daytripper

『 ella purnell / 25 / cis woman / she/her. 』 can you believe it’s a new season of sweethearts? i’m rooting for felicity “fizzy” o’leary. they’re the musician from dublin, ireland. back home, they’re often described as + charming and + passionate, which i guess i could get behind. their - moody and - impulsive side makes great television, though. you know, they kind of remind me of guitar-calloused fingertips, heart-shaped sunglasses, a well-loved pair of scuffed doc martens. i wonder who their match is. i guess i’ll have to tune in to mtv to find out. 『 salem / 25 / est / they/them. 』

sadie loved the other’s name , it was unique and she couldn’t work out if it was a nickname or an actual name “ is that your actual first name , or your named shortened down ? it’s cute regardless, ” she grinned. “ it’s a pleasure to meet you fizzy , i’m sadie , it’s nice seeing other faces around here,” .

“guilty as charged,” fizzy admitted with a laugh. surprisingly, most people didn’t bother asking about her name. “it’s a nickname. though i do still wonder how you get fizzy from felicity...ah, well. i like fizzy better,” she mused drunkenly with a shrug. “same to you. it’s especially nice seeing a face like yours, i gotta say...” fizzy flirted shamelessly. 

-

“i’m the picture of calm right now. isn’t that obvious?” liv answered, slowly, flatly, before her deadpan question broke into a tiny, almost imperceptible grin. obvious from her total breakdown not five minutes before? sure. “noo, well, i was way sober-er then. more sober? more sober. until after the standing part. i can be very fucking graceful.” she accepted the joint gratefully, taking a long puff as she considered fizzy’s question. she shrugged. “well. not exactly. not mostly.” nobody would have known it from the way liv had carried herself, but high school hadn’t been, like, easy for her. but, then again, now wasn’t so easy for her, either, but she doesn’t even have the perks of being prom queen. “i liked how simple things were,” she decided on finally. she did whatever she had to do back then, and she didn’t have to worry about deciding who she’d be. she’d lie about who she was and not feel dissatisfied with herself for it, because it was common procedure. now, she had decided to be honest about her sexuality in the most explosive way possible, because she would have been embarrassed with herself if she hadn’t. but, she still felt like a fucking idiot, knowing what a disaster was waiting for her. “yeah,” she mused, “simple. i guess. what about you, huh? were you all angsty and rebellious in high school, or something?”

she couldn’t have said if it was the still-lingering haze from the pink wine, or the weed settling in, but fizzy was transfixed as she watched liv consider her words, her head tilting into her hand as she listened. the word simple had her nodding softly, like she understood even before liv elaborated a little bit. “i get that,” fizzy replied after a beat, lost for just a moment in thinking about when the last time was that her own life had felt simple. it felt something like ages ago...but simple was boring, right? “oh, yeah, i was a lousy degenerate punk,” fizzy affirmed, smiling brightly and framing her face with her hands so liv could get the full picture. “you’ll have to imagine me with the box-dyed black hair and lip piercing, though, for the full effect,” she grinned, sinking back against the pillows on her bed with a sigh. “and i ended up dropping out, so i hope that ticks all your boxes on what you’d expect teenage fizzy to be.” somehow, part of her hoped that joking about her teenage years would help distract liv from whatever was clearly still bothering her, a soft intention fizzy hadn’t been expecting.

even  if  looking  directly  at  the  girl , she  wasn’t  being  able  to  properly  perceive  the  reactions  from  that  conversation . normally , alana  would  notice  the  flush  on  her  cheeks immediately , she  would  try  to  note  whatever  her  eyes  were  up  to  catch , but  not  that  night  at  that  specific  situation , she  wasn’t  able  to  trust  her  own  eyes . all  alana  could  possibly  remark  was  whatever  would  be  said  or  done  without  any  subtlety .  “ hm … so  you  got  here  right  in  time  to  meet  all  the  ladies  getting  more  loose  and  drinking … ”  herself  included . and , without  breaking  eye  contact  even  for  a  second , alana  raised  her  brows  with  a  sly  smile  showing  up . “ that’s  a  good  move . nice  to  meet  you too , fizzy ! ” 

fizzy couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her at the other girl’s words, shrugging as the leaned her head against the wall. “yeah, you’ve got my plan all figured out,” she giggled, the wine making her feel uncharacteristically joyous. she held alana’s gaze, focused on the beautiful color of her eyes for a second before she could fully process the words. “thanks. i’ve gotta admit, though,” fizzy glanced around at the other partygoers, before letting her eyes glance back at alana. “i wasn’t prepared for exactly how pretty all the ladies are.”

-

“um, what do you mean by that?” liv demanded, but her laugh betrayed the fact that she wasn’t actually all that pissed. it was hard to be pissed at someone who was about to smoke her out when she was this drunk, even if fizzy finding her in the bathroom had been mortifying. “they’re totally real. you get to be hot and stand in front of everyone,” she said, picking up the skirt of her comically fancy hot pink dress and doing a little twirl ( that led to her stumbling a little, then sitting on the bed ). “hm. i had influence then,” she said wistfully, pursing her lips. she loved high school - it was enough to just be hot and rich and talented. you could get through college like that, too, for the most part. not here, though - you had to… well… mingle. jesus christ. you had to be actually likable, and liv wasn’t. she hated that about herself sometimes. she pulled her knees to her chest, watching fizzy light the joint.

“calm down, miss americana,” fizzy responded, falling into a giggle halfway through the statement as she took in liv’s half-hearted indignation. fizzy couldn’t fight the surge of fond amusement she felt watching liv twirl dramatically in her dress, only to fall next to her on the bed. “if being hot and standing are the only requirements, i’m sure you swept the competition. although you did just stumble not so gracefully into my bed, so maybe not so much the second part,” fizzy teased. she wasn’t even trying to flirt — at least, not on purpose. but it was easy to want to flatter a girl that looked like that. she rolled her eyes at the younger girl’s wistful words, a smile tugging at her lips. “do you really miss being that age?” fizzy asked with genuine curiosity, the one hit she’d taken of the joint already making her feel somehow both more present and more relaxed as she handed it off to liv. 

sadie moved in sync with fizzy who was besides her , hoping that her dancing wasn’t too embarrassing . the femme was better at being confident and cocky over actually dancing , she knew if she moved like others were , she would end up feeling hopeless . “ i’m hoping i don’t show you up, ” she giggled . “hopefully my flirting is distracting you, ” she winked . “ what did you say you name was again ? ”

fizzy, luckily, couldn’t be asked to give a damn about what kind of dancing she was doing. she never much cared what people thought of her, and that went double when she was intoxicated. regardless, she was digging the laid back vibe that sadie was giving off. “it’s definitely sufficiently distracting,” fizzy answered with a slight smirk. “not sure if i did, but i’m fizzy. and you are?” 

-

liv wasn’t really sure what would make her feel better - honestly, that’s not something she’d ever been very good at figuring out, instead usually option for just pretending like nothing was wrong. so, sure, she’d say ‘fuck it’ and follow fizzy, trying to pretend like she wasn’t falling apart quite as much as she was, ‘cause what the hell else was she gonna do? ( briefly, she prayed that the cameras would be unable to detect the faint tear streaks under her eyes. god, don’t let liv be caught crying on national television. at that point, she’d have to go walk outside and get eaten by wolves, or whatever the fuck lives in alaska ). at fizzy’s laughter, liv frowned, though she wasn’t quite put together enough for it to appear as some kind of dignified show of displeasure - mostly, she just looked sort of sad. as she realized that the other woman was basically just, like… drunk as hell, though, her insecurity eased, and she laughed along weakly for a beat. “it’s all the pink. seriously. it has - um, a tranquilizing effect at first, then just makes you really angry once you start getting used to it. fun fact! thank you, college. or, um, actually, maybe it’s just all the booze?” she offered, speculating drunkenly. when fizzy said liv looked like a prom queen, she giggled despite herself. well, if anything would make her feel better, it was flattery. “i was prom queen. but thank you,” she said, following fizzy to her bedroom. 

if fizzy was totally honest, she wasn’t even sure what kind of response she had been expecting from liv — maybe another fuck off, but this one delivered at full volume and face to face. okay, yeah, maybe that was the only outcome she was prepared for. because then she could pat herself on the back and call it a night, because she did something nice for someone ( or at least tried to ) and that successfully canceled out all of her drunken bullshit, right? but despite that, there was still a small part of her that was glad liv accepted her invitation. fizzy herself could definitely use a smoke, if only to balance out the sheer amount of alcohol in her system. when liv chimed in with her own drunken rambling, punctuated by a little giggle, fizzy couldn’t help the way the corners of her mouth tugged up into a smile. “oh, my god, of course you were,” fizzy burst out laughing, rolling her eyes as she led the other girl. once inside, she set about rummaging through her things to find her handy stash of joints. “y’know...i didn’t really think prom queens were real,” fizzy mused absentmindedly as she found what she was looking for, grabbing a lighter as she went to sit on her bed. “like, they have them in movies obviously...but i didn’t know it was like, a normal thing. fucking america,” she shook her head with a laugh, placing the joint between her lips to light it.

alana  found  a  random  corner  to  take  a  second  after  way  too  many  drinks  and  a  some  dancing  . her  eyes  met  the  woman  next  to  her , probably  starring  a  little  longer  than  her  sober  self  normally  would . “ no  idea . i  can't  understand  a  word  he's  saying .”  she  shrugged . it  could  happen  at  times of  alana  having  problem  understanding  some  words  in  english , the  rap  part  being  sang  too  fast  was  one  of  the  reasons  for  it  plus  the  alcohol  in  her  system . she  turned  her  body  to  the  side  to  fully  face  the  woman , learning  against  the  same  wall . “ you're  pretty , have  you  always  been  here ? ” alana  would  notice  if  she'd  been  in  the  cabin  since  day  one … wouldn't  she ? she  couldn't  tell  anymore , that  was  probably  a  sign  she  should  start  drinking  some  water . what  a  embarrassment  she’d  feel  later  to  be  like  that  on  television . “ alana . and  yours ? ”

fizzy managed to find some small, functioning part of her brain to be grateful that the other girl seemed to be busy looking at her, at least maybe enough to not notice fizzy’s gaze — because the moment fizzy looked, she wanted a closer look, her drunken brain impeding her ability to not stare openly for a moment. despite her best efforts, her cheeks flushed slightly as the other girl complimented her right off the bat. fuck, she was way too drunk to not end this encounter by making a fool of herself, but she ventured on anyways. “i just got here,” fizzy answered, turning to mirror the other woman’s body language and face her. even with the crowd and party still going around them, it felt strangely intimate. “i’m fizzy. nice to meet ya.”

{ - }

“Okay, okay, I hear that… but I raise you this: does it count as falling on my ass if I land in the pool, hm?” Jules posited, and in her mind, it was up there with the great philosophical debates that had plagued mankind for centuries. “And that does make me feel better… I feel like– I’m pretty coordinated, for somebody who’s as drunk as I am… which is pretty drunk,” the last part was a whisper, as though that was a secret to anybody at the party anymore. As though to prove it, she kicked off her heels, the first casualties on her skinny-dipping quest. They landed with a decidedly ungraceful thud against the wall, but at least they didn’t end up in the water.

“hmm...” fizzy tilted her head, spending a hot minute assessing the question with all of her drunken might before she responded. “no, i guess it doesn’t!” she announced happily, letting out a laugh. fuck, she was really drunk, but she was having an excellent time. fizzy raised an eyebrow at her. “i feel like now that you’ve said how coordinated you are, you’re ten times as likely to slip and eat shit,” fizzy countered with a grin. however, she had to admit she was impressed with the way jules was able to kick off her shoes with a dramatic flair. “ten out of ten!” fizzy rated her performance with a giggle, taking far more care kicking off her own shoes — the last thing she needed was to fall on he ass after all her teasing.

-

as if things couldn’t get any worse for liv, the first thing she was greeted with when she exited the bathroom post-crying session was somebody else she was on less-than-excellent terms with. jesus christ - she wanted to bang her head against the wall. how positively mortifying. she tried to look very casual and very dignified, and totally like somebody who hadn’t just been having a drunken breakdown, but she was pretty sure she wasn’t pulling it off. she held her breath, just waiting for whatever awful phrase she’d be faced with, maybe fizzy pointing out what a disaster liv was - but instead, she’s even more caught off guard. do you smoke? “uh,” liv said, wiping surreptitiously at a few stray tears. well, smoking sounds a lot better than sobering up right now, and it’s a good excuse to get away from the others. what the hell, right? “yeah, okay,” she agreed after a beat, “sure. i mean, why the hell not, right?” she gave a lazy, drunken shrug. at the implication that liv ‘seemed like she could use it,’ she raised her eyebrows. “you mean i look like a fuckin’ mess?” she asked, though she was too worn to be that defensive about it. who did she think she was kidding, you know?

as she waited for the verdict, fizzy looked down to glance at her shoes briefly, like she was trying to give liv a modicum of privacy in this situation she had just kind barged into. but it didn’t take long until liv was agreeing, and for some reason that made fizzy smile a little. as stated before: she was an asshole, but not a total asshole — she didn’t want liv to have a horrible night. “why the hell not is exactly right,” fizzy nodded, noting that she could also really, really use a break from the party at this point. at liv’s next words though, fizzy had to laugh. “sorry,” she apologized immediately, shaking her head to dispel it. “i’m not even laughing at you. or like, i’m not trying to, i’m just...fuck, this has been such a night.” fizzy explained clumsily, hoping she wouldn’t strike a nerve with liv again just because she was being drunk and stupid. “if it helps, you still look like a fuckin’ prom queen. even if you were just crying in the bathroom.” she admitted to the other girl, unable to keep herself from noting how utterly unfair it was for liv to still look so gorgeous after having some sort of breakdown. fizzy almost reached a hand out for the other girl’s, but reconsidered at the last moment, instead tilting her head towards the direction of her bedroom. “anyways. come with me?”

-

after several shots and a slew of less-than-positive altercations with her housemates, liv stormed off to the bathroom, locking the door behind her and turning the faucet all the way one. ( yes, she knew california was in a drought, but this wasn’t fucking california ). liv was a crier, mostly when she was drunk, which she was. she was drunk, and miserable. it was cold, and she fucking hated everybody, and she was totally getting cut out of the will to be on this show, and she wasn’t even having a good fucking time. and, like, she knew everyone was gonna hate her - she’d basically made it that way on purpose, ‘cause everyone would hate her anyways, and she’d rather be the master of her own fucking destiny - she sure felt stupid now, stumbling drunk and crying against the wall with her heels in her hands. really weak and pathetic and dumb, and she’d die before she let anyone see her like this, but some things - like liv’s inclination to start weeping in the bathroom - couldn’t be helped. i’m getting, like, fucking disowned for this, she thought drunkenly, looking at her blurry reflection in the mirror. the fact that she looked like a mess made her cry harder, and then, it got worse: a knocking at the door, a fucking voice, holy shit, what a nightmare. she froze, fuck fuck fuck, then yelled: “fuck off!” hoping the wavering, teary quality of her voice was concealed by the fact that she was really slurring. goddammit!!! she tried to steady her breathing, back against the door to the bathroom. she waited several minutes before moving, but when she was content in thinking whatever rude bitch outside had left to go piss in the bushes or whatever, she finally took to the mirror, realizing she looked like a fucking mess. she did what she could to fix the teary quality of her eyes, but she basically had to make a b-line to her bedroom and drunkenly reapply her makeup if she wanted to look - like she wasn’t a mess, which she totally was. taking a deep breath, she straightened up, squaring her shoulders and holding her head high, trying to look like she was normal and dignified and not completely embarrassing. she opened the door, and was nothing less than miserable to realize the hallway wasn’t actually empty as she’d thought it’d be.

in her drunken haze, fizzy honestly hadn’t even considered what kind of reaction she might get out of the person inside the bathroom. granted, if she were on the other end of things, she probably would’ve done something similar, which is why the fuck off only took her aback for about five seconds. if anything, it was less the words and more the quality in the person’s voice that took her off guard. something in fizzy’s head told her to ignore all her instincts and just shut up for once in her life, and so she did. she waited, and waited, and waited — it felt like a million years, and at the same time, she knew it was maybe five minutes, max. fizzy couldn’t have said what she was lost in space thinking about as she leaned against the wall, because as soon as the door opened, her attention was drawn immediately to the girl leaving through it. liv, her drunken brain supplied helpfully, throwing her a bone for once. “oh,” fizzy let out a soft sound, not just at the realization of who it was, but of the next observation she made: that this girl who had been nothing but entitled and argumentative when fizzy had met her, now looked like she’d been crying her eyes out in the bathroom for god knows how long. her brain short circuited as she considered what to do next. say something, right? she couldn’t just walk away now, that would be a major asshole move — and fizzy was an asshole, sure, but not that much of an asshole. besides, despite her best intentions, she felt a twinge of sympathy tugging at her heart; she’d been on the wrong side of a drunken cry in a bathroom more than a handful of times. “do you smoke?” the words took even fizzy off guard as they passed her lips, because was she really offering to smoke her out? yes, yes she was. “weed, i mean. i have a joint in my room if you want. least i can do,” fizzy offered, you know, since i interrupted your emotional breakdown. “plus, you know. you seem like you could use it.”

♡

piper wrapped her arms around fizzy’s shoulders as she continued to dance and sway. piper saw her looking and she couldn’t help but look away; her cheeks flushed red and hot under the dance floor lights, thank goodness for makeup and dim lighting. “that’s good! more pretty girls!!” piper cheered, a wide smile on her face. “hey! i’m not cute!!” piper blushed, taking one of her arms off to cover her face with her hand. “but fizzy… now that’s a cute name! like fizzy soda! i’m sure you’re just as bubbly as fizz.”

fizzy was watching every move and expression piper made with an amused fondness. the other girl’s arms around her shoulders made it easier for fizzy to lean in by wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her in a little closer. piper might’ve not thought she was cute, but fizzy definitely did, and her blush just sealed the deal. “okay, fine, you’re not cute,” she teased with a giggle, giving away that she definitely didn’t mean it. mostly, she was just enjoying piper’s slight moment of embarrassment. then, it was her own turn to smile and flush a little, piper’s drunken words making her laugh. “i don’t think i’m always bubbly, but all thie wine is definitely making me feel that way.”

{ - }

Juliana giggled too, an uncharacteristically ditzy sound for her, as her own head lolled to the side. “Long enough… I’m just sneaky. You didn’t even notice! Who were you staring at, huh?” she asked playfully, with a teasing waggle of her eyebrows. Although, with that decided, Jules brings her hand to Fizzy’s with a decisive grip, leading her towards the pool. She walked backwards herself, to keep her eyes on the other woman on her path. “Your faith in me is incredibly flattering, by the way,” she added, in a sarcastic drawl.

fizzy couldn’t help but let out a little snort as she laughed at the other girl’s drunken antics, shaking her head fondly at jules. “not exactly staring at anybody, but i am wonderin’ who’s gonna be the first to fall on their ass. my current bet is on you.” fizzy followed with an amused expression as jules led her towards the water, only sober enough to be slightly worried about her attempts to walk backwards. “alright, fine. i have full faith in your drunken abilities. does that make ya feel better?” fizzy teased with a slight smirk. 

fizzy was humming along to a song she couldn’t have even named, eyes skimming over the crowd from where she was planted firmly against the wall. for once in her life, it wasn’t because she was a naturally contrarian asshole, or because she was avoiding human interaction — it was more like she had consumed three more drinks than was probably advisable, and the wall was her friend now. she was only a little embarrassed when she glanced over to see that she wasn’t alone. “do you know what song this is?” fizzy asked the other girl drunkenly, probably a little louder than necessary, but she wanted to make sure she could be heard over the music. as if on some cosmic cue, the song ended immediately after, causing fizzy to let out a groan. “ah, fuck, now i can’t even look it up,” she sighed. as she was new to the house, she didn’t have a firm grasp on who everyone was yet. “what’s your name?” she asked the vaguely familiar woman suddenly, tilting her head as she studied her. 

fizzy was not that drunk, or at least that was what she was adamantly telling herself. she wasn’t that drunk: it was just that her brain felt like it was swimming, and she couldn’t stop stumbling as she walked, and the wall was a very comfy choice to be leaning against at that very moment. she was beginning to think she might just stay there forever, and wake up with a deadly hangover right there in the middle of the hallway, but even in this state, she knew that wasn’t ideal. fizzy rubbed a hand over her face to clear the slightly dancing stars out of her eyes, and set off on a new crusade: find the bathroom. 

even as a newbie to the house, she was lucky her muscle memory was able to guide her there mostly without issue — unless you counted the two people she’d managed to run into on the way, but she didn’t at that moment. as she stumbled upon the right door finally, she jiggled the handle only to find out the worst possible news: it was locked. fizzy slumped against the doorframe with a sigh, letting out a dramatic, exasperated groan. most definitely louder than necessary, she knocked against the door with as much force as she could muster. “excuse meeeee,” she projected, hoping the person inside could hear her. “sorry, but can you, uh, hurry the fuck up, maybe?”

♡

“yes you, silly! who else?!” piper giggled, grabbing the girl’s hand and dragging her to the dance floor. “no worries, love. as long as you don’t make fun of mine.” she was cute, in a nonchalantly kind of way; effortlessly pretty. sober piper would never have the guts to do what tipsy piper is doing right now, but that’s the point of alcohol, right? they danced for a bit then piper leaned over to speak into the other’s ear, the music too loud for normal distance speaking. “you’re new here too, right? i just got here the other day. i’m piper.”

fizzy was smiling while the other girl pulled her onto the dance floor, happy to let herself be led. “pinky promise, i would never,” she swore with a soft laugh, letting her eyes glance over the younger girl and take her in. she was so cute, and her wine-bubbly confidence made it easy for fizzy to go with the flow and dance with her. she automatically tilted her head to listen closer when the other girl spoke.  “yeah, i just got here,” fizzy affirmed with a nod. “cute name for a cute girl.” the wine made her unable to care how cheesy and terrible of a line it really was — either way, she meant it. “nice to meet you, i’m fizzy.”