✨sugar&spice✨

A Newport cigarette quickly found its way between his lips, lit and steadily streaming smoke.  Dayn exhaled, holding it between two fingers, keeping it in the hand away from her.  “That’s true, got to start getting creative around here,” he said, looking around.  “If you’re up for exploring the behind the scenes of the rides and shit, you know where to find me.”  Dayn took inhaled from his cigarette again, and exhaled pointing up at the sky, his head fallen against the back of the bench.  “Just wanted to sit for a bit.  Brought the wrong sneakers, my feet kinda hurt.  How you feeling with all the shit that went down?”

eyes flitted from his own, to his cigarette, back up to him. it was strange how they could act like nothing happened. still find each other in the middle of the night. kiss like they never shared person details with each other. fuck like she didn’t used to think what they used to have was love. “mind if I bum a cigarette off you?” however were the only words that came out to the world through all that thought. “I might take you up on that offer.” her smile forming into that all too well known devilish little smirk. attention soon moved to the water as isla listened to his reasoning, followed by the question. the one everyone was asking. “it’s unsettling, for sure.” her voice soft yet steady. “kind of assumed the last time was the last time.”

having just stepped off the coach, marco’s plans consisted of making the trek back to his place, dropping his over-stuffed backpack on the floor, and falling into bed with his laptop and some movie from the 90s. but as his vans-clad feet carried him down the path he slowed once he stepped into the shadow the building cast onto the sidewalk. fidelis. his old dorm. looking at it now though, he didn’t immediately think of the cramped parties and late night mario kart tournies; he thought of the recent headline. it made his stomach sink. “fuck, man,” he exhaled, before mumbling softly under his breath, “what the fuck is going on?”

the sleek back door of the driver’s car popped open, still close to the bus it had yet to stray from the entire ride home. the minute the headlines dropped she knew riding back on the coach with everyone else was out of the question. moments later, a call came from her father that a car would drive her and only her back. a bare shoulder sandwiched the phone against her ear, a deep and stern voice barely audible through the speaker. “papa, écoute! je ne rentre pas à la maison. c'est final.” her words firm, unshakable even. “ car il y a trop à faire en ce moment. je suis la star de la série, j'ai kcactf à venir, tout ira bien.” a black bag was soon yanked out of the car, the rest to be driven back for her. “pas de papa. je ne suis pas abonné à l'application. je ne vais pas m'abonner non plus. je promets.” dark eyes soon noticed the figure standing a few feet away from her. a soft smile tugged at her lips. “au revoir papa. je t'aime. bonne nuit.” isla spoke into the phone before promptly hanging up. fingers brushed back her locks, no doubt slightly tousled from the nap she had taken on the way back. face scrubbed of makeup. eyes held an exhaustion her body had yet to posses. his words were so soft, yet they made her really taken in the sight before them. yellow tape strewn about like streamers. a dark cloud over a building that held so many careless, joyful nights. “avez-vous beso-” quickly stopping herself, her brain still processing french only. “do you need a place to stay tonight?” voice soft per usual, but a foreign genuineness made home where her coy, playful tone usually lived. “if you don’t feel like staying here, that is.”

“peer into my life and you’ll never go.”

it was no secret that bash didn’t have a lot of friends, people either finding that he was hard to be around, people didn’t understand him or people were closer with teddy and seemingly ‘chose’ him after their break up. he’d always been grateful for isla, two fucked up peas from the same pod who seemed to bring out the best in each other, platonic friendship at its best. “knew it, my dad would be so fucking happy to hear that.” the dean’s son placed a big and loving kiss atop of her head, playing still not phased. “oh, total tears. i pouted in my room and cried for days.” an exaggeration but he definitely avoided parties. which was in part not having his partner in crime but mostly because he didn’t really want to see teddy and blake together. “i think coney island is the perfect place for us to finally elope.” he snorted and looked back at the piano as he played, “same old, same old. avoiding everyone and hiding in the corner with the piano. avoiding everyone.”

isla never understood the whole ‘having to choose who to support after a break up’ thing. but, truth be told, she would always choose bash. she had many a good memory with teddy but this boy was her everything. he was basically her other half. when he brought up his father’s approval, a smile graced her face and her tongue popped out slightly. she always allowed herself to be a little more cutesy with bash. not caring too much about keeping that seductive, unobtainable air isla possessed with most males. “tell him I accept your hand in marriage and we’ll be married in the spring.” she proclaimed, nose again crinkling in a smile as the kiss was placed upon her head. “I knew it. I should have written you so you could know my love stayed true.” hand lightly rested on his shoulder, thumb lightly rubbing back and forth. she couldn’t imagine that it could be easy. feeling like everyone was against you. her best friend need for protection against those who dared to make him sad always seemed to bubble but never boil over. one day, she feared it would. “don’t avoid. don’t give them the satisfaction. show them you couldn’t care less what they think and live your life for you. those people are beneath you.”

his expression IMMEDIATELY brightened at the sight of the blonde, grin preying onto his lips as he cooed out an enthusiastic, “love of my life!” batting his lashes back at her, he wasn’t fucking blind and knew that she was gorgeous (and probably someone his dad wished he’d end up with) “come here.” bash scooted over onto one side of the bench, purposefully making room for her, “careful, i’m so going to make you fall in love with me.” he teased with the crinkle of his nose before his fingers broke into dancing across the keys, playing a ballad of his own making. “how are you, babe?” not pausing his song but looking her way as his fingers seemed to have a mind of their own.

button nose crinkled as her smile grew at his shared dramatic display of affection. the love she had for bash was past a friendship, it had become a ride-or-die relationship. a familiar sort of devotion and respect. something she truly appreciated having. isla sauntered over, taking her seat next to him. her head rested gently on his shoulder. “too late. already madly in love with you. whoopsies.” her position only interrupted so she could sit up and take another sip of her cocktail. “oh, I am just wonderful. spent a few days in europe, just know you were in tears at my absence, and now I’m here with you at coney island. I mean, that sounds pretty close to perfect, wouldn’t you think?” she asked, red lips in a shade that mimicked her dress pouting out slightly. “how about you, mon aime?”

“you’re right. totally a stupid question,” he said, shaking his head softly from side to side and standing taller as she came out the room. each day seemed like evidence to him that she looked beautiful in anything. him on the other hand. already shaking his cap-clad head, he answered, “thanks but… no, this thing’s like way old. i don’t know, didn’t really think to pack anything nice.” the baja hoodie he had was comfortable, albeit there was a weed smell that clung to it now matter the amount of tide pods and febreze that was thrown at it. “my fault for packing last minute. that’s whatever. but, uh, you… do i, uh, even got to tell you you look good or is that just, like, getting repetitive?”

a quick pivot of her feet caused her eyes to meet with his once again. she offered a soft smile, eyes looking up at him with a unearned air of innocence. “oh, stop. you don’t have to have nice things to still look good. sometimes, all you need is an attractive face.” the blonde stated with a little laugh, her body slightly closer to him. the playful, coy demeanor was almost ingrained into her by this point in her life. fingers threw back her hair as her smile grew a bit brighter at his words. “I mean, it may be repetitive but that doesn’t mean I don’t like hearing it. always reassuring to have it said.” heels clicked against the hotel floors as she made her way down the halls. “now, what bars did you have in mind?”

They hadn’t been together in a minute, time had definitely passed and left room for growth to be had.  But Dayn was… in terms of actual relationships, fairly uneducated.  This had lasted the longest for him by far compared to any others he’s ever attempted.  How was one supposed to act around exes?  He was more used to keeping a girl’s number in the back of his head, keep up a good relationship, just in case he found himself bored - which was often - and sure, they’ve had their moments after they broke up, but it was still uncharted territory.  Especially since they were just so different, from such different backgrounds.  “Just don’t wanna bother you,” he said, holding up his hands innocently, before tucking them in, folded around each other over his chest as he gazed out at everything.  “Don’t know if you’re meeting anyone, or whatever.”

fingers quickly flipped through the thing pages of her current script, more out of a way to busy herself than anything else. the distance between them felt like a chasm more then a simple few feet away. isla arched an eyebrow as she looked the male over, his presence both a comfort yet foreign. “no. not meeting anyone. just thought I’d enjoy the atmosphere a bit more. you know, considering we had a few more days tacked on to this trip and all.” wind whipping her hair around her. “how about you?”

“OH MY GOD!” he was fucking plastered at this point, uncharacteristically giddy seeing as he’s been nothing but an unpleasant grump lately, “they have a fucking piano!” bash had missed it before, floated past but it had his full attention now as the dean’s son plopped down onto its bench, fingers wasting no time in running perfectly executed scales before turning to the other, “quick…any requests? i can do anything…or come sit next to me and let me serenade you. it’ll be so romantic.”

@wateropens

manicured nails tapped against the half drank glass of something she had concocted earlier in the night. a red dress hugged her curves as she leaned against the mahogany behemoth taking up most of the room. isla rolled her eyes at the increasingly intoxicated crowd passing her by. no one had caught her eye. yet. however, when the light sound of a few scales hit her ears, the blonde quickly turned around, her smirk gracing its familiar place on her lips. resting her elbow on the piano and her chin on her hand, she dramatically batted her eyelashes. “serenade me, love. win me over.”

“one: no one can ever replace me darling. two: I was gone for a few weeks so I haven’t see my boys lately. three: the idea of lana ‘replacing me’ is really anti-feminist, women supporting women vibes and I’m not into that.”

“I think I have a great understanding of myself so this is a bit hard to answer.”

“just one thing? limiting.”

isla

kat took a sip of her drink, eyes narrowing shortly after. “did i forget the vodka?” she asked herself softly before taking another sip. unsure, she sat up, squinting her eyes at the nearest person and sliding the cup in their direction. “lay it on me thick. am i dumb or is this shit virgin?” @fvkisla

isla looked down at the cup suddenly thrust into her hands, examining it as if it was an unknown artifact and not simply a random concoction. soon, pink lips parted as she took a small sip. eyebrows knitted as she examined the taste. “there is either nothing in there or some really subtle stuff. so either you’re going to have a boring night or a really interesting, blackout one.”