southern hearts.

[summcrmoon]

mudkipzz​:

Nora had always been interested in anything her father presented to her. Marine biology was just one of those extra cool things that she found joy in. If she could do everything her father enjoyed, get paid for it, while also doing everything she loved, Nora would be living what she considered the perfect life, but she knew that just wasn’t possible. “Please? I think we might find a mermaid or somethin’.”

Adam chuckles, always amused by his daughter’s sense of adventure — and humor. “I dunno about findin’ any mermaids, but who knows, huh? Haven’t explored enough of our oceans to know anything for sure.” Not that he believes mermaids exist, but his first instinct is to go along with whatever Nora says. “If it’s somethin’ you really want, I’ll get us signed up for the classes down in Mobile. It’ll be a big commitment with the commute. You sure you got time for that?”

[summcrmoon]

ofscorpics​:

He is still angry. Yes it had been a year, and yes it was childish, but it still hurt. It still hurt really fucking bad. Moreover, there was an unmistakable sense of longing that still yanked at his chest; would it ever go away? Try as he may, it was impossible to swallow down. Just one look in her direction and he was a dead man walking, and it made him hate her….because he couldn’t hate her.

If he was over it – really over it – he’d be happy about her change of tone. There could be no better way to prove he had moved on from her than to give her that. But therein lie the problem. Nick wasn’t over it; not even close. A love like he felt for Liana didn’t just disappear. If it wasn’t properly nurtured, it turned twisted and ugly, and it wore a face like the one he had now. Love gone cold was a nasty thing.

All Nick wants in the world is to muster the strength to actually tell her that – to tell her to fuck off. If he had done that three years ago, back when he’d a girlfriend yet again it sure would have saved him a lot of heartache. But his self-control was almost non-existent when it came to her, and even as he felt like he was forcing out a no fucking way, he found himself offering her a curt nod, finishing the remnants of his drink, setting it aside, and guiding them through the crowd of people to a quiet room.

“What is it?”

The look on his face is all the proof she needs to know that he still hates her now as much as he did when he walked in on her dismantling their relationship. His eyes burn into her, carving back into her old scars of guilt, but that’s not surprising. What is surprising is his choice to humor her, but she’ll take it. Even if he only wants to let her have all his pent-up hurt and anger in a more private setting, she’ll take it.

Liana follows him through the crowd, following his lead in throwing back the rest of her drink on the way out. She needs a better buzz to kick in if she’s going to do this right — whatever this is. It’s not as if she has a plan. There’s about a dozen things she wants with him, but which one ends up happening is not entirely up to her. When it comes to Nick, reason has never stood a chance against impulse.

She can feel that now more than ever once they’re alone. “I know this is a year late, but... I wanted to apologize to you. Really apologize.” As her gaze shifts upward to meet those big brown eyes of his, her expression softens. Her heart trips over itself, speeding out of its normal rhythm. In the dim lights of this empty bedroom where alcohol courses through her veins, she wants nothing more than to take his face in her hands and kiss him before confessing everything. She reaches to take one of his hands instead, not bothering to think it through. “What I did... I’ll never forgive myself. I don’t expect you to either, but I... I just wanted to tell you that. How sorry I am. How sorry I’ll always be.” She looks down to their hands for a fleeting moment, running her thumb over the top of his. “You deserved so much better.”

[summcrmoon]

aprilwritcs​:

“Nice to meet you, Lola.” Logan went on, leading the conversation. “Yeah, yeah. Nice to meet you.” Ricky added, with slightly less enthusiasm than his son. There was something off about the girl but he couldn’t quite place his finger on it but wasn’t sure what was it. 

At her question for a job, Ricky hummed, “There’re a couple of dinnings that need waiting staff, and… uh… the station needs secretaries. Someone at the diners may be able to tell you more vacant jobs.” He explained to her. “Dad, you need a receptionist at the gym, right?” His son added.

It’s hard not to smile at the kid, despite her current emotional state. She’s tangled up in her anger and abandonment issues, but she’s similarly caught in coming to terms with the fact that this is her brother and father. Here they are, after months of searching for him, and they have no idea. Part of her still wants to throw it in his face, but Lola doesn’t think she could get the words out now even if she tried.

Which makes her even more upset over the fact that she thought she had it all sorted out in her head, and now she’s playing pretend. Shrinking away from the man who abandoned her, when it’s him who should be feeling like this. Lola nods at Ricky’s suggestions, unsure where she’s going to go from here, but it’s Logan that gives her an idea. He tells her about a job opening at Ricky’s own gym, and she pauses. “If you do... I have experience. I was a receptionist at a hotel for a year.”

[summcrmoon]

splendiclsuns​:

“What dates?” Serena asked, gesturing to an invisible audience. “If you get to go on my dates, I wanna get to go on my dates, too.” 

“I am adding to your closet. I’m adding cool new things that’ll look good on you because I have to take out all the ugly stuff. How do you feel about khakis?” 

“Yeah, don’t you play with me. If you haven’t been asked out by a few dumbasses already, I give it a couple weeks.” He’s not the overprotective type, but family means everything to Isaiah. He wont idly stand by for some doofus to hurt either of his sisters, or his mama for that matter.

His expression turns to disbelief when Serena asks him about khakis. “Khak — what? Serena, you just said you’re adding cool new things to my closet.”

[summcrmoon]

splendiclsuns​:

“Don’t answer the question, mija,” Nina told her daughter. “Raf, you know that’s not fair. I’m never gonna be as fun or as cool as you, I’m her mom. I’m the one who makes her sleep before she wants to and backs up Kyle when he says she’s had too many sweets. You’re gonna make me look bad no matter what. Tone it down,” Nina teased. “Maybe don’t be yourself every once in a while. How does that sound, Cece? You wanna tell Uncle Raf he’s boring?”

Raf can’t help but laugh, even if he goes along with it with a nod. “Alright, I’ll try, but I can’t go making you any promises.” He’s a thorn in the sides of his sisters too, with how much he spoils his other nieces and nephews. He just can’t help himself. “Not ice cream then. How about the kid’s discovery museum instead? That’s cool, right Cece? Fun for us. Educational enough for mama.” 

[summcrmoon]

hcneyorchids​:

Heather couldn’t help the roll of her eyes. “That sounds a bit terrifying.” And it did. Mateo and Sofia reaching that age was enough. If she really, honestly could freeze them all in time, keep Leo their baby forever, she’d consider it. But freezing them in time meant freezing her and Gabe in time, stuck in this limbo. She thought two years in, or out, would make it easier. 

She was wrong. So, so, so wrong.

“I think he’s switching sides,” she offers, resting her head on her palm. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think you’re winning?” 

“Sure does, but if we get it outta the way now, that’s the last of the teenage rebellion we’ve got on our hands.” Their youngest growing up is bittersweet. There’s a part of him that wants to go back to the beginning, back to when Mateo was just a tiny baby, but there’s an even bigger part of him that’s proud of his children and who they are growing into.

He just wishes that he and Heather grew together as well as their children are growing up. “Me? You think I’m winning Leo’s favoritism?” He’d laugh if it wasn’t so hard to believe. “I dunno about that. I’ll give him a week before he changes his mind.”

[summcrmoon]

hcneyorchids​:

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Anytime Raf was involved, it was like Kyle had been robbed of any and all character development. He was back in high school, ready to punch the guy at a moments notice. “Seems to me like it’s you that has something to say.” 

“Go ahead and take whatever guess you want. If the shoe fits.” When Raf moved back to Springfield, he didn’t even think twice about Kyle. It figures that he’s stayed being an asshole, and now he’s the father to Nina’s child; two people Raf cares about very much. “Nah, I’m good. Ain’t much to say to a dude who hasn’t changed in twenty years. I’m sure you’ve heard it all before.”

[summcrmoon]

hcneyorchids​:

“I don’t give up my secrets that easy. Even for you. All I’m saying is it’s in your best interest to be scared. Anything more, I’ll need incentive.” Alina shrugs. “So, are you scared?” 

“Huh. I dunno, Lina. I’m thinkin’ that I probably got just as much on you as you’ve got on me.” He gives her a cheeky grin before shrugging. “But I can be scared. Just for you.”

[summcrmoon]

splendiclsuns​:

“Zay!” She wouldn’t have suggested something like this in high school. Serena hadn’t known much about dating or putting herself out there or, more importantly, skin care. She liked to call this personal growth. “OKay, if those are your boundaries then I guess there’s nothing I can do except redo your closet. You have too many black jeans.”

“Thank you! ‘Cause if you decided to start peekin’ in on my dates, I’d have to start accompanying you on yours.” He says it like a joke, but he would absolutely follow through. “Hey, I didn’t say anything about redo. I said you can add to. And what’s wrong with black jeans? They look good, and they go with everything.”

[summcrmoon]

mudkipzz​:

Nora enjoyed nothing more than entertaining her father’s deep love for marine biology, so the moment he called her over to discuss the expedition of the Australian coast, she bolted over to him with a wide grin and blinked rapidly at the discoveries that’d been made. “Holy cow, pa. So you tellin’ me there’s thirty new of them thangs down there to be scared of?” she tilted her head to one side and widened her eyes as she got a good look at the new species. “That’s wicked, dad. Think we can go scuba divin’ soon?”

Very little makes him happier than Nora sharing his fascination of the ocean and the creatures that live within. “Yup, thirty new discoveries. A whole lot more still left to be found, I’d reckon.” That’s one of his favorite things about marine biology — they aren’t even close to knowing half of what there is to know about it. “You want to? We’d have to get certified first, but we could do that this summer, if you want. Wouldn’t take all that long.”

[summcrmoon]

trcilertrxsh​:

“What would you do if I was a criminal breakin’ into the house or somethin’? Would you offer me dinner then?” Babs jokes as her heads peeks out from around the corner, slowly rolling across the floor in her skates. 

“But seriously, you need to lock your door sometimes. Whatcha makin’?”

Adam laughs, and turns back to finishing up dinner. “I guess if they were hungry, sure. Maybe they’d think better of robbin’ me,” he jokes. He has too much family that comes and goes throughout the day for him to really think about locking the door. Adam doesn’t even tend to lock the door at night, in case Barbie or Rian or anyone else decides to drop by late. “Cajun chicken pasta. Sound good? Still got some leftover chili in the fridge too, if that sounds better.”

[summcrmoon]

hcneyorchids​:

Heather was standing on a chair when Adam rushed into the house, her hand immediately and dramatically moving to point at the lizard by the counter. “What took you so long?! I’m literally – I called you fifteen minutes ago! Adam, it’s right there!”

He should have known. Heather points to the lizard near the counter, and Adam’s panic immediately subsides. His shoulders drop, and he chuckles under his breath. “Christ, Heather, I thought you set your house on fire or somethin’.” Without worry, Adam carefully retrieves the lizard. “Y’know this little guy is likely doin’ your house more good than you know. This is an Eastern Fence Lizard — harmless, and they eat a lot of pest insects.”

[summcrmoon]

hcneyorchids​:

“For you? Of course.” He turns himself towards Adam, tucking a hand into his pocket. “Is this question ‘bout our conversation last week?” Kyle asks, lifting an eyebrow. 

“Oh, nah, nothin’ to do with last week. I actually got a couple tickets for the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, I get ‘em all the time when I go down there for work, and I thought you might want ‘em to take Cece and Nina down there sometime this summer. There’s a bunch of exhibits, it’s real educational.”

[summcrmoon]

hcneyorchids​:

“More like what didn’t happen,” Alina answers, flopping down on a chair across from her uncle. “Like, I don’t deserve this, you know? Well, maybe I deserve it, but that doesn’t mean I deserve it.”

Adam sets down his book, more prepared to give his niece his full attention “I doubt you deserved whatever it was, but how ‘bout you start with tellin’ me what all happened?”

[summcrmoon]

hcneyorchids​:

Valerie exhaled a slightly frustrated breath, but she quickly followed with a nod as she leaned forward in anticipation. “Yeah, sure, I promise. For the first condition at least. The second one’s just unrealistic and I can’t commit to that. So spill before I start making assumptions.”

“Oh, god.” It’s not that she’s embarrassed to admit it, because she’s not even in the slightest, but she had been exceptionally drunk that night. Willow is pretty sure Roshan was as well, and she got the feeling that Ro might have even had some regrets afterward. “So you know Isaiah, right? I... I might have hooked up with his mom, Roshan.”

[summcrmoon]

aprilwritcs​:

“A’right.” Ricky nodded, feeling rather caution about this as the situation was slightly weird, it wasn’t every day that a stranger stood staring and kept trying to make small talk. Then again, she said she was new in town and there was no way to know what kind of baggage the girl was carrying. 

Of course, his son was less mistrustful of the unknown girl and stepped away from the shield that was Ricky’s body. “That’s what my mama says. I’m Logan, my dad’s called Ricky. What’s your name?” He asked, to which Ricky chuckled and shook his head, this friendly trait Logan had inherited from Nadia and it showed. 

The kid takes the lead on answering her questions, and as endeared as she is to the little boy, she can’t help but feel indignant. What was it about her and her mother that wasn’t good enough for Richard Aarons? And what is it about whoever this little boy’s mother is that he decided was good enough?

“Lola,” she answers, her tone uncertain but not hostile. She knows it’s just a simple coincidence that their names are similar, Lola and Logan, but it makes her feel even more replaced.

Right now might not be the time or place to ask him why he did what he did, but Lola doesn’t have it in her to cut and run. She thinks on her feet instead, and asks the first question that comes to mind. “You wouldn’t happen to know what places around here are hiring, would you?”

[summcrmoon]

emcticns​:

He had to be honest and tell his friend what was going on. He felt like he was keeping a secret, something that sure, he and Viv had to be somewhat mum about, but it wasn’t something wrong. Harry had finally come to realize that an now, more than ever, he needed someone to be honest with. “So, I need to tell you something,” he began. “Vivian’s pregnant.”​

Immediately, Adam recalls back to when Harry talked to him about having babies at their age. He had assumed then that Harry was talking about grandchildren, not children of their own, but now he knows just how wrong he was. “Oh,” he says, clearly starting off strong. Adam would have no idea what to do in his position. “What’s, uh... what’s the plan? Do you two know what you’re gonna do yet?”