Cardiac Arrest

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[stanley-shaw-blog]

They Come Unstuck | Isabelle

[stanley-shaw-blog]

izzy-mueller: 

Her hands balled into a fist, leaving crescent shaped imprints in its wake. She untangled herself from his embrace, shivering slightly as she settled back onto the cold sand. The blonde thought about his question, not knowing exactly how to answer it. “I don’t know,” she replied softly, refusing to meet his gaze. Her emotions for Stan seemed to trump all logic, but she didn’t want to voice the thought. Izzy didn’t want to open herself back up to him only to be rejected once more, like she had in the past. Every encounter with him was like riding a wave - they rose and rose until they came crashing down, causing chaos in their wake. 

She wanted to tell him that it was him, and that it would always be him. She would always choose him, if he’d let her. Instead, the words that fell from her lips were, “I guess I thought the same thing. Fuck and be on my way. I mean, that’s what we were, weren’t we? We were just fuck buddies. I guess that’s how we should go. Out with a bang, you know?” she laughed sadly, hating the way his words affected her. She hated how they made her chest hurt and hated their situation. It was always the wrong time when it came to the two of them. 

“Isn’t it already a bit late for that? Ruining a good thing?” she asked bitterly, thinking about all the times they could have been, but never was. When it came to Stan, there were a lot of almost. Almost boyfriend, almost lover. “We were a good thing.” The blonde pursed her lips and finally mustered up the courage to look at Stan, waiting for a response. 

Stan took a deep breath in. “We were so much more than that,” he told her with a small sigh. It was true, Stan and Isabelle were so much more than just fuck buddies. Even if they agreed on no strings, it ended with both of them getting tangled up in them. He thought back to when he first met Isabelle. Fresh off of a break up, and he wanted nothing of the relationship sort. Even when he met Isabelle he didn’t just want to fuck her. Hence why the two of them were friends with benefits. But turns out you can’t be friends with benefits without somebody getting hurt in the end. And it wasn’t just one person that got sucked in with the tides, it was both of them. The ocean carried the pair out to sea, drowning them both because the bond they created was stronger than the tides. “You know we were so much more than that,” he pulled his knees up to his chest and let out a soft sigh as he looked out into the silvery water. 

The words fell off of Izzy’s lips and Stan felt them sink into his chest as if she had just stabbed him. “And then we ruined it,” his voice monotone, careful not to show any emotion that was too strong. “Do you remember the first time we came out here,” he started. “It was a night just like this, well actually it was this night,” he laughed, not caring if it sounded weird that he had remembered that. “I told you everything, even things that I’m too scared to tell anybody else,” he sighed. “Yeah, we had fucked a few times already, in fact we fucked a lot. But I remember kissing you,” the corner of his mouth twitched up as he stared blankly into the ocean. “And it wasn’t a kiss where we shoved each other’s tongues down our throats, it was the kiss,” he shook his head, letting a small chuckle escape his lips. “I hate sounding cliche, and I’m going to,” he warned the blonde, “but I had never been more scared in my life when I kissed you. Well, I thought it was fear that I was feeling. The feeling was foreign, but fear was the closest emotion that I could connect it back to. So I ran,” he laughed, disappointment laced in the gesture. “That’s what you do when you’re afraid, you run,” he felt like he needed to justify why he just left. He ran his tongue along the front of his teeth, allowing him to think for just another moment. 

“It took me a long time to realize what exactly I was feeling. At first is was fear, fear because nobody had ever made me feel that way, and something new is always frightening,” he started in his long explanation of what emotions he felt. “Then it was denial. Jess came back and I thought, this is love, this is it. She is love. She’s the only person I’ve ever loved,” he laughed at the thought of it now. “And then it was jealousy. When I saw you with Shane, or Mason, or whoever the fuck you were with, I was jealous. Even a part of me now is starting to feel it sink into my skin and pump in my veins. I didn’t even know why I was jealous you weren’t mine, you were never mine,” he shook his head, making sure to keep his eyes on the tides. “Then it was anger. For whatever reason, I was mad at you because it was the only thing that made sense. You made me feel this way, you were the reason why I wasn’t happy,” he let out a shaky breath before finally breaking for the ocean to look over at the blonde who was only illuminated by the moonlight. “But I was wrong. I realized that you were the only reason why I was happy. And when I didn’t have you, I was empty,” he caught her eyes in his gaze for a moment before he looked down at the sand that was underneath him. “I still am empty,” he admitted in a defeated tone. “Whenever I would think about you, I would smile. I would spend nights laying awake, just thinking about everything that we were, everything that we could’ve been. And it took me so long to realize that this was love. You were love,” he finally said, looking up at the girl for some sort of response.

[jessicaxbradley-blog]

Jessica held a tight grip onto the stroller, watching the door slide open. Once he came out, he looked beaten up, not literally black and blue but he didn’t look his best, he was most likely tired. When he asked that question, she just wanted to punch him in the throat, or drag his body down to hell with her but hearing Olive kicking and cooing in her stroller, she looked down and stopped herself before she snapped on him. She unbuttoned the straps laying across her chest and took her out from her stroller, holding her up under her legs and laying her arm across her baby’s chest to face Stan. “Olive, this is St– this is… your dad.” She struggled saying, as her baby kicked and giggled. “Stan, this is your child.” Jess managed to get out no matter how hard it was for her– it was half Stan regardless.

[stanley-shaw-blog]

Stan stood in the doorway, still in shock. He pushed his sleeve up and took a gulp, looking at the little girl that Jess was holding. He could feel the tears brimming his eyelids. This was his kid, and after months of not being able to see her, not even knowing what she looked like, he dropped his mouth. “I uh...” he didn’t know what to say. “Hey little girl,” he said holding out his finger for her to hold it. She was so small, but she was so happy. And her brown eyes were so beautiful, just like her mother’s. “Can I hold her?” he asked Jess, with his eyes still watery. He honestly wasn’t expecting Jess to come around ever. He thought that he wasn’t going to see his kid ever. A part of him thought that it might be for the better, but the other part of him, well most of him wanted to be in Olive’s life. 

[jessicaxbradley-blog]

Jess stood in front of her bedroom mirror and looked at the reflection of her pudgy baby girl on her bed, babbling and making sounds with her squeaking toys. Motherhood had changed Jessica for the better, but nobody really knew. She had kept to herself the past few months since giving birth to her daughter mostly because she didn’t want the drama from extended family, and the town she lived in. Jessica was focused on her daughter from the moment she was born. Today, she decided to let her walls down and all the grudges she held to let the father of her child meet his daughter for the first time. Jessica intended for them to never meet, and never even let her daughter even know about him, but she put herself in his shoes and she couldn’t imagine not knowing her daughter. “Olive? You ready?” Jessica chimed to her daughter, turning around and smiling at her. The baby kicked her feet and gasped excitedly. “Let’s go, bug.” She said cleaning the drool off her child’s mouth, picking her up and placing her on her hip. She knew he was in town, and she knew he was obviously going to be at his mom’s house, but he didn’t know she was coming. She got her baby’s stroller and necessities together for the 15 minute walk to his house and began her trek. People stared at her as she walked nonchalantly on the warm summer day with her baby, but at this point, Jessica didn’t care. Nobody could make her feel bad for throwing it all away, Olive was worth all of it. 15 minutes later she found herself standing in front of the familiar house from her childhood and teen years, feeling as if her feet were nailed to the cement. Slowly dragging her feet to the porch, she rang the door bell. Her heart began to race and Jessica looked down at her daughter, giving a small grin and holding her hand out for her to grab. “You’ve got this, Ol.” She told her daughter quietly, waiting for the door to open.

[jessicaxbradley-blog]

[stanley-shaw-blog]

Stan was getting better. It was a slight overstatement, but overall, he was getting better. And things were looking up for him. Despite Jessica refusing to let Stan see his kid, he was doing so much better. He was working hard in his internship that he managed to get back at home. So he was staying with his mom. Him and Coraline had been working together to get his mom back into working and figuring out what went wrong at the bakery. Everything was falling back into place. There was still a part of him that really wanted to meet Olive. He knew that was her name, that was what they had always talked about. His little bug, well Jessica’s because she didn’t let him meet her. He was sitting in the dining room, figuring out how to pay this months bills, budgeting between his sister’s money, his own, and his step-dad’s money, they could all split things between them and pay for the necessities. Stan heard the door bell ring, “can somebody get it?” he yelled out, not breaking his eyes from the paper in front of him. When he didn’t hear a response, Stan pushed himself away from the table and went to the door. He opened it, first noticing the baby in the stroller, then seeing Jessica standing on his porch. “What are you doing here?” he asked, somewhat surprised that she was actually standing in front of him.

[stanley-shaw-blog]

They Come Unstuck | Isabelle

[stanley-shaw-blog]

izzy-mueller: 

She smiled faintly as he let out a soft moan, working to elicit more out of the boy’s parted lips. She worked her way over his familiar body, rediscovering the spots that he loved most. She ground her hips against his, dragging her nails across and leaving angry red marks in their wake. The blonde took his kiss as a confirmation to continue, accepting it for what it was and simply going with the flow. Izzy was highly confused when he reached out and laced his fingers with hers, not expecting him to do so. Yes, she was willing to fuck Stan, but holding hands? That was uncharted territory. The gesture was much more than just holding hands. Its significance transcended the physical. 

The blonde froze when his fingers brushed against her ring, noticing that the boy had realized that there was a piece of metal there. She looked down at her ring when he asked to identify it, not wanting to answer him. “It’s….a promise ring,” she said slowly, refusing to look Stan in the eye. “Grant gave it to me,” Izzy said curtly, also not wanting to address the issue at hand. Shrugging nonchalantly to make it seem as it wasn’t as big of a deal as it was, Izzy tried playing it cool. Leaning towards Stan once more, she attached her lips to his collarbone and resumed her previous actions, hoping that he was going to ignore the giant elephant in the room. She was already too invested in what they were doing to stop, and she definitely didn’t want that to happen. 

Stan didn’t know what to think. How could he have not noticed that there was a fucking ring on her finger. “Grant?” he asked her, his brows furrowing as his eyes fell onto the ring that was on her finger. How could it be that their timing was always off. Stan was having a baby and Isabelle had a ring on her finger. They had only not seen each other for a year and it was almost as if they had grown up and found each other again. He wasn’t surprised though. The waves were always going to crash back onto the shore, that’s just how the tides worked. With a moon in his orbit, the ocean was returning to it’s normal ebbs and flows. He let his head fall back as she sucked gently on his neck. “No,” he managed to get out, pushing Izzy off of his neck. 

“Why are you doing this if you have a promise to somebody else?” he asked her, wanting to know the answer because it wasn’t fair to Grant, whoever Grant was. “I really want this, I do. I want you, I always have and I always will. But if there’s another guy.. I don’t want to go through that again,” he stated simply. “I thought I could just fuck you again and never think twice about it, but I can’t,” he admitted to her. “You mean so much to mean and I really want it to be more than a final fuck on the beach,” he told her. “But if there’s somebody else, I’m not going to ruin another good thing in your life, Fizz.”

[stanley-shaw-blog]

They Come Unstuck | Isabelle

[izzy-mueller-blog1]

She kept her eyes shut as he pulled away and let out shaky laugh. The blonde was frozen still, mind racing as her conflicting emotions went to battle. Her hands were still anchored on Stan’s body, making her realize the blatant lack of clothing that separated the two of them. On one hand, there was her boyfriend. On the other, there was Stan. There was always Stan. Ever since he entered her life, he had been a constant. Granted, he hadn’t always physically been there, but he was always there in her mind, even in if it was only in the recesses of it. As hard as she tried, and as happy she was with her boyfriend, it was hard to completely block out all of the memories she shared with the boy, the good and the bad. 

Izzy’s breath hitched once more as he leaned in for another kiss, lips parting as his met hers. Accepting that this was going to happen, Izzy pulled him in closer. She gasped as he tangled his fingers through her hair and rested his hand on her thigh, memories hitting her like the incoming tide. “This is a bad idea,” she whispered, threading her fingers through his hair and deepening the kiss. Again, her emotions and logical side were fighting, with the former as the current winner. In order to justify her actions, the girl told herself that their situation was a one time thing, something to help a former friend in need. 

Drawing back, Izzy ran her hands over his chest, attaching her lips to his neck. She sucked lightly and dragged her teeth over his skin, eventually working her way back to his lips. “Are you sure?” she asked, staring at him and waiting for a confirmation. She knew that once they did this, there was no going back, and she was scared of what was going to happen. Izzy half wanted Stan to say no, in order to save her current relationship. The other half of her, the hopeless romantic, wanted him to say yes, and for them to embark on yet another adventure together. 

[stanley-shaw-blog]

“Of course it is,” Stan mumbled against her lips before she pulled him closer to her. He let his hands fall to her waist and he lifted her up so that she was straddling him. He spent a moment remembering the girl’s body. Every curve and every imperfection. They were all still there, nothing had changed, her body was still the same as it was before. Stan let his head fall back as the girl dragged her teeth over the skin on his neck. A small moan escaped his lips and he gripped onto the girl tighter as she made her way back to his lips. 

He bit his lip slightly. Was he sure this is what he wanted? He knew he wanted Isabelle, and he knew he wanted sex. But he didn’t know if he wanted them both here and now at the same moment. He felt Izzy’s hands weigh down on his chest as he avoided answering her. He wanted this, Stan knew that he did. But they couldn’t repeat what happened last time, his heart wouldn’t be able to take it. He kissed her anyways, not giving her a verbal confirmation that this is what he wanted, he didn’t feel like he had to give her one. Kissing her would be confirmation enough. 

Stan had an odd sensation, one to reach up and hold Izzy’s hand. They hadn’t done that in a while and he wanted to see what it felt like to do it. He pried her hand off of his chest and laced his fingers in with hers, feeling a small band on her ring finger. He continued to kiss her for only a moment before he broke away slightly. “What is this,” he said bringing the hand closer to him. If it was what he thought it was, Stan was shit out of luck because that meant that Isabelle had moved on. And he hoped to god it wasn’t with Mason or with Shane. What a bummer that would be. “Seriously, Fizz, what is this,” he asked her once more. 

[stanley-shaw-blog]

They Come Unstuck | Isabelle

[izzy-mueller-blog1]

“What a bitch,” she muttered under her breath, as hatred for the other girl rose to a new level. It was one thing for Jessica to hate Izzy, for they were both competing for the same boy, but it was another to do something that heinous to him. She shook her head and deepened their embrace, trying to console the poor boy. “Then fight. The Stanley Shaw I know would fight for the people and things he loves. Izzy bit back the thoughts that followed soon after, refusing to let the past pain arise. However, her emotions overtook logic, and she thought about the day he walked away. Yes, he loved her. Did he fight for her? No. He walked away when things got hard, leaving her with nothing but missed opportunities and a broken heart. “You haven’t done anything to make a judge ban you from ever seeing your child.” 

She unwound herself from him and placed both hands on the sides of his face, forcing him to look at her. “You listen to me right now, Stanley Shaw. You are not your father. Your child is going to know who you are, and they are going to love the hell out of you. You’re going to fight Jessica and get partial custody. I believe in you, and you should too.” Izzy resumed her previous position, arms around his torso as she stared up at the boy she once knew, wondering where the hell things took a turn for the worse. The blonde’s breath hitched as he pushed her hair out of the way, watching as his eyes flicked down to her lips, only to meet her gaze once more. This is bad. You need to get out of here, she thought, becoming increasingly aware of the weight that rested on her ring finger. Before she could do anything, his lips grazed hers, and she froze, neither encouraging his advances nor pulling away. 

[stanley-shaw-blog]

“Well that’s Jessica for you. If there was a superlative for biggest bitch she would definitely win it,” he chuckled. Then he scoffed, “yeah well the Stanley Shaw you know isn’t this Stanley Shaw,” he admitted to her. He had lost his path, and he found that walking away was easier than ever just fighting for what he wanted. He had done it with Izzy, he had done it with Veterinary medicine, and now he was going to do it with Jessica and their little bug. “I haven’t done anything to make a judge not ban me from ever seeing her,” he laughed slightly, feeling slightly defeated. “And besides, you know Jessica, you know how hard she is to fight with, or something,” he waved his hand off hoping that she would just let it go again. Stan didn’t have the same passion and drive as he used to. He had lost it, and the worst thing was that he had never been this way. 

Stanley watched as Isabelle brought her hands to the sides of his face. He felt his blood rush to his cheeks. He was being forced to look into her eyes. Her blue eyes looked like a silvery color underneath the moon light, that being there wasn’t enough light to let her blue eyes sparkle. “I still don’t know,” he shrugged. He continued to exam the girl’s soft features, the way her cheeks were full, and how her lips were smooth. Her lips were something the boy could stare at all day and never get tired of looking at them. She was gorgeous, and he was a fool for ever walking away. He was a fool for giving Isabelle up, and how come it took him so long for him to see it. She was the girl he was in love with, even before he knew what being in love was. He still didn’t know what it was, but Isabelle had to be it. 

Kissing Isabelle was like having a weight lifted off of his shoulders. He paused, keeping his lips against hers for a moment, letting out a shaky breath. Stan pushed himself closer to the girl once more, pressing his lips firmly on hers this time. Her lips were so soft, and Isabelle was so warm. Even as they sat in the shallow water of the ocean, she was the only thing he needed in this moment to make him feel safe and sound. He tangled his fingers further into her golden hair, pulling the girl closer to him, resting his other hand on her thigh out of habit. 

[stanley-shaw-blog]

They Come Unstuck | Isabelle

[izzy-mueller-blog1]

“You’re a fucking cheater,” Izzy shot back, inching her way into the ocean. She shivered as the cold water attacked her toes, ankles, and knees, pausing for a moment to let her body adjust. If there was one thing she hated, it was the painfully slow process of getting into the water, for she wasn’t the type of person to jump right in. Her eyes widened in surprise as she felt Stan’s warm around her, shrieking as she was suddenly lifted off of the ground. “Stanley Shaw, you put me down right now,” she screamed, clasping her arms around his neck as she scrambled for purchase. She was both terrified and exhilarated at the same time, body on edge for the moment Stan decided to drop her. In the moon’s loving light, the two looked as they should - two lovers who snuck away from their busy lives for a quiet moment with the other. It was them against the world, and there was nothing that could stop them.

Of course, things weren’t that easy. When it came to Stan and Izzy, things were never easy. She screamed as she went flying, body enveloped by the cold ocean. As she struck the water, so did a moment of clarity. This wasn’t normal. They didn’t do things like this. It was all or nothing when it came to Stan - there was none of this “just friends” bullshit. The blonde resurfaced and chided herself for thinking otherwise, smiling over at the boy to pretend like everything was fine. She could already feel her resolve breaking, crumbling away as she spent more time with Stan. She simply stared at him once they both resurfaced, thoughts racing. “What?” she asked softly, not believing her ears. A baby? Stan? He was the last person she would have expected to have a child at this young of an age. When she met him, he knew exactly what he was going to do with his life, whereas she was the complete opposite. Now, the roles were reversed. “Well,” she said slowly, “I think you’re going to be a great father.” And with that, she wrapped her arms around him and began rubbing his back in soothing circles as she tried comprehending what he just said. 

[stanley-shaw-blog]

Stanley looked over at the girl who he had walked away from. In life, timing is everything. And for Stanley and Isabelle, their timing was off. As soon as he thought he loved her, Jessica came back into his life, exposing his weaknesses and he fell for her just as he did when they were children. His old habits with Jessica started pouring out and it was that easy for him to forget Isabelle in the whole process. Things were easy with Jessica, he didn’t have to work for it with her. They had known everything about one another. They had known each others families and had all the same friends. With Isabelle he had to work, and usually it wouldn’t have been a problem, but it was for them. They just didn’t work. 

He shook his head softly and chuckled. “She’s not letting me,” he gave her a short smile before he fell into her body, allowing the tears to start spilling out. “And just like my father did to me, I won’t get to see how they grow up. I won’t get to call her my baby girl,” he could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. “Jessica is moving back in with her parents, and she’s not letting me be any part,” he rolled his eyes and laughed. “Like father like son, I guess,” he whimpered slightly. He pulled away from Isabelle and looked at her, her wet blonde hair was clinging slightly on her face. He used his hand to push it out of the way, but left it on her cheek. He flicked his eyes down to her lips then back up to her eyes. Among the tides in the pale moon light, he leaned in close and brushed his lips against hers ever so softly.

[goodishmusic]

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[stanley-shaw-blog]

You leave with the tide And I can't stop you leaving I can see it in your eyes Some things have lost their meaning

[stanley-shaw-blog]

They Come Unstuck | Isabelle

[izzy-mueller-blog1]

She let out a soft sigh of relief when he agreed to her request, since she have an alternate plan, should he deny it. The blonde gracefully rose, smoothing out the wrinkles of her dress as she waited for Stan to join her. As the pair walked down the length of the dock and back to the beach, the boy’s hand brushed against hers, sending shivers down her spine. How could something so simple, so chaste, affect her like that? It had been months since she had thought of him, yet a few minutes together was enough to push her towards her former self. Izzy pursed her lips and tried dispelling all of the memories that she shared with Stan, the good and the bad, for she refused to go down that path again. She was at a good place in her life, and she was terrified of anything upsetting the balance of things. But seeing Stan again was a variable she never accounted for, and she was terrified of what would happen, for she could never think straight with him around. All of her logic was swept away with the tide, leaving her with only emotion-driven decisions. 

Izzy looked up sharply as he spoke, taking a moment to process what he just said. She narrowed her eyes slightly as his challenge registered, and by that time, he was a good five feet ahead of her. “It’s fucking on,” she muttered, sprinting after Stan. By the time she made it to the water, he had already stripped, putting all his belonging in a neat pile. “Cheater,” she grumbled, trying to appear as if she wasn’t trying to catch her breath. She slipped off her dress and put it on top of Stan’s clothes, revealing the red bikini that she often wore whenever they went to the beach. Her toes grazed the water’s edge, and Izzy slowly made her way into the water as her body adjusted to the cold. 

[stanley-shaw-blog]

“Oh I’m not a cheater,” he stuck out his tongue as he slowly went into the water, careful not to get too cold too quickly, since it was so early in the year it was still fairly chilly outside. He watched as the girl slipped off the same dress she had wore exactly a year ago, making the floodgates of his memories demolish when it clicked in his head. The red bikini clung to her body just as it had a year ago, and it drove Stan wild. When the two of them started talking, Stan wanted to make it very clear that before any benefits they were friends. Which in hindsight, he now knew that it was that mistake that lead them to be here at the dock just a year later in completely different places with a history that was still foggy to him. He shook his head as Izzy approached him and tried to make the thoughts go away. For a moment, Stan put on a mask, or maybe he took one off with Isabelle. She was the only girl that he could talk to and want to fuck her at the same time. She was the only person that he felt okay around, like he could breathe again whenever she was near.

Stan decided to take a risk for a moment and he went over to Izzy and scooped her up into his arms. “Yelnats attacks the poor girl, Fizz,” he changed his voice to be a narration one. The fake airplane noises started to spill out of his mouth as he spun the pair of them around before he lost his balance that sent them both crashing down into the waves. When he emerged from the water, Stan was laughing, the first time he had laughed in a while, this sounded like a completely different person than he was before. He pushed his hair out of his face and looked over at the blonde with a faint smirk. Pulling his lips into his mouth, he felt them begin to tremble the longer he looked at Izzy. The tears began to well over the lids and he shook his head. He rubbed his eyes gently, mainly to get the tears out of his face. He looked away from the blonde and into the water below him. “I’m having a baby,” a whisper escaped ever so faintly. To the point where if you weren’t paying attention you couldn’t tell what he was saying. 

[stanley-shaw-blog]

They Come Unstuck | Isabelle

[izzy-mueller-blog1]

Although she shouldn’t have been, Izzy was surprised when Stan reacted in such fashion. She slid her hand beneath her thigh once more and tried making herself as small as possible, not used to being rejected like that. Her mind was screaming leave, leave, leave, and she was seriously contemplating it. Maybe it was better if she disappeared from his life once more, so that she wasn’t a constant reminder of their painful past. But maybe he just needed someone, anyone to talk to in his time of need, and she didn’t want to leave a former friend in shambles. If anything, it was her responsibility to help him. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, telling herself to stop being selfish and think about how much Stan was hurting, instead of how it would be better for her to just leave. The blonde was at a loss of words, for she had never been very good with feelings and situations like these. She was more of a physically comforting type of person, and didn’t know what to do when it came to this. 

She nodded slowly when he began opening up to let him know that she was listening. Izzy stared intently at him as he spoke, trying to pick up on any other indicators than his words as to what he was talking about. “That’s not true,” she said softly, mulling over his words. “And I’m sure she isn’t cutting you out of her life…she’s probably just busy or something,” she added lamely, wincing as the words came out of her mouth. She definitely wouldn’t want to hear that if she was in his position. “Wanna go swimming to take your mind off things?” she offered, hoping that he wanted to do more than just brood on the docks. 

[stanley-shaw-blog]

There she was, the blonde beautiful girl that he called his for only a moment before the sun started shining again. He could smell the faint scent of her near her body. The tides were rolling in now, the pull so strong, finally a sense of the thing he had been missing for so many months. She was just a reach away, all he had to do was reach out his hand to hold hers, but he couldn’t muster up the strength. Stan folding his hands into his lap and began to nervously twitching with his right sleeve, as his left one was pushed up his forearm. He twirled a loose string around his pointer finger in hopes that maybe he could feel something again. Physical pain would be better than this at this point. Stan had never thought that he would stoop down to something so low, but he wasn’t on the dock just to watch the water underneath his feet. “Yes it is,” his voice was weak, cracking slightly as he looked over to her. He rolled his eyes again and chuckled softly. 

Stan bit his lip slightly, scratching his head as he thought of her proposal. “Sure,” he finally agreed with her as he stood up. The two of them began to walk to the end of the dock to get back down to the beach, and Stan let his guard down for a moment and let his hand brush lightly against the blonde’s. He pulled away quickly and rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn’t uncomfortable with touching Izzy, he was just scared that too much contact would create a spark, and that was something that he couldn’t start up again. They made it to the sand, and he felt the grains fall over his toes before looking over at her. “I’ll race you there,” he grinned slightly before taking off without another warning. Making it down to the water, he quickly stripped off his hoodie, shirt, pants, and shoes, leaving them in a nice pile just out of the tides reach. 

[stanley-shaw-blog]

They Come Unstuck | Isabelle

[izzy-mueller-blog1]

Izzy couldn’t help but feel a bit deflated when Stan didn’t respond, biting her lower lip in order to keep her emotions in check. She sat there quietly and stared at the horizon, observing the starry sky kissing the stormy sea. The blonde shifted her gaze and watched Stan out of her periphery vision, noting how tired and vulnerable he looked. The longer they sat in silence, the more she regretted her decision to sit down and try to amend all that was lost between them. But maybe this was it. Maybe this was what they were meant to be. With Izzy, things were either all or nothing, and things with Stan had run their course. The spark that kept them alive, had burnt out, and there was little she could do to reignite it. 

She perked up slightly when he finally responded, keeping her gaze firmly rooted on Stan. Her eyebrows rose when he started talking about his life, not expecting things to turn out this way. The Stan she knew, had his entire life planned out, and wouldn’t let anything compromise his vision. The blonde slipped a hand out from under her leg and tentatively put it on his back, rubbing it in small circles. “Well, at least it can only go up from here?” she questioned, wondering what the hell was going on with him. 

[stanley-shaw-blog]

Stan jolted when he felt Isabelle's hand against his back, sending chills down his spine even though it was quite warm out. He pulled his body away from her touch, knowing that it was soft and familiar would only push Stan further past the breaking point. "No," he managed to get out in a whisper as he felt his eyes well up again. He wanted so badly to tell her everything, but he wished that she would've been there to just experience it with him. Though if Isabelle was there he wouldn't ever had been in the situation with Jess. "Imagine everything in your life going wrong at once," he paused for only a moment. "That's what happened to me," he chuckled to himself once more before letting his eyes fall back onto the water below them. 

"My mom lost her job," he thought that one would be a safe place to start. "The bakery just wasn't making the money that she needed it to make and it all went to shit," he laughed again. "Coraline, she... Well she just stopped talking to me and I don't know why. My own sister couldn't take me anymore," he couldn't help but laugh at himself. "I'm such a loser," he shook his head and bit his lip slightly. 

[seabetween]

[stanley-shaw-blog]

They Come Unstuck | Isabelle

[izzy-mueller-blog1]

Izzy was very aware of Stan’s movements, even though she had averted her gaze to the water. She leaned over the edge and watched as the water distorted their reflection, which was fitting, considering they were both distorted versions of their former selves. While she only knew Stan for several months, she felt like she knew him well enough to know that something was seriously wrong - and that something wasn’t her being there. The blonde chewed on her lower lip as she thought, sighing contently as the soft wind brushed past, blowing softly through her hair. She studied the boy through her peripheral vision, wondering what it was about him that had such an effect on her. He was something that lingered on the edge of her consciousness - always there, but not invading her every thought. She smiled faintly as she thought of the memory of him, and all the things they had done together. Nostalgia clouded her thoughts as she thought about their adventures, from visiting the dock to sex in a movie theater to late night talks. We could have been something really beautiful, she thought, thinking about the promise ring that rested on her ring finger. She slid her hands beneath her legs, not exactly knowing her reasoning behind it. All she knew was that she didn’t really want him knowing about it. 

The blonde was startled out of her thoughts when Stan finally spoke, taking a moment to process his words. She struggled finding the right words to properly express her sentiment. “Well, hello to you too,” she teased, “but yeah. It’s a good kind of crazy, right?” Izzy nudged him with her shoulder and offered him a small smile, hoping to lighten the mood. “She was trying to get some sort of conversation rolling, wanting him to say more than simply three words to her. There was once a time where she found comfort in the silence blanketed them, but now, she wanted to do anything and everything she could to dispel it. She fidgeted as she waited for a response, letting the ocean’s waves fill the silence instead. 

[stanley-shaw-blog]

Stan scoffed slightly when the girl nudged his shoulder, still looking down at the water. He was still unable to form a sentence to express to her just how crazy everything thing was. He could hear the smile laced in her voice, her desperate attempts to try and make the mood lighter with it. The silence consumed the pair of them, a think blanket spread across the longer they sat together. Stan didn't have anything to say to her. Instead of growing up and being responsible, he completely went off the rails when Isabelle left his life, he couldn't even say hello anymore. Though as she was sitting here, he had to say something to her. Anything. That would at least show her that he loved her-- that he used to love her. Stan slowly shook his head in her response to her initial question. "Not really," he let his heavy eyelids close to try and keep the tears from coming out. 

There were a few long moments of silence, the only sound was the pair of them breathing or the waves crashing onto shore. "Life has really gone to shit," his voice broke, sounding as hopeless as ever. Stanley Logan Shaw was at rock bottom, and even then he could feel himself sinking even further down into the abyss that he would never be able to escape. He laughed for a moment before looking at the girl with his strained eyes and messy hair. He shook his head, his laugh escaping through the small spaces between his teeth. She looked so beautiful in this lighting with the moon just in the right space, it took him back to the night that they had shared at the dock nearly a year ago. 

[stanley-shaw-blog]

They Come Unstuck | Isabelle

[izzy-mueller-blog1]

Izzy changed. For the better or for the worse, she had yet to decide. She somehow managed to get her life relatively back on track, and graduation was looming in the horizon. Sure, she didn’t have the best grades or history, but she was insurmountably better than she was before. The place she was interning at even offered her a job, which was waiting for her after graduation. A large part of her success could be attributed her boyfriend, Grant, who had been nothing but good to her. He had stayed through the good and the bad, pushing her to be the best person she was capable of being. Mind games, promiscuity, and excessive partying was exchanged for honesty, openness, and most importantly, trust. A faint smile flit across her features as she remembered their first endearingly awkward conversation that bloomed into something beautiful. 

Lately, she had been coming back to the dock. While it held several memories of Stan, it wasn’t as suffocating as it was before. Stan became something of the past, and she hardly ever thought of him. With Grant, her internship, volleyball, friends, and school, she refused to allot time for brooding over the past. While the past was what helped define a person, she wasn’t to focus purely on the present and future, because she had power to change the course of her life. She twisted the promise ring that rested on her ring finger, as she walked down the length of the docks, noticing a hunched figure at the end. Izzy frowned slightly but kept walking, figuring there was enough room for the both of them. The moonlight illuminated her path, and as she approached him, she realized who it was. “Is anyone sitting here?” she asked quietly as she settled down, smoothing out her dress as she got comfortable. She stared out at the ocean and listened as the waves sung her its calming lullaby, not daring to look at the boy. 

[stanley-shaw-blog]

Taking a breath in, he held it for a moment before he shakily let it go. In just three months he was going to be a father, whether he wanted it or not. He couldn't put together what was happening. All Stan knew was that his entire life was going to change, not that it was very good at the moment anyways. Jess had told him that she was moving in with her parents to take care of the kid and that he didn't really have say in the matter. His thoughts were interrupted when a voice invaded his head and felt like a dagger in his chest, causing his breath to hitch. Isabelle. It had been so long since he heard her voice, and now it was the only thing echoing in his mind. He couldn't believe that she was there. What was she doing there? He hadn't talked to her in months, though it felt like forever. He couldn't manage to get any words out of his mouth before he could feel her sitting down next to him. He bit his lip and let his eyes shut close, bringing his hands up to cover his face. Izzy couldn't see him like this, not in this state. Stan was a wreck, and he knew that if he spoke that he would just break.

He could hear her breathing softly or adjusting slightly. He was scared to look up at her, fearing what she might say or what she might look like. He didn't want to see the pity on her face or the sympathy that would well in her eyes. He could feel her presence though, the warmth that had always surrounded her. Finally Stan shook his head slightly, moving his hands to underneath his legs, in fear that he would be hiding from her for too long and that she would just leave. "It's crazy, right?" he managed to whisper without looking at the girl or giving her anything else to work with. Out of all of the words, he couldn't manage to string together any other combination of words to express what he wanted to tell her. He couldn't even manage to say hello to her. So he sat there, looking at the water beneath his feet noticing the reflection of the moon on the waves. A feeling invaded his chest and tugged at his heartstrings, making his eyes water slightly. His moon was back in orbit and she was creating tidal waves of feelings and yet he could only say three words to her. 

[jessicaxbradley-blog]

Awesome. See ya’ around, I guess.

[stanley-shaw-blog]

Uh, yeah. Let me know if you uh... If you need anything at all.

[jessicaxbradley-blog]

Are you kidd – here, you can open the envelope.

[stanley-shaw-blog]

Oh okay...

It's a girl! [Slightly happy, still stressed but like baby bug is about to be here and it's so cute, he'll be so happy]

[jessicaxbradley-blog]

[Let’s just assume before she starts cussing him out the lady comes out with the results and Jessica gets up and walks away]

So… what do you think I’m having?

[stanley-shaw-blog]

[Okay so yeah he's like following her and he does the whole hand on his back of the neck. Standing by her when she gets the paper and blah blah]

Well I don't know. Do you want to know? Or just keep the sheet in the envelope?