Chapter 3.3 Arlyn - Dates, Prom, and other Things.

"What's up, bro!" Loki was clearly in a good mood, Ryan noticed.
"Hey, man, been awhile."
"Yeah, man, you know how it is." No, Ryan thought, he didn't. He hadn't seen much of his best friend in months now, only getting a chance to talk to him during lunch at school. He was a little surprised when Loki agreed to meet him after school got out today. Usually Loki was out the door, rushing off to where ever as soon as the bell rang.
"So...what have you been up to?" he asked casually. He really wanted to know what Loki was up to.
"I guess uh, I guess you haven't heard?" Loki couldn't meet Ryan's eyes.
"Uh no? Maybe? Heard what?" He had a feeling he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear.

"I'm....dating your sister." Ryan just stared at him. This was a joke, right? "I actually have a date with her later tonight."
"What."
"I'm taking her on a balloon ride. Supposed to be a full moon tonight, thought she'd....enjoy....it..." Loki trailed off when he looked at Ryan. He didn't exactly look thrilled at the news.
"You're dating Arlyn?"
"Uh yeah"

"How come no one thought to tell me?" Months?? How had he not noticed?! How the hell did this even happen!
"I guess I thought she'd say something," Loki shrugged. Not his job to tell anyone what, or who, he was doing.
Ryan didn't like this. His sister was sweet, kind, naive, gullible. Loki was...
He was silent for awhile, really, truly thinking about this. No, he did not like this, he did not like this at all.
Arlyn was the type of person to see a cat stuck in a tree and do everything she could to help it. Loki was the type to put the cat in the tree.
This was not going to end well.
"Hey man, I gotta go. I don't want to keep Arlyn waiting, you know how she is." Loki stood up to leave, but Ryan grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Don't....Just don't." he almost pleaded.
"Sorry, man." And with that, Loki headed off to see his girlfriend.

"Okay, so I told your brother about us! He took it as well as I could have expected." Arlyn was relieved that Ryan hadn't done anything too terrible. She'd been putting off on telling him for awhile now, trying to convince herself that it was because she wasn't sure her and Loki were even a couple, but knowing that she just dreaded his reaction. At least Loki had been the one to bite the bullet. She loved her brother, but he was way too protective.
"As for your surprise, tada! I got us a balloon ride for tonight!" He held up two tickets, his face beaming.
"Oh yay! I've been meaning to try this thing out! I hope it's not too dark to see anything though. When is it our turn?"
"In a couple hours, when it gets dark out. How about we find a way to pass the time." he said with a wink. Arlyn was definitely on board with that.
They hadn't gone all the way yet, she was too nervous for that, but they did like to make out a lot. Honestly, Loki could barely keep his hands off her, she'd have to bat him off every few minutes so they could actually do something together that didn't involve their tongues. At first she was excited, now it was starting to become a chore, but, she thought, she really loved him, so she didn't really mind too much.
He lead her behind the building, immediately pulling her into him, his lips finding hers in less than a heartbeat.
It was only an hour later that he finally released her, once again leading her over to the hot air balloon. He paid for this, he was gonna use it.

They stepped into the basket right as the sun was beginning to set, the sky darkening quickly, and the bright, full moon shedding an eerie glow across the town.

Arlyn took it all in. It was so beautiful. She looked around, the houses and buildings she'd known almost her entire life looked tiny in the distance. It really took her breath away.

"I have another surprise," Loki said, startling her out of her reverie.
He grabbed a bottle of nectar and poured two glasses, handing one to her.

"To us!" he said, clinking his glass against hers.
"This is really amazing, Loki. You've really outdone yourself this time." She kissed his cheek, he didn't even slyly steal a kiss on the lips. It really was a wonderful night.

He put his arm around her, nuzzling her neck.
"I love you, Arlyn Rivers."
Arlyn looked at him in surprise, he'd never said the L word before.
"I love you too, Loki Beaker." This time she didn't pull away when he pressed his body against her, kissing her hard.
By the time the balloon landed back on the ground, Arlyn was panting and out of breath. It was painfully obvious that Loki wanted a little more for all the effort he'd gone to, but she wanted her first time to be a little less public. He said he understood, but he seemed more than a little crushed at yet another rejection.
Still, they walked hand in hand as he took her home, safe and sound.

____

Things went on as usual back at home. Of course, when Arlyn ran into Jen walking home from the store one night, she just had to gush about Loki and their amazing date. The two girls giggled and gossiped, Jen teasing her for still being so innocent, Arlyn teasing her for being chronically single.
"I'm just 'exploring my options,' Ar, I can't settle down! I have too many guys to try out!" Arlyn just shook her head, not really understanding how she could even have the energy to date so many guys.

Grandpa Silas was still grumpy as ever, even waking her up one morning to tell her about how things were back in 'his day.' At least he wasn't whacking her with his cane this time.

Ryan had taken to mostly ignoring his sister. He clearly didn't approve of her choice in boyfriends. If Loki was good enough to be his best friend, why wasn't he good enough to be her boyfriend? She only hoped that he'd come around eventually.

Of course, she constantly texted Loki, about everything. Her phone was nonstop vibrating between her sending hearts to Loki and gossiping to Jen about him (and Ryan, of course).

One morning, about a month after Loki broke the news to Ryan, he finally decided it was time to have a chat with Arlyn.
"I don't like it," he said as he filled in an answer to his homework.
"Oh are you talking to me now?"
"I don't like you dating him, Arly."
"He's your best friend, I thought you'd be happy." She put her head in her hands, her homework forgotten. She wasn't up for this so early in the morning.
"Loki is trouble, you should know that." She had seen how much trouble he and Loki had always gotten into, how could she not know?
"He's nothing but sweet to me, Ryan. More than sweet. He loves me."

"He's bad news, Arlyn. I'm just trying to warn you." Arlyn rolled her eyes so far back in her head, they nearly got stuck.
"I don't think egging a few houses constitutes this much caution, jeeze."
"It's not just about him pulling pranks, he-" the sound of the bus honking interrupted him, ending their conversation. Ryan didn't bring it up again, it was obvious she wasn't going to listen to him.

To make matters worse, Evelyn decided to have "the talk" with her that evening.
"Moooom! Stop! I already know!"
"I'm just making sure you're safe, Arlyn!"
"I haven't even done anything! And it's not your business anyway!"
"I only want to prevent myself from being a grandma too soon! I'm not old enough!" Evelyn laughed at her horrified daughter's expression, it mirrored Ryan's exactly when she had the talk with him a few years ago.

Ryan tried to take his mind off his sister and Loki by playing a lot of video games. He hated when he could over hear Arlyn on the phone with him for hours. Loki seemed to be behaving, he hadn't gotten into a single bit of trouble since he'd started dating Arlyn. Maybe she was a good influence on him and he was worrying about nothing. People could change, he thought.

Evelyn and Anthony didn't pay the teenagers much mind, preferring each other's company. They grew up in a place where 16 year old's were considered adults, in their eyes, their kids could figure things out for themselves. They had a lot of missed time to make up for, having let their careers come between them for years now.

Evelyn stared out as the bus pulled off. Where had the time gone? Her kids would be moving out soon, all grown up. It wouldn't be much longer before they started having children of their own. She was proud of them, though. Despite their hard early lives, they were both well adjusted, smart, kind teens, soon to be young adults. She wondered if they'd visit often.

Evelyn spent a lot of time at the nearby cafe to get out of the house. Work had been slowing down, less and less people coming to her for this or that gadget. The sudden burst of online shopping was quickly replacing handmade, custom items, the cheap cost driving all but the most loyal of customers away from her business. Evelyn didn't mind too much, filling her time working on larger things, improving their quality but keeping the price the same.

She also found other ways to fill her time.

Prom night came and went, and of course Arlyn went with Loki. She even won prom queen! But, as gross as it was, Loki was not named prom king, Ryan was! It was incredibly awkward having the traditional king and queen dance with her own brother, but he managed to salvage the entire thing by turning the awkward slow dance into the chicken dance.
Loki thought that maybe prom night would be the night but Arlyn was so exhausted, and her brother's watchful eyes hadn't left them the entire dance, leaving them no chance to sneak away, if she had been compelled to do so. Once again, Loki was disappointed, they'd been dating for over a year now, and all they'd done was make out. He was starting to lose his patience.

Because family dinner seemed to be getting harder and harder to do, they all decided to try to start their mornings off with some video games, even the grumpy Silas joining in, albeit by hurling insults at everyone.
"My dead mother could play better than you people!"
Everyone just ignored him.

It was also customary for Arlyn to completely ignore her parents as they stood in front of the fridge, making out. At least she was able to grab breakfast before the make out sesh had started this time.
"Get a room, you two!" she yelled at them.
"This entire house is our room!" was the giggled reply. Ugh.

They followed their daughter's advice anyway, a quickie before Anthony ran off to work.

Arlyn tried not to barf.