sweetheart

After everything that has happened in his life, Phillip started to get more and more neutral in couples matters, even when this one affected his family, his blood. Phillip cared deeply about Milo, but he couldn’t agree or deny that he had taken the right choice for leaving. “Can you blame him for doing it? I know it hard to stay and deal with shit alone, but sometimes that’s what we have to do. You lean that the hard way.”

Hollis never imagined that Phillip would speak ill of his younger brother. And that wasn’t what she wanted to hear, anyway. Hollis still felt very possessive over Milo — no one could talk bad about him but herself. Phillip is someone she respects, and she actually takes a beat to think about his question. And, no, she finds that she can’t blame Milo. Running away when things get tough was an extremely Milo thing to do. “People don’t really change,” she muses aloud.

Ezra sighed looking down over at the lady who just swiped his order knowing full well she had ordered way after him. “Honestly people are the worst and humanity is over.” He dramatically stated holding out his hands, “My mozzy sticks.” 

Hollis chuckles at his theatrics. She’s next in line to place her order at the fast food Italian place, and she orders her usual eggplant parmesan wrap. She glances over at the blond before handing over her payment to the cashier. “Add a side of mozzarella sticks for my sad friend over here,” she finishes her order.

“I am.” Leanne nods, a proud smile appearing on her lips. She’s so used to getting recognized for her work on the stage, it’s nice when people see her for what she’s most proud of, being a mother to four amazing kids. “I don’t believe we’ve met before, I’m Leanne.” The older woman kindly extends her hand. “I take it your a friend of Hattie’s?” Leanne is usually pretty good at remembering names and faces, but for some reason she can’t place this young woman.

Leanne tried to picture the pants the girl was describing, the wide leg would hide her injured foot better. “Okay, you sold me with the bow. Where are they? I’ve gotta try these pants!” Leanne burst, excitement flashing in her eyes.

“I’m actually working for her right now,” Hollis answers as she shakes Leanne’s hand with her own free one. “I’m a grad student. Fashion merchandising.” Hollis can’t help but to smile at Leanne. She finds the woman’s cheeriness refreshing, especially in a town of sad sappy suckers like this one.

She leads Leanne to the other end of the store — slowly, of course — and pulls a pair of the bow-y slacks in what she guesses is probably Leanne’s size. She holds them up to Leanne and frowns at the crutches. “How are you gonna walk across the stage at The Tonight Show?”

Phillip looked at her and shook his head, he didn’t know when but social media had changed a lot, it was either people fighting hard against each other, making fun of someone, kids dancing or just them doing crazy things to gain attention. He has moved on that kind of seek of the same, he had seen how he could teach something to do something to what he studied for, what he loved. TikTok was something he could try but he was no longer in the mood, maybe youtube, maybe next month, just maybe.

“Not what I would wanted something people to relate me for, no offense” He shrugged “How are you Hollis?”

“I’m—” Hollis opens her mouth to boldly lie to Phillip, but she can’t bring herself to lie to one more damn person about how she’s been. Especially not one with the possibility to see right through her. “I’m doing terribly.” She actually laughs, the relief that she doesn’t have to lie to him releasing from within her. “He left town when we got deep in some shit and he couldn’t handle it. And then the shit just got deeper.” Hollis knows Phillip will infer who she means.

Milo was the only one that Niko could who understood Hollis through and through. He has talked to the older twin not even two days ago and listened to the moody boy explain emotions in a way that almost seemed lyrical. He looked at Hollis and felt saddened by the realization that he couldn’t offer her the words she was looking for like Milo had always been able to do. 

Everything I touch turns to ash.

That wasn’t true, no matter how fitting to this situation. “Because it was Fiona Sawyer, not you Hollis.” He knew everything at this point. He knew about her friend trying to cover for everyone involved that night, despite Hollis’ hospital confession. He knew about the Sawyer parents shipping her off with some rich aunt in another state for rehabilitation. He knew things would be swept under the rug and not only because the Sawyer’s couldn’t have their name tarnished in that manner but because the Valentine’s also refused to be pulled into a scandal. 

“Some accidents happen to be worse than others.” His words pulled from a dark secret he kept to himself and one other. A secret about a brother who froze while another drowned. Niko pointed at the couch for her to sit again. “If you want me to be mad I can pretend until you’re good.” It was a bad joke and he knew it. 

“I talked to Milo. He asked about you.”

Hollis calms at the mention of Fiona. Her fair, fair Fiona whom she misses so. Asteria truly isn’t the same without her here, breaking into buildings and confusing boys and causing general mischief. But it wasn’t just Fiona’s fault, was it? “I brought the fireworks,” she says, her voice shaking, betraying her. “I followed her to the side of the house. I lit them for her, for Christ’s sake. I– I knew she’d been drinking.”

She falls back into her seat, her knees shaking, betraying her. “I could’ve prevented it. If I had done just one thing differently... Made one choice responsibly...” 

“Some accidents happen to be worse than others.”

She visibly flinches. Of course. His “accident” ended up much worse than anyone else’s — than Brayden’s, than Kennedy’s. This response actually tracks... He’s reminding her that it’s her fault. “Finally, you’re getting it.” The first tear falls. Yeah, it’d probably help if Niko were more angry. She could yell back. She wouldn’t have to cry in front of him.

And then he says the one thing he knows will hurt her further. She swipes furiously at her eyes. She may cry over her mistakes and how they’ve deeply affected this family, but she won’t cry another single tear over Milo Fucking Valentine.

“Oh, yeah?” she asks, her heart picking up pace, betraying her, eager to know what Milo could possibly have to say.

“You won’t be seeing me here, princess.” Ivy shot back, offering her a little smirk of her own and resting her arms across the counter top. “You can go ahead and consider yourself banned. And you know, you can go ahead and tell that baby brother of yours that he’s banned too, and then tell him that it’s all your fault. I’m sure that’ll get him answering the phone for you more often. Bye bye, now. And do have a wonderful evening.”

Hollis chooses not to hear the words that follow her retreating figure, as the woman is of no further consequence to her. She waves a hand in the air behind her back to signal to the woman that she’s not listening as she exits the building.

Catalina stared at the scene in front of her, moving her hands up towards her mouth as she shook her head. “I don’t really understand,” she paused as she put her fingers up against her mouth. “You think the other woman deserved the slap?”

Hollis hadn’t been one hundred percent sure the other woman was paying attention to the scene across the room or if she’d even heard Hollis’s outburst, so Hollis starts when the woman answers. “I mean, I’ve been in some fights, man. And none of them were ever for my guy roommate sleeping with my ex-boyfriend-whom-I-thought-was-straight... and then my sister outing them to me after she had a ménage à trois with them two weeks after we broke up.”

“So you were watching me, huh?” Dylan’s smile reflected the cockiness in his voice. He knew Hollis knew shit about football and she was looking pretty suspicious to him. His eyes dropped to the red apple in her hand.

“No need to project your insecurities. You don’t have pretend anymore, H. No one here is judging you.” Dylan let the ball settle in the nook between his side and arm. 

She knows... she knows... that Dylan is not hitting on her right now, less than a month after his brother’s departure... His brother whom she had a semi-toxic, co-dependent relationship with... Her initial gut reaction is to be a bitch. To call him out and leave. To speed home while blaring metal music and cry. But then... something overcomes her. Maybe loneliness. Maybe a desire for attention? Maybe she just wants to be nice. Probably not that one.

She crosses her legs atop the bench where she sits. “Yes, Dylan. I decided to come to the park today because I heard you’d be here, muscles out, dripping sweat, and I just couldn’t stay away.” She fans herself dramatically.

Catalina stared at the scene in front of her, moving her hands up towards her mouth as she shook her head. “I don’t really understand,” she paused as she put her fingers up against her mouth. “You think the other woman deserved the slap?”

Hollis hadn’t been one hundred percent sure the other woman was paying attention to the scene across the room or if she’d even heard Hollis’s outburst, so Hollis starts when the woman answers. “I mean, I’ve been in some fights, man. And none of them were ever for my guy roommate sleeping with my ex-boyfriend-whom-I-thought-was-straight... and then my sister outing them to me after she had a threesome with them two weeks after we broke up.”

Ivy might have made a biting comment, she might have had a witty little quip, but if she was being honest? That one stung. Because she didn’t want to be working at the arcade, she didn’t want to still be in Asteria. She felt trapped in this place. Lucky for Ivy, the girl’s phone rang and she got a moment to come to terms with that and to collect herself, eyes drifting off to check on the floor, wholly uninterested in this girl and her stupid kid brother and all the drama that went with it. When the girl hangs up, however, Ivy turns her attention back, and she lifts an eyebrow. “Again, I never said he wasn’t. You, little princess, seem to have a nasty habit of putting words in other people’s mouths.”

Hollis doesn’t care much to argue any longer now that she has a pin on her little brother. She looks back at the arcade manager and gives her a grin. “Truly, nothing thrills me more than being referred to as royalty.” She takes a sour candy from the prize bowl atop the counter and pops it into her mouth. “See ya next time, Ms. Pac Man. You’ve been a real... treat.”

“So have I. That’s thirty long years for me, and what, seventeen for you?” Ivy lifted an eyebrow and picked up the styrofoam cup she had on the desk to take a sip of water. “Name’s Ivy. Graduating class of… well, it would have been 2009. You know that ugly yellow house? That one’s my dads. Blood type is B negative. I could keep going if you want, but I’m pretty sure you have a brother you need to track down, don’t you? Standing here arguing with me about who’s been in this shit hole longer isn’t accomplishing that.”

Hollis huffs. “That explains it, then. I wouldn’t wanna be thirty and working at an arcade, either. Hell, I wouldn’t wanna be thirty and still in Asteria.” Just then, her phone rings, and she answers it eagerly. “Asher Ronan Tyler, where the hell—” her brother cuts her off by telling her that he and his friends walked to Skewers to get Tiramisu. “That is not where we agreed to meet. You know you’re supposed to let me or mom know if you go somewhere else.” Her brother makes his excuses, and she rolls her eyes. She ends the call and pockets her phone before looking to see if the woman had kept her attention on Hollis.

“Hey, princess?” Ivy kept her face neutral as she leaned forward in turn, though there was a smirk pulling up just at the corner of her lips. “I know that shady is a different way of saying poor. Because I live here too. And I’ve probably lived here a hell of a lot longer than you have, and I can say with certainty that most of the people living here aren’t criminals. Or even bad. But some people are and they tend to gravitate toward the shadier part of town. I never accused your kid of being bad in the first place, and if you want to get uppity about someone insulting my neighborhood, you should go find one of those Queens Park fucks, because I think I’ve earned the right to call a spade a spade. Now, if you’re done being uppity, I suggest you go check out the drive in or the cemetary. When the kids aren’t here, they like to hang out in those quiet, open spaces. It’s what me and my friends did as kids, too.”

At the woman’s insistence that she’s lived here longer than Hollis, Hollis starts. “I’ve lived in Eris my whole life.” She folds her arms across her chest. “Who are you?” Hollis was sure she knew everyone that grew up in the lower-income district around her age. Perhaps these two had just missed overlapping each other in school by a year or two. Still. Everyone in Asteria has siblings. Like Hollis had said... There’s not much to do in this shit town. “And he’s not my kid. He’s my brother.”

Ivy had a smart comment ready to roll off her tongue before the girl had cut her off, and she was genuinely disappointed when she couldn’t get it out in time. Sure, it wasn’t exactly the best idea to go popping off at the mouth at customers, but Ivy was basically grandfathered into this job at this point, and she was pretty sure it would take a lot more than a couple of complaints about being a smart ass to get her canned. One minor perk of that management position. “Yeah, they all went out the front door. I didn’t exactly follow them to see where they headed after that, but most people tend to go up the street. I would wager a guess that whoever this kid is, he clearly doesn’t want to be found, so you’re probably barking up the wrong tree here, lady. But you know, this is a pretty shady part of town, he could just be lighting up at a friends house down the street.”

Ooh, now she’d done it. Hit a very sore spot with Hollis, that is. She places both palms on the counter and leans in just a small amount to let the woman know that she’s serious, and she lowers her voice accordingly. “Shady part of town is just an adjacent way of saying poor. We’re in the poor part of town. This is where I live. And just because people are poor, doesn’t mean that they are bad, or that they’re criminals. Asher’s just a kid. A rambunctious kid, but a good one. He comes here to hang out with his friends because there’s not much to do in this shit town and your little video game parlor happens to be the place to be if you’re a dork, if you haven’t noticed.” She straightens back up, and her voice is of normal volume now. “I’m sure they just went to get a burger.”

“What’d you do this time?” Dylan caught both a football and Hollis’s resting bitch face looking his direction. 

Hollis thought that when she finally had to see a Valentine again, that it would break her, that her body would react and she’d bend over in pain, clutching at her stomach. But seeing Dylan in the park only pisses her off.

“I didn’t do shit,” she says to him. “I saw what you just did. You want me to tell your team you’re cheating, or would you like to do that yourself?” She takes a bite of her apple menacingly.