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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 31, 2015 1:24:55 GMT
Until recently he wouldn't have ever considered himself to be much of a planner but as the threat of impending changes had loomed, it had started to make sense to have something thought out in case things went the opposite of how he had expected. Brandon had wanted to know what was going to happen in his life if Alayna's child had turned out to be his, if Amber was still going to want to be part of his mixed up lifestyle, if there were any legalities to the situation that he needed to be aware of, and mostly he wanted to prepare himself for whatever sort of impact came with it. He had tried not to get too deep into it all as he wasn't sure what the paternity results were going to say, but he couldn't seem to get certain plans out of his head. Even now he tried to figure out what he wanted to say and how he wanted to break the news to Amber.
Opening the envelope earlier in the day had not only lifted the weight from his shoulders on what the "right" and responsible thing to do was, but it also put into perspective what he really did want next in his life. He hadn't necessarily gotten the big emotional response from Riley that he had wanted at the moment and he kept trying to think of ways to phrase it that would somehow convey the sense of relief and excitement he felt over not being this kid's father. That in itself was something that he hadn't realized he was going to be so relieved to hear, that he wasn't this kid's father, but after having spoken to Cooper Benson he was feeling a little better about the prospect of someday being someone's father. And truthfully, he was having a hard time stomaching the idea of anyone being the mother to his fictional future children other than the pretty blonde girl that he knew was on the other side of the door he stood outside of.
Not that he was ready to mention that to her.
He had called her on the way over to give her a heads-up, letting her know that he had something that wanted to share with her. Brandon had even come prepared, having picked up a bottle of wine for the two of them. "Hey," he greeted her with a grin when the door finally opened.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 31, 2015 1:47:52 GMT
Amber was grateful that Cassidy was out for the night when Brandon called to let her know he was coming by. She'd straightened up a bit but was currently finalizing some last minute plans for the weekend in the Hamptons that was rapidly approaching. The addition of helping to plan the event on top of her normal duties was stressing her out slightly, and it was only with Cassidy's assistance that she was really surviving the work day. The idea that Brandon was coming over served as a welcome break. When he knocked onto the door, she looked down at herself and cringed a bit mentally. She'd gotten changed immediately after returning home from the office, slipping into a t-shirt and a pair of boy shorts. She contemplated how vain it would be to make him wait long enough for her to change, but decided against it, pulling the door open and beaming up at him. "Hi, come in," she greeted, reaching for his hand and tugging him inside just in case one of her neighbors walked by.
She pushed up onto her toes once she closed the door behind him and pressed her mouth against his. "So they reserved this great little beach cottage out east for Cassidy and me, but Cassidy actually wants to spend the weekend with the girls from TeenVogue who are flying out that we used to work with," she explained. "So what do you think about just shacking up with me for a long weekend, Mr. Finn?" she grinned. "I can order food and then throw out the containers and you can pretend I cooked for you, and with the exception of the work I'm going to have to do for the party - it'll be like a little vacation."
She gestured for him to follow her further inside and went to close up the folders on her dining room table which were mainly guest lists, vendor information, and media lists. "I even got a surprise for when we're there," she nodded. She turned to look at him, tilting her head as she leaned against the table. "Did you have a good day at work?"
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 31, 2015 2:02:34 GMT
He grinned at the sight of her. No matter how many times he had seen her in various states of undress, he never seemed to tire of the sight. Somehow she seemed to make all of the supermodels pale in comparison, and he justified it entirely to the fact that not only was she stunningly beautiful, but he loved her more than he thought he had ever loved anyone. She moved a mile a minute and he barely had a chance to offer her the bottle of wine in his hand. "This is actually to celebrate my day at work," he let her know, showing off the bottle to her. "I think a long weekend in the Hamptons with you sounds perfect." It was probably exactly what he needed right now anyway.
Brandon set the bottle of wine down and stepped closer to her, placing his hands on her waist and pulling her in closer. "The paternity test results came today." He told her softly, wondering how long he could hold it out before he told her. Something about teasing her with it seemed to be so amusing, but he knew that the celebrating would be worth it in the end. "The kid isn't mine."
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 31, 2015 2:14:59 GMT
Amber smiled at him, about to thank him for the wine before he mentioned the paternity test. It froze her right in her tracks. When he told her that he wasn't a father she let out an audible breath and wrapped her arms around him with a bright smile. Ever since she'd been told that it was a possibility, she'd been wrestling with the idea of it. The idea that Brandon could have had a child with another woman had been eating at her for days. She'd resolved that she would be okay with it and with whatever it was he wanted to do about it. She'd decided she would support him and that if he'd decided to actively be involved with the kid, she'd be there with him. She hadn't wanted to get ahead of herself, but at one point while ranting to Cassidy, with an entire bottle of wine in her hand, she'd mentioned she would actually probably make a pretty great step-mother - even if the word had a negative connotation. 'Fuck Cinderella' may have been her exact words that night. But now none of it mattered because there was nothing to worry about - no big decisions to make that they really didn't have much say in. Sure, it had brought other questions to her mind but she could put them off for a while longer.
She pressed herself against him and pressed her lips to his neck, humming contently. "I'm glad," she admitted. "So glad." She took a moment to stay there like that, arms around him with this fantastic weight lifted off of their relationship. She glanced up at him and nodded, chewing on her lip. "We would have made it work, I would have done anything...but I'm glad, Brandon." She nodded happily at him. "Want me to open the wine?"
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 31, 2015 2:39:34 GMT
He knew that she would have been great at all of it, the whole step-mom thing, being there for him as he tried to figure it out, but he still had felt bad throwing it at her. When they had reconnected at the reunion he hadn't been expecting for things to pick back up where they had left off, and he hadn't been expecting for things to move so quickly once they did. Quickly for him, at least. Then to ask her to suddenly find herself involved with someone who had a kid they didn't even know existed, that seemed like too much too soon. And part of him had felt like it wasn't her problem to have to deal with.
"Sure," he nodded at her. It wasn't just the situation with the kid that he knew that she would have done her best at, and when she said that they would make it work, he knew that it was something that probably was true about all aspects of their relationship together. He wanted to make things work with her and he wanted to continue to move their relationship, and their future, forward. "You should move in with me."
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 31, 2015 2:54:35 GMT
She was already in the kitchen and fishing out one of the corkscrews - because she and Cassidy kept many extra emergency corkscrews around the apartment - when he mentioned moving in with her. The corkscrew clattered to the floor. "What?" she asked, reaching down to get it. "Glad I wasn't holding the bottle when you said that." She stood up straight again, leaning forward with her elbows on the counter that served as a divide between the kitchen and her living space to look at him. "I should move in with you," she echoed as a wide grin spread across her face. The idea of moving in with Brandon and waking up next to him in the morning and falling asleep to him every night - it was essentially everything she wanted. The nights they spent together were her favorite - watching him look over some papers for work and asking him to explain them to her even though she had no clue what he was talking about while she sat in bed next to him. Getting ready side-by-side and straightening his tie with a kiss before they both had to leave for work in the morning. The very idea of having that permanently elated her.
She paused for a second though. For the past few weeks, really since the fiasco that had been poker night, she'd kept her things to her work tote - Cassidy ran her clothes almost every morning unless she'd had the foresight to pack something. Her tooth brush, whatever book she would read, it all came with her as she entered and exited the Penthouse. She chewed on her lip for a minute before looking up at him. "You know you'd basically be stuck with me then, right?" she asked teasingly. "I mean this is home-Amber," she gestured to herself before reaching up almost instinctively and self-consciously to run her fingers through her hair and smooth it out. "Home-Amber really likes Netflix, really hates pants, and sometimes isn't very exciting. That's who you'd be sharing half of your space with, Brandon," she nodded, fidgeting a bit. "Please don't get me wrong, I want to. Being with you is home, Brandon. I just want to make sure it's really what you want."
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 31, 2015 3:07:37 GMT
Admittedly, he hadn't given the idea of her moving in with him much thought. At least not in terms of their previous argument about the Penthouse being his. He had been thinking about what it was going to be like to wake up in the morning and find her pouring over a crossword puzzle, her glasses perched on her nose. That was the thought that he kept coming back to, that was the life with her that he was looking forward to. He smiled at her warmly, "Yes, I know that means that I'm stuck with you." The thought really wasn't that terrifying, if he was being honest. He had normally started having second thoughts about the status of his relationships, the seriousness of them, at this time. But right now all he could think about was coming home to her at the end of every night and waking up next to her every morning.
She reminded him of what "home-Amber" was like and he couldn't help but continue to smile at her. He really liked home-Amber too, regardless of the fact that he might have accused her of not being very exciting before. Really, most of his time with her had been exciting, whether they were watching a movie, going out for the night, or just curled up in bed together. That was the future that he wanted with her, that was the relationship that he wanted to have with her. And by moving in with her, he felt like he could not only have that relationship all of the time but that he would be taking a step toward a more serious relationship with her. "I mean it. You should move in with me."
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 31, 2015 3:18:10 GMT
Amber was pouring the wine, but she was acutely aware of the smile he was giving her. She liked that, after all of these years, that smile made something in her stomach flutter and her chest tighten. "Yes," she nodded, walking around the counter with two wine glasses and holding one out to him. "Yes, I would like to move in with you." She beamed at him, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet as she lifted the glass to her lips. She couldn't help but giggle softly as the realization sunk in that this was actually going to happen and she was struck, again, by just how much she loved him. Placing her glass on the counter, she hoisted herself up to sit on it, legs dangling over the edge. She thought briefly about how annoyed Cassidy was going to be when Amber told her that they needed to pack her things again, but figured she'd make it up to her somehow - with shoes, and a bonus, and some really good wine.
"So, roomie," she quipped with a coy smile. "Any ground rules I should know about?" she smirked at him. "Because I think we should personally have one about staying in bed on Sunday mornings until the last possible minute," she suggested.
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 31, 2015 3:29:41 GMT
He took the wine glass from her and took a drink, trying not to smirk too broadly at her. He had plenty of rules that he was willing to implement with her as his new roommate. If he could have he probably would have moved her over there right this minute. Brandon was actually excited to take their relationship to the next stage, and that was something that was new for him. "I think staying in bed for as long as possible goes without saying. And I think that you should also have to wear your glasses around the Penthouse more, and continue to wander around in nothing but what you're wearing now."
He stepped in front of where she was sitting on the counter and placed the wine glass down beside her. "Are you happy?" He smiled at her, pressing a kiss to her lips.
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 31, 2015 6:46:04 GMT
Amber hummed happily against his lips, tilting her chin to kiss him back. She placed her hands on his shoulders and tilted her head at him. "I'm very happy, Brandon. And I can agree to wear my glasses more. But I think I'd rather trade this out for one of your shirts. The only reason I'm wearing this is because I forgot to sneak one out of your closet when I left the other morning," she teased, though it was true. She was sure he hadn't noticed yet, but when she'd left to go to school in California, she'd packed a shirt of his that he'd once left in her bedroom on the last night he'd been there. At UCLA, she would sleep in it - on bad days with 8am classes, sometimes she'd even wear it to a lecture before going back to change for the rest of the day. She'd only stopped wearing it when it didn't smell like him anymore. She was pretty sure that shirt was still packed away somewhere among her belongings, maybe in a drawer or one of her storage bins in the depths of her closet.
She pursed her lips for a moment thoughtfully, trying to think of any additional rules. "I hear that a really good rule is not going to bed angry, so I like that one. And I might require a waffle iron, but never fear, I had Cassidy buy me this cookbook - somewhere, it's a bunch of no-carbohydrate crazy stuff. The brat wrote the number for poison control on the inside cover but, I can bake so cooking can't be that hard," she mused. Her fingertips toyed with his collar and tie for a moment. She thought for a moment about what it was going to be like - the two of them living together.
Maybe ten years ago it would have been some sort of a disaster, the way that they would fight and play games with one another. But this was different, this was the two of them grown and more secure in knowing what they wanted and while it had surprised her that he'd asked, she was ecstatic to be saying yes. She knew that they wouldn't ever exactly be the picture of domestic bliss, she'd burn more dinners than she'd successfully make, they'd go out to things like charity galas and club openings more than your average couple would. And like ten years ago, they'd still know what buttons to push to rile up or subdue the other. But at the end of the day, the idea of having him to come home to every night felt right. "Are you happy?"
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 31, 2015 14:05:31 GMT
He probably would have given her a dozen of his shirts at the moment as a way of expressing exactly how he was feeling at the moment. He hadn’t been expecting to feel so elated simply with the addition of having her take a more serious role in his life. Brandon knew that it had been entirely his fault in the past when he had pushed someone away for fear of becoming too close, for fear of having something in his life change. But this felt different. This felt like he was doing the right thing and truly making himself happy. It was just an added bonus that it seemed to make her happy too.
He smiled at her as she explained her additional rules and her new cookbook, pressing another kiss to her lips. “I love you,” he said softly. The words had maybe be said more for his benefit, reminding himself that after all of their time apart, the still wound up right back in the place that they were meant to be. Having her living at the Penthouse seemed to be the logical next step, and he was absolutely certain that it was going to continue to make him happy.
“Very happy,” he told her with a nod. All in all it had really been a great day, what with the results of the paternity test and now the knowledge that Amber was moving into the Penthouse. “I’m excited to live with you. How long do you need to get everything situated?”
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 31, 2015 14:48:21 GMT
Even though she’d heard it – even dozens of times before she’d ever left for California, hearing him tell her that he loved her never ceased to make her breath hitch. She smiled broadly at him, nodding. “I love you, too,” she told him with a bright smile.
When he asked how long it might take for her to get her things ready to move, she laughed softly. “We just unpacked. I’m going to have to tell Cassidy to start packing all of my things up again. She’s going to threaten to quit. I’ll probably have to buy her something new from Dior,” she waved her hand flippantly. “Not very long. I mean, we could always start by moving some of my essentials over,” she admitted.
Leaning forward she pressed her forehead against his. “Which means, technically I could be packing things up here but staying with you…as soon as you’d like.”
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 31, 2015 15:32:36 GMT
He almost felt bad about the impending load of work that he was inadvertently causing by having Amber move in with him, but the positives of the situation outweighed the negatives. And besides, he was more than happy to hire someone to come and help her move if that's what it took. He hadn't really thought about the logistics of it all and had been instead focusing on what it would mean once all of the boxes were unpacked and the two of them were figuring out what a life together really looked like. The thought hadn't even occurred to him that this meant that certain things would probably have to change about the Penthouse too. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that. But, he justified, he could get use to it.
"We could also hire movers if you really wanted to." He considered her statement that she could start staying with him as soon as he'd like and he contemplated suggesting that they head over there now and start the next phase of their life, but then another thought occurred to him. "Is Cassidy out for the night?" He smirked at her, hands resting on top of her thighs, his thumb tracing small circles against her skin. "I mean - should we officially say goodbye to this apartment before we start moving you over to the Penthouse?"
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Post by Amber Jacobs on Aug 31, 2015 15:47:02 GMT
She giggled softly when he asked if Cassidy was gone for the night, she shifted forward on the counter, wrapping her legs around his waist and pressing a kiss to his lips. “Cassidy is out all night and crashing with one of the girls from the office. She won’t be back until tomorrow morning,” she nodded, her hands moving to loosen his tie.
She let out a soft sigh as his fingers traced over her skin. “And I believe that you and I have a few things to celebrate, roomie,” she joked.
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Post by Brandon Finn on Aug 31, 2015 15:58:04 GMT
He grinned and pulled her close, or as close as he could without just lifting her off the counter top. She was loosening his tie when he nodded back at her in agreement, "Quite a few things to celebrate, actually."
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