#griefshopper

“Holy shit, did you see that!? It’s head just went...flying off! God, I wish I had a camera.”

“Are you eating ice cream like that on purpose to get me on? Orr.....no, that’s the only reason you’d be using your tongue like that, I’m sure.”

Emma should have known it would be a fruitless endeavor to convince her friend it was okay to let go; that it was impossible for anyone to remain so strong all the time. Even someone as strong as Brooke - who was probably one of the strongest people the blonde knew, if she was honest, right along with Audrey - couldn’t weather the storm forever. They were only human, after all. 

Surviving two mass murder sprees - both of which hit far closer than anyone in their little group could have ever saw coming - allowed the teen to semi see underneath the facade the other blonde put up. But she wasn’t going to comment on it. Each one of them had their own way of coping with the trauma - who was she to say anything about how to handle all the misery and grief? 

Get out of this hellhole... that reminded her, this was their senior year. Pretty soon, the Lakewood Four (as their little group had been redubbed) would be going their separate ways, possibly for good. The blonde wasn’t sure if that thought relieved or terrified her more. Trust was a very hard thing for Emma, now, and probably always would be. The only people she truly trusted at this point were Brooke, Audrey, Noah and somewhat Stavos. Because they had been there, had gone through almost the same thing (even if she got off easy compared to Brooke, in retrospect). At the same time, she would occasionally glance at the group and see everyone who wasn’t there, all because of her. Riley, Will, Zoe, Jake... all of their deaths had been her fault. Perhaps... her friends would be better off without her in their lives. 

But that was a decision for another day; right now, her focus was on enjoying the time she had left with her friends. Normal, teenager-typical stuff this time around; no more secrets or murder. Just a regular group of friends doing regular friend stuff. 

“Speaking of that, have you heard from NYU yet?” 

very true. abused & beaten down smh. brooke would protect him with her heart and soul / like all my babies would protect him lets be real

benny-boy ♡

“What’re you, my Mom, Maddox? Unless you’re into that sort of thing then I’ll play along.”