Text @ Everyone (wren's Entire Contact List)

chessieabernathy‌:

“We do,” she clarifies with a nod, “S’like the we’re the royal family when we’re in Alabama. Paparazzi crashed by tenth birthday party.” Chessie shrugged at his comment, before rolling her eyes at him. The latter was becoming common practice when it came to Ben, the motion never meant maliciously. “You missed the giant FREYA billboard with my face on it in Time Square, didn’t you?” She asked with a laugh, taking a sip of her drink. “I technically have a body guard, you know. The FREYA board’s worried I’ll get jumped my some insta-stalker, or something.” Chessie hadn’t spoken much about the former, finding it stranger to think of herself as an object rather than a person. “I gave him the night off, though.” The mention of the connection between gin and psychopaths pulls a loud bark of laughter from her, “Well, shit, B. Just call me Norman fuckin’ Bates, then.” 

“They were really on your ass. And that’s why I never want to live in the South,” He joked. Of course, if he did, he wouldn’t have been royalty like Chessie but he wouldn’t have been happy if anyone crashed his tenth birthday party. Or any party for that matter. “You’re lucky if I even look up. I don’t think I’ve taken in New York since I was twelve.” Everything felt old to him. Not to mention he avoided Times Square at all costs. “I’ve noticed most people in New York mind their own business unless they’re a crazed tourist. That’s who you probably have to worry about the most.” He looked at her with a tilted head, “You wish you were Norman Bates,” He laughed, “I’m not sure you could pull that off, Chessie. Not gonna lie. Would you be that dedicated to pretending to be your mother as well?” His filter was pretty much gone at this point.

arlovasquez‌:

He smirked at the question, thinking for a moment. “It was a surreal experience seeing the Mona Lisa like that. You know how when you’re high, you see all the little details of things and you get lost in the picture? That happened for about an hour. I stood there and observed every curve and every line. I spent a long time thinking about that little smile she’s showing us. I kept asking myself ‘why is she smirking? What is she hiding,’ ya know?”

“Shit, that’s a perfect idea,” He was mad that he didn’t think about doing that himself. “Did you go at a good hour when people weren’t pushing and shoving?” The Louvre got busy. He would know since he visited a ton of European museums. “Isn’t there something about that painting? An effect or something? She’s probably hiding that she’s seen da Vinci naked?”

what's it like being back in the city?

“It’s starting to feel like I never left. Shit goes down around here that wouldn’t happen anywhere else.” Sometimes he felt like New York was suffocating. “And it wasn’t this cold in some areas of Europe.”

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ~ JK Rowling

arlovasquez‌:

One of the last people Arlo expected to see while he was out was Ben. But here he was, standing in the same coffee shop he was. 

“I’m not well. And it’s trashed. Well, it was trashed. I’ve been cleaning the last few days but I can only the find the energy to do a few things at a time, ya know?”

He went silent, sitting in the chair. He turned his head back to the window and watched the people outside for a few moments before he turned back to Ben. “How’re you?”

He looked down at his feet as Arlo spoke as if he was ashamed of what had happened that night. “Why not just hire a professional cleaning crew or whatever? I’m sure they have enough manpower to clean it an hour.” He suggested, 

“I’m fine.” He wasn’t fine, actually. But he thought saying it out loud would convince himself that he was fine. “Have you ever had a pissed off wife before?” He asked, rhetorically, “Because it’s not my idea of a good time.” Things seemed tense for everyone. New Year’s Eve fucked up everyone. “Have you spoken to Chessie?”

monty-santos‌:

Monty had been spending more time than usual at the shelter. Partially because he knew that winter was the time that they needed the most help, and partially because the closer that it got to New Year’s the more anxious that Monty felt himself getting.  And his go-to strategy for that was to find something else to focus on in hopes that it would just go away.  It wasn’t a very good strategy, but he felt like it was at least keeping him somewhat sane.  It was better than spending all of his time thinking back to his arrest. 

But with all of that on his mind, he didn’t even really notice Ben was there until the other man spoke to him, snapping Monty out of his thoughts.  “Yeah, I’m ready for it to get less cold. I’ve never been a huge fan of winter,” he nodded at his friend as he kept his hands burrowed in his pockets.  “Well, that’s the shelter that I volunteer at,” Monty explained, pointing at it with his head, “so I was just on my way there. What about you?”

There was no reason to lie to Monty and yet, he felt the urge to. Telling the truth meant vulnerability and he refused to feel that way most of the time. Ben cleared his throat as he shifted his weight. What the fuck was he doing here? Why was he even around here? 

“I’m going for a run,” He lied as he looked at the other man. Lying was so effortless to him. “Well, I was, and then realized I definitely wasn’t dressed appropriately. it’s funny that we ran into each other,” He chuckled, trying to keep the attention off of himself. “Can you skip and join me? I was just about to check this new place out down the block.” It wasn’t really that new. It just hadn’t been here the last time that he was here and he definitely wasn’t here to check it out.

finnsmythe‌:

“I don’t doubt that. You seem pretty scrappy to me,” he grinned a little. At the suggestion of a shotgun competition, Finn laughed. “Oh my god, yes! I used to do that all the time with the guys! And I did that in college before I dropped out. You’re on. If this fucking blizzard wasn’t happening, and we’d be able to get a case of beer, we’d definitely do that!” Finn was competitive as hell, and he would do all he could to win that challenge. “Yeah, we’re a thing,” he nodded. “I’ll ask O about it. See if she’d be down.”

He wasn’t scrappy. Only he was allowed to call himself that. Or King. That was about it. “I gotta compensate for the height somehow,” He wasn’t ignorant, he knew he was pretty small. “There should always be a case of beer around or a keg. I really need to show Chessie and O how Europeans party,” He thought he was better than everyone because he spent so much time abroad. It was pretty pathetic. “Maybe we could do a bar crawl.” He considered that pretty romantic. See, romance isn’t dead. 

taterodriguez‌:

Tate wanted nothing more than to travel and given the amount of success they’ve had in their life, most people would assume that they’ve gotten the chance to but in all honesty, they haven’t.  Not in the way they want to.  Most of their travelling had been for business meetings and publicity events regarding their book.  Those types of trips didn’t leave much time for leisure.  It was typically all work and no play.  “I tend to avoid those types of event,” Tate admitted.  “Crowds can get a little overwhelming.”

“Did something happen?”  Tate asked, genuinely curious.  “I can’t imagine travelling Europe got boring.”  The last word came out more bitter than intended.  “I mean, c’mon… Europe.  Compared to the Upper East Side?  You couldn’t pay me to come home.”  Tate chuckled, wishing it was something they had truly been able to do.  “Eugh!  Raspberry flavored vodka tastes like paint thinner.”

“As native New Yorkers, I feel like it’s only natural to hate crowds. I always avoided using any sort of public transit,” Well because there were a lot of people and because he never had to. He had people to literally drive him around. 

“No,” The word almost came out defensively. “It has just been a while since I’ve been home. We’ll go back because honestly, I still have more than enough places I want to go to. Have you ever been?” He knew how to lie, thankfully. He did it most of his life here thanks to the virtual double life he was leading. Don’t explain more than you have to. Ben then tilted his head at them. That was a very specific comparison. “Have you had a bad experience with raspberry flavored?” He was the same way with Bacardi rum in particular. 

wrenabernathy‌:

Getting out of the house for non-work-related events for the first time in almost three weeks was a thing in itself, but Wren also felt like he was being watched with every step he took. That’s Wren Abernathy, his sister is the one who overdosed on New Year’s Eve, he could hear all around him. And even though he knew it was just all in his mind, it made him uber-conscious of every move he made.

So, instead of looking for the crowds, Wren was happy to find his favorite café and make his way all the way to the back to sit at the tiny round table. He’d been reading the newspaper for a few minutes when he heard glass falling and looked up to the barista who’d dropped things, and then couldn’t help but recognize the person standing just a few feet away from him. “Oh,” he said as the other also seemed to notice Wren. “Hi.”

Cafe’s reminded him of Europe. Well, sort of. Anything was better than Starbucks. Ben was longing for a pastry which is why he ended up inside in the first place. And then he saw Chessie’s brother. Shit. 

“Hey Wren,”  He said. He wasn’t sure if Wren got the full rundown of events that had occurred o New Year’s Eve. Did he know that Ben was with Chessie when she OD’ed? “How’s your sister?” He couldn’t help but ask. All of this felt too familiar and he was going to ask if she was alright any chance that he got.