Cece pulled the rental car into an open parking spot and put it in gear, but didn't turn off the engine. The low purr filled the silence as she watched Elliot and Elliot stared at the hotel before her. It's white walls were topped by red shingles and every level had balconies attached to it. Light spilled from the windows. Laughter and music floated from a patio somewhere beyond their sight.

Past the hotel the ocean lay stretched out before them. The deep blue shifted colors as the sun slipped towards the horizon. Waves crashed against the yellow sand, that seemed to go on for miles.

"We could text and say the IRS caught up to us and we're in debtors prison," Elliot said.

"I'm sure Dickens would really appreciate the company," Cece replied.

They didn't look at each other, their gaze riveted to the hotel and the wealthy patrons that slipped in and out of the doors.

"How about we're in airport prison because we tried to smuggle drugs," Elliot said.

"I told you your problem would get you in trouble."

"Our plane crashed."

"Who knew heaven had such good reception."

"The mafia caught up to us."

"I wonder if calls beyond the grave cost the same as international calls."

"You were terribly wounded in a club fight."

"The funny thing is they would be more surprised by the fact that we went to a club."

Elliot nodded. They sank back into their seats and back into silence. The hotel remained the same, although both girls imagined some sort of destruction done to it, mainly astroids and explosions.

"We should go in," Elliot said, although she made no sign of moving.

"We should," Cece echoed.

Still Elliot remained rooted to the spot, gaze never leaving the entrance.

"We couldn't sleep out in the car, could we?" Elliot asked.

"Probably not. We might get arrested."

"So we're sleeping in the car then."

"Looks like it."

Cece waited as Elliot continued staring at the iconic Hotel Del, unfazed by it's status or enticed to move an inch closer by its charm. The quiet was broken when Cece's phone rang. They both looked down at it and saw the one reason they were there.

"You want to bite the bullet or should I?" Cece asked.

"You get this bullet, I'll jump on the grenade that's due to come at us later tonight."

Cece shrugged. "Seems fair enough."

She reached out and grabbed the phone, answering it.

"Hi Michelle," she said. She fell silent. "Yeah we just pulled in...Uh huh....Yup, we'll be right in." She hung up and let out a breath. "One conversation down, 99,999 to go."

Cece shut off the engine and they stepped out. The air was cool and smelled strongly of the sea. Seagulls swooped over head, backlit by the fading sun. Elliot turned and looked over the roof at Cece.

"Get bags now or later?" she asked.

"Later. We'll need an excuse to leave everyone at some point."

"Smart thinking."

"Smart thinking."

They left the parking lot and climbed the short set of stairs to the entrance. Elliot pulled the door open and they stepped inside.The lobby was elegant and spacious, with a rich, maroon floral patterned carpet. The ceiling rose two stories high. Encircling the lobby were balconies with polished wood railings. At the center was an elaborate chandelier that hung down and seemed to dominate the space. Cece and Elliot bypassed the smiley receptionist and made for the restaurant.

The restaurant had a curved wooden ceiling. The far wall was a semi-circle and lined with windows. Round tables covered in cream, linen tablecloths, gold trimmed china and crystal glasses filled the room. Filling the tables were couples and groups all wearing the tan that marked them as frequent visitors.

"What's our game play?" Elliot asked.

"If they look at you, run. I think they can sense fear and direct eye contact is taken as a challenge."

"What about talking?"

"Use as little words as possible."

"Got it. You know..."

"Yeah, debtors prison is looking really good right now."

"I guess little Dorrit with have to do without our company."

With a glance at each other, as if to make sure the other hadn't bolted, they moved forward. They wound their way through the maze of tables, each table looking more inviting than the one they were headed towards.

Seated around the long table were their family members, plus the entire bridal party. At the head of the table sat their father, his graying hair still thick. Beside him, his wife Hannah smiled at him, her wispy black hair curving in on her narrow face.

Cece and Elliot stopped a few feet from the table as if hoping they would never be noticed and never asked to sit down. That hope shattered when Michelle smiled at them.

"There you are," she said.

Michelle, Austin, and Seth all stood up. Like Cece and Elliot they wore the McKenzie family traits: varies shades of brown hair and hazel to golden brown eyes. Austin made it to them first.

"The wanders have returned home!" he said, stepping over and pulling Cece into a hug which she accepted with less stiffness than Elliot would have expected.

Seth appeared right behind Austin, he stepped towards Elliot as if to hug her but faltered as if not sure we wanted to at all, instead he settled for a half, rigid hug.

"Welcome home, little sis," Seth said.

Elliot bristled at the familiar title.

"Let's hear that Boston accent of yours," he said. "I hear they are all the rage this year."

"No accent," Elliot said, through a tight smile.

He tried to playfully hit her arm but the action felt forced. "That's alright, you can work on it and we'll hear it next time you come home."

He moved over to Cece, while Michelle stepped up to Elliot. Her soft oval face held a bright smile that put dimples in her cheeks.

"I'm glad you made it," she said, her hug slightly less stiff. "We were just going to get started. We saved you spots with the rest of the family."

Elliot's stomach clenched and wished they could sit among the strangers of the bridal party. 

Smiling, Hannah motioned for them to take the open seats across from her. Austin grabbed a hurried, half hug from Elliot before they all moved back to the table. As they took their seats the chatter rose. Elliot and Cece exchanged one last look and took the offered up seats. Hannah leaned forward.

"We hope you don't mind, we ordered for you," she said. "We figured after a long flight you'd want to eat right away."

"Thanks," Cece said. "That was thoughtful of you."

Elliot didn't know whether it was thoughtful or they simply didn't want to wait. The latter seemed more likely.

"How was your flight?" their father asked.

"Fine."

Their father looked down the table and then back at them as if making sure he wouldn't be overheard.

"Listen," he said, his voice low. "We really appreciate you making it out for the wedding, it means a lot to Michelle. I...uh...don't know how things are financially when you're in between books...and I know that flights and hotel rooms, especially for a whole week, can be expensive, so know that if you need...help...we can pitch in or even cover it for you."

Words failed Elliot as she stared at her father. To her complete surprise, Cece responded with something other than a curt reply.

"Thanks, we appreciate the offer but we're okay," she said.

Elliot cast Cece a baffled look at the gracious response.

Thankfully, food arrived and attention was diverted. But once most of it settled, conversation began in earnest again and Elliot and Cece were focused on.

"So," Austin said, his manner stilted. "You're both still writing, right?"

Elliot crossed her arms, struggling with how to answer. 'Still writing' felt like it was something she would give up when it was her entire life. The complete lack of understanding of her life made her stomach twist.

"Actually, Cece spends most her time rearranging furniture and organizing cabinets," Elliot said.

Seth and Austin exchanged a look, puzzled.

"Does that mean you've changed careers?" Seth hedged.

"El, is making fun of me. When I have writer's block I fix the house," Cece said.

Again Elliot didn't understand Cece's response. What happened to the one symbol responses?

"Oh, okay," Seth said, nodding but looking uncertain. "What about you Elliot? You're still writing too?"

"Yup," she said.

When she didn't share anything else the family members around her glanced at one another, unsure. A gap of silence fell over them until their father cleared his throat.

"Well, Austin got promoted in his firm only last month," he said, pride obvious in his voice.

"I did," Austin said. "Corner office with my name on the door."

Elliot wanted to give a mocking retort of how she had her own office too. Her name wasn't on the door but give her a Sharpie and thirty seconds and she'd correct that detail as well.

"That's cool, Austin," Cece said.

"Yeah, and Seth over here," Austin said, shaking his brother's shoulders affectionately. "Made executive manager."

This announcement lead into more of what the family had been doing for the past four years. With each declaration, Elliot felt the gap between them widen. There were so many things she didn't know and that had never been a part of celebrating.

When enough light had faded from the sky, Elliot played the one card she had left in her hand.

"You know it's been a long day, I think we're going to head to our room for then night," she said.

Cece rose with her and waved at the family as they called out goodnights.

The room they walked into had two double beds and a balcony over looking the beach. The hues were soft sand, light green and blues, as if the whole room were trying to restore peace to Elliot. She noticed none of it. Elliot kicked the door shut. Neither of them bothered to turn on the lights. The half moon filled their room with pale, blue light.

Elliot dropped her bags and fell onto the closest bed. There were a million things she wanted to say but none of it was voiced as she stared up at the white ceiling. Cece sat down on the edge of the bed beside her.

"Well," Elliot said. "That was the most awkward thing I've lived through."

Cece nodded, but toyed with the edge of the comforter.

"I thought it more uncertain than awkward."

Frowning, Elliot propped herself on her elbows.

"What are you talking about? That was painful. The way they offered to pay for everything like we're broke."

"They don't know about our lives, what did you expect?"

Elliot sat fully upright. "What about the fact that they asked if we are still writing, like they were hoping we'd given up the ludicrous practice?"

"We haven't really talked in four years, not an insane question."

"And what about the way they rubbed it in our faces that they've accomplished so much?"

"They were sharing about what they been up to, that was it.

For a breath, all Elliot could do was stare at her sister. Had someone else taken over Cece's body? Maybe the hotel was haunted and this was the ghost of some nicer being.

"Where is this coming from?" Elliot asked, thrown. "I thought we were on the same page, this trip would be awful. When did you start reading a different book?"

Cece shrugged and curled her legs, draping her arms over them.

"We were on the same page, but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting."

"Did we not just sit at the same table and hear the same things, cause that was pretty bad."

"No, it was awkward, but I'm not sure it wasn't going to be. This is the first time we've all been in the same room together since we moved."

Unable to take what her sister said, Elliot stood up and paced.

"How are you acting so calm about all of this? I almost crawled underneath the table."

"It's going to sound strange but Milo."

Elliot stopped and pinched her nose. "Now you're not even reading a different book, you're literally not even reading English. How does Milo have anything to do with the stiffness we just faced?"

"Accepting a relationship with Milo was the most terrifying thing I could have faced, but once I went through that door I found it far different than I imagined. I went through the door of facing our family and I found it to be just as different than I expected."

"Right now I want to slam a door on you," Elliot said. "I can't believe you're comparing accepting Milo's love to being with our family."

"It's facing fears, right? It's not as hard as you imagine it to be."

"Stop. You're acting as the sage and it's not a good role on you."

"Really 'cause you always expected me to have all the right answers, I feel like this is simply inline with that."

Though Cece smiled, Elliot found she couldn't join in on the joke. Her sister's view of the night was skewed and she couldn't see it, only Elliot could see it clearly. But that left her on her own.

"We might not be as broken as we used to be," Cece said. "Try to see that, El."

"No, we've always been broken."

"Then maybe we're healing."

Cece's phone rang and she looked at the screen, then turned it so Elliot could see that is was Milo calling.

"You want me to put it on speaker?" she asked.

Elliot shook her head. "No, I need some fresh air."

As Cece flopped onto the bed, answering, Elliot stepped out onto the balcony. A chill salty breeze swirled around her. Curling up on one of the chairs, she hugged her arms around her.  She stayed there listening to the rise and fall of Cece's voice, feeling the emptiness around her.

Eventually the sound got to her and she tugged out her phone. She pulled up the one contact she knew wouldn't answer but hoped would. When she got her mother's voice mail, she pulled up another contact.

"This is Tristan," Tristan's voice mail said, "if you know me, then you shouldn't have called. Don't leave a message. I won't listen to it."

Elliot hung up. She thought about trying Tristan's business number but thought better of it. She sat looking at her phone for a long moment. She scrolled through her list once more, stopping on one name. She stared at it, her finger hovering above it. Cece talked on, a laugh floating from her musical voice at Milo's doing. Elliot hit the name and put the phone to her ear.

One ring followed the next.

"Hi, you've reached Beck. Sorry I'm not available, leave a message and I'll call you back. Thanks."

Elliot stared at the other side of the room, not prepared for the sadness at not having him pick up. The line beeped, startling her and making her realize she hadn't hung up.

"Uh, hi," she said. "I didn't plan on leaving a message. I didn't actually plan on calling you either. It's not that I meant not to call you, because I in fact pressed call but I mean I just..." Elliot dropped her head into her hand, "none of this is making sense. Sorry. It's probably late over there and you're asleep. I hope this doesn't wake you. Anyways, don't bother calling back. I don't know why I called. Sorry again." She let out a sigh. "I secretly hope your phone gets trampled by elephants before you get the chance to hear this. Okay, I'm hanging up now."

Elliot ended the call and sank deeper into the chair, thinking about home.

**********************************************************************

Enchilada! (And we're back to Mexican food)

So you met the other half of the family, thoughts? I for one am not really taken with them.

Moving on. Call me crazy-

(You're crazy.)

Nope, I don't really appreciate that. Anyways, call me crazy but does anyone really get screamo music? This might surprise you-

(Probably not)

But I like happy, upbeat songs. Songs that cheer up your day and make you smile no matter what mood you are in. So why is there a genre where you can't hear the words and someone is literally screaming at you. If you like it then tell me why, I'm super curious!

Pick a song, hit play, dance!