nerd ™

None of this was good. She had been fine, her life was on track. She had a stable job, she was happy god damn it. Mallory barely let herself think about that time in her life, it taught her a lot but she didn’t focus on it. Not when she had things to focus on for the future. She’d been so upset when her old leader called her, now there was barely any of that left, only anger. Mallory wrenched her arm from his touch, like it burned her. “I don’t know that! I don’t fucking know anything other than the fact that I found my boyfriend dead! Then I get a call from Max and he finally tells me the truth.. why the fuck did you kill him? Why couldn’t you let me be fucking happy?!”

Malachi froze for a moment hearing her say that she got a call from Max-- that he was the one who told her. It made sense-- Malachi had snitched, almost fucked everything up for them. It made sense. “Are you listening to yourself? I killed Jordan? You’re going to believe Max over me? You believed--- you even think I’d kill him? Listen to what you’re saying,” he hissed at her, offended she’d even buy into it in the first place.

Malachi tried to grab for material, or wrap a hand around an arm of the person he’d collided, but it had definitely been too late--- plus looking down he hadn’t prepared himself to hold such a solid body up against the force of gravity anyway. “Come on, don’t tell me it was actually that bad?” He asked, half teasing and half concerned as he stepped over him, offering a hand. “You good to get up?”

Malachi found himself rolling his eyes, “And what’s that supposed to mean, huh?”

Malachi raised his brows at the news that it was her who was running the Kingley’s hotel at the moment. Their families were friends, though Mal hadn’t really been keeping up with his own family as of late so he was happy to hear that, truly. “That’s actually---- impressive, Bella, good for you. My dad owes me money now too, told him he was wrong to think your brother would end up in your position,” he said with a slight chuckle, almost absently falling back to the way he spoke with her before six years of nothing. He straightened once more though, realizing he didn’t exactly know how things were. “You’re managing it great, I assume?”

“— Oh, I’m fine,” Rowan says from where she standing just a few feet away, looking on with amusement as Malachi almost hits into her head on and instead trips over the rather loaded back she’d been lugging around for the better part of an hour. “I do - however - need a vodka soda and a good sit down.”

Malachi chuckled hearing her words, rubbing his shoulders as he got up. “Well, not hard to see why you need a sit down” he teased, pointing his chin towards her bag, “vodka soda too, though, huh?”  He echoed her words, a small smirk on his lips and nodded. “I hope that was an invitation because anything with vodka in it sounds pretty good now that you mention it,” he replied, favourite cure to a hangover was more alcohol.

There wasn’t really anything else but anger running through her now. Not as she stood in front of Malachi. He was supposed to be something she considered a brother, why would he have done something to hurt her like she was told he had? “Don’t try and act like you don’t know what you fucking did. You killed him! You killed Jordan!” Her voice was loud, it probably carried but she didn’t care.

He heard her words as clear and bright as day, though they were at a disconnect with him. He remembered Jordan of course, he remembered how broken up Mallory was when he was killed. He was just having trouble understanding what in god’s name she was talking about when she said he did it. He could see people looking though,  prompting him to step forward to grab her elbow and pull her back around the corner. “What the fuck are you talk about? Jordan? You know I didn’t kill him, Mallory.”

“Six years,” he echoed, last time he’d spoken with Bella, or really her family, he’d been twenty four. Seeing her now brought up an odd sense of nostalgia, though there was something stale and uncertain as well. He’d never decided how he felt about what went down, he never even found out the reasons for her behaviour. “Travelling-- mostly. Just moved back here... What about you then?”

Mallory saw the way he stopped, saw the way he seemed confused at why she wasn’t letting him hug her, why she wanted to be as far away from him as she could. Or she was afraid that she would hurt him, she wanted to, she thought he deserved it for what he did. Why was he acting like he had no idea why she would be mad? “You thought I wasn’t going to find out? That I wouldn’t know what you did? I trusted you!”

The boy blinked, shaking his head slowly. He didn’t understand why she was acting like this, he couldn’t think of anything that would make her like this. He didn’t know what he did, he didn’t know shit apparently. “What? So, you don’t trust me now? Tell me what the fuck is going on here, please.”

Malachi scoffed, finding himself in slight disbelief of his words.”You might as well be stealing money out of someone’s pockets, I know enough about you, Riley.”

A heavy breath left her, it wasn’t that she didn’t believe Malachi was standing right in front of her but hearing his old nickname for her.. it sent a pang through her heart. At any other time she would have been smiling, would have jumped to hug him and been excited to see someone she considered a brother. She’d heard things though, ones she didn’t want to believe yet she couldn’t disprove is either. The moment he smiled, and stepped closer to her, she stepped back, knowing that he wanted nothing more than a hug but she couldn’t give that to him. “Don’t– don’t tell me you missed me you asshole!” She found herself yelling, anger building inside of her as her fists clenched, her jaw ticked.

Malachi stopped in his tracks for a moment when he watched her step away. He could tell by the look on her face it was in no sort of joking fashion at all, which was what put the look of confusion on his face. His jaw only slacked further when he heard the language that she used, the tone in her voice. “Mallory...?” He looked at her with the question of what the hell was up with this practically etched on his features. “What in the hell is going on with you?

Malachi kept his features controlled as he leaned forward-- it didn’t really phase him in the slightest. He wasn’t sure if Riley was trying to intimidate him or what, but based on what he knew about the boy people like him didn’t intimidate him. Mal hummed at his words, “You think you’d be able to your hands on my money too? That’s about as likely as the part about me fucking you ,” he said, his voice snide.

Malachi switched to folding his arms over the other when she let go of his hand. He hadn’t seen Bella in nearly six years, and she had grown up--- again. He nodded when she confirmed her phone was undamaged, somewhat unsure of what to say to her. He had nver known what exactly happened, and had consequentially pushed everything that happened to the back of his mind. “Long time,huh?” He said the first thing that came to mind.

The sun is filtering low through the evening cover of clouds, dappling sunlight across the studio’s quad. There’s a fine sheen of sweat upon his skin, shining like dew, and Kai rakes a hand back through the mess of his hair as he lines up a shot. Fingertips splayed over the edges of the ball, the impact is unexpected, knocking Kai to the side and sending the ball wide to thump against the building wall just inches from a window pane. His bare back scraps across the asphalt as he takes the brunt of force, rolls up and onto his feet but hissing low through the clench of teeth.“—  Ah fuck, yeah man-” With delicate fingers, he twists and probes at the angry red skin. “It’s just a scrape, shit. Look where you’re goin’ next time, okay?” 

Malachi grimaced when he got his focus and saw the man getting up from the ground. “That, uh--” he cut off, distracted by the ball bouncing towards him, scooping it up in his hands. “That didn’t look like it could be considered okay,” he said, looking the boy up and down, with just a small hesitation on his torso. He moved so he could take a look at his back himself, “Antiseptic may be your friend in this situation,” he commented with a small smile.

Hearing her feet pound against the ground as she ran was practically a comforting feeling for Mallory now. There wasn’t a day where she didn’t run, where she didn’t go to the gym, teach her class. It was almost off-putting if she didn’t. It was supposed to be a way to work off any leftover aggression. Mallory was focused on running at a comfortable pace that she didn’t see someone coming around the corner at the same time she did until they had collided, “Fucking hell.” Shaking her head, Mallory glanced up and immediately froze where she was. It felt like the air had been pushed out of her lungs as she stared at the man before her. “Mal– what are you doing here?” She asked, the last time she had seen him was when she left the gang. The last she had heard about him though, she could feel her shock turning to anger.

“Ry,” Malachi felt himself breathe out when he focused on the girl’s face. He hadn’t actually seen her since she left the gang, hadn’t been in contact with her since he decided to disappear for a little bit. He really couldn’t talk to her, he knew she still talked to them, as much as it felt off to break off contact with someone who was basically a sister to him. “I’m living here now,” he said, a smile taking over his face as he stepped closer to pull into a hug, “I’ve missed you, shit.”

Cassidy didn’t find herself running very often, but when she did, bad things tended to happen. Like getting a crick in her chest when she exerted herself too much (or even just a little) or colliding into people running much faster than she was. Today, it was the latter. As she bumped heads with some man, her first instinct was not to touch her temples, where the pain erupted. Rather, she found herself saying, “Christ, I’m sorry. I’m fine–Fine. How are you?”

“Shit, you sure? I ran into you pretty hard?” Malachi asked, brows pulling together in concern. “Don’t worry about me, I’ve got a pretty solid foundation on my side,” he joked. “I’m fine, though, thanks.”

The boy’s words hardly affected Malachi, he wasn’t a fan of Riley or his... business methods, per se. He chuckled as he reached out to fix his shirt, Malachi grabbing his wrist to stop him, “Hands off---- I’m not as generous as some of my friends, so don’t bother,” he raised a brow at him. “Funny, but I’ve been raised --and don’t get too excited about this now-- to take over a billion dollar company, so I’m pretty sure I have a clue.”

Malachi was busy checking the pockets of his joggers, making sure nothing had come flying out as he spoke to the girl. Though it wasn’t before long that he was reaching out a hand, offering the still faceless brunette help up. His offer faltered slightly when she looked up though, palm curling in and arm drawing itself back, mostly in surprise. He opened his mouth or a moment, not saying much while he collected his thoughts. “Bella,” he greeted ith a nod, his voice admittedly a little stiff as he extended his hand once again. “I-- your phone okay too?” He asked.