crowns-and-claws​:

Mariah smiled softly. Silas was simple. He always had been and she supposed he always would be. She supposed that was why it was so easy to be with him. All the other people in the world were extremely complicated, but Silas wasn't. "I'll always manage to find space in my schedule for you, Silas." she promised as she kissed the back of his hand softly. Her eyes rolled as he said he wasn't the smartest guy. "I hate when you say that. You're smart in other ways. So what if it's not with school. There are tons of other areas to be smart in." Mariah smiled at his words and nodded. "I feel the same way. You're the best so I can't do any better." she grinned leaning in and kissing his lips. "Can I tell you a secret?" she whispered. "This class is a review class that I actually don't have to go to. I was just going to do some extra reviewing before the exam next week. I have more time to spend with you right now."

jonah smiled slightly, “you don’t have to try that hard, baby. you look beautiful in just about anything and everything that you wear.” he assured with a smile resting over his face. he was completely in love with her and he was thankful that he was able to fix things between the two of them. though, he definitely enjoyed seeing her all dressed up too. he smiled against her lips and shifted into the bathroom with his girlfriend, his nose nudging against hers. “i missed you too.” he assured and allowed her to strip him of his shirt. he smiled down at her and pulled at her shirt to discard it on their bathroom floor. “i’m so glad you’re back with me.”

Tilly smiled at his words giving him another kiss before she raised her arms so he could slip her shirt off of her body. "Yeah? Even in my Christmas jammies that I wear on the first of December and I roll over and theirs crusties in my eyes and I have morning breath?" she asked raising an eyebrow. Tilly couldn't deny that she was completely in love with Jonah. There weren't many people in the world who could handle her and still love her at the end of the day. He was truly an angel. She had decided that he had a moment last night and now that he knew he could not have one again, they should be fine. It was all Tilly wanted. For them to be happy and together again. Even if there were things about her that Jonah simply didn't know. He just wasn't ready to hear her out. Tilly wasn't sure when he would be ready.

She kissed him back as he told her that he missed her too and was happy they were back together. She pulled on the belt of his pants and unbuckled it before loosening his pants for him. "I'm so happy because now we have to make up. This is the fun part, right?" she asked with a slow smile before kissing him again.

“I guess you can never really be sure how people will react…”, he trailed off. But he was still optimistic and he sure hoped he was right to be because the last thing he wanted was for Candice to be disappointed or hurt. Jonas chose to focus on the fact that he’d heard nothing but good things about them from her. He rested his cheek on top of her head and smiled. “I’m excited for you. You deserve to be reunited with your family, to have your mom cry happy tears at our wedding, to have your dad walk you down the aisle, and have your grandmother spoil you. I just want you to be happy, you know?” Candice deserved the world after everything she had been through and though Jonas wasn’t perfect, he’d make sure to give her exactly that.

“And for the record…”, he adding with a teasing lilt to his voice. Because what she’d said definitely didn’t fall on deaf ears. Jonas pulled back, index finger under her chin to tilt her head up. And then he kissed her tenderly, lovingly, longingly. “Every night can be our wedding night soon to be Mrs Chang”.

"You can't." Candice said shaking her head. She had been in plenty of situations where she believed it would go well, but things went horribly wrong. More wrong than she had expected at times. She quickly realized that people were unpredictable. Which is why she worried about how her family was going to react even though she knew how good they were. She couldn't help but smile as he brought up everything her family could participate in with them now. "You're right, Baby. My dad is going to look so handsome in his formal firefighter uniform. The navy blue will definitely bring out his blue eyes." she grinned at the vision in her head. "And my Nonna and Grammie will spoil both of us with lots of Italian and Irish food so I hope your stomach is ready." she grinned rubbing his stomach softly.

Candice licked her lips and smirked up at him as he made her look at him. "Every night? You sure you're ready for every night to be our wedding night, Mr. Chang? That's quite a request and deed. I don't want to tire you out for our actual wedding night." she smiled returning his kiss.

"I...manipulative? That is quite a stretch, Anthony. Break up with me. Say I was a shit girlfriend, but manipulative? Really?" Billie was still in shock from the events of the last few minutes. Maybe she complained too much. Maybe she vented too much about her own days and didn't listen to his. That would definitely make her a shitty girlfriend, but she was definitely not manipulative. "Listen. I'm not a perfect person and maybe that's the kind of girl and girlfriend you were expecting when we started this. Perhaps your expectations weren't at a level that I can reach. I fucked up and for that I'm sorry, but I have never ever tried to manipulate you. Sorry I wasn't the perfect girl that you expected." She put some things in her work bag and grabbed her purse. "That would be appreciated. Goodbye, Anthony." she nodded before opening the door preparing to walk out of his place.

"I guess we just have different expectations on what our partners should need to put up with." Anthony said as he felt he had always done whatever he could to help her. He just felt like it wasn't enough, no matter what he did. Then there were cases like this where it seemed that Billie wanted to cause a fight just to take out her unrelated anger at him. Anthony had watched his own father play mind games with his mother for years and what it had done to his mother. It wasn't something he wanted to have to deal with himself. "But yes, manipulative is the word I'd use for the situation. It's not that it was all bad, but it's a pattern that needs to be broken." Anthony added as they'd had some good times together as well. He just couldn't stand being an emotional punching bag, which is what he felt like tonight. "Goodbye Billie."

END THREAD

declan hadn't been to a place this nice literally ever and so he was surprised by the fact that they were even here in the first place but he knew her sister suggested it and so he wanted to give it a try. if he was going to give something like this a try, he wanted it to be with ella. in fact, most of what he wanted to experience in life, he wanted her by his side and he'd gotten lucky a lot of the time. there were a few things they missed out on, like being each other's first kiss but he knew that everything happened her a reason and this was happening now because it was meant to.

he laughed, "no, i won't judge you." he reassured and followed them toward the table to take a seat across from his date. "come on, let's give this a try. who knows? maybe it'll be our new place." he doubted it, especially since it seemed to be out of both of their comfort zones but it was nice for a first date. "let's see," he started and scanned over the menu, "you know, i feel like i should order a steak. it's gotta be good for that price, don't you think?"

Ella wasn't used to this type of place either. The fanciest she got was Applebee's or TGIFridays. This place was several steps above those and she felt a bit like a fish out of water. She was grateful that she was going through all of this with Declan though. There was no one else on the planet that she would want to experience new things with other than him. She knew that they had missed out on a lot of different things, but she was more than ready to create all new memories and first with him. She had wanted this for so long and now that she had it, Ella wanted to experience everything with Dec.

She opened her own menu and scanned the lists of extravagant and expensive dishes. "At these prices? I don't think we could afford to make this our place, Dec." she chuckled softly. It seemed like her credit card would take a big hit tonight. Her dark eyes found the steak and widened. "For that price, they better have raised the cow themselves that it came from." she replied with a soft chuckle. "Would it be horrible if I ordered that too? It's the only thing that I know on the menu. Maybe we'll both fund a small slaughterhouse with what we're paying for it." she smirked softly as the waiter came over and asked what wine they would be drinking. Ella grimaced softly. She hadn't asked Billie what to say when this came up. "Ummm...a red one?" she asked doubtfully. "I read in a magazine that you're supposed to have red wine with steaks." she shrugged before looking over at Dec with some worry.

"I do." Robbie sighed. This was a horrible landmine filled conversation that he could not, and did not want to navigate anymore. "Stories also have more than one side. You can't ask someone to just believe one side when there are multiple parties involved." He stopped for a moment thinking of what else to add to this failed conversation. "If someone told me you sprouted wings and flew into the nigh sky, I'd come to you and ask what happened. No matter what."

"There are always more than one side to a story. I do agree with you there. But, it feels like you're believing them and not me. In fact, it feels like you're taking their side by saying that it was all my fault." she explained trying not to be upset by that. "Is that what you're saying? What you're trying to get across? That this is all my fault?"

the man was more than thankful that they were fixing things. jonah had genuinely been worried that he was going to lose her, which is the last thing he wanted since he was so in love with her. “i won’t.” he added again. he still couldn’t believe the way that he reacted last night and he knew she didn’t deserve it. he just had to make it a point now not to overreact. “good,” he started, “because you look beautiful in it.” though, he loved everything she wore. he had no complaints and he doubted that he ever would. he nodded when she mentioned matching and then chuckled at her next suggestion, his own arms moving around her. “i can’t say i’d hate that. i’d love to have you join me.” he said without a second though and leaned down to kiss her back.

Tilly hummed and shook her head smiling up at him. She could see that he had learned his lesson, but she still wanted to tease him about it a little bit. Just so it would be fresh in his mind. "I like looking beautiful for you, Baby." she sighed softly giving him a warm smile. It was true. Dressing up for Jonah was one of Tilly's favorite things to do. Seeing his reaction to how she looked just sparked different feelings inside of her that she really enjoyed. Tilly couldn't hide her smile as he agreed to take a shower with her. She kissed his lips again before backing him into the bathroom and turning away from him only to start the shower and wait for it to get hot. "I missed you." she whispered giving him another kiss before pulling at the ends of his shirt, starting to pull it off of him.

crowns-and-claws​:

Mariah smiled a little bashfully over at him. She knew that he would love nothing more than to spend all their days in bed together. It had been a bit overwhelming at first, especially since she didn't really have a lot of experience in this department, but she liked that he was into her that much. That he liked her that much and enjoyed her company. No guy had ever showed her that much interest nor actually wanted to spend a lot of time with her. It was why she cared for Silas so much and didn't want to ruin what they had going. She was always worried that she was going to do something to ruin it. "Yes, we've talked about how your family has money and all that and I assured you that I was not with you for your money. That stuff doesn't matter to me." she said shaking her head softly. "But you matter to me. You matter a whole lot to me." she smiled and reached for his hand. "I want you to be happy and not bored with life watching me come and go every day. It's good that they have your older brother to take over. It gives you the space to do whatever you want to do. You can literally do whatever you want to do, Baby. I'm always going to be here for you. I just worry that you're going to get bored and unhappy and...I don't know...leave me and find something better." she shrugged softly looking down at their crossed hands, rubbing his fingers with her fingertips slowly.

Tiffany smiled brightly, biting her bottom lip she nodded fervently yes. "Yes to all of it," she exhaled a little giggle. When Toni started to gush about the true crime show Tiffany laughed, "You're too much. I'll give it a shot but I can't promise I'll be able to focus on it," she flirted and gave her girlfriend's hands a squeeze. "It's cute when you explain it," Tiffany admitted. She really only watched the shows for Toni, and only ever with her girlfriend. "Let me dry off, can you order the pizza?" she asked moving to snag her towel.

Toni grinned as her girlfriend agreed to everything. She loved spending time with her especially when she was gone for a long time. Toni kissed her cheek and smirked. "Give it at least fifteen minutes and you may be handsomely rewarded." the woman smirked. Toni rolled her eyes playfully. "Anything so you don't actually have to watch the show." she chuckled. Toni knew that she only watched them because of her and it meant a lot. Toni nodded and gave her a quick peck on the lips as she got her phone out of her back pocket. "The usual? I'm only putting pineapples on your half because my stomach didn't like them last time." she said tapping on her phone as she got to the pizza app they always used and started creating their order.

Harper still felt completely out of her element when it came to this stuff. It would be easier to pretend that she knew what she was doing but that wouldn't do her any good in the end. Instead, she needed to be honest. "Having a bat might be helpful." Harper replied because at least then she might be able to scare the man off. She just wanted him to think that she wasn't someone that she should be messing with. "Well, I don't really want to be arrested if I am being honest. But I am entirely sure that he has been following me and I want him to know I mean business."

"It's little, but it's heavy." Tini said opening a glass case and pulling out a small metal bat. "Again he has to be close to you in order for this to be effective. It will sure as shit knock his freak ass out though." she explained as she put the small bat on the top of the case so Harper could try it out in her hand. She licked her lips and shrugged as she put the tasers away. She wasn't ready for those and Tini understood that. A person had to be confident in what they used to defend themselves. "The bat and self-defense objects should do it for you then. I would recommend some self-defense classes as well. It'll give you confidence and it'll teach you how to keep yourself safe if you're ever without this stuff. Just a suggestion." she said nonchalantly and she rang her up on her tablet. "That'll be 150. Cash or credit?"

A breathy laugh escaped him. "No No. I like that one, it's pretty good. I used to tell him I had to take my dog's cousin on a walk. I think it confused him enough that he didn't ask what I meant by it." Either that or his friend figured he was crazy, most rotor heads were. There were always going to be certain details about his work that he had to omit. Saying that he was a helicopter pilot for a clandestine unit wasn't exactly something to cheer about. He went where he was needed and did some politician's dirty work. But sometimes, there was the good. Missions that reminded him why he was doing what he did. A smile tugged at his lips, "Well, between the slow periods of hitting the gym and sitting around. I took my unit to Haiti and we delivered a load of antibiotics. I got beat at soccer by a twelve year old, and you know the kid was so smug about it, too."

Madison chuckled at his excuse. "That's a perfect one. I'm going to steal that one from you." she grinned over to him. She could clearly see he was in the gym a lot. His chest and abs were visible through his shirt and they looked like they were chiseled like a sculpture. "Sitting around? We have to get you a better hobby and a different one than going to the gym all the time. Can't have you turn into a Roid Rager can we?" she grinned softly. Her head tilted slightly as she had expected to hear about a vacation in Haiti, but was surprised to hear about a medical delivery to help the people there. This guy was not at all what she expected. It was very surprising and Madison didn't get surprised very often. She was usually the one doing all the surprising. "You have to have swag when you win against someone who you thought was better than you. I play soccer and I bet I could beat you too." she smirked taking a sip of her drink. "I like that you helped people by giving them medicine. Tell me more about that."

He snuck in another kiss just before she turned to get her phone. “If you keep saying that, I’m going to steal you and marry you in Vegas”, he teased. As fun and exciting as wedding planning could sometimes be, Jonas couldn’t wait to marry Candice either and to start a family with her. Not necessarily in that order because it was all so exciting plus he loved the baby making process. And now his mind was in the gutter… but now wasn’t the right time for this.

“That works for me if it works for you”. He finally took a slice of pizza and bit into it. Candice was right. There was nothing like pizza and of course, good company. “That makes sense”, he continued now that she’d clarified. And he was reassured too. “Maybe I’m biased but I don’t think they’ll be angry. I mean…” he dropped the pizza and rubbed her arm soothingly. Once again, Jonas couldn’t help but think of what it would be like to be in her family’s position and was convinced he was right about this. “You’ve always told me good things about them. I think they just want to know if you’re okay and be reunited with you but don’t worry, I know it’ll make you feel better so I’ll test the waters and let you know before you meet with them. Are you happy to do this?”

"We can always pretend if you want to." Candice smiled against his lips before giving him another kiss. "We can pretend for the wedding night too." she chuckled wiggling her eyebrows at him playfully. Candice understood being so excited that waiting to get married seemed like an eternity. She really wanted to be Jonas' wife as well. And though it would be fun and spontaneous to go to Vegas and get married by Elvis, Candice really wanted to walk down the aisle in a beautiful dress toward the man she loved and celebrate with all of her family and friends.

She nodded as she made a note for herself on her phone. "I'll put in for the time at work tomorrow night and see if I get approved. I was able to save up a few more days since you let me go to work more often now." she teased lightly before eating more pizza. She licked her lips as he spoke looking over to him a few times before settling against him lightly. "They're good people. I have no doubt about that. Just...the emotions I've made them feel could cloud their judgment or who they really are and it makes me nervous." she admitted softly. Candice nodded softly and smiled. "Thank you. It does make me feel better. It makes me feel even better that you're going with me and are willing to meet them before I do. How do you feel about everything?" she asked looking up at him.

James had come to Tini precisely because she didn't ask questions. At least, that was what he'd heard. He was actually hoping not to use what he bought, but he wasn't stupid enough to not have a gun on him.

He took a look at the guns she'd brought out. He wasn't a weapons expert himself, but he used enough to have a general idea what he was looking at. He picked up one and tested how it felt, then chose another one. He recognized it as a SIG-Sauer P320. He tested it in his hands.

"This one's good" he said.

Tini observed the man as he looked over her inventory and tested them in his hands. She pursed her lips as he decided on the SIG. It was a great weapon. Very much in demand though supplies was a bit low. That's what happened when the merchandise was good. Actually better than good. Superior to most.

"6K." she said crossing her arms over her chest. "Cash only." she continued with a cool stare.

@crowns-and-claws

jonah was going to do whatever he could to make this up to her. if a night out on the town is something that would make her happy then that was something he was willing to do. “i won’t.” he reassured and pressed a kiss to her forehead. he let the woman go as she headed toward the closet and he followed her. “you have so many good ones or well, ones that look good on you.” but as he scanned over the material, he knew he had a favorite. shifting around her, he pulled a light purple dress out and handed it over to her. “this one looks amazing on you. you’re always beautiful but this by far is the one i love seeing you wear most.” he explained. “i think i should grab a shower before we go out but if you have a preference on my shirt, you’re welcome to lay it out for me.”

Tilly looked up at him as he kissed her forehead. She always liked when he did that. "Better not." she mumbled narrowing her eyes at him before walking to the closet with him. She smiled as he picked her purple dress which was one of her favorites to wear so she approved. "I love wearing this dress too." she grinned before going over to his side of the closet which was considerably smaller than hers. "I think we should match so you should wear your purple button up." she said pulling the shirt out and laying it on the bed. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he said he was going to shower. "You want some help with that shower or should we conserve some water because I think I need a shower too." she smirked leaning up and kissing him.

crowns-and-claws​:

Mariah giggled softly and smiled at him. "I try. I have to make sure to keep you around as my boyfriend. I know I'm not as exciting as most of the other girls you're used to dating." It was all true. She liked spending time with Silas. He always supported her and listened to her space theories even though he didn't always understand them. He was respectful and kind. She wanted to keep him as her boyfriend for a long time. Her smile increased as he seemed happy about the weekend she promised him. "I know anything you come up with will be awesome." Mariah smiled and sighed softly. "I think those are only in Disneyland, Babe. You know what I mean. What are your next steps in life? I don't know that I'm going to make enough to keep a trophy husband when I start off in NASA." she grinned playfully even though she did worry about Silas' future.