street lights.

DREW: not date, we just used to be best friends but then she cut me out when i started hanging around winnie.

DREW: idk i just think she's in a rough place right now. i don't hold it against her.

DREW: hey, kind of random, but do you wanna go to graduation together? could be kind of fun and less sad if we have each other!

SHANE: aw yeah that'd be great!!

“Oh yes, but I must say if you got into Daniel Schuester’s pants, I applaud you.” Of course she was joking. She couldn’t imagine her sister ever doing something like that. She felt bad that she couldn’t really do anything to help with Shane’s problems as a sister she wished she could make the other’s life easier, but its hard to help someone else when yourself is in a messed situation. “I’m sorry sis, but at least we have a couple of days until you get a break from everyone.” She said, “Prom was good until y’know that happened but then it just got even more messed up when Darius picked me up.” 

“What can I say? I knew it was the only way I’d bring home the crown,” Shane said sarcastically, tossing her hands into the air slightly as she spoke. When Emory pointed out that they only had a few days left before they had a much needed break from everyone, she let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God, honestly. I’m more than ready for a break from these people.” As her sister explained briefly what had happened on prom night, Shane nodded along. “Well, if it makes you feel better, I threatened to slash Julien’s tires at LJ’s after prom, and he looked so nervous I genuinely thought he might pee himself,” she offered, laughing softly. “What happened when Darius picked you up?”

WHEN SHANE GREW LOUDER, ivy reached and grasped her shoulder, “hey, keep it down.” she urged. there were eyes and ears everywhere in mckinley, but the amount of eyes and ears that were in the hallway were too many for her liking at the moment. “shane, please be quiet.” ivy hissed. if they weren’t in the middle of school and she wasn’t so beaten down from the weekend, she’d be fine with having this argument at full volume, but for now she would do her best to diffuse. “listen, i’m sorry eli did that, and i’m sorry for saying whatever i said. i took something laced, i was totally out of it, i’m sorry.” she said, tone hushed. that part she could take accountability for, she could apologize without being stubborn because she didn’t remember it. but as shane brought up ivy cheating it felt like every word and thought had been directly knocked out of her. “shane … it wasn’t … it wasn’t like that.” ivy lamely faltered. but it was like that. it was like everything the blonde told her was confirming her absolute worst fears and it made her want to run off and puke. “it’s just like really complicated and all that matters is that i love leo, i really do.” she insisted, still quiet as she nervously looked around. 

Ivy’s plea for Shane to be quieter only made the blonde more angry. “Everybody already knows what you did, Ivy. So what difference does it make?” Shane asked harshly, ignoring the other girl’s request to change the volume of her voice. She didn’t press the subject when Ivy explained that she hadn’t really known what she’d been saying to Eli at LJ’s because she’d taken something laced. Shane knew that had to have been shitty, so, she let it slide. It wasn’t really what she was upset about, after all. The fight with Eli had been a little embarrassing, sure, but it didn’t infuriate her the way finding out she’d cheated on Leo did. As Ivy tried to explain away the situation by saying it wasn’t like that, and that she loved him, Shane couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Okay, Ivy. Sure it wasn’t. So what was it like then, hm? Let me hear your best explanation as to why cheating on Leo was even slightly okay,” she insisted, giving the other girl the hardest stare she could muster as she waited for an answer. “On what planet is that all that matters? Plenty of people wind up treating the ones they love like shit. And following that up with an I love you doesn’t make that okay. Not even a little bit.”

DREW: aw, thank you.

DREW: yeah, was definitely a weird week for me!! just another item in the long list of things of things stephanie koo has gotten upset w/ me for.

DREW: if i could make an anti-muckraker i would!! it's so messed up!! not to mention a little creepy haha

SHANE: yeah i saw you guys talking at prom, it looked a lil intense!! did you guys used to date or something?

“Wow,” he drawled with a soft chuckle, shaking his head at her, “very scandalous, prom princess. Royalty really does come at a price.” Leo already felt better. Not completely, not even close, but better. That counted for something. He still felt really, truly stupid…but it was comforting to hear Shane say with such conviction that it wasn’t on him. That nothing he’d done or hadn’t done warranted Ivy hurting him like this. “A throat punch, huh?” he asked, tilting his head from side to side as he considered it, “you gonna defend my honor?” he joked, chuckling weakly. Obviously Leo didn’t expect that, but it was nice to have someone so valiantly on his side. On top of that, Shane was actually making good points. He wasn’t perfect and the fact that Ivy had dealt with their issues the way she had was more a reflection of her than of him. “I kind of knew something was up at prom,” he started to explain, “and I asked her about it then but she denied it. And then I asked her about it on Monday after the article came out and she denied it some more until I had her face to face and she kind of couldn’t lie anymore.” Thinking about it visibly upset him. He shook his head and flipped on to his back, staring up at the ceiling blankly with his hands resting on his stomach. “I don’t think she would’ve told me if it hadn’t gotten leaked,” Leo told her, turning his head slightly to look at the blonde. It was a bit hypocritical of him…after all, he hadn’t told Ivy about his kiss with Shane. But it felt different—him and Ivy hadn’t been dating when that happened. “She seemed sorry, but I just couldn’t tell if she was sorry that it happened or just sorry that I found out, you know?”

“I wasn’t actually gonna go ahead with it unless I got the okay from you,” Shane smirked. She really wasn’t a violent person; she’d never been in a physical fight. But she also hadn’t ever felt quite this heated with someone before, and that was saying a lot seeing as she’d gotten in a few verbal altercations just a few days prior. As Leo continued to explain everything that transpired on prom night and after, Shane nodded along, biting her lip softly to keep herself from interjecting. It took everything in her to keep herself from muttering the word bitch under her breath every time Ivy’s name was brought up. Shane hadn’t had a problem with the girl up until that point, she really hadn’t. Things were awkward, sure, but she hadn’t thought Ivy was a bad person. But sitting here with Leo, seeing just how much she’d hurt him... it was enough to make her actually consider throat punching Ivy. “Yeah, that makes sense,” the blonde responded as Leo questioned whether or not Ivy would’ve been honest if someone else hadn’t leaked the news first. “I don’t really know her that well, so... honestly, I don’t know if she would’ve. You’ll probably never know for sure,” she pointed out, her shoulders shrugging softly. “What’s your gut telling you?”

Emory was doing something bad again. Scrolling through old pictures of her and Julien. A curse that came with using google to hold old pictures. She hadn’t done this since last summer, but now she just feels like she should finally delete them, even though it hurt to do. Hearing her door open, she looked up and gave Shane a soft smile. “Yeah, I can’t sleep.” She said scooting over and turning her phone off and placing it to the side. She was well educated on what the gossip blog released and she felt bad that she hadn’t checked in on Shane. Of course she knew better than to even think that it was true, but if she knew anything it was that high schoolers can mean. “How are you doing?”

At her sister’s question, Shane shrugged her shoulders softly. “Y’know. Fine. Very excited to have been crowned prom princess after sleeping with McKinley’s staff for the title, apparently,” she said sarcastically, a playful eye roll following a few moments later. “But... I don’t know. My life has just been messy lately, I guess,” the blonde muttered, extending her legs out across Emory’s bed to get more comfortable. “But what about you? How was prom? I mean, I have a general idea after seeing Julien and Rory together and reading the muckraker, but... still. What happened?” she questioned.

His eyes followed her as she made her way towards his best and quickly plopped down next to him, the same way they’d done hundreds of times before. He sighed at her question, not breaking their eye contact. For a moment they just stared at each other, but then Leo nodded vaguely. “Yup,” he said kind of quietly, “it’s true. Ivy confirmed it.” Saying her name felt bad and honestly left him feeling shame and embarrassment all over again. He averted his eyes, turning his face so that it was buried in one of his pillows. It was hard to look at her, not because she was doing anything wrong, but because he didn’t like crumbling in front of people like this. The last thing he wanted was for Shane to view him as weak. He took a deep breath. He needed to get it together. “Is it true about you?” he asked, but this time when he sat up slightly and turned to face her, there was the tiniest hint of a smile on his face. He knew it wasn’t true, but what a bold and insane rumor. If things hadn’t been so shitty, he was sure they would’ve had a really good laugh about the whole thing. Leo started to feel more at ease the longer they laid there next to each other. Shane knew him better than anyone. She knew all of his secrets and the parts of him he kept buried. He’d broken down in front of her a handful of times so even though he wasn’t in good shape, she’d seen worse. “I feel like such a fucking idiot,” he stated with a sigh, meeting her gaze once again. “Maybe I should’ve seen this coming,” he shrugged, tightening his lips into a line, “I probably deserved it. You said it yourself, I haven’t exactly been compromising. But still…fucking blows.”

It was the answer that Shane was expecting, sure, but that didn’t stop the knots from forming in her stomach. She was pretty good at dealing with people who lashed out at her, but when the people she loved were being hurt? She wasn’t even remotely good at remaining calm. She didn’t say anything right in that moment, because she wanted to make sure Leo got out everything he wanted to say. But she was sure he could see it in her eyes. When he jokingly asked if the rumor about her in the muckraker had been true, Shane’s expression softened. “Obviously,” she started, rolling her eyes playfully. “You and I both know I wasn’t getting that crown any other way.” When Leo admitted that the whole situation made him feel like an idiot, her heart broke all over again. “You’re not an idiot,” Shane insisted, raising her brows. “People who cheat are idiots,” she stated matter-of-factly. “And you definitely didn’t deserve it. I mean, okay. You might not have been compromising. But you were... what? A few weeks into the relationship? No one’s got a perfect relationship after that much time. And if you’re going to cheat on someone when things aren’t perfect right off the bat, then you’re an asshole and deserve a nice throat punch,” the blonde insisted, letting out a soft sigh. Was she a little biased? Maybe. But she definitely couldn’t see it, not in that moment. “Have you talked to her about it at all?”

IVY WAS IN THE MIDST OF PUTTING ON CHAPSTICK IN HER LOCKER MIRROR WHEN SHE SAW SHANE APPROACH BEHIND HER. she was having a rough time since prom. mostly just sitting around miserably and trying to feel like herself again. despite how off she felt, there was no denying that this conversation was about to go south. the brunette capped the tube of chapstick, threw it in her locker, closed it’s door then turned to face shane. “shane, hi.” she said, placing some false hope into the fact that maybe she actually just wanted to chat. she tightened her ponytail, just to occupy her hands and keep her from looking nervous. “um, i’m not like super sure but we have to talk about but…” a shrug. “go ahead.” she bit down on her lip. there was no way this wasn’t about leo. it was a conversation she wasn’t sure she was ready to have, let alone at school, or with the blonde standing across from her for that matter. in attempt to prolong the inevitable, ivy held up a hand. “actually, you know, before you get started, if this is about leo and i, i really think you should just like… mind your business.” 

The second Ivy told her to mind her business, Shane could feel herself about to go off. Her eyes narrowed, clenching her hands into fists as they still rested across her chest. “Excuse me?” she asked, her voice getting louder the more angry she became. “Do you really have the audacity to tell me to mind my business after making up some shit about me and Leo kissing in the bathroom at prom that caused Eli to go off on me in front of everyone at LJ’s party?” she asked, though she didn’t leave Ivy much time to answer. “But honestly, I don’t even care about that. I should’ve expected that level of drama from you. What I didn’t expect was you cheating on my best friend,” the blonde accused. “I know you’re used to thinking of yourself and yourself only,” Shane stated, though the only real evidence she had of that was what had taken place between Ivy and Julien while he was dating Emory. “But that’s not the kind of person Leo is, and he doesn’t deserve to have to put up with someone so self-centered. So if you can’t be that person for him, leave him the hell alone. He deserves to be with someone better than that.”

DREW: im kind of in shock too!!!

DREW: the muckraker is bogus. i don't believe that for a second. don't worry haha.

DREW: this is the same muckraker who said winnie and i were expecting. i take what it says with a grain of salt.

SHANE: it's ok, i figured u wouldn't lol

SHANE: omg i totally forgot about that one

Shane’s life had been messy lately, there was no doubt about that. But from what she’d heard about what was going on with Emory, hers wasn’t exactly a picnic either. She’d never been big on talking about anything emotional, but if she was going to, it was going to be with her sister. Especially if Emory had things she wanted to vent about too. So even though it was late, the blonde made her way down the hall to her sister’s bedroom, cracking the door slightly to see if she was still awake. When she saw the older girl sitting on her bed, she pushed the door open and let herself in. “You still up?” she asked before hopping onto her sister’s bed.

Up until prom, Shane was pretty happy with where she and Ivy stood. The weren’t friends by any means, but they weren’t feuding, which had seemed like a real possibility after their first run in at Lemon’s party a few weeks back. And the blonde had chalked that up as a win, honestly. But then last weekend happened. Shane wound up getting yelled at by Eli St. James over an alleged kiss she shared with Leo in the bathroom, which certainly wasn’t true. She’d been drinking that night, sure, but not nearly enough to forget something like that. Ivy had made it up, and Shane couldn’t figure out why for the life of her. But still, in the name of keeping things civil, she was ready to let it go. Until the most recent issue of the muckraker came out. Leo confirmed that Ivy and Archer had kissed at the dance that night, and that made Shane’s blood boil. She could handle people being shitty to her, but when they were hurting the people she loved? All bets were off. So even though it was the middle of the school day, and the two were standing in a crowded hallway, Shane approached the brunette. “We need to talk,” Shane said harshly, her arms crossed tightly across her chest.

closed starter @shanepuck​

Leo had a habit of isolating when he was going through a hard time because he hated talking about his feelings. Like a dormant volcano, he could erupt at any time, but he did everything in his power to make sure he didn’t. Not about real shit anyway. Prom and all of its consequential events had left him feeling deeply hurt and insecure. Aside from getting advice from Finn, he’d been avoiding pretty much everyone. Even Shane. He didn’t exactly want to dump his Ivy problems on her, but also part of him was embarrassed that he’d been essentially cheated on and lied to. The blow to his ego wasn’t normally something he would care about discussing with Shane, but whether they liked it or not, there had been a shift in the way they saw each other. Would they address that shift? Probably not, but it was still there. He couldn’t articulate his feelings for her and he refused to even try, so whatever. He’d just sulk and seethe in silence about everything until eventually it all went away. When Leo got home from school, he went straight to his room in the basement, kicked off his shoes, and sunk into his bed. He wasn’t sure how long he laid there for before he heard someone coming down the steps. “Go away,” he called out, presuming it was his dad or maybe Summer.  When the noises got louder, meaning the person was closer, he groaned and slowly turned around to face the door. “I said go aw—” he stopped mid-shout when Shane emerged from upstairs. He was visibly surprised. “Hi,” he greeted, rolling over fully so he was facing her direction. He took a deep breath and then scooted over on his bed, wordlessly inviting her to join him. 

As much as Leo and Shane wanted things between the two of them to be normal, they just... weren’t. They weren’t bad by any means, but they were definitely different. They’d never had a problem talking about anything, their dating lives included, but talking about Ivy... it was hard. Shane hated it, though she pretended like she didn’t for the sake of normalcy. But after the most recent edition of the muckraker had come out, she knew it was a conversation they were going to have. Leo hadn’t initiated that conversation at all, and she wasn’t even sure if it was something he really wanted to talk about with her. But she knew he needed to. There’re times in life when you just need your best friend, and this was one of them. So without giving it a second thought, and without an invitation, Shane hopped into her car and sped over to the McCarthy household, letting herself in and making her way down to Leo’s bedroom once she arrived. She ignored his request for her to go away, obviously, and walked right into his room. And when she saw how hurt he looked, and how much he was clearly struggling with this, Shane swore she felt her heart shatter. She hated seeing him like this. When he realized it was her, he made room for her on the bed, and Shane gladly took it. After plopping down next to Leo, her eyes locked with his. “Is it true?” she asked, though she had a pretty good idea of what his answer would be by the look on his face.

DREW: awe, that's so sweet though

DREW: i get that, my mom can be dramatic too sometimes

DREW: she freaked out and called me when i texted her that i won haha

SHANE: honestly i get their reactions, it was pretty exciting lol

SHANE: i still can't believe it happened tbh

Theo was feeling pretty all over the place and Shane was the first close friend he saw when he entered LJ’s party, so naturally, he started to spill all of his shit to her. As he rambled on, she listened without interruption, which he truly appreciated. Once he’d gotten it all out, he let out a weak chuckle at her wide eyed reaction. “I know,” he agreed, shaking his head and rubbing his face anxiously. Shane was right, he was sure Lemon freaked, but he was also freaked. “I don’t even remember what I said,” he admitted, scratching his head as he tried to think about it, “I think I told her that I was always going to love her, you know, like she’s my best friend—” he cleared his throat, “but then I turned around and saw Lemon and went after her. I just kind of left Leia standing there.” He felt guilty for that, he really did. At her question, he had to think about it. “I always thought Leia and I would end up together,” he started quietly, biting the inside of his cheek as he took a deep breath, “but that was before Lemon. And now I don’t—” see myself with anyone else. But that all felt too crazy to say. “I don’t know.” Truthfully he was just confused. He had to laugh at Patience and Mason being parent. “I know,” he said again, shaking his head in disbelief. “Total fucking train wreck,” he admitted, clicking his tongue, “fuck it.” He made himself a drink and quickly swigged it, fixing one for Shane as well and handing it to her. “How’s your night going?” 

“Shit Theo,” Shane muttered, shaking her head softly as he laid out all the details of his night. “That’s... a lot. It definitely is,” she agreed with a nod. “But, I mean... I’m sure that once you actually get to talk to Lemon about everything that went down, she’ll understand. It’s not like you have any control over the feelings someone else has for you,” the blonde pointed out. “Besides, you guys seem like professionals at dealing with relationship road bumps at this point. You can work it out,” she teased, attempting to lighten his mood a bit. “It might be a little harder to patch things up with Leia, but... I bet it’ll happen in time. I mean, you guys have been a big part of each others’ lives for a long time. There’s no way she’ll want to just give up on that.” Of course, she wasn’t Leia. She didn’t know exactly how she’d react. But their situation was pretty similar to the one she’d landed herself in with Leo, and she knew that regardless of how awkward things felt right after everything unfolded, that losing him altogether wasn’t worth it. At his question of how her night was going, Shane let out a long sigh before taking the drink he’d made for her. “It’s... fine. It started out good. Prom was fun, and I got to hang out with Leo before coming here. But then Eli St. James went bat shit crazy and yelled at me for making out with Leo in the bathroom at prom, which never happened. And then I ran into Julien after realizing he’d ditched Emory at prom and tore him a new one. So, it’s been pretty damn confrontational, actually.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. He knew he wasn’t a good liar, but he had hoped he’d be able to put on enough of a poker face that he’d get himself out of this one. Clearly not the case. As Shane talked at him, Julien’s eyes widened and he blew up his cheeks as he held his breath. When she was done, he let out his breath, his lips making a brief raspberry noise. “Okay, fine,” he admitted, holding up his hands defensively, “you caught me. Maybe I wasn’t that drunk after I got off stage, but I had to talk to Rory about our performance to like…unpack it. It’s part of my process.” Not true, not true at all. “But then I couldn’t find Emory.” As Shane continued to go off, Julien cautiously continued to sip from his cup, unsure if it was inappropriate to keep drinking while he was being yelled at. When she was done, he swallowed hard. “I didn’t ditch her,” he stated, although technically, he kind of did. He needed to save himself. “She ditched me!” there, that should do it. “Look, Shane,” he started, softening, “I’m really sorry about what I did to Emory before but I wasn’t trying to do anything like that tonight. I genuinely just wanted to have a good time with her.” A pause. “Please don’t take a bat to my car.”

“Ah, it was part of your process. My mistake. That changes everything,” Shane rolled her eyes, sarcasm dripping from her voice. As Julien scrambled to get himself out of the hole he continued to dig deeper and deeper, the blonde kept her harsh glare locked on him. His story had holes she could’ve spotted from a mile away, and she had no problem calling him on them. “She ditched you? Yeah fucking right. Look, you and I both know that’s sure as hell not what happened. And the more you lie about it, the more pissed off I’m gonna get,” Shane insisted. “At this point, all you can do is start constructing the world’s best apology to give to Emory. And if she accepts it, I’ll consider not taking a bat to your car.” She paused briefly, pursing her lips slightly. “But if you ever pull this whole popping back into her life just to be a dick shit again, I can promise you I’ll be taking a bat to your car and slashing your tires. So leave her the hell alone.”