Can I just say that I'm in love with Lorde at the moment? Well, Lorde and Skillet. Odd choices but still, they are amazing.

So, we are really hoping that there will be three more chapters before LL is officially finished.

I'm spread pretty thin, writing-wise, so it may take a while for those three chapters to be updated.

Uh, I guess that's all for now. School hasn't really been an issue, so I can't blame my lack of updating on that too much. Just some.

And, just a fun fact, I've been watching Lab Rats during lunch, and on the bus. It's not really an unhealthy obsession, but the path I'm going down is a dark one.

December 22nd 2013

Chase's Pov

"So, Callan just came in and started choking you?" I asked, numb with shock and anger.

Christine nodded, playing with her phone.

"And Bradley just came up behind him and whacked him?" Rachel said with raised eyebrows.

"With a frying pan?" Bree added.

Christine groaned. "Like I said five minutes ago, yes!"

"What happened after that?" Sammie asked.

Christine shrugged. "Not much, I guess. We called the police, parents woke up, police hauled Callan's ass away in the back of a police car."

"Whoa," the entire room seemed to mutter in astonishment.

I knew I should be mad, but I wasn't as much as I thought I would be. Yeah, I pissed and furious that he snuck in and tried to strangle my girlfriend to death in her sleep, but he did get a pan to the head and lovely ride to the police station because of it.

I was too satisfied to feel any more mad. But there were other things on my mind, like—

"Oh my Lord, it's four days until Christmas!" Rachel shot, patching on to Sammie and Bree's wrists as she began to drag them toward the door. "We gotta go!"

Ashley and Janelle filed out the door after them. Christine dropped a kiss on my lips before following, shutting the door behind her.

We sat in silence, looking between each other.

"They're gonna want stuff, right?" Adam finally asked.

Leo and I nodded together slowly.

I stood dumbfounded in the mall, looking at the stores all around me, feeling like a complete idiot.

I kept telling myself that when a guy was Christmas shopping with his girlfriend and had at least three hundred dollars worth of allowance sitting in his wallet patiently to be used, this was how they would feel too.

But then again, those kind of guys were flickers on a silver screen and I was just trying to spare what was left of my self-esteem.

It was kind of sad, not knowing what to get my girlfriend of almost two years. I knew what she liked, cost sure as hell wasn't a problem, and she wasn't one to obsess over price anyway.

The only problem?

I was naturally a very indecisive person.

I counted how many times me head swiveled between the comic store and the new records store Christine had been dying to check out ever since its arrival that summer. That number? Too many.

With a big huff, I stalked toward the comic store. I myself hadn't been in the record store—Lenny's Spins, it was called—and after everything we've been through I doubted that Christine's favorite artist would be her favorite artist any more. But one thing would never change-her love of comic books.

Seriously, how giddy she got when flipping through Leo's comics was just a sight to see.

Idly I began down the middle aisle, skimming titles and various superhero pictures as I pass them.

This was, believe it or not, my first time ever entering the comic book store. Chris and Leo already preferred to go together-I guess to fan girl over the newest issue of this or that, and whatever.

Despite what everyone else believed, just because I was incredibly smart and enjoyed video games, that I was a nerd, when, in fact, I wasn't in the slightest.

I stopped at a Nancy Drew display. It was a small briefcase, showing a small magnify glass and two box sets that held the entire set. Whoa, and only fifty bucks. It seemed like a steal for how much Christine complained that the new editions sucked.

Quickly, I pulled out my wallet and thumbed through my money, a pile of twenties, fives, and ones all crammed together with old receipts from here and there.

I had about almost two-hundred dollars and twenty-three cents. With half a stick of a gum that I knew wasn't mine, but suspiciously jammed between a one and five.

After slipping my wallet back into my pocket and selecting a briefcase from the shelf, I started my walk to the counter.

The counter was almost as identical to the glass case that held all the jewlrey I had been eyeing for Christine for our one-year anniversary. Goddamn, that felt like it happened eons ago.

"Hey, little man, still shopping for your woman?"

I jumped at the familiar voice. I looked up from where I had been peering in at a green skinne action figure wearing a purple cape and red boxers to see Murry, the same guy from the jewlrey store.

I let out an unmanly gasp of of surprise. "I thought you worked at the jewler's," I said after getting over my shock.

Murry shrugged, his fedora tipping forward on his head. "I'm what you call a mold," he explained easily, scanning Christine's gift with practiced movements. "Whatever the mall wants to use me for, I do it."

I nodded as if this made perfect sense, sliding two twenties and two fives over the counter with a nickle and quarter.

After calling a goodbye to Murry, I walked out with a bag decorated like a comic book. Again, I stood there like an idiot, trying to figure out what my next move would be.

Sure, Christine would love the Nancy Drew kit, but didn't girls expect more than one gift?

I sighed, slumping.

At least dealing with crimminal masterminds had been easier than trying to figure out my girlfriend's mind.

I tried to think like Bree—where would she go for her next present?

Well, I had been eying Lenny's Spins earlier, maybe lookin around there for a while would help.

I ducked inside, reaching the store four long strides.

Lenny's Spins was dimly lit with oil laterns sitting on broze trays from the ceiling, the carpet orange under my feet. In front of me stretched rows of records and albums and CDs. From every other display a clearance sign was taped.

I picked through them, flipping them with an eager vigor. Unlike Christine, I had a thing for rock n' roll classics, like Led Zepplin, Guns N' Roses, The Beatles, and other things she hadn't developed a liking for.

Maybe after the Christmas chaos wore off, I would be able to snatch a few of these for myself.

I walked out empty-handed, once again clueless.

I still had three days, maybe I would be struck with a better plan than just the comic store after consulting Tasha and secretly taking tips from Bree's magazine stash when no one was around.

Because standing in the middle of a mall with fierce women jostling me left and right was not going to get me any closer to buying Christine just the right gift.

"Well, think about it," Tasha said, stirring the pot in front of her.

I had finally managed to corner her an hour before dinner. At the moment she had just finished putting a turkey in the oven and was currently working on her newest stew concoction. From the terrible smell it let out, I didn't think it was fit for a human to digest, but didn't have the heart to tell her that.

Plus I didn't need her mad at me when I was so desperate for her advice.

"Not every gift has to be bought or purchased for the store," Tasha continued, setting the burner on low to put a lid on and lean over the counter to focus on me more.

"Like, for our one year anniversary, my first husband—Leo's father—took me to my first art class."

"And you liked it?" I said doubtfully. Other than sewing up the holes in our clothes, Tasha wasn't an artistic type. Unless it came down to doing something like redecorating the house or finding new curtains to compliment the guest rooms.

"No, I quit two sessions in," she laughed, shaking her head in an act of nostalgia, "but Daniel had heard me talking about how much I had wanted to try to get into a hobby besides mommy-ing Leo all the time. It counts when you listen and try to find your woman's best interests and help her explore them. That way, you have another thing that can just be between the two of you."

I noticed how wistful and distance Tasha got when she talked about Leo's dad. It was hardly ever she mentioned him, but I kinda liked when she did.

"What was he like?" I asked, leaning on my arms.

Tasha smiled, reaching over to ruffle my hair. "Daniel was a lovely man. He was always a people person, liked it when everyone was pleased. Very smart and happy-go-lucky. But, bless his soul, that man didn't have a driven-bone in his body; Daniel was never one to linger on one project for too long."

I smiled; you could definately hear the similarities between Leo and his father.

I didn't know the full story, and I don't think Leo did either, but the gist of it was that Daniel had been running errands at the wrong time and met his ending.

But Leo and Tasha turned out well.

I sighed as Tasha turned back to dinner. I had a lot to think about.

What had Christine been dropping hints at? I knew that in all the chaos of the play, Christne had developed a liking to being on stage and in character. What had the name of that school been?

It started with a J or something, I'm sure.

But what else? Even though Davenport was loaded, I'm pretty sure Chris wouldn't appreciate being bought her way into life. There was the whole hectic thing with her mother, but I was short, not magical.

Maybe I could do one better—

Bree's eyes lit up as she bounced off her bed and excitedly clapped her hands, a huge smile spread across her face.

"Oh, I love it!" she squealed, wrapping me in a tight hug.

I laughed and hugged back, feeling excited myself. My plan wasn't much, and the moment in general was a long ways off, but if my sister thought I could make it that far with Christine, then it was probable that I would.

"I still need to do some gift shopping anyway, and I would need a second opinion, Bree addd thoughtfully. "I should be able to keep her away for a couple hours. Do you think that would be enough time?"

I nodded my head surely. "More than enough."

"Good." Bree sighed, looking at the wall behind me with a distant look. "Asking for his dauhgter's hand in marriage—I wish I had someone to do that for me."

I smiled. Through everything, Bree's love life had remained oddly unscathed, which was odd, because I figured the girls would have devoured that already. But between her comatose and newfound vision ability, I guess that had been enough to keep Bree in the drama loop, and they were too sure about adding anything else.

"Don't worry sis, you'll get there someday," I told her with an assuring grin.

Bree smiled back, her eyes looking a little bit brighter. "Thanks, now move! I won't be able to give you forever!"

I waited ten minutes after the confirmation text Bree sent me to head over to the Grant residence. My insides felt like they were about to throw themselves onto the sidewalk as I burrowed myself deeper into my coat.

As far as cheesiness went, this idea of mine had to be somewhere near romantic Hallmark Chrismas movie and Disney Pixar animation marathon.

But as Bree said, a lot of girls probably wished their guy had this corny side to him. I knew that Christine secretly probably wanted that too, and this seemed like the perfect way to do it.

The topic of marriage itself? It hadn't crossed my mind until I had been at a loss for Christmas present ideas, but I could perfectly imagine myself with Christine, long past our college years, still madly in love, and burrowed in our children's drama instead of our own.

I spent the entire walk there trying to piece together what I was going to say to Grant. I wondered if Bree had called ahead and warned Rem of my plan, and wouldn't be surprised if she did so. Rem was one of those people who had to know everything, or the entire system would crumble. But she had been supportive right from the beginning, so I knew that if Rem thought it was a good idea, then maybe Grant wouldn't be that hard to convince after all.

Reaching the porch steps, I stood on the top one, still extremely tongue-tied. God, why hadn't I thought of my nerves tendecy to get in the way before?

Deciding to pull out my twenty seconds of courage for the day, I boldly knocked on the door, watching my breath come out in a huge puff of white in front of my mouth.

I felt relieved once I saw that it was Rem who the door, as opposed to my other options—Maria, Bradley, or Grant himself. Although, I guess Bradley wouldn't be too bad of an option either.

Just one look at her and I knew she was well aware of what I was about to do.

She gave me a nod, moving aside to let me in. "Good luck."

After telling me that I could find Allan at the dinner table, Rem would whirred into the kitchen, the faucet switching on once she disappeared from my sight.

I sucked in a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

The worst he could was say no.

But I knew that Christine wouldn't care about his unapproval either way; he knew that too.

"Chase." He looked up at hearing me come in—he looked surprised to see me, and I could understand why. I usually only over here was Christine was. "Christine went out with your sister just a few minutes ago."

I did another round of deep breaths. "I know."

His eyebrows shot up. "Oh? And I'm to assume you came here to visit me?"

"Actually, yes. Can I sit?"

Grant set down the papers he had been holding to gesture to vacant seat across from him. I slid into it, trying to meet his gaze without looking to wimpish.

"As you know, Grant, I love Christine," I began, keeping his gaze.

He nodded. "And she loves you just as much. Possibly more than her old pop." He let out an easy laugh and I tried to laugh along, scolding myself for who nervous it sounded.

"Yeah, well, I was wondering...if I could ask for her hand in marriage—with your permission, of course," I added, seeing his features change.

"I think we both know my daughter doesn't need any permission except her own," he said after a beat of tensed silence.

I nodded, my hands twisting together in my lap.

"I don't want to do it right away," I told him, seeing his thoughtful look. "We are only sixteen; but I just need you to know that any moment she wants to tie the knot, I'm more than willing to do so for her."

A long silence followed after that. I worried my bottom lip; I could feel numbness starting to creep in from how much gnawing I had been doing on it.

"Well, Chase," he began slowly, making my inside clench, "you are a intelligent, well-put man with an incredibly bright future and perfect head on his shoulders. For one, I'd think I would worry if Christine didn't want to seal the deal with you."

I brightened at this. "So, we have your blessing?"

He stuck out his hand, smiling nodding. "You have my blessing."

Yes!

This is one of the longer chapters. I haven't written a really long one in a while, but this was fun to write.

This chapter is a part of my Sunday haul, a bundle of uploads I plan on doing throughout Sunday.

Updates include:

New LL chapter

New TSSLM chapter

New One-shot.

Be on the look out for those. I hope I will do more bundles like that often, because they make me feel very ogranized with my writing. I think I already have another one in the works for next weekend possibly.