Work Text:
Honest, he tried not to be a dick about it, but all things considered, Jay Pflug wasn’t the sort of person many said no to.
“Come on, Mabel. Don’t you believe people can change?”
“Of course I do,” she replied. But she seemed distracted, gaze fixed somewhere over his shoulder.
Jay pivoted. The departing residents buzzed raucously, but for one guy standing quietly in the fray. Suddenly, his faint bemused smile broadened to a grin.
In Jay’s peripheral, Mabel was making gestures with her hands.
“Hey, isn’t that...”
“Hmm?”
“Never mind.” Jay’d listened to the podcast. Sure, he was no Mabel-Charles-and-Oliver, but he was perfectly capable of putting two and two together. What he hadn’t expected was to turn back around to find Mabel wearing the other half of Theo Dimas’ smile.
Jay tried one final appeal: “I want to be more than my family’s legacy. You could be, like, my compass—”
“Look, Jay,” she interrupted. “No offense, mostly, but if you really wanted to be a better version of yourself, you’d already be making an effort, instead of waiting for my approval.”
The Mabel that drifted toward Theo was brighter, somehow. Deflated, Jay surmised, “Actions speak louder than words.”