Chapter 18 - Packing
"Are you taking gifts in another bag?" Marie asked as she sat down onto Silk's bed. It was ten in the morning the next day and when Marie got up that morning, she found that she was too impatient to call him. When he answered, she got all giddy. When Connie and Rob got together, Connie was like that and Marie was jealous of them and always wanted what they had. She thought she was like that with Will and then with Simon, but it turned out she hadn't been. Connie made fun of her for it after she hung up with him, and all she did was smile and get dressed.
Silk grabbed the other bag on the floor and held it up. "I'm only taking a few articles of clothes with me, yet everything is not going to fit in just one bag."
"How about we get the clothes together and then see if we can pack everything in one bag for convenience," Marie suggested standing up. As they went to work, they talked. "What do you guys do for Christmas?"
"We go to my mom's parent's house each year. We do secret Santa, but since the young kids don't have money… well, you know," he said taking a few of his flannel shirts out of his closet. "What do you do?"
"Well… tomorrow night, we are going to my Aunt's house, who is my mom's sister, and exchanging gifts and having dinner. Christmas we plan on sharing it with my dad's side. What about your dad's side?"
"We are a lot of people. So we don't exchange gifts. We are celebrating it the day after because since I'm flying out tomorrow with Rizzo, Coxie, OC, and Jimmy, they didn't want to celebrate it without me," he told her.
"Why did you guys decide to fly out on Christmas Eve?" She looked at him.
Silk smirked. "We wanted the utter chaos in our lives."
Marie chuckled at the look on his face. "It wasn't planned was it?"
"No. Herb comes in last week and surprises us. We all thought we were going to be practicing this week," he explained.
Marie smiled. "It's his Christmas present to you guys for working your asses off."
Silk took a hold of her hand and she looked up at him. He leaned in and kissed her. "I feel like I'm dreaming and I'm scared of waking up."
Marie's smile widened. She gave him a kiss before saying, "Do you want me to pinch you?"
He smiled back at her. "I seriously don't want to leave, but I am giving you my parents number."
"When are you coming back?"
"I was thinking about this last night. Every New Year's Eve, I celebrate it with my friends, but I am definitely coming back here. I might have to catch a few planes to get here, but I am going to be here."
Marie asked, "Won't your friends be mad that you're dumping them for me?"
"They'll understand once I mention why," he told her. "I gotta get back here to my girlfriend."
"So New Year's Eve is our official first date," Marie said. "Wait… your birthday is the next day. Your mom might want to celebrate twenty-two years of your life with you."
He nodded. "One birthday… it's no big deal."
"For her it might be."
Silk stopped putting a couple jeans in his bag and turned to her. "My mom knows about you. I talked to her a lot about you. She'll be thrilled to know we finally got together."
When Marie heard that, a blush spread across her cheeks. "Oh? She knew you fell in love with me at first sight?"
"No. I just said I had a crush. Nobody knows about that… only you know. I haven't said anything to the guys," he replied.
Marie smiled. "Otherwise, they'd make fun of you or something."
"You heard what happened yesterday. Sometimes they're immature," he said. He zipped up the bag, but realized they didn't see if any of the presents could fit. They worked at it and surprisingly enough, the presents did. Marie went to grab the last one, but he stopped her. "That one is for you."
Marie gave him a look and wasn't sure what she should do. "Do you want me to open it?" Silk nodded and what she found underneath the wrapping was The Hobbit.
"I thought since you haven't read the books yet, I'd buy it for you. Start out with this one and ten go on to the first book for the Rings series," he explained.
Marie looked up at him, smiled, and gave him a kiss. "Thank you. This is so sweet. My present to you is still at home."
"Well, later we'll go get it," he said putting the bag down next to the door.
Marie sat the book down onto his desk next to her purse. She went back over the bed and sat down. "What do you want to do today?"
"Just be with you," he told her.
Marie's heart skipped a beat at the way he said and looked at her when he did. "I swear if I keep smiling this way, my face is going to hurt or stay this way."
"Mine, too. However, I love your smile. I love you," he replied.
"I love you, too," she said.
They started to kiss slowly, but eventually the kisses became more passionate and demanding. One of his hands rested on her leg, while the other rested on the gape that connected her hair with her neck. Marie's arms encircled his shoulders and to have a little better closeness, she climbed into his lap and faced him. She gave a soft moan of protest when his lips left hers, but only moaned more when he started to kiss her neck. His hand on her leg found its way underneath the back of her shirt, and when his hand touched her skin, she shivered a little. After his lips found hers, she gave him the same respect he gave her neck.
"Hey, Silky, I need to talk to you," Rizzo said when he knocked. They didn't have enough time to part when he opened the door. Rizzo stopped in his tracks and gaped at them. "Whoa, you guys talked, I see."
Cox entered behind Rizzo and laughed. "No way. Rob was right on with the underwear, wasn't he? When did this happen?"
Silk and Marie looked at one another and started to laugh. They were a little flushed, some what from the make out and the other from the fact that they got caught. "It's a long story," Silk told them.
"Rob didn't know what happened," Marie said. "He told me why he gave you the underwear. Because it was silk and you last name and nickname… that's why."
Jimmy poked his head in. "What's going on?"
"Silky and Marie sitting in a tree… k.i.s.s.i.n.g," Cox started to sing. "First comes love… second comes marriage…"
Jimmy looked at the couple on the bed and Marie was hiding her face, while Silk was rolling his eyes.
"I thought Jack was worse," Marie muttered.
Jimmy smiled. "About time. I thought I was going to have to point it out for you."
Silk threw a pillow at them and then turned to Marie. "I told you… immature."
"Us?" Cox asked with a smile. "Never."
"I won't even mention what I saw in the shower the other day," Silk stated. "It was really immature."
Marie chuckled. "It couldn't have been that bad."
Silk looked at Rizzo and Cox. "He was singing, and Rizzo was making fun of Bah."
Cox and Rizzo started to laugh. "Ok."
Jimmy shook his head and left. Rizzo turned to the couple and asked, "Did you guys want to go out to lunch with Regan and I?"
Marie turned to Silk and without even saying anything to each other, they agreed. "Yeah."
"Oh no. They're already doing that secret look thing," Cox said before leaving.
"Just because he hasn't been in love, he doesn't need to knock it," Silk muttered.
"I heard that," he yelled out.
Marie laughed and got up. "When are we going?"
"Regan is coming over soon. We'll go from there," he told them.
Silk grabbed her arm and Rizzo knew he wasn't wanted until then.
"So? What to do until then?" Marie put a finger to her lip. She looked at Silk and smiled. She crawled back to him and they kissed. "About the other night…"
"Yeah?"
"I was thinking… I don't think it was a mistake, but I was wondering if you were ok with waiting," she said quietly.
Silk tucked a part of her hair behind her ear. "I don't see a problem with that."
"You don't mind?"
"No. All I care about it is that you're here," he said before smiling at her and kissing her again. "What are your plans for next semester?"
"Finishing up those two classes, graduating in June, finding a job, and spending time with you," she answered. "Other than that, I have nothing else planned for right now."
"I don't either."
"Well… take some time off."
"Maybe I'll stay here in Minnesota after the Olympics," he said.
She nodded and her smile widened again. "Ok… this make out look you have on right now, it's totally cute. Your hair is a little messy and it makes you so… cute."
He looked over at his mirror and laughed. "Thanks, I guess. You don't look bad either."
Marie chuckled. "Shit. Now that's embarrassing." She tried to comb her fingers in her hair, but he stopped her.
"Nah, we look both great," he said before kissing her.
They teased one another for a while, before Regan came in and told them they have some explaining to do. They laughed and got up. From there they went to eat.
For the rest of the day, the two couples hung out. When she took him back to the apartment to get his gift later, he was surprised that she got him a Star Wars collectible Darth Vader action figure. He told her that he's been trying to find one ever since he lost his, but they were hard to find. When he had to leave to get some rest before waking in the wee hours of the morning, they didn't want to part.
