Together again. /Rachel/

[Jimmy Carlin]

Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy.
And Rachel.
So much had changed since that fateful night at cotillion. Jimmy’s attitude, for one, was getting better each day.
He had been treating his family a bit nicer, throwing away his old self, and replacing it with the new and improved. His parents were happy for him, knowing how in to Rachel he had always been, though they knew never to press the issue. Spencer was also happier—for her brother’s sake and her own. The two were getting along great again, mater of fact, Jimmy had even asked if Spencer wanted to come along with him to meet Rachel here at Paparazzi. Spencer had decided against it rather quickly, not wanting to interfere with any ‘alone’ time Rachel and her brother were going to share.

Initially, Jimmy had thought about reserving a table at Charter Oaks, but Jimmy tossed the idea out of his head, knowing the two only wanted to talk, and Jimmy would feel pressured to get dressed up if he had chosen the latter. Instead of getting ‘dressed up’, Jimmy was clad in a pair of light-washed jeans—for once—and a pink and white stripped polo adorned his fit torso. His hair was the regular, nor brushed nor really ‘done’ in any manor. It looked the same as it had when he woke up that morning at ten thirty. Yeah, three hours ago.

So, seated patiently at an empty table, other than himself, Jimmy sucked the liquid content from a glass in front of him in which his hands grasped. He had ordered a Pepsi and had debated on whether or not he should order a drink for Rachel. He chose not to, seeing as he wasn’t sure what to get her, and the obvious fact of it being Rachel he’d be waiting on...the drink would be watered down...if you catch my drift.
Yeah, he was almost sure she’d be ‘fashionably late’, but he was just waiting for the day she’d prove him wrong...

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[Rachel Louise]

She had one question for herself.
What in the world was Jimmy doing to her--and why did she like it so much?
She was even getting ahead of herself when she thought, dammit.
For example, this morning? Rachel had almost reduced to a puddle when she saw his name on the caller ID, and then she had nearly dropped the phone because her hands were clammy as she opened it up.
She knew that she was becoming sort of... different.
But it was a good thing.

She and Jimmy hadn't had the wierd 'getting-to-know-you' awkward stage of their relationship. The two already knew each other, and had forever. All the newfound feelings, though, were enough to keep some element of excitement in the whole affair. Rachel knew it was cheesy, but she also knew all the other girls would have killed to be her. Jimmy wasn't just a fling. Jimmy was, possibly, her first real relationship. The fact that she didn't have as much control over him in that sense scared her, but it motivated her to keep going. To dive headfirst.

So she had pulled on a pair of black tweed Miss Sixty short-shorts, heather gray Havaianas flip-flops, a white-black-silver Pollock-inspired Ed Hardy tee shirt, flicked all over with paint. Her earrings were long, dangling Tiffany numbers, created by a cluster of chains hung together, some with crystals studding them. Her bag was heather gray leather, by Balenciaga.

Her little black BMW convertible assisted in getting her over to Paparazzi fast. That was the place they had agreed to meet, just because it was so utterly Orange County. Rachel opened the door, her head held high like she was about to conquer the world. Her chin lowered a little, though, as she spotted Jimmy and a huge grin spread across her face. She walked over to him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. On the lips would've been pretty damn tacky, especially as they were in public and hadn't even spoken to each other yet.

"Hi." Rachel said, sitting in the chair opposite him, her smile still present.

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[Jimmy Carlin]

After briefly staring down into the fizzing liquid that his glass held, Jimmy glanced up and eyed Rachel, letting go of the straw with his teeth. He matched her smile, appreciating the kiss and watched as she took her seat across form him. Jimmy let his fingers and hands drop from the outer rim of his glass and lay them face down on the table. Trying his best to get comfortable, he crossed his arms and let them lay atop the table, not liking the ‘face down’ positioning of his hands.

“Hey.” Jimmy stated, matching her tone and holding his smile for a good amount of time. “What’s up?” Jimmy asked, trying his best to let the conversation flow. There was no need for awkward moments; they had been through it already when they had first met—seemingly forever ago. Jimmy let his eyes scan over her face and then let them fall into her own eyes. She was truly gorgeous, though he was sure he had told himself that a million times, and was also sure she was aware of her beauty.

It had been just last night when Jimmy thought back to the time he and Rachel had first met. He believed it was first grade, but he could be wrong. He remembered a whole lot of things, but he thought this would be the best. He still was unsure of how long it would last, but there were many things that egged him on. Inside, he felt he loved Rachel, yes, love, but that was something he was going to keep to himself for a while—there was no need to rush things.

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[Rachel Louise]

“What’s up?”

Rachel leaned back in her chair a little, placing her bag next to her, somewhat liking the feel of Jimmy's eyes on her. "Oh, nothing. The usual after-cotillion stuff." She smiled at him, thinking through the events of that night. "It's so funny... after cotillion it always feels as if something has sort of left you empty. You spend all that time preparing and getting excited, but afterwards? It's over." She looked down, her voice getting softer. "But I think the aftermath is better than the actual event." Of course she meant this situation.

The waiter approached, interrupting the moment. Rachel ordered an iced coffee with cream and no sugar. She liked the savory better than the sweet, and always had. Who knew why? It was just another quirk to add to the list. She turned her gaze back to Jimmy, who she could now call her boyfriend. Excellent.

"So, have you heard about Lauren's trip to Milan? I've never been. Are you going?" She hoped he was more than anything.

[Jimmy Carlin]

The trip to Milan...Jimmy.../going/? Hell yes he was.
“Yeah, I plan to.” He replied to her with a hushed voice. Why is voice was hushed—there was no reasoning, but he didn’t have to tell the world. “And you are too, I suppose?” he questioned her, though he already knew the answer. She had somewhat hinted it just then.
And why was he going on this lovely trip? Well, simply because it was going to be a fun time to spend with friends and loved ones.
Though some may think of ‘loved ones’ as family, Jimmy was referring to Rachel. He’d be with her the entire trip, or most of it.
He was excited for the most part, but what happened when all those other girls surrounded him. He knew that he had messed up before with the whole cheating business, and he wasn’t his planning to do it again.

After finishing his soft drink, Jimmy pushed the empty glass away from him and leaned back in his seating as Rachel had done. His arms folded across his chest as he let his gaze remain glued to her. Beautiful—Rachel.

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[Rachel Louise]

She smiled at him, again.
Was all she could smile? She sipped the coffee that had been placed in front of her by a waiter a moment ago, just to have something--anything--to do with her hands. She was nervous wreck in front of Jimmy, just because the exclusive idea of them being 'together' was utterly foreign to her. She didn't know what to do with herself, but kept some kind of calm exterior.

"Oh. That's good. I..." She trailed off as a thought occured to her. Oh, shit. Milan. City of romance. One of the sexiest cities the world. Sexiest. Sex. Triple... no, correction--quadruple shit. What, exactly, did Jimmy expect her to do with him in Milan? Did he think that she was going to lose her virginity to him, or something? She wasn't nearly expierienced enough, and she was scared to boot. "I. Um. Yeah. That's... good."

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[Jimmy Carlin]

Oh yeah, he knew that look. She was thinking about something and he knew what that something was. He knew exactly what was going through her head; at least he thought he did. Jimmy shrugged it off his mind. He always did that—try and put himself in others positions to try and feel what they were thinking. How lame. He probably had some ‘lost in though’ look upon his face as he did it too-- dumb ass. Snapping himself back into his /own/ thoughts and mind, Jimmy let his eyes drift away from her face, falling upon the empty glass that supported tears of water on its plastic, body-like frame.

Was the moment getting...awkward? No. It couldn’t—Jimmy and Rachel weren’t supposed to have moments like these. They were they biggest couple in the O.C and had been past all the nervous shit. He couldn’t let the conversation die, it’d just be...bad, very bad.
“So, what are we going to do in Milan?” He asked, referring to ‘we’ as in /everyone/, not just Rachel and him. But then his thoughts wandered to just him and Rachel. What was to really happen, between them, in Milan? Damn, the trip would be a trip in itself. He could already sense drama. He wasn’t too sure if he liked it or not yet. Could drama was one thing, but bad drama, such as jealousy, unexpected happenings, and all that jazz might be a bit too much to bring to Milan. But as he thought about it, Jimmy came to a simple conclusion; what happens in Milan, stays in Milan.
Priceless.

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[Rachel Louise]

She tried to focus on his face and remind herself exactly what she would be missing if she got all jumpy and nervous right now. But seriously, she couldn't even imagine what horror it would be if Jimmy decided the right time to seduce her would be in Milan. A blush crept to her cheeks just thinking about it, and her hands clasped around each other. Did she want to, or didn't she? She was just... scared.

“So, what are we going to do in Milan?”

Oh, God. Did he mean just... them? No. No he didn't. Jimmy Carlin was not like that. She had known him for too long. He meant the whole group. Yep. Yeah. Good. Now, Rachel, come up with an adequate reply and don't make a fool of yourself. "Well. I think we'll probably go to the beach, which is good, and then do some shopping." She let out a laugh. Good. Good. Keep going. "You probably won't enjoy that much.. and then Lauren said something about a concert and a bonfire. I'm excited, actually."

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[Jimmy Carlin]

His face went straight as she shared with him her reply. The beach? Shopping? Was she kidding?
Jimmy tried to make the moment enjoyable, thus holding the face that showed little to no sympathy. He was kidding, of course. The beach was always great, and shopping wasn’t half bad. No, he wasn’t ‘metro sexual’, but he could always find enjoyment when scouting the mall. All in all, he didn’t /have/ to go shopping, he was sure he’d be given the option to stay at the hotel—or wherever everyone was staying.

He finally relieved himself of the expression with held on his face, letting a small smirk replace it.
“Are we all staying at a hotel?” he asked, just for an understanding. He caught himself then though, he was probably hinting everything in a sexual manor, when really, he wasn’t meaning too. He felt guilty now, but showed nothing. The bonfire sounded interesting. He’d been to a few, maybe more, they were always fun but had always opened opportunities for getting wasted. But that was the fun part, right. Yes, this trip was just waiting to throw Jimmy into a huge mess of humiliation, for him to act as a jerk and whatnot. But he’d try his best to control himself; he would, especially with Rachel around. Maybe she could give him some sense of direction.

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[Rachel Louise]

Her insides felt like they were contorting, yet she had no clue why.
Yep, Rachel had wondered about sex. She wasn't a dimwit--anybody with any sense should have been able to tell--but she couldn't figure out what the feeling was called when you were one-third nervous, one-third curious, and one-third absolutely sure what you were doing was right. It felt like... falling.

So she tried to focus on the task at hand.
Conversation.
A hotel? Was he serious? No, it was unintentional, clearly.
Hopefully.
But the notion that Lauren Jennifer Cooper was put her guests in a hotel was absolutely ridiculous, and Rachel snickered a little, picturing it. "Actually, her father's private chateau will be our residence. I swear I've heard her talk about that house so much, but I've never actually seen it. Hope it lives up to the hype."
Good, Rach. Good.

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[Jimmy Carlin]

This meeting was fine. It was going just as he had hoped. The two seemed great around each other, nothing was awkward, well, at least it wasn’t for him. He sure as hell had no idea what was running through. She could have been a nervous wreck and he would have no way of knowing. All of his hinting could have been the cause of her nervousness, though he honestly didn’t mean to. Psh, yeah right. Well, since we happen to have fallen onto the topic, why not continue it, eh?
“Um,” –Nah, he couldn’t do it, not here, not now.

Did she just snicker...at /him/? He eyed her suspiciously, not knowing what was laugh-worthy.
Oh, the comment about the hotel, was that not practical?
“Oh, well, a hotel could have been on the list, right? Of course if everyone had their own suite. That’d be great.”
He said, folding his hands upon the table, a smile creasing his lips.

He then stood, finding no use for the two sitting opposite of each other any longer.
A few steps and he seated himself beside her, draping and arm around her shoulders and kissing her check lightly.
Oh, this was /so/ Jimmy.

Ooc| Brain-dead. Short. Bleh.

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[Rachel Louise]

“Oh, well, a hotel could have been on the list, right? Of course if everyone had their own suite. That’d be great.”

"Great." The word tasted odd on her lips. Would it be great? How in the world was she supposed to know when she had no expierience on the subject? It was an as you thought you knew a person, but then you picked up on things you had never needed to notice before. Like now. "Yeah, it probably would've been gr--"

And then she stopped, because he was walking over to her, and--oh, god--his gorgeous face was only inches from hers. Then his lips were on her cheeks and she could feel the light, light dusting of stubble near his chin. She turned her head a little. This was divine torture in the respect that they weren't actually kissing yet. She could smell him. Rachel reached one hand up, tracing it along his jawline, a smile on her lips.

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