「 ᴊ ᴜ s ᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀʀᴛᴇɴᴅᴇʀ; 」

“You sure? I can give them the old disapproving stare.” Mary shot a watered down almost mocking version of the look his way before mirroring his smile. “Works eight time out of ten, used to nine but my step-son’s messed with the quota.” 

“You mean the stare that doesn’t get our fifteen year old home before midnight on a Friday?” Leo asked, leaving that question hanging in the air when he went to fix two whiskeys. 

“Oh, I don’t mind really… I like cleaning; it makes me feel useful. Besides, I dunno… I’m not one to follow the traditions of New Years.”

“What me to escort them out? I’ve been told, I’m pretty intimidating.” 

"As truly terrifying as you can be, my wife moonlighting as security at my bar isn’t exactly how I want to ring in the New Year,” Leo laughed, an endeared smile on his face. 

“I can clean that mess up, if you’d like. The bloke looks, erm, a little too far gone to manage.”

"No, no. You go have fun, enjoy the holiday. I can sort this shit out.” Leo told her, he was used to New Years in Neverland by now. He had spent more than he could count there. 

“You should see my phone,” Wendy chuckled quietly, glancing over at him. “I’ve got about a dozen SD cards from this last year. All pictures.”

“I was the same with Liam, but now if a camera comes out and it’s not for him to take a selfie it gets an instant eughhh.”

“It matches my fancy pants, don’t it?” Her eyebrows wiggled at her own lame joke, before she leaned over and stole a kiss from her…What was their title again? Boyfriend felt juvenile, roommate felt a lot more platonic than they actually were and misteress was outdated now that they were living together. Manfriend was the closest thing she could come up with at the moment, alongside her Leo which always felt comfortable on the lips. “Where’s Liam? Is he still glued to virtual reality?”

“He is,” Leo told her once they’d parted, Liam’s hours raked up on whatever game it was holding his interest this week had just crossed the border into concerning. 

“A Batman theme birthday party is alright for a one year old, right? I mean, he’s not old enough to know what’s going on anyway, plus it’ll seem really cool to him once he’s fifteen…”

“Take lots of pictures, be something nice to look back on.”

“Watch. Watch, shot of a life time is coming up right here.”

“Those words have never been uttered in this bar before, not once,” Leo said, crossing his arms as he waited to be astounded with zero enthusiasm. 

“This old thing?” Mary acknowledged the bracelet, turning it around her wrist as she tried to think of the answer. “I actually have no idea where I got it.” 

“It’s nice,” Leo told her, his index finger tracing her wrist as his thumb brushed over the bracelet. It had caught his eye while they sat together, attention diverting to why he couldn’t remember seeing it before. 

“Is anybody here or is my car expected to fix itself up?”

“What have you done? What could you possibly have done to that car in the space of two hours?” Leo asked, his tone mocking. 

“Yep, and with a name like the green fairy I can’t tell you how many people were taking photos of the sign or the decor or anything with the name on it.” 

He laughed lowly as he reached under the bar to the small fridges under the spirits, where he kept the bottles of lager chilled. He retrieved two, prying the tops off with a bottle opener, reacting when each sounded like it popped then fizzed like it was exhaling and coming to life. 

“I probably should. Like, sleeping pills or less coffee or something.”

“Might help.” Leo agreed. 

“But you are a father, too. Or, is it that Liam is lactose intolerant? Are you?”

“Am I lactose intolerant?” Leo repeated, eyebrow quirked. If he was then the daily amount of tea he drank would need serious reviewing. 

“He texts me when he crosses a boarder, at least I know where he is…” she said softly, eyes flicking up to the ceiling. 

“He’d take after you then.” Leo said before he could stop himself, hearing that it was a low remark as soon as it left his lips. He couldn’t walk it back, so he just continued instead.