Gia Settled Down Onto The Park Bench Beside Her And Held Out A Slender Paper Bag. "Yeah, But I Couldn't

Gia settled down onto the park bench beside her and held out a slender paper bag. "Yeah, but I couldn't hand them a little liquid cheer, now could I?" She offered a sympathetic smile and pulled a bottle of Jack out. "Wanna share?" she inquired. She hadn't really meant to disturb the other female, but she'd been walking along and had heard her sniffling and it wasn't in Gia's nature to walk in when she saw someone suffering. Then again, if Charlie wanted to be alone, she'd leave her with the bottle and go. She didn't want to push herself on the girl, either. No one knew better the trials of family troubles better than Gia.

Jack Tears { open }

Her shoulders didn’t stop shaking as she cried. After having a shouting match with her father, Charlotte ran away from her home and somehow ended up near a park. The night was dark and cold, but sitting on a park bench was much better than being home. Sighing, she used her sleeve to wipe her tears. Charlie had almost calmed down, but when she saw someone’s shadow in front of her, she jumped in her seat.  

"You know, if you wanted to see someone cry you could just turn on your TV."

GQ Magazine, 2013

"So basically when the cameras weren’t rolling, I made sure that I individually eyeballed every single one of [the heckling and catcalling male extras] until they realized we were a force to be reckoned with. Just because we were girls didn’t mean that we couldn’t be badass." — Emilia Clarke

Remember, we talked about this? Rules of the wild kingdom don’t apply to friends. 

When Gia got his text, it took everything in her not to shoot back with a thousand worried texts. She had known, of course, that he was meeting with the vampire queen. Why, she could not say, but the knowledge alone had been cause of anxiety enough - his text only served to heighten it. Yet, he said he was coming over. This was clearly a face-to-face matter so Gia (just barely) managed to restrain herself and instead merely replied, I’ll be here. She heard his truck when he was still a little ways away and headed to her bar in the kitchen to make him (and herself) a stiff drink. She had a feeling they’d need it. As he pulled up to her house, Gia went to the window peering down below. She watched him talk to Devon and then she watched him walk away, Devon’s eyes following. Gia bit her lip in concern and went to meet him. It was the urgency in his eyes that made her chest constrict, placing the drinks hurriedly on the nearest surface, she was enveloped gratefully in his arms. He pulled her close and she wrapped her limbs around him, resting her head on his shoulder. She breathed him in - a fresh cacophony of musk and death and anxiety. So, it was the vampire queen. Gia pressed a kiss to his shoulder before pulling back ever so slightly to look at him when he spoke. Her lips parted ever so slightly. It felt as though her lungs were burning, seared from the inside out, to see him so tortured. She reached up to touch his face, shaking her head. “I already know you did what you had to,” she said softly, brushing back his hair lovingly. Uncharacteristic anger sparked in her chest and ignited her heart as she watched his tormented eyes. Gia wanted to drive away the pain but there was a part of her that wished to see whoever had done this repent of ever having hurt him, too. Everett had enough to deal with without some vampire forcing his hand towards something he so clearly did not appreciate. “What did that bitch want?”

Aftermath || Gia & Everett (closed)

After seeing and speaking with Ariella, Everett didn’t know if he’d done the right thing or not. He’d always done what he thought was right and what was best for the pack, but sometimes he couldn’t help but doubt whether he deserved to be in his position. Was he good enough for the pack? Did they deserve better? Times like this, it certainly seemed so. All he wanted was peace; but with vampires around, that seemed near impossible.

He pulled out his phone and texted Gia, Hey, I need to talk. I’ll be at your house in a few. He tucked his phone away in the pocket of his jeans as he dropped into his truck. And as he drove, he mentally kicked himself. What the hell had he agreed to? He sighed. He’d known that taking hold of the pack and cleansing it of the V problem would be hard, but he’d never even imagined that it would come to this.

As he pulled up to Gia’s home, he put his truck in park and smiled as Devon came running to the car from her place on the grass in the lawn. He climbed out of the car and hugged Devon tightly. “Hey, baby girl,” he kissed the top of her head and combed his fingers through her hair. “I need to talk to Momma, ‘kay? Stay out here, but only in your lawn. You hear me?”

Devon groaned a bit before nodding and trudging off and dropping back into the grass. He smiled. He’d never had a child of his own; and at this rate doubted he ever would. But that girl was a daughter to him. He didn’t care how odd it might be to others.

He made his way into Gia’s house, closing the door behind him. It didn’t take long for him to find the brunette, and he practically ran to her, gathering her up in his arms and holding her close to him. He let out a breath into her hair. “I think I just made the worst mistake of my life, Momma,” he sighed into her hair. Even with how shitty he’d felt before… Just having Gia in his arms made him feel so much better.