✘ the end of everything ,

[ 📱 — sms ] where are you?

[ 📱 — sms ] im awake, im coming

theo was oddly nervous going over to ren’s house. he wasn’t sure if it was because of the fact that he had never really expected to be invited so soon, or the fact that she lived with her dad whom he was very nervous to meet. the house was cute. it seemed very much like ren’s personality and theo loved that. he sat down at the table as he watched her work in the kitchen. he would’ve argued that he would cook, but the most he could really do was make a stir fry. glancing over at the screened in porch, he could hear the rumble of thunder in the distance as he turned his gaze back towards hers. “I would love that. Storms are super calming.” He said, as he listened to her speak. he watched her glide towards him as he grabbed her hand. “I think you are a storm. you’re the slow rumble of the thunder off in the distance, you’re the strike of lightning splitting a tree down the middle. You’re the soft pitter patter of the raindrops hitting the roof.” he spoke softly, not wanting to speak at full volume as he stared at her, playing with her fingers. he hummed softly as she spoke. “I actually am a salad guy. not always but I dont mind the leafy greens.” he said, “but yeah, a beer would be good.” 

"mmm, so poetic," she hummed, squeezing the other's hand gently. "are you ever going to let me read something you've written?" serenity inquired, head tilted to the side in curiosity. "i'll teach you some basic jiu jitsu if you let me read just one page. i don’t know how else you can make me feel vulnerable -- i’m not artsy or anything. i could show you my favorite book? whatever you want, i’ll do it if i get one page,” she let go of his hand and walked backwards toward the fridge. “so, dad has a funny taste in beers and we try a new one each week... this one has hazelnut flavoring in it?” she stated it as more of a question, given she hadn’t tried it yet. serenity set the can down in front of theo with a grin. “but don’t get too drunk. you’re staying over but i don’t want you all hungover for your shift. i can only imagine a hungover firefighter doesn’t do as good of a job as a well rested firefighter,” she ran her fingers through the male’s hair, a soothing movement that she’d done with every person she’d met -- she was sure of it. her hands slid down to the sides of his face, and ren bent over to place her lips against theo’s. her eyes fluttered open as she pulled away, a smile playing on her features. “so, how about some hand to hand combat while you try to figure out which page i’m reading?” she wiggled her brows playfully.

{ halston sage ♔ twenty four ♔ she/her } well, well, well if it isn’t serenity ‘ren’ sykes running around peach hollow. legend has it, she comes from blueberry boulevard and has lived here her whole life. if you’re wondering what she’s been up to, i hear she’s a preschool teacher/cam girl for a living. she has been known to be reticent yet effervescent. a word of advice to them, always look over your shoulder. you never know who is watching. 

nodding. he didn’t know tiny things about ren. even though he had known what he thought was everything, there were still things that he had learned everyday. like, her having a blanket in her car. “thats actually not a bad idea at all.” he spoke, knowing a blanket could come in handy for any type of emergency. “I think most of them have a purpose. like spiders, spiders are good. they eat the other annoying bugs.” he made a point, wrapping his arms around her, as he tilted his head, listening to her speak. a dramatic look of horror crossed his face. “you did not just trash talk candy corn.” he said, pouting a bit as if he was hurt. “I wouldn’t back off from a little dive.” he eyed her as she took off her flannel, as he licked his lips. “you don’t know that i’ve gone cliff divin with my friends pretty much every summer, so let’s go, and we’ll see who jumps the farthest.” he raised his eyebrow. 

she decided to let his support of spiders slide as he called her out on her hatred of candy corn. “are we going to break up merely a week into this relationship because you actually enjoy the toothache those little shits give you? don’t tempt me, theo riggs,” serenity patted his chest gently. “i need you to keep your teeth. they will take them out, i promise. i had a kid come in last year after trick or treating without a front tooth and he said it was all because he bit down on a candy corn and it got stuck,” of course, those were baby teeth, but she still had to tease him. “hmph, i only said little because i didn’t want to intimidate you. take me to the highest cliff around the lake,” serenity did a little twirl in her swimsuit. “like what you see?” she grinned, before putting her hands on his shoulders and jumping up to link her legs around his waist in a piggy back stance. “literally. take me. i’m not doing all this walking when you’re trained to carry people away from fire,” she nodded towards the bonfire a few feet away before pressing a kiss to the top of his head. 

used to it? “ nothing. ” dylan never really spoke about his past relationship, especially with how it had ended, and serenity knew about his messed up relationship with his dad and brother; the only good relationship he had, was with his mom and sister. he shook his head and sighed. “ no, you honestly have nothing to worry about. theo and i have never had a good relationship to begin with. i know how much he wished i hadn’t shown up at their front door that afternoon those years ago. he has been perfectly clear about that, ” dylan replied and he furrowed his eyebrows ever so slightly. i still want to be your friend. “ but…? ” he said and raised an eyebrow at her. as she continued to talk, dylan’s smile weakened and he nodded. “ yeah, no. i got it. don’t worry about it. you finally got him, and… ” he took a deep breath and sighed, remembering what theo had said the night of the party. be careful? what do you mean? what should i be careful of? “ theo is a good guy and i know he loves you a lot, because i can see it on his face when he talks about you. just… take it from someone who has had his heart broken by the riggs family on more than one occasion, be careful. ”

“no, dylan. not nothing. talk to me, please?” she begged, remorse washing over her face. serenity would never apologize for loving theo, but she certainly would apologize for her actions. “no, that can’t be true. theo likes to put up this tough guy front, but he’s... he’s very soft, and i can’t imagine him thinking that little of you. that just isn’t him,” she sighed, distress written all over her face. “no, no, dyl, you’re such a good person. this is taking every ounce of my energy. do you know what an integral part of my life you are?” her brows raised at him, an incredulous look on her face. “i just want you to know that this isn’t want i want to do. you’re more than just a number added to my body count. i talked to you more than i fucked you,” she ran a hand through her hair, frustrated by the situation she’d gotten herself into. “i’m gonna talk to him, okay? i’m gonna fix this. i have to fix this.”

theo chuckled at ren as she grabbed the ipad. he definitely didn’t think this was what he had in mind, but he was happy to see ren excited about this. “better.” he nodded, pulling her towards him. “we don’t have to use the sleeping bags. you have plenty of blankets in there, right?” he asked, stroking her hair ever so lightly. “I can see if anyone needs extra sleeping bags. I’m sure someone forgot something.” theo didn’t mind sleeping on an air mattress. he knew he’d be more comfortable there anyway. and that way he could actually cuddle with his girlfriend instead of having two separate sleeping bags next to each other. “well, lucky for you, I have a ton of bug spray, and also one of those bug repellent lamps and shields. so nothing’s gonna touch us.” he hummed softly, looking at the dimly lit fire. part of him wanted to stick around, just to make sure it didn’t get out of hand, but he knew he’d be worrying about that the entire trip and needed to lighten up. surely, people knew how to work a fire and make sure it doesn’t get out of hand. “oh shit, that actually sounds delicious.” he nodded. “i’d like to try your concoction instead of the regular kind.” he locked eyes with her as she pulled away from the kiss. “we can take a dip first if you want? it’s fuckin’ hot out.”

"yes. honestly, i don't leave home without at least one. my car has a blanket in it in case i get stuck on the side of the road or something, but the georgia heat generally doesn't allow for that kind of comfort," she explained, nodding her head up and down. "my hero!" serenity cooed, leaning into theo like a damsel in distress. "i think it's all the legs. why do they get all of them? i could use more than two legs sometimes, i think," she mused, a grin never leaving her face. "perfect! so, the two weeks i was in girl scouts, my mom made those and then put little candy corn on top to make them look like witch's hats. i don't have the candy corn because it's trash, but i do happen to have the rest of the supplies -- the lake sounds great, though. are you going to jump with me?" she eyed a cliff not too far off in the distance. "you dive into burning buildings, but what about diving into water?" she wiggled her brows, shrugging her flannel off so she was in her lavender bathing suit top and shorts. "no pressure, of course... unless you're a big baby," she quipped. theo hadn't gotten to see this side of ren, the adrenalin junkie always looking for her fix. it was why she enjoyed truth or dare as much as she did -- aside from the riggs brothers and their drama.

harlow couldn’t help as she found serenity’s hand, and squeezed it tightly. her fingers sliding through hers as she held it, “I think we both where” admitting quietly, “you met other people though, like I said, six years is a long time to expect things to stay the same” she understood it.  she was so happy for her though, she was still her best friend, and if she was happy so was she. her happiness met more to her than anything else. more than the past, or whatever they used to had. “no matter what, you’re still one of the most important people in my life. and i regret moving away every day. I wish that I had stayed behind, and we could of been in each others life longer than what he had. That’s  probably all we were meant to have” squeezing her hand again. She offers her a smile now, before leaning forehead against hers, as she inhales slowly. “I’ll love you forever too” pulling back as she cups her cheek gently, just smiling at her, “he better treat you so good” she wasn’t going to add an ‘or else’. Serenity was smart, and she knew what she was doing. If she said that Theo made her happy, then he made her happy. Leaning up she kisses her forehead, before turning to sit next to her, leaning her head on her shoulder, “it makes sense, and i really love seeing you happy. You deserve it Ren, so much” 

serenity slid off of the log and beckoned for harlow to join her down in the sand. she let her toes touch the shore, the cool water tickling them as it ebbed and flowed. “yeah, i guess so. there’s just this part of me that feels so guilty,” she knew that a lot of word vomit was about to come out, but that was no different from when the two were in high school. serenity always felt comfortable venting to harlow. “like, dylan for example. i had no idea that he and theo were brothers -- half brothers, whatever. so when all of that blew up, i kind of lost him as a friend. i just feel like my happiness is making everybody else unhappy,” she rested her head atop harlow’s as the other girl rested her head on serenity’s shoulder. “but i’m not selfless enough to give that up. i feel like i’ve had to put everyone else first most of my life, especially when mom --” her eyes darted out to the water. “well, when i took over sole care of dad. i mean, in any situation, any circumstance, of course i would’ve moved back in to see him through his final months. but i just -- i don’t know. guilt and happiness are hard to handle at the same time. i’m just glad that whatever we had, whatever we have, is still there. i know you’ve been gone forever, but now that you’re back, i’m really not so sure i would survive if you left again.”

theo had been a huge camping fanatic growing up. his mom loved camping, and would take them to camp pretty much every year. the male grabbed the last bag he had full of bug spray and sunscreen as he headed over to the tent that he had put up already. he stood outside of the tent watching the blonde work until she came out and wrapped her arms around him. he was a bit taken aback. laughing, he kissed the top of her head. “I mean this is definitely not what I had planned for camping, but we’ll be living luxuriously right?” he leaned down to peek his head into the tent. “I guess I don’t need the sleeping bags that I brought.” he said, placing his backpack on the ground. “I am making you go in the lake with me, and we’re roasting marshmallows.” he declared as he looked down at her. 

"i can put the ipad away," she nodded, nestling her head into his chest. "unless you want to watch something later when we're going to sleep? no, you're right. air matress is enough luxury," serenity slid out from under his arm and clambered inside the tent once more, only to shove the ipad in ther backpack and put it beside her side of the mattress. "there we go, better?" ren stepped out, barefoot. "we can still use the sleeping bags, silly. just... on the mattress," another nervous laugh slid past her lips. "bugs scare me, babe. it's stupid, i know, but i feel like even just a few inches off the ground i'm safer -- which, i know, is probably not true," she sighed, but her face lit up as he mentioned the lake. "it's hotter than the pits of hell out here," her eyes darted to the fire, noting that it probably didn't help. "wanna take a dip first? or have a snack? i actually... make s'mores a little differently," she wiggled her eyebrows, beaming at theo. "i might not use graham crackers. or hershey's. but i promise, nothing crazy modern. just... reese's and fudge stripes," she leaned up on her toes and pecked his lips softly. "but of course, all up to you. what sounds better?"

“ i’m glad to hear that, ” dylan said when she said that she was okay. he was genuinely happy to hear the was okay. look, i want to apologize for um, for everything, i guess? “ you have nothing to apologize for, ” he spoke and shrugged, brushing it off as nothing. honestly, dylan knew that nothing would ever happen between the two of them except for them being fuck buddies before everything went to hell with theo. i should’ve put two and two together. i should’ve told you no, i should’ve done a lot of things that would’ve spared so many feelings between the three of us. “ you don’t have to worry about it. honestly, theo and i… our relationship was fucked up way before what happened between you and i. and… if he’s going to be a brat about it, about something that was out of our control, then… so be it. ” dylan shrugged. “ and, i know you don’t have any ill feelings for me. neither do i for you. ” i love him, dylan. i’m so sorry that i hurt you. “ it’s fine. i’m used to it, ” he said, then stopped as he shook his head. “ anyway, just… be careful. ”

her face fell. “used to it?” serenity’s lower lip quivered, taking in every word dylan said. while she knew her intentions had never been malicious, serenity was beginning to wonder if the male opposite her thought the same. “i do have to worry about it because regardless of whether your relationship with theo was good or bad before me --” which, she knew the answer to. she’d heard both sides of the story. “i sure as hell didn’t make it any better, so i have to take some responsibility,” she exhaled, a hand covering her face. “i still want to be your friend,” the female blurted behind her hand, before dropping it. “but i don’t know what... what theo would think of it, and if i started sneaking around it would look like we have something more to hide,” she was weighing every option in her head, trying to figure out how to do this without hurting anyone, but it was inevitable. “be careful?” she raised a brow, the color leaving her cheeks. “what do you mean? what should i be careful of?”

“You brought an air mattress?” though it did sound like a good idea right now. She wished she had thought of that. But she would be fine with her sleeping bag and the other blankets she had brought. She did get super cold at night, so it was why she had brought a lot of blankets along with her sleeping bag.  Her pinky stayed connected with hers, as she turned to face her.  She listened to her explain the guy she had been awfully close to the other night. It made sense now that she had. “Ren” her hand coming up to squeeze her hand with her free one, “I couldn’t come back six years later, and expect anything to be the same as it was” it applied to not just Serenity, but to her whole life she had had before she had left. before her family had took her away from here. She couldn’t expect anyone to just frozen in six years, waiting for her.  That was a long time. She leaned forward, pressing her forehead against hers, “I’m really happy for you, I mean it” squeezing her hand again, “I love you, and the only thing I care about, is your happiness” she meant it, she would always be her friend, her best friend.  Someone she had so much history with, and nothing would change that. 

“i know, i’m a sissy. but honestly, the outdoors isn’t my thing. i’m not one with nature, or whatever the fuck people say about it,” she explained with a laugh. “i blew it up at home and then strapped it to theo’s car...” serenity shook her head. the truth of the matter was that if serenity hadn’t fallen head over heels for the boy like she did, she’d be in harlow’s arms right now, and she wasn’t sure how to process that. “i know, i know. i just -- i don’t know, the way we looked at each other after the kiss. it felt so natural, and god, i just.. i loved you so much, you know? i still love you, but i was in love with you. i don’t know if you knew that. you were my first love, and you’ll always have this special place in my heart that i’d never want to remove. i just feel so bad because i didn’t think i’d love again literally... a few years after you left, and that was nick. i loved him so deeply... but theo,” she exhaled a dreamy sigh. “i love him even more, and i didn’t know that was possible. i love you forever, harlow davenport. i hope you know that. just because we can’t fuck around anymore... which, i don’t even know that i can say, in good conscience, that’s what we were doing, because it meant so much to me,” she rested her head on harlow’s shoulder, staring out into the water. “i’m in deep shit, harlow. i met him on the internet and we talked for a long time, and i was so scared that the connection wouldn’t be there when we met physically... but it’s even stronger, and i’m terrified but i’m happy. does that make sense?”