[IC] REBOOT COMING SOON. INVITE ONLY.

[Bee]

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_{Location | buttfuck nowhere
Interacting with | AJ @TootsiePop, Val @Dirty Pretty Lies, Matt @Legion02}

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The last few hours had been a blur for Ellie. If you put a gun to her head and asked her what had just happened, she honestly wouldn't be able to give you the answer that you probably wanted. Time had flown so quickly, that she failed to really remember what was going on and what she was doing. It was a ferocious rush to get ready, considering she wasn't exactly the most ready person on this roadtrip. Luckily, Ellie had the amazing ability to pack light.

One minute she was at In-N-Out and the next she was in her car trailing behind an RV that was admittedly no longer operational.

Pulling over at the side of the road, the gang had made a momentary stop in order to see what exactly was up with that aptly assigned RV of the Misfits. The sun was beating down on the gang like a teenager who had just figured out how to lock the bathroom door. It was hot, it was sweaty, and it was mucky. But, people were in need of assistance. There was no better crowd to break down next to than the gearheads. Who better to ask than the people who literally lived and breathed oil and petroleum? Okay maybe not literally but the point still stands.

Ellie was idly standing by the engine, trying to locate the source of the rather noxious liquids that had escaped the confines of their container. Admittedly, it was a little difficult to try to figure out what was going on. She wasn't entirely used to the layout of the RV's engine bay, considering that it was arranged a little differently than say, her Nissan GT-R. Maybe it was coolant? Maybe the oil sump had busted and starved the engine of much needed oil. In either case, it was severe enough to render the RV inoperable, and in a place like this, it was practically a death sentence.

Speaking of death sentences, however, Ellie was snapped out of her problem solving process when she heard some yelling behind her. It wasn't the good kind of yelling, either. Turning around, she saw a couple of bodies hit the ground with a lot of yelling and commotion coming from it. Ellie's eyes widened as much as they could, before she rushed in and tried to save them. But as soon as she got there, she only managed to run up behind Matt before they were separated. AJ had quite the shiner already... or was that the sun reflecting off of the road or something? Ellie wasn't sure what was on his face, but she did know that an assault had just taken place.

Before she could really say anything herself, Matt interjected with his own opinion, which pretty much lined up with what she was about to say. It was like he took the words out of her mind - but nobody could prove it considering she stayed quiet. Silence had fallen onto the crowd, which gave Ellie the perfect time to add her two cents in, and maybe start getting more involved with whatever the group was doing.

"Yeah... you guys definitely need some time apart from each other." Ellie trailed, before glancing back at her car and back at the RV. "If uh... one of you guys needs a ride.. there's a seat in my car.

[BrutalBx]

x x x “What’s up marks? It’s your girl, Gwen coming at you live however you listen or watch this thing. Before we get started, a few messages from our sponsors...who am I kidding? Nobody is sponsoring this fucking mess. Though I do have a message from everyone’s favourite hustler; a reminder The Presidents Game starts live on Twitch at Midnight tomorrow, make sure you’re tuned in. Also Dare Night is fast approaching, are you all in yet? I know I am. Now onto the gossip, the summer has already started with a bang for the Misfits, quite literally actually. When last we left our heroes they were travelling deep into the Nevada desert only for a certain Gearhead to run them off the road. Accidentally I’m told but with AJ fucking Tyler you never can tell. Seems our two road crews met on a lonely stretch of highway in the twilight zone and had a few crossed words. All is well now though apparently, a tow truck got them out of there but I’m told the Misfit RV is pretty much toast. How are they gonna get out of this one? If I had a drone, I’d send it to Red Rock to try and find out. Last thing I heard, both of our intrepid traveler groups were at a campground outside of Vegas, breaking bread, eggs and downing tequila body shots, color me jealous. Could this be the start of a supergroup? Beverly Hills answer to the Avengers perhaps? I can’t wait to find out. This next one goes out to my dearest road warriors, you hear me babies? The sun is setting and the world is yours; this is Paint the Silence by South” Written by BrutalBx

---

The last few hours had been long and arduous. A tow truck had arrived and taken the RV to a nearby town and the Misfits albeit reluctantly hitched a ride with the gearheads. Unfortunately the RV was toast and there was no way to fix it. A grand start to their summer adventure, that’s what he was hoping for and in a roundabout way that’s what they got. By chance the GH were also heading to Red Rock Canyon so the Misfits hitches a ride to the campgrounds to weigh out their options. They could go home, well some of them could. Sami didn’t have a home, not anymore. He had no intention of returning to LA after this journey. This was a one way trip for him. He had no idea where he was going to end up he just knew that Santa Monica was not it.

As the others gathered around the fire listening to the velvet tones of the rock n roll queen herself Gwen Morgan, there was a burning sun slowly giving way to moonlight and dark skies above them. Samuel sat on the edge of the world staring out into the Nevada abyss. Beyond the tree line we’re some simple wooden cabins which the group were using for however long they were in Red Rock and a few miles beyond that was Sin City itself Las Vegas. He had planned to surprise everyone with a trip to the strip with some money he had won at McCarthy’s last poker game. He could still do that or he could use the money to find a new set of wheels. He wasn’t sure what his next move would be as his mind was clouded with a thousand other thought clouds.

The meds were doing nothing to stop Sami's Mind from racing or his heart from pulsing. Awashed with a feeling of regret he hung his beaten head in shame. The party was over before it had even started. No. The Misfits weren’t going out like this. Not with a whimper, if they were going out they were going out with bigger bang than an RV engine. What do we say to the God of Death?

Not today.

Emerging from his secluded area with conviction, Sami positioned himself at the centre of the group. ”Dip into your trust funds kids, put on your finest gear and get rid of all of your fear. We’re going to Vegas and we’re going to take the house for all it’s worth”

[Plank Sinatra]

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Location | Red Rock
Los Angeles Time | 8:41 PM / London Time | 4:41 AM / Moscow Time | 6:41 AM
Interacting with | blackjack and hookers / pink starburst
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Las Vegas. How quaint.

Aleks had spent many of his formative years in London, a city as refined and stuffy as the collars of its monarchs; any gambling would have been done from the safety of a laptop, numbers punched into a keyboard where only the computer screen glowed. Las Vegas, the mythic neon city on the hill, sang of vices untold - as a child who would toss pounds away casually while learning the ropes of blackjack, he dreamed of a city where everything from the buildings to the asphalt of the streets glowed radioactive with neon and promise. Throwing in his lot with Yessi upon his arrival in California meant that every break from school was practically a roulette (ha, ha) - a "Papi, where are we going?" and a curt "It's your jet." in reply. One of the only destinations Aleks had suggested over four years of misadventure was Las Vegas. Yessi's roots ran deep there, and her father owned a casino and hotel that Yessi promised could be their playground.

If it was a playground, then Aleks was the kid who found joy in trying to climb up the slide backwards, while Yessi was the girl who rose too high while on the swing and flew off, eating shit in the sandbox. If they wanted to watch boxing? Fine. Yessi just had to make off with one of his favorite pairs of sunglasses in order to afford the best seats. He would never see their like again. If they wanted to gamble while underage? It was no problem; her father wrote the rules. But the longer Aleks sat at the tables or machines, tap dancing on the tightrope of his good luck, the more bored Yessi grew sitting and watching him. The blackjack and poker hungered for his chips, but Yessi hungered for his attention. They spent fourteen nights and thirteen days rolling dice by day and rolling around a king-sized bed by night - and the windows were tinted the bronze-and-gold of Yessi's tan, so it was impossible to tell which was day and which was night unless they walked outside. By the time their plane touched down in LA again, the suspicion that there was more to do in the City of Sin was gnawing away at him.

Perhaps a larger group meant it would be easier for him to slip off and burn some money.

That was the best that could be said of the exponential growth of their travel group, sadly. Aleks had no real problem with any of the motley crew they had rescued from the RV, and a few of them he even liked - Val was ten feet of best friend wedged into a three foot tall body, and he and Jules shared similar temperament and tastes - but overall they had proven sullen about the loss of their road trip, and their rabid attitude towards AJ hadn't helped matters. Aleks and Yessi had managed to soothe the trust fund kid; Yessi had done so with words and Aleks by pushing Starburst into AJ's mouth with a long, dextrous index finger, pinks and reds, all the colors of Communism. But the truce that fell over the trenches was a Christmas truce, clearly temporary. Before long, the tempers would flare again. Or the tears. The blonde girl, Emilia, had broken into several crying fits; they made his heart hurt almost as much as they made the space behind his eyes ache.

Perhaps Vegas would be good for everybody. At least until every one of these misfits had cleaned out their savings accounts to try and buy a newer, shittier Winnebago and were reliant on the Gearheads for rides the rest of the way. Fuck, they should have just gone straight to Thailand. But they were long miles away from any airport, and the thought of Vegas was enough to keep Aleks patient and polite - it would be everyone else that was the problem.

He was biding the time by playing with a deck of cards he had brought along, practicing cutting the deck and various flashy ways of shuffling the cards. Yessi didn't have the patience to learn trick shuffling, or card or coin tricks, but Aleks preferred to keep his skills sharp - and keeping his attention on the deck to avoid an impromptu game of 52 Pickup was easier than paying attention to the fraying dynamics between the Gearheads and the Misfits.

frrrrrrrrrrip

shuffle shuffle shuffle

And at least he had plenty of Starburst left. For himself and for AJ. Would that Aleks had decided to be a mechanic.

[SkeankySnack]

～ ～ ～ ～ ～ ～ ～ ～ ～ ～

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Location | Red Rock
Time | 8:35 PM
Interacting with | Himself －－> Everyone Present
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"...It's been a few days since the start of my journey eastward, so far it's been great, I hit the Nevada desert today with the help of a truck driver and we had an excellent conversation. He told me all of his aspirations in life, all the places he's traveled, about his family and ailing mother. I offered my words and condolences, asked him if there was anything I could do, any form of compensation for picking up a wandering traveler such as myself. He declined, but he did appreciate the conversation, noting that he picked up travelers all the time for moments like these. Knowing where my destination was, he stopped at an intersection a few hours into our trip (somewhere near Baker, CA) and told me to keep on heading northeast, that it would get me to the southern most point in Nevada; Red Rock. He mentioned there was a camping ground there and I could probably make it in a day or two if I traveled fast enough. So far, I seem to be making great time, while a day has passed, today's sun is only starting to truly set and while darkness is beginning to spread, there's an idle light off in the distance. Hopefully whoever it belongs to, will allow me to camp with them, it would be nice to sleep among the company of others..."

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Closing the worn out journal, Hugo stuffed the container of his current history and knowledge into his backpack; a traveler's pack filled with his worldly (if not smelly) possessions. A smile on his face, and a song in his heart, he continued on his journey east, placing the pencil he'd been writing with back into the handy human slot of his ear and temple. The graphite was rather worn down from his writing and the wood was terribly short from it's length due to his writing, but there was something endearing about using a pencil over pen. While it's true that his notebook was filled with several different types of ink and lead, something about using a pencil made it almost poetic. His memory was terrible, he'd known that from a young age, but using a pencil was almost like the real thing for him. Ink can be burned on the paper it is pressed into, but lead and graphite can be chosen to be erased; ergo while Hugo's memory was burned from him every day like ink, a pencil was his choice to burn that memory, it gave a sense of control. This all being said, Hugo was not one to abandon a memory that he experienced, and he's never chosen to 'burn' a memory that he's written down. He had the choice to remove a memory if he wanted to, but to Hugo, life was an experience he never wanted to forget, thus he wrote everything down, including the group of youths he was about to stumble upon.

The trucker had indeed been right, noting that there was a campsite in this area, it would certainly be more preferable than sleeping on the sandy ground, using a rock as a pillow in the harsh Nevada desert... well it would most likely still be the same given the circumstances of the group in front of him. As Hugo approached he noticed many of the faces there seemed either defeated, disheveled, or down right disappointed. Most likely not the best group to approach, but given his nature he couldn't help but at least try to interact with these youthful individuals who looked nearly a decade younger than him. As he got closer he called out to them.

"Bonjour Monsieurs~! Mademoiselles~! A fine night around the fire, no?!"

Without necessarily asking permission, he un-slung his backpack in between a couple of the members of the group there and sat down on it. Noticing the music playing on their device he couldn't help but take the guitar off his back and harmonize to notes being played, strumming his fingers along the strings, matching note for note in real time to the radio playing. Looking around to the group, a wide smile on his face he spoke, "My apologies les amis if I interrupted, I am simply another traveler looking to explore the world and your fire seemed so inviting." Continuing to strum along, looking down to his guitar and occasionally tuning it, he looked back and, same wide smile as before, "How has your day been?"

[LovelyComplex]

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Location | Camping grounds.
Interacting with | Errbody that is there.
Some directed to Hugo, some specifically directed to the Misfits, and only avoidance directed to Val.
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Laying on a blanket, salty drops trailing down his face from spending the past hour or two building himself a tent and going on a hike to clear his head, AJ needed to cool down. When he went on a hike, he had starburst in hand (sugary medicine to 'cheer the fuck up'), a water bottle latched to his belt, and a deliberate focus on the golden sun descending. As a precaution, and simply because he wanted to, he chose to make a tent and not rent out a cabin.

Fuck the cabins.

What's the point of camping if you're just going to resort to lodging? Pathetic. The lot of them. For being the 'pretty face, pampered one', who got on everyone's nerves, he seemed to be more comfortable getting down and dirty, more comfortable in the changing settings of nature, more comfortable with adapting, than a handful of them. You can thank his dad and Chris for that. His dad had the cliche rags to riches story, and Chris was Chris. Too prideful to take AJ's inherited money as kindness. If AJ lost it all, he believed he'd be fine. His mother and sister, on the other hand, not so much. That's okay. He'd take care of them.

Deeply sighing to himself, AJ rolled to his side, thinking about calling his Valentine. There was always the urge to rant to him. Did he have a problem? The problem of using Chris as a diary? Probably. But it helped. For clarity purposes. The fact that the trip was turning out to be a pain for him, somehow the Misfits tagging along too, when he had problems with people, specifically Tink, was total balls. The fact that Mandy bailed on them, not even saying goodbye but disappearing and leaving a text for him, was total balls. And don't get him started with the car ride where Emilia kept CRYING, all his efforts of cheering her up were TOTAL BALLS. Regardless, he kept his mood swings at bay, while glaring at the crackling fire projecting long shadows on the surrounding area. As much as he wanted to get lost in the glowing embers, his attention was brought to Sami's mention of Vegas.

Of course they'd want to go to Vegas too.

"I already have reservations at the Bellagio." His tone was barely enthused, "Surprise." His surprise felt empty due to everyone HATING him and Sami taking ALL the credit of a Sin City trip. "The invitation is open to everyone, and if you--" He pushed himself up to stare at the Misfits, purposely avoiding eye contact with Val, "-- aren't comfortable staying at the same pent as us, I'll just call my cousin for another room."

Being friends with AJ meant there were perks, and most that were close to him, knew his aunt, Theresa Kerkorian-Kable, had recently obtained her birthright, MGM Resorts International, which only elevated the status of his professional poker uncle, "The Archangel of Poker", Neil Kable, and his three cousins, Sonya, Elias, and Trent. To be honest, he felt their celebrity status was higher than his family's, but it could be the way they held themselves. Fame was what you made of it and the only thing AJ ever flaunted was his vehicle collection and prowess. His parents, a Technology and Media Guru and a Broadway Star, versus, his uncle and aunt, the Best Poker Player of the Decade and a Hotel Darling. You be the judge.

Fame was fame, and AJ knew he was lucky to be born without the troubles of those with barely anything to their name. The only reason he brings up his money is to take care of the people he cares about. He didn't really see it as obnoxious and disrespectful. If he had the money, shouldn't he share it? That made sense to him, but to some people, they just saw a rich brat.

"Bonjour Monsieurs~! Mademoiselles~! A fine night around the fire, no?!"

Before anyone could accept or decline Sami and AJ's offers, a hippie looking dude invited himself to their fire. Silently, AJ watched the older man strum his guitar with no care in the world. No worry. AJ could tell by looking at him that there were no ill intentions, just a man who wanted company and who fed his wanderlust on a daily. "My apologies les amis if I interrupted, I am simply another traveler looking to explore the world and your fire seemed so inviting." It was refreshing. To be around someone who didn't share similar plights as this odd group of high school graduates.

"How has your day been?" The sweet refrain of the acoustic guitar was nearly in sync to the song playing on the radio. Maybe this was a change in pace AJ needed to be in, to stop brooding and take action. To stop being a baby. Live a life of no worries. Hakuna matata, right? The lion cub needed to take a note from those loved ones and better himself. Without them, he would be only an asshole.

Yes, this was their summer! And dammit, they were going to have FUN.

"Shitty, but I'm over it." Picking himself up, AJ opened up the cooler and gestured for the hobo to take something, "Help yourself to food and drink, dude. You look like you've been walking for days."

With that, he looked back at the large group, "Think about it. Getting another room is just a phone call away. Let's stop wasting our summer being bitches." He should apologize to Val... bury the hatchet, even if it means saying sorry. Internally, he was growling at himself. He hated saying sorry. He wasn't even in the wrong! Opening his mouth to call to her, wanting to ask for some more time to talk, he decided against it. It wasn't the right time. Okay, he was going to be a little bitch for a bit longer.

"I'm going to make a call. Tell ghost stories or play a game. Do something. Get drunk. Have fun!" After turning on his heel, AJ strolled away, down the hiking path once more, and pulled out his phone. Fortunately, he had a portable charger and he could make this call. "Call my Valentine."

What would he do without his phone?

[LovelyComplex]

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Location | The Great Outdoors, for AJ at least.
Mentions of | Mostly Val @Dirty Pretty Lies.
Little mentions of others here and there.
Interacting with | Each other Chris @GhostMami & AJ @TootsiePop
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Not uneducated of the area that he was in, AJ didn’t walk too far from the campsite. Those that hiked in the backcountry, off the established trails, are advised not to travel alone. In addition, there were over 20 hiking trails with different difficulty levels, and it was night, which meant it was even more dangerous than it would be during the day.

He hoped his friends, and their friends, didn’t decide to go on a nightly adventure, and if they did, he hoped they weren’t dumb enough to stray from the path. Knowing this unpredictable batch... Who knows!

Truly, no one wanted another disaster, right? Like in the form of venomous rattlesnake bite or falling off a cliff…. right? He hoped not. However, things weren’t looking so hot for them. It was their first day and there was already an accident and a fight. Both where he was at the center of it. Was this a smart idea? A last hurrah road trip? No one seemed to be enjoying themselves. No one seemed to want to do this anyways.

Why was he getting depressed all of a sudden? Wasn’t he just inspired to say ‘fuck it all, let’s have a good time’? Sighing to himself, he headed towards the visitor center. Let’s hope they’ll stay put and take it easy. They had a hobo to entertain. The closest hiking trail to the visitor center was the Moenkopi loop, difficulty level easy. Deciding the best reception place was probably here, he took a seat at a picnic table. Still in sight was a now minuscule bonfire.

His lips curved into a sheepish smile. Gaining distance from everyone gave him some relief. He felt like he could catch a break. It was times like this where he could see the world stopping, as he took in the beauty of his surroundings. The night sky. The fresh air. The humidity. If it weren’t for all the negativity in his mind, one could say nature and travel brought the best out of him. He wouldn’t know. Right now, he cared too much about what everyone thought about him. Right now, he was the fool that wrecked a shitty RV. Right now, he was guilty for hurting Val.

After he slipped on his bluetooth and his service slowly connected with the nearest satellite to call Chris, AJ leaned back, so he can stare up at the view. Reception was barely at the mid mark, but it did get through. The ringback tone was all AJ could focus on, as his narrowed eyes studied the distant lights entangled in the sky of midnight velvet.

Armed with a bowl full of mint chocolate chip ice cream, hot fudge, and chocolate sprinkles, Chris elbowed open the door to his room and kicked it closed behind him. Dinner with his mom went well. It was just the two of them, Gwennie was busy. That was probably for the best, because her being around would have lead to more rolling around in the sheets and less preparing for tomorrow’s exam. Not hot blonde distractions tonight.

Chrysler had done as much as he could to study for his practical. He knew what he knew and his hands would do what they’re capable of, and that was that. If he failed… well, he could always just become a wandering vagrant or something. Hopefully he wouldn’t fail, but Chris always thought it best to never get his hopes up. Less disappointment that way. With his fate more or less decided, the teen plopped down into his futon bed — currently in couch mode and covered in a mess of blankets — and began to engage in Netflix & Chill all by his lonesome. You know, the actual literal PG version.

As soon as he had lifted the first spoonful of sweet confection to his lips, his phone buzzed in his back pocket. Lifting a cheek, he pulled it out and screened the call. AJ, oh boy, this would require pausing Peaky Blinders. His best friend was known to be quite long-winded on the phone. And in real life. Basically all the time. He got that from his momma, from what Chris gathered of the duo. Lord knows how his dad could handle all of that drama under one roof.

“Ahh, he lives.” Chris answered the phone mockingly. Having not heard back from AJ until now, it seemed an apt joke. “Still smiling?”

Grin. “How can I not smile while talking to you?” Playfully teasing, AJ could admit to himself that hearing Chris’ voice did help elevate his mood. It was gay, but whatever. “You ready to ace your exam?” For once, AJ wasn’t steering the conversation toward his turmoil. Friends gotta’ be considerate of others, sometimes.

Chris looked down at the bowl of sin in his lap. “Uhh… I’m stress eating ice cream and contemplating if I’d be a decent criminal. That count?”

“You’ll be fiiiiiine, Chris.” Sitting up, AJ brought his gaze back to the small fire in the distance, “As a criminal and a mechanic. I bet you could do both.” He snickered, his laugh echoing in the receiver.

Mm, ice cream sounded baller right now.

He chuckled at AJ’s response. He hadn’t considered both as an option, but maybe. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Even if all else failed, Chris could always count on having AJ in his corner. “So how’d things shake out earlier? Did you get my texts?”

Did I get your texts? Clearing his throat, taking a moment to run his right hand through his unruly hair, AJ cheesed in an anxious kind of way, “I did... but. I was a little preoccupied.” After another moment, he rubbed his hands together and thought of his next words. What to say, what to say. Deciding to let out another laugh, simply at the thought of remembering what transpired hours ago, AJ assured his lover boy, “Don’t you worry, Valentine. I still got my shiny teeth.”

“Yeah I wasn’t too worried, not when ya have the crazy russian with ya. So everyone’s alright then?” Chris said before taking a big minty bite of ice cream. Cold. The spoon was very cold. Brain freeze incoming.

“No… not necessarily…” His voice trailed off and his eyes went down to the ground as if Chris was right there, giving him that stern, grumpyface look. How could he lie to his friend? He just couldn’t! He’d plead the fifth. “Soooooooo… the shitty — like why were they even driving — RV, was owned by the Cuban guy from my school, y’know, Sami? And it might’ve ended with me, errrr, making Val… emotional. BUT IT ISN’T MY FAULT!” He suddenly defended his honor. “SHE BLAMES ME FOR HER PROBLEMS AND I MIGHT’VE YELLED TERRIBLE THINGS BACK AT HER THAT I KNEW WOULD HURT LIKE A BITCH!”

Ah, there it was. Classic AJ. Chris blinked a few times, partially because he was recovering from brain freeze, partially because he was digesting information. Cuban guy named Sami? Chris had recognized the voice from the phone and wondered if it could be the same guy he went to middle school with. Maybe he transferred to rich bitch school at some point, Chris had no idea, he’d kinda fallen out of touch with most of his old crew since he got kicked out. But that was neither here nor there.

“Val, huh? Weird that you guys would run into each other randomly like that, but I mean like… you’re both always kinda like that…” Like what exactly? Was there a word for it? Like what happens when a tornado meets a volcano, just like that one song said. But that song was about a couple, and AJ and Val weren’t a couple. Buttt, maybe they should be? Whatever, not his business, as long as AJ fulfilled his end of the bet. “Just like, wait for things to cool down and apologize. Get her some food or some shit.”

Swiftly and with complete disgust, AJ retorted, “Why do I have to apologize?!” Just thinking back at the fight, he was getting heated. Maybe they needed to talk sooner rather than later, only so he could burn the bridge down. Hellfire! “It’s MY fault she pushes me away because what? I loved Jamie? Break up happens. Boom. She’s back! Then Mandy comes on in and I’m just a GOOD ASS FRIEND. She ghosts me again. Like what the fuck??? Y’know what. I’m NOT going to be the better person. Not this time. Why should I?!” He was standing up now, ready to start round two.

“Jesus, calm your ass down, aiight?” Here he was getting all riled up when Chris was trying to have a relaxing night. At least this distraction was keeping him from stressing about tomorrow. “First off, you should apologize because only pussies don’t apologize when they know they fucked up, and YOU just TOLD me that you said some things in the heat of the moment that you probably shouldn’t have. Own your shit, be a man.” The advisor ate another scoop of ice cream in a breath between lines. “Secondly—” Chris began, with a mouthful. “Are you really that thick headed? This shit is so obvious, you know why she’s flyin’ off. She’s jealous, dude.” On god, why did this kid need so much help getting it in.

The rich, naive, so naive boy had a response in his head after Chris told him to be a man. It would’ve been a heavy sigh and a simple ‘you right’, but the next part shook him. “What?” The anger dissipated and his feet that were planted in the sand felt... light. He felt light. Jealous? Really? Of what? Of ME?

Breaking out of this sudden trance, AJ laughed it off obnoxiously, “Pfft. Jokes. Chris is full of jokes.” It was unbelievable. Uncanny! Unheard of! She got jealous over people hanging over Nate, not him.

“I ain’t jokin’, dude.” Chris replied with an exasperated laugh. He set down his bowl on the end table with a porcelain clank. Grabbing his smokes and a light, he made his way to the window and opened it wide so he could blow out the smell. Last thing he needed was his moms whirling in and losing her shit too.

“Think about it. You just said it yourself, right?” Chrysler took a long drag and then exhaled. “Y'all were tight as hell, but then you get a boyfriend. And you in love and spending all this time, probably engaging in all kinds of PDA because you a slut for sure, so she gets bent and backs off. But then you break up, and guess who comes back trying to get it in? Things go back to the way it was for a while. But now you run into Val, and you got this hot lil honey in your passenger seat heading out on a summer vacation together, and she goes bananas. You see it now, bro? She wants to be that honey.” This shit was elementary, as far as Chris was concerned. How on earth was AJ this oblivious? Must have dated a dude for too long, forgot the complex ways of women.

As much as AJ wanted to continue to be in denial, the painted picture Chris just shoved in his face was too daunting, too shocking for him to fight back. Was he that ignorant to her feelings? Those darted eyes that stabbed the back of Jamie’s skull, while he kissed his first love in the hall. Or when he rushed to give her a hug and she just shouldered him, ice cold. Calculating and mapping their memories, he could see a difference when he took her out, she at his side, and when he was surrounded by everyone, but her.

When Mandy needed a place to stay, Tink didn’t agree it should be with a guy. Mandy was housed at his place, and Aleks, and other guys’ cribs for that matter. All who Val considered her close companions… was he this stupid? “...it’s just platonic.” He whispered, more to himself than Chris.

How should he feel with this newfound information? Part of him couldn’t believe she liked him more than just a friend. Part of him was… confused. Extremely confused. If she loved him, really loved him, why would she lie? Why didn’t she just say it? Like really say it.

“I dunno man, just think about it is all I’m saying. Girls get weird about stuff like that, can’t just say what they feel.” Not his girl though. Chris was blessed with a girl that did nothing BUT speak her mind, all the damned time too. He wouldn’t want it any other way though. “Apologize, clear shit up. Carry on with your trip, you’re supposed to be having fun, bruh.” Chris took another drag. “Where’d y'all end up tonight anyway?”

Get it together, dumbass. Mentally scolding himself, choosing to focus on the present and not looking at Val in a different light, his stomach unpleasantly pleasantly unpleasantly curling on the inside, AJ calmly answered, “Red Rock. All of us. Every. Single. Fucking. One. Of. Us. Minus Mandy. Mandy bounced. Sami hates me. Emilia keeps crying because when she sees me and Matt she probably thinks of scum. Most of ‘em don’t like me because of what I did to Val. Yessi hugs me close to her tits. Aleks is exhausted. The usual. And oh, we have a new hobo friend that speaks french.”

Red Rock? That probably meant they were camping instead of hotelling it. For a moment, Chris felt a pang of missing out. He loved camping… not so much the drama that seemed to be surrounding this particular trip though. Chris nodded as he listened along and then stopped at the last part. “Wait, hold the fuck. You have a what?” He flicked a bit of ash out the window and let the night breeze take it. “Y’all a bunch of white people out there camping and are just chill with a hobo joining you? Haven’t you seen any horror movie ever, this is why you guys are usually the stars of ‘em. You don’t see asians doing that.” You don’t really see asians camping at all, but that was beside his point. Point was, they were probably chillin with a crazy french ax murderer and AJ was way to ‘eh, whatever’ about that.

“It’s all good, Chris. When I get back to the site, they’ll all be singing kumbaya and be drunk as hell. He has a guitar, my man. He’s strumming to that song Gwen just played on the radio. It’s super chill.” The vibes told AJ they weren’t in danger. The french hobo was amicable! And didn’t remind him of his mother, or anyone on her side of the family… now that was SCARY. Always give his mama what she wanted, or the house would catch on fire. Literally. Yep, yep. Regardless, he was more concerned about other matters. “Don't worry about a thing, ‘cause every little thing gonna’ be all right.”

Chris just shook his head in response which, of course, AJ had no way of seeing. If things were to go horror movie, they’d probably be okay with Sami and Aleks around. Maybe not Aleks, actually… he and Yessi would be the pair that got killed because they were fucking in the woods. AJ was the pretty boy, he might last about halfway through the film. Anyway, hopefully his friend’s assumptions were correct. “Whatever you say, Bob Marley. Did the hippie bring you some weed or something?” Chris laughed at the uncharacteristic musical reference.

Shrugging to himself, AJ slowly, very slowly, strolled back down the path toward everyone else (there was still a bit of distance), “Iunno. We just met him. I called you LITERALLY right after.”

Stopping himself in his tracks, realizing how unusually nervous he was, returning to his original concern, he hesitantly asked his friend, “...is this trip even worth it?” He wanted to say fuck it and carry everyone’s burdens… but for some reason, this first day, just getting to their first destination, it was all crashing. Was he that afraid to lose everyone and grow up? He was a walking disaster and as his past has shown, especially with Jamie, he damages the things he cares about the most — on purpose. Maybe this last hoorah is his way of saying goodbye, move on, and hurt them before they hurt him. Maybe he was thinking too much and needed a drink.

Yeah, he needed a drink.

Worth it? What did he mean by that? The kid was the walking embodiment of more money than brains — not that he was stupid, he just had that much money. AJ could afford this trip ten times over, of course it was worth it. He was surrounded by his friends, sure a couple of tagalongs joined in, but whatever. One of them is a friend too! Knowing his best friend, Chris figured there was some deeper meaning with that question. Maybe he was just bummed that he wasn’t there to. Was it egotistical to think that? Eh, whatever… “Of course it’s worth it man, you had a rocky start, but you’re gonna have a blast. Save all that worrying for the real world, you’re on vacation now. Go have a drink with your definitely-not-a-murderer hippie friend.”

Yeah, he was right. AJ needed to get in vacation mode. It would be easier with Chris at his side, but whatever. He wasn’t going to put guilt in his Valentine’s mind, the day before his big test. Friends don’t do that shit. “I’ll snap you his face.” The pretty boy jested (not really, he was going to), before deciding it was time to let his friend go until tomorrow a minute after his exam ends, “Good luck, Chris. Don’t let Gwen’s tits distract you.”

“No luck, just skill.” Chrysler responded with slightly feigned confidence. “And I’ll do what I damn well please with them tits. Have fun, I’ll see you soon.”

“I MISS YOU ALREADY.”

[Stanifly]

K I M B E V E R I D G E

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Location | The campgrounds on Red Rock Canyon
Interacting with | Sami @BrutalBx, Rando hitchhiker @BeastofDestiny, Emi @NeoAJ, Umbra @Severance, Val @Dirty Pretty Lies, Jules @Vox, Nate @spooner
Mentions | Matt @Legion02, AJ @TootsiePop
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♪ In the gallows or the ghetto,
In the town or the meadow. ♪

Relentless was the summer heat - they hadn't felt much of it during the ride either due to the air-conditioned interiors for the enclosed cars or, in Kim's case, the wind whipping by Matt's hoodless ride. Trudging up the canyon, though? Whole other story. Despite this, Kim hadn't minded it much. The warmth of the sun against her back was no more different than the times it beat down on her in her leisure hikes with Jules. She only wished she could've changed into clothes more suitable for the hike, but they'd been left in her suitcase, which was under her bunk bed on Sami's RV, which now sat somewhere in Victorville.

The ride here had been uneventful. Matt had been gracious enough to let Kim to hitch a ride in his car. Kim had no interest in cars and no substantial knowledge about them for her opinion to hold any real weight, but the sleek design of Matt's car was definitely something she could appreciate.

Then Matt stepped on the gas pedal and Kim was dearly glad for the seatbelt habit her mum had drilled into her all her life. Good God, how had Matt gotten his driving license?! That was not a safe way to drive! Still, as the car sped by the minutes, the landscape all but a blur, her shock faded and a burst of laughter escaped her. Too focussed on beating the devil's speed limit, Matt was hardly good company for small talk - but then again, neither was Kim most times. With adrenaline in her veins and her mind abuzz, she relaxed in her seat and let the wind and the music take her.

♪ In the billows, even over the sun,
Every end of a time is another begun. ♪

That was then. Now, the air sat still around her, her hair more or less a bird's nest from the wind's earlier tousling, and she stared back at the glare of her phone. Her fingers tapped against its back, though they didn't follow along with the beat of the song playing in her ears. A tuneless tapping, with only frustration in their movements.

At least she had her messenger bag. Slightly sticky in her hand was the leftover crumpled packaging of the Mars bar, which she'd eaten in Matt's car. It had been a little melted - Matt must've been hanging onto it for a while. Her earbuds were back on and even now, sitting round the campfire, she made no move to remove them.

She'd kept her parents updated, as they'd made her promise to in exchange for letting her go on this trip. Needless to say, her mum was worried, especially with how things were at the moment. Asking if she was fine, if the tow truck service she'd gotten was trustworthy, if the road trip had been a good idea at all. The usual questioning.

Why didn't you take your suitcase with you?

Mom

You should've checked the tow truck service reviews. Who knows what they could do with your things?

Mom

Do you need us to come fetch you?

Mom

The last message stared back at her, a silent accusation. Kim's expression was one of flippancy, schooled neutral boredom which she'd achieved through years of practice. Yet, instead of typing out a message, her fingers continued to tap their tuneless beat on the back of her phone.

This was ridiculous. Her mum was just worried. Kim shouldn't be worked up about this. No-what was she saying? She wasn't worked up about this.

♪ You understand, mechanical hands are the ruler of everything. ♪

The sound of Sami's voice had her looking up, placing her phone screen-down on her lap. She smirked at his enthusiasm, an expression that leaned towards bewilderment at AJ's disgruntled follow-up offer. Even if such a place seemed like a spare bedroom to him, it was a generous, unnecessary offer. She opened her mouth to thank AJ, but the subsequent arrival of a... hitchhiker, she should say, stayed the words. She closed her mouth, eyeing the stranger during the brief conversation between him and AJ.

♪ Ruler of everything. ♪

Then AJ walked off, leaving the Gearheads, the Misfits, and one random dude sitting together around the campfire. Kim lifted a hand in greeting to the hitchhiker. Then she took up her phone, firing off a quick text to her mum.

Nah. Don't worry abt it.

Locking her phone, she shoved it back into her messenger bag. It was easier to ignore any forthcoming notifications when she didn't have it vibrating in her back pant pocket.

'So how about it?' she asked, glancing around the others. 'The Bellagio?'

♪ I'm the ruler of everything in the end. ♪

[NeoAJ]

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Location | Red Rock Canyon Campground, Las Vegas, Nevada (297 miles from Santa Monica, California)
Interacting with | Kim @Stanifly, Hugo (aka Guitar Guy) @BeastofDestiny, anyone at the campfire
Mentions: Val @Dirty Pretty Lies, Umbra @Severance, Matt @Legion02, AJ @TootsiePop
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The bag that once held a healthy dose of light brown crystals sat half empty on the twin-sized bed in the cabin. If Matt had known, he might have been worried. Actually, he probably should be very worried. But there was only one person who knew just what happened, and she was flying way too high to care at the moment.

The ride through the Mojave Desert might as well have been straight through Death Valley for Emilia. She thought she had recovered from her latest breakdown. That was until it was determined that the Gearheads would be offering rides into Las Vegas for all the Misfits and the only car that had room to take her belonged to the boy who set off Breakdown #2 in the first place. AJ Tyler would now also be responsible for Breakdown #3. This one was a slow burn, in that it wasn't a whole bunch of water works pouring out and more of a solid repetitive sob from the blonde girl in the back seat. AJ tried his best, but the depressing nature of the trip so far was working against him. Emilia didn't even bother to try and text back home about what happened. It had been less than a day. Her stuff was with the dead RV. She was riding with one of the friends of the man who put her here to begin with. The frappe was all gone and there were no McDonald's along the way that drew so much as a slight turn of the wheel from the driver. Emilia kept her eyes shut as she leaned along the window, not caring for the sandy landscape passing by.

When the convoy of vehicles arrived at the intended destination at Red Rock Canyon, Emilia quickly bolted into one of the rudimentary cabins that had been made available to large groups of people such as themselves, wanting to continue her crying in solitude. She didn't even get a chance to share the M&M's with Umbra as she promised, but she attacked them once she was in the room. The others seemed more content to take in the new surroundings, so Emilia ravaged the candy reserves she had been given by the running back with reckless abandon. She opened up the ziploc bag full of what she assumed were pop rocks and went to dump the entire thing into her mouth all at once.

It was about halfway through that she realized it wasn't pop rocks at all and quickly returned the bag to its upright position, nearly coughing up all the crystals that she did consume.

The fact that she didn't get the expected sugary treat left Emilia curled up on the bed again, sobbing that literally nothing was going right on this trip. But this time the crying only lasted about 30 minutes. Then Emilia felt neutral and at peace with the situation she was in. Ten minutes later, Emilia felt downright giggly. Twenty minutes later, she was standing in the tiny bathroom of the cabin, humming Ariana to herself and just admiring how pretty she looked, even with her makeup all washed off. It just felt good to have water hitting her face. Everything felt good really.

"I look good... I feel good," she repeated to herself for the 19th time. She brushed her hair back down. Feeling it against her bare shoulders now that she had shed her leather jacket on the bed. "I feel so good! I... I should share this! Everyone should feel this good!" Her sense of purpose renewed as the MDMA was fully taking effect, she finally left he cabin for the first time since they arrived.

Emilia could smell the smoke coming off the crackling campfire that had been built in the vicinity and was drawn towards it like a happy moth to the flame. There were people there. Her people. Her friends, and the people with the cars that drove way too fast, and ... a someone with a guitar. Who brought a guitar? Could they play Ariana? That would be cool.

The blonde looked for a person to plonk herself next to, and with Val seemingly not in the fire's glow, she found one of her other best friends and took advantage of the open spot next to Kim, sitting down beside the calming influence in her life.

"HI KIM!" she announced as she wrapped an arm around the brunette, blissfully forgetting Kim's stringent "no touching" policy. "Awwww, I'm so lucky you're my friend! You have the best music!" She turned her attention to the rest of the fire folks! "I'm so lucky you're all here! It's so great to, like, just be here and not thinking about that fucking asshole Brandon!" It was clear that the drugs had completely removed Emilia's filter, right down to the swear words that the sober Emi would never utter. "You guys are awesome! I wish I could hug you all at once!" She looked over at the unknown face, the guy with the guitar. "Even you! Man, Brandon would flip if I took a selfie hanging off you, wouldn't he? Damn straight he would, the fucker." She looked around the fire. "Shoot, where did AJ go? I have to apologize to him for being all mopey and everything on the ride here! He was so nice to drive me... And I gotta apologize to Umbra for eating all the M&M's... I'm not even sorry! They were soooooooo good!"

She leaned up against Kim for support as she breathed a happy sigh. "They were so good, Kim. You wouldn't believe. She mimicked eating them for emphasis as she continued to rest her head on Kim's shoulder, her arm falling by the wayside.

[SkeankySnack]

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Location | Red Rock
Interacting with | Everyone Present
Mentions | AJ @TootsiePop, Emilia @NeoAJ, Yessi @Hoekage
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Despite the young man’s remark about his day being ‘shitty’ Hugo maintained his positive attitude and optimistic smile. Everyone has a story to tell, one of pain, one of pleasure, one of hope and one of travesty, it held both the merit and meaning of everyone’s existence after all. Considering the state of the group around him, it seemed they had a rough time of it, what choices that lead them to this point, Hugo himself did not know, but if there’s one thing that he’s learned throughout his life is this...

‘Bad choices, make Good stories’

At the mention of food and drink from the young man though, Hugo’s stomach realized how empty it was as it made it a low growl. Even though he had plenty of food, mostly in the form of oats, jerky, and preserved fruits, the rasta had been travelling in the hot Nevada desert for nearly two days now, basking in the cold of the night sky as he dreamed. Unable to deny such an offer, he put his guitar down, made his way over, and clapped the man’s arm, “Merci beaucoup, mon ami,” nodding his head rather vigorously he repeated, “Merci!” As the young gentleman left he started rifling through the cooler, taking note of the ice cold water in it, and just as quickly as he spotted it, he went right for it. Grabbing it from the container, lone mostly melted ice cubes sliding down the side of the bottle he proceeded to open and chug it. Some men may have passionately caressed a woman, some may have listened to the greatest of symphonies, but right now, in this moment, nothing was more pleasurable to this simple man than the cold liquid running down his throat. Pure bliss and a great relief to his hot, tired and aching body, it was like silk caressing the very soul of his being.

About two-thirds of the way through he stopped, sighed in relief, then proceeded to dump the rest of the bottles contents onto his hair and face, careful to remove his hat first. It was a cold and refreshing relief as the water washed away the sweat and sand that had been gradually covering his face for the last two days. Letting the water run down, some getting on his clothing, some falling to the dirt below, he returned back to his duffel, producing a towel to dry and wipe his face. Sighing in relief he turned back to the group as he acquired a granola bar from his bag, “Merci again, mes amies, I’m glad to be in the presence of such good and welcoming companions as yourselves.” Plopping once again on his bag, a bite of the bar in his mouth, and without missing a beat, he continued to strum his guitar to the music. He closed his eyes, feeling the strings beneath his fingers, their melodious beat in near synchronization to the music playing from the radio

"HI KIM!"

Somewhat startled, but unfazed, he noticed a new one had joined the group, a rather pretty blonde who looked rather...out of place. His eyes curiously fixated on her, she seemed to be the one person in the group who wasn’t downtrodden, instead she seemed to be the exact opposite with her loud voice and boisterous announcements. Though he couldn’t remember, these sensations the young woman exuded were somewhat familiar… “Ah-hah!” He remembered from his journal, this young lady was clearly high! Whatever it was, he wasn’t too sure, but clearly this group had a use for drugs, again something he remembered he regularly dealt with.

"I'm so lucky you're all here! It's so great to, like, just be here and not thinking about that fucking asshole Brandon! She had even turned to Hugo’s attention, a big grin on her face, “Even you! Man, Brandon would flip if I took a selfie hanging off you, wouldn't he? Damn straight he would, the fucker."

Hugo couldn’t help but laugh, “Nothing wrong with spreading the love, Mi Amor! I would gladly accept your embrace!” Maybe he had been wrong about this group, maybe they weren’t such a downtrodden group after all, “You seem to know how to, as they say, party it up and ‘get lit’.” Laughing, he suddenly recalled his own form of stress relief and began rifling through his bag, grabbing a big ol’ bag of the green stuff. Setting the baggie down he looked for his other tools for the herbal relief. He did his research though, even wrote it down, 1 oz of the devil’s lettuce was allowed to be carried in the state of Nevada, though if one were to look deeper they’d find more; after all this was just part of his business. With deft hands he ground up the product, lined it in a paper and rolled it, and with a swift flick of his tongue to seal it. What was left in his hands, was a rather sizable joint, that he rather happily lit and took a long hit from. Allowing the smoke to fill and encase his lungs for several seconds, before he exhaled.

Like the sweet nectar it was, he took his time enjoying the sensation travelling down every nerve and vein in his body. As though he were like a pad of melting butter, a singular grape, its skin peeled to expose the flesh, a loaf of bread, freshly baked, squeezed and allowed to relax back to its natural shape; Hugo was in bliss. Sighing he took another long hit of the joint, a long burn to relax his body and mind as he let the negative smoke exit his body. Silently he stared up at the stars, “Ahhh~ such a beautiful night…” His gaze was locked with the glistening stars, a small smile on his face “Quel temps pour vivre” (What a time to be alive) It took a couple of minutes, but he realized he was being rather rude, there were guests among him, some of them were more than likely to partake if they were nomads themselves. Looking around the group, a wide grin on his face, he simply asked, “Would anyone else like a hit?” he held the smoking joint out, vying from side to side with no response. No? Unusual but, maybe it was just best to pass it around from person to person. Looking to the young, tan woman to his right he offered her the lit product, “Perhaps you would partake, Mi Amor?” His smile, inoffensive and full of joy at his current ‘high peak’, held the joint up towards her in offering.

[Hoekage]

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Location | Outside of Civilization
Time | High Time , 31 MAY 20xx
Interacting with | Scruffy Murderer @BeastofDestiny | Whoever is on the right
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---

Apparently an hour long car ride together wasn’t enough to get the group at least on talking terms. Not that a certain princess had gone out of her way to make friends with any of the tagalongs, and she hadn’t tried to approach Nate or Jules again. Instead, she took up to quietly pouting to herself by the fire that offered a welcome warmth to her bare legs.

Camping was not on the list of things Yessi ever wanted to do, sure when she was younger she pitched a tent in the backyard way back when, but the grass was soft under her premium sleeping bag and she was able to run inside to the comfort of a bed and a shower when she had enough.

“We’re going to Vegas and we’re going to take the house for all it’s worth”

A look of confusion crossed her face as she looked around to the group that had drawn closer to the fire. Vegas? How the hell were they expecting to get there? Hitchhiking? Walking? That old pos RV was donezo, and none of them had enough to buy a new one, not even a shittier version. So how and why the hell was Sami so confident his ragtag group was going to make it the City of Sin? The annoyance had found a new target and swelled up prompting her to form her thoughts into audible words, surely to start another bout of arguments, but AJ, the even poutier Prince spoke first and shut up the Spanish girl, the air she sucked in puffed out her cheeks and she turned her attention back to the fire willing it to burn away her annoyance, or the sources of it.

AJ’s departure into the wilderness, the singing French man sitting beside her and the obviously drugged up cry baby all went over her head. No, Yessi was too caught up in her own thoughts about all the things she loved that awaited her in Vegas. Well, until the pungent smell of one of her many preferred vices reached her nose, blinking away the light of the fire from her eyes she turned to look at the scruffy newcomer. Eyes bouncing between his face and the extended offering of just the thing to melt away her inhibitions of increasing the size of their traveling group, even if just for the night.

“Why not, if you’re going to murder us might as well be high for it, right?” The tone of her voice was light as she reached for the joint and brought it back to lush parted lips. The first inhale was a long drag that warmed her throat and filled her lungs. On the exhale the effects weren’t immediate but already she felt the happy haze. For an added measure she went in for a second hit, this one was shorter and left her limbs feeling lighter than before as she extended her arm to her right inviting the next person to join them on cloud nine.

[Vox]

_{Interactions | @Bee}

---

Red Rock Canyon
Nighttime

---

After pulling apart the Little Prince and the Even Little-r Surfer That Could, Jules didn't remember much else going forward. His brain had hit its limit. Of course he remembered some bits like moving his junk out of the RV and hauling it to one of the Gearhead's cars, which he was pretty sure was the one with the block car, Ellie Something. He remembered giggling at her name because of some reason or another, something about Fords and Nissans? Fuck if he could actually recall. There was some attempt at some light conversation, jokes about their situation, casual bullshit that he had once perfected and was slowly honing back, driving at speeds that he wasn't unaccustomed to (mainly because his sister drove like a maniac. And his dad. And apparently himself. Maybe there was a reason his mom insisted on driving every time). That lasted about as long as it took for a two-pump virgin, knocking out afterwards just as quick too.

Next thing he knew, he found himself in the middle of a desert campground, pitching up a tent. Exhaustion was magic.

Still, like the good little boy scout he once was, Jules finished setting up the tent that he finally recognized was the one he brought along in case he didn't ever want to sleep in the RV and threw all his baggage inside, leaving it open in case anyone else wanted to do the same. Out of curiosity, he opened his phone to see if anything new had happened in his sleep-addled haze, which, aside from the regular slew of deliberately unread messages, was a grand total of nothing really.

Considering he was near all his stuff anyway, Jules kicked off his socks and shoes and replaced them with his sandals. With his little piggies feeling freer than they ever had in the last few hours, he took a moment to relish the still-warm desert air. He briefly considered taking out a jacket in preparation for the oncoming cold night. His sense of reason, however, (or extreme laziness) told him that no, a ho does not get cold.

And then a brief recollection of him shivering in this same desert canyon on a different camping trip reminded him that yes, sometimes, a ho did get cold.

He compromised by shrugging on the red flannel that used to hang at his waist, providing his bare midriff with at least some protection. His toes, however, would remain persistently free. A last minute thought had him pull out one of several bottles of alcohol he had hidden among his luggage, this particular vintage being a fairly shitty vodka, the $20 kind a recent highschool grad has a friend buy for them with no particular instruction beyond "something to get me drunk~". A perfect brand for a perfectly shitty start of a beautiful summer vacation. The actual good stuff that was wrapped in actual layers of protection were reserved for later and potentially more heartfelt nights. That, or swindled later from horny guys at bars.

Some chatter and a fire crackle caused him to peek over his shoulder and see a gaggle of his Misfits and then other misfits gathered around a bonfire. The atmosphere was tense and awkward, perhaps rightfully so, but it wasn't anything that he probably couldn't fix with the magic juice he held in his hands.

Jules sauntered over just as King Sami declared their raid on the City of Sin, to which Jules could only reply with a derisive "pffft," cracking the seal of the Shitty Vodka and taking a straight shot from the bottle, allowing the familiar burn to settle comfortably in his stomach before snuggling it inside the cooler for anyone to grab. The young pretty boy lounged close to Yessi, feeling the alcohol comfortably warm his body as he himself tried to get comfortable.

That was quickly ruined when an unfamiliar voice and presence made itself very quickly and uncomfortably known by sitting down between him and Yessi, causing Jules to jump with a start. The man, for it could only be a man with his voice and build, began to speak casually as if they were all already friends, causing Jules to immediately stiffen and scramble quickly to the other side of the fire. His eyes followed the man's as he reached into the cooler. He grabbed a bottle of water, while Jules only wished that he had kept the alcohol with him before another memory gave him a physical reminder by way of his churning stomach that perhaps that wouldn't be such a good idea.

Jules tried to calm himself down, make it seem as if all the man did was spook him a little. Force out a smile, make a joke, pretend everything was ok, don't have anybody worry. All he did instead was sit down slightly opposite the man so that the fire didn't obstruct his view and give a weak smile to anyone who gave him any looks, the blood pounding in his ears drowning out anything else.

[Venus]

Like cardiac arrest, high voltage in her lips
Like cardiac arrest, high voltage when we kiss

Nathan laid on his side in the ground next to the bonfire. His journal laying open in front of him as he scribbled away inside it, spilling all of his feelings about the events of the day. With Em's breakdowns and Val's fight, Nate felt emotionally drained- and it was only the first day of the trip. As he wrote he kept flicking his eyes towards his friends: one small one, in particular. He couldn't help but notice how her usually confident smug face was stained with a more sullen expression this evening.

He closed his journal with a sigh, turning to lie on his back and look up at the night sky. Nate heard the group starting to talk about the next leg of the trip, but in all honesty, he couldn't be bothered to care. At this point, he would just go along with whatever. The brown haired boy sat up just as a weird scruffy looking man he had never seen before started to play a guitar. A frown spread across Nathan's face as he slowly got up.

He didn't really know why he did it: maybe because she looked sad, or maybe he wanted to get her away from the bearded dude for some reason. But he found himself walking to where she was, squatting down behind her and whispering: "Hey, uhhh… Do you want to come take some pictures?"

The argument with her -best friend? Ex-friend? Whatever they were at this point- and the words exchanged were still fresh in Valeria's brain, her heart still heavy and stinging. Had she really thought that being honest would be the best way to go? And with AJ, no less? The boy was loved and adored by everyone, for crying out loud! He would never even begin to understand what it was like to fucking hate himself. She knew trying to give him a new face wasn't the best way to go about things either, but it would have made her feel better.

But if she was really, truly honest with herself, Val knew that her reaction mostly had to do with Amanda's unwelcome presence (who had luckily she'd bailed at some point of the trip). The deep rooted truth of the matter was that she didn't want to lose AJ to someone else again. Watching him with Jamie had been torture. Having him back after so long had been a blessing. And the possibility of losing him yet again to some leech who would probably break his heart again was as excruciating as ripping her chest open and pulling her insides out.

Lost in her thoughts as she was, Val was completely oblivious to her surroundings. So when the girl felt Nate's hot breath in her ear, she flinched in surprise.

"Fuck!" she muttered, hand flying over her heart. Her big brown eyes were wide with both surprise and disbelief. Did Nate seriously want to hang out with her after what had just happened? Or was this how he planned to lure her away from the group to break her heart?

Only one way to know.

"Um, sure…" she heard herself saying awkwardly in a small voice, shifting her nervous eyes from Nate's face and to the bonfire in front of her.

"Alright, let's go…" he offered her a reassuring smile as he got out his camera from its case and she stood up. "Come on," he flicked his hand indicating Val to follow him.

The two walked in silence for a few minutes as Nate clicked away with his camera to his face. First he took some of the barren desert landscape, but then he turned the camera towards Valeria. Illuminated by the moonlight and backlit by the campfire the small girl made for a beautiful shot. He pressed down on the shutter as to not miss the opportunity and before she would notice, he lowered the camera slowly.

"So, what a day, huh? You and AJ really duked it out. Did he say something stupid again?" He asked tentatively as he sat on top of a boulder beside her, kicking at the dust underneath him.

Val -who had been busy studying the pebbles on the dusty desert floor- suddenly looked up, brown eyes were alight with hope. "You didn't hear?" she croaked, her heart racing in her chest as she waited with bated breath whether Nate was now aware of her pathetic crush or if he remained as unassuming as ever.

Nathan scrunched up his face in confusion. "Hmm?" he shot her a quizzical look. “What do you mean? All I know is that you jumped on the poor kid.” He let out a small chuckle “So I’m just assuming that he said something...dumb.” the young man finished, looking at her from the corner of his eye to gauge her reaction.

Much like the three generations of females and her darling father before her, Valeria Drake wasn't known for her poker face. Whatever she was feeling on the inside would reflect in her facial expressions. It was something that had landed her in hot trouble frequently as a child, as a teenager and now as a young adult. But right now, the girl's face was twisted in a cocktail of relief and gratitude for whatever supernatural entity had kept Nathan distracted enough to not hear AJ outing Val.

Her secret was still safe.

She remained seated next to the boy, letting the good mood wash over her and trying hard to not express how giddy she felt. "It's nothing, really," the long-haired girl easily lied to Nate, waving a dismissive hand and tucking her hair behind her ear. "I mean, it definitely was something: I didn't get that riled up over nothing. But it's nothing important in the grand scheme of things, if you know what I mean."

The boy shrugged as he stood up, gesturing for her to do the same. “Alright, if you say so...” he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He dropped the subject, but as he surveyed her he could see she had something more to say. Instead of prying further, though, Nate just offered her a smile.

He picked up his camera and pointed it at Val, who made up some cute or funny little poses for him on the spot. “How do you feel about joining up with the other guys?" He asked as he snapped a few more shots of her before turning his lens towards the desert again.

Valeria let out a long, tired sigh. "Honestly? I'm not thrilled," she confessed, taking a seat again and looking out at the stunning scenery stretching out in front of them. Under a starry night sky, the desert mountainscape could be seen in the distance, faintly illuminated by the moonlight. It was a stark contrast to the coastal views the brunette was used to, but a welcome, beautiful sight all the same. "Things between Al and I are awkward, I can't stand Yessi Astor, I hate Matt with the blazing fire of a thousand suns, I have no idea who Ellie or Monica are, and you see how things are between J and I. And the cherry on top? Our ride's fucking gone. There's really nothing to be excited about."

He nodded in agreement as he listened to her explain how she felt. Honestly, Nathan felt indifferent about the whole situation: he didn't really care who joined them as long as the misfits were all still together. "Yeah... I'm not really looking forward to sitting awkwardly in the backseat of one of their deathtraps, but at least they're offering to drive us until we get the RV back," he offered, trying to see it from another angle.

"I guess…" she muttered with a small shrug. At any other time, Val would have clapped back at Nate with one of her snide, snarky remarks about being a pussy and not understanding how the hell he was always able to look at the bright side of things like a foolish idiot. But it seemed the fight with AJ had sapped the sass out of her, because instead of picking up a fight she chose to simply keep quiet, enjoy the view and take comfort in the taller boy's soothing company.

Nathan sighed, letting his camera hang by its strap as he took a seat next to Valeria on the boulder again. "So have you figured out what you're doing for tonight? Are you roughing it out like 'wilderness expert' AJ or did you get a cabin? They were surprisingly cheap." He said as he dangled the key hanging from the wooden key chain.

"Oh, fuck!" the girl groaned, smacking her palm against her face. She'd been so busy simmering down after the argument that the thought of where she would sleep had gone right over her head. "I didn't get anything, like the idiot I am. Jesus fuck… How in the hell did I forget that?"

Nathan was surprised by the declaration. For him, it had logically been the first thing to do when they arrived at the campsite. “Well…” he trailed off, scratched the back of his head and letting out a puff of air before speaking up again. “I guess you can share mine-” he began, his hazel eyes widening when he realized what he had just suggested. “I- I mean, there's a sofa! I’ll sleep on that and you can take the bed,” he sputtered in embarrassment, looking away towards the starry sky.

The second Nate said they could share the same cabin, Valeria's big eyes widened, and her chunky cheeks flushed crimson. This was something straight out of her midnight dreams… but damn it, she was here for it! The real question was whether it was better to play it cool and appear uninterested? Or should she just drop one of the spicy, suggestive lines she was thinking about?

Like the coward she always was in matters of the heart, Val went with Option Number One. "Oh, I don't know… I wouldn't want to impose on you like that or anything…" she replied bashfully, hoping that if she acted shy enough she would actually convince herself she was.

"Oh…" he felt both relief and- for some reason- disappointment. "Yeah, I guess you would be more comfortable sharing with Em or Kim…" he said, quickly glancing back at the group still sitting around the campfire. He pulled his legs up towards his chest and hugged his arm around them leaning his head on his knees watching Val still illuminated by the moonlight.

Ugh, what the fuck are you doing, Val! Stop being a pussy! Man the fuck up and make this right! Don't screw it up!

"But I mean, if you want the company I can totally stay with you," the girl impulsively blurted as damage control of sorts, getting visibly nervous at the thought of losing her golden opportunity. "I honestly wouldn't mind us spending the night together."

Sweet baby Jesus: put a damn bullet through her head. That sounded so fucking desperate- even if it was the honest to God truth. It took all her self-control to hold back from smacking her face with her open palm or against the boulder she was sitting on.

Nate looked at her with a mixture of amusement and confusion playing on his face. “Okay," he whispered softly. Taking a deep inhale, stretched out taking a look at his watch. “Uhm, well I was thinking of heading to bed, so I guess you’ll have to make your mind up.” He shot her a smile as he stood from the rock they were sitting on and began to walk away.

"Fuck, wait a second… Nate?" the girl called out to him, jumping up from her seat.

He spun around when he heard his name being called out. "Hmm?" Nathan walked slowly back to where he had stood.

It's now or never, Val.

The short girl swallowed hard, took a deep breath and closed the distance between them with brief, determined steps. She took a second to take in Nate's handsome features and the way his hazel-colored eyes were shining in the moonlight before closing her own eyes, cupping his face with both hands and pressing her full lips against his.

Nate's body tensed up when the short girl grabbed his face and kissed him deeply. He was shocked with out of the blue it had come, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying it. Still it felt… Strange.

He grabbed Valeria by the shoulders and gently pulled her away from him. "What are you doing?" He whispered slowly dazed and confused.

It took a moment for Valeria to realize that the kiss had ended. She remained with her eyes closed and her lips comically puckered up for a few more seconds before her face lit up like a fourth of July sky.

"Oh my God!" she cried out, going as far as to give a little happy dance. Once she was done, she placed a hand over her racing heart and tried to control her heavy breathing. Smiling so hard she could feel her cheeks hurting, she turned to look at Nate. "Oh God, I've been wanting to do that for years! God, that was fucking amazing!"

"I- what?" Nathan asked eyebrows high on his forehead. The boy just looked at the elated girl in front of him with a puzzled face. "What's that supposed to mean?" He questioned again.

"Duuuuuuuh, what do you think it means?" Val scolded, and although rolled her eyes the bright smile was still in place. "Do I have to do a cute little mating dance for you, or use smoke signals from our bonfire over there, or serenade you with my nasty as fuck voice? Read between the lines, Nathan. You seriously can't tell me you don't know what this means."

He rolled his eyes back at her. "I mean, I guess… Are you saying you've had some sort of crush on me for years?" He huffed. "You have a real weird way of showing it… I haven't been called a pussy by anyone else other than you." Nate continued still very confused as to what was going on.

The short girl let out a sigh, her face slightly blushing with embarrassment now. "Okaaaayyyyy, so I'll admit I didn't go about things in the best way," Val began, looking down while shifting her small feet on the sandy ground. "But in my defense, I'm not exactly the most eloquent of people- especially not when it comes to pussy shit like feelings and stuff. So I guess this is my... Apology… Of sorts."

"Thanks… I guess," he chuckled, shaking his head. "Well anyway, the offer still stands if you want somewhere to sleep or… Apologize some more," He smiled and started to walk back towards the campfire.

Wide eyed, Valeria sat there in the dark for a long moment, letting the realization of what had just happened and what had just been said sink in. The implications of Nate's last sentence hung heavy in the air as the tall boy made his way back to their group. She'd kissed Nate… She'd kinda-sorta come clean with her feelings and hadn't been immediately shot down or called insane… She'd be spending the night with him… And he'd pretty much given her the green light to 'apologize some more'- which hopefully meant more of what they'd just been doing or maybe even more than what had happened, but she didn't want to let her hormones get the best of her twice in one night.

The brunette wanted to get up and laugh and cry and scream, but she settled for letting out an excited squeal and clapping her hands together. It was only until she made sure she wouldn't bawl her eyes out in joy, Val finally stood up from her makeshift chair and skipped back to the group, positively beaming.

Maybe this trip wouldn't be so bad after all.

[Legion02]

_{Collab with @TootsiePop
Mentions of Val @Dirty Pretty Lies
and that bastard @Spooner
At the end, AJ approaches Goldie @NeoAJ}

As if fate was against him, or some shit, AJ stood off in the distance, with wide eyes. His face fell faster than a rapid-fire finishing move on WWE. It’s like he got a chokeslam chaos and was completely paralyzed, his feet planted to the ground. The pain took over a portion of his brain. Something he hadn’t felt in awhile. The sort of pain that was like flame against his skin. This feeling didn’t even come in small doses. No, it came in fast, as if he was getting punched repeatedly, swiftly and deadly, taking away his ability to talk or move. Acidic anger and sadness, all in one go.

What-the-flying-fuck.

He was too far to catch onto anything they were saying, but the moment she pressed her lips against his, he was shot down like the sheriff. He recalled their freshman year, when she bitched and whined about never being kissed before. He couldn’t understand why she was so caught up on a topic that was incredibly menial to him. Taking it upon himself, to shut her up, he snatched the opportunity and made her first kiss, his. There were no feelings behind it. It meant nothing. He was simply doing a friend a favor.

This felt different. This didn’t feel right at all, like the only reason she did this was in spite of him. Like the only reason she had the courage to do a bold move out of his book was because he basically called her a coward. Like the only reason she was seeking affection was because he made her hate herself more than she already did.

WHY DID HE DO THAT?!

Since when did Val go full on carpe diem?! There was so much unpleasant warmth eating at his stomach, it was literally killing him from the inside out. Part of him wished he could take back the fight. If he didn’t say those words to her, if he wasn’t hurt from the rift she put between them, everything would be how it use to be. How things were meant to be. Them side by side enjoying each other’s company.

On top of that, the bastard pulled a way!

What a fucking waste.

And then she… looked happy. She did a little shimmy and exclaimed her pride and joy. Did he ever make her smile like that? His eyes peered down to the ground, as he softly whispered to himself, “Good for you, Tink.” It wasn’t his place to take this moment away from her. It wasn’t his place to feel like this.

Maybe it was time to go back to the campfire...

...Yeah, he’d do that.

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Matt had driven like a madman. Speeding was the least of his sin. His foot was lead and only the highest two gears saw any action. The engine was roaring way beyond the advised 4.000 RPM. Though brazen Matt was at all times in control. Skillfully but aggressively switching lanes and weaving through the much slower though luckily sparse traffic. He didn’t even try to strike up a conversation with Kim, who rather unfortunately chose to be his passenger. Though amongst the Misfits, she seemed to be the least horrible choice so Matt never protested. Talking to her might distract him from practicing his skill. He hadn’t raced in some months now but he didn’t forget his old tricks. In fact, he could even keep up with AJ’s antics. Who clearly didn’t learn anything about the RV accident. As of why he drove like the devil himself was behind him? Well that became apparent when they arrived at their destination.

He didn’t say a word as he pushed the breaks and came to a sudden standstill right in front of a cabin. Minutes later he had a key and walked in. His bag got tossed on the floor and he threw himself on the bed. His door was locked behind him. For a minute it got too much for him. Again. AJ and Val’s fallout. The Misfit’s RV crashing. Emilia’s breakdown. For the first time in hours he wondered if he did the right thing. No, he did the right thing. If she broke down by the mere sight of him and AJ, she hadn’t stopped crying since Prom. Those were many, many painfilled nights. It paled with anything Matt could say he ever felt. Was what she and Brandon had so real? So fantastic? That it destroyed her to her core? Alas, it didn’t matter. She deserved to be happy. For the months he had known her she was nothing but cheerful and caring. What he doubted was just how much he gave. Did she even know how to take it? Questions of her welfare began to bounce through his head. More questions. More worries.

There is only so much Matt could hold to himself before he needed to feel numb about it all for a while. So he did what he always did: he distracted himself. Once outside he noticed people had gathered around a campfire. He didn’t really feel the need to join in. They had the company of a stranger already. So instead he lit a cigarette, opened a bottle of tequila and popped the hood of his BMW. He wasn’t a mechanic like Chris but checking everything about his engine (and soon his underside as well) gave him a measure of piece. The next hour and twenty-three minutes he could be utterly absorbed by the inner workings of his car.

That is until approaching footsteps, the sound of a crunch of gravel and sand, echoed in the surrounding desert. Appearing from one of the hiking pathways, a dejected AJ Tyler found himself in the lot where the cars were, slowly making his way back to the fire. His eyes were cast down, his hands were shoved into his pants’ pockets, and his shoulders slumped. The boy glanced over to the noise of tinkering and set his gaze on one of his friends. Matt. He didn’t have it in him to pretend he was doing okay, so instead, he announced his arrival with a question, his voice giving away that he was in one of his lows, “Not in the party mood?”

Matt knew, from the way he walked, that AJ was moving behind him. He turned around, taking a swing from the tequila bottle resting on the bumper of his car. The light hanging from the open hood was barely enough to illuminate the engine. In fact, it would appear as if it all made everything around it just a little bit darker. AJ did not look alright. No, that was an understatement. He didn’t look entirely alright after he and Val had fought. What was standing there was an empty shell.

“For once I’m not.” He said with an ironic smile. Another lie. He hadn’t really partied for several weeks now. Normally Matt would try to prop himself up and at least look like he was holding it somewhat together. But at the sight of AJ he let himself go a little as well. There was no need to hide it anymore. He exhaled the smoke from his cig and said: “You look like shit.” It was insulting but hell, that’s what friendship is. And even though he just said that he also offered the bottle of tequila, with the cap loose on it. “Read something bad about Jamie again?” Matt knew his friend well enough. AJ couldn’t help it when he gets on the internet to look up his ex. It got worse when Chris wasn’t around.

Without hesitation, AJ took the bottle and gulped down a large, unhealthy portion of Tequila, disregarding the burning sensation. Everyone knew when AJ drank, he drank. For most of the parties, AJ chose to be the DD. He was just that type of guy, but when he absolutely couldn’t handle whatever was going in his life at the moment, sure. He’d turn to this regrettable poison that makes him do stupid shit, more so than he already does. Yeah, why not? “Fuck no, I wish this was about Jamie.” At least with his growing pains about his ex, he was used to it. This pain, though? Was on a whole ‘nother level. “It’s… about Val.” He paused debating if he wanted to tell Matty boy about the kiss or not, he decided against it, “I did her wrong, Matt. I’m a god awful friend.”

Matt frowned when AJ said it wasn’t about Jamie. Then it went to complete and utter surprise when he learned it was about Val. Their friendship was no secret to Matt. Hell, he still felt partially responsible. Not in a good way though. To him, she was toxic and dangerous. And when AJ said it was his fault, something snapped. “Oh shut up!” He said with a sudden fire in his elsewise eternally joking voice. “She ghosted you for weeks!” He took the bottle back from AJ with a forceful swipe, took a gulped from the bottle and then used the neck of it to point at him. “She played games with you my friend.” He continued. Though inside he was still mad. How dare she? How dare she make his friend feel this bad? “And when you pointed it out, she literally jumps you? And you feel sorry!? Screw that!” He offered the bottle again. The liquid inside of it, between the two, looked like it wouldn’t last another half hour. “You got nothing to feel this bad about. She's the horrible friend here.”

“Hey. She might have issues, but she isn’t horrible.” AJ defended her. Why was he defending her? “Everyone does fucked up shit, Matt. I tortured Jamie even after the break up because I knew he still was into me. He just didn’t want to be with me. I knew exactly what I was doing in the halls. I knew exactly what his wishes were and still toyed with him, because I had that power. Fuck, even me not noticing what Brandon was doing to Emi was shitty. It’s like I purposely turned a blind eye because what? I can’t get over myself? All Val did wrong was not tell me her feelings. Not tell me she was scared!” Wait. Scared of what? His mind went to the fight they had and the conversation he shared with his Valentine. What made her so scared to act the way she did again? Jealousy?

Matt rolled his eyes as AJ tried to defend Val. He guessed it would always be like that. Sure, no-one could say AJ was a saint. Sure, what he did to Jamie might not have been necessarily good. But to Matt, there was a stark difference between what AJ did to Jamie and what Val did to AJ. For one, AJ was paying for what he did almost every day now. Matt just knew that when it came down to it, AJ still thought about Jamie every day. It was the most horrible self-torture he could remember and only time would make him stop. But Val. Val was just toying with him and there were no consequences. There was no karma that would punish her for it. Hell, if she approached AJ here and now and just talked to him as if nothing happened, AJ would just take her back. Hell, he would apologize first. That’s how AJ worked and to Matt, Val was abusing it.

But then the subject of Brandon came up. Your fault. Your fault. Your fault. The words echoed through his brain as he nearly stopped listening. A spike went straight through where he thought his heart would be. His stomach contracted as he remembered all the times he subtilty took AJ around a corner. Your fault. Liar! Your fault. He looked down at his own feet as he remembered all the time he quickly turned AJ away from another girl hanging around Brandon’s neck. Your fault. Liar! Your fault. He wanted to puke. Right then and there he wanted nothing more than to puke out his guts. His guilt. His faults. He couldn’t though. No matter how much he’d try to heave and get it out, it was stuck inside of him. Every horrible decision he took for what he thought was ‘the greater good’.

Despite his sudden state deuteriation of state, Matt had still listened. He spoke, though meekly: “Why are you still defending her? Can you at least admit she was a bad friend for not even trusting you with her feelings? Can you at least admit she was at fault?” Can I?

Sighing to himself, taking back the hard liquor, AJ’s joyless eyes looked back at his friend, “I could, but that doesn’t change how I—” Feel about her. Oh god. Another chug. He shook himself out of this sappy stupor and shoved the drink back at Matt, straight to his chest with force, “Enough of this pussy bitch shit. Val gonna’ do what she gonna’ do, and so are we. ‘Nough with the car too. It’s going nowhere. Let’s go have fun and be merry, or I’ll fight you.”

Matt took the bottle, a bit surprised at the sudden change in AJ. But then he reflected on it and yeah. AJ was right. They were walking down a winding path down. If they had to go up again, they had to turn around. So following his friend, Matt took a big gulp of the bottle and then grinned when AJ joking offered a fight. “I would have you down eating dirt before you could call me a pussy.” He said, his usually jokingness abound. Behind him, he quickly killed the light and closed the hood. Then he went on his way towards the rest, sitting around the campfire. Still with a half-empty bottle of tequila in hand. Though after a step or two beyond AJ he quickly turned around and said: “Before I forget.” There was a half-apologetic smile on his face. “Emi might… be different.” Without any more explanation, he turned back around and went straight for the campfire.

“Different? How? Should I check on her?” Turning his head, he realized Matt wasn’t even beside him anymore. OKAY, MATT. THANKS FOR WAITING UP. Picking up the pace, to catch up to Matt, AJ found himself going with the motions, his thoughts focused on: what was wrong with Emi. He saw the gorgeous blonde glowing from the firelight and he smiled to himself. Creeping behind her, and the girl she was leaning on (Kim), he kneeled down, intentionally whispering in her ear, “Are you enjoying yourself, Goldie?”

[Stanifly]

K I M B E V E R I D G E

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Location | The campgrounds on Red Rock Canyon
Interacting with | Emi @NeoAJ, AJ @TootsiePop
Mentions | Jules @Vox
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Sudden pressure. Additional warmth. External sensation. Kim knew what this was.

Physical contact.

'Emi-' she started, attempting to draw away from her friend, but Emilia kept on talking right over her. Kim shuffled, discomfited, but Emilia was far too close for her to pull away completely. 'It was the shoulder touch earlier, wasn't it? What else could it have been? I should never have-'

'...not thinking about that fucking asshole Brandon!'

What.

Kim could only stare at Emi in disbelief as she continued her rant, babbling about seemingly everything she had on her mind. Emi getting heated over something was one thing, but the profanity peppered in like sesame seeds on a burger bun was... well, it hadn't even been a thing before.

Then Emi leaned in close, draping over Kim as if Kim was some kind of seat cushion. Kim was not a seat cushion. She did not, now or ever, want to be a seat cushion. As if to mock her nonexistent desire, Emi's arm, brushing along Kim as it slipped from its place across her shoulders, snagged on her earpiece's wires and succeeded in pulling out one earbud and dislodging the other so it hung tentatively on the shell of her ear.

'That's it.'

'Emilia.' Kim's tone, sharpened with ice, snapped against the space Emi's voice had previously taken up. 'You're in my space. Let go of me. Please.'

Nate and Val seemed to be MIA, Umbra was... well, Kim wasn't sure, and Sami pre-occupied with his thoughts for the future. At the present moment, Jules seemed to be the best option for help. She opened her mouth to call out to him-

Then stiffened.

Craning her neck, she blinked at the Gearhead kneeling behind them. She hadn't heard what he'd said, exactly, but she'd caught the sound of a whisper.

'Oh, it's you.' Strained from the prolonged physical contact, her voice came out tenser than intended. Not exactly a snap, but it wasn't a warm welcome either. If Emilia would just let go already, maybe Kim could find it in herself to feel bad about it. As it was, she just really wanted Emi to release her.

Preferably in the next second.

[Bee]

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_{Location | buttfuck nowhere
Interacting with | Aleks @Plank Sinatra
Mentions | AJ @TootsiePop, Jules @Vox}

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Honestly, sleeping at a sandy campground in the middle of the desert wasn't what Ellie had in mind when it came to coming on a trip like this. Ellie was expecting more of a shitty, run down motel with sheets you weren't entirely sure were washed in the last decade or two. But, there she was, pitching a tent on top of some sand and hunkering down for the night, while her six-figure sports car was sitting by nearby. It wasn't entirely the best deal, but it was far better than being cramped in the sports car. For such a fast car, it sure was uncomfortable when you sat in there for a long time. It was what happened when you sacrificed comfort for performance. On one hand, it was a monster, but on the other hand you might as well have been sitting down on a plank of wood for hours of a time while being thrown around like you were a ragdoll.

The thoughts of being subjected to that kind of force was going to have to wait for the time being, though. Right now it was time to rest, and rightfully so considering that they had quite the day ahead of them. From Ellie waking up late to the little tussle involving AJ, everyone needed to wind down and rest up for the day ahead of them. They weren't too far from Vegas, according to Ellie's estimations which may or may not have been correct. Even though AJ was more than capable of doing this by himself, Ellie took it upon herself as a good friend to help him out. Speed was the key, after all, and in this case an extra hand was the best thing she could've given short of pulling a hotel out of her ass.

Once all was settled, Ellie made sure the sticks were firmly planted in the ground. Safety first, after all. She was probably most likely sharing a tent with AJ, barring a visit from a surprise somebody. But there was nothing else to do and considering how badly Ellie overslept, hanging out with the rest of the group was a better idea than sitting in her car and fucking around on her phone. Was there even reception out here? Ellie wan't sure, and she wasn't really keen to find out with the opportunity a few feet away from her.

Coming up to the bonfire, she couldn't help but to notice someone really working a pack of cards. It was practically magician, Vegas level, even. Ellie was intrigued, especially since the famed riffle shuffle was something that had evaded her for the years that she'd been alive. To satiate her curiosity, she decided to take a seat next to that individual. Upon closer observation, it was none other than Aleks himself. The extraordinaire, the man she was desperately trying to get to quit smoking. She didn't know he had a way with cards, though. That was pretty neat.

"Sup, Aleks?" Ellie asked upon sitting out, "Couldn't help but to see you with those cards... that's dope, my dude."

[BrutalBx]

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Location: Campgrounds
Interacting With: AJ - Hugo - Yessi

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”We will absolutely take you up on that, the Bellagio it is” Sami knew that it meant far more sense for him to try and break bread and build some semblance of a bridge with AJ. The RV in hindsight was a terrible idea and he wasn’t really sure what if anything was going through his mind at the time. Really the whole thing was a spit in the face of daddy dearest. Maybe a night in Sin City and a nice windfall would help Sami make up for his mistake. Some cold hard cash won at a poker table might help him buy a better mode of transportation for the Misfits. The journey would not end here.

A furry looking dude suddenly turned up at their campfire and Sami gave him the once over. AJ was right, the guy looked like he had been walking for days. He pretty much looked like Sami felt most days. ”Welcome hermano, make yourself comfortable and help yourself to the snacks and booze littered around” Samuel was never one to be unwelcoming. Part of the unwritten creed of the misfits was that everyone was welcome and everything was permitted.

Pulling up a pue next to Yessi, he took the joint from her fingers, ”Thanks, mami” Drugs were never really Sami’s thing. He didn’t like the idea of anything really affecting his mood but what did it matter now? After that last visit to the doctor he didn’t really care anymore. As he breathed in and the chemical party began in his already foggy brain, his mind wandered somewhat, his dark eyes becoming lost in the flickering flames of the campfire before him.

Fire was the element most likely associated to Sam. The fever and the rage that had defined the Cubano for most of his life came from a fire within him, a little Latino heat. That’s what everyone had convinced themselves. The idea that his temper was from another cause had never really crossed anyone’s mind. Taking another drag from the joint before passing it along again, Sami exhaled the smoke as if he was dragon, discharging the flames within in order to cool down his very soul. He reached down into a nearby cooler and pulled out a beer. It was ice cold and a perfect accompaniment to the smoke. Caution was definitely being thrown to the wind tonight. It was their last summer after all. Maybe it was the weed, maybe it was the booze or maybe it was the subtle winds of change blowing through their makeshift camp but Sami was feeling open, more open than he would normally feel comfortable with.

”So, who wants to hear a story?”

[Plank Sinatra]

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Location | Red Rock
Los Angeles Time | 9:11 PM / London Time | 5:11 AM / Moscow Time | 7:11 AM
Interacting with | Ellie @Bee (Mentions: AJ @TootsiePop, Yessi @Hoekage / ｙ ｅ ｔ　ａ ｎ ｏ ｔ ｈ ｅ ｒ　ｐｉｎｋ　ｓ ｔ ａ ｒ ｂ ｕ ｒ ｓ ｔ
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The Gearheads liked to say that Aleks never slept. Obviously the idea was ludicrous at face value; after all, Yessi alone had seen him fall asleep a hundred times, and he was sure once or twice he'd dozed off on the couch at Monica's place watching movies with her. Once he'd fallen asleep behind the wheel while driving AJ away from a drunken, tearful argument - another death throe in the forever war that was his comrade's relationship with that forgettable gossipy twink. Luckily AJ's vision had been bleary from salt and whiskey, and he hadn't caught on to Aleks' brief recharging period. It was for the best. Even Aleks' corpse would have made for a better driver than AJ operating under...ideal conditions. But from an outside perspective it certainly seemed true. Aleks was on call like a doctor, a doctor who made a habit of appearing in parking lots or at bars with more scrapes and bruises than his patients when summoned. You ain't never had a friend like him.

Part of being a well-mannered, hyper-engineered, sexually fluid post-Soviet Terminator with a lack of personal drama and a head full of bedroom secrets and ideas that were as debauched as they were highly classified meant that part of Aleks was always mentally prepared for whatever the remaining parts of their fucked up Voltron-esque auto-clique was throwing at him. In lieu of sleep, generally that meant falling into a sort of sleep mode - a series of patterns, simple activities that required no higher function. Shuffling cards was near the top of this list of the T-800 'Aleks' Model's approved autopilot features - sitting directly below handjobs and above chin ups.

Jesus, no wonder Yessi thinks I'm a head case.

But hey, which one of them was the lunatic who thought it was okay to barter off their dearly beloved's fucking stuff for a sport they didn't even like? If he started selling off Yessi's jewelry in order to go watch water aerobics, Aleks guessed the first words out of her mouth in Spanish wouldn't exactly be fucking 'te amo.'

Ellie is talking to you.

The arrival of a friend was enough to snap Aleks out of his reverie; the abrupt break in his concentration was almost enough to send the deck flying, turning what was a simple overhand shuffle into an impromptu game of fifty-two pickup. Instead, he corrected; the cards all landed in his hand, a half a dozen at a time sliding along into a uniform deck, with no rounded corners of askew cards to detract from the set's perfection. He looked up at his fellow Gearhead and pursed his lips in a faint smile, colder and more rehearsed than the warmth of a chocolate brown eye winking closed and open at her.

"Hey," he greeted her simply, "yeah."

He started shuffling again, although this time he directed his attention up to Ellie instead of towards the cards. There was someone to focus on now; the autopilot was no longer an option.

"I learned at Piccadilly," he explained. "These days it's nothing but a tourist trap, but it's also a quick and dirty choice for a field trip. We went when I was in Yearrrrrrr...6 or 7. 7. One of the attractions there was this douchebag from Italy, skimming fifty quid at a time off of foreigners who didn't know better. So I gave him fifty quid at a time, let him think I was son of a shepherd Russian boy, and eventually I knew every trick in his book. Last time Yessi and I were in Vegas I made the money back, so it was a solid investment. And it's a fun way to distract your drunk friends."

Aleks turned his head slightly towards Yessi, taking a long drag off of the Manson Family peace pipe. He heard his best friend make a playful joke about them all being murdered while high. More like I'll be murdered and she'll wind up one of his wives. If the bearded newcomer was actually a cult leader, he pitied him. Yessi wouldn't even believe that he was at home exercising instead of eating another girl out. Good luck making her believe in Heaven's Gate.

And AJ...

He took a long, shallow breath and shrugged his eyebrows in the direction of their wayward, fearless leader before looking back to Ellie. Instead of the weed or booze that many of the Gearheads liked to indulge, he unfolded another strawberry Starburst and popped the candy into his mouth, letting it settle into his right cheek.

"This turned into a shitshow fast, huh?"

[Venus]

_{Mentions: Nate @spooner, AJ@TootsiePop}
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"Hello Jules. How are you doing on this lovely evening?"

Jules had been focusing so hard on not freaking out that he freaked out again when another person came out of nowhere and sat beside him. Luckily, this time it was Val, who he at least knew. ”Hey!” He forced out alongside a smile. “What’s up, boo? What’s with the face? Finally made up with lover-boy?” Jules looked around the campfire to see if he could spot the spoiled prince, which he did next to Emi and Kim, with Emi acting the wrong kind of bubbly and practically draping herself all over Kim. Jules’ anxiety intensified just an eensy, teensy, tiny~ bit more inside his heart.

Valeria scoffed, immediately shaking her head. "Not a chance," she said dryly, purposely avoiding to look at AJ and the way he was being so friendly with Emilia. There was no time to waste on any more petty arguments when the clock was ticking. "I'm not here to discuss my problems with J. What I am here for, is to as for the teeniest, tiniest favor that you could ever do for me, my sweet Julius Baek."

He swiveled his head back toward Val since she was immediately there and he didn’t want to deal with another train-wreck-in-the-making. It helped that Val was asking him for a favor, which made him slip back into an old, hungry and completely innocent devilish grin. “You, asking me for a favor? You sure you ready to sign that contract hun?”

The short girl let out a laugh. She was sure that whatever Jules asked as payment for his services would be worth the night of passion spent with Nate (if it even happened, of course, but Val wanted to be positive for the first time in her pathetic little life). "Hell yeah I am! Since when have I backed out of a challenge?" she teased, gently poking him on the ribs.

Jules recoiled back, a small hyena-like yelp bubbling out, though it didn’t fail to wipe the grin from his face. She knew how ticklish he was. He grabbed her finger in retaliation and leaned closer towards her face, his other hand low and ready to deflect whatever nasty assault she might have tried next. ”Signed and sealed, filed and saved. Whaddya need from li’l young me?”

Okay, here was the moment of truth. "I need-" the brunette started to say, pausing for a second to take a deep breath and mumble in the lowest, most discreet voice she could muster. "-_{some condoms}"

There was a long pause as Jules processed what she had asked for. ”Condoms?” His voice, in comparison, a flat, normal, conversational level.

Val's eyes went wide with panic, cheeks blazing scarlett. Impulsively, she placed a hand over Jules' mouth. "Shhhhhh! Keep it down, will you?!" she hissed in his ear, looking around to see if anybody else had overheard him. "Yes, condoms! I need some goddamn condoms!"

Jules couldn’t help but snerk, taking her hand off his face. Between all his own experience and having reconnected with Yessi again, he forgot sometimes how innocent his other friends could be. It was nice, like seeing a baby deer just standing on its own legs for the first time. He quickly dug out a small 4-pack string of condoms he kept in his back pocket, an old habit he still held, and hid them in his palm. Bringing his hands up to his mouth, he crossed them over and placed the edge of the first condom between his lips, revealing them with a flourish as they dropped from his mouth. He then let them plop back into his palm and offered them to his very flustered friend. ”There you go, Bambi: ask and ye shall receive.”

Like it was going to be that easy.

Before Val could do more than reach out her hand to take them, he easily danced them out of her reach and closer towards his chest, the grin still playing at the edges of his expression. ”But first, I’m calling in that favor right now. Who is it?”

"Seriously?!" Val whined, trying to discreetly pry the condoms from him but failing to do so. Eventually, she gave up, cursing under her breath. She should have known Jules would want to find out every single detail about her possible plans for the night.

”Seriously, or I’ll let you curse yourself with making your own tiny little devil tonight,” playfully batting away her handsy attempts. As long as there was tea to be spilled, there was no way he’d ever let them go.

Ever the persistent little shit, Valeria made one last, hard try to get the condoms, but eventually gave up again with a frustrated sigh. "Fine, you dipshit. I'll fucking tell you-" she began, trying to keep her answer short and sweet but hearing the words spill out of her mouth in a fast, uncontrollable stream.

"Nate and I went out to the cliff to take some pictures, right? And while we're talking about random shit, he asks me where I'm spending the night. Me, like the dumbass I am, forgot to find a spot, so he offers me to take the bed in his cabin and he'll take the couch. So for some goddamn reason I'm still trying to understand, I fucking kiss the guy- out of fucking nowhere, I might add- and he pulls away and just stares at me like I've been possessed by an alien life-form. So I basically tell him about how I've wanted him to push me against a wall and fucking bang me for years now, and this little shit has the nerve to question me- all because I've called him a pussy a few times. So I make up some dumb excuse on the spot saying how the kiss was my way of apologizing- and you know what this fucker does?! He gives me that cheeky ass smile and tells me I'd better make up my mind about crashing in his room or not soon because he's going to sleep… And that maybe I could 'apologize some more' over there. So the way I see it, if I play my cards right, I might get laid tonight. Hence why I need the precious gifts you're currently keeping from me."

With a mouth running off faster than any of the Gearheads’ rides on a flat, open stretch of road, it took a little bit of time for Jules to properly decipher what Val had said, but when he did, all he could say was ”Oh my god.”

Then another “Oh,” interrupted by a small titter. “My.” A breathy chuckle. “ Go~d,” this time a full-on cackle, an evil laugh full of surprise, incredulity, and pure, utter delight. "Jesus Christ, you two just kissed and you already wanna bang? I mean, I know I move fast, but I didn’t expect you to be like that too. And what’d he say? He’d let you ‘apologize some more?’ You know,” he breathed in between giggling fits while Val glared daggers at him, "me and Nate haven’t gone on a little photog sesh in a while, you think he’ll let me ‘apologize’ to him like that too?”

"Shut up! Don’t fucking judge me, okay!" Valeria spat, her chubby-cheeked face red-hot and clearly mortified about this whole thing. If she’d known getting the damn condoms from Jules would be such a hassle, she would have taken her chances breaking into AJ’s car and stealing the ones he kept in his glove compartment. It certainly would have saved her some embarrassment. "I told you everything, now can I please have what you're holding?"

”Sorry, princess: you’ll have to tell me what you want again. I seem to have spontaneously forgot what with my gut trying to kill me and all!”

"I. Need. Those. Condoms." Val growled, giving Jules a look that could kill if glares had that power.

Unfazed, he had his last giggle and handed over the much sought after condoms. "And in case our poor little boy doesn’t know how to put them on, just give me a call and I’ll be more than happy to help the two of you out,” he said, giving her a wink. "That favor can be given free of charge. Aren’t I so nice?”

"Screw you!"Val said through gritted teeth, snatching the condoms from Jules' hands. Even though this was on her top five most humiliating moments of her life, the brunette was still thankful for the assistance of one of her best friends. So before she left, Val gave Jules a quick hug and begrudgingly kissed his cheek. "Wish me luck, JuJu. I'm going in for the kill." Now armed for whatever possibly the future might hold, the pint-sized girl stood up straight and made her way back to where Nate stood waiting for her.

As she watched the stupidly handsome dude get closer and closer, Val could only silently pray he hadn't seen the exchange between her and Julius, or what it was that she'd shoved in the back pocket of her shorts. "Alright, Nate: I'm ready to go now. Should we say goodbye before we head to the cabin?" she asked the sandy-haired boy as soon as she was within earshot. She was hoping he said no.

[NeoAJ]

_{Collab with @TootsiePop}

_{Mentions of friends, with a small focus on Val at some point @Dirty Pretty Lies / Interaction with Sami @BrutalBx}
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“Are you enjoying yourself, Goldie?”

Emilia was so far gone in her own little world, appreciating Kim’s warmth even if there was very little of it actually coming from the brunette, that the sudden words whispered in her ear jolted her upright, releasing Kim from Emi’s grasp. She turned around to get a look at who did such a thing, only to spot one of the people she was calling for not moments ago. “AJ!” she exclaimed, far happier to see him this time than their last encounter… and the previous few hours. “Heyyyyy you!” She tucked her hair back behind her ear… then repeated it a couple more times because the feeling of her own hair on her fingers was awesome. “Heyyyy, I… I gotta apologize for the ride here. I’m so sorry I was all sad and stuff. It will never happen again!” Sober Emilia would never be able to promise that, but this Emi was trying to spread happy, and it started with making up for the sad.

“It’s okay. I really don’t mind.” AJ observed the blonde carefully. Okay, that was a lie. The whiskey was hitting him hard and his primitive brain was leading the charge. He had endorphins telling him to stop having a pity party. Enjoy himself. Make sure the girl was okay. Simple thoughts, really, but at least he wasn’t thinking about Val, or Jamie.

His brown gaze softly rested on the ray of sunshine that was Emilia Seger. Her eyes were a deep, ocean blue, and her hair had a thousand shades of gold and looked so incredibly soft. Did AJ ever get this close to her before? He couldn’t recall because while she hung over Brandon, he was with Jamie, or Val. His attention went up toward the blunt being passed around and then to Sami: “I’ll pass, dude. I’m gonna’ take another walk.”

With a charming prince smile, he looked back to Emi, ignoring everyone else, including Aleks who seemed to be having a nice conversation with Ellie. Offering his hand while standing upright, he gestured for her to come with him, “Can we talk? I’d like to apologize too.” He seemed to be set on pulling her aside, with or without her permission. For as long as his patience would allow him, he would wait. He hoped she’d come on her own accord. If he can provide some comfort to her about her ex, he would sure as hell try. But first, she had to grab his hand.

Emilia tilted her head slightly, letting her hair fall back to the side. She definitely knew she had to do more than just apologize to AJ. There was a lot to talk about. The earlier incident near Bell Mountain. The prom. The past two years of football practices. All these thoughts were starting to circle in her mind. However, the drugs in her system were incredibly effective at preventing yet another breakdown. Hell, now, talking about all those things felt like a good idea. Emi looked over at Val, her usual outlet for her problems. She seemed busy with Jules over something. She couldn’t hear what they were talking about. Kim didn’t sound very pleased with the hugging she received. Umbra was… somewhere. Maybe she did need someone who saw the other side. Maybe AJ would let her talk. Even if he was probably more invested in the locker-room side of the story.

The blonde looked back up at the fire dancing off the sunglasses that dangled off AJ’s chest, the shadows in his hair flickering with the flames, the extended hand offering an olive branch. She offered a smile, goofier than she intended, but again, something else was in control of Emi now. “Sure,” she confirmed as she took AJ’s hand and hoisted herself up from the fire. “I mean, I dunno what you want to apologize for, but sure!” She dusted the dirt off the back of her dress and looked back at the Gearhead. “Let’s go!” Probably too enthusiastic, but it was still genuine.

“We’ll be back, eventually.” Holding onto her hand delicately, as if she were made of porcelain, too fragile to handle wrongly, AJ first went to his tent, where a backpack was resting outside of it, and retrieved his flashlight. Briefly letting go of her, he threw his backpack over his shoulder, just in case they strayed away from the familiar path, and gave her the light to hold. “We’re not going too far, but I think it would be nice to look around while we talk. There’s this big arch a half a mile away I’d like to take you to.”

Emi flipped the flashlight on, delighting in the light zooming across the Nevada landscape according to her whims. She giggled as she put a particular sage bush in the midst of a strobe light disco. As AJ straightened up, she nodded at him. “Sounds pretty!” She retook AJ’s hand. The physical contact just felt intoxicating at the moment. “Lead the way!”

AJ would be lying if he wasn’t taken aback, even in his inebriated state. Having gone to more than enough parties, as one of the hot jocks — though he did it out of boredom and not because he cared about the sport — he had more than enough experience in alcohol. Unlike most of his comrades, aside from Aleks who preferred starburst over a can of beer, he hated the taste. He did it socially, not because he liked it. That being said, seeing Emi like this was… weird. He knew she was a bubbly ass girl, but never to this extent. Maybe her mental state was temporarily allowing herself to ‘be happy’ until the waterworks came again. Honestly, AJ was preparing for the worst. With Emi, you never knew when she’d start hyperventilating, “Someone’s in a good mood, did you get a love confession or something?” Maybe that was a question in poor taste. It probably was. He started striding on, making sure that he kept a firm, yet gentle, grip on his friend’s dainty hand.

No one said he was the best with words.

Emi put the flashlight up to her face as she thought for a second, forgetting that it was meant to be lighting the way to the arch. “Hmmmm, I dunno!” she admitted. “I mean, I know I was really down earlier, but it’s just like, it doesn’t matter anymore! Maybe I just needed some sugar or something, because since I ate those M&M’s earlier, I just feel better!”

“You want some more? I got starbursts, thanks to Aleks.” For another second, AJ released her, hoping she wasn’t going to fall or anything while he retrieved the candy from his bag, “It’s good to see you smiling. You haven’t, in awhile.” Pulling it out, he brought it to her and waved it in front of her as they walked. “Here.”

The blonde greedily grasped at the offered candy and managed to grab a couple of pink ones. Strawberry. Her favorite flavor that wasn’t watermelon. She unwrapped one and popped it in her mouth. “Mmmmmm, yummmmy…” she said as the fruit flavors mingled on her tongue. They tasted even better than the M&M’s!

Satisfied with the candy, Emi’s attention went to AJ’s other remark. “I know I haven’t been myself lately, and it feels nice to be able to have something to smile about again. I don’t know what it is. It just…” It almost seemed like the MDMA was beginning to wane, but nope. Just another pocket of flavor in the candy. “It’s been hard. And again, I’m so sorry it didn’t happen sooner, because I know it made for a really bad car ride, and you didn’t deserve that, AJ. You didn’t do anything to have to deal with me like that.”

The archway was gradually approaching. The desert at such a late hour was like an eerie sea, with silhouettes of cactus, that resembled ghost ships on the wavy sands. The night made things seem different than they were, and yet the black tranquility of the sky made him feel at peace, even if he was a little tipsy. “Emilia, stop.” With his right hand, he gently grabbed her and pulled her toward him, so that she was staring at him face-to-face, eye-to-eye. “Stop apologizing for hurting. Stop feeling guilty because your ex didn’t see how fucking amazing you are. I should be the one saying sorry! I should’ve SEEN. I should’ve been able to help! But I wasn’t there. I let it happen. I let him hurt you. And that makes me awful.”

It was a forceful action. Then again, those seemed to be necessary nowadays to snap Emi out of whatever funk she was in. It seemed weird she would be in a position to pull someone else out of the depths, but AJ seemed genuinely hurt by everything. It made sense. The difference between junior year AJ and senior year AJ was noticeable, and it didn’t take a Swift fan to see why. Even from as far away as she was at the time.

Emilia put her hand up to AJ’s as it rested on her shoulder. “AJ,” she softly spoke. “You couldn’t have known. There was no possible way to know. I didn’t even know until I was left there at prom.” She rubbed his hand as if to put him at ease, but really it just felt great, on both her hand and her shoulder. “If anything I should still be saying sorry to you! I mean, I’ve been sitting at home, wasting my time thinking about that stupid fucker and feeling sorry for myself, when I could have been reaching out and getting some help with this…” She stopped moving her hand and continued to lock eyes with the Gearhead leading her among the phantoms of the canyon, seemingly giving their respective demons life in the night. “I just… I’ve never felt this kind of pain. This kind of hurt. It’s so overwhelming. I know Brandon is a fucking asshole, but you know that feeling when you just kinda give yourself to someone, and you make them a part of you, and then they just rip it away. You’re never OK after that. I’ve just been making it worse. I should have talked to someone sooner. Val or Kim or Umbra or… you, I guess.” A slight breeze picked up, blowing some strands of hair across Emilia’s face as she continued to gaze at the boy who had caused so many tears today, yet was now drawing some necessary confessions out of the blonde.

“You’re a champ for crying about it. You might not say ‘help, I'm hurting’ but it’s there. I see you.” Only letting his gaze lay on her face for a second longer, he looked away and allowed himself to fully drop the mask, showing his vulnerabilities. The black night held them close and although substance was the main reason they were sharing, their hearts were entwined for this moment in time. “And… you’re facing it. You’re not pretending. You’re in so much pain, and you release it. Like, fuck, Em.”

Unlike her, he kept so much bottled up. Yes, his friends knew he was still drunk in love with his ex, but he never shared the exact details of everything to them. There was no proper disclosure. They didn’t see what happened behind closed doors. He didn’t share how bad he hurt his ex. He didn’t share that he was the fucking asshole in their story. He just played it like Jamie was his property and he hated that someone else claimed him, when really, the guilt ate at him — for the pain he caused. “Y’know standing next to you, it makes me realize how much of a fucking coward I am.” His eyes became glazed with a glassy layer of tears. He looked up to the sky to put them right back where they came from. Crying was for pussies.

Taking a deep breath in, as they finally got under the arch, AJ shook his head and turned his miserable face to her once more. A face where memories weighed heavy. “Break ups happen for a reason. They suck. Fuck, they suck. I wasn’t there for Jamie when he needed me and then after he was gone, I couldn’t let go. And the same goes for Val! Our friendship is fucking over because I’ve never been good at making people feel good about themselves. I’ve never been good at seeing what they want. Emilia, I made him so insecure, and I do the same with Val. What-the-fuck is wrong with me?!” At this instance, AJ was just about to reach his breaking point as he aggressively started pulling his shaggy hair.

It was an unusual position for Emilia to be in, watching someone else struggle with their emotions and just break themselves down into a puddle. At least lately, it was unusual. Sure there were meltdowns at clubs because leaders didn’t think they would get off the ground, but this was a whole new level. This was something Emi recognized in herself. Hell, she had been there three times today. But for AJ, this seemed to be even more self-destructive than her own.

Emi grabbed a hold of AJ’s hands and pulled them away from his head, holding them down as much as she could, despite her relative lack of strength and her desire to keep rubbing them.

“I release it because honestly AJ, I don’t know what else to do. Like I said, I don’t know this. I’m so not used to this. I have no idea what to do with this. There’s a part of me that wants to hunt Brandon down and kick him in the nuts until he coughs up his balls. But then, there’s that other part that just wants to know why. Why was I so easy to cast off like that? And there is no way to get any closure on that. He just bailed. Scurried off to San Jose to leave me here in this absolute mess. Leaving me here to deal. And I don’t know how. So I cry. I cry because I’m stuck like that.

“I don’t think there is anything wrong with you, AJ. I think we all deal with our tragedies in different ways. They may not be the right ways, but they are what we got. Have you been a bit self-centered about the whole thing? Probably. I mean, we never really talked so I can only go off what you literally just told me. But if that’s how you deal, then that’s how you deal. And if that’s making you crazy, then dude, you need to realize that yourself and make that change. Kind of like you’re doing right now.

“And for what it’s worth, Val is pretty hard to shake. You’re going to have to do worse things than that to get her to completely cut off the friendship. I mean, do you know how many times I have sung Ariana in her face? And yet we’re still friends.” It was a lot for Emilia to unload in that instance but her goal was to help AJ in that moment. The fact that she was finally getting some things off her chest was just a happy side effect.

She was… making a lot of sense. It was weird that he was finding comfort in someone he didn’t know as well as Chris or Aleks. But, it was refreshing. Maybe hearing these words from someone outside his usual circle was exactly what he needed. The alcohol was like a truth serum and made him spill out his heart. He didn’t know when it would stop — when he would shut up. He needed to shut up.

Suddenly, he had an urge and rather than think about it, he just did it. He pulled Emilia into an embrace and buried his face in her luscious, blonde waves and as if he really needed to do so, he let himself silently cry. How unmanly of him. “I don’t know if I want to be ‘just friends’ with her.” AJ whispered in uncertainty.

Emilia's eyes widened upon hearing that news. “Oh… Ohhhhhhhh! Oh," she stammered as she patted AJ on the back. It seemed like the right thing to do. What wasn't the right thing to do is what she said. “I...I didn't know you were interested… in that way. I mean, with Jamie and all…

“Yeah, well. Shit’s complicated. I didn’t think I was interested either. Until today.” He closed his eyes, not realizing how honest he was being nor holding any regrets for sharing it with this ball of sunshine. Her hair smelled nice. It was part of the reason he was calming down. “It’s okay. She would never want me.” He admitted, knowing he was getting in over his head. “I’d hate myself, anyways, if she felt like my rebound.”

Emilia nodded as she continued to comfort her friend. “I mean, not to say you couldn’t, but it’s probably a hail mary throw at this time, and yeah, you never want to put anyone else in the position of being the rebound. Although, I could probably go for some of that right now. I mean, I don’t have a lot to compare to, but I don’t think Brandon was very good. He kept saying it wasn’t about the size, but he really didn’t know how to use it…” She was spilling way too much now. Definitely the “pop rocks” coaxing that level of discourse out of her. But it was Brandon, so who cares how many people knew. AJ probably knew. They had been in locker rooms together for years.

For another time, he was taken aback. He pulled away from Emilia and gawked at her. She couldn’t be serious? Did he hear wrong? Was she offering herself to him? That… seemed… wrong. Especially after this pitiful conversation they had just shared. Well, Emi was hot. He’d give her that. And too good for him. Double the points. But did he want to fuck her and show her a good time? “Em… I’m kind of drunk. Would you be okay if we just laid together? I’m not saying I’m not interested, I just… don’t want to take advantage of you. I’d rather be sober if I make the decision for us to test the waters. Is that okay?” Fuck, he was such a goddamn pussy. Who the hell declines such a good offer? He does obviously! “We can go in my tent and share stories? I can tell you a lot of stupid shit about Brandon.”

For the first time since she took the MDMA, Emilia had a moment of clarity. Did she really just offer herself up to another man like that? Right out of the blue? Especially another football player? Didn’t she swear off anything football related? All of a sudden she was very confused. However, AJ didn’t budge. He didn’t take advantage. It was clear he wasn’t a Brandon. If Emi had three Mike’s in her, Brandon would have been on her faster than he could ice a bro with the fourth one. It was sweet that AJ thought like that. Another point in his favor. Besides, having sex in the canyon sounded like a rough time.

The blonde held the flashlight up to her face so AJ could see her smile, even if the light did make it look slightly creepy. “That sounds like a great idea. Brandon did so much stupid stuff in private, it makes the Kardashians look like Harvard grads.” She gave AJ a soft hug before quickly retreating. “Oh! I can get the rest of the pop rocks from the cabin too! They are so weird! I don’t think they are a good flavor of pop rocks, I don’t know why Matt would give me brown ones, but I mean, I guess they worked all right, right?”

“Pop rocks…” A sudden and abrupt lightbulb went over AJ’s head. WHAT THE FUCK, MATT?! Oh-my-GOD. Emilia was on DRUGS. Now he HAD to watch her. Tomorrow, AJ would make sure to punch the shit out of that motherfucker. “I have a better idea. Or well, better candy for you to eat.” He paused for a second, before adding, “Where are those pop rocks, exactly?” He hoped he didn’t have to explain himself. He really didn’t want the sweet little bumblebee to have drugs on her, sharing it with everyone. That was a recipe for disaster!

“They are in the cabin, I think they are still on the bunk bed,” Emilia admitted, laughing after she did so. “I thought I could eat them all at once, but I only got like half the bag in my mouth. Guess I’m not as good with my candy as I used to be.” She was leaning right back into the endorphins now. “But hey, your candy is much better tasting. I like strawberry way more than I like... whatever the heck brown is.”

“You know… it’s getting pretty late and we have a big morning ahead of us. I don’t want to waste nice snuggle time, so let’s head back. You can make yourself comfy in my tent and then I’m gonna take a quick whiz. How does that sound, Bumblebee?” Yeah, he liked this nickname over Goldie. It suited her more.

Emi giggled as she retook AJ’s hand. “That sounds awesome!” She looked up at the stars over the arch. They almost seemed like they were dancing in the night sky. She felt like dancing right now. “Thanks for taking me out here, Shades. I needed to see something like this… and to talk about this too. You’re a good listener.” She leaned against AJ, much like she did to Kim earlier. Only this time, she was a bit steadier.

“Maybe…” He slid his hand around her waist, pulling her close. “We don’t need to rush. Do you want to dance?” As if AJ read her mind or something, he didn’t, he just felt it was right to offer, he waited with a caring smile, all the while looking down at her pale face. His mama didn’t raise a fool (okay sometimes he was foolish). Pulling out his phone, he added another question, “Any requests, milady?” Naturally, he assumed she wanted to.

A goofy smile spread across Emilia’s face. “Play me some Break Free, DJ!” Of course she was gonna ask for Ariana. She always asked for Ariana.

Word. With a quick swipe with his phone, he went to his dance playlist, which did have some Ariana Grande. Yeah, he could get jiggy with that. The song washed over the desolate area and under the archway, he let the good vibes flow in him, first, pocketing his phone, and secondly, dancing like there was no tomorrow.

Yeah, after such a shitty day, Emi was the perfect medicine and this song. This song felt so right. It let him forget about all his problems. The music moved him like a puppet and although it was dark as shit, minus the flashlight, he loved how this was just their moment. No one knew what they were doing. No one could take this away from them. No one mattered, but them.

And, ya know, AJ could flex his dancing skills. If there was one thing he wasn’t a fuck up at, it was knowing how to have fun on the DANCE FLOOR. This was only a sneak peak for what Las Vegas had coming for them. His feet moved to the beat and his hand took it upon himself to twirl his partner of the night, as he watched her blonde hair bounce. God, he loved her hair.

“Thank you, Emilia. I needed this.” He mouthed.

As the blue-eyed girl spun around, light flickering wherever her right arm cared to go, she could feel a lot of negative emotions leaving. This was fun. This was carefree. This was more like herself. It was like having someone else in that space she was living in lifted them both up out of that pit. Into this moment. Into this beautiful, unspoiled moment. No matter how the two of them got there. It felt so good.

The flashlight barely caught AJ’s mouth moving and Emilia continued to smile as wide as she had in a long time. “We both did,” she mouthed back before launching into another rendition of the chorus, her voice ringing out over the desert, breaking through the night. It didn’t matter what time it was, or where they were, this was beautiful.

It truly was. And she was cute.

This night they’d allow themselves to be a rainbow in the darkness.

They deserved it.

[Hoekage]

_{Matt @Legion020 Yessi @Hoekage Collab}

ღღღღღღღღღ

The stars were looking clear and bright out in the middle of nowhere, if Astraia looked hard enough she could imagine herself flying amongst them. A vivid thought that made her believe her body felt so light because she was actually floating, but no matter how insistently she tried to go higher her position with her ass planted on the soft grass remained unchanged. No amount of high or drunkenness would ever take away the pouty disposition of the spoiled princess, in fact it might have magnified it. Moving her eyes from the stupid stars to look around at the stupid people that had gathered she noticed some new stupid faces had joined, and realized she was no longer holding the joint.

When did that happen?

There wasn’t much time to ponder when Sami had taken the joint from her hands because the swirling of her favorite liquor caught her wandering eyes. With unexpected grace, she practically glided to the boy who had previously been the victim of her icy treatment and easily plucked the bottle of tequila from his hands offering a lilted “Thank you~”, and lifted it to her lips, sort of dancing away from the campfire as Sami begun whatever story he had to offer the group of wayward teens.

If it was anyone else, Matt would’ve clutched the bottle hard. No-one takes his liquor unless he offered it. Unless it was Yessi and this time, it was Yessi. As a habit he let loose. His drunk, delayed brain only realized a moment later that he was supposed to be angry with her. Except he wasn’t. At least not right now. All his drunken mind could think about was the extremely hot girl moving in front of him. The way her hips shook and her entire body followed, it entranced him. So much even that in that moment he lit a cigarette not because he wanted to but because he wanted to look just a little less conspicuous as he watched the private show.

But he also wanted booze. Despite being very, very drunk already he felt like he had to go deeper. So he went towards Yessi and with the same grace as she did, he went through her fingers and took the bottle from her. He gave her a smile, a genuine one, before throwing back the bottle. Then he fell backwards.

Through some miracle he was lucid enough to straighten the bottle as he went horizontal. Not a drop was spilled. There was no pain, then again he was far too drunk to even feel it. The grass below him felt very soft though. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.” He then looked up, towards Yessi standing over him. “You’re beautiful, you know that?”

The bottle leaving her hands was the last thing she expected, so a quick complaint left her lips as she turned around quickly with furrowed eyebrows. The annoyance turned into amusement as she watched Matt fall backwards into the grass, being a man’s man and saving the Tequila over his own head.

“You didn’t have to tell me that Matty.” Yessi replied in a light tone she hadn’t directed at him in a while. Even through the high and the increasing buzz from the few stolen sips she could forget the strain she put on their friendship. The compliment he gave her made her laugh and she lowered into the grass laying down beside him and looking up at the stars, “I think I’ve heard it a few times, but I wouldn’t mind hearing it a few more.” She teased easily her voice carrying off as a gentle silence fell between them.

When looking at the stars didn’t interest her anymore she turned on her side, propping her head on her palm and just looked at Matt.

You should apologize. That’s the right thing to do, Ass.

It wasn’t so much the apology that she was hesitating on, but he was drunk, really drunk. Shouldn’t she just wait until tomorrow when he was sober to have this conversation? After she did apologize what would happen next?

Just do it. If you don’t now, you never will.

“Matt-“ Astraia sighed softly giving in to her smarter inner voice, “I’m sorry… for everything. For being petty. For being a bad friend and not talking things out with you. For not having your back. For all of that… I’ll make it up to you in whatever way I can, but I just want to be back to the good ol’ times.”

Matt had chuckled when she said she wouldn’t mind hearing it a few more times. Resting the Tequila on his chest, he looked up at the stars. He was the furthest thing from an astronomer so he really couldn’t see the constellations. Instead his mind was mostly just focused on how nice this all felt. All trouble was gone and for just a night he was absolved of all sins. He didn’t really expect anything better to happen. The night had already given him far more than any other in the last month or so.

But it was a night that kept on giving. He was too drunk and far too spaced to notice Yessi had turned on her side, facing him. But when she apologized, he grabbed the bottle and turned towards her. A warmth washed over him as his smile widened. He wanted to just lay there forever without either of them moving but he knew he couldn’t. There was one thing that even in his drunk mind that had to happen.

The talk.

He gently put the Tequila against her lips and let her own fingers take back control of the bottle as he said: “So what needs to be talked out?” It was a horrible question that could ruin the mood but if he didn’t ask it, whatever feelings remained in the undercurrent would come up further along. They were friends and they needed to resolve this. Besides, Matt knew well enough that he wasn’t innocent.

The gulp of tequila was necessary to keep her lips from doing other things, and she was grateful for his kind gesture. Though it was time for business and honestly finding out the truth worried her, but they’d never mend anything if she allowed her worry to control. A deep breath was all she needed to gather the courage and the words she needed.

“The party, what the hell happened? Initially I thought there was no way you would be involved, like you’re an asshole, but not that kind of asshole. Then it just kept looking worse, and worse and you were so vague about everything. It was conflicting because I know you but you were acting so… shady. So just tell me what’s up, and be real with me.”

He was a liar. It came natural. Too natural. When she asked, his first impulse was to lie. To weave a story she would believe. That his friend stole the drugs from him. He would show remorse and he had no doubt that in her altered mind she would’ve believed him. But now he didn’t want to lie. She came to him and apologized. That was no small feat. If she could muster the courage to do that, he could muster the courage to be honest.

He took the Tequila bottle back and took a big gulp, then laid back on his back again. He didn’t really want to see the reaction on her face. “Not that kind of asshole indeed.” He started. “My friend said…” His words got caught up in his throat. As if his own body didn’t want him to tell the truth. He powered on. “He wanted to experiment. I was stupid for believing him. So I got the stuff and sold it to him.” Thinking back on it, he wanted to hit himself in the face. Over and over again. Beat some sense into him. That wouldn’t make things right though. “It’s been killing me ever since. If I was just smarter or a bit more suspicious it never should’ve happened. But it did and there isn’t a day I hate myself over it.” He was fully prepared for Yessi to fly into a rage. Hell, she would be justified. If she hit him, he wouldn’t even fight back.

Yessi watched him intently as he returned to his back there was a flash of something in his eyes that made her heart drop. The sounds of voice, accented with that slight quiver of the feelings and thoughts he carried on to this day were hard to hear. Sure, there was an anger at his stupidity, but he was doing a favor for a friend, for someone he trusted. Matt couldn’t be blamed for being taken advantage of, and the honesty in his tone was enough to stamp out the easily lit Spanish fire.

“Why didn’t you tell me back then, Matt?” Her voice was soft, by his body language she could tell he was surprised, “Look at me Matthew. Yeah, you have some part in this fucked up issue, obviously, but it’s not like you knew what he was going to do with any of the shit you sold him. You didn’t conspire to hurt Naomi, I can’t be mad at you for being a bro.”

He turned his head when she told him so. Matt didn’t know what felt more freeing. Telling her about what he did or her accepting him still. Nevertheless, a massive weight lifted from his heart. A weight he was so used to that he thought it was a part of him. He turned on his side again, almost happy. He didn’t say anything. He just looked her in the eyes. For years he thought they were brown but he was wrong. They were jade.

“You’re beautiful.” He said, pushing some of her hair around her ear and letting his hand rest on her cheek. Before he inched closer to her lips.

The road trip thus far had not gone how any of them expected. Their group had doubled in size, old friends were reunited, strained friendships reached their snapping point, and seemingly the night nurtured the suggestions of romance. For Yessi, this was the last place she expected to end up, given the events of the day. Though there was just something about laying under a waning moon, with the crackle of a fire and the echoes of excitement in the background that just felt… right.

“You’re still an asshole” The whisper was paired with a soft giggle as she closed the distance between their lips and let herself just get lost in the moment... Just this once with him.

Eagerly lost in a night like this.