sanfordmoose

[sanfordmoose]

Characters: Nina Sanford + Quentin Jackson

Location: Local bar

Time: Friday night

Summary: Nina and Quentin run into each other for the first time since they were teenagers

NINA SANFORD:

During the week, Nina Sanford was all about the job. While her friends often chastised her for being a bit too much of a workaholic, she couldn’t help herself. She’d worked her way up into a high position at a big marketing firm in the city, and she wasn’t about to let that slide. From Monday to Friday, she got to the office early and worked well into the night, racking in as many accounts for the firm as she could. But as soon as 5:00 on Friday hit, Nina completely shed her office persona. It was as though she was two completely different people; one that was weighed down with responsibility, and one that wouldn’t know the meaning of responsibility if it was spelled out for her.

While it probably wasn’t the healthiest way to live her life, that was the way Nina had been from the second she graduated high school. Relationships always went on the back burner for her job, and on her days off, she spent them with her friends or family, usually with a drink in hand. She simply didn’t see the point of a relationship - they would only weigh her down. She didn’t need to be tethered to anyone, didn’t need someone telling her she spent too much time at the office or chastising her for drinking too much when she went out with her friends. When it came to guys, she guarded herself emotionally, preferring to give up her body rather than her heart. Maybe there would be a day when that changed, but Nina couldn’t see it happening anytime soon.

Already a couple drinks in, Nina was at the local bar, surrounded by a group of her best girls. She downed the rest of her drink, setting down the glass and looking around at the rest of the group, noticing that their glasses were starting to get dangerously low too. “The next round’s on me,” Nina gleefully told her friends, slipping away from the table and towards the bar. She barely stumbled as she walked up to the bar, extremely proud of just how well she’d mastered walking in heels while drinking. “Hey handsome. Can I get a Fuzzy Navel, a Gin & Tonic, a Screwdriver, a Voka Cran and a Stella?” she told the bartender, listing off the group’s drinks of choice.

She leaned against the bar as she waited for the bartender to pour the drinks, glancing down the bar as she waited. When her eyes fell on a man three seats down from her, her heart practically stopped. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, wanting to be sure it was him before she started to freak out about nothing. But despite not having seen him for over ten years, there was no mistaking Quentin. “And a shot of Jack,” she added to the bartender, downing it as soon as he put it in front of her. Looking away from him, she hoped that maybe he wouldn’t notice her. She wasn’t in the mood for a blast from the past.

QUENTIN JACKSON:

Hollywood, Florida held a lot of memories for Quentin Jackson. It was where he had his best foster family, and it was where he had his healthiest relationship - at the time, he had thought it was at least. There were just a lot of things in Hollywood that had been good for Quentin, but he had still fled. Quentin had turned eighteen and left the Pikes before they had a chance to kick him out due to him aging out. He still kept in touch with Olivia, and that was what had brought him back to the little town in Florida. He had been back for a few days, and Olivia was now out with her friends. So as a result, Quentin was out at a bar getting good and drunk before the memories from a decade ago came back to haunt him.

However, he hadn’t gotten drunk fast enough. As soon as he had a beer in his hand, Nina Sanford was at the bar ordering enough drinks for an army. He tried to ignore her. He clenched his hand around his glass, trying not to look at her. He couldn’t focus on her right now. He couldn’t focus on her ever, but especially not right now. He was drinking to forget, and seeing Nina? Well, that didn’t exactly help when it came to forgetting. Nina was the cause of most of his problems in Hollywood. She had been the mother of his child, and then she had gotten rid of his child… Quentin was still angry about it all these years later. Sure, he hadn’t been ready to be a father, but that didn’t mean he wanted his child killed.

Quentin had his beer in his hands as he tried to move away from her. He was determined to get absolutely free from Nina and the potential for any awkwardness. But he was so determined to get away that he ended up actually bumping into Nina. He winced as some of his beer spilled onto the floor, “Jesus…” He muttered, looking down at the beer on the floor before looking up at Nina, “Hi. I guess.”

NINA SANFORD:

Growing up, Nina had made more mistakes than she could ever count. For a long time, she figured it was her right of passage as the oldest sibling; she was showing all her younger siblings what not to do with their lives. And while she should have grown up by now, she was nothing more than a disaster in a dress. She still couldn’t figure out exactly how to grow up, despite her age. It wasn’t something she was ashamed of, but she knew it was the reason she hadn’t been in a serious relationship since she was sixteen.

Even though she wasn’t even sure she could count that as a serious relationship. Not with the way he’d disappeared without a word.

No matter who came in and out of her life, Nina did her best not to compare them to Quentin. He was bad for her, after all. He was almost as much of a disaster as she was in his own ways. They were destructive to each other, no matter how they felt. Not that it mattered in the long run. He’d disappeared without a word, living nothing but angry silence in his wake, and there was nothing she could do about it. It wasn’t as though she blamed him.

She could say with all certainty that she’d never thought she would see Quentin again. She wasn’t prepared for it, and looked at the bartender wistfully, wishing he could hurry up with the drinks. She was still too sober for this, despite the drinks she’d already downed. She bit her lip as she continued to look anywhere but at Quentin, not sure what she would say if they made eye contact. After all, what was there to say? "Sorry we don’t have a child together" didn’t seem to cover it.

Nina practically let out a sigh of relief when she noticed Quentin walking away from the bar, but it was short lived. She jumped when she felt him bump into her, looking down from the beer sloshed on the floor to him. She shifted uncomfortably as she looked at him, biting her bottom lip nervously as she tried to think of what to say. “Yeah… hi,” she smiled sheepishly, returning his half hearted greeting. “I didn’t know you were back in town,” Nina added, not sure what else to say. The awkward catch up was all they really had going for them, after all. They might as well get it out of the way.

QUENTIN JACKSON:

Quentin had definitely loved Nina when they were together, and he couldn’t explain why he had never really made that clear to her. He had loved her and she had been important to him, but he had pushed her away as soon as things started getting even the slightest bit rough. He had pushed her away and pulled back from her, and that had been unavoidable in his eyes. He knew how wrong it was, but it hadn’t been able to be stopped. Quentin freaked out and pulled away from Nina.

There was no way for Quentin to make up for what he had done. That much was clear. He had come back hoping that Nina would have moved somewhere else, and then he wouldn’t have to deal with any of it. He hadn’t expected to run into Nina Sanford almost immediately when he came back to the town he had spent some rough times in. Tonight was supposed to be simple. He was supposed to drink, and he was supposed to relax, and he was supposed to unwind. But unfortunately, that wasn’t an option now. Nina was right there, and there was no way he would be able to unwind with her so close. It was nearly impossible.

"I haven’t been here long." Quentin said with a shrug, trying to be as polite as possible without giving her the wrong idea. He didn’t want her to think he had come back for her or anything like that, because it wasn’t the case. He would never just come back for her. He wasn’t pathetic like that. He was the kind of person who actually had a little self respect. "But I see you haven’t left…"

NINA SANFORD:

If Nina said she didn't miss Quentin, she would have been lying. If she said she didn't occasionally think of what might have been, she wouldn't have been able to keep a straight face. But she wasn't about to regret it, wasn't about to apologize for the decisions she'd made. She did what was best for her - what was best for them, whether he realized it or not. And judging by the look on his face when he'd spotted her, she was willing to guess that he hadn't.

While carefree wasn't exactly how she would describe her life, it was as good as. She had a good habit of severing ties before they got too serious, not allowing emotional attachments to tie her down. Seeing Quentin here, she was harshly reminded of exactly why she didn't get too attached to anyone anymore. Her heart was beating a bit too quickly, her throat seemed dry, and words seemed just out of her grasp. If she could have avoided this, she would have. But seeing him now, right in front of her, that no longer seemed like a possibility.

Nina nodded at his lame explanation, taking a sip of her drink before she spoke again. "So what brought you back then?" she asked, unable to keep the curiosity from blurting out of her. "Last time I talked to you, it didn't seem like you were planning to come back here... ever." While it had been a long time since she'd actually thought about it, she hadn't forgotten the last time he left, and hadn't expected him to look back. She arched an eyebrow at his statement, her brow creasing into a frown. "Why would I?" she snapped, her voice more defensive than she intended.

and so it goes

[sanfordmoose]

Characters: Austin Vaughan + Nicohlas Sanford

Location: The firehouse

Time: Noon on Monday

Summary: Nick’s son comes to visit after a shift

As the clock finally hit noon, signaling the shift change, Austin couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. He might have loved his job, but that didn’t make it any less exhausting. His days on the job seemed to either be spent sitting around the firehouse doing nothing for the entire shift, or moving from fire to fire, trying to figure out exactly how many people in Florida had managed to start a fire in only 24 hours. Today had been the latter, and he was more than happy to clock out at the end of his shift, feeling a bit of weight dissipate from his shoulders.

He glanced down at his watch, deciding whether or not he should rush home, but as soon as he noticed that Nick was sticking behind for a bit, Austin decided to follow suit. As he sat down on the couch, sitting at the opposite end from his partner, her hoped he didn’t appear like some pathetic puppy dog, following him around. That had never been his style, and he sincerely hoped it never would be. But as far as he knew, Nick hadn’t quite yet come to terms with his sexuality, or at least he wasn’t acting on it yet. Austin figured that if they were in close quarters for long enough, Nick would finally cave to the tension between the two of them.

While he always told anyone that asked why he wasn’t going home yet, he usually claimed that he didn’t have anyone to go home to, so he could hang out for a little while longer. Of course he thought his cat counted, but everyone else maintained that it didn’t. But if he was being perfectly honest with himself, Austin knew he stuck around a bit longer on the same days that Nick did, just for an excuse to spend a bit of extra time with him. It might have seemed ridiculous, since they spent up to 24 hours together on shifts sometimes, but it was never quite the same when they were on duty. Especially when they were on the job.

Getting comfortable on the couch, Austin tried not to groan as one of Nick’s sisters brought in his son, excitedly exclaiming that Noah couldn’t wait any longer to see his dad. It wasn’t as though Austin didn’t like kids, he simply had no idea how to act around them. He either treated them like they were too young or too old, and found it awkward when children stared at him like he was absolutely insane. But he resisted the urge to slip out, smiling at Nick’s son instead. “Hey buddy, how are you doing,” he grinned, reaching out for a high five that was somewhat reluctantly returned. “Your dad was really awesome today,” Austin assured he kid, glancing over at Nick with a smile on his lips.

NICK SANFORD:

As a firefighter, Nicholas Sanford was constantly putting his life on the line for other people. He was literally running into burning buildings so that he could save the lives of other people, and he often did it with very little regard to his own safety. He would gear up and run in to save people. Sometimes he ended up getting hurt, but he tried as hard as he could not to think about it. He tried not to think about the possibility of injury… It was easier that way. It made him more willing to do his job when the time came for the hard part.

For the past few years, Nick had been forced to be more careful when it came to his job though. He had always had his family to worry about, but that family had grown. Nick was a father. He had a six year old son named Noah, and he would do anything for his baby boy. Well, he would do anything except quit his job. Despite all the dangers and risks, Nick Sanford did enjoy the job he had quite a bit. So he had started being more careful. Honestly, having Austin Vaughan by his side made things ten times better though. It was nice to have a friend with him while he went into burning building after burning building. Austin made the whole thing better.

Nick was waiting around in the firehouse for Noelle to bring Noah to him. He usually had Noah stay with his mom when he was on shift, but she wasn’t around. Nick had no idea where she was, and honestly it was better for both him and Noah when she was out of the picture. Nick was about to say his goodbyes and take Noah out to get food, but then Austin started talking to Noah, and Nick had to resist the urge to bite his lip and act like a school boy with a crush. “My dad’s always awesome!” Noah said, excitement filling his voice, and Nick just shook his head, “Hey, Noah, why don’t you go see the chief? I’m sure he’s got something cool to show you…” Noah’s eyes lit up with excitement and he took off down the hallway before Nick looked at Austin again, “You looked like you wanted to say something… Before he showed up, at least.”

AUSTIN VAUGHAN:

Of all the possible people he could have fallen for, Austin was well aware of just how foolish it was to fall for Nick Sanford. Nick was his partner, who had a son, and whose sexuality was ambiguous. By being hung up on him, Austin knew that he was just setting himself up for heartbreak. But even when he went out with other guys, he found himself thinking of Nick. He wasn’t sure what it was about Nick that constantly seemed to pull it in, but it was something he wanted to explore.

He didn’t know how to approach it, or whether it would end up crashing and burning, but it wasn’t something he was willing to give up on quite yet. He owed that to himself. Waiting around the firehouse for an opportunity to talk to him might not have been the best idea, but he wasn’t sure how else to approach it. In his sleep deprived state, acting like a love struck teenager didn’t seem like the worst idea in the world. Perhaps he would wake up in the morning only to regret it, but he wasn’t going to dwell on that right now. He could play it cool, after all.

Or at least he was pretty sure he could.

Austin honestly had no idea how to act around children, and it didn’t matter how many times Nick brought Noah around. He still had the initial instinct to look at the kid as though he was an alien, unsure of exactly what to do with him. But if he was going to try things with Nick - or even approach the subject - he couldn’t alienate the kid. He grinned as Noah gave him a high five back, laughing at the excited look on the kid’s face. “You’re right, he is. I bet you’ll be like him someday,” he grinned, watching Noah as he ran off excitedly towards the chief’s office.

As Nick spoke he turned around, an eyebrow raised. This would be the opportune time to talk to him, to suggest they hang out outside of the firehouse, without the threat of a burning building in their way, but he hesitated, shaking his head. “No, not really,” he blurted out before he had the chance to formulate a better thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at himself. That wasn’t exactly what he’d planned to say. “I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime,” Austin backtracked, giving Nick an easy smile. “I know you’ve got the kid now, but… Sometime. Whenever you’re free.”

NICK SANFORD:

Nick knew that his attraction to his partner was going to end badly for him. He knew, and that was why he tried to push it aside as often as possible. But he couldn’t help but stare at Austin every once in a while. Austin Vaughan was incredibly attractive, and Nick would have to be an idiot to deny that. Well, an idiot or blind, and Nick Sanford was neither. He wasn’t obvious about it, at least, he was trying not to be obvious. He didn’t actually know if he was succeeding at being subtle. But he was definitely trying, and that counted for something in his eyes.

Watching Austin with Noah warmed his heart a little bit. A lot of guys Nick and Austin’s age who didn’t have kids of their own didn’t really know how to interact with kids, but Austin seemed to get it. He may not have had kids, but Noah seemed to open right up with him, and with Nick’s son? That wasn’t always easy. Noah was shy sometimes, but when he opened up, that was a big deal. Once Noah was hanging out with the chief, Nick let himself relax a little bit. The chief was one of the guys at the house who did have kids, so he’d know how to deal with a ball of energy like Noah.

"Oh." Nick tried not to sound any type of way about it. He had hoped Austin was going to make a move, but unfortunately he had been wrong. But then Austin kept talking, and he was asking if they wanted to hang out sometime, and Nick tried not to let his smile show. "You can hang out with us." Nick said with a shrug, "We were just going to grab food and maybe go to the zoo. Noah loves tigers." He knew inviting the guy he was into was weird, but he wanted to spend time with him. It wasn’t like he was forcing Austin to say yes either, it was just an option.

AUSTIN VAUGHAN:

Even though he seemed to be pretty good with kids - or at least, he seemed to be pretty good with Noah - Austin had no idea how to act around kids. They were like mini humans that he should have known how to talk to, but he just didn't. The closest he had to having a kid was a cat, and that was a million times different. If he was some sort of crazy cat man, he might have thought of it as the same thing, but he was well aware that it wasn't. Talking to kids was just... difficult.

He wanted to be good with kids, of course. If he did nothing but stare at children like they were aliens, he would never stand a chance with Nick. Even though he didn't look it, Nick was practically the definition of a family man. He spent so much time with his kid, that as far as Austin was concerned, he had to get in good with Noah to get in with Nick. And while he knew that going after Nick was the definition of a bad idea - especially since they worked together every day - but he was going for it. Being a fireman basically meant he was doing stupid things for a job. Why not incorporate that into his relationship too?

Austin frowned slightly when Nick spoke, not sure why he sounded so put off. He might have pulled together within a half a second, but Austin had definitely seen the disappointment there. It wasn't something he could explain, but it was something he wanted to get to the bottom of. What had Nick been expecting? "The zoo, huh?" he asked, thinking about it for a second before he nodded. "I don't think I've gone to the zoo since... Well, I have no idea." Probably when he was Noah's age. "As long as we see the Pandas too, I'm in," Austin decided with a nod, chuckling softly.

He could certainly think of better ways he could spend his day, but at the moment spending it with Nick was really the only thing he had on his mind. Even if it wasn't exactly the way he anticipated spending with him.

color outside the lines

[sanfordmoose]

Characters: Sawyer Warren + Natalie Sanford

Location: The dorm’s laundry room

Time: Sunday morning

Summary: Sawyer teaches Natalie how to do laundry

As the alarm beside his bed started to blare, Sawyer let out a low groan, reaching out until he hit the snooze button. He buried his face back into his pillow, only getting up when the alarm started to go off again ten minutes later. He rolled out of his bed, popping two Advil before grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that were strewn across the dorm room floor and pulling them on. The last thing he wanted to do after a night of partying was actually get out of bed, but he had a long list of things he needed to spend his day doing and being in bed wasn’t going to get anything accomplished.

When he first started college, Sawyer had been sure he would own the place. And while that had stood true for a few months, it wasn’t long before being a pre-med student caught up to him. He spent a lot of time studying, and not nearly as much time partying as he would have liked. Not that it had stopped him last night, but the hangover he now had was reminding him exactly why he didn’t do it too often. He gathered as many of his clothes as he could find, throwing them into a basket and grabbing the laundry detergent before heading to the laundry room.

While laundry was the last thing Sawyer wanted to spend his Sunday doing, there were only so many days he could get away with wearing the same scrubs before someone started to notice. He walked into the laundry room, his basket and laundry soap under his arm, pleased to see that the room was actually empty for once. It didn’t happen often, but he could only assume that like himself, he was living in a dorm full of people hungover that had absolutely no interest in getting out of bed on a Sunday morning. With a shrug, he started sorting his clothes into two machines, not paying much notice to the brunette that walked in a minute later.

It was only when he put the quarters in the machine and turned around that he gave her a second look. He couldn’t remember seeing her in the building before, and as he gave her a quick look over, he was almost disappointed by that. No one that attractive should be kept hidden. Sawyer raised an eyebrow when he noticed her dumping all her laundry into one machine, chuckling softly. “I wouldn’t do that unless you want to turn everything pink. Cliche, but it happens,” he told her, a smile on his lips as she turned around to look at him. “Need some help there?” he offered, hoping he didn’t offend her too much by the offer. He could remember his first laundry disaster, and didn’t mind passing on his expertise.

NATALIE SANFORD:

Natalie Sanford had never had a real sense of direction. She had never known where she was headed, but she knew that she would go to college and that was it. Beyond that? She was clueless. Even now as a college freshman, she didn’t really know what she was doing. She was an English major - for now - but she didn’t know what she wanted to do with that. She was taking this all one step at a time. She would figure it out. She just didn’t know when or how or where to start… Natalie Sanford was a bit of a mess right now, but then again, she was only a freshman. She was still learning how to be an adult, being a functional one was just one step further than she was ready to handle.

Laundry. That was one thing that was tripping her up quite a bit. She’d be lying if she said it wasn’t. Her mother had always done her laundry at home, and she was tempted to just pack her stuff up, hop in her car, and drive home so that her mother could continue to do it. But Noelle had told her not to do that, it would make their mom feel used. So Natalie was making her way to the laundry room on a Sunday morning and hoping that she could figure the whole thing out. Her roommate had gone home for the weekend, so she couldn’t even ask her for help. It was incredibly frustrating.

She was dumping her clothes into the machine when she heard someone speak to her. She bit her lip and turned around, running a hand through her hair, “Oh… Thanks.” Natalie laughed softly, “I like pink, but not enough to have everything… pink.” She looked down in the washing machine, pulling out the colored things and putting them back into her basket. She looked at him and ran a hand through her hair, “I kind of do… I’m… It’s dumb, but I’ve never had to do this myself before.

SAWYER WARREN:

Perhaps it was the fact that Sawyer was usually too busy to date - or even meet girls that weren’t in his program - but he happened to find something about the brunette endearing. He didn’t know why not being able to do laundry was a sweet quality in a girl, but he figured it might have something to do with the way she blushed when he pointed it out, looking around like she was a fish out of water. He missed that part of being a freshman, the innocence and simplicity of it all, even though he wouldn’t trade being a pre-med student for anything. It might have been a lot of work, but it would be worth it when he graduated.

Sawyer glanced down at his watch after he offered to help her, thinking of the long list of things he had awaiting him back in his dorm room. He still had to study for his test on Wednesday, and had a paper due on Thursday that still needed some research for it. He was supposed to throw his clothes in the machine and go do his own thing, not stick around and help girls that had no idea what they were doing. But he’d already offered, and he was a sucker for helping out the damsel in distress. Even if her distress did happen to be laundry, and not something that required chivalry, like being locked in a tower guarded by a dragon. Sunday was a day for sleeping, after all. If he couldn’t still be in bed, the least he could do was forgo the studying for a bit and hang out with a pretty girl.

"At least if you did turn everything pink, you could probably pull it off," Sawyer chuckled, looking at the brunette with a smile. "Pink isn’t my colour. I looked like a giant Marshmallow Peep." He shrugged when she called it dumb, watching her as starting to pick the coloured clothes out of the washing machine. He would do more to help, but he was pretty sure no girl wanted some strange guy sorting their laundry. "I wouldn’t say dumb," he told her with a reassuring smile. "We all have to do laundry for the first time sometime." Sawyer lifted up the lid of the machine next to the one she was using and nodded towards it. "But you’re definitely gonna want to put your colours in a different machine. And on a different setting."

NATALIE SANFORD:

Natalie knew how dumb she looked. What kind of college girl didn’t know how to do her own laundry? It was one of those things that everyone should have learned before going into the dorm setting. But Nora Sanford hadn’t taken the time to teach her youngest daughter, maybe it was because she wanted to keep her young forever… Natalie didn’t know. She just knew she was clueless, and she was doing the best she could. But now she had this cute guy giving her laundry advice, and that was absolutely amazing. Natalie had always been a flirt, and this was great. He was her type.

She looked at him and smiled softly. she was incredibly appreciative for all of this. She needed help, and she didn’t really open up with strangers, so asking for help wasn’t something that would happen. “I probably could… but that doesn’t mean I want to.” She said with a shrug, “And I’m sure you didn’t look like a Peep…” She laughed softly, “You probably looked great.” She kept her eyes on him as she spoke, nodding as she put her colored clothes into the other machine. She focused on putting her detergent in before looking at him and biting her lip, “What setting do I put it on?” She asked, trying not to act as stupid as she felt. She felt like an idiot for not having any idea what she was doing, but she wasn’t going to let it show. “I’m Natalie. By the way.”

SAWYER WARREN:

Perhaps this would be Sawyer’s new way of meeting girls. If he didn’t have time to frequent the frat parties that most people on campus did, he could always frequent the laundry room like some sort of vigilante, providing laundry advice to cute girls that weren’t sure how to do it themselves. Not that he wanted to be known as some sort of laundry lurker, nor did he really like the idea of spending too much time in a laundry room that somehow managed to smell like both Febreeze and dust, but beggers couldn’t be choosers. It was working for him so far.

Not that Sawyer was sure anything was going to happen between him and the brunette. For all he knew, she was just counting down the minutes until she could get out of here. But as he looked her up and down, he definitely had to admit she was his type. If he got to know her outside of their dorm’s laundry room, he wouldn’t be complaining.

"You need cold for this one, and warm for this one," Sawyer told her, gesturing to the machines as he pushed the proper buttons to make sure her clothes would come out without bleeding. The last thing he needed was to offer his help, only to mess it up for her. "Do you have enough change?" he asked, an eyebrow raised when he remembered that she’d come down only prepared to do one load. He grinned when she introduced himself, realizing for the first time that they hadn’t actually done that. "Hey Natalie," he grinned with a nod. "I’m Sawyer. Fourth floor."

NATALIE SANFORD:

Growing up as the youngest in a family with four children had never exactly been easy for Natalie Sanford. Well, no, actually, the opposite was true. It was far too easy. She had never wanted for anything and she was spoiled rotten by both of her parents and her older siblings as well. It was why she had managed to get all the way to college without knowing how to do simple tasks such as laundry. She knew that she needed to learn, but she didn’t think it could be that terribly difficult. Hell, it was laundry. People did it every day. It wasn’t like it was rocket science.

But that was before she realized how many different factors went into the process. The colors, the fabrics, the water temperatures… Needless to say, Natalie was slightly overwhelmed by the entire situation. It was inevitable, really.

Natalie studied the boy - man, really - as he spoke, and she nodded slowly as she processed what he was doing. Laundry wasn’t that complicated. He made it seem much easier and made it seem like she was getting overwhelmed for no reason. But Natalie was definitely relieved by having his assistance. Knowing that her clothes were safe from harm meant a lot to her, and she was grateful to Sawyer - he had finally introduced himself - for helping her.

She nodded as he spoke, trying to absorb everything he was saying, “Cold and warm. Got it.” She wasn’t stupid, not really. But sometimes things just got mixed up in her head and she would try to work around it and it would just end up being one big mess. She reached into the overly large pocket of her hooded sweatshirt and grabbed the quarters she had been collecting. “I think I do.” She said with a nod, “That’s the one thing I think I’m more than prepared for.” She smiled at him as she put the quarters in the machine, “Fourth floor, huh?” She asked, looking at him as the machines began to run, “I’m on the sixth.”

SAWYER WARREN:

He tried to remember the last time he'd been this confused about something, and all Sawyer could think of was his first day of medical school. Everything had seemed all too overwhelming, and he'd been ready to quit after the first day. It wasn't his finest moment by any means. He might have pretended to be a smooth intern now, one that could save a life at the blink of an eye, but he hadn't always been like that. Hell, he still wasn't like that. One day, definitely, but for now, he was happy helping out the girl in the laundry room with eyes like Bambi that had no idea what she was doing. Her pretty smile didn't hurt his desire to help either.

Flirting with a girl he'd never met before in the laundry room seemed a little bit desperate, Sawyer had to admit. Most guys met girls at parties, in class, or at work, not in the dingy laundry room that smelt slightly of mould. It could hardly be considered romantic, but he didn't see the harm in a bit of harmless flirting. It wasn't like he had much time in the rest of his days to go to parties for the sole purpose of hitting on girls. He could, however, take a few minutes out of his busy schedule to hit on the hot brunette that had no idea how to do laundry. It might not have been smooth, but it did work.

Sawyer raised an eyebrow when Natalie pulled out the quarters she had, chuckling softly. "Did you bring down enough quarters to do your laundry for the whole year?" he teased, pulling himself up on one of the laundry machines beside the one Natalie was using. "I'm pretty sure those weigh more than you do," he added, looking between her and the stack of quarters she had. He grinned when she mentioned where she lived. "Maybe I should make my way up there sometime," he mused, even though he hardly liked the idea of wandering around the floor looking for someone he hardly knew. "Or if you find yourself forgetting which load is which, you could always come find me."

don’t talk to strangers

[sanfordmoose]

Characters: Noelle Sanford + Matvey Zolotov

Location: Outside Matty’s apartment

Time: Late Friday night/early Saturday morning

Summary: Noelle needs a place to stay.

Her feet padded softly on the carpet leading to the front door of his apartment, and though she knew she didn’t have to tiptoe anymore, her footsteps sounded too loud somehow. As though they were echoing around her, ready to give her away. Noelle knew how foolish it was. She knew that she needed to hold her head high and ignore any fear that still pumped through her veins. She was no longer at home, no longer in arms reach of harm. In a matter of moments, a few short steps, she would be with Matty. She had no idea whether he was home, or how he would feel about the imposition, but she didn’t know who else to turn to.

Finally coming to his door, she reached out a hand to knock softly before recoiling, noticing the bruise on her hand. It didn’t hurt - they hardly did anymore - but she wouldn’t put it past his sharp eyes to notice. Noelle quickly reached into her bag, digging through the small pile of possessions she’d been able to pack, until she found her compact. Opening it up, she took one look at herself in the mirror, double checking her reflection. The bruise around her eye was still faint, but she breathed a soft sigh of relief, glad that it was covered well enough.

She might have been ready to confess everything to him, to ask for his help, but that didn’t mean she wanted her bruised and battered complexion to be the first thing that greeted him at the door. Noelle knew deep down that running might have been a foolish idea. That grabbing everything she could fit into a suitcase while he was passed out on the couch after one too many was asking for a disaster. He could always find her again if he really wanted to. But she didn’t want to think about that right now. If she was lucky, he would forget all about her. He would throw out all the possessions she couldn’t fit into her bag, and rid himself of her the same way she planned to do of him.

Holding her head high, her jaw set, Noelle finally gained the courage to knock on Matty’s door. She had no idea why she was so nervous. He was nothing like her boyfriend, nothing like the man she’d been tricked by for so long. He was gentle and kind, proving once and for all that looks could be deceiving. He wouldn’t lay a hand on her when he had too much to drink. He wouldn’t demean her, hurt her, scare her into staying. He would only help.

Knocking quickly on the door, Noelle bounced on the balls of her feet, finally beginning to feel a sense of calm despite her nervous ticks. Listening hard, she hoped to hear footsteps, a sign that he was home, that he would let her stay - at least for the night. If he wasn’t around, she had no idea who else she could turn to. No one could make her feel safe the way Matty did.

MATVEY ZOLOTOV:

Matvey Zolotov had been really close to the Sanford family for as long as he could remember. He had grown up side by side with Noelle, and they were best friends. They had been since they were three years old, and they would be for the rest of time. At least, that was Matty’s goal. He liked Noelle a lot, maybe even loved her, but she didn’t know that. She didn’t need to know that. She had a boyfriend. Matty wasn’t going to ruin that for her. He may have loved her with all of his heart, but he didn’t want to ruin her relationship just because of his feelings.

They still hung out sometimes, but it was rare. Matty didn’t like it. They were used to hanging out regularly, and they still talked often, but it wasn’t the same anymore. Matty felt like her boyfriend had something to do with it, but he would never explicitly say that. He knew that getting in the middle of someone’s relationship was a terrible idea, so he wasn’t going to do that. But he could still try to keep his friend as much as he could. He had been planning on calling her and trying to get some time together. He’d do it when he woke up.

It was late. He should have been sleeping because he had work in the morning, but at the moment, he didn’t care. He had a feeling. He couldn’t explain the feeling, but it was like he knew something was going to happen. The problem was that he just couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Whatever it was, it was bad enough that he couldn’t fall asleep. So he was lying in bed, staring at his ceiling, letting all of his thoughts run through his head. He didn’t have the ability to pull out just one and focus, so he continued to lay there. It was easier.

But then he heard a knock on his door, and he blinked turning his head to the side to see the red glowing 1:27 AM of his alarm clock. Maybe his brother was drunk. Whatever it was, he could figure it out. He could give his brother a place on his couch for the night and deal with whatever stupid shit he had done in the morning. So he dragged himself out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweatpants before opening the door, “Whatever you did we can…” But then he realized he wasn’t looking at his brother. He looked down and Noelle Sanford was on his doorstep and he knew something was wrong, “Ellachka…” He wrapped his arms around her, the pet name he had used for years slipping out without hesitation, “What are you doing here?”

NOELLE SANFORD:

Deep down, Noelle knew that she had a lot of places she could run to for help. She had her family, she had her close friends, she was never as alone as she currently felt. But there was something difficult about telling anyone about what she’d been through - what she’d allowed herself to put up with for months, too afraid to vocalize it. She was certain that Matty was the only one she would be able to tell, the only person she was comfortable confessing this to. He was her best friend, her other half in so many ways. She could tell him things she didn’t know how to tell anyone else.

As she waited for him to come to the door, Noelle glanced down at her watch and bit her lip. It was almost 1:30; maybe she should have at least had the decency to wait until morning. She probably would have been able to wait until a more convenient time to leave, but at the time it had felt like now or never. In a way, it still did. There was a part of Noelle that was sure if she didn’t get out at that very second, she never would. She was sure Matty would understand that. Though she did feel a twinge of guilt, showing up at his door when she’d gone weeks without seeing him face to face.

"Hi," Noelle mumbled as soon as he opened the door, giving him a sheepish smile. She could tell that he’d been asleep - or at least trying to - and while she started to feel guilty, that all dissipated as soon as he wrapped his arms around her. Matty had been the one person she could depend on no matter what, ever since they were three years old, and right now Noelle was remembering exactly why. He could comfort her with just a hug and a few well chosen words, calming her shaking nerves. "I’m really sorry if I woke you up…" she told him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest, melting into the hug.

"I…." she started, biting her lip as she tried to find the right words. She had no idea how to launch into the story, how to tell him what she’d been keeping from him for months now. Letting out a soft sigh, she decided to go with the easiest question first. "Would you mind if I stayed here tonight?" Noelle asked, pulling away from the hug just enough to look up at him. She knew deep down that this was hardly a question she needed to ask, but this wasn’t like the sleepovers they had when they were little. She needed a sanctuary, and while she didn’t quite know how to put it into words yet, she knew it was something heavy to ask of someone.

MATVEY ZOLOTOV:

Matty loved Noelle. That much was incredibly obvious. At least, it was obvious to everyone but her. He was pretty sure even her siblings knew how he felt, but no one went through with telling Noelle about it because Noelle was dating someone else, and she was happy with that someone else. Well, Matty thought Noelle was happy. She didn’t give him any information that would tell him otherwise. Matty thought Noelle was happy, so he kept his feelings to himself. She needed to be happy, and he didn’t want to be the reason that happiness was ruined. He refused to do anything that would ruin Noelle Sanford’s happiness.

He continued holding Noelle close, knowing something was wrong even though she wasn’t necessarily saying it right away. He knew he would have to talk to her to get the truth out of her, but that wasn’t his priority right now. His priority was making sure that she was safe. “You didn’t.” He said with a smile, “I was laying down, but I wasn’t asleep. You’re more important than me sleeping.” It was true, and he knew he shouldn’t have been so sappy and forward with her right now, but it was late and his filter was broken when it was late, especially when he was technically close to sleep.

He immediately shook his head when she asked if he minded. “You can definitely stay.” He said, keeping his arms around her, “You can have my bed. I’ll crash on the couch.” He ushered her into the apartment, shutting the door behind them, locking the door and pulling away from her. It wasn’t that he necessarily wanted to sleep away from her, but he didn’t want her to think he was forcing himself on her. “You know you’re always welcome here, Christmas.”

NOELLE SANFORD:

Noelle had never considered herself to be foolish. She wasn't like the rest of her siblings, their disastrous relationships practically legendary. But the longer she stayed with Chad, the more she realized she was even more of a disaster than the rest of them. She deserved so much better than what he was giving her, deserved someone that would think of laying a hand on her when they had too much to drink. Leaving the house was certainly scary - perhaps the most frightening thing she'd ever done - but despite the way her heart was beating heavy in her chest, she knew it was the right thing to do.

Especially now that she was here in Matty's arms. He was her hiding place, her safe and sound, the one person she knew she could count on no matter what. She sighed softly when Matty mentioned that he hadn't been asleep, figuring he was lying. It was late at night, he was hardly clothed, and he looked as though he'd been tossing and turning. But she allowed him to refute her claims, smiling softly. "Good," she told him, wrapping her arms just a bit tighter around his waist. She wasn't ready to let him go just yet. "I'd hate to disturb you."

"Thank you," Noelle told him, her voice soft and a small smile starting to curl around her lips. She might have still been shaken, but being here made her feel more comfortable. If there was anyone that could make Noelle feel as though she was safe, it was Matty. She looked up at him as he spoke, biting her lip gently. "Actually..." she started nervously, giving him a sheepish smile. "Would you mind staying with me tonight? I don't feel like being alone."

She felt so safe in his arms that she couldn't imagine leaving them right now. They used to spend the night in the same bed when they were young, and even though they no longer had sleepovers anymore, Noelle didn't see the problem with it. She chuckled softly as he used her nickname, the smile on her lips brightening just a bit more. She knew that eventually she would have to explain to him exactly what happened, whether it would be tonight or in the morning, and while that was enough to cause anxiety to shoot through her, she almost felt calm for now, knowing he was here.

you could be my luck

[sanfordmoose]

Characters: Nina Sanford + Quentin Jackson

Location: Local bar

Time: Friday night

Summary: Nina and Quentin run into each other for the first time since they were teenagers

During the week, Nina Sanford was all about the job. While her friends often chastised her for being a bit too much of a workaholic, she couldn’t help herself. She’d worked her way up into a high position at a big marketing firm in the city, and she wasn’t about to let that slide. From Monday to Friday, she got to the office early and worked well into the night, racking in as many accounts for the firm as she could. But as soon as 5:00 on Friday hit, Nina completely shed her office persona. It was as though she was two completely different people; one that was weighed down with responsibility, and one that wouldn’t know the meaning of responsibility if it was spelled out for her.

While it probably wasn’t the healthiest way to live her life, that was the way Nina had been from the second she graduated high school. Relationships always went on the back burner for her job, and on her days off, she spent them with her friends or family, usually with a drink in hand. She simply didn’t see the point of a relationship - they would only weigh her down. She didn’t need to be tethered to anyone, didn’t need someone telling her she spent too much time at the office or chastising her for drinking too much when she went out with her friends. When it came to guys, she guarded herself emotionally, preferring to give up her body rather than her heart. Maybe there would be a day when that changed, but Nina couldn’t see it happening anytime soon.

Already a couple drinks in, Nina was at the local bar, surrounded by a group of her best girls. She downed the rest of her drink, setting down the glass and looking around at the rest of the group, noticing that their glasses were starting to get dangerously low too. “The next round’s on me,” Nina gleefully told her friends, slipping away from the table and towards the bar. She barely stumbled as she walked up to the bar, extremely proud of just how well she’d mastered walking in heels while drinking. “Hey handsome. Can I get a Fuzzy Navel, a Gin & Tonic, a Screwdriver, a Voka Cran and a Stella?” she told the bartender, listing off the group’s drinks of choice.

She leaned against the bar as she waited for the bartender to pour the drinks, glancing down the bar as she waited. When her eyes fell on a man three seats down from her, her heart practically stopped. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, wanting to be sure it was him before she started to freak out about nothing. But despite not having seen him for over ten years, there was no mistaking Quentin. “And a shot of Jack,” she added to the bartender, downing it as soon as he put it in front of her. Looking away from him, she hoped that maybe he wouldn’t notice her. She wasn’t in the mood for a blast from the past.

QUENTIN JACKSON:

Hollywood, Florida held a lot of memories for Quentin Jackson. It was where he had his best foster family, and it was where he had his healthiest relationship - at the time, he had thought it was at least. There were just a lot of things in Hollywood that had been good for Quentin, but he had still fled. Quentin had turned eighteen and left the Pikes before they had a chance to kick him out due to him aging out. He still kept in touch with Olivia, and that was what had brought him back to the little town in Florida. He had been back for a few days, and Olivia was now out with her friends. So as a result, Quentin was out at a bar getting good and drunk before the memories from a decade ago came back to haunt him.

However, he hadn’t gotten drunk fast enough. As soon as he had a beer in his hand, Nina Sanford was at the bar ordering enough drinks for an army. He tried to ignore her. He clenched his hand around his glass, trying not to look at her. He couldn’t focus on her right now. He couldn’t focus on her ever, but especially not right now. He was drinking to forget, and seeing Nina? Well, that didn’t exactly help when it came to forgetting. Nina was the cause of most of his problems in Hollywood. She had been the mother of his child, and then she had gotten rid of his child… Quentin was still angry about it all these years later. Sure, he hadn’t been ready to be a father, but that didn’t mean he wanted his child killed.

Quentin had his beer in his hands as he tried to move away from her. He was determined to get absolutely free from Nina and the potential for any awkwardness. But he was so determined to get away that he ended up actually bumping into Nina. He winced as some of his beer spilled onto the floor, “Jesus…” He muttered, looking down at the beer on the floor before looking up at Nina, “Hi. I guess.”

NINA SANFORD:

Growing up, Nina had made more mistakes than she could ever count. For a long time, she figured it was her right of passage as the oldest sibling; she was showing all her younger siblings what not to do with their lives. And while she should have grown up by now, she was nothing more than a disaster in a dress. She still couldn't figure out exactly how to grow up, despite her age. It wasn't something she was ashamed of, but she knew it was the reason she hadn't been in a serious relationship since she was sixteen.

Even though she wasn't even sure she could count that as a serious relationship. Not with the way he'd disappeared without a word.

No matter who came in and out of her life, Nina did her best not to compare them to Quentin. He was bad for her, after all. He was almost as much of a disaster as she was in his own ways. They were destructive to each other, no matter how they felt. Not that it mattered in the long run. He'd disappeared without a word, living nothing but angry silence in his wake, and there was nothing she could do about it. It wasn't as though she blamed him.

She could say with all certainty that she'd never thought she would see Quentin again. She wasn't prepared for it, and looked at the bartender wistfully, wishing he could hurry up with the drinks. She was still too sober for this, despite the drinks she'd already downed. She bit her lip as she continued to look anywhere but at Quentin, not sure what she would say if they made eye contact. After all, what was there to say? "Sorry we don't have a child together" didn't seem to cover it.

Nina practically let out a sigh of relief when she noticed Quentin walking away from the bar, but it was short lived. She jumped when she felt him bump into her, looking down from the beer sloshed on the floor to him. She shifted uncomfortably as she looked at him, biting her bottom lip nervously as she tried to think of what to say. "Yeah... hi," she smiled sheepishly, returning his half hearted greeting. "I didn't know you were back in town," Nina added, not sure what else to say. The awkward catch up was all they really had going for them, after all. They might as well get it out of the way.

and so it goes

[sanfordmoose]

Characters: Austin Vaughan + Nicohlas Sanford

Location: The firehouse

Time: Noon on Monday

Summary: Nick’s son comes to visit after a shift

As the clock finally hit noon, signaling the shift change, Austin couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. He might have loved his job, but that didn’t make it any less exhausting. His days on the job seemed to either be spent sitting around the firehouse doing nothing for the entire shift, or moving from fire to fire, trying to figure out exactly how many people in Florida had managed to start a fire in only 24 hours. Today had been the latter, and he was more than happy to clock out at the end of his shift, feeling a bit of weight dissipate from his shoulders.

He glanced down at his watch, deciding whether or not he should rush home, but as soon as he noticed that Nick was sticking behind for a bit, Austin decided to follow suit. As he sat down on the couch, sitting at the opposite end from his partner, her hoped he didn’t appear like some pathetic puppy dog, following him around. That had never been his style, and he sincerely hoped it never would be. But as far as he knew, Nick hadn’t quite yet come to terms with his sexuality, or at least he wasn’t acting on it yet. Austin figured that if they were in close quarters for long enough, Nick would finally cave to the tension between the two of them.

While he always told anyone that asked why he wasn’t going home yet, he usually claimed that he didn’t have anyone to go home to, so he could hang out for a little while longer. Of course he thought his cat counted, but everyone else maintained that it didn’t. But if he was being perfectly honest with himself, Austin knew he stuck around a bit longer on the same days that Nick did, just for an excuse to spend a bit of extra time with him. It might have seemed ridiculous, since they spent up to 24 hours together on shifts sometimes, but it was never quite the same when they were on duty. Especially when they were on the job.

Getting comfortable on the couch, Austin tried not to groan as one of Nick’s sisters brought in his son, excitedly exclaiming that Noah couldn’t wait any longer to see his dad. It wasn’t as though Austin didn’t like kids, he simply had no idea how to act around them. He either treated them like they were too young or too old, and found it awkward when children stared at him like he was absolutely insane. But he resisted the urge to slip out, smiling at Nick’s son instead. “Hey buddy, how are you doing,” he grinned, reaching out for a high five that was somewhat reluctantly returned. “Your dad was really awesome today,” Austin assured he kid, glancing over at Nick with a smile on his lips.

NICK SANFORD:

As a firefighter, Nicholas Sanford was constantly putting his life on the line for other people. He was literally running into burning buildings so that he could save the lives of other people, and he often did it with very little regard to his own safety. He would gear up and run in to save people. Sometimes he ended up getting hurt, but he tried as hard as he could not to think about it. He tried not to think about the possibility of injury… It was easier that way. It made him more willing to do his job when the time came for the hard part.

For the past few years, Nick had been forced to be more careful when it came to his job though. He had always had his family to worry about, but that family had grown. Nick was a father. He had a six year old son named Noah, and he would do anything for his baby boy. Well, he would do anything except quit his job. Despite all the dangers and risks, Nick Sanford did enjoy the job he had quite a bit. So he had started being more careful. Honestly, having Austin Vaughan by his side made things ten times better though. It was nice to have a friend with him while he went into burning building after burning building. Austin made the whole thing better.

Nick was waiting around in the firehouse for Noelle to bring Noah to him. He usually had Noah stay with his mom when he was on shift, but she wasn’t around. Nick had no idea where she was, and honestly it was better for both him and Noah when she was out of the picture. Nick was about to say his goodbyes and take Noah out to get food, but then Austin started talking to Noah, and Nick had to resist the urge to bite his lip and act like a school boy with a crush. “My dad’s always awesome!” Noah said, excitement filling his voice, and Nick just shook his head, “Hey, Noah, why don’t you go see the chief? I’m sure he’s got something cool to show you…” Noah’s eyes lit up with excitement and he took off down the hallway before Nick looked at Austin again, “You looked like you wanted to say something… Before he showed up, at least.”

AUSTIN VAUGHAN:

Of all the possible people he could have fallen for, Austin was well aware of just how foolish it was to fall for Nick Sanford. Nick was his partner, who had a son, and whose sexuality was ambiguous. By being hung up on him, Austin knew that he was just setting himself up for heartbreak. But even when he went out with other guys, he found himself thinking of Nick. He wasn't sure what it was about Nick that constantly seemed to pull it in, but it was something he wanted to explore.

He didn't know how to approach it, or whether it would end up crashing and burning, but it wasn't something he was willing to give up on quite yet. He owed that to himself. Waiting around the firehouse for an opportunity to talk to him might not have been the best idea, but he wasn't sure how else to approach it. In his sleep deprived state, acting like a love struck teenager didn't seem like the worst idea in the world. Perhaps he would wake up in the morning only to regret it, but he wasn't going to dwell on that right now. He could play it cool, after all.

Or at least he was pretty sure he could.

Austin honestly had no idea how to act around children, and it didn't matter how many times Nick brought Noah around. He still had the initial instinct to look at the kid as though he was an alien, unsure of exactly what to do with him. But if he was going to try things with Nick - or even approach the subject - he couldn't alienate the kid. He grinned as Noah gave him a high five back, laughing at the excited look on the kid's face. "You're right, he is. I bet you'll be like him someday," he grinned, watching Noah as he ran off excitedly towards the chief's office.

As Nick spoke he turned around, an eyebrow raised. This would be the opportune time to talk to him, to suggest they hang out outside of the firehouse, without the threat of a burning building in their way, but he hesitated, shaking his head. "No, not really," he blurted out before he had the chance to formulate a better thought, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at himself. That wasn't exactly what he'd planned to say. "I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime," Austin backtracked, giving Nick an easy smile. "I know you've got the kid now, but... Sometime. Whenever you're free."

color outside the lines

[sanfordmoose]

Characters: Sawyer Warren + Natalie Sanford

Location: The dorm’s laundry room

Time: Sunday morning

Summary: Sawyer teaches Natalie how to do laundry

As the alarm beside his bed started to blare, Sawyer let out a low groan, reaching out until he hit the snooze button. He buried his face back into his pillow, only getting up when the alarm started to go off again ten minutes later. He rolled out of his bed, popping two Advil before grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that were strewn across the dorm room floor and pulling them on. The last thing he wanted to do after a night of partying was actually get out of bed, but he had a long list of things he needed to spend his day doing and being in bed wasn’t going to get anything accomplished.

When he first started college, Sawyer had been sure he would own the place. And while that had stood true for a few months, it wasn’t long before being a pre-med student caught up to him. He spent a lot of time studying, and not nearly as much time partying as he would have liked. Not that it had stopped him last night, but the hangover he now had was reminding him exactly why he didn’t do it too often. He gathered as many of his clothes as he could find, throwing them into a basket and grabbing the laundry detergent before heading to the laundry room.

While laundry was the last thing Sawyer wanted to spend his Sunday doing, there were only so many days he could get away with wearing the same scrubs before someone started to notice. He walked into the laundry room, his basket and laundry soap under his arm, pleased to see that the room was actually empty for once. It didn’t happen often, but he could only assume that like himself, he was living in a dorm full of people hungover that had absolutely no interest in getting out of bed on a Sunday morning. With a shrug, he started sorting his clothes into two machines, not paying much notice to the brunette that walked in a minute later.

It was only when he put the quarters in the machine and turned around that he gave her a second look. He couldn’t remember seeing her in the building before, and as he gave her a quick look over, he was almost disappointed by that. No one that attractive should be kept hidden. Sawyer raised an eyebrow when he noticed her dumping all her laundry into one machine, chuckling softly. “I wouldn’t do that unless you want to turn everything pink. Cliche, but it happens,” he told her, a smile on his lips as she turned around to look at him. “Need some help there?” he offered, hoping he didn’t offend her too much by the offer. He could remember his first laundry disaster, and didn’t mind passing on his expertise.

NATALIE SANFORD:

Natalie Sanford had never had a real sense of direction. She had never known where she was headed, but she knew that she would go to college and that was it. Beyond that? She was clueless. Even now as a college freshman, she didn’t really know what she was doing. She was an English major - for now - but she didn’t know what she wanted to do with that. She was taking this all one step at a time. She would figure it out. She just didn’t know when or how or where to start… Natalie Sanford was a bit of a mess right now, but then again, she was only a freshman. She was still learning how to be an adult, being a functional one was just one step further than she was ready to handle.

Laundry. That was one thing that was tripping her up quite a bit. She’d be lying if she said it wasn’t. Her mother had always done her laundry at home, and she was tempted to just pack her stuff up, hop in her car, and drive home so that her mother could continue to do it. But Noelle had told her not to do that, it would make their mom feel used. So Natalie was making her way to the laundry room on a Sunday morning and hoping that she could figure the whole thing out. Her roommate had gone home for the weekend, so she couldn’t even ask her for help. It was incredibly frustrating.

She was dumping her clothes into the machine when she heard someone speak to her. She bit her lip and turned around, running a hand through her hair, “Oh… Thanks.” Natalie laughed softly, “I like pink, but not enough to have everything… pink.” She looked down in the washing machine, pulling out the colored things and putting them back into her basket. She looked at him and ran a hand through her hair, “I kind of do… I’m… It’s dumb, but I’ve never had to do this myself before.

SAWYER WARREN:

Perhaps it was the fact that Sawyer was usually too busy to date - or even meet girls that weren’t in his program - but he happened to find something about the brunette endearing. He didn’t know why not being able to do laundry was a sweet quality in a girl, but he figured it might have something to do with the way she blushed when he pointed it out, looking around like she was a fish out of water. He missed that part of being a freshman, the innocence and simplicity of it all, even though he wouldn’t trade being a pre-med student for anything. It might have been a lot of work, but it would be worth it when he graduated.

Sawyer glanced down at his watch after he offered to help her, thinking of the long list of things he had awaiting him back in his dorm room. He still had to study for his test on Wednesday, and had a paper due on Thursday that still needed some research for it. He was supposed to throw his clothes in the machine and go do his own thing, not stick around and help girls that had no idea what they were doing. But he’d already offered, and he was a sucker for helping out the damsel in distress. Even if her distress did happen to be laundry, and not something that required chivalry, like being locked in a tower guarded by a dragon. Sunday was a day for sleeping, after all. If he couldn’t still be in bed, the least he could do was forgo the studying for a bit and hang out with a pretty girl.

"At least if you did turn everything pink, you could probably pull it off," Sawyer chuckled, looking at the brunette with a smile. "Pink isn’t my colour. I looked like a giant Marshmallow Peep." He shrugged when she called it dumb, watching her as starting to pick the coloured clothes out of the washing machine. He would do more to help, but he was pretty sure no girl wanted some strange guy sorting their laundry. "I wouldn’t say dumb," he told her with a reassuring smile. "We all have to do laundry for the first time sometime." Sawyer lifted up the lid of the machine next to the one she was using and nodded towards it. "But you’re definitely gonna want to put your colours in a different machine. And on a different setting."

NATALIE SANFORD:

Natalie knew how dumb she looked. What kind of college girl didn’t know how to do her own laundry? It was one of those things that everyone should have learned before going into the dorm setting. But Nora Sanford hadn’t taken the time to teach her youngest daughter, maybe it was because she wanted to keep her young forever… Natalie didn’t know. She just knew she was clueless, and she was doing the best she could. But now she had this cute guy giving her laundry advice, and that was absolutely amazing. Natalie had always been a flirt, and this was great. He was her type.

She looked at him and smiled softly. she was incredibly appreciative for all of this. She needed help, and she didn’t really open up with strangers, so asking for help wasn’t something that would happen. “I probably could… but that doesn’t mean I want to.” She said with a shrug, “And I’m sure you didn’t look like a Peep…” She laughed softly, “You probably looked great.” She kept her eyes on him as she spoke, nodding as she put her colored clothes into the other machine. She focused on putting her detergent in before looking at him and biting her lip, “What setting do I put it on?” She asked, trying not to act as stupid as she felt. She felt like an idiot for not having any idea what she was doing, but she wasn’t going to let it show. “I’m Natalie. By the way.”

SAWYER WARREN:

Perhaps this would be Sawyer's new way of meeting girls. If he didn't have time to frequent the frat parties that most people on campus did, he could always frequent the laundry room like some sort of vigilante, providing laundry advice to cute girls that weren't sure how to do it themselves. Not that he wanted to be known as some sort of laundry lurker, nor did he really like the idea of spending too much time in a laundry room that somehow managed to smell like both Febreeze and dust, but beggers couldn't be choosers. It was working for him so far.

Not that Sawyer was sure anything was going to happen between him and the brunette. For all he knew, she was just counting down the minutes until she could get out of here. But as he looked her up and down, he definitely had to admit she was his type. If he got to know her outside of their dorm's laundry room, he wouldn't be complaining.

"You need cold for this one, and warm for this one," Sawyer told her, gesturing to the machines as he pushed the proper buttons to make sure her clothes would come out without bleeding. The last thing he needed was to offer his help, only to mess it up for her. "Do you have enough change?" he asked, an eyebrow raised when he remembered that she'd come down only prepared to do one load. He grinned when she introduced himself, realizing for the first time that they hadn't actually done that. "Hey Natalie," he grinned with a nod. "I'm Sawyer. Fourth floor."

don’t talk to strangers

[sanfordmoose]

Characters: Nina Sanford + Quentin Jackson

Prompt: "I am not wearing that."

"Why the hell not?" Nina asked, frowning as she took another look at the outfit she was holding out. She held it against him and cocked her head to the side before giving the outfit a satisfied smile. "It would look so good on you!" She pouted out her bottom lip, hoping that would make a difference.

But like always, Quentin just rolled his eyes before crossing his arms defiantly across his chest. "That's pink," he told her, pointing to one of the shirts in her hand, as though it was the most obvious reason why he couldn't wear it.

"No. No it doesn't," Quentin refuted, shaking his head. He cracked a smile for the first time since they'd entered the store, but tried to push her away from the dressing room and back into the store anyway. "Why can't I just wear something out of my closet?"

"I've told you this like twenty times!" Nina whined, planting her heels defiantly so that he couldn't push her back into the store. Nina knew exactly what would look good on him, and she was determined it wouldn't be anything from his closet. "You can't meet my parents for the first time wearing your usual black hoodie and leather jacket."

He took a step back and looked at her, an eyebrow raised. He didn't have to say anything - he rarely did to get his point across - and his "why the hell not?" hung in the air.

Nina sighed, taking a step towards him to close the gap between them and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. "Come on, you know what I mean," she told him, giving him the cutest smile she could muster. "I know I don't look like the kind of girl that comes from a fancy family, but there's gonna be like three forks at every place setting at dinner. The Sanfords are very classy people."

He held her gaze for a minute before sighing. "Fine, but does it have to be pink?"

"I already told you, it's not pink. But I think it'll make you look sexy," Nina grinned, leaning up on her toes to peck him softly on the lips.

"Pink and sexy shouldn't go in the same sentence when we're talking about me," Quentin argued, ignoring Nina's frustrated groan.

They were both too stubborn for their own good, but Nina knew exactly how to make him back down. "If you try it on, I'll make it worth your while," she grinned, waggling her eyebrows up and down before pushing him back towards the dressing room. Ignoring the accusing glare of the sales person lingering near the dressing room, she locked the door behind them, the grin on her lips growing. "You can be quiet, right?" she asked, running a finger softly against his parted lips before kissing him again, deeper this time, giggling softly as she ran her fingers slowly along the waistband of his jeans.

[sanfordmoose]

Characters: Sawyer Warrren + Natalie Sanford

Prompt: "Are you drunk?"

Sawyer chuckled softly at her question, tightening his arm around her waist and pulling her closer, despite the fact that she'd distanced himself from him. He took in the shocked look on her face, the way her eyes widened and her eyebrows shot up, and he sighed softly.

"Nat, it's 8am and we just woke up. How would I be drunk?" he asked, raising an eyebrow that mirrored her expression.

"I love you?" he asked, repeating his words from earlier. He knew that it might have been soon in their relationship, and the fact that he was still half asleep didn't help, but he couldn't help himself. He'd blurted it out before he had time to realize what he was saying, but there was no sense taking it back. Whether he'd meant to say it or not, it was true.

"Yeah, that!" Natalie nodded fervently after letting the words hang in the air between them for a minute.

While the tension between the two of them could be cut with a knife, Sawyer shrugged it off. "I do, though. Love you," he told her, even if he was making the situation worse. "Sorry," he added, laughing softly under his breath.

"Thank -" Natalie started softly before Sawyer cut her off, putting a finger softly over her lips.

"Nope, don't say thank you. Don't turn it into a bad sitcom moment," he demanded as he shook his head. He'd known from their first date that Natalie didn't do relationships, didn't do love. She'd blurted it out nervously while assuring Sawyer he didn't have to stick around if he didn't want to. Like that was going to deter him. "You don't have to say it back, Nat. It's okay."

She bit her lip nervously, glancing away from him. "I think I do, though," she said finally, her voice so soft it was barely audible. "Love you," she added, just when he thought his voice couldn't get any softer. While Sawyer didn't think he'd ever seen Natalie look remotely shy or humble - not since the first day they met and she admitted she didn't know how to do laundry - but the vulnerability was clear on face. Sawyer almost felt bad, forcing her to come to terms with how she felt about their relationship.

"Thank you," Sawyer teased her, smiling as he pressed his lips softly against hers. He could feel her begin to smile against his lips as she kissed him back, and he couldn't help the grin that spread wider on his lips.

[sanfordmoose]

don’t talk to strangers

Characters: Sawyer Warren + Natalie Sanford

Location: The dorm’s laundry room

Time: Sunday morning

Summary: Sawyer teaches Natalie how to do laundry

As the alarm beside his bed started to blare, Sawyer let out a low groan, reaching out until he hit the snooze button. He buried his face back into his pillow, only getting up when the alarm started to go off again ten minutes later. He rolled out of his bed, popping two Advil before grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that were strewn across the dorm room floor and pulling them on. The last thing he wanted to do after a night of partying was actually get out of bed, but he had a long list of things he needed to spend his day doing and being in bed wasn’t going to get anything accomplished.

When he first started college, Sawyer had been sure he would own the place. And while that had stood true for a few months, it wasn’t long before being a pre-med student caught up to him. He spent a lot of time studying, and not nearly as much time partying as he would have liked. Not that it had stopped him last night, but the hangover he now had was reminding him exactly why he didn’t do it too often. He gathered as many of his clothes as he could find, throwing them into a basket and grabbing the laundry detergent before heading to the laundry room.

While laundry was the last thing Sawyer wanted to spend his Sunday doing, there were only so many days he could get away with wearing the same scrubs before someone started to notice. He walked into the laundry room, his basket and laundry soap under his arm, pleased to see that the room was actually empty for once. It didn’t happen often, but he could only assume that like himself, he was living in a dorm full of people hungover that had absolutely no interest in getting out of bed on a Sunday morning. With a shrug, he started sorting his clothes into two machines, not paying much notice to the brunette that walked in a minute later.

It was only when he put the quarters in the machine and turned around that he gave her a second look. He couldn’t remember seeing her in the building before, and as he gave her a quick look over, he was almost disappointed by that. No one that attractive should be kept hidden. Sawyer raised an eyebrow when he noticed her dumping all her laundry into one machine, chuckling softly. “I wouldn’t do that unless you want to turn everything pink. Cliche, but it happens,” he told her, a smile on his lips as she turned around to look at him. “Need some help there?” he offered, hoping he didn’t offend her too much by the offer. He could remember his first laundry disaster, and didn’t mind passing on his expertise.

NATALIE SANFORD:

Natalie Sanford had never had a real sense of direction. She had never known where she was headed, but she knew that she would go to college and that was it. Beyond that? She was clueless. Even now as a college freshman, she didn’t really know what she was doing. She was an English major - for now - but she didn’t know what she wanted to do with that. She was taking this all one step at a time. She would figure it out. She just didn’t know when or how or where to start… Natalie Sanford was a bit of a mess right now, but then again, she was only a freshman. She was still learning how to be an adult, being a functional one was just one step further than she was ready to handle.

Laundry. That was one thing that was tripping her up quite a bit. She’d be lying if she said it wasn’t. Her mother had always done her laundry at home, and she was tempted to just pack her stuff up, hop in her car, and drive home so that her mother could continue to do it. But Noelle had told her not to do that, it would make their mom feel used. So Natalie was making her way to the laundry room on a Sunday morning and hoping that she could figure the whole thing out. Her roommate had gone home for the weekend, so she couldn’t even ask her for help. It was incredibly frustrating.

She was dumping her clothes into the machine when she heard someone speak to her. She bit her lip and turned around, running a hand through her hair, “Oh… Thanks.” Natalie laughed softly, “I like pink, but not enough to have everything… pink.” She looked down in the washing machine, pulling out the colored things and putting them back into her basket. She looked at him and ran a hand through her hair, “I kind of do… I’m… It’s dumb, but I’ve never had to do this myself before.

SAWYER WARREN:

Perhaps it was the fact that Sawyer was usually too busy to date - or even meet girls that weren't in his program - but he happened to find something about the brunette endearing. He didn't know why not being able to do laundry was a sweet quality in a girl, but he figured it might have something to do with the way she blushed when he pointed it out, looking around like she was a fish out of water. He missed that part of being a freshman, the innocence and simplicity of it all, even though he wouldn't trade being a pre-med student for anything. It might have been a lot of work, but it would be worth it when he graduated.

Sawyer glanced down at his watch after he offered to help her, thinking of the long list of things he had awaiting him back in his dorm room. He still had to study for his test on Wednesday, and had a paper due on Thursday that still needed some research for it. He was supposed to throw his clothes in the machine and go do his own thing, not stick around and help girls that had no idea what they were doing. But he'd already offered, and he was a sucker for helping out the damsel in distress. Even if her distress did happen to be laundry, and not something that required chivalry, like being locked in a tower guarded by a dragon. Sunday was a day for sleeping, after all. If he couldn't still be in bed, the least he could do was forgo the studying for a bit and hang out with a pretty girl.

"At least if you did turn everything pink, you could probably pull it off," Sawyer chuckled, looking at the brunette with a smile. "Pink isn't my colour. I looked like a giant Marshmallow Peep." He shrugged when she called it dumb, watching her as starting to pick the coloured clothes out of the washing machine. He would do more to help, but he was pretty sure no girl wanted some strange guy sorting their laundry. "I wouldn't say dumb," he told her with a reassuring smile. "We all have to do laundry for the first time sometime." Sawyer lifted up the lid of the machine next to the one she was using and nodded towards it. "But you're definitely gonna want to put your colours in a different machine. And on a different setting."

[sanfordmoose]

Characters: Noelle Sanford + Matvey Zolotov

Location: Outside Matty’s apartment

Time: Late Friday night/early Saturday morning

Summary: Noelle needs a place to stay.

Her feet padded softly on the carpet leading to the front door of his apartment, and though she knew she didn’t have to tiptoe anymore, her footsteps sounded too loud somehow. As though they were echoing around her, ready to give her away. Noelle knew how foolish it was. She knew that she needed to hold her head high and ignore any fear that still pumped through her veins. She was no longer at home, no longer in arms reach of harm. In a matter of moments, a few short steps, she would be with Matty. She had no idea whether he was home, or how he would feel about the imposition, but she didn’t know who else to turn to.

Finally coming to his door, she reached out a hand to knock softly before recoiling, noticing the bruise on her hand. It didn’t hurt - they hardly did anymore - but she wouldn’t put it past his sharp eyes to notice. Noelle quickly reached into her bag, digging through the small pile of possessions she’d been able to pack, until she found her compact. Opening it up, she took one look at herself in the mirror, double checking her reflection. The bruise around her eye was still faint, but she breathed a soft sigh of relief, glad that it was covered well enough.

She might have been ready to confess everything to him, to ask for his help, but that didn’t mean she wanted her bruised and battered complexion to be the first thing that greeted him at the door. Noelle knew deep down that running might have been a foolish idea. That grabbing everything she could fit into a suitcase while he was passed out on the couch after one too many was asking for a disaster. He could always find her again if he really wanted to. But she didn’t want to think about that right now. If she was lucky, he would forget all about her. He would throw out all the possessions she couldn’t fit into her bag, and rid himself of her the same way she planned to do of him.

Holding her head high, her jaw set, Noelle finally gained the courage to knock on Matty’s door. She had no idea why she was so nervous. He was nothing like her boyfriend, nothing like the man she’d been tricked by for so long. He was gentle and kind, proving once and for all that looks could be deceiving. He wouldn’t lay a hand on her when he had too much to drink. He wouldn’t demean her, hurt her, scare her into staying. He would only help.

Knocking quickly on the door, Noelle bounced on the balls of her feet, finally beginning to feel a sense of calm despite her nervous ticks. Listening hard, she hoped to hear footsteps, a sign that he was home, that he would let her stay - at least for the night. If he wasn’t around, she had no idea who else she could turn to. No one could make her feel safe the way Matty did.

MATVEY ZOLOTOV:

Matvey Zolotov had been really close to the Sanford family for as long as he could remember. He had grown up side by side with Noelle, and they were best friends. They had been since they were three years old, and they would be for the rest of time. At least, that was Matty’s goal. He liked Noelle a lot, maybe even loved her, but she didn’t know that. She didn’t need to know that. She had a boyfriend. Matty wasn’t going to ruin that for her. He may have loved her with all of his heart, but he didn’t want to ruin her relationship just because of his feelings.

They still hung out sometimes, but it was rare. Matty didn’t like it. They were used to hanging out regularly, and they still talked often, but it wasn’t the same anymore. Matty felt like her boyfriend had something to do with it, but he would never explicitly say that. He knew that getting in the middle of someone’s relationship was a terrible idea, so he wasn’t going to do that. But he could still try to keep his friend as much as he could. He had been planning on calling her and trying to get some time together. He’d do it when he woke up.

It was late. He should have been sleeping because he had work in the morning, but at the moment, he didn’t care. He had a feeling. He couldn’t explain the feeling, but it was like he knew something was going to happen. The problem was that he just couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Whatever it was, it was bad enough that he couldn’t fall asleep. So he was lying in bed, staring at his ceiling, letting all of his thoughts run through his head. He didn’t have the ability to pull out just one and focus, so he continued to lay there. It was easier.

But then he heard a knock on his door, and he blinked turning his head to the side to see the red glowing 1:27 AM of his alarm clock. Maybe his brother was drunk. Whatever it was, he could figure it out. He could give his brother a place on his couch for the night and deal with whatever stupid shit he had done in the morning. So he dragged himself out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweatpants before opening the door, “Whatever you did we can…” But then he realized he wasn’t looking at his brother. He looked down and Noelle Sanford was on his doorstep and he knew something was wrong, “Ellachka…” He wrapped his arms around her, the pet name he had used for years slipping out without hesitation, “What are you doing here?”

NOELLE SANFORD:

Deep down, Noelle knew that she had a lot of places she could run to for help. She had her family, she had her close friends, she was never as alone as she currently felt. But there was something difficult about telling anyone about what she'd been through - what she'd allowed herself to put up with for months, too afraid to vocalize it. She was certain that Matty was the only one she would be able to tell, the only person she was comfortable confessing this to. He was her best friend, her other half in so many ways. She could tell him things she didn't know how to tell anyone else.

As she waited for him to come to the door, Noelle glanced down at her watch and bit her lip. It was almost 1:30; maybe she should have at least had the decency to wait until morning. She probably would have been able to wait until a more convenient time to leave, but at the time it had felt like now or never. In a way, it still did. There was a part of Noelle that was sure if she didn't get out at that very second, she never would. She was sure Matty would understand that. Though she did feel a twinge of guilt, showing up at his door when she'd gone weeks without seeing him face to face.

"Hi," Noelle mumbled as soon as he opened the door, giving him a sheepish smile. She could tell that he'd been asleep - or at least trying to - and while she started to feel guilty, that all dissipated as soon as he wrapped his arms around her. Matty had been the one person she could depend on no matter what, ever since they were three years old, and right now Noelle was remembering exactly why. He could comfort her with just a hug and a few well chosen words, calming her shaking nerves. "I'm really sorry if I woke you up..." she told him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest, melting into the hug.

"I...." she started, biting her lip as she tried to find the right words. She had no idea how to launch into the story, how to tell him what she'd been keeping from him for months now. Letting out a soft sigh, she decided to go with the easiest question first. "Would you mind if I stayed here tonight?" Noelle asked, pulling away from the hug just enough to look up at him. She knew deep down that this was hardly a question she needed to ask, but this wasn't like the sleepovers they had when they were little. She needed a sanctuary, and while she didn't quite know how to put it into words yet, she knew it was something heavy to ask of someone.

you could be my luck

[sanfordmoose]

color outside the lines

Characters: Austin Vaughan + Nicohlas Sanford

Location: The firehouse

Time: Noon on Monday

Summary: Nick's son comes to visit after a shift

He glanced down at his watch, deciding whether or not he should rush home, but as soon as he noticed that Nick was sticking behind for a bit, Austin decided to follow suit. As he sat down on the couch, sitting at the opposite end from his partner, her hoped he didn't appear like some pathetic puppy dog, following him around. That had never been his style, and he sincerely hoped it never would be. But as far as he knew, Nick hadn't quite yet come to terms with his sexuality, or at least he wasn't acting on it yet. Austin figured that if they were in close quarters for long enough, Nick would finally cave to the tension between the two of them.

While he always told anyone that asked why he wasn't going home yet, he usually claimed that he didn't have anyone to go home to, so he could hang out for a little while longer. Of course he thought his cat counted, but everyone else maintained that it didn't. But if he was being perfectly honest with himself, Austin knew he stuck around a bit longer on the same days that Nick did, just for an excuse to spend a bit of extra time with him. It might have seemed ridiculous, since they spent up to 24 hours together on shifts sometimes, but it was never quite the same when they were on duty. Especially when they were on the job.

Getting comfortable on the couch, Austin tried not to groan as one of Nick's sisters brought in his son, excitedly exclaiming that Noah couldn't wait any longer to see his dad. It wasn't as though Austin didn't like kids, he simply had no idea how to act around them. He either treated them like they were too young or too old, and found it awkward when children stared at him like he was absolutely insane. But he resisted the urge to slip out, smiling at Nick's son instead. "Hey buddy, how are you doing," he grinned, reaching out for a high five that was somewhat reluctantly returned. "Your dad was really awesome today," Austin assured he kid, glancing over at Nick with a smile on his lips.

[sanfordmoose]

and so it goes

Characters: Nina Sanford + Quentin Jackson

Location: Local bar

Time: Friday night

Summary: Nina and Quentin run into each other for the first time since they were teenagers

During the week, Nina Sanford was all about the job. While her friends often chastised her for being a bit too much of a workaholic, she couldn't help herself. She'd worked her way up into a high position at a big marketing firm in the city, and she wasn't about to let that slide. From Monday to Friday, she got to the office early and worked well into the night, racking in as many accounts for the firm as she could. But as soon as 5:00 on Friday hit, Nina completely shed her office persona. It was as though she was two completely different people; one that was weighed down with responsibility, and one that wouldn't know the meaning of responsibility if it was spelled out for her.

While it probably wasn't the healthiest way to live her life, that was the way Nina had been from the second she graduated high school. Relationships always went on the back burner for her job, and on her days off, she spent them with her friends or family, usually with a drink in hand. She simply didn't see the point of a relationship - they would only weigh her down. She didn't need to be tethered to anyone, didn't need someone telling her she spent too much time at the office or chastising her for drinking too much when she went out with her friends. When it came to guys, she guarded herself emotionally, preferring to give up her body rather than her heart. Maybe there would be a day when that changed, but Nina couldn't see it happening anytime soon.

Already a couple drinks in, Nina was at the local bar, surrounded by a group of her best girls. She downed the rest of her drink, setting down the glass and looking around at the rest of the group, noticing that their glasses were starting to get dangerously low too. "The next round's on me," Nina gleefully told her friends, slipping away from the table and towards the bar. She barely stumbled as she walked up to the bar, extremely proud of just how well she'd mastered walking in heels while drinking. "Hey handsome. Can I get a Fuzzy Navel, a Gin & Tonic, a Screwdriver, a Voka Cran and a Stella?" she told the bartender, listing off the group's drinks of choice.

She leaned against the bar as she waited for the bartender to pour the drinks, glancing down the bar as she waited. When her eyes fell on a man three seats down from her, her heart practically stopped. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, wanting to be sure it was him before she started to freak out about nothing. But despite not having seen him for over ten years, there was no mistaking Quentin. "And a shot of Jack," she added to the bartender, downing it as soon as he put it in front of her. Looking away from him, she hoped that maybe he wouldn't notice her. She wasn't in the mood for a blast from the past.

[sanfordmoose]

don't talk to strangers

Characters: Sawyer Warren + Natalie Sanford

Location: The dorm's laundry room

Time: Sunday morning

Summary: Sawyer teaches Natalie how to do laundry

As the alarm beside his bed started to blare, Sawyer let out a low groan, reaching out until he hit the snooze button. He buried his face back into his pillow, only getting up when the alarm started to go off again ten minutes later. He rolled out of his bed, popping two Advil before grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that were strewn across the dorm room floor and pulling them on. The last thing he wanted to do after a night of partying was actually get out of bed, but he had a long list of things he needed to spend his day doing and being in bed wasn't going to get anything accomplished.

When he first started college, Sawyer had been sure he would own the place. And while that had stood true for a few months, it wasn't long before being a pre-med student caught up to him. He spent a lot of time studying, and not nearly as much time partying as he would have liked. Not that it had stopped him last night, but the hangover he now had was reminding him exactly why he didn't do it too often. He gathered as many of his clothes as he could find, throwing them into a basket and grabbing the laundry detergent before heading to the laundry room.

While laundry was the last thing Sawyer wanted to spend his Sunday doing, there were only so many days he could get away with wearing the same scrubs before someone started to notice. He walked into the laundry room, his basket and laundry soap under his arm, pleased to see that the room was actually empty for once. It didn't happen often, but he could only assume that like himself, he was living in a dorm full of people hungover that had absolutely no interest in getting out of bed on a Sunday morning. With a shrug, he started sorting his clothes into two machines, not paying much notice to the brunette that walked in a minute later.

It was only when he put the quarters in the machine and turned around that he gave her a second look. He couldn't remember seeing her in the building before, and as he gave her a quick look over, he was almost disappointed by that. No one that attractive should be kept hidden. Sawyer raised an eyebrow when he noticed her dumping all her laundry into one machine, chuckling softly. "I wouldn't do that unless you want to turn everything pink. Cliche, but it happens," he told her, a smile on his lips as she turned around to look at him. "Need some help there?" he offered, hoping he didn't offend her too much by the offer. He could remember his first laundry disaster, and didn't mind passing on his expertise.

[sanfordmoose]

you could be my luck

Characters: Noelle Sanford + Matvey Zolotov

Location: Outside Matty’s apartment

Time: Late Friday night/early Saturday morning

Summary: Noelle needs a place to stay.

Her feet padded softly on the carpet leading to the front door of his apartment, and though she knew she didn’t have to tiptoe anymore, her footsteps sounded too loud somehow. As though they were echoing around her, ready to give her away. Noelle knew how foolish it was. She knew that she needed to hold her head high and ignore any fear that still pumped through her veins. She was no longer at home, no longer in arms reach of harm. In a matter of moments, a few short steps, she would be with Matty. She had no idea whether he was home, or how he would feel about the imposition, but she didn’t know who else to turn to.

Finally coming to his door, she reached out a hand to knock softly before recoiling, noticing the bruise on her hand. It didn’t hurt - they hardly did anymore - but she wouldn’t put it past his sharp eyes to notice. Noelle quickly reached into her bag, digging through the small pile of possessions she’d been able to pack, until she found her compact. Opening it up, she took one look at herself in the mirror, double checking her reflection. The bruise around her eye was still faint, but she breathed a soft sigh of relief, glad that it was covered well enough.

She might have been ready to confess everything to him, to ask for his help, but that didn’t mean she wanted her bruised and battered complexion to be the first thing that greeted him at the door. Noelle knew deep down that running might have been a foolish idea. That grabbing everything she could fit into a suitcase while he was passed out on the couch after one too many was asking for a disaster. He could always find her again if he really wanted to. But she didn’t want to think about that right now. If she was lucky, he would forget all about her. He would throw out all the possessions she couldn’t fit into her bag, and rid himself of her the same way she planned to do of him.

Holding her head high, her jaw set, Noelle finally gained the courage to knock on Matty’s door. She had no idea why she was so nervous. He was nothing like her boyfriend, nothing like the man she’d been tricked by for so long. He was gentle and kind, proving once and for all that looks could be deceiving. He wouldn’t lay a hand on her when he had too much to drink. He wouldn’t demean her, hurt her, scare her into staying. He would only help.

Knocking quickly on the door, Noelle bounced on the balls of her feet, finally beginning to feel a sense of calm despite her nervous ticks. Listening hard, she hoped to hear footsteps, a sign that he was home, that he would let her stay - at least for the night. If he wasn’t around, she had no idea who else she could turn to. No one could make her feel safe the way Matty did.