washed up

Lyle turned to face the man, sizing him up without much shame. She didn’t really do subtlety- she couldn’t really manage it even if she wanted to. A smirk pulled at her painted lips. “I am,” she said, smirk still tugged at her lips. “You trying to change that?”

Watching her eyes move over him caused Wes to let out a little chuckle. “I don’t know, do you want me to change that?” He asked with a smile before he took a swig of his drink.

              Prue had kept direct eye contact with him, but nothing had prepared her for what he said next. Her eyes got wider and she couldn’t help but laugh nervously at it too. Nonetheless she listened to her sons answer carefully, as she began to rock the stroller back and forth, in fear of Aster waking up. “Yes!” The little boy said with excitement. “Her name is Pru-dence,” The little boy was sure to pronounce it right. “But she doesn’t like it, I don’t know why, all her friends call her Prue.” He explained in a ramble of shorten words and half pronounced ones.

“Prudence.” He repeated with a smile and a nod. When his daughter was little, girls would always come up to him asking about her. He wasn’t proud of it, but his child was the best way to strike up a conversation and he was simply using his technique with her son. “You have a pretty smart boy here, you and your husband have been doing a great job.”

“Yes,” Aaina hissed excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet. It was quite possible she was drunk, but she loved that he was willing to play along. “That would be amazing. And that’s a confusing question even if you’re asking about TVs, so it’s really a joke that keeps on giving. Definitely do that.”

Seeing her excitement caused Wes to let out a chuckle. It was probably the alcohol that was surging through both of their systems, but he couldn’t stop laughing. “Could you imagine walking to Walmart right now? I’d probably make it two blocks before passing out or I’d get lost.”

            “Looks can be quite deceving,” she teased giving him a playful wink, although he was right, aside from the fact that she wanted to be an actress, her parents had no reason to be upset with her, she had been a good daughter. Prue watched the little scene with adoration, Atticus didn’t get enough interactions with men, it was nice to see him get a positive one. “Yeah,” he replied with a sweet smile, his eyes going back and forth between Wesley and Prue. 

After getting the okay to ask a question, Wes kept his eyes on the blonde standing before them. “Could you tell me what your mom’s name is? Because I think she is very beautiful, but I’m too nervous to ask her. Do you think you could help me out Atticus?” It was a risky move to flirt through a child, but he always believed that the bigger the risk the bigger the reward. 

“Uhm…is she interested in Cinderella at all?” Leave it to Wyatt to be completely useless in these type of situations. It didn’t matter what age he may have been, he doubted he’d ever be the best at deciding on gifts and giving advice to those who needed it. “I don’t really know what fifteen year old girls are into these days…You could always just give her money. That’s what my mother always did for birthdays and special occasions.”

“I honestly can’t remember...” He trailed off while letting out a frustrated huff. It was difficult to keep track of her interests when her likes and dislikes were constantly changing. “I know money would be the easy option, but I don’t want to be that parent who always gives their kid money. No offense to your mom or anything like that, I’m sure you loved getting cash.”

Amara glanced up from the doll in her hands she was thinking about getting for her daughter, eyebrows arching on her forehead as she looked down at the supposed glass slipper in his hands. “Well… it’s a good thought, but I’m pretty sure she won’t be able to do much with that. Maybe you should go look for something else.”

Glancing down, Wesley noticed that the woman was doing some shopping herself. There was something about her that made him realize that she most likely knew more about shopping than he did. “I’m going to trust you on this.” He responded with a smile. “Do you mind helping me look? I’m a bit clueless when it comes to this kind of stuff.”

“No, you can stay. Like I said… I like having you around.” Carson said, her tone turning into a reason one as she locked her oceanic blue eyes with his. She was surprised to be greeted by the kiss, but she responded back quickly, cupping his jaw as she did so. Carson promised no strings attached but here she was, in knots. But she didn’t care, she trusted Wes, he was special to her and she was going to show him that. Letting herself go of her ugly truth, just this one time, she pressed her body against his, smiling against their kiss. “Now would be a good time to test that theory.” she said in between kisses. “Pancakes can wait.”

It had always been easy with Carson, which was why their relationship was so dangerous. He was falling into this trap that reminded of a time from the good old days. When him and his ex-wife were playful and absolutely crazy for one another. However, responsibility and real feelings quickly came along and so did divorce papers. He didn’t want to have those emotions or that commitment with Carson, because in his mind, their friendship would be ruined. “Pancakes can certainly wait.” He mumbled against her lips as he tangled his fingers in her hair while his other hand roamed along her back. “You taste a lot better than pancakes anyway.” Wes added this time through a laugh which sent vibrations through their kiss.

The mall was the last place Kara figured she’d end up on her “tour to familiarize herself with the town” but, here she was, venturing through whatever the town was offering this time around. She was nosing around in some random store selling random items when a voice, posing a question, caught her attention. Kara’s gaze shifted between the man and the glass object in his hands and couldn’t help the small wince that occupied her face. “Probably not. I mean, it’d make a nice paper weight but I’ve yet to come across a teenager who’s that concerned about their stationary.” His question was random enough to pique Kara’s interest in what exactly he planned on doing with such an item. “Was that for a special occasion or a ‘just because’ sort of thing?”

It seemed as if his idea of a great gift didn’t seem as popular with everyone else in the store. With so many people giving him negative reviews, he decided to listen and he placed the object back onto the shelf. “A just because sort of thing.” He admitted with a nod, “it’s sort of this tradition in my family to get a gift at the end of the school year. It’s a ways to congratulate you on passing all of your classes.” After a brief pause, he quickly added, “I don’t have the smartest family so moving onto the next grade is always a big accomplishment.”

“I’ve seen better, but you’re not bad,” Maverick laughed, wrinkling his nose. Men never changed. Ego’s for miles. “That is a great question. I think…Lakewood shores. Maybe. I know my sisters live over there. I might…should go there.”

“I’ll take not bad.” Wes matched his laugh and added a smile. That smile slowly began to fade when he answered his next question or attempted to answer the question. “You don’t know where you live?”

“Not being a good enough father for my daughter…also being eaten alive by a shark.”

“Ah, crap. You caught me.” she feigned embarrassment, hiding her face in the cup of her hands though the smile never wavered from her lips. There was no doubt that Wes was special to her - but the more she was sure of this feeling, the more she had to remind herself that she was married. And if there was anything anyone - especially Wes - ever deserved from Carson, it was her honesty. But here she was again, falling into their ritual. “I don’t know, you tell me. Even you should know the answer to that by now.” she answered, moving to her side and faced him too.

“Now that I know the truth, does that mean I have to move out?” With her face now hidden, Wes took his chance to surprise her. After taking her wrists in his hands, he moved them aside to press his lips against hers. Since their very first kiss, he knew that he was in trouble. Carson was one of his closest friends, she was someone that didn’t only see him as the town’s wash up, and he didn’t want to jeopardize losing that. However, everything about her was intoxicating to him and as much as he tried, he couldn’t stop kissing her. “Oh I’m well aware of how much you can handle.” He muttered through a laugh before he slipped his hand to rest on her back, pulling her body in closer to his.

    “I’d be inclined to say yes or no if I knew a little more about her.” Iris teased, though she didn’t that there was anything wrong with it. Teenage girls were difficult to shop for due to how picky they could be, a fact that made Iris guilty about her own adolescence. “Is she into any particular thing? Sports, a book or television series or anything like that? You could always just go with something simple if you aren’t sure.”

Truth be told, he didn’t know much about what his daughter was interested in. When she was younger, she would tell him everything and was always so excited to see him. Now, he can barely get a sentence out of her and she dreads coming over for his weekend. “I’m pretty sure her favorite color is pink...” Wes trailed off as he continued to think. “She loves baseball, at least she did a few months ago.”

“Don’t most fifteen year old girls want cell phones, purses, or like tickets to Justin Bieber?” Seth questioned, his brow lifting as he stared at the other man. He remembered his own sister being that age, but he was twenty and far too concerned with his own life to pay much attention to what Cece wanted.

“Is Justin Bieber still a thing?” He wondered out loud, clearly not knowing much about the interests of his daughter. Wes tried, he really did, but her likes and dislikes seemed to change every week and it was difficult to keep track of. “What about that other band? New direction? Or Fifth Direction?”