#hm i think in another storyline he’s barely able to leave his house and has spent about a third of his life comatose/imprisoned/otherwise

[parasolids]

i kinda love when a character clearly needs professional help but is trying to self treat it with like crystals and essential oils and like herbals and stuff and it is Not Doing A Lot. i think largely because i was living like that for a very long time and it sucked but at least the aesthetic of plants is nice

[4birds-of-a-feather]

Chapter 27 - Wonder whose arms will hold you good and tight (when it’s exactly twelve o’clock that night) [part 1]

Birds Of a Feather

(title credits: What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?, Ella Fitzgerald)

Eddie had almost finished his third cigarette when, from the distance, he noticed a silhouette running in his direction while waving its arms around – his lips curled into a smile and, before he had completely crushed the cig under a boot, the person had finally reached him. “I’m so fuckin’ sorry, Ed” Sara managed to mutter, panting like she had just run the New York Marathon “I had to bring The Godfather I and II back – and you know how Video Isle is literally on the other side of town – and then I caught a bus at the last second and also literally threw myself off of it when it didn’t seem to stop at that bus stop over there and-” “Hey, no problem at all: I already bought the tickets for both of us-no, don’t start with all that ‘you didn’t need to buy mine too’ bullshit, I wanted to do it” he stopped her protests, gaining a snort and a scowl from the girl (though her red cheeks and nose didn’t manage to make her look threatening in the least) “I’m sorry you had to go to the trouble of going to another store, sounds like you had quite the Odyssey” “Nah, don’t worry: it was quite good, I also found a couple of movies that I need for an exam and that El hasn’t been able to book for me, so it’s a total win-win” she grinned at him, taking the ticket he was handing to her and suddenly running toward the entrance “Popcorn is on me and that’s mandatory!” The guy shook his head laughing but followed her nonetheless.

************************************************************************************************ Layla was standing in the middle of her room, carefully examining the pile of clothes she had scattered on the bed. “Ok, I gotta make a selection now or I will still be here for the midnight countdown” she sighed and started grabbing and putting stuff back in the closet. “It’s New Year’s Eve so no sad colors… and no pants!” she put away all her pants and jeans, leaving out the skirts. The girl held up her denim mini skirt and let out a brief cackle as she remembered Eddie’s drunk rant about that particular piece of clothing; she shook her head and put the skirt away, then spotted a blue velvet micro dress. “... Jesus, I totally forgot this even existed” she recalled having worn it only twice, and both times it was with her ex boyfriend. The memory immediately made her throw the dress back into the closet, although she told herself the reason was it was a little too skimpy for a house party. “What about this?” Layla was now looking at a red lacey longsleeve, walked over to the mirror and held the top against herself to see if it could go. “Yeah, the color is great! But I’ll need a darker skirt to match” the choice fell on a black leather skirt which was basically the shortest one she owned. “Uhm… will it be too much?” she ended up trying on the skirt over her house clothes “Nuh, not that bad: nude tights and Docs and it’ll go” she clapped her hands and the doorbell rang right at that moment. Layla went to see who it was and didn’t think too much about it. “Hi, guys! Thank you for coming to help setting things up but you didn’t need to show up so early” she excitedly told Mike and Elias, letting them in. “Early? You told us like twenty times to be here at half past five, I even set an alarm! Anyway, very nice choice, you look great” Elias smirked, eyeing the girl from head to toe. Mike couldn’t punch him because his hands were busy carrying a big box full of stuff for the party and instead was about to stomp not so lightly on his foot but Layla was too shocked to be concerned with her Earth Day t-shirt stuck into her skirt and grey track pants underneath. “HALF PAST FIVE?? IS IT HALF PAST FIVE ALREADY?!” she started hyperventilating and bolted into her room, leaving the two guys standing dumbfounded in the hallway. “AND WHERE IS STONE?” she asked her friends as she passed them by again, sprinting into Sara’s – once Jeff’s – room. “He’s parking the car, he’ll be here in a minute… errrrr-where can I put this stuff?” McCready asked, struggling to keep the balance because of the heavy carriage. “Oh! Thank you Mikey, give it to me” Layla came out and snatched the box from the guitarist’s hands, then carried it easily to the kitchen as it weighed nothing, something that made him suddenly feel self-conscious. “I love strong women” Elias remarked and this time Mike was able to slap him on the nape. 

************************************************************************************************ “So… no Tom Hagen? He dies before the movie can even start? Just like that?” Ed muttered in disbelief, his mouth half-full with popcorn. “Fuckin’ bullshit, I can’t believe it...” the girl shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose in order to find some patience to endure the outrageous truth “They had the nerve to tell both my second favorite character of the whole saga and Robert Duvall to fuck off! Who let this happen??” “But who’s gonna be the new Consigliere? I mean, he was a brilliant lawyer and has worked with three Dons, how can you substitute someone like-” “I fuckin’ knew that filming this goddamn thing after 15 years would have meant turning everything into a giant pile of shit… Fuck my life” Sara sighed, dejectedly watching Sofia Coppola awkwardly flirting on screen with Andy García “UGH, look at her! She looks constipated, just look at her disgusted expression…! I can’t keep on watching this, who the fuck allowed this casting?!” “... did you seriously just ask me why the director’s daughter was chosen for a part in her father’s movie?” 

************************************************************************************************ “The number 1 should be a little more to the left, it’s too close to the 9… Yes, a little bit more… No, too much! Yeah, that’s it, Layla, good” Stone was leaning against the wall in the living room eating popcorn, giving orders to his friends “Elias, would you please stop checking her but-ehm, I mean, holding her ladder? It’s pretty safe, she doesn’t need your help. But those sparkly banners do, they won’t hang up by themselves... And come on Mike, with those balloons! We don’t have the whole day” “Are you kidding me? I’ve been blowing fucking balloons for an hour, I’ll have no breath left by the new year’s countdown!” Mike protested. “Ok, Mikey, don’t get all worked up for nothing. I was just saying that… you could do it a little bit faster maybe, I don’t know” Gossard innocently remarked with a shrug. “FASTER?? WHY DON’T YOU DO WHAT YOU’RE DOING A LITTLE BIT FASTER TOO? OH WAIT, YOU CAN’T, BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT DOING ANYTHING!” Mike blurted out, throwing a deflated balloon towards the other guitarist that missed the target and hit the wall beside him. “Oh oh pleeeease, you had no idea what to do before I arrived... You’d still be unpacking and playing with those party hats if I didn’t come and tell you what to do” Stone chuckled and Mike took a deep breath. “Come on guys, each one of us has a task” Layla tried to calm the two guitarists. “Yeah, Stone’s task is to get on people’s nerves” Elias remarked. “... And Mike’s and Elias’s task was to stick party cones into their noses, right?” Gossard smirked. “Actually, I had them in my ears” Elias pointed out and Layla rolled her eyes and got down from the ladder. “There! What do you think?” the girl looked proudly at the big number-shaped balloons she had just hung on the wall. “Uhm, well…” Mike mumbled something as Elias simply squinted at the decoration. ���I think… that I really can’t wait for the Versailles Peace Conference, Jesus!” Stone exclaimed, barely holding back a laugh. “... What?” Layla frowned. “Your eyes are pretty, El, but I think you should put your glasses on” the guitarist kept on teasing her while the other two were shaking with laughters. Layla took the glasses she had left on the kitchen table, put them on and just snorted when she read 1919.

************************************************************************************************ “She’s useless but I love how she’s dressed – the yellow skirt was so pretty too!” Sara gushed over Mary Corleone’s latest outfit, a black tailleur matched with a cute hat of the same shade “... Holy Vittorio De Sica, I’m spending too much time with Maux” “Who’s Maux?” “Just a friend of mine who studies Fashion Design… now please, shut the fuck up because I wanna see if this storyline is heading where I think it’s heading – please, for once in my life I’d really like to be wrong about something” “Hmm-hm, judging from the sultry looks I think they’re almost there” Eddie munched a few popcorn, his grin growing wider when he heard her almost retch. “Oh yes, we Italian people get horny while making pasta together! Look at that chemistry born amongst the flour and-wait a minute, is he sobbing because he’s gettin’ an erection over his cousin??? I’m not watching this, I won’t be an accomplice to this disgust-EW, ABORT!” she covered her eyes but kept on peeping through her fingers, while the guy let out a hearty chuckle. “Didn’t know you guys had such strong bonds with your cousins…” he teased her, laughing even more when she let out a torrent of words that he couldn’t understand but that he knew were the best insults she could muster at that moment. At the end of the projection he had to ask for their translation, he simply had to. 

************************************************************************************************ “I’m home!” Jeff yelled as he shut the door with a kick, since he was carrying shopping bags and couldn’t use his hands. “Hi, Jeff!” Layla answered from the living room. She had just arranged the balloon-numbers in the right order and now was laying a red cloth on the large table “Oh, and be careful to the-” She couldn’t even finish the sentence and Ament got caught in the gold foil curtain Mike had just hung over the doorway. “WHAT THE… WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” the bass player struggled to get free and almost let the groceries fall but instead managed to save them and enter the room. “It was Layla’s idea!” Elias raised his hands as he made eye contact with him. “Well, isn’t it nice? A magical entrance to a magical party!” Layla grinned nervously and made a mental note of getting back at him on the first occasion. “Yeah yeah, you know what would be very magical? SOMEONE HELPING ME WITH THESE FUCKING BAGS!” Jeff struggled to reach the kitchen until the girl finally helped him. “Thank you Jeff, you’re the best! Did you find everything?” she asked as she started to pick up the food from the paper bags. “Yeah… pretty much…” “He surely found the most important stuff!” Stone added from outside the kitchen, as he was bringing up beer and wine cases he and Mike had unloaded from Jeff’s truck. “Oh, you took whipped cream too! Good idea, Jeff! I can use it for something last-minute” Layla remarked as she took the can out of the bag. “Thanks but I didn’t do anything, it was on the list” Ament shrugged nonchalantly. “No, it wasn’t” “Yes, it was” he repeated and was about to help her, but the girl started rummaging faster and faster through the bags until she nervously tore the last one off Jeff’s hands. “No no no… tell me it’s a joke” “What the fuck is wrong with you now?” Jeff earned judgemental looks from his friends and corrected himself “Err-I mean, what are you looking for, darling?” “Whipping cream. Where is it?” “It’s right there in front of you” the bass player repeated as he pointed at the same can the girl mentioned before. “No, it’s not. That is whipped cream – I asked you for whipping cream, that’s what I wrote in the list” Layla almost whined. “Isn’t it just the same?” Mike asked, hoping not to start a war with that. “NO! I wanted to make chocolate ganache” she explained as it was the simplest thing in the world. “And… so?” it was Stone who broke the tumbleweed moment of silence. “You can’t make ganache with whipped cream, how will the chocolate melt? You gotta boil whipping cream and add chocolate and butter” “Uhm you… can’t you just microwave chocolate and then, you know, mix it with the whipped cream?” Elias came up with a solution and Jeff could see one of Layla’s eyes starting to nervously twitch. “No. I can’t do that.” she said and everyone took a sigh of relief because they were already expecting the worst reaction. “Do you think you can come up with a different recipe for the cakes, Layla?” Stone asked cautiously “If you can’t, I’m sure Jeff will be glad to go out and buy the right cream for you – right, Jeffrey?” “Fat chance” mumbled his bandmate. “Oh no, it’s freezing out there, I’ll never let you go out again just for that. I’ll think about something else” the girl was now her usually sweet self and just shrugged. <Disaster averted> Mike thought as he went back to help Stone with putting away alcohol in the kitchen. “Jeff, please, since you’re here, would you please move the furniture as I start cooking?” the girl asked him. <He can’t read shopping lists but at least he’s strong> “Why is this my apartment and you’re the one giving all the orders?” he squinted at her and Layla took him by the arm and led him to the middle of the living room. “Jeff, please! Ehm… do you really think I could ask those three?” she whispered and they both looked towards the kitchen, where Elias was spraying whipped cream in his open mouth directly from the can. “... Alright” he nodded and took off his jacket. “I’ll begin with the appetizers, so we can put them on the table and make space here” the girl added, walking back into the kitchen. <Maybe she won’t notice I ate all the bugles on the way home…> the bassist thought as he put his hands on the backrest of the armchair.

************************************************************************************************ “The Italian Communist Party welcoming the Corleones to Sicily with a banner! This is glorious, I’m so glad I didn’t miss it” Sara exclaimed, her sides already hurting because she was laughing too much. “Oh, so now you’re glad you’re watching this mess?” “Ed, you can’t understand: this is simply hysterical, it’s even better than hearing that pathetic excuse they keep on using as Italian languag-like that! Did you hear it? Oh fuck, it was so bad… I just wanna cry” “You sure look like someone who’s enjoying this” “Fake laughter to hide my real pain” she clutched dramatically at her chest, one hand flying towards her face in a gesture of exaggerated discomfort.

************************************************************************************************ “MIKEY! CAN YOU COME HERE, PLEEEASE!” the guys heard Layla call and the girl startled the guitarist right when he was about to grab something to eat from the table. <What the fuck? Did she put cameras?> McCready thought, as he looked up around the living room. “Hahaha, it’s not like she can see you, you dork” Jeff laughed. “Actually, she doesn’t need to see you, she already knows what you were doing” Stone remarks. “Now you’re screwed, man” Elias shook his head and then he happily put a sandwich in his mouth. “MIIIIIKE!” “Why only me and not you?” the guitarist complained as he watched him stuffing his face freely. “Sorry” Elias shrugged and the other two snickered in silence. “ALRIGHT, WHERE ARE YOU, LAYLA?” Mike timidly yelled as he was about to leave the room. “I’M IN MY ROOM, CAN YOU COME HELP ME WITH SOMETHING?” Mike smiled to himself. <Maybe she’s not calling me to scold me for stealing food, but it can be a tactical move… I’d better not let the guard off> “Hey! Maybe I can come help her too now that I-” Elias started to say but Mike put his finger against his mouth. “Sorry!” he exclaimed, then shrugged cheerfully and started to walk across the hallway, up to Layla’s bedroom, where he knocked on the door. “Come in!” the girl let Mike in, then shut the door right behind his back and whispered to the singer “Did you manage to go to the hardware store? You know, to buy those things I asked you?” “Oh! Yes, I did! I had almost forgot, sorry” McCready confirmed. “And you didn’t say or show anything to the guys, right? You know it was a secret, don’t you?” Layla wiggled her brows and he nodded, although he still wasn’t sure what she would need that weird toolkit for. “Sure, I kept it all hidden and slipped the bag into Jeff’s-I mean, Sara’s room as you asked” he replied. “Well done! Thank you, Mikey. You can go back with the guys now” “You’re not gonna kill me for stealing food, then?” “DID YOU STEAL FOOD? Come on, it’s for the party!” the girl’s smile disappeared from her face all of a sudden. “Of course not! I was just kidding! Gotta go now… see what those jerks are up to, you know” Mike left the room both awkwardly and quickly and Layla sighed, then left too and tiptoed to Sara’s room, sneaking in. She looked at the cute and fancy jumpsuit she had picked from Sara’s closet and remembered when she first saw it: Sara had spotted it at a thrift shop where they had gone together and had fallen in love with it instantly. It was ocean blue, sleeveless and with golden decorations embroidered all over it that represented the zodiac signs. It was simply adorable and, seeing her friend doing puppy eyes at the garment, Layla had immediately decided to buy it for her as a present. But Sara hadn’t worn it once yet. <I wanna see my present finally put into good use…> she thought <This is gonna be the perfect occasion> The only problem was: would Sara agree with Layla’s decision? That was why she had Mike buy her something that could give Sara a little push in the right direction…

************************************************************************************************ On screen Mary Corleone had just fallen under the bullets, while her mother’s desperate cries were already filling the air. Sara was about to give a sarcastic comment on Andy García’s monotone shout, when suddenly the first notes of Cavalleria Rusticana started to play; she immediately forgot her previous idea and focused her entire attention on what was happening on screen: Al Pacino was silently screaming into the void – the perfect embodiment of suffering, just like the famous Munch’s painting – and kept on doing it for forty endless seconds, until he let himself collapse on the stairs. She felt a shiver down her spine. Then, just when she had remembered to breath again, the screen erupted with images of Michael Corleone dancing with his daughter, but with Apollonia and Kay too – and all of that melted as she felt some tears rolling down her cheeks. Now Michael was sitting outside, very much older and still reminiscing much happier times of his life, and the crescendo of the music accompanied his fall on the ground – just like his father had once done. By the end of the scene, Sara was sobbing uncontrollably.     

************************************************************************************************ The doorbell rang and Stone went to open the door since Jeff was helping Elias with the stereo (that is, Jeff was doing all the work) and Mike was busy in the kitchen with Layla. The girl smartly decided that the best way to keep an eye on him and prevent him from finishing all the food before the party even started was to make him work. “HO HO HO SANTA’S HERE!” a feisty Cornell appeared outside the door, holding a case of beer and waving it around dangerously as if he was ringing a Christmas bell. “Christmas was last week, Chris” Stone smirked and backed away a little from the door. “Oh, did I say Santa? I meant Satan. SATAN’S HERE!” “Hail, Satan! Give it to me” Jeff showed up and took the beer from Cornell’s hands to prevent a disaster, then went to put it in the fridge. “Don’t tell me I’m the first party guest… that’s so… not cool” Chris stated after he tried to enter the living room and got stuck in the middle of the foil curtain, only to be untangled and saved by Elias, who had come to the rescue. “It’s still early! Hi, Chris” Layla came out of the kitchen, cleaning her hands on the apron she had put over her fancy outfit. “I correct myself. That’s a good thing I came early so I can take my time to introduce myself properly to this beautiful piece of princess!” Chris took the girl’s hand and half of his speech was actually mumbled against Layla’s fingers, before he actually kissed her hand in a long romantic gesture. “Err… ok” Layla half smiled, not knowing what to do as she waited to get her hand back. “You may be the first one at this party but I guess you started a party on your own way before” Stone remarked and Jeff chuckled. “Forgive them, honey. They’re like… like… how do you call ‘em? You know, the Flintstones…” Chris kept ranting, keeping Layla’s hands in hostage. “... Cavemen?” Elias suggested. “Cavemen! Exactly! They don’t know the manners” the singer snapped his fingers at the correct answer then gave Layla a drunk smile. “And you know them so well, you use them every single time, right?” the bassist joked. He couldn’t decide what was more funny: Cornell’s intoxicated state or Layla’s awkwardness. He set up for both and went on to enjoy the show. “What the-” the singer frowned but was then interrupted by Mike, who wanted to spare him the embarrassment. “What Jeff and Stone are trying to say is that you already know Miss Boulais here” “Who?” “Layla” Mike repeated. “The girl who must have a desensitized hand by now” Stone added and pointed at the girl in the center of the room. “Oh sorry, darling!” Chris let go of Layla’s hand and then continued, turning to look at the guys and pointing at the girl, as if she couldn’t hear him “Anyway, what the fuck are you talking about?! I’d remember if I had met... such a… a megababe like this before” “I introduced you and Matt to her and her friend, Sara, don’t you remember?” McCready explained. “Another one? Was it a babefest or something?” Cornell kept on whispering in an actually very loud way. “They’re the neighbours… Sara is the one who slapped Jeff in the face after our first show… Layla is her vet friend” Stone added some info to the scenario. “Why do you always have to mention that episode?” Ament whined, rolling his eyes. “Matt did the other time, I’m innocent” Gossard raised his hands laughing at his bandmate’s face. “Yeeeeah! I do remember now! Sorry sweetie, I blame the shots of tequila I did with Kim before leaving, I’d never forget such a glorious slap” the singer took Layla’s hand again and the guys almost simultaneously facepalmed. “Not her! Her friend did!” Elias pointed out. “Oh! Sorry, well, you know, tequila and everything... what I said before... But where the fuck is Kim? How long do you take to find a fuckin’ parking place in this fuckin’ neighborhood...” Chris kept ranting as he made his way to the window and left the girl dumbfounded in the middle of the room, as the other three guys were doubled over with laughter.

************************************************************************************************

“So…” Ed cleared his throat, hands shoved inside the pockets of the jacket “Want to talk about it?” Sara, still feeling wobbly on her feet, shot him an icy glare and grunted: “Talk about what?” “About what happened back there… I-I’ve never seen anyone before having such a strong reaction to-” “There’s a first time for everything, I suppose” she sniffled, careful to avoid his inquisitive glance. “Yeah, but you surely can agree with me that this whole ordeal is a bit too much; I mean, don’t misunderstand me, I don’t wanna sound patronizing but-” he let out a long sigh “You know you can talk to me, right?” “We’ve met two months ago, I don’t see how you could be the right person for all this hypothetical venting I’m supposed to do” the girl retorted, picking up the pace like she wanted to lose him. “And that’s where you’re wrong, because you and me – we have the same trauma”  Sara turned around abruptly: “I don’t have any fuckin’ trauma! Don’t try to psychoanalyze me or project your own bullshit on me just because you’re fucked up and it makes you feel better, I won’t be your accompl-” she roared, but stopped when the guy took her by the wrist. “... I know what it means to lose a loved one” In response, the girl looked at him with wide eyes full of tears, then yanked herself free and started to run. “Hey! HEY! WAIT!” Eddie immediately followed her, cursing his big mouth “What the fuck’s wrong with me? Was it really necessary to push her like that?!” He saw her taking a couple of turns and ending in a small alley, where he almost bumped into her; she was leaning against the wall, with her hands supporting her and the knees a bit bent. Her breath was short and, at first, he thought it was because of that impromptu marathon she had just finished to run, but he quickly realized that something else was going on. “Hey…” he croaked, trying to speak as softly as he could “You okay?” “Just peachy” she managed to mutter, between a ragged breath and another “This is routine, nothing to wrap your pretty little brain around” “Routine?” “Look,” the girl finally looked at him, her face oddly pale “I just have a heart murmur – some congenital shit, okay? That’s fine, I just have to live with this… it’s no big deal, really” Eddie felt a wave of sympathy towards her, and hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder; she was still shaking and, when he touched her, she startled, though she quickly regained a bit of composure.  “Sara… that’s not a heart murmur – or, at least, it’s not just that” “And what the fuck is this supposed to mean, huh? Are you majoring in Medicine, Doc? Did you suddenly develop an interest in cardiovascular diseases? What the-” “You’re having a panic attack” Ed interrupted her, mildly squeezing her shoulder “And quite a serious one, I must add” “You mustn’t, chief” she hissed back, shaking his hand off and wobbling towards the main street “I’m heading back home, El is going to have a fit if I’m not in time for the party” “Since when are you having these crisis, Sara?” “I told ya, it’s congenital – I was born with this, it runs in the famil-”“I meant the panic attacks” “... That’s not what they are” she stubbornly quickened her pace, not wanting to hear him blabber around like the clever meddler he was. “I think you should see someone – talk to somebody, maybe they can also prescribe something that could help you… It’s unnatural living like that, you don’t have to do this to yourself” “I’m not going to see a shrink, case closed” the girl cut short “Now lemme go home and do me the favor of keeping your big mouth shut… oh, and also-” “I will arrive at the apartment 10 minutes later than you, so anybody won’t suspect we have spent the afternoon together, I get it” “... you’d better do that” she gave him a last icy glance and turned around, disappearing among the crowd. Eddie sighed: he hadn’t offered to accompany her back because he knew she would have refused but, seeing how much she was still shaking, he was already regretting his decision.