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The mirror has a mirror in his teeth
Topic Started: Nov 22 2017, 10:40 PM (29 Views)
Gabriela Reyes
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If Gabi were to say she regretted anything about moving to Los Angeles, it would be that she didn't get to be with Marc as often as she was use to. Not having enough money was a drop in the ocean because...well, she had enough to survive and if she had that, what was she doing bemoaning that? She had enough to keep herself from being homeless. Not that Callum or Winslow would have let her, not that she really needed money outside of the fact that she couldn't stand the idea of asking for money. Not getting to see James as much hurt a bit but...well, there was a bitter part of her that felt like he had dropped her and Marc a long time ago, ever since he met Rosemary. She tried to be kind because it was obvious James still <i>cared</i>, he still called them up and was protective and Rosemary tried to be a good friend. It was just frustrating because he had this entire life that didn't really include her or Marc. It was hard to be weepy over not having him in her life when he had been that way for years. But Marc...god, Marc was her best friend. The friend she talked to everything about. Literally everything. She had never felt uncomfortable or uncertain when she brought up a subject. She had never felt like he was going to judge her because they were similar enough that their tastes ran the same. He had listened to her when she had cried over a pregnancy scare, he had sent her small food items that could travel easy when she had been living alone, he had been positively fierce when he had met Callum and Winslow (even if Marc still assumed Winslow was a confused angel sent to live among humans). Her biggest regret was that they didn't live close enough for her to visit him anymore.
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How many times had she been getting ready to go out and been ready to send a "want to come with" text? How many times had they been gaming and she said she was going to get this or that thing and asked if he wanted anything? How many times had he done a stupid move and she just wanted to smack him as hard as she could while still being playful? Too many. Sometimes she thought about moving back home. She had moved to LA to be an actress and that hadn't panned out. She could go home and find a job that would make it easy to live close to Marc, she could survive. But then she would have to leave Callum and Winslow, which would make Marc murder her, she was sure. She loved her boyfriends; they were some of the first ones that made her feel normal and loved romantically and while they could both be frustrating, she couldn't imagine them not in her life. She didn't think they would move. Winslow all ready had made a life for himself in LA <i>and</i> in England; she couldn't ask him to form another home. And Callum? Well, Callum was prickly and she couldn't see him wanting to move. He had too much work as it was and he'd probably only complain. It was one of those things that she was never quite sure of what she wanted; some days, she loved Marc so much but she could imagine moving back and giving up what she had because if she did, she got to be the third wheel. Other times, Marc was so important to her that she was surprised she hadn't moved all ready.
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Moving seemed like a rational idea right now. Marc had needed her and moving just seemed to make more sense. When he had been injured, she had flown out immediately, taking away funds that she didn't really have because Marc had been <i>hurt</i>. She had stayed two weeks then, sitting with him in the hospital and taking care of him when Peyton was snoring on the hospital couch. She came back when he was in the middle of PT because it had sounded draining and sure he had Peyton, but maybe he needed another person there too. And now this. Marc had been talking to her more and more about Peyton's drinking. It didn't sound horrible, really; it didn't sound like all those television programs or movies where the person was stumbling drunk all the time and showing up to work or parties all ready drunk. But it had been bad enough. Peyton, Marc said, always had a drink or two after work. Peyton, Marc said, had acted like it was the worst thing in the world to not be able to drink after he had just broken his arm. Peyton, Marc said, was one of those drunks that you never realized was actually drunk and he had been doing that more and more. When Marc told her he was getting help, she had been ecstatic because maybe that was what was needed...until Marc had told her that Peyton had been hiding bottles of alcohol around the house, that Peyton had gotten more defensive, that Peyton was suddenly moodier and there was a threat of Peyton losing his job and wasn't he suppose to be keeping his job because he was giving up liquor?
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There had been no question of her buying another ticket. She had begged Winslow for help with the money because she only had so much, but she was going to be there for Marc. It had taken her too long to get to the small house in Plainview, too long to knock and wait for Marc to answer the door. She didn't even hesitate when he opened it; as soon as he did, she moved herself forward and wrapped her arms around Marc. "<b>Marcymoo,</b>" she said softly, hugging him tighter. "<b>How are you holding up?</b>"
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Marc Miller

Marc hadn't thought he would be stressed, that he could be stressed like this. He had dealt with stressful things before. When James had met Rosemary and Marc had been forced to realize that no matter how much he wanted it, his best friend was never going to love him as anything other than a friend and a brother. When James and Gabi had both moved away from home and he had been left alone with no more support. When he had moved to Plainview and been forced to be by himself for the first time in his life. When he had met Peyton and then the man had left, leaving Marc thinking he had lost a chance yet again. When Peyton had broken his arm. When Marc had been in the accident. All of those situations had been their own varying levels of stressful and he had gotten through them. Yet none of them seemed half as bad as this and this... he wasn't sure he could get through this without some sort of breakdown. It was dealing with Peyton's drinking problem, with the fact that he even had one, with Peyton's increasing tendency to be moody thanks to his going through what was essentially a detox, the fact that Marc had to now also deal with the very real possibility that Peyton might lose his job. If he lost his job, what would they do? Sure, they had money they'd gotten from the accident lawsuits and Marc worked, but Marc didn't even work full time anymore. Plainview might not be a big city with high cost of living but it still cost money to live there nonetheless. And what if that happened and Peyton fell back into drinking, what if he decided to blame Marc for it all, what if, what if. The thoughts kept him up until he could hardly even sleep anymore.

Algernon had warned him that it would be hard. The older man had said he should have a support system for himself as well but, really, what did Marc have? Gabi was in California. James had a family that took up a lot of his time. Curtis had a family, too. Marc couldn't just go and bother them when they would have to rearrange their entire schedules just so Marc could get a few minutes of their time. He could vent to Gabi through the phone or through the computer, but what did that really do for him? Sure he unloaded but he didn't escape the problem. He was at work. He came home and he had evidence of the problem. There would be Peyton stalking around and being grouchy and irritable in ways he had never been before. Then Marc would have to sit and think and worry because he wasn't busy. He just wanted it all done. Stupidly, he had assumed that it would... well, he hadn't thought it would be easy but he was pretty sure that some naive and innocent part of him had thought it would be quick. That Peyton would realize his problem, that Algernon would help, and that within a week or two things would be good again. He hadn't thought it would be this dragging thing that went on and on and never seemed to fix itself. He just wanted his husband back, more than anything, and he had never thought he would be stuck even thinking that in the first place.

Today was one of his days off, a different day than the weekend that he and Peyton usually had together. After the accident he had lowered his hours and the days he worked so that he had more time with Peyton and more time to just do things around the house that never seemed to get done with two working adults. Today, though, he didn't feel like doing anything. It was hard to muster up the energy to want to do anything other than curl up on the couch with the cat and the dog and just mope at the way his life was going at the moment. The vacuuming, the dusting, it could all wait. The meal planning and preparation could wait. He briefly thought about hopping onto his computer and maybe venting to Gabi but he'd done that enough this week and there was no guarantee, with the time difference, that she would even be there at the moment. She didn't need to work with the men she was dating, but she still worked a variety of different jobs at different times and that meant her hours were never one hundred percent steady. He sighed to himself, burying his face in Harris' fur for a moment before there was the sound of a knock on the door. He wasn't expecting anyone and he hadn't ordered anything recently that would be delivered... but that didn't mean anything. The Taylors were random visitors to people they liked, sometimes he and Gabi bought things for each other, or maybe it was even Algernon come to check up on things. With reluctance, he dragged himself up and off of the couch to the door. When he opened it, he gave a startled yelp at the arms suddenly thrown around him. It took him a second to process who it even was and then he wrapped his own arms tightly around her in return.

"Gabi, what are you doing here?" Marc squeezed his arms around her before he pulled back to hold her at arm's length, just looking at his friend. He had missed her. James was his best friend and he always had been, but that didn't mean Gabi wasn't, either. Before them, he hadn't realized it was possible that you could have more than one best friend but it was and sometimes for entirely different reasons with both of those people. He had asked both of their advice when this had all started and he had received conflicting information from the both of them - except now he knew they had both been right. Peyton had needed to want to change his lifestyle - provided by the realization that he was hurting Marc with his coping by drinking after Marc had been hit by a drunk driver - but he had also needed someone to come in and prove to him that things were worse than they thought by a sheer force of will that Marc didn't possess. And now, selfishly, he was glad Gabi was here because it was like the both of them were now here to balance his life, to balance both sides of advice and to make things as they were before, at least temporarily. "I'm.... holding on," he finally said after a moment. He wasn't okay, because the situation wasn't okay. But he was still in the fight.
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Gabriela Reyes
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Sometimes she wondered if she wasn't a terrible person. Not for major reasons but...well, even she could realize the fact that she had come back for Marc and Marc alone. Her sister had demanded – even begged her – at times to come home because she needed help with their grandparents and she <i>couldn't</i> do it alone because she had a family. She tried to assure herself that it was different. Lillian always said she needed to come home and get a real job and if her man (she never said men, she never included Callum and Winslow together) wasn't willing to move with her for her, then she should drop him because he wasn't worth it. It never seemed to occur to her that both Callum and Winslow had actual jobs unless Gabi. Marc, on the other hand, had always been supportive. He had said she could make it as an actress; when she had said she was giving it up, he had been disappointed and carefully pushed until he realized that it was a pretty permanent choice. He had never said she <i>had</i> to come back, he had never made it feel as if Winslow was more her boyfriend than Callum. Besides, Marc needed her. Who was there to take care of Marc? His parents were a no go, James was around but he had kids and a wife, Gabi was in LA. The only other person Marc had was Peyton and right now, Peyton wasn't exactly up for being emotional support since he was the main issue.
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She squeezed her arms around Marc all the more as she realized that again. It had been one of those things that none of them had really expected when Peyton had started getting help. It was easy to forget that <i>Marc</i> needed support too because Peyton was the one with the problem. At least the therapist Peyton was seeing was making time for Marc – off the clock even. Marc had been talking semi-consistently of the therapist, but it was usually just 'I have to go, Algernon is here' or 'Algernon just left'. "<b>I am here,</b>" she said easily as Marc pulled back to look at her, "<b>because my best friend in the world was sad and needed <i>his</i> best friend to come over and see him.</b>" It was a little too simplistic. Marc wasn't just sad, he was a mess. In the nicest way possible of course. He looked like he hadn't been sleeping much lately, he looked like he hadn't been eating. In those moments, she wanted to call up Winslow and Callum and tell them she was moving back to Texas; they could move with her or break up with her. Selfishly, though, she didn't want to lose them. She was also pretty sure that Marc would kill her if she had tried to do it anyway. "<b>I got a one way ticket here, so I'm with you as long as you need me.</b>" She had debated for a long time over it, she had thought about how would a week cover it? Two weeks? What could she afford? Finally she had just opted one a one way ticket. Then when it was time to go, she could just plan another purchase, be it a week or even a month later. It was expensive, though, and it had killed her to talk to Winslow about it. It had killed her to ask for help for money and hesitate over the fact that she was going to technically not be working for any amount of time. Winslow had agreed too easily, said he would take care of it all, but Gabi's pride wouldn't let him. At least the three of them knew she wasn't a gold digger, but once she got home, she was going to have to look for a better paying job. Pet sitting and babysitting weren't going to cover it.
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She cupped Marc's face, rubbing her thumbs over his cheeks. "<b>My poor Marcymoo.</b>" Again she couldn't help noticing just how <i>worn</i> he was, frayed at the edges. "<b>Well I'm here now and I'm not leaving – speaking of which, I kind of need a place to stay while I'm here, can I crash with you guys?</b>" Maybe it wasn't the right way to go about this, but Gabi had always been one of those types of people you treated someone as normally as you could until you were both situated and ready for a long haul. Marc wouldn't appreciate her being here and comforting him...only to find out that she hadn't had the money for even a motel while she was here. He wouldn't be happy knowing that she was wandering around town with a bag of stuff because she hadn't thought to even ask. Besides, she wanted to stay here simply on the grounds that then she could be there for Marc easier. Even if she crashed on the couch, she could wake up in the middle of the night to talk with Marc. She could snarl at Peyton when he started getting angry and frustrated – which apparently didn't happen <i>often</i>, but it had been enough to upset Marc, to make him wonder if they would actually survive this. Gabi had been a little leery of Peyton – not as bad as James, but everyone was concerned when their friend was dating an older person – but she wanted the two of them to work. Marc obviously loved Peyton, she knew Peyton loved Marc. She just didn't want to hear that their relationship couldn't handle Peyton getting sober.
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Without much thought, she dropped her bag by the door, tucking it so it wouldn't block anything. With that done, she took Marc by the arm and practically dragged him over to the couch, where she pushed him onto it. One day she felt they'd need to talk to Marc about his habit of having pushy friends, but for right now, she was going to use it to her advantage. She took a moment to grab Marc's cat – Harris, she remembered because Marc had been so proud of Neil Catrick Harris – to put in his arms before she settled down and pulled him close. "<b>Now you tell me whatever you need to talk about, tigre.</b>" She kept him close, tucking her head on top of his and stroking a hand up and down his arm. This was better. This was what she knew had needed to happen. In this moment, even though they had hadn't done much at all, she was grateful she had made the time to come out here. Sure, she could have listened to him talk and rant from LA, but now she could hug him, now she could assure him that there was someone here with him.
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Marc Miller

"Gabi, you shouldn't have done that," Marc told her. Sure, Marc had flown out to LA when she needed him with no questions asked. But Marc admittedly had more money to spend than Gabi did. Though both of her boyfriends were well off, Gabi still budgeted her money and earned her own money which he could only be both incredibly proud and incredibly exasperated at her for. It was good that she didn't want to rely on them because if one or both of them decided to leave her it meant she would always have her own money. But he also wished she'd let herself relax and live a little, too, and enjoy having some money. He let her make her own choices, though. He always had because that was what friends did. And since he knew how hard she worked to keep her money saved and built up, he didn't like that she had spent it to come out here just because he was having a rough time. It wasn't like he hadn't been getting to speak to her, after all. Not that he didn't appreciate her being here, though, because he did. It felt so good to just see her in person rather than over a camera on the computer. "A one way ticket? Gabi, that's kind of..." He didn't want to say permanent. Likely she would know what he was hinting at. He hadn't heard anything bad about her and her boyfriends but what if she had used this as an excuse to just cut ties? He wouldn't want to be seen as the reason her relationships ended, although he was sure she wouldn't really do that to him or to anyone else. Gabi had a lot more guts than anyone he knew, save James, and she would have just told them she was ending it and then told him.

"That's a little reckless, Gabi. What were you going to do if I said no?" He asked her, smiling a little as she cupped his face in her hands. They both knew that he wouldn't say no in the first place. Not normally. Though Marc wondered if now was a good time to have his best friend crashing in their house for an unspecified amount of time. The emotional support of it would be wonderful, yes, but things were so touchy and hectic right now and just... Peyton had been moody enough lately, which hurt to realize. He had never before thought that having Gabi here might cause more strife but he wondered if it wouldn't. A part of him wanted to say hell with it. It was partly his house too - sort of, anyways; not by pure legalities but by everything else - and Gabi was his best friend. He wasn't just going to turn her out on the street or inconvenience her grandparents, her sister, James or whomever she ended up having to crash with for however long. At the same time... he would have asked Peyton before all of this because it was the thing to do. You asked your partner if they minded something, you didn't just do it and assume. "I'll have to ask Peyton, but I'm sure it won't be a problem." He hoped not, anyways. He didn't think he could handle such a sudden shift in personality that two people who he loved very much - who usually got along well enough - decided to butt heads. It would just cause him more undo stress.

He let Gabi drag him along in the way that she and James always had. He never minded, truthfully. In a way, they both had served as very, very strong guiding forces for him. He was always hesitant about doing anything, nervous about change, while Gabi and James just dove right into things. They had forced him to take risks and make decisions that he never would have made on his own otherwise. Just like, sometimes, he slowed the both of them down and forced them to think things through. He supposed that had been part of the reason their friendship had worked so well. It was a balance for all three of them. And in that moment, Marc was more than thankful for Gabi's ability to be forceful and to take charge. She steered him to the couch, deposited his own cat in his arms and then drew him into a hug and tucked his head under her chin. He hadn't even known how much he had needed this, just someone to hold him and let him unbend and be selfish, be upset, be hurt and scared and not have to apologize for it. He hadn't been willing to bother Curtis or James with this. They both were so busy with their families and while he knew Algernon was a therapist Marc was shy about opening up to people who were still marginally strangers to him. Normally Peyton would have been his rock but, right now, Peyton was the problem.

He buried his face in Harris' fur for the moment, thankful that his cat was usually willing to put up with his doing such things even if just for a limited time. "It's just harder than I thought it would be," he finally said in an undertone. It felt almost shameful to be admitting that. After all, he wasn't the one giving up an addiction. He wasn't the one who was having to deal with all the stress of that. Except he was. He was the one having to step in and say no, when it quailed him to do something of the sort. He was the one having to make sure that Peyton didn't skip therapy, that he wasn't hiding things around the house. And he was having to deal with all the realizations of how long it had been going on and how serious it all was. And then he had to deal with Peyton's moodiness - which, admittedly, didn't really focus on Marc all that often thankfully - and with the fact that he just wanted his husband back. He wanted things to go back to normal. "I just worry all the time and I say 'it's good, you did a good thing' but then I think, did I? If he loses his job, did I do a good thing? If I gotta pick up extra shifts at the bar and be the one bringing home the money, did I do a good thing? If we can't get past this, did I do a good thing?" The words tumbled out and he almost wished he hadn't said any of it because it made it all too real. But it was all he thought about lately. If Peyton lost his job, how much resentment would come back onto Marc and how much would Marc blame himself? And what if Peyton never turned back into the man he loved?
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Gabriela Reyes
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"<b>If I don't listen when Lillian says I shouldn't be doing what I do to my hair, why would I listen about what I shouldn't do when my friend needs me?</b>" That was just a given; Marc and James had been her friends for so many years that she would always drop everything. James had gotten the riot act read to him because he had opted to not call anyone for even advice when he'd been having hard times (not that Gabi could cast stones there; she hadn't exactly called anyone every time she had trouble either). Marc had dropped everything to come visit her when she had been terrified of the idea that she was pregnant; sure he had taken the time to make plans of it with Peyton (or argue the fact with Peyton) but he had dropped everything specifically for it. She knew how hard it was to go "this needs to happen, so I will make it happen". She wasn't going to just let him suffer <i>alone</i>. The closest person he had was James and he lived thirty minutes away. With Marc not driving, he would have had to rely on James coming down or Peyton driving him up. Marc would never ask someone to come down and visit and with Peyton being so surly, he might not be willing to take him up. She put her hands on his face, tugging him down so she could kiss his forehead. "<b>I want to be here for you, this is a really hard time. I'm not going to come out here and go 'Marc, I'm here for you – but only a week'. I didn't want to put a time frame on how much support my Marcymoo gets, so...I'm here until further notice. I talked to Callum and Winslow about it. Winslow's filming stuff anyway and Callum is <i>always</i> busy. They won't even miss me.</b>" At least she didn't think they would. At least she thought she was okay with that being a thing. One of the benefits of dating two men, though, was she got both types of personalities. Callum wouldn't say he would miss her, wouldn't make a big deal of it and just roll with it. Winslow had given her lingering kisses and told her to be safe and he would count the minutes and please call him, love.
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"<b>I would have found a hotel,</B>" she said a touch defensively. She just hadn't planned for one, just like when Marc had visited she had told him he didn't have to stay in a hotel. It was more that they had planned things from the get go and hers hadn't been dragging along two extra people. And really, she had no problem getting a hotel – her wallet would say differently, but – it was more that if she didn't have a check out date, that would be one crazy expensive hotel bill. But then she had never had a problem with couch crashing on anyone because most of the people she knew were more than willing to say no if something didn't work. Just then she would have to rent a car or something, which was expensive too. "<b>Well, you check with him and tell me what I need to do. Unlike <i>some</i> people we know, I am the picture of easy going nature.</b>" All right that wasn't true in the slightest, but she didn't tend to butt heads nearly as bad James did. James would come down here and probably try to pick a fight with Peyton; not out of pure malice, but just because that was what he knew to do. That was how you solved problems, you butted heads until the other party submitted. Gabi wasn't much better, but her goal was to make things easier for Marc. Starting a fight with Peyton because he was moody and wouldn't let her stay there was not going to make things easier on Marc.
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She kept her arms strong around Marc, moving a hand up to pet through his hair. If anyone asked, this was exactly why she had been willing to drop everything and come out here. Talking over the phone or text messages or through computer messages were all well and good and that was great in a pinch, but nothing really made up for being able to curl up with the person who was hurting and just holding them. She made a soft sound when he admitted that it was harder than he thought. Personally, she had suspected it and she was pretty sure James had to. An addiction was an addiction for a reason, that was why she had said James' advice was bullshit. Sure, maybe some addicts <i>wanted</i> to stop, but most of the time it was treated like an illness, right? Alcoholics were sick - <i>Peyton</i> was sick and he had trained himself to get his treatment from the thing that was making him sick. "<b>You did a good thing,</b>" she said it firmly and with confidence. "<b>I know it doesn't seem like it right now, but you did. How long was this going to go on if you hadn't stepped in before something bad happened? Right now everything's changing, but if you hadn't said anything, what would have happened? He was drinking more, right? What if he decided he was fine to drive when he was drunk? What if he decided to go to work drunk? He owns guns, Marc, what if he decided to handle one of those when he was drunk?</b>"
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She smoothed his hair back, nuzzling her face against his head. "<b>You're always going on about how much the other cops like Peyton, right? He's a good guy, he's a real respectable type. I think short of going out and killing someone, he can cause problems and maybe get in trouble, but they won't let him go completely.</b>" That was how it always worked, right? Marc had bragged so much about how the higher ups seemed to like Peyton, that they said he was a dedicated officer and it was nice having a former soldier who had worked so long for the country. Odds were good that he might be feisty enough to get himself suspended for a month but they would view him as to valuable. "<b>Can they even fire someone for recovering? I mean, I would totally get it if he was being an ass and getting drunk all the time at work but...he's trying to fix the problem and it's not like it's a retail job that would just let him go at a moment's notice.</B>" she shook her head a little, tightening her arms around Marc. "<b>But you did do a good thing, Marc. You did. He's getting help and he's trying to make himself better for you. Right now, things are all crazy, but they'll settle again.</b>"
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Marc Miller

Marc just shook his head at Gabi's words before he hugged his friend tighter. "You know, you and Lillian really shouldn't argue so much," he told her, knowing it was a moot point. They had been arguing ever since Marc had known Gabi and that had been years now. Gabi was just too rebellious for her sister and Lillian was just a bit too on the strict and on the more traditional route. She was nice enough in her own ways, but both she and Gabi had tempers that clashed all the time. Marc wasn't going to change anything by suggesting, yet again, that she get along better with her sister. He ducked his head a tiny bit when Gabi put her hands to his cheeks again and pulled him forward and down some so that she could kiss his forehead. Despite the fact that there was no one there to see it and it did nothing for him - in terms of romantic of sexual interest - he still felt himself blushing nonetheless. It was more simply because he was overwhelmed by the fact that his friend had hopped on a plane, left her boyfriends and her jobs for an indeterminate amount of time and had done so just for him. Sure, Marc had done the same for her but... well, he felt like her problem had been so much bigger than his own. And, he supposed, he was always going to be someone who never asked for help and never believed that he was... well, he wouldn't say worthy or deserving but just. He figured everyone else had bigger problems. "I'm glad you came, Gabi," he told her, honestly. "And I'm glad you talked to them. I think they'll miss you, though." Marc didn't quite have a full handle on both of their personalities but the one thing he was certain of was that Winslow was an absolute romantic sap and that Callum would never keep someone around that he would be relieved to find gone for several weeks.

Marc laughed. "Or you could have crashed with Lillian and Curt, that would have gone over well," he teased her gently. The likelihood of that happening was pretty slim, though. The likelihood of Marc saying that no she couldn't stay with him was so slim as to be nonexistent though. And, he hoped, it would be the same for Peyton. He'd been so moody and touchy lately. Yet Marc believed - or maybe he hoped so desperately that he pretended he believed it - that Peyton would still do just about anything to make him happy. He always had before. He had always been almost hyper focused on doing things that would make Marc happy before. He gave another soft laugh. "James isn't even here and you're trying to pick a fight with him," he said. He clicked his tongue at her in a way that he had picked up from her abuela years ago and then grinned at her slightly. It felt good to have Gabi here, just like he had felt so good when James had moved back. He had always been happy with Peyton, but there was something to be said for having a close friend nearby, too. You couldn't always rely on your significant other; that wasn't healthy or even realistic for either person in the long run.

Having Gabi there was a blessing. When was the last time he had done something like this? It wasn't that his and Peyton's general life had altered completely. It hadn't. They still cuddled. They still talked like normal most of the time. They still had sex. But there was an underlining current of tension that was there and it sometimes broke out of the both of them. There was still the fact that Peyton wanted alcohol, that he was willing to go to lengths to get it, that he was willing to argue and get defensive over it. There were things that hadn't been in the relationship before that were now and that was where the greatest source of stress was. Combined with just the simple knowledge that his husband was an alcoholic and the stress of Peyton's performance at work and it made things even worse. "It doesn't feel like I did," he told her, honestly. He knew that it was mostly because he was overwhelmed. He knew that Gabi was right because Gabi wasn't the first person to say most of that. Algernon had pointed out many of the same scenarios. It had been one of the stronger arguments, although it had been denied multiple times that it would happen. "He wouldn't. Drive drunk, I mean. The others..." He buried his face into Harris' fur again for a moment before he loosened his hold so that the cat could escape. Harris didn't mind cuddling - to a point. He would rather his cat willingly come back to him soon if he wanted to hold him rather than just giving him a look of disdain. He knew he couldn't really say that with authority. You couldn't just say 'this person with a problem won't do this' but that had been the reason Peyton had even finally agreed to quit in the first place. Marc had withdrawn somewhat and Algernon had pointed out that Marc had been hit by a drunk driver and that coping by drinking even more was like a slap in the face. It had been the catalyst to the beginning of all of this.

He turned some in Gabi's arms, moving to burrow into her side some and press his face against her. "I know. I just... I worry. That's nothing new." Marc had always been the more timid, the one who worried about things and who disliked any form of change. Gabi and James had been the ones who barreled on through but he was the one who kind of froze and let his mind focus on the panic of the moment. "I just... want things to be like they were but they can't be because I put the ball in motion." There were times when he regretted it, too. When he had to push himself to stand up strong and take away alcohol or when he had to have an argument with Peyton, when Peyton was stalking around being grouchy, when the days were bad. Those were the times when he wished he'd just been typical Marc and kept his head buried under the sand. It was selfish of him to think it, though. He wanted the man he loved to get better and to move past this. He couldn't do that if Marc kept ignoring the problems. "I'm glad you're here," he said again. Without Gabi here, he probably would have just spiraled into his own little nervous breakdown. He had already started smoking again just to give himself something to help with the stress. "Thank you, Gabi." Because she hadn't needed to blow her money to come here, but she had.
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Gabriela Reyes
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"<b>We shouldn't do a lot of things, but we do.</B>" For a moment, she thought about bringing up Scott, but that would have been too cruel. She and Lillian didn't always see eye to eye – she liked to keep things traditional, she wanted to be the good granddaughter and do what was expected of her, Gabi wanted to get out and live her life and find her own potential. Not for one moment did she doubt Lillian's love for her, even if it was tempered just by how annoyed they got by each other. Scott, on the other hand, was a douchebag. Gabi could hardly remember him, but she remembered him telling Marc that what he was going through was just a phase. If she had tried to bring Scott into the mix, she would have been a terrible person for it and Marc would have felt even worse than he did right now. She pressed another kiss to Marc's forehead, letting her lips rest there for a moment before drawing him into a tight hug. "<b>I will always come for you, Marc,</b>" she said seriously. She would, too. Any time he needed her, she would drop whatever she was doing. If her jobs didn't like it, they could fire her, there were always more jobs. She really only had two clients for babysitting and pet sitting, her PA job was sparse and random and temporary at the best of times, and working at the club? Their stance was 'you don't work, you don't get money'. She wasn't even one of the more popular dancers, so it wasn't like men were chomping at the bit to see her. She would have done the same for James, but she didn't say that since this was about Marc right now. "<b>Ah, who knows. If they miss me, they can cry on each other.</b>" They would be fine, she knew. Just like they knew she was fine when they were gone. Not the most romantic of situations but at the same time, it was what worked, it was actually a bit...nice to know she wasn't causing terrible pain with leaving for extended time.
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"<b>Ugh,</b>" she said in response, feeling her face screw up. "<b>Only if I want to be lectured the entire time.</b>" She would have done it, though. She would have gone and asked Lillian to stay with her and she would have put up with Lillian telling her so many reasons she needed to move back home, get a real job, settle down, all in the name of helping Marc. If Peyton said no, she would accept it and go to find some other place to stay. A hotel if she wanted to stay close, her family if she didn't mind the drive. That may involve borrowing a car, but she could deal with that too. There were options and her pride wasn't stronger than her love for Marc. "<b>Of course I'm going to pick a fight with him. The only way I can win is when he's not here.</b>" It wasn't exactly true. She had won countless times over James before, just like he had won countless times over her. It was depending on how many factors were working against them, what the other was feeling, what the subject matter was. She wouldn't deny that it was incredibly easier to win a fight when he wasn't even there, though. The problem with thinking that was it reminded her of how much she missed James. She hadn't actually seen him properly in forever, not since he had been in the hospital with his injured back and before that had been when Marc had been injured. Maybe if she had time, she would go see him.
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She wrapped her arms tighter around Marc as he said he didn't feel like he did the right think. Held him tighter, drew him in close to bury her face against his hair. "<b>And it might feel that way for awhile, sweetie,</b>" she said it as gently as she could. "<b>It might feel like the worse mistake you eve made in your life because Peyton's moody all the time and he acts like he's dying or this is the worst fate he could have ever been dealt. But that's just going to make things worse.</b>" She knew that Marc knew that somewhere in him. He understood that. It was probably why he had brought it up to Peyton in the first place, it was probably why he had put his foot down. He had been drinking every day, Marc had told her. He had been hiding alcohol around the house, Marc had sobbed, as if the idea of being without a bottle of whiskey were some emergency situation. It had gotten heavier since the accident and maybe it would have tapered off after Marc fully and properly healed, but there was no promise of that. There was no guarantee that he would back off and it wouldn't get worse. Gabi, personally, didn't want to hear that Marc and Peyton had gotten in a fight when Peyton was drunk. She didn't want to hear that Peyton had been trying to clean a gun or had done something to Marc because he wasn't thinking clearly. But she supposed that looking at it from Marc's stand point, changing things had been a bad choice. Peyton had just been drinking a bit more, was that worth suddenly having a moody and annoyed individual in the house? Was that worth having someone who just constantly was angry?
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She shifted a tiny bit as Marc turned to burrow against her, making it easier for him to find a comfortable position. She lifted a hand to stroke at his hair, gently playing with the strands. "<b>You worry just enough. Things can be very worrying.</b>" It wasn't an exact change of tune for her. James had always been more of the one to say 'don't worry, it's fine, it's okay'; Gabi had been the one to take Marc's hand and say they would go together. Not the biggest of differences from Marc's stand point, she was sure, but it was just enough. "<b>You put the ball in motion, which it needed to be, honey. It was only going to get worse. At least now things might seem pretty bad but they're going to get better. Peyton's going to finish detoxing and once the physical is out of the way, mental is next and then he'll start realizing how much better off he is. Then he's going to come to you and he's going to hold you and kiss you and do all those things you guys did before.</b>" It sounded simple and easy and didn't account for Peyton falling off the wagon, it didn't account for Peyton struggling harder and harder to keep away from what had made him feel good, but she knew Marc knew those parts well enough. "<b>I'll always come when you need me,</b>" she said easily and truthfully. Because Marc was her best friend, her brother more like. She hugged him tighter, pressing a light kiss to his head. "<b>Don't gotta thank me. The best thanks is feeding me when I get hungry.</b>"
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Marc Miller

Marc just leveled a sigh at his friend at her words. Really, it wasn't any big surprise. He wouldn't say that Lillian and Gabi hated each other, because they didn't. He'd seen them both be affectionate and sisterly with each other before. They were just two completely different personalities that clashed. He had little doubt that if Lillian needed her, or if Gabi needed Lillian, they would be there. There might be lectures or complaints from both sides, but they would still show up and be there. Marc had always been jealous of that, just like he had always been jealous of James' relationships with his siblings. Clyde Daniel was six years older than James and they were as close as could be. It wasn't like he was that much younger than Scott was and yet somehow he had managed to be so close and so dedicated to James. One thing Marc had learned, however, was that wishing for things didn't get you anywhere. It was nice, sure, to daydream and he'd spent much of his life living in those dreams but he had always known just because he had dreamed his parents would change, his brother would suddenly want to be a brother, that James would love him, that this or that would happen... it didn't mean anything. They were just dreams. The reality was that none of that had happened nor was it ever likely to and he didn't want to live his life sighing over things like that anymore. He pressed a little closer into Gabi's hold, resting his head on the young woman's shoulder. "I will do the same for you, y'know." And he had. The minute she had called him in a panic, he had made the effort to get out there and he had only been held up by Peyton's concern and need to go with him. If she ever did that again, he would be there. The same for James. Marc gave a small snort at Gabi's dismissive words. "Somehow, I don't think they're going to be crying, but I'm sure they'll miss you whether they are or they aren't." Winslow... maybe. But Marc sure couldn't imagine Callum crying over Gabi leaving for a short trip, even if it might be a month or two.

Marc laughed a little at Gabi's reaction. "She's not at home all the time," he teased Gabi gently. "So you'd just have to deal with the kids and Curt the other half." Which, honestly, didn't seem that big of a deal. Marc didn't mind kids for the most part, but after a few hours he tended to get worn out being around them. At least those kids were pretty calm and well behaved and you'd probably have to actually try to be offended or bothered by Curtis. But still, he could see that Gabi wouldn't be happy there for an extended period of time.. and it wouldn't be fair to Lillian and Curtis to have to put her up for a month or more, either. It would just be better if she could stay here with them or, barring that, at a motel or something very close. "Oh, please," Marc scoffed at Gabi's words. Granted, he knew James was stubborn and full of pride. He hated being wrong or being told he was wrong, but that didn't mean he didn't grudgingly accept it once he was proven. Gabi had gotten the upper hand on him plenty of times when they were younger. It was just that, more often than note, it was Rosemary that did that now. "You know the minute he finds out you're here he's going to come roaring up here and come harass you," he told her with a laugh. Not that he thought Gabi would mind much, honestly. Not that Marc would mind all that much, either. He really didn't get to see James as often as he would have liked either since he didn't drive and James was usually pretty busy between his work, his wife and his kids. Which Marc understood. There were times he was busy with just Peyton and the pets alone. But there were times he missed when it was easy to just... walk to James or Gabi and spend hours flopped onto one of their beds. Not always anymore, not like he used to, but sometimes.

"I know," he sighed the words out against Gabi as she held him close, buried her face against him, stroked a hand over his hair and over his back. He did know. That didn't make the feelings go away, though. He knew that it needed to happen. He knew that Peyton needed to stop the road he was going down - if only for the simple fact of his health if for no other reason. He knew that he was only seeing the terrible side of things because he was a pessimist and because it was hard to see the good when you were presented with the bad and it was right in your face constantly. But just because he knew all of that didn't make it easy. Maybe it would have been easier if he was naive enough to think this or that rather than to fully know everything. Maybe it would have made it easier to ignore things or to even leave - not that he wanted to leave at all - but he was who he was and he knew that things weren't going to be okay for a long time. It had been his own foolish tendency to get bolstered up on the good things when they happened so much that he let himself take a harder fall than if he'd prepared himself. Look at what had happened the first time he had met Peyton. He'd built himself up for a whole week and then hit the ground so hard emotionally that it felt like everything had been bruised. "I wish it was easier," he said, simply. He knew it couldn't be, would never be, but that didn't mean he couldn't wish that it was.

He gave a wry smile at Gabi's words. "I don't know about that." He was a chronic worrier, after all. He fretted over decisions and choices. He couldn't even go to the grocery store without it turning into a two hour long trip where he debated various brand merits and ingredients until Peyton finally got tired enough to beg for him to just put both in the cart, baby, please, and let's go. He was always worried about his health, about things he'd said or did. "I guess that's why we all worked, right? Like three levels of worry right in a row." James was the one who plowed ahead and said I GOT THIS. Gabi was the one who urged Marc on or who corralled James, who sometimes said to wait or to go. Marc was the one wringing his hands in the corner, sure something was going to go wrong. It had always amused him whenever he took a moment to look at it objectively. "I know," he said again. "I just wish it wasn't so hard and just... so stressful. I don't think I've ever been so stressed in my life." He knew it was hard on Peyton, too, but maybe, selfishly, he thought it was harder on him in the long run. There were so many things to consider and worry about. The top on his mind was always if Peyton was mad at him, would stay mad at him, would hate him for making Peyton take this path. "And I wish I could rush it, but I know that's not possible." They'd already run into problems as it was. Nothing about this was going to be easy at all. "Thank you," he said, simply, with all the appreciation and love that he could possibly convey with two simple words. He gave a small laugh at Gabi's next words. "If you wanted a real meal you probably should have gone to stay with your sister. Or with James and Rosemary. You know I don't cook that well." A few meals he was okay at, maybe even good, but not many. He tried new things but that didn't really go too well that often. So it was a rotating set of fairly steady meals that he knew he could make, with variations here and there so it didn't get boring. Then Peyton made some meals, too, and sometimes they just ate frozen meals if desperate or they ordered out. Maybe not the best meals or the healthiest, but at least they were generally pretty well fed and healthy-ish.
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Gabriela Reyes
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She ruffled Marc's hair gently before smoothing and combing it back out with her fingers. "<b>You've done it for me more times than I can count.</b>" Technically she could count, technically she still thought of the times that Marc had dropped everything and come for her. But truthfully, she didn't want t count them, she didn't want to think on them. Not because she wanted to forget they ever happened, but because she didn't want to become that person who started tracking every time their friend did something for them. She didn't want her friendship with Marc to become 'well I did this for you, so you do this for me'. What she wanted was to be able to just know that if she went 'Callum is quitting drinking and I can't deal', Marc would come out, no questions asked. She would drop everything for Marc and she didn't want to start thinking about how many times she did it for him. That was a fast way to become bitter, to get their friendship into a tailspin that they might not be able to get out of. "<b>Oh please. Callum will be sobbing all over Winslow. It's embarrassing really.</b>" Somehow she got the feeling that Callum probably knew in that second she had said something about him. He had always been fairly good at knowing those kinds of things...or maybe it was just he had the kind of voice and the kind of face that was made for that 'I heard you talking shit' mentality. "<b>Realistically, they'll be too busy to miss me. Jasper will probably miss me more than they do.</b>" Because they were all adults; Callum had movies to direct, Winslow had films to act in, and Gabi...well, Gabi had a friend to take care of right now.
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"<b>Well, I do like the kids. And Curtis is pretty nice. She could have picked a worse husband.</b>" She didn't hate Lillian, of that she would tell everyone. It was just that the two of them had two different personalities; Lillian thrived better when she was working to task and working in a specific box of her own choosing, which just so happened to be traditional. Gabi had always wanted more, wanted different. Lillian loved her...but that meant that she would try to help Gabi the only way she knew how: by telling her to get a normal job or go to school. But Gabi did like Curtis; he was sweet and unassuming, not really offense to any part of her. There was also the fact that he was friends with Marc that put him in her good books. And the kids – Gabi looked Harlon and Chandler. No one ever expected it. They assumed that because she didn't want kids that she wouldn't be happy taking care of them or would hate them with a burning passion. Kids were fun, kids let you be silly, and those two were never different. Even if Chandler was a cry baby. She laughed as Marc scoffed at her, waving her hands. "<b>We'll tell him in a few weeks that I'm visiting. Right now, it's me and my Marcymoo. Later, he can find out and the three of us will go out like old times.</b>" She knew she wouldn't be able to hide from James and she didn't want to. But the thing was that she was here specifically for Marc, she had come because of Marc. Her priority was to make sure that Marc was in a good place...then later, when he knew that she was going to be there, they could tell James and they could all go out together.
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She tightened her arms around him as he agreed with her, as he went on to say he wished it was easy. "<b>I know,</b>" she said softly. She did. They hadn't talked much about Peyton's drinking; she hadn't noticed it overly much when she had visited off and on, but Marc had said that every morning Peyton came home, it was immediately to the kitchen to grab a drink. At dinner, it was a beer. It was all those insidious things that no one ever thought of because it wasn't like Peyton got roaring drunk or had it started pushing on his life. It had only flared the worst around Marc's accident, when he had started drinking to cope. Then it was everything that came with the knowledge: Peyton had stored alcohol all over the house, seemingly unaware he was hiding it, Peyton thought the only way he could relax was through drinking. Gabi got to hear about all of this. Of course it was hard for Marc to deal with. No one had ever expected it to be this bad. Peyton had been...such a put together sort of guy, how could he be an alcoholic? More than that, how could he be the kind of alcoholic that threw fits over not drinking?
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"<b>If you don't worry, who will? Your concern saved me and James' hides numerous times.</b>" Okay, so maybe it wasn't healthy to worry all the time, but sometimes it was needed. Sometimes, people needed someone to be that voice of reason. Marc was the voice of reason, Marc was the reason that people didn't wind up in the hospital or something. IT was better than not being worried at all, right? "<b>there was a reason we became friends.</b>" It had been that she and Marc had bonded first because they were the two odd kids out and James...well, James just had a way of deciding how he was going to do something. He just decided they were going to be friends, so they had. And they had meshed better than she had ever thought they would. She wouldn't have wanted it any other way, honestly, and she wasn't sure if it would ever work any other way. "<B>It didn't help that he gave up smoking so easily.</b>" She had heard about that too; how attractive Peyton was when he smoked, but it was so unhealthy. She was pretty sure she heard about him giving that up in a month. That had been so easy, Marc said, but that had been the exception to the rule. "<b>It probably seemed like longer than it has been too.</b>" Because Marc didn't really have anyone here to make it easier. It was just him and Peyton in this house and all of his friends were a long drive away and had other obligations where it was almost impossible to get away from. It was hard to try and rush that when you had no one there to back you up or make the time not seem so bad. She pulled him towards her, kissing his forehead. "<b>You are my best friend, Marc, I got your back, just like you did for me. </b>" Because he had come without her asking, when she had needed him the most in her life. "<b>Did you not hear me? I said feed me, I said nothing about being fed <i>well</i>. I lived off of ramen noodles for half a year, Marc, I don't need fine cuisine.</b>" She was by no means a picky eater. She had been blessed with the fact that she wasn't allergic to anything and her grandparents had been very strict about eating. The only problem she had was when she ate something too often that it became an issue.
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Marc Miller

He wrinkled his nose a little as Gabi ruffled his hair and then just sighed a more contented sigh as she combed through it with her fingers. "And I'll do it again, too," Marc told her, honestly. He didn't have many friends. He had Gabi and James. He had Curtis. He liked Lillian well enough but he didn't think she really specifically counted as a friend. That went for a lot of people that he knew via James; they were nice, he liked them, but did they really count as friends? And he had Peyton. He held the people that were his few friends close to him. If any of them needed him, he would jump through hoops to get there and help them. He had before. He'd done it with Gabi, with James. That was just what friends did, in his opinion. Particularly for friends who had been there for him his whole life. He gave a small snort as she said that Callum would be sobbing. "Okay, I would pay money to see that," he said. He wouldn't say he knew the other man, because he didn't. He had met him a few times and had heard stories through Gabi. He definitely did not sound like a man who needed to depend on anyone or who cried over someone leaving for a period of time. He sounded more like he would grumble and then move on to doing something else, honestly. Gabi only confirmed that when she said that they would probably be busy. "I would say more they'll miss you but it will be more... mmm... busy all day and then realize it later when they finally have a moment." Marc wanted to believe that, anyways. He wanted to believe the two men would miss Gabi even if they were busy. "Hey, you can always get someone to bring their phone or your laptop over," Marc brightened when she mentioned Jasper. "You can talk to him that way. I'd love to see that reaction." Marc didn't really want a bird like that - he had heard firsthand from Gabi how much work it was - but he was absolutely fascinated by the bird nonetheless.

"He's got that Taylor charm," Marc said with a small laugh. In truth, he thought Curtis was more handsome than the other man certainly thought he was. He was a great guy, too. He wasn't best friends with him in the same way that he was with Gabi and James, but he really liked Curtis a lot. And, in many ways, he identified with Curtis more than he did with even Gabi and James. Curtis was shy and awkward, afraid of change and so unsure of himself. Marc and he had both bemoaned being invisible and overlooked together many times. Marc had even had a small crush on him. If Curtis had even looked his way he probably would have dated him. Marc wasn't sure if it would or wouldn't have worked out, but he knew that his nineteen year old self would certainly have jumped at the chance. Curtis was happy, though, and Lillian seemed happy; their children were happy and Curtis was a doting father. Despite everything, everyone seemed to have settled down well. "Chandler would probably cry at you though," he laughed. He had no idea why that kid was always crying, but it was always over something that seemed so completely not a problem that Marc always had to try and not laugh whenever he visited. He couldn't stop himself from raising an eyebrow just a little as Gabi said that they would tell James in a few weeks that Gabi was here. "You think we're gonna be able to hide the fact that you're here for a few weeks, Gabi?" He clicked his tongue at her in a familiar gesture. They texted all the time. They called each other all the time. Marc and Peyton were in contact with more than just James. Someone was going to find out Gabi was there before a few weeks. Probably Algernon, honestly, since he visited a fair amount nowadays. Granted, they could probably ask him to not tell James that Gabi was there but if they didn't, well, he would probably just mention it in passing and then James would be breathing down their necks.

Marc gave a soft sigh and rested his head on Gabi's shoulder, closing his eyes for a moment as she simply said that she knew. What else could she say? She had been one of the ones to seriously talk this over with him before and she knew how hard it. There was no sense in rehashing things over and over again because they both knew how hard this was on him. He smiled a little as Gabi said that he had saved her and James numerous times. He wouldn't go that far, but he knew there had been a few times he had certainly talked them out of doing something stupid or dangerous. There had even been once he had talked James out of doing something monumentally stupid only a few minutes before a cop had rolled on by. He didn't think he could lay constant claim to saving them but he had certainly kept them out of trouble a few times. "Someone had to keep an eye on you two. If I'd let you both do what you wanted you would have been arrested or you both woulda got into some terrible fight and gotten each other killed somehow." He smiled a little as she said there was a reason they had become friends. "Because you're both amazing people who needed a little common sense. And I'm glad I've been a part of your lives." There had been nights he had wished agonizingly that he had been born a Ramos or a Taylor. He might have been poorer than he was, but at least he would have had people who cared about him, people who loved him. He would have had a family rather than what was honestly three strangers. Marc gave a small sigh at Gabi's next words. "No," he said, almost sadly. "I thought it would be like that. All I had to do was ask him and he did it." He had been worried about Peyton's health and had said so. Peyton had quit so easily, just the way Marc had when he had gone off cloves a few years ago. A month, maybe two, and it was completely out of his life. He had thought it would be the same here. He hadn't expected so much defensiveness, so much hostility and anger. "It feels like years," he said, honestly. He hadn't felt so much time dragging and so much dread for every single day in... a long time. Every morning he woke up, though, and he worried; would today be the day Peyton lapsed? Would he be sour and moody today? Would it be like it had been before and things would seem fine? They gnawed at him constantly. "I'm glad I have you," he told her, honestly. He loved James - maybe not in the way he once had, but he loved him - but James had a wholly different outlook on life and dealing with things. In some ways, he had been right that Peyton had to want to quit to actively do so but he also knew James would just bull rush in here if he realized Peyton was making Marc miserable during the process. It wouldn't be what Marc needed right now. He needed a more level head. He gave a small laugh at Gabi's words. "Well, feed you I can do. Prepare for a life of mac and cheese and chicken breasts." He could, and did, cook things other than that but those were the dishes he felt most comfortable with and so they got a lot of mileage in their household.
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Gabriela Reyes
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She snorted as Marc scrunched up his nose, only to follow it up with a sigh. "<b>You are a saint, Marc, a true saint. You ask abuela sometime.</b>" Because she didn't doubt he would help her out. It had been something that made her...saying she felt cautious made it sound like it was something she didn't actually appreciate but the fact of the matter was that it was more that she wanted to be careful. There had been a few times she had cried at Marc because she and Baz just had not had the money for everything; they could afford rent and laundry, rent and minor, minor groceries, or groceries and laundry or something but not <i>everything</i>. And then the next thing she knew there were some relatively cheap but good groceries waiting for them. The same happened when she had cried over just being...emotional, whether it was because Callum had been more of a jerk than she could handle or Winslow happened to put his job over her (which she did understand) or James prioritized Rosemary when he had promised to chat with her and then she wound up with some stupid gift. She had always appreciated what Marc had done, but she had always worried that at some point the tides would change and she would start <i>relying</i> on that and manipulating that and then Marc had a friend who was just after the money he didn't exactly strictly have. Marc didn't deserve that. She waved a hand. "<b>I'll get Winslow to record it and then he'll go 'Gabriela!' in the most scandalized voice as I said I was going fishing for sharks with puppies.</b>" Winslow had never really developed the sense of humor that Gabi or even Callum had...or maybe he did understand it but then he just felt like there were some jokes you weren't suppose to be making. Like filming the misery of a loved one or listening to a lady swear almost as much as a sailor. Sometimes she had to wonder what kind of a household Winslow grew up in that he thought everything was so proper. "<b>Who knows what lurks in the heart of men, Marc. If they miss me, they miss me and probably won't show it.</b>" It was one of those things she wasn't sure she liked or not. Everyone wanted to know they were missed, right? That people were thinking of them even when they weren't there? But Callum had never been the type to wax on and on about how painful it was without someone there. Winslow might have, but he was taking these odd cues from her and Callum and interpreting them as maybe he needed to tone things down and <i>not</i> be so over the top. She laughed as Marc brightened over the idea of Jasper. "<b>Do you know how much he would yell at me? He would yell at me for being on the computer, then he would yell at me for not being right there, then he would hop away and start throwing his blocks around and fluffing up.</b>" Callum always liked to say she and Winslow had stolen his bird and with that kind of a reaction, she doubted she could protest it.
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"<b>I'm beginning to think that James' family is like...some kind of demon, you know? Ain't it kinda suspicious that each Taylor happens to be perfectly suited for their partner? Like. Their charm matches up <i>perfectly</i> with who their with?</b>" With Curtis the charm had been that he was sweet and quiet and never talked over Lillian, things Lillian liked. His charm was the fact that he let her make a lot of choices and had even been willing to give up <i>his</i> job for hers. James' charm had been he had had big talk and an ego to match; he was in control of everything and threw his money around like he knew where to always get it...and that had been perfect for Rosemary, who had loved the idea of a man in charge. It had been absolutely imperfect for Gabi, who much rather wanted to be on equal footing while sometimes getting special treatment. She had heard about Connie – charming a man away at college who was apparently the biggest dork in the world though Gabi couldn't say she had met him all that much. The same went for Dan's husband (and wasn't that a weird thing; Clyde Daniel, biggest macho man of them all having a husband) and Clara and her new girlfriend. "<b>Most men do cry in the face of me.</b>" She tossed her head a little. "<b>Then he'll get over it because I am the coolest aunt in the history of Tulia.</b>" That was Chandler to a tee, too. He would cry and cry and cry...and then something clicked in his brain and he remembered that he really liked someone, then he was the happiest, shyest kid in the world. "<b>Marc, I am Mexican, I am like a queen at hiding so no one knows I'm here,</b>" she scoffed. "<b>Plus, mijo, I figure you and I are gonna be holed up for a little bit. Just you and me, cuddling like we use to and getting things settled in. I ain't say we <i>won't</i> see James, but right now it's you and me.</b>" She had to stress that because she felt as soon as they added James to the picture, it would be less about Marc. Not because James was a jerk or that egotistical. He would know that Marc needed support – he probably all ready did – but he would be doing it under the way James would need support, which would mean going out and spending time outside and just...following whatever James said. James had been something of the leader of their group when they had been much younger, so it was natural. Gabi felt, though, that what Marc needed first and foremost was just a puppypile. Hiding under some blankets, wrapped up in warm arms, and a willingness to talk or not talk at his leisure. He needed someone to put him first, even when he said 'no, no, I'd rather do this'. They just needed a little while for that. Then, when Marc was feeling a little less like he was going to implode, they could pal around with James and do stupid shit like they use to.
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She stroked a hand over Marc's hair, smoothing it as she went as he sighed. She hated that Marc was feeling this way, though it seemed like such a minor thing to say. It seemed unable to convey just how much it upset her. Worst was the fact that she knew there was very little that could be done. She couldn't really yell at Peyton for being harsh to Marc because...well, Peyton was struggling right now. He was detoxing. Add to that that she really didn't want him angry at her because he was an ex-soldier and a current cop and the way Marc told it, Peyton had gotten in trouble for nearly decking a colleague so. She had no interest in being punched. "<b>I'll fight anyone,</b> she declared, "<b>I'll fight anyone and I'll <i>win</i>, Marc. I'm small but I fight dirty. That's why you always go for the eyes first.</b>" She scoffed a tiny bit as he said they were both amazing people. "<b>We're both hotheads who need someone nice enough to tell us not to be stupid.</b>" Marc had been...perfect, more or less. The trio that was James, Marc, and Gabi had been one of those friendships that Gabi always saw one TV and it had made her so...proud and happy. She had friends that she would drop everything for and who would drop everything for her. It never felt like trying to maintain a friendship with James and Marc. She squeezed her arms around Marc as he replied to her sadly. "<b>I guess smoking wasn't as big of a deal as alcohol was.</b>" Which had honestly surprised her. Peyton had never struck her as the alcoholic type. Alcoholics were suppose to be constantly drunk, right? They were suppose to be wiling away the hours in bars and go to meetings and gatherings drunk. Peyton had been a casual drinker, Gabi knew, but it had always been...within realms of reason. Marc had never gone 'he's drunk again'. The thing that had only ever seemed odd to Gabi was the fact that he had a drink when he came home from work according to Marc and she always had the response of 'at seven in the morning?'. But then again. Peyton usually did the graveyard shifts, so maybe it wasn't <i>so</i> odd. "<b>I bet,</b>" she said softly, pressing a kiss to his hair. She wanted to say 'and you had no support' because it wasn't true. Algernon was there to support him, Marc said, but Algernon's duty was more towards Peyton and helping him recover. James was there to support him, but he was busy juggling a wife and kids, a job that took him over the country, and his family. He couldn't be there for Marc at every single moment. "<b>And that's why I'm here for you, mijo. I'm here for you and I'm gonna help take care of you while you take care of Peyton.</b>" That was her goal because she worried about no one taking care of Marc and Marc was the kind of man that wouldn't say he needed help, not really. She smiled a little as Marc laughed. "<b>Ah, Marc, my abuela has been feeding you for pretty much twenty years and you haven't learned how to cook? I'm gonna tell on you.</b>" Maybe that was something they could while she was here. She didn't doubt that Marc visited them all the time but he might not have asked to learn. She could drag Marc over and maybe they'd just spend an entire day with her grandparents. That might be nice.
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Marc Miller

Marc just shook his head somewhat as Gabi called him a saint. "You're my sister. Of course I'm going to help you when you need it." Marc would do the same for her, for James. When he was growing up, his only actual biological sibling had not only been so much older than him but he had also been cold and distant. Marc had never had any sort of familial love until Gabi had come into his life. With her, he had a sister and a best friend. When James had come along, he had had a brother and a best friend. They both had opened their homes to him and shared their families and what little they had. Marc may not be rich, but he had more money at times than both of them so he saw no problem in doing something kind for the people who had helped him so much in his life. Even if it was something as stupid as buying a dollar store toy and mailing it across country with a dumb note that said 'it looks like you'. He just always wanted them to remember that he loved them and was thinking of them. There had been days where he couldn't do it, because he had his own bills to pay, but nowadays he had more money and more time to do those things. Of course, nowadays both James and Gabi were doing better than they had been but still. Sometimes he still went out of his way to do the small things to remind them both how much he cared. Marc gave a laugh as she imitated Winslow and said that if she had him filming Callum in that sort of state he would be scandalized. Marc honestly had so many days where he didn't understand either of Gabi's choices - but then he had days where he didn't understand James' choice or Curtis' choice. And he was sure they had days where they didn't understand his choice. It was just... Gabi lived with such two extremes of personality. He wondered how she dealt with it. He gave a soft laugh. "They miss you. I'm pretty sure Winslow is sighing and Callum is grumbling." Not that he knew them that well but, well, he had somewhat of a handle on their personalities he thought. They seemed the type to not outright say anything - at least not in private - but they might grumble and give heavy sighs about it. "I'm pretty sure Winslow will tell you all about it though." he was more open, at least. Marc gave another laugh as Gabi talked about the bird that her boyfriend owned, about the way he would react. "It would be kind of funny," he said, although he didn't really want to stress the bird out. Or make Callum mad with him. He might yell and Marc could never handle people angry yelling very well.

Marc shifted a little on the couch with a laugh. "Is it animal magnetism maybe?" He was only half joking. James' family was all werewolves. Was there maybe some kind of innate knowledge for someone who wasn't wholly human? Some kind of scent or instinct that told them that this was the one meant for them? It sounded ludicrous but animals knew lots of things that humans didn't, so... who knew? Maybe it was just a specific Taylor trait though. Maybe it had just been good luck. "Though, you know, it's not one hundred percent fool proof. So who knows with them?" Because Clyde Daniel had had a failed first marriage. From what he had heard, James' father had as well. And all of the Taylors had dated around before they met their match, too. Maybe it was just an imperfect observation by outsiders, when you got down to it. Marc laughed a little at Gabi's words. "I've never seen a kid cry so much," he said with a shake of his head. "And then yet he likes some of the scariest people." Chandler had even been shy and teary-eyed around Marc sometimes. Yet Marc had heard and seen the kid go running to the doctor that was Lillian's friend that terrified Marc. It didn't make any sense to him at all. He gave a small snort. "You forget that James has some weird ass radar when it comes to friends and family," he told her. His features softened into a smile as she continued on, feeling inordinately pleased with the fact that she said she would see James, that she wanted to see James, but that first she wanted to spend time with him, that she wanted to settle in and be with him first. It was maybe a bit selfish but he was pleased. "That sounds pretty good," he finally said after a moment, giving her another warm smile. A part of him couldn't wait for that because he missed how easy it had been when it was just the three of them with no concerns in the world. The rest of him was pleased to have a chance to just spend time with Gabi and recover from everything.

It felt good to have Gabi here. It felt right. He loved James - now as a brother, as his best friend - but he loved Gabi too and Gabi understood him in some ways better. And he didn't get to see her like he did James now. It felt normal to be curled up on the couch with her, letting her pet his hair, letting the both of them just relax together and bask in each others company. "I know, why do you think I always had to keep you two apart? I didn't want James' beautiful face to be damaged." He gave a laugh at that. At the time, it was probably more than correct. Now, it was just what he did. They were his friends, they shouldn't be fighting. He smiled a little at her further words. "And I needed you both." They had helped him step out more. They had been there in hard times. They had both been so open and happy to be around him. How could he not love them and think of them so fondly, even when they had driven him crazy at times both separately and together? Marc gave another soft sigh. "I guess not. And, y'know, I never thought about it because it was so easy for me to give up smoking too." It had only taken him a month or two and he had never really thought about smoking again - not until recently. When he had asked Peyton to give it up, the other man had agreed and it had been the same. Marc had never thought giving something else up would be hard since one addiction had been so easy for the both of them. He had never thought Peyton had an addiction, not until he had insisted after his broken arm that he drink despite the medication. Not until things had gotten so bad and Algernon had turned out bottles of alcohol everywhere. "I know, deep down, it will be better. I know it's already started to change. But you know me, Gabs. I'm scared of change and, right now, it doesn't look like the silver lining is there even when it is." And he knew that. He had talked to many people about that. He also knew that, sometimes, it was impossible to see in front of your nose when the problem was right in your face. "You're too good to me, Gabi," he told her, honestly. How many friends would have done what she did? James, certainly, but James also had a very specific outlook on life and a way of doing things that admittedly didn't always mesh with Marc. He loved his other friends but while they might be concerned they also probably weren't going to fly out to Texas for an indefinite time and sit with him through this... and he wouldn't want them to. He wrinkled his nose at Gabi a little as she laughed athim. "Don't tell her. She'll scold me so bad."
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Gabriela Reyes
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Without thinking, she reached out to take Marc's face in her hands and pull him in close and press her lips to his forehead. "<b>You're the best brother I could ever ask for. Especially since when you got annoying, that was when you'd go home,</B>" she teased. But it was true. Marc had always been the best brother for her, with James being the brother you wanted who would always act tough and beat people up for you. Lillian was a good sister, Gabi could grudgingly admit that. She didn't think they would ever get along like the sisters in movies, because that just wasn't how they worked – they were too different and they just had different priorities. Lillian was the good sister, the sister who went to school to be a nurse, who got married and had kids, and went over to their grandparents' house almost every day. Gabi wasn't exactly the <i>bad</i> sister, but she was the one who hadn't been happy with a small hometown and who hadn't wanted to be a nurse or a schoolteacher or whatever and had moved across the country to be a star. Lillian was still her biological sister and Gabi knew that if she needed it, Lillian would have helped her. It just would have been with a lot of "I told you so, didn't I tell you, I <i>told</i> you so". Marc had always been different; her age and he had liked a lot of the same things as her and he had always been sweet – his "I told you so"s were a lot more gentle, a lot more soft and didn't make her nearly as angry. She felt that Marc was what having a sibling was suppose to be like, having someone who sent you stupid gifts because they knew you liked it or sending money or buying groceries without prompting and never thought of it or would trust that you would do the same for you if you had the money. But maybe that was a bias, maybe that was just being really good friends. Who knew, really? She rolled her eyes a tiny bit at Marc's laugh. "<b>Oh they're doing those things all right, just not because I'm gone. They're adults, Marc, they ain't got time to be missin' me.</b>" They were both extremely busy adults on top of everything. It always seemed like Winslow was running off for filming or interviews; there had been one time that she swore he was filming <i>two</i> movies. And Callum was always off <i>directing</i> endless movies and going to meetings and he had his more "subtle" interviews that were more or less people coming to the set and asking him questions. Depending on how long she was gone, <i>then</i> they might miss her. "<b>Oh, I bet he will. He talks more then Jasper does.</b>" Which was sweet, she just wasn't use to someone who talked as much as Winslow did, as if he were trying to fill the silence because he wasn't comfortable with it. "<b>Says the guy who doesn't live with him.</b>" She reached out to pinch Marc's cheek lightly.
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She shook her head as Marc laughed. "<b>That's bullshit and we know it. My theory of them being demons makes much more sense. Especially Connie.</b>" she had to admit she had always been kind of jealous of that. How nice was it to meet someone and if you felt the sparks going, you knew that was your one? Now to be fair, she had to admit that they did date around. She had met a fair few people that were dated, but when they said they were in love...they were. Gabi could say she was in love with Winslow and Callum, but did that mean they were a forever thing like the Taylors had snagged? Or hell, even Marc? "<b>Okay, so Dan had a failed marriage. One out of five is still incredible odds, you have to admit.</b>" And Clyde had still found his one, hadn't he? Even with the butting heads that had apparently happened, though she didn't know <i>all</i> the details. It was still a little foggy for her because Marc didn't have a ton of details and James, at the time, had said Clyde was dating a <i>man</i> as if the man had forced him into it (which, admittedly, she thought could have been true since she never knew Clyde to like men). Plus she had met Clyde's husband; he was the perfect picture of a New yorker, which didn't exactly mesh with Clyde. "<b>You want to know about crying kids? I babysit this girl named Tallulah and she cries at <i>everything</i>. I bet she'd get along with Chandler, they can cry together.</b>" When he continued on, she put a hand to her head. "<b>Ay dios mio,</b>" she bemoaned. "<b>Is he really flocking to that doctor? We're going to have a child vampire on our hands at this rate.</b>" Gabi had only managed to meet Nicholas once and that "once" had honestly been she was visiting and he happened to be at a party and he had completely blown by her. Her only consolation was the fact that apparently he did that sort of thing to everyone and he was a self admitted asshole. "<b>If that's how you want to do, I bet you five dollars we got a week together before he notices. Put your money where your mouth is, mijo.</b>" She watched Marc's face soften just a little and she reached out to fuss with his shirt. "<b>I came here for you,</b>" she pointed out. "<b>Like I said, I will see James when I'm ready, but I will kick his ass out until I know you're doing better.</b>" Because again, James was a good man and a protective man who wanted what was best for his friends, but if he heard Marc was having a rough spot with Peyton, he would react by trying to fight Peyton. Maybe that was needed, but they should be making sure Marc was getting the support he needed before they went off punching people.
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She pressed closer to Marc, keeping her fingers running through his hair. It was a natural thing, as if they hadn't been separated for so long, as if she were still within distance that she could come over whenever she wanted. She missed it a lot, she missed having this closeness. She had Baz and a few others, but they were never going to be Marc. "<b>It <i>is</i> a pretty beautiful face.</b>" James had always been handsome and he had been charming in his own way. It had been frustrating because at times he seemed to know and then other times he could have been confused for a brick with how dense he was. She pressed a kiss to his temple. "<b>we were a perfect trio.</b>" It had been a nice mixture, a mixture that she felt wouldn't have worked under normal circumstances but maybe the plants had been in aliment and the moon was full and Mercury was in Jupiter or whatever and they had settled. "<b>You were never that in to smoking anyway,</b>" she pointed out. And he really hadn't been. It was an addiction, as far as Gabi saw. It was a once or twice thing that he did for his own Marc-y reasons and when he hadn't had those reasons anymore, he had let it go. From what she heard Peyton had tossed out his cigarettes and had looked past it by doing extra work, or something. It got a little confusing as to what he actually did since Marc chattered on about lots of things Peyton was doing. When Marc continued on, saying he was scared, she hugged him tightly. Probably a little too tightly. "<b>I know,</b>" she said softly, even when she wished she had better words to offer. "<b>And I know it's gonna get rougher for you because it's all just gonna keep happening. I wish there was something I could tell you, like magically it would all be fixed. But it won't. All I can promise is I'm gonna be here for you and while I can't say words to take it away, if you need to rant or cuddle or just go out and not think about anything, we'll do that.</b>" She wanted to do more, it killed a part of her that she couldn't do more...but she didn't want to give Marc false hope or have him snap at her, which might make her angry, and then things collapsed around them. She just reminded herself that this was all for Marc, which meant even when he wasn't deciding things, he was still deciding. "<b>Ah, you started it all,</b>" she hugged him again. Marc was her brother and if she couldn't do this for him, who could she do it for? "<b>If abuela asks, you know I will have to tell her. I am an honest girl, Marc. Never lie to abuela.</b>"
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Marc Miller

Marc made a tiny, tiny little squeak as Gabi reached out to grab his face in both of her hands and to press a light kiss against his forehead. He wrinkled his nose just a little before he gave a light laugh at Gabi's words. "Wow, how rude. I never got annoying." Except he had. James had. Gabi had. It was just the way that things happened. They had all been young kids being friends, doing stupid things, having clashing desires and personalities at times. Of course they were all going to get annoying. The true testament of friendship was the simple fact that even when they got mad at one another, even when they annoyed each other, even when times were hard and you didn't have quite as much time for someone as you might have once had in the past. Despite the fact that he had missed Gabi and James terribly in the times that they were gone, Marc still felt close to them - as close to them as they always had. That was why he always so willing to do whatever it took for Gabi and for James. Sometimes that was simply a text or a phone call at odd hours of the day or night, talking about the problems and the woes of their lives and the world. Sometimes, that was sending a very real bit of help in the form of items that would help float a person between checks. Gabi it had been a little bit easier to do that with. With James, Marc had had to get a bit more creative but he had managed it. Marc gave a soft laugh at Gabi's words. "I think they have time to miss you. They'll just do it in their own ways." Winslow would just be very vocal and open about it while Callum would be more subtle. Marc might be rather intimidated by Callum but he could admit that the other man worked through a lot of subtleties when showing emotions other than anger. Marc gave another laugh as she said that Winslow talked more than Jasper did. "But you love it or else you wouldn't put up with it." It was more accurate to say that she loved him and that was why she put up with it. He laughed as she pinched his cheek. "Technically, you don't live with him right now either," he pointed out, although he honestly didn't want to stress the bird out. He could admit, though, that from a long distance view, watching Jasper rant and yell was pretty funny.

Marc gave another laugh. "It is not! It could be true, you don't know!" Though he supposed he could see some of them as demons. Marc had always gotten along with James and with Curtis. The other Taylor siblings, however, had never really been on his radar. He supposed it was because Clyde Daniel and Connie were too old and Clara was too young. Not to mention, Clyde was gruff and Connie could be downright harsh when she wanted to be. Marc did better with James and Curtis. "Hey, excuse you. Their dad did, too," Marc corrected Gabi with a tiny click of his tongue. "So I guess it's still really good odds though." Honestly, Marc had never thought he would be that way. Hell, for awhile there he had thought he would never date anyone at all. He'd dated the guy in high school but that was short lived. James was married. Curtis had gotten married. It wasn't until Prosper that he had dated again and that hadn't ended in anything more than friendship. It was only when he had met Peyton that he had felt like he had finally found what he was looking for. Marc wrinkled his nose a little and shook his head. "Probably. They would probably cancel each other out. Like, can't even cry because this other kid is cryin' too." Or maybe they'd just make each other cry more. Marc could admit he didn't know all that much about kids, honestly. Marc laughed at the dramatic gesture and words. "Last I saw. I was so confused. You'd think he'd be afraid of 'em." Marc certainly afraid of him and he couldn't figure out why Lillian liked him, why Curtis was okay with him and why the kids seemed to adore him. He gave a slight snort. "I'll see your five bucks. I hope you got five bucks because I bet he shows up in like two days demanding to know why you didn't call," he said, feeling confident that he was right. Somehow, James just always knew. He reached out to take the hand that was fussing with his shirt and just gave a light squeeze. "I'll leave myself in your capable hands, then." Because Gabi would know what to do, at least somewhat. She would help, he knew, and right now he wanted someone who could take over for him and make it so he didn't have to think so much.

Marc let his eyes close for the moment, just enjoying having his friend here and enjoying not having to think about anything else but the comforting feeling and the fact that Gabi was here and in control of the situation for the moment. It was a nice feeling, because Marc had felt control spinning away from him for awhile now. He gave a soft laugh. "So beautiful that even you can admit it," he teased, gently. Gabi and James had always clashed more than Marc had with either of them. It was amazing that they had even dated for the very brief span of time that they had. He supposed that was why they hadn't worked out, though. They were both too similar, honestly, to work well together. "We still are a perfect trio," he said, honestly. It was just a trio that was interrupted by distance, unfortunately. "No... though it looks good on some men," he said with a fond sigh. Still, the bad far outweighed the good and so Marc had quit early on, minus the past few weeks. It had been easy for him and easy for Peyton. Even James had given it up fairly easily. It was just one more reason for Marc to think that giving up something else would have been just as easy. He made a small noise as Gabi pulled him into a tight hug and he just wrapped his arms back around her. "Thank you," he said, softly and simply, because there was nothing else to say. He could ask Gabi to lie to him, but that would do nothing but disappoint him. He could ask her for something else but, really, what he needed was what she was offering; someone to unload on, someone to distract him, someone to help him keep himself firmly planted where he was and to not give in just to make things be as they once were, someone to take the lead and tell him things he should do so he didn't have to fret. "I don't know about that," he said, because Gabi's family had taken care of him for years. That was a lot earlier than the times when he'd tried to take care of Gabi. He wrinkled his nose at her when she said she would have to tell abuela. "If you tell her she is gonna scold me and then I'll shrivel up and die. Do you want that? You're a horrible person if you want that."
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