loveless

JASON scoffed, a chuckle falling from his lips. “ sorry i just had to get a closer look because i couldn’t believe someone was that … “ he paused for dramatic effect, his eyes observing her features starting from her eyes then down to her lips ( the latter, a gaze which last longer than he intended ) “ ugly.” his lips broke into a smirk and he stepped back. now charlotte sincialr wasn’t ugly at all, in fact quite the opposite ( and jason’s always had a thing for brunettes ) but that was something he’d never admit in a million years. “seriously sinclair, does it hurt to look in the mirror or do you just avoid mirrors at all costs ? ”  

She pursed her lips stubbornly, trying to keep a neutral expression as he was getting to whatever conclusion of his it was. Ugly seemed to be where it landed. “Ugly? That’s the best you’ve got?” She took a few steps closer, dangerously close to closing the gap between them again. “I expect so much more from you, Jace,” she replied, shaking her head as if she were deeply disappointed. Just to keep the charade alive and well, she took a few long strides back, away from him. She bent down in what she hoped looked like an attempt to lace up her boot while actually gathering some snow and packing it in her free hand. Once she got back up to her feet, she turned around and tossed the snowball at him. She’d been aiming for the face, her expression showing slight disappointment as it bounced off his chest. Whatever. She’d take what she could get. “Whoops, looks like you’ve got a little mark on your shirt. Since I know how much you love mirrors, you might wanna check that out.”

PETER sighed, “charlotte i’m a mature, grown-ass man who don’t need no supervision.” he clicked his fingers in front of his face like he was a sassy teenage girl. he blew on his hot cocoa as he listened to the other speak. when he tried to sip it again, his eyes went wide and his tongue hung out of his mouth. he began to fan it maniacally. “ shit, that’s still hot ! was this made in a volcano or what ? ! ” he turned his attention to the brunette. “ you know what charlotte, your sarcasm is not appreciated during this moment of  tragedy okay ? i am here with the baby boomers and you instead of with my brother and getting drunk and losing my senses at the party ! ”

“Mature? I think you need a dictionary, sweetheart,” she sighed, knowing that mature was the least accurate word to describe Peter. As if to prove her point, he took a sip from his drink and reacted as if he were a cartoon character. “Oh my God, dude,” she said softly, shaking her head. She couldn’t hold back the smirk that grew on her lips in response to his sentence. “Tragedy is a bit of an overstatement. You don’t have to stay, you know. I don’t think we’re being locked in here like it’s an Escape Room.” She looked down at her cup with a frown. “Watching you get wasted would probably be more fun than this.”

Andy took another look around the room. His parents and both his sisters were busy, didn’t seem to care that Andy wasn’t standing with them. He thought they probably preferred him to be away as they mingled, given he wasn’t a great conversationalist. He looked back to Charlotte. “Nah, I don’t think anyone would give a shit if we just dipped.” He smirked as she held the cup up to him. “It smells off.”

“Yeah? You sure you don’t want just a tiny sip? You’re missing out on some watery, powdery goodness,” she teased, waving the cup a little closer to his face before setting it down on the table next to where she stood. “If I get sick and succumb to my sickness later, it was probably that. I’ll put you in my will or something,” she sighed, doing one more scan of the room before she turned back to Andy. “So, where we going? Gentleman’s choice. Seriously. I’ll go to a graveyard with you if that’s what you pick. Anywhere is better than here.”

SUE quickly took out her phone and took a selfie of them, happy with her new addition to the ‘drunk charlotte’ album on her phone. she placed it back in her pocket as she listened to the answers of her best friend. a laugh spilled from her lips as the brunette began to talk about her body warmth. “ umm excuse me young lady, did you just objectify me ?? ” she turned her head slightly to look at the other, a grin forming on her lips. “ also, you are not allowed to get drunk without me.” she pulled away from the hug and clutched on the hands of her friend. “ miss. charlotte sinclair, do you want to get stupid and do stuff that we’re going to regret in the morning ??  ” 

Charlotte would be kicking herself for many things when she was sober, one of them being the weird, duck-lips pose she chose to sport as Sue took the selfie of them. “I don’t think I did...but I can, if you want. You’re hot, Suze. If the guys at this bash don’t appreciate you for all your gingy deliciousness, I sure will.” She grasped Sue’s hand once it slipped into hers, eyes wide as she listened to her request. “As long as you don’t let me to overboard, hell yeah,” she grinned. “What shall we do first? So many options.”

JASON’S eyes never left charlotte and as she tilted her neck, his eyes traced the shape of her lips and down to the curve of her throat and for a second all feelings of animosity disappeared and he was simply a boy looking at a pretty girl. he blinked back as the warm feeling of something blossomed in his heart and shook his head in an effort to remove the thoughts from his mind. he was back to the tall-mean hating machine by the time charlotte had finished with his flask. he clenched his jaw and stepped forward as he took the flask from her hand, closing the gap between them, “sinclair, you are a piece of shit.” in one swift motion, he emptied the remaining contents of his flask down his throat, throwing his head back as he did. “and that itself is an understatement.” he said after he swallowed, his throat after years of drinking numb to the burning sensation.  

Charlotte tilted her head slightly, starring at him as he grabbed the flask back. It was almost like a challenge at this point. Anything that they could say to one-up the other was uttered, and it just fueled the fire. “You say the sweetest things,” she responded, her voice flat as she brought her cup up to her lips and took a small sip. “And I’m only like this around certain people. You know, when the other person is a total dick and has no regard for anyone but themselves? Yeah, that type.” She blinked, suddenly way too aware of how close he was standing to her. “Uh, personal space, much? Or is this the closest to a girl you’ve ever been in your life and you’re trying to let it sink in?”

PETER who had stumbled into the wrong kind of party, groaned in annoyance before he lazily made himself a cup of coffee, making as much ruckus as he could, nonchalantly slamming the paper cups on the table, ripping the sugar packets with an exaggerated force, stirring the styrofoam cup with a somber expression and head lolled to the side. he took a dramatic lunge forward to make way for the other people and leaned against the wall, his glasses falling down on his nose. he took a sip and almost spat it back out having misjudged the temperature of the hot chocolate, he swallowed with a contorted expression of pain. “oh shit that’s hot” he mumbled to no one in particular. he turned his head towards the person who just spoke,  “ hmm ? yeah, i’m totally bailing. i thought this was where the winter bash was going to be here. “ 

When she realized just who it was she’d struck a conversation up with, she’d regretted it. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Peter. She just liked him better not around her. He was like a walking, talking fire hazard. She couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of her nose between her two fingers in annoyance after he took a drink of his coffee and felt the urge to announce to the world how hot it was. Some might’ve found his antics endearing, but she didn’t fall into that category. “I’m surprised they let you walk around town unsupervised,” she said. “Really? What gave away that this isn’t the bash?”

SOMETHING tugged in Jason’s sorrow-riddle heart heart when he heard the nickname, most people called him hobbs around town, jason by his friends but jace was something else, jace was only reserved for charlotte. he raised an eyebrow at her words, a the corners of his lips slowly tugging upwards, “aw sinclair, you think I’m prettty ? ” it wasn’t even a compliment and even with compliments jason never usually got flushed at but for some reason something besides the warming feeling of alcohol churned in his stomach. something he hadn’t felt in a long time. he ignored it of course and focused on some witty and insulting comeback to say, he scoffed “ but like you could find anybody else, you have no friends. ” yet he took out the flask from his pocket and lazily extended his arm towards the other. “ don’t drink from the flask, i don’t want to get gonorrhea ”

“Sure, you’re pretty. So is snow. So are sunsets. Don’t get all mushy about it,” she replied. In all honesty, she thought hot was a better way to describe him. There was no way in hell she’d say that to his face, though. She’d never hear the end of it, especially if he knew that deep down, there was a part of her that found him conventionally attractive. “Funny, I don’t see a parade of people waiting to talk to you, either. Guess we’re stuck with each other.” Wordlessly, she grabbed the flask and started to untwist the top. She paused as his comment followed, raising an eyebrow. “Is that so?” she asked before bringing it to her mouth, lips wrapping around the opening and tilting her head back to take a drink. It burned her throat, but she stubbornly swallowed before pouring a little bit into her cup and passing the flask back to him. “Oops.”

SUE was having conversation with another person from around town, the small talk slowly putting her to sleep and so she couldn’t help the wide smile that appeared on her lips when she heard the familiar voice of charlotte sinclair. she turned to see a very drunk charlotte sinclair and made a side note to take lots of pictures and videos for blackmail use later on ( e.g a birthday spam on Instagram of charlotte’s top ten embarrassing moments ! ) she clutched on charlotte’s hand from the arm that was wrapped from from behind her neck, a chuckle falling from her lips as the brunette drawled on. “i’m having sooo much fun.” sue replied, imitating the jovial drunk tone of the other, a another laugh falling from her lips. “ exactly how many drinks have you had char ? ”

“You’re having fun without me? Unacceptable,” she said with an overenthusiastic shake of her head. Although she wasn’t full on drunk, it was enough that she wasn’t her everyday self. The alcohol helped temporarily take off the mask she wore for the world ninety percent of the time. “Not that many,” she scoffed. “Maybe like...I dunno, four? Just enough to make me sociable for a few hours and a little more likely to do this,” she sighed, wrapping her arms around Sue’s waist and giving her a hug from behind. “You’re so warm, Suze. Ugh. I love it. It’s like having a heated blanket but in human form.”

Andy had just walked back into the building after his little sister caught him smoking a cigarette outside and threatened to tell their parents if he didn’t keep her company until she found a friend. It didn’t take long for her to ditch him, and for him to want to leave again. He looked over to Charlotte when she spoke to him. “No, I’d rather be outside freezing my ass off than in here.” He looked down at her cup of hot chocolate. “Is that good?”

“I’ll leave if you do,” she sighed, glancing around the room curiously before her gaze returned to Andy. “Want me to fake some sort of emergency? Y’know, something that requires the both of us to ditch and leave the old folks to their riveting housing crisis talk? I think we’re a little young for heart attacks, but I know the symptoms. I can probably act it out alright.” She glanced at the murky, brown liquid in her cup and shrugged. “It’s free. Could be worse. Want some? Mmm,” she teased, holding the cup up close to his face. “This could be yours if you really want it. Sharing is caring.”

JASON was may half-drunk, a quarter probably ? ? he knows he has definitely not reached his limit as the anger  towards the rest of the world still hammered in his chest, around his nicotine infested lungs. he should have never really been here, with this much people, with this much alcohol, it wasn’t responsible but hell would freeze over twice before jason hobbs was ever responsible. as he thought how useless this party really, he spotted her across the mass of drunk people.  charlotte sinclair was his enemy or in other words ( and he would never admit it and he probably but… ) his favourite person to annoy. maybe this party wasn’t shitty after all. jason swerved through people singing, moved past people hooking up and he had thought he lost her when she had bumped right into him. he rolled his eyes. “i may, i may not. but more importantly why the hell would I share it with you?” 

Charlotte rolled her eyes right back once he spoke. She didn’t know how to pinpoint what it was about Jason that touched a nerve. Maybe it was his stupid haircut or his ‘I don’t care’ demeanor. Whatever the case, he was there in her breathing space and didn’t seem to want to move. “Right, I forgot about the whole selfish asshole thing you’ve got going on,” she nodded, unable to hold back the sarcasm dripping in her voice. “It doesn’t suit you, Jace. It’s a shame you’re putting that pretty face to waste with...well, that personality.” She looked around before returning her gaze to his with a huff. “Do you think I’d be asking you of all people if I wasn’t desperate? Share, or I’ll find somebody else that will.”

Her parents were proud to be locals and every year they could be fond at the town meeting giving their two cents and finding out all about the little things that town gossip skipped over. Dylan wasn’t a homeowner but she tagged along for the ride most of the time to meet up with family friends and give her own opinions on how the community could better themselves via accessibility for the disabled. Well, it was more her whispering her ideas to her parents who then stood up to share them, but the point was that she was doing something. Still, as the meeting began and folks flooded in it was hard to get much of a work in during the initial frenzy, which made Dylan pause her mission and stand off to the side where she could check her phone without being in anybody’s way for a bit.  Mid-snicker over a meme, a person shifted in her direction in the corner of her eye, making her shift her attention to them. They made what most would see as a vain attempt, but Dylan was better at lip reading than people thought. “ Wait – did you say cocoa?” She asked, wide eyed as she was sure that was what her hearing-aid picked up. “ There’s hot cocoa? Oh my God, where?” She all but bounced in place before the rest of it all registered with her. “ Oh… Well I mean you wouldn’t be missing much beyond a lot of grumbling about mortgages. Not that that isn’t important to some people, but you know…”

“Mmhm,” she nodded, glancing between Dylan and the passionate grey haired fellow that was currently having his say for the time being. “There’s a little table set up in the corner with a thermos. I checked for a ‘Employees Only’ sign but didn’t see one, so I think it’s a free for all. No marshmallows or anything, surprisingly. I expected a little more fluff to go with the hot chocolate.” As much as Charlotte was content with where she lived, the was still pessimistic with how ‘fairy-tale’ laced the whole town seemed to be. Sure, it was beautiful, but it was a real place with all the same shit as any other big city. “Some people,” she repeated, rolling her eyes before glancing towards Dylan again. “If you ever see me and I start talking about a mortgage like it’s the most exciting thing going on in my life, just strangle me. Please. Wrap your hands around my neck and squeeze. I will not be one of those people. I refuse.”

Charlotte stood awkwardly, looking mainly stoned faced as she held a paper cup of hot chocolate between her clasped hands. She wasn’t sure how she’d gotten dragged into being there, surrounded by all the townsfolk and feeling her internal battery practically drain itself. It wasn’t that she didn’t like people, per se. It was more the amount of people in such a small vicinity. That, and the fact that she’d gone out without a proper winter coat and her drink was the biggest source of warmth she had, added to the misery. Her shoulders hunched up, shivering slightly as she turned to the person next to her. “Do you think it’d be rude to take my cocoa and bail? There’s no way I’m purchasing a house here anytime soon.”