Ophelia McCarthy (breatheoutside) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2019-12-10 11:54:00 |
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Entry tags: | #january 2018, greg, greg x ophelia, ophelia |
Who: Greg & Phee
Where: School, car, Overlook
When: Monday afternoon 01/08
Status: complete
Greg was kind of wound up all day and it only got worse after he talked to Jasper Lucas. He wanted a gun, needed a gun, but it felt like a colossal mistake at the same time. He knew he wouldn't be stupid about it but every time he went through the logistics of it, he felt panic rising in his chest. If he was safe and smart, he'd keep the gun unloaded. But if something happened again - like that thing with Jules - how would he have time to get the gun, load it and not get eaten! So, keep the gun loaded - but that shit was dangerous and stupid and he didn't like that one bit. It was hard to be On when he felt this jittery and weirdly enough he was kind of glad everyone was a bit on edge on this first day of school. They were all coming out of a bad patch, they'd all seen horrible things, everyone was a bit muted and uneasy so he didn't stick out like a sore thumb.
Sebastian was sick today and Greg just glued himself to Phee's hip on every break, taking comfort in her presence even if he couldn't really talk to her about what was going on. At least he didn't think so... But maybe. She was smart - smarter than him for sure - she might have some important insight into all of this. At the same time he really didn't want to freak her out or have her tell him no, he shouldn't have a gun. God, he wasn't used his brain being this overloaded with anxiety and feelings, it really sucked.
He'd given Phee a ride to school so he was giving her a ride back and she hadn't really told him what was going on with Sebastian. He wanted to visit him and be a bro but what if he was super contagious? Phee would know. He waited for her in the corridor and slung his arm around her as soon as she got near, smooching the side of her head affectionately. "So, first day back. How're you holding up, babe?"
Phee had gone through the day in a fog, feeling weirdly disconnected from everything and everyone. She’d almost stayed home with Sebastian to do some resting herself, but she wasn’t really tired, just ... surreal. Mentally elsewhere. So focusing on school seemed like the wise thing to do, only she couldn’t really concentrate. She kept hearing that dead witch woman using her brother’s voice to talk shit, and seeing how Bash had collapsed on the floor once they finally got her out. Whenever she thought too long about how it had felt in that super-charged magical room, the fine hairs on her arms stood up. It was so strange to be back in school, back to “normal” life, whatever that meant.
Phee had smiled plenty at Greg while he was around and tried to act normal and chatty, but she couldn’t help but feel a bit distant. He seemed kind of distracted too -- there was in fact a metaphorical cloud hovering over the whole school -- so that was all right. She really wanted to talk to him, but driving in on Monday morning hadn’t been the time. So maybe it was the time now that they were going home. Phee smiled automatically and slipped her arm around Greg’s waist in the hallway, starting to walk with him through the small sea of departing students. “I’m uh, I’m doing okay,” she answered, even though that didn’t feel completely true. “How’d you do?”
"It's weird being back," Greg admitted. "Good, but weird." He liked school, he had plenty of friends there and he didn't mind up waking up early. Even studying didn't really bore him so he guessed he was some kind of an anomaly but today it felt off, like everyone at school was just a little sad. Add in the stress he was feeling about everything and for the first time in his life he kind of wanted to just stay home for weeks and not go anywhere. It was an alien feeling and he didn't like it one bit. "How sick is Bash? I was thinking about coming over if he's not super contagious."
The vibe in the school was definitely down, but Phee totally understood why. How could it not be? Honestly she was a little surprised at just how many students had come back to school, aware that a big chunk of them had probably lost people in the fog. But life had to go on, she supposed, and maybe being busy was better than not. Greg’s question sent a wave of a sick nervous feeling through Phee’s stomach and she tightened her grip on him a bit without thinking. “I’ll tell you in the car,” she said, her voice pitched lower than before. “There’s ... there’s just ... a lot.” Phee didn’t want to get him all worried, but she didn’t want to lie to him either, even just for the next hundred yards to the parking lot. “He’ll be okay, though,” she hurried to add.
Greg didn't always feel super smart or quick to put the pieces together, life was just weird and complicated and not getting it didn't really make him feel stupid but it was what it was. The way Phee spoke made him put the pieces together fast this time, probably some pieces that weren't even there to be put together and he was probably making a whole picture in his head that wasn't an accurate depiction of reality. Was that what anxiety felt like? He'd never really felt like this before, never built up things before he knew what he was dealing with. He'll be okay though? It didn't reassure him the way it should because something had obviously happened and given everything that as going on? Greg's imagination was running away with him. He wouldn't even be able to put into words what he was imagining, some kind of hybrid of werewolfism and those things he saw in the fog mixed with demon possessions and witchcraft gone wrong. It was a big melting pot of Weird in his head and he held tightly onto Phee as they hurried to his jeep, not really speaking. He opened her door first, then ran around to join her inside, shaking off some of that chill in his bones that had more to do with fear than the actual cold outside. "Shit," he whispered, shuffling around in his seat to face her. "Lay it on me, babe."
As someone with her own anxieties, Phee didn’t want to keep Greg in suspense, so she kept her pace as quick as his. If it weren’t for their tense faces, they might have just looked like they were hurrying through the cold, but Phee was barely feeling it. She muttered a ‘thanks’ when Greg opened her door for her, and Phee climbed inside, shoving her bookbag down between her boots. She gave her boyfriend a faint smile and gestured toward the ignition. “Start it up for the heat, this is kind of a long one,” she murmured. Once the Jeep was rumbling and Phee felt like they wouldn’t get frostbite before this story was over, she sighed. It was probably best to go at this direct and straightforward. “Okay, so ... Bash has been possessed. I’m not even sure for how long, but ... a while, but like, mostly only when he was sleeping?” Phee wrinkled her nose at that fuzzy bit, then shook her head. It didn’t matter now. “It was like, the spirit of this witch from hundreds of years ago, she’s one of my mom’s ancestors.”
Greg's expression was one of long-time-suffering and that was pretty close to how he felt. This was just more. More stuff on an already huge pile of What The Fuck and Please No. "Your mom's ancestor," he murmured, just to show her he was listening, even if he kind of felt like he was zoning out and 'noping the fuck out of there'. That's what he wanted to do right now, just go home and smoke a bowl, play a video game and pretend his life was normal and boring. "Only when he was sleeping though, he was himself when we talked to him? So he was sleep walking? Shit, my processor is like fried right now."
“Mostly, yeah,” Phee answered, thinking of Bash sitting on her bed and asking her to get Zania Castell’s blood. That hadn’t been him, she knew that now, but she still kept having the random impulse to do it anyway. Baron had been fucking with her mind, no doubt, and it was disturbing. She had sympathy for Greg’s obvious distress though, so she was going to leave that part off. “She was using him as like, a meat puppet to try and ... I dunno, do some big spell to come back to life or something, we don’t really know what her goal was. But it’s fixed now, a bunch of witches did a big ritual. And he’s going to be okay, he’s just ... really tired and sore and needed to rest.” Phee reached over to take her boyfriend’s hand, her freckled brow furrowed with concern. “Sorry I didn’t tell you, I didn’t even know until like, Saturday, it all happened really fast.”
Greg was quiet for a while both while and after Phee spoke. Every few seconds he arched his brows, his eyes widening as he readied himself to say something but then he let his face relax again, sighing quietly and staring off out into the parking lot. It was just a lot to process, Sebastian being possessed this whole time and nobody had known. How could they know someone else wasn't possessed too? Could everyone be possessed and he wouldn't even know it until it was too late? "So," he finally muttered when he started to really feel Phee's eyes on him and knew she was probably getting fretful even if she was patient as ever. "We- you're all sure he's, you know, he's not... Possessed anymore." He finally looked at Phee, wondering if he'd be able to tell if she was possessed, if he knew her well enough that there could be a little tell he'd pick up on or if he'd be just as oblivious as he had been with his best friend.
Phee felt for him, she really did. Life just kept throwing crazy shit their way, didn’t it? All of it wasn’t directed at them, of course, but they weren’t immune to the stuff that affected the whole town, and it was just ... a lot. Even though she wished she could’ve talked to him during everything, maybe it was better this way, with the problem already fixed. Phee gave him a soft smile when he looked at her and squeezed his hand. “We’re sure,” she told him. “I uh ... I saw her, when she came out of him. And all the witches banished her.” Her voice had gone quieter, because the whole thing had been creepy as fuck, but amazing at the same time. All that power in the room had been incredible, but that was something she wasn’t sure she could describe well to Greg. “These were like, the best witches in town, eight of them working together, so ... it’s done. He’s okay now.”
Greg's eyes went wide again as he looked at her and then squeezed her hand back maybe a little too tightly. "You were there," he exclaimed and god damn was he not happy about that. "When they did the thing, you were there and you saw... Jesus, Phee. That sounds dangerous." It also sounded like something where a gun would be of no help whatsoever and it only compounded that helpless feeling inside of him. "So who are the- who was there? Who did the ritual?" He did a double take as he suddenly pictured Phee in a circle of hooded witches, chanting like some satanic cult. "Wait, did you do the ritual with them?"
Her brows lifted briefly because Phee had assumed Greg understood she was there, but she realized she hadn’t actually said that. Oops. “No, I was on the sidelines, but I had to go,” she said, hoping he wasn’t actually upset with her, just the situation. “Mom and Dad were there too, I would’ve gone crazy at home just wondering.” Maybe that was a dumb reason, but there was no way in hell Phee would’ve let them leave her behind. She sighed and scraped her teeth over her bottom lip, debating whether she should be honest for a second. It wasn’t her place to out people, but she felt bad and it was Greg. “It was like ... Caius D’Onofrio and his wife Reagan, my parents, Zan and Nic Castell, Liam and his mom, some people I didn’t know ... last name O-something? And then they had to do some magic to summon Bash first, ‘cause he’d been missing since Friday night, which was like ... amazing, and this is the first time in like a hundred years that all the Six families worked together for something, and they even gave Reagan her magic back, and it was just ... a lot.” She looked a little sheepish, because she knew that was a big ramble, but she’d been dying to tell him all of this all day.
Greg was still processing that Phee's parents had let her come to that thing when she started listing the people who'd been there. He knew some of those names and they weren't surprising but Liam was not one of them. "Wait... Liam Wolfe? Your buddy?" He shook his head, letting out a little groan as he rested his head against the headrest, looking a little tired suddenly. "Is everyone in this town a witch except my family, or what?" He shook his head again, this time as if to clear it, then pulled her hand up to kiss her knuckles. "It sounds like a lot, yeah, for sure... I can't believe your parents let you be there and like... Just wow. You think they'll let me see him? Or is he in some kinda magic quarantine until further notice?"
She felt kind of bad for him, like she wanted to apologize, but Phee knew that didn’t make any sense. Nobody could help what they were, and honestly she thought that had been most of the witches in town anyway, so they were only a fraction of the real population. Greg just happened to know a bunch of them. “Yeah, Liam,” she murmured. “But no, not by far ... that was pretty much all of them I know about, personally. Lucky you, you’re just surrounded.” Phee gave him a faint smile and squeezed his hand again. She hoped he would come to see that as a good thing, that if he was ever in trouble there were a lot of magical resources around him. Phee definitely wanted to learn how to protect him. “He’s not quarantined, you can totally go see him. I think he’d love to see you, too.” She almost added, ‘have some normalcy around him,’ but in context she thought better of it.
"At least I have two good witches on my side," Greg sighed. "I think I might need that, you know, with all the other crazy going on." He still felt deflated but if Greg was good at anything it was 'shaking it off' whether it was a concussion or existential crisis. "Got one very sexy witch on my side at least," he murmured, giving her a smile that was only slightly strained. "You know it's not the witch thing that gets me, it's like the least weird thing about all of everything right now. What you can do is amazing but you also... know what you are and you know what you can do and you're learning to control it."
Phee always enjoyed it when he called her sexy, of course, but it was muted this time because of the look on his face. She rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb. “I’m trying to, yeah,” she agreed quietly. She knew he was thinking of Jules and her portal-hands and how terrifying that had been, and Phee wished fervently that she knew even more of what she could do. She was a witch, yes, but if she’d been faced with the same thing, she would’ve been as useless as Greg. Maybe even more, because Phee wasn’t sure she would’ve been able to get Jules out of the car. “It all scares me too though, so I know where you’re coming from,” she told him, in case he needed to hear it. “I can do some neat stuff, but I can’t even come close to some of the power I saw the other night.”
"You know, I'd worry if it didn't," Greg said. "Scare you, I mean. Because it's all so massively huge and crazy." Maybe some fear was healthy, some primal thing keeping them alive. The car was getting hot and the wind shields were almost clear but he didn't feel much like driving off just yet, wanting to sit there with Phee a little longer. Cars could feel like a sanctuary sometimes, a tiny warm cave to hide in and he liked the way the engine purred. "But hey," he murmured, trying to grasp for some normalcy. "You're coming to winter formal with me, right? Or are you gonna make me do a formal request thing?" He almost wished he could go back to before he knew about all the weirdness and evil but Phee was the light in the dark in all of this madness and he hadn't been with her a year ago.
She was pretty sure somebody had to be either super powerful or insane to not be scared by the big things that kept happening, so Phee was with him there. She just hoped that there were enough powerful people around them to shield them a bit if things went really crazy again. After the ritual with a full coven, Phee felt a little better about that. The subject change caught her off guard and she gave a small laugh as her brows raised at him. “Um ... I mean, duh, yes?” she answered, then grinned a bit. “But now that you mention it, I think you should do a whole elaborate proposal with like, a dance number right in the front hall at school.” Phee wasn’t serious, of course, but imagining Greg pulling some musical-movie stunt like that was funny, and they needed some lightness.
She got a chuckle out of Greg, which given the circumstances was pretty damn good work. "You're thinking of promposals, babe," he said with a grin and she really should be careful if she didn't want some big public display because he was all for it, he just knew she was a little more introverted than that and while he didn't yet fully understand it, he knew that generally meant she probably didn't want a whole lot of attention. But maybe he was wrong, he wasn't exactly used to hanging out with a lot of introverts. "If I do something big for winter formal, I'll have to do something even bigger for prom."
“What, so like ... all dances aren’t created equal?” Phee teased. She’d never gotten very excited about prom or formals or anything, mostly because she’d never had a date before. Maybe it was lame that having a boyfriend changed that, but who cared. Phee didn’t think Greg would actually make a big public spectacle of it, so it was harmless to banter about at the moment. Maybe she would love a fuss being made over her, who knew. It had never happened before. “Save it for prom I guess, I’ll totally be your winter formal date,” she relented with a grin. Phee didn’t even know when the dance was, but she already wanted to shop for a dress.
This was a much easier topic to navigate for Greg and he made a show of shushing her with wide eyes. "Don't let anyone hear you ask that question," he whispered urgently. "No, not all dances are created equal." He couldn't really keep up the charade so he laughed and snuggled in closer to her. "Thank you for being my winter formal date," he murmured. "We need to get like... old fashioned - vintage European stuff." He didn't really care and it was a little weird to be with a girl who hadn't already started planning their outfits for them but it was also nice. Phee would look beautiful but she wasn't obsessing about it and being a pain in the ass, this might actually be something they could decide together.
Phee made an intrigued little ‘oooh’ sound as she leaned in against him as best she could in the car. She immediately pictured Greg in a waistcoat and tails with a gold monocle and made herself titter softly. “Is it that kind of theme?” she asked. She hadn’t noticed all the posters that had gone up around school, and if anyone had announced anything about a theme, Phee had missed it in her thick distraction haze today. It was definitely nicer to think about than evil old witches or fog monsters or something. Maybe that was foolish whistling in the dark, but Phee didn’t care. “You’re gonna look super hot no matter what, I like it when you dress up.” She tilted her head so she could see him and gave him a bright smile.
Greg beamed at her for that, it was just nice to get a compliment, especially from her. "I don't know," he admitted, slipping his arm around her and tangling his fingers in her hair. "It just said winter in Paris, maybe it's like modern Paris but what's the fun in that, right? I mean, people in Paris don't dress that different from us, unless it's like the Paris fashion week or whatever." If it was a proper dressing up kind of an event he would go all out because why the hell not? He loved costumes, Halloween was a favorite for a reason. "You know I'll dress up for you anytime anyway, right?" he added, ducking down to smooch her forehead.
Phee tittered as a vision of a bunch of teenagers wearing some of the ridiculous designer stuff she’d seen pictures of from those Fashion Weeks. Some of them were completely gorgeous, some were outlandish and ridiculous, all were way too expensive. “Even if everybody else dresses modern, us doing a sort of period dress could be awesome,” she said with a bright smile. They could have a lot of fun with it, and why not? It would be Greg’s last winter formal. Unless he came back to be her date for hers when she was a senior, but that wasn’t the same. She pushed up to kiss his jaw and nuzzled it with her nose a bit, smirking. “Don’t promise ‘anytime’ if you don’t mean it, ‘cause you fucking me in a suit would be super yummy,” she murmured.
"Anytime," Greg repeated with added emphasis this time because her words were way more than just 'yummy'. "Sex with clothes on can be super hot, I'd do it for you in a heartbeat. What would you wanna wear?" She'd done the near impossible and distracted him from all the anxiety inducing bullshit, even if it was just for a little while. Right now he wasn't thinking about possessions or portals or demonic creatures or guns, his mind blissfully preoccupied by the mental image of Phee in some gorgeous dress hiked up to her hips while he fucked her. Now that was yummy, as she put it so nicely, hot and definitely a goal to strive for.
It was definitely a more fun topic than any of the other big ones that were looming, one that gave her a good feeling in her stomach instead of that heavy dread. “Oh I’ll be all dressed up too, obviously,” Phee said with a little grin. She was picturing a similar scene, and it was super hot. She’d obviously not had sex in clothes before -- much less fancy ones -- but now she really wanted to, both of them all sparkly and good-smelling. “A long dress with a floofy skirt, no panties on ... ooh! Maybe garters and stockings and all.” Phee bit into her bottom lip and smiled at him. “Heels of course. You might need to help me with balance though.”
Greg was grinning now, more than a little absent minded as he pictured everything she was saying vividly in his mind. "I'll, yeah, totally," he agreed because he could help her balance even if he couldn't string out perfect sentences while thinking about it. "You can wear the uh, the necklace," he added, reaching up to stroke her jaw right above her scarf. "And garters, yeah." He kind of wished they could do all that right now because blood was rushing to his cock and it was hard to think about anything else. It didn't help that Phee always looked hot as hell when she bit her lip, it was just cute and sexy and distracting, damn it.
She could tell how dopey he was getting, which she’d been delighted to learn meant he was getting turned on. Greg didn’t always turn into a big doofus, but Phee kind of loved it when he did. It was an arousing feeling of power. “Definitely the necklace,” she murmured, gazing at his face. Goddess, she adored him. “Which I’m totally wearing to winter formal, by the way. Paris or not, I’m gonna find a dress to show it off. And maybe buy some garters ...” She wondered where she could shop for stuff like that -- all of her underwear was just cute, not silky-sexy. But now Phee wanted some, since Greg was obviously into it. “I request you in a waistcoat ... and you gotta roll your sleeves up at some point, ugh, that’s so hot,” she said, grinning again and rolling her eyes.
"Yeah?" Greg said with obvious delight because it was always fun to get a glimpse into what girls thought was hot. Possibly gay guys too and he realized he really should be picking Sebastian's brain about that sort of thing though he supposed it depended on the person too. Now he knew that Phee liked rolled up sleeves, he made a mental note of that for the next time he dressed all nice because he really wanted to do whatever she thought was really sexy. It had taken getting used to how much some girls tended to laugh when they were actually turned on but once he could see past that, there really was nothing like being looked at like that by a girl and he was really starting to recognize that look on Phee's face.
“Mmhmm,” Phee hummed. She was happily picturing Greg in nice pants and a vest with a dress shirt underneath with the sleeves rolled to just under his elbows and the top couple of buttons undone at his chest. That nice broad chest of his, which she currently wanted to be running her hands over while he kissed her breathless. She’d been attracted to guys before, obviously, but she was getting to indulge those thoughts with someone she really cared about now. It was making her greedy. She wanted some indulgence right then, and Phee thought about telling Greg to take her home with him now, but that led to remembering he wanted to see Sebastian, and guilt crept in. It was probably shitty of her to want to fool around with her boyfriend while her brother was still suffering and needing his best friend. She kissed Greg’s jaw and the side of his neck again before reluctantly pulling back to sit up straight. “Think I can come over to your place after you hang out with Bash for a bit?” she asked, giving him a rueful little smile.
Greg hadn't forgotten about everything that was going on, he'd just set it aside for a while and really it was necessary for his mental health to be able to do that, if only for a few minutes. "Babe," he murmured. "You can always come over to my place." Parental approval pending, of course, her parents were strict and that was really the only big obstacle in their relationship so far. Well, that and the creepy horror fog full of monsters. "We might have to go to Bangor or something to go proper shopping for clothes for the dance," he added then, his mind still full of delicious images even if he was trying to steer himself away from the sexual topic. "Think your mom and dad would let you do a day trip with me?"
She knew she was always welcome at Greg’s, but it was still nice to hear, and Phee hoped her parents didn’t put a fuss when she wanted to leave with him again for a few hours. Maybe she could get a jump on her homework or something while Greg and Bash hung out, so she would have more ‘I’m responsible!’ ammo if they questioned her. The boys probably needed some alone time in general anyway. Phee sometimes got the guilty sense that she was hogging Greg, but she wasn’t sure if that was reality or just her fretting too much about it. “I bet they would,” she answered, beaming at that idea. Getting out of Point Pleasant for a while, having a whole day together uninterrupted, even if they were just shopping, sounded divine. “This weekend, we should go. And like, catch a movie too or something. Have an outing date, far the hell away from here.” She settled further into her seat and buckled the belt.
Greg wasn't as sure, the McCarthys were so strict and now one of their kids had gone through hell, what if they just got stricter and didn't let Phee do a damn thing? God he hoped not, he really wanted to have a nice little road trip with Phee, go to some cool stores, eat somewhere super fancy, catch a movie and have more choices than they did at home. "Maybe... Ask your mom in like a day or two," he suggested because things were probably still a little raw now but she would still want to ask with plenty of time to spare so she didn't come off as irresponsible and impulsive. Greg didn't really have to think this way about his own parents but he'd learned a trick or two from his ex girlfriends and from being Sebastian's best friend. He had a feeling things were probably weird as hell right now at the McCarthy house. He put his own seatbelt on and then found Phee's hand again. "I really hope you can go."
“Yeah, good plan,” Phee said with a low chuckle. So far her parents hadn’t tightened the noose because of what had happened to Bash, but it was possibly coming, she knew that. Though Phee wasn’t sure what good it would do -- the problem they’d just gotten solved had gone under everybody’s radar for who knew how long. Even Bash hadn’t known what was happening to him, so being strict now seemed kind of like shutting the barn doors after the horses escaped, or whatever that saying was. Or maybe that was just her stubborn teenage brain desperately wanting to justify more time with her boyfriend. Whatever it was, she would try to get her way. “Me too, I’ll work on them,” she assured Greg, smiling as she squeezed his hand. Phee lifted it to kiss it. “Once again, thanks for being so cool about everything.”
Greg wasn't even sure what all he was being so cool about or what it would look like being uncool about things but he took the compliment and grinned back at her. "You're my girl," he reminded her. "You deserve a boyfriend who's cool about everything. You're cool about everything too." He didn't really want her to clarify whether she meant he was patient about her parents being strict or cool in the sense that he wasn't freaking out too much about all the supernatural crazy because that meant talking about the supernatural crazy and he was good not doing that again just yet. "I think your parents should be way more lenient with you," he told her as he finally pulled out of the parking space, briefly letting go of her hand to switch into Drive. "You're like the most - what's the word? You do what you gotta do and you don't get into trouble."
The truth was, Greg was being cool about everything so far -- her parents, the bullying she’d gone through, her being a witch, and all the supernatural stuff. It had all been part of what morphed just a crush on him into real feelings. Phee wasn’t sure how to explain it to him though, so she was just going to keep appreciating him and letting him know it where she could. She loved the words ‘you’re my girl,’ and Phee grinned all over again. “You make it really easy to be your girl,” she told him. “And I think the word you’re looking for is responsible?” She gave a soft teasing laugh. “You’re the first thing that’s made me want to get in trouble, you know. Such a sexy, corrupting influence.”
Greg laughed, shaking his head. "You're making me sound like some bad boy, don't let your parents hear that shit." It still made him grin because being called sexy in any context was pretty awesome. Of course there were definitely things he did that Phee's parents wouldn't approve of but compared to some other guys, Greg felt pretty well behaved! "But nah, there's another word I was looking for," he muttered then, furrowing his brow and snapping his fingers a few times as he tried to get his brain to make the connection. "Responsible sounds kinda boring and you're not boring. Or maybe responsible just gets a bad rep, I don't know. And I don't wanna get you into trouble. I just wanna hang out with you and have lots of sex." He grinned again, glancing over at Phee as his mind went back to that promise of garters and clothed sex.
It was good to hear she wasn’t boring. Phee hadn’t really thought Greg thought that, or they probably wouldn’t still be going out, but it was still nice to hear it out loud. Compared to some of the other girls she saw in the hallways at school or heard about through her peers, sometimes she felt boring. Bookish and chubby and mousey. But Greg obviously saw more than that, and Phee kind of felt like she was blossoming this year. She laughed and reached over to pinch affectionately at his chest through his clothes, looking a little flushed and delighted. “If we did that as much as I honestly wanted to, I would get in trouble,” she told him. “But nah, you don’t get me in trouble. They might be a little confused why I want to date you because they remember you growing up with Bash as a hyperactive loud pest, but they know you treat me well, so they’re good with you.” She moved her hand to brush through his hair.
"Pest," Greg scoffed and wrinkled his nose. That wasn't nice but he supposed he could own up to it, he was still hyperactive these days, not as badly as when he was younger, he supposed, he'd learned to be a little more considerate about it at least. He liked hearing they were good with him now though, he always had a feeling he wasn't good enough for James and Brianna's only daughter and that worry wasn't born out of nothing. He didn't agree with them, of course, but lately he did feel a little inadequate when it came to the thought of keeping her safe. How did you keep someone safe from behemoth monsters, possessions and interdimensional portals? He was only human and a gun wouldn't cut it - but he would feel a tiny bit better equipped once he had one. "I don't really care what they think as long as they don't get all weird about it and stop you from seeing me," he murmured, tilting his head a bit into the petting. He was focused on the road now but Phee always had some of his attention.
Phee didn’t care if Greg could keep her safe or not. She wasn’t dating him for his bodyguarding skills, she just wanted to be with him. Granted, it would be great if Greg could protect her against stuff, but Phee was more worried about keeping him safe. Even though she didn’t have a lot of magical practice under her belt, she had the idea she could instinctively protect herself if it came down to it. All of that was far away for the moment though, as she was just enjoying hanging out on the ride home. And would enjoy even more later, if all went well. “They’ll never be able to stop me from seeing you,” she told him stubbornly. “They’re my parents but I’m not gonna let them decide those things for me. We’re not doing anything wrong, you’re not like, some criminal, so I don’t care what they think.” Phee would fight for Them if she had to, and she hoped Greg would do the same.
Greg wondered how far he had to go to be considered a criminal. Did having an illegal firearm make him a criminal? Underage drinking was one thing, having a gun felt way more like a crime. The sudden worry had him wanting to tell Phee all about his talk with Jasper Lucas and what he was planning to do but the words felt sour in his mouth and he knew that as soon as he spoke them, there would be no take-backs. It didn't help that he was suddenly inspired for an idea on how to store the gun in the car without locking it away and that just made him want to talk about it more. "I will do my best not to get caught for crimes," he said jokingly but god, he meant it. "And it's not like they could stop us from seeing each other all the time."
Phee laughed a bit at the phrasing, secure in the thought that Greg didn’t really do any crimes to get caught for. Drinking underage didn’t seem like too big of a deal in this town, especially for Overlook kids. Just something the cops looked away from as long as nobody was driving or causing a ruckus. She couldn’t imagine him doing anything worse than that, so it didn’t matter. “They won’t, so stop worrying about it,” Phee said. She leaned over to give him a gentle bite on the shoulder while he drove, then kissed the spot. Talking about it more would only get her pissed off at her parents for things they hadn’t even done yet. “Did you get your finals grades back yet? How’d you do?” she asked instead.
"I passed," Greg replied with a little shrug. He liked getting good grades but his were usually just okay. Not a huge deal when he wasn't trying to get into some ivy league college but still, it was about more than just the numbers on the page, there were definitely courses he really struggled with and making it through was a sense of achievement. "What about you?" he asked, pretty sure her grades were more to smile about and so he did, glancing at her briefly to see her reaction.
It was a boring topic maybe, but everybody hated finals, and Phee wanted to keep talking about as many normal things as they could. The conversation had started out crazy, and it would be crazy again once Greg started talking to Bash, so she wanted to be an oasis of Normal, at least for a bit. “Good!” she chirped, even if he didn’t sound very enthused. Passing was important! “I did pretty well. B’s in geometry and American history but I swear those questions are totally biased. The history ones anyway. But A’s everywhere else.” Phee smiled herself, pretty pleased. Being a good student was pretty important in her house, she just wished her parents would’ve let her be a good magical student too.
Greg wasn't surprised, he knew Phee was smart and he gave her a satisfied grin at the verification. "I got a whole lot of C’s," he admitted. "But not a single D." It was dumb but that still made him grin because gettin the D was a juvenile and amusing slang for a good dicking so maybe it was a good thing he didn't get one. "I got a D for you though," he added and reached over to rub Phee's thigh before laughing. "Sorry, couldn't resist. You could do with a D in that sea of A's though, you gotta admit it." He'd gotten a lot of D's when he was younger and had a harder time focusing in class but he'd been trying to take things more seriously since it was his senior year and all so Cs and Bs were the ruling grades and he was fine with that.
Phee laughed and lightly smacked his upper arm. “Don’t tease me, you’re about to hang out with my brother,” she playfully chastised him. “No fair.” She wanted some D, but it would just have to wait. The sexy kind, not the grades kind, obviously. D’s would be unacceptable to her parents, probably. “C’s are good though, good job.” Phee kissed Greg’s arm again, wanting to be encouraging. She knew he didn’t really have college plans -- that was what he said, anyway -- but positive reinforcement was always good anyway, right? School just didn’t come easy to everyone, and that was okay. They were almost to the house, so Phee zipped her coat back up and re-settled the hat onto her head. It would be a short walk inside, but still. It was cold. “I’m gonna do some homework while you hang out with Bash, so mom’s more likely to let me come over,” she told him. “And you two can talk.”
"Okay, babe," Greg said with a smile. "With those grades she better not say no," he added disapprovingly but hopefully Phee could come over and stay for a little while. "Maybe we can order a pizza or something, or do you think they'll insist you eat dinner at home?" He had no idea what the vibe was like at the house and knowing what he did now he was a little nervous about going there. Hell, he was nervous about talking to Sebastian, not knowing how bad of a shape he was in after what he'd been through. Greg didn't want to be a fairweather friend but it was so difficult to deal with people when they were hurting, he always felt clumsy and dumb somehow.
“I dunno, Mom might not feel like cooking. I’ll find out,” Phee said with a shrug. It was impossible to tell until the conversation happened -- her mother’s moods seemed to change with the wind sometimes. Phee just hoped she wouldn’t want to strongarm everybody into Family Time or something. She wanted Boyfriend Time, she was about sick of her family right then. Once Greg had parked the car in the drive, Phee leaned over and pulled him in close for a proper kiss before they got out. “I’ll be in my room. Don’t you dare leave without saying bye,” she warned him playfully, then pressed another soft kiss or two to his lips.
"Why would I-" Greg started, feigning exasperation before cutting himself off and stealing another kiss. "I was hoping to take you with me when I leave so..." He grinned, kissed her again and sighed quietly. He wished he could just take her home with him now but he also wanted to be a good friend and be there for Sebastian. "Show your mom your grades," he reminded her. "In case she needs a reminder that you're not in any trouble or anything and being with me hasn't like made you suddenly dumb or whatever."
Phee laughed a bit, imagining bringing her mom a report card like a child’s drawing, something to brag about and put up on the fridge. Her grades weren’t even in report card form anymore, it was all online, but she could show Brianna her phone. Hopefully it would win some points. “She totally doesn’t think that, I’m like ... eighty percent sure,” Phee said, and wrinkled her nose at him in a teasing sort of way. She gave Greg one last kiss, then pulled back to start climbing out of the car. There was familial unpleasantness ahead, but the end result would be worth it and then she could pretend that nothing existed but Greg and herself for a while. The perfect end to a Monday.