— Justin F. Hill —

It had been hard for him to grasp the situation. He still didn’t know how he had to handle everything. The idea of being a father was still foreign to him and he felt like the time he had to process it hadn’t been enough. He still had so many questions and he hadn’t been able to provide himself with them. So when he found Sienna on his doorstep he felt all kind of mixed emotions. There was a part of him that was conflicted, nervous, angry even. But also relieved and glad. There was still a sense of awkwardness between them after he had offered her to come inside, offering her a drink in the kitchen that had always felt too empty now that his grandmother wasn’t constantly creating new dishes in them for her restaurant. Standing against the kitchen island, Justin wasn’t sure what to say. Or whether continuing about where their conversation had been abruptly ended during the vigil was a good idea or not. 

@jcstinhill​

Throughout her life Hannah had always have several soft places to land: the Kincaid residence, the Hill mansion, the docks in Fremont, and Tortue Cove. The latter two had been unceremoniously stolen from her within the past few weeks. The docks only reminded her of her missing brother and the beach was now stained with her grandfather’s death. So instead she found herself at Justin’s door, tub of ice cream and bottle of wine in a paper bag from the market, ringing the familiar doorbell and taking a step back to wait for someone to answer the door. “Surprise.” She said with a weak smile, one that didn’t reach her eyes, as she held up the paper bag. “I brought ice cream and wine. Can I come in?” She asked, expression faltering as her shoulders sagged. “We could even order Thai food…” Not that she was really hungry, but she didn’t want to worry Justin. She just wanted some company.

What a terrible friend he was. He had been too consumed with his own thoughts and troubles that he hadn’t even begun to consider how Hannah had been doing. She still lived in the uncertainty of her brother’s well being. It was horrible enough her grandfather was found during the vigil. He knew her relationship with the family had been strained, and that Hannah leaving hadn’t been on good terms. He was certain he had more contact with her than her family did after she left. He had been in bed already for the past hour, even though he was far from tired. Simply staring up at the ceiling, lost in thoughts when he heard the doorbell ringing. Quickly shrugging himself into sweatpants and a shirt, he made his way down to the hallway, running a hand through messy hair when he opened the front door, revealing the brunette at his doorstep. 

@elisabethstarters​

“Really, you’re going to do this to me today?” Wesley had popped open his hood in downtown Port Elisabeth, in the foolish attempt he’d be able to understand exactly what had happened to his thirteen-year-old Honda. He could hear Sloane’s voice in his head right now urging him to sell the old scrap of metal an actually buy something reliable. He didn’t like change though, and the Honda had carried him around since high school. She didn’t deserve a scrapyard. “On my day off?”

SLOANE’S BAKERY - OPEN STARTER @elisabethstarters​

Sloane decided to make some free samples earlier that morning of a bunch of different things she wanted to start selling but wasn’t sure if they would be a hit or not. She laid out the different kinds of muffins, pastries, and cupcakes along the top of the display case. She had to admit, it was nice to have a distraction, not thinking about Wesley or how she was going to tell him about their growing bean inside of her. It had always been so easy to lose herself while she was coming up with new ideas. She heard the bell, biting down on her lower lip for a second before letting it go when the person approached the counter. “Welcome to Sloane’s bakery, would you like to try a free sample before you order?”

After so many hours spent behind the bar, Leo tended to get creative. (Or crazy, as some people would like say… but really, wasn’t it all subjective?) “I call it: The Flaming Tornado,” he announced before handing over the drink. “You’re my first tester. Go on, tell me what you think…” 

@elisabethstarters​

— sienna couldn’t help but feel the remaining frustration and contempt for her situation bubbling below the surface as she faced her ex-betrothed, two tired fingers tightly pinching at the bridge of her nose. any answer she gave would be the one he wasn’t searching for so they were always at an inevitable en passe, neither one getting what they wanted from the other. her anxiety was palpable as her phone kept buzzing inside her jacket pocket, the desperation to run home and hide among the covers with their daughter was even more so. “ i got pregnant” she blurted out, the strain of having kept her secret for so long burning in her throat as her lungs fought for air against the choking smoke of the bonfire. “ i felt stuck, i didn’t know how to be a wife, not the one you wanted —… and i cheated ” came the subdued revelation as she cursed herself for even invading his sanctuary. she hated it, the incorrigible need to satisfy her basest cravings with a man who wasn’t her intended as the architect of her desires but she couldn’t help it. no matter how easily her father’s mistakes had given her a self-made cautionary tale to reflect and rethink, one thing remained — she felt stifled, choked in love by someone who deserved to hold onto something real rather than an illusion, cast out of the permanent, unchangeable idea that there was someone for each soul in the universe to latch onto. “ but she’s yours, i knew i couldn’t come here with empty promises so i had, uh, him do a paternity test and it was negative ” sienna stood still, her feet clamped to the ground as her smile sank a little, disappearing into the skin of her neck as she dipped her head to avoid his gaze. a deadly silence grew around them as her secret came starkly to the surface until she pressed herself to remind him of the fact. “ you have a daughter, j ”.

Location: Bean & Co, Port Elisabeth @jcstinhill​

Tim was scratching with a pen on the back of his little notebook, a coffee in front of him while he waited for Justin to appear as per their appointment. He had no clue who to ask for help in finding his biological parents. His adoptive family had not been willing to give him any more information than where he was from, and that his mother had been, or was, a junkie. He didn’t know if she was still alive, and he had no idea where to begin his search. He had however ended up asking a lawyer for help, whether that was ‘normal’ hadn’t occurred to him until after the first meeting. He wasn’t sure about every new meeting they planned, but figured it could’ve also been because of the fact that they made little lee-way. 

Tim stood up when he saw Justin walk in, sat down quickly enough before he could decide to throw up his hand in greeting. He already felt awkward enough around the place. But he still hoped that the other had seen him. 

He hadn’t seen Timothe since the vigil. Which had been entirely on him. He should’ve checked up on him to see if he was still doing all right, especially after his panic attack. He wasn’t sure if the man wanted to talk about what had happened, so he wasn’t sure if he would actually appreciate him bringing it up. But when Timothe asked to see him, he was glad the man had reached out, whether it was for business or simply to hang out. At least he would be able to see how the man was doing. 

He had seen him from a small distance away, lifting his hand in a short wave to acknowledge him, and also to let him know he had spotted him. Halfway making it towards him, he already shrugged his jacket off, finding the weather to be warmer than he had anticipated. 

              “Let’s just say… all things.” Somehow, the brunette’s grin nearly doubled in size. It tickled her the way Justin would sometimes toy with her wild side, completely disregarding his own knowledge of how easily temptation won her over. Especially if he was the one stoking the flames of the fire. They were vastly different in that aspect, on opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to troublemaking. But for whatever reason he always humored her. It wasn’t so much that Summer went looking for trouble, too often it really just kind of fell in her lap — gift wrapped with a pretty bow begging to be torn open and played with. What made matters worse? There wasn’t really anyone present to set boundaries or dish out punishment for misbehaving, so naturally, Summer learned the hard way. Either way, the brunette sunk her pearly whites into the flesh of her bottom lip. Eyes were alight with the wrong thoughts as Justin seemed to consider — “Hemingway Triangle.” Tasting the branding of the mysterious doom on her tongue, Summer’s brow creased as a sinking feeling unnerved her stomach some. “It’s got a nice ring to it and it would be fitting. People do tend to disappear from my life.” Despite her nose scrunching with the joke, it really wasn’t something that had ever been funny to her. And had definitely become one of those things she poked at with sarcasm to further bury her trauma. “You know what the only problem would be?” Brows then raised, Summer didn’t allot him time to give any kind of answer before her thoughts were once again spilling from her mouth carelessly. “Everyone would think the triangle had something to do with Ernest and once again that son of a bitch will take my glory. Ohhh the pains of sharing a surname with a famous writer. That jackass…” The rant would fool someone that didn’t know her well, she was actually quite a fan of Hemingway’s novels. In fact, she identified with some characteristics of characters the late Ernest had created and gained fame for. “That’s not good for you… latching onto my ideas. Then I’d get blamed for corrupting you and I’m sure people already have enough problems with our history.” Referring to him being there for her and taking care of her in darker times of her life. While she’d never forget what he’d done and she’d be enterally grateful, just another reason she cherished the man so much, Summer knew people had to look down on someone of his class mingling with such a mess like her. Returning the squeeze, the brunette pulled Justin’s arm behind her and wrapped it around her waist as she practically pocketed herself into his side while they strolled. “You are way too good to me, you know that? Way too good for me. You’d actually get onto or in the water to save my dumbass.” Head shaking momentarily, she soon kissed him on the cheek before resting the noggin that was going overboard in too much speculation. “How long are you staying?”

     “I’ll let you know at the end,” Matt tried to force a smile but failed, the gravity of the night weighing on his shoulders. At least he managed a cup touch, his own full of straight vodka after losing he bottle somewhere, “How are you guys all doing?” The man would ask about Justin and his siblings, others who could empathise with what the families  and friends of those missing were going through. Taking a sip from his cup, Matt scrunched his nose and nodded, also thankful for vodka. “You’re gonna’ listen?” He asked, shaking his head. “I can’t. Brings back too much so….” He raised his cup again, this time managing a smile. “Let’s hope this does the job.”

Mason: Yeah. You're always good to come over.

Mason: You doing okay?

Justin: I don't know