#ix. i’ll be drowning in our memories / gabriel & tessa.

[smokedfires]

❛ i’m worried about you. ❜ gabe n tess :p

“i know you are,” he nods, the apprehension visible on her features and gabe tried his hardest to hide the exhaustion on his, behind some fake smiles, but he anticipated failing to hide from tessa. though he’s aware it’s entirely just the kind of person she is, the last thing tessa needs is to be worrying about gabe. it’s so ironic, really, he’d laugh if he had it in him–––– it’s her sister that’s missing and she’s concerned about him. besides, how he feels is insignificant in the big scheme of things. “but you shouldn’t be. everything is good, tess.” they have a lead and it’s the first in weeks. they had to concentrate on getting to elizabeth because from what they’ve gathered, getting to elizabeth meant getting to laura. his issues can wait. if he had any say in the matter, they could wait forever. if only he wasn’t so stubborn and explained the dark circles under his eyes, the redness present within them, then gabe would learn that his issues were her’s as well. the nightmares aren’t only his own, they’re all sharing the same problems, designed to cater to each member of their group’s specific fear. he’s the last out of the five to experience it, but that didn’t make it any less terrifying. most start out normal, tricking you to engage, showing him an alternate universe with none of his what if’s, which gabe fell for every time. he didn’t dream often so when he did, he subconsciously took full advantage of it. and these dreams were so vivid, so real, that most mornings when he woke, he’d have marks on his body in the same places he’d bruise himself when events in the dreams took a turn for the worst. during the past few days, the nightmares had consumed his thoughts. however, he’s doing a good job at not letting it take over what’s important–––– helping tessa with the investigation. after the last dream, it’d become too unbearable and gabe decided if he didn’t sleep then he wouldn’t have nightmares. therefore, he’d been avoiding sleeping all together. seeing tessa standing before him now, he’s transported back to the memory of that last dream. three nights ago he stood frozen in a familiar looking forest and watched as a counterfeit, though abnormally life like, tessa took her final breath. the catatonic state the nightmare had him in refused to let go, and he was unable to help save her. he blinks, grounding himself down to earth again. “i’m good,” gabe adds one nail in the coffin, featuring one of those fake smiles he’d been practicing a lot lately.

𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏   𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄   𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐒    :    ACCEPTING  .

[smokedfires]

‘ not that you need my permission , but you deserve to be happy . ’ for tess n gabe lol

“well, yes…”  he turns his face away from her, nodding slowly at her words.  “i don’t need your permission, that is true.”  at first listen, his voice came off resentful–––– that what she said to him was the last thing he wants to hear and in return, he’s being spiteful. however, it couldn’t be further™ from the truth, especially at this point in their lives. they’re adults now, for crying out loud. they’re grown ups and they all have existences separate from each other. although, not as separate as someone outside of their little circle would like to believe. there was a tether holding them together. a tether named laura. and it’s a link that no one ever has been or ever will be able to break.  “but it sure as hell matters to me that you think that,”  his eyes move up to meet hers again. this time, a smile growing on his lips.  “and i want that for you, too. i want you to be happy, tess. so happy. if anyone deserves it, it’s you. and i know it’s not with me or anything, but that's okay. it is. we’re okay.”  years ago, he’d have said differently. again, things have changed for the pair and in the best way possible. this isn't to say that gabe doesn't love tessa, because he does. it's just different. his relationship with tessa, and the rest of them, are exactly where they need to be, given the circumstances. laura is still gone but miles, dylan, jess, tessa–––– they aren’t going anywhere. and neither is he.  “you’ve got to find your paranormally awkward guy you can keep grounded… like she did,”  gabe uses his head to motion towards the center of the abandoned waffle house, where dylan and jess are currently dancing. that is, until dylan messes it up by ever-so-slightly tripping on jess’ dress.  “and god bless her.”

𝐀  𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍  𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄  𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒      /      𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄  𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒    :    ACCEPTING  .

[smokedfires]

➳ for gabe n tessa ugh!

  ask meme–––– how one of our muses asked the other on a first date.

          tessa always had everything figured out; he envied that about her. she knew what she wanted and while using every ounce of effort, she made getting it look easy. gabriel remembers a specific time when they were in elementary school and another girl had came moments away from threatening tessa. this girl had been bullying the kids one by one and prior to tessa’s turn at enduring it, she rose to her feet and kindly asked the bully if she wanted to join her for lunch. it was her personal endeavor to save all the rest of them by befriending this girl. and, well, it worked. that was most likely the day that he realized how incredible she was. he decided right then and there that once they were older, tessa would be who he’d want to be with. she managed to flip the worst situation into one that was good. they weren’t much older now, they merely matured physically; other than that, they were still those little kids. however, the courage she successfully emanated was inspiring to him. he wanted to muster up that same boldness… sooner rather than later.

“what’s taking you so long?” 

          “what?”  he didn’t mean to fall into a trance, but it happened without warning. the whole time he was zoned out, his eyes were fixated on tessa who was on the other side of the room talking to classmates. in his mind, he was cursing himself for it. he didn’t have to be so damn obvious about his infatuation. tessa wasn’t an idiot either, she probably felt him watching her and chose to ignore it. thankfully, there was a voice that snapped him out of it before he was able to be humiliated any further. 

laura.

          “don’t what me,”  she replied, a calculated grin appearing on her lips when he turned to her.  “i said your name three times and you didn’t hear me because you were too busy staring at my little sister.”  growing up with tessa meant growing up with laura. the two were inseparable, you didn’t see one without the other nearby. if there was one person who read both gabe and tessa like an open book, it was her.  “no, i was––––”  he tried his hand at denial.  “save it,”  and failed. after being cut off by laura, he was speechless. caught red-handed. usually, he was a good liar. it wasn’t his fault that she was conscious of that.  “will you tell her how you feel already? we don’t have forever, gabriel.” 

          “wait, how did you know?”  as if she wasn’t the girl they ran to for advice. as if she wasn’t the girl who spent her whole life looking after them. laura had been there, she had continuously been there. although, that isn’t the entire story.  “i guess you could say i know how it feels to pine over someone,”  if he hadn’t gotten this sudden boost of confidence that made him focus in on tessa again, he would have paid mind to the way laura’s gaze hesitantly shifted to her far left–––– precisely on miles baker. 

         gabriel slipped away from laura, leaving her with thoughts swirling from her own issues.  “hey,”  approaching tessa, his face urged for her to remove herself from the conversation she was in so that he could speak to her off to the side. she obliged, which was a good sign. he waited until she was close enough to hear his voice without raising it too high.  “look, i know this is out of the blue,”  it wasn’t. anyone with two eyes and common sense could see how gabe lit up whenever tessa stood next to him, how he relaxed in his skin every time he got her to smile, how she was basically his minimal source of consistency in this unfortunate popularity ranking lifestyle he found himself in. things were more enjoyable with her around and she even turned the ridiculous high school concept into something worth looking forward to every day.  “but, did you… want to go on a date… with me?”