as if!

"I don't know, my dad is pretty good at being mad at me when he wants to be. He's just good at being mad, but baba's cool, just..grumpy." Inwardly, Tate told himself to stay on task, "Okay annoyed and that's totally fair." He remembered when he would bounce ideas about his business off of Chanel and Jasper, how she encouraged him to get his storefront on the Northside and execute his own personal plan to say fuck you to gentrification and the system that once upon a time convicted people who did the same thing he was doing now and made it so they had a hard time getting a job they could live comfortably off of. He almost asked if that was the only thing she was annoyed about, and not the implosion of what he still didn't quite know what was between the three of them, but he knew whatever it was hadn't been stronger than what was between she and Jasper, "Yeah, that was way more awkward than this at first, but this seemed scarier to do." He motioned between the two of them, "I'm really sorry Chanel, I was being a coward and it's not cool. You deserve a way better friend. I could try to be one too if you…I don't know wanna maybe work towards that?"

"Well, aren't all dads kind of like that? I think I'm pretty easy to love but yet, daddy's definitely been angry at me. And for the most ridiculous things too, like yeah, maybe I go a little crazy on my credit card sometimes. But how you present yourself to the world, matters." Chanel said with a scoff. "But see, that just proves my point. They are just a bunch of grumpy old men." She said with a flip of her hair, signifying to him to simply let that go. "That doesn't shock me. I don't know if you know this, but Jasper's a pretty awkward guy. It's one of those quirks that I now find so endearing." She said, thinking fondly at the thought of trying to get her boyfriend to dance. "Why?" Chanel asked him. "Tate, before anything, you're my friend, okay. I also happened to have fallen for my friend and yeah, that was a hard one for the three of us to navigate but you are my friend." She shook her head as he spoke. "Now stop that." She reached over to swat at this arm. "You are no coward. You literally get on a skateboard and like, roll up ramps. That's like the antithesis of a coward." Chanel laughed. "Okay, but only if you let me be a better friend towards you as well."

"You got it." He told her and snapped his fingers in her direction as if he was excited that she had the right answer. He had a serious case of deja vu with him saying something and making Chanel laugh, he always took pride in being good at that. They both knew they didn't leave things well and that was an understatement and he knew that he had some fault in that - with time and distance from the situation, a lot could have been solved by him letting his feelings be known more and he'd been downright cowardly in regards to a conversation between Chanel specifically. "I've been doing a new thing where I try not to keep things in as much. Uhh you called me dork, I thought you'd be mad at me? Are you mad at me? I get it if you are, I deserve that."

"I think that's really healthy, actually." Chanel let him know, entirely meaning that. "I don't think anything good has ever come from letting things fester. Maybe sourdough bread, but other than that... I don't think there's any good use in letting things linger." She nodded. "I did call you a dork, dork." Chanel doubled down on the childish insult, laughing. "Did you?" She asked him, before shaking her head. "I'm not mad at you. I quite literally think it's impossible to be mad at you. You're like the least offensive person I think I've ever met." Chanel said to Tate. "Annoyed, sure." She shrugged. "My good friend went off and made a really big name for himself in the marijuana business and I had to find that out through Schmidt Stifler of all people." Chanel said with a sigh. "Not only that but Jasper also told me he's gotten to speak to you... yet, it took fate to sit us next to each other at the country club for me to hear from you." She brought her straw back up to her lips. 'So yeah, I'd say annoyed. But not mad, never mad.

Tate was beat, after the last few months he'd had with his and Jupiter's company he was questioning if he'd ever earned time off the way he'd earned today. He of course loved his job, but that didn't make long hours stop being long hours. Today though, he dedicated to leisure and he didn't want to make a whole thing of it, so he used his country club membership as intended and found himself perfectly baked, poolside, shirtless and absorbed in a book he'd listen to Bridget talk about that had him curious enough to check it out for himself. It could have been the book or the bud, but either way Tate hadn't noticed that someone had occupied the seat next to him until they'd made themselves known. He looked up and a familiar "Hey Chanel." Slipped out of his mouth. He went back to his book for a split second until his brain caught up with his mouth and he looked back up at her, realizing those weren't words he'd uttered in a long minute, "I mean hey. Hi. Hey hi. It's me, Tate." He sat up in his lounge chair and dog eared his book. "Uh-oh this is a little weird huh?"

Chanel found herself biting down on her lower lip to stop herself from laughing as she watched him realize who he'd been talking to in real time. It was nice to know that he was still the dork she'd always known him to be. "Hi, Tate." She said, with a nod as yes, she did happen to know who he was. "Yeah, I happen to know that. I even know your last name. Ahadi, right?" Chanel let him know, laughter now beginning to leave her with every word she said. "Just a tad bit." The last she'd spoken to Tate, they'd been trying to make sense of their relationship with one another. A conversation that never came to fruition given life had tugged them in very different directions. Last she heard of Tate, his sister and he had been granted the keys to their father's kingdom. And well, Dylan and herself had found themselves pretty prolific stylists. "Only made weirder by the fact that you spoke about how weird it is." She said, playfully rolling her eyes in his direction. "How've you been, dork?"

"Who's Raya?" Cory raised a brow before taking another swig from his drink, his eyes trailing from person to person as Yves pointed them out. "Are you like a blogger or one of those people who write up on all the gossip happening around town? Or are you just watching for fun?"

"Who's Raya?" Yves asked, shaking his head with a small laugh. "It's not who's Raya but more like what's Raya. How do you not know about it?" He asked, as he'd assumed that superstar Cory would surely be on the app. "It's like the most exclusive dating app. You basically have to have like at least 100k followers and a SAG card to get on it." He informed the guy. "No, shockingly, I'm not the source on all things gossip around here. Don't personally have the time or even live here anymore to be in the know like that." Yves told him. "Just someone who happens to know most of his peers, that's all."

"Only in theory, really. All I've done so far is read a bunch of books," he joked. One more year and he would be that much closer and yet he had mixed emotions about it. "Yes well that's because you're better at optimism than I am and also you didn't grow up with her but I do love your support. You're right. She's having fun and she deserves it." He kissed her back before sliding one of his hands into hers to gently lead her out of the crowded dancefloor. The further they got away from the crowd, the more he felt like he could breathe and he could feel his shoulders relax once he finally stepped into the fresh cool air of the night. "Now that's the stuff," he joked as he took a deep breath. "I'll call us a car," he dropped her hand in favor of sliding his arm around her shoulders as he used his other hand to handle his phone. "I can admit that I don't regret coming out tonight though. Very worth leaving the house, even with the definite hangover I'm gonna have in the morning."

"A whole lot more books than I have on the subject so you're a lawyer to me." Chanel let her boyfriend know, as she was quite proud of Jasper. He'd endured many a sleepless night and god knows how many hours shadowing her father and he was so close to his goal. "That I am." She nodded as that wasn't a secret to anyone, but she liked to think that their differences only brought them that much closer. Chanel hated making an Irish goodbye, it wasn't in her nature to leave without making a last round but she was hand in hand with her boyfriend, off to her amazing apartment with said boyfriend... Rosewood could deal. "No? Wait, are you, Jasper Hutchinson telling me you had fun tonight?" Chanel asked her boyfriend, her jaw dropping jokingly. "Oh, thank you gays." Chanel said, playfully. "You know, I've always said it, no one throws an event like the gays. And them passing the Jasper test lets me know I wasn't wrong."

"I feel like this is a dangerous game to agree to. Why would I want to even play that? I mean I'll watch the videos of course but I will stand my ground," he joked before his cheeks turned pink at her words. "Yeah? Does these strobe lights really bring out my eyes?" He kissed her back, holding her closer to him for a moment before kissing her cheek. "I have to admit I had a lot of fun with my moms. It's still...weird to see my mom in love. Like she's still herself, chaotic and unpredictable but also somehow fun and grounded and I guess genuinely happy." Jaspers parents had been divorced for a long time and he had only seen them live their lives with resentment or jumping from the next marriage to the next. It was a welcome adjustment to see his mother living a different life. It reminded him that anyone could start over or change their mind or create a new life for themselves if they wanted to. "I think we should leave, go find ourselves a greasy, delicious, opposite of nutritious late night meal because I have astronomically high munchies and then go home. To our comfy cozy cute apartment. Does that sound nice because I think that sounds very nice and sexy."

Chanel listened to Jasper, seeing that those long hours of law schooling were certainly coming out of him as he easily found himself navigating a situation that would have definitely been messy for anyone but him. "My boyfriend is an actual lawyer, my god." She teased him, finding it to be quite adorable. "No, not the strobe lights. It's the blush that's really doing it for me right now." Chanel mumbled against his lips, happily living in that moment with him. "Is it?" Chanel asked. "I don't know if I feel the same way, I've just been enjoying seeing her in this new light." She let her boyfriend know as his mother had always been a character, but now she'd found someone who allowed her to be but also brought her back down to earth every so often. It was really cute to see. "You know, you had me at greasy, delicious, opposite of nutritious, you did." Chanel told Jasper, as she'd pulled out the stops to fit into her ensemble tonight and all she wanted was to eat. "I happen to love everything very nice and sexy, so lead the way." She said, pressing another quick kiss to Jasper's lips.

"Well in the court of life, different rules apply, I believe." Despite how overwhelming all of this people time had been, he was happy to stay a little longer if it meant being close to her. "I actually can't believe such a thing but if that's what you're saying I won't try to argue you too hard. Out loud at least." His smile turned up as she looked at him, feeling a rush of warmth run through his chest. "What, do I have something on my face or you're just really into my dance moves?"

"You know what? I'm going to let you have that one." Chanel let her boyfriend know, as she did have to admire that trait about Jasper. He was very conscious of making sure that not only he, but everyone else around him was great. Whilst they were major supporters of the community being celebrated tonight, they weren't members of it which meant that yeah, perhaps their time to leave was coming up. "Well that just won you a really good night once we're home." Chanel let him know, with a playful wink. "But, I'm going to pull up her tiktok once we're in the car, you're going to at least agree she kind of gives me a run for my money." Chanel shook her head as Jasper spoke. "I just think you look really beautiful in this moment." She let him know, before leaning in to press a small kiss to his lips.

His smile was easy as she pulled him closer and he felt a lot calmer than he had earlier. "No, no announcement. More of a vibe. A matter of respect. Unwritten law," he joked as she moved back against him and he wrapped his arms around her. He wouldn't have considered himself the best dancer but he had learned how to at least follow the beat over the years. And she was easy to follow along with. "Or maybe I just want an excuse to take you home," he teased and dropped a kiss down on one of her shoulders. "You look amazing. Was this the outfit you were talking about because I can see why you were so excited about it."

The sight of her boyfriend's smile, only filled her with that much more joy. To see him in better spirits, surrounded by nothing but love and great vibes was exactly what Jasper had needed. "I thought we didn't fall for unwritten laws, those don't happen to hold up very well in court." She teased, having heard things like this all her life given who her father was. And now, who she happened to be dating. "Well, that's a reason I can definitely get behind." Chanel let him know, before asking him if they could stick around for two more songs. If it was the ally's time to go home, she would respectfully bow out as well. "I do, don't I?" She asked him, turning back around so she was facing him. "It is. Actually borrowed it from this really incredible queen, Plastique Tiara. Yeah, she's like prettier than me if you could believe such a thing." Chanel intertwined her fingers with his, just taking in the sight of him in that moment.

"I feel like my moms have befriended every drag queen that's in this building. Honestly I think they're missing their calling in campaigning, they could definitely get someone elected." Jasper had finally seen an appropriate moment to leave his Mom and Step Mom on the dance floor in search of Chanel. "Please tell me you've been having fun and it's an amazing time but you're ready to leave and before you ask, I am absolutely having fun. I have probably drank a bit more than I should have and I feel like it's about that hour where the cis white dudes should head home, yanno?" @chanelhcrcwitz

"That, in no way, shape or form shocks me." Chanel told her boyfriend as she found herself dancing to the music pulsating throughout the club. "Your mother is truly just a phone call away from being one of those top billed Real Housewives of Beverly Hills." She let Jasper know, as she grabbed a hold of his shirt and pulled him just that much closer. "I've been having the best time. Not to be that straight girl, but like, the gays love me." She said with a bright smile. "And I? I love the gays. We get each other." And that was the truth, all of her favorite people were members of the LGBTQ+ community. Well, aside from the man in front of her but how could you not adore Jasper? "Oh, I wasn't going to ask. You're still here, so that kind of let me know you're having somewhat fun." The woman said, as she turned around to dance back against Jasper. "What?" She asked, turning back to look at him. "Really? Is it? I didn't hear that announcement. Or is it like a secret if you know, you know thing?"