"Well this is a Hell of a fucking time to cancel on me," Nicole snaps.
"Oh, sorry, you're right, this probably wasn't the best time to give Chloe chicken pox, because I totally did that on purpose."
Nicole sighs, sits down on the bed and pulls a pillow over to wrap around. "Sorry, I know, just...sorry."
"I would gladly give Dallon chicken pox to be able to come out there," Brendon says, "But Breezy might kill me, and I'm no use to you dead."
"You're not much use to me alive," Nicole says, tries to sound a lot more lighthearted than she feels. She's not - 99% of the time, she's fine spending half the year living alone in charming apartments while she films on location and keeps the bills paid so Brendon can be the stay at home dad he so loves being, so Spencer can worry more about enjoying himself than doing what makes money. And she's not even a big Valentine's day person, just, they promised, and she's been looking forward to it.
"Spencer's still coming," Brendon says, so gently she thinks she probably failed at sounding happy. "You two have your romantic Parisian weekend, it'll be awesome."
"You don't - he can stay with you, I don't - " Brendon has a lot harder time being alone than Nicole does. Brendon is also the kind of person who puts a lot of stock in Valentine's Day.
"I'm good, I've got a date with two of the three prettiest girls in the world. You two have your fun, and I promise I'll make this up to you."
"I'll make it up to you," Nicole counters.
*
The thing is, Nicole's kind of a paparazzi target, and she's publicly married to Brendon, so she and Spencer can't even go out without fueling a bunch of ugly rumors they all try to keep at bay. But it's okay, it's fine, it's not the weekend she was promised nor the one she was looking forward to, but she and Spencer fuck on every surface in the tiny apartment and for three straight mornings Nicole gets to wake up next to someone she loves.
There are fucking paparazzi at the fucking airport, so Spencer can't kiss her goodbye. Nicole handles it, because she always handles it, and goes home to nap on the pillow that smells like Spencer's shampoo.
*
Nicole films for another month and a half, and takes the first flight she can after they wrap for good instead of getting a night's sleep beforehand. She calls Dallon from the airport, because he totally owes her one - who the fuck didn't have chicken pox as a kid, what the fuck - and he laughs the entire time they're scheming. That should have been Nicole's first clue, maybe.
Still, she doesn't figure it out until Breezy's dropped her off at the house and helped her climb in through the window. Brendon and Spencer, instead of being out of the house like Dallon promised, are cuddled up in the bed, naked, surrounded by tacky Valentine's Day bears and roses.
"What the fuck?"
"You - why - you, uh, did you forget we have a front door?"
Nicole just blinks at them, because, what.
"This is - there was a scavenger hunt. Which you would have known if you came in the front door."
"I didn't want you to know I was here, I was gonna surprise you."
"It was a really cool scavenger hunt," Brendon says, pouting so cutely Nicole doesn't bother to point out how cool her idea was, just tugs off her clothes and leaps to join them on the bed.
make it up to you
"Oh, sorry, you're right, this probably wasn't the best time to give Chloe chicken pox, because I totally did that on purpose."
Nicole sighs, sits down on the bed and pulls a pillow over to wrap around. "Sorry, I know, just...sorry."
"I would gladly give Dallon chicken pox to be able to come out there," Brendon says, "But Breezy might kill me, and I'm no use to you dead."
"You're not much use to me alive," Nicole says, tries to sound a lot more lighthearted than she feels. She's not - 99% of the time, she's fine spending half the year living alone in charming apartments while she films on location and keeps the bills paid so Brendon can be the stay at home dad he so loves being, so Spencer can worry more about enjoying himself than doing what makes money. And she's not even a big Valentine's day person, just, they promised, and she's been looking forward to it.
"Spencer's still coming," Brendon says, so gently she thinks she probably failed at sounding happy. "You two have your romantic Parisian weekend, it'll be awesome."
"You don't - he can stay with you, I don't - " Brendon has a lot harder time being alone than Nicole does. Brendon is also the kind of person who puts a lot of stock in Valentine's Day.
"I'm good, I've got a date with two of the three prettiest girls in the world. You two have your fun, and I promise I'll make this up to you."
"I'll make it up to you," Nicole counters.
*
The thing is, Nicole's kind of a paparazzi target, and she's publicly married to Brendon, so she and Spencer can't even go out without fueling a bunch of ugly rumors they all try to keep at bay. But it's okay, it's fine, it's not the weekend she was promised nor the one she was looking forward to, but she and Spencer fuck on every surface in the tiny apartment and for three straight mornings Nicole gets to wake up next to someone she loves.
There are fucking paparazzi at the fucking airport, so Spencer can't kiss her goodbye. Nicole handles it, because she always handles it, and goes home to nap on the pillow that smells like Spencer's shampoo.
*
Nicole films for another month and a half, and takes the first flight she can after they wrap for good instead of getting a night's sleep beforehand. She calls Dallon from the airport, because he totally owes her one - who the fuck didn't have chicken pox as a kid, what the fuck - and he laughs the entire time they're scheming. That should have been Nicole's first clue, maybe.
Still, she doesn't figure it out until Breezy's dropped her off at the house and helped her climb in through the window. Brendon and Spencer, instead of being out of the house like Dallon promised, are cuddled up in the bed, naked, surrounded by tacky Valentine's Day bears and roses.
"What the fuck?"
"You - why - you, uh, did you forget we have a front door?"
Nicole just blinks at them, because, what.
"This is - there was a scavenger hunt. Which you would have known if you came in the front door."
"I didn't want you to know I was here, I was gonna surprise you."
"It was a really cool scavenger hunt," Brendon says, pouting so cutely Nicole doesn't bother to point out how cool her idea was, just tugs off her clothes and leaps to join them on the bed.