Lost And Alone • •

[romeo jackson jervis]

Ellie didn’t like seeing her older brother struggling. He was the guy who had been there for her as long as she could remember. Without Romeo she didn’t think she would have made it to college. He was her hero. He inspired her to keep her head down and study when other kids were talking about sneaking out at the weekends and lying to their parents about staying at each other’s houses. Ellie had always known that she couldn’t do that to Romeo. Not only did she think her brother was too smart to fall for any of those tricks, but she couldn’t stand the thought of ever disappointing him. She wanted to make him proud. He never said anything, but she knew that he had given up a fair deal to make sure that she was okay and well looked after. He was more than a brother to her, he was her best friend. He had looked after her for a long, long time, and if there was any chance that she could do the same for him she would jump at it.

It was impossible not to notice Romeo’s recent sour mood. Ellie had seen Zoe on the college campus and she wasn’t stupid. How could she miss the obvious when it was walking across the same college floors that she walked, that her brother walked? She was livid. Ellie didn’t want to interfere in Romeo’s private life because she knew it would annoy him more than it would help him. At the same time though, she couldn’t sit back and hold her tongue. Her brother was walking around with a storm cloud over his head and it wasn’t a mystery to understand why. He had been devastated when Zoe left him, and if she was back now…Ellie couldn’t even begin to imagine what that must have been doing to his head. Romeo had a big heart, but kept most of his feelings to himself, as though he wasn’t allowed to let the world see that he was hurting like the rest of them. Ellie wished he could see that he didn’t have to be strong for them anymore. They were family; they weren’t going to think he was weak just because of a broken heart.

It was risky to confront a professor, but Ellie didn’t see Zoe like that. She saw her only as the country girl who had broken her brother’s heart, and then had the audacity to return to the very city they called home, and teach in the college Romeo was attending to final finish chasing his dreams – dreams she knew all about. Besides, Romeo had risked considerably more for Ellie over the years. This was the very least she could do for him.

Ellie arrived on campus extremely early. She knew where Zoe’s office was after discreetly taking a peek in administration when a friend went to retrieve a lost student ID. She could have probably just asked, but Ellie wanted to be stealthier than that. So now, after keeping watch from a bench a safe distance from the office of the heart breaking country waste, Ellie slipped her college textbook back into her bag and confidently strode to the door. Zoe had just gone inside – alone – and Ellie was going to confront her now. It was going to be heated, and it was risky enough that she felt her heart pounding, but this was for her big brother and he deserved more than what he had been going through. Ellie didn’t bother to knock. Instead she just opened the door and walked right in, dropping her bag to the floor and folding her arms as she turned to face Zoe. “Think it’s time you ‘n’ me ‘ad a chat, don’t you think?”

• • •

TAGGED! Zoe Diana Tylers
WORDS! 667!
OUTFIT!
LYRICS! What Went Wrong - - - Blink 182
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Zoe Diana Tylers]

There were parts about teaching that Zoe hated. She had never been cut out to be a professor, which she very well knew; this was not what she had ever intended to do with her life. Grading papers and dealing with students whining about grades wasn’t what she considered a fun career by any means. No; Zoe loved being surrounded by x-rays and medical books, trying to come up with solutions to problems and stretching her mind beyond anything she’d ever imagined possible. That was what she enjoyed; that was what she was supposed to be doing with her life, not running back to her office for lunch and preparing for another lecture that afternoon. She had a case consultation with a veterinary school friend later that evening and it was the only thing getting her through that long day.

Zoe unlocked her office and set her bag down in its usual place behind her desk, shutting the door behind her. She was used to students popping in and out, even if it wasn’t her scheduled office hours, but it was technically her break and she really needed a few moments of piece of quiet. She hung her white jacket on the back of her chair and was thankful to be rid of it for the time being. It was necessary for labs, but she hadn’t even worn one when she’d worked in the field and it still felt odd to see her name scrawled across the front with her official doctorate letters behind it. It was a reminder that her name could’ve been something completely different if she’d chosen to stay. She sat down in her chair and immediately opened her computer to fight off the thoughts, her eyes turning with dread to the pile of assignments stacked on her desk. Zoe hadn’t been eating during lunch lately so spent her time grading papers and wishing the hour would go by faster. Sliding a pair of glasses onto her nose, movement in her doorway caught her eye and she reluctantly looked up, her heart stopping. What she hadn’t expected to find was the one person she dreaded seeing more than Romeo: his younger sister.

She had once considered this girl a sister, another one added to the collection she had in her own family. She had been there for first dates and first heartbreaks, and she’d been there to help with all of things a guy really just couldn’t do. Zoe had been there. And then she’d disappeared out of thin air and hadn’t even left a note for the girl; she’d at least waited to say goodbye to her brother. Zoe’s lips stayed pressed in a silent line at Ellie’s words, but she didn’t cower in fear. She was not afraid of her; she was not afraid of facing this part of her past that she so needed to apologize to.

"Shut the door then, Ellie,” she finally stated, nodding to the open piece of wood behind her. This was not a conversation that needed to be heard by the rest of the faculty and students in the building though, with how loud she knew Ellie could get, Zoe was already mentally writing her letter of resignation to the school.

• • •

TAG: romeo jackson jervis
WORDS: 543!
OUTFIT: PRETTY PROFESSOR!
LOCATION: Office, NYU
LYRICS: Happier by Ed Sheeran
NOTES: <3 <3 <3

[romeo jackson jervis]

Honestly, Ellie hadn’t thought there could be an unhappy ending for her brother once he met Zoe. She saw how they looked at each other. It was the kind of thing she thought only happened in movies when actors were paid ludicrous amounts of money. Ellie had been witness to any kind of real displays of romantic love. Their parents fought a lot, and then it was just her and Romeo, and while they cared about each other they also annoyed the hell out of each other just like siblings were supposed to do. Her own relationships were marred with her distrust of other people, her episodes of self-doubt, and her ability to question everything, no matter how innocent a gesture might be. Ellie didn’t want to be like that forever, and she didn’t think she would be. No, she thought Romeo and Zoe would help her see that the monsters in the world weren’t always going to be chasing her down. Then that perfect little bubble shattered, she saw her heroic brother fall, and suddenly Ellie didn’t believe if happiness was meant for anyone.

She almost wanted to throw herself into the college party scene and lose herself in what was on offer there. No one seemed to have a care in the world there, between drinks, dates and everything else that was on offer. Ellie didn’t do that though, simply because her brother needed someone to keep an eye on him. Romeo was burying himself in his work and acting like he had no feelings whatsoever in the last year, but Ellie knew him better than that. She knew he was hurting, and if she wasn’t careful she’d lose her brother to his hot temper that he was so quick to lose. The younger Jervis was actually surprised he had managed to keep it reined in so well, given how he could be. Maybe he was just putting it all into his vice; those cigarettes he breathed his life away into with each drag he took on them.

Ellie kept her eyes fixed on Zoe as she made sure to close the door – loudly. The young woman kept her arms folded across her chest, not trusting herself to do anything else. Romeo wasn’t the only one with a destructive temper when everything bubbled to the boil. Ellie could already see herself shoving everything off of Zoe’s desk and causing plenty of damage to the college property. She couldn’t afford that and she really didn’t want to have to tell Romeo that she had even been here today, let alone that she had smashed the place up. “Y’ crushed ‘im. Rome loved y’ ‘n’ y’ crushed ‘im.” Ellie wasn’t about to pack any punches. She didn’t know what exactly had been said between Romeo and Zoe since her return, but the little sister was going to do her part as bluntly and as painfully as it needed to be. Romeo deserved her in his corner, and Zoe deserved to know how much pain she had inflicted on the one guy Ellie thought was better than any other on the planet.

• • •

TAGGED! Zoe Diana Tylers
WORDS! 523!
OUTFIT!
LYRICS! What Went Wrong - - - Blink 182
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Zoe Diana Tylers]

Zoe had never planned on a happy ending when she’d first moved to New York for school. She had not been into the party scene, instead spending her weekend nights waiting tables in order to afford her rent for the month. She didn’t blow money on expensive designer purses or fit into the crowd of giddy girls that flocked between frat houses each weekend; she worked and she studied and she put all of her energy into becoming the best vet she could possibly she. That didn’t leave room for wishing for prince charmings or daydreaming about bouncing babies; it barely left room for sleep. She had always lived her life with the intention of being her own savior and inspiration, clinging to the idea that if she worked hard enough for a degree she would have the happiest life she possibly could.

And then she’d gotten her degree. It was the hardest uphill climb of her life and she’d clawed her way to the finish line with every piece of her soul, finally arriving and holding that coveted piece of paper in her hands. But, she had looked up and realized that the fight was far from over; that finish line was only a check-point, and the climb continued well beyond the completion of college. It had terrified her as she’d oriented herself in a world where she didn’t have a goal, only a barely outlined plan of where she could possibly, maybe be going next and a diamond sparkling on her finger, reminding her that she was not to be the only factor in this equation. Her future had always belonged to her, and her alone; her performance would determine where she went or how successful she became, and it would not be dependent on anyone else. But Romeo had wanted to be a part of that and Zoe had thought it was the most wonderful thing in the world until she’d realized that she didn’t want to drag him along in the dark. She didn’t want to be a failure and have him crash with her.

Staring at Ellie, Zoe was reminded of the first time she met this now young woman, a time that now seemed like decades ago. She had been vulnerable, a mess after an attack that Romeo had saved her from. That had been the start of a love-story that still seemed like a fantasy sometimes. But, Zoe had been the one to curl Ellie’s hair and lend a lucky horseshoe necklace for her first date; she had held her hand while Romeo was stitched up in a hospital bed. They were completely different people now than the laughing girls who’d covered a tiny kitchen in flour during baking lessons.

Zoe closed her laptop, folding her hands neatly on top of it. She’d gotten a manicure that weekend, a luxury a practicing vet usually didn’t bother with, but her nails sparkled with a color that reminded her of the Bluegrass she was constantly missing these days. It had been a small comfort as she’d sat alone and wondered how she’d gotten back into this city, facing problems she’d sworn she’d never have.

Ellie’s words only caused Zoe’s lips to tighten into a line, no emotion playing across her large blue eyes as she continued to study her. "Do you remember the first time you ever met me?” Zoe asked, completely ignoring the bait for a fight that she knew Ellie was probably aiming for. She was just so impossibly sick of fighting. "Your brother brought me back to your apartment after I’d been attacked. He saved me,” she finished simply, her calm eyes still trained on Ellie. "You tried to take a picture of him hugging me, of that moment where I swear I completely and irrevocably fell in love with him,” she continued, a sad laugh on her lips as her fingers instinctively went to touch the necklace hidden beneath her blouse. Zoe stood from her chair, slipping her glasses off and leaving them on her desk as she came around to sit in one of the small armchairs facing her desk. She perched on the arm, her gaze back on Ellie as she said, "I promise you, I would never hurt him without feeling every piece of that pain myself. I promise you that I wanted to marry him with my entire heart. And I promise you that leaving was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my whole life.”

• • •

TAG: romeo jackson jervis
WORDS: 755!
OUTFIT: PRETTY PROFESSOR!
LOCATION: Office, NYU
LYRICS: Happier by Ed Sheeran
NOTES: <3 <3 <3

[romeo jackson jervis]

For all of her brother's flaws, Ellie had seen Romeo take a million bad situations and make them better. She would stand on a podium and tell all of NYU that if she had to. She didn't think she was exaggerating either. Between them, they had never had much. Festivities had always been small, presents something that had more sentimental value than actual worth, but Ellie knew that Romeo tried harder than anyone she had ever met to make something special. He'd flip the world if he could just to make someone he cared about happy. She had forced Disney Princesses on him growing up, and made him order take-out he wasn't all that fond of, but he went along with all of it because it was what made her happiest. Ellie only stood that now that she was older and seeing the world with a different set of eyes it felt like. Still, understanding how much Romeo had given her when he had barely nothing to give in the first place only made her love her brother more; and hate the woman in front of her for crushing his heart.



There was still a great deal Ellie had to learn about the world. However, she already knew that she wasn't one for games and dancing around the point. She knew Romeo was very much the same. So much of the young student's personality was reflected in her big brother and whenever he pointed it out to her she felt a sense of pride wash over her. He might call himself a mess, or tell her not to swear so much, or pick up on his bad habits, but to Ellie, Romeo was her hero; she couldn't imagine anyone better to be like. That was why she couldn't understand any of this. It was a tangled knot of emotions and feelings that she had yet to experience, but she was convinced she wouldn't let this happen to her. There was no way she would run away from someone she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. And there was no way she would let herself be left hurting if someone came back into her life after they had stomped all over her heart and left it barely beating.



"I don't need a history lesson." Ellie raised her hand before Zoe could recap the years between then and now. "I was the one who put all those memories into boxes so our Rome could try 'n' move on. But then y' came back." Ellie couldn't possibly be happy about it now. Once, maybe, there had been a time when she would have given anything to see the country blonde come knocking on the door to reconcile with her brother, but Ellie was tougher now, and she didn't want her brother to through all that hope and anguish again. He didn't deserve that. "Y' could've tried talkin' t' 'im. Open your gob and use those words. He gave y' enough sweet ones, but y' apparently 'ad none for 'im? Not even an 'alf decent goodbye. You actually make me sick." Ellie was holding nothing back because in her mind, Zoe deserved to know exactly what it had been like when she left. Romeo would hide in his anger, but not let it out on the woman he had once loved, but Ellie didn't need to protect anyone. A part of her even wanted to destroy the woman she once looked up to like a sister.

• • •

TAGGED! Zoe Diana Tylers

WORDS! 585!

OUTFIT!

LYRICS! What Went Wrong - - - Blink 182

NOTES! This thread is making me want to create Ellie x.x

[Zoe Diana Tylers]

Zoe understood what sacrifice was. She had given up a lot during her life, whether it was for her siblings and family back home or during her time in New York. She hadn’t had the luxury of constant partying during her college years; she spent her weekends working at the diner or studying to keep up grades for a scholarship that allowed her to even attend the university in the first place. She gave up a social life to get her dream, both during high school and college, and had always been cutting ties with things that didn’t get her to a doctorate. She’d learned the art of compromise from growing up with a gaggle of siblings, especially younger siblings, but Zoe had never compromised on her dream. She would not sacrifice her career as a veterinarian, not after the countless things she’d given up getting it. And, somehow, she had convinced herself that Romeo and New York in general was standing in the way of what she needed to do; she hadn’t accounted for the fact that maybe, just maybe, she needed a Hercules to fight the battles beside her because it made winning the war all the sweeter. She had been too focused on not disappointing someone else to realize that maybe he was the one who would help her reach the goal she’d been working towards for her entire life. But, that degree was Zoe’s. That career, the one she’d poured her soul into, was hers and no one else could make a claim to it; those successes were hers, that impressive list of cases and research attached to her resume living proof of the fact that Zoe could do this. She could be a successful vet and she could save countless animals, but she couldn’t win her happy ever after back after sacrificing it to save the world.

She didn’t blame Ellie for hating her; didn’t blame Romeo, either. After leaving, she had deserved it and much more, but it didn’t make it easy facing the mistakes Zoe wished she’d handled better a year ago. She had boxes stored at her parents’ farm, stacked high in the bedroom that wasn’t really hers anymore, and she hadn’t touched them since moving them inside a year ago. The only thing she really kept with her was her engagement ring, as constant as the horseshoe around her neck, that served as a reminder that no matter how hard she tried, she would always have roots in place to keep her grounded in the life she couldn’t run from forever. "I was invited back, Ellie,” Zoe said with a sigh, tilting her head to the office space around her. It may have been a temporary thing, but Zoe had in fact been invited here; she had not returned with the sole intention of torturing her ex-fiancée. She was also still a professor at this school, a rank that warranted at least some respect as the girl stormed into her office.

It was easy to see that the last year had changed Ellie like it had changed everyone else. This wasn’t the sweet teenager Zoe remembered; this was a woman defending the person she loved, the one Zoe knew had sacrificed his entire world to make happy. She had always known the Jervis siblings were an unbreakable bond and, for a while, she had been so honored to be a small part of that pact. But she was not on the inside now and she wasn’t quite sure what to do now that she was stranded out at sea, paddling in treacherous waters all alone. "I did try,” Zoe retorted, shaking her head. "What was I supposed to say to him? To You? I dialed that number more times than I can possibly remember but I didn’t know how to explain that I had to run; I just had to run a little longer,” Zoe finished with a sigh, standing from her chair and pacing the small space behind her desk. She stopped in front of a photo hanging on her wall, her eyes catching on the picture; it was one of the first cases she’d done after returning to the South. She had helped deliver a breeched foal, one of the prettiest horses she’d ever seen really; one that now pranced about proudly on his way to racing for the Kentucky Derby with decent odds of winning. How could she ever explain that feeling? That adrenaline rush of saving something with her own two hands, covered in absolutely disgusting goo but getting to watch a newly born foal stumble in his first steps. That was why she’d left; she’d needed that feeling of giving back to the creatures that had shaped so much of her own life. "I said goodbye to him in the only way I knew how back then; I hadn’t known the reason until I’d been away for much longer,” she continued, pulling her eyes from the photo and back to the young woman standing in her office. "You forget that this city was never my dream, Ellie; it was a checkpoint on the way to something else, something bigger, and I needed to finish that dream before I started a whole new journey with your brother. I needed to be the person I had promised I would become and, back then, I hadn’t realized that I could still be that person while being with Romeo.” Zoe looked down, her fingers on her necklace again as she resumed her pacing. She paused, meeting Ellie’s eyes. "I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to tell that to him, or you, a year ago. But I needed to prove that I could be successful; I didn’t want to disappoint him anymore.” 

• • •

TAG: romeo jackson jervis
WORDS: 967!
OUTFIT: PRETTY PROFESSOR!
LOCATION: Office, NYU
LYRICS: Happier by Ed Sheeran
NOTES: <3 <3 <3

[eleanora heather jervis]

Ellie had once cursed the Jervis temper. She had blamed it for destroying the family she could have had, and been terrified that it might be the downfall of her older brother and best friend. Now, however, Ellie channelled it into everything she did. She turned that negative rage into a positive fire that roared through her veins and gave life to her passion and her voice. She wouldn’t be silent for anyone, not until she had achieved all that she wanted, and said all that she had to say. It was that fire that had brought her here to fight Romeo’s battle, because unlike him she wasn’t afraid to say the things he was holding back. Eleanora wasn’t worried about the cuts that could hurt or the things that might cause trouble. She was actually starting to get used to it now that she spoke up more, challenging every idea and person she had a problem with. Zoe was currently right at the top of that list given how badly she had hurt Romeo.

Glaring at the country blonde, Ellie felt her blood boil in her veins. Her anger was burning, she was hot with rage. Ellie wanted to beat the ever loving crap out of Zoe until she felt her own muscles shake with exertion. She wanted to break her like she had broke Romeo’s heart. “An’ I’ve been invited t’ Frat parties; doesn’t mean I go t’ them.” She looked at Zoe through dark, narrowed eyes. The point of an invitation was that it was optional. Ellie didn’t know why Zoe would willingly come back here unless she wanted to cause some kind of trouble, which was exactly what she was doing now. Romeo finally had a chance to move on and chase his dreams, but now he was stuck reliving all the things that went wrong in that perfect relationship. Ellie didn’t think such a thing existed herself, but none of this was about her. She wasn’t the one who had been left completely crushed and shattered when Zoe skipped town on them.

Ellie, reaching the limit of her patience, bravely shoved Zoe. She knew it was risking everything she had worked so hard to achieve at college, but Romeo came first every time. Ellie didn’t care if she lost it all. She could make something out of herself without a fancy college degree. “Y’re a fuckin’ coward.” She hissed, spitting through gritted teeth. Ellie didn’t know what Romeo had said to Zoe already, but the youngest Jervis wasn’t about to hold back. Every thought that came through her mind exploded from her lips like toxic venom and she hoped every single word poisoned Zoe enough that she writhed in pain once Ellie finally left the office. “A selfish, spoilt coward. Line up all the excuses in the world ‘n’ they’ll never be enough. My brother would ‘ave given up ‘is life for y’, but y’ jus’ decided t’ ruin it instead.” Ellie squared up to Zoe, her eyes dark and furious, that infamous Jervis temper burning deep within her. “I could jus’ ruin you.” She whispered, her voice deadly menacing as every word dripped with disdain. There was no love for the country girl who had helped her choose the perfect outfit for that first date. Hell, Ellie wasn’t even the same girl as the one who had awkwardly introduced that poor boy to her older brother. That girl had been the sunshine on a warm summer’s day, whereas Ellie now was a raging thunderstorm; the kind people stocked up on provisions for.

• • •

TAGGED! Zoe Diana Tylers
WORDS! 606!
OUTFIT!
LYRICS! What Went Wrong - - - Blink 182
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Zoe Diana Tylers]

Zoe had never wanted to teach; that had always been Romeo’s dream, and his alone. She wanted to be knee deep in the field, clawing her way through cases and kicking ass along the way as the little blonde vet made a name for herself. She didn’t want to be in a classroom showing slides and lecturing from books that she had only recently been cursing her professors for choosing. She didn’t want to teach; she wanted to be a name in those textbooks and she wanted her work to be the groundbreaking studies that students used to continue furthering the career field she was so passionate about. But living like a runaway didn’t come with a cheap price tag, even if she did charge a reasonable amount for her services to try and cover her expenses. She was still existing on crappy hotel rooms and takeaway, putting everything else towards her student loans and savings. Coming back to NYU offered her an easy excuse for money for a few months and a stable roof over her head; it gave her a respite from the running she’d been doing down South, even if what she’d been running from was still in New York.

Zoe let out a short and unamused laugh, shaking her head. "That’s hardly the same thing and ya know it,” she said. "When you’re an insanely successful alumna one day and they ask ya to come back and share what you’ve learned during your time in the field, ya won’t turn ‘em down. How could I?” Being invited back was an honor and to turn it down would have cost Zoe both money and a piece of her professional reputation. There were a lot of successful people in New York who had ties to her alma mater; to turn her nose up at the offer to lecture, even if just for one or two classes, would have been rude and she could not spare those points so early in her career. She needed whatever connections she could muster up, no matter where they were on the planet.

The shove from Ellie was a surprise, but Zoe braced herself against the desk. She forced herself not to wince as she felt her ankle roll in the heels she’d worn that day to be a little taller for her students because she hated being so short in the front of a lecture. Instead of limping to the safety of her chair, she chose to sit on the top of her desk to put the weight off her throbbing foot and still be able to face Ellie. She’d had much worse injuries in her life than a push from a girl whose temper could rival that of a hurricane; it was a family trait, after all, one that Zoe understood all too well.

Zoe’s face remained cool and collected, her legs crossed in front of her to complete her look of sophistication. She was not a cowgirl with wild curls and dusty boots these days, but a lady with a career and a doctorate hanging on her office wall. Dr. Tylers did not fight with teenagers; she wore moderately expensive high heels and real pearl earrings that gave her a headache but made her look older than the 26 that she really was. But, no, Dr. Tylers did not fight with teenagers coming to defend their brother because he wouldn’t do it himself. Zoe rose one eyebrow at Ellie as she fumed, waiting for her to finish. The words didn’t surprise her; they were ones she’d repeated to herself more times than she could ever possibly count, so they slid easily past the thickened skin that had hardened over the year. She knew she had been a coward; she knew she had broken the man who dragged himself to the middle of nowhere to confess his undying love for her. She knew all of it, but it didn’t hurt as much coming from Ellie now as Zoe’s light eyes watched her rage. She had called herself much worse names over a glass of whiskey when a stranger asked what could make a pretty little thing like her look so completely and utterly heartbroken.

This wasn’t the person Zoe should have been fighting with anyway. She could have said a million things to refute Ellie’s claims to a relationship that really did not involve her; she was a factor in it, of course, but that love existed between Romeo and Zoe, not the little sister who should have been standing up in their wedding last year. So instead of rebuking the accusations, Zoe simply said, "I know.” She knew she was a coward; she knew she broke Romeo more than he ever deserved. She knew without Ellie ranting about it in her office, and she also knew that she had come a long way from the mouse that used to scurry along these city streets. They had all come a long way since last year. "But I’m so sick of fighting, Ellie,” she finished with a sigh, running a hand through her blonde curls. "None of us are the same people we were last year; look at you, all grown up and running around here assaulting professors. Me in an office, one that used to belong to my least favorite teacher, mind you,” Zoe continued with a sad laugh, eyes looking around the still mostly bare walls and shaking off the thoughts of the bane of her college existence. "People change and they learn who they are; they find out that running like a wild mustang isn’t a way to live so they come home and they try again.” She paused, fingers on her horseshoe pendant before her eyes looked back to the girl before her. She was as wild of a mustang as any, full of fire and fight that echoed in Zoe’s own heart, though in a much different way. She was glowing with the hope and promise of a fearless woman; a power Zoe had only recently discovered but was so happy Ellie had already learned to wield. "I’m sorry I left ya behind for a little while, Ellie, but I want you to know that there was nothing you or Romeo did that caused it. I was just raised to run and it took me a little longer to break it out of myself; there’s no excuse for it, but I came back. I came home, even if you won’t have me anymore.” She dropped her hands back in her lap, not backing down as she waited for hurricane Ellie to continue on her war path. But she hoped that she wouldn’t; Zoe was just so tired of fighting with the Jervis siblings.

• • •

TAG: eleanora heather jervis
WORDS: 1133!
OUTFIT: PRETTY PROFESSOR!
LOCATION: Office, NYU
LYRICS: Happier by Ed Sheeran
NOTES: I have no control over how much Zoe rambles. 

[eleanora heather jervis]

A few years ago Ellie didn’t want to have the same temper that her brother had. She would have sold her soul to be the opposite of him – as much as she loved Romeo. However, times changed, and Ellie realised that it was in her blood. That same short fuse that once scared her was hers to own. She came to see that it didn’t have to be something scary, but instead could be the fire that burned beneath her ass and drove her to be the feminist fighter she was today. She took no shit from anyone, and her past, as dark and broken as it was, had hardened her into seeing that she didn’t have to be anyone’s Cinderella. She was her own hero, her own knight in shining armour, and damn anyone who tried to take that from her. Romeo would always be her big brother, the first hero in her story, but the point of stories was that they continued. They went on, chapter after chapter. Romeo had gone from hero to mentor, and now she was picking up the sword and shield, defending herself against the monsters of the world. She’d defend him, too, if she had to. There was that line, the Shakespeare one, that Romeo always recited and chuckled whenever Ellie lost her temper; “and though she be but little, she is fierce”. Ellie wasn’t as fond of the bard as her older brother was, but she could agree that it fitted her well. Her smaller frame was not to be laughed at. She could hold her own in a fight, and she was most definitely fierce.

Ellie crinkled her nose and looked disgusted at Zoe’s words. She wasn’t some sheep who would follow the orders just because it was expected of her. “Nah, actually. If I love what I do, an’ I’m good at it, I’ll stick with it. I’ve no desire t’ come preachin’ an’ teachin’ back ‘ere. My experiences ain’t gonna be theirs, so why pretend?” Ellie wanted to change the world, and she had every intention of going into politics to make a difference. There was so much she didn’t agree with, and she wasn’t going to back down until many of those things were altered. “You say ‘no, ta’” Ellie’s words were dry, but she didn’t care one bit. She was furious with the blonde in front of her. She had given Ellie hope and belief in happily ever afters and then snatched it all away. The fall to reality was a hard one, and when you were supporting an older brother who had just lost his heart it felt even harder. Now Ellie knew love was just something people wrote about to sell books and movie tickets. She herself was the product of a desperate search for the fickle emotion.

Taking a deep breath, Ellie tried to rein in the burning rage bubbling inside her small frame. It burnt at twice her size, but like an overdue asteroid it threatened to wipe out every speck of civilisation in her path. “I don’t give a fuckin’ shit about your nostalgia trip!” She roared, asteroid Eleanora striking down on Zoe’s desk, the impact crater square in the centre and spreading outwards with enough force to wipe the space clear. Everything flew to the floor, papers, clutter, and Zoe’s laptop, which had been the unfortunate impact site of her cataclysmic rage. “Y’ don’t ‘ave a home ‘ere. Not anymore.” Items crunched under her sneakers as she stepped heavily on them. Ellie didn’t care about the pens that snapped, or the papers she marked with the worn soles of her shoes. This was the least of the damage she wanted to cause. She wanted to obliterate Zoe’s world just like the country girl had carelessly done to her Romeo. Before leaving the office, Ellie picked up the already damaged laptop and threw it at the wall making sure that it went by Zoe’s head. She was careful to make sure there was plenty of space between her missile and the new professor, but she still wanted her message to be clear; Zoe was not welcome back.

Ellie heard the satisfying crack of electronic parts as she turned and left the office, slamming the door with enough force for the echo to disturb a few PhD students who were sipping coffee and talking down the way.

• • •

TAGGED! Zoe Diana Tylers
WORDS! 742!
OUTFIT!
LYRICS! What Went Wrong - - - Blink 182
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Zoe Diana Tylers]

When she had first arrived, Zoe had wanted to badly to escape New York. She had been only 18; young, blue-eyed and completely terrified as she moved into a building that held more people than her entire hometown. This city, this horrifyingly chaotic city, was an absolute nightmare to the country mouse who had been too scared to speak up during her first semester of lectures. But, it had slowly become home because of the family she had found miles away from her blood relatives; it had become home because of Ember and the diner staff and Romeo. And now that all of those people were gone, Zoe was realizing that maybe it wasn’t the city that was really home; maybe it was those people who had crept into her heart and completely changed the course of her life.

While she had found her voice both during her time in New York and out, Zoe knew that she wanted that feeling back. She wanted to belong somewhere again; to belong with someone and not second-guess it. While she had been down South, she had been knee-deep in a career that set her soul on fire but it hadn’t been enough. Coming home at night to a lonely bed reminded her that work wasn’t a welcoming kiss as she walked through the door; it wasn’t movie nights and fighting over popcorn or homecooked meals with endless laughter. Work wasn’t enough.

And, to be honest, teaching at NYU would never be enough either. Zoe knew that the moment she accepted the job, and she knew she wouldn’t be staying long. Part of working in the field was being able to educate the next generation of veterinarians and Zoe’s resume was severely lacking in respectable human contact. She worked with farmers and horse breeders, but there hadn’t been a lot of experience with the respectable civilization that would earn her better opportunities for a stable job. NYU allowed her to earn another bullet point for her resume and it gave her a chance to come back to her something more, even if he had long moved past the country mouse who had scurried away. Being with Romeo had been that missing piece that completed her life and made her feel fulfilled. Sharing stories with him, even if the technical jargon and occasionally disgusting stories made his eyes glaze over, and being able to laugh with him over her school work made Zoe happy. It made coming home at night bearable and surviving through the torture that was earning her doctorate worth it. It made her life complete, but it had taken her a year of being away to realize it.

Zoe knew what being 18 felt like, even if it had been a million years ago, and she knew that the woman standing before her was a force to be reckoned with. Between the passion every college freshman has and the temperamental Jervis blood flowing in her veins, Ellie was dangerous. The procedures that had been drilled into Zoe’s head for emergency situations quickly played by, campus safety and local police numbers echoing in her brain like a siren as she watched Hurricane Ellie tear through the office she hadn’t really become attached to. She didn’t care about the desk full of paperwork, but the sound of her fist connecting with the laptop that had only recently been updated made Zoe’s heart crack. She had spent so much money on that damn computer. Zoe’s hands were clenched into fists that she very wisely kept restrained at her sides. She was born and raised on a ranch; she wasn’t some petite play thing or skimpy model who couldn’t pack a punch if she really wanted to. But, she would never hurt Ellie, no matter the temper tantrums and horrific rages that she threw. She had already done enough damage to the girl.

Zoe backed away, going to what she thought was the safety of the wall as her own rage cause Ellie’s harsh words to become a blur. She was seeing red, all the frustrations and anger of the past few weeks dying to be released as Zoe fought her damnedest to keep it together in front of this student. She was a professional and not an undergrad anymore; she did not have the luxury of unravelling. As the laptop came slamming against the wall beside her head, Zoe’s temper had reached it’s boiling point. "Get out before I get you expelled for assaulting a professor,” she roared in return, watching as Ellie went storming out the door.

Silence fell over her office and Zoe took a moment to look around the remnants of what had only recently been a clean, productive space. She hated it here, but at least it had been organized. Now, everything was thrown around the room by a teenager who had every right to be upset with the professor. Zoe sighed into the silence, kicking off her heels and going over to the chair behind her desk. She didn’t bother to straighten the papers or even try to pick up the pieces of the computer that literally held her entire life; no, she went to her desk and she opened the bottom drawer, pulling out a glass and the bottle of Tennessee whiskey that had lately been almost as constant a companion as her horseshoe necklace.

She really needed to get her fucking life together.

• • •

TAG: romeo jackson jervis
WORDS: 907!
OUTFIT: PRETTY PROFESSOR!
LOCATION: Office, NYU
LYRICS: Happier by Ed Sheeran
NOTES: <3 <3 <3