blood, guts, & devil cake

Bax had no problem with buying Eva drinks– it was a small price to pay for invaluable information. He beamed before tossing a pretzel into his mouth, nodding emphatically and stepping out from behind the vending machine. It was only to head for the exit sign glowing behind them, but it was enough to catch the attention of several people he’d rather avoid.

“Vodka is vodka, right? How about the Tipsy Tomato?” Bax hoped she wouldn’t choose a place with exorbitant prices– he doubted he could get reimbursed for those as a work expense. Nevertheless, he was willing to take the hit if anything she divulged panned out.

By then, Eva had slowly grown to not give any fucks any more other than for herself. She had grown weary of the crap being tossed to her, that she figured it was about time to shake things up. Talking to Bax was one of the first steps to set her plan in motion. 

“I’m not picky with my vodka. As long as it does the trick, really.” the blonde wagged her brows teasingly. “Tipsy Tomato it is. Let’s go.” 

Without pausing to hesitate or think about it, Eva turned around, finishing the last of her chocolate bar as she found the exit sign behind her. Suppose it was the easiest way to get Bax out of the building without being hounded. “Here.” Leading the way, she promptly headed out, pushing the heavy door to disappear from sight.

“Judah!” Eva’s voice rang through the motel halls, having spotted Judah from across the hall. 

She hadn’t been feeling her best self in Chicago, mainly because she was oddly missing the comfort of a small town. But once she spotted him, there was no denying that apparently, all she needed was to see him. 

Running to him at full speed, she couldn’t help but nearly jump-hug him, sounding extremely giddy.

“I’m not lying. I really do think we’d look hot as hell together.” Ricky climbed to his feet and rounded the counter, offering his arm to Eva as he turned towards the bar. “Hard to mess up whiskey,” he teased, leading them out of the grandiose lobby. Though it’d been a good long while since he’d visited the resort, he was as familiar with it as he was with his family home. The staff was too, if the way they were shooting him wary looks was any indication.

“Two whiskeys, one neat,” Ricky requested once they reached the bar. He focused on Eva, expression openly curious. “So what sort of wish can I grant you today? Other than the drink, I mean.”

Since the day they’d met, Eva easily noticed how Ricky was trying to flirt with her. Sure, she had continued to rebuff his advances, but it didn’t stop him from continuing on with this point. Looping her arm with his, the pair walked off, allowing Ricky to lead the way, since it as his family’s resort. As they went, however, she glanced at him, finally voicing out a thought that had been bothering her since. “Okay, say I indulge you in this little fantasy of yours, Reed. How would we even workout?” 

Reaching the bar, the blonde let go of her arm hold on him, turning to him. She needed this request from him. “I need help. I wanted to know if you, by any chance, have any private detectives at your disposal? I figured you’re rich and all, so you might be that kind of richie rich.” Eva was working on a hunch, but she needed some methods to verify this. It was a wild reach, but she thought that maybe, just maybe, a wish could help her get some answers. In any case, maybe Ricky Reed could get her answers.

Clara couldn’t help but laugh at Eva’s response. Partially because she could imagine how pleased Lincoln would look if he knew that the blonde’s reaction to him losing a fight was complete and utter disbelief. Mostly because she didn’t know what else to do. If she didn’t laugh, if she didn’t manage to find any morbid amusement in how absurd the situation was, then she’d probably end up screaming her head off. Or breaking down crying.

“I’d say that Brandon has a lot of discipline rather than a death wish,” the brunette replied, looking up at the other. She didn’t necessarily mean to defend Brandon more than she was trying to state a fact, but nonetheless, she decided to qualify her statement. “Link is many things, but good at handling his temper is not one of them.”

Sighing to herself, Clara plucked another cigarette from her pack and lit it. “We’re not going to break up,” she continued, having a long drag before offering the pack to Eva. “But if we did, why would you need to forgive yourself?”

“Clara, I’ve met Link.” Eva pointed out, her tone coming along the usual type that she used whenever she was insistent on making her point. “That man can destroy anyone in a blink of an eye. He beat up Judah right in front our eyes, remember?” It wasn’t her favourite memory -  damn it, that sight was brutal to watch - but it was worth noting in getting to her point. 

“I’d say that that Brandon guy certainly had an advantage over him, and people like Link who is quick to temper, well, they have one weakness. Pretty sure this Brandon got to it pretty good.” In her head, it was simple why Link could have potentially lost: it was emotions. 

Finally chucking her cigarette onto the ground, the blonde promptly stomped on it, before picking it up to toss into the bin. She then took up Clara’s offering, pulling another stick. Taking a sharp inhale, she turned to face the brunette fully.  “Look, I know I’ve been a bitch and I know things will never be the same between us, but it doesn’t change what our friendship meant to me. And it certainly doesn’t mean that I won’t support you in what makes you happy.” Never had Eva been this candid since their fallout. “And I know Link makes you happy. I’ll be damned if I let you lose Link in your life when I know just how much you love him.” 

Another inhale, as he held the stick in her hand, briefly glancing down at it. “If anyone deserves a happy ending in the shit hole town where we come from,” looking up, she met Clara’s eyes, “it’s you and him.” 

“That’s true,” he chuckled, nodding, knowing that Eva had a point. She never did anything half-heartedly. “As am I. You’re going to love trainers by the time I’m done,” he smirked, now determined to let her see how good they could be.

“Eh, that’s accurate,” he said, smiling down at his son, who was still looking in the direction of the ball. Jeb would be lying if he said that Teddy wasn’t like him in almost every way, and although it worried him for the future, he felt like he could understand his son like no one could really understood him.

“But anyway, let’s head to the shop,” Jeb said, beginning to walk in the direction of QuikMart.

True enough, the QuikMart grocery shop came into full view ahead of them. A couple of booze and chips was all they needed to pull off the afternoon. It wasn’t what either one of them perhaps expected, but it was good enough. 

Walking by Jeb’s side, Eva remained curious and affectionate towards the two, particularly towards Teddy the most. All the while, however, he racked her brains for a potential conversation topic, until she thought of one. “So, guess what I found out from my infamous ex-bestfriend?” she posed, hoping to pique his interest.

Over the years, Clara had come to find that there was a special kind of knowing amusement shared between good girlfriends when talking about the men in their lives—especially when talking about things that men did that drove them up the wall. And while ‘good girlfriends’ was no longer a category that the two of them occupied, she had to admit that it was kind of nice to feel that sense of camaraderie, of shared suffering and understanding, if only for a moment. It was something that she didn’t really have with anyone else. “Because he’s a man,” the brunette replied with a subtle roll of her eyes. “And we both know how fragile the male ego is.”

Having one last drag of her cigarette, she flicked the cigarette butt away from her and took a long, deep breath, face shifting into a slightly more serious expression. “And then he lost, which didn’t exactly make it better,” Clara continued, staring down at her hands. “And then Brandon and I got into an argument, and he was just… I don’t know. It’s complicated.”

“Incredibly frail.” Eva responded without missing a beat, sounding clearly amused. It was typical to expect certain traits from the opposing gender, only because they had a whole lifetime of learning and anticipating these things. And some things, well, were simply the norm when it came to men.

Smoking still, the blonde had a little more to go, noticing from the corner of her eye as Clara flicked her used-up cigarette away. Eva always had been a slow smoker. She did, however, keep her gaze fixated elsewhere still, until she found out that Lincoln actually lost a fight, causing her to turn to finally look at the deputy, looking particularly gobsmacked. “Link lost?” she repeated, finding it entirely shocking. Link was not the type to lose fights. “This Brandon guy probably has a death wish.” It was the only valid reasoning she could come up with if he had the gall to beat Link.

Taking her last drag, she gave her ex-best friend a long, good look. “If Link and you break up, I’d never forgive myself.”

“You don’t have to beat the shit outta them,” he chuckled, “Just a ‘lil tap.” Jeb stopped hitting his brother with his crutches when the older of the two had snapped and ended up beating the shit out of him. He should’ve saw it coming, of course, but he didn’t, and so he had to suffer the consequences. “Alright, I’ll do that,” he grinned, nodding as he made a mental note to do so.

Jeb was always very self-conscious of his parenting. Every little criticism directed his way - whether it be verbal or just a dirty look from someone - he took to heart. He rarely felt like he was doing a good job. His grandma always seemingly had a list of what he was doing wrong and he felt like he didn’t know what he was doing. The few compliments that he did get, though, helped him a little, and so he couldn’t help but smile and even blush a little when Eva said what she said. “He can be good when he wants to be,” he joked, putting him down again but making sure he held his hand.

Another chuckle escaped her, as she bit her lower lip amidst the grin she sported. “Knowing me? I’m more of an all-or-nothing gal. A tap ain’t cutting it.” she answered, barely stifling her giggles. She didn’t mean to burden Jeb with having to find her a bad-ass pair of shoes, but he did start the topic off. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Having the softest heart for kids had Eva wistfully looking at the Abrams boys; though there wasn’t any mother in the picture, Jeb made sure that Teddy needn’t feel her absence. She could only (should the time come) hope that she was anywhere near Jeb’s efforts when it came to raising her own kids. Surely, Teddy would grow up happily, properly, and lovingly.

“He’s nearly as good as his father.” she joked.

Clara let out a soft chuckle, an expression of morbid amusement and something akin to bittersweet, vaguely sentimental fondness flashing across her face. “No, it wasn’t like that with Brandon,” she started, flicking the ash off her cigarette and contemplating how to explain their relationship as simply as possible. If there even was a simple way to explain it. “I was the one who was always in trouble. Most of the time, he was the one who got me out of it. We were just friends. Or, I don’t know, maybe we were more than that. I haven’t really thought about it until now.”

Taking a deep breath, the brunette enjoyed the next couple of drags of her cigarette in silence, struggling to find equilibrium between her instinct to play things as close to the vest as possible and her overwhelming urge to vent. “He went up against Link in the ring at Chess Club,” she continued, making an effort to sound as neutral as possible as she turned to look at Eva for the first time during their conversation. “And no, I’m not kidding. Hollywood couldn’t make that shit up.”

Their friendship had run long enough for Eva to completely remember numerous details, but at the same time, get them all mixed up. She wasn’t apologetic for the mistake, however, and instead continued on listening to what the other had to say. They were once friends, and that was that.

A few, good seconds of silence floated in the balcony, as the two of them simply smoked. But the blonde was merely waiting, knowing for sure that Clara would say more and actually vent, because that was simply who she was. And boy, was she not disappointed. 

Hearing that Link got into a fight wasn’t unusual, considering that he once beat up Judah to a concussed mess. Hearing that he literally went head-to-head against Clara’s ex was next level shit though. Suppressing her laughter, she bit down on her lip, looking elsewhere in the meantime. She could only guess what happened next. “Let me guess, Link was jealous? Why am I not surprised?” 

“If you asked, do you think Ash would set you up at the Resort? I mean, wouldn’t you two out of anyone have the money for it?” Penelope asked curiously, not sure why Eva was stuck in this dump with a penniless vagabond like herself, when she could be styling it up at the Resort. Then again, maybe the Rascals weren’t as well off as they liked to come across as. In which case, Penelope hoped that Eva rooming with her wasn’t a ploy to somehow get at her father’s money. Nobody but Jesse (and Ricky) knew who she really was, but what if one of them had told someone?

She knew this was just her paranoia, but it made her regard Eva somewhat suspiciously. They’d hit it off well at the carnival, and she thought they may become friends, but could she trust her?

The snort of derision that exited her lips was almost involuntary. Lately, any mention of Ash warranted this very reaction. “Ash doesn’t give a fuck.” she replied, turning her back to unpack some of her things. It was note-worthy that she spoke with such coldness in her tone. It had come to a certain point that she no longer cared about sugarcoating certain issues -- particularly the Rascals.

The second-in-command had to bite her tongue to stop from further spilling the truth that had been silenced long enough. Perhaps it was easier to drop tiny bombs of information, rather than doing it all in one go. Instead, she merely added, “I wouldn’t expect him to shell out anything at all, to be honest.”

Ricky sat up further when he recognized Eva’s voice, looking up and pocketing his phone. “Hard to forget a pretty face like yours.” He leaned forward to prop his elbows on the edge of the counter, grin wide. “We’d look great together.” He reached down to fix the lapel of his stolen jacket, brushing away a piece a lint on his sleeve. “Can I grant any of them from the bar?” Ricky held up his empty glass, where mint leaves remained crushed with ice. “I’m still on the clock.”

“Aw,” she cooed, leaning over the counter where Ricky rested, meeting his gaze, “you’re cute when you lie.” Eva had met more than her fare share of guys seemingly thinking that they can charm their way into talking to her. Unfortunately for them, only a select few ever could. 

The blonde perked up at the mention of the bar, catching her interest. Booze was definitely the way to go when talking to her. “Ricky Reed, you certainly know the way to this girl’s heart.” she teased, straightening up in her stance. “Whiskey, neat. Don’t mess it up.”

“You say that now, but I think you’re warming up to me,” Bax teased. Unfortunately, he was also willing to torpedo their budding relationship in favor of information. He kept his expression neutral in the face of Eva’s confession, though his interest piqued considerably when he discovered that not all was well behind closed doors. Ash was dangerous to the town, in more ways than the Rascals had ever been, particularly because he didn’t seem to care about the gang or Muddy Waters. Bax was keen on toppling him from his pedestal, and the notion that his second-in-command wasn’t pleased with his leadership opened up considerable opportunities.

“Care to to tell me why?” He was careful not to prod too much, tearing open his snack to offer some to Eva.

Rolling her bright hues at him, she all but had two words to offer to him. “Doubt it.” The smirk that crept on her lips was pretty satisfying. 

Holding her chocolate bar in one hand, Eva reached for a pretzel or two without hesitation from Bax’s offered bag. “He’s an asshole with no respect to the position he’s given.” she answered bitterly, before tossing a pretzel into her mouth. Chewing, she swallowed, before meeting his gaze with a hardened look. It was quite obvious what the sheriff was trying to do. “If you want more information from me, Bax, all you gotta do is ask. And pry me with vodka.” she pointed out.

“Hey, the good ones will find it funny,” he smirked, “My brother won’t leave me alone for longer than a couple of hours, and I did it to him the most.” Jeb shook his head and let out a laugh, still not understanding her anger towards trainers. “I still think you should give ‘em a try,” he grinned, “You could probably find a pair that fits your aesthetic or whatever.”

Jeb let out a sigh before looking at his son, whose eyes were still fixated on the ball, unaware of what had just happened. “I used to do it all the time in the middle of London,” he told her, “One time I nearly got hit by a car because I saw a dog. My mum dragged me home that day, yelling at me all the way, and I got my brand new Lego set thrown away.” He made a face before continuing. “Bit harsh, but eh. Point is, at least it wasn’t in London - or any other big city, that is.”

Eva shot him the best angelic look she could muster, proving that he was truly an exception when it came down to it. “I don’t like hurting the people I love and care about the most.” Jeb was her one of her close friends, without question. She did, however, purse her lips and shook his head at his suggestion. “You can coax me all you want, but unless you find a pretty bad-ass pair for me,” she shrugged carelessly, appearing nowhere near convinced, “it’s a no-go for me.”

Even with his explanation, she still couldn’t imagine having to raise a child, more so in their town. There were too many variables involved, too many factors that needed to be taken into account. She had enough fears on her own, but to add so a life of someone younger and of her own blood? It was frightening enough. 

Nodding at Jeb understandably, she then sighed in relief, smiling at Teddy as she tried to get his attention. “You’re doing a wonderful job with this little tyke.”

Clara didn’t want to vent, per se. It had never been in her nature to want to talk about anything remotely serious and emotional, and it certainly hadn’t been in her upbringing either—after all, Manhattan socialites weren’t supposed to feel anything that ruined the illusion of perfection. But she also knew that she desperately needed to talk to someone. Even if it was her former best friend. Or rather, the air around her former best friend.

“We got into a huge fight a while back,” the brunette started, focusing on her cigarette in a vain attempt to not have to focus on her words, or on how strange it felt to talk about her relationship to Lincoln with someone who wasn’t Lincoln. “Night of the rec centre collapse. He was drunk and jealous and mean and I was defensive and spiteful and… We worked it out the next day, of course, but it hasn’t exactly been an easy ride since. And it definitely didn’t get any easier when my ex… Something rolled into town. Who’s a whole other issue I can’t even begin to unpack.”

Maybe they would never be friends again, as their bonds were already broken. But it didn’t mean that Eva had to throw away everything she had learned about Clara and her life. This way, she got to use what was left of it. 

Taking another drag, the blonde’s gaze remained fixated elsewhere, this being her attempt in pretending that she wasn’t really talking to her. At least, not directly. Hearing Link and Clara have problems wasn’t nearly exciting enough as finding out that her ex-bestfriend’s ex had arrived in town. Sounding flat, she asked, “Which ex is this? The one that got you into all sorts of trouble?”

“Maybe it only works on doing it to your friends, then,” he let out a chuckle before raising his eyebrow at her, grinning, “You’d never do it to me, would you?” Jebediah couldn’t help but jokingly roll his eyes. “Of course, your aesthetic,” he laughed, shaking his head, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in trainers. Give your feet a break, bruv.” Just then, Jeb saw out of the corner of his eye Teddy stepping off the sidewalk and onto the road. The kid had seen a ball at the other side, and evidently had tunnel vision on. Luckily, there were no cars about, but he didn’t waste any time rushing forward and scooping the toddler up. 

“I don’t make a habit of hitting my friends with crutches.” Eva laughed out loud, barely containing herself as she continued walking. If she did, she wouldn’t end up with the handful of people she called friends. Composing herself as she wiped a tear of laughter from her eye, the blonde simultaneously shook her head. “I’d rather kneel over and die than be caught dead wearing trainers.” she answered rather haughtily.

It was only but a split-second that her gaze shifted from Teddy to Jeb, when the younger one suddenly stepped onto the road. Luckily, his dad was swift enough to pick him up before anything could happen. Clutching her chest, she felt that surge of fear slowly settle down. “I don’t know how you do this.” she said, walking up to the father and son to place a comforting hand on Teddy’s back. For a moment, she genuinely looked frightened. “I feel like I’d be scared shitless.”