Gabe Winters (ex_blindside211) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2009-11-12 22:37:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-06-21 |
House Shopping
Who: Claire and Gabe
Where: House shopping
When: Afternoon
Gabe took a deep breath as he stood in the living room of house number ten. It wasn't too big, it wasn't too small. It didn't cost too much, but it wasn't falling completely apart. It was in a decent neighborhood, or he thought as much. And he liked it, though that opinion was pending Claire's opinion. He wanted her to like it too. It would be their house, a concept he'd accepted but tried not to think too much about. It scared him a little, that they were buying a house together, but it was also exciting. He just had to let the excitement win out.
"Can we have a minute?" he asked the realtor. She nodded and wandered off, and Gabe turned to Claire. "What do you think?"
Claire was torn between excitement and mild panic attacks. She knew it was silly to freak out, but once they started looking at houses, it started to hit her. She was buying a house. With Gabe. A boy. Not renting... buying. It was something she hadn't thought much about until now. A few times she felt like she might hyperventilate. She was eighteen and buying something major with someone else. Of course, it was different with Gabe, but at the same time, it was just the situation she was getting herself in. Once the realtor left, Claire focused on Gabe. "It's nice. Better than the other ones... is it something we can... afford?" Money was going to be a big deal, especially with them both going to school that fall.
He'd already had this conversation with his mother, about how much a down payment would be, then how much they could afford to pay monthly. He didn't know exactly what Claire made, but he knew what he'd be making, and he knew his mother had still offered to help pay for college. She wasn't entirely pleased with the situation, but she was willing to see it as different from other teenager's. Gabe was just trying not to freak out about how very serious this made them, even if that was true regardless. Buying a house always seemed to be the thing right before having kids, and that still scared him stupid. "Yeah, I think so," he nodded. "We don't have to decide today or anything, but... I think this one might be worth considering."
If Gabe had mentioned kids, Claire might have hyperventilated herself to the hospital. The mate for life thing, she found she could deal with, since she loved him. The house thing was a logical step, even if it freaked her out. But pro-creating? She couldn't see that in her future for quite some time. Claire licked her lips anxiously and glanced around again, trying to envision herself living here with him. "Well... I like this one. It seems to be the right size for two people. And it's not that expensive." She returned her gaze to his face. "What do you think? I mean... do you like it? Better than the other ones?" She didn't know how many more houses she could stand to look at. It felt as if they had seen nearly every empty place in town.
"I'd like to be anywhere you are," Gabe said with a little smile as he came over to take her hands in his. "But, yeah, I like it best. It's not too small, it's got a basement, and I can see us living here." His smile became a bit more devilish. "I can see us doing a lot more, but I don't think we're allowed to try it out first." He suspected the realtor was frustrated with showing around a couple of kids and wouldn't appreciate it if Gabe took this opportunity to test the height of the counter tops. They were on his list, though, if they bought the place.
That brought a grin to her face, and she felt some of the tension seep from her body. "I don't think we have to be overly picky this go around... I mean, this is to get us through school and everything." She could already hear what her dad would say once he found out she was moving in, unmarried, with Gabe. But she didn't care. She would do what made her happy. "I like this one." It was as close to a decision as she would get. Leaning in, Claire pressed a kiss against his lips. "The sooner I can move out of my house, the better." She loved living with her mom, but with Madock gone, it was time for Claire to move on too.
She was right. They didn't have treat this like the house they would live in forever. So long as they could afford it and it met their needs, they might as well take it. The fact that they liked it was a bonus. "Maybe you can stay with me tonight. Mom's working the night shift," he grinned. He hadn't gotten near as much alone time with Claire as he would have liked and he hoped she could take him up on the offer. He kissed her again, then slowly pulled away with he heard the realtor return just before she walked back in the room. "I think this is it," Gabe smiled. "Let's get the ball rolling."
"I can stay," Claire said, thinking it would be nice to stay at Gabe's instead of her own bed. "I'll just tell mom I'm staying at Madock's new place." She took a deep breath when the realtor came back in, and she tried not to totally freak out again. Everything would be okay, and she knew that. She just had to keep reminding herself of it.
After a lot of the paperwork had been filled out, Claire realized she hadn't known exactly what went into stuff like this. Even for a small house. But things looked promising, so in the end, she didn't mind all the boring stuff so much. "Is your mom okay with this?" Claire asked Gabe, once they were finished with the realtor for the time being. "I mean, does she know about us?" She knew Thessaly probably knew they were dating, but Claire didn't know if she knew about the mating yet.
Filling out the paperwork was a pain when Gabe wanted to be back at his house with Claire. He realized it was necessary, but he hadn't quite known how much work it would be. He just had to tell himself it would be worth it. He knew it would be. Living with Claire was something to look forward to, so long as he didn't allow himself to get caught up in all the details.
"I haven't been so explicit as to say so, but I'm pretty sure she knows," Gabe said, linking his hands with Claire's as they headed back out to the car. The first steps were in place, and soon they would have a house of their own. How weird was that? "Even if we hadn't, I think she'd expect it eventually, now that we're dating. I dunno. Does your mom know? About us? About me and... all the stuff with it?" It wasn't just being a werewolf, but the fact that werewolves mated for life. Gabe wondered if she knew about her son, but he didn't want to bring it up.
"She knows we're together," Claire said. "But she doesn't know about the werewolf thing yet. I know I should tell her, but I think it'll make her worry. Not that she doesn't trust you." She glanced at Gabe. "But I was thinking I would give her enough time to adjust to the fact that we'll be living together before I spring that on her."
It worried Gabe to find out how her mother would react, as he really wanted Claire's family to like him. Her father didn't really count, though, and his falling out with Madock made things even more difficult. Claire's mother had always seemed to like Gabe, but that hadn't been under the premise that they would be together forever. Gabe's mother thought Claire was good for him, but he had to worry if the same would be true in reverse. He wasn't always the kind of guy mothers wanted their daughters to date.
"Do you think she'll freak out?" Gabe asked. "Does she know about you? I know you don't think you can do anything, but you really can."
Walking to Gabe's car, Claire shrugged. "No... I don't think so. She knows about me, yes. She's not unaware of the supernatural, and I think certain things sort of frighten her. But she knows you, and she loves you... and I think when I tell her all the details, she'll be okay with it. We're not jumping into this blind, and I like to think we're being responsible about it." Claire smiled and leaned in to kiss Gabe gently on the lips. "Don't worry about it. I'll handle it, and things will be okay."
"Do werewolves frighten her?" Gabe asked, trying not to chew on his bottom lip. He stopped when she kissed him, then smiled softly back at her. "I think we're being responsible too. More than I've ever been in my life, actually. It's all kinda crazy when I stop to think about it." Opening the car door for her, Gabe waited till she had climbed in, then hurried around to the driver's side. "I can't believe we're buying a house."
"I think the idea of a werewolf might be unnerving, but if she knew you were one? She might be okay with it. She knows you, after all, and she knows you would never hurt me." She got into his car and buckled her seat belt. "I know, it's hard to believe... Gabe Winters being responsible. You're growing up," she sighed teasingly before patting his thigh. "But you know, this means we'll have parties and friends over... not cocktail parties and Scrabble game nights."
"Parties I'm good for. Scrabble, not so much. Maybe if we made it a drinking game, but otherwise it's too slow for something like that." Starting the car up, Gabe started off towards his house. "That's not gonna bother you, is it? I mean, I wouldn't have parties if you didn't want me to, but..." He wasn't just going to change over night. Gabe assumed that Claire liked him for who he was, and at the moment that still included wild parties from time to time.
She arched an eyebrow and shot him a look. "You're not too slow for it... you're just not patient enough for a game like that. Unless it's strip Scrabble." Snickering, Claire turned to watch the houses go by as they drove. "I don't mind if you have parties. I generally like your parties... even when I'm cleaning up after you, or taking your drunk ass to bed. We're still young... just because we're moving in together doesn't mean we have to act like an old, married couple."
"Thank God," Gabe laughed. "Otherwise we'd have to go buy a rocking chair. Like in cartoons. And then you could sit on the front porch and knit while I read the paper." Which meant he'd have to start reading the paper. He couldn't remember the last time he even opened one. "Strip scrabble could be fun, so long as it's just you and me." He didn't like the idea of her stripping in front of anyone else. This was one of those cases where he was possessive and he knew it.
"Oh my god... if I tried to knit I would end up stabbing myself in the thigh or something." Which was sadly, the truth. "Please don't ever allude to us in that manner again." Claire laughed and tried to imagine it. God, that was scary. "And believe me, I don't even know if I could find the courage to play strip anything with just you let alone in front of other people. Are you nuts?" She poked him in the thigh playfully. "But... it would be nice to do whatever we wanted to do without worrying about parents."
"You could play strip scrabble with me," Gabe laughed. "You'd have to spell dirty words, and if you couldn't, then you'd have to remove a piece of clothing. If you're too shy to do it yourself, I can always help you," he grinned. He found it funny that she'd need courage to strip in front of him when they'd already do so much more. "I'm looking forward to falling asleep with you, and waking up with you. And sharing a shower with you. That's gonna rock."
Claire eyed him before grinning. "I could definitely spell more dirty words than you could." So now she was talking big about Scrabble? Nice. "But I wouldn't mind it if you were stripping me instead." Which felt weird, and yet not weird at the same time, to say. She was mated with Gabe for life, but it still felt funny to blatantly flirt with him and have it mean something. "I think it'll be nice. All of it. And hopefully it'll be sooner than later." She was tired of living at home, especially since she figured she would be spending more time at Gabe's anyway.
"Is that a challenge?" Gabe asked with a smirk. She might be a better speller, but he was willing to bet his vulgar vocabulary was larger. "If all it takes for you to play is me doing the stripping for you, then we have a deal." Like Claire, the flirting still was so new to Gabe, but it felt good not to hold back where he had before. They'd always kind of flirted, but it'd been important not to go too far. Now it didn't matter. "So, what do you think about that party invite? Wanna go?"
"Definitely a challenge," Claire said in all seriousness, even if her eyes were filled with amusement. "We'll see what happens the next night we're bored with nothing to do." Why was it that just thinking of Gabe taking her clothes off got her all hot and bothered? Her smile faded just a bit at the mention of the dinner invite. "Oh. Well... I guess we can. It would be rude to say no. It just seems a bit weird to me. Do you want to go?"
"Do we have to wait till we're bored?" Gabe asked with a laugh. They would definitely have to do it sometime soon, though he wasn't sure he wanted to wait through a scrabble game tonight. The idea of having time alone was far too appealing. "We don't have to," Gabe said, his smile fading a bit as hers did. "I thought it might be interesting, but it's kinda weird. I guess I wanna find out who else is going. If it's a bunch of stuffy old adults, then maybe we crash it. What do you think?"
"We never have to wait until we're bored." At least, not in her mind. Which probably wasn't very Claire-esque, since that kind of stuff usually made her feel weird, but not with Gabe. If anyone could pull her out of her shell, he could. And he had. "If other people are going, then... yeah, I mean, why not? Free dinner, right? And if I was invited because of the kidnapping, then I'm sure the others were invited too." Which was still kind of strange... inviting a bunch of former kidnapped teens to a dinner.
"I'll ask around, just in case. I don't wanna assume and find out when we get there that it's just us," Gabe said. He couldn't imagine anything more uncomfortable. He had the feeling they'd both just turn tail and head right back out the door. As he pulled into his driveway, Gabe chewed on the inside of his cheek, thinking for a moment. He didn't want to bring up something that might upset her, but he wasn't good at ignoring the elephant in the room either. "How's Madock doing?" he ask, looking over at her as he put the car in park.
Claire really didn't want to go to this dinner thing at all, but she would probably feel a little bit guilty if she didn't. Or maybe she wouldn't care at all, who knew? She unbuckled her seat belt once they parked, and then glanced at him when he asked about Madock. The two might be on the outs, but at least Gabe asked. "He's doing really good. He's got his own place now, and he seemed pretty excited about it." Claire smiled softly. "I think he's happy." Which was the important thing, at least to Claire. "Ready to go in?"
Gabe wanted Madock to be happy. He really did. He just didn't agree with the way he'd gone about it. It made him have some serious doubts about Madock's ability to make good decisions, plus he thought two werewolves in one house would be a very bad idea at this point. He would have liked to talk through it with someone, but he was getting the sense that he should avoid it with Claire. This was just one of those things he'd have to keep to himself. "That's good," he said with a little smile. "Let's go see if we can find Scrabble."