#brett-barr

It'd been too damn long since Ella had really seriously had a sit-down chat with Brett. Of course, a lot of it was her own fault with the whole disappearing off to a desert island and the sexy pool boy that lived there. Plus with Brett's whole thing with Toby and the new baby, well... They'd fallen a bit to the wayside. And this was a problem that Ella found herself very determined to fix. 

Not that it would take much to fix, Ella thought to herself as she packed up the tray of brownies she'd just finished frosting along with Brett's favorite kind of pickles and made a headway for her best friend's house. She'd already called to tease Toby about how he'd certainly not be seeing his baby momma tonight as she'd insisted on an old-fashioned girls-only sleepover. (Little Susie was invited, obvi. She was, after all, Ella's second fave Barr.) Even offered up Vic to hang out with, if Toby thought he could stand him for more than two minutes straight.

Rapping gently on the door before opening it up and stepping inside, Ella called out brightly through the house: "Hey! It's me! I'm here!" With a practiced air, she set the food down on the counter and knelt to scratch Lucky behind the ears as he bounded up. "Hi baby! Smell Victor all over me, huh? I know you wish your buddy could come visit, but I left him with his wifey over at Hollis' this time. You'll get him next, I promise."

As Brett waddled into the room, though, Ella let out a small squeal of excitement and went to hug Brett tightly. "Oh my god, you're getting so big!" She laughed loudly. "Susie's gonna be huge at this rate! Has she been kicking? Can I feel? God, she's gonna be the cutest baby ever, this one. I can't wait to pinch her precious little cheeks!" She gently put a hand on her friend's belly, beaming like the midday sun down at the baby inside of her. "I don't know who you've got lined up for godmother, but I'd probably fight them for it. Gladiator-style and everything." Ella winked up at Brett.

Candice had only been reintroduced to her real family for a little over a month. Maybe the Belfronts were just welcoming to long lost family members; or maybe it was the pack mentality; or maybe it was the fact that she was a triplet. She viewed it as: they were just as crazy as she was. But, as was to be expected, she fit in best with the other two counterparts of herself. And today, they were getting into their usual shenanigans.

"Cal, just shut up, lock the damn place and let's go," Candy whined to the man upon whose back she was riding. Okay, so it was just an excuse for her to wrap her legs around him, but most people in town knew about Belfrontcest now; so why even lead with it anymore? "That would be a lot easier if you weren't squeezing me in the vice grip that is your perfectly toned legs," Cal told her, holding the door as Claire walked out behind them.

"You liked my vice grip last night," she winked to him before jumping down from his back and taking some of the bags that Claire carried. They were small bags (okay, most of them were small) and each held a different item from Cal's store; and all of these gifts were for Brett. 1. because they all were oddly obsessed with their cousin's blonde companion; and 2. because it was fun to watch Toby squirm and try to pry his pregnant girlfriend away from the three of them.

"Clairey," Candy said, leaning her head over onto her sister's shoulder, "Do you think we'll actually get past the door this time? Maybe if I distract him with my boobs..." She trailed off as Cal locked the door and then turned to face his sisters. "Oh, we're already set. I talked to Brett yesterday. She knows we're coming, he doesn't. The problem will be that he can hear us and smell us from a mile away."

To: Bretty-Boop 17:00

bb girl, u better make it to my place STAT. I have found the PERF cupcake recipe for us. secret ingredient: whiskey buttercream frosting. for all that's holy, get over here AQAP. ~Ella <3

Noelle smiled to herself as she tossed her smart-phone back into its little basket with its other electronic friends and glanced out the window towards the river. It was a perfect night for cupcakes and whiskey and Brett. She'd been spending far too much time with her work friends. Which wasn't bad, it was just....

So many of them were the sort of ~cool kids Noelle had never been when she was a kid, though she may have grown up to look like them. It was the water polo, honestly. You get good at one little sport, start hanging out at pools, and all of a sudden the sports geeks are all over you.

But Noelle knew the sort of good company a book, a cup of tea, and a fresh warm cupcake could bring. Though all of it could only be made exponentially better with a friend. So of course Brett Barr was the first person Noelle texted.

The two had hit it off ever since Noelle started stumbling into Brett's father's bar at the ripe age of nineteen, trying hard as she could to coerce just one more shot to come her way. And then the very next morning she'd slog her way into Brett's mother's cafe, pour herself into a seat and nurse some very strong coffee until she started feeling human again. Maybe Brett saw another lost soul in Noelle. Maybe she just liked that Noelle had no problems with her rambling speech patterns. Noelle didn't really question it.

Friends were hard enough for her to keep.