BACK TO YOU

four. hangover

▬▬ "DO WE REALLY HAVE TO physically sit for our portraits? Can't she just, like, look at a picture on her phone or something?" Jeremiah asked as he stood by the stove, Steven hovering over his shoulder as Laurel sat at the counter with her laptop and Lennox sat with her head on her forearms next to the woman. "Okay, get out." He waved his best friend off.

"What? Why?" Steven chuckled, backing away.

"She needs to see you in the flesh in order to capture your essence." Laurel answered the boy. "While you're still young and full of hope." Both boys turned to look at the woman. "Her words."

"Well, I puked up all of my essences this morning." Lennox muttered, lifting her head but she kept her eyes closed as she rested her chin in her palm.

"And Conrad does not have hope, actually. He's hopeless, but my hangover smoothie – it cures all." Jeremiah added.

"Can you please just hurry up?" Conrad called out from the other room where he was laid out on the couch.

"Yeah." Lennox agreed.

"Just go back to bed, all right?" Jeremiah told them, giving the girl a look and she stuck her tongue out at him, getting a chuckle in return before he went back to what he was doing and Steven leaned over his shoulder again. "All right, seriously, Steven, get out."

"Oh, come on."

"This is a delicate science, and your heavy breathing is gonna break the yolk."

"Okay, okay." Steven finally backed off and made his way around the counter.

"She hasn't painted you since you were little. I think it'll be nice to have these portraits when you're older." Laurel stated, getting back on topic.

"Old, no." Steven shook his head. "When I'm older, I'm sure there'll be, like, holograms or something I can watch of myself, you know?"

"You have too much faith in humans." Lennox mumbled then she jumped, letting out a yelp when Jeremiah turned on the blender. She covered her ears with her hands and glared at the boy but he just smiled.

"Just sit for your portraits. I don't see Conrad complaining." Laurel stated as Jeremiah put a glass in front of Lennox, getting a quiet thanks from the girl.

"He'll complain when he's conscious." Jeremiah told her, taking the other glass over to his brother.

"Come on, hurry your ass up." Steven complained. "All right? I can't be late for my first day of work."

"We won't. We're good."

"Come on, man." He mumbled before slapping his best friend on the ass as he walked past him. "Those country club boomers are gonna tip me so hard, man, they won't know what hit 'em. Oh!" He thrusted his hips a little and Lennox laughed, sipping on the hangover smoothie Jeremiah had made for her.

"Steven, I swear." Laurel shook her head a little.

"Come on, Laurel. My boy's gotta get that bread."

"Thank you." Steven told him then Belly walked into the kitchen, getting a good morning for the boy at the stove.

"Belly, where have you been? Is that a bruise?" She asked, seeing the purple spot on her daughter's cheek.

"Um– I-I bumped into someone." Belly lied.

"You bumped into someone?"

"It doesn't look too bad." Lennox chimed in.

"Your eyes are closed." Steven told the girl and she opened then, squinted at all the light.

"Oh." She mumbled, sipping on her smoothie as she stood up and rounded the counter. "Thanks, Jere." She stood on her toes and lightly kissed his cheek. "You're the best."

"Drink all of that." He gave her a pointed look and she saluted before making her way up the stairs and to her room.

Later that morning, after a nap, Lennox made her way around the kitchen, opening the cabinets and looking for a snack when the back door opened and Conrad walked in. He only wore his swim trunks.

The girl huffed when she saw the granola bars on the top shelf and she stood on her toes, her arm stretched as far as it would go but she still couldn't reach it. Conrad smiled a little before stepping closer to her and reaching up to grab the box, his chest against her back.

Her breath hitched, her eyes closing for a moment. Her chest ached and tears pricked behind her eyes, but she fought them off as she blinked a few times.

"Here," he stepped back and she turned to face him, taking the box he held out to her.

"Thanks."

"Didn't want a repeat of last summer, you almost broke your arm when you fell off the counter."

"Yeah, but you caught me." She mumbled as they stood, almost, chest to chest. Her heart beat increased, thumping at an irregular pace as their breath mingled.

"I'll always catch you." He mumbled, his voice low and she took a step back, clearing her throat a little. She couldn't get drawn back in, she refused to let herself get hurt by him again.

"So, Con, how's Nicole?" She asked and he looked a little shocked that she had asked.

"Um, she's-she's good, I guess." He answered and she nodded, grabbing a few granola bars before putting the box on the counter. "We actually-"

"Thanks, for these." She mumbled, shoving them into her tote bag with the rest of her stuff. "I'll, um, see you later." She turned and made her way out of the house and to her car.

>>>>> • <<<<<

▬▬ LENNOX HAD NEVER been so excited about a class, especially one during the summer. But she couldn't deny her excitement as she sat at a tall table, her feet hanging a few inches off the ground because of the stool she was perched upon. She had a notebook and pen laid out on the table and her camera next to them. She pushed her hair back over her shoulders and smiled as she looked around the room. There weren't many people but she loved that there were people who loved photography as much as she did.

"It's Lennox, right?" The girl turned to see a brunette join her at the table, a kind smile on her face, but Lennox looked a little confused. "We met last night at the bonfire."

Lennox searched her brain for anything about the night before, but all she could come up with was Nate and the fact that they had shared a kiss or two and the fact that the police had broken up the party. She didn't remember much else.

"I'm sorry," her cheek tinged pink with embarrassment. "I was pretty drunk last night." She reached a hand up, running it down her hair, smoothing down some of the fly-a-ways.

"I'm Nate's sister, Callie."

"Oh, I vaguely remember meeting you." Lennox chuckled lightly. "It's really all a blur."

Callie chuckled a little, smiling at the girl. She had heard her brother gushing about her most of the night, granted most of it was because he was wasted and he thought she was super hot. "So-"

"Are you gonna ask about your brother? Or what my intentions are? Because, honestly, I'm not sure. I just got out of a thing with this guy and I'm not exactly over it and that makes me sound like a bitch."

"I wasn't." Callie jumped in before the older girl could continue and Lennox closed her mouth, her eyes wide as her cheek flushed once again. Callie just smiled at her. "I was gonna ask when you got into photography. That's a pretty nice camera, definitely not a beginner's camera."

"Oh." Lennox turned in her seat, her eyes on her camera that sat on the corner of the table. "I was nine. My first camera was a Christmas present. So, it's been eight years. You?"

"I'm relatively new, got my first camera two years ago." She answered and Lennox nodded but before they could continue the conversation, the teacher got everyone's attention and started the class.

After class, Lennox and Callie made their way out of the studio, their arms linked as they laughed. Lennox mocked the posh accent the teacher had clearly faked throughout the entire class.

The two had spent most of the class trying – and failing – not to laugh as he went on about lightning and focus, that fake accent making him sound snobbish and like he was trying to make himself seem smarter.

Every time he spoke the two would share a look and giggle, covering their mouths to hide it but that just made them laugh harder until the teacher scolded them for being a disruption. Then they tried harder to hide it.

"Lennox?" The two girls looked up, both smiling wide, as Nate neared them, his eyebrows pinched as a smile lightly tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Nate."

"We're in the same photography class." Callie told him, arm still linked with the older girl's. "We're also best friends now." She started matter-of-factly.

"I think Jeremiah might have something to say about that." Lennox told her, getting a playful eye roll in response and Lennox couldn't help but laugh. "So, what are you guys doing today?"

"Um, nothing really. Well, our mom is dragging us to a thing later." Nate told her, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Wanna come over and hang out in the pool?" She asked, looking from the boy to his sister, an almost hopeful look on her face. It had been a while since she had made friends, mostly because she had the Fishers and the Conklins, as well as the few friends she had made in her hometown.

"Yeah, sure." Nate nodded, not even looking at Callie for an answer, he just wanted to spend time with Lennox. He wanted to get to know her, even more so when she was sober.

Lennox's smile grew as she looked from him too Callie, squeezing her arm a little. "Sounds fun." She nodded, her own smile growing and Lennox jumped a little as she cheered, making the sibling duo laugh.

Not even twenty minutes later, Lennox, Callie and Nate were laughing as they sat on floats in the pool, the older girl grinned as she laid her head back and the boy just smiled at her. Callie chuckled to herself as she watched the two, she knew when her brother liked a girl, he wasn't very good at hiding it. But she was also worried, she knew Lennox wasn't over her ex and she didn't want her big brother to get hurt.

"It's a nice place." He mused, looking up at the house.

"Yeah, it's not actually mine, though." Lennox shifted a little in her float. "My dad and I have a house a few streets over, for now at least. I'm just staying with friends for the summer."

"Where's your dad?" Callie asked, her eyebrows creased.

She shrugged, giving her a small smile as she adjusted the sunglasses on her face. "I don't know. Some work thing, I guess. I stopped asking questions a long time ago." The Gilbert siblings shared a sad look, the younger of the two feeling as though she had hit a sore spot because Lennox had gone quiet as she slowly drug her hand through the water.

"Hey, Angel." Lennox sat up and looked over as Susannah walked out of the house with her art supplies. "Who are your friends?" Her smile was as kind as ever.

"Suze, this is Nate and Callie. We met last night. Nate, Callie, this is Susannah. My mom, sort of."

"It's lovely to meet you."

"Yeah, you too." The boy nodded.

"Do you need a hand?" Lennox asked as she pushed off of her float and swam over to the edge of the pool, lifting herself out of the water. "I can help-"

"No, that's all right." The blonde shook her head but Lennox made her way towards her, only to have the older woman grab her hand, a smile still on her face. "Connie will be out in a second." And as if on cue, the boy walked out of the house, his eyes moving towards Lennox as she held her hands up and back away slightly.

A smile still played on her lips as she shook her head a little, the blonde just chuckled at the girl.

"Here, let me." He took the easel and the canvas from her then he looked up and his gaze landed on Lennox again. His eyes roamed over her frame - she wore a light blue bikini top and black bottoms - and he swallowed hard before licking his dry lips. "Hey, didn't realize you were home." His eyes met hers again.

"Have you met Nate and Callie?" Susannah asked, motioning to the two and Conrad looked up to see the boy that was with Lennox the night before on a float in his pool; he didn't even register that Callie was there.

He didn't like it. At all.

"So you guys hanging out now?"

"Looks like it, yeah." Lennox told him and he nodded his head a little, holding her gaze for a moment longer before looking over at his mom.

"Uh, mom, where do you wanna do this?" He asked and she pointed down the dock and he walked away.

"It was nice meeting you two. Are you coming to Laurel's party?"

"Laurel?"

"My other mom, sort of." Lennox told him, looking over her shoulder at the boy and he hummed.

"Uh, no, We have to be home in a little bit. But thank you." Callie gave the woman a kind smile.

"Of course." She nodded, moving closer to Lennox and placing her hand on her cheek. "Your portrait is next, Angel." 

"Yes, ma'am." She nodded then the blonde followed after her son and Lennox turned to look at the two in the pool.

"Portrait?" Nate questioned.

"Yeah, she's painting all of us." She told him, pushing her hair back over her shoulder before sitting her sunglasses by the edge of the pool. "She's really good and the last time she painted us, I think I was seven. It was a while ago."

He just nodded then he glanced over towards the mother-son duo before looking back at the girl. "What's the deal with you and him?"

"There is no deal."

"That's not what it looked like." Callie added, her voice almost sing-song. "There was a vibe."

"We were..." she took a breath, the words seemingly caught in her throat and her chest ached. "Can we not talk about it actually?"

"Yeah, yeah." Nate nodded and she let out a sigh, an awkward silence falling over them.

"Sorry, I just- it's complicated."

"You don't have to explain." He shook his head. "Exs can be... well, complicated."

"You are correct." She nodded and he splashed her a little, making her laugh. "Don't start something you can't finish." She told him and he narrowed his eyes at her before splashing her again making Callie laugh as she moved towards the edge of the pool.

"Oh, my bad." He told her, his tone nothing but sarcastic and she dove back into the water only to swim under his float and flip him into the water. Once he resurfaced he saw her smiling face and he swam towards her only to have her swim away, but he easily caught her, his arms around her waist, then he dropped down under the water, taking her with him.

All Callie could do was laugh as she cheered for the girl.

Their laughter filled the air and it was so loud that Conrad and Susannah could hear it. The boy turned his head but he couldn't see much other than the floats being tossed into the air. Susannah sent him a small, knowing smile but he was so busy trying to see Lennox that he didn't see it, that is until his mother spoke.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice soft.

"What?" He turned to look at her.

"Last summer, you and Len were inseparable."

"Mom."

"What? I'm curious. She seems different, you're different. What happened?"

"Nothing." He shook his head, but that was a lie and she knew it.

"Okay." She hummed. "I won't ask again."

❝ nova speaks! ❞

nate 💕