My boyfriend came back from the dead to take me on a vacation!
Well, that was easy. Probably easier than it should have been. Maybe I pulled one too many strings, especially by getting us a room at a five star hotel, but this is our first vacation together. We'll remember it for the rest of our lives. I think Sam and I would be happier remembering it as a good experience, instead of thinking back and
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Yes, that's exactly it.
"Oh. Oh, Arianna you were not, under any circumstances, supposed to be doing any more time traveling!"
"I didn't time travel!" Okay, well, actually I did. But there's a completely justifiable thing here. "Well, I did, but I didn't stay for very long. I just stayed long enough to offer them a chance to come along, and I brought them back."
"You think?!"
Oh stop it. Who are you, Sam?
"Arianna, I can't believe you. You knew that Sam didn't want you doing this, and you just..."
"Sam said no more time travelling. But I only went there for fifteen minutes at best, so I didn't think it'd be a problem." Sure, I brought people back, and that may or may not be worse, but they're pretty. That should be consilation.
"So, uh. Yeah. I'm Carly. Not Miss Carly. Carly Greene Manners San Giac--you should both just call me Carly. Can I get you guys anything?"
I let Joe and Ned go in before me, wondering how much Sam was going to freak out, if Carly did this much on her own. My brother tends to amplify things if he has the right situation to be upset about.
He's such a drama queen.
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"So, uh. Yeah. I'm Carly. Not Miss Carly. Carly Greene Manners San Giac--you should both just call me Carly. Can I get you guys anything?"
"Uh, no, I'm fine, thank you." I walked in and looked around. Sort of like Arianna's place. Maybe a bit more expensive lookin', probably. And some things I've definitely never seen before sittin' around.
Looks like we've got a lot to learn while we're here.
I looked back at Arianna, and noticed that scolded look startin' on her face. The same kind Kate used t'get when she was young, before she realized she couldn't do that anymore. Maybe Arianna's not quite at that point yet.
Then I saw someone comin' out of a room, and looked up.
... This the brother, then?
Definitely easy on the eyes.
I could get used to stayin' here.
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I looked at the clock in the bedroom. Four in the afternoon... I'll go with Arianna.
I should go find out what's going on.
"So, uh. Yeah. I'm Carly. Not Miss Carly. Carly Greene Manners San Giac--you should both just call me Carly. Can I get you guys anything?"
"Uh, no, I'm fine, thank you."
She's still holding onto her ex husband's name? Okay, we're talking about that one later.
But this means Arianna brought people, so I'll go out there, find out what the hell is going on, and then talk to Carly about her still using her ex husband's name.
They're divorced, damn it. Shouldn't be happening.
I walked out to see Arianna and two other guys standing in our living room. My sister brought two guys here. Okay, that's weird to start with.
Then there's the fact that one of them sort of bears a close resemblance to a guy that... Oh what the hell, is she pulling some sort of joke on me? She knows how bad Carly's going to spaz if she tells her... No, I don't think that's it.
Because that doesn't explain the other guy.
"Okay, can someone tell me what's going on?"
And can the guy stop looking at me like that?
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He looks fine. Better than fine. Gorgeous. Gorgeously fine. Beautifully fine. Esquisitely fine. A lot of good words, followed by fine, and probably followed by a few more good words is what he looks like. The least of them would be hot, because he's that too. Very that.
No wonder Arianna decided to keep him as a souvenir. I would too. A nice little memento of the crazy outlaw days. He's better looking than what you see in the old John Wayne movies. And that voice. I'm pretty sure that alone could make a girl pretty damn happy, because he just sounds so...rugged. Rugged and polite.
And a little bit confused too, which makes it even more sexy. Like he's not sure what he just walked into, but he's too courageous to tell her that he wants to go home. Maybe a little bit curious too. He looks like he wants to investigate the apartment or something.
Hell, I'd let him investigate the bedroom and then some things to do in it if he was up for it.
Ned Kelly is standing in my living room.
I think I owe Arianna for this.
"Okay, can someone tell me what's going on?"
I heard someone else, recognizing the voice as familiar, and looked around to see who was asking questions without asking the hot outlaw for permission.
Hey, I know him.
Shit, Sam's not going to be very happy with Arianna about this. I'm supposed to stop him from flipping out about it before he goes after her or sets fire to her, or something dramatic like that. Something with flames. And now would be a really good time for me to do that.
"I can." But I don't want to stop looking at the hot outlaw long enough to explain.
Damnit, the things I do for my friends.
"This'll just take a second." I grabbed Sam's hand and dragged him into the bedroom. I don't want him yelling in front of Ned and Joe, I don't think they'd like it. Either they'd try to shoot him for it, or they'd think that we don't want them here, and that's not entirely true. Now that they're here, we have to make them welcome. They're our guests.
Sam better see it that way too.
"Okay, Sam. I know your first instinct is going to be to get a little upset about this, but ignore that. What's done is done, and what's here is here. And all the fire in the world isn't going to change what has already happened."
There. I was calm, I was rational, and I think I started out with a good buffer. With any luck, I can get this done fast and go back in there to talk to the sexy australians.
"Arianna kinda... time traveled again. She went back 1800's picked up Ned Kelly and Joe Byrne for a visit to the future. And..uh, that's them. In our living room."
This is starting to sound cool. I really hope Sam notices that soon. Yelling will make the guys uncomfortable, and I don't want us to do that.
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Good. Someone can tell me why my sister's bringing two guys here when she tends to scare the living hell out of them. Although I think she'd only actually scare one. The way the other one's looking at me, I would guess he's not worried about Arianna going after him.
Of course, every once in a while, she sort of scares the living hell out of gay guys too, so I don't know. I just want to know who the hell they are, and what they're doing here.
"This'll just take a second."
Why do I get the idea this is something I'm going to yell over? She only drags me away from something when she knows I'm going to yell. And now I'm trying to figure out how this would be something I'd yell about.
I really doubt my sister is sleeping with both of these guys, that's not Arianna, nor has that ever been Arianna. At this rate, it'll never be Arianna.
"Okay, Sam. I know your first instinct is going to be to get a little upset about this, but ignore that. What's done is done, and what's here is here. And all the fire in the world isn't going to change what has already happened."
"Whatever. What's going on?" Get past the trying to calm me down in advance, and tell me what sort of crap my sister's pulled that brought the guys here. And why they have to be here at all. I can be calm for this, I'm sure it's not that bad.
"Arianna kinda... time traveled again."
"She WHAT?!"
Okay, maybe it is that bad, and maybe I can't be as calm as I thought. God damn it.
"She went back 1800's picked up Ned Kelly and Joe Byrne for a visit to the future. And..uh, that's them. In our living room."
...
I just... I can't... I thought I made it really clear... No. Damn it, of course that didn't work. She's probably got a whole justification thing for what she did. It all sounds perfectly right to her.
And Carly looks perfectly fine with this too. Am I the only one who sees the problem?
"And you're okay with what she did."
And then I got it. The part that I think I didn't notice out there right off, because I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
The one who was looking at me, Carly was looking at.
I need to just... breathe.
"I can't freakin' believe you."
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Okay, apparently we're going to have to be dramatic and make a big deal out of this, even though it didn't hurt anything and they seem to be decent, hot, incredibly exciting guys. I get that. Because Arianna didn't listen to Sam, and went and did what she wanted to even though he told her not to. She did something wrong. I know that. I also know that we have a really great opportunity right here, and that we would both be insanely stupid to pass it off.
Not to mention we'd be mean to Ned and Joe. I don't like the idea of taking this out on them. If she got them through the portal, they obviously want to be here. A few days couldn't hurt anything, could it? If we keep them away from the computer and the public library they should be fine. We could ask them not to tell their friends too. From what I read they were big on honor and loyalty, maybe they'd be loyal to us. Talking about it would be asking for trouble anyway, I think they'd stay quiet.
I don't see any reason to cut their visit short if trouble can be prevented. And Sam can still scold Arianna, just later. Hell, I'll scold her myself. I know she's still mad that I killed her brother, but she disobeyed him. After the big scene she made when he was dead, she went back and did something he told her not to. I bet I could make her feel guilty for that if I rub it in just enough.
Something along the lines of 'you can't stand it when he's gone, but you won't listen to him when he's here trying to protect you'. Either she'd roll her eyes at me, or she'd feel it.
"And you're okay with what she did."
I'm okay with having two additional handsome men in my house, yes.
"No." I shook my head and sat on the edge of the bed, crossing my arms above my stomach and looking at him. "She ignored what you told her and used a dangerous spell for fun. I'm not okay with that. But if you send them back immediately, first of all that would make you look mean to two of the world's greatest outlaws. And second, she'll feel unfulfilled by her little time travel stint and want to do it again."
And I'll feel unfulfilled because knowing them for a little bit of time could turn out to be very...fulfilling.
Oh, he noticed that one, didn't he?
"I can't freakin' believe you."
Because I looked? That's not fair. Looking isn't the same thing as acting. Any woman in her right mind would look, and most would have a tough time looking away. I think Ned is attractive and brave and probably extremely good in bed.
But come on, who wouldn't?
"Its nothing." Just the Ned Kelly in our living room, that's all. "They caught me off guard." I got up and walked over to Sam, wrapping my arms around his neck even though I couldn't tell he wasn't big on the idea of being seduced right then and there.
"I read the book, you know?" I kissed him, not surprised by his hesitation at first. Sure, he's going to be weird about it. All because of a look and a dream. Whatever.
I kept up the kissing until he started to return a little bit of it and moved back slowly with a smile. I think this means they get to stay.
"I love you." I reminded him, leaning in again and softly kissing his lower lip. "And Fiji will still be there whenever we decide to go."
Or we could take them with us....
Nah, he wouldn't go for that.
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I thought by now she knows she can't bullshit me on things like that? Obviously not.
"I read the book, you know?"
You read the book. You never expected to have the real thing standing in front of you. And now, because he's not a bad looking guy at all, you'd like to take a step outside of that 'faithful' thing.
She's not going to let up until I give in. And if I don't give in, somehow, someway, I look like an asshole for having the nerve to kick out two historical outlaws.
I sighed and kissed Carly back slowly, then rolled my eyes at the smile. Stop trying, you already got what you want.
"I love you. And Fiji will still be there whenever we decide to go."
Yeah, this all providing there's ever a chance to go after this. This just proves that I'm not meant to do any serious travelling ever again. And that would be a good thing in Carly's book, but that also ruins our vacation chances together.
We're destined to just be doing this forever. If historical outlaws showing up because my sister can't listen to me isn't an omen for that, I just don't know what the hell is.
"Yeah." I sighed again, and then looked to the door. We're going to have to go back out there, and deal with this again. And I swear, I will give Arianna hell for this one.
"I'm guessing Arianna brought them here because she knows she can't keep both of them at her apartment. We're taking the one she stares at."
I know that's going to mean hell for me, because the one that Arianna stares at is not the one that Carly stares at.
Women. Christ.
I walked out of the room before Carly could say another word, ready to face all this crap, regardless of how hellish it's going to be.
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