NO EMOJI could describe her emotional state at the moment. Nothing could be even near her silent suffering throughout tour, knowing her pain must be suffocated due to the fake smiles she must present to her fans and to the rest of her family. The band couldn't know. Mitch, Kevin, Scott, Matt- none of them could know.
Thankfully, she wasn't the only one. Mrs. Koop was drowning too, in her own agony, as their dearly beloved Avriel Kaplan steered the ship of safety and love far far away from both of their hearts, leaving them in a salty sea of sorrow to die.
Or, she thought as she sat in the airport across from him without him even giving her a pitiful glare as he had done earlier, she could be given another chance. Hope was a funny thing, and even in the midst of wreckage, she knew that one day, her heart would open up to hope and recognize the love of her life. Whether she believed it to be Avi, or Jeremy- thankfully not him, he had played her as she later believed during the days leading up to their wedding, and now it was completely obvious through how he jumped from her to different Youtubers, his prior morals now consumed by his lust for clout-, or whomever else in the world that could possibly truly love her for who she was and not her stardom nor her fame, well, she didn't know. But it had to happen one day, didn't it? Everyone falls in love, and even if it wasn't meant to be, Kirstie decided that one day her heart would open up to such happiness. [LOL this paragraph sounds like something Snow White or Mary Margaret Blanchard from once upon a time would say]
On another point, it was Mother's Day today, this May 12th, 2019. She smiled tearfully as she skimmed through photos on her camera roll of her and her fur babies, Olaf, Pascal, and her latest puffball, baby Floof, truly missing her little children. In a few days, they'd have a break, after their NYC show, they'd have a whole month off, and then she could see them, see her precious pups, see her beautiful mother, who was coming to the show on the 16th, and spend time with her friends and family. Surrounding herself in love without having to drown in it as she was doing now...though she knew hope could possibly save her right now, so she tried not to allow her fate to be taken over by the rough waters.
After all, once someone falls to the bottom, the only way they can escape is back up to the top. She'll rise again out of the ashes; a phoenix, she was determined to be.
Speaking of Mother's Day, she clicked off of her photo library, swiping over to her contact list, calling her sweet mother. Slipping her phone besides her ear, she held it between her ear and shoulder as Mitch handed her a bag from McDonald's, her hands gripping the paper bag from falling.
"Thanks," she whispered to Mitch, who smiled back, noticing that she was on the phone, thus not saying a word.
"Hey Kirstie," Angelica's voice soothed her pains instantly- oh what the voice of a mother could do to a confused, broken child, almost being able to stitch back the ripped pieces to a stable fabric once again.
"Happy Mother's Day, Mom," Kirstie exclaimed in a singsongy tone, continuing, "I miss you so freaking much."
"I miss you too, though you know I am coming to your birthday show?" Angelica laughed lovingly as Kirstie nodded, excited tears in her eyes. For goodness sake, she was far too emotional these days, and the simple sound of her mother's voice just made her feel worse and better all at the same time.
"I know," Kirstie laughed back, holding back her tears even as they started trickling down her bare face. "I just miss you, okay? After the show, I'm literally not going to leave your side ever again until tour starts back up again."
"Girlie, you just promise, and we'll do just that," Angelica chuckled. "Seems like you want to make up for all the times in high school that you hung around in your friends' houses more than your own," she added with a giggle.
"Or I just really, really miss you and want to hang out with you for the rest of my life," Kirstie suggested, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. Her mother didn't need to know what was going on, nor did she want to even explain the jumbled mess of her life these past few weeks.
Matt tapped her shoulder as she looked over, noticing that he sat beside her this whole time. He pointed over to the line beside the entrance, quietly saying, "It's boarding time."
Kirstie nodded, telling her mother that she loved her once again, couldn't wait to see her, that she was about to board the plane so she sadly had to go, and then a 'goodbye' with another 'I love you so much' as she ended the call, placing her phone in her vast purse, and followed the rest of the band and the crew out of the Toronto airport to fly to Council Bluffs for their show the next day.
As she headed into the plane, she looked back, recognizing Avi's silent state, seeming to be both at peace and at great distress. His hands were fumbling around with the chain around his neck, though his eyes are closed in deep, stoic thought, causing her to once again remember what day it was today as she had earlier in the morning when she woke up.
May 12th, 2019, the day Avi announced his departure from Pentatonix. Such a strange destiny to be the opening act to his former band. And an even more peculiar fate that she continued to fall for him even more as she did years ago.
Maybe, there still was hope. If not for them together, at least for the two of them individually.
•••
No one seemed to remember yesterday as the day Avi Kaplan left except for Kirstin, Esther, and Avi. After all, it was a more important holiday- Mother's Day. So why should they remember when it wasn't even that significant compared to the beautiful celebration that was held that Sunday?
It was now May 13th, in Council Bluffs, and she was getting dressed for meet and greet. She simply wore white denim and a Gucci t-shirt with some booties, and when Candice finished, Kirstie stepped out of her dressing room silently, moving along to wait for the rest of the two bands to get ready.
However, she clearly needed to focus on where she was going, for she bumped into a plush body, like a soft teddy bear, causing her to mumble, "Oof," as she looked up.
"Oh my God, hey Kirstie, you remember me? I'm Trisha Paytas, one of Mitch's friends, though you probably already know that," the blonde snickered, batting her thick black falsies, hugging Kirstie, and as in hugging, she meant squeezing the life out of her because those arms definitely wrapped her waist tightly and momentarily stopped her air flow.
"Yup, I remember," Kirstie wheezed, trying to inhale oxygen before her lungs could collapse as Trisha finally- thankfully- let go of her, placing a hand upon her own hip.
"So I can't wait to see y'all perform! Literally you guys are so freaking talented, like I tell Mitch all the time but honestly, your voices are those of angels," Trisha rambled excitedly, waving her hands around in exaggerated amusement as Kirstie nodded with a fake laugh.
"Thank you so much! So sweet of you to say!" Kirstie beamed though on the inside she was trying not to grab the blonde's neck for sprouting all those lies about Avi.
Coincidentally, of course, the bass appeared, leaving his conversation with Mitch in midair as the both of them halted in their place.
"Trish," Mitch went in to hug the blonde- poor mistake for him, but Kirstie didn't know how to warn him- after he quickly gave Kirstie a glance that screamed, "What the hell is she doing here?!"
"Mitchy, I like literally missed you so much! As I was just telling Kirstie here, I cannot wait to see the band perform, and I'm so grateful to see you guys again!" Trisha grinned unbeknownst to the chaos she had caused in the three's minds
When Trisha released Mitch from her stronghold, she flashed Avi a smirk, commenting with a giggle, "Oh, I didn't expect to see you, Avi. How are you?"
Before Avi could answer, with a strange expression of merged annoyance and bitter anger, Kirstie spoke for him, grabbing the bass's hand immediately.
"Avi's perfectly fine, and he's our opening act. If I recall, Esther wanted me to go get him and bring him back to get his guitar for the meet and greet. So we'll just leave you two here to catch up, and I hope you enjoy the show, Trisha," Kirstie smirked in turn, pulling Avi with her as Avi simply looked back in confusion as well as deep relief with Trisha waving obliviously.
Pushing them into her gratefully-empty dressing room, she sighed against the door as Avi raised a brow, standing across from her.
"Why did you care to help me?" Avi inquired with wonder rising in his tone as she shrugged.
"Friends stick together. Trisha hurt you a lot, and I didn't want to see you end up hurt once again if she continues to sprout lies about y'all's situation, even though I might be slightly hypocritical in saying this," Kirstie declared truthfully, walking off and sitting against the stool beside her vanity.
"So...we're friends?" Avi questioned, still furrowing his brows as she continued to watch his reflection behind hers in the mirror. He was walking close, setting his hands against her chair as she nodded, not letting his near proximity bother her.
Kirstie then corrected her action, pausing momentarily. "That is," she said, turning and glancing above to truly view his expression, "if you want to be friends. Though I doubt it after our conversation the other night."
Avi sighed, still clenching the top of her seat firmly, exhaling, "I don't know what I want us to be."
"Well," Kirstie held out her hand as she suggested, "can we at least start over? For a third time? I don't know what you want our relationship to be or if you even want me in your life, but I do know that we used to be the best of friends."
"Best of friends?" Avi frowned, chuckling. "That sounds like an overstatement," he noted, staring at her hand.
"Kirstie and Avi. Avi and Kirstie. Avi, we were thick as thieves, like Bonnie and Clyde, except on a humor, best friend level," Kirstie giggled, movies of their memories flashing through her head as she recalled all of their best instances.
"True," Avi smiled at her, then back at her hand, taking it with his own and cupping it against his chest, by his beating heart.
Kirstie watched him, her eyes widening in shock as he continued to beam brightly. Her own heart began to pulse faster as she waited for him to continue, to explain his actions, to clarify what he was doing to her right now, whether he was playing his own game or whether he was testing her, messing with her every thought...
"A fresh start to our friendship would be nice," Avi told her finally, his smile growing and then fading back to a simple nod as he brought her hand back to her side and walked out of the dressing room, closing the door softly.
Kirstie took her hand, holding it against her own heart in turn, and bit her lip anxiously, reflecting over the suddenness of the moment and the odd surprise of hope amongst confused dreams.
But, she should have known it to be untrue, for he re-entered the room seconds later with a chortle on his lips and sadness in his eyes.
"Avi?" Kirstie asked, getting up upon seeing his twisted expression.
"As I said, a fresh start would be nice, but it's impossible after what I've heard the other night and how I know you, Kirstin Maldonado. You want a fresh start, but then you'll make me fall in love with you all over again and kick me to curb, whether you've got a new man or not. You're bound to do it, and while I miss our dear friendship most, it can never exist with you and this torturous game. I'm sorry, Kirstin, but our fate is bound to be like that, even if we allow it to be subject to change."
Kirstie shook her head, blinking back tears. No one knew about the fate of Kirstie and Avi. Not even the two of them.
Ooh so will their broken relationship ever truly be fixed? And what did you think about Trisha in this chappie? And what will happen at the birthday show next chapter? Hope you enjoyed, and love y'all so much!!