Still Beating

“Well, it’s not like we could meet at a bar.” Arkin joked though mostly in play with himself. The last of his paycheck funneled through hospital and credit bills. He hadn’t been the best friend for Poppy. Most of the time, he was too self consumed in his own bullshit to reach out and ask for a cup of coffee. His hand grazed over the new place, surprised that she even landed a place nicer than his. “I like it.” He hummed, gesturing with a whirl of his finger.

“I’m pretty sure if I started drinking I wouldn’t stop. Which is way cheaper at home.” Poppy followed his finger around to glance at everything he must have been seeing. “Yeah, it’s not too bad, big change you know? Not that it’s like mine mine yet. I have yet to throw my weird tye dye sheets everywhere.” She gave a wry chuckle before letting her head collapse into his chest with a thud. “Why does everything suck so damn hard!?” 

Her slim legs slung over the armchair of the lobby, popping bubble gum and generally bored, waiting; Sofie seemed to be doing a lot of waiting lately, waiting on producers, family, friends, her dog and now this. Her patience wore thin, and she was ready to leave when she saw them. Tilting her head in their direction Sofie furrowed her brows, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Her indifferent tone didn’t lead to the seriousness of their offense, do or don’t; she didn’t care, she wasn’t anyone’s keeper.

Poppy’s hand retracted the second she heard a women’s voice. She had always had a bad habit of just touching things and this was no exception. The fish had just looked so exotic and interesting all Poppy had wanted was just one little touch, but now she knew she was being watched. Embarssement flooded her and it was plain and hot on her cheeks as she turned to look at the woman from behind her. “I wasn’t... well.. I ... sorry they’re just so pretty.” 

Poppy inched herself away from the fish tank and made her way to Sofie, trying to control the blush spreading all over her face. “I didn’t see you before Sofie, sorry about that. You waiting for someone?” 

          “Your puppy dog eyes do nothing to me,” he joked back with a laugh. Though they were plenty powerful considering how quickly they’d become a dedicated part of his life in the past ― however long they’d known each other to the point where he couldn’t imagine them in his life at all. “All I would need is a blindfold on you and be done with it. And your jungle plants.” He grinned, an itch to get out on the water was there but it was enough to be close enough that he could feel the salty air brush against him. It would be there tomorrow. And the next day, even if others things called him away from time to time that he missed it more than he thought that he would.

Years on the show hadn’t dimmed how much he enjoyed to hit the waves or the ways that he could experiment out there with Poppy on his board or by his side to the point where he was tempted to try it out anyways. “I’m glad too. Between you and Jett, I can’t imagine going back to living in that place by myself again.” It was too big, too quiet, and too much for the likes of him with everything going on in his life that it now looked like more than a catalog of what someone wanted their home to look like. It felt like one too. “Though I never expected to go from just me to a full house in less than a week,” he teased with a wink. “Cat, dog, you two, and all the plants.”

“We’re the three musketeers! Fighting crime ... and doing things... okay so I’ve never read the book or watched the movie but I think I have the general gist.” Hearing Bryce talk about their home was comforting in the way only he could make such a big change feel. She wiggled her fingers in the direction of his own hand, just slightly reaching out. “Don’t act like you don’t love having a full house now Sir, we both know you were feeling far too lonely.”  

Poppy longed for every day to feel this serene. Lately she had felt like she was just getting through every day by the skin of her teeth, and she felt like she was getting to the point where she needed to stop struggling. She had quit being an on call maid which had helped her self esteem by leaps and bounds. Nothing ruined her self esteem more than cleaning up a famous persons garbage. All that was next was actually getting a record deal or getting noticed and then she wouldn’t have to ever make a stupid soy vanilla latte ever again. “Do you ever worry that your life isn’t going where you want it to?” 

At the nickname, Jake looked up with a grin. He squinted against sunlight as it haloed Poppy, and gave her a little wave. He trotted up so they weren’t shouting across the sand to each other. He still likened himself to a menace, not that much of a menace. Poppy also seemed to be in the middle of a job of sorts, and he didn’t want her to get any complaints.

He laughed as she hugged him. He returned the embrace with ease, and tweaked her nose. “That’s true, but podcasts are like the new talk shows, or so I’ve been told,” he said and lied. No one had ever told him that. At the question, he tilted his head, smile fading a little. “I’ve been trying to clear my head a little,” he said with a shrug then spread his arms out to gesture to the sand,·“Beaches are good for the soul. What about you? What adventures have you had?”

“My absolute favorite podcast is called my favorite murder! You have got to listen to it. You can be the Karen to my Georgia. As long as you aren’t too squeamish.” Poppy looked out in front of her before back to Jake with a nice contentment.·“They are in my personal opinion, the only place that can actually heal a broken heart.” She thought back to all that had happened and was happening since the last time she saw Jake and decided her best bet was to paraphrase.·“Well, I moved out of my apartment and in with a friend of mine, Bryce. I quit working as a maid for hire and I’m thinking about possibly maybe trying to arrange some kind of musical connection. I’m just.. I feel like it’s now or never you know?”·

Poppy never felt uncomfortable around Jake, maybe still a little star eyed over being able to even talk to him but there was a familiarity there that always put her at ease.·“What about you, has anything been exciting or new? If you indulge me in my company, I’ll buy you a cinnamon roll later.”·

           Bryce chuckled as he seemingly stepped out of the shadows thanks to the grey skies and cloudy weather they were having that day which meant that there wasn’t a lot of people at the beach, and that he wasn’t likely to be hitting the waves any time soon. “I don’t know. That’s a lot to ask for from me today,” he called out with a shake of his head before he was moving towards where he saw her walking along the edge of the water. Eventually they would have met in the middle, one starting out and the other having been there for awhile since the last he’d seen Poppy was far too early in the morning for any coherent thoughts to form, yet.

A work out and a few business calls out of the way, as well as dodging another well placed call from his mother and father, separately, Bryce was needing the fresh air as well as the empty beaches that made it feel all the more private. Tourists would find somewhere else to go rather than waste a day at the cloudy beach, but he felt it was one of the better times to be there as he pushed his hands into his pockets and strolled up slowly towards meeting her path. “It could have been something i had my heart set on, you know? Not that I think I could have gone through with it ‘cause then who else is going to keep that jungle alive that you moved in with?”

Poppy never ever could have asked for a better friend then Bryce Brooks, of course if you had told her that someone she had watched on her laptop would be someone she would live with then she would have probably peed herself. But here she was standing in front of him with a weird sense of belonging. “Don’t you lie to me Mr Brooks, you know you couldn’t go through with it because of my puppy eyes. You’d break in a second.” Poppy let herself have the fond thought of her new home completely overun with plants with enough room to actually grow. Her new home with Jett and Bryce and no landlord calling her when she was a minute late on rent. For once, she finally felt like an adult. And it was all because of him, “Have I told you yet , how glad I am that I finally moved in?” 

It made Poppy sad to think that her and Bryce wouldn’t be out surfing today, especially since the beach was practically empty. It wasn’t very often that they had the opportunity to ignore everyone else in the world and pretend it was just them. With so many rumors circling around, Poppy didn’t think she’d have that much time with her friend as she wanted. But seeing his big win all over instagram was such a moment of pride for her, he was finally breaking into what made him happier than anything. And if jetting off to go surf and live his dream meant she got to text him on off hours then she was more than happy to oblige. 

Jake took the day off. There was a tug in his chest. An ache that settled in when he woke up to light peeking through the apartment blinds. He accepted early on it was one of those days. There used to be more of them when the band first ended. Now, they just lingered so he decided to wander today.

His feet took him to the water. Jake drifted along the shore. Sea salt brushed at his skin. The sun threaded into his hair as he looked out to the water. The tide was gentle today. He could tell by how the waves lazily lapped at the sand. As he walked, he noticed a familiar shock of hair seated atop the lifeguard station. Jake slowly approached, squinting against sunlight and the breeze, to make out the person’s face. He was going to need to get his eyes checked, he decided as it was Poppy’s voice that made her distinctive. “I feel like saying I’m not a murderer is something a murderer would say?” Jake said with a light grin, “Long time no see, Poppy seed.”

The murderer was in fact not a murderer but the one and only Jake Ryleigh. He was very possibly the complete opposite of say Ted Bundy and she could feel the tension roll off of her. “Jakeykins!” Poppy couldn’t help the sunshine the nearly burned her up from the inside out she watched his floppy hair blow about in the breeze. Sometimes she wondered how he managed to bring such a presence with him no matter where he went, she presumed it must be that wonderful aura of his. 

“You never know, maybe they would announce themselves! Plus you can never ever be too cautious my friend. I try my damnedest to not end up on someones hometown murder on a podcast.” Poppy rushed in for a small and fleeting hug before backing off and giving the poor guy a chance to breathe. “I’ve missed your beautiful face dude, wherever have you been hiding?” 

In the distance she saw a the shadowy figure walking along the beach, and she prayed it wasn’t someone who was about to murder her and throw her in the ocean. She walked slower, trying to squint as if it would actually help her see. At some point she would go look for glasses but today wasn’t the day so instead Poppy aired on the side of caution. “Hello? If you’re a murderer could you please... just not kill me?” 

          Bryce’s off had been genuine, one that he felt more now after it’d been said as he glanced around his place that was typically empty thanks to the hours that he worked and how often that he would slip away to be anywhere else. Bay wouldn’t move in, not when she had her own place and he had no desire to go back home but the quiet nights were as much a curse as they were a blessing. Poppy brought life into his place as well as into his world with the plants and her unannounced visits where she was in before he was as he chuckled. “It wouldn’t be so much a scandal as it would be a breath of relief with how many people I’m linked to on a weekly basis. They’d think you were the one,” he told her with a laugh.

Not that he didn’t have his fair share of them that mostly stemmed around Ji Nee when they were seen at events together to his recent excursions with Kitty and Raime which was all the more reason to keep his feet on the ground along with his head. Bryce needed to clean up his act and figure out what he wanted to do next with his life, but he didn’t want to do it alone and who better than Poppy who was constantly there for him. Someone who had made herself at home long before he thought he could call that this place even with Bay’s touches. “They don’t water themselves?” Bryce shot her a confused look before it turned into something teasing.

“I promise that next time I hit the waves, I’ll give you a call first an’ bail you out of whatever else you may have to do with your day. Someone else might call it kidnapping but I’d call it a much needed escape.” One that he found himself needing more now than ever before as he ran his hands through his hair. “I could definitely go for some Buffy time and ice cream, so I guess you could come along with us. Tell me about this song, agree to taking one of these empty rooms off my hands, and then make sure I’m invited when you do debut the song.”

With the lease clipped onto Buffy’s collar and Poppy’s purse dangling off her shoulder ever so slightly, she was ready to go. “All I ask for, is a call. You’re the only person I can stand surfing with, and I don’t like going by myself anymore. Plus, I fit on the front of your board so perfectly, it’s a crime for me to not be on it.” She flashed a cheeky smile before reaching back for his hand. “Make sure you have everything you need darlin’. I’m leaving my phone here as I don’t feel like pretending I’m as cool as you. Also it stops me from being overactive on my instagram story. I just can’t help that you and my baby buff look so cute together.” Poppy had once made the mistake of adding a photo of Bryce onto her story, and tagged him. Nothing good had come of that surprise lunch and she had of course learned her lesson. As much as she was trying to keep her dog calm, there was no way she was going to be able to walk Buffy with Bryce in the vicinity, that dog was in love. Begrudgingly she handed the leash over and opened the front door for the three of them. “You know you need your own dog, and I hope when you get one they love me more and you understand the pain I go through.” 

The sun was shining so beautifully and warm that Poppy felt like she was being recharged as she moved outside. Her arms spread out as if she was trying to take flight and her face turned up like a daisy. “You’re always invited when I play a song live darlin’. I might even send you my secret ‘professional’ recordings. I don’t want to step in on your space Bryce. You’d be taking me and Buffy and my plants and my books and my.. everything. It’s going to be 28 years worth of shit and that’s a lot. Plus I mean...you’re kind of like important. I don’t want people to spread rumors about you, I don’t want you to lose out on some weird celebrity love because of me. Not that anyone’s good enough for my Brycey-boo anyway.”

                   Poppy wasn’t wrong. If he didn’t at least attempt to check his phone, then there were more than just her waiting for him to come home with a full update about everything that he’d missed out on. Or the countless opportunities that he was going to let slip by if he didn’t act on them. Not to mention how long his name would carry as weight as it did now if he didn’t at least attempt to manage himself better than he had in the past. Though he didn’t believe his team was doing any better considering the show was on the brink of making history with the number of viewers but all on the basis of destroying more people. 

“I have a terrible habit to let the battery run down to the point where nothing else comes through,” he joked back with a crooked grin. “They wouldn’t be difficult to break if someone would take a key to the place rather than slip in unannounced.” It would save him the second guessing if anyone was there or going to be there at any moment, even if a key would only make it easier for her to come and go. Not that it seemed his locks were enough to keep her away, or from adding to his place that was more Bay’s touch than his own by now other than the library that she’d slipped into one of the spare rooms that were quickly converted when he’d bought the place. 

That and the vicinity to the beach, making it easier to slip away undetected when he needed the space even with the show in full swing. “Amanda. Easy enough to remember, a lot harder to keep alive. I swear you like testing my ability to remember to water them all more than anything else,” he replied with a laugh, arms taking in the quick hug that was over in the blink of an eye as Poppy was a force to be reckoned with and always felt like she were on the move. “You could just move in here. I have the room, more than a few, and I don’t need the money in rent. Plus it seems like all these plants you keep leaving me with could use a keeper.” Bryce shrugged, the offer wasn’t the first time that he’d thought to make it, but now felt like a better time than any before. “You were working, I forgot my phone.. if you were here, then we both could have slipped away for a day of surfing. Also fuck whoever threw a drink at you. At least make it a slushie.”

Poppy rolled her eyes with a secret joy, her smile betraying her actual annoyance. “But if I take a key, then I have to come to grips with the fact that I’m here more than at my own apartment. How could you handle the scandal of a girl moving into your place?” Was she evading the fact that she did want to move in with Bryce? Possibly...well yes, yes she was. Bryce was her rock, the one person she could go to no matter the hour or day. Poppy had never had someone she could rely on so heavily and she was more than thankful for him, but it was weird for her to admit that she was relying on anyone these days. 

The plant was just sitting there minding it’s own business as they looked upon her with a sense of content. “You know that I come by and water all of them right? You don’t actually think they just water themselves....? Because if so, we need to have a talk.” Poppy ignored his offer as she busied herself with biting at her nails, they had talked about moving in before, it made sense mostly because well if they weren’t busy they were together. Did she miss the house when she was gone? Yes. Did it feel like she was just visiting her place at this point? Sure. Poppy just couldn’t bear admitting that she hated being alone and wanted more than anything to be able to live with one of her dearest friends. “Well I demand, a ‘emergency’ phonecall so I can come with you next time. You know how much I love going out with you. How dare you, we both know Glee was terrible after like season four and second of all if I ever see them in the street, I’ll hit them with my skateboard.” 

Poppy pulled Buffy’s leash out of her pocket and gave a sharp whistle that had Buffy practically jumping out of her skin at the mere idea of going outside. “I was gonna take her for a walk, we could go down to the pier and grab some icecream? I’ve missed you dude! Plus I’ve got to show you this song I found, I’m absolutely in love with it. I think I might cover it next week in the cafe. Get a feel for it you know?”