Thanksgiving

It was difficult to think of the last time that Brody had actually felt nervous around the Tyler family. Some of his earliest memories were of being chased around a playground by Morgan and Ellie, or the three of them playing with Neiko, or even Melanie and Jamie. He knew that their families went back to high school together and as such he had always just felt a familiar sense of comfort around them, but suddenly everything felt different. He assumed that it had to do with the fact that this was the first time that he had been in their apartment not as a friend of Morgan or Ellie, but as Morgan's boyfriend. And considering the fact that he knew that her father hadn't been particularly fond of the idea of it before, it had placed him on edge from the moment that he walked in the door. Her parents had been perfectly welcoming to him, and he easily started to slide back into old familiar patterns, such as sitting on the couch with Ellie and just casually discussing random topics from the football game on tv to pop culture.

He smiled at Morgan as she came and took a seat on his lap though he couldn't help but glance over at her parents to make sure that it wasn't going to be a problem.

Ellie rolled her eyes at her sister and her new boyfriend. She was incredibly happy for her sister though she did feel that as the slightly younger sister it was her job to be sufficiently annoyed at their cuteness. "What kind of gossip are you looking for? Delilah was suspended from the cheerleading team for getting caught drinking at a party - which, thank goodness, I happened to skip that night. Um, Jamie's still dating Kensi... and that's about it. I don't know - high school is boring. How's college? Anything exciting happening at Columbia or Cornell?" She realized that she hadn't actually filled Morgan in on all of the schools that she had actually applied to, and suddenly felt a little nervous to admit their names. Especially considering the types of schools the two people in front of her were going to. "I actually applied to a few art schools. Pratt, Parsons, Tisch, FIT... I mean, they're not Ivy but I never really figured that was right for me."

Ellie grinned, a little relieved that her sister didn't seem to be disappointed in her choice to take a different route than practically everyone else in their family had. "I did have to submit a portfolio," she admitted, and while it had mostly been things she had pulled from projects for art class and little drawings and sketches that she had kept in her notebook, she had actually been really pleased with the final product. Enough so that she hoped that it would be enough to get her accepted into any one of the schools. "And of course, you can see it. I'll show it to you later, when you're not making Dad turn about fifty shades of purple," she grinned cheekily.

Brody could feel himself becoming more uncomfortable and more nervous when Morgan's seating arrangement was pointed out. Sliding her off of his lap as gracefully as he could manage, he smiled softly at her.

Adam shook his head at his daughters, still refusing to admit that he saw the way that Morgan and Brody were acting together. It wasn't that he necessarily disapproved of their relationship this time around, but it was still difficult to see her growing up so quickly, especially when growing up seemed to include a boy. And a boy that she seemed to already be pretty serious about. He couldn't say that he was particularly happy about that either. Nodding at his wife, he was only too happy to excuse himself from the company of their children and Brody Finn and help her pull dinner together. "Thank you," he told her softly, moving to pull open the oven door and remove the turkey from inside.

Apologizing softly to his girlfriend, Brody reached over quickly and gave her hand a quick squeeze, trying to reassure her that it didn't mean that he didn't care about her or that his thoughts about their relationship had changed in any way, he just didn't want to cross any lines with her parents. It was one thing to come to Thanksgiving as a guest, or as a friend of the family, but the pressure that had been added now that they were dating made the entire situation feel like he had crossed into uncharted territory and he wasn't sure of what the natives' customs were.

Ellie grinned and nodded, "Of course, you know I can't turn away an excuse to go shopping. Besides, some of my best shopping gets done online now. Sometimes it's nice to buy a dress and have it show up at your door without having to leave the house. "But if you're looking for nothing but those power-woman pantsuits, then you are in for a surprise, sister," she teased, stopping in what could have been a rant about fashion when she heard her mother calling her. "Now," she started warningly, standing from her spot on the sofa. "No funny business."

Smiling at Riley, Adam had to admit that she had a point. Brody did seem to be trying this time, and Morgan did seem to be ridiculously happy, and while that did actually go a long way, he wasn't sure that he was ready to give his blessing over their relationship. "Fun?" he questioned with a small smirk, "What kind of fun were you thinking?"

Ellie wandered in the kitchen and looked at her parents oddly for a moment. "You're plotting something, aren't you? Or you just wanted me to set the table and give those two a minute alone - which, actually, seems incredibly unlikely."

Ellie grinned at her mother and shook her head, "It sounds very devious, Mom," she admitted, stealing an extra marshmallow for herself. Though, she had to admit that it did seem like it might have been kind of fun to watch Brody squirm a little. He had always been so confident at school and in their circle of friends, and watching him thrown outside of his comfort zone was amusing her endlessly. It wasn't that she had any negative feelings about her sister's new relationship at all, and it wasn't that she had any problems with Brody, but after they had spent so much time flirting around actually being together, she figured that they deserved a little bit of teasing.

Laughing softly at Riley's suggestion, Adam turned to his daughter. "You might as well admit defeat, sweetheart. He's already afraid of me," he teased.

"Oh, ye of little faith, Dad." Ellie grinned at him, turning her attention back to her mother. "You know how Daddy complains when he loses, are you prepared for that?"

The isolation that their relationship had felt in Ithaca had given Brody a sense of understanding in his relationship with Morgan. It was easy to wipe the slate clean and approach everything in a different way that he had done before. There were no games, he wasn't afraid of committing to her, and he didn't feel like there was an arbitrary expiration date on it all. He knew that there was a very real possibility that this was something that could last well beyond the holidays, the end of the school year, and potentially even through the next five years. When he had told Morgan that he had a five year plan, he meant it, and while a lot of it had to do with school and his career goals, a large part of it had to do with her, too. 

And while he and Adam Tyler had been perfectly civil to each other the entire day, there was still part of him that wanted to ensure that he remained on the older man's good side, should this become a situation where they were spending more time together as a group, as a family even. 

Pleased that they were alone together in the room, he was able to pretend that they once again were isolated from everyone else and so he grinned at her and pulled her back on to his lap. She tried to kiss him quickly, but he took advantage of the situation and grabbed her before she could pull away and kissed her a little more aggressively. "Do you think you can get over to the Penthouse later?" he asked softly, a smirk tugging at his lips. It was in these moments of isolation that he found that he had the most difficult time keeping his hands off of her. 

Adam cleared his throat loudly as he reentered the living room, causing Brody to once again push Morgan off of his lap quickly. Biting back a laugh, he shook his head though he could hear Ellie not even bothering to hide her laughter. 

"You okay there, Morgs?" Ellie asked of her sister. 

Ellie couldn't help but pout as she realized that dinner was coming to an end. In terms of the little competition that her mother had set, her father was coming out to be the clear winner. Not that she hadn't been able to earn several points for herself, and she was particularly pleased with her own cleverness when she had been able to make Brody drop his fork in nervous surprise at a statement she had made about his relationship with her sister. Though, it did seem that her dad only had to look at the poor boy to cause him to visibly be placed on edge. She made a note to ask her dad if he had any sort of special trick he used as she would have loved to hone some of that power herself. 

Peering at her sister and Brody over what remained of the turkey, she wondered if there were any last minute moves she could pull to at least catch up to her father's lead. 

Feeling as though the Tylers were enjoying putting him on edge a little too much, Brody had actually been able to get himself to relax a little. Considering it just a hazing ritual for Morgan's first boyfriend, he could only assume that after all was said and done they could go back to the way things used to be, though maybe with a few more public displays of affection from Morgan. Knowing that Toby was going to be arriving at any minute helped, he had to admit, because even though he wasn't convinced that the hazing was going to stop, it was another little piece of their isolation in Ithaca that made him feel a little more comfortable again. 

"Did you need help cleaning up, Mrs. Tyler?" he asked, figuring that it was still in his best interest to ignore the obvious teasing and stay on their best sides. 

Brody smiled at Riley Tyler, appreciative of the fact that she seemed to have quickly taken note of Morgan's annoyance. Nerves be damned, he wanted to go to Morgan and comfort her, letting her know that all of the teasing really wasn't a big deal. Besides, he wanted to add, by getting it out of the way now, it was a lot easier for them to move forward and continue to become more comfortable in each other's lives in this particular capacity. He hadn't been expecting that dating a person was going to make it so strange to be around a family he had known since he was a child, but the biggest realization he had had walking into their apartment had been that he didn't know what his boundaries were with them anymore. He had known how to be Morgan's friend and her studying partner, and he knew all of the nuances that went with that, but this was something that he was very afraid to mess up. Particularly when he knew how important family was to her. 

He winced a little when he heard the cabinet door slam shut, knowing that they were going to have a fiery, unhappy redhead on their hands. Excusing himself from the table, he followed Morgan's path to the kitchen and stood beside her, leaning against the counter top. "Hey," he smiled at her. "Everything okay?" He knew it was a stupid question, but all the same, he didn't want her to be upset over something so meaningless in the grand scheme of things. 

Adam nodded, "We're done, I promise. See? I'm even staying right here instead of loudly announcing myself in the kitchen." Giving his wife an innocent enough smile, he had to admit, with the exception of having upset their daughter, he had been reasonably impressed by how well they had taken the taunting. In retrospect it maybe hadn't been the kindest game to play on them, but it had made it that much more obvious that Brody was trying to ensure that things were different in his relationship this time around. At the very least, he was sure that the young man wasn't going to do anything to intentionally hurt her. "Come on, El, let's catch the end of the football game and give them a minute," he said, ushering his daughter back into the living room.