Destruction

[Tristan Marcus Dell]

♥ reserved, for now
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Tristan looked like he had stepped right out of a home improvement show. The young man was wearing old, tattered jeans and a plain white t-shirt (only Tristan would think to wear a t-shirt when it was 49 degrees). There was a leather tool belt around his waist, complete with hammer, tape measurer, and all the other tools that were necessary to make him look the part. The poor boy was covered in dirt, grease, and paint: in his hair, on his face, all over his clothes – it was obvious that he had been working through the morning and now into the afternoon. He was up on a ladder with a crowbar, prying off some metal framing of his mother’s new investment.

Charlotte Cooper had designed clothes since all three of her sons were little, so Tristan has been surprised when she had told him that she was thinking about selling her company. He was even more shocked, however, when she brought him to what used to be the Masonville Diner.

“A diner?”
“Why are you so surprised?”
“Mom, you don’t cook.”
“I know, but I can hire people who do.”
“You know, when you told me you were thinking about selling the company, I didn’t think you’d trade in your line for some hole in the wall place that’s falling apart. It’s probably going to cost more to fix this place than it cost you to buy it.”
“Well it was either this or a bakery. That would have been fun. Just think; all the cake you can eat.”
“You know I don’t like cake.”
“Fine, all the cupcakes you want.”
“Cupcakes are just little cakes in paper cups.”
“Good point. But really, Tristan, I think that this could be fun and I’d really like your help. You’ve got a knack for business.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I’m your mother. I know theses things, just like I knew Luke would make a great dad.”
“What about Garrett?”
“It’s going to be a little while until he gets his act together, but when he does, he’s going to find something that he’s really passionate about and stick with it. I’m telling you, this is going to work, but only if you help me out.”
“Mom, I don’t know anything about running a business.”
“But I do. And you can learn. Besides, the place is going to need a lot of fixing up, and you know you can do that.”
“You really think I help you do this?”
“No, I know you can.”
“Fine, I’ll do it. But why did it have to be a diner?”
“Why not?”

The Why Not Diner, as Charlotte and Tristan had decided to call it, wouldn’t be ready to open for at least another three weeks, probably more. There was way too much work to be done, but Tristan and his mother knew that if they wanted this place to open by the new year, they would have to start getting things done right away.

With a few good pries, Tristan watched as the old metal fell to the sidewalk. Six hours of labor down, and who knew how many more to go.
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♥ click the bold text.

[Eve Melona !]

As the slice of metal framing fell at the feet of Tristan's ladder, Eve curled her tongue against her teeth and let out a loud wolf whistle in his direction. Though immediately afterward, a baby started to wail, obviously discomforted by the sudden noise. Eve, who happened to be carrying the crying baby on her hip, couldn't help but wince as she turned to look at the red-faced infant at her side. Eve's eldest brother Jacob was in town to visit her for Thanksgiving, and he had brought along his son, Sam. Somewhere along the line, she had been roped into babysitting, despite how horrible Eve found herself to be with children. Yet, Sam was generally quiet, and with silky dark curls and bright blue eyes, just cute enough that she had somehow found a way to put up with him.

"I'm sorry sweetie." She shushed the crying child for a moment, pausing only to place a tiny kiss upon his crown. The baby soon quieted, opening his eyes so that he could simply observe Eve for a moment. The infant's quizzical look caused the Italian to chuckle as she glanced back across the street at Tristan. She waved, still wearing a cheerful smile as she began to make her way over, baby in tow.

It was only November and Eve's body temperature had already pretty much dropped to 'freezing'. She was used to a much warmer climate then this, and the Midwest was just not agreeing with the Italian. Dressed in jeans and a grey long-sleeve shirt, Eve had been forced into wearing her leather jacket and a scarf. Her boots hugged their way up her calves, doing their part to keep her toes warm as she approached Tristan in all his Ty Pennington glory.

"Hey hey good lookin' " Eve clicked her tongue, grinning in a shade much brighter than usual as she stopped at the foot of his ladder to look up at him. Samuel was tugging at her hair now, which had gotten considerably shorter at some point and was sticking out in every direction possible.

"Get down here." The pretty Italian continued to beam excitedly up at her friend as she slipped the dark Aviator glasses from eyes and pocketed them. Seeing Tristan always managed to put a little more life into her bright green gaze, and today was no different.

[Tristan Marcus Dell]

If there was one person in the world who Tristan never got tired of running in to (literally, at times), that person was undoubtedly Eve Melona. They didn’t see each other much, but every time that Tristan was able to catch up with his old friend he realized just how much he had missed her. Today was no different. He had turned around to see who was whistling at him from across the street, and the moment he saw the familiar Italian making her way over to him, Tristan had to smirk. Typical Eve.

“I can see you’ve been busy,” he greeted, quirking an eyebrow, obviously referring to the child in her arms. His accusing expression turned into a warm smile as he abandoned his work and stepped down the ladder. He set the crowbar down on the pavement, careful not to startle the child like he had before.

Seeing Eve with the baby made Tristan think of his own nephew. Landon was three months old now, and it always surprised Tristan just how much he liked the little guy. Yeah, a quarter of the time there was something gross coming out of some part of the kid’s body or he was screaming like crazy, but most of the time he was really fun, even if he couldn’t walk or talk or do much of anything besides lay there and laugh at Tristan.


“I’d hug you, but I’m a mess right now. Plus, you already seem to have your hands full,” he pointed out to Eve. He wasn’t sure if there was more paint splattered in his hair and on his clothes than there was covering the walls inside, and he really doubted that Eve would want the dirt that was covering him all over her and whoever’s kid she was holding.

[Eve Melona !]

"Oh yeah, you know me. I just woke up one day and baby fever had hit." Eve grinned lazily, finding amusement in the idea that she would ever be one of those women to desperately want children only to waste so many years of their life on somehow who, in all probability, will grow up completely ungrateful for all your sacrifices. Eve was the mothering type solely in the sense that she was protective and compassionate, but she wasn't an idiot, and therefore, felt no desire to have kids; ever.

"This is my nephew, Samuel Achilles." Eve smiled at her nephew's namesake, glad that Jacob had decided to name his son after their favorite Uncle 'Chile'. The bright-eyed baby in her arms cooed delightedly as he looked around with the sort of mesmerized spark that comes standard in children, but is so rare in adults.

"So," her smile widened, but something else lingered in her arresting green gaze. The Italian, who thought the world of Tristan and would do anything to keep him safe, was thinking about Angela. "How have you been love?"

[Tristan Marcus Dell]

Tristan was positive that only Eve would have a nephew with a middle name like Achilles. It was so hard hitting and epic and… Eve. He looked from his favorite friend to the baby in her arms and his grin grew. He chuckled at the thought of Eve with a child of her own. That kid would be one hellion that Tristan wouldn’t want to be stuck babysitting.

That brilliant grin didn’t stick around for too long, though, because that was when Eve asked him how he was doing. It wasn’t what she asked, it was how she asked it. He knew what she was really asking – are you going to survive because everyone knows that your girlfriend cheated on you and is macking all over some other guy 24 hours a day in public? It was the same way you asked someone how they were doing after they lost a family member. The question was more like ‘Are you surviving, or are you ready to go fling yourself off a cliff?’

“Eve, I’m fine,” he reassured her. She certainly wasn’t the first to bug him about it. His mother was still, after all this time, babying him and muttering mean things about Angela under her breath. Tristan knew she didn’t mean a single word of it and was just trying to take care of her youngest son.

“You know, I bet you don’t know the whole story,” he told her matter-of-factly. Most people didn’t. They just heard about poor Tristan being cheated on by mean old Angela and bam! he was the one who needed pity in everyone’s eyes. “I bet you don’t know that I was the one who broke up with her, did you?”

[Eve Melona !]

"Tristan, I am not your mother, and I am not one of your silly man friends. I'm not asking because I feel sorry for you." Her eyes darkened, but only enough so that he would known she was serious, but never angry. She had to ask because she loved him, and because she cared, and most of all, "Because honestly, I'm just looking for a decent excuse to crack a few of their ribs, and all I need is the slightest go ahead, from you kid."

She winked, trying not to laugh as she bounced the baby on her hip, who had taken to tugging on Eve's messy chestnut locks, still cooing delightedly as she winced, wishing the damn kid would hurry up and grow up so that she could smack him like she would any other family member that tried to pull on her hair.

"No, I don't know the whole story because you keep avoiding it," she shot back, sounding just as factual despite her heady grin. "But I had it in my head that you did the dumping. Or at least, I was sincerely hoping, because I love you enough to take you to be smart enough to leave her ass." Samuel was still tugging on her hair and Eve knew that she was going to start sounding rude if she kept on this track of conversation. Around anyone else, Eve wouldn't hesitate to imply all sorts of colorful things about Angela Wingrose, but she held her tongue for the most part, around Tristan because even if the other girl had hurt him, he still loved her, and Eve had enough respect for that to keep the slander to herself in his presence.

"So, what's with all this?" Eve gestured to the vacant diner besides them, looking curious as her bright green eyes scanned the building before landing on Tristan once more with her usual wild smile.

"C'mon, let me buy you lunch and you can tell me all about it. You look like you could use a break."

[Tristan Marcus Dell]

“Eve, no rib cracking, alright?” Tristan requested, not sure if she was being serious or just being theatrical, but knowing Eve it was probably more of the former. No, it was definitely the first option. He didn’t have much trouble at all picturing his favorite Italian cornering Angela in a dark alley, and his ex walking away in pieces. As much as he resented Angela for what she had done to him, it didn’t mean he wanted to see the girl with a few missing teeth. Kennedy, on the other hand…

Eve was right; he had been avoiding the subject of Angela lately, so she couldn’t know the whole story. He had still told Eve more than he told most people because, since day one, she had been the person in his life, minus his brothers and Angela, that he felt most comfortable around. He used to be such an awkward kid, but Eve played a huge part in breaking him out of his shell.

“This,” he said, waving a hand to showcase the tin can that his mother liked to call a diner. “is the Why Not Diner. Lucas got a job in St. Louis and my mom couldn’t be an ocean away from her only grandkid, so she sold her company and bought this piece of crap. She thinks it has potential, and guess who got suckered into fixing it up?”

At the mention of lunch, Tristan perked up. He had been running on coffee and Cap’n Crunch since 6 o’clock this morning, and he had been working for six straight hours.

“Yeah, let me just bring some of this stuff inside really quick. Don’t go anywhere,” he told Eve, accepting her invitation in a heartbeat. He grabbed the crowbar and a few other tools and disappeared inside the diner for no more than a couple of minutes before he emerged from the building, this time with a paint-free t-shirt.

“Where to?” he asked, still not used to the image of Eve carrying around a little child.

[Eve Melona !]

"Fine, I'll play nice. Just know that you're absolutely no fun." She stuck her tongue out at the boy, looking as childish as the baby in her arms for a second. There were parts of Eve that were much more mature and adult than most kids her age - she worked for a living, and had since she was fifteen, she knew about honor, responsibility and respect, and she could more than take care of her own self; but there were also pieces to the puzzle that was Evelyn Melona that were so delightfully childish and immature. She was a mess of contradictions, sweet as sugar and tougher than a coffin nail, young and stupid, yet strong and mature.

"Oh that's awesome!" Eve all but squealed, looking over the half-demolished frame of a diner and smiling. She thought it was quite charming on a second glance, and the whole idea terribly cute. "I'll totally help if you need it." Because she really did need something to do during the day instead of bothering Kaylen at school and drinking with Eiji, and because she was just always one of those people that liked to lend a hand.

She waited as Tristan gathered up some things, playing with Samuel to keep herself amused. The baby giggled as she poked his chubby cheeks, grabbing her finger with a surprisingly strong grip and causing the Italian girl to smile. He had a boxers grip, just like his aunt.

"Well, there's a little deli just down the road?" She suggested upon her friends return, while Samuel continued to tug on her finger with great determination.