Oɴᴇ x Oɴᴇ's discussion

Tumblr Plot : Give me a long distance plot where muse a is famous as fuck and creates a fake fan account on twitter/tumblr to feel kinda closer to fans and it’s all good and no one really knows it’s him and it’s all good and he’s getting to know what fans want from him but then enters muse b, who’s so completely in love with muse a and his music. the two begin to talk and they become friends and soon they’re texting constantly and she tells him everything and fangirls about her idol to him and they’ve both caught feelings really badly. so one day muse b gets a little scared that she’s being catfished so she asks muse a to video call her. out of fear of losing her, he agrees and, surprise bitch, it’s her fucking idol. (Gender-swapping~)

Tᴡᴇɴᴛʏ | Fɪᴠᴇ-Fɪᴠᴇ | Hᴀᴢᴇʟ | Bʀᴜɴᴇᴛᴛᴇ | Aʟᴇx Lᴀғᴀʀᴄɪᴏʟᴀ

Leah has been singing since she was a little; her parents often teasing that she popped out humming instead of crying. Leah has to admit that that would be just a little unnerving, but loves her parents none the less. Growing up she was always scrawling down lyrics, even if it meant ignoring the teacher in class, or forgetting to do her homework until the very last minute. Her brother always poked fun at her, but now he’s all grown up – mind you, she’s still older – and ya know what? He still pokes fun at her. Even though she’s hit it big time, Leah has kept true to her lyrics, and stayed out of the media’s scandels as much as humanly possible. She’ll do an interview here and there, but never about anything other than her albums and upcoming tours, or a charity event or something else of the sort. Leah’s likes the think of herself as a pretty normal girl, so when she got her first hate mail ever, well it was a bad day to say the least. The worst of her life so far, that she will admit. Leah had never realized before that people could be so cruel, and to people that they didn’t even know. She tries to remain positive in every situation, but sometimes things get the better of her. Aside from her family, and her hometown friends, and music of course, there is really only one thing that makes her smile. Her fans; and it’s not an ego that says this, but there are quite a lot of them recently. Leah has no idea how it happened, but her twitter and instagram are flooded with people — always on, always active, and immensely hard to keep track of.

Bʀɪɢʜᴛ Eʏᴇs | Wɪᴄᴋᴇᴅ Oɴᴇs | Sᴛɪʀ Cʀᴀᴢʏ

Squad(view spoiler)[• Tobias Sage
[fifteen, brunette, little brother]
Tobias is really close to Leah, even if her career takes her away from him a lot. She was there when Mom left and when Dad was having a hard time picking himself back up again; she read him bedtime stories, would let him sleep in her room if he was having nightmares, sing to him when he felt sick, made him food when Dad was gone, the list is so long that he couldn’t even get the end. He loves Leah with all of his heart, even if, like every sibling in the entire world, they sometimes get on each other’s nerves. No that Leah’s job takes her all over the world, it’s usually just him and his Dad, who is much better than when they were young (it took a very, very long time for him to bounce back), so the house is quiet. They’ll watch her when she’s on television, of course, and keep in touch via skype and mobile phone and stuff. His high school life is crazy as fuck, though, because not only is his sister famous, but he joined the school newspaper, soccer, and was urged into the honor society. So basically he’s a fifteen-year-old braniac/athlete whose confused about his sexuality and wishes that his sister was home more often so he could complain about to someone other than his friends who are probably all straighter than arrows.

• Elijah Sage
[deceased, youngest brother]
The only people who know about Elijah outside of the family are Monica and Nick. At first Leah had been hesitant to tell even Monica about it, but the closer she and her friend got the safer she felt: Monica won’t tell anyone if she’s asked not to. Skeletal, Sick Misfortune, and Sleep Story all stem from Elijah and her mother, and what happened when she was young. Elijah was born a very small, very happy baby. Five months passed and the new member of the household kept everyone up at night, everyone active during the day, and was a very annoying blessing. Leah was eight then, making Tobias three. She sang him to sleep more and more now that Mom had Elijah to take care of, and that was fine with him. Leah and Tobias loved their little brother as much as they loved each other, even if he did cry a lot. One morning Dad dropped Leah off at school and Tobi at daycare, and then drove off to work. If it hadn’t been for Dad’s uncanny ability to forget something every other morning, they wouldn’t have known what happened until the end of the day when Leah and Tobi were picked up and driven home by the neighbors. Dad came and got them not two hours later and they went to the hospital. He had been vague about what happened then, but Leah knows everything now. Mom had taken Eli into the bath with her—the water was low and warm and he was waving his hands, splashing it around while she washed his back, smiling. Then she had a seizure… Eli drowned, and after a week in the hospital they still didn’t know what had caused it. Eventually they sent Mom home on some meds they were sure were going to help, though Leah is convinced that treating the symptom and not the disease is what killed her in the end, but Mom was hollow and empty. She cried herself to sleep, forgot to take her meds, grew pale and thin and sicker by the day until a year passed and she started coughing up blood, collapsing in the hallway, sleeping longer than her body needed, and shaking so bad Dad had to help her drink a glass of water. One week later and Mom was dead, too. She didn’t try very hard to live, though, which makes Leah angry. So. Incredibly. Angry. Tobi doesn’t remember Elijah very well, but he remembers crying and he remembers putting flowers on his mother’s grave. Dad tried to remain himself, but he’d lost the love of his life and youngest child all within a year, and it dug lines into his face where he had once been young. He smiled when the kids told a joke, and he tucked them in at night, took them to school, told them he loved them and would watch stupid movies because they asked him too, but he was a dim light of his once bright self, so Leah took to telling her brother bedtime stories and helping him with homework that Dad couldn’t.

• Marcelo Souza
[twenty-four, brazilian, soccer player]
Long story short, Marcelo was an asshole that she never should have gone out with. He’s the cause for most of the songs on her second album, actually. At first it was fun; she spent the summer in Brazil, her family came along and everything and they stayed with other family members, she hung out with Monica and Nick and teased them about the studio incident, and … she went to a soccer game. Tobias, bless his soul, dreamed of being a soccer player and these guys were practically his heroes (seeing as soccer is big just about everywhere but America, where they lived). So Leah pulled some strings and got to drag her and her brother down to the ground floor to meet the players. While he was drooling over Neymar (view spoiler)[totally drool worthy okay (hide spoiler)], she bumped into Marcelo. So all of a sudden the summer was spent with him beating her at pee-wee soccer games, her and him soaking up the sun on the beach … and walking the streets soaking wet after stupid surf competitions, and the paparazzi finding out that new singer-songwriter Leah Sage is dating a famous soccer player. Oh, boy, what fun. When it comes down to it, the summer was fun, but it only lasts so long. Eventually the summer fling feeling wore off and he and her spent all their time bickering about this this and this – let’s go play soccer I’m bored! I don’t want to play soccer. Tsk, right, you’d rather do absolutely nothing. Nothing? I’m writing, Marcelo. Bs, your job is easy. You just write some stuff down and then sing along. The machines do the rest – so on and so forth. Needless to say that while they had plenty of fun on the beach, at carnivals, and in clubs he was a jerk and she wasted too much time on him. After finally breaking it off she spent as much time with Monica as she was permitted and ducked into her writing, venting through her lyrics. Easy job, my ass, become a common mumble among her days. (hide spoiler)]

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Cole is a seveteen year old that seems to have everything together, but in all honesty he doesn't know a thing about anything. All he really knows is his best friend and his crazy home life. Sure there is work and there is school, but he perfers to think little of both. He's not the greatest student, but he never gets distracted by forces such as having a girlfriend, like most of his other classmates. In fact, Cole has never really dated anyone. He's never had any desire really. It didn't seem worth it, and there was definitly no one out there worth his wild. Well, except for like one person, but ... it was normal to like someone who knew you so well right? Of course he'd have a crush on Jacob. It wans't like it was totally weird, he hoped. Besides, that was like two years ago. He had all but convinced himself by now that the stupid crush was, well, stupid, and hasn't told a soul about his ... non-straight sexuality and perfers to remain partner-less for the time being. Beyond that, Cole lives for music, and plays all kinds of sports. Soccer, basketball, hockey, swimming, he even played volleyball a few times and considered himself to be pretty damn good at it.

[ Name ] Jacob Brandon Ellery
[ Nickname ] I mean, you can call him Jake... online, though, he goes by Brandon.

[ Age ] Nineteen
[ Birthday ] March 17

[ Gender ] Male
[ Sexuality ] heterosexual

[ Appearance ]

hair color: brown
eye color: brown

[ Notable Traits ]
✥ humorous
✥ intelligent
✥ friendly
✥ stubborn
✥ sarcastic
✥ insecure

[ Other ]
✥ Left handed
✥ Piano, guitar, soccer
✥ Spends much of his free time online; blogging, running a fan account for his favorite singer and praying that one day she'll follow him.

~

[ Name] Monica Luisa De Melo
[ Nickname ] Moni or Moaney, if you're Leah

[ Age ] 21
[ Birthday ] July 28th

[ Gender ] Female
[ Sexuality ] Heterosexual

[ Appearance ]

hair color: brown
eye color: brown

[ Notable Traits ]
✥ caring
✥ outgoing
✥ blunt
✥ confident
✥ hard-working
✥ determined

[ Other ]
✥ First language of Portuguese, fluent in English and Spanish as well.
✥ Dating Nick since 15
✥ The oldest of six kids

Same question as the other thread -- where do we wanna start? :3

So I guess our options with this are either we could start it with bran kind of browsing the Internet and stumbling across Leah's account?
He could be its first follower and that's why they start talking?
Or idk

Oh I like both ideas D:
Which means decisions! UUUGH.
Idk -- which do you think would be better?
ALSO. Should we roleplay anything outside of their conversations? Like before the video chat? Like ... outside the Internet im sure he has friends? XD and she has agents and stuff. Or should we stick to just their emails and texts and stuff?

I think it'd be cute if he was her fake account's first follower and that's why they start talking and idk that'd be fun
And from there they start texting and then the video chat happens?
So I think that we should at least play some of the convos before that
And yeah, we'll probably do a couple outside things too
And idk XD

Totally works for me <3
The more I think about it that would be really cute ;n;
SOO yeah yush mm-hmm we can do that :P
Alright, I just wanted to make sure. I didn't know so I asked XD
Would you like me to start here as well?
ALSO. I'm sorry. But like. Ugh. I'm stil fangirling about the FC you used. Like. Oleg is so perf- how do you even?
(view spoiler)[I mean freaking look at him -->(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

IM JUST FEELING REALLY INTENSE EMOTIOMS ABLUT THIS OLAY. DKSNSNSN
Okay but yeah, if you want to start, that's fab, because you could do her making the account and that kicks things off? And if not, I'll do it when I get home :) currently in the urban outfitters crying because I'm broke
I don't actually know his name I just used him once a long time ago and he's just *heart ehes*

DUDE I KNOW IM SO EXCITED FOR THIS KFDKAAL;ADL;ASD
No I can start this one too :P
I just gotta get ready and do some laundry and then I can throw together some posts and shtuff~
Oh XD Well his name is Oleg Panov in case you were wondering :P

I'm in urban outfitters again no joke Em is obsessed with buying this dress omfg
OKAY BUT FOR REAL IM SO PUMPED OMFG
Take your time, no worries :D

Darn you lack of money! Can you borrow some?
Sounds like you need the dress more than want it XD

"Leah get back here!"
"Just ... leave me alone for a second, Simon."
"Leah! Ugh. Fine. Fine! But you have," a pause. "Ten minutes before I drag you downstairs by your feet."
Leah rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to tell him that that would be very, very bad for her image, and therefore his own. She didn't much care for being dragged down four flights of stairs though -- though he would probably save time by taking the elevator instead, so it couldn't be that bad. She leaned back against the door, the bed sitting clean and unused since this morning. She'd drawn the covers back up herself, told the maid that she didn't have to worry about it. To be entirly honest Leah really didn't want anyone to worry about making her bed -- or anyone elses for that matter. It seemed ... egotistic. And that is the last thing she wanted to come off as. For a second she just stood there, staring at her feet, chewing on her bottom lip. Silence enveloped her, weighing on her uneasily. Stepping away from the door Leah quickly punched the on button on the stereo; music seeped into the walls and instantly she felt better. She didn't have to worry about Agent Simon and his threats or press conferences about her new album, or recording this new album or how late she was going to have to stay up tonight. No. None of it. For ten minutes she could do whatever she wanted. A second later and her eyes flickered to the computer screen. The long thought of idea washed over her and Leah swiped the laptop from it's perch. She plunked down onto the bed and tapped in the adress for [some social media site i havent decided yet because decisions].

Ｎａｍｅ: ᴄʟᴀʀᴀ ʏᴏᴜɴɢ
Ｕｓｅｒｎａｍｅ: ᴄʟᴀʀᴀʙᴇᴀʀ
Ｄａｔｅ ｏｆ Ｂｉｒｔｈ: ᴊᴀɴᴜᴀʀʏ 21sᴛ

[ᴄᴏɴᴛɪɴᴜᴇ]

. . . ｐｒｏｃｅｓｓｉｎｇ ◌

Ｗｅｌｃｏｍｅ Ｃｌａｒａ

Admittedly, Bran hadn't logged off of his account all night. Ever since he'd opened the tab on his laptop five hours ago, around 2 in the morning, he hadn't closed it. It was now early on a Saturday morning, he hadn't slept in close to thirty six hours, there was a pile of homework a mile high on his desk, but Bran didn't care. He'd admit, his pastimes would probably be seen as creepy when looked on by someone who didn't get it, but anyone who did would be right there with him. No, he didn't spend his night watching porn, contrary to the popular belief about teenage boys. Bran often wasted his evenings away blasting the same album in his headphones and mouthing every single one of the words, watching the same videos of a single girl on a stage, or at an interview, or he'd just read what other people wrote about this girl. Meeting her, being her friend, the clothing line that was nothing more than a rumor at this point.

All one girl. Leah Sage.

She'd been Bran's life since she'd first started getting popular; he'd been her 300th subscriber on YouTube and her 1,163th follower on twitter. Bran had been along for the whole, wild ride. Now, he was so far into the fandom that he followed every account that had even the slightest thing to do with her. This one was a girl named Clara.

(view spoiler)[lolsorrythisisgrossidk (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[What are you talking about? That was beautiful. Hell, your writing is just bootiful in general *-* (hide spoiler)]

Leah's eyes glanced breifly at the time, tapping her foot impatiently. She only had ten minutes to herself and those ten minutes could not consist of the internet moving sluggishly slow. Leah had contemplated making an account for ages now, or what felt like ages anyway, her music wasn't that old yet. Probably a year now. Ish. She had one album out, and had already endured a very, very long tour. The fans were great, and so Clara Young had started out as nothing more than a cute little idea, a laugh here and there whenever she would skype her friends or talk to her siblings blah blah blah. She'd had the name picked out since the idea had arisen, and Agent Simon knew absolutly nothing about it, especially seeing as he would probably discourage it. Why wouldn't he? Pfft. Welcome. Once those words filled the screen Leah's whole body relaxed. Time check. It was Saturday afternoon here in the world; 2:43 pm; by her count she had until 51 and then that was it, she'd be dragged down for early vocal recording and whatever he had planned. She didn't bother sorting through her internal calender just now, instead she explored the site a little bit, scrolled through her tag, reading but cringing at all the worser things said about her, and biting her head at the better things. As the minutes tick-tocked by a notification threw itself her way.

Ｏｎｅ Ｎｅｗ Ｆｏｌｌｏｗｅｒ: ʙʀᴀɴ

She had reblogged a total of two things thus far, and the lull of music had eased the nag of Simon's voice in the back of her head. Leah tipped her head and tapped on the inbox button, the keys clacking under her fingers.

Wow, you're fast! I just threw this up a few minutes ago :)

(view spoiler)[I'm on my phone in a class where the teacher probably thinks I'm texting oh well it's worth it sorry if typos (hide spoiler)]

Moments after his tired fingers clicked the follow button, a message popped up in Bran's ask box.

"Wow, you're fast! I just threw this up a few minutes ago :)"

Bran wasn't quite sure how to respond to this; apologize and unfollow? Because that seemed the least awkward of his choices here. Whatever he would reply would surely make this awkward, and so would his silence. Bran ran his hand across his face to keep his eyes open and tapped the reply button whole drumming his fingers anxiously across the keyboard.

"I try :)" he typed quickly, frowning at his keys. They didn't have the right words to say, as always. "Just introduce yourself, nitwit," Bran mumbled, shaking his head violently to clear his thoughts. "I'm Bran," he started, unsure how to reply beyond that point. "Wow, way to be awkward, Bran..."

Deciding he'd do his best to make this girl--Clara, as best he could tell--welcome on this website (which often intimidated him, if he were being honest), and possibly even befriend her. God knows he needed a friend who didn't think him absolutely insane, and he needed to get out of his shell a bit.

That would require him knowing what to say, though.

(view spoiler)[niiicee XD
#awkwardclarabear (hide spoiler)]

To be fair, the only real interaction she's had through websites like these weren't casual ... by any means. She didn't even really know how to be casual? Being her, in the least egotistic way, was hard as heck. The moment people pasted the big, shiny famous label over your name was the moment you forgot how to be a normal human being. It wasn't as if she had completely forgotten herself, or what it was like one Twitter before she was famous, but social media had never been a biggie for her, and she was rarely in one place for more than a month -- maybe. At the current moment she was in a hotel room, the carpet tough, the rooms uneven, the music bouncing off the walls all weird. And yet. She felt calm, even as the soft ding of the computer alerted her of a new message. Leah scooted backward on the bed and sunk into the too fluffy pillows.

Sorry, I hope that message wasn't too out of the blue. I'm not used to these kinds of websites really-- busy schedule.

Leah typed it without thinking about how off kilter it came off. Even hit send. Unfortunately it occurred to her after doing so that everyone was familiar was sites like this. Even she had accounts for them, and knew how they worked. It was more that she didn't understand how to interact with people when all you heard was 'oh you have such a good voice Im jealous' and 'hey hot stuff'. Her accounts were mainly for posting big announcements and podcasts and stuff. While her words rang true, the way she had typed them could not be explained, and so quickly she scribbled another line or so of text.

Oh and I'm Clara! The girl who talks without thinking, ha.

(view spoiler)[wow okay let's pretend it's still thursday and I'm good about replying apparently this never posted and idk (hide spoiler)]

The icon fro Bran's ask box lit up fairly quickly after his message sent, which led him to believe that wherever Clara was, she wasn't currently busy. However, he comment did kind of surprise him. In this day and age, most people were attached to their phones at the hip, what with all the social media around. Bran would gladly and shamelessly admit to being guilty of this, too, if he were being honest. He had notifications for everything Leah Sage related on his phone and laptop, so he was never far away from at least one of the two. So the fact that Clara was new to social media was slightly strange, but everyone had to start out somewhere, so he didn't question it.

That's fine. We're all new here at some point, aren't we?

Bran typed quickly. Sure, he knew he seemed really laid back and probably kind of weird. Sighing, he leaned his head back against the wall and ran his hands through his hair as a second message came through. "The girl who talks without thinking..." Oh, how opposite they were in that respect. She spoke without thinking, and he thought too much.

Don't worry, I'm not one to judge.

Bran promised after a moment more of thought. He may not be one to judge, but he did kind of wonder what exactly she'd said that she would've censored had she thought before making her comment.

(view spoiler)[Its fine, I haven't been good at posting either so you're in the clear XD
So I'm thinking maybe we should figure out how to really get them talking before we move on, even just a starting point, cause right now it's just awkward conversation that will probably dissipate and -- or is it just me being incapable of being clever? (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[we could, like, have her like ask him what he's into and he starts talking about her and stuff and she realizes exactly how much of his life she's involved in
Or he could have a bad day and since he doesn't really have any friends irl he could message her?
Idk tbh I got three hours of slep (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[Honestly we could do both? Like, in that order and everything? Because after they start to sort of become friends he could have that bad day and then realize that maybe he does actually have someone he could talk to about it. Or he gets online and is acting sort of weird and so she asks him what's wrong/what happened sort of thing?
tbh i should have replied to this earlier, but i forgot, even though i know you said you cant really do much of anything on monday/tues/wed but im on break and im gonna take the chance anyway because ive been bored all freaking day omfg you dont even know ;n; (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[nah man, we could totally do both! I just wasn't sure if the ideas I was vomiting even made sense so I didn't wanna force it, I guess? Lol but yes, we can totally do both totally not shipping this super hard and crying in a corner ok crying kandnamdnnsnd
But yeah, you're right when you say they should become friends and stuff because friendship is fab man
Okay sorry I can't talk never can never will be able to ily
I hope your break is fabbbbbb :D
I'll probably be around between 2:15 and 3:50 ish tomorrow because that's study hall. And then again at 7:30-8:30 (eastern time. If you're bent on catching me while I'm around XD) (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[Awesome-sauceum, I'll reply asap then. Even if that probably won't make a difference and I just got home so you probably aren't even on anyway XD yay bad timing, as always.
totally shipping it hardcore like wut? Omg they're gonna be so cewt I just don't even know how to life with all our charas
And yes I am. I'm terrible at times but I will figure it out one way or another nakxkapakxap
Also. For future reference. I'm on Mountain Time, so yaaaa. That awk little sliver between central time and western time is where moi spends her time sleeping and editing anime stuff to put on Instagram because moi has no life whoooo (hide spoiler)]

The message popped up just before she hit the send button, and her eyes scanned it quickly. Oops. This is what she got for being so out of practice with social media recently. You'd think as a celebrity she would be on it all the time, but honestly she's fallen mostly out of touch. Every now and again she'll toss some news onto twitter, but this wasn't twitter, and this wasn't news at all. In fact, it was the very opposite of the usual Leah-Sage-News-Report. She couldn't help but be curious about her first follower.

The second message came in after her own and Clara bit her bottom lip. Alright. Think about this one. Her fingers hovered over the keys for a moment, hesitating because she didn't know how to formulate the words before hand. Nice to meet you? Yeah, that's true? She didn't want to be awkward! Dear heavens above. Alright, nevermind. She thought, forgetting the whole building the sentence before actually typing it out. Instead, Leah tapped away at the keys, her heart thump-thump-thumping. She didn't know how much time she had left, but she prayed that it was enough to wind down before Agent Simon came back a-pounding at her door.

Thanks :) So I'm guessing you're not new then, haha.
So what kind of stuff are you into then?

Before she could second guess herself Leah pressed the send button. She wouldn't be adding anything to her message, mostly in fear of coming off stranger than she already had. It was a reasonable question, right? People got to know each other somehow, and he was her first follower, and it's not like she hadn't asked to be a normal person again. All she had to do was ease into it. Besides, everything sounded weirder when there were no facial expression to go along with it. Maybe he'd just figure she was asking it like a normal person was.

Bran yawned for what must’ve been the millionth time and opened a second tab, leaving the first one free for him to reply to the next message Clara would send and typing in [undecided social media site]. His fingers moved across the mousepad and clicked on the search bar icon, which was quickly followed by the typing of nine characters he knew by heart. He didn’t even have to think about typing it, really. It was kind of ingrained in his brain at this point. Leah Sage. Bran would be the first to admit that his obsession, if you will, could be considered unhealthy, but he thought quite the opposite. Sometimes, it would be safe to say that Leah was his best--if not only--friend, though they didn’t know each other. Yeah, Bran stumbled across random friendships online, but none that lasted more than two days, and he was perfectly okay with that.

There was a scratching at his bedroom door, which popped open a moment later, and a rather fat tabby cat--who he’d named Pretzel quite a few years ago--strolled in and leapt onto Bran’s bed, strutting up and resting on his stomach. Laughing, Bran stroked his cat’s head and turned up the volume on his music in his headphones, scrolling for a few moments, pausing only when he saw the new message notification pop up at the top of his screen. Thanks :). Guessing you’re not new, then, haha.
So what kind of stuff are you into then?

Bran couldn’t help the slightest of smiles as he tapped his keyboard mindlessly. No, he was definitely not new. He’d made his account three or four years ago, when the website was just taking off.

Not really, lol. I’ve been around a while.
Leah Sage. everything Leah Sage. And music in general, really. you?

(view spoiler)[Suffice it to say that I've read your post more than once. Many times actually. The cat gets funnier each time omg I don't even know why but I'm laughing rn (hide spoiler)]

It's funny. Here Leah had made this account to get close to the fans, and now that she was up close and personal all she could do was stare at the screen in wonder of what do to next. How did she respond? Normally when someone said they liked her music she would just tell them thank you, because of course thank you, it was her music after all, but she was no longer Leah Sage. She was Clarabear and Clarabear didn't know how not to be Leah. This was like a bad episode of Hannah Montana, and Leah hadn't yet learned how to handle this whole best of both words thing the crazy teen had going on.

Flattered but lost Leah chewed her bottom lip. Her eyes darted to the clock and Simon's irritating voice chiming in her head was all it took to get her going. She tapped away at the keys quickly, feeling lighter with each word that flittered from her mind into the small text box.

Oh, I like her too! What's your favorite song?

She always found that a favorite song was the way to go when you got to know people. After the broad category of music of course, because what people listened to told you a lot about what kind of person they were. She had no idea what she would call someone who listened to her kind of music, but liked to think that they were all pretty chill people. She didn't want any of that raging going on inside her (err) "fandom". She didn't even really like calling it a fandom. Instead her fan base was a better way to put it.

It should of been obvious that he liked her, seeing as (upon not creepily searching through his account) he followed pretty much every Leah Sage account known to man. Leah tilted her head and couldn't help the small smile that flittered across her lips.

(view spoiler)[idek why I put the cat in there it was gonna have some significance but I can't remember what it was for the life of me. I just like cats (hide spoiler)]

Ding dong ding dong...

The grandfather clock in the hallway downstairs struck three as a new message popped up in Bran's ask box and his cat's tail struck him in the face to the tune of its chime. Oh, I like her too! What's your favorite song?

"You've got to be joking," Bran groaned, tossing his head back against the wall and racking his brain. It was the dreaded question in any fandom, especially for the fans like Bran who struggled to even pick a favorite season, let alone his favorite song when each one of them meant something entirely different to him but still equally significant.

He supposed he could say the most recent single she'd released; that was what the most basic of fans would say. Or that he could try and think of some unreleased song that no one had ever heard of and whose actual existence was questionable just to try and prove superiority to Clara, but Bran wanted to do neither of those things. There were songs of Leah's that Bran liked because he liked the sound, the way the music itself made him feel. And there were songs that picked him up on a bad day and songs that he could relate to on an unbelievable level that made him cry.

;alkdjf;akljdf, I really don't know
I could go on the whole spiel about how they're all equal and stuff but that's not true either
just that I love them all for different reasons
I wish she'd write more sad songs though
I really like those

(view spoiler)[lol sorry this is short I'm trying to get to bed~ (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[The name gets me every time. Just. Pretzel. I can't. (hide spoiler)]

Oh my gosh, I've been trying to show my agents those for ... Leah stopped typing. Crap. She couldn't be Leah here. It's true that she had been trying to tell Simon and Amy and for ages now that she wanted for "sad" songs, but they usually brushed it off. Too many sad songs would ruin her image, apparently. She glanced towards one of the many notebooks sticking out of her suitcase. All cluttered with words and music notes and doodles in the margins when she couldn't figure out what word she was looking for. Or when Simon was distracting her. He wasn't all bad. He was just more annoying than he was pleasing was all, and she figured that had something to do with the whole being-an-agent thing.

Okay. This shouldn't be as hard as it was. All she had to do was ... not tell him the whole truth, that was all. Besides, middle name was Clara ... okay, no not really. It was Claire. But that was close enough that it wasn't a ... lie ... right? Leah leaned her head back and shook hair out of her face. Get s grip. Be yourself, but forget that your Leah. That was what she needed to do. It was the Internet. No one would be able to tell the difference. Leah opened her eyes and got to typing.

Haha, stupid question, I have the same problem with every artist I listen too :p Leah started, chewing her bottom lip. But anyway, why do you like the sad songs? I mean, don't they make you feel ... sad?

She had heard it said about a million times in a million different ways by everyone around her. And while she understood not wanting to come off as dreary she also wondered (sometimes) if it was true. That they made people sad, and that's why artists didn't come out with as many. So if she heard it from a fan like him, who (admittedly) made her smile, than maybe she could figure it out. And, hey, maybe she could rub it in ... Leah scratched her head. No. She couldn't tell Simon or Amy or anyone else. Especially not Simon, though.

She set her laptop aside and got up to turn the volume up a notch. That's when feet could be heard from the other side of the door and the knob was quickly twisted open. "Leeaah!" Kelly sang. Of course Simon would send Kelly. Leah actually liked Kelly. "Time to goo." she smiled her big white smile at Leah and the brunette pressed her lips together in attempt not to giggle. But Kelly knew she had her. "Yup, yup." She clapped her hands together.

"Kell, no. I-I'm ... writing. I'm writing new songs --" "No ya don't! You can't lie to the fantastic Kelly!" The girl bounced over to her, grabbing her by the arm. "Wait, wait, pleeeease just give me like five minutes or --" "You know I can't do that." The girl put her hands on her hips. Leah made a face and sighed. She glanced at her laptop before swiping her phone. She would just text him in the car. Even as time was wearing -- she was determined.

(view spoiler)[he was like 10 stfu Pretzel is cute I don't think he appreciates being made fun of man. you should apologize to him (hide spoiler)]

Despite himself and the promise he'd made to himself time and time again (don't get close to people online), Bran found himself anxiously tapping his fingers on his laptop waiting for a reply to pop up in his ask box. It wasn't often that he got to talk to someone who didn't think he was completely insane, if not due to his obsessions and extreme fanboy tendencies, then because of his constant isolation. Yeah, he had a few acquaintances at school, and Bran had tried his hand in some school activities, but the only place he felt at home was in his bed on his computer. Talking to someone who didn't think he was entirely out of his mind was refreshing, even though it never lasted.

Bran felt his eyes slipping closed in exhaustion as he stared at the brightly lit screen of his laptop, (view spoiler)[not even noticing when his cat started polka dancing and twisting himself into knots so he looked like a pretzel (hide spoiler)] and he'd admit to himself that he was planning on shutting everything down rather soon, no matter how much he may be enjoying himself. But just as he opened his eyes in an attempt to use the last of his energy to close his computer and put it away, his ask box opened again.

Why do you like sad songs?

Was there a real answer to that? There was no one, single answer for that question; nothing he could fit into five hundred characters. Music was so much more than that. He loved hearing the emotion in someone's voice, feeling it to the point where he got goosebumps on his skin and forgot to breathe. He loved the way he could relate to every word that was sung; sadness just resonated a lot better with Bran than upbeat, energetic songs ever would. Maybe it was because they seemed more genuine. He couldn't really answer that adequately in the space he was given.

I like sad songs because they get me better than people ever do. Bran decided after a few moments of aimless tapping on his keys and some hard thought. They're kind of like a set of directions, if you will.

(view spoiler)[I'm not making fun, I think it's cute too. I just happen to laugh every time I think about this cat being named pretzel. Like it just sounds funny. Pretzel. idk what the f I drank but the fact that I can't stop laughing at this fucking cats name is unnatural. also you have no idea how sad I was before you posted so damn girl your timing is perfect ;3;
Also also. I sheeeep it so hard. And it makes me happy that he's like half asleep and it's really late there (at least I'm assuming, idk) and it's in the middle of the day for her? I don't know why this makes me happy but it does so there. (hide spoiler)]

Leah sat in the car as it bumped along the roads, over small stones and peddles, paper cups and plastic bags. Smooth and then rough. She was so used to being in a car by now that he feet missed the feel of the hotel carpet. Which, despite the overall niceness totally a word, was not like the carpet at home. Gosh she missed her carpet so much. She bounced her foot against the floor and watched out the tinted windows as the world passed her by. Sad songs. She had a lot of good things to write about, but there was so much more ... Feeling that went into the ones that weren't. What would he say? Could she prove it to Simon and Amy that more would be good for her? Somehow she doubted it, and yet her grip on her phone tightened.

The instant it lit up Leah happened to see; she swiped the screen, punched in her password, and there it was - lo and behold - her answer. They get me better than people ever do. For a moment she was stunned. She sat there with her fingers frozen, incapable of typing back like she had been so looking forward to. But a slow smile reached across her features and without realizing it Leah laughed. Amy looked over at her, but simply raised an eyebrow. Despite her bubbly personality, she didn't butt into business that was purely Leah's. Unless she needed too. That wasn't really her job. Her job was getting her to places on time because Simon couldn't.

That's really cool. I've never really known how to describe sad songs myself. But if I had to I guess that would be it. They feel more ... relatable. Leah's phone was full of songs otherwise describe as sad. She couldn't help it. He was right. They understood you in a way that people could not. She wrote when she was sad more than when she was happy. It's a way to just sort of let your feelings go. Talk it through yourself, put it somewhere instead of letting it weigh on you. It still does. Of course it does. But the pain was easier to bear.

Do you listen to [random band name we can make up] Their sad songs are the best.

"It's time for some coffee," Bran mumbled after sending what he'd thought would be his last message of the night. But as he was about to close his laptop and put it away, it occurred to Bran that he didn't really want to stop talking to Clara. He liked talking to someone who didn't outwardly judge his odd obsession with Leah Sage, and Bran wasn't sure if she'd be around when he woke; he was doubting she lived in Australia like he did. Mostly because no one in their right mind would be up at 3:30 in the morning.

Bran pushed an irritated cat off his stomach and unplugged his laptop as he ventured downstairs to the kitchen. His aunt was fast asleep in her bed upstairs, but she wouldn't have been surprised to find him in his flannel pajamas, making coffee in the dark, even if she were awake. He pulled a wooden barstool out from under the counter and set himself on it. The icon for his inbox was lit up again, so Bran kept a wary eye on the boiling water as he opened the message.

At the mention of the band Clara had named, Bran almost had a heart attack. The fact that she even knew who they were shocked him, but it was really the fact that they were one of Leah's favorites that got him.

I love them! :D my favorite song by them is "you're my only". I actually can't believe you know who they are; everyone around here doesn't.

I love that song! That and "forget me not". I could listen to those all day- I think I have once, actually. Leah typed with ease, Amy hummed along beside her, bouncing her foot up and down to the nonexistent music coming from the car speakers. The dark haired girl glanced briefly over at Leah, but made no comment about her obviously more interesting internet life than her real one. Instead she rolled her eyes away.

Sometimes I wish more people knew about them, but then I think about them mainstream and I couldn't live with what the media would do to them, haha. All true. All so, so true. She being herself, knew all to well the clockwork and inner workings of what was called social media. She often let herself wonder what it would be like she were a singer less known. More individualism maybe? Maybe not. Maybe no matter what they dug their claws in and didn't let you do what you wanted.

Granted all the songs she's released have been hers, but even that she had to fight with them on. Some lyrics they would want to change or speed up or slow down and forget about, but there was only so far she was willing to go. She worked with them to make her songs hers, but beyond that she growled at the thought of them changing anything. They always got to at least one or two songs of dance moves or whatever else the wanted before, but ya couldn't win 'em all.

The car turned a corner and at first glance Leah knew where she was. The setting was all to familiar and her insides weakened. She didn't know weather to feel blessed or to feel betrayed. She gave a soft sigh and looked down at her phone; the blink blink of the bar (I forgot what it's called when you type? XD) taunting her. She chewed her bottom lip and then typed quickly before he could respond back. She was sure that she'd simply be sucked in again if she let that happen.

Hey look, I've got to go for a while, but throw me a message anytime! You're cool, Bran :)

She didn't have time to think about how lame that sounded before the car came to a stop. She punched the send button and stuffed her phone into her back pocket. Leah pushed her own door open, lifting a hand at the man who had been ready to do it for her. She smiled, "Don't worry about it." She shut it behind her with a nod of reassurance and followed after Amy and Simon as Simon gabbed gabbed gabbed and Amy giggled alongside him.

(view spoiler)[after they finish up this convo I'm just gonna have him message her again when he wakes up again later sound good? (hide spoiler)]

Bran sat in his plaid pajama pants, sipping at a cup of coffee when the next message came in. He rubbed roughly at his bleary eyes and ran his fingers through his hair as his eyes flitted across the message on his screen. They usually get second priority on my playlists, and I'm ashamed to say I'm kind of glad they're not really famous. I like having my own little secret band, you know? Not that I don't want them to get famous, because I'd love that too. But since they've got a smaller fan base, they're a lot closer to their fans. I've actually talked with them on twitter once. I'd never be able to do something like that with Leah Sage; her fan base is too big.

He'd been just about to hit send when the second message popped in. Bran felt the dismay coursing through his veins at her comment about having to go. Surely by whatever time she got back, he'd be long since asleep. No problem! he added onto the end slightly reluctantly. Would it be wrong to tell her not to go? I should actually be asleep atm, so I hope you have fun! You're cool, too.

Bran actually felt really awkward putting that on the end of his message, but there was a piece of him that said he'd be an awful person if he just ignored her comment about him being cool--not that he believed it by any means, but Bran had always had somewhat decent manners and he knew to return a compliment when it was due.

He closed the tabs on his laptop, and then followed suit with the computer. The empty coffee mug was left sitting on the counter as he stumbled back up the stairs and into bed.

~

Around ten that morning, Bran found himself sitting on his laptop again, pulling up his inbox and finding it blank. (view spoiler)[I'm just making an assumption here so I can keep moving forward w/o waiting for a reply you know? (hide spoiler)] He opened a blank message and quickly typed, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

Morning! That would do; she still hadn't replied to what he'd sent yesterday, so he didn't need to say much.

(view spoiler)[Tots okay with me! (hide spoiler)]

Over the course of the next few hours Leah found absolutely no time for herself, and she hadn't really expected too either. In the time she had now she was half asleep on the couch at the studio. Multiple pools of dim yellow light illuminated the small room, the snacks on the table half eaten, the drinks from this afternoon stale and tepid, and the room quiet. In the next room Amy and the others were running over the music they'd recorded this afternoon. It was getting late now and Leah would have very much liked to have gotten some sleep the night before, because she doubted she'd be sleeping in this next morning. Her schedule didn't really call for that stuff. Sometimes she was allotted only three hours of sleep; those time usually felt like ten minutes, definitely not more than half hour. Simon ending up keeping her awake using soda and sour patch kids.

The music floated through the cracked doorway and a lift in the volume shook her half asleep brain cells. Leah mumbled something, quick, in her sleep, and blinked her eyes open. Stretching her legs out she curled and uncorked her toes. She didn't know how long it was before she reached out for her phone, rubbing a hand through her mess of hair. Checking the time Leah found it waa rather late. Before all this touring and photo shooting and stuff Leah would have considered this early for tuning in, but her bed was sounding like a real piece of Eden right about now. However, when she made out the most recent notification under the thin white numbers, Leah pushed up onto her bottom. Bran.

She found that not only had he messaged her - before and after her power nap - but she had gained a few more followers. Despite her slow success, Leah went first to her message inbox and read through Bran's messages with bleary eyes. Blinking her hazel eyes Leah tapped a message back (slowly but surely). Oh wow, it's morning there? Haha, I wish it was morning here! Maybe that would mean I'd have gotten some sleep. And this time? She wasn't thinking so hard. She tapped the send button without having to revise herself. Then.

But good morning :) Sorry, I would've replied earlier, but my thing went longer than expected. Well, not really. She had, though, been expecting some time to get back to him. But then again, if he had been able to sleep, then her not being there was probably a plus, so she decided that it wasn't too bad.

Bran had been browsing his blog for a little while after he sent his message to Clara, but he couldn’t sit still anymore. He’d heard a rumor—which probably wasn’t true, but he couldn’t help being excited anyway—that Leah Sage was spending her day in the studio recording, and Bran was quite literally about to pee his pants if he thought about it too long. So instead of spending his morning on his computer with the anticipation crushing his heart and making him unable to breathe, Bran closed his laptop and got up to shower. It was nearing eleven when he got out of the shower, dressed in his usual outfit of jeans and a t-shirt, which sported the Leah Sage logo. He threw his wet towel in the hamper, surprised when he heard his phone buzz from inside his bedroom.

Bran crossed the room and picked up his phone from its spot on the table, unplugging it and reading the notification displayed over his Leah Sage screensaver. It was a message from Clara, which mentioned her surprise that it was morning, her exhaustion, and the length of the event she’d attended. Since Bran didn’t want to seem like a total creep, he didn’t ask what she’d been doing with her afternoon, but he did ask her where in the world she was. It’s not morning? Where do you live? I live in Australia, in Sydney. That was information Bran proudly displayed on his blog; he loved his city more than someone would expect. I’m sorry you’re tired though lol. How late is it right now? :D

With the faintest of smiles, Bran pocketed his cell phone and left his bedroom. He could hear his aunt Becca bustling around in the kitchen downstairs, and was greeted with a quick “there’s pancakes in the fridge if you want them!” He’d moved in with her four years ago, when he was 15. It had been rocky at first, and still was. Bran had been an emotionally unstable teenager and Becca had definitely not been ready for a kid. At first, there had been nothing but tension between them, as Becca had spent most of her nights out partying and her days in school, but as time had passed, the two of them were each other’s backbones.

“See you later, Becca!” Bran called to his aunt as he heard the front door close. He finished descending the stairs and found himself in the kitchen, digging through the fridge for the promised pancakes and popping them in the microwave. He read through his text messages while he waited for his food to heat up, the most remarkable of which was a reminder to pick up his friend Cole around noon so they could hang out. He glanced at the clock, which read eleven fifteen, sent a text to Cole that he’d be early, and stuffed a plain pancake in his mouth before leaving the house himself and hopping in his car.

(view spoiler)[this was mediocre but I've got plans for him to actually do eventful stuff so we can pick up the plot I guess?? Like he's gonna be hanging out with Cole and they'll be at a restaurant and someone'll make a comment about his shirt and he'll get p upset about it or something lol (hide spoiler)]

My family travels a lot so I’m never in the same place, haha ^^ Leah tapped the reply out with ease; it wasn’t exactly false, just that her family didn’t really do much of the traveling bit. That was mostly her and her agent and Amy and the rest of the crew. Every now and again she got to travel around with her family, though, which was nice. Not to mention she actually had family here, so hopefully seeing them would ease the discomfort that came with staying up late and getting up early … or not sleeping at all. Sometimes she only got ten or so minutes or sleep, but it wasn’t always that bad. Besides if they kept her up all the time she would become a bit of a zombie … being a zombie was a pretty useless trait for a singer to have. No, they weren’t cruel; it just felt like it sometimes. Right now I’m in Brazil – Rio –so it’s a little after ten p.m. Leah tapped the send button and forced herself off the comfy couch and across the hall into the next room.

“Oh good you’re up.” Amy smiled tired eyes over at her. Despite this she straightened and looked far more put together than Leah felt right now. Even after getting some shut eye she was ready to get back to the hotel and crash. Even with Bran on the other end of her messaging to keep her company. Besides, she figured he had a life. Ultimately no one spent all twenty-four hours of the day online when there was a whole world out there to get up for. At least, she hadn’t met anybody who did. Not yet. When she thought about it maybe there was someone like that out there; all kinds of people, right? “I was going to wake you up earlier but I know we didn’t give you much time for sleep yesterday and figured you’d appreciate it.”

Leah gave a small smile and lifted her shoulders, “You know me so well.” Amy laughed quietly and looked down at what they were all doing. “Well,” she let out a long sigh and lifted her head. “I think we better get back to the hotel, that way you can rest in an actual bed. We’ll take you to see your relatives tomorrow, so—” “I’ll need all the rest I can get.” Leah smiled and gave a small salute. “Ay-ya, boss.” Amy and her exited the building into the sinking light of day. People still roamed the streets (Rio was like New York, it never settled). The ride back to the hotel was pretty uneventful.

My Savior – kisses xoxo Cole ducked out of the twins’ grips and pressed send. Lily tumbled on top of her sister, the two five year olds bursting in giggles as they struggled out of their knot of limbs. Cole rose to his feet, leaving them to untangle themselves. He loved them and everything, but when you had two very young sisters sometimes it was hard to be up in the morning. The kitchen smelled like the aftermath of breakfast: French toast and orange juice – which is exactly what she was cleaning up off of the table top. It could be four o’clock in the afternoon and the twins would still plead for a cup of orange juice. Except they weren’t the ones that had to clean it up, at least not when Mom was around; she was such a softie. Cole made them wipe it off the table themselves. “Jake’s gonna pick me up so we’ll just eat lunch wherever he takes us.”

“Oh,” She glanced at him briefly and then into the living room as Madison dropped off of the chair and onto the carpet. “Alright, tell him I said hello.” “Sure.” Cole stuffed his hands into his pockets, turning to go wait outside where there weren’t any twins to crawl all over him – “Going somewhere?” Jamie passed him in the hallway, scrubbing a hand through his hair. Cole swept his head to the side and fixed his oh so beautiful locks of black hair. “Yeah.” He answered. His brother paused in the hallway, “Need a ride or –?” “Nah, Jacob’s picking me up.” “Ah, so it’s a date.” Jamie grinned laughingly. Yeah, no (Jamie said that every time he went somewhere with someone -- anyone -- and the joke got old). But Cole laughed anyway, to humor him. “See ya, loser.” He waved a hand over his shoulder, leaving his brother rolling his eyes.

(view spoiler)[That was longer than I meant for it to be whoo XD (hide spoiler)]

Just as Bran was pulling up in front of Cole's house, not bothering to get out of the car as he saw Cole squeezing his way out the front door, Bran pulled his phone out of his pocket and rolled his eyes at Cole's response to his text. However, that wasn't the one that caught his eye. Clara's response to the last message he'd sent her was to say that she traveled a lot. With her family. The idea that she spent so much time with her family made him jealous, he'd admit, but not nearly as much as the constant traveling thing struck a chord with him. That had always been something Bran had agreed to do with his mother once he was out of school: travel.

"That must be incredible," Bran mumbled under his breath, unlocking the passenger side door of his car so Cole could climb in and punching a quick reply into his phone before he started driving off again. "Hey, Cole," he greeted distractedly, which wasn't uncommon for the two of them. For the most part, Bran was a relatively mellow person who let his friends do all the talking. Cole was really the only one who could get him to speak his mind very often. Oftentimes, Bran would find himself joking that Cole was his just as much as he was a friend, but that wasn't entirely true. If someone were to ask him, Bran liked to think that they were brothers in all but blood, even though he doubted Cole would say the same.

That must be pretty incredible, Bran typed with a smile, as every word that came out of his mouth was one hundred percent true. He'd always wished he could travel, but since he'd always planned to do it with his mother, it seemed wrong to do it without her. What's the city look like right now? Is it still awake at night or is everyone asleep

Clicking his lock closed, Bran looked over at the seat next to him and offered his best friend a grin. "Did I save you from the two-headed monster in time?" he teased, noting his friend's slightly exhausted appearance. Not that Cole was to blame; his siblings were quite the handful and Bran couldn't be more glad that he was an only child most of the time. Without waiting for a response, Bran started turning the key in the ignition and slowly backing out of Cole's driveway, even though he already knew the answer. The two of them only ever ate at one place; it was practically their religion at this point in their lives.

“Speaking of the twins,” Cole stuffed his hands into his. “Our movie date Friday has been officially cancelled; Mother Hens orders. She and my Dad have some event to go to for his work, and Jamie and the guys are playing at some bar downtown. Which leaves moi.” He made a grand gesture down at himself. “So unless you want to spend the night playing where’s-Madison and get-Lily-down-from-there,” he lifted his shoulders as if that alone finished his sentence. With Jake it might as well. If it weren’t for the fact that he didn’t watch the twins very often he would have complained to his mother a whole lot, and she would have given in and told Jamie to cancel his plans instead. Except Jamie was twenty-one and no way was he going to skip a gig to watch his baby sisters, no matter how much he loved ‘em.

Despite the unfortunate turn of events Cole looked sideways at his friend’s phone as the screen lighted up, “Who are you talking to anyway? You have that stupid smile on your face.” Before Jake could bother answering his question Cole swiped the boy’s phone from the cup holders, eyes washing over the screen. It dimmed only a moment later but he was grinning, “Whose Clara? She’s sending you a picture --” The phone lit up again and this was not the kind of picture that Cole had been teasing about. Not even close. There was not a face of a girl, just a bunch of blurs walking down a street full of pooling yellow light and colored buildings all squashed together.

Cole looked over at “Bran”. Leave to this guy. Cole didn’t know where this was but he was pretty sure he hadn’t been there before, so it probably wasn’t anywhere near here. Maybe out of the country. Maybe not. He had no freaking clue. Only that Jake was talking to some girl named Clara who made his smile when he typed and sent him pictures of a beautiful night city. Wait. Night. Not here in Australia then. Cole shook himself out of it and shut the phone on the console once again, reaching for the radio. “Where does she live? Looks nice.” He commented. And the song he turned on was exactly what he meant to. Leah Sage; Album One; Song three. At first he hadn’t really bothered with Jake’s crush, but as it grew he decided he would at least try to get into it. Turns out he didn’t mind her music, and certainly didn’t mind jamming to it in Jacob’s car. No shame.

"That's lame," Bran teased, checking his mirrors once again before driving in the direction of their usual lunchtime haunt. As the roads always were around noon, they were slightly busy, but definitely not heavily trafficked like they were in the evenings when people started coming back from work. "I can still come over if you want," he added after a moment of thought. It's not like Bran had anywhere else to be, and he didn't mind the twins nearly as much as he let on. Sure, he definitely wouldn't want to live with them, but Bran liked little kids in short doses. They were so innocent, but a lot smarter than most people picked up on. He would never cease to be amazed by little kids. "Besides, they love me." This was a false statement, but Bran knew that Cole would probably be grateful for a little bit of assistance, even if it just meant Bran sitting on the couch and laughing.

Bran's eyes flicked to his phone sitting in the cupholder, but it wasn't there by the time he'd truly registered what Cole had said and he could manage a reaction to his friend's statement. "It's not a stupid smile," he objected lamely, attempting--and failing, he wouldn't lie--to wipe said smile off his face. A picture? He hadn't expected a picture when he asked her what the city was like right then, just kind of a description, so Cole's suggestive teasing threw him off for a moment. "Is she?" he returned, glancing in his rear view mirror.

"She's in Rio right now, I think. She told me she travels a lot with her family." Upon delivering this information, Bran shrugged as if it were no big deal, even if jealousy ate at the corners of his heart. He made a mental note to reply to her message after they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, but that would be another couple minutes. "I don't know how long she's--turn it up, dude!" Their previous conversation was entirely forgotten as the brightest of grins found its way to Bran's lips and he started singing the words at the top of his lungs, rolling the windows down as they sped down the highway.

(view spoiler)[Cole and Bran listening to Leah Sage like

(hide spoiler)]

Cole rolled his eyes, "The twins do like you, actually." he scoffed, but then paused, as if thinking back to all the men and women and boys and girls and children that the twins have come into contact with and pressed his lips together. "Well, the twins like everyone. As long as you give them attention they're good to go." Cole pondered this for a moment; Madison and Lily are pretty friendly kids, even if they did drag you into playing Barbie or dress up and having a tea party with them. In fact, he had walked in on Jamie and the girls sipping fake tea and eating plastic scones with a bunch of stuffed animals, and he was pretty sure it was the greatest moment of his life; at least one of the many embarrassing Jamie moments Cole has encountered over the years.

“But yeah you could come over, maybe we can take them to the park, get them tired, and then we’ll have the rest of the night to binge Netflix.” Sounds like a plan to him; Netflix was his second best friend, right behind Jake.

Rather than push this ‘you didn’t tell me you had the capability to talk to a girl’ subject, he gleefully pasted a grin over his face and bobbed his back and forth to the beat. He twisted the volume up to twenty just as Leah’s voice touched the beginning notes. It flooded the car like it always did, and Cole let it because Jake was rocking out over there like the total dweeb he was and he found it funny as usual. Despite this he sang along – mostly under his breath, he wasn’t a good singer like his brother – but he knew all the words. That’s pretty much all they listened to anymore. Especially the bae Jake was having a bad day. He’d throw some snacks into a bag, steal his Mom’s car, and make sure not to forget the one Leah Sage album that he owned – even though Jake owned everything with her name on it because that’s what friends were for right?

(view spoiler)[
cole when babysitting~ (hide spoiler)]

Bran laughed at his friend's comment, because the both of them knew it was true and anyone who met the high-energy girls would know it too. It had often occurred to Bran that causing them to dislike anything would be a more difficult experience than just humoring their crazy antics for a couple hours until they had exhausted their short-term energy and crashed. "Sounds good," he replied to his friend's suggestion with a laugh, knowing that was what would've likely happened even if they hadn't had a plan. Despite the popular idea that you had to be constantly doing something when you hung out, Bran felt like he had such a strong bond with his friend that they didn't have to do anything together to have fun. Even sitting on the couch and binge watching their favorite show together was an evening better spent than one spent alone.

Since their car was rolling down an empty highway, Bran had no reservations about the volume of their music. If they'd been driving through a quiet neighborhood, maybe. But since it was Leah Sage and there was no one here to yell at him to turn it down, Bran was going all out--dancing in his seat and singing the words as loudly as he could. Becca would've immediately turned off the music if she'd seen this behavior, but as the song swelled and neared the chorus, he couldn't make himself care. As always, the music--this song especially--made him forget about the fact that he'd been talking to a girl for a while, the jealousy faded from his heartstrings, and it was just him and the lyrics (and if he glanced in the passenger seat, Cole too). And that was just the way Bran liked it to be.

As the song neared the bridge, Bran turned on his blinker and turned off of the highway. His grin grew at the sight of their favorite restaurant, where the two of them had been so often that Bran had the exact route to get there memorized. It was the first piece of Sydney that Bran had seen after he moved here, and maybe that was why he loved it so much. Bran backed into a parking space, the familiar neon sign reflecting off his car's surface as he pulled the keys from the ignition and the song came to an end. "Come on, slowpoke!" he called to Cole after he locked the car, laughing.

(view spoiler)[*crying*

Cole showing up at Bran’s door when he’s sad like
(hide spoiler)]

Jake and he had been going to this restaurant pretty much since ... forever. They served pretty much everything and they could sit outside on the nicer days, which, when he peeked out the window, it was, and inside when it was snowing or raining. They served good food too, damn. Don’t get him wrong his mom’s cooking was A++ but this restaurant was hella great. Not to fancy, not too shabby, just right for the both of them. Pair that with the music blasting through the speakers and Cole was in a pretty good mood. Leah’s voice was the last thing he heard before he got out of the car, the beat thrumming through his veins and lingering in his mind because he knew every word just as well as “Bran” did.

Cole hopped out of the car and stuffed his hands into his pockets, shutting the door with his hip and hopping up onto the sidewalk. His gaze reached up to find the familiar restaurant logo hovering above the green striped awning hanging over the outside tables and swinging glass door. “Getting your regular today?” Cole elbowed his friend in the side, smirking as he passed through the swirly metal tables and grasped the door handle. He pushed it open and the little bell tinged, bouncing off the nearest walls and then getting lost in the conversations bubbling around the room. Cole held the door open with his foot, ushering Jake in with a nod of his head. It shut and the bell tinked left and right again.

“After you, my love.” Cole teased, gesturing towards the small line of people in front of the counter. He even gave a little bow to show his respect for the most Charming, Leah Sage obsessed Prince in the land because that’s what Cole did best. Not worship, that was Jake’s forte.

(view spoiler)[so this is a lot longer than I thought it would be but I hope it's alright~ (hide spoiler)]

"Have I ever gotten anything else?" He answered just as humorously, returning the favor and shooting his elbow into his best friend's ribcage. Despite the fact that Bran would eat just about anything that you set on his plate (years living with Becca would do that to you), he'd taken a liking to just ordering a burger whenever he came. The fries here were beyond incredible, and Bran was thoroughly convinced that he would die happy if he was on an abandoned island with nothing but these fries. "Same with you?" Bran asked, but only out of formality. He had a strong suspicion that if either of them ever swayed from their typical order, the world may end.

The tinkling of the bell always made Bran smile. He'd come to associate this quiet restaurant with many, if not most, of his positive memories with Cole. It was their getaway, their favorite place. When one of them had a bad day, Bran would drive them around and they'd blast choice music (Leah Sage for Bran, or whatever struck Cole's fancy that day) and then they'd come here and drown their sorrows in food. And it didn't hurt that other kids their age rarely showed up at this small restaurant. Laughing, Bran passed through the door his best friend was holding open. "Why thank you, bae," he responded and proceeded to take their spot in line at the counter as he fished his wallet out of his pocket. Despite the fact that it rarely ever went through all the way, Bran always liked to offer to pay. Cole would always try to stop him, but it didn't keep Bran from trying. He was always trying to take care of Cole the way Cole took care of him, and he'd never been the best at helping people. This was the best he could think to do, and it helped ease the constant nagging in the back of his mind that Cole was too good for him.

When the two of them reached the front of the line, which was almost immediately, Bran recited his order to the cashier and stepped quickly to the side so Cole could do the same. Quickly, Bran offered the cashier his debit card to cover the damage. With a sideways grin at his best friend, he took the plastic number the cashier offered him and headed over to their usual table. Upon arrival, Bran pulled out Cole's usual seat and made a gran sweeping gesture, telling him to sit. It attracted a couple of odd looks from the adults in the restaurant, as it always did, but that never stopped Bran. Once he'd met Cole's brother Jamie, and after he'd noticed the constant, repetitive use of the phrase "it's a date," Bran had jokingly started throwing date-like actions into their lunchtime hangouts, and it'd just stuck. He liked to think of it as part of their tradition, but he just enjoyed joking around every now and then.

(view spoiler)[Right-o ;) (hide spoiler)]

Cole might be gay … but he also might be straight. To be entirely honest, he didn’t know himself no one way or another. The idea of liking guys didn’t bother him, and so playing along with Jamie’s running gag didn’t bother him; hadn’t bothered him since the very first laugh it prompted from he and his brothers’ throat. Not to say that he had a crush on Jake or anything. Maybe, like, a bro crush sort of deal? He didn’t know if that was a thing, but the point was that he had decided long ago that whatever looks he may be cast in the future regarding his sexuality he was going to take them like a man. Sooner rather than later the strange glances the two of them got were forgotten. No. Not even on his radar was more like it. Why should they be? He winked at his friend, scrubbing a hand through his hair teasingly as he took the very honorably offered seat.

Cole did a good job of slouching in his chair almost immediately after Jake pushed it in for him, hooking his ankle on the bridge between the tables legs and crossed the other across the first. He bent back and let out a long, low sigh of content. He liked it here; the routine calmed him on days that he needed calming, like everything was normal and there was nothing that needed to be on his mind. Nothing for him to worry about. With incredibly luck today had been one of those days. Even though the twins had done a good job of crawling all over him this morning it was pretty natural for a pair of five year olds to be annoying. At least until you thought about them later, when they weren’t around, then you knew that “annoying” really meant “cute” and that was both quaint and frustrating.

“So,” Cole linked his hands behind his head, raising dark eyebrows in curiosity. “Whose this Clara girl you’re talking too? And why didn’t I know about her?” Cole dropped his hands into his lap and pressed his lips together, “I mean, I was under the impression that you told me everything. Come on man, we’re tight.” He shook his head, but the frown etched across his features was so fake it made even him start to smile again. Really though, when had Jake started talking to a girl that lived halfway across the world?

(view spoiler)[since they're having an important conversation about Brah I'm gonna bring jerkfaces in once it's over bc coke is more important than making bran upset rn (hide spoiler)]

Bran pushed in Cole's chair, bumping it the last couple of inches with his hip when it got stuck on one of the loose tiles on the floor, as it always did. He would be the first to admit that strength in his upper body was severely lacking. As he made his way around the circular table, he couldn't help but brush his fingers across its surface, every dent in the wood feeling familiar to his calloused fingers. The one rather noticeable mark, a chip on the edge of the table, had been made by Bran when he dropped his plate the first time he'd come here with Cole. He'd been so nervous about the owner getting mad at him that he almost didn't come back after that. It was only Cole's relentless begging that had brought the two of them back here, back to what they'd dubbed as 'their' table.

Much like his friend, Bran slouched in his chair, elbows resting on the edge of the table and his long legs stretched out into the aisle. Nobody ever came near them anyway, so he wasn't terribly worried about tripping somebody. At least not at this time of day; the only people in the restaurant were the elderly, and Bran would have plenty of warning time to move his feet. He looked down at his busy hands, which were fiddling with his cell phone, turning it over and over as he waited for a reply from Clara--he'd replied to the picture she'd sent with a comment about how gorgeous the city looked, and also that he bet she was having a great time. He had filled this text with quite a few emojis, as he always did to fill his dialog with more personality than he could convey with just words.

He looked up from his black screen to meet his friend's eyes, shrugging, even though he couldn't find the strength to keep a grin off his lips. If there was one thing that he knew about Cole, it was that his frown was almost always fake, and with this one, it was obvious just how fake it was. "Well," Bran started with a shrug, not really thinking it was that big a deal. He talked to a lot of people online, and most of them were girls--which was due to the fact that most of the people on his blog were female--and he'd never been interrogated about them. Maybe it was the fact that Bran had been wearing his "stupid smile." "I didn't think it was really important; we started talking at about three in the morning. I didn't want to make a big deal out of something that's probably nothing." The last thing Bran wanted was for Cole to think that he was keeping a secret, which is why he wasn't playing along with the joking atmosphere that his friend set up--usually he didn't, when confronted with anything, whether it was serious or not.

(view spoiler)[hope that made sense lol (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[Male bonding time obviously trumps bullies. XD seriously though no prob, do whatever ~ (hide spoiler)]

For half a second Cole was stunned. There it was again. That stupid smile that Jake said didn't exist and would simply say wasn't there. Hmmm, very suspcious. Nonetheless, Cole doubted very highly that Jake was keeping anything from him, he wouldn't have the stomach not to tell him something if it was important. Cole was a better seeker keeper than Jacob was. At least that's what he liked to think anyway. After all, his sexuality was a secret that even he didn't know about yet. Pretty damn good if ya asked him. "You were up that late again? No wonder you look like shit every morning." Cole grinned, a teasing glint flickering across his features. He dropped his feet from the bars under the table and bent forward, taking a sip from his drink as the man arrived with a plastic tray bathed in their orders. "Thanks man." Cole said, the guy giving them a tilted smile before disappearing.

Meanwhile, Jake's (slash Bran's) phone lit up with a message from Clara. Yeah it is really pretty. Especially when the festivals roll around. But my family is sort of crazy ... loud ... hard to keep up with ... take your pick. They're all of the above :p Because all of that was totally true. She didn't plan on lying to him very much, not if she didn't have too. She just didn't really plan on telling him the whole truth either. Though, she would be the first to admit how weird it was to be talked about to yourself. Weird and sort of flattering. She was now back at the hotel, getting ready to fall into bed because it was far to late for a shower -- she couldn't risk the water waking her up when all she wanted to do was rest before seeing her '(d) all of the above' family members.

(view spoiler)[That was short I'm sorry ;-; (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[lol these bullies are gonna be so terribly superficial like I'm too nice to make them actually mean ?? but still bran is a big potato he'll still be sad my baby < /3333333 (hide spoiler)]

Bran thanked the waiter for their food, shamelessly picking up his burger and taking a rather large bite--hey, there was no judging for food quantity here--before repeating the same motion with an even larger handful of fries. Much like the "uncivilized heathen" (as his mother would affectionately call him many years ago) that he was, he wiped his hands on his jeans before pointing at his friend with a lazy grin, shrugging in agreement. "I'm ugly and I'm proud," Bran quoted with a slight puff to his chest. "No, but really, why go to bed early when you can stay up all night and watch TV?" For Bran, this was a no-brainer. Especially because he'd graduated recently and currently had no plans aside from his summer job at the record store, where he'd made sure his shifts didn't start until after noon.

After repeating the process with his burger--bite, fries, wipe, drink--twice more, Bran picked up his phone and quickly shot a reply in Clara's direction, making his best attempt at being speedy because he didn't want Cole to get irritated. Not that he really thought that would happen, but Bran always liked to prepare for the worst. Loud and crazy sounds like a great time... Maybe not crazy, but lively, I guess. How big is you fam? :) he typed curiously after a split second of thought. Something told him that they'd passed the awkward "I don't feel comfortable telling you personal information" phase and he didn't have to ballet dance around questions.

As Bran was locking his phone, opening his mouth to make a comment to Cole, his head flicked in the direction of the tinkling bell on the door to the restaurant. Since the restaurant was relatively quiet at the moment, Bran was slightly curious as to who was coming in. He arched an eyebrow at his best friend upon seeing that it was a group of about four kids their age, three boys and a girl. The tallest boy was absorbed in his phone, the shortest one watching the menu, but the girl and the final boy scanned the restaurant boredly, before their eyes locked on Bran and Cole at the table together. The two of them quickly erupted into loud, obnoxious laughter and Bran averted his eyes back to his food and his friend.

(view spoiler)[pretty lame bullies, aren't they? yeah idk they'll be meaner next post and be like "hey loser nice shirt" and bran will be all like T.T (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[Just so everyone is aware Cole is pretty agressive when it comes to Jake. He will not be very nice in return.
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(view spoiler)[Also. Idk if you know who the model is for Jake or if you have seen other pictures of him? But assuming that you havent look at how fucking attractive he is ...
http://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdo...
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wD...
http://user-cdn.spring.me/photo/profi... (hide spoiler)]

Cole snorted, not bothering to answer that because they both knew that he never went to bed early. Not once. Of course he never lasted as late as Jake did -- one was his limit, and then he was out -- but seeing as he did nothing productive (like read or write a late essay or look at colleges) in that time he couldn't really retaliate and be in the right. So he shrugged it off and let Jake do whatever he was doing on his phone. It didn't exactly bother him. Aside from Jake and Netflix, his phone was his best friend. Cole gulped down half his soda before picking at his fries, doing a very good job at eating the main course of his meal last, as usual.

Mm, somewhere between average and big? They don't all live down here though. Leah Clara typed back, snuggled under her covers, her phone the only thing lighting up the room. She had a feeling that she would be falling asleep sometime soon, but didn't bother saying so, figuring that he would just assume that since it was late she was tired and that's why she stopped responding. Whenever that would be. Is yours not very big? she typed as an after thought, resting her phone on the edge of the matress and tucked her hands under the sheets, shutting her eyes.

The raven haired boy vaguely gave the group a glance, but went back to his sipping and fry eating without concern. It took only a moment, no, a second, before they had his full attention though. Since the day he met Jacob he had been protective over him, even being two years younger, there was something in him that refused to let his friend get hurt. Physically or mentally. He had always been like that with people he cared about, but the list hadn't been very long and a year before he met Jake his best friend had moved away so it had mostly just been his family. So you could say that messing with Jacob was like picking a fight with him.

A muscle in his jaw flexed and he gripped his drink to stop from doing anything rash. "Forget about them, Jake." he grumbled, looking slowly away from the group of chuckling friends. "They're just a bunch of assholes." He could tell just from here what they're type was. Cliche and sterotypical. Not worth their fucking time.

(view spoiler)[I JUST REALLY LOVE THAT THERE'S AN AGE DIFFERENCE BUT COLE IS STILL AN ANGRY MAMA BEAR IT JUST GIVES ME SUCH INTENSE JOY OH MY GOD (hide spoiler)]

Sighing, Bran picked up his burger once more and took a bite, knowing that Cole's comment was true, and he wasn't about to let a little bit of laughter ruin his lunch and the bro-time. Despite the fact that his mind was racing a million miles a second--which had nothing to do with the kids and everything to do with the memories that the laughter brought racing to the forefront of his brain--Bran did his best to avoid making any more eye contact with them. If there was one thing he knew about Cole, it was that any sort of aggression would drive him up the wall.

Bran sipped at his drink and stretched his feet up to rest on the corner of his friend's chair. The laughter had stopped and Bran was cracking a joke in his friend's direction, noting the tension in his jaw and his hand. His joke, as always, was exceedingly lame, but he had high hopes that it would at least make his friend crack a smile. Usually they did. There was nothing that he hated more in the world than seeing his best friend even the slightest bit unhappy; Cole was like both a brother and angry mother to him. Watching his frustration was just as painful, if not moreso, than tearing off his own left arm.

"Relax, Cole," Bran commented with a slightly nervous laugh, rolling his eyes slightly. "It's not worth getting upset--"

"Nice shirt!" The girl called sarcastically as she walked past their table, snickering with the guy next to her. Frowning, Bran glanced down at his Leah Sage shirt and realized why that comment had been made, which filled him with what could easily be called anger, even though he pushed it down and forced out a simple response. Don't let it get to you.

"Thanks," he called back just as sarcastically, rolling his eyes and clenching his fists under the table, hoping against hope that Cole wouldn't notice he was upset by the comment and that they could both move on with their lives.

(view spoiler)[so that's the jerkfaces lol
also he'll reply to Leah's text later
more pressing matters have surfaced
he's gottadefend his bae (hide spoiler)]