Liyler | Sleeping Beauty.

[Tyler Parker]

<sup>'I think looking after my daughter while I was in a coma was a pretty big deal too', Tyler replied raising an eyebrow at Lina and smiling, 'Plus you've slept in my bed now, I'm guessing, though I wasn't there to enjoy that. I guess though, as far as steps go, spending Christmas together is a pretty big one, yeah', Tyler finished, unbuckling his seat-belt and kneeling up on his chair to peer back at Violet who had gone to sleep on the drive.

'I don't think my mom is going to be long, I think she'll be speeding all the way from Belleville', Tyler laughed, sitting back down with a sigh.</sup>

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[Lina Rey Parson]

Lina giggled a little when he mentioned that she had technically slept in his bed. That was true - at first, she had tried her hardest not to. The couch just wasn't comfy, though, and there weren't any other beds. "I figured you wouldn't mind if I borrowed your bed." She smiled, turning off the car and dropping her keys into her purse. "I mean, I made it up all nice and I didn't eat in your room - or, for that matter, I didn't steal any of your food, except for things for Violet. I wanted to keep your house looking all nice." She said, thinking of how prim and proper she sounded. "Okay, well I did eat some of your cereal, but I figure you should suck it up because I babysat for you." She teased.

So this was a big step in the relationship. First, taking care of his daughter for a month. Then, being invited to spend time with them for Christmas. "Oh man, I'm meeting your mom, too. We're taking a ton of steps really fast." She pretended to look concerned, then laughed. "And we haven't even -" she stopped herself. That was awkward. "I mean, I haven't ever slept over with you actually in the house." She chuckled, glad for being able to save herself there.

[Tyler Parker]

<sup>'You ate my cereal? Oh man, Lina ... That was over the line', Tyler teased, pretending to be angry but he ended up laughing to much for it to be even slightly realistic. When Lina mentioned meeting his mom Tyler just kind of shrugged it off, his mom was pretty chilled out, and not too embarrassing, so he didn't have much to worry about there. Besides, he was pretty sure she'd pay very little attention to Lina, seeing as her son had been in a coma for a month, and she hadn't seen Violet in months. Not that Lina wasn't important to his mom, it's just ... There were bigger things to fuss over at that moment in time. Tyler figured that they'd all have diner some time and really meet each other. Lina could meet his brothers and his dad then at the same time.

'Yeah, we haven't even ...', Tyler replied, ignoring Lina's save, he knew what she'd meant, he bit his lip and glanced out of the window, feeling a tad awkward. 'You should stay tonight, I mean, if you want, 'cause I've well ... Lina, I've just come out of a coma and I need constant care', he pouted jokingly.</sup>

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[Lina Rey Parson]

Lina laughed about the cereal, rolling her eyes. "It was good cereal, man, I couldn't let it sit there and go to waste. You should be thanking me," she said, doing an awkward half-bow. Since they were in the car, she couldn't make it as dramatic as she wanted, but he knew what she meant. Lina wasn't that worried about meeting his mom. She raised Tyler, she had to be a cool person, right? Besides, the focus was on him and the baby, not her. They'd have to meet properly sometime, but now was not that time. She just hoped that his mom wouldn't hold a grudge over the fact that Lina took care of Violet instead of sending her to her grandmother.

"Oh, well," Lina was surprised by his invitation, but she laughed her shock away. "Sure, I'll make sure you stay out of trouble tonight. You need your rest and stuff." she smiled, pulled her purse over her shoulder, and put her hand on the door. "Shall we? We could go to the food court, you said you were hungry. Or we could wait for your mom in the car, I guess."

[Tyler Parker]

<sup>'No, yeah ... Yeah we'll go get some food, I think she might be thirty minutes or something', Tyler replied, trying to hide his excitement that Lina was going to stay with him tonight. Of course they probably wouldn't end up doing anything, what with the healing bullet holes in his chest, but still, it was pretty exciting. It felt so grown up. Baby, apartment, beautiful girl that wanted to share his bed, yup, seemed pretty cool to him.

Tyler hopped out of the car a little enthusiastically causing him to clutch at his chest for a second and pray to God that he hadn't popped his stitches. Turned out he was just being over dramatic, because a second later he was fine and lifting Violets car seat out of the car. It was the kind with a handle so he decided to take the whole thing as she was still asleep.

'To the food court!', he announced, his voice echoing around the underground parking lot, he giggled and headed towards the mall entrance.</sup>

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[Lina Rey Parson]

Lina was now excited to have plans. Not to mention she'd probably miss having a nice place to stay, so spending one more night would be fun. Her dorm was pretty dumpy. And hanging out with Tyler was the best part. She realized she didn't really care what they did, it would just be cool to hang out, watch TV or make out or play board games, whatever he felt up to.

Lina got out of the car, locking it. She noticed the pained expression when he first got out, but he didn't seem hurt, just stiff and sore, as to be expected. He handled Violet and her car seat, though Lina wondered if perhaps she should. "Can you handle that? Your chest doesn't hurt, does it?" she asked, matching her pace with his so that they could walk together to the door of the mall. Thankfully the food court was right at the entrance, so they could just walk in and grab lunch. Or, dinner. It was actually getting kind of late in the day.

[Tyler Parker]

<sup>'Yeah a little bit, but it isn't too bad', Tyler replied, swapping Violet's seat over to his other arm, she was getting pretty heavy, he wished that Lina had brought her stroller. It wasn't going to be long until his mom was there though, so it was no big deal. When they got to the center of the food court Tyler was practically drooling, the smells of all the different places were a little overwhelming after not eating for a month.

'Urgh, I don't even know what to get, what are you getting?', Tyler asked, setting Violet down on an empty table and sitting down scratching at his bandage absent mindedly.</sup>

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[Lina Rey Parson]

Lina sighed as he insisted upon carrying the baby. She would be happy to oblige, but it was his time with Violet, so she wasn't going to be all mother hen and butt in on that. When they got to the food court, everything smelled heavenly. The fresh oregano and tomatoes from the pizza place made her mouth water. "To be honest?" She said, sitting down. "I want to eat everything." She sighed wistfully. It'd been forever since she went out to eat. "Hey, don't scratch." She swatted at his hand lightly.

[Tyler Parker]

<sup>'Um, well ... How about we just share a pizza? I mean, I'm hungry and everything but ... I think it'd cost a whole lot to eat everything here sweetie', Tyler replied, trying to be more discrete with his scratching. The things really itched! When it occurred to Tyler that he'd just referred to Lina as 'sweetie', his cheeks flushed red and he avoided Lina's gaze. It wasn't that he didn't want to call Lina by a pet name, he thought it was cute when couples did that, but he wasn't sure if it was too soon, or even if 'sweetie' was the right one. Did it sound too momish?

'Tyler sweetie!'

Speaking of mom's ... Across the food court came a middle aged woman her arms outstretched, ready to hug.</sup>

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[Lina Rey Parson]

Lina's eyes bulged in surprise when he called her sweetie. Suddenly, sharing a pizza sounded a whole lot more fun. This was kind of a big freaking day for them. They'd talked about a lot without actually really trying to. There was a lot going on in their relationship, and it was going to be taken a lot bigger step forward. When she heard his mom, she sort of winced involuntarily. "You know what, why don't I go get the pizza?" she suggested, trying to sound cheery. Typically, Lina loved social interaction, she was just worried. "I don't want to intrude on a family moment."