* best people are from milwaukee.

@ricochetingtears  — multi-muse, low activity.

❛ i don’t know what you mean, natty. i’m simply drinking my coffee. ❜  maybe stella hadn’t stopped by her half-brother’s to just drink coffee. maybe she wanted something. it was nothing that would occur to him. finding out she had a whole family in the other side of the country had been a shock. an even bigger one when she discovered they were rich. all she wanted was someone to connect to, make sense of her life — apparently she wasn’t the only one.  ❛ why don’t you sit with me and drink one yourself? or one of those smoothies you guys are crazy about. ❜

 ❛ you can say you missed me dearly. ❜  stella is anything but shy. the blonde would know. after all, they grew up together. if anyone knows her as the palm of her hand, mistakes and struggles alike, is izzie. stella had gone ahead and ordered a drink for both of them.  ❛ oh c’mon, you could pretend you’re at least happy for a second. i promise i came alone. and did not follow you, this was just a happy coincidence. ❜  it was the truth. stella was no longer the same woman she was during her teenage years, not that the other would know that. becoming a firefighter had been something she had fought hard for, just like izzie to become a surgeon.

with the other’s permission, stella laughs freely. she hadn’t seen the whole thing but she watched enough to know her friend was not in any danger - just in a very awkward position.  ❛ hey look, i’ve gotten too many of those. i get to show off this beauty now. ❜  she said with a proud smile, eyes laying on the ring on her left hand.  ❛ you’d be surprised with the number of men who still don’t give up flirting back at mollys. do they not know how listen to a no? ❜  the answer was quite obvious. not what stella wanted to talk about.  ❛ okay so, i saw the bartender was a fail. sorry about that. but how about the guy at three o’clock? ❜  she was determined to help leia get some fun tonight.

❛ what? ❜  stella was quick to turn around, mouth agape and a hand covering her phone like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. she tried to mutter something but no sound was coming out. she excused herself to the person on the other line of the phone and put it on her back pocket, crossing her arms over her chest.  ❛ no, it wasn’t. ❜  she chuckled to mask the embarrassment.  ❛ what are you talking about? we’re at work. a bootycall, pffft, no, why would i be— ❜  looking at vic’s eyes, she gave up. with a sign, she uncrossed her arms.  ❛ look, you can’t tell anyone. it’s been, uh, hard! moving here and all. i’m not thinking clearly, obviously. god, this is embarrassing! ❜

❛ yeah... yeah i think i am. ❜  looking at the life stella had built for herself in chicago, more precisely at firehouse 51, it was mind blowing to her to see how far she had come. her childhood hadn’t been easy. her past was so dark that at some point she didn’t think she’d make it out alive. and that would’ve been the nicest outcome. right now? she was doing a job that mattered, where she was good at and loved. the people she worked with had become her family and she was radiant to show it to layla. she grabbed the other’s arm and squeezed it a bit.  ❛ i can’t wait for you to meet everyone. you’re gonna love them. you’re staying for a while, right? your answer better be a yes or i’m gonna be forced to kidnap you. ❜

❛ no — hmm no. ❜  stella had seen the same thing. kelly’s mom leaving her son’s bedroom, with his father in tow, both clearly barely done doing it. she had tried to fix the clear shock splattered her face but that had stopped being a problem after benny had left and jennifer had gone back to the room to get dressed. stella had seen the same thing — she wished she hadn’t.  ❛ don’t say it. you’ll ruin everything. i’m just— ❜  mouth remained opened and she looked back at kelly. she blinked once, twice, three times. then shook her head. a finger pointed towards the bedroom, then at him, making a circle that even she wasn’t sure what she was pointing towards.  ❛ this is why i should get my place. so this— ❜  there was her finger again.  ❛ doesn’t happen again. ❜  she crossed the short space between her and kelly and now could only laugh. she patted on his shoulder before leaning in for a kiss on his cheek.  ❛ you’re free to crash on my bed. ❜