heather phillips

you are telling me i gave up backpacking for this? there better be wine.

[phillipsheather]

“That’s just because I give him candy before dinner,” Ayden confessed laughing lightly at himself. “Don’t tell Mike that,” he tidied quickly. From his cozied spot against her, Ayden brought his gaze to the window of the living room. He watched the breeze comb through the trees and suddenly longed to breathe in the same way. “Hey, this might be crazy, and you can completely shoot me down, but…” Ayden faced her, wrinkling his nose. “Do you wanna maybe go to the beach?” 

“Your secret is safe with me... for a price, of course,” Heather said with a smirk. Heather watched him as he looked outside the window, wondering what crazy plan was being formulated under his messy hair. “If by going to the beach you mean taking a book and a beer to the beach and laying down where I can watch you read shirtless... count me in.”

[phillipsheather]

Wide eyed and open mouthed, Evan realized the stunt she’d pulled. “Impressive,” he gave over, expertly catching his wallet when she returned it. “Careful who you mess with, Phillips. Don’t make me challenge you to another round of our….. most favorite game,” he threatened, tapping his temple with a pointer finger when he referenced their infamous Scrabble tournaments. “Okay, don’t talk to me about ‘swooning.’ I’ve seen you when a certainsomeone you climbed Swiss mountains with walks into a room,” Evan gloated cheekily, before he worked to soften the blow. “We’re both hopelessly in love with two people who could clearly do much better, but they chose us for some reason.” He grinned, grateful and took another sip. “I know.” I finally believe that, he thought to himself, running a hand against his jaw. “But I really admire what it symbolized for us. My parents never had much of a marriage,” he outlined without a trace of self-pity. “But I knew I could do better than that, that I would do better than that. I just want to do right by her always. For the rest of my life,” Evan shrugged. “I dunno. You get it.” 

Evan relaxed with her reaction, feeling himself suppress a chuckle at her amusement. “Alice loves Auntie H! I believe she’s called you ‘Mommy’s Friend.’ That’s the highest of compliments, really,” he played. 

“I have no idea what you are talking about, Maxwell,” Heather said innocently, wondering if Ayden had accidentally unpacked the Scrabble box and left it out for Evan to see. She wasn’t drunk enough... yet. Heather drank her beer cautiously, taking a moment to process Evan’s words. Was that it? Was that the basis of their friendship? The two of us knew it was some sort of miracle that their partners had settled for them. “Well, here’s to miraculously scoring way out of our leagues,” she said, offering her beer to clink his. 

Heather laughed, shaking her head, although secretly she was pleased she had Alice’s approval. “I think she likes me because I treat her like an adult, you all baby her too much,” Heather pointed out. “But still... you wouldn’t let me babysit her for like, a week. Lindsay’s mom, as strange as she is, she was a good mom when we were growing up. And Linds’ dad was the best. Linds has good parenting genes, I don’t. I am not meant to bring children to this world,” Heather said seriously, not an ounce of self-deprecation. 

[phillipsheather]

Sophie laughed at Heather. “Oh, good. Because I’m way too lazy to be cooking and I don’t want to set this kitchen on fire.” Sophie smiled small, scrolling on her phone as emails came pouring in. The work never stops, but she placed the phone down on the island before taking a seat. Glancing up she noticed Heather opened the gift. “Aw, thank you. Yes, actually. It’s from my boutique.” Sophie was unsure if Heather would like the gift, but her reaction confirmed she was pleased and she even got a compliment so Sophie considered it a success. “And this place I think puts everyone on edge, but hey at least we’re all here. It’s nice to see you.” Sophie offered up another small smile and then her attention was drawn to the microwave. “I can grab my food. It smells so good.” Sophie made her way over to the microwave and then grabbed a fork. Placing the pasta in a bowl she spoke up, “ Thanks again for this…” her voice trailed, “So, how’s life been?” Sophie knew it was a loaded question for someone like Heather, so she quickly changed the subject. “Also, if you like the necklace I can customize anything else you need, too.”

“So you opened a boutique?” Heather asked, remembering somewhere in her small talk training she had been instructed that was the appropriate follow-up question. And the necklace was beautiful. “Life was good, surprisingly. Ayden and I spent a lot of time traveling for his work, he takes photographs for all kinds of magazines, so we went all over. And then, I don’t know, I felt the need to do something with my life so I enrolled in school to get my Ph.D. I was halfway done before they dragged us back to this fire dumpster. So it better be worth it.” Heather smiled, nodding at Sophie. “Thank you for the offer, I’d definitely take you up on it if I was more of a... fashion person.” 

[phillipsheather]

“I’m paying this time,” Evan insisted without his humor in tow, eyeing Heather over the curve of his beer as she programmed in their order. “Ah, Switzerland. How was that?” Partially, Evan teased her, engaging in the sort of highbrow conversations that he never usually would, but he also approached with genuine curiosity. Outside of the traumatic endeavors the immortals had taken through Helios, Evan had never really travelled. “Who would’ve thought you would ever be calling me a ‘nerd?’” he reminisced. “I’m almost complimented…. So,” Pressing himself up into a seat position, Evan thumbed at the German label in his hand, continuing without judgement. “Kids or no?” Fearing he may be pressing to much, he lifted his arms into a sort of surrender. “I mean, to each their own. You two do seem really good.” 

“Suit yourself, you paid last time too,” Heather told him with a wink, throwing his wallet (which she had snatched earlier) back at him. “Switzerland was cool, it was cold though and expensive. But the Alps were gorgeous, it was definitely worth the climb,” Heather said fondly, thinking back of the days where it was just her, Ayden, and their backpacks. No Helios, no lab coats. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Maxwell. I am a cool nerd, the kind that can put rockets into space and shit. You are a lame nerd, the kind that swoons when he catches sight of a gold band,” she clarified with a grin, taking a swig of her beer. “Why did you get married anyway? It’s not like Linds was going anywhere.” 

Heather couldn’t help but cackle at his question, not feeling pressed at all but amused. “You are kidding, right? Could you imagine me as a mother? Goodness, I couldn’t even stay in a room alone with Alice until she turned six, and even then it was only when Linds want to the bathroom or something.”

[phillipsheather]

“I’ll set an alarm,” he chuckled, returning her gesture to seal their compromise before he stole her hand between his own, tucking it under his head. Ayden shut his eyes picking up on the rolling of her own without needing to look and feeling her exhalation under their hands. “That’s nice–” he paid his complements to the soccer ball, letting her cut him off. “You did what,” Ayden deadpanned lifting his head. “It’s not that I don’t want to help them, but I can do other things? Like fix their radiator for them or, I dunno… what else am I good at?” he posed without deprecation. “If she asks me to babysit, you know you’re coming with me.” 

“I don’t know why you think an alarm at 3 am will help me have a more positive outlook, but suit yourself,” Heather teased him, watching him as he closed his eyes, knowing he needn’t look at her face to read her expression. Heather raised her eyebrows at Ayden’s reaction. “You are good with kids, Noah likes you,” Heather said. “Besides, bold of you to assume that Mike would let me so much as help babysit their children. No thank you. I will fix the radiator.”

[phillipsheather]

Sophie was getting settled by the pool, needing some space from Heather. She knew her emotions was going to get the best of her and could sense Heathers annoyance by her. Since moving to LA, Sophie has been attending therapy sessions. Hearing Heather’s voice call out, she perked up. “Oh, really?” She accepted Heathers olive branch. “Sure, I’ll make some. Hey–you okay? I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry.” Sophie said as she grabbed her towel and headed back inside. “Talk to me. I sense your energy is at an all time high. If you need an ear I’m all yours.” Sophie acted a little concerned, but wanted to test out the waters. She was unsure how Heather would react to her gesture, but doesn’t hurt to try—or at least that’s what her therapist tells her.

Heather couldn’t help but laugh at Sophie’s response. “Make some? What do you think this is, Lindsay’s? The pasta is already made, it’s some leftover bolognese from what we ordered yesterday. It’s quite good,” Heather said as she walked back inside with Sophie, grabbing the takeout container from the fridge. “This place puts me on edge, it’s not you. And I am jetlagged,” Heather said, waving Sophie’s concern away. There was no need for a heart-to-heart. As Sophie’s food heated up on the microwave, Heather finally opened the gift, holding the necklace on her hand. “This is pretty. You designed it?”

[phillipsheather]

“Now you’re being ridiculous,” Isabelle couldn’t help but tease Heather over the whole growling thing from Becca’s kid. Though all the kids definitely had different personalities compared to their parents, “I’ll make sure to tell Arabella that when you know…she’s out of the stubborn stage.” 

“I’m not. You can ask Beca, she was there,” Heather defended herself as she followed Izzy to the register to pay for Noah’s gifts. “You’ll know where I’ll be, or how to contact me at least. I’m quite attached to my phone number.”

“Okay, we got Noah’s gift. What’s next on the list?”

[phillipsheather]

“Mm, how mature of you. You’ve really grown,” Evan delivered sarcastically, eyes narrowed over a lazy arm draped across his chest. His long legs were crossed, spanning the length of the carpet where their ravished pizza box laid depleted. “It was just one time!” he lied, pretending to wipe away a tear. “But, yes. You can reassure the court that you’ve performed your civic duty,” Evan teased, enjoying himself a little too much when he took a swig of his beer. “This stuff is good. Is it German or something? I saw you and Ayden went there a few months back.” Returning his beer to its place on the coffee table, he caught sight of his wedding band. So much time had passed and yet spotting it still made him smile. “Speaking of Mr. Time Magazine……. when are you two going to get hitched?” 

Heather rolled her eyes at him, simply grabbing her phone and ordering another pizza and an order of garlic bread, just in case. “It’s Swiss but close. The label’s in German,” Heather said, finally looking up from her phone once the order was placed. She caught him looking as his wedding band and scoffed, shotting him a smirk. “Nerd,” she teased him, having said the exact same thing to Lindsay the many times she had caught her admiring her rings. “Listen, just because you and Linds decided to stop living in sin doesn’t mean Ayden and I will,” Heather said defensively. “Why would we want to get married anyway? We are more than fine.”

[phillipsheather]

Ayden hummed contentedly feeling Heather hold him more tightly, feeling her arms across his back, feeling his worries sort of shed away like autumn leaves. “Maybe we can start taking turns?” he posed not expecting her to go along with his suggestion, though of course he didn’t mind. “Oh, yes. How could I forget? And alcohol. You’re good at finding that too. And I love you for that,” he tacked on cheekily, remembering many wine soaked and giggly nights. “’You think?’” Ayden laughed heartily. 

“Fine, I’ll be the positive one every night from 3 am to 6 am. You are on duty the rest of the time,” Heather said, offering him her hand to shake. Heather rolled her eyes, sighing exasperatedly. “Well I don’t know, it wasn’t his birthday... so I don’t understand why she was getting him a gift but she was and I said maybe he would like a soccer ball... he like that I think. Oh... and I volunteered you to babysit whenever she needed a day off. ”

[phillipsheather]

Sophie furrowed her brows at Heather’s words, slightly caught off guard however the blonde realized she should have expected nothing less from this girl. “Excuse me? I’m not sure who you think you’re talking to, but you’re going to want to change your attitude. It wasn’t what you said to me, I could give two shits if you shoved the whole pizza in your face. It’s how you said it. And if you want to play semantics, I will let you know I have not eaten one slice, since I can’t eat dairy any more.” Sophie rolled her eyes, annoyance written all of her features. “This is supposed to be a fun trip, but I know when I’m not wanted.” Before Sophie turned away from the girl, she reached in to her Michael Kors tote bag and pulled out a little blue gift bag with white tissue paper. A gift from her boutique. Inside the small bag was a white box and enclosed a silver necklace with a dainty “H” on it.  Sophie picked out a gift for everyone. This time she was ready to make amends, however she was starting to slowly realize maybe others were still not ready to do the same. Sophie shouted towards the kitchen, “I’m going to go relax by the pool. Enjoy the pizza.” Placing the bag on the counter, Sophie shrugged before making her way towards the door.

Heather ran her hand through her face, wondering why of all times Ayden had decided to leave her home alone to entertain visits. Why didn’t people know better? If they wanted to be pampered, Heather Phillip’s was not the place. She took a shot of vodka, muting Sophie’s words before preparing herself a vodka cranberry, finally, some of Sophie’s words broke through the haze. “Have fun!” She called out without turning around, waiting for the sweet silence that would follow after Sophie left. However, when she noticed the bag on the counter, she could clearly hear Linday’s voice in her head. Would it kill you to be nice, Heather? Heather groaned, walking up to the back door towards the pool. “We have pasta too... it’s dairy-free if you want it,” she said finally. 

[phillipsheather]

“Uh…you know kid’s don’t growl…like dogs, but I mean I’m sure there are a few kids who may act like that but Noah and Alice are completely harmless…can’t exactly say that for the twins, especially Arabella she’s, very bossy. You’d probably get along with her when she’s a little older.” 

“And that’s where you’re wrong. Beca’s kid definitely growled at me once. But to be fair I did take something from him, can’t remember what it was... anyway,” Heather said, sighing. “My point is, if I had to pick kids to babysit it would be Noah and Alice, they look clean. But once Arabella can form coherent sentences, we’ll revaluate her application.”

[phillipsheather]

“Cheers.” Evan raised his beer to clink against hers. “What?” he deflected, feigning offense. Sitting up again, Evan trapped the tip of his tongue between his teeth, his grin childish. “I have to have a reason? Didn’t you miss me, Phillips? You’ve been quite the world traveler. I haven’t seen you in months. And if I don’t have people like you around to keep me honest. I start to get a little full of myself.” 

“Lindsay often tells me that when I have nothing nice to say sometimes it’s best to not say anything at all, so I am not going to answer that question for your sake, Maxwell,” Heather said, clinking her beer against his before sitting down on the couch to work on her pizza. “And for my sake, Lindsay will never let me hear the last of it if I make you cry... again,” she joked. However, it was difficult for Heather to repress a smile altogether as Evan finished his reasoning for their relationship. “So you are telling me I can count this as community service?”

[phillipsheather]

“OK, I’m gonna need you to relax. Are you sure you aren’t PMS? I am catching major negative vibes.” Sophie chuckled, rolling her eyes lovingly with a smile. “You may want to start drinking something stronger than a beer; maybe some whiskey on the rocks. Straight vodka?” The blonde suggested, eyebrows raised. 

Despite the fact that Heather hardly ever took suggestions from anyone, she knew that she would need something stronger than a beer to survive Sophie’s incessant chatter. “Really? PMS? You are going to use sexist remarks to shame me for wanting the last slice of the pizza I paid for? You are right, I need some vodka,” she said, standing up and taking her slice of pizza with her as she headed into the kitchen. 

[phillipsheather]

Ayden laughed lightly, lifting blue eyes up to see her. “Sorry to be so bleak,” he sealed with a tilted smile, the soft kind, the warming kind. “We will be okay. We always are.” He laid his head back against her. “No, not yet. I’ll text him. I saw Beca though. Marissa too.” Furrowing brows, he elected to tease her, just a touch. “Shopping? For what? I’ve never seen you buy anything except cereal. And books.” 

Heather examined his smile for a moment, her brain always in need of gathering data for future use. In this case, the evidence was enough for Heather to relax and wrap her arms tighter around him. “This is why I keep you around. One of us has to be positive,” she said with a smirk. Heather rolled her eyes at his teasing. “Very funny, sir. For your information I have many shopping talents... like... nutella, I know how to find that,” she defended herself. “She wanted to buy a gift for Noah? I think.”

[phillipsheather]

“You really have no experience with kids do you?” Isabelle laughed, “Obviously not, because I mean…would you feel appreciated if someone told you that?”

“Hey! I held Alice.... once. And I once gave Noah a lollipop... i think. At least I know I have seen him smile at me, or he doesn’t growl at me for all I know...” Heather scoffed. “And yeah, I mean, if they went through the effort of writing that...”

[phillipsheather]

Evan hovered his hand over the slice, retrieving it and hovering it again to tease Heather as she made her way out of the room. Once she left, he shouted behind her, “The odds of things going your way increase if you grab a beer for me too!” Surrendering, Evan laid back on his elbows, his grin proving difficult to contain. He’d missed her so much. “Should we just order another?” he considered as she returned. “Is that crazy?” 

Heather threw a pillow at him as he teased her, not allowing herself to smile until she was in the kitchen and out of his sight. Refraining to show Evan her amusement, she reached into the fridge and pulled two beers before Evan even mentioned he wanted one. “We can order another, but that slice is still mine!” Heather called out as she made her way back, using the bottles to pop each other open before handing him his beer. “So why are you here again?”

[phillipsheather]

“Is it unhelpful if I say that I do too?” His voice was dried and honest. That is what the two of them were always partial too, the truth. Even if that left them both unsettled. Ayden ran delicate fingers up and down the length of her arm. “It’s nice seeing everyone again, though. Didn’t realize how much I missed them.” 

“Well, it definitely isn’t helpful. But I am glad I am not alone in this,” she said with a sigh. Heather closed her eyes as if that would help her put things into perspective. But it didn’t. “Did you talk to Mike yet? Izzy and I went shopping earlier.”