Picture Perfect

he’s  seated  on  a  park  bench  underneath  a  tree , sipping  on  a  coconut  smoothie . it’s  too  hot  out  for  his  liking , but  then  again , it’s  usually  always  cold  where  he’s  from . he’s  also  kind  of  put  off  over  what  happened  at  the  dmv , when  he  was  ( finally )  getting  his  license . “ so  i  was  at  the  dmv  getting  my  license  today , right ? ” he  says , as  if  the  person  close  by  really  gave  a  damn  about  his  story  at  all . “ and  there’s  no  seats  at  all  and  a  bunch  of  people  standing  around  waiting  when  this  old  lady  walks  in , i’m  talking  like  super  fucking  old , and  she’s  standing  there  too  and  i  feel  bad , so  i  offer  her  my  seat . no  bullshit , she  scoffs  and  goes  like  ‘ i’ve  got  legs , you  know ’ like  what  the  fuck ? you  won’t  in  a  minute , you  fucking  prehistoric  dinosaur . ” he  didn’t  mean  the  no  legs  part , but  the  dinosaur  comment  was  facts . there  wasn’t  even  any  point  to  that  story , but  aksel  was  just …. aksel . “ anyways , were  you  saying  something ? ”

Beth could swear that she recognized this person. Like...she could swear on her nephew that she knew this person. The way he spoke was so familiar. Did she know him from college? Had she met him out at some bar and just didn’t remember clearly? No. She was racking her brain as he was telling her his story, barely listening to his adventures at the DMV. C’mon Beth. You’re a doctor. Think. As the other was finishing up his story, it finally clicked. “Oh my god.” She said, perking up a little and pointing at him. “Askel. We’re cousins. Like second cousins twice removed or something crazy like that...but - oh my god - we’re cousins on my dead beat dad’s side!” She exclaimed like she was discovering fire. 

It was still hard to believe sometimes that one of his friends was having a baby. They were all more or less in the same age range so it was weird that some of them were ready to start a family while others were still trying to get their life together. He knew Ellie was going to be a great mum though so he couldn’t be happier for her. “Are you going to be one of those cool aunts who show up with gifts every time and tell stories about all their adventures?” he teased. Tee didn’t have much experience with kids and felt pretty awkward interacting with them most of the time but didn’t doubt Beth would be great at that.

Bethany? The cool aunt? That’s kind of how she always pictured herself being. At least since she met Ellie. She didn’t know if she would make a good mom. Her mental illness was genetic....and she really didn’t want to burden a child with that. Her teenage and college years were already hard enough, her bipolar disorder just added to the struggle. “I hope so. Damn. I don’t know how many of my adventures are appropriate, but I’m sure I can make them PG.” She shrugged. “I hope the kid likes me though. Seriously. I’m not really good with kids.” She says that -- but she’d never had the chance to love a child like an aunt would. This would be a whole new experience for her. Maybe she’d be good at it.

it had been a long night of being the designated driver for the group of people she was out with. she wasn’t sure why she continued to bother with this dd thing because it was clear every time it was getting abused. ‘please stay sober enough to be able to get in the car properly’ she had said to her comrades before hand. it was a simple request but as she stood over the slumped body in the smoking area it was clear it was ignore and she groaned. “maybe i will just leave you here to make your own way back?”

Beth had somehow let her friends convince her to go out to the bar tonight. Why she agreed? She had no idea. All she wanted to do what cuddle up in bed and read a book or watch a movie with Aurora. But she hadn’t gotten out a lot since Ellie moved out, and she knew that she just had to force herself to go out and try to have a good time. She stepped out of the bar to get some air, which was covered with a thick layer of smoke. She coughed before her attention fell to the situation happening in the corner. “You uh - need help?” She asked. She was always the mom friend in college and that hadn’t changed one bit since moving to the city. 

Hazel hadn’t been to court in a while, but the last time she had been, she wasn’t as confident in getting her twins back as she was today Which was the exact reason, she had to find the most perfect outfit. Hazel turned from her closet, holding up the blouse in her hands, “Yes?? No? Maybe?” She asked, shaking her head when her friend asked if she was going to a job interview. “Nah. I’m going to a custody hearing.” She didn’t really want to get into the reasoning on why she didn’t have custody of her children, but she was more focused on the reasons why she should get them back. “Two kids. Twins.” She said, turning her eyes back to her closet. “I feel like I have to have slacks in here somehwere.”

“Oh.” Beth was suddenly sorry she had even asked in the first place. Fuck. Here was Beth just trying to reach out of her comfort zone and be friendly for once. She knew she was an introvert for a reason. “Sorry.” Sorry?? Was that all you could come up with?? Idiot. Beth was certainly not quick on her feet, especially when she was taken off guard like this. “Um, here.” Beth said, quickly turning the subject back to her clothing options. he gently pushed Hazel aside to look in her closet for something for her to wear. “These...slacks.” She said, holding up the pants. “You’d look like a sexy mom in this.” She joked, forcing a smile and a little laugh. 

Hazel was going through her closet, tossing piece after piece out onto the bed behind her. She needed to find the perfect outfit – it was important. She had gotten the call that a court date had been set for the custody of her twins. She was sure this was going to be the time that she got to bring home her tykes, but she had said that about the last time she had gone to court. But, she had a different feeling this time around. 

Her mind had been distracted by the call, that she forgot that she had invited a friend over for lunch. “Damn, I’m sorry.” She said, letting out a laugh, when she turned to see that she had tossed a shirt right onto her friends head. “What kind of outfit screams successful mother of two?” She asked. She wasn’t even sure her friend had known about her twins, as she didn’t tell a whole ton of people. They didn’t need to know she was a failure of a mother, but if she did get custody back, her friend would have found out sometime soon anyways.

Beth was so so so hungry after a long shift. She loved her job, but she was always so hungry and exhausted when she was finished with her shifts. She wasn’t in the position to turn down a lunch made a friend. If she ordered take out one more time this week, she was going to go broke - and get fat. Beth sat on the corner of Hazel’s bed, mindlessly swiping through her phone when she felt an article of clothing fall on top of her. She giggled and pulled the shirt off of her to set it down on the bed beside her. “It’s okay.” She said, laughing again. “What are you getting ready for? A job interview?” She asked, raising her brow. “You have kids?” Had Hazel told her that and she just forgotten? Damn, Beth was a worse friend than she thought. She moved her brown eyes to her closet, then to the blouse that was thrown at her. “Do you have slacks?” She asked. 

Tee could understand that, to a certain extent. When Loren had first moved out, it was really weird as he was so used to sharing the space with someone else. It didn’t last long since Jace moved in soon after and then he started thinking of loving out himself when even he left. But still, it was a weird feeling and he was sure it was even worse when it was someone like a sister. “Maybe you need to find yourself a roommate.” Considering Tee wasn’t the friendliest person around and he could count the number of close friends on his fingers, it probably wasn’t too far fetched to say that Beth was one of his closest friends. “Exactly! Who needs an expensive watch or anything like that when I can give you the gift of freedom? Some things are just priceless.”

Beth thought for a moment when Tee told her to think about getting a roommate. She’d thought about that, but moving in with her sister who was basically a stranger when they first moved in together was already a big step for her. She didn’t know a lot of people in the city who she’d be comfortable enough with to live with. It took a lot of Beth to open up to people like that. She knew Eden...but she also knew that she couldn’t afford rent in North Kingsboro and Beth didn’t want to move further away from her sister by moving to South Kingsboro...and she just really didn’t want to move to South Kingsboro. The only other people she’d want to live with were Tee and her sister. Maybe Ella. Wait...maybe Ella? “I’ll think about it, but I do want a room for the baby for when he stays over with me.” She smiled. “God, I’m so excited to be an aunt.”

“Any regular person in New York is lucky if they live in a spacious apartment instead of something that looks like a shoebox.” That’s one of the reasons why Tee loved their new apartment so much. Apart from being nice to look at, it was also a lot bigger than any apartment he lived in before, without counting the time in his life where he was living with his parents. “Oh no, not the fancy watch! I guess I’ll have to use someone else’s budget to get you something a little better and they’ll get one sock instead of a pair”, he laughed. “They’ll be a free elf.” Not many people knew that he could be such a nerd, unless it was someone he was comfortable with.

“That’s what I’m saying! God, my apartment is so small. Yet it oddly feels so big now without Ellie there.” He smile faded slightly. She really did miss her little sister being around all the time. Beth snorted, “Now that’s what I’m taking about. I should take priority over the rest of your friends.” She joked. God, her and Tee had so much in common. They were both beyond nerdy, even though they may not appear to be so on the outside. She really did appreciate that Harry Potter reference. “Giving them the gift of freedom should be the best gift of all.”

“Well, that’s what true friendship is all about! Attacking each other instead of actually being helpful”, he said, nodding along to what he was saying as if he was imparting with some great knowledge. Tee looked down at the bathtub that she was pointing at and snorted. “It is ridiculous but it also looks like something that should be in a huge mansion not in the apartment we bought. I might have upgraded in size but I didn’t upgrade that much. I still have a business to keep afloat after all. Besides, why spend thousands of dollars on a marble bathtub when you can use that money on an amazing bed?” Priorities and all that. He laughed along with his friend and nodded in agreement. “You’re right and, you know what? You’re all getting a nice pair of socks for Christmas this year. The rest of the gifts allowance will be going towards my apartment.” Not that he was thinking of Christmas already, but it was the closest holiday he could think of. 

“Exactly. That’s how you know we’re true best friends.” She mused. “That’s what I’m saying. No regular person in New York City is actually going to have the money or the space for something like that.” She laughed. “You have your priorities straight then, Mr. Hill.” She joked. “Just socks? Looks like I’m going to have to return the fancy watch I got you then.” Obviously, Beth did not get him a fancy watch for Christmas. She was just all jokes. Socks would be a more than perfect Christmas gift from Tee. 

“Don’t apologize.” Domino shakes her head. The girl seemed nice, so Domi decided to just relax. “No thanks. Im still nursing this Whiskey. Also, lemme help you out.” Domino said stopping the girl from struggling. “Bartender.” Domino waves the bartender over then points at Beth. “She wants a drink.” Domi tells them. The bartender begins making Beth’s drink. “You’re welcome.” Domino says to Beth.

It was a little embarrassing for Beth when she couldn’t flag the bartender down. But of course, someone as gorgeous as the woman in front of her would be able to do it in no time. Beth remembered when she had confidence like that before she met her ex-boyfriend. “Oh, wow, thank you.” She told the brunette before turning to order a Moscow Mule. This woman seemed kind enough. “Thanks.” She said, again. “I’m Bethany...Beth. You can call me Beth.” She told her, tucking a piece of her light brown hair behind her ear. 

Tee looked at her with raised eyebrows, not believing for one second that she was not making fun of him. He knew he was being very indecisive and had changed his mind about the perfect bath every few minutes but he was taking it very seriously. “I cannot believe you’re teasing me about finding it hard to furnish a place I’m not even living in yet when you’ve been without a microwave for week”, he laughed. “Thousands of dollars for a microwave though? That’s crazy. Are you sure there isn’t anything cheaper? I’m pretty sure the one I bought cost me less than two hundred dollars…then again it never worked amazingly.” He could definitely relate to everything being so expensive though. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to be pretty much broke once it’s all finished but I think it’ll to be worth it.” 

Beth snorted and hung her head back on her shoulders as she laughed. Tee really was one of her best friend’s in the city. There was never a dull moment with him. “Listen...I’m working on it okay. Ellie left so quickly and I wasn’t prepared to live alone. I didn’t come here to get attacked!” She joked, throwing her hands up in defeat. “But no...I was talking about the tubs.” She said, flipping back to the last page they were just on. “See...” She said, pointing a huge marble bathtub that was thousands of dollars. “That’s ridiculous.” She giggled. “You probably will be. You need to start charging more a session or your ass is grass and out on the streets.” She joked. Beth was normally so quiet, but when she was around people she was close with, she opened up and could actually be kind of funny. 

Who knew that getting to buy an apartment required so much work and effort? After how easy it had been to rent out the place over Throuple all those months ago, he thought it would be more or less the same now that he was looking to buy an apartment of his own. Tee knew what he was looking for. Something a little bigger, nicer area, and a bit more homely than where he was living in right now. So imagine his shock when he found out it wasn’t just about viewing a few apartments, choosing his favourite one and calling it a day. He needed to talk to the bank, plan various meeting with his real estate agent and look at furniture. He should have known that his magazine full of different home decor would be cause for a lot of amusement. “You know what, I really don’t need your help if you’re just going to be making fun of me.” Tee snatched the magazine from the other, rolling his eyes, but the small grin on his face gave him away. “Why are there so many kinds of baths? It’s just a bath for god’s sake.” 

Beth waved the magazine in his face playfully before he was finally able to snatch it out of her hands. That sent a huge laugh out of Bethany. “Hey! I’m not making fun of you, I swear!” She was picking on him a little bit, but he was just so indecisive. “Listen, I need new furniture too. We’re looking together remember? My sister took a bunch of her shit when she left. I haven’t had a microwave in weeks.” She joked, although it may not be a good thing to joke about considering she had had a really hard time warming up her left overs. “They’re so expensive too, eh? Like....this one is like thousands of dollars.” Her Canadian accent was obvious when she said the word dollars. “Who needs that?” She laughed.

    ellie was still looking around the place when beth started talking again. the younger blonde turned to look at her, raising her eyebrows with a smile as she told her she was thinking about staying at their apartment. “that’s a good idea, our place is nice.” ellie commented, her smile growing wider as her sister explained why she wanted a place with two bedrooms. “oh my god, yes, of course!” she said, hugging her sister tightly. “but by all means feel no pressure to find something bigger. kiddo wont be needing that much space for a few years, anyway, not to mention they’re gonna need some sort of supervision during the night for a while. so honestly even if its a tiny studio we’ll find a way for them to get some auntie beth time, okay?”