she's the perfect storm

And while her words were pleasant, there was something in her movement and her eyes that told him enough that maybe she wasn’t alright. Or maybe he was just overthinking things, that was entirely possible. He sighed softly, asking for the photographers to leave and for once they did. Then again, they probably got more than enough pictures for whatever they needed. But he carefully took a seat next to her, his heart hurting in this moment. He missed her and was curious. He never found out why she broke it off with him and it still nagged every bit of him. “Well, that’s good to hear.” He chuckled, trying not to over-analyze this. “Oh gosh. Really? Its been sort of crazy.” He laughed, shaking his head. His head immediately turned before he asked his next question to the younger girl that ran over to Natalie. Oh…Mommy? That almost broke his heart. The fact that she could be his never crossed his mind, she would have told him if she was! No, in fact, he figured this was some other guy’s and just that. “Who’s this?” He asked, a smile plastered on his lips as he looked at her. She moved on. And here Connor was hoping they could get back together. But no, she moved on and here was dwelling over her.

Seeing Connor in front of her was more than overwhelming. It was odd, really, how after three years all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him and welcome him home. That option, however, was more than impossible. The brunette brought all of her attention towards the little girl, wiping off the sand off Ema’s knee before looking back up at her. “I think you’re alright, Em.” Natalie said, Connor’s voice bringing her back to reality. “Uh -- this is, uh, Ema.” Natalie said, her eyes bouncing from Ema to Connor and back. Seeing them together made her stomach twist and turn. She could pick out every trait that Ema had gotten from Connor but just looking at them next to each other. “I’m three!” Ema chimed in, holding up four little fingers before Natalie pushed one down. She knew that she had to tell him, there was no getting out of it now. But how? How was she supposed to tell him? How was she supposed to live with ruining his career? “Look, Connor, I -- Do you want to come back to my apartment for a little? Just to catch up?”

Connor had been successful to put it simply. But moments in his life he was absolutely lost and he thought..no, he knew that if he had possibly stayed back and begged for Natalie to stay with him he would be okay. But then again, he hardly had time to think about that. At least in this moment. But such thoughts came back when he was back home. He was back for a few days to do a show, nothing unusual, but it brought back memories, ones he was…far too attached to. He decided to go walk in the local park, some place he found solace. It calmed him and maybe…just maybe he could get some writing down. He was at least planning to, at least until he heard clicks and saw flashes out of his peripheral vision, seeing the paparazzi. They seemed to never quiet down, then again, it was publicity for this leg of the tour, nothing he was going to deny. So he offered them a smile, at least until his eyes fell to a familiar face. His face fell and his heart dropped, instinctively walking towards her. He knew it would be a bad, no, an awful idea, but he couldn’t help it. “Hey…” He breathed as he met her, his brows furrowing vaguely as he offered a weak smile. “How…How’ve you been?”

Natalie kept her eyes on the ground, her teeth nibbling on her bottom lip softly as she waited for the sounds of cameras to diminish, however, they did quite the opposite. The clicking got louder and the patter of her heart beat continued to speed up. His voice sent chills down her spine, her heart practically falling into the pit of her stomach. She slowly began to look up, so many memories washing over her. She couldn’t let her feelings get the best of her though -- her little secret could ruin his career, ruin his life. “Hey.” She whispered, sliding over on the park bench so that there was room for him to sit. “I’ve been alright.” She swallowed, a small smile forcing it’s way onto her face. She was beyond happy to see him, but her fear was overpowering it. “I see you’ve been doing pretty good.” Natalie said, keeping the conversation lighthearted. “I’ve been keeping up with the whole Life of Connor. I mean it’s kinda hard not to, but still.” She said, a soft giggle falling from her lips. “Mommy, I fell!” A little voice yelled from the distance, snapping Natalie back into reality. The toddler ran up to the brunette, pointing to her scraped knee that was hardly bleeding. 

“I want you to know there will be no easy forgiveness for you using all the hot water this morning.”

“That’s really unfortunate. How will I ever make it up to you?”

Despite her small stature, Skylar wasn’t prepared for Lynley to practically body slam into him. He took a step back to keep his balance as he wrapped his arms around the petite brunet, holding her tightly to him. God how much he’d missed her these past couple of months. He’d thought leaving without a goodbye would be easier on both of them, but it hadn’t been. But god the reunion was. “ I missed you too.” he said, burying his face into her hair. “Bootcamp was hell.” Skylar laughed, kissing the top of her head. “How have you been holding up, Lyn? What have I missed since I’ve been gone?” he asked.

Lynley was still in awe of the fact that Skylar was standing in front of her. She should be outraged, beyond mad due to the fact that he left without a goodbye. Just flowers left on her nightstand and an empty side of the bed, not even a note to clarify. But she couldn’t be mad at him, there was no way. “I’ve been alright -- drowning myself in college and suffocating myself with work but a girl has to keep busy somehow.” Lynley said, a small giggle falling from her lips as she peered up at him. “You haven’t missed much, really, I’ve been kind of a mess lately.”

abe: sounds like a plan then :)  abe: your boys are clingy, don’t complain abe: psh w/ my genes, he’ll be killin’ all type of ppl abe: nahh, you can come and do it yourself :)

katelyn: no complaints here. the clingier the better katelyn: true but not yet. i don’t even want to think about him growin’ up katelyn: in exactly 12 hours i will do just that :))

abe: that’s good to hear. maybe i can take milo if she wants to see him abe: good. we miss you a lot  abe: since he keeps looking for you :/ 

katelyn: she would love that!! we should bring him up next week katelyn: i’ve only been gone like six hours katelyn: oh my god he’s such a lady killer already katelyn: give him a kiss for me

It was unexpected. Seeing her like that was really fucking unexpected. If you’ve ever been out in the cold for too long, you’ll notice that your lips start to turn different colors, first starting with a blatant pale and then transitioning into that blue-ish purple color, like a fresh bruise, except you can’t feel your lips, they’re almost like a limb going completely numb. Being surrounded by the air that was being heated through the grumbling vent in the walls wasn’t anything like being out in the freezing cold in the middle of the night, but the way her cold lips curled into one another, only making the unnatural color of them more predominant, Bash’s heart nearly lunged out of his chest, something that never happened. “Fuck— shit. What the hell happened?” He asked as calmly as he could, but the knocking on his front door at two in the morning and seeing her standing there having obviously been outside in the fucking rain, well, that wasn’t something to keep even Bash calm. 

The temperature outside couldn’t have been above thirty degrees and the rain made it feel even colder than that. The bruise on the let side of her jaw was throbbing and her fingers were numb. Perhaps leaving wasn’t the best idea. Of course home wasn’t the best environment, but neither was walking five miles in the pouring rain. The brunette took a deep breath as she knocked on the males front door. There was only one person in this whole goddamn town that she could trust, regardless of their past. “H-He did it again.” Lynley stuttered, knowing that Bash would know exactly what she was talking about. Her dad had been sobered up for months but tonight, tonight something happened -- she wasn’t quite sure what, but it was enough to set him off. The petite girl shivered once more before wiping a tear from her frozen cheek. “Can -- Can I come in?” She asked in a hushed voice.

abe: that’s not fair though, he’s more calm w/ you abe: i’m so tired, baby abe: come home already 

katelyn: the doctor said my mom is doing great katelyn: so i’ll be home tomorrow morning, baby. katelyn: i can’t stay away from my boys for too long

abe: i’m gonna go crazy abe: why’d you give him all that sugar so close to his bedtime? abe: he can’t even lie still!! 

katelyn: now you know what i deal with katelyn: on a nearly nightly basis katelyn: you’ll live, babe