Y/N changed into her swimsuit in the bathroom Mickey wasn't currently vomiting in. This was one part of the house that had been updated recently. The floors were a dark gray tile and the walls were a much lighter gray. The shower was nice: tiled floor and walls with a glass door. There was a sink with a good amount of counter space, considering it wasn't an overly spacious room. Y/N placed her clothes on it as she changed and thought about how she would have designed pretty much the same bathroom given this floorplan. She wondered if the other bathroom was also renovated.
When she came back out, she found Joe gently assisting Mary through the main room of the cabin. Mary was also in her swimsuit - a very cute red and white polka dot bikini. Her short brown hair was in two low pigtails. She looked a little bit like a human version of Minnie Mouse.
"Joe, I can help her outside, if you're not going to join us," Y/N offered.
"Babe, let Y/N help me, it's fine," Mary told her boyfriend. Joe carefully transferred responsibility of Mary to Y/N and left the room. As he did, Mary leaned less on Y/N and walked more under her own power.
"Again, I love him, but he fusses too much," Mary sighed. "Well don't you just look like sex on legs."
Y/N rolled her eyes at her friend. The compliment was over the top, but so was Mary. Y/N was wearing black bottoms and a floral top. She had grabbed whatever was on top of her drawer, but leave it to Mary to be her own personal hype squad.
The two went out onto the back patio where the hot tub was located. There was a covered table and chairs out there as well, Y/N guessed for outdoor eating. She wondered if anyone ever came here in the summertime, when you could use the setup properly. On the other side of the patio, there was a stone fire pit. A few chairs circled it and made it optimal for cozy conversation on a winter or summer night.
As they walked to the hot tub, Mary needed very little assistance. Despite all of Joe's worries, she mainly only needed Y/N to help her into the hot tub itself. Once she was in, Y/N put their phones on a little table nearby and joined her.
They sat in silence for a minute, getting acclimated to the warm water and the cold air on their skin. Y/N knew it wouldn't last though.
"So I heard while I was changing that Daisy may be joining us," Mary asked. Her tone implied she wanted to talk about something scandalous. "And I don't want to hurt her feelings. So before she comes out, what do you think about Chris? I noticed that he got on the ski lift with you when we all got stuck. Gave you two a bit of time to get to know each other, eh?" She waggled her eyebrows with that last comment. Y/N rolled her eyes.
"He seems fine. I know he's your cousin, but I'm getting serious frat boy energy from him. It's a no from me," Y/N told Mary. She was confused by the riot of emotions that came up when she thought of Chris. Best to just deny, deny, deny, at least until she could figure things out a little bit better for herself.
"Ugh, fine. I'll stop trying to push him on you," Mary relented. "I just thought you guys would work together, you know? Sort of a little bit of an 'amazing girl hooks up with a jerk with a heart of gold' story? But whatever, if it's wrong, it's wrong. We can just enjoy the rest of our vacation and not talk anymore about him."
"Thanks, babe. I know you're just trying to help, but I think I'm still not ready to date or anything."
"Alright. I guess I was stretching when I tried to set you up with my cousin. Imagine? I would want to hear all of the scandalous details from you as my best friend, but about my cousin? Hard pass." Mary giggled.
They talked for a little while, about nothing in particular. After about 15 minutes, Mary started to look uncomfortable.
"Don't hate me, but maybe Joe was more right than I wanted to admit. My knee is starting to hurt," Mary confessed. "I'm going to text him to come bring me back inside." Mary leaned over the side to grab her phone off of the table. Joe, dutiful as ever, came as summoned. As he was helping Mary out however, Daisy came out to join them.
"Oh, is the party breaking up already? I just finished putting on my suit!" Daisy pouted. Her long brown hair was piled into a bun on the top of her head, and she was wearing a mint green one-piece with a cut out right above her breastbone, with a little bow tied above that. She looked killer.
As much as Y/N didn't think Daisy liked her, she was too nice to leave her alone in the hot tub.
"No, Mary just needed to take a painkiller and rest. I was going to stay a little longer," Y/N said. She just hoped she wouldn't regret it.
"Great! I feel like we haven't really gotten to talk yet. I want to get to know you better, you know? Woman to woman?" Daisy's green eyes were intense, and her smile had an edge to it. "Mary, hon, do you need any help?"
"No, I think Joe's got it. Thank you," Mary exclaimed. "You two have fun!" Mary shot a look at Y/N that said 'be nice!'
Y/N could understand where Mary was coming from. After all, Daisy and Mary had known each other since they were kids. It wasn't her fault that Daisy had seemingly become obsessed with her cousin over the years. Y/N didn't want to make things awkward for Mary, and she had no reason to dislike Daisy. She would just have to make it clear to the other woman that any interest on Chris' part was not reciprocated. She didn't need the practice if it came with so much drama.
"So you know Mary from college, yeah?" Daisy inquired innocently. "I think it's nice that you guys stayed in touch."
"Yeah, we were assigned roommates freshman year, and we've been best friends since."
"That's really great, really. I've known Mary and Chris and Mickey forever and we're all really close. Like we're all practically family, you know? I love them all to pieces." Daisy was really laying it on thick.
"Yeah, Mary said you're all family friends. It's good that you're all still close. I don't really have any friends from growing up," Y/N said. She was still trying to figure out the game Daisy was obviously playing.
"Are you having a good time? I have to assume it's weird just coming into an established group, since we all know each other so well. I don't want you to feel excluded or anything, since we've all known each other for ages," Daisy said softly. She scooted closer to Y/N. "Mary talks the world of you, and I wouldn't want you to be upset."
Y/N was lost. Was Daisy playing a game, or was she just always this dramatic? Part of Y/N was sympathetic to Daisy. She knew what it felt like to be completely under the spell of a man that didn't really want you. At the same time, she didn't appreciate the hostile attitude that Daisy had been putting off all day. She decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.
"I'm having fun, promise. I went snowboarding with Mary and Joe before, and I saw you on the lift with skis. Do you and Tom ski a lot?" Y/N asked. If Daisy was going to be seemingly nice to her, she was fine with being nice right back.
"Yeah, Tom and I come here at least a few times a season to ski. We love it. Speaking of the lift, I saw you with Chris on it earlier, you know, when it got stuck?"
And there it was. "Yeah, I was following Joe and Mary up, and he just slid onto the seat next to me. We just chatted and got to know each other while we were up there. Wasn't much else to do," Y/N said guardedly. No need to give any extra details before she really knew what Daisy was getting at.
"Oh that's good. I'm glad you two are getting to know each other." Daisy's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "I just wanted to say be careful, okay? I know as Mary's friend you're not trying to sleep with her cousin, but Chris isn't what he seems. It's easy to get swept up in the charm, but it's all lies."
Y/N was beginning to think that the animosity she'd been feeling from Daisy was aimed at Chris, not her. Of course she would have a poor opinion of him; he'd broken her heart over and over again through the years. Was he really awful, and Mary was too trusting to see it? Y/N knew how easy it was to believe the best of the people you love, and she hoped Mary wasn't being fooled.
"Thank you for the info. I'll take it to heart," Y/N told Daisy, and she meant it. She wanted to think of Daisy as an ally and not view her as a catty rival. She just hoped that she wasn't the one being fooled.
Y/N went to ask Daisy about Tom - after all, she was trying to be friends - when the door opened.
"Speak of the devil and the devil shall come," Daisy said flatly.
It was Chris, of course. He walked toward the hot tub and lowered himself into it.
"Ladies, it's good to see both of you! I see you've survived the slopes," Chris bowed his head in Y/N's direction. "I hope you didn't fall too many more times after my tutelage."
"Actually, I decided to join Edward and Mickey for a round of drinks. I don't think snowboarding agrees with me."
"Pity. I would have been willing to show you another thing or two," Chris suggested with a pointed look.
"I'm sure you would have, Chris," Daisy spat. "I'm sure you would have been willing to show her a lot more."
Y/N was feeling uncomfortable. She knew this fight was about her, but she was also sure it wasn't about her. She did not want to be in the middle of it, yet here she was. Trapped in a hot tub with two people with complicated feelings for one another. Great.
"Daisy, dear, I simply meant that Y/N needs to be taught the proper way to snowboard. We wouldn't want her to hurt herself, now would we?"
"Of course, we all know how much of a gentleman you are. I'm wondering, once you had taught her to 'snowboard'-" Daisy put that last word in air quotes "-would you have dropped her like all of the rest?"
Chris glared at Daisy. Daisy glared back. After a moment, she caved.
"I'm going to get a bottle of wine. I'll be back, but only because my new friend Y/N shouldn't have to suffer being alone with you." The venom in Daisy's voice was potent.
She lifted herself out of the hot tub and made her way inside. Despite her express intention to not leave Y/N alone with Chris, that was exactly what she had done.
Y/N looked at the man she was now unattended with. She wasn't sure if she hoped Daisy would come back soon, or take her sweet time. Maybe she was the one with complicated feelings.
Chris took the opportunity to slide closer to Y/N. She wished he hadn't.
"I'm sorry Daisy's being like this," Chris apologized. "I don't know if you know, but-"
"Mary explained. Teenage makeout, torch held ever since, ever increasingly firm rejections. I got the picture."
"Yeah. I mean, I tried to let her down gently, you know? She just-"
"I got it. You don't have to explain any further." Y/N didn't really need to hear his side of the story. The way Mary told it had seemed simple enough. She didn't need him to explain and complicate things. She was pretty sure she had a good enough read on the situation to move forward with everyone.
"Alright. I just didn't want you to think I'm as bad as she makes me out to be. She's not ... unbiased, let's say." Chris let out a sigh. "But you get it. I don't make you out to be the type of woman who let's other people think for them."
"I'm sorry?" Y/N was flabbergasted. She hoped that he just sounded like an ass, and wasn't actually implying that she was 'not like other girls.'
"I just mean Mary says you're smart. It doesn't seem like you'd let Daisy's opinion sway yours."
"Yes, because women are a hive mind right? Most women don't think for themselves, they just let other women give them the opinions they should have? We all have a group chat and once someone says 'Chris is a dick,' we all just agree and stop thinking, hm?" She was yelling. Y/N wasn't even sure why she was yelling. Some small part of her knew that she was probably putting words in his mouth - maybe he hadn't meant it that way - but she couldn't stop the rage she was feeling.
Chris smartly backed away a bit.
"I... didn't say that. I just meant that you were the type of person who forms their own opinions about everything. That's at least how Mary made you seem. Sorry if I was wrong about that."
Y/N deflated. She didn't know where that came from. Scratch that, she knew exactly where it came from. Austin.
Austin was always putting her down, putting women down, putting her as a woman down. She never found the courage to speak up to him, and now she was letting it all out. Part of her knew that Chris wasn't like Austin. The other part of her just superimposed the countless arguments with her ex onto the man in front of her.
"I'm sorry," Y/N murmured. "That wasn't about you. You're right, you didn't say that. I'm just being an ass."
"It's fine, I think. Like I said, I'm not the dick Daisy makes me out to be. How about we forget about this entire conversation, okay?"
Y/N nodded. She would prefer he hadn't seen her so vulnerable, and she was more than okay with pretending it never happened at all.
"Let's change the subject. Maybe we should play another game?" The characteristic smirk had returned. "Maybe another round of 'Never Have I Ever'?"
"I think it would be rude to start a game without Daisy when she said she was coming back," Y/N joked. She was starting to feel like she had found her footing with Chris' type of banter, thank god.
"That's fair, I suppose." Chris leaned back and put both of his arms on the edge of the hot tub. "Honestly, I'm still thinking about our earlier game." He paused. "You know, now we are alone, in a hot tub. I'd like to eliminate that off of my list of things I haven't done."
He looked at her with eyes she could only describe as smoldering. It was starting to get a little too sensual for her liking in the hot tub. She did the only thing she could think of.
She splashed him. In the face.
"Ah!" Chris' surprise was evident. "What are you, 14?" Chris echoed her earlier accusation.
Y/N leaned into it. She stuck her tongue out at him.
Chris, for his part, started to laugh. "I was not expecting that at all. It usually takes a lot to surprise me. Hm." He started to wipe the water off of his face. "I think I need a towel."
Y/N turned behind her, where the towels were sitting on the same table Y/N had put the phones. In that same moment, Chris surged forward to grab one. He leaned over her, snatching the towel, and dried himself.
He started to lean back into his seat, but paused when his face was right in front of Y/N's.
"Now if I didn't know any better," he said in a husky voice, "I would think you did that on purpose."
Y/N felt her face get hot. She hoped Chris would just chalk it up to the warmth of the hot tub, but she knew better. She almost unconsciously leaned forward and-
"Wine acquired!" Daisy yelled, slamming the door open as she did. She had a bottle in one hand and two glasses in the other. "Christopher, I know you weren't trying to defile my new friend here, now were you?'
The glare Daisy was giving the two of them was icy, which was a painful contrast to the temperature of the hot tub. Chris leaned back and returned to his seat.
"Not at all, Daisy dear. I was just wiping my face with a towel. You'll notice they're behind Y/N. Entirely innocent." Chris looked entirely nonplussed.
Y/N, on the other hand, felt fidgety. He definitely was going to kiss her, if Daisy hadn't interrupted. More worryingly, she was going to kiss him.
Daisy returned to the hot tub with her bounty in tow. She poured a glass of wine for Y/N - nice of her - and then one for herself. Y/N noted that she had not brought enough for Chris.
"That's fine, I was going to grab a beer anyway." Chris ascended from the hot tub and walked to a cooler conveniently stored outside of the house. He grabbed a few beers and a bottle opener, and he returned to join the ladies.
"Let's get this party started," Chris shouted. He opened one of the bottles. Daisy rolled her eyes.
Y/N took a sip from her glass. Red wine. She wished it was white; red made her a little wild.
"So you and Tom. Where did you meet?" Y/N figured she'd continue her train of thought from before Chris had joined them. It seemed safe, and it made her feel more normal.
"Oh, we met in college!" Daisy exclaimed.
"At a frat party where she was too drunk to stand properly," Chris opined.
Daisy shot him the most murderous look Y/N had ever seen. "Tom was in Omega Chi Delta and I was a Zeta. We were having a mixer, it was Prohibition themed, you know because everyone wasn't legal? We thought it was funny. Anyway, it was very classy, flappers and gangsters, all 1920s. Tom looked so dapper in his pinstripes. I saw him, and I just knew, you know?" Daisy was gushing.
Y/N just nodded along. The school Mary and her had gone to didn't really have a Greek life, so she was trying to make it seem like she knew what Mary was talking about. Y/N saw Chris roll his eyes.
"It was my first semester, I was a pledge. I did drink maybe more than I ought have-" she glared at Chris "-but Tom was very sweet. We just clicked, and we've been together ever since! Oh, do you need a refill?"
Y/N noticed that she had absent-mindedly drank her entire glass. I should probably slow down, she thought. Her head was starting to feel a little weird, and she was sure it was from more than just the heat of the hot tub. Daisy poured her more, and she made a mental note to drink her second glass much slower. She noticed that Chris was opening the second bottle he had brought over with him.
"What about you, are you dating anyone?" Daisy asked.
So much for slow. Y/N took a long sip of her wine before she answered. She was going to need it.
"No, not right now. I was in a relationship for a while. He wasn't good for me." Y/N hoped that she could leave it at that. She had a feeling Daisy wasn't going to let it go.
"I'm sorry. When did you break up?" Y/N felt the question dig into her soul.
"A few months ago. Like I said, he wasn't good for me. It's better this way." And she knew that was true. But part of her still didn't believe it and clung on.
"Okay. I'm glad you're not with him any more then." Daisy sounded genuine. Y/N couldn't look at her though. She felt like she might cry if she saw the sympathy in the other woman's face. Damn, wine makes me sentimental. She looked at the sky instead. She felt the water move suddenly around her.
"I think I'm going to head in," Chris stated. He exited the hot tub and circled around to get a towel. At least he didn't lean over me this time, Y/N thought.
Chris wrapped the towel around his waist and grabbed a couple more beers before he went inside.
"I fucking hate him," Daisy said, and poured herself another glass of wine.