|
Post by Everett Quinn on Nov 11, 2015 19:39:49 GMT
Everett pursed his lips as he thought about school. Eliot’s side of the family had always expressed the expectation that he would go to college and then law school just like three generations before him had. But he had very little interest in that, and his lack of willingness to apply for schools only seemed to irk Eliot more. “Nah,” he replied with a shrug. “I haven’t applied anywhere yet. My family wants me to, but I think I’m still not sure where I want to be in the future. Besides, I can’t imagine going away anywhere.”
“I was thinking of finding a job somewhere, and a new place of my own to live. But other than that, the options are endless,” he grinned. “I’m a kid in a candy shop – except instead of candy there’s just serious adult decisions to make.”
He smiled down at her and tilted his head. “What about you? Thinking of where you’re going to start applying to yet?” he asked her curiously.
|
|
|
Post by Morgan Tyler on Nov 11, 2015 19:40:27 GMT
Morgan glanced away, grinning a bit. “Yes, well, this makes up for it,” she assured him. She fell silent for a moment and nodded, “Thank you,” she said softly. She didn’t want to tell him that part of her was glad that he’d come and she especially didn’t want to tell him that she was glad that Remi hadn’t. At the same time though, as much as she was glad that – on the outside at least, prom had turned out the way she’d thought it might with Brody by her side, she was still sad. There were still so many things that the two of them hadn’t talked about – things she wanted to tell him and questions she wanted to ask.
Falling silent for a moment, she chewed on her lip and tried to find something else to focus on. She held herself close to him as they danced and did her very best to commit it to memory. “I can’t believe we’re going to college soon,” she finally said sadly. The idea of Brody going away for college seemed like a double edged sword. On one hand she thought it would help her get over him, and on the other she wasn’t sure how to handle being away from him more permanently. She realized that, to an extent, maybe it was her fault for leaving for five months. That they would have at least had the time to figure things out if she’d only stayed. She’d thought travelling would afford her the chance to move on and while technically she had, here she was no less in love with Brody Finn than she had been before she’d left.
She avoided eye contact and sniffled as discreetly as possible, wondering whether or not she should excuse herself and make a quick exit.
|
|
|
Post by Brody Finn on Nov 12, 2015 17:07:18 GMT
Brody grinned down at her, "You're welcome. Honestly, I kind of came just for this," he admitted. "I made you a promise and I was planning on keeping it." He had done the traditional prom route the year before, with the date and the awkward hour of photos before hand, but it hadn't been the sort of night he had assumed it would have been. He had abandoned his date in a hotel room after she had tried to convince him that this is what people did at prom. He had tried to justify his refusal of her offer by saying that he just wasn't ready for it, that she wasn't the right person, that it just wasn't the right time, but now he was wondering if he had been lying to himself about all of it. Maybe the truth was that he hadn't wanted to sleep with her because she wasn't Morgan. When it had come down to it, he hadn't hesitated at all when he had found her lying in his bed.
And while he had come into prom tonight knowing that it wasn't going to be the stereotypical prom night, he couldn't stop himself from thinking about whether this one was going to end differently than the last one. It seemed ridiculous to focus on something that he wasn't sure was ever going to happen again, especially while the fact still remained that she had a boyfriend.
"Are you looking forward to classes starting?" he asked, hesitating whether or not this was actually something that they should have been discussing. The last time he had mentioned going away to school, she had seemed less than thrilled by the idea.
|
|
|
Post by Ellie Tyler on Nov 12, 2015 17:30:27 GMT
Ellie was much more relieved by his admission that he wasn't going anywhere than she had any business to be. She reminded herself to stop thinking about it all in that way as she was sure it was only going to lead to more and more complications down the road. Besides, she tried to argue, what if something did happen? What then? Would their little trio change? The butterfly feeling rose back into her stomach as she decided that none of it mattered because what she thought would change would be things worthwhile - things that weren't negative in any way.
Smiling at him, she nodded, "That sounds great. It must be so exciting to have so many possibilities." At the question of her own plans for the future, she realized that she didn't know much more about her plans than she did the first time they had talked about it. "My mom actually helped me get a summer internship with Cassidy Miller at Vogue. But that's as far into my future that I really have given any thought to. That's probably not good, is it?" she added with a laugh.
|
|
|
Post by Morgan Tyler on Nov 12, 2015 19:13:13 GMT
Morgan couldn’t help but blush when he mentioned that he’d come to prom just to dance with her. She peered up at him with a small smile and nodded at him. “I always sort of thought prom would be one of those things we did together,” she admitted softly. She tilted her head up at him and laughed softly, “Technically speaking, before last August I always that tonight would be…the night.” She lifted her eyebrows and then looked away, shaking her head. “Silly, huh?”
When he asked about school, she shrugged. “I’m nervous,” she admitted. “I thought early graduation and getting started with college was a good idea when I thought of it, but now I don’t know. I won’t have Ellie with me every day, or you.” She chewed on her lip, “It’ll be me on my own for a whole year,” she nodded. “And who knows where Ellie’s going to school when she graduates, so it could be four.”
Both her sister and Brody had been her best friends and her defenders for so long that the prospect of starting college without both of them frankly had her nervous. And while she was dating Remi, he was going to a different school and when she’d tried to talk to him about her nerves, he’d dismissed her for being silly.
|
|
|
Post by Everett Quinn on Nov 12, 2015 19:21:48 GMT
Everett shook his head. “I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with it. I mean, you’ve got a lot of time to figure out what you want. I know plenty of people older than both of us who still can’t figure it out,” he assured her. “But the internship is a good start, maybe FIT would be a good fit then?” he suggested, smiling down at her as they danced.
The truth was, Everett hadn’t allowed himself to make plans past the summer. His primary focus was taking care of his mother and he knew that even making plans with friends was going to prove problematic when it came to getting everything sorted out. He knew all too well that once he finally took a stand against his father, he and anyone else he cared about could fall into Eliot’s line of fire. Pushing the thought from his mind, he didn’t want to think about it. Instead he chose to focus on enjoying the night with Ellie and ignore the inevitable fall out to come after.
|
|
|
Post by Brody Finn on Nov 19, 2015 0:46:12 GMT
Brody smiled softly at her and shook his head. He couldn't help but think that had things not happened the way that they had in the past, he might have been more than willing to have tonight be the night that he changed his relationship with Morgan. So much had changed since then, he conceded. And while he wanted to think that things could change and they could somehow go back to a more normal state, the reality was that they really only had a few months before he went off to school. Thinking about it now, he had to admit that part of him was also nervous, but even more so he was excited for the opportunity to experience something new.
"You didn't have Ellie around in Europe, either," he pointed out. Though he knew that it wasn't the same. "And besides, if you ever get too lonely, you're always welcome to come to Ithaca and keep me company."
But, he reminded himself, they still had a bit of time before they had to worry about everything changing. The important part now was that they still had tonight and they still had the rest of the summer. "It's not silly, by the way. I had thought that if it was going to happen that it was going to happen tonight too." As if on cue, the music shifted and he suddenly found himself looking at her and hesitating on his next move. "Did you want to go somewhere to talk, maybe?"
|
|
|
Post by Ellie Tyler on Nov 19, 2015 0:57:17 GMT
Ellie nodded her agreement, she did have a lot of time to figure it out still. Unlike her sister, she didn't feel the need to have her entire life planned out at ten and she still had another year of high school before she had to make any decisions. "That sounds great," she told him, "I don't know what I want to do in the future yet, but right now I'm really excited about the internship. Who knows, maybe I'll have a great eye for fashion or something else creative. Maybe I'm a fashion design prodigy or something... Am I too old to be a prodigy? Anyway, I still think it might be amazing to be part of that world."
When the music shifted to a more upbeat tempo, she laughed softly, realizing she suddenly wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. "Should we go get a drink or something? Send a search party for Kensi?"
|
|
|
Post by Morgan Tyler on Nov 19, 2015 1:18:27 GMT
Biting her lip, Morgan almost wished Brody hadn't told her it wasn't silly. Part of her had told herself many comforting lies ever since last October. One of which was that being with her that way hadn't been something he'd even considered - that none of it was any sort of a big deal to him. Not Melanie and not what they had once been. She had just been silly and gotten ahead of herself the way she knew girls her age tended to do. When he asked if she wanted to talk, she nodded again, stepping back as the song ended and looking down for a moment. "Yeah, that would be nice," she said gently. "It's a little loud in here anyway, I could use a break."
Hesitating, she reached down for his hand, lacing their fingers together and offering him a small smile before tugging gently and walking with him away from the dance floor. Stepping out of the ballroom with everyone else, she paused and looked up at him, squeezing his hand gently.
|
|
|
Post by Everett Quinn on Nov 19, 2015 1:25:48 GMT
Everett chuckled at Ellie, smiling down fondly at her. "I don't know if there's an age limit on being a prodigy," he admitted. "But I think you'll be pretty great at the internship. It's exciting, I'm excited for you." He nodded as the music sped up a bit and his former classmates continued to swarm the dance floor, he nodded. "Let's grab a drink, I'll text Kensi and figure out where she dragged your friend off too. Poor kid, never stood a chance against the likes of her," he quipped.
He led her off of the dance floor and back over to the refreshment table, reaching for a water bottle he cracked one open and smiled at her. "Thanks for keeping me company while my date ditched me, by the way," he joked.
|
|
|
Post by Brody Finn on Nov 19, 2015 1:44:11 GMT
Brody smiled down at her, trying to figure out whether or not it would be inappropriate of him to ask her if she wanted to go upstairs to a hotel room. He didn't want to imply that it was going to be something that she didn't want it to be, but he would have been lying if he said that he wasn't thinking about it now. If this was the last chance that they had to spend any real time together before school started, then it was much easier to justify that this should have been a special night. And sure, he was sure that they could have just talked with each other, but he wasn't sure that he trusted the two of them to be in a hotel room together without things happening between them.
"Should we find a quiet place to talk, then?" He asked her, squeezing her hand in response. "We could always get a room?"
|
|
|
Post by Ellie Tyler on Nov 19, 2015 1:52:52 GMT
Ellie beamed at him and followed him over to the refreshment table. As much as she was feeling awkward about being alone with him now that she was coming to terms with the fact that she had feelings for him, she didn't really want him bothering Kensi either. Truthfully she was happy that Jamie and Kensi were having a good time together, and Kensi truly deserved someone who would be kind to her. Plus, Jamie could probably have used a girl like Kensi too, someone who was going to push him to do more than just be Melanie's kid brother. Though, she did have to admit that part of her was maybe a little jealous of the idea that both her best friend and her sister had ended up with great guys this evening. She watched her sister walk out of the ballroom and sighed softly, glad that Brody had ended up coming to keep her company tonight. It wasn't that Everett wasn't great company, either, it was just that she wasn't convinced that he felt for her the way that she thought she felt about him.
She shrugged at him, "It was my pleasure. You're not such terrible company, actually. And you're a pretty great dance partner, too."
|
|
|
Post by Everett Quinn on Nov 19, 2015 2:21:43 GMT
Everett grinned down at Ellie and took a sip of his water. When she complimented his dancing, he smirked. “Oh, yeah, well – that’s not me, that’s the shoes,” he pointed down. “I was told to wear my dancing shoes by Kensi tonight and so I did, glad to see they were worth every penny.”
Shrugging a shoulder up, he shook his head. “My mom always thought it was important to know how to dance – like, really dance. So she used to try to teach me – she’d show me old movies with Fred Astaire,” he chuckled fondly at the memory and shook his head. “I’m surprised she never made me take a class, actually.”
|
|
|
Post by Morgan Tyler on Nov 19, 2015 2:22:44 GMT
Morgan was a bit surprised at Brody’s suggestion. On one hand, she knew that it was morally wrong when she was dating Remi to do anything with Brody. She knew that it would be cheating and that would be wrong. But at the same time there was a fact that she couldn’t quite reconcile in her head. Even during her time in Europe, any time Remi had kissed her or tried to initiate anything more it felt wrong. She’d been avoiding having sex with Remi, reluctantly agreeing to fool around despite not enjoying herself just to have him stop complaining, and she always told herself the reason she didn’t want to and didn’t like it was because she wasn’t in love with him and she always thought you should only be intimate with someone you loved. It was only now, standing there with the question of getting a room hanging between them that Morgan realized saying she wasn’t in love with Remi was just another way of saying Remi wasn’t Brody.
Refusing to dwell on that fact and knowing that it would only upset her, she nodded and looked at him. “A room might be nice,” she agreed.
|
|
|
Post by Brody Finn on Nov 19, 2015 2:58:11 GMT
Brody hesitated for a second before nodding. He had a sinking feeling that whatever happened from here was going to change things again. Trying to remind himself that she had a boyfriend to go home to, he tried to convince himself that he didn't have to have sex with her. They could just sit back and have a conversation, they could go back to just being friends and just having a simple, friendly conversation. It was better than them not having a relationship at all before going off to college.
Taking her hand, he led her over to the front desk where he booked them a room for the night, trying to ignore the knowing smirk cross the lips of the person working behind the desk. After collecting the key, he squeezed Morgan's hand and led her over to the elevator. Even here he couldn't stop thinking about all of the times in the past that they hadn't been able to keep their relationship contained to just being friends. And with her hand in his, he was having a hard time thinking that they could keep themselves from doing something they shouldn't.
"Well, this is ..." he trailed off, unsure of what he was supposed to say now.
|
|