but a dream.

𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘.                𝐃𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐄𝐑.          𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒. THEA ELLIS BARLOW.     /   THIRTY THREE.     /    SANTA MONICA, CA.

When Thea says yes to his proposal, Don can’t exactly help the way a smile spreads across his mouth. It softens a tad at the mention of Jolie once more, as if she was a reminder of something more than he can handle. In an instant, the image of her flashes in his mind, all smooth hummingbird sing-song and flowy red hair. But he’s quick to shake his head, snapping himself out of the strange daydream turned nightmare of his current relationship. 

“Yeah, she’s cool with it. She’s usually, um, okay with whoever I hang out with. Jolie’s just like that.” And that was the truth. Jolie was never the jealous type, nor was she ever outwardly bitter about these things. To Don, she always was just Jolie.

But Thea was also Thea, a kind of walking question mark in Don’s life. In hindsight, he admired her deeply, as most do. Her talent was evident and she was obviously a good friend, always coming to Don’s defense when people step over the line or cross a particular boundary. He does the same with her. The two of them have a certain unspoken understanding, a common ground that’s so niche that they only had each other to resonate with. There was something deeply special about that and Don was becoming more and more aware of it. Especially during this tiresome press junket.

After his thoughts finally settle at bay, Don stands, holding his arm out for Thea to take. “Fuck the last interview, let’s just go. I’m sure these guys can live without asking us the same stupid questions over and over again, right?” He laughs before continuing, “I mean, how many times can people ask someone their favorite color? It’s green, dammit, I already said this. Just Google it by now.”

“Oh! Good, okay. I just wanted to be sure.” Because Thea can’t be sure of anything these days just on assumption — she can’t walk out of her house with the intention of going for groceries without getting photographed in front of the liquor store next door, with her picture splattered on DailyMail and the caption Thea Ellis Makes a Booze Run as if she hadn’t quickly gotten over that phase of her life in her early twenties. Perception is unfortunately reality, as she’s come to learn the hard way, and if his girlfriend’s perception of them attending the festival together is anything other than innocent Thea knows just how damaging that could be.

The thing is, she doesn’t really care how it would effect her reputation. She’s been called much worse than home wrecker, and Thea’s always been of the opinion that she doesn’t care what they write about her — so long as her friends and family know who she is. But she cares about Don. She cares about the impact being seen with her socially could make on his career, she cares if it effects his personal life negatively, she cares if it hurts him in the long run. She cares so much that her chest feels tight, almost like she can’t breathe and selfishly Thea thinks to herself that she can’t recall a time that she’s cared more about how her actions and perception in the press effects someone other than her sisters and her mom.

She pulled from her borderline damaging thoughts when Don stands abruptly next to her, holding an arm out that she looks at curiously for a moment before she realizes his intention. “I — I don’t think we can just go,” she starts, but his laughter has Thea drawn to him like a magnet and before she realizes it she’s laughing too, rising beside him and slipping her hand under his arm like it belongs there. Like it’s the simplest thing in the world. “Alright, fine. Let’s go. I could use some greasy festival food anyway, they’ve had me on such a strict diet for this show I’m nearly losing my mind.”

CLOSED — @thcaellis·

The night has come to the inevitable point where Cass finds herself having had too much fun. Her eyes are glazed, her mind struggling to keep up with her body and she knows the inevitable crash is going to come soon if she doesn’t top up her high. She barely feels her shoulder connecting with someone else’s, turning to shoot the person a glare though it had been entirely her fault. “Hey, watch where the fuck — Thea!” Her entire demeanour changes on a dime. She lights up like a Christmas tree, latching onto her sister’s hand and grinning up at her. In her mind, she is the picture of perfection right now — totally selling the fact that everything is fine. In reality, she looks like a mess and the way she’s smiling at her sister isn’t doing her any favours. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” And it’s only half a lie. Cass had been looking for Thea at one point — but it’s been hours since the older woman had crossed her mind, having been a woman on a mission for the better part of the evening. Her free hand reaches up to play with the end’s of her sisters hair gently. “You look pretty.” At least, she thinks she looks pretty — admittedly, she’s a little blurry.  

The moment Thea’s gaze landed on Cass in the midst of the crowd of sweaty, drunken bodies, she knew she needed to follow her. It’s become like a sixth sense to the woman — as hard as her sister tries to hide it, Thea always knows the second she flips the switch from coherent to plastered. So she makes her way over, eventually getting jostled into the younger blonde and paying the price for it given the nasty look her sister sends her way — one that immediately turns golden as soon as she realizes it’s just Thea. “Been looking for you,” she smiles down at the younger woman, linking their fingers together in an eager attempt at pulling Cass away from the crowd. No one needs to see her like this, even if it’s more or less the norm. “So do you, angel. Wanna get out of here and go sit away from the crowd for a sec? There’s so many people — you know how I get.” Thea’s words trail off as she looks around for a quick escape, her eyes landing on one of the walkways over the dunes that she recognizes. Luckily, they’re only about a 20 minute walk from her house in the Palisades if she really needs to get Cass out quickly. “We can start walking towards home if you’re up for it, listen to the music from afar on the deck.”

The sight of Barrett feels like a mirage in a desert — or, more accurately, in a crowded and sweaty beach — to Thea, and the blonde quickly makes her way over to the woman the second she spots her. Somehow, despite her sister and her dramatics, her friendship with Barrett has been like a lifeline for Thea over the last few years, and the woman always manages to bring a sense of peace to her. Barrett has always treated her as just Thea, and she appreciates that more than she could ever truly express. So she settles for simply doing her best at being a good friend right back to the other woman — which includes bringing her some lemonade (freshly squeezed! so said the lemonade stand) while Barrett’s apparently hard at work. “Hey you,” Thea’s quick to settle in beside her friend as she offers up the drink, sinking back into the crowd by force of habit in an effort to not be perceived. “I can’t believe they’ve got you working this thing. Are you having some fun, at least? And don’t tell me you aren’t even allowed to have a lemonade at the very least — because that’d just be cruel.”

closed: @thcaellis​. location: los angeles, inside a luxury hotel.

There’s an element of common decency that you lose when you become famous. People begin to view you as public property, the likes of who you are now up for grabs. And, sure, being Don Kim and Thea Ellis came with more pros than cons, but the cons themselves often felt all-consuming. The con today was being asked invasive questions during the press junket for their new HBO series. They’ve had to dodge many at this point despite it being only the beginning of the tour. Their respective agents and managers now have to inform most journalists and interviewers of what not to ask which makes Don feel cynical and like a prop. In a world full of real people and too-curious minds, he only had Thea to relate to, and something about that made him feel both saddened but warm.

“Hey,” He greets the blonde, sitting beside her inside the empty room where they reside. The two were given a quick break before finishing up the last of their joint interviews. “People can be really…” Don begins, attempting to find the right words, “Nosy, I guess.” He decides on, shrugging his broad shoulders. Though, in hindsight, nosy wasn’t the right term. Inappropriate was a better suited word to describe the people they’ve encountered today. A sigh escapes Don, mentally embracing the quiet that envelopes the both of them for a quick moment.

“You know, um, there’s that music festival going on at the Santa Monica pier.” Nervousness takes over then, Don feeling that kind of butterfly-fluttering sensation inside the pit of his stomach. He always got this feeling when he was with Thea, ever since he was a teenager. By now, you think he’d be used to it. “I was supposed to go with my girlfriend but she’s pretty busy these days.” A common occurrence for Don these days. Perhaps this is just what came with dating someone just as famous as him. “Maybe we can go? We deserve it after the day we’ve had, right?”

There is nothing Thea hates more than press junkets — not red carpets, not even being hounded by paparazzi. At least she’s usually able to escape during the latter two, she can walk away with her dignity in tact even if it comes off as rude. But during a press junket, she’s simply subject to an interviewer’s baiting questions with no way out and no choice but to answer. Don, thankfully, has been her saving grace for the entirety of this press tour they’ve been paraded on. He’s sweet in a way that she doesn’t quite think she deserves, fielding the invasive questions thrown at them and sticking up for her when the journalists are a bit too pushy. She isn’t quite used to having someone on her side like this, having usually been asked to do press alone, but she’ll certainly take the comfort his presence brings.

Thea’s head snaps up quickly when she feels someone enter the once empty room she’s found a moment of peace in, but the tension in her shoulders soon eases when she realizes it’s Don. “Hey.” A sense of ease washes over her when he settles in beside her, even as he brings up the particularly nosy round of questions they’ve just dealt with. “I’m used to it,” she sighs along with him, though Thea is quick to send a tight lipped, reassuring smile in his direction. As much as they both know how annoying these things can be, she really doesn’t want Don worrying about her because of it.