• Devil in Your Smile •

[Zoe Diana Tylers]

Zoe had done her fair share of being irresponsible in the last year. Not being tied down anywhere, she had the freedom to do or be whoever she wanted to. She made sure not to let her little antics interfere with her professional life, but she also didn’t shy away from having fun like she had before. Her closet slowly transformed into something she knew her mother would cringe at, full of tinier dresses and a few pairs of heels that Zoe had finally learned how to walk in. She could hold her own at a bar now, and had her few favorite drinks that she’d developed a taste for after not indulging for so long. It was a much more relaxed life, one where she wasn’t running around worried about the sky falling; she could sit back and enjoy an evening without stress. She loved it.
Coming back to New York, there was on person Zoe was beyond excited to see: Ember. While she may have left in a whirlwind, she had made sure to keep in touch with her best friend. There was no way she would’ve gotten out of leaving without talking to her; she was sure she would have been hunted down and kidnapped had she not answered the phone eventually. Ember had never been one to let her go without question, after all. She’d tried her best to keep in touch with her best friend, checking in and sending photos of her adventures throughout the South whenever she remembered. It was hard for Zoe to open up about what had happened, even to Ember, and talking with her only brought up memories of the place she’d been running from. Still, she tried, and she’d been more than happy to announce her return to New York the moment she knew it was official.
Zoe hadn’t told Ember everything; hadn’t told anyone really, not even her mother. She’d left the apartment that night and hadn’t looked back, not even to stop and say goodbye to her then maid of honor and best friend. It had definitely left a lot of loose ends, a bronze-haired, literature-loving one in particular, but she was back to face the mess she’d made and maybe clean up whatever she could.
For one of her first nights back in the big city, Zoe knew she needed to spend it out exploring the clubs and streets she’d once been so afraid of. She’d never taken advantage of the crazy city life before, and she would be damned if she was going to miss out on it again. Sure, she’d gone out with Ember before, but this was the new her, the fun her, and she fully intended on enjoying herself before she fell into her guest lectures at NYU.
She’d sent a text to Ember and they’d agreed on a club to meet at earlier in the day. Zoe took her time primping in her hotel room, doing up her hair and makeup the way she knew made her look pretty. She had learned to embrace herself now and took confidence in the fact that her blonde hair was gorgeous, and her eyes could flirt better than her lips ever could. She slid into her favorite pair of heels and fastened the thin strap around her ankle. It hit just perfectly to reveal her tattoo and Zoe took a moment to run her fingers over the piece of ink. She traced the outline of the horseshoe reverently before continuing with the rest of her getting ready.
Eventually, Zoe made it out and took a cab to the club where she was meeting her friend. Her eyes took in the streets as the car zipped by old favorite buildings and places she’d once loved and, before long, she found herself climbing out of the cab and strutting easily into the Marquee. Without hesitation, Zoe found herself at the bar and ordered her first drink of the night, a smile on her painted lips while she took in the crowds of people around her.
Now she just had to find Ember.

• • •

TAG: Ember Thistle Grant
WORDS: 685!
OUTFIT: Sexy Country Mouse
LOCATION: Way Too Drunk, The Marquee
LYRICS: Ready to Run by One Direction
NOTES: <3 <3 <3

[Ember Thistle Grant]

When Zoe had left New York, Ember had been beyond shocked. There had been several angry voicemails left clogging up the phone of her best friend, all with Ember shouting and demanding to know what the hell was going on and why. She had even held a grudge for a while, bitter about the whirlwind exit that was never properly explained to her. She was starting to notice a pattern in her life of people vanishing in some way or another and she was becoming very tired of it. It wasn’t like she had a big circle of people she liked to start with. It was tiny, and it pissed her off to no end when they started vanishing into thin air like there was a magician taunting Ember with his magic tricks every time she let her guard down. It only made her typical bad mood worse. She became more of a sour presence in her father’s office, and her scowl was closer to permanent. Of course, breaking up with Brendan after one fight too many didn’t help either. They were a powerful force together, but they as bad for each other as they were bad. Ember hated realising that, but he had belonged with the NYPD, and she wouldn’t stand in the way of that, just like he understood Ember couldn’t be expected to change for him.

It was something she actually liked about herself. She didn’t change. Ember had always remained herself. She was New York through and through, and if people didn’t like it then they knew where the door was. She wasn’t the type to plead and beg them to stay. She made it clear when she met someone what type of person she was; it was up to them to decide if they wanted to stick around or run away the second their business was through with her. She wasn’t ashamed of her history with the streets and the back alleys. She didn’t care if she hadn’t grown up with the wealth her father had. She might have had access to it all now, but Ember wasn’t swayed by riches. She was still a wild party girl who could find trouble without really trying. She preferred danger over brunch, and would take shots at a bar over champagne at some fancy function. Zoe really wasn’t going to find that much different about her fellow blonde.

Ember was hoping for some answers though, even if tonight was about having fun and drinks. She was naturally blunt, and never the type to keep quiet for too long. Changing into a new dress and a pair of skyscraper heels she really didn’t need with her natural height, Ember got ready in her apartment with a drink of vodka and coke. Getting ready for a night out was something she could do on autopilot by now, but Ember still put the effort in. Her hair was big, her make-up was flawless and smoky, and by the time she left her penthouse she was ready for more drinks and dancing.

She got to the Marquee before Zoe, but the figured she might. She headed to the bar and got herself a cocktail and passed the time by flirting with a tall, dark haired stranger who seemed to think he was in for the night when Ember returned his advances with a smirk and a bat of her eyelashes. She’d be bored with him in a little while, and he’d be cast back off to his friends once Zoe came along, but until then he was company to pass the time as her drink went down and the minutes ticked by.

• • •

TAGGED! Zoe Diana Tylers
WORDS! 611!
OUTFIT! Sequins and Skin!
LYRICS! Freak Like Me - - - Halestorm
NOTES!

[Zoe Diana Tylers]

Zoe had missed Ember. She may have been busy doing her soul searching and working on bettering herself, but she had still been lonely journeying across the South for a year. It got boring going to bars with people you’d just met; she longed for the safety of having someone she knew there, and someone who could enjoy the trouble with her instead of watching as things went up in flames. For how different they were, she still considered the girl one of her best friends and she had missed getting to spend quality time with her rather than short phone calls or texts.
Throughout her adventures of the last year, Zoe had found her confidence. That was what had changed about the country mouse. She was proud of herself, and wasn’t afraid to say it; she was happy in her own skin after two decades of wondering why she was so short and awkward. It was a change that needed to happen if Zoe wanted to succeed in her career. She needed to trust herself enough to make decisions without question and to challenge opinions in order to stick up for her patients, a job any vet took as serious as a heart attack. Now, without hesitation, she could say she was ready for that; she was ready to step into the spotlight and embrace herself.
She was a little scared of what Ember would say to her now that they were reunited. Her departure had been a tad unexpected, and she’d abandoned everything in New York, including her friend, without looking back. Zoe knew to expect the honest truth from Ember, something she had grown to love over their few years of friendship. Ember wouldn’t hold anything back from her and she was thankful for that; she needed someone to tell her how stupid she’d been for leaving and how absolutely insane it was that she’d vanished only to return with a tattoo, the ability to walk in heels, and a bigger appreciation for the city. It was one of the reasons she was proud to call the girl her best friend.
At the bar of the Marquee, Zoe gratefully took her mojito from the guy behind the counter and sipped at the drink. This was one of her favorite discoveries over the last year, and she loved trying all the alcoholic concoctions local bars came up with down South, though a classic mojito was slowly becoming her signature drink.
She turned her bright eyes out to the crowd and it didn’t take her long to spot her best friend, already chatting up a guy it seemed. Zoe couldn’t help a smile from lighting up her face as she strutted through the mass of people, ducking out of the way of a tall guy being dragged off by an already plastered young lady as she wove her way towards Ember. Not caring if she was interrupting, she appeared beside the guy near her and teased, with an expression of mock shock, "I’ve barely gotten here and you’re replacing me already?”

• • •

TAG: Ember Thistle Grant
WORDS: 513!
OUTFIT: Sexy Country Mouse
LOCATION: Way Too Drunk, The Marquee
LYRICS: Ready to Run by One Direction
NOTES: <3 <3 <3

[Ember Thistle Grant]

Ember had never been the shy type. There had been no time for it in her life. Being meek was not how someone survived as long as Ember had. Take away her HCM, the near death experiences her heart had given to her, and even then Ember had been through and seen enough that would put most people in a prison cell or a hole in the ground. She was in neither. She had a penthouse apartment and a whole company waiting for her to take over ever since Andrew had vanished into the ether. If he ever showed up again, she made no promises about showing him a hole in the ground. Blood was not thicker than water. Ember’s whole life had taught her that much, and she wasn’t to be convinced otherwise. Family was a fickle thing, and friends were fickler still. The tall, tough blonde really only trusted and relied upon herself, and if that made her cynical then she could live with that. There were worse things in the world to be; dead was one of them, a fool was the other.

Proud and fierce, Ember would be stubborn until the day she did finally accept The Reaper’s offer to go with him. She held grudges, and she dragged up the past whenever it suited her. Like a dog with a bone, she did not let go of something when she had her teeth in it, and she hoped Zoe realised that. Ember was not going to let go of this whole vanishing act her best friend had pulled. Ever. Even when she had the answers to the questions she asked, and even after the dust had settled, Ember would still find those moments and opportunities to remind a room of the time Zoe ran away. She did it for a whole hoard of reasons, and one might not be the same next time. Like most things Ember did though, she wasn’t the type to explain it. Let the people wonder, let them get frustrated. She didn’t give a damn. Throughout her whole life she hadn’t answered to anyone else, and the tall blonde in the skyscraper heels was not about to start now.

Ember was just about to make a crude, flirtatious remark to the man who was her temporary company, when that familiar southern voice came up at her side. She gave Zoe a sideways glance, and sipped casually at her drink before she responded, by no means rushing to answer her friend. “Well, you are a flight risk.” Ember said coolly, turning her back on the guy like she always knew she would, and casually leaning one hand on the bar. “Who knows if you’ll still be in the city come midnight?” Maybe it was a little harsh, and maybe the Marquee was not the place for this, but Ember was forward when she didn’t even try to be. This conversation had been a long time coming, and really, until it had happened and been shoved out of the way, Ember wouldn’t be able to start letting go of it.

• • •

TAGGED! Zoe Diana Tylers
WORDS! 521!
OUTFIT! Sequins and Skin!
LYRICS! Freak Like Me - - - Halestorm
NOTES!

[Zoe Diana Tylers]

Zoe would be back for a little while, at least. She had been invited to work for the university and, while she knew that job was very temporary and held no promise of a future for her, it would keep her tied down for a couple of months. They’d helped her find a short lease and had given her enough assistance to re-establish herself in the big city, meaning Ms. Tylers was officially a New Yorker once again. Well, for now. There had always only been one person who could keep her cowboy boots planted in the bustling streets and, unless some kind of miracle happened with him, Zoe wasn’t sure where she’d be after her time at NYU was done. She wasn’t contracted for very long, but she knew she could find work somewhere in the city if she was so inclined. She just didn’t know if she wanted to stay.
At 26, she probably should’ve been trying to get her life together. She had graduated college, had decent enough work experience under her belt for her alma mater to want her to come back and lecture, and had a good amount of savings holed away, even after taking out her student loan payments. On the outside, her life was pretty okay. She knew she wanted to be a vet; she’d been clinging to that one piece of normality through college, falling in love, and running away. It was the rest of it that she was trying to figure out. Zoe wasn’t sure what she was doing with herself anymore, whether it was finding a stable job in the city or returning to the South to continue working with the horses whose freedom she envied with her entire soul nowadays. New York had once been the place she ran in order to find herself and, apparently, old habits die hard as she’d found herself there once again.
Zoe now stood before Ember as the sexy, confident country mouse who had learned to keep up the appearance that everything was fine. She was okay; she had to be okay, always. Rolling her eyes at the jibe, she pressed her glossed lips to the rim of her glass and took another gulp of the alcohol she’d learned to depend on to keep herself sane. "Oh please, ya’ve at least got me until NYU tears up my contract,” she quipped and slid herself up onto the bar stool beside Ember. A wide smile was on her lips as she looked over the always stunning blonde she proudly called her best friend. In their time apart, a multitude of things had changed and Zoe was ready for the barrage of questions she’d no doubt eventually face, but she was happy to see Ember as, well, Ember. She wasn’t that different from the girl Zoe had left behind when she’d run. "How’s New York been, Ember?” She took another drink of her mojito and tapped her polished nails against the glass.

• • •

TAG: Ember Thistle Grant
WORDS: 499!
OUTFIT: Sexy Country Mouse
LOCATION: Way Too Drunk, The Marquee
LYRICS: Ready to Run by One Direction
NOTES: <3 <3 <3

[Ember Thistle Grant]

Nothing could pull Ember away from New York City. It was a part of her just like she was a part of it. Even if her father’s business and her future was based somewhere else, the fiery blonde still wouldn’t find a reason to leave the concrete jungle she called home. It was her playground, and she knew how to rule the climbing frame better than anyone else in high heels and motorbike leathers. She had ran with the wild things since she was a skinny little thing, and growing up in some of New York’s darker corners meant that Ember felt more connected to the city she viewed from her penthouse windows than she could ever begin to explain. She might have had luxury and wealth now, but she felt more at home in a bar brawl and toeing the wrong side of the line of the law. That was who she really was as the illegitimate Grant daughter; she would never be the responsible blonde with all the right words ready. She was fire personified, and most of her acquaintances still ran the streets and had spent some time behind jail bars. That was the world she had come from before daddy dearest took an interest. Ember didn’t lose loyalty as fast as some, and money didn’t sway her like it might others. She understood how the city worked, and that meant more to her than her father’s notion of family.

She was tired of hearing now how she ought to have been focusing more on the business, paying attention to the details she only glanced at in previous years. Ember, however, was keen and at the same time bored. The company had worked the same way for years, and she knew it. Just because she didn’t memorise it to the point where it invaded her dreams gave her father cause for concern. He simply couldn’t see that his only current heir wasn’t the type who would waste her life behind an office desk. Ember was not going to be there day in and day out burning the midnight oil just to make sure everything worked like it should. Her father didn’t see that Ember’s tasks were achieved on time because people were scared of her. It hadn’t been intentional, but news travels fast once a person explodes in someone’s face – which she had a chance of doing. Couple that with the power Ember held as the one who would inherit the company and soon people did what she needed faster than she needed to ask them. It worked, so she let it be.

“I’m sorry, but that means very little coming from someone who once said this was her home.” Ember could hold a grudge, even against her best friend on a celebratory night out. She wasn’t afraid to be a bitch from time to time, even if ‘from time to time’ was most of the time. “Besides, doesn’t lover boy go there now?” Ember sipped at her drink and raised a perfect eyebrow. She didn’t keep in touch with Romeo, had no reason to, but for such a large city familiar faces popped up in the strangest of places. They had spoken only twice, briefly, awkwardly, because Ember was not someone who did pleasantries or small talk. She shrugged her shoulders, and checked out the guy who leaned over the bar opposite her to order his drink. “New York is New York. It never changes, just gets busier.”

• • •

TAGGED! Zoe Diana Tylers
WORDS! 588!
OUTFIT! Sequins and Skin!
LYRICS! Freak Like Me - - - Halestorm
NOTES!

[Zoe Diana Tylers]

Zoe didn’t know where she belonged anymore. She had once thought it could be New York, content to be a country mouse who’d found her place in one of the biggest and most notoriously dangerous cities in the world. It had seemed like it could happen, and that she could be happy in a cramped apartment and fighting the traffic that never slept on the busy streets. She had thought she could call it home, and that she would be okay with putting away the side of herself that longed for open air and starry skies, that part that would always make her appreciate a quiet moment in the loud city. But, Zoe hadn’t been ready to give that up quite yet, not even if it meant marrying the love of her life. She hadn’t been ready to commit to New York living when she still had so much to do to please her cowgirl heart.

Deep down, she knew that her Tennessee blood would always run strong through her veins, reminding her just how much she didn’t belong in one place or the other. Her heart wasn’t in Tennessee, but someone else clearly didn’t want her in New York, and she’d been getting too wild for her own good living between cities and travelling with her job. Zoe needed to find a place where she could firmly plant her feet and start some new roots, ones that would keep her in the same spot for a while. She needed to stop running and face the demons that had been chasing her across the southern states of America.

Her lips twisted in a playful scowl as she heard Ember’s words, but Zoe only took another, long, sip of her drink. She always knew her friend would be mad at her; it was inevitable. How many times had Zoe called her out on running off into danger, only to turn around and do the exact same thing herself? "I don’t know where home is anymore,” she said with a sad smile, looking down into her glass at the alcohol that had been easing that truth from her mind for a long time now. Zoe didn’t know what she was doing anymore, and that was all there was to it.

At the mention of Romeo, Zoe’s smile quickly turned into a sour frown as the pain flashed in her usually bright blue eyes. If the were going to go down that path, she was going to need a lot more than one mojito. Before answering, she tipped the glass back, emptying the contents down her throat and waving towards the bartender for another. "I wouldn’t know. He isn’t speakin’ to me,” she finally said as another drink magically appeared before her. Zoe’s fingers gripped it tightly, memories of their encounter in that stupid coffee shop playing through her mind. She so wanted to make things right between them, but she had no idea how to get him to even look at her again, let alone forgive her. "Maybe ya were right about him, Em,” Zoe added quietly, not meeting her friend’s gaze. "Maybe I should’ve given him up a long time ago.”

A light laugh escaped her lips at Ember’s very accurate description of the city. It always seemed to get busier, even just day-to-day happenings. This truly was the city that never slept. "Cheers to that,” Zoe smiled, raising her glass towards her friend and wishing so much that life could go back to the way it was.

• • •

TAG: Ember Thistle Grant
WORDS: 592!
OUTFIT: Sexy Country Mouse
LOCATION: Way Too Drunk, The Marquee
LYRICS: Ready to Run by One Direction
NOTES: <3 <3 <3