nyc prep continued

"I'd like to create, but I recognize the need to preserve," she replied. "So, perhaps a bit of both."

She pulled the shirt off and tossed it aside. "We're in your front hall," she said softly, right against his lips.

Braden half smiled before picking her up and began towards his bedroom

again a good reply. he took a drink of his gin and nodded out of interrogative questions at the moment. Carl's mom smiled at brooklyn and an awkward silence blanketed them.
"How long till dinner?" Carl asked
"about 30 minutes or so." his mom replied sweetly
"I'm going to show brooklyn the house then." carl said taking Brooklyn's hand and pulling her towards the door before either of his parents could say a word

She wrapped her legs around his waist, and, as he carried her, kissed along his neck and jaw bone.

Brooklynn followed, restraining a smile until they were out of his parents' sight. Once they were away, she let it break over her face, squeezing his hand.

She was silent for a few minutes. "My brother," she took a deep breath. "He OD two years ago, he's been in a coma ever since."

"Oh," Jarid said, startled. "I'm sorry." That explained so much... So many things she'd just mentioned about her brother... "Wow. I'm so sorry."

"I am so sorry about that." he said as he led her up the massive staircase that led upstairs from the front room.


Braden gently laid her down on his bed pulling away so he could see her. she was exquisite and it wasn't her perfect body as much as this situation, he was certain that he loved her. leaning down he began to kiss her again but in less of a flurry and more tender, more loving than before

She laughed. "I kind of expected the 3rd degree," Brooklynn confessed, looking around the room again. "You don't need to apologize."

After a few moments like this, Jaimie rolled so she was on top of him, smiling into the kiss.

"It destroyed my family." She said. "I haven't seen my mother since it happened, she said looking at me just reminded her of David and it was to painful." Paige looked up at him.

"That's..." He shook his head. "That's not fair to you, Paige... I'm sorry."

"I've gotten used to it." She forced a smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get all depressing."

he sighed, " all the same it...I hate it when he does that." at the top of the stairs there was a hallway with about a dozen rooms leading off of it. fifth room down on the left Carl opened the door leading into a massive bedroom.

he pulled his lips from hers as much as he could and whispered, " I ...I don't have a condom." he had debated saying anything but maybe she wouldn't care

ooc: I have a reason for this...or maybe I should say a reason for a possibility. its up to you

ooc: lol, okay =]

ic: "Oh wow," Brooklynn said, looking around. "This is huge. Wow."

"No, it's fine," Jarid assured her. "I want to know about it," he added. "Really."

Jaimie hardly gave it a second thought before pulling him back into a deep kiss.

She looked down at her hands. "I became self destructive. I was arrested a few times, got expeled from every school my father put me in, and I ended up in rehab." She looked up at him, hoping it wouldn't drasticly change is opinion of her.

"Well you're here now," he said, unsure of what else he could say.

"Yeah, enough about me," she said as she lead back, her walls going back up. "tell me more about you."

"I feel like you know most of it," he shrugged.
Isabel approached the table, taking the empty plates. "Either of you interested in dessert?" she asked. Jarid looked at Paige.

Carl smiled, " Its my room." he sat down on the king sized bed int he middle of the room and watched her, "its the only place my parents actually let me be alone, undisturbed so I figured it was safe to come here away from the inquisition."

Braden was out of breath but he could feel a smile on his lips. it was...she was amazing.

"Yeah," Paige said. She looked at Jarid, "do you want to share something? The cheesecake sounds good."

Isabel laughed. "If he lets you share it. That's his favorite."
Jarid ducked his head. "Thank you Isabel. We can share a cheesecake, thank you." Isabel took the menus and walked away, still laughing.

"Yeah, that might help," she smiled. She took a seat next to him on the bed. "Was that good? Do you think I was okay?"

"Dessert before dinner was a very good choice," Jaimie murmured, kissing his shoulder.

Carl grinned, "you did amazing. stopped him right in his tracks."

Braden smiled over at her, " I agree." there was so much more he wanted to say to her right then but thought better of it sitting up, " you want to order dinner or go somewhere?"

Paige laughed. "You better share." She smiiled. "Am I going to get to dye your hair blue again?"

"You'll have to beat me again," Jarid replied. "And yes I'll share."

"Order in," Jaimie replied, stretching out on the bed. "I'm too comfortable to move," she said with a soft laugh.

"Good," Brooklynn grinned, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad. I really want to make a good impression on them."

Braden reached over grabbing his phone and called the front desk. for the first time in a while he was acutely aware of his tattoo. he hadn't really thought about it for a few days now but sitting here in bed with her he couldn't help it. it had been put there as a reminder of what he never wanted to go back to and in some ways that had meant Jaime and here he was in bed with her. it seemed like a contradiction

Carl rested his cheek against the top of her head, "I think the only one oyu have to impress would be dad. Mom is already in love with you just because you are my friend." he chuckled

She leaned over and traced the tattoo with a gentle hand. For some reason, it worried her. Maybe it was the words, she almost felt like they were accusing her of something, of hurting him... But she pushed back the feeling.

Brooklynn laughed. "I don't know why it's such a surprise. You're amazing."

Braden felt himself shiver a little as she touched his back but he had to force his concentration to the order.

"I'm a loner if you haven't noticed." Carl said with a chuckle

ooc: since she is close enough she can see the whole thing

The tattoo had a few layers the first starting about 1/3 the way down his back. It looked like someone had jammed a roughly fashioned rusty date plaque into his spine. The plaque was about 3 inches long and about an inch in height and stuck out to the right of his back a bit. The wound around it was open and from it blood was dripping from the plaque and the rest ran down his back. The blood was dripping down and around the same kind of plaques that looked like one corner had been nailed into his spine. The plaques were tapered left to right as they went down almost to the small of his back. Each plaque had a word like Anger, Revenge, Hatred, Destruction, Pain, Brokenness. Then at the base of his back there was a pool forming where the blood had been gathering under all of this. There was one droplet that had hit the pool just right to create a distinct splash and in the splash if you looked closely the word forgiveness could be seen. To the left of the pool there was a little pile of gray dust, ash, with one vividly orange yellow and red feather laying next to it. Above all of this there was a Phoenix. Its wings were stretched out almost spanning the width of Braden's shoulders. It was orange and fire red with yellow and brilliant blue accents. Its tail wrapped to the left side of his back and back through the plaques hanging there. The craftsmanship of the bird and the entire tattoo brought the word detail into a whole new light. But that wasn't quite the end of it. In the tip feathers of the wings the words New Life were worked into the grain of the feathers. Inter-dispersed through the wing feathers there were several words that one could find such as, trust, love, memories, beauty, faithfulness, truth, honesty, responsibility, honor, respect, family and peace. As the eye traveled down the bird to its magnificent tail feathers there were also words to be seen such as, Burnt Bridges, A New Life, Moving On, Staying True, Hoping Much, Seeking Guidance, Renewing Brokenness, Self respect and True Friends.

She sat up to get a better view of the whole picture, pressing her lips against the phoenix after a few moments. Yes, this definitely felt accusing. And did his parents know that they were back together? What did they say?

"No really?" she laughed. "I hadn't noticed," she teased.

braden lost his train of thought feeling her lips on his back. he hung up the phone. he would call back to finish the order. his eyes closed as emotion sprung up inside him.

Almost without thinking he turned his head and kissed the top of hers. he reached over and took her hand in his, interlacing their fingers.

"Have you told your parents?" Jaimie asked, leaning her head against his back.

Brooklynn smiled and squeezed his hand. She took his head from his shoulder and kissed him. He was perfect.

"About the tattoo? no." he said taking a deep breath, " only my artist, my shrink and well you know."

Carl's heart jumped at the touch of her lips. being alone with no prying eyes gave him boldness he would never of had other wise. taking his free hand he slid it up against the side of her face as he returned the kiss

"I meant about me," Jaimie replied. "Do your parents know about us?"

She moved a little closer to him, her free hand resting on his knee. This probably wasn't her smartest idea, kissing while the parents were right down stairs, but she didn't really care.

he shook his head. no they didn't know. they knew he had a girlfriend but they didn't know who it was.

he had never learned how to proceed but he went with his gut. he slightly opened his mouth against hers. his heart was pounding and his blood raced. this was as intimate he had ever been with anyone

Jaimie nodded and sat back up, moving away from him. How would they react? Well, that was a silly question. Of course they'd be upset. They didn't really like her in the first place.

Brooklynn gently deepened the kiss, knowing this was his first. She moved her free hand to the side of his neck, then back up into his hair.

Braden sighed, "what?"

Carl gasped a little at the touch of her tongue pulling his lips from hers causing a little smack. he didn't pull away far just enough. he felt so childish. resting his forehead to hers he tried catching his breath

"Your parents already didn't like me. I can't imagine what they'll say when they find out," Jaimie replied cooly.

Brooklynn smiled at him, blushing a little. "I'm sorry. Your parents are downstairs. That was dumb."

"Does it matter what they think?" he asked moving towards her, " I like...I love you is that not what matters?"

Carl chuckled but it was breathy, "no...don't...don't apologize." he took a deep breath, "I just...wasn't expecting...that."

"That matters," she replied, "But your parents could send you away again. Send you to some other rehab or something like that."

She ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah... uhm, was that okay?"

he let out a little chuckle, "I'm not abusing a substance so I don;t think rehab is going to happen."

Carl smiled, " more than..." he closed his eyes as the feeling of her hand in his hair sent shivers though him

"My point remains valid," Jaimie replied. "They could send you away."

Brooklyn pressed her lips to his forehead and smiled. "I like you a lot, you know that?"

"They're not going to send me away jaime." he said firmly, "I'm not going anywhere."

"I sort of assumed as much." he replied pushing his glasses back, "I know I'm not up to date on social practices but I would hope you wouldn't kiss me like that if it were otherwise."

Jaimie sighed and put her head in her hands. "Does anyone know about us?"

Brooklynn laughed. "Very true. I definitely would not do that otherwise.