Quinnxarchibald‌:

kingkirbey‌:

The second she saw Ben, King gravitated toward him, taking in his bloodied face and stained shirt. She hadn’t seen the fight but she’d heard about it immediately, the news traveling fast through the penthouse. “Jesus.” It was all she could manage to get out as she pushed him back into the kitchen and onto a bar stool. Wordlessly, she went to grab a rag and wet it in the sink, coming back to press it to Ben’s nose. She worked in silence for a few moments, tending to the crusted blood on his face before she took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “This was still a good idea. You know it was.” It was hard to look at him and believe her own words, but she knew the guilt he carried with him would end up hurting him much more than any punch Quinn could throw. “This obviously isn’t a great start to the conversation. But.. it’ll get better with him. At least you’re trying.”

These parties never ended well. Shit always went down. Here he was thinking he was past all that drama, thinking he was way too mature for this shit. “I don’t know if I’m even trying. I couldn’t say anything to him. It was hard to even look at him. I just froze like an idiot and asked him how things were,” Ben just wanted to disappear. No, fuck that, he wanted to run. His face hurt, his hands hurt, everything fucking hurt. “What if it doesn’t? I fucked up. Quinn still seems pretty damn mad,” He just wanted to go back with King to Italy or Greece, hell even Lithuania. But part of him was doing this for her. He didn’t want her having to deal with his guilt all their lives. “I’d rather just back to our room and drink with you for the rest of the night.” That would really make him forget about the whole fight. 

arlovasquez‌:

“Oh my god, the Looney Toons movie. I honestly forgot that existed. Or maybe I just thought it was some type of fever dream I had as a kid.” Arlo shrugged at Ben’s question, taking another sip. “They used polished metals and shit like that before mirrors were actually around. I don’t think they’re as good as what we have now, but I guess people would make do?”

"That movie was definitely made by people who were high,” he said with a chuckle. Thank God he didn’t live back then. Yeah, he’s one of those hipsters who thinks he could live without technology but not without a mirror. He needed to see himself when he put his hair into a bun. He had a hard time doing it without a mirror. “That’s weird. I’m glad we live in the present rather than the Rennaissance. I would’ve hated having no mirror.”

You ever get in a Mood where you just wanna poof off to another country, erase your history, re-write your identity, and become a mysterious figure who’s never been photographed but occasionally appears in paintings done by unknown artists

text @ everyone (wren's entire contact list)

Wren: It's my Christmas card. I made it online.

Ben: Christmas is celebrated so differently in Europe.

Ben: we should try to give it a shot over here.

Shit’s fucked. Which was why Ben was spending so muchctime away from O’s place. He knew King was upset with him. He should’ve known what vices he’d get into as soon as he stepped on the dirty concrete for the first time in two years. Now, he was right near Central Park, a place he hadn’t been to in years, looking at The Pond. Ben was extremely neurotic but sometimes watching water calmed him down to a certain extent. His impulsiveness pretty much trumped everything else. 

“Is it acceptable to go skinny dipping in January?” The lake looked a bit gross, but he’d do it. “I’ll give these tourists something that they’ll really remember.” Due to global warming, the body of water was pretty peaceful looking right now with no signs of ice. “I’d suggest going ice skating but I don’t think that’d work.” 

quinnxarchibald‌:

Not knowing what to say, Quinn shook his head. There were so many emotions running through his head but no real words were forming. It was all just angerbetrayalfear mixing together into something dangerous. “How could you think it wouldn’t fuck things up Ben? It was me for god’s sake. The Archibald golden boy.” Quinn let out an angry sigh, resisting the urge to stomp his foot in frustration. “So you left. You ran away and let me face my parents, the media, the courts, and rehab all on my own. How kind of you.”

Ben furrowed his brows, the anger inside of him building up. He was only mad at himself. He only had a right to be mad at himself. He felt like there wouldn’t have been as many consequences if Quinn took the fall. They’d both escape unscathed. He was extremely wrong, however. “I don’t know, I wasn’t thinking straight,” He admitted. Quinn had a squeaky clean reputation compared to him. Had was the keyword. “I didn’t want to leave you to do all that shit on your own. I just didn’t know what else to do,” The guilt that Ben had after watching a man OD in front of him, unable to help, was something that was incomparable. He watched a human life leave a body. “I know it sounds bad, but...” His voice faded, realizing he shouldn’t turn this onto himself. “I should’ve just had your back,” Why couldn’t he just tell Quinn he was sorry? Why was this so hard? “I don’t know what happened.”

chessieabernathy‌:

“I guess that’s one way of seeing it,” she grumbles, silently wishing Gossip Girl didn’t have such an effect on her. Truthfully, ever since the FREYA board told her to clean up her act, the anonymous blog has become a consistent place she visits, terrified that she’ll find a secret of hers posted. She had too many things to hide, too much to lose. “I appreciate the solidarity, thanks,” Chessie chuckled, rolling her eyes at him, happy to keep the subject moving. The mention of the bartender brings another laugh, a shoulder shrugged soon after. “Oh, well. It’ll give me a story to tell about the time he met Francesca Abernathy,” she teased, putting on her best ‘high society’ voice as she said her own name. “King may be into this –” she gestured to him, laughing lightly. “Greaser-esque look. But you just look ridiculous to me.”

Gossip Girl wasn’t really a constant in his life for the past few years, so he wasn’t going to start reading it religiously now. “I’m just looking for an excuse to do it. It’d only be acceptable if you were doing it too,” He admitted as he looked at the brunette. “People will probably melt in their boots from jealousy when they hear about you.” Ben teased. "This is the European look, not a Danny Zuko one,” He replied, motioning towards his face. “You’d know that if you lived there for as long as I did.” Ben was going to remind everyone that he was abroad at least once a day. 

quinnxarchibald‌:

monty-santos‌:

Monty knew from what Quinn had told him at the lockin that things with Ben were going to be tense. That much was given and understandable considering the situation.  However, the last thing that he had expected to see was for Quinn to punch the other man.  And as soon as he did, he started making his way over, just not getting there fast enough to keep Ben from punching Quinn back. “Hey, both of you need to break it up, take a deep breath, and calm down,” Monty snapped as he gave Quinn a look, getting between them in hopes that he wouldn’t get hit. 

As shocked as Quinn was by the fact that he’d punched Ben, he was even more shocked when the brunet punched him back. He should have known it was coming, Ben had never been the type to go down without a fight but still, the action sent Quinn stumbling back. He let out a dry laugh at Ben’s words, trying not to start crying right then and there. Of course Ben would ask if he was alright, it was just so Ben of him. It reminded Quinn of simpler times, back before the arrest and before Ben had up and left. 

Opening his mouth to speak, Quinn was interrupted by a familiar face stepping in between them. “Monty.” He replied, suddenly feeling a bit stunned. Part of him knew that he should listen to his friend but a larger part of him wanted to go right back at it, to walk up to Ben and punch him again, to make him feel exactly how Quinn felt. Taking a step back though, Quinn raised his hands in surrender, glaring at Ben before looking back at his friend.

Monty keeping himself in between the two of them led to Ben having a realization of what he was doing. He wasn’t supposed to touch his best friend. Or ex-best friend. Whatever. Ben wanted to always protect Quinn and now he was doing the opposite. He couldn’t make eye contact with Quinn or even Monty. Instead, he just stood there soaking in what just happened. 

CLOSED.

 quinnxarchibald‌:

“You could have done it and you know it.” Quinn responded, crossing his arms over his chest. As Ben spoke, Quinn felt a wall around himself begin to crumble. Something about the look in Ben’s eyes made him want to stop everything and comfort the brunet. He was still mad, so incredibly mad, but seeing Ben so upset always made Quinn sad. “Ben…” Quinn paused, shaking his head. “Listen. You asked me to do it but I said yes. I agreed to it. I’m not mad about that.” Quinn admitted, shaking his head. “I’m mad that you left. I was ready to deal with the aftermath but not without you.”

He shook his head, trying to convince himself that he couldn’t have reached out to Quinn. It just wouldn’t have been possible, right? “I knew shit was gonna be bad but not that bad that it’d really fuck shit up,” For once, he should’ve been thinking about Quinn too, not just himself. “I had to leave,” He knew that it didn’t make sense nor could he even explain why but he had to. “I had to. I couldn’t stay here. I needed to leave.”