“Yeah, I’ll accept the charges.” The brunette replied, defeated, as the flat surface of the phone rested against the side of her face. The end of a cigarette finding it way in between her lips, but before she could light it, the familiar voice spoke on the other end. “Aaaaaannnnd happy New Years to you to mother.” Avril stated, cutting off the rant that began on the other end. Yet, it didn’t seem to cease her mother’s train of thought, as Avril fell silent and leaned back against the dinning table. The dramatic eye roll that would follow was nothing sure of long, and drawn out. Every word spoken into the phone had been a repeat of so many other times before. I didn’t do anything wrong. They are accusing me of nothing. These damn cops hate me. This is injustice. I want a lawyer. Get me one. A good one. Bail me out. Yadayadayada. The cigarette that had been in between her lips now rested in between two fingers. The irritation from her own mother’s voice caused her to miss the fact that she had partially crushed the white stick. “You were caught trying to prostitute yourself to an undercover cop! And you had cocaine in your possession! How is that not your fault!” Avril yelled into the phone, “Oh my god, you’re almost sixty! How can you still act so goddamn childish. — No, no! No. I don’t care. I’m tired of bailing you out. You got yourself into this one, get your ass out of—” Hauling, Avril wet her lips, as a hollow chuckle fell from her lips, “Yeah, well, you know what? Screw you to.” Before anything else could be said, Avril hung the phone up, and slammed it down onto the wooden table. The cigarette she held now in two parts, one of which rested on the base of her feet. Throwing the end of it onto the table, she reached for the pack that rested just inches from her phone, and pulled out a new one. Placing it in between her lips, she reached for the lighter, only to jump when someone spoke behind her. Whipping towards the sound of the voice, she let out a sigh of relief, “Jesus – Reid, you scared the shit out of me. No, no – it wasn’t.” She assured, “I got sidetracked.” Green hues then falling to the gifts that rested in both his hands, a warm smile appearing at the gesture. “You didn’t have to do that.” She expressed, “Thank you though.” Then lighting the cigarette, she looked over he shoulder at the tree that still rested in the corner of her living room. “Among other things… I’ll give you five seconds to rethink that answer, because if you’re serious, I’ve got a lot of shit for you to do.”
Having only caught the latter part of the conversation, Reid didn’t know anything about what was going on with Avril. For all of the years Reid knew her, basically since childhood, he thought of her as one of his closest friends and he dearly deeply about her. Hoping he didn’t catch her at an unexpected time and interrupted anything too important. Although, the sight of the front door was one of the unexpected to witness and he did want to make sure everything was alright. That no one was breaking in, especially with everything going around Westbrook and how people were on the edge of their seats of the investigation, one that Reid himself wasn’t following all too closely himself. His arms crossed over his chest after a while, once the items of late presents were resting upon the floor now, focusing upon Avril since the last time whenever he took over control and decorated the entire York home for Christmas. “I should get a bell. I was told i needed a bell, I come around unexpectedly.” He chuckled, although those words were completely wrong and no one has ever such thing to him before. But, he found the light humor of it and inserted it into the conversation now. “Good thing,” he began, relieved nothing was going on. “I had to. You know me, always the caring and Christmas is my favorite time of the year, what kind of person would I be if I didn’t come around with presents?” He knew neither one of the girls would allow Reid to live peacefully, knowing how much they did like Avril and the kids. “You’re welcome.” Leaning against the wall now, he looked over at her before following her gaze over at the decorated Christmas tree now. It was a good thing, he didn’t have anywhere to be right now. Asher was out now and about. He didn’t want to intrude upon her own plans and errands to run, telling her that he’d be over at Avril’s and he’d return home soon - kissing her before parting. It was quite humorous over how Reid was managing to be parted from Asher, seeing how every other moment and everyone made it known - he was glued to her hip. After all, he was all of his happiest again and he couldn’t help (and he knew he would never, seeing how it would never change since he dreamed of the permanent future with her). Nonetheless, he chuckled at Avril’s words before nodding, prepared for anything, “Not rethinking. Throw it all on me. I did promise Asher and the girls I’ll be home soon. I figured now would be a good time to be filled in on everything. And that phone call too.”
