Impressions Ch. 03

Gin had just gotten back into town after the holidays. She had stayed with her parents from right after finals until a few days ago because she had to be back to work at the vintage record store. The store had given her the rest of the week off before classes started again. She was on her way from the record store to her art instructor's office to pick up her final project from last semester, which she had managed to throw together on the last possible night. She and Aren had each worked all night on their respective pieces and then made breakfast together.

Though they had spent a great amount of time together from the day they met, but during finals week they seemed to be glued to one another. They had discussed trying to spend time together over the break, but though their parents lived in the same metro, Aren was flying to his grandparents' home, which was halfway across the country, for the entire break. He offered to pay for Gin's plane ticket, but she had already committed herself to work in the place she had worked every winter and summer break since high school. They had sadly decided that absence would make the heart grow fonder, even though absence sucked.

She was glad to be back at the university. The holidays exhausted her, in part because she, unlike most people, refused to relax over breaks, and had been working fifty hour weeks. Also, most of her good hometown friends were there so she stayed out late at night. And her family was, in large numbers, stressful. This was the first day she had to even recover from finals week. Still, tired as she was, she was more than ready to see Aren.

The art instructor wasn't in the office, but the final pieces were stacked against a wall with a note that said to 'Please get your paintings out of my office, I've been tripping over them all damned week. Thanks!' She laughed and sorted through the canvasses. She finally found hers. An A? Rock on. Procrastination works well for me, though it must have been graded generously.

Aren is supposed to be back tomorrow. One more day of complete boredom. Assuming he still enjoys my company after our time apart.

Thoughts like that crept up on Gin from time to time. She hated them. She wasn't a 'relationship person' and she knew that. She wasn't trying to be. She just liked Aren's company. A lot. Relationships scared her, but not having Aren in her life scared her more. She would be ok for a day and not think about him too much, then the next day it would hit her like a freight train. She would think she was strong and that she was fine without him, then she would start to think how much her life would suck if he weren't in it. The little doubts about his affections disturbed her greatly. She had always been independent and the presence or lack of a man in her life had never bothered her one way or another. She wanted it to stay like that, damn it.

Maybe Aren isn't like all the other guys I've been around. Maybe he really isn't the jackass I thought he was. A girl can hope, right?

* * *

Gin was awoken abruptly from an unusually deep sleep. Someone was banging on her front door.

"What the hell? It's like three in the morning," she muttered as she drug herself out of bed. She padded to the door in running shorts and a cami. She knew she had the world's worst bed-head and probably wasn't dressed appropriately for anything, but she really didn't give a damn. She picked up one of the throwing knives from her collection in the bookcase and held it behind her back. She jerked open the door.

"Hey baby," Aren said as he bent down to kiss her.

She briefly considered slamming the door in his face for waking her up, but she pulled him into the apartment with the hand that wasn't holding the weapon. She leaned into his kiss and parted her lips at the gentle suggestion of his tongue. He wrapped his arms around her and quickly jumped and pulled back.

"Whoa, beauty queen. Should I be concerned?"

"What?"

"Well, you're holding a knife... and I did wake you up. I could see where you might want to kill me."

Gin had forgotten about the throwing knife she was holding. "If I wanted to kill you, I already would have." She flashed him a smile and turned to return the weapon to its case.

"If you weren't smiling, I'd leave now. But you are, so I think I'll kiss you. I've missed you. Before I get too involved in not missing you anymore, I have a surprise..." He trailed off as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and pressed his lips to her cheek.

"Oh? What is it?"

"A surprise."

"I'd hurt you if you weren't so cute when you think you're being crafty."

"Yes, cuteness has always gotten me by. Well, beauty queen, get your coat. Oh, you might want to get a bag with some of your things in it. Like panties and a toothbrush or whatever."

She glared at him but he could see a little sparkle in her eyes. "You do realize it's the middle of the night... where are we going?"

"Somewhere."

"Fuck you. You're evil."

"You know you like it."

"Pish posh."

"Haven't heard that in a while. Now, come on. It's a long drive."

"You just had to peak my interest. Can I wear sandals?"

"Sure. Your toenails are a bit too cute to cover up." The fact was, he could barely keep his eyes, or hands, off Gin. It wasn't just her toenails. The tussled state of her hair, the slightly smudged eye-makeup, the skimpy clothing even though she'd traded the shorts for jeans... she was breathtaking. Maybe she'll let me mess her up a little more when we get where we're going.

"Suck up. You're still trying your damndest to get me to sleep with you."

"You've already slept with me. I'm trying my damndest to get you to have sex with me."

"Oh hush."

With that, Aren ushered Gin out the door of the apartment, locking it behind himself. If his plan went as he hoped, they wouldn't be back in there for a few days at least. He flashed Gin a killer smile as they descended the staircase.

"Ok, doll, this is going to take a while. You should sleep."

"I'm not that tired right now, though. And don't you want my rambling chatter to keep you company?" she half-heartedly protested.

"I'd love the company, but you look dead. A cute dead, but still dead. What, have you slept all of three hours in the past few days?"

"Umm, something like that." She smiled sheepishly and sighed heavily as she resigned herself to taking a nap.

Aren watched her from the corner of his eye as she curled up in the passenger seat using her coat for a pillow. He knew he wouldn't be comfortable sitting like she was, but she certainly appeared to be. She wasn't lying when she said she napped like a cat he chuckled to himself as he turned on the radio.

* * *

It was sunny out when Gin woke up. Apparently it had been for several hours. The clock in the car said 10:30.

"Morning cutie." Her sleepy smile was absolutely adorable.

"Hi." She stretched her arms and ran her fingers through her hair. Then she reached over and ran her fingers through his hair. It was certainly something he thought he could get used to.

"Hungry?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. Ten minutes."

"That'll work. So, where are we?"

"I'll let you figure that one out. And I'm still not going to tell you where we're going."

"I'm feeling a little like I've been kidnapped."

"At least your captor is nice."

"I don't know about nice. You certainly look like a bad boy. I think I like it though. I'll give you friendly as an attribute, however."

Aren laughed. Man, she's even a handful when she's just woken up. What have I gotten myself into? He was still awed by the fact that she answered the door in the middle of the night wielding a throwing knife. He had no doubt she would have been holding a pistol had one been handy.

He pulled his Jeep into a café whose sign said it served breakfast twenty-four hours a day. Well, it'll raise our blood pressure, but it'll probably be good. These places usually are.

He knew from several previous experiences that Gin loved breakfast foods. She frequently at them for lunch or dinner rather than standard fare. She ordered pancakes, eggs, bacon, and orange juice. He ordered a ham and cheese omelet, waffle, and apple juice. As he predicted, the food was fantastic. He was always amazed how much Gin ate when she had breakfast, which wasn't that often. At other times of the day, she could be considered a light eater.

"Now will you tell me where we're going?"

"No. You'll know in a few hours."

"A FEW? That's so mean."

"I guess you'll just have to punish me for it later." He smiled wickedly.

"No comment." She glared at him, but he saw the hint of a smile on her lips when she turned again to look at him.

He was glad it was such a long drive, even though he was tired of being in the car. It was really giving them uninterrupted time to catch up. Since neither of them had anything important to do until classes started in a few days, he thought this would be a good time for something a little crazy. Just a little though. He had a feeling it would take a hell of a lot more than this for Gin to think it was really crazy. She was the most laid back person he had ever met, but she was still fiery. He loved that about her.

* * *

The expression on Gin's face when she realized he had driven fourteen hours to take her to the beach was something Aren knew he would never forget. Her eyes said 'love' when she kissed him in the driveway of the little beach house. It belonged to some friends of his grandparents' and he had done some pretty tricky negotiating to get them to let him rent it for the week and have it stocked with some key items.

He unlocked the door and carried each of their backpacks inside.

"You know, I've heard about this place and seen pictures for years, but I've never been here. Never had anyone I wanted to bring." He said the last part so quietly she almost didn't realize what he said.

"It's beautiful. Thank you. I don't even know what to say."

"Then don't say anything. Your eyes tell me everything your lips won't."

She couldn't believe the look on his face. It was so warm and kind. It looked like... love! Surely not, he can't...I mean...him...but...why... And yet, it certainly did look like love. If she could have read his heart she wouldn't have wasted her time doubting herself. She was so overcome by the warm-fuzzies she didn't care much what she thought anyway.

"Baby, I want nothing more than to spend the evening trying to seduce you, but..."

"Go to sleep, doll. You can try to seduce me when you wake up." She kissed him on the cheek and moved to close the door.

"Wait... There are a couple books in my bag if you get bored. Sorry baby, I just..."

"Hush. I know. I don't mind at all. Not to mention, you may want to be well rested later..."

After a sexy little grin like that, Aren wasn't sure how much sleep he would actually get, but she shut the door and left him in peace and he was soon in dream land.

Gin passed the evening curled up in a hammock on the back patio, which was literally on the shore, with a fantasy novel and sparkling grape juice. She liked champagne, but sparkling grape juice was cheaper and sweeter. Apparently Aren had remembered that, because he had had someone put a couple bottles of each in the wine cooler. She also noticed that pretty much every one of her favorite foods was in the kitchen. She was especially pleased with the fresh pineapple and what appeared to be a key lime pie.

She still didn't know if she loved him. She was pretty sure she felt like she loved him though. She did know she was happy. Wasn't that what mattered?

When Gin realized it was dark out, she went back into the bedroom. Aren was still asleep. Apparently, he was having a good dream; he was smiling. When she saw the bump under his boxers she grinned. I wonder if that dream involves me? He's too cute to wake up for dinner. Everything can wait until tomorrow. And the next day. And the rest of the week. She planned to make his effort well worth it. Eventually. When he wasn't sleepy. She stripped out of the jeans and curled up next to him, pleased when his arms immediately tightened around her pulling her closer to him. This is definitely something I could get used to, she thought, as she herself drifted to sleep.