closed starter for @mcrlott

“ hm, no noel i look like an idiot. ” she steps out of the dressing room, hiking up the dress a little so she wouldn’t trip. never in a million years did the girl see herself dress shopping for her own wedding. the idea of marriage never seemed to be a prominent thing for her. yet here she was, on dress number seven and a headache that’s been pounding since dress number three. “ this is hopeless. i’m just going to walk down the isle in sweats and a hoodie. ”

@lustrcvs

it was a rarity for the pair to be able to spend alone time together, with nova and nolan in so many different activities. but xavier was on an away trip this weekend, which gave noel the opportunity to make it an away trip for them both. cynthia had agreed to have a little auntie sleepover, which nova was excited about. nolan? he would’ve rather packed his bags and been off to new york with his parents, but that was definitely against the rules. 

“you guys don’t have any team stuff tonight, do you?” it honestly brought her back to the old days, to when xav would go on his away trips for UCLA. noel would grab some of the other baseball girlfriends and travel along, which was sometimes against the rules. she would barely get to see her boyfriend though, him and the rest of the guys being pulled to dinners and different meetings. “because i googled it and the sushi downstairs is apparently really freaking good.” 

xavier finished getting ready, looking at himself through the mirror before his eyes shifted over to noel. trips like these where very rare and random. especially when it was just the two of them. xavier had been caught up in his baseball career and noel in her business one— they barely had any time together. and when they did find those small moments alone, they were always cut short because of their kids. so it felt nice to finally have a weekend where the two could be at peace. “ not that i’m aware of, no. ” he replies, turning to walk over to her, “ sushi ? c’mon noel, let’s try something new. ” xavier places a kiss on her forehead then on her lips before smiling. 

“your point?” she had the same conversation with leo, but natalia didn’t feel the need to explain that to her. her relationship was her own business and how she dealt with the cheating scandal was also her own business. 

“fuck you, nadia. being with you in the first place was a mistake and it’s obvious that trying to be friends in general was a mistake too.” it was obvious that nadia hated her, ever since they broke off whatever they were. it would make sense. sleep with your exes new boyfriend and call it even, right?  “honestly, tell me. what did you think was going to happen? i’d say thank you?” 

“ my point is quit acting as if it’s the end of the world. at least you know leo doesn’t give a fuck about you. good thing you realized that now before it was too late. ” it stung when natalia said getting involved was a mistake. it was funny how quickly their relationship took a turn. “ i didn’t think you’d find out ! ” she knows that’ll only make it worse so she speaks up before nat can say anything, “ look i get that you’re pissed everything and i apologize for ruining everything. ”

“you’re a piece of shit.” her demeanor dropped as soon as nadia began to speak, eyes darting towards hers. fingers began to mess through pieces of kitchen ware, attempting to grab a spoon for her coffee. 

“right because i’m the type of person to fake an entire relationship,” sarcasm dripped between her lips as her bright eyes rolled in (almost) a complete circle. she did like leo, but nadia was right. it wasn’t who she loved. “why, though? did you fuck him to make me look like an idiot? to make me cry? to make me feel like shit? because nadia, it fucking worked. so good job!” 

nadia rolls her eyes, tapping her perfectly manicured fingers against the counter as she listens to natalia cry and whine. “ are you forgetting that uh, leo was involved too ? i didn’t fuck myself. ” she feels like there could be a much larger argument if she even remembered hooking up with leo. which she doesn’t. it’s like that night was erased from her memory. “ can you cut it out with the dramatics. i didn’t do it out of spite. i don’t even remember sleeping with him. for all we know we could have just passed out in bed together. ” which, wasn’t the case because they were both naked, “ why are you always assuming that i’m out to get you ? ”

“hey!” she cheered happily, almost annoyingly sarcastically as she grabbed the door - brown eyes staring back at the brunette in front of her. boy, was she angry. but when natalia was angry, she was clam - which was worrisome to most. 

“if you care to know, leo is nowhere to be found. you can have sex another day,” she admitted with a flash of a smile, moving out of the way of the door so that nadia could come inside of the familiar home. 

she knew what was coming the second the other opened the door. nat was too cheery ( which says something since the other girl always seemed to be in a chipper mood ) . “ look, nat... ” nadia knew she had to apologize, but if she was being honest— it all didn’t fall on her. “ it was a mistake. i fucked up. i’ll admit it. but it’s not like you actually like leo... right ? you’re gay as hell— from what i remember. ”

he spent another few moments trying to process the information. part of him is waiting for the punchline to come and for her to say it was some kind of practical joke, but it never came. “yeah,” he emphasized the word, “does nat know?” he hadn’t spoken to natalia in a while, but he cared for her like a sister and wanted to make sure she was okay. “who else knows?”

does nat know ? that was the million dollar question. nadia was certain she didn’t but at the same time, leo could have snitched. after all, he did tell her best friend before she could. nadia shrugs her shoulders and looks at him, “ i dunno if she knows but lydia does. and rowan is always out of the loop so... ”

jocelyn visibly relaxes when ethan drops whatever he was going to bring up before, her smile widening as he kisses her forehead. when they’re like this, sitting together and just enjoying each other’s company, she likes to pretend things are normal. like they’re in an alternate universe where if she isn’t using him for his money but genuinely just likes him. it doesn’t feel too far off, given the fact that lately she’s found herself wanting to be around him more and more, even in situations where she gets nothing out of it. she has to force the thought out of her mind, not daring to let herself admit she’s been distracted from what she’s really there for. “ i know, you’ve been too busy for me, ” she teases, a fake pout forming on her lips.

he rolls his eyes playfully, shaking his head “ i’m never too busy for you. ” it’s weird how they’ve only been dating for a short amount of time but ethan is already feeling things for her that he’s never felt with anyone before. he tries to tell himself that’s probably nothing— they’re just going through that honeymoon phase every couple manages to endure those first few months of their relationships. however, that small part within him knows that it goes deeper than that. “ what do you want to do tonight ? ”

        charlie nodded her head, not sure what to say about how he’d been since the two had last spoke. she could only imagine what ‘same old’ meant to him and what he’s done to occupy his time. “ well taking in your oddly pleasant attitude, i knew it had to be due to someone else’s pain. ” it was ironic, her attraction to someone so different than herself. everything she found beautiful and poetic, he found it to be unrealistic. who knows, maybe he was right. that most marriages were doomed to fail from the beginning. but charlie wasn’t the kind of woman to let someone else tell her what to believe or how to feel. so she would continue to plan weddings and believe in love because it brought her hope for that one day she too could experience such a thing. “ i’m here for the exact opposite reason actually. getting  the marriage certificate signed before the big day tomorrow. ” she couldn’t help but to smile brightly in that moment. to feel an immense amount of pride as she was a mere 48 hours away from completing a job that would put her in a position to do bigger and better weddings. expanding her business and setting her up to reach her largest goals. “ speaking of, how’s your brother and his lovely new wife ? ”