Second Chances

"The weight of the world is love. Under the burden of solitude, under the burden of dissatisfaction." - Allen Ginsberg Dev Reynolds | 40 | Figuring it out

[devon--reynolds]

annccoopcr·:

          “Before you know it, you’re gonna be lovin’ the thing more than she does,” she smiled up at him, putting a strand of hair that was falling in front of her face behind her ear. “Well, truth be told, I have you both to be thankful for,” Anna said truthfully, thinking that if she stopped and looked at him she would probably start to get emotional all over again and it was the very last thing she wanted at that moment. “Melody gave me a roof over my head and she’s been a good friend for a long time, but you… because of you I know what I was goin’ through wasn’t worth it and after I kissed you that night it wakened somethin’ in me, somethin’ I didn’t know I had anymore. Besides, you gave me a good shoulder to sleep on and it’s more comfortable than any bed I’ve been in,” Anna heaved a small sigh, glancing at him briefly as she was sure that the skin of her cheeks were arm, the blush ought to be showing. There was a lot she wanted to tell Devon, but this was still not the time, nor the place for it. 

          “Hey—” she stopped him and turned to face him. “I would love it if you cooked me dinner,” it had been a very long time since anyone had and having time for just the two of them without Hector hovering above their heads seemed the best idea now. “People are not starin’ because I’m walkin’ ‘round with a guy who was in prison, they’re starin’ because I’m walkin’ round with someone after havin’ killed my husband…” she said matter-of-factly, her teeth worrying her lip immediately as she didn’t mean to put such a sour mood to their conversation. “I don’t care, you know? I really don’t. They can say whatever they wanna say, but right now, I’m right where I wanna be— right where I’ve been wantin’ to be for a long time now. Jared was right about one thing, y’know? Our letters were anythin’ but innocent.”

“Well I’m glad to hear my shoulder is comfortable, it’s always there when you need it and that kiss was...” he took in a deep breath, his smile widening a bit as he thought about it. He had spent a decent amount of time beating himself up over it, fearing that he had ruined everything for them but hearing that it had actually helped her finally helped quell some of his fears and insecurities. “Yeah? Well then it’s a date, whenever you want to come over, I’ll be ready. Plus it’s a lot easier so I don’t have to break curfew. I just..want to spend time with you, you know? Just the two of us, no interruptions.” His expression softened as she bit her bottom lip and he brought her hand to his lips. “Could be both. I mean a formerly incarcerated guy and a woman who killed her husband? Lifetime wishes they could write a movie plot that good,” he teased and gave her hand a squeeze, wanting her to know that they could talk about anything, she didn’t have to hesitate. But her words caused him to be a little breathless and he felt his cheeks going read again as she spoke. “No, no they definitely weren’t. You know I still read them? Especially when I can’t sleep, they help ease my mind. I can’t...even find the words to tell you what those letters did for me.” He brushed his thumb across her knuckles, smiling sweetly as he looked in her eyes. “I’m absolutely crazy about you, Anna Cooper.”

[boydswan]

I kind of thought that my group story would end with an epiphany. I’d break down and cry, and…be cured forever. But, no, I don’t feel that different now. I don’t feel like I had the big moment. 

Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot (2018) | dir. Gus Van Sant

[devon--reynolds]

dianncvanderbilt‌:

          “No, it just means that you worry too much,” Dianna pointed out. She had been a worrier throughout her whole life as well, but not about others, no. Timothy Vanderbilt had carefully crafted his daughter to care a little bit too much about appearances and if he’d seen her now, she could only guess his choice of words to her. “Anna— as in Anna Cooper? Author of the famous letters you used to receive and blush all about them?” The red headed teased with a small smile on her lips, “how is living with Reagan, by the way? Is she giving you any major trouble? Or is she still your angel child who made you a cat parent?” Even speaking about Reagan made her heart sink and her mind wander off to her own daughter, there was a lot she regretted in her life and leaving had been a major one. “No— I mean, how good can I really be if he doesn’t let me see my daughter? I mean, I can’t blame him, but I don’t think he will ever understand why I left in the first place,” Dianna sighed and shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose for a moment, “he cheated on me, you know? He said so… in the interest of being honest with me. I don’t know if I can get past this.”

“The very one, yeah,” he replied with a soft laugh, the blush clear on his cheeks. He hadn’t told anyone but Dianna and Quinn about those letters, the ones he still read when he was up late and couldn’t sleep. “Hanging out with her in person though is..so much better. Oh man she is definitely still a little angel, I’m just like..in awe of her. I mean I feel bad sort of, I feel like she feels like she has to be incredibly on point in front of me, especially with how little her brother talks to me but it’s just been nice to spend time with her, you know? And she’s a great roommate. Makes her bed, helps with laundry, cleans up after herself. The only bad part is how guilty Kalani makes her feel about it all. It really pisses me off,” he admitted. Devon took in a deep breath as she spoke, a less than pleased look entering his eyes as she spoke. “Well he needs to grow the fuck up,” Devon told her without hesitation before holding up his hands in defense. “Sorry,” he mumbled, but they both knew that he and Rowan had never gotten along. It wasn’t like they had been best friends in high school, but after Melody broke up with him claiming she needed to be single only to then go on and date Rowan not even months later was something that had pissed Devon off to no end. It had been years ago and he was of course willing to let it go, he had 20 years inside while Rowan had built a life with one of his best friends. Dianna had been happy and he had been happy for her, still remembering when she visited with the engagement ring on her finger. But to hear everything that had happened, especially the part of him cheating, after all that happened with his sister and her husband, he felt like his opinion on the guy only got worse and he was sure that Rowan wasn’t exactly running to be his friend either. “All I’m saying is you have a right to see your daughter, like legally, don’t you? It’s childish of him to keep you from seeing them.”

[devon--reynolds]

annccoopcr‌:

          “So now you’re Bob’s parent, too?” Anna smiled with a small nod. She really couldn’t relate to what he was going through. To be quite honest, she couldn’t relate to most of his life. Devon had spent twenty years in prison and sometimes it still seemed all too crazy that they were walking together, hand-in-hand. It still seemed crazy that he was there, with her of all people. His past was something that didn’t bother her, but she would be lying if she said she wasn’t still trying to find her footing in his life. “You’re right— it’s just… hard, adjusting. I’ll start house hunting soon with Kenny and she says she already has some lined up for me, my only request was a yard. I wanna have a dog again, eventually,” she smiled up at him, “I’ll be there in the next few days, I’m gonna go get the rest of my things and then I’m probably going to take Mel out for a thank-you lunch. She did a lot for me by lettin’ me stay there and I don’t even know how to repay her.”

          She watched as he moved around her once they had stopped walking, she wasn’t expecting to feel his lips on hers anytime soon, but it was a welcoming touch. Anna sighed happily, as she had been thinking about it for a while now. Was she worried about what other people thought? Absolutely, their thoughts on what she was doing reflected immediately on the bakery and she didn’t want the older ladies to stop going there because she was kissing someone else weeks after killing her husband, but Devon made her feel alive for the first time in weeks and she retributed the kiss with as much as she could. Her eyes closed as his taste lingered on her lips and she cleared her throat. “Yeah,” she said looking at him again and bringing him in for a small pack before resuming their walk. “Give a girl a warnin’ before you go doin’ that, will ya? The knees are already weak, don’t need you makin’ me drop in the middle of the sidewalk,” she teased. 

“Yeah I’m a full blown cat dad now, the cat hair all over my clothes is all the proof you need” He smiled sweetly as she spoke about looking for a house, admiring her determination despite all the hardship she had faced. The mention of a dog though sat in the back of his head and he knew he’d definitely have a talk with Jax and Reagan about surprising Anna with a dog if they could. He just wanted to make her happy, and he wanted to do whatever he could to make that possible. The mention of Melody made his smile falter a bit, some guilt rising in his stomach but also gratitude for how amazing she was as a person, how much she had been there for Anna. “Yeah well with her she’ll tell you that you don’t have to repay her but I’m glad she was there for you too. She’s a really good person to have in your corner. We can’t wait for you to come by and see all the progress at the B&B, we finally finished the stage area it looks pretty legit. We’re working on a mural on the large wall, Reagan is gonna help us out with that for sure.”

He let out a soft laugh as he blushed, especially when she kissed him one more time. “Sorry, sorry, though not really sorry for making you a little weak in the knees, I promise I got you,” he told her, his hand resting on her back for a moment before he dropped his hand into hers again. “You know one of these nights I was um, hoping that maybe I could cook you dinner. Or we could..cook together. At my apartment. I feel like sometimes when we’re together it all feels so rush and we’re always trying not to feed the gossip mill. I mean, I’m sure not a lot of people around here likes to see you walking around with the guy who was in prison.” Devon was well aware of the way many people in town saw him but he had gotten better at tuning it out, unless it was aimed at his kids. He ran his thumb over the back of her hand with a sweet smile. “Is that something you’d like?”

[devon--reynolds]

melodydelarosa‌:

Melody scrunched her nose some as Devon explained some of the current situation with Kalani. It didn’t sound like things had gotten any better between them to how they were back in high school and now they had the complication of needing to be in each other’s lives for their children.  “It sounds like something she needs to talk to a professional about to try and work through. It’s not fair to you to carry the weight of everything when she’s just as guilty of it. But you’re right, let’s not focus on her too much…” Leaning in, she placed a kiss to his lips, slow and lingering so she didn’t have to pull away from this moment too soon. Smiling into the kiss, she nuzzled the tip of her nose against his as she pulled away. “It will be. Christened by us and hopefully full of all the emotions it could possibly hold to help these performers sing, dance, and act their hearts out. I can’t believe everything’s come together so well… This place will be open in no time and I really do have you to thank for that. I wouldn’t have known where to start with any of this construction work.”

“Yeah she definitely needs help but we both know she’s not gonna get it.” It seemed like a pessimistic thought but Devon had known Kalani long enough to know the truth. He loved Kal, always would, always would care for her and hoped for the best. But he knew that she didn’t feel the same about him. She loved him, yes, but it was a sick and twisted kind of love, the kind that only wanted him to be hers or in her orbit, which usually meant him being at his worst. She didn’t care about his addiction, she only cared that he fit into her world which would always include alcohol and drugs and the type of bad company that had landed him in prison in the first place. But he was grateful for the kiss, the chance to forget it all and just stay in this little world with her for a little longer. “Hey I’m just glad you asked for my help. You know me, I like to be as useful as possible. It’s gonna be amazing, Mel, and everyone who comes through here, near and far, will feel all the love and warmth in this place. We’re gonna have the best grand opening.” He leaned in to kiss her again before peppering a few kisses along her jaw. “Thank you for giving me a chance,” he added, knowing that since he had gotten out he hadn’t been able to find anything nearly as stable as this job or as well paying, definitely not anything that would have enabled him to move as soon as he did. “You really saved my life here, changed it. You always have a knack for doing that.”

[devon--reynolds]

dtbennct‌:

“That’s understandable. I’d feel the same way, honestly.” he nodded his head in agreement. “You think? I mean, if he feels that way, I don’t think you have to worry much. Soon he’ll realize that he doesn’t need to drink to sit down and have a heart-to-heart with his father. Especially once you guys find your thing to do together. I found myself having to do that with Briar. It was harder for us to relate because her interests changed now that she’s become a woman. But so far, bowling is our father-daughter thing. We usually go on Thursdays because y’know these kids always have plans on the weekends. You know what though? You guys should join us one day. It’ll be fun.” he suggested the little family activity for them. “Yea, man. I’ve been doing good. I —um, I think I like someone though. We’re just getting to know each other right now, but whenever I’m with her, there’s just this….–pull. I don’t know...” 

“Bowling? You know I’m not so bad at bowling. Yeah a family bowling night would be kind of amazing. Tons of mozarella sticks and fries to go around.” Devon raised an eyebrow as he mentioned that he liked someone, sitting up a bit straighter as a soft smile spread on his face. “Oh yeah? Tell me more about her man. I mean I’ve been kind of mixed up in my own romance stuff so I don’t know if taking advice from your big brother is the best but I’ll sure as hell listen.”

[n1ght-one]

[devon--reynolds]

“A lot better, but you weren’t bad back then either, old man. Think I would have stuck around that long if you were bad in bed?” Melody teased with a breathy laugh as she nuzzled into his neck some, placing a trail of gentle kisses along his jawline. It was the first time in years she’d been intimate with someone else, her and Beau not having shared their marital bed in the final two years of his life. It felt like a release in a way, like the turning of a page in this period of grief where maybe she’d be able to start taking steps towards being happy again with someone new. She knew Beau wouldn’t have wanted her to be alone, and she tried to remind herself of that every day. Shifting some so she could rest across his chest, she ran her fingers along his jawline, thumb tracing over his cheek as she looked at him. “We should probably make sure Kalani never finds out about this or she’ll come burning down all our hard work.”

Devon let out a loud laugh as she said it and shook his head, “I mean you have a good point there for sure, god remember that time your dad almost caught us? I wouldn’t have known how to explain to coach that I broke my arm climbing out of my girlfriend’s window.” It was easy to ignore the world outside of those walls, easy to indulge in this moment with Mel. It felt like a breath of fresh air, like a way to forgive himself, to forgive both of them for hurting each other. They had been teenagers, and matters of the heart were never cut and dry but he had always cared for her, always loved her and always would no matter the circumstances. He knew that what she said was true, that life was complicated, and that after this little bubble of theirs was broken they’d have to face those complications and he knew that just like back then, his heart was in many places. But he was with her now and he didn’t want to be anywhere else. He let his eyes close for a moment as she traced his jaw, leaning into her touch happily. “Oh god, you’re right. You should have seen her face when Reagan told her she wanted to live with me, I thought the house was going to implode.” He shook his head and sighed. “I don’t know even know what to do when it comes to her, to be honest. She’s still..so angry at me. I don’t think she knows how to not be. But...we did not just have amazing sex to talk about my baby mama,” he joked, leaning down to kiss her again, brushing his nose against hers for a moment. “At least we know this stage will always be special, huh?”

[devon--reynolds]

Location: Devon’s Apartment

Tagging: @bwildxr​

“Not too bad in here, right? I mean it’s not exactly your place with fucking..horses running around and shit but I got a cat.” Almost as if on cue, Bob came trotting out of Reagan’s room, looking Brooks over before continuing on into the kitchen. “Anyway, we can get out of here and head to yours but I wanted you to see my place, I don’t know, is it cheesy I’m proud of it?” Every day Devon had on the outside of those prison walls was a miracle to him, so to have a place of his own felt like a real dream come true. “Oh hey, check this out,” he told him and led him over to his room, pushing open the door to reveal his old jersey framed and up on his wall. “Probably doesn’t fit for shit but it looks nice, right? Like real champ status.”

[devon--reynolds]

reagsrcynolds‌:

where: devon’s apartment

with: @devon–reynolds​

          It was barely noon and her fingertips were already a mess of colors. Adjusting to living with her father also meant making her room look somewhat of her own and Reagan had been working on a mural— following a Bob Ross tutorial and she knew Devon would come to learn over the next months of their shared living space that she was inconsistent. The Bob Ross mural would probably have its mutations and turn into something completely different by the end of March. The layout of her room would probably change as well. Her space had always been a direct reflection of what was going on in her mind and lately, it had been questioning whether or not she made the right decision. Things had been awkward with her mother, that’s for sure and when she pulled her phone to be met with her name flashing across the screen, Reagan couldn’t hold back the groan. The conversation was short, but not really sweet. Kalani had all but supported her daughter’s decision to move to her father’s apartment, but they had 20 years’ worth of catching up to do. As she heart a meow invade her personal space she thought it was a good time for a break. “Hey Bob,” she greeted the cat, leaning down to pick him up and give him a scratch and was immediately rewarded with a purr. “Hey dad—” she called out, wondering if Devon was still in the apartment, “did you see my ink remover? I can’t find it anywhere.”

Devon had honestly been surprised when Reagan had asked if she could move in with him, having made sure there was space for her and Jax but not expecting it. Still, he appreciated how much time she wanted to catch up on, how close she wanted to be and how insistent she was. She definitely got that from his side. Still, what she didn’t see was all the yelling Kalani had done over the phone, blaming him for her decision, making it seem like he had done something wrong. He didn’t want her decision to affect her relationship with her mom or with her twin but Kalani had always been unreasonable and he had to admit it was kind of nice not having to be alone in the apartment. 

He had just finished lacing up his boots when he heard her call out and he went into the living room to see if he could find what she was talking about. “Ink remover? Is it this thing?” He picked something up off the couch and walked over to her room, smiling softly as he held it up. “Oh wow that’s...amazing, kiddo, I mean I knew you were talented but,” he trailed off as he looked around her room, kind of in awe that his daughter had so much creativity. Between this and his son’s songwriting he could only be hopeful that he hadn’t completely fucked them up. “You hungry? I was gonna make myself something before I had to head out to Vails. Hector got a shipment of supplies in for me that I ordered.”

[devon--reynolds]

dianncvanderbilt‌:

          “I’m just pregnant, I’m not gonna break, Reynolds,” she teased him. It was almost weird being there with him given the events of Dianna’s last year. There were a lot of ups and downs, mostly downs than ups and this almost felt… normal. She felt like a teenager again, doing something she would regret because it would get back to her father that she was with Devon Reynolds and that boy had never been good enough for her if only her father knew that the boy was always more like a brother than anything else, maybe he would open his eyes about how good he actually was. Unlike herself, she had always thought Devon was made out of goodness, despite what had happened to him. “Now, that I’ll have to taste because you makin’ stovetop hot chocolate is just somethin’ else. Who even taught you? Or did you learn yourself?”

“I know, I know but that doesn’t mean I still can’t worry.” He let out a laugh and rolled his eyes playfully as he served her a cup. “Uh I learned from Youtube, actually, but Anna gave me a bit of advice on how to make it better, she made it for me once and it was...really, really good. With Reags living with me I’ve been trying to like step up my cooking game, you know? Can you believe she convinced me to get a cat? Me, a freaking cat named Bob and man if that little one hasn’t grown on me.” He set the thermos aside and let this head hang back a bit so he could look at the stars. “You doing okay though? Being back, your parents..Rowan..all of it, you holding on alright?”

[devon--reynolds]

annccoopcr‌:

         “I have a feeling that this will happen eventually, Hector has been very… dad,” she wrinkled her nose and shook her head, still wondering what she would have done if it wasn’t for Hector to allow her sister’s not to have to watch her like a hawk and actually take care of themselves. Anna had a feeling that she would spend the rest of her life indebted to him. “Trust me, I really don’t mind the whole fallin’ asleep on you, but it’s nice to feel alive and awaken without all the morphine coursing through my body. It has been slightly more bothersome, but it’s no big deal,” she had avoided pain killers unless extremely necessary and there were hardly times where she was in a large amount of pain. After sleeping through her weeks at the hospital, Anna wanted to see what she had missed and although the nightmares have been doing more than just keeping her awake at night, she still felt more alive than she did when she was laying on a bed 24 hours of the day. “I completely forgot you had a new roommate— that must be all kinds of interesting and yes, Jax has been kind of blowin’ up my phone,” she chucked, looking at their intertwined hands before at him, with a small smile on her lips, “I miss you too, but none of that, you know? We have all the time in the world, remember?” Anna got up still holding their hands together before she leaned down and placed a small kiss on his lips. Nothing too much, just a small reminder that they still had a lot to come and a lot to look forward to. 

          Tugging on his hand to get him to get up and calling out to Hector to say that she was going to take a walk, Anna put her phone in her back pocket and started down the block. “Sorry— I hate talking ‘bout Hec when he’s around because I don’t want to complain, it’s been… somethin’ to be livin’ with him these past few weeks,” she shook her head and smiled down, “I mean, I miss the B&B, but I have a feelin’ Hector needs me there, too, you know? I can feel him lookin’ at me when he thinks I’m not payin’ attention and… I don’t know. Sometimes I think he thinks I’m gonna disappear— I’m not really sure what I can do make sure he knows I won’t.”

“Yeah I got Reagan and Bob, the cat she somehow convinced me to get. So now I’m officially a cat parent, I’m totally more of a dog guy but here we are. Kids really can talk you into anything.” He was a bit caught off guard by the kiss and was sure she could see the way his cheeks flushed as he followed her away from the house. “No need to be sorry, I get it. If it were Quinn I’d want her to be with me too so I totally get where he’s coming from. I think the only thing that solves it though is time, really. Time to trust that you’ll still be there and the..universe wont’ snatch you away or something. But I mean you’re a natural caretaker, I think you struggle with people taking care of your period, even someone like Hector who you’ve known forever. The B&B has made a ton of progress though, you’re gonna love it when you go by there again.” 

As they came to the end of the first block, Devon slowed them down for a moment, moving in front of her to bring his hand up to her cheek, his expression softening as their eyes met. “I know we said we had all the time in the world but, this is one thing I feel like we’ve waited long enough for,” he admitted with a soft laugh, feeling his heart rate pick up as he cupped her cheek before he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, softly at first before he deepened it for a moment. He smiled against her lips before pulling away, his eyes closed a second longer before his smile widened. “That was....definitely worth the wait.”

[devon--reynolds]

Location: Somewhere in the middle of Amber Valley

Tagging: @dianncvanderbilt​

“You sure you’re good?” Devon smiled as she covered both of them with another blanket as they sat in the bed of his truck like they used to when they were younger. This spot out in the middle of Amber Valley that still hadn’t been built on on was a usual for them all those years ago and he got a kick out of them being there now. “You good?” He glanced down at her stomach with a soft smile, still wrapping his head around the fact that she was pregnant, that she was there, that she had been married or still was, to Rowan. A guy he’d rather not give a single thought to, a guy he wished would stop ending up tangled in his life. “I made some hot chocolate if you want some,” he said and pulled out the thermos. “It’s really good, I made it on the stove.”

[nessa007]

#i think the majority of us can agree that we all wanted to punch steve in the face during this moment #fuck you indeed!

[devon--reynolds]

jessgrcyson‌:

where: devon’s house

with: @devon–reynolds​

          It took her a few minutes to adjust her eyes to her surroundings. The night before she had gotten out of the shift with a text from Brian asking her to sleep over at her father’s house because he had been throwing an impromptu party and he knew she had to work pretty early the other day. She couldn’t be mad at Brian because that had happened other times before and she said it was fine, she had a place to crash whenever she wanted to. Except ever since finding out about Jacob and the shit she had seen and known it was inflicted by her father, Jessica wanted anything but to spend another waking moment around that man. Which caused her to call Grace, but they were out of town for that night, and then she called Devon. She hated needing other people, but it was just what happened. Stirring and getting up from where she was, she checked the clock on her phone and it let her know she still had two hours before needing to start getting ready and thinking she needed to at least help, Jessica started on the coffee because it was the only thing she could do that wouldn’t tear his house down.

“You sure you’re not hungry?” Devon sat down across from her with his own cup of coffee after getting the newspaper from outside, just hoping their walking around hadn’t waken Reagan up. “If you need a ride to work I can happily give you one, I gotta go pick up a few more supplies for the guest house. Definitely more paint.” He got up to also grab her some water and some painkillers if she needed them but he tried not to keep too many around given his past addiction. “I mean you can tell me if you’re hungover, I’ll stop talking, I don’t mind silence.”

[devon--reynolds]

melodydelarosa·:

Melody couldn’t exactly place what it was that drove her to make her next decision: maybe it was simply being wrapped up in the emotions of the moment the two of them had been sharing, or maybe it was the fact that she had been thinking about kissing him again ever since he’d kissed her weeks ago by the harbor. Whatever it was, it prompted her to lean forward, resting her forehead against Devon’s for a few moments, eyes closed as she reveled in his touch. “Life’s complicated, whether we want it to be or not,” she spoke, voice barely above a whisper. “Devon, I… I really want you to kiss me.” Without another word, she leaned in, closing the space between them and kissing him. Gently at first, but after a moment she deepened it further, her fingers threading through the hair on the back of his head to hold him close.

He hadn’t expected her to kiss him back, knowing that there were various reasons as to why this would be complicated. But he didn’t want to lose this chance to be close to her and he decided to fully indulge himself. He let out a sigh against her lips as she deepened it, leaning into her touch as he wrapped his arms around her, eventually lifting her up by her thighs so he could carry her up the stage. He was sure she could hear his heart beating as his hands roamed her body and his lips followed, grateful that they had closed off the bed and breakfast for the next week for the rest of the renovations.

[bow chicka wow wow}

Devon was still catching his breath as they lay back on the stage and his arm stayed wrapped around her, his lips pressing to the top of her head for a moment. “Okay be honest, I’m a lot better at it now, right? I mean I haven’t had a lot of practice but...” he laughed softly, his fingers brushing along her back as he set his eyes on the ceiling.

[devon--reynolds]

annccoopcr‌:

          It was hard not to hear the commotion coming from inside the house. She had all but forgotten to warn Devon about the fatherly attitude Hector had taken upon her after she had agreed to move in with him for the remainder of the week, all that while looking for a place of her own. There was no returning to the old house she shared with Jared— after all, was said and done, Anna noticed it almost looked like a horror movie two-story home, where something lurked in the shadows. It was a crime scene. Police had stomped around and there were still yellow tapes there, marking it for what it really was. And that was how Anna found herself surrounded by newspaper and on-line listings. Getting out of Hector’s home had easily become her first priority.

          “Hey—” she smiled when she finally saw him, happy that he wasn’t swallowed by Hector and his protectiveness. “You made it out alive,” she joked and thanked him for the flowers, telling him just how beautiful they were. It was a shame she didn’t have a place of her own yet, she thought, never truly wanting to swarm Hector’s home in the things people brought her. “I could be better, but I can’t complain—” in the week she had gone out of the hospital, the swelling on her face had decreased significantly, and the bruises were finally starting to fade. Makeup still didn’t help much with them but made them less prominent. The cuts were gone and also were the stitches that made room inside of her cheek. Her hand and foot cast was taken before she got out of the hospital and she was just enduring some physical therapy sessions, but overall, she was looking like a human being, definitely felt like one. “Do you wanna get out of here? Hector has been very dad, so he might interrupt more than once and walks are required for me, so… wanna take a walk?”

“We can definitely take a walk. Especially if it means avoiding Hector asking me what my intentions are,” he joked, but appreciated that Anna had someone who loved her the way Hector did. He knew that he felt the same with Quinn, especially now after Michael’s departure. “Plus it’s nice to see you up and at it, not that I didn’t enjoy you falling asleep on me in another movie,” he teased, still getting used to the idea that they could have these kinds of moments, that so much had changed in just a month. “Reagan says hi by the way, Jax says he’s been texting you so I’m sure you already know how he’s doing. But Reagan and I have been..figuring out the whole roommate thing. That’s been...good, I mean, different but good.” It would have probably been better if Kate hadn’t been so damn loud leaving the apartment the other night but that just made him laugh and he just wanted things to work out. He didn’t mention how tough of a time Kalani was giving him. claiming that he was stealing away time with their daughter. He was trying to focus on the positive and be in the moment with her, not wanting to bother her with any thoughts of the mother of his kids. 

He shook off the thoughts and instead reached out for one of her hands, entwining their fingers as they started slowly on their walk and he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “I miss you,” he admitted, letting himself be a bit more vulnerable now that he knew Hector wasn’t hovering behind them. “How’s living with Hector been?”