so it goes

Isabella just playfully rolled her eyes. “Somehow I doubt that.” She laughed. “I forget that Zane and I are related too.” She laughed, “He is so not like the rest of the family! But somehow I deal with him and I am used to him.” She shrugged. Isabella’s mind then wandered off about the wedding cake with Zane and Stephen. An image popping up in her head with the two taking pictures and cutting the cake. She couldn’t  help but to laugh at the though. “How come I have a feeling they will be doing the cake cutting and feeding it to each other?” She teased. “I sure hope Zane doesn’t ruin the wedding though. I want your day to be perfect!”

“I would make sure I find a tall man. If they are short then I will move on.” Isabella giggled. “Or at least have them be a couple inches shorter. I wouldn’t mind too much.” She shrugged before looking at the clock. “My place? My place is to make sure your dress doesn’t drag and catch on to something!” She laughed. “Which by the way, thank you for not letting me walk down the aisle with my brother. He would probably trip me or something.” She teased, before giving her best friend a hug. “I am always there for you babe. Best friends for life. Right?” She smiled. “You make a beautiful bride.”

"I can’t imagine growing up with him, living with that craziness under your roof. Then again, he pretty much lives with me and Stephen so I guess in a way, I can imagine.” Hilari’s laugh came out as a snort once Izzy put the image of Stephen and Zane in her head. “Honestly, if that doesn’t happen, I’m gonna be a bit disappointed. That probably means we’ll have to feed each other cake, too. I wouldn’t shove it in your face, though, I don’t like to waste cake.” Hilari gave her a small shrug in response, smiling slightly. “He won’t. Perfect or not, I’m marrying Stephen and I have my friends and family with me. That’s the important thing. All the other stuff is just...stuff.”

“I’m sure there’s a cute basketball player out there for you somewhere. Tall and rich, what more do you need?” she snickered. “...Riiight. Yeah, my brain is still in ‘oh-shit-I’m-getting-married’ mode. Forgive me for any more mistakes I make,” she said, shaking her head once she remembered that that would be Izzy’s place after they got down to the alter. “Hopefully the only thing getting caught in it is sand and no creepy beach creatures. And please, you think I’d trust Zane with having any part in the wedding bigger than being Stephen’s best man? If it weren’t frowned upon, I’d have someone put a leash on him.” Hilari hugged her back tightly, a smile on her face once she pulled away from the hug. “Duh. Who else would I sing along and pretend to know the lyrics to ‘Milkshake’ with? But thanks, Iz.” With a final sigh, she straightened her shoulders. “Alright, is it time?”

She couldn’t argue that Ellie would be a good one to look up to, but she barely saw Ellie. “It’s kind of hard to keep up with her when I barely see her. She is a lot older than me, and she had nothing to really to do with me growing up. She was a teenager going off to college. Sure, she treated me as if I was her own, but basically I was around you the most. I mostly learned from you with my own little twist.” She smiled.

Annabelle grinned a little bit. “Living that life you should have many interesting stories. Of course I don’t know if I want to know some of these stories.” She teased, she’s only heard stories about that life. “Well, if you ever get lonely you know where to find me.” She said as she placed her head on his shoulder. 

"Yeah, the going to school in Boston and barely visiting home thing doesn’t really help that. I mean, I don’t blame her. Our parents kind of suck,” he sighed. “Doesn’t mean she doesn’t love or care about you, she’s just been busy...kinda like mom and dad are always busy, but at least Ellie tries to stay in touch. Being a doctor is kind of a big thing.” Her next comment made him laugh lightly. She definitely had a point; out of all his sisters, Annabelle was not only his favorite but the one he was most protective of. “Oh God, Bells, I hope you only learned good things from me. Believe it or not, some people wouldn’t consider me the best role model. You seemed to have turned out alright, though. I must’ve not screwed you up too bad.” 

“Maybe they’re not interesting to me, but that’s cause we grew up with it all. Our lives are kind of weird, to be honest. But don’t worry, there’s my stories, and then my...ahem, stories. Those I like to save special for Victoria, though, I wouldn’t gross you out with them. Vic always makes a face like she’s taken a bite of lemon when I talk about my sex-capades around her,” he grinned. “Okay, and same goes for you. I take my big brother role seriously, and that means making sure you’re doing okay and kicking the ass of anyone who tries to hurt you.” His arm automatically wrapped tighter around her once he felt the weight of her head on his shoulder. “You sure you’re one hundred percent okay, though?”

“Hilarious.” Victoria smirked, shaking her head. “Well, as you can tell mom and dad aren’t even home. They wont be home until tomorrow night. So I told the man that was supposed to come in where the key was to see a little surprise I had for him.” She explained, “But thanks for ruining that for me.” She was clearly annoyed, Peter always ruined things, but she did the same to him. Victoria then reached for her phone to quickly text the guy to not come in because of her brother, and then she looked back up at Peter. “So why did you come and visit? For some reason I don’t think you would come and visit dad. Possibly mom, but who knows? She’s been out and about a lot lately too. Probably having some affair with another man.”

“I know, I’m quite funny. No wonder the ladies love me.” Peter raised an eyebrow in response to her explanation. “’The man’? And what man is it this week? I feel like I’m starting to lose track. And anytime, sis, isn’t that what I’m here for?” He watched with a smirk, realizing as she texted someone on her phone that it was probably her said man. “Don’t cancel your plans cause of little old me. I can lock the door in my room and your guy won’t even have a clue that I’m around. If anyone knows how important getting some is, it’s me, Vic.” He gave her a small shrug in return; things in Peter’s life had taken a turn for the lamer. He hadn’t gotten any call-backs for his most recent auditions, his love life was basically non-existent and the town he was living in had turned into boring-ville, give or take some days being saved by friends there. “Not that you care or anything, but I’m looking for...change. Not that I’m gonna find that here, but it’s a start. And please, we both know mom and dad have cheated on each other multiple times. I don’t know how they’re still together.”

Victoria quickly covered up with her robe as her brother walked in. “What the hell? What are you doing here?” She questioned. “Ugh!” 

“I’m giving mom and dad a lovely visit from their favorite kid, duh,” Peter said with a shrug, even though he was sure that both him and Vicky knew the favorite kid thing wasn’t true. “And apparently walking into the wrong room and seeing more of you than I ever wanted. Might have to go and shoot some steam directly into my eyes.” He shook his head, giving her an amused grin. “Who did you think I was anyway, one of dad’s business friends that you want as your new sugar daddy? Or is having sex in the family mansion your new kink?”

“You have a point there.” Claire agreed with a nod, chuckling softly. “Yeah I do. Which is why we get along perfectly. We don’t do relationships. Feelings and all that.. It’s just..” She paused to shrug. “Not for me.” Well, that’s mainly because she has never witnessed a decent one – you can blame her parents for this. “God imagine how boring that life could be? I don’t get it. I don’t know how people actually enjoy living like that. It’s not like I have big dreams for myself, but I still can’t be someone’s Stepford wife and cook for him. Life is too short and there’s too much to explore. Commitment comes with tons of responsibilities. And you know, I hate any kind of responsibility.” She didn’t even finish college, that’s how bad Claire was at commitment, she’d easily get bored and quit. “Really? That’s odd. I guess that’s because you can’t take your eyes off of me, so you don’t notice anything.” Her lips pursed into a playful smirk as she shrugged her shoulders. Claire raised her brow once Keith faced her, her smirk grew – damn he always knew how to tease her. “Don’t worry about that, I know few ways to help you out.” She smirked – in case you haven’t noticed, it was a sexual innuendo. “Be quick.”

“Ditto to that. As someone who did the stupid feelings thing once, it’s not worth it. I did learn one good thing from that, though; kinky rebound sex in club bathrooms is much more my style.” Keith snickered, trying to imagine Claire standing in a kitchen like someone’s stay-at-home mother, the image almost too much for him. “Why do I feel like you’re the type of person that burns pasta?” he teased. “Guess that’s why it’s always take-out when I’m over at your place. I can be the cook for the both of us, though. That’s one of the many skills outside of the bedroom that I have. I mean, I’m not Gordon Ramsay, but I can hold my own. I guess that means I’ll have to bring you over for a proper dinner one day.” He wasn’t exaggerating; Keith had a knack for making traditional Mexican food, something his grandma forced him and his sister into learning from a young age. He chuckled at her comment, shrugging. “Well you’re hot, what can I say? I’m easily distracted by hot people, especially one’s named Claire.” He smirked back in her direction as he went to clock out. It took him two minutes, if that, to grab his wallet, keys, and phone from the back, but he tried to stealthily make his way back without Claire noticing him. With a sneaky smile, he slowly walked up until he was inches away from where she was still sitting at the bar. “Let’s go, sexy,” he said from behind her, leaning over and pressing a quick kiss to her temple.

Isabella just chuckled at her friend. “Well, if you have done this before I would yell at you because obviously I wasn’t invited to even be in the wedding or even attend!” She teased. “But I am glad to attend this wedding, you and Stephen are meant to be.” The blonde smirked at the thought of Zane or Stephen knocking over the cake. “Well, can I at least bet on who will knock over the cake? Because I know it would be my brother.” She teased, “I sure do hope you have a second cake to bring out in case of that incident.” She was sure that there was a second cake somewhere, she’s been around long enough to know that Stephen would’ve want more cake so they could have a lot of leftovers. 

As soon as Hilari raised her dress up a little bit, the blonde just laughed as she saw the converse high-tops. “I think that fits you a lot more than heels.” She laughed. “I think whenever I get married I will be wearing flats. Knowing me I will be gigantic with heels on, and I will make my groom look like a shrimp.” She laughed before looking over Hilari once more. “I think you are ready to walk down that aisle.”

“Maybe I was one of those teen brides who got married before we met,” she joked, although she couldn’t play that off too well. She met Izzy when she was sixteen, right around when she met Stephen as well. It would’ve been weird imagining anything before the both of them came into her life. “I always forget you two are related. I mean, how do you deal with him? You’re so normal and he’s so...Zane-y,” she stated with a shake of her head. “I guess he got dropped a lot more as an infant than you.” She knew from the first day that Stephen and Zane came as a package deal, but thankfully Izzy was the bonus gift on top of that. “I have some back up cupcakes just in case disaster strikes. Knowing those two, it will, it’s just a matter of when. They’ll probably start up a riot right after they finish their pizza.” 

Hilari gave her a relieved smile, dropping the dress back down to her feet and taking one last look in the mirror. “Even in flats, you’re tall as hell, Izzy. You might have to get your husband some platform boots, like the ones the Spice Girls used to wear,” she chuckled. Isabella’s comment was like a command, feeling herself let out a heavy breath and trying to shake off any nerves as she made it clear that it was time. “Okay. You better get your butt up there in your maid of honor place, then,” she smiled. She was about to grab her bouquet but decided to move in the other direction last second to give Izzy one final hug before the ceremony started. “Thank you again, by the way. If you weren’t here...I don’t what I’d be doing. Probably holding myself in a corner and rocking back and forth. You keep me sane, Iz.”

“You are smart, Peter. Stop arguing.” Annabelle smile. “You and Victoria are both smart. I mean I look up to you three anyways.” She shrugged before stacking her papers up to set them off to the side for a little break. Annabelle’s nose scrunched up Peter’s confession. That was a little bit too much and she didn’t want to know anymore. “Yeah, I really did not need to hear about that. I am glad we are close, but we don’t need to be that close.” She teased him.

As soon as Peter sat down beside her she leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder, shrugging. “I guess you guys are all on your own and seem happy, and I feel like I need to grow up a little and prove that I can be on my own.“ She let out a soft sigh. “Enough about me and my lonely life. What have you been up to since the last I saw you?”

Peter rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut. It was rare that he’d do it on demand, but if anyone had the ability to make him be quiet, it was Annabelle. “Out of the three of us, Ellie is a good person to look up to. Keep up with that one.” Peter chuckled, giving her a shrug. “Sorry, Bells. But hey, maybe for my birthday you can buy me PJ bottoms since you now know I’m lacking.”

Peter’s eyes met with the floor when Annabelle mentioned how happy everyone seemed by themselves. Sure, he was doing alright on his own, but that didn’t mean he liked hearing she wasn’t and not knowing about it for that long. “I don’t doubt that at all. You’re a big girl, even if I always refer to you as my baby sister. I just...if I knew, I could’ve had you over to stay at my apartment or let you babysit Jake for a bit. I don’t want you to feel like you can’t come to me when you’re going through rough times.” He wrapped an arm around her, giving a hug from the side. “I wish I had interesting stories for you, but other than a bit of movie filming, recording music, and doing beach-y stuff...that’s about it. Gonna be honest, I get lonely too sometimes.”

Annabelle just giggled. He was right. Victoria would just close the door on his face. She would grow up just listening to the two argue, but she was fortunate enough to never argue with any of her siblings. Maybe they would pick on her a little bit when she was young, but not much. “You and Victoria are smart too.” She replied before sitting back down on the floor and placing the papers onto the coffee table to write more. 

After a moment of reading over what she had already wrote, she looked up at Peter, smiling. “I do have some sweats that are big on me and would probably fit you.” She suggested. She was glad that he agreed to stay some nights over. “I’ve just been feeling a bit homesick and lonely. I barely have any friends here, but I also don’t have much time to have friends or go on dates like a normal college girl.”

Peter made a face at her comment, smart being the last word he thought of when it came to him and Victoria. That was Annabelle, though, always seeing the best in them even when the truth was they were probably the siblings from hell. “If you mean street smart, maybe. I’m not exactly Einstein, and I’m pretty sure Vic isn’t winning a Nobel Prize any time soon either. I’m glad you think differently, though, might have to keep you around.”

“I sleep naked most of the time so I don’t have PJ’s around too much...which you really didn’t need to know. Sorry, baby sis,” he said almost immediately, giving her a goofy smile. “I forget that I shouldn’t always be so TMI, don’t mean to scar you for life. I think the rest of the family has done that already, though, so whatever. I’ll take the sweats if I forgot shorts.” Peter didn’t care a whole lot about people other than himself, but something about hearing Annabelle say how alone she felt was like a punch to the chest. “Bells, why didn’t you tell me?” He made his way over and took a seat beside her. “If I knew that, I could’ve....” He trailed off, realizing he didn’t really have an answer to that. He couldn’t be there to protect her 24/7, and that was something he still had trouble with. He sighed, looking at her. “I just wish I knew that before.”

“Aw! I missed you too Petey.” Annabelle grinned, she was so happy to have her brother come and visit her. Lately it was lonely and she was feeling a bit homesick just being away. Sometimes she wished she was living the normal college life and had a dorm, but her father insisted on paying for the most safest apartment in the city. Meaning she was alone, and only had one friend that she only saw in class. “I am so glad you are here. Though I may not be all that great of a hostess. I got to get this paper done and then study for my midterms. But I did just go grocery shopping, so my fridge is well stocked for you.” She smiled as she closed the door behind. “You are staying here, right? Because tomorrow afternoon I’ll be done with my midterms and everything.” 

“You better have. If I tried to surprise Victoria like that, she’d roll her eyes, shut the door in my face and double lock it. Did I mention that’s part of why you’re my favorite and not her?” At hearing the words fridge and well stocked, Peter sauntered over to the kitchen area to check it out. “No worries, I probably should’ve called in the first place. I don’t wanna distract you from your A game or anything. Besides Ellie, you’re the only family genius left. You gotta keep those brain juice flowing.” He knew the place pretty well, considering he helped with a lot of the furniture moving. Their dad bought her the place, but couldn’t even bother to drive down and help her settle in to it, so that’s where Peter came in (along with some hired professional movers, of course.) He was eyeing up a tub of strawberry Greek yogurt when her words make him pause, glancing over his shoulder before shutting the fridge door and giving her his full attention. “I’ll stay if you want me to, Bells,” he replied, unsure of how to read her tone. Something about it didn’t seem one hundred percent right. “I might have to borrow a pair of your PJ bottoms for the night, though…ha, kidding. I have my gym bag in my car.”

Annabelle was just working on some school work in her apartment when she heard a knock on the door. The brunette raised her brow, a little nervous on who was on the other side. She never really got guests and she wasn’t expecting anyone. For a second she debated on even answering, but something inside her told her to go answer it. So she pushed herself up off her floor and made her way over to open it and to her surprise her brother was on the other side of the door. “Peter!” She grinned before jumping at him and hugging his neck for a second. “This is a surprise!” She said with the biggest smile on her face. “Come on in!” 

Peter didn’t show his soft side to many people, but when it came to his younger sister, that was different. She was probably the one person on Earth he didn’t have to put up barriers with. He hugged her back tightly and sighed. “You don’t know how much I missed you, Bells.” He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her, which meant it had obviously been too long. “How’s my favorite sister?” he asked, stepping into the apartment and taking a look around. “Things still good in Annabelle world? Whoa,” he paused, noticing the stack of paper, presumably from her classes, on the ground. “Look at you, being all smart and productive.”

Isabella was fixing her hair in the mirror, making sure she was maid of honor perfect for the ceremony. When she heard Hilari start to panic about everything, the blonde turned to look at the bride-to-be. She scanned everything on her and saw that the barrette already pinned up in her hair. “Hilari! Calm down. Your something blue is already in your hair.” She giggled before standing up and walking over to her best friend, placing her hands on the girl’s shoulders. “You look absolutely beautiful, and you are the most perfect bride. Don’t stress.” She smiled before wrapping her arms around her best friend. “If anything is going to be messed up it’s going to be on Stephen’s end.” She teased. “You just need your heels and that necklace I found. Please tell me you didn’t forget the necklace?”

Hilari raised an eyebrow, her hand automatically going to her head when Izzy mentioned it. “Oh,” she deadpanned, rolling her eyes in spite of herself when she felt her fingertips brush against the jewels. She had a feeling that wouldn’t be her last dumb move of the day. “Sorry, I haven’t really done this wedding thing before. I mean, thankfully I haven’t done it before, but still. And thank you, Iz,” she smiled. She gave Isabella a tight squeeze back, snickering at the thought of Stephen’s antics. “I bet you fifty bucks that either him or Zane knock over the wedding cake. I just have this intuitive sense that it won’t be standing by the end of the night.” Hilari raised an eyebrow at the mentioning of heels, realizing she never told her best friend about the change in shoe wear. “The necklace is sitting over there with my makeup,” she said with a nod towards the vanity in the room. “The shoes, though...I picked those out before hand,” she said with a grin, lifting up her dress to reveal a pair of black Converse high-tops. “Heels just aren’t me, you know? And if there’s one day where I want to be comfy, it’s my wedding. It doesn’t look too dumb or anything, right?”

“I know, that’s such a shame.” Claire mused with a playful smirk, tossing her brunette locks aside. “Oh my god! A hooker? Can’t they even find a random woman in a goddamn bar? Yikes, they must be really bad at flirting. Yeah that would be too unrealistic. People cheat.” She said with a nonchalant shrug, resting her hands on the bar counter. Not that Claire has cheated on anyone before – she has never been in a serious relationship. Her life was full of flings and hook-ups. “You know I never joke about that shit either.” Sure Claire was rarely serious, but if there’s one topic she was also serious about, it was sex. “I don’t mind mess at all – my house is also a mess. You can find several bras in my living room. Ten minutes sounds perfect.” She brushed her hair behind her ears. “Nah, I am good. I don’t wanna tire you.” Smirking again, she shrugged her shoulders.

“Apparently not. Although they’re C.E.O’s, not rocket scientists. They don’t really need to use their brains,” he replied, trying to keep his voice loud enough so only she could hear. As much as he enjoyed talking shit about his idiot customers, he also needed his job. “I wouldn’t cheat, but then again, I don’t really do relationships. But you already knew that, given my past and all that,” he said with a slight grimace. Claire was one of the only people who knew about his ex from back when he lived in California, and that was one part of his life he didn’t love to reflect on. “But hey, I wouldn’t be here if it worked out, right? Plus I’d feel weird being someone’s husband. I’m not really the ‘coming home to a white picket fence house and wifey’ type, and I’m also not a continent. I don’t want anyone staking their claim to me, even though jealousy can be sorta hot.” He lifted a brow, his grin following right behind. “Several bras? That’s funny, they never seem to be around when I show up.” He was about to get his stuff when her comment stopped him in his tracks. “Really? Tire me?” He leaned back over the counter, his face stopping a couple inches from hers. It was enough to tease, but not enough to have his boss think he was about to kiss some unsuspecting girl. “You out of all people already know that I don’t tire easily. If I do tonight, though, I’m sure you’ll have no problem helping me out. Y’know, seeing that you’re obviously concerned about my well being and all that.” With one more smirk, he slowly backed away. “Be back in a second, don’t even think about moving that cute ass.”

Right? Such a shame. I wish more people lived by it.” Claire chuckled again, leaning towards him slightly. “Ugh god, that sounds terrible. CEOs are boring. What do they talk about even? Their boring ass job, money and cocaine probably.” She rolled her eyes. Now that she thought about it, Claire has never met someone who had a serious job. She managed to surround herself by chill people like her – which was a blessing. “You know I am into both. I am in if you are.” She knew he was just joking – however she decided to give him a serious answer, just to test him. “Me? Busy? Have you ever met me?” She snorted, tossing her hair aside. “Of course not,” Claire chuckled before taking the shot. “We can go somewhere else after your shit. Mmm,” Playfully pursing her lips, Claire paused and tapped her finger against her chin. “To your place maybe? Or mine? You pick.”

“We can’t all be as special as you, obviously,” he grinned, a snort following from her comment. “And don’t forget cheating on their wives with hookers. It’s kind of amazing how many of them talk about Candy and her amazing blowjobs. You’d think they’d come up with better names to use by now. All they have to do is walk into some fancy lotion store and steal the names off of soap bottles. Coconut Snowball, Midnight Twilight, the options are endless. I mean, the guys could probably just not cheat too, but that’d be putting too much faith in them.” Keith raised an eyebrow, the trademark smirk still on his lips. “I wouldn’t joke about that shit, Claire, because I might take you up on it. It would tick off another place for the sex bucket list.” His eyes never left her face as she downed her shot like a professional. Not even when she pretended to be in deep thought, his gaze suddenly directed to her lips as she pursed them. “Well it was your place last time if memory serves me correct, and I don’t want to be greedy. That wouldn’t be fair, now would it? Sharing is caring and all that shit. If you don’t mind a bit of a mess, we can head over to mine. I should be off in ten minutes,” he confirmed with a glance down to the watch on his wrist. “You want anything else while I’m here?”