°so sweet i could die

Eden reaches out to catch the other's arm as soon as a creak cuts through the silence, and he can't help the laugh that escapes him now. It's louder than he intended, but it's hard to catch and sedate the only lighthearted sound he's felt since his return. He can't fight it and some part of him doesn't want to.

"Let's maybe pivot a couple paces to not have another near death experience," He smirks, collecting the rest of the books. "Aside from that, I think its—"

There's a lack of recognition that Eden feels he must take advantage of. He hasn't been here in nearly ten years, and towards the end of his grand scheme to escape through a college admission, he had laid as low as possible. The only trace of Eden was his mother's shop and the flurry of blooms.

"I am not a fucking coward!" Tatum cried. Though he was right - what else could she be? She hadn't given him any answers. She had ran away instead of talking to him about any of her worries. She'd humiliated him. Maybe she should let him call her every name under the sun - she deserved that much and a whole lot more.

The alcohol in her veins certainly didn't help. They'd found each other when she was already half gone. The last shot that she had was only serving to fuel the answer that she felt. The anger that she had no right to feel.

"What could I have said?" Tatum snapped, "What would you want to hear that would've made you feel better about anything? What would have been the point?" She hadn't answered his calls because she was what he said she was - she was a coward. She was scared to face up to him. She didn't want to know why she had done what she had done. Even now, three years later, she couldn't work it out. She had loved him and suddenly, on their wedding day - of all days - there was a voice in her head that told her that she didn't.

She knew that voice was wrong as she looked at him now.

She also knew that there was no chance of reconciliation between the two of them now. She could see it in his eyes. This was the last nail in the coffin. Whatever he needed from her, she hadn't given him it. She wished that there was some way to start this conversation all over again. She wished she could tell him 'I'm sorry' but it was too late now.

Eden stiffened— blood runs cold, and it's beyond sobering. He takes every step back, reels himself in despite what he swore he wouldn't do if he ever saw her again. In every fight, he stayed despite the racing in his chest. He lingered even when he wanted to escape and thought the world was falling apart under him if only to find a solution even when he was exhausted and dumbfounded if only to prove to Tate that they would make it to morning.

And then she left him.

"Running away?" He scoffed, the words scrapping his throat raw. "You’re the one who disappeared. You ran— don’t you dare turn this around on me."

He took a shaky breath, willing his voice not to break— not now, not in front of her. The rage is boiling over as he mulls over this loss and questions every mourning. "What, you think I want closure? No, I wanted honesty then. A fucking explanation! I wanted you, whatever it was, and we'd solve it. You never came back."

He looks over her and just for a moment, under the pool of the lights painting the room blue, he doesn't recognize her. It could have been the liquor and the adrenaline rushing to his head, but he loses sight of her against the crowd for just a breathe. He should have let her go again, but he doesn't. He can't. She has to be the worst— he can survive her.

"They weren't kidding when they said you'd ruin all the fun," Andromeda scoffed, briefly looking him over in a lazy attempt at a case study. Conflicting hours, but she'd always hear his voice when it was swept away at the end of his shift and the beginning of hers. She wasn't exactly part of whatever found family could be found amongst some of those inside of Adam & Ink, and while they tried, she curved around every invitation if she could help it. After all, she had the earliest or the latest hours— patience was shot by then.

But maybe not as much as Mason's right now.

Holding a finger up, she calls for silence one last time to hear a screech of the chair, a gasp, and it's only her luck that she turns around before the customer runs out the door.

"Didn't have the time— and you know, son of a bitch was also taking some of it," Andy says, a shrug rolling from one shoulder to another. "And it's the season of bad decisions at the shop. Bachelorettes, spring breakers, end of the school year and commemorating four years of nonsense, you'd be surprised. That being said, if you can get this to go away, I can get you something to remember it. Take this on and come in any time at the shop, I'll make sure you're in someone's chair. Or hell, even some sister in law in pink sparkles who really wants a palm tree on her ankle."

Eden had escaped, and now he was right back at the starting line. The notion almost makes me laugh, but he gives in with a smile and a shake of his head. It's all he can muster against the knots in his stomach that he's somehow failed. "No, not me. I'm just in town for a while until my mom is feeling better, and I figured I could bribe her with a few good book so we don't have to watch reruns of Desperate Housewives every single night without feeling too guilty."

He takes the books with care, flipping through the pages as if he could tell in a second if it lived up to the claim. Until the last chapter, he'd have to trust the other. No one else had helped him, and no one else was as invested in getting the book they wanted. That had to count for something.

Did Tatum feel bad about what she had done to him? Of course she did. There was a part of her that wanted to reach for him and make him listen when she told him that she was sorry. There was a part of her that wanted to get onto her knees and beg for his forgiveness. But she was too stubborn for that. She had done something wrong and she was too proud - or too damn stupid - to make amends for it. She'd double down. Make him really hate her.

The mention of her brother let any apology die in her throat. Hands reached out to shove him backwards, "Don't you dare talk about my brother." She hissed.

"You left because you were a coward, Tate— don't try and act all high and mighty now, like you had any good reason for what you did. What you did was fucked!" Eden said, biting over the music that threatened to drown him out. In some sick trick by fate, he had her now and everything he had wanted to say was thrown away for the heat of this moment. The bridge was burning, flames higher than he anticipated and burning hot.

He staggers against her touch, and he wishes that it felt like something— anything. All it does is boil the rage and it pools over the hurt. He can live like that, he can live with this being how he remembers her, can't he?

"You didn't want to marry me? Fine. But you could have told me before the hour you were suppose to walk down the aisle, a year after I proposed," Eden spat. "You could have told me before the very last second— and you could have told me after."

But Tate had left him there with nothing. At the altar, at the church, in New York. Not a single reason why, or why not for three years.

there  was  one  person  in  the  whole  world  that  riley  truly  could  not  stand.  not  that  he  didn't  get  along  with  some  people,  but  andromeda  boiled  his  fucking  blood  like  no  other.  some  might  wonder  why  considering  they  were  literally  family,  but  ever  since  riley  could  remember,  he  and  andy  had  always  been  at  each  other's  throats. when  their  family  would  visit  for  a  big  reunion  on  the  farm,  their  parents  would  always  have  to  separate  them  in  fear  that  one  or  both  of  them  were  going  to  get  hurt.  they  would  always  pick  fights  with  each  other  and  that  has  not  changed  over  the  decades. now  as  he  looks  at  her  sitting  on  his  couch  like  she  owns  the  place—  riley  having  just  woken  up  from  a  well  deserved  nap  wanting  to  have  a  peaceful  snack  before  he  went  back  out  to  get  some  work  done.  instead  he  has  to  deal  with  his  cousin.  "andromeda,  literally  what  in  god's  fuckin'  name  are  you  doing  here."  there's  irritation  already  in  his  voice  and  he's  sure  she's  enjoying  it.  perhaps  they  should  start  locking  the  door  from  now  on,  keep  the  devil  out.

Lifting herself off the couch, head swimming, she lets out an exasperated sigh. No where in town is Andy quiet comfortable, even in her own home, but this is a close second to some semblance of decency. There's also the familiar coo of Riley's incessant aggravation, and that's a lullaby within itself. The dysfunction she knows was better than the peace she didn't.

"Let's try that again—" With a clearing of her throat, she mimics the accent on Riley's tongue with care if only to cut the words out just as he does. "Oh my, Andy. I thought you were the murderer just waiting to waltz in here with my unlocked door! What a blessin' that it's you of all people. Would you like somethin' to eat, how nice and dandy to have you over?"

A little creative liberty, but she'd blame it on improv.

Eden doesn’t stop him, and he thinks that's the worst part. He lets Riley fix his tie like he still trusts him even if it's been years since he's seen him. Dry and curt answers to his texts since he left Magnolia, and maybe he's given him a syllable more since he came back. There was never a right way to pray to a guardian angel, but if there was a wrong way, Eden had certainly done it.

And for some reason, Riley always answered.

He lets out a laugh that doesn't sound like one, some kind of grumble of frustration hidden behind an empty smile. Evelyn's giggling makes up for it where he looks to the back of her chair in the living room, a soft and syrupy hum to a childhood home he was desperate to condemn.

"I can't stay," He says, quiet. Dark hues focus on his hands, the flipping of the tie that nearly cuts against his chin. "Because if I stay, she's going to ask me why and if she asks, I can't lie to her face again. Not tonight."

Every vague word threatens to make him choke, and he knows the facade is over. Taking Riley by the shoulder, he pushes them both out the door and down the rickety steps he had yet to fix. Just another thing he wasn't here for, another thing that is owed.

Almost the very same second as the stool being pulled back, Tommy knew who it was that was going to sit down beside him. He couldn't have a moments peace. Especially not when Andromeda Lynch was around.

He was a calm person, usually. He was a nice person. He didn't dislike many people. But her? Somehow, she just knew exactly how to push his buttons and no matter how much he worked on his breathing, he could never keep himself calm long enough to deal with her.

Especially not since she found it hilarious to poke fun at his broken off engagement.

"Aw, come on, Tommy. Don’t pout— your face might get stuck like that, and I hear single’s real rough when you’re scowling," She prodded, knowing he was just as she liked him— miserable. "But, you know, for someone who hates my company, you never leave the one place I’m guaranteed to find you. Makes a girl wonder."

She reaches over the counter to steal a cup of garnishes, cherry red staining her fingertips when they threaten to spill over. A few are tossed into her drink, the rest her own personal stash she balances on her thigh to leave the bartenders none the wiser.

Tate was not one to back down from a fight - that was much more his territory. So there wasn't a chance that she was going to back down from this fight, either. She had been the one who was in the wrong. She was the one who did the bad thing. There was a part of her that knew he had every right to be angry at her. But she couldn't let it go.

"I'm not your father, Eden. I can't be your worst nightmare."

Even she was surprised at those words falling from her lips. It was a low blow. She didn't let her shock show outwardly. On the outside, she looked pissed off.

If only she knew— but he had made it so Tate didn't know all of it, hadn't he? His father, alive and well and known to him, who sat on the very top of whatever estate he had in Magnolia to play god somehow didn't even compare to her anymore. That man had left him early on in his life, played games to think he'd stay. But Tatum Simmons was by the far the worst who hadn't betrayed him until the very end, and he'd pick his father over her any day to suffer against.

He watched her, studied her until it hurt, but there wasn't any remorse. Why did he think she'd at least owe him that? It was beyond wishful thinking.

ordinarily,   attorneys   would   charge   for   something   as   simple   as   what   she   was   offering.   they   wouldn't   make   it   cheap,   either,   but   she   had   a   knack   for   helping   people.   and   sometimes,   people   helped   back   because   she'd   been   so   easy   to   work   with.   having   people   who   were   at   the   ready   to   help   you   in   her   profession   was   a   very,   very   good   thing   to   be   kept   in   her   back   pocket.   “i   can   also   probably   have   something   done   about   the   sign.   if   it's   there   to   protect   you,   yet   you're   the   one   who   isn't   benefiting   from   it,   that's   an   issue,”   she   added.

Holding up the folder in her hands, there's something pertruding from the very middle. She opens it up on the table to reveal a stack she had neatly tucked into the center, the same collection of pink and white slips. How she kept herself from being towed was a miracle, or just another consequence of her parking that left no room for any car.

"There's about... fifty-two parking tickets in here. You'd think they'd be exhausted by now," She sighed. "There is a chance it's just a scorned ticket meter guy slapping the same violation ten times over, if you ask me."