✨on saturn✨

where: prom, auditorium stage

"Oh, so you were, like, totally a theater kid, weren't you?"

Cricket could see it, the way that Celia just seemed to gravitate perfectly to center stage. None of the lights were on aside from the flashlight of her phone, acting as a makeshift spotlight from where she was sat in the front row watching her.

"Oh my God, no, wait--were you actually a Glee kid? Celia, be so for real right now, were you your school's own Rachel Berry, yes or no and why is the answer like definitely yes?"

sometimes she wondered if she could go back, if she'd want to know that that night was the last. but then again, what good would it have been to know that everything she had planned since she was a little girl would be cut down in one fell swoop? all of the years of hard work were suddenly a waste instead of building blocks of a career. she wanted to scream about how unfair it was, that her body could just decide to betray her just on the precipice of getting to live out her dream. that wasn't her style, though. 'celia baker style' was pushing down every emotion and not letting herself comprehend how much things had actually hurt her. 'celia baker style' was to be okay. to keep going. no matter what.

her hand quickly brushed away any evidence of tears as cricket's voice tore through the dark cloud of thoughts that had engulfed her. "guilty." she admitted with her usual laugh, soon sheilding her eyes as the makeshift spotlight lit up the room.

"I've been better." Not wanting to wait any longer, the words were bubbling to the surface, needing to be said. "I'm sorry about how we last spoke. I was.. a total jackass at New Years and you didn't deserve it." It was just a kiss. "It was a pretty bad night for me, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Maverick really can't make much sense of it. Why Julian would be upset, why he would say her name with enough inflection to draw Mav's attention to it, why Celia looks like a kicked puppy. He wants to get on with the night. Hope that Julian makes it home safe, and get back to dancing.

Until she shares another piece of information that feels like the one he needed the whole time. "You also got really drunk and told me you really liked me, which you really insisted meant that you liked me. And that's why-" Mav waves a hand between them. It is why he asked her to be his date here. It prompted him to consider it, the idea of them, and just starting off with going out on a date. It didn't feel awkward, they already have seen enough intimate parts of each other for it to feel anything of the sort, but now guilt settles in his chest and takes hold of his heart.

"Did you mean any of it?" And okay, Mav realizes he might sound dejected, so he clarifies, "Between me and him - did you mean to kiss him? Did you mean that you liked me? Or neither or what?"

He frowns, "Because he's my friend, and I feel like this is a weird position to be in now because I don't know if you know what you want. Or if you were just... drunk and not thinking."

even though the questions hung in the air, they seemed to hit her at her very core. this was a mess. and it was her mess. flames of embarrassment stuck to her cheeks in reddish patches as she tried to gather her thoughts once more. "I don't know what I meant that night with everything with julian. I'm not going to lie, I've always kind of had a bit of a crush on him the entire time I've known him so.." she let the words trail off with a shrug.

"Jeez, so when was your last prom -- two years ago?" Billie teases with a smile.

"You look like such a baby, no offense. You've got great skin."

"Okay. Sure." The silence is only balanced by a slower rendition of Can't Help Falling In Love echoes down the long and dim corridors. "If I can help, let me know." It's soft, the distress from before wiped from his face and body as he decides he just needs to be a friend, albeit still unsure what he's supposed to do to be supportive in the moment.

her tirade hung in the air like a thick fog between them. the guilt settled into her, her stomach turning into a horribly sour pit. "I'm sorry. I'm-" her cheeks puffed as she took a long breath, trying to regain herself the best she could. "that wasn't fair. you were just worried. and I'm sorry."

Hana had been an unexpected ally turned friend when he started his residency, and especially during his ER rotation. There was also an unexpected feeling as she hung off his arm, or they shared their 3am coffee, or shared a cry in the 4th floor supply closet at Mercy. The little things. And right now they're dancing and yelling the song playing and then he's being pulled away?

Eyebrows furrow to the small hand gripping his bicep, shrugging at Hana as he disappears but she finds community in the crowd in his absence. "O-oh okay?" He's still confused but allows himself to be pulled away from the crowd and into a quieter part of the school.

"You okay? You having a flare?" He asks, immediately trying to problem solve whatever medical emergency might be before him. Unlike Hana, and his other colleagues, he'd yet to learn how to turn it off.

she waved his medical worry away as the music began to transition into a slower, more heartfelt song. "no, I'm not having a flare!" her words were backed with a bit more venom than she intended. "I'm fine!"

Mack karate chops the air, making a 'whoosh'ing sound at the exact moment he would have hit the unthrown pencil with such force he thinks it would have become a weapon. He would have mimed whacking another if his eyebrows didn't furrow in confusion at Celia's question, dropping his hands back down.

"Hold up, how the fuck do you know about my tattoo?"

He steps further into the classroom so he could seat himself on one of the tables, trying not to look too bummed out by what were ultimately good problems to have.

"You would think taking your girlfriend to prom would guarantee you face time with said girlfriend but nawh. Nope. The fates are fucking around with me specifically and I think teaching me what it's like to miss someone who's in the same room as you. Cause every time I think it's Mack time it's like jinkies, here comes one of our friends and whatever the hell's going on with them. Which is usually chill because I love our friends, even the ones that are just hers and I don't think actually like me all that much but it's also like can you chill, you feel me? Now she's gone to the bathroom with Sola so I'll probably never see her again. You ever been around those two once they start gabbing? They're gabaholics. It's going to be gabchella in there."

The back of his heel taps against the leg of the table he was perched on absently in dull thuds, slowing to a halt as he looked at Celia properly after his mini-rant and he realised she either had been or was about to cry.

"Woah, hey. Are you okay?"

she soaked in his problems, trying to be the best friend she could in the moment while her own issues hung at the surface like a hungry shark. the mention of sola, the person who had been by mav's side more often than not, felt like another brick added to her emotional toll. but celia baker was the queen of pushing her emotions practically into the center of the earth. "no, I mean, I get it. like it's great to have friends and 'friend time' but you're just more missing time where it's just you guys?" her head cocked to one side as she questioned. "have you said anything to her? or has this been an inside mack thought? because you know what I'm going to say if the only person you've talked to about this is the mack inside your skull." a soft, somber smile reappeared on her lips to accompany the tease.

the vice on her throat that held back her emotions waivered slightly at his next question. "y-yeah. fine. probably just over tired and it's got me all 'up in my feelings' and whatnot."

"It's easy to say that now, isn't it? After the fact." Gianna rolled her eyes. The irony was almost laughable. Out of all the nights she could've ran into the woman, tonight had to be the night. "For all I know, you would've slept with him regardless. For all I know, you did!" her voice wavered with the weight of everything she held back in the last year. "Do you think I care?" She straightened, swallowing the bile rising in her throat. "You fucked my fiance -you're not 'innocent'. You don't get to play ignorant to feel better about yourself." her gaze hardened. "As for where I choose to stand with Carter, that is my business. Not yours."

dark eyes rolled as gianna continued to speak, her lips soon wrapping back around the edge of the glass and taking another long sip. "not playing. just actually blindsided by a fucking asshole." celia's words were becoming more monotone, the want to shut down taking over. though, her gaze soon made her way over to the other woman, eyes narrowed with disdain. "you know, I used to feel bad for you. I wanted better for you than a man who would just cheat on you like that. but now? after all this misogonist, 'blame the other woman (she's obviously the problem), give him three hundred chances and maybe he'll change' shit? god, it's no wonder you two are still together. peas in a fucking pod."

abel picked celia up as all good dates did. an easy arrangement to make after asking her to go with him. abel liked celia, she was kind and talented and had made for a fast friend the day he approached her. there was no baggage of a date in his question, what with him still feeling a little raw from a broken engagement not too long ago. so he had cosigned himself to simply having fun and seeing where all of that took him.

the invitation from abel, while surprising, was very much welcome. as the weeks started to creep up, celia began to worry she'd have to weather the storm alone. but having someone like him, someone who had quickly become a very dear friend, by her side made her nerves settle just a tad. the memories of the last 'date' she had accepted wouldn't stop lingering, however. and she knew this could just be a sequel to the chaos that was that night.

the knock on the door forced her to throw all those thoughts into a box and push them away to the back of her mind. celia gave herself one last lookover before she opened the door. "oh gosh, thank you! and look at you! absolutely divine."

She didn't expect her to say anything -In fact, she didn't want her to say anything. Her blood was boiling just by being within distance of each other. "I am." she said gripped and sharp, gripping the base of her glass as she looked back at the woman, her usually soft eyes filled with simmering rage. "What do you mean why? Should it had been you instead?" A bitter laugh left her lips, feeling completely foreign to her. This was very unlike her.

the next set of words almost set off the emotional bomb that was ticking in her chest. "easily." celia whipped words right back at her. she wasn't going to have this woman think something about her that wasn't true. not anymore. "because I didn't know, gianna. I would have never allowed him near me if I knew he was in a relationship. your engagement never came up until after everything was said and done. so, please, get that accusatory tone off of your tongue and maybe listen to me when I was going to say that I asked 'why' because I had hoped you threw his ass out with the other garbage."

where: rando classroom, night of prom

“Ohfuck,” Mack exclaims when he sees an unexpected figure in the classroom he had just ducked into, giving him a mild fright.

( Less of one once he realises it’s neither a ghost or worse, his old math teacher. )

celia shook her head slightly as her gaze continued to wander downward, her tears still threatening to continue to flow. "no, you're good. why are you here, though? you go through that whole tattoo thing just to ditch cricket at the prom?" she asked with a playful tease, though her melancholy tainted every word. "that's some 'saved by the bell' drama right there."