. ꕤ ｡ ˚ 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡.

kolby shakes his head, both at the thought of letting jesse call an uber and the quiet gratitude that follows. it hadn't been a question in kolby's mind. after watching everything unfold on tv and subsequently waiting anxiously by his phone to extend whatever support he could to jesse, picking him up from the airport was far from any kind of inconvenience. " nah, don't worry about it. i just... " kolby's hands tighten on the steering wheel, voice trailing off into nothing as he mulls over the words on the tip of his tongue. i just wanted to be here for you. it would be simple if not for the unease he feels in breaching the topic of what happened— especially when jesse is so obviously not in his usual spirits. as much as kolby doesn't want to bring it up, it feels just as important to let jesse know he can seek comfort. kolby's eyes focus on the road ahead even if his thoughts are far off elsewhere, at war with himself until he can't handle the heavy silence any longer and quietly speaks up again, " hey— i'm not gonna force you to talk about anything...but i'm here for whatever you need, okay? "

he keeps up his position facing kolby, skating effortlessly backward to match the wobbling headway forward kolby makes. " a masterclass — " jesse comments, tone teasing though the expression on his face is still warm. " — you'll be teaching me in no time. " it's reflexive how his hand reaches out, steadying kolby with a press of his palm against his hip as he overcorrects too much to one side. " okay — okay, don't get too excited or you're going to fall. " the commentary is accompanied with another laugh, blue eyes bright when they meet kolby's brown ones. when jesse leaves his hand on kolby's side, it's definitely just to keep him steady — nothing to do with the warmth that radiates off him or the incessant need that constantly bubbles up within him to be close to kolby. he's not really paying attention to anything else happening on the ice — just enough to make sure they're not endangering anyone else and that no rambunctious kids are on a collision course. he still catches the commentary of a pair gliding past them, how cute drifting over the music in the background and the chatter of the public skate crowd. jesse pretends not to notice — no way it's about them anyways. " so — " he asks kolby instead, " — was this still the better option compared to the quiz ?? "

❝  i've  got  it,  i've  got  it—  ❞  he  reassures  as  if  he  isn't  the  one  most  known  for  tripping  over  his  own  two  feet,  something  that's  always  made  more  obvious  whenever  he's  excited  or  flustered—  right  now,  though  he's  not  at  all  keen  on  admitting  it,  he's  a  mix  of  both.  jesse's  closeness  once  more  brings  a  warmth  to  kolby's  cheeks  he  pointedly  ignores  in  favor  of  answering  the  playful  question  jesse  asks  instead.  ❝  okay,  this  isn't  nearly  as  scary  as  i  thought  it  would  be.  i  also  think  i  just  have  a  really  good  teacher.  ❞  he  shrugs,  ❝  so  yeah,  waaay  better  than  the  qui— ❞  the  declaration  is  cut  short  when  the  sound  of  raucous  laughter  approaches  from  behind  him,  much  too  quickly  to  prepare for the worst.  a  pair  of  children  collide  with  kolby's  legs  hard  enough  to  knock  him  off  balance  and  send  him  stumbling  forward  into  jesse—  at  least  he  makes  the  best  effort  he  can  to  not  crush  jesse  with  his  body  weight  as  he  falls  down  on  top  this  time,  a  hand  instinctively  shooting  out  towards  the  ice  to  try  and  break  the  fall.  a  chorus  of  '  oops!  '  and  '  sorry!  '  fades  in  the  distance  as  the  kids  hurriedly  skate  off  while  giggling  to  themselves.  kolby  doesn't  scold  them  even  though  he  wants  to—  he  understands  they're  just  having  a  good  time like children should.  so  he  opts  to  flop his head  down  onto  jesse's  chest  instead,  groaning  dramatically.  ❝  nevermind.  i'm  picking  the  quiz  next  time.  ❞

there's a quietness now, and it's not on purpose, but genuinely because the need to fill the space with something in unnecessary. his skin crawls in the silence, and yet he favours that because it aches. she'd left, he was too steady, too much, not what she wanted. and not in a bad way, so she claimed, but in the way that she was bored, bored of nights in, bored that he loved his job and rarely complained, bored of the soft confidence that he'd built for himself, one that didn't require the need to fight, to argue to keep things exciting. but his happiness did equate to hers and so, like the line before her, she left. and like always, that obnoxious little happiness, where music was too loud, where he played around with his neighbours, an annoying habit between them that he liked, he knew the walls were far too thin to fall asleep with the tv on or music playing, but the bickering banter amused him too much to stop. what he didn't expect was for her to come looking for him, maybe three weeks later. he was awake, always was these days. up far too late, knowing he'd hate himself more in the morning. days old stubble on cheeks, eyes sunken in behind wire frames, scruffy looking in nothing but a pair of sweat and a shirt. " everything is fine. " he lies, though tone betrays him.

it  is  much  too  obvious  how  far  from  the  truth  the  statement  is.  blues  drink  in  the  sight  of  her  neighbor  looking  worse  for  wear,  and  even  if  that  is  an  understatement  and  the  phrase  ' you  look  like  hell '  rests  on  her  tongue,  she  avoids  pointing  it  out.  ❝  ...right.  ❞  her  tone  remains  a  tad  clipped  as  she  concedes  for  now,  sigh  of  frustration  shortly  following.  perhaps  it's  understandable  that  he  tries  to  keep  his  issues  stowed  away  from  a  nosy  neighbor;  however,  ellie  can't  help  herself  from  another  attempt  despite  that.  ❝  look, i  know  i've  only  come  over  here  to  complain  about  the  noise—  ❞  a  breath  of  a  wry  laugh  slips  in,  for  she  knows  she  hasn't  been  the  easiest  neighbor  to  deal  with,  before  continuing,  ❝  but  i  don't  feel  right  leaving  you  alone  when  you  look  like  you  haven't  slept  in  days.  ❞

"Yeah, exactly. I should be the only thing on your mind right now." Xavi answered with a little smirk, answering Flynn's kiss. When Flynn teased him, he rolled his eyes and playfully pinched the other's sides. "Oh, fuck you." - He muttered, grinning softly afterwards. When he asked about the bed, he tilted his head aside and gave Flynn a quiet shrug. "You'll be staying in the guest room." The corners of his mouth curled up in a cheeky smile, fingertips brushing underneath the other's shirt softly. "You have to earn everything while you're here. You're no rockstar, no-on knows you here. How does that make you feel?"

flynn  briefly  jumped  when  xavi  pinched  his  sides—  he  wouldn't  admit  to  being  ticklish  in  the  slightest,  but  instead  offered  a  defiant  glare  that  was  quickly  replaced  when  told  he  would  be  taking  the  guest  room.  he  simply  scoffed  as  if  that  was  nothing  more  than  an  insult.  ❝  you're  gonna  make  me  stay  in  the  guest  room?  oh,  come  on.  i  bet  that  won't  last  more  than  one  night  before  you're  asking  me  to  sleep  with  you.  ❞  flynn  taunted  with  a  smile  equally  as  cheeky  as  xavi's,  wrapping  his  arms  around  the  other's  waist  to  coax  him  closer.  as  he  felt  xavi's  fingers  brush  against  his  skin,  he  melted  into  the  touch  without  even  meaning  to.  ❝  i'm  not  bothered  by  it,  ❞  chuckling,  he  leaned  in  to  kiss  slowly  along  xavi's  jaw,  murmuring  against  the  skin,  ❝  you  don't  think  i'm  capable  of  earning  what  i  want?  i  can  behave  myself,  you  know.  ❞

the progress they're making is slow, plenty of other skaters zooming past them relatively quickly. that's not entirely a bad thing, jesse decides. at least that drastically reduces the likelihood of them crashing into anyone given he's backwards and he's certain kolby is focused mostly on staying upright. he takes the initiative to keep them moving, his skates moving beneath him second-nature to the uncoordinated, stilted efforts of his best friend. kolby does seem to be wobbling a bit less — even if he keeps his hands firm on kolby's hips just in case. he'd be lying if he said he minded how much kolby was relying on him right now, each point of contact pleasantly warm. " see ?? you're definitely getting a handle of it now, " he encourages, though that still might be an overstatement of kolby's abilities jesse is minutely less concerned his best friend might topple with a single wrong breath. his head turns, looking over his shoulder before he steers them around a corner. " so — " one hand squeezes kolby's side encouragingly. " — you want to try a little on your own ?? i'm impressed you haven't fallen again yet. "

he  continues  to  follow  jesse's  lead  as  he  normally  does,  moving  his  focus  down  to  the  movement  of  his  skates  to  try  and  convince  himself  that  the  sensation  of  ice  beneath  him  is  instinctual  and  not  foreign.  jesse's  encouragement  urges  kolby  to  look  up  briefly,  clearly  pleased  with  his  improvement  even  if  it's  just  a  smidge—  if  jesse  says  he's  impressed,  then  kolby  will  take  it  to  heart  and  keep  trying.  though  the  mention  of  attempting  on  his  own  makes  his  stomach  give  a  little  lurch.  ❝  ...yeah,  guess  i  can't  keep  a  death  grip  on  you  forever,  can  i?  ❞  kolby  says  with  the  smallest  of  pouts  and  a  soft,  long  suffering  sigh  as  he  garners  the  courage  to  drop  his  hands  from  jesse's  shoulders  (and  pointedly  ignores  how  he  immediately  misses  the  little  bit  of  contact).  ❝  watch  closely  now.  this  is  about  to  be  a  real  masterclass  on  how  to  skate.  ❞  he  makes  a  show  of  cracking  his  knuckles  as  he's  released  from  jesse's  clutches,  and  although  he's  still  comically  stiff  as  a  board,  he  pushes  off  again,  maintaining  the  same  slow  speed  with  a  subtle  wobble  he  immediately  scrambles  to  correct  before  it's  too  late.

“ Tonight, you’re mine, and I’m going to remind you exactly why. ”

AIDING: receiver helps sender redecorate

“who said you had to say no?” he said. his delivery soft an careful of the situation and how she’d probably respond afterwards. he wanted her to be comfortable but he also didn’t want her to say yes just to appease him. he wanted her consent because this was also something that she wanted. there was no sense in trying to force something that neither party probably wanted. “let’s give it a shot. if at any time that you feel uncomfortable or want to back out, all you have to do is say so, okay? no hard feelings and no grudges. i just wanna see if this is something that could… happen between us. a trail period never hurt anyone and if it doesn’t work out, we can always go back to the way we were like this never happened.”

hearing  armani  express  his  feelings  about  the  situation  made  laila  wish  she  would  have  avoided  the  conflict  and  simply  communicated  earlier  to  save  them  both  the  trouble.  she  nodded  quietly,  her  eyes  shifting  off  elsewhere  as  she  considered  his  words  with  the  utmost  care.  for  starters,  she  knew  she  needed  to  work  on  being  more  open  when  uncertainty  struck  her  if  she  wanted  this  to  work  out—  which  she  did  despite  her  fears.   ❝  you're  right.  it  wouldn't  hurt  to  try.  ❞  though  the  prospect  of  things  between  them  not  working  out  did  make  her  wonder  if  they  really  could  pretend  this  never  happened  if  need  be—  she  pushed  away  the  thoughts  and  stepped  closer,  reaching  up  to  place  a  gentle  hand  on  armani's  cheek.  ❝  i  don't  have  anywhere  else  to  be,  so...this  is  me  turning  back,  ❞  she  admitted  softly,  ❝  promise  i  won't  run  out  again.  i'll  come  talk  to  you  instead,  okay?  i...want  this  to  work.  i  really  do.  ❞

such a simple answer. one that siya knew was the right way to think of it. hard to see that truth though when your life was interwoven with someone else's so intricately. all the same, she knew that the other woman was right and she nodded along with it to show that. that and to agree with her offer. "please, come right in," she stepped back. "suppose i'm the type to quit fully once it's done. i want to try everything i can so if i do leave them or something, i can say that i gave it all i could. not everyone deserves the chance-" the ex in questions especially, "-but it's more for me at that point." which said even more about siya than she realized. "hope you like halloween. it's most of my décor at this point."

ellie  listens  intently  while  stepping  into  the  apartment,  nodding  along  to  show  she's  paying  attention  as  she  takes  in  the  decor.  a  smile  touches  her  lips  as  she  turns  to  face  the  other.  ❝  can't  say  i've  ever  seen  this  much  halloween  decor  before  in  the  middle  of  spring,  buuut?  i'm  kinda  into  it.  ❞  with  a  casual  shrug,  ellie  backtracks  to  the  previous  topic,  ❝  we  don't  have  to  talk  about  how  shitty  it  was.  i  know  i'm  already  overstepping  as  it  is,  ❞  she  lets  out  a  wry  laugh  when  she  further  realizes  how  little  their  conversations  have  moved  past  exchanging  pleasantries.  ❝  we've  only  talked,  like,  twice  before.  pretty  sure  i  didn't  even  properly  introduce  myself.  i'm  elysia's—  ellie's  fine,  too.  ❞