𝑠𝘩𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟

SEAN: Come on, I ain’t against takeout, but you can’t live on only pizza. [He inhales sharply at her confession, his voice going soft.] I miss cookin’ for you. [He clears his throat, trying to match her lightness.] You know what’s dangerous? Those stovetops that you can forget they’re on until you put your hand down and burn it. [He rubs the back of his neck, the truth on the tip of his tongue.] Micah-

SEAN: And I don’t mind knowin’ she’s actually eatin’ real food, too. [He falls silent for several moments, as he comes to a cross street and tries to remember which way to turn.] I keep holdin’ out hope I’ll find a place with a gas stove. But, uh, truth? Nowhere’s really felt like home.

Taking another swig of his drink as Micah moved to get a beer of her own, Kevin remained silent as the girl returned and waited for her to take the lead on this one. He figured as it was a pretty quiet Monday crowd in here tonight she could take it easy and have a couple of beers at the very least. Turned out the struggles she was going through weren’t your regular run-of-the-mill first world problems. No, Micah was seriously going through it as of late. Immediately, Kevin felt a sense of injustice; wondering why it was happening all at once to this girl when she’d hardly done anything to deserve it—at least, as far as he knew. It had been a while since they’d caught up with each other, after all. “Jesus, Prior,” he sighed out, pausing to take another sip of his beer. “You’re really going through it lately, huh?” Reaching up to scratch the back of his head, trying to figure out where to even start, Kevin let out another low breath before sitting up a little straighter. “Alright, well, the housing situation, let’s start there. I’m guessing you’ve got it covered but you know if you ever needed it there’s a guest bedroom at my place and that’s open to you whenever you need it. As for the whole Sean thing…well, I can understand being bummed out over that handsome bastard.” Pausing he sent a small smile, hoping to get one from her in return. “Wrong time or wrong guy?”

Jesus, Prior described pretty accurately how things were going for her and she could only nod and follow his lead when he took another sip of her beer. “I know. Trust me, I know. I’m 28, still bartending in this club I probably would’ve never set foot in when I was younger, I don’t know what I want to do with my life and I’m homeless. Oh, and hung up on a guy I never dated,” she added as an afterthought, scoffing bitterly. “I’m really winning at life right now.” His offer brought a smile to her lips and she reached out to give his hand a soft squeeze. If anything, this temporary living situation had really shown her she had some great friends. “I appreciate it, thanks. I wouldn’t do that to you, though. The friend I’m staying it is probably really regretting his offer right about now. At least that’s what it looks like at 2am when I wake him up because I’m bored.” Micah didn’t really believe Sean was the wrong guy, so it must’ve been just about timing. That and terrible communication on both parts. “Wrong time. For him, more so than me. I probably should’ve been clearer about my intentions, I don’t know. We weren’t official or anything, but we hung out for two months and I didn’t expect him to tell me he’d been seeing someone else the whole time. He should’ve been more honest and I shouldn’t have assumed, I guess.”

SEAN: I can’t camp out in Syd’s apartment forever, especially now she’s back. [He chuckles reluctantly.] I haven’t- I haven’t been havin’ much luck, though.

At her shrug, Feliks smirk grew wider, mimicking her actions and doing the same thing. “Nah, it’s not my job to worry about you. Just about everyone else in that damn place.” Needless to say, the Pravda wasn’t exactly his favorite place in town after having worked there for a few months now. “You think?” Amusement showing on his features, he cocked an eyebrow. “And I mean, you’re probably right. I kinda like my dick.” Lips pursing to hold back a smile, he let go of her hand as she moved to put the knife away, which was probably for the best anyways judging by her poor handling of it. “I don’t know. Maybe not right now.” So far, she wasn’t turning back or pushing him away — surely, that had to be a good sign. “But it could be.” They were still close. Close enough for him to reach out and touch her with no effort at all, and close enough for him to feel her hot breath on his skin. “You know, you sound so sure, but somehow you don’t have me convinced.” He was only mocking her of course, but that seemed to be what they were both doing right now. “You don’t look the type.” And truth be told, she really didn’t.

“I’m not expecting you to worry about me, I expect you to worry about the people I might accidentally stab. If I had pulled it out in there, it would’ve become your job,” she pointed out with an innocent smile, her head tilting to the side slightly. This banter was fun and fun was exactly what she needed to keep her distracted. “I thought you might.” He seemed like a confident guy, if not an overly cocky one. His very obvious suggestion was proof enough of that. “I don’t know, you talk a big game, but that might be something you would have to prove,” she challenged, not moving an inch away despite the lack of distance between them. “You clearly don’t know me very well. It’s the face, isn’t it? The girl next door thing is just a front, I assure you.”

“Well thank you, I’ll bear that in mind if I’m ever tempted again.” 

It was always going to be hard for Beth, trying to defend her best friend, whilst not condoning his actions and also trying not to meddle too much. She didn’t know Micah that well at all, she didn’t know her history and above anything, she didn’t know her relationship with Sean. The only thing she did know, was Sean. “I get that it’s hard, I really do, but just because he did a certain thing, doesn’t mean that he’s a certain kind of guy. Sean is not the kind of guy to screw you and leave you, especially when he feels about someone the way he did you. When I saw you.. He knew he messed up and he regrets it. I’m totally bias and I know that, but I’ve known him the majority of my life, this isn’t something he does. He made a mistake.” Shaking her head, the blonde took a sip of her drink. She wasn’t about to come clean about her situation to a relative stranger, but it was long enough ago now that Beth could at least try and wave it off. She couldn’t help the small smile at how Micah spoke about her friend, it was everything she would want to hear. “I honestly don’t think it had anything to do with you. He wouldn’t drag you along for the hell of it, I promise you that. Look, I’m not here to try and tell you what to do or anything like that, but maybe you could talk to him? It might help you get some answers to the questions you have.”

Despite having known Sean since she was a kid, they’d drifted apart in their early teenage years. After reconnecting, they’d had to get to know the people they’d become instead of the kids they both remembered, but one thing that hadn’t changed was Sean’s goodness. Even after their relationship’s downfall, there were still no doubts in her mind that he was a kind, genuine person. Weirdly, that knowledge didn’t make it any easier for her to understand what he’d done or to forgive him. “I know that, trust me. I know what he did was unlike him, but it doesn’t change the fact that he did it. I also know that he regrets it because he’s told me. Well, he’s told my voicemail,” she said with a defeated shrug. Beth was ridiculously wise and she knew Sean well enough for Micah to trust her judgment on this particular topic. They weren’t friends, so she had no reason to believe a near stranger would be trying to spare her feelings. She was potentially the only person she could trust to give her the truth about this particular situation. “Alright. Maybe I will. I could give him a call or something at the very least.”

“It’s worse because it makes you think he doesn’t care anymore. Him calling was a sign that he wasn’t going to give up. He stopped. You think he gave up and you don’t want him to,” Tessa pointed out, knowing that she’d felt the same way about Kevin in the past. “You’re not ready to listen yet, but you will be one day.” At least, that’s how Tessa would feel in a similar situation. “Don’t feel like you owe him anything, Micah, because you don’t. You need to take time to heal and give yourself whatever you need first. But I do think you should hear him out at some point, for your sake and for his. Otherwise, you might miss out on something wonderful. Trust me, it’s not always the wrong thing to give someone a second chance and if there’s anyone who would deserve it, it’s Sean.”

Stubbornly, Micah hadn’t been able to admit to herself that she hated that Sean had stopped calling and, even more stubbornly, she hadn’t been able to put the finger exactly on why. Tessa’s assumption, however, was pretty spot on and she found herself unable to argue against her logic. “Of course I don’t want him to. What if he did give up? Does that mean it’s too late? That we’re over over?” She asked her, her voice breaking slightly at the thought that her not picking up the damn phone had been the last straw. Sean being an actual good guy, despite what he’d done, made it so much worst. She would be a fool to let him go completely, she knew that. “I know he does. I don’t know what to do.”

‘‘I mean, I almost did, so I know how it is,’‘ Widening her eyes, she was still incredibly grateful that Lucas was open enough to offer. Technically, she could’ve gone back to the famiy home, but Lord… that would have been a different kind of a defeat Aubrey was nowhere near ready to deal with. ‘’Any ideas so far? As to where you gonna go? Can’t you stay with your brother?’’ She wasn’t necessarily sure about their relationship, but she’d seen Caine out and about especially recently, all things considered. Raising her eyebrows at the blonde, Aubrey felt like she was missing a huge part of the puzzle. ‘’Wait, wait– what happened with y’all?’’ Sean always felt like a second brother to Aubrey, next to Weston, and her face showcased just how much she didn’t want to imagine his– whatevers. ‘’God, that almost made me gag.’’ She chuckled.

“I had very generous colleagues who don’t want me to come into work unshowered and exhausted,” she told her with a dry chuckle, not missing living with the people she spent most of her time with at work. She wasn’t about to ask her parents of all people to let her stay there, though, so she had very few other options—up until she ran into Mateo that is. “So, yeah, I was staying with them for a bit and now I’m staying with one of my brother’s friends now.” Coworker? Friend? She wasn’t sure what they were to each other. She would probably end up with Caine at some point, but she was trying to push that back as much as she could. “He was seeing other people and I wasn’t. I couldn’t live with the embarrassment of liking him so much more than he liked me, so I ended it.” 

Although he could have been intruding on serious work time, something told Kevin that Micah would have been thankful for his company and if he didn’t know that before, he definitely knew it by the smile that took over her face as he came into view. “I know, I know, it’s just convenient that I’m here to hang out while you’re forced to stay here, huh?” The blonde smirked, letting her know he was just kidding. Tilting his beer to her in a ‘thank you’ motion as she handed it over, he took a quick swig before a frown formed at her words. “I’m a subject we can get to after you tell me what’s wrong,” he paused before holding up his hands innocently. “Unless I’m prying and you don’t wanna talk about it, otherwise I’ve got years of Kevin Hoffman stories I could catch you up on.”

“Very convenient,” she agreed with a wide smile, leaning forward on her fist. Truth be told, she needed all the cheering up she could get given the sad state of her life at the moment and this definitely qualified as just that. “I’m going to need a drink if I’m going to tell you about everything that’s wrong.” Micah fetched a beer for herself, knowing there was no problem with her drinking on the job as long as she didn’t cross the line towards drunk. Uncapping it, she took a swig before she forced herself to elaborate. “Well, first of all, I had to move out of my apartment because I can’t afford it anymore. At first, I was crashing at one of my colleague’s and now I’m staying at one of my brother’s friends,” she said quickly before pausing to catch her breath. “And then my love life’s a fucking mess. I was seeing Sean and it kinda just... all went to hell after a couple of months. So, yeah, not doing great.”

Scott wasn’t good at making friends, especially female friends. Cora, Heather, Cassie, Vienna… Those were more than just his friends, they were his family. He didn’t even know how it came to be. Maybe the fact that they have similar backgrounds, similar upbringings, and, more importantly, similar fuck ups was the line that tight them together. “No,” he might have waited a bit too long to answer and she obviously would think that he didn’t want her company, but it was just the way he dealt with people normally. It felt easier when they were fleeting. Truth be told, he wasn’t a nice person, and the more time she was around him, chances were that he would get that. “──please, stay. There is a guest bedroom that is rarely used anyways.” He held the door opened as he gestured for her to follow. “Besides, we are already here, we might as well have a drink.”

For a second, Micah was convinced he was going to take her up on her offer and she’d have to call a second Uber to get her back to her friend’s place. It’d be embarrassing, but also kind of a disappointment. She liked Scott and not just because of the benefits. He was fun and he didn’t make her feel like an immature woman-child. “Way to leave me hanging, Vanderbilt,” she said with an awkward chuckle. She followed her out of the car and into his place, which she’d visited a few times already. It was the complete opposite of her old apartment, but she wasn’t sure she would ever want to live like him. She wasn’t refined enough to enjoy half the things in here. “Alright. You can fill me in on everything you’ve been doing.”

SATURDAY, 16TH NOVEMBER 2019. at PRAVDA NIGHTCLUB with @priorsmicah.

          “I’m really sorry. I honestly can’t remember the last time I had this much to drink.” The words blurted out of the blonde’s mouth as she looked across at the female bartender. Coming here and getting wasted had never been her initial plan. She’d found out Feliks worked at the club as a bouncer and hoped by chance he’d be here, believing that somehow she’d manage to make everything better. Now that she thought about it, it was the worst idea she’d come up with since coming to town, and she almost wanted to kiss the guy next to her over the fact that Feliks wasn’t here. What a disaster that would have been. “But doesn’t drinking just make you think so much clearer?” She was waffling on now to the poor woman who’d served her one too many drinks. “Oh god, I’m so rude, my bad. My name is Gill.”

It was Saturday night and, as per usual, it felt to Micah like the entire population of Wilmington had decided to show up at Pravda for a night out. Okay, maybe that was a tad bit dramatic, but given her current unsatisfaction with her work situation and the way her life was going... she was growing more and more restless. Thankfully, she wasn’t the only bartender behind the bar and she was excellent at putting on a smile and mixing drinks like nobody’s business. Most customers came for their drinks and left, but there was one blonde that has stuck with her for most of the night. She couldn’t even remember how many drinks she’d served her and now felt like it was her duty to keep an eye on her. “Don’t apologize I’ve seen much worse,” she said with a dismissive wave, mixing drinks for the people around her. “Drinking usually just makes me more reckless, but everyone’s different?” She chuckled in amusement as the girl introduced herself, extending her hand towards her. “That’s fine, most people don’t introduce themselves to the people serving them drinks. I’m Micah.” She was usually stuck listening to people’s problems without ever getting a name to put to the face. Not that she cared much. “So, tell me, what’s got you drinking tonight?”

SEAN: Yeah. Yeah, I kinda figured. [It’s what he expected, but disappointment curdles in his stomach, anyway.] That is somethin’. Glad you didn’t have to deal with that. Mine was ... busy. I worked the lunch shift, saw an apartment after.

SEAN: Did you- did you want me to? Keep calling? [There’s a pause in which he swallows, not quite audibly. Something IS wrong, but it’s not that he’s out drinking alone late on a Friday.] Thanks. For pickin’ up. For carin’. [He concentrates on walking while her voice is aimed not at him, something about the address she gives niggling in a corner of his mind as unfamiliar.] ‘kay. [He clears his throat.] Okay. How was your day?

SEAN: I thought I’d get your voicemail. [He exhales heavily.] I’m glad I didn’t. And yeah. I do. If you don’t mind, if it’s okay.

SEAN: I don’t want you worryin’ at all. [Less than steady on his feet, he nevertheless manages to start stumbling home ... or the direction he thinks home is in, anyway.] I will, but- You busy?