heavy storms

Scott couldn’t really make sense of what he felt when there was so much confusion involved, and therefore he dealt with it in the best Vanderbilt away ─ avoidance, evasion and mockery. Logically, he knew that Gillian and Amelia weren’t the same. Emotionally, things seemed a bit more blurred as he couldn’t really denied he was attracted to Gillian ─ something that simply never happened to Amelia ─ yet, she still looked like her deceased twin sister. He hardly thought Feliks would be rational enough to care they weren’t the same, because just like Scott’s mind working around, theory and reality seemed to play different parts. If Scott ever even tried to bring the topic up, his loyalty would be questioned and Feliks wouldn’t be too wrong in doing so, right? Scott tried to imagine what he would do if he was in his best friend’s shoes, but he couldn’t come up with a good result. However, the New Year had definitely made him seen another side of her. Gillian had simply gotten under his skin from their very first singular encounter and then, she found other ways to stay there. She drove him mad in one conversation and managed to make him laugh at the next. True that she also pointed out his financial status, but what was that his father said about it? Never trust a woman who doesn’t acknowledge you comes from money, gold diggers always pretend they don’t see it. So if she was attracted, at least wasn’t to his money (or didn’t seem so). Regardless of how things could become between Feliks and he, Scott didn’t want Gill to feel bad about it (although he didn’t exactly help by making it sound like it was all a mistake). 

In front of her again, he was still inevitable attracted by her ── Fuck.

He didn’t know what he was expecting or why he would expect anything different. Maybe he lost some IQ points with the tangled mess in his head. She was going to find her answers and she would leave, and regardless of how much money he had, there was nothing he could do to change it. Why would he even change it? “I think the disruption is already cause── you can’t exactly reverse that.” Scott didn’t lie, but he could twist words into knots that you’d have a hard time to find the reality. It was actually a skill he proud himself of because although he wasn’t lying, he would bend reality to his version. Empty words ── he was their king. However, there wasn’t a truer statement and it wasn’t always that he was that honest. What happened that New Year’s night that he suddenly open to her? He had tried that vulnerability thing with Gillian and it didn’t quite worked out. “I guess I am a little bit surprised── I will have to find someone who is reluctant to call my attractive and steals my jackets,” he mocked the situation. If anything, the best way to get away from a lot of questions. “If you need anything── well, you’re a P.I., you can find me,” he finished, winking at her before he pulled down his Tom Ford aviator-style sunglasses as he walked backwards.

Gill couldn’t understand whatever this thing was between her and Scott. It wasn’t even a thing… she didn’t know what to call it. And for all she knew, it could all be one-sided because like herself, Scott was a closed book. It wasn’t easy to decipher whether he had the same thoughts going through his head. He was right about one thing, though. The disruption had already been caused, and whether he meant that as a good or a bad thing had her frowning slightly. No, she couldn’t reverse it, but she could at least go as quickly as possible just to get out of the way and give them their lives back. Gillian liked to think she’d helped. With four years of no answers and the clear avoidance she could see in both boys over the pain of the situation, she hoped she’d helped bring everything to the surface so they could face it and finally move on properly. She could never fully understand their grief because she hadn’t been around when she should have been, but she liked to believe that her presence now made up for it. “No, I can’t,” she agreed. “But then I can also not make it any worse.” A little guilt seeped from her voice; the guilt Scott had aided in bringing to light. She realized now that her sudden appearance had been selfish, and she really didn’t want to make matters worse.

Smirking at him, Gill looked away momentarily as she felt the heat rush to her cheeks. Yeah, she still had his jacket. In fact, it was something she’d forgotten about until now. “Maybe I should give that back to you.” He’d probably let her keep it. Looking back at him, at least he could add some humour to their debacle.  She didn’t know why, but for some reason, this felt like a goodbye. As though she wouldn’t be seeing him in the near future. Feliks was really the only person she needed to see from here on out, but as he said, if she wanted to find him she’d be able to. And yes, a part of her did want to see him again, but it wasn’t something she’d be saying aloud just in case it made her sound like a fool. “I’ll take you up on that.” Smiling at him, she did wonder how they’d gotten to the point of being able to have a normal conversation and not argue. In a way, she missed it — their little cat and mouse game had been fun. “See you around, Scotty.”

It was a relief to hear that her insistence for her to drink that glass of water had paid off. This poor girl seemed to be having a bad enough time without having to deal with a hangover on top of it all. “Great. You looked like you could use a break. Don’t worry about oversharing, though, I’m always glad to land an ear to someone who needs it. Honestly, it should be in the bartender’s job description,” she joked, hoping that would ease some of Gillian’s worries away. “You’re taking to the head mess, so there’s really nothing you could’ve said to scare me away. Are there any developments on that front, by the way? I remember you were looking for Feliks.”

Gillian smiled, easily understanding what Micah meant, and she was right — it may as well be in the bartender’s job description. She was certain she probably heard a lot about the secrets of strangers. It probably kept the job interesting. “I’ll take your word for it,” she grinned. Gill was the same; she didn’t scare off easily. It gave her the impression that it was probably the reason that she’d hit it off with Micah so well in the first place. When the topic steered to Feliks, she almost laughed. There had been plenty of developments, and she wondered whether the woman had heard anything at work. Probably not. Unlike Gill, Feliks wasn’t much of a sharer. “I was, and yeah — plenty of those,” she tittered. “But it’s a case of as soon as we take one step forward, we take another two back. Wish I’d gotten the warning about how difficult he can be,” she looked down awkwardly, before looking back up. “He’s a firecracker, alright.”

Mostly in her own head, Nikki was definitely wondering what made Gill go out and drink by herself in a town that she was only temporarily visiting. Needless to say, they hadn’t really been able to chat much the last time they had managed to run into each other, after the blonde suddenly took off with an excuse that Nikki would only assume had been made up in the moment. She hadn’t figured out exactly why that was just yet, but something told her that with Gill intoxicated to the point she was right now, it might be easier to get that part out of her today than the last time.

Eyebrows furrowing as she took in the sight of the blonde, a mild smile curved her lips upwards, although not entirely sure of what to do with the situation. It was the first time she had seen Gill drunk, but only because when they first met they had both been pregnant with neither of them really being able to drink. The suggestion that was thrown out was sudden, but maybe shouldn’t have been entirely unexpected, all things considered. Normally, Nikki wasn’t the type to say no to things, but without a few drinks in her system, she really saw no reason in getting up on stage with Gill in the state she was currently in. “Actually, I think I’m gonna have a drink first.” Raising her voice slightly to be heard over the music, she pointed towards the microphone in the other’s hands. “How about you put that down and join me instead?” Although, the only thing Gill would be drinking from here on was definitely water.

Swaying here, there and everywhere, Gill nodded at Nikki’s invitation. However, just as she was to return her microphone to the stage, Hero by David Bowie started to play through the speakers. Her gaze swept over to Nikki in a pleading manner, mostly because Gill would have to pry herself off of the stage if she were to turn down singing along to her beloved Bowie. But taking note of Nikki’s reluctance, perhaps on this one occasion it would be a battle she would have to lose. The blonde sulkily put the mic by the karaoke machine, freeing it for anybody else who would like to go next. But given the lack of people now in the establishment, something told her the soundtrack would be playing without anybody singing along.

Joining Nikki at the bar, Gillian stumbled a little as she struggled to take a seat on the bar stool next to her. Eventually, she steadied herself by holding onto the bar, balancing her weight until she was fully supported by the stool. “There we are,” she smiled, waving her hand to capture the bartender’s attention. “So how’ve you been, sweet stuff?” she asked as she eyed the brunette over. If Gill would ever have a crush on a female, it would be Nikki. “Sorry I er,” she hiccuped slightly, “I left… just like that,” she threw her hands out for emphasis, “I disappeared like a ghost. Yeah... sorry about that.” A giggle escaped her as the person behind the bar approached them. “Two bourbons please.”

It wasn’t exactly an easy topic to approach even if Gillian could easily talk about it and make fun of it. He had been tiptoeing around the words for a reason. Any choice he has done from that moment on, it was the wrong choice. Kissing or not, talking or not, telling or not ── none of them was the right choice. And it wasn’t that they were a bad decision. She wasn’t a bad decision ─ just not good for him. Not when she looked like his best friend deceased ex-girlfriend. Gillian couldn’t erase who she was, and neither could him. He also couldn’t lose a brother for a girl. “Oh── I meant when you almost kissed me.” He replied in a touche moment, partly amused. If she wanted to treat it lightly, he could try to do the same, after all, they were drunk and it was a spur of the moment thing, not something either of them planned. The most adult thing would just admit what happened and move on. They proved that they could be friendly towards each other and he would probably miss the friendly banter, admittedly, he enjoyed teasing her and how she didn’t admit being attracted to him.

Maybe they could be friends, if she didn’t peg him for a real douche after that.

He was expecting some push back, some discussion and fight, some lecture about not treating her like a dirty little secret. He just asked her to bury what happened between them ─ their moment ─ in the New Year’s and it wasn’t quite any girl who would see that nicely. Actually, no girl he knew would. However, he was met with a sort of kindness that felt uncharacteristic coming from Gill. All they’ve done up to that point was fight (almost kissing while drunk couldn’t really count, could it?), and he didn’t expect that to change anytime soon. In fact, he wasn’t expecting it to change, because he probably wouldn’t be spending any time with her. He didn’t need to be reminded that she was there for a reason, and that reason barely had any ties with him. He could breathe relieved though that, for once, she agreed with him. It wasn’t a secret, just a moment between two people, a moment that passed and wouldn’t happen again. “Mmm── yeah. I think so. I will let you get back to your movie…” He gave two steps backwards, when something she said clicked inside. “Wait, so you are really planning on leaving?” Guess easy come, easy go, right? Of course she was. Her passage in Wilmington had always been limited. Besides, she wasn’t exactly discreet or patient when she burst into their lives, so why would she be any more delicate while leaving them? Was she ever in their lives anyway? It definitely didn’t feel like it for Scott. He didn’t know Gillian ─ just that she was Amelia’s twin sister, not her. He couldn’t be upset about losing someone he didn’t even know. “Good for you──I guess you finally got your answers…” he trailed off.

Smirking at him, Gillian could at least appreciate the light-hearted approach they were both taking to the moment they’d shared. She couldn’t really decipher whether it had meant anything to him or not — but the signs were there to tell her he’d just been drunk, as had she. This was all probably too weird for him, hence why he was asking her to keep it quiet. It wasn’t as though much had happened anyway, so really, there was nothing to tell. Gill told herself that she was happy with the whole thing, in putting it in the past and keeping it there. Even if she had already admitted that she had wanted to kiss him that night, perhaps it was all simply in the magic of New Year’s Eve. Having someone to kiss at midnight was a tradition many followed, and that was probably all it was, right? Being caught in the atmosphere and the idea of having that moment. At least that’s what she’d be telling herself, if only to make herself feel better and not fall into the trap that was Scott Vanderbilt.

“Thanks,” she nodded, readying herself to pivot and head back for the stairwell when his voice caught her once more. She made a face, something between confusion and certainty. Confused because she could have sworn it had been surprise she’d heard in his voice. Certainty because that was one thing she’d always been very certain of — that after all this was over, yes, she would be planning on going back to Nashville. Then her focus went back to the surprise she heard in Scott’s voice and it had her momentarily questioning her decision to go. But she couldn’t base that decision on a moment that was already being pulled into question. A moment that she was positive Scott wouldn’t let happen again. Not when he was like Feliks’ brother. Bros before hos, wasn’t that how the expression went? Nodding again, Gillian sent a half-smile in his direction. “Well of course,” she stated simply. “At least when this is all over. It’s why I came here, right? And once it’s done… well, that’s it. It’d be completed, therefore there’s no reason for me being here and causing more disruption to your lives.” That was the one thing Gill really had opened her eyes to; just what commotion she had brought with her when she’d entered both Feliks’ and Scott’s lives. And she’d learned that perhaps the sooner she was gone, the better it would be for the both of them. “I guess  I have.” She had gotten a lot of answers in regards to her sister. She felt closer to her now than when Amelia had been alive, and that truly was the sad part. “I mean I have a little further to go… but I don’t think it’ll take much longer. You sound surprised.”

It was crazy how oblivious the blonde truly was to the possible consequences of her actions, or maybe just downright stupid for not wanting to acknowledge the risks. She waved him off like it was nothing, but clearly she hadn’t really been in deep with things like this before. Unlike Gill, Feliks knew his father. If someone was snooping around, chances were that they would find out quickly and be sure to check it out. That was just the thing when it came down to businesses like his father’s — you made sure you survived the storms by taking down every possible threat along the way. And yet, she dared to be the one to call him stupid, for not being able to see whatever it was she thought she was seeing? A frown entered his features then, annoyance creeping over him more than anything else, eyes falling back down to the paper before him before pushing it over to the other side of the table. Initially, he had thought that she was there to accuse him of the whole thing, but now he was starting to realize that her trail of thoughts was going in another direction.

So yeah — he could connect the dots. He just didn’t think there was anything to connect. “You should really stay outta my business.” Despite the fact that him getting a foot back in at the station wasn’t exactly a secret, it bugged him all the same that she was snooping around in his life. The words came out as a warning, a threat even — although, he wasn’t sure what the consequences of it all would even be. Then she jumped right back onto her main suspicion, proving that he had been right all along about where she was going with this — and it certainly didn’t manage to improve his mood any more. “You show up here, completely unannounced to find out stuff about Lia—” Snorting, Feliks leaned in over the table, forcing himself to lower his already strained voice, fingers pressing down hard against the wooden surface of the table as he continued. “And now you have the fuckin’ nerve to snoop around me and my family and accuse them of bein’ the reason why they’re dead?” Teeth clenching, despise had seeped into his gaze, eying her over and wondering how he had ever seen Amelia in her before. They were nothing alike. “Fuck you, Gill. You don’t know shit about me or my family.” He almost felt stupid now for having wanted to help her with getting to know Lia in the first place. “And you think this is all nice and safe but if they haven’t already, they’ll be comin’ here for you.” Pushing his gaze down, it fell to the table, teeth digging into his bottom lip to keep himself from causing any more of a scene. “And now I’m gonna have to clean up the fuckin’ mess you’ve made.” He hadn’t talked to his parents in years, and with a reason like this, he wasn’t really looking forward to doing it again either.

From Gillian’s perspective, she really had no reason to be keeping out of his business. In fact, she believed she had every right to. She hadn’t spoken to Amelia in years, no. But that didn’t change the fact that they were family and that Gill would now do whatever it took to make sure her sister could rest in peace. Initially, she’d thought that coming here and finding out more about Lia was all she had to do. But the deeper she dug, the more the eagerness in her grew in wanting to get to the bottom of her murder. Then Lia could truly rest in peace. Yes, Gillian could accept the fact that she had just blown into Wilmington without a warning and had disrupted their lives. Theirs being not only Feliks, but also Scott, whom Gill had started to realize was also affected by this. But what really got to her was the fact that it had been four years since the tragedy and the trail had simply gone cold. She could try to understand how hard this was for Feliks. He’d not only lost his partner, but also a child who’s life had barely begun. Yet what she couldn’t understand was the anger he presented with her. He’d had four years for this all to have sunk in. Gill’s sudden appearance shouldn’t have stirred up things that should have long since resolved. And that was what she wanted to help with most of all — not just for her sister to rest in peace, but also for Feliks to be able to have some closure and move on.

Eyes narrowed slightly, now he’d hit a nerve. Suddenly, she’d lost her appetite. “Fuck me? Really?” She let out a half-assed laugh, almost offended by his audacity to swear at her in public. “Have you not learned anything about me by now?” Her words were also hushed, but very much sincere. “I will do whatever it takes to find out about Lia. And that now includes what happened to her.” Leaning forward across the table also, it was like the two were suddenly head-to-head, ready to fight. “You know what? I hope they do. Then I’ll be able to question ‘em and do the job you should be doing.” Gillian hadn’t really gotten properly angry in front of Feliks before. Currently, she was even surprising herself. But there was an unexplained nerve he’d hit, and apparently it had set her off. Pushing her plate to one side, Gill decided she’d had enough food or him for that matter. “Don’t bother.” The blonde stood up, but her eyes were always on him. “Do us both a favour and don’t go to them. You’ll just be raising red flags. I was careful, Feliks. That’s my job.” And with that, she didn’t really give him a chance to respond, leaving the subject hanging and hopefully Feliks with a lot to consider.

In her opinion, which was vaguely biased, Annabel was of the mind that Gillian was adjusting to life in Wilmington better than she herself would in such a situation. They had only known one another for a few weeks, but a part of her was continuously tempted to offer turning the small at home ‘office’ space in her Downtown apartment into a guest bedroom for Gill; to spare her the hotel lifestyle. However, it was an offer she quietly sat on – thinking perhaps it was a bit overly eager to suggest. Her new friend’s ‘okay’ sat heavy in the air, grabbing her attention as the petite brunette shifted to pop up on her end of the couch. Sinatra begrudgingly laying on his dog bed,  the two women occupying what was otherwise the Great Dane’s favorite piece of furniture. “Oh?” She prompted, perhaps sounding just a tad too eager. “That sounds appropriately vague given New Years Eve always seems historically ripe with odd encounters.” She had gotten off without doing anything too embarrassing, that she recalled at least, and awoke soundly in her own bed. “Terrible? I would hardly say that. I could have hunted you down as well, it just gets a little hard to do. People everywhere, alcohol flowing – easy to be distracted. I completely forgive you.” A wave of her hand quickly dismissed the apology. 

“Oh, indeed,” Gill responded, quickly sitting up as she did so. Her eyes wandered momentarily over to Sinatra, the Great Dane who Gillian swore secretly wanted to kill her. Perhaps it was because she was taking up his space on the sofa, or maybe, just maybe it was due to the fact that Gill had never been much of a dog person or a cat person, for that matter. She’d simply never found the time to have a pet, and if she ever did, she pictured herself having something small like a rat or a hamster. Shaking her head ever so slightly, she brought her focus back to Anna who was perched on the end of the couch. “Oh, this was one hell of an odd encounter.” Gill almost wanted to laugh at the recollection of almost kissing Scott. “You remember that man I told you about? Scott? The best friend of the man who used to date my deceased sister?” It all sounded a lot more confusing in her head, but Gillian had at least filled Anna in on the fact that the two hadn’t seen eye to eye from day one. Scott had constantly had some sort of protective shield around Feliks since she’d breezed into town. Gill could see the two were like brothers. “Well, we were both drunk. Like really drunk. And, uh… may have almost kissed?” She didn’t know why she’d let it out like a question. To be honest, it didn’t sound that bad. She’d built it up to sound like they’d slept with each other. “The worst part is, I think I wanted to.” Yikes. That was the part she hadn’t said out loud yet. Sending a small smile in Anna’s direction, she at least appreciated her forgiveness. “Anything, er… happen to you?”

Despite his words, Gillian didn’t seem to take him very seriously. She was so stuck on her own work, her own findings, that she never stopped to think about what it could cause her. Feliks knew his father — hell, he had lived with his parents until nearly his twenties — but she didn’t. And she was definitely underestimating the consequences of her actions, even though she was right about one thing — nothing had happened yet. Was she being followed? One quick look around and out on the streets, and he decided that no, at least not yet. If they were lucky, no one had noticed her interference yet. “Maybe there ain’t yet — but you seriously think you can look into this kinda thing and don’t get any eyes on you?” For once, Feliks wasn’t seeing much of Amelia in Gill. Today he was seeing her as her own person, because Amelia definitely wouldn’t have done something as stupid. It was nice for a change, because at least then looking at her didn’t hurt as much as it always had before.

The blonde thought that he was overreacting, but would she really expect him to come to any other conclusion than that with her words? At least it was some sort of comfort to know that she hadn’t been actually accusing him, but she was definitely making it clear that she didn’t trust him. And if she didn’t trust him, then he certainly wasn’t trusting her either. “How is this helping?” The scoff that followed only emphasized his disbelief, because if anything, he just felt like she was judging him more now than ever before. By the time the waitress walked by and asked Feliks if he wanted something too, he dismissed her with a quick ‘I’m good’, not really feeling like getting something himself. Her next question was valid, because he had asked himself the same thing so many times in the past. “When my dad’s a criminal?” That was the light version of it, at least. “It’s not exactly common knowledge, y’know. Lia didn’t know all of it either.” Mostly because he was trying to protect her from the worst of it, seeing no reason for her to know everything down to the very last detail. “Congrats? For what?” In the middle of everything else, it felt odd to change topic to something else entirely when he was still caught up in their initial discussion, and in that moment he really wasn’t catching what she was getting at.

Perhaps she was being foolish for looking into his family so rashly, but that simply has Gillian written all over it. She could be rash and a little uncaring when it came to things that were important to her, and this whole thing surrounding her sister? Yeah, it was very important. So much so that Gill was beginning to get past the initial reason she’d come to town. She’d originally wanted to get to know Lia, but now? Now she wanted to find the person who’d murdered her. She was back in full swing with a desire to get her hands dirty. Back to work it was, and what better way to return than diving headfirst into a case that actually meant something to her? Gill had always been the type of woman to just rip the band aid off. Feliks must have been used to her presence by now, and the whirlwind she’d brought into his life. Surely this couldn’t make things any worse. After all, she was just trying to get to the bottom of something they both cared about. “Eh, whatever,” she waved him off, smiling at the waitress as she returned with a fresh pot of coffee. “Oh, just keep the entire thing here,” she told her, offering to take the pot off of her and putting it down on the table. Like last time, Gill really had started up a feast. She had her pot of coffee, her milkshake and her large breakfast to go with it. She was still planning on ordering herself some pancakes too.

When Feliks finally decided to ask how any of her snooping was helping, the blonde chortled, reaching for her glass so she could slurp some more of her milkshake. “Are you still not connecting the dots?” she responded once she’d finished, putting her glass back down. She honestly couldn’t understand how none of this had clicked sooner. Or perhaps it was that Feliks hadn’t told anyone about his family, which was only confirmed when he announced that his own girlfriend hadn’t known much about it. Gill could understand, of course. He’d been trying to protect her. “I gathered that,” she sighed. “For the job? Yeah, that sort of came up in my snooping also.” She wrinkled her nose slightly, preparing herself for the wrath of Feliks Marinov. “How do you—” Gill paused, looking around quickly to make sure no one was listening, and lowered her voice, “How do you know that your family had nothing to do with it? Has that ever crossed your mind? Cause it sure as hell was the first thing I thought of when I discovered your family’s… business.”

Of course, Micah remembered her. The blonde girl from Pravda who’d had one too many and didn’t take too kindly to her offer of water. She looked much better now or, at the very least, sober. “Yeah, I remember you. Gill, right?” She asked her with a grin, not wanting to show just how much she remembered from that night. Gillian probably wouldn’t have shared as much as she had if she hadn’t been so drunk. “So, did the glass of water help any or did you wake up with a giant headache?”

“That’s me,” Gill smiled, somewhat happy that the other had remembered her name. Given how many faces she probably saw in her job, it surprised her. Or perhaps it was merely that Gillian stood out because of the stories she’d shared with her. Yeah, even after drinking, Gill had been gifted with the memories. It had been the night she’d been at Pravda looking for Feliks, and instead this poor woman had been graced with her drunken presence. Nodding slightly, she laughed. “No, it actually helped. Life saver.” The one thing that stood out was her insistence on saying no to that damn glass of water — thank god she’d eventually given in. “I was a freakin’ mess that night. I’m really sorry if I told you anything too personal. Oversharing? It’s one of my worse qualities. Or so I’ve been told.”

At least, she wasn’t attacking him ─ neither with fists or words. It seemed like a good start, but she was so dismissive and distracted that he could be completely wrong. For once, he wished she was angry at him ─ at least, he would know. He shifted his weight from one foot to another, phone buzzing inside his pocket ─ partially work, partially his friends whose whole life seemed to be about annoying the hell out of him through instant messages. Scott hadn’t told any of them, afraid of too much judgement. Actually, he probably would received some heat when he told them, regardless of how long it was from the fact, and he probably deserved the heat. He wasn’t supposed to be getting close to Gillian, and he knew it. Which was good that she was keeping him at an arm’s length, maybe it was his warning not to dig further. She was there for Feliks and his family, right? She made that very clear in their first encounter.

He had tried to keep the humorous facade, but obviously it started to fade when he remembered the topic he was there to talk about. And it wasn’t a pleasant conversation. “Are you seriously blowing me off── for a bag of Doritos?” He raised an eyebrow quickly. She was obviously avoiding him. Scott just wished there was a little more context on the reason, but could he actually ask when he had done the same? “Whatever── listen, I just want to make sure that, mmm, New Year’s eve, errrr, stay between us.” Probably everything a girl wanted to hear when you almost kiss her ─ way to go, Scott. Truth be told, for once, he actually cared. They made some progress that night and Scott felt that he had given one step forward and ten back. It had been one (most likely) lousy decision, but they had fun together, and now he was actively throwing a bomb on it. Self-destruction looked good on him anyways. “I don’t know how much you actually remember, but we were both pretty drunk and…” he was being ridiculous, deflecting the main issue, but he could bear the thought of Feliks finding out, especially through her, not him, “…and there’s no point in alarming Feliks.” He knew that he had to outright say it if she wanted to keep things to be a secret. Truthfully, he doubt that she would have said anything, but he wanted to be clear. Maybe he would tell Feliks, sometime, but there was nothing to tell, right? “I──” He couldn’t say that he wanted to have kissed her. What good would that to them her? To them? At least, if he were to tell her that, she would know that she wasn’t just a dirty little secret. “That’s it… Mmmm, that’s what I needed to say.”

As quick as Scott was to try and be humorous, any shred of it was gone suddenly, replaced by a new seriousness that possibly highlighted the topic he wanted to discuss. But Gillian didn’t need to be Einstein to figure out what it was. “A bag of popcorn, actually—” she paused, quickly cut off by his next words as the subject moved on swiftly. He certainly wasted no time in bringing it up, and actually having the audacity to ask her to keep it a secret. Gill almost wanted to laugh to begin with, but she honestly should have seen it coming. Scott didn’t want Feliks to know because it would be too weird. She looked like his deceased ex-girlfriend. Hell, she knew that was why Scott didn’t actually kiss her on the night, anyway. If Gill was being honest with herself, then yeah, she had wanted to kiss him at the time. They’d actually managed to get along, and once she was past the obnoxious male she’d met previously, she’d discovered that Scott wasn’t actually so bad to be around. It felt weird and it was something she couldn’t explain, but somehow, she felt connected to him. How can anyone feel connected to someone they barely know? Laughing ever so slightly, his request had her reconsidering her thoughts. How he’d acted that night, it had obviously been the drink; otherwise they wouldn’t be having this conversation. “Oh, you mean the nearly kissing me thing?” Gillian stated matter-of-factly. He’d been dancing around those words, so she wanted to just get it out there in the open so the words could really sink in. She looked away again, almost feeling stupid for a moment. The thing about Gill — she was good at hiding how she felt. Therefore, she was quick to look back at him, a false smile painted to her lips.

“No, you’re absolutely right; there is no point in alarming him. I think I’ve done enough of that by just being here.” And she was right. She’d come into their lives abruptly like a storm, and though things were starting to settle down between them, she could agree that there was no need to add this to the mix. Her face perked up slightly as he started to speak, almost as if there was something else he had to say. Yet as he announced that this was his only reason for being there, Gill could only nod in response. What else could she do? Both were in agreement that whatever this was, there was no need to get Feliks involved. And if he did, it would be on Scott’s terms, not her own. After all, he was the best friend. Gillian knew she would simply put it down to the fact that they’d both had too much to drink and stupid things happened when people were drunk. That was evidently what Scott wanted; therefore she could want the same. “Okay,” she concluded, nodding again. “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. Not sure how much longer I’ll be around anyhow,” she shrugged. “So it’s all good. Was that all?”

It was sudden, unexpected, and probably not something he should have agreed to in the first place. Like, Feliks had never even been a real fan of milkshakes. And yet there he was, stepping into the diner upon her calling, wondering if this was all a shitty idea by the time he laid eyes on her. And despite the fact that he had decided to go there no questions asked, Gillian was still bold enough to start off by complaining about the fact that he was running a little late — maybe even intentionally, because he still wasn’t sure what the fuck he was doing there. He hadn’t seen her since New Years, even if he had been nice enough to text her trying to make things right. It was like Scott said, though — he gave her some parts, and she instantly asked for more. Maybe he was being too nice for even considering the possibility of letting Gill go through their old stuff; at least her attitude now told him as much.

Ignoring her initial comment, Feliks took place on the other side of the booth before her, immediately diving right into the topic of the day before he got the chance to ask what she had wanted him there for. His eyes drew down, falling on the headline of the papers, surprisingly enough spelled out in Russian. It wasn’t one he had seen before, but thanks to his father he was more or less fluent in the language and had no trouble reading what it said — the question was, how could she? It only took him a moment to register how she pointed out the truth about his family all very matter-of-factly, and then another one to skim through the article she had put before him. It wasn’t so much about his father specifically as it was about the Marinovs being involved in criminal activities in general, before the time his father had moved to the States and taken his business along with him. They had been more well known in the parts of Russia they originated from than they were in New York, which was probably for the best. And Feliks had to admit — Gillian took him by surprise. By the time his gaze steered back up to find her eyes, his features had grown more strained, a seriousness hovering above his figure that he had never displayed around her before. “You looked into my family?” The question was merely rhetorical, since she had already made that part pretty clear. “You shouldn’t have done that.” He knew his own father well enough to know that people snooping around was never a good sign, and the last thing he wanted was for Gill to get in trouble because she stuck her nose where it didn’t belong. “Fuck, Gillian — you shouldn’t have done that.” Leaning back in his seat, one hand flew up to his chin, fingers brushing across the stubble as he looked her over once more. “What are you even doin’ lookin’ at shit from Russian papers, huh? What’s that supposed to mean?” His temper shifted very suddenly then, the initial worry replaced by a growing anger, summarized with one final question. “You think I fuckin’ killed them, is that it?!”

Of course that’s what she’d done. The article was sitting in front of him, in plain sight that Gillian almost found herself questioning why he was bothering to ask. His tone changed, however, as he went on to tell her that it was something she shouldn’t have done. It prompted her to think that, okay, perhaps it wasn’t the brightest idea to go looking into a Russian mob family, or whatever the hell they were. She prepared herself for a speech about how she was putting herself in danger, blah blah blah. Gill was past caring at this point. She was back to being focused on why she’d come here in the first place, and this was a vital piece of information that couldn’t go unturned. “Okay, okay, just chill. No one’s following me; there are no red targets on my body.” The blonde looked down to her chest just to confirm that; a momentary spike of worry going through her. Maybe she did need to be a little more careful, but honestly, she could take care of herself. She always had done. “It’s not supposed to mean anything; I’m simply covering all bases. I was stupid enough not to have looked into you sooner. It’s the first thing we do in every case. Look to the spouse.”

It took a moment for it to register that her words had probably been the wrong to choose. She leaned forward in her seat, slurping a little on her banana milkshake before she looked up at Feliks again. Whatever his tone had been before disappeared, replaced by something a little more abrasive. It caused Gill to chuckle slightly as she slid her milkshake back onto the table. “Okay, quick-draw, calm down. No, I’m not accusing you.” She gave him a pointed look as she grabbed the menu and threw it in his direction across the table. “Why are you so annoyed? I’m trying to help.” She shook her head, waving at a waitress as she walked past. “Hey, can I get a little more coffee please?” When her attention was back on Feliks, she inhaled deeply. “How are you a cop, when you’re family are… well, ya know…” Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to connect the dots. “Congratulations, by the way.” Gill had heard about his new desk job. Yeah, she was back on her A-game.

She wasn’t sure why she ended up there, but somehow she found herself stepping into the Big Burger Diner, only to be greeted by the sight of a face she knew all too well — and a drunken one at that. Nikki hadn’t seen Gill since the two accidentally crossed paths the first time around, a meeting that hadn’t exactly ended the way she intended it to. And here they were again, the only difference being that the blonde was a hell of a lot more… let loose today than she had been the last time.

The other woman didn’t immediately notice her presence, but when she did, she was quick to hop down and rush forward for a greeting. A lot of things about Gillian told her that she was far from sober, and Nikki wondered to herself how many drinks she had already had — or maybe the thought only crossed her mind because she was in a sober state herself. “Oliver is at home.” Her lips cracked into a mildly amused smile with the correction, holding back a laughter. “I think the better question is what you are doing here, Gill?” Moving the focus back to the blonde instead, she wiggled an eyebrow as she looked the other over. “Karaoke night? You should’ve invited me too.” Joking on the last part, Nikki knew herself well enough to know that it would take quite a few drinks to make her consider doing small town karaoke herself.

If sober, Gill would have been prompted to think about the last time she’d seen Nikki. The arrival of her son, who’d been trailing behind her at the time, had taken the blonde by surprise. So much so that in the end, Gill had thought of some crappy excuse on why she had to go and had escaped the scene abruptly. It hadn’t been Nikki’s fault in the slightest. It was simply that Gill had enough on her plate here in Wilmington than to go swimming in the deep end in other unwanted memories that she really didn’t want to come to the surface. At least not yet. She still had so much to go through in regards to her late sister that it was something else that she wasn’t yet ready to face.

This time, however, Gillian was far too intoxicated to even care if the subject even came up. In fact, she’d already brought it up herself, getting Nikki’s sons name wrong. “Oliver, right… my bad,” she nodded with a giggle — something the blonde did a lot once drink hit her lips. “What am I doing here?” It wasn’t really even a question for Gill. She was here to have a good time. “What does it look like?” she added with a laugh, holding the mic up to her lips. “Karaoke night indeed.” Her voice blasted through the speakers, causing them to screech a little as the instrumental music continued to play without anyone singing along. “Well, you’re here now. Oh, I know! Why not come up and sing a song with me?!”

“I said within the hour,” Gill spoke drily as Feliks approached her booth. Ironically, she’d chosen the same diner she’d met both Feliks and Scott in those months ago. And why not? It was an easy, familiar place. The food really wasn’t half bad. Cheap. But that was besides the point. Gill wasn’t exactly pleased with him right in this moment. After having spent the first week of the New Year pretty much doing fuck all, the second week was different. She'd actually gotten her arse out of bed long enough to put some clothes on and get back to why she'd come to Wilmington in the first place. Upon some further digging, it made Gill realize there was a whole other side of the story that had previously been hidden, and she'd kicked herself that she hadn't looked into Feliks sooner. She'd been so focused on her sister, so attentive towards wanting to know what Amelia had been like that she'd overlooked what was important — the actual murder itself. As a private investigator, Gillian had learned to cover all bases, and that meant looking into the spouse also. She almost wanted to laugh at what she had found. Gill really should have figured it out with the man having a Russian name. It practically spelled trouble.

Feliks: ... Okay?

Feliks: When?

Gill: Now

Gill: Same diner from before

Gill: I have a bone to pick with you