guilty as sin.

[ruby anderson]

Everyone was present now in the Dunmere home. Colt had returned from his weekend away in Connecticut and all appeared to be the way it should be. Mirren greeted him with a giant hug and Ruby followed in suit, pretending she didn't miss the closeness of his touch. Ignoring Sasha was also going according to her plan. The brunette girl just a few steps behind the three musketeers as they used to deem themselves. The sun was shining brightly through the blinds as Ruby finished typing a few notes into the diary secretly held on her phone.  The temperature was climbing but was still not towards the typical summer warm. Bits of conversations and shuffling could be heard from her bedroom upstairs, Ruby shut her door and with damp hair bounced down the stairs. She's halted very suddenly when she spies Colton and Sasha on the downstairs sofa together. Ruby hears his deep laugh and Sasha's obnoxiously high pitched one. Her heart immediately drops to her stomach. Ruby quietly steps back on a couple stairs, so she couldn't be visible to the pair. They appeared to be talking about whatever show was blasting from the speaker, maybe even watching it together? Her hands twist behind her back, a familiar anxiety filling her as she listens in, more giggling to be heard from Sasha. The final straw was when her hand grazed Colt's shoulder, giving it a slight shove. Ruby makes her presence known, steps heavy and hot down the stairs. An obvious annoyance seeping from her. Ruby grips the sliding glass down and slams it. Surely one of the Mom's would speak to her about that action later. She finds her usual spot, on one of their white loungers and feels her arms cross. Before she can even truly think, she's sending a text message to Colt.  "have fun with your new best friend."

[colton abernathy]

Dunmere has taken on its old energy, full as it was with its rightful owners, the three women filling each room with their warmth and history without even trying. It hardly felt like the same place he had been haunting all these months, tidying up after AirBnb guests who had no idea how significant the house was, who thought the notches on a doorframe were a rustic touch and not a marker of his and his friends' growth over the years. Despite himself Colt had sat with a face splitting grin on the drive back, singing along to Pixies and thinking over all the things they would do that summer. His enthusiasm remains as he's hugged by his closest friends, their distinctive scents enveloping him before they too were enveloped by the familiar smell of the house; sandalwood, salt, fresh cut roses. After kissing each of his moms on the cheek he goes and helps himself to a large glass of Heidi's homemade peach iced tea, gulping it down in one and topping it back off again. Though he wouldn't admit it if asked, he felt truly content. Just knowing that his friends were close, off doing whatever in their respective rooms, was a comfort as he flopped down on the couch. It hardly registered to him when Sasha joins, used to having the kids pile in. "Hey," he murmurs. They strike up a conversation and his good mood makes it flow easily, laughter coming lightly. The serenity doesn't last long, however, as Ruby stomps by them, a quizzical look crossing his face.  Then, a text. Sighing, he gets up and leaves his empty glass on the coffee table. "Be back in a bit." He steps outside, making sure to close the door carefully behind himself. Before long he's stood by Ruby, blocking her sun as he stands over her, hands on hips. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

[ruby anderson]

As the message reads delivered under her little blue bubble, Ruby tosses the phone onto the lounger beside her. Not wanting to read her short fused reaction message again. Or think about the two of them snuggled up on the couch. Though snuggling might be an exaggeration. Feelings of guilt and brief satisfaction fill her as she wonders if he'll even see the text message, or be too enamored with her nemesis. She moves the recliner portion of the chair back a little bit further, to feel the sun upon her skin. Her fair skin, particularly her cheeks, would be tinged pink within the next two hours if she stayed in this exact spot. Ruby often drank her coffee out here in the mornings, the smell of the ocean breeze being the perfect way to start a day. But the coffee was forgotten when she walked into Sasha and Colt's little display in the living room. Her eyes close as she settles down momentarily. Just breathing in the familiar smells of many summers they'd spent at Dunmere. It's suddenly when the sun is blocked that she's met with a scolding tone. Another thing that the young blonde girl was very accustomed too. "Nothing," she snaps back, though it was anything but the truth and he'd be able to decipher that statement to be a lie.  "I meant it when I said have fun with your new friend. You two seemed so..chummy on the couch." A fake smile comes to her lips and as well as a shrug of her shoulders. As she finishes replying, she allows her blue eyes finally to open. Taking on the scene before her. Hands on hips and peering down towards her, annoyance tucked into his furrowed eyebrow. Ruby sighed, it falling from her lips a lot louder than she anticipated. But after all, the dramatics were her thing. She hated how good he looked, even while he was yelling at her, she gives him an irritated look. "Now can you please stop blocking my sun?"

[colton abernathy]

"Have you ever had a psych eval?" Colt asks her, the morning sun reflecting off the surface of the pool, casting white streaks of light across his face. It's a good opportunity to take in the view, his vantage point giving him an excuse to take in her features individually, eyes running the length of her body before he spoke to avoid being caught in the act. Now that the house is brimming with their parents and sibling spies, he knows he's going to have to be more careful about everything, even where he looks. It had been something he had prepared himself for but now that she's here he realizes it'll be so much harder than he anticipated.  "She's here for the summer so you need to get used to her being around. I'm not going to leave a room just because she enters it, that would be insane." She sighs and it's a sound as familiar to him as the lapping waves behind them. He's even grown to like it as much as he liked that sound. He sighs himself, a shorter, quieter sigh, as he  mulls over what to do. His good mood perseveres from earlier and it conjures up an idea that he acts on immediately, a grin spreading across his face once more. Picking up the bottom end of the lounger so that it's on its back wheels, he drags it wheelbarrow style to the edge of the pool, laughing as he takes in her reaction. When he's just short of the pool's edge he drops it, its legs perilously close to the edge. "Next time I'll dunk you."

[ruby anderson]

Her eyes roll, feeling the extra exaggeration of them as he questions her need for a psych evaluation.”You’d like that wouldn’t you? Then you can finally figure out whatever is wrong with me, as you always say,” Ruby chuckles bitterly, as she thinks of the many times he’s screamed those exact words at her. The two of them were always hot and cold. Constantly butting heads as kids, following suit in to their teenager years with all the angst in tow. A big emphasis on the hot portion lately. Mirren had always been a good buffer, keeping their fighting at bay. “I don’t care. I don’t like to see you two together.” The words slip out with almost too much honesty than she intended to share. Sasha’s teeth were sunk into Ruby’s skin and most of her actions felt personal. Directed completely towards Ruby. Though most would say she was being dramatic. She felt Sasha’s eyes on her when she stomped down the stairs and out of the house. Ruby cups her hand over her face, blocking the sun as he followed her request to move out of the light. She watches Colt’s movements as a smile approaches his face, her own brows narrow at his actions before she can catch on to his motive. “What are you-“ Ruby’s words are cut off with a squeal as the lounger (with her still on it) begins to move closer to the pool. “Colt!” Ruby protests as he inches closer and closer, to the edge of the pool. Her heart was beating fast, another objection about to leave her mouth when he stops suddenly. The chair just mere inches away from entering the water, safe momentarily on the concrete. “You wouldn’t.” Ruby dares, carefully sliding out of the chair in hopes that it wouldn’t tip over. It was a bold statement, knowing he very much would dunk her in the pool. “If I go in, it’s so on.” Her eyes challenge him as she stands close, bending over to pull the chair back into its original location.

[colton abernathy]

He gives her a 'yes, duh' face, one he wore often in her company. "Sure I'd like it. Wouldn't you? Maybe we can get you medicated, do they make anti-dramatic medications the same way they make antidepressants?" It's a jibe but he does wonder. If he was willing to dig a little deeper he would take some time to consider what exactly was at the root of Ruby's dramatics, but he's too immature and dramatic himself to consider them anything other than completely irrational. Naturally, the possibility that his own behaviour could be a contributing factor was one that had not even begun to cross Colton's mind. Her complaint prompts an eye roll, again avoiding any sort of introspection around why she might feel so triggered by his perceived intimacy with her arch rival. It was so much easier to play into the trope of Ruby being the overdramatic one of the three, a moniker she had suffered under even when it came to her own mother. Her squeals make him laugh, one of his half sisters running out to see what the commotion was about and squealing herself. "I'm telling mom!" Addie yells, more loyal to the blonde than her own flesh and blood. Colt doesn't even look up, though it's a reminder that any illusion of privacy will be short lived. "Oh but I would. In fact," he lets instinct take over, quickly moving to scoop her up in his arms and hold her over the pool's edge. "What can you offer me to stop me letting go right here, right now?"

[ruby anderson]

"Anti-dramatics, ha, ha you're so funny," Ruby mumbles, but instead she feels a jab towards her stomach. Or maybe even her heart. Knowing these were some the things he truly thought about her. In typical Ruby fashion though, she proceeds to play it off with every bit of a melodramatic tone - rolling of her eyes and sharpened, heightened tones. If only Colt knew what was brewing in her brain. Insecurities and anxieties filling every space and sending constant reminders to never let the facade she'd made fail.  In the midst of her squeals, Ruby almost misses Addie's appearance. Wondering what other curious eyes were examining their interactions. Addie runs back in when Ruby is trying to move the chair back, her antics causing a larger laugh as she proceeds to strategically move the chair. Careful to watch Colton's movements this time around. "Good to know I have someone on my side," she teases him. Which turns out to be the wrong thing to say for not even a second after she muttered those words, Colt's arms were sweeping Ruby up off the ground. The action catches her by surprise and she lets out an involuntary yelp. Her mind is blank as he's holding her over the pool edge. "I'll do whatever you want!! Just put me down!" Her usual sharp tongue disappearing as she's dangling over the water. "Not anything though! There will be some regulations!" She braves a look at Colt, a devilish grin evident on his features and she can't help but draw her eyes down to his lips. Damn him. Her eyes are squished together anticipating the drop at any given minute, especially when his grip loosens, then tightens as if he's taunting her.

[colton abernathy]

"I'm deadly serious," he says, with a look that shows he's anything but. Her hair falls around her shoulders in a sheet of gold and, not for the first time, Colton feels a jolt of irritation at how beautiful she had become. Pretty as she had always been, she had come back from her first semester at NYU changed, a more fully formed, polished version of herself. If she had been a heartbreaker before she had the potential to be a maneater now, and in his pettiness he resented her for it, resented her for making him feel like every other red blooded male in this town.  It's a fleeting feeling though, evaporating as they laugh together against the sound of Addie's flip flops flip flopping as she ran back inside. "She's such a fucking snitch. Snitches get stitches, Adeline!" he calls after her, shaking his head. Soon she's in his arms, lighter than he expected, her skin smelling like sunscreen and coconut. The scent makes his head spin. There's a moment where she's looking at his lips and she's looking into his eyes, his pulse rate quickening as he falls quiet, the world stilling around them. But the promise of another Addie appearance lingers, so he drops his voice instead. "We'll figure something out," he promises, carefully putting her back on her feet. "Now, have you stopped sulking?"

[ruby anderson]

She studies him hard when he states that he's dead serious. The look he gave told her otherwise. "And I'm serious when I say that nothing is wrong with me," she replies sarcastically with a smile and is meant to be anything but sweet. Standing so close and back on familiar grounds, Ruby realizes how much she did miss him. Even if all they did was bicker back and forth constantly. There were moments where they'd laugh just as they were doing now. She'd snuck back to Dunmere a month or so ago, before the crucial part of her semester took place, to spend the night with Colt. But here they were, back in their place without any sort of distance and all eyes on them. "I'm not going to say anything else, in case that's the final straw," Ruby squeals, still in his arms and laughing at the sound of the flopping sandals of his younger half-sister. Why did she suddenly feel vulnerable? Being held so closely in his arms. As if Colt hadn't seen every inch of her before, so what did it matter if he dropped her into the water? She had shut her eyes when she was sure that seconds later he'd toss her into the pool, not satisfied with her answer. Carefully opening them back up, their eyes were locked and their position felt suddenly so intimate, him cradling her into his chest. Almost like a moment stopped in time. He finally puts her down and she sighs in relief. His questions makes her chuckle, as if he didn't know who he was speaking too. "No," she mumbles quickly. "But it's getting better. So, what do I owe you?" She begins her task on moving the chair back, gesturing for him to sit on the other beside her.

[colton abernathy]

Their last tryst had felt adult in its covertness, the blonde sneaking up to the house from the beach to avoid being caught by the front door's Ring doorbell. They had stayed in the pool house practically the entire 24 hour visit, Colton emerging once or twice to collect takeout or fetch snacks from the kitchen. In addition to the copious amount of fucking they had indulged in, they also got stoned and looked through old pictures, sharing memories and correct each others recollections. Now that everyone was back in the house, this interaction felt more like the nostalgic scenes from those photographs, a million miles from the privacy they had enjoyed. But this held its own kind of pleasure. "Clever girl." Her sigh makes him laugh, the sheer frequency of her sighs another characteristic feature of one of his best friends. "Don't think because I've taken mercy on you this time I'll do so again." There was a long summer stretching ahead of them, no doubt in his mind that he'd end up dunking her in the pool one of these days. He follows her gesture, flopping down on the lounger beside hers, squinting against the sun as he considered the question. "Haven't decided yet. Consider it an IOU I can cash in when I feel like it."

[ruby anderson]

For all their lives, it had been the three of them. Up until last summer when Mirren introduced them to her boyfriend, Matt. The summer that changed everything, the pair forced to stick together while their other half's time was spent with someone else. Fighting, laughing and reminiscing on their previous summers. It was also when she started to become aware of her self confidence and appeal that made many boys turn their heads in her direction. Ruby hadn't been immune to Colt's good looks, always thinking he was cute despite a few ridiculous hair cuts. Something changed in her as she watched him flirt with another girl around that bonfire. Their friendship pact thousands of miles away when she kissed him on their drunken walk back to the Dunmere house. That even further away when she snuck off to spend an entire weekend alone, naked in his bed. Now that she had a taste, Ruby was anxious for more time alone, but not wanting to seem desperate, or give their 'forbidden' antics away. Patience, he often preached to her. "I'm aware, preferably when it's a little bit warmer, please." Ruby murmurs, knowing that the water was a little bit colder than she typically liked. Having dipped her toes in yesterday and cringing at the frigid temperatures, but knowing it would heat up once the summer sun was out to stay. She relaxes deeper into the lounger, slipping her sunglasses on and happy he's taken up the spot beside her.  "I'm not sure if I like being indebted to you..." she trails off, dipping her sunglasses down so that her eyes were visible to him once more and smirk approaching her lips. "Go easy on me when the time comes." But in fact, she wanted the opposite. "So, when should we have our first bonfire?"

[colton abernathy]

Their friendship was pure in its simplicity. A de facto friendship that had been inherited from their mothers, a closeness that was almost inevitable when they grew up together, in tandem. It was the new dimension to their dynamic that Colton struggled to navigate, finding it impossible to tell the level of intentionality on her side. She had crept into his thoughts long before she kissed him, and he couldn't help but wonder if that was something she had orchestrated, if she'd somehow flaunted herself in a way that she knew would get his attention. "It's your own fault, consider it a diva tax." He matches her smirk with one of his own. "I'm making no promises. Hmm... why not tonight? So long as Mirren doesn't bring her boyfriend, that'd ruin it."

[ruby anderson]

Ruby pushes her sunglasses back to their normal position on her face. Where she was safe to admire Colt without him catching on. His arms still in great shape from his handyman duties, she appreciates them with the shaded lenses. "Diva tax, I like that. Very fitting." She giggles, moving the blonde hair off of her shoulder to portray the title, not one bit offended this time by his teasing tone. "Also, you don't have to actually go easy on me, you know. I can take it." Ruby lowers her voice, careful of those that could be listening in. She looks to her phone, scrolling through her instagram page as if her words were so nonchalant and not some big secret. She brings her phone down to settle on her lap and claps both of her hands together, elated at the suggestion of this evening. "Hopefully not? I brought back some fireball shooters from the city. Nothing says our first bonfire back like some celebratory shots. Making our ridiculous toasts!" Another group and summer tradition for the three. "We're overdue for a night of just us three."

[colton abernathy]

The sun had taken so long to finally break through, that it felt like it too was waiting for everyone to get to Dunmere. Feeling it beat down on his face, milky though it was that morning, he felt a rare optimism for the next few weeks. "You're gonna rack up one hell of a bill, I can feel it." Her next comment brings a heat to his cheeks that he hopes isn't manifesting as an actual blush. She had changed so much, become so bold, that sometimes he felt like he was lagging behind her and Mirren. So he's lost for words, wishing he could think of something suave to say. "Got it." Very suave. His suggestion goes down well and his mind wanders to Mirren, wondering what she's doing in this exact moment. "I don't think she'd do that so early on, right? We can see if we can get the kids to clear out too, maybe they can go see a movie or whatever."

[ruby anderson]

She loves to see the little tinge of pink that caresses his cheeks. Her top teeth pull on her bottom lip as Ruby tries to fight back a smile. "You look so cute when you blush," Ruby pushes the shoulder of his that's closest to her. Replicating the motion she saw Sasha do that sent her in an uproar down the stairs. There was much do around the Hamptons that it shouldn't be too difficult to occupy the children. An idea hits her. "I can talk to Spencer. He owes me anyways, maybe he can be the distraction." And then an even better one strikes. "You should  ask him. He worships you and will do it in a heart beat." She pauses for a moment.  "Be honest, do you actually have something against Matt?" Ruby curiously asks her oldest friend, thinking back on their previous conversations and from recent comments in their group chat. The pinky on her left hand is held out for Colton, to do a type of promise that's been done before. "Another thing that we can keep between us."