[ayden-tylka]

heather--phillips:

“Oh, but I need to keep you fat and chubby. That way I don’t need to invest in pillows, and other women stay away from you,” she reminded him lovingly, turning around as she listened to his laughter echo behind her. Heather wrapped her own arm around his back, adopting their usual position without much thought. She let out a breath, facing forward again. In moments like that, Heather was often reminded of time’s elasticity. She could remember the excitement and panic as she printed the tickets for Athens. Her hands hardly ever shake, but they trembled as she slammed the tickets on Ayden’s desk. It felt like they had just shared a kiss as they decided to travel the world together, like it was just yesterday when they left the island. But it also felt as if they had been doing it all of their lives. “I love you too,” Heather replied after a heartbeat, placing a kiss on his shoulder.

Ayden laughed at Heather’s wit once again, catching the turn of her head with his affectionate gaze. It was seamless, as always, the way their bodies fit together. Then, a million cheesy phrases filled Ayden’s mind, thinking that Heather truly was more beautiful and important than the scenery in front of them. He remembered one of their first dates ever when they ate dinner overlooking the ocean, how he’d delivered a line just as Hallmark as the one he wanted to say now and how her smile filled a permanent room in his heart, how he’d grown addicted to that smile. “I don’t want to leave tomorrow,” he admitted, his eyebrows arching and flattening just as quickly. He felt his words fill their air and then wished he hadn’t said them. Ayden swore he’d be the encourager, the person who would help Heather feel as okay about going to her sister’s wedding as he could. But, if he were being honest, he just wanted to stay right there with her. He preferred hiking boots and nutella sandwiches to Kevin and champagne. 

[ayden-tylka]

miss-lindsay-campbell:

“Damn, I guess I will have to give up on my dream of being an astronaut,” she joked along. Ayden’s bad jokes never failed to make a giggle burst out of her throat. “Work’s going fine, it keeps me busy when he and Alice are out of the house. Evan’s work is going pretty well too, though it drives me crazy when he has to be home late.”

“I know,” she mumbled, her eyes looking away even though he was only watching her through a screen. “I wish you all could just come to my house, have a normal holiday… but I guess normality is a little too much to ask for us.” Lindsay pursed her lips before making herself face him again. “I know what you mean.”

“You don’t have to. I mean, in your free time between cases, Heather can take you up into space with her,” Ayden proposed. Her giggle made him laugh again, grateful that someone thought he was funny. “I know you’re killing it. I’m so impressed by you, Linds,” Ayden told her truthfully. “So, Evan’s a police officer and you’re a lawyer. You would know then... uh, may I sue Heather for beating me to the top of every mountain that we hike?” 

“Yeah...” Ayden drifted, his mind walking back to the island they lived on. “I think you’re right.” He was quiet for another moment, his brain working over the possible scenarios before he spoke again. “But they’re done with us. They let us go. I think your decision is a good one.” He allowed himself then to get excited about their reunion. “Thank you for organizing this.” 

[ayden-tylka]

heather--phillips:

“Well, for starters I don’t eat that many nutella sandwiches,” she reparteed at his mumble without turning around, even when Heather knew perfectly well she ate as much (or more) as he did. “Also, I fuel myself with the wrath of my enemies.” Heather stopped to catch her breath as she reached the mountain top, allowing her eyes to soak in the scenery. “How eloquent,” she complimented with a smile, looking up to his expression. Throughout their trip she had seen countless beautiful places, but even the ones she had seen before were better when she allowed herself to enjoy them as much as Ayden enjoyed everything he did. 

“Maybe you shouldn’t make them taste so good then,” he returned to her just as softly as before. When Heather revealed her hiking secret, Ayden dispensed a laugh that echoed around him. “Ah, great. I’ll try that next time,” he committed, kicking a small stone at his feet. “Thank you,” he chuckled quietly where they stood still. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, his head tilting to rest on hers. His chest rose and fell like a gentle drum beat as he looked around them. The sun was melting behind the distant mountaintops and it resembled the yellow egg yolks with which the couple never cooked. Ayden smiled at their unconventionality. “I love you,” he reminded her simply, his head still facing forward.

[ayden-tylka]

miss-lindsay-campbell:

It was impossible to not shake her head at him. “Well, maybe if any of you bothered to be active on facebook or whatever I’d be able to keep a track of you.” Lindsay’s amused smile melted into something more affectionate as he talked about their trip and the possibility of getting together. “We’d like that. I’ll make sure to let you guys know as soon as Evan gets a break from work.”

“Well… you know we are technically not supposed to get together. So I thought hiding in plain sight would be the best option?” She hoped he would get the hint, already getting ready for a negative. Just in case.  

“You make some good points,” Ayden complimented, his voice carrying playful defeat. “You should be a lawyer or something.” He smiled after his bad joke, hearing Lindsay take him up on his offer. “That’d be great! How’s his work going? And yours?” 

“Right,” he confirmed her first statement, failing silent for a moment after her question. Ayden did get her hint and he felt his typical supportive words stick in his throat a bit. “Helios,” he exhaled. He hadn’t used that word in a while. “I suppose you’re right, that if we want to see each other – which I do, that’d be the best place to go.” Ayden raised a hand to his hair. “Man, it’ll be... weird to go back there again.” 

[ayden-tylka]

“I’m coming! I’m coming,” Ayden huffed brightly, his voice seeming more distant than it truly was for his words would ricochet to the neighboring mountain tops before it returned to him and to Heather. “How do you move so fast?” He asked in an inquisitive mumble that was barely audible against the crunching of the rocks under Ayden’s shoes. After another step, Heather was in his line of vision. Then so was their surroundings. Though one hand held his camera, he bunched the sleeve of his windbreaker in the other when he walked to stand beside her, his breath escaping him for a moment. “Woah,” he marveled, looking out at their view.

[ayden-tylka]

miss-lindsay-campbell:

Lindsay rolled her eyes at the computer screen. Ayden’s image was blurry and the sound was a little off, but overall it was very nice to see her friend’s smile again. “Sweden? I thought you guys were still in Norway.” 

Lindsay leaned back in her office chair. “I’ve been making a few calls… and I’m pretty sure I could get everyone together for the holidays, wouldn’t that be nice?” She bit her perfectly painted lip for a moment, awaiting Ayden’s answer. 

“Nah, we left Norway last week. God, keep up, Linds.” Ayden laughed when he teased her. “This trip has been incredible,” he sobered, shaking his head in disbelief when he pondered each place he’d seen the last few months. “After the holidays, you, Evan, Alice, you’ll all have to come visit somewhere else with us.” 

“That would be incredible!” Ayden perked, his caring eyes wide. “Where would we meet?” 

[ayden-tylka]

miss-lindsay-campbell:

“So… I did something crazy.”

“As crazy as hiding out in the Swedish mountains?” Ayden chuckled at Heather and his irrationality, his phone glitching so Lindsay’s blue eyes froze briefly on his screen. He looked into the camera again, his lips curving into a smirk of anticipation. “What’d you do?” 

[heather--phillips]

Heather sighed in relief, she knew she was being selfish, that the right thing to do would be to ask Ayden to stay at Helios and wait for her. But the thought of returning to her parent’s manor, enduring long exhausting days just to come back to an empty bed she hated… she couldn’t do that. Ayden removed his hand from her face and she nodded, wanting more than anything to go home. “But first,” she murmured, leaning in slowly to press her lips to his lovingly. 

[ayden-tylka]

Ayden turned to catch her kiss and realized then how much he had missed her. He knew he would follow her anywhere. Ayden rested his forehead against Heather’s and smiled gently. He took her hand when they began towards their cabin. “Since you’ve been away,” he started after a moment, “would you like a recap?” Ayden didn’t wait for her answer, smiling wider as he swung their hands between them. “Lindsay graduated from law school and I saved all of the Time’s crosswords for us to do together though their absence may have lowered my IQ because I accidentally killed that plant I was trying to grow in the kitchen, but I bought a new one. I’ll be much more attentive this time.” He laughed adjusting his grip on her suitcase. “And Ronnie stopped by and borrowed at least six of your tshirts. I like her. She’s cool.” 

[heather--phillips]

Heather wished to be stronger, to be able to say NO and stand her ground. But even when she didn’t particularly cared about being cut off, even when she did her best to remember that she shouldn’t care about her father’s approval, she didn’t want to be in their black list. It was dangerous, and it was dangerous for Ayden too. “I don’t want you to be there,” she said honestly. “I don’t want to go, but there is no way out of it, I’m sorry. And even when I would much rather to have you as far away from my poisonous family… I don’t think I could make it if you aren’t there.”

[ayden-tylka]

Ayden’s knitted eyebrows laid flatter when Heather finished speaking, her word ‘poisonous’ rounding each corner of his mind. He raised his hand again to tuck some brown hair behind her ear and noticed how it was easier to look at her beautiful eyes than to see the defeat pooling inside of them. He nodded after a moment. “Then I’ll be there,” Ayden swore, his voice warmer than tropical sun. He glanced at her suitcase and his fingers moved to cradle the back of his neck, his other hand grabbing her bag. “Let’s get you back to the cabin, alright?” 

[heather--phillips]

Heather closed her eyes, she would much rather be at their cabin, where she could really fall asleep against Ayden and not think about anything. She was tired from flying, sitting, walking and thinking, mostly she was tired of over thinking. In her mind every single bad moment she had spent with Kevin was played on repeat, only stopping when Ayden tightened his hold on her. Reluctantly, she peeled off him when his posture changed, blinking away both her exhaustion and confusion. “Well, yes. If you want to, that is. Lindsay is going, and I assume Evan will too. Ronnie, most probably… even Garrett. I marked ‘plus one’, so if you wanted to come, you could.”

[ayden-tylka]

“I mean, if there is no chance that you will stay here – stay here and not go to the wedding,” Ayden prodded, half pleading, already knowing her answer. The spider web of high rises and Prada that Heather knew as home was still something Ayden knew he would never comprehend. He understood most things, but never her family – how they treated her, how they pawned her. He lifted a hand to her cheek, his thumb running gently across her temple when he continued to speak. “Then I want to be there, Heather. That is, if you want me to be, I mean,” he corrected quickly, his hand slipping back to his lap. 

[heather--phillips]

His words made Heather look up, her heart aching as she tried to tell him that there was no choice to make, that if it came to it she would always choose him over her family. But she knew the consequences of disobeying her father, of making her sister unhappy. Tiredly, she sank into his comfort, closing the distance between them so that she could wrap a weak arm around Ayden and nodded at his comment. “I mostly just missed you a lot,” she confessed with a sigh, closing her eyes. “You don’t have to come to the wedding if you don’t want to.”

[ayden-tylka]

Ayden felt his body relax just enough when Heather leaned against him. His arm was outstretched ready to hold her when she erased their distance. His eyes still rested on his knee. He tried to think of Heather’s trip or coffee shops or trees in the tropical forest, but all that insisted on covering each recess of Ayden’s mind was Kevin. Still incensed by the idea of him getting to see Heather ever again, let alone so soon, Ayden was surprised by the almost undetectable smile that curved his lips at her admission, how it only took Heather a few words to make him feel more at ease. He moved his hand up and down against her jacket. “I missed you too,” he replied earnestly. After Heather spoke again, Ayden’s posture changed, his hand moving to rest on her thigh when he tilted his head. “Wait. I can come?” 

[heather--phillips]

“There’s no other way, alright?!” Heather bursted out, removing his hand from her arm and immediately regretting. Her lip quivered and she felt the tears threaten to come out, so she did the only thing she could think of and sat on a bench nearby, burying her face in her hands. “You don’t know what they are like, Ayden. You have no idea. And this is all my fault, because I did know and still I chose to play by their rules and married him instead of- of coming back to you.”

[ayden-tylka]

Ayden followed Heather to the bench, feeling the weight of the way she blamed herself pull him down to sit beside her. There was space between them, but he carefully placed his hand on her knee nonetheless. He knew she was right. Ayden didn’t know what they were like. “They’re your family, Heather,” he stated after a moment. “I don’t ever want you to chose between them and me.” He couldn’t bring his eyes to hers as they rested on his hand when he moved it from her knee to her back. He copied her, covering his face with his other palm. He looked at her finally, running his hand down her back. “You must be exhausted from your flight.” 

[heather--phillips]

Soon they reached a much more desolated part of the island, which proved useful when he removed his hand from hers and tore his eyes from her, the sudden cold made her shiver as she stood without his support. “I don’t like this any more than you do, okay?” She started sternly, but then he finished his thought. “Not go? Do you have any idea what that would mean? My parents would either cut me off again or have me shipped to New York within a week, is that what you want? For me to be gone?” She spat, grateful that no one else was around to hear her voice break. 

[ayden-tylka]

The bridge in her voice sent shivers down his own spine, but he couldn’t bring himself to take his hand from her arm. “No! Jesus Christ, Heather, of course not, but there has got to be another option,” he persisted, his empty arm raised fingers to his disheveled hair. “I won’t let you be around Kevin. No chance in hell.” 

[miss-lindsay-campbell]

“Thanks,” Lindsay smiled gratefully, retrieving the letter when he was done with it. “I think it has more to do with the fact my dad was Valedictorian, and that I am a published author than my grades. But I’m still pretty excited to give the speech at graduation.”

[ayden-tylka]

“I’m sure that’s not true, but I would bet that your grades were just icing on a Lindsay Campbell cupcake with all that you have achieved.” Ayden brought his empty hands to his pockets, smiling wider. “You’re going to be wonderful.” 

[ayden-tylka]

This is amazing news, congratulations! 

[xtremelyloud]

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[heather--phillips]

“Right, that makes sense,” Heather said, nodding. They walked in silence for a while as Heather tried to put her thoughts together. “And for some forsaken reason, even though she hates me, she wants me to be her maid of honor. But I guess it is because she hates me…” She pursed her lips. “So, there is soft or easy way to say this, so here it goes: as part of my maid of honor duties, I have to walk the aisle with the best man, who happens to be Kevin.”

[ayden-tylka]

Ayden didn’t mind the silence as he started to sort through his own thoughts, working unsuccessfully to decode hers too. He listened to her with caution, careful not react to severely which proved impossible when Heather mentioned her ex-husband. Ayden was quick to take his hand from Heather’s already feeling his fist bunch. He turned his head away from her so she wouldn’t see the compassion drain from his features. “Heather...” was all he offered when he looked at her again, placing a hand softly on her upper arm, unable to meet her eyes. “Please don’t go.”