lydsdonovan

[lydsdonovan]

She leaned into the kiss, into Will, trying as hard as she could to shut up her forever-racing mind, ignoring the little voice in her head that constantly steered her towards the right side of things, the ethical side -- though really, how could something that felt this good be anything but? Sure, she'd made a shit decision that had led them to this point, one that caused someone to get hurt -- Lydia included -- but all of that aside, how could this be wrong? Luckily, it became easier to drown out those thoughts the more they kissed, concentrating instead on just how good his lips felt against hers. A hand rested on his chest, the kisses peppered against her jawline causing her to bunch the fabric of his shirt between her fingers as if to tug him closer. She became lost in him, suddenly braced with the ability to let the outside world melt away -- until there was a loud thump followed by Will wincing and pulling back. "Oh my god, no it's -- are you okay? You didn't hurt yourself even more, did you?" Despite the concern in her voice, Lydia couldn't help but stifle a laugh. "Because you're seriously not allowed to add two more weeks onto your bed rest." She told him with a grin, the hand on his chest now moving to the side of his neck, thumb caressing the skin there. "And, I mean -- the last thing I want to do is contribute to that, but..." Swallowing thickly, she used the momentum she gained from this absolute head-high she was experiencing and twisted around to face him fully, moving one leg over on the other side of his lap so that she was straddling his waist. "I can be careful." Her cheeks reddened slightly. "I'm trying this new thing where I, like, don't overthink everything at a million miles a minute or whatever."

"I promise," he told her and hooked his pinky with hers. He didn't want to lose her and after their time apart, he was sure they could weather whatever. Even matters of the heart which often scared the both of them. And he couldn't turn away now, with her forehead against his and her face so close. He laughed at her reply but didn't say anything as he leaned in to kiss her, this time with a lot more clarity. Still, he was laid up with his ankle in his cast so he could only move so much. He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her closet to him so he didn't have to lean over as much. He tried not to be too in his head and just enjoy how nice it felt and how much it was opening up a treasure chest of feelings he thought he had finally sealed off. He dropped his lips for a moment, pressing small kisses along her jaw, then her neck before he was back at her lips again. He was so lost in it he didn't notice his leg falling off the ottoman in front of him and had to pull back when his ankle hit the ground. "Shit! Sorry, sorry," he groaned, lifting his leg back up with a laugh. "Forgot I was totally injured there for a moment."

[lydsdonovan]

"Yeah, I mean -- I guess..." Lydia practically sputtered out, suddenly aware of how close in proximity they were. Honestly, there'd been a large part of her that expected, despite her nerves, that the attraction to Will would fade once they had this conversation -- that once sober clarity was introduced, once she was able to realize that she was longing for the fantasy of it all, for a night of careless mischief that had been done away with too soon -- and yet here she sat, clearheaded, yearning for her best friend of two decades. "Promise me," She practically whispered, leaning in further so that her forehead was touching his, "promise that...that won't change." Lydia extended her pinky finger, holding it out for him. Because she didn't want to lose him. Regardless of her feelings, regardless of how impulsive she wanted to be in that moment, she'd still have him when all was said and done -- whatever all happened to be. She leaned into the hand that cupped her cheek, and a slight chuckle fell from her lips. "Research purposes? You're such a nerd." And yet she nodded, meeting Will half way and pressing her lips to his.

Will wasn't sure he could ever recall a time when Lydia had seemed this nervous talking to him. She had often been one of the most straightforward and confident people he knew. He was trying not to let it go to his head that he was having this affect on her but he couldn't deny it made his chest feel like it was radiating with warmth. He had of course thought similar things. How far they would have let it go, or if it would have become immediately awkward. "Well we can't turn back time so there's really only one way to find out what could've happened, right?" He didn't miss the way she had looked at his lips and he found himself leaning towards her slightly. "No matter what, we're still the same people we've always been, right? We're still best friends," he told her, because despite his usual impulsive nature, Lydia wasn't just some random person he kissed. She meant a lot to him. "And," he said, shifting closer to her, he reached out to place one of his hands on one of her cheeks as he met her eyes, "for research purposes, I'm going to kiss you again if that's alright," he told her, leaning in and hoping she would meet him there because she wanted to and not turn away.

[lydsdonovan]

"Um -- yeah, I'm his sister." She answered hesitantly, before adding, "please tell me that's not going to make matters worse." Her brother was a pretty likeable guy in general, but considering his Hellraisers affiliation, his other questionable decisions and the type of business he ran, she couldn't be too sure he didn't have any enemies. Or, at least people that thought he was a prick. "The body shop...oh." Lydia's eyes flickered between the truck logo and the man, shoulders relaxing slightly. "I mean, can you even sue me if you flung yourself out of the way? Is that a sue-able offense?" A nervous laugh fell from her lips, still a bit shaken up from her own damn carelessness. "No, no, I get it. Just, um -- thank you for not, like, trying to get my insurance to drop me or whatever."

Her eyes darted to his slightly bloodied palm, nose scrunching as she observed the shiny pieces of glass poking out of his skin. "I have a first aid kit in my car, if you want some, um, help." Lydia offered sheepishly, gesturing to her idling vehicle. "I'm not, like, a nurse or anything, but I have a kid who finds a way to hurt himself on stupid shit on the daily. Usually involves me using tweezers."

"Well that's a new one," he chuckled briefly, referring to her 'I didn't see you' comment. And as he dusted himself off and drew himself to his full height, he figured the reason why might be fairly obvious. Let's just say he was easy to pick out in a crowd. As he went to brush his hands off on his jeans, a sting spread across his palms, and looking down he found the reason why. Small bits of headlight glass from the crash he was cleaning up after had embedded themselves in his palm. Without much thought, he dutifully began picking them out, eyes trained on his hands as he continued to listen to her.

Though, his head did pop up momentarily as she mentioned her brother owning the place. "Oh, you're Nate's sister?" he paused though, once he realized what being on first name basis with the owner of this establishment might imply. "I work at the body shop," he explained, gesturing back to the tow truck that had the logo of the club owned shop emblazoned on it's side. "Dang, trying to wiggle out of a lawsuit already, huh? You're gonna need more than 'it was dark out'." His face seemed serious, an eyebrow arched, before he broke out in a smile. "No harm--Or well, no real harm, no foul. Sorry for yellin', figured you were some drunk asshat."

[lydsdonovan]

"Would I?" She questioned, though it was mostly rhetorical. Honestly, considering how long they'd been as close as they were, she figured if anything between them were to happen -- if Will had actually developed feelings for her at any point -- it would have happened already. Right? And yet she'd never considered the notion of anything romantic or otherwise happening between them, not until now. Or was she simply spiraling from a drunken moment of impulse? "Shut up." Lydia reached out punched him in the arm, though she couldn't help the small smile that broke through the cracks. "If I'm forty five that makes you, like, not far behind -- so watch it." He had a point though, that was hard for her to deny. Letting out a sigh, Lydia stepped beside Nate, her shoulder against his. "I'm just...tired, Nate. Of letting my conscience win all the time. But -- I don't want to hurt anyone, either. You know?"

A light smile formed in more of an appreciative thanks, silently showing that he had acknowledged what his sister was telling him, mainly because he didn't have a response for her - for many reasons, though the most apt one right now was because he didn't have an intention of twisting the conversation onto himself. "You'd be surprised." he chuckled faintly - it was a long time to play, and yet people still did it. Not that he was indicating that Will was, of course. Nate didn't actually truly know. He nodded softly as he listened, his gaze briefly dropping towards the floor only to return over towards Lydia, "Last chance?" he repeated as his brows creased, "You fucked up a chance, there's a difference. I know you're what - forty-five?" Nate knew she wasn't; he was joking. "But that doesn't mean that's it, if he leaves it's his loss." considering how cut up Lydia was about a kiss, Nate thought it was Elliot's loss if he was incapable of working through a drunken mistake.

[lydsdonovan]

Lydia smirked, placing Nightmare on Elm Street back in the pile. "I wasn't sure if you'd grown out of that. I remember when you were younger, you almost squeezing my damn hand off every time we past someone in a scary mask when trick-or-treating." She remarked with a light laugh. "I mean, you're always welcome to stay over -- but if you're going to want to hide out in my bed with me...we better go Hocus Pocus." Lydia popped the DVD out of the case and slid it inside the player, taking her place besides her sister only moments later. "He's at a sleepover. Apparently it's Halloween themed -- but do you know what he left here wearing? Literally jeans, a sweatshirt and a Scream mask. Do you know what that means, Lo?" The blonde pouted, exasperatedly grabbing a handful of popcorn. "It means he's starting to think dressing up isn't cool. I know he's going to be thirteen soon but, like, I thought I had a little more time before he became an actual teenager." Where the hell was the time going. Shoving a few pieces of popcorn in her mouth, she looked towards Logan. "Do you and Malcolm have any plans to dress up?"

Logan could handle fun spooky—cute witches, harmless ghosts—but seriously spooky? Not a chance. "I can't do scary-scary," she admitted with a playful grin. "Unless you're letting me stay the night." Sure, Logan was an adult, but that didn’t make horror movies any less terrifying. She hated watching something creepy only to head home alone afterward, even if Sammy would be there for company. "Hocus Pocus," she announced, settling onto the couch with a big bowl of popcorn in hand. "Where's Landon?"

[lydsdonovan]

"Oh, don't bother -- I've got, like, boxes of legos that I bought for Landon over the years that he started but gave up on half way through. Pretty sure there's a quarter of the Millennium Falcon sitting somewhere in my basement crying out for help," she offered, brows quirked. "Ooh, you can always take up knitting, too, or crochet. Those are, like, peak boredom activities because you actually get something tangible at the end of it. Um, I'm hard pressed to believe my sister is going to have anything good to say about you growing a beard. Poor Malcolm has less facial hair every time I see him. She's stubborn and stuck in her ways, dunno where she gets it from." Lydia gave a sarcastic roll of his eyes, a knowing look crossing her features moments later. She and Logan were definitely their mother's daughters, that was for sure.

Lydia pressed her lips together tightly, attempting to suppress a blush as Will spoke. "Yeah, well, just one of my many hidden talents that comes out with enough tequila. The others are juggling and, like, karaoke, obviously." She tossed back, the quip an attempt to distract herself from the backflips her stomach was currently doing. She didn't understand -- the two of them had bantered like this for years, and Will had paid her plenty of compliments in that time. Why was he suddenly making her nervous?

"I mean, I thought that was, like, kind of clear already from how I practically sucked your entire face off." A soft chuckle fell from her lips, and she allowed his hand to take hers, absentmindedly lacing their fingers together. "Um --" What had she thought about the most? Lydia didn't want to hide anything from him, but at the same time she didn't understand what the hell she was feeling. Heartbroken, confused, anxious...and yet, a heavy hint of longing sat underneath the surface, its exact meaning she couldn't quite pinpoint other that it had a bit fat arrow pointing to the man in front of her. "-- just that I can't help but wonder, if the sand storm hadn't come through, if..." She glanced down at his lips momentarily, the memory coming back to her clear as day, and a nervous laugh escaped her "...I don't know. I feel like I suddenly, like, don't know how to act around you."

"I know, I wish I was a writer then I could like write the great american novel or something. Gonna get some Legos though, maybe. Read a book or two. Scream into the void," he joked. "Improve my guitar playing maybe. But I think I will, I'll talk to your sister about a good beard care regimen. Something tells me she knows that kind of information or knows an Instagram post that talks about it. She's supposed to come over tomorrow." If there was one thing Will was happy about it was all of his favorite people coming to visit. Though it wasn't as if they didn't see each other all of the time anyway. But a lot of his moments with Lydia lately reminded him that it had taken time to get back to this point. And it felt good, somehow even better than before because they had been more open with each other. He just wondered if he had it in him to be that honest during this conversation too.

It wasn't as if Will was a proponent of cheating but after all this time he couldn't find it in him to feel sympathy for Eli. He felt bad that Lydia had to experience it but beyond that he had been more concerned about where they stood because of it. One moment he thought he knew how he felt and then he turned it over in his head again and came to another conclusion. He had only talked to Eve about it. "Alright, alright, top 2. And not two," he told her, glancing at her hand on his arm. He was stuck between what he felt like was the responsible answer and what was the one most influenced by his rush of emotions.

"Is that your way of telling me I'm a good kisser?" He turned his hand up to take her hand in his. "I've had nothing but time to think so I think it's fair to say that I've thought about it a lot too. What uh, what have you thought about the most?"

[lydsdonovan]

"Right. Well if you're thinking 'nibbles' like cheese and crackers, chips, any sort of finger food, it's really up to personal preference. I personally like to have one of each at my house at all times, but that's because I'm literally so terrified of not having options available." Lydia laughed, self-aware enough to understand just how type-A she really could be, especially when it came to things like hosting. God knows how she hadn't ripped all her hair out from running her businesses alone. "Okay, red's always a good choice -- especially because it's getting cooler out. I've always been the type of person that prefers white wine in the heat, red in the cold..." She trailed off, stepping towards one of the racks and pulling out a bottle. "This guy's one of my favorite. It's a cabernet sauvignon -- I always say, if you don't have anything specific in mind, you can't go wrong with one of these. It is on the drier side, though. If you think you'd rather go sweeter, I'd say our Malbec has a nice amount to it without being, like, overpowering."

The moment the other woman started talking she knew that she'd made the right choice in seeking help there. "I know, I know we all gotta start somewhere - I'll take a tiny bit of credit for being a tiny step ahead." Laughter left her lips to match the other's, the next question leaving her somewhat stumped for a moment. Not wanting there to be any awkward silence, Fliss launched into a stream of consciousness. "We hadn't actually discussed food yet but I think it'll be more of a drinks and chill kinda night. Maybe some nibbles but ideally the wine being the like showstopper?" It dawned on her once she had finished speaking her thoughts aloud the minute that they'd popped into her head, that she maybe hadn't been all that helpful in narrowing down what it was she wanted. Apologetic grin is flashed before in a surprise to even herself she settled on at least a colour of wine. "I'm leaning towards a red though."

[lydsdonovan]

Izzy Dilger

[lydsdonovan]

Lydia gaze softened slightly, letting out a breath. "You're not a fuck up, Nate," she assured, her big-sister instincts suddenly kicking into gear, "you've just made some really bad decisions over the years. That doesn't make you deserving of anyone treating you like shit." Her intention wasn't to sugarcoat all of her brother's wrongdoings, but merely put them into perspective. Despite everything, he had a good heart, and that was the only thing that mattered to her at this point. It was why she was able to look past everything else. "Long game? Nate, I've been friends with him since we were teens. That's quite a freakin' long time to play." After all, considering how close they were, if he'd felt something for her it would have come out by now. Right? "I know." Lydia sighed. "Regardless of what I want, I think I can see the writing on the wall with Eli. Once I'm honest with him about what happened...he'll be out the door. He has enough respect for himself..." She paused, swallowing thickly before asking, "What if I fucked up my last chance at happiness?"

Once Lydia snapped at him he sighed, "Depends." his response was about as honest as he could be. "I'm a fuck up, Lydia, if someone's doing that to me then I probably deserve it." that wasn't a reflection of Elliot - or his sister - that was just Nate's opinion on himself and being fully aware of how big of a fuck he was. It was why he was single, after all. So if he was on the receiving end of what Lydia had done, he'd get it. Which wasn't helpful to anyone. Truthfully he just couldn't see a problem with what she had done, especially with that lingering thought of it could have been worse. "Maybe he's playing the long game." Nate shrugged, apparently not shy when it came to holding back with his opinion on Will and his relationship with his sister. "Guess for yourself you need to speak to them both then, see where you stand." he'd say it would probably help with her guilt, but he knew equally it could make it worse. "I know it's not my business but I think you should figure out what you want first." he only says because of her inability to answer his question moments ago.

[lydsdonovan]

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Lydia exclaimed as she frantically exited her car, a hand flying to her chest as if it would calm her racing heartbeat. The blonde typically tried to stay as far away from her brother's place of business as she could, knowing that it was supposed to be an upscale establishment yet know she'd feel wholly out of place if she even thought about stepping foot in there, but she'd had some leftovers she wanted to drop off to him before they went bad. She'd been attempting to leave, growing frustrated with the hoard of people weaving in and out and taking up space in the parking lot, when she finally turned a triumphant corner only to be met with the sight of some poor sucker dodging out of the way.

"I didn't even see you -- well, of course I didn't. I mean, I don't just try and run people over for fun." Fingers raked through her hair, and she stepped forward hesitantly. "Are you okay? I was just -- this is my brother's place and, um, I'm not used to this stupid parking lot...not to mention it's so damn dark outside now and, well, you're not wearing anything super reflecting --" she cut herself off and shook her head, "not that I'm blaming you. I just -- to answer your question...no. Not trying to kill you. Sorry."

who: @lydsdonovan where: outside of the raven

Hunter wasn’t a huge fan of tow-calls.  Emotions tended to run high, whether it be a repossession, dead battery or a crash.  He used to have a tolerance for it, and used to even be told he had a talent for de escalation.  But these days, the skill was lost to him, and the unpredictability set him on edge.  Thankfully the fender bender in the parking lot of the Raven hadn’t been that bad even though it did require him to hook a car up, the owner of the car seemed to be too blissed out from his time in the club to give a shit.  It was an easy call, all said and done, but as Hunter crouched in the lot, trying to pick up the bits of plastic and glass from the collision, he suddenly saw tail lights, and was sent skittering back across the pavement like a raccoon caught in the trash trying to avoid them.

“Hold the fuckin’ gator---you tryna kill me lady?”

[lydsdonovan]

"Six to eight weeks? Jesus, you're going to have to make a damn list of, like, every single movie and TV show you've ever wanted to watch but never did. That's the only productive thing you'll really be able to do. Hm, you know what, I don't think I've ever seen you with a full-on beard. Might as well try it, right? And, I mean, I'll let you know immediately if I think it looks terrible. Just don't let it go too long." She let out a laugh, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear as she fell into a familiar rhythm, one that she'd always managed to maintain with Will even throughout the twenty-something years they'd been friends. Funny how some things never faded like other did.

But this? This felt difficult. Even more so than when Lydia had put some space between them a few years back out of anger. This was messy. Friends fought, they made up, they'd seen each other through the best and worst of times -- but friends didn't do what they had done during the festival. Especially when one of them had been in a serious, committed relationship all the while. "It's okay, it's -- " Lydia held her hands up in lieu of words, a sad chuckle falling from her lips. "I can't blame him, obviously. That's not to say that...that we weren't heading there anyway, you know? Things ended the first time around for a reason." But it was a hard conversation, and one-sided breakups weren't exactly pleasant. Not to mention Lydia had never been dumped before -- though, to be fair, she'd never cheated before either. She couldn't help the laugh that bubbled at her lips only a moment later, however, a light blush tickling her cheeks. "Um, excuse you. You've told me about, like, every single person you've ever kissed -- there is no way I don't make the top three." Nudging Will back, she caught his eye for a long moment, a hand moving to give his forearm a light squeezed.

"It's -- I don't know." She narrowed her brows. "I don't want to say 'it's okay' because I...I made a choice, and I hurt someone and...I don't know. I didn't think I was capable of doing that to someone I love." Lydia let out a breath, averting her gaze. "But I've also --" a pause, her voice getting quiet, "I've been thinking about...it. A lot. Since it happened."

"Six to eight weeks depending, physical therapy once I can put weight on it. God just saying it out loud makes my heart ache. But what other choice do I have, I guess? Should I grow out a beard? Maybe my hair too? Really commit to it. And yeah of course. Can't live this life without the two of you. That'd be boring. And yeah, people love their wine. But I don't think you could ever lose your baking magic. It's just like always there."

Will almost wished he hadn't said anything, not wanting to ruin the mood but he didn't think they could just ignore it. But then she said what she did and he felt the guilt wash over him. "Shit, Lydia I'm..I'm sorry." He still hadn't fully processed how he felt about the kiss, not expecting himself to feel as conflicted as he did. Or perhaps he also didn't want to admit that after all this time it had felt more amazing than he could have imagined. All of those emotions existed at once but it felt selfish to think about when he had been the single one. He puffed out his cheeks and thought of what to say before letting out a soft laugh. "Well, for the record, the kiss was...great. Totally top ten for me, probably top five," he told her, nudging her with the hope that it would get her to laugh and maybe they would both loosen up and have a real conversation. Not that he was ready for it but what other choice did they really have? "But I'm sorry that it put you in a fucked up position."

[lydsdonovan]

where: lydia's house who: @logandonovan & lydia donovan

"Wait -- okay, are we thinking, like, seriously spooky? Or fun spooky?" Lydia called out from over her shoulder, sifting through the dozens and dozens of DVDs that she'd collected over the years. Sure, they were pretty much a moot way of consuming media, but what else was she going to do with them? Plus, most of them had been given to her after Meredith passed, their mother having been a big film lover. "'Cause there's Hocus Pocus, obviously. Or there's, like, Nightmare on Elm Street -- which, like, isn't terrifying but it could get us in the mood. What do you think?"

[lydsdonovan]

[lydsdonovan]

It was a slow day at the vineyard, not having hit the lunch rush quite yet, which meant that Lydia was able to get out on the floor and actually talk to customers instead of putting out little fires everywhere. After noticing an unfamiliar blonde browsing the selection, she decided to move out from behind the counter to offer her assistance -- which, evidentially, was much needed. "Give yourself some credit -- I don't think half the people that come in here even know what a rioja is. I sure didn't until I decided to open up the place," Lydia let out a soft laugh, asking, "let's start easy. What are you trying to pair it with? Like, are you cooking for them or ordering food? Might help narrow it down some."

Meredith's Vines with Lydia Donovan @lydsdonovan

The vineyard was one of the few places in Tonopah she'd yet to pay a visit too and so she found herself taking in her surroundings as the sound of footsteps approached, turning to greet. "Hi!" Bright smile was flashed, a brief show of warmth before she barrelled into her explanation without really giving the other woman a chance to get a word in edgewise. "I've got a friend coming over for the evening who I'd really like to leave more of a good impression on so I'm looking for some wine, obviously, that might help me do that but I don't really know where to start - I barely know my rosé from my rioja." Self deprecating laughter bubbled up before she continued. "So, can you help a girl out?" Eyes had widened imploringly, taking on a comical, almost helpless puppy-dog expression that she hoped would serve as a playful incentive to help.

[lydsdonovan]

"How the hell does that make it any better, Nate?" She snapped, frustration completely overtaking her. "Have you ever been on the other side? Would you honestly think that if it happened to you?" She didn't know what the hell she wanted him to say; obviously he was trying to make her feel better about her rash decision, but part of her almost wanted him to recognize the entire situation for how fucked up it was -- for how fucked up she was. Then again, having her little brother admonish her might have made this conversation ten times worse, better yet caused an argument. Unfortunately for Nate, it looked like neither of them were going to win. "Because it's a stupid one. Will's been my best friend for, what, almost thirty years?" Still, that didn't change what he'd asked. "This isn't about if Elliott does or doesn't 'do it' for me anymore -- which, mind you, he does. Of course he does." Lydia assured, fully convicted of that fact. It was the whole reason they found themselves back together after all of this time anyway. "And -- and I was going to tell him. Like, immediately, but...then he ended up in the hospital, and I couldn't just spring it on him right then. That would be adding too much insult to injury -- literally." A sigh left her lips, and she shook her head. "Now it's been over a month, Nate, and I haven't told him. I haven't even talked to Will about what happened."

His sister's glare was the sole reason Nate continued to keep his reactions to the bare minimum; treading on that line of not wanting Lydia to jump down his throat. He lightly shrugged, "You were drunk." his intention wasn't really to throw that around as an excuse, but for him it was pretty simple - sure, his morals were fucked up, but he knew Lydia didn't make a habit out of kissing every Tom, Dick, and Harry whilst dating somebody else. Or it was something Nate assumed anyway, after all he didn't really have much interest in either of his sister's love lives. If they were happy that was all that mattered. Though this entire situation begged to question that, more so when Lydia danced completely and utterly away from actually answering the question he put on her. As she turned her back and tossed the baking tray in the sink he figured he wasn't getting his brownies, yet subtle response had him smiling faintly as he moved beside Lydia, peering around her slowly to see her face his stance was cautious - mostly just in case she decided to literally bite his head off - before he opened his mouth, "That's not answering the question..." as he purposely put a little distance between them, now leaning against the worktops he continued, "Something to think about though - it's not the end of the world if Elliot doesn't do it for you anymore."

[lydsdonovan]

Lydia let out a short laugh. "There are definitely worse types of cages. When did the doctor say you can be up on your feet again?" Knowing Will like she did, she had no doubt that he was going stir crazy -- hell, she'd be ready to bash someone's brains in if she couldn't leave the house for a few days let alone a few weeks -- but at least he was in good company. "You're welcome. It's the least I could do after you got me and Logan out of the storm. Which, speaking of, thank you for doing that. As annoyed at you as I could be at you for putting yourself in harm's way..." The redhead trailed off, a soft grin twitching at the corner of her lips, "...I'll refrain." For now, at least, until she found a good opportunity to use it against him.

"You think?" A bit of relief laced her tone, glad that her skills hadn't gone to waste with the lack of consistency. "I've barely been cooking full damn meals these days, let alone baked anything. No one told me the vineyard would take up, like, twice the amount of my time that the bakery did." Honestly, she was considering hiring a personal assistant at this point, which was really saying something. The mention of Eli had her stomach churning once more, teeth grazing her lower lip. "I'm -- you know, I'm good." Lydia rubbed her hands together, attempting to quell her nerves and keep them from showing. "There's just...a lot going on right now. I didn't -- I mean, I knew that you worked for Penny, but didn't realize you knew her daughter. I think she's recovering well from her accident. I've been checking in when I can..." She couldn't help but scoff at herself, at how ridiculous she was acting — and with Will of all the damn people. Raking her fingers through her hair, she took a deep breath.

"Will, I --" Lydia exhaled, "-- Eli and I broke up."

Will jumped a bit when he heard her voice and was suddenly far too aware of how he looked laid up on the couch. He groaned as he pushed himself up and brushed some crumbs off of his shirt. He wiped his hands over his face before running them through his hair and looked at her. "Yeah I kind of feel like a rabbit in a cage. A very nice cage though. Great room service," he joked, suddenly aware of the two of them being alone in his house. He had of course been thinking about her, and even more when Penny had told him about what had happened to Mikki and Elliott. His expression softened when she put down the container and he immediately reached out for it. "Out of practice but still the best baker I know so I won't complain, thank you."

He immediately opened the cover, wanting to have something to do with his hands once she sat down. "Trying. I kind of miss the outside world but I think I'd be more pissed if my ankle didn't heal right," he admitted and took the first bite. "Oh, Lyds, this is," he stuffed the rest in his mouth to show her how much he liked them. "Compliments to the chef," he mumbled before laughing. He was quiet for a moment before finishing his big bite and setting the container aside. "How are you feeling? I um..I heard about Elliott. Penny and Mikki are friends of mine."

[lydsdonovan]

brittany snow ✶✶