the american dream @mckennaapplepie - Tumblr Blog

goldxnmanifest:

Elijah watched the contemplation pass over Mckenna’s features. He was so incredibly easy to read. While Elijah couldn’t be sure of what his purpose was for being at the Mayor’s Office that day, he would soon learn. But, that could all come in time. He was due for an afternoon off. Honestly, spending time would Mckenna would be a breath of fresh air - to be with someone who had no ulterior motives. No hidden strings to pull.

Elijah grinned and threw his arm around the other’s shoulders. “Good choice. There’s a deli around the corner with an incredible Reuben.” As they walked toward the deli, he dropped his arm and walked with his hands in his pockets. The small smile on his lips was still there, even as he turned to look over at Mckenna.

“While the Lodge’s opening weekend was a blowout, no sweat on missing it. That’s just one extra reason to waste a Saturday and take you up there. Have you been skiing before?” As fall turned to winter, the blanket of snow on the mountainside was growing by the day. Pretty soon, the routes would be perfectly packed for a winter of pastime. Not to mention, Elijah was pretty damn good at skiing - something he hoped that Mckenna had never done. Though, the kid was a natural and would pick it up soon. But it was yet another competition to be had.

To Elijah, it was natural and normal to compete so heartily against your friends. It was the best kind of friendship. He was sure Mckenna viewed it similarly.

The unease that had come over him loosened its grip with each step he took away from his obligations. He could admit that it felt kind of nice to do what he wanted to do. To catch up with someone he could safely call a friend. It felt... normal, like something a guy was supposed to do in his early twenties instead of developing paranoia about hedges and trashcans.

Mckenna’s confidence faltered a beat when Elijah brought up skiing and his knee suddenly reminded him of its status. It’d been years since his injury, but the tear had been pretty bad when his mother was keen on him getting back onto two feet. With his exercise regimen and the long days at work, his knee hadn’t been given much time to rest which meant he needed to refill his prescription more than he’d like to.

Did he miss playing sports? Not really. But his mother would’ve had a conniption if he admitted any of that aloud.

“I didn’t really get a chance to before I blew out my knee,” he said, feeling satisfied with a delightfully neutral response that neither denied or verified his participation. “I’d love to try it but I can’t risk being benched. I signed a six year contract for a TV show and we’re only on season 3.”

Mckenna glanced at Elijah and grinned. “I’d still love to check it out, though. I hear it’s like, super nice up there. State of the art everything.”

#elijah

goldxnmanifest:

Elijah listened with a fairly pleased look on his face. Mckenna was one of those guys who had everything going for them, and didn’t need to ask for a thing. Elijah knew what that was like. What Elijah didn’t have experience with was a family who actually stuck by your side. When he looked at Mckenna’s family, it was everything he didn’t have. A loving mother, a father who seemed to genuinely want his success with no strings attached. It was one of the few things that money couldn’t buy him.

He listened with a smile as Mckenna recanted the reason why he moved back and his lavish new home that had been renovated. “A pool party?” He enquired, his eyebrows raised in something between excitement and glee - though, not for the fully right reasons. It was all so simple - a deep part of him was jealous of the lack of complexity. Mckenna didn’t have a secret phone buzzing in his pocket about criminal activities.

Anyway, the strong don’t envy the strong.

“It has been a long time,” Elijah mused, still digesting the information. He breathed deeply, as if to push down his excitement and then reached out an arm to drape it over Mckenna’s shoulders. “Come with me. I was just about to get lunch - it’ll be my treat. We can catch up.” He started to lead them away from the building, his mind never once concerned about Mckenna’s prior appointments.

Mckenna brightened at the invitation, all too ready to accept and abandon his responsibilities because it’d been just too long. He’d never been much of a rebel, keen on following orders through to the last letter, but he’d been reconsidering his stance on obedience lately. Like maybe life would be more interesting if he just strayed once in a while.

His feet were moving before he could protest, his body seeming to be far more decisive than his head was.

“Um...” he started as his brain began to catch up. Images of Isadora’s big glassy eyes and pouty disappointment filled his brain like a flood, drenching him in guilt not even two step out the door.

She had distinctly told him that the proposal was an important one that needed to be approved by the mayor before she could hold council and make a plea to the people for a multiplex that would expand local housing for more people to move in. It had made sense to him when she’d said it, only now it felt... small. Like it could wait another day or so. A few hours, even.

Mckenna cast a longing look over his shoulder at the doors to the mayor’s office as they swung closed behind him before turning back to Elijah with a small grin.

“Yeah, totally,” he agreed and followed him like a dog being lead on a leash. “You’ve got to tell me about college.”

#elijah

goldxnmanifest:

Working at the Mayor’s office came with a few unspoken rules.

Keep the onsite drug usage to a minimum, or at least out of sight.

Be available in your office for your agreed upon office hours. Even if those hours came during the middle of the day and consisted of meeting with random “do gooders” in the community.

Rule #2 made keeping Rule #1 very difficult. The woman currently in his office was talking about sidewalk repair. Sidewalk repair. Elijah had two phones dinging about various properties his title company could acquire that would amass millions, as well as two adjacent properties that would be good hits to the “property value” if they were to be say… set on fire.

Needless to say, Elijah was not listening. The second the clock struck 3pm, he was standing from his desk with an appeasing smile.

“Thank you so much for your time. I can see that this initiative is very important to you, and I can guarantee that I will present this to the Mayor himself personally,” he buttoned his suit jacket as he spoke, smoothing out the black fabric that paired with his black slacks. The very spoken third rule was to always dress to impress. The Versace buckle on his shoe would show that.

The woman nodded and cooed, saying something like, “oh, you remind me of your father when he was your age.” If only she knew what an insult that was. With her finally ushered out of his office, he locked it behind him, waved goodbye to his secretary, and sped down the stairs. As much as he wanted to be Mayor, he did not want to do mayoral duties like those. Those were mind-numbing and useless, but she was a constituent and she would vote for him.

His left hand had already slide onto his jacket’s interior pocket, closing around the little baggy, when he opened the door and nearly collided with a familiar face going nearly the same speed. There were very few people that Elijah would be pleased to see at a time like this, and Mckenna was one of them. He slowed his steps, and accepted the hand when it was presented to him, which he countered with a very rehearsed shake.

“I did,” he answered slowly, a barely concealed grin slipping into his words, “but unfortunately for you, they let me come back after graduation.” He furrowed his brows as he seemed to think, his eyes dropping down to the binder in his hand. The color was familiar. He returned his eyes to his old friends.

“And I thought you were in LA making a name for us?” There was a playful jest to his words, but there was an underlying excitement. If Mckenna was back, it meant he failed. And if Mckenna failed while Elijah succeeded as his post-high school endeavors, oh how sweet that would taste.

Mckenna blinked at Elijah’s response, uncertain of why he thought it’d be unfortunate for him to see an old friend again. There had been nothing but warmth and hi-fives between them. Though school and on the pitch. It never occurred to him that were might’ve been something else brewing beneath the surface, much less something he’d be unhappy about.

So he smiled a smile that was equal parts genuine and clueless.

“I was. My mom thought it’d be a good time for a break so we came back for a bit. It’s been a long five years without any rest so...”

He didn’t have an answer for that as he trailed off, unwilling to traverse down a path of regret and bitterness when he was living a dream. Relentless hours and a pervasive invasion of privacy was a small price to pay. At least that was what he told himself.

“I mean, I’m glad to be back,” he continued cheerfully. “LA’s cool and all but there’s no place like home. We renovated our house this summer too so once the weather clears up, I’m definitely gonna have a pool party.”

It was all so very rehearsed at that point that he hardly noticed how many times he’d regurgitated the same thing about their new house, humblebragging about the pool and yard just like how his mother had told him to. Mckenna didn’t think that Elijah would’ve bat and eye at it, however. He remembered the parties and get-togethers at the Windsor manor. It’d always been something his mother had aspired to and he was glad that he could provide her with it at last.

Mckenna looked him up and down, his pause usually awkward like he didn’t know what to say without a cue card. What was someone supposed to say upon reuniting? He hadn’t figured that out yet if the empty text messages to Natalia said anything.

“Sorry, it’s just been so long,” he said, shaking his head with a sheepish laugh as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. “How have you been, man? Sorry I missed the re-opening of the ski lodge. I heard it was a big deal.”

#elijah

Working for Isadora was not unlike working in LA. She handed him off scripts to memorize before regurgitating it to a lobby of old people with a smile on his face and heartwarming conviction. In a way, it satisfied his need to stay busy and out of his mother’s line of sight and moreover, her trust in the Morgans grew to the point that she didn’t ask any questions about where he was heading off to as long as he had papers in his hand.

To her, helping the Morgans also helped himself by getting his name out there to people with money, who had children who begged for said money, and purchased items with his name emblazoned on it to satiate the commercials companies who ended up paying him. It was all a lot of socio-political business nonsense that he had no interest in whatsoever.

Mckenna was in it for the girls. Or the girl. Though he wasn’t sure which one he was referring to anymore.

Isadora Morgan was sharp as a knife and treated him like her favourite spoon, using him to scoop up favour of those she needed it from the most. Any self-respecting guy would’ve opposed to being handled like a utensil, but Mckenna thrived off of being helpful. Especially to beautiful girls who gave him little pats on the shoulder for a job well done. It was like, totally symbiosis or whatever.

It was partially the reason he had shown up at the mayor’s office, binder in hand. Isadora had handed him off a new proposal in script form but her needs had coincided with volunteering that his mother had signed him up for. It was the only reason he’d wound up there dressed like a high schooler, hair coiffed into a combover that hadn’t evolved much since graduation.

“...As such, I would like to propose a rebuilding of-- No, I would like to call a public hearing to explain the benefits of a multiplex in order to...” Mckenna massaged his temple as he recited the script while simultaneously trying to take off his letterman and straighten his tie. He’d been cautioned not to screw this up in front of the mayor. Isadora’s eyes had grown two sizes when she’d told him as much, and so he was determined not to.

It occurred to him then that maybe he should’ve prepared better, the rattling in his jacket pocket reminding him that he’d forgotten to take care of his knee that morning and afternoon. Mckenna paused, hand clutching the lump in his pocket through his jacket as a moment of deliberation came upon him until the sound of an opening door snapped him out of his thoughts.

“Jeepers! You scared me,” he said, tossing his jacket down over his binder. He brightened at the sight of Elijah, his surprise turning into genuine delight as he took in the sight of him.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Mckenna said, approaching him for a fonder hello as he extended a hand. “I thought you left for college.”

@goldxnmanifest

#elijah

fishandfox

#playlist

mariannebyrne:

┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

Though Gravewood was a small town and tragedy seemed to be constant, each major event got its time in the spotlight. And a possible murder? In the middle of a party attended by the entire town population between the ages of 21 and 35? Well… it was no surprise that everywhere Mari turned that day, she’d heard people talking about it.

Except Mckenna.

Being the person to tell him kind of felt like raining on a parade or stealing a toy from an excitable dog. It didn’t feel good… but it was also important to clue him in to what he was walking into.

“Impeccable timing,” she remarked, offering a sad smile. “We actually don’t know if it was murder yet and probably shouldn’t jump to conclusions, but maybe for a murder they’ll put in a little more effort than they have for a missing girl or the hit and run manslaughter of a beloved town pediatrician. I will personally keep my expectations low.”

Her end of sentence shrug was accompanied by a sip of her nearing-cold coffee, Mari further extending the pause in conversation as she mulled over the male’s words.

Help yourself first.

“What if helping others is how I help myself?” she countered. “I get what you’re saying, and I can see the value in it, but the writing is actually the hardest thing right now. Ever since my dad… it’s just difficult to string together the right words. You would think that it might be easier, since I’m supposed to be writing about a small town murder, but alas.”

Walking the thin line between sharing and oversharing, Mari could feel herself stumbling into dangerous territory the more than she rambled. No one needed to know that much about her depressing little life, even determined sunshine Mckenna. But he’d thankfully also provided a possible pivot to the conversation, and she was going to run with it.

“Okay, but one thing that could be helpful though… you were a teenage boy once. Even recently. Do you have any tips for someone functioning as a legal guardian for a seventeen year old boy? He’s sporty and seemingly popular. Two things I can’t relate to.”

Mckenna didn’t really know how to react to the string of bad news or the disillusioned description of the cops. His smile faltered a little as he sat up a little straighter in his seat to let the awkward silence seep in as Mari drank her coffee.

“My mom would say that’s actually avoidance and that you should always do the hardest things first because everything else is only downhill from there,” he said, glancing over at her to catch the way her eyes shifted at the mention of her dad, like she was fighting away the sadness trying to inch its way in.

On one hand, he wanted to help, but on the other, he knew tackling a parental death was probably more difficult than showing up with plastic balloons, a bag full of cherry-flavoured candy and an old TV jingle.

So instead, Mckenna put a hand on her shoulder and rubbed, hoping she’d allow him to itch it all the way around this time for a hug.

He perked at the suggestion of being helpful, his eagerness having doubled in the short amount of time between her first morbid observation and her second sad confession. But it didn’t last long.

Arguably, he could’ve said that he couldn’t relate to either of those things either. His path had been carved out for him long before he was born and in a way, it made it all that much easier to fall in line. Following rules had always been easy when his personality was cherry-picked by executives who were convinced he had what it took to be the next big thing.

Playing football and dating a pageant queen just seemed... right. He didn’t even know how he became so well-liked among everyone but that just seemed to happen too like the world knew it had to be. If there had been a script, he’d fulfilled it, but even he knew that wasn’t exactly the Jimmy Kimmel answer people wanted.

Mckenna scratched at his temple, taking a beat to try and think of something helpful. “Uh, make sure there’s a lot of protein in the fridge?” he said.

“I don’t really know a whole lot about raising kids but like, I know they’re not all the same. There’s gonna be a lot of stuff he’ll want to talk about but can’t find it in him to bring it up so...” Just smile and pretend you have no idea before pushing him along to the next thing, he wanted to say. But it was too bitter. Too raw. Too unscripted.

He stared at a spot on the table as he continued, “I guess the best thing you could do is just be there and ask.”

#marianne

alec-flynn:

It took Alec a moment to realize one half of his mouth had decided to smile. He wanted to be annoyed by that, by the front row seat to the Mckenna Benson charisma that had wormed its way into America’s heart and outshined Alec at every turn. But the dude looked so genuine that he couldn’t help himself. It was like Mckenna was the name brand version of him, some alternate universe Alec Flynn who had been given a chance and hadn’t squandered it.

His mind wrapped itself around the feeling, tucking it away along with the imagery of a funhouse mirror. God, this guy was even inspiring a new fucking song. Ridiculous.

“In the flesh,” Alec confirmed with a nod. It was hard to avoid feeling pleased that he was, at the very least, not totally forgettable. And then he brought the band into it, Alec barking out a laugh at the name Vandal Ants but swelling with pride at leaving enough of an impression with his music. It was a small taste of that feeling he’d been chasing his entire life and the remaining defenses fell as a boyish smile took its place. “We’re the Anthem of Vandals, but it’s probably not too late for a little rebranding. And it’s good, it’s going alright. I mean,” Alec laughed a little self-deprecatingly and held up his casted arm, “it’s not really going at all right now, but…” He shrugged, a little bit of that heaviness returning, though it was concealed easily enough behind a lopsided grin. “Give me like two months and we’ll be back at it again.”

A thought occurred to him then, though, and it was enough to sour his mood once more. Mckenna probably wasn’t sticking around, because Mckenna was living the dream. Living Alec’s dream. Living Alec’s life. His unbroken arm rubbed the opposite shoulder. “You slumming it for a while or…?

“Oh, right,” Mckenna said with a hearty laugh at his own faulty memory. “Anthem of Vandals, that’s really cool man. Like I said, I’d love to have a listen sometime. There’s nothing quite like an old-school garage band to bring back the nostalgia.”

Being an actor made him keen on picking up the emotions of others and being painfully sensitive only exacerbated that fact. So when Alec’s smile dropped a millimeter in brightness, Mckenna felt the need to crank it back up again by... smiling harder to reassure him that there was nothing to worry about.

“I wouldn’t call Gravewood a slum,” he said quickly, as if to catch the drops of the melting cheer from Alec’s face. “But, my mom figured it was time for a little break and we just renovated our old house this summer. We were hoping to convince Sienna to come home for the holidays but I think she’s staying in London. Busy with work and all that. I think she got a gig from Wonderland too.”

The rehearsal of everything his mother had reminded him to say was flawless, his pearly white smile punctuating his gentle sale of their perfect little family. Mckenna wasn’t blind to the dysfunctions within their house. Like how his ‘break’ had been the result of a mental breakdown. Or how his sister and mother never ever got along. How little his dad wanted to take part of anything that was going on.

It was not perfect, but it had to be. He was living the American dream after all.

“Uh, I know you have to work but if you wanna grab a bite sometime or, like...I don’t know, hang? I’m pretty much off-duty the whole time I’m here.” Mckenna toed at the ground as he spoke, losing some of the manufactured Hollywood charm and instead replacing it with something much worse: boyish sincerity. He was vaguely famous. It didn’t mean he had a whole lot of friends.

Pausing abruptly, his cheeks flushed with colour as he scrubbed the back of his neck. “Actually, I was wondering if you could help me with something. You write your own songs, right?”

#alec

mackenziegthomas:

- - -

Mack liked to think that there were lots of things in Gravewood that were predictable. She would’ve said anything, a town like this rarely being alive enough for change, but then her sister had gone missing and it had thrown a wrench into everything she knew to expect from the town.

Mckenna was new and old at the same time. She could recall maybe one or two things about him from childhood, but knew him better via what was listed when you googled him. It was different, to Mack at least, to have someone capable of something more than this town in her presence.

She was trying not to think to deeply on him. But seriously– she got weird orders, often from people openly fucked up in some way, and this was on that level. “Are.. you sure?” She can’t help but ask, her expression showing exactly her thoughts, of disgust.

“Like.. maybe a soda to wash that down.” But then she looked up long enough to properly gauge what was happening- she recognized that exact look on Mckennas mom’s face, having been thrown looks like that all the time as a kid. It was the one that screamed the words ‘you better behave’, and Mack didn’t like it. “Cause you know, people can’t control you. If you want something else you should order it.”

“Yes, he’s sure,” came Jocelyn’s firm insistence as she put her phone down on the table. She was a tall woman. Slim with red-hair that was a touch less vibrant than Mckenna’s. They didn’t resemble each other much more beyond that, but Mckenna’s obedient agreement with her told more of their relationship to one another than anything.

He smiled a reassurance at Mack, brimming with practiced sincerity. It wasn’t a lie when he really did want to make his mother happy.

“I’m good. I’m supposed to be cutting anyway,” he said. “I’m going back to LA in the new year, so I should keep an eye on my sugar intake.”

Jocelyn looked particularly satisfied with his response, picking up her phone. She started texting again as Mckenna looked to her in hope of catching a wink of pride in her eye. He stared at her for a long time before realizing the server was still there.

Naturally, he doubled down when he was met with concern in her eyes. “Seriously, thanks though.”

#mack

tobegriffb:

With the still-recent murder at Isadora’s masquerade, business was booming. Or at least that’s what his grandfather was insisting, which was why Griffin was working longer hours, conjuring articles out of thin air. He was sure the Sheriff would lock him behind bars if he asked for another statement. There was only so much one could report on a fresh, ongoing investigation when not even the police station had much to go off of.

Forget any actual writing. 90% of this job was placating Grandpa Editor.

Griffin was clicking mindlessly on his desktop when his golden ticket walked in. Well, golden ticket toward a week of peace. Two weeks, maybe, depending upon how far he could stretch a fluff piece.

Mckenna Benson, come home to save Gravewood like some heroic Disney prince.

There were prying eyes around the office attempting to peek at the interaction, so Griffin quickly grabbed the manila envelope before some other vulture could swoop in on his meal. He opened it just slightly to look at the offerings.

“If the baseball cap is meant to be a disguise, it could use some work,” he mentioned, shuffling through ‘candids’ of Mckenna that looked a little too posed. “You should add some glasses next time. Might give you that Clark Kent effect.”

He looked back at Mckenna, who was reading as both uneasy and desperate. The Banshee articles about him weren’t even bad. Most of the time, they were praising his exploits, painting him like a small town god. Griffin didn’t really get the anxiety over it.

“No offense, but I don’t seek out conversations with your mother if I don’t have to,” Griffin said. “To put it lightly, she’s a lot. Anyway, I appreciate the material, but do you have an idea for the actual story that goes with these shots? Or am I meant to post a collage of your greatest moments around town?”

Mckenna touched his cap self-consciously when Griffin mentioned its ineffectiveness, tugging the bill down lower as if it might help. He’d never grown out of believing that not seeing others meant that they couldn’t see him either. It was wishful thinking, but surely one day it’d work.

He left the topic of his mother alone, fearing her too much to agree. Mckenna understood the town’s stance on her was divisive, but she’d only done right by him so far. It felt bad to admit that he sometimes didn’t enjoy the way she spoke to him when he owed his success to her involvement.

“Uh, I don’t know. Isn’t that your job?” he asked, brows wilting at the question. Rarely was he ever asked his input, partially because he often didn’t have much in way of ideas. His entire life had been written out and plastered before him like a script. He simply followed it.

But he had asked, and it was only right to try his best when confronted with a request.

“Maybe something like, uh... rescuing puppies?” he said, glancing over his shoulder as if his mother was right there to watch him lie. It’d been years since they’d rescued Dallas, but it still counted, right? Griffin’s lack of expression told him that it was not.

After another beat of deliberation, Mckenna leaned over the desk and gave Griffin a wide-eyed, pleading look.

“Look, I’m trying to get Natalia to notice me so... maybe you could think of something that might catch her eye?” His voice was low. Conspiratorial. This was the spiciest thing he’d done in a while. Somehow, it felt backhanded and dirty. “Something cool and badass. Like.. like, discovering crop circles or something.”

#griffin

teddyxmiller:

It wasn’t until Teddy stepped inside that a sense of dread washed over him. It had been a long time since he’d had anyone else inside the house. Sure, people often came to the door, hoping to get a glimpse of the place where The Dollmaker had lived. Usually after Teddy asked them to leave, he’d find them trying to jump a fence to get to the shed where the gruesome activities had taken place, though they’d usually run off the moment he stepped outside.

The house hadn’t really changed much since he was a kid. There weren’t any family photos on the walls, dust covered any surface that wasn’t touched frequently, and the furniture was overdue to be replaced. It was like the interior of the house was stuck in time. The outside was looked a little better though. Painting it had been one of the first things Teddy had done when he’d come back, wanting to give the place a spruce up in the hopes that people would snoop around less.

While Mckenna was in the bathroom, Teddy got to work taking ingredients out of the fridge to make sandwiches. The salad was still fresh, having only been made the night before from stuff from the garden that Teddy was barely able to keep alive. He’d never been that great with gardening, so he was proud that at least one crop had been successful.

Teddy jumped a little when Mckenna appeared in the kitchen, not used to having another person (other than his grandmother who spent most of her time in bed as of late) around the house. “Oh, yeah, that would be great. Help yourself, make as much as you want.” He said as he stepped aside so that Mckenna could make himself something to eat. “Thanks again for all the help. Honestly. I, uh, I’ve had a hard time keeping up with everything, so having your help today has really… I just really appreciate it.”

Mckenna started his own sandwich, feeling a little too excited about the bread as he took out two slices and considered a third. Jocelyn had always been keen on him watching his weight, even through bulking season where he needed the extra carbohydrates to fuel his workouts. It was all a lot. His head ached just thinking about it.

“No problem, dude. I like working here. It’s a good break from everything and uh, I’m sure you could use the break too,” he said while slathering on mayonnaise. It was getting harder to focus on his task, each smear getting messier until he took it as a sign to go easy on it.

Mckenna smiled reassuringly at Teddy as he reached past him for salad and deli meat, growing quieter as he tried to focus on getting through a sudden dizzy spell. His chest heaved with every breath, his mouth getting dryer as he fumbled with lettuce and cheese. Eventually, he slapped the sandwich together and brought it to the table, dropping down into a chair and propping himself up with his elbows.

“Sorry, I think the work’s catching up to me,” he said, voice soft and sluggish. Sweat matted his hair to his forehead and his head rested heavily in his clammy hands. His breathing slowed with his heartbeat.

“I should probably... like...” Mckenna trailed off as he rubbed the back of his neck in an attempt to comfort himself through the lack of oxygen. The panic that would’ve taken over was dulled by the painkillers, lulling him into a false security with every labored breath. His chest hit the table before his arm fell out from beneath him. Before he knew it, he was face down in his sandwich, arms limp at his sides.

#teddy #overdose tw #od tw

isadoramorgan:

- $$$ -

If there was one thing that piqued Isa’s interest, it was the complete avoidance of a topic.

Mckenna had blushed when she’d casually dropped the sexual favors thing into their conversation, but it was impossible for Isa to ignore that he’d made no comment on the matter whatsoever. No stumbling over his words to insist that wasn’t what he’d meant, no insistence that he’d never suggest it, no indication that his blush was for any reason other than being terribly innocent.

It was an almost upsettingly neutral response, sure to bother her if she thought about it too much in the moment. So she made a mental note to circle back at a later date, instead using their remaining moments together that afternoon to bask in Mckenna’s misery.

No calls, no texts… it sounded like his dear ex just wasn’t interested. Maybe she was feeling a little guilty about something (had the Beauty Queen cheated, perhaps?) or maybe she’d never been interested in the first place and escaping the bubble that was Gravewood High had finally clued her in on that. Either way, what Mckenna was suggesting was a recipe for disaster. His white picket fence, high school sweetheart dreams needed a reality check. She was more than happy to provide… once she’d gotten what she needed out of him.

Out of the corner of her eye, Isa became aware of one of the teens nearby chasing another with handfuls of glitter, the sounds of someone else being threatened with scissors soon following. The final grains of sand were truly slipping through the hourglass, but what truly mattered in that moment was a final sealing of the deal.

“And together you shall be,” Isa grinned, once again extending her hand for a formal shake. “After all, are we not all still the same people we were in high school, deep down? I help you with your ex, you help me with the town. And we all live happily ever after.”

Mckenna brightened at Isadora’s easy acceptance, feeling a sense of relief that he wasn’t going to be dealing with Natalia all alone. He loved her, but he knew she could be a lot and he needed all the help he could get. So when Isa extended her hand for a shake, he took it firmly.

Her hand was warm and soft and nothing like the icy claw they said it’d be.

“Thanks, Isadora. I really appreciate it,” he said sincerely, offering her one of his million watt smiles. His teeth shone like a Crest ad, perfect and white and charming. “I’ll do my best to help you out. I’m pretty good at following instructions so...”

Mckenna didn’t have more to add to that. He was good at following instructions. He was also easily distracted by the wicked glint in her eyes when she looked at him like a Cheshire cat that’d just caught the fattest mouse. Was he the mouse? Did he care?

“Uh, right,” he stammered when the kids started flooding back in, reminding him that they were supposed to be supervising and entertaining. Turning to the table, he snatched up his decapitated turkey and scribbled his number down onto it with a marker.

681-555-8383 Mckenna :)

“Here. In case you lost it.” He offered her the paper after folding it in half. A risky move when his personal line could’ve easily fetched a pretty penny on Ebay but he wasn’t thinking about that. “Just let me know what you need and uh, I’ll be your guy.”

#isadora

ellexreynolds:

Elle could count the number of real friends she had on one hand. She’d burned a lot of bridges over the years, she knew that, but she was glad that at least some were still intact. However, talking to Mckenna about her upcoming wedding, she couldn’t help but feel like an imposter. Acting as though she was excited for something she was dreading, it was exhausting, and she wondered how Mckenna did it for a living.

“Well, I won’t take it personally if you don’t make it.” Elle teased, still putting on her best smile. Secretly, she hoped he wouldn’t make it. The less people who bore witness to her signing her life away the better. “I’m surprised you even have time to be back in town with such a busy schedule, how’d you manage it?”

She was quiet as Mckenna spoke of his upcoming projects, her mind wandering to a life that she’d dreamed of as a kid. Being famous in Hollywood for being a TV star rather than infamous in her hometown for marrying the mayor’s son, it almost didn’t seem fair. But, she was happy for him that he got to live out the dream.

“A dog who goes into space? That sounds interesting. Let me guess, you’re trying out for the role of the dog?” She joked with a grin.

“I’m going to do my best,” Mckenna assured her with brimming sincerity. He dismissed the pressure around the corners of her mouth as wedding nerves, having seen the same reflected in Natalia’s smile just before a pageant. He patted her consolingly on the shoulder. “Seriously, the last wedding I went to was my cousin’s in New Hampshire and I was like, thirteen. I’m due for another.”

Talk of work had his smile faltering a little, but not too much. It didn’t upset him to be back in Gravewood. He quite liked being home. It was the reason he’d come back that made him slightly uncomfortable, like admitting that maybe he’d screwed up somewhere.

“I’m actually in-between filming right now. Next season is going to start filming next year so my mom figured I was due for a vacation back home,” Mckenna said. It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either.

He’d stumbled in public once and all it took for Jocelyn to eject him from the spotlight was one look into his hazy, thousand-yard stare to figure he was ‘too stressed’ and needed a ‘mental health’ break. It all worked out in her favour with the rising popularity of pop psychology and self-care. Somehow, his mistakes became selling points when a part of him just wished someone would see.

That far-away look came over him again as he recalled the whole situation in bits and pieces, the Vicodin having done its job of numbing the pain of having to reconcile with the fact that maybe the American dream was really just a big ol’ nightmare.

“Yeah, I’ve been working on it but it kind of looks silly trying to chase your tail when you don’t have one,” he replied easily, like his charm was an automated answering machine. Mckenna laughed heartily at his joke and glanced over at her. “So what else have you been up to? You’ve got to have some hobbies, right?”

#elle

mariannebyrne:

┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

At one point, likely when Mari was… oh, maybe nine years old and Going Through It, her life had been made easier by closing herself off. Avoiding questions with a small smile and a question of her own. Never revealing too much or thinking too much about the state of her life to keep from crumbling. The walls she’d built grew stronger every year, and by the time she’d moved to Gravewood the first time around, the house she’d created for herself was built of stone. No matter how hard the wolves (both friendly and not) blew, they weren’t getting in.

So, perhaps it wasn’t great that all Mari could offer in response to Mckenna’s condolences was a small nod and a weak smile, but he’d known her for years. He had to be used to it by that point.

With her brief acknowledgment of her family tragedy out of the way, Mari was free to move on to discussing a less personal recent horror. And, admittedly, she was relieved to do so.

“You didn’t know about Tommy?” she asked, more emotion (surprise, of course) in her voice at that revelation than anything else thus far. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I mean, I’m not trying to solve his murder. But as someone who is now a witness to a crime, if not a suspect - misguided, I assure you - I guess I’m also not… not trying to solve his murder?”

It had been an obvious choice for Mari to omit the fact that she was mostly invested for the sake of her yet-to-be-written sophomore release. Yes, she had already admitted that it felt wrong to be writing about murder when there had been a murder, but it wasn’t like it felt so wrong that she wasn’t going to do it. Eventually. And if she got invested and took some inspiration from her present setting? Well… sometimes good things did come from bad.

Even the slightest bit of honesty about what she was presently up to had felt like a weight lifted off of her, though. How much more could she unburden herself before the shame of sharing set in?

“I’m also looking into Mack’s sister’s disappearance, since the police have more or less given up on that. I’m really not trying to add something else to my plate, and I’m definitely no detective, but it just… feels so wrong to be doing nothing, you know?”

Mckenna sometimes wondered if his proximity to reporters and prepubescent contract to a children’s cartoon had unlocked a weird section in his brain that drew him towards misery like a sad-seeking missile. He slid a little closer as if the sheer vibrancy of his hair could offer another source of sunshine. Sunshine always made people happier.

“I literally just got in yesterday,” was his weak response to her surprise, looking a little guilty that he hadn’t caught up immediately on all the happenings in town. Gravewood was but a speck on the map, which made it near impossible to keep tabs on from the big city. The Banshee was only as big as the borders of the town and even then he found the coverage a little lacking. Still, the news of death and murder was new and startling to him. To think that his home sweet home also housed people like that...

“Isn’t that like, something meant for the cops?” he asked. “I’m sure they’ll find who it is. I mean, Gravewood’s only so big and the Sheriff seems to be working real hard every time I see him.”

They were fluffy platitudes but Mckenna didn’t know how to do much else, conditioned to look towards the brighter side of things and supply endless comfort with song and puppy dog eyes. Grimdark murder mysteries and disappearances were not his genre.

He blew out a breath and sat up a little, tossing a cursory glance out the window for his mother before turning back to Mari.

“Look, my mom always tells me one thing at a time. There’s no use in trying to help others if you haven’t helped yourself first and like, you seem to have a lot of stuff to do.” Mckenna gestured at her blank screen.

“How ‘bout we just focus on writing for now and um, I’ll see what I can do to help with the rest after?”

#marianne

isadoramorgan:

- $$$ -

“It will still always be a house of horrors to those who lost family members to the Dollmaker, Mckenna,” Isa insisted, the stressing of the male’s name accompanied by a gentle squeeze of his shoulder.

She could tell that her words were landing, her tone was just right. He had been on the precipice of understanding before she’d gone in for the kill with a light touch. She’d just needed to give him a tiny push over the edge. Who’d known that a little innocent flirting would be just the thing to do it?

I see your point.

It was a weaker concession than she would have preferred, but it still got the job done. And in return, Isa offered Mckenna a bright smile, a momentary trailing of her hand down from his shoulder to his own hand for yet another squeeze.

In another world, maybe things would have been different. Maybe their star turns in high school as Danny and Sandy would have led to a High School Musical-level rejection of the status quo. It wasn’t as if Isa hadn’t looked over at him as the curtain came down during opening night and considered the possibilities. But her expectations for Mckenna had always been low. Her dislike of him had been a front at first, materializing over time as he disappointed her without even realizing he was doing it.

At that point they were who they were. Not friends. Barely acquaintances. As it should be. And he’d just signed on to be her puppet.

Mckenna’s little cough probably should have been enough to indicate to Isa that the spell she’d worked to cast was fading fast, but instead the realization didn’t hit until she’d already dropped his hand and offered her opposite out for a shake. His step back mixed with her own actions had put a good amount of distance between them, but Mckenna’s earlier response to her, plus his words, had clouded her judgment a bit.

“I don’t participate in sexual favors in exchange for-” she began to insist, but the full processing of his proposition stopped Isa in her tracks.

“Oh. You want me to be your… Cupid? How sweet.”

Right. High school sweethearts. White picket fences. The American Dream. Isa’d never had female friends. She’d never done Girl Talk. But… she didn’t like Charlotte… and she didn’t like Mckenna. So, it was a match made in heaven, right? With the cherry on top being setting up a girl with her ex when he was probably an ex for a reason?

They got misery. She got money. A fair trade.

“I can agree to those terms, though I don’t know that we should put that in writing. But before I engage with her, I should probably ask… why did you break up?”

The blush that rose to his cheeks at the mention of sexual favors spoke of someone who just didn’t do a lot of that kind of thing. He liked sex. It was fun and sweet and felt really good as long as he knew who he was doing it with. Hollywood had tarnished his idea of monogamy, breaking him out of the idea that he could only have intercourse with someone he loved, but it hadn’t done it in a nice way.

Casting couches were as much myth was the sky was blue. Most everyone knew what happened in Hollywood after Weinstein but he couldn’t find it in himself to admit to any of that, much less think about pressing it onto others.

Did he look like a creepy director? Had the grimy streets of LA left its mark on him? Mckenna stared blankly at her, mentally filing through his own turmoil while she tried to figure out what he was really asking for.

“I don’t know,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders at her question. It was an honest one he’d been mulling over since it happened. Why did he and Charlotte break up? They were parting ways, but phones existed, didn’t they? FaceTime and Skype were designed for couples who lived apart so it hadn’t made a whole lot of sense to him. But he’d accepted it because... what else was he supposed to do?

“I’ve been thinking about it all this time but I can’t seem to figure it out. She hasn’t called me or texted or anything. It’s almost like we became strangers overnight,” he said. His eyes conveyed the hopelessness he felt over the situation where his words couldn’t.

“I know it’s been years but... I guess I’m still holding onto the idea that we’d end up together.”

#isadora #sa mention tw

ellexreynolds:

“I guess you’re in for a shock around here. You’ll be lucky to get a menu delivered by a celebrity anywhere in Gravewood. Although, some would argue that Marie is her own brand of celebrity in town. So, you never know.” Elle chuckled, shaking her head. She couldn’t even imagine what it must’ve been like not only to get out of Gravewood, but to brush shoulders with the rich and famous.

“We’re not in, like, a super rush or anything, but it’s going to happen soon, yeah. The guest list is pretty exclusive, but I can see if I can get you in.” She gave Mckenna a playful nudge, hoping that she was selling her excitement.

Growing up, Elle had always pictured her dream life, and what she was living couldn’t be further from it. Getting married to save her family’s reputation rather than for love hadn’t even crossed her mind. But now she couldn’t help but think that dreams were dreams for a reason.

“Thank you, that really means a lot.” No one else seemed to be happy for her, even if the whole thing was a set up. It felt like everyone in town held a sort of grudge against her for being the next person to help continue the Windsor line. If only they knew that she didn’t want that. It felt nice to have someone who wasn’t giving her a hard time about it.

“Not officially, but we’re narrowing it down.” She said with a nod of her head. “Enough about me, though. How are things going for you? Have you got any interesting projects lined up I should be watching out for?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not really expecting special treatment,” Mckenna said, laughing bashfully. He didn’t think he was going to get any from the mean server at Marie’s but at the very least, he was glad the dude still had a job.

Mckenna looked up at the golden leaves and bare branches as they walked through Canary Park, listening to Elle speak of marriage and letting his mind wander about what they might be like. He was only twenty-three but life felt like it was closing in on him already. Hollywood only made life seem smaller. Like all there was to his existence was his youth and vigor. They’d made a club, after all, for those who never made it to twenty-eight.

Sometimes he wondered if he’d be part of it someday.

He was jostled out of his thoughts by a playful nudge and he met Elle with a big smile. “I’d love that. I mean, my schedule can be kinda busy but... I’ll do my best to make it. It’s not everyday I get to see my friends get married,” he said.

The following topic only emphasized the existential dread of stardom. He’d been playin a teenager for years, trapped in an endless hamster wheel of fake-pubescence ever since graduation. It wasn’t that glorious but Mckenna didn’t know if he had the balls to show it.

“Good. Fantastic, actually. Just got renewed for a seventh season which means I’ll probably be resigned,” he said, announcing it with a great amount of enthusiasm for someone who wasn’t particularly keen. “As far as other projects go, I’ve no idea. My mom’s been trying to get me into movies during the off-season but the network is pretty demanding. I usually only get a month or two before I’ve got to be back on set so it doesn’t really leave a lot of room to be working on other stuff.”

Mckenna glanced back at her when he found his attention wandering again, cast far away like he could teleport there if he looked long again. “There’s this cool movie about a dog who goes into space, though. I was kinda looking forward to trying out for that one.”

#elle

teddyxmiller:

“Well, I hope you know that you don’t have to push yourself out here. We’re pretty relaxed about getting stuff done. And by ‘we’ I mean ‘me’. I’m not really a natural born farmer, so I’m kinda just making this stuff up as I go.” The last thing Teddy wanted was for Mckenna to cause himself an injury, especially if he’d already had one before. Plus, he didn’t want to lose the help.

When Mckenna asked about using the restroom, Teddy jumped as if he’d completely forgotten his manners. “Oh, of course! Just go in the house through the back door and it’s right there on your left.” He said while pointing in a vague direction.

“I can get us something to eat afterwards if you want. I have some salad and cold cuts in the fridge and some fresh bread for sandwiches if you’re hungry.” It was clear that Teddy wasn’t that great at being a host, but the boy was trying.

Mckenna grinned at Teddy’s rambling, finding his fluster endearing in the way that he recognized it in himself as well. He hadn’t been much of anything when he started acting either, but practice made perfect and he said as much before wandering in the direction Teddy had pointed to.

“Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll meet you there,” he said, waving him off before disappearing into the house.

It hadn’t occurred to him then that he was entering the same home The Dollmaker had sewn together all those women. The farmhouse looked like any other, average, old, a little rundown. There was an eerie creaking in the floorboards as he made his way to the bathroom, the framed photo of apple trees on a ranch beside the doorway was looking mighty suspicious in its averageness.

Once inside, Mckenna did his business and washed his hands before patting them dry on his jeans. A tinny rattle of pills in his pocket reminded him of their existence. Suddenly, his knee radiated pain. It was hard to tell anymore whether he was imagining the aching soreness or if it had just become another excuse to swallow a handful of Vicodin. He exhaled slowly and took out the bottle, shifting the contents left to right and debating whether it’d be too much of he just had a few more.

Eventually, the pain won out. He popped the lid with a thumb before tapping out four pills and tossing them into his mouth. Mckenna ducked over the sink and cupped himself a few mouthfuls of water before tidying up like he wasn’t doing something illicit and seedy in the bathroom. He had a prescription, after all. Everyone had seen the way his knee spun around itself during the half-time game.

Mckenna emerged from the bathroom after another moment of assuring himself that everything was alright. That the day had been good and positive, filled with helpful activities and bright opportunities to do good. That a minor slip was more for the well-being of his body than it was a fracture in his psyche.

“Hey,” he said, poking his head into the kitchen where he met Teddy again. Mckenna wiped his brow with the back of his hand, finding that he was somehow getting sweatier. He put on a smile and approached the counter nonetheless. “Need some help with that?”

#teddy #*jaws music*

charlotte-delyle:

–

Biting her lip as Mckenna talked, it all seemed a bit… surreal to Charlotte that he was here, in the flesh, as one would have it. She was a bit unsure how to respond to that, so unfortunately it was met with a rather fake-looking smile, to hide said confusion.

Still, the look in Mckenna’s eyes the last time they had hung out.. well, when she had broken his heart was not a look that a young girl so easily forgot. It didn’t help that Mckenna looked the same as the day she had left him. “Oh.. that sounds like something your mom would do,” she lightly teased, falling into old habits.

However, the question of her return to Gravewood had spiked, and somehow, someway Charlotte couldn’t bring herself to tell him why she was back in Gravewood. With a much warmer smile, she waved off his question as if it were unimportant. “Oh, I just knew mom would miss me too much, plus, college wasn’t for me anyway,” she added on, hoping it would pass as truth.

“I kept up with what you were doing, in LA you know? Your face was a bit hard to miss sometimes,” she offered, an apt deflection onto conversation about herself, especially with a “celebrity” in the mix. “It’s really good to hear you’ve made it so far there, I know your mom always wanted that for you.”

Mckenna chuckled and bobbed his head to her comment, knowing too well that they’d both had overzealous mothers. It was almost like they’d pruned and primed them to meet each other and start dating so that they could continue breeding more star-studded children. It had unsettled him at first until he got to know Charlotte better and learned the little things about her that made her charming. Like her smile and the way she did her hair, or how she dotted her ‘I’s with little hearts.

He’d learned to love her the way his mother wanted him to. He just wondered if she intended for it to last this long.

“Really? I thought you wanted to go. It was like, a once-in-a-lifetime ride out of here,” he said, looking at her again. There was something a little strange about her. Like someone had taken her apart and put her back together with only picture. She was perfect and beautiful, but off somehow. Mckenna couldn’t place it exactly, but he searched her for a moment longer.

Snapping back to the conversation, he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable at the mention of LA. He wasn’t ashamed of his work, but it hadn’t exactly been a smooth ride. With age came a burgeoning desire to rebel against his mother’s decisions and his inability to sometimes drove him into making bad decisions. He didn’t want to know what sort of things Charlotte had heard about him there. Still, he put on a smile anyway.

“Yeah, it’s uh, a really busy life,” he said, nodding his head to emphasize his pleasantly neutral response. He’d gotten good at doing that too.

“Mckenna! What are you doing over there?” Jocelyn voice echoed from the far end of the hallway. Mckenna knew his time was running short and the weighted silence between them wasn’t helping him find the words to say to Charlotte either.

“Um...so, I gotta run. My number’s still the same if you want to catch up,” he said, then paused. The clip-clopping of Jocelyn’s heels was edging closer like a shark.

He hastily added, “I’d love to talk some more so um, please call me,” before being snagged by the elbow. A red-headed woman appeared by Mckenna’s side, peeling him from the doorframe before barking about him being late. He tossed Charlotte another look before being pulled away. Longing.

#charlotte

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