. follow the noise

[theo lovett]

If there was one thing that made Theo yearn for the open land of rural Alaska, it was light pollution. It was the first thing he noticed falling away on the long road trips his dad used to take them on, the aura of streetlamps becoming increasingly faint, the sky suddenly becoming awash with stars. It was like white paint flicked liberally over black card, constellations glittering with the glow of a world beyond this little planet. It awed him then and it still did now, when he and Ollie last made the trip out. He missed it. Now he was sat up on the rooftop of his friend's apartment block, the wind ruffling his hair as he tried to make out those same stars through the haze of LA lights. It was no good. He had been depressed when he got here and this made him moreso, the whole thing feeling like a metaphor for a less authentic life. He sipped flat beer out of a solo cup, surprised no one else had thought to come up here.... he could just about hear the party downstairs. It made him laugh to think that he had thought Dolly Weathers would come to a place like this. An ordinary party with ordinary people, a shitty keg and even shittier coke being passed round. He wondered if Ollie was having a good time. He congratulated himself for not getting too excited and blabbing about the potential of Dolly coming along, now embarrassed by his own foolishness. "You're a dumbass," he muttered to himself, sticking his feet up on the ledge of the building, leaning back in the dilapidated chair he'd found abandoned up here.

[dolly weathers]

Dolly leans into her reflection and presses a nude lipstick onto her heart shaped lips. Her friend groans and asks if they're really doing this. “It'll be so good,” she grins and takes the bottle of tequila her friend offers. She leans back and looks at herself in the car mirror. Mel had on hot pink silk and clear stilettos. She'd somehow missed the memo of a house party, but honestly she'd be a hit at any party. Dolly dressed down in a stripped tee and mom jeans, she looked like someone who looked like Dolly Weathers. “Can you put this in your purse?” she asks and pushes the bottle to her model friend. The house booms softly from the outside and she hears Mel whining behind her as she jogs up the stairs. “It'll be like.. five minutes,” she lies and pushes the door open. As she does, she's enveloped in sound. Multiple strands of conversation looped into bass so loud you can feel it in your chest. Her finger tips are tingling from the tequila and her heart feels full from the coke. “Isn't this like that movie? You know, any American college movie?” she turns around but Mel has been absorbed into the action. Surrounded by normal, Dolly perches on her tip toes and searches for signs of a keg.

[theo lovett]

The breeze is colder than Theo feels LA breeze has a right to be, and it makes him pull his denim jacket closer around himself. It was unlike him to remove himself from a party like this, at least on his own - even now, his heart yearned to return to the din. But he couldn't move. Though the heartache would be worse under different circumstances, being broken up with stung and Theo wondered whether he'd been wrong about Florence, if they all had. His friends' exaggerated glee at the news had only made him feel worse, driving him up here on his own where no one could pry. Still, it felt melodramatic to keep on moping. Dragging himself to his feet, Theo went in search of more beer. Returning to the party, he shoulder bumps a couple friends on his way, not stopping to chat in his quest for beer. Immediately he felt better now that he was mixed in with his people, nice boys and girls with normal lives and normal problems, people who'd do some shots with him and maybe see to it that he was set up with someone new. Spotting the keg, he went to head in its direction only to bump into someone. "Shit, sorry," he murmured to the girl, glancing at her as he held his hands up. He froze, taking a few seconds to take in who it was he was looking at. After a moment, a huge grin breaks over his full lips, his heart swelling with surprise and joy. "Dolly! Dolly, what the fuck," he says, laughing. Before he can help himself he's stooping to pull her into a tight hug. "I can't believe you came! I mean fuck, fuck. It's you! Here!"

[dolly weathers]

It's too busy for anyone to notice Dolly. There's too many overlapping conversation and Pabst Blue Ribbon being passed around, they're all absorbed in the fun of it. She imagines she's been spotted, but people don't care enough to fully take her in. She likes it. It relaxes her. She moves through the crowd and brushes against strangers. The floor is sticky with booze and she's having to pry herself from it to get closer to the keg. Red solo cup filled she's tippy toed to over the crowd for the host. When she thinks she's spotted him, someone walks right into her. “Jesus,” she cusses as her beer threatens to spill over. Dolly steadies the cup and looks up to the person apologizes. “Oh my god, hi! I was literally just looking for you.” She's pulled into a hug and laughs against him. “I said I would. I even brought a friend for you,” she gestures to the crowd, “she's a model. So hot. ”

[theo lovett]

Instinctively Ted searches the room for a glimpse of his brother, whose height thankfully makes him easy to spot. He’s slouched against the wall with Elyse, beer in hand... he would have to make sure that he kept some sort of count of how many he’d sink over the night. But the thought has gone as soon as it arrived, pushed out by the excitement of seeing his new famous friend. He beams at her, giddy with relief and a little lingering disbelief. “Dolly Weathers, at my party. What a plus one.” He follows her eye line to her friend, though she was easy to spot. She looked like a different species to the rest of them, like a glossy ad made flesh. “Makes sense,” he nods as she says she’s a model. “She’s also, like, insanely out of my league. But I appreciate the thought.” People around them are eavesdropping, stealing glimpses or outright staring. He felt incredibly watched and it wasn’t like he was the real subject of their stares. He meets Ollie’s eye and grins, remembering how he had been trying to keep the hope out of his voice when he was talking about how obviously she wouldn’t come. Naturally Ollie could see right through him, though he’d been kind enough not to say so. Elyse is craning her neck for a better look, her hazel eyes wide with disbelief. “You look great,” he says, realising he hadn’t yet. “Really great. Here, let me get you another drink, I’m so clumsy... shall we do shots? Really college it up in here?”

[dolly weathers]

People start to turn heads and Dolly feels her cheeks getting warm. Once the woman who looked like Dolly Weathers, and now she was her. There was an impulse to act civil and to entertain. Maybe she should do one of those stiff waves the Queen does. She thinks about someone coming up to her for a goddamn selfie and she wants to vomit. Before she can get control herself, she looks at him like she's had something sour. She's annoyed that he'd be so loud about it. But understands how he couldn't help himself, it was a bit like he ordered loads of pizza to the party. “She's totally in your league.. at least for the night.” Realizing she can't blend in and look normal anyone, Dolly shrinks. She smiles at his compliment and takes a long sip of her flat beer. “Sure, yeah,” she forgets about the bottle of tequila stowed away in Mel's purse and follows Theo back to the kitchen.

[theo lovett]

All inclination to mope has transformed into the desire to grin. Theo can't believe his luck. Living in LA meant you were never very far from an actor or a model, but there was something different about having someone as bona fide as Dolly Weathers in your cramped little living room. He's oblivious to her discomfort, as well as to the increase in attention they're getting. He clutches his heart as she semi encourages him. "Well, a night with her isn't something I'd turn down," he admits, looking back at the beauty currently surveying her surroundings with barely disguised disdain.  Leading her through to the kitchen, he makes sure to avoid the eye contact of those around them, hungry to keep her to himself for as long as possible and aware of how keen people will be to intrude. "Let's do it," he grins, pouring out two heaped shots of Fireball and holding one out for her. He takes his and knocks it back easily, barely wincing as the cinnamon burns his throat. Laughing, he looks at her and shakes his head again, too starstruck to act normal. "This doesn't feel real. Hey, do you want that NDA? I sent a copy, but you can have the original if you want." He pauses, remembering the implications. Lowering his voice, he stoops to whisper in her ear. "We should probably come up with an alternative meeting story, right?"

[dolly weathers]

The is completely fan girling over her and it's unexpected. She had genuinely thought he'd be a little more relaxed and normal. Not that she had any research to back her assumptions, she'd just figured he'd be cool. The annoyance of how wrong she was is taking over her face. She glances up to see Mel. Her hand is on some guy's arm and she's doing that fake laugh thing. She looks more at home than when she arrived moments ago, Dolly was going to have a hard time pulling her away. Fuck Fireball. The worst alcohol ever created. The drink that sent you to hell with the worst hangover imaginable. She stares at the shot in her hand and contemplates her decision to attend a college party here. Who was she kidding? She was a snob. She chokes on the taste of cinnamon and slams the glass down on the counter, her face shrivels at the drink. “No, it's fine. It's been received.” She takes the last sip of her beer and looks around, “we'll just say I Bill Murrayed it.” She needs a pick me up. “Hey, listen. You don't have any coke, do you?”

[theo lovett]

Theo was a different person at work. The second he put on that uniform, there was a seriousness to him that was almost never present in him otherwise, an ability to put all thoughts of himself to the back of his mind and focus on the emergencies at hand. However, the second he went off shift he was a typical twenty-one year old, making TikToks with his friends, goofing around playing video games. He also felt like much more of a country bumpkin, transplanted in LA but never really adapting. As was evidenced by his inability to play it cool with Dolly. Finally sensing her discomfort, his cheeks start to burn red. Obviously she hadn't come here to make an impression, she wasn't trying to search out her fanbase. But here he was, acting like its number one champion. He watched as she hesitated over the shot, tilting his head as he considered her in a new light. Dolly, just a rich girl with big tech parents. Just a kid, like himself. He opened his mouth to apologize, though her question chases it away and he feels a little deflated. Pouring her a beer without meeting her eye, he shakes his head. "No. But I can find you some, shit quality but whatever."