why don't you show me a little bit of ＳＰＩＮＥ you've been saving for his 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 i only want s̶y̶m̶p̶a̶t̶h̶y̶ in the form of you c͟r͟a͟w͟l͟i͟n͟g͟ into bed with me bertie atticus carter. 21. full time college student, part time pretentious fucker.
bertie stumbled down the park path, his bruised hand clung onto a bottle of wine, his other hand fumbling about in his pocket for a cigarette. if he didn’t have his confidence, he’d be looking pretty pathetic ( maybe he looked pathetic anyway ), already half-drunk and beaten up at three in the afternoon. maybe he deserved it, the world deserved to see how awful he really was. a chuckle escaped from his lips at that thought. he finally settled for a bench looking out on a small pond, the boy now having found the smoke he’d been looking for. obviously, he hadn’t taken mind of the person that had already been on the bench until he actually held a lighter to his cigarette. “sorry--- do you mind ??”
aisha listened to him and shrugged her shoulders. she did not see the point in going to college for the fun of it. some people couldn’t afford to waste that money. for her, it had always been about hard work and determination. “but whats the point in doing all those fun things when you have no purpose in life?”aisha questioned, an eyebrow raised as she watched him for the moment. “i mean, i still have fun but i choose to study for a career.”she commented, a pause for a moment. yes, she partied but she also liked to study and maintain her perfect image she had. “it would just get complicated and it is complicated already.”a soft sigh as she watched him for a moment. “well, i just think it will get complicated. trust me, it already feels like it will be complicated.”
“part of the fun is having no purpose in life, i suppose,” he shrugged back at her. “you’ve got all these responsibilities and ambitions and whatever, i just have every day to do whatever i want. i could get a flight to france tomorrow - well, if i asked dad for the money nicely -, surely that’s a lot more exciting than a career ??” asked bertie, seemingly failing to see that most people had careers to afford random trips to france and the like. “complicated, complicated,” he mused, his chin resting in his hands, “i don’t feel like it’s complicated. have i done something to make this complicated for you ??” he questioned, eyebrows raised, “because like, i’m pretty casual about this whole thing --- nothing needs to be complicated, you know ?? i like things.. uncomplicated.”
sara sits contently in the library. on the floor, squeezed against the non-fiction shelf providing enough room behind her to allow people to pass by. on either side of her are various mountains of books she plans to carry back to her home. how you might wonder? well, she isn’t sure just yet. but within that moment it didn’t matter, sara’s enamoured in her own little corner of the world. noticing a figure behind her is somewhat blocked by her latest mountain, sara springs into a quick apology, “darnit, sorry!” the books are gently slid towards her frame, “didn’t realise i was taking up the entire path.”
he couldn’t help but study the girl taking up the entire path, his interest genuinely peaked by her seemingly trance-like state. she hadn’t even really realised she was taking up the entire path. “don’t worry,” bertie spoke, crouching down next to her. unashamedly, he grabbed one of her books off the pile she’d created. “what are you reading, then ?? you planning on reading all of these here, now ??”
“i swear,” he spoke hesitating to take his shirt off mid sentence. “we all know i’m a firefighter and all, but this louisiana heat is scorching. i don’t know if i can handle it.” gavin said with a laugh as he checked his phone. “first day off i’ve had in forever. i feel like i should know what to do on my day off, but i’m struggling with ideas.”
all bertie could do was stare, mouth slightly agape. “firefighters taking their shirts off ?? this must be my lucky day,” he muttered, not even caring if the man could hear him, “i know plenty of things you could do --- first of all, have you tried taking more clothes off ?? it would help with the heat, you know ??”
“i didn’t mean it like that.. just … just forget about it.”she commented as she ran a hand through her hair as she ran a hand through her brown locks. “yes, but you’re not training to be a nurse bertie, i CAN’T just blow it all off for fun things.”she commented, a soft sigh escaped her lips, making sure everything she had brought with her to the coffee shop was packed. “look, bertie, sleeping with you gets complicated and i..”she commented, another soft sigh escaped her lips as she thought it all through knowing she didn’t want to tell him the truth. “i mean it was good, but two times gets complicated and all.” that was the best excuse she could come up with.
“i wouldn’t want to train to be a nurse, to be fair. i’d make a terrible nurse,” he muttered, “hey-- if you’re actually in college to learn and make something of yourself, fair enough. more power to you, hope that you’ll be the nurse taking care of me when i inevitably do something stupid and life-threatening at some point. i just don’t see how you do it. there’s stuff out there -- so much stuff, that’s just so much more fun than studying.” he raised an eyebrow in surprise, tongue pressing into his cheek, “what do you mean it gets complicated ??” bertie questioned, “none of it needs to be complicated, you know..”
“a, i don’t sound like that, my voice is slightly lower.”she commented, arms folded across her arms. “and b, i don’t want anyone to go through the pain of sleeping with you.” or the possible consequences, she thought. oh, she wanted to punch him in the face sometimes. if he only knew that she was pregnant, their little randevu had created a baby but she didn’t have the heart or GUTS to tell him. “well, you could always add that to you’re tinder profile, i’m sure the girls will go wild for it.”she commented, a small roll of her eyes. “and i have things to do, that don’t revolve around mr. bertie carter, like college work.”she commented, a pause for a moment. “and i’m not doing that again. it was a one time thing.”
“well, i do apologise for my impression of you not being as spot-on as i thought it’d be,” bertie shrugged. “the pain of sleeping with me?? excuse me--- i really don’t think i’m that bad !! in fact, i know i’m not, take it back right now !!” he chuckled, raising his voice slightly in feigned offense. “but see, i’ve got college work too. the solution to having time to do more fun things when you’ve got college work to do is incredibly simple, though: just don’t do it.” bertie offered up the suggestion like the girl couldn’t have thought of it herself. “doesn’t need to be a one time thing if we want it to be a two time thing, though. just putting that out there.” he sounded so casual, like he genuinely didn’t care one way or the other.
“really? what planet do you live on bertie?”she questioned, a laugh escaping her lips as she shook her head. slipping her notepad into her bag. “we all have a lot of things to do bertie, i have assignments to write, volunteer work to do as well as tutoring. it’s not just you.”she commented lightly as she paused for a moment. thinking over his words. “look, we all know how this works, you will sleep with her and i cannot allow it. why not ask the blond chick on the other side of this coffee shop. she looks pretty.”
“but it’s so much effort to properly ask someone out. at least with your friend, i’ve got a way in, y’know. ‘oh bertie, he’s a nice guy, you should totally hang out with him sometime’.” the high-pitched voice he put on a comically bad impression of the girl in front of him. “i should really just find someone consistent, you know? not that i’m consistent, but they can be consistent, and just -i don’t know- hook up with me when i feel like it ?? if only life was that simple..” he mused, then looked up, noticing how aisha was packing up her stuff. “where you off to, then ??” he questioned, “or are you just putting your stuff away so you can come back to mine ?? i’m gonna warn you --- i haven’t cleaned in like, a week. i should really clean my studio..”
“everyone has been busy because their life doesn’t resolve around you.”she commented, a roll of her eyes just wanting him to leave so she could go back to her distraction. FINALLY he was getting to the reason as to why he was bothering her. “nope, i’m not giving you anyone’s number because i know you bertie.”she commented, closing her notebook up and finishing her coffee. “you can always look her up or flatter another pretty blond into bed with you.”
“everyone wishes their lives revolved around me !!” he protested, sounding almost like a whiny toddler throwing a tantrum. “i’m too busy for others anyway, you know ?? got lots of projects i need to finish, books i need to read--” he only became more of an annoyance at hearing she wouldn’t set him up with her friend. “ah c’mon !!” he said, a frown on his features, “i know it’s like girl code to not just hand out numbers or whatever, but you know i’m an alright guy !! and who said i wanted to sleep with her anyway ??”
“right, i’ll bare that in mind the next time i have a coffee.”aisha commented, a small shift of her weight. eyes darting back to her notes, needing to distract herself. he was the last person she wanted to see at this moment in time. “i’ve been okay, just busy and stuff.”she commented, taking her drink back from him. “what about you?”she questioned, a slight confusion as to why he was here. “and did you need something? it feels like you only ever talk to me when you want something.”
“everyone’s been busy lately,” he whined, as if others were only there to be his personal entertainment. he pulled a face as she took the coffee back, only ever so slightly offended by not getting to keep coffee that wasn’t his anyway. “yes--- now that you mentioned it,” bertie spoke, as if he only just remembered why he approached the girl, “you know that girl you were with last friday ?? the blonde ?? any chance you could get her number for me ??”
she tried not to let a laugh escape her lips as she heard what he said. “really, why shouldn’t i drink it?”an eyebrow raised as she watched him for the moment. “everything is bad for you, haven’t you heard?” a dryness to her tone before she sighed, placing her coffee mug down and pushed it towards him. “fine, just one sip though.”
he swiped the cup off the table just a little too quickly, too desperately. he’d had a long night, it was easy to see and he couldn’t bother hiding it. “coffee beans are like bad for the environment and bad for your brain, or some shit..” he muttered, taking a swig from the mug that definitely wasn’t a sip. bertie held onto it then, almost hoping that he could get away with just keeping the cup if he played it off as casual. “how’ve you been, anyway ??”
a hot chocolate in her hand as she skimmed over her notes. a needed distraction as she tried to clear he mind from her recent news. pregnant, something that she had never planned for, not at such a young age. a scrunch of her nose, before she took a sip of her coffee. her gaze looking up from the page of scribbles and caught the other’s gaze. “can i… help?”she questioned, cursing mentally as bertie was the last person she wanted to see.
“you shouldn’t drink that stuff, you know ??” bertie spoke, seemingly quite interested in the girl’s coffee. “it’s like, bad for you. caffeine and shit like that---” he eyed it up with suspicion, his breath smelling of vodka and hypocrisy. he was most definitely awfully hungover. with that though, he carefully reached out. “mind if i have a sip ?? i’m dying, i swear.”
tw: self harm ― ✮ [ MUSE 16, TIMOTHEE CHALAMET, HE|HIM, CISMALE ] hey, check it out! it’s [ BERTIE CARTER ], the [ 21 ] year old [ COLLEGE JUNIOR ]. some people might say they’re [ - OBSESSIVE ] and [ - ESCAPIST ], but their parents will swear they’re [ + DEVOTED ] and [ + THOUGHTFUL ]. and you didn’t hear it from me, but rumor has it, they’re hiding [ HE’S RECENTLY STARTED SELF HARMING AGAIN ].
baking in the kitchen with your mum, oversized sleeves to hide your flask, paint splatters on your jeans, gentle touches on bruised skin, the taste of vodka and honey down your throat, carelessly grazed knees, reading on the roof at three in the morning, an unwavering smirk of unearned confidence, remembering you are mortal as you have another smoke.
this is bertie carter, his full name is albert perseus ( but we don’t talk about that ). he’s a junior in college - which he really sucks at - and a self-proclaimed artist.
he’s always been a bit odd. he seems so far off into his own world at the best of times, everything looks like a game to him, the consequences never quite touching him. he’s always been a troublemaker, someone who didn’t play by the rules. however, since his parents split up, it’s like everything’s come cascading down on him; his behaviour is no longer a casual character trait, he’s lashing out. sometimes even violently, at himself, at others, at anyone that will listen to his frustration.
he’s an english lit major, and therefore, hugely pretentious. he’ll make anything look like an act, a performance he’s putting on, in which other people are mere players - their sole function is to entertain him. he’s got an art studio he never pays rent on on time, he spends most of his time cooped up in there.
bertie loves the persona he puts on for himself - there’s nothing more interesting to him than the façade he’s portraying, and watching other people trying to figure him out. except, there’s not much to figure out - with bertie, what you see is what you get. he’s very open about his feelings and opinions, he just tends to add an air of vagueness to his attitude that makes people think he’s just fucking with them.
speaking of that -- bertie sleeps around. a lot. your friends?? they’ve all slept with him. you?? yes, you probably have. your family?? uncomfortably so, yes. he’s afraid of being lonely, will take any excuse he can get to have someone to cuddle up with, as long as he can leave in the morning before the other wakes up. he doesn’t want to seem vulnerable, touchable.
he’s an insomniac, and if he can’t find a good place to sleep that night, he’ll wander the streets instead. sometimes he brings some cans, sprays some graffiti. it’s mostly out of boredom rather than a genuine love or thrill for illegal street art.
he gets into fights a lot. especially for someone very lanky that never actually wins a fight. it’d be pathetic to watch if it wasn’t for the way he gracefully takes every punch.
he adores his sister and his mother. do not speak badly about them. in fact, do not speak about them at all, you might say something wrong and send him flying off the handle. he’s extremely protective of his family.
