meredith.

Meredith: Hello Mason. I'm sorry if this frightened you, but my wife and I just received our daughter's belongings and we didn't have a way to contact you before.

Meredith: We just wanted to thank you for being there for our daughter. She honestly wouldn't stop talking about you and whenever your name would come up in a conversation, that wonderful smile of hers just lit up the room.

Meredith: I'm sure you'll miss her just as much as we do, and I want you to promise me that you will be strong for her. I don't know you, Mason, but losing my daughter made me want to hide from everything.

Meredith: I want you to promise me to smile. At least once a day. And think of her. But not with regret. With love for your friend. Take care of your friends. Of your loved ones, and be happy. She would've wanted you to.

Meredith: Besides this, I want you to promise me that you'll let me know when you need a break. Just send me a message of where you want to go, and I'll take care of it. There's always a room available for you and your friends at a Briggs Hotel, anywhere in the world.

Meredith: Hello Aderyn. I hope I didn't frighten you too much with this message. Our daughter's belongings have been sent to us, and I didn't have a way to contact you earlier.

Meredith: I know my daughter planned a trip to the Bahamas with you for the weekend before. She wouldn't stop talking about how excited she was. And I bet you were too.

Meredith: I'm just so incredibly thankful that my daughter had a friend like you at her side, someone who she could talk about for hours. I'm happy she had you at her side during her time at Eastwood.

Meredith: Thank you for being my daughter's friend. And if you ever need to get away from everything happening in Eastwood, there's a hotel room in any Briggs Hotel available for you wherever you want to go. With whomever.

Before she realised what was happening, Meredith could see the panic unfold. People started screaming, running out of the barn and not too soon after, the trampling began. People pushing other people, girls crying and guys yelling. Here and there she could see a professor try and calm everyone down, but in good old fashioned Eastwood drama, none of it helped. The cause of the panic didn’t take too long to make their appearance. The roaring flames licking the long side of the barn quickly caught on to the beautiful white linens used for decoration. Some of the gorgeous fairy lights exploded and some more screams and cries followed. This was going to be a disaster, and she was right in the middle of it.

“I’m just telling the truth, like you did, don’t even try to deny that you didn’t say it, because I know you did.” He said and chuckled. “Besides, you were right.” 

“ Okay, I’m totally going to change the subject right now. ” Meredith laughed. “ The sky’s beautiful out, want to go and check out the stars later? ” 

“Good, I’m glad you’ll be nice from now on.” He said and smiled. “I know right? You won’t find anyone like me, you said it yourself that I am unique.” He said and smiled.

“ Now you’re definitely pushing it, Flynn. ” Meredith chuckled. He was right, though, there were plenty of assholes at the school, but none of them would ever show her their nice and goofy side like Mason did.

“Yes I can, and I’m sure you don’t want to try me.” He said and nodded. “I’m not bored of you, at least not yet. But if you keep making fun of me, I might get bored and I’ll find someone to dance with.” He said and shrugged.

“ Okay, fine. I’ll be nice. ” Meredith tilted her head slightly and smiled. “ I don’t want to have to find another dance partner while my current dance partner is so talented. ” Meredith chuckled.

“If you make fun of me I’ll have to leave you and you can dance alone.” He said and nodded. “I regret it a little bit, but I’ll survive.” He said and shrugged. “I’ll let you know when I get bored of you.”

“ Oh come on, you can’t do that. ” Meredith chuckled. “ I’m having way too much fun. ” When he mentioned he regretted coming with her a little bit, her smile grew a little. That was basically his way of saying that he was having a pretty good time. At least, she assumed. “ So you’re not bored of me yet? I’m honoured. ” 

Emery handed that shot over, “Your welcome,” She smiled, before following the other girls eyes and glancing around the room. “I mean I can never decide if drinking is a good or bad idea at these events.. But Im not sure I’d make it through an entire event without it so…” She shrugged, clinking her glass with the others and tossing it back.

“ It’s probably a pretty bad idea, but I agree. It’s always a little better with at least some alcohol in my system. Besides. It’s pretty cold with just a dress on. ” She chuckled. She held out her glass and followed the other’s movements, putting the glass to her lips and throwing it back. “ Let’s just hope this free drink means it’ll be an amazing night. ” She chuckled.

“No, I’m not a chicken, I just don’t have anything to embarass you with.” He said and smiled. “But you would still be pretty embarassed, if you ask me. But I won’t do it obviously, because I’m too nice to you.”

“ Well, that’s good news. Means I can make fun of you all I want. ” Meredith teased. “ You regret saying yes to this yet? ” She chuckled as a broad smile covered her lips. She definitely didn’t, this event was one of the best times she’d had so far. 

Mason sighed and shrugged. “Well, you know, I could pour my drink all over you, but I’m not that evil, not to my friends, at least. So you dodged a bullet here.” He said and chuckled,

Meredith chuckled. “ So basically you’re too much of a chicken to embarrass me? Also pouring your drink over me isn’t embarrassing me, it’s just a dick move. ” Meredith laughed softly as she watched her friend. 

Mason nodded. “Okay, okay, don’t say that I didn’t warn you.” He said as he got his phone out of his pocket. “Remember when you fell asleep in my bed? I took a picture of you. And it’s not pretty. I’m just going to post it.” He said and shrugged.

Meredith chuckled as she watched him take his phone out. She listened to his words and shrugged. “ Is that the best you’ve got? I’m sure I’ll look just great. ” Did he really think she was about to give in that easily?

“Shut up!” He said and poked her forehead. “You can’t make fun of my dancing moves.” He said and stopped dancing. “Are you sure you want me to embarass you? It won’t be pretty.”

Meredith laughed as she felt his finger on her forehead. “ Of course I can, clearly. ” She said as she chuckled. When he stopped moving, she did too and raised her brows. “ Oh bring it on, smartass. ” 

“You don’t know that. You don’t know the whole story, I–” Aderyn swallowed the lump in her throat as the girl pulled her in, and closed her eyes as she tried to calm down. “No, I want to be alone. I’ll be fine. I need to sleep. I just want to leave this place. Just stay safe in the crowd.” She whispered just loud enough for her to hear it, reaching out for the keys and her bag. “Can you tell Ezra I’ll come back picking him up when he wants to leave. Please?”

“ I don’t care if I don’t know the whole story. You are not a slut and don’t ever think that of yourself. Promise me, okay? You’re beautiful, amazing and strong. And you’re in charge of your own body and mind. No one else. You decide what you want and you go for it. It doesn’t matter what other people think of you. You’re amazing, okay? ” Giving her friend a little pep talk was the least she could do now. “ Of course I’ll tell him. Just -- be careful, okay? And get some sleep. Not behind the wheel though. Don’t do that. ” 

“Yes, you do always make fun of me and don’t even try to deny it because it’s true.” He said and smiled. “I’m obviously not going to tell you my ways of embarassing you, then it wouldn’t be a surprise.” He said and shrugged.

“ Alright then, let’s see if I can come up with one more way to make fun of you. ” She chuckled. “ I mean, I have to say, your dancing is somewhat -- interesting. ” Meredith pressed her lips together into a small grin as she watched his slightly clumsy movements. “ But you know, it’s more endearing than anything else. ”

“I hate him so much…” Aderyn said, resting her forehead against the car roof’s edge. “He just fucked the one person I ever had feelings for, giving me details I didn’t want to know. But I can’t say anything because I’m just a slut too. And I– I’m just… I just want to go away and you can just help me find my keys.” She said, handing her her bag. “Please Meredith, just do this for me…”

Meredith listened carefully and patiently, but at some point, Meredith took Aderyn’s arm and pulled her gently towards herself. “ Hey -- you’re not a slut. Don’t be like that, okay? Don’t beat yourself up. You’re a great person and you’re definitely not a slut. ” Meredith didn’t want to let her go by herself, but seeing her like this made her just want to do what her friend thought was best. She took the bag and gently went through it, taking out the keys the second she felt the cold metal against her fingertips. “ Are you sure I can’t take you home? Or -- I don’t know. Is there anything I can do? ”

Mason glared playfull at Meredith. “You always make fun of me, don’t even try to deny it because I know you do.” He said and shook his head, as he kept dancing. “If you make fun of me, I’ll embarass you.”

“ I always make fun of you? ” She chuckled as she watched Mason. “ Okay hold up, is that an actual threat? I’m actually quite curious to see how you’ll embarrass me. ” She kept dancing, but was definitely wondering what Mason could possibly do to embarrass her, and in what way he’d even try.