laisie maisie

Silas stood there, shocked for a moment when he realized whom he was standing next to, he looked to Maisie and his eyes instantly softened, she was the first woman that he had ever fallen truly in love with, the only woman that he felt he could ever love, and she tended to avoid him like the plague, despite the fact that they worked in the same place. Her voice rang in his ears as sweet as ever and he smiled weakly at her, “I know, I only do it when I’m stressed.” He replied, his soft accent ringing through the air as he took another drag from the cigarette before putting it out with his thumb and throwing the remainder of it into a nearby trash can. “What brings you out here?” He asked.

“My dad,” she replied somewhat awkwardly, gesturing towards the phone still in her hands. “He’s... having a bad night.” For a moment, it felt like she could have easily slipped back into the way things were; this was how it started, after all - someone to share her troubles with, until suddenly he became the only mistake she could see.... It still killed her that she never got her resolution. It was that, overpowering her every instinct to run, that made her stay. “... How have you been?” 

                           “Please do,” Ava said with a soft laugh, eyes downcast as she pictured it herself. When her gaze returned, her expression was piqued with interest as a soft smile played. “How was your Halloween? I hope you guys won all the costume contests.”

“No,” she said with an exasperated sigh. “Of course there was a group of kids who dressed up as the Stranger Things gang, and they won... But it’s okay. I mean, I think PJ was a little disappointed, but he got over it quickly. Candy has a tendency to do that for kids...” 

He hated that she knew more about Davis than he did, she who hated the man’s guts for better reasons than he had. There was definitely some guilt on his part, for being one of two who didn’t reach out, who didn’t make the effort and bridge the gap between them, but he also needed to hold Davis accountable for doing the same thing. Maisie certainly wasn’t helping, and it was evident in the slight slump of his shoulders, the way he’d cast his gaze down for a brief glance at his hands. “Yeah, no, that’s… you know, he was a busy man, has his own stuff going on. It’s fine.” He brought his eyes up towards her face, offering a feeble smile, one he’d been well-practiced in giving away effortlessly, but faltering just as easy. A commodity these days, if he were to be honest.

Maybe it was maternal instincts, but Maisie could sense the sudden... it wasn’t quite sadness, but it was something similar that weighed down on Logan’s demeanor. It was the same shift she saw in PJ, when all the other kids in school started talking about their dads and he had nothing to contribute. It was a kind of melancholy - part loss and part regret - subtle, but not quite enough to escape a mother’s notice. “What ever happened with you two?” she asked, her voice cautious and kind. Of course she’d heard the different rumors, and she had her own opinions on all of them, but none of it had ever been verified.  

“I can imagine. It’s a sacrifice in itself but I’d like to think that most days it seems worth. At least, that’s what I hope it’ll be like for myself.” The blonde said with a small smile since she’d thought about wanting children, but she knew she wanted to wait before she broke through hollywood rather than let a child take that career she wanted so bad away from her. Perhaps it was selfish, but to her it made sense.

“You want kids?” she asked, always curious about the women who just knew. She wasn’t sure she could ever believe in such certainty. 

Maisie watched PJ playing from the bench, a thermos of coffee curled in her hands as her brows furrowed at the sight of her son all alone on the swings. “Do you think it’s weird the way he doesn’t seem to be getting past this?” she asked her friend, the question coming suddenly without her thoughts spoken to provide context. “I mean- he’s always been shy, but he’s been more... withdrawn since his father died. I thought he’d be past it more by now...” 

“Actually-” Hazel said, not defensive but still in Davis’ defence. “He has been pretty incredible since this whole thing happened, you know, having the twins and all that. He’s really stepped up.” She smiled and nodded softly, thinking back to everything they had been through and how he had been there unwaveringly. “I think he’s really changed for the better. Again.”

The last thing Maisie wanted was to stand in the way of Hazel’s happiness, and she knew her friend was happier now than she had been in a long time, a great deal of which was owed to Davis and the twins. But Maisie had seen this happen before - Davis swooping in, playing the perfect hero - and she knew it took only one perfect disaster for him to disappear without a trace. “I’m gonna choose to believe you on this one, if only because you deserve for it to be true,” she said, watching the fond smile growing across Hazel’s face and matching it with one of her own. 

Maisie couldn’t help but feel her heavy spirits lifted as she walked down the main drag of Lanford, a cup of warm hot chocolate in hand as she watched workers begin to string up fairy lights. Christmas had always been her favorite time of year, and while the loss of Tim had been far too recent to celebrate last year, she was determined that this year would be different. For PJ if nothing else... 

That was why she was getting a head start on Christmas shopping, and she could think of no better helper than Sophie. “Thank you so much for doing this, Soph. I definitely owe you one.” 

“I didn’t mean it that way,” he said, defensively, but not before he let out a quiet sigh in exhaustion at the whole thing, a decade-long feud that no one wanted to acknowledge until Hazel had so boldly stepped forward to confront him a while back. A much-needed grounding was what it was, but they made the same difference in him. “And yeah, just a pair of fuckin’ morons, we were.” A quiet laugh was audible as it rumbled in his chest, a little self-deprecation towards his past self that might still apply to his present. “To tell you the truth, though, I haven’t had the chance to speak to Davis in a while. Years, really. Just recently.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure no one did,” Maisie arched an unimpressed brow. “He went, like, completely incommunicado after high school. Never came back to Lanford - not even for a weekend.” Max had managed that much at least for the first few years, and that fact did not bode well for her judgement of Davis. “And then he shows back up again a year and a half ago as some drunken, mopey loser. It’s weird... I mean, he makes Hazel happy, so I’m fine with him - it’s whatever. It’s just- I guess I’m not surprised you two didn’t keep in touch. Especially the way you two had a falling out. It didn’t seem like he was eager to hang on to anyone...” 

“That’s what I’ve been told, but anyone who thinks it’s easy have never really been around children. It’s far from an easy route to go, but it’s probably the most fulfilling, like you said.” At least, that’s what Adrienne believed, but who was she to speak since she’d never had a child before. Nevertheless, sometimes people, especially single parents, needed to hear that what they did was amazing.

“It’s definitely not for everyone,” she agreed. She’d gotten over the days of wondering if she was one of them - she did well enough anyway, and it wasn’t like she could change it now - but for as hard as she had thought it might be, when she was 23 and scared shitless, it was even harder. Sometimes, she was even almost angry at Tim, like he’d purposefully gone back on his promise to help her with it. As if all of it was somehow his fault. 

“That’s fair, here’s to hoping that everything works out.” Harmony replied, letting out a small chuckle. She loved the idea of having a child someday and feeling as though she was doing a great job of raising it. “I just hope that some day I have a child that is as caring as your’s seems to be.”

“Yeah, just don’t hope for it too soon,” she laughed somewhat awkwardly. She’d had PJ young because nothing else was expected of her, and for as much as she loved her son, she often wondered what might have happened if she’d been given a chance for more. 

Veronica couldn’t help but smile. “You should take credit where credit is due,” Ronnie insisted with a smile. “I mean, as much as I think everyone would like to believe children are just inherently good, clearly you must be teaching him something.”

Maisie had never been particularly good with compliments, and she could only manage an awkward smile as acceptance. “So... what did you do for Halloween?” 

“It seems that way. I often talk like she’s my own but it’s kind of hard when she doesn’t have a mom. I’m like a pseudo mom since the father is my best friend, but I’ll let him know about it and I’m sure he’d be down to bring her over. Do you want my number?”

“Hey, I’m not gonna knock pseudo mom-hood,” Maisie held up her hands as though defending herself. “Raising a kid is tough. The more parents the better, I say...” Maisie felt that acutely; while she’d always felt like something of a single mother, it was different with Tim actually gone. “And yeah, that’d be cool.” 

“Definitely makes sense. I’m sure you’ll be good. It’s not that hard to do,” answered Ben with a light smile. It always made him smile, hearing about how excited kids got around Halloween, it made him think about his own daughter and what she might be up to.

“I appreciate the vote of confidence,” she nodded, giving him a grateful smile. “Hopefully that will be enough to get me through.” 

“Sometimes it is just amazing to hear what kids come up with.” Harmony replied smiling at the thought. She was at the point in her life where she was ready to have her own kids and she just hoped that her own kids would be great. “I’d like to think that they would have figured out that mistake by now.”

“Eh, maybe” she teased. “But it’s too late now. Even if they come for him, I’m not giving him back.” For as much as she often wondered how she’d gotten here - and wondered if maybe she’s be better off not being a mother - PJ was the best kid she could have possibly asked for, and she loved him more than anyone. 

“And the fact that you hate me saying razzmatazz shows that you always rain on it,” he countered with a pointed glare. “I don’t know. It was one of Davis’ bright ideas to set us up on double dates with her and that—” He had to speak carefully, not only because he didn’t need people to think that he was still bitter about something that happened more than a decade ago (let alone was bitter about something in the first place) but because for the first time, he and Hazel might actually be getting along. “—Hazel,” he continued with a short nod.

“Watch it, buddy,” Maisie warned with a teasing finger. “That Hazel is one of my best friends, and the best damn thing to ever happen to Davis-” she said his name in a way that indicated her obvious misgivings for the man “-who, we can both admit, was a total idiot.... I mean, no wonder you two got along so well...”