— crooked line.

Tessa was generally pretty good at hiding her emotions, she’d always done well with it, but with Kaylie it was much harder. She’d opened herself up to the brunette a long time ago and it was much harder than she thought it would be to sew herself shut again. She’d do it though, for the sake of her kids, she felt like she needed to no matter how hard it really was. Still, it was nice to just relax while wrapping gifts, let her guard down just enough that she wasn’t pretending to be happy. And yet, as she saw Kaylie smile down at her phone, she found her face turning to stone to hide any kind of emotion one way or another. It wasn’t like it was a secret that Kaylie was dating, and it wasn’t as if Tessa hadn’t been dating herself, but actually watching her interact with someone else, even through the phone, it stung. “I’m sure she does, but she asked Santa for a second one.” Tess shrugged, a small smile forming on her lips, “I’m pretty sure she actually wants it for Gabe, so he can play dolls with her because you know how much he loves that.” Tessa joked, trying to brush off the sting from a few seconds earlier and hoping to lighten the mood just a little bit, just enough to feel like it was possible to get through this night.

Truth be told, Kaylie really wasn’t super into Carol. She was a nice distraction, sure, and it was fun to date again, but there was no real spark. Honestly, there hadn’t been a spark with anybody so far, not like the one she was used to... But that was in the past now, she needed to let it go. This was done, both she and Tessa had agreed. So, she was trying, and forced herself to push her attention onto her phone, onto Carol. “Yeah, probably,” she murmured in response, only partially listening to what Tessa had to say. She didn’t particularly mean to be so flippant, but again, she was still navigating this, still trying to figure this dynamic out. Shooting back a quick response, Kaylie set her phone face-down on the floor beside her, bringing her gaze toward Tessa. “What did you say about Gabe?”

After really only half an hour of playing this game, Sam was pretty drunk. She couldn’t be certain, but she guessed Lucy was too, if not more so. “Okay, we either need to dance now,” She said, standing and leaning forward to speak into Lucy’s ear, though it was more of a shout, and the end was emphasized by Sam leaning too far forward and almost toppling into her friend, “Or we need to leave and go back to my place and order burgers on doordash.” Her hands were now resting on Lucy’s legs to hold herself steady, as she pressed her forehead against the other girls, letting out a laugh that was caused by nothing but the alcohol. “You smell good,” She whispered, her eyes sliding shut momentarily. Though, that was a mistake because as she closed her eyes, the room spun around her and she lost her balance again, one hand sliding further up Lucy’s leg as she tried to regain her balance. “On second thought, I definitely think we should just walk to my house, the cold air will feel good. What do you think?”

Lucy was kind of a lightweight at the best of times, so throw in the fact that she and Sam were sinking back shots, and it was really no surprise that she was pretty much gone already. It proved more difficult for her to control her wandering gaze while under the influence, so the amount of times she’d found herself staring at Sam’s lips was honestly embarrassing. It didn’t help when the other girl leaned in close enough for Lucy to smell the distinct scent of her shampoo, and the brief tumble caused her to giggle obnoxiously. “Careful,” she warned, reaching out to grip Sam gently by the arm. Her own lazy gaze locked with the other’s as their foreheads pressed together, and Lucy absolutely could not ignore the tingle of her skin beneath the feeling of Sam’s hand on her leg. There was something somehow both so comfortable yet so terrifying about it, but it didn’t cause Lucy to pull back. If anything, she just allowed her fingers to trail up the smooth skin of Sam’s arm, head tilting to the side. “I think I want to dance with you, but you can’t even stand straight. Not like me,” she winked, grip tightening on Sam’s arm as she stood from her seat and instantly lost her footing. “So,” Lucy swallowed, somehow managing to catch herself before hitting the floor. “I think we should definitely get you home.” Her hand trailed downward until she could loop her fingers through Sam’s. “For your own safety.”

The holidays were always going to be a weird time. It may have been more than half a year now since things had officially ended between Kaylie and her wife, but this was still taking some navigating, especially at important family times like birthdays and Christmas. Despite all of the changes, they had to make things as normal as possible for Gabe and Eva, so with their daughter in bed and their son shut away in his bedroom like he generally tended to be these days, Kaylie was content to kneel comfortably on the living room floor with her (technically) wife, wrapping Christmas presents and playing happy families to some extent. At least with the kids out of the room, they didn’t have to act all lovey-dovey or anything. Reaching for the next to-be-wrapped gift, a very familiar looking doll packaged in a large box, Kaylie eyed it with a tilted head and neatly furrowed brow. “Doesn’t she already have one of—” she paused with the ping of her iMessage notification, cutting herself off to pick up the phone and read over the incoming text message. Although she and Carol weren’t exactly serious, they had been exchanging more and more text messages as of late, and a lazy smile twisted onto Kaylie’s face as she read over her text, suddenly completely ignorant to the other woman in the room.

Sam laughed and nodded, “Sure, eight isn’t that bad, but we’re over achievers, six would have been acceptable, five would have been preferred.” She frowned slightly when Lucy said her dad was being too harsh. That was how he always was. It was why she never felt like she measured up, it was why she was now dating Talan Sylvester, publicly anyways. She obviously had no interest in him beyond friendship, and luckily he felt the same. As Lucy began to talk again, Sam pulled herself from her thoughts and listened intently. A laugh escaped her lips. “Okay, I don’t mean to laugh at your childhood trauma, but that story seems way too developed to be a lie, so I’m guessing it’s true. I don’t think you can tell a lie like that, and if you can then I’m intrigued because you’ve got me fooled.” She flashed her a flirty grin. Lucy was her best friend, but when alcohol was involved it was hard for Sam to not be flirty. Hell, it was hard for her to do it sober. 

Coming from a well respected family herself, Lucy had always felt an unnecessary pressure to measure up to expectations, even if her parents had never pushed them onto her. She was just afraid of disappointing people, so she could kind of understand, but in her case, that pressure came from herself. It made her frown twist into something sympathetic, thinking of Sam dealing with that directly from her family. “Well, I’m very proud of eight year old you, even if he wasn’t,” she shrugged, lazy grin forming on her face—mostly from the alcohol beginning to do its thing. Lucy had never found her period story funny, more so traumatic, but she couldn’t help her own chuckle in response to Sam’s laugh. There was something infectious about it, she really couldn’t be blamed. “Mm, it wasn’t entirely fabricated,” she hummed, raising her glass toward her lips. “But I didn’t get my period until high school.” She shot her a wink, gaze drifting briefly to that flirty grin. “Drink up, bitch.”

Their pictures are still up, I’m not letting anyone take them down. I tried so hard, how did I do?

You did incredibly! Don’t tell Emily, but you’re totally winning all of the triplet aunt awards. Also, Friendsgiving was soooo much fun! We should do Friendsmas.

FAYE: Oh good, my plan is working perfectly!

FAYE: I mean...what! Oh no! What will I do now???

ANNA: Gotta say, I'm starting to feel hoodwinked here, St. James...

ANNA: Idea. We team up, put our heads together and buy them something epic from the both of us. Good??

Why aren’t you feeling festive? Do you care if we have a certain someone come with us? He offered, and I want to spend time with you both. 

I don’t know, it just doesn’t feel like Christmas yet, you know? I’m going to be totally honest here, I was just doing this to keep you company, so you two do your thing, we can grab lunch tomorrow or something?

—private.

Absolutely not overstepping. It sounds perfect. Is it okay if I invite Regan along? She says she’s not feeling the Christmas spirit so maybe it would be fun for all of us to hang out together and go see it?

—private.

Yeah, for sure, that’d be cool to get to know your sister better. Is she gonna think I’m a creep for trying to hold your hand though?

Already she was embarrassing herself and she hadn’t even started talking about her life. ‘What’s up, Doc? How fucking cliché.’ She did a mental eyeroll. Cadence hadn’t meant to sound like she was making a Bug’s Bunny reference. That was like saying, ‘no price tag, guess it’s free!’ to a cashier. Cadence had worked at a JC Penny as a teenager, and she had lost count the amount of times someone had said that to her, just that it was enough to make her want to blow her brains out. People thought they were so fucking clever. 

Clearing her throat and forcing herself back to the present, she brought her gaze back to Regan as she spoke. Why was she here? She thought about it for a moment, looking for a better answer than ‘my mom is making me’. Mostly because she was a 31 year old grown ass adult and no one could force Cadence to do anything she didn’t want to do. 

She let out a resigned sigh. “I guess I’m just tired of pretending like I’m okay.” She finally admitted, eyes suddenly finding a framed picture on Regan’s wall very interesting. “And also, because it was strongly suggested I go,” She couldn’t help but add. “If I wouldn’t have to deal with Nagatha Christie breathing down my back, I probably wouldn’t be here.”  

Although she was the very definition of a people-watcher, Regan had trained herself not to do so in the office, not for anything more than to gauge her patients’ expressions, and in turn, hopefully read their emotions. The way she found herself watching Cadence now, though, was not strictly for therapist-and-patient purposes. There was something captivating about her, something that made Regan want to know more. Again, not strictly in a therapist-and-patient sense... But that wasn’t okay, that wasn’t why either of them were here.

In the interest of professionalism, she forced her mind back to work, and waited patiently for Cadence’s response. Truthfully, she hadn’t expected it… She hadn’t expected her to admit to not being okay quite so easily. It was a nice surprise, something that Regan simply nodded along with, though she chuckled softly at the pun. “Sounds like somebody really cares about you,” she offered in a gentle tone. “I think it’s a big deal, being able to admit that you’re pretending, and even more so that you’re not okay. Maybe that’s something we could start with, the not okay part. Do you want to tell me about that?”

Cadence nodded in thanks as Kristy refilled her glass, listening as she spoke of her own family. They sounded like loving people, people who were always there. The Kelmans were loving, and caring– but they weren’t always present. Cadence couldn’t count how many times one or both parents missed an important event– a milestone or two. Talent shows and school plays, softball games, the first time Cadence had learned to ride a bike without training wheels. 

It wasn’t their fault of course, and they never did it purposely. It was always an emergency. Something was wrong with a patient. Cadence never faulted them for that. They were important people who were very good at their jobs. She never felt as if she wasn’t loved. She knew and had always known that wasn’t the case. Besides, she was very much a momma’s girl. She and her dad got along just fine too, but she and her mom had a close bond. God, she missed her mom. She still wasn’t talking to her, really. Even though Julia called her almost every day just to be ignored. Maybe she should call her after this. Besides, she needed someone to talk to about meeting her twin sister for the first time. 

“I look forward to meeting them,” And she truly meant that, even though just the thought filled her with anxiety. If Kristy was this nice, she figured her family couldn’t be too bad. “My mom told me that your parents reached out to them when they found out about me. I think she said I was 5 or 6, but she said she and dad declined the offer for us to meet because they hadn’t told me I was adopted. Nor had they planned to tell me. They thought they were protecting me, but I just feel…” She paused, surprised at herself for offering up such private information without prompting or even a fight. “I feel betrayed, I guess.” Cadence finally said, shrugging almost casually. 

Kristy poured the remaining contents of their almost empty wine bottle into her own glass, offering Cadence a polite nod in return. Perhaps they needed to slow down a little bit; Kristy wasn’t exactly trying to wind up drunk, but the conversation was keeping her focus, and the wine was just a nice little aside. Regardless, she nodded to the approaching server to signal that they’d like another bottle; she would ask Cadence what she’d prefer instead, but she also wasn’t trying to interrupt the conversation. Even less so because it seemed that she was beginning to open up.

“That makes me happy, I very much look forward to meeting your family, too,” she clarified with an honest smile, though remained silent as she slowly sipped on her wine and let Cadence put her feelings out there. Although her own experience wasn’t the same, she could sympathize—they were in the same overall situation, after all—and offered Cadence a somewhat sad smile in return. “I can understand that. I don’t know your parents, but I’m sure their intention was never to betray you. It sounds like they thought they were protecting you… Does that sound on brand for them?”

A leg jiggled nervously as Cadence waited impatiently for her name to be called. Normally, Cadence was late to just about anything she ever went to, but she’d been so anxious that she’d somehow managed to get here early. ‘Fuck sake, how much longer? I’ve literally been the only one for 10 minutes now…’ God, how did she let her mother talk her into this? Therapy was stupid, what good did it do to talk about yourself and your feelings? Cadence frowned at the thought, both legs beginning to jiggle, now. ‘Gross.’

Just as she was seriously considering just leaving, the sound of her name being called startled her from her warring thoughts. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t someone who looked like… well… that. Weren’t therapists supposed to be… older? Ugh, she wasn’t sure if this new revelation made things better or worse. Worse, she thought as she stood, subtly wiping the sweat from her palms onto her jeans. “Nice to meet you.” Her eyes moved to the door that the good doctor gestured to. “Not really, but– I’m here, so might as well, right?” She commanded her legs to move, and after a few seconds of reluctance, she walked into Regan’s office.

She quickly took a seat and proceeded to tug nervously at a heavily pierced ear. “So… What’s up, Doc?” 

It wasn’t like Regan hadn’t dealt with reluctant people before. A large majority of her patients seemed skeptical during their first session, most of them likely being forced into therapy by someone who cared about them. Cadence’s response told her she was probably one of those people, so acting too professionally was off the cards. She wanted to make her feel at ease. “Might as well,” she agreed with a small nod, closing the door behind her.

‘What’s up, Doc?’ If she had a dollar for everybody that greeted her that exact same way... Regardless, Regan politely chuckled as she took her seat in the large armchair across from Cadence. It was her first chance to properly look at her, to properly take her in. It was all a part of her job, studying people, but nobody had quite managed to pull her attention the way Cadence had. She was...really fucking pretty. Not that Regan was supposed to be thinking about that.

“I’m more interested in how you’re doing,” she said in as approachable a tone as she could. “Maybe you could tell me why you came here today?”

Changing the subject had been easy, it wasn’t as if Cadence was good with emotions. However, changing the subject to herself? She was almost as bad as talking about that than she was comforting and dealing with emotional baggage. Still, she soldiered on for Kristy’s benefit. “She’s 25. My parents weren’t really expecting her. I was a handful as it was at 6. I remember not being very receptive to the idea of having to share my parents.” A grin curved her lips as she thought back to the memory of Riley’s birth. 

“And then 9 months later, they set this wrinkly, pink thing in my lap and tell me it’s my sister.” The grin grew into a full blown chuckle. “I told them they should probably return her because she didn’t look all the way cooked. My mom thinks that story is hilarious. My sister hates it. There’s a home video somewhere of that if Riley hasn’t set it on fire.” Cadence reached for her wine glass only to realize it was empty. “I’m sure my parents would be fine meeting them, Noah and Brad, too. I’m sure Riley would be very polite while offering backhanded compliments and passive aggressive remarks on my behalf, which is no different than any other day.” 

Cadence considered Kristy’s words before shrugging. “I’m not really sure, though. I think my parents would do anything I asked of them because they feel guilty. So if I asked them to get to know you and your family, they’d do it with smiles.” 

Listening to Cadence talk about her family brought a feeling of complete relief washing over Kristy. It had been a worry for her after finding out about her twin; what if she hadn’t had the same amazing upbringing Kristy had? What if she’d been adopted into a horrible family, or worse yet, had been essentially left to fend for herself? It didn’t matter that Cadence talked about her younger sister the way she did, Kristy could tell there was a lot of love there, and smiled with genuine joy at the mental image.

“That sounds like quite the experience,” she chuckled at the thought of a younger Cadence meeting her newborn sister. “I was sixteen when Ruby was adopted, it was just me until then. She was eleven, so I never had that. I did beg my parents for a brother or sister relentlessly, though.” Her gaze shifted toward Cadence’s empty wine glass, with Kristy instinctively reaching out to grab the bottle and pour her a little more. They’d need to order another soon.

Although the thought of Cadence’s parents’ guilt wasn’t exactly great, Kristy figured in this one instance, using it as an advantage wouldn’t be the worst thing. She liked the idea that they’d be open to meeting; mixing their families would definitely be nice. The more, the merrier. “Excellent. I know my parents would love to meet you and your family. They’ve been very excited for us to meet today.” She paused thoughtfully. “They’re going to love your siblings, too. They’re very doting people, they like to have people to share their love with. I think they would’ve had more children if they could’ve.”

— character details.

full name: talan davis sylvester.

age: 29.

hometown: los angeles, california.

birthday: august 26th.

birth order: first.

relation: half.

type: solo.

gender: cismale.

pronouns: he/him.

orientations: heterosexual/heteromantic.

job: actor.

— biography.

much like all of sue sylvester’s children, talan has no idea who his father is. when asked, sue’s response was always something along the lines of, “he was a very famous actor whose specific details i’m not at liberty to discuss.” in reality, it is likely that talan is the product of a one time thing with a total random, but he has always taken his mother’s word as law, and decided to follow in his father’s footsteps (because like sue said, he’s totally an actor, duh) and pursue a career in front of the camera, too.

although sue is a notably terrifying woman, ruthless in all of her actions, she has always been much softer where her children are concerned, and talan has always looked up to her. in his mind, she is a strong, fierce woman who knows exactly what she wants, and what could be more awesome than that? he was too young when he begun his acting career (though, still of his own volition) to realize he was contributing toward the family income, but he takes great pride in that knowledge now. he knows that sue can absolutely take care of everybody herself, but he likes the idea that he is helping, at least financially, and tries his hardest to always look out for his mother and siblings.

raised in los angeles, it was easy for talan to progress from smaller roles to eventual hollywood blockbusters. notably, he starred as link larkin in the film adaption of hairspray, as well as a bunch of both comedies and sappy romance movies. he doesn’t have a preferred genre, but is often typecast as the hot male lead, whatever the project may be.

earlier this year, sue’s sister, jean—her favorite person in the world save for her children, and who sue provides constant care for—began to yearn for life back in she and sue’s hometown of providence, rhode island, and never able to say no to her, sue agreed. although his mother is his manager, talan didn’t necessarily have to follow them in their relocation; scared of sue having nobody to help her with his aunt, though, he opted to go with them.

talan isn’t necessarily taking a step back from acting, but it is obviously more difficult to come by jobs without being close to hollywood. to make sure people remained interested, sue and her team set up a pr relationship between talan and samantha mccarthy, an arrangement talan was fine with; he wasn’t dating anybody, and sam was cool. as long as she was good with fake dating him, he was good with it, too.

— navigation.

interactions.

connections.

musings.

photos.

It was easy for Regan to get a little lost in her work at times. She was a therapist, she listened to people’s problems all day long; it was only natural that she’d struggle to detach herself sometimes, right? Especially the more often she saw her patients. This next one, however, Cadence Kelman, was a brand new name, someone Regan had never met before. Honestly, the idea of someone new, someone she was less invested in, was kind of refreshing.

(Not that she’d say so... She wasn’t supposed to get invested in her patients’ problems, after all.)

Shoving the weight of the day’s previous sessions to the back of her mind for now, Regan pushed her most welcoming expression to her face as she headed for her office door, opening it up to the small waiting area currently seating one unfamiliar brunette. Call it intuition, but she could just tell there was a lot going on there, just from first glance. Regardless, she offered the other woman a kind smile. “Cadence?” she questioned, standing in the doorway with her hand extended. “I’m Regan Clarington. You wanna come on through?”

Does anyone know if the Big Blue Bug is lit up yet? I haven’t driven through Providence in a few weeks so I have no idea. Why do I feel such a strong urge to get an ice coffee and drive by just to see?

—private.

What if I said I just left Dunkin’ and I’m swinging by to pick you up, would that be overstepping?

Does anyone know if the Big Blue Bug is lit up yet? I haven’t driven through Providence in a few weeks so I have no idea. Why do I feel such a strong urge to get an ice coffee and drive by just to see?

Not really something I’d even thought about, but I’m down for a drive if you want someone to check it out with. It’s December, I should probably be feeling more festive than I am. Maybe that’ll help.

“Oh, right! Chloe Anderson, of course. I knew I recognized you!” Laney said pleasantly, though she had no clue who the woman was, it didn’t matter, she thought she was recognizable and that was all that mattered. Laney reached up to pat her own free hand on top of Chloe’s as she rested it on her arm, hoping to be reassuring. “Of course, we take security very seriously here.” She added. The woman in front of her might have been completely ridiculous, though there was a chance she wasn’t. Laney didn’t exactly keep close tabs on pop culture, and with youtube and tiktok now there really was no limit to celebrities and anyone of them could walk through the streets and be instantly recognized and Laney would still have no idea who they were, so there was no telling how recognizable this girl was. It didn’t matter though, Laney was happy to treat her like a celebrity if she wanted, and as she took off her hat and shades, allowing Laney to take in the full sight of her, she was even more happy to oblige. Chloe Anderson, whoever she was, was absolutely gorgeous. “Oh, Samanthat McCarthy?” She questioned, naming the first Samantha she could think of who would be attending today, though so many people had invited friends and friends of friends, it could have been anyone, but Sam was famous and Chloe apparently was, too, so it made sense to her. “Samantha is actually my almost sister-in-law at this point, I had no idea you two were friends, I’ll make sure your place is set next to hers. You can follow me if you’d like, I’ll show you into the party. It’s an open bar, and if the food isn’t to your liking, you’re more than welcome to request anything. And I mean anything, by the way, our chefs love meeting a challenge.” She beamed with pride, people traveled quite a ways to eat at the hotel restaurant, they had two chefs who were married and loved to outdo each other, which always lead to delicious food. 

See? She knew an introduction wasn’t necessary. Still, Chloe pushed a gracious smile to her face, head nodding almost solemnly, like it was such a burden being her sometimes. “Just as I thought. I’ve stayed at one of your hotels before, it was after a red carpet event in New York and there were many celebrities there. I’m sure we all felt very well taken care of.” Her words preceded a brief glare over her shoulder toward the front desk. Handing off her hat and shades, a bright smile rose to her lips—it was always nice to hear acknowledgment of her association with a family as prestigious as the McCarthy’s. “Yes, Samantha McCarthy,” she nodded, brow arching some at Laney’s revelation. “Oh?” she paused, the cogs in her mind ticking, until a lightbulb eventually sparked. “Oh, you’re a St. James! Of course, I should’ve known. Your family owns this hotel chain. I haven’t spent much time with Josh’s fiancé, but your family is very well known. I almost feel honored.” Already, Laney had begun to help her relax, but to realize she was rubbing shoulders with another famous name transported Chloe into total bliss. Instinctively, like they were best friends or something, she linked her arm through Laney’s, walking with her toward the party. “Thank you, I’ll be sure to let you know. Right now what I’m really dying for is a large glass of champagne. The trip over here was taxing, what with paparazzi lurking around every corner,” her eyes rolled dramatically, “Of course, you’ll know all about that.”