[NYC] Birthday 911!

[agentsullivan]

Who: Andrew's Suprise Party!
Where: The Bondi, New York City
When: Saturday 29th August
Follows: All HERE______________________________________

Comments

Re: Iz & James

[agentfraser]

James' own hands got shoved unceremoniously into the pockets of his jeans. He was still more on the hungover side than not after his bender with Mark. He could only remember patches of their conversation, but he knew he spilled his guts to his big brother, and could vaguely remember sobbing in Mark's arms at one point about how much he fucked everything up. Of course, he had no clue which fuck up he was referring to because, by now, he had quite the quota of them. He hadn't purposefully been avoiding Izzy, he had just been starkly aware how many people in this room were connected to Cameron, and he felt guilty even being here in a celebratory environment. Still, it was for Ali, and they owed it to her to be here. She put a lot of work into arranging it, and it was Andrew's first birthday they were celebrating as a couple. Ali was going to be marrying this guy, and if James didn't want to lose her as his best friend, he owed her well more than just showing up.

Surprisingly, he had managed to hold a decent conversation with Andrew earlier. The guy obviously knew some of what had gone down, but he didn't judge James in anyway. Just asked him if he was okay, and told him he was glad he was there. James was surprised, again realising how much more of an effort he needed to make with Ali and her other half. He had his head so far up his arse, he was blindsided. He looked over to Andrew briefly, who was with what looked to be a bunch of his fellow paramedics, and he had just opened a gift that was a little baby jumpsuit with cartoon ambulance on the front, laughing at it. "Hey," he murmured, looking back at her. "Pretty decent party here..."

Re: Iz & James

[isabelowens]

"Yeah, it is," Izzy agreed as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear. She nodded towards the back exit. "Fancy getting a bit of air." She was also very much aware of connections to Cameron, and Harri. Even if all she was aiming to do was talk, she wasn't sure she could do it in front of everyone else.

Re: Iz & James

[agentfraser]

James nodded. "Yeah, okay. I was just going to see if Ali needed anything, but some fresh air would be good," he agreed, already turning to head for the back door to the courtyard. Dancing was off the menu anyway. If he tried, he'd probably want to puke all over everyone. Probably not the look Ali was going for when she considered decor.

Re: Iz & James

[isabelowens]

Izzy cracked a smile. "As feminine as your legs are, not sure she'd really want you going in the ladies just to find out if she needed anything." They pushed their way out into the courtyard, and Isabel took a large breath of City air. It wasn't exactly fresh, but it was still better than inside. She was only now realising just how hot she'd become. Izzy peeled off her jacket, and lay it over one of the chairs.

Re: Iz & James

[agentfraser]

James smirked and then sniggered. "Oh come on, since when has being a chick ever stopped her? She made me come bra shopping with her at the beginning of the year, and regaled me with tales of how much her boobs hurt and what the best way to relieve hemorrhoids was. I was just a bit worried about her. She looks tired."

Re: Iz & James

[isabelowens]

"Okay, I stand corrected," Izzy laughed. "I can imagine her doing that as well... She is tired. She's also got some serious back pain. I think the stress of planning the party's getting to her. Delayed reaction. She had help from Tab and Luke, but it probably wasn't enough."

Re: Iz & James

[agentfraser]

James pressed his lips together and closed his eyes tiredly for a moment. "Yeah, it should have been us," he conceded. "Least we could have fucking done was help her with her fiance's party."

Re: Iz & James

[isabelowens]

"We were too busy in our own little world." Izzy bit down on the tip of her index finger as she dropped down into a chair. "She wants to slap us."

Re: Iz & James

[agentfraser]

"Yeah, she's probably used to hearing that excuse off us by now. We feed it to her often enough. She's stopped asking us for help. She goes to Andrew's family. What is wrong with that picture, Iz?" James said, holding his hand out. "I want to slap us. Even if we couldn't get our own shit together, we shouldn't be leaving anyone high and dry. I told Mark I couldn't pick him up from the airport because I was in Princeton."

Re: Iz & James

[isabelowens]

"I don't know. We got tunnel vision about us. Maybe neither of us was going to be any good until we sorted it out?" She looked at him, and scratched at her forehead. "Or maybe we're just selfish fucks. I wasn't there for my sister while she was getting divorced because I was with you in Princeton."

Re: Iz & James

[agentfraser]

James just shook his head, not saying anything at first as he paced a little, trying to walk out some of the discontent. "This isn't going to work, none of it, if we fuck our families over. Ali... my god, she has supported us from day fucking one, and time after time we leave her high and dry because we are selfish fucks. We're selfish fucks, Izzy!"

Re: Iz & James

[isabelowens]

Izzy rest her head in her hand, and looked down at the table. "Yeah, but we're selfish fucks in love. If we're starting fresh, it gives us a chance not to fuck our families over. We can try and find a balance. Finally."

Re: Iz & James

[agentfraser]

James whipped around. "Don't you feel any regret for what we did?!" he cried in frustration. "This isn't high school! It isn't a romantic comedy! Harri hates me! She hates me, and she carrying my baby! Ali is in there, juggling things around on her own and taking care of our goddaughter when we should be at least trying to help her out! Fiona got divorced. I didn't even know Fiona was getting a fucking divorce! You want a clean slate? First step if dragging our heads out of our arses and realising what fucking shit we have left in our wakes. How in love do you think we are going to be while I'm sitting in a custody battle in court for months on end?"

Re: Iz & James

[isabelowens]

"Of course I fucking regret it! I regret everything, because I failed his test. I failed his test, and now he thinks I don't give a shit about him, or any of the time we had together. I'm carrying Cameron's fucking twins and I fucked around on him and acted like it was fine. Of course it wasn't fucking fine! It was bullshit. And now you're losing your unborn son because his mother hates you. I feel like shit, Camp--Fraser," Isabel hastily corrected. "I don't my head up my ass, or yours."

Re: Iz & James

[agentfraser]

James sat down heavily. "James," he corrected quietly, looking at her intently. "My name is James."

He put his hand up to his mouth and rested his lips against his fingers. He shook his head. "I'm not losing him, Iz. I'm not. You need to know that. I'm going to fight for him if she doesn't let me see him. If we do this, we do it with our kids, as a package. No matter what happens."

Re: Iz & James

[isabelowens]

"I know," she said softly. "I've been calling you James all night to Ali, and I fuck up with you."

"I don't want you to lose him. I know he's your son, I know he's important to you. I'm going to be pregnant as well. Are you going to be okay with that? Are you okay helping me raise someone else's kids? Cameron's talking like he's going back to England. He doesn't even believe they're his. I would never deny him having anything to do with his kids, but if he chooses not to... Are you going to be okay with being their Dad if we manage to stay together?"