Beach BBQ [Open]

[asharpertongue]

Levi's idea for a beach party had been a good one. After the past few weeks they both needed to blow off a little steam and Lara had taken to the idea like the proverbial siren to water, inviting all her employees and friends. Levi had put the word out at the police station and among his closer friends so between them a decent crowd was forming.

The tables lining the beach were piled high with food and drink, a DJ was already in full swing and people were drifting over to the large bonfire for warmth as the chill started to cut through the summer evening. A few of the Heart of Gold employees had brought their kids along for the festivities and a friend of Lara's was performing little glamours and tricks to keep them entertained. Large clusters of huge pillows were dotted about the beach just a little way from Levi's house and lanterns and firelight bathed the whole area in a warm glow.

Maybe Lara had taken it a little far but she liked to treat her friends and everyone could use a little R&R.

OOC: Levi and Lara's friends have been officially invited, but everyone else feel free to wander in at your leisure~.

Comments

[callmeemily]

Levi says beach, her feet say no crutches! and that's why Raleigh pretty much didn't even hesitate. There's cookies - Lara's favorite kind via what Levi told her, plus lemon bars and ladyfingers and chocolate chip raspberry and she brought a bottle of wine. Like adults do. Because, she was well aware that she was probably going to be the youngest one here, but she still knew how to be a guest.

She didn't bother with a shirt right now - her Wonder Woman hoodie from Spencer was stuffed in her bag, and the bruising had almost entirely faded from her face and ribs - the only marker of any real injury was the somewhat alarming (if old) scar that wrapped around the bottom half of her right leg, and that she walked with an uneven gait. Raleigh goes to put down the cookies and wine, but there's not quite enough room on the table. "'Scuse me," she says as she balances it all, "Could you move that cup?"

[doublethepain]

She'd mentioned she'd be here and Spencer chuckles to himself when he sees her struggling all the cookies she'd made, along with the bottle of wine he remembers seeing on the kitchen table earlier in the day. He's seen her without the crutches already, of course, but to see her out and about like this is different; it somehow makes more of an impact.

She's too busy balancing everything she's carrying in her arms to notice that it's him, so he just smiles and moves the cup she gestures at before plucking the wine bottle out of her load to give her a bit of slack. "Joel has a car, you know," he tells her, the corners of his lips twitching as he tries to hold back a laugh because the memory of what they'd nearly gotten up to in that car just a few days ago is still fresh in his mind. "I think sometimes even he forgets about it but it does exist. Just for future reference. You look lovely, by the way."

[callmeemily]

"But I wanted to walk," She says as she readjusts everything, and he moved the cup and finally she could put them all down. "I mean, I can walk, so I sort of want to relish in the fact that I'm not made of crutches." She smiles up at him, and she grabs one of the boxes, pops it open, and there. Cookie. "You'll like this one." She doesn't even hesitate, knowing it's true.

She feels... free, like this is the first chance she really has to put all of this behind her, even though that's not really possible. Raleigh can fake it, though, and she does; throwing herself into this without hesitation, full-force. She's going to enjoy this, she's going to be invited to her friend's party and meet new people, and not worry about strangers. She hasn't told Spencer or Joel what happened on the porch. That she's having what amounts to flashbacks if things end up just hitting just the wrong balance of circumstances; she's ignoring all of that, because she knows that sometimes... sometimes you have to fake it until it comes true.

[starsfallen]

Corrine hadn't seen Emily since... the incident. Since the police sirens and ambulance lights, and everything that came before. To be fair, she's barely seen anyone since then. Barely left her home until a few days before, after the horrible crash and relapse, and even then its been Lara and Les and the comfort of old quiet spots.

She knew she might be there, but Corry wasn't prepared. The sight of Emily hits her like a sucker punch. She feels the breath leave her. The girl looks - like Corry. Bruises faded to little more than ghostly shadows, returning color. Corry is overcome with guilt. But at the same time - she survived. They both survived and this is the first real confirmation that they're safe, that the danger is gone.

Corry's hand shakes. She desperately wants a drink. But Lara is just across the way and Les is nearby and she takes their strength with her. So instead, she nods at Emily, smiles softly. Meaning so much in such a small gesture.

[callmeemily]

She sees the flash of red hair out of the corner of her eye, and Raleigh turns without thinking.

Seeing Corry, something just sort of drops into the pit of her stomach, and her smile fades. It fades, and she feels like something's seized up so she can't breathe, and for a split second she's there again, she's there and she's begging Corry to tell her mom she loved her because she knows she's going to die, and Raleigh has to suck in a breath. Her vision's abruptly blurry, and she smiles, even as her fingers are white knuckled on her cup, and she nods back; a definite nod, a I know what you mean, and Raleigh's got the absurd wish to hug her, even though she barely knows her.

Instead, she turns for a second, scanning the table, until- there.

Napkin, cookie, and she walks over to her, clearing her throat. "Here," she said without any preamble. "You always buy things for other people, but not for yourself. I think you'll like this one." Mostly because it's the best one she knows how to make. She's not going to talk about it, she's not because she'll freak out, she'll lose it and it's not the time or the place, but... she wants to do something.

[starsfallen]

She wonders if Emily's face mirrors her own. The unexpected glimpse, fallen features, a sudden paling. There is nothing in the world to ready someone for something like this. But the features form back into a smile. There's a sense of agreement, between them, somewhere in the frozen moment of time between them. They are okay. They are okay with each other. The horrors were not their fault. Joseph is dead. They are the survivors. Its almost hard to reconcile the beautiful blonde baker with the tortured girl in the basement. The sobs that will forever repeat in Corrine's memories. But who they are, what they shared, is unbreakable.

Corrine gratefully accepts the cookie, lips, arms, self shaking now along with her hands. But the gesture means everything to her. Emily doesn't blame her. She survived. And what they went through - what Emily went through - it was not her fault no matter how many night terrors tell her otherwise. She nods in thanks, biting her lip to hide the quivering. "Thank you... chocolate chip raspberry?"

There's a lump in her throat threatening to escape. Seeing her here, now, all Corrine really wants to do is hug her. Which is odd considering the terrifying things her presence invokes. But there's a bond between them too, one no one else will ever understand. And they survived, together. Survived enough to be at a beach party with fresh baked goods and friends and they really truly are alive.

[callmeemily]

Raleigh's trying not to cry, trying not to have it be like before, when Bach hugged her suddenly and she didn't know him and she just was there again, she was there and couldn't talk or move or speak but she'd had a flashback and then lost her freaking mind.

That can't happen here. There's too many people. So she's holding onto herself so tightly, she's holding onto herself and they are mirrors of each other even though Raleigh's controlling the shaking by shoving her hands into the pockets of her shorts. "Caramel. Chocolate chip, raspberry, caramel." She pauses, and she tries to find words, and finally, carefully--

"Things aren't okay for me yet, but I just wanted you to know that I'm not- That we should talk, maybe, sometime, or just- or just this, I guess, I just-" And her chin quivers, and a tear rolls down her cheek even though she doesn't mean it to, and she pulls in a sharp breath. 'Thank you for everything," she says shortly, as she dashes it away with the heel of her hand, and forcing a smile even though she's coasting through a breakdown.

Any thoughts of hugs, or anything like them are long gone; while she does appreciate Corrine, she knows she has to get away, she's got to get away somewhere she can be alone or else she's going to make a scene, and she's not going to do that. Not here. "I- I need to go- to get back, but I just wanted to say that." That's it. That's all she can say.

[starsfallen]

Every word from Emily's mouth threatens to shake Corrine more. The truths spilled from her lips. The reality that things aren't fine. That what happened was real, the lasting effects are real, that Corry isn't alone in this, despite the days upon days she's locked herself away in a prison of her own making, the fears, the nightmares, the ill-fated coping mechanisms... She looks away, fighting the tears as much as Emily seems to be fighting hers, but her voice chokes none the less. "I know. I -no. Me neither." She holds the cookie in her hand like its the most important thing she's ever been given. It holds those last threads of herself together. It is hope and closure and a point from which moving on can begin. She can't accept the thank you though. Never a thank you. Not for putting Emily in such danger. Corry will never shake Joseph's assurance - that Emily was there to be sacrificed in her place. But it was not her fault. And it is over now. And they should. Talk. They were brought together on the most horrendous of circumstances but that bond remains with them now.

"Look." Corry draws squiggles in the sand with her foot. "I invited Levi and Lara for dinner sometime. Les will be there - he always is. You... come, please." And then she nods. Of course she understands, needing to get back. This is going to take time. The two of them, just being able to interact without the rush of pain and memories. Corry herself itches to flee before the dam of tears breaks. But this is a start. This is a start and its something.

[callmeemily]

Raleigh nods without words at the invitation, her lips pressed in a thin line, and there's another tear, and another, and she just says thickly, "I need- I need to go, but- okay."

It's hard, for her. It's hard and difficult and painful - for both of them. For all three of them, most likely, since Wulfric's in town somewhere, although she wonders sometimes just how much he remembers of the whole thing.

She knows what would have happened, she knows, and it's hard, because things have sort of changed for the better; she's got what amounts to a makeshift family, she's healed, she's got friends-- but it doesn't change the fact that Joseph was right. That he chose her because she wouldn't be missed, and she can't forget the look on Les' face when he said he'd had no idea she was even missing.

It was possible that some people would have wondered at her absence, but she would have been long dead, long dead and they would have assumed that she'd just left and she knows it, and she can't forget. Not yet. Corrine's a reminder, but Corry... she's the reason that Raleigh's alive. People looked for her.

But Raleigh's face is an alarmingly pale shade of white, and she's shaking like a leaf, and after she says that, after she says okay, she just turns to leave, to find any place because her steps are uneven, but she's got to get out of here, she's got to get out of public. She'll see Corry again - maybe soon, maybe not, but right now all she can think is getting away from everyone.