most excellent!

niall: all i'm saying is that five years later, suddenly they get it! we deserve some justice i think.

niall: i think the music video really makes it. granted one of my more cringy lyrics of my career is in that song but i think all of our songs were underrated.

niall: ohhh? you'll get down on your knees for this girl?? interesting.

brig: #justiceforonedirection

brig: i'm already tweeting it, don't worry, we're going to get you guys justice

brig: the way that i know exactly which lyric without you having to say it...this is a safe space, don't worry. they really were, though. the deep cuts? bangers.

billie: It's a must. doesn't even gotta be a fact - just text me to talk haha

billie: omg I know. I honestly love being a home body. I can stay cooped up in my room forever.

billie: yo, I cannot wait! your character on the show is such a vibe I fuck with too haha

brig: okay, fair enough! tonight's topic: why are some mushrooms poisonous but look extremely tasty? like, i just wanna munch even though i know i will die

brig: you and me both, sister. me and my bed are in a long term relationship.

brig: i can't wait either!!! and i know, she's such a badass. but also a dork. but also an angel. i just adore her, tbh. and i'm excited to see how her storyline plays out for sure.

niall: see. everyone wants to be a 1d critic until their life fits...

niall: no but i get it, years later i can see we definitely made better.

niall: but oh? is there some juicy gossip for you to share? any other one direction songs remind you of this girl?

brig: are you implying this is a regular occurrence? do the grown men who wrote 1d smear articles for years redact their previous opinions after falling in love? i hope so! what character growth.

brig: there were many, many bangers with really interesting lyrics. this was maybe not one of them. but it still hits, so who's to say?

Dani: salmonella?

Dani: you’re so cute when you look out for my well being. but it’s not going to stop me

Dani: embarrassing???? if you think that’s embarrassing what until you get a call from my cast mates complaining that I talk about you waaay to much.

brig: yes. salmon vanilla. exactly

brig: ah, well. i tried. and i'm definitely going to be eating it too so

Dani: as long as I can eat some of the dough

Dani: I really miss you and your face

Dani: that’s a lie I miss everything about you

brig: raw cookie dough is bad for you. what if you get s

brig: never mind i'm not even gonna try and spell it

brig: you know what i mean. the raw cookie dough thing

brig: do you want to come help me make cookies soon? asking for a friend

brig: no, i'm not. the friend is me

brig: i'd like to extend a formal apology

brig: 2012 brig really clowned on the hit one direction song "kiss you" but you know what?

Kristine: Hey angel.

Kristine: Okay, okay. I'll play along.

Kristine: I don't know, what happens when a frog's car breaks down?

brig: me, angel??? no no, that's all you.

brig: thank you for your unwavering support of me

brig: okay, well,

brig: he has to get it toad

billie: thats cool though, you're like your very own hard drive haha but YES please text me all the randomness

billie: I feel like we both need to get outta the house and live a little if we're waking up tired haha I think theres gotta be a thing where too much sleep is effort haha

billie: its GREAT! i binged it when I realized how great it is! when is the next season coming out?

brig: that's actually an excellent way of putting it! promise to text you the next outlandish thing that pops into my brain

brig: now, you're probably right, butttt....getting out of the house seems like a lot of work, doesn't it?

y’all ever wonder how many nuts are actually in a jar of peanut butter? like, i just be thinking about it. i know i can look this shit up, but i mean there can’t be any exact number. it’s like how many licks it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop type shit. anyway, i recently found out hbo max got practically the entire studio ghibli selection so i been revisiting some of that phenomenal animation work for some inspiration. what have y’all been on for inspiration lately? music, movies, tv shows, whatever it is… i’m genuinely curious. 

(@hfrpstarters​)

would you believe i think about shit like that all the time, actually? it’s a curse. i’ll be sitting there, minding my own business, and boom, my stupid brain wants to know something. for example, i just recently figured out what 2% milk is, and i’m pretty sure google is laughing at me now. okay, now...this is dangerous information, because i’m not above watching spirited away three or more times in a day. as for what’s been inspiring me lately, i had a conversation with a five year old the other day who completely redefined my worldview. kids are mystical like that, you know? i told her i had to go home because i needed to do laundry, and she said “does laundry make you happy?” and you know what? i haven’t been right since. i think i need to sit with myself and do some soul searching. 

“Yes, in their own little drawer. Is that a problem?” She teasingly questioned, “I can give you an ever smaller drawer if you aren’t content.” Danielle added. The banter between the two always felt right, everything with Brig felt right–ever so wonderful. Within the past few months, hanging out with Brig had been the highlight of her year. “Maybe you can even get your own shelf in my fridge.” Danielle winked at her.

Her whole body flushed of warmth, her arms warp around the top of their shoulders, leaning up on her toes to kiss Brig back. She always wondered what it would feel like to kiss them, unbothered and just fully engrossed into the moment. The feeling of kissing them was unlike others. She thought the yearning to kiss them would’ve faded, except she only wanted more. Her hands moved to cup their cheeks, before she pulled away from the kiss. Danielle looked up at them with wide eyes and let out a light laugh. “Thanks for kissing me.” Her statement wasn’t out of character, it was the only thing she could muster as her mind was completely blank and at ease.  

“You are also cute when you blush.” Danielle was gathering confidence she never knew she had. Perhaps it was just the laughter and the environment Brig provided her. Danielle felt comfortable whenever she was around Brig, a safe place for her to be herself. Brig had seen her at her weakest, crying about how fans weren’t fond of her being casted as Hope–but Brig made her feel loved and appreciated. 

“Your sweatpants are living in their own little drawer–I was doing laundry and I just decided to organize your stuff collectively.” She rambled slightly, not wanting to embarrass herself more than she just did. Dani tried reading their face, trying to understand what was going on. She wasn’t quite sure if she’d just been rejected, but then again, Dani wasn’t straight up about what she wanted–no, who she wanted. “You’re my favorite person too–and,” Dani sighed, nervous to wreck a friendship. This was something she didn’t want to talk about, rejection frightened her. “And you mean a lot to me, I think you’re spectacular and–can I just–Can you just kiss me?” She spoke fast, eyes widen at what she spoke to her friend. “Kiss me.” She repeated, more confidently. 

up until about five seconds ago, it had always been so easy to brush off danielle complimenting them as her just being a nice person. and she was definitely nice, but there was something more than that, and brig was starting to think they were a total idiot for always brushing things off when they wanted to do the exact opposite, and lean into her. “in their own little drawer?” brig asked softly with a laugh, their gaze falling down to the ground briefly while they tried to gather and refocus their thoughts.

but before they could even gather anything, dani was already blowing them away again with some more sweet words. it made their heart pick up speed again to know that dani thought about them as her favorite person, too, and it was making everything harder now. by the time the words kiss me were heard from the younger actress, brig had to blink just to make sure they were hearing them correctly, and not dreaming up something again. when she repeated herself, more confidently, brig couldn’t help the way the corners of their lips pulled up into a smile. “okay,” they breathed out softly, not sure if it was more directed towards danielle or to themself as a slight pep talk. shaking their head slightly to dispel that thought, or any thought, they were still smiling when they leaned down to press their lips against danielle’s and kiss her softly. 

“Yes, you! I’ve seen myself just a few hours ago, but have you seen yourself? Seems like you were purposely trying to distract me during the movie.” Danielle gasped, laughter soon following after, squeezing onto them a bit hard as she almost stumbled over with her own laughter. Once her laughter died down, she smiled at Brig. “Thank you though, but you really do look killer tonight.” She spoke sincerely, admiring the details of their face. The face that managed to convince her to not go travel to meet with someone. 

“It does sound perfect, doesn’t it? I’m sure you’ve left some of your clothes over at my place, so you don’t have to stay in those clothes all night–if you wanted.” Dani offered, knowing that when she got home, she’d strip herself of her clothes. The young actress’ skin burned when they touched her, making her heart palpitate even at the sound of their voice. “Same here, well–” She stopped talking for several seconds, trying to think of what to say next. “You’re the only person I really wanna be around like this…with.” Her voice got silent and she chewed on her cheek nervously. Was this her finally admitting (in her own way) this was who she wanted? Dani swallowed, her eyes focusing on the sidewalk that they were walking down. She felt her chest hollow at the several moments of uncertainty that would arrive with her subtle confession.

brig couldn’t help but laugh softly at the younger girl’s words, because it was so funny, considering how distracted they had been all night just by the idea of having danielle by their side. “thank you, i appreciate it,” they responded equally as sincerely to the compliment, a slight flush coloring their cheeks now as well.

“i think most of my sweatpants definitely live at your place now,” brig agreed with a nod of their head, already fantasizing about the sweet relief of changing out of fancy clothes just to lounge around with dani. as much time as brig spent doing it, it was the one activity they could never, ever be sick of: doing absolutely nothing with her. as dani gathered her words, brigette waited patiently, their fingers playing with dani’s absentmindedly as they laced them together. when she finally spoke, their fingers slowed to a stop, just taking time to try and process the words. and the last thing brig wanted to do was read too much into something, but — “really?” they murmured softly in reply, turning their face to look at her, in slight disbelief. “you’re...my favorite person, dani,” brigette admitted softly, not wanting to say anything too loud or do anything that might ruin this little moment that was unfolding.

“Making fun of drunk people sounds like fun.” She beamed, once again sliding her hand back into theirs. She gave them a squeeze and leaned closed into their side, her other hand gently grasping onto their arm. Danielle just wanted to feel close to Brig, she actually wanted to be close to Brig. “You look really nice tonight, Brig.” Danielle commented, her cheeks flushing pink, glancing her eyes back at the ground. Everyone always seemed taller than Dani, but she found this difference to be comforting from her friend. 

Friend, she didn’t want to be their friend anymore, right? Danielle could surely think of something better than just being friends. After she realized her other crush didn’t want any relationship, it opened her eyes to Brig and how wonderful they truly were. As they walked to the after party, she glanced back up at Brig. “After the party, would you want to crash at my place? We can always throw a pizza in the oven and just…relax.” At the end of her sentence, it started to trail. She wanted to be bundled up between them, bare flesh touching. At that thought, her cheeks turned pink once again.

the smile that was tugging at brig’s lips only grew when danielle leaned into them, loving the warmth of her hand on their arm. every little moment that dani was close them, brig always tried to treasure. when the younger actress complimented them, they let out a soft little chuckle. “me? i’m okay, but have you seen you?” brig asked them, nudging their shoulder against danielle’s gently. of course, it was impossible not to notice the adorable way that her cheeks flushed, or how much it made brigette want to keep her close.

maybe it was in their head, blissfully unaware of anything except danielle as the two of them strolled, but brig thought they made a pretty good pair. they loved to tease the younger girl for being short, but really, brig loved the way danielle fitted against their side perfectly. it was enough to make their mind wander towards hopeful thoughts that they tried not to focus too much on — because they were just happy to have dani in their life, always. but there was always the idea of more. “oh, man, that sounds perfect,” brig admitted, letting out a sigh at just how amazing dani’s suggestion sounded. of course they caught the way her voice trailed off at the end, in a way that made brig’s heart jump softly. “you’re the only person i really wanna be around, anyway,” they confessed with a shrug of their shoulders.