship steps he'd missed due to not knowing better?? and why had no one thought to advise him on this matter before???

all questions to answer another time, it seemed, because georgia's laughter seemed to indicate that at least she would say yes.

so, even though they were sitting at a campfire next to a cabin that held a whole lot of secrets, placed there specifically by an anonymous entity that had pushed him off a cliff and carrie'd them both, he did what she asked.

at least he was pretty sure he did. unless there was a secret other question he was supposed to be asking.

"georgia mei, will you be my girlfriend?"

[loverzhq]

liza wants to suggest that they both just stay over her dad's house tonight, but without even saying it she knows there's several flaws in the plan. firstly, the cats. liza doesn't want to leave them alone, considering they've already known the sick freak to go to extremes, and showing up at her dad's doorstep with william and their pets was sure to lead to questions. any excuse she can think of would lead to her dad wanting to come inspect the apartment, whether or not she assured him that things were being handled by the landlord. all that on top of the risk of something happening to her dad and tío if she stayed there and... william's idea was seeming like the only option.

"i'm hoping the same thing. sad that it's the better option," she sighs, taking a few steps away from william to gather her thoughts, "maybe it's time for you to show me your... extensive collection of post it notes."

[knewitalls]

hearing liza mention his extensive collection of post-its (aka his conspiracy board) was music to william's ears.

for so long, he had been working in secret, attempting to solve the mystery all on his own. it had quickly become clear that there were too many pieces of the puzzle that were missing, and try as he might, his connection to several? most?? of those getting text messages was not strong enough to allow for him to do everything himself (disappointing, for someone so confident in his intellect!). the expansion of his trusted circle had happened quickly after that, first with nic and the creation of the board. then on valentine's day with jordan, georgia, and blythe.

they had not yet figured everything out, that much was clear. but the investigation had more or less been a rare group project success. and now, one confession later, they'd landed on a motive that felt solid. the pieces of the puzzle were fitting together, and though he didn't know all of them quite yet, they had the picture on the box for reference. once that puzzle was complete, they would be onto the next - unmasking the comedic/dramatic duo and ending things for good.

liza was one of the missing pieces in puzzle number one. and maybe, once she saw the board, she'd feel like volunteering some information...

"i agree," he tried to play it cool, even though he was pretty sure he was smiling. "but please know that i am planning on supplying you with new red yarn. and please do not judge the pictures of everyone that i chose to include."

[sundrifts]

she  had  drifted  through  the  night  like  a  moth  to  a  series  of  bright  bulbs.  the  bonfire  had  drawn  her  in  to  have  a  mini  breakdown,  and  then  randy  had  tempted  her  with  a  dance,  and  then  one  tilly  martin  endulged  in  a  whispered  conversation  about  the  sacred  laws  of  friendship.  now,  in  the  quieter  hum  of  the  cabin,  she  found  herself  chasing  a  different  kind  of  light:  the  signal  bars  on  her  phone.

she  held  the  device  against  the  wooden  beams  of  the  ceiling,  her  arm  extended  in  a  gesture  that  was  a bit of  hope,  and a bit of  resignation.  it  was  a  foolish  attempt  -  searching  for  connection  in  a  place  designed  for  its  absence.  the  screen  remained  stubbornly  blank,  a  void  where  her  instagram  feed  should  be.  a  sigh,  soft  and  almost  soundless,  escaped  her  lips.  just  as  she  was  about  to  lower  her  arm,  to  surrender  to  the  digital  silence,  a  voice  cut  through  her  thoughts,  gentle  and  observant.

blythe  turned,  and  the  frantic  energy  that  had  been  propelling  her  all  evening  seemed  to  settle,  like  dust  motes  in  a  bright sunbeam.  it  was  william.  georgia  really  liked  him,  which  meant  by  law  she  had  to  like  him  too,  but  looking  at  the  other  now,  blythe  thought  she  might  have  arrived  at  that  conclusion  on  her  own.  “ god,  yes,  please, ”  she  breathed,  the  words  a  puff  of  air.  she  extended  her  hand,  the  phone  a  small  offering  in  her  palm.  “ i was  trying  to  upload  an  instagram  story,  but,  like,  i'm  getting  no  bars…  do  you  think  that's  why  we're  here ?  so  we  can't  call  for  help ? ”

[knewitalls]

william's typical behavior when being handed a phone as of late had been immediately navigating to text messages to take mental notes on the exact wording used for people's anonymous torment. however, that was not the case when blythe offered hers up. unusual, but not without good reason:

a) he'd already pieced together what was going on, so unless blythe had a text specifically saying i know you did [fill in the blank] and i'm coming for you because of it (very unlikely!), they would not be particularly helpful.

b) she'd already admitted to receiving a text that lured her to the forest that night, so the confirmation he'd been looking for on that front had already occurred.

c) they did not know each other like that, and he needed to stay on the good side of one of georgia's best friends.

so, instead of scrolling when he picked blythe's her phone from her outstretched hand, william only briefly glanced at the screen. indeed, the progress bar was showing no progress whatsoever.

raising the phone straight into the air above his 6'3" frame, he kept it up there for a while with the hope that he was actually being helpful. and as he did so, he thoughtfully considered the girl's question.

"yes," was the answer he eventually arrived at. "i mean, you've seen the board, so i don't need to sugarcoat the situation. everything feels pretty purposeful, and good things don't usually happen at cabins in the woods in movies." realistically, he figured their mysterious friends had brought them all there for a sort of tell-tale heart confession from those involved. but could it be possible that that was all there was to the evening?

"then again, maybe they just wanted us to look like bad friends, to further the whole town pariahs thing we have going on. i don't think tilly will forgive me for ruining the surprise," he offered next, the slightly more optimistic alternative his way of counteracting his earlier doom and gloom thoughts.

it was only then that he brought the phone back down to eye-level. blythe's eye-level, specifically. "did it work?"

[silcntfigvre]

nic wasn't going to get into the how or why she could show him what happened that night. this wasn't the place. and god knows who was listening. so yeah, they weren't going to answer will's first question. but they could answer the second.

nic shook her head no, begging that will would be able to trust her for the night and remain normal until tomorrow when they could meet up. "no, not now. but," another breath in and out, "come to my place tomorrow. i'll explain more then."

as he shifted them so she wasn't starring directly at the looming reminder of the worst night of her life, nic felt some of the weight start to lift of their shoulders. "i don't want to say too much. incase they're listening." another breath in and out. then a third.

slowly nic was starting to feel the tightness in their chest loosen. but their body still felt hot and sweaty. "what the fuck is paige dazey doing here?" nic finally asked after a few minutes of silence. her mind could not stop coming back to paige, and her reason for being in town.

[knewitalls]

"come to my place tomorrow. i'll explain more then."

that was definitely not something that one wanted to hear when one's curiosity was piqued, so even though it was incredibly frustrating, william understood the situation. as had been made very clear that evening, there was no safe spot in wrensted to have a private conversation. and given that they'd obviously all been summoned to the cabin in the woods by their anonymous tormentors, they probably needed to let the night play out before regrouping in the light of day.

fingers crossed that they both made it out unscathed...

"okay," william agreed, his nod both an acknowledgment of his acceptance and that they'd had the same line of thinking (something that seemed to be the case more often than not!).

"you're right. it does seem as though we should proceed with the night under the assumption that our little friends can hear everything. but i'll be there tomorrow. in the morning."

relieved that the shift in their positions seemed to have his desired effect, william let the silence settle semi-uncomfortably between the two. until, of course, nic brought up paige again.

"do you know her?" he asked. "because i sure don't."

[pixiiewings]

　　♡　　georgia knew of william’s brothers, the way any cheerleader would wrensted legacy athletes .  that obviously didn’t include a boy scouts history. the mental image of trying to pass on the knowledge with a seriousness that only kids could possess, like they were the only ones who knew how important the matter at hand was. purposeful antagonising that georgia had heard was a given when it came to siblings.

even as the packet of graham crackers sat in her lap, georgia’s attention held steady on william through his story. unlike the usual way she’d do a million things at once. as if missing a single word would have been the worst thing.

not because of them. the fantastic finches couldn’t matter less to georgia. william finch, as a a boy with brothers, mattered more.

“ you guys both have that whenever you make smores. ” were any of them the kind to have smores regularly ? probably not. but that didn’t take away from the truth of it. “ and that’s kind of better, right ? we both know you probably could do anything. ” he had proven that to her. every time she got to see him in his element, but especially when he stepped into hers.

finally, she resumed the moves to assemble the treat, eyes glancing up every so often as she watched william do the same. “ plus, when was the last time one of them got to teach you anything ? ” what would have been a playful nudge to shoulder was admittedly pretty lacklustre considering the lack of space between them. a sacrifice worth making.

the last cheers . . . well, it had kind of worked. it was definitely a night to remember. it was just that last bit that seemed to get a little lost in translation. for all the right reasons. apparently beggars can’t be choosers ! but a bad middle of the night ( considering the end had technically been alone in william’s room ) was no reason to dampen the mood of a night that seemed to be normal. as normal as they could get.

“ to being in it together. ” they were already in it. unfortunately, that seemed pretty cemented. all that was left was to make their own silver lining — one made from the reflective tape on a safety vest. designed to catch even the slightest flicker of light.

[knewitalls]

there were many things about georgia that william appreciated, but one of them was that she made him see things in a new light. with her guidance, his bittersweet childhood memory (only tainted by the future that had been awaiting them) had been transformed. and... it didn't hurt that she also reminded him of his superior intelligence with a playful nudge.

"i suppose," he conceded to her that's kind of better, right? point. "i guess i also know how long it takes for a stick of a particular size to catch fire, if the conditions are right. so, i learned new things from both of them."

and he would think of them every time he had s'mores. just like, moving forward, he would think of georgia.

giving their toast the attention it deserved, william was relieved that this time around he was not the one actually coming up with the words. clearly, he'd done it wrong before, because their apple juice toast on valentine's day had backfired spectacularly, his specifying all the right reasons to the mystical, magical powers of the universe that he did not believe in unsurprisingly getting lost in translation.

but this time around, the toast georgia was proposing felt more realistic, something absolutely in their control. "to being in it together," he repeated, his words a promise.

knocking their desserts against each other, william didn't immediately move to eat his once they separated, aware of the fact that it was still too hot to consume. he just needed thirty additional seconds of sitting contentedly before he took a bite.

"speaking of together," he tossed out in the interim. "just for clarification. that also means we are together, right?"