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If there was one thing Gwendolyn Grace Matory did not do, it was cut class or skip school- ever.  Hell she couldn’t even remember a time in her life when she pretended to be sick to stay home from school and there were times when she would drag herself on the verge of what felt like death to the place just so she wouldn’t miss anything.  Some saw it as obsessive, although it never came from him directly, Gwen’s dad was one of those people.  Even as a kid he would skip school from time to time- or at least play hookie…but maybe it was because there was so much pressure from her socialite mother or maybe it was because she had always been so goal oriented and dreamed of a life bigger than this little town.  Either way, this was all so foreign to her and she couldn’t help her stomach from tightening in worry as she climbed into the passenger seat of Jake’s beat up old truck. 

“That sounds nice,” Gwen whispered, clicking her seatbelt and pulling her knees up to her chest as she waited for him to climb on in himself.  A slow breath left the brunette’s lips as she started the vehicle and pulled out of the school, brown eyes eyeing back nervously towards the building before forcing herself to look forward.

This would be good for her.  It had to be, today was already a messed up day and maybe hanging out with someone who cared about her would provide her with enough of a distraction or courage to face the town when she came back…but then again running from her problems would only create a bigger beast.  And besides once Jake’s girlfriend heard about all this AND that he took off with Gwen…well that was a whole new kind of consequence. 

Nervously Gwen looked back at the school, her fingers coming to her lips as she bit her thumbnail.  “There are going to be so many people that won’t like this Jake…my parents, your dad, the principal, our teachers, the cops, your friends, your girlfriend….Maybe we better just turn around and try and just face everything?  I really don’t want to get you in anymore trouble and I don’t want things to get weird between you and Cassie and what if your coach calls you in to talk about all of this or the police?  I mean what if you lose your scholarship?  What if you get benched for the rest of the season?  A-and we have that test in Mr. Reid’s class that’s worth like twenty percent of our grade and I know that’s not like a lot a lot but it’s still twenty percent and things like that add up so quickly and we’ll have to worry about rescheduling a time to take that between your practices and my student council, AP clubs, and volunteer stuff and I just don’t think-”

Her eyes widened at the sudden realization of her ramble, her hands slowly moving to cover her face in embarrassment as she shook her head.  “I know sometimes you think it’s funny…but please don’t let me ramble like that…it’s embarrassing.”

It’s possible it just wasn’t in Jake to worry about school, about messing up. Being brought up in a house where nothing he did was good enough, had that affect on him. Academically, he kept his grades a little higher than decent, and he played football to have a good rep with the school ‘authorities’. That, and his father was a washed up jock who refused to believe there was any other way to value your youth. Play sports, get the girls, and keep your fathers alcoholic tenancies on the low. Not that anyone Jake brought home would ever be good enough- his father had choice words for nearly every girl he’d ever expressed interest in. Cassie, his current fling, was no exception. Of course, she was never around when things got bad for him; she didn’t like it when he got upset, or showed too much of what was going on beneath the surface. They were supposed to be the cool popular kids; untouchable. 

As he rolled away in his built from scratch pickup, he felt stress leaving his body. School was an escape, at least from home- but sometimes he needed to get away from there too. It was all he could do when he’d rather bash some jerks head in. “I think you’ll enjoy it.” Jake murmured, pulling onto the main road, leaving the school, and his girlfriend in the background. 

When she brings up the list of people who wont approve of their outing, his brows furrow. Their approval was the last thing on his mind; okay, maybe not the last thing, but he simply didn’t care if he upset them. Sometimes, Jake forgot how much school meant to Gwen. “We can go back.” Jake states, looking over at her, though he hadn’t turned around just yet. “Don’t be embarrassed. It’s kind of cute.” Jake admits, but he quickly follows up with another statement, his cheeks feeling a little warm at the statement.

“I don’t care about the scholarship.” Jake finally admits out loud. “I hate football.” Two things he’d never said out loud. It was trained in him to look happy, to be good at the sport, to cheer on his fellow teammates and smile when he had a cute girl on his arm, but the truth was he didn’t care about any of it. Not that he didn’t like Cassie, there had been some initial spark there; it just faded like everything else seemed to. That, and she refused to let the relationship end. They were the IT couple, and she wasn’t losing that for anything. ‘Not until we get crowned prom queen & king- we can break up when we graduate. All we have is our reputation, and I wont let you ruin it for me.’ 

“And to be honest, I don’t care what any of them think. If you want to go back, I’ll take you back, but I’m not staying.” Jake states. He’d face them all tomorrow. Nothing any of them could say or do to him would be worse than what awaited him at home. 

he is sucking in a deep breath as the smirk was still on his lips although he had hoped to avoid that he thought it better for him to be with Stefan on this night out instead of letting him on his own thoughts pushed to the corner of his mind as then he carries on to say. “ Drinks and no worries for a night and I see thought he would have you on a leash or something but it is good to have you back brother.”

@scriptoplures​

Her eyes shifted back while her mouth opened to protest, to come up with any reason why she shouldn’t go.  It wasn’t like there weren’t things that she had to get done, hell she was heading out in the morning and there was no telling when she’d be back.  She had to pack, get her gear in order, threaten Damon, and…had to say goodbye.

But she couldn’t…she couldn’t tell him no when this was possibly the last time she’d see him in a while- and with this life it could mean ever.  They were too close of friends…he was too special.

“Okay,” Gwen finally replied with a sigh and smile then reached out to grab her jacket.  “But I want this night to be normal Stefan…so if there are killer clowns or demonic stuffed bears, then I have every right to throw you off of the Ferris Wheel.”

A soft smile pulled at her lips before the huntress began making her way out the door.  “C’mon…show me a Stefan Salvatore approved night.”

The overall feeling that surrounded him was somber. It wasn’t like he wasn’t used to saying goodbye to friends. When you had the ability to live forever, you learned to go with whatever path people chose for themselves, even if it meant a possibly permanent goodbye. Still, Stefan would always be sad to see her go. 

A rumble of laughter worked its way out of his chest as he raised his hands in defense. “Fine, if there are killer clowns, or... Demonic stuffed bears?” The last bit coming out with a curious infection- he wouldn’t put it past her to of dealt with such a thing in her line of work. “Then you can kick my ass right off the top of the Ferris wheel.” 

The night sky was clear, and he was sure that if there weren’t so many lights from the carnival, you’d be able to count every star in it. Fun-house music drifted along in the background accompanied by chatter and laughter. “So what do you say?” Stefan asks her as they get to the ring toss. “Ready to lose some money to a rigged game?”

She knew he was right - but it was hard taking a break when so much was going wrong. Hayley spent most of her time doing what she could to keep the kids calm and occupied. It was really all she could do. And that was hard enough. 

The brunette sent him a sideways smile and nodded. “I think that’s a great idea.The kids are doing alright - they’re surprisingly resilient believe it or not.” It seemed to be a trait kids were good at possessing - adults not so much. But Hayley was glad to at least have Jake there. She knew they didn’t know each other well but being in a situation like this alone would have been worse.

“How was you day?” She inquired as they moved down the hallway, “Has anything changed out there?” She meant for the better or worse really. It was hard being stuck inside the hospital, but at the same time she was glad they were. Better than being in the middle of chaos.

Jake tried to keep things positive, upbeat. The one thing he knew was that if he let himself slip, very soon, everything else was going to come crashing down. When he decided to join the force, the last thing he expected was to be brought forth with this kind of issue. 

The world was going to shit faster than hell fire catching on a carefully crafted hand basket. Somewhere in his memory, there was a place in his mind where he had felt similar- but at least then, there was a promised end in sight. Now, each new corner he turned, felt like a broken and cold hallway, one that only led to a lonely stretch of road. Ignoring that line of thought, he brings himself back to the present moment, as he often had to. 

a conversation was easy, it’s the letting people in that’s hard, showing them a piece of you, you once tucked away and hid for the longest time because it wasn’t right. the society and red center painted her the way they wanted to, a quiet handmaid, one who would not question authority, one who does what the authority says, says please and thank you and will carry a child for the barren wife, the roles of a handmaid weren’t meant to be hard but June is caught in herself when she looks at the other, she is reminded of old times, she is reminded to be light and she can be whatever the hell she wants to be. and as she listens to Frank talk so freely she finds herself longing to be there with him at the moment as her blue eyes soften as she gazes upon him, he’s talking about something special and she can tell, was he somehow married before this too? maybe had kids? and she wants to ask but knows she could never tell him what happened to her little family - the pain is too fresh and too deep. “ I love pizza. “ June finally interjects as she finds herself smiling, she hadn’t had a slice of pizza in years but now she could smell the cheese and bread and almost taste it, she desired it. “ I was the weird girl who liked pineapple on my pizza, really drove.. all my boyfriend’s crazy. “ she jokes and presses her lips together. 

There’s a soft creak in the framework of the chair, as Frank relaxes back, a soft smile on his lips as he listens. A simple moment like this; one where even he felt normal. Moments like this didn’t happen behind the scenes- Not with his colleagues. The life he was living now, not terribly different than the one he’d lived when he served before, although back then, at least he thought he was fighting for freedom. It was no secret that now he was never really on the right side of things.  Moments like this brought a softer sadness to Frank, but it was one he preferred over the constant fumes he seemed to emit. “You really are a wild card, huh?” Frank mused, his tone nearing the casual air he’d use amongst an old friend. Frank’s stroking his jaw as a smile threatens to break across his features. “I’ve got to be honest, I never understood that rivalry.” Pineapple on pizza? Some loved it, other detested the very idea. “I always thought it was good. I was always more of a mushroom and tomato guy myself, but I’ve never really met a pizza I didn’t like.”  Frank was always ‘on guard’, but he felt himself coming through when they talked like this- The him he had been before this mess, maybe even before the mess that lead to this mess. 

“When I was told to come here I thought it would be at least slightly promising.” Eric muttered to himself under his breath, sitting at the bar of a buzzing night club. They thought the cure to his boredom was more nightlife- Maybe they weren’t wrong, but this wasn’t doing it for him. “Jävla idioter.” The words coming out harsh, as he turns to face the rest of the avenue.  It was full of people dancing and drinking, others staring in awe at the professional dancers that had various stages about, when they weren’t busy working the floor. It was just a humans version of fangtasia, and Eric was still bored. 

A long awaited trip far away from her home was exactly what Buffy thought she needed. After everything, she wanted some quiet- A nice trip to some heavily wooded area, a secluded beach; her friends wanted a chance to live a little. Normal people who could go out and not watch over their shoulders. They insisted they go to New Orleans, of all places. Buffy knew better than to expect the place to be unoccupied by vampires, and everything else that’s crossed her path, but reluctantly she agreed. The rich history of witchcraft might even be good for Willow. There was plenty to do, and while Buffy hated to admit it, she needed time to herself.  It wasn’t long before she gave her reasons and parted ways, wandering the streets, taking in the magnificence of the place. Even if this wasn’t what she’d pictured for her vacation, she had to admit it was impressive. She could almost lose herself in the crowd, in the music, and the energy that swirled around her. Maybe peace and quiet was overrated after all.  Buffy hadn’t realized how long she’d been on her own until her stomach began to growl. The sun had just began to set, and instead of heading back to the hotel, she decided she could stand for a few more hours of solo tourism. Settling on what was sure to be a historic restaurant/bar with old school jazz drifting through the openings in the structure, she enjoyed dinner, and a drink- What should have been a grand ending to her first night away from her everyday life.  The walk back shouldn’t of taken long, and maybe she should of minded her own business; it was so typical.  “Really? A back alley? You couldn’t be even a little original?” What proceeded was routine. The victim fled, and a brief scuffle ended with the vampire down, steak in the heart and all. 

“Great,” Buffy huffs, as she bends down to retrieve her stake. “Not only did you ruin this shirt, but you wasted a perfectly good manicure.” Carefully, she slides the steak back into the shaft of her boot, before standing. The mess on her shirt would take more than just a simple dusting off. Her night of leisure was over. What now? Naturally, where there was one vamp, there was another. “Enjoying the show?” Buffy questioned to the energy she sensed, as she turned to face where she was sure she’d meet another’s eye.