Charity starts at home (Morry)

[Lexine Sullivan]

Lexi was not sure how it had come about. After Morrison had mentioned going out on a date her head had been full of ideas about what they would do and where they would go...until she had gotten a visit from Father Timothy anyway. He had come about a charity event that was for the benefit of the local children's homes- something he had known she would be interested in ... although she wasn't sure how he had known about her donations since she had always given them anonymously...Bloody all knowing priests...

Anyway, she digressed. He had come to her and had asked her to take part in the event. It was a black tie event which meant buying a really nice dress and getting made up but the worst part of it was that he wanted her to play the piano, something she hadn't done in years and as such she didn't even know if she could play like she used to. She wasn't sure how he had talked her into it but he had done and she was stuck in a commitment she wasn't sure she wanted to be involved with. It had required her having to go to the church everyday in order to get back into practice although it had turned out it was a little like riding a bike- you never really forgot how to do it no matter how long it had been since the last time you had done it.

Along with the endless practice and the endless gushing from Bert telling her how proud he was that she was finally doing something good and normal she had had to get her hair sorted for the event since bright pink was not a particularly acceptable hair colour for the company she was going to be keeping. Not that changing it had been much of a hardship since she had planned to dye it another colour for Morrison as it was so when she had gone to get it professionally bleached blonde it hadn't been too much of a shock (although she had insisted on keeping some very pale pink streaks in it) and had to admit to herself that it actually looked quite nice...she hoped Morrison liked it at any rate since she had always gotten the impression that he hadn't approved of the previous colour.

Speaking of Morrison...She had spent the last week avoiding him completely. She had lost count of the amount of calls and visits she had had to dodge and she was unused to the amount of guilt she was feeling because of it. If she had known she was going to feel like this she would have told the priest politely where to shove it. As she bit at her lip she moved along the back of the stage and pulled the curtain back slightly so she could peek out into the crowd, her eyes searching the sea of faces for one she knew very well but she couldn't see him and for a moment she panicked that he wasn't going to turn up. She had sent him the invite a few days ago (without actually giving on that it was from her) and since he seemed to earn a bit of money she had doubted he would decline the invitation, although when he had called (the one call she had replied to anyway) to ask her if she wanted to go she had had to tell him that she had that much work to do at the garage that she wouldn't be able to get away and had suggested that he take Jeena along with him instead since she seemed the kind of lady who would go along to one of those types of things. Again, she had felt guilty at brushing him off and she only hoped he didn't think she had gone off him...and that he would forgive her deception when he found out at the end of the night.

"Are you ready?" She jumped slightly and turned around to look at Father Timothy who was standing behind her with a smile on his face.

"I think so..." She muttered as she faced him fully, her dress moving about her as she did so. Looking down at herself she straightened the dress nervously before going back to biting her lip. She had no idea how tonight was going to go and she was currently praying to God that she didn't mess up her part. "I haven't played in front of people in years Father...I'm not sure a crowd this size is a good start."

"You will be fine, you just need to have faith and even more importantly, you need to believe in yourself. You know this piece inside and out and I have heard you play it before now flawlessly." He tried to reassure her but she simply shook her head and turned to look at one of the stage hands who had turned up, telling them that the show was supposed to start in a few moments. She gave a small whimper and a slightly panicked look crossed her face before she schooled it back into her usual calm mask. He gave a fatherly pat on her shoulder, "Good luck child." before leaving the stage and making his way into the wings.

Lex took one last peak into the now crowded opera house and again wished she hadn't agreed to do this but since it was way too late to back out now she made her way over to the piano that was set in the center of the stage before sitting down onto the stool. Taking in a deep breath she raised the one hand to make sure her hair was still pulled into the loose bun which allowed small curls of hair to frame her face and once she was satisfied placed her hands on the lid of the keys before opening it up and she looked at the man in the wing before nodding. She was ready despite her hands shaking like there was no tomorrow. She could do this....

The curtain rose and with another deep breath she brought her fingers to the ivory and black keys, not daring to look out at the crowd since she didn't want to know if he had turned up or not since either way it made her over think and worry more than she already was. The whole plan was that he wouldn't recognise her for her until after she had finished this. Apart from it being a charity thing she had wanted to prove to him that she could be respectable and that she was worthy of him...or at least she wanted to point that out to his friends, despite not believing it herself. Her thoughts only took a second and as her fingers touched the keys they began to move effortlessly across them and Debussy's Claire De Lune rang out into the now silent house. Her eyes closed slightly as she allowed the music to wash over her. It had been such a long time since she had played this song but its beauty was still the same and the feelings she had were never going to change nor the memories the music brought her- she remembered her mother being so proud of her talent.

Despite it being quite a long solo it seemed to end very quickly for her and as she lifted her hands off the keys she was stuck by how deafening the silence in the stands was. For a moment or two she panicked that she had played horribly wrong, or that they hated it until suddenly a wave of clapping stopped any thoughts from forming. As she turned her head to Father Timothy as he came out of the wings the look of relief that spread over her face caused him to smile softly at her. "Well done," He commented as he helped her from her stool before leading her towards where a microphone had been set up earlier that day.

"Good evening and welcome to our charity event for the local orphanages," He spoke into the microphone and despite being quite old his voice was very strong and Lex supposed it was because he was more than used to speaking to large crowds of people...where she on the other hand was completely terrified of the prospect. "I would like to thank Miss Sullivan for kicking off the evening." She gave a small bow at the waist and as she straightened up her eyes caught sight of Morrison and her face flushed and she quickly broke the eye contact before she gave a small smile to the man next to her. As she made her way back to the piano he continued to speak. "Now I hope you all enjoy the music provided by our orchestra and during the interval we hope you will donate to the best of your ability whilst mingling with our talented musicians." He gave a small bow himself before moving off to the wings.

As the lights on the stage brightened to show the orchestra that had been sitting in the shadows since the show started Lexi had to take another calming breath as the female singer moved to the microphone. With a slight nod to the conductor she started off, followed by the woman and then the rest of the musicians kicked in to play Silentium's 'Unbroken'- a song that Lexi had also chosen since it seemed to fit her rather well.

Despite most of her mind concentrating on the music a small part of her was dreading the meeting she was going to have with Morrison. She hoped he wasn't going to shout at her for not talking to him for so long....

Dress
Claire De Lune
Unbroken

[Morrison Whelan]

Something was wrong with Lexi. There had to be. Morrison hadn't been able to speak to her properly in at least a week, much less see her. At first he'd told himself that he understood what she was thinking, that they had been spending so much time together that she needed some time to herself. But after a few days, it was starting to worry him, and frustrate him, because he really had become so used to staying with her at night and waking up to her. His sleeping schedule became a little messed up when he would stay up too late one night, sort of hoping that he would hear from the woman or he'd wake up late because he'd gotten so tired the night before. After five days of this, he found it even difficult to concentrate at work, nearly giving his boss a heart attack the few times he had left some rather nasty chemicals sitting open in the lab to just vent into the air. For what felt like the thousandth time, he was kicked out of the lab and just made to do paperwork, though that didn't help his worried and angered brain from thinking.

One lunch break, he'd been going over all of the reasons that Lexi would be so distance with him. One could be that she was finally getting sick of him, that she didn't love him, though that almost seemed ridiculous to him; she was more attached than he was. The alternatives were not any better; in fact they were quite worse. And the worse of those others stuck with him; her life had been threatened. He wasn't exactly sure who it could be by or for what reason, possibly because of bad drug deal, because she had been saved from her last fight, possibly just because some sick bastard thought it would be funny. Whatever it could be, the thought thoroughly enraged the wolf. That had easily translated into violence when one of the waitresses at the cafe he was eating at asked him something and he tossed his plate at her. Luckily, this outburst hadn't landed him in jail and he'd only gotten himself sent home, but it did make him feel like a complete idiot.

Lexi had to be alright, she never sounded upset or fearful when she turned him away, only guilty. Though that still begged the question as to what was going on with her. He was used to being ignored, but not like this, and he was a little distraught by how upset it made him. If he didn’t love this woman, than he wasn’t sure what the hell love felt like. And honestly, love wasn’t much fun at the moment.

It made him feel a slight bit better when he had received a card in the mail, an invitation, and he was sure that asking Lexi along with him to the event, which would help a cause he knew was dear to her, would bring her out of hiding. Unfortunately, she had just told him that she had to work and that he should Jeena along instead. He’d tried to protest, but she was adamant. The next day, he had considered not going to the event, but the fact that it was for a charity made him rethink it. He figured that he would stay long enough to make a decent sized donation before leaving if it didn’t turn out to be any fun, especially if he found himself pondering how much his human might be missing. Just to decrease the possibility of that, he did actually ask Jeena to come along with him and she was surprisingly excited to do so. They hadn’t spoken much lately either, so he figured they would find it the perfect chance to catch up.

So far, the night had proven to be just that. Morrison had picked the human up at her house, which he had seen very little of for as long as he’d known her, and they spent the first few minutes complimenting each other on how nice they had cleaned up. The wolf was actually impressed with how Jeena looked, since he’d never even seen her near a dress. It was a nice change, though it wasn’t change enough to distract him from the fact that it wasn’t Lexi he was seeing in a nice dress. He just had to decide that he was going to take his human on the most romantic date he could think of, that was if the two of them ever started talking again.

Jeena, of course, noticed that he was acting off and she did a very good job at distracting him from his thoughts, telling him about the many idiots they got into the hospital, commenting on the grandeur of the opera house, and whatever else seemed to pop into her mind. By the time the two of them were seated, as far towards the front as they could manage, which turned out to be halfway, Morrison had all but forgotten about having to worry about Lexi and he was excited for the performance to begin. Really, he had never been a huge fan of classical music, which he was sure was what they were going to be treated to, but at least he could appreciate it. And, he knew that he’d never tell anyone this, but it mostly it just made him feel classy.

Having been whispering to Jeena about Iivan, in a jovial way not the serious sort of mutterings there usually was, Morrison cut off briskly when the curtains began to open, curious how they would open the show. A single blonde woman sat at a piano and began to play. He recognized the tune faintly, it was probably on a cd his mother’d used to play, or perhaps he’d learnt it in school. Whatever it was, he let himself relax and listen to the sweet sound of the piano. By the end of the song, he was staring at the back of the chair in front of him, smiling happily, then snapping out of it when the clapping started so that he could join in.

"Good evening and welcome to our charity event for the local orphanages,"

At first, Morrison hadn’t thought much of the man that moved up to the microphone, guiding the woman who had just played beside him, but then he spoke and the voice was unmistakable. Father Timothy, and he was sounding as well as ever. The wolf was very glad to see that he was doing so well and made a mental note to find him during the intermission to talk to him. "I would like to thank Miss Sullivan for kicking off the evening." The rest of whatever Timothy was saying was lost on Morrison's ears. That blonde woman up there, the one that had just played the piano so beautifully and perfectly, that was his Lexi. A wide grin spread over his face at this realization and he turned to look at Jeena who was looking back at him with an amused smile and a look of surprise in her eyes.

"Your girlfriend's amazing," she whispered, reaching over and nudging his elbow. "Yah," he sighed, expression fading a little, but not disappearing. Though he was a bit anxious to speak to Lexi right then, he could much easier enjoy the show knowing that she was right there and that this had to be the reason that she had been so distant from him. While she had caused him too much worry lately, he supposed that he could forgive her; she was just trying to surprise him and she'd certainly accomplished that.

Relaxing back against his seat once more, the wolf clasped his hands on his lap and watched the orchestra play. Well, he tried to at least, since his eyes kept drifting over to Lexi where she continued to press the keys of the piano. Eventually, he gave up actually watching the entire stage and settled for staring at his human, wishing that he'd sat closer so that could see and hear her better. That wasn’t to say the seat he had now was inadequate, in fact, any seat in the room would have been exceptional if he was allowed to hear Lexi play. He hadn’t even been aware until now that she even knew how to handle a musical instrument let alone be so skillful at it. He hoped she had more of these pleasant surprises for him.

[Lexine Sullivan]

Lexi had been dreading doing this event all week but now that she had sat and gotten through her solo she found herself calming down and dare she admit it? Enjoying herself? If only a little anyway, since she never really enjoyed being in front of so many people with her arms on full show as they were (despite the fact she was sit too far away from most people for them to see). Although despite the fact she was a lot more comfortable now the initial stage fright had passed over she had never been so glad to get away from everyone in her life...

The curtain had fell after a good few songs and she was on her feet before many of the others had even began to move from their own seats and she rushed past Father Timothy with barely a glimpse at him as she made her way to where all the bags and things had been stored for the musicians- where she promptly snatched up her purse and grabbed her packet of cigarettes. She had lit one up by the time the priest had come after her and he watched half in amusement, half disapproval as she leaned against the table in the dressing room. Oh that was just what she needed! She had been so good lately, not having a fag when she craved it but tonight was one of those times she just needed the stress relief.

"You did well," She turned her head slightly to the side so she could give a grimace of a smile before she raised the cancer stick to her mouth, coughing ever so slightly as she did so...although she forced it down before it turned into a full blown cough since tonight was not a good time to be coughing up blood or whatever...she couldn't afford to be sick right now!

"If you say so,"

"Did he come?" He got his answer as her face flushed and she turned her head away from him completely as she tried to hide it. It had been bad enough the man had thought they had been together that time at the church but it was even worse that she was now admitting that despite everything he had been right about Morrison and herself. "Come child, lets go and meet your fans." He didn't even give her a choice as he took her head and she only had enough time to put the cigarette out before she was dragged to meet the crowd of people who had trooped out of the main seating area and to the huge bar that took up a good portion of the floor above.

It was here that Lex started to really cringe away from people, although she was glad that she could stay close to Bert and Timothy. Bert had been up in one of the stands for the performance since he had insisted on coming along for the night as he 'was not going to miss out on the biggest night of your life' to quote him. Damn old man. He had been annoying her all week thanks to this event and she hadn't been able to go five minutes without him telling her that he was oh so proud of her for doing something good for once. She didn't have the heart to tell him that she had been giving large donations to this charity for over a year...besides, she didn't want to burst his bubble. Let him believe what he wanted.

She smiled politely to a rather large and heavy set woman as said woman proclaimed her admiration for Lexi's talent. She wished these people would just shut up and leave her alone... She wasn't so lucky of course as the woman was replaced by an older couple and then they were followed by male after male who told her they liked her playing although the way they looked at her told her they were interested in only one thing. One or two of the glances she had been given during these little conversations were filled with disgust or horror as they laid their eyes on her scars and it wasn't long before she was rubbing her hands up and down her arms nervously.

She felt closed in and her eyes moved about the room, nearly desperately searching for some sort of exit from the people about her. Where was Morrison? Shouldn't he be here somewhere? Her eyes began looking for the Irish wolf instead of an escape route, almost praying that he would appear out of nowhere although she couldn't help the fear that he had left take over her. What if he had hated it? She had been avoiding him all week! He might have decided to just go home and since she hadn't actually looked back into the audience when she had been playing as she had been too afraid of missing a key had she done so, so she would never have noticed if he had gone...

She hoped not. She hoped he wasn't going to be too angry with her for ignoring him for so long...she was angry enough at herself! She missed him and that was a feeling she had never really thought she would ever have to feel- she had always been so used to relying on herself that it never occurred to her that she would feel terrible the moment she didn't see someone she cared about for more than a day. She silently promised herself that if he hadn't left her she would never go for so long without talking to him properly....if she had her way she might just stay with him every night and not have that to worry about.

[Morrison Whelan]

When the orchestra (and Lexi) had finished their set of songs, Morrison liked to think that he applauded the loudest. He would have cheered as well, but he thought that would be a bit more than rude in this situation, being among such polite company. Still, he cheered for his human on the inside. She was so brave for performing in front of everyone like that. He knew how self conscious she was about her appearance and she was really showing so much in that dress, even though nobody could see her scars from afar. And he'd never have thought she'd be comfortable being the center of attention in front of all of these people! It was really very amazing and as he hated not knowing what had been going on with her the previous week, he was glad for the surprise.

With the music finished for the intermission, the wolf and Jeena both got to their feet to head out to the lobby area. "At least you know what Lexine was up to," the woman smiled up to him, hurrying a little to keep up to him while she was wearing heels. "Yes," he agreed, smiling and reaching down to smooth out his tuxedo jacket. "I do wish she had talked to me more, but I'm so glad she didn't tell me about all of this." His smile widened a little and he looked around as they walked out into the hall where most of the people were gathering.

"I'm glad you brought me along," Jeena said, lifting up her purse to pull out her checkbook. "it's a great change from worrying about getting back to the clinic." The wolf turned his head to look at her and grinned. "It's no trouble, Lexi said it would have been a good idea for me to ask you to this." He chuckled softly at the look that this earned him. "Not that I wouldn't have asked you to come with my anyway." Jeena gave him another nasty little look before her expression broke and she smiled at him. "I know you'd prefer it if I had been Lexi," she said, no hint of resentment in her voice, "this seems like something that's supposed to be romantic."

Morrison glanced down, nodding softly, and reached inside of his jacket for his own checkbook now that they were approaching the table where they were accepting donations. "This is still fun," he said, looking up to the human and softly nudging his elbow into her shoulder, "you're a great friend." Jeena waved a hand in a dismissive gesture, but she was grinning nonetheless.

Finally at the table, the wolf grabbed up a pen and wrote out a check, hiding it from Jeena so that she wouldn't see how much he was putting down, since she'd think he was being a bit ridiculous. But dammit, he had the money to spend, this was for a good cause, and if Lexi supported it strongly, than so should he and the best way to do that was with money. After ripping the check free of the other blank ones, he handed it over to one of the woman who was safe-keeping the checks and money that people were bringing over. She took a glance at the slip of paper, started to put it away, then brought it back up to look at the number he'd written there. She asked him politely if this was correct amount and he replied that it was. A shocked look settled over her face before she shook herself and put the check away, thanking him with a sort of confused smile on her lips.

Jeena then handed over her own check, which clearly was not written for as much as Morrison's had been since the woman didn't look twice at it, then followed after the wolf as he moved back into the crowd. "How much did you give them?" the woman asked when they were a ways from the table. "All I can tell you," the wolf said with a smile, "was that it had four zeroes." She shook her a head a little bit and sighed. "I suppose the first number was larger than five, wasn't it?" Morrison merely shrugged, almost smirking down at her, then turned his head to start scanning for Lexi.

"You're too nice sometimes," Jeena muttered. The man wasn't listening anymore however, he was too anxious to find his human now. She had to be around here somewhere, it was just a matter of finding her, and that would have been a lot easier had she kept her hair that bright pink. Honestly, he'd never loved the color, but he had come to appreciate it and it made her very easy to spot from a distance, though the new color might be an improvement. But it meant that he'd have to rely on his nose and the color of her dress to be able to find her. After a few minutes of searching, Jeena even joining in looking when she realized what he was doing, Morrison finally spotted what he was sure had to be Lexi.

When he got closer to the girl, he was disappointed to find that it wasn't, in fact, the right blonde with a gold gown on. She wasn't even human. Sighing, he looked down to his friend, asking if she had possibly seen anyone that resembled his girlfriend. "There?" she said, a bit unsure, pointing to the back of a blonde woman's head. "Maybe," the wolf sighed, hoping this was actually her. This time, as he walked up behind the female, a very familiar scent came to him and he had to hold back a ridiculous grin.

For a moment, Morrison stopped in place, straightening his tux out and tempering his expression to a small smile, before continuing up behind the woman. He knew once he did this, he wouldn't be able to keep from grinning like an idiot but it would be fun to see Lexi's reaction before his demeanor broke. "Miss Sullivan?" he said in a properly curious voice, reaching out and softly tapping her shoulder.

[Lexine Sullivan]

Lexi was totally aware of Morrison and Jeena entering the large function room as she had been too busy talking to one or two of the younger children who had been mingling about the room, introducing themselves as some of the orphans from the nearest children's home. As Lexi was from the area she knew many of the homes well enough and the children even more so. although they tended to change quite often so she was always meeting new faces. It was as she was bending over slightly talking to the pair that Timothy first noticed the couple that were walking about looking a little lost and he couldn't help the small smile that passed over his face before he to looked at the children before shooing them off. "Why don't you go get us some drinks?" He suggested gently and the two gave excited nods before trotting off.

Lexi looked at him in confusion but he waved it off. "I think they wanted to mingle a little more," He commented, and despite being a priest lied his pants off- he just didn't want the girl knowing that her 'male friend' was looking for her as it would be rather amusing to see the look on her face to know that Morrison had in fact stayed for the show...he was well aware that the girl had thought her boyfriend wouldn't stay long enough for the interval.

"Sure," She gave a small shrug and straightened herself back up properly just in time to take another compliment from yet another stranger. Why did these people keep coming up to her? There were others who had been on the bloody stage! Not that she minded people here since she had (been forcibly) volunteered for the thing but she hated people invading her space like this and the fact they wouldn't leave her alone was enough to make her want her Sai desperately so she could hurt someone.

Breathe. There was no reason to be violent....she was just a little stressed from being away from Morrison all week, not having a good nights sleep thanks to the nightmares and not to mention having practiced her ass of for such long hours.

Bert was the next to see the wolf and his reasons not to tell his ward about her boyfriend's approach were completely selfish since he didn't really approve of the match and didn't want to draw Lexi's attention away from the small group the three of them made. Had Lex known this of course she would have punched him in the jaw, called him an arse hole and then not speak to him again for days. Good thing she didn't know!

Lexi herself had been keeping an eye out for the kids when a tap on her shoulder drew her attention and her eyes widened slightly as a very familiar Irish accented voice cut through the sounds of the room. "Miss Sullivan?" She whirled about to look at her boyfriend, eyes still wide and her mouth slightly agape in surprise. She hadn't thought he would stay! She had been so worried that he hated her and yet he was here! She had to stop herself from throwing herself at the man, instead opting to let out a, "Morrison!" in a slightly gasping voice since she couldn't stop herself voicing the surprise she felt.

She forced her face to school into a slightly less panicked one and her hands moved to either arm so she could rub at them- a classic sign she was more than a little stressed and worried about what was going to be said- and turned to the woman beside the male and she forced a small and polite smile to flit over her face. "Jeena." This was a lot more reserved than the greeting she had given the wolf but no one could accuse her of being rude...hell, she was being downright nice to the woman she couldn't really stand (despite not actually get to know her) and besides, she had told Morrison to bring her along so it was her own fault and as such she would be the picture of polite society.

"I...uh..." Her face flushed as she tried to think of something to say now that he was here. What did one say to someone you had been avoiding like the plague for so long? She still felt incredibly guilty about the whole thing, despite wanting it to be a surprise for the man but she wasn't sure how well he would take it since they hadn't really been together long enough for her to judge on such things accurately.

Timothy meanwhile stepped forward and offered his hand out to the male, "Ah Mr Whelan...so glad you could make it." He shook hands solidly for a moment before switching to Jeena. "A pleasure to meet you young lady my name is Father Timothy." He introduced himself although he was secretly wondering if he would perhaps live long enough to see Lex settle down with a family of her own- afterall, he had seen her brought into the world. He of course didn't dare say a word since he knew Lex would not approve of such things.

Bert himself gave only a glaring nod at Morrison before offering his own hand to the doctor. "A pleasure to see you again and under better circumstances." He threw a dark look at Morrison as he said so and Lex cringed to herself. How embarrassing.

[Morrison Whelan]

"Morrison!"

The wolf grinned down at her, glad to have surprised her, and began to lift his hands slightly, ready to welcome her into his arms. But, she stayed standing in place, just staring at him. A little put off by this, but not showing it, he left his hands fall back at his sides and stared back at the woman for a moment, his grin fading to a soft smile. He supposed that she was trying to keep herself reserved around all of these people and especially when she had Bert standing at her hip, yet still, he hadn't seen her in so long that he'd expected to at least get a hug. Clearly, he wasn't mad at her, not at the moment, and not receiving any of her affection was only making him a little disappointed. And it didn't help that she started t rub at her arms in anxiety, since it made him want to hold her even more. Though, he supposed he'd have to wait until they were away from this crowd.

Lexi was not letting whatever worry she had get to her at the moment though. "Jeena." The doctor dipped her head slightly and smiled, putting whatever sort of resentment she held pushed far, far back in her mind. "Hello Lexi," she said kindly. She'd stopped referring to her as Lexine, even around Morrison since he'd told her that the other woman wasn't too keen on being called by that name. Though she still wasn't on the best terms with Lexi, she would be nice for the wolf's sake, both of them would be.

"I...uh..." Oh, Lexi! She looked so nervous. Morrison wished he could have dragged her outside right then to talk to her, but the two men standing beside her thought that introductions and greetings were required.

The wolf felt that his smile had dropped a little as he'd gazed at his human, but he pulled it back up when Father Timothy approached him with his hand outstretched. "Ah Mr Whelan...so glad you could make it." Grabbing up the old human's hand to shake it, Morrison said, "I wouldn't have missed it, Father." With a slight glance at his girlfriend, he thought that he most certainly wouldn't have missed had he known that she was going to perform.

Timothy now looked to Jeena and also shook her hand. "A pleasure to meet you young lady my name is Father Timothy." The woman returned his smile. "It's wonderful to meet you," she said, "I'm Jeena Hughs." She left it at that, since she wasn't much for small talk and she was sure that Morrison would like to get these pleasantries out of the; he couldn't hide that he was at least slightly worried by Lexi's behavior. And the sooner this was over, the sooner the wolf could get away from Bert.

The OldMan merely nodded to the man, a much better greeting than he usually gave, before turning to Jeena and greeting her properly. "A pleasure to see you again and under better circumstances." The two humans shook hands and smiled, but all she could think of to say was, "Of course." as politely as she could. What else was one supposed to say when faced with memories of the most awkward situation? It would have only been worse had Iivan come along with them, but thankfully, the wolf had had other plans for the night, serious plans in fact. Otherwise, Jeena had suggested that Morrison drag the other wolf along, but now they were both very glad that that hadn't happened.

With everyone introduced and with the greetings over, Morrison was once again completely focused on his human. He hadn't even touched her in a week and all he wanted to do right now was kiss her. Goddamit, why couldn't she see that he was just happy to see her? He supposed he'd have to show her then. Ignoring that Bert would still be glaring at him, the wolf took a step toward Lexi then took a hold of her hand, pulling her over to him. He smiled down at her for a moment or two before leaning down to kiss her cheek softly, sure that if he kissed her lips, he'd get carried away. "You look beautiful," he whispered as he slowly pulled away to stand straight again. And he really, really meant that this time, much more than usual. Her hair was stunning actually and now he noticed that she'd kept the faintest of pink streaks in it. And the dress she had on… He would have never guessed that she could have ever thought to wear something so elegant! If he'd had her in the bedroom, he wouldn't have wanted her to take it off.

After squeezing the woman's hand, he let it go then curled his arm around her hips, turning her so that he could hold her against his side. "I know you've probably heard this a lot already," Morrison said, turning his head to look down at Lexi, "but you played that piano wonderfully. I think I would have enjoyed the songs more had it just been you." He leaned down once more to peck the top of the human's head. He was proud of her now, he could be frustrated with her later, but right now, he was giving only support. Looking up to the others again, his eyes darted away from Bert, not wanting to see the nasty glare he was surely giving him, but instead turned his eyes from Father Timothy to Jeena, who was smiling softly, glad that he had his human back... not that she knew he called her that.

[Lexine Sullivan]

Lex just knew she was going to be told off again at some point in the near future although whether it was due to her avoiding him for the last week or because she hadn't greeted him properly now was yet to be seen...although she wasn't sure how he was going to react and she was more than a little afraid he would reject her.

At least, she was right up to his words to her. "You look beautiful," A faint blush dusted over her nose and cheeks as she accepted the compliment silently and not replying with her usual 'am not' retort that she had been giving him every time he had previously said it to her- she figured she would let him get away with it just this once since she had been the cause of so much trouble recently. As his lips touched her cheek she had to stop herself from flinging herself onto him and having her wicked away with him since she doubted either of them had thought to bring any sort of protection with them (her because she hadn't planned on it and him because...well, she wasn't meant to be here).

She was more than glad when he took her hand before spinning her to his side, his arm wrapping around her and keeping her firmly where she was. She missed this and was more than glad that he had moved first since she had been more than afraid about several different things. "I know you've probably heard this a lot already,but you played that piano wonderfully. I think I would have enjoyed the songs more had it just been you." Her flush deepened and she turned her head slightly to the side in a not very successful attempt at trying to hide it.

It was as the two children from before were coming back with a tray of drinks between them that she finally muttered her excuses to the rest of them, before dragging Morrison off to an area that was a little more private than the middle of the larger room they had just been in.

Keeping a hold of his hand she looked at him for a moment or two before letting go, only to move closer to him so she could wrap her arms around his waist, clinging tightly to him and not really wanting to let go- she had been away from him for a week She wanted to drag him onto the nearest cupboard for heavens sake! Although that was not the kind of behavior to have in a place like this...and the protection issue was there as well (although frankly right now she couldn't care less about that part of things). "I missed you," She mumbled into his jacket before pulling back and leaning up slightly pressed her lips firmly against his own.

She refused to move for a good moment or two, moving the kiss from a firm one to a much softer touch as she finished and as she pulled away her eyes were alight with desire, lust and relief. She was so happy to have him with her again that for a moment she even questioned herself...she had never felt the need to be by someone so much as when she was with him and that alone was scary for her but she figured it was just something that happened when you were head over heels in love with someone. Despite that someone being a something she had sworn to hate for the rest of her life...funny how things turned out in the end huh?

"I'm sorry I haven't spoken to you all week," Her words were a little rushed as if she was afraid he wouldn't finish listening to her or something. She wanted to get this out of the way because the guilt was eating her alive and she hated it. "I just wanted to surprise you...and show you I could be...," At this her eyes turned away from him a slightly ashamed look coming into them. "I wanted to show you that I could be the kind of woman you deserved and I've spent every spare moment practicing because I thought I wouldn't be able to play anymore..." She hadn't played in so long she had practiced hour upon hour, all to impress the man before her. She wasn't sure if it had worked but he was here and that was all tat mattered.

She just hoped that it would be enough. She was a lot different to the girl he had first met and she didn't know if he wanted her to be the woman she was turning into...afterall, he must have fallen in love with the not so decent her, so how would he take to someone trying to turn their life around? Oh she would never be completely fixed but it would get to the point where she was comfortable with living her life without the evil thoughts of taking her life or losing to whatever sickness she had (although right now she still had those particular thoughts quite often). And being here tonight, around all these people she was reminded of the life she had missed out on thanks to her brother...and being around the children for so long this week she was more than reminded on what she was missing out on as a woman.

Would things have been different for her right now if she had been in a normal family? Would she be meeting the man before her in different circumstances? Would she have been married with children? The thoughts plagued her but she tried to keep them well hidden since she didn't want him to know what she tended to think about. Hell, she didn't like thinking about these things let alone him!

[Morrison Whelan]

For once, Morrison was glad to get away with calling Lexi beautiful without having her tell him that she wasn't. Especially with how she looked tonight, with her new hair color and her amazing dress, she looked like a goddess to him. Even more so since he hadn't seen any of her in a week. Though, he would have let her get away with her disagreeing with his comments since she was letting him hold her, despite being more than a little nervous (he could feel the quickness of her heart beat and the abnormal warmth of her body as she pressed against him). Her touch was something that he had dearly missed and he'd sooner her hold her hands for the rest of the night than so much as say 'Hello."

He was very happy then that he was able to do both. And apparently his words were flustering her quite a bit as her face flushed deep red at his comment about her playing. He loved seeing her cheeks all rosy and it seemed to him that it was even more noticeable now that her hair was mostly blonde. Ah, he couldn't wait for them to be alone so he could make her blush like mad.

Morrison was thinking they'd be quite a bit more alone than they would be standing outside of the crowd, but he would prefer that over feeling awkward with Timothy, Jeena, and Bert standing around them. So, he was very willing to follow after Lexi when she pulled on his hand and guided him through the crowd to the edge of the room. When they stopped, he gazed back down at her, smiling softly, wondering if she had anything to say. Though it didn't seem she had really much to say at that moment, which was okay as she wrapped her arms tightly about his waist. He waited for a second before his own arms made their way around her chest, pulling her in tightly and sighing at the relief he felt from holding her properly for the first time in what felt like ages.

"I missed you,"

At those words, the wolf held the woman even tighter. "I missed you too," he told her, though he barely got this out before her lips were to his. It was suddenly very hard for Morrison to remember where they were at the moment and his hands clutched at the fabric of her dress. He didn't want to think about socializing, or of charities, of polite society, even of music anymore, he just wanted his Lexi as close as possible. The rest of the world could fucking wait.

Only, it couldn't. His ears had tuned out for the time that they had been kissing, but now the sound of everyone talking around them hit him and the fingers that were curled into the fabric of her dress relaxed. It was time to stay cool, collected, and leave the passion for later. Anyways, they had time to talk right now, so why wouldn't they take it? They desperately needed to, to alleviate Morrison's fears and the get rid of Lexi's guilt.

"I'm sorry I haven't spoken to you all week, I just wanted to surprise you...and show you I could be..."

The wolf looked down at her as she averted her eyes, giving her a slightly concerned expression. "Lexi..." he started, but she kept on speaking, determined to get everything out.

"I wanted to show you that I could be the kind of woman you deserved and I've spent every spare moment practicing because I thought I wouldn't be able to play anymore..."

Lifting a hand to the back of the human's head, he curled his fingers into her golden hair and tilted her head softly so that her eyes were more visible. "Lexi," he repeated, sighing, "of course I deserve you, you're… You're amazing." The wolf took a deep breath, pulling her strands of hair tight around his fingers. "Just don't ever, ever do that again." Although he tried to say this as gently as possible, it came out a little harsh, yet at least it wasn't angry. "It drove me insane not knowing what was happening with you, I thought you were trouble, but I couldn't do a thing to help you." Again, the wolf sighed, shutting his eyes for a moment and pressing his forehead to hers, keeping her head in place. She meant so much more to him than she realized, probably more than he realized himself, and there would always be that conflict of worry and anger towards her. She did some very stupid shit that he had no control over and he only lashed out at her when she did those things because he got so scared, and he hated that feeling.

Lifting his head up, Morrison looked down to Lexi's eyes, dropping his hand from her hair to wrap that arm about her waist. "I love you," he said quietly, and leaving it at that. That was really all that mattered he supposed, that he could still say those words and be sincere in them.

[Lexine Sullivan]

Words couldn't describe how glad she was to finally be back with the man and his words both comforted her fears yet did nothing to quell her guilt.

"of course I deserve you, You're amazing." She completely disagreed with him of course but she said nothing as she didn't really want an argument over it (and the last argument they had had was still very fresh in her mind). Instead she opted for a faint blush since she still couldn't take the compliments he gave her so freely without doing so- a lifetime of neglect did that to people, especially herself.

"Just don't ever, ever do that again. It drove me insane not knowing what was happening with you, I thought you were trouble, but I couldn't do a thing to help you."

His fingers were a little too tight in her hair but she made no complaint since coming from him it was something of a turn on (not that she would admit it) and besides, she had felt more pain from others that it didn't really faze her as much as it possibly should have. His words were harsh but again, it was no more than she deserved after causing him so much worry and she had enough grace to flinch slightly as he spoke. She should have just told him! Why had she thought it would have been a good surprise? She had obviously lost her mind somewhere along the years to believe that she would be able to get away with it...bugger it.

"I love you,"

His arm was around her waist again and she tucked herself tightly into him, craving the touch he provided and really really wishing they were anywhere but here simply because she was more than a little frustrated (in every sense). She wanted to steal him away and not let anyone else have him for a good few days although that was completely impossible of course since they both had jobs to get on with. She could live with a solid twenty four hours with him though...

"I love you to," She moved again so she could kiss him softly, her eyes closing slightly as she did so and as she pulled away she raised her hands to caress his cheek for a moment. "I'm sorry, I won't do it again." She paused for a moment. "On purpose anyway." After all, she couldn't predict what would happen in the future and anything could happen- but she could easily promise not to go out of her way to make him worry since she couldn't go back to the cages anymore and she hadn't really had anything to drink alcohol wise since that night they had fallen into bed the first time and she most certainly had had no need for drugs since being with him since he was positively addictive himself!

"Lexi! Lexi!" She pulled away from Morrison slightly and looked over to where her name was being called by the two children from earlier and as they approached she broke from the man completely in order to catch the youngest of the two- a five year old girl who was well past her bed time (but given special permission to stay up for the night...until she fell asleep anyway).

"What is it?" Lex hoisted the girl up so the child was settle onto her hip and the boy who was eight looked up at her,

"Father says you need to go back soon," The boy spoke and the girl nodded her head vigorously as she tried to stick her thumb in her mouth although Lex stopped her from doing so since the young one needed to learn not to keep doing that since she was getting older.

"Oh," Lex looked from the kids to Morrison before sighing and nodding. "Alright." Still holding onto the child she looked at Morrison with an apologetic look on her face. "I guess the intermission is nearly done, I need to go." Around them several others were already making their way out of the room and heading back to the dressing rooms before making their way to their seats on the stage for the second part of the evening- thankfully it also meant that the show was now half done and it wouldn't be long before she would get her boyfriend all to herself for the night (hopefully).

As she leaned in to kiss him on the lips both children came out with 'ew!'. Lex smiled into the kiss and as she pulled away she tapped the girl on the nose playfully. "Now that's not nice...I think we better get you back to your seats hm?" She looked to Morrison, "I'll see you after?" She asked before she was half tugged away from him by the lad. "Alright! Alright!"

With a laugh she allowed herself to be dragged away, her hand clasping the boy's as he led her back through the crowd, and the young girl had wrapped her arms around Lexi's neck so she could look back at the large man Lexi hadn't been with and gave a small wave before she couldn't see him anyway.

[Morrison Whelan]

Holding Lexi’s petite frame to himself was so satisfying, the Morrison wasn’t sure how he would ever be able to let her go. And it was worse that he had the feeling of her silky dress under his fingers, making him wish he could curl his hands around the fabric and pull it from her body. He kept having to remind himself that this could happen later, later, later. There only had to be a few hours left of the concert, couldn’t there? Then the two of them could leave as soon as was possible.

"I love you too,"

Morrison smiled lightly as her lips pressed against his then let his chin dip as she pulled away and her hands came up to his cheeks. She had such soft hands, if they weren’t at his face at the moment, he’d have them at his lips.

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again. ...On purpose anyway."

The wolf didn’t like the sound of that last part, but it was the most he could ask of her. Honestly, it was the most she would be able to ask of him either. Both of them could easily disappear for extended periods of time, which really did worry him, but it couldn’t be helped some times, especially if one of them was stuck out of town. He needed to get Lexi a cell phone, just so that she was always easy to contact. Until then, he’d keep her at his side for as long as he could.

"Lexi! Lexi!"

Slightly surprised to hear a child’s voice cut through his thoughts, Morrison loosened his grip on Lexi so that she didn’t have to struggle to pull away from him and looked the way that she did. A little boy and an even younger girl were scampering over to them. The man was a bit disappointed that Lexine completely moved away from him to catch the girl that ran into her arms, but he couldn’t do anything with the children around and he had to admit that they were pretty cute. Though that didn’t mean that he could be nearly as affectionate to the kids his human was, he was decidedly awkward in the situation, standing in place and smiling as he glanced between the little girl and boy at Lexi’s feet. Children were wonderful, really, but he couldn’t completely enjoy them when every time he saw one it reminded him of his son, who was still out there, somewhere, looking to cut his throat open.

It was even less helpful that these two were here to tell Lexine that she had to leave so that she could perform in the second half. Morrison gave the human a sad sort of look, but she wasn’t looking at him and didn’t see it. When she turned her eyes to him the next second, she looked to him apologetically. "I guess the intermission is nearly done, I need to go."

The wolf nodded softly, but didn’t say anything. He wanted to suggest that she just leave with him right then and that was an absolutely rubbish idea. She had to finish playing and he wanted to see her play more, yet he didn’t want to let her go. Just a few more hours he reminded himself. He was glad that she at least kissed him, though it was cut short when the kids whined in playful disgust. He couldn’t help but smile at this, feeling Lexi do the same, and shook his head softly in amusement at the girl in the woman’s arms.

"I'll see you after?"

Morrison smiled to her and sighed. “Right after,” he muttered, watching her be dragged off by the little boy. The little girl in Lexi’s arms was now waving back at him and he slowly lifted a hand to wave back, then dropped it quickly when the three of them were obscured by the crowd, feeling a little silly. Sighing and wringing his hands together in slight frustration, the wolf began to make his way back to the auditorium, sure that Jeena would be waiting for him there. On the way, he passed by Bert, almost hitting his elbow, yet he was able to hurry around him so that he wouldn’t be caught in the presence of the Old Man without Lexi there to mediate.

He was then easily able to get back to his seat and settled beside Jeena, who had probably been there a few minutes already as she kept casting dirty glances at people that had to scoot past them to get to their seat. “How is Lexi?” the doctor asked as everyone began to settle down and get quiet. “She’s fine,” he mumbled, sitting back and relaxing. “I’m really glad she is.” Jeena smiled over at him, though she refused to say anything because the curtains were already opening.

[Lexine Sullivan]

Lexi had quickly sent the children on their way with one of the many helpers (although there really weren't that many if you thought about how many children there actually were in these homes) and once she had done so had made her way back to the backstage where she promptly did what she had do to- making sure that her hair was in place and that she wouldn't need to go to the bathroom anytime soon (well, you never knew) before she met Father Timothy at the edge of the stage.

"Do you feel better now?" He asked her and she gave him a glowing smile and nodded.

"Yes...I didn't want to come back." She admitted. "But I promised." He gave a small laugh since it had been something he had thought she would say- he hadn't honestly expected her to continue with the concert but he was glad she had decided to do so, it showed him that she was starting to grow up a little and perhaps put her past behind her. Morrison seemed a good enough chap and maybe she would tell him what had happened that night she had found her family- she hadn't told anyone else.

The call of 'two minutes!' was given and she gave a small exclamation of surprise before she hurried back onto the stage, nearly skidding past the piano as she did so and she only just set herself back down into her seat and made herself presentable again before the curtain was on its way up and the audience was visible.

Calm down and play she told herself. She couldn't mess up now! She had already had a good start to the evening and Morrison still love her and things were good. She could do this and impress him and once it was over she could have him all to herself like both of them wanted. She couldn't wait! Her fingers moved across the keys once again as she started the orchestra into the first song of the second half and her eyes drifted closed as she allowed the music to wash over her. She could think about other things later...for now she would play.

-------------

A few hours later and the curtain was dropped to the sound of thunderous applause and Lex pulled away from the piano and stretched out and made her way back to the priest. "How did we do?" She asked somewhat breathlessly, coughing slightly as she did so- although there was no metallic tang in her mouth this time- as she looked at him.

"We raised a good deal...in fact your friend gave quite the substantial amount."

"He did?" She looked at him in surprise before grinning, "I need to go..." She leaned in, gave him a quick peck on the cheek and was gone before he could say anything else. Father Timothy just shook his head in amusement and let her go.

Lex made her way through to the changing room so she could grab her purse, making her way around people as they filtered out of the seating area. Where was he? She stopped and looked around for the tall wolf, biting her lip and rubbing at her arm slightly as she did so. She wanted Morrison and nothing was going to stop her! Not even the few people who were coming up to her to try and tell her that she was positively wonderful at the piano and could they hire her for private concerts? She (politely) brushed them off and as her eyes finally fell onto the one person she wanted to see a smile broke onto her face and she was soon nearly running towards him.

"Morrison!" Completely ignoring Jeena and the world around them for a moment or two, she launched herself into his body and was reaching up for a fierce kiss before she even realised how she was acting. Her hands moved to curl into his hair as she kissed him and as she pulled away she tucked her head to the side of his so she could press her lips to his ear before breathing. "I want you now." As she pulled away she finally noticed Jeena and had the good grace to blush lightly.

"Sorry," She aplogised to the woman but not to Morrison...she stood well by what she had said to her boyfriend. She turned her head back to Morrison and raised her eyebrow as if to say 'what are you waiting for?!'

[Morrison Whelan]

Honestly, Morrison did not enjoy the second half as much as he had the first. This wasn't at all because the music was any worse, in fact if he had been able to pay complete attention, he would have said it was better. No, it was because he was anxious about getting Lexi back with him and he got all fidgety after an hour or so sitting in one spot. Jeena tried getting him to calm down, telling him to just close his eyes so he wouldn't see his girlfriend anymore so that he could only listen to the music. Yet that didn't really help as he could still hear the piano playing and that reminded him that Lexi was on stage, which reminded him that she wasn't at his side at the moment, which reminded him the he would have to actually wait to be with her again. Love and separation were really fucking with his mind and he didn't appreciate it one bit. Not that he could do a thing about it.

Eventually, he was able to calm himself down by opting with staring at Lexi the entire time she played, just to reassure his love-drunk brain that she was still there and that she would still be there the second after, and the one after that until the performance was over. This turned out to be a very good strategy as he was able to sit through the rest of the songs silently and completely still. Jeena didn't even have to worry about him shifting around and constantly hitting his elbows into her side, since she really was enjoying the music.

It seemed like it took forever, but the music finally ceased and it was over. Morrison lifted his hands and clapped so loud that his hands ended up all sore and red, though this earned him a look then a chuckle from Jeena when he stopped. He then had to wait for the curtains to close and for everyone around them to start getting to his feet before struggling his way to the side aisle, dragging the human along with him. She tried to protest, saying that Lexi wasn't going to leave without him, but he didn't listen and kept yanking on her arm to make her move faster. Everyone they had to move past did not appreciate Morrison's roughness, but they didn't say anything, they only glared at him.

At least the wolf only found himself waiting a minute or two before he heard the most wonderful thing in the world. "Morrison!" He grinned as his eyes landed on her and turned, opening his arms, so that he could pull her into a hug. Though she was approaching him faster than he'd thought and for a brief second he lost his breath, her body having collided a bit too hard with his ribs. However, she made up for that by pulling him into a rather wanton kiss that surprised him enough to render him immobile for a moment before he relaxed into her hold and was able to kiss her back until she pulled away. He gladly held her tighter as she pressed her cheek to the side of his. "I want you now."

Morrison had to bite his tongue after she said this to keep from growling at her and it was even harder to not scoop her off of her feet to run her to one of the rooms behind the stage. He was doing a fantastic job controlling himself, really. Taking a deep breath, he looked to Jeena with a smile, not hearing Lexi's apology to her, then sighed. "I'll see you soon," he told the doctor. The woman nodded softly, smiling. "See you."

The wolf shot her a slight grin and then took a hold of his human's hand so that he could drag her through the crowd. They had to get to his apartment as soon as possible since it was torture having to wait for Lexi as it was. Dammit, why had she said that to him then? She should have waited at least until they were halfway home. Now all he could think about was sex and he was not a very good distracted driver.

When they finally got out of the building, which took a few minutes thanks to everyone trying to speak to Lexine, Morrison wasted little time in getting the two of them to his car, walking as fast as he could through the parking lot and making the woman jog slightly to keep up. At the car, he dragged the human into his arms to kiss her briefly, only to make himself stop after a second so that he could let her go and usher her to the passenger side of the vehicle. He then dropped behind the wheel and waited only a moment for the woman to get settled in her seat before immediately turning to engine on and backing out of his spot. Most people were still inside so that they could talk together about the wonderful performance or whatever, so they were able to get onto the main road in little time. This was still not fast enough for Morrison however.

There was no way he was going to be able to stand this feeling all the way home, his mind was racing a mile a minute and it felt like his heart was keeping the same place. If only there was a hotel around! Glancing over at Lexi, the man bite the inside of his lip, then looked back to the road before suddenly turning down a small side street next to shop that was closed for the night and pulling in behind the building. After shutting off the car, he sunk down his chair and gazed over at the human with so much desire. "I don't think I can stand to wait much longer," he sighed. However badly he wanted to drag Lexi onto his lap, he would wait for her to move first, since this wasn't exactly the romantic place and she might be uncomfortable with it. And if she was, then he could ignore the ache in his groin and drive her all the way home. And if not, then that would be perfect.

[Lexine Sullivan]

Lex had never been moved on so quickly in her life! Not that she was complaining about being dragged through the building by Morrison since she too wanted to get out as quickly as possible- now that her initial fear of being shouted at or ignored was over she was more than willing to go wherever he decided to take her...

As he dragged her through the car park she had to walk twice as fast just to keep up with his long, quick strides and she was more than glad that she had had plenty of practice in running around in heeled shoes before tonight or she would never have been able to keep up with him. Although, she was very glad when he stopped and pulled her in for a kiss, mostly because she preferred the kiss to running about and because it meant they were at his car and that meant they would soon be on their way to wherever they were going to go- she assumed his apartment since it was closer than the garage.

Once they were both in the car she had to make sure she kept her hands to herself since she wasn't sure he would appreciate her groping him whilst he was driving and she didn't really want to end up in A&E because he crashed the car. Not that she really had to wait for too long since they hadn't even gotten half way to his place before he was turning down a side street she didn't really recognise and she turned to look at his in some surprise- she had never really pegged him to be the kind of bloke to just pull up in a street to do it!

"I don't think I can stand to wait much longer,"

Well, she couldn't really wait either and since she had been wanting to drag him off somewhere since the intermission several hours ago she felt rather justified in being proud of keeping her head. Although now she was more than happy to throw caution to the wind...she had waited a whole week to see the man and god help anyone who tried to stop her now!

The look in his eyes was enough to have her unbuckling her seat belt and she was soon leaning over so she could shift his seat back a little bit from the steering wheel so she wouldn't be completely uncomfortable in what she was about to do. Once this was done she moved over so that she was now straddling his lap, her body pressed so close to his own and she ground herself into him just a little bit as she tried to get herself into a good position. Her own eyes were smouldering with lust and there was no way the pair of them were going to get home anytime soon.

She kissed him again, her hand slipping down between their bodies so that she could fumble with his trousers, pulling at his zip before her lips moved to his ear. "Fuck me now....love me later." She breathed into his ear as she finally got to her prize...

........

It hadn't really taken all that long to get what both of them had wanted and Lex was sure she might have stained her dress somewhere but since they were both still fully clothed she couldn't bring herself to care and she shifted slightly on top of his with a small and incredibly satisfied groan. She didn't want to move off him, perfectly happy to have him just where he was now...although she guessed she would have to get off if they were ever going to get back to his place.

Staying where she was just a little longer she leaned in and kiss him quickly, "That...we need to do that again." There was something of a secret thrill at the thought of being caught and although she wouldn't want to do it in his car all the time it was certainly something to consider for another time. The thought that she hadn't even given him time to get protection out hadn't even occurred to her until she lifted herself off him and moved to the side, getting her knickers back in place as she did so. It was only when she had sat in her seat-grimacing as she did so- that she actually noticed and she flushed cherry red. "Um..." Oops.

[Morrison Whelan]

Morrison grinned, watching Lexi pull off her seatbelt then lean over to push his chair back. He didn't worry about his seatbelt, having neglected putting it on in the first place, but he did move his chair back even farther so that they would have as much room as possible. Which he felt they would need once the woman had moved over and settled onto his lap. A soft groan left him as she pressed her soft body into his and his hands were immediately at her hips, bunching up the fabric around them and pulling it up so that her bare thighs were resting on his pants.

Letting go of her hip with one hand, he grabbed a hold of the back of her head to kiss her back deeply, growling into her lips when he felt her hand press between them to get at his zipper. As she broke off, he swallowed and gazed up at her, shifting his hips softly under her warmth. "Fuck me now....love me later." If his vocal chords would have allowed for it, he would howled, but as it was, he had to settle for growling to her loudly then pulling her in for a rough kiss as her hand slipped under his waistband.

- - - - - - - - -

With a soft groan and a sigh, the wolf let his head fall back against the headrest, though a slight smile was still upon his lips. It had been a long time since he'd had the opportunity to do the deed in a car, and now he remembered why. It was rather uncomfortable to do it on a hard leather seat trapped under a steering wheel and with his clothes on, but that didn't mean it had been any less satisfying. He actually figured that he had been so desperate for Lexi that it would have been satisfying anywhere. He wasn't one to complain. And the woman was acting as quite a wonderful seat warmer; he didn't want her to move.

His smile grew a bit when the human leaned in to kiss him and he followed her lips as she started to pull away. "That...we need to do that again." Morrison chuckled softly and looked up to her, pecking her lips and squeezing her waist. "Yes we do," he sighed, letting her go as she moved off of him to sit back in the passenger's seat. "that was too exciting."

After moving his chair back into place, Morrison sat up straight and tucked himself away so that he could pull his pants all the way back up and zip them. "Um..." The man looked over at Lexi, frowning softly at the worried expression on her face. He opened his mouth slightly to ask what was wrong, but then he realized what was wrong. They had forgotten protection, goddammit! And he had his wallet in the back seat. That had ruined the whole feeling of the night. Groaning with frustration, he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against the steering wheel, feeling like an idiot for not remembering something so important. For a few minutes, he sat as he was, holding onto the bottom bar of the wheel and thinking.

Finally, he lifted his head up then looked over at the woman. "It'll be fine," he told her. Without explanation, he pulled on his seatbelt then started up the engine. Before backing out onto the street, he consulted the GPS for the nearest pharmacy. It wasn't too far away, in fact it was on the way back to his apartment, so he wouldn't have to freak out this bad internally for that long. The whole situation was turning out like it had with Cassidy, and he did not want another child when he wasn't even sure that he would be able to commit to taking care of it. And Lexi still needed so much help, there was no way she would be capable of raising a kid when she was barely getting her life back together! He was pretty sure that they could stop any unwanted pregnancies, but it still scared him, especially because if the human did end up getting pregnant, he would not ask her to have an abortion; that would just add more trauma onto her already fucked up life.

In a few minutes, Morrison was pulling up in front of a drug store, glad to see that it was still open this late night. He turned off the car then sat in place for a few moments, turning his head to look over at Lexi but not saying a thing. With a sigh, he smiled to her and unbuckled his seat belt. "I'll be right back," he told her, leaning over and kissing her cheek. He then turned around to grab his wallet out of the back seat before slipping out of the car, tucking both keys and wallet into his pants pocket. Though he realized once he was outside that the front of his waistband and the bottom of his jacket were slightly damp and slightly whiter. Smiling slightly and shaking his head, he pulled off the jacket and dropped it into his seat then pulled off the bowtie from around his neck, unbuttoned his shirt a little and untucked it. That was better.

Sparing Lexi a final glance then shutting his door, he walked up to the drugstore. When he entered, he noticed that the man at he counter stared at him for a little while before looking away, apparently not interested enough as to why Morrison was there so late looking all disheveled in have a tux. He honestly did feel a bit strange dressed as he was, but it couldn't be helped and he really didn't care what the other people in here thought he was up to, which happened to be saving his relationship. After a few minutes of walking around the store for various items and then ending at the pharmacy counter for the most important item, he got to the man at the register to pay for everything. The vampire tried to engage him in conversation, starting with a rather careless "Fun night?". Morrison merely looked at him with a scowl then ignored him, preferring the silence.

After dropping one of the items and the receipt into his pocket, the wolf went back out to the car, plastic bag in hand. When he opened the car door, he had to pick up his jacket and tie before sitting down, placing those both in the back then closing the door again. "I'm sorry Lexi," he sighed, pulling a water bottle and a small box out of the bag, "that was really stupid, I should have been thinking..." He sighed again and glanced down at the box in his hand. The cardboard was white, decorated in purple, pink, and blue, and had some fancy name written across it in sweeping black letters, but he didn't care what they liked to call them, he'd always known them by 'morning after pills' and they'd saved his ass on more than one occasion. "Here," he said, handing over the box to Lexi, "just in case." He then placed the water on the console between them so it would be easier for her to take the pills.

[Lexine Sullivan]

Watching her boyfriend groan and hit his head on the steering wheel was enough to make her bite her lip in worry and concern thinking that perhaps she shouldn't have pointed it out to him (although really he would have noticed anyway). If only they hadn't gotten so carried away! They could have avoided the very awkward silence that ensued. Finally he lifted his head and looked at her, "It'll be fine," and just like that had started the car and was pulling away with not another word leaving her sitting there before she pulled her belt back on and eventually turned her head to the side so she could watch the world go by, not really noticing as he looked at his satnav.

Although the silence they had was soon broken when the car stopped and she turned to look at the man as he spoke to her, "I'll be right back,". A kiss to the cheek and he was pulling his jacket off before entering the store she now recognised as one of the few late night pharmacy stores- one of those ones that only the supernatural seemed to go to at this time of the evening since most (sensible) humans were all tucked up in bed.

For a moment or two of course she actually she had to think about why they were even here until she remembered that there was a small pill that was used for this type of thing...And she froze in her seat, glad that he was nowhere near the car to look at the expression on her face. The morning after pill. The little pill that took care of all your 'problems'.

Biting her lip she began a small internal war with herself. On the one hand the thought of being a mother was completely and utterly terrifying. How could she be a mother when her own had been so neglectful? She wouldn't know how to act or what to do! But then again, the thought of giving life sent a secret thrill through her and she couldn't help but feel like she would like to be a mommy one day. She weighed the options in her mind and her hand subconsciously moved to her stomach as she did so. What would she do? Could she knowingly take something that may or may not destroy something so precious as a child?

Her thoughts moved to Morrison and how he had taken the news of the lack of protection and a frown passed over her lips. The way he had looked and barely spoken to her was a clear indication that the thought of children was positively abhorrent to him. Her hand moved to rub her stomach lightly as she thought about it....She didn't know him well enough really to comment one way or another but his actions were very much louder than any words he might have said to her.

It was as she was thinking such things that the car door opened and she jumped slightly in surprise although she soon calmed down when she realised it was only Morrison returning from the store and as he climbed back inside she forced herself to stop biting her lip as she finally made her decision about the whole thing.

"I'm sorry Lexi," She watched as he pulled out a bottle of water and a small box that she didn't recognise but knew to be the pill she had been thinking about for the last few minutes she had been alone. "that was really stupid, I should have been thinking..." As he handed her the box and set the water on the dashboard she had to wonder if he had even thought about her feelings on the matter...he had simply gone ahead and bought the damn thing without even asking her!

She eventually realised that her hand was still on her stomach and she jerked it away quickly and very obviously before she took the bottle of water and opened it before taking a mouthful in order to get rid of the dry feeling that had taken over her mouth before she took up the box and opened it, finalizing her decision on the matter. Taking the small pill she popped it into her mouth and immediately took a drink, trying hard not to think about what she was doing. She couldn't afford to think about what could have been...they were still to early in the relationship to seriously consider kids and it was a hopeless dream to think he might want them. Besides, one day she would wither away and die and he would still look as young and handsome as he did right now.

She didn't realise her hands were shaking until she had put the lid back onto the bottle and she clenched her left hand slightly to stop it. She needed to stop thinking about it and the easiest way to do that was to shift slightly and press her lips against his.

"Lets go home," If her voice betrayed her feelings in any way she chose to ignore it. She had made her choice and she would live with it but she couldn't help the 'what if' thoughts that popped up although she tried her best to ignore them.