#daudrey

He sees her face from the stage-just one woman in a crowd of thousands singing his song-and the world stops. It's not her looks, though he's not oblivious enough to deny that she's stunning, but something else, something that cuts right through him.

While most of the crowd is grinning ear to ear, clapping along to the upbeat music, her eyes shine too bright, like she's barely holding back tears (like she hears past the music, to the lyrics he'd written in a fit of heartbreak, to the pain he's hidden under drum beats and guitar riffs).

There's a moment-just a moment-where she sees him watching her. Her eyes widen, and she stares back, soft and uncertain.

Then she catches herself, straightens, and gives a dry smile, shaking her head. Her walls are up fast, but not fast enough; he's seen her. She's as broken, as lonely as him, and just as guarded.

some jaisy (julien & daisy) friendship and a daudrey meet cute

-

Daisy knew a meltdown when she saw one, and Julien was heading straight towards one after watching her boyfriend leave with that freshman.

Normally, she wouldn't care. But she was trying to be kinder. And who better to extend an olive branch to than her mortal enemy? Wouldn't that show growth and character development?

Her therapist was going to be so proud of her.

(She might've been a little drunk but that was between her and God.)

Stumbling a bit in her skyscraper tall heels, she followed Julien out of the room and into the bathroom.

"Oh, not you," Julien grumbled, locking eyes with her in the mirror. "If you're here to post Insta stories of me crying, I will go full cat fight and rip out your extensions."

"This is my real hair!" Daisy exclaimed, throwing it over her shoulder. How dare she? You try to comfort someone and this is what you get?

"Yeah, and I'm Blair Waldorf," Julien quipped, wetting a paper towel and rubbing it under her eyes. All it did was smudge her mascara, making her look like a raccoon.

Daisy huffed, grabbing her purse from where it hung at her side. She pulled out her pack of makeup remover wipes, swatting Julien's hands away. "You're fucking up your makeup," she said, when Julien looked affronted.

Julien let her wipe under her eyes in silence. Daisy smiled when she was done. Good as new.

"Are you okay?" she asked, putting the used wipes in the trash. When she looked back up, Julien was looking at her like she was a crazy person.

"Why do you care? We hate each other. It's not like you're supposed to worry about me."

"Of course I worry about you. You're important to me," Daisy said, before grabbing her blush from her purse. "I can't destroy you if you're not in the right state of mind. Then it's an unfair fight and that's no fun."

Julien laughed, and it wasn't mean spirited like it usually was. "You'd be horrendous in an actual fight."

"Yeah, well," Daisy shrugged before offering the blush over. "Give this back to me later or I'll kill you."

Julien rolled her eyes but nodded. Daisy took that as her cue to leave the bathroom, nearly slamming into Julien's little blonde friend.

She caught her by the waist and the girl froze, staring up at her like she was seeing her for the first time.

"Woah, are you okay?" Daisy asked, helping her stand upright.

"Sorry, yeah, I'm fine," the girl said. She wouldn't stop staring at Daisy's face like she was solving a puzzle. Maybe she was looking for Julien?

"Julien is in there," Daisy said, pointing to the bathroom. "She was upset but I think she's okay now."

The girl nodded, seemingly distracted, and walked into the bathroom without another word.

“Oh, oh, oh,” Audrey exclaimed and jumped up, pulling the fishing line back in, just the way Duke had shown her. “I’ve got something!” 

Duke positioned himself behind Audrey, his hands hovering by her ellbows but not touching. “Easy now.” 

Audrey screamed out when she held the big fish up. “Dinner!” 

Duke laughed softly. “Well, we need to cook it first.”