CHASE BUCKLEY
Demon
Posts: 139
Age:
38
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Roxanne Braschi
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Apr 27, 2024 18:43:01 GMT
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Post by CHASE BUCKLEY on Oct 23, 2023 19:57:52 GMT
”Ma…” She carried on relentlessly, offering for the tenth time since they’d called to let him know they were almost there to get something to go with dinner. ”Ma, don’t worry. We’re all set, and honestly, I don’t think there’s gonna be room for anything more in the kitchen once you guys get here. We’ll see you soon. Bye ma, bye.”
Chase chuckled as he thumbed his phone off. His mom was still probably arguing for his dad to pull over so they could grab a bottle of wine, or flowers, something so they wouldn’t be turning up at the door empty handed. The first time they’d visited after he’d moved here, his old man had carted an entire box of things he might’ve missed from back home up the stairs cause the elevator had been out of service (something he’d remedied before he left, drawing sighs of relief from the super and the old folks who’d already been waiting a week for someone to come and fix it). Beignets – no longer warm by the time they’d got there, but still amazing – the bitter chicory coffee he couldn’t get here, and a big tub of his ma’s jambalaya shrouded in ice packs to keep it fresh on the way. He’d tried protesting that they’d feed him up as well here as they would at home, but she hadn’t believed it. Given what Roxxi was finishing putting together in the kitchen she might finally stop worrying about how skinny he’d been and if the job was working him too hard.
”I think we’ve got about ten minutes,” Chase called out to the kitchen. Roxxi probably had it planned down to the minute anyway – thinking ahead with some of those little nibbles so that the main heft of dinner could be pushed if necessary. Antipasto. By now the terminology was almost entirely imprinted, as it should’ve been after two years of Roxxi cooking for him. He’d already stolen one of the pieces of bruschetta, dancing out of range of the swat of a dishtowel to appreciate it. Hey, it’d just been a taster. He had to make sure his ma was gonna like it didn’t he?
Raising his hand to his mouth as he slipped into the room that’d been turned back into the second bedroom for their visit, Chase popped his thumb between his lips, licking the traces of olive oil and the good tomatoes (he wasn’t a big enough idiot to question what those were) from the calloused skin. His ma was probably just gonna be ecstatic that she wasn’t the one doing the cooking while they were here. A couple of decades of trying to keep up with the appetites of a working man and a kid who didn’t know the meaning of the word slow had been more than enough. Still, after everything that had happened with the fucking Agnellis it was probably a relief that she’d been able to carry on doing it at all.
He pushed the thought away as he fluffed the pillows on the bed one last time and smoothed over the covers. Swearing was still a big no no around his ma’s table – her son was not one of those assholes who disrespected their parents and saw each infraction as a badge of honour. Detective Buckley had dragged himself out of all of that filth and had spent his entire career trying to clean it up after.
Until it’d almost cost him his life and he’d come here to lick his wounds.
Hearing the clank of pots or pans or something in the kitchen, Chase smiled. Maybe that’d been the original intention, but Mystic Falls had ended up more than just some quiet spot on the map where he could recuperate. It’d been a fresh start, somewhere to move past all the trouble that’d continued to hang around him like a bad smell back in New Orleans. It was the place where he’d met the woman he loved and had started planning a life with her that meant they were probably gonna need somewhere bigger than the apartment before too long.
Chase turned away from the bed to grab the files off of the desk that he’d spent an hour leafing through that morning – one last burst of work before his parents arrived and he took a couple of days of personal time. His brows drew together, they’d been there when he’d headed out into the kitchen to see if everything was ready (and, alright, cause he’d known the antipasto was probably gonna be mostly ready). He turned back towards the door, like he could retrace his steps from that empty desk. Nah, he hadn’t taken him out there with him. ”Hey, babe, did you see where I put that work stuff down?” The last thing he wanted was his ma finding it all and thumbing through it. The photos had been enough to turn his stomach, they’d likely have her shrieking and the whole trip wrecked.
The rest of the stuff had gone into boxes in the closet, held shut by the tape that both his parents would respect enough not to go digging through. Crossing the room, Chase slid open the closet door, brushing aside the out of season clothes that were hanging up. There was a stack of boxes tucked in the back corner – more than he’d thought he’d brought home with him. The bottom was taped just like he thought, but not the couple on top. Frowning faintly, Chase popped the lid off the top one. Files, clip binders and notebooks, just like the others, worn around the edges though. Those softened edges had him running his fingers along them, flipping the top one open to find clippings that were equally yellowed, photos of a faintly familiar bodega, a mug shot just peeking above a crease in the paper – dark hair, dark eyes …
A shuffle of noise at the door had him looking up, his frown deepening until it dragged at his mouth too. ”Did you stack some stuff up in here too?” he asked, his fingers still clutching the edge of the clipped news article. There’d been plenty of those after he’d been an idiot and let the Agnellis get their claws into him – before he'd managed to tear his way clear.
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ROXANNE BRASCHI
Chimera
psychic-skinwalker
Posts: 176
Age:
30
Occupation:
Professor at Whitmore College
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Chase Buckley
Played by:
Julia
Last seen May 2, 2024 18:30:46 GMT
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Post by ROXANNE BRASCHI on Nov 13, 2023 23:21:18 GMT
━ i don't know where i'm going, but i sure know where i've been ━ ROXXI JUST MIGHT GO COMPLETELY CRAZY TRYING TO COOK for Chase’s parents… if she hadn’t cracked already. Oh, Dio, was she already past the point of saving? No, no, no━she soothed herself as she looked at the pot roast again, the Brasato al vino rosso, she was fine. Dinner was going to be great, Chase’s parents were going to love her, and… it would be fine. Everything would be fine.
That didn’t stop the nerves that strummed through her, every cell alight with electricity, then bleeding into her work. It made her push harder, cook better (at least in her mind), and she’d just finished the first round of bruschetta, the Antipasto when Chase walked in to steal it. She cursed at him in Italian and swatted for him with the tea towel on her shoulder, narrowly missing, then vowing (in Italian) to get him next time.
It made her go back to cooking with a smile, though, moving around the kitchen like she was floating, stirring the risotto, frying the zucchini. It should all be ready and warm by the time they got there… if she’d planned this correctly.
Then Chase called out that she had ten minutes left, and another wave of anxiety rolled through her. Cazzo, cazzo, cazzo. Figlio di puttana. Roxxi looked down at herself and cursed aloud. She hadn’t gotten dressed for tonight yet, either, because she was worried about spilling or sweating on her nice clothes. The bruschetta was done and set out, and she prayed over the risotto (then shut off the stove, for good measure) before rushing to Chase’s bedroom.
She stripped quickly, yelling out a, “Huh?” in response to Chase before shoving the black turtleneck over her head, then the fall-coloured dress overtop. “No! Keep track of your own things! What do I look like, your mother?” She called back once she processed what he said, then looked at herself in the mirror. Nice. Pretty. Even if she wasn’t making turkey and stuffing and whatever else for Thanksgiving, she could still be on theme, right?
Roxxi dragged on her tights without tearing them (a miracle considering how rushed she was), then clambered down the hallway to the spare bedroom, where his parents would be staying… for the next few days. Well, if they hated her and her cooking tonight, she’d have a second shot, at least. This would’ve been a lot easier if she’d met them last Christmas and wasn’t judged on her cooking at the same time, but she… couldn’t remember why she hadn’t met them then. There had to have been a good reason, though, because Chase didn’t go home, either.
She slipped into the room, her eyes finding Chase━his presence alone was immediately comforting━rummaging through the closet. He looked concerned… and biteable. She wanted to kiss his frown away.
Roxxi shifted in and shook her head, “No, I have never seen these boxes before. Why? What is it?” She slipped in close to press her lips to his cheek, then glanced down at the file he was holding, confusion crossing her face. She had no idea who this was about, but it didn’t matter so close to dinnertime. So close to his parents’ arrival. “Does my outfit look okay?” Roxxi asked, stepping back to allow him to see the whole thing. “Presentable? Your mother won’t think I’m a wh-re?” She scoffed softly, but a small smile touched the edges of her lips━perhaps mostly nerves again.
CHASE BUCKLEY |
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CHASE BUCKLEY
Demon
Posts: 139
Age:
38
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Roxanne Braschi
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Apr 27, 2024 18:43:01 GMT
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Post by CHASE BUCKLEY on Nov 24, 2023 20:21:32 GMT
Someone had probably burned the files he’d left behind in New Orleans – and good riddance to them. He’d spent years trying to free New Orleans from the scourge of men like Emiliano Agnelli (a lamb in name only, that man was all wolf), ultimately it hadn’t been worth it. While Agnelli had carried on building his organisation up from the bottom with kids, he’d been the one suffering. Crime here could still be brutal, but it wasn’t in the same way. You didn’t get teenagers holding up bodegas or gang members kicking the crap out of the cops investigating them. Even the murders seemed softened somehow, all wrapped up in a cotton wool layer that hid the brutality. His life felt the same, the swaddling around the scars that still littered his body and soul done by Roxxi.
Chase puffed out a breath as he heard Roxxi streak through the apartment, rifling around in their bedroom. It still amazed him that she’d picked him when this was a town full of rich, pretty guys – hell, there’d probably a dozen more eligible, more intelligent (and less damaged) men working at Whitmore. She put up with his bullshit with the lumps he took on the job, put him together with those soft hands. She didn’t bitch (too much) when he invited his parents here for a pre-Thanksgiving-Thanksgiving, or when he’d batted his lashes and had asked about dinner. Hey, he’d put in a week’s worth of effort getting the apartment squared away, and he’d get up to make pancakes for breakfast tomorrow too (if he was allowed).
Dark eyes rolled, chagrin tugging at him as she called back. The corner of his mouth curled up, his gaze darting to the door, even though she couldn’t see him through the wall. ”You look better than my ma, but don’t tell her I said that,” he snarked. Grumbling, he tugged open drawers, coming up empty, literally, since he’d cleared stuff out for his parents. The visit might crash to a fast end if his ma found murder files in their room. It’d been hard enough for both of them when he’d got in trouble. The image of the colour draining from her face and the way her hands had knotted so tight as they’d sat in the waiting area at the police station turned his stomach, kept him looking.
The closet probably wasn’t the safest place for them, but if they were boxed, his ma wouldn’t go poking too far – having a teenaged boy in the house had probably taught her the perils of doing that. He wasn’t sixteen and hiding girly magazines anymore, but as he stared at the newspaper clippings he’d found, Chase wondered if he shoulda been digging now – with his parents probably five minutes away and dinner imminent.
”Well, if it wasn’t me and it wasn’t you…” Chase’s voice trailed off before he added the ‘then who was it?’. There’d been blank spots in his memory before, some had closed up in the months after his coma, some were still there, taunting him. Maybe he had put them there, gathering all this stuff together cause it reminded him of his own story, like he was trying to figure it out somehow.
His hand came up, settling at the bottom of her back as she inched in to kiss his cheek. It drew an immediate, instinctive smile out of him. The little lines remained between his brows. ”Newspapers, a story about a store being robbed. Heavy shit.” That sat on his conscience like a damn anvil, ready to tip off into the void that felt like it’d opened up right on the other side of him. ”I guess I saw myself in it, you know? Kinda looked like me too.” But it wasn’t him, his memories of that part of his life had stayed solid, at least he thought they had.
As she always did, Roxxi pulled him out of his head, drawing back to show off her outfit. The clippings fluttered back into the box as he let his gaze rove over her real slow. The smile that had tugged at his lips as she kissed him flooded back strong, heat reaching his eyes. ”My mother’s gonna wonder what a woman like you’s doin’ with a jackass like me,” he teased. ”You’re stunnin’ baby. She’s gonna love you, I promise.” A nudge had the lid of the box slipping back into place before he was reaching for her. He caught her hips, drawing her in to kiss her. ”You ain’t gotta worry.” His stomach was still knotted with nerves, although every word out of his mouth rang with his certainty.
The doorbell chimed through the apartment, leaving him jumping out of the kiss – like his ma had x-ray vision and could see through closed doors. Warmth flooded Chase’s cheeks as he chuckled. ”Ten minutes my ass. You ready?” He took her hand, knotting his fingers with hers. Chase tugged her to the door with him, the knots only tightening as he tugged it open. This felt momentous, all the obstacles that’d kept them apart the last couple of years melting away as he saw his ma standing right there. ”Hey ma,” he murmured, feeling the burn in his eyes as he pulled his mom into a hug, his dad held his arms out to Roxxi.
”Hi, you’ve gotta be Roxxi. Traffic was lighter than we thought, hope we’re not too early.” Chase felt his voice lock in his throat – it felt more like years too late, although he couldn’t force them out of his throat.
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ROXANNE BRASCHI
Chimera
psychic-skinwalker
Posts: 176
Age:
30
Occupation:
Professor at Whitmore College
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Chase Buckley
Played by:
Julia
Last seen May 2, 2024 18:30:46 GMT
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Post by ROXANNE BRASCHI on Dec 29, 2023 20:59:14 GMT
━ i don't know where i'm going, but i sure know where i've been ━ SHE WOULD’VE SMACKED HIM FOR TALKING ABOUT HIS MOTHER that way, but Roxxi was all the way down the hall, and by the time she got to him, she was focused on other things entirely.
Like who the hell put these boxes in his apartment. “Casper, the Friendly Ghost?” Roxxi offered with a laugh. He must’ve done it at some point, right? Or maybe someone from New Orleans dropped off a bunch of files, and these boxes were among them. Who really knew. Her mind briefly flitted to her step father, but decided he wouldn’t go out of his way for something like that.
She was going to tease him and say a robbery was not ‘heavy shit,’ but decided against it. He was likely sparing her the details. And, in any case, her mind wasn’t on these random files at the moment. It was stuck on the fact that his parents were going to come any second and she still didn’t feel ready. “I’m sorry, baby,” Roxxi tried to soothe him, leaning in to peck his temple, “But get over it for a minute, hm? We have bigger things going on than old police files from a city we no longer live in.” She whispered it like she was still saying sweet nothings, then pecked his lips.
She asked about her dress instead━modest, nice… or so she hoped. Chase clearly approved it, but what did he know? He was just a man! What if… no, there wasn’t anything she could possibly be upset about, could there? She wasn’t showing any skin except the back of her hands.
She huffed, smacking her hand lightly against his chest and rolling her eyes. She wouldn’t think that━Chase was her baby boy, her only boy, and Roxxi was just the woman trying to take him away.
Roxxi settled a little as he took her by the hips and kissed her, her arms curling around the back of his neck, humming into his lips. “Ten minutes might be enough time… then maybe we could tell them we’ll finally be making them grandparents.” That would be one hell of an introduction. Roxxi grinned against his lips, but then the sound of them at the door forced them apart, and she snickered at his comment.
“No.” Roxxi puffed, but she took his hand and went anyway, dark eyes finding their faces the moment the door opened. Her second hand curled around his wrist, and she smiled shyly, eventually releasing him so he could hug his mom.
She shifted in, wrapping her arms around his dad, and resisting the urge to kiss his cheeks. Americans weren’t fond of that, and she was sure it was just another way to anger his mother. “Yes, hello, I’m Roxxi! It’s so nice to meet both of you.” She pulled away and hugged his mom next. “And no, no! No problem! Dinner is almost ready.” She pulled away and moved toward the kitchen. “I hope Chase warned you, it’s not regular American-style Thanksgiving food. I made roast━braised in red wine━and risotto. Help yourself to the bruschetta,” Roxxi motioned to the bread and other snacks on the table, then checked on the dinner. “What would you like to drink? Wine? Red, white? Water? I believe we picked up some soda as well…” She turned to pull open the fridge, feeling more nervous than she had in a long time.
CHASE BUCKLEY |
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CHASE BUCKLEY
Demon
Posts: 139
Age:
38
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Roxanne Braschi
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Apr 27, 2024 18:43:01 GMT
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Post by CHASE BUCKLEY on Jan 8, 2024 22:00:06 GMT
”If only,” Chase called out. ”Maybe we can get him to clean the bathroom while he’s moving stuff around.” Coming from New Orleans meant he should’ve believed in all of that, right? The city had stores selling voodoo shit to tourists on every corner, tours took people around to the old cemeteries and forget about Halloween. If there was anything really there he’d have seen it in all of his years working the worst of the streets. Still...
Chase scrubbed his fingers through his hair, nails raking lightly over the scars hidden beneath the thick waves. His brows furrowed as he stared down at the boxes. How much of what he’d seen – or felt - had been knocked out of him? The assault and the coma seemed to have taken the most, but there were other blank spots too, places in his head that left him shivering if he tried to press them too hard. Which he wasn’t gonna do today. This was the first time he’d seen his parents in way too long, he wasn’t gonna start looking for shadows out the corner of his eye.
That hollow feeling was there in the pit of his stomach until Roxxi was there, her touch filling it most of the way in. Things always seemed like they were gonna alright as long as she was there. He brought the article up to her, the similarities to his own near miss catching in his throat, only vanishing again when her lips were brushing his temple and she was murmuring to him. ”Yeah,” he sighed, nuzzling into her cheek for a moment. ”Maybe I’ll call Clete later ... after they head home. No work talk at the dinner table.” On his part anyway. Parts of his brain would probably glaze over if Roxxi started talking about the intricacies of what she talked with his parents, but he knew his eyes were gonna be lit up with pride as he watched her talk. When he looked like that his ma was gonna know just much he was in love with her.
That look had to be on his face now, bordering on the edge of damn goofy as Roxxi swatted his chest – a little warning tickle on the wrist that he wasn’t gonna take a damn bit of notice about. Drawing her in, he settled into the kiss. If they’d had a few more minutes he might’ve said definitely enough time, but one of them was gonna be looking ruffled when they opened the door then. ”I tell my ma that and she’s never gonna wanna leave,” he chuckled. ”It’d make her decade. I don’t think she ever expected it was gonna happen.” One son - her son, it wasn’t lie he’d transformed imto someone else when he’d got in too deep with the Agnellis, cut off from any idea of dating, let alone settling down. He might as well have been in the cage himself for how much thought he’d put into it before Roxxi had pulled him up out of the crowd.
Hia ma wasn’t giving them the chance anyway. They must’ve practically been in the lot already when she’d made the call. ”It’s too late to back out now,” he murmured as he drew her with him to the front door. Chase woulda made the introductions, but he wasn’t sure he’d get the words out of his throat. It felt like decades since he’d seen them. His dad was already handling it, reaching out for Roxxi like he could fill whatever hole distance might’ve left between them all. Sniffling faintly, he pulled his dad into a back thumping hug as his ma turned her attention on Roxxi.
”A pleasure to meet you too, honey,” his ma assured her. Chase caught the approving smile on her lips as she drew back and passed her coat to him. ”He did, said you were a wonderful cook too. Sang all your praises, including how pretty you are. If I was twenty years younger I’d be asking where you got that dress.”
Chase moved through behind her, hanging up his dad’s coat too. ”She’s incredible,” he murmured, like there was any need to reinforce that idea now. His dad was already reaching for a bruschetta – not getting his fingers slapped. He followed suit, eating half of it before Roxxi started offering drinks. ”Let me grab those,” he offered as both his parents asked for wine. Roxxi was already at the fridge, but he carried the drinks over, easily sinking into conversation with his parents, like time hadn’t passed.
His gaze had followed Roxxi as she’d buzzed around the room, pulling together what always seemed like a hundred amazing things when she went all out like this. That soft grin was on his face by the time they were all served, conversation slipping easily around the table between bites. By the time he was forking into his roast, the volume at the table had risen a little, the nerves easing to the point where his brain was able to slip past talk of what their neighbour’s kids were doing back home and Roxxi’s classes back to the files. Chase knuckled at his lower lip. ”I was ... uh ... cleaning some things out of my office to make room for you guys and we found some stuff from back home,” he admitted. ”Old newspapers and stuff. Ma, do you remember some case about a kid getting into trouble with a bodega owner about the same time I did?” Seeing his parents both stiffen in their seats, Chase was already feeling like he’d stepped on some sort of landmine here. ”Sorry,” he murmured, setting his hand on Roxxi’s thigh under the table. ”I know I promised no work talk at the table.”
Colour had drained out of his mom's face, guilt settling into Chase's stomach at the sight of it. He hadn't just brought up work, he'd bought up a subject they'd both tried to put behind them years ago. "I ... I don't remember. We were focused on you, making sure that man didn't turn you into a scapegoat."
His dad had settled a hand over his mom's, almost the way he had over Roxxi's thigh. "The Agnellis were always causing some trouble in the neighbourhood. There'd been robberies before, his gang were behind most of them." His dad's eyes slid to Roxxi. "Has Chase told you what happened then?" As though he'd have brought it up if he hadn't made those confessions over what pit he'd dug himself out of. Maybe he couldn't recall exactly how the conversation had come up yet, but it'd been a relief not having to hide that darker side of his life from the woman he was gonna spend his entire life with.
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ROXANNE BRASCHI
Chimera
psychic-skinwalker
Posts: 176
Age:
30
Occupation:
Professor at Whitmore College
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Chase Buckley
Played by:
Julia
Last seen May 2, 2024 18:30:46 GMT
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Post by ROXANNE BRASCHI on Mar 2, 2024 1:37:50 GMT
━ i don't know where i'm going, but i sure know where i've been ━ IT SEEMED LIKE CHASE’S MOM AND DAD DIDN’T immediately hate her, so that was a good sign, right? His mom even complimented her dress, and she was suddenly very grateful that she’d worn a sweater under it. Roxxi couldn’t imagine her liking it very much if her whole chest (no matter how flat) was out.
“Oh, please,” Roxxi waved her hand and grinned at his mom, still feeling nervous beneath the wave of giddiness that allowed her to breathe for a moment. “You’d rock it now.” She grinned, sharing the happy look with Chase as she whisked her way into the kitchen, checking on dinner. She would’ve grabbed the drinks if Chase hadn’t offered, but he (thankfully) took the silent cue and grabbed them.
Finally, the risotto, meat and everything else were on their plates, and the plates were at the table (along with the people), and Roxxi settled into the spot beside Chase. Her anxiety seemed to ease the more they spoke, and especially when she got to let all of it bleed out of her in the form of talking. She went on for as long as they let her, and when the conversation began to die down, Roxxi took a sip of her wine, her brow furrowing as Chase started talking about the exact thing he promised he wouldn’t talk about.
She set her glass down, discomfort beginning to crowd her gut again the longer he went on. Roxxi could smell the change in the room on top of simply feeling it, how the tension suddenly became palpable, and everyone bristled in their seats━even her. She felt frozen until he spoke again, his big hand settling on her thigh, warm fingers curling around her. Roxxi offered him a smile that wasn’t totally sad, but perhaps not completely pity, either. She didn’t say anything, though, because it didn’t feel like it was her place.
And she fucking hated how much she was connected to it, and how none of them knew. How she couldn’t say she was, even if she didn’t want to be, because they’d see her differently. Roxxi slipped her hand down, holding the back of his palm as his mom began her story, not exactly telling Chase anything. It was obvious she didn’t want to talk about it━that made two of them.
Roxxi’s throat tightened. That was everything Chase was supposed to be, especially after Georgie died. His dad swooped in next, and just when Roxxi didn’t think this first meeting could get any worse, he involved her.
Oh, fanculo. Dio. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Uh,” Roxxi began (lamely), then cleared her throat, her eyes sliding to Chase before they went back to his father. An older, greyer version of Chase, except his nose was what she suspected would’ve been Chase’s if his hadn’t been half beaten off his face. She nodded, and gave Chase’s hand a small squeeze. “I… lived in New Orleans for a while, too.” She admitted, though she’d made her time there seem much shorter than it truly was. She hated lying, but she never wanted them to know her blood was the same as the man who’d fucked up their lives. He’d fucked up her life, too, but she knew they’d never understand that. “I remember seeing what he did to the city. How his little factions would… dominate parts of it, letting him do whatever he wanted.” Roxxi swallowed hard and frowned at her plate. She was almost surprised they knew who he was, but she could only assume it’d come out through Chase’s research, or perhaps legal proceedings. “I’m sorry that… you were one of the families affected by it. It couldn’t have been easy to watch something like that happen to your son.” She added quietly, still trying to find the right (and least suspicious) way to navigate this. Maybe they weren’t interested in her pity, but that wasn’t really what it was. She felt guilty for everything Emiliano had done, even if she was a child at the time, and even if she’d done everything she could to fight against it.
After a few moments, the air grew stale again. Quiet and awkward, with Roxxi still gripping Chase’s hand like his father held his mother’s. She used her free hand to grab her glass of wine, trying to think about anything to distract them from this awful conversation. Why the hell Chase brought it up in the first place, she’d never know, but she’d certainly grill him about it later.
“Chase and I are trying to get pregnant.” Roxxi blurted without much thought, though it seemed like the only thing that could turn this around. She buried her smile in her glass and took a large gulp, eventually finding the nerve to peer at them over the rim. Eventually, she set her wine down and beamed at them, leaning sideways into Chase. “That was another thing we weren’t going to mention at the dinner table.” She said, her voice teasing before she quickly moved on, “And maybe not the first time you met me… but hopefully you’ll be grandparents soon.” Roxxi knew that was what every parent wanted to hear, and maybe they’d start to bug Chase about finally popping the question, too. God knew how she’d started to not-so-subtly hint at him.
CHASE BUCKLEY | end w yours?
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CHASE BUCKLEY
Demon
Posts: 139
Age:
38
Occupation:
Detective
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Roxanne Braschi
Played by:
ANGE
Last seen Apr 27, 2024 18:43:01 GMT
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Post by CHASE BUCKLEY on Mar 11, 2024 22:18:56 GMT
Seeing his ma light up at Roxxi’s compliment had been like throwing the clock back twenty years. Both his parents had worked so hard when he was a kid, trying to put food on the table, to turn the rickety place into a real home before he was big enough to end up falling through the rotting porch roof, to give him a happy childhood. They’d succeeded at that, even if it the light seemed to drain from it at some point. Chase hadn’t realised just how much it had gone til he saw his ma fill up with it again now, the same way he had when Roxxi had picked him out of the crowd. Like she was the one giving back what’d been taken from them.
Later he’d play this back and see his thick, clumsy fucking fingers reaching out to snuff it again. Pinching at the happiness like it was a candle wick. His ma’s face settled back into those drawn lines, his dad’s mouth pinching sharp, Roxxi’s glass hitting the table. He couldn’t reach for his ma, but he settled his hand on Roxxi’s thigh in a silent apology. She smiled at him, but Chase knew every single one of her smile’s now and it was one tinged with something that had his stomach twisting. They’d all have been better off if he’d just put those clippings out of his head the same way he had all the other shit that had driven him out of New Orleans in the end.
Bringing his other hand up, Chase scratched at the back of his neck like he could claw away the tension. Roxxi’s hand slid over the back of the one on her thigh, a comfort that would work as a band aid until he managed to steer the conversation away from this again. He’d put his parents through hell by letting himself get involved with the Agnellis. It felt like they were the black hole at the centre of his life, just being on the edge of it had let Georgie and the others drag him into that destructive centre. By the time he’d broken away Georgie was already laying dead on the floor of a bodega. Losing a kid had only seemed to twist Emiliano up more, leaving the guy determined to destroy him. It hadn’t worked though. No matter how many knocks he’d taken in New Orleans, he’d gotten out, he’d found Roxxi.
”If only we’ve met back then, huh?” Chase murmured, his smile finally creeping back through as he glanced at her, a ghost of what it’d been ten minutes before. There was no guaranteeing they would’ve ended up here, but if they had maybe they’d already be married, living down the block from his parents, dropping the kids off with them so the two of them could sneak out for date night. The kids would probably be hell on wheels but his ma would’ve loved it.
His dad grunted faintly at Roxxi’s description, his thumb running over the back of his ma’s hand as he squeezed. ”People were too scared to speak up against him,” he said thickly. ”His factions would destroy your business, they’d beat you to a pulp too if you got in their way. Reporting it to the police would just make it worse and so most didn’t. I’m sure if he had his way his people never would’ve been punished for something like that.”
He’d seen the files, and Chase knew that his dad wasn’t wrong. If Emiliano couldn’t grease the wheels to get his people out then he’d have tossed them someone like him. A stupid kid who was trying so hard to fit in with the big guys that he’d done something stupid. It didn’t matter if they were only driving the get away vehicle, if they’d been there at all they’d end up the sacrificial goat, a punishment for turning a piece of the Agnelli pie rotten.
The smile that touched her mom’s face at Roxxi’s apology was sad, but it was there at least and Chase felt like he could breath again. His own apology for the shit he’d done as a teenager lodged in his throat. ”It was Hell,” she said hoarsely, but then his ma was reaching across the table. Chase’s hand dropped from the back of his neck and reached out to squeeze his ma’s. ”We got to keep our son. That was more than some ended up with.” She swallowed hard, the words seeming to die in her throat.
Chase dipped his head, trying to figure out how to sweep away what he’d done. Maybe dessert, sweeten the air that was threatening to choke all of them. He shifted in his seat and was about to bounce up when Roxxi spoke. Well, blurted the words that would shatter that dark reflection of his teenaged years in an instant.
There was the light, filling his ma’s eyes while his dad chuckled. It was like the sun coming up over the horizon again, burning away the feeling that he was choking, bringing tears to his ma’s eyes. ”It’s too late for that now,” Chase snorted, heat rising in his face. ”We’re gonna have a family, ma. I wanna spend my life with Roxxi.” And a house full of kids, the apartment definitely wasn’t gonna be big enough for that, even with the second bedroom. Maybe the next time they’d have an entire guest suite to themselves, right next to the kid’s room so that mom and dad could get a little extra sleep.
Before his dad could get out his quiet ”congratulations”, his ma was up. She rounded the table to throw her arms around the two of them. ”You’re not letting this one go,” she warned Chase, as though she had to reinforce what he’d said about a lifetime with Roxxi. The laugh that followed was watery, the tears still flowing when he got to his feet a few minutes later for more wine, a celebration for what was to come and, in his own head at least, to toast to that kid who’d managed to get away from Emiliano despite all the odds, the one that Chase was almost sure he could see parked at the table beside his ma, silent, his face solemn, one that would crease with happiness again one day as his family came together around the dinner table.
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