sleep on the floor.

marley callahan: twenty nine | waitress | figuring it out. "I’m a ghost that everyone can see."

[marleymostlikely]

trvisfletcher​:

-

If Travis hadn’t recklessly decided to bite the bullet for his baby brother, he felt like he too would’ve been far from Cassle by now. He’d actually gotten accepted into some fancy California college that he now forgot the name of after all these years– he couldn’t even tell you what his major was going to be. Now that he was out of prison, he felt like Cassle was where he needed to be until he caught up with life again. When he left, everyone was just kids– now they were all grown up making it in the real world. He had to catch up with them.

“What’re you here for?” He asked, a small smirk creeping up at the corner of his mouth before slinging a dirty rag over his shoulder and hiding under the hood of the car in front of him. Marley was the kind of girl where if she was coming back into town, everyone would be talking about it. And Travis just also happened to be that kind of guy. Trouble and gossip seemed to follow the two everywhere, which was what made him so interested in her return. 

Marley seemed to have left so suddenly as soon as she was able, and while they weren’t exactly close growing up, it stunned Travis because he thought everyone who lived in Cassle just wanted to stay here for the rest of their lives. That was what the adults he was around growing up had done, anyway. 

“Yeah, I guess you’d qualify as Friends and Family.” He snickered, “Really, don’t worry about it– Davie won’t mind if I shave off a few bucks out of the labor. Anything for a fellow Cassle local. We’re all family.” Travis shrugged. “Uh, if you’re not in town long… would you want to catch a drink? I’ve got five more minutes then I can be out of here.”

-

And there it was. The question that would shift the tone of the conversation. Simple small talk would turn to condolences, and there was no coming back from there. From hearing the pity in a person’s voice. From watching their head tilt and their face shift to that poor you look--sometimes mixed with something else. Smugness, or thinly veiled disgust. To practically hear their thoughts: that Helen, and Marley by association, had been trailer trash anyways. Nothing more than a junkie who actually managed to fulfill one expectation that was had for her: the way she died. 

She couldn’t do it again. Couldn’t stand to have Helen be the center of yet another conversation. He’d hear it from someone else, eventually--if he’d managed to go this long without, then maybe he could hold out just a little longer, until Marley was gone and Cassel was truly left in the past. And if not...then at least Marley didn’t have to be the one to say it.

“Business.” She answered eventually, the shrug to her shoulders brushing it off, as if it wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t a complete lie, and she hoped the nonchalance of it would deter him from asking more. She was grateful for his attention to have fallen back to the engine, her eyes roaming the slope of his shoulders, his back...he was thinner than she remembered.

And funnier. We’re all family. Marley couldn’t help but snort, the soft laugh that passed her lips anything but humorous. She recognized that he was doing a nice thing--that he didn’t have to, and so she was quick to fix her face, a more genuine, albeit small, smile on her lips. “Thank you.”

She didn’t expect what came next. Her eyes blinked once, twice--as if she’d misheard him, and her brain needed a second to unscramble the words. But as the stunned silence fell between them, the realization bringing a stunned grin to her lips. The laugh that passed through it was less bitter than the one prior, though her head shook in both disbelief and amusement. In all her years, never had she imagined getting a drink with Travis Fletcher.

Realizing her laughter wasn’t exactly an answer, Marley cleared her throat, trying to reign in her amusement. “I don’t really drink.” Another slight lie. All she’d wanted to do since she arrived was drink, but something didn’t feel right about doing so.

[marleymostlikely]

streetoffire​:

_

“I was thinking another ten minutes or so,” Fletch teases back.  “Looks like you could use a break from all these tables.”  He chuckles as his eyes glance around the quiet diner.  It was just him and a couple other usuals hanging around.  Otherwise he would feel bad about keeping Marley from the other patrons.

He leans back against the booth and rolls the sleeves of his flannel further up his forearms.  Fletch gives her a knowing smile because even if the pair hadn’t really spoken in years they were cut from the same cloth whether they liked it or not.  He was positive neither of them particularly wanted to still being it Cassel working jobs that don’t do much more than pay the bills.  It was an understanding that didn’t need words. 

“I’m working a construction job right now,” Fletch shrugs.  Nothing special but it kept him out of trouble and paid the bills.  “We’re starting a job over at the amusement park pretty soon– Fun Land,” he snickered at the name.  “So y’know living the dream just like you,” he offers with a hint of a smile.  

“You free any time soon?  Want to sit down and eat?”

-

“Ah.” He thought he was funny. Maybe he was. She was determined not to laugh though, not to give him the satisfaction of the sound--in case it got to his head, of course. Not because being back in Cassel felt like being in a room with all the air sucked out of it, making it almost impossible to breathe, let alone laugh, or feel anything other than suffocated when she’d just finally begun to feel like she could breathe freely. 

Though, she supposed if anybody could do it...“I am very busy.” She could have jokes, too. It was more a bald-faced lie, but it was a start.

Fun Land was a joke if she’s ever heard one. Marley snorted at the name, shaking her head in what could almost read as amusement. “Feels like overcompensating.” She noted, eyebrows raising. “If you’ve gotta put fun in the title.” The families of Cassel would eat it up, of course. Especially in the wake of this Casey Andrews story...anything to distract, to deflect, to ignore. Marley, of course, wouldn’t be around to witness it, but she wouldn’t be surprised if the girl’s name dropped from the papers altogether by the summer.

His answer satisfying her, Marley turned away once more to put in Harvey’s order, only to, once more, be stopped in her tracks. Not by her own curiosity this time, but by an offer. Slowly, she turned back to face him, head tilting to the side as she took him in, wondering what about her had given him the impression she was in the mood to catch up.

“Very busy.” She reminded, taking another slow glance around the mostly empty restaurant, so there was no mistaking her answer for what it was: no. 

[evanzski]

“You’re gonna forget me in a month, aren’t you? You know what? You’re gonna forget me next week. That’s what’s gonna happen. It’s okay if you do.” — Endings, Beginnings (2020), Drake Doremus.

[ketterdam-hq]

@marleymostlikely​

[victoria-pedretti]

Lily James for Stella Magazine

[marleymostlikely]

trvisfletcher​:​

Work had been the only place where nosy old ladies weren’t trying to pry every detail of prison from Travis’ mouth. Whenever he got home after a long day, he’d get stopped outside his family’s old trailer for a million questions. And while Travis loved Cassle, this was the first time he wanted to head for the hills and never come back. He already felt like a man stopped in time, and now that he was reading up on everything he missed solely within the town– Travis was beginning to feel overwhelmed. 

Thankfully, Davie let Travis get his job back with little to no questions about what had happened. Davie knew Travis was a good kid, and that something just didn’t seem right with those Fletcher boys and the fire. Travis liked working on cars, it was his thing since he was young and learned that he’d have to get a job when he got older. It was the only thing he really understood while everyone else in school wanted to be an astronaut or a lawyer.

“I don’t know ma’am– the car’s old which makes parts fairly pricey ‘round here.” Travis mumbled from under the hood. “We might be able to dig up an old discount–” Travis stopped mid sentence as he saw Marley Callahan step around to the front of the vehicle. 

He remembered her, Fletch was always following behind her or vice versa when they were all just kids. He also remembered she skipped town, probably just as long as he was in prison for. “Marley Callahan,” He smiled softly, “I think I speak for all of Cassle when I say I never thought I’d see you around here again.” 

-

It was seeing Travis, seemingly right there where he’d been when she left, that reminded Marley of just why it was she’d felt the need to get as far away from Cassel as humanly possible. Life there felt to be at a standstill, like time moved differently. What felt like five minutes was suddenly eighty years and you realized your life had amounted to absolutely nothing, doing the same exact thing day in and day out, and then you died and your children were doomed to repeat the process. Marley’d been determined to break that cycle, to follow through on her hopes that beyond these city limits was a world worth seeing, and those twelve years of exploring it were not enough for her. Selfishly, she wanted more, and this stop in Cassel was nothing more than a blip on her radar. Something to be forgotten the minute she was free again.

“Oh, trust me, all of Cassel speaks for themselves.” She pointed out with a small smile of her own, hands slowly finding their way to her back pockets. “But don’t worry. It’s a blink and you’ll miss me kind of stop.” Or, at least, it was supposed to be, but Helen had never made anything easy for Marley, even in death.

Death that it appeared Travis had managed to avoid hearing about. She would’ve been curious as to how, considering the proximities of their respective homes, but the realization was a breath of fresh air to the blonde, who’d answered enough insincere how are you, dear’s to last her a lifetime.

And it’d felt like a lifetime since she’d last seen the older Fletcher brother. Her and Harvey had fallen off somewhere around high school, but they were always around, unavoidable in a community that small. Travis was older than she remembered, but just as handsome, Marley not completely immune to that smile on his lips and the way he said her full name.

Realizing that she was staring, she was quick to shake her head, eyebrows furrowing as she glanced back at the exposed engine, taking a step closer for a better look. “You were saying something ‘bout a discount?” Pricey was the word he’d used, and it wasn’t one she’d been hoping to hear. “She doesn’t have to run perfect. Just good enough to sell for more than scraps.”

[marleymostlikely]

teddyashcroft​:

Even Teddy’s help couldn’t salvage everything and he couldn’t help the way guilt nipped at him as he watched her. He wasn’t good at reading people, not really, but this seemed obvious. She was upset and probably stubborn, also probably good at holding it all in. He was too, but he had less to be angry or upset about these days. He considered himself lucky for that. 

Swallowing, he tilted his head and looked down at her, hoping that he could be enough help just by aiding her with carrying the groceries. It was unlikely to do much other than help one tiny situation, but he was a big believer in that being enough sometimes. 

Though, instead her answer made him blink and knit his brows together. “No?”

His mouth opened and closed, uncertain for how to proceed, but instead of handing the groceries back to her, he found himself doubling down. “Well, okay. You don’t have a car. You got a broken bag. Do you live close enough to walk all the way there? ‘Cause I got a perfectly fine truck.”

Deep down Teddy knew he wouldn’t be pushing the issue. Despite how he was sure he could help, he knew the situation. He was a stranger, just some guy on the street and if the disappearance of a teenage girl told him anything about Cassel, it was that maybe the idyllic small town stuff wasn’t always as sincere as he thought it was. Still, he felt he needed to try, so he took a step closer. 

“I’m not gonna take your groceries hostage, but I just figure if you need help, I can do that.”

-

“Do you think I’d be walking back to Miller Park like this if I had another option?”

His offer was the kind of small town generosity that most people around these parts wouldn’t have thought twice about before a teenage girl went missing and the number one suspect seemed to be the esteemed coach nobody ever thought would hurt a fly, let alone one of his star players.

Despite herself, Marley raises a brow at the offer, shedding the frustration she’d worn clear on her face since, honestly, before her grocery bag had burst open, in order to properly portray her curiosity. Bold of him, to go on making offers like that when most of the town was on edge, and a little less trusting than perhaps they usually were. Part of Marley knew she should have been too, and it wasn’t that she wasn’t...but with a broken bag of groceries and no other alternative, the offer was tempting. Besides, it was broad daylight out, there were other people along the street, and the pepper spray on her keychain suddenly weighed heavy in the pursue slung over her shoulder.

She continued to ponder the offer, even as the man stepped closer, promised he was only asking to be helpful. Her eyes narrowed, taking him in, as if she could sense whether or not his intentions were good and pure, just by looking at him...but she couldn’t pick up on much more than a handsome face, the armful of her groceries, and...

“The hammer.” Marley noted the tool, sticking out of his jacket pocket. “I want to hold onto the hammer.” Not that she thought he’d picked up the tool for any sinister reasons, but if she was going to allow a stranger to drive her back to Miller Park, she wasn’t going to take any chances. “Just in case you try any funny business.” She wasn’t sure if she was exactly in the position to be negotiating, especially when he’d offered his help to her, but Marley figured it was a reasonable enough request. 

[marleymostlikely]

darcydelgado​:

open starter.  location: bookends

Darcy had been in Cassel for a week. She’d hated every second of it. 

Cassel, Illinois was so much like the nowhere town in Georgia she’d sprouted from. Both places had the same sleepy population, the same crumbling buildings, the same hazy concept of time. Days were measured only by the appearance of new wrinkles, in faces or on sidewalks. An entire town slowly disintegrating while those who lived in it had long ago accepted their fates.

It made her miserable, but there were few places Darcy lived that had ever made her happy. She put up with it for work, knowing it was temporary. Once her money was made, she would be off to the next place. Some other sad town with sad occupants. In the in between, she found small ways to make the days interesting. 

Thus far, Darcy had been exploring the town, getting to know its inhabitants from afar. It was always how she acclimated to a new place, learning its ins, outs, and avenues. A successful con was always a well-informed one. When she discovered the bookstore, she’d finally felt like she found a personal haven. Just like when she was a young girl, Darcy lost herself in novels. 

She found a custom shelf the owner or an employee had created of town favorites. She ran her hand along the dusty spines, learning about Cassel through the titles of their favorite books. When she spotted movement out of the corner of her vision, she glanced over without turning her head.

She hadn’t spoken to many people yet. She was always hesitant to feed the animals, so to speak. Now felt like as good a time as any. If she wanted good information about Cassel before she approached the Andrews family, she would have to get it from the people who knew best.

“That book is cursed,” she said, raising her voice in their direction. She pointed to the copy of The Orphan’s Tale that they held in their hands. “Read at your own risk, but I’d pick up something else if I were you.”

-

The Orphan’s Tale. Marley, noted with a silent laugh, that it could’ve easily as been the story of her life.

Though, if she really thought about it, she’d know that her father’s status remained very much a mystery. She assumed that he was alive somewhere, but dead to her still counted as dead, did it not?

She needed a new read, anyways. She still wasn’t sleeping at night, and the owner of Ray’s had taken notice and chalked it up to the graveyard shifts he’d been scheduling Marley for. There’d been no explaining to him that those graveyard shifts actually didn’t keep her any further from sleep than actually being in her mother’s trailer did, and that her options were either stare at the tin ceiling until she wanted to scream, or at least prove to be somewhat productive and pour coffee.

The copy of the novel was turned over in her hands, allowing her eyes to scan the back cover for it’s synopsis, when the sound of a voice being called in her direction made her lift her head. Her eyebrows raised curiously at the warning, glancing back at the novel’s fairly unassuming cover, as if waiting for a ghost to jump out of it and reveal itself. 

“Just this particular copy, or..?” Though typically not one to back down from a challenge, the last thing she needed on top of everything else was to figure out ghosts were in fact real because one decided to torment her out of the pages of a book.

[marleymostlikely]

stllagarcia​:

Stella may not have been a native, but the town wasn’t that big. She knew of almost everyone, even if she hadn’t met them directly. And honestly, she met most of them through their kids at the school functions - or worse, when their kids had fucked up bad enough to warrant a call from the school guidance counselor.

Which made the fact that Stella didn’t recognize the other girl kind of refreshing, in a way. Not that she was ‘the new girl’ anymore - someone else had to have moved to town in the past decade, thank you very much - but still. 

“Also reasonable,” Stella laughed, shrugging her shoulders. “I think the last time I saw it I was stoned and watching it while high is somehow supposed to make it make more sense? But it did not help. Honestly, I just wanted an excuse to spend a couple hours not thinking today.” 

She took a junior mint gratefully. “I’m Stella, by the way. I can leave you be, but I was just excited about not potentially sitting alone that I figured I’d throw myself down with you.”

-

The last few weeks had been painfully familiar face after painfully familiar face. Marley had been practically swimming in the sea of ghosts that’d all but flocked to the trailer, as if to feed off the grief they expected her to be feeling. It was as if disappearing from town for nearly twelve years and keeping no contact with her mother had still somehow put the town under the assumption that the end of their relationship was one to grieve, and not just Helen’s final play in the long game of making her daughter’s life absolutely miserable. She had to give it to the woman: death was a ballsy card.

It was nice, though. For the face next to her to be unfamiliar. Of course, new faces in Cassel weren’t extremely rare, just uncommon, and she found herself wondering just how long it was the woman had occupied their sleepy little town.

“This place is good for that.” Marley assured with a nod of her head. Maybe not this particular theater, with this particular film, but she’d just bought a ticket for the first title her eyes had landed on.

Stella. As if Marley needed confirmation, the name didn’t ring any bells. “Marley.” She introduced around the kernels of popcorn. “Apparently I’m going to need you to share some of that stoned wisdom, so you might as well stay. In case I have any questions.”

[marleymostlikely]

desmurphy​:

…

Desmond dealt in antiques and used goods, not emotions. He could read this room (or rather, yard) very clearly, but he was ill equipped to offer Marley the type of comfort she needed. Even if the two of them had been close friends, Des always thought of himself as a fun distraction over a shoulder to cry on. 

He carefully folded the necklace and put it in the satchel he’d brought along, making a mental reminder to set it aside at the shop. If Marley had regrets, she could always come back for it.

“If you say so,” he responded. “But these ears have heard the worst, I promise. People will straight up tell you anything if you buy them a drink. At this pub in Belfast, I met a guy who confessed all his sins to me after I told him I grew up in the church. And there were a lot of sins. All seven and then some.” 

He glanced around at the table of miscellaneous goods. “You could always come up with new stories for these things,” he told her. “Nobody ever said they had to be true.”

-

It was the mention of Belfast that managed to do it. Break through the clouds that’d hung permanently over Marley’s head since first stepping foot back into Cassel. It should’ve done the opposite, really--remind her that she was very much here instead of there, or anywhere else, really. But the mention of the city served as a reminder that it’d be there waiting for her once she dealt with all of her shit.

“Something tells me he would’ve confessed all that to you whether you bought him a drink or not.” It wasn’t so much a laugh that passed her lips as it was a snort, but the corner of her mouth remained tugged up in a half smile. “Pretty sure I heard that and worse just on the Ulsterbus alone.” She’d actually spent a good amount of time in Ireland. It was easily one of her favorite places to have visited.

As Desmond looked over the items on display, Marley thought that he did, in fact, have a point. The stories didn’t have to be true, because who was he, or anybody else, to say they weren’t? A story. She could tell a story. Slowly, Marley nodded, joining in his browsing. “What do you wanna know about?”

[violentcherries]

just so you know

2020

[marleymostlikely]

She couldn’t leave the car sat in the grocery store parking lot forever.

Though, she’d had half a mind to. Figured it was the easiest way to wash her hands of it, officially make it not her problem anymore. Of course, she’d thought the same of leaving Cassel--had figured it’d be it for her, never to return, and yet, there she was anyways, right back where she started. With her luck, the car would’ve found its way back to her, along with a nice big old fine.

It made more sense to simply pay for the tow to the mechanics and see what it was that was wrong with it. The plan had been to sell the vehicle anyways, and if putting a little bit of money into it meant that she’d make more from it, then Marley supposed she was willing. It was either that or sell it for scraps, the latter of which did feel like the more satisfying option, and not just because it was cheaper.

But she found herself back at Davies anyways, crossing the line of open bays until she spotted the familiar rusted red Chevy. As she drew closer, stepping onto the garage floor, she could see a figure behind the lifted hood, a pair of hands working amongst the metal and plugs. 

“So...what’s the damage and how much is it gonna cost me?” She asked without greeting. Marley had assumed it’d be Davie himself underneath the hood: he’d been working on this car since before she’d been old enough to drive it. But as the man straightened, Marley found herself staring into a pair of familiar blue eyes.

She blinked in surprise--once, twice. “Huh.” She managed a small laugh, eyebrows raising slightly. “So this is where you’ve been hiding out all this time.” Her head shook, as if in disbelief.

With Harvey hanging around Ray’s so often, she’d wondered when it was she was going to see the older Fletcher brother around town.

@trvisfletcher​

[marleymostlikely]

williamdeuxfois​:

William had been living in town for several months at that point, and he’d done a decent job of saving up some money to put towards his eventual loan repayment. He wasn’t paying rent, he’d cut back majorly on eating at restaurants, and his entertainment budget was a mere $20 a week.

But sometimes a person just needed to not be in their house.

At first William had planned to head to the local coffee shop, set up camp, and down a maximum of two cups of coffee as he chipped away at his dissertation. But as he headed towards that particular part of town, instead he’d found himself turning towards the one business he’d been frequenting only once per month since his return.

Ray’s.

Stepping inside, he slid right up to an empty seat at the counter and set out the latest text he had been advised to flip through. He hadn’t been paying the greatest attention to his surroundings, but he’d tended to show up at around the same time of the month and day for each of his visits, and the staff who had been working had been consistent each time.

It was only a matter of time until Norma would stop by, double check that he wanted his usual order (that she somehow still remembered from years ago), and leave him be.

The presence on the other side of the counter might have seemed unfamiliar if he’d been focused on anything but the words before him, but he hadn’t clocked anything but a shift in colors just a bit beyond the edge of the bar. He’d taken it as enough of a signal that it was time to place his order and then refocus.

“The usual, thanks,” he greeted as he hit the end of a section, looking up to greet the older woman with a smile… only to find that it was not, in fact, his favorite childhood waitress.

The smile was gone instantly. He had no idea who the woman standing before him was.

“I’m sorry. I thought you were… someone else.”

@marleymostlikely​ 

-

It was freezing and Marley hated it. 

The door to Ray’s was nudged open with the puffed up shoulder of her jacket, the blonde entering the building with a huffed breath. It could’ve been almost a sigh of relief, the warmth hitting the exposed parts of her face, nose tinged red from the chill. Her mother’s car being out of commission had turned out to be a bigger pain in the ass than she’d thought it to be, somehow forgetting over the years she’d spent away just how much she hated the cold. She tried not to dwell upon the fact that she was supposed to have been in Antigua right then, enjoying eighty degree weather and sandy beaches.

Trudging her way to the back of the restaurant, she made work of making herself presentable: hair smoothed and thrown up, jacket shed, apron tied around her waist. She could still feel the chill in her bones, and made a mental note to sneak a cup of coffee after clocking in--something she’d appeared on the other side of the counter to do, when she spotted the lone man sitting just on the other side of it.

The breakfast rush had seemingly come and gone, leaving the once filled booths only spotted with the occasional customer. It would pick up again in an hour or so, those on their lunch breaks making their way over for a quick burger and fries pick me up. Briefly, she wondered if this would be the customer to kick that time of day off. Noting the lack of menu, or full coffee cup, Marley plucked a menu from it’s holder and crossed the few feet until she was stood directly in front of him, awaiting acknowledgement that did not come until moments later without so much as a glance upwards.

The usual, thanks.

Now, Marley was good with regulars. Especially in a place like Cassel, where everyone was so regular it almost hurt. But she was convinced she had not served this man here before, eyebrows raising as the all but dismissal--until his eyes lifted from his papers to her face, wiping the smile clear from it.

“Now, don’t look too happy to see me.” Her eyebrows raised curiously, though they were quick to lower as she fished her notepad from her pocket. “Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but I’ve got a lot of the regulars, so you might have to break this one down for me.” Her gaze lingered on the blank page of paper, though she did lift her eyes back to his briefly as she awaited his order. 

[marleymostlikely]

mariannebyrne​:

____

Now that Marianne had the information that she was at an estate sale, it was much easier to pick up on the little things in the girl’s response to her. The almost-missable reaction to Mari’s words of condolences became louder, the desire to simply get rid of everything a clear indicator. The other girl’s loss had clearly had a very different impact than the one Marianne had suffered.

The girl’s next words only confirmed things.

“I think sometimes… it’s equally as hard,” Marianne felt the need to say, carefully tiptoeing into a conversation that she didn’t exactly want to be having. It would have felt wrong to not say anything, though, and even worse to agree without further comment. By no means did she think that her father, aware of what he’d be leaving behind, had things easier.

But maybe the other girl’s unnamed deceased individual had.

 “I mean, everyone’s circumstances are different. But I do agree on the unfair thing. Nothing about death is fair.”

Taking a deep breath in and out as her eyes moved around the scattered belongings, Mari wasn’t sure if it was worth mentioning a little more reasoning to her feelings or not. But her desire to avoid awkward silence had her speaking up before she could have too much more of an internal debate, a small shrug falling from her shoulders as she offered a quick “I got a house. And a child. The bills were shit, but the rest would be really awkward to label the same way.”

-

Everyone’s circumstances were different. Marianne wasn’t the only observant one: Marley could tell that, whoever it was she had lost--because she had lost somebody, hadn’t she?--was held in higher esteem that Helen had been. Part of her feels guilty for having said it in the first place, for lumping her own feelings into the other woman’s and assuming she felt the same, but there were no taking back her words. Especially not when she was almost positive that she meant them.

Suddenly, I’m sorry for your loss felt like the only appropriate thing to say. Instead though, Marley remained silent.

That is, until Marianne spoke again, revealing just what it was that she’d been left in the death deal she’d had no part in making. Marley couldn’t keep her eyebrows from raising, the surprise clear on her face. A house didn’t sound so bad--she was assuming (once again) that it was in better shape than the tin can her mother had left her. But a child? That was something.

“...I don’t know. I hear kids can be kind of shit, sometimes.” Marley murmured, but there was no bite to her words. A sort of peace offering. Maybe even some kind of apology. “Probably not supposed to let them know that, though.”

[marleymostlikely]

annieharlowe​:

—

Annie caught Marley’s lingering gaze on the book that was facing upward. Of course, that would be one she dropped. Why couldn’t it have been the Snoop Dogg cookbook she was carrying instead of something as on the nose as You All Grow Up And Leave Me. She self-consciously slid the book back into her bag. “I think we’re all a little on edge right now,” she deflected.

There was an awkward beat between them until Annie finally realized where she had last seen the woman. “You had the yard sale the other day,” she smiles. “Thanks for these.” She kicks out her leg to show off the denim with embroidered cuffs that she copped from the sale. Someone with taste like that could be trusted, and she still felt like she must know her from somewhere else, but the town was small. It might have just been that.

“Miller Park is far. Do you want company for at least halfway?” Annie decided she should repay her for her kindness (and killer jeans). “I think I’ve proved I’m an asset when fighting off danger.” She winked, jingling the keys in her pocket.

-

It made sense. Potential crime, like the case of Casey Andrews, didn’t happen often in a small town like Cassel. There was the occasional drug bust, maybe a robbery every now and again--but a missing teenager and a seemingly guilty favorite town coach? That would be enough for anybody to want to be home before the streetlights turned on. 

Marley merely nodded her head in agreement, prepared to leave the conversation at that, when Annie brings up the yard sale. Eyebrows furrowed, her gaze drops to her extended leg, and notes, with a small smile, that those were in fact the jeans that she’d sold. They hadn’t been her mother’s, though. While digging around her things, she’d actually managed to find a few pieces of clothing she hadn’t packed with her when she’d left Cassel the first time.

“They look better on you.” Marley admits with raised eyebrows, as in disbelief. She couldn’t remember her reason for leaving them behind, if there had been one at all.

Though Marley herself wasn’t too concerned about the walk home, it’d been made clear by Annie’s fighting stance that at least a small part of her was. There wasn’t many, if there were any, people in Cassel who’s company she desired to be in, but she also wasn’t going to leave her fellow woman to fend for herself. 

Slowly, her head nodded, small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Sure. Just promise me that you won’t be caught in a door when you actually have to fight off any danger.” Marley’s eyes rolled.

[marleymostlikely]

teddyashcroft​:

Teddy knew what bad days looked like. After his parents lost the farm sometimes it felt like they kept coming, so many of them in a row that he only wanted to mark off on his calendar when a good one came. It was only in adulthood, when he’d started to get his life together that the clouds started to dissipate. Even then, they always came back sometimes, even if he didn’t want them to. 

This was decidedly a bad day and Teddy felt guilt built up inside him for interrupting in the first place, as if that had caused the rip in the clearly very full paper bags she was trying to haul to wherever she needed to go. His mouth parted in surprise but he shot down quick to crouch, moving to grab things and keep them from rolling away and standing her grocery bags back up carefully, listening to her announcing just how fine she was while a can of soup rolled away from her. 

“Hey, come on now, this is…” He did his best to put things back where he’d seen them, keeping anything heavy from crushing the softer items and took them into his arms so that she would only have to worry about the things that had been dropped. The bag that had broken he was holding closed with his large palm, determined to make this easier on her. 

Waiting for her to collect her things, he tried to offer his help again. “Look, I promise, I really don’t mind. Is your car close? We could bring them together, you can hold the bottom of the bag that broke so your crap doesn’t go flying and then boom, we’ve solved this mess.” He looked hopeful, especially since he was already holding her things for her and doing so without even the slightest bit of struggle. 

-

The cans of soup were dented. The bread smushed. Her apples probably bruised. It wasn’t the man’s fault: Marley herself had been distracted, hadn’t noticed the strain at the bottom of the bag that’d burst, but it wasn’t as if this knowledge did much in making her feel better. Nor did his immediate reaction of crouching down right next to her, his hands moving in tandem with her own to collect her escaping groceries.

His initial attempt of reassuring her that this isn’t that bad, or however it was he planned on finishing his sentence, was ignored. Marley didn’t even spare his face a glance, determined to pick herself and her things up off the floor and keep moving. But it didn’t take long for her to notice that he’d collected a majority of her groceries, able to hold them in his arms with an ease that Marley herself hadn’t--including the broken bag. She blinked, slowly, at the sight, mind continuing to race with thoughts of how the hell she was supposed to make it home like that.

“There is no car.” She answered with a huff, finally lifting her eyes to his face for the first time. “The grocery store’s like three blocks back.” Where, actually, there was a car, but one that’d gotten Marley into this predicament in the first place. If it’d been in commission, it certainly would not have been parked all the way out here.

He looked so hopeful, though. And he hadn’t been obligated to stop and help her. With a sigh, Marley slowly rose to her feet, taking her remaining groceries with her. “Thank you.” Her eyes met his, trying to appear genuine. “But I’ll be fine. Really.” 

[marleymostlikely]

stllagarcia​:

open starter. @ the golden cinema. 

it wasn’t that stella was particularly fond of donnie darko, necessarily, more that she simply needed something to do for a couple of hours. the golden cinema was perfect for that - they never showed movies less than a decade old, things she either loved or hated or never got around to seeing in the first place playing for $1 and a tub of popcorn that was almost as expensive as her rent. she could sit in the dark and zone out - something that was in desperate need these days. 

she’d always wanted to help people, teens especially, to navigate them through the hardest years of their lives. but she had specifically chosen a small town without tragedy, and now - 

well, her office hours were much fuller than they had been a month ago.

there was another body in the small theater, and stella was almost surprised - it was 2pm on a saturday - but she moved to sit next to them anyways, offering them some of her popcorn as she settled in. 

“so, do you think this is the time you’ll finally understand this movie and can maybe explain it to me?” 

-

Out of all the places in town, Marley might’ve had the fondest memories of The Golden Cinema. If she allowed herself to think of it, she knew there would be countless Saturday afternoons she’d spent in these seats, wasting an hour or two by escaping into the world of whatever film was being cast overhead. 

That was the best part about the theater, though: she didn’t have the chance to allow herself to think of the past (despite the age of the movie playing). Instead, her attention was completely enraptured by the screen, and the movie hadn’t even started yet. 

Her fingers plucked idly at the Junior Mints she’d splurged on at the snack counter, popping the candy between her teeth when she was suddenly aware of a presence to her right. Before she could react, the woman had seated herself directly next to Marley, popcorn extending right in her direction. 

The blonde’s eyebrows raised curiously, but after a look at the buttery popcorn (not to mention the smell), she eventually extended the candy out in a mutual offering, before reaching inside the bucket for a few pieces.

“Wouldn’t know.” She informed with a shake of her head. “Never seen it.”

[willafitz]

#THAT’S RIGHT