The Gregory home

[Raine Gregory]

[Elliot Gates]

Elliot had a brilliant idea panned out for Raine. He'd driven her to and from school that morning and afternoon, and now that they arrived back at her house, he looked over to her and smiled. "Hey, Raine?" He asked in a shy tone. "How long are your parents going to be away?" He continued, noting their cars weren't anywhere to be seen. Then he thought about how that question probably sounded and he was quick to correct himself. "I mean.. because I have something for you, but it's going to take a little while to do." Wow, that hadn't sounded any better.

"I... here." He chuckled, handing her an envelope with a skull wax seal on it for an adventurous touch . Inside were the instructions for her scavenger hunt in which he'd skipped lunch and his free period to set up for her. "I got your something, but you have to find it. So, you're going on a scavenger hunt." He said, reaching for both of their backpacks in the backseat. "I'll take this inside, here's your jacket because you'll need it.. and when you get back I'll be in your bedroom. You can't take a short cut because you'll miss something, and there is a twist." Elliot paused, adjusting in his seat. "Each spot has a clue to what it is and the next destination for another clue. If you can guess what it is by the time you get back to me, you win. If not, well, you'll see." He grinned and leaned over to kiss her cheek before stepping out of the car.

"You ready, love?" He asked, slinging both of their bags over his shoulders.

[Raine Gregory]

It was actually quite typical of Elliot to drive Raine to and from school so she hadn't really thought anything could possibly be going on today. She'd had a sort of rough day - she failed her Spanish test and found out that if she didn't bring her grade up then her parents were going to stop trusting her alone at the house and she really didn't want to stay at her grandmother's. It wasn't that she was doing something bad when she was home alone but she loved the independence that it gave her. She could come and go as she pleased without question, Elliot could come over.. Everything was so much better when they trusted her but her grades were slipping and she did need to improve them asap but the angry ranting voice mail on her phone from her mother hadn't exactly inspired her to get on it. She was actually kind of hoping that Elliot meant his comment about how long her parents would be gone in the dirtiest, sexiest way that he possibly could but it was fine if he wasn't in the mood, she supposed. Sex was just a wonderful way to forget about all of the other millions of things that she should be doing instead like homework or studying or deciding what she wanted to do with her future if she didn't get into Julliard.

She raised a brow when he handed her the envelope, "What's this about..?" She muttered under her breath before her eyes caught sight of the skull seal. Was this like a suicide note? She had a brief moment of concern but she forced herself to calm down especially as he explained a bit. A scavenger hunt? She'd never gone on one before but she had a mild idea of how they worked and she didn't know if she was going to like what she found in her bedroom. Was he going to dump her or be laying dead on the floor? Or was he going to surprise her in the most wonderful way that she could imagine by laying naked on her bed with a rose? Yeah, she should definitely think of that prospect over the more negative ones floating in her head.

It was actually a lot harder to do that than she previously imagined so she cleared her throat and slowly shook her head. "Elliot, do you love me?" She knew that it was a random question but she felt like she needed some sort of reassurance. "I know that you don't understand why but please promise me that you love me.. I just... Please swear that you love me and that you are one hundred percent happy in our relationship."

[Elliot Gates]

Elliot turned back around to face her with a puzzled expression. "Of course I love you, Raine. You're my penguin, remember?" He asked, now standing in front of her. He set the bags by their feet and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her just about as closely as she could possibly get to him. He was never shy when it came to being sweet on Raine, especially in her times of weakness which she appeared to be in at that moment. Gently, he rested his forehead against hers and kissed the tip of her nose. He stayed that way for a second and then switched things up by acting like a penguin.. weird English quack and all. "Come on, then. You 'aven't got all day." Elliot smiled, pulling away from her but not before gently tapping his hand on her rear.

"I love you, baby." He said before heading back to the house with their bags. When he was inside, he bolted straight for her room to look out the window to make sure she was actually going to do it. His directions only have her the first spot for the first card with a clue and directions hanging from the tree by a red ribbon. They were all riddles that he'd been working on for days, but they were easy and quick. Elliot knew that he wouldn't have enough patience to sit there quietly and wait for her to get done with it. Now that he was thinking over it, this probably wasn't the best idea but at least it was fun and original!

He paced the floor, waiting for Raine to return from her hunt. He'd set the long rectangular box on a pillow on her bed. Inside laid a diamond necklace against plush white padding and there was a slot for a ring. The ring matched the necklace, but on the inside he had engraved 'I promise'. He was getting rather nervous for her to see them, and his heart nearly jumped through his ribs when he heard the door downstairs open. Quickly, he sat cross-legged on her bed and set the box on it right in front of his legs before waiting for her to come up.

[Raine Gregory]

The scavenger hunt had definitely been original and Raine really had a lot of fun finding all of the different riddles. She appreciated him handing her the jacket though since it felt like it was below freezing right now! She and Elliot might call themselves 'penguins' but that didn't mean that she wanted to live like one! She was still a little bit nervous about what was going to greet her when she got back inside of her bedroom but she forced the thought from her head as she neared her front door. It must of him so awkward for Elliot to be in her bedroom alone like that... What if he was making a sandwich? No, he wouldn't do that! He might be a hormonal teenage boy but he definitely wasn't completely controlled by his penis enough that he would literally just whip his dick out and jerk it. How rude would that be? What if she wanted to join?

Okay so that was probably not what most people would be thinking about but it was all that was running through her mind as she skipped up the stairs leading to her bedroom. "Elliot~ I'm coming." Wow, it was actually strange to say that in this kind of a situation! She was so use to saying it in a very different manner. She had only said it now so he would be aware that she was on her way and could do whatever it was that he needed to do to prepare himself. It felt like the longest minute of her life as she pulled her bedroom door open. She wouldn't be so nervous if she hadn't walked in on him with a gun in his hand at one point and almost had her whole world destroyed before her eyes. She never wanted to feel that helpless ever again

The first thing that her eyes went to was him and next... The box. She bit down on her bottom lip before slowly reaching for the box. She gasped when she opened it and saw the ring. He did know that she wasn't pregnant, right? There was no reason for him to propose! Oh god, she wasn't ready to get married! "Elliot, I'm not pregnant, right?" She laughed weakly as she grabbed the necklace from the box. "Will you help me latch this in the back?" She'd always found the idea of that to be rather romantic. "I love you and I love both of these." She was still confused about the ring though.