In America, Independence Day is a very important holiday. It's celebrated in many different ways, which can include: Backyard barbecues, fireworks after the sun goes down, pool parties, block parties, and more. There's different degrees of intense celebration throughout the nation, but at the Reynolds Estate, Elisa Mason was introduced to the American holiday in the most intense way possible.
With various different workers, both general house staff and temporary employees, scrambling around the house, Elisa found herself stopping to catch her breath at the top of the stairs. Watching as people she didn't know flooded into the house, she dodged them as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Elisa!" Mary called from the foyer, appearing in the growing crowd.
She turned around and held her hand out to Mary, cringing away from a boy who appeared to have already had a drink, despite it only being noon.
"This is a lot of unfamiliar faces," She laughed uncomfortably, earning a sorry face from Mary.
"I know, I'm sorry— I tried to warn you," Mary sighed, rubbing her back gently.
Elisa shook her head, "Don't worry about it."
When they reached the living room, it appeared that there were a lot less people than there was before. However, there was a multitude of different, unrecognizable teenagers scattered all around, filling the pool and dining room. Surrounding both the exterior and interior bars.
"Wow," She breathed out, finding comfort in Mary's arm wrapped around her shoulders.
"Don't worry, the Reynolds don't make friends with bad people."
Elisa smiled weakly, turning to face her, "Introduce me to someone— I feel like an outsider-"
"I know how that feels," Someone called from behind, causing both of the girls to turn around.
"Jay," Mary greeted him with a stiff smile.
The taller boy approached them confidently, flexing his body with every step he took. His skin was a soft caramel color, contrasting against his bright blue eyes— Which he only could've gotten from his mother. The famous curls that seemed to be long running with the Reynolds boys were nowhere to be seen, causing him to appear, just as he said, an outsider. This was Jason Reynolds.
"How have you been, Mars?" He asked casually, enveloping the girl into a tight hug.
"I've been alright, Jay," She huffed from her squished spot against his hard chest, "Much better now that my boy is all cleaned up from the mess you made."
Jason smiled at her slyly, internally rolling his eyes as he released his hug. "Good," He noted, ignoring her comment completely, "Who's your friend?"
Their attention was redirected toward Elisa, who stared at the older boy in awe, shocked by the meeting so soon.
"This is Elisa," Mary informed him, "El, this is Jason."
"I know," She blurted out, thinking back to the pictures that she'd seen around the mansion.
"Awe, Mary, I'm still famous in your books?" He teased her, yet couldn't manage to tear his eyes from Elisa.
"More like infamous," She corrected him, causing him to turn and raise an eyebrow at her.
"Feisty," He commented before poking his hand out at Elisa, "It's great to meet you, Elisa."
She smiled at him weakly, placing her hand in his, "You too."
"Jay, this is Oliver's friend," Mary mentioned, sticking her arm in between them as though Jason would pounce on her.
Jason turned his head to look at her, immediately pulling his hand away from Elisas. "Is she now?" He chuckled uncomfortably, "Good for him."
Mary nodded her head.
"Where is my baby brother anyway?" He asked, looking around the party curiously.
"Why don't you hop in the pool? I'll grab you a drink," Mary intervened, placing her hand on his bare chest.
"Is your friend joining us?" He asked, glancing over at Elisa. He chewed on his lips as he admired her, his eyes piercing her skin as he stared intently.
She palmed her hand into his chest, pushing him away from her gently. "Jay-"
"No," Elisa told him, "I have to go find Oliver— He— uh— He asked me to meet him after I got ready."
Jason cleared his throat, "I hope I can see you again later," He smirked, causing her to smile awkwardly.
"Mhm," She hummed, turning away from him.
"Come on, blondie," Elisa could hear him telling Mary as she walked away, "Where's that drink you were telling me about?"
-
"Hi," Elisa peeped, poking her head into Oliver's room.
He turned around and gave her a weak smile, "Hey."
"Are you okay?" She asked, bouncing into his room.
"Mm," He hummed, "Mhm."
She smiled softly, closing the distance in between them. "You're not a bad liar," She told him, "But you aren't a good one either."
Oliver chuckled quietly, amused by how well she knew his honesty. "I'm doing alright."
She latched onto his hand, turning him around as she boosted herself onto his desk. "What's wrong?" She asked, wrapping her arms around his neck to play with the messy hair on the back of his head.
He smiled back at her, feeling secure under her touch. "They always come home today," He told her, "All my siblings— Even my mother. I'm just overwhelmed, I guess."
"Mhm," She amused him, "I met your brother."
"Aaron's here already? I didn't expect him to get in for a few more hours."
"No," She smiled up at him sadly, "Jason— I met him downstairs with Mary."
He blinked at her, displeased with the knowledge that his older brother had interacted with her.
"Oh."
Elisa frowned, still oblivious to the clear feud between the two. "Not that I would know," She teased him, "But he seems okay."
"Hm," He hinted, turning his head away from her hands.
She sighed, catching his arm before he could fully walk away from her, "But, I'm respecting that that's something you need time on," She told him, "I can only assume it's buried deep in there-" She poked his chest, "Wherever the reason you and Kara broke up is."
She huffed when he turned his head away from her, despite the close grip he had in her hands. "Besides, Jason is very— Um— Intense-" She paused, squinting her eyes as she picked for the right words, "He reminds me of Jack, sort of."
Oliver's eyes went dark as he snapped his head up to look at her. "Why do you say that?"
She shifted on top of his desk, feeling it wobble under the unknown weight. It was clear she had triggered a flame inside of him, and she wasn't quite prepared to put it out. "He's just-" She hesitated, unsure of how okay he'd be with her talking down on his brother, "He's sort of-" She closed her eyes, searching for the words.
"Hm?" He pressed, growing more frustrated.
"He doesn't know how to keep his eyes to himself," She blurted out.
He took his hands away from her, turning away.
"Oliver-"
"He can never fucking learn," He growled, shoving things out of his way. He paused to kick his bed frame in a fit of rage that Elisa didn't quite understand.
"Oliver, hey," She hopped off of the desk to rush closer to him, "Relax."
"No, Elisa, you don't get it-"
"You're right, I don't-"
"He doesn't get to parade around and do what he wants— My mother lets him get away with enough but this? This is just— I can't even fathom what could possibly be wrong with him that he constantly does this."
Elisa struggled to keep up with him as he stomped around his room angrily. Finally, she grabbed a hold of his bicep. "Come here," She told him.
He sighed heavily as he turned around.
"I'm not going to tell you that you're being irrational because I still don't know why this feud is happening-"
He rolled his eyes to the back of his head in annoyance.
"But why can't you just like— Be stupid and tell me how you don't blame him?"
His eyebrows lifted in surprise, mildly confused by her notion.
"And just— Like eye me down and tell me how good I look?" She nudged his leg gently with the bottom of her foot, anxiously pushing her fists into his arms to crack her knuckles.
The nudge caught his attention, drawing him back onto earth, he realized that this was her desperate attempt of calming him down. "You do look good," He smirked.
"I know I do," She told him confidently, "It is different when you say it though."
He looked down at her lovingly, hesitantly putting his hand on her waist. "You want me to be annoying? And do what, exactly?" He snickered, pulling her closer, "Tell you how fucking flawless you are?"
She let out a soft breath, rolling her eyes. "Okay, that's a bit much," She chuckled, swatting him away and turned her back to him, resting her face between her hands to cool the fire in her cheeks.
"Wait, come back," He smiled, reaching forward to touch her shoulder. He moved closer, gentle pulling her hair back over her shoulder and leaned closer. "Can I-" He hesitated, hovering his hand over her side- "Can I touch you?"
Elisa dropped her head down, watching his fingers twitch in anticipation when she slowly nodded.
His hands were hot, burning against her skin in a gentle fury. They moved to her stomach, gently pressing against her to feel every harsh beat of her heart.
"Your skin is soft," He whispered, his hand gliding down to her hip, "Do you know why?"
She gulped, keeping her eyes trained on his hands as they smoothed over her torso. "No," She replied quietly, letting her eyes fall shut.
"Because you're flawless," He retorted, his voice calm but just a hint of an obvious tone still. He leaned closer, his lips brushing against her ear and sending chills down her body, and whispered, "Perfect."
Her eyes fluttered open when his touch left her, and carefully replaced itself on her shoulder, spinning her around to face him.
"Are you excited?" He asked, smiling softly.
She blinked at him, taking a deep breath as she pulled herself back down to earth. "Um— Yeah," She breathed out, hesitantly nodded, "A little overwhelmed though."
"Yeah?" He raised his eyebrows, tucking her hair behind her ear, "There's a lot of people down there, huh?"
She smiled weakly, nodding in response, and leaned into his hand.
"I'm right here," He told her, and kissed her forehead, "Someone expressed concern after they thought they saw someone wandering through the house a couple weeks ago so Sam reeled in our list."
She frowned at him, lifting her hand to hold his against her cheek. "Like someone broke in?" She asked.
He shrugged his shoulders. "I doubt it," He retorted, and quickly kissed her cheek, "I honestly think it was just a misunderstanding."
She took a deep breath, closing her eyes again when he kissed her jaw. "O-Oh," She managed to choke out. Her hands balled into fists, her nails digging into her palm as her breathing shallowed.
"Is this too much?" He asked, pulling away slightly.
She hummed softly, leaning her head back. "I think you're hindering my judgement," She retorted, relaxing her hand for a moment as she lifted it to his arm and grasped onto it.
"Do you want me to stop?"
"I-I don't know," She stammered.
He stood up right, leaving his hand on her cheek. "Then maybe I should," He suggested, glancing down at her hand tightly gripping his bicep.
She sighed deeply, reopening her eyes to look at him. "Sorry," She mumbled, taking her hand back.
"Don't be sorry," He smiled softly, "It's my bad— We aren't there yet."
She smiled back at him looking down at her feet. "We need boundaries," She told him, nodding.
"Definitely," He retorted, reaching his hand out to her chin and pulled her gaze up again, "We can do that later— When there isn't thousands of people in my house."
She pushed past his hand, bringing him into a hug. "Don't leave me," She chuckled, "I've never been around that many people in my entire life."
He laughed with her, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifted her up slightly. "I shall protect you," He joked, swaying them back and forth, "No mysterious figure will take you away-"
"You're so dumb," She huffed, pushing herself away. She kept her hands on his arms, smiling up at him widely.
"What?" He asked shyly, smiling back at her.
She bit her bottom lip, holding back a bigger grin. "You're so cool," She blurted out, laughing awkwardly.
"What the hell are you talking about?" He laughed back at her, knitting his eyebrows together.
"I don't know," She shrugged, still laughing while she moved her hands up to either side of his neck, "You're just— You're you. And I— I like you."
"Oh, good," He snickered, rolling his eyes, "I was worried you didn't."
"Shut up," She sighed, briefly throwing her head back. She pushed herself up to her toes, letting her fingers tangle into the hair on the back of his head. "Those boundaries don't exist yet," She told him.
"They don't," He agreed, raising his eyebrows.
"I want to kiss you."
"I won't stop you."
She let out a soft breath of relief when his hands landed on her back and leaned forward. Their lips almost touching, she paused, hesitating when her stomach exploded with nerves. "Sorry, I-"
She gasped sharply, taking a quick step back when a soft knock interrupted her train of thought.
"Hey, kiddo."
With her faux auburn hair tied up into a lazy ponytail, revealing her dark brown roots, Alice Reynolds leaned against the door frame with a coy smirk on her painted red lips.
"I'm sorry, did I interrupt?"
Oliver leaned his palm against the post of his footboard, smiling back at her sheepishly. "Not at all, Al," He was smiling, but his eyes showed his annoyance.
"Good thing," She laughed, dropping her Louis Vuitton bag onto the ground carelessly, "I wanted to check on my baby brother before getting ready for the party-" Her heels clicked against the ground as she walked closer to him, "Last I saw you were quite a mess."
She smirked at Elisa over his shoulder as she pulled him into a warm hug, "Looks like you've moved onto making the messes."
Oliver didn't refrain from showing her his eye roll when she stepped away from the hug. He did it once more when she turned her slim body to face Elisa, glancing over at him expectantly.
"Alice this is Elisa," He introduced them, "El, this is Alice."
"A proper introduction?" Alice gasped jokingly, smirking at him as she held her hand out.
Elisa smiled awkwardly, taking her hand and shook it slightly. "It's nice to meet you," She smiled.
"I hear that," Alice sang, taking her hand away to point at her, "You have an accent," She noted and turned to look at Oliver, "Did you find her downstairs in the kitchen, Ol?"
"Alice," He grunted, glaring at her.
"I'm kidding!" She huffed, looking at Elisa again, "You know I'm kidding, right? Mom hires all of our staff out of New York."
"Right," Elisa said slowly, hesitantly nodding when Alice walked behind her.
She paused, looking up at Oliver with a face, her mouth hung open suggestively.
He rolled his eyes again, dropping his forehead down into his hand.
Alice smiled at him warmly, placing her hand on Elisa's shoulder from behind, "Don't worry, baby, I saw the way my brother was looking at you."
Elisa cringed away from her touch, spinning around to face her. "I know I don't have anything to worry about."
Alice grinned at her. She had his smile— Which was presumably their fathers. "Good girl," She noted, "No more Kara Valentine in this fucking house— Thank God."
Elisa seemed taken back by the comment.
"That prissy little-"
"Alice," Oliver stopped her.
Her smile replaced itself on her mouth, washing away the dirt she just spoke. "Sorry— Where's the heartbreaker anyway?"
Elisa knitted her eyebrows together, not understanding why Kara would be there if the relationship was so sour.
"He's downstairs," Oliver sighed, crossing his arms over his chest, "He should be on the other side of the country but-"
"Hey," Alice snapped, poking her finger into his chest, "Be nice."
"From what I just saw and heard-"
He rolled his eyes, reminding himself of the scene she'd walked into. "Jesus— How long were you standing there?"
"-This is good," She finished, pointing back and forth between the two teens. "No more prissy little whores parading around the house-"
"Okay," Oliver raised his voice, speaking over her, "That's enough."
She sighed, rolling her eyes at him before turning her attention to Elisa. "You're cute," She told her, tilting her head, "And apparently you like my cool ass brother so-" She paused, flicking her hair over her shoulder, "Don't break his heart."
-
In desperation of a break from the vigorous dancing and multitude of names crammed into her head, Elisa sat at the bottom of the stairs with a red solo cup dangling in her fingertips. She claimed the water in it, unbothered to drink after her last experience.
"Hey, beautiful."
She nearly jumped at the pet name, but distinguished the voice well enough to turn around with a subtle smile. "Hey," She breathed out.
Alice was clearly in a haze. Drunkenly stumbling around the corner, dragging an equally drunk boy on her arm. "Elisa, this is my brother," She slurred.
The unknown Reynolds boy grinned down at her and in one breath spewed, "Pretty lady I'm engaged or I'm going to be I think I'm not sure but you are very beautiful."
"Aaron, this is Oliver's girlfriend," Alice corrected him, slapping his arm scornfully.
"A-actually, Oliver and I aren't-"
"Kara is Oliver's girlfriend, Ali."
"Noo," She waved her hand at him lazily, "Kara and Oliver broke up like a year ago."
Aaron huffed, acknowledging his mistake, "Thank you, God."
Elisa shifted uncomfortably, smiling weakly down at her lap. "Oliver and I aren't together— It's complicated."
"Oh yeah?"
She looked up to find that Alice and Aaron were no longer slumping over her. But a handsome boy, smirking down at her.
"Uh— Hi," She said awkwardly, "Sorry, I thought I was talking to someone else."
He shrugged at her, using his free hand to push his dyed platinum blonde hair out of his eyes. In the other, he loosely held a beer bottle. "Don't worry about it," He told her, "So it's complicated, huh?"
Elisa scrunched her nose at him uncomfortably, moving away as he squeezed himself in between her and the stair railing.
"Don't tell me your mystery boy isn't Oliver Reynolds?" He pushed, wrapping his pale lips over the bottle.
"It is," She said awkwardly, furrowing her eyebrows at the nagging boy.
He nodded his head, "Oliver's quite the gem— Don't get your hopes up, he's a ladies man."
Elisa frowned at him, wrapping her arms around her hips.
"I'm sorry," He sighed, shaking his head at himself, "How rude of me— I'm Harrison."
"Harrison," She repeated, hesitant to turn her body toward him.
"Murphy," He added, cooly jabbing his hand out at her.
"Elisa," She said slowly.
He cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Just Elisa," She smirked at him.
He gave her a coy grin, pulling away his empty hand as she refused to take it. "Well, just Elisa, that is an awfully sexy suit you're rocking," He flirted.
She peered down at her damp swimsuit, suddenly very aware of the exposure it gave her. "Thank you," She said calmly, sitting up tall.
"You look," He paused, allowing the corners of his mouth to curve up his cheeks, "Unholy."
Elisa frowned at him, moving to the other side of the stairwell. "You know it sounded like you knew the host of this little party, Harrison."
"Please, call me Harry."
She refrained from rolling her eyes, tilting her head at him, "Harry, I don't think Oliver would be pleased to hear that one of his dear friends is talking dirty to his uh," She paused, chewing her bottom lip as she racked her mind for the proper label to give herself.
"His complication?" Harrison snickered, reaching across the marble stair for her hand, "Trust me, baby, Oliver won't say a word."
Her breath hitched and she crossed her legs, feeling much more vulnerable than before.
"Let me show you what you'd miss, being with him."
She cringed as he leaned closer to her and began to whisper things in her ear, revealing how filthy his mouth really was.
"Why don't we go upstairs?" He said quietly, brushing his lips against her earlobe.
Over the music, they didn't seem to realize a thin girl standing above them.
"Harrison!" The girl screeched, causing him to jump away from Elisa, "Oh my god!"
His eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Babe, wh-what are you doing here?"
"Max told me you were here— Not at the movies with your dad," The girl pouted.
"You have a girlfriend?" Elisa gawked, moving as far away from him as she could.
The girl scoffed, "You pig!" She shouted at him, before stomping past.
"Babe, let me explain-"
"I— Uh— Excuse me," Elisa cleared her throat, removing herself from the situation just before the girl began to sob. She climbed up the stairs tensely, glancing back to find the couple swapping spit.
She rolled her eyes as she rounded the spiral stairs. She sighed when she got to the top, walking to the other side of the hall. She peered over the banister, watching as the multitude of teenagers danced with and against each other.
A small wave caught her eye, causing her to smile.
She waved shyly back at Sam who gazed up at her in amusement before disappearing back into the crowd
Elisa sighed in relief, staring down at the crowd for a moment longer before turning around. She wandered down the hall and, feeling disoriented in the dim lighting, was unsure of which room was Olivers.
She strolled down the hall casually, picking at her nails awkwardly. She paused, in front of two doors, looking back and forth between them. She knew that one of the rooms was his and one of them was Spencers, but she couldn't remember which was which.
There was a fifty-fifty chance she'd be right, which is why she so casually pushed one of them open.
Dropping her cup down to her feet, she gasped sharply at the sight in front of her, ignoring the chilling feeling of ice swarming her bare feet.
"O-oh my— I-I'm so sorry-"
"Wh— Elisa, wait!"
She turned and closed the door behind her, feeling flustered. Her face was a scarlet red as she pressed her back to the door. She shook it away, turning away to walk down the hall.
"Elisa, wait!"
She cringed at the sound of her name on his voice as it haunted her from the last time she heard it.
"I'm not right for you here, Elisa."
She cringed even harder when he grabbed onto her arm. "Don't touch me!"
Jackson pulled his hand away in an instant, holding them up like he was surrendering to her. "Elisa, please."
Her heart pounded into her ears, putting up a defensive line that hadn't shown itself in months. "Wh-what the fuck, Jackson."
"P-please, don't," He cried out to her.
Her face softened. The unfamiliar side of absolutely horror in his expression broke her down to a feeling of concern. "J-Jack-"
When Jason stumbled down the hall behind him, she took a step back, and shocked herself once again when he placed his hand on Jackson's shoulder.
"Babe, it's okay— She's not going to tell anyone-"
Jackson moved away from him, shaking his head frantically, "Why wouldn't she?"
"I-I won't," She reassured him.
"See? It's fine, Jack," Jason sighed, reaching forward to brush his blonde locks away from his eyes.
But Jackson stepped away from him. "Don't touch me!"
"Jackson!" Elisa frowned deeply at him.
"What the hell is going on here?" Oliver climbed to the top of the stairs, clutching an empty bottle of beer in his hand.
Elisa whipped around to face him, nudging Jackson's bare chest with the back of her hand. "Nothing," She told him, "I was just looking for you."
Jason glanced around, casually zipping his pants as he stumbled lazily toward his brother. "Oliver," He smiled.
Oliver frowned, protectively pulling Elisa toward him. "Did you fucking touch her?" He spat, ignoring his older brother entirely.
"N-no," Jackson stuttered, taking a step back.
"Yeah, leave him alone," Jason intervened.
"You better keep your hands to yourself, Summers— I don't even know why you're here," Oliver scowled at him.
Jason scoffed, stepping in between the two younger boys, "Chill out, Ol. I invited him."
He pushed Elisa behind him, stepping forward to get in Jason's face. "And why the fuck are you here?"
Elisa chirped her lips, wrapping her hand around her wrist to pull him back to her, "Oliver, stop-"
"No, Elisa, he doesn't belong here anymore."
Jason dropped his hands down to his sides, "Fuck you, Oliver."
"Fuck me? Fuck you!" Oliver retorted, causing Jason to roll his eyes.
"Shut up, Ol-"
"Seriously— Fuck you, Jay!" He raised his voice, causing Elisa to jump, "Why can't you mind your own fucking business?"
Jason sighed, turning to look over the banister, wishing he could be as oblivious as the teens that danced to the heavy bass, drowning out the commotion he was stuck in the middle of.
"Oliver, why don't we get back to the party?" Elisa said quietly, but still loud enough for him to hear.
He huffed, turning on his heel to face her. He placed his hands on her waist, guiding her toward the stairs, "Fine," He muttered, glancing back at the two boys in annoyance.
"Elisa, wait-"
She held her hand up to Jackson, who watched her desperately. "Don't worry, Jack."
Oliver scrunched his nose in disgust, rushing her down the stairs. "Why is he talking to you?"
Elisa sighed when they reached the bottom, turning to face him in frustration. "Oliver, I can talk to other people-"
"Jackson Summers? I don't think so."
She frowned at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Stop," She said sternly, "Don't fall down that hole again."
He sighed deeply, dropping his head down when he realized. "Okay," He mumbled, "I'm sorry— I just-"
"It's fine," She sighed, putting her hand on his cheek to lift his head back up, "Can we just— Let's get back to the party."
He nodded eagerly, taking her other hand in his, "Yeah," He breathed deep, "Come on."
She smiled softly, taking his hand and glanced back up at the top of the stairs where Jackson stood. She offered him the same smile, a slow nod of reassurance before disappearing back into the party.