Bradhadair

you know, I used to be on fire

Probably a better question to ask someone who is having sex. And I am definitely not the Bolton who is.

I don’t really have a fashion style? When I was a kid tomboy would have been an understatement- the amount of times I insisted on wearing hand-me-downs from my brothers is insane- but now I just wear what I feel like wearing.

I’m not picky. Growing up in a big family it’s hard to be- and Cassidy had the market cornered on picky eating anyway. But if I had to pick…probably ice cream. @cassidyxbolton

  “do you get to do whatever you want whenever you’d like or do you have to think about what’s next on your list before changing plans?” sure it seemed like a luxury but it wasn’t totally, not if you had some freedom. of course he didn’t know willow that well but the bits and pieces he’s collected not simply from their conversation but from her brothers and things he’s learned over the years that she might not have a true form of it, he wondered if she felt free at all from her families things? there’s involvement but with consideration for ones self. “me - secretive? no, not really.” he responded, shoulders lifting a bit after his words.

   “nope. i hire good people so i don’t have to worry about the little things - i find customer experience is important though.” his words were rather light despite his demeanor easily taken as  a joke by the wrong people. “i think the bests businesses run when you have perfect staff.” 

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“You must be an only child,” the witch mused, reaching out and picking up her drink glass without glancing at it, thankful that years of taking care of children gave her good instincts as to where things were. It made functioning while doing multiple things a whole lot easier. “When you’re from a big, close knit family? The idea of true freedom is an illusion.” It sounded strange and she knew that but she didn’t say it as though she harbored any ill will towards her family. When families were close it was usually a choice to do whatever you could for your family. Her family didn’t force anything on her but it was an unspoken rule within the family to sort of care for each other, to help other people. That was simply who the Boltons were. And eventually it became something she was so accustomed to that not putting them first? It never crossed her mind- even when she had decided not to continue going to school to become a nurse. “I don’t buy that. Something about you screams secretive,” Will teased.

At first the redhead didn’t say anything in response to his comment about his employees. Instead she just took a sip from her drink, watching him quietly. She wasn’t so sure that she agreed on that stance. Perhaps because her father had been determined to be involved in the business until it seemed to be too much to him- then her brother became heavily involved in it. Wasn’t that what a business owner was supposed to do? “You can have the best staff in the world and most business owners are still heavily involved in the business,” she finally said after a moment, putting her glass back down as blindly as she had picked it up. “And if you’re looking to gather information about customer experiences? You should probably talk to people who do more than sit and read, don’t you think?” she teased.

(text): so dan was the nicest out of them all?

(text): don’t you have a younger brother? 

Win gave a frustrated laugh his hand going into his hair to brush it out of his face. “Not a mistake at all?” He knew he was going to spill his guts but still he continued. “Will, I am literally the accidental child. Dan is literally eleven years older than me. And yeah that’s not even including the human thing.” He paused and finished off the flask he had and eyed the unopened bottle. At this rate he was going to end up spilling more than just his secrets.

“Advantages? Like speed? Or power? Or maybe you mean the changing who you are. Wait no, humans can’t do any of that.” He shook his head finally grabbing the bottle and opening it and standing up laughing feeling even more anger and frustration bubble up. “Humans are afraid of things they don’t know, yeah, yeah, you’re right. But you wanna know what humans do to things they are afraid of? They lash out and take it out on the people they can catch. Which means while sure you had magic like all our other siblings before they were turned, I, I had nothing. You’re four years older than me Will. On top of having nothing, I had no one. I did everything I could to be the best, to prove I was worthy, because I was just the youngest Bolton. I’m not smart, I’m not athletic, I’m not powerful. The only thing I’m good at I play second fiddle to our oldest brother. But I’m the lucky one because I’m human. The only thing that makes me different is being nothing. Because nothing is ever just mine, I can never separate myself from my family, but why would I want to? The greatest family ever, the Fucking Boltons.”

He took a huge gulp from the bottle and took a running step and chucked the bottle over the edge. “But you’re right about one thing. None of us will ever be good enough.” Win breathed heavily from his sudden outburst. “Getting laid really should be my top priority shouldn’t it.” Win said blankly before looking back at her. “What about you? Shit ton of guys around your age.”

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“Being a surprise doesn’t make you a mistake, Win. Mom and Dad weren’t expecting me either after the twins. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t want us or they don’t love us. And is it really so bad being like Dad?” Sometimes Will had to admit she was a bit envious of Win. He got to be the normal one out of the lot of them; he was the most like their father, a man a lot of them looked up to. And yes, those days Cassidy definitely wasn’t a part of Jack’s fan club but the cause of that was Cassidy’s own doing. She wasn’t about to fault her father for looking out for the family business. Who wouldn’t? She just wished the two could stop being so stubborn and work things out.

“Do you feel better now? Lashing out at us for something we had no more control over than you did? None of us asked to be born the way we were, Win. It was the roll of the genetic dice like me getting Mom’s hair color- no one could have known how that would play out.” There was no anger in Will’s voice, just a calm rationality. It was a tone she had mastered over the years of taking care of the twins, the one she used when Dev would blow a fit because she wanted her father and Cassidy was nowhere to be found and she had to remind the little girl that her father loved her very much but simply couldn’t be there right then. “You’re not nothing, Win. You’re my little brother. You’re the one who travelled to Europe and studied what he was passionate about. You think we have strength? We don’t. We’re all fucking messes and you know it. Danny hides it well but he’s got his own demons; Grya hasn’t been the same since the war; Cassidy has been fighting the battle with addiction since before the twins were born; I sacrificed my teenage years to raise the twins and I still give everything I have for all of you. None of us are great, Win. We’re all just trying to do the best we can. So there’s nothing to measure up to; there’s nothing to feel inferior to. None of us is better than you. We just felt the pressure of being the potential heirs to the coven and trust me when I say that’s no picnic. The weight of that can crush you.”

“You don’t ever have to be anyone but who you are for us to love you and accept you, Win. For as damaged as we all are? We love each other. And we love you. You will never be nothing. Not to us. And it breaks my heart that you feel that way about yourself. Because you’re a pretty amazing little brother and you deserve to see yourself like the rest of us see you.” Willow was under no disillusion that simply talking to Win could change whatever deep rooted issues he had with himself. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t tell him how she saw things, let him know how they felt about him. Whether he believed it or not she knew none of them ever thought less of him for being human. Why would they? “Since when do you care about my love life?” she half teased, scoffing at the very idea. “Win, my whole world is you guys. My brothers, Cassidy’s kids. That’s all there is. What guy would be interested in always playing second fiddle to you all?”

  the oh brought a little smirk to her lips, at least alicia wasn’t the only one not planning out her life to a T. she wondered how many people in wolford were actually falling into the classic steps of life - finding love, having kids, getting long term jobs.  “you know… that’s totally fair but there’s also other options like sperm donors so you don’t even have to deal with a guy at all. that’s only my suggestion if you actually want kids of course.” alicia explained her hands being held up innocently for a moment, willow definitely had a point there, there weren’t exactly many guys worth the trouble to even think of having kids with them. “it would be weird if he was trying to impress me let alone anyone else - dude isn’t exactly the kind to do that. and yeah, tinder has proven plenty of guys will mention early on all their tricks and spins… well go mini-bolton.”

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“Well, yeah, but raising a kid on your own is never easy,” Will conceded after a moment. “I suppose it’s easier when you’re not super young but Dusk mostly raised Aiden on her own and I grew up with the LaFontaine kids and it wasn’t easy for their mom, Addie, to take care of them on her own either. In both cases the mothers did amazing jobs and did the best they could for their kids and couldn’t have done any better with help but it wasn’t easy for them. I’m sure they’d have much rather had help.” Although for Dusk it was probably a little different. She probably wanted help mostly because she wanted them and Cassidy to be an actual family. But her brother had seemed to avoid that for as long as possible. Not necessarily because he didn’t care for Dusk- he clearly did- but his issues and his weird obsession with Riley just kept getting in the way. That obsession was one of Cassidy’s many faults and sometimes it seemed like it was an obsession he was unable to shake. “But I haven’t actually thought about kids.” Which wasn’t exactly true. At one point she had absolutely thought that one day she might have kids of her own. But over the years that stopped seeming like a possibility and so she stopped thinking about it. “Your friend was probably just giving you information is all. Just sharing a little. And yeah…Win found something he loved and decided to go for it.” The witch couldn’t deny she was proud of her brother for that but a tiny part of her was jealous, as well. But only because she had yet to figure out her own passion.

“I guess that’s true, but booze only makes things worse in my opinion,” he wouldn’t say that he didn’t get drunk before because he was dealing with stuff, but it wasn’t something that he did anymore. Nowadays, he tended to distract himself with anything but alcohol, it helped a lot more, and on top of that he didn’t need to deal with a hangover the next day. It just wasn’t worth it. He wouldn’t judge someone that thought differently though, he knew the pain sometimes was hard to deal with, and it seemed like nothing could help, “The latter, I’m not picky at all, I enjoy just about everything,” he just had a favorite dish that he enjoyed eating too much to ask for something else.

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“In the long run? Sure. But some people just need the temporary fix, you know? To not feel whatever they’re feeling in that moment.” Perhaps that wasn’t always the healthiest way to handle things. But that didn’t mean that Will was about to judge people for it either. As long as they didn’t hurt other people? Well, she figured people could handle their problems however they felt they needed to. As long as it didn’t spiral into addiction then there didn’t seem to be much harm. The redhead nodded slightly, motioning slightly towards the kitchen in the back. “Well, if you ever want to try something different? My brother has some decent recipes so I’m sure he’d have no problem whipping something up for you.” Holding up a finger to indicate she’d be right back the witch turned and deposited the order slip for her brother in the back and then turned back to the customer. “So, what is it that you do, Sol?”

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       “When I have to, if I can get in good with the right people I can still live here and be with my family, just travel to do the things that are important,” Gwen stated, perhaps a naive outlook. It was hard for the young woman to want to leave the people she loved. Her siblings, her parents, her cousins…she didn’t want to consider living a few months, or worse a few years, without seeing any of them. 

        As for the town actually having anyone attractive Gwen shoved, “if they exist I have yet to meet them. I mean, your brother is back in town but I probably told too many lies about fake dating him to actually date him,” she reasoned. Maybe she’d meet someone cute eventually but for the moment no one of interest had crossed her path the way it had with Willow.

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“Well, I hope that works out for you,” Will replied honestly though she knew it wouldn’t likely be that easy. For the most part if you got into the entertainment industry you had to live close to where the mecca of it was; you had to be close to the company you were signed to; you had to live in cities rather than rural areas. Perhaps in acting it was easier because during your downtime you could be wherever you wanted. But in music? It seemed like it would be harder. But maybe it work out the way she hoped it would. Who was she to shoot that hope down?

“Wait, my brother?” Will blinked a couple of times, turning her head slightly to glance at her friend, eyebrows raised slightly in question. She thought about asking which brother because a few of them had left town for a while. But Dan and Gray had been back for the longest and somehow that didn’t seem to make sense to her either. “You mean Win?” she asked after a moment.

-

Different didn’t have to mean bad. She had a point and that was one he was trying to learn and take to heart because he’d always been taught the direct opposite, that ‘different’ was bad, wrong, unacceptable. Their father had instilled into their heads at a very early age that they had certain expectations to attain and uphold, good grades, extracurricular activities, had to be active members in their community, volunteer, and most of all do not smear the family name. When Luka had been turned into a werewolf, their father had made it out to be the worst atrocity that he had ever committed even though it had been a horrible accident and August had been too indoctrinated into their family’s mindset and scared of their father to even question it. There was no saying no to their father. It was always ‘Yes, Sir.’” Lately though, with the introduction of more open-minded people and no longer working behind the scenes as a hunter, his opinion was slowly shifting, or at the very least, he was more open to considering that maybe not all werewolves were bad and not all supernatural beings were monsters. 

August took the refilled glass and this time sipped the amber liquid, letting the flavor marinate on his tongue as it was intended to, tasting oak from the barrel it had been aged in. She was certainly revealing a lot about her family to him in this moment, her words coming out openly and he found himself smiling at the end of it when she outstretched her hand, which he took and shook firmly, “August,” he offered his own name which would vary slightly from what was on his card since he never went by Augustus, “and I think I just ‘downloaded’ a lot of information on you,” borrowing from her verbiage which he found interesting and hadn’t heard of learning new things about someone compared to ‘downloading,’ so he asked her, “Are you moonlighting as a bartender and do you work in the tech industry?”

“Guess I should try and even it out a little bit,” he mused faintly, “I don’t really have a lot of family here so can’t compare all too much but my little brother Luka lives here. He’s the one I’ve come here to spend more time with. Been…” his eyes squinted slightly as he counted in his head how long it had been, “…over a year at least since I’ve even spoken with him.” His tongue swept across his lips before he took another sip from his glass, “I’m aware that makes me a horrible brother,” he said before she could comment on it.

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A small amused smile spread across the witch’s face. “In tech? No, no. Nothing like that. I work as a barista when I’m not working here. This is mostly a part time thing when my family needs someone to cover a shift or two.” Back when she had been in college still it was a little different. Shifts at the bar was the only work she had outside of helping out with her brother’s kids and the other kids in town. Working at the café had only come once she had put the kibosh on the idea of becoming a nurse and dropped out of school. There didn’t really seem to be a reason to keep on going when she knew that she wasn’t going to actually go into the profession. It hadn’t exactly been something she had been looking forward to or anything of the sort anyway. It had been something she wanted to do simply because of her brother, his problems, what he dealt with and put his family through. She had wanted to be able to help him and people like him. But her brother rarely felt a sense of thanks for anything anyone in the family ever did for him; she had decided that she already did enough things for the rest of the family so going into a career because of them? It began to seem ridiculous.

“If you were a bad brother then you wouldn’t be worried about being a bad brother,” Will reasoned, leaning on the bar across from him with a shrug, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. She had seen enough bad family members in town to know that when you really are terrible to your family? You don’t think about how you treat them; you don’t think you’re doing anything wrong; you tend to consider yourself somehow above it all. “Sometimes family comes apart for various reasons. Things happen, life gets in the way. But if you didn’t care that you hadn’t spoken to him? If you didn’t worry you were being a bad brother? That’s when you could consider yourself a bad brother. The fact that you’re here trying to fix things between the two of you? That’s what matters. A bad brother wouldn’t even bother doing that.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Will requested, offering a friendly smile. “I’m sure you coming here to see him will mean more to him than you know.”

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“That’s a remarkably wide range of professional talents, actually.  You have a busy family,” The warlocks observes, trying to make accurate mental notes.  He wonders if it might be prudent to start a spreadsheet for keeping track of the minutiae; the people, their families, what they do, where they live…it’s a lot for a newcomer to absorb at once.  Of course, that would require the use of his computer–Marco shoots a sidelong glare at the device, still mid-update–and he dismisses the notion.  Old fashioned memory banks, it is.  “Well, that’s good, your social circle is certainly better for his absence.”  It’s clear Wolford’s local tow-truck driver is not one of the alchemist’s favorite residents.

“I suppose that would explain the job opening,” He theorizes with a huff of amusement, watching as Willow fetches his drink.  Her explanations aren’t without merit, and it’s particularly interesting to hear such assertions expressed by a long time resident of the community; a bartender at that.  In Marco’s experience, such local watering holes tend to be where the most unabated news of supernatural activity circulates.  It’s one of the few rules of thumb that seem to hold true both in small towns and large cities.  “Emergency medicine isn’t my department, fortunately, though it sounds like there’s going to be enough overflow to keep me busy.  Thank you…”  Retrieving the glass when it’s offered, the alchemist takes a small sip.  It’s terribly strong, and he’s certain he’ll regret it in the morning.  “So, what do folks do around here when they aren’t finding ways to land themselves in the emergency room?”      

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“I think that’s natural for pretty large families.” She could only imagine how busy the Dawson clan had a tendency to be. After all, they had nearly twice the amount of kids than the Bolton family did. Surprisingly enough they didn’t have as many kids among them that people would expect from a family that side. Somehow with Cassidy alone they had them beat, as strange as that sounded. But she also didn’t know a much about the Dawson family as one might think. Yes, she was friends with Gwen, but she didn’t know her friend’s cousins all that way. She only really spoke to Leo from time to time when he came into the café. She had enough going on in her own family so she tried not to get herself involved too deeply in other families. Especially when they were families who she didn’t watch the kids of.

“Well, I guess that depends on what you like,” the witch mused, pausing to consider the best way to answer that. She herself was rather boring to most people and found things fun that not many people might enjoy. Or rather she spent more time at home or with her nieces and nephews than doing what most people in her age range might do. “There’s the drive-in or the bowling alley that a lot of people have a tendency to enjoy; the lake it always fun during the summer. You get a lot of people hanging out there. There’s camping in the woods sometimes.” Though most of the locals had a tendency to avoid it during the full moon just to be safe. “There’s also a casino in town. I can’t say how good it is as far as casinos go since I only go to see my friend when she performs- she’s a singer there- but it seems to be a pretty popular place. But a lot of people also travel into the nearby city to do a lot of things, too.”

Both of his siblings were bullheaded and Grayson knew exactly where that trait came from.  “I am not saying he is not responsible for his own actions and everything that happened.”  It did not matter though, Cassidy and Willow had some similarities.  Not only were they stubborn, but they both could not let the past go and move forward.  And unfortunately it was the rest of the family that had to tiptoe around both of them when the subject of each other came up.

Usually one to control his anger, he smacked his lips in frustration with his sister.  “Stop, just stop right there.  I am not on Cassidy’s side.  Just like I am not on your side either.  You both have issues with each other that need to be worked out.  Cassidy is my twin brother, you have no understanding or concept what that means because you do not have a twin.  We have a connection that runs deeper, but that does not mean I automatically take his side in all things.  And I am aware of things he has put our family through, but at what point do you forgive him?  You have a lot of anger and no one is saying it isn’t justified, but all that anger is only hurting you.  None of us can change him, he has to make that decision on his own.  But you can make it where he isn’t constantly getting under your skin.”  It never failed, Willow put him in the middle of Cassidy and her dispute just as did many people around town.  No one really understood the immense pressure it placed on Grayson.  And people wonder why he preferred to keep to himself, stay in his trailer and just mind his own business.  “What do you want from me Will?  I love you and I love him, you’re both my siblings.  I just don’t understand why you both can’t move past things.  Maybe it isn’t fair, but just be the better person.”

Grayson nodded at her words, it was a lot to handle.  Not only were they twins, but they were identical twins.  And as weird as it might sound, when people attacked Cassidy it felt as if they were attacking him as well.  “I’m sorry you two don’t get along,” he managed.  “And you have a point about Cassidy, he hasn’t verbally expressed he was sorry to most of us.  But, he has been working over three years to remain sober, provide for his kids.  And you know the saying.  Actions are louder than words.  Maybe this is his way of trying to do better.”

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“Did you ever think I’m tired of being the bigger person, Gray? That I’ve been the bigger person for my entire life and it’s gotten me nothing in return?” The redhead sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, not understanding at all why somehow despite how Cassidy has always acted towards the family and her specifically, despite how much she had been hurt she should just shrug it off and let it go, act like no matter what her brother does it shouldn’t matter to her. But that just wasn’t logical or possible. She was tired of being the bad guy when Cassidy was the cruel one; Cassidy was the one who treated her badly their whole lives; Cassidy was the one who did damage to the family as a whole.

“Just forget it,” the witch sighed after a moment, putting the fork she had been picking at the food she brought Gray onto the table. Despite what Gray may think the fact that he had a tendency to just tell her to back down every time was proof that he sided with his twin. Twin or not it wasn’t fair nor was it right for Cassidy to get a free pass all of the time- from literally everyone- but she was too tired arguing about it, being the bad guy for wanting Cassidy to actually take responsibility for all he put everyone through. And to be honest it felt like bullshit to her that it always made her the bad guy. Especially when she had always done so much for the brother who regarded her with such disdain. But somehow he was the one praised, coddled, sided with; he was someone never the one in the wrong. Sometimes she wondered why she even bothered.

Picking the fork back up the redhead leaned over and pressed a kiss to her brother’s cheek. “I’ll see you later, Gray.” Without so much as another word the redhead made her way over to the sink and deposited for the fork she had been eating with, preferring to head out than risk arguing with Gray more about their brother. Neither one would win in the end. “I’ll stop by again soon.”

it was her first day off work in the last two weeks, and what did taeyeon decide to do? she ventured into the woods because she missed the scent of fresh grass far too much. trees were trees anywhere in the world, the same went for the dirt underneath her shoes. it reminded her of bugaksan, and for a moment there, taeyeon felt a pang of nostalgia hit her chest. did she miss that city so much? no, she couldn’t. she needed to give wolford a chance. 

lost in her own thoughts, taeyeon was actually surprised to hear someone calling out to the woods. she didn’t think she had been heard. alas, she was wrong.

“hey. um… just taking a little walk to clear my head.” she offered the redhead a small smile. “i didn’t mean to scare you, so i’m sorry if i did. is everything okay? should you be here on your own?”

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“Oh, no, you didn’t scare me,” the redhead assured with a slight wave of her hand. One couldn’t be too surprised when someone appeared in the woods. After all, the town had a tendency to spend a lot of time in the woods and around the lake. Nature called out to each species for various reasons. For her it was a sense of peace but she supposed it was different for the werewolf, the shapeshifters and the fae in town.

“Oh, I come here a lot when I just need some time out of town,” the witch admitted with a very slight shrug of her shoulders. When she wanted to get away from the heart of Wolford the woods had always seemed to be the best place to go. Perhaps it was her very nature that drew her to the woods and nature itself when she felt like she needed a breather.

“Didn’t mean to disrupt your walk,” the redhead said in a way of an apology. “I’m Will, by the way.”

        With Dusk’s promotion at the bank she was going well…a bit wild with her spending. She’d told herself that she would treat herself for the first month of her new promotion and then get her finances in order the way they should actually be and she intended to stick to that but she still had a week of going wild with her raise. It was…well, maybe silly, but Dusk had decided that skincare, new towels and a new cookware set were not enough, she wanted to do something fun. So, on a Sunday without the kids she had decided to go to the most expensive bakery in Wolford and go nuts on treats.

           “You have to try this,” she told the next person who walked inside, holding out a keylime sugar cookie from a pack of four she had just bought. “It is so delicious and soft, how are sugar cookies so soft?”          

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“So this is what you came in here for?” the redhead teased. She had been out in town doing her own thing when she had spotted Dusk heading into the bakery and had decided to go and see what she had been buying. Not necessarily to be nosy or anything of the like but because things had been difficult for the elder woman after everything came out about the kiss she had shared with Gray. And while Will couldn’t pretend that she was angry or upset about the situation she had worried about her siblings- and Dusk. It was messy to say the least and all she could do was hope that things would work out for the best. Because despite any issues she may have had with Cassidy- and even if she didn’t really understand the relationship between Dusk and Cassidy being rekindled- she still wanted them all to be happy. A lofty goal, it seemed.

For a moment the redhead just raised an eyebrow at the offered cookie before taking it and taking a bite from it. Key lime had never been her favorite of flavors and yet she had never been picky nor was she one to simply reject something someone offered her all too aware it would be rude. “Maybe it’s something in the recipe. I just know none I ever make are this soft.” Then again, she made very standard sugar cookies so perhaps that was why. “How have things been going?” she asked, keeping the cookie between her thumb and index finger.      

[ TEXT ]: Maybe I’m wrong but he’s never said anything to me to indicate he hates you and it’s not like he hides that sort of thing. [ TEXT ]: Yeah, I suspect like ninety-nine percent of this town would rather deal with Gray than with Cassidy, but things weren’t always like that, I guess. Cassidy tended to be the one who had the attention, maybe it just sort of personified itself in me. I was a tangible thing to be envious over. I don’t think Gray really wants me regardless. He wanted the girl he thought I was and I think he’s realising that was never really me. [ TEXT ]: It’s not about Riley, it’s about his feelings for her. It’s hard to explain I guess without you knowing what that’s like. I hope you do. Not the jealousy part, but knowing the feeling you get when you love someone like that. [ TEXT ]: I’m going to just trust Cas that he needs space. Thanks though. I’m going to head to bed, try and get some rest.