* . starlet

francis opened the door to his apartment wider, taking a step back to give her the option if she wanted. when the love of someone’s life divorces them, even after years of not acknowledging each other, it’s hard not to fall right back in. ex love of his life. “right? to be able to break through into the industry, and then have the ability to not be forced into one corner of said industry you’ve got to be talented.” he laughed as he thought of all the times he’d force her to watch a winona ryder movie, and the loud groans that followed after. “god do you remember our marathons?” scrunching his forehead, nodding along, knowing he’d been right. “look i’ll give you the new password for the music, but i can’t believe you forgot your promise.” a loud laugh of disbelief, shrugging slightly as he crossed his arm. “then again for or for worse didn’t last long as well.”

     it wasn’t often that megara wanted to spend time with anyone. though peg was one of the few people that she could actually stand to be around. the two of them understood each other. she was relieved when the door opened to show the beautiful blonde behind it,“ talk about good timing on my part!” of course she hadn’t even thought of peg having to work. it wasn’t like the two of them shared the same passion when it came to their jobs. a laugh came from her as she stepped inside and shrugged,“ just know it won’t be missed!” after all hades did have quite the collection. she nodded as she went to hand the bottle to peg,“ i suppose we will!” it sounded like a good plan considering what she had been going through. she was walking towards the living room since she knew the layout of her friend’s place,“ maybe it’s just my superpower, i know when someone is in desperate need of some decent booze!” she was going to flip through the channels after locating the remote.

“that’s the one! winona ryder truly outdid herself with this character, but that’s obviously expected of someone of her caliber” francis glanced at the inside of his apartment, wondering if he should even ask if she’d like to come in. talking with his ex for the first time since the divorce was uncomfortable, coughing awkwardly as he tried to ignore everything. “wait. wait. i need to update the payment method? Lee i already pay for the spotify account, and you’re telling me i need to also pay for netflix? i’m sorry you might be the one that needs to update things, not me.”

        ❝  well ,  she is pretty great ...  very versatile ,  too .  no wonder she’s still so popular ,  ❞  the singer commended with a nod of certainty ,  a hand wrapped around the hand of her purse as she kept it on her shoulder .  peg knew it wasn’t easy to make it into the industry  ( hell ,  francis knew it just as well ! ) ,  but it was also difficult to stay relevant and consistent for so many years .  sure ,  some people had to quit the spotlight  ---  like her grandma once did ,  but that was a different case .  raising her eyebrows at his comment ,  the blonde tilted her head lightly to the side ,  ❝  wait ,  i’m the one paying for netflix ?  i thought that was you !  ... oh wait ,  you’re right .  i remember promising i’d be responsible for that ,  ❞  something along the lines of gifting him access to the streaming service’s variety of movies and shows as long as he always made time for her .  it was a long time ago ,  even if it didn’t feel as such .  chuckling in slight embarrassment ,  peg rolled her eyes ,  ❝  yeah ,  it’s my fault then .  sorry ...  i’ll fix the whole thing when i get home .  i got a new credit card ,  maybe i forgot to add it to the account .  ❞

francis had opened the door with a bathrobe half open, hiding behind the door quickly. “peg! what the fuck are you doing here?” he said, closing the bathrobe tightly across his body. “of course i changed the spotify playlist! you changed the netflix one midway through the last episode of stranger things,” he growled. “they were singing never ending story and it just died on me!” the divorced had been finalized and with that, he had thought, so had any future interactions. an almost silent accord to keep the subscriptions passwords the same along with it, but then the betrayal had happened.

he knows there’s no other way that peg could possibly react to him coming to her like this, tail between his legs. her response is forgiving, yet nonchalant. maybe even a tad off-hand. and it’s perfectly fitting — they’re not serious enough in their involvement for her shrugging off their grievances to become a cliche, oscar-worthy reunion in which she falls head-over-heels into his arms, nor is that peg’s style. and on the other hand, it’s that same casualness between them that makes her so unbothered, he thinks. sure, he probably oversteps the boundaries and should learn not to test her patience even if she’s just a fuckbuddy. but it’s good that she ( mostly ) seems not to care about what he does after a while. maybe this is what makes her appealing in a way that lady darling isn’t. she never expects anything more from him than what he already does. she knows he’s a tramp, a scoundrel — something that lady seems to have missed behind the view of her rose-tinted glasses.

“desperate? not really. i would’ve picked it up for you even if i wasn’t in the doghouse,” he laughs. “but i guess i’m out of it now.” 

he follows her inside and closes the door behind them with a ‘click’. “…what if i’m trying harder not to fuck up?” he asks, sincerity lacing his words. it’s true that he came here to get himself back on good terms with her, but that’s not the only reason. after all the thinking he’s been doing while situated right in the pit of rock bottom, he’s here to talk about where their relationship is going to go — whether or not she’s still happy in what they’re doing, et cetera. but with his next words, he skips ahead to that part, way too soon. “y’know — clean my act up or whatever. i think it’s about time. stop running off, get a new apartment, clear my debts… maybe you’d feel better about being my girlfriend, then.”

       ❝  might as well make it a penthouse ,  given how much time you spend in it .  let’s see how long you stay out this time ,  ❞  the blonde laughed ,  not really expecting a change in the man’s behavior  ---  if anything ,  she just found it funny how he continuously found new was of pissing her off ,  but never to the point where it became unforgivable .  thank god it was never unforgivable ,  otherwise peg would lose the closest thing she had to a family .  meeting tramp’s brother ,  while a good thing ,  just reminded her of how even the person she thought understood her had someone looking for them .  besides tramp ,  who else did she have ?  sure ,  maybe a small handful of people ,  but that was it .  she never needed anyone ,  she still didn’t ,  but it was nice food for thought .

            when he started speaking ,  the blonde raised her eyebrows .  she wasn’t expecting more than an apology and maybe a movie session that would end up in tramp staying for the night ,  but apparently there was more to the man’s visit .  of course ,  she couldn’t help but feel curious about it ;  what did he mean by  ‘ trying harder not to fuck up ’ ?   brushing a curl behind her ear ,  she continued to listen to the vagabond .  there was a certain determination in his tone ,  one she wasn’t used to seeing but found intriguing .  at tramp’s last remark ,  her eyes widened a little ,  just before her gaze shifted down to the woman’s toes .  speechless didn’t even begin to cover it .

          ❝  i uh ...  ❞  a chuckle ,  ❝  i didn’t see that one comin’ .  ❞  pausing ,  she let out a heavy sigh before looking up at his face ,  head lightly tilting to the side .  ❝  you sure ?  if this is because of what happened ,  i swear i’m all good ...  ❞

    ❝  turn back ?  no ,  absolutely not .  otherwise he wouldn’t have taken it to the next level .  i don’t know how long ,  but i hope it lasts for as long as it needs to .  if things end up going south ,  i just pray i won’t lose my friend .  that’s the worst part .  ❞

      ❝  would be better if  he felt the way i do ,  but it’s been good .  really good ,  actually .  what kind of person doesn’t like to  feel cared  for ,  you know ?  i hope he thinks the same .  ❞

   ❝  nope ,  he’s a tramp .  he’s not good for anyone .  ❞

   ❝  i think lady is good for everyone .  i mean ,  can you go wrong with a sweet girl who  floats above it all ?  ❞