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Post by Ellie Tyler on Jan 4, 2016 0:45:36 GMT
Ellie Tyler supposed that it was never going to stop being weird - not just the fact that her twin sister was a full-fledged college student, but that after everything that had happened over the last eighteen years or so, Morgan and Brody were finally together. If anyone were to remember exactly how they had always been together, she supposed that it was her. She had been the constant companion to the duo she now referred to as Brogan in her head, and she had been the one to see them through every stage of their relationship together. She had been the one to help Morgan get ready for their very first date, she had been the one that had tried to help Morgan sneak out to see him even before that, and she had been the one that had seen first hand what had happened when he cheated on her. Well, cheated in the sense that Ellie had decided that was what he had really done. And now, with Brody in Ithaca, she had been coming to realize that the weird little small-ish town was becoming as much of a home to her sister as their family's apartment had ever been. More than anything else, Ellie was happy for her. She was happy for Morgan in every sense of the word - from her happiness over finally being with Brody, to her happiness over having been made part of his little social circle at Cornell. And strictly speaking from a fashion standpoint, Morgan did look great in that particular shade of carnelian red.
She had been grateful that Jamie and Kensi had conspired to throw them an eighteenth's birthday party in September, allowing Ellie to fix the problems with her sister. It had not only provided the opportunity to get pulled back up to speed on everything that was happening in Morgan's life, but it had also given her the opportunity to be part of their little world just a four-hour bus ride away. Not that she could say that she particularly enjoyed the bus. That party had also brought another person back into her life, one that she was still having a difficult time figuring out. Everett had followed through with his promise and had taken her to not only one dinner, but a couple more following. And while they had kissed, there was still a lot of uncertainty surrounding their relationship, friendship, or whatever else one could describe it as. It didn't help that upon meeting Toby Seaborn at Thanksgiving, her mother had decided that Toby was a decidedly smart match for her. At the time she had chosen not to say anything, not wanting to ruin the holiday, but also not wanting to make the evening awkward for their guests. Instead, she had just sat on the knowledge, thinking it over at times, trying to see what her mother saw. In truth, she was a little afraid to mention her ... whatever one might call it, with Everett. She knew that neither her mother or father would approve, particularly when she considered how they had actually demanded that she not see him anymore.
But that didn't mean that she wasn't willing to still try. And that certainly didn't mean that she agreed with her mother's opinion concerning Toby. He was nice enough, absolutely, and he was certainly nice to look at, but Ellie feared that he was too nice and that he was too... perfect. Maybe for someone like Morgan, she added, or perhaps Brody's other friend, Alex, but maybe not for her. And just when a voice in her head reminded her that she had once thought Everett was too nice and too boring, her thoughts began to approach a dangerous spiral. At eighteen, she would have assumed that she would have gotten her feelings toward boys all figured out, but she always seemed to be more confused than she probably had any right to be. Between her friendship with Will, her mother's urging toward Toby, and her own tendency to lean toward Everett, she had decided that she needed someone to make a move and take the first step toward answering all of her unasked questions.
So when Morgan and Brody had mentioned that they wanted to do something in the weekends leading up to Christmas, she jumped at the opportunity to join them, taking the chance to invite Everett up to Ithaca with them for the celebration and any potential parties she was sure they were likely to find. This, she had determined, was his chance to show her what he thought their relationship was meant to be. She hated herself for mentally adding the part that if everything went sour she always had Toby she could fall back on to keep her company.
Stretching her limbs after the long ride up to Brody's apartment, she grinned at her sister and Everett, ready to get the weekend started. "Shall we?" she asked, motioning toward the door to the building.
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Post by Morgan Tyler on Jan 4, 2016 2:36:26 GMT
Weekends up in Ithaca had become Morgan's favorite. The two of them took to lounging around his apartment, finishing their homework, sharing meals, and exploring the ins and outs of a new relationship. While she'd known Brody for all of her life, dating him was so different - yet still comfortable. Secure in their feelings for each other, she often found that visiting him at the end of the school week felt a lot like coming home. With the holidays approaching, Morgan knew that they would be spending Christmas with their families all together, but she felt that her Ithaca family was just as important and definitely wanted to celebrate with Alex and Toby. So she and Brody had agreed to have a little get together at his apartment. She'd packed her rolling suitcase full of presents and had given Brody a list of groceries to buy so that she could fix dinner and dessert.
When Ellie had invited Everett along, Morgan suspected it had something to do with their mother's not-so-subtle hints that Ellie should date Toby, so she'd been happy to agree even if she still wasn't sure how she felt about Ellie's relationship with the older boy. Everett had been nothing but nice to Morgan, but he'd hurt Ellie not too long ago and Morgan didn't know him all too well. Morgan decided to approach the situation cautiously but openly so not to upset her sister. She led the two of them inside of his building, up the elevator and to his door. She fumbled in her bag to find the key and let them in easily. "So," she said to Everett. "This is it," she explained as she led them inside and closed the door behind them. "You can put your stuff down in you want." She nodded, discarding her bags and immediately looking for Brody, finding him in the living room with his books out. Without doing much thinking, she practically tackled him right on the couch, giggling softly. "Hi! We're here!" she exclaimed, sitting back on his lap to look at him. "I brought the Christmas presents, and some decorations and twinkle lights."
Everett watched in amusement as Morgan practically pounced on Brody, placing down his and Ellie's bags before turning to smile at her. "Is it always like this with them now?" he asked with a chuckle.
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Post by Ellie Tyler on Jan 4, 2016 2:55:44 GMT
There was something comfortable about a routine, and something even more comfortable about a routine that included a weekend with his girlfriend. Brody had gotten into the habit of spending the week in class, spending evenings with Toby and/or Alex, and then settling down to finish any homework he had for the following week in anticipation of the time he knew he was going to be occupied otherwise. Having heard the door open and Morgan's voice carry throughout the apartment, he grinned, marking his place in his notes and preparing to go greet everyone. Before he had the chance to even set his book down, he found his energetic girlfriend in his lap. "Hi," he greeted her, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "The groceries you asked for are all put away and ready for you whenever you want them," he informed her, realizing that this was another routine that they had gotten into. It was strange to be in a new relationship with her and feel so comfortable already. After nearly four months together it still felt so new and exciting, as well as so enticingly familiar. "Hi Ellie, Everett," he called out to them, not quite willing to move from his spot on the couch with Morgan perched on top of them.
Ellie smiled, sighing and shaking her head at the way that her sister had bounded off toward her boyfriend. She had to admit, Morgan and Brody were rather adorable together and despite the fact that he had hurt Morgan in the past, Ellie was fairly certain that neither of them was going to let that happen again. Besides, she kept reminding the two of them, Morgan wasn't the only one with a killer right hook and she wasn't afraid to use it. "Yes, they're always like this now. I never know whether to be annoyed or find it adorable - but then I just decide to go with both and it makes it a little more tolerable," she teased. "Hi Brody - when you detangle yourself from my sister, just let us know where you want us to put our stuff or if there's anything we can help with."
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Post by Morgan Tyler on Jan 4, 2016 3:12:47 GMT
Morgan grinned a bit. She realized, given their present company that she probably should have been trying to be a better hostess, but with four days apart from Brody, she stayed right where she was for a minute. She placed her hands on either side of his face, examining him for a moment. She liked to do this whenever she first arrived to Ithaca, just in case she'd missed anything important or life altering. "I missed you," she told him softly, leaning in to kiss him quickly on the lips. She scrambled off of his lap reluctantly and looked at her sister and Everett, "You guys can put your stuff in the spare bedroom, Ellie, it's the one you stayed in last time."
Morgan placed her hands on her hips, looking around and jutting out her lower lip as she came to a realization. "We don't have a tree."
Everett chuckled again, reaching for their things once more and looking at Ellie, "Lead the way," he told her before following Ellie to the spare room so that they could put their things away. He smiled at Ellie once they were settled. "Not so bad, huh?" he said to her, glancing around the place. "The two of them have a cute place."
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Post by Ellie Tyler on Jan 4, 2016 3:40:15 GMT
"I missed you too," Brody told her, smiling as she stole another kiss before moving to give directions to their guests. Laughing at her statement, he stood from the couch and gathered up his schoolwork, moving it to an end table for the moment. With Morgan, he was never sure how much studying she was going to mandate and so out of habit he had found himself never keeping it very far. It probably came from years of being her study partner, he decided, moving to step in front of her and place his hands on her waist. Keeping his hands off of her always seemed to be such a challenge when they were together, and while he hoped that it wasn't making Ellie or Everett uncomfortable, a large part of him wasn't sure that he cared.
Pressing another kiss to her lips, he gave a small shrug. "You never put "tree" on the list," he teased. "I wasn't aware that it was a necessity for this weekend."
Ellie nodded, "They do," she wasn't sure when she started thinking of this place in terms of Brogan's apartment, but she had. And she was amused that Everett had already started to think of it in those same terms, despite having been there for less than ten minutes at this point. "Everything about them is kind of ridiculously cute," she added with a small smile and a nod. "Should we go see if they need help with anything?"
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Post by Morgan Tyler on Jan 4, 2016 4:04:19 GMT
Everett smiled at Ellie, nodding at her before stepping in a bit closer and kissing her quickly on the list. "You're kind of ridiculously cute, too," he complimented. "Thanks for inviting me along this weekend," he told her before nodding and stepping towards the door. "Yeah, let's see what they need. I heard your sister mention something about a tree, maybe we can go explore and find one for her."
Morgan sighed, wrapping her arms around him, she shook her head. "But it's our Christmas," she told him. "What am I going to put the gifts under? What will we decorate? Maybe we can go to the store and find a little tree - one that no one else wants, like in Charlie Brown? We can make it really cute," she told him with a nod before pushing up on her toes to kiss him again. "Please?" she pouted a bit. "It would make it the perfect first Christmas together." Her lips pressed against his and it wasn't until she heard Everett clear his throat behind them that she pulled apart slightly, but still kept her arms wrapped around him.
"Do you two need anything?" Everett asked. "I heard something about a tree - I don't think I can chop one down, but if there's a lot or a store nearby, I don't mind making a trip. Or if you guys need help with dinner?
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Post by Ellie Tyler on Jan 4, 2016 4:25:12 GMT
Ellie's first instinct after he kissed her and made his way out the door of the bedroom had been to sink onto the bed and scream into the pillow. Or pound her head against the wall in frustration. That's actually what she had been feeling a lot of lately. It wasn't that she thought that anything would happen now with her sister and Brody just outside of the room, but she was beginning to feel herself being driven a little crazy by all of the waiting that she had been asked to do. She couldn't get a straight answer on how much longer she was expected to wait for their relationship to actually become something official or something that was more than it currently was, and so she had resorted to just waiting. A lot of waiting, actually.
Brody smiled down at her, knowing even before she had finished her list of reasons why they needed a tree that he was going to do whatever he needed to do to go find one for her. Being able to label the feelings for her had made him realize why people said that people in love would do anything for each other. That was exactly what he wanted to do for Morgan, anything that was going to make her happy, he wanted to do for her. And if that something was going to be a little tree for her to decorate and place gifts under, then he figured that it was the least he could do for her. Something about hearing her remind him that it was their first Christmas together made a little butterfly feeling rise in his stomach and he grinned, kissing her back. Though this was just one part of their Christmas celebration, with the much larger family party coming later when her family joined his own for the holiday, this felt like the celebration that really mattered. This one was their own.
Turning his attention to Everett and Ellie, who walked up beside him, he nodded. "Apparently we need to go find a tree. Everett, why don't you and I see if we can find one and Ellie, maybe you can help Morgan with whatever cooking and decorating she had planned?"
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Post by Morgan Tyler on Jan 4, 2016 23:41:35 GMT
Everett nodded at Brody. "A tree it is. After all, what's Christmas without a tree?" he chuckled. And while his childhood hadn't been all that special, his mother had always made sure there was a tree and a copy of It's A Wonderful Life on hand. In fact, this would be his first Christmas without his mother and as that realization dawned on him, he found himself grow a little sad. Shaking it off, he smiled at Ellie. "You two try not to get into too much trouble while we're out then, I'd like to be invited back," he winked at her.
His relationship with Ellie, while frustrating to her, was completely normal to him. He'd had two relationships in the past, one very serious and one only partially so - but he'd approached them both the same way. With dinners and long conversations and getting to know things about the other person. While he wasn't the most open person, he liked that part - maybe he was old fashioned in that way. And from what he understood, Ellie hadn't had that yet. She'd had Will, who had - in Everett's opinion - deserved that punch in the face from Morgan. And he thought that she deserved a nice, slow, steady real relationship with someone that wanted to spend time with her and figure out what made her tick. Plus, he also thought it would probably be good to try to talk to her parents again as things became more serious. And so, while she seemed impatient, he just told her to continue doing so - not wanting to rush into anything too quickly and miss anything he felt was important.
Morgan smiled at him, nodding with a bright smile at them. "Find a tree that you think no one else will want for Christmas! We'll decorate it and give it a good home," she explained. She turned to Everett, very seriously, "You've seen the Charlie Brown Christmas Special?" He nodded and she bobbed her head. "Like that. Something like that for us."
She turned to Brody, leaning up to kiss him quickly on the lips. "Thank you," she told him - referring not only to the tree but to his willingness to give up a weekend of their alone time to have a Friends' Christmas with everyone. Before she'd brought it up, she'd worried if it was something too domestic to do so soon in their relationship. But he'd agreed and she was ecstatic.
Walking over to the wall that they shared with Toby Seaborn, she banged on it. "Come over and help us decorate!" she shouted through the wall only to hear a solid thump in return.
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Post by Brody Finn on Jan 5, 2016 1:22:00 GMT
No matter her frustrations, Ellie couldn't help but smile back at him as he teasingly warned her off of trying not to get into trouble. At least she assumed that he was just teasing, though if she was being entirely honest she couldn't say that there was no chance that she would get into trouble. Trouble generally had its own way of finding her, and in a college town she assumed that was no exception. "I can't promise anything," she told him.
Brody nodded at Morgan, still smiling at her. "Of course." He wasn't sure how often he said it to her, but the fact remained that he was certain that he would have done anything for her if it would make her happy. He kissed her quickly again, hoping that she realized how much she truly owed him later for sharing her with anyone else this weekend. After the holidays were over, he fully intended on spending an entire weekend with her inside of his bedroom just to make up for lost time. Leading Everett toward the door, he had to laugh when he heard Morgan begin banging on the wall and shouting over at Toby.
Ellie laughed at Morgan's antics as well, though she had to admit that she felt a breath catch in her lungs just briefly at the thought of Toby coming over to spend time with them. She was certain that her mother had ruined the opportunity to ever look at him without hearing Riley Tyler's voice in the back of her head encouraging her to go on a date with the poor unsuspecting boy.
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Post by Morgan Tyler on Jan 5, 2016 2:28:43 GMT
Everett and Brody went to a nearby tree lot and while the pickings were slim in general, he was amused at the way Brody seemed to analyze each one to find the smallest tree with the least amount of needles. He was surprised at how settled Brody and Morgan already seemed, not even being twenty. It was different than his own practices. He wondered if that was why Ellie was so impatient. Still, he thought it was nice. As they made their way back to the apartment, Everett carried the tree (or he would have more honestly called it a shrub) for them. Upon opening the door, he laughed - finding that Morgan surprised him again, this time by having turned the apartment into a Winter Wonderland. Christmas music was playing, lights and decorations were strung up. He smiled until his eyes fell on their company. Everett had never been good at sharing friends, not being used to having many, he often found that he rarely had to. As he observed the girls in easy conversation with who he could only assume was Brody's neighbor Toby, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of trepidation.
Morgan looked up, gasping as she secured her hat to her head. It was red and green felt with fake elf ears attached to it. "It's perfect!" she exclaimed, bounding over to Brody and throwing her arms around him. "I'm going to decorate it, it's going to be perfect. Our first Christmas tree!" she laughed. "Thank you."
Toby chuckled as he continued to hang Morgan's paper snowflakes. "Morgan had a lot of coffee and when I tried to switch her to decaf, she tried to bite me."
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Post by Ellie Tyler on Jan 5, 2016 2:52:30 GMT
Ellie tried to secure another paper snowflake to the wall, needing to get it just a bit higher than she could reach. Toby had stepped over to help her, his own height reaching a little beyond her own abilities. Smiling at him and thanking him for the help, she turned to look at Brody and Everett as they returned with the saddest looking Christmas tree she had ever seen in her life. Laughing at Morgan's apparent excitement over the sorry looking thing, she shook her head and turned her attention back to the rest of the decorations that she had been given to arrange. Morgan had wasted no time in putting herself and Toby to work getting everything ready for their little holiday celebration, and Ellie had been appreciative of the fact that the busy work had allowed her to stop thinking about everything that her mother had said over Thanksgiving.
Brody laughed and kissed Morgan quickly, "You're welcome," he told her, poking at the little elf hat she seemed to have brought specifically for this purpose. "Cute hat," he teased, taking a look around the apartment at her handiwork. Shaking his head at her in amazement over what she had been able to accomplish in such a short span of time, he turned to Toby and gave a little shrug. "You're lucky you still have a hand, she takes her coffee very seriously."
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Post by Morgan Tyler on Jan 5, 2016 3:18:59 GMT
Morgan beamed up at Brody and then immediately set to work telling Everett where to put the tree so she could start decorating it. She set to work, picking out a few tiny ornaments she'd brought with her as well as a small strand of twinkle lights and a small chain of construction paper links that, yes, she'd made herself for just this purpose. "Dinner's almost ready, it's in the oven. But I figured we'd wait for Alex to get here. And then we can do presents!" she announced happily. "And I brought some Christmas movies." She chattered happily as she started decorating and then pointed at Toby as he attempted to hang another snowflake. "Two inches higher, please."
Everett chuckled, walking closer to Ellie and smiling at her. "Hey," he greeted her, not quite acknowledging Toby with anything more than a nod.
Toby, however, tried to take some initiative. "Hey, man. I'm Toby, I live next door."
Everett looked down at Toby's extended hand and shook it firmly. "Everett," he greeted him stiffly. Turning his attention back to Ellie, he smiled at her. "Did I hear there was coffee? I know we sat the entire ride up, but for some reason I'm beat," he nodded.
Morgan, meanwhile, discovered the mistletoe in her suitcase full of decorations and grinned up at Brody. "I didn't really pack clothes because I wanted to bring more decorations, by the way. So I'll have to borrow yours to sleep in."
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Post by Ellie Tyler on Jan 5, 2016 3:32:22 GMT
Ellie grinned at Everett, giving him a soft "hey" in return. Watching as the two men in front of her exchanged a small awkward greeting, she again found herself wondering if there was any validity in what her mother had said or if she was going to be okay waiting for Everett to finally take the initiative that she had been hoping for. Everett distracted her from her train of thought and she nodded, "Yeah, I think that Morgan hasn't entirely drained the pot. It should be in the kitchen." Looking over at Toby's similar pile of handmade Christmas decorations, she gave a small laugh. "Do you need any help getting the rest of those hung? I think Morgan's going to be distracted with the scrawny little tree now."
Brody smirked at his girlfriend, bringing his mouth close to her ear. "That's a shame," he told her softly. "If there weren't so many people here we could really take advantage of that."
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Post by Morgan Tyler on Jan 5, 2016 3:45:20 GMT
Everett nodded at her, maybe a bit more disappointed that she hadn't offered to at least come into the kitchen and instead opted to continue helping Toby with decorations, he went on his own to get himself some coffee.
Toby smiled at Ellie, handing her some of his decorations gratefully. "That would be great." He waited for Everett to walk away and chuckled. "I think your boyfriend is worried I'm going to make moves on you," he pointed out playfully, reaching to hang up a decoration.
Morgan felt her face flush and turned her head, burying her face against Brody's shoulder. "We can later," she suggested, smiling. "After all, I didn't bring your Christmas gift this weekend. So I do probably owe you something very nice for our first Christmas," she teased, smiling up at him and pushing herself up on her toes to kiss him soundly on the mouth. She giggled as she pulled away and continued putting the finishing touches on their little tree. "What do you think?"
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Post by Ellie Tyler on Jan 5, 2016 4:07:23 GMT
Ellie continued to hang paper snowflakes, amazed at all of the hard work that her sister had put into for this one weekend. Sometimes Morgan amazed her in ways that she never would have expected her to, even as her twin. Hearing Toby's comment, she laughed softly and looked over to where Everett was getting some coffee in the kitchen. Turning back to Toby with a smile, she shrugged. "He's not my boyfriend," she informed him, turning her attention back to hanging the decorations on the walls.
"Where's Alex, by the way?" she asked, noting that the last time she had been in Ithaca the two of them had seemed particularly chummy. Not that she had any room to be jealous, or even judgmental of their relationship, she was more so just curious if there was an aspect of Morgan's double-life in Ithaca that she had missed out on. Ellie was vaguely aware of the fact that Alex and Brody had actually been something early in the year, but she wondered if there was something else going on now.
Brody smiled and kissed her back contentedly, happy that regardless of what their plans were for this weekend that they had the opportunity to spend time together now. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he looked at the tree and surveyed it for a moment. "It looks cute. A little sad - but it's very cute, Morgan. Not that I would expect any less from you."
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