#oceanfrontlex

This wasn’t Owen’s scene.

He’d never been to one of Nick McLain’s parties and he never wanted to come back. But it was the fourth of July and all of Virginia Beach was there … and somehow the Selznicks had ended up being dragged along. Next year, they’d do things like they always did: with beer and bbq and fireworks.

He didn’t know how to wear a suit. He’d always been more comfortable in flannel and a baseball cap or his leather jacket and jeans. He unbuttoned his jacket and loosened his tie. If he was going to suffer the rest of the night here, he was going to be, at least, somewhat comfortable doing it.

He’d spent most of the night by the open bar: the one good thing this party had to offer. The more he drank, the more everything else shrank into the background. The more he was numb to the things going on around him.

He didn’t know Nick all that well (hell, he didn’t know him at all) but he must be an idiot if he thought throwing all of these people together was a good with a little free booze was a good idea. Everywhere Owen looked, there was someone he wanted to avoid. To his right, there was Noah and Max and to his left, there was Cassie and he kept getting pushed back towards his retreat: the bar.

He was angry and frustrated and drunk and all he wanted was to leave and at that moment, he turned to see Lex Porter stroll up and order himself another drink.

Owen hated him. He hated him more than anyone else in the world. He’d been responsible for ending Chris’s marriage; he’d been the reason Will hadn’t gotten back with Valerie. He’d single handedly ruined the happiness of both of Owen’s brothers and there hadn’t even been any consequences for him.

“You’re telling me you’d rather go with him?” Max asked, "C’mon, Natalie, when are you gonna stop lying to yourself? You still want this.” 

Max was a little tipsy, but he wasn’t stupid and when James Shaw came up and put his arm around her, Max took a step back. Even Max knew that he couldn’t go into a fight against James unscathed. “I’m not going to wait around forever, you know.” 

“Yeah, she’s counting on it,” Valerie said, before the three of them got their things and left. 

Engagement announcements flooded her mailbox every week. 

It had been that way since she graduated college: everyone her age was busy getting married. Despite her better attempts, she only made it to half of the weddings and made even less appearances at the parties and wedding showers, but she had made a point to come to this one. 

She’d known Lex for a long time. The Porters had been a family that her father had tried to cozy up to as soon as he had the means to run in their circles. They’d always been civil towards him, but there was no warmth. The Porters were better than the Kresses in every way that mattered: they had the wealth, they had the name, the history ... they even had ties to English nobility. The Kresses weren’t anyone in comparison. There had been invitations, of course, but Drea could never shake the feeling that they had been invited, just so the Porters could continue feeling superior. 

The boys were different, though. Ian was wholesome; he was down to earth. Lex, on the other hand, came with a long list of issues and complications, but, regardless, you could always count on him to be honest with you and when everyone else in the room was a liar, Drea had always found him refreshing. She’d never expected him to settle down, though. She half thought that it was a misprint on the invitation. But no: Lex Porter was getting married. 

She’d been one of the last to arrive: there’d been trouble down at the office when Tom Darcy had, yet again, failed to meet his deadlines. The party was grand and elegant, as all Porter affairs were. They never missed an opportunity to tastefully flaunt their wealth. 

Lex was easy to find. While his bride to be was the center of attention, he was alone: his only companion was the drink in his hand. 

okay so I’m pretty sure that the porters/monroes have known each other since they were kids??? and tbh I’m pretty sure that lex was max’s idol/hero/big bro he never had but totally wanted ... and I weirdly think that 1/2 the reason max is the way that he is, is that he tried to be just like lex when he was younger???? but he def thinks he knows what lex is like (when he doesn’t really, haha) he only knows a very superficial version of him anyway ... so yeah, literally nothing about this can end well, haha. 

like max always thought that the pinacle of cool was having a girl on each arm and spending money and drinking and basically acting like an ass b/c that’s what lex was doing????? 

but omg tho he literally HATES ian b/c there’s a lot of jealousy there b/c 1) he’s lex’s bro which max wants to be 2) natalie connors was the only girl to ever break up with him and then she went and dated ian right after and 3) ian is also the guy that liz is stuck on/aka the women he wants to be his new suga momma like ian is single handedly ruining max’s life ;DD 

anyway max def has it in his head that he and lex are bffs (I think he can eb pretty delusional BUT in this case I think deep down he does know that they aren’t, but he keeps telling himself/everyone else that its true b/c he wants it to be true and idk it’s just a mess and he def just shows up in lex’s life all the time and #sorrynotsorry

Soooo. Let’s talk about Lex and Karen’s affair?? I don’t know how much you’ve talked about this with Lauren but I’m betting it was just a one night thing and Lex and Karen probably didn’t even know a whole lot about each other?? And that goes double for Lex. Chris probably found out who Lex is and Chris would’ve been so upset he probably would’ve wanted to go have a duel or something.