light a few candles, burn a few bridges

“Yeah, fuck him,” he replied, satisfied that the woman besides him agreed with his sentiment. His eyes swam over to the woman, putting the glass up to his lips when he cocked his head, eyebrows knitted. “You look really fucking familiar.” He paused, as if to wait for her to say where she could’ve possibly known him from. “How do I know you?”

Naomi looked over at the man with a raised eyebrow. “No idea.” It was probably through Reina. She met everyone through Reina if it wasn’t through work. Her sister in law had been dragging her to stupid dinner parties for years now and she had met a number of people who’s names she would never remember through that. “You know a Reina?”

Reina’s smug smile drops immediately at the other woman’s words, a scowl replacing it on her features. Wrinkles are Reina’s worst nightmare, which Naomi is very well aware of. Still, she can’t help but goad her sister-in-law, and she has more than a few questions to ask her. “Come sit with me. Enjoy the morning,” she says, gesturing to the open air and the view of the beach below them as a grin yet again finds itself on her lips. The whole thing is just too damn funny for her to hide it. “I’d love to hear all about how the hell you managed to get yourself into this situation.”

Naomi did not sit. She stayed in the same place she had since this conversation started. There was no way she could enjoy the morning at this point. She had just been lonely and sad the night before and Miles had been there. She didn’t need to discuss the subject with Reina. “Probably the same way you found yourself pregnant within a year of having your first baby.” She said with a scowl. “I guess being a slut is a family trait.”

for → @naomilunetti location: bluewater avalon time: saturday, 3pm

“Hey, fuck you, too,” he yelled at the guy behind him. If he’d really wanted to cause a scene, he could have, but it was too nice of a Saturday afternoon to have it be completely ruined by some asshole who spilled their drink all over him. It was precisely why he’d come out in the first place, but now he was realizing that everyone else had the same idea as he did.

“Can you believe that guy? What a fucking douchebag,” he said to the woman next to him.

Naomi didn’t always spend her days off sulking in a bar, but here she was. She had no desire to be anywhere near the house. Not with Reina, Jack, and Miles being around any corner trying to talk to her about shit she didn’t want to think about. She watched with a dull expression as the drink spilled on the man next to her. People really were sloppy drunks.

“Can’t handle his liquor and it’s only three,” She took a sip of her own drink. “Pretty sad.”

CLOSED / @naomilunetti​ LOCATION: The Rhodes residence TIME: January 26th, 6:30AM

Early mornings have been part of Reina’s routine for most of her life. Even after staying up late for the Founder’s Ball, she couldn’t find it in herself to sleep in later than 6AM, and so as usual she finds herself on her balcony with a cup of coffee — though this morning is a tad different. As if on cue, she hears the outside entrance to Miles’ bedroom open and shut just as she gets herself settled in. It’s not shocking, she’d seen the two of them leave the party together, but this just confirms any suspicion she had. Reina waits patiently, knowing Naomi will have to come up the stairs and cross the balcony to get to the front door of the guest house, and she hadn’t planned for this but it’s not like she’s angry about having caught her sister-in-law in the act. In fact, it’s actually pretty amusing. There’s a smug smile on her face when Naomi appears from the stairwell in her dress from the night before, but she remains perfectly composed as if this is a normal occurrence. “Good morning,” she starts, lifting her coffee mug in a mock cheers that really just means busted. “Did you sleep well?”

It had been a mistake to go back to Miles’s room with him. Matthew had been dead for six years and yet she felt like she cheated on him. He had never questioned her relationship with Miles, but she had known that the questions had been just underneath the surface. She had slipped out before Miles woke up, a nightmare shaking her awake and the guilt making her unable to shake Miles awake to say goodbye. She would have to avoid him, there was no way she could have a conversation with him after this all. She should have known that Reina would be on the balcony having her coffee, but with her mind already rattled, she hadn’t planed for it. Her face automatically sours at Reina’s voice. “Don’t look smug. It causes wrinkles.”

“Yeah, you keep saying that, but somehow, I keep forgetting it. What was it again? Loseretti? Anyways, I don’t really care.” Maybe it was because Miles didn’t like outsiders, or maybe he was a jealous brat, but he had never liked Naomi’s late husband, and even now, he refused to acknowledge it from time to time. Taking her hand, he led her to the dance floor. “Okay, now what happens?” 

“You could try not to be a dick about my dead husband for a minute, Miles. It might make the dance more tolerable for me,” She snipped back, irritation lacing her voice. She was used to it by now, but it was tiring constantly having to defend a dead man to Miles. She let him lead for a second and then rolled her eyes. “One hand on my waist, another takes my hand,” She instructed as she placed her hand on his shoulder. 

Ahren would’ve apologized again had it not be the look on her face when she snapped at him. At first, he thought about snapping right back- in any other place he usually would- but instead he simply laughed; a genuinely amused laugh as he hummed a little. “Ahh, so you’re one of those people at the party. you have yourself a good night, debbie downer.” he shook his head a little, picking his drink up so he could leave the space; the last thing he wanted tonight was to be making a scene or be near someone who would. 

Naomi didn’t like parties and never had. More so, she hated parties like this because people always thought that her drinking meant she would be more willing to tell them the secrets they wanted to know. She had had plenty of people tonight trying to drag details of her personal light out of her and quite frankly she was tired of it. “Oh, god, your words wound me. One of those people. A debbie downer. I’ll never recover.” The bartender slid her drink to her and she took a long sip out of it. “I’ll have to tell Reina about that,” She said under her breath with a chuckle.

Starter for: @catalinastarter​ [Open!] Location: Founders Day Ball 

Ahren had truthfully never been to an event like this before, but that didn’t stop him from using it as an excuse to spend some time and money in an attempt to look the part like everyone else. When he had to give up his phone at the door he was a little hesitant of the idea, but after deciding to just turn it off he tossed it in with everyone else’s devices and bee-lined for the bar; or at least tried to with how many people were actually in the room. He weaved through small clusters of bodies as he finally made his way to the bar, ordering himself a rum and coke before turning to find somewhere decent to sit after getting his drink; or at least that was the plan. As soon as he turned around he had to catch himself in his tracks, still not used to how much the beak of his crow-like gold mask stuck out, he realized that the person coming up behind him was almost close enough to jab in the face with the end of it. “Oh, fuck- I’m so sorry, I didn’t really think about how long this fucking thing was when I picked it…” 

Naomi needed another drink. The entire event was suffocating. She was a few whiskeys in and at this point she was trying to decide how drunk she wanted to get. She was rather used to walking in heels that were this height, the perks of having Reina as a sister in law, so she could gauge how tipsy she was based on her walking. Thankfully, it seemed that she wasn’t tipsy enough to not get out of the way of the stick coming at her face. She leaned back and for a moment considered punching the man who almost hit her. With narrowed eyes, she spoke. “Try to keep it away from eye level then. I don’t want to leave this damn thing missing an eye.” Not missing a beat, she flagged the bartender. “Whiskey neat.”

tagging | @naomilunetti​

Standing before Naomi, Miles decided to behave like a gentleman for once in his life. Maybe it was all the Scotch in his system, or perhaps he was just feeling mushy. Either way, seeing Naomi in that dress and being in this moment felt so different, and he was going to try. “Care to dance with me, Miss Rhodes? And no, you can’t say no, sorry.” 

Naomi wasn’t expecting much from Miles that night, but he had surprised her. They had both been dragged to this event by Reina and so had naturally stuck together. She hadn’t been expecting him to ask her to dance but she placed down her whiskey and took his hand. “I’ll dance with you, but Miss Rhodes hasn’t been my name for ten years and you know that.”

“Ahh yes, as is the way of the Rhodes women, it seems…” At this point, Miles was used to it, people barging into his room like they owned the place (which in this case, they did). He had learned that if he wanted to keep his shit private, he’d have to do with the door locked, which he hadn’t. Standing up to receive the laundry basket, Miles smirked. “So now we’re at idiot? Careful Naomi, your little crush is showing…” He teased, taking the basket from her and placing it on his unmade bed. “Thanks though, I was really starting to run out of clean shirts, and Reina insists that I wear a proper dress shirt to this restaurant opening. Speaking of which…” He turned to face Naomi, “are you going to this thing? And if so, would you like to go together?” 

“As if you ever knock either, Miles,” Naomi sniped back, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned against the doorframe. “My crush? If this is what you call a crush, then you must be completely and utterly in love with me then.” She knew that is she asked her sister in law she’d say that Miles was in love with her, but Naomi didn’t believe that at all. “Well, you do need to look somewhat presentable when we’re there.” She rolled her eyes at him,“I’m coowner, of course I’m going. You can come with me and Evie, if you want.”

CLOSED / @naomilunetti​ LOCATION: Iris & Eve TIME: Evening

Reina’s stress levels have been through the roof all night. The restaurant is packed and the kitchen is chaos, and that combination has proved to be a catalyst for her neurotic behavior. Being the perfectionist that she is, Reina’s spent most of the night trying to make sure things run smoothly, which isn’t technically her job but fuck if she’s going to let that minor detail stop her. She’s just finished berating a busser when Naomi enters her line of vision, and she forces herself to chill the fuck out. “Hey you,” she smiles in her sister-in-law’s direction as she walks up to her, although it’s strained. “It’s going well, huh? People seem happy.” Or so Reina thinks. The majority of their guests are smiling, at least, so it’s a fair assumption. “Feels good to finally be open.”

Naomi hadn’t missed how stressful opening nights could be. She had had her fair share of crazy night while working for her father, but this was much more important to her. She shared this restaurant with Jack and Reina, but it had the name of their children. If anything, Naomi was stressed for opening because of her daughter. With everything that had been happening lately, she wanted Eve to think of this opening as amazing. “It’ll be better when we fucking close for the night. I need a drink. I fucking hate opening night.” She let out a breath,“But yeah, it’s going good. People like it.”

“Like tragedy’s supposed to be a competition,” Rory couldn’t help but agree, the cheerlessness in his tone in stark contrast with his more courteous demeanor for the evening. Much as he’d wanted to be as polite and dreadfully cheery like his mother, Rory didn’t quite have it in him to pretend for long and falter he had. Not that Naomi was perturbed by his behavior; if anything, she was even there in solidarity, completely seeing through these social gatherings. Often, he wondered if her innate understanding had come from experience, but he’d learned over time not to pry about her secrets unless she herself had provided it. 

“‘God may not judge, but I will’?” Rory repeated incredulously, chuckling as he did, “you don’t mind if I steal that off you, right? It seems like words I’d care to live by.” It wouldn’t be the first time he’d taken a nihilistic outlook in existence, and judging people silently hardly equated the sins that came with his former, vice-ridden life. Everyone did that, he’s sure — and God, or whatever deity is up there looking down at them with disapproval, would certainly understand that. And, if he were lucky enough, forgive them accordingly. Finally deciding that craning his head just to make direct conversation with Naomi wouldn’t help his growing headache, he finally stood up from his seat. “Between you and me, I think they’re scared of you,” he remarked with a laugh, “you didn’t let Frank down easy, did you? The way he talks about your withering stare… it was almost literary.” 

“To people like them, everything is a competition. Mary was just telling everyone how she was struggling with her health and suddenly Bettie is so severely ill herself,” Naomi told him, rolling her eyes. She couldn’t pretend to enjoy the company of people like that, though she had tried to seem pleasant for the first few months. However, that was much more for Reina’s benefit than her own. Naomi had to admit that Rory was one of the few in town she didn’t mind spending a dinner party with. He was typically on the same page as her and that common understanding was important to her. 

“Go for it. I heard it enough when I was in Memphis that I know people actually truly believe that.” She had enjoyed it every time she heard it from the little old ladies that would flutter around her family. They had all wanted something out of them, but they had been entertaining none the less. “They should be scared of me,” She replied with a smile, knowing the true weight of those words. “I would never let Frank down easily. That would be too sad to watch.”

tagging | @naomilunetti​

“But like, I’m not one to drown my sorrows in some Rosé, but you gotta admit…” A hearty swig straight from the bottle, “those shots beforehand did help some…” Lourdes wasn’t in want of company, but she did want to hang out with Naomi on a weekend they both seemed to be free. It was late, the post holiday blues starting to set in when Lourdes had come up with the idea to get drunk in the privacy of a room. “Besides, like….it’s not like being happy is the ultimate…” Hiccup. “Human condition, right? Fuck it, I’m going to be as fucking emotional as I want.” 

Naomi watched the girl drink in silence. She was rather drunk herself, but had no desire to make that known, even if she did like girl in front of her. Taking a long sip of her own drink, she pondered her own answer. “Being happy is overrated. I haven’t been happy in years and I am perfectly fine.” It wasn’t even a lie. She hadn’t been happy in so long, but she wasn’t miserable either. “People who are happy all the time are liars.”

Jackson simply hummed with a mix of both disapproval and approval. He was glad his little sister was being safe, but at the same time this was Jackson— the man who’d spent a good portion of his childhood defending both her and his mother. But a moment later he was tracing a few points on his chest, pausing on each one. “A few places. They’re fine now, though.” Far from bleeding out on the floor like he’d been those five years ago. Jackson took his gaze back to Eve, somewhat amused that his sister apparently had managed to so thoroughly produce a miniature of herself. Nevertheless, the smallest of smile came over his lips at the mention of Iris hearing he was a good dad. “I’ve never snored a day or night in my life,” he lied with the smallest of teases. “Your Aunt Reina loves to lie.” Of course, it was a good-natured stab at his wife. Jackson frowned for a moment before answering Naomi once again. “I wouldn’t have come if it had, Naomi. You know I’m not messy. That’s why it took me five years to get here in the first place.”

Her eyes followed his finger closely, identifying how close they had been to being kill shots as he went. “Someone really wanted you gone, huh?” She said without thinking of the little ears that were listening. “Gone like Daddy, Mama?” Eve piped up looking at her with eyes that were too smart for the near seven year old. She paused before answering her daughter,“Kind of like Daddy, yeah, baby.” Eve was quickly distracted by her uncle’s lie though and Naomi was relieved she wouldn’t have to go into more detail with her daughter. “Well, I know my aunt better than you. I trust her! And I’ll be the judge of you snoring,” She told him with far too much seriousness to actually be taken seriously. Naomi hummed,“I had to make sure.”

Eve’s apparent jealousy isn’t exactly a shocker but Reina still finds herself bristling at Naomi’s comment, not very keen on explaining to her daughter why Eve’s about to suddenly become distant. Still, she’s not going to complain. “I’m sure she’ll understand.” She won’t, Iris will more than likely throw a fit considering she and Eve have been attached at the hip for her entire life, but Reina’s not about to deny Naomi what she thinks her daughter needs to deal with the sudden changes in their home life. None of them know how to deal with this, there’s no rulebook for what to do when a family member you’d essentially decided was dead until proven otherwise suddenly shows up again, so they’ll just have to process in their own individual ways.

Reina can see the emotion her sister-in-law is trying to hold back and she’s grateful for the restraint — she’s not sure she’d be able to deal with tears right now — but she’s also not exactly sure what to say to comfort her. “It’s natural,” is all she can come up with, shifting uncomfortably in the sand. It’s strange, Reina’s always so sure of herself until the second she’s forced to show empathy or express her own feelings, and then she’s suddenly a fish out of water. She can relate to Naomi’s grief, though; they’d gone through similar things, and Reina’s positive she’d be doing a lot worse than Naomi currently is had Matthew been the one to make a reappearance. To be honest, she’s pretty impressed, though she supposes it helps that Jackson’s her brother. “I don’t know either,” she starts with a deep breath, and faces the ocean again with a shake of her head. “But you don’t have to feel shitty for being jealous or angry that it’s not Matthew in there. I get it. It’s fucked that you have to feel that way, but I get it. And it’ll go away — eventually.”

Naomi raised an eyebrow at Reina,“No she won’t. Don’t lie to me to make me feel better. Iris is going to be pissed and Eve is going to be upset too.” She wasn’t prepared to deal with her daughter missing her best friend but needing to be away from her. “It’ll only be for a few days. Tell Iris that Eve is sick or something.” She doubted that would make it better, but it was the only thing she could think of. She snorted to herself as she realized what was going to happen with Eve soon,“I bet Eve is going to attach herself to Miles again, like when she did it as a toddler. She’s going to break him.”

She didn’t like being reassured by anyone, but she supposed that if it was going to come from anyone, she preferred it to be Reina. Better than Jack right now. “Yeah. One day I’ll just be happy my brother is back.” She hoped it was soon. Clearing her throat, she looked over at Reina,“We should head back. Jack doesn’t know the morning routine and the kids are going to start to get up soon.”

Maybe his mom really had overdone it this time. Ever since his dad’s passing, the Hirsch matriarch took it upon herself to keep up appearances that they were doing fine and dandy in spite of the patriarch’s sudden death. It was stretched out to a days-long affair, dinner parties upon dinner parties, that Rory barely had time to register who was whom. He was more than thankful to find Naomi attending it, at least. She had become an unlikely friend through it all, and most notably, one of the very few among the crowd who could see through his family’s peculiar way of grieving.

“‘Everything is great!’ should be taped on the wall, somewhere, just so people could stop talking to me about New York or LA or whatever,” he laughed, leaning against the wall where she stood, still not quite mustering up the will to stand up. “You pick up some wild gossip, if you try hard enough. Speaking of which, did you know that Mrs. Josephine Hearst was having an affair with the school principal? My, my, bless their hearts,” Rory replied with his best impression of a Southern twang, “but don’t worry about it. I think my mom’s just lonely from the whole… er, dad business. Figured showing up was the least I could do after spending so much time away, y’know?” He added, hiding his grief in the Rory Hirsch-trademarked gallows humor, before brushing away the topic with a laugh. “Sorry, didn’t mean for that to go all dark. Anyway, how are you doing? I hope the resident himbos didn’t bombard you with too many questions.”

Naomi had watched these types of people grieve for years now and in ways it wasn’t that different to the way she grieved. After Matthew’s death, she had done anything to keep herself and out of her home. She started to go to Reina and Jack’s to watch the kids, even when neither of them had asked. She attended her mother’s parties with little protest. She spent more and more time at the restaurants and bars she owned. It was easier that way. She didn’t have to be home alone with an infant. 

“You could tattoo that on your forehead and people would still ask. As much as you’re grieving, everyone else is struggling oh so much harder than you to just figure out how to have a normal conversation.” She spoke drily, obvious understanding and bitterness underlying her voice. She snorted, then made her Memphis accent even thicker to go,“Bless them. I’m sure I’ll be seein’ those two at church Sunday. God may not judge, but I will. That’s why they made confession after all! He’d understand where I’m coming from.” Her accent had always stuck to her strongly, but this was an extreme exaggeration. She waved her hand,“I go dark quite often. I find things boring otherwise. I’m doin’ just fine. They bother me anymore. Learnt their lesson a while ago about trying to hold a meaningless conversation with me.”

It was a little hurtful that she thought she needed to check if he was carrying a weapon or not, though he supposed it was good sense. Still…he was her brother— and a person that had done everything to protect her that he could throughout his entire life. “Yes, I still carry my gun on me.” It was usually concealed, and he had a permit for it in case anyone questioned him. “Would be stupid not to after getting shot in Memphis. I was shot, by the way.” His text to them had been bare bones before he’d gone dark, just telling them to run and that he was injured. He held onto her carefully, though. He wasn’t much one for touch, but Naomi was one of his exceptions, and it was nice to feel the life in her after having been worried about her these last five years. “I’m here now, Naomi.” But then his attention was turned to Eve as Naomi spoke, and he raised an eyebrow in question. “And exactly what stories were these? God knows my wife has very little good to say of me.” He simply shrugged at Eve’s words though before saying. “It’s smart to be wary of strangers.” Still…the fact that he was stranger to his own family was something he didn’t particularly like to think about. “It’s good to see you though, Naomi.” Better than good, though neither of them were particularly open with emotions.

She pulled back from the hud, unsurprised that he called her on her check. “Five years is a long time. I’d have checked if you were Matthew.” She wouldn’t have explained her actions to anyone else, but Jack was her big brother and she respected him enough to give him some look into her reasoning. “Where were you shot?” If he was shot in the leg that was quite different than being shot in the chest. She’d only been grazed before, but still the placement mattered for her reaction. “Auntie Rey tells Iris you were a good daddy, but that you snore a lot,” Eve answered candidly and Naomi wished her daughter wasn’t so bold with the truth. She scooped up her daughter, placing her on her hip. “It’s good to have you back. Though, has business followed you here?” She had to know now if he had dragged the old bullshit back with him.