Chapter 26

[simtopi]

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26: Snowfall

Gabriel: You sure you got that?
Lydia: I'm fine. It's not as heavy as it looks and I'm not as wimpy as you think I am.


Gabriel: Geez, sue me for trying to be considerate. I just didn't want you to throw out your back, it's a bit of risk with sims of your advanced age.
Lydia: Hmmm. An old age joke? Not your best, Gabe, I'll give it a 4.
Gabriel: Who said I was joking?


Lydia: You know you're not too old for me to smack.
Gabriel: Just be careful with that, you might end up hurting yourself... brittle bones and all...

Willow tried hard to shut out the exchange. She wasn't able to hear their conversation clearly but it was enough that they were distracting. Students moved in and out of the dorm all the time at the beginning of the term, so she should have expected this. The dorm was generally quiet most days, but this weekend seemed to be everyone's moving day.


She could probably have gotten more reading done if she shut herself in her room all day. Though at the same time, she was sort of curious about her new dormmates, even though she never really interacted with many of them in her first year.


Gabriel: I think I'll really get to like it here.
Lydia: It's an interesting old building. Though I don't know why you wouldn't just get a room with Jasmine at my old dorm.
Gabriel: Nah, only jocks stay there. I'd end up being the token fat kid.


Lydia: For heaven's sake, Gabe, you're not fat.
Gabriel: You would say that, Mom. Anyway, yeah, this place is still a step up from the hole I lived in last year.
Lydia: You mean my house?


Gabriel: Admit it, you couldn't wait to get rid of me.
Lydia: It's okay, hon, I get that living with half a dozen strangers seems more independent than living with just one person.
Gabriel: No offense, but it is different if that one person is your mother.
Lydia: Sure, I get it. I moved away from home too you know when I was your age. Anyway, where's this room of yours?
Gabriel: It's on your left. All the way at the end.

Willow closed her book. Maybe it wasn't the best place to get caught up with her reading.


She began to walk to the common room, passing by her new dorm mate as she did. She thought of saying something, but as soon as she moved closer, her shyness managed to get the better of her and she was only able to smile politely.


Gabriel didn't miss the quick and awkward greeting while Willow passed by. He had briefly noticed her sitting there, but she seemed to blend into background with the furniture. Close up he could tell that she was pretty in a strange, nerdy way. There was definitely something about her...
Gabriel: Sorry, didn't mean to chase you out. We'll be done soon, I swear.
Willow: No, it's fine. I'll just read in the other room. Take your time.


Gabriel: Well... I'm Gabriel by the way...
Lydia: Could you at least wait for me to leave before you do that?


Gabriel: Do what?
Lydia: Hit on the pretty girls. I know this is your 2nd year of college now but it's still unsettling.
Gabriel: Mom, you're seriously throwing me off my game here.


Lydia: Come on Don Lothario, I can't stay parked out front all day.
Gabriel: Who's Don Lothario?
Lydia: The dreamy doctor from "Pleasantview"?
Gabriel: That soap that you watch? Come on Mom, you know I never pay attention to that crap. Wait, that's the show with those hot red headed twins in it right...?

Willow couldn't help overhearing the conversation as she walked away. She caught herself grinning widely at the fact that he noticed her. Boys never notice her but Gabriel did.


Gabriel: All done, finally. I hate moving.
Willow looked up briefly as he walked into the common room.


Gabriel: I know I'm probably bugging you again. But yeah... in case you missed it, I'm Gabriel.
Willow: No, I didn't miss it.


Gabriel: You must be Willow... Jasmine's friend. And the lady I have to thank.
Willow: For what?
Gabriel: I'm Jasmine's cousin. You told her there was a room here. So here I am!
Willow: Right. Here you are.


He sat there a little awkwardly, watching her as she looked down at her book rigidily. He was beginning to wonder if she was trying to brush him off with her aloofness.


But the truth of the matter was that Willow had no idea what to say to him. She was too self-conscious so she did what she did best and threw up all her defenses, pretending to be too engrossed in her book to manage even small talk. Just a little bit of small talk, Willow, come on??? begged that small part of her that was systematically smothered by her overanalytical mind; The part of her which stressed about what he would think if she did talk only to end up stuttering, or saying something completely ridiculous.


Gabriel: Um... so anyway. I'm gonna go and get unpacked and stuff.
Willow: Okay...
She managed to say that, but it sounded more like sigh of relief.


Gabriel: I've got the last room on the west wing... it's got a great view of the street. Come by anytime... you know, if you want to hang out or whatever. Invitation's open. Anytime...


He walked away before Willow could gather the courage to just put down her book and say something. But it was too late, and now those barriers would stay up for the next couple of years. She had never taken him up on his invitation.

---

Present day


She wished she could have taken back all that time and gotten to know him better over the years. She never gave him the chance because of her own stupid insecurities. After a while, they had just become used to things being the way they were. Willow had other things to worry about anyway.


But now that he was here in her life, she couldn't imagine him out of it. It felt nice to be able to be able to have someone around to talk to every day. It was nice to finally be able to hold someone's hand, to hold him close and kiss him whenever she wanted to.


It felt good to care this much about one person. This was everything a good relationship was supposed to be, and the novelty of being in one hadn't quite worn off for either of them yet.


She was supposed to feel good about this.... but Willow couldn't.


Gabriel: So you're going to be okay and everything right? You're not gonna stress about your brother today?
Willow: Well, I've got a ton of other things on my mind, but I'll try not to worry about Rowan if I don't have to.
Gabriel: You had a pretty big weekend. Meadow dropped a ton of bricks on you.
Willow: Having a brand new nephew isn't a bad thing, I think. Believe me, I wish that was all there was to it.
Gabriel: You're not going to tell me what happened on Friday night are you?


Willow stayed silent and tried to smile.
Willow: It's... not a big deal in the long run. Whatever Rowan told you I'm sure he was being overdramatic or something.
Gabriel: Uh huh. Willow, you know if there's anything going on you can tell me.
Willow: I know. I promise I will if it's important.






She didn't feel good lying to him. But aside from the need to keep him safe and away from the mess she managed to get herself into, she also needed him to be someone to keep her sane and grounded. Someone to remind her that she didn't have to be a witch all the time. That's not exactly the best reason to be in a relationship, her annoying and constantly doubtful inner voice was saying. She tried to answer it by telling herself that she will tell him everything. Eventually.

---

Cecilia sat in the hall way, poring over the books she picked up at the library. It was one of a dozen she managed to find about ghosts, hauntings and the paranormal. A lot of these seemed like they were all a collection of stories written by amateur horror movie screenwriters. She didn't feel like going through all of them to find out exactly how to go about getting rid of a ghost.


The other night she had wandered around the mansion until she found the attic door. She thought about going up there to explore it. But it was late, and she doubted that there was any light up there.


She was startled when she heard the door rattle open behind her.


It was only a very curious Tashia. Cecilia was unable to explain why she was in the closet right now looking up at the attic door. She decided against exploring for the moment. Whatever was up there could wait until daylight. The mansion itself was creepy enough.


She looked up just then to see Willow Marlen heading to the lecture hall. Cecilia sighed, looking down at the book in her hands.


No, she didn't feel like reading through any of this at all.

---

Willow sat quietly waiting for the lecture to start. She was way too conscious of Carl Andersen's eyes boring at the back of her head. There was another thing she hadn't given a lot of thought to at all... her membership into the Landgrabb Society. It didn't concern her a lot, she never wanted to be a member anyway. And she had even stopped thinking of the Ressurect-onomitron considering her recent encounters with various undead creatures. But she really needed to stop thinking about all this. She really wanted to make it through this semester and eventually graduate college.


Of course there was Adrian. She couldn't exactly forget how her weekend started. There were definitely bigger things going on, but how could she forget what he told her the other night and what had happened between them.


She watched him enter the lecture hall and take the first seat he found instead of joining her.


She tried not to think about it as the lecture went on. She was having a difficult time anyway. It was getting harder to read her own notes and she still hadn't bought herself a replacement for her glasses.


She figured it wouldn't hurt ... using her magic to keep her vision. But she didn't anticipate the spell wearing off. She didn't exactly want to get a new pair of glasses... what if Gabriel didn't like them? What if that's what made Adrian finally think she was worth it...

---

She practically ran out of that class when it was over. She didn't think Adrian would go over and talk to her but she wanted to avoid him anyway.

She barely heard the cheerleader slam open doors as she careened down the hallway.


The cheerleader didn't even stop much less apologize when she had accidentally knocked into Willow as she ran down the hall.


Willow tried to suppress a few choice swear words that she probably picked up from Rowan. One might have slipped... she surprised herself. She hardly ever swore, and not even the events of the past weekend had been able to make her do it.


Cecilia: Are you okay?


She was surprised to see Cecilia standing in front of her.
Willow: Yeah, I'm okay. That was rude.


The two stood apart facing eachother awkwardly for what seemed like a long time. Willow didn't know why she waited. Cecilia looked like she had something to say. It was strange. Willow never spoke to Cecilia if she could help it.


Willow: Is there something I can help you with, Cecilia?


Cecilia: Yeah there is. And this might sound weird. But um... me and Jasmine were talking. And I think she might have mentioned it to you. But you... you know about "ghosts" right?
Willow: I don't know why Jasmine would say that.
Cecilia: Why else would Jasmine mention it?


Willow: I don't know. Bad joke maybe? Why would you care?


Cecilia: I don't care... I mean I do. But I'm not going to say anything about it if that's what you think I'm going to do. I'm not going to make fun of you.


Willow: It's all you you ever did, Cecilia, why should I believe you?

Willow couldn't help but be a bit annoyed by this. After everything she had possibly gone through this weekend, the last thing she needed was to deal with Cecilia, and whatever prank she has in store for her. When Jasmine first told her that Cecilia was seeing ghosts she couldn't help but be a little intrigued. It was her own natural curiosity, particularly about anything paranormal. But she wasn't sure she could believe anything coming from Cecilia.


Cecilia: If you know anything at all... I mean, I know you read up on this stuff... I need your help.

Willow was stunned. Her plea actually sounded genuine.
Willow: I have a ton of things to worry about already. Why would I possibly want to help you?


She took a deep breath, her shoulders squaring proudly.
Cecilia: Okay, sorry I asked. Forget it.


As she began to walk away, Willow turned and sighed.
Willow: Cecilia... I have to get going now. But I can come by later on after my exams are done if you want to talk about it.


Cecilia: Okay. Thanks Willow.

---

It was a sound defense mechanism... if you pretended not to pay attention to anyone, if you shut everything else out, then for the most part people tend to leave you alone. Dealing with anyone at this point was not what Jasmine needed today. Usually she didn't mind keeping herself busy, or at least being social but today she definitely didn't feel up to it. If anyone asked, her weekend was awful and that's all there was to say about it. And surprisingly it wasn't even the witchcraft or the vampires that made it necessarily bad. Vampires she could see herself dealing with face to face. Being completely and stupidly drunk in front of the guy she was crushing on wasn't something she could easily come back from.


And at this point, she wasn't going to deny herself anymore. She had a crush on Adrian. She pretty much laid it all out there the other night and he'd be completely dense not to have been able to figure it out by now. She couldn't imagine how that whole thing might have looked to him. She had started the night out with another guy... who only now she remembered she should probably call back. She already knew she wouldn't. If Kyle cared, he'd have called her first. At least that's how her personal logic worked.


Willow: So you had to sic Cecilia on me?


Jasmine: What?


Willow: I just bumped into Cecilia in the halls. She wants my help.
Jasmine: With the ghost stuff? Are you serious?


Willow: Did you tell her anything about me?
Jasmine: No, I didn't. I swear. Honestly, I just needed to get her off my back.


Willow: Off your back... she's your sister, why don't you talk to her? You know she might have issues...
Jasmine: Cecilia's an attention whore. She always has issues.
Willow: Well do I look like I have either the time or inclination to deal with your sister's issues?
Jasmine: Just tell her where to go then. I can't deal with her right now either.


Willow: I guess your weekend didn't get much better, huh?


Jasmine: No it didn't. I'm probably still hungover from Saturday night. But let's not get into it. Yours is probably more interesting anyway. How's your vampire buddy doing?


Willow: My 'vampire buddy'?
She rolled her eyes.
Willow: I actually don't know. Something else sort of came up.
Jasmine: Oh really?
Willow: Yeah. I'll tell you about that later. I promise. What were you doing getting drunk anyway?


Jasmine hesitated for a moment, seeing Adrian and a friend of his walking down the hall from the other side of the lounge area.


He looked back at them, though she wasn't sure who exactly he was looking at.
Jasmine: I don't know. An old boyfriend came over and it just happened. Oh god, I can't believe it just happened.


Willow couldn't help but notice him too.
Willow: God Jasmine, what did you do this time?


Jasmine: Stupid shit. But somehow I ended up in bed with Adrian.

Willow's heart skipped a beat when she heard what Jasmine said. Her voice cracked slightly.


Willow: You ended up in bed...?


Jasmine: We didn't do anything. We were just talking. And I was shit-faced. Probably not my most charming moment ever.
Willow: Jasmine...


Willow: You don't have a thing for him... do you?


Jasmine turned away without answering.


Willow took a deep breath, trying to calm her stomach. It was as close to an admission to anyone else as Jasmine would ever let on, Willow knew that. But she didn't know why it was making her feel so awful. She couldn't imagine Jasmine with Adrian... the same way that she couldn't imagine any other girl with him...


Willow: Jasmine...
Jasmine: Listen, I know how he feels about you Willow. So forget it.




Willow: Nothing's going to happen between me and Adrian. I hope you know that.
Jasmine: For Gabriel's sake, I hope not. I saw you two together earlier. Not that Gabe's had a lot of girlfriends before, but I've never seen him like that with anyone. He's really into you. It would suck on so many levels if you screwed that up.


Willow: Believe me, I don't want to.
But there was a tiny feeling in her heart suddenly and she didn't know where exactly it had emerged from. It was an old feeling from her teenage years that she had managed to suppress for the longest time and it was trickling up slowly inside her. It was jealousy.


Willow: Are you going to do anything? About Adrian that is...
Jasmine: Totally can't deal with that right now and I really don't want to. Just don't worry about it...


They were both distracted by a sharp sounding giggle from across the lounge area.


Willow glared at the cheerleader, remembering her as the one who pushed her down earlier, not bothering to apologize.




Jasmine: How obnoxious is that. Does she really think that'll impress him?
Willow: Does that really impress anyone?


As soon as the cheerleader touched him flirtatiously, Willow couldn't help herself...




The coffee cup flew out of Adrian's friend's hand and seemed to literally pour its contents all over the cheerleader. Everyone turned to look as soon as she swore loudly and angrily.


Jasmine: Very mature, Willow.


Willow: Oh you would have done it too if you could.

---

She had sat in her room staring at the assignment on her monitor for as long as she could, but words and numbers just started to blend into eachother. She could escape to the gym as she had many times before but tonight she didn't even have the energy nor the desire to do so. But she needed something.


Giving up, she simply walked outside. It was cold and the snow was coming down heavily now.


But the cold woke her up and helped her sharpen her thoughts and the quiet relaxed her. She didn't know why she couldn't keep her own emotions about a guy in check this time. Even though she knew she'd never felt this way about anyone before. She hated how stupid and helpless it made her feel.




Adrian: Isn't it a little too cold to be out here without a jacket?
Jasmine: I'm good. Don't you worry about me.


Adrian: Are you kidding? It's freezing!
Jasmine: You've been in the desert way too long. You're going to have to get used to this all over again.
Adrian: I've never been a winter person.


Adrian: You feeling okay?
Jasmine: Peachy. Just peachy.
Adrian: I know we hadn't talked since Saturday night. That must have been some hangover.
Jasmine: Yeah it was pretty epic, but I'm over it now. Sorry you had to see me that way.
Adrian: Jasmine... I'm not judging you here.
Jasmine: Yeah. Sure.


Adrian: And I know I probably can't expect the same from you.
Jasmine: Are you talking about Willow?


He didn't reply.

Jasmine: Right. Well, who am I to judge you?
Adrian: You were right about one thing. I am an asshole. I knew she was dating your cousin. You have every right to be mad.


Jasmine: Is that why you think I'm upset?


Adrian: I transferred from LFT because it pretty much sucked for me to be so far away from my family. And Willow, too. She's always been one of my best friends. I missed her most of all when I was living away. I guess I didn't realize that I missed her so much because I actually had feelings for her.


Jasmine: And by the time you figured that out, she was already with someone else. Yeah, it sucks to be you.
Adrian: I don't know what I was thinking the other night. I should have just left the whole thing alone.


Jasmine: Well, what are you going to do about it now?
Adrian: It's not like I can just turn it off. I can't stop thinking about her.
Jasmine didn't know what to say to that.


Jasmine: I think you're right. It is cold out here.
She began to walk away.
Adrian: Jasmine. I know what you're going through.


Adrian: And I want to tell you that I know what it's like.
Jasmine: To know what, Adrian?
Adrian: To have someone you have feelings for not feel the same way about you.


And in that moment Jasmine realized that he did know. She stared ahead, unable to turn to look at him, unable to even address what he just admitted. All she knew was that something tightened in her chest and her limbs felt numb. She felt colder than anything winter could throw at her now.

Adrian: I'm sorry.

---

Willow looked up at the sky, amazed at the amount of snow that was falling. It had been falling intermittently all day and night. She was convinced that campus would be completely buried the next day.


But it was still pretty. And under the blanket of white, Willow could imagine a different world where she didn't have to worry about anything that had happened to her recently. If only her problems could just stay buried under all that snow.

It also reminded her of other times...






No witchcraft. No vampires. No exams or term papers. They were kids and there wasn't a lot for them to worry about.


She wondered what it would have been like if she had kissed him the other night. But she followed her first instinct, and she knew it should be the right one...


Why are you even thinking about this, Willow? she scolded herself, trying to shut the memory from her mind. She had Gabriel now. It was Gabriel who made her laugh, who made her feel warm, comfortable and safe. She never felt that with Adrian. She felt guilty even thinking of him now.


Gabriel walked up behind her wrapping his arms around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. She sighed against him, smiling as she indulged herself in his warmth.
Gabriel: You must be freezing out here by the window.
Willow: I'm not anymore.


Gabriel: What are you doing up so late?
Willow: I was studying. And I couldn't get to sleep.
Gabriel: Should I be worrying about you more than I already am?


Willow: I'm a big girl, Gabe, you don't have to worry about me all the time.
Gabriel: Can't help it. You're a mystery sometimes, Willow.
Willow: I thought you had me all figured out.


Gabriel: Yeah, I thought so too.

His eyes were always friendly but there was something deeper there this time. It was powerful... she felt as if she could melt just staring back at him. She could feel her heart start to pound strongly and her skin begin to warm.


She smiled at him nervously.
Willow: It's just me, you know.
Gabriel: I know. I really wish we'd gotten to know eachother a lot earlier than this.
Willow: Funny. I was thinking the same earlier.


He pulled her close again to kiss her. She met it eagerly, pressing herself against him until it seemed like there was nothing left between them. Everytime they kissed, it felt like this and everytime they did they both knew they wanted it to go further. She didn't know why she was thinking of Adrian when there were moments like this. She was Gabriel's. She wanted him. She wanted to love him.


She reached up and spoke low against his cheek.
Willow: We can still get to know eachother better.
Gabriel: Is that right?
Willow: You know all this time we've lived in this place, I've never once been in your room.


He chuckled awkwardly.
Gabriel: What you want to see it now?


Willow: If the invitation's still open.
She gave him a low, beckoning glance as she walked by gracefully.


Gabriel: Wait... this isn't what I think it is...is it?


Willow: Gabriel... are you going to join me or what?
Gabriel: Yeah. Shit yeah. Give me a second, I've gotta figure out if I'm dreaming or not.
Willow: You're killing the mood, you know.
Gabriel sighed as he watched her walk across the room almost entranced with how she moved. Shaking his head in quiet disbelief, he took a deep breath and followed her.



next » [ Chapter 27: Mortality ]

-----------------------------------
notes:
* I know I probably can't write drama and romance as well as I wish I could, which is why it took me so damn long to actually write this out even after the screens were done. This chapter was probably the hardest chapter I've actually had to write yet.
* I know things have been slow lately plotwise, but ideally there should be more supernatural fun in the next few chapters.

Comments

[orikes13.livejournal.com]

eeeee! I was so excited to see this go up.

First off, you do a better job writing romance than you give yourself credit for. I think you do a good job capturing emotion on a general level, and romance is just another exploration of emotions. There's a degree of uncertainty in the way your characters are approaching it, which I think makes it feel very real.

Second off, dammit Adrian! You are not supposed to ruin my shipping you and Jasmine! (I keed.. I like that it's not easy for them, but I still hope it'll work out in the end.)

I loved the little scene with Cecilia and Willow too. Cousins doesn't mean they have to get along, does it. :)

Goooood stuff and well worth the wait.

[simtopi]

Thank you, that means a lot. It usually takes me a night to write out a chapter but this one spanned out over a couple of days and I even had the chapter outlined and plotted in my head. The actual writing part was tricky and I had to go re-read and revise several times to make sure everything made sense and didn't sound so cheesy.

It was fun for me to get Cecilia and Willow back in a scene together. Technically I guess they are cousins, as they are related by marriage, but not by blood. If it were the latter, that'd make Willow and Gabe's relationship kinda weird. >_>

Thank you again for writing! :D

[niki1988.livejournal.com]

Bravo, bravo! Another amazing chapter! I can't wait for the next. I was shocked when Cecilia was asking Willow for help, after she'd been so mean to her.

Loved the flash backs too! What's Adrian going to do about his feeling for Willow? And what will Willow do now that she is with Gabriel?

lol, for what Willow did to the cheerleader.

what about Jasmine, will she tell Adrien her feelings?

What about Wesely and the others? And what'll Roman's reaction be when he finds out he's a Father?

Sorry for so many questions, this chapter made me so giddy!

Let me know when the next Chapter is up!

[simtopi]

Haha, lots of questions indeed :D

First of all, thank you. I'm glad you liked it!

I imagine Adrian already knows Jasmine's feelings on many levels. What he'll do now with either Jasmine or Willow will be for another chapter. I hope I don't disappoint there.

Wesley, and the rest of the vampires, ghosts and witches we'll definitely get to soonish... next chapter even. And as for Rowan reacting to being a dad, I doubt he'll be very pleased but we'll get to that too. :)

[leapsbarnes.livejournal.com]

I haven't commented in forever. I'm sorry <:( But this chapter I just HAD to comment on! I love Willow being seductive! *giggles* It's so cute. And I loved Gabe's response. ^^ Oh gosh, I love them. I really really hope things work out for them. Because I want Willow to love him, and I also really want thing to work out for Adrian and Jasmine. Oh man. The scene between Adrian and Jasmine was great btw. I felt HORRIBLE for Jasmine when Adrian said that. I know exactly how that feels, as I'm sure most people do, and it was like, dagger to the heart man. I'm incredibly curious about what Rowan will do when he finds out about Meadow and his kid. I think he'll be a good dad. He strikes me as the...honourable type. Which I know sounds ridiculous but. I don't think he'd leave Meadow and his son hanging. I just really don't think he's that kind of guy. Anyway, amazing chapter. I really loved it. :) &hearts;

[leapsbarnes.livejournal.com]

I'd delete and fix the hearts but eh, I cba ><

[simtopi]

Hey there! :D No worries about the commenting, I'm pretty bad at that lately too. But I'm happy that you're still enjoying it. :D :D :D <-- multiple smilies for you

I know you love Gabriel and Willow together. And as for Jasmine and Adrian, yeah, that pretty much sucks and we've been there to some extent. All of that was hard for me to write but I'm glad it came across. Rowan... yes, you're right he is what he is, but he's still pretty honourable. I personally can't wait to get to him meeting his son, but we'll see how that goes when we get to it. :)

Thank you so much for leaving a comment though. Can't wait to see you get back to the simmng world.

Oh and P.S. Just remembered what I was going to say about Willow... writing her that way was probably the most difficult I think. It needed to happen, but it's also not entirely in Willow's nature and Gabriel is so not the suave, and dashing romance story hero. It was tricky but it was also fun. :D

[leapsbarnes.livejournal.com]

I love your p.s. LOL! Yea, Gabriel is definitely not the suave and dashing romance hero. But I think it makes it more real. Almost no one is romance hero smooth and charming in that situation. I thought it was very cute and endearing. Like...this special moment for them. I enjoyed it a lot :)

[spyroeldragon.livejournal.com]

I agree with Orikes, you write romance really well, as well as drama. There was a lot in this chapter. :D
I just really hope that Jasmine + Willow won't have strained friendship because of the Adrian Thing, and it really pleases me how 'real' your characters are. As in, everything isn't going perfect for them. For example, how Willow is so happy with Gabriel, that her whole world should be perfect, but it's not, because she still has feelings for Adrian. And how Adrian + Jasmine should be getting together, because they're almost perfect for each other, but they can't, because Adrian doesn't return her feelings. I really like that. (If that makes any sense xD)
I liked this chapter a lot, too. Can't wait to see what happens next. :)

[simtopi]

Thank you :D. To be honest, this chapter really was hard for me to write because I didn't want anything to seem out of character. This was how the story is supposed to go, but getting the prose and dialogue down seriously warped my brain, lol. But it was still pretty fun and I'm definitely looking forward to writing more about these relationships. All I could hope is that it won't disappoint in the end.

[selenaq13.livejournal.com]

I'm torn now! I like Gabriel but there's something sweet about Adrian that I can't get over. I don't know what to think. If Willow and Gabriel hook up, then I know that Adrian and her may not end up together. However, sooner or later Willow may have to tell Gabriel about her supernaturalness and who knows how he'll take it? Sorry for the long ramble <3 your story.

[simtopi]

Gabriel and Adrian are both sweet guys and it would be nice to see all relationships work out in the end. But there's definitely more to tell so we'll see about all that.

And no worries for the ramble, it's always nice to hear other people's opinions here. Thank you very much. :)

[llama-ramalon.livejournal.com]

I have been reading this for awhile, but I do not think I have commented, so I would firstly like to say that I love this story. :)
Else-wise, dramallama :O. I feel bad for Jasmine, but it was probably better for Adrian to be more blunt, and get it out of the way, maybe? And as for Willow and Gabriel, of course she has to stay with him, he is adorable. :P

[simtopi]

Thank you for leaving a comment. I'm happy you're enjoying this story. :)

Adrian is a nice guy and he's honest, maybe to a fault so yeah he wouldn't be the type to lead Jasmine on intentionally or unintentionally. As for Gabriel staying with Willow, I really do like them together in my game. That's all I'll say to that. ;)

[simsinthecity.livejournal.com]

For someone who admits they aren't the best drama or romance writer, you did a great job. Which is, admittedly, a little bit of inspiration, because I don't think I'll be able to write very well when I try for a dramatic or romantic story line.

Personally, I like Gabe much better for Willow than Adrian. A big part of my choice there is that Adrian seems to have a pretty strong connection with Jasmine, while Willow is Gabe's only interest (unless I'm remembering wrong ... I've been very busy lately and I've had a hard time remembering a lot of details for just about everything). The big hurdle there could end up being when Willow tells Gabe she's a witch, depending on how he takes it. I don't really see him taking it the wrong way, though.

[simtopi]

Thank you for the compliment, that really is nice of you to say. I'm still not sure I can write drama all that well... I guess I prefer using pictures too much to do all that for me. But I'm glad you enjoyed it.

You're right, Gabe isn't interested in anyone else currently except for Willow. But whether that will be a reason to keep him with Willow shall remain to be seen. And he'd probably be more okay with Willow being a witch than knowing she's "thinking" about Adrian. ;)

[budgie-budgie.livejournal.com]

Fantastic chapter - as always! I'm definitely team Gabriel (McDreamy) so I'm a little nervous about Adrian now, even though his a sweet guy too, hmmm.
I also loved the school sorrundings you made for these scenes, so many great details! Great work!

[simtopi]

Haha, Gabriel McDreamy... lol when I first envisioned him I didn't expect him to be the story's "cute guy". I'm glad it worked out that way though.

Thank you!

[starling-1.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love this. You hit every note just right, it is pitch perfect. The yearning, the guilt Willow seems to feel because she can't quit Adrian, Jasmine caught in the middle of that, poor Gabriel. Wonderful, graceful writing.

I particularly love the shots you took here. Your use of trees and framing, the variety of angles, beautiful work!!

[simtopi]

I know it's bad juju to do so, but I couldn't help comparing my writing for this particular chapter with other sim stories that have more of a dramatic/romantic focus (such as yours, among others) because it honestly was hard for me to do, mostly getting the emotion down while keeping everyone in character. It was surprisingly a huge challenge for me. I wanted to maintain simplicity as I've always done but at the same time I needed big emotion, if that makes any sense. So yeah, I'm very flattered that you liked it and I really appreciate you telling me so. :)

[dgjamie.livejournal.com]

I saw you posted this yesterday just as I had to run out so I'm only just getting the chance to read and comment and I loved it as usual :)

As a couple of other people have said you are better the romance drama stuff than you give yourself credit for, if you hadn't said anything I wouldn't have known you struggled with this chapter. But I like how you don't over dramatize things on that front, and in some ways less is more. The romantic suggestion between Gabriel and Willow is just as touching and sexy as if you were to go more in depth with the whole conversation. This way it sort of just flows naturally.

You know speaking of those two, for some reason I always thought of Gabe as being older than Willow, now I'm not sure why that is, as I guess she is a senior, so he couldn't actually be older than she is and still be in Uni. I also resisted the urge to shake her a few times to try to get the doubts out of her brain with Adrian, but hey, I loved how it ended with her and Gabe so, yay for sexy time making me smile or something.

Your sets are always lovely btw, but in particular I loved the one that was the student lounge thing, or whatever you want to call it, gorgeous building.

Anyway, this was a pleasure as always, and whether the next part is supernatural fun times or moar dramaz I can't wait to see it :)

[simtopi]

Thank you! Like I told eshuff, I wanted to keep the writing simple and consistent with the rest of the story but at the same time it was just a big challenge for me to come up with ways to describe drama and emotion. It always has been, but it was a bit harder because of the particular events in this chapter as well as the characters involved. Unlike other chapters where I could just throw in a couple of vampires and some witchiness, simple human(sim?) drama was the only focus here, lol.

As for Gabe and Willow's ages, in actuality Willow is older than Gabriel. She was already a toddler when Gabriel was born in my game. But for the story sake, I sent them all off to college at pretty much the same time.

Thank you about the sets, I am really happy with those... I'm thinking of cleaning out the CC and uploading all the 3 community lots I use for Uni sometime shortly.

[mimiwiggles.livejournal.com]

sorry. i read this on friday but i didn't get around commenting till now but better late than never right? I love Gabriel and his mom's relationship. They're like friends even though she is his mom. and speaking of relationships... GOSH DARN IT ADRIAN! WHY DID YOU FREAKING MESS UP MY PLANS FOR YOU AND JASMINE?? ok, actually if you had made them get together i would totally have been bored. I like it how you keep us all on our toes. It makes me think could she fall for adrian in the end? or maybe even wesley? I guess she couldn't go for Linden cuz they're cousins. Or is there another charater that hasnt made their entrance yet? This story totally keeps me on the edge of my seat! I love how you make it a good romance/magic story without making it a twilight!!!! this is so much more unpredictable! :) can't wait for the next chapter!!! (or picspam :) )

[mimiwiggles.livejournal.com]

p.s. i'm SOOO glad you resolved Willow's mixed feeling about Adrian... at least the "attraction" ones... I hate it when people cheat, even if it's just in their minds (does that make since?) Plus I'm team Gabriel! (and Wesley)

[simtopi]

No worries about the late commenting. But thank you very much. :)

It was really fun writing Gabriel and his mother's relationship. Yeah, I do imagine them to be really good friends despite the fact that she's his mom. And Jasmine and Adrian... yeah... well you're right, if I did throw them together right now, then there wouldn't me much more I could do with them romantically, I guess. :) But we've yet to see what happens to all these kids. I won't give away who ends up with who and how they get there. ;) (And Jasmine and Linden aren't related by blood so it's still a plausible pairing there not that it's going to go there, but I'm just saying...)

Unfortunately as much as Willow really wants a simple relationship and to be able to fall in love with Gabriel, she still does have some unresolved feelings for Adrian at this point. Whether or not she'll cheat, we'll see. :p I can't promise you too much, but hopefully it won't be too frustrating.

Thank you again for the compliment, it does mean a lot. :)

[(Anonymous)]

as stated numerous times above, you write your romance scenes just as well as you write anything else. i would never know you had struggled to write it if you hadnt said so. it was very true to the characters and i thought it was cute what gabe said about not knowing if he were dreaming or not. this was as well written as any other chapter and i hope you are proud of all that you have accomplished, not just for your success in this chapter but the entire series. the pictures are spectacular. its intresting. well written (but i think ive said that a few times already). regularly updated. all in all, awesome.

[simtopi]

Thank you very much... this was very sweet of you to say. I do get bummed out and stressed about my own writing a lot. I'm not confident about it at all, and it's so sweet that you and others have said nice things about it. It does mean a lot to me. :)

[gloomaphobia.livejournal.com]

I just thought I should quickly comment now that I'm all caught up and say that your story is really awesome so far.

I've heard about it before and I always meant to catch up but never got around to it. I'm really glad I did now and I can't wait for the next chapter :)

[simtopi]

Thanks! It's always a pleasure to see new readers commenting here. I'm really glad you're enjoying it. ^_^

[claudiana.livejournal.com]

I've been catching up slowly and I'm commenting on this specific chapter to tell you that you write romance and drama beautifully and I cried. I always cry when stories are good.

[simtopi]

Awww don't cry, Lala. :D

But thank you very much for reading. I am really happy you're enjoying it. *hugs*