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A New York Life

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Setting

4 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Aubree Wright
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#, as written by Sophiex
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Maybe it was just a little evil that the way that Holly's face went white and her eyes widened in what Aubree took as a mixture of surprise and fear, left her smirking. She didn't think that it was her fault that she got off on the idea of people fearing her. It just represented that she had power over people, and she would leave it at that, refusing to acknowledge that having power over a sixteen year old who was abused for the majority of her life wasn't any sort of power to be proud of. She knew that in this situation, it probably would have been preferable if Holly hadn't responded in that manner, though. She was probably the only person who was lucky enough to not fall into the group of people who Holly constantly sought - and gave - physically affection to, but if the two were on those terms (which, given how easily Holly warmed up to people, could have even just be an acquaintance level), convincing Makayla to let her stay probably would have been easier. Or, she thought, she at least would have received a warmer welcome than the one that she got when Holly fled back into the living area of the apartment and Makayla approached the door.

"I'm here to spend Christmas with my family, that's what I'm doing here," she answered, as if it was the obvious reason. Part of her wished that she had never texted Makayla about losing her housing, and that she had just shown up with a bottle of wine in a cheap Christmas gift bag, and acted like she genuinely was only coming over to spend the holiday with them, like families did. It was too late to back track now and make her intentions look genuinely innocent though, but it didn't stop her from attempting to go down that route. She took a step inside then, taking Makayla's typical refusal to be direct and say that she wasn't welcome there, as an opportunity to refuse to allow her to get to that point at all. She set her bags down a foot away as she shut the door behind her, an act that symbolically represented, to herself at least, that she was now settled enough that Makayla couldn't tell her to leave, and just to seal the deal, she leaned over and wrapped Makayla into a tight squeeze of a hug. "And on that note, it's nice to see you too, baby sis. Now I see where your little darling gets her bad manners from," she added, her eyes briefly looking across the room at the redhead, before she released Makayla from her grasp. She could see now, that Holly had returned to the couch that was occupied by another girl, who Aubree could only describe as being blonde, from where she stood. The last time that she had stayed here, she actually hadn't met either of Makayla's roommates, since she had been in and out, just as Makayla wanted, but she vaguely remembered Makayla describing the girl who was "in charge" of the apartment as being a white girl, so without much of a second thought, she assumed that Brooklyn was Cara. With that in mind, she saw this as being a perfect opportunity to side step Makayla in all respects of the phrase, and just as she released the shorter girl from her hug, she stepped towards the couch, until she was standing between it and the television, in front of Brooklyn. "You must be Kay's roommate," she said, extending a hand and using her sweetest voice, purposely tossing in her sister's nickname for the effect of it. "I'm Aubree, her sister," she introduced herself, before her eyes roved over Holly, and she added, "Her actual sister," in a way that distanced itself more than she originally had planned, from the sweet and kind persona she was temporarily adapting. "I hope you don't mind if I spend the night with her. It's just been so long since we've been able to spend a holiday together."

Setting

4 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Aubree Wright
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When it became apparent that the commotion at the door was going to be more complicated to sort out than just letting Cara into the apartment, as Brooklyn had thought it would entail, she paused the movie. Holly had rushed back to her rambling frantically about how the girl at the door would ruin their Christmas, which caused Brooklyn to glance back at the unfamiliar person in the doorway, before looking back to Holly. She clearly knew the girl, and it was off putting that Holly of all people would be so adamant about not wanting someone around, but she didn't seem like an imminent threat. From the quick glance that she took, straining her neck in the process, she noted that the girl was probably around Cara's height, had a pretty face, and didn't seem to have done anything intimidating in those few seconds that Holly could have interacted with her in the doorway. Regardless, she was glad that Makayla appeared then, and after addressing Holly, went on to address the girl at the door, who she called Aubree. It was quite possible that after Aubree had stayed the night a few weeks back, that Holly had said the name in Brooklyn's presence, but Brooklyn hadn't remembered it. She had left that night from Colton's party, fairly abruptly, to clock in a couple of hours at work after two of the girls on staff that night had fallen ill during their shift. By the time she got home in the early hours of the morning, Aubree and the girls were asleep, and by the time that Brooklyn woke up the next afternoon, she was gone. She didn't even know that the girl had stayed there, but that didn't mean that Holly or Makayla hadn't mentioned it, and she just wasn't listening when they did.

With the television now paused, it was easier to hear how Makayla didn't sound very eager about the girl's arrival either, but once Aubree responded, she clarified that she was related to Makayla. Brooklyn had only responded to Holly by holding her pointer finger in the air, to signal for the girl to hold on a minute as she listened into Makayla and Aubree's conversation, trying to figure out what was going on. She had called Makayla her "baby sis", Brooklyn heard, which meant that she was older than Makayla, but given Makayla and Holly's sister relationship, Brooklyn wasn't sure if that meant that they were biological sisters or not. Aubree clearly looked more similar to Makayla than Holly did, and she knew that siblings could be different heights so it shouldn't have mattered, but the height difference between Aubree and Makayla was throwing her off. Figuring that she and Makayla were going to talk more, Brooklyn dropped her finger and was ready to ask Holly why she didn't like her, when footsteps sounded and Aubree was soon standing in front of her. Although the movie had been paused and Brooklyn had been far more tuned into what was going on in the apartment than the screen in front of her, it bothered her that Aubree had chose to stand directly in front of the television, as if to demand her attention. It really reflected Brooklyn's tendency to hate being forcing her to do anything, more than anything else though, since as far as the surface level reflected, Aubree was simply being polite. At least if they were not including the way that she sent a pointed look Holly's way as she answered Brooklyn's unspoken question about being biologically related to Makayla. "As long as you don't plan on standing in front of the TV all night, I don't mind," she said, shaking Aubree's hand only because it was right in front of her facing, but skipping past the formality of offering her own name. However, the smile that she offered made Brooklyn feel like she wasn't being catty, and once she pulled away from Aubree, she looked back to Holly, who stood beside her spot on the couch. With a gentle pull on the back of the girl's shirt, she signaled for her to sit back down, and she hoped that that also translated into non-verbally telling her that things would be fine. Brooklyn didn't doubt that Makayla wouldn't be able to comfort Holly if this sister of hers was actually that problematic, but she also personally wasn't going to let the girl act aggressively towards Holly if it got to that point. And in a move that she knew she would regret tomorrow morning, and probably tonight to, she looked back at Makayla and said, "If you don't want someone sleeping on the couch or the floor, Holly can stay in my room tonight."

Setting

2 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Colton King
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The only person that Nick was expecting to be in the apartment was Roman, so when he found that he wasn't there, Nick didn't hesitate from cracking his bedroom window open just slightly, and smoking in their room. He had originally only planned on smoking a joint, but as he got settled into his bedroom he decided to smoke from his bong tonight. Normally, rolling a joint was quicker and more efficient, since even though he was certain that everyone in the apartment knew he smoked, he still tried to be courteous about it. Roman smoked frequently enough too, and he knew that Chanel smoked on occasion, and had recently learned that Kacey used the drug too, but regardless, it was something that he didn't want to make a big deal. He didn't want everyone else's clothes and things smelling like weed, and he also hated wasting the heat by keeping the windows constantly open, so he did his best to be discrete and quick with it. Besides, as long as he was getting his high, he really didn't care how he was doing it. On nights like tonight, when he had no one to bother and nothing else to be doing, he didn't mind relaxing more and setting up the bong. He knew that it would only hurt him financially to smoke through much of his stash when he could have sold it, but tonight he didn't really care. After a while of smoking in his room, he took a break, but carried the bong out into the living room and set it down there as he called a local pizzeria and ordered for a pie to be delivered. He knew that he wasn't done completely for the night, but his stomach was definitely growling by now, and none of the food in the fridge belonged to him. Nick was usually good about being respectful of eating other people things, so that did play a big role in him opting for a delivery, but beyond that, nothing looked that enticing. He would normally eat anything, and high, that was especially true, but tonight he was craving greasy junk food, and pizza was definitely more likely to hit the spot over whatever health foods Chanel had left behind.

He hadn't gotten a call from the delivery guy saying that he was here, so that Nick could let him into the building, but when there was a knock at the apartment door, Nick just assumed it was the delivery guy. He was too high to realize that that would have been weird, given the locked main door, beyond it only being around five minutes since he hung up with the pizzeria, that was located at least fifteen minutes away. Given that the delivery guy was likely delivering on a bike and that it was snowing, it wasn't plausible that it was him at the door at all. However, Nick yelled out that he was coming and scrounged up the money he owed from his wallet in his bedroom, before returning and opening the apartment door. "Dude, thanks for getting here so quickly," Nick said, despite realizing halfway through the greeting that the guy on the other end of the door didn't have a pizza in his hands. It took another couple of seconds for it to click that that "dude" was actually Colton, the guy who lived across the hall, and that realization came expressively, as once it clicked in his mind, he grinned. "Ah, sorry, man. I thought you were the delivery guy. I ordered pizza a fuckin' lifetime ago, and it still isn't here." He shook his head as if it were a sin, before his grin reappeared once more, and he laughed at himself. "I'm stoned out of my mind though, so maybe it's just my stomach talking, y'know?"

Setting

2 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Colton King
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#, as written by Thunder
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Colton spent the majority of Christmas Eve at work. He worked a double shift after another employee called out, and since their deli did a lot of holiday catering, with platters and sandwiches, there was a lot of work to be done. He worked from nearly five in the morning to eight at night, but it paid off. Not only did he make good money, just in terms of the hours he had worked, but as usual, his boss didn't fail in being a good guy. He and his wife had always been wholesome people and did well by all of their employees, so though Colton was surprised when they handed him an extra hundred dollars as a holiday bonus, he knew that he shouldn't have been. Given their track record, the generosity really wasn't all that surprising. Aside from the nice payout from the day's work, Colton didn't mind working on Christmas Eve either, because it was something to do. Holidays tended to be a good reminder of how he had been disowned from his family. While Colton had been the one to leave the nest before he got kicked out, if he hadn't left on his own will, he would have been kicked out anyway, so disowned still seemed like a fitting word. His birthday was one thing, and Colton could pretend that now having no family didn't bother him much then, but it was a bit harder to do on the big holidays like Christmas. As a young kid, he had loved Christmas just as any child would, because it meant presents and toys. As a preteen and teenager, he had grow to dislike it a bit more, mostly because he became more aware of how he was being forced to attend church and go through all of the boring religious traditions that he didn't want to have to conform to. Still, even if at the time he wanted to act like he hated the holiday, there was no denying now, that the memories of his house smelling like delicious food, and the sound of his mother's sweet voice yelling at him and his brothers to stop stealing candy canes off of the Christmas tree didn't make him miss it.

On his walk home from the deli, those memories made him feel more out of place than he had ever felt before. For the first time in a while, he wondered what the hell he was doing in New York - and in his life in general. There were so many people in the world who didn't have family at all, and here he was, refusing to reach out to his own, over reasons that he could chalk up as being stupid and petty. They weren't stupid and petty, as he had a right to be whoever he wanted to be, but did he want to live this way forever? Did he want his mother to grow old without knowing that her baby was safe and doing all right and thinking of her? He liked to think, most days, that his family had forgotten him and moved on happily with their own lives, and maybe his father had, but he couldn't even pretend that his mother wasn't a great mother. Even if he didn't want her to miss him, she was sure that she must have worried about him at least from time to time over the past few years, and he felt guilty for that alone. He wondered what they were all doing tonight, and what their plans were for tomorrow. There was so much that he didn't know about his family now. His brothers could have gotten married and started families of their own, for all he knew. Hell, if he was being really somber and honest, his parents might have been dead. Thinking about that made him feel even more guilty, as anyone would, and today more than ever, he struggled with reminding himself that they were the ones who pushed him away.

That uncomfortable itch of guilt in him somehow led him through the snow that was slowly falling from the sky, to the nearest liquor store. He knew very well that it was stupid, but something in him told him that he could relieve some of the guilt that he was suddenly feeling, if he did something good. Thinking of Chanel, at the thought of that, was one more thing that he could add to the list of things that he hated about himself tonight, but especially knowing that Kacey was out of time, he felt like she would be the only other person who he could do something nice for. It was dumb of him to think that she would still be in town, given how normal she seemed lifestyle wise, but he didn't even consider that she would be with family as he scanned the aisles of liquor that the store offered, before considering that she probably was more of a wine type of girl. The only problem with that, was that Colton didn't know shit about wine, and he had too much pride to ask the guy behind the counter for any suggestions. Beyond the pride, he also didn't want to spend that much money, and he thought that admitting he wasn't knowledgeable about the products at hand would lead the guy to exploiting him for a sale. His confused look as he browsed the wine section led the store employee over to him anyway, and after some persistent questioning, Colton admitted that he was looking for a gift for a girl he knew. "A girl, eh?" the man asked, with a thick accent that Colton couldn't place specifically, though he assumed it was from somewhere in Asia. "You won't fail with this," he continued, leading Colton over to a display in the front that housed bottles of "White Girl Rosé". Again, Colton didn't think into it enough to even really read the label or process how it might be weird to give that to Chanel, who obviously wasn't white, and more interested in just being left alone from the worker, he paid for it and left.

The apartment wasn't a far walk, and although he considered that maybe he should have purchased a gift bag or something on his way home, he knew he didn't have one in his apartment anyway, so instead of stopping there first, he headed across the hall to Chanel's apartment. His knock was answered fast enough, but by Nick, and not Chanel. Colton wasn't sure if it was Nick or the apartment itself that possessed the potent smell of weed but either way, he wasn't surprised that Nick admitted to being stoned after mistaking him for the pizza delivery man. It wasn't like Colton interacted with Nick frequently, but he had seen him around enough to not be shocked seeing him high, and really, he felt better about himself, seeing that this was the state that this guy was in on Christmas Eve. At least he wasn't the only one who wasn't snuggled up in front of a fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate and a family singing Christmas carols. "Hey, don't give it a second thought, man. Gotta admit I'm pretty jealous that you're stoned, actually, but I won't keep you. I just wanted to see if Chanel was here. Brought her something," he explained, shifting on his feet slightly as he raised the plastic bag containing the bottle a bit.

Setting

2 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Tomorrow, maybe she would wish that she really was so intoxicated tonight, that she could use that as the reason for why she was being so upfront with Roman tonight, but she wasn't that gone where she could, really. The room wasn't spinning and she had enough sobriety in her to where she could reason things and make calculated decisions. What she was going to do tonight was impulsive to an extent, but it wasn't like she was only going to get Roman into bed with her because of her sex drive. She needed to sleep with him tonight because she needed to feel something. She wasn't sure what that "something" was, and right now, she didn't even want to know. She didn't want to think into this or anything, because she knew that if she did, she would overthink it, like she did with everything. She would convince herself that this was a bad idea, and not for the obvious and reasonable reason that she and Roman had never gotten along and that this was just a bizarre scenario to begin with, but because he wasn't her "type". Seeing her ex with another girl might have been playing into her current mood, but it had reminded her that she had given him up for Nick, but after only dipping her feet into that pool, she had pulled away scared, and for what? Because he didn't have money? Because he didn't come from the same life as she did? Right now, she wasn't letting herself consider that it wouldn't have worked out anyway, because Nick had obviously been in a serious relationship and likely wouldn't have dropped Brooklyn for her anyway, had Brooklyn not found out, at least. She wanted to blame her ending up alone on herself and her own standards, and as long as she did that, she could reason that doing this with Roman would be a good idea, because she could prove to herself that she was capable of stepping out of her comfort zone. "You're probably right, but this doesn't count as not being premeditated," Cara responded, staring at him blankly for a moment, before continued with an expression that suggested that she was challenging him to prove her reasoning wrong. "You showed up at my house on Christmas Eve, and you claim that that maid isn't your mother, so you obviously came here looking for something, or someone."

Cara didn't give Roman a chance to explain that that wasn't what his true intentions were though, because she didn't want to argue. Arguing, or even giving him the chance to prove her wrong would have killed the vibes that she was feeling, and she knew that if he proved himself to be the ass that he definitely was, she would lose the desire to rip his clothes off. It was a feeling that she knew would be fleeting, and once the sex was over and her heart rate would slow back down, and her skin would cool off, she would send him off. After all, Cara was well aware that Roman had to have been in a similar mindset as she was, where this wasn't a night of "making love" or anything cliche and romantic like this. This was just going to be sex, and the smirk on her face must have displayed how she was aware and very much content with that as she looked him over. "The only thing that I'm too vanilla for right now, is sleeping with someone who's going to give me an STD, and you're... questionable in regards to that. Promise me you're clean, tell me you have a condom, go lock that door and then come unwrap your Christmas gift." That order was accompanied by a flirtatious smile that grew just slightly, when she watched him comply.

Setting

4 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Aubree Wright
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#, as written by Bandit
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While Brooklyn's offer to allow Holly to spend the night in her room, to give Aubree a place to stay seemed surprisingly nice in the moment, to an extent that made Makayla a bit skeptical, if she actually had a second to absorb what was going on, it probably wouldn't have seemed so strange. Brooklyn was allowing Holly to eat her cookies and watch a movie with her, and actually seemed to be attempting to diffuse the tension between her sisters, rather than add to it, as she seemed to be known for doing. Though it seemed odd, Makayla wasn't going to complain, partly because even if Brooklyn was being fake, she appreciated the gentle nature for now, and partly because she was far too caught off guard by Aubree's forwardness to really be paying attention to the blonde. "No, no, it's okay," she responded, shaking her head as she dismissed the idea. Feeling like that wasn't the right response, though it wasn't even said in a dismissive or rude manner, she continued, correcting herself. "I mean, thanks, but it's just not going to be necessary." She had barely finished saying that by the time that she turned to face Aubree, who she addressed then in a tone that she really wanted to sound stern and certain, but came out more tired and pleading than desired. "Aubree, you can't stay here. We don't have the space and I-" She cut herself off there, knowing that no reason she could give, that was true, would be good enough to convince Aubree to go. If she admitted that she didn't have it in her to deal with Aubree's antics, she would be a bad sister. If she pointed out that she and Holly didn't get along and it wouldn't be fair to ruin Holly's holiday by including Aubree, she would be a bad sister. She wasn't going to win with logic, so she just shook her head. "It's just not going to work tonight, I'm sorry. Don't you have somewhere else you can stay?" Although it had to have been pretty clear that she was Aubree's last option, Makayla didn't know for certain that that was how bleak Aubree's situation really was. For the past few years, she had lost contact with her sister to such a great extent that she really only knew her through the social media posts she made, which always made her life seem decent. She would post pictures of food at restaurants, always seeming to tag a different guy on the plate full of food opposite hers and on weekends, pictures of her with unfamiliar girls at a bar would appear on her timeline.

Aside from Makayla just not having the time or care to play detective in Aubree's life, what probably also played into her just assuming that her sister was doing alright was that as kids, Aubree had always seemed to make a big deal about being the best. She would never accept defeat and always had to prove to everyone that she was the smartest and the prettiest and the most liked. It often came in the form of purposely putting others down to win the favor of those that she admired, like how she would purposely get Holly into trouble to make their father think that she was that much better of a daughter, and so on. Though she didn't like to acknowledge it a lot, Makayla did have a sort of maternal instinct that extended beyond Holly. With how dependent Holly was, it was hard for her to really focus any of that energy on anyone else, but it wasn't like she didn't worry about Aubree. As fucked up as it was, there were times when she actually worried about her father, despite all of the stress and problems he had caused throughout her entire youth. She cared about her sister and that was why when Aubree said, "If I had somewhere else to go, I wouldn't have showed up at your door empty handed on Christmas Eve, now would I, sis?" Makayla could feel her argument against Aubree staying growing even weaker. "All right, but just for tonight, okay? And you'll have to sleep on the couch when they finish watching TV, then." Unlike the last time that Aubree had stayed with them, Makayla wasn't going to give up her own bed for her sister, and she also wasn't going to make Holly give hers up either, despite knowing that there was a chance that the redhead would actually want to spend the night in Brooklyn's room, given her well-known obsession with her.

Setting

4 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Aubree Wright
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Aubree was more than just someone who had bullied Holly while they had lived together. She represented her youth, in a way. Looking at Aubree, and hearing her voice, reminded her of things that she had spent so many years trying to forget. It was so easy for her to be taken back to those traumatic times, like now, when Aubree making a point of her relationship with Makayla being stronger by blood, than Holly's with her, quickly brought her back to a time when that had been brought up years ago, when Holly was nine or ten. It was probably around eight o'clock on that summer's night when Aubree had walked into her bedroom, to find Holly sitting on the floor of her room with the contents of her purse sprawled out across the floor. Makayla had left for work a couple of hours before, and after accidentally spilling fruit punch all over the kitchen floor, Holly's mother had ordered that she remain in her room until morning, or she'd make sure that her boyfriend would ensure that she would learn to listen in the form of a "lesson" that would leave her skin sore for weeks. Startled from being screamed at and having her hair yanked hard by her mother following the spill, Holly had managed to keep herself settled in her bedroom for the first hour following it. She sat on her bed, and then got off and moved to Makayla's bed, which was just a few feet away in the small bedroom they shared. She stood in front of their mirror and make funny faces, and looked through all of Makayla's clothes, trying to find something that looked new and interesting. She picked at the white paint that was peeling off of their wall in so many places, that from afar, it was hard to tell if the walls were supposed to be white or the grey color of the concrete that had been painted over. She did the best that her hyperactive ten year old mind could do, to keep herself sane while remaining in the small bedroom, but time was moving so slowly.

When the sound of the television in the living room playing some sports game, coupled with laughter and unfamiliar voices grew louder, she thought that she was safe to wander a bit. Their apartment wasn't big in the slightest, but the bedroom were located in a hallway that wasn't visible from the living room, and Holly knew that when her mother and her boyfriend invited people over, they usually became so engulfed in the socialization (or more accurately, the drugs), that she was the last thing they were worried about. The act of her leaving her bedroom against her mother's orders likely would have went unnoticed, had she not decided that the bedroom that Aubree was living in was the most interesting room she could stop in. Maybe she would have had a chance too, of escaping the beating, had she not sat down on Aubree's floor after dumping out a purse she found on the girl's dresser, and looking through all of the treasures that the bag held. The things that could have been concerning, like the condoms and the weed pipe and the tiny bag of cocaine didn't even come close to catching her interest, compared to the container of half-consumed Tic Tacs, or the compact mirror that had rhinestone jewels all over one side of it, or the eyeliner pencil that Holly couldn't stop herself from testing out on the rug. Holly likely hadn't even been concerned with Aubree's whereabouts at the time, but she got unlucky because Aubree wasn't out of the apartment, but had only been showering, and when she returned, was livid to find Holly looking through her things. The details of the conversation that followed were lost over the years, but Holly could easily still recall that when she tried to reason that Aubree always let Makayla come into her room without asking, Aubree responded by informing her that Makayla was her real sister, not the "spawn of a trailer park trash whore".

It was hard to say that comments like that were what solely instilled the negative feelings that Holly associated with Aubree, and more likely than not, the fact that following that conversation (and countless others like it), Aubree would go on to shout for her father to come in and "handle it", which would sometimes lead to Aubree's uncle coming in, and handling it in a way that would make Holly burst into tears even today, just thinking about it, played just as much, if not a greater role in that. Simply put, though, Aubree's mere presence was triggering to Holly, and she did feel somewhat betrayed and dumbfounded when Makayla caved in and said that Aubree could stay for the night. She had allowed Brooklyn to tug her back onto the couch and had sat back down due to the guidance, but she was more focused on Makayla than Brooklyn, even when Brooklyn offered to allow her to sleep in her room for the night. The way that Holly had blatantly ignored that offer, which normally would have resulted in her becoming ecstatic instantly, spoke to how off putting this situation was. "No, I don't want her to stay," Holly said, in a whining manner as she shook her head adamantly. When their history was considered, Holly wasn't being a brat, and she wasn't on the verge of having a breakdown over just being selfish and not wanting to share Makayla or their space. Anyone who knew Holly knew that that simply wasn't in her character. She was on the verge of tears because of how anxious Aubree's mere presence made her feel, and even if Aubree was going to be spending the night on the couch, in a separate space than her, Holly likely wasn't going to feel any more at ease. "I want to stay with Chanel or Cara. Can you call them? I don't want to stay here if she's staying here."

Setting

4 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Aubree Wright
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#, as written by Sophiex
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Aubree laughed at Brooklyn's comment, mostly because she felt like it was the only polite way she could respond. A roll of her eyes or offended expression would have been more fitting given Aubree's personality and the way that Brooklyn hadn't seemed half as cordial in her greeting than Aubree had tried to be in hers, but she wasn't going to be petty. That stemmed partly because she just knew better, given the situation and how she was already being overbearing just by being there, but also because of who Brooklyn was. Aubree didn't even know her, and even if she didn't think that Brooklyn was Cara, who Aubree still barely knew, and actually only knew "of", as being the girl who had enough money to pay the rent, she still would have felt a certain way about Brooklyn. For starters, she was absolutely gorgeous. Aubree was quite happy with who she was, especially in a physical sense, but that didn't mean that she was blind to the world's beauty standards. Girls like Brooklyn who were thin and had light skin and light features, particularly the blonde hair and blue eyes, seemed to just get a free pass in the world. They were idolized just because of their DNA, and though when she thought about it fully, she knew that it was sick and wrong, it didn't mean that she could just automatically unlearn what society had taught her for all of her life. No, even to this day, her first thought when seeing girls like Brooklyn was one of intimidation. She wouldn't show it at face value, but in the back of her mind there was a voice reminding her that she needed to know her place around girls like Brooklyn.

The voice wasn't as loud as it had been years ago, when she had left the neighborhood she had grown up in, and was actually around girls like Brooklyn frequently. Growing up in a community that consisted of 99% minorities, Holly and her mother had seemed liked rarities, but they didn't even count as being a part of that superior group of white people, because Aubree had automatically decided that they were trash, and below her, after they "ruined" her family. Before growing up, the most interaction that Aubree had with people who weren't low-income minorities like herself were from reading about celebrities like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan in magazines on the checkout lane in the grocery store. It was people like them who were basically worshiped, with their every move being followed, and even when they did wrong, nothing happened to them. Aubree would see people she knew being incarcerated over dime bags of weed, while these white girls could get into car accidents or do hard drugs and get off with community service. Especially as a child and teenager, growing up in a society where her life held such a stark contrast to theirs, it was hard not to think that somehow, they had to be better than her and her people, if the rest of the world thought that. Things had changed since then, and that was something that was probably easier for Aubree than other black girls, considered that being half Asian, tall, and considerably light skinned led guys to thinking that she was more attractive than some other girls. Given that that was still playing into the entire race system that the social world thrived off of, it wasn't something that helped in the overall sense of fixing things, but it did give Aubree a boost of confidence to feel comfortable in her own skin.

Makayla's initial insistence that she coudln't stay definitely led to a feeling of discomfort and awkwardness at first, which was something that Aubree wasn't comfortable with feeling. No one would be, but for someone like Aubree, it was even worse, because her initial reaction to things like that was typically to take it as being attacked, and then lash out. She knew that that wouldn't do her any good in this situation, but still, she didn't want to have to beg to stay, since she really had no where else to go. Luckily, Makayla caved, and Aubree smirked internally, knowing that she shouldn't have doubted, even for a second, that that was coming. "Of course," she smiled, putting in a lot of effort to not make it look as strained as it really was, as she agreed that it would just be a one night stay. "I would never over stay my welcome." With that, she returned to the doorway and retrieved her bags, but by the time that she got back to the couch area, she could hear Holly getting worked up, and blatantly stating that she didn't want Aubree to stay. She had always known that the girl was a brat, but for her to be this rude made it impossible for Aubree to be completely civil. "Don't worry, babe. Some of us know how to respect others' spaces, so you won't even know that I'm here. No need to get worked up over it." She did her best to keep her tone sweet, despite her words purposely being indicative of how she didn't think that Holly had a leg to stand on when complaining about someone else intruding in her personal space. She turned back to Makayla a moment later though, and smiled. "Mind if I take a shower? I always feel like I'm covered in a layer of grime after getting off the subway." She did want to shower, but she didn't know what she would do if she didn't shower. Brooklyn and Holly were sitting on the couch that she was supposed to sleep on, and she clearly couldn't kick them off, and she also didn't want to watch with them, so this seemed like the only option she had, especially if she wanted to keep the tension at a low.

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West
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Holly felt more than uncomfortable with Makayla allowing Aubree stay for a second time this month. After the first time, Makayla had assured her that it had been a one time thing, and that they had just been doing a nice thing by letting Aubree stay that time. Now, it seemed like it was going to be a regular thing, and maybe jumping to that conclusion was a little dramatic, but that in itself said something. Normally, Holly would have welcomed a guest and a new face. She would have been so excited that someone was visiting them or having a "sleepover", that it would have been nearly impossible to corral her into her own bed by the end of the night. At the very least, she would have insisted that she stay up for long enough to hang out with them or that they watch the movie with her. Instead, once Aubree was in the shower, Holly spent a few minutes trying to plead with Makayla to let her call Cara or Chanel so that she could move in with them for the rest of her life. When that didn't work, her anxiety and frustration and anger resulted in lots of tears, her going to bed without even giving the movie or plate of cookies a second thought, and then her refusing to remove the pillow covering her head for a second, so that she could even respond to Makayla or Brooklyn when they tried to get her to calm down. Makayla tried to reason with her that she didn't have to say a single word to Aubree, and that she could stay up late and watch the movie with Brooklyn if she would cheer up, and Brooklyn insisted that they could have a sleepover in her room, or that she could sleep in Cara's room and have it all to herself, and they would never even have to tell Cara. Options that would usually excite Holly only made her crave silence and solitude more and more. Cookies and movies and friends and the promise of fun presents tomorrow didn't excite her like they would have an hour ago. She wasn't trying to act immature or bratty or temperamental, and there wasn't much that could genuinely upset Holly, but this did, and it didn't take long for her to tire herself out with the crying and fall asleep.

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Character Portrait: Caraline Forrester Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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When the sex was over, and Cara finally had a few minutes to catch her breath, she decided that she didn't regret doing it. It was just about the best stress reliever she could have had, and though tonight, she was more selfish than she had probably ever been in bed, she didn't think Roman could have hated it either, and that wasn't even just her being caught up in her whole "you're lucky to breathe the same air as me" persona. He had gotten out of bed a little while after Cara had shifted herself from being on top of him, her body pressed against his, to lying beside him on her back, staring up at the ceiling and feeling surprisingly calm and mindless. When she felt him slide out of bed and begin to get dressed, she wasn't bothered or even surprised. If anything, it was a good sign. She didn't want him spending the night, because there was really no reason to. It was early in the night, and it was going to be a lot easier for him to slip out unnoticed now, than it would be in the morning when her father was back, and her stepmother was all over everyone, trying to get the house ready for her family to come over. "Do you know your way out, or do I have to come down with you?" she asked, her tone suggesting surprisingly more curious than anything else, as if it wouldn't be the biggest deal in the world for her to come down with him, despite her not actually wanting to. She sat up as she watched him get dressed, though she pulled her white bed sheet up far enough to cover her bare chest as she did so.

Roman appeared to be moving at a normal, if not slightly sluggish pace, more from the recent activity than anything else. In actuality, though, he felt like he was rushing. He probably would have continued lying on the bed a few more minutes, catch his breath a bit more, but he was more aware tonight, partially because it was Cara, but even more so because he was sober. He wasn't always drunk or high whenever he had sex, but a good portion of the time, that was how it was. While he wasn't embarrassed by any means, his sobriety made him more conscious, and therefore more cautious and purposeful. He couldn't say what he was expecting because nothing tonight was necessarily expected, but he figured Cara would hiss for him to leave immediately. Even though he should have realized that, after a few moments had passed before getting up, that probably wouldn't have happened, he still took the initiative. "Just straight downstairs, isn't it?" he said, his voice abnormally lighter, more genuinely a question albeit it not needing an answer. He glanced back at her, half covered by the covers, as she said, "My stepmom and Ryan shouldn't be downstairs, so you should be fine."

Roman nodded some, returning to getting dressed before the mention of Ryan made him remember what Cara had said earlier. He opened his mouth for a second before closing it and rethinking it. He felt it would be weird to bring that up, and he felt that just thinking that was weird. But to be fair, he reasoned, the whole night wasn't exactly precedented either. By this point, there was no telling what was weird and what was normal tonight because it didn't make much sense on its own. It was something that initially could be felt with a strange kind of discomfort, but now, as he zipped his pants, the peculiarity of tonight was greeted with more openness. That made him slow down, or at least feel like it, but didn't make him feel like he should overstay his welcome. As he dressed, he noticed the silence that had only been brief, but seemed long to him. Although he was more keen to the mood of tonight, he wanted to normalize it a bit by acting like nothing strange really happened. So to fill the air with some conversation and continuing with the same lightness, his back purposely to Cara just as a precaution for her than him, he said, trying to sound as casual and passive as possible, "You okay?"

Cara nodded when Roman asked if she was okay, before her lips turned upwards into a playful smile. "I should really be the one asking you that. I hope my teeth didn't break any of the skin on your neck," she said. After another few seconds of watching him, she was ready to send him off, but remembered the gift bags. "Don't forget the gifts for the girls, and make sure you drop them off tonight, okay?"

Roman would realize afterwards the shift in Cara's personality, and how he actually did find her flirtatious, more forward side to be a bit of a turn on. For now, though, it was enough to get a smirk and eye roll out of him. As he tugged his jacket on, already having forgotten the gift bags, he turned around, scanning the room before spotting them on the floor at the bottom of the bed. After grabbing them, he raised them slightly as way of saying okay and goodbye. As he moved towards the door, he mimicked her tone, only glancing back to her as he slid through the door. "Don't forget, I was never here." As expected, he found his way out with ease, and luckily didn't run into anybody. There was such a noticeable stillness inside that by the time he stepped onto the sidewalk, it seemed surprisingly noisy for the time. After smoking a cigarette and grabbing a cab, he allowed his mind to wander, feeling that now it was somehow safe to do so. It could have been because there was more distance, he thought as he pulled his gloves on, but it didn't seem as strange as it did a few moments ago. Of course, he was tired and it could have just been him acclimating to the tonight's uniqueness. He became distracted from continuing to think any further as he felt around for his other glove before realizing that he didn't have it. Roman groaned to himself as he took his phone out of pocket and began to text Cara, and then again after sending the second text and immediately regretting it.

To: Cara
think i left my glove on the floor somewhere

To: Cara
my hand glove

To: Cara
just give it to me next time you see me

When he finally got back to the West Village and almost forgot the bags in the backseat of the car, he considered just dropping them off tomorrow. Cara wouldn't know the difference, right? Plus, he desperately wanted to shower and go to bed, possibly smoke if Nick was in, which he probably was. He'd been smoking more than he normally did this month, not because he the Christmas charm made him want weed more, but because he needed something cheap and easy to offset the physical strain he'd been going through. As he walked up the stairs, he figured that pretty soon he should have enough money, and probably before the end of the year. The problem wasn't even that he was using more, or requiring more, but because where he usually got his surplus in cash was out of the question for the moment. While he preferred it over warm weather, the cold made him ache more, and he'd had enough close calls to know when to take a break for a few weeks. He supposed it was good timing since he needed to put in extra work at his day job to make up for lack of performance, but just that alone couldn't finance as he typically lived. This month it was just rent, groceries, and weed, and thinking about this only made him feel like he deserved to get high by the end of the month. He was always a bit careless with his money when it came to budgeting because he still liked not doing things he was supposed to as a juxtaposition to his upbringing, but he was also arrogant about his own skill. Numbers and math had always made sense to him and so he felt like writing it out made it seem like he didn't actually know what he thought he did, and his pride was more important to him than he liked to admit. After sleeping with Cara, too, he felt more of a need for a high not necessarily because he needed one, but because he was used to having one after sleeping with someone. Briefly, he wondered if Cara had ever even smoked before, and then what she was probably like high. Before he could think more into it, though, he was in front of his door, reaching for his key in his pocket before realizing that he still hadn't dropped the gifts off. With a sigh, he went to 5C and knocked on the door, rubbing the exhaustion from his eyes and resting his head against the wall, feeling about as disheveled as he looked.

Setting

4 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Aubree Wright
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Makayla had been ready to pass out before Aubree showed up uninvited, but once she got there and her presence was felt, Makayla felt more than exhausted. Her legs and head felt heavy, and all she wanted to do was curl up under layers of blankets, but besides feeling physically tired, the mental strain of everything was too much for her to deal with, as well. Her day with Holly had been good and simple, with nothing out of the blue happening. The snow, and the fact that it was Christmas Eve had made the day a bit easier because of how excited and upbeat Holly was, and had Aubree not shown up, it likely would have been an easy night. Brooklyn was apparently in a good mood, which meant that she probably would have tolerated Holly throughout the entirety of the movie, which likely would have led to Holly falling asleep on the couch, where Makayla probably would have left her until morning. She probably would have been woken up at five in the morning by Holly who would already have enough energy at that hour, to make it seem like she had eaten one hundred pounds of pure sugar, but Makayla would have taken that over how the night actually panned out. Once Aubree went off to shower, Holly through a temper tantrum that surpassed any Makayla had seen her throw... maybe ever. It wasn't even like she was kicking and screaming and breaking things, but she was just refusing to acknowledge anything that Makayla said. She didn't want to hear any side of reason, about how Makayla would keep Aubree so far at bay that Holly didn't even have to see her if she didn't want to. Nothing that Makayla said seemed to even reach the girl's ears, because she refused to do anything other than cry and hide under her pillow, and repeat over and over again that she needed Makayla to call Cara or Chanel so she could move in with them.

It wasn't like Holly to snap like this. Sometimes she got upset over Makayla telling her that they couldn't afford certain things, and there were ocassions when she would get whiny over Makayla insisting that they didn't have time to stop in the middle of the street to pet a dog that Holly spotted on the other side of the road, but it was very, very rare that she actually got so upset that she was inconsolable. That was something that Makayla probably should have been proud of, because maybe it meant that she was doing something right, but she saw this situation as only proving that she wasn't capable of being a guardian to anyone, let alone a teenager who had years worth of trauma and emotional issues that hadn't been professionally treated. She hated seeing Holly so distressed and unable to cope with something that Makayla really didn't see as an enormous problem, but she literally didn't know how to help Holly. It was too late to kick Aubree out, and when it got to the point that Brooklyn couldn't even talk Holly out of the fit, Makayla gave up. She felt like crying too, and if Aubree hadn't been occupying the bathroom still, Makayla probably would have hid in there, turned the shower on to drown out the noise, and had a breakdown of her own. It was like she couldn't do anything right. She hated her life, right now, and clearly, life hated her too.

Makayla was ready to get down on her knees and thank the lord when Holly's crying finally subsided, and after a peek into their bedroom, she found her sister to be asleep. All Makayla wanted to do then, was to climb into the bed on the other side of the room and fall into a deep sleep, but she couldn't. Now, she had to wait until Aubree was out of the shower so that she could talk to her. Makayla hated herself for being so soft that she had caved and let Aubree stay in the first place, but after the show that Holly had put on, Makayla knew that she had to be stern. She needed to tell Aubree that she needed to be gone in less than twelve hours and that she really couldn't come back this time. She didn't want her saying anything to Holly or even looking in her direction, for that matter. Aubree could play the whole "blood is thicker than water" card all she wanted, but the past few years with Holly had proved to Makayla that the real quote, "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb" was the one that actually held truth. Holly was her family, and though Makayla was sentimental on a level she wished didn't exist, to a point where she couldn't say that Aubree wasn't family, she knew that she had every right to put Holly before her sister who only showed up when she needed something.

It shouldn't have been so perplexing as to why Aubree had remained in the bathroom with the water on, presumably in the shower, for nearly an hour. Someone like her would be the first to tell you to take a three minute cold shower if she was the one footing the water bill, but on someone else's dollar, it only made sense that she would act like a three year steaming hot shower was necessary. That didn't click to Makayla, or else she would have banged on the door until Aubree came out, but she had a distraction anyway. Once Holly had went to bed, Brooklyn had seemingly lost interest in the television, and seemed to feel bad for Makayla as well, because she pulled a bottle of vodka out of one of the cabinets and poured Makayla a glass of it, with what seemed like a splash of cranberry juice, in a proportion combination that should have been reversed. Some time through their conversation, Makayla learned that the bottle of alcohol actually belonged to Cara, which made the situation more logical seeming, but at this point, Makayla didn't even feel bad about accepting what wasn't Brooklyn's to offer in the first place. She was a glass and a half in, and definitely feeling enough of a buzz to actually find Brooklyn's company to be enjoyable, when there was a knock at the front door. Makayla wasn't expecting anyone, but given her luck tonight, she wouldn't have been surprised if her father had escaped from prison and showed up here too, seeking shelter. Still, she looked towards Brooklyn with a curious expression, as if to signal that she wasn't sure who would be knocking, but also only doing that because she was far too lethargic to get up and open it herself. "Hopefully it's not Cara," she said, after a few seconds as she looked down at her glass.

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Brooklyn wanted to blame the holiday and the Christmas spirit on her being a lot more compassionate following Holly's reaction to Aubree than she normally would have been, but it could only be partially attributed to that. As much as she wanted to act like she had no feelings and could be as cold and emotionless as she wanted, especially when it benefited her, that wasn't entirely true, especially when it came to Holly. Holly brought out contrasting sides to her, actually. On one hand, if she caught Brooklyn in the right mood, Brooklyn could be far more harsh than necessary to her. At the same time, and while Brooklyn didn't like to think about it, Holly reminded her of her sister. It wasn't so much that they were very similar in appearances or personalities, because Holly was fairly far from normal in a lot of her mannerisms, and Brooklyn's sister had been your average kid. The fact that at sixteen, Holly acted more like a seven year old was probably something that played into her reminding her of Kate, because Brooklyn had only known Kate until she was seven years old. Besides Holly just acting like a child, it was also the fact that she seemed so innocent, vulnerable and dependent that made Brooklyn feel like she deserved an exemption from really being targeted for being annoying. Sometimes it was harder for her to remember that when Holly woke her up after only two hours of sleep, coupled with a bad hangover, but it was impossible to ignore on nights like tonight, when the girl was in immeasurable emotional distress. It was saddening and surprising when nothing would console the girl, not Makayla's enthusiastic talk of what would happen tomorrow on Christmas, or even more so, when Brooklyn tried to engage with her. She felt uncomfortable even doing that, because she didn't want to act like she thought that she could make Holly feel better over Makayla, but it did surprise her when it didn't work.

Brooklyn knew that if she could tell that something was more off than normal with the young girl, than Makayla had to as well, and even though Makayla was good at putting on a brave face, it didn't take much to see through it tonight. With her conscience pushing her to do the right thing, coupled with knowing that she wasn't ready for bed yet, she decided to offer Makayla some companionship. Her sister hadn't come out of the shower yet and Brooklyn had a feeling that even when she did, Makayla wasn't going to be eager to hang out with her. So, she made her way to the cabinet that Brooklyn knew Cara stored her liquor in and poured Makayla a cranberry vodka, and then a tequila on the rocks for herself. While they sat in the kitchen and drank, their conversation remained at a surface level. She didn't press to know why her sister was here so unexpectedly, or why Holly was so distraught in her presence, partly because Brooklyn knew she wouldn't be able to offer any sort of genuine comfort if her response called for one, but also because it seemed unnecessary. By the time that there was a knock at the door, Brooklyn had already made her way through her glass of tequila, and was halfway through a vodka cranberry, so hanging out with Makayla by then, didn't seem like a strenuous task at all. In fact, for a while, she had forgotten that Makayla's sister was even there, considering that she still hadn't come out of the bathroom. Makayla didn't seem eager to answer the door, and though Brooklyn was comfortable in her seat too, it seemed necessary that someone see who was there, so she got up. "Hopefully it is Cara, so I can kick that bitch's ass," she responded with a smile that was only somewhat meant to be playful. The threat was said with no real reason behind it, because even though she still had bad feelings towards Cara over the Nick thing, they had been civil enough to live together, ever since Brooklyn confronted her about it.

Before opening the door, she asked who was on the other end. She probably would have done it anyway, just out of habit, but seeing that it was night time and neither her nor Makayla were expecting anyone, it seemed odd for someone to be knocking on the door. When the voice on the other end answered, it was easy to determine that it was Roman. Brooklyn was still surprised, because she would have expected at least a text from him if he was going to stop by, but she opened the door nonetheless. "Oooh, presents? For me? You shouldn't have, Ro!" she said, slapping him on the chest with the back of her hand. "I have a gift for you too. Well, I have a real one that I'm going to give you tomorrow, but tonight I have a glass of whatever liquor you want from Cara's stash as your Christmas Eve gift. Come sit, Makayla's here too," she insisted, already walking inside away from him. "It's just Roman," she informed Makayla, as she haeded back towards the table.

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Roman had seen Brooke intoxicated enough for it to not really phase him, but he did manage to raise his eyebrow at the way she greeted him. It pulled him from his lethargic, tired state and aroused him enough to walk inside less sleepily than before. After closing the door, he looked back to see who Brooklyn was talking to, not being surprised when he saw it was Makayla. Because he tended the view the two as one, he instinctively looked around for Holly, then listened for a brief second, before figuring, after hearing the water running the bathroom, that she was probably showering. "Hey, Makayla," he said as he walked over to where the girls sat. The mood of the room evaded him, but he did notice, in passing, Makayla's demeanor, but he wasn't sure if maybe she always looked like that. She wasn't the kind of girl to smile all the time, like say Chanel, so if anything she appeared more like her usual self, but in the back of his mind, he thought there was something different. He reasoned that it was just in his head, though, since he couldn't come up with a solid reason. Roman sat the gift bags on the counter, forgetting them again as he turned the scene in front of him. Thinking back to what Brooklyn had said, he began to smirk, impressed but also humored. "Are you seriously drinking her stuff?" he said addressing both of them, but looking at Brooklyn. He tiredly shook his head then before turning and going to one of the cabinets for a glass. It was strange being back in his old apartment, but only in the way that it was odd revisiting some place old that you were connected to. He wouldn't call it nostalgia so much, but perhaps the fact that just a month ago he was living here and now he was a guest, at best, but still moved freely and comfortably as if nothing had changed. Granted, not much time had passed, but the liveliness of the place from the lights and tree made it appear like more was happening, that more time had passed. He slid his glass to Brooklyn, saying, "You're the mixologist."


Afterwards, Roman sipped from the glass, feeling newly tense beside Brooklyn. He was only just now realizing the sort of entanglement he'd entered from sleeping with Cara. It wasn't much of an argument about it being unfair that he got kicked out after everything that happened with Cara, Brooke, and Nick, because Roman didn't have anything to do with it. And even though now it wasn't like he had to fear his housing situation being repealed, he was now a part of something. Running it through his head, he rolled his eyes to him self and exhaled as he took a larger swallow. Within the next second, he decided to let it go for now. There wasn't anything to worry about because no one would find out anyways, and even if they did, they wouldn't have the right, at least in his mind, to be upset with him. He wasn't dating Nick or Brooklyn, and it only concerned them by an awkward association that wasn't deep enough to render anything sentimental. It was just one of those things, he told himself, even though he wasn't sure what he even meant by that. "Oh yeah," he said once he caught sight of the bags on the countertop. "These," he said, sliding them towards Makayla and nodding in her direction. "Are for you and Holly," he finished, before quickly adding in, "Not from me though. They're from Cara." Knowing that it was as weird as it sounded, and now wishing he'd just told Cara to drop the bags off herself, he was quick to change subjects. He looked towards Brooke, his voice more aggressive, only from familiarity than actual anger. "I didn't get you anything either," he said, which wasn't true, and it was mostly meant as a joke, but he was purposefully trying to be provoking for no real reason other than it was how he always was with Brooke. His tone was drier than it normally would have been, only because his energy low, but he did notice that he felt more at ease being back in familiar territory and far away from Lenox Hill and its current events.

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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"Of course we are, and when we're done, I'll pour as much as I can into empty water bottles and refill her bottles with water. It's called karma," Brooklyn responded, in an upbeat manner that could definitely be attributed to her alcohol consumption. There were times when she was a mean drunk, and other times when she was a happy one. It mostly just depended on what was going on, and what she was drinking, but regardless of what the liquor did to her, she always held on to that underlying bitchiness that seemed to shape her personality. A glass of tequila wasn't suddenly going to give her stronger moral values, but it would make her more pleasant to interact with while she rejected the ones that she did have. That was why it was easier for her just scoff in mock offense after she made Roman a drink and he explained that the gift bags were for Makayla and Holly, and that neither him nor Cara had gotten her anything for Christmas. Sober, she might have been more harsh towards him, at least, for claiming to not have gotten her anything, and maybe in a certain drunk mood she could have been too, but tonight she was more content with saving that harshness for Cara. Even speaking of the blonde though, her tone remained light, where it was more difficult to tell whether she was actually being serious, or was genuinely joking. "Yeah, no surprise that that hoe didn't get me anything. Maybe I'll go through her things later and pick out a Christmas gift from her to me, all by myself. Even then, she'd still be in debt to me though," she answered, staying by the counter for a little bit longer as she topped off her drink with a bit more vodka and mixer. As she turned around, she saw that the gift bags were now in front of Makayla, and she approached them curiously. "Open them up, let's see what the rich bitch got you," she insisted, prodding the side of one of the bags with her finger. A few more drinks, and she probably would have just reached in to see what was inside herself. A few more drinks too, and she probably wouldn't have thought to ask Roman what came to her mind next. "Wait, why the fuck did she ask you to bring them here? I didn't know FedEx hired heroin addicts."

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Makayla laughed, more so out of surprise than anything else, at the bluntness of Brooklyn's comment, when she claimed that she hoped Cara was the one knocking so she could hurt her. Before Brooklyn got her a job at the strip club, Makayla had been fairly oblivious to how much Brooklyn drank. Considering that they hadn't lived together at that point, it wasn't all that surprising anyway, since they didn't hang out either, so there was really no way that Makayla would have found out. However, on the nights that they worked together it quickly became clear that Brooklyn drank - and drank a lot - but was really good at holding her liquor. Makayla had never seen her get sloppy drunk, where her speech was slurred or she was falling over, which still shocked her when she actually watched how much hard liquor the blonde would pour into her glass again and again. Now that they lived together and Makayla was becoming more accustomed to Brooklyn's personality when she was sober, and then the one when she was drunk, it was easier to find that there were differences between the sober and drunk Brooklyn, but still, they weren't anything extreme. If anything, that was admirable though, because the alcohol seemed to make Brooklyn looser and more approachable without any of the less admirable effects. It was possible that tonight, her buzz too, made Brooklyn seem more easy going and enjoyable to be around, but regardless of the reason behind it, Makayla was actually in a better mood after hanging out with her, than she had been an hour ago.

Only a few seconds after Brooklyn got up to see who was at the door, she was back with Roman right behind her. Makayla waved hello to him when he greeted her, and though she noticed the two gift bags in his hands, she didn't think anything of it until he came over and slid them to her. Given that she really barely knew Roman, it made sense that she wouldn't think that they were for her. Like Brooklyn, she was confused about why he was the one delivering Cara's gifts to her and while Brooklyn's comment made her raise an eyebrow in confused curiosity, she held herself back from laughing. Although she could sense in Brooklyn's tone that she was joking, or at least purposely being offensive, she didn't know Roman well enough to laugh at it, in case the drug reference was true. She doubted it was, especially since Brooklyn was bringing it up in such an insensitive manner, but again, she didn't know him well enough to say so either way. She wanted to know why Cara couldn't have just brought them here herself, or left them here before she left, or given them when she got back, but it seemed useless to repeat Brooklyn's quesiton, so while she waited for Roman's response, she addressed Brooklyn's comment. "I'm sure they're both for Holly. I don't know why she would get me anything," she insisted. It did seem strange for Cara to get her anything, when she was already doing more than enough for both of the girls, and while Makayla was curious to see what Cara had gotten her sister, she didn't want to look through the bags right there, in front of Brooklyn and Roman. "Thanks for bringing them over but yeah, how'd you get stuck with that job? I thought she was on the other side of town at her dad's or something."

Setting

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Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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His attempt to avoid the reasonable question had failed, but that wasn't the reason his face dropped into a hard glare at Brooke, even as Makayla began talking. If Makayla hadn't addressed him too, he would've simply responded to Brooke by tossing his drink on her, not really caring about whatever repercussions that would have brought. He was more so aggitated by her using Cara's derogatory name for him, especially since she was supposed to be the common enemy among quite a few of the residents on this floor. He wasn't sure why it bothered him so much, especially since there were few things that could consistently get under his skin. It might have been because hyperbolizing his usage somehow made his actual problem, which he regularly denied, more real. But on the hand, it also made it easier to rationalize. He wasn't doing hard drugs like heroin, so technically no, it wasn't even anything to worry about, let alone consider a problem. But because deep down he knew he, at the very least, had an unhealthy habit, and borderline dependence, it rubbed him the wrong way. It made it harder to ignore, but that wasn't the most pressing issue right now. Roman knew he could only be but so put off by the question because it was an obvious one, something that he should have known would have happened, because it was the most relevant thing one would wonder.

Roman knew that if he dramatized the understandable curiosity, then it would make it seem even stranger that he was doing something for Cara who was, like Makayla said, on the other side town. Finishing his glass, he placed it on the counter and nodded some. "Yeah," he began, sounding bored. "I don't know. It was something like she gave them to Chanel a while ago, to keep them out of sight, but Chanel's not here, they're not talking, and I guess she didn't give them back before leaving. So Cara asked me to bring them over and I just never got around to it. I thought she would have asked Nick, since they've exchanged favors before," he said, pulling the vodka towards him, speaking casually only to add more bite to his words. Although the jab was clearly aimed at Brooke, he spoke to Makayla. "I didn't know you were that close," he began. "But I guess it figures since you're not even paying to live here. What's a few gift bags?" he said, knowing he was starting to be rude, and really for no reason. He already knew what was inside, but still aiming to redirect attention, he continued as he finished making another drink. "You gonna open them now? They felt pretty full."

Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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#, as written by Bandit
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Had Roman not finished his comment with words that left Makayla feeling embarrassed and out of place, she might have still looked deeper into his response. It still didn't make sense that Cara would ask him, out of all people, to bring the gift bags over. Like he acknowledged, if it came down to asking someone in their apartment to get it, wouldn't it have been Nick? The two of them clearly liked each other to some degree, and liking each other to any degree would supersede how much Cara liked Roman, because that would have been to a negative degree. There was no reason for Cara to feel so desperate to ask him, over asking Nick to bring it over, or just asking Makayla to go across the hall and get them. And beyond that, why would Cara have left the gift bags at Chanel's, anyway? Chanel had informed Makayla of their falling out, and that had been weeks ago, which was way before Cara had left to spend time with her family, and also at least a week or so before Chanel had left New York. Wouldn't Cara have sorted it out before now, if she had actually given Chanel the gifts before their falling out, weeks ago? Roman had continued speaking after that explanation though, and the words that followed resulted in Makayla feeling no desire to inquiry any further. Beyond that, she actually didn't want to be here, in this conversation or this room, any longer. If Roman knew that Cara had been paying their rent for them, everyone in the building basically knew, for all she knew. And that was embarrassing. It was embarrassing when she thought that only Cara and Chanel knew, since she had told Chanel that that was the reason when they moved out. No one wanted other people to know that they weren't capable of surviving on their own, and for Makayla, that was especially true. If she was okay with being like that, she never would have went to the extremes that she had went to, for so many years, just to keep herself and Holly afloat. She didn't like having to depend on people, and the envelope filled with cash that she had been saving up to give Cara as a "Christmas gift", which was actually just as much rent money as she could come up with, spoke to that. She easily could have saved the money and used it to buy herself or Holly something, but it was hard to sleep at night knowing that she couldn't support herself and Holly. It hit her pride deep, and that was only when she was internally thinking about it. To have someone that she barely knew at all bring it up, and throw it in her face in a way that seemed callous, made her stomach sink. At the same time, it made her wonder whether it was Cara or Chanel who was going around and telling people about that. It wasn't like the girls were fighting for her support, so she wasn't trying to make it seem like her friendship to either of them meant anything, but over the past few weeks she had put more thought into which one of them was being truthful about that entire CPS situation. This was just one more thing to think about, in terms of trustworthiness, too.

"No... I actually think I'm going to get to bed," she said, somewhat sheepishly, in response to him asking if she was going to open the gifts. As she stood up, she continued with, "I should be taking advantage of the time I get to sleep, when Holly's not awake." She looked to Brooklyn then, nodding and mustering up a smile as she said, "Thanks for the drink," before dumping the rest of it in the sink and leaving the empty glass there. Passing by the table once more, she took the bags, offered them one more smile, and headed for the bedroom hallway. Aubree still had the shower running, which would have made Makayla roll her eyes, had she not decided that she was done with this day. She walked past it without giving it another glance, but instead of turning into her own bedroom, she continued and opened up Cara's door. The room was dark, and obviously unoccupied, but all Makayla did was set the two gift bags down against the wall a few feet inside of the room, before turning around, shutting the door behind her, and heading into her bedroom. Clearly, everyone already thought that she was mooching off of Cara. She didn't need to give the blonde any more reasons, in the form of Christmas gifts, to prove that point as being true.

Setting

4 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Roman Killens
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Brooklyn had a bad tendency of justifying her own wrong actions as being right, and crucifying people for their own wrong actions without giving them even a partial benefit of the doubt. That was something that was very true tonight, when she didn't consider that maybe Roman had reason to be in the bad mood that he was clearly in. It wasn't clear in a direct sense, where his face was shaded red and there was smoke coming out of his ears, but just in how unexpectedly biting his words were. He first brought up Nick's affair with Cara, which automatically shifted Brooklyn's disposition. Had she not been so caught off guard, she might have actually struck him across the face just for that, but then he continued, and called out Makayla on needing Cara to give her free rent, and that just seemed like a low blow. It was something that probably wasn't too low for her to say, because after all, Brooklyn had a tendency of saying a lot of things that were cringe worthy, but in her mind it was easier to justify than Roman saying it. Brooklyn was the one who had to deal with Holly waking her up and touching her things and annoying her. Brooklyn was the one who had went out of her way to get Makayla and job, and a pretty good one at that! She had a right to be nasty to those girls because her actions otherwise, proved that the bad things she did could be balanced out by the good. It was like how Brooklyn felt like she could jokingly be mean to Roman, because they were on that level where there was an understanding that it wasn't serious. Roman definitely was not on any sort of level close to that with Makayla, and just by the way he said it, Brooklyn could tell that he wasn't trying to be funny or amusingly passive aggressive. He was just being an asshole, and Makayla's reaction to it showed that she interpreted it in the same way.

She waited until Makayla was gone before snatching the bottle of vodka back from his hands, and getting to her feet. "Are you kidding me?" she nearly growled, a stark change in disposition from the happier drunk she had been just minutes before. The only similarity, really, was that just as she was being a bit overly happy compared to her normal self, before, she was also being overly angry and dramatic, given the circumstances. "Go fuck yourself, Roman. I make a reference to how crazy Cara is for calling you a heroin addict, and you think it's okay to fucking rub it in my face that Nick slept with another person? And you think it's okay to criticize this girl for not being able to pay her rent? Because forgive me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it your fucking ass that I took in at Finn's when you were just some little homeless bitch washing dishes? And fuck, wasn't it your little bitch ass that Nick and I decided to let room with us when we moved out of there? Because we didn't wanna rent a studio apartment and have to leave you for dead? Isn't that right?" Now, she was making it seem like having Roman around was more of a chore or a pity action than it really was, and it genuinely wasn't that way, but she was drunk and willing to claim that to prove her point. "But this girl who's supporting her mentally-fucking-challenged sister needs to feel like shit on Christmas Eve because you've grown a pair of balls overnight, huh? Get the fuck out of here and don't hit me up anymore." By then, it was probably pretty obvious that she was being far more dramatic than necessary, and the alcohol was definitely playing a big part in that. She had been standing just a foot or so away from him as she berated his behavior, but turned back to the table, shaking her head and stating, "that pissed me off", more to herself than to him, as she snatched her phone angrily from the counter. "You better hurry back over to your apartment. Is it your turn to get on your knees for Nick tonight, or the other way around?" she taunted, expecting him to already be on his way out, and not wanting to give him a chance to fire back at her, as she kept her eyes focused on her phone while typing out a message to someone who she hadn't spoken to in weeks.

To: Nick
Get your little fuckboy out of my apartment before I stab him

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Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Colton King
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Christmas Eve was turning out to be an even more random string of events than Thanksgiving was. Moving apartments and crashing someone else's Thanksgiving dinner seemed extreme, but with Kacey by his side that night, things felt more familiar and reasonable. Showing up at the door of some girl who probably didn't have a single care in the world for him, with a bottle of wine, and then finding out that she wasn't home and hadn't been home in a while, was out of Colton's character to begin with. Follow that up with him staying at that apartment with one of her roommates and smoking an enormous amount of weed with the guy, and this was definitely a holiday to go down in the books. While it was undeniably strange, Colton wasn't complaining. Considering that Nick was a drug dealer, it shouldn't have been surprising that the strain of weed that they were smoking seemed to be a good one, and Colton's high felt strong, but not in a way where he was freaking out. He was more relaxed than he had felt in a while, and that chillness made not knowing Nick unimportant as they devoured a pizza, continued to smoke, and watched television.

"Bro, I didn't know you were fucking Chanel. Nice catch, nice catch," Nick nodded in approval after breathing out a cloud of smoke. Because he smoked so regularly, it was sometimes a little bit harder to get a high that felt this authentic. Considering that he and Colton had smoked at least twice as much as Nick normally smoked a day just in the past hour, though, it wasn't all that surprising that he was feeling it tonight. Even after eating more than half of the pizza he had ordered, his munchies were still prevalent, and as he nodded towards the bong, signaling that Colton was free to take another hit if he wanted to, he stood up from the couch. "The only thing I'm gonna warn you about her, though, is that she's one of those girls who shops at Whole Foods and shit. She's probably a fucking vegan and shit, man. I don't know if that's the kind of girl you wanna tie down because, you know, those are the types that start telling you they're not gonna shave their legs or their armpits anymore, and soon enough she'll be telling you you've gotta switch to one-ply toilet paper to help save the environment and shit. All that weird hippie shit. My word of advice to you, man, is that if she's not gonna eat meat in a restaurant, then you shouldn't trust her with your meat in her mouth in bed. Fuck, she'll probably be the type who won't even wanna do that. I mean, it's your call, dude, because she is hot and shit, but I don't know if I'd take hot at that price."

"Fucking her?" Colton repeated, confused at Nick bringing that up after what had to have been at least twenty minutes of silence as they watched television. He was probably referring to what brought Colton to the apartment in the first place, with the bottle of wine as a gift, but if that was it, then it probably spoke more about how Colton wasn't close with Chanel, if he didn't even know that she was out of town. He was too high to go into that deep of a thought process to figure that out though, so he just shrugged. "I wish I was fucking her but I don't think she even wants to be friends, nonetheless whatever you are with someone when they start choosing what toilet paper you should buy. But you really think that? I don't know, I kind of feel like she'd be the kind of girl who'd be wild in bed." He shook his head when Nick offered him another hit of the bong. His high was strong enough, and as he leaned his head back into the couch, he knew that it wouldn't be smart to smoke any more right now. "Speaking of that, though- how was your girl in bed? Kacey told me that you're not with her anymore, but the blonde girl? Brooklyn? She seems like she'd be a nice catch."

Setting

5 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Colton King
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Roman knew good and well that what he said couldn't be justified, at least to Makayla. His jab at Brooklyn was low in comparison to the one she'd made at him, but he could reason that he was in a more irritated mood after that. With Makayla, though, he didn't really have any real defense. He'd said it nonchalantly enough to insinuate that he wasn't trying to start anything, but he was also blase enough afterwards to prove that he didn't really care regardless. Roman could tell from the way she promptly excused herself that what he'd said struck a chord, and the only regret he had following was wishing it was that easy to get Brooklyn to back off, even though Makayla didn't really need to be backed off to begin with. While he did like Makayla because she'd never done anything to bother him and seemed to always worry about herself, which he appreciated, he didn't like her to the extent to where he really felt like he owed her anything, like his sympathy or apology. What was true was true, and he didn't think it was something to get embarrassed over if it was something you agreed to. Of course, this was him rationalizing and not wanting to admit how out of line he was. It was a shortcut excuse, and one that was easy to use as he focused his attention on Brooke, who'd turn from noticeably more tolerable to noticeably more intolerable within a few seconds.

As she went on, he slowly sipped his drink, raising his eyebrow in response as her words got more aggressive. If this were an actual argument and not all around misdirection, then he would have taken her words personally, because there was no reason being called a heroine addict would hurt more than what she was saying. But this wasn't' a real argument that was happening, and he figured she was only blowing up like this because, for one, she'd been drinking, and two because he matched her. If you asked him, he would tell you that Brooke was the one who handed out the harsher of the insults and it was he who tended to stay mild because he knew how quick Brooke could snap. This was what happened when he decided to go head to head and challenge her, and was something he avoided for obvious reasons. And while he wasn't expecting this kind of backlash, he also wasn't too phased by it. The anger Brooklyn felt over his words to Makayla were phony and just overflow from what Roman had said to her about Nick. It would be a lie to say that what she was saying had absolutely no weight on him. It stirred him enough to make him roll his eyes and grumble at her, but again, he didn't take her words as personally as he normally would have. As he was brushing most of what was happening tonight aside, like his grandparents and Cara, this was no exception and was easier to do just because it had become habitual by tonight. There was a chance it would irk him more tomorrow, but not because it was something that he'd never heard before and made him overthink it. He'd had the same thoughts, worried about his place and being in the way. He didn't like owing people anything, and he proved to not always be a good friend to Nick and Brooke when he needed to validate to himself that he didn't need them, or anyone for that matter. While tonight what he'd said to Brooke didn't have anything to do with that, her words not entirely sticking did because it was something he'd heard before. Maybe not from Brooklyn or Nick, but from himself. And he'd heard and dealt with similar sentiment from other people for long enough to where it wasn't so hard to ignore. He knew he messed up and what he did was wrong, but Roman didn't like being wrong under any circumstance, and similar to Brooke, was hesitant to ever own up to it. And Brooklyn's reaction only made it that much easier to withhold any apology he already wasn't going to give.

Setting the glass on the table, he laughed beneath his breath and shook his head. He wasn't going to argue with Brooke. There was no reason to, although reason clearly hadn't sat well with him the majority of the night, so it had more to do with the fact that he was tired and not in an instigating mood. He could continue to go head to head with Brooklyn if he wanted, he could keep taking things too far, but he wasn't actually in that bad a mood, just a weird one. Although he would say he wasn't trying to hurt Brooke's feelings, which it was clear he did, he couldn't have possibly thought that something else would have happened. Brooklyn wasn't one to be consoled, and wasn't one for consoling, so he began to leave, only taking her cutting him off as a grain of salt, if that. Before he got a few steps across the kitchen, though, he stopped and looked at Brooke, her back to him and texting someone. With the intent of being more annoying than malice--though perhaps his taking so lightly of Brooke's reaction had some maliciousness to it on its own--he walked back over to her. Wrapping his arm around her from behind, he leaned down towards her, the humor clear on his tongue. "So does that mean I won't get a Christmas present from you tomorrow?" he said, only to be elbowed and pushed back immediately following, with Brooklyn saying, "Are you fucking deaf? Get out of my apartment," was none too surprising. He doubled back enough to where he wasn't touching her anymore, but was still close to her. Roman moved around so that he was more in front of her, a slight smile on his lips. "Was that Nick you were texting?" he said.

"I'm sure you'd love it if it was, wouldn't you? You always got off on being the third wheel, fucking creep." Brooklyn said. Roman gaped and frowned, feigning more hurt than he actually felt. Moving around her, now completely disregarding her kicking him out, he sat on one of the chairs and looked at her. "Yeah, you mean third wheel like what you became when Nick started fucking Cara without a second thought? I do get off on it actually. Maybe if you did too, you wouldn't be such a tight ass." He cocked his head in mock contemplation and chewed his nail. He leaned against the counter, his cheek resting against his fist as he looked at her. "Nah, that's not what a third wheel is. A third wheel is someone who knowingly intrudes on a couple. Do you know how much better off the two of us would've been without you hanging around all the time? You're annoying. You were back then, and still are today. A fucking pest, that's what you are. Now get the fuck out of my apartment. Seriously. And I hope you feel guilty for what you said to her. Holly's like, fucking suicidal tonight, like shit that I've never even seen before, and I was trying to be a good person and make this girl feel better about her life and you had to come in here and make her feel like complete shit. It's not funny and it's not cool. You're just a complete asshole." Roman nodded some, as if in agreeance, and tugged the side of his mouth back as if to say 'Oh well.' Instead, though, as he stood, he said, "Yeah, I am. And you're Mother fucking Theresa, aren't you?" His voice was light, but also tight enough for it to come across as being the insult it was supposed to be. Without saying anything else, he walked past her and finally left, only ending up in his apartment seconds later, greeted by the thick smell of marijuana. He closed the door and looked towards the living room, seeing Nick and, to his surprise, Colton. He raised his brow then, but went towards the kitchen to look for something to eat. "Hey, Nick," he said, then glancing back towards Colton, but not saying it with much sincerity, "Sorry. Forgot your name."

Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Colton King
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Just as Colton brought up Brooklyn, Nick's phone, which was in his pocket, vibrated, alerting him of a text from her. The vibration against his leg freaked him out at first, given his dazed state, and he actually chuckled aloud when he realized that he had been startled by his own phone, once he pulled it out. "Dude, that's so weird. She just texted me," Nick said, his attention focused on the phone and reading Brooklyn's message, and then rereading it four more times until he could actually garner enough focus to actually process what it said. Even high, it didn't take a second thought to know that she was referring to Roman, because they didn't really share any other mutual friends, nonetheless ones that Brooklyn would feel the need to contact him over. It was weird getting a text from her after she had left him with the silent treatment for so long, and if he were sober, the significance of the text would have resonated with him a lot more than it did now. He was too relaxed and out of it to be thrilled that she hadn't blocked his number (or, had at least temporarily unblocked it), or that she clearly didn't hate him that much now, if she could stand to even just send him a text message. "Uh, but yeah, she was fucking awesome in bed, man. Like, you know how they say 'you don't know what you've got til it's gone'? I knew what I had, man, and it was amazing. That's what makes me so much more of a fuck up, because I knew how good I had it and I still blew it." Just as quickly as he had gotten somber and sentimental, and grin cracked on his face, and he added, "There aren't too many girls nowadays who are willing to go at it anywhere, any time. Brooke was the definition of a perfect woman, man. Really fucking perfect." The sober Nick would disagree with "perfect" being a word to accurately describe Brooklyn. Maybe she was perfect for him, because they were both broken and fucked up in their own ways, but she certainly had her flaws, just like he did.

He had momentarily forgotten about her text, but when his phone buzzed once more, this time with one of his clients asking him if he could deliver to him on the 26th, he recalled that he hadn't answered her. His response of "Fuck, what's up? Need me to kick his ass?" wasn't even one that was being playful, as it would probably be perceived, since Nick was obviously good friends with Roman, and would never actually want to fight him. He was out of it enough tonight that he wasn't in a fighting mood, but he also felt an innate need to protect Brooklyn, so if she wanted him to step in, he would, and his foggy mind right now made it easier for him to not even think that through. She responded almost immediately with, "If I wanted him dead, I'd do it myself. You can escort him out on your way to bring me two grams, pre-rolled into joints for me." As soon as Nick got that text, he had abandoned his search for food in the kitchen and without even considering to offer Colton an explanation, he disappeared into his bedroom. Brooklyn could call Roman a fuckboy all she wanted, but it was apparent that he wasn't the only one who could live up to that nickname, given how quickly Nick was willing to jump on the chance to win some brownie points for Brooklyn. In expert time, he weighed three grams of weed on a scale (purposely adding one more than she wanted), and rather than roll them for her, he grabbed a pipe that he knew she would usually use from his collection, and tucked it into his pocket. With Brooklyn's apartment being just across the hallway, he didn't feel the need to hide the plastic bag of weed in anything that might conceal it. When he returned to the main area of the apartment, Roman was just walking through the door, and he greeted him casually. Nick was too high to seem truly aggressive or agitated, and he couldn't switch tasks from walking to the door to acknowledge Roman right away, so it wasn't until he was already halfway out the front door that he turned back just for a second, to say to Roman, "If what I heard was true, that you were fucking with my girl, I'm gonna deck you when I get back here." He had shut the door less than a second after saying that, though, not leaving much time for Roman to answer, before crossing the hallway and knocking on the door.

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Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Aubree Wright
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Aubree made the most of her time in the shower, partly because it was nice to just have time to unwind and relax in the steaming hot space, but also because she assumed that Holly and Brooklyn were still sitting on the couch that was supposed to be her bed. There was no use in hurrying out there, just to have to awkwardly sit beside them until they were finished watching, especially after Holly had made a huge show about how she didn't want Aubree to stay there. That in itself had taken Aubree by surprise. She wasn't surprised so much, that the girl lacked manners and had the temperament of a five year old, so the temper tantrum wasn't shocking. The way that she had been so upfront and rude had been more unexpected though, because that wasn't what she remembered Holly to be like. She was disrespectful in terms of defying any sort of social barriers that people put up, but no matter how many times she had been reprimanded for that, she always seemed to do it again. Aubree knew that she had never been quite as sisterly to Holly as Makayla was, but could she be blamed? She had been convinced, day after day, by her mother, that Holly's skank of a mother was the one who came in and took their place in the apartment. They were kicked to the curb the second those two showed up, and Aubree had to beg her father for a bed in that house, just to keep herself out of a homeless shelter. That instilled the initial dislike she had for Holly in her, but then the girl didn't make her case any easier to work with. Aubree would come home from a long day at school, only to find more of her father's "girls" in her house, usually high on dope, in the process of shooting dope, or cooking it. Sometimes they would bring their kids with them, and the house would reek of diapers that hadn't been changed, and vomit that hadn't been cleaned up from the people who couldn't handle the night before's binge drinking.

If Makayla was the one watching Holly and those other kids who were in the house, than Aubree often times found herself being forced to do a lot of the housekeeping. It wasn't like her doing the dishes that tended to pile up at an alarming rate, or trying to kill off the roaches that always seemed to seep out of the cracks in between the floor and the wall, did much to make the apartment actually livable, but it was a daunting task for a teenager who just wanted a normal life. When all of that was over, and she had faced her own sets of verbal abuse from her father and anyone else in the house who felt like they were authoritative figures, she would hurry off to her bedroom in hopes of just getting a moment's peace, and hopefully, one that didn't involve finding some stranger passed out in her bed. So could she be blamed when day after day (and coincidentally, usually on her worst days) Holly had defied her countless warnings and was in her bedroom, touching her things? Aubree didn't think so. No one in their home had much in terms of material things, so no, she didn't think she was overreacting when Holly would smear her dollar store brand lipstick all over a sheet of paper as if it were a crayon, or when she would be rummaging through her things and accidentally knock over and break a five dollar bottle of knock off perfume. It wasn't like she was directly telling her father to physically abuse Holly, or her uncle to do more than that... Sure, she knew that that was what was coming, when she did snitch on the young girl, but what else was she supposed to do? Telling her to stay out didn't work, and in Aubree's own defense, she was struggling with her own problems and her own stress, and as someone who was also just a minor at the time, it wasn't right of any of the adults in the house to expect her to be able to cope with that, on top of Holly. Aubree had never felt much real remorse for what she had indirectly put Holly through, but that was mostly because after she moved out, she rarely ever saw or spoke to Makayla or Holly. It was one of those things where if she didn't see the problem, it no longer existed, and though maybe if she was to spend more time with Holly, she would feel bad, right now, the way that Holly had treated her initially wasn't a reaction that was going to lead to much repentance on Aubree's part. She wasn't mature enough to accept her wrongdoing right away.

After at least an hour in the shower, Aubree got out and changed into her pajamas, which consisted of nothing more than a tank top and a pair of underwear. She was so used to wearing that where she used to live that she didn't think twice about doing it here, and even if she wanted to wear something else, she didn't actually own any real pajamas, and wearing real clothes meant that she would be one outfit closer to having to do laundry, which wasn't helpful. Thankfully, her shower cap had done her well and her hair that had been straightened the day before was still dry when she unveiled it. She pulled it back into a loose braid before putting all of her belongings back into her bag, and carrying it out into the living room. She was happily surprised to find that Holly was no where in sight, and the couch was empty, and the television was turned off. The only person in the room was the blonde from earlier, who still hadn't introduced herself, leading Aubree to still assume she was Cara. She looked like she was focused on her phone, so after setting her bag down next to the couch, Aubree approached her. "Are you done with the couch now? And do you know if the two of them already asleep?" Although she didn't see a clock in the near vicinity, she assumed that it couldn't be much later than nine or nine thirty, which seemed pretty early to go to bed. The knock at the door caught her attention, but again, despite her skimpy attire, she didn't think to leave the room despite the good possibility of someone else coming in now. Since it wasn't her place, though, all she did was look towards the door, and then back at Brooklyn, somewhat curiously.

Setting

4 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Roman Killens Character Portrait: Aubree Wright
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Brooklyn would gladly take being sarcastically called Mother Teresa. Just because her track record didn't point to her being very nice didn't mean that tonight she wasn't acting that way, and even if she didn't have ground to criticize someone else for being unnecessarily mean, she was going to. Today was Christmas Eve, after all, so it seemed like a given that you were supposed to drop the attitude. Clearly, Roman hadn't gotten the memo, and Brooklyn was just glad that he finally left before she spewed any more hateful words that she didn't genuinely mean. She took a seat once again, refilling her glass again with tequila before doing so, and looking through her phone aimlessly as she waited for Nick to come over. Smoking wasn't one of Brooklyn's go-to vices, since alcohol and shopping usually filled those voids, but she was already going hard on the alcohol and she had done enough shopping this week. Besides, while she would never admit it, there was a tiny little part of her that wanted to see Nick. She hadn't even crossed paths with him in weeks, and she wanted to see how distraught and in pieces he was. She wanted the gratification of seeing that he wasn't well and thriving without her, as if she was the glue that held his life together. Aside from wanting to see him for selfish reasons though, there was another small part of her that just wanted to see him to see him. To be in his presence and know, for more genuine reasons, that he was alive and at least surviving. He didn't need to be thriving, because that would mean that he was better without her, but alive and breathing would work.

Aubree's voice caught Brooklyn by surprise, mostly because she had forgotten about the girl entirely, especially now that Makayla was gone. She figured that she was the only one left up, but as the girl pranced over to her, she was proven wrong. "Yeah to both questions, but I'm going to be smoking in here, so if you're not into weed, you should probably hop back into the shower." She didn't say it in a harsh tone, more of just a matter-of-fact one. Brooklyn easily could have smoked in her own bedroom but she didn't want her room to smell like that. She knew it wasn't particularly kind to force the common area of the apartment to smell like it either, but she knew that Makayla wouldn't have a problem with it, and quite frankly, she didn't care if Aubree would. That was probably made clear, right then and there, and Brooklyn didn't feel guilty about it. Especially not when she noticed Aubree's attire, which she would admit didn't look bad on someone with a figure worth showing off like she had, but also wasn't something that she wanted to be flaunted around when Nick was coming over. That in itself was something that Brooklyn wished she didn't even think about, because she was done with Nick, and she knew that he was a pig already, so she shouldn't have been surprised anyway, if his eyes focused in on Aubree instead of her when he got there, but still... After Roman's comments, the last thing that she needed was to be reminded about how she wasn't good enough to keep her own boyfriend's attention. "She probably doesn't wanna be bothered, but if you want to tell Makayla without waking Holly up, she can light up with me if she wants. If she comes out and you're into smoking, I'll share with you too." If Makayla wasn't going to come out, then all Aubree was going to get was the second hand smoke that circulated around the room, though. Maybe it was rude, and it was definitely impolite, but Brooklyn didn't care. Now that she looked at Aubree again, what she was wearing was definitely bothering her more than she thought it was, and it seemed like that need to prove that she was better than this girl who was taller and thinner and more attractive, made Brooklyn even bitchier than she normally would have been. The fact that Roman had utterly destroyed her good mood might have played into that as well, though.

Without another word to Aubree, she went to answer the door, knowing that it was Nick before she even opened it up. Since it wasn't a surprise visit, she felt more prepared to see him for the first time in a while, especially since she had initiated it, and had given a valid reason for it, other than just wanting to see him. Still, just seeing his face did... something... to her, and it made her look past his bloodshot eyes and the very potent odor of marijuana that came off of him as she motioned for him to come inside, once she saw the bag of weed in his hand. "Did you miss the part where I asked you to roll the joints for me? You know I don't carry rolling paper on me," she said, sighing a bit dramatically, almost in a playful manner, as if she was goading a response out of him. "How much do I owe you though? It better be a full two grams. Don't jip me, Moreno." Given their most recent interactions, which weren't exactly recent, it was surprising that she was actually being playful with him. The glass of tequila in her hand was an easy excuse for that, however.

Setting

3 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Nick Moreno Character Portrait: Brooklyn West Character Portrait: Aubree Wright
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Nick hadn't seen Brooklyn in a few weeks, so standing face to face with her felt almost surreal. Maybe he was too high, but as he stood in the doorway as she spoke, he didn't even hear much of what she was saying. All that was going through his mind was "Man, isn't she beautiful?". And she was. In pajamas and sporting a face free of makeup, she was beautiful. She wasn't any less when she was all dolled up and ready to go out to work for the night, but it was this Brooklyn that he missed the most. The one who was real and natural, in more ways than just the physical sense. He was too high to catch on to how drunk she was, but that wouldn't have mattered to him anyway. For one, it wasn't all that surprising, and two, if her being drunk meant that she was more likely to text him, than he would treat her bad habit as if it was a gift from God himself. "Come on, you know I'm not gonna take money from you. Consider it a Christmas gift."

"I don't want a Christmas gift from you. Seriously, how much do I owe you? Twenty a gram?" She pressed, thinking that that sounded familiar as something he had said before. Brooklyn wasn't a frequent smoker, but she did it when she felt the need to. Alcohol was just easier and usually more enjoyable for her, but weed gave her a different buzz that she thought would feel nice tonight. Nick wasn't even looking at Aubree, but Brooklyn was insecure, especially now after realizing for herself that Aubree was very attractive, so she jumped the gun, as if to protect herself from feeling bad if she did catch Nick looking at her. "And that's Aubree, Makayla's sister. She's getting ready for bed, as you can see, so come into my room so we don't disturb her." She didn't give Aubree a chance to insist that they weren't bothering her, if that was what she was going to do, and she purposely accentuated the "my" in her sentence, as if to remind Nick that it was no longer his room... that they were over, and it was his fault. He was the one who had lost something, not her. At the same time, she wasn't leading him into privacy out of respect for Aubree's peace and quiet because as she had made clear earlier, she didn't really care about the girl. The alcohol was the only thing that could be blamed for the stark change in how she was interacting with Nick, but right now, she wanted to reason that time had the power to heal things. Maybe she had only needed a month to heal things with him enough where one night seemed okay.

Nick was in enough of a daze that he hadn't noticed Aubree in the room at first, and even when Brooklyn explained who she was, he barely had time to process that and then offer her a wave of acknowledgment. In fact, he didn't even have time to conjure up a good answer to any of her questions, before she was leading him down the bedroom hallway that was all too familiar to him. Although he hadn't actually resided there in weeks, with how little he was at his new apartment, this one still felt like more of his home. With Brooklyn gripping his arm and pulling him towards the bedroom, it only felt more familiar. "Just take it, Brooke," he said as they walked. "And I brought you that old pipe you always liked using. Figured you'd prefer that over me rolling them into joints for you." He managed to get the glass pipe out of his pocket and handed it to her once they were in her bedroom, hoping that she would just take it all and not continue to push the payment thing. He would never take money from her. Even with Roman, he sometimes felt guilty for accepting payment. It wasn't good for his business to be handing out his product for free, and Nick knew that (and was reminded of it at the end of every month when he felt his wallet grow too light for comfort), but he had too much of a conscience. He was always overthinking things and feeling guilty, even if he didn't verbalize it, and well, when it came to Brooklyn, guilt was all that he felt when he thought of her, lately. If weed was going to be his form of payment in making things good with her again, he didn't think that giving her a million dollars worth of pot for free would even make him feel like they were even for what he had done. He knew that their relationship hadn't been healthy before he had cheated, and that, he couldn't only blame himself for, but he had fucked up big time by cheating on Brooklyn. Not only because he lost her, but because he hurt her.

Setting

2 Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makayla Wright Character Portrait: Holly Maddon
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"Should I wear my new sweater first? Or my new shirt? Or should I wear the shirt under the sweater? And then what about for my pants?! I could wear the jeans until dinner time and then the leggings until I go to bed, right? Do you think I should do that?" Despite being indoors at a very comfortable temperature, the pair of knit gloves that Makayla had gifted to her were on her hands, and had been for the past hour. She had purchased her a new set of gloves, a pair of sneakers, a pair of jeans and leggings, a sweater and a new shirt. As she stood beside Makayla in the kitchen, she couldn't even wait for her sister to respond before squeezing her arm and saying, "This is the best Christmas ever, I hope Brooklyn wakes up soon so I can show her all of my new things. Do you think she forgot that it's Christmas? You're supposed to wake up before breakfast time on Christmas, and it's past lunch time and she's still not awake. I know that you said that I shouldn't, but I really think that I should go in and make sure that she isn't locked in her closet."

"No, no, no. She likes to sleep late, you know that, Holl," she said, placing the last dirty plate in the dishwasher and looking to her sister sternly as she closed it up and turned it on. Brooklyn not being awake at this hour wasn't shocking at all, but Makayla knew that today, Brooklyn wasn't sleeping in because she had been up all night at work. She hadn't worked, for one, but additionally, earlier this morning, Aubree had informed her, pretty casually, about Brooklyn bringing some guy into her room, and as far as she had known, him never leaving. From Aubree's description, specifically the reference to weed, Makayla was almost certain it was Nick, which was... an interesting development in itself, and she almost hoped that Aubree hadn't just slept through Nick sleeping, so that she could see for herself if it really was him. If Nick had left while Aubree was awake, it would have had to have been before six in the morning, because Holly had woken up at a quarter before six. Needless to say, by two in the afternoon, Makayla was already tired, but luckily, it wasn't a heavy tired or one where she wished that she not only was asleep, but was dead, which was a good thing given how low she had felt a few months, and even weeks, back.

Holly's enthusiasm all day had been sweet and comforting, especially considering how upset she had been the night before. Aubree had been surprisingly considerate in keeping her distance all morning, and although Makayla had wanted her out by the crack of dawn, she felt too guilty to throw her out on Christmas morning. The girl had disappeared from the apartment for most of the morning, leaving her and Holly time to eat breakfast together, watch a movie, write a letter to Holly's mother and then walk around the block to mail the letter (and also kill off some of Holly's energy). They even had time to get bagels from a local bagelry, and bring them back to the apartment, and Aubree still wasn't back yet. Makayla would have considered the possibility that she had headed Makayla's demands and left on her own will, but her bags were still placed next to the couch, so she knew that wasn't the case. Makayla didn't focus on it too much though, because though tired, the day was panning out well enough. Shockingly, too, even with only shoes, gloves, two pairs of pants and two tops as Christmas gifts, Holly had been so pleased that the iPhone she had been begging for hadn't been brought up once. Makayla didn't even know that the gift bags that she had placed in Cara's room the night before contained that, and maybe it was better that she didn't know. A gift like that would make what Roman said sting even more to accept, because she didn't want to be that person who accepted freebies and handouts and lived off of other people's pity. At the same time, she didn't want to be put in a position where she either had to accept that side, or deprive Holly of something that she really wanted and could benefit from. "I'm glad that you like everything, though," Makayla followed up, as she smiled and continued on, thoughtfully, "I think you should just pick one of each thing to wear today - and lose the gloves until we go outside, so that whatever you don't wear is clean for you to wear tomorrow."