Realistic or Modern Westbrook

[Maree]

Belle Taylor

Mood: | Interacting with: Mason and Drake
Mentions: Winona

Belle probably should have seen that coming. Part of her had expected it but it still didn't feel great. Of course, he would snap at her for her suggestion. He was so touchy and it always went straight to assuming it was about her wealth. That she was trying to hold her status over him. Even though she wasn't. She would have offered if she was middle class or even poor. It was going to be difficult to make him see that. But there had to be some way to get through to him. If she didn't... The next call he got might be to ID his brother's dead body.

Then Mason walked away from her and into Drakes room. She really didn't want to argue this in front of Drake but it looked like she was going to have to. There was no way she was going to give up on them. "No," she said firmly. It took a lot of willpower not to yell back as he yelled at her. But a screaming match in Drakes hospital room wasn't going to do any good. "You are going to put your damn pride away for a second and listen to me."

Oh, she really wanted to slap him right now. But that would just make things far worse. “You’re right. You’re not a charity case because that’s not what this is about" she said. Once again she sat down in the chair beside Drakes bed again and put her hand on top of hers. “I’m not doing this because I want to help the poor kids to make myself feel good.” God Maon was going to kill her but there was no going back down. She took a deep breath and looked straight into Drake's eyes before speaking. “You are going to die if you continue like this,” she said. It was harsh but obviously, they needed to be reminded of how serious this was. Who knew how many more highs he was away from death. “And i'm sorry but what you two are doing. It’s obviously not working if you keep going out and chasing the next high” she chewed on her bottom lip. "I don't want to lose you, Drake. I've already lost far too many people" she squeezed his hand and smiled softly. This was it. If she was going to get them to understand why she wanted this she would have to open up more about the crash.

This time she made eye contact with Mason. “I watched one of my best friends die in front of me. Not quickly either. She had a large-" she choked up a bit. She wanted to stop so bad but she had to make them understand. "She had a large shard of metal lodged in her throat” she paused to take a shaky breath, letting a few tears fall. “She choked on her own blood. She tried and tried to pull it from her throat with no success." she managed to get the words out before a sob escaped from her lips. " She reached out to me Mason. She was making gurgling noises but I could tell she was trying to say my name. To get me to help her" she said before stopping for a minute. Taking a few deep breaths in a failed attempt to calm herself. She needed to keep going. "and I just had to watch. There was nothing I could do for her... But there is something I can do now. so I’ll be dammed if you try to stop me from helping prevent another friend from dying” she choked up a bit more trying getting the last words out but she managed. Hopefully, that would make him understand. She hung her head letting the tears roll down her cheeks as she fought back sobs.

​

code by Ri.a

 

[Winona]

Mason & Drake


Was her story supposed to make him feel sad or something? Give in and forget what his own standards and feelings were? Sure, it fucking sucked that she'd sat with her friend while she died or whatever, but that didn't mean Mason suddenly needed to fucking bow to her whim and just fucking move in with her. People died. The end. Drake wasn't going to be one of the statistics, despite what little rich Belle thought. Who the hell did she think she was?

"No. We're not moving with you, and that's final." Mason snapped. He figured Adriane and his mom would probably be there soon, so he glared at Belle one last time and then started heading out of the room. He paused long enough to look back at them, his eyes still narrowed. "I'm getting Adriane and mom. I'll be back." And with that, he was gone.

Drake sighed, taking Belle's hand and squeezing it. "Hey, I'm sorry about that. It sounds horrible... and obviously, I'm sorry about Mason." His gaze was much softer than Mason's as he looked over at her, squeezing his hand. "Look, I understand that you're worried, but I'll be fine. Promise. I know my limit now, and I'll just stick away from everything." Well, except for a few specific drugs, but that was beside the point. "And thanks for coming. Like, we talked once, there was no reason that you had to."

Maree

-------------------------------

Adriane


She honestly hadn't expected it to go as well as it had, but there was a faint smile on Adriane's face as she looked at Raven. Maybe this other Rivera wasn't actually half bad. "Thanks. I really hope he's fine." She said, and then headed into the bedroom to help Ari out. Adriane went through the drawers, shoving clothes for both Mason and Drake into a backpack, and then grabbed a few personal belongings to help Drake feel at home or whatever in the hospital. Chances were he'd only be staying overnight, but Adriane knew how nice it was to have a little bit of home when you were in the hospital, no matter for how little time.

Adriane gave Ari a hug and kiss, and then headed out with the backpack pulled over her shoulder.

Ariana, on the other hand, stood by the door, eyes watering as her mother left. She hadn't heard much about what had happened, just that Uncle Drake was sick and her parents had to go take care of him.

High5ives Soap​

 

[Maree]

Theodore Presley

Mood: determined| Interacting with: June
Mentions: Moonshadow

Theo tilted his head to the side a little out of confusion. Did she not want to be cheered up? Who didn't want to be cheered up? Being happy was so much better than being sad. Being sad was the absolute worst. “If no one else is worrying about cheering you up. Then it sounds like that is exactly what I should be worried about” he said, nodding. Yes, that made sense. He was great at words right now. He should drink more often.

He beamed as she smiled a little at his amazing clownfish. “What kind of questions? If its how I’m so awesome? I was just born this way” he joked. Then mocking the way Zach would run his fingers through his hair when he was trying to pick up a girl.

“You shouldn’t be letting a shitty ex effect you this bad. Mistakes happen. There’s nothing you can do about it but accept it and move on” Theo advised. He then spotted a mini fridge in the corner. He searched through it for a minute before pulling out two sodas and a couple of chocolate bars. “You’re here to have fun with me, duh” he added, smiling cheekily.

“So what do you like to do for fun. Besides drinking?” Maybe doing something that she liked to do would cheer her up. If she didn’t come up with anything then he had a few more ideas that might work

code by Ri.a

 

[Maree]

Belle Taylor

Mood: Worried| Interacting with: Mason, Drake. |Mentions: Winona

Belle blocked out Mason's words as soon as he started yelling again. "don't act like this is about anything but your damn pride Mason" she snapped back this time. He was just so insufferable. He was seriously going to let his brother die because his damn pride couldn't handle accepting help from someone. She shook her head as he walked out.

"Eh, he's a prick learned this when I first met him. Plus I've been dealing with his weird mood changes for the past week" she laughed softly, brushing her tears away. Maybe she would attempt to get him to come around when he wasn't so full of emotions. "I saw your file when we were talking to the nurse. This isn't the first time so you obviously don't know your limit" she sighed, spinning her ring around her finger. How are you supposed to help someone who refused to acknowledge that they had a problem? She shut the door so no one would listen in on them.

When she sat back down she took a couple of minutes to figure out how to phrase what she wanted to say. "It wouldn't hurt to let one person in Drake. I mean you just heard how messed up I am" she said with a small shrug. Even though she really regretted saying anything about the crash. Mason would never understand what it was like to lose someone you loved. "You can tell me what's really going on. Putting on that act and pretending that you're fine all the time must get tiring" she sighed, linking their fingers together. "Besides who am I gonna tell. Mason? Not gonna happen." she laughed a little at the idea of talking to Mason after what just happened. "Also being a snitch would probably ruin my chances at trying that date thing again?"

code by Ri.a

 

[High5ives]

Adri has left just as quickly as she had come, no fights, no arguing. Nothing. It was honestly strange to interact with the Redhead without calling her a bitch or a I'm uncultured, but now didn’t really seem like the time for any of that. Maybe Adri wasn’t as bad as Kanen liked to think. After all, was skipping out on a party to go support Mason. Even if she had some twisted motive for it, it was nice gesture.
When Adri left and the front clicked shut, Kanen’s fell upon Ari, standing there with tears brimming on her eyelids.
“Hey, Raven? Find a movie for her? Just because everyone else is having a shitty night doesn’t mean she has to.” Kanen said in a hushed tone, leaning down a little bit to speak directly into Raven’s ear so Ari wouldn’t hear. He was determined to make sure Ari didn’t spend the rest of the night sad. There was already enough shit fucked up in the world, the least Kanen could do was keep a little girl happy.
He walked down the hallway, opening up a small closet and pulling out every blanket he could find, then continuing to the bedrooms to strip them of all their pillows and linens. You could never go wrong with a blanket fort, and if Kanen was going to build a blanket fort, then damn it, it’d be the biggest one Ari had ever seen.
He’d used to build forts with his little brother, a long time ago. Blankets used to hang like canopies in his childhood bedroom. He and his brother would spend all night pretending they were camping in the woods, or hiding aboard some alien spaceship. Kanen’s stomach twisted. Old memories he wished he could forget. Sure, they were happy memories, but that was almost worse than a bad memory.
As he collected the materials for the blanket fort, Kanen said a silent prayer. Though he wasn’t a religious by any means, he found himself begging to whatever higher power; ‘Let Ari live a happy life'.

Winona Soap​

 

[Dazzle]

Zach


"I don't get what your issue is man." Zach could tell that Daniel was feeling his alcohol and he likely wasn't thinking straight. Charlie on the other hand, didn't really have an excuse. "I think you both oughta go." He narrowed his eyes at Danny, and before he knew it a fist was coming towards his face. Zach was more shocked than anything else, without even thinking he grabbed Daniel's punching arm by the elbow. He towered over him, Zach could feel his adrenaline running. He was trying to control his anger, but he could feel his own fists tighting "I don't want to fight you." He said, shoving the kid backwards.

He watched as Danny tripped over the guitar case stepping onto the guitar. "Shit.." That was one way to take care of the problem, he thought. Granted he felt a bit bad about breaking the guitar. But it wouldn't have happened if that kid had just left, or Danny hadn't tried to 'help'.

High5ives Twin Fantasy ​

 

[Soap]

Raven

Raven didn't move when Adriane left, she... wasn't really sure what to do. Hey, it was kind of funny. Ari reminded her of... well, herself. All nervous and vulnerable, almost afraid of what would happen next. So... maybe it wasn't all that funny. Kanen's instruction snapped her out of her daze. None of that really mattered anymore. She wasn't that scared little girl anymore, she was the girl who was helping the scared little girl. "Right. Yeah." Agreeing with him.

That was kind of special on it's own, Raven walked up to Ari and crouched down to her level, putting her hands on her shoulders and shaking her playfully. "Let's find ourselves a movie worthy for us SpiderMan fans to watch." Raising her eyebrows exaggeratedly, gently tugging her by the hand to pick out a movie.

Naturally, of course they settled on a superhero movie. Could you take a guess on which one? Clicking 'play' before she turned her attention to Kanen, furrowing her eyebrows at the fort he'd decided to make. "Woah. Look." She nudged Ari. It took a lot for Raven to be impressed... usually. What? It was a good fort. Well, it's not like she had much to compare it to anyway. Climbing inside and patting the middle, gesturing her to come inside. "Quick, quick. The movie is gonna start." The sooner they distracted her the better.

Winona High5ives
Juliette

Juliette shook her head in disbelief at the redhead. But smiled nonetheless. "Glad you...enjoyed yourself?" At least JJ hoped she did. If she was being honest, this was probably the most fun, well, not the most fun at a party. But you get what she means. Her smile momentarily faded when Serena came up to the two, giving a nod and gesturing towards Ava, almost cringing at her awkwardness. "Yes, she's Ava." Juliette teased.

She was never really 'close' with Serena, she knew of her because of basketball games... but, well, they never really hung out before. First time for everything, no? She wasn't sure what to make of her yet though. Juliette's just hoping she's genuinely likable. What? She can't be extremely friendly like some of the other cheerleaders, or... like Ava. Weird, but nice.

Look, it just wasn't JJ's style. Anyone who even heard of her knew that. Narrowing her eyes at Serena and watching her with a curious gaze. "So, where's your gay teammate?" She asked referring to the only gay girl on her team, obviously Sawyer. Why did Serena want to meet Ava and not hang out with her own clique? What? It wasn't like Juliette was bothered that she interrupted them. Of course not. She, and Ava had other friends.

Doesn't mean she wanted to make more of them.

DrabberRogue Winona


​

 

[Winona]

Drake


Well, Mason was a prick, but living with him for years had made Drake kind of understand his thought process. Which meant that living with rich equaled owing her, and if Mason hated anything, it was owing people things. It would always drag him right back to his relationship with Adriane, although the two seemed to have come to some kind of agreement for the sake of Ari, which was great. Of course it was. His eyes flicked to Belle as she started speaking again, and walking towards the door.

"Isn't it illegal to view my file?" Drake asked, getting a little defensive about the situation. His illness, although not something he necessarily hid, wasn't something he liked to get people's opinions on. And yeah, maybe a little bit of it had to do with Belle being a rich kid. Sure, she saw her friends die in a fiery bloody car crash or some shit, but that didn't suddenly make her qualified to tell Drake how to handle his illness. So he just rolled his eyes at her comment. "Please. It was two different drugs. This time was heroin, last time was coke -- not the drink." He said, chuckling at his own joke. "Look, they were two different drugs, but now I know how much I can handle for both of those, and I'm not really interested in trying anything else." Well, not on a continued basis, anyway. Drake had already tried them.

This was... too much. He was still drowsy from the overdose, and it was late, and he knew that the morning would bring an onslaught of psychiatrists or whatever to ask him questions, get him back on his medication, etc. So right now, all he wanted to do was sit with his family, relax, and not think about the shit that Belle was talking about. When she laced their fingers, he was quick to pull his hand away and lay it behind his head, with his other fingers tapping against the blanket. "Look, I didn't ask you to lay out what happened to me. I open up to people, but just because you opened up to me doesn't mean that I'm automatically qualified to open up to you. Especially when I've known you for, what, a week? Fuck, less than that because I was high off my ass for six days of that."

"I have friends, thank you very much, that I will open up to and talk to this about." Drake explained, closing his eyes as he spoke. "Alaska, Maisie... Aaron..." if Aaron would ever forget Drake for what he said, which he could barely even remember at this point. "I'm not putting on any fucking act, but thank you for assuming. And it wouldn't be 'snitching' to Mason. He's my best friend. He fucking knows everything, and he'll take care of me. I trust my brother more than some cheerleader I met a week ago. And if he doesn't think moving in with you is okay, then fine, I'll stand beside him no matter what."

Despite the fights that Drake and Mason often had, Drake still knew that his brother would always have his back. Hell, what happened after the musical had been because he was scared. And yeah, it fucking sucked, but some families talked their problems over like civilized humans. Mason and Drake, however, solved their problems with fists.

Maree
Mentions: Soap a z u l a mikaluvkitties

----------------------------------------------

Ariana

She had sent her Spiderman action figure with her mother. After all, Spiderman could do anything, even make Drake all better and get him back home to her. But that also meant that Ari had given up her favorite toy, and now, she was just holding the plushie Spiderman that Raven had gotten her as a gift.

Ari was so strongly near tears that she didn't even notice Uncle K setting up the fort, or gathering the blankets and pillows. Instead, her eyes remained on the door, until Raven came up. She nodded her head slowly, looking at the door again before following after Raven into the living room to pick a movie while Kanen finished the fort.

Eventually, one of the many Spiderman movies started playing. Ari had watched them all, from the new ones to the old ones, but this was the newer one. She glanced back over her shoulder as Raven invited her into the finished fort and yeah, it was amazing, and Ari couldn't contain herself as she squealed and ran forward, diving into it, and turning around, the little plush Spiderman still in her arms as she stared intensely at the television screen.

High5ives Soap​

 

[Maree]

Belle Taylor

Mood: Worried| Interacting with: Drake. |Mentions: Winona

Belle sat silently as he took his frustrations out on her. Better out than in, right? She didn't blame him, of course, he just overdosed. Bound to be feeling pretty shitty. Maybe she was pressing a little much but it looked like he needed it. The self-harming scars that ran across his now bare arms. There was a lot going on in that head and it didn't seem like many of those things were positive. The only outlets he seemed to have for his pain were drugs and hurting himself. It just wouldn't feel right to her to not do anything. Once he finished talking she raised her brow. "Feel any better? Just some cheerleader. Pretty low blow that one. How did you even find out about that one? Have the damn rumours already reached you?" she leaned forward in her chair and intertwined her fingers. Cranky or not she wasn't going to really let his words get to her.

The part about having friends to talk confess in stung a little. Usually when you spend hours sitting and talking to someone you would consider them a friend but apparently not. Also. If his friends were so great then why weren't they here? Why was she the one sitting by his hospital bed? She didn't see anyone else trying to track him down when he disappeared. "Apparently almost being taken by a guys drug dealer when you're trying to find him gets you no brownie points," she said, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. She decided against saying anything harsher because she was sure he didn't mean to be so well... mean. "Dragging Mason out of your apartment and getting him to help me... Driving all over Westbrook trying to track a guy down. Then spending the rest of your birthday night with him instead of partying just to make sure he's okay. Yeah, nope. Definitely means nothing" her tone was sarcastic. But more of a joking sarcastic than a mean one.

"Besides. I wasn't trying to tell you how to deal with your problems. It was more... Death isn't something that affects you. You're gone and that's that. But the people who care for you. They are the ones who are affected. They have to deal with not having you around anymore. The gaping hole it leaves that's impossible to fill" she shrugged again, spinning her ring around. "I care for people quicker than others. I have learned how precious life is and how quickly someone can be taken away. So sue me if I don't like wasting time with the unnecessary stuff." Was he going to snap at her again for saying this? Hopefully not. "We could die at any minute. So I'm sorry if I pressed you too much. I won't do it again, Forgive me? Please~" Belle put on her pout and broke out the puppy eyes. Who could resist puppy eyes?

code by Ri.a

 

[DrabberRogue]

This Ava girl seemed like she was out of her element. She was almost the very picture of someone who didn't know how to talk to strangers, but put forth an effort despite it. Or at least that's what it seemed like to Serena. What she didn't seem like was someone who JJ would hang out with. Maybe the red head was just shy? Hiding a personality more suited to the cheerleader's 'refined' tastes?

A lot of assumptions to make just off the first impression, sure, but wasn't that what first impressions were for? It was why Serena always tried to put her best foot forward when introducing herself. Surely everyone else scrutinized her with the same intensity, right? Might as well assume they did. So her handshake was firm, her smile was bright, and her emerald green eyes stayed focused on Ava's until their hands parted.

So much communicated in only a few seconds, at least from Serena's point of view. Yet it passed so quickly. Her eyes shifted from Ava to JJ's curious gaze for a moment, her brow rising, before she took a couple moments to glance around the room. Where was Sawyer? Not that she cared too much about the answer, but the other girl's question made her slightly curious. In all honestly she didn't spend as much time around that particular team mate as she did around Grace. The short tempered tomboy wasn't exactly her first choice for company.

"I dunno." She replied, shrugging lightly as she turned back to JJ. "I saw her with Grace at one point, then Grace chased Ash off towards the bathroom. Haven't seen either of them since." There was a lot going on at the new girl's party, a lot that Serena wasn't privy to. Probably the foundations to whatever fresh hell was going to hit Westbrook on Monday. "Speaking of teammates, how do you like Belle?" Okay, so maybe the subject of 'The Siren' had been done to death over the last week, but she might as well ask. For the sake of conversation. After all, the gossip queen probably had way more to say on the topic of teammates than Serena did.

Winona Soap

 

[Dazzle]

Mads


Mads laughed lightly at Ash, he might of been drunk but he wasn't sure Ash was going to remember tonight. "But the real question is, will you remember it?" He smirked, hanging out with a real friend, and not just the basketball boys was what he needed. At least Ash was there, she was able to read him better than most, she was his first friend in Westbrook after all.

Mads hadn't really felt the cold till he noticed Ash shivering. "Do you want to go back inside?" He said, pulling off his zip up sweatshirt and laying it on her shoulders. "Or I can call my sister to pick us up? I'm not sure I really feel like going back in there." He nodded towards the front door, the party was still going but he didn't feel like drinking any more, nor did he feel like dealing with any of the drunk kids.

Winona ​

 

[Winona]

Drake


He typically wasn't an easily irritated person, just when people pushed him too much. But Belle right now... she was pissing him off. Fuck, had Drake ever even been pissed off? Either way, everything that Belle was saying was just rubbing him the wrong way, and he really just wanted her to fuck off and leave him alone. "This is why Mason doesn't want to live with you." He snapped. "You forced him to go around the city looking for some dude you had just met, which just screams 'crazy bitch' and now you're sitting here, acting like you know our fucking life and thinking the only way we'll be fine is if we bow down and do what you fucking want?" He was shaking a bit, and had now turned his gaze from her to stare up at the ceiling, his hand now digging into the bed sheets.

How could he just forgive her after all the shit she just said? He felt absolutely horrible, and if it wasn't bad enough that Mason and his mom would be lecturing him, too, some cheerleader type had just come up and decided that she knew his life better than he did. Fucking hell... "Obviously you're new." He said hollowly, instead of accepting her apology. "Because everyone knows that you don't tell Mason or I how to live our lives. I think you need to leave."

And as if on cue, his family came into the room. Mason glanced at Belle, and then back at Drake, and obviously could tell that things were tense as he stepped into the room, Adriane and their mother following after him. Adriane, however, didn't seem to catch the tension as she came in, dropping a backpack in an empty chair and then headed over to Drake, leaning down and kissing him on the forehead, and then the cheek, before finally just grabbing him and giving him a tight hug. "You're so stupid." Adriane grumbled, letting go of Drake after a moment with a smile before she glanced over at Belle. "Who the fuck are you?"

Mason and their mother hung back, however, with their mother just clutching her purse and giving Belle some very dirty looks.

Maree

-----------------------------------------

Ava


Serena practically snapped her hand with that handshake. Did people even shake hands anymore? For some reason, Ava thought that people just greeted each other either with stupid dances, chest bumps, or the loud screams that so many popular girls seemed to do. Ava, being the unsocial person she was, wasn't accustomed to any of these greetings, so her handshake was definitely weak. As would be her fist bump, or whatever else was expected of this.

"Belle? Isn't that the girl whose throwing this party or something? Some kind of stupid siren rumor or some shit because she did some weird... like... hip thingies or something?" Despite doing her best to ignore the rumor mill, Ava still managed to hear bits and pieces. And the stupid rumors about Belle had been everywhere.

She looked towards Jules for her opinion since they were on the cheerleading squad and stuff together. "Hey, JJ, did Belle do moves like these?" Ava asked and pushed away from the wall, placing her hands on her hips and then moving them in a roundabout fashion just like Spongebob did in that one episode. With the bubbles.

DrabberRogue Soap​

 

[Moonshadow]

June

(The last post for June)
​

She didn’t know how she ended up like this, sitting right in front of Ruby’s grave while her hands trembled around a phone. She didn’t want to do this anymore. Not caring about everyone. Pretending and faking and getting mad and ruining herself to what end...? “You made mistakes too. Haven’t you?” She whispered. The wind replied back. Plucking some petals away. “But your biggest one, you couldn’t take back. I know how you feel Ruby. I know exactly. But, I don’t want to make your mistakes.” She found herself crying once more. Her hands brushing her skin raw. “I need to move on from this dark place. I know this isn’t who I am. I’m not this husk. I’m not you.” She reaches forward touching the cold stone. “Mistakes. I made them. But they aren’t going to be what I die with. I’m sorry I couldn’t of told you that. I’m sorry I didn’t text back. But, even if I did, I’m not sure if what I know then is better than what I know now. I don’t think. It was my choice in the end. But this will be.” She looked down at her phone, the numbers of her mother glowing back at her. It was time. “Mom? I...I want to move back.”


It didn’t take long to pack everything. She smiled a bit when she threw away the little remains of an old camera, but still left behind the new one. She could manage a job to buy one herself. Not one from her mother, not one from Mason, but a gift from herself to herself. She threw out the bottles and paused as she looked at pictures of the people she knew at Westbrook. Something didn’t feel right in her stomach. Before she knew it, she decided to paper clip the photos she had to a note. Which followed as:

“You can keep these pictures. Pictures are pretty within themselves, not who took them. You can burn them, rip them, throw them away. But, I want to say goodbye. And a thank you. I know I’ve made mistakes that I wished I hadn’t. But I still am grateful that at least we met. Even if we had a falling out. Before was wonderful. And I hope, you can be happy and have success in whatever you do. This is my final apology. And goodbye.”

She even had letters for people she barely knew, all of them thankful to how they affected her. Even if she was an enemy, she won’t leave like one. She trusted Grace enough to give it to everyone. And she remembered saying: “You don’t give yourself enough credit. You’re strong. You’re fearless. And you show so much love to others. I really hope you don’t forget it. You’re the best non-sister.”

Mr. Plant made a return as he got a box dictated all to himself. It felt like she was back at the beginning. Back to the moment, where Westbrook was just another town in Maine. No, Westbrook takes in a breath and releases a quiet beauty. Not known to the world. But known to the people who lives within its boundaries. A quiet beauty.

Only known to June, but will never be forgotten.
Westbrook.​

 

[Soap]

Kate&David
Kate sighed as she unlocked the door, hanging up her coat as she walked into the same house she did as always. It was always same routine. Over and over. It wasn't like she was sick of it. Seventeen years can go a long way. Maybe she just... wanted a change. Maybe that was her relationship with David was about. Just a change. A... major one. You really get used to being alone for a while.

Not totally alone though. She has Grace. Though, that one was a little blurry. Walking into the kitchen she placed her car keys on the table, a bit too close to the edge and it fell to the floor with a small clang. Taking much needed deep breath, bending down to pick them up when something caught her eye.

A ring? It... was extremely pretty. She had to admit to that. A sudden thought came to Kate's mind as she remembered David saying something about 'spring cleaning' It was obviously clear he was looking for something frantically this week. Was this what it was?

Was this an engagement ring?

David's mind was running at full speed, too many thoughts, too many things to process. How was everything supposed to work out? Maybe he shouldn't... but the truth was, he wanted to. He sat at the edge of the bed contemplating it a million times more. He was startled out of his thoughts by Kate walking into the room.

She was acting differently, and that was clear... was she... nervous? When was Kate ever known to be nervous? To be honest. David was kind of afraid to ask. And he didn't have to, she walked closer to him and sat down at the edge of the bed. "Yes." She said, which only left him with a confused look on his face. "Yes?" He asked. It took Kate a moment to answer, gripping something tighter in her hand only made him more baffled. "I'll marry you." David stood up from the bed, and... he was speechless. He didn't know what to say.

How was he even supposed to... She presented the ring to him, and he glanced at it before taking it from her gently. This... wasn't a engagement ring. And... it wasn't his. "This isn't mine." It was Grace's. The ring David had been looking around for since... huh. He wasn't really sure how long it's been, but it was clear she'd been stressed about it. Kate didn't say anything, and it took her a moment to realize how quick she'd jumped to conclusions.

David couldn't stop himself from speaking, it was probably from the guilt that was just sitting there. "I'm leaving." He met her eyes and was afraid to see her reaction, so he tore his gaze away as soon as he made contact. "You're what?" She scoffed in disbelief and felt her eyes watering as she stood up from the bed. "My family--" That was the wrong choice of words, it wasn't like he didn't take Kate as family, but... it was his daughter. "I'm moving back home. My ex... she's been talking it over with June for awhile now, and I..."

He swallowed hard. Giving her the smallest shrug, clearing his throat. "I need to try and make it work. She's... she's all I got." It was true. Of course he had Kate, but when he found out about June, he'd made it his mission to get to know her. She was his blood. He wasn't going to stand by and let her go without a father even longer. She deserved one, and he was going to try his hardest to be there for her. And that couldn't work if he was in WestBrook. Kate took a few steps back and she staggered onto the bed for a second time, as she gathered her thoughts. It was happening again. "Kate... I-" She lifted a hand up to stop him from speaking, and gave him a nod.

It was his daughter. What was she going to do? Stop him from leaving? No, she'd already tried that with Jonathan. Or hell, even Steve. Once a man made up his mind. There was no changing that. And she knew that. "I'm sorry." Kate glanced up at him for a last time and redirected her gaze somewhere else. He handed back the ring to her and mumbled something about a motel, she wasn't sure. But... she couldn't hate him for it. He... had to try.
Grace
The party sucked. At least the house didn't burn down. Maybe she actually was a decent friend because she didn't let them smoke inside the house. Woo. Go Grace. Walking into the house with a roll of her eyes, still visibly drunk and moderately... pissed off? Hurt? Grace wasn't sure what she was feeling about tonight. At least her and Sawyer made up, but a total different relationship was in pieces tonight.

Speaking of relationships that were pieces. She saw her mother at the dining table, it wasn't hard to do. It was the only light on considering it was fairly late. Grace shook her head, she knew this was probably a bad idea. But she was drunk so, she wasn't exactly thinking straight. Ha. Straight. Taking a seat at the table beside her, stumbling in the slightest bit. But instead of Kate accusing her of being drunk... she didn't say anything, and that made Grace worried. Did someone die?

She waited for her to speak before she did. Kate wordlessly slid the ring towards her and Grace felt like the weight was lifted off her shoulders as she saw it, grabbing it quickly and glancing back at her mother, and suddenly the weight was back on her but ten times more heavy. "I'm guessing that's yours." Kate said, and it took her a moment to nod. "It's... a promise ring." It probably wasn't the words her mother wanted to hear, or... the words she wanted to tell her in the first place. Neither of them said anything for the first few minutes.

"I love her." It was true. What was she supposed to do, lie? Kate nodded and sighed heavily. "I know." Of course she was taken aback by her words, she expected her to yell. Waiting for her... to do... anything really. "I'm not going to stop seeing her, or stop talking to you. I'm not going to pick mom. Don't ask me to do that. Please." It wasn't fair of her to, and she needed her to know that. "I'm not asking you to. I'm-" It was clear it pained Kate to say this. "I'm willing to try." She looked at Grace and took a hold of her hands. "For you. I'm willing to try... to accept... or... whatever this is. I'll try. I promise."

@LikeNoOneBecauseSoapIsloser @NoIjustNeededPlotsOrWellMEANING​

 

[Winona]

The Wests

"Why are we inviting her?"

"Ashton, I'm not discussing this with you again." Steve snapped as he went to pick up a pan of casserole. He'd forgotten to grab his oven mitt, and ended up burning himself on the pan, causing him to drop it back on the counter, and unleash a few curses. "We're trying to make amends with your mother, so please just... be good for a couple hours." Steve said, looking at his daughter as he spoke. This was the first time that the kids and Steve had decided to have Thanksgiving together. Usually, the kids would go see Elise's parents, and Steve would hangout at home and watch sports and eat frozen pizza.

The front doorbell rang, and Steve took in a deep breath. "Alright, that's probably your mother. Ashton, Jason, be good." He said, giving both of his kids a don't you mess this up kind of look before he turned and hurried towards the door. "Set the table and check on the turkey or something. Be useful." He yelled over his shoulder.

Steve headed to the door, opening it up with a smile on his face, which faded after a moment when he saw the little blonde boy standing next to Elise. "Who is... what is this?" He asked, glancing down towards the child.

"Stu, Martin's son." Elise explained as she brushed past Steve into the house, looking around while she started to take off her coat. "I thought it would be good for him to come and hangout with the kids today."

"Dad! The turkey is smoking or something!" Ash yelled from the kitchen, causing Steve to curse and excuse himself from Elise and Stu as he hurried into the kitchen, opening up the stove as another cloud of smoke came out of the oven and billowed into his face. Coughing, Steve grabbed a couple oven mitts this time, and managed to pull he turkey out and set it down on the counter.

Meanwhile, Ash looked towards her mother, and then her eyes fell to the little blonde boy with her, and Ash couldn't help but laugh. "Wow, so little Neck Tie is here, too? Great." She laughed, shaking her head.

Dede​

 

[a z u l a]

Alaska

Alaska would much rather have walked all the way home than have to deal with Stu's parents, she got enough lecturing from her mother, she didn't need it from random people she didn't know. She watched Stu's father fuss over him like he was something fragile, stopping herself from rolling her eyes as she remembered that not all parents were like her own.

However she couldn't help but scoff as Martin asked if he needed to call the police, their car was broken down it wasn't like they were dying. Ash's demon mother appeared behind the two, and she was immediately defensive towards the ex-Mrs. West. Thankfully she'd never had to spend much time around the stuck-up socialite, her mother was less inclined to force her children to attend social events than Elise was, and being involved in so many sports was often the perfect excuse for Alaska to get out of such functions. She mostly heard the horrors of Elise from her mother when she ranted about the 'up-tight bitches" in Westbrook or through Ryder since he was friends with Ash. or at least had been.

"Of course." Alaska replied to Mr. French with a shrug of her shoulders, it wasn't like she had any choice. Before he could say anything, Elise was accusing her of kidnapping Stu and being involved in the mafia. Honestly, this woman was on crack.

"Don't you dare talk about my mom. She loves her children no matter what, unlike you." She spat, uncaring that this probably didn't make Mr. French any less suspicious of her. "Stu is my friend and I would never hurt him." It came out of her mouth without much thought, and she was a little surprised to find herself calling the little blond boy her friend, but it was true. They'd spent all day together and the brunette had actually had fun. This was the most drama free day she'd had in a while, at least until right now.

Dede Winona​

 

[Dede]

Neck Tie

Thanksgiving wasn’t Neck Tie’s idea, let alone a remotely British one. Elise said it would be good for him to get away from his video games and to have more family time, hanging with her kids who weren’t criminals like Kanen. His dad easily went along with her plan, calling it both 'sensible' and 'brilliant'.

The boy wasn’t in any position to bargain his way out of this tight spot. He was already in all manners of trouble for leaving town unannounced with a dirty Vaughn. It didn't help that Alaska lashed out the way she did in front of Martin, which only validated Elise's opinion of her. Suspicions were high all around, and Neck Tie had been grounded, for the first time in his life, since the Tuesday. For now at least, the best way to appease both Elise and Dad would be for him do exactly as he was told.

But that didn’t make their destination any more palatable. No matter what Neck Tie told himself, the fact remained that their car was bound for one of his least favourite places on earth. If hell was real, he figured it would have looked something like the West residence.

They stood at the imposing door. Elise had rung the bell. The blond boy had shrunk into the collar of his jacket like a tortoise. Someone was coming to the door. Please don’t be Jace. Don’t be Jace.

It wasn't Jace, thankfully. Instead the door was answered by a man, Mr. West, who kept alive Neck Tie’s slim hope that Beanie Boy somehow wasn’t home, had been abducted by aliens, and wouldn’t be joining them for dinner. Judging by the surprise they elicited, however, Elise obviously hadn’t told anyone she was bringing the boy along with her either. This only made Neck Tie shrink further into his imaginary shell. He was dreading to think how Jace would react when he realised who was coming to Thanksgiving!

They followed Mr. West inside through a drifting haze. Neck Tie wasn’t alarmed by the amount of smoke which filled the hallway, as he was no stranger to kitchen nightmares. But he froze before entering the kitchen, and would probably have remained there eternally if he wasn’t given a slight nudge to go forward.

The boy then stood with his head slightly bowed and his hands folded in front of him. ‘Hi. . . Ash,’ he answered the girl timidly. The last time they met, he utterly destroyed her party, and her party utterly destroyed him.

He glanced over at the turkey on the counter, because that was slightly less awkward than just staring at his own shoes. ‘That looks pretty good, Mr. West,’ he said edging forward and taking some interest in the charred bird. The boy leant his body against the island, vaguely recalling having stood here before. ‘Cor, I think that’s the biggest turkey I’ve ever seen!’

Winona , also Maree

 

[High5ives]

Sitting in the driver’s seat of his car, his heart pounding in his ears. He was beginning panic. His hands shook, his breaths were ragged. Kanen could feel himself back in, no matter how hard he tried. All he wanted was to drive away and go home. A nice hot shower, some ramen. That sounded a hell of a lot better than going inside the fucking mansion he was parked out front of.
Kanen’s car was nice, with its chrome rims and surround sound stereo, but it looked like a fucking Fiat parked here now. Sports cars lined the driveway, each well out of Kanen’s price range. Hell, they would probably be too expensive for Kanen’s boss too. He was out of his comfort zone. Kanen had dealt with wealth before, but these people, they were filthy fucking rich.
Kanen broke, popping his car into reverse just as he heard knocking on his window.
Daniel stood there in a clean black tux with a red bow tie. Of course he’d try and be a little flashy. Danny liked the attention.
“Yo, are you coming in, or are you just going to sit out here in your car all night?” Daniel asked, yelling so Kanen could hear him.
Kanen took a deep breath, pulling his hair back and getting out of the car quickly. “If you weren’t my brother I’d kick your ass...” Kanen muttered, walking past Daniel and up the steps to the front door.
Daniel followed close behind. “Yeah, I know.” He responded, jogging a little bit to get the door before Kanen got there.
As the two brothers stepped inside the mansion, Kanen froze. He had never been somewhere so nice. The chandelier hanging above his head probably cost more than his car did, and the art hanging in the walls? Jesus Christ. The people were just showing off at this point. It was fucking ridiculous really.
Daniel just laughed at his older brother. “Dude come on, everyone is waiting on you. Let’s not make them wait any longer, right?” He spoke, walking down the hallway and motioning for Kanen to follow.
Everyday for years, Kanen had daydreamed about what it would be like to see his mom again. He’d spent countless hours thinking about what she would look like, what her voice would sound like, even what she would say, but now? Kanen was fucking terrified. His mother was just right down the hallway, and now, Kanen couldn’t will himself to step forward. What if this was just going to be some big mistake?
Daniel returned. “Jesus dude, lets go.” He encouraged, practically dragging Kanen into the main dining room.
There were two long tables, one for the adults, and one for the children, each covered in trays and platters of food. Everyone was talking and laughing, having a genuinely good time. Then, they all froze.
“Mom, I brought Kanen to dinner!” Daniel announced, holding his mother’s hand and bring her over to stand in front of Kanen.
The moment his mother looked at him, Kanen could see her disappointment. Her eyes hovered over his hands and his neck, staring at the tattoos that peaked out from under his shirt. The scars on his knuckles and face. His piercings. Every moment longer that his mother looked at Kanen, she found something new to hate.
Kanen could practically feel his heart sinking in his chest. “Mom...I...”
Kanen’s mother cut him off. “Daniel, you didn’t tell me you we’re bringing guests.” She said, her voice crisp and sharp.
“But Mom, he’s part of the family. Kanen should be here—“ Daniel got cut off too.
“This is a private affair, Daniel. Don’t argue with me.” Their mother snapped again.
Kanen’s head turned, looking at everyone else in the dining room. They all looked just as disgusted as his own fucking mother. Tears pulled in his eyes, threatening to pour out in a moments notice. What was he thinking? She didn’t want Kanen ten years ago, why would she want him now.
“I’m sorry...I’ll go now...” Kanen choked out, turning quickly and walking out.
As soon as he stepped out of the dining room, he could hear it erupt into voices. Daniel, yelling at everyone, furiously trying to defend his older brother. His mother, yelling for Daniel to be quiet.
He could hear names and labels being thrown his way. ‘Criminal.’ ‘Delinquent.’ ‘Ghetto-Trash.’ Kanen bears their names right up until he walked out the front door, practically running to his car.
He felt so stupid. What had he been thinking? He’d show up after ten years and everything would just be ok? Of course not. Kanen was not the son they wanted. He never had been, and he probably never would be. He had been a fool to even come...
Jumping in the car, it started quickly and Kanen just took off. In the rear-view mirror, he could see Daniel running outside after him, but what did it matter?​

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Aaron​

Thanksgiving. In theory- fuck it, not even in theory was Thanksgiving a spectacular holiday. Aaron didn’t like eating with his family on the best of days, with the barbed comments and forced laughter, but having a big meal was an awkward reminder of the family that Casper and he presumably had but had never met, ever, not even once. It didn’t bother him, of course- They didn’t want Casper and Aaron in their life? That was on them- but watching his parents dance around it, his mother trying harder than usual to appease his father, his father doing the usual bastard routine, on top of being more often than not forced to help cook, his father jokingly- or perhaps not so jokingly- referring to it as women’s work? That was a step too far.

Add in that Aaron was still ‘grounded’ for his ‘little stunt’, which seemed to be more for his mother’s sanity than anything else, and Aaron wasn’t staying in that god forsaken house a second longer than he had to.

Before they were even halfway done cooking, Aaron couldn’t take it any longer, and announced he was taking a break. His mother protested, but he didn’t really care, so he put on socks and shoes, because he wasn’t an animal, and went outside, sitting on the steps for a bit. Eventually, he stood up and walked out the gate.

He didn’t hear anyone follow him, and he straightened up a bit, fighting the urge to smile. His only regret was being stuck in a dress and bra. Don’t get him wrong, mustard yellow was one of his favorite colors, and it wasn’t even an especially uncomfortable bra, but it made him feel vulnerable. He tapped his thigh once, continuing the walk until he was outside of his neighborhood and closer to the nearby shops. Maybe he should have tried to sneak his phone, but he hadn’t thought about that at the time, so he was without it, relying on his memory of the city from rides to various places to piece together where he was going.

Winona​

 

[DrabberRogue]

Jace was having a good Thanksgiving day. His dad was back in town, having come home for the holidays. It wasn't perfect, his mom hadn't been able to come home as planned, so he'd have to make do with just one parent. Still he couldn't complain. Well, not about the missing parent part anyways. What he could complain about was the hour he spent listening to his father lecture on the importance of doing his work. Yeah, Arthur Rose had seen his report card. C's and D's across the board, with the notable exception of PE. He always had an A in PE.

As with every conversation with his dad, however, it eventually lead into something much more interesting. Before long he was listening to the man talk at length about both his past and his current work. Some of the stories he'd heard before, some of them were completely new, the only thing that really tied them all together was the lesson his dad was trying to get across about work ethic. Most of it was interesting to listen to though, and gave a nice backdrop to their Thanksgiving dinner preparations.

"...Smells like something's burning." Jace suddenly interjected, sniffing the air with a curiously concerned expression on his face. Arthur stopped talking, also sniffing the air for a couple seconds, before they both looked with alarm at the oven.

"Shit!" His father exclaimed, diving for the oven and swiftly extracting the smoking turkey. Jace for his part smirked as he watched, peering at the poor bird's corpse. It was like something out of a wholesome comedy movie. Not that he watched many of those, but he still remembered the ones he had. With a furrowed brow Mr. Rose carefully took a knife to the turkey, leaning away slightly as he punctured its skin. Rather than a pleasant, smooth cut through well cooked meat, what greeted him was a short gout of hot air escaping their dinner like a dying breath. Revealed within was the dry, burnt insides of a very overcooked Thanksgivings dinner. Maybe they'd gotten a little too caught up in conversation.

There were a couple more expletives from both of them before they laughed, curiously tasting their twisted creation before quickly deciding that it wouldn't suffice. Luckily the turkey wasn't the only thing they'd been preparing for Thanksgiving. The rest of their efforts turned out much better and far less burnt. It was just as well in Jace's opinion, the turkey had always been one of his least favorite parts about the holiday anyways.

 

[a z u l a]

Ryder

To say that Ryder was nervous was an understatement. He and Ash had just gotten back together and she'd invited him to her family's Thanksgiving dinner. Of course he was ecstatic to be with her again and he wouldn't dare do anything to upset her, so here he was sanding outside the West mansion with some flowers and a pie in hand. Showing up with a store bought pie just wasn't acceptable, so he and Alaska had tried their hardest to follow the recipe that their grandmother had written down and the result was actually quite good considering it was the twins. No kitchens had been harmed in the process, though Alaska had accidentally burned her wrist against the stove.

Ryder hesitated before ringing the doorbell, hoping that it would be Ash who answered the door and not her evil mother. As much as he couldn't stand Elise, he would put up with her for Ash. Instead of his girlfriend, his least favorite blond West answered the door, though Beanie Bitch was still better than his mother. It was still awkward considering he'd threaten to beat the smaller senior to a pulp for slut-shaming his own sister, but that had been so long ago that Jace had probably forgotten about it. Or not.

"Hey Jace..." He greeted, not the smoothest conversation starter but at least it was better than awkward silence. Luckily before they had to make small talk with each other Ash came running over to save him and dismiss beanie bitch to the other room.

"You look beautiful." He greeted, kissing her on the cheek before following her into the dining room where he was met with less than friendly stares. "Hello, Mr. West and...Mrs. West? I brought blueberry pie." He wasn't sure exactly what last name Ash's mom went by now and calling her Elise or Evil Bitch didn't seem appropriate.

Winona

Alaska

Despite the disaster that had been her road trip to Boston, Alaska's mother had allowed her to invite Raven over for Thanksgiving and the brunette was incredibly nervous. She'd never invited anyone over to a family occasion, and especially not a girl, which meant this was a big step for her. Raven wasn't even really her girlfriend yet, but Alaska was serious about whatever their relationship was and besides, she didn't want to be the only one without a date. It was going to be interesting to see how her mother behaved around Raven, but she was hoping desperately that she'd accept her relationship with Raven.

Luckily for her she wasn't the only one bringing a girlfriend, Chase was bringing Rae and Ryder was bringing Ash at some point which meant Viola would be too busy interrogating all of her children's dates to focus on one. The brunette had taken a whole hour to get ready today to make sure she looked presentable, and she paced impatiently by the front door waiting for Raven to arrive.

Soap

Chase

Chase was a little nervous to bring Rae home for Thanksgiving, he'd never had a girlfriend brave enough to survive a Vaughn family dinner considering his reckless siblings and overprotective mother. Usually his mother insulted the girl in the first five-minutes and she was out the door. At least his siblings' girlfriends would be there as a buffer, though it was still weird to think that Alaska was bringing her girlfriend to Thanksgiving dinner. He totally supported his sister, it was just a little unexpected.

His mother had been ordering them all around the house to clean and cook and make the house look absolutely pristine, so he'd offered to pick Rae up to get away from the chaos. Once he'd picked her up he'd purposely taken the long way home to spend more alone time with her before he subjected her to his insane family. Sadly they couldn't drive forever, and he was opening the door to the house for her and walking past an anxious Alaska and into the dining room.

"You know my sister." He offered, gesturing to the twin as she left her post by the front door to join them in the dining room, though she kept glancing towards the door. "Nice to see you, Rae." She smiled, probably just glad that Rae was the first girlfriend to arrive before Raven showed up. Just then their mother walked in from the kitchen and Chase felt his chest tighten for a moment.

"Mom, this is Rae, my girlfriend." He introduced, hoping that his mother could behave just this once.

"Rae, it's so nice to meet you. You can call me Mrs. Vaughn." The brunette offered, reaching out to shake her son's girlfriend's hand. Chase watched the interaction nervously, hoping Rae would survive the day.

Dazzle ​

 

[Winona]

Jace


He'd been in his bedroom, fixing his tie and trying to make sure that he looked halfway decent in the mirror for this stupid Thanksgiving dinner. Originally, their dad had just told Jace and Ash that he wanted a small thing for Thanksgiving -- just the three of them, or so Jace and Ash had presumed. Usually, they went to their grandparents for the holiday, and sat in uncomfortable fancy clothes while listening as they lectured Jace and asked when he was bringing a girlfriend home, and complimented Ash and didn't ask her any embarrassing questions. No matter what family member they talked to, Ash was always the favorite.

His grandparents would bend over backward for her, and Jace knew that they would be giving her not one of their businesses, but both of them. Originally, they were going to fall onto his mother's shoulders, but from what Jace had understood, when she ran away, they decided that she was useless and turned their grooming onto Ash. Hell, with this whole stupid suspension thing, Jace had been spending time in their office to look about "business," which just meant "sit there and shred papers."

Anyway, then Jace was informed that their mother would also be coming. And then Ash said that she had gotten back together with stupid Ryder, and that he would be coming and, well, Jace didn't want to be alone. Ash would be all stupid googly-eyed over Ryder or whatever girls in love did, which meant that he'd have no one to exchange wow can you believe them looks with when his parents said anything passive aggressive. So enter his new friend, Theo. Or new... better friend? Jace guessed they had always kind of been friends, but that had been more thanks to Ash's influence than anything else. And yeah, he was nervous. Jace hadn't invited friends over since his freshman year of high school, before he got held back and all his friends ditched him.

And then he heard the doorbell ring, and Jace decided his tie was good enough, and his brand new, navy blue beanie was situated on his head just right, so he took off out of his room and past the kitchen, barely even halting when he saw Stu standing there before he continued to the door. Jace threw it open, a huge smile on his face... and was greeted by the sight of Ryder.

"Oh, it's you... hey." He said, and then turned back towards the kitchen, yelling; "Hey Ash! Your man is here!" But the words had hardly left his mouth before his sister was rounding the corner to take Ryder's hand.

"You're awfully excited for your 'friend' to show up." Ash said. She hadn't stopped teasing him about this since Jace had invited Theo, and it was honestly quite annoying. Couldn't a guy invite a fellow manly friend over for a family Thanksgiving dinner as his bro without it being... well, weird like Ash was trying to make it?

Luckily, his sister and her boyfriend didn't linger long, but Jace did. So he sat down on the bench next to the door to wait. Anything would be better than heading back into the kitchen with his family.

Maree

----------------------------------------

Ash


It was obvious that her father was a little uncomfortable with the arrival of Stu and yeah, maybe it was a bit weird, but Ash was willing to make the most of this. Plus, she had told her dad that inviting her mother was a horrible idea -- but at least her mother hadn't dragged along her current boyfriend. And yeah, maybe Ash was a little bit surprised that their relationship had lasted so long, and equally surprised that her mother hadn't run off scared to New York City again.

Ash crossed over to stand next to the turkey with her dad, and glanced over her shoulder at Stu's comment, a smile coming to her face. She glanced at her dad, and noticed that even he was relaxing a bit more, so Ash walked away from the turkey and her father to lean against the island near Stu. "If you think that turkey is big, you should've seen the ones that we used to have at these big family Thanksgivings. They were like fifty pounds. It took two people to move them out of the oven and like, they barely even fit in the oven. Our grandparents' cook staff would have to stay over night to put it in at like midnight." Ash was only partially embellishing the story. They did used to have huge turkeys, mostly for her grandparents to show off their wealth to family and friends alike.

The doorbell ringing drew her attention away, but before she could even move a muscle, Jace was rushing by, so Ash just rolled her eyes and leaned back against the counter... until she heard the familiar voice of Ryder. Smiling, she pushed away from the counter and headed to the door to greet him right as Jace was yelling for her.

It was nice to be back together with Ryder. Like... way better than she thought it would've been, and Ash regretted how stupid she had been to break up with him. She did, however, keep a few things that she did while they were broken up to herself. How drunk she had gotten, the very accidental kiss with Daniel, and most of what had happened with Grace. None of it was important, and she wanted to focus on their relationship, not what had happened while they were apart.

"Hey," she greeted Ryder, blushing at the compliment before sassing Jace. Ash knew that her comment would get under his skin, especially given their mother and her grandparents' view on being gay. Growing up, her grandparents had always loved to tell this story about how when Elise was in college, she had kissed a girl and insisted that she was in love. They had threatened to kick her out of the house and disown her while she got over this "phase," so Elise had ended things with the girl and a few months later, she was planning her wedding with Steve. The story had always made Elise and the kids rather uncomfortable, and it was easy to tell that even just hinting at anything of the sort made Jace uncomfortable. Being disowned was big, after all.

Smiling, she lead Ryder back into the kitchen where everyone was gathering around the island. Ash looked at the pie, and was rather surprised that it didn't look burnt. Wow. "Perfect. Dad burned like all of our food, so maybe we won't actually starve." She said, which just earned an eye roll from Steve.

"How... nice of you, Ryan." Elise started to talk, but Ash was quick to stop her.

"It's Ryder. His name is Ryder." Ash snapped. She had never even told her mother about Ryan, so the fact that she had just pulled that name out of nowhere was absolutely... terrible.

"Right. Anyway." Elise said, continuing. "You can call me Ms. Summers."

"Or as I call her, bitch." Ash mumbled, which earned a shocked expression from her mother.

"Ashton!" Steve snapped. "That is enough from you today." He said, throwing his oven mitts down as he came over to the island. He didn't know what had gotten into his daughter lately, but she'd been acting out more than usual, and Steve was at a loss of what to do. Smiling, he held his hand out to Ryder. "Wow, you're a real winner. You can bake, too? Is there anything you can't do." He chuckled, stepping away after shaking Ryder's hand. "Nice to see ya again, Ryder."

"Now." Steve clapped his hands together. "How about we take all this stuff out to the big dining room while we wait for Jace's friend to show up?" He asked, smiling at Ryder and then Stu. Right. He'd forgotten about the kid. "Uh... Stu, Elise tells me you're a great cook. Do you want to help me finish up some stuff? Maybe save that turkey?"

a z u l a Dede​

 

[Winona]

Drake


Adriane's family had, of course, invited him to Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, Drake had spent the night at her house for the past few days after getting out of the hospital since... well, there were less drugs (aka none), and he could sleep in a separate room without being awoken by a screaming toddler, or a screaming mother. As much as he missed his own bed, a break from home from was nice, and to be honest, he'd missed Ari, Mason, and -- dare he say it -- Adriane more than anything else. They had stopped by long enough for him to grab a few things, and then gone to Adriane's for the time being.

It was mainly to help him "cleanse" or something stupid. Some stupid thing that the doctors, who had been overly worried about this whole drug overdose thing, had pushed. And yeah, being off of drugs and cut off as cold turkey as he was had sucked. Even though the worst of the puking and fever and inability to sleep had faded, Drake was still experiencing some things. He still had trouble sitting still, while also feeling sluggish, and feeling sick to his stomach.

So he decided to pass on dinner, and instead said he was heading out to meet a friend and get a breath of fresh air from the overwhelming amount of love that the Williams family always showed him and Mason. It was so strange. You would think parents would be more angry at the asshole boy that got their daughter pregnant, and his druggy little brother, but Adriane's parents had always been exceptionally understanding. It was a little weird, to be honest.

Anyway, his steps originally took him back towards his home neighborhood. His fingers hovered over his phone screen and he really, really wanted to message one of his dealer friends. But instead, Drake couldn't bring himself to do it. Groaning, he shoved his phone back in his pocket and looked up to see... was that Aaron?

"Hey... Aaron?" Drake asked, walking towards the boy, and looking him up and down because... yeah, this wasn't the Aaron that Drake knew, but he was fairly sure it was Aaron.

mikaluvkitties

------------------------------

Ava


She hadn't suggested inviting JJ, okay? Absolutely not. Nope. Wasn't her idea. Maybe she had mentioned JJ to her parents, and maybe they had then nagged her until she had finally sent a Twitter message to Jules saying that if she wanted to come over, she could. Her parents were thrilled at the idea of seeing Jules again, so that was probably why they had been so pushy about it. Either way, the message was sent and then she was able to get her parents of her back.

There were only two good things about Thanksgiving: food and the sleep that came afterwards. And even then, the only food Ava was there for was the dessert. The pies, the weird lemon bar looking things that weren't lemon bars but were in a pan with whip cream and-- look, she wasn't a chef, alright? Sure, she had played her fair share of cooking games, but those had given her very little idea on how to actually cook. Hell, Ava had always just been worried about her score. And making sure that Cooking Mama didn't get those demon eyes that used to make her cry as a small child (shush, Ava wouldn't admit to it).

The thing she hated about Thanksgiving: having to dress up a bit. At some point it had become tradition for her grandmother to purchase clothes for Ava and all the other cousins, which meant that Ava had to wear a stupid looking flowery printed dress this year. And yeah, the anger was obvious on her face as she sat on the couch, arms crossed over her chest and a pout on her face while her cousins played MarioKart. And then Christian, one of her stupid cousins, claimed he was unbeatable.

So Ava snatched a controller, and set off to destroy her cousins.

Soap mention?​

 

[Winona]

Mason


It was weird to think that Mason actually had no idea where he stood with Adriane, but he knew that it wasn't as a couple. In fact, if anything, they had basically just become best friends. Drake's overdose had been good for one thing, and that was fixing his and Adriane's relationship. Hell, she'd even invited them to stay with her for the time being, and Mason had been more than willing to take her up on that offer while Drake got clean. And it had meant co-parenting.

Hell, Mason had even been spending the nights with Adriane in her room with Ari. Originally, he was supposed to share the guest bed with Drake, but many nights of Ari waking up asking for Mason, and Drake keeping Mason up all night with his tossing and turning had led to Mason and Adriane sleeping in the same bed again. And at one point, it had to been to try and mimic some kind of family dynamic that he so desperately wanted. But now, well... it felt more like friends.

Mason really needed to bring this all up with Adriane and make sure that she felt the same way, but Thanksgiving wasn't the day for that. He'd helped Adriane get Ari ready for Thanksgiving, and now the little girl had her hair all brushed nicely, and she was in a cute little pink dress, and was now helping Adriane and her mother finish up some cooking.

So he took this moment to head out on the porch and smoke a cigarette before dinner actually started. Adriane's family would be arriving soon, and Mason just prayed that Carter wouldn't stand him up. Sure, he'd known Adriane's extended family for years, but that didn't mean that backup wouldn't be appreciated. Plus, maybe Carter could help Mason talk over the idea of moving in with Belle. After all, he couldn't stay with Adriane forever, and maybe Belle had a stupid point.

Dazzle

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Adriane


She was trying hard to make amends -- both with Mason, and his friends. Maybe she felt bad about how she had treated them in the past, especially after how Kanen had dropped everything to watch Ariana, and even stayed part of the night with her until Adriane had gotten back to the apartment to find both Raven and Kanen passed out in a makeshift fort... with an Ariana that was still very much awake, and intensely watching the Spiderman movie that was playing. Adriane had just rolled her eyes, and then taken her daughter and passed out in Mason's bed. What? It had been late, after all.

Either way, things had been good with Mason, albeit weird. They needed to figure out where they stood with each other, but Adriane had been too nervous about starting some kind of fight. Especially right now, with Drake having just come out of the hospital, so... she hadn't. And maybe it had been kind of nice to enjoy the last few nights with Mason.

Anyway, she had extended some kind of... apology or whatever by inviting Carter and Kanen to her family's house for Thanksgiving dinner, and of course Raven, although she wasn't able to make it. Adriane hoped that Mason's two best friends would at least take her up on the offer because if she was staying in Westbrook, and if Mason and her were going to raise Ariana together, then, well... it would be nice if his friends weren't bitching about her behind her back.

Mentions: Dazzle High5ives​

 

[Maree]

Theodore Presley

Mood: feed me pls| Interacting with: Jace |Mentions: Zach
Winona Dazzle

Thanksgiving was great. You got to spend time with your family. There was just something about waking up at the crack of dawn to make pies. It made you appreciate family even more. The only thing that would make Thanksgiving better would be if you could give presents. Wait... Turkey-themed gifts. That would be such a great idea. Although Theo did plan on giving a gift that day. He placed a guitar case with a little bow on it in his car. Through the grapevine, he had heard that Jace had lost his much-beloved guitar in a fight. So he did what any good friend determined to cheer him up would do. He found him a guitar. It wasn't the fanciest of guitars so he had stayed up all night jazzing it up a bit. He had painstakingly covered the body of the guitar in a hand-painted pine forest. It was going to be so worth it

He really was going all out for this Jace boy. Usually, he would spend the day with his family and Zach's but today he was on a mission. It had taken quite a lot of convincing in order to miss some of the festivities. Only after assuring them multiple times that he would join them later was he allowed to leave. Also, Josephine told his mother that Zach was bringing a girl. So that took some of the attention of him. God their mothers did love to gossip between themselves. It was kind of funny. Something told him that Zach was going to spend most of Thanksgiving at least slightly embarrassed. Then he would join in later and attempt to embarrass him further. it would be great.

Why was he going to a Thanksgiving dinner party in the fancy area of Westbrook? He was not fancy. Oh god, would they have the multiple forks thing? How was he supposed to know which one to use? For the love of god please let them just have one fork. Well, one fork for each person otherwise that would be very awkward.

It wasn't long before Theo was standing in front of the West's residence, ringing their doorbell. He had even worn his nice dress shirt for the occasion. He wasn't exactly sure how Thanksgiving went in the richer areas of Westbrook but something told him it would be interesting. When the door opened he smiled at the sight of Jace. "Hey. Before you invite me in there is something I must do" he said, spinning around and beckoning the male to his car. Once Jace was at his side he pulled out the guitar case. "Surprise~" he beamed, holding it out to him.

code by Ri.a