Arcadia stared across the street at the simple blue building across the street from her she had been in a handful of times. The roses out front were carefully trimmed and the lawn was a dark and rich green that was proof of excellent care. There was an American flag hanging out front that looked to be brand new despite being the same flag that had been there for years. Everything was neat, perfectly straight, and tidy. The complete opposite of Arcadia.

She wasn't supposed to be nervous or anxious. She wasn't supposed to be stressing out or feel like less than or not good enough... Even if it was true. If Arcadia knew anything about Bonnie's household it was that it was very orderly and filled with perfection and routine. It was filled with high expectations and well-presenting people. Nothing like what Arcadia was used to.

Arcadia was smart enough to get a decent grade, sure. But she wasn't exceptionally beautiful or clever or well-rounded. She was just a mess... A ticking time bomb waiting to explode at any moment to destroy any peacefulness around her. It was pretty clear she wasn't good enough for somebody like Bonnie. It was clear that all she was capable of was destruction.

She had been okay with that at one point... She had accepted that and even thrived in it. She always came home with black eyes and bruises trailing up her sides. She never opened up to others and always kept her friends at arm's length. She got into fights, she didn't try, she was just a lost cause. Nothing like Bonnie.

She was used to being judged and looked down upon. And usually, she was okay with it because people expected less of her and she didn't have to try so hard anymore. This time it was different... This time she wanted to be worth something, to be someone worthwhile. Even if it was just for a few minutes... But that wasn't happening anytime soon.

She sighed and shoved her insecurities aside before heading up to the front door. She knocked expecting just about anyone to answer but silently praying it was Bonnie. She'd be mortified if she had to talk to Bonnie's moms or even Tj alone. They'd realize she wasn't enough very quickly...

"Arcadia! It's great to see you again" A tall and muscular woman with the same coily dark hair as Tj and pretty brown eyes. Arcadia had seen her around town a million times over and met her once or twice when she had come over to work on a project with Bonnie.

"Hey... Donna" Arcadia shifted her weight to her heels and glanced down at the ground feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Everything was foreign to her from the nice collared shirts Donna wore to the white carpeting in the house. It was all too nice, too put together, too untouched by harm.

"Come in, come in. Bonnie and Neha are inside making dinner" Donna quickly waved her in before stepping aside to let Arcadia in. Arcadia hesitantly took off her dirty Converse before following Donna down the hall and into a nice tastefully decorated kitchen with matching blue dishrags and kitchen appliances that kept to the same color scheme as if they belonged in a set. Two women, both tall and tan with long dark hair shuffled around. Jazz music played in the background but was drowned out by their conversation and laughter. Sitting on the counter and licking a spatula covered in chocolate batter clean was Tj.

"Bonnie, Mom makes way better deserts than you. This tastes like crap" Tj mocked, receiving a harsh glare from Bonnie in return.

"Yet you're still eating it you pig" Bonnie scoffed.

"It's chocolate. Of course, I'm going to eat it, no matter how much it sucks ass- ow"

"Quit being a dick and don't use that language in my house" Donna scoffed after slapping her son on the back of the head. "Bonnie, your guest is here" Bonnie's face lit up as she turned to face Arcadia before heading over and pulling her into a quick hug.

Arcadia froze for a moment, tensing up slightly. This didn't feel real. She wasn't completely connected to reality... Almost as if she was trying to escape. As if she didn't want to allow herself to relax in a truly good home and be happy for a change. She forced herself to hug Bonnie back before letting go and taking a step back.

"Glad you made it... You don't mind having dinner with my Moms, right?" Bonnie asked. "They were supposed to go out for dinner but then they heard you were coming over and they kind of insisted..."

"It's fine" Arcadia promised despite being a little uneasy about it all.

_________________________________________

"Arran, get me a light will ya?" Christian asked as he nodded down to his younger brother's pocket. Arran rolled his eyes and shoved his hand into his hoodie pocket before tossing Christian a black and red lighter he always kept on him. His lips pressed into a fine line as he watched Christian light a cigarette and bring it to his lips.

It was weird to think how much alike their family looked. Especially with the cigarette between his lips, Christian was the male version of their mother in the face. The same high cheekbones and sharp eyes. The same angular features and color to their hair. The main difference was that their mother had a bit of frizziness and texture to her hair like Arran did while Christian's was pencil straight like their dads.

He had the same build as Winston too. The same wide shoulders and slim waist. The same long legs and identical mannerisms. There was one thing that unmistakably came from their mother... Both Arran and Christian had the same long and narrow fingers and nimble hands. Nothing like their father's thick and rough fingers.

Arran hated it. He hated that both he and Christian were the perfect cross of their parents. That he looked identical to both of those pieces of shit. To a woman who would rather scream and cry and take out her frustrations on her children. To a man who was too far up his own ass to even care about his stupidly loyal sons. One look at him could tell you he was Winston's Boy. One look could tell you he was just another Harley.

"You should quit smoking" Arran muttered as Christian tossed his lighter back. Christian shrugged and let out a puff of smoke before watching it swirl away.

"Give me a good reason to" Christian decided. Arran could only think of one that Christian would care for. He could say he looked like Winston but Christian would take it as a compliment. He would see it as an achievement. He could say it would kill him or that it was bad for his lungs, but Christian hated his life just as much as Arran did. He would do anything but put a bullet in his brain to shorten it.

"You look like Mom" Arran deadpanned. He resisted the urge to wince as Christian's face fell into an unreadable one. As he fell quiet for a few moments

"I'm not a lying whore with a death wish" Christian muttered.

"She wasn't either" Arran shot back. He didn't love his mother... Not the same way he loved Winston. At least Winston knew he existed. His mother looked at him as if he was a wall. And if she did notice him, she was screaming at him or throwing things. She noticed Christian though... She leaned on Christian like he was her lifeline, and he was. She didn't treat him like a kid, but rather her ashtray and personal therapist.

"Fuck off. You didn't know her" Christian scoffed. "All she ever did for us was put extra weight on my shoulders"

"Can you talk about her like she was an actual person for once in your life?" Arran scoffed. "I didn't know her, but I wish I did... Maybe she wouldn't have cared about me and Emrys-"

"Will you stop talking about that?" Christian groaned. "I thought we were done with the whole gay thing... At least until you're out of Asper Hollows"

"I never agreed to that" Arran deadpanned. "It would just be nice to think that somebody in this godforsaken family wouldn't be a total prick about it"

"Yeah? Well hate to burst your bubble, but mom wouldn't even acknowledge you if you told her. Hell, if she was still alive she'd probably be hiding in her room with a pack of smokes and some meth all day. Maybe if you were lucky she'd have one of her good days and just start screaming at you instead" Christian muttered. "You think you remember her, but you don't. She barely even got out of bed... She wouldn't even have remembered the next day"

Arran fell quiet for a few moments as he stared down at the flickering end of Christian's cigarette. Watching the smoke slip up and into the air... He hated his family, that wasn't any new information. He hated that the older he got the more he realized, the more it came to picture and he could no longer ignore everything and pretend it wasn't that bad.

He had always pictured his mother as someone who was cold and absent. As someone who wasn't bothered by things and was overall pretty accepting of anything. He had tried to believe that she would have been the one person in his family who would have supported him, but he now knew he was wrong. She was more absent than he remembered...

_________________________________________

"Oh my god, no" Bonnie groaned as she covered her flushed face behind her hands. Neha laughed before placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder and pointing out the next photo in the album.

"Bonita used to love those frilly dresses" Donna commented as she leaned over her wife's shoulder to look at the old photograph of a small Indian girl decked out in pink from the frilly and puffy dress to the bands and jewels decorating her skin and hair. Her smile was missing her two front teeth and a pink fairy wand was in her hand.

"You look like a dork" Tj chuckled, quickly getting slapped in the arm by Bonnie.

"Go harass somebody else you dweeb" Bonnie scoffed. Arcadia bit back a laugh as she noticed Bonnie starting to pick up on her insults. Arcadia had a handful of things she liked to call people she was close to when they were being annoying, dweeb was one of them and one she mostly used for Emrys or Scooter.

"I don't have anyone else to harass" Tj shrugged. "So you and your girlfriend works fine for me"

"I think I agree with Tj, you do kinda look like a dork in this" Arcadia snorted before bringing their intertwined hands to her lips and placing a gentle kiss on the back of Bonnie's hand.

"Traitor" Bonnie groaned before shoving the photo album shut. Surprisingly things hadn't gone as terribly as Arcadia thought they would... Donna was nice enough and Neha had a way of relaxing Arcadia's mind. Neha was somebody Arcadia related to... After a bit of listening to how the two women met, she had learned that Neha came from a similar situation as her. Too many expectations she had ruined her life to leave behind... Before slowly rebuilding it to take care of her daughter and find her beautiful wife. Arcadia only hoped she'd get better herself.

She didn't feel like such an outcast or like a terrible person when Neha described her youth. The two had even exchanged stories on the craziest fights they had gotten into or the worst injuries. Neha gave her hope that she wouldn't find herself in a jail cell in ten years or in some trashy bar picking a fight with some drunk guy.

"It's getting late... Would you like a ride home Arcadia?" Donna asked. Arcadia hesitated for a few moments before glancing over at Bonnie. She didn't like people knowing where she lived... The only person who even had a clue where was Bay and he hadn't even been there. She was always... Embarrassed by her living situation and her brother tended to freak out when it came to people he didn't know on his property.

"Yeah... Can you just take me to the railroads?" Arcadia hesitantly asked. Donna's eyebrows creased together in slight confusion before she agreed and grabbed her keys. They headed into the car and after a long ride filled with awkward silence they reached the old abandoned railroad tracks in the woods outside of town. The trains hadn't been on it since the 80s.

"Are you sure I can't take you any further?" Donna asked as she hesitantly glanced around the gloomy forest. "I'm not sure I feel comfortable leaving you in the middle of the woods..." She trailed off as her eyes finally landed on Arcadia who was completely unbothered.

"It's fine... My house is just a ten-minute walk from here. Thank you for the ride" Arcadia forced a small smile before climbing out of the car and following the railroad tracks until the light from the car dimmed out and she fell into darkness. The railroad was overgrown with shrubbery and the sounds of crickets and toads from a nearby creek filled the world around her. It didn't matter how many times she heard them... She always found them peaceful and relaxing. They always made her feel safe even when a million unknowns were lurking in the woods.

She turned off of the tracks and down a thin man-made trail, the sound of branches snapping under her feet echoing through the night. She pulled her jacket tighter around her body as she pushed through the shrubbery and into a small clearing where an old cabin sat.

There was a worn couch sitting on the porch with holes burnt into it from cigarettes, an RV that was missing its wheels, and a filthy old tire swing that had been hanging from the ancient willow tree beside her home. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and instead of heading through the front door, she moved around to the bedroom window near the back. She pushed open the foggy glass and tossed her bag and skateboard inside onto her bed before climbing in herself. It was one of the few times she was glad she was as short as she was.

She collapsed onto her bed and shut her window behind her before taking a deep breath. Her bedroom was cold and dark, the only illumination being from a flickering lamp. There were old records and concert posters and t-shirts pinned to her walls, the floor was covered in clothes, trash, empty water bottles, and homework packets that hadn't been touched. The smell of liquor lingered in the air from a bottle that had spilled the other day.

She closed her eyes for a few moments, running her fingers along the thin blankets on her bed to relax a bit. She could hear the tv running in the other room meaning her brother hadn't retired to his bed yet and was likely waiting for her to come home so he could yell about something else.

She didn't have much in the world. She had a handful of friends that she didn't even consider to be her friends and that was where it ended. She didn't have a plan or a way out. She was just another roamer, doomed to wander the world completely alone until her legs fell weak and she just couldn't walk anymore. That, or rot in a nearby prison, likely for some form of violence.

She knew she had the whole Pride thing going for her... And that she had Bonnie. But she highly doubted that either of those things would work out. The town would destroy everything Bay and Scooter had worked so hard for, in a matter of days, Bonnie would learn that Arcadia was just another piece of trash from Asper Hollows, and Bonnie would be leaving soon anyway. Leaving for college or whatever it was pricks like her did after high school...

She didn't know much, but one thing was certain and it was that her life, her story didn't have a happy ending. There was no getting better, there was no happily ever after, and there was no reason for her to want anything more than her life. She may have had a similar upbringing as Neha, but she didn't have the same determination or faith to keep her going. She was just done.

_________________________________________

"I think I have everything organized but I need you to double-check my work... I really don't trust any of my math" Bay bit back a laugh as he listened to his sweet partner ramble on about numbers and emails for the past hour or so. He didn't know how they did it... He was exhausted after days of hard work yet Scooter kept going. They kept on pushing and that was why Bay was so obsessed with them.

"I'll check it in the morning" Bay promised. "Just take a break, you've earned it, Freckles" He chuckled as he carefully messed with Scooter's hair receiving a groan and a blush. Maybe that was another thing... He liked how easily Scooter got flustered or their rambling. He liked how excited they got when they got interested or invested in something. He liked how easy it was to mess with them too.

"I feel like I should add that to the list of names not to call me but I don't think you'd listen" Scooter groaned as they shut their computer and looked back at Bay. Their fluffy red hair fell over their forehead and their freckled cheeks were a nice rosy color. It was enough to bring an instant smile to Bay's lips.

"Not a chance" Bay hummed. "Put the laptop up and come hang out... I've barely seen you all week" That was bullshit. Bay and Scooter had been together every day for the past week, mostly working on things for Pride or at school though. On the plus side, people seemed to leave Scooter alone more when they were with Bay. He missed them though... It wasn't the same when all they talked about was work and school.

"One second" Scooter waved Bay off as they headed over to plug their laptop in on their desk. Bay liked Scooter's room... There wasn't much in it and Scooter hadn't completely settled or unpacked but it felt more homely than Bay's. More lived in and warm. Besides, May always brought them pizza pockets when she wasn't working at the hospital.

"You know" Bay began as he stared off at one of Scooter's bags, untouched and still backed from when they had arrived at Asper Hollows. "You never told me why you moved here... I know there were some issues with your friends or a partner but not much besides that"

"Right..." Scooter's face fell as they trailed off. They climbed onto the bed sitting across from Bay, their legs neatly folded underneath them and their body engulfed by an old t-shirt. "What exactly do you want to know?"

"Whatever you want to tell me" Bay shrugged. He didn't mind if Scooter wanted to forget that part of their life... But he was curious and hoped Scooter would at least tell him something.

"It was an ex" Scooter carefully admitted after a moment of silence. "His name was Andy - hell, I don't even know if I'm allowed to call him that anymore... Andrew. His name was Andrew" They corrected themself. "I met him at the town's fair about a year and a half ago since we didn't go to the same school. I found out he worked at his families animal rescue and vet and decided to bring my cat in for a check-up so I could talk to him again"

"Nice guy?" Bay quietly asked.

"Yeah... Actually... He used to volunteer a lot, went to protests, had a lot of nice friends, and put all of his time into helping animals" Scooter shrugged. "After months of me harassing him at work and asking him out he finally agreed to go on a date with me and things were just short of perfect for a while. Everything just kinda... Made sense. Ya know?" They hesitated for a few moments after that. "Then Andrew's twin brother got out of Juvie and he was thrilled and I was happy for him... They were really close and I was glad to finally meet Landon"

"I got really bad vibes from Landon in the beginning... Andrew had always described him as a spontaneous asshole with a good sense of humor. And he was but there was just something off... He didn't share Andrew's kind heart" Scooter admitted. "Landon was very... Attached to Andrew and became obsessed with the idea of Andrew giving all of his time to him. Landon decided to break us up by kissing me and Andrew was pissed. He obviously believed Landon over me and all of our friends labeled me a cheating asshole... A lot of our- his friends don't take that stuff lightly... It was just better to leave and let things cool down" Scooter shrugged as if it meant nothing, but there was a bit of heartbreak behind their eyes. Something Bay hated to see.

"Landon sounds like a douche. I'm sorry Scooter" Bay sighed. He intertwined their fingers and brought their hand to his lips before pressing a sweet kiss to it. A small brush reached their cheeks and they lightly shoved Bay by the shoulder.

"Yeah, it's whatever... Besides, I like Asper Hollows- correction, I like you, Zara, May, and Arcadia" Scooter chuckled. "Emrys and Bonnie seem pretty cool too" They added.

"Yeah..." Bay pressed a quick kiss to Scooter's cheek before laying back onto one of the pillows with a small smile. "Come here, it's late and we've got shit to do tomorrow" he chuckled. Scooter reluctantly gave in and laid down beside Bay, burying their face in his shoulder and wrapping their arms around his like they usually did. Bay always laid on his back, holding one of Scooter's hands, and stared at the ceiling with a smile. A smile because for the first time ever, he didn't see an end to one of his relationships. For the first time ever, he didn't want things to go away and he wasn't getting bored.

Question of the chapter: What song gives you the most nostalgia? For me, it's either Into the Ocean by Blue October or Bubbly by Colbie Caillat!