Chessieabernathy‌:

chessieabernathy‌:

“We do,” she clarifies with a nod, “S’like the we’re the royal family when we’re in Alabama. Paparazzi crashed by tenth birthday party.” Chessie shrugged at his comment, before rolling her eyes at him. The latter was becoming common practice when it came to Ben, the motion never meant maliciously. “You missed the giant FREYA billboard with my face on it in Time Square, didn’t you?” She asked with a laugh, taking a sip of her drink. “I technically have a body guard, you know. The FREYA board’s worried I’ll get jumped my some insta-stalker, or something.” Chessie hadn’t spoken much about the former, finding it stranger to think of herself as an object rather than a person. “I gave him the night off, though.” The mention of the connection between gin and psychopaths pulls a loud bark of laughter from her, “Well, shit, B. Just call me Norman fuckin’ Bates, then.” 

“They were really on your ass. And that’s why I never want to live in the South,” He joked. Of course, if he did, he wouldn’t have been royalty like Chessie but he wouldn’t have been happy if anyone crashed his tenth birthday party. Or any party for that matter. “You’re lucky if I even look up. I don’t think I’ve taken in New York since I was twelve.” Everything felt old to him. Not to mention he avoided Times Square at all costs. “I’ve noticed most people in New York mind their own business unless they’re a crazed tourist. That’s who you probably have to worry about the most.” He looked at her with a tilted head, “You wish you were Norman Bates,” He laughed, “I’m not sure you could pull that off, Chessie. Not gonna lie. Would you be that dedicated to pretending to be your mother as well?” His filter was pretty much gone at this point.

have you been arrested before, prior to new years?

“Nope. That was my first time in,” And hopefully his last.  “The booking process is so tedious. I’m just glad I’m outta there.”

oatanas‌:

Finally, O looked up from her phone and at Ben. “Look, I appreciate that you’re trying but at this point it’s a waste of breath,” she leveled with him. She wasn’t trying to be harsh and brush him off, she was just trying to be honest. “You’ve gotta know that being in King’s dog house automatically puts you in mine too, right?” King was the only thing that really held them together, after all. A few weeks ago O had been willing to get to know Ben as a person rather than just an extension of King but right now? It was back burnered. “Not that I think you need reminding, but you really hurt her.” 

He didn’t need another lecture. He didn’t need to be reminded about how much he hurt his wife. He knew that, and it hurt him thinking about how badly he hurt King. “I know what I did.” He stated, “But I’m trying to make things right. It can’t be like this for forever.” He knew her cooperation wasn’t going to happen. However, he appreciated how there she was for King. He wished he had a friend like that. He did actually until he fucked it up. “Do you know how hard it is to get the silent treatment from the one person you love? It sucks. I thought food would be a common thing to bring us all together.” 

oatanas‌:

“Tiger doesn’t change it’s stripes, Vanderbilt,” O shrugged, “you’re still an American.” Truly she wasn’t trying to be confrontational. O did like Ben even if the only reason she gave him a second thought was King, and for the most part she didn’t comment on his Europe obsession. But sometimes she just couldn’t help herself. “Vodka sodas,” she finished off her drink before holding up the bottle she had brought and giving Ben a grin. “Wanna put away the cultured traveler look for a minute and do a shot like the rest of us?”

She was right, however, that didn’t stop him from trying to prove her wrong, “But it can change it’s eating habits.” That probably sounded grosser than he intended. Ben was trying to come up with a clever comeback but he couldn’t think of anything better than that. His thoughts were already a bit cloudy. “I’m a lot different than I was two years ago.” Okay, that probably sounded better. “Shots aren’t just an American thing,” He pointed out before giving her a nod, “Do you think Arlo’s got some Fireball or?” He asked, “I’d be down for some vodka shots but I’m gonna need a chaser.” 

arlovasquez‌:

chessieabernathy‌:

Chessie hummed as he spoke, half listening as she followed alongside Arlo. At his warning, she shared the same laugh (mostly out of drunkness, rather than actual humor). “I kind of fucked up your guest room, too.” She found herself admit, without giving him the chance to react before her attention was on Ben. Her eyes rolled at the sight of him, a smile present on her face. “A’course you’re hiding out,” she comments easily, ignoring his question as she crosses the room, moving to sit next to him on the bed. Tucking her knees under her, she lets out a laugh. “Stop trying to make me drink fucking beer,” she complains, giving him wide eyed look, as if in complete shock that he’d bring the subject up.

“S’about to be a very white Christmas,” Chessie begins again, pulling the two small bags of coke from her clutch. She holds them up with a smile, as if to show them off before turning her attention back to Arlo. “Do you have a mirror we can use?”

Arlo hadn’t expected to seen Ben when he opened his bedroom door, but there he was, drinking a beer away from the other party guests. He couldn’t help but chuckle, not even the least bit bothered by the fact someone was in his room without his knowledge. 

“Hooking up?” He asked with a chuckle. “No, we’re just…” he trailed off, unsure of whether he should actually say it in front of Ben. Though he realized Chessie had no issue with it since she was the one who pulled it out of her handbag.

“Yeah! I’ve got one over here,” Arlo said as he walked towards his dresser. “I keep it here so I can put ties on.” Retrieving the mirror, he crossed back and handed it to Chessie. He stepped back and watched the other two sitting on his bed.

“I would be a bad host if I didn’t tell you that I highly suggest the floor at the present state of my sheets…”

He fixed his posture as they came in. Why did no one else like beer? What the hell was that about? However, he decided to let it go. Chessie sparked his interest immediately when she mentioned white and Christmas, now that Christmas was actually over. Shit. He was past the point where his judgment was just cloudly. It was really almost gone. He watched Arlo get the mirror and hand it to Chessie, and then his eyes were fixated on those two bags. Was he allowed to get in on this too? 

“The floor? Alright.” He said with a shrug, he wasn’t about to argue. “Would you two mind sharing? I usually don’t mooch but this shit is looking very fine.” He admitted as he positioned himself on the floor. “What’s the point of New Year’s Eve if I don’t have fun? I mean if we all don’t have fun.” He slurred as he glanced at Chessie and then Arlo. 

bishopkirbcy‌:

“How the fuck is my sister with someone as tedious as you?” The words came out before Bishop could stop them. Drugs had a habit of making him much more unfiltered than he really liked, but at least he was calling a spade a spade. Might as well go all in, “Like, I can understand not wanting to be a part of all,” Bishop gestured with his hand to the pretentious party that was unfolding before them, “this fuckery. Status symbols, the microscope. But, you’re like this hipster construct that has consumed too much kool-aid of what you think is supposed to be ‘relaxed’ and ‘cool’. It literally blows my mind that my sister married such a jerkoff.” Ben wanted to be friends, but Bishop didn’t. He figured if he just kept being his normal asshole self, it would play out like he wanted.

He watched Bishop go on a rant about him. And just like that, he felt his hand squeezing his bottle as his nostrils flared. Fuck Bishop. He knew King was out of his league, which is why he never even tried to pursue her back in the day. But running into her in Italy was no coincidence. “You know what?” He said before he paused as he moved closer towards Bishop, “You don’t have to get it but you need to accept it. I love King. It doesn’t matter what you think, or what your parents think. You can say what you want about me, but don’t say shit when you don’t even know what our relationship is like.” He didn’t care about being friends with Bishop, but he did care about King. He didn’t like anyone bashing their relationship. And if he wasn’t King’s brother, Ben would’ve thrown at least one fist towards his face already. “If I were you, I’d be there for King,” He lectured, “That’s what siblings are supposed to do.” Ben didn’t care if he was overstepping his boundaries, Bishop fucked up calling him a hipster construct.

monty-santos‌:

“Yeah, I should. The problem is that any job that would actually pay me is one that I can’t really see myself doing,” Monty admitted, even though he knew exactly how strange that sounded.  He didn’t mind that he didn’t have money, at least most of the time, and he’d figured out ways to really survive without it.  And while there were times that he really missed the luxury of being able to do whatever he wanted, for the most part, Monty was content with the fact that his life was never going to really be that way.  Which was just another reason he didn’t fit in the upper east side.  “I want to go back someday.  Coming back to the city was always a temporary thing, I just haven’t gotten back to the point where I can yet.  But I’m sure that it’ll happen someday,” Monty replied, though the longer that he stayed in the city the farther away someday felt.  “And to be honest, there’s not,” he sighed as he looked out the window, “the winter is actually the most dangerous time to be homeless because the shelters are always at capacity and if you don’t get there in time there might not be room. And if you get turned away from multiple you don’t have a choice but to sleep outside.  It’s a good part of the reason that I’ve been working on the clothes drive with the shelter that I volunteer for because at least it gives them clothes that might be able to help them survive the night.”

To him, this made no sense. Why would Monty not want to get paid while doing a job? That was volunteering and he was not here for it. “I don’t know if it can be considered a job then,” He pointed out to the other male. “How long have you been back for?” Ben didn’t know much about the people he left behind, their whereabouts, or who kept up with whom. “If you go back to France, at least let me show you the best places to get a drink around there.” He added, looking for an excuse to see the male again. As long as it was in a different country. “That’s pretty fucked up,” He said honestly. He never thought much of homeless people, except for those late nights he’d come back high as fuck and see them sleeping on the street. “You should make everyone in here give away at least half of the closets. You’d end up with a bunch of clothes.” He was chuckling but it was probably true. 

Ben was thankful for BYOB. He finally got to bring himself some microbrew. None of these people ever experienced how amazing beer was like he had. He donned a white suit. To the outside world, he felt as if most of them knew him as little pure Benjamin Vanderbilt. Or at least they did. He used his bottle opener to open his beer up and took the cap into his free hand. “By the end of the night, I think that I’m going to need to carry around a garbage bag for all of these,” He said as he showed his bottle cap to the other person. “Time is also just a social construct, but that’s another lecture for another day. It’s probably hard for Americans to grasp that.”

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.

quinnxarchibald‌:

Listening to Ben’s words, Quinn tilted his head to the side a bit, trying to think of what to say. Unable to stop his brain to mouth filter from working, he began to reply. “I can’t just forget it.” He admitted, shaking his head. “I can’t forget that we punched each other just like I can’t forget what you did and I can’t forget that we used to be best friends. Forgetting about it isn’t going to solve anything.” Quinn finished, wincing inwardly at the fact that he’d actually said that. He’d been planning on just agreeing and walking away. 

His heart sank at the mention of best friends. They were best friends, two peas in a pod. That was before he decided to up and leave, a spur of the moment decision. “I know,” He finally admitted. He still didn’t want to do this here. Not when he still wasn’t ready. “Let's just try not to punch each other inside of O and Chessie’s place anymore.” He suggested. “I regret punching you back,” He said with a sigh. That was a step in the right direction at least. “I just wasn’t expecting it.” So maybe he shouldn’t have ignored the whole part about the two of them being best friends but how was he even supposed to begin that conversation? “So how about a truce shot or two?”