this fragile elusive thing.

simon beaumont - 21 / cult member

[𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔: 𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑠 & 𝑎𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛] a tragic fire became something to solve, always in the pages of the next book if he could just reach it. what name could he make for himself that would escape orphan? the good things -- the good people -- never survive, so what does that say for the rest of us? a doubter deep in his heart even while he mouths along to the sermons, his hands tucked into his sisters’. though one of the flock, he can’t keep from consuming knowledge, from biting of the apple. creased collars and smudged glasses, library visits as often as he can manage, and living a whole other life in his head. he wonders about the what-ifs all the time, but the questions never make it past his lips. he’ll follow, for his sisters. 

content warning - mention of murder & infidelity 

ᴛʀʏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʀ ᴇ ᴍ ᴇ ᴍ ʙ ᴇ ʀ ʜᴏᴡ

they were seventeen the first time they met at the hastings college freshman orientation. he was everywhere & so it seemed, were the faces he had for everyone. there was the good son, the eager freshman, the earnest student, the grinning frat boy, the over-the-top partier -- but then, there was a quiet one, just the two of them in adjacent study carrels. they rolled pencils back and forth, traded sips of their energy drinks, and somewhere in the middle of finals, found themselves holding hands. 

it’s been like that ever since with them -- easy, natural, like breathing. they got married after graduation with a whole spread in the paper and neither of them have left seven devils since. beck has always been deeply insecure around his family, too intensely aware of the expectations, but she’s helped with those. they’ve had arguments about it, of course, but tucked away in their own home, far from it all. 

he doesn’t pretend with her, nor does he pretend with their kid.

or at least, he didn’t. since the murder of his youngest sister last summer, grief has ruled beck’s life. he mourned, openly, with his family for only a little bit & then told everyone he was fine. he was ready, he was going back to work. it wasn’t normal, but grief touches people in weird ways, right? 

things haven’t been the same between them, though. there was a respite at the new year, a resolution that he was going to be better -- but he hasn’t. he’s been cheating on her, on their normal, and their house well may be made of cards now. 

ɪᴛ ғᴇᴇʟs ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ʜ ᴇ ᴀ ʀ ᴛ ʙ ᴇ ᴀ ᴛ

henry noble - 24 / sideshow diner bus boy 

[𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔: 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ & 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑒/𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛] just trying to keep his head above water. will always be that five-year-old who saw ghosts and watched his mother become one. let his twin be the one to act out even while a storm raged within him. made the world quiet with drink and drug and denial. chased oblivion over and over again until he got a taste. four different rehab visits, but this one seems to be sticking. walking on a tightrope when it comes to seven devils, but he’s stronger than the trauma. or so his therapist tells him. can there be cracks in the foundation if there was never really one to start with? 

beckett “beck” whitby - 30 / reporter

the third son of the whitbys. after a heir and a spare, who needs to look too closely at this one? still toed the line his whole life, though, since he had such good role models. asked his sister how to use a straightener on his curls in middle school. hid a chipped tooth for six months in high school until he could pay the dentist for it out of pocket. one fear: everyone else’s opinions of him. has a different personality everywhere he goes and compartments for all of them. went as far as hastings college and came right back, with a wife and a whole wedding spread in the paper. (not written by him. please stop asking that.) this was his perfect life & then his sister was murdered, but he’s fine. he did his grief timeline. everything is fine.