#para01

Bree’s fingers thumped softly against the canvas of her camping chair, competing with the crackling bonfire in front of her and the chirps and trills of Oregon wildlife. The day’s earlier chaos of hosting and talking and cooking had faded, leaving her more or less alone with her thoughts. The exact thing she’d been trying to avoid by throwing the cookout in the first place. It was no surprise that her wandering thoughts and the warm buzz of alcohol were a barrier, refusing to let her absorb the question asked by the only other person left in her yard.

“Sorry?” She redirected her attention to the pretty blonde sitting next to her, blinking away the spots in her vision from staring at the fire too long.

Blake gave one of her charming smiles. “I asked how the deli was doing.” As always, Bree felt a small thrill at the sound of her accent, something that even working long days together hadn’t stolen.

The question felt wrong sounding so pretty. Especially when it was the very thing she was trying to avoid. Bree slunk further into her seat, turning her gaze back to the fire. Any other day, she’d give a non-committed answer, but anxiety and alcohol were a potent force, pulling the truth from her.

“It’s falling apart,” she told the flames. “The building was old when Mook bought it and now… It’s basically decrepit. You worked there.” Bree lifted one shoulder in defeat. “Don’t know how much longer I can feasibly stay open, to be honest.”

She could still hear the rain battering her windshield, the crash of thunder, the screech of tires, the blaring horns, the crunch of metal, the wail of sirens.  She could still smell burnt rubber, the distinct tang of iron and something else entirely undistinguishable she could only describe as death.  She could still feel the way her seat belt braced for impact, the explosion of the airbag against her body, the way certain bones in her body snapped so easily.  She could see the headlights from the truck that came out of no where... she could still taste the blood... she could still experience that night just by closing her eyes.

It had been six full years since she’d seen her little sister; they’d been some of the best and most difficult years of her life.  Marrying Meredith had been the best choice she’d ever made but that relationship cost her the one she had with Evan and that loss in itself had been even more painful than the death of their father back when she was 18. 

The woman found herself on a doorstep she swore she’d never step foot on.  She wasn’t quite sure how she’d gotten here but here she was.  Her opinion had always been- if Evangeline wanted a relationship then she never would have left... then she would have tried to make an effort but instead the girl moved out of the fucking state and Henri wasn’t about to reward that kind of behavior with groveling, they were both too stubborn for their own good.  It was the middle of the night 1:43 AM to be precise.  For the first minute she simply knocked.  She knew her sister was there.  Soon she found herself banging on the door, dead set on waking the younger woman.

Since it’s opening, Dalton Academy was known as one of the best boarding schools for boys; it was known for turning immature teens into men by graduation and it was yet to be let down by either a current or past student. Sebastian was one of their many Freshman students and it was safe to say he had started as one of the most arrogant of the pack and had already managed to down himself down enough for people to see his humility and realise that deep down he wasn’t such an asshole after all. 

Amazingly, his humble side had a lot of people fawning over him, but nobody caught his eye quite like Blaine Anderson; Blaine was a year ahead of him and he was the type of person to give everyone a chance, and that’s exactly what he did with Sebastian. He didn’t tell him to get lost when he tried to act all tough during Warbler practice, he didn’t lose his cool and tell him not to speak to him ever again. No, Blaine Anderson simply gave Sebastian Smythe a chance. Sebastian was originally from France and English wasn’t his first language and Blaine found a way to put himself in the younger boy’s shoes; how hard it must’ve been to leave his home, friends and other family members behind for an entirely new place where he now had to learn English even more than he had been back home in school. 

Skip almost four months later and here Sebastian was, he had more than one friend and his crush on Blaine Anderson soon turned from a dream to a reality; their feelings for one another had been mutual and almost after a month of regularly spending time together and tutoring and Warbler practice, they officially became an exclusive couple and they’ve been going strong for the past three months. 

It was the first lunch break of the day and Sebastian was quick on his heels to get to his boyfriend’s Numeracy Class so he could greet him and spend lunch together. Sure, it was only fifteen minutes, but something in the fifteen-year-old’s gut was telling him to cherish every moment he got to spend with his boyfriend today. It wasn’t this nagging feeling that was bothering him, he was just taking it as not being as loving as Blaine had been to him. He wanted to show his romantic side for once, he wanted to treat his boyfriend and show him just how romantic he could truly be when he really wanted to.

But if only he knew that nagging feeling in his gut was so much more than what he thought it was. It was only a matter of time...

There was a chill in the air.  That was an odd sensation for a supposedly summer’s day but being in the midst of hurricane season meant the weather could throw a tantrum at any moment and throw off a whole damn week of sunshine.  She didn’t care for the sunshine anyway.  She preferred days like today- rainy, stormy, cloudy, windy, chilly- it almost felt like fall if you closed your eyes. With an imagination as vivid as Matilda’s she could even pretend, just for a moment, that she was back in Ireland.

The train ride from Philadelphia to Boston was a whopping six hours but that was surely better than the possibility of getting stuck in traffic on the megabus.  Traffic was a sore spot for Mattie, she’d discovered recently that it is entirely possible to get road rage from the passenger’s seat.  Since the car accident back when she was 14 she’d refused to get a license.  Losing your mother to the carelessness of a drunk driver was enough to scar any teen for life but then add on the fact that she’d nearly died in said accident and it was a whole other story.  She’d been put into a medically induced coma after that for nearly a month which was pretty rare but she had a lot of healing to do both internally and externally.  Moving in with her father and step mother hadn’t been ideal.  While she’d loved him very very much, her relationship with Addison was strained on its best days.  Since his death they’d barely spoken, barely seen one another, caught up on major holidays and birthdays they were civil and friendly but... the blonde had been very much a part of her Dad and it hurt her heart to be reminded that at age twenty she was orphaned.  Going back to Brookline was something she hadn’t done since Henry had been laid to rest and that in itself had her nervous.

When she’d joined connections she was in Ireland.  She knew she was coming back to the states and thought it couldn’t hurt to look and see what was out there.  A month had gone by and she hadn’t found anyone of interest and literally the day she considered leaving the site for good, MistressHadley lit up her inbox with a message that had intrigued her.  From that day on they’d spoken every day... it had been six months and they were finally meeting face to face.  Miss Hadley never pushed her for photos of her face, she never pushed to cam- Mattie had weird phobias about what she put out on the internet and the woman seemed to understand completely.  With the woman’s birthday nearing and the fact that they were both finally sharing a coast, they’d mutually agreed that ‘Taylor’ would take the train up and stay the weekend.  School was out until Fall semester anyway.

Matilda smoothed her hands down the unwrinkled material of the dark floral dress for the umpteenth time and took a deep steadying breath as the conductor announced that they’d be pulling into the station.  Dark eyes glanced up and a single digit pushed those red rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose.  The butterflies swarmed in her stomach in a frenzied dance as the train pulled to a complete stop with a hiss and whine.  Grabbing her overnight bag, she slung it over her shoulder and headed to the exit.  Black and white lowtop converse found solid ground and she breathed a little easier.  As she made her way up the stairs, hidden in a crowd of people, dark eyes found that rose held between slender digits.  Biting down gently into her lower lip, she allowed her gaze to travel up and her breath hitched at the sight of the woman in the plaid top and three inch stilettos... Addison.  

It took her a moment for the shock to settle but she had to think quick on her feet.  Ripping the glasses from her face, she shoved them into a small pocket of her bag and zipped it closed.  Swallowing hard, she watched her step mother for a long silent moment, how had this actually happened to her?!  Of all the fucking people in the world, this woman was the woman she’d been submitting to and crushing on?  This was the woman she’d been getting to know on such a personal level?  It was hard to wrap her mind around but as time ticked by and the place began to empty of the passengers from Philadelphia she could see the woman’s face fall ever so slightly, she could see her demeanor shift.  Addison had always been good at putting up a front but after living with her for so many years Mattie could read the subtle shifts that no one should have been able to and just as the woman turned away she made a decision.  

Mattie went to walk past her as if she were heading out to get a cab and bumped into her gently.  “Sorry, god I’m clumsy, I-”  She looked up and her worried expression morphed into a somewhat surprised smile as dark eyes gazed up.  “What’re you doing here?  I was just about to-”  The younger girl gestured to the door that led out to the cabs.  “I was gonna surprise you.”  Mattie shook her head some.  “For your birthday.”  Finally taking a moment to breathe she let out an almost shy laugh and tucked a few strands behind her ear.  “Oh!...-oh, god... you must be waiting on someone.  Fuck... I should have called.”  As that espresso stare finally settled on green she stopped rambling, a silence settling between them... she offered that lopsided smile.  “Hey Addi... happy birthday.”

Grace was never really nervous. She had always been into the performing arts, so even in real life situations, she just told herself that it was a performance to get herself through it. But this was different. This was personal. Something she’d kept to herself all her life. Kink parties weren’t exactly a normal thing to go to. But Madeline wanted her to go with her to the party. She and Madeline met online the year before, so it was nice to have a friend who was into the same things. 

“Grace, you look fine, someone in there is gonna adore you,” Madeline assured her as they got out of the cab. Grace just sighed, her pouty pink lips parting as she looked at the entrance to the building. It looked just like a regular night club from the outside. And really, it was on the inside too. But it was filled with people just like her, and people she craved some type of relationship with. 

Sid shrugged his shoulders, bunching his coat higher up around his neck. He’d picked the wrong time to cut his hair, when it had just started getting cold and snowflakes whipped like stinging nettle down the wide collar of their coat when the wind swung. 

Sid also couldn’t say why they’d decided against warmer shores as the weather had taken a turn. It was probably going to be a brutal winter sitting along the ridge of the lake, yet here they were. With a lease almost a year long, signed with a fake name and paid for in cash.

Then maybe it was time. He’d never bothered to hide his presence and had skated for years along the southern border, debating and deciding against time and again if he should try and skip across it for somewhere else. Anywhere else. Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, across the ocean to the world far far away from ducking government agents.

He always decided against it, in the end. It seemed like the easiest way to get caught, and something else...Something that made him stay in the country. 

Maybe that same something that led him up the middle of it, and landed here. Somewhere unfortunately cold. And unfortunately boring. Every city Sid had visited had a soul, something unique and interesting, a voice or a language. Cleveland was almost unique in how boring it was. Sid wasn’t sure he had ever felt more of a prickling discomfort of being watched just walking down the street even though not a single soul has raised their head to even glance as Sid passed by.

He’d cut his hair a week ago, stepped into a barbers shop as he passed by it and let them cut more or less to their discretion. It was shorter than he’d had it in 5 or more years. Maybe a little more. A change that felt a little like a cold splash of water, even though Sid was already sure he missed the length. 

Their coat was too thin, collar high but not to block out the wind and long enough it was catching flecks of quickly graying snow against the red with from their boots when he walked. Sid was already feeling miserable sorry for themselves, and the weather had only just dipped bellow freezing this week. 

Frat parties sucked.

Quinn had never been much of a partier, though. She’d go to all the big parties when her sorority sisters invited her, of course, always concerned with her reputation and social standing. She would even have fun. Sometimes too much fun, considering her situation now. But now that she was entirely too sober and watching her friends down jello shots without her, she was realizing just how much she’d relied on a drink to get her through these nights.

Frat houses smelled funny, like old pizza and socks. The boys were relentless in hitting on her, the drinks always too strong. Not that she was drinking tonight - she spared a glance down at the clear liquid in her cup. Sprite, in hopes that something with bubbles could help the knots in her stomach.

(It didn’t help, not even a little.)

Her fingers curled around the plastic cup. She’d only been at the party for about an hour. Was that long enough? She’d just tell her sisters she’d gotten sick and didn’t want to ruin their fun when or if they questioned her about her disappearance. She turned abruptly, all too ready to make her exit now that she’d decided to leave, and liquid sloshed from her cup as she collided with somebody who’d been standing behind her. She felt droplets sprinkle across her own arms and chest. And there was a spreading dampness across the broad chest in front of her.

Music reverberated through the speakers in the Gamma Gamma Nu sorority house, some top 40 hit that was undoubtedly popular with the Gamma Gamma girls but made Clara’s head pulse in pain. She had only agreed or had mostly agreed, to come to this dance because of the promise of Tashaki Miyaki but the singer was currently taking a break, leaving Clara to question why she was staying. 

She skimmed the crowd, looking for a familiar face and quickly landed on Tess. Her best friend was being her usual weird self and hopping along poorly to the beat of the music. Clara wanted to roll her eyes but it was Tess’ innocence that had drawn her to her in the first place. Tess met her eyes across the room, shrugging helplessly as she continued to hop with the guy she was dancing with, someone with dark hair who was definitely not Alex.