adventure of a lifetime [ bxb : advanced : pafp ]

ripped pants. · Feb 11th 2017

Ollie still didn't seem excited about the idea of me going out on a mission with Scythe, which made me feel bad. It wasn't that I wanted him to have to be scared, but I didn't want my friend to be in danger. Which, when I thought about it, sounded wrong. Scythe would be fine. It was Oliver who would be freaking out if I didn't stay with him. So yeah. I'd probably stay with him, unless Scythe insisted that I go. I figured I'd talked enough sense into him to keep him from bothering me about it anymore, anyways. And if he seriously thought that it was dangerous enough that he needed someone to go with him, there were plenty of others who would go along.

But I knew that wasn't completely true. He'd definitely be able to make someone go with him, but the list of people who'd volunteer was short. Not everyone was as willing to stick their necks out to save some random dogs. And even if they were okay with doing it for the dogs, Scythe could scare anyone away from it. His reckless behavior didn't make things any easier. So maybe I did need to go. Just so he didn't have to force someone else to come along.

Fortunately, something pulled me out of my internal debate. Somewhat to my surprise, he took me up on my shower invitation. I smiled, pulling him towards the bathroom. I was glad that we were getting chances like this to be together. Pretty soon, we were going to be buried in wedding plans, and I'd be shocked if we had any time for things like this. Not to mention the fact that we had Scythe and Sasha's wedding to deal with too. Hell, it felt like we weren't going to have any free time in the near future. That probably wasn't true, but it seemed like it to me. I was always the type to keep my schedule pretty open, so having so many things planned felt weird. Not that I was complaining. After all, it was all going to end with me marrying the love of my life.

By the time I had my shirt off, Oliver had already turned on the water and pulled me into a kiss. I knew we were going to have to wait a minute, since the water could be pretty slow to heat up, but I didn't care. Truthfully, I didn't even need a shower. Or, I did, but that wasn't what had been on my mind when I brought it up. For a second, something seemed off, like he was worried. Like he'd frozen for a second. But I didn't think too much of it. It was probably nothing.

Although I started to doubt that again when he pulled away for a second, asking if he ever told me how much he loved me. That got me suspicious. Mainly because that tended to be what people - especially myself - said when they were planning to get out of trouble. Then again, it might've been different for him. He was always more affectionate than anyone else I knew. Besides, who cared? It couldn't be anything that important either way. So I just smiled, laughing a bit as I answered, "All the time."

I was just about to check and see if the water was ready when I heard something from the living room. I groaned; it was my phone. Again. And knowing my luck, it was probably something stupid like a telemarketer, and if I went to go answer it, I'd just be wasting time. With that in mind, I just shook my head, my attention returning to him as I let the phone continue to ring. "I'll just call back later," I said, leaning in to kiss him again.

red. · Feb 11th 2017

I tried to tell myself that everything was fine, but at this point I was completely panicking. Still internally freaking out, I tried to stay with him in the moment as I wrapped my arms around his neck. It was a mix of still wanting him close to me and trying to hide my hands, but nonetheless it wasn't like I was having a bad time. I was just extremely distracted. And I could tell that I had definitely tensed up, I just hoped he didn't notice too. If I could just get five minutes, that was all I needed. Just five minutes to tear my bathroom apart to find this ring so that I could wear it and sleep at night. And to maybe snake my shower drain.

He hadn't caught on to the fact that I was losing my mind, which was good. If anything I would just shoo him out of the bathroom when we were finished and turn this place upside down. I was not about to lose this ring. And I was not going to let him notice, either. But where the hell could it have gone? I only put my hand remotely near the drain to turn on the shower, so surely it couldn't have fallen off then. So that put me at ease a little bit. At least it probably wasn't on its way into the sewers of New York. And I definitely had it on when we came home. Was it in the tree or something? Regardless I was going to find it, and this would never be brought up. If he ever found out I lost this he'd kill me (by no means literally, but we'd definitely have a good argument about it).

And suddenly, out of sheer luck, his phone began to ring. It was the world giving me a second chance to redeem myself. We both pulled back at the same time as we heard this, both of us sighing. I'm not sure about his, but mine was a definite sigh of relief. Hopefully with this I'd have that small window of time I so desperately needed. But he leaned in to kiss me again, and I leaned back, keeping the gap between us. "Don't you want to see who that is?" I asked softly, my hands dropping to his waist as I gave him an encouraging smile. "It could be Scythe, y'know? Maybe he changed his mind about this whole mission thing." Typically, and we both knew this, I hated whenever his phone rang. I always wanted him to myself since I was so clingy, but now it was definitely coming off as odd that I was persuading him into going to check it out. If only he knew.

I knew he didn't buy it, so I took both of his hands and began to lead him back towards the door. "Or your parents checking in, maybe?" Okay, I definitely wasn't acting like myself. And he was probably either confused and or worried that I suddenly became extremely antsy, but I had a right to be. So that was why I ushered him out, stopping only to leave a lingering kiss on his lips. "And don't worry babe, we have all night, don't we?" I asked playfully before I shut the door again behind him. As soon as it was closed I leaned back against it, shutting her my eyes tightly and holding back a stressed sigh.

Okay, I probably had three minutes tops. Probably less now because I freaked him out and he wanted to know why the hell I was acting so jumpy. But I was quick to strip entirely and get into the shower, gasping at how cold it was. It was better than getting my pants wet, though, and I ignored it as I examined the drain. I had a sort of stopper that prevented things from slipping into the drain, and I let out another sigh of relief as I finally realized that there was no way in hell that it could fit through an opening that small. So that got rid of that option. I got out of the shower, still panicking as I moved to the sink. It wasn't on the counter or near the drain. I dug through the cabinets, took down towels, basically turned my bathroom to shit in hopes of finding some sort of clue. And finally, when I was basically out of time, I had the idea of picking up my clothes that I had just taken off, and lo and behold, there it was. Under my shirt and laying on the bathroom tile. I almost cried tears of joy. Gingerly picking it up I placed it on the counter, completely out of harms way as I waited for him to come back. And, just to make things up for him so he wouldn't think I was completely batshit crazy I lit a stray candle and dimmed the lights as I put a robe on. I had to make this up for him now, since at this point he thought I was either a lunatic or cheating or a cheating lunatic.

ripped pants. · Feb 13th 2017

I still wasn't able to shake the feeling that something was wrong. And, for the first time, I had real reason to believe so. It had only lasted for a half a second, but I was sure that Oliver had tensed up, at least enough to be concerning. It'd been so fleeting, although he might've just been trying to play it off as nothing. I had no way to tell. I just hoped that it wasn't anything too serious, whatever it was. It probably wasn't. I certainly wasn't going to jump to any conclusions. The last thing that either of us needed was for me to start accusing him over nothing, or possibly something, but with little evidence. That sounded like it'd kill the mood worse than me getting a phone call.

It was hard to deny that him shoving me out of the bathroom like he did was uncharacterestic, though. Most of the time, he would've been on board with me just ignoring a call when we were together. Don't get me wrong, it was part of why I loved him so much, but Oliver could get clingy. So when I'd offered to just ignore my phone going off, I'd expected him to be happy. Not that he didn't seem happy. He just seemed like he thought it was important that I go answer the call. Far more important than I thought it was, anyway.

Still confused, I headed towards the living room where I'd left my phone after talking to Scythe. Hopefully it was either him or my parents, because I wasn't in the mood to find out that we'd been interrupted over nothing. Just as I'd expected, though, when I picked up my phone to check the missed call, it was a number I didn't know, and I was almost certain that it was a telemarketer's number. I groaned. I wanted to say that I couldn't believe it, but I could. Of course it would be me who had a telemarketer call right as I was about to get into the shower with my fiance.

And that was the least of it. Oliver was definitely acting weird. He'd seemed just as excited as I was when I'd first mentioned taking a shower together. Then out of nowhere he was acting all antsy. The only thing that made sense to me was that he'd gotten sick, and it didn't seem that way. He just seemed like something bad had suddenly happened out of nowhere. That had me concerned, especially since I couldn't think of anything to explain it, except that I'd been right there with him and whatever it was, I hadn't noticed it. The only other thing that made sense was he'd thought of something that'd happened earlier in the day, but I'd been with him all day, too.

I waited another minute before heading to the bathroom, hoping that whatever'd had him so jumpy was over. I didn't like him acting so weird for no reason. I opened the door, the slightest bit shocked when I saw that the lights were dimmed, a candle had been lit, and Oliver had changed into a robe. All of that was almost enough to distract me from the fact that his hair was wet. Almost. I shut the door and walked over to him, sighing and shaking my head. "What's going on?"

red. · Feb 13th 2017

My eyes were glued my ring on the counter as I waited for him to come back. And although I knew it was safe, I was now extremely paranoid that something would happen to it. I didn't want to let it out of my sight now. But now I had to find a way to gently explain why I had just lost my mind and got it back within a matter of muinutes. He probably thought I was insane. And I crossed my fingers and hoped that maybe, just maybe he'd see all of this when he came back in and would think nothing of it. That all of this was just a trick for me to surprise him and set the mood a little more. But as I was finally wrapping my head around that idea I felt a few water droplets slide down my back, giving me chills. I knew I wouldn't be able to cover this up.

He opened the door again and my eyes widened slightly when I saw his expression. Had I really freaked him out that much? And then I replayed the last few minutes and realized how odd I had been acting. I mean, when did I ever voluntarily separate myself from him, let alone at a time like this? Plus, I was never one to get all jumpy all of a sudden. So I could completely see his reason to look at me like that. But when he asked what was going on, I really couldn't help but laugh a little. This was just too much. And honestly, I didn't even know how to answer him. "Oh, everything's good. I lost an engagement ring that was never lost and also ripped my bathroom apart in the process. And the water isn't ready yet. I just tested it myself." Yeah. I'm sure if I spilled all of that out to him he'd have second thoughts about that ring.

So I decided to go with the more simple version. And for a split second I thought about just not bringing it up at all, and to simply say I wanted to set the mood, but I couldn't do that to him. I was never one to lie, and especially with all of the secrets that had been kept in our relationship before I really didn't want to start building them up again. I wanted to come clean. And besides, it wasn't like I had actually lost it. I'd just gone into the mental state as if I had. How mad could he get?

He came over to me and I did the same, finally getting myself to stop laughing as I reached for my ring on the counter. "Okay. So I almost lost this, and my mind," I explained, leaning into him as I sighed in relief. When I realized my hair was probably getting him wet with cold water I pulled back slightly, smiling up at him sheepishly. I gazed down at the ring with adoring eyes, just so incredibly relieved that it hadn't gone down the drain. Still making sure to be extremely careful with it, I put it back in its rightful place on the counter, making sure nothing would get even remotely close to it. I was practically guarding this ring with my life now. "But I promise I didn't lose either of those things. Yet."

Turning back to him, I wrapped my arms around his neck like I had before, hoping to get us back on track. Leave it to me to kill the mood, but I had definitely made an obvious effort to bring it back. Maybe that would convince him that I wasn't crazy. Plus out of the corner of my eye I could see that the mirror had steamed up, which meant I wouldn't be met with freezing water again. "So, if I didn't turn you off with my idiocy, why don't we continue?" I asked as I leaned in to return the kiss I had dodged before. And it was times like these where I was so unfathomly glad to have such a patient boyfriend, because lord knows I would be a lot less calm if he ever pulled something like this.

ripped pants. · Feb 13th 2017

I wasn't exactly expecting this when I'd asked him what was wrong. I was glad that he'd answered me at all instead of trying to act like nothing had happened, but that was... that was way far off from what I'd been waiting for him to say. It'd been less than twenty-four hours and he'd already almost lost his engagement ring. I couldn't blame him for freaking out about it. Not long ago he'd been in an entire apartment building full of thieves. If he hadn't shown it to me before explaining what had happened, I might've just put my shirt on again and stormed off to go have a little 'talk' with Noah.

Glad as I was that I didn't have to go confront anyone, I couldn't help but be a little pissed off. Initially extremely pissed off, if I was being truthful. How had he almost lost his ring already? I'd taken a huge chunk out of the money I'd been saving most of my life to buy him that ring. That was without the extra twenty dollars that I'd spent on the rose ring case I'd gotten just because I knew he had a thing for flowers. I'd never expected him to loose it, and if I did, I didn't expect it to happen so soon. And I sure as hell hadn't been expecting him to laugh. And, come to think of it, why would he try and act like it hadn't happened? Why hadn't he just said something to me so I could help him look?

Then again, as annoyed as I was at first, it wasn't like he hadn't cared. He'd even gone so far as to shove me out of the bathroom while we were making out so that he could look for it. And he'd found it in just a couple of minutes. It'd been easy to tell that he was worried, and, by the way the bathroom looked now that he had searched it, he'd been panicking while he was trying to find it. Not that it surprised me. That was what he did. I was surprised that he hadn't had a heart attack when he figured it out.

Plus, his apologetic smile and the way he looked at the ring made it hard to stay upset with him. He was so cute, and I didn't have it in me to say anything that might upset him. Not when he had just thought he'd lost his engagement ring and was trying so desperately to make up for ruining our moment. Besides, him temporarily not being able to find his ring was definitely a small price to pay for the more romantic setting.

So I couldn't stay that mad. I couldn't stay mad at all. I was just glad to be picking up where we'd left off. I chuckled as he kissed me, my hands sliding under his robe and around his waist. "Okay," I muttered, smiling as I kissed him again. "Just... try not to let that happen again. And if it does, just tell me."

red. · Feb 13th 2017

I felt myself becoming slightly worried as I watched his reaction, a small look of irritation crossing his face. I couldn't blame him. If he had lost something as special as an engagement ring I'd be seriously pissed. But I didn't technically lose it and he seemed to quickly become aware of that as his eyes softened and he returned my kiss. And when I felt his hands I couldn't help but smile a little wider, glad that we were back to doing this instead of crawling on the ground in search of my ring. He told me to just tell him next time, and that seriously made me feel like an idiot. Why hadn't I just done that? It's not like he could've gotten that upset if I genuinely didn't know where it was. But I put all of these thoughts behind me as I let the robe slide off of my shoulders, tugging at the belt as I leaned up for another kiss.

And when we got out, even before I threw a towel around my waist I grabbed the ring off of the counter. I meant it when I said I would guard it with my life. But a towel was a quick second, and I couldn't help but laugh a little at the state of my bathroom. I really was insane. Since it was later in the day I was feeling pretty tired, due to hauling the tree up into my place and using way too much energy to frantically search for my ring. But instead of taking a nap I got into more comfortable clothes as I made my way into the kitchen. I still had my mind set on redeeming myself from the spaghetti and jelly.

I was sure he had forgotten about that mess by now, since it was pretty typical for me to make a 'mistake or two' in the kitchen while I was blind. But now that I wasn't, and now that I could actually use the stove without burning my place down I wanted to really cook for the first time in a while. I had to admit it was pretty weird, since I was still trying to remember where everything was. But at this point I hadn't eaten anything all day, since brunch with my parents didn't really turn into much. As expected. I sighed at the thought as I dug around in the fridge for any sort of makings for tomato sauce. I had always promised Cic I would make my own, but since I assumed he was as hungry as I was I decided to settle for the stuff in the jar.

And while I was prepping everything I kept gazing at my ring and smiling, shaking my head a little at the thought of losing it. Then looking at it sparked ideas of our wedding and how we'd have to start planning for that pretty soon. I wasn't very picky when it came to that sort of stuff, I just didn't want a thousand people there. Hopefully, one of them being my mother.

I still had to call her but I put it off for now as I put the pasta on to boil, letting it do its thing as I made my way over to the couch. Sprawling out, I gazed at the tree happily as I folded my arms behind my head. It was crazy to think that after the hell I had went through that my life was finally coming together. That I had found someone I loved more than anything in my life and that we were starting our lives together. Not to mention I would never have to come home to an empty house. And thinking about our relationship made me think of Scythe and Sasha. "Hey babe?" I called, poking my head up and looking over the couch. "When's Sasha and Scythe's wedding, anyway? I'm surprised we haven't heard anything about the planning yet."

ripped pants. · Feb 14th 2017

I was glad to have the whole fiasco with his ring over almost as quickly as it had started. It would've sucked if we'd had to spend an hour looking for it, or if he just hadn't found it at all while I'd gone to answer my phone. Although I still couldn't believe that he hadn't just told me, I could see why he thought that it was a better idea not to. My phone going off was a way different type of mood killer than it would've been for him to tell me that he couldn't find his engagement ring. Not that any mood killer was great, but it wasn't like we hadn't had worse things happen (example: him forgetting it was his payday and then finding my best friend had been stabbed). At least it hadn't completely ruined our time together.

I didn't want to get out of the shower once we were done, but there really wasn't any point in staying there without him. I watched as he picked up his ring almost right after we got out. It was hard for me to see how he'd lost track of it when he hadn't seemed to take his eyes off of it for more than a few minutes all day. I understood. He was excited. I was too. And as we walked away from the bathroom I took his hand and kissed it, smiling at him warmly.

We both got dressed, and I followed him to the kitchen as he started cooking. It was a good thing that he did, because without the distraction of his parents, thieves, trees, or showering together, I realized that neither of us had eaten anything all day. For me, I guessed that the excitement had been distracting me too much for me to care. I grabbed my phone out of the living room and sat down at the counter, playing a game and looking up occasionally to look at him adoringly. I loved watching him do things, even more so now that he could actually see. And he'd been so excited about cooking for me that I was glad to see him doing it.

Actually, things hadn't changed that much since he'd gotten his sight back, which made me happy. I'd admit, I hadn't always loved having to get up at two in the morning to go help him, but that didn't change the fact that I'd always been happy with our relationship. He was still just as loving and clingy as he had been when we'd first started dating, and I still loved him for it. That was just one of the worries I'd always had about him getting his sight back again. The fear that once he could see, and was independent, even if he did stay with me, that it wouldn't be the same. But I'd clearly been worried for nothing.

He walked away to go to the couch, and although I turned around so that I could still look at him, I didn't follow him, as I'd just started a new level on my game. But his question caught my attention, and I looked up, a slightly dazed look on my face. "Oh, shit, I was supposed to tell you," I said, sighing. I continued, a bit more loudly. "It's in three days. Apparently Sasha's going to explain why next time we see each other, which honestly might not be until we're at the wedding."

red. · Feb 15th 2017

I was actually pretty glad we were spending the night at home. Since the past few days had been pretty eventful for better or worse, it was surprisingly nice to have a night without much going on. Of course the next few days would be insane with visitors and weddings and god knows what else, and even after that it probably wouldn't slow down. Both of us had to go back to work soon, which I absolutely dreaded. I wasn't sure which aspect I hated more: being separated from Cic for the majority of the day or being back to dealing with people with gunshot wounds. Probably the former.

When I asked him about Sasha and Scythe's wedding I really wasn't expecting an answer like that. But then again, it was Sasha we were dealing with here. "Three days?" I echoed incredulously. How the hell was someone supposed to pull a wedding together in three weeks or months, let alone three days? Since I was so meticulous it would definitely take me at least four or five months to plan, so trying to wrap my head around the fact that someone could become engaged and married in less than a week was mind-blowing. And then I got caught up in thinking about the mission again, and how much more of a bad idea it seemed now that I knew Scythe was getting married in a few days. Who would go out and risk their lives a day before their big day, anyway? Of course I knew I would probably never understand that couple, so I kept my mouth shut. They were definitely entertaining, nonetheless.

I was lost in my thoughts when my timer went off, and I was quick to roll to my feet and continue with the pasta. Now that I was actually cooking I realized that spaghetti was by no means a very challenging meal, and I wished I had thought of something more creative. But now that I had my sight back I knew I would have plenty more nights to redeem myself. I smiled to myself at this, reminded that our relationship was official in every way possible now. Basically the last step was for me to meet his parents, which I hadn't put much thought into. I just hoped they liked me. Oh god, I really needed them to like me. I could barely handle my own parents not liking me, how was I supposed to deal with someone else's parents' disapproval?

From what I knew his parents were totally supportive of him, and from what I assumed they didn't know the knowledge that I now knew. And they would probably never know that. I also knew that there was a lot of them, so the odds of all of them hating me were pretty slim. That put me at ease a bit. And after hearing their reaction to our engagement over the phone, I knew I didn't have much to worry about. But, since I was always the one to overthink things, I felt myself slowly becoming nervous.

Dinner didn't take that much longer to finish, and I was all proud of myself when I set the two bowls on the counter as I kissed the top of his head, smiling. Of course spaghetti was a pretty foolproof dish (for people who could see), but I was still pretty pleased with myself for bouncing back so quickly. This just made me want to do more things for him, since he had obviously done so much for me while I was blind. I wanted to make it up for him. But these thoughts disappeared when I got up again, getting a glass of water. "Cic, are you sure they're gonna like me?" I asked out of nowhere, and it suddenly occurred to me he probably had no idea what I was talking about. "Your parents, I mean." I sat back down again, lazily running my fingertip along the rim of the glass as I bit my lip nervously. "I dunno... I guess I just have my guard up after what happened today with mine." I couldn't help but smile a tiny bit as my eyes shifted up to him. "But I guess they can't be worse than mine, right?"

ripped pants. · Feb 16th 2017

When Ollie repeated me, and I actually thought about it, the idea of their wedding being three days away did seem pretty insane. It'd always seemed to me like weddings took forever to plan Decent ones, at least, and I knew that Sasha wasn't going to be satisfied with "decent." It wasn't hard to tell just from the looks of his house that he was the extravagant type, and the idea only solidified when you got to know him. But he'd already gotten married once. Even if he hadn't wanted to, I was sure that he'd put a lot of work into the wedding, and if that was true, it wouldn't be a matter of planning, just getting things set up, which he could easily do in three days. In addition, it made the idea of him worrying about Scythe make more sense. I couldn't imagine Oliver doing something so dangerous on the night before our wedding -- I couldn't imagine Oliver doing anything so dangerous period, but still.

I didn't think much more about it as he set a bowl in front of me, and I started eating, glad that I finally had the chance to. I was glad to find that once he had his sight back, he was a pretty good cook (he certainly wasn't the worst cook I had dated, for sure). Since I was already used to doing the cooking in our relationship anyways, if he had turned out to be a bad cook, it wouldn't have been a deal breaker, but it was more of the fact that I knew he was so excited to cook for me that I would've hated it if I couldn't eat anything it made because it was so horrible. But to be honest, I would have eaten it anyways just to make him happy.

I was almost halfway finished eating by the time he got up, asking me if "they" would like me. As distracted as I was, it took him saying it for me to understand that he meant my family. I was a little shocked that he was asking, but to be fair, it wasn't like I'd made a point of telling him things about my parents like he'd done with his. It didn't feel like such a big deal with my family. They'd liked some of my boyfriends that even I hadn't been too fond of. They could be far too nice at times, but I didn't think it would be a problem. So long as they liked Oliver, things would be fine.

"I promise, babe, they're gonna love you," I said surely as I finished eating, getting up to take my dishes over to the sink. "Mom's not going to complain. She'll love you just because we're getting married. Fair warning, my stepdad isn't the most talkative person unless you're in an art museum, so if he's quiet don't take it personally. As for dad... I've honestly never seen him not get along with someone unless they were just making a point of being rude." I walked up behind him, hugging him from behind and kissing his cheek. "And I don't know who else is going to come, but I can't think of anyone in my family who wouldn't at least try to be nice to you." Okay, so not exactly true, but none of them would be able to come.

Around that time my phone rang again, and I sighed, walking over and answering. I was rather annoyed with the phone going off so often, but I calmed down significantly when I saw that it was my mother. "Ciceroo!" she squealed cheerfully, over several other sounds that I assumed were coming from the rest of my family. "We're in town!" "What? Mom, how? Dear god, how much were you speeding!?" "Don't worry about it sweetheart! Anyhow, we're all really tired, so we're just gonna check into a motel and stay the night there. But I wanted to come over first thing in the morning, so go ahead and give us your address, alright?" "Oh... alright," I said, shaking my head and telling her the address - several times, because every time I repeated myself it seemed as though she had no way to write it down. "Got it. We'll probably be there before you even wake up. Love you!" She hung up again, and I couldn't help but smile, shaking my head and looking back over at Oliver. "She said they'll be here first thing in the morning," I explained, glad to know, because I didn't feel like waking up to them sitting in the living room without knowing beforehand.

red. · Feb 23rd 2017

It was such an incredible relief to know that his parents were nothing like mine. I was nowhere near ready to go through something like what happened today for a second time any time soon. And it was nice to know that he really didn't need to explain them, since they were normal people who just wanted to meet me. Maybe it was the fact that I had grown up with such uptight parents, but I was surprisingly shocked at how relaxed he seemed for them to be visiting. If my parents or relatives were all coming over lord knows I'd be in the midst of pulling my hair out by now. The place would be a wreck and with myself, and since I could now see I would use my sight as an advantage to stay up all night and clean. But that was me and I was paranoid, so I knew in hindsight I had nothing to worry about.

Right when I was about to respond his phone rang for the millionth time today, and I looked over at him in surprise when I heard it was his mother. Her timing was uncanny every time. It was like a sixth sense. My eyes widened slightly when Cicero mentioned speeding, implying that theyhad driven across the country in a matter of days. I thought they had flown, so this came as a surprise to me. But I was glad they had made it, especially with the snow and everything. I couldn't help but smile to myself a little as I noticed that he was getting the slightest bit worked up as he gave her the address numerous times. We really were alike. Or, maybe our mothers were. Only time would tell, I guess.

The call was short, and when he put his phone down he told me they'd be here first thing tomorrow. Like, as in when we got up first thing. "Well then we'd better call it an early night tonight, shouldn't we?" And I typically wasn't one to sleep in much, so this was quite the shock. But exciting, nonetheless. I had always wanted to meet his family, and especially now that we were engaged it was sort of unheard of to marry someone without knowing anything about their family. To say the least, getting up and scrambling to get ready was the least of my worries.

I still wanted to keep the place nice, so I was quick to do the dishes. Not only was I doing this for the sake of keeping everything in order, but I also wanted to make it up to Cic for all of the nights he had to do this. Being blind was sort of an automatic pass to get out of any housework, so practically having two houses to maintain had probably been a pain in the ass for him. Besides, I had told him I was going to be less dependent on him when I had my sight back. In no means did that mean less clingy, but it did mean that he wouldn't have to pick up all the slack around here.

The dishes took no time at all, and when I was done I joined him on the couch, eager to turn on the TV to actually watch it for the first time in what seemed like forever. I was glad we were having a quiet night in like this. The past few days had been pretty eventful to say the least, and it would be the same with the coming days. So it was nice to have some down time like this. Laying next to him on the couch, I leaned back to rest my head on his chest as I studied the television. For someone who hadn't been able to see pictures for a while I was completely captivated. But after a while I came back around, reaching down to take his hand and interlocking our fingers.

And when I thought everything was peaceful and carefree, I had a thought which caused me to tense up slightly. Of course I had to ask this now, since I couldn't slip up tomorrow. That would be the end of all things. So I leaned back into him a little more, looking over at him and asking softly, "Your parents don't know about you... right?" I still couldn't say serial killer. I would probably never be able to. Because every time I thought about him with that title it made my blood run cold. And every time I thought about him with that title I couldn't picture my future husband. Instead I pictured the man I had first seen in an alley one night with a knife in a woman's chest.

ripped pants. · Feb 24th 2017

Part of me was expecting Oliver to freak out at least a little when he found out that my family would be coming over first thing in the morning. He had been so panicky about his own mother coming over that I wasn't sure how he'd react to my parents coming over. I hadn't been sure if it was just him worrying about having the house look bad when anyone was coming over, or if it was specifically because it was his mother and he was worried about what she would think. I figured it must have just been that it was his mom, because he didn't seem too worried about it. I was glad about that. I didn't like seeing him so paranoid about something, and I was glad that he understood that my parents weren't going to judge him.

Excited as I was that my family was coming to meet Oliver, I was glad that the night wasn't completely over yet. I loved spending time alone with him, especially like this, when there wasn't anything going on. When nothing had just happened other than my parents getting into the city, and I wasn't going through the mental crisis of wondering if we were still together. Hell, I even preferred this to sleeping with him right after we'd gotten engaged. I enjoyed how normal all of it felt. There was no excitement or fear. We were just a normal couple watching TV together. Which I realized we'd never really been able to do together. We'd sat down and listened to the TV together, but he'd never been able to see before, so this was extremely different.

He brought up my parents, which made me thing what he was going to say wouldn't be anything big. But I should've known that I would be wrong. I tensed up just like he had, chewing on my lip. I had never told my family anything about what I did when I sneaked out at night. I'd never even told them that I was bullied. They'd only found that out because it got too hard to hide all of the bruises. They couldn't have found out about it, either, and I'm sure that if they knew, they would have confronted me by that point. I didn't want them to know. My relationship with my parents could survive me being gay. They didn't care that I'd moved across the country immediately after high school, and aside from my mom, they didn't care that I'd only given them two days warning before I left. They could handle a lot, but I knew that telling them that I was a murderer wouldn't go over too well. Parts of my family were screwed up, sure, but none of them were killers except for me.

I shook my head, taking a deep breath as I tried to relax. "No. They don't know," I told him, squeezing his hand. I was glad that he'd asked. If he'd thought that they were aware of my issues and he said something about it in front of them, that would be the end of it. Sure, I could just fake turn myself in and have Sasha take care of it, but they'd hate me. They'd probably tell all of Oregon that Cicero Jackson was a serial killer, and I didn't think that Sasha's power spread all the way to the other side of the United States. "I mean, they know that in high school I had some issues with paranoia and that's it. But they don't know... everything else." God, I couldn't say that I was a killer around him. It made me worry that he'd freak out and leave.

Suddenly, I heard something; I had no idea what it was at first, but it scared me so badly that I sat up, letting go of Oliver's hand and clenching my fists. I figured out after a moment that it was someone slamming a car door shut outside, and I started to calm down, but I was still extremely tense. I hadn't forgotten what had happened while we were ice skating, but it had been at the back of my mind the entire time since then, and that freaked me out. It'd been forever since I'd been in a situation like this, and it usually didn't take so long for the actual paranoia to set in. The excitement from the last twenty-four hours, however, had been enough to keep me preoccupied. Despite how much I loved the calm, normal night we were having, without anything to distract me, the paranoia was growing, and I wasn't sure how bad it would get before morning.

red. · Feb 24th 2017

I should have figured that he hadn't told his family, because what family would want to know that? And what family would be accepting of that? I don't even know what my parents would do. I'd probably be dead. Or maybe behind bars. Or maybe behind bars on schedule to be dead. Either way the outcome would not be good. So when I felt him tense up I already knew the answer, and I regretted asking. After all, this was definitely a touchy subject between us, and moreso for him. I could see why, too. For a whole mindset driven by paranoia, I'm sure talking about it was the least bit helpful.

He squeezed my hand which helped me to chill out a little. Every time I brought something like this up I was always worried about how he would react. I couldn't even imagine what it was like to mentally deal with something like that. And I thought my blindness was hard. At least that was temporary. But somehow despite how freaked out and jumpy he became over this topic didn't make me love him any less. If anything it made me more protective. Because I didn't want him going off and doing something dangerous when it could be provented. I mean, I was still extremely new to this, but from our incident at the ice rink yesterday which was also my first experience with this I was already trying to calmly handle this whole thing.

When he told me they only knew about his paranoia I nodded, glad that I knew the boundaries. I probably wouldn't have brought up his paranoia or the fact that he was a killer in front of his family anyway but it was nice to know where everybody stood. Just in case something happened I knew who was in the loop and who wasn't. And frankly, the only person in who wasn't a killer themselves was me. I wasn't sure whether to be flattered or terrified. "Makes sense. That's all they need to know, anyway," I murmured comfortingly, offering him a small smile.

But before I could say anything else there was a noise, and I flinched more from Cicero's jump than the noise itself. He let go of my hand and sat up, and I could tell that I had pretty much lost him for the night. Not that he would go out searching or anything, but I knew he would definitely be distracted and jumpy basically until tomorrow morning. But the more thought I put into it the more nervous I got. Of course I couldn't help but honk about Malakai. How could I not? Anything suspicious nowadays made me think of him. Mainly because I was told not to worry about him.

I turned my attention back to Cicero, who was now completely uneasy. Placing a gentle hand on his arm I suggested, "Hey, why don't we just call it a night, Cic? We'll be getting up early anyway." And although I was telling the truth, I just wanted to get him into bed to where I could keep an eye on him and attempt to stop his paranoia from eating away at him. Just like the ice rink incident the first thing I wanted to do was pull him away to get him all to myself, because even though this was all still foreign and I didn't know what the hell to do I definitely knew I loved him and just wanted my Cicero back.

ripped pants. · Feb 24th 2017

Since I hadn't been this level of paranoid about someone coming after me in forever, how freaked out I was over the car door worried me a little. For a minute all I could do was sit there staring at the door, tense and waiting for someone to walk in and attack me. Just that though made me sick to my stomach, and I closed my eyes, shaking my head as I tried to calm down. I couldn't do this now. I just needed to stop thinking about it. My parents would be showing up in a few hours. So I was thankful when Ollie suggested that we go to bed. That was all I needed to do until I could clear my head an remind mmyself that I was perfectly safe. "Yeah. Yeah, let's do that," I said quietly, getting up and taking his hand as I headed to our room, smiling at him to try and convince him that I was fine. I wasn't, but I didn't want him to worry about that.

I couldn't help but smile when I woke up that morning, because after I had slept off my paranoia, waking up and knowing that my family was about to show up to meet my fiance, I was pretty excited. It seemed like it was a bit later in the day than we'd expected, but after I listened for a minute or two, I decided it was fine, since I didn't hear any knocking. We had at least a couple of minutes to get ready before they got there. I sat up, still smiling so I reached over to shake Oliver's shoulder, yawning as I said, "Hey, Ollie, get up. They're gonna be here any second."

But Oliver wasn't there. My smile disappeared immediately, and I stood up, looking around. I was completely alone. Other than that, everything was normal. I took a deep breath, turning around and heading towards the kitchen, figuring that he'd be there making something for breakfast. Sure enough, when I got there, he was busy cooking, and I said a quick good morning before grabbing my phone and sitting at the counter. But I didn't play any games, and instead just watched him, glad that my panicking had been for nothing. "That smells really good. How much longer 'til you should be done? They're gonna be here any minute." He didn't answer, and I tilted my head, confused.

I opened my mouth to ask him again, but before I could get the words out I felt a gun pressed against the back of my head. "Don't move," he snarled, and I realized who it was immediately, even though he'd only spoken to me once. I didn't move. I was barely breathing anymore.

I heard three gunshots. I immediately spun around, knocking him out of the way and staring at the living room. It was exactly what I'd been afraid of. My parents were all there, spread out on the couch, bullets in their skulls. He was standing there with a gun in each hand. He took a step towards me, raising one of the guns, a sadistic grin on his face. "You were right, Cicero. You should have killed me when you got the chance," he said, pressing the gun against my chest. I shook my head, taking a step back towards the bedroom. "You can't run, Cicero. It's over."

If Sasha really hadn't felt any pain when he'd been stabbed, it absolutely made sense that it didn't hurt when I got shot. I just fell to the ground, bleeding out, staring at Oliver, who had just started to turn around. I tried to get back up again, and I tried to get to the phone, but he shot me again, and I hit the floor, my vision going dark.

The last thing I saw was Oliver getting shot too.

I shot up, my breathing heavy, tears streaming down my face as I looked over to make sure that he was there. He was, and I let out a sigh of relief, still crying as I laid back down, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him close. I hoped that I hadn't woken him up, but I probably had with all of my panicking. Either way, I didn't say anything, since I didn't want him to have to worry. Besides, I would be fine. The dream had done absolutely nothing to help my paranoia, but at least it was over with. Both of us were still breathing. Everything was alright.

What I did realize, though, was that I heard knocking at the door, and I jumped out of bed, quickly changing clothes and heading to the door excitedly. I hadn't expected them to be there this early, but I wasn't complaining. I didn't need much time to myself if I was going to be having nightmares like that. I took a deep breath, taking a second to prepare myself. I knew that things were going to be fine, but either way, it had been forever since I'd seen my family. I wasn't sure if I should be preparing for a hug or a tackle.

But when I opened the door, it wasn't my parents. It wasn't any of my relatives. She was, however, somebody I knew, and I smiled brightly, grabbing her and pulling her into a tight hug. Jenny hadn't changed much, and although Sasha was definitely my best friend now, I'd missed her like crazy. "Holy shit, Jen, you came too?" "Hells yeah! Like I was gonna let your family come visit you without me."

red. · Feb 25th 2017

When he agreed to go to bed I couldn't help but sigh softly in relief. I was glad he wasn't yet to the point where he felt the need to investigate. And although I knew it was merely a car door, I couldn't help but get a little anxious when he freaked out like that. It would put me on edge for the rest of the night, not only because I was worried about him but I now worried about what that noise was. I would bet anything that it was someone being a little too rough with their car door, but with my worried mind I couldn't help but think of Malakai. Like always. Sasha and Cicero could tell me a million reasons not to worry about him but regardless the topic would keep me up at night.

But tonight it didn't, and I was quick to get into bed and nestle up next to him like I always did. It felt better now, since it was the first of many nights where he would be permanently here with me. Smiling softly at the thought, I reached over to shut the bedside lamp off as I murmured a gentle goodnight. It was earlier than when we normally went to bed, but with guests arriving so early in the morning I didn't want to risk oversleeping. I mean I'm sure they wouldn't mind, but since I wanted to make a good first impression and since I wanted someone's parents to like me I didn't fight my heavy eyelids as I drifted off.

I slept surprisingly well, despite still worrying about Cicero in the back of my mind. However when I woke up I groggily peeked my eyes open to see his restless figure, and it broke my heart to see him like that. I knew he was never really one to get a good night's sleep due to a mix of nightmares and paranoia, but this was just too much. And this time I wasn't sure if I had woken up on my own or if his tossing and turning had gotten to me. Probably a mix of both, but I would never blame him for something like that. I needed to get up soon anyway. And right when I couldn't stand seeing him suffer through another nightmare he jolted awake, making me flinch. He was quick to coil his arms around me and pull me into him, and the first thing I noticed was his quickened heartbeat. The next thing I noticed were his tears.

"Hey, babe, there's no need to worry okay? I'm still here," I hushed tiredly, but stopped short when I heard a knock at the door. Of course my mind immediately went to the worst scenario imaginable, but when I remembered his parents were coming I relaxed. I watched him as he sprang out of bed, eager to see who it was. I had to admit I was also pretty excited, and I was a few moments behind him as he hurriedly got changed. When he left the room I quickly made the bed in case his family decided to take a tour of the place. I was always worried about the minor details.

I threw on a change of clothes and sauntered out of the bedroom to see Cicero in a tight embrace with a woman I had never seen before. My first thought went to thinking it was his mother, but when she pulled back I realized she was roughly about our age. I couldn't help but smile as I heard how excited he was, and it was comforting to see that he had already taken his mind off of his nightmares. Hopefully. So I was quick to approach them, offering the girl a welcoming smile. "Looks like nobody was joking about the whole meeting first thing tomorrow thing," I said with a laugh, relaxing. And although she was the first of what I could only imagine of more to come, I knew I had nothing to worry about. We were only a few words in and this visit was significantly better than the one with my own parents.

ripped pants. · Feb 25th 2017

If there was anything that I had needed after a long night full of paranoia-incuded nightmares about losing my fiance, seeing Jen was pretty close to the top of the list. Don't get me wrong, during my time in New York, Sasha had become my best friend, and I felt like I could go to him for almost anything, but it wasn't the same. I saw Sasha all the time, and a good portion, probably almost half, of the memories that I had with him involved him being violent and dangerous. I'd known Jen my entire life. She was one of the few friends that I'd had as a kid. She wasn't exactly the calmest person ever, but being around her was good for calming me down in situations like this. I watched excitedly as she looked over at Oliver, her smile faltering slightly. I raised an eyebrow at her, confused and rather concerned. "What's wrong?" I asked hesitantly, hoping that maybe I hadn't seen her expression change, even if it was small and probably insignificant. She shook her head for a second, looking at me, then at Oliver, then at me again. "Nothing. I just..." She paused, repeating her action and stepping forward to grab my arm, turning me slightly away from Oliver for a second as she 'whispered,' "It's just that the Slutero Jackson I remember from high school was a hardcore bottom." My entire face went red, but I didn't have a chance to say anything before she turned back to Oliver, smiling. "You must be Oliver! I'm Jen O'Hara, Cicero's best friend. Or, former best friend, according to Facebook. While I'm up here I'm gonna meet this 'Sasha' and see what makes him so special that he's taken my place. Anyways, Oliver, you don't have any food allergies, do you? Everyone else is outside, they'll be in in a moment."

Jen stopped talking right as the door opened again, and I would've hugged my mother when she stepped inside if it weren't for the fact that she was holding two huge boxes so I couldn't see her face. "Hi sweetheart!" she greeted cheerfully, carefully setting the boxes down and pulling me into a tight embrace. I was glad to say that I looked exactly like my mother (in fact, Jen did too. We could've been twins.) We had the same light blond hair and blue-green eyes; we were the same height; we had the same smile. I didn't get anything but my personality from my dad. She looked over, still smiling when she saw Oliver, although I held back a groan when I saw the same look of confusion in her eyes that I'd seen in Jen's. She walked over to him, holding out a hand for him to shake. I hoped that he didn't take it the wrong way. She never hugged anyone she had just met, no matter who they were. "Hello. I'm Athena Jackson. It's so nice to meet you." Before Ollie could respond, she turned her head and noticed the tree. "Oh, that is a lovely Christmas tree!"

Ignoring my mothers fawning over our tree, I turned to the boxes, which interested me. I was expecting them to bring something, but I had thought that it would be something small, like the gifts that Ollie's mom had brought -- although I hoped that whatever she had for us wasn't quite as embarrassing. I knelt down next to them, running my hand across the top of the first one. They were both just regular cardboard boxes without any labels on them, so she could've put whatever she wanted in them. Finally, I had to ask. "Hey, mom, what is this?"

She turned away from the tree, smiling a bit proudly as she gave a small shrug, crossing her arms. "Hazelnuts and pears," she said simply, and my eyes widened, darting back over to the boxes in disbelief. "I figured that, well, since you aren't going to be coming back to Oregon for the holidays, you could at least get some of the food we're gonna be having. The others are going to bring the rest of the stuff in, then I can go and start cooking."

Before I could tell her that she didn't have to do that (which would've been a: pointless and b: a lie, because I knew the kind of food she was going to make and I wasn't about to stop her) my stepdad walked in, holding several bags himself. He set them down on top of the boxes, straightening his intentionally paint-splattered tie and looking up, smiling somewhat awkwardly. We didn't have the type of strained relationships so many step-parents had with their step-kids, but he was an awkward person in general, and he wasn't much for physical contact. So instead I just returned the smile. "Good to see you, Neil," I greeted, before noticing the label on the containers in the bags. "Are those marionberries?" I added hopefully, and he nodded. "You're lucky we didn't eat them all on the car ride up here," he joked, before going over to stand by -- or hide behind -- mom, smiling at Oliver for a second before he started looking around and trying to avoid eye contact.

"Hey, Cicero! Heads up!" The warning came just in time, and I moved out of the way just in time to avoid getting hit in the head with a gently-thrown toy Pokeball. I couldn't help but laugh as my dad walked in, holding another box under his arm. He looked the same as he had almost my entire life, with his shaggy black hair and permanantly youthful features. He set the box down with the others, stepping forwards and hugging me dramatically. "Oooooh my Goooood I haven't seen you in so long!" He let go of me, turning to face Oliver, a grin on his face. "And you! You must be the famous soon to be Oliver Jackson. My name's Mars Lassiter." Unlike my mother and stepdad, dad wasn't quite as awkward, and was quick to pull Oliver into a hug. He put on a fake serious face when he pulled away. "Now... what exactly are you planning to do with my son?" he asked jokingly, unable to keep his poker face for more than a few seconds before he started laughing.

Okay. So that was all of the normal people in my family introduced, plus Jen, but that still didn't seem like everyone who was with them. But I acted as though I didn't notice, becuse dear God, if anyone else was there, I wasn't sure if I could handle the embarrassment of the kind of things that they would say.

red. · Feb 25th 2017

~~omg slutero jackson I'm dead~~

For only meeting Jen moments ago, I knew I really didn't have much or anything to worry about with this visit. She was extremely like Cicero, and I could only imagine that his family was going to be the same way. Needless to say I was excited, because being in a room full of people similar to my favorite person on earth was a dream come true. Not to mention the fact that Cicero's mood had done a complete turnaround within minutes. I'm sure he'd be completely like himself, if not even happier, when the rest of his family showed up.

But I was pulled out of my thoughts when I noticed her eyes shifting back and forth between Cic and I. And that made me worried. Did I say something wrong already? She tugged on his arm and attempted to whisper a surprising nickname, and I just had to turn away so he couldn't see me laugh. It seemed as if there was an ongoing theme in the world that Cicero was definitely at one point a closeted (or maybe now not so closeted?) bottom, and that the only person who was unaware of this was me. But maybe not anymore. Now that would be a definite question for later. Whether I was going to be asking Jen or waiting until everyone had left to ask him personally I wasn't sure, but I chuckled at the thought of getting to the bottom of it. No pun intended. The conversation changed quickly as Jen asked if I had any allergies, and I responded with a shrug and a shake of my head. "Just bees, but I doubt you brought any of those with you," I answered simply, smiling.

His embarrassment was cut short as his mother was the next to enter, and she took a similar approach as my own mother with the two large boxes she carried. My first thought was to mentally pray there weren't any condoms in there, but I could tell she wasn't like my mother in that sense. She was actually a level-headed person. And when she put the boxes down I smiled as Cicero gravitated towards them, obviously excited. I reached out to meet her halfway with the handshake, offering a welcoming smile. But before I could say anything she complimented the tree, and I immediately brightened up. "So nice to finally meet you, too. Cic and I just put it up yesterday since we wanted to be festive." Already, I was so much more comfortable with his family than I was with my own. Plus, for once we didn't have fat lipgloss kiss marks. It was pretty refreshing.

I looked over to see Cicero inspecting the boxes, and I lit up when his mother told us what was inside. I loved pears. And it was so sweet of her to bring all of that literally from across the country since we wouldn't be there for the holidays. It was a lot better than wine and condoms to say the least. She mentioned cooking and I looked back over at her, almost trying to persuade her that she really didn't have to do something like that for us, especially after bringing us all of this. But I could tell that she was determined, and Cicero seemed excited for her to cook, so I decided to join him. Plus, now I didn't have to worry about trying to use the few things I had in the fridge to impress our guests. But that definitely wouldn't stop me from trying to give her a hand in the kitchen.

The next to arrive was Cicero's stepdad, and I could tell that it was him right away by his lack of words. Cic said not to worry about the fact that he didn't talk much, so when he gave me a smile I smiled back warmly, letting him do his thing. Plus he had brought more food, which Cicero seemed pretty psyched about. But before I could say anything about them I looked over to see Cicero dodging a Pokeball to the head and I laughed, turning to see his father walking trough the door and immediately yanking him into a tight squeeze. I was next, still laughing as he pulled me in. He was just like Cicero described him to be. My cheeks went slightly pink at the mention of my new name, and I got butterflies when I heard someone else say it. It still felt surreal, but I grinned and nodded, "Yep, that's me. "It's really great to be meet you, too." And he pulled back to give me a fake accusing state, asking what every father would before breaking the act and laughing. I chuckled, wrapping an arm around Cicero's shoulders and answering, "Well, so far the plan is to spend the rest of our lives together, right Cic? Which I think sounds like a pretty good plan." And I was surprised at how calm I was. Especially since most people lost their minds over meeting their future in-laws. But somehow I felt as if I had known them for years.

ripped pants. · Feb 26th 2017

Not that I hadn't seen it coming from a mile away, but I could already tell that my parents all loved Oliver. Especially dad, who laughed at his response to his joke as he walked over to pick up the pokeball he had thrown at me. "That's nice. Y'know, Cicero here used to date the biggest douchebags ever back in the day, and I'm still not sure whether or not he was doing it just to see if he could find someone who'd give me a heart attack when I found out they were dating. It's nice to know that he grew out of that and found somebody nice." I felt my face go the slightest bit red, but it was nowhere near as bad as it had been when Jen called me "Slutero." It wasn't like he was wrong, either. Everyone I'd dated in the past had been pretty awful up until I'd found Oliver, and back in high school, I'd had a tendency to purposefully date jerks just because I was attracted to them at the time. It'd taken years for me to figure out that that wasn't the kind of guy I actually wanted to be with.

Just as I'd suspected, they weren't the only ones there, and just as mom started talking to Oliver about the Christmas tree they'd put up at home (I'd heard her say something about glow in the dark paint, which made me guess she had found an alternative to having lights) I heard the car doors shut again, and I only prayed that they hadn't brought along my aunt and uncle. I couldn't handle Oliver meeting them. It wasn't like they had any problems with me, and we certainly wouldn't have to deal with them acting stuck up, but if my uncle asked him if he could borrow some money, or, worse, if my aunt looted the place to find something to steal to sell for drug money, I wasn't sure how Ollie would react. I wasn't sure how I would react. Probably not well.

But instead of my aunt and uncle, in walked my cousins: Lana and Seth, two people who nobody would have ever guessed were related to me. They were both tall, with black hair and dark brown eyes, and there wasn't a single freckle on either one of them. Lana was the first one to come inside, setting down two more bags onto the pile and staring at me for a moment. I smiled at her, knowing that she wouldn't say anything until I did. "Hey Lana. What's up?"

I should've known better than to ask. "Mom's back in rehab. Dad's back in Vegas. If he wins over fifty-thousand this time, half of it's mine," she answered, saying it as though it was completely normal. Which, for her, it was. It'd been that way her entire life. Before I could say anything in response, she pulled out her phone and stepped past me, muttering a quick "hey" to Oliver before falling onto the couch. "Oliver, that's my cousin Lana. I apologize for her... being a teenager." There really wasn't any other way to explain her behavior, but I couldn't say anything. I mean, I wasn't the perfect child when I was her age anyways. There were reasons why I had the nickname Jen had mentioned.

I didn't have time to think about this more before Seth grabbed me, pulling me into a tight embrace that felt more like he was trying to suffocate me. I didn't want to say that I wasn't excited about Seth being there, because I was, it was just... he had a tendency to hit on everyone I liked, even though he was straight. I wasn't sure if he would do that with my fiance, but I felt like it was too early to assume that he wouldn't. "Cic! Fuck, I was wondering how come you never come back home to visit, but I guess I wouldn't want to leave a place like this either." I shrugged, looking behind him to see that he had a cooler. He noticed that I was looking, and he grinned. "Yeah, everyone else might've brought some good food, but I thought you'd like this better. I tilted my head as he opened the lid, revealing that the cooler was completely full of beer and Pinot. I couldn't help but grin, not just because I was happy, but also because I thought it was funny that neither of us could have our families visit without them bringing some sort of alcohol.

With everyone inside, we all sat down and made ourselves comfortable, with the exception of my mother, who started moving the food into the kitchen so that she could start cooking. I wasn't sure which I was more concerned about: if nobody would be able to think of something to talk about, or if nobody would think about shutting up before they embarrassed me in front of my fiance (which would be hard, seeing as not even Sasha telling him that I was heavy into bdsm had run him off.) Fortunately, Jen was the one who started up the conversation. "So, Oliver, tell us a little about yourself."

red. · Feb 26th 2017

On any other occasion, I would typically be pretty shy and awkward around so many people I'd never met before. But this was completely different. It blew me away to meet people who were automatically so accepting and sweet, and it was just like those times when I didn't know how to process Cicero's love. I guess now I knew where he got it from. But from having grown up with extremely cynical parents, this was all so new to me. And I loved it. And it seemed as if they felt the same way about me as his dad laughed and told me how relieved he was that I wasn't a douchebag like all of the others. I couldn't help but smile at this, glancing over at Cicero to see his cheeks tinged pink. I guess we were really made for each other after all.

His mother jumped right into talking to me about her own Christmas tree, and I happily listened. From what I could gather they were a pretty artsy family, so her idea of having glowing paint splatters interested me. I told her all about how this was my first tree as I helped her set things up in the kitchen, letting her know where everything was in the cabinets. After a while I could tell she was set on tackling this cooking on her own, and I wanted to get to know the rest of the family in the living room so I turned around to find a seat. But when I lifted my eyes I noticed two other people stepping in, both of them looking nothing like the rest of the family. I tilted my head, slightly confused as a younger girl brushed past me and muttered a quiet greeting. And when Cic told me it was his cousin I smiled, nodding. "Makes sense. It's fine, the wifi password's on a sticky note on the fridge," I said mostly to her casually, glancing over at her briefly. I knew what it was like to be a teenager, and especially being a teenager at a place with nothing but adults. Understandable.

I took a seat in a chair to join the rest of the family, glancing up briefly to see another polar opposite of Cicero enter the room, who I could only assume was another cousin. He seemed nearly as excited to see Cicero as his dad did, and behind him he brought a fairly large cooler. I already started making guesses, but my eyes widened slightly when I noticed the amounts of Pinot and beer. And I couldn't help but crack a smile. Of course there always had to be one family member that brought the spirits, and by no means was I complaining.

I would've been perfectly content with just watching everyone interact and Cicero reconnect with his family, but I knew they probably wanted to know about me. After all, I was going to be their son in law pretty soon and all they pretty much knew were my name and my address. Just when I was thinking this Jen finally asked what I had been waiting for. I thought I would've been more nervous to answer this, for fear I would say something wrong, but I knew I had nothing to worry about. When my mother asked Cicero this same question it had felt like an interview, but this time when they asked me it just felt like an actual conversation.

"Well, I'm from a little beach town in Connecticut called New London and I moved into the city a couple of years ago because I got pretty tired of seeing the same faces," I started simply, smiling. "I went to med school for a few years for x-ray and radiology but since the hospitals around here are pretty well-staffed I work in the emergency room at a nearby one just sort of categorizing people. You know, like insurance and stuff. The boring job, pretty much. But I don't mind; it's pretty close by and pays well enough so, y'know, can't complain."

I was going to continue, but a sudden thought in my mind made me stop. How were they all so energetic after sitting in the car for so many days straight? Plus, how had they managed to get over here so quickly? So I turned to Cicero's Dad, giving a confused smile as I asked, "Okay, so just out of curiosity did you guys actually drive here? That's like, what, three thousand miles isn't it? How did you manage to do it?" I laughed as I added, "Did all of you take shifts driving not something? Because if it were me I'd only be in like Nebraska by now."

ripped pants. · Feb 27th 2017

Everyone seemed interested in listening to Oliver talk about himself (except for Lana, who had gone to get the wifi password), which I thought was good. Sometimes my relatives could have a fairly short attention span, and they tended to do dumb things when they got bored. I wasn't sure if they were making a concious effort to behave themselves, or if they were just entertained enough by listening to Oliver tell them about his life that they didn't feel the need to be disruptive or start misbehaving. Either way, I was more than a little grateful. I didn't think I'd be able to handle it if they started acting like they normally would in a situation where they were meeting someone I was in a relationship with.

Before anybody could comment on what Oliver had just said, he proceeded to ask if they'd really drove all the way from Oregon, and I couldn't help but smile. I held back a laugh, unlike everyone else, who didn't bother and openly laughed at the question. Dad nodded, leaning back in his seat. "Yeah, we drove the whole way. 'Thena over there did most of the driving. I did the rest. Y'know, she might be named after a goddess of wisdom, but she sure isn't wise enough to go the speed limit." I straightened up, looking over my shoulder at mom, who was busy working on the food. "Mom! What the hell?! Can you please not speed just because you're excited? I mean, it wasn't like we were going to get married before you got here. She shrugged, ignoring me completely as she kept cooking. I groaned, turning around. "I bet you never thought that I was the sane one in my family," I said to Oliver. Not that the statement was still true when you added on the fact that I was a serial killer who went after anyone when I felt remotely threatened, but aside from that, yes, I was the normal one.

Nobody acknowledged the comment, and instead the focus turned back to Oliver. "So, you're from New London?" Dad repeated, smiling as though I hadn't just implied I thought he was insane. Though it was less of in implication and more of a statement. "I lived in Connecticut for a little while after Athena and I got divorced. I can understand why you left. I was only there for a year and I felt like I'd met the entire state by the time I left." He got up, walking over to the cooler and grabbing a beer before sitting down again. "Anyways, you went to medical school? That's good. I was going to go to med school, but... I wasn't really cut out for it." Meaning that it had started to bore him, so he quit. Of all the things that I got from my dad, I was glad that that particular trait wasn't one of them.

"Speaking of which," Jen cut in, to my relief, since I didn't want the conversation to turn to dad's failure at doing anything with his life in the past, "Cic, are you still working at Petco?" I gave a small nod, and she rolled her eyes. I knew why. I'd always gone on and on about growing up to be a vet, and when I'd told her that I got a job at Petco, she made fun of me for it constantly. "Hey, I do side work as a vet," I pointed out. This didn't seem to impress her in the slightest. "I've told you before, there is a veterinary office that I'm going to get a job at when it's an option. They just don't have any openings right now." "Okay, okay. I believe you." I was sure that she didn't, but I wasn't about to say anything else about it. "I'm just impressed that you actually could be a vet."

She looked at Oliver again, tilting her head slightly. "Know what I just realized? Ciceroo here has told us so much about you, and we never heard anything about how the two of you met," she pointed out, and I couldn't help but look away, trying not to draw attention to myself as I did so. It was a good thing that he'd asked whether or not they knew about me killing people, because if he didn't know otherwise, I could kind of see how a story about him catching me in the act of murdering someone might be considered funny in some situations.

red. · Mar 1st 2017

Everyone laughed at my question, and it was almost like they understood how insane the whole thing was. I couldn't imagine being trapped in a car for that long, that's for sure. A trip like that would've taken me at least a week, and it would include a lot of nights in hotels and tourist stops. But it was obvious they wanted to be here not only to meet me but to see their city and to see their son, which was sweet. I know my parents would've taken their time coming across, despite having my mother in my dads ear the entire time. That would make someone want to start speeding.

And I laughed when his father accused Athena of having a lead foot, watching as Cicero chimed in. But she paid no attention as she continued cooking, and I smiled when Cicero mentioned something about being sane. That was definitely true. His dad steered the conversation back to me as he talked about living in Connecticut and how he wasn't cut out to live there. I could definitely agree with that.
The only thing I liked about living up there was that I was lucky to live on the small coast, giving me access to the beach all the time. Not only did it get me out of the house, but the beach was always an excuse to be by yourself, whether it was shell collecting or taking a walk on the pier. I never felt pressured to hang out with anyone from school who I'd known all up through high school, so I would just be alone. And I didn't mind, but I could see how someone like Cicero's dad would lose his mind there.

He said that med school wasn't for him and I laughed a bit, completely understanding. Then Jen took a few jabs at Cic about the whole vet situation, and he was able to justify it by saying he would get a position if there was one. I was basically in the same boat, too. I mean, dealing with people in the ER could be interesting and all, but it definitely wasn't what I had gone to college for. But before I could get lost in my thoughts Jen shifted her attention to me, asking a question that sent me into a mild panic. My smile twitched and faltered the slightest bit, but I was quick to tug it back up as I glanced over at Cicero. He definitely was on the same page as I was: at a loss for words.

Okay. What the hell was there to say? One thing was certain; I was not going to tell them the true story. I wasn't about to sit there and go 'Well, it's pretty funny actually. See I was on my way home from work when I glanced down an alley to see Cic with a knife buried into a woman's ribs and from that moment on I just knew we were made for each other.' Not a chance. There was however the off chance that they would find it all to be funny, but that would open up a whole new can of worms. So instead I straightened my posture a little, smiling softly like I was trying to picture the moment. I just needed him to play along.

My eyes shifted to Jen as I started, completely going off the cuff as I went. "Well, it was during the first week I had lost my sight, so you could imagine that I was still trying to adjust to things. And it was a Wednesday, so my work had agreed that I could go in every Wednesday to get my paycheck since I was on leave, so I was coming back from that and trying to find a cab to take me home. The key word is trying." I laughed a little, shaking my head with self-pity. "It was pouring rain, and I'm sure I looked ridiculous, sacrificing an umbrella to wave my stupid cane around. Of course since getting a cab also meant getting out to help me in and out of the car no taxi driver in the whole city of New York had time for me. So I was soaked, just kind of wandering and stumbling around trying to find a way home. And then all of a sudden the rain stopped. I mean, it didn't actually stop, but I didn't feel any more rain drops. Of course I was a little freaked out, but then I heard his voice for the first time and he just asked I lived nearby. I said I did and he suggested that we walk. I don't know how big that umbrella was, but I didn't get a single drop on me for the rest of the walk home."

I smiled a bit wider, looking over at him. Okay, the only true piece of information in that story was that it had been pouring rain, but I wanted him to look like I had met him as a hero and not a criminal. It was how I had wanted to meet someone like him. I shrugged, continuing as my focus went back to Jen. "And then, y'know, the rest is history as they all say, I guess." I couldn't tell whether I felt bad about lying or relieved that I had just dodged a bullet. But of course regardless of whether I had met him in an alley or trying to catch a cab it didn't change the fact that I was still so in love with him, and the first time we had met I couldn't stop thinking about him, for better or worse.