junearmstrcng

[junearmstrcng]

conye-west‌:

connor’s baked mind was moving a thousand miles a minute. the fact that they were in a movie theater was only egging on his fantasy of him standing on a stage in front of thousands of cheering celebrities, holding up an oscar that read “june’s love and affection”. except in real life, he was holding june’s hand, which was way more awesome. no, they definitely should not go back to normal. finally everything he’d been needing to say was off his chest, and it was working in his favor. finally things seemed to be falling into place. even if they weren’t actually, the “seem” part was enough. 

“hey… that’s my line,” he joked with a matching grin, leaning over towards her until their lips met again. he had forgotten what kissing her felt like until now, a tidal wave of drunken memories that had since vanished since then tumbling back into his brain. it was the same, but different: not as swallowed up by shock as he was on new year’s, it was easier to take time to remember everything about the moment that made it so meaningful. the goonies in the background. the tendrils of joint smoke surrounding them. the smell of concession candy on june’s breath. the feeling of her lips on his. it was honestly perfect. lost for words as they pulled apart, he couldn’t help but chuckle, as the entire situation was better than a good dream. there was no waking up in disappointment from real life. 

june must’ve been on the same wavelength as connor, because her entire world had a dreamlike filter over it when she pulled away, and it was hard to believe she wasn’t going to wake up soon. her eyes stayed closed for a moment, memorizing the way it felt to finally kiss him again without the overwhelming haze of the dozen drinks they’d poisoned themselves with the first time. when she opened her eyes to connor chuckling and looking at her like she was something precious, her heart swelled and all at once, she felt like she was sixteen again, just like she had on new year’s. despite being knee deep in one of the most confusing situations her heart had ever experienced, she couldn’t think of a time she’d been happier.

“here, lemme-” she started, putting the long burnt-out joint on the cup in the next cup holder and clearing the space between them so she could move even just a little closer. she lifted his arm gently, a sign to put it around her shoulder, repositioning slightly so she could watch the movie better, huddled up against him. the jacket from the next seat over, a staple from june’s flannel collection, made a good blanket once she draped it over their laps. they already shared nearly everything, read: june constantly stole and mooched off of connor’s stuff and let him do the same in return, but not like this. not like june hoped they would. dinners in bed, arguments about their favorite eighties movies in the middle of the night, kisses hidden away at work; there were a million things she wanted to share with connor now. the fact that she was getting ahead of herself was pushed way, way to the back of her thoughts. shut up, mouth, the speakers blasted and june mouthed along to the scene. “of the coreys, feldman will always be my favorite,” she mused, her heartbeat easing slowly. “not as much as you, though.”

[junearmstrcng]

ingridmolder‌:

ingrid had already been at lisa’s house for a hot second, as she couldn’t help but enjoy the woman’s company– she was totally weird, and had the common decency to let her band practice in her garage, which was a rare find in the dingle community (both the common decency and the garage). sitting on the tatty couch brought some comfort to half the band bailing out, and she figured she might as well wait for june, who unfortunately hadn’t been replying to anything in the group chat for at least twenty minutes.

eyes darting from her phone to her friend creeping under the door, she couldn’t help but let out an entertained sigh, leaning her head back against the couch. “wouldn’t wanna get pulled over by the bike police,” she joked, sending a glance towards her bass that was still zipped up in its case. “i mean… we can,” she shrugged. “honestly, practice is probably useless without everyone here, but i’m willing to jam sesh. or we can find something else to do. i’ve been bored all week.”

june didn’t even bother going for the guitar she kept at lisa’s, instead leaving it behind the ancient tv in front of the couch. after taking off for practice without a guitar on her one too many times, only to have to turn her bike around halfway through the already long trip, she left one of her babies to live with lisa full time. band practice was like visitation, but it looked like they would be cutting it short today. “i do love fucking off and doing something else,” she conceded.

kicking up her feet onto the already filthy coffee table, june took the opportunity to relax before they fucked off to do something else. she was definitely getting her cardio in tonight. “we could go throw lettuce off the pier at the seagulls, see if they fight it out battle royale style? or we could get baked and go look at old records... really, the possibilities are endless,” she insisted, sending a cheesy grin ing’s way. “what do you feel like doin’?”

[junearmstrcng]

@ingridmolder

the quick and quickening steps of chuck taylors older than the average fourth grader announced the incoming june armstrong to the practice space and the band members she thought were there. when she actually slid under the half-open garage door, getting the legs and ass of her jeans seriously covered in dust and ant-hill dirt, she realized there was only one feminine figure sitting on the ratty couch in june’s boss’ garage. “aw man,” she said instinctively, knowing that when she unlocked her phone, there would be messages from the rest of the salem bitch trials bailing on practice. 

this was far from the first time june didn’t see the message saying practice was cancelled until she was already at lisa’s place, but it had to be the first time she wasn’t alone when she slid, rolled, or crawled under the garage door. “serves me right for not texting and biking. those dumb babies are killing me,” she complained, pouring herself into the couch next to ingrid. “looks like it’s just you and me, jive turkey. do you still wanna practice?”

[junearmstrcng]

conye-west‌:

connor couldn’t help the laugh bubbling up in his chest at the mere relief he felt at the sound of her coughing, for it gave the whole situation a sense of normality that he’d been desperately missing. now that he thought about it, he hadn’t smoked with june since new year’s, and he’d just realized how much that had been fucking with his psyche. but, what he was more surprised about was how simple it seemed to come out and say everything that had been on his mind. maybe it was because he had over a month to marinate in the awkwardness– maybe it was just because it was june. that didn’t stop his general fear of the future, though; pretty much every relationship he’d ever been in had started on a whim and ended because of his own insecurity, and he was just hoping his own brain could maybe cut him some slack on this one. as he listened to her words and took another hit, he was just thankful to be sitting next to her and having a real conversation again. sure, of course they’d talked since everything happened, but it wasn’t really real. just sharing jokes or small talk as if they were mere acquaintances. it was painful.

“i am sorry. i kept waiting for the perfect timing or whatever and then everything just kind of happened and i didn’t know what to do after that so i just… didn’t say anything,” he said, leaning on his shoulder as he turned more to face her. he was almost thankful that five weeks of weirdness had been present, otherwise he probably wouldn’t have the courage to say any of what he was saying to her. there was no telling how any of this could or would go– all he knew was that they had an obvious connection, june was really good at making him happy, and she was emotionally available. so what was the point of wasting any more time? he handed the joint back to her, never looking away from her face. “what if i don’t want to either?”

the knots in june’s stomach, which had set up camp after the first day they’d worked together and she’d felt how wrong things were, started to feel loose and fluttery, more like butterflies than the anxious mess of tightness it had been. the goonies was woefully forgotten in the background, plot still just winding up, but june was lost in an eighties movie of her own. time slowed down and june sort of regretted not doing this at home, where a simple minds song could actually be playing and not just nagging her thoughts when something momentous happened. the air around them buzzed with electricity, exactly like right before a first kiss even though she’d filled that one in at the start of the new year. what had been a hail mary that she’d fully expected to blow up right in her face was turning out to be something she would remember forever, no matter how it turned out. there was still the voice in the back of her head telling her it could still blow up in her face at any time, but when she reached out and took connor’s hand in hers to lace their fingers together, that voice shut right the fuck up.

what if i don’t want to either? the words rang in her head for a long moment, looking like she was deep in thought for a moment even though she was just trying to catalog this memory for later. “then we shouldn’t go back to normal,” she concluded, a rare, shy grin slowly fighting its way through the nerves and haze of the weed already thick around them. this was so different for them, even accounting for all of the things that were the same as they’d always been. before new year’s eve, she hadn’t thought about connor romantically since high school. she’d harbored a crush on him as soon as he’d taken her under his goofy wing in theatre, but that felt like so long ago. now, though, just meeting his eyes was enough to make her giddy with anticipation. she thought back to the memories she had of right after she’d cut her hand on nye, of kissing him in the bathroom while everyone else counted down outside. without realizing, she’d started to lean in closer to him, look darting from his eyes to his lips for a moment. “can i kiss you again?” she asked, quoting him directly when all other words failed her.

[junearmstrcng]

conye-west‌:

with a deep inhale, the end of the joint crackled alongside her words, and connor hoped that getting high would better equip him for what june was about to say. there was no telling how long this conversation would last, but based on the look on her face, it was obvious some type of shit was about to go down. serious shit. which he was never the best at dealing with. at the start of her little speech, he braced himself for the worst, handing the joint back and wishing she just hadn’t remembered anything– maybe everything would’ve been easier that way. not for him, of course, but for the future of their friendship.

however, “you’re my favorite” was echoing in his head like a song, and he couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his face as he looked down at the floor. god. now he had to say something. and he knew what he wanted to say, but it was so hard to just get it out. he didn’t want to mess things up even further. but fuck it– everything was already weird. things had to go back to normal eventually. “june… i like you,” he finally admitted after a deep breath, hesitantly glancing towards her. “like, i have for a while. and i know you don’t want things to be weird and i’m sorry if this makes it way worse,” he went on, beginning to ramble as he quickly realized he probably shouldn’t have made this decision, “but things have already been weird anyway and… like, just tell me to shut up if you want and we can just go back to normal, for sure… but i had a really good time on new year’s.” it was true. he had been lit as fuck the entire evening and could still remember every detail. “and… i’onno. sorry.”

june was sure her heart was thumping out of her chest like a straight up looney tune, but it didn’t stop her from taking the j back and hitting it for what ended up being a few seconds too long. smoke puffed out of her as she erupted in a fit of coughs, the tension releasing in her shoulders a little bit at the slight pause she had to take. they smoked a lot of weed together and coughed a lot together, and it was a reminder of how familiar this was, even if she was freaking out internally. after all, the last time she’d been honest with someone about her feelings for them, they had dropkicked her into a year of depression. not for nothing, it had been connor that had stuck by her side throughout the entire thing. and wasn’t that really what this was about?

“no, no, don’t be sorry,” she insisted as soon as she could breathe again. she had expected this to be like pulling teeth and had decided to talk to him in the first place with a heavy heart full of weeks-old dread that she had already ruined their friendship. the reminder of what she’d started on new year’s eve made her blush, ruddy splotches blooming across her cheeks and down her neck, but it wasn’t from embarrassment. this just wasn’t what she expected. “i had a great time on new year’s,” she admitted, voice a little bit feeble and not quite her own for a moment, but the smile that made an appearance was all classic june. she had been beyond drunk, but the memories from that night were visceral and still right under her skin. “i don’t know if i can go back to normal. i mean, i could, eventually. but what if i didn’t want to?” it had been there for five weeks, in the back of her mind when her thoughts quieted down. she had been waiting for someone for a long, long time but something good was right in front of her, whether it was actually a good idea or not. there were so many things that screamed it wasn’t. but since when did june not just say ‘fuck it’ and do what she wanted?

[junearmstrcng]

conye-west‌:

closing up trio had never been a particularly difficult feat; that was, until things became unspeakably awkward with one of his favorite coworkers (and favorite people in general). well, things were normal, kind of, but that was also kind of the worst thing about it all. because june hadn’t brought anything up, connor had assumed she’d either forgotten about the whole thing or had quickly realized she made a mistake and chose not to say anything, moving on completely. either way, the whole situation had been eating away at him for over a month. unfortunately, the only people he felt comfortable talking to about something like this were clark, june, and camille, all of which had their own problems to deal with and two of which he definitely had some type of feelings for. ugh. why did life have to be so hard?

the very person who pulled him out of his thoughts regarding june was, of course, june herself, and his heart couldn’t help but skip a beat at her grin. “ooh, truffle shuffle,” he instinctively responded as he set down a few rolled-up posters on the counter. damn it. there were many paths to his heart, but the goonies was definitely the shortest one. the goonies plus weed offered by june? somehow even shorter. swallowing his anxiety, he nodded his head. “i’m pretty sure lisa likes when we smoke weed in the theaters, dude. makes it smell better than it normally does.” with a smile, he walked alongside her to #3, swiftly deciding to put off whatever actual work he had to do until tomorrow.

a third of the way up the aisles and right in the middle of the row, there were two seats set up with soda and a just unhealthy amount of candy, plus the jacket that june had thoroughly forgotten about not fifteen minutes earlier. a mental note went up in on the cork board of june’s brain to bring it home before the weekend when she opened the theatre door, but there was no guarantee. the previews before the goonies finished moments after june opened the door for them and the opening frames of the 1985 classic adventure comedy started without catastrophe as she led the way to the sweet spot. “it’s true, though. i’d rather it smell real loud than like a hundred feet. i think she’ll be especially happy with the atmosphere i’m providing the theatre with tonight,” she added, sparking up the cone with a long inhale and a thick cloud when she exhaled. she passed the lit joint to connor and its twin got tucked behind her ear for safe keeping. moderation, you know?

there had been a million moments that looked just like this in the past seven years, hazy and comfortable with a movie playing in the background, this was different. despite the chill zone she’d created, there was a lump in her throat that she had to swallow thickly to get over. “hey, so. not to jump right in, but i feel like something’s been... wrong since new year’s. i didn’t mean to make things weird. i just got caught up in the moment when you were being so sweet and it seemed like such a good idea. not that it wasn’t, i just... wasn’t exactly thinking about what things were going to be like now.” june could hardly bring herself to meet connor’s eyes, but she forced herself to, flitting between looking down nervously at her hands and flashing expressive eyes at him. “i don’t want things to be weird, i just- i don’t know. you’re my dude, you know? you’re my favorite.” she couldn’t help but smile at that, sheepish and a little sad after five weeks of weirdness. it was absolutely true, though. it had been for years.

[junearmstrcng]

All i do is listen to music and overthink shit

[junearmstrcng]

@conye-west

after the unprecedented chaos that was new year’s eve, june was grateful for the mundane post-holiday work weeks that followed. for as much as she’d complained her entire adolescence about her suburban upbringing, it seemed she had finally overloaded herself with excitement and she had a fresh scar on her palm to prove it. in reality, it wasn’t that simple, but lying low and staying busy didn’t lend itself very well to serious conversations, and she was tired of overthinking the knots in her stomach that had started to form the moment she’d decided ‘yes, i do want to boink connor roth.’ the obvious solution was to push the worries way to the back of her mind, but that had proven difficult after more than a month without talking about the repercussions of the night they’d spent together. yikes. it still sounded so canned in her head, no matter how much she tried to ease into the subject.

pretending it was no big deal, even though it had been her fucking idea, was causing her a surprising amount of anxiety. eventually, june was going to crack and it had to be better to bite the bullet than to keep wondering if she’d permanently fucked things up for them. she waited until after the last showing let out and loitered even longer at the ticketing booth until connor walked past. “i’ve got two adult tickets to pineapple express here,” she joked, holding up two thicc prerolls and one of her favorite lighters, a lime green specimen with one of her signature aliens drawn on it in black sharpie. “come hang out with me in theatre 3? i won’t tell lisa if you won’t.” the following laughter had sworn to stay hidden deep within june, but betrayed her almost directly after the words left her mouth. “i have goonies set up,” she sang, hoping to sweeten the pot.

[junearmstrcng]

licmsloane‌:

if you had asked liam sloane what his favourite band was eighteen months ago, he would have definitely said leech fragment. that answer hasn’t changed at all in the five years since him and xan had their first jam sesh. be your own biggest fan, right? except for a while there, he wasn’t. they had a small but loyal fanbase of angsty teens and general dropkicks, but no one had ever backed them as hard as june had. her absence had been noted; not even just by liam. comments about the tiny rockstar shaped hole in their audience had met awkward silence at many band practices in the first few months following their break-up, if you want to call it that. however, life had gone on and until the last fortnight, it had become easy to forget to notice. 

june’s bedroom floor had always been the place for their late night conversations and locked-eye smiles through a two hour long queue of their fave tracks. the warm haze of that christmas night had dug all of those memories back up again and he wasn’t quite sure what to do with them just yet. but tonight? renegades was lit up, and he’d had another week to dive into the band and ignore the world outside. this gig turned out to be different, they were only halfway through  ‘mitochondria’ when liam noticed june pushing her way to the front. watching her thrash around among deadbeats twice her size lit a fuse in liam that he had been so sure was burnt out by now.

after an hour of aggressive rock and secondhand weed smoke, he emerged from the back of the tin-can of a venue, guitar case in hand, to find june—- and more weed smoke. not that he was complaining, about either one. liam hadn’t been sure that she was going to stick around, but the smile on her face was like sunshine to him, and he realized how glad he was that she had. shit.  “had to send it, didn’t i?” he started, pulling an aged leather jacket onto his shoulders. “to welcome you back properly.” liam grinned at her bruise talk. “only one? don’t tell me you’ve gone soft, june.”

a shiver sent her teeth chattering a little and june pulled at her jacket like she was affected by the january cold, and not the warm welcome back. “you always do,” she agreed, involuntarily remembering the way liam moved on stage. she’d held her own in that crowd for all those months, but had forgotten what it was like to be the spectator when it was a certain someone up there. “oh, i’m going soft? it’s one giant bruise, dude. and i think you’re forgetting about all the bruises i inflicted. they’re scared of me in that pit, you know. terrified.”

if there was a glint of something playful in her eye when she looked up at liam, it was only because she was still feeling the live wire energy of what had turned out to be a rager of a show. it made her wonder what other things she was allowed to do again, now that there was a tentative truce between them. there was still the matter of the elephant in the room, which they stepped around rather expertly now, that threatened her from the back of her mind even as she grinned through the cold. “are you guys heading anywhere fun? would it be lame if i wanted dibs instead?” she asked, peering around one side of him to see if the other guys were waiting around for him. “i’m still partial to the old tradition of getting taco bell and arguing over whether or not say anything is punk rock.”

despite their elephant’s size and constant presence, june had new memories to play behind her eyes when she was trying (and usually failing) to fall asleep that kept that fuse lit. memories of singing a black sabbath song at 2am after finishing an entire bottle of jack daniel’s (and the text messages from the roommates that followed), and milkshakes at rosie’s that honestly felt like it could’ve been a memory from a year prior. the last few weeks had been a roller coaster of emotions, but that had never stopped her before. she couldn’t help it if her default was to be reckless, in both her decisions and her optimism, but at some point, she had to wonder how much more she could take if the roller coast of emotions was too much for liam, like it had been before. but they weren’t talking about that.

[junearmstrcng]

xanlarkin‌:

xan shuffled his way into the theatre lobby, head down as he attempted to untangle his knotted headphones. he wasn’t exactly looking forward to going back to work, though june shouting at him almost as soon as he entered did make things a little brighter. she’d appeared in front of him before he could even mumble back a hey or completely tell where her voice came from. “either she’s lightning fast or you’re snail slow today, buddy,” he’d thought to himself. 

he finally did mumble a small hey in reply while shuffling a few more steps forward and leaning next to the machine where june stood. “nah, nah, man,” alexander cracked a smile, accompanied by the quickest wheeze of a laugh, “i fuckin’ wish, though … that’d be hella cool. well, maybe not for the man … but like … on the man. dig up some dirt for blackmail, ya know ?” 

xan stared at the icee machine, contemplating whether or not to make his own. he simpy shrugged after a moment and shuffled towards june once again, only to lean on the counter where she sat. “what about you, though, junie b jones ? have you been doing any undercover work? or were you just here all along, hmm?”

june nodded approvingly at xan’s response, like she’d been testing him all along and he’d passed. “i knew you weren’t working for the man, man. just had to make sure you weren’t a bodysnatcher, y’know?” she insisted, slurping on her icee. for all intents and purposes, she didn’t have a care in the world right now. the trio was her home away from home and unless one of the tourists felt like asking for a manager today, she was happy on her counter throne.

the nickname, despite how often she tried to claim she was a badass, was one of her very favorites and reminded her of a simpler time. trying to be subtle, she set down her cup and brought out her phone to open the notes, typing junie b jones halloween costume?? before locking it and putting it away like nothing ever happened. “i’ve actually been undercover this whole time, yeah. my name is actually harold ludgate and i’m gathering intel for the cia,” she revealed, holding up her lanyard badge like cia credentials before busting up. “i definitely haven’t been working 13 days in a row in an attempt to save up money for kiss’ final tour. because that would be... sad.”

[junearmstrcng]

conye-west‌:

almost everything that had happened in the past minute or so was teetering into too-good-to-be-true territory, and yet he longed to continue. he wasn’t about to sit there and lie to himself that he hadn’t been looking forward to this happening somehow, but that wasn’t to say he expected it or anything, especially at that moment in time. there was an inevitably long list of things he’d likely be forced to worry about the next day, including but not limited to the fact that maybe june didn’t actually feel this way, or maybe they were both kidding themselves, or the fact that this had the potential to mess with a six-year-long friendship. but it wasn’t tomorrow yet.

breathing a sigh of relief at her response, he immediately reconnected their lips, completely encapsulated in the moment to the point where it was impossible to feel regret. it was weird how life worked– if connor asked himself mere hours ago if this would ever happen, he simply would’ve assumed the answer was no. he was normally much too anxious about what her reaction might be to ever actually admit anything. plus, there was also the fact that both of them kinda already had someone else in their back pocket, but on a scale of one to ten of not wanting to admit something, that was probably a solid nine in comparison to what was happening now, which was over with and not even on the scale anymore. all he could hope for was that she wouldn’t regret it either.

the way june’s heart worked, the dread wouldn’t start to seep in for her until the next day either, when the new year’s sized hangover and bed of garys and jellies on her hand reminded her of the maximum carefree attitude she’d toted all night; when she would be forced to think of what happened next. what happened if she started inventing feelings, in a true june fashion, as soon as someone showed interest in her. it was a fault she couldn’t remember not having. usually, all it did was lead her to heartbreak when she built things up too big and they inevitably came crashing down around her. soon enough, the idea that it could ruin half the fucking sunshine in her life would terrify her.

now, though, connor was warm under her fingers and june was drunk with it, kissing back like her life depended on it. all of her attention was on the drunkest kiss she’d had since last year. badum-tss. she couldn’t remember who that had been with (yikes), only that it had been on her 21st birthday, but something, or rather a whole bunch of things, told her this one wouldn’t be so easy to forget. whether that was a good or bad thing was an issue for future june. present june was much more interested in making the most of the situation at hand. that was, until a sharp rap at the bathroom door broke the spell. “i forgot we were in the bathroom,” she admitted, words strung along with laughter that shook her shoulders, disbelieving how far she’d let herself get lost. “should we go? to somewhere that isn’t a bathroom?” she asked, realizing once again that she was drunk.

[junearmstrcng]

conye-west‌:

the voices counting down the seconds left seemed to be fading even more into the background as he stared at her, his breath catching in his throat. it was hard to tell what she was thinking, but she was very close, and connor was suddenly feeling very nervous. here he was, sweat sticking his hair to his forehead as a result of extensive alcohol consumption and hours of constant movement, eyes squinted and red, kneeling in front of a toilet. sure, june was pretty much in the same boat, but she looked… well, kind of perfect. once her hands moved to rest on his shoulders, he could hear his heart beating in his ears, completely drowning out every other sound as she leaned in towards him. holy shit. holy shit.

the feeling of her lips against his was more unexpected than anything, but he instantly leaned into it, a collective cheering sound from downstairs mimicking how he felt in that moment. there was a lot to be said about what this might’ve meant– or not meant– but it was impossible to think about that right now. sure, she was injured and they were in a bathroom for christ’s sake, but he wouldn’t change anything for the world. “happy new year,” he responded, breathless from shock as another smile appeared. despite his obvious inebriation, the sequence of events leading up to this moment, and especially the moment itself, were impossible to forget. “…can i kiss you again?”

it was rare june actually thought out an action past how much she wanted to do it, but tonight was a special masterpiece of living solely in the moment. if she were sober, she’d have so many things to be anxious about, but as things were (the jägermeister and weed combo had seemed like such a genius idea at the time) the only thing she had on her mind was how stupidly happy she felt. connor had the extraordinary ability to cheer june up no matter what, and he’d had to cheer her up from some real bullshit before. how he always managed to, she had no idea, but he never failed.

her eyes filtered through half a dozen levels of surprise, searching his until they settled on something like delight at the notion that connor wanted to kiss her again. a new year’s kiss was one thing, hell, she’d kissed two of her roommates on new year’s last year. but she hadn’t kissed them like she’d kissed connor, and even now, she was unable to escape the feeling that she was sixteen again and not almost twenty two, with her own health insurance and a managerial position. now, her fingers played with the long hair at the nape of connor’s neck, stomach feeling even tighter than before, and she nodded decisively. “definitely,” she managed, finding she was just as out of breath as connor seemed.

[junearmstrcng]

@licmsloane

if you had asked june armstrong what her favorite band was eighteen months ago, she would’ve said leech fragment. well, she would’ve said gone girls, or actually rush, because she was supposed to hate leech frag, but if you looked at how many shows she snuck into to or how much time she spent making homemade t-shirts for them, the answer would’ve been leech frag. without a doubt. she’d been that girl, in the front row of every show (she had to be, if she didn’t want to get lost in the sea of miscreants) screaming with the best of them, or at least bruising her way through the pit.

in the last year, though, she hadn’t been to a single show, which left an unexpected void that only the dirty cacophony of music they made could fill. since the night at rosie’s and then the twilight zone christmas they’d had, she couldn’t help but think of those shows fondly. even if things between her and liam had turned sour for... almost the entire year of 2018, she’d always had a ton of fun in the raw energy of their shows. and so far, 2019 was about doing whatever the fuck she wanted (she was sure that wasn’t going to bite her in the ass any time soon), so when the sun set and she got off work at the trio, she changed into a mess of denim and black cotton and took to renegrades for what promised to be a night of hell raising and possibly losing her voice again. 

leech fragment had never failed her before (collectively, as a band, at least) and they certainly didn’t tonight. it felt kind of insane, to be in the front row again, watching liam playing and screaming into the microphone, not to mention the other dudes who were staples in her life now. somehow, though, even as things wound down and the show ended, it felt right to be back. it also felt right to be out back outside the warehouse, smoking with the same people she’d smoked with while she waited for liam to pack his shit up when they were... she wanted to say together, but depending on how sorry for herself she was feeling, she had conflicting opinions on that. nevertheless, when the familiar figure of the bassist approached, she couldn’t help the thousand watt smile that developed before she knew it. “that was a great set, sloane,” she admitted, stepping down from the curb she’d been balancing on. “and i only have one giant bruise to cover up at work, that’s easy street.”

[junearmstrcng]

conye-west‌:

the smile that crossed connor’s features was nearly impossible to get rid of, knowing him and june were in each other’s corner. it was already obvious, with the many years of good memories under their belt, but the affirmation was always nice. he was sure he wouldn’t take the time to play doctor with anyone else, especially in his current state of mind– and, of course, fondly being referred to as “dr. roth” was such a massive mood boost (and a lowkey turn-on) that it completely made up for the entire situation, which was no longer stressful considering they were both having a chuckle over spongebob band-aids.

“if that’s all it takes, man, give me a ph.d already,” he snorted as he began unwrapped bandage after bandage. soon enough, what once was the source of their anxiety was now completely over with, masked with oblong images of cartoon jellyfish. breathing out a sigh of relief, his hand unconsciously remained holding her palm, his focus finally shifting back to the noise downstairs at the sound of her words. he’d honestly completely forgotten about the party altogether. finally letting go of her hand, he took a moment to fish his phone out of his pocket, their suspicions confirmed. holding his phone up so she could see the bright 11:59 on the screen, he examined her features in an attempt to gauge her reaction. would she be disappointed her first moments of 2019 would potentially be spent in a dingy bathroom with only a cut on her hand and connor roth as company? it was impossible to tell how many seconds they had left of the year. but holy shit, it was seconds. “what should we do?”

the weight of connor’s hands on hers, laying down a protective layer of psychedelic pastels, acted as june’s anchor to the world that wasn’t spinning and a little blurry like it had been for hours at this point. new year’s eve had always held a special place in her heart. the minutes counting down to midnight were always abuzz with the magic of a fresh start and all the possible new beginnings. she hadn’t really been cognizant enough to appreciate that magic yet, but it was all crashing over her now. she’d been in an incredible mood all night, and she couldn’t help but think bleeding all over the place would’ve ruined everything if it hadn’t been for connor.

seconds after his question, every voice on the entire block started to count down from ten, squashing any doubts about just how little time they had. there, in the low light of the bathroom (her palace) with the greatest dumdum she’d ever known, the imminent last moments of what had turned out to be a wonderful year warmed the nerves that had collected in her stomach. like most of the time, she had no idea what she was doing. but when the voices downstairs counted down three, two, one, june figured all she could do was follow that fuzzy feeling in her stomach and rest her arms on connor's shoulders as she leaned into his space, shutting her eyes just before her lips connected with his. the rest of the house cheered happy new year! just as she kissed him, heart pumping quickly even as she pulled back several seconds later. “happy new year, connor roth,” she said softly, cheeks pink but still smiling.

[junearmstrcng]

conye-west‌:

“cool. ‘cause i don’t really have a license for that,” he chuckled, guiding her to sit on the toilet. the porcelain throne, if you will. (only the best for his president.) the lighting in the bathroom was not the greatest, considering one of the lightbulbs was out and everyone who lived there refused to change it due to a disease called extreme lazy bastard syndrome. however, after a few seconds of rummaging through the cabinet, he was able to find some spongebob band-aids that had probably been purchased in 2015. maybe 2014. it was hard to remember, or even focus on anything as he listened to the sounds from downstairs. and this is my four leaf clover, i’m on the line one open mind, this is my four leaf clover… 

“i mean, that was mine too so i got your back!” he grinned, setting the box on the sink before grabbing a washcloth and running it under the water. “or, your hand, i guess. ba dum tssh.” he moved to kneel down in front of her, carefully spreading out her palm and beginning to dab it with the cloth. “okay– the good news is that i don’t think it’s stitch-worthy,” he murmured as the blood began to come off. “bad news is that i’m not a doctor and i’m… can’t really see. heh.” his line of vision was indeed more of a circle at this point in the evening, but as far as he knew, spongebob band-aids had the ability to solve most problems, so she’d probably be okay. “might need a couple of these, though,” he added as he reached for the box. “maybe even three. scandalous!”

june swayed absentmindedly from her throne while her bud searched for his surgical supplies. she was too far gone and lost in the song to fully appreciate how distracted they both were by the 1985 jam. and what a jam it was. it was funny, what connected them. june had fully immersed herself in the faded pastel aesthetic of john hughes’ rat pack collection when she met connor in high school, and their playlists still reflected those soundtracks. it’s really no wonder she was constantly saying they’d fit in seamlessly in a mid-eighties rom-com.  “i won’t let you get murdered this year, i’ve got your back too,” she promised, letting her hand relax so he could clean it off. later, much later when she was sober and hungover, she’d appreciate the fact that he stopped everything at his own party to make sure her hand didn’t get fucked up even worse.

“listen, i need you to know something, okay? i want all of the spongebob band aids,” she insisted, trying so hard to be serious and failing spectacularly, cracking up immediately. “i don’t know what you’re talking about, anyway, because you’re a great doctor, dr. roth. excellent bedside manner, you always have the best weed. all the qualities of a good doctor.” her list was a little slurred at the beginning, but the grin on her face was genuine and her eyes weren’t totally glazed over. in a moment of clarity, she could hear the party getting louder downstairs. “is it starting soon?” she asked.

[junearmstrcng]

[junearmstrcng]

conye-west‌:

this was probably going to be harder than he thought. he was fairly certain everything– bandages, disinfectant, all that jazz– was in the upstairs bathroom, which was kind of terrible planning on his part but maybe it wasn’t considering all of the downstairs bathrooms were probably taken anyway. last year they hadn’t even noticed someone had camped out in the bathtub until they started cleaning at 4PM and they were still there. he wasn’t sure if 2019 would bring a repeat of that but he was sure it’d be fine it it was june.

“ewww,” he groaned as he watched her step right in a beer puddle while wearing socks. nothing could’ve made him feel worse for her than that, not even the cut on her hand, which definitely had to be fixed, by the way– by him, it seemed, seeing as there was nobody else in the general vicinity of their conversation who was willing to offer. “yeah, we should definitely go and fix it,” he said, trying his hardest not to slur his words together as he was lowkey being forced to be the mature one in this conversation and it was stressful. “come on,” he said, carefully placing an arm around her shoulders and leading her away from the mess and towards the stairs. they were both very close to stumbling and june’s wet-socked feet made a sad “thwop” sound every time she took a step. hopefully no one else decided to do any more magic tricks while they were gone. “please don’t say you need, like, stitches or anything.” he was probably drunk enough to try it, so that warning was fair.

at some point, june was going to have to admit defeat, or at least that she wasn’t in a state to be arguing with anything connor was doing to try and get things under control, and let him take control. evidently, the time was now. she leaned against him, half humming out laughter even as her sad little socks were abandoned outside the upstairs bathroom; banished for causing a sticky-gritty feeling in her toes. add that to the list of things she was going to hate her drunk self for in the morning. “do you think that would help?” she asked, looking down at her hand to contemplate if stitches (by connor, jesus christ) were necessary. by some miracle of the gods, she shook her head. “no, no, look. the blood isn’t getting... bigger.”

and with that scientific, medical conclusion, she opened her hand to release a little bit of the pressure. sure enough, the patch of blood on her palm - wet, dried, and crusty from where it had continued to bleed for a while - wasn’t getting any worse anymore. it was pretty gruesome and she thought to herself that it was no wonder connor thought she was going to need stitches, and maybe it was just how royally fucked up she’d gotten, but it really didn’t hurt all that bad. the quiet of the bathroom was a stark contrast from the chaos of the party this late in the night downstairs. one of her favorite tears for fears songs was playing over the speakers down there, loudly enough that she could hear it near perfectly from where she’d stationed herself on the corner of the bathroom counter. “thanks for making sure i didn’t die,” she added after a hazy pause, smiling like connor was the other thing in the world that mattered. she’d been thinking of more things to say, surely, but all but that one escaped her. “that’s one of my resolutions this year, to not die. i feel very supported right now.”