Chapter 3

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. 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?"