[Dylan] Going Once

[ROSELYN RAE DAVIS]

This event was complete and utter bullshit. Suicide prevention was a genuine concern, and everyone here was throwing around money and eating caviar, drinking champagne… pretending that they care. But it was her turn to put something up for ‘auction’. Rosie pushed her hair away from her face, picking up a glass of champagne. Underage drinking, strike one. “ Hi,” she said into the microphone, giving a polite smile to her father. “ Everyone looks so great.. and I’m so happy we were able to have the catering come in. Nothing better than each of your bites costing about a hundred dollars when there are children going hungry tonight in our own city.. so cheers to that, we’ve already made a difference,” she said sarcastically, lifting her champagne glass. Rosie cleared her throat, “Um… I don’t know if you guys actually REALIZE this or not.. but you CAN donate money to a serious issue like suicide prevention, without getting something in return. How selfish can all of you be? What more do you possibly need? You don’t need anything. What we need.. as a society, is to realize that the only thing that matters in our lives is people and relationships. And when we quit taking care of each other, and we lose that… those are things that money can’t buy back. So go ahead and buy yachts, and to the last guy that just auctioned off a flamethrower… I mean I… one, that’s awesome. But two… I don’t think anyone here realistically needs that. So I’m going to make a proposition, and it’s going to piss some of you off. How about… those of us that have money… just donate it, without expecting something in return? That’s crazy, right?” she said, looking around the room. “ That’s what I thought. So to showcase to all of you, how fucking inconsiderate and psychotic you look right now, let’s up the ridiculous factor so that maybe someone will listen to what I am trying to say,” she said, downing the champagne before setting the glass down. Rosie reached back, unfastening the buttons on her dress. Strike two. She wiggled her hips, letting her dress fall to the ground before she stepped out of it. And judging by the look on her fathers face…strike three. “ Alright guys… start your bidding” she said, placing her hands on her hips as she avoided looking at her fathers face.

Outfit

[DYLAN DAVID PARKER]

Dylan knew by the look on his brother’s face that neither of them had any idea what was on the plates in front of them as he watched Derek carefully dissect it. It had been a long couple of days with Bobbie’s mom dying and not one of them had thought twice about letting her stay in their home. It was too familiar of a feeling not to reach out to someone going through that. Plus for as little time as they knew it each other, it really seemed that Derek and Bobbie were good for each other, their own weird little way. Dylan was just glad his brother had made some friends, and met someone that seemed to understand him. Dylan worried about him; especially that it brought up a lot of feelings all of them had been working so hard on pushing down so they could continue with their daily lives. Dylan’s mom was a very social lady. She liked to be in clubs and groups, lunch at the club and she loved being on committees for planning things. She was all about being involved in the community. And given recent events she thought it would be nice for the family to come out and support the cause. And it was nice. Dylan and Derek didn’t really want to be there. Not because they didn’t want to support the cause, but because it was Saturday night and they could be doing other things. Dylan glanced up when he heard their mom talking in hushed tones, “It just seems like such a weird way to support a cause. I mean no… object, that we could bid on is going to bring back to our family what we need. And everyone else here is just throwing their money around because they just want to flaunt that they can bid higher than the next person. I mean, I don’t even want to bid, what would we do with a flame thrower?” “Well…” Dylan joked, laughing slightly. “Oh believe me, I don’t want to know your answer. It’s just, what does auctioning off things do to promote suicide awareness? It doesn’t.” His mom was right, it didn’t. “Honey, some people just do it for the status, but that’s not us. I made a very generous donation already, no bidding needed.” Their dad honestly was such a gem. All the money in the world never meant a thing to him, he just wanted to have a good life with his family. “This is just a way for wealthy people to flaunt their money and slap a good cause on it so they don’t look like a bunch of pricks.” Their mom said quietly, sounding irritated. Dylan snorted, Derek staring at her like she’d just ate her own hand, “Mom just said pricks.” As a young women approached the mic and began to speak, Dylan could see his mother nodding out of the corner of his eye, “Yes, someone gets it.” As she finished talking, her dress dropping to the floor, Dylan grinned. That was just funny. And smart. “Oh my,” his mom was saying, Derek staring the young women on stage, their dad taking a drink of his water just to have something else to look at. Without much other thought Dylan put his hand up to bid. “Dylan,” his mom said, wide eyed, “What are you doing?” “Bidding. We all agreed with what she said, I’m gonna support her cause. She knows what she’s talking about. Besides,” he said, bidding again against another young guy, “maybe I’ll get a date out of it.” Dylan’s mom sighed, his dad nodding, “Alright, bid away.” They were a little unconventional as a family but at least they all stood for the same thing.

[ROSELYN RAE DAVIS]

Yeah, she was definitely standing in front of anyone that mattered in her fathers world half naked. But really,this wasn’t any more scandalous than a bikini. She wore those all the time, but for some reason you wear a bra, and people lose their fucking minds. Rosie looked over at Blaze who was bidding and shook her head at him with a slight smile. Typical. But when someone else started bidding, she looked to the other side of the room to take a look at who it was. At least it wasn’t a gross old dude. Though there had been a few of those. Rosie smiled slowly as she saw the kid. He looked a lot like the guy Blake had wanted to introduce her to. She got lost in thought for a moment, sort of losing the fact that the price was only getting higher. She should stop it. “ , Oh, sold!” she said into the microphone, giving Blaze a ‘ I will kill you’, look, before setting her microphone back on the stand. Rosie leaned down, picking her dress up before she walked down the steps and over towards the family, giving a polite smile to another senator as she passed him. “ You guys look great,” she said, patting her hand on the old mans arm as she approached the family. What sort of young man bid on a girl in front of his family. “ Hi,” she said excitedly to all of them, giving each of them a hug until she looked at Derek, stopping short in front of him and offered him a high five. “ I noticed you guys haven’t been eating very much,” she said, lowering her dress so that she could step back into it. Once she pulled it back on over her body, she looked at Derek, making an expression that asked for him to button the back of her dress back up. Rosie held the front of her dress, smiling as wide as she possibly could. “ It’s so nice to meet you guys. I’m Roselyn Davis.. but you can all call me Rosie,” she said before looking at each of them excitedly.

[DYLAN DAVID PARKER]

It was sort of hilarious because first of all, Dylan had just won himself a date with some girl he didn’t know and now she was walking across the room half naked like it was no big deal, and as she approached their family he couldn’t help but imagine they were exactly the kind of family most people didn’t expect at these things. Well, their parents, probably. Dylan and Derek definitely not. But as a group, most people found it strange that their parents condoned what other people would call reckless or inappropriate behavior. And yet they had no problem with him buying a date with some chick because they all silently agreed she was cool as hell. And they were so immune to their sons getting into trouble that a half naked girl was sort of common place. Dylan’s dad hugged her lightly, careful not to impose on her half naked self too inappropriately, his mom hugging her tightly as if she was just the most wonderful young woman. Dylan hugged her, thinking this night was turning out so much better than expected and watched Derek’s disappointment when she gave him a high five. As she put her dress back on, Derek responded to her comment about the food, “Well, we don’t know what it is.” Dylan laughed when she mentioned that she didn’t either and had eaten McDonald’s, “Yeah we’re getting Taco Bell on the way home.” Derek made a face at Dylan as he buttoned up her dress as if to say, ‘sucker’, Dylan taking the chance to get a good look at her. She had a gorgeous smile. Gorgeous everything actually. Exactly the kind of girl everyone said was out of his league. But everyone always underestimated how charismatic and lovable he was. Dylan held out a hand to take hers, “Dylan Parker. These are my parents, Jim and Meredith, and my brother Derek.” Dylan’s mom took her hand in both of hers like they’d known each other for ages, ”We just loved what you had to say, completely agree. We are here to support the cause, not throw money around. That’s not what’s important to us.” Their dad nodded, wrapping his arm around his wife lovingly, adding, ”This cause is something very close to our family, we take it seriously. It’s good for people to understand that suicide stems from a sickness. People need to understand what they are raising money for, thank you for pointing that out to everyone.” Dylan nodding, offering a small smile. It was funny, on their own they all didn’t talk a lot about it with people they were just meeting, but there was something to be said about all being together that gave them strength to talk about it. It was something no one should have to go through. They were a perfect example of a loving family who know one would expect to have had to deal with such a tragic loss. And as angry as Dylan was, and Derek was, that they had lost a brother and that he had given up, there was also something to be said about the fact that neither of them was mad at Drew himself. Dylan wanted to believe that Drew, in his right state of mind would never leave them. It was his sickness talking. It was just frustrating that it had gotten the best of him. He knew Derek agreed. That was why their whole family wanted to make people understand what it was really like.

[ROSELYN RAE DAVIS]

“ Ah man… Taco Bell sounds better” she said reluctantly, cursing herself for getting McDonald’s. But really, McDonald’s was a staple. When Derek was done buttoning her dress, she dropped her arms back to the side and looked back at the mother as she was speaking. She smiled again, giving a small nod. ” I’m just glad there’s other people here who don’t have their head up their ass,” she said with a quiet smile. She wasn’t an idiot, she had mentally gathered that if they were so sensitive to the evening, that they had lost someone. But what was she supposed to say? Sorry? Obviously she felt terrible, she wouldn’t wish that on anyone. And she wasn’t about to push further for it, she’d only just met them. She did have some boundaries. “ Well with all sincerity, thank you so much for your donation. I’m fortunate enough to never… experience the pain of a great loss, but it’s a serious issue, which as you said.. is close to people in this very room,” she said solemnly. She stood still for a moment, thinking about the pain that must’ve been shoved into their lives like an unwanted guess. But they were here, they were strong, they were wanting to tell others about the danger of depression and what came along with it. Rosie smiled brightly, looking back at Dylan, “ You won a date. I’m not sure “won” is the proper terminology. Realistically, you just have to deal with me.” she said before laughing quietly. “ I’m..sick of champagne. Do you want to go shotgun some beers?” she asked while shaking her head slightly. “ It was so nice to meet you guys,” she said, giving his parents another quick hug, and this time Derek one as well, before she gestured for Dylan to follow her in her attempt to find beer.

[DYLAN DAVID PARKER]

Dylan laughed a little when she said that him winning wasn’t exactly the right terminology but if you wanted to be correct about it he technically bought her. But since that was creepy and borderline prostitution, it didn’t sit right with him so he decided to just go with the fact that she ended the bidding on his bid so… that was like winning. Sort of. When she asked if he wanted to go shotgun some beers he said, “Absolutely,” because he wanted a beer, she was beautiful, this banquet was getting more boring by the second, and it just dawned on him why she looked familiar because she was the same girl that Blake was trying to set him up with. What a wonderful coincidence. As Dylan followed her away to find beers, he could hear his mom telling Derek to sit down, which was funny. Dylan wondered if he’d been texting Bobbie at all. But she was probably going to be in their house when they got home since their mom gave Bobbie their garage code and a key. As Dylan caught up and walked beside her, he said, “So you know Blake Parker?”

[ROSELYN RAE DAVIS]

Rosie ran her hands over the side of her arms. Getting half naked wasn’t a smart idea to getting yourself warm, but since she had her dress back on, hopefully it would help. “ Do I know Blake Parker?” she questioned with genuine confusion. That was a really strange question to ask. Sure, her family was influential in the community, so it might make sense that she was friends with Blake, but usually people didn’t jump right in and ask her which celebrities she knew. “ Wait,” she said, it finally clicking. “ Dylan Parker,” she said, laughing to herself. “ Fuck nuts, that’s a crazy coincidence,” she added, going back to leave the ballroom, going down the hall that would take them to the corridor where the kitchen was. Once she got inside, she maneuvered around a few of the servers that were walking around carrying silver trays. She opened the fridge, grabbing a case of beer from the bottom of the fridge and looked at him with a grin, “ Blake made me listen to some of your music and was going on and on. I’m pretty sure she’s already named our two kids and our dog.” she said, holding her dress with one hand, and the beer in the other as she made her way towards the stairs. Rosie pushed her door open with her hip before heading into her bedroom, glad to leave all of that behind. “ So, cousin of Blake Parker,” she said indignantly with a smirk, looking in his direction before she took two of the cans out of the case. Rosie sat on her bed, letting the dress puff around her as she slipped off her heels. “ Your music….. it’s not terrible.” she said with a smile, punching a hole in her beer can.

[DYLAN DAVID PARKER]

Dylan laughed when Rosie put two and two together, “Ha, yeah Blake’s actually my cousin.” Because, in Dylan’s mind, why else would Blake set her gorgeous friend Rosie up with him unless they were related and she was biased? As they maneuvered through the kitchen Dylan saw what looked like a tray of chocolate covered strawberries sitting on the counter, thinking they looked a hell of a lot better than what they had for dinner. After Rosie had grabbed a case of beer and headed out of the kitchen, Dylan took the tray of strawberries when no one was watching and left behind her, eating one and throwing the leafy part in a potted plant. Dylan laughed, “Yeah Blake is hoping to get an entire album out of this relationship,” he joked, following her into what he assumed was her room. Dylan set the tray down, shrugging, “Thanks, I try not to make it suck too much.” He grabbed a beer, punching a hole in the side, thinking it was funny that this senators daughter, couture gown wearing, blonde bombshell was all about shot gunning beers, but he figured, what you saw on the surface wasn’t always truth. He wondered if she had actually listened to any of the songs. Probably not, most people didn’t on first listen. He knew they were sometimes a difficult band to take seriously but a lot of his personal experiences went into those songs. The right person would only have to listen carefully and they’d know a hell of a lot about him. “Okay, one, two, three…. Go.”

[ROSELYN RAE DAVIS]

Rosie waited as he counted down before she started to chug the beer as quickly as she could. Not as quickly as he was capable of, but nonetheless. “ I’m guessing you have a bit more experience with that than I do,” she said with a wink, getting off the bed. “ That’s okay, I have something else,” she said. Rosie stood off the bed, cracking open another beer before she went into the mini fridge in her room, pulling out the tequila bottle with the chilled shot glasses. Rosie tried to carry everything, picking her dress back up as she climbed back on. She gasped quietly, seeing the strawberries. “ Where did you find those?” she questioned, having not seen them down at the banquet. Rosie gave him the shot glass, pouring some into it. “ To… your bands success,” she said, realizing she had forgotten what the band was called. Rosie pushed the hair away from her face, taking a shot before scrunching her nose. The limes were downstairs. She should’ve brought some up…. “ So tell me more about yourself,” she said, bringing the bottle to her lips and taking a long drag of it. “ Sorry.. these things are really boring,” she said with an apologetic look, offering him the bottle. This guy was strangely hot. Plus he was in a band, and it was everything her father would disapprove of. “ I’ll start,” she said, reaching her hand out to take the bottle away from him when he was done. “ I am a political science major. I have a puppy that I spoil way too entirely much.. Tequila is my favorite. Well.. strawberries are my favorite. My favorite band is Imagine Dragons…I think you’re super hot,” she said, narrowing her eyebrows as she smiled slowly. “ But none of that actually matters, you don’t really care,” she said, taking a strawberry off of the tray, taking one last swig of tequila before she brought the strawberry to her lips.

[DYLAN DAVID PARKER]

Dylan finished the last bit of his beer, setting the empty can down, grinning, “Maybe a little,” he agreed. Dylan sat down on her bed when she got up to get more drinks, “Those were just sitting on the counter in the kitchen. Something tells me no one will be missing them,” he laughed. Dylan downed his shot, watching her face and grabbed a strawberry, handing it too her. It wasn’t quite a lime but it might actually be better. Dylan thought about that, what about him? He took the bottle from her, taking a drink, “No it’s cool. My mom just really likes being involved in the community,” he shrugged. He wasn’t sure what there was to say about himself, but before he could get started, she said she would go first. Dylan nodded as she spoke about herself, grinning at that last part about him being hot. “Oh really?” Dylan took the bottle back, taking a quick drink, “Well you’re one to talk.” Yeah, because she was flawless. Dylan shook his head, “Maybe I do,” he shrugged, holding the bottle, contemplating if he should drink more or not. It was caring about little things that made people feel cared about, that made people feel worthwhile. Dylan thought for a moment, “Okay. I’m in a band. We just moved up here because of my dad’s job. He’s a corporate big wig, my mom sells pampered chef and hosts tea parties. I read a lot of books and smoke a lot of weed. My younger brother Derek is a senior in high school, I have a little sister in kindergarten, I moved up here to be with them. And I eat flaming hot cheetos every day.” That summed up a lot.

[ROSELYN RAE DAVIS]

Rosie smiled as she listened to him talking about himself. All of those things sounded so…relaxed. “ I love flaming hot Cheetos” she said, smiling as she watched him. How adorable was it that he had moved here to be with his siblings? Family seemed to mean a lot to him, which at his age, was pretty admirable. Most people only cared about themselves or putting themselves first. Though, his family had been through a great loss. It wasn’t her place to judge whether or not he smoked weed, he came from a loving family and seemed to have his priorities straight. Besides, she just stripped naked basically in front of an entire banquet hall of people. They all had their things. Rosie licked the corner of her lips, sitting up on her elbow as she held onto the tequila bottle and took her phone off of the nightstand. “ Okay,” she said, trying to pull up youtube on her phone. “ Find me the song you’ve recorded that means the most to you,” she said, handing her phone over to him before she pushed her hair behind her ear.

[DYLAN DAVID PARKER]

Dylan nodded as if it were so obvious, “Right? They’re the best cheesy snack around.” Dylan watched her grab her phone, telling him to find a song they’d recorded that meant the most to him. Well that was easy. Right now, and of course it wasn’t always the same, but currently the song that meant the most to him was Lullabies. It was kind of an obvious choice. It was about Drew, and all of the emotions and thoughts that came with that ordeal. It was one of those things that had been therapeutic for Dylan, but it had also quickly become a song that was helping a lot of fan dealing with the same experiences. After the song had been released with the album, there had been an overwhelming response from fans that could relate to the song and how much it had helped them through things they were dealing with too. So it meant a lot too, from that aspect, that they’d been able to connect with so many fans on such a personal level. Dylan pulled the song up on YouTube, and handed it back to her, “This one, Lullabies.”

[ROSELYN RAE DAVIS]

Rosie laid on her stomach, waiting for him to pull the song up. She wondered for a moment if it was weird being able to look yourself up on youtube. She shuffled over, taking another strawberry off the plate as she bit into it. It didn’t take long for the song to start, and she made sure to be careful to listen to each of the words. Rosie stayed as still as possible for the first half of the song. This guy less than three feet away from her, had been so hurt and yet turned it into something so ridiculously beautiful and artistic. The amount of talent inside of him was seriously…attractive. And he’d been hurt, and that was somehow attractive too because it showed he had vulnerability. Rosie, gathered her dress, moving it so that she could finally sit up. She moved her phone off to the side of the bed, moving carefully to not get the chocolate covered strawberries on her dress. Rosie took one of the strawberries, moving closer towards Dylan where she brought it up so he could take a bite. She placed her hand behind his neck, pulling him closer towards her before she kissed him, moving herself on top of him.

[DYLAN DAVID PARKER]

It was funny because Dylan could tell whether someone like their music or didn’t but he could also tell them they were truly listening to the song and what it was saying and the meaning behind it. Rosie was pretty quiet the first half of the song so he knew she was paying attention, and judging by the reason that he was even here today, she could easily put together the pieces of how this song related to why his family was at her house. She must have like the song though because before it ended Rosie had moved her phone and the tray of strawberries before grabbing one, handing feeding it to him. This was probably a first for this kind of reaction to this song, but at the same time he could see the appeal. It was kind of a vulnerable song, and honestly, Dylan wasn’t afraid to put himself out there. And apparently, from the way Rosie had leaned in to kiss him, she was into it. Dylan made a mental note to thank Blake later, though he wasn’t even sure she had anything to do with this. Dylan leaned back onto the bed as she moved over his, pulling her over his chest and kissed her, finding those buttons on the back of her dress that had already been undone once today, undoing them one by one.

[ROSELYN RAE DAVIS]

Rosie kept her hand against the side of his jaw, ignoring her own hair that had fallen over their faces. She was not the type of girl to meet a guy and hook up with them ; especially not this quickly. In fact, she could count the number of people she had slept with on one hand ; hell, even after this she still could. But she liked that he was ‘in’ her world without really being a part of it. She liked the way he smiled, and how much his music seemed to connect to who he was. She could tell him that she wasn’t normally like this, that this wasn’t who she was. But she had this sinking feeling that he didn’t really care, and he probably wouldn’t be trying to get to know her any better anyway. So instead she kept quiet, he would probably think she was lying. When he was finished unbuttoning her dress, she pushed herself up so that it was easier to get out of the dress before hovering back over him. She smiled against his lips, undoing his tie before she looped it behind his neck and tugged on it so that they were sitting upright. Besides, every one else in her life seemed so content to live the lives that had been set up for them. Just for the moment, he seemed like an escape. And she couldn’t trust that he would stick around. Rosie lowered her hand from the tie to the buttons of his shirt, unfastening them in the same manner as he had on her dress.