Who: Will and Evie What: Being ridiculously cute Where: Their apartment When: Before the memories plot Warnings: LOL be careful, they'll rot your teeth
Will had been in Vegas almost a month and the spring in Evie’s step was back in full force. Of course taking time off, and working from home, and spending time with her Will had to come to an end eventually so when she finally had to go back to work it had been a challenge prying herself out of bed and into the shower, and then to the office. She stayed all day, she was easily distracted with learning, and doing, and listening to what was going on. She had a good support system who brought her up to speed easily on what she’d missed by not coming into the office.
One of the best things about having Will with her where he belonged was her desire to not stay at the office all night, she had something to go home to again. She still worked rather long hours, but she was walking in the front door by 7 PM and flinging her black pumps off the minute she walked in. It was easier to leave work at work and to actually be an active participant in her own life. She called out with a far too cheerful, “Honey, I’m home!” as she made her way through the apartment throwing her suit jacket on the floor in the hallway.
She didn’t make it far, the couch in the living room looking far too inviting and she flopped down on it, no doubt wrinkling up her blouse and her skirt. She wasn’t the best when it came to suits, but she could wear them. She just had a problem realizing that they weren’t quite as hearty as her normal flopping around clothes that fit comfortably rather than fit perfectly. She groaned as she flopped and sighed. “Will! I can’t make it further than this!” she said with a chuckle as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
Finding things to do during the day now that Evie had returned to work was a bit of a challenge, but Will was doing his best. He was certain that other men would laugh or turn up their noses, but Will started by doing what he could to get the apartment into something that might feel like home. Granted, he felt that “home” was wherever Evie was, but that didn’t mean that they couldn’t make their surroundings comfortable. It was a little more challenging in the apartment than it had been in their New York house, because Will wasn’t sure what he should change - bits of Evie’s father still lingered in the space, and he didn’t want to steal those from her if he could help it. Not unless she wanted them gone.
So he started simply: with the kitchen. When left to her own devices, Will knew that Evie would exist entirely on takeout and delivery, and he’d been indulging in that as well, more focused on spending time with her again instead of responsible, domestic things. But the fridge was barren of anything that actually came naturally from the ground, and that needed to be remedied. They could easily afford to have their groceries delivered, but Will had always found something calming about grocery shopping. Especially in the middle of the day or late at night, when the crowds were thinner and he could wander aimlessly through the aisles of food. The heavy, angry weight was still in the back of his mind, even being back with Evie, so while she was at work, Will grasped at anything calming that he could find, and went to the nearest grocery store.
By the time Evie returned home, shedding shoes and clothes wherever they fell, Will had been to the store and back, and had something cooking that could likely be described as “wholesome”. He was well aware of their reversal of traditional roles - her running a corporation and him staying home to do the cooking, but it was comfortable, and they made it work. Plus, he liked the way she came home and threw herself back into their life after a long day. He followed the sound of her voice and leaned against the opening to the living room, crossing his arms and smiling as he looked at her. He could see her jacket abandoned on the hallway floor and figured that her shoes were likely barely inside the front door. Shaking his head fondly, he crossed the room to ease himself down on the other end of the sofa from her, pulling her legs across his lap and taking her foot into his hands. “Long day?” he asked, pressing a thumb firmly into the hollow behind the ball of her foot, right where tension always hid itself when she had to wear heels.
Evie settled in easily with her feet in Will’s lap and sighed quite happily when he started making her feet a bit more cheerful. She could smell the food, and she was ridiculously happy that she had Will to come home to. That mattered, she thought she had been doing just fine. And maybe she had been. But this was infinitely better than doing just fine. “Yes,” she answered easily enough. “Sometimes I feel like my brain is literally going to explode. And then my feet remind me that they’re going to explode first. I don’t know what I would do if it weren’t for every other person that worked with me, probably drag Papa’s company right into the ground. At this point I’m shocked they put up with me at all,” she said with a chuckle. And it was a fond chuckle, she’d known them all so long she knew they were going to look out for her. Still she was not at all convinced she was cut out for this. But better her than a perfect stranger and the people within the company were adamant that it should be her. At least for now. “What are you cooking? It definitely doesn’t smell like take out tacos. I approve.”
“Your feet and your brain will be just fine,” he replied with a smile, thumb pressing in harder along the arch of her foot, working its way down. “And you won’t drag your father’s business into the ground. I won’t let you.” His hands wrapped around her ankle, beginning to move up from her foot, but he took a moment to tickle her toes a little and change the subject. “Beef stroganoff. I like takeout tacos as much as the next guy, but I thought it might be nice to have a more homecooked meal tonight.”
She gave him a disbelieving look, she was clearly not convinced that either would come out unscathed. “You should put on a tie and go to work for me. Then when you get home I’ll drag you around by it,” she said smirking a bit. “But then we’d be living on take out tacos and purple drink.” She was half tempted to go crawl over to him so she could sprawl out on him properly. But she was getting a foot massage. And it was comfy. She hated having to make hard decisions. She smiled brightly. “I love your cooking!” She smiled, “We’re going to eat cheeseburgers the size of my head with Wren and Luke though.”
“You know I only wear ties when I have no other choice.” Will grinned over at Evie as he continued to rub her feet, switching to the other one after a bit. “Might wear one just for you though.” His voice was lower, teasing because he was having to do his best as well to not simply pull her into his lap. Her next thoughts came too quickly for him to realize that they might be separate. “Tonight?” He glanced over his shoulder, as if he could see the stroganoff from where they sat. “I suppose it’ll keep until tomorrow...”
Evie waggled her brows at him a bit, half suggestive, half playful, all Evie. “You ought to wear one just for me. Consider it a moment where you have no other choice,” she teased. She tilted her head to the side curiously at his next statement before she realized her thoughts had been all over the place. “God no, not tonight. Tonight we eat your food. Another night, maybe this weekend, we eat giant burgers in the middle of the desert with Wren and Luke. We have a double date!”
And this, this was what he loved about her. One of the many things, at least. That she could spend all day at work, running an international corporation (and doing it well, no matter what she said about people kicking her out and running things into the ground), and then come home and be so excited about a double date. And actually call it a double date instead of just having dinner with friends. His hands rested warm and heavy on her ankles, one thumb tracing absently over her skin. “This weekend would be good.” Strange, seeing people from Seattle, having a normal sort of dinner with them, but good.
She grinned, she was looking forward to it. Time out of the city, time out in the middle of nowhere really. Will and Evie, despite settling in New York City, did quite well in the middle of nowhere on several occasions. It worked for them, and she thought a night out in the desert would be fun. They’d have to take a night out in the desert alone at some point very soon. She almost demanded they go camping right then. But there was dinner on the stove. And Will had his hands on her feet and her ankles and she wasn’t leaving this couch. “How was your day? What did you do?”
He’d stopped actually rubbing her feet, but he still rested his hands there, warm and with fingers long enough to cover and warm her skin. He saw the flash in her eyes at something, and knew that there would likely be some sort of adventure in their future. If he was being honest, he was glad for it. It had been too long that she’d been serious and withdrawn just enough that he knew that the grief still weighed heavily on her. But talk of double dates and whatever else was floating through her mind at least gave him hope that she was going to truly be okay. So the smalltalk about his day was less about covering more sober thoughts, and more actual interest. “It was good. I did the shopping and made dinner.” He sent a smile over at her as he rested his head back against the couch. “And then I sat around in my frilly apron eating bonbons until I heard you come home.” It was a tease, laughing again at how much their roles went against “tradition”, and how much he really didn’t care.
Evie was starting to feel better, she wasn’t sure she liked Vegas but it was full of people she knew. Not that Will wasn’t awesome and great to spend her life with, but it was nice to be reminded that it didn’t have to just be the two of them against the world, especially without her father around to make sense of things when neither of them could. She laughed at his description of his day but sat up just as quickly and flailing a bit wound up in his lap her legs on either side of him. “You better not have eaten all the bonbons, or at least baked me a pie,” she teased.
Will was used to her climbing in his lap whenever she felt like it, so her quick scramble to climb on him was almost expected, and made him smile. His arms slipped around her hips, and he pulled her closer, settling her comfortably there. “I may’ve picked up a tube of cookie dough at the store. I’ll let you cut it and put it on the pan as long as you don’t distract me from taking them out when they’re done.” He leaned in for just a second to place a soft kiss on her chin. “I hope that’s alright with you.”
Evie grinned, she was very good at distracting Will, it was basically her calling in life. Pretty much her number one life goal really if she was honest. “As awesome as that sounds, I think I’d rather eat dinner, distract you, and then eat said tube of cookie dough in bed with a fork,” because that was clearly the best idea she’d ever had in life. “Also we need to go camping.”
“I feel like it’s my responsibility to remind you - again - that you’re actually supposed to cook the dough before you eat it.” Will was smiling though, knowing that his reminder would fall on deaf ears, and that they’d likely end up doing exactly what Evie had suggested. He leaned in again to kiss her, this time on the mouth, before tipping her to the side, back onto the couch. He stood before she could climb back into his lap again , and smiled down at her. “I’d better go finish dinner then, so you can get to distracting me. ...and we’ll talk about camping later.” It wasn’t a ‘no’. It was never a ‘no’ for her from him. He started heading for the kitchen before throwing a look back over his shoulder. “You have time to change if you want.” It was the last thing he said before slipping around the corner toward the kitchen.
“Then why does it come in a delicious tube?” obviously, Will. Obviously. She whined about being put aside but food was a good enough excuse. “You’re damn right we will!” she hollered after him though she remained flopped on the couch. “I need a tent!”