Fifteen, it was bothering me
( ✦ ͙ ˚ / ˚₊·͟͟͟͟͟͟͞͞͞͞͞͞➳❥ )
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It was the day of Thanksgiving and her mother still wasn't back yet. Was it even legal for her to stay by herself?
August attempted to stay optimistic to her circumstances, realizing that she didn't have the right to be upset about it considering the situation was nothing new, in fact she should be glad that her mom was updating her with pictures everyday to showcase she hasn't been brutally murdered yet.
But still, spending a holiday with her Lorelei would've been nice.
Amidst all the things she dreaded however, a particular one remains on top of that list: the tradition the Walters had created for when she would come over.
One that only existed to enhance her hatred towards them.
To be clear, Thanksgiving was also known as Prank August Thompson day.
For as long as she had celebrated Thanksgiving with them, not one year has gone by when she wasn't utterly annoyed with their satisfaction in pulling the most foul stunts on her.
She had three major highlights of the tradition.
When she was five Cole had dressed up as this monster from this scary movie her and Isaac had watched when the Garcia boy hadn't lived with them yet, resulting in her to freak out frantically that she bumped into a stand and knocked over a vase that belonged to Katherine. When they were ten and not yet creative they decided that it would be funny to put toothpaste in an Oreo and make her eat it claiming that it was an original recipe, she threw up for fifteen minutes straight. Last year was probably the worst of all considering she ended up with flour all over her from head to toe, having to eat dinner looking like a ghost as Katherine scolded at the boys.
But this year she was determined to watch out for anything out of order.
Yet this year they didn't bother trying to remain subtle like they usually would.
"No! No! No!" August's screams for help were no use when she found that her place on Isaac's shoulders were too stern to scurry out of while he walked outside ( an incredibly cold atmosphere not to mention ) as she was followed by almost all of them, now acknowledging that Jordan recorded the whole thing with a grin. "I'm going to kill all of you!" She shouted into the camera. "It's freezing!"
"What was that?" Cole inquired with a laugh, walking just behind Isaac as she faced him. "I couldn't really hear you over the screaming."
"I think she said: throw me in the pool." Lee clarified as he looked towards Cole who nodded in agreement.
Parker and Benny's chuckles didn't go unnoticed in the background while Alex and Jackie watched the scene painfully. They were accompanied by Nathan who only shook his head at the chaos as Danny stood beside him, not participating this year.
"I swear if you guys throw me in the pool I will add rat poisoning to all your food!" She screamed. "I'll put you all in a coma!"
Isaac readjusted her so August wouldn't fall. "Can you stop moving?" He asked calmly in the most infuriating way possible. "We can't have you getting hurt."
"Can you shut the hell up and let me down! Now!" She demanded as her voice only found itself higher when he abruptly came to a stop which indicated her doom. It only caused her to squeal more in his hold on her while she shook her head rapidly in disbelief. "No, no, no. Please!"
"We can't skip the tradition, August." Isaac sighed, one hand steady on her spine while the other on her inner thigh as he made sure she didn't launch out to safety. "You know how it goes, plus we had this planned for months."
"Isaac if you drop m-"
August didn't even get to finish her words when she was met with the freezing water, one that seemed to have wrapped her body in multiple unsettling layers of frigid temperatures that had her whole being shake when she was met with the even colder surface. "I hate all of you!"
Jordan's camera zoomed in on her when she gasped at the numbing feeling her body was beginning to develop, capturing every irritated characteristic her face had to offer as everyone laughed in amusement.
"This is the tradition?" Jackie questioned Alex, this time talking to him first out of curiosity.
He nodded. "It started when we were five and suddenly decided that we had enough of her bossing us around."
"Poor girl." Jackie whispered.
Isaac leaned on the ridge of the pool as he met her gaze, finding that the camera was now on him. "Sorry." He shrugged, resulting to her only splashing him in the face which he allowed it as Jordan moved back to protect his lens.
"Can you at least help me out of here?" August sighed, unexpectedly calm. "It's really cold and i'm going to get frostbite if I stay in here any longer."
Nathan spotted the trap from a mile away causing him to nudge Danny to see if he knew as well, he did.
Apparently everyone did except for Isaac who stepped up the stairs and reached for her hand stupidly, one that when she had ahold of tugged on so he could fall in with her.
She laughed when he fell.
The water disorderly moved again when Isaac tripped forwards, dragging her back down to the bottom with him while they clung onto each other for a moment. In those moments it was known that the feeling vividly reminded them of that day at the waterfall. The lingering hold he had on her elbow gave that fact away when they stared at each other with intensity for what felt like eternity before she broke off and swam to the surface, leaving him for a second before he followed after her.
Among all the laughs, the only noticeable one Isaac heard was August's as she splashed him in the face again when he was greeted with the breeze, sooner feeling her hand on his chest as she shoved him to let him know that she got him back. "No way you fell for that."
˖*°࿐ •*⁀➷
"Is Katherine mad?" August quizzed as she found herself by the fireplace, snuggled up in a blanket as she stared at the flames that greeted her with comfort. "Saying we accidentally tripped in the pool is not really a good cover up."
Isaac nodded his head before offering her some hot chocolate that she took gladly. "But she's trying not to be, apparently Jackie's uncle is coming over."
"Jackie's not even home." The girl furrowed her eyebrows while he sat down next to her on the ground. "Actually hardly anyone is even home right now."
Her hand tried desperately to absorb out any warmth the outside of the cup had to give while she brought it to her lips with the intent of drinking it.
She was interrupted however because Isaac quickly pulled it away within seconds acting like if she drank it then she would've died. "It's hot." He scolded. "You're gonna burn your tongue and then blame it on me since I made it."
"Well I'm cold because someone threw me in the pool earlier." August shot back as a reminder that she was already mad while retrieving her drink. "So I think it's fine."
Isaac watched as she drank the hot chocolate, raising his eyebrow when she tried her hardest not to wince at the fact that it was hotter than she had expected it. But she suppressed her suffering with a grin, "It's good." She nodded.
"Really?" He inquired.
"Yup."
"You're such a bad liar." Isaac shook his head.
"I'm a good liar, what do you mean?" August defended as she turned her entity towards him, her side now facing the fireplace. "If you need proof then you should just know that i've lied multiple times and you haven't caught me yet."
He copied her movement and faced his being towards her with a questionable look decorating his face. "When?"
"Well I would be snitching on myself if I told you." August mentioned. "So I really can't."
"Well now I wanna know."
"Maybe I would've told you if you didn't throw me in the pool."
"So you're saying that if I didn't do that then I would know all your secrets by now?"
"Precisely."
"Would more hot chocolate make up for it?"
August gave him a look before she smiled, eventually taking his chain that was halfway hidden in his shirt and bringing it out considering the placement was distracting her. She faintly grinned wider at her doing before explaining, "It was bothering me."
Isaac stared down to find it in his usual placement before gazing back up at her, eventually ( this wasn't even in his control, he just did it unknowingly ) he found his hand going up to the side of her head, taking a strand of hair that slightly covered her face and tucked it away in a secure spot behind her ear. He unconsciously mirrored her proud grin before explaining, "It was bothering me."
The room fell silent for a good minute as both refused to look away, perhaps it was because they were trying to decipher if those actions had meant anything or not.
Isaac and August had both been pretty known when it came to things like having admirers, that was no lie, their flirtatious personality often added to that list of things that there even was to admire. And considering they were best friends before even deciding that they would present themselves as a couple knowing that the relationship would only be fake, it was difficult to decide if gestures like these ( ones that were done too often for their own good ) had been sincere.
It was a thought that August, even if not admitted, desperately wanted an answer to.
Sure they had always been joking with each other in ways like this, but lately some things have been questionable, especially since her stomach would fully do about about a billion flips when encountered with him.
Whatever they had been thinking was cut off however because both of their heads turned towards the frame of the door in unison to find Lee.
"Does this look okay?" The boy questioned, he was wearing rather fancy clothes as he buttoned the top of his shirt, noticeably nervous about something.
August nodded to respond. "It looks good." She reassured. "What's the occasion?"
"Um our dad is gonna call us in about like three minutes." Lee explained quickly before looking at Isaac. "So you might wanna get ready."
"I am ready." He replied flatly.
Lee gave him a judgmental stare before scoffing. "Whatever, can you just hurry up and meet me in the other room?"
With that Lee ran off.
"You never told me he was calling today." August furrowed her eyebrows, she wasn't mad, just confused as to why she doesn't know.
"Well it's not like he actually gets on the call anyways." Isaac shrugged. "I mean I know he tries but I don't wanna look forward to something that might not happen."
"There's no harm in looking forward to it." She titled her head.
August put down the cup on a table and hopped on her feet, offering her hand to Isaac as he took it but helped himself up without much of her assistance.
Once they were both standing she took both sides of his leather jacket and pulled them together so they fit perfectly. "Tell me how the call goes." She demanded him. "While you're doing that i'm gonna try to get back on Katherine's good side and help her prepare the table."
˖*°࿐ •*⁀➷
All of Silver Falls knew of the Walter family, the name was practically famous in this small town of Colorado.
But no one has really got an exclusive look of how chaotic they would be, August however, was able to witness everything first hand since she was young.
Partially by choice.
The good thing about having a big family though was the fact that there was a shit ton of food during holidays.
August was helping Katherine place various dishes on the table before taking a seat between Isaac and to her surprise, Erin.
She decided that if Jackie was okay with her now then August could tolerate her regardless of their history together.
"Okay everyone!" George announced. "I thought before we dive in, why don't we go around the table and share what we're thankful for this year?"
"Cole." Katherine began. "Let's start with you?"
"Um, I guess I'm grateful that the Broncos didn't actually wipe out this year." Cole shrugged.
"I'm thankful for the long weekend and the chance to watch a bunch of movies." Danny continued.
"I'm just grateful that I didn't have to cook today and you all should be too." Alex grinned.
Everyone chuckled faintly.
"I am grateful that I had a chance to find out more about the native day of mourning." Nathan said softly.
Once it became Lee's turn, he faltered slightly. "I-I don't feel like it."
Isaac and August shared a glance that told her that the call didn't go well, sooner causing Isaac to speak up to fill the silence. "Well, I'm grateful for the fact that August hasn't killed me after this morning."
Her palm instantly connected with the back of head while a majority of the Walter laughed, even Katherine who still shook her head in disbelief. Isaac gave August his own little prideful chuckle before continuing.
"And we're both grateful to be a part of this family, right, Lee?" Isaac turned towards his brother which resulted to August's smile.
"And we love having you in it." Katherine grinned.
August was next. "I'm just really grateful for everyone here." She said truthfully before turning towards Isaac who was beside her as he waited for her to say something sweet about him, but to his dismay, she didn't. She simply gave him a look before she smiling wider. "Some less than others."
The laughs were heard again when Isaac turned to her pretending to look pained. "You love me." He countered. "Everyone knows it."
"I think you have the wrong person." August refused.
The list of thanks continued on before Haley had left, claiming that she should be with Will for this holiday, but sooner, everyone settled down in a comfortable conversation. And despite not liking anything that was chaotic, August was content in the chatty atmosphere.
Well, until she wasn't.
"So August," Richard's voice was heard from across the table causing her to look up. "Um, how's Lorelei?"
He said her name as if they had known each other for years causing Katherine to clarify. "She and Richard used to be really close."
August simply resisted the urge to display her shock as she answered, her leg unintentionally bouncing up and down at her mom's name. "She's good."
"Where is she right now?" He questioned.
"Um she's spending thanksgiving with her boyfriend right now." August nodded, looking down in faint embarrassment while she grew more anxious. "Robert, I think."
"Oh." He sounded disappointed. "I would've expected her here."
"She usually is." Katherine lied, taking a sip of her wine while August found herself gazing back up at those before her, now noticing that they mainly stared at her with sympathy which she hated.
The topic noticeably ( at least to Isaac ) managed to make August's mood drop slightly, her leg continuing in its uneasy rhythm while it went up and down in a quick manner. And not wanting her to feel distressed in any way considering it bothered him, he reached his hand to her knee under the table, making them come to a halt while he glanced at her, raising an eyebrow as his thumb rubbed against her skin.
She gave him a small nod of reassurance before putting her palm over his knuckles with a sigh, resulting to Isaac taking that as a sign while he spoke up. "Richard, why don't you tell us about New York?" Isaac didn't care about New York. "I've never been."
That conversation also hadn't led anywhere good due to the fact that Jackie became the main topic of it, more specifically about how she might be leaving.
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the thanksgiving dinner was so rushed
but i wanted to be able to finish this ep
in like one chapter and there was alr almost
3k words so i was just like yk what nvm
there might've been some spelling
errors or smth but forgive me
anyways please don't hate me for
the next chapter 🤗🤗🤗🤗