#p:fae

[berryinnyc]

Flashbacks and Echoes

TAGGING → Rachel Berry  TIME FRAME → Saturday 23rd November, Evening LOCATION → Piãno Bar, New York City GENERAL NOTES → With a free evening, Rachel uses her time to 'get out there' and ends up bumping into someone from her past. 

A light voice came from behind her, ordering a beer and 'whatever this fine young lady's having'. Rachel swore it was familiar, but she just adjusted her and smiled before she thanked the man. Pulling back the stall to Rachel's left, the man took a seat and flicked her hair back gently, "So, beautiful... My lips don't kiss themselves, you know..." 

Creep. Her head was screaming it louder than she thought it ever could, so she turned to look at the guy before getting the shock he didn't expect. "Jesse..." she muttered softly. "You're... You're in New York now? I thought... You were at UCLA, you were going to be Hollywood's next best thing, I don--"

The small brunette was sharply cut off by Jesse hushing her and pressing a finger to her lips. He still had that charm that had reeled her in years ago. Was she still on his hook? She couldn't be. She was over him and had been for a long time. "That's old news, baby... All in the past. I'm moving into theatre work and I figured my best shot was Broadway. I didn't think I'd be running into you so soon after I arrived." 

Red subtly appeared over her cheeks and she looked up, "I honestly never thought I'd see you again... Well, except through movies and interviews... You're very talented..." And thus the night continued. They both had more drinks, caught up on everything and weirdly slipped back into their old routine of Rachel admiring every pearl of wisdom from Jesse's mouth. 

It came to be a little later and the pair headed out of the bar a little giggly. Jesse grabbed her phone from her sparkly clutch and tapped in his number. "I expect a text later, baby doll... We can have a nice dinner." 

The girl nodded quickly and smiled up at her ex-boyfriend, "Of course. I'll text you in the morning. Or when I get in... Or whenever..." 

He winked before leaning in and kissing Rachel pretty deeply. She melted into his lips and fondly remembered the sweet and tender kisses he'd given her in the past as her mind raced a little at the thrill of a physical connection. It had been so long since she had felt that closeness - she always would discount her drunken slip up with Finn as nothing more than a lapse in her normally impeccable judgement. Their lips parted and Rachel waved him off as they headed over to the street to hail cabs home. 

She knew she'd cave and text him on the way home. It was odd how quickly she went from creeped out by his frankly awful pick up line to being the dumb teenage girl who had fallen for the more rebellious, older guy. It was a pattern for her, really. Her mind just kept saying that it would be a good rebound and her thoughts of Finn's lightly chapped lips were soon fading to the back of her mind, replaced by the fruity taste of Jesse's. 

[earthtokalvin]

flashbacks and echoes || self-para

TAGGING: Kalvin Hummel.

LOCATION: Hummel-Fabray Loft.

TIMEFRAME: Saturday, July 13th, 2013, late.

NOTES: Kalvin experiences night terrors.

For the first time in a long time, he felt good. And it was this factor in his life that he knew he shouldn’t expect it to last long.

And it most certainly didn’t.

Hours after dinner and when he was sure Bry was asleep, Kalvin lay awake in his own bed, staring at the ceiling with a grimace on his face. Sleep had come easy for the past couple of weeks, but it was different tonight. There was a certain restlessness that he only associated with a sleepless night, and he let out a long sigh, watching as the shapes of shadows from unknown things outside flitted across the ceiling. The orchestra of the usual night sounds, wind rustling through the trees, cars driving past, seemed so loud and intrusive. Kalvin knew he had to at least close his eyes. Nothing bad would happen. Nothing bad had happened since that night seven years ago. It couldn’t happen now.

Steadily, he let his eyes close, counted to 100, and was finally asleep.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d slept before it started, but he was aware that his heart rate was increasing, much too fast for just lying in bed and sleeping. His breathing patterns were sporadic, and he wasn’t even sure of what was happening. Flashes of images, like broken film, rushed past his brain and he could feel his body twitch convulsively, but he wasn’t waking up.

Wake up, damn it.

Kalvin couldn’t let it get to him. Whatever was after him, chasing him, he couldn’t let it get to him. He had to run, but where was he supposed to go when he was already trapped inside his own nightmare? But he had to. He couldn’t let this happen again.

As much as he fought, moving around violently in bed and his covers kicked to the side, it still took ten minutes for him to wake. Like a jolt of lightning, he shot up in bed, feeling himself shaking all over with cold sweat plastered his hair to his forehead. Breathing was still difficult, and Kalvin had to let out a few breaths to calm himself down. Shaking his head, he pressed his palms against his eyes, skin still prickly with goosebumps. He really hoped he hadn’t made too much noise and woken Bry up, because he definitely didn’t need her to see him like this.

And then the flashbacks started. Back to the times when he’d gone through this before. After their mother’s funeral, the first confrontation he’d ever been in, the trial of having to get back home when he’d lost himself on the way home from school. Terror. Fear, rearing it’s angry head and consuming him like fire. Kalvin sniffed in the silence, and when he took his hands away from his eyes, he could feel the wetness against his skin and down his face.

He definitely wasn’t getting back to sleep.