/ you afraid to break some bones

[charlotte]

oh god. why had bea offered to let ash meet her parents? it wasn’t that she was embarrassed of her parents, and she wasn’t embarrassed of ash either. they were just two separate parts of her life that she had always intended to keep that way - separate. but here she was now, completely terrified because ash was due to arrive at her parents chelsea townhouse any minute now. sunday lunches were commonplace in the howlett household. her parents had tried to throw themselves completely into british culture, as though trying to erase the traces of their life in america, and this had included regular sunday roasts - turkey, yorkshire puddings, gravy, vegetables, the lot. well, except for bea that basically meant a plate full of vegetables and a yorkshire pudding, being a vegetarian. but it was more the ritual of doing it that she enjoyed.

the elation in her parents face had been clear when she told them she was bringing a guy for lunch. they had always wanted her to be in a relationship, probably because they were worried she couldn’t look after herself, to which there was no truth in. bea had always prided herself on her independence, but her parents had always feared that there would be no one around to look after her, especially in london, an area that they hadn’t known well before moving to. they had the old fashioned ideals that bea should have someone making sure she was okay,- a boyfriend to make sure she was okay. and now it looked as though their dream was coming true.

she had told him to wear a shirt, knowing that her parents would probably be dressed to the nines, not knowing when this occasion would happen again. she’d managed to limit how much her dad had dressed up, insisting that a blazer was not necessary. but she was still scared. what would ash think of her parents? what would her parents think of ash? and what if they ask awkward questions? what would they even say if they asked how they met. ’yeah, we were just sleeping together a lot, and then we kind of realised there was something more there.’ because that would go down well. it wasn’t like bea’s parents were strict, but no parents wanted to find out their daughter was a slut. she had also told her parents that ash was kind of, sort of, a tiny bit famous, trying to make out like it wasn’t a big deal, like he was just an extra on some british soap. because she knew if they told them they’d start talking about being mobbed by the press, and getting hate mail, and having super injunctions. so the best way was just to lie.

she jumped down the stairs two at a time, checking that the house was all okay before ash arrived. for a chelsea townhouse the place was pretty modest on the inside. nice, but probably nothing compared to what ash was used to. and there were three cats just roaming around the place, and if they went near ash they’d probably get cat hair on him, and what if he was allergic?! god, she just needed to chill out. maybe a couple of shots beforehand would’ve been good. she stopped in the hall mirror, checking out her appearance. being at home meant she had gone for a more natural look, less eye make up, peach coloured lips, hair just natural, falling into slight waves onto her shoulders. and she had forgone the heels. she was so nervous that she would probably be so clumsy and break an ankle in them. nervous, bea just padded up and down the hallway carpet, waiting for the doorbell to ring. as long as her parents didn’t whip out the baby photos, everything would be okay.

tags;; calliepop
words;; 641
outfit;; click me
notes;; oh yeeeeeeeeeah!

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[ash]

shit. shit. shit. shit. shit. shit. shit. the word kept ringing loudly through his head as he stumbled around trying to pull on a pair of tight black skinny jeans and fix his hair at the same time. one of his legs was caught while the other was fully through, and the denim was stretching obscenely. he gave up on his hair for a few moments to finish pulling up the jeans the last foot up his leg and over his rather large arse. it was a snug fit, and he wriggled around until it was completely comfortable. he was still without a shirt but that could wait, he was going to wear a button up anyways and his hair would take much more time to prepare. he eventually decided on a quiff, something he had begun to do recently that he thought made himself look much more attractive. it took him about ten minutes to get it completely perfect - why the fuck was he such a girl? he may as well been born with a vagina at this point - and then he only had three minutes left before he would have to leave. if he left any later he would be late, and he was already running short on time. he'd have to make a good impression on bea's parents or else he probably wouldn't get to see her again, so he was attempting to look his best.

he pulled on a tight long sleeve button up baby blue shirt and pulled on some leather braces for effect. he slipped on his nicest black shoes and then he was rushing out the door, his keys in his hand. he all but ran out the gates of his flat to his car, thank god it was rather cold outside or he would have been a sweaty mess by the time he arrived at the chelsea townhouse and that wouldn't make a good impression at all. at least his car was clean, inside and out, and he had worn his best cologne so he didn't smell like some sort of animal. he really needed their approval, and he also needed bea's help to get it. if she didn't support him, well, he'd be in deep shit to put it out shortly.

he began to wonder what bea had told her parents of their relationship. it wasn't as if there was much to share. they had gone from being fuck buddies to finding out there was in fact feelings there and she really couldn't say that to her parents without sounding like some sort of prostitute. also, that would sound pretty terrible on ash's part too. either way, they'd have to leave that out unless her parents didn't care about that kind of stuff. he figured they did though, it was just this feeling he had in the pit of his stomach. had she mentioned he was famous? probably not, if he had a daughter he wouldn't want her dating some famous guy so why would it be any different for bea? these thoughts continued to swirl in his head until he pulled up in front of the house that bea had given him the adress too. fuck, here goes nothing.

he slowly pulled himself out of his car, making sure not to rip his jeans or mess his hair up, and then shut the door behind him as easily as he could. any other day he would have slammed it without a care in the world. he locked the door behind him and then made his way up the short walk to the front door. he breathed in and out deeply, trying to calm his nerves, and soon enough he was at the front door. he let out one last breath of air and then knocked three times. he had no idea what to expect, but he was utterly frightened. he hadn't been in a proper relationship for some time now.

OOC: what what what

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[charlotte]

bea didn’t quite know what to do with herself. she had arrived at her parents early, trying to make sure the house wasn’t as cluttered as it usually was. and she had dusted, and hoovered and removed the photo of her in the bath aged four from the mantle place. it seemed that her parents were also a little unsure what to do with themselves. her mother had stopped cooking, since the turkey was in the oven and there was nothing more to be done until that was cooked. her dad was sat in the living room, sat in the arm chair, a newspaper in his hand, not that he was reading it. every few minutes his eyes would flick to the window, seeing if an unfamiliar car approached the house. it wasn’t like they had experienced their daughter bringing a boyfriend home for dinner ever before. not even once. and so they weren’t sure of the etiquette involved in the occasion.

as the doorbell rang, bea jumped to her feet from her position perched on the edge of the sofa. she did a quick once-over of the living room, checking that there was no dirty cutlery or embarrassing childhood photos that she had missed, before making her way to the front door. she opened the door, a smile on her face as she found ash on the step outside. placing her hands on his shoulders, she leant forward, placing a kiss on his cheek. “well, this is it. no being weird in front of my parents, okay?” bea raised an eyebrow at the boy before her, a mock serious expression on her face. she took his hand in hers, pulling him into the house and shutting the door behind the two of them. she gave him a stern look as a final warning of no inappropriateness around her parents, before leading him into the living room.

“mom, dad, this is ash.” her mother had stood up, a wide smile on her face, before pulling ash into a tight hug that lasted a fraction of a second too long. bea rolled her eyes. two seconds in and her mother was already being an embarrassment. “it’s so lovely to finally meet you, ash. i’m so sorry about the mess.” ash would be an idiot to not realise the amount of effort had gone into their house just for him. there was no mess. everything had been polished, and cleaned, all random magazines lying around now fanned out neatly on the coffee table. it hadn’t been this tidy since they’d moved in. and then it was her dad’s turn to do the whole introductory thing. he stood up from his place on the armchair. at 6’2 he was tall, and it had been him that bea had inherited her height from. his face was unsmiling, yet not exactly fierce. he seemed to be doing that male dominance thing, assessing the newbie before deciding whether to act like he liked him or not. “ash, nice to meet the man who’s taking care of our bea. i’m vince, and this is my wife, pippa.” he locked ash’s hand in a firm shake. vince was a protective father. he had one child, it was his job to look after her, he felt. and so he’d been dubious of this new man that had entered his daughter’s life. his somewhat old-fashioned traditions meant that he really thought a guy should be looking after his daughter. in his eyes, a boyfriends role was to spoil her, and make her happy, and make sure no one ever hurt her, and that’s pretty much what he was expecting from ash.

bea smiled weakly, trying to gauge whether her dad approved of ash or not, but it seemed to be too early. “so… mom’s made a roast, so why don’t we go and eat?” maybe once eating everything would be a bit smoother, once everyone had had some wine, and there was the distraction of food.

tags;; calliepop
words;; 666
outfit;; click me
notes;; omfgggg 666 words, scary shit

[/size]

[ash]

it seemed as though the door swung open at a thousand miles per hour and all the air ash had been holding in his lungs spurted out and he was sputtering to catch his breath. he managed to do so before he caught sight of bea who was dressed rather cute, and less displaying, and offered her a small smile as if to reassure her this was as weird for him as it was for her. her lips connected with his cheek and he let out a shaky laugh before she was speaking to him quietly so her parents couldn't hear. he dramatically rolled his eyes, as if saying i got this, before holding in a laugh by biting his lip at her so called stern expression. and then he was being tugged inside, the door shut behind him, and he knew the awkwardness was about to ensue.

she cast him one more stern expression, and he dug into his lip once more, before being led into the living room where he presumed bea's parents were. sure enough, he was correct. bea introduced them and he offered them a smile and a small nod of his head before her mother's arms were wrapped around him and he was lightly returning the hug with a smile. okay, so he liked her already. then she mentioned something about a mess, shit there wasn't any type of a mess in sight but he didn't mention it to them. this place was way cleaner than his own flat was, and maids kept that place relatively clean. and then her dad stood up, a looming figure at six feet tall ash guessed, and his jaw almost dropped.

the other man had offered no smile, but ash did. it was more of a ghost than anything though as he couldn't even muster up the courage to let his teeth show to the man at all. he introduced both himself and his wife to ash and he replied, "thank you for having me." wow, that sounded so much like what he would say at a concert like, "thanks london for having us!" yeah, they had probably said that at one point. he could have punched himself for sounding like such a robot, but then they'd think he was crazy so he refrained from harming himself.

at bea's mention of food, ash found himself nodding vigorously. "yes, i am starved and i heard you make a good meal, uh, pippa." he shot a small wink her way before remembering who she was and he laughed shakily at himself. this was going to be a long night.

OOC: you could've just added turd at the end, i wouldn't have minded hahaha

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[charlotte]

so far her mother seemed to like him. but that was pippa howlett for you. she was gentle and caring, and always gave people the benefit of the doubt. if bea liked ash, then she would see the good in him too. she and her husband were like polar opposites: pippa would trust people way to easily, whereas vince was suspicious, always watching his back and getting to know a person 100% before putting his trust into them. and so, out of the two, bea’s character was more similar to that of her father’s. she wasn’t quite as dubious of other people as he was, but wasn’t as reckless with her heart as her mother was. although bea considered her mom to be the kindest, most genuine woman on this earth, she had always been glad that she hadn’t inherited her good heartedness and selflessness. of course, everyone else would consider those to be the best qualities a person could have, but to bea they just increased the likeliness of being hurt, or of people taking you for granted. and so for that she had always appreciated her defiance and strength that was so characteristic of her father.

ash had responded well to her mother’s over-eagerness and her dad’s steely attitude. props to him, because bea’s oddball parents were enough to scare anyone off, as they sat on complete opposite ends of the personality spectrum. she beamed at him, actually so happy that he hadn’t run away in the first two awkward minutes of being introduced to her family. he had even complimented her mother, who responded by giggling like a school girl and squeezing ash’s arm. god, the woman probably fancied him. what an embarrassment. with a roll of her eyes at her mother’s behaviour, bea wrinkled her nose into a smile, before clutching ash’s hand and squeezing it, in an attempt to reassure him. maybe everything actually wouldn’t be that bad. her hand still linked in his, bea led the way through the french doors to the dining room that was adjacent to the living room. an oak table filled most of the room, perfect for hosting dinner parties but, right now, only the central four seats were laid. the rest of the room was almost a bit of a shrine. her mother was possibly the most sentimental woman in existence, and childhood photos stood framed on every available stand. baby photos, pictures of bea ballet dancing as a child, bea at her senior prom, not an inch of her life had gone undocumented. there were pictures of her brother too, of course. but the majority were just of him as a child, or in his early teenage years, as though the last few years of his life, when things began to go downhill, were absent in order for them to be forgotten.

bea took a seat, and her dad took the seat across from where ash would be sitting - prime interrogation spot. her mother was busying herself in the kitchen, before bringing out the turkey. her mother always seemed to think that any problem could be solved with food, and anytime bea had every been having a down day as a teenager, her mother would always bring her sticky toffee puddings or cheesecakes, both of which were the girl’s favourites. “you’re not vegetarian, are you dear?” pippa asked ash, as she began serving the golden turkey, whilst casting a look at bea. her mother had never been supportive of her choice to cut meat from her diet. but ballet had always meant that bea needed to keep a tiny physique. she was already taller than basically every dancer out there, and keeping her weight down was the only way she could get round it. with a roll of her eyes, bea began to fill her plate with roast potatoes and vegetables and a Yorkshire pudding, before pacing the vegetables over to ash in order for him to do the same.

bea topped up both hers and ash’s glasses with red wine, and began to eat. “so ash, i hear you’re in the public eye.” she looked up, surprised that her dad was actually engaging ash in a normal, friendly conversation. “so how do you propose to protect bea from the media and such?” what. he was discussing her like she was some business deal, talking about her but not including her. “dad…” bea put her fork down on her plate with a clatter, jaw stiff as she glared across the table. “seriously ash, you don’t need to answer that.”

tags;; calliepop
words;; 763
outfit;; click me
notes;; i was literally going to put carrot or something on the end so it was 667! also, good muse atm

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[ash]

bea's hand grabbed onto his, and he tightly squeezed it. his palms were a bit slick with sweat that came from nerves, but she had felt him completely drenched in sweat on many occasions, so he figured she didn't mind much. he sat next to bea, with her father directly across and mother diagnol from him. he knew he was in the hot seat here, her father already seemed suspicious of ash and he expected some sort of interrogation. he knocked off some easy questions in his head real quick to prepare, and he kindly took the offering of meat from bea's mum. "i actually don't understand how bea can't even live without meat! it looks delicious, thank you." he shot pippa a big smile, and the food really did smell amazing. not everything he said was just for charming them over.

on the way in, and also in here, ash had noticed many pictures of bea. many were her at a younger age, others in her ballet clothes. she was fucking adorable though, and ash had been smiling as he faced away from bea so she wouldn't think he was laughing at her. if he ever took her to meet his mum, she'd have a chance to laugh at the ridiculous amount of silly pictures of his family and him. there were so many lining the walls in his family home he was suprised they even took the time to paint the walls anymore because you could hardly even see them. what stumped ash though was the picture of a boy, young at first and then into his teenage years. the pictures of him stopped after that point. was he bea's ex or something? maybe, but that was highly unlikely. he wanted to ask, but figured that would be terribly rude and the wrong thing to ask for the first time of meeting them.

ash got his plate quickly and then her father was speaking to him, his attention wasn't on the food anymore. he peeled his eyes off of his plate and listened to his words with an immense amount of attention he didn't even know he possessed. of course, bea told him he didn't have to answer it, but not giving him an answer at all would be even worse than just saying the truth. it wasn't hard to keep them out of the media's eye with a little lie, ash had done it countless times before with woman he had been spotted with holding hands as he dragged them back to his flat. he always said they were just a friend, and since they would only be spotted once, the media believed it. when he had been dating sabrina, the fans were actually very accepting, but that only lasted a bit and he figured since bea was much more beautiful they would have none of it. so how would they protect her? he figured the best way was to just get them out there and face the initial blows, and then it would all be smooth sailing from there. that's usually how these things worked, right? "well, uh, sir, seeing as i haven't exactly had a girlfriend in a long while i'm not sure exactly how things would work. i do know, however, that we have an excellent security force that get us in and out of places without anyone noticing and for awhile that just may be what bea and i have to do." shit, that was horrible. he offered the man the smallest of smiles, and tried his best to think of something better than that.

OOC: terrible omgknggjfdgk carrots, louis hates carrots

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[charlotte]

bea pulled a face at ash at his mention of the lack of meat in her diet. “meat makes me put on waaaaay too much weight.” she said with a laugh. the thing was, she had never even liked the taste that much. the only thing she had missed in her four years of vegetarianism was chicken nuggets. so disgustingly processed but so so delicious. her mother was always trying to tell her she’d end up with anaemia or really weak from the lack of protein, but it was the fact that she didn’t want to look bigger than the other girls in her ballet troupe that kept bea on the straight and narrow when it came to food. and so rabbit food was the way forward for her. at least it was cheap on her student budget. “well, you’re looking thin beatrice, are you eating okay in your flat? do you want to move back in here?” beatrice. sure, it was her name, but she hated it in her full form. the only person to ever call her by it was her mother. she smiled, taking a sip of wine. “honestly mom, i’m a hundred percent fine. i look after myself, right ash?” she wondered what he would make of the inconsistency in behaviour between her and her mother. bea was so fiercely independent, and her mother was so over-protective that it was such an odd mix.

she always knew her dad would ask ash imposing questions, but didn’t really expect him to start so early in the evening. the fact that he had actually managed an answer was beyond her. if she’d been on the other end of the firing line, she probably would’ve choked on a carrot or something. with the hand she wasn’t holding her fork in, she placed a hand on ash’s thigh, trying to be supportive. she squeezed it lightly, her face still frozen ahead at her dad. “besides, i’m not five years old anymore dad, i don’t need protecting.” she hoped that ash didn’t feel pressured into looking after her now, because she still didn’t want to be taken care of, no matter what her dad though. she had coped fine before meeting ash, she would cope fine now. she always felt bad feeling angry and her parents desire to molly-coddle her. they just didn’t want to lose her, and that was understandable, but they just over reacted so much. her dad just nodded at ash’s response, which bea took as a good sign, since he obviously had no immediate faults or doubts. because how could he fault it? ash had come up with a solution to a none existent problem, he was perfect. “so, ash… tell us about your family. do they live in london too?” bea was so close to leaping across the table and hugging her mother for that question. there she was, keeping the peace, and taking a genuine interest in ash without feeling the need to cross examine him.

tags;; calliepop
words;; 501
outfit;; click me
notes;; wuuuuuut. how can anyone hate carrots?!

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[ash]

as felt a bit awkward in the situation he was currently in. here he was, meeting bea's parents for the first time, and he already felt as though her father greatly disliked him. maybe it was the way he looked. sure he was an attractive guy, but he had some feminine features and was mistaken gay multiple times. even the fans thought he was gay, but he could tolerate that. it's not like they knew him anyways. but bea's father would know him, and ash was desperately seeking his approval and he didn't want to let himself or bea down. he was noting the differences and similarities between the three as they ate and spoke. bea's mum was basically the opposite of bea from what he got from her, she was very worry-some over her daughter and ash found it quite cute. bea seemed more like her father though, able to take care of herself and whatnot. ash figured if her father wasn't married, he'd be some type of womanzier or soemthing, but that was just ash's point of view.

ash laughed easily at how bea mentioned she gained too much weight from eating meat, which was such a lie. he understood that, yes, she could gain weight but it wasn't like she was going to be eight hundred pounds by sharing this meal with her family and him. he didn't mention it though because she didn't want her acting bitter at the table or riling him up to where he was in a shit mood. secretly, he hoped that they wouldn't bring out a ton of alcohol cause he wouldn't be able to control himself. he didn't want to make a fool out of himself or say any spiteful things so he would try and stay away from the wonderful liquid, if just for the dinner part. "yeah, bea definitely looks after herself. she hardly lets me do anything at all for her." the truth was, they never did anything for each other. so far. as fuck buddies, they had never really expected anything more than just sex out of each other, so neither had done anything past that. still, what he had said was partially true.

bea had placed a hand on his thigh after he had answered her father's question, and it calmed him almost immediately. he sighed in pleasure at her touch and simply nodded at her response. suddenly, pippa was talking to him and he missed most of the question, but at the same time got what she was saying. "oh, no. my mum and sisters live up in doncaster, my flat is always raided by fans and it's nice to get out there and away from everything every once in a while. he offered her an easy smile and then turned to bea. he really hadn't talked to her all night, and he rubbed his hand across her arm gently and placed a quick kiss on her cheek. "i hope i'm doing good." he whispered into her ear quickly before pulling away.

OOC: because in one of their video diaries he said "i like girls who eat carrots" and ever since then fans have been bringing him carrots and lately he's been a bitch about it hahaha

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[charlotte]

as ash mentioned his sisters, bea frowned at her plate slightly. he had sisters? how many? why had she never bothered to check out about ash’s family. and what about his dad. it suddenly dawned on her how little she knew about him. it was like she knew just silly little things about him: every single inch of his body, and how cute his hair looked when he woke up, all messy and ruffled, and just other stupid bits of information that were of no real value. but it wasn’t like she actually knew anything real. anything about his home life, or his aspirations, or childhood, or biggest fear. the concept was pretty sad. they had shared so much time together, so many nights she had fallen asleep in his arms, yet there was so much she had never bothered to ask him. and maybe there was so much about her life that he needed to know. bea pushed the food that remained on her plate around a bit, thinking about how much she needed to find out about the boy beside her. but right here, at the table, was not the time. her dad was already dubious enough about him, and finding out how little real things they knew about each other was not going to make him any happier.

as ash whispered in her ear, bea looked up, a smile on her face. he was just trying so hard to please her parents, like she really meant a lot to him. she nodded, her hand giving his leg a squeeze. “so ash, what are your plans for the future? or are you going to do a take that, and be around for decades to come?” and there her dad was, at it again with the inquisition. his tone was somewhat scathing, and bea rolled her eyes. the fact was that someone was successful and he just couldn’t take it. she could feel him constantly scrutinising him. sure, he would argue that he just wanted the best for his little girl, but surely he could trust her to pick her own boyfriend. or was he going to suggest an arranged marriage at some point? she wouldn’t be surprised. “you know, ash has been pretty successful dad. i mean, how many twenty year olds can say they bought their own flat and car and support themselves financially entirely by themselves?” she raised an eyebrow at her dad, waiting for him to interject. not that there was much to argue with. ash had worked hard, and he now had the ability to support himself. it wasn’t like he could worry about his inability to support bea.

maybe it was time to end this interview. “mom, thank you for dinner, it was absolutely amazing, but i’ve just lost my appetite, sorry.” she lay her knife and fork on her plate of half-eaten food. this wasn’t exactly helping to convince her mother that she was eating properly, but the room was feeling too stuffy, and it just seemed better to get ash out of there before her dad found a new question to ask. “ash, i haven’t shown you round the house yet. maybe when you’re finished i could give you a tour of my room?”

tags;; calliepop
words;; 543
outfit;; click me
notes;; ohhh, i've actually seen that, haha. i think it was on xtra factor, i'm s o lame.

[/size]

[ash]

by walking through bea's house, he came to the realization he knew basically next to nothing about her life, sure he knew the little things such as how she looked in the morning and the type of things she liked in bed, but that was about it. the thought made him a little uneasy, here he was meeting her parents taking the next step in their relationship and he didn't even know that much about her. it's not like he had shared anything about himself though either. they just never seemed to talk about those things, ever. it never came up, and they were okay with that. but, if this was going to work, they were going to have to learn some deep shit about each other or the relationship could end up bursting into flames. plus, how would her parents feel about them knowing virtually nothing about each other.

she had smiled back at him after her had whispered in her ear and he immediately took that as a good sign. she gave him a little nod, and a squeeze on the leg, and ash let out a huge sigh of relief. suddenly, her father was speaking again and ash worked in his mind for a reply. he really had no clue actually, he figured once the band broke up he'd just take his money and lead a quiet life. he opened his mouth to reply but bea was already speaking. what she said was true and he found himself smiling at her again with the upmost adoration on his face. except for the part about taking care of himself, he actually sucked at that. she had to have take care of him so many times before.

bea gave up on eating it seemed, and she spoke to him. ash nodded quickly, finishing off the rest of his meal, which by now wasn't much, and stood up to follow her out of the kitchen. the tension was thick in there and he was beginning to not be able to stand it. it felt like he was in trouble with the band, they always questioned him and then punished him after. god, he couldn't stand it.



OOC: i watched all their video diaries haha

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[charlotte]

“okay, well just pop downstairs if you want any pudding or anything.” there her mom was again, trying to rescue the situation. her dad had little to say, juts nodding curtly at his daughter as she left the room. once out of the dining room, she slipped her hand into ash’s, squeezing it, but saying nothing as she led him up a flight of stairs. once up, she pushed open a door immediately ahead. it lead to a fairly sized room with a large bed in the centre. a dressing table was adorned with various photographs and cosmetics, and a huge bay window looked over the stylish chelsea street. for a room that she only stayed in once a week, and a couple of weeks over christmas, it was pretty untidy. it wasn’t like it was dirty, just a tad cluttered. there were too many things just everywhere, photos frames littering every available surface, clothes slung over chair backs that she hadn’t bothered to hang up as of yet. she wasn’t the tidiest of girls.

shutting the door behind herself and ash, she dropped onto the bed, laying horizontally across it with her head coming off one side, so now her vision of ash was upside down. “oh god ash, i’m so sorry about my dad. i’ve never ever taken a guy home to him before, i guess he’s just a little protective.” little was a huge understatement. the thing was, his attitude brought up a weird mix of emotion in bea. on the one hand she was so angry at him. he didn’t seem to trust her to be able to pick a decent guy for herself, and was still treating her like a child. but on the other hand she had to emphasise with him. he just cared about her. a lot. and wanted to make sure ash was a decent guy who was going to take care of her. but he never seemed to understand how fiercely independent bea was. in high school, he was always asking her why she didn’t have a nice boyfriend, and she had always hated that he felt like she needed someone else to make her complete. some would find his worrying and fussing over his daughter cute, but she just found it to be choking. but every time she was angry with him for it, she realised how much losing a child had affected them. in their eyes, they had already fucked it up with one of their children in a huge way, and now they had become super clingy with bea to compensate for that. and that was their way of grieving and, in her eyes, that was what she had to let them do, it was only fair.

bea gazed at ash, squinting as her vision meant that he was upside down. “i didn’t know you had any sisters.” why hadn’t she known that? had family never ever come up in any of the times she’d been with him? it just didn’t make any sense for her to know so little about him, yet be presenting him to her parents. and maybe that was her fault. had he told her before and she just hadn’t listened, or why hadn’t she ever bothered to take the time and ask him about himself. she felt terrible. maybe now was the opportunity to begin making up for lost time.

tags;; calliepop
words;; 567
outfit;; click me
notes;; omg i've seen pretty much all of them too, twins?

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[ash]

he had quickly rose from the table and stuck close to bea's side as she led him through the house. he heard her mother speak from in the kitchen, but it was muffled and he couldn't really make out her words. he didn't care about them though as bea didn't even reply, so they must have not been that important. her hand grasped his and his legs stumbled over each other as he was led to a small flight of stairs. they made their way up there silently, almost as though they were having some kind of moment and both were too scared to break it. moments like these were fragile, it was blatantly true from past encounters. the stairs led to a room, one he presumed was bea's, and he was suprised with just how messy it was. really, it wasn't bad, but this was bea! he figured everything would be placed perfectly, dusted and wiped until they shone, and every single shirt folded up and put into a drawer. but no, there were clothes thrown over chairs and pictures and other valuables cluttered all over everything. it was homey, to say the least.

her hand left his and next thing he knew she was plooping down onto the bed, her head hanging off the edge, and he was now upside down to her now. he chuckled a bit before sitting cross legged on the floor so his face was level with hers. she spoke, almost with guilt it seemed, and ash just laughed patting her cheek. "love, he just wants the best for you. and i'm used to it anyways." he offered a wink at that figuring she'd figure that out somehow or another. he wondered if there was a story behind it, if something had happened for them to become so protective in the first place. he wouldn't question it straight out though, he'd have to milk it out of her to avoid hurting feelings and causing tears to spill out of her eyes.

"well, bea, there isn't much to tell about my family. they live back in doncaster. my mum and four sisters, two of them are twins, but they're all younger than me. my dad left a while back. i dunno, it's the average family really." he shrugged a bit because really they were an average family. they all loved each other, took care of one another, and they didn't put up with any type of shit at all. now it was his turn, sort of, he really wanted to know who that boy was and why his picture was all over the place. "so, bea, who is that lad i see in all the photographs? was he a past boyfriend or something?"



OOC: TWINSIES, omfg ily. this post sucks though
hey gurl lemme squirtle on them jiggly puffs

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[charlotte]

she smiled as he sat down by her bed, their faces now at the same level. bea closed her eyes at the rush of blood that was proceeding to her head from being upside down, but didn’t change her position to stop it. he had done that a lot before? by that did he mean that he was often being brought home by girls to meet their dads? maybe that was so hugely different between the two of them. bea didn’t bring guys home, and have dinner with them and her parents. she didn’t even really make much of an effort in general. she didn’t date. she’d never even been ‘seeing someone’. she’d never even told anyone that she loved them because, well, she had never been in love. sure, she loved things, like her parents, and cats, and dancing, and lime jelly. but she wasn’t in love. the two things were so similar yet worlds apart at the same time. the thought that he had done all this stuff before scared bea. she had never had to try and impress someone’s parents before, or done anything like that. and he knew how it worked. knew the things that parents liked to hear any everything. perhaps they just weren’t as similar as she had at once anticipated.

his family seemed so normal. big, but normal. and that was kind of whats he wished she had. siblings, to take some of the attention away from herself. that would be perfect. she’d kind of expected that he didn’t have any siblings, just because she had never heard anything about them. she nodded at him, pretending she had a clue where doncaster was. “so how old are your sisters?” she wanted to know more about his family, since she’d never bothered to find out about them before. “and how often do you see them?” she couldn’t imagine not seeing her parents every week. living with them would drive her insane, but she wouldn’t be able to take not seeing them once a week. they were a particularly close family though. her mother was such a worrier that it wouldn’t be fair not to see her to show that she was fine and healthy. maybe it was a tad dysfunctional, but she was used to it by now. that was just the way they all functioned.

and then there was his question. she knew one day he would ask it, but she’d always kind of hoped that the topic would never arise. because how was she going to tell him? there was no easy ay to bring it up, so she paused for a moment, sighing and thinking about how the topic could be approached. her eyes focused past ash, on the carpet, not wanting to actually look him in the eye. the thing was, she wouldn’t cry if she didn’t have to tell him all the details. because she was through the grieving process now, it was less raw and so much easier to deal with. not that she’d ever had to tell anyone before. everyone at her high school knew what had happened, and she never told her current flatmates. but ash was someone who deserved to know. “no, not a past boyfriend.” she started thinking about how weird it would be to have pictures of a past boyfriend decorating the downstairs of her parents house. surely the normal thing to do, post-breakup, was to shred all the remaining evidence and move on. not that she’d ever had to do it, but that was the general idea in teen movies. oh god, she needed to try and stop avoiding the question. just don’t make a big deal of it, it’ll be over in a second. “he’s, um, my brother. he died just over a year ago when he was seventeen.” there done. she hadn’t gone into detail, and she just hoped he wouldn’t ask more.

tags;; calliepop
words;; 653
outfit;; click me
notes;;don't be silly calliepop, it was fiiiiine. ily tooooooooo <3

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[ash]

by him saying he was used to it, he hoped she didn't get the feeling that he meant that he was always brought home to meet other families, because that was far from true. in fact, he had never even met sabrina's parents. the only parents he had ever met from a past girlfriend was of his first, and they broke up a week later because it was far from anything serious. no, this was all new to him and he figured it was the same for bea because, well, she was so independent ash just figured she never even had a boyfriend because she really didn't need one like other women did to survive. maybe that was what he liked so much about her, she wasn't some clingy little bitch. she gave him space, and he did the same for her. it was the perfect arrangement really.

he really didn't know what to say about his sisters, he hadn't seen them in a while and they grew so much in such a short time. "well, uh, the twins lola and lily are both five, dannie is ten, and olive is twelve." he offered her a bit of a shrug and left it off there not really knowing what else to say. she'd meet them in good time anyways if they lasted as a couple. "maybe one day you can meet'em" a small smile appeared on his lips as he imagined that chaos. he doubted bea would be ready for anything as crazy as his own home. damn, those girls were wild.

ash was completely shocked to learn bea had a brother, but then he remembered neither had really ever mentioend their families. but that fact that he was dead was the thing that caught him off guard. he couldn't even imagine losing one of his sisters because even if he didn't visit them, they were very close. his face dropped a little. "i'm so sorry bea, but if you don't mind me asking how did he die?"

OOC: i luff you more charmander <3

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[charlotte]

the question she had been dreading left his lips. how was she even supposed to respond to that? lying was an option, of course it was, but did ash really deserve that? no way. she couldn't lie to him because the truth would come out sooner or later, and he'd just appreciate if she had been honest the first time round. bea was terrible at talking about things. she had barely received any counselling afterwards, and that was probably worse, since she'd kept the ordeal bottled up inside. she just hated the look people gave when they pitied you, or felt sorry for you. her plan had always been not to tell anyone so that they wouldn't feel sorry for her. if ash gave her that same pitying look, god, she wouldn't be able to take it. still with her head lolling over the side of the bed, she kept her eyes fixed on the wall. she couldn't cry. what would happen anyway? would her tears fall into her hair? she didn't want to find out.

sitting up, bea blinked against the blood draining back out of her head, her back to ash. she didn't want to have to see his reaction to what she had to say. “he took his own life, ash.” and nobody in their right mind would ash any questions about that, right? because you couldn't comment on something so emotionally traumatic. those words had never even left her lips before. having grown up in a small town, she had never had to tell anyone before; everyone already knew. the story had spread like wildfire, and the dirty looks and insults towards her family came thicker and faster. and that was the reason why they had decided to move to somewhere completely new, somewhere where nobody knew them or their past, somewhere big. because it was impossible to feel suffocated in london. it was too big. and she had liked it here because not a single person she had known where she came from. lying was easy enough. and she had never got close enough for anyone to ask too much detail about her life. until now.

she couldn't bear to look at him, so drew her legs under her body, keeping herself busy by chipping at her nail varnish. the thing was, the one counsellor she had ever been to told her not to punish herself, but wasn't it inevitable? surely she had some blame in the situation, and other people thought so to. they always turned to the family, were so sure that the family had been abusive and were downright terrible people. i mean they weren't saints, but her family had done nothing to push their son towards his death. he had had mental health problems. but bea had always felt so sick at herself for letting it happen. they had been so close at children, and then she had drifted away slightly. boys had become so much more important to her, and she didn't have as much time to see if her was okay, and now she was paying the consequence. what would she even do if ash responded in the way others did: disgustedly? no matter or what, she refused to cry in front of him, refused to look week.

tags;; calliepop
words;; 549
outfit;; click me
notes;; n'awwwwwwwwwwwwww <3 <3

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