endurance.

alex had looked back at hudson as she too complained about the legos thalia bought luna to play with when she was over at their house sometimes. he stood up from the fridge after giving his kid something to drink and them himself. he sat on the couch as he put the bottle of water on the table next to him and then let out a small laugh. “i told you those legos are fuckin’ dangerous.” he let out, forgetting the four-year-old was in the room before he was covering his mouth. he was still getting used to having a filter. @hvdsonm

hudson groaned, “look, i’m not sayin’ i’m gonna throw them away- because i’m not... probably- but i’ve stepped on at least two! they really are painful.” she frowned. she let out a laugh as he cursed without realizing. she turned toward luna, “don’t repeat the things your dad says. he’s badly behaved.” she grinned, “cursing is bad.” 

“you won’t be hearing any complaints from me anytime soon, don’t you worry. you leave me very satisfied.” thalia retorted, chewing on her bottom lip. most would think hooking up with your roommate would make things awkward — but it wasn’t really an issue for the two of them. “think he’s married to a guy now, though. internalised homophobia is a bitch. oh, right? high school me was thriving.”

“good to hear. like to know i’m doin’ a good job.” hudson chuckled, resting her hand against  thalia’s thigh in an obviously innocent gesture. hudson was glad that sleeping together had never fucked up their friendship, if anything it made their friendship better. she grinned, “you are right about that. bet he’s still a dick though. wonder what olivia’s doin’ now- i think i might be her facebook friend actually.” 

   her neighbour’s scrutiny was FAR too accurate. already she could feel pink heat crawl across her cheeks. “ um, yeah. brownies. ” the words repeated dumbly while her sight kept trained on the floor once again. “ thought you might like ‘em. they’re not scraps, or anythin’ like that, don’t worry. ”

   it was tempting to ditch the container of baked goods and leave – but that’s not how grown adults went about things. a hand rose in dismissal. “ oh! no, not really. i’m not here to just see Thalia. sure, i’d like to come in. ” the four walls inside would be same as her own place, nevertheless. Casey stepped in, habitual glance around the room before going to set down the container. “ so uh, how’ve you been lately? guess i haven’t seen you as much. ”

“i’m not worried about it, i’m sure they’re great.” hudson let out a gentle laugh, an eyebrow raised just slightly as she stepped aside to let casey walk inside the tiny apartment, “it’s ok if you were here to see thalia. she’s better company anyway.” she closed the door behind the brunette, walking further into the apartment. she glanced over at casey, an amused grin playing at her lips, “good. fine. been pickin’ up a lot more hours lately, gotta make rent and all that. then i pretty much sleep the rest of the time since i work nights.” she shrugged, leaning against the wall, “how’ve you been?” 

      cassie wasn’t who she was anymore. honestly,  the  quiet,  submissive, little girl       died when her daddy left and the whole  town  knew  that  cassie had no daddy.       she shakes the thought out  of  her  head,  though traces of it stick hard, in how       cassie’s holding her breath, or how her knuckles were pale from wrapping them       round the bottle  like  a  vice.  quickly   burying  it under a saccharine smile, she       reminds herself to relax. look at hudson– look at  how  she’s  grown  and where       they’re at now. notice  her  features,  her  tan skin, those wide eyes that used to       stare her down the halls that have now seen life outside high school. cassie       exhales.

             “lookin’ close enough huh?”

      she leans  toward  the  woman slightly, closing up some of the spaces between       them. who’s afraid of who?

            “what are you looking for, hudson?”

whatever their dynamic was in high school- it was different now. they had both changed. hudson hadn’t changed as much, but she was still different. she was less angry, less full of hate. and she didn’t hate cassie- she had never really hated her. in high school, hudson just wanted a reason to be an asshole and there was cassie and she could get to her back then. her eyes flicked over her, not backing away as she got closer. no way she was going to show any weakness, “i don’t know... maybe nothing. maybe lookin’ to see what you’re thinking. to see what’s going through that head.” 

“you’re right.” he let out and chuckled a little bit. “she’s already learned the demon ways and how to make men do what the fuck she wants because she likes to boss me around the apartment.”

“good! my main goal when it comes to your kid is to help her learn how to boss men around.” hudson smirked, “you are already wrapped around her little finger- and she knows it.” 

“ I’ve had a handful– some better than others and I find it funny none of them actually looked like a cop should? –ya know something a little less juiced up than a wwe performer, but along those lines. The last run in must have been… five foot and his partner was pushin three hundred.”

“ what’s the wildest story you got with kickin someone to the curb.”

hudson laughed, nodding in agreement, “yeah, they like to talk a big game about being cops but then they look like any old guy i’d see at a bar- middle aged men with adult children who hate them.” then she grinned, “hmmm, well, last week i had to throw a guy out of the club because he kept tryin’ to convince the dancers to let him take pictures of their armpits- disgusting! he didn’t put up too much of a fight, thank god.” 

   awkward feet shuffled on the threadbare carpet, eyes elsewhere. first her gaze travelled from the flickering light above the front door to the end of the corridor, a lone sneaker left unattended for how many months now, she didn’t know. as her eyes stuck to the tell-tale shadow of mildew on the ceiling the door opened, Casey’s knock finally answered.

       “ HEY, ” she blurted. an unusual flip of the stomach sent her wayward and her clasped hands gripped each other tighter. twisting her fingers nervously once, twice, she couldn’t help the slight disappointment at not seeing Thalia at the door. “ i brought you some stuff my mom left me. they’re just brownies. ” Casey lifted the container in show. “ i can’t eat them all, i got a lot myself. they’re not bad. figured you might like ‘em. ” // @hvdsonm

hudson heard the knock at the door, a groan falling from her lips. she had just gotten back from the gym and was exhausted. and she hadn’t been expecting anyone. she thought maybe it was thalia- that she had forgotten her key or something, but the door was unlocked. hudson always insisted to thalia that she not leave the door unlocked, as it was obviously a safety hazard, but then sometimes left it unlocked herself- oops. hudson threw herself from the couch and walked over to the door 

she opened the door, leaning against the doorjamb and giving casey a slightly appraising look, “hi.” her voice was neutral. she nodded as casey spoke, “uh, thank you... brownies could never be bad. thalia’s not here but... you can come in for a minute if ya want?” she tilted her head toward the inside of the apartment 

       “why? cause you were some batshit stink hole in high school?”

   oh yeah. high school  cassie  would’ve  beat her ass right now for even trying    to engage with the few people that plagued her with anxiety back then. there    was definitely a myriad of emotions flurrying through her chest, right beneath    the stone cold exterior– quickly realising that  she’s  probably never going to    get over the crap that happened in high school. where’s  your daddy, cassie?    it takes all of her will to relax the tense in her jaw. it wasn’t as though hudson    was being a particular bitch over anything right now.

       “surprised i am too. but honestly i’m over it– seems like you’re         less of a douche bag now too.”

   cassie pauses, letting the words form on the tip of her tongue before she    continues.

        “surprised you’re tryin’ to engage in small talk.”

“interesting choice of words. i don’t think i was that bad.” hudson let out a dry chuckle. though she really had been that bad. your average teenage rebellion mixed with the misplaced anger that she couldn’t aim back at her own father when he hurt her or her brother did not bode well for those hudson didn't like during high school. she was not the best person now, but she was an even worse person then, “less of a douche? yeah, maybe.” she shrugged, “what? small talk can be interesting. can tell ya a lot about a person if you look close enough.” 

“ no?” he asked intrigued about her stance on cops.” fuck authority and constricting fathers. –kind of one in the same if ya think about it.”

“yeah, i’ve had too many run-ins with cops to last me a lifetime.” hudson told him with a nod, “you may be right. i’ve always had kinda a thing with authority and my dad’s a grade-a dick, so.” 

WESLEY: party at my place saturday

WESLEY: 10pm

WESLEY: show up early and i'm calling the cops on u

WESLEY: see u then!

HUDSON: guess ur gonna have to call the cops then

HUDSON: jk

“NO THE BRIDE IS PRACTICALLY demanding that the light in the room be ‘soft focus’” ruby huffed into the phone in her ear gathering the stack of bridal magazines and client binders in her arms. another day another bridezilla. now ruby understood wanting the details to be perfect, but some clients really thought of the stupidest stuff. “i don’t fucking know what that means just dim the—” she was mid sentence when she found herself colliding with another body, “fuck,” she found herself cursing aloud as her binders fell to the ground in front of her. she quickly muttered a apology and goodbye to her assistant shoving her phone in her pocket. “mind giving me a hand?” she asked frustration in her voice before falling to her knees to pick up the mess in front of her.

hudson walked down the street lazily. she was going to be early to work- she hated being early to work. she considered stopping to get coffee or something, but, considering there was almost always a line, then she would be late to work. and she had already been late to work twice that week, so she couldn't be late again. she wasn't paying enough attention, though, and suddenly collided with someone else, she stepped back, trying to gain her balance, “what the fuck is-” her words were cut short as she realized who it was though, her angry retort dying in her throat. she stooped down, swallowing, “yeah, sure.” 

“they’re fun. they aren’t usually very scary, but still pretty entertaining, i guess.” 

“horses. my dad.”

“uhhh probably slytherin, honestly”