w a r t i m e .

✧

“It’s definitely not legal,” she agrees, ignoring the fact that she’d said it at all. It was simply a means to an end and that was all she had needed to get the seat next to Wyatt. Surely, the woman would end up questioning their relationship once Izzy had a drink or two more and her hand drifts higher on the man’s leg naturally. For now though, she’s just happy to lean in and hear about what he’s been up to, considering she hasn’t seen him in like a whole twelve hours or something. Izzy smiles at the bartender as he looks concerned for Wyatt for maybe a split second before pouring the drink and she’s sure he’s going to give him some sort of discount when he walks away to go to the register. 

“We should’ve tried this before,” she admits, spinning her straw absentmindedly, looking over. Her curls fall over her shoulder as Izzy turns to Wyatt. “Then again, if you show up in this bar like in two weeks they’ll know you lied. But it’s too late then, isn’t it?” she grins. There were a lot of things that Izzy managed to drag Wyatt into, of course, this being a smaller scheme of lies. “So, anyways, hi baby. You look cute today,” she tells him. “Why didn’t you tell me we were drinking tonight?” she asks, having stumbled upon him by coincidence.

-

“You know,” he says, rolling the stiffness out of his shoulders as he sits up straighter in his seat, “if I never come back here, that guy’ll think I died. Gotta be tough to know you served a guy his last drink right?” Wyatt stretched his legs open until his knee brushed against Izzy’s. He didn’t really give a shit if a random at a bar thought they were siblings. But part of the fun was seeing how long they could keep the act up. How long they could be in the same room and keep their hands off of each other. They’ll keep pushing each other to see who breaks first.

The bartender slides a drink in front of Izzy and settles another in front of him that he hadn’t ordered. Wyatt raises an eyebrow at it, wondering if it’s going to show up on the tab, as if he wouldn’t have ordered another one eventually. “Hadn’t planned on it. But, bar’s on the way home. Figured I might as well try to get laid before I ship out.”

Even with the filing happening earlier on this year, the details were just now being worked out. With Reina dangling the kids over him, he felt like he virtually had nothing. Even thought Wyatt was grown and could make his own decisions, he knew whose side he’d be by during all of this and it wasn’t Anthony’s.  

“I’ve seen a ton of shows where the kids get fucked up cause of their parents getting divorced. I don’t want that to be ‘em,” He didn’t want Iris growing up with issues cause of him or AJ or Rhett being a psychopaths. “Oh c’mon, I’m sure you know,” He figured he didn’t have to explain it to Wyatt. He wasn’t proud of his actions but he couldn’t help it. He figured that Wyatt had caught on about his infidelities by now. “Honestly I don’t know why this time was any different for her compared to the others.” 

His head cocked to the side with a hint of a smirk gliding across his lips. “You think the divorce is what’s gonna fuck them up?” Wyatt hadn’t meant for it to sound as condescending as it came out. But, honestly. The Thane kids were the spoiled children of a mob boss. They hardly stood any more chance of not being fucked up than he had. “That’ll probably be the most normal thing that ever happens to any of ‘em.”

His hands tuck deep into the pockets of his jeans, shoulders shrug as he watches Ant’s face for any sign that he actually did know why this time is different. “You love this one?” He asks, genuinely curious what his answer will be.

One of the only constants in Wyatt’s life is the greeting he gets when he shows up at the Thane’s place (Or maybe it’s just Reina’s now. He’s not sure how that’s all going to shake out). He barely manages to get his foot in the door before he hears his name at top volume from somewhere inside, followed by the padding of footsteps and a six year old throwing her whole body into his arms. Wyatt catches Iris and picks her up off the ground, scratching his beard against her cheeks until she pushes him away. He’s never had any trouble admitting that Iris was his favorite. 

He tosses the girl over his shoulder and carries her into the house. “You keep squirming like that, I’m gonna drop you head first on this hard ass floor,” he tells the giggling girl he’s holding by the ankles. “Where’s your ma?”

@wycttnadir​

Friday December 17th, 2020

This wasn’t fair to Wyatt, to even ask him to do this shit. But he was desperate. And he knew that Reina would always love him as a son. He’d probably lose Wyatt in the divorce too, but what the hell was he expecting? “Y’know Reina and me, we’re gonna be goin’ through some shit,” As he was sure Wyatt knew, “And the kids, they’re gonna be dealing with it too. You think you could keep an eye on ‘em from behind enemy lines?” He joked, before his smile turned back into a straight face, “Just make sure their basic needs are met. I don’t need you to check in. That wouldn’t be fair of you to ask. I’m just saying please keep an eye on them. They listen to you.” 

-

Anthony Thane has never been cruel to him. And, Wyatt knows, without him, he’d have spent the last half of his teen years in a group home. Why he gravitated towards Reina, he can’t explain. It may have been just the simple fact that she was around more.

Wyatt lights the cigarette dangling from his mouth. “I’m not one of the kids, Ant,” he says, leaning back against his car with his arms folded across his chest. “I know how divorce works.” Though he’s sure there’s some complications that will arise given their occupations. “And I’ve always watched out for the kids. They’re gonna be fine.” He takes a drag on his cigarette, eyes looking over the man who seemed, somehow, frail compared to the man Wyatt remembered taking him in. “You wanna tell me what was the final nail in the coffin?”

when: January 2020 where: a bar with: @wycttnadir​

Isobella maneuvers herself around the bar, finding herself a place beside Wyatt, which at the moment is occupied but she’s happy to come around the bar to speak with the woman beside him. “Hey, baby, would you mind? My brother here is leaving tomorrow for another tour in Iraq and I just need to have some time with him tonight,” she says, lying through her teeth. But ultimately, it gets her to move and that’s enough for her. Izzy places herself on the barstool, leaning forward on her elbows on the bar to flag a bartender down before she’s looking at Wyatt. “Just going to miss my little brother so much,” she teases, fake pouting at the man. Clearly, one of the farthest thing from her brother. He may protect her but surely, not her brother considering their past together. “I’ll have a cranberry vodka on him,” she mentions to the bartender, pointing to Wyatt. An eyebrow raises in his direction, wondering if he’s going to challenge the purchase. 

-

The woman beside him had continued to talk long after Wyatt’s interest started to drift. There seems to be a point in every conversation at a bar where the other person mistakes his intentions, gives away too much detail trying to needle their way into something more than his bed for one night. That isn’t going to happen. 

She’s polite enough when they’re interrupted. A few startled “ohs” and “wow he didn’t mention that” before she excuses herself with a “nice to meet you” and a “thank you for your service.” Wyatt can’t help the cough of a laugh that comes around the lip of his bottle when Izzy takes her place on the now empty stool. 

“So it’s siblings now? Not sure that’s legal, but okay.” Wyatt rolls his eyes towards her, feeling the same tightness in his chest that always grips him when he’s around her. The bartender waits for him to agree to pay for her drink, which e confirms with a not. “Yeah, same tab. Since it’s my last night before I ship off to Iraq.” He figured he might as well roll with the lie and see if he can get some free drinks out of it.