WELCOME HOME !

A PLEASED SMILE folds its way onto gabriela's lips for the first time in hours and possibly the first time ever around ADAM . " call me a bitch again . " she says , voice delicate , yet with purpose . her eyes slide to him , for once her body is relaxed - not ramrod straight , waiting to be called to attention .

SID FEELS A PANG OF GUILT , a missed opportunity , within him . he shakes his head , shaggy hair falling over his forehead which he impatiently pushes back . " no . no , it's not that . " he really needs her to know it's not that . " i'd be . . . a blind idiot to reject you . " sid gives a soft self-deprecating laugh . he doesn't know what he's trying to say , so how the hell is he meant to say it ? " i just . . . " he glances over her shoulder , to the boarded up windows . " people really got hurt tonight . me getting my rocks off doesn't really seem fair . " sid doesn't know when it MIGHT BE fair , honestly . he's so far removed from thinking about sex that he feels his head swim , light , at even the vague aspect of it . sid pulls a face . " i actually always thought being an author would rock . all the glory without people chasing you down a street , yeah ? " he shrugs one shoulder , eyes meeting hers .

gabriela rubs a hand to her temples , a gesture that seems SYNONYMOUS with cherry . " you know you'd be more believable if you didn't talk so much , right ? " her voice is tired , eyes adjusting to look back at cherry, holding out the bottle with a grin that's meant to be as sweet as her name implies . " i'm not drinking with you . " gabriela says . she's always picky about who she decides to unwind with , and unfortunately - cherry doesn't make the cut . " jesus , cherry , when was the last time you were sober ? " somehow cherry always gets her hands on SOME TYPE of contraband . gabriela might understand the allure if she wasn't so busy trying to make sure nobody else died around her .

They called you golden boy and pushed you up to heavens to live amongst the stars. But you couldn’t bear the weight of the universe so you crumbled and you fell. And you burned. And you burn.

STATUS : closed for @puzzzlepieces ! LOCATION : inside lost and found !

GABRIELA PUTS UP A HAND , already anticipating the onslaught of words that will tumble out of cherry's mouth . at the same time that she says ' I'M INNOCENT ' , gabriela can't help but mouth the words along with the girl . " you're always innocent . like the time someone broke onto the diner's rooftop and left cigarette butts all over it . or maybe that time you swiped the last nice bottle of GLENNFIDDITCH despite it being won fairly by someone else . " she gives cherry a pointed look . " just drink inside the bar and we won't have to get into the annoyances of public drunk and disorderly . " this is so BELOW HER PAYGRADE , yet cherry seems to always squeeze that out of her .

"you should be happy about the no paps part," she teased. "must be nice." when sid arrived in town a few months ago, it was surreal. not because emerson was a fan, but she didn't live under a rock. though, she did miss out on a lot of news in her three years here so she missed out on his solo rise to fame. now that was shocking. she shrugged at his comment. the truth is, she's been rolling with the punches long before she ended up here. sure, nothing like this level of fucked up, but she's been in fight or flight mode since she was a preteen. she was cool under pressure. "kinda fucked to say it, but you do start to get used to things. sure, we've never seen a storm before, but we know how to handle the night, just tonight it's going to be much longer. but the sun will come out again, then we'll be right back to hand washing our dirty underwear or fighting because colony house is being too loud or something."

he ignores the easy dig with a small roll of his eyes . he's glad for her easy presence though . her calm nature helps sid , who's famously NEVER been much of a calm person himself . " so you're not worried at all ? " sid can't help ask , eyebrows drawing together . he can't stop hearing the screams , the sudden running , the way his chest felt like it might explode . " but people looked like they got hurt . . " OR DIED , but he doesn't add that part . he can't even imagine it . the people he's lost have been in hotel rooms - too much pills and booze , mental health shot to BITS and everyone screaming for a piece of whatever they have left to give .