Sorry Little Hearts • •

[Tennessee Rachel Cooper]

This was it. Cooper had had more than enough already. She could admit – to herself – that she had been blowing hot and cold with Travis because of a million and one issues that not even the world’s best therapists could uncover, but that did not give him leeway to string her along just to run off with some skanky nurse at the end of the day. Cooper knew that she could be the biggest bitch in New York City at times; it was one of the first things she would tell people when they met her, but after everything she did to Travis he kept coming back to her. She had tried everything to push the idiot away. She’d ignored him for a good part of a month, thrown every insult at him that she could think up and, hell, she even flirted with the Starbucks barista one time when they were grabbing a coffee, and yet the young doctor still called her, asked her out, and showed up with her favourite coffee when she was pulling a late night study session; something she suspected Jack had let him in on since Coop’s favourite coffee was not something coffee shops even listed on their menus. Coop had been intending to cut Travis out of her life completely, but with Jack working harder than normal with Leander’s hasty exit stage right, and Vaughn dating some blonde who Coop wanted to murder every single time she looked at her, she was short on company these days, especially company who could tolerate her as much as she them. Travis wasn’t the best choice considering how her feelings for him made her want to stick her hands on a burning stove every time he stirred those emotions, but he had to do.

However, Coop didn’t enjoy the text messages that brought a smile to his face. He seemed to get them more and more, or she was just noticing them more and more. It didn’t matter either way. All that mattered was that his attention would go to his phone and then sooner or later he’d apologise and ditch her like she was nothing. The first couple of times she got into a foul mood, took it out on some strangers who had the unfortunate fate of getting in her way on the sidewalk or in the park. After that she grew worse, fighting with Vaughn and generally losing her temper much more quickly, if that was even possible for the young English girl.

On this particular December day, Coop had started out in a surprisingly even mood. When Travis had asked if she was free for lunch she hadn’t bitten back with sarcasm or blew him off for no good reason. She accepted his offer, joined him and was actually enjoying herself. That was something she would never admit to anyone else, of course, and even with herself she would deny it later. However, just before the meal could arrive his phone buzzed on the table and Coop glowered at it, her glare darkening when he chuckled at the message and then one reply later made his excuses to leave, vanishing from the table before she could really let rip. Fuming after him, Coop stormed out of the café, knocking a waiter and a tray of food flying.

She wasn’t about to sit back and let Travis keep ditching her for some floozy of a nurse who could make him giggle like a twelve year old! Hatching a plan in anger, she whipped her phone out and speed dialled Jack. “Meet me at the front of the bloody hospital in half an hour. I don’t care what the hell you’re doing, you better bloody well be there, or else I might just have to break one of your camera lenses!” She hung up before her friend could say a single word in response and Coop made her own way to the hospital, breaking several traffic violations along the way, but not caring one iota about any of it. She was too angry and pissed off to give a damn about anything but showing Travis she wasn’t some plaything to entertain him when he felt like having her company. She parked her shiny red soft top and glared at the tall building. Coop loathed hospitals. Normally she wouldn’t come anywhere near one, but this act of revenge required it. She needed to make the message big and loud, and in a place Travis couldn’t ignore it. Grabbing Jack at the door, she told her only that they needed to find Travis’ office, and that the man was the biggest bastard in New York right now. Thankfully, her friend didn’t currently have a raging temper and managed to stop Cooper from just breaking down doors in her impatience. With Travis’ office soon located, the man nowhere to be found and the girls inside, Coop could finally have what she wanted. She looked around, her dark eyes taking it all in first. It was definitely his office, she could tell. It brought back any anger lost since lunch and she grabbed the chair behind the desk, tossing it across the room at the wall, letting it crash into a picture there. The glass smashed, the frame too, and it all tumbled to the floor. Only the beginning, Coop grabbed another chair and threw it at the bookcase, letting it hit hard, knocking a few books off. Her frustrations were taken out on the room, the furniture beaten and wrecked and the decorations destroyed until the room looked like a tornado had passed right through it. Breathless, Coop stood in the middle, hair as messy as the office now, surveying her work. It was then that the door handle turned, the door opening a crack until the chair in front of it jammed it and blocked it from opening further.

• • •

TAGGED! Travis Mason Merrick (and Jack! xD)
WORDS! 985!
OUTFIT! Crazy Cynic!
LYRICS! A Love Like War - - - All Time Low
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Travis Mason Merrick]

Travis often wondered why he hadn’t given up yet. Being with Coop was exhausting more often than not. But then she would do something and it was all he needed to keep going. She had so many defenses; it was difficult to get past them all. And just when he thought he was making progress, bam, another obstacle. It was exhausting but it was also exhilarating. He loved the chase after all, pushing himself to get her to see all the ways he would be perfect for her. And he was. He wasn’t a pushover who would let her walk all over him, he fought back when she said something he didn’t altogether like. Already they had one of those explosive relationships and Travis was thriving. He didn’t want a docile Susy homemaker waiting for him with a table ready for dinner. He worked awkward hours, long days and never quite knew when he would be making it through the door. He would much rather walk through like a zombie to Coop asleep because she wouldn’t wait up or up watching something on the TV and telling him she ate and left him none of it. It was silly when he thought about it and ridiculous and probably just that side of crazy but it was theirs and that was what mattered at the end of it all for Travis.

He tried when he could to take her out to lunch or dinner, nothing fancy really though he could go all out and was in fact, waiting for the perfect time to do so. He hadn’t planned this lunch, he had just found that for once in a long while, he’d had his lunch hour free and wanted to spend it with Coop. So he called her up and was surprised when she agreed easily enough. It almost made him wonder what she was up to because it had been too easy but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, instead telling her the name of the café they were going to eat. Unfortunately, he was bombarded with text messages from a fellow doctor, Denver about a young patient the cardiologist was sharing with the pediatrician. The things kids say would never get old and some of the things Denny was texting were downright hilarious. But the point of the texts were to let Travis know that they needed him back and that they’d done what they could without the cardiologist there; now it was up to him. He hated that he had to leave Coop while they were actually having a good time but his job meant a lot to him and while he was still an intern he had to ask how high when they told him to jump. He pulled enough notes to cover their bill out of his wallet even as he was apologising to the pretty brunette sitting across from him with the murderous glare which he chose to ignore since there was nothing he could do about it.

There were only so many cardiologists at the hospital, a handful of them really and he was one of them. When his superiors called, Trav answered much like when Coop called Jay, she answered. Jay had been friends with Coop for too long now to know when she threatened something, she made good on her word. Thankfully, Jay hadn’t lost any of her precious photography equipment yet and she wasn’t about to start. She had put a lot of money into her collection and she honestly couldn’t say if she would be friends with Coop if she ever actually broke something. Lucky for both of them, she was at a shoot close to the hospital. And that her boss knew Coop and wouldn’t put it past her either. So he let her go and thirty minutes from getting that call, she was walking through the sterile halls, searching for a particular specialist’s office.

It was clear as crystal to Jay that Coop, the Ice Queen that was her best friend was jealous though she couldn’t say why and her English friend wouldn’t elaborate. It was amusing as hell and that was one of the reasons why Jay was still around. Finding Travis’s office was easy enough once she’d gotten Coop calm enough to search. From there, Jay couldn’t say what happened but all hell broke loose and Jay barely got through Coop’s process unharmed. Lucky for her, she was tiny and moved fast and came away with only a couple of scares. Her best friend looked like she was at the end of her display when the knob turned and the doctor himself was trying to push his way into his office. Idly because Jay wanted to see this through, she pushed the chair with her foot just enough to get it out of the way so Travis could enter. Call her evil but she loved Coop and that girl needed her eyes opened for her.

Travis and Denver had dealt with their patient and the cardiologist wanted to add some notes to the file on his desk so he’d gotten Denver to tag along so both of their opinions would be recorded, in case anything needed to be double checked. When he couldn’t get the door open the first time he tried, he was perplexed but when he tried again, it gave more and he could squeeze himself through just to stop and simply stare at the sight in front of him. “What the fuck, Cooper?!” He said when he got his wits about him.

Tag || Tennessee Rachel Cooper
Words || 934
Clothes || Mad Man!!
Music || Thinking Out Loud --Ed Sheeran
Notes || <3!

[Tennessee Rachel Cooper]

Cooper didn’t consider herself to be with Travis in any way. Obviously she was a complicated, messed up girl, but she didn’t date anyone, and that anyone included gorgeous cardiologists who she happened to spend a copious amount of time with. Although, Coop would never tell Travis that he was remotely good looking. Her past had left her a right royal mess when it came to matters of her frozen heart and it wasn’t about to get any easier. Not even the night she had gone looking for a couch and woken up in his bed made it any easier. In fact, Coop liked to act like none of that ever happened. If the memories or feelings tried to bubble their way to the surface she turned hostile just to shut them back down again. Despite what she was feeling for Travis, and what she was doing to his office, Coop didn’t want to be with him. That was the story she told herself and anyone who asked, which mostly Jay was whenever she found the opportunity though. If the Irish girl hadn’t been Coop’s best friend, she might have found herself sporting a black eye by now for her incessant comments about the Australian doctor.

So when they went out, it wasn’t on a date. When they were spending time together alone, it wasn’t romantic. Coop was refusing to look at Travis like that and she quickly shut anyone down who remotely suggested anything similar; including the man himself. Yet, the minute she thought there might be someone else in the picture, she went to a rage that most people would never reach; not even if they had been married for twenty years and found out their partner had been having an affair for all of it! Coop was ignoring the little voice in her head that was pointing out how crazy this was. She didn’t care. All she could feel was the anger and none of it subsided until she was standing in the middle of Travis’ office staring upon her destruction and feeling rather proud of the chaos. Breathless, a little too warm now for her jumper, Coop felt less like she wanted to kill the man himself, which was a bonus. There was something that felt as though it was twisting her guts into knots and threatening to pull them up through her throat, but she didn’t know what that was about. It wasn’t something she had felt before but the only thing left in her mind was how pissed off she got every time Travis would smile at his stupid phone and then run off on her. Maybe if she smashed the phone itself it might help get rid of that last feeling?

She was just thinking of a way to get the phone itself when the door opened. The chair prevented anyone from making a dramatic discovery of her destruction, but Coop still glowered at it all the same. She had never been one to cause trouble and then run from it. She usually stuck around long enough to deliver a not-so-pretty mouthful and then leave with her head held high while the other person remained flabbergasted. Besides, it wasn’t like they could do much for a hasty exit unless Jay suddenly whipped out abseiling gear and the photographer only seemed keen on having this whole situation come to a head. She saved a short glare for her friend, wondering just whose side the brunette was supposed to be on, and then turned her attention to the man who had brought all of this on himself. “I thought your office could use a little Feng-Shui.” Coop stepped over the remains of a broken frame, and some strewn files and shot Travis a murderous look. “This arrangement is known as ‘don’t screw with me when you’re screwing someone else.’” She turned to retrieve her coat from beneath a small messy pile and her plan was to then storm away in a usual Coop fashion. “I have no idea what you thought you might get out of this, but fuck you, Travis.”

• • •

TAGGED! Travis Mason Merrick (and Jack! xD)
WORDS! 692!
OUTFIT! Crazy Cynic!
LYRICS! A Love Like War - - - All Time Low
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Travis Mason Merrick]

Surprisingly, relationships didn’t actually come easy to Travis. He didn’t have the time to put in the bullshit that was required when he was in surgery more hours of the day than he slept in a night, pulled shifts for other doctors in other departments because he was still technically an intern for a few more months. He might have known exactly what he wanted from life and he might have gotten there a little faster than most but none of that had ever meant he had time to spare for frivolous things. He was perfectly content, not happy, not even close to happy, but content to pick someone up when he was feeling a little lonelier than he’d care to admit and in this day and age, that was perfectly acceptable. But it wasn’t what he wanted. And then he ran into Coop at the park and it was like things just changed. She wasn’t anything like any other girl on the planet that he had met. And he could admit to meeting his fair share. Coop was loud, she was temperamental, she was feisty and Travis loved that. She didn’t hold anything back, she didn’t apologise for anything and neither did he.

Well, he did but it was usually to Coop about having to run off on her again. Of course, she swore up and down that they weren’t a couple, so why would it matter but it did to Travis. Because as far as he was concerned, there was no one but Coop in his life. And the only other being taking up any space in his bed was Fox, despite the fact the dog knew he wasn’t allowed up on the bed in the first place. So she could deny all she wanted but she still agreed to dinners and lunches and movies with him when he suggested them. And in Travis’s books, that made them a couple. And now that his work at the hospital was nearly done, he could call her up and see what she had planned. No doubt, she’d probably have already roped Jay into doing something they thought would be fun and had Travis wondering how they didn’t have records yet; or if they did, why they hadn’t been locked up already for breaching probation or something.

Travis stared dumbfounded at the woman in his office, completely ignoring the other and his friend. He'd thought they were alright. He was going to call her when Denver left his office to make plans. But now he saw that he was correct in thinking she would have roped her little Irish friend into doing something they might get in trouble for. Jay seemed keen for them though so he had to assume she wasn't there to help with trashing his office. She was probably there to make sure Coop didn't do something really stupid. From where he was standing, it didn't look like she was doing her job very well but he would talk to her later, when he'd figured out what the hell was going on with Coop. "Feng-Shui? Bring a plant next time." He said, getting his calm back. He spun to wave Denver off only to realise his fellow doctor must have slipped away in the chaos and all Travis could think was he was a damn lucky guy. He didn't have to clean this mess up afterwards. Travis was about to open his mouth to defend himself, something he thought he would be doing a hell of a lot more of should Coop stick around; that and arguing about everything. And then her words sunk in and things started to make sense in his chaotic world once again. Before Coop strolled into his life, Travis had been out to the clubs, taking home a girl if the chemistry was right but it was never a permanent thing and if they were still there in the morning, there was breakfast and a wave goodbye. He hadn't been looking for anything more than that and even when he met Coop he hadn't been sure he wanted anything at all from her. She'd been rude, she'd been crass, she'd been absolutely amazing; like no one he'd met in the city before. And then he stopped picking up at clubs when Coop was around more, he stopped going completely unless one of his friends needed a night out or a drink and he was available. He hadn't really been his scene in the first place so it wasn't difficult to give up.
 
And now a beautiful girl was tearing apart his office in a vain attempt to act like she hated him right down to the core when in fact she was completely jealous. It was an odd feeling, having someone he cared about be jealous he was spending time with someone else. It was a useless emotion in this case but it was what Coop was feeling, at least he thought so, so he was going to wisely keep his mouth shut. "Screwing someone... What?" He asked, utterly confused by that part. He had stopped picking up when he started seeing Coop. He most certainly was not that guy. His parents might not have raised him well, but his nanny raised him right. By the time he got his head around the last she things she said, she was already behind him and halfway down the hall. "I'll uh, we need to talk later." He said to the Irish half of the troublesome duo. Jack had spent her time in that office, leaning against a wall while Coop threw this and that all over, relieving her aggressions and she texted Vaughn about his sisters slippery hold on sanity, occasionally snapping a photo or two for proof later when he asked. With a grin, Jay pushed herself from the wall and shut the office door with a soft click when she left. Travis had no idea what he was getting himself into but she wished him luck all the same. When Travis finally caught up with Coop she was half way down the stairs to the next level. "Cooper. Hold on a god damn minute. What the fuck is going on here exactly?" He asked, even though he knew. He wanted to hear her say it.

Tag || Tennessee Rachel Cooper
Words || 908
Clothes || Mad Man!!
Music || Thinking Out Loud --Ed Sheeran
Notes || <3!

[Tennessee Rachel Cooper]

Coop never wanted a relationship. People seemed to think she was joking when she said she wanted to spend her life mostly in her own company. However, the truth was that she had come from a messed up background hidden only by her grandparent’s wealth and New York was her escape from that life. She never saw herself as the type of person to ‘complete’ another, and she certainly didn’t see the happy ever after promised by fairy tales. Although that was something she believed no one ever got, not just some fateful punishment reserved for herself. She hadn’t wanted anything from Travis. He had been an accident in the park that had stuck around even when she did her best to push him away. He was either a sucker for punishment or got some kind of enjoyment out of being insulted to his face. She hadn’t decided which yet.

She kept agreeing to go out when he asked in the hopes that one more time might get him out of her system, and because she had little else better to do. Jack and Vaughn were usually busy with their jobs or with school, and Coop, honestly, wasn’t all that interested in college anymore. She was an academic girl, but she was never going to be the person to help someone with their problems and evaluate their mental state. Psychology had been a choice she made to get her grandparents off her back, but it was never going to be her career; not unless she could find some twisted region to combine knowledge of the mind with her cynical view of human nature. That part of her wasn’t about to change for anyone, least of all some guy who was stuck in her head like some parasite, leeching off her thoughts and feelings.

Cooper didn’t care who else saw the state of Travis’ office after her little whirlwind of destruction in there. She thought he deserved every last bit of it, even when Jay seemed to be acting all nonchalant about it and Travis seemed to click onto something that he hadn’t realised a moment before. “Shove your plant.” She growled before she pushed past him and raced out of there. Something in her gut told her that she didn’t want to hang about any longer. Travis should be occupied with cleaning up her mess for a while and she doubted he’d be all that pleased with her by the time he was done…maybe this would be exactly what she had been telling herself she had wanted for a long time now. Maybe he’d leave her alone after this. Maybe he’d realise that she was a nightmare who wasn’t worth the effort of chasing down every time she took off. She had her fingers crossed as she tugged the door open to the stairwell, but there was a knot in the pit of her stomach that seemed to be quietly arguing back against those thoughts. Coop shook her head as the door slammed shut behind her. She didn’t even want to contemplate the idea that she might miss him, and instead took to the stairs at speed.

She didn’t expect Travis to be hot on her heels though, or at least she thought she might make it a few more floors before he caught up with her. She was tempted to ignore him, and just keep on running, but there were several more flights of stairs and she doubted he would give up if she reached the bottom before he did. She took a deep breath, but only glanced back over her shoulder at him to start with. “You seem surprised and yet I told right at the beginning that I was messed up.” She smirked, flicking her eyes up and then turned just enough to face him. Coop shrugged. She didn’t want to admit to anything. She didn’t even know what she would be admitting to. The feelings curdling inside of her were not the kind she was at all familiar with and the only one she was comfortable with was the rage that helped her destroy most of his office. And she could feel it rising again. “But that up there is what you get for running off after chuckling at your bloody phone time and time again and saying ne’er a word about it!” Coop wasn’t shouldering the responsibility for this. Travis had pissed her off to trigger this. “And I don’t play well with others. I especially don’t share well. So piss off.” It was the closest to an emotional conversation Coop had ever come; sober or drunk. Travis could take it or leave it because she was saying nothing more on the matter. She was hoping he would leave it, and her, alone.

• • •

TAGGED! Travis Mason Merrick (and Jack! xD)
WORDS! 802!
OUTFIT! Crazy Cynic!
LYRICS! A Love Like War - - - All Time Low
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Travis Mason Merrick]

Life for a cardiologist wasn’t exactly an easy one. Travis had long hours, he was almost always on call and it was usually a bad idea to make any real plans in case he had to cancel them or run off in the middle of them because he was being called in. It was a pain in the ass, especially when he was out with Coop but it was what he’d chosen when he’d been in school. He had wanted to become a doctor and when he’d had to specialise, he’d chosen Cardiology. Saving lives was what Travis had wanted from a young age, when he’d been standing on that street corner back home in Australia and watched as the paramedics saved the lives of those injured in the car accident.

Coop had changed things for Travis. He had never really be fond of clubs and bars, only really going before if needed to let off some steam or if a friend needed a night out to unwind. Coop agreeing to movies and meals had Travis only ever going to clubs and bars when his friends wanted a night out. He had what he was looking for in the feisty English girl. She kept him on his toes and was constantly saying she wasn’t interested in him while she was still going out with him. She was constantly giving him a headache, he couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on in her head but he still liked her. There was just something about her that had him going back for more and it wasn’t the fact that she for all intents and purposes was quite the broken person. Underneath it all, really deep down in a box in a recess she probably didn’t even know existed, she was actually kind of sweet. Not that she would ever admit to it and Travis was not about to bring it up either. He was a doctor and going into a patient’s room with a couple black eyes wasn’t exactly professional.

Travis followed Coop out and into the stairwell because there was no way he was letting her go without hashing this out. It was ridiculous to even think about letting her go whilst she was mad at him when he had actually done nothing wrong. It would have been different if he’d been guilty of something, of anything but he wasn’t. He ignored what she said when he stopped her in the stairwell. It was pointless to try and reason with that because she had said she was all wrong for him. It had never stopped him but he had to admit, she had warned him. “I was laughing at Denver. He’s a pediatrician here and we’ve got a patient in common who isn’t in the best of conditions but she’s cracking jokes constantly.” He said, pulling his phone from his pocket and shaking it. “I guess it’s lucky for you, you don’t have to share me, Coop.” He said, taking his life in his own hands and pulling Coop against him. “I realise for you this is probably hard to believe but there’s no one else but you.”

Tag || Tennessee Rachel Cooper
Words || 577
Clothes || Mad Man!!
Music || Thinking Out Loud --Ed Sheeran
Notes || <3!

[Tennessee Rachel Cooper]

Coop wasn’t demanding. She wasn’t at the hospital because of cancelled plans or because she never saw Travis. None of that had fuelled her to ransacking his office and destroying what was probably hospital property. Hell, if she wanted to get inside her own head and put some of her psychology classes to practice she might find that it had very little to do with Travis at all and a great deal to do with herself instead. Coop made a point of not overthinking things though and she often stayed out of her own thoughts because she already knew that they were a dangerous place to be. Feelings could be found buried deep there, and admissions of truths could surface if she pushed beyond the layers of sarcasm and anger. Neither were things Coop particularly wanted in her life; just like she said she didn’t want relationships or the companionship of a soulmate. Urgh, the very word made her want to balk. Travis was not that to her. Nope. Not at all.

She didn’t care what it might look like to other people, they were not a couple. Today was not a fit of jealous rage and she was not at all inclined to believe that she had feelings for the cardiologist. It was just that he infuriated her so much at times, messed with her head in a way that she couldn’t explain and she hated him when he wore that smug smirk. Smug was how she defined it anyway, and all she ever wanted to do was wipe it from his face one way or another. She glanced around at the stairwell, wondering why it was so chillingly sterile as the wards themselves. “I fucking hate hospitals.” She mumbled, folding her arms across her chest and glaring back at Travis. There was no way in hell Cooper was going to feel bad about what had happened today. She wasn’t the type, even when she was the one in the wrong – something else she never admitted to. “I hate them and you bloody made me come here to get a damn answer. Mysterious doesn’t suit you, arsehat, and it doesn’t sit well with me!” Of course, Travis would still be blamed for all of this. Cooper was pissed at him after all for making her feel something she didn’t want to feel and come to a building she loathed more than any other on the planet.

Cooper squirmed when Travis pulled her against him. Unless she was in a club or trying to be flirty, she didn’t do cuddles or up close and personal with anyone. Hell, Jay was her best friend and she didn’t think there had been more than a handful of hugs in exceptional circumstances shared between them! “Well find someone else!” She told him, resting her hands on Travis’ chest to push him away, but almost all of her energy seemed to have been zapped away after destroying his office. All she managed was to apply some pressure before her fingers curled around the material instead. Coop had to force them open again. She sighed with frustration and let her dark eyes find his again. “Let me go, Travis.”

• • •

TAGGED! Travis Mason Merrick
WORDS! 542!
OUTFIT! Crazy Cynic!
LYRICS! A Love Like War - - - All Time Low
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Travis Mason Merrick]

The irony that Travis had turned out to be a doctor didn’t go unnoticed to the cardiologist. He’d been terrified of doctors and hospitals and needles and even nurses when he’d been a child. Travis had actually thought as a kid that he would actually become a pro-skateboarder or something equally outlandish; something that his parents wouldn’t approve of. He’d been a little rebel back then, dead set against doing anything that might please them. And then he went and did exactly what his sister did before him; found himself with a career that would please any parent’s socks off. Not that they actually gave a damn, especially since he didn’t stick around Stirling. That had been the point his parents decided to forget they had a son again because he’d chosen to say goodbye to Australia and hello to the United States.

Ex-patriotism was just not allowed in the Merrick household though, thankfully his sister was far more progressive and didn’t give a damn where her little brother lived, only that he was happy and following his dreams. She’d done as much and though they’d led her straight back to Stirling with a husband and two adorable children, she didn’t begrudge her little brother his choice. He’d wanted to get out from under his parent’s thumbs and he’d managed to do just that. Maybe one day he would go back but it wasn’t that time yet. “It was completely unintentional. And I hate them, too.” He wasn’t fond of the underlying smell of death. It was depressing even if he was there to make sure that particular nonexistent smell didn’t get stronger thanks to him and sloppy work. “Plus nothing ever sits well with you unless there’s tequila involved. I’ve figured that much out!”

Chasing Cooper down wasn’t what he’d had planned for the day. He’d hadn’t actually planned having to leave her at the restaurant either but things came up when one was a doctor. He was going to miss meals and important dates and lunches. He was going to run late or have to run off in the middle of something. It was inevitable. But he also knew better than to hug Coop. He’d been warned against it a hundred times, at least. It hadn’t stopped him from doing it but he’d been warned all the same. So suffer the consequences, whatever they may be. Really, the worst she could do was push him away, yell in his face and storm off. He was prepared for that. “I really don’t feel like it.” He said casually. He felt her hands tighten in his shirt but knew better than to say anything about it, lest he get a punch in the face. “Are you going to run away?” He asked, instead of doing as he’d been asked. He was not about to let her go until she answered that question.

Tag || Tennessee Rachel Cooper
Words || 548
Clothes || Mad Man!!
Music || Thinking Out Loud --Ed Sheeran
Notes || <3!

[Tennessee Rachel Cooper]

Coop was still in college, her studies in psychology interesting her but barely enough to make her think of her future. She wasn’t going to sit in a leather chair and listen to people’s problems. She couldn’t do that. She’d last about thirty seconds before she snapped and told them to get over themselves or something else that was entirely unprofessional. No, it was a subject she chose because she might actually be able to tolerate four years of it, and because her grandparents were paying her tuition and they wouldn’t pay for something they didn’t approve of. Let them think she might have some blossoming career helping people at the end of it all, but it would never happen. She could be many things, but a strict professional was not one of them. Let her family think what they will of her, but Coop would never be someone she wasn’t.

She wasn’t afraid of making enemies. She also wasn’t afraid of letting her grandparents down again. She had done it countless times in the past when she was growing up and she could do it again and again. Of course, in the past it had been scaling the walls of her boarding school to escape and sneak out to find entertainment in the local towns. Or there was the one time she had taken a train to Scotland just because she wasn’t willing to play nice with her grandparent’s friends at some big dinner they wanted to throw for the twin’s sixteenth birthday party. No one had listened to her own desires so she had rebelled as much as she could to try to make a point. Eventually it just became expected of her. “Well maybe you should have thought of that before you made it your place of work.” She snapped, a dark look still in her eyes. Rolling her eyes, she sighed in annoyance. “That’s not true. Even with tequila I’m still pissed off.” She grumbled, making a silent wish that she had a bottle of something strong right now. It would make this conversation a hell of a lot easier.

At least if she had alcohol she wouldn’t have to make a lick of sense. She could stumble her way through this and there wouldn’t be a need to think about it, listen to a thing Travis was saying, or respond with anything he wanted to hear. Jay should have bought a bottle with her for when they were smashing up the office. “Why do you have to be so bloody difficult?!” She asked angrily, wishing Travis wasn’t making this so damn bothersome. Yet he was. He always did. She looked up at him again and swallowed hard, dark eyes staring deep into his. “I’ll never stop. Don’t you already know that?” She asked quietly with just the hint of a cynical smirk tugging at her lips. She moved to struggle in his hold again, but Travis’ grip was too tight. It was either that or Coop wasn’t putting up as much of a fight as she was telling herself to.

• • •

TAGGED! Travis Mason Merrick
WORDS! 523!
OUTFIT! Crazy Cynic!
LYRICS! A Love Like War - - - All Time Low
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Travis Mason Merrick]

It hadn't been too long since Travis had been in school. He still remembered the horror stories of his college life. He could still picture some of those nights as if they'd only happened the day before. But in none of those memories could he remember having half as much trouble with a woman as he had with Cooper lately. He had never met such a difficult woman in his life. And he had no idea why he was so invested either. She drove him completely mental and yet it was just like being addicted to a drug; he couldn't get enough of her. He didn't know if it was because they clashed so much but moved together so well or if he was just attracted to that feisty personality. Or maybe it was just that she was incredible when she let her guard down when she was asleep. She looked so vulnerable and Travis wanted to know what had happened to her to turn her into the ice queen she thought she was. Because the second she was out, she curled into his side like a koala bear, instinctively turning towards heat and affection of another person. And she obviously didn't know she did it or Travis knew she'd be hugging the edge of the bed they shared more nights than they didn't.

Travis didn't know much for certain but he did know that if Coop would just let herself relax, they could take on the world. They were like magnets, constantly moving towards each other whenever they were in the same room. She fought it and it was obvious that she did but at the end of it, they were stuck together; usually with their clothes being tossed in every direction. They were electric and Travis just wanted Coop to admit to it. Yes, he had chosen a difficult career, one that kept seeing him apologise for cancelling dates or hanging up in the middle of phone calls because he'd been paged. He tried to make up for it all, but sometimes, he knew it just wasn't enough. It was why until Coop, he'd kept most of his relationships pretty casual; a string or two but ones that were tied in slipknots and easy enough to undo. "It was my place of work before I met you." He pointed out lightly enough. Aside from leaving their lunch date early, he didn't see how he'd done anything wrong. She knew he was always talking to the nurses who were watching over his patients. He liked having regular updates and knowing immediately when things were looking up or if he needed to get to the hospital ten minutes ago because someone went south. Travis raised his brow but he didn't say anything to argue with the woman standing in front of him.

Travis didn't want to cause a scene in the hospital. It wasn't that it was where he worked and the rumour mill would be spitting out bullshit the second he was out of the hall or room. He couldn't care less about what his colleagues were saying about him. He was more concerned with the patients. They were already dealing with so much that he genuinely didn't want to add anymore stress to their recoveries. Some he knew would thrive on the gossip, like old Mrs Crocker who'd been recovering nicely from her double bypass just down the hall from his office but the rest didn't need it. "I guess you just got lucky with me." He told her. He knew it would probably piss her off more but he liked her feisty. "Cooper, do me a favour a shut the hell up for five minutes." He asked, practically begged her before making sure she did as she was told for once in her life and crushed his lips to hers even as he pulled her tighter against him, turning them both just enough to have Coop sandwiched between the railing and his own body.

Tag || Tennessee Rachel Cooper
Words || 667
Clothes || Mad Man!!
Music || Thinking Out Loud --Ed Sheeran
Notes || <3!

[Tennessee Rachel Cooper]

Cooper knew she wasn’t easy to get along with. She was deliberately that way, and should anyone get too close she did everything in her power to push them back. Her childhood had been a catastrophic mess of being let down by the people who were supposed to give a damn about her. Annabelle was never around, or when she was she treated Coop like a real life doll, casting her aside once she was bored of playing mummy. Her grandparents saw her as a way to make up for what they had done wrong with Annabelle, and that meant that they did what they wanted and expected, but never gave one shred of thought to what Coop actually wanted. She didn’t want to have a pink bedroom, or have a new rocking horse. She had wanted blue, and a new bike. Vaughn was the only person who understood these things and it was only because he was often in the same boat as her. He was listened to more though because, as a boy, he wasn’t seen as the replacement Annabelle by their grandparents. In the end, being a bitch, acting out, and turning her back on the world was how Coop had gained the freedom she had. However, it had also resulted in a deeply rooted belief that everyone who got close to her would let her down or try to change her from the person she wanted to be.

Travis hadn’t done that, but then again there was a lot about her he still didn’t know. There was a lot many people didn’t know about Coop. She loved the freedom of camping out in the middle of nowhere. Wildflowers were her favourite because they could be anything, grow any way, and always reminded her of an adventure. She liked being warm because it was safe; be it a hot drink, a baggy jumper, or even curling up in her sleep to Travis – but he’d never hear that from her. Her freckles made her feel like she was six again, just a kid who shouldn’t be listened to, so she hated them. Coop had a million little secrets about herself that she never shared with anyone else. Often she might pretend like they weren’t even a thing to her, despite the smile threatening to tug at the corner of her mouth, or the way she would launch out of the bed the second she realised she was pressed against Travis. “Yet you hate it.” She grumbled, closing her eyes and letting out a tired sigh. Her head was starting to hurt. “And I hate you.” She didn’t, of course she didn’t, but it was another way Coop was trying to make Travis go away. She was convinced she needed him gone from her life because it would just be easier to exist if he wasn’t there, constantly making her want to remove his clothes and have her way with him.

Cooper didn’t give a damn what the world thought of her. She knew people called her an Ice Queen when she wasn’t around, or a bitch when they had seen her bad side. She didn’t care. That was why she hadn’t been afraid of causing such a scene at the hospital either. Let them carry her out and call for security after she destroyed his office. It would have been worth it. That hadn’t happened though, and the only person to chase her had been Travis himself. She didn’t even know where Jay had ended up, and right now she didn’t care. “Cursed is the word I’d use.” She grumbled with a cold glare. Coop did not let anyone have the last word in an argument if she could help it. She even had something else to say when Travis told her to shut up, but his lips crashed against hers before she had a chance to speak. Feeling the railing against the small of her back, Coop pressed back against Travis, pulling harshly at his clothes. Kissing him always made her act wickedly, and she didn’t care about where they were.

• • •

TAGGED! Travis Mason Merrick
WORDS! 690!
OUTFIT! Crazy Cynic!
LYRICS! A Love Like War - - - All Time Low
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Travis Mason Merrick]

Travis wasn't normally one to skip out on plans, especially when he was looking forward to them. But some things just couldn't be helped. He was a doctor, one that was constantly on call because his patients really did matter to him. He wanted to be the kind of doctor his patients could trust, could put their faith in. His boss might have been a coldhearted stubborn and difficult ass but she was the best of the best and Travis had to admit, he was learning from her; even if she had made one of their colleagues cry. She was intimidating but Travis wasn't scared. He was probably the only one who wasn't and that was fine, too. It meant he would get further than the people aiming for the same job he was chasing after. When the nurse had let him know what was going on it took everything he had to get up and walk away from Coop.

He obviously hadn't want to but he'd also had no choice. It was his patient and he wanted to prove he was worth his weight. It was run to the hospital or find his head on the chopping block. Loosing his job was not something he was looking for so he went. And he knew he would have to make it up to Coop in a really big way. The only problem he'd had was figuring out what that big way was. She wasn't like any of the women he'd dated in the past, she was different, difficult even. He'd known he'd gotten under her skin, knew she did like him though he couldn't have placed what exactly led him to believe that. He didn't, however, know how hard she would take his leaving during their date. If he would have been able to explain to her what was going on, he would have but he didn't think it would have made much of a difference.

What Travis hadn't expected was the tornado that went through his office. Or that he would have to chase Coop through the halls of the hospital just to get her to stop for a second. Travis smirked. "No, you don’t." He informed her. He knew better and he hadn't needed Jack's subtle hints to tell him that. Kissing Coop always made him feel like nothing else mattered, especially when she leaned into him and tore away at him like feeling his skin against hers was all that mattered. He didn't really want to stop what they were doing but they were in the stairwell and even though it was public and only the staff ever seemed to use it, people did use it. And they couldn't be caught making out like horny teenagers in the middle of it. "Come on, let's go." He said against her lips, barely moving away enough to make the words coherent.

Tag || Tennessee Rachel Cooper
Words || 482
Clothes || Mad Man!!
Music || Thinking Out Loud --Ed Sheeran
Notes || <3!

[Tennessee Rachel Cooper]

Despite having money in the family, Coop had to fight to be who she wanted to be. Her mother wanted her to be just like her, while her grandparents had tried to mould her into the complete opposite. Coop hadn’t wanted to be either. Even now she was aggressive and stubborn just so she could be the potty mouth tomboy she had always wanted to be without anyone getting on her back about it. She cared about very few other people, but Coop wasn’t entirely a selfish person. She was just uninterested in the giddiness that so many other people found thrilling. She didn’t want gossip or to giggle about cute boys in the corner. Coop wasn’t that person. If she wanted something she went and took it and then tossed it aside once she was done with it. She acted on impulse and was often guided by her emotions which were mostly anger and frustration. It was pretty impossible for a day to go by without something getting under her skin and annoying the hell out of her.

That was also why she had no interest in sharing her story with other people. She didn’t want to waste her time having people try to shape her into their perfect doll like Annabelle and her grandparents had done. She was only going to disappoint them when she defied them. It was just easier not to let them get close in the first place. She didn’t answer questions when people asked them, and she didn’t want anyone to have something they could hold over her. No one had been there for her in her life besides Vaughn, and then later her partner in crime, Jay. There was still so much that even Jay didn’t know though. With Travis she loathed how he made her feel. She didn’t like wanting to be around him so much. She hated how she woke up with him, tangled together in his bed like she belonged there. She wished she could change that or at least make him hate her. Hell, she had just trashed his office and he wasn’t screaming at her, calling her crazy or telling her to get the hell out and never come back. She couldn’t understand why he wasn’t flipping out at her yet!

“I hate how you make me feel.” She breathed against his lips, biting them hard as though she hoped to hurt him for how he kissed her and made her lose control. She twisted his shirt more in her fists, torn between hitting him and wanting to rip the fabric off him right thre in the stairwell. “I’m still pissed at you. I’m always so fucking pissed at you.” Coop wanted Travis, but at the same time she wished he would go far, far away. Her head was foggy from the kiss, and her heart was racing, but she also just wanted to punch him until he ran away or begged her to stop. Coop didn’t know what she wanted, but she tugged at Travis’ hair, and kissed him fiercely again.

• • •

TAGGED! Travis Mason Merrick (and Jack! xD)
WORDS! 518!
OUTFIT! Crazy Cynic!
LYRICS! A Love Like War - - - All Time Low
NOTES! <3 <3 <3