EIZA: May I say that I can’t get over how amazingly gorgeous you looked at the Met Gala last week? You were shining, babe! How was it? Give me all the details and dirty gossip because I couldn’t make it this year, and I feel like I missed a lot. What do they call it now? FOMO? Yeah, I definitely have FOMO. @chsinfiniti

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙀𝙍 𝙄𝙎 𝙌𝙐𝙄𝙀𝙏 except for the soft sound of elvis presley playing on the old jukebox and maisie lets out a tired sigh as she finishes sweeping the floor. considering they were closing soon, the cook and the rest of the staff had already clocked out, leaving the blonde counting down the minutes until she could finally head home. today had been one of their busiest in a long time thanks to a festival happening just a street over and people were coming into the 60s themed restaurant looking to fuel up before going back to the activities. her feet were sore from all the running around but the tips she’d earned more than made up for it. now, all that was left to do tonight was to get home, get into her pjs and start studying for her upcoming exams. she's just washing her hands when the familiar bell on the door chimes, alerting her that someone had just walked inside the diner. green hues fall on the clock on the wall and she has to hold back a groan when the time shows they’re still serving customers for another twenty minutes. great. as she wipes her damp hands on her apron, she gets out from the other side of the counter and walks towards the entrance. whatever annoyance she felt quickly disappears when she sees who just arrived, a warm smile appearing on her lips. it was chase. ❝you know, im starting to think that you might be coming here for more than just our famous apple pie,❞ she teases the male, walking over to his usual booth and stopping right next to it. ❝do you want the usual? i still have two slices left, i can heat it up and put a scoop of ice cream on top if you’d like?❞

𝙇𝙀𝘼𝙑𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙁𝙇𝙊𝙍𝙄𝘿𝘼 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝘽𝙀𝙄𝙉𝙂 back home after being gone for over seven months was strange, to say the least. jamie, of course, had been welcomed back by her parents with open arms — questions about her whereabouts and why’d she left in the first place were quickly dropped when they saw the look on her face and she was grateful she didn’t have to make up another lie as to what had happened. she wanted to move on, to be the girl that she was before leaving and she would do everything in her power to do so. over a week had passed since her arrival and the one person she so badly wanted to see was also the one she was trying to avoid. she hadn’t seen chase since the morning after they had slept together, right before he left to go out of town for a few weeks due to an emergency. before leaving, they had promised to talk about everything when he got back but circumstances ( like two little pink lines ) had gotten in the way of that. there hadn’t been a day since they’d been apart that she hadn’t missed him, but she still couldn’t find it in herself to be brave enough to pick up the phone and contact him. so, she put all her attention into moving into her new apartment instead. it was a small two-bedroom unit downtown that had been available when she came back home and that she’s spent the last few days unpacking in. her daughter’s nursery items and other memorabilia were stuffed into two boxes and hidden away from sight in the back of the closet. she hopes one day she’ll be able to look through them without crying her eyes out. for now, though, the only thing left to do was to put away all the books in the large bookshelf located in her office and she would be finally done. she’s just in the middle of pulling open one of the moving boxes when she hears a knock at her door, a confused frown taking over her features. her mother was the only person who knew where she was, so assumes that the woman was coming over to help her unpack. walking over to her front door, she turns the knob and starts to pull it open,  ❝ mom, i told you i didn’t need any— ❞ she stops short when her gaze finally takes in the person in front of her, eyes widening at chase’s surprise appearance. so many emotions pass through her as they stared at one another for a few moments, and she’s terrified that everything she’s gone through the last few months was written all over her face. while she didn’t look any different from the outside, the inside was another story. ❝ hey, ❞ she greets carefully, half expecting for the male to start yelling at her for completely disappearing and cutting him off with no explanation for the last six months. she didn’t blame him if he did. she knows she deserves it. ❝ sorry – um, come in. please. ❞ she moves aside, gesturing for him to enter her apartment. 

Ever since her mother died and they had to rush her dead body to the hospital with the paramedics, Gracia avoided hospitals like the plague. However, with so many of her friends ending up hurt, it was a no-brainer that she would need to be there and she knew she would be spending a lot of time there for the next few days. She waves a bag of Takis when she goes into Chase’s room, immensely relieved to see him alive and up. When the list of injured people was initially announced, dread hit Gracia’s very core. She hated not having answers, she hated waiting, and not having an idea whether they would survive or not caused a surge of anxiety and desperation that swam within her. “I don’t know if you can eat that, but in that case, you can keep for when you get out,” she says with a gentle smile that doesn’t really reach her eyes. She’s too exhausted, too shocked, too scared still. “How are you feeling?”

– “THE WAY YOU TIE A TIE MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE A TODDLER, it’s embarrassing, ” blair remarks cooly, taking her drink from the bar. it’s probably not even a true statement, but she doesn’t know how to open a conversation with him without insulting him. the most relaxing thing about tonight is knowing that it might be the LAST that she ever has to lay eyes on chase raynor. it’s a relief. “ i didn’t know you were that close with kem or max, ” she adds, not that she pays remarkably close attention to chase. but he didn’t seem like he’d come out to a party for no reason, the loner that he is. 

     they’re  both  stood  behind  the  counter,  the  afternoon  quiet  and  the  store  almost  empty.  max  fidgets  with  a  lock  of  hair  before  glancing  at  the  time.  considering  chase  got  here  before  her  he  should  probably  have  his  break  soon.  «  have  you  eaten  ?  »  she  asks  casually.  «  i,  uh  ..  i  packed  extra  lunch  today  because  i  thought  trip  was  doing  the  closing  shift,  »  she  states  as  she  procures  a  tupperware  container  from  her  bag.  that’s  a  blatant  lie  and  anyone  who  knows  max  would  be  able  to  tell.  she’s  had  trip’s  schedule  memorized  for  weeks  to  come.  

          when sloane has to explain it to herself, it’s not as if they’d had a whole lot of other options. still, that’s one less person on earth because of something she’d done, and the sequence of events is startlingly easy to follow. it shouldn’t be that simple; and it’s a strange thing to know otherwise. of course, there’s the other side of it; the side where their actions helped someone, kem and max and christian. it helps a little. she forces herself to stop thinking, reminds herself of where she is. the skate park, not the boat. her gaze focuses. when she makes eye contact with chase, the irony isn’t lost on her. sloane lifts her hand awkwardly in greeting.