Song: comfort playlist by sunsetdreams

Vincent was speechless and his brain was taking a moment to process things.

He was tired from a day of lugging around clubs as a golf caddy. Walking through the course in the spring and summer wasn't so bad. But he hated doing it in the fall when the season slowly transitioned into winter.

Vincent was forgetful. Always wearing his Bermuda-length golf shorts instead of the long pants he kept. His arms were cold because he wore a short sleeve collared golf shirt. The one that the country club required him to wear. His toes were chilly due to the fact that Vincent always forgot to wear wool socks inside his tennis shoes.

The pay was fucking amazing, though, and the tips were phenomenal. So he was cold, but he was also making bank. It seemed like a fair enough trade off.

Also, Kiki would frown and tut when he came by later and Vincent looked forward to it. Because that meant that they could sneak away for a few seconds while Kiki warmed him up. That was even better than making money.

He was on his break, sitting on an expensive chair with a mug of hot chocolate in his hands. When his sweetest, cutest friend came through the doors like a whirlwind. Eyes puffier than usual and hair messy from the sudden gust of air that almost blew her over. She looked miserable and Vincent was on his feet in an instant to check on her.

Now that she'd joined him and his hot chocolate, with a mountain of food, he was in shock after hearing her story.

Lilah groaned, covering her face with her hands. Vincent was quiet. Vincent was never quiet. He always had something to say and the fact that he was so silent now made her feel even worse.

"I'm a terrible person," Lilah whined, sniffling and shoving another muffin into her mouth.

Her whining snapped Vincent out of his stupor and he frowned. His chocolate brown eyes were filled with disappointment. For Lilah and Ambrose.

"You're not a terrible person," he said, slapping her hand so she could drop the muffin and stop inhaling it. "You just made a mistake. A big mistake. But a mistake nonetheless. It's nothing that can't be fixed."

"He told me to fuck off back to my ivory tower." Lilah mumbled, picking out the chocolate chips from the discarded muffin. "Not that I blame him. I only sent him death flowers and then accused him of a crime he didn't commit. Then I dragged him down to the police station where the only person that left looking like a fool was me."

Lilah smiled cynically, tearing the muffin apart into small chunks. Her eyes sparkled with tears. Tears that she wouldn't dare let fall. If anyone saw her crying at the country club then everyone and their mother would know by dinner time.

"Yeah, that was fucked up. I can't deny that." Vincent took a sip from his hot drink, humming at the warmth that filled his mouth. He set the white mug on the wooden table and laced his fingers together. "But let's look at this from a bigger perspective."

Lilah paused, banana nut bread hovering before her pathetic pout. "Huh?"

"Think about it. You sent the roses to Ambrose. To your knowledge, he's the only one that the roses would go to, right? So it's not unfair to jump to the conclusion that Ambrose was the man that wrecked the flower shop," he explained. "Who else could it possibly have been if not him? How are you supposed to know that Ambrose was allergic to roses? Or that it would somehow end up with Jill and then her psycho husband would get ahold of them somehow?"

Lilah chewed on her bottom lip. Vincent's words alleviated some of her guilt. But not all of it.

She couldn't get the image of Ambrose's bewildered face out of her mind. Or how upset he looked when they were watching the video and Lilah saw that it wasn't him that caused the damage.

"That doesn't change the fact that I blew up on him for something that he didn't do." Lilah eyed the hot chocolate. Her lips curled upwards into a small smile when Vincent pushed the cup closer and she took a sip. "I fail to see how he's to blame for that."

"He's not," Vincent replied. "Based on what you told me, he handled it pretty well considering what you accused him of. We grew up with people that would've punched you in the mouth for an accusation like that."

Lilah winced. "It would be a well deserved punch."

"Yeah, sure." Vincent shrugged. "But Ambrose isn't like Noah. Not that you could know that. But he's not the type to hurt a woman the way Noah does."

Lilah stopped eating, noticing the dark cloud that covered Vincent's carefree expression. When he noticed Lilah was looking at him he sat up taller, towering over her even in a chair and grinned. His glossy lips shined bubblegum pink.

"Ambrose doesn't like you—"

"You don't say."

"—and that's fine," Vincent said with a certain something in his tone. He gently slapped Lilah's hands again when she started playing with the crumbs, forcing her gaze to meet his. "Sometimes you meet people that you just don't vibe with. Not everyone will like you. You won't get along with everyone. That's life. That's ok."

Lilah huffed, stealing his hot chocolate and sulking in the big chair. She pulled her legs up and sank into the maroon cushion. Her fingers trailed over the golden swirls embroidered into the fabric while she wallowed like a child.

"I feel like he hated me before he even got the chance to know me." Lilah glanced at him from beneath her thick lashes. "I mean, I know we had a shitty first meeting but, I don't know. It feels like there's something more there? Or maybe I'm just being stupid."

Vincent toyed with his gold chain, contemplating how much he was going to reveal. "You're not being entirely stupid," Vincent said carefully. He poked her full cheek to chase away the frown that creased her soft face and she giggled at the ticklish action. "Ambrose is a good guy, y'know. But he has his faults. He can't stand rich people. He thinks they're all the same. Awful. Greedy. Irresponsible. That sort of thing."

"Why?"

Vincent hummed, playing with his fluffy hair. The wavy bangs covered his eyes, shielding the sadness that shone through as he fell into the past.

"Do you remember when we were in college and my mom took a month off work?" Vincent asked. His legs were crossed and under the table his foot moved in quick circles. "We told you guys it was a family emergency and kinda left it at that."

"I remember. You came home too but you didn't see us before going back."

Vincent sniffed, upturned nose twitching the more uncomfortable he became. "My uncle got in a car accident. This kid, a rich kid, was showing off his new car to his friends. Didn't even see my uncle before he mowed him down."

The food in Lilah's mouth turned to sawdust, losing all flavor. She swallowed thickly, not used to seeing half of Vincent's face hidden away. Everything from his arched brows to his expressive eyes were covered by his black and brown hair. All Lilah could make out was the glossy tremor and the downturned manner of which he pursed his lips.

"He's technically still alive. I mean, he's breathing. But," Vincent shook his head, sighing heavily once the anger found him, "he's dead. Braindead. The life support machine has been keeping him alive for seven years. He'll never wake up but my zia, Ambrose's mom, she can't accept it. I don't know if it's her PPD that never got treated. Or if she really has hope that he'll wake up. But she won't let him go. That's why Ambrose had to quit college to come home and raise Cameron. It was either that or they were gonna send him back home, to Italy, so my nonna could have Cameron."

"Your mom couldn't take him?" she asked once she regained enough of her wits to form a complete sentence.

"Nah. She had enough to deal with her bad hip plus her normal workload. No way she would've been able to run after Cameron at the same time." Vincent rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a crick starting to form there with the way he was looking down. "And Ambrose would rather die than give up Cameron. Even if it is to family. He could never abandon that kid. No matter how bad things get, Cameron always comes first."

Lilah couldn't help the little spark of jealousy that reared its ugly head deep within her. To hear Vincent speak so strongly about Ambrose's devotion to Cameron was tough. It reminded her of how disposable she was to her own birth parents.

Born premature at 32 weeks, the first couple of weeks of her life were spent in the NICU. At 3 pounds and five ounces with a bucket load of health issues to boot. No one had wanted her. Not even her birth parents when they abandoned her at a firehouse.

They never checked on her. Never looked for her while she recuperated from the breathing problems and anemia. They just left and never looked back.

The closest thing she had to information was what the firefighter told the nurses. Who then told her mother during the adoption process. A young Native girl and a white boy came to the firehouse with Lilah, wrapped in a blanket and blue in the face. Struggling to breathe. The working theory was that Lilah's birth mother had delivered her on her own. Then panicked and brought her to a firehouse with, they assumed, Lilah's birth father, seeking help.

Both teenagers were gone the second the firefighters took their eyes off of them to care for her. No one had seen them since then. Not even Lilah.

It bothered her more than she would ever willingly admit aloud.

She cleared her throat, no longer thirsty or hungry as she pushed the food and drink away. "So, he adopted Cameron?"

"Mhm. Zia didn't even think twice about giving him to Ambrose." Vincent swept his hair away from his eyes, revealing the lightness that Lilah was so used to. "She spends every day at his bedside, waiting for him to wake up. And she lives with my mom now. It's easier that way, for everyone involved."

"And Cameron?"

Vincent shrugged, eyes taking on a nervous appearance as he glanced away. "She's not allowed around Cameron."

"She's that unwell that she can't even be trusted around her own son?" she asked in disbelief. "How sad."

"She... did something," Vincen said. "I don't know what it was. But it was bad enough for Jill and Ambrose to ban her from ever seeing Cameron again."

Questions about Jill bounced around in her head but she refrained from asking. It didn't feel like her place to pry into the life of someone that she never met. But judging from the vague answers she got from Vincent about the barista job, combined with what she saw on the video, she had a good idea of the kind of life Jill lived.

It made Lilah's stomach twist to imagine a woman trapped in a marriage with the terrible man from the video. Noah. If he could do all that to a shop of flowers, she didn't even want to know what kind of damage he could unleash on another human.

"And the kid? The one that caused the accident. What happened to him?"

"What usually happens to straight, rich, white guys when the law comes knocking?" Vincent smiled but there was no warmth to be found there. "He did more hours of community service than he spent behind bars. The judge didn't want to ruin the life of such a promising young individual over one mistake. Money bought him freedom. Killed my uncle. And they called it justice."

Lilah twisted her emerald ring, deep in thought. Her heart ached for Vincent and his family. It hurt to realize that this was their reality. This broken, shattered bond was all that was left of a once normal family. How could this be justice?

She didn't forgive Ambrose for the harsh words he hurled at her. Or the way of which he looked down on her. But she did understand him a little better. Whether it be pride, prejudice, or both. She knew now why the lenses he looked through were stained with so much grime.

"I'm not telling you this so that you give him a pass on his behavior." Vincent interrupted, knowing exactly what Lilah was thinking when she went quiet. "Don't get me wrong, I love my cousin like a brother. But I also know how deep his words can cut when he feels attacked and lashes out. I don't want you to, like, disregard things he's said in the past. This isn't a forgive and forget conversation."

"Then why are you telling me all this about him?"

Vincent ducked his head, bashful as a pink flush tinted his tanned skin. "Because he's moving in with me and so he'll be in your life on a daily basis. So, y'know, I thought it might be best to explain the massive chip on his shoulder before you guys kept running into each other."

I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your money and comments to yourself in the future.

Lilah had dismissed Ambrose's words without thinking. Certain that they would never meet again no matter what. But with the way things had been going recently, she realized now that she'd been so wrong that it wasn't even funny. Their lives were entangled because of Vincent and Kiki. Jill was going to be working for her. She spent a lot of time at Vincent's place. They even had movie nights whenever everyone found time in their busy schedules.

"He's also gonna be working here at the country club," Vincent added with a sheepish grin.

Lilah bit her bottom lip so hard that it almost began bleeding. She couldn't escape him no matter how hard she tried now.

Sure, she understood him better now. But that didn't mean she liked him.

She felt sorry for him and that was the extent of her kind hearted emotions towards him.

Sometimes you meet people that you just don't vibe with.

Vincent was right because she realized then that her and Ambrose were like oil and water. They didn't blend well and were always clashing. Incompatible in every way possible.

It made her sad that someone so important to Vincent was essentially a nuisance to her. But there was nothing to be done. They simply didn't get along and that was that. There was no point in forcing a cordial connection when one wasn't wanted by either party.

"I'll make sure to stay out of his way and I'm sure he'll do the same for me," Lilah replied. She raised a delicate hand and a tall man came by and took away the dirty dishes. "I still wanna make up for wrongfully accusing him, though. Any ideas?"

Vincent's watch went off, signaling the end of his break and he stood. He slung an arm around her as he prepared to head back outside to meet Mr. Rothchild for another round of golf.

Lilah admired the tattoos running up and down his skin in black ink. The sleeve was wicked and full of snakes, spiders, webs, and devils. Creepy things that made mothers turn their noses up in judgment and enticed children to look longer. It contrasted Vincent's soft, pretty boy appearance so nicely. Lilah always found it fascinating how tattoos could change a lot about someone.

"Skip the gifts," Vincent said, toying with the golden handle on the door. "Ambrose never liked gifts, even when we were kids."

"So?"

"Are you genuinely sorry?"

Lilah ducked her head, ashamed to meet his eyes. "You know I am."

"Then tell him," Vincent replied. "Give him a week to cool down and then apologize. Without the death flowers this time. No gift with strings attached. Just a sincere, Lilah Bean apology. You might be surprised with how nicely he'll react."

Lilah raised her chin, eyes full of doubt and a dash of hope. "How do you know he won't kick me out the second he sees me?"

"Believe me," Vincent said with an impish grin, "he won't kick you out." 

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QOTD: Do you think Vincent was correct in his decision to share the past with Lilah? Did he give sound advice in your opinion? What do you think Ambrose will make of Lilah's incoming genuine apology?