Buffy-seymour‌:

quinnxarchibald‌:

A small part of Quinn felt happy when he saw the sad look in Ben’s eyes as the words best friends were said. That mean part of him liked knowing that the other male was suffering too. A bigger part of him though hated seeing his former friend so upset and wanted to do something to make things right. Smiling, Quinn nodded. “Even if I did want to punch you, Chessie would have my head if I did. She’d probably kill me and throw my body in a snow bank.” He half joked, knowing, deep down, that if Chessie were to kill him it would be a lot worse tha that. “I could definitely go for a truce shot though, now that you mention it.” Quinn replied. He knew he probably shouldn’t drink more but the thought of having some sort of connection to Ben made him want to follow along with whatever plan the brunet might have.

The problem was, if Quinn were to punch him again, he’d punch back. Between the mixture of alcohol and pride, he’d always keep defending himself. It didn’t matter that he loved Quinn like a brother. So he was relieved Quinn wasn’t going to go at him again. He still wanted to keep his distance for now. This was too easy, and he knew everything wasn’t going to be resolved but for an hour or two, he’d feel less guilty. He asked the bartender for two shots of vodka before returning his attention towards Quinn. “To punching each other in the face.” He toasted. 

CORE FOUR — ophelia atanas, king kirbey, ben vanderbilt, chessie abernathy.

planning on running back to europe now that something has gone wrong?

“Where I go is none of anyone’s business.” He answered. He was a bit defensive when it came to running away. Yes, he was a wimp when it came to facing his consequences but that was for him and only him to admit to himself. “Right now, I’m staying here.” He was at least going to finish what he started here. Beyond that was a mystery to him. “I don’t know who this concerns anyways.” He’d keep King in the loop and well, anyone else didn’t matter. “Thanks for the concern, though.” 

seboriley‌:

Sebastian decides to roll his eyes in lieu of dignifying the accent comment with a response. He has more pressing matters to deal with than perfecting his fake accent that is an awkward mish-mash of the loose-lipped slur of Rupert Grint’s accent and the prim, articulated poshness of Emma Watson’s. Not that prioritizing has ever been Sebastian’s strong suit. “I’ll stop complaining so much when you give me less to complain about, how ‘bout that?” Sebastian retorts just after a little scoff jumps up his throat. “Got ‘em,” Seb cheers, snagging a bag of lemons and limes from the bottom drawer of the fridge. “Find me a knife?”

“For the record, no one’s making you talk to me.” Ben was over pleasing everyone around him. He did that when he was under the Vanderbilt rule, which caused him to virtually live a double life. He didn’t care about pleasing Sebastian or giving him things to complain about. He started digging through Arlo’s kitchen, hopefully, he wouldn’t mind. Finally, Ben hit the jackpot and handed the knife over to Sebastian. He didn’t trust himself to open a bag at this state. “Are you going to have a lime too or just let the tequila burn your mouth?”

oatanas‌:

O laughed, loudly, at Ben’s comment and shook her head. “What a way to spend the night that would be. I think King would be pretty lonely without you around though, so you’re off the hook for your generous offer of rug security.” While O had initially been skeptical of taking in King and Ben (the latter especially given she didn’t know him) they had been ideal guests. So much so that half the time she didn’t even realize they were there. “It was good. I mean, it was work so it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad,” she commented, one shoulder lifting in a shrug. “You guys been settling in okay?”

“Probably, but I take my job very seriously. It’s the least I can do,” He teased, “I remember when I used to take trips,” He said reminiscing back to a month or two ago. Ben missed Europe. “I think working as hard as you do is pretty admirable,” He admitted. He never really had the unfortunate task of having to work. He wasn’t sure he could do it. “Yeah, I think so,” Was it okay to admit that he didn’t want to be back here? “Thanks for taking us in, by the way,” Who knows where they would’ve ended up if O didn’t agree to let them stay. He was grateful for the favor, it was about time he showed some gratitude instead of just hanging around. 

monty-santos‌:

“I never made it down to Greece, but I’ve heard that it’s amazing,” Monty nodded with a smile, “But it’s really not surprising if you look at how big all of Europe was, not to mention we probably were in very different places if we did happen to be around the same area,” he pointed out with a shrug, “But that’s good, King’s pretty great. Did you two travel together after that?”

“It’s one of my favorite places in the world. The ocean’s so damn blue there, especially compared to the crappy Hudson. But you can’t flush toilet paper cause their piping system is too old. That was something that was hard to remember when I was drunk,” Ben disclosed to the other man. “You could’ve been the third wheel if you wanted,” He proposed, “Pretty much, yeah. She somehow was able to put up with me for that long.” He let a slight chuckle out but it was true. Ben was honestly a mess when he ran into her. 

arlovasquez‌:

chessieabernathy‌:

Chessie hummed as he spoke, half listening as she followed alongside Arlo. At his warning, she shared the same laugh (mostly out of drunkness, rather than actual humor). “I kind of fucked up your guest room, too.” She found herself admit, without giving him the chance to react before her attention was on Ben. Her eyes rolled at the sight of him, a smile present on her face. “A’course you’re hiding out,” she comments easily, ignoring his question as she crosses the room, moving to sit next to him on the bed. Tucking her knees under her, she lets out a laugh. “Stop trying to make me drink fucking beer,” she complains, giving him wide eyed look, as if in complete shock that he’d bring the subject up.

“S’about to be a very white Christmas,” Chessie begins again, pulling the two small bags of coke from her clutch. She holds them up with a smile, as if to show them off before turning her attention back to Arlo. “Do you have a mirror we can use?”

Arlo hadn’t expected to seen Ben when he opened his bedroom door, but there he was, drinking a beer away from the other party guests. He couldn’t help but chuckle, not even the least bit bothered by the fact someone was in his room without his knowledge. 

“Hooking up?” He asked with a chuckle. “No, we’re just…” he trailed off, unsure of whether he should actually say it in front of Ben. Though he realized Chessie had no issue with it since she was the one who pulled it out of her handbag.

“Yeah! I’ve got one over here,” Arlo said as he walked towards his dresser. “I keep it here so I can put ties on.” Retrieving the mirror, he crossed back and handed it to Chessie. He stepped back and watched the other two sitting on his bed.

“I would be a bad host if I didn’t tell you that I highly suggest the floor at the present state of my sheets…”

He fixed his posture as they came in. Why did no one else like beer? What the hell was that about? However, he decided to let it go. Chessie sparked his interest immediately when she mentioned white and Christmas, now that Christmas was actually over. Shit. He was past the point where his judgment was just cloudly. It was really almost gone. He watched Arlo get the mirror and hand it to Chessie, and then his eyes were fixated on those two bags. Was he allowed to get in on this too? 

“The floor? Alright.” He said with a shrug, he wasn’t about to argue. “Would you two mind sharing? I usually don’t mooch but this shit is looking very fine.” He admitted as he positioned himself on the floor. “What’s the point of New Year’s Eve if I don’t have fun? I mean if we all don’t have fun.” He slurred as he glanced at Chessie and then Arlo. 

kingkirbey‌:

King watched Ben work himself into a state, hating how helpless she felt. As much as she wanted to tell him that Quinn would eventually forgive him — that he had to — she knew her words would be empty. Quinn was practically a stranger to her, she knew only as much about him as Ben had told her, and she definitely didn’t know how quick he would be to forgive something that had taken such a toll on his life. “Being here is trying. And if he doesn’t see that you’re doing what you can to make it right, maybe his friendship isn’t meant to be.” King hated to be so blunt about the situation, but in her eyes it was the truth. If Quinn couldn’t see the obvious effort Ben was making to make things right, then screw him. “As much as I would really, really love that, I think it would be rude of us to ditch this party when the hostess’ are letting us crash in their guest room and drink all of their coffee for free. But we could take shots out here until your face doesn’t hurt anymore?” Moving to the counter, she plucked a bottle of tequila from the mess of half empty alcohol bottles held it up with a triumphant smile. “Isolating ourselves in the kitchen doesn’t technically count as ditching.”

Out of everyone he’s ever known, King could always cheer him right up and get him out of his own funk. Who knows where he’d be now if she didn’t find him in some shit bar in Italy? Having to accept the loss of such a close friendship wasn’t something Ben could swallow. This wasn’t supposed to end like this. Then again, what happy ending ever happened to him? “You’re right,” He admitted, at least he was offering Quinn an olive branch. It just sucked that this wasn’t going to work out. He slid off of the stool he was on and dragged his feet as he walked, “Damn us for being so polite,” He joked, “And for having a coffee addiction,” He rubbed his hands together in excitement at the mention of shots. “If we were in Germany, we’d be having Cinnamon with these shots, I miss tequila oro,” He pointed out. No one would probably miss them in here anyway. “Here’s to getting punched in the face.”