YOU | 2.03 “What Are Friends For?”

closed starter: @blakemadden​ location: subway station

Leo craned his neck to hear the muffled yet echoed sound of the announcement of the train’s stop. In doing so, it brought his gaze up and straight at a face he thought he knew, but onto a shape, he didn’t. So Leo looked away not fully believing it to be Blake. No, he had just seen her. Another train stop was chimed out loud. Brought he his eyes back to the woman again, she does seriously look like Blake.. Leo’s legs began to beeline to her. The whites of Leo’s eyes get wider and wider as she shape of Blake’s belly appears as if it’s growing with every step he took. He looked downright frightened seeing how her clothes stretched upon a rounded belly. 

renfarber​:

She hadn’t realized how nervous she’d been until she saw him smile. This apartment was her, all over, just the essence of who she was splashed all over the walls. It was her, and it was Max, and so it mattered to Ren if Leo liked it. If he liked them. She didn’t know how to feel about that mattering to her, so… she just pushed it down with all the other feelings she had right now. They could come back out after some whiskey untangled them.

She dragged a chair over to the counter so she could reach the top shelf of the cabinet. She wasn’t entirely sure why she kept the liquor up here - it wasn’t as though Max could get into it at seven months old - but it was always good to make things like that hard to reach. For emergencies only. And this definitely counted. On her way down, Leo handed her one of Max’s toys, and she smirked. “Thank you.”

“Max is with my mom,” she said, getting ice out of the freezer. “I should text her, actually. She should probably keep him overnight.” Her eyes flicked up to him, knowing how he’d take that. She held up a finger. “Because we’re drinking. And we need to talk without a crying baby. You stay two feet away from me,” she smirked. She shouldn’t be joking about this, not when he had a wife, not when he had a baby with her best friend… it just… came so easily. 

She poured two drinks and passed one over, sitting at the table and sending a quick text to her mom. Seconds later, her phone beeped, and she rolled her eyes, texting again and then turning off her phone. 

“Mom says hi,” she smirked. Gloria had always loved Leo. Even now, after Ren had cried on her shoulder about the mess they were in. It was disloyal, honestly. But Ren supposed it was only fair, since she didn’t hate Leo either. She sighed, pulling her braids over one shoulder, and looking at Leo. “So… how’d you meet your wife?”

-

Leo’s brows immediately quirked up at Ren’s words, taking them just as suggestively as she assumed he would. He couldn’t help but break into a small laughter at the finger she had held up. He held his hands up and sat at the table at the furthest one from where she was currently. “Two feet it is.” He agreed though he did find it funny how she needed the physical distance from him. Like he had a pull. Though he felt the same way about her lips. 

He watched as she poured the drinks. His eyes admiring the caramel hue a bit too closely. It had been a minute since he was able to indulge. It was getting a lot harder to sneak away. His hand couldn’t help but tap on the counter till the drink was passed over to him. From there he had taken a well measured first sip while she was distracted with her phone.

“Tell Gloria, I said hey,” he smiled that shit eating grin that was just a permanent reaction to when his ego was stroked. Though that grin had immediately left his lips at the mention of his wife. His forehead wrinkled as he pulled his brows together, he laughed once before replying, “You don’t wanna talk about that.” He said openly refusing to answer. “We have other things to talk about.” He said quite solemnly as he brought his drink to his lips. 

closed starter: @hvny​ location: a bar in manhattan

 leo was in a bar with live music, of course, he was having the time of his life. music helped him ride his buzz out in such a good way. especially good music. he was surprised by the big bold energy that much too big for a dumpy bar. “hey, you were amazing up there!” Leo called after the frontwoman who just passed in front of him. 

renfarber​:

She sat when he sat, and stared for too long just like he did. She saw his eyes taking in her new hair and her new tattoos, just as she took in his new facial hair, and his new… wedding ring. Suddenly the ten years felt like ten years. There was less than a foot in physical distance between them now, but there were ten full years, and a spouse, and at least one baby. But even so, she couldn’t stop herself from fucking smiling at him.

“It’s good to see you,” she said, and it was, although it probably shouldn’t have been. It was weird to see him, older and married and scared of her, but the dappled projector light softened everything. Like they were the ones in nostalgic black-and-white. “How long have you been married?”

-

The way she smiled at him kept his nerves from growing further out the lines. it was a familiarity he appreciated as he really tried to let time settle between them. The corners of his mouth lifted, causing his eyes to wrinkle with a soft smile. “I was gonna say the same thing.” He said, bringing his eyes back to her. Though he was still careful around her. Out of precaution or experience; he didn’t know which. He brought his eyes back to the screen. because he couldn’t let himself dote on her appearance any longer. It was far too easy to fall back into admiring her looks. He owed some restrain at the very least for his twenty-three year old self. he carried that broken hearted twenty something leo, too close and too long. 

At her question about his marriage caused his brows shot up and he looked at his left hand. The white gold still glinted in this light. “Oh,” he enthused and arranged his hands so his left one was out of view at the side of his popcorn bucket. “Almost a year or so.” He replied not really knowing the date by memory. It was somewhere in his phone. He finally looked at her again. “What about you--married?” He questioned quickly, his curiosity getting the best of him. his eyes even flicked downward to her hands. 

starter for: @norahphobia​ where: empire diner in chelsea

leo had to admit that he was a sucker for train styled diners. historic and rare were two attributes he’ll always admire. he had fond memories of diners such as this. once he was old enough to legally work, leo would bus tables and wash dishes. he admired the blue, silver chromium diner as he sat in a booth, waiting for his dinner date. and eventually, he shifted his gaze to the street outside. and then he had been sitting there long enough for the waitress to give the table two glasses of water. 

“You’re late,” Leo said immediately as Norah had came into view. “I’ve already called the cops.” He said, crossing his arms in front of him. He looked at her accusingly as if he was blaming her for something he obviously didn’t do. He was masking his bit of worry with a joke. 

astral-silk​:

closed starter to @le0davis​ location: dive bar on 9th

There was a certain tension to the expression she held as she practically stormed into the bar, as if she might turn into torrential downpour at the slightest twitch out of deadpan. Sometimes life just felt so frustrating and impossible. Like she was constantly swimming upstream and wasn’t going anywhere. Some days it was easier to handle, to stay focused and keep that dream alive she’d held since she was a child. Other days it felt like this—chaos in her head. Like she wanted to scream in the streets; ask all of New York why she just wasn’t good enough. 

It’d started from the moment she’d woken up. Late to class because she was late to wake up and had to commute from the Bronx into Manhattan because she was too poor to live down by NYU. The perpetual underlining of every experience; an emphasis she could never escape. It made every bad day even worse. And then to top it off, by the time classes were over and she’d rushed to get to NASA, a taxi driver had splattered dirty snow water all over her. That not only earned her some extremely judgmental looks from all the astrophysicists, but also had her pulled into a meeting with her boss. The boss that she’d been sleeping with to even have her internship spot—not that it was that big of a deal outside of the quid pro quo. She was actually attracted to them, all things considered. But the least they could do was understand she hadn’t intended to show up covered in mud—she just didn’t have time to go home and change. After twenty minutes of being spoken down to, the rest of her shift continued in similar fashion. It was like she just couldn’t get it right. Nothing she did, all day long. The last straw was being yelled at by one of her coworkers for interrupting him, to give him the seltzer water he’d asked for. 

That’s what landed her here, cheeks flushed with anger but unable to express any of it. She was negative in her cashapp—how the hell did that even happen? But at least she had some quarters in her wallet. “What can I get you?” the bartender asked. “A shot,” she responded, painfully obvious she wasn’t much of a drinker. She really wasn’t supposed to drink—the doctors said it was bad to drink on steroids and her nephritis wouldn’t take kindly to it. She didn’t care. She was frustrated. “Um…” she paused. “Vod…ka?” it came out like a question, like she was unsure of herself that vodka was even a spirit. And then slid her handful of quarters the bartender’s way. “Will this be enough?” She couldn’t even feel the embarrassment of it anymore with how exhausted she was from the day.

-

Leo’s index finger and thumb appiled pressure to his throbbing temple. today was one of those days where he couldn’t escape from his wife’s attempt to communicate with him. though he couldn’t blame his wife for the silly game of twenty-one questions about his feelings. no, that blame belonged to his therapist. he rubbed his eyes now, with elbows propped on the bar. why on earth was it so important to know what he was thinking about? he’ll never understand nor did he want to. he felt like he was exisiting and trying his best. how was that not enough? he let out a groan and pulled his hands away from his face to find the bartender freshening up his drink.

after some proper nursing of whiskey on the rocks, leo was feeling a lot better. he was buzzed. completely radiating with false energy that was just his heart stressing under the poison of his vice. leo offen people watched when he was this phase. his spotlight now shone on the tall, raven haired woman who sat adjacent to him. he watched her in silence, pinching his cold glass in his dominant hand. he took a drink just as the bartender had spoken to her. he almost laughed; his mouth curving around the glass as he sipped his drink. it was the most amusing order he’s heard since someone ordering a slippery nipple. 

Leo couldn’t help but insert himself, eyeing the mix of dirty and shiny quarters in her palm. He let out a low whistle. “Looks like we know where all the missing coins went.” He said, referencing the national coin shortage. Him making a joke, really kept him from sympathizing with her at first. He had been there once before. He couldn’t even afford a bagel with a proper smear when his career was going down the drain. “That’s not enough if you want to numb up whatever you’re feeling.” His tone still coated in smugness. His brown eyes read her face some more as he leaned back in his seat. His gaze shifted to the bartender. “I’ll cover the rest. Give her a triple and a water.” The bartender looked over at her for confirmation, as the amount of quarters she had presented them was barely enough for one shot. 

xbhandri​:

@le0davis​

“Don’t you dare say anything. I don’t want to know. Just because you’re teaching my ex-husband how to act does not mean I want to know if he word vomited anything about our night together. Tell me everything.” Xavier quickly backtracked on what he was rambling about. “No, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. Why is sex so good? Not with him. Okay, like, with him, but in general. I meant in general.” He scrunched his face with a small tilt to his head. Taking a sip of his drink, he tried to ignore the feelings instead. “So what about Broadway. What’s your dream role, lover boy?”

-

Leo laughed after Xavier went on a little tangent. His relationship between Nate was a completely different vibe than his with Xavier. with Nate, Leo was a teacher and felt such responsibilty with him. with Xavier, Leo was himself; the good and the bad fully. Xavier was the only one who knew everything. hell, xavier added fuel to Leo’s fire. “Sex is so good.” He agreed quietly with his body slack on the couch and his hand and a halful glass resting on his thigh. “Dream role?” He repeated and then proceeded to murmur himself as he thought about it. “Any male lead.” He answered but he felt it was too general. “Roger from RENT.” His heart answered. “That would be fucking sick.” His enthused, still just a simple theater kid underneath the full beard. 

annalisechambersx​:

She sat there, waiting for the screaming to begin. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had embarrassed her in public because of a mistake she had made. It certainly wasn’t going to the last. It was fine. She just wouldn’t come back to this bar. She would find a new one that Leo didn’t come to and they would never have to cross paths again. It would be fine. Everything was always fine. Annie was really good at avoiding people.

But much to her surprise, it never came. Her brows furrowed in confusion. In fact, he seemed to…open up a bit more. She blinked a few times, trying to process everything. She shook her head, her curls shaking with it, “No, no. It’s not your fault. Really. I-It’s mine. I should have checked. It was really stupid of me not to. I’m sorry.” She swallowed a lump that grown in her throat before she stopped rubbing her hands nervously together. Devin hated it when she do that.

Annie shook her hands out and turned a bit more towards Leo, “You don’t?” She asked, “I only really like football.” Annie paused for a moment before she spoke again and giggled, “American football, I mean. Soccer is boring.” She had always thought that. But American football was pretty interesting, surprisingly. She just never really went out of her way to watch it. She was more drama TV show kind of gal.

“Can I get you another drink?” Annie asked suddenly, sitting up a bit, looking towards the bartender, “What is it that you’re drinking? Just whiskey?” She asked, looking at the glass. She wasn’t great at picking out drinks, to be quite honest, “I should have put two and two together.” She shook her head, still thinking about her mistake, “If you wanted a beer, you would have had one.” Yeah, that was stupid.

-

She had giggled and he took that as a win. Though it seemed to be this fear that kind of blanket over her, that he still couldn’t take off. He thought all things involving a ball and men were boring. Women’s sports, however... “Whiskey,” he answered, the amount in left in his cup lightening in amber as it began to water down further. He was about to finish it off, but he couldn’t let this conversation continue like this. He couldn’t stand to just watch someone with a sweet disposition and face tear herself down. 

“Yes, I’ll take that whiskey but, only if you could stop doing that?” He asked, again so blunt, and never in a rightful place. “I’m not the nicest, but I’m being a lot nicer to you than you are being to yourself.” He said, making the observation out loud. A little cruel in the name of being honest, but he kept his voice even and gentle as he could. His eyes became a little wide as he said a little punchline to hopefully make his words not sound so serious, “Like, geez, Annie who hurt you?”

Text !! Nate & Leo

Nate: If I said that I liked the last class would it be a compliment or really really creepy?

Nate: cause it's definitely not creepy!!

Nate: is it creepy that I started this conversation?

Nate: okay but forget it

Nate: sorry sorry sorry!

Nate: don't kick me out :(

Nate: I was just complimenting your teaching and acting abilities and nothing more!!

Leo: Is this your way of confessing your love for me?

Leo: You needa lay off whatever your vices are, kid, but I'll take this as a compliment.