Secrets & Fire 3: The Fortunate

[Ashley (;]

Liam

"Well, to each their own," I remarked as I shrugged myself. If my girlfriend had ended up dead because of my work, I sure as hell wouldn't have another one after it had happened. That was kind of how I lived anyways. I still dated girls, I wasn't a monk or something, but I didn't have serious relationships anymore. It was different with Isaiah, though. The kid hadn't asked to be in the mafia, and he was still in high school. I could understand if he still wanted to have some fun while he had the time.

Now going on a date with Sam was a different story. She was already involved with the mafia by blood, even if she wasn't officially part of it. That still didn't mean I wouldn't get my ass kicked by Antonio. Or Isaiah. He was younger than me, but he could definitely hold his own. ... Maybe I could just find a way to avoid him until he forgot he saw me tonight. Yeah.

"We can take my car," I told her with a grin, deciding I wasn't going to continue talking about her little brother and his dead girlfriend. That wouldn't make the night very entertaining...

Alyssa

"It must run in the family," I teased playfully. It was sort of true, though, considering I was already dating Isaiah and Sam had been here for less time and already had a date with whoever Liam was.
I turned slightly to face Isaiah, "So why did you cut yourself off about Sam being nervous?"

[Callie]

Sam

I nodded a bit. "... We really should've thought about bringing someone else along. I guess only one of us is allowed to get drunk, though." The only question was, which one of us was it going to be. I walked over to his car and got into the passenger's seat.

Isaiah

"What can I say? We're charming people," I joked back, folding my arms behind my head. I tensed up a bit when she asked about what I'd said. Well, I should've seen that one coming - it wasn't like it hadn't been noticeable. "I, uh... it's a long story," I told her.

[Ashley (;]

Liam

I laughed slightly as I opened the door to the driver's side, getting in the car. "Feel free. I wasn't planning on getting drunk anyways. Alright, let's see if the GPS actually knows where she's going..." I remarked, pulling out of the parking lot.

Alyssa

I smirked at first, though I had to admit it was sort of true. He was charming, and so was Lane in his own little kid way. My smirk faded a bit when he said it was a long story. "It's a long story as in it's actually long, or you just don't want to talk about it?"

[Callie]

Sam

I made a face as I realized he had a point. A hangover was something I'd want to pass on with a screaming three-year-old in the house. "Okay, fair enough. I'm not going to get drunk either." When he called the GPS a she, I grinned as I fastened my seatbelt and shut the car door after me. "She, huh? She gonna be pissed that you're taking me on a date instead?" I teased.

Isaiah

"It's, uh... well, the basic version is that I was going to say Nathaniel. He was Sam's fiancee," I said carefully, keeping my eyes on Lane and Tori instead of her. I just hoped Sam didn't out that I hadn't told. When people found out, they wanted to ask her questions, and she didn't want to think about it.

[Ashley (;]

Liam

I let out another laugh, "Nah, it's been an open relationship ever since I found out she was cheating on me with the stereo." I was definitely glad she wasn't planning on getting drunk, because I was already having a hard enough time keeping my eyes on the road instead of on her. "...You look great, by the way."

Alyssa

"... Did he leave her?" I asked quietly enough that Lane wouldn't hear, since Isaiah seemed to be focused on watching them. It was probably too personal of a question, but I couldn't help it! I didn't plan on telling anyone or anything, I wasn't like that. I was just too curious for my own good sometimes.

[Callie]

Sam

"What a whore," I said, shaking my head at his comment. Then I focused on not freaking out because he thought I looked great. "You don't look too bad yourself," I replied with a small smile, resting my head against the seat. How was that for the understatement of the year? It was probably for the best that I didn't get drunk. My drunk self was a complete and utter slut.

Isaiah

"He... died," I told her, deciding not to elaborate that it had been Antonio that killed him. There were just some things that were too much information and that she didn't need to know. "When Sam was pregnant with Lane." Man... with all the stuff I'd been telling Lyssa the past few days, I was actually beginning to realize just how much shit our family had been through. That just... couldn't be normal. Then again, what is normal when you're a werewolf and you have a mob boss for a dad?

[Ashley (;]

Liam

"Thanks," I remarked with a smirk as I pulled into the parking lot, then got out and opened the door for her. "I think we're here now. ...I hope so, anyways." God knew why Santa Fe needed so many different clubs. Then again, I did have the address, so unless the GPS was actually jealous, I was pretty sure we were good.

Alyssa

I felt my eyes widen as I looked at Lane. I'd just assumed that it was the usual situation where Sam got knocked up in high school, and the guy didn't want the kid, not that he was dead. Here I was upset about having two dads, and poor Lane would never even meet his! "Do you know what happened to him?" I whispered.

[Callie]

Sam

I curtsied jokingly when he opened my car door for me, then headed for the entrance of the club, taking out my ID as I did so. It was kind of annoying how they always thought I was around nineteen.

Isaiah

Well, this was a bit of a tricky spot. I didn't want to tell her, but I didn't want to lie to her. "Yeah," I said carefully, my eyes still on Lane and Tori, "but it's a kind of touchy subject."

[Ashley (;]

Liam

I got out my ID, too, as we got to the front doors. Just in case. I didn't usually get asked for one, though. The guy at the door didn't even seem to care to check anyways, so I just shrugged to myself as I waited for Sam before going in.

Alyssa

I glanced over at Isaiah silently and noticed how uncomfortable he seemed. "You don't have to tell me about it," I told him with a small smile, kissing him lightly on the lips. I still planned on finding out what happened to Lane's dad, I was just going to wait until Isaiah felt like telling me.

[Callie]

Sam

Well, this was progress! No ID check! Granted, the guy looked half-asleep, but whatever. I proceeded through the door and took a deep breath. I didn't know why I was so nervous - I went clubbing at least once a month. It wasn't like it was an unfamiliar kind of thing I'd be rusty at - not like dating. "Where should we go first? It's like an amusement park! I mean, we could go dance, we could join that protesting mob, or we could even go to the bar and get our drinks spiked! God, I don't even know what to do," I remarked, shaking my head... and not looking at him, because if I did, I'd get real nervous real quick. Maybe I should have a drink or two just to loosen the fuck up.

Isaiah

I kissed her back, then put an arm around her shoulders. "Thanks," I whispered into her ear, leaning my head against hers. It was nice that she wasn't going to push about it. So far, there hadn't been much that I minded telling Lyssa, but Nathaniel and Liz weren't exactly in that category of stuff I really wanted to tell her right away. Nah. I'd pass on that. For a while, at least. Until it was necessary or something.

[Ashley (;]

Liam

"Do you want to dance or get a drink first?" I asked her curiously. I didn't really care either way, but I knew I was definitely going to need some alcohol sometime before the end of the night. I wasn't feeling uncomfortable being on a date with Sam, it was just the fact that I rarely ever went to clubs that was making me feel weird.

Alyssa

"So what do we do now?" I wondered aloud. I didn't know how you were supposed to take care of one kid for a few hours, let alone two. Sure, they seemed like little angels - excluding the fact that Tori had yet to acknowledge her existence - but who knew what they'd be like if we told them they had to go to bed or eat their food!

[Callie]

Sam

I glanced over to him for a moment, then nodded to the bar. "I think I want a drink first." It wasn't fair that he looked so... dear God. I couldn't even think of a word that I didn't blush thinking of. Yeah, I definitely need a drink, I thought to myself as I led the way to the bar.

Isaiah

"Watch my nephew and his girlfriend?" I suggested with a shrug. "Lane usually behaves just because he likes me, so, since you're here, he'll probably be on his best behavior. I've never met Tori, though." I wrinkled my nose at the thought of Liam being on a date with my sister. If Dad found out, this wasn't going to end well...

[Ashley (;]

Alyssa

I laughed a bit, deciding it was definitely a good thing that Lane seemed to like me so much. "How do you guys know Liam?" I asked curiously. Maybe she'd found him at the bar close to our house where everyone had auditions yesterday. Everyone seemed to meet there, if not at school.

Liam

"I'll have a beer," I told the bartender as I took my wallet out, then turned to Sam. "What do you want?" I was pretty sure already I wasn't a fan of this club any more than the clubs in New York; and I was especially not fond of the guy a few seats over who wouldn't take his eyes off Sam.

[Callie]

Isaiah

Well, so much for staying off that topic, huh? "He, uh, works for my dad," I murmured, scowling a bit. Now the reason why Sam getting involved with Liam should probably be made clear. In the mafia, people died every day. I wasn't sure if Sam could handle another guy she liked dying or breaking up with her, etc. Okay, so I knew she could. I just didn't want her to have to. Was that so wrong?

Sam

"I'll have the same," I said as I took a seat on one of the barstools. I nearly opened my mouth to tell him that he didn't have to pay, but decided against it; there were some guys that were major control freaks about them paying instead of the girl. Besides, why on earth would I pay for my own stuff if he was willing. I did have a son to take care of. Granted, Liam had a little sister to do the same for. The only difference was that he actually had a job. I'd have to find one, even though I knew Antonio would welcome me into the family business with open arms.
I wasn't interested.

[Ashley (;]

Alyssa

"He's involved in the mafia, too?" I asked with wide eyes. "Geez, I feel so excluded." I was pretty sure that I'd much rather be out of loop than in a gang of some sort. I was about to ask why Sam would even want to date some guy she met from the mafia, but then I realized that would be the most hypocritical remark I'd ever made, considering Isaiah was in the mafia.

Liam

I put my wallet back after I'd paid the bartender, and he'd gone to go get our drinks. "So is there any particular reason you decided to move out to California with everyone?" I asked curiously. Sure, I could see that she'd still want to see her little brother, but why would she leave her home and move if she didn't want anything to do with the mafia? That was what people took vacations for. Not that I was wishing she'd stayed in New York. I definitely wasn't wanting that right now, even if that would have been a lot easier on both of us.

[Callie]

Isaiah

I chuckled a bit. "Well, that's probably a good thing," I told her in a teasing tone. It definitely was. Sometimes you just didn't get a choice. Sam didn't want involved, and, because she was a woman, she was deemed useless in the first place, so she was allowed to choose to get away. Never mind that Sam was a better shot with a gun than more than half of our guys... which was rather sad.

Sam

"Thanks," I said to Liam, drumming my fingers on the edge of the bar while I waited for our drink. "I... I don't know. I mean..." I trailed off. I didn't really have a reason other than Isaiah. "I've been making sure Isaiah's okay my entire life, pretty much. I'd rather Lane be safe back in New York now, where I have no ties with Antonio, but... Isaiah's here and I can't just stop. At least, it sure as hell doesn't feel like I can," I said with a wry laugh. I was pretty sure I couldn't just stop protecting my little brother. After all, I'd already failed one of them. It wasn't going to happen to Isaiah, too.

[Ashley (;]

Alyssa

"I could totally be a dangerous assassin or something," I told him with a pout. Alright, so maybe I didn't even know how to use a gun or a knife, but I could do flips and stuff, which the assassins on TV could. That had to count for something. Now that I thought about it, I couldn't really see Isaiah as being some dangerous Werewolf in the Mafia. I mean, ever since I'd met him, he was just usually a regular playful sarcastic guy. ... Except when we'd run into that guy who threatened me. I had to wonder what happened to him.

Liam

I nodded a bit when she said she was here for Isaiah. I could definitely understand moving somewhere for a sibling. Moving to California to stay in the mafia with the Leones definitely wasn't the best idea for Tori, but it was keeping her taken care of. It was already hard enough to get a job, and it wouldn't be any better if you considered that I didn't have a college degree and that you couldn't quit the mafia.

Before I could even reply, the guy who was checking out Sam earlier appeared as the bartender set our drinks on the counter.
"Would you like to dance?" he asked her with a grin.
... This guy was kidding, right?

[Callie]

Isaiah

I grinned at her. "I think you should pass that offer up if it appears. Besides, we've already got one of those." Okay, so he wasn't, but it was Sasha and the guy could be pretty much anything we needed him to be. Bomb specialist, breaking and entering expert, ruthless killer, spy... whatever. Like I said, he could do any of it. I wasn't sure how he'd mastered pretty much every area that we could ever need, but he had. In truth, I was kind of jealous - I couldn't do half of that.

Sam

I smiled faintly at him and took my drink, glancing over to Liam when the look on his face changed. Some guy was... talking to me? I turned to look at him. Did I want to dance? My initial reaction was to slap him across the face and point out that I was on a date... obviously. But then I reminded myself that maybe the guy was just stupid, so I went for a gentler approach. "No, thank you," I said simply. That was ladylike, right? Okay, so I was kidding myself. Being a lady was something I would never be good with. Ever.

[Ashley (;]

Alyssa

"Go ahead and just ruin all my hopes and dreams while you're at it," I told him with a fake glare. "Now I'll never be an assassin and I'll end up with some boring doctor job for the rest of my life!"
Tori looked up at me and shook her head, "No doctor."
"... Thanks," I told her with a weird look. I was pretty sure I'd just gotten dissed by a toddler...

Liam

"Are you sure?" the guy asked, his face turning into a hopeful look. If I ignored the fact that this guy was extremely on my nerves, his not knowing when to go away was kind of entertaining, actually. It was also weird because he looked at least five years older than both of us.

[Callie]

Isaiah

"Doctor is scary," Lane said in agreement, pushing his coloring book away from him and looking up at me hopefully. "Uncle 'Saiah, 'tar?"
I shook my head a bit. "I don't have it with me, kiddo."
His eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms, starting to open his mouth. Before he could, I'd removed my arm from Lyssa's shoulders and slid onto the floor, clapping a hand over his mouth. I carefully removed my hand as I began to sing. It'd sound better with the guitar, but I really didn't want to risk Lane having a temper tantrum because I couldn't do any music.
"Well I thought that we could sit around and talk for hours
About things I couldn't say to you
And things that we can never do
And this conversation has had no face when the words take days
You can re-write and erase anything
You know my heart
So tell me honestly, did you ever really want this?
Knows all these..."

Sam

"I wouldn't have said no if I wasn't sure," I told him, resisting the strong urge to roll my eyes... or do much worse. I should be able to stay in control, though. Well, as long as he got the point real soon. If he decided he really wanted to dance and he so much as touched me... Well, he was in for a surprise. You didn't grow up with the people I had and learn nothing.

[Ashley (;]

Ooc: Replying on iPod, or else the posts would be longer.

Alyssa

Tori seemed absolutely mesmerized by Isaiah's voice, and I couldn't help but be a little, too. Even if I didn't know him, he'd still be my favorite singer slash guitarist slash pianist. But no, he was my boyfriend. That meant I could kiss my favorite future celebrity whenever I wanted to, which I definitely didn't mind at all.

Liam

The guy glanced at Sam's drink and shrugged with one of those 'I'll be back later' sort of looks. If he was anything, it definitely wasn't coming back later... Especially if he just assumed she'd get drunk and dance with him. I wasn't going to stop her from dancing with other people, but this guy just seemed like either a creep or an idiot.
"Well, then..." I remarked, taking a gulp of my drink.

[Callie]

OOC: It's all good.

Isaiah

I finished singing the song, and Lane clapped enthusiastically. I leaned back against the couch and he pouted at me. "More?" he asked, widening his purple eyes. It was kind of funny how he had Nathaniel's eyes exactly. Down to the very position they were on his face.
Slowly, I shook my head. "We should probably get you to bed, kiddo."
He looked uncertain, but then I shot him an "oh, c'mon" look of my own, which he even seemed to understand. "Fiiiiine," he said reluctantly. "But I not tired!" Nonetheless, he didn't protest much when I picked him up.
"I'll be back in a minute," I whispered to Lyssa and Tori as Lane shut his eyes and let his head drop against my chest comfortably.

Sam

I raised an eyebrow at the guy as he walked off. "Yeeeeah. Good to know there are just as many creeps in California as there are in New York," I said sarcastically, taking a drink of my own beer. If the guy did come back later, I wouldn't be drunk and I wouldn't be dancing with him. If anything, he'd be getting told very firmly to leave me the hell alone. My date being interrupted wasn't exactly something I was up for.

[Ashley (;]

Alyssa

I nodded a bit as Isaiah turned around and walked off with Lane. Why couldn't he have put the other one to bed and left Lane here? I pressed my lips together slightly, looking over at Tori. I dealt with people on a daily basis, so why was I so scared to talk to a girl that was probably only two or three?
"What are you drawing?" I asked her with a small smile.
"Lane," she told me, nodding.
I sat down next to her to look the picture. There were a bunch of marks on the page with crayon, and possibly a stick figure. ... Possibly.
"It... It really looks like Lane. You did a really good job with his hair."
She glanced at me like I'd gone insane for a moment, then nodded again and went back to coloring as if I wasn't there. Well, this was going great!

Liam

I smirked a bit as I watched the guy wander off to the other side of the club to hit on someone else. This guy was so desperate... "It's okay, though," I told her with a grin. "I'm good at scaring off creeps. It's in the job description. Or... Kind of, anyways." Usually I was shooting the 'creeps', but whatever worked. Besides, bringing a gun along and using it on a date was somewhat likely to get us kicked out.

[Callie]

Isaiah

After changing Lane into his pajamas and him only squirming around a little bit, I gently set him in his crib and pulled the bars back up. He was kind of awake again, but I knew he'd be asleep in a matter of minutes. "Uncle 'Saiah?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah?"
"Love you," he said before curling up comfortably and shutting his eyes.
I smiled faintly. "I love you too, Lane," I whispered before heading back out to the living room and looking between Lyssa and Tori. Tori didn't seem too enthralled with anything that wasn't the paper in front of her right now. "Are you ready to go to sleep, Tori?" I asked her softly, taking a seat in front of her and the paper she was coloring on. What was she drawing anyways?

Sam

I followed Liam's eyes and found the guy going to some other girl. I shook my head incredulously; someone obviously wanted to get laid tonight, huh? Then I smirked faintly at him. "Something tells me your way of scaring people off wouldn't be accepted here," I said jokingly, downing a bit of my beer.
I still couldn't help but wonder why someone so cute - y'know, such as Liam - would be working with my dad. There had to be tons of other things he could be doing! Couldn't there? Besides, with... well, the way he looked, he could easily be a model. I rolled my eyes at myself at this point, then smiled winningly at him. "Besides, I'm not completely defenseless." I had a few tricks up my sleeve, mostly to make sure none of Antonio's enemies could decide to try and fuck him over through his family.

[Ashley (;]

Alyssa

I watched as Tori looked up from her paper at Isaiah, then back down at it silently. "Lane's done," she told me with a serious look, holding up the paper for me to see. It still looked like a stick person and some triangles or something. "Wow, very lifelike," I told her with a just as serious face as I nodded back. She seemed satisfied with my response and turned back to Isaiah, her eyes going wide in confusion. "No bed."

Liam

I smirked a bit, "Please, I didn't see any signs about no weapons being allowed in the club." Alright, so it was probably implied that killing slash torturing people was against the rules here, but it never hurt to ask, right? ... Actually, they'd probably put me in jail or something if I asked that.
"I'm sure you can hold your own," I told her with a laugh, thought I meant it completely.

[Callie]

Isaiah

I glanced at the picture, too. The stick figure and the other various shapes were apparently my nephew. I was pretty sure she'd done a better job than I could have. Art was not at all my forte. "But you're done drawing Lane. There's not really anything else to do," I pointed out, wishing she'd just give in like Lane. Then again, I'd been babysitting Lane for years, so he knew he was supposed to listen to me. Tori didn't have that knowledge, but I was determined to find a way to get her to think she was tired and soon. Just because we were stuck on diaper duty didn't mean that my girlfriend and I couldn't have fun. Besides, Sam wasn't completely unpacked yet, and there had to be a way to have fun with that. Just think of the styrofoam peanuts in those boxes!

Sam

Shaking my head, I grinned down into my glass. "Well, they may be a little miffed if you got blood all over their dance floor," I reminded him, getting the insane urge to laugh at our conversation. It wasn't anything like a typical first date conversation, that was for sure. Then again, I was fairly sure Liam and I couldn't be classed as typical people. Which brought me back to wondering why Antonio had decided to move to a small town like Santa Fe, California, of all places. Why not Los Angeles? Las Vegas? Somewhere where there were tons of lawbreakers and tons of people out of work. Not... here. It wasn't very business-minded of him.

[Ashley (;]

Alyssa

Tori shook her heard quickly, frustration building up on her face. "No!" she cried, glancing around. "No bed here." At first I thought she was saying she refused to sleep when she wasn't at her house, but then I realized the little girl just meant she didn't have her bed here, like she'd expected Liam would just bring it with him or something. It was kind of cute, but I had no idea what to say to her. Were two year olds supposed to sleep in cribs or those little tiny bed I'd seen at the store? It wasn't my fault I hadn't paid attention at all to the Child Development class we had Junior year. All I remembered was that that mechanical constantly crying baby definitely didn't make me want to be anywhere near kids after that.

Liam

"Maybe just a little bit," I remarked as I let out another laugh. "I'm sure their janitor could handle it." It was surprising how nice it was to be able to actually talk to a girl honestly on a date. With Sam, I didn't have to come up with some fake job and struggle to answer any questioned they asked about it. One time I had actually managed to convince some girl that I worked as a dolphin trainer for the New York City zoo. She'd asked me so many questions, and the poor girl probably still thought that dolphins were an endangered species... Unless they actually were? Hell if I knew. "Do you want to dance?" I asked her with a charming grin.

[Callie]

Isaiah

That awkward moment when you realized the toddler made a very fair point. Where was she supposed to sleep? They hadn't really specified that one, had they? "I..." I tossed my phone to Lyssa. "Call Sam? She's speed dial 2." Okay, so sometimes I was kind of helpless with kids. I also didn't want to bug Sam, but at the same time, the protective brother in me did.

Sam

"Maybe they don't have a janitor. They're a nightclub, not a school," I said with a grin. I had no idea that both of us were thinking along the same lines right now - about what a relief it was to have no lies about employment right now. I didn't work for the mafia, no, but it seemed to follow me wherever I went anyways. When he asked if I wanted to dance, I only looked surprised for a few seconds. Then I grinned. "Alright, but be careful - I've been told my moves blow everyone else's out of the water," I told him seriously, mostly joking. I was actually a pretty decent dancer, but that was due to being friends with dancing freaks back in New York when I was younger, so it was really their fault for making me like it.

OOC: HERRO TIME SKIP. Oh, and click here for Harmony's outfit.

Harmony

After nearly flying around the house for the past hour, I was finally ready to go. I was fairly sure Kialish, Mom, and Blaze were fed up of my flitting around like a fairy, but I was going to see Fall Out Boy in concert, so there was very little outside of that that mattered. Lyssa would be over here soon, and then I was hijacking Mom's car so we could go pick up Isaiah and then we'd be on our way!
I grabbed my iPod and the cord that would hook it up to the car and dashed out to the living room, rocking back and forth on the balls of my feet while I looked around, then finally noticed Blaze sitting down. I gasped a little, then grinned widely at him, hardly able to contain my excitement. "You ready?"

[Ashley (;]

Blaze

I'd been spending what felt like an extremely long time sitting on the couch and trying my hardest not to laugh at Harmony. She was so excited that I had to wonder if she even remembered the rest of us existed at the moment. I couldn't say I minded, though, watching her getting ready. Harmony always looked gorgeous, but with what she wearing, she seemed even more stunning than usual. Part of me just wanted to kiss her, but I wasn't sure if our parents were anywhere nearby and Alyssa was going to be here any second.
I didn't want to hide anything to them, and I was pretty sure my dad wouldn't mind. He'd definitely like her better than any of my past girlfriends. But I wasn't worried about him; I was worried about Harmony's mom killing me for dating her daughter or something.
"I have been for quite a while," I remarked with a small smirk as Alyssa walked in and waved, not even bothering to knock on the door.

OOC:

SPOILER: Click to show

Ohmygawd, I love Polyvore. <3

[Callie]

OOC: Right? XD

Harmony

"Right," I said with a laugh. Of course. Blaze hadn't been running around looking for the perfect outfit because he wasn't a girl, therefore he didn't really care as much. But Patrick Stump! He'd been my celebrity crush since like ninth grade and we had backstage passes!
The door opened suddenly, and Lyssa walked in. My leftover excitement from my previous thought made me run over and hug her really tight. "Ahh!" I exclaimed, bouncing up and down a bit. "You look gorgeous!"