Aiden thinks as he walks back to his office that maybe he can cut out early today. There’s not so much for him to do today and people have taken an early weekend. It’s supposed to be hot yet beautiful and usually he’d go with Holly to one of her fancy influencer lunch things but he thinks he can get out of it. He usually a wall when attends and mingling with the boyfriends or husbands of these other influencers is always so fucking weird to him. They’re clout chasers and they’re investors in digital currency or protein powder.
“Hey Jenny,” Aiden greets as he passes by her desk. She looks up and smiles at him as he leans against it and she laughs as it tired and bored face. “Anything important happening tomorrow?”
“Thinking of playing hooky?” He asks, pulling up his calendar on her computer. “Nothing urgent, I can reschedule the meeting with the strategy team. They’ll probably love that.”
Aiden nods, “Go for it. If you can, go early today and have a long weekend.”
Jenny smiles at Aiden’s kindness. Her friends always ask her how she’s been an EA for five years and it’s bored of it. But she does more than order lunch or get coffees, Aiden gives her side projects and he knows she wants to one day move to a different department so he’s helping her learn and get there.
“Thanks Aiden.” She smiles and watches him walk towards his office. “Oh, you’ve got a visitor.”
Aiden hums as he opens the door half expecting it to be Holly. She likes to pop up sometimes, probably something about the wedding and he internally pushes down some hatred that’s beginning to stir. This wedding is really messing him up. Yet instead, he looks into his office seeing Luci and his negative feelings are immediately washed away. He closes the door behind him and smiles at her.
“I’m beginning to think you don’t actually work.” Aiden says, walking towards her.
Grace was bouncing on her toes as she got dressed. She was so excited for her date with Lia tonight. The other day, they had made a little jar of colorful popsicle sticks with things they can do on little days and date nights. Just in case they couldn’t decide. It came in handy. And Grace had loved helping make them and come up with ideas. She danced around her room in her short denim shorts and red and white striped t-shirt. Her hair was in a classic half up, half down style and her make up was done. The popsicle stick they had drawn had said “bowling” so that’s where they were headed. Grace hadn’t been bowling in forever and she was so excited. “You almost ready?” she poked her head into Lia’s room with a smile. She was really excited to make tonight fun, because last time they had gone out on a date, it ended badly. Grace was determined to make this go well.
Rachel takes a deep breath as she grabs her bag and exits her dorm room. A part of her wants to run the other direction and avoid the whole situation but she knows that isn’t the responsible thing to do. She needs to officially meet this girl that stole her face, that is related to her, who she has never met before in her whole life. The thought of approaching this subject with a complete stranger makes her stomach hurt but Rachel knows it is nerves, it’s the anger she’s been holding onto since she stormed out of her dad’s house. She waits by the entrance to the dorm room, trying her best to control her emotions- something she had an extremely hard time doing. What does she do when she sees Lily? Cry? Hug her? Shake her hand? She’s never been in such a unique situation before but maybe it will come in handy for a future role.
WHO: Benji Karofsky (@benjikarofsky) and Franco Del Rio (@southsidefranco)
WHERE: Benji’s apartment
WHEN: 29th April 2019 (Backdated)
NOTES: After breaking the rules and sneaking out, Franco comes back home to show Benji what he bought during his journey outside the apartment
TRIGGERS: Vague Drug use/abuse mentions, withdrawal mentions
BOLD: Benji
ITALIC: Franco
WORD COUNT: 1456
Franco knew he was out of line for going out as soon as Benji had gotten some sleep and, as soon as he was alone, he knew it was a bad idea. He wanted a hit and he wanted it so bad but he couldn't do this. He needed to focus on getting what he wanted and then going home, Benji would be pissed enough.
He walked back into the apartment and sat on the sofa, making a loud noise with the keys so Benji knew he was home and bracing for the impact he suspected was coming from sneaking out.
When Benji heard Franco enter the apartment, he walked into the living room, his arms as close to crossed as they could be with his sling. He was in his pajamas, his eyes were noticeably red from lack of sleep, and he was having trouble suppressing his anger. "Franco. It's been a week and a half. I finally fall asleep at a reasonable time, and then you sneak out?" he questioned, his voice stern.
He crossed his arms tighter, his temper starting to get the better of him. "I have simple rules to keep you safe, and you completely ignored them!" he scolded, "Do you understand how hard I'm working to make sure you're being monitored until we can sign you up for a support group? I'm trying to get you better! And the first time I try not to be exhausted, you sneak out!"
Franco rolled his eyes as he turned to face Benji, "I know the rules but I couldn't take you with me today" he complained. He sighed and stood, walking over to where Benji was, "Look, I think I proved myself today. I went out, I didn't touch drugs or even go looking for them, no matter how much I wanted to. I just went to a shop, had a beer, went to another shop and smoked some cigarettes". He sighed and crossed his own arms, "You should be proud of me, not pissed".
"Of course I'm proud of you!" Benji shot back, "but I'm also pissed! What if you left and you weren't ready yet? I would've been devastated, and I would've been just as mad at myself as I was at you! And I don't want you to make a habit of this! Because today you were good, but the urges are gonna fluctuate and the next time you leave, there's no guarantee that you'll have the same level of willpower. I've put rules in place, and you need to follow them!"
Franco rolled his eyes again and nodded, "Sure whatever, rules are rules but I did get you something" he breathed. He felt in his jacket to ensure he still had the gift and moved even closer to Benji, smiling at him. "Look, I don't do this relationship stuff very well. Lord knows the only me you've ever really known is the me who was off my face on drugs and then the me who put you through literal hell withdrawing" he paused and gulped before continuing, "Somehow, even when I was hurting you, you stayed with me. Even when I didn't deserve you to do that, you still stayed. You got me through the other side, even if it did take handcuffs and knocking me out and physical restraint but here I am, clean for the first time in who knows how many weeks". He paused again, not sure where he was going with this so he reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring box, opening it and showing Benji, "It's not an engagement ring... It's a promise ring. A promise I won't hurt you. A promise I won't cheat on you and a promise I'll stay clean or die trying".
As Franco's little speech went on, Benji felt his body relax, and by the time he was done, Benji had tears in his eyes. "Franc..." he whispered, stepping forward to his boyfriend and kissing him. "That's all I want from you. As long as you do those 3 things, we'll get through anything." He smiled and let his forehead rest against Franco's, a smile still plastered on his face. "Are you gonna be all cheesy now and put the ring on me?" he teased.
Franco breathed a sigh of relief, one he didn't even know he was holding when Benji stepped to him and kissed him, "I ain't going to go through the week I've just been through all over again, not if I can help it but it is going to be tough". He took the ring out of box and lifted Benji's left hand, "Promise rings can be worn on any finger from what I read, so which one do you want it on?". He didn't want to assume the ring finger in case Benji wasn't cool with that, "I'm going to be real honest with you, I did have temptation when I was out there today, but I came home to stop it".
Benji blushed and silently moved Franco's hand so the ring was inline with his ring finger. "Be careful of my sling," he whispered, helping him slowly slide the ring. When Franc admitted his temptation, Benji nodded, a soft smile still on his face. "I know you did, Babe. The withdrawal's over, but until we really get you into a group, the temptations are gonna hit you hard sometimes." He stepped forward to kiss him again. "But as long as you overcome them, that's all I could ask for." He pulled Franco close and kissed him again, deeper this time.
Franco smiled as he out the ring onto Benji's finger and nodded, more to himself, he'd finally got something right in this relationship. He scoffed a little, "I'm still not doing that on my own" he said and before he could add anything, Benji was kissing him. He kissed back, almost hungry for it, they hadn't really done romance since he'd come of heroin, "God I missed this" he breathed in between kisses.
Benji smiled and kissed Franco again, then pulled back just enough to rest his forehead on Franco's. "Mm... I missed you too," he whispered, sitting down on the couch and tugging on Franco's arm to try to pull him down onto the couch as well.
Franco moved with ease to the couch and smiled over at Benji, gently taking his hand and looking at the ring, "Did I finally do something good? Did I finally get something right?" he asked. He knew the ring hadn't cost much, hell he couldn't afford much. The last of his money had gone on this.
"You did something very good--"Benji accented his statement with a soft peck on Franco's lips, "and something very right--"he gave Franco another kiss. "And you know the best part? You did it sober. You went outside sober, you made good decisions sober, and you came home to me sober. I. Am. So. Proud," he added, each word being ended with a kiss.
Franco couldn't even try and hide the smile on his lips with every kiss and he gulped back his own emotions, "I didn't want to let you down and knowing I'd already broken a rule and left, I wanted to make it OK". He looked back at Benji's hand, "It didn't cost much, I used the last of the money Dare gave me for it but it's something" and this time he couldn't hide the embarrassment in his face.
"Franco," Benji scolded playfully. "Stop trying to explain it, Babe. I don't care. It's perfect, I love it, and I love you," he whispered, grabbing Franc by his shirt and pulling him into a deep kiss.
Franco bit his lip and nodded but felt his shirt getting pulled and he smirked, "But babe, I don't want you to think I cheaped out" he breathed, kissing him back, every other word broken with a kiss, "I love you too much for that".
"I don't care how much it costs," Benji purred in between kisses. The more the two kissed, the more he remembered how long it had been since they were able to actually do romantic things. "I missed you..." he whispered again, laying down flat on the couch and pulling Franco on top of him by his shirt.
Franco rolled and held himself above Benji, his hand either side of the other mans head as he looked down into his eyes, "I missed us..." he breathed, "I missed the start of what we had and I'm going to make it up too you. I'm going to be the perfect boyfriend" he said, a smile on his lips as he lent down to kiss Benji
RACHEL: Pamela Lansbury has performed -- flawlessly, of course -- dismantled their instrument and amp set up, and are preparing for the Warblettes to take the stage for their portion of the battle. But even though their set has gone well, the night still feels a little off. There were defections, some of which Rachel understands and others she doesn't, and then there's the wardrobe additions that make no sense at all. Inching up to the bar, Rachel gains the attention of an employee and orders two shooters. With the shot glasses in hand, she seeks out her bandmate and is happy to find her somewhat on her own even in a crowd of people.
"A shot for me." Rachel throws back the amber liquid like a pro, though she grimaces as the tequila burns a path down her throat. Her features are still a bit twisted up when she offers the second shot, a layered mix of vodka, grenadine, and Curacao, to Ellie. "And one for you. To match what you're wearing, of course."
Two of ours. Three of theirs. Emily was an internal mess without details. They weren’t even completely certain of what hospital they had been sent to let alone who was down. Emily had half a mind to find anyone in the sheriff's department and tell them the complete lack of communication was unacceptable. She knew better though than to upset the balance they had with local law enforcement, especially one like this. JJ was the one good with dealing with people. Emily just wanted answers. JJ. Usually Emily could control her emotions, use them even. Let them in to have their moment and then push them away. Except this time Emily’s hands shook and each time she caught Garcia’s distressed expression it threatened to shake her own control loose. She needed space, away from Garcia’s readily apparent concern and Rossi’s questioning eyes. This had happened before. It was their job. And yet now it felt much more intense. There was more to lose and the surface calm that Emily could usually find was harder to hold to. Two of ours. Three of theirs. It rang in Emily’s ears again to the beat of her thudding heart. The odds weren’t good.
Emily was trying to focus on the case, hands on her hips when JJ strode through the doorway. Safe, whole, ponytail bouncing behind her in a sight that almost caused Emily to burst. “JJ!” She had just enough presence of mind to not outright bolt to the other agent. The swell of relief was nearly overwhelming as Emily immediately closed the distance between them. “Thank god you’re okay,” she breathed out, settling for putting one hand on JJ’s arm and sliding it down until she could hold at the crook of her elbow. “They didn’t give us names of who had been shot” The part of her that tended toward paranoia thought that the officers enjoyed the power of keeping the FBI in the dark. Emily’s eyes darted over JJ reassuring herself that she wasn’t hurt, and she visibly swallowed down the lump of emotion in her throat she couldn’t afford right now. They still hadn’t caught who was behind everything. Mills was the fall guy. And they were down two agents. “Morgan and Reid? What happened?” A shootout could have meant anything. Emily hadn’t taken her hand away from where she held on to JJ, like the blonde could provide the stability needed to stop her body that had been vibrating since she entertained the prospect that JJ was headed to the hospital again.
A soft knock sounded at the door but the noise barely registered in Clara’s mind. Her thoughts were currently occupied, as they had been for a month or so, with the whole situation between her and Tess and Alex. She didn’t have time to dwell on it at the moment though, as the door creaked open and her mom’s concerned face peeked in through the crack.
“Hey, baby girl. I’m about to head off to work now. I brought you some soup.”
Katy Sweet’s voice was soft, hopeful. Clara knew that her mom was worried and hated herself for adding even more unnecessary stress to the life of someone who was always trying to help, but she couldn’t bring herself to put effort into acting like everything was fine. Just another thing that she could add to the list of ways she was currently failing at life. For Katy’s benefit, she attempted a small smile but knew it probably looked more painful than anything. “No thanks, Mom. I’m really not hungry.”
She waited for the usual comment, that she hadn’t been hungry for weeks, but her mom looked at her watch and sighed. She was running late. “Okay, baby girl. I’m just going to leave it in here with you in case you change your mind.” Katy sat the bowl on Clara’s nightstand and kissed Clara’s forehead, before casting her a worried look and heading out the door.
Her sigh echoed her mother’s; it probably had been at least a day since the last time she’d ate and she knew her mom was starting to question if there was something more going on with her eating habits. The fact of the matter was that she simply wasn’t hungry. Her stomach was in a constant state of turmoil as New Years drew closer and, yeah, she’d thrown up a few times when trying to force herself to eat out of necessity. Apparently her body simply couldn’t handle being stressed and fed at the same time. Clara considered the soup for a brief moment, wondering if she could stomach it but, when she cautiously sniffed at the bowl, her throat constricted. With a feeling of disappointment, she took the bowl out to the kitchen, dumping a little bit of the chicken and broth into Ginger’s bowl before throwing the rest of it away.
Once she had returned to her room, Clara resumed the position that she lived in these days: curled up on her side, staring at the wall. She tried to ignore her thoughts but it wasn’t long until all of her worries and doubts flooded her mind, almost choking her with their urgency. Clara slammed her eyes shut and breathed in slowly. It was almost impossible not to give into her panic.
First, her friendship with Tess. Clara wasn’t stupid; she knew Alex and she knew at least some of his thought processes. If he was picking anyone, it wasn’t going to be Tess. A few months earlier and Clara would have thought their friendship could survive anything but now she wasn’t so sure. Tess had been, for a lack of a better word, mean ever since they had entered into this weird triangle state. She’d made Clara feel like she was going crazy, questioning her every move about whether or not it was Clara enough. She’d been made to feel like crap for getting good grades; for not defending her art to a nobody TA; for liking a good, stable guy.
Worst of all was the fact that Clara didn’t think Tess knew what she was doing. Tess had always been the most immature in their group and she and Barnabas had catered to that fact for years, protecting Tess in light of anything that might ruin her innocence. It seemed that their ploy to maintain her child-like nature was now backfiring on them because Tess was being more than immature. It was almost like Tess had liked him first so she thought that she automatically won the, as Tess saw it in her mind, competition. Like Alex and Clara and anyone else who got hurt in the process were just enemies Tess had to take down in order to be on top.
With a deep breath, Clara pulled her blanket up to her chin and stared blankly ahead. All that aside, she knew that without Tess and without Tess’s family, she would probably be on the streets right now. They had become a family to her when her dad had left and when her mom had been too preoccupied trying to keep a roof over their head to be a proper parent. Tess had held her when she cried, was the only person for years who ever actually saw Clara cry. She had helped Clara through school, ensuring that she passed and was able to continue on at the same rates as her friends. She had encouraged Clara in her art when Clara thought that her skills were nothing, had encouraged her to be better. With the history between them, Clara could easily pinpoint the fact that it was this situation that had made everything so messed up.
And then there was Alex...
Just the thought of his name made her chest ache with wanting. It was so easy to picture his stupid, goofy, Huckleberry grin that made her want to kiss him until that grin turned into something more awestruck. Or his arms and the way that they wrapped around her waist, making her feel secure and so unsteady at the same time. How he opened up to her more than anyone else in their group, besides Levi, and how she felt like she could do the same with him. She remembered him holding her as she cried over her dad and how maybe the situation would turn out okay; how she felt waking up in his arms, like it was something she could do every day for the rest of her life. How, before all this happened, she had been planning to ask him to be her boyfriend for real. How, before all of this happened, she could easily see herself falling in…
No. Clara cut the thought off abruptly, not wanting to bring that to mind when there was so much more to worry about.
She had considered just bowing out gracefully but every time she would go to do it, every time she’d call him Alex and prepare herself to break her own heart, she was pulled up short. All of the memories of their month or so as an item would stop her from doing that. Clara wanted to be with him. Clara wanted to be with him. He was the reason she had endured any of this mess at all. Alex was worth the trouble.
Was it worth her friendship with arguably the most important person in her life though? How would Tess handle rejection? Could they actually all continue to be friends if Tess didn’t get her way or would the last few months be the continuing model of their relationships? Would everyone in the group just drift off into their own spheres, leaving six individuals instead of one whole?
Clara didn’t know. She didn’t know the answer to anything and it felt like she was dying a slow, miserable, painful death. The last thing she wanted was to lose any of her friends and it was what it currently felt like was happening. Like they were all going to abandon her if she made one false step.
Pulling her blanket tighter around her, Clara continued to stare blankly at the wall, finding it was the only thing that was keeping her grounded right now.
It was a normal night out for Jason. It was the first few days of December, Jason’s least favorite month. Although the male often joked about his birthday being his favorite holiday, Jason did not like the month at all. Bad memories, mostly having to do with Christmas. He was looking to go out more and have plenty distractions. On this particular night, Jason came across a guy he’d never met before. Of course, Jason knew of him, but the stranger Jason paid him no attention.
The two started talking. The name Samantha Lawrence came up in the conversation. Now the stranger had piqued his interest and after a few more minutes of conversation it was revealed that the other had also been romantically involved with Samantha in December of 2012. Jason wasn’t one to jump to conclusions, but now that he knew this information he wasn’t going to let it rest until his questions were answered and his doubts were eliminated.
December 6th, 2016
The first thing Jason did was confront Samantha. He visited her and asked what he wanted to know. She was shocked but her lack of an answer was all Jason needed. Though, he was left with more questions now. How? Jason had done paternity tests before, which told him James Dean was his son, but knowing Samantha, those were probably fixed. Jason was angry. Jason had yet another reason to hate this month. He had no interest in continuing to play dad to a kid that wasn’t his. No matter how much he cared about James Dean. This changed everything.
December 11th, 2016
Jason no longer had a reason to stay in Greensville. Completely let down, once again, he decided that he needed to get away. Take a vacation. A permanent vacation. He didn’t know where he’d be going, but he did know he wasn’t coming back to Greensville. Rio. The Caribbean. The Maldives. All of these were options he considered, but when he really thought about it there was only one place he wanted to be. With Eva. He was conflicted. He hadn’t been to California in so long. Everything he was running from was in California, but so was the one person he needed.
So, he dropped off his son James Dean with his grandparents, arranged everything for his departure, and on December 11th, he moved back to California. Jason never expected things to turn out this way, but that chapter of his life was over. He was certainly still upset about being lied to and, in a way, the loss of his child. But he was f r e e . The one responsibly that Jason had. That had forced him to grow up and kept him from doing many things. It was gone. This felt like getting a second chance at life. Jason never wanted to be a father. That had been the one mistake money couldn’t get him out of, and it was gone. No more James Dean. No more responsibility.
December 5th, 2016
On the fourth, Jason woke up to the realization that it was all a dream. A dream of what could have been. Although the incident at the bar did happen, and he still went to see Samantha and confront her about it. She assured him that James Dean was his son. Jason, however, felt more displeased by the answer than pleased. Because deep down there was a part of him that wanted it to be true. That wanted James Dean to big someone else son. So he could get his life back.
