|
|
Post by Brody Finn on Dec 4, 2015 2:20:13 GMT
At a certain point in his life, Brody would have thought that he would have gotten away from the obligation of attending events with his parents. Now, nearly nineteen, he still found himself standing beside his mother at an event that he wasn't sure that he wanted to be at in the first place. He wasn't really in much of a celebratory mood and the idea of being at a social gathering, which was sure to be filled with friends and acquaintances from high school, seemed to put him in an even more sour mood. After spending the last couple of months trying to make Morgan see that they could be friends again in lieu of everything that had happened, he had ultimately come to terms with the fact that she had moved on. If anything was going to force things to change, it would have been prom, but prom had done nothing but put a temporary bandage over the damage that had been done in their relationship, in the very core of their friendship. But it hadn't changed anything - Morgan was still with Remi, and despite the fact that Brody was coming to terms with how he felt for her, there wasn't anything that he could do.
And so he did nothing. Instead he opted to give up. Not on being her friend, but on trying to be anything more than that.
He sighed and shifted his weight, trying to spot anyone in the crowd that he could use as a distraction. Or at the very least someone who could save him from having to stay in the company of his parents for the rest of the evening.
|
|
|
|
Post by Amber Jacobs on Dec 4, 2015 3:55:55 GMT
Amber Finn surveyed the crowd at the Fourth of July party, her arm threaded through her husband's she smiled at him briefly before turning to Brody. "See, this is my problem with events during the summer - too casual, no tie for me to straighten." She smoothed out the skirt of her dress and smiled at him. "Anyway, I was trying to think of what we should do for your birthday - and of what to get you. Preferably something that might convince you to stay home," she said only half-jokingly. She nudged her son gently and grinned. She'd noted things had been off and had been surprised that, given a charge on the credit card, that Morgan Tyler hadn't been around the Penthouse more over the summer. In fact, for the first time in over a decade, she'd found the Penthouse lacking in the little redhead that followed Brody around. She had a feeling it had something to do with it, but really, she had decided not to pry. "We could go away? One last family vacation for your birthday?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Adam Tyler on Dec 4, 2015 17:12:32 GMT
Brody nodded, drawing his attention back to his mother. Truth be told, the idea of getting away for a little while was incredibly enticing. He supposed that on some level he understood now why Morgan had chosen to spend five months of her life overseas - it made it a lot easier to stop thinking about how things could have been. Like what it would have been like had he kept in touch with her while she was gone, or asked her to stay. To wonder what it would have been like had he told her how he felt about her then, or if he wouldn't have gotten scared and decided to ruin what budding relationship they had had. But the problem with fear is that sometimes it made the illogical seem to make perfect sense. At eighteen he wasn't ready to be in a relationship with Morgan. He barely knew what he wanted in his own life, from school to the future, and suddenly there was a very large change that was happening very quickly.
If he had stopped to think about it all before, even just for one second, he might have realized that the reason why he was so terrified of it all was because he could actually see a life with Morgan. He wanted to have a life with her, at least in some way. It wasn't that he was ready to throw caution to the wind, marry her now and start having kids. It wasn't even that he necessarily thought that she was the "one", it was just that he was willing to give it a try. She had been his best friend for so long that he couldn't imagine not having her around, and now that he had been in a sort of physical relationship with her, he couldn't stop the feeling that rose in his stomach every time he thought of her.
"Yeah, that sounds like fun," he smiled at his mom, knowing that at the very least she deserved his full attention and what little time he had left before school. "Did you have any ideas of where you'd like to go?"
"Going some place too warm in the middle of July might be miserable," Brandon added. "We could always go to Paris, or we could just go to the Hamptons for a week."
As the summer had started, Brandon had taken note of the change in both Brody's behavior, and sudden lack of redheaded companionship, as well as in Amber's demeanor. It was the first time in nearly twenty years that they were facing the reality that their son wasn't going to be around every day, and while he was feeling increasingly uncertain about it, he was beginning to become excited for it as well. Brody had been born before they had ever gotten a chance to truly see how their relationship developed and grew through their engagement and later their marriage, and now the opportunity had finally presented itself for them to remember who they were, and what their relationship was life, before they became parents. But for now, at least through the end of summer, he had to admit that he liked the idea of spending a bit more time with Brody before he left.
Ellie Tyler bit at her lip, surveying the usual crowd of people. She had almost gotten used to a new routine while her sister had been abroad, but now that Morgan was back, and now that her own social circle continued to change, she wasn't sure exactly what she was supposed to do. She started looking around for any tell-tell sign of Kensi, hoping that she might at least have one reliable form of entertainment and company for the evening, but she couldn't really make out any faces, or any Converse shoes, in the throng of people. Instead, she hovered near her parents, shuffling her shoes on the pavement before harshly reminding herself that they were expensive - and designer - and as the newest intern of a swanky fashion magazine, she probably shouldn't make an example of herself this way. Opting to just stand in place, she rocked on her feet and sighed, turning to her sister. "This is boring."
|
|
|
|
Post by Morgan Tyler on Dec 7, 2015 23:10:14 GMT
Morgan chewed on her lip, looking down at her nail polish, examining where it was already chipping. Remi had been invited along with her for the day, but due to a fight they'd had the night before, he had declined to come along. So she stayed near her parents and her sister. At Ellie's comment, she nodded slightly. "Yeah. My dress itches," she said simply before taking a sip of her soda. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Brody and his parents. She'd hardly seen him since prom, and while she wanted to say it was because she'd been absorbed by her summer classes and trying to deal with her roommate, she knew it was actually that she'd been avoiding him. Prom had been one of the most incredible experiences of her life and had been ultimately everything she'd thought it would be. But it hadn't escaped her that technically she'd cheated on her boyfriend and never once had she wanted to be that sort of person. While she hadn't confessed to what she'd done and while she would do it all over again, the guilt ate at her and had resulted in more frequent and more bitter arguments with her fling-turned-boyfriend. Now, she was thinking more than ever that maybe it was time for her and Remi take a step back, but she'd never broken up with someone before and wasn't quite sure how that was supposed to go.
Amber smiled at Brody and Brandon, shrugging her shoulders up slightly. "We can go wherever, Europe might be nice. Just a little getaway as a family - we can leave it up to Brody since it's his birthday." She nodded. "Because other than that, all I have planned is waffles for breakfast the morning of," she added even though the long standing tradition didn't necessarily warrant an announcement. "Oh, look, it's the Tylers," she pointed out as casually as possible. "Should we say hello?" She was curious about what her son might say to that, but threw it out there just to see.
|
|
|
|
Post by Brody Finn on Dec 7, 2015 23:31:01 GMT
Ellie observed her sister for a moment, trying to figure out what exactly was going on with her. Things had slowly been building up between them to the point where Ellie wasn't even sure what to say to Morgan in response. She didn't feel like offering to spend an extended period of time with her, and at the same time, she didn't know how she could really get away from the whole family. All she really did know at this point is that she would have given anything to get away from everything right now. Actually, she had strongly considered playing sick and calling Kensi to see if she was up for going out somewhere. It had become a very downward spiral, she knew, the constant routine of snarkiness with her family followed by a call to Kensi and then the two of them spending prolonged periods of time together. It wasn't even always partying or going out, sometimes they just hung out in Kensi's room and acted like the teenage girls they were. There was a lot of gossiping, heart-to-heart chats, and giant bowls of ice cream in those circumstances. And it seemed to help a little bit, but not enough that Ellie wanted to keep Kensi from spending time with Jamie. After all, she credited herself for getting the two of them to spend any time together in the first place. She liked Jamie as a person and she thought that he really was good for her friend, and from what she could tell already, Kensi seemed to like him too.
"Poor you," she said to Morgan, inwardly wincing as soon as the words passed her lips.
Brody nodded, "Europe would be cool." At this point, he didn't care where they went, and what was worse, he suddenly realized that he didn't even care that it was near his birthday. For the first time in his life, it seemed like just another day. Maybe it was the fact that he was turning nineteen and about to go off to college, or maybe it had more to do with the fact that he wasn't going to be celebrating the day with a familiar redhead. One that he spotted as soon as his mother pointed out Morgan's family. "No, we don't have to." Truthfully he didn't want to see her, let alone to have to pretend that he wasn't trying his damnest to get over her. She was with Remi, he reminded himself, and he needed to stop trying to get in the way of that.
|
|
|
|
Post by Morgan Tyler on Dec 9, 2015 0:05:17 GMT
Morgan paused slightly at Ellie's response. She took a deep breath and another sip of her soda. Things had been strained between her and Ellie for a little bit now and while originally Morgan had thought nothing hurt worse than drifting apart from Brody, she was sorry to say that fighting with her sister might have been worse. She placed her empty glass down, crossing her arms in front of her chest and opening her mouth to reply, but she stopped herself. Glancing briefly at her parents, she shook her head. "I'm going to go get another cola," she muttered before walking in the direction of the refreshments.
Amber turned to look up at Brody, tilting her head and then shrugging a shoulder. "Okay then," she said simply, making a note to pry later. Glancing around the party, she made note of a few people - including Eliot Quinn's son talking to Melanie Benson in what seemed like hushed tones near the bar. While it didn't look like a friendly conversation, it didn't look hostile either so she decided to just continue hoping Melanie would stay off of her family's radar for a bit longer.
|
|
|
|
Post by Brody Finn on Dec 9, 2015 0:20:37 GMT
As Morgan excused herself from the family for a moment, Ellie let out a small sigh. It was so hard for her to be angry with her when there were times where all she wanted was to just vent to her about everything that was happening in her life, as well as try and help Morgan in some way with her own problems. Though, every time she thought about just moving past their little tiff, she was also reminded that things had become so tense that she wasn't sure that they would be able to repair everything in one fell swoop. She took another desperate look around for her friend and froze when she spotted Everett instead. Speaking to Melanie Benson of all people, she had to add. Huffing softly, she stepped closer to her parents, hoping that she could butt into whatever conversation they were having so that it didn't look like she was as bored as she truly was.
Brody was pleased when his mother seemingly dropped the subject. He really didn't want to get into everything that had happened with Morgan over the last several weeks, let alone the last several months, year even. Besides, it felt much more difficult to get over her if she kept getting brought up in the conversation.
|
|
|
|
Post by Melanie Benson on Dec 9, 2015 3:05:59 GMT
Melanie Benson rolled her eyes at Everett and nodded at him dismissively, waving him off. She took a long sip of her drink and glanced around. Ever since Jamie had begun spending more time with Ellie Tyler and her friend Kensi, Melanie found herself reevaluating her own personal life. It seemed now, after talking to Everett, she'd only have to deal with the Mickey Mouse Club more than she would have liked. Glancing around the Fourth of July affair, her eyes landed on Brody Finn. She smirked at him before leaning over the bar to order a new drink.
When she'd been a young teenager, she'd spent some of her summers and Fourth of July celebrations with her mother and her new family. Pushing those thoughts away quickly, she grinned flirtatiously at the bartender and giggled at a joke he made that wasn't even that funny.
|
|
|
|
Post by Brody Finn on Dec 10, 2015 16:00:31 GMT
Brody couldn't help but think that maybe there wasn't a reason to continue to ignore Morgan, that maybe at this point they had grown past the situation at hand and could just go back to being each other's friend, but a small part of him knew that it wouldn't work. He couldn't be her friend, and he knew that, he really did - but it didn't change the fact that he also didn't want to think about what he needed to do to get over her. Maybe they really did need distance - and maybe, more than anything else, he needed a distraction. The thought of his family taking a much needed vacation was one thing, but he supposed that it would have been even better to have someone to help distract him as well as help him move on.
He searched the crowd again for any chance of distraction, or maybe even just a former classmate to flirt with for the time being, grinning at the sight of Melanie smirking at him. She turned back to the bar for another drink and with no one apparently keeping her company, Brody decided that it presented the perfect opportunity for him to take advantage of an ideal distraction.
Excusing himself from his parents under the guise of going to say hello to a friend, he walked over to the bar, standing beside her.
"I didn't know that it was possible for you to look any better than you normally did," he told her, smirking.
|
|
|
|
Post by Melanie Benson on Dec 10, 2015 22:56:56 GMT
Melanie smirked into her glass before turning over her shoulder to glance at Brody. She chuckled softly, shrugging a shoulder up. "Compliments will get you everywhere, Brody." She tilted her head at him, "Miss me?" she asked him. While she had originally pursued Brody without the purest of intentions and while they'd spent as much time fighting as they did in her bed during the first round of their tryst, she did know that there was something refreshing about being with him. The fact that he was younger most likely had something to do with it. He'd tried to ask her out and she'd repeatedly turned her down. But now that it seemed she was finding herself more frequently alone, she thought perhaps it wasn't the worst idea in the world. No, she didn't think that she had serious feelings for Brody Finn. In her entire life, she'd never really had serious feelings for anyone. But he was familiar, and comfortable, at one point a long time ago they'd been very good friends. And given that she'd heard through the grapevine that Morgan Tyler hadn't come back from Europe empty handed, she wondered if maybe it would be nice for the two of them to be alone together in order to at least be less lonely.
Her eyes scanned him over, and she shifted slightly, leaning towards him and grinning. "You look pretty fantastic yourself, actually."
|
|
|
|
Post by Brody Finn on Dec 10, 2015 23:18:26 GMT
He grinned back at her, remembering now how easy it had always been to flirt with her. Had there not been a thousand other reasons why their previous relationship, or lack thereof, hadn't worked out, Brody would have had a difficult time remembering why they had stopped at all. Actually, for all of the bad, there really had been a lot of good reasons for their physical relationship. Their timing, admittedly, had been off, but he wasn't sure that he regretted any of it. He did lament the loss of his friendship with Morgan, that much was true, but he was afraid that if it hadn't happened when it did it would have only been a matter of time. It wasn't something that he really trusted himself to avoid - the part where he panicked about being in a relationship with someone like Morgan. Knowing before your first date that this could ultimately be the last person you dated put a lot of pressure on a person. This thing with Melanie, regardless of what it was or what it could become, that was a lot less terrifying.
"I have to admit, I have been thinking about you." He leaned toward her, mirroring her movements and smiling at her. "Have you thought about me?" he questioned softly.
|
|
|
|
Post by Melanie Benson on Dec 10, 2015 23:25:18 GMT
Melanie laughed softly at him, shrugging her shoulder up. "You've been thinking of me?" she asked gently. "You're still such a sweet kid." And she thought maybe he was too sweet for her. If she had any decency, she'd let him go away from her unscathed.
No one had ever called her decent.
"I'll admit I've thought of you from time to time," she added, taking another sip of her vodka tonic. "Am I interrupting your family fun time?" She recalled seeing a flash of red hair out of the corner of her eye earlier. "Or anyone else you should be talking to?" She tilted her head at him, trying to look innocent as she pried.
|
|
|
|
Post by Brody Finn on Dec 10, 2015 23:51:14 GMT
Brody looked back over at his family, also spotting Morgan, and he sighed softly before forcing a small smile and looking at Melanie. "I don't have anywhere else I'm supposed to be," he told her, lightly trailing his hand down her arm. Something about being around Melanie again made him feel like he should fall back into familiar habits with her. It was only too easy to use this opportunity to try and move on from Morgan, and despite knowing that was what he was trying to do, it didn't stop him from moving a little closer to her. "I don't have anyone else I'd rather be talking to either," he told her, glancing down at her lips for a brief second. "Or... we could go somewhere and not talk?" he offered with a small smirk.
|
|
|
|
Post by Melanie Benson on Dec 10, 2015 23:56:27 GMT
Melanie grinned a bit at Brody and tilted her head at him. Part of her was curious why he seemed to have a change of heart given the reasons they'd ended things was because she rarely wanted to talk. But she wasn't thinking too hard on it. She had her own ideas on why and she frankly needed a distraction of her own. Reaching for his hand, she downed the rest of her drink and placed the empty glass on the table. "Let's go," she remarked gently as she tugged him away from the crowd. She did glimpse a crestfallen redhead watching them go. And while a few months ago she might have smirked triumphantly at her, this time she didn't.
|
|
