#juno001

So, Phoebe was a little worried about Eli after their heart-to-heart long ago. So, she had been carving out as much time as he could share to visit the studio under the pretense of sharpening her piano skills, even if it was just to be in the same room as him and making sure he was okay, bringing lunch to make sure he ate. She had no doubts that Nilay was also looking after him, and that Eli was an adult who could care for himself, but a mom-friend never outgrew the need to…mother. 

It was a routine that Elijah seemed to begrudgingly agree to, and even if he was doing it for her, Phoebe was just grateful he was letting her be there at all, happy he hadn’t pushed her away, scared he would do so after opening up. So, she was a bit confused when walking through the parking lot of the studio when she didn’t spot his car at their usual meeting time. Clutching the takeout box from The Mango Tree tighter, she decided to head upstairs anyway, smiling brightly when she noticed Juno, his assistant, was in. “Juno, hey! Is Eli around?” She called out in greeting.

The partying was getting slightly out of hand. And it must have been bad for CJ to recognize that, sitting on the stoop of the entrance to the bed and breakfast, resting his head on his lap. God, comedowns were the fucking worst. 

He didn’t know how Point A got him all the way to, like, Point Z, and the headache bouncing behind his eyes was making it hard to think clearly. It had started like any other night in the apartment, and they went to…Labyrinth? No…O’Shea’s…no — The Pour House, because there was some dude in one of those ugly fishing caps giving him and Seb shit. And then they wanted to dance, and flashes of Aurora danced behind his straining eyeballs.

CJ let out a shaky breath, squeezing his eyes shut again. At some point they met someone, a tourist staying in town for some event or another, who had a room at Lakeside Lodge. And it wasn’t the biggest room but it was just big enough that the space didn’t feel cramped for the amount of people there. And then CJ woke up in the claw-footed tub with his phone dead, and unsure where Seb was, or who the person who was renting the room was.

Managing to find the strength to look up from his lap, someone rounded the corner, probably off to run errands or do something productive, and CJ in his hungover state decided to inexplicably trust them. “Dude…yo, hey!” He couldn’t bear to shout, voice hoarse from lack of hydration but was grateful when he got their attention. “Do you think you could do me a solid, and like, get me a coffee…or like, a ride home? Please?”

His lip twitched as he grinned, the scene in front of him the most charming and amusing thing he had seen in days. Ever since the ‘incident’ with Leila he had been feeling so depressed, but this scene had been great enough to distract him from his melancholy. A pretty girl with the bluest eyes he had ever seen trying to save a small kitten.