RISE ABOVE .

[joey]

Everyone had their fallouts, Joey and Elias were no exception. A few weeks ago, the guys went out for a drink. And the evening had started out well, just a set of best friends having a drink. Joey had been looking forward to it, he hadn't had a 'guy's night out' in a very long time simply because he didn't have the time or energy to spare. His life was pretty preoccupied with two kids, a dog and a full time job and he wasn't complaining. But he needed some time for himself, he deserved time for himself. Something more than two beers at the local bar with some friends during the evening for an hour or two while the girl from next door babysat. But the night progressed to Eli getting into a brawl, and dragging Joey into it.

It made him angry, as he hadn't gone out to end up in a fight, a fight in which he really had no business being in. Elias and his temper had ruined what should have been a great night out. And Joey didn't hide his aggravation. After finally dragging Elias away from the bar before they both got arrested, they proceeded to argue their way down the street on their way home. And Joey lost it. He knew he shouldn't have but he was very irritated, he blew up at Elias, which then caused the two of them to start getting verbally aggressive. When Joey stated that if Ellie where there right then she would have been so mad, Elias replied that he needed to just move on already and quit moping around like a little bitch because Ellie wasn't coming back.

And then Joey punched him.

Then they started physically fighting before Joey got angry at himself for doing so, told Elias to either grow the fuck up or to fuck off. Then Joey went home, pouting and PMS-ing. And woke up the next day feeling a little worse for wear. Hungover, bruised and sore from two fights. Most of all, he was mad at himself - more than he was at Elias. But he felt stubborn. He always let Elias off so easily. Always. Eli could treat him like shit and two weeks later they'd probably be best friends again like nothing had happened. Well this time Elias crossed a line. His temper and his mouth had pushed Joey to his limits and he wasn't about to get over it so easily. Joseph did feel guilty.

He knew that Elias had problems, it was why he was so lenient and understanding when it came to Eli and his attitude. Elias had to understand that he couldn't act like an asshole and just expect people to overlook it every time. This was the longest they had gone with no speaking. Even when they lived in different states, they managed to talk to each other regularly. What made Joey start to cave was his son Jamie, who adored Elias and clearly was too young to understand that Uncle Eli had the tendency to be a jerk. He kept whining that he'd not come over to hang out like he usually did and Joey explained that they weren't getting along. And Jamie suggested they make friends again over a game of Mario Kart on the Wii.

Kids were so cute.

A few days before Jamie's birthday, Joey worried how the kid might take it if Elias didn't come around. They were going to Disneyland for his actual birthday but if the kid didn't see him, there was going to be heartbreak and devastation. So they had to settle everything, Joey had to be the bigger man. And after texting each other, Eli agreed to come over to Jamie's little pre-birthday party, which all of his little friends and cousins were attending since they weren't all going to Disneyland. If kids weren't spraying each other with water guns, they were in and out of the pool (as long as they wore their floaties) or on the Slip 'N Slide. Joey had even managed to squeeze in a bouncy castle...which he was resisting to overtake and enjoy!

Though it did mean taking down the trampoline, which he could have really used help with from a certain big muscular friend of his. If only he had been talking to that friend at the time. Damn it. Joey and his brother-in-law Calvin were manning the barbecue while Calvin's wife and Joey's twin sister Maria was making sure everyone was alright. How he managed without her he didn't know. She had helped him make all the food along with their mother, helped him decorate cupcakes and the house. What would he do without his family? They were all here today, their kids included. His parents, Malèna and David; his brother Jacob and Jacob's wife Nikita; youngest sister Isabella and youngest brother Matthew.

So where Eleanor's family: his parents-in-law, Kim and Alex; sister in-law Sofia with her husband Chris and his brother-in-law, Ben. Apart from that, there were no other adults- the rest were kids between the ages of four and ten. Lots of noise and energy. "Jamie, I know it's your birthday but don't spray your sister right in the face." Joey said having witnessed Jamison 'shoot' Annabelle point-blank in the face with his water gun which made her almost cry. He rolled his eyes as Jamie gave him his "what I did nothing, I am any angel." face, which reminded him so much of Elias and that dimple-ridden "I-can-do-no-wrong" smile. Where was that cheeky bastard anyway?

---

TAG: Elias W. SETTING: Casa de Murdoch, in late July. NOTES: ...those motherfucking dimples! 3D62B8

[alexa]

why was it, that everyone he seemed to hold near and dear to his heart, just up and left him. first jasper, wherever the hell that kid went, no one knew. not even his aunt knew where the guy went, nor at this point did elias even care. he finally came to grasp that if people wanted to leave out of his life then there was nothing he could do about it. he just never really thought that joey would get pissed at him to that extreme and not talk to him. it started at the bar, like an average night, elias didn't have a bad attitude at all - he was just having fun with his best bud. then this dickhead came out of nowhere and before he knew it, he was smacking his beer bottle against the guys head and just flat out fighting the guy. he didn't know how joey got involved in the fight and honestly he didn't really care - he was just excited to see that the guy was actually fighting. it had been awhile since he seen that scene come out of joey and it was pretty cool to see. what elias didn't expect was for joey to turn his anger towards him and yell at him. it wasn't elias' fault, he didn't start it - in his eyes, he just simply finished it. so they began to verbally argue and once again, elias let his mouth fly before he thought about what he said. now even if it was the wrong thing to say, he would just like to clear up that he didn't say anything bad about ellie, he just stated the obvious. though of course, some people don't like that kind of thing and he didn't expect to get punched in the face.

they fought on the street until they both finally stopped and joey told him to either "grow the fuck up" or "fuck off" and elias simply chose to "fuck off" so to speak. he didn't need anyone's bullshit because he was dealing with his own. to be quite honest, elias really didn't give a shit about anyone but himself. selfish yes, but it was the truth - if he had to throw someone in a fire of death to save the world, he would. you could've been his mother or a little baby...he would chunk you like you didn't weigh a thing. fucked up? yes. did he care? no. elias spent the last few weeks by himself, going to work and going home to clear his head. he was surprised when he got the text from joey and was even more surprised with they "settled" their differences between themselves. he really just missed the guy and instead of saying something stupid he just agreed with what joey had said. it was a good thing he was forgiven because it meant that he could stop making himself and jamie suffer since they hadn't seen each other in what seemed like years.

so here he was driving his car over to joey's place, hoping that he remembered which way to go. ahhh, of course he did, it was just weird that this was the first time in five weeks since he been there. he bought jamie one of those laser tag games, it was pretty cool and elias would know seeing as he had it himself. duh, he was a huge kid underneath all the tattoos and badass attitude. he always wondered if joey only forgave him just so jamie could be happy. like, did he really want to forgive elias or what. guess he would just have to wait and see what would happen. he pulled up to joey's, parking along side the curb because the driveway was full. he cringed at the thought of seeing little kids run around him. he only tolerated a few and that was family and friends. hell, even his younger cousins irked the shit out of him - with their constant talking.

with gift in hand, he made his way towards the house and could already hear the yelling and laughter of kids. water splashing and the machine sound of a jumping jack - wow, joey really did it up. he made his way into the backyard, taking a deep breath as he rounded the corner. he glanced around and spotted joey over by the barbecue pit and he slowly began to make his way over there. ugh, he hated that this was so damn awkward or at least he was making it that way. "hey joey" he stated, he held up the gift bag before he set it on the table with all the other gifts. he crossed his arms over his chest and started to look for jamie amongst all the kids that were running around. elias didn't know whether to act like his normal self, or to stay stand off-ish towards everyone. guess he would just wait and see how joey acted.



NOTES; lalalaaaa / OUTFIT; RIGHT HERE

[joey]

Though he didn't like to admit it, Joseph could be as stubborn as his friend. This was proved when he didn't give in or simply get over the matter, which was what he usually did after any kind of spat these two had. It was time to swallow his pride, get over his hurt feelings and make up with one of his closest friends. Because life was too short to fall out with your friends over a few poor choices in words in a drunken argument. Losing his wife was the perfect example of that. You didn't know what was coming around the corner, so Joey didn't want to waste anymore time over this. He just hoped Elias would feel the same. And if he didn't, Joey hoped he at least played along because Joey didn't want to cause any kind of 'scene' today, it wouldn't be fair to Jamie.

Joey was so preoccupied with putting new portions of chicken drumsticks onto the grill that he hadn't noticed Elias had arrived. It was Anna that came and told him who had turned up and Joey waved his barbecue tong-holding hand in Elias's direction with a pleased smile. But it was Momma Murdoch who was first to approach the young man, greeting him with a warm hug and kiss to the cheek. Lena didn't get to see him often so it was always nice to. And he could be forty years old but she'd still remember and see him as that cheeky little boy with the beautiful smile who lived in the same area as the Murdoch family, who often got up to no good with her second son Jacob (who was too busy cuddling his pregnant fiancée to notice Elias was here right now).

If being mobbed by Mrs. Murdoch wasn't enough, Anna was quick to arrive at Eli's side and took hold of his hand momentarily, telling him that she was so glad he came and that she and Jamie had missed him. And although she was no longer a Murdoch by name, Joey's twin sister Maria was the third to be pulled from whatever she was doing to greet someone she hadn't seen in quite a while, probably since her sister-in-law's funeral. Joey stood their next to Calvin, both of whom were finding great amusement in Eli's welcome party. "Should I stay here a little longer and enjoy this or should I go and save him now?" Joey joked to his brother-in-law before handing Calvin the tongs and headed towards Elias.

At least Elias knew that he was loved in this family. He'd known them long enough. It was funny that he started off as a childhood friend of Jacob's but in adulthood, he was closer to Joey. Joseph picked up two bottles of beer on his way and placed his arm around his non-identical twin's shoulders. "Would you at least let the man settle and get a drink down his neck before you gang up on him?" Joey said cheekily to disperse them before someone else showed up. "Thanks for coming, man. I wasn't sure if you would." admitted Joey as he handed over a nice cold beer. And then he sighed. "I want to apologise." he said, he felt he might as well just get to the point.

"I'm sorry I hit you, I really am. You hurt my feelings. Whether you meant to or not, you did. I don't know if you just wanted to push my buttons and I don't care, it doesn't matter anymore. I shouldn't have hit you. It was just...not the night out I had expected to have!" Joey said and gave a little laugh. Looking back at it now, it wasn't a big deal. Elias always got into fights and why Joey thought their night out would be any different, he didn't know. He just hated that he got pulled into it. Even though he was pretty impressed with himself, albeit it secretly! He wanted to make the point of telling Eli that what he said struck a nerve. From where Eli was standing, it probably looked real easy to get over it. But it wasn't and the comment was tactless.

He had no idea how the past year and a half had been for Joey. You couldn't fall out of love with someone so easily, even when they weren't there. He didn't need someone telling him to move on and quit moping like a little bitch because his wife wasn't coming back and Elias had no right to be that person. It was no reason to hit someone but he felt justified in being upset by it. And now he was over it. "If you're still upset with me, I understand. But I just want you to know that I'm sorry and if you're happy to move on then I say we put it behind us. And next time we go out, can you try to not get us arrested? I love you and everything but I don't want to be someone's bitch." Joey asked and gave his friend(?) a grin.

[alexa]

Where was Jamie? It sucked whenever you were looking for someone or something and you couldn’t find and usually it would be right in front of you. He kept scanning and instead of seeing Jamie in front of him, he saw the woman whom he considered to be his second mother. Elias placed a huge, dimple showing grin on his face as he was wrapped in a warm and loving hug. He could remember the countless times he spent at her house, getting in trouble for god knows what. They would come home with new bruises and would have to tell momma Murdoch that they weren’t fighting, they were simply playing. Which, he was sure that she knew that it was complete bullshit, because she never busted them for it as if she knew they would deny every bit of it. He returned her hug just in time before he was surrounded by yet another Murdoch, except she was a bit smaller and a lot younger. “I missed you guys too; life kinda sucked ‘cause your pretty face wasn’t in it” he cooed. Oh, he was such the charmer, wasn’t he? Then, gorgeous Maria came into his view, which he used to have a huge crush on when he was a kid.

“Where the hell have you been hiding Maria” he stated as he gave her a huge bear hug. It had seemed like forever since he had last seen her, he really needed to get out and visit them more often. Typical ladies man, it was a tough job but someone had to do it. Couldn’t go to a party without getting swarm by them and he really couldn’t complain about either, he loved the attention. “It really hasn’t been as long as you guys think…” he mumbled as he tried to answer the questions that seemed to be flying out at him. It was nice to see them all again, it really brought back the old memories and it was a good feeling. The only person that was missing was Jacob, whom he knew was here because he first spotted him when he walked in. His hazel eyes glanced up to see Joey saving him from the feminine bomb threat, a silent prayer being said in his mind. He made a small pout appear on his face as if he was sad that Joey broke up the party. “Damn, just my luck” he said, while snapping his finger for effect. “I will find you all later and talk because I know the Murdoch ladies need Eli time.” He reached out and took the beer and nodded at Joey.

“Of course I’d come, it’s for Jamie” he muttered. Elias was just about to excuse himself to find Jamie when he was stopped by Joey saying he wanted to apologize. As he listened to what Joey had to say he realized it was the exact same thing that Jules had told him he would say. “When have I ever said something like that to just push your buttons?” he replied rather bluntly. Elias may have done a lot of stupid things but he knew how Joey felt about Ellie and he wouldn’t have said it just to push buttons. He would’ve come up with something else, like, Joey’s man handles or beer belly. ( xD ) There was no need in revisiting the events that took place that night, so he just kept his mouth shut while he opened his beer and took a drink. Sure he would never understand what it would be like to lose someone you love like that and he hoped he never did. It was just he was drunk and the last thing he wanted to hear from Joey was how Ellie would act if she were here. Joey had to remember that Elias wasn’t the same age as he was; he was a young and hot-headed twenty-three year old with a lot of testosterone.

He had expected something like this to happen between him and Jasper because Jasper was…just as crazy as Elias was. “Well I’m still pissed about everything and I’m gonna need a little longer than you to get over it” he returned calmly. Of course he was joking, but he kept his poker face on as he stared at Joey. Damn, he should’ve been and actor but he hated the lifestyle and most of the actors in it. “I’m sorry that I’m not a level-headed guy like you and the rest of the world. I’m only 23; I’m doing what normal 23 year olds like me do. If you have a problem with the way I go out then don’t go out with me.” On the inside he was just laughing with joy as he ranted off to Joey. With that he simply shrugged his shoulders and brought the beer to his lips and took another drink. “So, like I said I’m gonna need a bit longer to forgive you” he muttered as he nodded and looked around the party. After a bit of silence he looked back at Joey and gave him a cheeky grin. “Okay, times up. All is forgotten, I was just waiting on you to apologize first” he chuckled as he threw his arm around Joey’s shoulder.



NOTES; dimples make people happy / OUTFIT; RIGHT HERE

[joey]

Though Joey didn't know that Elias was just joking around, he made a fair point. Elias was a lot younger than Joey and he was at times, very immature and hot-headed. Temperamental didn't begin to describe him. The fighting did bother Joey but at the end of the day, it was Eli's prerogative to get into fights and if it landed him into a lot of trouble then he would have to deal with the consequences. You couldn't fault Joey for wishing Elias would have more self control though. He also hadn't had the same experiences that Joey had had. Becoming a husband and a father caused Joey to grow up, Joey was sure if the same happened to Eli, he'd learn to think before he acted. Joey had something to lose, if he had gotten arrested that night at the club, he could have been in a lot more trouble than a night in a holding cell or a fine. Thankfully they left before the police showed up, Joey got Elias out of there.

Of course Elias would need more time, of course he would be more pissed at Joey. That stubborn jackass. Joey had hoped this was all go smoothly and they could just skip over this little hurdle like they usually did. Their spat had gone on for long enough now. He sighed heavily, that stubbornness the kept him from apologising to Elias right away was now keeping him from moving until they sorted this out. "Eli..." Joey began, trying to think of something he could say that Elias wouldn't see as a reason to argue once more and leave in a huff, thus upsetting Jamie, Anna and Joseph all together. He didn't expect that 'little longer' which Elias mentioned to be so little! Oh, the scowl it brought to Joey's face. It was a playful scowl but scowl nonetheless! "You..." he began, forming a fist which he shook at Eli who had been playing him all along. "You are such an asshole!" Joey laughed, elbowing Elias in the ribs because the younger of the two had put his arm around Joey's shoulders.

Joey tugged on his friend, ushering him to follow. "Come on, you bastard." he said, ever so lovingly and motioned to a small group of children, headed by Jamie in his boardshorts and a children's rash-guard, armed with his now-empty water gun, his sister was with him and three friends. Anna had rushed to find him because she knew he'd be happy to see Elias. Joey caught hold of his shoulder before the kid left the nearby vicinity and covered his eyes. "Look who I've found, J." Dad said, taking his hands away from the boy's eyes and turned him around so Jamie was face to face with Elias, who had been behind Joey. And as soon as Jamie saw him, he exclaimed "Uncle Eli!" before he leapt forwards to throw his arms around Eli, even though he was a bit soggy. "I didn't think you were gonna come!" said the six year old's muffled voice because he had buried his face in Eli's hip. Joey smiled, brushing his hand over Anna's head as she stood next to him, giggling away.