#although i am a little sad for emerson just because i adore him so much and think he would love a partner that really adored him

[garbagedad95]

Birthday date birthday date birthday date! Sara just gave birth so they had a nice little at-home date and Emerson made some ~gourmet pasta~ which Sara absolutely inhaled because she is a glutton (very annoying trait when you want to make food for the household in advance, let me tell you). It was cute and slightly awkward because they are still a kind of mismatched couple.

Welcome to Adulthood, babies! Also, how good does Emerson look?

[written-on-the-trees]

Remington Leith Fan Fiction - Bad Day

The Trees’ October 2020 Writing ChallengeDay 10/31

Prompt: Ugly

Word-count: 1600 words

Warnings: none

Summary: Skye knows everyone has days where they feel self-conscious, but that doesn't make the days she feels that way any better. Her boyfriend Remington thinks she's beautiful no matter what, though, and honestly? That helps.

Skye looked in the mirror and frowned.

 Her clothes weren’t fitting right today. She knew it was a stupid thing to say - clothes couldn’t change, only the body wearing them did - but it was the truth. Her clothes were the same as always, but she was bloated and now everything just looked too tight. And since she was a bigger girl anyway, it really wasn’t a good look. Add in the fact that she hadn’t washed her hair this morning because she’d woken up late, and the fact that she was having a break-out that left red spots all over her chin…Skye really wasn’t happy with her reflection today.

 It was already hard enough trying to keep her self-esteem up when it came to her looks.

 Remington and his brothers were all incredibly good looking, and their girlfriends were even more gorgeous. Shy constantly looked like a model, and Larisa was literally paid to make other people to look good, giving her plenty of skills to make herself look good too…in comparison, Skye felt like she just couldn’t measure up.

 Normally it was fine. Skye was used to the way she looked, and she knew she wasn’t ugly by any standard, she just wasn’t model pretty like Remington or Shy or Larisa. Normally she would look in the mirror, think ‘yeah, I look cute today’, and carry on with her day.

 Unfortunately, today wasn’t a normal day.

 Even more unfortunately, there was nothing Skye could do about it.

 Sighing, she packed a tube of concealer and compact into her handbag, and headed downstairs to wait for Remington. At least it was only having dinner with Sebastian and Larisa - something that was common enough that no-one was going to judge her for showing up in jeans and a peasant blouse with her hair in a ponytail. She might not feel super confident, but at least it was just Remington’s family. And only two of them, at that.

 Two people - or three, if she included Remington - Skye could handle.

   Of course, I’m not having a good day mood-wise, so why should my luck be any different?

   The bad feeling in her gut when Remington texted her to say he was waiting outside should have been warning enough, but Skye ignored it. Instead she took a deep breath and a moment to put a smile on her face before heading down to meet him.

 He was ecstatic, grinning like a madman with a smile so wide she could see it from the door of her apartment building. If anything, the sight of her boyfriend’s genuine smile made Skye’s forced one feel even harder to keep in place, but somehow she managed it. She grinned at him as she slid into the passenger seat, accepting the peck on the cheek he always greeted her with with her usual giggle.

   “Hey, good news!” Remington said excitedly, his grin somehow widening as he settled himself back in the driver’s seat: “Emerson and Shy are bringing mom to dinner. It’s gonna be great!”

   Skye grinned and agreed - even as her heart sunk.

 She’d met Stephanie and few times, and the older woman was genuinely lovely, but Skye just wasn’t feeling it today. She felt ugly and sad and tired: as much as she liked Stephanie, and as much as she didn’t want to upset Remington, because she adored him, today just wasn’t a good day.

 Still, when they got to Sebastian and Larisa’s, Skye smiled and accepted the hugs she was offered from Stephanie, Larisa, Shy, and Emerson. She thanked Sebastian when he handed her a glass of wine, and she stayed by Remington’s side, allowing him to keep is arm about her waist the whole time, even though the feeling of being touched was making her skin crawl.

 What else could she do?

 It wasn’t Remington’s fault she was having a bad day, nor was it any of the Kropp family’s problem that she was feeling a bit off. It wouldn’t be right to take it out on them, so all Skye could do was just grin and bare it, and wait for the earliest opportunity to go home.

   And stay out of all the family pictures.

   The last thing she wanted was a reminder of the fact her bad mood had been started by the fact she felt ugly.

 All night, Skye played the helpful girlfriend as far as pictures were concerned, never giving Remington (or anyone else) the chance to get her in the picture. Whenever Sebastian and Larisa wanted a picture with Mishka, Skye took it for them. When Emerson, Shy, and Stephanie were struggling to all fit in a selfie, Skye offered a helping hand. And when Remington wanted a group photo of all of them at the end of the night, Skye was the one to say she’d take it and stay behind the camera.

   “But babe, then you won’t be in the picture.” Remington pouted: “I wanna remember us all being here.”

 Skye just laughed it off: “But everyone else will be, so we’ll know I was the one taking it, and that I was here too.”

   Remington continued pouting, but accepted it nonetheless. Skye took a few pictures, making sure they had a few good ones, before handing Sebastian’s phone back to him and excusing herself to the bathroom before their ride home, leaving Remington to chat with his brothers and his mum.

 And if she took a little bit longer, leaning on the bathroom counter with her back to the mirror as she scrolled through Twitter, then it was only so her boyfriend could have a little more time with his family. It was nothing to do with the weary feeling that had settled into her bones during dinner, nothing at all…except for the fact that she really needed to have a minute to herself before she went back downstairs and put a smile back on her face to make sure no-one caught on to how much she was struggling to be around the family tonight.

 Only, apparently, she hadn’t managed to fool everyone at dinner.

   Stephanie was waiting outside the bathroom door when Skye opened it: “Is everything alright, Skye?”

 Skye did her best to smile calmly: “Of course, Stephanie.”

 “Are you sure?” the older woman pushed gently: “You seemed a little bit quiet at dinner.”

 “Oh, I didn’t mean to be.” Skye pretended to be surprised that Stephanie had thought she was being quiet.

 Steph still wasn’t fooled - but she didn’t push: “Well, if you weren’t alright, you know you could come and talk to me? I know I’m Remington’s mom, but that doesn’t mean I only care about him or that I’m necessarily going to be on his side.”

 Skye smiled, because she could tell the offer was honest, and she was really touched Stephanie had made it: “Thank you, Steph. That’s a really kind thing to say.”

   The older woman nodded and left it at that, switching the topic to what Skye’s plans were for Christmas, and the lack of them, as they walked downstairs. If she’d said anything to the others about thinking Skye had been quiet, they didn’t let on, and it was all the usual hugs and cheek kisses as they said goodbye. Skye accepted all the affection the way she normally would, smiling all the way through it until she and Remington finally could finally leave.

 Although, to be honest, she wasn’t surprised when, half-way through the journey home, Remington turned the music down low enough for them to speak.

   My luck really is as bad as my mood.

   “Are you okay, babe?”

 Despite her exhaustion, Skye turned to give Remington her brightest smile: “Of course I am, sweetheart.”

 “You sure? Because normally after a family dinner and a day at work, you don’t have this much energy.” Remington raised an eyebrow: “You’re only this cheerful after a long day when you’re forcing it…so…are you okay?”

   Skye froze…because he wasn’t exactly wrong. She didn’t mind omitting details to get out of answering questions Stephanie asked to avoid difficult conversations, but lying in response to Remington’s direct questions felt like a different thing entirely.

   “I’m having a bit of a bad day.” she admitted: “I didn’t want to ruin dinner by making it anyone else’s problem.”

 “Babe, no.” Remington leaned in to wrap and arm around her shoulder: “If something’s bothering you, I want to hear about it.”

 “It’s dumb.”

 “If it’s bothering you, then it’s not dumb.”

 Skye sighed: “It’s just…I’m on my period. It means I’m bloated, I’ve got spots breaking out, and I just feel really ugly, not to mention tired and sore…”

 “Aw, hun…” Remington took stopping at a red light as a chance to kiss her on the cheek: “I’m sorry; that sounds shitty.”

   Sky didn’t respond - there wasn’t really anything to respond with.

 It was shitty. That was the be all and end all of it: it was shitty, and just like every other month she had to deal with that shittiness until it went away when her period was done. She’d accepted that.

 Of course, that didn’t mean Remington had.

   “Why don’t we have a quiet day in tomorrow? We’ll go to bed when we get in, and we won’t get up until we feel like it.” he suggested: “I know I can’t really empathise…but I can cuddle you until you feel better.”

 “That sounds really good.” Skye smiled, because it did.

   So that was exactly what they did.

 And it was really, really good.