𝚙 𝚛 𝚎 𝚢

F L A S H B A C K

pulling her shirt over her head, she looked over at the other, before quickly scanning around the room for her other sock. she had been hanging out with cain for a while, and she knew at some point her feelings towards him had changed, the events of tonight confirming it on her part at least. she couldn’t remember how they had ended up in her bed together, or particularly care right now as she quicky pulled her clothes back on, just that they had, and to her, it had meant something. settling back down, she smiled softly over at cain, patting the space next to her as she grabbed for her blanket. “so…that was nice. whatever the hell that was?” she questioned, raising an eyebrow. “actually…what was that?”

@caindubois​

cain knew he should get up. he’d been in reverie’s position enough times to believe her getting dressed was his cue to get going. most time he’d not only be cool with this, but glad for it; there’s nothing worse than a clingy hookup who wants to cuddle after a fuck. at least that’s what he thought until reverie had moved to get up and he found himself having to resist the urge to take her hand and pull her back towards him. not only that but, for whatever fucking he reason, he was actually hurt kind of bothered by the thought of her wanting him to leave. the thought made him feel completely ridiculous, and he tried his best to ignore it as he put his boxers on. he was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking around half-heartedly in search of his jeans when rev settled back down in bed. when he turned and saw her smiling, it was like he could breathe again. okay, so she didn’t want him to leave. and he didn’t want to leave. and he didn’t know what to do with that information, but he didn’t have to think about it right now. now he just smiled back at her and moved to the spot on the bed she’d indicated. without thinking he reached for her, wanting her closer. “i believe it’s called sex,” he joked instinctively, though he suspected it hadn’t been just sex. jesus fuck, when had he become such a sap? “technicalities aside, i’m… not sure what that was. but i also think it was really fucking nice,” he said, sounding a lot less nonchalant than he’d hoped.

     after the explanation had fallen from her lips, chai felt the urge to cover them with both hands to keep anything else from spilling out, once it truly dawned on her who she was talking to. how many times had she tried to get meet up with him, get him to answer her calls, texts, and not with the usual nonchalance, but how he used to. chai gulped through the knot in her throat, her brown eyes slightly widening at his suggestion, not expecting it. quiet as mouse now, she nodded in agreement. 

it had been a while since she was this close, so she took a moment to gaze at cain’s face, noticing how the street lights hit his features, lyrics already blossoming in her mind. her thoughts are interrupted when he speaks, chai quickly directing her attention to the sidewalk in front of them, tugging a strand of hair behind her ear. noticing his tone, she considered how much of the night she should retell. “ he was … average. real skinny, dark hair. drunk. ” she pauses for a moment. her tone was paradoxical, delicately cold, full of sadness, and any attempts to conceal it were in vain.  “ i was singing. he came up to me. grabbed me by the arm, kept shouting, but i didn’t understand a word he said. ” curiously, she glances at her arm, coincidentally the one cain was holding, she notices the indents of the stranger’s nails, but pretends she doesn’t, quickly resuming the story. “ a few people were listening to me, so someone pushed him around long enough for me to get out of there. i guess that wasn’t enough for him. ” a sigh wasn’t enough to ease her increasing stress levels, chai searching her jeans’ pockets, underneath her cinderella dress. she held out the opened pack of cigarettes as an offer for cain, before taking one for herself. “ it’s fine. i’m OK. ”

it’s only once the initial worry wears off that cain realises he impulsively invited chai over to his house. and it’s only after that that he realises that she’s never even been to his place since he moved out of his parents’. he doesn’t know why that thought bothers him, and doesn’t care to know, either. he just brushes it aside, forcing himself to focus solely on chai’s retelling of the night’s events.

it’s hard not to let the past seep into his mind, however, as he feels anger surging in his chest once again at the idea of chai going through that. the feeling’s too personal to be pure outrage at the idea of a random girl being harassed. sure, that makes him angry too, of course; he’s a (sort of) decent fucking human being, after all. but the fact that the asshole had not only harassed chai, but done so while interrupting her music, her greatest passion… it makes his blood boil. and still, he suspects that’s not the whole story. he may not know the person chai’s grown into the past few years, but he can still recognise the familiar the note of sadness in her voice, but also the calculation in it.

(or maybe these things are obvious or maybe they’re not even there at all and he’s just desperately trying to pretend he still knows her at all, that the damage isn’t irreparable, that he can still fix this even as part of him desperately wants to push her further away.)

14. Do you miss someone?

“sure.”

10. When was your last physical fight?

“probably like a couple of months ago with some random drunk dumbass at a party. it was so stupid, i just, like, spilt his drink or whatever and he went ape shit.”

30. What’s irritating you right now?

“existing is getting pretty old. could do without.”

69. Do you believe in soulmates?

“oh, you’d fight a ghost for me, would you?” she said, raising her eyebrows and letting out a laugh, “you wouldn’t run off with your tail between your legs? because i feel like you would definitely run off with your tail between your legs if a real life ghost tried to fight you.” she teased, patting his shoulder. “but no, it’s not the spirits.”  she said with a sigh, “i just woke up feeling weird, and since then, everyone’s been pissing me off…” she stopped, thinking for a moment, “well… pissing me off more than usual, you know?” she snorted, grabbing her water bottle and taking a sip. “your turn. because i know a juicy peach when i see one and you are not it”

“don’t flatter yourself, darling. you know i’m always down to fight,” he teased, though his smile was warm. “if ‘a real life ghost’—” cain started, mocking her previous words, “—tried to fight me, i’d kick their ass into a different spiritual plane,” he joked, all fake bravado. they both knew how often he got his ass kicked by humans. it was unlikely that it’d be much different when it came to spirits. “wanna talk about it?” cain wasn’t big on heart-to-hearts, but hearing about people bitching about other being annoying... that he could do. "hey, what the fuck! i’m totally juicy! i’m the juiciest peach in town!” he feigned outrage and tried to avoid this line of questioning.

     despite the two toned hair, a cinderella costume from the kid’s section dressed over her baggy jeans and smudged eyeliner, chai’s heart was POUNDING as she practically jogged past the shops and bars downtown. the sole thought on her mind was how she wished she could run faster to shake off the feeling she’s being followed, if only it weren’t for the acoustic guitar that towered behind her, strapped onto her back. it took only a couple of glances over her shoulder, and her paranoia became reality. sighing, her usual internal battle commences. chai weighs out her options, the LAST thing she wants to do is approach someone with HER problems, maybe she could ditch the guitar and —

“ HEY !! wait up ! ” the words fell out of her mouth unrehearsed, calling out to the first person that fell into her line of sight, speeding towards them, her tone became almost a whisper. “ hey. ” exhausted, she holds a finger up as a plead for a second to catch her breath. “ i’m SO sorry. this fuckin’ weirdo, 8 o'clock, don’t look. help … ? — let’s just, let’s just keep walking, please ? ”

  cain isn’t usually the type to turn around at someone calling out. even when he hears his name being called out loud and clear he’ll often pretend not to hear, just to spare himself of the social interaction. still, something about this voice in particular makes him turn before he has time to consider it. and as soon as he realises the familiar voice belongs to a distressed chai, he understands why.

an amused smile crossed embry’s lips as soon as cain had spoken. she’d recognised his voice immediately of course, as it was both a welcome one, and one that had been a pain in her arse from basically the moment he’d stepped into their high school on his first day as a freshman. she finally turned towards him when he spoke again, noting the sarcasm in his voice. “they told me you’d drop dead if you disrespected me today.” she mused, walking towards him and crossing her arms, “they also may have mentioned that i’d be the one doing the… dead-ing” she added, though her expression of mischief faded slightly as she noticed something had been off about him too. perhaps everyone was having a tough day today. “you doing alright there, squirt?”

cain was glad to find that, even if embry seemed to be in low-spirits, it didn’t keep her from her usual brutal comebacks. he was grateful for their dynamic, though he’d be caught dead before admitting it to her. still, embry and her bantering were a constant in his life, and god knew he needed that. “way harsh, tai,” he quoted with an expression of faux hurt. “but at least i’ll die doing what i love, right? that’s not so bad.” as he realised she’d caught on to his less-than-great mood, he put on a smile. “peachy keen, darling,” he replied and rested his chin over his hands, elbow on the shop counter. despite the sarcastic words, his tone was neutral. “you don’t look so hot yourself. are the spirits getting you down? ‘cause i don’t want to fight a ghost but i will if i have to.”

stacks of rings filled embry’s fingers as she arranged the store’s crystals from the mess that they’d been put in after a group of gushing teenagers had been in, desperately seeking anything to have brandon or luke or whoever fall in love with them. it had taken all of embry’s self control to keep from taking a particularly large chunk of rose quartz from behind the counter and throwing it directly into their flushed faces. she had woken up in an off mood that morning, and it had followed her to work and remained even now, when she had a mere twenty minutes before she could close the doors and get drunk at the closest bar that was selling two for one margaritas. she’d just finished putting away the final piece of obsidian when she heard the familiar bell indicating that someone had walked into the store. without glancing back, she let out a heavy sigh, indicating her poor mood, “so, what’ll it be? fame or fortune?”

cain hadn’t planned on walking into embry’s shop that day. the place wasn’t what he’d call his “scene”, but ever since the girl had started working there, he’d taken to stopping by every once in a while on his way home from work. usually it was just to be a pain in her ass — ask overly serious questions about things she knew he didn’t believe in and try not to laugh as she was forced to answer so as to not make a bad impression on the real customers. he wasn’t in much of a mood for that just then, though; his work day had been hell and he wanted nothing more than to forget all about it. but as he walked in front of the shop and noticed a dejected looking embry was the only one inside, he decided maybe her company could do him some good. “you tell me,” he answered with a smirk not quite as sharp as usual. “what do the cards tell you?"

3. are they good at sports?

“i can ice skate pretty well. or at least i could as a kid. would probably break my ass if i tried now.”

7. celebrity crush?

“jeff goldblum and i’m tired of people accusing me of being ironic about it.”

14. greatest fear(s)?

“well, considering my aforementioned deadly bee allergy, bees. not particularly fond of small spaces either.”

have they ever broken someones heart? has someone broken theirs?

“i’ve been told i have, but it sounded like guilt-tripping bullshit. as for having my heart broken i’m going to say no on the grounds that saying yes sounds too cheesy for my taste.”

do they have children? have they before?

“fuck no, god forbid.”

opinion on pets? cats or dogs?

"they’re... cool...? and cats aren’t as much work, so cats.”

do they have allergies?

“yup. if i get stung by a bee i’ll probably drop dead so if you needed any more reason to hashtag save the bees, there ya have it.”

🗑️  a text that wasn’t sent.

[06/22/2012]: do you miss me?

[07/12/2013]: this house feels empty without you

[12/25/2014]: i understand why you dont want to see me i know i messed up ur life  [12/25/2014]: but why would you promise you to come? [12/25/2014]: i waited all day

[04/11/2016]: happy birthday [04/11/2016]: i miss you

🦋   a loving text.

[12/23/2014 20:45]: what time do u get here tomorrow?

💫   a late night text.

[07/21/2019 04:22]: text when u get home.

🗑️  a text that wasn’t sent.

[04/22/2016 21:32]: i wish i knew how to make things go back to how they used to be [04/22/2016 21:33]: youre the best friend i ever had

🌊  a sad text.

[12/24/2014 21:32]: romeo didnt show up [12/24/2014 21:32]: i know its christmas but can i come over [12/24/2014 21:33]: please

⚡  an angry text.