Modern Family

Paper Hearts

"Why is Uncle Austin being so weird?"

Jace looked up from where he was setting the table to see Savannah skipping into the kitchen, blonde curly pigtails bouncing atop her head and Liam trailing close behind. He shot a confused glance at Liam, who just shrugged before making his way to the cupboard to select his cereal for the morning.

Briefly glaring at Ryan, who was sitting at the end of the table, snickering into his tea cup, Jace helped Savannah climb into her chair. "What do you mean, Sav?"

"He won't let me play with his hair." Her eyes were wide as she gazed up at her father, her bottom lip jutted out as though Austin had committed a major travesty. Though to her, he probably had; she loved sticking her fingers in his thick curls and molding them to her liking.

"I'm sorry, babe," Jace shrugged, pouring her Cheerios into her bowl and watching her pick up her plastic handled spoon. He couldn't very well force Austin to make Savannah his permanent hair stylist, no matter how much the five year old's pout made his heart melt.

"And he changed his shirt six times." She said it matter of factly because she'd sat in the middle of his bed and practiced her counting against the button ups of various colors that Austin and shrugged on and off his shoulders.

This was surprising to all of the boys. Austin Jenson was many things, but fashion conscious was not one of them. He practically lived in jeans and t-shirts.

Jace, Liam, and Ryan exchanged curious glances as they slipped into their chairs around the table, silently racking their brains as to what could possibly have made Austin uptight before Ryan's eyes sparked with recognition and his lips stretched into a wide grin.

"It's Valentine's Day."

Jace and Liam let out simultaneous sounds of understanding, nodding their heads as they began to stir their cereal into their milk.

Austin had recently begun casually seeing a girl he'd met at a friend's New Year's Eve party and for the first time in a while, he felt as though it could actually be going somewhere. Valentine's Day would be the first big milestone in their relationship, so it made sense that he was nervous for the night ahead.

"What a sucker," Ryan muttered, shoving a spoonful of Cheerios into his mouth.

"No plans tonight, Ryan?" Liam asked.

Ryan shrugged, swallowing before he responded. "I might see Kayla."

Kayla was a girl Ryan hooked up with whenever one of them was feeling lonely. Valentine's Day seemed like an appropriate occasion for them to meet.

"Do you guys ever, like, go on dates?" Jace asked, genuinely curious.

"Nah, man," Ryan shook his head. "I have rules against taking girls out on Valentine's Day. They start expecting too much."

Jace snorted into his cereal bowl as Liam rolled his eyes and fixed the lead guitarist with a sarcastic glare. "You're such a catch, Ryan."

"Hey, not all of us can have it as together as you," Ryan said defensively.

About six months ago, Liam had reconnected with a former flame and they'd decided to give it another chance. So far, things were going well and Liam wasn't freaked out about the night ahead because he'd planned the date about two weeks in advance.

If this situation had occurred five years before, Liam would have would have given Ryan the finger, but the boys had learned to be sensitive to innocent eyes and ears, so Liam settled for sticking his tongue out instead.