Text !! Nate & Leo

renfarber​:

“Mhmm,” Ren smirked, opening the door, and holding it for him. “There’s a fine line between madness and genius… and if you have to cup your pizza with both hands to keep the toppings from falling off the sides, you’ve gone too far.” It was way too easy to fall back into joking with Leo. She was still mad and she was still hurt and she was still really fucking confused, but she was still Ren. And he was still Leo. They couldn’t escape that if they tried.

Her apartment was on the second floor, and they had to walk up a slightly dingy staircase and not too far down a slightly creepy hallway to get to it. It looked worse than it was - the neighbors were great and the landlord was… fine, as landlords go. Even so, she’d move the second she had a chance to.

Right now, as Leo could see when she unlocked the apartment door and swung it open, she and her son shared a studio apartment. She had a murphy bed that she kept up now so Max had space to scoot around and play. He had his own little section with his crib and his change table and everything he needed. She’d painted everything white so it looked bigger and brighter than when she’d moved in. She’d filled the place with her record collection and decorated it with posters of her favorite films. But as cozy as it was, they were essentially sleeping in the kitchen. That was life in New York, though, she supposed. [ x ]

“Don’t sue me if you trip over a toy. Max is obsessed with throwing things this week. Thinks it’s the funniest shit,” she said, shaking her head. She hung up her jacket and headphones and set down her work bags and turned back to Leo. “Bathroom’s just there, everything else is… here. That’s the grand tour. Want a drink? Might help.” 

-

Leo’s lips mashed together as he listened her tease him. His eyes had lit up. It still got to him that she would remember things. She knew him. He remembered how much that fact had floored him. And that it had struck him so much that he kissed her. His Serenity. But that had all  changed, didn’t it? She finally got meet the person he had become. A person he still hid from his wife. “Agree to disagree?” Leo offered as he kept watching her as he followed her. He was trying to see if he could read her face as if there were some answer there. 

But as Ren was unlocking her door, he realized he was being let into her home. He was going to see how and where she lived with her son. This wasn’t something that crossed his mind till he already had an eyeful of it. His eyes moved to the left to the right, up and down. And that’s all that was really needed to take in to get the gist of the place. It reminded him of when he first moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan. He had to share a similar space with another grown adult. But what Ren had done with it was far more cooler and cozier than he had ever seen a place be. It was like he could see himself living in the space. He walked in further, finding himself being taken with a retro styled movie poster for Universal’s Frankenstein. He caused him to smile because he had the same poster. 

 He laughed turning back around to face her, “That is the funniest shit.” But then he glanced down and saw a teething toy on the ground, and as a new parent, he saw how maybe that wasn’t really that funny. Leo picked it up and handed it to Ren. “Where is Max anyway?” Leo asked, and it surprised him how much he was actually hoping to meet her son. “And yeah I’ll take a drink. Whatever you’re having.” 

One Hundred and One Nights (1995)

renfarber​:

She’d asked. She shouldn’t be so shocked, because she’d asked if he’d gotten rid of it. But she didn’t actually think he would have done so. It made sense; of course it did. Ren had shattered their relationship, right at the moment it was at its most perfect. They’d been deliriously happy, they were making plans for the future, they were obsessed with each other, and unwaveringly in love. So of course he’d been blindsided, and heartbroken, and furious. Of course he’d thrown away the key.

But making sense didn’t make it hurt less. She didn’t want to reason with herself about it, about how it shouldn’t feel like a knife to her heart to see the empty space where the key to her lock had been. Or how the pain and anger in his eyes now shouldn’t break her heart just as much as it had nine years ago. It just did. 

In one swallow, she downed the rest of her drink, setting the empty glass on the table between them with an unceremonious thud. 

“Fine,” she said, staring quietly for a moment, watching him tug his sleeve back down, covering the empty patch of skin where his love for her used to be. She had a question on the tip of her tongue, and for a while it stayed there, stubbornly refusing to be spoken. But the alcohol was loosening it, and she said it anyway, as she poured herself another drink. “…Why did you kiss me?”

-

He watched the way she absorbed the information. But really what was she to expect? Leo couldn’t stand to look down at his own arm because the tattoo was reminded of her absence in his life and his arms. He even missed the stupid way their matching tattoos would meet when holding hands. He had to get rid of it. Those kind memories had morphed into ones where she had made the choice to entangle herself with someone else. It made him sick either way. It had to go. 

Leo swallowed before taking in a deep meaningful breath. Her question had knocked the air out of him, and cleared his head from the pain he had became friends with. The only thing filling his senses now was her. Her scent. Her face. And the way she tasted when he kissed her last. He brought his drink to his mouth to suppress it, but it was too late, the alcohol tasted painfully sweet like she did. He downed it, easily, and like her - he placed the glass down with a thud. 

His dark gaze moved along her features like a caress, but his face stayed neutral. “Because.” He said as if that were a complete answer or sentence. He didn’t want to tell her the truth. It would just be pathetic. He was done with feeling like some love sick fool, especially over her. He had been pining for so long - nearly a decade. This hurt was the part of him that helped him grow into someone so heartless, arrogant, and careless with love... all because he couldn’t experience it with her. 

just for your information, i always get what i want

Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg You (2018 -)

krosxn​:

Katz had been too wrapped up in organizing his office before hearing the knock. He briefly wondered who it was before hearing the slur of Leo. With a sigh, he went to the door to let him in. Blinking at the man, he helped him inside and shut the door behind. “Would you though? Because if you’re looking to get hired on, this is not the way to do it.” Clean him up, get him in bed, that’s what Katz’s goal was going to try to be tonight.

-

Leo was so out of it he didn’t realize he had been let in till Katz’ voice spooked him since he was so close. But after his delayed flinch, his mouth had stretched into a smile, seeing the friendly face he had seek out. “What do you mean? I’m just having fun.” He retaliated, not liking the ounce of judgement he sensed from Katz’s response. “This is the life, Katz!” he sang and began making his way further into Katz’ home with unstable legs yet he continued humming. 

closed starter: @hvny​ location: a bar in manhattan

 leo was in a bar with live music, of course, he was having the time of his life. music helped him ride his buzz out in such a good way. especially good music. he was surprised by the big bold energy that much too big for a dumpy bar. “hey, you were amazing up there!” Leo called after the frontwoman who just passed in front of him. 

renfarber​:

who: @le0davis​ where: some half-abandoned theatre in lower manhattan what: in which leo and ren get slapped in the face with nostalgia

This wasn’t Ren’s first time away from Max, but it still felt weird every time she left him with her mom. Being alone felt unnatural now, like she was missing a limb. She’d spent her entire life trying not to get too attached to anyone at all, and now here she was, heart aching for a boy. All that being said, she did find a moment to marinate in the eerie silence of the almost-abandoned cinema. Just as she’d suspected, there was absolutely no one in here, and the ticket seller had looked at her like maybe she was a ghost.

The film was an obscure horror film from the 50s called The Creeping Unknown, and the old floors creaked as she made her way through the empty auditorium to find a seat. It was the perfect atmosphere for some much-needed alone time… but then she saw the mop of curls peeking over a seat in one of the middle rows. Not only had this intruder invaded her quiet night, but they’d also taken the best seat in the place. Despite herself, she was intrigued, and made her way over, just to see what kind of person had the same strange idea of a fun night…

But of course it was him.

“…Leo?” she asked (but who else would it be?). 

-

Leo needed a moment to himself that didn’t involve women, work, or alcohol. he needed the silence and care that a theatre could give him. He scored as he sat down on the perfect seat, dead center of the entire theatre. It was completely empty. Just him and the silver screen. It was a haven that he hadn’t had in a long time. And of course, it was an obscure science fiction horror film was a comforting choice for him. He sat comfortably with a small bucket of popcorn in one hand with his soda on the ground in front of the left seat beside him. 

He had heard the theatre creak but had thought nothing of it. Until he had heard a voice, he flinched at the sound of his name. Who had found him here in his safe space? He turned his head to see the owner of the voice. He looked at her, stunned, with his hand frozen in his popcorn bucket. “R-ren?” he questioned with narrowed eyes as he looked upon her in the dim lighting. He couldn’t believe it. and then it happened, a brief flash of the first time he saw her to the painful last time he had seen her. it was like his heart in his chest was given a tight squeeze and dragged down to his stomach. “uhh,” he drawled through the pain. it had been ten years but it felt like yesterday, seeing her now. “i’ll leave.” he blurted out, standing up so abruptly, bits of popcorn flung everywhere. 

A Cinderella Story (2004) dir. Mark Rosman