she's glitter and gold.

NEW GIRL ( 2011 - 2018 ) ↳ season 3 episode 16

He would rather be anywhere else. Hospitals had always been unsettling to him. Nobody was listening to him, which made him all the more frustrated. He was alive, and convinced he was capable of taking care of himself at home, despite the fact that he was in more pain than he would ever admit. He was glad she didn’t appear to have been hurt in the blast. His people were alive, and he was grateful for it. He thought it was pretty fucked up some asshole had allowed civilians to get caught in the crossfire. It also meant there would be more of a police presence, which was something he didn’t want to deal with. He fixed her with an unimpressed look, not at all buying her bullshit. “Pretty sure I know most of them, and none of them are him.” Who even hung out with Asher? Certainly not him. If he was going to be forced to be somewhat of a prisoner, at least he had company. "I still can't believe you wore it in February, though," he remarked, shaking his head. Not that he was complaining, she was nice to look at. Henry studied her carefully for a moment, uncertain of what to even say. "Was anyone else you know hurt?" he didn't want to talk about himself or his own injuries.

Aspen absolutely despised being in the hospital, even just as a visitor. The blinding white walls and all of the constant noise was enough for her to limit her time, though tonight she couldn’t stop herself from making an appearance. Her eyes trailed over his appearance, mentally taking note of any visible injuries on his body. Letting herself give into her emotions took more out of her than passing the threshold into his room, why'd he have to go and get himself hurt in the first place? The expression on his face told her he wasn't buying her story, but telling the truth wasn't an option. "You don't know as much as you think you do then, he's always coming into the casino." She told him, her head nodding to sell her point. "You have to suffer for fashion, the shorts really tied it together — I had to do what I had to do." The blonde shrugged her shoulders, still not regretting her choice especially not when she continued to feel his eyes on her. "No, just you. Did you really have to get hurt so I'd be forced to come visit you?" She teased, shaking her head slightly until she realized her hand was still pressed against his cheek. She moved it in one swift motion from his skin, "How long are they making you stay?" She questioned, her eyes meeting his.

sydney sweeney via vanityfair on instagram

Sydney Sweeney

Henry just wanted to go home. He'd been saying that to everyone who came in, but he was not getting what he wanted. He knew that he couldn't make a break for it alone, and unfortunately, it seemed like people actually cared for his safety and weren't interested in assisting him with breaking out. He was surprised to see Aspen at his door, and he wasn't buying her bullshit story about being there for someone else, either. At least, not Asher. He'd never heard her mention him before. "Is that the story you're going with?" he questioned, half amused. Henry squinted at her, adjusting slightly from where he was seated on the bed. "You're already here. You might as well stick around. Why waste such a nice outfit on Asher, hmm?"

Aspen hated seeing him in the hospital, seeing what that chaos of that stupid night did to him. One moment they were sharing a heated kiss at the kissing booth and then next she could barely see what was going on through all of the smoke. The two of them were separated shortly after their heated moment and the next she knew he'd managed to land himself here. The blonde could tell from the look on his face that he didn't believe a word she was saying, still she was too prideful to let him win something like this. "Who says it's a story? You don't know all of my friends, Henry." She said with a roll of her eyes before allowing them to meet his. You're already here, he said making a good point — though seeing if he'd let her stay was part of her plan all along. Aspen took the opportunity to walk over to his bedside, sitting on the small open space on the side of his legs. "You're right, I really hate wasting an outfit — especially one that looks like this." As she paused she reached out to move a loose strand of hair from his face, hers moving closer to remove some of the space left between them.

Aspen was happy to see her best friend in a good mood. It was the first time she'd seen him like this in a while, the sadness that usually was accompanied by a bottle. She looked over at him from the couch, laughing as she weighed her options. "St Barts is usually beautiful this time of year and I've got some bikini's practically dying to come out of my closet."

"You know, I'm sure he'd give me a lot less trouble than you," he teased back. "Aspen, please," he scoffed. "As if I need a donation for that." He was sure he could easily convince her to go find some place to hook up with him after her shift if he really wanted to. "You warm in that outfit?" Another joke, given the fact that she was most definitely not wearing enough layers to produce any semblance of warmth.

The two weren’t strangers to sharing something as simple as a kiss, their problem went deeper than that. Kissing Henry meant giving in which quickly turned one into many — the kiss was easy, stopping was the issue. “Yet here you are in line.” She shrugged her shoulders, the playfulness in her voice practically taunting him at this point. Her eyes traveled over his appearance while he commented on hers, he would be the one to call her out for wearing shorts. “Toasty.” She replied, though it was a slight exaggeration. She’d brought a portable heater for her shift and had a jacket packed near some jeans for later, for now she liked the way her outfit looked too much to change. Aspen was glad to come prepared for the sunset, just in case the cold got to be too much to bear. “You planning to warm me up if I wasn’t?”

SYDNEY SWEENEY via instagram (melissa.hernandez)

Aspen shook her head as they walked together, letting out a laugh before she spoke. “Is it that easy? You should have told me that forever ago, I’ve been planning this for weeks.” She teased, enjoying the peace of the carnival while it lasted. The blonde was no stranger to how events went down when all the gangs were in close proximity, that just meant they needed to stay on their toes. “Spiked hot chocolate is perfect.”

HE WAS LEANING INTO the evening's festivities -- slowly but surely. he had at first been unamused by his surroundings at first, feeling that he had somehow outgrown all of this... but then he couldn't help but remember just how pompous that sounded. he wouldn't be caught dead acting that way, after growing up around it. therefore, he found himself far more willing to engage with the chaos around him. he played a couple of games, won some, lost some, and had eventually found himself in comfortable, familiar company. he had been trying his hardest not to be drawn in by familiar distractions, but the more he allowed himself to have of derin, the more desperate he became for more. therefore, he found himself fighting painfully familiar patterns. perhaps this is why he allows his attention be drawn by a funnel cake, allowing the sugar to be something he'd later regret instead of his choices. " fuck, i forgot how good these are. i probably didn't need the reminder. " he laughs, shaking his head as he looks to her. " want anything? on me, i promise. "

"Are you really beating yourself up over a little sugar?" The blonde questioned as the familiar sight of Enzo came into view. "Treating yourself every once in a while isn't a bad thing, in fact, it’s encouraged.” Aspen knew the best part about a carnival was the food, all the different varieties of fried food each made an appearance and were at their disposal. That and if you were daring enough to step onto the rides they managed to fully construct in just a few hours, more times than not the risk paid off in your favor. With everything going on she was glad to be in his company — the comfort it provided was hard to replicate and that made it special. Recently the blonde had found herself distracted, the want for someone growing so strongly that it could only be pushed out of her mind by Aspen throwing her attention elsewhere. “I could do shots off your abs, I don’t think the funnel cake is going to do as much damage as you think.” She laughed, shaking her head as she looked back at him. “They’ve got to have cheese fries somewhere, right?”

"Are you tipping me for my ability to fend off assholes? Or were you looking for something else? Nico will surely take you up on a kiss."

Overall the carnival was supposed to be a fun night, the blonde was entertained by the thought of spending a shift running the kissing booth. Still it was always a risk to have everyone all together, especially when they were split among booth duties — she was lucky to be paired with her brother. Gavin being by her side made her feel better, especially now that they were taking a look at everything the event had to offer. "Do you feel like getting a drink or maybe heading over to one of the rides?" At least those were operated by professionals.

An eyebrow raised at the sight of his flask, though Aspen wasn't the type to say no to a free drink. "Look at you coming to the carnival prepared." She reached her arm out to grab it from it, a smirk spreading on her features as she raised it to her lips. "You also know it's my favorite, I see what you're doing." She teased, though she was thankful for the warning before taking a long sip.