no pain, no gain

Nani fell quiet. There was no arguing with Paxton's assurances, even if Nani was fighting the feeling of utter hopelessness.

"oh, what a shock," she scoffed. of course he'd been with nani, where else would he have been! where else would nani be? what was she looking for in this man's mouth that she couldn't find anywhere else. lilo couldn't help it, she couldn't stop herself from lashing out. she didn't even know why... or maybe she did. she definitely didn't know right now (stupid frickin' cocktails). "in peace? yeah, right, narc. nani is going to kill me, you- you're just an a-compas. acom... plus. whatever, the point is, you're so not on my side!"

if it were anyone else paxton would've rolled his eyes and left them to it, but this was nani's little sister. he knew sibling relationships could be complicated, patrick and himself being a prime example, but it was to another level with lilo and nani. "nani was going to kill you regardless considering you threw a rager. your relationship with your sister is not my business. however, i'm also not going to let you lash out at her. i'm not your enemy, lilo. i get it, you're angry and you don't know where to channel that, but shouldn't be at your sister"

"that's kind of her. can you please give me her details? i'd like to send her a thank you card for the flowers"

"uh sure, you got a pen and paper and i'll write them down for you? i don't have her business card on me"

"they're a welcome note from my step-mum. she was intending to drop them over herself but she got called into a meeting and asked me to do it for her"

"that tip jar only gets filled as much as it does thanks to mrs hasagawa and the yoga ladies, you don't fool me, paxton patterson" she smirked "i'd assume she's likely with becky or got pulled into a conversation with someone else. it's been an adjustment to get used to coming to one of these alone, but i'm coping. yeah, i saw him around. we're civil but it's still complicated"

"wow, okay, are you implying that the tip jar only gets filled because old ladies ogle me? am i nothing but a piece of meat? maybe it's my stellar customer service" even he smirked at that one. the extent of his customer service was swearing, throwing people out of spraying them with the water hose. "whatever happened with you both, sorry to see it not go the way you'd hoped. complicated, yeah sounds about right for some of the situations around here"

lilo was totally drunk and super dead. and now twenty-one years old. most of all, she was totally irrational right now. all she could think as she looked at him, listened to him, was that he wasn't her fricking father. who the hell even was he? like, seriously? and even though she wanted this party to end - it was so obviously over - why was he here, helping to end it?

lilo wasn't a fan of him, that much was obvious, but the things you do for love her older sister you care about and have an undefined situation going on with that you both are avoiding talking about like the plague.

Nani was scanning the hall and the windows and the doors like there was no tomorrow. She was trying to exude calm on the outside but, for once, it was failing. Maybe it was because Paxton was there to see right through the facade.

"the most delightful, i'm sure" she rolled her eyes with a smile. she had perhaps grown to like paxton and whatever was going on with him and nani. she wanted the best for nani and clearly paxton was willing to be that for her. "she's around here somewhere. i saw her not long ago but then i got pulled into a conversation with mrs hasagawa. i guess you get to play hide and seek with her"

"the tip jar at mount olympus would agree" before nani, paxton wasn't someone who would entertain the idea of friendships. people were lucky if paxton would've went as far to label them as an acquaintance, now he has friends, look how far he's come. "i guess i'll take another look around to see if i can find her. she might be with becky. how are you finding the evening? i saw victor's around"

Nani wasn't planning on being read like an open book. Even from Paxton. She stiffened slightly, taking a very deliberate breath through her nose to steady any surfacing emotions. It was easy to panic, but it wasn't a good look in public - especially when the rest of the building was suffering from a case of mass hysteria.

"if anyone is going to rule the roost with their friends during this, it'll be lilo. she'll know what to do, you taught her what to do" he knew her brain would be in overdrive, his was doing the same with patrick, the only difference was that lilo was a kid. she was a smart one, but she was still a kid nonetheless.

she knew that paxton didn't give a shit about whatever she was doing. that man was here for one reason and one reason alone, nani pelekai. both of them were about as subtle as a punch in the face, but it was cute to leave them to running around after one another like teenagers.

"clearly i'm a fuckin' delight, babette." he joked in return, the sarcasm slap bang in the middle. at the slight hint of a mention of nani, paxton was locked in. he knew who he was here for and babette knew who he was here for, there was no point in playing pretend. "you know who i'm looking for, where is she?"

Honeymaren chuckled a bit awkwardly. "You know... the feeling like everything had a sort of magic to it. The excitement and eagerness around the holidays. That sort of thing."

"i've never had that feeling. the holidays haven't ever been much of a big deal to my family" in what world was hayden bodaway ever going to celebrate christmas like a hallmark movie? "i suppose it might be different now that there's kids around"

Nani appeared as cool as a cucumber, sitting in the middle of a staircase like being trapped inside a building the rain battered the windows was no big deal. She knew that giving in to the mass hysteria would do more harm than good, though thankfully the longer the party guests were trapped, the easier it was for them to accept their current fate and start to calm down again.

of course there was a weather disaster and now they were all stuck inside until it passed. it was painfully on brand for redwood hollow to always have some sort of drama happen when they try and have a party.

"It maybe wouldn't hurt you to dabble in a bit of plagiarism," Nani teased. Paxton was not exactly a poet. Thankfully that wasn't one of the qualities that Nani was looking for. (She was invested in good food and good... you can guess the rest.) Maybe the whole reason feelings had yet to be expressed because neither of them were good at it without having to pull a quote from an obscure 80s sitcom.

"are you encouraging my bad behaviour?" he smirked, more than willing to show her some bad behaviour they both could get up to. what they were now was more than either of them would be willing to admit. they were far too deep in the trenches to come up for air, but that had suited them up until now, it let them avoid a conversation that was looming over them.