ft. ashley (  @ashicy​  ) 

        “ long  time  no  see, ”  the  girl  says  casually,  gently  nudging  the  other’s  shoulder.  settling  into  the  seat  next  to  the  blonde.   billie  didn’t  think  to  ask  if  it  were  taken,  in  the  densely  packed  record  label  event –  she  thought  whomever  was  sitting  there  before  wouldn’t  mind  if  she  sat  there  a  moment  to  catch  up  with  the  other.  she  debated  greeting  her  the  entirety  of  the  night  ,  worried  it  wouldn’t  be  as  effortless  to  talk  to  her  as  it  used  to  be.   the  moment  she  saw  her  again  is  the  moment  she  became  acutely  aware  she  hadn’t  spoken  to  her  in  awhile.          she  smiles  softly,  “ what’ve  you  been  up  to?  i  swear  i’ve  been  meaning  to  call..” 

             fluttering lashes batter as she looks up to see those warm brown eyes peering down at her.  a slight giggle as she shifts over to give the girl a little more room beside her.   “hello stranger,”  she hums in response.                        honestly, ashley was just happy to see a familiar face that she didn’t feel the need to escape from.  even if they hadn’t been in touch in a while,  there had always been something easy about being around billie.                                                   “you know,  the usual,”  shrugs the blonde letting out a small laugh,   “work, work and work,”  she ignores the side comment of been meaning to call.   she knows life gets busy and truly,  she probably had the thought leave her mind entirely.   ashley didn’t need the buttering up.    “how have you been ??”

no  could  deny  ashley’s  beauty  - ,  her  soft  yet  defined  features  endorsed  a  feeling  of  fascination  on  every  reasonable  soul ,  a  sense  of  magnetism  that  left  one  aching  for  more .  just  like  a  magnet ,  the  blonde  pulled  lincoln  towards  her ,  gravity  defined  as  an  abstract  concept  from  the  moment  lin  set  her  brown  eyes  on  the  other’s  face ;  however ,  the  oscillating  allure  seriously  kicked  in  once  ashley  came  out  of  her  hard  shell ,  a  deliciously  complex  personality  that  sold  lincoln  an  idea  of  true  and  poetic  love .  given  the  law  of  physics ,  she  fell  fast  and  hard  for  her  now  ex - girlfriend ,  without  a  care  for  posthumous  consequences  or  potencial  heartbreaking  songs .  but ,  maybe ,  the  infamous  recklessness  of  hers  came  with  a  price :  swallowing  the  lump  in  her  throat  whilst  ashley  moved  on  with  someone  else ;  not  willing  to  pay ,  her  hues  displayed  the  adoration  felt  about  her  former  flame ,  even  if  lincoln’s  following  speech  portrayed  otherwise ,  ❝  are  you  fucking  kidding  me ?  ❞ .  glancing  up  to  the  ceiling  of  the  enormous  building  - , an  attempt  to  hide  her  true  colors  from  ashley  - ,  lincoln  clenched  her  jaw ,  the  thought  of  their  literal  end  as  a  toxic  scenario ,  ❝  are  you  dating  him  ?  like ,  really  ?  ❞  –  finally  looking  at  her ,  her  tightened  heart  skipped  a  beat . 

               there was always this thing about lincoln that made her heart skip a beat,   those warm brown eyes and that mischievous smile.  lincoln had been someone who,  rather easily,  guided her out of her hard shell and allowed her truth to shine through.  she was in love and truly happy with the girl.   she was addictive and alluring and out-of-bounds.    she couldn’t go back to her,  well besides the fact she was  “d a t i n g”  rory,  she had a no-exes rule in dating.  or at least she’d convinced herself she had that rule.                                                            she wasn’t  really  dating him,  of course not,  it was clear to see they were a couple so ‘out of nowhere’ it made no sense in any universe.   but she would sooner die than admit that to lincoln,   she couldn’t,   she had to have the upper hand.  or at least that’s how she felt when she was too afraid to be vulnerable.    “yes,”  and it’s a solid and almost harsh reply as she turns to face her exgirlfriend.   “why is it so hard to believe ??”  she asks in this rough quip.     “because i finally moved away from messy exes ??  i finally found a nice person ??”

          he’s used to squeezing into a stiff suit for the one or two annual events that he attends alongside his teammates and then living in hoodies and sweatpants for the other three hundred and sixty three days of the year. he feels out of place, even though he’s caught a few glimpses of himself in the mirrors that are all over the room and knows that he doesn’t look awkward.           he assumes that his suit is meant to complement ashley’s dress, and that it does since he has a feeling that someone would’ve said so by now if it didn’t. “…sunflower seeds,” he elaborated, his brow furrowing at the expression on her face that he interpreted as confusion, which confused him in turn. “i chew them all the time. a lot of us do.” explaining something that was so obvious and natural to him felt strange. rory was yet again reminded of the glaring differences between himself and his fake girlfriend.           his face lit up as ashley reached into her small bag. “thanks,” he accepted the piece of gum and popped it into his mouth with a huge sigh of relief. “well, what should i be doing in pictures instead?” he had been given a long list of instructions for the evening from her team and although he nodded like he understood, if rory were to guess then he would estimate that he had retained almost none of the important stuff.

                   whenever she’d walked red carpets with a parter it was always this elaborate collaboration between stylists on how to make each other complimentary.   she was used to looking like two halves of a whole stylistic vision,   but the truth was she didn’t care.   she liked fashion,  sure,  not enough to need to look like an expensive matching halloween costume on every red carpet.                    she nods her head as he elaborates on his whole  ‘seed’  moment,  letting out a small but genuine laugh.   “i don’t know many people who just carry sunflower seeds,”  she hums.   “wait   --who’s a lot of us ??”  she asks,  now genuinely curious,  she hadn’t met anyone in hollywood who just walked around like a farmer chewin’ his seeds.    “is it a baseball thing ??”                  “just try smiling,”  she says with a shrug,   but it’s not sarcastic or rude that he doesn’t know better it’s just a simple offer.   “if you chew your jaw looks weird in photos,  it’s not flattering,  you can look tense it makes your face sort of distort and cameras can be unfriendly even when you’re on your best angle,”  she knew a lot about this side of fame.  and despite what people said about her,  despite her tough exterior ashley was actually rather smart and friendly.   you just didn’t get that off the bat,   it took a lot of time and warming up for her to give you that side of her.                                                                “if you don’t wanna smile try biting down on the gum on one side,  but keep your jaw relaxed,  look directly at the camera....you’ll look at mysterious and smouldering.”

          rory wished he had brought seeds. the chewing would have been a welcome distraction from the stiff collar that felt like it was slowly suffocating him, and from the voices in his ear instructing him to smile for the cameras and maintain some form of physical contact at all times and look besotted with someone who seems to hate him.             if only the pockets of his suit were a little bigger. rory stifled a sigh as the stylist that ashley’s team hired for him at the last minute smoothed down the front of his wrinkle - free shirt for what had to be the tenth time. he wasn’t used to being fussed over and he didn’t want to worsen his situation by fidgeting and causing the meticulous stylist to start all over again.           he needed a distraction. rory glanced over the stylist’s shoulder and smiled when he saw ashley. even though he doesn’t know her well, she was still the most familiar person in the room, and seeing her offered a sliver of comfort. “you look nice,” he commented, “but i’m guessing you don’t have any seeds on you? i’d also take gum. i’m a big chewer.” / @ashicy​​

                expensive gown draped over her body,  heels that made her already tall frame tower above most people.   she was used to playing dress up,  this wasn’t anything unusual to the blonde.   if anything her body was accustomed to tight fitting dresses and her feet numb from all the heels she’d worn.   she knew rory on the other hand was already hating this entire experience and it hadn’t started   --she didn’t blame him,  just because she was used to it didn’t mean she liked it.                                    she’s standing there getting her lip gloss reapplied,  her hair fiddled with as she just stared at her phone.  two polar opposites,  it was hard to understand why they’d been thrusted together.                   the event was approaching fast and she was being ushered into the room with her little clutch in her hand as heels clicked against the floor.  her PR team exclaiming how they need to get there ASAP for the most amount of photo time.  ashley simply rolling her eyes as she made her way to rory,  “you too,”   it might seem a little empty but the compliment wasn’t void.   she’d only ever seen him in casual clothing,   she wasn’t going to lie ---he cleaned up well.    and then he had to open his mouth.                                                                  “seeds ??”  her eyes stare at him in confusion,   almost as if she’s trying to figure out some complex puzzle before she’s shaking her head.   “uh,  i have gum,”  she nods,  furrowed brows,  as she opens her clutch bag and pulls out a tab of gum for the brunet lad.   “try not to chew on it too much in pictures though.”

*  ╱   closed  thread  for  @ashicy​  !!!

the  music  industry  ran  a  million  miles  per  hour ,  an  organized  chaos  ((  if  you  will  )) ,  making  it  near  impossible  to  encounter  familiar  faces  within  proximity .  sadly ,  life  decided  to  pull  an  imbecile  prank  on  lincoln ,  an  exception  to  the  rule  kind  of  deal ,  causing  her  rationality  to  evaporate  like  water  on  a  hot  summer  day  - ,  the  dodger  stadium ,  the  supporting  fans  and  ashley ,  the  perfect  recipe  to  get  under  her  skin .  being  stas’  plus  one  to  a  game  she  didn’t  feel  like  attending  was  bad ,  but  acknowledging  her  ex - girlfriend’s  presence  on  the  perimeter  was  even  worse .  as  she  glanced  at  the  female ,  lincoln  couldn’t  help  herself  but  dig  her  nails  into  her  palms  - ,  crescent  shapes  forming  instantly  - ,  and  in  a  moment  of  impulsivity ,  she  paved  the dirty  floor  that  separated  the  two  bodies .  ❝  damn …  you  moved  on  quickly  !  ❞ ,  superfluous  comment  accompanied  by  a  crease  on  her  forehead ,  not  minding  the  heads  that  had  turned  at  the  echo  of  her  voice ;  it  was  a  petty  move ,  one  that  she  wouldn’t  dare  to  embrance  when  they  were  together ,  ❝  i  suppose  you  always  had  a  thing  for  polyester  !  your  new  baseball  friend  seems  to  fit  in  just  fine …  ❞ ,  her  blood  boiling  at  the  mention  of  ashley’s  new  partner ,  fake  smile  on  display . 

                    the strange thing about this industry was you seemed to know of everyone but never truly knew anyone.   everyone had some sort of facade or character they portrayed to be more interesting or easier to sell their brand.  so even when you ran in to familiar faces there always seemed to be this block,  like you could chat for hours and leave knowing nothing about them.                        it was when you ran into people you actually  K N E W   that you realised just how much you missed the forced and fake conversations some times.  because ashley was indeed the kind of person who was closed off and guarded,   anyone that knew her secrets and wasn’t in immediate contact with her anymore was seen as a threat.                                                               but she was here supporting her   ‘boyfriend’   and at a baseball game ashley didn’t think she’d be running into anyone she knew.   especially not lincoln.  she was on her phone,  scrolling through twitter as she hid her face with the baseball cap she’d been told to wear.    but then a voice echoes in her ears like nails on a chalkboard,  a painful reminder of her past.     “hm ?” she cocks her head up as if she hadn’t recognised the voice before forcing a smile on to her lips,   “oh ....hi,” she leans in to her chair putting her phone on her lap.   the blonde takes in a deep breath,  looks to the field before this cocky and proud smile begins to tug on to her lips.    “he does look pretty fine ....doesn’t he ??”