the nurturer

Not that Hali didn't love having Evie around, but little Blair also made things great. Although it also reminded her that biological clock was ticking and that her plans of being married and with a kid on its way had failed miserably, she also loved spending time with the little one. "Can I ask you something?" Hali turned to her blonde friend as she turned to the—woah... hot— tattoo artist standing there and pointed at the flash tattoo on the book. "We'd like this one. I'm doing mine on my wrist." He then nodded and turned with a smirk to Evie, asking where she would like hers to be, then went ahead to prepare the stencil, which allowed Hali to have a second alone with her friend. "How is Val? I mean... with Henry being here. Is she okay?"

#evie gibson || threads #threads || w. halime yazici #briar ridge: santa on the sands

"Of course you can," she nodded her head both to her asking about asking if she could ask her something and the agreement of the tattoo Halime picked out. "The wrist, a good spot," she smiled, "I'd like mine," she hummed, twisting her lips, "collar bone?" The summer sun had her sporting a tank top. "She's okay," Evie nodded her head to Halime's question, "it was shocking," even for Evie when she ran into "and I think she's still sorting through all those emotions and surprise."

jiya-santa

"Does the tequila help or hinder the decision making?" Wyatt smirked at her friends, throwing them a wink as she gave in to having at least one drink with them before the game. Looking over at Val, she gasped playfully, nudging her gently in the ribs. "You cannot break those out, that is an unfair advantage! You know my puppy dog eyes don't have the same effect." Choosing a different technique, Wyatt wrapped her arms around Evie's shoulder, kissing her on the cheek. "Just know, that I think you're just so pretty and so intelligent." Giggling quietly, Wyatt took a step back. "But also if you go for my team, you're just going to be supporting the winners, so it works out for everyone." @valentinaflorcs

Val made a show of playfully rolling her eyes at Wyatt's antics. "We'll see about that!" she replied with a little 'hmmph!' Val loved sports and trash talk was practically her first language. It might have been left over influence from her professional hockey player ex husband, but even in the years since their divorce, Val had nurtured her love of all things sports related and was thrilled to get a chance at playing football again. It had been years, since her college intramural sports days, since the brunette had played regularly. Speaking of her college days, as Val knocked back her shot, she couldn't help the wince that made its way onto her features. "Guys, why did I suddenly think we were back in college and could do shots like they were nothing??" The brunette let out a sigh. It was probably the multiple run ins with Henry that had her feeling like they were all collectively being transported back in time. @eviexgibson

#evie gibson || threads #threads || w. valentina flores #threads || w. wyatt brady #briar ridge: santa on the sands

Evie knew she was going to have a time and a half trying to decide which team to root for and likely was going to find a way to delay having to make a decision at all. "Oh, stop," her cheeks warmed with not only the kiss from Wyatt but also the generous compliments. "I think I may let this go on until the game is over," she teased, "I'm really enjoying all of this attention." Evie gestured to the space between them. Taking the shot that was brought, she followed Val and shot it back. Her nose wrinkled and lips thinned in distaste as she set the empty glass back on to the counter. "Did we really used to drink these like it was water back then? I don't believe it." She laughed, shaking her head.

@wyatt-brady

thomasbautista

— SETTING: birdsong park ; sunday morning — AVAILABILITY: closed starter for EVIE GIBSON | ( @eviexgibson )

Usually, when Xavier wasn't around for him to annoy and/or he hadn't spent the night before either gaming with Sully or rolling on someone else's bed, Thomas could easily be found at the park, sketching bypassers. It helped him exploring different drawing styles, so it was a past time that would also help him grow into a better artist. iPad in hand, he stopped himself when a colored ball rolled to his feet, causing him to look up and smile at the blonde approaching him. "Hey! Candy canes lady!" He remembered her coming over with a friend during the Santa in the Sands event and getting candy canes tattooed. "How you doing? This yours?" He picked the ball up, offering it to her.

#evie gibson || threads #threads || w. thomas bautista

It was a beautiful morning and one in which she took Blair to the local park. The warmth of the sun brought a smile to her lips and the laughter escaping Blair as she chased after her ball made it grow even more. As her daughter lifted the ball to throw it, it slipped behind her and rolled toward a man on the bench. She quickly jogged over to it, stopping as she recognized the man. "Evie, actually," her lips parted in laughter as she realized why he was calling her that. "Yeah, my daughter's," she turned to look at Blair who had found a group of kids to play with. "thank you," Evie took the ball from her, tucking it under her arm, "beautiful day, huh?"

emilmoreno

Emil chuckled, not entirely able to relate - but unwilling to be a mood killer by lamenting that to Evie. "I brought Isa, she's just with one of her 'uncles' at the moment - she is a little attached to Callum's daughter and I didn't have the heart to drag her off with me when she was having so much fun." Especially given, normally, his daughter was a bit more on the shy side. "I agree, though. You might need to get out more. I hear I'm excellent at getting people to let loose for a bit." Though, Emil's antics had tamed considerably as of late - unwilling to risk any behaviors that could be held against him if he decided to go back to court.

#evie gibson || threads #threads || w. emiliano moreno #briar ridge: santa on the sands

"The pains of being a parent, right? Seeing them have more fun without you," Evie lifted a hand, placing it over her heart. "I remember the first time Blair wanted to stay the night at a friend's house, I didn't think I was going to make it through the night." It was a smidge on the dramatic side, but it had been a hard night for the blonde. "Good to know," she laughed softly, "I think I need just that."

"Well, in that case," Val wiggled her eyebrows at her two best friends as they approached the bar, before leaning across it to grab the bartender's attention, flashing them a smile as they quickly turned towards her. "Can I get three shots of tequila, please?" she ordered loudly to be heard over the din of the crowd and so that Wyatt and Evie knew full well what she was doing. As she turned back to face her friends, she bumped Evie's hip with hers. "No pressure on who you choose," she paused as the shots were delivered and she passed one to each of her friends before giving Evie her best puppy dog eyes, "even though, you know I have known you the longest." she teased. @eviexgibson

#evie gibson || threads #threads || w. valentina flores #threads || w. wyatt brady #briar ridge: santa on the sands

"Yes, shots of tequila are going to help because I don't know why either of you think I can choose," she huffed playfully at the two with a shake of her head. Truthfully, Evie knew she'd always choose Val considering their friendship was around since the start of college, but when it came to picking sides in the soccer game? Well, she'd have to play dual cheerleader. "See, those puppy dog eyes," she laughed with a point at Val, "y'all are going to have to work for it," she teased right back, bumping her hip back against Val's. @wyatt-brady

Val let out a dramatic groan. She knew Evie was right. Between the two of them, someone would be running into Henry again and considering how much time thinking about her first encounter had taken up, Val wasn't sure she was ready for another. She bit her lip, preparing to just let it all out. This was Evie, after all. There wasn't a world in which Val would have been able to keep this from her best friend any longer. And now that they finally were talking about it, it felt like Val had so much to verbally process. "I don't know what to do, Ev. I haven't been able to stop thinking about him, all of these feelings that I thought had been buried are now clawing their way to the surface, and I just..." she shoulders raised in a half-exhausted shrug. "I just don't know what to do."

#evie gibson || threads #threads || w. valentina flores

Listening to her best friend talk about the feelings that were making their way back into the light of day, her heart hurt in her chest. They both had lost people they loved and while Evie could bury her love with hatred over her ex-husband leaving her for a younger woman as soon as he found out she was pregnant. Or maybe before, Evie preferred not to dwell on the timeline much. "Val, my love," she wished that she could take the pain away from her friend, "I don't know what to do either, I can tell you to avoid him," she shook her head, "but we know that since he's appeared in both our lives, that that is going to be a near impossible task."

Hali didn't think any of them would be ready for permanent candy canes in the first place, but she didn't say it out loud. Maybe something else. She had some things tattooed on her skin, mostly phrases and in selective spots, too. "Any single mother is a badass in my opinion, Miss Evie." Hali nodded, as if to back up her own words. "But good, I can't wait to smooch her little cheeks and hug her." She told her friend, before finally finding the drawing she'd been looking for and she showed it to Evie. "Is this one good?" And once the duo had settled on an image, Hali handed it to the tattoo artist so they could start working on them. "What should we do next? Maybe Val would like to join us?"

#evie gibson || threads #threads || w. halime yazici #briar ridge: santa on the sands

"Oh, thank you," she was flattered by Halime's words about being a single mother and a badass. There were days that Evie had felt entirely defeated over the notion but even on her worst days she did have Val. She did not think she would have made it this far without her best friend. "She is going to love that," she laughed softly, "she loves her Auntie Halime," many of her friends were considered aunts to her daughter, simply because that was the closest notion to family she had in Briar Ridge and she wanted Blair to grow up feeling loved. "I love that one," she nodded her head, before twisting her lips in at her question, "I bet she would, but I think she had other plans this afternoon, I wasn't planning on seeing her until this evening."

He wasn't in denial over the fact he deserved every bitter response she could offer him. After all, he'd broken her best friend's heart and if she wasn't looking to ruin him, it was a goddamn miracle to say the least. "I know, surprising. I could have stuck around for a couple of more years, but I decided to get out." He'd wanted to make that decision for himself, not because of a medical team or injury forcing him out. "The Penalty Box. Surprise, right?" Of course it had to do with hockey.

#evie gibson || threads #threads || w. henry monroe

Evie nodded her head, because to her it was a surprise. She didn't follow hockey, not after Henry and Val were no longer together but if she did, she would have expected him to still be playing. "The Penalty Box," the name of the familiar bar in town rolled off of her tongue and she thinned her lips with a nod of her head, "Yeah, it all makes a lot of sense now, you, the bar," she shook her head now, "been there a few times." Even if sports weren't entirely her thing.

He wondered if her mellow response came from the fact that she knew Val was happy. If that were the case, why the hell hadn't he realized that before allowing himself the hope of some kind of... reunion? "You say that now," he countered in a light hum of airy amusement. He lowered his gaze to her drink, noting what she'd gotten and shaking his head at how creative it seemed. Mari hadn't been lying when she said the menu would be holiday-ish with a twist. "We can arrange that if you want. I mean, personally, I'd love to see you go up there."

#evie gibson || threads #threads || w. henry monroe #briar ridge: santa on the sands

Evie took a sip of her drink while she stood next to Henry, his height towering over her own in the same way that it always had. Only now, it was more infuriating than it had ever been. "Of course," she thinned her lips in response to his words about seeing her up there. "if I go up there, I'm definitely not going alone, so your ass would not be far behind me." She said with a pointed look in his direction.

Friendships, the more Hali moved along the years, she found were harder to come by. At least, good ones. So when Evie came into her life and filled it with her light, of course Halime wouldn't be stupid to let it go. "Temporary candy canes!" Hali nodded once again as she browsed through the samples of the temporary tattoos on display. The brunette was certainly not going to try her luck today, trying to get it from the machine. "How's our little one doing?" She asked the blonde with a smile on her face. For someone who didn't have children, herself, Hali sure loved hanging out with other people's kids. Avie, Briar... they all brought her to make peace with her inner child. "Is she joining us later or...? I'm sure she'll love to see her badass momma rocking a tattoo."

#my dummy wrote briar in her intro but it is blair :( my mistake #evie gibson || threads #threads || w. halime yazici #briar ridge: santa on the sands

"Yes, temporary, I don't think I'm ready for permanent candy canes" she laughed. "She's doing great," the blonde grinned with another mention of her daughter. Blair was her pride and joy, the light of her life and her ex-husband could suck it for leaving them when she was pregnant. "She will, yeah," she was with a sitter for now, but Evie always loved having her join for the festivities. "Her bad ass mom?" Another laugh pushed over her lips, partly in disbelief, "right, I don't think anyone but you is calling me badass."

christmas carols karaoke — @eviexgibson

Henry had shown up to support one of his favorite people. It was no doubt that she'd be taking the stage at any given point in the night and when she did, he'd be one of the tallest people in the crowd looking back at her. For the time being, he'd taken up refuge at the bartop. Seeing as it was a busy night, it was the best place to be. "You here to steal my drink again? Hate it break it to you, but I don't think you'll like it very much," he teased above the music. Currently, someone not so on pitch was giving a throwback their best effort. "You getting on stage tonight?"

#evie gibson || threads #threads || w. henry monroe #briar ridge: santa on the sands

Evie knew it was only a matter of time before she would run into Henry again. Doing it once only opened up the opportunity for it to happen again and again. So, she wasn't surprised when somehow she ended up standing next to him, looking to the crowd of people getting ready to watch the next person on stage. "Ha, ha," Evie managed a sarcasm filled retort in his direction, "I am not here to steal your drink," she told him, reiterating the fact. "absolutely not." She shook her head, "not unless I have about ten more of these." She lifted her cocktail with her words.

— SETTING: the pier ; mid-afternoon — AVAILABILITY: closed starter for EVIE GIBSON | ( @eviexgibson )

Her therapist was right. Sometimes, all someone needed was to spend time with themselves, or a good friend to forget (at least for a while) of their worries. She and Evie had already had brunch together, had just done their nails and were browsing through the pier as the town event was happening when Hali had a wild thought she couldn't let go before sharing it with Evie. "What if we got temporary matching tattoos?" The brunette chuckled at how ridiculous it sounded, but for someone who had almost never done things on a whim, temporary tattoos didn't sound that horrible—they were, after all, temporary. "Candy canes, maybe?"

#evie gibson || threads #threads || w. halime yazici #briar ridge: santa on the sands

Friends were important to have and it seemed that the older that Evie got, the harder it was to make friends. She had a few great friends that she had made in Briar Ridge and one more recently that others. With a full morning already having happened with fresh nails and brunch under her belt, her eyes glided across the pier for something that might catch her attention. "Oh, yeah?" She was not tattoo less, having her daughter's name tattooed on her. "Let's do it, I'm in." She grinned, nodding her head, "temporary candy canes sounds perfect."

With a wistful sigh, Val thought back to all their years together, watching Briar go through all her milestones; learning to crawl, learning how to say 'mama,' going to school for the first time. Thinking about it all was almost enough to make the brunette emotional right then and there. So she quickly distracted herself, brushing her hair over her shoulder at her best friend's words. "So long as she doesn't start becoming overcome with crippling overthinking and become an absolute perfectionist, I guess that's not too much of a bad thing."

Once again, the brunette let out a long breath. "I know I should have told you, but part of me was hoping that it was just a fluke, that maybe, somehow, neither of us would run into him again?" Saying it out loud, Val realized how ridiculous that sounded. In a town like Briar Ridge, avoiding people was near impossible. Come to think of it, she was honestly shocked that both she and Evie had managed to not run into Henry sooner than this. "I think I didn't really want to have to actually process what my feelings were about the whole thing." she admitted quietly.

#the shoulder pads that shall not be named #evie gibson || threads #threads || w. valentina flores #pre-event

"Luckily she has the both of us to guide her through anything like that she might go through," Evie was certain she wouldn't have been able to do this, raise her daughter, without her best friend by her side. It was something she had thought about often and she was grateful that Val had been willing to pack up everything and go while they were both going through something.

"A fluke," she laughed softly, "only could be a dream." Evie knew that know that they had run into him, it would only be a matter of time before they ran into him again. Evie nodded her head, thinning her lips slowly as her friend spoke. "I know, I get that," no one wanted to process emotions that big. "you know I'm always here for you, no matter what."

She had every right to spew venom his way, but he was thankful to be met with something akin to indifference? "It sure does. I'm starting to think someone up there or," he paused, eyes flashing down towards the ground, "down there has it out for me." Though, truthfully, seeing Val again had been the highlight of his whole year. Even if they had nothing figured out and maybe never would. At least knowing she was there and some version of happy... it meant the world to him. "I retired." He hadn't expected Evie to keep up with it and seeing as he'd only spent one season out, maybe she hadn't caught up yet. "Last year. Now I own a bar."