— STONE COLD SOBER.

“You know there’s never too much whenever it comes to me, at least I hope you do.” she said, muttering the last sentence to herself though it was probably loud enough for him to hear.Kian knew that she had been a lousy friend as of late, and not that she was doing it on purpose but whenever things got too hard for Kian, she would always isolate herself and it was never a good strategy to work with. “I know, and I’m sorry. I know I haven’t been a good friend lately, but that’s gonna change, I promise. Just like you said to me, remember? Now it’s my turn to hold up my side of the deal.” she said, looking for his eyes as she threw him a reassuring smile. Kian heaved a sigh at the mention of his sister, feeling more worried than most. “El, what happened?” Kian asked before letting out another sigh, tugging on the blanket again. “What about we do something today? You say the word, and I’ll take you there right now.”

“Whoa, Alex!” Kian said as she threw her arms out in front of him before catching him in her arms, stumbling a little from the sudden contact but managing to steady the both of them. “Have you been drinking? It’s only twelve in the afternoon.” she said, her tone laced with worry as she pushed open the front door and moved them towards the couch. “What do you mean your life is a lie? What happened? Do... do I even want to know what happened?”

“If you’re gonna lie to me, hermano, at least make it believable.” Kian said as she let out a light chuckle, resting her chin on the palm of her hands as she looked over at her obviously tired twin brother. She worried about him too much and too often, and that probably would never change. “I don’t think it’s her either, I really don’t think she has the capacity to do something like this. But I yelled at her this morning, which is probably the excuse as to why I’m behind a bar right now.” she said, another chuckle coming out of her though with more force. “Regina’s been freaking out, so much so that it landed her and Milo in a fight.” she said, bringing the glass to her lips but not before thanking the bartender. “How is she, by the way? This job has me at the edge of my seat every single time, I just hope you’re taking care of yourself too.”

“Your stepmother is S.” The words were stated so bluntly and without her usual finesse that Regina almost believed them to have been once more uttered by another individual, however it was the ire coursing through her system which pinpointed her as the culprit. “I might have asked Milo if he knew and, of course, he reacted as one might expect.” As anyone might if they were being accused of something they hadn’t done, though she refused to voice her own faults. “S knew about my life, Kian. Intimate details about my friendships, my relationships… I don’t know who to trust anymore.”

“Do you want me to lie to you, or tell the truth?” Kian deadpanned. She should’ve known better than to believe anything that was written on the internet, especially anything from the Gazette itself. For someone that had fallen victim of their rumours and lies and just being dragged through the website, she really should’ve known better. Maya’s anger came as shock to her, even though it shouldn’t have -- especially after jumping into conclusions right away. But she had never seen her step mother in such a rage and at this point, she couldn’t blame her. The wound of her mother had still been so fresh, the last thing she wanted right now was to lose another mother -- a good one, at least. “I don’t really know who or what to believe these days, Maya, but you can’t fault me for feeling the slightest bit hurt by this news. I just spent half of my life believing that my biological mother was dead so if she can lie to me so easily, anybody else can -- you can.” she rambled on, though stopped before she could say anything else anymore once she got a proper look at the expression on Maya’s face. The last thing she wanted to do was fight with her, she had spent years crucifying this woman that did nothing but make her father happy, she wasn’t about the spend another year hating her. “Sorry.” she said lowly, after what seemed to be an hour stretch of silence. She brought her fingers through her hair ass she brushed them through her hair in frustration. “I’m sorry.” she added, her voice more calm and level this time around. Kian had already started to get on her feet and walked towards the woman in hopes to find a way, anyway to comfort her. “I just don’t know what to think, Maya. A lot of people are either confused or angry, or both.”

nadia: the amount of disrepect.

nadia: don't worry i'm already planning to avenge you

nadia: i changed his contact name is "kian's brother's friend" on my phone.

kian: not sure if that's an upgrade to the usual mispronunciation of my name, i might as well legally change my name to cayenne lmao.

kian: honestly the amount of loyalty from you makes up for it so i can't even be mad.

“Another lie.” Kian chuckled as she adjusted the blanket on him, knowing Elliot well enough that once he made a decision, he’d stick to it and that included her couch right now. His words caught her train of thought before turning her head towards him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I know that tone. What do you mean lie to you, what’s going on?” she asked, not being able to help the knot forming in the pit of her stomach at the mention of the ball. Kian spent most of her night crammed in a corner with Abel, in attempt to avoid the event all together and for most part, she succeeded. But that also meant that she wasn’t there for her friend, and she didn’t know what felt worse. “What happened? Is everything okay? Do I need to start throwing hands? Because I know I’m not the type, but I would for you. Come on, talk to me.”

“I want to play whatever game it takes to forget what happened at the event.” Kian mumbled, mostly to herself though was loud enough for him to hear. It was only twelve in the afternoon, but not like she had anywhere important to go and she was just hoping that he didn’t either. “It seems to be a trend lately. First mom, now Maya?” she said, letting out a dry chuckle. Kian heaved a sigh and ran her hand through her hair in frustration before turning to him. “I’m sorry, I don’t meant to dump my problems on you all the time. I haven’t even asked how you’ve been. Please tell me you at least had a good night last night?”

“How you holding up?” Kian threw an arm around him and gave him a small hug before sliding herself onto the bar stool next to him. “It’s fine, your job is definitely in more high demand than mine is. It’s probably a good idea to keep it on.” she said in a bit of a mumble. She worried about her brother all the time, that was obvious, but she trusted him above anything. Almost immediately, she let out a sigh of relief after been on her feet all night long. “Something strong, please.” she chuckled. For someone that constantly wore uncomfortable ballet slippers, Kian would never get used to high heels -- a downside for her whenever it came to big events. “Did you hear about Maya? Do you think it’s real? I mean, after mom, I just... I don’t know.”

“Milo and I had a fight.” She spoke whilst waving a hand over their food, attempting to cool it at the same time distracting herself from the words which pierced her chest like knives. “Abel and I also had a fight.” The latter was hardly new information, she and Abel had always been at odds since their initial fallout. “It seems the only Hendrix I’m not on poor terms with today is you. Isn’t it funny how that works?”

TIME SKIP.

Kian opened the door to her hotel room, thinking it would be better to stay at the Ritz Carlton rather than driving home after digesting one too many cocktails at the event. Taking full advantage of the hotel, she ordered a room for herself and found Maya standing at the front door of her room. “Did Abel tell you I was here? I was kinda avoiding you on purpose.” she sighed, and left the door open before walking towards the couch, not bothering to give her an invitation to come inside. “Unless you’re here to tell me that you’re not the online troll, then I’m not really interested in what you have to say to me, Maya.”

“That makes one of us, Ale.” Kian chuckled as she waved the bartender over, in attempt to get their attention but failed when they seemed to be more invested in the contents of their phone. “Huh... I’m gonna take a wild guess and assume that’s something on the Gazette.” she said, pressing her lips together. “Come on, how about we get out of here? There’s a better bar that I know downtown. We may be a little overdressed though.”

“Oh good, you’re alive.” Kian started once the door swung open in her face and revealed Alex. Her tone had been light and playful, making it obvious that she was joking -- Kian would drop anything when it came to a handful of people, one of them being Alex himself. Not waiting for him to welcome her in, she stepped inside his house herself and moved towards the couch. “I got your text message, along with your thirty other missed calls. Wanna tell me whats going on?”

regina: *blushes* i'm g-

maya: angel's always using common phrases wrong!

kai: bring a milkshake with two straws.

kian: [blushes]