friends (rick riley and scott holland)(INDEFINITE HIATUS)

prologue

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prologue: i see you (icu)

a/n:

i finish high school and feel the need to act up ig

(this has been practically rewritten)

tw(s) -- mentions of child abuse and strained relationships with parents, some mentions of alcohol and being drunk, and tension (?)

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Gwen dedicated the entirety of her summer before senior year to the job shadow program at one of Minnesota's top hospitals. Every day, for upwards of twelve hours, she'd follow some self-important cardiothoracic surgeon as he prowled the halls —— she'd made coffee runs, and carried heavy charts, and watched him egregiously hit on any nurse he found, all in the hopes that she'd get to sit in on surgeries he performed. (Three months of it, and he never learned her name.) And every day, she'd come home weary, her feet aching and her frame haunted by the cloying stench of antiseptic. It was a packed schedule that left very little time for cheer practice and even less time to hang out with her friends, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't just weasel their way in. No, Rick Riley and Scott Holland were stubborn, and if they needed her, they'd come find her.

And come find her they did.

One evening in late August, a very tired Gwen pays the cab driver and steps out into the night. She has every intention to force herself through a quick shower, maybe eat whatever cold takeout her father got (because he won't bother to cook anything if she's not home to do it for him) before throwing herself on her bed and getting as much sleep as she can. (It's one of the last days of the internship —— after that, she can relax as much as she wants before school.)

But, then she sees an extra car in the driveway. A vintage red convertible from the sixties.

Rick's car.

Gwen enters the house and follows the sound of fuzzy dialogue that comes from her father's old television. Phillip Banks is sitting in his armchair in the dark room, his gaunt features illuminated by the white lights on the screen as he mindlessly takes a swig from a brown beer bottle —— he hardly reacts as Gwen leans against the doorway, glancing up at her confused and tired face once or twice before he finally sets his gaze on her.

"Hey, kid. What's up?" The words aren't unintelligible, so she figures that this is only his second or third beer.

"I, uh, I just got back." She gnaws on the inside of her cheek. "Did you eat dinner?"

Phillip nods. "Yeah. There's some leftovers in the fridge."

She nods, too, and lets a beat of awkward silence roll over them. "Hey, dad? Why is Rick's car in the driveway?"

"Oh!" He sits up slightly, beer dribbling. "Your, uh, your —— they're upstairs. I gave one of 'em an ice pack."

Her heart drops.

True to his word, both Rick and Scott are in her room when she ascends the stairs. The goalie is standing in front of his captain, his brows drawn together in concern and his bottom lip in between his teeth, and Rick is sitting on her bed, pressing an ice pack to his cheek with an unbothered expression. They both look up at Gwen as she crosses the threshold.

She sighs a sigh that ages her.

"Hey," Rick whispers as she shuts the door behind her. "Took you long enough. We were starting to think you'd moved into that hospital."