Collab with @The Muse“
Thank you!” Sophia stepped out of the Uber ride and shut the car door, turning to face her parent’s house…. No, her house. Her heart ached at the reminder that this house had only fallen into her hands due to the death of her parents.
Taking a deep breath, she hurried to the front door. “
Everything be okay, everything be okay….” She had no idea what she was about to walk into, but the phone call from Riley didn’t give her very high hopes.
She slowly opened the front door, half expecting to walk in on an orgy. Stepping inside and closing the door behind her, she only heard the sound of forks against plates and quiet chatter from the kitchen. Thank God.
Walking into the kitchen, she looked around at everyone sitting around the table. Riley, Kylie, Zoey and Claire. The little leech was sitting in the chair their father usually sat in. Sophia narrowed her eyes on the four, “
Riley, you butt dialed me… Everything okay here?”
“
When was that?”
She stared at him, wishing she hadn’t heard whatever was going on in the background of that phone call. Was that Kylie or was that Claire?! “
It sounded like you were having a three way.” If only she had been joking. Her eyes moved to Claire in an accusing manner. Claire only looked back at her with big doe eyes. So innocent, yeah right. “
I think it’s time you leave now.” She gestured to the door, stepping to the side to make a clear pathway for Claire.
Of course, Claire had to be as nice as she always was.
Too nice. What was wrong with that girl? She offered to clean up the dishes first, but Sophia basically pushed her out of the door. “
No, thank you, time to goooo…” She held the front door open, “
See you next time… the girl’s have their homework to do.” She never wanted to see Claire in this hose again, but Riley was bound to bring her back. That, or the lost puppy dog would find a way back in.
Once Claire was gone, Sophia closed and locked the door immediately behind her. Turning back to face Riley and Kylie, she sighed and held up a hand. “
I don’t want to talk about it.” Her date had turned out to be a disaster. It was mostly her fault, but for now she’d just blame Riley and his weird ass phone call. The whole day had ended up as a disaster, but luckily Sophia had a little friend waiting upstairs to cheer her up.
She walked past her siblings and began cleaning up the kitchen, wondering why Olivia and James hadn’t been at the table earlier. “
I hope they ate something…”
Sophia stared at the back of her door as she sat on the edge of her bed, completely lost in thought with her
Marilyn Monroe flask in hand. Inside was straight whiskey, warming her innards with each swig taken. Her door was barricaded with the chair from her balcony, the top of the chair lodged beneath the door handle to keep someone from coming in unwelcomed. Or at least buy her some time to pull herself together before they barged in. It would likely be Kylie, if she had to bet on someone to invade privacy first.
She had been sitting there for the past two hours or so, occasionally laying down and staring at her ceiling or scrolling through social media on her phone. After coming home from the date, everything felt dreadful and pointless. She had screwed up her first date in quite some time, and it would likely be her last for even longer. Her entire life felt like a mess that she couldn’t fix. What was she doing? What was
anyone doing? She wasn’t able to keep the family together like her parents had. It didn’t seem to be in her skillset. How did they do it so effortlessly? Everything was starting to fall apart and it had only been a month. She wasn’t prepared for this kind of responsibility… everyone was depending on her and she was failing… miserably.
Tears began welling up in her eyes, so she took another drink. Sometimes alcohol made the negative thoughts melt away, and other times it made them ten times louder. Tonight it took the latter.
Her mind wandered from the date, her family, their parents, her future and then finally settled on Elliot. He was back, and she had screwed that up for herself too. He hadn’t tried to contact her after texting her from Riley’s phone and she doubted that he wanted to. Why would he after the reunion they had earlier this morning? That was completely her fault and she knew it.
Feeling awfully sorry for herself, she downed the last of what was left of the whiskey. Her second flask of the night. Her face felt hot from the alcohol and her vision was getting rather hazy, but she still played with the idea of filling it up for the third time. As she looked at the nearly empty bottle of alcohol on her dresser, a different thought came to mind. “
Elliot’s parents..” They HAD to know where he was. Elliot was always in contact with his family! No doubt he told them his new address!
Scrambling, she grabbed her phone from the middle of her queen sized mattress and searched through her contacts for “Mama and Papa Longstreet.” She had kept their phone number all these years, despite their resistance to tell her where Elliot had disappeared to. Sad, she knew. Regardless of the time, Sophia pressed the call button. As it rang, she bit the bottom of her lip nervously. “
Please answer, please answer, please, please, pleeeaasseee….” Her heart pounded as she waited for a voice she hadn’t heard in nearly half a decade.
“
Mmm… hello?”
It was Papa Longstreet, who had obviously been woken up. Sophia let out a sigh of relief at the sound of his voice. They hadn’t changed numbers, and for some reason they picked up.
“
Uhm...L-...Lawrence Longstreet?” She tried hard not to noticeably slur her words over the phone. Lawrence wasn’t exactly the fondest of alcohol and probably liked late night drunken phone calls even less.
“
Yes, this is him… Do you know what hour it is? Who is this?”
He was annoyed. Sophia fidgeted on her bed, unsure of what to say exactly. She hadn’t thought up a plan ahead of time. It was amazing she had even made it this far!
“
This is… this is Sophia Reese… I-I don’t know if you remember me but I use to be Elliot’s uh… uhm, friend, I guess. I’m sorry to bother you but I need to know where he is. I-I….” She quickly spewed whatever came to mind, “
I know he’s back. I need his address. Please…..” Her voice trailed off for a moment, and when Lawrence followed with silence she whispered another plea. “
Please.”
“
Sophi?” His voice seemed to perk up, being pulled out of his stupor. “
Of course I remember you, silly girl!” Sophia smiled, he had always called her a “silly girl.” It nearly made her cry to hear it again. “
You know he’s back? I don’t think he’d mind then...” She could hear Mrs. Longstreet in the background asking who he was talking to, seemingly woken up as well. “
Do you have a pen and paper ready? His address is…”
“
RIGHT HERE! It’s right here!” She practically screamed in the Uber drivers ear, leaning into the front seat from the back. He cringed and side eyed her, pulling over towards the sidewalk.
“
That’ll be $8.64.”
“
Here, here. Hurry.” She shoved her debit card in his hand, waiting for him to slide it on his little card device. He obviously wasn’t as anxious as she was, which was frustrating. He took his god damn time. The next ice age could have happened by now! Slowest card reader in the history of ever!
“
Sign he-”
“
Yeah, whatever!” She scribbled her finger across the screen, signing something that didn’t even appear like a name at all. Grabbing the card back from him she stumbled out of the car and looked up at the apartment complex before her. Wow, Elliot was living in a shit hole.
Looking at a crumpled sticky note that she had been holding the whole ride over, she attempted to read her awful drunk handwriting. “Apartment 1B” “
I think that says 1B?”
“
One B One B One B One B One B…” She whispered it to herself as she began to navigate the complex, blue eyes scanning every door she passed as quickly as possible. She walked as fast as her legs would take her, stumbling more than a few times but never actually falling.
Suddenly the “1B” on his door stood out like the holy grail. Was that the angel choir singing or was the alcohol making her hallucinate?
Filled to the brim with nerves and excitement, Sophia dropped the crinkled sticky note and ran up to the door. Just as she was about to knock, she stopped short. Why did this seem like a bad idea now? Something in the pit of her stomach was telling her that she shouldn’t be here. She stared at the door, hand in a fist ready to knock. Her hands were shaking and her heart was pounding. “
Come on Sophi…” She tried to encourage herself, but it did next to nothing. Damn it, where was her flask when she needed it?
“
Okay, okay, okay…. It’s oooookay…” She whispered to herself, unaware of her surroundings. All that mattered now was her and what was behind this door. She would have looked like a crazy stalker lingering outside someone’s door should someone have heard or seen her.
After a few minutes of pep talking herself, she mustered up the courage and firmly knocked three times. This was a horrible idea! What was she doing?! What if Lawrence had lied to her and this wasn’t even Elliot’s address?! Jesus, she was going to throw up.
The thoughts all came flooding in at once, but she forced herself to wait there, teetering on her feet back and forth. As she waited, heart about to jump right out of her chest, a dog began to bark from inside. “
A dog?! Elliot has a dog?” She began to wonder what kind of dog lived beyond this door, until she realized she had been standing there for a good two minutes just spacing out about all the different types of dogs.
“
Maybe… he didn’t hear me… or.. the dog?” She raised her hand to knock again. “
Just… for good measure.” She knocked a few more times, nerves going haywire. Why was she still here? He probably saw her through the peephole and decided he didn’t want to talk to her. As she began to turn around to leave, defeated by her own thoughts, she heard a crash from inside the apartment. She stared at the door, concerned as she heard someone curse and the dog bark more frantically. “
Helloooo? Elliot?” She faced the door again, confused.
"
BARKBARKBARK!!!"
Nip!It was the bite at his heel that finally awoke Elliot from his deep sleep, and nearly earned Lizzy a kick to the face. The hell was going on? With a groan he reached forward and scratched the dog's back, trying to calm her down. The only light in the apartment came from the alarm next to his bed, sitting on a couple of yet-unpacked boxed. Midnight. She had woken him up at midnight!
"
Relax girl, did a car go by or something? Don’t make the neighbors complain or I'll have to kick you out."
After getting home he had called his landlord to ask about the pet policy for the apartments. He'd have to pay another couple hundred bucks on his deposit that he didn't have, but keeping Lizzy was okay.
Okay with the landlord, anyway. It would be a quick visit for the stray if she woke him up every night.
He was just beginning to lay back down when a knock came from his door. So, the dog had heard something after all. Lizzy gave a
snort as if to say (
I told you so!) as he swung his leg over the bed with a groan of pain. Today had been a long day, and a midnight visitor waking him up was the cherry on top of the shit sundae it had turned out to be. Resigned to having to get out of bed he stretched, numerous purple bruises hidden by the darkness pulsing briefly with pain. He would need to get dressed, always having been the type to sleep in his underclothes.
Trying not to waste too much time, he threw on the button-down shirt he had on earlier, laying conveniently beside his bed, and began to fasten it up. Satisfied that every bruise except the one on his face was covered he then grabbed the slightly worn pair of pants from the same pile, and stood.
"
Fuck!”
Almost immediately he crashed onto the floor. Right. No leg. It didn't happen to him often anymore, but on nights like this it felt like his missing leg was still there, ready to support him. The brain was weird, and phantom limb syndrome had caused more than one similar fall for him over the years. With a groan, he picked himself off the floor, dreading even more bruises gained from this day, and held the wall for support. He could fasten his prosthetic, but... Nah. Instead he grabbed one of the two crutches next to his bed and limped over to the door. Whoever woke him up was being a pain in his ass, he wanted them to know they were making a cripple stumble in the dark across his home.
He took a second to flip the lightswitch next to the door before sliding his deadbolt open. Was it Anthony on the other end? He certainly was open and friendly. Probably one of those partying types inviting him out to get drunk in the middle of the night. The idea... irritated Elliot. This is why he didn't try to make new friends if he could avoid it, all they did was bother him with nonsense like this. Thoroughly annoyed, he threw the door open and saw…
"
Sophi? What the hell are you doing here? It's midnight!"
His free hand moved up to touch the bruise on his face involuntarily. Christ, she looked like a mess. An upset mess. As upset as she looked earlier, if not more. He still remembered how
that encounter went. How in world did she know where he lived anyway? With a sigh he continued;
"
Look, if you've come to hit me again I'm not really in the mood right now. Can you at least wait until the first bruise heals?"
The sound of his voice was nice to hear again, even if he was berating her. “
No! Elliot, I-...” She had no idea what to say. For years she had went over what she would say to Elliot when she saw him again and it usually involved a lot of swear words. Now, however, she was completely blanking on that essay of a speech. “
I’m… I’m sorry.” The anger she had felt hours ago was nowhere in sight. Instead, only loneliness and the burning desire to be with her friend again.
“
Can I-” Her eyes found the black and white ball of fluff at Elliot’s side. “
OHMYGOD” She gasped, immediately kneeling down to the dog's level. “
It’s sscchhhooooooooo cuuuttee” Her words slurred as she stared at the dog who didn’t seem half as pleased to see her. “
Why didn’t you tell me you had a dog, Elliot?” A sober mind would have told her it was because she hadn’t seen him or talked to him in years.
Her eyes began to look up at him for a response, until she noticed the crutch he was leaning on. Child-like exuberance vanished in an instant. “
W’are you oh…” She blinked a few times, trying to focus her blurred vision. “
o-okay?” She stood up too quickly and stumbled backwards, gripping the doorframe to keep herself from falling on her ass. “
Woah!” She giggled as the world started to spin. “
Who hurt you Elliot?” Her face became serious and she gripped his shoulders lightly, staring intently into his hazel eyes. She had missed those eyes so much… “
YOUTWELLME” Her emotions were all over the map, and the fact that she had been drinking was painfully obvious.
At this point, having Anthony knock on his door would have been a godsend. As she bounced all over the emotional spectrum in front of him, topics changing as fast as her mood, he began to prefer their meeting earlier in the day. The slap at least had been mercifully brief before she vanished. Here he had to stand and suffer through this... drunk? Mess. At his side, Lizzy took a cursory sniff of the Sophia, before retreating slightly and glaring at the woman. Her eyes growing wide as Sophia touched Elliot, and a low [color=ac58fa][b]growl[b][/color] of jealousy escaped her throat. Elliot, for his part, hushed her with a glare and put an arm around Sophi, pulling her in while he closed the door. If anyone outside saw this it'd be even more of a headache.
Now that she was so close, the smell of alcohol filled his nose, confirming his suspicions from earlier. It was only the second time he'd seen her drunk, the first was... when they were way too young to have been drinking. A couple months before he disappeared the two snuck downstairs to where the elder Reese's had a bar set up and broke into their liquor stash. Personally, he hadn't enjoyed the experience nearly as much as Sophi did, partly because she seemed to take to drinking easier than him, and partly because she was spared punishment by her mother. Elliot, on the other hand, had not been nearly so lucky when he got home and had to face the wrath of his parents. He rarely acted out in his youth, but the few times he had were dealt with harshly.
She was annoying him, but still... her eyes were clearly full of pain, even if he didn't want to deal with this right now he couldn't just completely brush her off.
"
Look, Soph…"
It was almost a pet name, he always shortened it further when they were alone together.
"
Soph, nobody hurt me. Things have been this way for awhile. You could say people have a leg up over me these days."
Elliot and his smart ass sarcastic comments. Even though they had annoyed Sophia from time to time back in the day, she missed hearing them. She missed the way he called her “Soph” even more.
As he pulled her inside, Sophia looked around at his apartment. It was still rather sparse, which made her feel vaguely better. At least it didn’t seem like he had been living here for years, avoiding and ignoring her entire existence.
She met eyes with him when he began to explain the crutch. For a few moments she stared at him, unresponsive but clearly lost in her mind. “
Oh…” Her eyes began to get misty and sorrow completely enveloped her face. “
I didn’t know that.. things…” Her voice quivered and she took a deep breath, failing at an attempt to calm herself. It was too late now, and she was in far too deep. “
Things have b-been… been this way for awhi-awhile..” Tears finally began falling and she buried her face in his chest, giving up on all attempts to stop herself.
“
Why did you leave, Elliot?! Why?” Between sobs her tone sounded angry, yet she wrapped her arms around him and embraced him in a rather aggressive hug. “
Why did you do that to me?!”
Why was it that every time they met things quickly seemed to spiral out of control from bad to worse? Now she was sobbing and... demanding answers. He had been full and ready to provide those for her earlier in the day but now? This was a conversation to have sober, not when she seemed so wasted she'd just forget half of it anyway. Still, he let his crutch fall and held onto her tightly as she cried. He didn't plan to give her answers, but at the very least he could try and provide some comfort.
"
Look, I…"
The words caught in his throat. Just how much was he willing to admit right now? He couldn't give her
nothing especially after coming all the way out here, but if he started opening up now he'd be in just as bad a shape as her in no time, and at least one of them needed to be stable right now. He leaned in and held her a bit tighter, partly to support himself.
"
Soph, I wasn't brave like you then. I was a coward who ran away from his problems. I thought that I was helping you, not hurting you, but by the time I realized my mistake the damage was done. So, I ran away. I'm stronger now, and I know you can't trust me, but... I'm here, right now."
Brave, what a joke. She had been running away from her problems through the bottom of a bottle for a year. It had been a minor problem in college, but after the current events with her family it had become a major problem. Elliot probably would have been the one who knew that if he had been around, or perhaps he could have stopped this before it even became a problem.
They had been so close growing up, she knew nearly everything about him and he knew nearly everything about her. Once she had broken through his outer shell they had basically become joined at the hip; one was usually seen with the other wherever they were. Eventually Sophia had been able to convince her parents to let them have sleep overs, so even on the weekend they would be together. Many nights were spent under a blanket fort, Elliot talking about his newest book series and Sophia practicing lines from a movie she had seen earlier that week. Sometimes, if Elliot was in a good mood, he would even play along with her. Sophia would usually cast him as her male co-star in a rendition of a romantic comedy, but sometimes she would trust him with the more serious roles. He tended to make those roles into a giant sarcastic joke, though.
Thoroughly soaking his shirt with tears, Sophia wiped her eyes and looked up at him again. “
I missed you…” She swayed, the entire world behind Elliot reeling. “
I think I….. I think I need to l-lay down.” The alcohol was past the point of pleasure and it would soon be making her miserable if she didn’t pass out first. Alcohol could be so vengeful. Hopefully this time she wouldn’t trip or fall into something that left nasty bruises.
Elliot knew he had much more closure on the ordeal than Sophia over the years, so he let her cry. It stung, still, the emotion coming from the woman. He had deluded himself the first couple years that she and the other Reeses were somehow better off, but those delusions eventually gave way to reality: all he had done is hurt them immensely, and it wasn't something he could just apologize for and be done with it. Avoiding dealing with the consequences of his actions was the main reason he had continued to stay away from Millington after losing his leg. Pure cowardice.
"
I missed you too, Soph."
It was a simple fact. Sure, he had said as much earlier in the day too, but that was as much sarcasm as truth. The two would hopefully have a lot of time to sort everything out over the next weeks and months. Until then though…
"
Here, let's get you to bed. I'll sleep on the floor, it's too late for you to be going back home tonight."
He tried to pull her towards the bed as he spoke, it wasn't the easiest thing to do, leading someone while using them for support at the same time. All he had was a twin sized mattress, never intending on someone to actually spend the night. Seems like all his plans lately seemed to be laid to waste. Still, maybe Lizzy wouldn't mind being used as a pillow. He'd think of something.
“
Bed…” She mumbled in agreeance, nodding. Crying sure wore a girl out quick. “
I don’t want you to sh-..shleep on the flo-” Unfortunately for the both for them, Sophia hadn’t been paying the slightest bit of attention to where she was walking. Eventually her legs hit the edge of Elliot’s bed and Sophia clung to him like he was her lifeline; taking both unstable walkers down together. She squealed as they fell, but began laughing once they bounced onto the safety of his mattress. “
Wheeeeeee!”
After a brief fit of giggles, Sophia adjusted herself on the bed to turn onto her side and face him. “
It’s been a long time since our last sleepover.” She smiled and nestled her head into his pillow, slowly closing her eyes and reminiscing about the old days.
Panic. Elliot was never good with women, history with Sophia be damned at that moment. He scrambled, thankful that she had landed on the side against the wall, and began pushing himself away, out of the woman's grip. Stammering as he did so.
"
N-nononononono. No. Soph. Sophi. Sophia. We're not kids anymore, we're adults! Adults shouldn't be sleeping together like this! The floor's comfortable enough!"
As if to prove him wrong he succeeded as the last words left his mouth, and crashed onto the floor next to the bed, heart pounding. With a yelp Lizzy, who had come over to investigate (And perhaps maul Sophi), ran over to the other side of the room and layed down with a snort of derision, thoroughly fed up with the two for the night. Elliot, for his part, didn't feel much pain and quickly picked himself up, leaning on the edge of the bed and breathing hard.
“
See? Comfy, didn’t even hurt!Instantly, Sophia pushed out her bottom lip and her eyes filled with tears all over again. “
Elliot, no!” She leaned towards him, reaching out to him. In her drunken stupor she was completely oblivious to his aversion to female touch. “
I don’t want you to leave.” She gently put her hand over his, hopelessly craving some sort of affection from him. “
Don’t go!”
Her heart raced as she stared at him in desperation, as if her life depended entirely on his actions. She’d hate herself for this by morning, but for now Elliot was all that mattered in the world. He was it, he was what she had been waiting for all this time, he had the power to fix everything. She wouldn’t be able to stand it if he left her again, even if just to sleep somewhere else. The alcohol wasn’t mending her anymore. “
Do you…” Her voice trembled, “
Do you hate me that much?” Tears fell as she spoke the words that she had been wondering for five years. “
What did I do?”
Clearly, she had not been dealing with this well. She had spent the better half of five years blaming herself, while putting up an angry front any time Elliot was brought up. Time and time again she had gone over a list of reasons of why Elliot might have been angry with her, but she could never wrap her head around the idea of those reasons making him take off. Why wouldn’t he have talked to her first? Or at least contacted her in some way after his disappearance?
"
Hate you?"
Elliot threw back his head and laughed. What else was he supposed to do upon hearing that? The thought was absurd, he loved all the Reeses, Sophia most of all. The thought hadn't occurred to him that she would blame
herself for him skipping town, and it stung, in spite of his laughter.
Shaking his head, he reached out and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers and gave her a rare, genuine smile as he ran his free hand through her hair. Hoping to kill any such doubts all at once.
"
Look, Soph, see-"
He raised their locked hands for emphasis.
"
- I'm not trying to get away. You had nothing to do with me leaving, and have everything to do with why I'm back. So... Relax, you need to get some sleep. I won't let go."
A smile crept up on her face again, though the tears didn’t stop. Hearing him say that was cathartic. An enormous relief washed over her as he ran his hand through her hair. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, body and mind beginning to relax.
Opening her eyes again, she settled into his pillow and stared at their entwined hands. She began running her thumb over his hand, staying silent for a few minutes before looking up at him. “
I’m glad you’re back.” Her eyes scanned his face, fixing on his cheek. “
I’m sorry for… for slapping you.”
Slowly she began to fall into sleep, her eyes begging to be shut. Her grip on his hand never wavered, but no matter how many times she tried to keep her eyes open they would rebel. In the moments before succumbing to sleep, she lightly whispered, “
Please don’t leave…”
Elliot simply listened as she talked, waiting for her to fully fall asleep. An apology for slapping him? As if he'd let that drop so easily. No, that would be a topic of discussion for a long time to come. He tried to listen for her breathing to tell when she had fully been captured by sleep, but the most obvious sign came from a slow, steady stream of drool from her lips. Onto his pillow.
"
Lovely."
He'd need to flip that over the next day and wipe the memory from his mind. In the meantime, thoroughly convinced that he couldn’t wake her, Elliot relaxed his hold on her and and pulled away.
Or tried to.
As soon as he made the attempt her fingers clamped down, hard. Locking him into a mockery of a chinese finger trap. The harder he pulled back, the tighter her grip became.
"
Jesus Christ Soph, come on..."
He whined pathetically, but of course she couldn't hear him. That had been the whole point of waiting until she'd fallen asleep. In desperation, he looked over to Lizzy, but she turned her head away the second he met her gaze.
"
Traitor!"
He hissed, turning his attention back to the death grip he was now locked in. He couldn't possibly sleep like this, lying on the floor with his arm up. They'd have to amputate his hand too by the end of the night for lack of blood. Which meant…
Resigned with a sigh and a shrug, he crawled into bed next to Sophi, like the damn woman had planned from the beginning, climbing over her and pressing himself against the wall, avoiding the drool slathered pillow. He wrapped an arm around her, the damn woman was lying on top of the blankets, for warmth and as he did so her grip on his hand weakened to reasonable levels.
It didn't take long for exhaustion to bring him close to sleep. He'd already been woken up, slapped, knocked down several times, and been emotionally drained today. His body was ready to give up and submit for the night. Perhaps tomorrow would be more peaceful?
Contemplating it, he fell asleep on one final thought:
Fat fucking chance. 
Member
Damycles
BayRat
