Meet the p a r e n t s!?, Vin,kthnxbai.

[vincent illan de atrio]

The air was definitely changing over the dinner table, Vin felt it the second Christofer actually halfway complimented him. It was possible that Addy's brother wasn't sincere in the least bit...but, no. Vincent could tell that he was being honest. The question was, who in the world was his informant? There was no way that he had seen Vin play first-hand, because he hadn't palyed since his freshman and sophomore years of high school on the other side of the country in Boston. Addy had never seen him play, in fact, Vincent weasn't sure they'd ever talked about sports, though he did know that she played soccer. And there wasn't a guy in the high school that had ever been on a club team or anything with him, because he didn't know anyone else in the school who had come from Boston, since he hadn't played the past year while living in Port Angeles. Maybe Chris was just being polite. Regardless though, Vin figured he had better thank him before the Berezovska thought him to be mute...or retarded...or a little of both. "I have my good days," He said, trying to sound modest. In reality though, he knew he was pretty much the shit. "But, uh, I guess we'll see come spring, huh?" For some reason, he could feel himself almost smiling. It must have had something to do with the fact that he thought it was possible to make his first almost-friend in the near future...but only time would tell on that one.

It was proabably a good thing that Vin had never been one to blush, because if ihe had been, his cheeks certainly would have turned a bit red when her mother fawned over the two of them for a moment. He smiled, but didn't say anything. In his experience--though he had very little, if any, on the subject--the guy wasn't the one to thank someone for saying how cute he and his girlfriend looked, and so he said nothing. Though, he supposed if the couple was gay, one of them would have to say something...but see, he wasn't gay, so he'd never have to worry about that. Jesus Christ. He wondered when he had gotten so god damned ADD just as Addy's mother suggested dessert. Smiling again, Vin said, "I'm game for dessert." Really, if her mother's dessert was even half as good as dinner had been, it would be amazing he was sure. But it didn't matter how sweet and amazing dessert was going to be, because Addy had to spoil the moment by slipping away. And it was one of those things that you'd rather not know about once you're on the inside. Is wasn't as though he had the option of following her and making her stop, so he resolved to simply stay put and stay pleasant when all he wanted to do was shake her and tell her that she was being stupid.

"So, Mr. Berezovska, what made you decide to come here from Europe?" It was the first thing he thought of to keep conversation moving. As long as he didn't get awkward though, everything would be fine. He didn't want to appear as though he was uncomfortable in their house if Adriana wasn't plastered to his side. "I mean, Adriana's told me how she was born in Greece, but then why move to the States?" See, while he liked Elli, he couldn't ignore the head of the house. And whle it would have been easier to be nice to Christofer--be it fake, half-fake, or genuine--he still couldn't ignore the twins' father. That was a horrible move, and he knew that as fact.

[adriana nafsika berezovska]

When Adraiana came back tot he table, her father was talking to Vincent like he was enjoying conversation. Well, that was a good thing, obviously he had asked the right question. "My business expanded, and I decided that a good outlet would be America. Also, Elli's fashion career seemed to have the best chance of going further if we moved here." Adriana slipped in next to Vin, keeping her eyes focused on the table so that the veins around her eyes and the slightly red tint wasn't obvious. "Besides, we wanted Ad and Chris to be well rounded culturally." He smiled at Vincent and then an ever wider smile lit up his face as his wife came out with dessert. She set a plate in front of him and then continued to move around the table, systematically setting it down. "There you kids, go." She smiled at the three teenagers around the table before taking a seat herself. "Dig it!" Christofer didn't need to be told twice.

Addy, on the other hand, hesitated, picking up her fork and biting her lip. She really didn't want to, except, part of her was telling her she might as well go ahead since she had already had dinner. She speared the dessert as a start and then looked around the table before taking a tentative bite. "We'll definitely have to have a pick - up game at school sometime before the season starts." Chris said in between bites, eyes flickering over his sister for a moment. Said sister took another dainty bite of dessert and tentatively slipped her hand into Vincent's, leaning slightly closer to him. She wasn't sure if that was from habit or because it was just nice to have him next to her. "Can't you talk about sports after dinner?" Addy complained half-heartedly. "It is after dinner, it's dessert Addy." She rolled her eyes and gave Vin's hand a squeeze before taking another bite and glaring at her smart ass of a brother.

"When you are all done, just leave your plate, I'll clean it up after." Elli told them all, and Addy took a few more bites before pushing her plate away and waiting patiently for Vincent to finish.

[vincent illan de atrio]

It was a funny coincidence that what Mr. Berezovska had said brought him and his family to the States was what had also brought Vin's parents over from England. "That was what my father thought when we first moved over here, though for me, I don't think my parents particularly cared about whether or not I was 'culturally well-rounded'." And that was the truth. The last time he could remember talking around the dinner table, let alone being in the same room with both of his parents was...a while ago. They might have all passed through a room, like the kitchen, at about the same time, but they didn't say anything more than 'good morning' or 'hello' to one another. There were times that Vincent hated that aspect of his home life, but at the same time, it allowed him to have freedom that most people didn't have until after college and after moving out from under their parents' wings forever. Though he knew he probably shouldn't like the fact that he had little "bonding time" with his parents, he couldn't help it. It was nice.

...Though if his mom cooked halfway as decently as Elli, he might've started demanding more family dinners just to eat her food. But, well, his mother was probably one of the worst cooks to ever grace the earth with her beautiful presense, so it was good that he didn't have nightly dinners to look forward to. "This looks great, thank you," He said, smiling at the bright little dessert on the plate in front of him. Before he could wonder if it would be rude to get right down to the business of eating, Christofer was already practically shoveling his food into his mouth. Following suit, though a bit less aggressively, Vincent happily put forkful after forkful of deliciousness into his mouth until, sadly, he realized it was gone. Adriana, who was once again seated next him and slipping her hand into his, was obviously wishing that she could make her dessert disappear without laying a single hand on it, though that wasn't going to happen. He watched her put some of it into her mouth out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah, definitely," Vin said, smiling at Chris' proposal. He could tell by her tone that Adriana was fed up with the sports-talk, even though they hadn't really gotten that into it, but Vincent couldn't keep himself from smiling at Chris' retort. That, and from saying 'Touche, Chris" to himself in his head.

Not only was she a phenomenal cook, but she was proabably one of the nicest, most self-less people that Vin had ever come across in his life. "Are you sure? I could help if you want," He said, carefully leaving out her name for fear of annoying her by calling her "Mrs. Berezovska" but then also for fear of aggitating her husband by calling her by her first name.

[adriana nafsika berezovska]

"Business certainly beckons in America." The head Berezovska said simply, relishing the last of his dessert. "You seem like you're well rounded though, Vincent." And he once again smiled at the younger boy, obviously liking his daughter's choice. "You certainly appreciate good cooking." The matriarch of the family spoke up, smiling around the forkful of dessert that she had in her mouth. Addy thought it was almost...weird how calmly her parents were taking this. This was after all, the first time she was taking a boy home. ((See, also, the first boy she had engaged in sex with. Uh, don't tell daddy.)) She had expected the third degree from her father the whole night under the watchful eye of her mother, or, well, at least something that could make the atmosphere slightly uncomfortable. But no, nothing. Obviously Vincent impressed them, or, well, they were convinced that this wasn't going to last much longer. She really, really hoped they were just impressed with him, because she was pretty sure it would break her heart if they thought otherwise. Her eyes shot to him and she settled on his face for a few moments just sort of...watching him. A few months ago she hadn't even known this kid or even thought about somebody in her life, and now, here was Vin as though he had just sort of been there all the while and just now decided to pop out and make himself known that he had, you know, always been there. Addy smiled slightly and then looked back at the table, feeling a warmth settling in her chest that hadn't been there a few moments before.

"Yes, dear, it's fine. I've got it. Maybe next time you come for dinner I'll take you up on that offer." Adriana perked her head up, unable to avoid the smile on her face. Her parents liked Vincent! Or, well, they had already invited him back to dinner, and she knew how important meals were to her family, both coming from cultures that pretty much centered the day around what they were going to have to eat in several hours. Christofer sat there smiling smugly, and now Addy knew that she owed him something in return for him being on his best behavior and actually playing nice with her boyfriend. ((Sports had, quite obviously, helped. And now maybe they would just play nice of their own accord. She was tired of Christofer thinking it was okay to punch Vin when he was feeling a bit agitated.)) "Thank you, Mom." Addy grinned at her mother and then turned to her father. "Thank you, Daddy." And then she all but jumped up from the table, tugging Vincent slightly, since, well, her her still was attached to his. ((And well, she didn't really want to let go, so if she could avoid that, she would.)) She had already put her dinner leaving episode in the past, and she assumed that Vincent had as well, since, well, actually, she didn't know why she would assume something like that.

But she did.

[vincent illan de atrio]

Vincent smiled at his girlfriend's mother and said, "The offer will still be standing then." Inwardly, he realized that it might be a bit too early in his relationship with Adriana to be that presumptuous to believe that he'd be coming back to her house in the near future, but the atmosphere over the table had been relaxed, much to his surprise, so he figured that he didn't screw everything up too badly. Besides, as far as Vin was concerned, assuming only made him look like an ass in those rare moments when he was wrong...and he was confident that this was not one of those moments. They had liked him, and he was proud of the fact that he held himself well throughout his first "meeting the parents" encounter (not that he was planning on having to go through the same ordeal again any time soon, if ever...he and Addy fit together too well to be planning on that happening). In fact, the smile on Adriana's face reassured him all the more that he had been a hit with her parental unit. Good. That was one less thing to worry about. The only thing left on his list to do with the Berezovskas at present was to make complete amends with Cristofer (even though it really should've been Chris who was apologizing...) and to become friends, or if not "friends-friends" at least they could be people-who-can-get-along-well-enough-to-play-lacrosse-together-and-kick-other-people's-asses-and-only-who-only-speak-when-it-is-convenient "friends". That sort of arrangement would work for Vincent, if he thought that it was all he was going to get. But Christofer didn't strike him as the type of guy to keep enemies for no reason. Sure, he was easily aggravated, but a grudge-holder? Vin really couldn't see that in him.

...Well, ignore the fact that he thought the only thing left on his list was "befriending Christofer", a new addition to the list, he realized, was to ask Adriana why the hell she couldn't control herself for one night. She could've sat at the dinner table for an entire meal for just one night and it wouldn't have killed anybody. The last thing he needed was for her parents to find out about what was going on, and to then pin the blame on her boyfriend. Maybe they already knew, or maybe if they found out they wouldn't think it was his fault at all, but he didn't want to wait around to find out if it were either of the two. It needed to stop. He didn't know how to make it stop, but he was going to find a way, damn it. And so he allowed Adriana to tug him along, while he tried to formulate the best way possible to approach the subject. Yelling never solved anything, giving her "the silent treatment" wouldn't even lead them to the subject, but trying to be calm wasn't going to work, either. He knew that already. As he recalled, it was quite the sensitive subject, and needed to be handled gently...but that wasn't going to work either! The more he tried to find the words to say, the more agitated he was getting. He decided it would come up later...whether of its own accord or by his force, it would come up (no pun intended). He couldn't date her AND this huge problem she had...it wouldn't work out if things kept on like this. Up until then, he kindly looked the other way when she disappeared to do her business...but things were obviously getting serious (sex and parental meetings weren't things he just did whimsically). And so, it needed to be dealt with.

[adriana nafsika berezovska]

As Adriana pulled Vin along she started to notice that he seemed a little, well...out there. Had her parents caused him to go into a catatonic state? She hoped not. Everything seemed as though it had been going quite well. Besides, he had talked as they were leaving the table. The young woman cocked her head to the side slightly, gazing up at his face and trying to figure out why Vin was being, well, a little strange. It wasn't just that he was completely silent, it was just the look on his face. She had the feeling that he wasn't exactly 'all there' at the moment. And, well, it was sort of bothering her, to be honest. Well, she'd start bothering him about it if it persisted after a few more minutes. It was hard to be too worried, because tonight had been absolutely glorious and her parents liked him, and her brother had been nice, and, damn. It had just been nice. A smile pulled at her lips and she didn't bother stopping it because, well, why should she? She had brought Vin home to meet the parents and all was still well in the world. Not that Addy had thought it wouldn't be. Because, well, seriously, this was Vin that she had brought home to her parents, and god knew he was an amazing male specimen. ((If she could say so herself, and, well, she did say so. End of story.)) The smile on her face grew even more and she slowed down as they reached the other living room. ((For some reason there were two. Nobody ever used this one, but it was Addy's favorite anyway.))

"Vin?" She questioned as she sat down on the couch, pulling him with her. Granted, she was sure that it wouldn't be so hard for him to resist, but she was hoping he would sit with her. "What's up?" The girl turned her wide blue eyes on him - minus the innocent look, because they both knew what the innocent look tended to mean - "You okay?" Uh oh. Maybe it was the food. Her mother's cooking was rather heavy and maybe it was a system shock or something. Or maybe she was just finding more reasons to worry and needed to just wait for an answer from Vin. She chewed on the corner of her lip and leaned back into the couch more, attempting to snuggle into the soft fabric. However, snuggling into something that's fairly unforgiving isn't really the way to go. But since Vin wasn't sitting yet there really wasn't a way to snuggle into him.

[vincent illan de atrio]

Though he was a bit frustrated with her (and not sexually, for a change), he could still appreciate the fact that she was still perceptive enough to realize that something was amiss before he said anything out loud. He applauded her for that. However, he would've been much, much happier with her if he wasn't feeling down in this sort-of "predicament" that he was now in, and she hadn't needed to use her apparently acute sense of others' feelings at all. Yes, that would've made him fucking ecstatic...but obviously it was too late for that already. And now that they were finished for dinner, Vin knew that the cards were going to have to get put out on the table...and he knew it wasn't necessarily going to be pretty. He knew he needed to be gentle with her--and he always was. He never, ever wanted to hurt her in any way--but still firm. Or something like that. He felt like he was acting like her parent, worrying about her like he was, but he couldn't help it. And to make him feel even more parental, he saw he tilt her pretty little head to the side like a perplexed child that doesn't understand when she's done something wrong. Well, he wasn't sure if he'd classify what she did as "wrong"...but it sure as hell wasn't right. He didn't know what that made it, because on a scale of wrong-to-right, he didn't know the word that referred the the middle, grey area of the scale. ...Those were the kind of things that, he guessed, people simply turned away from because that took less effort than actually assessing the situation. Now that was wrong, and he wasn't going to keep turning a blind eye. He wasn't...

Vin let go of her hand and sat down beside her on the loveseat. He put a hand around her shoulders, pulled her into him slightly, and then let his arm casually fall and drape itself over her back so that his hand rested lightly on her waist (her small, small waist). Vin sighed deeply, trying to think of the best way to approach the subject; he just knew that it had to be the first order of business...he couldn't get distracted by any sexy or cute action that he might've wanted to start with her then. Well...okay, maybe he could spare a kiss. Taking that liberty, he pressed his lips to hers sweetly for a moment...and then he knew it was time to get into the unpleasant part of the evening.

Well...here goes nothing.

"Addy?" He said quietly, "Can I ask you something?"

[adriana nafsika berezovska]

There was just something...not right. And, well, yes she had pointed that out already, but it was just becoming more and more obvious. As she continued to stare at his face, she thought she could see flashes of emotion flit across his features before disappearing again. All she wanted to do was reach up and kiss him, or hug him, or, well, or something. However, she realized that just waiting would certainly be prudent in this situation. She was, first and foremost, waiting for him to sit down, if only because at least then she knew that he wasn't going to end it or something. At the moment it seemed as though he was distancing himself from her, though she knew that couldn't be the case. Once again, the temptation to just come right out and ask was overwhelming, but she was attempting to at least attempt to exert some sort of self control. Adriana resorted to fidgeting like a small child to keep from having all her attention focused solely on Vin. It felt almost like Vin was being a parent, though Adriana wasn't exactly sure why. This wasn't something that she had seen coming at any point, so trying to cope with such a situation was fairly difficult. As she waited, she started a mental prayer, hoping that Vin wasn't going to say they needed to break up or something, because she swore that might make her life far more miserable than it had ever been before. It probably wasn't good that she was so attached to a boy, but...

But then he sat down next to her and the touch made her feel immediately better. She leaned in to him almost on habit, relaxing. The hand around her waist was just another reminder that Vin wasn't going to tell her that he was done, and it had been nice, but there was better out there. The kiss pretty much ensured that she felt safe again. Except, then he asked if he could ask her something. "Uh, of course, Vin." She said softly, turning to glance into his pretty blue eyes again. "What's up?" For some reason, Adriana sensed she wasn't going to like what came out of his mouth next.

[vincent illan de atrio]

And then Vin really started feeling like a moron...an oxymoron, that is. He wasn't sure if it made sense to say that a person felt like "an oxymoron", but in his mind, that was the only way that the way he was feeling could most accurately be described.

Gentle...but firm?

Sighing again, Vin's thumb simultaneously circle over the skin on Addy's hip lightly. Well, here we go, he thought. He felt like it'd be okay for them to sit side-by-side as long as she would cooperate with the conversation he was going to try to have with her. That's what he was hoping for; cooperation and maturity. "Addy, I-uh," he stuttered, realizing that this was going to be more difficult than he had thought, "Well, I was just...wondering what you thought of, uh, dinner tonight?" Vincent crossed his other arm across his body so that he could rest it on her thigh, figuring that if he could manage even a little bit more contact with her, it might make her feel a bit better. "I thought it went pretty...well," he said quietly. Now this was what one would call "beating around the bush", which Vin generally tried to avoid doing, but he didn't think there was any other way. Well, actually, he knew this was pointless too, because at one point or another, he was going to have to come right out and say what he was thinking, because he knew that the beating around the bush was going to turn into a game that Adriana was going to try to play to escape the conversation (or maybe she would see where he was coming from with everything, and maybe it wouldn't be quite the ordeal that Vin was preparing to face).

He had yet to have a time spent with Adriana that he could've actually called "awkward", but this seemed pretty close. The mixture of him stuttering around like an idiot because something was obviously on his mind, him not knowing how to vocalize his thoughts, and Adriana confused about, well, everything most likely was making for a very unsettled-feeling Vin. But this was going to be like going running...every time you reach the three-quarters mark of a mile, you feel like you can't finish, and there's no way in hell that you're going to make it to the end of the mile if you don't stop to catch your breath. This was that point, he thought. This was going to be that last thing to push through before they were sailing past the finish line smoothly, laughing at how silly they had been while formerly doubting themselves.

If they could make it through this, they could make it through everything; they'd make it through every single mile.

[adriana nafsika berezovska]

Uncomfortable. Yeah. That was a pretty good word that could describe the atmosphere in the room at that current moment. And the thing was, Addy didn't think there had really ever been a time that things with Vincent had been awkward or uncomfortable, and well, their relationship had progressed very strangely. But now, for some reason, it felt as though she was standing on the edge of a cliff, swaying back and forth in some pussy breeze. Now she was just waiting for the strong gust to send her plummeting over or rocketing back to safer ground. It, quite obviously, was not a very nice place to be. Of course, Vincent didn't seem much more comfortable than she was. Perhaps the only thing sure about him at the moment was the thumb circling comfortingly around her hip and the warm hand resting on top of her thigh. But his manner, other than that, was entirely strange to her. Vincent was almost always sure of him, and right now he was stuttering and tripping over his words. She also had the sinking suspicion that he was beating around the bush and it put her a bit on edge. What in heaven's name was he rambling about? He had been at dinner and she had thought that it had gone perfectly well, hadn't it? Nobody had yelled at each other, food hadn't flown, and nobody had ended up with a utensil stabbed through their flesh. In fact, over all Addy had thought it had gone much better than she could have ever hoped for. Vin was obviously a winner. But, obviously, there was something wrong. The more that she listened to him talk the more she realized just what he was getting at. In all honesty, though, she sort of hoped that it wasn't.

"I thought it was fine." She said simply, almost curtly. Adriana was suddenly feeling very sick to her stomach, even though there wasn't really much in it now. "Everybody seemed to really like you." She continued, picking around the subject carefully. "Why, did you think that there was something there that didn't go well?" Adriana needed to hear him say it, just in case she was being paranoid or something. But perhaps Vincent hadn't been too happy about her leaving the table in the middle of dinner. She had assumed that maybe he hadn't even thought about what it meant when she had left the table, but obviously he had. It wasn't that she thought he was stupid, she tended to just think that people didn't really consider that sort of stuff. Adriana felt her hands breaking out in a cold sweat and she took a few deep breaths. She pressed closer to him, as though his body warmth was going to make everything go away.

ooc;; Addy is attempting to be sweet and agreeable with Vin. I'm going to have to punch her. Hard.

[vincent illan de atrio]

Had she not heard him? He had said that he thought it went well. But, oh, he supposed that meant that she was catching onto what he was carefully treading around. Shit. And now that she was, he wasn't as sure as he had been before that he wanted to, basically, duke it out verbally that night. There wasn't really a way to change the subject though (even though they technically weren't on any subject yet), because if he were to say "oh no, nothing out-of-the-ordinary happened tonight, forget I said anything, and pretend I haven't been acting like a prick", she would press the matter. He disliked it when people started to tell you something, and then changed their minds and stopped, so he wasn't going to do that...even though this was one of the times that doing just that might benefit the other person. Wait...no. No, no, no. Allowing this to continue was not helping anyone. It had to stop. "Oh, well, I really am glad that they seem to approve," he said, "Really, I am." He was staring straight ahead, eyes not moving really at all. It wasn't that he was zoned out, and happened to have been staring at the wall before zoning, it was that he didn't want to look right at her for fear of what he might see on her face. He was actually terrified that fear, anger, or, even worst perhaps, hurt expressions were going to settle onto her face...and he hated, he hated knowing that he was going to do that to her. But it couldn't be helped.

"And I think your mother is an absolutely fantastic cook," he said, trying to smile. The expression died before it could do more than tighten his cheeks a little bit...his lips never even had a chance to move. He knew she had seen it happen too, even without looking at her out of the corner of his eyes. He just...knew. And he felt badly, because he knew that she then knew that something was definitely not right. "So...uh, was there something wrong with your food tonight?" Well...there is was. He asked about it. His mind screamed 'duck and cover! Duck. And. Cover!!', but he wasn't going anywhere just yet.

[adriana nafsika berezovska]

"I'm glad that you're glad." Adriana was trying to act like everything was normal, except, well, you know. It wasn't. The facial expressions that Vin was attempting were making even her feel uncomfortable, and she hadn't seen his smiles fail so miserably even when he had been 'mauled by a bear.' See: Christofer. There was obviously something bothering him and he was certainly taking his sweet 'ole time getting to the punch. Normally, well, Adriana wouldn't complain. She loved just sitting and talking with Vin and she never minded just listening to his voice, even if he was off rambling about nothing. But even his voice was sounding weird. Come on, Vin, just tell her! He still wasn't looking at her either, and well, that was also pretty weird. Did she have something on her face or something? Almost immediately her hand flung up to check. She swore, if her entire family and Vin had let her sit on the table looking like a retard... But no, there was nothing out of the normal on her face. Hmmm. She narrowed her eyes and continued to look at him, even though he was staring at the wall. It was, however, still very difficult to get too annoyed with him, because both his hands were still in contact with her leg and hip respectively, and the one was still rubbing soothing patterns. So, you know. Difficult. Then again, she wasn't sure she could easily get angry at Vincent simply because he was Vincent.

"Of course she is." Adriana eyed him suspiciously, because really, where was he - oh. Oh. "Besides the fact it was packed with calories, no, there was absolutely nothing wrong with my food." She knew that she needed to stop, and she knew that Vin was only doing this because he cared about her. And she knew that she should appreciate it, but she just wasn't really ready to face it, though she knew that she had to. He had probably just not picked such a great night to bring it up. "I'm sorry that I disappointed you." Be mature Addy, be mature, please be mature. Except, she was just, angry. Because, look, she knew that she was being stupid, but could everybody just leave her alone? She felt tears beginning to well in her eyes, more out of frustration than anything else. "I'm trying Vin. And look, I'm sorry." Though she sounded more mad than she did sorry. She actually had the mind to pull away from his touch, feeling like a child that hadn't gotten what they wanted.

[vincent illan de atrio]

There was a rather...tense tone in her voice when she spoke. Just by listening to her, he couldn't quite decide whether she was completely upset with him as in "sad", or completely pissed at him (thought he figured it was probably a bit of both). Finally he looked over and down at her...and...oh no. Oh no. Shit. Well...he'd done it now. He saw her eyes getting watery, and he wanted to take it back. He wanted to say "just kidding, honey!" and take a few steps back in time. He had nothing to say about the thing she said about calories, because he didn't know much about nutrition and all of that healthy shit...he just ate and enjoyed. No thought. For her things were obviously different, but he couldn't understand why. Eating was mindless...so he couldn't really wrap his mind around why someone would turn it into something so complicated. Calories-schmalories. And when she continued, her voice was still quite tart, if you will. "No, please, I'm not...disappointed, Adriana," he said, because he didn't want her to think he was, like, angry or something (though he was a little bit), because he was sure that getting angry would just make the entire thing worse. And now, he was looking at her, the rest of him was completely still (save for his chest rising and falling as he breathed), and he was bent on trying to convey what he was thinking as he said, "I'm extremely concerned for you, though." And, okay, maybe she was trying. There was no way for him to know that she actually meant that when she said it. He felt horribly not trusting her at her word...but something in his gut told him that she wasn't being completely truthful with that particular promise of sorts.

Hoping to try and stop an argument before it started, Vin said, "Look, Adriana, I have no idea what this is all about, but it can't possibly be good for you...and I, I just want to help..." And that was really all there was to it. If she needed him to tie her to a tree or something to help this end, well, he was her man! But she was going to have to not cry. God, he felt like such a dick at that point. He was praying that the little tears still holding onto her eyes had been the only ones that were coming...he hadn't prepared himself for a tear-party, though now that he was thinking about it, he probably should have. Maybe he was being insensitive, and that made him feel shittier. Maybe he was just a stupid boy, and girls had to do things like this...he guessed he would never know for sure. And besides, this wasn't about "girls", this was about Adriana, the small, angry girl he was still looking at, and still trying to understand.

[adriana nafsika berezovska]

He wasn't disappointed? Could have fooled her. She narrowed her eyes and scrunched her nose, trying to figure out just which emotion was predominant at the moment. Was it anger? However, she knew that if it was, part of it was fueled by pure fear. Was Vin going to give up on her? She honestly didn't know if she could stand that. Vincent just seemed, perfect. And no, he was not a perfect person, of this Adriana was entirely sure. She would be stupid to think that he was and she probably would have been concerned for the relationship. But, well, she felt that he was perfect for her. The fact that he was concerned was comforting, but, well, it was one of those times that she just didn't want concern. Well, she did, but not that sort of concern. At this point she was trying to hold back tears and fend off an impeding headache, because really? Did this have to happen after such a nice night? Everything had gone perfectly! Her parents liked him, Christofer liked him, and, just. She took a few deep breaths, already missing the absence of Vincent's body warmth now that she had moved away. "That's good to know." She muttered under her breath, bringing her hand up to quickly swipe across her eyes. The last thing that she was going to do was cry. Because, seriously, why was she even getting all worked up over this? Maybe it was because Vin had left her alone about it for the longest time and she had assumed that he was going to keep on going that way. She should have been flattered, she knew, that he was even confronting her about this when he didn't have to.

"Then I think you should just leave if you want to help." Adriana didn't know what made her say it, but she knew it was just safer that he leave now before she did something stupid. And, well, that was more likely than anything. Besides, if she started yelling at him then her parents would know something was wrong, Christofer would go right back to hating Vincent, taking every opportunity to beat his face in. The last thing Adriana wanted was that. It wasn't that she really wanted Vin to go permanently away, she just, well, she just needed some time to think about things. Perhaps consider what she was going to do about her issues first, of course. She couldn't imagine it was comfortable for Vin to know what she was going off to the bathroom to do. Her eyes dropped from his face to the floor and she swiped her arm across them again, taking a few deep, shaky breaths. "I'm sorry, Vin. It was a nice evening. See you in school or something." Her tone was deadbeat and she was hoping she could hold it all together long enough to escort him out of the house and talk to her parents and brother for a little. Then she could run up to her room and collapse or something.

[vincent illan de atrio]

Well...he could understand the disbelief that struck her face before she had that sad-but-pissed look about her again, because obviously he was disappointed, or else they wouldn't be talking about this (not that they were really talking about it all that much). How could he not be disappointed though?! Especially since she was saying she was trying, when obviously, she wasn't. Trying would've made her able to get through one night without taking another step down the path of royally fucking herself over. He would've thought that, being the intelligent girl that she was, she'd know that already, and she would've been trying her damnedest to stop what she was doing. But again, it was apparent that it was still happening, and that wasn't right. It didn't sit well with him, and so long as it seemed to "sit well" with her...he didn't know exactly what he was going to do. He wasn't sharing her with something that got to spend more time with her than he did, and therefore had more influence over what she did and when. She was his, as far as he was concerned. Sure, it was probably not cool of him to be so possessive of her (in a protective way...not, like, a wife beating "women are my property" sort of way). Her lashing at him verbally wasn't making him any more willing to sit there and fight an invisible problem for time with Adriana. At least for the night, he needed to leave. He needed to get away from her and he needed to think about...stuff.

But, well, he hadn't expected her to be practically kicking him out of the house. Despite the fact that he was frustrated and angry and otherwise upset, if she had just asked him to stay, to sit down and just listen to her, he would have. But nope. She wanted him out. And you know what? He wasn't going to make her say it twice. Although he still couldn't believe that she was telling him to leave, he stood up and said, "Fine." And everyone knows that once one side of any fight breaks out the word "fine", it's going down...and not in a good way. "It was nice, Adriana, and I'm sorry that I have to be not nice right now," he said, knowing full-well that he was going to hate himself for saying what was coming next, but also knowing that something like it needed to be said, "I really, really lo-uh," woah, Vin, you can't drop the L-bomb in a sticky situation--even if you think you really mean it--because it tends to make shit worse, "Like you, but I don't know what's going through your head. So...when you decide what or who you like more, I'll be waiting, and uh, I guess we'll go from there," he said.

Without so much as kissing her on the cheek, he started to leave. There wasn't really any need for her to walk him to the door or anything like that...so he merely looked back at her for a moment, hoping it wasn't going to be the last time he ever saw her (because this wasn't the best last memory to have), and he softly said, "Goodnight, Adriana." And he left.