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𝒋𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒙 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍
𝘢 𝘴 𝘪 𝘵 𝘸 𝘢 𝘴
❝ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 ❞
🄳 🄾 🄽 🅃 🅆 🄾 🅁 🅁 🅈 🄳 🄰 🅁 🄻 🄸 🄽 🄶
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𝓛aughter filled the room as everyone took there seats at Alice and Matthew's dining table.
Whilst Jack pulled the chair out for his wife to sit at, and then pulled out the chair for Frank at one end of the table, Matthew rushed over to sit at the other end of the table knowing that Jack wanted to be sat next to Harper for the evening.
Knowing she felt more comfortable around him.
As The Sterling man made his way to sit at the other head of the table, Alice was quick to take a seat there, taking the place of her husband .
Harper glanced at her friend with wide eyes, turning her head to share a look with Jack who had the same expression written on his face as well as all the other guests.
Matthew cleared his throat before he awkwardly took a seat next to Harper at the table, offering him a kind smile before grabbing ahold of Jack's hand that was open for her underneath the wood.
"Anyway, then I bet Jack that he couldn't, a gentleman's bet..."Dean spoke, cutting off the awkward tension that had taken over the guests.
Jack shook his head, offering his friend a small smile. "— he always exaggerates this part, you can't believe a word he says..."
Harper took a sip of the soda water that was in her glass and brought it up to her lips, catching Frank's gaze that was on her, not noticing Alice staring at the two of them.
The blonde kept her eyes on him, getting more and more angry by the second.
"He only inflates stories about his golf scores"Bunny chimed in, looking over at Harper. "— isn't that right, Harps? I bet it's murder putting up with Jack when all he talks about is golf"
The brunette girl snapped out of her haze at the mention of her name and gulped, looking over at Bunny. "Uh, yeah, but once you've had Jack in your life for a certain amount of time, you kind of grow attached"
"This is blasphemy!"Jack interjected.
Matthew rolled his eyes at his friend, quickly flipping him off. "— oh no, no, no my friend, that is nothing but the truth, poor old Harper having been married to you for four years, one thousand four hundred and sixty one days"
"Bill does that too"Violet spoke, relating back to the words bunt had said before.
"Kathy, where are you from?"
The whole table went silent and focused there attention on Alice who was staring at the women with curiosity.
Harper bit the inside of her cheek, what was her friends up to?
Kathy, who was a little startled at being suddenly adressed, blinks. "— pardon?"
Alice looks at the women with warmth painted on her features. "Where are you from?"
"Philadelphia"Bob, Kathy's husband answered for her.
Harper swallowed the sip of water she had just took and placed the cub down on the table cloth. "Philadelphia is so nice this time of year, we should definitely go back there some day Jack"
Her husband turned to look at her with nothing but love painted on her features. "— anything for you, my love"
"I'm from Philadelphia!"Violet grinned, looking at Kathy.
Alice doesn't take her eyes off of the women in questioning. "— Everyone here is from Philadelphia, or Baltimore, or Boston. Every once and awhile, Chicago"
"I'm not from there"Jack muttered under his breath, Harper kicking him in the leg under the table and offering him a sickly sweet smile.
"Where did you last vacation?"Alice asked the women, tilting her head to the side.
"Vacation?"
Matthew quickly cut into the conversation. "— is everybody good for drinks? I'm happy to go and get everyone a refill"
Everyone ignored the man, and Alice continued to speak, she pointed at some photos that were on the wall of her house. "I could probably guess"
"One of those places"Alice continued, as Harper tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Right?"
When no one said anything, Alice turned to look at her best friend. "— come on Harper, you have to agree with me on this, all of us being from the same places? This is weird!"
"I don't think it's weird"Harper began, clearing her throat. "We're all a tight nit community"
Alice looked at her friends with wide eyes. "You've got to be kidding me right now, don't you hear yourself? Your totally oblivious to how weird this entire town really is!"
"I'm sorry Alice, but I don't think anything's wrong, can you please just stop?!"The younger women begged, although her words were total lies.
No one had to know that though.
Everyone at the table exchanged looks,
Matthew touched his wife on the arm. "Honey, maybe you should go and have a lie down..."
Suddenly, Frank held up a hand, silencing the table and smirking. "— I'm curious where she's going with this, why she's dragging her so called 'friends' into all of her shenanigans"
Alice completely disregards the man, and maintains her focus on the women who was new to the neighbourhood. "We all share the same four or five memories. It's like there are different tracks. We honeymooned in Sea Island, or the Poconos, or Niagara Falls"
Harper cut into the conversation. "Those are pretty popular honeymoon destinations, Al, I think this is just a coincidence"
"Violet"Alice cut her friend off, looking at the short haired girl. "— where did you meet Bill?"
Harper took notice of how nervous the women who was addressed was, she was clearly uncertain about answering the question, but she did anyway. "On a train...to boston"
"To boston"Alice spoke at the same time.
Harper kept her eyes on Alice as she began to speak really fast, a sickly sweet smile painted on her face. "— You dropped your ticket and he
picked it up and gave it to you."
"That's how Peg met Peter, and how Harper met Jack"Alice began to explain, only for Harper to cut her off.
"Me and Jack didn't meet on a train"She felt Jack's hand now resting on her thigh, something he did to help her in tense situations. "— we met at a florists, you must have gotten us confused with someone else, I'm sorry Alice, but your wrong"
Frank looked at Harper, taking in her words, nodding before turning to Alice and staring at her with a blank expression. "Is memory problems a thing you've experienced before, Alice?"
His face holds nothing but a challenge, ready for whatever she has to say.
Alice still continues to ignore him, locking her eyes on the women still. "—Try and remember something from before you came to Oasis. Something that's just yours."
"A symptom of your other issues?"
Jack locked eyes with Matthew, who just shook his head back at his friend.
The chambers man was tapping his foot against the floor, trying to keep his panic at bay, knowing that his wife was friends with Alice who was acting absolutely irrational, meant that he was now connected with her and his promotion was in jeopardy.
"Dr Collins prescribed you, as well as Harper for your mental health, did he not?"Frank mused, resting his head in his hands.
Harper looked up from where she was cutting up a bit of bread on her plate, eyes wide.
Why was he bringing her into this?
"To distract us both"Alice confirmed, nodding. "Because you and I both know that the two of us were starting to figure out the truth"
Harper visibly gulped, her palms suddenly starting to becomes slightly sweaty.
Why was she making the situation so much worse than it needed to be?
"Alice..."Matthew begged his wife, looking at her pleadingly.
Alice turns to look at all the men at the table, "—He's lying to you. He's using you.You don't even know what he's doing there. I've seen it, I went to Oasis, so did Harper, we've both seen it and no the truth about what's going on"
Jack cut into the conversation, looking at Alice with a firm look. "I'd rather you didn't keep dragging my wife into this drama, Alice"
Harper gave her husband a thankful look, glad that he defended her when she was too much of an introvert to do so herself.
All men ignored Jack's miniature dig at his best friends wife, choosing to focus there attention on Frank, who was sitting in his seat all smug.
And that was when everything clicked inside Jack's brain.
He ignored the bitterness that he had spoken to Alice with and let his face pale as her words sunk in.
He's lying to you.
He's using you.
Her and Harper both went to oasis.
Jack turned to look at his boss, his skin that was once a nice golden hue now a ghostly pale. "— what?"
Harper was quick to cut into the conversation, wanting her husband to have nothing to worry about, by drawing all the attention on to her. "— we both saw that whatever this is, isn't real"
"What does that even mean?"Frank asked an open question, using his hands.
Harper sighed and pointed to Bob and Kathy. "— I don't exactly know how but I'm pretty sure I saw them both before they arrived in the neighbourhood, it was as if the whole thing was part of one massive plan.."
"It's fake! Nothing in this place is real!"Alice cut over her, digging her fingernails into the table cloth.
Franks smirk grew wider as he exchanged his gaze between both the girls. "This is all fake? The food we're eating? Am I fake? What about the baby sleeping in the room? Is he fake too?"
Harper froze at the mention of her sweet baby who was hopefully sleeping away in the other room and now just staring at the ceiling otherwise it would be a sleepless night for Jack and her.
But hearing the man, the man she was growing to hate mention Arthur just didn't seem to settle her nerves.
"I've seen what he created"Alice kept her facade up. "Where he keeps us.."
Frank spoke over her. "—I just want to follow your logic. Everything we're seeing doesn't exist. The townspeople, the houses, the children! The children aren't real!"
Harper closed her eyes, as Jack rubbed soothing circles on the skin of her thigh, she dug her fingernails into the skin of her palm, creating crescent moon shapes, as she tried to block out what Frank was saying.
She didn't want to think about her sweet baby not being real.
She didn't ever want to think of that.
It would break her heart to one day wake up and not have him cooing to himself in his bassinet, not spending her entire day wrapped up in a little bubble with him.
Frank drew the attention onto Bunny. "— are bunny's children not real?"
Alice gulped. "He's trying to turn us against each other"
"They're not, right? If this is all some fake, alternate universe? Otherwise it doesn't make sense."Frank spoke over her once again, making Matthew who was sat next to Harper huff out a breath of confusion.
Alice tried to compose herself. "—Try and remember anything outside of this. Anything besides what Frank has told you..."
"I've invited all of this"Frank gestured around him. "—so bunny's children aren't really, your best friends son doesn't exist!"
"Yes...because none of it..."Alice stumbled over her words.
"Enough!"
The table went silent and everyone turned to look at Bunny, Harper could notice the small enraged expression that was coated on her facial features.
Bunny composed herself, placing the napkin that was on her lap on the table. She turned to look at her husband. "Dean, I'm ready to go"
Harper looked at Dean, who for once she could tell was speechless and had nothing to say or joke about.
He nods his head and scurries off after his wife who had already who was already hurrying out of The Sterling's front door.
"Have a good night, Bunny"Frank bid goodbye to the women.
Harper swallowed and turned to look at her friends, placing a supportive hand on her arm. "— bunny please, sit back down, he's trying to get a reaction out of you, this is what he wants"
Frank shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know why she's so upset with me..."
Crash.
The sound has Harper jumping out of her skin and cowering away into her husbands side who had now wrapped an arm around her shoulder and drawn her into his side.
Alice had angrily shoved her glass as well as the table wear off of the table, making it shatter into tiny pieces on the ground of her living room.
Frank broke the silence that had been cashed over everyone at the table. "— Matthew, I think you may have over served your wife, you as well Jack"
Matthew was quick to stand, nodding his head, as he dusted his hands against his suit. "— yes, I happen to agree, thank you all for coming over tonight"
Harper and Jack were quick to jump to there feet as well as everyone else who had come round for the dinner.
Jack rushed off to go and get Arthur ready in the other room, whilst Frank stood and watched everyone leave calmly.
Without a care in the world.
┏━━━━ ★ ━━━━┓
𝙰𝚂 𝙸𝚃 𝚆𝙰𝚂
┗━━━━ ★ ━━━━┛
𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐄'𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑 !
𝘸𝘰𝘢𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦.
𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺?
𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘭:)
— 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦🤍