We live for the night’s decor

If you were happy every day of your life you wouldn’t be a human being. You’d be a game show host.

[wynnieclarington]

“Family” Dinner

[cora-c]

Cora kept the bright smile in her face even as Jen glared at her, really this woman was a few years older than her but she behaved sometimes as if she were older than Wynnie. She wouldn’t judge her Dad over it, never, but Cora knew that he could do so much better than this lady who was pretty obvious wanted nothing out of Hunter than his money and the facilities that came with being the girlfriend of such a powerful man. 

“Then is settled,” Cora grinned, putting hers and Wynnie’s menus aside, since they’d already chosen what to have for dinner themselves and so had her dad, and she liked hearing the way Wynnie giggled along with their conversation, she wanted her and Hunter to at least exchange a few words tonight, tell each other about their days even, that she would count as progress. “Did you girls have fun in your last sleepover?” Hunter asked, he was always more willing to speak up when Cora was around because she could mediate better between him and Wynnie, but today Cora elbowed her little sister a little, wanting her to be the one to speak up. 

[wynnieclarington]

Wynnie ignored her father’s question at first, picking at her finger nail absentmindedly until she felt Cora elbow her in the side. She looked up at her sister in confusion before turning to Hunter and suddenly realizing what was up. Cora was such a snake, but she loved her for it anyways. “Oh, uhm.. yeah, it was fun,” she said with a shrug. Wynnie wasn’t exactly sure what else he wanted to hear, or if he cared to hear anymore at all. They didn’t have real conversations quite often. 

[wynnieclarington]

“Family” Dinner

[cora-c]

Cora was happy to be having this family reunion, even though it also meant having to deal with Jen’s huffs and annoyed looks, Cora couldn’t care less though she had a mission today and it was getting Wynnie and Hunter to maybe become a little closer. She was happy to see her sister found stuff she liked, while she looked through her menu she heard as Hunter said, “Yeah, Cora has the best taste in restaurants I know,” looking over at Jen who was sitting across from Cora, who simply gave the woman a bright smile. 

“If you order both, I’ll share them with you?” Se told Wynnie, she was pretty much the kind of girl that ate everything that was made for eating, so she didn’t mind not having some meat with her food today, she wanted Wynnie to enjoy it. “What about you, daddy, see anything you like?” She asked, seeing Hunter nod as he pointed to the Rib Eye and vegetables, making her roll her eyes “of course.” She giggled, giving her dad a teasing look “I’ll have to take you out more often, dad, teach you there’s other things that actually taste nice.”

[wynnieclarington]

Jen shot back a tight smile at the other blonde before reaching over and stroking Hunter’s arm. “Oh, I’m sure,” she said with a nod, glaring at Cora for a split second before turning to her boyfriend with a smile. 

Wynnie rolled her eyes at the exchange, turning back towards the menu and then to her sister. “Ooh, I’m definitely down,” she said with a grin. The brunette even caught herself giggling along to the conversation with Hunter. Weird. The only exchanges she’d had with him in the last few months were nods at the breakfast table, or the occasional grunt when Hunter knocked on her door in the morning to see if she was up and functioning yet - she usually wasn’t. 

[wynnieclarington]

“Family” Dinner

[cora-clarington-blog]

Soon they were arriving to the restaurant Cora chose for all of them to have dinner at and they were getting out of Hunter’s car to let the Valet take it to the parking lot. The place was fancy enough for Hunter to like it and he turned with a happy smile to Cora because of it, probably having been expecting a whole in the wall kind of place. 

“Come on, we have reservations,” Cora told the group, making sure to loop his arm through Hunter’s and take Wynnie’s hand, leaving Jen out of the picture for a moment. When they were all sitting down, she started looking at the menu. “See anything you like, snugs? Think I’m going for this salmon burguer, looks so awesome.” She chuckled. 

[wynnieclarington]

“Oh, this place looks nice, babe,” Jenn said as she turned to Hunter, failing to acknowledge the one who had actually picked it out. She hopped out of the car quickly before moving to Hunter’s side, scowling when Cora took hold of his arm before she could. The older blonde trailed behind the family in annoyance before they arrived at their table.  

Wynnie made sure when they go to their table that she was seated next to Cora - any other way would have made the night miserable. Jenn was awful of course, there was no question about it, but she and her dad hadn’t been getting on all that well recently either. That was, when they actually saw each other, at least. She turned to Cora while flipping thought he menu and nodding, “Yeah, the eggplant looks great... and ooh, so does this quinoa salad,” she mused with a smile.

[wynnieclarington]

“Family” Dinner

[cora-clarington-blog]

Cora could see the flicker in Wynnie’s eyes, that she wasn’t saying the whole truth, and after seeing the Machine’s ink in her sister’s wrist the week before, Cora was starting to worry that this could be something more dangerous than just what Wynnie said it was. “It’s the weekend, you don’t have anything to do, you’re allowed to wake up at the time you want.” Cora shrugged, smiling at her, making sure Jen would hear and understand that what she said didn’t matter, she was the intruder here. “How’s Bri doing? I haven’t had the chance to see her in a while,” Cora commented, trying to dig at least a little bit more to see what Wynnie had to say.

[wynnieclarington]

Wynnie nodded, smiling back and pushing her thoughts of Jen aside. She’d been extra irritable lately, and without her frequent visits to Cora’s, she would have lost it by then. Her sister seemed to be the only one who could actually keep her sane - besides the drugs, that was. But more importantly, she was the only one who actually cared. “Bri’s pretty good,” She said with a nod. Her redheaded friend was pretty much the only one she still hung out with regularly. There were others - the ones who they saw at the club or invited over to trip - but Wynnie didn’t really consider them to be friends. 

[wynnieclarington]

“Family” Dinner

[cora-clarington-blog]

“Don’t tell me we’re going to one of those places that don’t sell meat. You know meatless food won’t fulfill me” Hunter said, hearing what Cora said about the vegetarian options, and she rolled her eyes at their dad playfully, “Daddy, I know you better than that, have a little faith in me” She chuckled, then turned to smile at Wynnie, ”What did you do today, snugs?” She asked, trying to check Wynnie’s wrists to see if she would catch the sign of Wynnie going to that dangerous bar again, if only to warn her dad about letting her sneak out without a reprimand, because going to a place like that in more than one occasion was pretty dangerous.  

[wynnieclarington]

Wynnie rolled her eyes again as her dad continued. It was bad enough that he tried to force her into eating meat during nearly every dinner they had together. Her scowl faded when she turned back to her sister. “Not much,” she said with a light shrug. “She wouldn’t have had time for much, she only got out of bed nearly two hours ago,” Jen pipped in with a smirk. “Sorry, I was kind of tired,” Wynnie shot back. She was so annoyed that Jen was even around often enough to notice such things - but she was more annoyed that her dad never was. “I just had a long night at Bri’s” she said to Cora with a light smile. She wasn’t necessarily lying, no, but she was withholding some truth. Her friend’s parents were out of town for the weekend so she and some guys had come over and tripped on acid all night. She felt that was at least a little safer than clubbing at the Machine every week. 

[wynnieclarington]

“Family” Dinner

[cora-clarington-blog]

Hunter and his sixth sense only single parents developed, caught the way Wynnie pretended to gag, and he didn’t even have to look again to know that Cora was laughing at the action, too. “You girls better be quiet back there, we’re here to have a good time. Wynnie.” He said, meeting his daughter’s eyes through the rear view mirror. Cora bit his lip to keep from laughing anymore and she nodded her head looking at Hunter innocently when his eyes met hers. 

“Of course, daddy,”   She said “We’re happy to have a family reunion…” she said and then added “And also we’re happy that you brought your girlfriend to it!” That was to make clear to Jen that she wasn’t considered family. And Cora hoped she never had to be. She turned to Wynnie, “You’re gonna love this place, Snugs, lots of veggie options and enough meat to keep dad quiet about that.” She grinned

[wynnieclarington]

Wynnie rolled her eyes at Hunter’s comment, slumping in her seat and folding her arms over her chest. Leave it to their dad’s lack of a sense of humor to ruin her fun. What about her good time? Her frown vanished, however, after Cora’s response and she snickered softly. Her grin grew as her sister continued. Cora always had her dietary restrictions in mind - unlike a certain someone else they knew all too well. 

[wynnieclarington]

“Family” Dinner

[cora-clarington-blog]

Cora was in the car not five minutes later, having been waiting for this night for quite some time now. She knew about Jen for a long time and had also met her a few times, but she didn’t doubt spending some time with her, Hunter and Wynnie could improve the relationship between them and their dad’s new girlfriend. On the car she leaned over the seats to kiss her dad’s cheek hello, feeling his smile against her lips as she greeted her and told her to buckle up. As if she still were a 5 year old. She let out a polite “Hey, Jen” that was met with just a hum as Jen tapped quickly on her phone and she pulled a face toward Wynnie, who she hugged one armed and kissed on the forehead. “Hey Snugs, you look great.” She greeted her sister and then put on her seatbelt, reaching for her sister’s hand. “So how are you all doing? It’s been a while, hasn’t it Daddy?” She asked, hearing Hunter agree in a Hum as he fiddled with his cellphone’s gps “I keep telling you to come home for dinner often, you’re the one to blame here.” He said, but it wasn’t really with any bad intention, Cora simply smiled and shrugged. 

[wynnieclarington]

Wynnie grinned when Cora slid into the backseat next to her - it was the first real smile she’d pulled all afternoon - and tucked her phone away in her vegan leather jacket. She’d been using it to distract herself from having to interact with Jen and her dad the entire ride over. “Thaaaanks, so do you,” she sung, leaning over to nudge her lovingly before chuckling a bit. With Cora around, she was already starting to lighten up, thought that didn’t mean she felt any better about the situation. She took her sister’s hand graciously for comfort, offering a small smile to the blonde. “I feel like I rarely get to see you either, Sugar Plum - but that’s my babe, always working so hard in the office,” Jen gushed. Wynnie rolled her eyes, turning to Cora and pretending to gag.

[wynnieclarington]

“Family” Dinner

Wynnie huffed in the backseat of her dad’s car and stared out the window blankly. It was the only place she could look without seeing Jen’s hands all over him. It was constant, she was always grasping his arm or touching his hand. It was obnoxious, really. She only agreed to go because Cora had planned it and was practically forcing her to participate. The brunette already spent enough time with her dad’s girlfriend through awkward run-ins at the house, this was definitely not what she needed. She breathed a sigh of relief when they reached her sister’s street, texting her before Hunter even had the chance to ask her to. 

[wynnieclarington]

Sissy Sleepover

[cora-clarington-blog]

“I know he cares because he asks about you all the time to me… you’re right when you say it’s happened less lately, because Jen has been taking up his mind but… that doesn’t mean he has stopped caring, just that he has other things in mind, you know?” She questioned her, needing Wynnie to know that Hunter loved them both equally, and loved them more than Jenn, totally. She kissed her sister’s cheek, laughing at her suggestion and shaking her head “Shut up, can you imagine how awkward it could be?” She laughed, trying not to start thinking about Professor Abbott in that light because, yeah that could be a big mistake, “I’ll let you know how my first day goes though, he says there’s a lot of work to do, but at least I’ll take you out with my own money some day!” She grinned. “That’s because you love me the mostest, obviously…” Cora shrugged, sighing and hugging close to Wynnie as they stayed there together, eating and watching the TV. 

[wynnieclarington]

Fin

[wynnieclarington]

Sissy Sleepover

[cora-clarington-blog]

“How many times will I have to remind you that’s not true at all?” Cora sighed, wrapping an arm around her sister’s shoulders and kissing her cheek. “Dad loves you and wants to hear from you as much as he does from me, it’s just hard to get you to open up to him sometimes, but we’ll work on that.” She promised her, resting her head on her sister’s shoulders, smiling to herself because Wynnie was really growing tall, so much taller than her that Cora could comfortably be the little spoon now. When Wynnie said he was hot Cora laughed, hiding her face behind her hands as she giggled “I never said really hot, okay? And I’m not even allowed to think about that anymore! He’s my teacher and my boss now. What’s important is that now I’ll have a reason to show dad I’m not being lazy because I didn’t go for an Ivy League school. I bet he never had a job while he studied, this basically makes me better than him.” She teased, bumping her shoulder with Wynnie. 

[wynnieclarington]

Wynnie sniffed and rested her on top of Cora’s. “I know it is but... how do you know? That he... cares or whatever. He doesn’t act like it.. or at least he hasn’t recently...” she spoke softly. Normally she wouldn’t care about this sort of thing, or at least hide it when she did, but somehow things felt different. Now that Jen was in the picture, everything felt different. She shook it off as Cora went on about her professor, giggling along with her. “Sooo? People eye candy their bosses all the time!” She laughed again. “I guess that’s also a plus,” she added. “But I think you’re better than him anyways!”

[wynnieclarington]

Sissy Sleepover

[cora-clarington-blog]

Cora could see behind her little sister’s comment, it was obvious Wynnie was bothered and she was going to made it her mission to talk to her dad about his relationship with Jen and how Wynnie and her fit on it. She was happy for him, she was, but he needed to get his priorities straight if he wanted his relationship with the two of them to stay healthy. Hunter had never been that great at expressing his feelings but Cora knew he loved the two of them and that he’d understand their worries. 

“Yeah, he’s hung up on me because she keeps whining. I think we need to go out together… maybe that’ll help to get to know each other better?” She asked, playing one of their favorite series on the TV and taking some chips in her hand, grinning as she laid her head on Wynnie’s shoulder. “Nothing all that juicy at all, but I totally have a job now! I’m helping my teacher, I think I’ve told you about him before?”

[wynnieclarington]

Wynnie just shrugged softly and brought her knees to her chest, hugging them tightly. “I don’t know... I feel like don’t really want me around... but maybe if you planned it...” she said softly. “Dad always likes what you have to say anyway,” she added. It had always been like that. She and Hunter never got on very well - that is, when they actually talked to each other. He always seemed to like Cora better. But that was okay with her, because Cora’s love for her made up for his lack of affection. She smiled down at the blonde as she went on. “You mean the really hot one? Yeaaaah,” she laughed. 

[stefanieshank]

happy national pig day!

[wynnieclarington]

Sissy Sleepover

[cora-clarington-blog]

Cora noticed Wynnie trying to remove the ink, but she didn’t mention it or made a big deal out of it. Instead, she laid on the bed with Wynnie and opened up netflix, trying to see if there was something there they could catch up on. “Because I knew we wouldn’t want to move, the chips are hiding under the bed” She winked as she looked at her sister. “What have you been up to? Other than hating on Jen? How’s school?”

[wynnieclarington]

“We’re too predictable, aren’t we?,” Wynnie laughed, reaching under the bed and pulling the chips out. She watched as Cora scrolled through Netflix, opening up a bag and pulling a chip out before offering it to the blonde. “I don’t know, just stuff,” she said with a shrug, munching on a chip. “School’s fine I guess. I’ve kinda just been hanging out with friends. Sometimes I go to parties and stuff but that’s kind of it,” she added. It wasn’t necessarily a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. “Not really much going on at the house besides... you know,” she said, looking down and shaking her head. “He’s always with her.” Wynnie tried not to let it show how much it bothered her, she did, but it was hard sometimes. It just wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that he had spent the last year living alone with her in that house and never once went out of his way to spend time with her, or even talk to her at all. Now this Jen was in his life and suddenly he didn’t have time for anything, or anyone, but her. It just wasn’t fair.  “But what about yooooou? Anything juicy you wanna tell your favorite person in the whole world?” She giggled, nudging Cora’s shoulder and putting on a smile. 

[wynnieclarington]

Sissy Sleepover

[cora-clarington-blog]

Cora could see that Wynnie wasn’t at all that comfortable with her question and it really worried him that her sister would hide something like that from her. They were supposed to trust each other with everything, and nothing ever skipped Wynnie’s head. It was okay though, she’d let it go for now but look out for any signs. She trusted Wynnie she did, but she’d heard so many horrible things about that place, and she worried that she could get in trouble by being there. “Of course, the only reason to go back would be if it was awesome. They do make it seem like it’s the greatest place you can be at but- I guess everyone’s just too drunk to see what’s really up.” She teased, letting go of her sister’s wrist and walking into her bedroom, turning on the flat screen her dad had given her not too long ago, a gift for how well she was doing in school, not that gifts were a weird thing, Hunter spoiled his girls more than anyone in the world. “So- what are we gonna watch. No falling asleep at all tonight, you gotta promise that.” She grinned.

[wynnieclarington]

“Yeah, definitely,” Wynnie said, laughing lightly. She started to loosen up a bit after Cora’s response, relieved that she wasn’t upset at all. Her other hand did trail over to her wrist, however, and she began to rub at the faded ink furiously so it would go away. At least she tried her hardest to. The brunette smiled as she followed her sister into the bedroom, plopping onto the bed with a grin. “I would never!” She laughed, rolling onto her stomach. “I’m cool with whatever, just as long as it involves food!” She chucked again.

[wynnieclarington]

Sissy Sleepover

[cora-clarington-blog]

Cora lifted Wynnie’s hand up and frowned when she saw a mark she recognized in it, it was the ink stamp of a club Cora had heard it all about back when she was in High School, the same one Wynnie currently attended. ”You didn’t tell me you’d gone there…” She told her smiling, trying to read the fading red letters on her sister’s wrist, giving up after a bit and trying to act as nonchalant about it as possible, knowing Wynnie wouldn’t like it if she lectured her on it “Is it as fun as people used to say?”

[wynnieclarington]

Wynnie looked down at her hand as Cora reached for it, growing a bit nervous. “Oh, uhm, yeah... I’m sorry, I meant to tell you but it just slipped my mind,” she lied, shrugging sheepishly. “I’m sorry...” She hadn’t told her sister on purpose. The Machine wasn’t exactly a wholesome place to hang out, and it had only gotten more sketchy over the years. She certainly didn’t want Cora to get nervous about her going there, or worse, to judge her for it. “Yeah, it’s alright I guess. I don’t go very often,” she lied again, shaking her head. 

[wynnieclarington]

Sissy Sleepover

[cora-clarington-blog]

Honestly, thinking about her father flirting with a girl was gross to Cora, specially when said girl couldn’t even be more than a few years older than her. “That’s gross… I promise I’ll talk to him, and you know, it gives us more excuses to have you coming here instead of having to be there!” Cora grinned, standing up from the kitchen stool and offering a hand for Wynnie “Let’s go to my room? We can watch something on the TV- by the way, this doesn’t mean I don’t want you to try as well, okay? I know that it’s not that easy but- maybe you could talk to him too? Tell him how you feel or just talk… that would mean a lot to him. And to me as well-” 

[wynnieclarington]

Wynnie smiled and nodded her head. Cora always knew how to make a situation better. She was like the glue that held her family together. She had been ever since their mom left. “I like the sound of that!” She agreed, grinning and taking Cora’s hand in her own. She nodded again at the older girl’s words, sighing. She was about to tell her how right she was (again) when Cora stopped. “Cora?” She asked, furrowing her brows. 

[wynnieclarington]

Sissy Sleepover

[cora-clarington-blog]

Cora took a spoon for her and another for her sister, putting the ice cream on the table for Wynnie to take and sitting across from her, opening her own ice cream tub and taking a spoonful of it while she listened to her sister speak. She pulled a face when she mentioned Jen, her dad’s new girlfriend that neither of them really liked a lot.

“God, does she really go around half naked? I don’t understand how Dad hasn’t talked to her about indecency.” She chuckled, sighing as she had some more of her ice cream. “If you need me to talk to him so he talks to her you just have to let me know, okay? I know if I was living there I would have said something a long time ago. I’m all for women supporting each other but Jen just- whenever I see her she just gives me this weird vibe, specially when she’s with Dad, I guess I just don’t buy her act.”

[wynnieclarington]

Wynnie shook her head, rolling her eyes as she took a spoonful of ice cream from her carton. “He told her she looks sexy like that,” she responded, scrunching up her nose at her own words. He talked to Jen like that all the time in front of her. It’s like he didn’t even notice she was there. Wynnie was just thankful that her father’s bedroom was all the way across the house.”Yeah, she’s definitely... something.”