ticking time bomb.

                 “Seems like it,” he stated as his hands made their way deep into his pockets. Staying clean was definitely not easy for the male, eyes instantly wandering towards the two bottles of wine that sat empty. “Sav, you’re clearly not okay and I’m not going to stand here until you talk to me.” Insensitive, probably, but his insides were craving any sense of a narcotic to keep him calm over the fact that his ex was still alive and that his best friend was toying around with an original vampire. “Let me at least ---- clean up this place.”

                That was a questionable statement -- especially since he was about to endure watching her eat said bleeding burger, but his lips stayed shut and he eyes stayed plastered on his ---- ex-girlfriend? The question still lingered, at least in his mind, his hands still cold and his brain still trying to figure out the details of that night, how he came back to his senses with blood on his hands, her dead body laying on the floor. “Sorry,” he finally stated, sitting up in his seat and allowing his shoulders to relax despite his mind rushing in circles, almost thinking he was dreaming; Bea couldn’t just be alive, that’s not how the universe worked ----- right? 

               “So is this our new bonding subject? Dead exes that have managed to come back from the dead and run into us when we least fucking expect it?” He asked, rubbing at his eyes before leaning back in his seat. Pupils finally dilated back to their regular size as his high came down, hands already trembling for another hit as he lifted his water bottle filled with vodka to his lips, taking as long as a drink he could while looking at his best friend across from him. ( @xhwitchy )

                 “I remember requesting to be alone,” he shot out before rising the bottle of alcohol to his lips, raising his eyebrow towards his best friend. “It’s just a regular day for me, you know seeing dead people without fucking wanting to, slept with Savannah and can barely look in her eyes ---- oh yeah, and my ex-girlfriend apparently isn’t dead.”

                  Frozen, Jamie stood there as her voice became background noise to the ringing that began to take over his hearing and his heart thumping against his chest. The sweat began to form on his forehead and his hands, unable to think of a reason or explanation as to why Bea was barging into this place and explaining her side of the story, trying to scream at him for leaving her side, something he could never forgive himself for but that didn’t make up for the way he simply made others deal with the mess while he stayed in his bedroom in Red Creek with his body shaking from the tears and fear that rang through his body for months. Finally letting his eyes focus on his ---- ex? ---- girlfriend, wanting to just grab her and be thankful that she wasn’t rotting like he pictured in multiple dreams that flooded his mind in reminders, but he stood in the same place he was when he opened the door and tried to form words into sentences. “I’m ---- sorry,” he finally whispered, almost laughing at himself on the behalf of the woman, realizing how stupid it was to apologize for leaving someone he loved in the pool of her own blood without even knowing what happened. “I thought ----,” he paused, tears taking over his tear ducts and his voice beginning to crack under the pressure of holding them back. “I thought I ------ I thought I killed you,” he finally said, shaking his head as the tears began to make their way down his face. “I ---- fuck,” he cursed, his hands forming into fists and craving the pain that would rush through his body if he just turned and threw it into the wall next to his body.

                 “You caught me on a good day,” he muttered with a hint of a smirk on his lips before it disappeared as per usual, shrugging a shoulders towards the werewolf next to him. “Would I be? Thank you, I like to think that my advice is pretty easy to follow. Upset? Take a fucking shot. Angry? Punch the damn person then take a shot.”

               “I’d be shocked if anyone in this town doesn’t wanna drop dead at this fucking point. I don’t think you need anyone else to boost your damn ego, Clery. You do it enough yourself with the amount of time you spend in front of a mirror.”

               If he was completely sober, it wouldn’t have taken the reaper long to figure out the look that was hiding behind the large eyes of the younger woman across from him; he sported the same look after finding out about Blaike for weeks until he found his numbness of choice. Nodding his head at her words, he went along with the distraction if he meant less of a heart-to-heart conversation. “And how do you think we’ll steal the gold? I mean you’re tiny but I’m not sure you’ll be able to lift up all that much of it at once.”

                There had been a line that had been drawn the moment him and Savannah met, both of them knowing where it was and knowing where to stop their comments (more-so on Jamie’s account), and that line was blurred and managed to disappear the night both of them took one too many shots and ended up tangled in his sheets while Thalia managed to call him multiple times like a regular worried girlfriend would do. The images were pound in his brain, the images that he wished would disappear with his guilt with each drink he took throughout the day or the lines that he lined up in the morning before attempting to move through his day, numb to the bones and doing his regular like a robot to the society resting behind his apartment door. Snapping out of his thoughts, he let out a small chuckle with a nod of his head, shoving his hands into his pockets as the high began to come to a downwards slope standing across from the blonde witch. “Are you sure about that?” He asked, hoping it came out more sincere than he heard it. As much as he hated to admit it, he was probably one of the people in Red Creek that understood where she stood at this point. “Probably did, I’ll agree to that one. Alright --- then let’s go get you some coffee.”

               He hated it, how she rubbed her arm as though she was trying to get his damned germs off her. A step over the boundary that was only making his heart pound against his chest at the thought of losing Savannah over something they did when they drunk. Something he would never regret ---- but something he could almost feel like she definitely regretted. “Then what do you need?” He finally asked, standing up straight and shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. Act like everything was normal, that was the only thing he could do in this situation. “You need a coffee? Fuckin’ bagel? How about some good-morning shots to start off the day?” He asked, in a small teasing voice before letting the smile form on his lips.