by Golden Angel
"Well learning might have been good for them!" She slapped his hands away and moved around to the side of the room, heading for the door.
"Where are you going?" Todd's voice got a little higher, a measure of his desperation to fix things. "Allison, I did this to make things right, for all of us, not to make them worse!"
"Too bad. I'm going to Diana's." Allison whirled around when she heard him moving towards her again, glaring at him through her tears. "Don't follow me." And then she was turning and hurrying out the door in a whirl of self-righteous anger and betrayal.
Todd vented his own feelings by kicking the dresser.
********
By 2 pm Todd was Chad's, pacing the floorboards as Allison's step-cousin watched him sympathetically. When Allison had first left the house, Todd's instinct had been to chase her down and ignore the order not to follow him. It was in his general make-up that he wanted to fix things, immediately, and not let them fester. But he'd also learned that Allison wasn't the kind of girl who played games. She said what she wanted and if she said she didn't want him to follow her, then it wasn't girl code for "follow me and change my mind." Unlike some women that he'd had relationships with in the past. One of the things he loved about her was the fact that she didn't play games and she said what she wanted. So he had to respect that right now she wanted space.
Even if it was driving him up the wall.
"That entire side of the family is crazy you know. I still can't understand why my Dad married into it." Chad shook his head with a dramatic sigh. "Just give her time to calm down. She's much more reasonable when she calms down."
"And do you think talking to Diana will calm her down or just rile her up even more?" asked Todd with a sardonic look. That made Chad hesitate. While he didn't hold anything against Diana after their run of dating had ended, he knew that the little Asian was a bit of a spit-fire and that Todd was not always her favorite person. On the other hand, if Allison wasn't going to be swayed by her parents then why would she be swayed by her friend? Todd paced some more, rubbing his hand through his hair over and over again in his agitation. "It's like she wants them to prove that they love her enough to do what she wants. And they're on the other side waiting for her to prove that she loves them enough to do what they want."
"I'm a little bit more sympathetic to Allison's side on that," admitted Chad.
"Well of course, because her parents were completely unreasonable. But they don't think they are. The best solution would seem to be that she chooses a guy that she wants to be with and then he makes him into someone they would approve of." Stopping his pacing he stood in front of Chad, throwing his arms out to either side in complete exasperation. "Hello, that would be me!" Growling, he tossed his hands upwards and resumed wearing a path in the floor of Chad's apartment.
Although they'd been frat brothers, he actually hadn't been particularly close to Chad until Allison. They'd gotten along okay, but it was her entrance into Todd's life that had really cinched their friendship. Especially since Allison had become much closer to Chad as a result. While Chad couldn't really be termed Todd's closest male friend, he was a friend that Todd trusted and he would have insight into the situation that none of Todd's other friends would. Which is how he'd ended up over here after pacing his own house for three hours waiting for Allison to come home. Other than replying to his query about whether or not she'd made it safely to Diana's, Allison hadn't responded to a single one of his text messages or picked up any of his calls.
Eventually he hadn't been able to stand waiting around the house for her with no support of his own, so he'd called Chad. Thankfully the other man hadn't had any plans for the afternoon and had been more than willing to be a sounding board considering the situation. After all, he liked Allison and Todd, thought they were a great couple and wanted them to work things out. Even better would be if Allison could work things out with her family because it would make the family dinners and gatherings a lot less fraught with tension. For whatever reason his step-mother had to keep prodding delightedly at Allison's absence, which made Allison's parents become extremely defensive, and everyone ended up miserable. He'd skip out on the dinners but his father basically begged him to be there so that he would have someone to talk to.
Bringing Allison back into the family fold, especially if she brought Todd along with her, would make that aspect of Chad's life considerably easier.
"The problem is, we're both right," said Todd, finally collapsing onto the couch with a sigh. His legs were tired from pacing and his energy seemed to have deserted him with that admission. The image of Allison's face, hazel eyes large with betrayal, kept looming in his mind. That wasn't how he'd wanted to make her feel. Yes, he'd known that she'd be upset about him talking to her parents, but he hadn't realized she'd be quite this upset or he never would have done it.
Probably.
Maybe.
Okay he wasn’t sure if that was true. Part of his make-up was that he wanted to fix things. He’d seen how depressed Allison had been the past few weeks, although she didn’t say it was because of her parents she talked a lot about graduation and he’d quickly realized how much it bothered her to think that she might reach that major milestone still estranged from her parents.
On top of that, he didn't want to marry Allison with this separation between her parents hanging over his head. He had worked too hard for that. And he hated knowing how bereft from her family she felt under the circumstances. That wasn't the way to start a new life together. Maybe he should have waited longer, but he'd wanted to ask her to marry him when they'd moved in together. Several months later he'd realized that she was no closer to making up with her parents than she had been at that point. Farther away from it actually.
So he had done what came naturally to him and decided to fix things. To make Allison happy. It was pretty much his number one goal in life. Even if she wasn’t particularly happy with him right now, he wasn’t convinced that he’d done the wrong thing either.
"She'll forgive you," Chad reassured him, patting his shoulder and simultaneously handing him a beer. "Eventually."
Todd grunted. Eventually being the operative word. If he needed any proof about how long Allison could hold a grudge he only had to look at the detente between her and her family.
On the other hand, unlike her parents, he wasn't willing to let her shut him out. Although she might not like his methods of making sure she didn't, he thought darkly.
Chapter 7
"It's a gorgeous ring," said Diana, studying it rather enviously. She and Allison were seated in the kitchen, Roger was in the other room taking up space on Diana's couch and pretending that he was reading and not listening to their conversation. Except for when he decided to put his own two cents worth of information into whatever they were saying. Other than that, it was just like old times, back when she was living with Diana and life was simpler.
Except it hadn't really been simpler. Back then she’d still been torn between doing what her parents wanted and what she wanted, on top of the fact that she’d been unhappily dating Roger and wishing that Todd would come back in her life. Now she’d gotten what she wanted, so shouldn’t she be happier?
She let out her breath on a puff of air, rubbing her free hand through her hair. Diana had a hold of her other hand and hadn't let it go for the past ten minutes, studying the ring from every side, a rather wistful expression on her face.
So far this visit hadn't gone quite as she'd expected.
First of all, she'd expected Diana to immediately agree with her about the perfidy of Todd's betrayal. She hadn't expected Diana to be more interested in hearing about last night's proposal rather than this morning's drama - although, from a completely feminine standpoint it made a lot of sense, she wasn't used to Diana acting like... well like such a girl. Then had come the additional surprise that Roger was over. And not inclined to leave, although he'd given them the courtesy of moving to the other room so that they could have a semblance
of privacy.
Something was going on between him and Diana, she had a feeling that Diana was being punished for something, much in the same way that Todd occasionally punished Allison. Which was unexpected from Roger. Up until she'd discovered that apparently Todd and her ex had become better buddies than she'd realized, when Roger told her that he supported Todd's actions and had, in fact, known about them beforehand and encouraged him to talk to her parents. Which had been the second big surprise of her visit.
The third came from the strange sense of deflation that she'd gotten the longer she'd stayed her.
When she'd left the house this morning she really hadn't wanted Todd to follow her. Now, back in her old apartment with Diana, she found that she was already missing him. Even if she was still mad. Although that particular emotion was becoming harder to hold on to.
Still, there were some emotions that were being uncovered now that they weren't masked by her anger.
Disappointment. Hurt. Betrayal. Helpless vulnerability.
And mixed into all of those, a strange sense of relief and love.
Now that she could think more calmly, she realized that he'd done what he'd done for her. He hadn't meant to make her feel out of control, which is what the situation with her parents often made her feel and his going by her back to talk to them had exacerbated that. But Todd was used to being controlling, not to mention protective, and that was one of the things that she loved about him most of the time. It's not like she could pretend that she didn't know he was controlling.
He cared. Enough to try to fix things for her. Even if she hadn't wanted him to fix things for her. It was a nice gesture, a loving gesture, just not one that she felt very appreciative of at the moment.
"You aren't going to change your mind about marrying him, are you?" Diana asked, still holding Allison's hand in both of hers as she looked up at her with worried eyes.
"No," she said definitively. That thought definitely hadn't crossed her mind. Okay, well maybe it had crossed it but she'd dismissed it immediately. Even the idea of taking the ring off caused her chest to constrict painfully. "I'm just so... so angry. And more than that... and at the same time I know he meant well by it, it's just... it's my family. I should have been the one to make the decision about whether or not to tell them about our engagement."
Diana pursed her lips thoughtfully. "What if the situation was reversed? Wouldn't you want things to have him settled between him and his mom before a major life altering event? Especially if you'd been the inadvertent cause of the rift?"
That made Allison shift uncomfortably. Not that she’d had much contact with Todd’s mom other than a phone conversation here and there, but those had made her rather nervous at first. Because, of course, she’d wanted to make a good impression.
"Maybe, but I wouldn't have gone behind his back to do it," she retorted.
"Even if he was acting completely irrationally about it and refusing to discuss even the possibility of approaching her?" asked Roger in the driest voice she'd ever heard him use. Turning, Allison glared at the back of his head.
"There's no need for comments from the peanut gallery."
"Proving my point about your irrational viewpoint."
Deciding it was best to ignore Roger, she shrugged off his observations and pretended they didn't stick her, turning back to Diana.
"We could have discussed it together after we got engaged," she said, looking a little glumly at her ring. "There are certain things that should be joint decisions. I know I agreed to be submissive in the bedroom, and I tend to let him run things outside of it too, but that doesn't mean that he should get to completely run my life or make unilateral decisions that are completely opposed to what he knows I want without even talking to me about it."
"That I agree with."
"Shut it," Diana snapped, with a bit of her old spark as she glared at her boyfriend. Roger turned his handsome blonde head to give her a little look, partly amused and partly quelling. Allison recognized it well enough although she'd never seen it on Roger's face, she'd seen it enough on Todd's. It promised later retribution for brattiness but in a most likely pleasurable manner. There was a little sparkle in Diana's brown eyes that said she knew it too and she didn't mind at all. Allison couldn't help but smile at her friend's happiness, thinking it both strange and wonderful that things had turned out the way they had. "You're right. And Todd's right too. Which unfortunately means that nosy over there is also right." Roger coughed and Diana ignored him. "You have been kind of unreasonable about your parents, and from an old-fashioned guy's perspective, he probably wanted to do the right thing and at least let your parents know before he proposed. Plus, he's got a lot of pride, it's probably bugged him that you've kept him hidden from them this long. He probably wanted to clear up any misunderstandings and see whether or not they would accept him before he asked you."
Allison made a face. "But I don't care whether or not they accept him."
"Doesn't mean that he doesn't." Diana gave her a pointed look and Allison sighed her acceptance of that fact. If the situations were reversed, she would definitely feel uncomfortable that Todd's mother didn't accept her. Not that she'd met her yet, but they'd talked on the phone several times and the conversations had all gone really well. "But you're also right about him taking the reins on an issue where he probably should have at least consulted you. Unfortunately, I don't really see a good compromise for the situation."
"Probably cuz there really isn't one," Allison said ruefully. "We're at opposite ends of a spectrum and there was no way to meet in the middle... not if he was going to surprise me." She sighed. "I guess this means I'll have to forgive him."
"You could make him work for it." Diana grinned a little wickedly. "It might be good for him to grovel."
"I wouldn't hope too much for that," interjected Roger. "Apologize yes, grovel no."
"Would you grovel?" Allison asked, actually looking for his opinion for the first time since she'd arrived at the apartment. Of course, she hadn't needed to ask him before because he was offering it freely anyway.
Turning around, Roger slung his arm along the back of the couch and gave his girlfriend a dazzling grin. "For Diana? Absolutely. But I'm a different kind of guy than Todd. For him, giving an apology kind of is like groveling." He gave Allison a pointed look, one that was obviously meant to remind her that there was a reason she'd dumped him and ended up with Todd. "And you should remember that."
She made a face at him and he grinned again before turning back around and going back to pretending to ignore them. Diana squeezed her hand, regaining her attention.
"So what are you going to do now?" Diana asked.
That was the big question. After talking with Diana and Roger (and calming down a bit), Allison had to acknowledge that Todd had some good reasons for his actions. On the other hand, she also had some good reasons for being mad. Yet, even though she was still upset, she was starting to wish that she was talking to him and not to her friends. Silly to miss him after only a couple of hours, but she'd gotten rather used to having him as her rock to lean on, and even though he was the cause of her current state, she kind of wanted her usual rock.
"I guess I'm going to go home and talk it out with Todd."
Diana nodded, smiling. "I think that's a good idea."
"The hallmark of a good relationship is being able to handle adversity," said the peanut gallery. Allison couldn't help but roll her eyes and be glad that Roger couldn't see her smiling. Although she definitely wasn't interested in him in any kind of way other than friendship, she had to admit that he had become a lot more interesting since she broke up with him and he started dating Diana. A change in character similar to the one that she had gone through after meeting Todd, perhaps. He was definitely a lot more amusing now that he wasn't so focused on being polite and gallant all the time. A lot more annoying too.
"Thanks for talking with me... both of you," she said, giving Diana a hug. She gave Roger a hug on her
way out of the door too, because some of what he'd said had helped her even if she hadn't been looking for advice from him. Getting a guy's perspective had been nice. Even if she was kind of annoyed with him for encouraging Todd to talk to her parents. But at least it showed her that Todd wasn't the only idiot male in the world who thought it was a good idea.
*******
When she got home Todd wasn't there. She wandered around the house looking for him, even going so far as to knock on the door to the playroom. The urge to go inside was more overwhelming than it had ever been before.
Was she subconsciously looking for some kind of punishment?
Or maybe just some kind of release. There was no denying that sometimes their rougher sexual activities ended up being cathartic for her, and she'd had some pretty big emotional ups and downs over the past 24 hours. Especially now that she was getting rather nervous about having walked out on him this morning rather than staying and even listening to his side of things.
Granted, she'd been pretty angry, but now she was feeling bad about her complete lack of communication with him.
Then again, part of what she was angry about was his lack of communication.
Except if he'd told her that he wanted to talk to her parents before asking her to marry him then he wouldn't have been able to surprise her...
Gah.
There was just no way to avoid going around in circles with that, which is why she wanted him here to talk. It only took her about twenty minutes of impatient waiting before she decided to text him.
Hey... I'm sorry I left so abruptly this morning. I'm home now and I'd like to talk when you get home.
Jiggling her phone around in her hand she decided to go watch some television to try and pass the time. Maybe calling him would have been a better idea, since she would have gotten a response immediately, but if they'd started talking then she'd probably have started the conversation about this morning immediately and she'd rather do that in person.
