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Owen Collins

"Never settle."

0 · 2,696 views · located in Beverly Hills, California

a character in “Summer Reunited”, as played by Whatsername

Description

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"There’s something about the people who knew you when you were young- before you had decided who you wanted to be. Before you knew what face you wanted to wear in the world. They’re the only ones who really know you, you know?"
— Sarah Treem, A Feminine Ending



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Name:
Owen Pierce Collins

Preferred Name:
Owen

Age:
23

Birthday:
April 12th

Sexuality:
Heterosexual

Occupation:
Model



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History:
His parents, Pierce and Kristen Collins, never should have been married. While they thought they could make a nice little family together, after only a few years of marriage, it was apparent that there was no real love between them. Kris started having affairs, which she justified to herself because Pierce was spending excessive amounts of time at work rather than with her and once Pierce found out about this, he returned the infidelity. At least his was more genuine than hers, Owen reasons. He had fallen in love with fashion designer Aimee Kachingwe, who was also married at the time. As soon as their affair was brought to light, both of their marriages fell apart and the pair ended up marrying each other soon after. Things didn't end there with the perfect "happily ever after" finish, though. His mother wouldn't have it that way. She felt like Pierce had humiliated and betrayed her, even if she had been the one stepping out first and more frequently. Kris had always been the attention-obsessed one and her true colors certainly came out in response to the affair and quick remarriage. She started a long and painful custody battle that kept the tabloids active for months. Between leaked voice mails, photos of him with his new wife during the affair, and false allegations that Pierce had abused her and the kids, Kris did everything she could to ruin her ex-husband's image and come out on top by stealing his two prized-possessions: Owen and Alexandra.

Unlike Kris, Pierce wanted the kids so they could be raised properly, which apparently wasn't on her agenda. Five million dollars was enough for her to end the ordeal and give him primary custody of the children. Although she was granted visitation rights, Owen avoided her at all costs. During the custody battle, he enrolled at a boarding school about a half-hour away and lived for the last year years of high school. He was overwhelmed by how horrible his mother was acting, how his family was being trashed by the media and how his once sweet little sister was turning into a terror. Unlike her, he was actually glad that his father had remarried Aimee. Despite her also being unfaithful in her own previous marriage, Owen found her to be nice enough and appreciated the efforts she made to get to know him and Alexandra. He had more reservations with her daughter, Tinashe, but the girl grew on eventually too and by now, he considers Aimee to be a better mother figure than his birth mother, and Tinashe to be just as much a sister as Alexandra.

For the past year, Owen has lived at the family's house in Beverly Hills. He could easily get his own apartment somewhere but feels like it's his duty to keep the house in order when his dad and Aimee aren't home, especially with the way Alexandra is acting. Besides that, he has been travelling frequently for his modelling career. He was in a few ads here and there throughout his childhood but after graduating high school, his career took off. He's been featured in numerous high-fashion campaigns and runway shows, was featured in one of Madonna's music videos, and recently wrapped up filming for a Taylor Swift music video.

Secret(s):
Everyone has them. If there was one thing your character doesn't want anyone to find out about, what is it?


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Positive Traits:
Responsible, Intelligent, Romantic, Considerate, Humble

Character Flaws:
Uptight, Opinionated, Overprotective, Stubborn, Controlling

Personality:
The older brother role that he was born into is thoroughly reflected in Owen's personality. He's responsible, protective and considerate. When it comes to his loved ones, his heart is always in the right place, even if his actions are interpreted as being overprotective and restrictive. He puts a lot of pressure on himself to make sure that his sisters, are always taken care of, and can't accept the fact that they might not need him now as much as he felt they did when they were younger. He likes to think that his parents' divorce didn't affect him very much, but it made him grow up quickly. The amount of attention that the custody battle brought upon them, as well as both of his sisters' questionable behaviors forced him to be the responsible one. He felt guilty that his father had to deal with his psycho mother and the increasingly rebellious Alexandra and Shay. Someone had to be the responsible one and it looked like he was the only one willing to accept the job. Even with friends though, Owen tends to be the responsible one. He's usually the designated driver, the one making sure that no one's drinking too much or going home with strangers. It's not like he doesn't let loose sometimes, but he's not the type to go crazy with alcohol or partying, ever. Not only is he not interested in that type of lifestyle, but he doesn't want any more negative attention directed at his family.

He puts great value on his friends and family but doesn't allow many people into his inner circle. While always friendly and polite, he's reserved around strangers until he knows that he can actually trust them. The elite social circle he was raised in seems to be a dog-eat-dog world and he cares too much about the people around him to let anyone get too close and potentially hurt them. This not only involves the people he interacts with, but those that his family interacts with too. He's known for kicking guys that his sisters bring over out of the house, even if they just claim to be friends, because he either doesn't deem them worthy of his sisters, or just doesn't trust their intentions.

Maybe the most surprising trait about Owen is how humble he is. It doesn't take much to make him happy and for a guy who's made millions off of his appearance, he isn't vain or narcissistic. He's a nice guy who puts his loved ones before himself, even when they don't want or need him to.

Likes:
Water sports // Lacrosse // The beach // Bacon // Pizza // Takeout Food // Driving // Sailing // Strawberries // Budweiser // Reading // Hot showers // Urban cities // Travelling // Sunday mornings // Modelling // Fashion // 90's cartoons // Homemade breakfasts

Dislikes:
Lavender scent // Anime // Clutter // Looking at photos of himself // His mother // Golf // Coffee // Earthquakes // Country music // The problems his sister causes // Crowds // Long flights // Minivans // Jellybeans // Marshmallows

Fears:
Drowning // Suffocating // Clowns // Losing any of his family members // Scandals involving him or his family // Poverty

Aspirations:
Make amends with his mother eventually // Get married & have kids // Buy a house in Nantucket // Move to New York // Own a nightclub



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Height:
6'1

Weight:
160 lbs

Hair color:
Brown

Eye color:
Blue

Other:
He has a small scar on his right wrist from a surgery he had after breaking his hand as a child, but besides that, he has no other distinguishable marks.

So begins...

Owen Collins's Story

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Tinashé Kachingwe Character Portrait: Carson Koch Character Portrait: Owen Collins Character Portrait: Colette Grace Rockefeller
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Carson was dazed enough from the punch that he couldn't think straight to say something to Owen, even if he wanted to. Which he didn't. He knew that opening his mouth now would only fuel Owen's aggression and even with the left side of his face throbbing, Carson didn't think he would be so accepting of another attack. Pressing the cold beer to his lip stopped that from throbbing and bleeding, at least, but his head was still spinning. The excited shouts from Owen made it even worse, and on top of the volume of that and the music that had started playing after Jasmine and her team left the stage, he had to be on alert in case Owen did try to swing at him again.

He hated listening to the two of them fight because what they were spitting back and forth wasn't just a normal sibling fight and Carson knew that it was all his fault. Owen was being relentlessly cruel to Shay, especially with the remark he left her with. He understood Owen being infuriated with him. He had violated the code of their friendship not only once, but twice. What he did with Alexandra would never be right, no matter how much of a mistake it really had been. It was something that he knew Owen would never get over and Carson didn't think that he would even forgive himself for doing something so unthinkable. Was making out with Shay really that wrong, though? She was still technically Owen's little sister and he definitely treated her like one too, but she was twenty-one! She wasn't a little kid and Carson was sure that she had made it pretty clear that she didn't need Owen protecting her from anything. Even if he was wrong for not informing Owen of his thing for Shay beforehand, why would Owen really care? If they were best friends, he clearly didn't think that Carson had been a bad guy before all of this. If he trusted anyone with Shay's heart, wouldn't it be the guy that he trusted his own life with? At least in respects to that, Owen was being irrational and Carson wouldn't apologize for wanting Shay even after all of this. It would have been easy to just give up and head to LAX now, but then what would the point in all of this have been? He would be losing his best friend and the first girl that he ever actually had real feelings for. Maybe the blow to the head had knocked any sense left out of him, but he wasn't going to give up just yet.

When Owen left, Carson felt a small wave of relief, but it was apparent that even her brother's tyrannical presence disappearing didn't make Shay any less disturbed. When Shay looked towards him with concern, he quickly pulled the beer bottle away from his face and set it on the table. "I'm all good... are you?" He searched her face for any sign that of hope, but there was none. She avoided his gaze, grabbed her things, and before he could push off of the crutch of the wall, she was gone. "I can't believe I just fucked everything up," he snapped under his breath, inadvertently picking up the cool glass again to soothe the pain coming from his torn lip. He couldn't chase after Shay. Not only was his head still spinning, but he didn't need to deal with another altercation with Owen, especially in a public club. So, he waited until a few dancers entered the backstage area became his cue to leave, and headed to the private bathroom behind the stage. It took a few minutes of tossing icy water onto his face and cleaning up the bloodied lip before he was ready to leave. The side of his face and his lip were already swelling and he was sure they would be a nice shade of purple come morning, but for now, he didn't think he looked too horrific.

He still hadn't seen the gossip post about he and Shay, but as soon as he stepped out of the club and into the cool night, it was apparent that someone had leaked something about the two of them. Carson was never really one to be hounded by paparazzi. He had more money than most celebrities but his parents were pretty low-key when it came to their fame and unless he was hanging out with Owen or other recognizable friends, no one usually paid much attention to him. Tonight though, he was blinded by the flashing lights and the questions that were shouted at him were even more surprising. "How long have you and Tinashé been dating?!", "Has she written any songs about you?!", How does her family feel about this?!", "Carson, over here!" His arm was covering the damaged side of his face so he hoped that at least that wouldn't be noted by their never ending flashing cameras. He regretted not calling a car to come while he was still in the privacy of the club, but he hadn't been thinking straight. He still wasn't, and didn't hesitate to step into one of the cabs waiting on the corner just to escape the shouting photogs.

"Where you headed to?" The cab driver, a husky man with dark skin and a deep voice pondered, not even bothering to look in his rear-view mirror at the stupefied boy in the back seat.

"Uh, Malibu... Yeah, Malibu."

"Malibu? Kid, that's forty minutes away. I don't have time to go all the way down there and back."

Carson shuffled through his pockets, desperately hoping to find enough cash to convince the driver. He came up with fifty bucks and a credit card. "Here's a fifty dollar down payment and if you stop at an ATM I can get you five hundred more." Money was rarely an option for Carson, but tonight it was even less of one. He needed to get the hell out of LA as soon as possible. The offer seemed to work, as the driver reached back and pocketed the fifty dollar bill and drove off.

As Carson sank into the seat of the car, his head pounding with every minor bump the car hit, he texted Tinashé. There was nothing that he could say to make this right, but he needed to try because he had already risked everything for his feelings for her,

To: Shay
I am so sorry Shay. I shouldn't have done that. That was all my fault and you can tell him that. Dammit I'm so fucking sry for getting you into this shit

To: Colette
Tell her I'm sorry. I fucked everything up and I don't want her to pay the price. Tell him it was my fault. U and ur sister r the only people he'll listen to idc if he hates me but just make sure he knows Shay didn't do anything wrong

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Alexandra Collins Character Portrait: Ariana Rockefeller Character Portrait: Owen Collins Character Portrait: Colette Grace Rockefeller
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Colette's exclamation drew attention to Owen's hand which she then noticed too, was swollen and unnaturally colored. She was thinking the same thing as her twin. There was no way that Owen and Carson could have gotten into a fist fight. They were best friends. Ariana had told Owen to release the article to screw Shay over. She knew Carson would get some heat from it too, but she didn't want it to end this way. On the positive side, at least it looked like Owen came out on top of the fight since his face looked unscathed, but she didn't want Carson hurt any more than she wanted Owen hurt. This was bad, and after Alexa was no help in figuring out the source of this, she was desperately hoping that the fight had started over something other than the photo Oliver posted. Ariana had enough of a conscious to know that this was not the results she was looking for with that post.

When Colette abandoned her, Ariana decided that she couldn't stay. She had no desire to spend the night with Owen after it seemed likely that he was in a very rare violent mood, but she couldn't leave Alexandra with him to take his wrath alone, and she really was starting to worry that the post had spurred all of this. "Forget it, I'll come," she said, glaring back at the path that Colette had disappeared down. Alexandra had run out of the club a moment before, and Ariana decided that there was no point in waiting any longer. Not like she knew it then, but Carson was on his way out too and the last thing that any of them needed was for him to get to the front door before Owen was out of the building.

She was hesitant to even touch Owen at first. He seemed calmer than when he had first thrown Lex at them, but she didn't know what had really just went down and was beginning to doubt whether she actually wanted to know. When the sound of shouting paparazzi caught Ariana's attention, she knew there was no better time than now to go. She grabbed Owen's good hand and led him outside. She was beginning to wish that she had worn a jacket over the black mini dress, not only because the temperature had dropped a few degrees in the last few hours, and because the birage of flashing lights left her blinded as a bouncer cleared a path for them to get to the bar. Ariana didn't have time to consider getting into the back with Alexandra before the passenger door was opened for her and she slid in. A quick glance towards the back row showed that Alexandra was not happy and a sideways glance to Owen showed the same thing. "What the hell happened in there?!" she exclaimed, unsure of who to expect a response from first. Regardless of who answered, she couldn't keep her attention away from Owen's injured hand and the guilt that came with it.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Tinashé Kachingwe Character Portrait: Alexandra Collins Character Portrait: Ariana Rockefeller Character Portrait: Carson Koch Character Portrait: Owen Collins Character Portrait: Oliver McKagan
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The tears seemed unwilling to follow through with Shay's requests for them to stop falling and she allowed herself to be pulled against Christopher, clinging to her best friend. Any other day she would have denied this happened, but today was not that day. Not when Owen probably wanted nothing to do with her, she didn't know where she stood with Carson (even though she was technically the one who had walked away), and she genuinely wanted - no, needed - to escape. Obediently and without falter, she began to talk to Chris. "Lex slept with Carson, and they both don't really know if it happened, I don't even know...but now Owen knows and I kissed Carson and Owen wants to kill him and now Owen hates me and he thinks I'm gonna get knocked up in Vegas and I'm gonna have a joint baby shower with Lex..." Tinashé didn't know if Chris could actually understand the entire story from what she gave him, but she didn't want to talk anymore. She just wanted to go somewhere safe. She wanted the music to stop and the lights to stop flashing and she wanted the people to just go away. She needed to get out of the club, at least before she wound up snapping at someone who didn't deserve it. Or worse.

It was almost as if the gods or whoever was up there was on some kind of mercy trip because Colette had finally pushed through the throng of still grinding people, shoving disgustedly at a couple that had made her their wall to shove their tongues down one another's throats and grope at each other. Glaring disdainfully at the redhead because she seemed to have an attitude, Colette had half the mind to make a retort, but Chris and Shay were spotted from the corners of her eyes. She cast the nameless skank another glare before approaching the duo, immediately taking in Shay's tear-streaked face and the absence of Carson. "Wh-where's Carson?" She asked and pulled Shay to her, noting how pliant her best friend was to her wishes. Shay was never this pliant. Tinashé shook her head as a fresh stream of tears erupted from her eyes. "I don't know...I left him...I don't know..." She felt guilty, another thing to weigh on her mind, that she had left Carson alone. He had just gotten punched by his best friend, someone he had thought was his brother, and she had abandoned him. What else was she going to fuck up in!? Colette just stared at her best friend for a moment, pensive and concerned. She didn't like this and she had half the mind to go find Owen before he left so he could see the damage he left behind. Still, they needed to get out of the club. She had seen paparazzi gathering and it was only a matter of time before they brought up the post.

"Alright," she began, ready to take charge and get her group out of here. She looked over Chris and Shay, absentmindedly thinking that she could use another drink. Matter of fact, before the night was over, she neded a few in her system because all of this was crazy. "Alright, we need to get out of here. Where's...? Her mind trailed off on the thought of one of the other guests...Carson's brother, right? Shay let out what seemed to be a whimper and a snort of amusement before answering, "Oliver." Offering her friend a brief smile, Colette turned her gaze to Chris, "Alright, Chris, go find him and..." Feeling her phone vibrate, she saw two messages. One from her typical driver and another from Carson. She chanced a look at Shay's face before going back to his message, her frown deepening. "We're going to go out to the car. Hurry up." Grabbing a hold of Tinashé, Colette dragged the singer behind her, this time more impatient with the crowd. This was why she preferred bars to clubs; less people.

It was hard not to interact with the paparazzi when the girls emerged from the club. Colette had made Shay wipe her face and lean against her more, a sign of the typical Tinashé at a party. Smashed and in need of a bed. It was a bit early for a sign such as that, but Colette didn't even have to argue. Shay was literally submissive to whatever demand she made. It made her all the more upset with Owen and all the more ready to tear the Collins' house apart. They asked several questions. "Will Tinashé confirm the rumors that she's dating Carson Koch? How long have they really been together? Do they see a future together? How does the family feel?" All questions that were none of anyone's business and Colette had half the mind to snap that when one reporter pushed a microphone in Shay's face. Luckily, Richard had just pulled up with the town car and after a show of having to heave Shay into the car, Colette slid into the backseat with her. Shay leaned against the far side of the vehicle, face pressed against the glass. In that time, Colette had begun to type out her own text messages. She didn't even know when Shay had moved to look at her own.

To: Carson
Oh, I have a few choice words to say to Owen. Look, Shay's not looking too good and I don't think it would be good to have her in that house. Can we drop her off with you? At least until tonight?

To: Owen
You and me? We're having words. Just wait

To: Ariana
I swear, if you had anything to do with this, and this isn't drunk me talking, Ariana. This is bad. This is really bad and I swear if this is your fault...

To: Chris
Hurry up before I actually lose my patience with the paparazzi. Someone posted that Shay and Carson are together and they won't leave the car alone.

Tinashé, idly glancing at her phone, fell upon the most recent text messages. No scathing last-minute I-hate-you's from Owen, but there was one from Alexandra that caused her blood to freeze. Typically, when Shay and Alexa argued, Shay snapped back at her little sister. Alexa could slam her door in Shay's face and Shay would still bang on the door and yell back at her. They could ignore each other. They could pretend that the other didn't exist. It would take them a few days or so, but eventually, they would go back to normal. This...this was new. Instead of feeling the pain from earlier when it felt like Alexandra had sided with Ariana, there was anger. Perhaps it was unfair - perhaps beneath the tears and the hurt from what Owen had said, there was an anger for him too - and she was projecting it on Alexandra. But at that point, after a night like the one she had - no, after the day like the one she had, she was through with her sister. She had said it earlier in the day like she had always done. But not this time. Which prompted her to send a message to Alexa followed by a response to Carson, who she decided was one of the few people in the situation she cared about. It was telling of her mood because Shay, who used as many short ways to say words in messages as she could, spelled out every word she had to say to her sister.

To: Alexa
Fuck you. At least I'm not the slut who lost my virginity and can't even remember. I can't believe you're actually mad at me. When your ass gets drunk ass shit and you need a ride home? I drive you. When you are getting hounded on by Owen for even living? I come to your rescue. When you ask me to keep something from him? I keep it. And you're seriously pissed over a guy that never wanted you? And I'm the slut? Fuck you, Lex. You're mad at me, be that way. Lose my fucking number. I don't care.

To: Carson
No, this is my fault. I just can't with this family. I don't even know where I stand anymore and I don't wanna see either of them right now. And I'm so sorry

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Alexandra Collins Character Portrait: Ariana Rockefeller Character Portrait: Owen Collins
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When Colette's eyes flickered between his swollen hand and his face with a look of utter disgust, Owen started to feel the most genuine guilt that he had felt all night. It wasn't specifically for punching Carson, it wasn't for berating Shay for keeping the Lex/Carson thing a secret, and it definitely wasn't for the future altercation he planned on having with Alexandra, but for knowing that he had just caused a problem in the group. Tension from the Ariana and Tinashé fight hadn't even simmered down, and now there was a new issue at hand which was already proving to be much more explosive than the former. Gazing down at his hand, noticing the small tears on three of his knuckles that were stained with dry blood, he tried to reassure himself that this wasn't his fault. Maybe he could have acted more rationally, but Carson had started this. He fucked his baby sister and tried to do the same with his other. Was there any real rational way to respond to a betrayal like that? No, there wasn't. Owen was sure of it. If anything, he had restrained himself compared to what he wanted to do! Once Colette got the real story, the full story and not just the half that Shay would feed her, she would see that too.

Alexandra was in luck because Ariana decided to come back to the house with him after all. He had promised Shay that he was going to ask her to leave the house for good, but at the moment, he couldn't give a fuck about what his sister wanted. He felt like he had spent his youth looking out for her, and then she turned around and thanked him by hiding something like this from him! For how long, Owen still didn't know. It could have been the entire month since it happened that she was allowing him to think that Carson was actually his friend. The thought made Owen feel sick, and combined with the unrelenting lights and prying questions, he could feel his anger picking up again. He hated it, because this monster wasn't him, but when it took him over, it was just too hard to shut down.

He slammed the driver's side door behind him as he got into the Tahoe, not even sparing the valet a look as he tossed a handful of bills at him. It was only when they had fully escaped the swarm of cameraman that he looked over at Ariana who, moments before, had asked what happened, and then in the rear view mirror at his sniffling sister. Tonight, he had no sympathy for her. Not even the tear-stained face or the weeping puppy-dog eyes would incline him to go easy on her. Carson was in the wrong, that was for sure, but he could blame Alexandra just as much for it. She had obviously felt mature enough to sleep with someone five years her senior. She could be mature enough now to deal with the consequences of it. "Go on, Lex. Tell her. Tell her about how you fucked Carson and were trying to do it again right in front of my fucking face. Tell her about how you told Shay, but the two of you didn't think that I needed to know, when the guy you fucking slept with has been my best friend before either of you even existed in my life!" He was shouting again, and his anger was being reflected in his driving too, as he slammed on the horn when it took the car in front of him longer than two seconds to move after the red light turned green.

Alexandra didn't answer. Good. There was nothing she could say, but Owen wasn't finished yet. "Oh, don't cry about it now, Lex. We're all getting sick and tired of this bullshit you pull, where you do whatever the fuck you want regardless of how it's going to affect everyone else, and then turn on the waterworks right-" He was cut off by Ariana, who, in his fit of rage, he had forgotten was even sitting next to him. "Would you stop yelling at her?!" She had never seen him this angry, and he didn't think he had ever heard her snap at anyone like that. There were times when he would overhear her barking at some inept assistant over the phone, but aside from that, Ariana always seemed to keep her cool. She would be nasty to people, that was for sure, but it was always accompanied by an icy smile. As he glanced towards her, his eyebrows inadvertently raising with surprise, he couldn't find any hint of comfort. "We get it, Owen! Everyone in LA gets it. You think you own your sisters and you can't deal with the fact that they don't want your 'help' half as much as you want to give it. She made a mistake and she obviously knows it, so would you just give it a rest for tonight?" Owen had no idea where that had come from. Wasn't Ariana supposed to be on his side? Not taking the side of Lex, and what...? Maybe even Tinashé?! It was enough to silence him, though he couldn't resist shaking his head a few times in a mixture of disbelief and at what he felt were dramatic sounds of sadness coming from the back seat.

It felt like forever, but it was no more than fifteen minutes after they left Greystone that they were in front of the Collins' estate. Owen parked the car on the driveway closest to the front door, and waved off the staff member who approached, probably with intentions of pulling Shay's car into the driveway. "I'll be in in a minute," he grumbled, his eyes set straight ahead as he waited for the girls to get out. He definitely needed a few minutes alone to compose himself before going in there, especially after seeing Colette's text message. He was definitely digging his own grave, but this was the lowest thing that Carson could have done to him and no one seemed to comprehend that

To: Colette
It's fine you can agree with everyone else that there's no problem with my best friend fucking my 18 yr old sister and then trying to do the same with my other sister. I'm the one who crossed the line I get it. All of you are fucking unbelievable.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Tinashé Kachingwe Character Portrait: Carson Koch Character Portrait: Owen Collins Character Portrait: Christopher Rockefeller Character Portrait: Oliver McKagan Character Portrait: Colette Grace Rockefeller
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Colette was seriously close to rolling down the window and flipping off the paparazzi that surrounded that immobile car and on any given day, Shay would have sat back and laughed. Would have offered a smirk and an amused look followed by a quip because Colette surely would have hit her with one. However, given that she was going on this day, she did not have the energy so all she could do was let out a rather emotionless snicker. Shaking her head at Colette's frustrations, Shay set to peering out the window, looking past the photographers as if they were not even present. Unlike Colette, she didn't want to focus on the present situation - she just wanted to get away.

Colette, on the other hand, was positively seething. Not only did Christopher just blow their plight off to get fucked, but she had a feeling he didn't really try to look for Oliver. She didn't even care for the guy much, but still. It shouldn't have taken that long. Who the hell was going to whisk Dr. Who Jr. away in the first place? Definitely not some of the models and rich girls Colette had recognized in the club. It was harsh of her and if she had said it aloud, Colette had no doubt that Shay would have had words for her. But she didn't, so she was still technically in the clear. Rolling her eyes, Colette was about to give Christopher a piece of her mind when she got the notification of Owen's response. It gave her pause and without warning, she growled, low until it turned into a somewhat shrill sound, glaring at the device as if Owen could somehow feel her anger if she did so. Shay cast her a curious look.

"You okay over there?" The R&B singer asked and Colette's turn was too sharp for her to even deny her annoyance. "Your brother is lucky his face is too pretty to punched," she snapped and while Shay's face darkened for a moment at the mention of Owen, one of her eyebrows rose with faint interest. "Thanks for reminding how attractive you find Owen. I really needed to know that." Colette narrowed her eyes at Shay and for a moment, Tinashé was willing to play as if the past half an hour had not occurred. This was what she had missed in the time her and Colette had been apart, so she couldn't even stop the small smile dancing on her lips as she griped, "Bitch." To which Colette eagerly replied, "Skank." The only problem was that the playful nicknames she and her best friend would typically exchange left her flinching just a bit, her mind going back to both of her siblings basically calling her such. And if she thought for a second Colette was going to pretend like that had not happened, she was surely mistaken. Colette's eyes narrowed.

"What the hell happened back there anyway?" She needed to know, in case she had a lot more to say to Owen. It was one thing for him to have been the cause of Shay's tears, it would be another for her to know what he did or said to cause them. Shay bit her lower lip and Colette, pensive, glanced forward to their driver. "Ronald," his name was still Richard, "Drive us to Carson's place. Chris isn't coming and we can't find Oliver." Shay glanced at her curiously only to see the dead set expression on Colette's countenance. "Now talk." She said and, as if he knew, Richard rolled up the window so that he couldn't see or hear their conversation.

It was only after ten minutes that Colette allowed herself to show any type of emotion and it wasn't what Tinashé expected. She was used to Colette being extreme. If Shay was mad, Colette was beyond heated and excited. That was what was familiar for her. This cool expression was an entirely different thing. She had only encountered it when she had seen a girl piss Colette off to the point of her actually wanting to ruin the girl. She had not gone that far, but damn it all, that had been the first time her Bitchlette had reminded her that she and Ariana had come from the same womb. Colette, meanwhile, was furious. She could understand Owen's frustration, knew she would from the second she officially allowed Shay's text to fully conceptualize in her head. Carson and Alexandra had sex. Of course, Owen wasn't going to be patting his friend on the back for a job well done. And seeing said guy kissing all up on his other sister was bad. Really really bad. But he was seriously done with both Shay and Carson? And what he said to Shay? That was what she was pissed about and after a beat, she glanced back at her phone and typed out her text messages.

To: Owen
This is not happening over text. I will see you when I get back. It should be about another twenty minutes.

To: Christopher
While your best friend cries her heart out? Fine. Don't catch an STD.

To: Carson
On our way

Colette's claim to Owen about time only came after she got Ruchard to speed it up. Tinashé didn't know what Colette was thinking in her head and had narrowed eyes watching her friend for the entirety of her time texting, but when her own phone buzzed, she glanced downwards to see a message from Carson. She didn't understand how he could think that this was entirely his fault. Did she not kiss him back? Did she not seem to be giving in just like him? She was still just a bit upset about him sleeping with Alexandra, but that was back when she thought her sister was lost and confused. She could give two fucks about Alexa at this point. However, she didn't want to talk about this over text when they were obviously on their way to him.

"Oliver is good with computers, right?" Colette asked suddenly and Shay eyed her. "Yeah. Why?" Colette shrugged, seemingly unfazed. "I need his number." Shay was even warier to ask, but she did. "Why?" Colette exhaled dramatically, impatient. "Because someone posted that you and Carson being together and it's the talk of every social media site, and I want to know who was involved." Shay gaped, confused and outraged before texting Colette his number. She couldn't believe it! Was that why the paparazzi was asking? Not because, for some god awful reason, Alexa had spread even more vicious lies!? Colette, not paying attention to her friend's ire, sent a text out to the guy whose name she typically did not remember. It wasn't her fault that this was the first time he had ever proved himself relevant and useful in her life.

To: Oliver
Hey! Oliver, right? This is Colette. Look, I need your help on something. I gotta do something really quick, but I'll be back at the house soon, ok? Think you can be a dear?

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Character Portrait: Tinashé Kachingwe Character Portrait: Alexandra Collins Character Portrait: Ariana Rockefeller Character Portrait: Owen Collins
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Alexa didn't expect Shay to respond to her nasty text by begging for her forgiveness. She was not that delusional. Still, she wasn't prepared for the message that appeared on her phone shortly after she sent hers off. She read it once, twice and three times, and with each time her eyes roved over the bitter words, she decided she hated her sister even more. By the time that she tried to read it a fourth time, her eyes were too blurry with tears that she didn't want to be falling. She was mad at Shay, for sure. Her sister had clearly done something with Carson for the media to find out about it, and she knew that picture had been taken after Alexandra had confessed to Shay about Carson. The timeline of yesterday made that inevitable. Even if Shay was right and Carson never wanted her, which Alexandra was back to refusing to believe to be true, what kind of sister did it make Shay to go after him when at that point, Alexandra might have still thought she loved him. Tinashé couldn't read her mind though, and Alexandra had not made it clear that she did like Carson. Hell, she hadn't even made it clear whether she really did or did not sleep with him! That didn't stop Alexandra from mentally crucifying Shay though. Tinashé couldn't believe that she was mad at her, and yeah, the comments relating to Owen were true, but she was ready to blame this whole night on her sister. If Carson and Shay hadn't been all over each other, Alexandra wouldn't have tried to recapture Carson's attention, Owen wouldn't have pulled her aside and she never would have confessed on him. That reasoning, as twisted and faulted as it was, allowed her to point the blame back at Shay.

Her first response to Shay was another impulsive and petty one. One that she used far too often when she had nothing better to say but still wanted to get a word into the argument. It was provocative and depending on the mood the person on the receiving end was in, she could usually get a heated response. However, she couldn't just leave their conversation at that. Not with the way Shay had spoken to her as if she was in the wrong!

To: Shay
Cry about it :(

To: Shay
And FYI I do remember it. At least in my case it was when I was 18 and not what???? 13 or 14 like you

She pulled the second text out of thin air, completely making up the claim that Shay had lost her virginity at that age but if she was going to pin her as a slut, she had to do it well. Shay had had a reputation of relishing in one night stands for years, anyway. How far off could she be? Tinashé's text had struck a nerve in her because she knew that everything her sister said was right, but wouldn't admit that. She needed one more text to make her response just as powerful as her sister's...

Before she could send a final message, the voices of the paparazzi got louder as the two front doors of the car opened and then shut, with Owen's slamming louder than necessary. She set her phone down beside her, knowing that she was about to be cut down by her other sibling now too. Shay's message seemed peachy compared to Owen's booming voice. She was now sure that she had never seen him this angry before. He was being condescending and sarcastic and ruthless. She didn't dare to open her mouth and give a smart ass comment similar to the ones she had sent to Shay behind the confidence of her phone screen. Instead, she tried to stifle back the tears that sobs forming in her chest and the tears in her eyes. She wasn't as affected by Owen's words as much as she was by Shay's but she never did well with being screamed at, and especially not in a space like this, where there was no where to run. She knew that Owen was going to get his anger out verbally rather than physically now, but with the way the veins on the side of his neck seemed to be bulging, she wasn't going to test it. She was going to take his tirade with her face buried in her knees because nothing that she could say would do anything but worsen it. However, that wasn't the case with Ariana, apparently. As soon as the brunette jumped to Alexandra's defense (or maybe not so much to defend her but to shut Owen down), her brother became the silent one. The rest of the car ride, in fact, was filled silence. The sharp tension was still there but at least Owen was no longer tearing her to pieces.

She would have to thank Ariana for jumping in at some point, but when the car slowed to a stop, Alexa decided that that time was not now. She took the opportunity and bolted from the car, hurrying into the house, upstairs and into her room. She had half a mind to stop in Shay's and break everything in sight, but she was drained and exhausted and in the back of her mind, she knew that Shay was the last person who deserved anymore of her anger.

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Character Portrait: Alexandra Collins Character Portrait: Ariana Rockefeller Character Portrait: Owen Collins
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Ariana's patience was ticking away as Owen got into the car. It started with the slammed door, the constant jamming of the breaks and blaring of the horn, and more than anything the cruel way that he was shouting at Alexandra. She was definitely caught off guard when he roared about how Alexandra and Carson had slept together, and maybe it hadn't fully sank in yet, but she didn't think anything could justify the way Owen was acting. She, Colette and Christopher were no strangers to family feuds, and Ariana was almost always involved in them, but she couldn't remember them ever getting this tense. There was screaming, that was undeniable especially when it involved the twins, but neither of them ever got this heated and Ariana wasn't going to stand for it in Owen's family either. It didn't seem fair when Alexandra was clearly emotionally torn and if this was true that she and Carson had slept together, Owen was the last person who needed pity or comfort right now. Alexandra might legally be considered an adult and she certainly liked to think she was one, but Ariana knew that she was not emotionally mature enough to be dealing with this.

If anyone deserved the blame here, it was Carson. He slept with this little girl who probably believed that he loved her and wanted something real. Of course that was going to be hard for her to let go of, because this was going to be the first time that Alexandra was being exposed to how heartless boys could be. It was probably her first heartbreak and to top it off, there was Shay, making a move on that said boy! It only made things worse that Ariana had Oliver post that picture tonight of all nights, but she never would have done it had she known that this was what was bothering Lex. It crossed the line for her when Owen started taunting his sister for crying because by that point, it had gotten past him basking in his holier-than-thou persona. He was just being mean now and Ariana had sat silently for long enough. "Would you stop yelling at her?! We get it, Owen! Everyone in LA gets it. You think you own your sisters and you can't deal with the fact that they don't want your 'help' half as much as you want to give it. She made a mistake and she obviously knows it, so would you just give it a rest for tonight?" She didn't even realize that her voice had come close to being as loud as his was, but it got the point across because the rest of the ride home was silent.

She wasn't finished with him, but when he pulled up in front of the house and indirectly asked them to get out, she obliged with continued silence. Her first priority was Alexandra, who had run up the stairs before Ari could catch up with her. She sighed, knowing that there was no way she could go back to Huntington Beach tonight. She was tired and definitely didn't want to deal with all of this family drama since she got enough with her own siblings, but she couldn't leave her boyfriend and Lex in this state. She hadn't seen Tinashé since the night started and honestly, the bitch was the last of Ariana's concerns right now. Besides, from the information she got from Owen's rant, it seemed like he had a falling out with her as well and Ariana doubted he would ask her to leave for his sister's sake.

"Alexandra, can I come in?" Ariana had waited a moment in front of the girl's door before knocking, as she knew that once she did, there was no getting out of this night. Her conscious was weighing on her too heavily to leave now, especially as she continued to regret having Oliver make that post. It was now apparent that luckily, it wasn't the cause of the violence, but it wasn't doing anything to help the situation either. She cautiously opened the door without waiting for the younger girl to confirm that she could come in. "Lex, everything is going to be okay. I'll take care of Owen, alright? You didn't do anything wrong. It was just a mistake and I promise you that every girl in this house has done something just as stupid with a guy who was completely worthless." She slipped her heels off and sat down next to Lex. "Would you rather talk to your sister? I can call her and see where she is." That line alone spoke of how sorry Ariana felt for Alexandra. Since when did she have enough morals to put their sister relationship ahead of her own ego and desire to be better than Shay? She knew that the post had probably left Alexandra hating her sister but Ariana knew that if she needed someone at a time like this, no matter what she and Colette had gone through, she would turn to her sister. The fallout that the two girls had via text was unknown to Ariana, but she still. "That post... it was just a lie, Lex. You know how the media works. They'll twist anything to make a couple dollars, no matter who it hurts." Okay, the next thing was definitely her conscience speaking. "Tinashé's a good sister, she wouldn't do that to you, Alexa." Ariana didn't completely believe that herself, but she also wouldn't have imagined that she and Carson had been caught making out backstage earlier. She disliked Shay herself, but anyone who could put up with this Owen and Alexa on a normal day had to be a good enough sister.


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After Ariana interrupted what was beginning to be the best night of his life, Oliver had decided to test his luck and tried to find another girl who might have been drunk enough to be into him. In a club filled with gorgeous models with long, silky legs and guys with rock hard abs and designer clothes, Oliver had no chance. No matter how many drinks he put on Carson's tab, no one would give him more than a few looks after their glasses ran empty and a taller, better looking guy walked by.

The guilt he felt over the post he had been blackmailed into making, combined with a night filled with rejections left Oliver desperate to go home. He so wished that Jamie had showed up just so he would have a reason to leave early, or maybe in an even better case, not showed up with at all. After nearly twenty minutes of searching, texts from Colette and Christopher explained why he couldn't find a single one of his friends in the club. They had all left! It didn't really surprise him that he was left behind. Aside from Jamie, he wasn't exceptionally close with any of the others. Even when it came to Carson, Oliver knew that he was closer with Owen and Shay, and maybe even Colette, than he was with Oliver. It didn't really bother him, but being stranded in an unfamiliar club left him a little resentful without the knowledge of why everyone had left in such a hurry. Christopher claimed that "shit went down", but that didn't explain much. The text from Colette was even more unexpected. He didn't think she knew his name, let alone his phone number, but he could never be upset with a girl texting him. Especially not when it was a Rockefeller girl who was texting him with a motive other than ruining someone's life!

To: Chris
Okay I'm leaving now

To: Colette
Sure! I'll be home in 10 minutes!

Excited that Colette needed him for something, no matter what it was, Oliver had an extra skip in his step as he hailed a cab. This late in the night, there was little traffic on the way home and it did only take him ten minutes to return to Tinashé's house. He considered running up to his room and changing clothes, maybe spritzing on some cologne, but what if he missed her? What if she came in and decided she could get help from someone else? No, he would wait on the steps for her. Colette needed his help! He wasn't going to mess up that opportunity! So, unaware that Ariana and Alexandra had just ran up said steps in tears and that Owen was lurking further down the driveway with rage, he optimistically perched himself on the edge of one of the bottom steps and waited.

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Character Portrait: Tinashé Kachingwe Character Portrait: Carson Koch Character Portrait: Owen Collins Character Portrait: Colette Grace Rockefeller
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Tinashé really couldn't help herself but pout at Carson's continued persistence that the entire situation was his fault. Was it stupid for drunk him to have invited a probably equal Alexandra over? Yes, but did anyone ever really think things clearly when they were drunk? It also wasn't his fault that Owen went crazy. She had admitted to knowing about Lex and Carson (even though it didn't justify Owen's outburst in her mind). Owen made the choice to say what he did - to act like he had. He was a grown ass adult. He made his decisions and he chose to act foolishly, and not actually listen. Granted, she understood Owen's overprotectiveness. They were siblings after all. At the same time, there was only so much of his antics Shay could take before even she snapped at him. She couldn't even begin to fathom what he probably already said to Alexandra.

However, she couldn't focus on the girl she didn't want to consider a sister at the moment or Owen's fit earlier. Not when Carson was actually blushing and well...he was absolutely precious going on about his feelings. It was like one of those times she had once teased Rose for finding Nick really cute when they were on tour and trying to convince her friend to actually say what she felt. It didn't work, but she understood the feelings then. The warmth that apparently made its home on her cheeks to the point that her entire face felt hot, the pleasure that raced through her, and the nerves she had felt so many times throwing a bitch fit in her belly. Not even his claiming that he didn't want to ruin her familial relationships over them was enough to wipe away the wide grin that had formed on her face and despite herself, Shay couldn't help but giggle.

She had been afraid before that perhaps the crush was only on her side. The kiss earlier had been enough to confirm that it wasn't, but actually hearing that it had always been returned - that she had not been on the precipice of ruining their friendship all this time was comforting. She was still anxious and scared. What if it didn't work out? What if he realized she wasn't good enough? What if they both realize this was all a mistake and they made Owen even more mad than he already was? There were a lot of what-if scenarios going on in her head, but they weren't nearly powerful enough to stop Shay from releasing Carson's hand, taking his face between her hands, and kissing him deeply. Owen had been allowed to go after Ariana earlier. It probably wasn't fair to throw that in his face, but she was tired of thinking about his feelings in all of this. How he wouldn't approve. Or maybe how he would feel betrayed in some way. She was tired of thinking that she shouldn't try, that she should just go back to burying feelings she once thought weren't returned. Besides, she had told Owen that she was done pretending. Shouldn't this count as well?

Pulling away (and minutely thanking her heels for still allowing her to be at a good height without having to actually throw herself at him to even reach his face), Shay could only smile - the first genuine one before the catastrophe of a night they had came to a head - at Carson for a moment, breathing him in before saying, "But if I lose my so-called family because I want to be happy, then how real would they be as my family? Having them shouldn't have to come at a price, especially not after what Owen said and how Lex acted. If they really loved me, then there shouldn't be any conditions." She hummed thoughtfully as she wrapped her arms around his neck, lacing her fingers behind his head. "Besides, you can't get rid of me that easily. Who else is gonna remind you that you suck at bowling?" The last part was said with a cheeky chuckle, her mind unwilling to allow her to put aside her feelings for the sake of a sister who's made it clear that Shay was nothing to her and a brother she didn't want to think about anymore.


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After leaving the two lovebirds to do what they will, Colette had Richard speeding down the highway to get back to LA. She was not taking any chances with Owen trying to go to bed before she could say her piece to him and she definitely didn't want to miss getting Oliver to do some work for her. It was probably mean, her expectation that the latter do what she wanted when she rarely ever made it her mission to remember his name. However, she needed to get back at whoever came for her girl and helped make this night a living hell. And if using some college kid was going to get the job done, then so be it. Besides, it wasn't like Oliver had much to do, right? Classes weren't in session and he obviously did not have a girlfriend, so he should be more than willing to have Colette monopolize his time. All she would have to do is smile sweetly and continuously praise his skills, that should do the trick!

It took them, surprisingly, another twenty minutes to get to the large estate. That was with Richard taking back ways and various shortcuts Colette probably would have never wanted to venture through if she wasn't in a rush. However, his diligence was appreciated and as they drove up the long driveway, she offered him a small smile from the back. "I have to say, Roger. I'm thoroughly impressed." Richard, who knew she purposefully didn't say his name correctly this time around, smiled briefly, a quick flash of congeniality and maybe even affection for the smart-mouthed and expressive Rockefeller sibling. "Any time, Miss Rockefeller." Satisfied, Colette relaxed back against the comfortable seats before she jolted forward, still seeing Shay's vehicle in the driveway. That was uncommon. Everyone's cars were typically put away, especially if the others had already been at the house for some time. "Stop here, thank you." Richard paused immediately and Colette climbed out, shutting the door behind her. She didn't wait for Richard to turn the vehicle around and head back on the path to return to the Rockefeller home. Instead, she traipsed over to the large black truck, peering onto the driver's side to see...Owen still there?

"Good, you haven't gone inside yet," she began smartly, peering at him through the drawn down window. That was how Shay typically drove the truck. With the windows down and no one usually bothered that. "Just the right environment for me and you to have words. What the hell was all of that?" Unlike Ariana, who did not snap or yell most of the times, Colette had no such filter. She didn't feel the need to hide her emotions. If she was angry, then she was damn well angry and someone was going to know it. And Owen...Owen was the only one who made her this upset and he was going to hear her mouth, whether he wanted to or not.

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Character Portrait: Alexandra Collins Character Portrait: Ariana Rockefeller Character Portrait: Owen Collins Character Portrait: Colette Grace Rockefeller
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Neither of the girls spoke as they got out of the car, and Owen appreciated that. He didn't want to snap at them any further. It wasn't who he was. Doing it with Lex on a normal day, over something as trivial as her outfit being too revealing or her attitude being poor was nothing compared to what tonight had entailed. He had been pushed to his limit, and he snapped. Maybe he had snapped on the wrong people. He didn't need to shove Alexandra into Ariana and Colette or guilt Ariana into coming back to the house and ruining her night. It was possible that he maybe could have sugarcoated what he had said to Tinashé. Still reeling from the night and especially the state he had been in when speaking with her, he couldn't even remember what had exactly been said. However, he knew that she had known about Lex and Carson for some time and didn't tell him, and that reminder alone justified whatever it was that he had said.

Anger had been the dominant emotion all night, but as he shut his eyes and rested his head back against the headrest, attempting to cool down, the betrayal set in. Carson had been his best friend forever. Literally. For as long as Owen knew how to socialize, it was Carson who he considered his favorite friend. They were like brothers, and maybe it was wrong to expect Shay to look at him like a brother too, but Lex? Alexandra had known Carson for her entire life and just as she was his little sister, there was no reason that Carson should have ever seen her as anything more than that either! Five years was a big difference when she was barely legal, and the thought of them together in bed was repulsive. The mere thought of it made his stomach churn. Who does that? Who does that with someone's little sister? It was something that he couldn't wrap his head around, especially when that someone was the person he had trusted more than anyone. What Shay had done was almost as bad as that, too. The fact that she his the secret from him made him feel like she was an accessory to the crime, like she supported it. And honestly, the way that her arms had been wrapped around Carson's neck made it hard for him to believe any other scenario. She knew of the sickening act, yet still found it appropriate to shove her tongue down his throat. She was just as bad.

He didn't even know what to think about Alexandra and it was her that kept him seated in the car for long enough for Colette to show up. He knew that even if he spent hours out there, his anger would return in full force the second he laid his eyes upon his little sister. Owen wasn't an abusive person or even a violent one. His outburst earlier had been so out of character that looking down at his torn and swollen knuckles startled even him, but why did she have to be so stupid? He didn't think that he would be able to talk to her without grabbing her shoulders and trying to shake some sense in her. She was never going to learn and apparently, even being as overprotective as everyone claimed Owen was, didn't keep her from being so shameful. He knew that even if she let him do all of the talking, at this point, all it would take was one smug look for him to want to smack it right off her face. If Shay thought she was done with her, there was no words for what Owen was feeling.

He had received Colette's text a little while ago so he was expecting her to show up at some point, but he really didn't want to talk. She was one of the few people left that he hadn't snapped at (if his earlier text wasn't being counted), and he didn't want to snap at her. Still, the way she yelled at him through the open window was already testing his patience. He had cooled down over the past few minutes, but not enough for him to return to his normal self. "I'm really not in the mood, Colette." He knew that wasn't going to be enough for her to leave him alone. She was too strong willed to do anything other than what she wanted to do, and after a sigh, he knew that one way or another, she was going to get an explanation out of him. He grabbed his phone from the car's cup holder and stuffed it into his pocket before gently pushing the door open, careful not to hit her, and stepping out. "Besides, shouldn't you be hanging out with Mr. and Mrs. Koch? Planning their wedding or something?" There was no way to hide how bitter he was feeling, and he could feel his blood beginning to boil again. He just couldn't get over the wrongs that he felt the two of them had done to him. "There's nothing to even explain, Colette. You don't have a sister like Lex who's going to be in and out of rehab for the rest of her life, so you don't know what it's like to have to spend all of your energy trying to steer her away from trouble. And that's why you wouldn't understand what it's like to have your best fucking friend do something so... unthinkable to her! Of all people, Carson..." he shook his head, knowing that there was no way to rationalize what Carson had done, even if he wanted to. "I know you're going to take Shay's side and that's fine, I get you're her best friend, but what she did was so fucked up too... and then to go and kiss him while she knew exactly what he had done to our sister... it's just unbelievable... you wouldn't understand it." He probably wasn't giving her enough credit. She had her own family issues with Christopher and Ariana. She had to know how dealing with unruly siblings felt, at least to some extent, but there was a part of Owen that didn't want anyone else to understand, because as long as no one else could put themselves in his shoes, his response couldn't be judged. And because the continuous glances at his knuckles were already making him judge himself for it, he didn't want anyone else's disgrace either.

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Character Portrait: Owen Collins Character Portrait: Colette Grace Rockefeller
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Colette rolled her eyes at Owen saying that he was not in the mood. She was not here for his being in the mood. She was not here for his comfort. Gorgeous or not, he had still been an ass tonight and maybe Ariana would speak calmly or rationally with him, and Carson might have let Owen get his punches in or whatever he thought he did, but that wasn't who Colette was. If Owen wanted to be on that level of angry or frustrated, then she could surely meet him there. It was not a problem. Ariana didn't call her the overemotional twin for nothing, after all.

In the process of hearing Owen, Colette had several scenarios going on in her head. She could slap him. She was not the violent one; she typically would leave that to the abrasive and temperamental Shay. She could simply walk away. Obviously, he didn't seem to want to be receptive to anything tonight, especially given the bitterness he regarded his sister and best friend with. She was also tired, in need of a margarita, and long, hot soak. She could even just rant and yell until she was satisfied, and she was more than willing to interrupt him to do so until he reiterated that she wouldn't understand his position. That was when she felt...well, almost insulted. Not because she truly did, but because without meaning to, Owen's voice held the same condescending voice that Ariana's did every single day of her existence. And it struck hard.

"You know what?" She asked sharply, not really wanting an answer but wanting him to hear how the words cut through the crisp air of the night. "You're right. I don't understand. I don't understand having some reckless sister hell-bent on ruining your family image. I have no idea what it feels like having a sister who disappoints me. I have absolutely no idea how much that must frustrate you. Want to know why? Because if we leave it up to your girlfriend, I would be that sister and we're just spoiled, and inconsiderate bitches to you, huh, Owen?"

It was probably unfair for her to have that moment where she took out her frustrations on Owen when they were more geared to Ariana, but he had brought it upon himself and the hurt was too visible on her face for Colette to even hide at that point. However, she didn't try to keep the problems off of herself. She could spill things she didn't want to talk about with Owen, not with Ariana somewhere in the house and possibly looking out through some window. Instead, she shifted gears. She was out here for Shay. Carson too, because he was her friend and he was one of the few people who could pull a genuine smile to her face, but she was mostly here for Shay. Because she had hated the defeated look on her best friend's face. "And what I do understand is you being upset about what happened. I called Carson stupid for having slept with Alexandra. Not to mention that he didn't do anything than didn't constitute the both of them being responsible for. Shay was angry with him, which was why she had left the dinner yesterday because she didn't want to make any more of a scene than she already had. And I get you being upset. She knew you would be angry and she wanted to tell you, but she was terrified. She wanted the entire story - hell, we all want the entire story because Carson doesn't even remember letting Alexa in his apartment or even telling her she could come over in the first place. And that may not mean anything to you, but you've got it in your head that he was never your best friend and that mistakes can't happen. And if that's the case - if that's really how you feel - then maybe the problem isn't just him. Maybe you were never his best friend in the first place."

Colette didn't give him time to interject, she just kept right along. She had not even realized she had even moved until she was standing directly in front of Owen, not caring about space but getting all of her words out. "More than that, you slut-shamed my girl...your sister. The same girl who is either envied in the media for being so comfortable and in tune with her sensuality, or being called a slut on a regular basis. And you, the one person she counts on to see past that, did what every other media outlet has done in the last few years since she was eighteen. And for what? Because she kissed Carson?." Colette didn't mention that she helped it along, that she influenced Carson to go backstage with Shay. She was passionate about this, but she wasn't passionate enough to get cursed out because Owen wanted to claim that she assisted in ruining his family. "Because she finally did something about feelings she's had for...God, she's had a crush on him for the longest, Owen. She has liked him, and I mean really liked him, for so long and you have no idea how much she held back because she didn't want to disappoint you." Colette shook her head, disappointment shining in her eyes because she really did expect Owen to be better than this. She probably wasn't giving her sister enough credit and purposefully ignored her phone at the moment, as if she could sense her twin trying to contact her. But she could definitely see Ariana having said half of what Owen said to Shay. She didn't even want to think about how he acted with Alexandra when Shay wasn't there to defend her. "And then you shamed her for it when all she wanted to do was actually be happy for once. Possibly be in a stable relationship, slow down on all the partying. Actually be an inkling of the sister you could be proud of. If you don't see that you fucked up tonight, I have no idea how you think you're going to have sisters by the end of the summer, let alone by tomorrow."

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Ariana Rockefeller Character Portrait: Owen Collins Character Portrait: Colette Grace Rockefeller
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Owen was not in the mood to deal with Colette to begin with, and when she turned what he had said into him degrading her, he didn't want to deal with her even more. Colette didn't equate to Alexandra's level of recklessness in any sense of the word! Sure, he didn't know what went on in the Rockefeller house, and yeah, it was quite possible that Colette was as reckless as Alexandra years ago, but now? Now, Colette was a successful designer living on her own in New York. She got her shit together and was going to make a life for herself. Ariana could complain about Colette's drinking habits and career path all she wanted, but she had it good compared to him. He didn't bother to try to get a word in after that, because the sisters' issues were something that he was not getting involved with. Clearly, he had enough drama in his own family to interject in anyone else's.

As she continued on, however, he did want to interrupt her. She didn't give him a chance to, but by no means did he agree with what she was saying. She "called Carson stupid for having slept with Alexandra". Well, thanks Colette! You solved the problem. Calling him stupid must have really hurt him, right? I'm sure he's never going to take his best friend's kid sister's virginity again! Shay was "terrified"? Of what? If she was so terrified of his reaction, she had to assume that Owen was going to be pissed off and for good reason. And what the hell was this about "the entire story"?! What more did they need to know? Even if Alexandra had willingly played some role in all of this, Carson was five years older than her, far more experienced, and his best friend! Alexandra was going to wish she was never born when he was finished with her, but Carson was the instigator in all of this and Owen wasn't going to believe anything different. There was no reason to believe anything different, when he saw with his own eyes that he was the one forcing the kiss on Shay. To top off the first half of her rant, she had the audacity to claim that he was the bad friend to Carson! That he was never his best friend in the first place! Is she out of her fucking mind?!

Owen considered walking away right then, but Colette was stepping closer to him as her words built up emotion and he had no choice but to let her go on. By the time she finished, calling Owen a bad brother for "slut-shaming" Tinashé, claiming that she had feelings for Carson for the longest time, and saying that he fucked up tonight, he was back on edge. His fists were clenched again. He would never even dream of hitting Colette, put knocking out one of Shay's truck windows didn't seem like a bad idea. He tried to calm himself down, he really did, because he didn't want to snap on Colette. But he couldn't control himself. Was she really that blind to think that he, of all people, was the bad brother and friend in this situation? He did slut-shame Shay and maybe he would feel sorry for that later, but now, he felt like everything he said to her and everything he did to Carson was well-deserved.

"You know what, Colette? Why don't you go fuck Carson, too? If you really think that I'm the bad friend in all of this, you're out of your mind. You're really out of your mind. I must be the only sane person in this house. Carson fucked my little sister, and then I catch him backstage trying to fuck my other sister. And I'm the bad friend? I'm the bad friend because apparently, doing something as messed up as that should just be brushed off as a mistake! I get that you and Ari have issues and maybe you know what I deal with with Lex, but if I can guarantee you that you don't know what it feels like to know that a guy who's basically your brother fucked your little sister. If Shay had feelings for Carson, she should have told me. I would have been pissed, yeah, I'm not going to try to deny that, but now, I'm the bad brother again? I'm the bad brother for seeing this guy who I just found out did that to Alexandra all over my other sister, and I'm the bad brother for assuming that Carson's playing her just like he did to Lex? Maybe I shouldn't have said what I said in that way, but if she was a true sister, she wouldn't have kept what she did from me. But I guess that's something she and Carson share. They're both shady liars and you know what, they have my blessing, Colette." He dramatically threw his hands up in the air defeat. "I said it once and I'll say it again, they should run off to Vegas and get married, and then we can organize a joint baby shower so Carson can celebrate his two kids at once!" Owen turned to leave, knowing that if he engaged any further, he was going to dig himself in deeper. He was amped up enough to not care right now, but he knew the words coming from his mouth were volatile and so... not him. Especially not the "him" he liked to be in front of Colette. He was only a few steps away from her when the front door opened. Owen expected it to be one of the staff members coming out to try to move the car again or see what the commotion was about, but it was Ariana. Dealing with one irate twin had allowed him to forget about the attitude Ariana had given him in the car.

"We can go back to Huntington now." he glanced in her direction, desperately trying to calm his tone down. He wasn't sure if it worked, so he opted to at least decrease the volume of his next statement. "I'll get the car."

"Huntington? Owen, it's past midnight. I'm not driving back to Huntington tonight. Not with the way you were driving earlier, and not with your heartbroken little sister upstairs." Alexandra hadn't seemed heartbroken. She was emotionless, if anything, but that wasn't the point. Who did Owen think he was to tell her that now, he was just suddenly ready to go back to her house and expect her to go. He didn't really think that he could just cause problems with both of his sisters and Carson, and by the look on Colette's face, her as well, and expect to just run off without facing the aftermath, did he? Ariana wasn't going to allow that, or at least go along with it. She could be ruthless herself, but what had happened tonight was beyond even her doings.

"I don't care how late it is, I'm not staying here." He was getting frustrated... if that was even possible with the point he was already at. Poor Alexandra, heartbroken because she couldn't keep her legs closed. He had no sympathy for that. He took a few steps away from the girls, headed back down the driveway. Shay's car was the only one out, but he didn't plan on coming back to the house anytime soon and knew that it would be safer to take his own car.

Maybe Owen had been successful in pulling this attitude with his sisters and Carson, but Ariana was a Rockefeller and like Colette, she was not going to stand for this. Granted, she was normally able to keep her cool better than her sister and at Owen's response, she only motioned him farther down the driveway with her hand. "Well, I know there's a nice little hotel just down the road from our place in Huntington. Hopefully they have a vacant room for you." It was icy and she knew it was only going to piss him off further, but he had no right to be acting this way. She could sympathize with his feelings of anger towards Carson and Alexandra, but it didn't justify the violent and aggressive attitude that he had shown Carson and was clearly close to showing the rest of them. She was almost glad when he huffed off and left without uttering another request for her to join him. Hopefully, him spending the night elsewhere would allow for things to calm down. When he was out of sight, she glanced over at her twin who was easily read as being angry or upset, maybe a mix of both. "I'm guessing that you know more about all of this than I do. Care to explain?" Her blood pressure was probably pounding just as much as her head was at this point, but she needed some insight in all of this. Something more than what she had gotten out of the enraged Owen and the shaken Alexandra. Colette was sure to know something more.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Tinashé Kachingwe Character Portrait: Alexandra Collins Character Portrait: Ariana Rockefeller Character Portrait: Carson Koch Character Portrait: Owen Collins Character Portrait: Christopher Rockefeller
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Friday, July 3rd | 10:00 A.M. | California



"So, what did he say?" Colette inquired after finishing up the piece of cream cheese-slathered bagel she had accepted as a part of her morning meal. Her phone, just like Tinashé's, was on speaker setting so that they both could move seamlessly. Colette sat at the same kitchen table they had already congregated at yesterday, back when things were as simple as Shay not liking Ariana and not wanting to pretend to like her for the sake of brothers whose names will not be mentioned. Colette still felt the sting of Owen's outburst last night and while she had been annoyed with the prospects of telling Ariana all that she knew, at the time, it had felt good to unleash some of the frustration on someone. And for once, it felt like her sister would actually listen to her. Even if it wasn't a situation that had as much to do with them.

"He said that we all handled the situation wrong," Shay explained as she whisked the contents of the bowl swiftly. She had woken up at around eight, feeling not well-rested but not exactly tired either. She could have easily gone back to bed, snuggled up to a sleeping Carson but compulsivity forced her to turn her phone back on only to see various texts from interviewers, her manager, a few friends who did not know her and Carson were together, and Pierce. The last one had her scrambling out of bed as quietly as she could to call him back. The conversation lasted thirty minutes, what with Shay's hesitations, but Pierce wasn't going to be sated until he knew everything that she did. He had been told the rumors of her dating Carson, tried calling her the first time and received no answer, called Owen who also did not answer, and had decided to try her again. He originally thought Owen was just upset about that and told her to let it pass, but Shay's reluctance led to his questionings and then the truth coming out. The silence had been deafening, but she was able to walk away from it knowing that at least Pierce didn't hate her. He was disappointed in all of them, particularly Carson and Alexandra, but they all played a role in how it came out.

"He said that he's not sure if he wants to kick Carson out of the house like Owen, but he also doesn't want there to be any more fights either," she admitted, checking the skillet she had laid out to see if the butter had melted. Carson actually did live in a bachelor's pad and there were more frozen products than actual food items. Luckily, she had scrounged up enough to make pancakes and put grocery shopping on the list of things he needed taken care of. "Has he told his psycho son that?" Colette snapped and set down her strawberry mimosa a bit harder than she expected after taking a demure sip. Unlike what Owen thought, she did understood why he was angry. At the same time, he was being overdramatic and that said something when the definition of overdramatic called someone on it. Shay chuckled and poured a decent amount of batter into the skillet before carefully setting the bowl down so that she could focus on the cooking pancake. "What's wrong, Bitchlette? I'd think you love a more passionate side of him." If looks could kill and Colette could actually see Tinashé, the singer would probably be sprawled out on the kitchen floor. "You just better be lucky that I can't stab you through this phone with my fork," the designer growled and Shay could only laugh, preparing herself to flip the pancake since she could see it browning along the edges.

After the talk with Pierce and smaller one with Aimee, who Shay could feel preening over the phone at the idea of Shay and Carson (she apparently saw that coming!), Shay was surprised to see a text from one of her drivers. After Colette had dished everything to Ariana, the sisters went their separate ways with Ariana reminding her that alcoholism was never attractive. Colette couldn't even offer her a hint of a witty retort in pursuit of a Sangria and the hot bath she had nearly fallen asleep in. Once morning came, however, she could not remain in the dark embrace of unconsciousness for she had never been really tired. Instead, she rifled through Tinashé's closet, appalled at the selection despite recalling placing a few of the items in there. She made a mental note to send Shay more clothes before deciding on a decent enough outfit to send off. The driver thought it would be best to have someone else drive Shay's clothes while he brought her truck, just in case she decided to drive home. He rode back with the other individual. Still choosing not to wake Carson up considering the fact that it wasn't even passed nine in the morning yet, Shay hopped into the shower, minutely grateful for Colette knowing to pack her toiletries. Dressed and pretty much make-up-less, her stomach grumbled with a hunger for food.

"So, are you still in hiding or are you coming home, missy?" Colette inquired, skewering a piece of pineapple on her fork. She inspected it beneath the warm rays from the sun that peeked through the large windows before plucking it off the utensil and into her mouth. Shay pulled the first pancake off of the skillet to a separate plate and set to making the second while answering, "I'll be over soon." Colette beamed. "Good. You owe me a spa slash pool day, and we need to make these fourth of July plans before tomorrow," she said, playing with a small cube from her assorted fruits bowl. "We all need some kind of distraction after last night's disaster." Shay hummed in agreement. "We'll figure something out." She flipped the pancake, smiling at the golden shade it held. "Good. Hurry back home with your boy toy so we can knock his socks off with this bikini I picked for you." Shay pretended to make a disgusted face, though she was only jesting. "Uh, bossy much?" Colette only grinned and replied, "Wouldn't love me if I wasn't! Smooches!" Shay wrinkled her nose on a laugh before making a loud smacking noise with her lips as if she kissed Colette through the phone. A second later, the conversation was over and she was fully concentrating on making breakfast.

Colette, meanwhile, decided to text both Alexandra and Oliver. Walking into the mansion last night to see Oliver while still with Ariana did not make for an environment where she could grill Oliver for information. Plus, her back-and-forth with Owen and having to tell Ariana everything left her not in the mood to play nice, which was how Shay wanted her to interact with the college kid, so she had left it alone. She had also left Lex alone, partly because of the text she had belatedly seen from Ariana and also because of how Lex treated Shay. Now, however, it was the perfect time to talk to both before the evil twin and his Royal Douchebag returned. She also wanted to know where her brother was.

To: Chris
Catch any STDs while u were out?

To: Alexa
Come eat breakfast w/ me. Owen and Shay aren't here.

To: Oliver
Evrything was so hectic last nite and I didn't want 2 b mean 2 u. Can we still talk?

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Tinashé Kachingwe Character Portrait: Alexandra Collins Character Portrait: Carson Koch Character Portrait: Owen Collins Character Portrait: Christopher Rockefeller Character Portrait: Colette Grace Rockefeller
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Shay's body tensed up momentarily at the sound of Carson's voice, not out of anxiety or fear, but the awareness that there was another presence near her. Only a moment later, she tossed him a grin over her shoulder before reverting her attention back to the stove. One plate, a short stack of pancakes, was already finished and she was working on the last pancake for the second stack. Which was obviously hers since Carson nabbed the one on the counter top. "Well, when your step dad calls you twice, it's kinda hard to fall back asleep. And no, Colette sent one of the staff here with some stuff," she replied wistfully, flipping the pancake in the skillet before chancing a real look at Carson.

He still looked tired, she noted even after giving him a small smile at the approval of her food. Yesterday's memory still lingered in the air all around them, even if she had told herself that she had scrubbed away the hurt and grime of her brother's anger away in the shower. However, it still remained and even more-so, it was still going to be apparent than Owen hated her and Carson. He would probably be even more pissed when he found out that they were...that they were whatever they called themselves. Which was something she honestly wanted - no, needed - to know. "CJ..." For a second, the words didn't come out and Shay's gaze returned to her cooking pancake. Giving herself a little time, she scooped it out of the skillet and onto her plate before sliding the still heated pan into the sink of warm soapy water. She ignored the hiss of hot metal touching liquid in favor of turning fully to the now seated Carson.

She had kissed him last night as a means for suggesting that she was with him. The real question, though, was if he was with her. After all of this, knowing that there would be drama with Owen from here on, she didn't doubt that Carson would want to just call it quits and run. Hell, she wouldn't be surprised if everything that happened alerted him to the fact that maybe he didn't really have real feelings. Maybe it was just lust and maybe Shay was overthinking everything too, she didn't know. But she didn't want to keep it to herself either. So, putting on her big girl pants, she stepped close to him until she had slid between his legs, the height he was currently at allowing her to do such. Biting her lower lip, she didn't look up at him for a few seconds before finally dragging her eyes to his. Finally, words came out and at some point she sped up, but all she could care about was that they were said and that hopefully, she wouldn't get the answer she anticipated. "Look, I know a lot happened yesterday, and I know things happen in the heat of the moment and if you didn't mean them, that's fine, I won't fault you. I just...what are we? Because if we're anything, it's gonna be bad and if you don't want this, then..."


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To: Chris
Answer ur phone

To: Chris
I'm gonna keep this up until u answer me

To: Chris
WAKE UP!!!

Colette might have actually begun pestering her brother purposefully, especially if he had went out with whomever he had managed to bag last night. She was still a bit upset with him for choosing a lay over his best friend. Chris wasn't some overly-emotional or sentimental guy, but she didn't expect him to be so heartless. Shay had literally been crying in his arms - the same girl who hated when she cried, in any situation. So, it spelled bad and the fact that he ignored that in favor of getting fucked by some random little drunk bimbo annoyed her, and so Colette felt justified in getting on her brother's nerves. Still smirking at her phone and awaiting a response from either of her original two contacts, her gaze fell on the last notification of a message exchange between herself and Owen. Knowing Shay, she was not going to tell her step-brother that Pierce was looking for him and she didn't blame her. She also didn't doubt that Owen would be trying to avoid his father at the moment. At the same time, and blame it on her for caring a bit more than she should, she couldn't help but contact the idiot, though she left the message as detached of her usual quips as she could.

To: Owen
Rise and shine, ur Dad called. Perhaps u should call him back, no?

Setting her phone down, Colette turned to smile at a kitchen staff member who refilled her strawberry mimosa, smiling appreciatively. She honestly did not anticipate Alexandra coming down for breakfast with her, but the invitation had been extended and she would have liked at least a response. She also would have preferred Oliver's presence by now, but she was trying to be a bit patient. In her musings, she almost did not notice Alexa coming into the kitchen until she head the eighteen year old ask about the others in the house. Colette primly uncrossed and crossed her legs, taking her glass in her hand as she smiled at the youngest Collins member. Last night, Colette might have actually snapped at Lex. She might have called her out on being so damn selfish and for putting her sister in such a horrible position when it was really her own fault. However, after all of that stress, all she could do at the moment was play it sweet. It wouldn't be the first time she had acted. "Just you and me, and Ari and Oliver. Your brother left last night, good riddance." Colette said the last part with a larger drink of her mimosa and set it back down.

She raised an eyebrow at Alexandra's ignoring whomever she was calling her, perhaps Pierce or Aimee? Those would be two people who would call only to warrant such a reaction. Shay wasn't calling Alexandra any time soon and Owen wouldn't call. He would probably snatch her up like he did last night. Her eyebrow probably twitched a bit at the sound of Lex insulting Shay, but Colette took a page out of Ariana's book and allowed her gaze to rove over the brunette before remarking, "My slut of a best friend bought that bikini. I remember because I helped her pick it out." It was more on a thoughtful note than anything else, but also as a reminder that Lex shouldn't be turning on the only person in the house who played as her ally and, playing with the pieces of fruit on her saucer, Colette added frostily, "We're also not talking about my friend if you can't delete the insults from your vocabulary. The last thing you two need to be are one another's enemies when your brother is acting crazy." With that part said, Colette's gaze returned to Alexa's. "So, how are you feeling? Now that everything's out in the open? Last night was...something."

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Tinashé Kachingwe Character Portrait: Alexandra Collins Character Portrait: Ariana Rockefeller Character Portrait: Owen Collins Character Portrait: Colette Grace Rockefeller
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Owen was well aware of his father trying to contact him, so Colette's text didn't surprise him. He didn't answer her right away for a multitude of reasons. For one, he was already awake and had been for two hours. He had literally watched his phone vibrate against the nightstand in his hotel bedroom for the six attempts his father tried to reach him. He didn't want to speak to his father right now, but not because he felt like he had to explain or apologize for his behavior last night. If anything, he felt like Pierce should be thanking him for stepping up while he was gone. Owen was still set in the mind frame that it had been necessary for him to punch Carson. Not only out of anger and his own personal feelings of betrayal, but to preserve their family's dignity... to make an example of Carson, that guys couldn't go around messing with his sisters with no repercussions.

He let each of the calls go to voicemail because Owen felt guilty for letting it all happen in the first place. The violence wouldn't have been needed if he had kept a closer eye on Alexandra and if he had kept her away from their mother more. So, yeah, though Owen couldn't verbally admit it last night to Colette, he knew that Alexandra was in the wrong in this whole thing too. He didn't know how their one night stand had went down and at this point didn't think he could stomach knowing, but he knew that she had some involvement in it. Carson was no longer his friend, but it wasn't like he was some monster who would have sexually assaulted Lex. Plus, the way that Alexandra had been so brazen in flirting with Carson right before everything went down basically spelled out that she was more than willing to go for round two with him. And then there was Shay. He was sure that now, by the time that Colette knew that Pierce was trying to contact him, his father had reached Tinashé. Shay had undoubtedly given her sob story recollection of the events... how Owen was standing in the way of her undeniable love for Carson for the past thirteen years, how he had interrupted them making out and like savage, slammed his fist into Carson's head, and more than anything, how mean he had been to her. Owen did go overboard with his comments to Shay and he definitely didn't mean the words now with a clear morning mind as much as he had last night, but if anyone was out of line, it was still her.


After room service brought a BLT breakfast sandwich to his room, he decided to call his father back. His call was answered on the first ring which wasn't shocking considering how many times Pierce had tried contacting him in the last couple of hours.

"Owen?"

"Hey, Dad."

"I called you fifty times. Where the hell have you been?" Pierce was audibly angry and it caught Owen off guard. He and his father were almost always on the same team. The only time that they weren't was when it came to Shay, really. Owen had always felt like his father was soft on his stepdaughter in an attempt to get her to like him. It probably worked, at least compared to his relationship with his biological daughter.

"It's only ten o'clock. I was asleep." Owen had furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at his father's attitude but tried to play it off as him just being concerned. Owen, in his "I'm always right" frame of mind, didn't think his father could actually be that pissed at him.

"Yeah? Asleep where? Nkruma said neither you nor Shay stayed at the house last night." Owen had never dealt with his father's anger directed at him like this. Even though his father wasn't yelling and there were thousands of miles between them, he could imagine the veins in his father's forehead bulging and his fists clenching in frustration just as Owen's did. He knew this tone very well, though it was because it was always directed at Alexandra with Owen agreeing with whatever Pierce was getting worked up over. "What the hell's wrong with you, Owen? Talking to your sister like that?! Punching Carson in the goddamned face? And in a club, of all places! While you're getting your beauty sleep, I'm sure the media's over there having a field day with all of this. Did--"

"He slept with Alexandra and Shay knew about it, Dad! She knew about it all along and I don't know about you, but she sure as hell didn't tell me. And now you're going to get mad at me for doing something about it? I didn't do anything wrong." Owen really, really tried to keep himself calm. His blood pressure was probably just getting back to a normal level after last night's affairs, and one night of that sort of anger still left him feeling drained. Regardless, he inadvertently slammed his glass of orange juice onto the table at that last sentence, causing its contents to splash onto the wood surface. He was too involved in the conversation now to even care, though.

"I'm not mad at you for doing something about it. I'm mad at what you did about it. I don't even want to talk about Carson and Alexandra right now because that's a whole other story, but go ahead, give me your side of the story about what happened between you and Tinashé."

That was what he was calling about? Out of everything that had come to light last night, his verbal argument with Shay was what had him pissed at him? It took a lot of self control for Owen to not snap then and there. "I'm sure whatever she told you was true, but you don't understand--" what I walked in on.

Pierce didn't want to hear it. Owen had confirmed that he had berated Shay in front of at least Carson, and that was enough for his point to be made, apparently. "No, there's nothing to understand. Family comes first, always. I want both of you back home and on good terms by the end of the night." It was Pierce's way of telling his horribly stubborn son to suck it up, toss his pride and apologize. Pierce hung up before Owen could get another word in, and rather than chuck his phone at the wall like he wanted to do, he decided to reply to Colette. He knew that he owed her an apology, despite being less certain about owing his sister one. He also sent a text to Ariana, who had surprisingly been absent from his thoughts all morning, and then reluctantly to Alexandra and Shay, too. After sending them, he headed out to his car. The night's stay was already charged to his card and now that it was made clear that he couldn't stay away from his problems any longer, he decided to start the forty-five minute drive back home

To: Colette
Yeah thanks I spoke to him. Look I'm sorry about last night. I shouldn't have snapped on u like that. Ik u and Shay are close and whatever and you probably have to take her side but just bc I was mad at her didn't mean it was right for me to turn that anger on u. So I'm sorry and want to just put this behind us if that's ok.

To: Ariana
I'm sry for everything last night. I never get pissed like that but unless you already heard the whole story, I'll explain it when I get home and make it up to you. I just wasn't thinking straight and didn't mean for it to affect you and your night. Im omw back to Beverly Hills to deal with all of this so we can talk then but I still wanna stay at your beach house if you're still up for that?

To: Shay
My dad wants me to talk to you so do you want to talk or no

To: Alexandra
You better be home when I get there in an hour

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Alexandra Collins Character Portrait: Owen Collins Character Portrait: Colette Grace Rockefeller
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Colette's first response to her question was enough to cause Alexandra to look up from her cereal with a quirked eyebrow. She loved gossip, especially when it wasn't about her, and some sister drama not related to her and Shay was definitely going to brighten her sour mood. Colette tried to play it off and turn the conversation back to Shay and Carson but that was irrelevant for the time being. Who did Ariana sleep with, knowing that Colette liked him? At first, Alexandra assumed that it must have been some boy they went to high school with. Through hearing all of the stories of how mean Ariana was to Shay during the few years they went to school together, she also became fully aware of how Ariana was the queen bee. It didn't surprise Lex that boys were all over her and that if she wanted to, she could pull a googly eyed boy out from right under her own sister. Not only did Ariana probably have the power to do something like that back then, but apparently, she also had a cold enough heart to do so. That was if Shay's testament to her bullying skills still held any weight, which Alexandra decided they did, even if she hated her sister at the moment.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You just said that you and Ariana have your own Carson." She let her spoon rest on the edge of the bowl as her lips curled into a smirk. Now she was intrigued and awake. "Who was it, and why in the world did she leave whoever it is and settle with my brother?" she continued, a look of disgusting on her face as the sentence closed. It didn't even cross her mind that said boy was her brother. She was mouthing off about Shay for liking the boy that she had slept with once and didn't have any real feelings for, and across from her sat Colette who secretly had real feelings for Owen, and yet managed to live in the same house as both her sister and him. Had she known that, she never would have criticized Colette's seemingly endless need for drinks again. "You can't just say something like that and not tell me. I'll ask Ari myself if I have to." Alexandra strongly doubted that the patron saint Ariana would admit to doing such a thing, but she hoped threatening Colette with it would get her talking. The excitement of the drama enhanced Alexandra's mood enough that she glanced down at the phone that's bright light indicated a text had come in. With her excitement overpowering her inhibitions, she was quick to shoot Owen back a sarcastic and mocking text.

To: Owen
I am home sweet home can't wait to see you <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 !!!!!

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Character Portrait: Alexandra Collins Character Portrait: Owen Collins Character Portrait: Oliver McKagan Character Portrait: Colette Grace Rockefeller
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Mentally, Colette winced. She knew Alexandra wasn't going to just let that comment slide and she cursed the same emotional side to her that Ariana would have critiqued her for. She put herself in this position with one of the last people she should have told this to, and if anything about Lex was true that Shay had told her of, it was Lex's reluctance to let things go. Colette made a sound of distress and pinched the bridge of her nose, frustrated and needing a shot of Patron. The eighteen year old looked too elated for her own good and the smirk on his face made Colette want to snatch it off. This was not what she intended upon inviting Alexa to have breakfast with her and Colette was very much beginning to regret her decision to be nice. Nice was not good. It led to her doing stupid things and now she was going to have to pay for them.

The second Alexa even mentioned talking to Ariana was when Colette clicked back into action. She would be damned. Oh, Lex had her all the way fucked up if she thought threatening Colette Grace Rockefeller was even remotely the right plan of action. More than that, considering going to Ariana - with telling Ariana that Colette had actually admitted to something like this - would not only warrant in Ariana lying as if she were doing something as simple as relaying the weather. No, it would warrant her sister coming after her and Colette may be the queen bee of New York, but she was not - in any way - sure if she could ever truly handle a war with Ariana. She barely survived disagreements with Ariana, and she only used that terminology because Ariana Rockefeller did not argue. There was no point - she always won.

"It was Owen," Colette hissed, managing to keep her voice low in case some random decided to listen in on their conversation. Luckily for the duo, they were alone in the dining area, the last waitress having gone off to do God knows what! Colette fixed Alexa with a glare. It was to warn her that Colette was in a precautious mood now that the cat was out of the bag, but also, it was a reminder on why she had left for New York and why she had been reluctant to stay in this house. "I told Ari, on a drunken whim, that I liked your brother and before I knew it, they weren't just fucking. They were dating." She paused for a moment, allowing herself a moment's reprieve because she actually said it out loud. It had been hard enough, back then, to stomach hearing the words coming from her mother's mouth - that the crush she had had for the longest while was currently shacked up with her twin sister, the only person other than her best friend who knew about said crush. It also said something that Colette explicitly used the same term that Lex had as she typically refrained from using such words. At the same time, at the moment, she could hardly care about keeping up a pristine air.

"There. I said it, and you will not repeat it," Colette declared levelly, voice still low. She ignored the light that flashed from her own phone in favor of maintaining her eye contact with the youngest Collins. "I am so serious right now, Alexandra Collins. If I found out that you even breathed this back to my sister or, God forbid, your brother...hell, anyone else, you won't have to worry about your parents sending you to another rehabilitation center." Colette slid to her feet abruptly, standing tall with the same menacing air she had seen Ariana exude one too many times. But her words were final and a fair warning when she said, "I'll show you who the real crazy bitch around here is." She didn't wait for a response from the eighteen year old. Instead, Colette surmised that breakfast was definitely over, grabbed her phone, and walked out as coolly as she could with her heart thumping loudly and shame heating her cheeks.

As always, her emotions had gotten the better of her and now, she had to wait and see if Alexa honestly was going to screw her over. Groaning, Colette ordered for a Sex on the Beach from the first servant she saw, hightailing it to Shay's room to pick out a bathing suit for the singer and then find one for herself in her own luggage. At first, though, she looked down at her phone. She had hoped it would be from Shay, possibly with her friend telling her she was on her way home. It wasn't. It was Owen. He wanted to put last night behind them and for a moment, Colette allowed herself to think back on the friendship they had before all of this. How this one text back then would have made her smile - and it did, just a little - and sure, she would have teasingly been upset with him, but all it would take was seeing his face and Colette would just go back to being his friend. But it wasn't like that anymore and, using his words against him, she had put that part of her life behind her. Even if it meant putting him behind her too. So, she opted in sending him a terse response, and also texting the other person she wanted to speak too. She needed a concrete distraction now.

To: Owen
Already done.

To: Oliver
Where r u?

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Character Portrait: Ariana Rockefeller Character Portrait: Owen Collins Character Portrait: Colette Grace Rockefeller
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"Someone doesn't look happy," Ariana purred as she approached Colette head-on in the hallway. Her sister's expressions were always so easy to read. It made it easy for Ariana to tell when she was upset or angry, and when she was most vulnerable. This morning, her voice was more playful than it was provocative, though. She doubted her sister would accept it, since bitter seemed to be an emotion Colette was wearing quite frequently this summer, but she couldn't claim that Ariana wasn't trying to be nice. She felt like she had been nice last night, at least. When Colette informed her of how Owen had snapped on her, it set something off in Ariana. She treated her twin worse than anyone else, but she wasn't going to stand for someone else treating her that way. It was that "nobody but me can bully her" mindset and though it wasn't the healthiest relationship, her bond with Colette was something that she knew was going to outlive her relationship with Owen. Her anger with him regarding that incident was enough to keep her from even opening the text she received from him as she interacted with Colette in front of Shay's door.

She knew that Tinashé hadn't come home last night and doubted she had returned this morning, but she wasn't going to test that prediction by fully following Colette into the girl's bedroom. Instead, she lingered in the doorway. "I told Mom that Christopher came home with us last night, so if she happens to call you, play along," she said. She didn't know why she felt the need to speak with Colette. She was never one for small talk, and especially not with Colette who she was known to belittle at every given opportunity. After last night, she couldn't get rid of the pang of guilt in her chest, though. She wasn't sure if it was still related to having Oliver post that picture of Shay and Carson. The fight between Carson and Owen would have happened anyway since it was Alexandra's confession that had spurred the violence, but her involvement obviously didn't help the situation. In fact, it had turned a private problem into a public one as the media were now obsessed with the possibility of a new Hollywood "it" couple. It didn't help Alexandra's dilemma either, since now she had reason to hate Shay. Normally, Ariana wouldn't have minded that. In fact, that had sort of been her intention behind the photo. She wanted everyone to turn against Shay so she would be hated for a valid reason, since her standing up to Ariana for the first time obviously wasn't sufficient. However, with how things played out, Ariana was ready to run away with her tail between her legs. She didn't want things to play out this badly, even if all of it wasn't her fault. Drama was good, but violence wasn't, and outbursts turned on her and her sister would not be accepted. That led Ariana to the guilt regarding Colette, too. She knew that whatever Owen had said to her must have stung ten times more considering the feelings towards Owen that Colette had drunkenly confessed to having.

Ariana Rockefeller wasn't the type of person to admit to her mistakes or apologize, so as she studied Colette, she hoped that her sister would give her some sign that she was okay and that they were okay. It was a shot in the dark considering that Ariana didn't deserve any bit of forgiveness from her sister, but she needed some sort of validation to clear her conscience. "I know that Oliver left a little while ago to go to a friend's house in Calabasas or something, but who else is here? Have you seen Lex this morning?"

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Tinashé Kachingwe Character Portrait: Alexandra Collins Character Portrait: Ariana Rockefeller Character Portrait: Carson Koch Character Portrait: Owen Collins Character Portrait: Christopher Rockefeller
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Colette was honestly beginning to believe that the world was conspiring against her. No sooner had she arrived in the hallway leading to Tinashé's room, Ariana was there and good God, that was not fair. Not fair at all and Colette cursed every deity that seemed to have an issue with her. Glowering at the tone of her sister's voice, Colette chose not to comment on Ariana's initial commentary and walked to Shay's door. She wasn't even sure why Ariana was this close to Shay's room anyway. Wasn't she staying in Owen's room or something like that? The only rooms close enough to Shay, since her and Owen were on opposite sides, were Alexa's and the two spare bedrooms that she and possibly Rose stayed at. There was another, one that Carson and Shay had stayed at on the first night, but Colette didn't honestly care. She just honestly didn't want Ariana to be near her at the moment. She had fucked up and the last person that needed to know that was the brunette standing closest to her.

However, rushing into the room and ignoring Ariana would have been far too conspicuous and before she knew it, her twin would have barged into Shay's room, regardless of the singer being inside or not being inside. So, when Colette got to the door and opened it, she turned around, hoping to fix Ariana with a look that spelled that she didn't really care to be in Ari's presence, much like her typical expressions when it came to her sister. "Yeah, sure thing." It was in response to playing along to Ariana's lie about Chris. To be completely honest, she didn't know where Chris was and, because she was still upset with him for wanting to bang Polly Pocket instead of supporting his best friend, she could care less. She only hoped he wasn't laden with STI's their family money would have to pay to get taken care of.

Colette was also a bit curious as to why Ariana was still there. The routine typically consisted of Ariana acknowledging Colette's existence, perhaps making a remark about her outfit which would prompt Colette to grit her teeth in supplying a thanks, making some comment about borrowing another item of clothing or about Colette's countenance, a small use of her most hated nicknames, and then Ariana's departure and Colette's lingering bitterness because in all of that she probably could have snapped at Ariana. Still, this was unnecessary time together and Colette could feel the pangs of wariness gnawing at the smile she was trying to keep on her face. She was trying her hardest not to keep Alexa on her mind so that her guilt could remain nonexistent in her eyes and this prolonged exposure to her biggest stressor was not helping. And then Ariana - despite all the mental pleas Colette sent her way - continued.

Clearing her throat a little and biting back a need to yell for her drink to come faster, Colette immediately answered Ariana, "Shay's on her way back home from Carson's place. I told her it would be best to stay with him when I thought your boy toy was going to go on a murdering spree." She ran a hand leisurely through the ends of her hairs, flipping them over her shoulder to distract herself from thoughts of Alexa and their conversation. "Said psycho text me, so he might be on his way home. And...Alexa...is in the dining room under us. Going to the pool apparently, so she's obviously better than she was yesterday." She opted out of mentioning the rude text she had gotten from Ariana last night, pressing herself subtly against Shay's door.

"Anyway, I'm going to find Shay a bathing suit...since we're going to be poolside today. Bye," Colette said, feeling a bit awkward because this interaction had lasted too long and she really didn't want to be in Ariana's presence too much longer. However, closing the door behind her so quickly would have been obvious so she left it open upon entering, immediately going to Shay's closet. Her friend's wardrobe, horrendous in her opinion, would serve as a decent distraction until she arrived. She did choose to text her brother one more time, though.

To: Chris
Mom's looking 4 u. Told her u were here.


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It was when relief that flooded her upon Carson admitting that yesterday wasn't a lie. Shay honestly would not have been surprised. She would have been hurt, yes, but this was also the girl who had not had an actual romantic encounter in a few years. It was easy for her to think that maybe that kind of life - that kind of relationship - was not in the cards for her. However, Carson did want her, not just the singe every other guy lusted after. It was enough to have her smiling, hard enough so that her dimples were more visible, and she found herself laughing lowly because, wow, he was nervous too. She thought the uneasy sensation in her stomach was just her acting like a little bitch in an adult situation, but lo and behold, she wasn't the only one. Colette would probably pretend to puke at them, but she honestly could not care about how not so tough she looked.

Still grinning, Tinashé leaned up and kissed Carson softly, only deepening it when she felt him press back against her. Her face growing hot, Shay's fingers threaded through the short hairs at the back of his head, pulling him closer to her. She didn't care that her heart seemed to not know what rhythm it was supposed to be on or the fact that her phone was buzzing on the counter. All she could concentrate on was that there was warm skin just below her fingertips and the awareness of who it belonged to making her breathless. Or maybe it was the fact that she needed to pull away, she honestly didn't know. When she did pull away, her smile was still wide and she decided to tease Carson, "I don't know, Mr. Koch. That sounds like a very tall order to fill." It was only a second later when she laughed and finished with, "But I think I'm up for it." Cheesy and absolutely enough of a statement to make the her from yesterday roll her eyes, but she was too happy at the moment to care and kissed Carson again, gentle and teasing.

It wasn't long for her phone to make that annoying buzzing sound and Shay rolled her eyes, reluctantly pulling away from Carson in favor of grabbing her phone. The first text, a definite way of killing the mood, was from Owen. Shay inhaled and exhaled deeply, already aggravated because she could hear his petulant tone through the message. He obviously didn't want to talk to her and, seeing his mood through the text, she didn't want to speak with at the moment either. He would only remind her of that feeling from yesterday, when she was close to tears for an entire hour, and she was happy at the moment. Happy during the worst of times, but happy nonetheless. So, she had plans to ignore it in favor of Colette impatiently informing her to come home, which made her giggle. "Bitchlette's in the house with only Ariana and Alexa. She says she's dying," she told Carson with a smirk before seeing Pierce's text. It was official. She had no choice but to talk to Owen. Shay groaned, pressing her head against Carson's shoulder. She didn't want to leave yet. She wanted to finish eating pancakes, maybe watch a movie, stall as best as she could - she didn't want to go to that house!

"Just our luck, I've gotta go home apparently. Captain's orders," she stated on a murmur, and then pulled away. "Pierce wants Owen and me to talk, not like that's gonna do anything..." She honestly didn't know what the outcome of her conversation with Owen was going to be and she honestly didn't think anything good was going to come out of it without Pierce mediating it. She had never seen Owen so mad before and honestly, was not a fan of being in such a presence again. However, no matter how rebellious she liked to think she had been, there was no way in hell she could avoid Owen either. Not when she refused to bow to her brother and definitely not when Pierce's text was as curt as it was. He meant no funny business and it was rare when she got that from her step-father. Not even bothering with the food she didn't eat, Shay leaned up and pecked Carson's cheek. She had a feeling he was wary about talking to Pierce, but she'd rather him do it now than when Pierce returned after having enough time to stew in his disappointment. God knows what would happen if Pierce went on the same berserker rage that Owen had been on. "I'll call you a bit later, but...you should call Pierce. Not the easiest convo to have, trust me I know, but you might as well get it over with. He didn't say he was kickng you out...but...I'd rather you just talk to the person who owns the house." Kissing him again, Shay headed into the living room to grab the small bag of her clothes from yesterday, her keys and then headed out, knowing that if she lingered any longer, she wouldn't leave.

Outside and at her car, she threw her things in the back seat, just after taking her glasses out of her bag. She didn't need to do small things like having a conversation with Carson or cooking, but distance...she and distance never got along. So, she slid them on before climbing into her truck, taking a moment to text Owen and inform Colette of her being on the way. At the last second, she deleted the text she was about to send to Alexa, a constant thing she did whenever she was about to deal with Owen for her sister or when he was getting on her nerves just as much as he was on Lex's. However, she would be damned if she tried to make peace with Alexa first and more than that, she was still as upset with her sister as Lex probably was with her. Alexa was known for holding grudges and Shay had always forgiven. For once, she felt like she deserved a chance to prolong her anger. It probably was her being petty, something Shay prided herself on not being, but she had also prided herself on trying with Lex to no avail. So, making sure that her text to Owen was sent, Shay turned her car on and then began her journey to the house.

To: Owen
Not about whether I want 2 or not

Captain's orders, so I'm on my way

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Character Portrait: Tinashé Kachingwe Character Portrait: Owen Collins
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Miraculously, there was very little traffic on Owen's ride home. Alexandra had texted him as was leaving, but her provocative and bratty text didn't warrant a response. He was going to deal with her face to face where her attitude couldn't be hidden behind a phone screen. He was fifteen minutes into the drive when he got a text from Shay, and while he read it at a traffic light, he decided not to respond to it. She clearly didn't want to speak to him any more than he wanted to speak to her, but Pierce must have told her she had to do it as well. That was fine by him. He knew, regardless of whether his father and Shay felt differently, that he was in the right in this situation. She could sulk and act like he was the bad guy all she wanted to. It didn't change the fact that she had kept such a tremendous secret from him, and after it came to light, still chose Carson over family. If either of them should feel the need to talk to the other, Owen was certain that it was her with the intentions of apologizing to him! Sure, he had said some things that were probably a little too harsh and he would apologize for that, but she was the one who deserved to have the real guilt weighing heavy on her chest.

Thanks to his heavy foot, it only took another twenty five minutes for him to pull through the gates and down the long driveway to his home. He slowed his pace drastically when he could feel himself getting closer to the house, since he guessed Shay would already be there by now. Last night he had bolted down this very road feeling consumed by anger and aggression, and he refused to let himself get to that place again. He was sure that speaking with his sister would bring back all of those emotions and more, but he had to suppress them. He had to hear her out, let her apologize and move on. She would admit that she was wrong for hiding the secret from him, that she was wrong for kissing Carson at all, but especially after knowing what he did to Lex, and then he would admit that he had spoken out of anger to her. She would agree not to speak to Carson again and then maybe, they could go back to having a decent summer. It was a perfect example of how stubborn Owen was and how he felt like when it came to his family, he could do no wrong.

His car crawled to a stop in front of the house and if he hadn't spotted Shay's truck already parked a few feet ahead, he probably would have driven his to the garage himself. But no, he couldn't put this chat off for any longer. His sister was waiting outside of her car and once his car was off, he hopped out as well. He wasn't sure how to start this, considering the less than enthusiastic response she had given him, but like always, he wanted to speak first. "Listen, Shay," his tone was probably already too condescending for his own good, "I know that you were probably just drinking way too much last night when I found you with him, and that's fine, I forgive you for that. My dad said that you were upset over whatever I said, so if my reaction to finding you kissing the guy who robbed our sister of her innocence was harsh, then I apologize." Shay was probably the last person that he could fake Alexandra's "innocence" to to try to keep the cards in his favor, but Owen was confident enough in his speech to convince even himself that he was speaking truthfully. He leaned back against her car as he waited for her apology, which he felt was much more necessary than his own.

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Character Portrait: Tinashé Kachingwe Character Portrait: Owen Collins
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The second that Shay had begun to drive up the long strip of road that was their driveway, she knew she wasn't going into the house yet. There was no way. She didn't want to see Alexandra before she saw Owen; she didn't know how she would act if that were to happen. She honestly, especially given Owen's still sour attitude through the text message, didn't even want to see him but knew there was no choice in eluding him. They would be upset with each other, Pierce would call to check in on them, and then this would turn into some weird little thing where both would claim that the other was avoiding them and, yada, yada, yada, bullshit.

So, she waited outside of her truck. Nkruma had come out and offered to take Shay's car into their spacious garage, but she refused. She needed a crutch. She wasn't admitting that she would run away from Owen if he pushed her too hard, but she also wasn't saying that she would stay in the house for too long if this was how their summer was going to be. So, she stayed outside, posted against her truck, back against warmed metal with one of her legs bent as her left foot was propped up against her vehicle. It might have been five or ten minutes when Owen's car pulled up the driveway. Shay coolly readjusted her glasses, feeling the nervousness twist and knot up in her stomach. But she couldn't run because Owen was out of his car and then he was in front of her. And then he was speaking and Shay really wanted to punch him.

Her reaction had been slow. At first, she had stared dumbly at Owen when he first began to speak. Tinashé had felt a subtle buzz last night, that much she could admit. But everyone knew she needed more than a shot and two glasses of wine to do anything anyone could deem reckless. It was a shot at the dark for Owen and it made a slow smile form on her face. By the time he had finished, and this was beyond Shay's control at that point, she snickered. It was small and a means of holding back a larger laugh because - God, really? Was this really what was going through Owen's delusional head? Was this what allowed him to rest his head last night?

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she apologized after another bout of snickering. She couldn't help it. Owen was fucking hilarious, but she did need to be serious. So, Shay schooled her face better, meeting Owen's gaze. "I'm gonna ignore the part where Lex was ever innocent in order to say that I apologize. Last night, I said that it was none of your business and while it still isn't any of your business to know who we lose our virginities to considering you have no autonomy over our bodies, CJ was your best friend and you should have known." At least she said that much and she continued before Owen could cut her off again.

"And I'm sorry for not telling you originally. I found out that first night, didn't know how to tell you, and I just wanted the full story before just telling you that they slept together. Carson can't remember anything from that night and asking Lex was like asking a bitchy brick wall. I just didn't want to cause a scene at the dinner." Shay was not going to apologize for kissing Carson. The timing was definitely off, that much was true, but she wasn't going to regret it. Not for Owen.

Was she serious? She was laughing at him and his apology, which he still didn't realize think was necessary to offer, as if this was all some joke? As if Carson sleeping with Alexandra and then making a move on Shay, was just some silly little joke that they could laugh over? Had he not been making such a great effort to control his temper after last night, he would have snapped at her for being so disrespectful. Maybe it was strange for him to be so uptight. Deeming someone only two years younger than you as disrespectful for laughing at you was something that seemed more appropriate for a parent to do than a brother. Being around his sisters, especially in stressful situations like this one, just brought that side out in him, though. He had spent so many years being the only responsible child in the house and it was difficult for him to see Shay's points as being valid, even today.

There were many times when Owen wanted to jump in and interrupt Shay amid her apology, but he could hear his father's voice in the back of his head warning him against it. He was supposed to be making up with her, not cutting her off before she could finish apologizing. He waited impatiently for her to get to the end of her apology, but ironically, felt it ended too soon when she stopped speaking and met his gaze. Was that it? She was only going to admit that he should have known that it was Carson, while at the same time, still claiming that it wasn't his business? Where was the apology for kissing Carson and not telling him about that? Or kissing Carson in the first place, after knowing that he was, in Owen's mind, basically a pedophile? It was impossible for him to keep his cool and just accept what she said, but he did his best to keep his voice leveled. "Of course he's going to say he doesn't remember anything, Shay. Why would he want to admit to basically being a pedophile while he's trying to get into your pants too? If either of them don't remember, it's Lex. I'm sure that she was drinking and called Carson for a ride, and he took advantage of her like the scum he is." It definitely wasn't fair for Own to label Carson with such a derogatory and serious term, but in his mind, Alexandra was still a kid. She might have been legally eighteen, dressed like a twenty-five-year-old, and spoken about in the media like she was an adult, but she wasn't. She was his kid sister and Owen knew better than to get that petty, but really, he still felt that way about Shay too. It was probably the fact that Carson, of all people, knew this, that bothered him.

Owen took a deep breath. He could not go back down that road today. Not when this conversation was supposed to be about them reconciling, and his part was supposed to be for degrading Shay in a way he could feel he was about to embark on again. "But you know what, I accept your apology and again, I'm sorry if I offended you last night. Now that Carson's out of the picture, we can just try to move on from this. I'll call my dad and he'll arrange for Lex to spent the summer at the rehab center in Washington, Ariana and I will go back to Huntington Beach, and you, Oliver, Colette and Chris can enjoy the rest of the summer here, okay?" He felt like he was compromising. He didn't think that Shay was actually going to pursue Carson any further when she knew how much he was against it, and as delusional as it was, he was still able to convince himself that that kiss had been made on a drunken whim. Even Colette's rant last night wasn't going to change his mind on that. The small, sensible part of him that knew that Alexandra wasn't as innocent in all of this as he hoped suggested that it was impossible for them to handle her on their own, too, and rehab seemed like the best option for her. She was still drinking underage and clearly had emotional (and attitude) problems that were still unsolved. And he was offering to leave with Ariana for good. What more could Shay ask from him?

While Owen spoke and increasingly annoyed her, Tinashé did her best to keep it all in. She had been ready to cut Owen off the second he tried insinuating that Carson was "taking advantage." Was it sketchy how all of this came to be? How she and Carson came to be? Yes, it undoubtedly was and the longer she stood outside with the guy who had the face of her brother, she knew that she didn't want to tell him about that development. It wouldn't bode well for her and yet, it seemed unlikely that she could keep it in because Shay could feel herself shifting on her feet, she had rolled her eyes at Owen's speech, and her arms were folded over her chest.

More than her annoyance over that was her surprise at her own desire to protect Alexandra. She was supposed to be upset with her and not giving a damn about the little brat. However, she knew rehab didn't help the first time and it wouldn't help now. This was more than Alexandra Collins needing prescription medication and to be locked away. More than that, it wouldn't help if she went through any of that. She would either suffer from a depression or try to run away this time. She would come back worse if she went on exile.

"God, I can't believe I'm saying this," Shay began, pinching the bridge of her nose because these words were not what she wanted to say. She wanted to be fine with Owen leaving her alone for the rest of the summer like the little bitch he was acting like. She wanted to be fine with not having to see Ariana and Alexa. But she wasn't. "But no...no no no no no, God no! Do you hear yourself right now? Send her away, again? It didn't work the last time, Owen, and it's not going to work now."

Shay found that she wasn't really defending Alexa. Her musings weren't entirely for her sister's sake, they were simply because she was tired of Owen trying to have control over everyone and everything. And this was going to prove to be one of his worst ideas yet! "She's crazy and unstable, and I can admit that and I'm more than willing to slap it out of her. But sending her away isn't going to help. She's going to resent us more and no amount of talking to a therapist miles away is going to make her any better. Your sister was not taken advantage of, I know because she wouldn't have been that fucking bold in texting me that she fucked Carson just to make me upset two nights ago. She's not innocent and she's not fragile and she doesn't need therapy. She needs a slap of reality and I am all for not coddling her ass anymore if that's what it takes."

As much as she knew she should have left it there, Shay did not - could not. Because she needed to be clear about where they truly stood because Pierce was wrong. This conversation was more than just them reconciling. Owen was still angry with her; he was proving it by choosing to spend his summer with a woman he had spent all of this time with when his sisters had been far away. "And you know what? Why are we pretending right now, huh? You're mad and you clearly meant what you said last night because you don't even look like you care. And it's fine, do you because I honestly don't care anymore either. But I'm not gonna pretend like I hate Carson because you want me to. It would defeat the purpose of being his girlfriend and I kinda like the ring to that. So, please, go be with the girl who made my life a living hell. I'll be sure to have fun with Carson and everyone else."