Monty-santos‌:

@kingkirbey

Being here just made the knot in his stomach worse than it had been at overseas. He’d much rather be in Greece right now, having a Piraiki than stupid liquor. He was supposed to be tying up lose ends and potentially making amends with Quinn. That shit didn’t work. Now he just felt like a spineless asshole. And when shit hit the fan, he just needed King. Ben spit onto his shirt, trying to get the blood out once he found her for the dramatic effect. “That didn’t go well,” He admitted as he looked at his wife, “I just got pummeled by Quinn. I didn’t even know he was capable of doing that,” Ben sighed as he looked past her, “Can you please tell me again why this was a good idea?” His question was geniune, the purpose of their arrival blurred over the fact that his friendship with Quinn seemed broken beyond repair.

quinnxarchibald‌:

Quinn was starting to feel thoroughly overwhelmed as he walked through the unfamiliar rooms, making small talk with people he really wanted to avoid. He had no idea how he’d ended up on the guest list, or how he’d been convinced to go to the party in the first place but here he was, trying not to sulk in a corner. He’d already seen Wren and had been busy trying to stay out of his way. Seeing the other male made his stomach twist in painful ways that made him want to drown himself in whatever the closest alcohol was.

After another near run in with his ex, Quinn was on his way to the bar when he ran into someone he felt stupid for forgetting. Ben. Of course Ben was here. Chessie had told him that the brunet was living with her and here Quinn was, being an idiot and walking right into the house. 

It took a moment for everything to sink in, for Ben’s words to really register, but once they did, Quinn’s eyes narrowed and he scoffed. “Yeah, it does. Are you gonna runaway this time too?” He asked coldly.

He felt like Quinn was closer to him than his own brother at one point. Until Ben fucked it all up. When he was a damsel in distress, Quinn swooped in and saved him. He literally risked his reputation for Ben and Ben paid it back by leaving the country. It was something that seemed right at the time to him. Now looking at Quinn, he knew it was all wrong. He tarnished their friendship. 

He nodded at Quinn’s comment, knowing that he deserved it at the very least. Ben deserved a lot more than that. Honestly, he would’ve run away if there was any room to. However, he felt virtually trapped. 

“No, I’m not,” He replied as he wiped his hand down his cheek nervously. Ben should have told him that he was back in town. Now here they were and he was feeling as tense as ever. Ben wanted to tell him how he should’ve mentioned he was back in town but he was too much of a coward. Instead, he’d continue with the small talk. “How has the city been treating you?”

arlovasquez‌:

chessieabernathy‌:

Chessie barely heard what they said, eyes closing for a moment to silently pray the room would stop spinning. Her head turned towards Arlo as he stood, a hand reaching out to her. She took far too long to respond, before a smile finds her, and she’s on her feet. “We should dance,” she repeats the words back with a nod, an arm wrapping around Arlo’s middle in an attempt to keep herself upright. Leaning against him, she danced along with him – Or at least, attempted to. 

Being unable to feel her face wasn’t something uncommon for her, but this time around – It kept her from noticing the nose bleed that had begun somewhere between getting up, and the moment she noticed blood dripping onto her dress. “Shit,” she began, half stepping away from him to wipe her nose with the back of her hand. “Oh, fuck – This dress is – Shit.” She slurred, spewing half sentences as panic began to settle in. “Shit..” Chessie grumbled once more, free hand landing on Arlo’s shoulder, in an attempt to steady herself. It’s unclear how much time as passed, before she opens her eyes once more. “I just – Need to sit.” With a nod, she lets go of him, managing to stumble a foot away, before her eyes rolled back and shit hit the ground, unconscious. 

Dancing was supposed to be a fun idea; something to keep energy up. At least, that was Arlo’s intentions.

 When Chessie pulled away he looked to her, confused.There was a pattern of crimson on her dress that trailed from her nose. “Chessie, are you okay?” He asked her. But she didn’t answer him - only ranted about the dress for a moment before putting her hand back on his shoulder. She was like that for only a few seconds before walking away and falling.

Arlo didn’t react at first. As his eyes dropped with her, he merely stood there and observed her. “Chessie?” He called out after a few moments of silence. “You okay?” 

When she didn’t respond he approached her body and knelt done, putting two fingers over her neck. The pulse was there but weak. 

 Arlo looked up in panic, knowing something terrible had happened, probably something to do with the speedball they just did. 

 “I think she overdosed Ben. We need to get help!”

He didn’t realize anything serious was happening until he saw her hit the ground. That wasn’t supposed to happen. And it’s not like she’d be playing dead or whatever. Ben crawled towards her and Arlo,.

This was it. A repeat of what had happened before. Why did this always happen to him? And this was another reason why he didn’t want to come back. It wasn’t fun watching someone overdose right in front of you. This time it was different, he knew her. Hell, he lived with her. And there were no cops beating down the door. 

He then looked at Arlo before looking down at her. 

“We gotta call 911,” He insisted as he reached into his pockets to find his phone. They were in no state to drive her. His hands were shaking, and he wasn’t sure if it was from the drugs or nerves. The EMTs would probably be more worried about her than the drugs, thankfully. “Here you talk to them, I don’t know your address.” He handed his phone to Arlo. There was a lump forming in his throat, wondering if she was even going to be okay.

monty-santos‌:

“I’ve been back since the day after Freya’s funeral, I couldn’t be a ticket back in time,” Monty sighed, a shadow passing over his face as he had yet another reminder of all the death that had decided to come for his family this year.  And while he tried to push the unexpected pangs of grief back tot he back of his head, Monty knew that it was still probably written all over his face.  “I actually don’t really drink anymore, to be honest. I mean, I’m still working on completely stopping, but I actually converted to Buddhism and it’s greatly looked down upon since you’re supposed to abstain from things that can cloud the mind. But I will take any other recommendations that you’ve got.  Are you planning on going to France at some point soon?” he asked, mostly out of curiosity.  “I’ve gotten the word out and a few people have.  Sheridan, I don’t know if you’ve met her yet, actually donated what I’m pretty sure was about half a Target.  So it helps, there’s just also need for more.”

He had heard things, heard about people dying but they could’ve been just rumors. Unfortunately, they weren’t. “Shit, you’re really a Buddhist now? What do you do if you don’t drink now?” He asked, thoroughly confused. “I don’t know if I can recommend anything else since that counts out everything else,” Ben was always into clouding his judgment, “I’m not sure when we’re going to go back. I have some things to do here and then hopefully that’ll be one of the first stops.” He was optimistic that they wouldn’t be here for too long. “Nope, I haven’t met her yet,” He actually didn’t mind being out of the loop abroad but now that he was home, he was curious about everything. “At least someone’s helping out that’s got the money.”

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. 

chessieabernathy‌:

Chessie knows he’s trying to keep this casual, trying his best to push past the tension between them and have a semi-normal conversation. You could see it from a mile away. “The truth will set you free,” she comments easily, taking another puff of her cigarette. She’s unsure how to reply to him – Ben makes it sound like something mundane happened, as if he forgot King’s birthday or was late to dinner. There was no way for her to respond to his comment properly, she decided. There was no way to string together a sentence that was anything short of her telling him King was justified. “It’s not any different for how you are normally,” she finds herself tease, hoping to keep up the light and airy conversation, rather than get into the gritty details he surely wants to ask about. At the mention of O, Chessie purses her lips into a thin line for a moment, biting the inside of her cheek. “We’ve spoken,” she opens with, “It’s been… complicated. With work.” 

"That’s why I’ve never been a fan of the truth,” He joked. Was it bad or good that they could be joking together? Especially after what had happened. The big elephant in the room, or rather the air, in this case, was still there. He wanted to ask her more but knew it wasn’t his place to do so. He didn’t know her like that. “And that’s why I don’t work.” He acknowledged, “It seems too stressful.” The truth was, Ben didn’t have any skills anyways. “Do you think I’d make a good model? I know Paris pretty well.” He had no idea what being a model consisted of but he was trying to keep their conversation as light as she was. “You know if you ever need to get out of the house or whatever, you’re always welcome to give me a call. I’m usually not busy. And it’ll be a nice break for me too. O’s also pissed at me.” 

quinnxarchibald‌:

Quinn couldn’t believe that this was happening, that this was his life. If it had been any other day or any other event, he might have played it cool, acted like none of this bothered him. Tonight though, with alcohol running through his veins, Quinn didn’t care about the consequences. As soon as Ben spoke, as soon as he tried to act as if nothing had happened, as if the past two years were nothing, Quinn saw red. Before he knew it, he’d already drawn his his fist back before letting it connect with Ben’s face. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He practically yelled as he took a step back from Ben, mind still reeling. He couldn’t believe that Ben would walk in here acting like he hadn’t ruined Quinn’s life, like he hadn’t just disappeared and left Quinn to fight on his own.

He knew Quinn pretty well. Ben thought his own face was safe. “Fuck,” He said, cupping his face as soon as he felt the skin split open. He wasn’t sure what the hell to do now. Ben wasn’t going to hit him back, not when he deserved it. However, a part of him felt his fists tensing up. They were supposed to be talking this out, not using their fists. 

Ben wiped off the blood on his white cuffs, not caring if he ruined them or not. He should’ve blended in with the damn walls as soon as he spotted Quinn. He always pinned Quinn as a lover and not a fighter. That shows how much he knew about him now. He wanted to egg Quinn on more, knowing that he deserved it. A part of him hoped he’d feel less guilty once Quinn was done. But what was a good fight without Ben at least hitting him once? As soon as Benjamin made contact with Quinn’s, he immediately regretted it. “Shit, are you alright?”

quinnxarchibald‌:

Unable to stifle a yawn, Quinn covered his mouth with his hand before making eye contact with a person across from him. “I dunno how I’m going to make it to midnight at this rate.” He admitted with a small laugh. He’d hit a wall half an hour ago and suddenly time felt like it was stretching around him. All he wanted, at the moment, was to go back home and crawl into bed.

Ben wasn’t quite sure if Quinn was talking to him or not. Things were still unresolved with him, even after they spoke at the party. Once again, he would act as if nothing happened between the pair. “If you need to, go home. I’m sure Arlo would understand.” He responded. "Or maybe you just haven’t had enough to drink.”

quinnxarchibald‌:

A small part of Quinn felt happy when he saw the sad look in Ben’s eyes as the words best friends were said. That mean part of him liked knowing that the other male was suffering too. A bigger part of him though hated seeing his former friend so upset and wanted to do something to make things right. Smiling, Quinn nodded. “Even if I did want to punch you, Chessie would have my head if I did. She’d probably kill me and throw my body in a snow bank.” He half joked, knowing, deep down, that if Chessie were to kill him it would be a lot worse tha that. “I could definitely go for a truce shot though, now that you mention it.” Quinn replied. He knew he probably shouldn’t drink more but the thought of having some sort of connection to Ben made him want to follow along with whatever plan the brunet might have.

The problem was, if Quinn were to punch him again, he’d punch back. Between the mixture of alcohol and pride, he’d always keep defending himself. It didn’t matter that he loved Quinn like a brother. So he was relieved Quinn wasn’t going to go at him again. He still wanted to keep his distance for now. This was too easy, and he knew everything wasn’t going to be resolved but for an hour or two, he’d feel less guilty. He asked the bartender for two shots of vodka before returning his attention towards Quinn. “To punching each other in the face.” He toasted. 

quinnxarchibald‌:

Quinn looked over at Ben for a moment before shaking his head. “Yeah, you make a very good point. Most people here kind of suck don’t they?” He sighed, thinking of how much time he’d spent hating how fake people were. Despite hating the facade, he couldn’t imagine leaving the way Ben or Monty had. “I dunno about screens though, it’s not the same as face to face.”

He could go on and pretend as if everything was normal. Nothing was normal between them. Nothing was normal for Ben right now anyways. Maybe this would be a good segway into what had happened and the apology that he owed Quinn. But that meant actually talking about things and Ben was not a fan of that action. “I’m assuming you heard what happened.” He blurted. Shit. “I mean what happened at the party. Not with me, particularly,” It wasn’t a big deal what had happened to him or anything. Possession was a big deal but he wanted to minimize that as much as possible around Quinn. Because Quinn seemed to have been through so much because of him already. He should’ve just apologized to Quinn. Instead, he continued to talk about phones. “I honestly think screens are taking over everyone’s lives. Have you ever seen those videos of New York back in the 80′s? No one was on their phone.”