* 𝖗𝖔𝖘𝖊𝖘 //

Simone Ashley at the premiere of ‘The Little Mermaid’ in London x

HANDE ERÇEL SEN ÇAL KAPIMI, EPISODE 24

her mom had been there no longer than ten minutes . the only time she'd left the couch since returning home . propped up on the kitchen counter . she'd been fighting every piece of her that told her to revert back to her old ways , her old mindset . " why does everyone leave ? " voice only carried by an underlying frustration . a life riddled with backs turned to her as they walked out the door , the sound of a door closing becoming something for her to be afraid of . although , none of her anger is geared toward anyone but herself . she wasn't mad at merrick , she didn't hate him and that perhaps was what made this entire situation all the more tough on her . gaze falling on her mom , " it's not fair . " ( @rxscss )

persephone had known heartbreak all too well, especially in recent months. and because of that, she wanted nothing more than to be by austen's side. she didn't care what people had to say or the rumors that they started - she knew how happy austen was and with that gone, she wanted to make sure she was okay, that she was solid on her own, that she didn't slip back into old habits. she knew how tempting that was. after making her way over to austen's with all of her favorite snacks and junk food - a very out of character thing to do for the health nut that persephone was, but she'd indulge in it today if it bought comfort to her daughter, she moved around the kitchen, unpacking the grocery bags she had got over. as austen breaks the silence, she stops in her motions, looking over at her as she let out a low sigh, placing one of the bags of chips down as she made her way over to austen, placing a hand on her shoulder as she gave it a gentle squeeze. "sometimes, they come back, you know." she said, offering a sad smile. "time is the biggest bitch of all, you know? but i'm a firm believer in everything happening for a reason and falling where it should, and if one day down the road you two are meant to be together, you'll find your way back to each other. but you did what was best for you. and for that? i couldn't be prouder of you."

Florence Welch performs 'Girls Against God'

ryan destiny via instagram stories (05/09/2023)

chartreuse  hues  roll  back  at  the  subject  at  hand  ,  towel  hanging  from  his  waist  when  he  steps  off  the  shower  to  find  her  (  again  and  uninvited  )  at  his  bed  .  a  normal  occurrence  of  them  .  sliding  into  fresh  clothes  ,  unbothered  by  her  presence  ,  bursting  into  laughter  when  she  mentions  a  tattoo  :  some  people  shouldn't  be  allowed  to  walk  freely  .  "  –––  i  told  you  that  it  was  a  stupid  idea  ,  to  begin  with  .  "  but  one  that  did  not  surprise  him  when  it  came  to  her  .  hands  supporting  on  his  bed  ,  he  leans  forward  to  speak  closer  to  her  lips  .  "  now  ,  get  off  my  bed  and  stop  talking  about  your  marriage  problems  .  "

head tilts ever so slightly, unbothered by his indifference and general lack of concern or care towards her as bright blue eyes slightly widen and flicker up to meet his gaze as he moves closer to her. "so what you're saying..." bianca said lowly, propping herself up from where she was laying as she slowly crawled towards him on the mattress, rising up to her knees as hands landed on his chest, slowly scratching her nails up and down. "is that you want me to find another person to destroy the sorry bastard's life with? and here i thought you were my little partner in crime. what a pity."

"and how would you know that i'm a big boy huh? you've never had the privilege of finding out." was archie the type of man skilled enough to keep up with the likes of bianca? he knew the reality of the answer was no, but she was in his back seat and life really hadn't been dealing him too many fair hands lately. who was he to turn down such a prime opportunity? leaning against his seat as he looked back at her archie offered a lazy smirk in her direction. "if you were sat on my knee and riding me like a good girl the only thing you've need to be pulling at is my hair so you wouldn't have an issue with any texture there now would you?"

"some of your fashion choices leave very, very little to the imagination, archie boy. i know enough just from the outline." she said, head tilting to the side as sweet smile remained on her lips. however, gaze immediately darkened and mischievous glint hit her eyes, unable to help the low laugh that left her at his words, sitting up more in her seat as she leaned over the glove compartment to bring his lips to his ear. "oh la, la, he flirts. who would've thought?" she said, tip of her finger reaching out to trace sharp nail up his neck until she reached his jaw, tilting his head up slightly. "take me somewhere pretty, i like to ride with a view." she said, flashing him a wink.

three days they had been back in north carolina and ford already felt like a new man. he was relaxed, loved on by his parents, he'd laughed as he watched him brother fawned over felicity and then he'd dragged him into the lake of their dock. he'd watch felicity unwind at least a little and the two of them had managed to defile several key locations from his growing up, high school locker room? under the bleachers, his childhood room? the look out spot? check, check and even more checks. he didn't wanna head back to reality tomorrow but it was going to happen, so soaking up a carefree city on the dock as his moms grilled them something was the best he was going to get. "no i'm being serious, if you wanted a tattoo i have the shit here to give you one. i've got all the stick and poke stuff upstairs, i've done loads of my own."

ford's family had welcomed her with open arms, something that she, in all honesty, wasn't really expecting. it felt like she had stepped into an alternate reality - a different world where people loved and cared about each other and for the first time, saw what it was like to grow up in a healthy environment, something she had never had. which made her feel all the more bad about dragging ford down with her. because those words he said months ago were right - unlike her, he had people who loved him and cared if he messed up. but she tried her best to push the thoughts aside, to try and enjoy a sense of normality she never had as much as possible before the horrible reality came back tomorrow. sitting on the edge of the dock, ford's little nephew glued to her lap until the other kids forced him away from her to jump into the water, felicity let out a laugh, moving her legs to sit crisscrossed as she looked up at ford with a soft smile as he sat down next to her, eyes playfully rolling at his suggestion. "yeah, and they' all look like kid's coloring book pictures." she teased with a scrunch of her nose, poking one of the tattoos on his arm as she shook her head. "you know when i was a kid, i always wanted a dragon tattoo. i just don't know where i would put it."

“because, that limitless love you have to offer is part of inherently who you are, who the hell would i be to judge you for that? it would make me a hypocrite when it’s one of the things in a very list might i add that i’ve loved about you since i was thirteen.” at her defence of julian he couldn’t help but let out a scoff, he didn’t get it, he honestly couldn’t see what meant that she was still defending the male that she had once married. “you love him so much you can’t even see it can you? tell me, you say you messed up to what the hell did you do? tell me what you’ve done to him in the past several months that’s had him feeling the way i know you’ve felt, that i’ve seen on your face, what the hell do you have to be guilty of?” was it time that he had wasted? he wasn’t sure, he wasn’t sure that he would know until he ever actually worked to let go of her. had the last eleven years not been spent at her side, had he never caved and kissed her for that first time, would he have moved on or would he had spent years filling the space he had carved for her in his heart, with people that just didn’t fit and weren’t meant to stay. “please don’t beat yourself up for something out of your control sunflower.” his words were quiet, if he could offer more comfort to her at this point he wouldn’t but he was trying to keep himself from saying anything else that might hurt her more. the ping of his phone was enough to simply wind him up at first, till it was pinging in time with hers. “what the fuck now?” the actor sighed, fishing his phone from his pocket, the article the first thing he pulled up at the concerns. “p...how?” they’d been so careful, they’d covered their tracks. “what  - what do you need me to do?” 

"you should be mad at me, zion." it would have been so much easier if he got angry with her, if he blew up on her and caused a fight. but that wasn't who zion was, it never has been. he always had been a calm in her storm of a life, always one who had been nothing but perfect to her, gave her not a single solitary thing to complain about or be upset with. if she needed him, he was there - without a question or a shadow of a doubt. and selfishly, part of her played pretend with it for all this time - pretending that they were just a normal, every day couple, living life and happily in love, pretending her heart didn't belong to another man all along. so much so, that'd she'd defend him, relentlessly. "i'm the reason he is the way he is in the first place. i took away his normalcy, i ruined his life. i can't blame him for being the way he is because it's my fault. and i chose to see the man i knew before i put him through absolute hell. because i know he's there." she said with a shake of her head. "i shouldn't have done this to you...you didn't deserve it. and i didn't deserve you, not for a second. i've tried...i've tried so damn hard to be a good person but, maybe i'm not." she choked out quietly. immediate anxiety fills her body seeing her name in a headline, the eerily familiar feeling of the invasion of privacy in her life, yet again. feeling so exposed to the world, back under the microscope she had spent the past eleven years trying to stay far away from. "i don't know....these pictures...they're from years ago. has someone been fucking watching us all this fucking time?" she said, anger starting to rise as shaky hands try to call her security team, but phone falls from her grasp and onto the floor, lips pressing into a tight line as she closed her eyes and took the deepest of breaths. "i'm going to freak out. i'm going to freak the absolute fuck out."

he only went to paris because it reminded him of her. she would not let herself read into it too much, she couldn't, for all the swelling her heart did at the thought it didn't change things between them, it didn't mean that he was ready to want her or that she was ready to move on and trust him fully. still, she was only human and she'd be lying to both of them if she tried to deny that the words didn't fill her with feelings she had been trying to ignore. "i was sort of hoping that you would say something like that." ophelia offered back at him as she looked back and forth between her own hands and the man that was before her. it was insane really, to think that they had once occupied spaces like this with nothing but intentions to tare each others clothes off, now it felt like he was further from reach than he'd ever been and he was in the same room as her. "could you uh..." pausing for a second ophelia doubted her choice before spinning on bare feet so her back was turned to him. "could you undo me please?"

"well, i mean it." he said softly, looking up at her from his seat on the couch, voice laced with all the sincerity he could possibly muster. and perhaps her words were the slightest beacon of hope for him. that maybe, just maybe, if he continued trying, if he became the man that he so desperately wanted to be, that he'd be good enough. that he'd be worthy of someone as wonderful as her and she'd forget the broken boy she found on the floor outside some seedy nightclub. and he'd take it. he'd take the awkward silence and the longing gazes if it meant he got to be around her again. she had been the lightest thing that ever came into his life, the thing that he had held onto in his worst days. he couldn't let that go so easily, even if he couldn't admit it allowed. throat slightly goes dry as he watches her turn her back to him - wondering if she was playing some kind of game of testing him or if she genuinely needed help with the zipper. nonetheless he stood up from his spot on the couch, slowly making his way over to her one hand resting on her shoulder, the other moving to the zipper as he slowly pulled it down, exposing the skin of her back. without much thought, his fingers gently reached out, slowly brushing down her spine before he caught himself, snapping out of it as he cleared his throat, immediately dropping his hands from her as he took a few steps back. "there."

AUBREY PLAZA as HARPER SPILLER in THE WHITE LOTUS (2022) EP05 - That’s Amore / Dir. Mike White