The Sanford Legacy
Gen one : Isabelle Sanford and Jasper Marsh
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Nicole finally looks up and meets his gaze, tucking her braids behind her ear. Waiting for her to say โfriends,โ Simon is this close to rolling his eyes, but agrees anyway. Itโs hard to stay mad when she looks at him like that, something ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐๐จ๐ฃโ๐ฉ ๐ก๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐๐ก๐ก.
Simon isn't expecting much, and yet, he's deeply disappointed when Nicole starts avoiding his gaze and mentions her girlfriend.
He shouldn't even be there confessing his feelings anyways. It's not fair to his own girlfriend.
Nicole keeps pushing and pushing, without realizing that Simon is far more honest about his feelings for her than sheโs willing to accept. She presses her lips together, torn between the urge to stop him from telling the truth and the intense desire to hear him say it.
Simon, however, has no intention of staying and rushes up the stairs. Nicole, determined not to leave it at that, follows him closely, more agitated than ever. The silent treatment was already hard enough to deal with, but now heโs really crossing the line.
Unfortunately for him, Nicole saw him from the stage, or rather, she saw him leave just as quickly as he had arrived, without even bothering to greet her. She ran after him once the concert was over, rushing out the door to try to stop him.
The concert is about to end when Simon walks through the barโs door. Heโs not really sure what made him come tonight; no one invited him, and heโs been stalking Nicole on social media.
And seeing her inhabit the stage the way she does, radiant and charming, Simon instantly regrets coming.
Despite all the stress, the concert goes exceptionally well. He forgets a few lyrics at times, but he knows how to make up for it. And soon the music takes hold of them all, so much so that the crowd and their cheers, those of Erica and Lรฉonie, become nothing but fuel for their on-stage energy.
Much to Elliot's dismay, just as it's time to go on stage, everyone decides to join in on the most awkward group hug he's ever shared with his friends. He protests with his typical intensity, but deep down, he is especially grateful to have friends who accept him despite his "annoying" flaws.
Being there for Elli has become second nature over the years, and they know how to lend a sympathetic ear to the anxiety that tends to weigh on him more than necessary. No one is surprised to hear about his panic at the thought of going on stage; Isaac is even the first to share his feelings.
Thatโs how the other three band members found him, slumped on the couch in the shabby backstage room reeking of stale cigarettes and beer, looking so devastated that youโd think heโd just been told the worst news in the world.
Despite Ericaโs reassuring words and all the rehearsals, the big day arrives all too quickly for Elliotโs liking, and he finds himself smoking cigarette after cigarette as his stress levels rise with every passing second.
Heโs not going to make it, no matter what anyone else says.
All this fuss in Elli's brain reminds Erica that she wanted to ask Elliot something that means the world to her: her first fashion show is coming up, and she wants to experience it with the people she cares about, not just her mother, who has declared herself her manager.
The thought won't leave Elliot's mind; even when he's with his girlfriend, he can't seem to relax. How is he supposed to perform in front of an audience?
Erica, sensing his stress, runs a hand down his back and tries to get him to talk as she usually does.
Dim appears to agree wholeheartedly, because once theyโre done, he announces some big news: their first concert will take place at a bar in town!
Everyone is thrilled at the idea, but Elliot fidgets, suddenly fully aware that theyโre going to be performing ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ช๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐.
Everyone is just as fascinated by how Elli becomes a different person once heโs on stage. He, who is usually rather in his own bubble and uses few words to express himself, is taking up the entire stage and forgetting the world around him, his voice resonating loud and clear throughout the room.
Of course, Dim is right, even more so when Nicole is on stage with her guitar in hand; she forgets all her problems and lets herself be carried away by the music. Theyโve made great progress lately, and the more they rehearse together, the more a sort of almost magical harmony develops between them.
She startles when Dimโs loud voice cuts in, warning her to pay attention. Nicole rolls her eyes and answers back to him, but she bites her lip. Her uncle is doing them a huge favor; maybe she should just keep quiet and be grateful.
On the other side of town, Nicole is furiously scrolling through her phone. The worst is that she ๐จ๐๐ฌ him online, and he didn't even bother to reply? She knows they have things to figure out, but what's she supposed to do, wait in ambush to talk to him?!
Simon sighs as he exits their chat. And as he starts talking to Gisele, things aren't any more joyful.
Just like every time they get back together, if things were smooth sailing for the first few days, the problems came back just as quickly.
Maybe he'd be better off staying single once and for all.
As his coach forces him to finish his training, he takes the opportunity to linger a little longer and check his phone. Sure enough, Nicole has flooded his notifications. He thought about blocking her several times, but knew better. Anyone else would have let him just get away like that.
Not Nicole.
But Simon can lie to himself all he wants; the more he tries not to think about her, the more she occupies his thoughts.
In fact, the coach has already called him out several times for his poor performance because heโs got his mind set elsewhere.
Ever since that day, Simon has done everything he can to avoid Nicole. A practice session that runs a little longer than expected, a headache, Gisele wanting to go on a date... The more time passes, the more excuses pile up... though sometimes he just plain ignores her.
Also a huge shout out to my friend @jennifah.bsky.social who not only agreed to share her iconic Val with me, but her teen version as well so I could tell Jasperโs story how I wanted to
If youโre not familiar with her story yet, please go follow her, itโs one of my favs around here ๐ค