be still my heart.

oscar had to laugh, she certainly had a way of understating things. “oh, i have lots of opinions. i get the impression, though, that you don’t give a shit what i think.” now that they were behind closed doors he could drop the niceties, no need to smile or maintain his public image. he was glad she’d opted for privacy, best not to make a scene and with how uncertain he was with how this conversation was gonna go, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep himself entirely in check. “pretty quick wedding though, very short list of reasons why someone would do that.” he muses darkly, jaw clenched as his eyes stay focused on her back.

and within seconds the tension was back, all relief she’d felt at having this conversation in private gone as soon as oscar opens his mouth again. it’s a jab at her that claudette feels in equal parts is absolutely deserved and is also completely unfair. “i don’t know how i could have given that impression,” she counters, even though she knows exactly why he might feel that way right now. but she would argue that her actions in the past few months speak far more than one drunken night. this was a conversation she’d dreaded for many reasons - not wanting to admit to anyone, let alone oscar, just how badly she’d fucked up being one of them. but also... discussing this situation was opening the door for a potential conversation about what really was going on between them, and that was something claudette didn’t want to face. not when she felt fairly certain it wouldn’t go the way she wanted - much like those type of conversations never did. “because they’re drunk,” she answers, finally turning around to face him and staring him straight on. “that’s all.” it’s not entirely the truth - there were other factors that came into play like regrets about the past and all of the what-ifs and what-should-have-beens that came along with them. but in the end, it truly was the alcohol that pushed both of them over the edge. and though she hasn’t talked much about it with adam yet, has yet to figure out exactly what they’re doing, claudette knew they both stood on the same page of realizing this was a fuck up.

there were few things that oscar enjoyed more when he was in a bad mood than making people squirm. seeing the discomfort on claudette’s face seemed to be doing the trick. he was actually proud of his ability to surprise her, even just a little. “i get it. lots of paperwork, kind of a hassle.” he continues, shrugging his shoulders as his amusement only grows. he glances around, more for her benefit than anything, before silently nodding in a agreement and motioning for her to lead the way to her office.

the truth was paperwork had been filled out, neither of them the type to do anything half-assed, and as far as the law was concerned... claudette was now officially a bete even if she wasn’t calling herself one. not while she had no fucking clue what she and adam were going to do about all this. and certainly not to the other man that she had attachments to. as he motions for her to lead the way, claudette doesn’t hesitate to head right towards her office and open the door for them both. once they’re inside and in privacy she relaxes just the smallest amount. whatever they were about to discuss likely wasn’t going to be pretty - but at least she doesn’t have to worry about it being said in public. “i’m assuming you have opinions,” she starts the conversation, moving further into the office and keeping her back to him for the time being.

Groaning softly under his breath, there’s no denying that Claudette is right. It doesn’t come as a surprise to him, even if it isn’t something he wants to hear, because in the twenty-five years they’ve known each other, there have been very few instances of Claudette actually being wrong. Noticing the way she sets her drink down, giving him what he thinks is supposed to be a serious look he sighs, following suit. “Listen, I know I should talk to her. I want to talk to her.” His eyes linger back across the room to where Mel is sitting with Layla, trying to weigh his options. There’s no denying that he wants to talk to her, that he would give anything to be over there with her like everything is normal again. “But what if she hasn’t figured it out? What if she’s not ready?” Turning back to Claudette, he does his best to put his fears into words rather than pouting like a petulant child like he’s been doing all evening. If there’s anyone he can open up to it’s Claudette, who he knows has his best interests at heart even if she might make fun of him for being an absolute idiot along the way. “She’s stubborn and if she thinks I’m pushing her… I don’t know.” Shrugging his shoulders he runs a hand through his hair, deeply regretting his decision to come tonight. “I’m not ready to lose her.” Not that he has her now, not really, but there’s still a part of him that feels like he does and it’s a feeling he isn’t ready to let go of, not quite yet. “Fine, but I need another drink first,” Hans finally agrees, reaching for his glass to take another sip. He should do it now, while he’s still sober enough to choose his words wisely, but a little bit of liquid courage never hurt anyone.

Watching him look away, likely over towards Mel she’s sure, Claudette knew she was getting close. That despite all the worries Hans vocalized, he was going to end up doing it. “Then don’t push her,” she counters, as if it were really that simple even though she knows it’s not. “Just... talk to her. Don’t even bring everything up right off the bat. See how it goes just speaking to each other again.” Because after a near month of radio silence even just a brief hello would be an improvement in their current relationship as far as Claudette was concerned. And though she knows Mel to be as equally overdramatic as Hans and quick to react poorly to the smallest of things - she doubts he would truly lose the Muse girl tonight, not unless he did something ridiculously dumb. “You’re more likely to lose her if you don’t do this. Letting her leave again means another two months of nothing and you know it.” And when he agrees, a small smirk grows on the blonde’s face as she too reaches back for her glass and takes another sip. “Deal. Another round after this and then we both start acting like actual adults.” In actuality it would probably more than just one more drink between now and whenever either of them work up the courage to approach the others.

When it comes to his relationship with Mel, Hans has spent the past decade completing ignoring his friends advice has he proceeded to do what he wanted, much to their annoyance. If there was anyone he might listen to it would be Claudette, their lifetime of friendship making him at least willing to ease on his stubbornness long enough to listen. But as she proceeds to place the blame on him, making it see as though every issue between them is of his own doing Hans rolls his eyes, reaching for his drink. “So she can tell me she’s in love with someone else but it’s my fault for somehow pissing her off?” he scoffs, taking a long sip. Knowing very well how his girlfriend reacts to both confrontation and feelings, it doesn’t come as much surprise that as soon as he got angry and confrontational she completely shut down, what should have been a mature discussion quickly turning into a fight. But after several drinks he isn’t ready to entertain that, not prepared to accept blame when all he’s ever tried to do is love her and make their relationship work. Despite his current bitterness, it’s still all he really wants. “Have you ever met Mel?” he laughs bitterly, knowing it’s a pointless question. Claudette may know her better than the rest of his friends, but none of them ever tried all that hard to get to know her. “A fight is not better. She’ll talk to me when she’s ready.” Once convinced of that fact he’s now not so sure, nearly a month of almost complete silence laying plenty of doubt in his mind. But what the hell else is he supposed to do? “He’s probably out here somewhere.” An eyebrow arched, he gives her a challenging look. “Go find him.”

“She’s already done that, I doubt this fight would be the exact same thing.” Rolling her eyes, Claudette sets her drink down on the table and turns to give him her complete attention. Though already fairly drunk, she’s not quite yet at a point that she’s going to just send her best friend out without actually trying to help him first. Whether Hans wants or even takes the advice she’s about to offer him is unknown - but never has that stopped her before, it certainly won’t right now. “And if she doesn’t?” she counters, continuing on before he can actually answer. “Or if she does start talking to you again but tries to pretend like nothing happened? Like things are fine and she has no intentions of talking about any of this?” It’s a move she’s known Mel to make in the past and wouldn’t put it past her to do again. “If she leaves without the two of you talking, that’s it. There’s nothing you can do. Calls can be ignored and texts can go unread. You need to confront her now when she can’t just turn off the ringer and pretend like you don’t even exist.” None of this is likely what Hans wants to hear - nor is it advice she should be giving him right now - but she believes it to be true. In her currently clouded mind she thinks there’s no other option, really. Besides, if he was going to push her to go see her own ex, Claudette felt she had every right to convince him to go talk to the woman he currently was still technically dating. “Fine. I will. When you go talk to Mel, I’ll go find Adam.” And likely a few more drinks along the way, but she doesn’t vocalize that part of the deal.

Just the way the words of the all too familiar voice slurred had an icy chill run down her spine. Then the words hit and she was scared the force of her hand tightening around her glass could shatter it. Clenching her jaw she let out a small laugh.” Cute you think I wait around for him. You know when he wants me he comes to me right? I take it your phone line has been rather dry of him huh? Sad.. Besides I have better company then Gaston tonight. You should probably get some water. No one likes a sloppy drunk, Claudette.” 

“I see you wait around for him,” she corrects quickly. Though Paulette was trying to make an argument for her case, all she did was point out just how pathetic she was as far as Claudette was concerned. “Exactly. He only ever comes to you when he wants you. And you take him, despite the fact that he’s likely only ever coming to you because everyone else he’d rather fuck is too busy.” Taking a step forward, the blonde lets out an empty laugh at the fact that her sister really tried to imply that Claudette should be upset that Gaston had stopped hitting her up. “The line has been blocked years ago, so no - he hasn’t been hitting me up.” 

Taking his drink from Claudette he takes a much needed sip, an eyebrow raised at her question. “Hmmm?” Hans hums at her question, acting for a moment as though he had know idea who she was talking about, as if his eyes hadn’t been drawn to her all night. “Don’t tell Candice you’re encouraging that or you’ll never hear the end of it.” Hans chuckles as they cross the room, taking a seat at the table they’ve been occupying all night. He doesn’t think twice of the implication that he’s a pussy, his best friend’s feelings about him and his approach to relationships perfectly clear over the years. “The last two times haven’t gone so well, I thought I’d spare us the fight,” he shrugs, taking another sip of his drink. There’s a small part of him that knows Claudette is right, that he should suck it up and at least try to make things right before she goes back on tour. “Are you planning on talking to Adam tonight?” he asks, turning the tables back on her in an attempt to take the attention off of himself.

Rolling her eyes, Claudette doesn’t even give actual consideration to the thought that her advice would likely piss their other friend off. It’s not that Hans was wrong about that, but in the moment she didn’t really care if she annoyed Candice by encouraging him to get his shit together right then and there. As far as she was concerned in her drunken state, she was a fucking genius and the both of them should listen to her more often. “Here’s a wild idea, don’t piss her off.” It’s a lot easier said than done, and not even her true feelings on the matter, honestly. For once, Hans wasn’t in the wrong here - but she knew that wasn’t how this was going to work. He can’t go in guns blazing about how shitty Mel has been these past few weeks, not if he actually wanted to save their relationship. Which after knowing him for so long and having had a front seat for the shit show that the two had been through over the past handful of years, she knew without any question that he wasn’t going to want to let go of this. “But even a fight is better than letting her leave for who knows how fucking long with nothing figured out.” A soft scoff escapes her at his return question, her glass coming to her lips as she takes another sip of her drink before answering. “If I see him, I will. Because unlike you - I’m an adult and not afraid to talk to the complicated people in my life.” It wasn’t necessarily a fair comparison - her current situation with Adam far more civil than anything going on between Hans and Mel - but that doesn’t stop Claudette from making it anyway.

candice, as usual, can’t pass up an opportunity to present the masses with a reminder that she was beautiful, rich and well dressed. so coming to the ball was something of a no brainer for her. what she hadn’t anticipated was being stuck with the task of watching hans for the night. which, admittedly she should have anticipated the second she’d found out he and his girlfriend were having issues. but if anyone thought she for a second thought that somehow his problems would be her problems until hans fixed his relationship then they clearly didn’t know her all that well. “I don’t know,” candice shrugs, she’d lost track of hans about an hour ago, grateful for the reprieve from his less than stellar mood. “it’s Gaston’s turn anyways.” as if hans is some chore they pass around when the other doesn’t want it. which, to be fair, right now candice does not want it. a moment of brief silence passes over them when she realizes she actually didn’t even see gaston once tonight, so chances of him having taken hans off her hands are unlikely. even worse, gaston is the last person that should be entrusted with a distraught person — yet alone one who could get as whiny as hans when it came to his constantly failiing relationship. “oh.” candice looks over at claudette with wide eyes when everything sinks in. “oh…well whats the worst that can happen?” she asks, waving a hand dismissively even though knowing hans and mel — a lot could happen.

the moment gaston’s name leaves candice’s lips, claudette just gives her friend a blank stare. she doesn’t say anything, gives the other woman a chance to let those words sink in first, and can quite literally see the moment that it clicks. “yeah,” she answers when candice turns to look at her. her own eyes stray away to scan the area around them, but hans is nowhere to be found. which is a little alarming, considering she knows damn well he doesn’t have any other friends than them to be off talking to. “maybe he’s with gen?” she suggests, hoping that must be the case rather than being with gaston of all people. hell - she’d take him actually going up to mel over hanging out with the asshole that somehow still got to remain in their friend group despite how shitty of both a human being and a supposed friend he was. that particular thought though brought back a memory - one from just an hour ago, that shouldn’t have been forgotten so easily if it weren’t for the amount of alcohol already in claudette’s system. “oh...” and now it’s her turn to turn with wide eyes. “i messed up.” 

Meg turned to look at the familiar voice, matching it with the face of one of her drinking buddies. At least, that was the easiest way to describe their relationship, which was hardly that. “I’m having a blast,” Meg replied dryly. “The champagne is the only good thing about this party. No doubt about it.”

It’s not a surprising answer - the masquerade not seeming to be quite Meg’s scene - but yet Claudette had thought maybe the girl would be enjoying herself a bit more. Since she herself had been having an alright time, though that was likely just because of the amount of alcohol she’s consumed. “The rumberry punch is better,” she returns, holding up her own drink in show. “Or at least stronger.”

Downing the rest of her current cocktail and setting the empty glass on a nearby table, Claudette didn’t hesitate in crossing the ballroom. It wasn’t a smart idea, not in the slightest, but her brain had stopped thinking logically a good three drinks ago - and like always she felt drawn to the man like a moth to a flame. As if the past thirteen years of enduring these types of events alone had never happened and being by Adam’s side was where she was still meant to be, where she belonged. 

“You know... after everything, I’d say you owe me a drink,” she comments in way of greeting as she moves to stand beside him. A small smirk plays out on her lips as she gives him a far from subtle lookover. Adam’s ability to clean up well had never been in question, not even after a decade of being separated from society, but Claudette could still appreciate how nice he always looked - with tonight being no exception to that. “Don’t know if an open bar really counts for that, but it’s a start.” @beteonit​

when a cold, hard block of something hits her back, claudette stumbles forward ever so slightly. thankfully she catches herself before falling, but the few off-balanced steps she takes forward is enough to immediately piss her the fuck off. not knowing what or who was behind the collision though, she hides her annoyance until the moment she turns around and sees her giggling sister standing a few feet away. “what the fuck was that?” she snaps, glaring at the younger girl. “did you just throw a snowball at me? like a five year old?” @xx-paulala