𝔻 𝕖 𝕧

Astrid couldn't say that she loved the days that the farm was open to the public, but the days of a profitable thousand acre farm were long gone, and so her parents had branched out to ensure the property always had an income. The orchards that had been planted before Astrid was even born now towered over her for people to stroll through and pick from, the once small strawberry patch was now a hydroponics greenhouse that bursted with berries, and the field dedicated to flower picking grew tulips in the spring and dahlias in the fall.

Today the flower field was open for people to come and take photos among the sunflowers, as well as pick a bunch to take home. Usually Astrid would put Lara in charge of something like this, but the other woman was off, which meant the job fell to the blonde. While she would much rather have been out in one of the furthest fields, checking on cattle or mending fences, she couldn't deny that days like today brough in some much needed cashflow for the farm.

"Scissors are there, if you'd like to cut some sunflowers." She hummed, attempting to sound pleasant.

"Alright, thanks." His father had always apologized with florals. Even more than a decade in the grave and his son still looked to him for guidance, though Devrim didn't know what his dad would say about his current predicament. A mess, to say the last, most of it his own doing. Even though he still struggled to understand how. "Which ones do you think say... I'm sorry... the best?"

Devrim had not been a calculated part of the equation. Will had known rationally that there must be a father to Savannah's child, but the man's identity was part of the things-he-didn't-ask-about category, and it seemed Savannah had wished to keep it that way. Will doesn't need to hear all this, she said. Should he leave? Let the two of them hash this out on their own? "You don't have to--" Will started. You don't have to tell me, he wanted to say. You don't have to say anything you don't want to. But she was already talking, the words spilling out in a rush.

Will wished they were alone. Or that Savannah and Devrim had been alone to have this conversation, that somehow it was not the three of them, sitting in this barn, unpacking more than fourteen years of history. Grabbing the bottle of booze, he stood up and brought it to Devrim, pushing it into the other man's hand. "Thank you," he said--for the compliment about their date--"But stop talking." He clapped the man on the shoulder. He didn't think Devrim had meant to upset Savannah--in fact, he was sure he hadn't meant to--but that didn't stop the fact that she was upset, that this history was harder for her to talk about, more painful to recount, than Devrim seemed to have realized.

Will approached Savannah, though he stopped a foot away. He wanted to reach out for her, bring her into his arms, hold her hand, but he didn't want to get any closer than she was comfortable with--not right now, when she was clearly feeling so raw and exposed. "Thank you for telling me. I'm sorry you felt you had to, but you should know it doesn't change anything I feel for you. I don't care that you were married," he told her. "All I care about is that you're okay. That your daughter is okay. And that you're together. Like you should be. You should never have had to be in that situation, but you were, and you did what you had to. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. But for what it's worth, everything you tell me makes me like you more. The only thing it makes me think about you is that you're one of the strongest people I've ever met. And that your daughter is lucky to have a mom that loves her so much, she'd do whatever it took to stay with her."

"It's not your fault we didn't work out--" He added, nodding back toward Devrim before he returned his gaze to Savannah. "What I think he meant is that your daughter is always going to be the most important person in both your lives, and I understand that. She comes first, always. And that's the way it should be. The rest is in the past, and you can tell me as much or as little about it as you want. But right now, what do you want to do? I can leave if it's what you want. The rain's not going to hurt me. We can both leave. I can go find..." He paused, trying to think of anything that might help her wait out the storm. "Books? A puzzle? I don't know. If you want something--anything--to wait out the storm, I'll get it for you. Just say the word. Or we can sit here in dead silence. We can do that too. If you want, I'll tell you every secret I've got, and then we'll be even. We can do whatever you want. It's your choice."

"No," She pressed her lips together. Letting her eyes fall closed as she let out another shaky breath, trying to keep her emotions at bay before she was making the hurricane a whole lot worse than it already was. "No I don't want a drink." Deep breaths. Just push it down like you always do. Smile. It'll pass, She tried to hold back, but as Devrim told her that they should fill Will in her eyes snapped open. "Except we didn't fill him in, did we? You made that call on your fuckin' own," She swore, not bothering to hold back as she found herself snapping at him. As she found herself snapped at all. She wasn't someone who snapped. She wasn't someone who raised her voice. She hadn't been taught to rock the boat like that and, yet, she was shooting daggers Devrim's way as the wind continued to howl against the sides of the barn. "You could've asked me if I felt comfortable disclosin' it. It would've taken ya two seconds to be like 'hey Vannah, mind if I tell him what happened between us'. You didn't have to talk over and around me. It ain't a callout? Every second I take a step out my front door, I'm bein' judged. Judged for bein' the single mom. Judged for bein' the girl knocked up at eighteen. You really think I would want my ex to be the one to tell the boy I'm on a second date with that I'm a divorcée too? I mean Christ! You practically implied I'm still married! You really don't see it at all? Do you? You really don't get how that fact about me should've been mine to tell?"

Savannah grew quiet once more, the fire in her chest dimming until all that remained was the ache. The kind that settled deep and didn’t budge. Her arms stayed crossed, more for comfort now than defiance, and when she finally looked up at him. "I just told ya your daughter was almost taken away and put into adoption," Her brows lifted, disbelief etched plain across her face as she took a breath that trembled just slightly. "And that’s what you have to say? We can't change what happened or how it did?" She shook her head, blinking fast, the wind catching the loose strands of hair around her face. "Wow," she whispered, backing up a step like she needed space just to process the hurt. "Just… wow," She shook her head in disbelief, only when she turned again and her eyes locked on with Will's she found herself overwhelmed once more in a wave of embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I- I shouldn't have said all that in front of you. We should be havin' this conversation in private. I don't mean to rope you in." She was mortified truly. "And here I was tryin' to have us open up a bit and relax. Not whatever the hell this is," She scoffed under her breath at her initial intent by offering that they all drink the drinks Will had brought with him. It was only when Will said she didn't have to, that she shook her head back and forth. "I do though. I do have to, cause I'm not tryin' to have any more misunderstandin's here." She didn't exactly feel comfortable with Will's thoughts running wild with questions about her apparent marriage.

"You don't have to say all that," She promised him, her voice no more than a faint whisper as she peered helplessly up at him. Her hand reached out, hesitant at first, then steadier as her fingers threaded through Will’s. She gave his hand the gentlest tug toward herself, like she needed him just a little nearer, just close enough to anchor her. Her gaze stayed low, fixed somewhere near his collarbone, like she couldn’t quite meet his eyes without breaking entirely. Her bottom lip trembled, caught between everything she wanted to say and everything that felt too fragile to speak aloud. “But… thank you,” she mouthed, barely more than a breath. She didn’t know how else to say it, how much it meant that, cracked edges and all, and he wasn't walking away.

"I know what he meant," Sav added under her breath. But that didn't mean it changed what was said either. "Will?" The words he offered were steady, unexpected, and kind. Quietly, she closed the space between them. Her arms slipped around his waist, slow and unsure at first, but once she felt him solid beneath her, her grip tightened, and she let herself rest their forehead against his chest, breath shallow and uneven. “This is fine,” she murmured, barely above a whisper. She closed her eyes, like if she stayed still long enough, the world might hush around them. “You don’t have to tell us nothin’ you don’t want to either,” she promised, voice softer now, muffled against him.

It was spelled out for him in a shaking voice that punctured holes in his heart until it settled uneasily into his stomach. Devrim felt sick. His flesh flushed an opaque shade of green as a wave of nausea fell over him. A man forced to drown, once more, but in misunderstood emotion instead of water. In spite of his trauma, he thought he might prefer the latter. At least it made sense to him.

"Savannah." A name that he'd revered as something holy now felt like ash in his mouth. As if it were already the remnants of his own, witless, destruction. Tempted by the vice of adventure and intensity, but blind long before its dazzling proposition to the depths of their situation. "I don't know what that means.." An admittance so quiet he wasn't even sure anyone else heard it.

Another reminder of Serra hit like being impaled. The memory of his rockslide accident a less painful one than the thought of his child being lost to him forever. Only a far-off concept in his mind until Savannah came to town, but no less loved all his life. It was difficult to think about and even more so to confront. A feeling he didn't know how to articulate in words, but that manifested in his eyes. Their dark color glossing over in salt water but not spilling over, as he looked up to see the one person who would understand his pain in a distressed state of her own. One that, despite his limited understanding, he felt responsible for.

In a different setting he would've gone to her. The only home he'd ever truly known in the delicate arms of a woman who'd always felt more magic than real, but someone else occupied his house now. Then, another feeling settled in. One he didn't understand, even as he watched them together. It tasted like sulphur behind his lips. The urge to spit followed by the urge to hurt the contents of his stomach, mostly liquor, onto the barn floor. He couldn't breathe, suddenly, like the exchanged had burned up all the oxygen in the room. As he struggled to remain upright he fumbled out a shaken apology to the both of them before excusing himself from the barn to the hurricane. The storm beyond its walls a more endurable fate than what remained for him inside.

Any worry he might have had, any unbidden jealousy he was pushing away, was satiated anyway the moment Savannah said she'd want a third date. Thinking her reaction to him taking his shirt off was just a weariness over the water, he checked himself over again and made absolutely sure there was not a drop left. He then draped his shirt over a nearby barrel of hay to dry then listened as the other two explained their situation. His amusement over the unprecedented situation turned into a small frown as Dev spoke of his injuries--which Will had known nothing about--and then of Sav's marriage.

It was a lot to digest and hardly what he'd expected to hear with these two people locked in this small space. "I'm sorry," he said after a moment. "That both of you had to go through that. And I'm glad you're better." He nodded toward Devrim. "And that you both know each other are alright." He looked to Savannah. She must have felt so alone and abandoned, not knowing what had actually happened to Devrim. Was that why she'd planned to marry someone else? Had she married someone else? If she had, was she divorced? What had happened to her spouse? A million questions rushed through Will's mind, but it didn't feel right to ask any of them just yet.

He took the bottle and took another, rather large sip. "So it sounds to me like we've got one big misunderstanding." Or at least the other two did--or had. Along with a very long history, and the life, their daughter, that they'd made together. "But I don't see any reason it has to be awkward, if you two don't. We've got a good drink, good company, and what looks like..." He pointed the bottle toward the now pounding rain outside. "Quite a lot of time to unpack." He reached for Savannah's hand as she sat beside him and gave it a small squeeze. "It's alright," he assured her. "It's all alright. Right?" The question was directed to Davrim as he met his eyes across the barn.

"No. But, that's one hell of a technicality and it ain't like you were celibate that whole time either," She countered, hardly about to call either of them cheaters when they had barely been adults at the time. They might not have ever said the words officially that they were through, but they had mourned what had been their relationship.

Except, Devrim didn't stop there. He kept going, running his mouth about their whole dang history, and Sav found herself giving Will's hand a small squeeze back before she slipped her hand out of his and moved to wrap her arms around herself instead. She knew damn well this situation was odd to say the least. It had all the fixings of being awkward, but she had been trying to make the most of it. To skirt by the elephant in the room, given none of them could exactly leave the barn and maybe have some fun. It wasn't as if they weren't all stuck there anyhow and, as strange as the situation seemed to be, it wasn't although they didn't have the fact they all had gone out with each other in common. At least they should be able to get through the evening. Maybe even more if Devrim hadn't started saying stuff she hadn't been ready to disclose yet.

"What are you doing?" She whispered out, sending a pleading look his way to please stop talking. "Please?" She already knew. She knew about the hiking trip. She had found out about the coma already. They had hashed all of this out, hadn't they? Why bring it up now? But, it wasn't just his trauma he was spilling. At the mention of the wedding announcement, her wedding announcement, her eyes began to glow a bright white. The wind around the barn began to pick up, and the rain came down upon the roof even harder as lightning flashed across the sky. Growing up, the women in the Mckenzie household never got mad. They smiled through just about anything and, when they started to feel embarrassed or confronted, they'd simply excuse themselves for a nightcap. Some nights, that nightcap became a double. But, they always seemed to maintain their calm, and Savannah, in turn, had grown up trying to defuse the slightest bit of tension whenever she could. Only now, in the middle of the full moon, with no place to excuse herself off to without growing a tail and the storm above calling for her to use her powers, she found herself not bothering to push aside her feelings.

"No. It ain't alright," She let out a huff as she stood to her feet, locking eyes straight with Devrim as she said, "If you want to talk to Will, you go right ahead and talk to Will, but don't you stand there and act like you're sayin' any of this for my benefit. And if you want to talk about your past, you go right ahead, but don't bring me along with you. We already hashed most of this out and I would've been more than happy to continuing talkin' about it, but there is a time and a place. Will doesn't need to hear all this, but fine. You want to have storytime?" She took another swig of the bottle, before she spun back on her heels back toward Will.

Only when her eyes met his, she found her lips beginning to quiver and quickly adverted her gaze back to the ground as she tried her best to keep her voice slow and steady. "I was an eighteen-year-old girl growin' up down south. I fell in love with a boy visitin' for the summer. Only when I realized I had gotten knocked up, Summer was over and he'd gone home. I tried to call, he didn't pick up. I left a voicemail, never got one in return, and I've recently come to understand why. But, I was eighteen and 'he must have fallen into a coma', hadn't exactly been my first thought. I-" She shouldn't have looked up. Her voice was already trembling, and the moment she met Will's gaze, it made it all the worse. "I didn't want to tell anybody this way. But, yeah. I've been married before. My... My parents... they made it pretty clear that I was a disgrace. How I threw my chances of college away and how the least I could do is not ruin their reputation too, so if I wanted their support at all, I had two options. I could marry a boy of their chosin' who'd pretend to be the father so at least I wasn't the girl in town who 'born a baby outta wedlock' or I could be sent away. They found this program where I'd live with a whole bunch of nuns or somethin' until they could find an adoptive family, and I-" Her voice cracked momentarily as she forced herself to keep going. "I didn't wanna give up Serra, so that's that. I was married. I'm not anymore and neither of us really had much of a say-it to begin with, so trust, it was an amicable partin'," Her eyes darted back toward Devrim, narrowing into slits as she made it abundantly clear to him. "I would've liked to explain on my own time, but... you plannin' on callin' me out for anything else tonight or will that be all, cause let me tell ya, this has been a real hoot and a holler." They were well past awkward and, even with the thought of growing a tail, a part of her wondered if it would be worth it just up and leave the barn.

Confusion crossed Devrim's face when Savannah asked him what he was doing. "Hanging out in a barn?" He whispered back. "Please what? Oh! You want the drink?" With a finger he pointed at Will to tell Savannah he didn't have it. Then he nodded in agreement with the witch that he thought everything was fine. Their history was complicated, but he thought they'd sorted it out. If they were all going to date now he thought that Will should know their history. It surprised him that Savannah didn't think so, and he encouraged her when she suggested story time. "We have hashed it out but yeah? Probably should fill him in..."

After he cleared his throat he began with, "Sav.." before sighing. He understood that she was upset, but it confused him as to which one of them was supposed to comfort her. While he remained in place he spoke gently to say, "It's not a callout, Vannah. I get why you feel that way because of your parents and shame and stuff, but I really think it's okay. We can't change what happened or how it did. I'd like to think we both, especially you, did the best job we could do. And..If you're worried about it.. I think we can trust Will. He's trustworthy and easy to talk to. A good listener." Devrim nodded with a smile as his head momentarily turned to Will. "It's something I liked most about you, actually.." It was mid chuckle he remembered Savannah and quickly added. "I like things about you, too! A lot of things. I like a lot of things about you, Savannah McKenzie." His eyes had switched to the siren, as the smile on his face smoldered into a grin. "Hey Will? What do you like about Savannah?"

There was a flush of warmth as Savannah's hand brushed his. "Careful," he said. "I'm still wet. Hold on--" Handing the bottle over, he took a step back and pulled off his shirt, which had absorbed most of the rainwater, and used it as a towel to dry off the rest. Then he turned his attention to Dev, eyebrows raised in a silent question: you left her alone to play candy crush? Devrim was right though; how could Will not get it when he'd also been spending so much time with the siren?

Will laughed along with Dev. The situation was too absurd not to. He took a seat on a nearby bale of hay and accepted the next swig of the drink. Outside the barn, he could hear the rain now coming down hard and fast, the storm picking up. "So to summarize, you two dated and broke up--" He pointed the bottle at Sav and Dev. "We went on a date." He gestured between himself and Dev. "We are currently dating." Himself and Savannah. "And you two are back together?" He took another sip and passed it to Savannah who looked like she needed it the most.

"Get what?" She asked, not sure she was the one who got it herself, but as Dev reached for the alcohol she happily handed it over. Lord knew they all probably needed it at this point.

But then Will was taking his shirt off of all things and she found herself momentarily stunned all over again. "Oh, sweet baby Jesus," The words slipped from her mouth before she could stop herself, not being able to hide the fact that she was definitely looking as Will used his shirt like a towel to dry himself off for her sake of all things. "Sorta? But not quite," Sav said as she moved to go sit next to Will on the hay barrel, only to pat the other spot beside her for Devrim to join them. "We've," She motioned between Will and her. Her gaze drifting over to Dev as she explain, "Only been on one date so far. This technically makes our second," she snuck a peek over at Will at the thought. "Not that I wouldn't want there to be a third," She admitted. Her cheeks momentarily flushed a light shade of pink before she cleared her throat once more.

"And we've," She motioned between Devrim and herself. "Only been on one date since we used to be together fourteen years ago. So, no, I wouldn't say that we're currently back together, but that doesn't mean I necessarily wouldn't want to be either. It's just all of this is still new, and I dunno if I truly know what either of these things between us even are yet? But, it also ain't like I've been hiding anything. I've been on two first dates with two amazin' guys who just so happen to give me the butterflies, and that's it, so," She leaned back against the hay barrel, not about to be ashamed about trying to meet someone, especially not when they had already met each other. "What I'm hearin' is that we've all been on first dates with each other and, rather than be awkward about it, we might as well all sit and enjoy each other's company, hm? How 'bout it?"

"Technically." Devrim amended with a casual tone. "We never broke up." It was a conversation he and Savannah probably should have had some time ago, but as he realized they weren't the best at communicating. "I left on my hiking trip with the intention of coming back for you, but then I spent three months in a coma and had to relearn to walk." A confession he made like it was nothing. It wasn't the trauma that haunted him now. "I wrecked my phone in the accident, and by the time I was conscience enough to contact you... well, I saw the wedding announcement and figured you'd moved on." Saying it aloud made Devrim recall how much it had hurt to see her with someone else. He wondered if he'd feel that way now, with Savannah and Will. Only time would tell.

With a sigh he agreed with Savannah about their predicament. While there was much to discuss in the way of formalities, none of that would change that they were all stuck in the barn together to wait out the storm. It was probably best to table any conversations about their specific dynamics or long term plans until they weren't trapped in a confined space. Conflict was exactly why he'd been avoiding certain conversations up until this point. "So.." His eyes shifted between Savannah and Will. "..does this mean we're all on one date now?"

He had opened his mouth to greet the two, to explain that, yes, he knew Savannah, was starting to know her pretty well actually, when something Dev had said a while back came rushing to the forefront of his mind: that the mother of his child was named Savannah. Will hadn't remembered that little fact until he saw them standing together now. And suddenly it all came together. "Oh," he said. "Oh. Yes. We've um--" He gestured vaguely between himself and Sav, cleared his throat, ran a hand through his hair and tried again, "We've met. We're currently on a date actually."

Aw, shucks. You might've been better off sprouting that tail.

"Devrim, I-" She started to say only for those bright blue eyes of hers to turn back toward the door of the barn where a very wet Will had just entered. "Will," Her voice caught in her throat. The heat rising to her cheeks as Huckleberry just had to go and say it out loud. We're currently on a date actually. She was actually currently dating both of them, but she couldn't imagine that little tidbit making her current predicament any better and, being the conflict-avoidant blonde that she was, after the sheer shock wore off, she made a move to change the subject. "Oh good, you got a bottle. Cause I mean who'd wanna be stuck in this barn longer than a preacher at a poker game without somethin' to take our minds off things, right?" She attempted to joke. Savannah let out an awkward little laugh, short, breathy, the kind that slipped out when words didn’t quite cut it, before she reached for the liquor herself. Her fingers brushed a second too long against the back of Will's hand as she swiped the booze from him, brought it to her lips and took a sip. "So, funny story, we actually met, Will and I, durin' the Sweetheart's Soireé, of all thangs. He, uh, he asked me dance while you went off to go play candy crush, ain't that funny?" She flashed an innocent smile Devrim's way before she downed back another sip. "Anybody else wanna sip?"

What happened occurred both too fast and too slow. "W-what?" Confusion laced his tone as Devrim processed their mutual confession. "You're on a date?" His eyes flashed between Will and Savannah a few times before landing on the siren. "You're dating him and me?" There was a prolonged pause before he began to chuckle. A sound that broke the moment of silence like a bomb. "I ghosted him to date you!" It was funny, albeit a little fucked up. He realized then that neither he nor Savannah possessed very good communication skills. "Which you know I feel bad about." His eyes returned to Will. "But clearly you get it." Devrim said with a gesture towards Savannah who was two steps ahead of him on needing a drink.

A sip was not all Devrim took from the liquor bottle. "Don't tell Ken." Mumbled before choking back several gulps.

She folded into him without thinking, burying her face in his chest like it was the only place that made any damn sense anymore. Her fingers clenched into the fabric of his shirt, clutching it like if she let go, she might shatter into pieces too small to pick up. “You missed so much,” she whispered, voice cracked and trembling, barely more than breath against his skin. It wasn’t said in blame. It was grief. Raw, open, aching grief for the years lost. The birthdays he hadn’t known about. The late-night lullabies. The time Serra took her first steps.

The wind teased her hair and cooled the tears clinging to her lashes, but Savannah didn’t pull away. She couldn’t. Not yet. There was a rhythm to his breathing that reminded her of the comforting thud of waves against the dock when she went out for a swim. Familiar in a way that made her heart break all over again. "Sorry," She finally pulled back, as she attempted to compose herself once more. "I don't know what came over me, but no. She didn't. I don't know if anyone on this planet could take a look at you and tell ya to fuck off. Well, except for maybe Ken," Her voice caught in a small, pitiful laugh that hitched in her throat. "But," She finally pulled back, just far enough to look up at him. Her eyes were red-rimmed as she whispered, as if saying it out loud might make it real. “But you’re here now."

There was something that drew them together that felt bigger than them. A connection akin to gravity with how their bodies collided. Limbs that clasped together like they'd always meant to be so. An experience Dev could trace back to the beginning. A time in his life, for so long, he'd chalked up to teenage romance. The intensity lacking in every relationship after. Yet, when he saw her in a crowd he felt its presence again. Awestruck admiration that left him in disbelief that this was the woman who had, first, pursued him.

"Savannah." Her name felt like something precious in his mouth, laced with a hint of a silent plea. The reminder of all he'd missed hit like a freight train, and he was tied to its tracks. As much as he held her, she held him too. It was a debilitating kind of ache. The absence of things he didn't even know. A million little moments that the cruelty of time had stolen. The croaked, "I know." that followed heavy with the weight of all they'd lost.

“You just gotta hold onto those moments in times like this.” Dilan remarked, she crossed one leg over the other. “I do.” She couldn’t live with herself if something ever happened to Leyla. “I get it. I don’t have a kid, but you know family and all. It’s kinda the same.” She commented softly. 

A warm smile appeared at the mention of family. While not a parent, Devrim knew how important family was to Dilan. "I know. It is." He agreed. "I'll have to ask Savannah, but I'd like for you to meet Serra, sometime, too."

"Congratulations!" The word was genuine. A surprise, maybe, but from the sound of it, a good surprise. He might not know Devrim well, but he knew enough to believe he was the kind of man to step up, to take this responsibility seriously. And if he was trying to buy the daughter a house--"The mother," he realized. "She's in town? Hence the house. Right. Wow. Yeah, no, um, don't worry about it. I'd have done the same." This wasn't entirely true--he was a rather good and dedicated texter--but he could still understand how such earth shattering news and the prospect of a whole new life would put everything else on the backburner.

A warm congratulations met with a nod and a sheepish grin. "Thanks. Thank you, really. It's been an adjustment, but I've always known I wanted to be a father, so.." It was hardly the circumstances he'd imagined, but the desire remained the same. He wanted to be a father. A good one; like his own had been to him. "Yeah, yeah she is. Her name's Savannah. Great girl, really. Did a good job with our kid, too." He nodded, slowly. Silently, Devrim was grateful for Will's understanding. "It wasn't you, so you know. I had a great time. Life just... happened." Whether that meant the chapter between them was closed or not he couldn't say. What he had to give their relationship now with his new obligations felt less than what the other man deserved. "How have you been?" Devrim asked genuinely.

Ken couldn't help but laugh, "It doesn't translate well. Unless her next career path is a personal shopper for others, but I don't see that working out well either." At the mention of the duplicates, he instinctively rubbed at his temple, "Don't. Don't mention that night. I saw hell." If only he were being dramatic, tone and features held nothing but stoic seriousness. "You and him were responsible for breaking that tank and nearly killing us all." Because of that and being locked in he couldn't do anything for Rohan. he exhaled deeply pushing the irritation down enough to remain civil. "Fucking insane."

With a dismissive wave and a sip of his coffee, Devrim dismissed the topic of Dilan's career. He had far too much to be responsible for now to worry about what job his cousin had. If she liked it, he'd support her. "You and me both.." He grumbled. "I didn't choose to duplicate. It just started happening to me, and I'm human! I'd never experienced magic for myself before." A defense that hardly made up for the damage, but he didn't know how to do that.

"This time only, otherwise it's the swear jar for you," She warned Serra as she slide into the seat beside her, finding herself having a hard time meeting Devrim's eyes for the fact that he might make her blush of all things. She had always wondered what it would be like if Devrim had been there and, now seeing Serra and him together, she found herself overcome with a wave of emotions she wasn't sure she was quite equipped to handle.

"I..." Serra trailed off, shrinking into herself in her seat at the mention of liking it in town. "Don't know if I'd say like, but it's alright I guess. At least the magic part of it anyway," Her eyes light up at the mention of magic as the fourteen year old leaned forward to sip away at her ice tea.

"Wolves kinda freak me out," Serra admitted after a prolonged beat. "Growin' fur all over your body like that sounds awful and this kid, Bobby Singer, was sayin' they break every bone in their body on every full moon of every month and, I don't know who they might have pissed off in another life, but that sounds like a faint worse than-"

"Serra," Sav cut her daughter off, being able to predict that she was about to swear again.

"H, E, Double Hockey sticks," She mouthed instead. But, at the mention of sirens, Serra's face fell. "I wish I could be a siren," She muttered under her breath.

Savannah watched the scene unfold in front of her—Serra chatting away, her eyes half-lidded but still bright with that spark she always got when she felt safe, when she felt seen. Her baby’s soft laughter mingled with his gentle teasing, and lord help her, it warmed Savannah’s heart in a way she hadn’t expected. Like sunshine after a cold snap. But even as that warmth settled in her chest, it was tugged down by a weight she knew too well. Her throat tightened, eyes stinging before she could blink fast enough to keep the tears at bay. All that time, she thought. All them years of her raising Serra alone, scared out of her mind, convinced he didn’t care. The nights she sat on the bathroom floor, hand pressed over her belly, trying not to cry so loud that her mamma could hear. She’d been so damn afraid.

Quietly, she stood, brushing back a loose curl from Serra’s cheek and pressing a kiss soft to her forehead. “I know, baby,” she whispered, voice thick as she swallowed back the ache. “But you’re perfect just the way you are.”

Serra wrinkled her nose with a sleepy little frown, yawning as she half-protested something unintelligible, but Savannah gave her a gentle nudge and a crooked smile. “Go on now, bed’s waitin’.” She watched their daughter’s feet shuffle up the stairs. And once she was gone, the smile fell. Savannah turned away, pressing a hand to her chest like she could steady the storm rolling inside.

“I’ll be right back,” she murmured more to herself than anyone else, slipping back out to the balcony. The night air was cool, sharp and biting as she wrapped her arms around herself, staring out into the quiet dark, and let herself feel it—the love, the loss, and all the miles between.

Any melancholic reminiscing upended when he, unknowingly, put his foot in his mouth. He hadn't considered Serra would want to be a siren like her mother. A consideration he thought he should've made given his own desire for power. The want somewhat fleeting as of last night, when the man finally had his first taste of it. Magic spelled disaster by any name.

With wide eyes Devrim watched Savannah remedy the situation without hesitation. A gentle gesture that hit him like a truck. The measure of everything he'd missed out on sitting in front of him. A cup before him so deep he was drownin; overwhelmed and he wasn't the only one. He watched her exit until her golden hair disappeared from view. "Excuse me." Devrim didn't dare look at Vanessa as he spoke, then jumped up and fled the room in chase of Savannah.

The cool, night air was sobering in a way he was grateful for. It allowed Devrim to approach with a sense of calm he had not felt at the table. There wasn't a moment in which he questioned what Savannah was feeling, as he thought their hearts were still much the same. His arms were sure as they drew the siren in for a hug that further eased the man who held, nearly, everything he wanted in his hands.

"Well.. she didn't tell me to fuck off."

Dilan looked up when he put the food in front of her and she just took the container from him. Using the chop sticks with her right hand as she held onto the container with the left. “I mean Hande is gone…” Which meant she at least wasn’t being hunted by a crazy person. “I’m not against it.” Twirling the noodles around in the container. “I wouldn’t go without Leyla though, who comes with Ken. So the answer is probably a strong no.” She told him with a hint of a smile. “Why? This town got you ready to pack your bags?” She questioned, looking over at him. “I promise it’s not all bad around here. There some really great moments.”

Putting the untouched food down on the table, she sighed heavily. “I mean there’s a lot of bad too, but, this is home.” This is where everyone she loved was and there was no way she could walk away from all of them just like that.

"There are many great moments." He agreed and wasn't arguing that. "I just.. couldn't live with myself if something happens to her. You understand? It's not about what I want or how I feel anymore."

"Do we got any more cookies?" Serra bite down on her bottom lip as she tilted her head back so that she could sneak a glance over to her mom.

"It's late, baby. But," Sav let out a soft sigh as moved to plate a few cookies for the lot of them. "Just this once," She mused as she placed the cookies before her kid as Serra's gaze turned back toward Dev. The fourteen year old let out a small gulp before giving Devrim a small nod as if to say it was alright if he stayed.

Brushing back the hair from Serra's head, Savannah in turn placed a light kiss against the top of Serra's forehead as if to thank her for giving him a chance and not coping an attitude with him like she typically did with her. It was funny really. Serra was typically the loudest one out of the three of them in the house. She was even bolder than Vanessa seemed to be, having no problem telling you exactly what she thought of you, even if it sometimes ended with her reading her mom to filth. But, for the first time in years, Sav actually got to see Serra be shy again. All of those manners she had tried to instill in her seemingly paying off.

"I..." Serra paused, nipping down on her bottom lip as she shot a fleeting glance back Savannah's way before her brown eyed gaze met her father's once more. "I told mamma we ain't leavin'," She said definitively. "I just made a friend with a witch. He levitated me off the ground and everythin' and I ain't forgettin' that shit-"

"Serra!" Sav exclaimed, cupping her hand over her mouth as she tried to muffle a light giggle in shock at the way her daughter had sworn outloud.

" 'Cuse my language," The fourteen year old muttered under her breath, before she snuck another curious peek Devrim's way. If there was one trait she had taken from her mother outside of the accent, it was her blatant curiosity.

Vanessa was insufferable, but Devrim would bare her worst ten times over to be in Serra's space. Nothing more precious in his life now, than the little girl he was only now getting to know. Yet, in her he saw such familiarity. His mother's nose, and his father's chin. It wasn't until Serra spoke that he saw a glimmer of Savannah. Much more than a glimmer as the girl continued. He had to laugh at her profanity. An action he realized, after, probably wasn't typically appropriate for a father with his daughter, but their dynamic was different.

"You're excused." With a chuckle, he winked at Savannah. A silent nod to the foul language he'd heard from her when they were young. Albeit, older then that their daughter was now. It wasn't hard to imagine where Serra had picked up such phrasing. "I'm glad you like it here." When Devrim moved to town, his fascination was much the same. He spent a great deal of time enamored by magic. Although no species more alluring to him than the fae. It was ironic, he thought, that he'd somehow always been connected to them.

The sneaking glances made Devrim laugh more. A quiet, but earnest sound that eased his posture. He'd been so nervous for what felt like nothing now. Of course they'd get along. She was half of his favorite person and raised by her too. A thought that made him want to tell Savannah that she'd done a good job, but his attention would remain solely on Serra for as long as the night allowed.