101 A: Date With Armand

(originally posted 04/26/2012)

Marie


Saturday arrives, and Armand and I are spending the day together. I head over to see his new house. It's huge for a first house!

He meets me outside.


I start to feel a little self-conscious under his stare.

"Nice house, Armand!" I say brightly.

He smiles his roguish grin and pushes himself off the wall to walk towards me.


He startles me a little when he pulls me into a sudden bear hug.

"I've missed you these past few days." I feel his fingers press into the outer edges of my waist as he hugs me. "I've just been so busy moving." He sighs, still hugging me. "But now I have all of today for only you."

I run my fingers through his hair on the nape of his neck. This is what I like about Armand. When he's being the 'good Armand' he's absolutely wonderful. He makes me feel like I'm the only woman in the world.

"Well, do I get to see the inside of the house or what?" I ask when we pull apart.

He laughs, "Yeah, but later." I raise my eyebrows in question. "I'd like to just go hang out at the museum for a little bit. That okay?" I nod. We pile into his truck.


I love how comfortable I feel around him. He's no fun when he's mad, but I can tolerate that. We'd been a couple for years. Our breakup was pretty nasty. He really tore into me about my friendship with Dawson. He couldn't stand it. He saw what I didn't - that Dawson was trying to steal me from him. I told him I wasn't going to stop being Dawson's friend just because he told me to. Well, then he said some awful things that I don't like to think about.

Maybe now we can get past it. He hasn't apologized yet, though.

And now Dawson is more in the picture - just like Armand was afraid he'd be. Well, I'm not going to worry about him today.


The atmosphere in the truck is quietly tense, and just as I start to ask him what's wrong, he speaks up.

"Okay, let's start off with an apology from me." he says suddenly.

"Armand, it's okay."

"No, it's not! I turned into a jealous prick after graduation! When Cristina moved away I panicked."


I remember that Dawson started hanging out at my house all the time then. At the time I'd thought it was just because he had more time for our friendship with Cristina gone. I never understood why Armand would get this look in his eyes when Dawson came around. Now I do.

"And then," Armand continues, "I do the one thing Dawson wanted. Stupid me."

"Armand..."

He continues like I didn't just try to interrupt him, "I pushed you right into his arms."

"Armand..."


"Hang on a sec, Marie." he asks, finally acknowledging my interruption. I sigh heavily with aggravation. He continues, "Well, like I told you the other night, I'm going to just have to pull you right back out of them." He pauses.

I take the opportunity, "But Armand, you had every right to be angry. You were right."

"Of course I'm right." he says.

That's one thing I don't like about Armand. He's usually right. The worst is that he knows it. His genius gets on my last nerve sometimes.

He smiles belatedly at me like that's going to make it look like he doesn't think too much of himself.


"Well," I say, "let's not talk about that today. I accept your apology. You were angry. People say stupid stuff when they're angry."

"Right." he agrees. "When we get out of this car, we have a clean slate."

"Agreed."


"Pan." I comment on the obvious.

"The guy who always chased nymphs." he says and we stare at the painting some more.

"Wasn't it like, if he played his pipes you'd go insane or something?" I ask.

"Depends on the source I guess. I'd also heard he could cause PANic by yelling."

"Hm." This is boring.


"She looks like Bella Goth." I say. Armand walks up and holds my hand.

"Bella Goth is an urban legend. She doesn't really exist." he says.

I turn to him and shake my head no. "I thought she did!"

"I don't believe it."


I walk a little down a hallway next to the bathrooms and take an interest in a huge urn thing. Armand walks up and grabs my butt.

"Hey!" I say and elbow him in the ribs.

"Ow!" he says as he clutches his side like I've bruised him.


"Well, what do you expect me to do when you do that?" I ask while I turn and glare at him.

He stares at the urn. "Didn't bother thinking of that. Didn't bother thinking at all actually. My hand just seems to be magnetically drawn there." He grabs my butt again. "Look! See! There it goes again!"

I roughly shove him off of me while he laughs real loud at the irritated expression on my face.

"Shh!"

"There's nobody here, Marie. Don't worry about it."


His voice gets softer suddenly. "This place is deserted. We could do anything and nobody would know." He's no longer playing around.

I am not about to have my first woohoo in a corner of the museum!

I can't think of what to say, so I just back off while shooting him a warning look. I know him, and when he gets like this he can quickly get out of control. I head off to the previous room and sit on a couch.


I hear him go to the restroom so I wait quietly. I sit there mindlessly staring at the various items in the room, trying not to think about where Armand's mind was a moment ago.


I hear some strange bird chirping outside the window and I look over to see if I can find it.

I jump as I feel Armand suddenly standing next to me and he gets hold of my chin to turn it towards him.


"Surprise." he says huskily and captures my lips with his. The way he kisses me causes me to picture him as a cheetah. One that has successfully pounced and gotten it's prey. He DOES seem to be intent upon devouring me.


He makes a strange noise in the back of his throat when I try to sit back on the couch, and he pulls me up to him.

Alright, the next place we go does NOT need to be his house. I'm just not ready for this.

I pull back suddenly and the words fly out of my mouth, "Let's go to Leo's."

He massages my shoulder and says, "I thought I could give you a tour of my house now."

Yeah, right. I look up at him. He looks absolutely serious. Doesn't he know me? Doesn't he know that I'm not ready for this?

"It can wait. I want some nachos." I say.

"We can make nachos at my place."

"But Leo's ones are better than the kind you make in the microwave." I say lamely. He takes the hint, and drops his hands.


The lunch crowd hasn't really arrived yet when we get to Leo's. In fact, the bartender hasn't arrived yet. So, Armand pulls me out onto the dance floor to kill some time. We dance around like a couple of fools, laughing and acting silly.


Suddenly, he grabs me around the waist and starts spinning me around the room. He laughs at my surprised expression.


I squeal a little when he dips me, afraid that he's about to drop me. Panting, I look up at him in shock. His eyes smile down at me. It's almost like he's saying, 'Yeah, you thought I'd drop you didn't you? But I didn't, silly.'


He makes a big show of pulling me up slowly like he wants to prove how light I am to him. My heart starts fluttering from the intense look in his eyes. I take in a shaky breath. A slow song starts playing.


"You didn't honestly think I'd drop you, did you?" he finally says.

I grin at him sheepishly. "I didn't expect that if you were going to dip me that it would be that low."

"I'd never drop you." he says simply with a smile on his face.

"I know."

"Obviously not, because you thought I was going to."


"Only for a second!" I say as he presses me against him. Somebody really needs a cold shower. I feel like I can't catch my breath, and as I look at the floor I feel myself blush.

Thank heavens, the bartender arrives. I escape to order some food.


Demarco's mom walks in and sits at the bar. She asks Armand if he'd like to dance. Talk about cougar! He explains that he's here with someone. Yes. That someone that everyone seems to want to stare at while she eats.


Apparently the drink I order later needs a blowtorch. Crazy.


When we finish our food and drinks, Armand pulls me back out onto the dance floor again. We're fine as long as the song is fast.


When another slow one starts up, Armand looks at me and says, "I don't think I can take another slow song, Marie. It would be a better idea to head back to my place. It's a great house! You're going to love it."


"A-Alright." I say because I can't think of any excuse to give him.

(I needed to break this up into sections, the next update is the second half of this one.) 

(current edit: Yay! Now all the posts are on the blog!) 

Warning!!!! Clicking 'Newer Post' will take you to update 119! To get to 101A click here.

93: Date With Dawson

(originally posted 04/04/2012)

Marie

(The game keeps insisting that Marie be a heavier weight, and I keep changing it - be either Marie works out more or I go into CAS. So, some pictures she looks like she weighs more. That bugs me.

Also, the lighting in this update SUCKS. I have broken down and DL'ed the outdoor lighting tweaks mod for this reason... never again will lighting ruin my pics. Of course, a mod doesn't help the fact that my processor and video card are old. :/ )


My phone rings. It's Dawson!

Me: Hey, Dawson, what's up?
Dawson: Hey, Marie. Ummm... I need to cancel tonight.
I feel my shoulders slump: Okay... why?
Dawson: Alex has this stupid concert he's performing in, and he'll be upset if I don't go.
Me: Um, why not just bring me along?
Dawson: Really? You'd want to go to that?
I laugh: Yeah.
He sounds relieved: Oh good. I thought you wouldn't want to.
Me: Why?
Dawson: Well... your past with him and all.
Me: That was ages ago.
Dawson: Okay. So 5 okay with you then? That way we can go get something to eat first.
I nod: Yeah. That's great. See you then!

Dawson is late. It's 6 before we even make it to the bistro.


Dawson: I'm sorry I was late. Sooo, I got you these!

Flowers... how unoriginal. Oh well, at least he was sweet enough to realize him being late is bad bad bad.

I thank him then we sit down and order our food.


I try to engage him in conversation. He responds in between mouthfuls of food.

Me: Dawson, slow down or...


Me: ... you'll choke.

Too late.

He doesn't really choke after all, which is good because I don't know whatever it is you're supposed to do. At least, how to do it on an adult.


Dawson: Sorry. I'm just in a hurry, since I was late and all.

I look down at my plate to hide my anger. I'm not going to stuff my face real fast and give myself indigestion just because YOU were late.

I take my time and finish my food. I think Dawson takes the hint that I'm not going to rush and stops fidgeting.


Our waitress comes and takes the plates. Dawson pays the bill.

Dawson: All set?
Me: Sure.

So far, this date sucks.

We stand up, and we're getting ready to leave when we hear a familiar voice call for Dawson.


It's Andy. Dawson exhales in an exasperated manner. I glance at Andy, then turn my head back to Dawson. The look in Andy's eyes is pure annoyance at Dawson, but when he looks at me, his eyes widen as he looks at me from toe to top. I feel like every article of clothing I have on has just been removed under his gaze. It was for this reason my eyes went back to Dawson. I just couldn't handle that tonight.


Dawson walks around the table, and Andy turns around to talk to him. I stand there trying to fade into the background. I do NOT want to start something between them, and if I was reading Andy correctly, that's just what's going on. Or part of it anyway.

Andy: Dawson! I told you to be at the theatre by now! I came to get you.
Dawson: Couldn't you have gotten along without me?
Andy: You're the only one who knows how we want the lighting set up! We can't do anything until you've gotten that fixed.
Dawson: Alright, alright. We're on our way now. I just wanted to give Marie time to finish eating.

Great. Let's let fat Marie finish her food so she doesn't starve to death.

Andy: Oh.

I turn around to glare at Dawson. He looks back at me, confused. Andy turns around to face me.


Andy: Okay, well, let's get going then.
Dawson: Right, we'll meet you there.
Andy: You look beautiful, Marie.

That was out of the blue. I sputter a little before I finally just thank him. I don't miss the suspicious glare Dawson gives him.

Andy twirls his keys around his index finger before finally catching them in his palm, staring at me the whole time. Then, he finally looks over at Dawson. I don't know what expression is on Dawson's face, but Andy responds with a raise of his eyebrows. He turns and walks away.

Great. Just great. I think sarcastically.


Before we go into the theatre, Dawson pulls me aside.

Dawson: Marie, it ticks me off that Andy beat me to telling you how lovely you are tonight. (He pauses, then says real fast) Not that you aren't all the time anyway. (He sighs, then his speech returns to normal speed.) Well, you are.
I chuckle a little at his bumbled-up compliment: Thank you, Dawson. Now let's get in there before your brother has a nervous breakdown or something.

The show is pretty good. I get left alone alot in the beginning while Dawson sets up the stage for his brother, so I find a seat in the middle of the theatre. Andy would frequently look over at me like he wanted to come talk to me, but he was too busy to do so. Once Dawson finishes with whatever it is he has to do, he sits back and lets the theatre employees do their job.


When the show is over and the crowd disperses, Dawson pulls me aside again.

Dawson: Marie, are you ready to go home? I feel like this hasn't gone like I planned. I'd like to just go somewhere and talk, but if you're tired and want to go home I'll take you home then.
I smile: We can go somewhere and just talk.
He smiles back: Great.


So, we start to go on a walk in the woods near the theatre. We come across a small pond with a few flowered bushes decorating the place. I start to wonder if once upon a time there was a house here and this is the left-overs of a once-beautiful garden.

Dawson: This is nice.
Me: Mhm.
He reaches a hand down and obtains mine: I'm sorry things haven't gone better this evening.
I lie: No, it's fine. I mean, I knew you were going to be busy.
He shakes his head: No, Alex knew I'd changed my plans a little. I get the feeling he was being an as* on purpose.


Dawson: No right. He had his chance.

I was about to ask him what he meant by that when he surprises me by pulling my hand back behind him and planting the lightest of kisses on my lips.


Dawson: Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to do that?
Me: Um.
Dawson answers himself: Since elementary school.
Me: Why have you waited this long then?


Dawson: I know it sounds crazy, but I don't really know. I guess part of it was that I was afraid of losing our friendship and having nothing. I'm still a little afraid of that, but I'm not going to sit around anymore and watch other guys ... like my brother ... come into your life and take the place I want to have.

He takes a deep breath like saying all that took alot out of him.

Me: Oh, Dawson. I had no idea. Not until yesterday that is.


Dawson: Well, now you do.

He steps forward and properly kisses me now. His hands clutch at the fabric of my dress as hang on for dear life to the back of his jacket. I have difficulty getting enough air because he kisses me so desperately... like he has been storing up all this emotion and now finally let it free. That has to be exactly what he was doing.

My knees start to buckle as my strength starts to ebb.

Dawson: Let's just sit here for a moment or two, okay?
I take in deep breaths of delicious air and nod.


Me: Wow, you can really see the stars out here. We're not far from the streetlights, but that little bit makes a big difference.
Dawson: Yeah. This place has a great view.


I turn to see in what direction he's looking, and find him looking back at me.

Dawson takes a deep breath: Marie, would you go steady with me?
Uh oh.
Me: Um. Well, you see...


Dawson sounds very disappointed: This is a "no" isn't it?
Me: Well... because...
Dawson: It's Armand, isn't it? Or my brother?
I look down, unable to look anymore at the hurt in his eyes: It's not Alex.
Dawson: Dam* you, Armand!


I look up at him in shock: Dawson!
Dawson doesn't act embarrassed at his outburst: Why, Marie? Why Armand again? Does he know about us?
I look down again: Yes.

I decided to only answer the last question because I don't know the answer to the first two.

I hear Dawson take several deep breaths.


Dawson: Why? He's a jerk! You and I both know that.
I shake my head: He's not a jerk. He just doesn't like you.
Dawson: And now I can imagine he really doesn't.

Dawson gets quiet. I don't know what to do or say.

He turns to me again: So. He knows and asks you out anyway. I hope he doesn't think I'm going to just give up. Not this time.


He jerks me toward him. Gone is the simple and sweet boy I once knew. In his place is a man that knows exactly what he wants, and that is me.

Dawson stops for a moment: Marie... Marie, why are you doing this to me?
Me: Dawson, I ...

I pause as his gaze travels all over my face. There's a hunger in his eyes that makes me forget what it was I was going to say.


Apparently, he's through waiting for an answer. He kisses me desperately again, demanding just as powerful a response from me. He moans and we fall to the ground.


I feel the blades of grass poke into the bare skin of my back as he positions himself on top of me.

He raises himself up with his arms for a minute: I love you.

I gasp in shock. He leans down and starts kissing my neck before his mouth travels lower.

I'm in over my head here.

I gasp: Dawson!
Dawson: Mm?
Think of something, quick!
Me: The grass.... is... itchy.

His eyes meet mine and the look in them says that he knows what it is I'm REALLY saying.

Dawson: Alright.


He sits me up, but we're still on the ground. That doesn't bother me, though.

There are so many emotions traveling across his face that I wonder which one he will settle on. It appears to be... hurt. Oh no. I reach up and touch his face, hoping to erase the look I see there.

Dawson: Why not just stop it with him before it starts again?
I take a shuddering breath: Because... There's something there. I have to know. I'm not going to make the same mistakes my mother did. I think the smartest thing she ever did was to date both of them to figure it out.

He blanches. I reach my other hand to the other side of his face to try and calm him.

Me: Dawson, listen. I've only just recently discovered my feelings for you. But I'm confused as to why Armand can still affect me the way he does.
He growls.


Dawson: Affects you the way he does?

He stands up on his knees and pulls me up with him. I'm almost paralyzed with shock.

Dawson: And just how might that be, Marie?
I guess that was a bad choice of words.
Dawson: You like him bossing you around? You like how he treats your friends? You like how he thinks he's so much smarter than you?
I work at trying to catch my breath.
Dawson: Or is the attraction only physical?


Dawson stares down at me for a moment while I continue to try to catch my breath. Then his lips crash into mine in a kiss that feels like he's trying to brand me.

I've never seen this side of him before. Why has he hidden this part of himself from me? Was he afraid I would be afraid around him if he did? This side of him is... well, it's hot.

I try to kiss him back with the same intensity, but he doesn't wait for me to catch up. I get the feeling he's trying to erase Armand from my memory with a single kiss. If he only knew how close he is to the mark.

His hands reach around my neck to the ties of my dress. I make a panicked noise as I stand up fully on my knees and reach my hands around to cease his hands' mission.

He pulls back, panting. He brings himself to a standing position and offers aid to help me do the same.


He takes possession of my hand: C'mon. Let's go sit at the river. It won't be that much longer before the sun is up.

I nod and we walk off in that direction.


We very calmly sit at the little beach by the river and talk as the remaining hours of the night go past. I work at reassuring him that yes, I have feelings for him, but no, I'm not positive just how much. He assures me he's not going anywhere until I order him away.


By the time the sun starts to rise, I feel like I've truly met a Dawson I never knew existed.


Dawson: Okay, so ... Sunday?
I smile and nod.