Day One
Afternoon

There were a lot of weird things going on with this trip— pretending to not be on the cusp of divorce with his wife, dealing with his mother's wacky new boyfriend. Lying to his family. It was a lot.

But one thing he could not complain about was the beach side service. Clear oceans. Soft sand. Never ending drinks. Hot sun. Lounge chairs with cushions. He could get used to the feeling of the sun soaking into him. It distracted him from everything else going on.

His family was currently lounging in a row on the beach, facing the ocean. Most had drinks in hand, soaking in the heat. Their chairs were relatively close to each other, they could easily reach the person next to them. They had been outside for a bit now and everyone seemed to be ignoring the fact that they were all exhausted from the flight. Their family had always been the kind to not let a second go to waste on vacation.

Cole snuck a glance at Allison who was laying next to him. Her sunglasses pushed her crimson hair back on her head. Her eyes were shut and she inhaled deeply. He hadn't seen her look this relaxed in a long time. He wanted her to stay like this— all Cole wanted was for her to be happy. He couldn't stand being the reason she wasn't.

"We're gonna go in if anyone wants to come," Sam announced as he and Lila stood up from their chairs, gesturing loosely in the direction of the water.

"Maybe in a bit, I wanna tan for a bit longer," Scarlett responded, not lifting her head from her chair.

Sam tossed his sister the sunscreen which she caught with a jolt, giving him a glare at the sudden throw. "Careful you don't burn, Scar, or you'll be having yourself a Red Wedding."

"You didn't even watch that show, you have no idea what it means," Scarlett pointed out, but unscrewed the top of the sunscreen regardless.

"Sure, but I'm guessing you still don't want whatever it is," Sam guessed with a boyish grin.

Nate shrugged. "He's not wrong."

"Sam, don't drown your sister again," Lorena called out, flipping the page of her magazine.

"No promises!" Sam shouted back as he ran towards the water.

"I'll drown him first!" Lila called over her shoulder, beating her brother to the ocean.

"That's the spirit, honey," Lorena exclaimed flatly, not taking her eyes off the words in front of her.

Matthew chuckled, rubbing his hands together, which Cole found odd. Cole was half surprised that Matthew didn't have sunscreen coating his nose. That was until he reached for the sunscreen and squirted a glob of it into his hands. His fingers scooped it onto his fingers, and as if having ready Cole's mind, began to dab it onto his nose. It took everything in him to not say anything.

"Ergh," Scarlett suddenly let out, her face scrunching up. She held her drink out, scrutinizing eyes scanning it as if looking for something wrong with it. Scarlett turned to Allison, asking, "Is your drink any good?"

"No complaints here," Allison quipped happily, handing Scarlett her drink as a silent offer. The girl took the drink curiously, sipping it with narrowed eyes. She pulled it away from her lips with a hum.

"Your drink is so much better than mine!" Scarlett gushed jealously as she handed the drink back to Allison. "Does this even have any alcohol in it? It tastes way too good."

"Think they gave me one without any in it but I didn't wanna make a fuss," Allison mused absently. "But I need another, you want me to grab you one?"

"Please, maybe this was just a weird batch," Scarlett pleaded as she handed her drink to the other girl. Allison shot her a smile as she grabbed the glass, walking over to where the little bar was on the beach. She caught the server's attention, flagging them down with ease as she ordered the drinks.

Matthew cleared his throat, making the rest turn their attention to him. He seemed to realize everyone thought the was about to speak, so he cleared his throat again, asking, "How's wedding planning going?"

"It's five days before the wedding," Cole interjected in a tight voice before Nate could answer. He felt an elbow in his side and knew it was his sister. Cole turned towards Scarlett and she shot him a dangerous look. He shrugged his shoulders and gave her an incredulous look. There was no way she liked Matthew, what was she defending him for?

Matthew blinked once before smiling broadly. "Well, I just mean any last minute details."

"It's good," Nate spoke quickly before Cole could jump in again, shooting him a warning glance. "We're seeing the venue in a few days to work out anything we wanna change."

Matthew gave him a beaming smile and a thumbs up, for some reason. "When's your family flying in again?"

"They fly in the day of the rehearsal dinner," Nate explained with a slow nod. "My brother has some big art show before graduation so they're all flying in after that."

"Scar, what did you want? Another piña colada?" Allison called from the bar, pulling the others from their conversation.

Cole's head jolted up at their code word, making eye contact with Allison. It took her a few moments to figure out what was wrong before she started to shout, "No! No piña colada!"

Scarlett blinked rapidly in surprise at the outburst. "Wha- do they not have piña coladas? That's fine—"

"No, I— they have piña coladas," Allison struggled frantically as she looked to Cole pleadingly. He shrugged helplessly in confusion, mouth gaping open and closing like a fish. She sucked in sharply, closing her eyes briefly before looking at Cole meaningfully. "But just... not piña colada, okay?"

Cole nodded at her subtly to let her know he understood. Poor Scarlett looked at her in utter confusion, breathing out: "I... I'll just have whatever you get."

Cole fought a grimace— they were gonna need a new code word.

Surprising him, a familiar laugh filled the air. Cole blinked when he saw Alli losing her composure, her hand going to cover her mouth. He let himself relax momentarily, joining in with her laughter. It struck him just how absolutely absurd this all was. The same realization seemed to be hitting Alli as her laughter continued to fill the air. His family was looking around unsurely, chuckling awkwardly.

It felt like one of those moments that was just theirs.

They hadn't had one of those in a long time.

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

It was a few hours later when they decided to call it a day. The hotel has a restaurant on the beach that they decided to try out. It was a deck right above the sand with a clear view of the ocean and the sun inching its way to the horizon. Fairy lights were strung overhead, lighting the place up. Some vacation-like music played lightly around them, drowned out by the chatter of other groups.

Cole sat down at their high-top table with everyone, but noticed Lorena and Matthew were nowhere in sight. He didn't mind the absence of his mother's boyfriend, but worried he said something to set Lorena off. It was a long day at the beach, and everyone was still tired from the flight. Everyone was bickering here and there, the jet lag getting to everyone.

"Where's Mom and Matthew?" Cole asked, glancing around as everyone settled into their chairs. "They meeting us?"

"They're doing their own thing tonight," Lila told him, glancing at him over her menu with narrowed eyes. Cole scrunched his face up at the information, looking around to see if anyone felt the same way. Scarlett scoffed, slapping her menu down to the table.

"Cole, you need to let her be happy," Scarlett told him firmly. He gave her a blank look. "She can tell how much you don't like him!"

He shrugged. "So, what?"

Scarlett opened her mouth to answer but the waiter came by and interrupted. She gave Cole a look that let him know the conversation was far from over, and he fought a grimace. Getting scolded by his sister was never exactly a fun time. The group ordered their food and drinks, handing the menus back to the waiter who glanced around awkwardly, seeming to notice the tension.

As soon as the waiter left, Scarlett was at it again, picking up the conversation without missing a beat. "So, she deserves someone who makes her happy," Scarlett scolded him as she leaned forward, her eyes ablaze. "God, just give him a chance, okay?"

"Fine, damn, does everyone like him?" Cole muttered, eyes darting from sibling to sibling.

"Not like I'm ready to go to their wedding," Sam shot at him with a shrug. "But the least we can do is give the guy a fair shot."

"He gave an insane wedding gift, nearly covered the open bar," Nate added in matter-of-factly.

Scarlett pointed her fork at her fiancée. "And for that reason, he has my vote."

"Mine too," Sam piped in with a grin.

"Of course, that would do it for you," Lila commented as she sat back in her chair. "You just wanna get hammered."

The other twin raised an eyebrow. "And you don't?"

Cole tuned out the twins as they inevitably started to bicker. He got what they were saying, but that didn't mean it wasn't weird for him. He just had gotten really used to being the one that stepped up for the family. He helped move the twins into college. He was gonna be the one to walk Scarlett down the aisle. Not Matthew.

But he wanted to see his Mom happy again.

And if this guy could do it, then maybe he was worth giving a chance.

The waiter came a few moments later with their food, bringing a welcome change in conversation. He placed down everyone's foods and drinks in front of them, leaving after getting confirmation that everything looked right. Sam immediately dove into his tacos, essentially devouring them whole. Lila stared at her twin in disgust before clearing her throat, starting in on her own food.

"Oh, by the way, I signed us up for some cheesy couples stuff," Scarlett told Cole and Allison offhandedly as she plopped a fry in her mouth. Cole paused momentarily, wondering if he heard her right. Allison stiffened beside him, tilting her head at the news.

Cole blinked. "You what?"

"Yeah, it's included in the wedding package," Scarlett went on with a grin. "I figured, why waste the money?"

Cole really should've expected this from his sister. Scarlett always was the one to over-plan trips. When everyone wanted to relax, she was throwing papers at them with their itinerary for the day. He had hoped that with the wedding coming up, she would either want to relax or be preoccupied with ensuring everything went to plan. But she wasn't one to take a day off.

"Just how much are you paying for this wedding?" Allison pressed with narrowed eyes.

"You don't wanna know," Nate told them grimly.

Allison glanced at Cole uncomfortably from her peripheral. "And out of curiosity, how many activities did you sign us up for?"

Scarlett tutted her tongue, looking to the corner in thought. "Well, we have a couples massage tomorrow morning. There's the yoga class in the afternoon."

"That's just one day?" Allison asked with faux-excitement. She cleared her throat, smiling broadly. "What else do you got planned?"

"Oh yeah, well we have some stuff for the next few days with everyone like the snorkeling off the boat," Scarlett listed off slowly. "Some dinners together by the beach, was thinking maybe horse back riding even."

"You got this planned down to the wire don't you?" Cole asked her with wide eyes. "Did you make sure to schedule in the wedding."

"You're hilarious," Scarlett deadpanned with a wave of her hand. "You two can totally do your own thing too. Figured you two would wanna do some solo things."

"Allison?" a voice called out, making the two turn. Cole's eyes widened slightly at the sight of Allison's boss walking over. Her brown skin glowed under the fairy lights, her braids twisted into a neat bun on her head. She smiled broadly, laughing out in surprise as she walked over. "What are you doing here?"

Allison sputtered for a few moments in surprise before Cole nudged her slightly with his elbow. She broke out from her shock and stood up, moving to greet her boss. The two hugged briefly as Allison told her, "I'm here for my sister in law's wedding, didn't I tell you?"

"This is where you were going on vacation this week?" she asked in astonishment, a beaming smile on her face. "I had no idea!"

"Yeah, I guess it slipped my mind to mention," Allison said in a dazed tone before squinting her eyes. "Wait, what are you doing here?"

Her boss shrugged sheepishly. "Company was forcing me to finally take some vacation and I saw some pictures of this place. Thought it was as good of a place as any."

"Cole, you remember my boss, Eden, right?" Allison told Cole pointedly as she turned back to him, giving him a reminder of her name.

Cole slapped a charming smile on his face, silently thanking her for the reminder. "How could I forget the one who brought those lemon squares to the holiday party last year?"

"Still have to get you that recipe," Eden quipped. She was never getting him that recipe.

"Or just put it in the paper," Cole suggested, pointing a finger at her.

She let out a laugh. "Quite the breaking news right?"

"Are you here with Robert?" Allison interjected, looking around for her boss's husband.

"I am, he's back in the room," Eden told her grimly. "He had the tacos and something did not sit right."

Sam looked up at the news, a piece of taco shell falling from his mouth. His eyes fell down to his plate, gently placing what was left of the taco down on the plate. Cole cleared his throat, saying, "Give Robert our best then, yeah?"

"Let's get dinner this week!" Eden suggested excitedly before she could walk away. "Unless you're too busy with wedding activities."

"The wedding isn't for another five days, they're free," Scarlett added brightly.

"Thanks, Scar," Cole told her strenuously. She shot him a saccharine smile.

"Perfect," Eden said happily before her phone dinged loudly. She checked it quickly before grimacing. "Oh, that's Robert. I need to go back to the room, but next time I see you, we'll make the plans!"

"Will do!" Allison called out as Eden scurried off.

Cole winced, really not wanting to do that. "Will we?"

"We're never gonna see them again, it's a big resort, we're fine," Allison assured him firmly under her breath as she settled back into her seat.

Cole opened his mouth to respond before he saw Scarlett watching the two carefully. He pretended to not notice as he reached his arm to rest it behind Allison's chair. Before she could give him the bewildered look he knew was coming, Cole leaned forward. His mouth brushed against hear ear as he told her, "Go with it."

It took her a moment before Allison let out a laugh as if he said something funny. She gave him a smile full of admiration and he wished with everything in him that it was real. Cole pressed a kiss against the crown of her forehead for good measure. He snuck a glance at his sister, noticing she had jumped into the twins' conversation instead.

He refrained from giving themselves a round of applause.

Now they just had to get through the next few days.