Now, Don't Be Mad, But...

[Miss Jack]

Alexander had armed himself with lemondrops and lily flowers, even though he still hadn't fully convinced himself he would actually go through with it. Nellie wasn't the suspicious, paranoid type.

But, the thing was, his conscience was really flaring up. He itched. He slept bad.

"Nells?" he called once inside the crypt. "I come bearing presents." That was sure to drag her out.

[Princess Katie]

“Presents is my fav’rite thing t’ be bore!” Nellie called, poking around the corner. She was all wrapped up in a fuzzy fleece blanket (the crypt always got a bit chilly when Alexander wasn’t present) and the expression that she wore was one of extreme happiness—a bit like a dog’s when their owner comes home.

She became even more excited when she saw the manner of her gifts. Lemon drops were definitely her favorite and lilies were up there. “Now, wot’s the occasion?”

[Miss Jack]

"Cold?" he asked. He grabbed the sides of her blanket and hauled her up, brushing his nose over hers. "Let's warm you up." And he gave her a kiss, of the warm and cozy variety. She was simply too cute to resist, cuddled up, face beaming.

He handed her the presents once he'd set her back down, hiding an instinctive grimace. "Well, they're.... sort of... apology gifts."

[Princess Katie]

It seemed impossible, but she looked even happier than before. “’M def’nitely warmed now,” she cooed, taking the flowers and candy from him with a big smile. But the smile was temporary; it flew off of her face a few seconds after he declared the reasons behind the present. Her heart sunk with dread. This could not be good. “A-apology? Wot’s to apologize for?”

[Miss Jack]

Last chance. Last chance to keep it in and spare her the pain. And looking at her face, he really wanted to spare her the pain.

Then you shouldn't have kissed Marie, his conscience said.

Ugh. Shut up.

"Well it was no big deal, really," he began, forcing nonchalance into his voice. "But the other day when I went to visit Marie, we were about to take a nap in the sand, and we were probably a little tipsy, and we sorta, maybe..." (really quiet now), "kissed. But it was no big deal." Just in case she didn't hear the first time.

[Princess Katie]

When he had to assure her that it was “no big deal, really,” Nellie couldn’t help but think that it meant that it was, in fact, a big deal. Really.

Kissed?

Nellie’s pallor made her freckles seem darker than before. There was that weird feeling again—that horrid mix of anger and sadness, maybe with a tint of confusion and a sprinkle of self-pity. It was worse, this time, than the night of Day of the Dead. Nellie couldn’t say why. These kinds of emotions were new to her.

“Why?” she questioned, clutching the lilies closer to her chest. Peculiar feelings of self-doubt bubbled into her heart, but she chose to ignore them.

[Miss Jack]

Her pale face pulled the plug on his own color, and his expression drooped in time with the fading tint of his skin.

Why? A perfectly innocent question, and one she had every right to ask, though... most people wouldn't ask it. A valid, naive question, and he didn't know how to answer it.

"Erh... well, I'm not.... because." His color was returning as a flushed red beneath his cheeks. "She kissed me, and I was slightly drunk and maybe I thought I felt a tiny bit of attraction, so I kissed her back, but then I pulled away because it was stupid, and I'm really, really sorry," he finished helplessly.

[Princess Katie]

“Oh, uh, it’s okay,” Nellie said automatically, turning to fill a vase with water for her flowers. She set the flowers in the jar and arranged them carefully. She accepted his apology, why didn’t she feel like she had? With a final tweak, she moved to put it on the table, but stopped suddenly.

She slammed the vase down on the table and faced Alexander with her hands on her hips. “You know wot? It is not okay. I… I am angry with you!” Nellie’s voice rose. And not in excitement. Even she looked shock at this new facet of emotion.

Eleanor Peep was openly angry.

[Miss Jack]

Alexander blinked a few times, taken aback. Too bad she was angry at him, and probably wouldn't appreciate a come on, because he liked Angry Sheep Girl.

"Okay," he said finally, not knowing what else to say. It had been determined that Nellie was angry. Now what? He left it up to her to decide further consequence.

[Princess Katie]

Nellie wasn’t quite sure of the “now what” either. Expressing her thoughts and emotions in a logical, linear manner was not exactly her forte, but it cannot be said that she did not try. “Why were you out gettin’ ‘slightly drunk’ wiff some strange girl, any’ow?”

Because, said a snide little voice in the back of her mind, Marie’s offerin’ somefin’ you ain’t got, Clementine.

Quiet, you! Nellie yelled as loudly as one can in one’s head. She hated to admit it, but that little voice was probably right. Marie undoubtedly had way more experience than Nellie did, not to mention, she rode a motorcycle. Nellie could hardly stand riding on the back of Alexander’s bike. Cue the self-doubt.

[Miss Jack]

This one he could answer, and be honest with no problem, because it wasn't about feelings, it was just facts, and right or wrong, he could handle that better than feelings.

"She was still sick, and when I brought her home from the hospital the first time, I promised I'd visit. You got mad at me for not keeping my promise, remember?"

[Princess Katie]

“Thass no ‘scuse. Cause first off, I weren’t mad at you. I ‘aven’t been mad at you, not really, ever before. Second off, I never wanted you should go out an’ get too drunk ta know ‘oo it is appropriate ta kiss!” Nellie scolded, drawing her blanket closer around her. Now that the warm, fuzzy feeling in her soul was gone, she found the air temperature to be rather unpleasant. The thoughts she had been trying to repress escaped her lips before she could stop them, “Sorry I’m not enough. I thought you—“ Nellie bit down on her bottom lip so it didn’t visibly quiver, “Nevermind.”

Careful not to make eye contact with Alexander, she carefully folded her blanket, draped it across the back of a kitchen chair, and grabbed her red hooded cloak from the peg by the door. “I don’ really want to talk to you right now,” she declared, stepping outside and closing the door behind her.

[Miss Jack]

"I know," he was quick to amend, "I'm not saying it's your fault, I just--"

The slam of the front door cut him off.

"Nellie, wait," he followed after her, completely ignoring wish to not speak to him. "Stop talking to me in a minute. I can't let you be alone and think you're not enough." He jumped off the stoop in one step and whipped around to face her; purposely close not only because he wanted to stop her from going anywhere, but because he meant business.

"You're my most favorite thing in the world," he said. "It's not your fault I'm such a schmuck."

[Princess Katie]

Of course Alexander followed her; Nellie had expected no less. She was actually kind of glad. If he hadn’t, she probably would have been much more upset than she was right now. As it was, the air of early winter was doing its best to cool Nellie’s temper, leaving in its place an ever-encroaching wave of tears. She swallowed hard to rid herself of the lump in her throat and when she ran out of other things to look at, she lifted her eyes to Alexander’s. “I know,” Nellie whispered.

After a moment of pensive silence, Nellie regarded the bag of lemon drops still clutched in her hand. “I wish you’d ‘ave brought caramels instead. Lemon drops is too ‘appy a candy.”

[Miss Jack]

Oh jeez. Holy crap.

Watching Nellie fight off tears was like watching a puppy dying of cancer. He sucked in a sharp breath and tried not to succumb to the desperate panic clutching his lungs.

He touched a stray curl on her head. "I'm sorry," he repeated softly.