no hallelujahs

      lottie’s smile was contagious and ghalia found herself grinning along side her, although it wasn’t a very helpful aid to her whole spiel and sudden plan to have a memorial service for something that had been mostly cleaned up already and left behind only a sticky residue. “ may it rest in peace...” she thought she’d finish it off with a hand over her heart before she officially sat down at the table, her own iced coffee in hand that she’d hopefully not spill herself, because she knows lottie would tease her an equal amount in return. “ i’ve been here as long as you want to have been here for -- so, like, thirty seconds. just in time. ” she keeps smiling over at lottie and notices the book on the table and makes a gesture to it, too curious not to ask, “ what are you reading? ” 

      these types of situations were the ones where eden would feel justified never leaving his apartment to avoid, mostly because he just doesn’t know how to react. what was he supposed to say to someone he hadn’t talked to in so long? it was almost like they didn’t know each other anymore, which had been a hard pill for eden to swallow for a while now, although maybe he didn’t realize it until seeing lottie face to face again. all he can do is nod slowly at her response. she was right, so a mhm and a nod seemed appropriate until he realizes he wasn’t saying anything else. “ uh---i didn’t know you were, like, back in town... ” he says, wanting to act as normal as possible because this is the grocery store after all, where it felt odd being so aware of the awkward silence with scattered mumbling going on around them. truth is: of course he wouldn’t know, maybe he shouldn’t be surprised by it, but it makes him feel more than he expected it to. 

      eden has never been much of a bar person but he’s decided it depends entirely on his company, and he’s currently pretty happy with his choices of the night. he had declared himself a bit too broke to be spending money on food here although he was usually a sucker for greasy food, especially late at night. maybe it was all for the best, though, as his friend sitting on the stool next to him seems less than enthusiastic about his food in front of him. eden can’t help but laugh a bit, not at damien’s misfortune but rather at his question. “probably not---i have a theory that people are usually too drunk to notice how bad the food might be,” he nods like he’s confident in what he’s saying, “like, i don’t know if that’s a good business strategy or a horrible rip off.” 

( maria + ghalia 🧡) @ftsmercy

( farrah + eden 🤙 ) @illuminction

( lottie + eden 👻) @ltties

( hadley + eden 🌻 ) @iincvitable

   on the list of eden’s least favorite things to do, grocery shopping would definitely be on the top three. especially when he’s alone and doesn’t have someone like adrian to (gracefully) distract him and make the experience better, but there are worse things to complain about, he figures, as he walks a bit absentmindedly through the store. his strategy here isn’t so great, and he’s probably walked through the bread aisle five times in the last ten minutes. he looks down at his phone for a moment as he turns the corner and consequently nearly bumps right into someone, apologizing quickly right before he looks up, not expecting to recognize them. “ lottie ?” he asks, probably looking a bit dumbfounded but that’s how he felt. it’d be ages since he’d last seen her, or really even talked to her, so felt like his double-take was justified. “ sorry, uh----i wasn’t expecting to run into you here---literally...” @ltties

       the best places around town were consistently the cafes and coffee shops where ghalia could try every type of iced coffee possible (even though her favorite will always be her well-loved french vanilla) but it was a good excuse to get out. besides, they were also the best places to write, and the people watching that went along with it never hurt. she’d walked into the cafe and planned on settling into a corner when she’d noticed her old friend and was about to try her attempt at getting her attention before the coffee causality happened. “ lottie ! how could you ! it was so young...” ghalia was only joking and being more dramatic than necessary as she grabbed some napkins from the next table and started to help clean it up. 

“i mean, i guess that’s possible, too,” he shrugs and just accepts this is the direction their night is going in, although he isn’t complaining. anything is possible when the two of them put their heads together and conjure up some sort of plan and he enjoys every moment of it. he really isn’t expecting to find his soulmate on tinder when maybe his soulmate is someone he already knows but they don’t know it yet. he’d like to believe that but truthfully, he doesn’t know anything either. “come fall?!” eden sits up slightly as hadley joins him on the chair he was at, “i’ve never planned a wedding, hadley, i’m stressed already,” he jokes as he grabs his phone and surrenders it to her, then rests his head against her shoulder, waiting for whatever she was going to get them into. 

      as a lifelong resident ghalia should be familiar with the in’s and out’s of the carina which is why she’s happy to help once she’s approached by the stranger walking down the sidewalk near her. “oh, that’s okay,” she takes a second to look at the address and she recognizes it but actually giving helpful directions has never been a strong suit of hers. “oh, yeah, that’s not too far from here---i could show you, if you want. i mean, i could just tell you, but i’m not the best at explaining things. i wouldn’t wanna send you to the opposite side of town on accident...” 

     it’d been ages since ghalia went out to see a show at the local theater and she was kicking herself for it, because if she’d had the opportunity this whole time, why not? maybe she could blame it on work keeping her attention elsewhere but tonight she’d made it a mission to catch a show with her brother who, admittedly, was less into musicals than herself but he was a good sport. maybe she was successful at changing his mind because she’d swear he enjoyed it as he ran off to catch up with a friend he saw after it ended. ghalia had recognized a few names from the cast and felt especially proud knowing they were out here prospering in the world, especially when it came to her old friend that happened to be starring in the show. she turns around at the feeling of someone tapping her shoulder and she smiles at them right away, “ maria! of course i did, you were amazing. i think you were made to wear that green makeup!”