❥▐ cupid's brew

Zachary opened up his eyes to a brand spanking new day. He couldn't be down because it was too lovely and too new a day. Unless something pissed him off. He chuckled at the thought while he woke himself up with his own brewed coffee. While his coffee maker hummed to life he showered and reviewed what he had to do today. Nothing. He only had to check on the klutz and otherwise he was virtually free, unless one of the actors in the play needed something done about their costumes. He woke up considerably chipper after the shower and was even moreso with a breakfast of coffee, creamer, and sugar. He fired off two quick 'Hello' text to Richie and smiled in thought of the boy and his liking towards Elisa.

He settled into his couch after getting dressed and for a few moments, simply enjoyed the solitude of a wintertime quiet. He knew there would be plenty of screaming when he came home though, so he would spend lot's of solitary time enjoying this quiet before enjoying the shrieking of an excited sibling. It filled him with a joy so big he couldn't keep still! He got up and contemplated calling the homestead while he unplugged his phone from it's charger, but he decided against it, instead opting for a few minutes of Facebook picture staring. When that was done, he was calmer and once again checking up on various blogs he was subscribed too.

Oh! Elisa was wake, how fun! He wondered if she was free to hang out with him later! To know the girl behind the computer was an exhilarating thought. He smirked as he kept going through her blog, she and Richie were getting better in their video editing, it showed. He then went back to his reading and his heart kicked into warp speed. She mentioned him, well unless she had met one of the other two Zachary's on the school grounds over the past few days, which he doubted, then she was talking to him. He fangasmed all over his floor.

 

​

The usual routine began and from his bed rose Julius as his eye immediately drifted off to the nearest clock purely agitated by how late he arose from his bed. After a shower and having gotten dressed Julius sat by his kitchen table and rested his head on it with a groan. "Goddamn it...another dull day" Julius muttered silently to himself as he let out another groan. Things were nothing different with him when it came to weekend and he really sucked when it came to plans.

"...I really need friends...or something" Julius said with another groan as he closed his eyes. It was true that Julius had made many friends during his time and true many people actually liked him for some odd reason, but he couldn't necessarily say that he could hang out with said people and chill as the young people say. He opened his eye one more and his eye drifted over to the open cupboard that held his alcohol. With a dull eye he stared at the bottles as if they were calling out to him "....not today boys..." Julius said as if he was a little kid telling his friends he couldn't go to a party he really wanted to go to.

After a while Julius let out a very loud groan as he finally rose from his seat and held his head "maaaaaaaaaaan fuck this I'm just gonna drive some random place and see where it takes me! FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE" Julius yelled unable to bear the boredom any more and grabbed the nearby car keys and ran off to the car and drove off and was never seen again...until the next post....wait is that a contradiction?

 

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⎝ DAY 3┊1/4 ⎞ ❧ ⎝ DATE┊DECEMBER 20TH ⎞ ❧ ⎝ LOCATION┊BENNY'S ⎞
⎝ MOOD┊. . . ⎞ ❧ ⎝ ❤??┊0% ⎞ ❧ ⎝ WEARING ⎞ ❧ ⎝ OOC┊. . . ⎞​

While looking at the menu for something delicious and filling to eat, Bryan patiently awaited Noëlle's answer.

"Well . . . Fine."

The pause between 'well' and 'fine' had been too long. Noëlle was lying to him, again; Bryan concealed his concern and slight anger with a frown. She . . . probably had good reasons for lying to him, right? But she never had before camp two years ago. She was always honest with him -- he was the only one she could be honest with. What had happened to that?

It was pretty unfair, now that he thought about it. Bryan was honest with her, for the most part. She could at least return the favor.

". . . What about you? Anything new? Any girlfriend, hahahaha?"

She sounded strange. "No girlfriend," he replied easily, and that was true. He didn't have a boyfriend either. Thinking on it, he didn't really know what Harley was. Neither of them had really confirmed their relationship to be of that sort. Sure, they were intimate, open with each other, and Harley was a true friend Bryan knew he could rely on, but what else?

"Noëlle, how have you really been?" he asked her, with a bit more force this time. "Be honest." I hate it when you lie to me. he thought with a small spiteful feeling. "Something's been bothering you. I can tell."

. . . -ish.

 

Kurt saw the mute girl come back in, and saw her hand. It looked like a lamp had hit it, to be sure.

He said, "I don't think there's a nurse here, because it's winter break, but I do know basic f-first aid... D-do you want me to t-take a look at it?"

He realized he had been stuttering and mumbling again. This wasn't a situation he was completely comfortable with. He diverted his mind to figuring out what would need to be done. He'd need to sterilize a pair of tweezers and a small knife... the one in his pocket attached to his multitool would do. He'd also need fresh bandages, and some sort of liquid antiseptic. He'd also need a flashlight... and he realized he had left his in his room.

 

『WEATHER』 CLOUDY, COLD 36°! ✖『DATE & TIME』 12/20/2015 - 10:22AM ✖『DAY』 03.2​

❝No girlfriend,❞

❝Right.❞ Her voice was flat and her face drained of color the moment the word left her lips. She lowered her gaze and hunched her shoulders slightly, feeling embarrassed.

Then he continued and she began to feel anxious.

❝Noëlle, how have you really been? Be honest. Something's been bothering you. I can tell.❞

She wasn't sure what to do. Tell the truth? Lie? Lie!! It had to be a lie. She couldn't tell him ... Well, she could tell him part of it, maybe.

❝Are you two ready to order?❞

The leveled voice of a dark haired waiter alerted her attention. She lifted her gaze towards the man and then diverted it shyly, feeling mildly uncomfortable with his staring. Honestly, she just wanted to disappear. She felt like she was being emotionally attacked. Coming to breakfast had seemed like a nice idea but ... it really wasn't the same as before. There was so much bottled up, and this served as a reminder that those things would likely never be resolved.

At Bryan's prompting, she ordered first -- strawberry Belgian waffles with nothing on the side. Her brother ordered and then the waiter was off and she was expected to answer.

Her knees pressed together so hard they must have bruised. The menu had been taken from her by the waiter, so now she had nothing to hide behind, and the tears were still threatening to fall. It took a few deep breaths, but she eventually lowered her hands from the table and placed them on her thighs instead, clutching at the hem of her gray sweater nervously.

❝I've been lonely, I guess.❞ It was a start. ❝I miss you, a lot ... I don't know if you know, but ... uh. Last year, mom had a talk with me about ... you, and how attached I seemed. She said she was worried but, I don't know, it made me ... Feel like a bother.❞

And like more of a freak.

❝So ... I've been keeping my distance. But it's really hard, because ... Besides Professor, I don't really have anybody else. You-- ... ❞

Oh, no ...

Tears.

Her fingers trembled against her thighs and her right foot ground it's heel against the top of her left shoe.

❝You're the only on-one I have and, so I've been rea-really ... um ... struggling? I guess? Trying to s-stay a ...❞ Deep breath. ❝Away from you.❞

Why can't I make any lasting friends ...? Why did Bryan have to be so protective back then ...?

❝You -- ugh -- you shouldn't have protected me, Bryan ... You should have just let dad ... !❞

Her mouth clamped shut and her bottom lip quivered. She shouldn't have even started to say that ... She hadn't meant it. Her eyes were wide as she stared at him, desperately trying to gauge his reaction before giving way to the shameful, horrible feelings that were building her. She wanted to sob, desperately. But they were somewhere public, and running off now ...

❝I'm s-so sorry ... I ... I just love you so much, and I'm so, so, so, scared you're going to leave me ... I need you, I don't have anyone else, I don't even want them anymore, and I just know one of these days you're going to leave me, especially now that I know you've been sleeping with someone ... ❞

... Oh, crap.

​

 

​

​

✌ CLOTHES ≛ MOOD» EMBARRASSED/PANICKED ≛ TUNES≛ LOCATION » AUDITORIUM ≛OOC ✌​

He really tried to get it off his mind when he got up on his feet, but to no avail. Every little thing began to remind him of what he's been through. More like, attacking him though. This… paranoia didn't happen so often. It escalated to constant panic attacks after he had gotten back home from the horrid event in camp two years ago, but his mom came over and along with a week's worth of therapy, he was back to his old self. Yet, he would still have them, once maybe every three months - from different things, usually at school when people, girls mostly, would be very… weird with him. It also happened when he would watch films with his friends sometimes or catch something alarming from the news (hence he sold the television in his apartment).

When little things did haunt him, he would find himself driving or biking as fast as he could back home and shielding himself away from the world, protected by the bedsheets he curled under. He just let all the thoughts come back and attack him, hoping one day they'd just stop. So far, it hasn't, so he'd fall asleep with tears in his eyes until the new day dawns and he forgets about the day before, masking it all with his signature smile.

At that moment, as he was alone with Maria, it was that thought from earlier along with the ambiance of the place. It was a large room with little things. The lights were practically off. They were alone and put up on a stage. The walls were probably sound proof, being a theater. Whatever sound came from outside wouldn't come in, and whatever sound from inside would never be heard out. Of course, it wasn't near the same with the large basement of his old home - where him, along with other kids, would be abused and violated for others to take sick pleasure in. But nonetheless, Tucker exaggerated those similarities - with images zoning in and out of his mind like busy bees in a hive.

Maria lightly tapped the script that separated them, "I'll start, if you read these ones."

She was smiling up at her with blue eyes. The male blinked rapidly a couple times. He hadn't even noticed her get up from the floor - nor walk up close to him. He forced his lips a small smile as he nodded slightly. His fingers gripped at the script in his hand more tightly, his chestnut eyes falling down on them and searching for where she had pointed. Blue. Okay. Blue was his lines. Okay. He read the lines in his head as Maria took a step back from him. They looked simple enough. Well, maybe since he wasn't much of an acto- hah. That was clearly ironic. Acting was one of the things he was good at in life. Heck, he fooled therapists and his own mother since he was seven years old. But what he meant was different. Trovald would probably execute this with such theatrical overreactions, whereas he would ready it with some intonation and gesture. He read the line again… wait. He knew this scene. Oh… oh no.

"But Albert you promised,"

His head snapped up from the script when she spoke. She was using the Michaela voice again. It was sweet yet haunting - more so to him since it just brought him back to earlier. He swallowed nervously as he looked at her, still having the internal battle inside his mind. She gazed at him. It seemed rather empty…

"You said we would go out for my birthday. Whatever could be so important that we're staying in on my birthday? I got all dressed up and everything."

It happened quickly. Maria twirled in place before with one stride, she was just so much closer to him. His right hand, holding the script, immediately dropped to his side, stiffening as she drew close. His body immediately tensed all together, freezing when her fingers grazed over his upper arm. He could feel the warmth of her hand from over his thick sweater. His chestnut eyes glanced at the delicate hand over his bicep, and away from that affectionate smile of hers. He couldn't look at her with that expression on her face - not now. It reminded him of too much, especially with her being so so close.

Fingers grazed over the side of his face now. He felt his feet dig into the stage as his teeth bit into his lower lip - hard. Her fingers ran from his temple to his jawline, resting on his cheek. His eyes traveled the opposite way for a moment. No. He had to keep it together. He had to keep his feet on the stage and not run - but it all just became so much harder to fight against suddenly. His fingers gripped on her script so much that the paper began to crumple - oh, he hoped she didn't mind. Did it bother how he wasn't looking her way? His breathing was deep - had she noticed this too? Because he was pretty sure she could hear the loud, quick beating of his heart.

"Tucker... Tucker you're line..."

His eyes quickly looked at the girl before him, alerted by her sudden, husky purr - which kind of caused him to panic. He had flinched slightly, before he cleared his throat and looked down at the script in his hands. Blue… blue lines! Yes, that was it! He found them quickly, and recognized the next line. His lips separated but nothing seemed to come out at the moment. He took in a shaky breath until he finally began to stutter on words.

"M-michaela…. y-you don't… um, don't…" he knew the line. He read it earlier! How come he couldn't get himself to say it? He bent his wrist upward, his eyes peering at the script from below. "…d-dont…. you…" his vision began to blur. 'You' wasn't even part of the line anymore. What? What was he even reading again? Oh right, blue lines. He could barely read them anymore. They all seemed like blobs on the paper…

When he blinked as an attempt to fix his vision, a drop fell right next to his thumb onto the script. 'T-tears?!' The twenty three year old snaps his head towards Maria. Water had gathered in his eyes, his mouth gaped open at shock. He was actually crying - and atop that, Maria was so close to him and watching it all happen. He felt his cheeks burn up in embarrassment. His eye brows furrowed together sadly as he felt his lip tremble.

He quickly jerked away from the lead actress, dropping the script and turning his back at her as he spun on his heel. "W-whoaa" he spat out with a forced laugh, "S-sorry…! I just.. um.." he raised his left hand to wipe under his eyes as he nervously stuffed the other into his pocket. He was choking at his words. How on earth was he going to cover this up? He could always just run. Run, run, run away and go home and hide under his bed covers again - but that didn't seem right. He was already crying. He didn't want to worry her or trouble her or anything! He couldn't just leave her without an explanation. It was unacceptable. He cleared his throat again desperately as he continued to choke on his words, gulping in between words, "Um, yeah… s-sorry! You… you were just so… so great! I, uh, I just got… so caught up in the… um, emotions and the, um… f-feels of the s-scene. Sorry!"

 

​

⎝ DAY 3┊1/4 ⎞ ❧ ⎝ DATE┊DECEMBER 20TH ⎞ ❧ ⎝ LOCATION┊BENNY'S ⎞
⎝ MOOD┊. . . ⎞ ❧ ⎝ ❤??┊0% ⎞ ❧ ⎝ WEARING ⎞ ❧ ⎝ OOC┊. . . ⎞​

Spoiler: ❧ C O N F E S S I O N

Before Noëlle could answer, their server came, and for a moment, Bryan thought that his sister was going to use them as a scapegoat to completely dodge her question -- which would have not sat well with him.

After she ordered, he did as well, albeit a little stressful. Somehow, he felt like coming to breakfast had been a bad idea. Things weren't the same anymore. He sighed. When the waiter was gone, Bryan looked back at her, expecting a reply of some sort that wasn't lying.

"I've been lonely, I guess." she started, and his bad feelings went away. Lonely. Terrible. "I miss you, a lot . . . I don't know if you know, but . . . uh. Last year, mom had a talk with me about . . . you, and how attached I seemed. She said she was worried, but, I don't know, it made me . . . feel like I bother."

Bryan thought of the talk mom had with him, too, but he didn't say anything about it. That was sort of why he had kept his distance more often than before. Mom was worried; that was understandable. Bryan thought that the space would be good for Noëlle, but apparently not. He didn't know where he went wrong with this. Neglect? Just the sound of the word made him feel cruddy.

"So . . . I've been keeping my distance. But it's been really hard, because . . . Besides Professor, I don't really have anybody else. You -- . . ."

. . . She was beginning to cry. Every sense in Bryan screamed to move over to the other seat and hug her, but he didn't, and he didn't know why. He couldn't stand to see her cry -- not her. Bryan had done everything in his power over the last . . . Over his whole life to make sure she didn't cry. Had that been too much?

"You're the only on - one I have, so I've been rea - really . . . um . . . struggling? I guess? Trying to s - stay a . . . Away from you."

Struggling? To stay away? He didn't know what to say, what to reply. Noëlle had always been good at making friends -- what happened to that? When had Bryan become her only one? That couldn't be true, could it? He resisted the urge to rub at his face.

"You -- ugh -- you should have protected me, Bryan . . . You should have just let dad . . . !"

Noëlle clamped her mouth closed and a surge of anger swept through Bryan. He quickly looked around Benny's -- no one was around to hear her hysterical breakdown, which was a good because he didn't think he could handle dragging her out of here to deal with this elsewhere. Things were not supposed to have turned out like this -- and it was his fault.

God, what the hell was he supposed to have done with the ****** dad situation? Let him have his way with him? With mom? With him? Oh god, now he felt like he was going to cry. Under the table, he started to dig his nails into his pant legs, scratching the fabric hard.

"I'm s - so sorry . . . I . . . I just love you so much, and I'm so, so, so, scared you're going to leave me . . . I need you, I don't have anyone else, I don't even want them anymore, and I just know one of these days you're going to leave me, especially now that I know you've been sleeping with someone . . ."

Bryan stopped. His breathing stopped. Everything stopped. The only thing that didn't stop was the heavy, hard, pounding heart in his chest, terrorizing his rib cage.

Bet it was your sister. She looks the type.

You sure, love? You obviously haven't seen the way she looks at you sometimes. It honestly looks like she wants to eat you or something.

Harley's words hit Bryan like a thousand bullets. "You . . ." he said, breathlessly. He tried not to be angry. Tried not to yell. Tried not to shoot lasers from his eyes. He tried. Tried.

"Why were you in my things? I'm not going anywhere. Why did you take my stuff? I'm not going to leave you. Why do you care who I sleep with? I wouldn't leave you. It wasn't even a girl. You're my sister. I'm not dating anyone. I love you. It's none of your business." Bryan's voice fluctuated between frustrated, shaky, scared, worried, and a whole mess of emotions that collided together in a dangerous cyclone.

Abruptly, Bryan stood from the table, told Noëlle not to go anywhere, and walked to the restroom, closing and locking the door behind him. He walked over to the mirror and gazed at his own reflection. This felt reminiscent of two years ago, inside that gas station -- except that he wasn't going to cry this time.

Bryan didn't know how to feel at the moment. He was mostly troubled -- by everything. Noëlle was lonely. She didn't want to lose him. What would she lose him to? That really shouldn't even be a concern. But Harley had been right; she had taken his stuff -- why? What did that mean?

He couldn't think of anything at the moment, but this was a serious point in their siblingship. After all they had been through together, there was no way something like this could take them apart. So here was what he had to do: take it in stride in front of Noëlle, and then completely breakdown to Harley.

He wasn't going to tell her about Harley. Whatever this thing was that Bryan had with him, she didn't need to know about it. It wasn't any of her business. She knew that Harley was his friend, but nothing beyond that. He sighed. Beyond everything else, his sister came first. He had to think long and hard about this. He seriously needed to talk to Harley, but after breakfast.

With a deep breath, Bryan walked back out of the restroom and joined Noëlle at the table. Their food had been delivered and the smell of it brought a great solace to him, and made his stomach growl. He had to admit, there was nothing like food to make a person feel better.

After sitting down, he took a deep breath, and then looked at Noëlle with careful eyes. "Eat." he said with a gentle, calm smile, "It will make you feel better. Enough with the heavy, you know? We can talk about it later. What else do you think we should do today?"

Bryan wasn't pretending that everything was okay, but today was supposed to be their day together. He wasn't going to end that early or let it be ruined.

 

⎛ DAY 3 ‖ 2/4 ⎠ ☁ ⎛ DATE ‖ DECEMBER 20TH ⎠ ☁ ⎛ LOCATION ‖ KITCHEN ⎠
⎛ MOOD ‖ CONTENT ⎠ ☁ ⎛ ❤!! ‖ %11 ⎠ ☁ ⎛ WEARING ⎠
⎛ OOC ‖ . . . ⎠

❝ＯＰＰＲＥＳＳ ＴＨＥ ＦＥＥＬＩＮＧ ！！❞​

❝Wh - Why would you ask that? He's in college.❞

Sophie smiled, albeit a bit innocently, at Pierce's very shaky and nervous reply. She knew that Oliver was definitely older than Pierce, but by how many years, she didn't know. Still, that was ageism, and something Sophie wasn't very interested in to begin with. Her telling Sophie that he was in college seemed like an excuse, but she decided not to press it that way.

The smell of burning pancake batter became apparent, and Pierce quickly took care of the issue -- a little clumsily, to Sophie's amusement. Just a little while later, the counter was set, and the two of them were eating next to each other.

❝So, um . . . What about -- what about you and Quentin? You're together a lot.❞

What about her and Quentin? Friends spent a lot of time together. She and Iris did, too. ❝Quentin is just my friend.❞ she replied simply, and that was true, even as her fingers traced over the design of her necklace. ❝I'll tell you this, Pierce -- and it's a secret that I'm entrusting you with -- I am not a relationship-type person. I don't like obligations to another.❞

It was probably the most personal detail she had ever shared with anyone from the last . . . seven years or so -- and there was a reason for that.

❝What are your parents like?❞

 

As tears welled up in Tucker's eyes, Maria could immediately see that something was wrong. Not to mention, he hadn't looked all that into it to begin with. She pushed too far. He backed away and her hand fell to her side. Now she felt like crying. He turned away from her, clearly trying to compose himself. "W-whoaa" he spat out with a forced laugh, "S-sorry…! I just.. um.." There was a catch in her throat and she felt like she couldn't breath. "Um, yeah… s-sorry! You… you were just so… so great! I, uh, I just got… so caught up in the… um, emotions and the, um… f-feels of the s-scene. Sorry!" he said when he finally looked at her again.

She shook her head. It was too much. Maria turned away, moving back to her stuff on the edge of the stage and sat down. Her phone blinked green, signifying a message was waiting. Her chest ached too much to care about whatever someone had to say. She would check it later. Her head hung low and she buried her face in her hands after ripping off her glasses and throwing them to the ground. There was a soft cracking sound as they hit the carpeted floor. "You don't have to lie to me Tucker." she mumbled through her hands. She wanted to disappear. Never had she felt as rejected as she had in this moment. There was no point in trying with Tucker. She choked back a sob.

I must be a maochist. There's no other explaination as to why I would continuously persue someone that clearly has no interest. She bit her lip to the point of bruising. She just wanted to leave now. Maria reached blindly for her coat and pulled it on. She suddenly felt very very cold. Her face was still buried in her arms as she sat there on the edge of the stage. She couldn't look at him--it would hurt too much. Bile burned at the back of her throat. Her eyes stung as she fought the urge to cry. She only cried in front of Stephan and with how distant he has been lately even that wasn't an option.

Maria swallowed back the extremely hard lump that formed in her throat and could feel it makes it way down, resting in her chest. Her heart beat rapidly and even as her body temperature climbed from the quickening of her heart, she felt cold. Shivers ran through her body. Her hands were numb. She had pushed too far and there was no coming back from it, not for her anyway. Tucker would just laugh it off and smile like nothing happened--it's what he always did. She couldn't do it. She couldn't smile at him like there was nothing wrong. He viewed her so much as just a friend that he couldn't even see that there was something wrong; that she might be interested. Pathetic. There were plenty of other people that had an obvious interest in her, so of course it only made sense that she wanted the ones that didn't. More than a pretty face--that was her logic. If she could make one of the others like her, they would see that.

Shakily, she pulled herself to her feet and scooped up her belongings. She dumped her phone and empty coffee cup in her purse, not caring if any of the leftover spilled. She didn't want to look at him, but she had to. Maria forced a smile that nearly tore her insides apart. Her blue eyes glittered in that way eyes did right before a person cried. She took a deep breath that felt as if something inside her was exploding. Her lips were pursed into a fine red line and she hid her hands behind her back so that he couldn't see her shaking. "I'm sorry Tucker. I think it would be best if I just left. I-I didn't--" her voice cracked, "I didn't mean t-to make you uncomfortable." She felt like she was shattering into a bunch of pieces. I get it now.. She shivered. Just walk away. The thought hurt. It hurt more than she wanted herself to believe.

She turned, and stumbled in her heels. Maria righted herself quickly as she began the descent down the small steps on the stairs. Each one felt worse than the last. It was like she was walking through lead. I can't do this. She collapsed in a mess on the steps, not caring. Maria curled into herself. I already look pathetic. What's a little more?

 

Natalie Williams

Outfit|Location: Home|Music|Mood: Neutral|OOC: N/A​

Natalie blinked. "Oh dear... Um... Here, I'll drive you to the clinic." She heard Kurt say something, and turned to him. "Thanks, but I'll take her to the clinic. Might be easier." She was panicking. Sure, it was something small, but with the ocurrences 2 years ago, something small could end badly for everyone.

"Umm... Sarah! Why don't you stay here and tell these guys about the musical while I take Xara? Thanks! Come on Xara." She took her mute friend's wrist and helped her into the car. "Alright, just keep your hand elevated and we'll be there soon. Stay calm."

Natalie quickly put the car in hear and drove off. She had a determined expression on her face, as if it depended on this whether or not more bad things were to come or not.

 

Aidan Samarost rubbed his bleary eyes as he woke up, the familiar 'ERR ERR ERR' of his alarm bringing him to. He sat up and snatched his iPad, the source of the irritating as hell noise. He swiped across and it turned off. He put it down and listened. It was almost silent in the house. There was only the faint rumble of cars for noise. Small shafts of light beamed through the blinds that shut the light out of his room. He lay down again. He really didn't want to get up. He lay there for another fifteen minutes. Then the alarm came on again. He groaned and deactivated it. He had to get up. What was the time? He looked at the iPad screen. 6:45. He had somehow dodged 30 minutes of alarms and totally ignored the last one. It would continue on for at least an hour. He would get up now. That did not however mean he was going to be quick about it.

Aidan grabbed his iPad and his iPod and jammed a pair of headphones into the larger device. He took them both downstairs, lay the iPod down on the table and switched a YouTube video on as he made and had breakfast. After eating his bowl of cereal, he left it on the side waiting to be dishwashed later after dinner. He sat in the living room watching more videos. The final alarm went off. That was his cue to get changed out of his boxer shorts and t-shirt and dressed properly and get out of the damn house. He reluctantly dragged himself into his room and changed. He opted for his customary purple, black and white shirt, a white t-shirt, blue skinny jeans and when he got to it, his customary black trainers with white stripes. He looked himself in the mirror and messed with his hair a bit. It had got quite long recently, and it's unkempt appearance gave him a roguish look when he smiled.

Aidan walked downstairs and yoinked the headphones out of his iPad and put them in his iPod touch instead. He slipped his trainers on and set out of the house, locking the door as he did so. He put his music on, put the device in his pocket and walked down the street. The all too familiar tune of Dream of the Sky by Miracle of Sound came on, and he began to hum to the tune. As he walked he realised he was thirsty. He had neglected to have a drink this morning. There was a cafe across the road. He decided it would be a pretty good idea to go in and get a hot drink. A cup of tea would do nicely. He looked both ways then ran across the road and into the cafe. He yanked his headphones out of his ears, pressed the button on them that stopped the music and pushed them into his pocket. He smiled at the waitress.

"Cup of tea with one sugar and milk please." He said. He waited at the counter and surveyed the room. There was a group of people sat round the table and most of them looked around his age. One of them was a rather striking girl. She looked... Stunning and it was only by sheer force of will that he stopped his jaw from dropping. There was something about the way she carried herself... Confident. Very. He was judgemental, he wouldn't deny it, but he would wait to see if he got to know her any better before pronouncing any kind of judgement. There was another girl who seemed to be passing paper around. There was a boy who looked about his age, but he looked almost shaky. Confidence issues? Maybe. He didn't know.
"Here you go." A voice said from behind. He turned around.
"Thank you." He replied with a smile. He brought his wallet out and gave the waitress $4 and told her to keep the change. He put his wallet away, picked up his tea and walked over to the group and prayed that he wasn't intruding on something. He wasn't usually the type to outright go to a group of strangers but he may as well. He'd probably never run into them again if it failed. He was considering going to a different table. This could go badly. They might not like him, they might tell him to go away... He didn't want to make an idiot of himself.
"Good morning everyone." He said, trying to sound as confident as possible, despite being very nervous. He took a sip of his tea and tried to not show his hand shaking. He looked at the pretty girl straight in the eyes, trying to maintain eye contact. That was a good way of showing confidence, right? Two of them walked away. The girl passing out paper and the other one. It wasn't because of him he hoped.

 

❝Quentin is just my friend.❞ Sophie replied simply, ❝I'll tell you this, Pierce -- and it's a secret that I'm entrusting you with -- I am not a relationship-type person. I don't like obligations to another.❞

Pierce stared at Sophie with wide brown eyes for a few minutes. Sophie was telling her a secret--something little to no one else knew? It was hard to believe. She didn't honestly think them to be that close, but apparently they were. Sophie was trusting her with this bit of information and she wouldn't disapoint, not now nor ever. She kept secrets. She wasn't the gossiping type. Hah!--that would require talking to people.

Pierce nodded her head once before returning to her pancakes. They would get cold if she didn't eat them fast enough. She had her fork halfway to her mouth with the syrup covered goodness when Sophie spoke again. ❝What are your parents like?❞

Her brown eyes drifted around the room as she finished the bite she had been about to start. She didn't like this question. Her top row of teeth poked out of her mouth as she chewed on her lower lip. "Hmm...." she mused, "My mom is really nice. She's a nurse at the hospital. She's working overnights in the ER this week to make some extra money--they pay more for that. School is expensive and if it weren't for her working all the time I wouldn't be able to stay at Fortissimo." Scholarships only covered so much.

 

♫ Clothes ♫ Mood» Happyish♫ Music / Music ♫ Date: 12/20/2015 Day: 3 & 3/4♫​

Location » Cafe ♫ OOC: 10 points for Aidan XD ♫​

​

Seraphina watched as the girls walked away. She secretly kind of wanted Xara to stay, it was the first friend she made this morning. She looked around, seeing has this person she didn't know was still here and also a girl named Sarah. She smiled. "A musical?" She wondered. To bad she was too late, oh well, it would still be nice to attend. Hopefully she would get the details. ​

"A musical?" Seraphina asked. "That sounds quite lovely... I would love to attend, as long as I'm not busy with modeling or anything like that." She smiled politely.​

She looked around the room, and saw another boy staring at her from another table. She brushed it off. He wouldn't have the nerve to talk to them. She looked back at Sarah, waiting for an answer about the musical. Though she was wrong. ​

​

"Good morning everyone."​

​

She laughed to herself. Please. She could see through him like glass, he was obviously very nervous and trying to mask it. No matter... he did have the nerve... so maybe he could get one chance. She looked over at him, and she realized he was looking at her right in the eye. Something just clicked inside of her, everything seemed to stop, she froze and couldn't move. She had never been approached like that before. She was able to collect herself. "Good Morning...." Seraphina said. "My name is Seraphina Evangelina Carosella." She said, putting her hand out in front of the boy who had affected her in such an odd way. "It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance." She smiled sweetly. ​

​

​

 

"Good morning... My name is Seraphina Evangelina Carosella. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance"
"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Aidan Samarost." Aidan replied, shaking her hand with his free one. Somehow this ended up alright. The name was a little strange and long, but it was no stranger than his. Seraphina... Interesting name. Nice though. He smiled "How are you today?"

Aidan was a bit worried, though so far it had gone alright, although he wasn't sure if one girl responding positively classified as good. One could hope. He looked at the others. Hopefully they would be nice. He was a bit nervous still. One had reacted well, and she was probably the most likely to react badly from his fairly meager observations. There was a kind of nervous looking guy who was probably no different than him. He should be alright.

Then there was the other one. He wasn't sure what to think of her. Maybe nothing. She was most likely neutral. He did his best to keep calm. It looked as if he was going to be fine, relatively speaking. He just had to make sure he didn't have a panic attack. That was the only thing he had to worry about... Kind of. He just hoped for the best.

 

♫ Clothes ♫ Mood» Happyish♫ Music / Music ♫ Date: 12/20/2015 Day: 3 & 3/4♫​

Location » Cafe ♫ OOC: 10 points for Aidan XD ♫​

​

Seraphina smiled. Aidan Samarost. What an odd sir-name... She moved over a bit to let him sit down. "I'm good... this is my first time in town, it's taking a little getting used to." She smiled. Her mind started to wonder... he presented himself very nicely. He seemed very nice if he was still nervous it was fating. But Seraphina would keep him on his toes. ​

​

He didn't look like the sort of person that would be matched up with her. He looked like a normal everyday guy. Bah. The only person she had meet in this town who almost looked like someone of her stature.. was that Tucker boy. Hmmm I guess she could give Aidan a chance... but he was walking on a very thin line so far. Even though they had only meet, Seraphina knew that any boy that came up to her, already wanted to be more then friends. ​

​

​

She totally forgot about the musical, this was much more interesting, though she still wanted to find out about it, she also wanted to know a little more about Aidan. She would wait though... till all her questions would be answered. ​

 

"I'm good... This is my first time in town, it's taking a little getting used to." Ah, she was new. That would be why he didn't recognise her, or at least it would be if he actually went out of his way to meet people. He noticed she was keeping her distance somewhat, but she had moved so he could sit, so he took the opportunity and sat. She wasn't doing it so much physically as she was mentally or emotionally as far as he could tell. Fair enough.

He began to formulate a response. What might be appropriate? After a couple of seconds he spoke.
"Ah, new here. Well, welcome." Aidan replied with a smile. He took another sip of his tea. Good. They made it the English way. His particular favourite. That was probably something that kept him different. His southern English accent. Somehow, he had retained it and it made him quite distinctive sometimes. "I'm not from around here per say, but I've lived here a while. It's a nice place, though not quite like home. It's got sunnier weather to start with."

The others had said nothing. Politeness principle? Probably. He kept his eyes firmly on hers, not looking away. It would serve him far better that way. He wondered what she thought. He knew he wanted a friend, though it was curious to consider what she thought she wanted. He decided not to think too much into the matter. There was no need for him to worry about what she thought, at least not much. Not yet at any rate. Perhaps if they became friends, then he might have to worry, but currently that was trivial.

 

​

✧ location: duvont home ✧ mood: normal ✧ theme: tea? ✧​

✧ affection: -- ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ✧ ​

✧ ooc: mature / suggestive themes...! ✧​

Groaning, Richie instinctively checked his phone as he awoke. He had two messages, from Elisa and Zach. He was tempted to reply then, but when he looked down and saw his comforter still over him, he decided he should take a shower and get dressed first. Exiting the bed, the boy threw together a cute outfit consisting of a fox sweater, lavender skinny jeans [ that match his newly-acquired glasses ], orange scarf, white sneakers, and golden key necklace [ which he wears everyday ]. Once it was assembled, he quickly hopped in the shower.

Once Richie applied his conditioner, he had to let it set for at least fifteen minutes for maximum softness. It was at this time that the green-eyed boy would truly release his anxiety and relax. His fingers did wonders in the art of pleasure... he pinned himself against the cold, tiled wall and took himself on a journey. Oh... it felt so good. He allowed his imagination to control him and imagined a variety of people
in the shower with him. When Richie felt himself coming close, he moaned quietly and pumped / fingered faster. He huffed, "A-ah... ahhhhhh...!"

Richie wrapped his towel around his waist, allowing his bare chest to dry on its own. After cleaning out his ears, he dried his blonde hair with the blow dryer. He preferred it to air drying because it left his hair more fluffy and smoother. However,--as he learned from Elisa--it damaged his hair; she suggested a spritz to protect it, and it had been working flawlessly since. Looking in the mirror, Richie was pleased with the look and feel of his hair and left the bathroom.

He threw on his outfit and pulled out his phone, finally reading the two messages:

​

Text from Elisa bby:​

WAKE UP RICHIE! We desperately need to hang out.​

Let's do it today, before rehearsals!! I just put together​

a pretty cute outfit today and I am NOT putting it to​

waste HAHA Get into something super adorable and​

contact me ASAP!! ^ 0 ^​

​

​

Text from Zach:​

Hello​

​

Richie smiled and replied:

​

Text to Elisa bby:​

oh my glob i am so sorry... again ; ^ ;​

of course i'd love to hang out bbycakes <333​

...but where do you want to hang? my house? your house...?​

oh oh maybe the cafe or we could have lunch at that new hibachi place!​

sorry again babes... :'c​

​

​

Text to Zach:​

hi there! how are you?​

​

After he sent the messages, his stomach growled menacingly. He was starving, so hopefully Elisa would accept his hibachi suggestion. He walked down the stairs and headed into the living room. The door to the kitchen was ajar, and Richie was very tempted to make himself a sandwich or something. But he resisted and anxiously waited for his best friend to reply. He sighed and laid down on the plush couch, turning on the teli. The Amazing World of Gumball was on and he giggled with excitement. It was one of his favorite shows since it always lifted his mood and made him joyful. Gumball and Darwin were his favorite characters since they were the silliest; the situations they got themselves into, and how they tried to solve it, always made him laugh.

Footsteps diverted his attention from the teli to the stairs. His mother and younger sister, Ariella, emerged at the base of the stairs and greeted him. He replied with a simple 'hello' as they went into the kitchen. For a moment, he wondered where his twin Ryder didn't come down with them. He usually didn't sleep this late... was he alright? To distract himself, Richie checked his phone again, to see no one had replied yet. He sighed and turned his attention back to the teli.

 

(*) Cafe (*) Mood: A bit confused (*) Music (*) Outfit (*) OOC: (*)​

​

Before Alex could answer her question pertaining to Sarah, she had already shown up. That was also when another girl ran out and came back. Her actions were slightly confusing, but upon seeing her injury, he chose not to say anything about it. ​

​

"Umm... Sarah! Why don't you stay here and tell these guys about the musical while I take Xara? Thanks! Come on Xara."​

​

​

Well that was another surprise, though he simply shrugged as Natalie walked off with Xara. Now there was just the remaining few at the table and two of them and already started introductions. "As long as were introducing ourselves, feel free to call me Alex. He said. It wasn't much of an introduction, but it was a whole lot better than the old ones he used to give. ​

​

"I'm good... This is my first time in town, it's taking a little getting used to."​

​

"You'll get used to it sooner or later." The initial response my not have been directed at him, but he figured that he could chime in on something like that and not get a bad reaction from anyone.​

 

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✌ CLOTHES ≛ MOOD» GUILTY/TERRIFIED/AWFUL ≛ TUNES≛ LOCATION » SCHOOL ≛OOC ✌​

The false, forced smile disappeared from his face as he watched the blonde actress turn away from him. Part of him knew where this was going, but the other side of him - who so badly wanted it not to go that way - still hung on the string of hope that it wasn't going to go that way. He watched her walk back to her belongings and sit by the edge of the stage. Every step she took made it harder for him to breathe. He felt awful.

"You don't have to lie to me Tucker."

Her face were buried into her hands. Was she crying? Oh god, he hoped she wasn't crying. 'What are you talking about? Of course she's crying! Look at what you did to her!' rang into his head and that made his heart sink. Actually, it felt like someone had attached it to the heaviest anchor in the world and let it free fall out of his skin, piercing the stage and burying itself in the ground. He loathed when he would make people cry, it didn't happen often - hardly at all these days but before, when he was a child that's all he would do - instead of saving the other kids.

Tucker's mother, being one of the higher rank flight stewardesses in the airport, was often away from home. One of the reasons his father got away with so many things. When they would video call to her, he was forced to smile the entire time by his father - usually with the muzzle of the gun digging into his lower back or even his bottom. His father always held the hand gun finger at the trigger. However, those rare moments his mother would be home during his childhood was pure bliss - for him. While his mother took him to some place cool and he'd forget about everything, he knew his father would be taking other kids in. If he checked the basement, he would see kids crying their eyes out after being so badly violated and they'd look at him for some sort of salvation but he was the son of the molester. He couldn't save them - he didn't save them, and they would just continue to cry their little eyes out.

Of course, this was different, but Tucker still carried that guilt inside of him. There was a lump in his throat that wouldn't go down. All the organs in his body felt like they were failing. It felt like there was a rock stuck in between his trachea - or that his lungs were suddenly bags of rocks itself. His body had began shaking as the guilt continued to boil up inside of him. His fingers cramped and his legs felt like they had been frozen solid and into place. Yet, he couldn't even begin to think how Maria was feeling.

Part of him actually didn't get why she was crying - but the other part of him didn't really care. He just wanted to see that smile of hers again. Right now! He felt so responsible for all of this.Tears didn't stop collecting and falling out of the corner of his eyes. He bit down at his lip, biting as hard as he could to try and mask the pain that swelled inside of him.

"You don't have to lie to me Tucker."

It rung in his head in the silence. His hands raised up to cover his own face, as he breathed shakily into it. He could feel his damp, cold skin as the tips of his fingers pressed hard at his eyes - which hurt a lot. He began to see weird colors as he closed them and continued to breathe heavily and shakily. He didn't want to lie to her either - but he had to.

He dragged his fingers down his face, maintaining the pressure of his fingers. He exhaled another shaky, sobbing breath. His stinging, wet chestnut eyes opened to Maria, who was grabbing her coat and putting it on. He wanted to walk over to her and help her out but his feet seemed like they were nailed to the floor. He pressed his upper and lower teeth together tightly, grinding slightly at one another. His jaw was incredibly tense. Maria stood up, grabbed her things and put them all into her purse. She turned to him.

Tucker felt like he just got punched in the chest with the obviously forced smile she put on and watering eyes. Her lips separated from the fine line that it was when she spoke,

"I'm sorry Tucker. I think it would be best if I just left. I-I didn't--" her voice cracked, "I didn't mean t-to make you uncomfortable."

When her voice had cracked, the boy felt like he did too - to a million, invisible pieces all over the floor for everyone to step on and crush. His own lips separated for a moment to speak but he couldn't find himself to, so he just bit back down on it. What was he going to say anyway? It's not you, it's me. Come on! That was like, the worst thing anyone could ever say (even though in context, that was pretty much what made most sense).

The blonde beauty began to walk down the steps, stumbling. Then suddenly, with one step down he watched her fall. It was like in slow motion in his eyes. Seeing her hair bounce up while the rest of her fell. It kind of terrified him. His heart skipped a beat but suddenly it started beating again - no, racing. And before he knew it, he found himself running off of the stage, jumping off the edge of it and landing clumsily on the carpeted floor. He then scurried over to the stairs, until he stopped in front of her gasping out, "M-maria… !" 'Are you okay?' he couldn't find himself to say anything other than her name. Plus, asking if she was alright seemed to not be such a good idea because he knew she wasn't.

His eyes danced at every part of her, with her body curled up on itself and her head hanging down low. He wanted to reach over, pull her into a hug and comfort her but his hands were just there, suspended in the space between them, shaking. He couldn't find himself to do it. He wanted to tell her it was alright but she wouldn't believe him. What… what could he possibly do now?!

Tucker took a deep breath. He had to tell her something. Part of him knew what but the other part of him just knew he couldn't - no matter how much he wanted to. His teeth grinded together, he grew frustrated at himself - how he only let people down. It was worse that he knew he let a friend, someone so wonderful as Maria, down. He breathed out shakily again, desperate to do something to make the girl smile again.

His hand began to reach forward, stopping at the top of her head, while his left hand gently sat on her right shoulder.He stroked her blonde hair for a while, breathing out shakily again. Tears still didn't stop falling. "M-maria…" he began again. His voice was shaking as well.

He licked his upper lip and breathed loudly again. His insides still felt like they had gone through a meat grinder. He really wanted to just tell her already - maybe then she wouldn't be feeling so bad. Maybe she thought this was her fault or something (much like how he was thinking now). He knew he couldn't just keep repeating her name over and over. That wasn't going to do anything.

He placed his right hand down at her other shoulder, holding her gently but still having a grip on her. "L-look, I'm sorry… this isn't your fault, I promise." he looked at her sad, sad expression. Finding it harder and harder to speak up. He stayed silent again for a moment, losing all the words he wanted to say in his mind. 'You just don't get it. He was horrible. I'm scared. t's not you. The police. The doctors. You don't understand. The other kids. I'm scared. It's me. My father is Benjamin Knowles. Abuse. Scars. No. Scared. Rape. Molester. Not you. Violated. Scared. Home. Past. Police. Scared. Doctors. Father. Scared. Scared.'


His eyes shut tightly, more tears fell from them as his arms began to shake. "I-I want to tell you!" he says desperately. He began to shake his head, sounds of whimpers and sobbing had escaped him. He must have looked really pathetic and child-like. It would probably be so embarrassing - but it just hurt a whole lot more so he didn't even consider it. He looked up at her with the saddest yet most honest-to-god chestnut eyes. "I-I… I… I just… can't."

 

『WEATHER』 CLOUDY, COLD 36°! ✖『DATE & TIME』 12/20/2015 - 10:26AM ✖『DAY』 03.2​

❝You ...❞

Noëlle felt panicked already. Her palms were sweaty and she felt sick to her stomach, about ready to have a full on anxiety attack in the middle of Benny's.

❝Don't be mad.❞

❝Why were you in my things? I'm not going anywhere. Why did you take my stuff? I'm not going to leave you. Why do you care who I sleep with? I wouldn't leave you. It wasn't even a girl.❞

Everything else faded out and her panic evaporated. It wasn't even a girl? What did that mean? Was he ... ?! No way. No way. No way. Had she ever seen him with a girl before? She thought on it, but her mind was mess. Her fingers trembled and it became difficult to breathe ... or see, or hear, or feel.

Her tensed shoulders dropped when Bryan got up to leave. She watched him go and when he disappeared, took a shaky sip of water and cleaned her face with a few napkins.

A bit after he returned, their food arrived and she was asked -- no, told to eat. She picked up her fork and took a bite of the waffles. They didn't taste like anything.

❝Enough with the heavy, you know? We can talk about it later. What else do you think we should do today?❞

❝Nothing, I want to go home.❞

He was trying, she could tell. He had gotten upset about what she had done, not about how she felt. She could recognize that. He was trying. He was a good person. Too good a person, too good a brother.

Regret didn't even begin to summarize her absolute loathing with herself for having said anything. Why did people pry? Sometimes clamming up with the better option. Sometimes, keeping secrets was the better option.

She wasn't hungry, but she kept eating until an acceptable portion of her food had been shoved down her throat.

​