• I Feel Lovely •

[Romeo Jackson Jervis]

He knew that there would be a fight; it was inevitable. Every couple hit some roadblock that had them screaming at each other until they were both blue in the face. Romeo was just glad that he and Zoe were still going strong without so much as a pothole this far into their time together. He never wanted to fight with the blonde country mouse and he couldn’t even imagine a scenario where he was yelling at her about something so serious that it threatened the foundations of what they had together. It wasn’t something he wanted to think about either.

Once Zoe was settled, cuddled into his side, Romeo dropped a habitual kiss to the top of her head and wrapped his arm a little tighter around her, his fingers absently tracing patterns on her arm whilst she drank her tea and munched away on the sandwich he had thrown together for her. Romeo wasn’t much of a cook and how he and Ellie had survived for pretty much their whole lives was something that completely baffled the young man. “That’s because I don’t get sick. I’m magical like that.”

[/color] The truth was, Romeo didn’t like and wasn’t used to people fussing over him. He fussed over everyone else; that was how it had always been. Plus, getting sick wasn’t really an option for him. He would still have to work to make the rent and he would still have to make sure Ellie was okay and not living off ice cream and chocolate. He had learnt by now to pretty much push through whatever illness struck him with the added help of over the counter medicine and old methods his mother had taught him when he was younger – most of them worked, surprisingly.

He smiled down at her, his wine green eyes looking at the lunch he had prepared for her. “I ate before y’ got ‘ere, love.”[/color] He told her, but took the sandwich anyway. He just didn’t want her thinking that he was neglecting his own health to deal with hers; he knew how much that would annoy her. His expression grew softer, sadder at her words and he hooked his fingers under her chin so that she would have to look at him. “Hey, y’ ain’t losin’ me; not today and not ever.”[/color] He promised in a whisper, bending hid head to capture her lips with his own in a gentle and sweet kiss. He looked at the DVD player and the remote in his hands. “Actually, I saw a bit of this one; it wasn’t too bad.”[/color] Plus, a rom-com might cheer Zoe up a little more than one of Romeo’s usual boyish choices. He pressed the button on the control and then scowled as nothing happened. Hammering the control with rough fingers didn’t do much either and he sighed, dropping it to his lap as he ran his fingers through his messy hair. “Flicker’s on the blink. Probably needs new ba’eries.”[/color] He said, trying to remember where there were spare ones. “I’ll be right back, love; the ba’eries are in me bedroom drawers.”[/color] He said, reluctantly getting ready to move. How come something like this always happened just when he got comfortable?!
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• • •

TAGGED! Zoe <3
WORDS! 581
OUTFIT! Northern Dream
LYRICS! Find Me - - - Boyce Avenue
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Zoe Diana Tylers]

With their temperaments, it was hard to picture them screaming at each other. She was typically too restrained and controlled to lose herself, and he was a jokester when times got rough; those didn't exactly add up to horrific fights that nobody would end up winning. Zoe liked it that way, however, and she figured that was part of the reason they were working so well right now. They complimented each other, even if there were numerous differences between them. What she lacked, he made up, and she liked to believe it was true when flipped. Even if they did fight over their discrepancies someday, she'd be remembering the reasons she fell for him in the first place, and that would bring her cuddling back into his arms quicker than a blink.

Zoe liked it when he attempted to "cook" for her, even if it was a sandwich or some other easy meal. Usually, she was the one cooking anything and everything for herself, eating the leftovers as lunch the next day or giving them to one of her neighbors in the apartments surrounding hers. Since she'd started dating Romeo, she'd been stopping by his place and dropping off containers of whatever she'd made for dinner the previous night. Ellie often called about it and repeatedly asked Zoe for lessons in how to make some of her favorites. But, it was a nice change of pace to be the one eating instead of laboring over a stovetop, even if her creations turned out a bit fancier than his.

Her fingers ran lovingly over his cheek as he kissed her again, sad eyes meeting his once their lips parted. "I don't ever want to lose you. Yer too important now," she said, brushing some hair away from his forehead before leaning her head against him and cuddling up to his warm side. Zoe cracked a smile, laughing weakly. "Whatever you'd like, darlin'. I don't mind watchin' one'a yer guy movies," she teased, eating some of her sandwich happily.

She frowned at him as he began pounding on the remote and raised an eyebrow when he dropped it into his lap. Before he could get up, she set her tea and sandwich down, shaking her head. "Nu uh, stay here; I've got it. Ya've done enough fer right now," she said, untangling herself from the blanket and his arms as she stood up. "I'll be right back." Zoe leaned down to kiss him so he couldn't protest, walking towards his bedroom without a second thought. She knew what drawer he was talking about, having watched him grab batteries for an emergency flashlight during a storm the other week, so she bent down and pulled it open, easily pulling out a couple of the things. She was about to push it closed again when her eyes caught on a wrapper peeking out from underneath the package of the batteries. Curiously, she unburied it, believing it to be a forgotten gum wrapper that she could toss for him. But, her eyes widened to the size of plates when she realized what the square of plastic with a circular indent was. Her hand fisted around it as all of Ember's words came slamming back into her. "A guy will only wait around so long before he'll chase another skirt..." "It's only a matter of time before he wants more than cuddles and kisses..." Zoe let out a frustrated sigh as she shut the door with a bang. Maybe Ember was right after all.

Gulping down her fear, she came back out into the living room, dropping the batteries and crumpled condom into Romeo's lap. "I found them," she said icily, not sitting down as she waited for some sort of explanation.

• • •

WORDS: 672!
TAG: Her Romeo <3
LOCATION: In Tears, Jervis Apartment
OUTFIT: Soaking Mess! <3
LYRICS: Lovely by Sara Haze
NOTES: <3 <3 <3

[Romeo Jackson Jervis]

He didn’t know what Zoe’s friend had said to her in the hospital, but it had clearly done a number on the country mouse Romeo had easily fallen for. He hadn’t seen her so insecure before and he just wanted to make it all better for her, but he didn’t quite know where to begin. Zoe wasn’t like other girls he had dated and after the manner in which this afternoon had come about, he didn’t want to do something that would frighten her off or make her believe that her friend was right and that he did only want to get her into bed and act as though she was some sort of prize.

“I’m goin’ nowhere, love.”

[/color] He whispered, kissing her gently again. He didn’t like the idea of Zoe being worried that he might up and vanish on her one day. He wasn’t that kind of guy who would bolt after one fight or who would shut the door on a relationship just because she wouldn’t get into bed with him for anything more than cuddles and innocent kisses. Chuckling, Romeo shrugged and gestured lazily to the player. “I can’t be bothered t’ move to change the DVD. Just leave that one on for now, like.”[/color] He said, knowing they’d probably make their way through a couple before Ellie came home and Zoe headed off home or chose to spend the night in their usual innocent manner. Whatever she chose he just wanted to make sure that she was okay before the day was out.

Chuckling to himself, he let her go and wondered if Zoe actually understood the idea of relaxation. He had yet to see her truly unwind and not worry about letting him do all the work. Still, he let her go and stretched out his tired limbs, a little relieved that Zoe had provided him with an excuse not to do any work around the home; he was just too tired. He heard her coming back and turned around to shoot her a lopsided smile, wondering why she suddenly looked so cold compared to when she left. He shot her a puzzled look when she dropped the items to his lap and then glanced downwards, spying the sealed condom wrapper and sighing. He pushed the batteries into the remote silently and then picked up the incriminating evidence between his fingers before pushing himself to his feet to deal with this. “This thing, along with whatever else, has lived in that drawer for over a year.”[/color] He stated calmly, but with a serious undertone. He was not about to have a fight over this with her and ruin what he had just been able to repair between them just moments earlier. “Zoe, I’m not gonna lie, but I’m not a virgin and ‘aven’t been for a long time. Regardless of if I’m datin’ or not, I ‘ave condoms in me drawer. Just ‘cause I ‘ave ‘em it doesn’t mean I’m plannin’ on usin’ ‘em.”[/color] He said honestly. Romeo wasn’t about to throw them out just because sex wasn’t on the cards in their relationship yet and probably wouldn’t be for a long time. He also didn’t see the point in arguing the whole ‘just in case’ point either. He had been with other girls, not a number to boast about, but they had existed and he wasn’t going to lie to Zoe about that. Raking his fingers through his messy, knotty hair, his eyes met Zoe and he shrugged lightly. “I didn’t go out an’ buy ‘em for us, love. I’m not expectin’ anything like that and if I was, I wouldn’t ‘ave just told you what I did when you arrived. I can be a lot o’ things, but a liar isn’t one o’ ‘em.”[/color] He was a little hurt, but it was nothing for him to cause a fight over, though it would all depend on Zoe’s response to what he had just told her. If she wanted a guy with morals as pure as hers then he would be in trouble; he wasn’t like that at all and never had been.
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• • •

TAGGED! Zoe <3
WORDS! 731
OUTFIT! Northern Dream
LYRICS! Find Me - - - Boyce Avenue
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Zoe Diana Tylers]

Some of Zoe's biggest insecurities were sex and dating. She'd always been treated as a sort of "off limits" type because of the goal to become a vet; but that no longer applied. Her and Romeo were off the deep end together, and she was still gaining her footing as new obstacles came up. Facing her deepest fears had never been her strong point, so she'd been frazzled as her best friend slammed them into her. Now, they were resurfacing with Romeo, and she was freaking out all over again. It wasn't his fault, but she didn't have the words to explain that to him; all of this was hitting nerves she'd thought were well-guarded. Apparently, she'd been wrong.

Zoe crossed her arms over her chest defensively as she watched him insert the batteries into their proper slots. She didn't move, waiting for him to say something. It wasn't in her DNA to make snap-conclusions but, in this case, her mind was already spinning. A tiny sigh escaped as he stood up and towered over her, though she met his eyes as he began to speak. This was one of the rare occasions where she hated their height difference; he made her feel so short and childish. Her lips pressed together silently as the v-word came into play. She'd figured as much, knowing that a lot of the city folk didn't hold the same values as her hometown. It wasn't that she cared about it; she just hoped he knew that she was a virgin, and that the status wouldn't be changing anytime soon.

She kept quiet until he finished, knowing herself well enough to hold her tongue. It wasn't anger bubbling inside of her, but something much more dangerous and deadly: fear. Fear that this would errupt into a fight like it had with Ember; fear that this was proof that he was planning on subtly pushing for more one night; fear that he'd finally figured out she wasn't city enough for him. "If ya were a liar, I woulda dumped ya a long while back," she said simply. Zoe took a deep breath and shook her head, one hand rubbing her temple as she tried to massage away an oncoming headache. "I don't care 'bout the other girls, Romeo. I care about now; about us. I am a virgin and I ain't plannin' on that changin' any time soon. That... thing... is a waste of yer hard-earned money and, unless ya've got some dramatic break-up speech prepared, yer not likely to be needin' it. I don't want yer hopes gettin' up when there's not a chance I'll do anythin' that'll involve stuff like that," she rambled before her confidence could crumble. The conversation was a difficult one that were bound to have it sooner or later. She could've just given him an insincere "it's alright" and cuddled into his lap again, but she wasn't a liar, either. If both of them kept their tempers, this would turn out alright; she'd make sure it did.

• • •

WORDS: 552!
TAG: Her Romeo <3
LOCATION: In Tears, Jervis Apartment
OUTFIT: Soaking Mess! <3
LYRICS: Lovely by Sara Haze
NOTES: <3 <3 <3

[Romeo Jackson Jervis]

To Romeo, sex hadn’t been a big thing for a long time. Maybe it was a city upbringing or maybe it was simply because he had lost his virginity some time ago and since then it was just another one of those things that came in relationships or after a drunken night out. However, it wasn’t as though he had ever gone out looking for some girl to bring home and since Ellie had been under his care it had been another one of those things that Romeo had cared even less about. Sex was great, but it wasn’t a necessity and his wild hormones had been kept under control for at least half a decade now.

He raised his eyebrows at her first sentence and didn’t quite know what to make of it. They were teetering on the edge of a fight he thought had already been resolved and Romeo was not going to sit back and let her accuse him of this again. His jaw was clenched tight and he was trying not to yell at her about this, reiterating that he wasn’t about to try and seduce her or pressure her into something she wasn’t ready for. He was frustrated by the way she seemed to be talking down to him about this, despite Romeo thinking that he had made himself quite clear when she had first come round, soaked to the bone and anxious about her boyfriend’s intentions.

He grabbed his cigarettes from the table and stormed across to the fire escape without saying a word to Zoe. Perching on the sill like he always did, Romeo lit up, taking a long drag to try and calm himself down before he spoke again. “I didn’t buy the condoms for you. They ‘ave been in there since me last girlfriend an’ that is it.”

[/color] He took another drag, flicking the ash out into the rain before looking across at her again, hurt by everything she seemed to be implying. “Sex does not make a relationship work, but trust bloody does, an’ if y’ can’t trust us and what I said t’ y’ when y’ came in, then it’s not gonna be sex that breaks us up.”[/color] If she didn’t believe what he had told her when she collapsed in his arms earlier, then what else wouldn’t she believe? He wasn’t about to spend this relationship trying to prove that he meant what he said. “I’m not some sex obsessed college boy who’s tryin’ t’ get y’ into bed like it’s a challenge. Look, I don’t want us t’ ‘ave a barney over this, like, but I can’t believe that y’re implyin’ that all I’m waitin’ for is sex.”[/color] Another drag and another deep breath, Romeo shook his head and looked at the floor. If she didn’t believe him earlier then what would make her believe him now? “Y’know what? Sack it, I’m gonna go grab another pack of cigs. Start the film without me.”[/color] He stubbed out the cigarette and moved back across the apartment. He needed to clear his head before he did something impulsive. "One condom in a junk drawer doesn't mean all those conclusions y' jumped t' are actually gonna 'appen."[/color] He said, wedging his feet into his shoes, refusing to look at her, still hurt that she seemed to think he was no better than any other guy in the city.
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• • •

TAGGED! Zoe <3
WORDS! 558
OUTFIT! Northern Dream
LYRICS! Find Me - - - Boyce Avenue
NOTES! “Barney” = fight, “sack it” = forget it <3 <3 <3

[Zoe Diana Tylers]

Zoe didn't scream and rant when she was upset; she kept her mouth shut and let the storm brew silently inside her head. Not one of the healthiest ways to deal with it, but she bottled up the emotions nonetheless and held her tongue when she knew it'd only get her into trouble. Today, that resolve had been crumbling piece and piece between her best friend and her boyfriend. One of them shoved insecure thoughts into her mind; the other said one thing, then produced proof for the complete opposite. She was going nuts with both pounding on her temper, yet she was too scared to explode in front of them.

She had believed him... and then she'd found the condom. Part of her knew there had to be some logical explanation to it, but most of her was listening to Ember's words all over again. She'd known the blonde a lot longer than she'd known Romeo, and the girl was her best friend; it wasn't hard to guess who won the trust competition there. Still, Zoe wanted to believe Romeo and forget all of this, pretending that the morning hadn't existed. Her head was spinning with it all, and she'd found evidence that could've been easily lied away if he'd chosen. He was a lot better at lying than she was, after all. Didn't she know him better than that though? She thought so; she hoped so. But, at the end of the day, he was a city boy, and she'd had to deal with her share of them before. He may not have seen the similarities between him and most of New York's male population, but Zoe did, and it made her even more scared to be where she was now. She hadn't been city enough for any of them, and she was waiting for Romeo to say the same thing.

The cigarettes were enough to tip her over the edge she'd been balancing on. He knew she hated them, and that she didn't like him resorting to them to solve his stress problems; she'd said both countless times before. At least she didn't destroy her body in order to keep her peace of mind. "I did trust you, and then I found that damn thing and I'm startin' to regret ever believin' ya in tha first place. How'm I 'spose ta keep trustin' ya when I come across junk that contradicts what yer tellin' me? Yer a hell of'a lot better at lyin' than I am, which makes all'a this even harder," she said, giving up on holding off a fight. It was too late for that now; they were both heated and both had points to argue. "Yer sure startin' ta act like one. Smokin', condoms, swearin', and drinkin'; ya just keep wrackin' up tha points, don't ya? All that's missin' is the sex," Zoe shook her head at him in disgust. Now that she'd started, she didn't want to stop, no matter how bad the words stung or who they hurt. "When it comes down to it, yer just like one'a them. Expectin' trust when yer given reason to doubt, resortin' to idiotic vices to solve all yer problems. I've got my issues, too, but at least I ain't killin' myself over 'em."

Zoe beat him to the door and flung it open, not caring that she didn't have shoes or a proper jacket; she could walk home in the rain again. "Don't bother. Ya can watch the fuckin' movie by yerself." She stormed through the door, slamming it loudly behind her and taking off down the steps to exit the building. She didn't want him to follow her; she'd had her share of fighting for the day, and all she wanted was a warm bath, some comfort food, and a phonecall to her Mama.

• • •

WORDS: 698!
TAG: Her Romeo <3
LOCATION: In Tears, Jervis Apartment
OUTFIT: Soaking Mess! <3
LYRICS: Lovely by Sara Haze
NOTES: <3 <3 <3