Miss Mia

Mia Costello. 31. Adult movie producer.

[paitynsinclair]

Halloween was one of Paityn’s favourite holidays; she loved any opportunity to pretend to be someone else while consuming absurd amounts of liquor. She stayed far away from the crowded event room to roam the haunted corridors of the hotel floors above. 

Bottle of champagne dangling by her side, she avoided the young couples grouping in dark corners. She wasn’t paying attention when she turned down another passage. Paityn ran face first into what felt like a brick wall.

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” she said, rubbing one of her temples. The night was still young yet Paityn was shitfaced. 

Happy Halloween.

[miaxcostello]

While she didn’t necessarily get a stiff one or go all fan girl over halloween itself, Mia loved the drama of dressing up for such a holiday. She had always been the kind to go all out where costumes were concerned, though without becoming mainstream or too much of a cliche, so keeping within her own ideas of what that meant. Tonight it did mean a fairly expensive wig to grant her red hair, a killer outfit and some insanely good make up that she had hired her own make up artist to do for the evening. No way did she have the artistic talent to paint on the sparks of flame underneath skin or said skin breaking and veining up under the force of that fire boiling beneath. 

Taking a break from the event room and big gatherings, she was slowly walking down the hallway with a cup of soda in her hand, studying the decorations and smiling to herself as she noticed elements that were supposed to give her the creeps. Some did make her stomach tingle, though nothing made her heart jump. 

What did make her heart thump hard was the feeling of someone running smack into her without warning. Instinctively she held her hand out to the side and felt the cup slip from her fingers and onto the floor, though luckily not to soil her nor the girl in front of her. A familiar girl with breath smelling like the counters of the oldest bars in Chicago did. “Its completely fine. Are you okay?” She asked Paityn calmly. “Enjoying yourself tonight?” 

[costelloleon]

Sitting in the hotel lobby, away from the noise and crowd, Leon lit a cigarette. Despite the fact that it was illegal and very much against hotel policy, Leon would smoke wherever the hell he pleased. The waitress he paid-off to keep running back and forth returned with his third scotch of the night and he passed along another ten dollar bill. 

“Be back with another in twenty minutes or so,” he said, pulling out his cell phone. Business didn’t stop just because of a party. He took a sip from his drink and a drag from his cigarette. Hearing frightened screams coming from various hallways caused Leon to roll his eyes.

“I fucking hate Halloween.”

[miaxcostello]

It wasn’t a sight that inspired surprise, the one of Leon in a chair with some poor waitress running back and fourth with drinks and him smoking inside. Mia was a bit surprised he would have come at all if she was being honest, and absolutely certain he viewed it as an obligation and business, rather than coming to enjoy himself. She however had come to do the latter. It had been a long while since she last attended a party without any qualms, or felt sort of lighthearted about the entire thing. 

“Are you calling for a cab then? Cause if you hate it so much Le then you should just head home. Whats the point of being here if you don’t wanna be?” Mia asked as she came to a stop in front of him, arching her eyebrows and dropping a hand into the pocket of her long, red leather jacket. She quite loved this outfit, and would happily have worn it on a normal day, though without the heavy costume make up. 

[miaxcostello]

Mia Costello going as Jean Grey “The Dark Phoenix” to Fright Night 2019. Mia was always searching for heroines to identify with as a kid and one of the few comics she loved was X-Men, and charcter she related to the most was Jean Grey. Especially as Jean was merged with The Phoenix Force and had to fight giving in to her bad side, or evil side one might say. Its always resonated with Mia how a heroine both could be someone who wanted to do good, but who struggled with her own inner demons and faltered from the path that was expected of her. Struggling with a darker side of yourself is something Mia is quite familiar with too.

[abel-costello]

@miaxcostello

Date: October 2019 Location: Bella’s

He arrived fifteen minutes earlier than scheduled and Abel sat in the corner booth with a glass of water. Things have been hectic since Ezra was found in the streets that he barely had time to catch up with the rest of the family apart from Leon and Kai but it wasn’t the only thing that kept the consigliere busy. Finally, he saw Mia standing by the doorway and the blonde stood up to greet his cousin as she approached.

“Hey,” Abel spoke after they both took a seat. A server approached their table to first serve them drinks while their food arrived shortly after. “How’ve you been?“

[miaxcostello]

Lately, Mia felt as if she hadn’t really gotten along with a big portion of her family. And it wasn’t a feeling that she blamed on anybody. Tensions had been high, and everyone had really good reasons for acting the way they had been acting. But whenever she felt out of place or disconnected from her family, Mia also ended up feeling incredibly alone. And for a while she could cope with it, mostly by telling herself she was strong enough to get by, and that things would work themselves out eventually. Somewhere along the way though, she found herself choosing to make the biggest part of her day, her main focus, her job. It was simply an easier route to take. With Ezra’s kidnapping incident though, she had been forced to shift her focus back to her family. Thus forcing her to actively seek them out. 

Coming to a stop by the doorway at Bella’s, eying Abel as he rose from his seat, she wondered if they would just skip right on over the fact that they hadn’t really seen or talked to each other in a good while. For once, she had no idea where his head might be at, and though he knew her pretty well, he might not have any idea where her head was at. It felt a little strange, though she didn’t linger on it. 

“Hi.” she said as she crossed the floor to sit down, wetting her lips by taking a sip of her water glass. “Thats kind of a loaded question these days. I don’t know, keeping busy with work, what little dad lets me help him out with besides staying buried in his office with his scotch.” she lifted her shoulders in a small shrug, feeling like she didn’t really have an answer he’d not expect or that wouldn’t bring the mood down considerably. Just the mere thought of the danger Ezra had been in gave Mia nightmares. Which was why she filled her days to the brim to make sure she had as little time as possible to think at all. But then the nights came, and there was nothing that could keep her mind from going dark places. Not even the exhaustion from a packed day. “How about you?” 

[costelloleon]

“We need to discuss a few matters,” Leon said. His voice held no emotion just as his eyes remained black. With his brother recovering from his wounds, there was business to attend to.

[miaxcostello]

“Yeah we do.” Mia replied with a court nod, though she was unsure just how helpful she could be or would be permitted to be. If the slight hysteria and arguments around security hadn’t been high after the wedding, they certainly would be now. “Did dad fill you in? He agreed to let me help out with the organization, permanently. So please, if there’s anything you’re willing to entrust me with Leon, do so cause I’m ready.” If anything, seeing Ezra in that hospital bed had given her the fuel she needed. “I’m assuming you have a plan.” 

[miaxcostello]

Her boots squeaked against the linoleum floor as Mia half jogged across the entrance and over to the reception at Chicago Medical. At her speed she crashed into the desk, biting back the urge to groan a little as her abdomen took most of the impact, though it certainly did get the nurse’s attention. She fixed the brunette with a haughty stare, making it very clear that she thought the younger woman was making a spectacle of herself coming in like this. Mia couldn’t care less.. “Costello, Ezra. What room?” she said, her voice a little breathless yet tight with emotion. “He’s stable, right?” she added, her eyes widening with a silent plea as her mind filled with a silent prayer. God he had to be. She couldn’t loose him too. 

The minute the nurse gave her a room number and directions Mia was off again, this time flat out running and skirting around the people she came across as she bounded down the hall and to the left. The nurse had said the second floor.. She eyed the elevator but decided against it, running up the stairs and down another hallway. When she did finally get to the door with the right number on it, Mia came to a crashing halt, leaning her hand against the door frame, staring at the closed door with silent dread. She wasn’t sure what sight would meet her inside. Pushing the door handle down, she shoved the door open enough for her to peek inside. “Ez?” Her voice sounded small to her own ears. As hard as she tried, her eyes quickly filled with tears at the sight of him. Tears of both despair and anger. Fucking Sinclair’s.. they would burn for this.

@ezcostello

[miaxcostello]

“What are you doing in here Sof?” Mia asked, her tone slightly annoyed on account of the stress she was currently feeling as she came all but barreling into her own office, to find her little sister there. Her last week had been spent in the cutting room, discussing the final edition of her latest movie with her co producer and director as they were just days away from sending the film to the final stages of production. It was due to hit screens and stores next weekend with a big launch party she had asked Chanel to help her out with given her experience and skills. 

Her eyes only remained on Sofia for a split second before she went over to her desk, rummaging trough the papers there in hopes of finding the forms she were looking for. In truth Mia wasn’t all that surprised to see her sister. Normally she would take advantage of the situation, of any time offered to spend with one of her siblings. Though in the wake of Ezra’s abduction and the message that was pretty plainly sent from the Sinclair’s with his return, Mia had done what she did best when things felt like they were too big for her to handle, both emotionally and trough actions. She had buried herself in work.. Which now did also include hours during the day time running errands for their father and talking with their members a lot more actively, but she was yet to be in a position to do much about the fact that her family was being hurt. In order to avoid feeling helpless about it, it was easier to avoid them by focusing on her work. 

As she glanced back over at Sofia though, Mia knew she was being selfish. Knew that her way of coping wasn’t what was best for her family. Yet she didn’t know how to help them.. any of them. She was about to spout some excuse about how she was ‘too busy’. Catching herself though, Mia reminded herself that no, she was never too busy for her family. Not now, not ever. “You okay?” she asked, her tone softer than before. 

@sofia-fashionista

[miaxcostello]

“I promise I’m not trying to micro manage you or anything but could we just go trough the list together and then discuss whats left to do?” Mia knew she wasn’t really asking, though she tried to make her voice somewhat suggestive, hoping that the owner of the clear blue eyes she was staring into would agree. The stark contrast between Chanel’s pretty blonde hair and her baby blues had always been one Mia somewhat envied. Her friend was anything but plain looking, so beautiful that most couldn’t look past her. At the time being she also envied her her life. It might be tied up with a large crime family but at least it didn’t place her loved ones in direct harm.. Mia’s worst fears had almost been entirely confirmed when Ezra was dumped on the street by the Sinclair’s. It was a damn near miracle that he had been returned alive.

Picking at her muffin in front of her, she once more debated whether or not having this meeting in a coffee shop, albeit on Costello territory, had been the best idea. Then again she and Chanel used to do meetings in neutral places. It was easier to blur the lines between business and friendship when they did, leaving options for actually asking personal questions and veering into mindless, and sometimes incredibly freeing, gossip and chit chat. For the time being though Mia was too stressed out about this launch party to talk anything but business. “Okay so the catering is taken care of, and the decorations are nearly done, save for the balloons spelling out the new name for the studio.. which I have yet to decide on by the way.. would it be too much to ask if you’d help me with that too?”

@chanelxalbright

[miaxcostello]

mason-carmichael‌:

Somehow, Mason had forgotten how nice Mia could be. And thankfully, she reminded him time and time again. The graciousness, and patience she had with him meant a lot more to him than he would ever be able to express. The walls he built around himself so no one could break passed them, he fortunately was comfortable to let Mia walk right in the front door. 

Still, he had convinced himself that it didn’t mean more than what it was. She was his friend, he was lucky to have her around at all. 

But just be straight with me Mase, is it habitual or is it because you’re not okay?

It wasn’t habitual, that was for sure. He had gone pretty much straight in prison. He was the model of a prisoner, if there was one. This had to do with the Costello’s taking care of him, but having a sense of balance implemented in his life for the first time ever, really set him straight. So being released from prison did shake him a bit. 

Her presence was enough to relax him, in even the slightest matter, closing the space between them by taking her hands. 

“I’ll get better,” is all he can say, giving her the best smile he can muster. 

“I don’t know how you were in the first place. I practically lived off of chocolate ice cream, in there.. I don’t know that I can go back to not having it every single day.”

Given all the challenges Mason had faced in his life, Mia just wanted to be that someone he knew he could always turn to. And it did help that while she knew he was a private person, he always opened up to her as much as he could manage to. She knew it could be tricky to do so. Not out of a lack of trust, but out of a learned skill to inadvertently never lay your troubles on someone else’s shoulders. In many ways like that they were so alike, and she saw her own behaviorisms and her own ways of coping in Mason. Though unlike him she hadn’t grown up with addicts for parents, and she could imagine that it might come with its own set of worries and doubts. She’d heard people in AA groups talk about those. How their parents had been addicts and they had struggled all their lives not to become anything like them, but then their addiction ended up being the one thing they both had hated about their parents but ended up having in common with them. In stark contrast she was wholly convinced that Mason wouldn’t go down that road himself. He might slip and drink too much but he always seemed to get a handle on it, a strength she admired and wondered how to obtain for herself. 

Feeling the strong, warm pressure of his hands in hers, Mia allowed herself a small moment to lean into an emotion she knew well, but frequently refused to label around Mason. Instead she only allowed herself to feel it for short amounts of time. And then harshly replaced it with some other emotion, whether it might be supported by the unnamed one or not didn’t really matter. This time the emotion was a burning guilt in her stomach as he confirmed that something deeper was indeed going on and she had clearly not taken enough time away from her own problems to notice that he was struggling more than he had let on. Nodding, she doesn’t fight the immediate urge to lean up and place a gentle kiss on his cheek. “You know I’m here for you, right? I wanna help however I can. You’re not alone.” Mia tries and fails to keep the mix of affection and heavy emotion out of her voice. “You could come with me to meetings if you want. I know its not for everyone but consider it a standing offer. Or if you just want to talk, you just call or text and I’ll come. Work wise, I could really use some heavy lifting assistance or a middle man at the studio. Its not super exciting but its something to do.” 

Cocking a brow at him, she fakes outrage. “Are you telling me you have chocolate ice cream stashed away somewhere and all you’re offering me is chocolate milk?” 

[prettymysticfalls]

[miaxcostello]

mason-carmichael‌:

“Maybe practice makes perfect, but that means I’d actually have to practice. And Mia, takeout is way too good for me to learn how to cook,” he muses, smiling proudly, amused by his own words. Though, the grin soon faded upon her question. He was quiet for a beat, opening his mouth to say something, and then stopping, rethinking what he wanted to say. 

“It’s not bad, I promise,” he pauses. “And I probably seem like an ass waving it around in front of you, but… I don’t know,” he sighs, his fingers grazing through his hair. “It just happened, I guess. I’m not back working yet so… what else am I supposed to do?” Drinking and eventually substance abuse had come naturally, with the upbringing he had had. And despite how adamant the man was about how he had control of these addictions, sitting around and doing nothing didn’t seem to help him, in any way. 

“You’re passing on chocolate milk, really?” He feigns a look of offense, which very quickly turned into a slight pout. 

“And to think I thought I knew you.”

“Just make sure you get something other than pizza and burgers. There’s way to much fat in take out in this city. And if thats hard then I’ll come over and practice my cooking skills for you.” She returned with a playful wink, not outright voicing the slight concern in the back of her mind of him eating lots of junk and getting some kind of aneurism or early heart disease. Sure, she too liked to indulge in junk food when the occasion was right, but ever since deciding to quit drinking she had also decided to become even better at watching what she ate. 

The pause that came and went made it a bit challenging to trust that he was telling the truth. She’d read about it in the weeks before his release. How ex convicts often struggled to adapt back into their lives outside of prison. How getting a job was a struggle, and reconnecting with friends and family could be difficult, and so a lot turned to alcohol and drugs to cope. Was this is? Or was she exaggerating? Instead of interjecting, she waited quietly, allowing Mason to finish his thoughts before she offered her own. “First of all, this doesn’t have anything to do with me. Yeah, I got sober while you were away, but you can drink as much as you want around me. I don’t care about that. I do care about you taking care of yourself. There’s tons of other things to do. If you need work I can help with that, Leon can too. If its out of loneliness or boredom and feeling stuck, then I’m here to help whenever. If you’ll let me.” Feeling the need to be closer to him, she got off the chair and walked to stand right in front of him. “But just be straight with me Mase, is it habitual or is it because you’re not okay?” Her eyes glinted with worry. Was there something deeper going on here? If there were, and she hadn’t been able to notice before now, she would be kicking herself about it later.. 

“Fine you got me, I can’t possibly pass up chocolate milk. His pout is too cute, and makes her smile. 

[miaxcostello]

amelina-martinez‌:

There was a moment when she thought Mia Costello might not go for it. Which was interesting to Lina. She’d heard that Mia was the party girl of the family, but she seemed sober and looking to do business right now. Of course, she ran a porn studio, so business could involve a lot of parties. Still, being her friend would open up possibilities. Though that was looking pretty far ahead. Lina wished she really was still the party girl. Girls like that were easy to fall in with, as long as you were willing to stay out all night and keep looking for the next adventure. 

“I’ve missed you! You look amazing, btw, how do you make every outfit so hot?” Not turning around, she carefully gestured so only the two of them could see. “My eleven o’clock. Bought me a drink and thought that bought him my time. You know how it goes. Can we … move somewhere less visible? I promise not to be a pain in the ass much longer.”

Mia liked to believe she still knew how to have fun, even without the booze and the excessive party style. The business she had chosen to start wasn’t one without parties to celebrate their projects or accomplishments though now a days it was easy to step into those parties, on her own turf, mostly on her own terms, and just be the boss, the producer and the Costello in charge. If anything the power and feel of that often made her hunger for more. What she had was good, but it was far from good enough. Her aspirations rose way beyond owning a studio and producing adult movies. And if what she had to sacrifice to get there was the party girl she had once been, or a little reckless freedom, then she was good with that. As long as the means justified the end. 

“Me too! Why thank you. I just add my own personal spin to it you know? Did you get a new haircut? Cause your hair looks fantastic!” Reaching out she casually touched her hair, her eyes not leaving the other girls before she gestured in the direction of the unwanted attention. “Men living in worlds where all women can be bought. Gag.. unfortunately I do. Yeah lets try to slip off by the bathrooms. We can use the crowd do our advantage. And don’t worry about it.” 

[miaxcostello]

julict-carmichael‌:

Juliet looked up, expression brightening as she realised who it was. She was always happy to see Mia. When she’d been with Luca, she’d always been worried that she was a wet blanket, uncool, boring for her constant encouragements for Luca to get on the straight and narrow; but Mia always made her feel like she was doing the right thing.

Maybe Mia had had a tumultuous past, but she’d gotten her act together incredibly well, and for that Juliet respected her. She couldn’t imagine anyone better for Mason to be seeing, although she knew they’d both cringe if she verbalised that thought. They were both totally unwilling to talk about how the future might look, even though Juliet was pretty sure Mason wanted something more. So, Juliet tended to do the talking for them. There wasn’t a lot that made her happy, these days. Knowing that her brother, and someone she’d come to look up to and admire, were together in some capacity… that made her happy.

“Just some asshole at work,” Juliet shrugged, glancing at her security detail. It seemed to her to be an overreaction, but she’d also learned over the years that the Costellos looked after their own. Besides, it took more than one idiot trying his luck to shake her. “Nothing I couldn’t handle. Well, nothing a couple of beefy security guards couldn’t handle on my behalf. But Roma takes good care of its employees. Are you working?” Juliet asked, gaze wandering briefly to the counter where a flurry of coffee-making seemed to be going on.

She was always interested to hear about Mia’s work. Not because Juliet herself wanted to get involved - she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be comfortable in front of the camera, and she made enough money escorting - but because it was comforting to know that the adult film industry wasn’t all bad. Mia made sure her employees were treated right, and as an employee in a related industry, Juliet appreciated that. She knew not all sex workers were so lucky. Growing up where she had, she’d seen enough hookers on street corners dressed in black eyes and track marks to know that it was a harsh industry.

Every time Mia ran into Juliet, she was reminded of her younger self, and just how easy it had been for someone with a big heart and kind spirit to be set on the wrong path. Though Juliet was certainly innocent and decidedly pure in ways that Mia never thought she herself had been. When you grew up with two older brothers to copy and a mob father to admire and study, it would take a lot to remain free of a certain degree of corruption, misguided values and mischievous ways to get your own way. While Juliet had been, at least as much as possible, been shielded from her parents by Mason.

When they had first met, and the younger girl had been presented as her little brothers girlfriend, Mia had found it easy to like her. There was no doubt in her mind that Juliet was a wonderful influence on Luka, and that she was exactly the kind of person that might be able to lead him to happier, safer and better places than most of his other female friends. Even his own twin sister.. Then again, one person could only do so much, and she had never begrudged Juliet for breaking things off. It had clearly shook Luka, which she had felt for and wanted to help cope, but it was hard to argue or disrespect someone who walked away to save themselves from vices and a life style they did not want. Had Mia herself been stronger at Juliet’s age she’d like to think she could have made the same choice, and she often wondered what life would have been like if she had.

If only Juliet had managed to say not to the darker aspects career wise.. That sometimes stunned Mia, how someone who was so clearly disinterested in partying, in drugs, and in that entire scene, could choose to become a working girl. And while she was definitely someone who thought Juliet was made for bigger things, she tried not to judge her for choosing this line of work. Then again she didn’t much encourage it either. It was why she had never asked the younger Charmicael to star in one of her movies. She didn’t want to open a door for her that would undoubtedly lead her deeper into promiscuity. Also she figured Mason would literally blow a casket and she wouldn’t blame him for it either.

“The guy was sent packing then? Personally I hope he was given a bit more than a warning. Creep like that have no business at the Roma, let alone near you. Has Cass been notified? I’m sure she’d like to know. No, not yet. I’m getting coffee before work. For me and the crew.” She said with a small shrug. Noticing that the barista seemed stressed, Mia took the chair opposite Juliet, figuring that he might take it easier if she wasn’t seen standing and waiting for him to finish. “I’m doing this new thing where I bring everyone their preferred coffee order before we start a shoot. There’s been a lo of late nights in the past month and they deserve a pick me up to start off with.” Had it been anyone else she probably wouldn’t have bothered giving up such details, but Juliet always seemed interested and Mia was never shy about talking about her work whenever someone was willing to listen. Even trivial stuff like this. “Are you okay though?” She added, not entirely reassured given the reply before that hadn’t noted to any of Juliet’s feelings on the matter.

[kaicostello]

TEXT: la familia

Kai: Anyone heard from Ezra? I can’t seem to get a location on him.

@marcel-costello @cassandra-costello @miaxcostello @lucacostello @sofia-fashionista @abel-costello

[miaxcostello]

Mia: No.. he texted he’d be going out of town for some R-R and then turned it off.  Mia: You can’t get anything at all? No signal, nothing? 

[wordsnquotes]

Ten years from now, make sure you can say that you chose your life, you didn’t settle for it.

Mandy Hale, The Single Woman (via wordsnquotes)

[miaxcostello]

benjamin-lowell‌:

Ben didn’t take many nights off to just do whatever he wanted. Lola was always the priority, no matter what. But Ben did understand that he needed to take time for himself. Lola enjoyed staying with his parents, so Ben didn’t worry much about her; she was in good hands. 

“Yeah. Had a good time. Made friends with some dude at the bar. He was mentioning how his wife was pregnant, and he’d just found out. He was out celebrating with some co-workers or something. Anyway, I ended up just rambling on about Lola.” Ben grinned. Predictable. She was everything to Ben. It was hard not to brag about her every chance that he got.

Mia took Ben’s hand. He stopped for a moment, visibly confused. He didn’t mind it necessarily, but Mia had broken up with him. He wanted to ask Mia very gently what she was doing. He knew he wouldn’t be very coherent, and he wasn’t trying to start a fight by any means - but he had to ask.

“Mia,” Ben began, sighing a little as he squeezed her hand once. “We broke up. ‘Member?” 

That was all he could say, really. He didn’t let go of her hand. It was easy to hold onto whenever he was this drunk, and he didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Walking was proving to be quite the challenge.

“Uhh, diner’s to the right!”

While Mia didn’t have any kids, she did have a few thoughts on parenting. It was something that had changed when Ben and Lola had invited her into their lives, and she had gotten to feel what it was like to be part of a normal family. What it was like to be both responsible for someone else and dependent on someone else in a new way, different from how she’d felt with her own family in a while. It was not that she didn’t love her family, she did with all her heart. But being a family with a public image had shaped them, how they acted and how they were together, more than she had realized or noticed in the past. You couldn’t entirely compare your own family to someone else’s before you got to experience what that someone else’s family looked like from the inside.

“Thats good. Really? I’m sure he didn’t mind though, getting some insight into fatherhood might have been just what he needed.” She said with a small smile, also thinking that the scmuch shouldn’t be out drinking when he had just learned he was going to be a dad.. he should be home with his wife celebrating. Then again maybe this night was his second round of celebrations or something.

When he stopped, she took a side step to turn back around, her eyebrows lifting in question in response to the confusion she could read on his face. What? Her own face was asking, unsure what he was thinking. Though the following sigh and hand squeeze did indeed give her a slight preparation for the words that followed. Words that made her feel a whole lot, all at once. But then when didn’t being around him make her feel like that? ever since their break up she had been a whirlwind of emotions the second he was close to her. She shouldn’t have expected this small run in to be any different.. Shouldn’t have, and yet she had. Just for once she had been searching for that easy friendship their relationship had always contained. Of course breaking up would destroy that for a while.. and maybe it was unfair for her to hope that after some time apart they could be just friends. Now that she thought about it, being 'just' anything with Ben sounded real darn challenging. Because it was not as if she had broken up with him because she didn’t love him enough. She had done it because of how much she did love him.

“Vividly.” Her voice low but not low enough to hide that edge of hurt she probably wasn’t entitled to feel. Still, she didn’t let go of his hand, though she felt the need to half explain it, half offer some replacement for her hand if that was what he was after. “Your balance is a little off when drunk.. I thought I’d lend you a hand. Do you want my elbow instead? Or should I just let you stumble forward on your own?” She half asked, half suggested with a pair of raised eyebrows and what she hoped was a nonchalant tone. Whether or not he believed her initial intentions, she hoped he’d believe that it had been an act out of concern and care. And unless told otherwise, she still thought she was allowed to show that she cared.

Relieved to be given a direction, Mia steered them to the right, barely managing to keep the tempo down. The whole comment was now making her wonder whether or not she should be holding his hand at all for any reason, and that made her eager to get them to where they were going so that she could stop thinking about it altogether.

[miaxcostello]

lucacostello‌:

It’d been a while since Luca got to spend time with just him and Mia. After the wedding, everything had sort of been a blur. The first few days after Paisley’s death had been fucking awful. Now it just felt like he’d been going through the motions.

“Honestly, maybe we should just get the pizza to go. And hang out back at your place?” Luca suggested. 

Miami had been fucking exhausting. All of that partying wore him out. A relaxing night in with his older sister sounded a hundred times better than sitting in a crowded restaurant, openly judging others for their pizza topping choice. 

“Miami was fun. The clubs were crowded, but I didn’t mind at all because I was surrounded by beautiful women.”

Being one of five siblings, Mia could say with certainty that none of the relationships she had with her siblings were the same. They all had different variations, patterns and depth. What was the common denominator was how much she loved each of them. And how no matter what was going on in their lives or where they were in the world, she wanted to be able to spend time with them. Since the wedding she had felt a little lost on how to properly be there and best show support and offer it to Luca. Which in turn made her feel like a shitty sister. After thirty one years, shouldn’t she have it all figured out? Shouldn’t she be able to handle anything and be the sister he needed no matter what? Having none of the answers, she had tried her best, letting him know she was there, though not being overly pushy or intrusive. It wasn’t her style as an older sister. 

“Yeah we can definitely do that. I for one wouldn’t mind it being just us with no one around.” She concurred. Crowds still made her antsy, constantly worrying that there was someone lurking on the sidelines, ready to pounce. 

“I’m glad, sometimes a change of scenery and a crowd full of distractions can be helpful. Just you and all the girls huh? That does sound de-stressing.”