x.Chasing Sunshine

[KERFUFFLE]

You think so? I guess it is, now that you mention it. But I've never thought of it as funny before.

I know. We didn't go there specifically so we could ski, though. It was because it was a nice holiday park and my uncle likes Holland.

Brandon smiled, returning the kiss gently to her cheek. He didn't really have much else to say, since he'd written everything he felt for her onto a piece of paper for the past.. Well, however long it had taken him to write it. "Thanks for being so patient while I wrote, by the way," he said eventually. "I can be a bit more talkative now, if you like." He chuckled softly.

"Well, I hope he does, for both of their sakes, I guess," Caden agreed. He couldn't help his curiosity that sprung from what she'd said about her siblings getting married. "What about you? What do you see yourself doing?"

So I just thought of someone new instead.

Kara had been sat at a bar in Amsterdam for the best part of an hour now. She had been planning to meet some friends there-- since having lived there for a while a few years ago, she'd got up a good list of friends, and since she was back she was excited to see them again. Either they were held up or they weren't nearly as excited to see her. She sighed as she pushed he glass aside and checked the time on her phone, even though she'd only done that less than a minute ago.

 

[Penguins.]

Well, if you used it here many people would think it was funny.

Oh. I guess that makes more sense.

I LOVE THE NAME KARA!

I like how Cassandra and Caden both start with C and Keegan and Kara both start with K. But I feel like Brandon and Avery are being left out of this special letter matching thing.

"No, don't worry about it. I like watching you work. It's peaceful," she said happily. She wasn't sure how today was going to be after the news of the pregnancy from the day before but it was going well. Much better than she had hoped. "We can do anything. What do you want to talk about?"

Cassandra shrugged. "I'm not sure. I haven't really thought about it," she said, entirely truthfully. She saw guys all the time with her job. She had been on dates with a few, sometimes on multiple dates but he had never actually had time to maintain an actual relationship with any of them.

Keegan took a sip from his bottle and sighed. He couldn't figure what to do at all. He looked around the bar, looking for a familiar face. He found none but his eyes landed on the girl sitting next to him. She seemed completely bored to Keegan, as she was checking her phone constantly. Maybe she needed to be somewhere. He wasn't quite sure. He wondered about what she possibly needed to do. Speculating about other peoples' lives was a welcome distraction from his problem.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

I'll bear that in mind if I'm around at any point in my life, then

I don't know why, but it just popped into my head and I liked it.

Now that you mention it.. Oh yeah. I noticed it with Caden and Cassandra, but I didn't even realise it when I picked Kara.

That was good; the whole time, Brandon had hoped she wasn't bored of watching him by now, but at the same time he wanted it to be finished, and he couldn't keep himself from writing and working until it was done. He sat back in his chair a little bit, relaxing a little more now that he was happy that he'd done something productive. On the subject of what to talk about, he said, "I feel like there are so many things I want to talk about, so many things we should talk about.. I'm not sure." Things were different to how he'd imagined they'd end up being when he woke up. They'd barely spoken since they'd gotten back to the hotel last night, more at a loss for words than not having the desire to, and though they slept next to each other he'd felt a distance that hadn't been there before. Today, though, things felt more normal than he could have hoped for, things like what had just happened proved that, and it made him happy that they could still be like this with each other despite what was going on.

Caden nodded. "I guess it would be hard, if you have so little time. So little time that you don't even have a moment to think about it," he said. "And I think it's really hard to know what you want until you've been at a point when you really love someone, or really can't imagine being with anyone for that long."

Kara asked for another drink-- hey, she may as well, she'd brought enough money for a few rounds for everyone, she could afford to, and she also felt like she needed it. She put her phone away and told herself not to look at it again. She looked to the door every time it opened, just in case it was them. Nothing. If they weren't here by the end of this drink, she'd go.

Okay, I give in. I need sleep. 'Night

 

[Penguins.]

I think it's awesome. Alliteration is the best.

You stayed up longer than usual. I noticed that!

Avery nodded. There were things they should discuss, but part of her was scared that if they talked about those things, both of them would lapse back into that slightly awkward phase they had experienced. "I don't know," she said finally. "I don't know what to do." She meant that about the talking, the pregnancy, everything really.

Cassandra nodded. "I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," she said. She thought about what Caden had said. It was true, to an extent. Even when she had been with guys she had been interested in, she had never really allowed it to blossom into anything more. Part if that, she realized, was because she wasn't completely sure what kind of relationship she wanted.

Keegan eyed the girl with a growing sense of curiosity. When she ordered another drink, he asked "Long day?" and gestured towards her glasses. He took another sip of his beer, finishing off the bottle.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

I think it's pretty cool, too

Ah, good.. I could have stayed up a bit more, but my brain was about to explode, I think.

Brandon worried the same thing. He didn't want things to fall back to the way they were last night, and though he knew that there were things that they had to talk about- and soon- today he just didn't want to, because things were feeling so much better. He took her hand and squeezed it gently. "I know," he said with a sigh, "And I understand. Look, if you don't want to talk about that right now.. We won't. And we'll figure out something else. I don't want us to stop talking again, I hated that."

"That makes two of us, I suppose," Caden said. Really, though, he thought differently about things than he did only a few months ago. Then, he was adamant that he wanted to get married one day, because he thought he was in love with the girl he was going out with. It only made it all the worse when she'd hurt him. She'd justified what she did by using the fact that he was away from home a lot, and she felt lonely sometimes when he wasn't around. It had been going on a long time, and she went elsewhere so that she didn't have to feel lonely while he was away. He'd wished she'd told him sooner, before she'd resorted to that, but it was too late by then. Since that time he wondered if he could ever really have a long term relationship that would work.

Kara looked in the direction of the voice she'd heard, presumably talking to her. Her hazel eyes met with a guy just along from where she was sat, and it was confirmed that the question was aimed at her. "Well, sort of. Quick to start with, but it's feeling pretty slow right now," she replied with a tired sounding chuckle, pushing some of her blonde, pixie-styled hair out of her eyes.

 

[Penguins.]

Well, it's almost New Year's Eve. You'll have to be up late then!

"That's exactly what I don't want to happen," she agreed. "I hated it as well. It was terrible, even though it didn't last very long. And I think it would be better if we just cleared our minds today without worrying about anything." She liked where they were right now and wanted to keep it like this for as long as she could.

Cassandra nodded again, unsure of what else to say. She stood up and went to the kitchen, suddenly feeling hungry. She hadn't eaten much on the plane. Airline food was terrible. "Are you hungry?" she asked him as she started to make herself a sandwich.

Keegan smiled slightly. "Yeah. I get it ," he said. Then, he diverted his attention back to the bartender and asked for another beer. The bartender slid one over to him (that always happens in like every movie. It's like they oil down the bar so glasses can slide on them.) and he thanked him before taking a sip.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

Oh, I will be. We're having a party at my house and I know I'm going to be the last one to go to bed =D

That's so true about the bar thing!

He was glad they were on the same page and he hadn't just imagined it to be worse than it was when they didn't know what to say to each other. They could afford not to think about it today-- of course, they didn't have all the time in the world, but they easily had enough to not have to think about it at all just for one day. "Well, we could.. We could carry on from where we were yesterday before all this, when we were talking about going to London.. Or something else entirely, if you like."

As Caden made his way to the kitchen, he said, "Here, let me do something." He was hungry, too, and his aeroplane food hadn't been any better, so he'd help her make a couple of sandwiches. He hunted around the kitchen for a few things, and then set about making some food.

Kara sipped at her drink and said, in regards to what he'd said, "I didn't think you looked like you were just here because you wanted a drink. More like you need one." It looked like he wasn't having the time of his life, either, really.

Oh, back in a while. Dinner

 

[Penguins.]

Oh wow. Sounds fun! I slept at four the last time my parents had a party.

It is! I wonder if drinks actually slide like that.

Avery shrugged. "You could tell me more about London, though you've already told me so much," she said, laughing slightly. "What else is left that would be interesting?"

She got out the bread, some meat, cheese, and other sandwich making necessities. "What would you like in yours?" she asked him, unsure of what exactly he liked to eat. She herself put some bread in the toaster because she preferred the bread slightly toasted and then asked Caden if he wanted the same.

Keen laughed. "I guess you could put it that way," he said. He took another sip of his new drink and nodded. "I haven't seen you here before. Are you just visiting?"

 

[KERFUFFLE]

My parents will no doubt fall asleep way before that, but I'll stay up.

I'm just imagining you trying that at some point just to find out.

"Yeah, that's true, I suppose. And I don't need to ask you about New York anymore, either," Brandon chuckled. He paused for a moment, before the thought crossed his mind, and he asked her, "But I wonder, have you been to other interesting places with your family before?"

"I'll go for some ham and cheese, thanks," Caden replied. He set about buttering the bread, and since he'd agreed to her toasting them, he buttered both sides while he was at it and then set them down so that she could put the fillings in.

Kara nodded and said, "Well, I lived in Amsterdam for a while, a few years ago, and I'm just here on a visit to come and see some friends I made here." She paused before she chuckled and added, "But, well, right now it looks like a failed plan of action, since none of them have actually turned up." She sipped her drink. "I assume you've become somewhat of a regular here?"

 

[Penguins.]

What time will the party end, then?

I probably would do that.

"We went to California one summer but other than that we stayed in New York. We did go down to the beach every now and then, but other than that, we didn't really travel much," Avery replied. "What about you? Did you go anywhere interesting?"

When he was done with the bread, Cassandra finished making the sandwiches. She put his on one of the plates and handed the plate to him. She took a bit out of her own. "They're pretty good," she said, smiling at Caden.

"I've only been here, you know, at least once a day in the past few weeks I've been in the city," he said. "I'm Keegan, by the way."

 

[KERFUFFLE]

Whenever I decide, I suppose xD Well, everyone will probably have gone by just after midnight but I'll probably be up for a while after that.

Well, let me know of your findings when you do.

"Picture this; trying to take six kids to a place that they could all enjoy, considering there was quite a large age range, and also keep them all under control," Brandon chuckled. "As you can imagine, as well as trying to afford for that many people, those dilemmas meant we didn't go to many places, but occasionally we went on trips to neighbouring counties-- usually camping. We were all very close, so we had fun. My older sister, who was also the oldest of all us, just took me to the south coast once so that I could see the beach for the first time. That actually wasn't long before.." he paused, thinking how best to avoid what he had been about to say, before resolving to, "Before I moved here. Her and I were the oldest siblings, so we usually had to take care of everyone. One weekend, my grandma helped out with looking after everyone else when my parents had to work, and told us that she'd make us go if she had to. And so the two of us went, and I'm glad we got the chance because it was wonderful. I guess to anyone else it might not seem too exciting, but I really loved it."

"Thank you," Caden said as she handed him a plate, and told himself to eat normally and not wolf it down, despite how hungry he was. He took a bite and nodded in agreement with her while he finished his mouthful. "They are. It must be the Dutch air," he said with a chuckle.

Kara chuckled. "Okay, so whatever you have going on now sounds much more severe than my problem." She smiled at him, "And I'm Kara. Nice to meet you." She paused for a moment, before she asked him, "Which part of the US are you from originally, then?"

 

[Penguins.]

Happy new year!

I definitely will.

Avery smiled listening to him. She hated the fact that she would never get to meet his family. It wasn't his fault, of course, but they all sounded like great people and she wished she could have gotten the chance to know them. "That does sound nice, actually," she said, about his driving to the beach with his sister.

"I was actually going to attribute the taste to my fabulous cooking skills," Cassandra smiled. "But I suppose food does taste better when you're somewhere different." She took a bite of her sandwich, which probably tasted even better because she had barely eaten on the plane.

"Well, I'm also in here sometimes because I want a drink. That's different from needing one," he replied. To her question he answered, "New York. The city, actually. But I haven't been there since i graduated from high school."

 

[KERFUFFLE]

Happy New Year!

"It was wonderful. And I remember afterwards thinking how lucky I was, and that I'd never get to go on a trip that good again, or anything close," Brandon said, chuckling softly. "But you changed all of that. Of course, coming to America, it's bittersweet. If it had never happened, I would still have my family, but then I never would have met you." Since then, he genuinely believed that when one door closed, another opened. "And whatever happens, I'm so glad to have met you."

Caden nudged her with his elbow slightly and he said, "Of course that's the real reason. I said it try and make you feel like you weren't getting any credit for your clearly michelin star standard cooking." He smiled as he ate some more of his sandwich, it actually getting even more delicious with every bite.

"Well, sure, that's fair enough," Kara said, sipping her drink. She smiled then. She'd always thought New York would be an amazing place to be. "So are you a regular traveller, or are you settling in Amsterdam?" she asked him.

 

[Penguins.]

How was your party?

"I know," Avery said. "If we hadn't moved, I wouldn't have met you. But I still wish I could meet your family. I know how much they mean to you. I think, maybe, I would have liked them. Besides, I don't think you'd have never met me otherwise. We're meant to be together and when two people are meant for each other, they find each other."

Cassandra nodded as she chewed on her current bite. When she was done, she replied "You would do that although I clearly deserve the praise? I mean, have y ou ever had a sandwich this delicious before?"

Keen shrugged. "I'm not sure how long we're staying here. We've been here about two weeks and I think it'll be a while longer. Not too long of course. We'll probably leave in a month or so," he replied, taking another swig from his bottle.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

It was great, thank you. My cousins and my cousin's friend came over so I wasn't shoved downstairs listening to the adults all the time, even though I am getting to the age where I don't mind that so much now. Oh, and all I remember was that it was at least after 2am, if not later, before I went to bed. Of course, that's good for me but since you're still up my efforts aren't up to much, haha.

Did you do anything for it?

"They would have loved you." Brandon could just picture his youngest sister really taking to Avery in particular, always asking about her, questioning about when they could next see her. He also wondered who on earth could do such a thing to a family, but he particularly didn't understand why they did it to the little ones, who had no idea what was going on and couldn't have possibly done anything wrong. It was a difficult case because noone knew of any motive and somehow he thought that he'd never know who did it. He stopped thinking about all that when Avery was speaking again. "You're right there, I suppose. But I still feel like something awful would have to happen to me in order to let me deserve someone as wonderful as you," he replied. But they were meant to be together, he knew she was right about that, and that was why nothing could possibly take away what they had. People would say things, like having a baby that young would take its toll on their relationship, but he knew better.

Caden paused for effect, as if thinking back to all the sandwiches he'd ever had in his life, before he said, "I can't say I have, actually. And I'm sorry that in using sarcasm I deprived you of the praise you deserve for making the best sandwich I'v ever had." He chuckled and set about finishing it off, then set the plate down on the counter.

"Oh, well, enjoy it, then. I still love it here every time I come," Kara replied. She wondered who he was referring to when he used 'we' and so, out of plain curiosity, she asked him, "So who're you travelling with? Friends? Girlfriend?"

 

[Penguins.]

We went to a party. Of course, all of my mom's friends' children are much younger than me so I kind of just drifted around talking to everyone until the music gave me a headache. But I got to use my new curling iron and my hair lookedmgood, despite the fact that it took about an hour to curl my hair.

Well, I was asleep when you posted actually.

Avery shook her head. "Don't say that. You know it's not true," she said. "You're perfect just as you are." She leaned across to kiss him. When she pulled away she was silent for a few seconds. "We've never talked about it, but if I wasn't pregnant now, would you ever want kids?" she asked, out of curiosity. It may have been a strange thing to ask, given the circumstances, but she genuinely wanted to know how he would have felt.

"I don't think I'll be able to forgive you," she replied as she finished her sandwich. She took her plate and Caden's from the counter and started to wash them. When she sat back down on the couch, she said "I thought I would be a bit more jet lagged but I guess not."

"Um, no," Keegan shook his head. "My fiancee, actually." He didn't elaborate anymore. Instead, he finished his second drink and set the bottle back down on the counter.

 

[KERFUFFLE]

Ah, I see. Yeah, I know how that feels, too. Quite often my older cousin doesn't come over and it's only her younger sister, who is harder for me to relate to, because she's still old enough that I can't keep her entertained by playing with her.

My baby cousin, though, she's adorable. She's learned now that if she says please she can get pretty much anything she wants because everyone thinks its great that she can say it xD

I have the exact same problem. And then I can't get the curls to stay in. Except that now I've found that rollers work really well in my hair, and they only take a little while to put in. We curled it for my uncle's wedding and it stayed in all day.

Haha, okay.

Brandon had returned the kiss while it lasted, enjoying every moment of it, because it had actually been a while since they had last kissed each other on the lips, due to their awkward spell the night before. He was a bit surprised by her question considering their situation, but he didn't show it to much of an extent. He thought about his answer for a moment, before he said to her, "I would love, and be honoured, to have a child with you one day, if we were ready and you wanted to, as well. Have you thought about it much?"

"Oh, dear. If I had known it would be such an awful crime I wouldn't have said anything at all," Caden replied, chuckling softly. He dried up the plates for her and joined her in the living room again. "Did you get much sleep on the plane? That always helps," he said. "But sometimes it also doesn't hit you until a while later."

"Oh, you're getting married? Congratulations," Kara smiled, of course none the wiser that the cause of his not entirely contented state was due to exactly that.

 

[Penguins.]

Oh. See, here there's so many young kids that they keep each other entertained.

Babies are adorable. That's really cute!

I don't like the way rollers look in my hair actually. To curl my hair I need to straighten it first because my natural curls are too undefined. And then it takes forever because I have so much hair. But my mom got me one of those clamp less curlers for Christmas. It's so much easier and it heats all the way up to 400 degrees F which is great for my hair.

Avery nodded. "I always wanted some. When I was older and after I was married, though. Two or maybe three. I don't know how many, but more than one," she said.

Cassandra shrugged. "I did sleep for a while. Probably not long enough, but I'm not at all tired," she told him. "I want to do something."

Keegan wasn't quite sure what to say. He didn't want to lie to her, but he wasn't sure if she wanted to hear everything. "Yeah," he said. "Thanks, I guess."

Short post, because I need to leave. byeeee

 

[KERFUFFLE]

Ah, I see. Not here, we're all around my age or older by now.

She's the cutest. At first my uncle and aunt thought I didn't like her or babies in particular but that's because I've never been around them much and I was petrified in case I did something wrong. But I've gotten used to it and she's adorable.

Ah, true. Mine go straight in because my hair is, well, straight and they work fine. Wow, that's pretty hot. My curler's don't go anywhere near that, so that's probably half the problem. But rollers give me more natural curls because of how straight it is.

Older and married. Brandon agreed with that. "I'm sorry things.. haven't quite turned out that way," he said to her. He wished it could have been the way they'd hoped, when they were married to each other and ready, so that they could be nothing but happy and excited that they were having a baby, instead of having mixed feelings and being worried about it as they were then. The other problem was that they both wanted to have several, but right now they weren't even ready for one; of course, age gap wasn't exactly the biggest problem in the world, but still.

Caden asked her, "Well, what do you feel like doing?" He had no preference, really, but he felt like it would be nice to do something or go somewhere.

Kara paused for a moment, hearing something in his tone that suggested he wasn't quite as happy as she'd figured he should be. "Of course, you don't have to tell me anything, but that didn't really sound like the reply of an excited husband-to-be," she observed.

Alright, bye!

 

[Penguins.]

There's a little boy who's about two I think and he's absolutely adorable. He almost always wear baseball hats and sometimes if you pull the cap down past his eyes he just stops and stays still until you push it up. It's so cute!

Rollers, according to the last time I used them, give my hair those bouncy curls. The iron I have now let's me do waves or springy curls or something in between depending on how much hair I use. And once it breaks up, I get that perfect crimpy/wavy hair.

"Don't say that," Avery said. "It's not your fault, you know. It could have happened to anyone." She sighed softly. Of course she wished things would have been different but there was nothing they could do now. Then, she laughed slightly. "I'm sorry for bringing it up. I know we agreed not to discuss it today."

"Can we go out? We could take a walk and just look around," she suggested, standing up. Then she realized she was still wearing her plane clothes, which really were meant for lounging around, not going out. "Um, actually I'm going to change first." she said as she picked up her bags to go see where she would be staying.

(Would it be totally awkward if they had to share a room?)

"It's really complicated actually," he said, in a reply. He then clarified, "Well, the situation isn't complicated. Feelings..are complicated."