#para2

The day had been long and hard for Harley. Word had spread quickly about she and Selena being seen together for the first time since the breakup, and well, the studio had been slightly hectic. They were used to have one or two media members around the set, but the focus that day was on Harley and whether she and Selena were back together again since they seemed rather cozy. Her manager had advised her that until she and the singer were ready to go public that she simply deny things as nicely as possible and talk about how meeting up gave them a good chance to talk since everything happened. Playing on the fact that Harley wanted to check in on her after her surgery was believable enough. She chalked the hectic afternoon as to why she was more sensitive than usual about Selena’s desire to keep everything quiet. The blonde just hated the lying game. 

Now though, she was able to hop into her car and surprise that very brunette with a visit to her house a little sooner than she was expecting. Just because they couldn’t be public didn’t mean that Harley didn’t want Selena to be hers, and right now the limbo they were in was contributing to the other woman’s insecurities and the blonde’s restlessness. LA traffic of course had to be a bitch, so it took her about an hour for her to pick them up to salads from their favorite healthy food spot and arrive at her house. Once she was there, she quickly made her way to the door and rang the doorbell to the familiar residence. It only took a few moments for Selena to open the door, but as soon as she did Harley gently nudged her back into the house, closed the door, and kissed her as if she hadn’t seen her in months. Only when she needed a breather did she pull back and rest her forehead against Selena’s. “Hey baby, miss me,” she asked with a tilt of her head. 

She stress-cleaned when things were not like she expected them to be. But as of right now, this was an Asian level of cleaning. Literally. She was at it for hours now, probably had already done the room three times, but she found new stuff to clean, much like her conscience, it was impossible to get certain stains out. Rubbing and rubbing and rubbing she did , just to keep herself busy, to not think what had happened, what words were still dancing in her head. Little did she know that her best friend and current roommate would enter the parameter.

@cpt-trouble 

Carter had been out hunting for his pack, attempting to bring back anything he had been running around as a wolf for a little while before he caught scent of both a familiar and unfamiliar scent. Running in that direction he shifted back not too long from her as he quickly grabbed her around the waist halting her forward movements. “Unless you want your leg crushed I’d suggest you pay more attention to your surroundings.” He grabbed a branch as he tripped the trap watching as it snapped the branch in half. He then turned to look back at the young woman. “I’m surprised that you’ve lived this long.” 

So far the day had been going off perfectly. Maddox had showed up at the blonde’s house early to cook her breakfast as she got ready for work and then drove her downtown for her meeting. From there he went to practice with his team, met with his agent, and then raced back to his friend’s place to set up. While he loved his house, the backyard wasn’t big enough for him to do everything he wanted to. However, one of his best friends from high school was in the NFL and told him where he could get the spare key in order to use his vacation house. The place was humongous, but what he cared most about was the backyard. There was a gorgeous pool with a waterfall, a fire pit, grill, and big enough space for him to do everything he needed to. Three of his friends joined him at the house along with his sister in order to set up the screen to project the movie, the hanging lights, and the seating area for both the movie and dinner. When everything was set up outside, he and his sister moved inside to get dinner started. He had decided on taco night so he was making the salsa and guacamole before going to the grill for the skirt steak that he sliced. He would set up the makeshift taco stand when they got back quickly. The last touches were lighting up the tikis around the area to repel mosquitos and add another dimension for lighting. 

Maddox couldn’t believe that he managed to get everything done, showered, and get dressed before she received a text from Margot letting him know that she was about wrapped up. After kissing his sister on the head, he thanked everybody and dashed off to go get her. Within forty-five minutes he was pulling back into the driveway of his friend’s place. “This isn’t my house,” he said immediately. He wasn’t about looking better off than he was or lying in general. “I just needed it in order to set everything up.” He flashed her a grin before moving to get out of the car and over to her side to open the door for her. Instead of leading them through the front door, he instead used a key to unlock the tall gate that surrounded the backyard. As soon as he walked them in a bit everything that he had set up came into view. While outside he looked as calm as always, he was nervous. He hoped he had picked the right thing to do. “Welcome to your secluded little paradise. No one would think to look for you here, and it’s private enough that no one can sneak pictures without us hearing something,” he said with a squeeze of her hand. 

@sprmargot

“Hey you,” Emily greeted when JJ opened the door. She’d texted that she was coming over and wasn’t about to be persuaded otherwise. “You’re looking better. I guess your own clothes, clean hair, and an absence of beeping monitors will do that for a person huh?” Emily pulled her into a hug that she didn’t let go of right away, indulging a slight squeeze as she felt JJ firm and solid against her. “I brought soup and dumplings,” Emily held up the bag of takeout she’d grabbed on her way. Rossi was the cook of the team. She didn’t feel bad about resorting to purchasing her comfort food. “From that little place couple blocks away that I had been missing. So it was selfish really.” Emily looked around, surprised at how quiet JJ’s place was. By now she’d usually gotten a hug from Henry. Perhaps Will had taken him out to the park or something to let the two of them have some alone time. “So how are you feeling?” Emily laid one hand on JJ’s shoulder as they moved further into the house.

                                 It was Friday night and they promised each other, they were having a few hours for themselves. Sometime were they could go out to explore the town a little bit and enjoy of a movie night in an actual movie theater. The same she visited many times when she was a teen and it was something they had not done in a while. The model was excited even when it was hard to leave Leo. Lately, she could not spend time away from their little baby and she felt she missed Brooks and Avery when they were not around and on the other side, she loved to spend time with Ed. She needed him and of course he needed her and she wanted to give him attention, time and love because she really wanted it but also because he needed it. She wanted to make him forget about everything else every time she had an opportunity to do it.

Preparations for her date night with Jessi have been all over the map. Rachel’s teetered from going all out to impress, though possibly setting the bar much too high for potential dates to come, and keeping the evening low key and not impressing at all. But after an extensive pro/cons list, Rachel settles on an idea that while restrained still has the potential, she believes, to wow. And if it doesn’t? Rachel think all hope won’t be lost because it’ll allow them time to get to know each other beyond rivals and contemporaries whom know each other best from tonsil hockey. 

Vanessa was having a shitty day. It had rained all day, loudly pummeling the windows in every classroom, and she’d gotten a B- on her History quiz, then a C- on her English Lit critique, probably just for drawing random doodles in the margins. Grapes of Wrath was a shitty, boring book and she’d nailed her takedown of it; she was sure of it. To top it all off, her therapy had actually gotten to her, no matter how hard she tried to fight it off. They were just fucking words, but the old crone was crafty. Somehow, she’d figured out the right angle to play, and once Vanessa slipped, she’d gone in for the kill.

Don’t you want to be normal sometimes? she’d asked. Normal friends, normal, healthy hobbies, a normal relationship? One where everyone doesn’t look at you strangely?

Vanessa shut down even more than usual. She went from one-word answers to zero words, nods or shakes of her head. She wanted to keep fighting her, to be defiant, and tell the bitch that no, she didn’t want normal friends. Normal people were fucking boring. But she was exhausted, and somehow that last bit was enough to drive deep. Did she want a normal relationship? Fuck, yes. But more than anything, she wanted her relationship with a girl to be normal in the first place, and that might never happen. Where would that leave her? On the fringe, which is exactly where she liked to be...but not about this.