floriography [ stories five ]

dead man walking || reboot

[ yo,,, as if the old 'dmw' au wasn't bad enough, this new version is WORSE!! yeehaw lets fuckin go

⚠️- language, mentions of ezra's violent bullshit, this is probably borderline verbal abuse wow

concept- in this au, ezra's family adopted both chase and bailey. it's a disaster.

stay safe,
lew. ]

————

As far as dysfunctional families went, Chase was pretty sure hers was near the top of the list.

Her older brother, Ezra, had violent, homicidal tendencies, while her younger one, Bailey, was the epitome of the phrase, "afraid of his own shadow". As the middle child, she tried her best to bridge the gap between the two, but dammit, it was exhausting.

Chase and Bailey shared a bedroom, despite being sixteen and fifteen respectively. They'd shared the space since they were kids, though, so it didn't bother them as much as it should've.

Thankfully, Ezra was gone, undoubtedly out terrorizing someone in the car he'd been given for his birthday. Chase definitely wasn't bitter about that one, nope!

"Do you think he'll ever stop being mean?" Bailey asked, staring up at the ceiling. Glow-in-the-dark stars adorned the surface, carefully arranged in constellations he'd spent a week researching to get right.

Chase snorted, tossing the gossip magazine she was reading to the side. "The day Ezra stops being a dickhead is the day everyone stops calling me a slut."

Bailey went silent, and Chase almost thought he'd fallen asleep. But finally, he got out of his bed and climbed into hers, squeezing himself beside her. He did this often, when his thoughts were bothering him, or he needed comfort, or sometimes when he just needed sleep.

"Relax, buddy," she murmured, rubbing his shoulder as she reached for her phone. "It's you an' me against the world. Whatever gets thrown at us, we'll handle it."

"I wasn't talking about Ezra," he mumbled back, closing his eyes.

Before she could think of a good response, her phone vibrated, a text lighting up the screen. She groaned when she read it, nudging Bailey as she shot off a quick response back. "Call your boyfriend or someone. We need a ride to a party because our dear older brother is a goddamn maniac."

"What's he doing this time?" Bailey asked, reaching for his own phone.

She sighed loudly. Standing up, she began to comb through her dresser for some different clothes. "Cody said that he's at that popular kid party and he's just generally being Ezra, y'know, giving off bad vibes and the host dude is like apparently super close to either fighting him or calling the cops."

"That's—"

"If he fights Ezra, we're all in trouble 'cuz it'll be a damn crime scene. And if they call the cops, that's gonna be just as bad, 'cuz we don't got the money to get him out of jail or juvie or whatever."

Bailey finally got up and grabbed his hoodie, still tapping on his phone. "Dec isn't answering. So, what now?"

"Only thing we can do, B. I'm gonna call Marcus, and if he won't take us-"

"Chase. We aren't stealing your friend's car! What's wrong with you?"

——

Luckily, her friend Marcus was home, and reluctantly agreed to drive the pair. He was very vocal about his annoyance, but Chase just smiled and handed him a twenty dollar bill to shut him up.

One of the first things Bailey noticed as they got out of the college student's car was that Ezra's vehicle was parked nearby, along with his boyfriend's. He waited on the sidewalk, hoodie strings in his mouth.

Marcus rolled down the window, sternly telling Chase, "Stop using me for rides. I hope you gotta ride home, because I need to go study."

She leaned in and pecked his cheek in a friendly manner. "All I need to do is get Ezra's keys, we'll be good."

"Bitch, are you crazy? Did you not see all the police cars out tonight? You are not driving without a permit. Either camp out in his car or find someone who's sober to drive you home."

"Ugh, fine." She rolled her eyes, but Marcus still gave her a patient smile. Then, he flipped her off and drove away, leaving the siblings behind.

Chase grabbed Bailey's hand. "Remember how we do this?"

"Don't take anything from anyone, call you if I find Ezra, and don't look for Declan 'cuz-"

"-he's a giant sack of dicks." Chase finished, letting go of her brother. "Let's go!"

——

Ezra was easily found. In the kitchen, a plastic cup in one hand while he combed through a drawer of silverware.

Chase caught him right as he grabbed a knife, carefully taking it from him while Bailey refilled his cup, effectively distracting him for a moment.

"I thought you would stay home," he commented, forgetting about the drawer.

"One of my friends texted and said I should come. And Bailey's best friend is here." Chase gently started to steer Ezra towards the door, quietly telling Bailey, "Go find Cody. He'll know someone that can help us."

Bailey nodded, waiting a moment before heading off. He stuck around long enough to witness Chase taking a full bottle of vodka off of the counter, rolling his eyes as he opened the door between the kitchen and the backyard.

Cody, predictably, was out back, with his normal group of what he called "loners and stoners". Their group, always easy to identify by the technicolor hair and tattoos, generally stayed away from the main events at parties but still went just to say they'd been.

Cody's tattoo sleeve looked incredibly out of place where his arm was wrapped around his current girlfriend, one of Bailey's friends named Juniper. She brought a sorely needed pop of color to these people, with her lilac hair and blue dress. She waved at Bailey, giving him a bright smile as he approached. A couple of the kids didn't look familiar, hair dyed black or red, faces full of piercings. And the last guy seemed to be asleep, mostly covered with a blanket.

"Yo, Bailey! What's up? Did you find your brother?" Cody asked, setting down his bottle of beer. He'd always been super friendly, which honestly helped set Bailey at ease. (And it had nothing to do with the fact that Bailey had a harmless crush on him. Nope, not at all.)

He nodded, smiling a bit nervously. "Chase is taking him out to his car. We, um... Do you know of anyone who could drive us home? I can't, and Chase shouldn't."

"You're in luck, buddy." Cody grinned, grabbing an empty water bottle from the ground next to him. He launched it at the sleeping kid, shouting, "Hey, Lewis! Wake your ass up!"

"What the fuck—" He groaned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Your time has come, dude. This cute little angel and his demon siblings need driven home, and you told us you're being the DD now-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got a question, kid," Lewis said, gesturing towards Bailey. "Can I crash at your place if I take you home?"

"I guess...? I'd have to ask my sister but it should be okay."

"Dope. Let's go."

—————

[ decided to split this plot bc actually getting ezra home is an adventure in itself so here's a little cast list for you

ezra, chase, bailey — the siblings, oldest to youngest

marcus — tired college student friend of chase's
cody — tired high school student friend of chase's

declan — bailey's cheating boyfriend
juniper — one of bailey's friends, a sweetheart

lewis — the surprisingly not-stoned stoner kid (aka teenage him)
?? logan — the party host??

like i could legit bring the rest of them into this and not have an issue with it