Oatanas‌:

arlovasquez‌:

The days crawled by with little to no brightness to them; not in a physical sense but within his mind. Everything to Arlo was bleak and dark. He hadn’t smoked, painted, or done anything productive in days. This was the first day he’d actually gotten the motivation to put on regular clothes and head out for a walk.

And he walked for hours because he knew if he stopped, he wouldn’t want to keep going. But he needed to get something to drink, so he stepped inside a small coffee shop of 34th and ordered a black coffee, setting his stuff on a table near the window and gazing out.

“Fuck.”

It was just by coincidence that he had spotted Arlo. In fact, Ben wouldn’t dare set his feet in a “hipster” coffee shop. He was too good for New York Hipsters. However, he stopped in his tracks when he saw Arlo. Before he could stop himself, he was inside. And approaching the other man. 

“Arlo.” He stated, “You look worse than I do.” He wanted to ask how he was since everything went down. He hadn’t spoken much to anyone since the arrest. Maybe that was because he was also keeping himself in isolation. “How are you?” He finally blurted after the internal struggle his brain was creating inside. “How’s your place since everything went down?” He didn’t remember much about the cops coming in but he figured it would’ve been left a mess from them at least.

kingkirbey‌:

“I wouldn’t be surprised considering you’re already halfway there.” King chuckled and ran a hair through her husband’s dark mane, giving him a smile so he knew she was kidding. She was well used to his excess of hair by now and in all honesty, she was a pretty big fan of it. It made him look scholarly, or so she liked to think. “Well, people who make resolutions are exactly the type of people I don’t ever want to be in the presence of, so maybe we should dip out early.” The prospect of leaving early intrigued her, but these days, that wasn’t a surprise. Would they ever manage to go to a party without complaining and wanting to go home a few minutes in? “Traveling through the city pre-ball drop is probably not going to be an option, though.”

He knew she liked his hair and honestly, that’s what really mattered. “You’re supposed to tell me how handsome I look,” He joked, it wasn’t like he didn’t know that she liked it. His hair wasn’t really something that those on the Upper East Side donned although it wasn’t like that really mattered to him. As far as he was concerned, New York seemed pretty foreign to him at this point. Hopefully, he would be able to make amends with Quinn and they’d be back and traveling in no time. “There are probably plenty of people who already have here. At least we know resolutions aren’t real. That’s one of the many reasons why I love you,” He pointed out, “I’m sure we could find a place to eat some burgers too.” Okay, he really missed American burgers. And sure he tried not to eat red meat but it was New Year’s Eve. “That sounds like my ideal New Year’s Eve.” As long as he was with her, his night would be the best. It was so easy to be around her. “Not unless we take the subway,” He suggested, “Even Spain’s metro is better than ours,” He pointed out before continuing, “Or do you think people are partying it up down there as well?”

quinnxarchibald‌:

Quinn startled for a second as Ben changed the subject. He looked up at the brunet, eyes widening slightly. “Yeah, yeah I heard about that.” He replied. He’d wanted to reach out to his former friend, wanted to make sure that Ben was okay but he hadn’t. Not out of malice but because he had no idea what to say. He wanted to talk about it but even now it seemed that the other male didn’t want to. “Yeah, the 80s definitely seemed a lot simpler. They had their problems though. I guess there have to be trade offs.” Quinn said before adding softly “How are you doing? After everything?”

It was hard with Quinn. He wanted to tell Quinn every single problem that he was having. It felt natural to do that, and yet he knew he couldn’t. He didn’t have that part in Quinn’s life anymore thanks to his own mistakes. It was hard to not have anyone to talk to. “I’m glad we’re just not still having a big hair trend. That seemed horrible,” He said with a sigh of relief. With Quinn’s question, he immediately opened his mouth up but stopped himself from saying anything. They weren’t best friends, they were estranged best friends. He couldn’t tell her anything, could he? Not when he hadn’t even apologized yet. “I’m fine. Things are a bit tense with King but I guess that happens when you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He shrugged, trying not to make a big deal of it.

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.

monty-santos‌:

“Yeah, I guess.  If you say so,” Monty shrugged, even though he didn’t really feel like he was really that strong of a person. And while he knew that others would probably protest, it didn’t change the feeling.  “So clearly you went to France, anywhere else exciting you went while you were gone?” he asked, trying to get the subject off of him. 

“Oh yeah, I was all over the place. One of my favorite countries was Greece. Everything’s so modern yet not modern there,” He said, trying to sound like he was cultured. “I went all around the EU, I’m surprised we didn’t run into each other. I ran into King in Italy, like what were the odds of that? I really think that being abroad changes you, in a good way, of course.”

chessieabernathy‌:

There was a presence about Ben Vanderbilt that made Chessie think of him as an older brother, one that didn’t press her talk about her feelings, didn’t care – or in Ben’s case, mostly didn’t know – about her fuck ups. He was someone to have a drink or a smoke with, and shoot the shit. “Being a Vanderbilt can’t be much worse than bein’ an Abernathy. Go into any state in the Bible Belt and you’ll get swarmed.” She pointed out, attempting to keep the bitterness out of her tone at the mention of her family. “Don’t hold your breath,” she happily changed the topic, laughter at her lips. “Who knew you were such a romantic, B.” Chessie couldn’t help but roll her eyes at his comment, but appreciated the sentiment. At the mention of gin, she lifted a brow, giving him a look. “And what might that be?”

“That doesn’t seem like the Southern hospitality that everyone’s told me about. I figured you’d get swarmed because of popularity, ” He pointed out, “At least no one gives you a double take while you’re here.” He at least assumed no one did. Well, not in the way that they did to him now that he was back. Some people stopped in their tracks and obviously stared at him. It was very hard to ignore. “You’re more likely to be a psycho if you prefer gin,” He stated as if he was unconcerned, “It’s some unspoken alcohol rule.” Except people did speak about it. “See? no one thinks that about my beer. When are you gonna give it a chance?”

arlovasquez‌:

chessieabernathy‌:

The mention of the state of his sheets provokes a concerned look, and wide eyes – As if she’s sat in a pile of mud. Without questioning him further (assuming it’s best probably not to), Chessie moves to the floor, sitting with her back against the end of his bed frame. In the morning, she knows she’ll regret being so frank about what she intended on doing. Surely, it will come to bite her in the ass, that this moment will be a memory wielding guilt and concern. For now, though – She cut three lines without hesitation, sitting on her knees as she moved. She turns to Ben for a moment, smiling as she nods quickly. “New Years is supposed to be fun,” she agreed, pulling a bill from her purse after, rolling it up. “To having a fun fucking year,” Chessie spoke up once more, as if they were making a cheers before shots. Only, instead of shots, she was leaning over a mirror, taking the line without question. The burn didn’t bother her, barely registering in her mind, thanks to the alcohol. As her hand came up to rub her nose with the back of it, she passed the bill to Arlo. “Don’t fuck it up,” she teases with a laugh that’s just a bit too loud, already feeling the effects of the substance. 

“Beer isn’t bad when you’re already drunk, Chessie. It goes down quicker and it’s almost like water,” Arlo said with a grin. “Plus it doesn’t make you want to throw up if you breath right after drinking a sip, unlike shots.” 

He sat back, watching Chessie as she took the line. It was bit bizarre to watch this happening in front of him. Arlo had only seen people do coke in movies, and he certainly never thought he’d be about to do it. 

As the mirror was passed to him, he hesitated. There was another knot forming in his stomach but he willed it away. He put the mirror on 

Taking the bill, he positioned it and leaned over the mirror, holding one nostril shut and inhaling. 

First came the slight burn and then the taste; it was like he had swallowed play-doh. 

“That wasn’t so bad,” he said as he passed the mirror to Ben. 

“Yeah,” He agreed with Arlo, “And if you get the right kind, it doesn’t smell like piss. Or taste like it.” Everyone could use some good beer in their life. 

Ben waited impatiently for his turn. He had watched Chessie have her go at it. She definitely knew what she was doing. 

“I can hold your hand next time,” He joked, “But I don’t think you need it. It’s pretty much like going through the motions of smelling a sharpie.” He definitely wasn’t making sense but he didn’t care. He was about to get to do something he hadn’t done in two years. All of that work to become sober would be gone, and he didn’t care. He took the bill and mirror happily, not wasting much time. As soon pulled his head up, and everything came rushing back. He felt his body warm up, almost like he was Popeye with his spinach. The adrenaline running through him right now was incomparable. “That’s how the pros do it, Arlo. You’re learning from the masters.” He mumbled. 

finnsmythe‌:

“I don’t doubt that. You seem pretty scrappy to me,” he grinned a little. At the suggestion of a shotgun competition, Finn laughed. “Oh my god, yes! I used to do that all the time with the guys! And I did that in college before I dropped out. You’re on. If this fucking blizzard wasn’t happening, and we’d be able to get a case of beer, we’d definitely do that!” Finn was competitive as hell, and he would do all he could to win that challenge. “Yeah, we’re a thing,” he nodded. “I’ll ask O about it. See if she’d be down.”

He wasn’t scrappy. Only he was allowed to call himself that. Or King. That was about it. “I gotta compensate for the height somehow,” He wasn’t ignorant, he knew he was pretty small. “There should always be a case of beer around or a keg. I really need to show Chessie and O how Europeans party,” He thought he was better than everyone because he spent so much time abroad. It was pretty pathetic. “Maybe we could do a bar crawl.” He considered that pretty romantic. See, romance isn’t dead. 

oatanas‌:

O’s facial expression slipped to one of amusement and disbelief momentarily but she recovered quickly. “Yeah, I mean, that’s what happens when you go off and do your own thing for a few years, anyway.” She didn’t mention the fact that people more or less thought of him as a ghost these days. Someone they thought was gone forever and who had magically shown up out of the blue again. Not that it mattered to her, anyway. She knew that there was history between him and Quinn but the details were unknown and truth be told she barely knew him before he left. “I do say so. Now what you guys do owe me for is not inviting me to the wedding, and especially for not letting me design my best friend’s wedding dress.” While O is joking and more or less over the fact, that wasn’t going to stop her from being dramatic about it until the day she died. “Another drink would be great.” How many was that now? Didn’t matter, did it? “What about you?” 

Going to Europe meant that the expectations for him were thrown out of the window. He was free. There was no looking back for him. Well, if it wasn’t for Quinn and his own wrongdoing to the poor man. “It was amazing. Not going abroad because I had to or for a family vacation was exactly what I needed. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” Would he really leave Quinn high and dry like that again? “In our defense, we were pretty much the only two people there,” He liked that they pretty much eloped. He liked the spontaneity that their relationship had. “And the goat farmer, but that’s because he officiated it,” Who even knew a goat farmer could officiate a wedding? “It wasn’t like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding or anything.” In fact, he thought it was way more intimate and special than that. The least he could do for O was get her another drink. “Trust me, I could always use another drink. I’m just trying to get used to these parties again.” He admitted. 

 taterodriguez‌:

For the entirety of the holidays, Tate took it upon their self to hide within the confines of their apartment with a hefty bottle of vodka because the holidays were the time of year Tate dreaded the most.  The most Christmasy thing that Tate could bring their self to do was exchange gifts with Monty, Quinn, and Lorraine.  Other than that, Tate had been curled up on their couch clutching on to the bottle of vodka for dear life.

After a few days, Tate figured it was about time to emerge from their self induced isolation.  They found their self sitting at the bar, sipping a vodka soda, and nibbling on a basket of french fries.  As footsteps approached, a grumble fell through their lips.  “If you wish me a belated Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays or whatever else… I might throw this drink in your face.”

Alcohol was a remedy he turned to during his detoxing period. It was virtually the reason why he got through it. It had a special place in his heart because of that. And because he loved alcohol, especially beer. He hated all the boujee liquor that everyone had around here. He wanted the hard stuff and before he knew it, he was inside of a bar. 

As soon as he spotted Tate, he lifted himself out of the bar stool and over towards where they were. It was better to mope together, he thought. “I’m not going to do any of that,” He revealed to them, “Although if the drink’s good, I’m always up for a taste.” He loved to mooch off of others. “I’d offer to share my Heineken but I’m not sure that you’d enjoy it.”