Chapter 2: Moving In
-August 2007-
Despite the warm and comfortable feeling the Wright's living room exuded, Paul was anything but, especially with the glares he felt Mrs. Wright give him when she walked past the doorway. Once upon a time, she had welcomed him into their home with open arms, offering cookies and milk when he and Robin were working on homework or coming home from the arcade. Everything changed when he first took her out on a date in the 12thgrade. Ever since then, he was scared to set foot into the Wright household because of her.
"Robin, are you ready yet?" Mrs. Wright called up the stairs.
"I just got off the phone with Kim. Jesus!" Robin called back. "Cool your jets, Mom!"
"It's impolite to keep guests waiting."
"Then don't make him wait in the living room like he's gonna break something if he moves!" There was a brief silence followed by the click-clacking of Mrs. Wright's shoes on the hardwood, and then she appeared in the doorway.
"I'm sure you heard my daughter's obnoxious yelling," she said with a forced smile. "You can go upstairs if you'd like." As soon as she was out of sight, Paul let out the breath that he had been holding and got to his feet.
Today was his turn to choose what to do; it was part of a system he and Robin agreed on to avoid a repeat of their very first argument. Originally, he had planned for them just to bum around; walk around the city until they were too tired or too hungry, go to the deli for lunch, stop by the bakery if they were in the mood for something other than the deli's famous lemon loaf, then they would rent a movie and just...enjoy being in each other's arms. But then he spent an hour looking through a newspaper that had been left in the on-call room—an hour he should've used for sleep—and the idea just hit him.
"Hey," Robin greeted excitedly as soon as Paul reached her room, jumping into his arms when he held them out for her. "I'm sorry about my mother," she apologized when they stopped kissing.
"Don't worry about it," Paul replied. "She's…"
"Evil," Robin supplied.
"I was thinking something more along the lines of 'overprotective', but evil probably works too."
He laughed and let her finish getting ready, flopping into the lounge chair that sat beside the bookshelf.
"What do you have planned for today?" Robin asked, returning to the task of putting her shoes on.
"Are you ready to go on an adventure?" Paul asked in return.
"One more," Paul pleaded, squeezing his arm tighter around her waist as they walked down the crowded sidewalk. "Just one more apartment, and then we can go back to your place; I promise. We can even watch that one movie you like so much, and I won't tease you about crying."
Apartment hunting was the last thing on her mind when Paul mentioned an adventure, and although she had been excited when he showed her the list of places he had picked for them to look at together, the excitement soon faded as quickly as time did. They never had time together anymore; Paul had started his surgical internship in July, and she and Kim decided to extend the hours at the bakery.
"I just hate wasting your day off," Robin sighed. Today had been the first time that they had the entire day to spend together, and as much as Robin wanted to voice her opinion, she didn't want Paul to take it the wrong way; moving in together had been something they had talked about for a while, but never really had the opportunity to follow through. And now, five hours and six terrible apartments later, she would even agree to spend the rest of the day at that stupid sandwich shop.
"Do you really want to live with your parents anymore?" Paul asked, smiling triumphantly when Robin groaned.
"Do I have to answer that?" She buried her face into his chest as they waited for the crosswalk signal to change.
How long had they known each other now? Was it 17 years? And how long had they been together? Paul guessed it was just a little over 10. He knew it seemed a little sad, but neither of them had been ready for anything big until now what with college, then med school for him and the bakery for her. He knew they were both ready for this step, however big it was; the only problem was finding the right place.
"So," he began with bated breath, "one more?"
"Fine; one more," she relented.
"…the only closet space is in the foyer and the hall, but the apartment is very spacious. You can put a chest of drawers in the bedroom and it'll be perfect," the red-clad realtor said cheerfully as she led Robin and Paul through the apartment. Robin had expected her to be tired of showing prospective tenants around and just let them take a look for themselves, just like all the other realtors and landlords had, but that wasn't the case at all. Apparently, it had been on the market for a few days, and only one other person came to look at it.
"Now, this is my favorite spot," the realtor said, leading them to the center of what would've been the living room. "It's so wide and open and airy, especially with the windows."
"Do you see that view?" Paul whispered.
"Yeah that's…yeah," Robin replied speechlessly.
Apartment 507. It had one bedroom, one-point-five bathrooms, a living room which doubled as a dining room—or so the realtor had said; it was hard to imagine as it was lacking furniture—and a kitchen big enough for one person…maybe. Paul liked the little nook in the bedroom, right next to the windows, where he could put a bookshelf or a desk. Robin liked the way the kitchen mixed modern and classic with its stainless steel appliances and polished oak cabinetry. They loved it, but thanks to Murphy's Law, which Robin was a strong believer in, they couldn't just fall headfirst into something this big without doing a little recon.
So Robin and Paul spent almost two hours walking around the empty apartment, inspecting every little detail. They counted every electrical outlet, listened to see if the doors creaked when they opened, and Robin even made Paul flush the toilets, something she learned from her father before they moved into their house when she was 10. She didn't know why they were doing it, but just so they had something to do, they timed how long it took for the water to fill back up.
"You two are so cute," the realtor gushed as they bickered about the master bathroom. "How long have you been married for?" And that stopped their argument cold.
"We aren't married yet," they replied simultaneously. Paul and Robin looked at each other for a second, then back to the realtor with wide smiles.
"You did what?" Mrs. Wright exclaimed. Mr. and Mrs. Wright had been sitting in the living room, the television muted as they each looked through binders marked "Monthly Expense Reports" and "Wallpaper Samples" respectively when Paul and Robin returned from their adventure.
"We found an apartment," Robin repeated. "I'm calling a city inspector tomorrow to make sure it's up to code, and if it is, we're moving in."
"How long have you two been looking to move into your own apartment?" Mr. Wright asked, taking his reading glasses off.
"Uh…" Robin stuttered.
"Since this morning," Paul told him. "We got lucky, I guess."
"Well isn't that wonderful," Mrs. Wright bit out.
"It certainly is," Mr. Wright laughed, ignorant to his wife's sarcasm. He stood up and shook Paul's hand, then kissed his daughter's forehead. "This is a very big step for you both, I'm very proud."
"Thank you, Daddy."
"Maybe you shouldn't be so fast in congratulating them, Daniel," Mrs. Wright cut in, standing up as well. "Are they really responsible enough to live on their own?"
"With all due respect," Paul began, forcing himself to be brave under Mrs. Wright's scrutiny. "We're both 27. I just started my internship at the hospital, and Robin runs a business, successfully, I might add. If we aren't responsible enough now, I don't think we ever will be."
"He has a point, dear," Mr. Wright agreed.
Mary Wright was silent for about 10 minutes glaring at her husband, her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend with as much malice as she could force. She hadn't been as reluctant when Jack said he was moving to New York—her son had always been a rebel with a free spirit that couldn't be contained—but Robin was her baby, and it seemed that the more she spent time with Paul West, the more she was pulling away. And now she wanted to live with him.
"Alright," she finally relented. "Do what you want!"
"Oh thank you, Mom," Robin exclaimed, embracing her mother tightly.
"But I still expect you to call every day, and visit at least once a week when you aren't busy."
"I promise," Robin nodded.
"And you," she turned her gaze to Paul, who suddenly looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Don't break my daughter's heart."
"No need to worry, Mrs. Wright," Paul smiled, wrapping an arm around Robin's waist. "I made that promise a long time ago and I don't intend to break it."
A/N: Chapter TWO! We-as in me and whoever is reading this-made it! I was really iffy about posting a second chapter, especially since I promised to post a new chapter on two of my other stories this week, and I have yet to do that. O.O Hehe.
I think that this chapter connects with the first chapter because in chapter one, both Paul and Robin's priorities were about games, and in this one their focus is on a serious matter, like moving in together.
Anyways, I hope that, if anyone is reading, that you liked it. I like it. I guess that's what counts most.
Have a wonderful day!
