Chapter 7

"It's a gorgeous ring,"Diana said, studying it rather enviously.She and Allison were seated in the kitchen, while Roger was in the other room, taking up space on Diana's couch. He was pretending he was reading and not listening to their conversation—except for when he decided to put his own two cents in.Other than that, it was just like old times, back when she was living with Diana, and life was simpler.

Except it hadn't really been simpler. Back then, she'd still been torn between doing what her parents wanted and what she wanted, on top of the fact she'd been unhappily dating Roger and wishing Todd would come back into her life. Now that she had what she wanted, shouldn't she be happier?

She let out her breath on a puff of air, running her free hand through her hair.Diana had hold of her other hand and hadn't let go for the past ten minutes, studying the ring from every side, a wistful expression on her face.

So far, this visit hadn't gone quite as she'd expected.

First, she'd expected Diana to immediately agree with her about the perfidy of Todd's betrayal.She hadn't expected Diana to be more interested in hearing about last night's proposal rather than this morning's drama. Although from a feminine standpoint, it made a lot of sense, she wasn't used to Diana acting like... well, such a girl. Then had come the additional surprise that Roger was over and not inclined to leave, although he'd given them the courtesy of moving to the other room, so they could have a semblance of privacy.

Something was going on between him and Diana. She had a feeling Diana was being punished for something, much in the same way Todd occasionally punished Allison, which was unexpected from Roger—until she'd discovered, Todd and her ex had apparently become better buddies than she'd realized. Roger told her he supported Todd's actions and had, in fact, known about them beforehand and encouraged him to talk to her parents. Which had been the second big surprise of her visit.

The third came from the strange sense of deflation she had the longer she'd stayed. When she'd left the house this morning, she really hadn't wanted Todd to follow her. Now, back in her old apartment with Diana, she found she was already missing him, even if she was still mad, although that particular emotion was becoming harder to hold on to.

Still, there were some emotions being uncovered, now that they weren't masked by her anger—disappointment, hurt, betrayal, helpless vulnerability. And mixed into all of those, a strange sense of relief and love.

Now that she could think more calmly, she realized he'd done it for her.He hadn't meant to make her feel out of control, which is what the situation with her parents often made her feel, and going behind her back to talk to them had exacerbated that.Todd was used to being in control, not to mention protective, one of the things she loved about him—most of the time. It's not as if she could pretend she didn't know he was controlling.

He cared—enough to try to fix things for her, even if she hadn't wanted him to. It was a nice gesture, a loving gesture, just not one she appreciated at the moment.

"You aren't going to change your mind about marrying him, are you?" Diana asked, still holding Allison's hand in both of hers as she looked at her with worried eyes.

"No," she said definitively. That thought definitely hadn't crossed her mind. Okay, well, maybe it had crossed it, but she'd dismissed it immediately. Even the idea of taking the ring off caused her chest to constrict painfully. "I'm just so... so angry, and more than that. But at the same time, I know he meant well. It's just... it's my family. I should have been the one to make the decision whether or not to tell them about our engagement."

Diana pursed her lips thoughtfully. "What if the situation was reversed? Wouldn't you want things to have things settled between him and his mom before a major life-altering event? Especially if you'd been the inadvertent cause of the rift?"

Allison shift uncomfortably.She hadn't had much contact with Todd's mom other than a phone conversation here and there, but those had made her nervous at first because, of course, she'd wanted to make a good impression.

"Maybe, but I wouldn't have gone behind his back to do it," she retorted.

"Even if he was acting irrational about it and refused to discuss even the possibility of approaching her?" Roger asked in the driest voice she'd ever heard him use.Turning, Allison glared at the back of his head.

"There's no need for comments from the peanut gallery."

"Proving my point about your irrational viewpoint."

Deciding it was best to ignore Roger, she shrugged off his observation and pretended they didn't stick her, turning back to Diana.

"We could have discussed it together after we got engaged," she said, looking a little glumly at her ring. "There are certain things that should be joint decisions. I know I agreed to be submissive in the bedroom, and I tend to let him run things outside of it as well, but that doesn't mean he gets to completely run my life or make unilateral decisions completely opposed to what he knows I want, without even talking to me about it."

"That I agree with."

"Shut it," Diana snapped with a bit of her old spark as she glared at her boyfriend. Roger turned his handsome blonde head to give her an amused but quelling look,Allison recognized well. Although she'd never seen it on Roger's face, she'd seen it enough on Todd's.It promised later retribution for brattiness but in a most likely pleasurable manner. There was a little sparkle in Diana's brown eyes that said she knew it, too and didn't mind.Allison couldn't help but smile at her friend's happiness, thinking it both strange and wonderful, things had turned out the way they had.

"You're right… but Todd's right, too, which unfortunately means, nosy over there is also right." Roger coughed, and Diana ignored him. "You have been kind of unreasonable about your parents, and from an old-fashioned guy's perspective, he probably wanted to do the right thing and at least let your parents know before he proposed. He has a lot of pride, so it's probably bugged him you've kept him hidden from them. He probably wanted to clear up any misunderstandings and see if they would accept him before he asked you."

Allison made a face. "But I don't care whether or not they accept him."

"Doesn't mean he doesn't." Diana gave her a pointed look, and Allison sighed her acceptance.If the situations were reversed, she would definitely feel uncomfortable, Todd's mother didn't accept her. Not that she'd met her yet, but they'd talked on the phone several times, and the conversations had gone really well. "But you're also right about him taking the reins on an issue where he probably should have at least consulted you.Unfortunately, I don't really see a good compromise for the situation."

"Probably cause there really isn't one," Allison said ruefully. "We were at opposite ends of a spectrum, and there was no way to meet in the middle... not if he was going to surprise me." She sighed. "I guess this means I'll have to forgive him."

"You could make him work for it." Diana grinned wickedly. "It might be good for him to grovel."

"I wouldn't hope too much for that," interjected Roger. "Apologize, yes, grovel, no."

"Would you grovel?" Allison asked, actually looking for his opinion for the first time since she'd arrived at the apartment.Of course, she hadn't needed to ask him before because he had offered it freely.

Turning around, Roger slung his arm along the back of the couch and gave his girlfriend a dazzling grin.

"For Diana? Absolutely. But I'm a different kind of guy.For Todd, giving an apology is like groveling." He gave Allison a pointed look, one obviously meant to remind her there was a reason she'd dumped him and ended up with Todd. "And you should remember that."

She made a face at him, and he grinned again before turning back around and going back to pretending to ignore them. Diana squeezed her hand, regaining her attention.

"So, what are you going to do?" Diana asked.

That was the big question.After talking with Diana and Roger—and calming down a bit—Allison had to acknowledge Todd had some good reasons for his actions. On the other hand, she also had some good reasons for being mad.Yet, even though she was still upset, she was starting to wish she was talking to him, not her friends.Silly to miss him after only a few hours, but she'd gotten used to having him as her rock to lean on, and even though he was the cause of her current state, she wanted her usual rock.

"I guess I'm going to go home and talk it out with Todd."

Diana nodded, smiling. "I think that's a good idea."

"The hallmark of a good relationship is being able to handle adversity," said the peanut gallery. Allison couldn't help but roll her eyes and be glad Roger couldn't see her smiling. Although she definitely wasn't interested in him in any kind of way other than friendship, she had to admit he had become a lot more interesting since she broke up with him, and he started dating Diana. A change in character similar to the one she had gone through after meeting Todd, perhaps. He was definitely a lot more amusing, now he wasn't so focused on being polite and gallant all the time—a lot more annoying, too.

"Thanks for talking with me... both of you," she said, giving Diana a hug.She gave Roger a hug on her way out of the door. Some of what he'd said had helped her, even if she hadn't been looking for advice from him.Getting a guy's perspective had been nice, although she was annoyed with him for encouraging Todd to talk to her parents. At least it showed her Todd wasn't the only idiot male in the world, who thought it was a good idea.

* * *

When she got home,Todd wasn't there.She wandered around the house, looking for him, even going so far as to knock on the door to the playroom. The urge to go inside was more overwhelming than it had ever been before.

Was she subconsciously looking for some kind of punishment? Or maybe just some kind of release?There was no denying, sometimes their rougher sexual activities ended cathartic, and she'd had some pretty big emotional ups and downs over the past twenty-four hours, especially now. She was getting nervous about having walked out on him this morning rather than staying and listening to his side of things.

Granted, she'd been pretty angry, but now, she was feeling bad about her complete lack of communication.

Then again, part of what she was angry about was his lack of communication.

Except if he'd told her he wanted to talk to her parents before asking her to marry him, he wouldn't have been able to surprise her...

Gah.

There was just no way to avoid going around in circles, which is why she wanted him here. It only took her about twenty minutes of impatient waiting before she decided to text him.

Hey... I'm sorry I left so abruptly this morning. I'm home now, and I'd like to talk when you get home.

Jiggling her phone around in her hand, she decided to watch some TV to pass the time.Maybe calling him would have been a better idea since she would have gotten a response immediately, but if they'd started talking, she probably would have started the conversation about this morning and wanted to do that in person.

Talking out deep issues over the phone seemed like a poor substitute for face to face when they actually lived together. It would be one thing if they were a long-distance relationship, but as it was…

Yech. Even in her head, she was babbling. Being on the outs with Todd was extremely uncomfortable. Fortunately, he didn't make her wait long before texting back.

I'll be home soon.

She made a face at her phone before dropping it on the couch next to her. Soon... what defined soon? It could be anywhere from one minute to thirty, maybe more. Although Todd was pretty good about being on time for things, so hopefully, he wouldn't make her wait long. There really wasn't anything on television to garner her interest. Saturday afternoons were not exactly prime viewing hours. Ooooh... Law and Order: SVU marathon!She and Diana used to call it Law and Order: FUS, as in Fucked-Up Shit, which it was, but it was also a damn good show. Since she hadn't seen the current episode, she had a chance of being sucked in, so the time didn't go by so slowly.

Actually, she was so deeply involved in the mystery of finding out who killed the little girl, by the time Todd got home fifteen minutes later, she didn't run to meet him. Well, that was partly due to her own pride since she didn't want him to think he was immediately forgiven. It didn't take him long to find her, put his hands on her shoulders from behind, and lean down to kiss her left temple.

"FUS?"

"Well, I had to do something while I waited for you to get home," she said, a hint of banter in her voice to let him know she wasn't truly angry anymore. "And I hadn't seen this one."

"Ah," he said as he came around the side of the couch, sitting down and sliding his arm around her shoulders. "Hence the lack of interest in my return."

She made a little huffing sound, not quite an answer.She wasn't disinterested in the fact he was back... but now he was here, she still wasn't quite sure what she wanted to say to him… or him to her. And it really was a good show.Part of her wanted to stand her ground and make him ‘pay' for going behind her back, but the truth was, she liked cuddling with him and wanted to snuggle into his warmth. So, she did, deciding pride wasn't worth giving up cuddling.

Todd curved his arm around her, tucking her in even closer, and rested his chin on top of her head. Whether or not she was angry at him, she liked being in that little nook. She appreciated he didn't want to get back into the argument, the second he got home.

"So, where'd you go?" she asked when the next commercial break came up.

"Chad's."

"Oh, yeah? What'd he have to say?" she asked curiously, moving away from him just enough, she could see his face. As she moved her upper body away, Todd reached out and grabbed her legs, pulling them over his lap, and Allison giggled as he raised one of his eyebrows at her.Even now, when they hadn't made up yet, he managed to make her feel loved and as if he couldn't get enough of her. Another girl might not allow him to maneuver her around, might try to make him work harder, but Allison didn't think he'd done anything out of malicious motivation, and she wasn't going to play games. She was ready to work things out and acted like it.

"He's missed you at the family dinners," Todd teased gently, rubbing his hand over her ankle as Allison bristled, eyeing him suspiciously. She was only ready to forgive if he was ready to ask. "He thinks your parents have been unreasonable and understands why you've been waiting for them to make the first move."

Looking into his dark brown eyes, Allison could see the warmth and understanding.

"I thought you understood that, too."

"I did… do." He ran his hand through his hair, ruffling it the way he did when he was searching for the right words. Hiding a little smile, Allison did her best to keep a stern look but knew her expression had softened. It always did when he ruffled his hair like that."But I think it had also become pretty obvious, they are just as stubborn as you are, and someone needed to break the ice.I think they even realized they were wrong to try to make you do everything their way but are also worried about you and think they know the best way to make sure you're happy and secure."

"It would have been nice to hear it from them."

"None of you would have heard anything. I think you're all stubborn enough to sit around and wait for someone else to make the first move." Todd raised his eyebrow at her again, this time in a challenging way. "Would you have eventually decided to be the bigger person and reach out?"

"You still should have talked to me before talking to them," Allison said grumpily, although she couldn't argue his point. Maybe the stalemate with her parents had gotten a little ridiculous. Sure, they were unreasonable, but in a lot of ways, so was she. Was she really expecting her proud parents to come crawling to her? Talking to them, as long as she held her ground, wouldn't be considered crawling on her part, but she'd found it easier to keep pushing it off and concentrate on the other things in her life that were easy and made her happy.

Deep down, she knew her parents probably wouldn't have turned her away if she'd gone back to talk to them, even if she'd insisted on going her own way in life. The only thing that had been keeping her from doing so was the fear, maybe they did care more about their status than her and her own pride.The pride she got from them, the same pride probably keeping them from her. That was an unsettling thought, mostly because she didn't want to be as unrelentingly proud and uncompromising as her parents.

"Yes, I should have," Todd said, interrupting her thoughts as he reached out to cup her cheek, rubbing his thumb over her soft skin. Allison turned her head to press her lips against his palm. "But then the proposal wouldn't have been a surprise. Every time I brought up trying to talk to your parents, you became kinda unreasonable." A small smile played on his lips, and she smiled back reluctantly, knowing he was right.

"I just don't want you making unilateral decisions about things that affect both of us. Especially when it comes to something to do with my family."

"I won't… at least, I'll try not to. I definitely won't do it again on purpose." Reaching for her, he pulled her onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist as she placed her hands on his face, tipping his head back to look at her. "That wasn't my intention. But I don't think there's ever going to be anything else I would need to keep from you, anyway. I'm only planning on proposing once."

"Oh, well, that's good to know."

They smiled at each other.

"I just want to make things right for you. Always. I hated seeing how depressed you were whenever you talked about graduating. I could practically see you thinking about them and wondering if they were going to be around for that. Also, considering how many points I already had against me in their books, I figured asking for their blessing about proposing to you would probably give me a few points in my favor."

"Blessing, not permission?"

He gave a little growl. "Do you think I'm the kind of guy who asks for permission to marry my girlfriend? Besides which, you don't need your parents' permission for anything. You can make up your own mind. I just wanted them to know my plans, and they obviously thought they knew what your answer would be."

"Well, that's good," she said thoughtfully. She liked that Todd hadn't asked for permission, yet had still given a respectful nod to the old-fashioned custom.

"I just wanted to fix things for you. I couldn't stand seeing you unhappy when there was something I could do about it, and on top of that, I wanted your parents to know who I was and to know I was taking care of you."

"I do understand, I really do," she said with a sigh, running her hand over his chest. "And I accept you had the best of intentions."

"If it helps, I think your parents still aren't thrilled, you're with an up-and-coming businessman instead of someone who's already more established," Todd teased. "But because they miss you and love you, they grabbed at the chance to talk to me and have me help mend the breach."

"Actually, that does help a little," she teased, snuggling into him as the show came back on. They watched without talking until the next commercial break, which was also the end of the show. Allison sighed in contentment.

"I am sorry about storming out this morning," she said ruefully."I needed the space to cool off, but I shouldn't have just left like that."

"It's alright." Todd shifted her around in his arms to a more comfortable position."I understood.And I should have told you in a better way."

"I could maybe wish you were a little less understanding," Allison murmured, sliding her nails up the back of Todd's neck into his hair, raising goosebumps along his skin as he gave a small shiver.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes." She curled her fingers through the silky soft strands along the nape of his neck, giving him a coy look. "I'd really like to see what our sex room looks like, you know."

There was a moment of silence as Todd mused over her words, his cock hardening beneath her bottom. It wasn't the first time it had done that since she'd gotten on his lap, but it had a tendency to waver off and on since they hadn't been doing anything sexual.

"Alright," he said, slowly standing as he shifted her around in his arms, a wicked grin spreading across his face.Allison felt her body tighten in excitement. "I think I'm ready to show you."

As he flipped her over his shoulder, so she was hanging down with her face at the small of his back, she gave a small shriek and laughed as he moved toward the stairs.

"I can walk, you know!"

Todd slapped her upturned ass, eliciting another shriek.

"I prefer you like this."

The area he hit smarted, but in a good way.Allison grinned as she hung over his shoulder. Not only was she going to get to see the room, but she felt quite certain, she was heading for a very pleasurable punishment.Taking the lead last night had been a lot of fun, but right now, she couldn't think of anything better than being at Todd's mercy.

"I think I'm going to like being married to you."