B Y E

“Ha, ain’t that the truth,” she chuckled and took another drink, trying her best not to wince at the harsh taste.  Annabel bit her lip as he continued to speak and gave her head a slight shake. “I don’t know… Is it that obvious?” She asked while making a face. “Just some shit from my past that keeps coming back some fucking how. But uh, I’m not like drinking drinking again… This is just like.. to mellow me out, okay?”

“the past always comes back to bite us.” he chuckles dryly, shaking his head in response. he understood her situation, far too well in fact, it was a lot easier to find a temporary solution to their problems rather than a permanent one. “i’m not trying to tell you what to do it’s just...i’m worried.” he sighs softly. he wasn’t one to lecture her anyways. hell, if anything he wanted to join her. “cliche bullshit but i’m here if you need me, or whatever.” 

milo’s jaw shifted as his tongue arose to swipe at his upper canines, his cobalt hues tearing themselves away from the piece once more to observe the stranger’s side profile, he found himself a little shocked to hear the others wording, seeing as how he’d expected a mere yes. in retaliation to this, he offered a nod. “out of place?” milo asked, gesturing with his shoulders. “here?” he followed up, attempting to gain a sense of clarity. 

“now, now erik.” vincent mused in an overly mocking tone. “there are other ways to enjoy life y’know.” he cooed, clearing his throat. “ping pong, for instance.” he continued, chuckling lightly. the raven haired boy offered the other a slight shrug of his shoulders before crossing his arms over his chest. “i’ve said l’chaim and poured too many times this month— saying no to a drink thing is actually quite relaxing for me.” 

kasey looked out of her bag and refused to look erik in the eye. this conversation was only going to end with kasey being more angry than she already was, and her feelings were already hurt. “you had your chance to talk months ago.” she finally found it in herself to look over at erik, her eyes sharp and her lips pressed together in a frown. “you owed me an explanation when you decided that i didn’t deserve to be in your life anymore. when you left without saying anything.”

“i know, i fucked up.” it was difficult for him to admit that, it would have been easier if he didn’t try to resolve things between them, but he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t at least try. “i was being selfish, i know that, but i wasn’t exactly in a good place back then.” he wished he talked to her about it back then, maybe if he did then he wouldn’t have gone in a downwards spiral. “i’m so sorry, kasey.” 

“oh uh no, no.” milo spoke, his voice hitching under the others words. he shifted himself over a few more inches in an attempt to provide the other with a considerable amount of personal space. “i’m sorry. it’s my fault. i shouldn’t have stood so close. just trying to see the piece aa little better.” he explained before redirecting his cobalt hues towards piece at hand. “did i startle you?” the apologetic boy asked, offering him a morsel of a smile. 

she was left with one box when erik grabbed them all from her. “i– i tried! but people are just busy, that’s not their fault… i would have got in eventually,” katherine says, as she pulls the door open now she has less boxes in her arms. katherine holds it for erik to walk inside. “yes this is all of them. thank you, erik.”

the fact that erik was running to catch up with her snapped kasey out of whatever she was engrossed in. she just kept walking from her car to the door, even though the distance was a bit farther than she would’ve liked. she totally ignored erik’s plea and struggled as she looked through her bag for her keys. “shit, shit, shit.” she whispered as she stopped at the door to look in her bag for her keys. kasey’s hands were shaking and she bit her lip in concentration. why would erik want to talk to her now? he made it perfectly clear that he wanted nothing to do with her anymore. why the sudden change?

“seriously?” he thought out-loud to himself as he, completely disregarding the fact that she most likely wanted nothing to do with him. he was being selfish, as usual, and he needed to try and fix things between them. he has yet to even consider the fact that she may not want that. “kasey, please --” he breathes out heavily as he finally catches up to her, leaning up against the wall beside her door. “i just want to talk.” just a few months ago he refused to even speak with her, simply cutting her out of his life. “i owe you an explanation.” 

basil watches erik’s finger then crawls over to the spot in which he pointed. a soft smile appeared on the boy’s face as he grabs the ear piece. “yes!” he blows the hearing aid off and puts it in his pocket to sanitize later. basil looks up at erik. “thank you,” he murmurs, signing it as well.

“no problem.” he smiles for a brief moment as he shakes his head as he outstretches a hand towards him, offering to help him up off of the floor. “get up, it’s filthy down there.” he wasn’t quite sure if basil could hear him properly but he hoped body language would suffice. 

Annabel offered a faint smile at the familiar face and nodded her head. “Yeah, something like that. Or week. Life. Whatever.” She mumbled on before taking another large gulp from the water bottle, hoping the odor wasn’t too noticeable. She really wasn’t sure how she could talk about what was going on so she decided to deflect it towards her work. “Just a lot going on with opening the new exhibit next week. We had a seller back out last minuet so now I’m scrambling to find someone with at least three Georges Seurat pieces which is proving impossible.” 

erik watched her carefully, a concerned expression pulling at his features. he was no expert, in fact he was far from it, but he could pick up on that she was avoiding something. perhaps it was simply due to the fact that he tended to avoid the truth as much as possible. “well that’s shit.” he added in with a short shrug, not quite sure what to say. “people suck, forever fucking everyone over.” he sighs. he found difficulty in trying to comfort someone but it was better than sugarcoating the situation for her. “i’d offer to kick his ass for you but i’m guessing that’s bad for business.” he chuckles softly as he shifts his gaze away from her. “is that all that’s bothering you, though?” he asks cautiously, refusing to meet her gaze. “i don’t think your ‘tea’ is going to help much.” 

Milez looked up at the other male, annoyance setting into his face “Yes, now move your ass before i move it for you. There’s  whole fucking beach find somewhere else not inhabited by me.” He snapped 

“oh, is that a threat?” he tried to refrain from smirking but he failed miserably, his lips tugging up as he chuckled. he enjoyed being irritating far too much. “if there’s a whole fuckin’ beach around, why don’t you move?” he taunted. 

Annabel was shaking with anger. Just when she seemed to have out run the demons of her past and finally have a decent future for her and her son set up, everything comes running back at her full speed. A few nights had passed since Francois made contact with her and his constant harassment to get her to work for him again was stressing her out. She knew she didn’t have a choice, that she couldn’t fight it or go to the police. Not if it meant he’d do something to Kolby. She paid for the bottle of wine and stepped out of the shop with heavy feet before looking around to make sure no familiar faces were around to see her. She quickly opened the bottle and poured it into a water bottle labeled ‘tea’. After she tossed the bottle in the trash, she sat down on a bench and fought back tears as she brought the bottle to her lips. “Here’s to three years.” She sighed and flinched at the taste of alcohol touching her taste buds for the first time since she became sober. “What the fuck are you gonna do?” She spoke to herself with a heavy sigh. 

when erik was plagued with his own thoughts he tended to go for long walks to clear his mind, usually he wore a pair of headphones to avoid the potential of someone speaking to him, it also gave him the excuse to simply ignore whoever spoke up to him. as he was scrolling through his playlist he caught the faintest sound of a familiar voice, causing him to turn around and search for the voice curiously. his eyes land on annabel and for a moment he contemplates walking off and minding his own business, but before he can linger on the thought for much longer his sat himself right beside her. he wasn’t exactly sure why he cared but something seemed to be off and it wasn’t sitting well with him. “hey,” he greets her with a lazy smile, wrapping his headphones around his neck as he paused his music. he wasn’t quite sure what to say, he didn’t particularly know if something was wrong in the first place, let alone why she could be upset,  but he tried to offer a little comfort. “rough day?” 

“Okay, the term is officially over, and I have slept for almost three days straight,” Imogen stated, her hand pushing her hair out of her face. “Which means I officially need to go out and do something fun. You have any suggestions? I live like a hermit from October to May so it is well overdue.” 

“oh wow, you definitely need to go out.” erik agreed with a short laugh, shaking his head at the other. “well, i have plenty of suggestions but our definitions of fun may be vastly different. i suppose it depends on how adventurous you’re willing to be.”