[Old Group] As Long As You Love Me <3

[Blake Emma Renner]

Blake turned her neck from side to side and let it crack before she let out a small sigh and smiled. At least no one was coming into her kitchen, they still knew the rules. Someone had said something about ordering pizza but if she was serving pizza in her home it wasn’t going to be from some god damn cardboard box. “ Shaney! Sweetheart, what do you want for toppings?” she questioned before she looked at Kat in the doorway. “ Don’t care what Logan wants?” she asked with a serious expression as she slowly brought a carrot up to her mouth and took a bite out of it. Where the fuck did she get a carrot? Why was she eating a big one instead of the baby ones? “ … Go play.” she said to Kat before shooing her away. After getting everything put in the oven, she took a few minutes to clean up the kitchen entirely before she washed her hands, drying them off with the kitchen towel before she came back into the living room. “ Okay guys, dinner should be ready in about twenty minutes,” she said before she smiled at everyone in the room. Sunday dinners were loud, boisterous, full of life. Sometimes it just felt nice to get back to the root of things, be with the people that were by your side when you were nobody. Not that Blake had been nobody when she met these people, but granted.. they’d seen her through a lot.

Blake looked over at Logan and judging by his beer bottle, it looked like it was running low. She leaned down, wrapping her arms tightly around Mackenzie’s shoulders as she squeezed her in a quick hug, “ Be right back,” she said, moving back towards the kitchen quickly. She grabbed Logan a new beer, using a bottle opener to take off the cap before she came back into the living room. She leaned down, wrapping her arms around his neck and shoulders from behind as she dangled the new beer in front of him. “ Here you go, Mr.Renner” she said before biting the edge of his ear, placing a kiss on the soft patch of skin on the back of his neck before she straightened up and moved to the front of the couch. She placed her hands behind her skirt, folding it under as she sat down and crossed her legs. Really it had been so much that they had been through together, as a family, sharing almost everything. “ Mackenzie, Riley tells me you guys are having a fall wedding.. Why am I hearing this from him and when the heck am I going to get an invitation?” she asked with a bright smile across her lips as she brought her hand to the inside of Logan’s leg and rested her hand on his knee. Ups and downs, highs and lows, none of it changed how much she loved the man she was holding onto and she had a feeling it never would. “ Oh! Shaney! I got you something” she said before she hopped up and moved away from Logan and ran upstairs. It really wasn’t a secret that Blake had a soft spot for Shane, they made for an odd pair of best friends. At least MTV had seemed to think so. Blake came back down carrying a small card before she offered it out to Shane, “ I did this charity benefit and Taco Bell was one of the sponsors. I did a performance and didn’t accept money so I got this card for free Taco Bell for life,” she said before taking her place next to Logan. Thankfully she had let her hair just sort of go crazy on its own today. She hated it, but what did that matter.

Outfit

[Riley Scott Collins]

Riley looked down at the time on his watch before tracing his tongue across his lips. This was his family, but Mackenzie and himself lived a very different lifestyle. They weren’t the only parents in the room, but they both came from families with certain expectations. Tonight he should be working on homework, particularly the neuro-system. Not to mention he had about a dozen different contracts to go through for work. He smiled as he looked up at Kat, who was making her way around to talk to everyone. He didn’t think she particularly avoided Shane, in fact they still seemed like they were best friends. But part of him had to wonder if they ever wondered what if. She was the first girl that any of them had ever seen Shane actually give a damn about. They weren’t around for that fucking Jaisey what the fuck ever girl. She was a twat and a half anyways. Piece of work.. a lot like Lexie. Just the thought of it made Riley bring the bottle of beer back to his lips and down it. He set the empty bottle down before he looked up to see that Blake had Mackenzie in a deathlock of a hug. He smirked faintly, leaning back against the couch as he waited for his opportunity to drape his arm around Mackenzie’s shoulders. Riley watched Blake leave for the kitchen again before he smiled down at Mackenzie. Nights like these were important, they needed to get away just for themselves, remember who they were before life came and kicked them in the ass. Easier said than done considering he didn’t know who he was. Flashes here and there, but the majority of his relationship with Mackenzie before the accident was lost to the world when it came to Riley. It still frustrated him to this day.

Riley twirled his fingers through the soft strands of Mackenzie’s hair, finding himself completely immersed in how beautiful she was. She still amazed him, every day. The way she was with him, so patient, and so understanding. It was easy for her to know that the first time that he tried sushi was with her , and that he hated it. And then when he was making the stupid decision to go and try it again since he didn’t remember, there she was to help him in a way without making him feel bad for not remembering. Though something had been on his mind a lot lately, bits and pieces of an evening spent with her that he couldn’t quite work out. Riley looked up, not realizing that Blake had been talking right away since he was so deeply immersed in adoring Mackenzie. “ Fall..” he said with a nod, “Georgia is gorgeous in the fall. You’re all going to Georgia,” he said with a slight smirk. He looked over at Shane and Logan, “ Hopefully you two are aware that you’ll be groomsmen” he said. Obviously they all knew Chad would be the best man. That had to be pretty obvious to anyone that knew the group of them. And their flower girl was just going to be the cutest thing in the entire world. It was beyond amazing really, how much she took after Mackenzie. She was going to grow up to be just like her mother.

Outfit

[Katy Alexis Sutton]

Kat bit the edge of her carrot as she stood in the entryway. Blake had told her earlier to get a snack but wouldn’t let her eat the cookies. It’s like bitch why have cookies in the house if you think they are too unhealthy for a snack. Then Blake wouldn’t let her eat the fruit snacks cause “ those were Kenzie’s” Pfft. Left with a fucking carrot. And no god damn ranch. Kat moved away making her way back into the living room where everyone else was. “ Hey prom date” she said , giving Logan a quick wink before she slid onto the armrest by where he was sitting. Kat crossed her legs over one another, looking over at Shane before she sarcastically offered her carrot out to him. Stoners need to eat man. Where was Flyzik. She blinked, trying to remember where she had left that sexy fucker. Didn’t matter, he was never where she left him anyways. Didn’t he realize that meant she was going to lose him? “ Flyzik…” she said, standing up and making her way out of the living room as she took her phone out to text him, call him, FaceTime.. anything. Not that it really mattered because he didn’t answer to any of it right away anyways. “ Muhfukka” she said quietly before she slid her phone into her back pocket. She came back into the living room, biting down onto the carrot just in time to hear Blake explain to Shane what she was gifting him.

Kat blinked as she stared at the card being offered out to Shane. Well.. “ Shane you are lookin’ mighty fine tonight,” she said as she sauntered her way over to him. “ I don’t know if you remember but I’m willing to do a lot of stuff for some Taco Bell” she said, forgetting that Blake was already having dinner be ready in about fifteen minutes now. Kat took the tightly wound recreational party favors out of her pocket before she held it up and wiggled her eyebrows. Just like old times right? “ Lighter” she said to Logan before she patted him on the knee and held her hand out. After taking the lighter she lit the end of the wrapper, bringing it to her lips as she took a breath in and took the flame away, shaking it out as she held it back to Logan. What a responsible record label owner he was being. She took a long drag before she coughed, holding it out so that Shane could take it from her. You never knew with Logan when little miss priss was around.

Outfit

[Logan Chase Renner]

Logan brought his beer to his lips, smiling around at his group of friends. They all had hectic lives, busy schedules, families, significant others. Logan was a man of many businesses now, realizing he could dabble in so many of his interests. Music, movies, philanthropy, you name it, he was somehow involved. Logan finished off his beer as Shane told him about Italy, saying they’d had a good time. They were all lucky little shits to be able to just go and do stuff like that at their age. Logan felt Blake’s arms around himself, seeing the new beer in front of him and smiled, feeling her lips against the back of his neck, “Thank you.” Logan smiled and she sat down, asking Mackenzie about the wedding. Logan wrapped his arm around Blake’s shoulder and listened while the girls talked about the wedding and what not, leaning over to kiss the side of her hair. Riley mentioned both Logan and Shane being groomsmen and Logan laughed nodding, “Absolutely, I will.” Logan took another drink of his beer, laughing when Blake came back with the Taco Bell card for Shane, “Yeah see, obviously she likes you more, she insisted on giving it to you,” he joked. Honestly, Logan loved that Blake got along with his friends, especially since they were people that she probably wouldn’t normally associate with but they were people he’d grown up with. Logan pulled a lighter out of his pocket and handed it to Kat, who lit up a joint right there and gave him his lighter back. Kat handed it to Shane who took a long drag too, looking at Logan expectantly.

Logan looked at Blake who was talking to Mack about the wedding still and leaned over behind Kat like he was reaching for his phone and found Shane handing it to him, grinning. Well, he was home, with friends, Kenzie was hanging with her cousins, why not right? Logan blew out a puff of smoke after a second and gave it back to Shane, leaning back in his seat. Logan looked over at Blake, absentmindedly playing with her messy hair, “You’re hair looks good today.” Anyone around would probably think he was being sarcastic, but Blake knew he wasn’t. He genuinely liked her hair when it was messy and she let her natural curls do whatever the hell they wanted. Logan jokingly gathered all of her hair and piled it on top of her hair, "This is a good look for you." Logan laughed and let it fall back over her shoulders, tugging on an individual ringlet and watched it spring back, grinning at her, waiting until she finally had enough and told him to stop.

[Blake Emma Renner]

Blake smiled as she watched Mackenzie and Riley so comfortable with one another. It was strange really that she hadn’t thought about matching them up before, but thankfully they had found a way to meet on their own at one of Logan’s bonfires. Riley had always been a part of Blake’s circle of friends ever since she moved out here, and it seemed like the second Mackenzie walked through the doorways of their highschool she had become best friends with her. Each of them coming from the same background, but viewing the world the same way as the other did, differently from their parents. They understood expectations but they also held their priorities a bit differently. For instance, here they were hanging out with Kat and Shane like they were best friends – primarily because they were. Blake hadn’t come from that lifestyle. She still used leftover cool whip containers to put leftovers in even though she was married to one of the richest men in the nation, not including the large bank account she was sitting on herself. She liked her chicken fried and her tea sweet, but behind closed doors she was probably the most proper out of all of them, the one who had the most expectations. “ Oh my gosh, that coloring is going to be so pretty on you Mackenzie,” Blake said as she looked over at her after Riley had explained it would be a fall wedding. This was one of the few things that Blake felt was important enough to schedule her tour around. Mackenzie wasn’t just her best friend, she was her sister. There wasn’t anywhere in the world she would rather be than in Georgia to help celebrate the start of a new chapter for Mackenzie and Riley.

Blake narrowed her eyebrows slightly as she felt Logans hands in her hair, telling her how good it looked. “ I think you’ve told me that today..” she said skeptically as she kept her eyes on him, letting him play with her hair here and there. She blinked with a blank expression as he grinned at her before she finally turned her attention to Shane and Kat. Instigators. “ Logan Chase Renner” she said as she turned in the couch to face him. “ Amused with yourself, darling?” she asked with a lift of her eyebrow. “ Not going to stop you, but just throwing this out there.. what if there was an emergency with Kenzie and she had to be taken to the hospital and you’re getting high off your ass like you’re some college freshman fresh off the farm and new to the city?” she asked before leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek. “ I’m going to go check on the pizza,” she said before standing up and glaring at Shane, “ To think I gave you a lifetime supply of Taco Bell..” she said before she shook her head and made her way into the kitchen to start getting the pizza ready for everyone to enjoy, especially now that half of her guests were getting high and she loved Mackenzie to death but she had a feeling that number was about to be higher. Blake carried the plates in one hand while carrying the pizza out in the other. It was a rare occasion that she didn’t demand that they sit at a table, but to hell with it. Blake sat back down next to Logan, looking him over for a moment. Why did he have to be so fucking handsome? Plus he had the most adorable crooked grin she had ever seen in her entire life. It's what had caused her to be less than an honorable girlfriend in the past to others. But there was something about Logan that always pulled out a different side of her, caused her to try and let her hair down every now and then. Finally she sighed, resting her hand on the inside of his knee before she leaned over to whisper to him. " I love you, you successful, handsome, intelligent, yet incredibly stupid and cocky man.." she said before patting his knee and sitting up to give him a quick kiss.

[Mackenzie Janelle Collins]

Mackenzie felt someone’s arms around her and looked back, seeing Blake, “Hi love!” reaching her arms up to hug Blake back, grabbing her cheeks in her hands and gave her a big kiss on the cheek before Blake went back to the kitchen. Mackenzie sat beside Riley, letting him play with her hair and smiled at him, leaning over to kiss him. He was just so perfect. And not in the sense that he was a perfect person, he was just perfect for her. They’d had some rough times and she knew deep down they were both still internally upset that he couldn’t remember anything about their relationship before the accident, but Mackenzie did a pretty good job of reminding him. She had pictures, and memories of her own, old invites, even old status updates that said what they had been up to back then. He was already more of a husband to her then before, making it officially was just a technicality and something else they could both remember together. Her family loved him, Kiersten adored him, depended on him in her own ways. He was best friends with her own brother. Riley was already just a big part of her life, and Mackenzie never saw Lily as anything but their daughter. It had been an adjustment, but it hadn’t been a difficult one. Blake had come back, sitting down and asked about the wedding and Mack smiled, nodding, “I know, fall is my favorite season in Georgia. The oak trees on the property are so big we spent weeks trying to rake up all the leaves.” She could vividly remember playing outside on Thanksgiving, jumping into big leaf piles until her cousin Justin accidentally jumped on Kiersten and she cried so obviously they had to all go inside after that because Kiersten had tantrums about everything back then. Mackenzie rested her legs over Riley’s lap, pointing at Shane, “They are. I made sure these clowns were aware of it.”

Mack pointed at Blake, trying not to laugh at Blake keeping a straight face while Logan was messing with her hair, “I have a dress fitting this week, you should come with me. My mom and Grandma are flying in,” she made a face, “Both of them. Therefore, I need you to go with me.” She laughed. “Not that I don’t love them both, but I need someone on my team, I can’t bring this guy,” she pointed her thumb at Riley, smiling. Blake was lecturing Logan about smoking pot which was funny because Shane was now wiggling his eyebrows at Mack and waving the joint around, trying to convince her to take a hit and she laughed, shaking her head. Shane nodded again eagerly and she shook her head once more, resting her head on Riley’s shoulder, laughing at him, “No, get out of my head Shane.” She did not want to be high, she and Riley had a night to themselves, she didn’t want to spend it high. Mack reached over and put a couple of pieces of pizza on a plate and put it on her lap, picking up a piece and waved it in his face in offering, “Take a bite, sir.” She giggled when he tried to take a bite and she pulled it away jokingly, “Just kidding,” and let him have it, reaching down to get her own piece.

[Riley Scott Collins]

Riley kept his focus on Logan and Blake even though his fingers were weaving through the ends of Mackenzie’s hair. He tilted his head, slightly amused that Logan would partake in smoking pot this evening. Shane made sense, Claire wasn’t there. But did him and Blake really get that much alone time together? Maybe they got more than they led on. Either way it didn’t really matter, his choice. Riley wasn’t one to necessarily judge peoples choices. He was just there to sort of explain why you were a dipshit when it all had crashed and burned. Though the person he loved doing that for the most was Ryan. Riley took in a deep breath and looked over at Mackenzie as she spoke to Blake about the wedding. It wasn’t like guys really got much say anyways, whatever made the girl happy. As long as Mackenzie was happy, he was tickled pink. He smiled as she explained that she would need someone on her team and nodded over at Blake. “ You’re tiny but you’re effective. We’ve all seen you strike fear into others” he said with a slight laugh before he looked over at the pizza. He watched as Mackenzie put two pieces on a plate and settle back against him. When she offered out a piece of pizza to him he opened his mouth, leaning forward to try and take a bite and narrowed his eyes at her when she pulled it away.

Riley leaned down and kissed the side of her neck as he brought his arm from around her shoulders down to her waist and pulled her closer to him. “ I’ll get you back for that,” he warned her teasingly before taking the piece of pizza. He leaned forward and set it on the plate before he reached down, unbuttoning the wrists of his shirt before he rolled his sleeves up and loosened his tie. Finally he picked the piece of pizza back up and took a large bite, wiping the corner of his mouth as he looked up at Kat and Shane. “ Everyone’s getting married kids. Watch out, the bug is going to come and bite you sooner than you realize,” he said as though he was beginning to tell a horror story. “ Not everyone gets to marry Mackenzie Bannon” he said before taking another bite of his pizza even though his mouth was already full.

[Shane Alexander Madden]

Shane looked at Katy seriously before leaning over and took a bite out of her carrot jokingly and laughed. “Why in the fucking fuck are you eating a fucking carrot.” He glanced at Blake who had come back to the living room, raising an eyebrow at her, not sharing yummy snacks are we? He shook his head, smiling and sat back, looking at Mack when she pointed at her, “She threatened my life, actually.” Kat had come back and saw that Taco Bell card and Shane responded nonchalantly, “Actually, I look mighty fine all the time.” As she offered him a joint, which he took thankfully, offering it to Logan when Blake wasn’t looking. That guy was so busy and he was so good, he never veered off course. Why not just have a hit this one time. Shane looked pointedly at Katy, “Hey, you know what this Taco Bell card means right? This is just begging for a taco competition. How many Doritos Locos Tacos can one small person fit before she explodes.” Shane grabbed some pizza and ate half a slice in one bite, swallowing most of it and then said, “Look what you started Blake, now you have to go to Taco Bell with us. Also, good call on the pizza, I’m suddenly just craving it,” he teased, grinning widely. She couldn’t get mad at him, he was himself after all. “Blake doesn’t actually like you at all Renner, she just likes your music label,” he laughed, taking another bite of pizza. “We’re secretly in love, that’s why I get the best snacks, obviously.”

Shane almost choked on his pizza when Riley jokingly warned everyone about the marriage bug, laughing quietly, “What? No way, I had my vaccinations, I’m safe from that virus for now.” It was so weird sitting here in a room full of his best friends and not tell a single one of them that he and Claire had been married for some time now secretly. And he understood it, he and Claire had agreed they didn’t need to tell anyone right away, they wanted to enjoy it for themselves for a little while, they didn’t do it for anyone else. But at the same time it wasn’t Shane’s friends who would be critical, if anything they’d all probably be extremely happy for them. But that wasn’t fair, it was tell no one, or tell everyone.

[Katy Alexis Sutton]

Kat chewed on the bite of carrot that was in her mouth as Shane asked her why she was eating a carrot. “ I’m trying to pretend it isn’t a vegetable and is instead something really awesome. Like a cupcake stick,” she said like she was a sullen child. Kat snickered watching Logan try to sneak a hit when Blake wasn’t looking. “ Someone’s going to get in trouble” she said in a sing song voice directed towards Shane though she was talking about Logan. She widened her eyes as he said that she would have to do a Doritos Los Tacos eating competition against him. “ Shane you better put on your Thanksgiving turkey sweatpants because you know I can demolish you in an eating contest.” she said with seriousness in her voice. “ Eat the pizza people, we have a Taco Bell to get to,” she said before smacking the pizza out of Shane’s hand. “ Don’t eat too much I want this to be a fair contest,” she said, pointing at her own eyes before she pointed at him. Kat put her jacket on, smacking her hand against Mackenzie and Riley’s knees. “ Up up up Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy,” she said before walking backwards towards the entrance. “ Ooo I call getting to drive Logan’s new car!” she said excitedly as she raised her hand in the air.

“ Actually that makes sense…” she said, tilting her head as she thought about Blake and Shane having an affair.She gave a nod, mulling it over. “ Madden did get Parker on a stripper pole. I’m just saying it wouldn’t be the most unheard of thing. I mean your wife.. has she had affairs before?” she asked as she tilted her head towards Logan. “ Your second wife, not your first” she said, before pointing at herself. She watched as Shane reacted to the idea of marriage being a concept far, far away. That’s what everyone expected her and Shane to think, right? So she scoffed awkwardly, placing her hands on her hips. “ Marriage…gross..” she said, licking her lips as she narrowed her eyebrows and tried to think of more ways to put it down. “ Promising someone else that you’ll love them forever despite their faults and will face every high and low that life throws your way because your love for them is unparalleled by anything that might try to tear you apart… No thanks,…” she said before coughing uncomfortably. “ Taco Bell, let’s go!” she said, clapping her hands together to try to get everyone to move. “ Oh.. poor Claire.. We’re stuffing Shane full of Taco Bell and then sending him home to sleep in bed next to her..”