She crinkled her nose as he hit the nail on the head, snatched the words right out of her mouth and put a sense to what she’d always known, a fact that perhaps she wouldn’t ever had been able to control - a thanks to a painful home life and an even worse example of what two people in love should be and all she’d ever truly understood when it came to that sort of dynamic. And maybe one day she’d figure it out - how to love someone so much the thought of not being with them at all would physically hurt, how to want that label and all the promises and intentions that came along with it, without the fear that she would smash it all to smithereens. But now the thought still twisted her insides wrong, the potential for her to fuck it all up and hurt someone she cared about never her intention and seemingly always the ending point. “Funny, that’s just what I was going to say.” 

And then her chin stuck up indignantly in return, her eyes twinkling mischievously though her mouth remained pressed in somewhat of a stern line, trying desperately not to grin when it was so obviously what he wanted. “And here you are with all of your satisfaction and all of your ‘fuck its’ and zero clue as to what to do next with the mess you have made,” Juliet teased, chuckling as his legs brushed closer to her still, another part of them touching in their odd sense of normalcy. “But thanks… for the advice. I might just actually take it.” 

“What can I say --- I’m clearly the Dr. Phil of our generation,” He returns with a musing grin. Disheveled blonde mane getting pulled taught to sit in a low bun. If he was going to sit his happy ass in a corner only to watch his life do nothing but fall into shambles when it came to romance & intimacy, he was certainly going to stray those closest to him from the same fate. Steering them in the direction of happiness, and only ultimate happiness. “So --- what now? Should I bust out my dance moves in order to distract you? Or should we raid the snack bar? Your wish, is my command.”

                Doing her best to refrain from making a face, Corinne easily relaxed the muscles in her body that worked to tense up and lifted her hand up to the side of his body. She stayed there briefly for a moment to actually enjoy the gesture, though soon enough, she was straightening up her posture and brushing her hair away from her eyes. “Thanks. I am happy,” She murmured, dampening her lips. “Can I ask why this is so insanely awkward though? If that’s the case.”

A silence fell upon him as he shakes his head in response. Part of him wanted nothing more than to let her in; expose the internal turmoil he had been going through --- she undoubtedly deserved an honest answer. But on the contrary, the environment was lighthearted; easygoing... and Corinne seemed happy. There was absolutely no way in hell he was going to voluntarily ruin the remainder of her night, as she also deserved to have a genuinely good time with no burdens or harsh figments of reality. So instead, he chuckled nervously. Arms folding securely across his chest. “I’m just --- tired. ‘Das it. Um, I’ve been working non-stop lately, and this is my first time out in quite a bit --- so I’m feeling slightly misplaced.”

               It was becoming glaringly obvious how awkward this situation was, and she couldn’t even tell you why. She knew her absence was abrupt ( and if she had it her way, nonexistent ), but it was almost as if there was some elephant in the room no one was really talking about. Creasing her brows together, refraining from making a face, Corinne perked up a bit to try and ignore that nagging feeling for now. She missed him, for more reasons other than one, and actually looked forward to seeing him. “I missed you too,” She responded. “I’m sorry I didn’t call more, I was uh—” Spilling the guts of being in therapy wasn’t really a conversation starter. “—Not in the right headspace, you could say.” She settled. “But yeah, I’m back and staying. Georgia’s pretty and all, but I like the people in Louisiana much more.”

Relocating every ounce of concern, he had for the situation to the back of his skull, Cole reached forward to wrap the petite brunette in a warm embrace. One arm snaking around her upper waist, while his unoccupied palm placed itself onto the back of her head. Lingering for a moment too long before allowing himself to take a step back. “Well, you look great --- happy.” He manages to return. Lips curling upwards into a warm & responsive grin. “And please don’t apologize for not calling. The phone works both ways, and I know for an absolute fact that I could have easily returned the favor.”

            “Yeah, it’s not.” Sugar coating wasn’t Mia’s specialty. While giving thanks for being locked in here as a punishment was fine, she realized the longer they stayed, the heavier realization would hit. The cold made her bitter— though, so did the heat too. There was really no excuse, especially with all the booze and its truth serum in her system. “Well, Cole, there’s one upside to getting stuck in a wine cellar.” She reaches for a box of empty glasses, conveniently before them. Prying it open, she fetches two glasses, pouring each with the wine bottle already in her possession. “Cheers,” she sighs, handing him a glass, clinking her against his. She then takes a sip, leaning back against the barrels, hoping the wine would do something about the breeze. “So, what brought you here?” she turns, crossing her legs. “The wine cellar, I mean.”

There was a momentary flash of hesitation before Cole downed the glass of wine in its entirety. Though he despised the taste and its existence in general, anything that could possibly make the situation a bit more tolerable was accepted. “Um --- well --- I ---” There was an obvious stammer in his voice; hand reaching upwards to scratch at the nape of his neck to play off his stiff behavior. There wasn’t enough liquor in his system yet to bare his truth in its entirety to a stranger... which was the exact moment he opted to chug straight from the bottle itself. Only stopping once to come up for air. If he was gonna do it, might as well do it right. “Honestly, I came here to avoid my problems. Two women that I am --- was --- involved with are here, and because I’m clearly a pathetic wimp, I figured it would be better to just... dodge anymore awkward tension.” He pauses for a moment; finishing up the bottle before redirecting his attention back towards Mia. “Well, that, and I was looking for another bathroom. What about you? Just wandering or are you an avid lover of nasty ass grape juice.”

“C'mon, babe we’re basically husband and wife. You do this weird thing with your mouth when you’re trying to hide something,” Juliet replied back with an easy grin, nudging him slightly with her elbow, enjoying the feeling of his strong frame against her tiny one. His company was always appreciated, always welcomed, the way they sought comfort and closure and companionship in each other something she hoped they would never lose. It would feel like physically losing a limb if he was ever not a part of her daily routine. “And you fidget, like you do sometimes when you’re asleep. I’m sure all the girls just swoon though because it’s kind of adorable,” she added with a sly grin.

And then came the teasing roll of her eyes, grinning as he tugged her closer, her fingers interlacing with his own as she listened attentively, trying not to blurt out her train of thought in disagreement of his actions. She’d promised a long time ago she’d do nothing except support him, even when it came to complex affairs of the heart. “What happens when shit hits the fan, hm? Are we holing up at my place?” Juliet blew out a long breath then, shaking her head back and forth. “I’m trying really hard not to get involved because I have this habit of ruining good things, you know? But it’s- he’s tempting,” she finished simply, letting out another sigh. “And I really lack in the self-control department. As do you, casanova.”

With only a nod to convey is concord, the blonde male exhaled sharply. Blue hues falling to target the pavement beneath them. “And in short --- I fucking suck at relationships.” He returned through a side grin. Hands gripping securely on the other’s. As much as it physically pained him to admit, the truth was he had been terrible at anything that involved raw emotion. Feelings were complicated; and his indecisiveness only propelled the complication. He knew, deep down, that the moment he was honest with himself, everything else would somehow fall into place. There was no certainty on how exactly that would take effect, but there was confidence in the process. However, it was a hell of a lot easier said than done.

                 Mia hadn’t had more than, maybe, two embarrassing moments in her life. She had always been extremely watchful over everything she did, especially with what she had been through and the burden she chose to carry like a sown on backpack. After completely embracing her desperation for wanting to feel normal for once, she had done the most embarrassing— she couldn’t even fathom if it was real enough for her to even think it over. It happened so fast, so dramatically… Mia ended up in the wine cellar of the mansion just to save some face. After the storm had hit, Mia –secretly– thanked the heavens for punishing her for doing something so stupid. She definitely deserved it. Hugging her legs, Mia uses what little of her wrap dress can cover to withstand the breeze going on inside. She looks over to the blonde, exhaling sharply as she rests her head against one of the barrels. “Unfortunately.” After a few seconds of silence pass, Mia decides to push away her plethora of thoughts to talk to him. No one in their right mind would avoid the only stranger in a situation like this, right? “—Mia,” she introduces. “Marroquin.” 

Maybe it had been a culmination of both his nerves & overall uneasiness when it came to the situation, but FUCK was it freezing. Teeth desperately attempting to contain themselves from the ongoing chattering; goosebumps forming anywhere skin had been exposed. And really, things didn’t seem to be getting any more manageable. So, yeah, this was definitely karma. “Nice to meet you Mia --- though I know the setting probably isn’t ideal,” He returned through a grin, eyes rapidly scanning over their surroundings as he desperately attempted to make light of a very shitty circumstance. “I’m Colton. Colton Klynn. But, uh, Cole is cool, too. No need to be formal.”

                 It was a face that she was actually anticipating seeing since she stepped foot back into town, and one that had her stomach clenching with both excitement and nervous. God, this was stupid. It was just Colton. Turning to see whom was actually behind her, a grin spread across her face. “Hey!” She breathed out, stepping forward the slightest bit though immediately eyed the discomfort and the drink that was now disappeared. “Uh,” She breathed, making a little face as she glanced back up at him. “Two weeks. Though, a lot of the first week was spent driving back over here. Back at work this week, and blah blah blah.”

Admittedly, he was stoked to be seeing her again --- generally speaking. Regardless of whatever the fuck was going down in that messy ass love life of his, he’d be lying to himself if he said Corinne hadn’t been an amazing person to be around overall. Between their easy-going hangouts and late-night movie fests, she had certainly managed to weasel her way into a part of his life that he hadn’t been quite sure was open in the first place. Quickly falling for her charismatic nature and easygoing vibe --- which was the issue. Taking a minimal step backwards, Cole scratched at the nape of his neck. Eyes directing themselves to anywhere but hers. “Oh --- well that’s cool,” He returned through a forced chuckle. “I --- uh --- I missed you, you know, while you were gone? You staying for good?”

Crinkling her nose, she shook her head in gentle disagreement. “Mm, caveman? I don’t think so…. too grungy and good-looking for such an atrocious label,” she finished with a brush of her lips against his temple, enjoying the feeling of his fingers against her waist. She’d forgotten how often she’d sought out comfort in another human, how it often led to more than she’d wanted, promises she couldn’t keep and mistakes she couldn’t exactly take back. Here, with Colton, she was grateful for his genuine good heart and belief that she was more than she saw herself as. How she was there when he needed her in return, without a second of hesitation. 

And then though she could feel his edginess, the need to keep moving, the need to keep separating himself from whatever or whomever it was he was running from, she agreed, taking his hand and tugging gently to get to her feet, her cheeks blushing a shade of pink at his kind words as she began to walk alongside the tall blonde. “Only if you tell me who we’re avoiding,” she murmured, with a quirk of her eyebrow. “I promise I’ll buy you hard liquor and let you dance until your heart’s content after you spit it out.” 

His exhale was both protracted and acute. Head shaking nonchalantly as an offhand chuckle was emitted from his core. “See, I need you stop doing that --- I need you stop reading me so damn well.” He returned through a nominal grin. Pristine blue hues flashing towards the other. One thing the male would never be able to grasp at its maximum --- was the broad, slightly intimidating, awareness that Juliet had for him & his emotional strife. Essentially, the same understanding was reciprocated, undoubtedly, as he could gauge exactly how she was feeling and when she was felling it. But it was still something that he would probably never quite get used to; always being slightly taken back.

If the circumstance at hand had been the universe’s way of granting Cole with immediate karma, he would take it with ease. The slow, steady breathing mitigating the nerves a sliver as his back slid down the wall. Head declining backwards. Truth be told, there wouldn’t even be a situation if he hadn’t been so desperately attempting to avoid his problems. There was zero uncertainty that he would not be where he had been right then & there if he had not been too cowardly to remove himself from the jar of self-pity. Speaking both physically and mentally. So, in a sense, he was really all to blame for his own misfortune. Nobody else. Just him. ----- Rubbing at his arms in hopes of warming them, Cole exhaled sharply. Chin lifting in the direction of the other presence. “Looks like we’re gonna’ be stuck down here for quite a bit, huh?”