Disclaimer: I don't own them except for the kids!
With trembling fingers, he fiddled with the buttons on his deep blue dress shirt. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Damien let his hands fall to his sides. "This is ridiculous. Why are you getting so nervous about this?" he muttered as he looked back at his reflection in his bathroom mirror. It was Friday. His date with Angelina. His stomach felt like it was twisted in knots. He had never felt this nervous before. He had been on dates before and he didn't understand why he would be so jittery now. Frowning, he raked a hand through his damp blond hair, making the carefully combed strands fall into disarray. "Get control of yourself," he grumbled with deprecation as a soft knock sounded at his door. "Come on in," he called out as he picked up his tie that went with his shirt.
Mira smiled at her brother's expression as he attempted to tie his tie. Shaking her head, she let out a sigh and sat down on the edge of his bureau. "You're making a mess of it," she commented as she looked up at him.
"You think I don't know that, Mira," he snapped as he undid the knot in it again. His eyes went to his eighteen-year-old sister, his aqua eyes meeting hers. "I don't understand why the hell I'm acting like an idiot right now. I've been on dates before," he said as he attempted to redo his tie again.
"Because you're not used to dating. You haven't dated since Claudia," she replied as the heels of her white tennis shoes hit the drawers behind them. With another sigh, she pushed his hands out of the way. "You're going to strangle yourself," she said softly as she undid it and began to slowly retie it. "You're not comfortable with going out with girls. You never were. I could always feel that," she murmured.
Looking down at her, he assessed his baby sister. Her soft platinum blond hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, which dangled just past her shoulders. She was wearing her tennis whites, the short little pleated skirt doing little to hide her long tan legs and her shirt was cropped to show her midriff and belly ring. Like Vaughn and their father, she was empathic, although nowhere near as sensitive as them. She would sometimes have to physically touch the person to feel their emotions, which was how she normally would read him. The sound of her shoes hitting the bureau made him frown. She would leave a mark.
"They'll wipe off."
Her sudden response made him chuckle, releasing some of his tense nerves. Her crystalline eyes were rebuking him, but there was a smile on her lips as she said it. "I'm sorry, Mir."
Mira waved her hand. "No need. But it's nice to see you at least smiling again," she said as she patted the knot of his tie with her fingers. She then curled them around the edge of the wood; her legs still swinging forward and back, her ankles crossed. "It's good to see you going out again. Angelina is such a nice girl. A heart of an angel she has."
Damien snorted. "Heart of an angel? More like the heart of a temptress just like Randy and Ver. That girl is no angel."
"But she does and you should know that what you see is an act. Randy and Veronica are the same way. They act like they are, but underneath their just as vulnerable as everyone else. Angelina genuinely likes you and you should be glad that she likes you for who you really are, not because you're a Winner," she said with all earnestness. She leaned forwards a little. "You're just scared of letting her know how she really gets to you and who you really are behind that cool façade you put up. It's time for you to play, Damien. You sit behind a desk too long and you'll forget that there's a life out there waiting for you."
"Am I that transparent? I don't know what possessed me to ask her out to dinner tonight. I don't know how she makes me feel and I said I would tell her, but so far, I've come up with nothing at all."
"Damien, I know how you feel about her. She makes you feel so much at once, it scares you because of the depth of which you're feeling. Everything she is and does, strikes a deep chord in you that you don't want to admit. You've had strong feelings for Claudia and she burned you, so you buried any deep feelings towards any girl that approached you. You don't want to be hurt."
He knew she was right. The strong emotions that Angelina evoked frightened him. It didn't matter if it was lust or something more. He could admit, at least to himself, that he liked her too. She had a brilliant mind, which made her easy to talk business with. She was sweet and funny, and loved her surrogate family, the Maxwells with equal intensity that she had shown in her pursuit of him. But he knew what lurked behind that sexy smile and silvery eyes, and it broke his heart. No one deserved someone to care about them as much as she did. "And as much as you do, if you want to admit it," he thought as he looked at his reflection. "I like her," he said softly.
"Which is what you have to build upon because she really likes you," Mira returned as she hopped off the edge of the bureau. Facing him, she straightened his tie and smoothed the material of his shirt across his shoulders. "Are you bringing her anything?" she asked.
"Yellow jonquils. Vaughn told me that she likes those," Damien replied as he pushed her fussing hands away. "You're acting like mom, Mira," he chided.
Pouting, she tilted her chin up at a haughty angle. "Someone has to understand you besides Vaughn and he does it just to irk you. Quatrina and you are similar enough to know how the other one acts and thinks, but she doesn't know how you feel when she can't always express her own towards Zach," she mentioned offhandedly.
Her remark caused a slight crease in his forehead. Being a twin, he often knew how his sister reacted, thought, and felt about certain things. And when it came to her relationship with Zach, she loved him and had no problem telling him, it was physically expressing of those emotions that frightened her. "And with good reason," he thought grimly. "Quat has her own way of understanding things about me, just as Vaughn and you do. And right now, he's trying to sort out his problems with Veronica, which in my opinion is something he should have done a long time ago."
"True, but at least he's acknowledged the fact that he has to confess or risk losing her. You have to do what he has to do, no matter what. It doesn't matter if you don't know what to say now, you'll know when the time comes to say something. And then you'll look back and laugh about how nervous you were when you knew all along what to say."
"How are you so wise for an eighteen year old?" Damien asked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
With an impish grin, Mira glanced up at him as they left his room. "Observation. I learn a lot from watching the chaos that surrounds us."
Her reply made him chuckle as they walked down the hall.
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"No, not that dress."
"You looked good in it."
"I want something a little more…"
"Sedate?"
"Not too sedate."
"I think she's looking for something sophisticated, but sexy."
"And I'm not?" Randy sputtered as she glared at Veronica, who was lying on her bed.
"You're a little more flamboyant that Angelina, Randy," Veronica pointed out as she wagged her finger at her friend.
Randy stuck out her tongue.
Angelina rolled her eyes. "You two are not helping me here by arguing," she stated, looking at the two of them.
Randy frowned at the blond. "Well you could have brought some of your wardrobe if you thought mine was so bad."
"I didn't say it was bad. Besides, I have too many dresses to even carry over here if I wanted to," Veronica replied with a sigh. "You're lucky I brought some of them that I thought would work."
"Oh yeah, like you're always sophisticated and sexy."
"More so than you."
"Take that back."
"Make me."
Angelina sighed again and rolled her eyes. She went into Randy's closet and pulled out another dress. The two girls were still arguing when she went into the bathroom. Shutting the door behind her, she shed the deep blue sundress with the crisscrossed straps in the back. She tugged the blue gray dress on, securely tying the halter tight around the back of her neck. She glanced at herself in the mirror. She made a face. "I don't think this one looks good enough either," she mumbled turning from side to side. She wanted to make a lasting impression on him tonight. She wanted to show that she could be a lady, which had been drilled into her by her mother, and even Hilde. She had buried that knowledge when she had moved in with her father. There was no place for that in a scrap yard, and it had made her happier to use the brains that she had been given, instead of worrying about the looks she was sure she was never going to have. She pushed the door open and stepped out. "Well?"
Randy and Veronica paused in the middle of their argument. Veronica sat up, crossed legged on the bed. "It's ok on you, but it's not right. There's something missing."
"I think she looks good in it," Randy said as she walked around the copper haired girl.
"Its not right for her," Veronica countered, crossing her arms.
"I say it is," Randy retorted stubbornly.
Angelina slapped her hand to her forehead. "I should have just bought myself a damn dress instead of this."
"Well, why don't you try this?"
Angelina turned around to see Hilde standing in the doorway with a dress bag. "You have a dress for me?"
Hilde smiled. "It was going to be a gift from Duo and I for your birthday, but since those two," she said nodding towards her daughter and Veronica, "are not being much help, I thought you might like to try this instead."
She
took the proffered dress bag out of the older woman's hands. With a grateful
smile, she threw her arms around her neck. "Thank you, Hilde. This means a lot
to me."
She hugged the younger girl back. "Anything to bring a smile to your face and to make sure you look your best on this special occasion."
"Thank you," Angelina said again as she rushed back into the bathroom with the dress. Slipping free of the other dress, she pulled the plastic from the other one. She smiled as she looked at it. "Hilde has good taste," she commented as she pulled her new dress on.
Hilde shook her head at Randy and Veronica. "I could hear you two in my room down the hall. Will you stop arguing over who has a better wardrobe and help Angelina. This night means a lot to her and neither one of you are helping."
Veronica and Randy flinched from the gentle scolding. "Sorry," they both mumbled in response.
Angelina turned around again in front of the mirror. She had applied her makeup since she knew this was the right dress. Her bare toes curled on the fuzzy light blue rug on the white tiled floor as she continued to smile at her appearance. Satisfied with her makeup job, she pushed open the door. "So, what do you think about this?" she asked, doing a slow turn with her arms outstretched.
"Damn, you're going to have him blushing all night," Randy smirked as she walked around her.
"And that was the look you were trying to go for, sexy and refined. And I agree with Randy, Damien will blush like crazy. Winner men are so predictable when it comes to a girl showing that much skin just for them," Veronica smirked as well as she slid off the bed and stood next to Randy.
"You look lovely, dear," Hilde said as she looked at the young woman she had a hand in raising since she was ten. She could still remember the reed thin fourteen-year-old girl with freckles, glasses, and braces. She knew of the mother's high criticism over Angelina's looks and it would usually put her in a fury because she never believed that a mother could belittle a child for not looking like a tiny beauty queen. And when Howard got divorced, she made sure Duo and her would visit them, two or three weeks during the summer. The boys and Randy would be taken along too since she was an only child. It was so hard to believe that the little girl with the freckles had become such a beauty. Even more than her own mother. "I thought of you when I saw that dress. Duo thought it was too much for you, but he indulges you as much as he does Randy."
"I can't thank you enough, Hilde" Angelina said as she wrapped her arms around her again, giving her a tight squeeze.
Hugging the girl back, she shook her head. "Every woman deserves a hot little black dress," she said with a smirk of her own. "It's nice to see men get all flustered."
Angelina laughed. "Well, I'm sure that won't be too hard in this," she said as she stepped back. "And I still have to do my hair and find a pair of shoes to wear."
"Then I'll leave you two to help her finish getting ready. And no more arguing, girls," she said with a warning looking in her cornflower blue eyes as she turned and left the room.
"I think I have the perfect shoes to go with that," Randy said as she went into her closet.
"While she's looking, sit down and let me see what I can do with your hair," Veronica mused as she tapped her finger against her lips.
Angelina sat down in the desk chair, folding her hands in her lap as she watched the blond girl walk back and forth, barefoot on the plush blue carpet. "Is the makeup ok, though?" she asked.
"You did a good job with that…now that hair," she said again as she opened her box of makeup and hair "goodies." "I know exactly what I want to do. We want to show off your neck," she said as she took out a round brush, a curling iron, and some pins.
Feeling the brush pull at her copper hair, she glanced in the direction of Randy's closet. There were muffled thuds as well as muttered curses from not being able to find what she wanted. It made her laugh to herself. "I've never been fussed over like this before. I never had a reason to look this good for a guy and Randy and Ver are both pitching in to help. And Hilde…she was a godsend. She picked out the perfect dress for me," she thought as she felt a pin slid against her scalp. Closing her eyes, she thought of Damien. "I can't help but wonder what he's going to say. It's been leaving knots in my stomach these last few days. I really do like him a lot and I hope what he has to say won't send me into God knows what."
"All done," Veronica announced as she sprayed flexible hold hairspray onto the coiffure she created. With a look of utter satisfaction, she pulled Angelina out of the chair and over to the vanity mirror. "Take a look at yourself and be prepared for him to be knocked for a loop."
Angelina's eyes widened as she took in what Veronica had done. Soft tendrils fell down about her ears. Not one pin showed in the elegantly done hair. "I love it," she said softly.
"Glad you do."
"FOUND
THEM!"
Veronica rolled her eyes. "About damn time, Maxwell. I though you got lost in there."
"At least I can find things in my closet," Randy snapped as she came out with the strappy black heels. "You did good with the hair, Ver. You should be a hairstylist."
"I have a job, like you do. I stay clean at mine. You get messy."
"Not at the mill I don't. Just the shop," she said as she handed Angelina the shoes. "Put these on. You're lucky I wear the same size as you."
"Bigfoot."
Randy stuck her tongue out at Veronica again. "Well put them on so we get the full effect of the dress, Angie."
Slipping on the strappy shoes, she did another turn. "Well?"
"Perfect."
"You'll definitely be making him blush tonight."
Flushing from their praise, she turned again in front of the full-length mirror on the back of the door. "I certainly hope so," she murmured.
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Damien
pulled into the long curving driveway of the Maxwells and stopped right in
front of the flagstone path. Climbing out, he held onto a bouquet of bright
yellow jonquils tied with a black satin ribbon, courtesy of his mother. They
came from their greenhouse. Taking a deep breath, he walked up the steps and
knocked on the paneled door. His nerves were still jangling.
Hilde walked out of the kitchen when she heard the door. Pulling it open, she smiled at the expression on Damien's face. "Calm down and come in," she laughed.
With a sheepish grin, he walked into the wide foyer. Raking his teeth across his lips, he cleared his throat when he saw Duo, then Jonathon, David, and Chris come and stand nearby. "This is not helping me any. All four of them would slit my throat if I hurt her and they know I know it. Damn all four of them." "Is Angelina ready?" he asked Hilde.
"She should be," she replied as she glanced back up the stairs. "Angelina, Damien's here!"
He heard the pounding off feet upstairs and looked up to see Randy and Veronica, both barefoot coming to a halt at the top of the steps. They both leaned over the railing, giving him the trademark smirk inherited from their fathers'. It sent tremors down his spine.
Angelina took a deep breath of her own and made one last turn in front of the mirror. "Tonight is your night," she said to her reflection as she bobbed her head once and left the room.
Damien waited. He stood at the foot of the steps with Hilde. He could feel three pairs of cobalt eyes boring into his back, as well as a set of blue violet ones. He shifted on his feet. He could also feel the knowing looks of the two girls at the top of the stairs. Hearing another set of footsteps, he cast his gaze up to the top of the steps. What he saw, made his eyes widen and his jaw drop and inch. "Wow…"
A/N: I know it took some time, but I hope you all enjoyed it! Stay tuned for more coming soon! XOXO!!