there's no such thing as real happy endings

When Rachel felt the warm coat wrap around her, she looked up to see just who had given it to her. Summer. Of course it was her. Even though Rachel and Summer had never been friends until this year, she had offered her so much kindness and compassion - kindness and compassion that Rachel didn’t deserve. “Thank you,” Rachel managed to say, her voice breaking. Not only was she grateful for Summer’s coat, but also her presence. Rachel followed Summer’s eyes to the sky and nodded. “Yeah,” she agreed solemnly. She couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“This cold weather is totally going to ruin everyone’s costumes. Especially all the girls, including myself who wear slutty costumes. You might as well go as Avatar or something if you’re skin is already going to be blue,” Summer said, going on and talking so that maybe Rachel would be more comfortable. She wouldn’t make her talk if she didn’t want to.

“I should’ve known you would do something like that!” Rachel laughed, blushing. “Well - thanks for having my back.” Rachel returned the smirk. “I bet.”

“Any time. I’m so tired of people stepping all over others,” she said with a sigh. Her own situation had opened up her eyes to people who had been dealing with this for years, making her more sympathetic to them. But she would never just sit there and let it happen. Not any more. “It’s very true. I’m in high demand, but I’ll move some things around just for you.”

“Hmmm.. oh s-sorry. I was thinking about the local theater auditions and wondering if I have t-time with both track and school.” 

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. Do you think I could pull off acting?”

“I mean, he’s no sugar daddy, but he’s a daddy, Sugar.” 

“Wow. How insightful. Did you come up with that one all on your own?”

“I didn’t even think you knew what public transportation was.”

“I’m not that much of an idiot. I just never really have to use it much,” she explained, leaning against the pole. “Unfortunately, my car is in the shop, so I’m stuck riding this with you lower beings,” she said, joking with her a little.

“My family kind of…owns the place.”

“Interesting. I’ve never been big on reading myself. I guess I always just assumed it was something smart people did, not pretty people,” she said honestly as she looked at the bookshelves. “That’s the type of warped world I grew up believing in.”

“You can’t throw me. I am the bowling master.”

Summer groaned and stomped her foot, acting like a child. “I wanted to win something for once! I suck at any type of sport. Even bowling.”

“I feel like I’ve been in my house for the past year planning this wedding. Honestly, someone should have warned me how crazy this gets.”

“This is why you have me. You should really use my obsession over beauty more often,” she stated, pulling out a binder where she was already planning things for her. 

“Yes Daddy, things are going fine. I really missed this place and Im glad you let us move back.” Her concentration on her phone call as she ran her finger around the rim of her coffee cup. 

“If we keep getting blondes around here, I might have to consider dying my hair,” Summer stated before looking at her hair. “Nah. My hair is too amazing for that.”

Sebastian had got into the habit of smoking back in New York, he’d wanted to quit but it seemed part of his daily routine now and he couldn’t help it. He’d just had a meeting with his boys about how they were missing about $1000 of the money they’d made last week. It was fair to say he’d gotten a bit mad, so someone in there had both a broken nose and a black eye. It would be a problem if his employee’s didn’t fear him. He hadn’t expected someone to sneak up on him, making him jump. “Shit!” He dropped his cigarette, noticing who it was. “Well thanks for that, guess I didn’t need it anyway.”

“I’m the one who should be freaked out. Bumping into strange guys at night on the street... It’s like an episode of Law & Order SVU,” Summer pointed out, shifting her purse over her shoulder and crossing her arms over her chest. She had just been walking home since her car was in the shop getting new tires. Her apartment was only a fifteen minute walk from work anyways. “Do you have some reason to be so jumpy?”

Rachel sat alone, at the edge of the park, surrounded by trees and isolated from everyone else who was about enjoying their day. Shivering slightly from the cold (the temperature in Evanston had been steadily dropping), she fiddled with the hem of her shirt and tried to ignore the pain in her chest and the tiredness in her body. She wanted to ignore everything at the moment - especially the person who came out of seemingly nowhere and sat down next to her. “… Hey,” she said simply after a moment of silence, still staring off into space, not looking to see who it was that had approached her.

Summer didn’t really say anything as she sat next to Rachel. The look on the girl’s face told her enough to know that things weren’t awesome. After a minute, she took off her cape coat and put it around Rachel’s shoulders so she would stay warm. The cold weather probably wasn’t great for her condition she figured. Summer leaned back on her hands and looked up at the sky. “I swear it feels like we’re going to get snow even before Halloween.”

“You’re only gone for a few months and the teachers can’t remember your name. Unbelievable,” Alex commented jokingly, shaking his head. 

“I’m sorry, who are you again?” Summer asked, sounding completely clueless. But eventually a smile broke out over her face. “How could anyone forget your gorgeous face?”

“There are so many choices for halloween I can’t seem to decide between sexy batman or a sexy dalmatian?“

“I feel like sexy Batman would be... sexier. And you’re more likely to get laid as Batman.”

“Sure. I got you. What do you need me to carry?”

“You’re pretty strong, right? You can help me carry the shoes,” she suggested, pointing out where those boxes were located. “But if you don’t like my that much, those boxes aren’t too heavy,” she added, pointing to the ones by the bed.

“We can do furniture. What’s your budget? Ikea or boutique?” 

“I’m thinking an even mixture of both. I want to be responsible after all. I was thinking stuff like shelves and cabinets at Ikea and the other furniture at a boutique. Decorations I’m already planning on getting online.”

“That’s a much better starting point… Thank you, I strive for sweetness, but being an asshole around here tends to yield consequences, my face being used as a punching bag is one of them.”

“I can’t really see you being an asshole. What’d you do?”

“Taken care of?” She raised an eyebrow, curious and slightly amused. “Dinner and a dance? Wow. I guess chivalry really isn’t dead.” She laughed loudly.

“Let’s just say everyone will know about Chad’s shortcomings soon enough,” she stated, a devious smirk crossing her lips. “Of course not. It’s just in hiding. I’m an amazing date.”