too shaky to hold

[dominic vinten cuvo]

The only secret Dominic had successfully kept lately was the carving. It was entirely too delicious to tell anyone else, describe in gruesome detail what she’d let him do to her. Let alone allowing their eyes to witness! Even now he wondered about it beneath her dress, if she was still covering it with a bandage and editing it out of scantily clad pictures. It felt as if he’d imprinted on her, a physical connection between them beyond even sex, like he would always be able to sense her through it, the initials a satellite of his own being, a remote transponder of Kitty’s location. It must be how he knew where to find her, and, incidentally, Calvin, who both looked desperately like they needed a drink. While he wondered what they thought of the building, its guests, the music…but mostly about his outfit and how likely they were to worship him. His scattered focus managed to return to Kitty, the glass chilling in his palm, something swirling inside to make it look like blood. At her careful words his dark eyes widened with recognition, Dominic leaning in and sighing her name. “Everyone already knows about the child abuse,” he whispered, endeared by her effort to keep it under wraps but unimpressed by the Catholic PR team in general. Pulling back up to his height, Dominic’s arms rose toward his friends as if summoning them together. “Anyway I’m thinking about starting a church. Everyone has been so encouraging tonight.”

[calvin keller]

It was terribly ironic having them all gather in a church, Calvin all but desperate to spill all their sins. To watch the idols crumble, to see the fracture on Kitty's face when her careful construction of innocence burnt on its own cross. As if hearing his prayer Dom appeared shortly after, Kitty's idle threat blurred as the smile again crept on his face. Even Violet could sense something darker here, the lingering notes of their conversation dripping under the coursing bass, but Dominic seemed unaware as ever. A priest gently turning his head, letting his clergy fall to ruin. And oh, would they fall. Calvin drains his drink empty, lets out a long sigh, and begins. "Would your church require us to atone for our sins, our secrets?" He questions, voice edging on ruined as he clasped his hands behind his back. "We shoud begin anew, should we not? Here - let me help out with a few. Kitty and Dom fucked in London," his eyes catch Violet, flicking a finger between the both before he pivots to the next. "Which might have seemed sacred to you, Dom, but I fear that for Katherine it was a disgrace to her marriage bed. What she's neglected to tell you is that her and Henry did, in fact, get married in Cape Cod during their idyllic little summer years ago. They've been sleeping together ever since." Dark eyes glance over Kitty, pure ice and vitriol, before slicing back to their blonde, wide-eyed friend. "Oh. Dom was also there when you overdosed, Violet. Left you for dead, I'm afraid." Cal aims for another swig before he realizes the bottle is empty, tipping it in his palm. "I might as well throw myself in here. You texted me about the marriage when you were drunk, Violet. I deleted them off your phone when you came over. Anyways, what a catharctic start, anyone else need another drink?"

[kitty smith-sato]

Dom's obliviousness almost made Kitty glad for the loaded but invisible gun that Calvin was holding to his head. Her brother's narcissistic tendencies bordered on psychosis, whilst her own were fundamentally grounded in realism, her skill in understanding and manipulating those around her completely dependent on the fallibility and consequent predictability of human nature. She had to hand it to Calvin though, she hadn't expected this of him. Her secrets were a currency so strictly traded that she was sure he was going to cash in the very moment he heard them, so it had been a strange plot twist to contend with him playing her game of keeping schtum, squirrelling away the secrets for another day. A day that was finally upon her. Her nose scrunches in distaste at the torrent of verbal diarrhea that he unleashes, clearly deciding that one secret was not enough to spill. In some ways it's more irritating for the Violet secret to be exposed than her own, since it's a one she would have liked to leverage against the moronic blonde herself, and one she can't fully understand why Calvin would spill, what was in it for him. "And here I was thinking you might have finally figured out how to play," she mutters, her voice imbued with genuine pity. She drinks half her drink, turning to Dom with forced indifference, buying time until she had a solid sense of her leverage. "I have no idea what he's talking about. Calvin baby, are you drunk?" she turns back to him, head tilted as she emphasises her words as if speaking to a particularly slow child. "Henry and I were engaged, yes, but we called it off. Don't you remember? It wasn't so long ago... are you feeling okay? You look a little pale, do you want some water?"

[dominic vinten cuvo]

At first, to Dominic, it sounds like his friends are about to indulge his fantasy du jour. Of course he prefers when they enable and placate him, but the vengeful tirade Calvin suddenly launches into—with the casual cruelty of a sociopath—renders Dominic silent for once. It’s out with his and Kitty’s secret first…though he had not explicitly told what transpired, rather like a slick politician he merely smirked at his friend and declined to comment on his astute guess. It was not a trophy even Dominic could hide, of course his closest friend was able to read it on him from a mile away. He might as well have had it tattooed on his forehead. Him and Kitty, a secret marriage, the overdose. All of the webs they've weaved. “What a ridic-” Dominic started, mouth hanging open in shock twisting into startled amusement. Surely this was a joke. But Cal remained menacingly unreadable, as if bored by the chore of exposing everyone in their friend group, throwing his own hat into the ring. Not exactly a beacon of truth herself, Dominic studied Kitty’s reactions, holding onto a mouthful of drink as the gears of his addled mind turned. Everything else had been true…was Calvin burying a lie amongst truths? Why? Cape Cod was such a specific detail, and Violet’s involvement meant that he was the odd one out. Incredulously, his head threw back with concerned laughter, certain that denial might keep Violet’s suspicions at bay. After all, she was high and in a good mood! "Very funny. What are you playing at? Kitty, what did you do?"

[calvin keller]

"It's easy when you go for the low hanging fruit." Calvin rolls his eyes, finally realizing who Kitty's targets truly were: weak, vulnerable, and easily convinced. The glow she typically emanates dims even further, the polish chipped around the drivel falling from her mouth. He blinks again and it seems suddenly that everyone has lost their shine. Their appeal, their gloss, so separated from his current concerns he has little remorse for tearing them all apart tonight. Maybe it had been a long time coming. Maybe it was the stark inevitable among them, building and building and building until he couldn't find the resistance to breathe. "She kept her own secrets from you, that's what," he continues, Kitty's attempt as useless as the bottle he held."It's public record, easily accessible. And you're looking at their witness." Calvin tilts his head toward Violet again though is loathe to meet her eyes. Even if his secret seemed small in comparison he felt oddly cold for betraying her, their moments together lately drawing closer and closer still. God knows what she would make of them now, stare drifting cooly amongst the crowd as if he hadn't ignited everything from the inside out, kindled a silence so incredulous and temperamental and loaded. It lingers even further, Cal finally stepping back to head for the bar. "I'm going to get that drink now."

[violet spencer]

Everything felt a bit ironic now. The setting, Dominic's outfit. As Calvin's irritation grew more and more. Drugs in her system couldn't slow down her understanding of this. The look on his face, Kitty's sudden tone at the mention of secrecy. What was even happening? Violet wishing she had stayed in the bathroom, or retrieved two drinks rather than one. The conversation goes back and forth, leaving her out of it and to take generous sips of whatever was in her cup. Not remembering what she had chosen. Before she knows it, as she looks once more at the bickering so-called siblings, is when everything spills out. Calvin not holding back as he declares every secret he'd kept amongst the group. His eyes look to her, finger pointing, as he catches her up on all the little secrets he held in pocket. The Kitty and Dominic sleeping together surprises her. A conversation coming to her mind not too long ago of regarding Violet's sexual tendencies. Ironic now, as Kitty is stood here, all of her endeavors being unraveled. Their relationship had been crossing weird lines throughout the entire time they've known each other, Violet often referring to them being in the own world. But this of course, was next level. Calvin skims past the wedding, dropping the location and that Henry and Kitty had been sneaking around. Cringing at her own involvement in his discovery. It's his final one that has Violet growing cold. The overdose. Eyes narrowing back to Dominic, and then to Calvin. How long had he known this information? Everything suddenly making sense. Dominic had asked so many questions about whether or not she remembered the dreadful evening. The narrowed eyes now widened, mind trying to comprehend what Calvin was fully saying. Dominic had left her to..die. She only briefly hears his confession on deleting the drunk incriminating texts to him. All proceeds around her, Kitty trying to conceal everything, blaming Calvin of being too drunk. As Dominic begins to further ask questions, Calvin tries to slip away. "No. Wait." Violet finds her voice, wrapping a hand around Calvin's wrist. Anger, hurt, and betrayal heavy on her chest as she seeks more from him. "Was Kitty involved too?" An answer she felt like she already knew.

[kitty smith-sato]

There's a pause as Dom processes the information and in it, Kitty realizes all that she holds dear hangs in the balance. Namely he hangs in the balance. The possibility of him pulling away from her steals all the air out of her lungs, her blood turning cold, goosebumps prickling her usually doll like smooth skin. Panic was a completely novel sensation for her and her mind couldn't keep up with it, whirring with a million strategies, not a single one of them proficient. Deny it, forever. Make something worse up about Calvin. Threaten to kill yourself if he reacts. There's a moment of hope when Dom throws back his head and laughs, something she wants to join in on but finds she can't, it won't come. "Kitty, what did you do?" It's a question she's asking herself. A special effects artist had put the grisly prosthetic wound around her neck, fake blood dripping into her cleavage convincingly. It feels real to her now, she feels literally beheaded, Calvin moving on to his next wife. Violet asks a variation of the same question Dom had but she finds herself disinterested in her former best friend, her entire universe zeroing in on the only person who mattered, the only person she had ever even remotely saw as an equal. She's faltered which means it's over for denial, a split second that would be as effective as a billboard to someone who knew her so well. "Dominic," she says, her voice measured, quiet. She looks up at him, unwavering eye contact as she plays the only card she has left. "You owe me a get out of jail free card. You lost the bet. I'm invoking it, OK? I'll tell you everything, just—" her voice falters now, making her cheeks burn. "It doesn't have to change anything."

[dominic vinten cuvo]

Something terrible roils through his blood and threatens to cancel out the effects of the drugs. It's like the music cut out and the lights turned back on, revealing the sweaty, sticky reality previously masked and fogged into holiday fantasy. The weight of Violet’s reaction sinks in. Dominic’s system races, grasping feebly at denial, then humor, then lies. Never remorse, unable to comprehend such a pitiable feeling when he would rather watch it all burn than admit any type of regret or defeat. Half of the time he didn’t remember or associate with his own memories, the night of the overdose one of the rare few that still stuck in some fold of his brain—and, unfortunately, a recorded confession in Calvin’s phone. “Violet it’s actually quite a funny story…” But that matters much less than the shift in Kitty’s features. Her demeanor changes so suddenly it’s like a separate costume lifting away, his racing mind piling up with images of her and Henry, clips of conversations. He is slammed with the realization that these three people around him knew, had all the time and opportunity to tell him; each with their hands around the hilt of a knife in his back. Their silence as currency, he had been rendered a joke. But in actuality, a ticking time bomb. His face slackens, blood running cold. An exception to his rule has once again devastated all things considered sacred. He was supposed to marry Kitty, they belonged together! Finding out his favorite toy has been claimed by another boy feels like a world-leveling betrayal—and it is all. Her Doing. He throws his drink to the floor in a bright shatter, snatching both her tiny wrists in his grasp, forcing her closer. Right now he wants to throttle her, or make the beheading real. “How could you?” he snarls achingly, crazed eyes darting between hers. All along she had been poised with that prize of hers; he should have known something was amiss when she gave herself to him freely. The thought of owing her makes Dominic tear into a chilling laugh: “Forgiveness for what exactly, Katherine? Fucking him, marrying him, lying to me? Which, hmm?” He struggles to decide between shoving her away or unhinging his jaw and swallowing her whole. “You have one card but many sins, my dear,” he grits out, tugging her against him, ignoring any attention they may have garnered in the scuffle. “What have you done?” he begged in murmur, releasing her wrists to move his hands to her cheeks, cupping her beautiful, lying face. Sometimes he wasn’t sure he had a heart, or that it still worked despite all his efforts to excite it or stop it. Right now it hurt so very much he wanted to die. “Everything has changed.”

[calvin keller]

It's a complicated question that's poised, Calvin's eyes roaming the shattering face he was trying to get away from as he contemplated his answer. Much like the glass Dom had just crushed Kitty looked splintered, a shard of herself, noting that at the core of her desperation it was Dominic. Had always been Dominic, scoffing under his breath though he could only be so surprised. Bonded by something more than the body they'd shared, he was who she fought for while everything burned. "She was his first call, and she called 911. Take that however you want," he eventually responds, lacing his fingers through Violet's to pull her away too. But he couldn't look away. Even when they'd found room at the bar it felt like trying to ignore a slow-motion car crash, exhaustion slowly tugging at his frame. Like letting it all out took its own toll on him, sipping at a glass of whisky before he finally turned back to Violet. "Sorry for keeping it from you. And for the texts." The words feel hollow but somewhere he thinks he means it, the lone friend who almost proved innocent with how naive she was to the webs that had been spun. Now torn down, hands slipping through the silk and clearing away the things they'd thought they'd called home. "It's all just so fucking stupid, you know?"

[violet spencer]

"Violet it's actually quite a funny story..." Is all she needs to hear to know that Calvin speaks the truth. Not that Violet had doubted her closer friend (out of the two of them). Kitty had previously owned that title, the two girls still refusing to speak to each other. The chaos circling around her as she stood wide eyed, processing as their friend group began to erupt. The night of her overdose a mystery, something she couldn't piece together, and still wasn't able to. As new facts begin to come to the surface. Kitty calling 911, Dominic leaving her there alone. "That's what I thought."  More confirmations spewing from him, though Violet knew if Dominic was involved that somehow Kitty wasn't too far behind. There was so much she wanted to say to the two of them, scream in their faces and yell every explicit thought that circled inside. But bigger things than her almost death were occurring, Kitty trying to smooth out all the so-called sins. She's grateful for the feel of Calvin's fingers, sliding into hers, dragging them away from the close proximity of the fight. Neither of them able to fully able to tear their eyes away from the ongoing scene. "It's fine." It's really not, the betrayal stinging a bit by the knowledge he held..and for so long. But Violet doesn't want to fight the only one she saw as an ally. Or maybe even more than that.. "Honestly, yeah. Fuck them. They deserve each other." The bartender looks her way, ordering a vodka soda to replace whatever was in the now empty glass. "Any other confessions or secrets  you're wanting to share?" She asks, looking behind the drink, taking a long, needed sip.

[kitty smith-sato]

A lifetime of realizations crashes upon Kitty. A deep rooted frustration at Dom's cavalier attitude. A petulance born of her inability to pin him down. A jealousy of his sleeping with Violet, of his endless coveting of Calvin. But more than anything, a sense that everyone else could be nuked from the planet right now and she wouldn't give one single shit, so long as she still had him, and with that realization, a sense of how irrevocably she had fucked up. Farcical as it was, she legitimately felt that Violet's being left for dead paled in comparison to her lying to him. Who was Violet in this world? Even Calvin, someone she had recently come to hold in strangely high esteem, suddenly soured. How stupid did he have to be to think she'd hurt Sky? How reckless was he to toy with her friendship with Dom? Leaving her most sacred secret in the hands of Violet and ultimately Clavin had been her stupidest mistake, like asking toddlers to cherish a priceless but fragile antique. All of this comes to her too late, of course. She winces as the glass breaks. Tears roll down her cheeks as they are held. These are both reactions she'd usually act out, faux vulnerability a superpower where real vulnerability was a fatal flaw. But for once she can't help herself, her chest caving in as the reality of the situation unfolds. His laugh cuts through her like a guillotine. "Lying to you. Who I fuck was none of your business, just like I never cared about your whoring." There was a tinge of suppressed truth to what she said. Frustration at having to tiptoe around the subject of Henry being her boyfriend despite Dom throwing his conquests in her face. For once she didn't care about the optics, or even who overheard them. His hands on her face, hers find his chest, shoving him away as roughly as she can muster. "You fuck Violet and I'm supposed to what, laugh it off? You leave her to die and I fucking save your ass, and then what do you do? You fucking disappear on me." Her temper flares, loosened by a toxic mix of alcohol, released repression and a lack of anything to lose. She shoves him again, as hard as she can. "And then you go and tell Calvin, when I've finally caved and given you the one thing you want. Despite knowing that it being secret is my only condition, despite knowing that it meant something to me." Tears stream down her cheeks, humiliation at her honestly bested only by her burning need to say her piece. "I will fucking kill you Dominic. Mark my words, your survival is contingent upon mine, I guarantee you that."

[dominic vinten cuvo]

Who cares? About any of this, any of them? After all Dominic’s affections oscillated on weekly, almost diurnal cycle, as if throwing a dart at a board each morning about what to focus himself on, steadied only by drugs and alcohol. Both of which seemed to be failing him now, crashing in his system compared to the betrayal and chaos setting in. Irreprehensible actions, underhanded friends, secrets coming to a head. While he loved being the center of focus, he didn’t count on himself being the butt of the joke—each set of eyes here representing a different dynamic, another bond, and every one of them wanting to see him burn. So he would give them a fucking witch trial. Kitty shoves him off, their distance increasing in every sense of the word. “Ancient history!” he guffawed at her accusation, gripped by the insistent, punishing readiness of her memory. So focused on him and Violet ages ago, magnified to the blonde rather than the countless others he had claimed, some on dares or curiosity or boredom. Knowing him inside and out, that he could never even hope to be faithful, an exception he could not grant even her. Her vicious words become syrup poured in his ear, biting his lip as they became more and more threatening, eyes rolling away to the netherworld. “You are dead to me,” he whispers to Kitty’s fruitless pleas. Her faux anger and outrage, the splintery excuses underlying her betrayal. Brick by brick laid of nonsense, a toppling structure of which he applauds the demise, maybe having struck the first match. I’m out of construction metaphors. “I can’t even look at you,” he rasps, backing away from her one step at a time, so incredibly pious in his outfit that he assumes he will be able to send her to hell and be done with it. But the others… He spins on a papal heel theatrically, feeling rather like an actor on a stage rather than in his own life. At Calvin his gaze narrows, lashes fluttering in flirtation. How he had such hopes for his beautiful, confused friend, the last item on his to-do list. “You…conniving, manipulative, snake in the grass. I thought we were friends,” he spat, prying Violet’s anorexic grasp off him. “After all we’ve been through together. You think you’re so much better, but you are exactly like us,” he grins, a satisfaction that runs beyond this night. “Your school, your sister…your “work,”” he stressed with lazy, unconvinced air bunnies. “You are just as empty, my sweetling. That must be worst of all for you.” Dreamily he turns to the blonde he had just enjoyed in the restroom. “And you, Violet,” he purrs, fingers extending to frame the jut of her chin. A chin he would rather like to shift off the associating vertebrae, to drink the cocaine residue from her ensuing blood. He fingers her cheekbones roughly, finally stepping away. “I wish you had died that night,” he promises, tugging off his mitre and throwing it at the ridiculous couple they made together. Idiots, hopeless, a bouquet of flowers thrown onto the grave of their friendship. “Get fucked, all of you.”

[kitty smith-sato]

"Henry is ancient history!" Kitty shouts back, for once furious at the double standards that existed between them. Her virgin act, his open whoring. Her devotion to him as a sibling, his denial of their bond. How easily he could turn on her now, despite his objective commitment to her get out of jail free card, his easily assumptions that she would always turn a blind eye to his indiscretions. She's furious at him but also at herself, because he was right, she had let all those humiliations slide. "You don't mean that," she says, but for once she doesn't believe herself. Far from convincing herself that he truly cared despite the revelation, she was finding it hard to believe that he had ever cared at all. What stings all the more is the sudden severing of the bond she'd been able to carve out with Calvin, fragile though it had been. Now sure that she would be judged for whatever she did or did not do, reality hardly seemed to matter now, the presumption of guilt a foregone conclusion. Broken glass cracks further under her heel as she turns from her supposed friends, wiping tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her dress. She hadn't cried for real in front of anyone since she was perhaps 8 months old, vulnerability a humiliation she could not suffer even in infancy. She takes a deep breath, willing herself to get it together, hoping the three of them have miraculously dropped dead by the time she turns back around.

[henry albright]

Hood pulled up over head, mask on, it was easy to maneuver the way into this party. Mirren helping with the location, giving her name at the door and going by the plus one she'd been allotted. Why are you being so weird? Echoing in Henry's mind after she begrudgingly spilled the location of the infamous party.  One he was desperate to be at, when in the past he ran far away from this group. If only Mirren knew the real reason why his behavior, or messages felt very unlike the guy she knew. But the letters DVC were permanently affecting his vision. They were everywhere he looked, carved into Kitty's cream skin. Though it was two days ago and his anger still hadn't subsided. Nothing Kitty could say could calm him down, for Henry stared at them in the mirror and knew something else was going on.  She'd willingly let her "brother' engrave his name on the body Henry loved to worship. And the worst part? She was staring, almost admiring them just as she was caught..red handed. Guard slipped up, just as many questions came to his mind. Spotting the group wasn't difficult. Dominic's usual dramatics, hands flying in the air. They were separate currently, each in their own section of the party. His execution had to be perfect though. Mask still on, as he leaned against a wall. Piece by piece, like a chess board they found each other. Kitty and Calvin first..were speaking separately, in a room that didn't have much of a crowd. An icy glare alerted Henry that he needed to move closer. They were too far for him to be able to eavesdrop. Brushing by people to get a listen of the conversation occurring. Soon the group of four were together...reunited. What he didn't expect was the chaos to form and without his involvement. In the shadows Henry listened to secret, after secret but his ears stopped at the first confession. London, Kitty and Dominic sleeping together. Fighting the urge to end this now, but he found that he couldn't. Voices were getting louder, members of their group walking off, drawing more attention as a glass shattered. People quieting around but he was safe behind his mask. Letting the reality of Kitty's life shine through. While their friendships crumbled, Henry slipped his mask off, feeling like the fight was winding down. Still not recognizable by anyone yet. His body hardened as Kitty shouts 'Henry is ancient history!" They start walking away and he knows it's time. Ready to seek the revenge, the reason he came here.  And Kitty's back was turned. No doubt she'd hear his voice, moving closer to where Dominic, Calvin and Violet were hanging about.   "Oh look. Just the fucked up group I was looking for." Violet's eyes widen as she looks to Calvin, and back to Dominic. Everything felt like it was in slow motion. Dominic's scowl trying to fight through his obvious botox. "I came to give you a little birthday present, Dom." The snap of his punch happens so fast, he hears Violet gasp beside Calvin. "That's for the initials." He glances to Calvin, "I'll let you figure that one out." His intention was only to deliver one punch, then exit the party. But with some new information given to him this evening.. a second one felt warranted. Deserved. Kitty still belonged to him after all. Dominic finally stands before Henry hits him for the final time. Blood gushing out of his nose. "And that's for sleeping with Kitty. Always knew you didn't think of her as a fucking sister." He shakes out the hand, it would ache in a couple hours when the adrenaline wore off. God, this felt so satisfying after so long. "Have a good rest of your night, everyone." Looking towards Kitty with darkened eyes, filled with anger. He doesn't allow anyone to speak to him, before he takes off towards the exit. Texting someone he owed an explanation too.

[calvin keller]

It is the calm before the storm. Calvin is blissfully unaware in the interim, whiskey like smoke down his throat as he dared to catch his breath. To contemplate Violet's pleas, test the honesty of her shuffled off forgiveness. He isn't sure if it's because she's high or if she truly doesn't care that much but he warms to it regardless, shifting closer to her along the marble edge they occupied. "Funny you should ask..." But Dominic seems to have other plans. As if Cal's fuse had lit the connecting minefields, his most tenured friend here is a sudden animation of pomp of circumstance. Of swirling insults that miss their mark, Cal's brow raising in amuse. Like he hadn't wound him up himself to let him go, for once dragging all the strings on his own, marionettes in his loosened, uninterested grasp. While usurping Kitty had been sweet it's the sight of Dominic that strikes stronger, features carefully schooled as he watches what looks like a child mid temper tantrum. Complete with the toss of his hat in final fashion, the death wish he'd offered the only thing that shifted him further in front of her. "Hey.." Again, he's interrupted. This time by a recognizable but still unfamiliar voice, than an even more unfamiliar fist. The strikes happen in quick succession, Calvin barely able to piece together the seconds that pass before the blood is dripping down Dom's face. Privy to another secret to unravel, another game to begin, meeting Henry's gaze with a strange, level-headed nod before he took Dom's sharp chin in his own grasp. Dragged his thumb over his pillowed lip, rusted rivulets collecting over his touch. "Even if I am, you've yet to have me the way you want me. And I think that might kill you before anything else does." The blood is sharp, bitter but warm on his tongue when he tastes it, chasing the last of his drink before reaching for Violet once more. "Let's get out of here."