That picture is Esther's hotel room in Malibu :):
October 2017- Cabo, Mexico:
Flashing lights- bright blue, neon green; purples and reds flickering up and down the glittering walls. Hands up in the air, the stench of sweat, fading perfume, and alcohol washing over the floor. Swaying her hips, Kirstie grabbed Taylor's hands, both of them screaming the lyrics to all the songs.
"I'mma blow your mind...take it out on the floor like that, like that!" Kirstie sang, her voice straining as she giggled tipsily.
"Kirst...you should go siiiinnnggg," Taylor suggested, her words slurring together.
"Yaaasssss hunny- I'd slay wouldn't I?" Kirstie laughed, as she took her glass from the table, finishing up her margarita.
"Definitely! Too bad Nicole and Carissa didn't want to come here!" Taylor commented.
"I know right! R.i.p. them- we're having so much fun!" Kirstie smirked.
"Yaaasssss Queen!" Taylor shrieked, as the lights glistened around them.
Kirstie guffawed suddenly, as the two girls danced drunkenly.
Two guys had noticed them, both incredibly hot with coppery smooth hair and bright brown eyes- though not as hot as Avi according to Kirst's mind, as she beamed at them.
"Are you Kirstin Maldonado?" The leaner one asked with a sexy accent, as Kirstie grinned.
"That's me. And my friend Taylor," Kirstie introduced Taylor, who brightened at the sight of them.
"Two beautiful ladies alone on a Saturday night?" The other one, with textured muscles, observed.
"We're on a girl's trip," Kirstie explained happily.
"Delightful. We're tourists too," They grinned.
"Really?" Taylor raised a brow, as her perfectly-manicured hands grasped her sixth drink.
"No," They laughed, as Kirstie playfully slapped them.
"Hey, don't mess with a Texan," Kirstie called out, as her phone began to ring.
She clutched it in her hands, seeing the bright name pop up- Jeremy was calling.
"It's Jeremy," Kirstie snorted, as she answered, "Hey babe!"
"Kirstie...are you drunk?!"
Kirstie sniggered at this.
"No, I'm high...of course I'm drunk, you dumbo! Lol babe!"
She heard him groan from the other side- why did it matter of her state right now? Shouldn't he be in the same way? After all, he was in Miami on his bachelor thing.
"Hey, let me talk to him," Manuel, the buff one, offered.
"You know about Jeremy, too?" Kirstie asked stupidly, as she dumbly handed him her phone.
Before she knew it, the two men were cussing Jeremy out for no freaking reason- and Kirstie couldn't stop laughing. It seemed that only Taylor was sane enough to realize that crap was about to go down.
"Kirstie!!!" The phone blared, as they ended the call.
"Oh my goodness- why is this so funny?"
If only she realized how 'funny' it would be later.
***********************************
Present Day 2018:
Esther gasped, as she opened up the door to find a broken Kirstie and an exhausted Avi in the hall.
"Kirstie, thank God you're okay!" Esther hugged the girl tightly, who simply flashed a quick, fake smile.
"Essie, can Kirst stay with you for the next few days? Until I get things fixed at home and after I finish...my little...very little errand," Avi asked abruptly, as Esther frowned, pulling Kirstie into the room and closing the door behind her.
Kirstie stood uncomfortably, as Esther stared at Avi in a questioning expression.
"Kirstie, honey, you can sit down and make yourself at home," She smiled sweetly at the bundled up woman, who limped to the couch, sitting down with her legs tucked underneath her chin.
"Avi, can I talk with you about-" Esther began, wanting to go into the hall to talk about Kirstie's situation, before Avi shook his finger.
"We can't leave, not even for a second. She's unstable. Even if we're gone for only a short period, you don't know what she could be up to- I don't want her to get hurt even more than she already is...she's dealt with enough."
"Yeah...but can't she hear us?" Esther whispered.
Avi glanced at Kirstie momentarily, before looking back at Esther.
"Yeah...but it's better than talking behind her back. Look, she's been through a lot, and the safest place for her to stay right now is with you," Avi stated.
"What about Jeremy? Won't he be searching for her? Plus, what about all the next Pentatonix studio sessions? Kirstie can't just ditch-"
"Esther, I know you're thinking of everything, but right now Pentatonix doesn't matter, Jeremy doesn't matter, and everything else doesn't matter. What matters right now is Kirstin's health," Avi interrupted, his eyes glinting glimmering green.
"Okay," she said softly. "Don't worry, Kirst will be safe here. I promise."
Her brother embraced her, bringing her into a hug.
"Thank you," he intoned quietly by her ear.
Avi pulled away, ambling towards Kirstie. She gulped, as Avi informed her of everything. Afterwards, he gave her a quick hug, which she had seemed to feel obliged too (Esther recognized the pain in the girl's face from everything that had happened to her).
Avi walked off, his eyes still upon Kirstie. He gazed over at Esther, who stood by the door, closing it once he left.
"Sweetie, you can take a nap if you want," Esther kindly declared, as Kirstie simply nodded, still curled in ball, except this time, closing her eyes.
Poor girl, Esther thought to herself, as she sat across from the girl, hoping that everything would end well for her.
***********************************
Sparkling darkness shone from the vast windows as Jeremy paced around the room in a terrified manner- terrifying at least to Mitch and Scott, sitting anxiously in the Lewises' living room.
The two pups circled the couch, walking in a similar manner as Jeremy; they were his dogs after all. Well, technically, they were Kirstie's...but she was married to Jeremy, which made them his.
Jeremy ended his call with the police, his fingers shaking as he placed his phone onto the marble side-table.
"So," Mitch began.
Jeremy exhaled slowly, "The police haven't found her yet. They said they searched everywhere...those liars- if they searched everywhere, they would have found her. If they...if they..."
He hesitated for a second, as Scott uttered, "Are you sure you don't know why she left? As in, like anything that may have caused it? Anything at all?"
"So you think it's me like the rest of them? You think I'm lying...you think she left because of me! Well, guess what! I don't know why she left...not at all!" Jeremy narrowed his eyes at Scott, who simply looked down at his lap. Mitch placed his hand on Scott's knee tenderly- he knew that was DEFINITELY not what Scott meant.
"Scott didn't mean it like that! He was trying to find some reasons for her to leave- like why would she leave all of a sudden? I mean, she was clearly happy with a great family. And she's pregnant! This just doesn't make any sense," Mitch explained, as Jeremy nodded.
"I'm sorry...this is just so stressful! I don't know where the hell my wife and child are! I don't know even know if they're okay!" Jeremy panicked, as the two nodded to show they understood.
"I get it. But we're just going to have to let the professionals do their jobs- they're the ones experienced at this. We, on the other hand, have no clue where to find her or whether she's still in Los Angeles. They're most likely one step ahead of us, even if they still haven't found her. The best thing for us to do right now is to wait," Mitch noted.
"Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with Mitch. They're doing their job to find her," Scott stated.
Jeremy sighed at this.
"Okay," he finally said. "Okay, I'll wait."
***********************************
Avi stomped out of his car, marching to the shadowy front door; the barks of the worried dogs heard from inside. His fist banged against the door harshly, as footsteps followed towards the other side.
The door burst open, showing someone who he didn't expect there. Mitch Grassi.
"Avi, holy fu-!" Mitch exclaimed, leaving his words in midair, as Avi's angry expression faded momentarily.
"Where's Jeremy?" Avi asked softly, pressing his lips together in a tight line.
"Wow! Firstly, he's in the living room. Second off, Avi, what's with the intrusion? And thirdly, I haven't seen you in months and the first thing you say is 'Where's Jerem-'"
Mitch was interrupted by Avi being too caught up to explain, as he ambled into the living room. Where Jeremy was sitting nervously, talking to Scott.
"Avi! Did you find her?" Jeremy said, surprise clear in his tone, although he tried to mask it with a unfazed expression on his face.
"You're a jerk!" Avi growled, as Scott's eyes widened and Mitch gasped.
Obviously, they didn't know what Jeremy had done to Kirstie.
Jeremy frowned at this, spurting, "Excuse me?!"
"You're a freaking jerk!" Avi repeated, lunging at Jeremy on the couch, while Scott tried to pry Avi off the man.
His hands gripped around the taller man's neck, whose face was now turning bright red. Blue veins pulsed on Jeremy's temple, as adrenaline jolted Avi. He couldn't let Jeremy hurt Kirstie ever again. He just couldn't.
"St-st...stop!" Jeremy panted for breath, his hands attempting to pull Avi's fingers off of him.
"Let him go, Avi!" Mitch slapped Avi's back hopelessly, as Scott took Avi off of Jeremy gradually.
Jeremy sat up, holding his neck and coughing violently. His eyes shone with pure horror, as he watched Avi from a distance.
Holding Avi's arms behind his back, Scott wouldn't let go of Avi, as Mitch and Scott stood shocked at what just occurred in their sight.
"What the hell was that about?!" Mitch cried out suddenly, his voice shaking from fright.
Avi exhaled, trying to calm himself, as he stared Jeremy directly in the eye.
"He destroyed her. He broke Kirstie," was all he could reply. It was the truth, after all, the bitter truth blistering them all.
"What the hell are you talking about, you psycho?!"
"You. Broke. Kirstie. You. Touched. Her. Without. Her. Permission. You. Raped. Her. You. Destroyed. Her," Avi gritted his teeth, clenching his fist once more.
Jeremy instantly turned white, as Scott's arms dropped to his side. Mitch tripped momentarily, although he caught himself before he could fall.
"What?" Scott's voice trembled, as if he was trying not to cry.
"Kirstie," Mitch intoned over and over again; tears trickled down the corner of his eyes.
"First of all, how do you know any of this? Second of all, I did not rape her- she's my wife!" Jeremy blurted out.
"I found Kirst," Avi admitted.
Avi added, "Though she's not coming back here. I can't let her live with a man who shattered her soul. I can't let her live with a man who disobeyed her pleads to stop."
The three men turned to Avi- gratitude and sorrow expressed on Superfruit's faces, while Jeremy frowned furiously at Avi.
"You know nothing," Jeremy spat, as Mitch paced towards him.
His hand came down onto the terrified man's cheek; a shrilling slap sounding in the room.
"Scotty, we're leaving," Mitch announced, as Scott followed him, after he sent a piercing look towards Jeremy.
Jeremy cursed under his breath, flipped them off, as he got up.
"Go on, Avi. Feel bad for Kirstie. But perhaps you'd like to know that I'm not the one to blame. Yes, I shouldn't have done that to her...but we planned having a kid around this time. She lied to me. She lied to me that December; she lied to me when we married. She lied to me during our argument. She lied to me even when we were dating. Yet she still married me...as if the pain of knowing she didn't love me wasn't enough. She's the one to blame for her misery. She drowned herself in it."
Avi viewed the other man coldly, although he tried to understand his words.
Kirstie did cause all this upon herself...but Jeremy still shouldn't have done this all the same.
But what could one expect from Jeremy? He did love her, and he had enough.
Yet, no matter how hard he tried to comprehend Jeremy's words, he knew that Kirstie didn't deserve all of this.
None of them did, anyways.
***********************************
"Hey Esther, have you heard anything about Kirstie? Mitch was saying that Avi found her," Kevin's voice cracked- the stupid hotel room had horrible WiFi.
"Yeah. She's actually with me right now. But, I don't think she can currently see anyone. Not even you, Mitch, or Scott," Esther responded truthfully.
Avi had called her prior to this, saying that Mitch and Scott knew that he found her.
"I understand," Kevin agreed pitifully. "She needs her time."
"On another note, how are you?" Kevin questioned, as Esther laughed.
"We saw each other today, Kev," Esther snickered.
"That still doesn't tell me how you're feeling," Kevin commented.
"True," Esther smiled. "I'm fine, just sad over...you know."
"Same," Kevin answered.
"Anyways, I was wondering if one of these you'd like to finish our little park thing," Kevin sounded unsure of how to finish the statement.
"You mean, our date?" Esther joked, as Kevin gulped hesitantly.
"I'm kidding," Esther said, though her heart sunk. She'll never get over this, will she?
[2017 words lol...well now more.]
"I know," Kevin covered his nerves with a few laughs. "And yeah, would you like to hang out again?"
"Of course. It'll be wonderful!"
"Great! I'll see you then!"
"Good night!"
"Good night!"
Esther turned off her phone, only to see Kirstie standing up.
"You like him, don't you?" Kirstie smiled, though her pain was still evident on her face.
"What?!" Esther was stunned. No one could know about this.
"It's fine. I kinda knew you two had to have a thing for each other, ever since like 2014," Kirstie said.
"I...um," Esther gulped, as Kirstie smiled weakly.
"You guys would be so cute together. Plus, Darien is out of the picture now," Kirstie suggested, as Esther rolled her eyes.
"Nope, I can't," Esther stated.
"Not right now, at least," she continued on.
"Yeah, that's true," Kirstie uttered.
Ebony darkness blanketed around Kirstie's chin- the dim room shone barely enough light, while the raven night filled the room.
"One day," Kirstie said, in regards to their previous conversation.
"One day," Esther agreed.
Not edited and probably sucks but whatever I guess lol. I hope you like it and have a great Thanksgiving if you're in North America or have a great week if you're not and just have a great week in general and yassss! Goodbye! Luv ya!