Paradise

cassandra needed more groceries. she’d been getting by with the vegan soup she’d been hoarding, but she couldn’t do it anymore. she needed something other than soup. grabbing her cloth grocery bags and her jacket, she shut the door behind her and locked it before turning around... only to come face to face with a face she was very familiar with. “hey, i didn’t know you were stopping by, jack.” she grinned, wrapping her arms around him immediately in a hug. she’d finally gotten used to the fact that he shared a face with harry bingham, making it easy for her to hug him without worrying about the fact that she despised his double.

Her eyes looked up at the unfamiliar face. Elena? Why is everyone always obsessed with Elena? she mused in her head. Katherine sat up straight looking at the girl before smiling. “Oh you know, just drinking away boy problems as one does.” she smirked her voice changing tone. “Stephan or Damon? Seems like an impossible choice doesn’t it.” she replied in a mocking tone.

if there was one person who bothered liv endlessly, it was elena gilbert. “you’ve gotten a wardrobe upgrade, i see.” she quipped, grabbing a rag and wiping the bar down. “so, which one are you leaning towards? stefan or damon?" she asked, boredom dripping from her voice.

the name – the voice. it had been years, so many years, since she heard her mother’s voice. there were moments theo had imagined it despite her best efforts. but as her eyes dragged drew slowly away from her coffee and widened in shock as they laid on her. “mom,” she breathed, hands gripping the cup in her hands tighter, an unconscious effort. no. no. this had to be someone else, anything else. her mother had left them when she was ten. but she was – nobody else had ever looked at her the way she was now. suddenly theo felt like a little girl again, the brief moment in her life where she wasn’t wholly independent and self-reliant.  “mommy. you– how?”  

olivia regretted taking her life. now that she was in woodshore, and the memories had come flooding back the moment she entered the town, all she could think about was how she could have done that. to hugh. to her children. while hugh could have easily taken care of them on his own, he shouldn’t have had to. did he even raise them? she didn’t know. she hoped he had, they deserved to have their father in their lives. but theo--olivia had always gotten theo. even from a young age, olivia had a way of figuring her middle daughter out. out of all of them, she expected theo to be the most angry. "i wish i knew how to explain why i'm here, my love. but i can't." she shrugged, tears burning in her own eyes. she'd already seen steven, luke, and nell. it was only a matter of time before she ran into the others. "i'm sorry, theo. i'm so sorry."

landon, landon. it’s not a name of one of the clones, not a name that she recognizes. not a face that she recognizes either; though, even hers is a face that is unrecognizable on this planet. still, her brow creases considerably as she looks over him.  “ you know me, but — i don’t remember you, ” she states simply enough.   “ refresh my memory for me? ”

“i--” landon paused, unsure how to approach this. how did you tell someone that you watched the show she was in? “we never met. i guess i sort of knew of you. if that makes sense?” he shrugged lamely, practically tripping over his words as he stared at her. “it’s a--long story.” staring at the lightsabers, he swallowed nervously. “do you think--i’ve just never seen a lightsaber in person. i just--” star wars had gotten him through so much during his time in the foster system. it was shocking to think he was staring at one in real life. "i've never seen one in person." 

      not that she’d ever admit to it but veronica didn’t mind drinking a coke. although she found herself spending her nights at some run-of-the-mill bar every night, she truly wasn’t much of a DRINKER. “ it’s not that bad. could be worse. you could’ve ordered a beer, ” veronica said with a laugh.

zoe found herself sighing in relief. she knew it was a tiny thing to get worked up over, but she still worried that the other girl would’ve wanted something a bit stronger. “gross.” she scrunches her nose up at the mention of beer, a light laugh escaping her lips. “i’m zoe, by the way.” she offered her hand for the other woman to shake. she figured that if they were going to talk, she might as well introduce herself.

𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠.    well,  re-reading to be exact   …   for the fifth time.    he didn’t even realize how many times he’d walked around his room at this point.       far too many to count.       it was a bad habit of his,  walking around while reading.    it often had him end up    flat on his face    because he tripped over something.    he turned the page when he heard knocking that pulled him out of his comic book world.                    ❝‌   hello ?   ❞‌                    he called out,  turning to face his door.    no response.    he grew suspicious  &  walked over to the door to pear out of the peephole.       no one.       as he thought about it,  it didn’t seem like it was coming from his door.   the sound was too veiled to have come from something that would’ve been more hollow sounding.    jack set down his comic book  &  thought about it some more.       who would’ve been getting his attention ?       he didn’t know his neighbors  &  he wasn’t talking to cause a complaint.    he didn’t know who lived above    —-       cassandra !       he dropped to his knees  &  knocked on the floor twice to mimic her knocks,  a smile appearing.    standing back up,  jack quickly grabbed his phone and room key before heading out    —-    locking the door behind him    —-   towards cassandra’s room.    once there,  he knocked on the door.                    ❝‌   cassandra ?    it’s me !   ❞‌

hearing him knock at the door brought a smile to her lips. running to the door, she opened it and grinned. ”hey, thank god you’re here. i was losing my mind on my own.” she teased lightly, heading back into the suite. “are you hungry? i’ve got snacks. they’re vegan, but they’re tasty.” she offered as she went back to grab her criminal justice textbook from where she’d left it on the bed. looking over at jack with a sheepish grin, she held the textbook up for him to see. “you think you could answer some questions for me?” she asked hopefully. she was tempted to ask why he'd been pacing, but she held her tongue. if somethin was going on with him, she'd ask in her own time if he didn't tell her what was going on. if there even was anything going on.

                the door to his room opening unexpectedly made grizz jump more than he’d like to admit. he perhaps hadn’t even realized how on edge he had been recently until that very moment, but at the same time a moment of irony washed over him – how funny it would be if a serial killer or some other dangerous person had just walked through his door when he had scolded allie for leaving her door unlocked just days earlier. the truth, however, was a far more welcomed surprise, causing his eyes to go wide. “sam?” a small smile played on his lips, his eyes still filled with disbelief. “i’m so glad you’re finally here. i’ve been looking for you everywhere.” grizz enjoyed their embrace, pulling the other close with a contented sigh. “wait–” he paused a moment as they pulled away, looking down at the suitcase behind sam, “are you staying in this room too?” he tried his best to sign along with his words, though somewhat slow and uncertain since he was still learning. but there was a hopefulness in his eyes, excited about the idea of getting to live together here.

seeing grizz immediately brought a smile to sam’s face. wrapping his arms around his boyfriend, the redhead closed his eyes for a moment. with his head on grizz’s chest, he couldn’t help but smile contentedly. grizz was safe. that was all that mattered. “you made it  back safe? from the trip.” sam signed after they pulled back, his grin growing. “yeah, this is my room.” his eyes were flitting between grizz’s lips and his hands, a smile growing on his face as he realized grizz hadn’t given up on learning sign language. glancing at the suitcase behind him, he turned back to grizz curiously. “i have to unpack, and then i'm all yours." he signed, breaking apart from grizz to reach for the suitcase and set it on the bed.

Dick had found himself headed out for a run, late that night, his insomnia getting the better of him once again. It was a loosing battle, but one he would fight to the end nonetheless. So instead of struggling with his demons he turned to running along the shore in search of solace elsewhere. The sound of the ocean lapping against the rocky beach was calming, enough to drag him from his thoughts as he stopped to drink in his surroundings and the fresh evening air. Only he hadn’t been alone, and as footsteps approached his gaze lifted from the water to steal a glance in the others direction. “Little late for a night stroll, don’t you think?” @woodshorestarters​

sam couldn’t sleep. maybe it was the change of scenery, or maybe it was the fact that grizz was back in his life and things couldn’t have been better. but with everything good in his life, sam expected things to take a turn downhill. heading to the shore, he enjoyed the cool breeze against his skin. not for the first time since coming to woodshore, he wondered what the waves crashing against the beach would sound like. as the other person turned to look at him, sam smiled as he tried to decipher what’d he’d been saying through reading his lips. “i couldn’t sleep,” sam signed as he spoke softly, “i’m guessing you’re in the same boat?”

“whats in it for me?” crutchie asks, a bit of sarcasm laced in his words as he adjusted the crutch under his arm. he still had yet to update that to a more… updated and comfortable version. “kidding, i’ll keeps an eye out for you, ya can count on me!”

“i’ll do you a favor. anything you want.” she eyed the crutch under his arm, biting her lip. she could understand how it felt, having a physical setback. she noticed how it didn’t look entirely safe, or comfortable. as he agreed to keep an eye out for her, cassandra smiled gratefully. “thanks. i’ll be finished in a second.”

“That’s bullshit. Twenty six dollars… does it come in Beyonce’s shoe or perhaps it’s made of liquid gold? What kind of bar is this.. Unless your profit is about to cure world hunger you’re insane.” Camille stepped back from the crowded bar, before turning to the nearest person. The blonde didn’t make a habit of hitting the town, but she had come to discover that alcohol helped a little too well, in diminishing the visions, memories or whatever they were that plagued her mind. It started with her dreams, faces of people, then conversations — like a movie playing out before her very eyes, only she was in it. Time had only made it worse and the whispers about town around promises did nothing but add to her confusion. “There’s no winning with that guy, he’s robbing everyone.. don’t suppose you could point me in the direction of a bar, where I won’t have to sell my uterus to be able to afford a drink?” @woodshorestarters· 

smiling at the other woman, olivia shook her head slightly. “i’m afraid most of the bars here are quite similar. unless you get lucky and go during happy hour.” wrapping her hands around the glass of her drink, she tilted her head curiously. “you know, i could always ask for a second glass? we could share this.”

for as smart as hope mikaelson was, she still was never the best at picking up some social queues, like, rhetorical questions. yet, she still felt like listing those reasons for him, hoping that maybe if he heard them again, something would spark in his memories. his words caused her heart to skip a beat and her cheeks to go warm. she knew he loved her, of course she did, but not this version of landon, he… still might not. “i know you do.” she sighs, shaking her head. “thats….a start right? for you to know im not lying about who i am and what we were?”

it was weird. for someone who he had just met, it was incredibly easy to trust her. and it wasn’t her overly sunny personality that made her so trustworthy and approachable. still, he’d found himself drawn to her in a way he couldn’t explain. reaching across the table for her hand, he brought it to his lips with a small smile. “i know you aren’t lying, hope mikaelson.” he brought their hands down, eyes shining as he looked at her. “what else should i know about? about this school we went to.”

      veronica enjoyed being a lawyer almost as much as a private investigator. however, she didn’t realize how much extra work went into the new career. much less investigating and much more PAPERWORK. it’d finally hit her once she spent     every night     at the same bar going over notes to support her case against the defense attorney. the bartender had practically memorized her order. “ okay we get it, i drink the same thing. ” she sighed, taking a look around the bar. “ you know what asshat, ” she called the bartender, although they both knew she didn’t mean it. “ give me what they’re having !! ” @woodshorestarters​

zoe smiled at the woman who seemed to be making something of a scene. taking a sip of her coke, the brunette couldn’t help but laugh. “i think you’re gonna regret ordering this. it’s just a coke.” she warned the other girl, a hint of amusement playing in her eyes.

“don’t think so,”   ahsoka lilted in response to his question. she hadn’t known him in this fake life and he certainly didn’t look like an jedi she remembered. while he had a force presence, everything did, he did not have the force at his command within him. she could feel that much. even so, he seemed awed by her — it wasn’t something she was familiar with, the notion that she was someone awe-worthy. that’s the look she’d given the jedi temple when plo koon first brought her there. her chest ached with the memory — “i’m ahsoka tano.”

staring at the woman in front of him, landon had to bite his lip to keep his jaw from completely dropping again. “ahsoka tano--oh my god.” landon could have fallen over with shock. “i’m landon.” he cleared his throat, eyes staring at the lightsabers in awe. was he even worthy of being in the presence of a jedi? he certainly didn’t think so.

Katherine slammed the burbon glass on the counter. There wasn’t much to do on her days off but these days drinking seem to cure the boredom. She motioned for the bartender to fill the glass again. To her surprise they didn’t mind her drinking at the same bar she worked. It was the only bar where they hadn’t watered down the bottles to make more money.

Hearing the chime at the door she turned around and smiled. “Looks like we have another victim.” she smirked at her coworker.

“elena?” liv froze, eyes landing on the familiar brunette. her shift had just started, and the last thing she expected when she walked through the door was to see elena gilbert slamming down a glass of bourbon. “what the hell are you doing here?” she asked, tone absolutely uninterested as she moved behind the bar.

“good.” cassandra laughed lightly, grabbing his wrists and putting all of her energy into tackling him onto the bed. “just how competitive are you?” she teased, hands wrapped around his wrists lightly as she positioned herself on top of him. play wrestling had never really been her thing, but when she was with jack she felt her competitive nature grow. 

She was tired. There was no getting around it. Even before getting to Woodshore, Theo couldn’t remember the last time she had slept through the night - let alone at all. The bags underneath her eyes had become a permanent fixture. Nightmares kept her awake and being somewhere different was doing fuck-all to help. All of it was so screwed up now, more confusing by the second. “Fuck me.” She muttered into her next – was it the fifth? she’d lost track – cup of coffee. Hands were shaking from the caffeine, not that Theo could even feel it.

@woodshorestarters​

olivia stared at the young woman, eyes wide and sad. even with twenty years having passed, she was able to recognize her middle child. “theo, my love.” she sighed softly, feeling her heart break. she had left all of her children, and he husband, far too soon. they had been forced to grow up without a mother and she was to blame. she was blamed. tears burned in her eyes as she looked fondly at her daughter. “it’s really you. look at you, my love.” of course, if nell and luke and steve were all here, why wouldn’t theo show up? it only made sense that she’d make her way to woodshore eventually.

as soon as sam had made it to his room, he froze when he realized the door was already unlocked. taking a deep breath, he opened the door with one hand as he tugged his suitcase behind him with the other. and then his eyes landed on grizz and a giant smile formed on his lips. “grizz?” he signed, eyes shining as he moved closer to the other guy. “are you a burglar?” he joked, voice soft and fond as he closed the distance between him and his boyfriend. wrapping his arms around grizz, sam pulled back to lean on his toes to press a kiss against his cheek. “what are you doing here?” he asked, bringing a hand up to grizz’s cheek.