#jockentitled

❛  yeah.   yeah,   thanks.   ❜   words are quiet but genuine,   hands gently rubbing at fists.   there was an ounce of regret,   a wish that certain parts of tonight hadn’t happened.   the party hadn’t been so bad,   & maybe monty didn’t entirely regret the time he’d spent with winston,   but things quickly derailed at the end there.   he didn’t want to hurt winston,   not really,   but there had been this sudden intense fear when winston had talked to him,   as if bryce or alex seeing them talking would be the end of the world.   he wants to think that bryce would still love him even if he knew,   but the voice in his head is saying that’s not going to be the case.   head’s a blur,   a mixture of alcohol & emotions.   fear courses through him,   paranoia strong.   ❛  you don’t...   you’re SURE he won’t tell?   ❜   the fear in his voice is obvious,   it’s so beyond clear that this was more than just a drunk fight.   bryce may have paid winston off,   but how could monty be sure that the secret would be kept?   did money mean anything at all to these hillcrest kids?   it certainly didn’t mean that much to bryce.   ❛  if he tells...   ❜   but bryce doesn’t even know what he’d be telling.   not really.   because it’s not about the fight,   monty doesn’t care if people know that he beat winston up.   it’s the reason why,   it’s all the things he’d done with winston BEFORE he beat him up.   ❛  fuck,   man.   i can’t have him going ‘round spouting shit.   ❜

❛ you’re not gonna die. ❜   this is a mess.   good timing had led to this moment,   pure coincidence.   diving into the water had been an IMMEDIATE response,   though he really should’ve thought things through a bit more.   he’d had the common sense to put his phone on the ground before he jumped in,   that was a good choice,   but now that he’s in the water & has to hold up bryce’s entire weight?   well,   he wouldn’t call it a BAD choice,   but he certainly isn’t in the best position.   readjustment to hold him better is messy,   undoubtedly causes him some pain,   but charlie would rather make bryce hurt for a moment than just let him go & leave him here.   ❛ i’m not gonna LET YOU die. ❜

can he move forward?   she can’t be the judge of that.   sure,   matty knows him well,   has spent her entire life knowing him,   but even she had been SHOCKED by the things that came out on the tapes.   the things he’d said,   the way he’d pretended it was nothing.   she’d hidden that from him,   hidden any signs she’d ever even consider not being on his side.   bryce had done some bad shit,   but he was still her brother.   & at the end of the day,   no matter how much people may expect otherwise,   she’d always love him.   even when she hated him she loved him.   that’s just what their family was.     ❛  of course you can. ❜    said with such CERTAINTY,   a certainty she really doesn’t have.   the judge certainly believed he could move on,   half the liberty football team still believed it.   even if she didn’t entirely believe it,   there were people who did.     ❛  i won’t say that what you did was fine,   ‘cause it wasn’t.   it was FUCKED UP.   but...   i mean,   i know you,   bryce.   you’re a good person. ❜    or at least he’d always been good to her,   & to her that was the same thing.     ❛  your life is far from over. ❜