just another day in the life... [caroline]

[lance warren wright]

Tanner had finally finished his classes for the day and was quickly trying to find a place of refuge. Sitting through statistics class had left him in the'kill me now' mood, which could explain his quick strides as he exited the building. Pulling his phone out of his pocket he hoped to see something from Caroline, or Allison, but with no luck he quickly shoved the phone back into his pocket and made his way toward the student center. He was feeling overwhelmed as of late with all of his professors piling on project after project he was looking for a little time to relax. As he walked into the center he saw a few familiar faces and waved a silent hello as they acknowledged him. He wasn't really in the mood for small talk because it would only feel like more work and he was attempting to do anything but that. "Hey watch out!", Tanner ducked out of the way just in time as a ball sailed over his head. Rolling his eyes and holding back the many hostile words that flew to the top of his head, Tanner slumped down on one of the empty couches.

Again he reached into his pocket pulling out his phone, this time with the intention of using it, and pulled up Caroline's number. The mere mention of the girl's name brought a smile to his lips. Tanner had had a crush on her for a long time coming now, but had never had the courage to bring it up to her. Tanner had never really had a problem in the ladies department, but with being such good friends with Caroline it caused him to be more reserved and cautious knowing that if they didn't work out he'd be losing much more than he ever had before. His thumbs hovered over the touch screen as he thought of a good way to get her over to the student center. He knew he was over thinking it, but he over thought a lot of things when it came to Caroline. so if you're looking for a good show you should come join me at the student center and watch me stress out over all these damn projects I have to get done...plus I could use a friendly face around Tanner's eyes scanned the message a few times before finally hitting send and leaning back on the couch and setting his phone on the table in front of him.

Tanner began to pull out a few books from his bag and figured he could begin on something while he waited. Although, his positive outlook on things begin to dwindle as he flipped through a few pages losing all his motivation in one quick flip of a page. With a loud sigh Tanner shut the book, pushing it away from him in disinterest. He hated times like these, where he felt college wasn't right for him and that he wasn't cut out for it. He'd rather be back at his place working on keeping his charity going and volunteering for other things. With his charity in mind he knew that he would have to push himself through college because the degree would only help him to help others more effectively. Pressing his palm against his forehead, in an attempt to stifle all the thoughts in his head, he shut his eyes finally letting his body and mind relax.

notes: sorry for the rambling the posts will get better i'm just not very good at starting...

[lykomgitsashley]

Caroline felt weird being back on campus. It had been quite a few months since she had been here and it almost felt wrong to be here. She knew that people were still in classes and she felt likes she should be to. But it wasn't her fault that her classes in Paris had let out before the ones back home. She wondered how much longer that they had left. She didn't think it could be that long though. I mean she had been in France for a semester, and hers had already ended so surely they must be close to completing theirs. She yawned, the first thing she was going to do as soon as she got to the student center was get a coffee. Her body was still on Paris time, which was ahead of Point Pleasant time. She had, had the worst time sleeping in the couple days since she had been back.

She had fully intended on lying on the couch, watching cartoons and taking a nap . But she had gotten a text from Tanner, and she could sense through the words that he could use a little company. She got her lazy butt off the couch, and dug through her suitcases looking for something to wear. Finally settling on a shirt that Yvonne her dorm mate while she was in Paris had gotten her just before she had left to come home. It was a cute shirt, that said I love you in French. She finished getting dressed and put on a pair of sandals, grabbed her sunglasses and put her laptop in her purse. If Tanner was doing homework she would sit next to him and play on her laptop or her iPhone. Either way she would probably be playing angry birds, something she was entirely to addicted to. 'leaving now love, see you soon! she replied and set off towards campus.

Caroline walked down the pathway that lead to the student center. She closed her eyes and smiled as a cool breeze brushed over her. Besides the fact that Doug was now living with them, she was so happy to be home. She had missed everyone while she was gone, as she was sure they probably missed her. So while she probably would have preferred to be taking a nap right now, she was glad to drop that to spend time with Tanner. Plus it got her out of the house, she was honestly dreading seeing Doug. She walked into the student center and went straight to the coffee shop. She was going to text Tanner and ask him if he wanted something but she figured she would just surprise him. So she ordered both of their usual drinks and headed to where she knew he would be.

His back was to her when she entered the room because of the couch that he was sitting on. She grinned from ear to ear, knowing that she would be able to sneak attack him. Being goofy and playful was kind of her thing. So she carefully and quietly snuck her way up behind his back, and then balancing the little cardboard carrier with the drinks in them in one hand, she wrapped her free arm around the front of him, and nuzzled his neck savoring it for a moment because she had missed him so much while she had been gone.. "Mmm you smell good," she said before letting him go, and walking around to the front of the couch and sitting next to him. "Brought you a treat, but I expect payment for it." She said tapping her cheek with her finger and grinning at him.

[lance warren wright]

Tanner had missed the hell out of Caroline. Having gone the entire semester without seeing her beautiful smile in person had slowly driven him crazy. He was torn from his thoughts when his phone buzzed towards the edge of the table. He peeked through his fingers seeing it was teetering on the edge and his hand shot out to catch it before it fell. As if his heart wasn't beating fast enough from the quick adrenaline rush as his eyes passed over the text it was as if his heart had hit overdrive. He could feel his heart beat throughout his body and a goofy grin couldn't seem to make it's way off his lips. Tanner placed his phone back in his pocket his eyes making their way back over to the stack of books he had placed on the table. Dread ran through his body again, but that feeling only lasted a few moments when he felt an arm snake it's way over his shoulder. The goofy grin shot back to his lips, as he lifted a hand to squeeze her arm lightly, "Hello to you too," he chuckled letting his hand slip from her arm.

While she moved to join him on the couch he noticed the extra drink in her hand. His eyes lit up, "My savior!" he exclaimed having gone without any source of caffeine all day. "Always with the demands," he groaned in a teasing fashion, as he had no problem complying with her terms. Tanner leaned over placing his lips gently against her cheek, before taking the coffee and wrapping his fingers around it eagerly lifting it to his lips. "You honestly have no idea how much I missed you," he said grinning over the cup knowing that was the biggest understatement of the year. Sure, he had been happy that she had gotten to experience something like France, but the selfish part of him hadn't wanted to let her go, and now that she was back he didn't want to have to let her go again anytime soon.

"So," he placed the cup down on the table in front of him before returning his attention back to Caroline, "how was the land of love?" He propped his elbow up on the back of the couch as he leaned his head against his hand, his eyes never diverting from hers. "I mean it's no Point Pleasant, but I imagine it was pretty great," he joked not wanting to find out the girl had fallen in love with the country and was now craving to go back. Tanner hadn't been entirely supportive of her decision to leave for France, but now that she was back he was going to be all ears for the stories she was sure to tell. Tanner had always prided himself on being a good listener and had always been there for Caroline, or Allie when they needed him. "You better be ready to get up on Saturday and enjoy some good 'ol cartoons with me, because I imagine it's getting a bit pathetic for Allie to come out of her room to see me, a grown man, eating sugary cereal and watching Bugs Bunny. At least now i'll be able to blame you for forcing me to watch them unwillingly." Tanner smirked at the last part of his sentence knowing it all started out that way and now it was like a weekly tradition for the pair of them and he wouldn't have it any other way.

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[lykomgitsashley]

If Caroline was honest with herself, which she normally tired to be. She knew that she took liberties with Tanner that she shouldn't have. Her flirtatious personality didn't help things. It probably unintentionally lead him to think things that probably weren't true. It's not that she didn't like Tanner, she did he was a great guy. But she didn't allow herself to feel anything other than friendly feelings for him. She had tried so long to not allow herself to feel anything but friendly feelings anyone up until Doug had made it almost impossible for her to hide anything. But the way that that whole situation had gone done had been such a shady mess, she had been glad it had been over. But now with him being back from college full time. She worried that things would come out, and it would be bad. But Caroline had one thing going for her, she hadn't asked for Doug to kiss her, the night that he had walked her home from the last outing they had all gone to before he left for college. She hadn't asked him to admit that he was in love with her either.

Truthfully she had felt pretty awkward after he had admitted his feelings for her, though she had reciprocated them. Who wants to be in love with someone who's not even there. That feeling sucked. But now those feelings she had for Doug were gone, or so she kept telling herself. Especially after they had drunkenly slept together and he had left her alone and had gone back to college the next morning without even waking her up or saying goodbye. That had hurt her a lot. But she hadn't told anybody the real reason why she had left so quickly, she had only told them that it was because her father's wedding to the women he had left her mother for was coming pretty quickly as and she didn't want to be here for it. It wasn't a total lie. She was dreading that, going to France had seemed like the perfect escape to al her problems. She had been so depressed before she had left, not even Saturday morning cartoons with Tanner had the ability to cheer her up.

"Oh your savior huh?" She asked with a grin, "I think I like the sound of that." She smiled at his comment about her always having demands, which only turned into a grin as he had complied and kissed her cheek. Caroline had missed Tanner quite a bit while she had been gone. It's funny how you could take little things for granted when it came to friends. "I missed you to, so much. I'm so happy to be home." She said, taking his free arm that wasn't holding his coffee and wrapping it around her shoulders. She leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Our little Skype chats were awesome, but definitely not as good as the real deal." She said, smiling up at him. "You can't cuddle with a computer"

Caroline laughed when he asked her how the land of love was and shrugged her shoulders. "It was amazing. I learned so much there. Artistically, and mentally. I feel like I've grown so much from the experience. And it's so beautiful there, there's nothing like getting up first thing in the morning and walking to the corner bakery and getting fresh bread. I miss it there a lot, but I love being home even more." She added the last bit to reassure him that she wasn't going to be running back to France anytime soon. Though she definitely had plans on returning one day. "Oh, don't you worry buddy, I'm more than ready" she said with a grin. She had missed their little Saturday morning cartoons and sugary cereal dates. "Sure sure, blame it on me, you always do" she said with a grin.

[lance warren wright]

Tanner hadn't told Caroline of his objections to her leaving because it hadn't been his place. She had been his best friend and he would have to support any decision she believed would make her happy. If France had been the thing to keep her happy, which she had made pretty clear to him it would be, he wouldn't say anything, and he hadn't. Over the course of the semester, with many skype chats and phone calls, Tanner had accepted that France had been an amazing opportunity for Caroline, which explained his laid back and happy attitude he was expressing towards her now. All he cared about now was that she was back and he was going to make the best of it from this point forward. Was he willing to let the girl in on how he felt about her? Hell no, that was too much of a risk for him to take right now. He had gone so long without Caroline being around that anything that might lead her to run away from him would stay hidden until he felt the time was right.

Tanner's grin remained firm as he nodded unable to speak while he eagerly gulped down the coffee. "Well, keep bringing me coffee likes this and you might get to hear it more often," he bribed her with a mischievous grin and a quick wiggle of his eyebrows. Even with something as innocent as a kiss on the cheek, or holding her in a friendly embrace tied his stomach into knots. Oddly enough, Tanner never grew tired of that feeling. She may make him nervous, unintentionally of course, but the feeling she gave him was indescribable and he couldn't seem to get enough of it. Again his stomach did a flop after hearing her confess she had missed him as well, "Believe me i'm happy you're home and don't hold it against me, but I don't think I can allow you to go somewhere as cool as France again without me." Tanner had never been short on making his friends feel needed. They were so important to him and he felt it necessary to remind them of it from time to time.

Tanner relaxed against the couch as she moved his arm around her. This had been nothing out of the ordinary for the two, but it didn't stop his heart from racing every time feeling her body rest against his. He let out a content sigh, as he let his head gently rest against hers for a moment, before lifting the cup to his lips to distract him for a moment and calm his racing heart. "More than awesome," he interjected for a moment as she talked about their skype dates, "they were legen-wait for it," he paused as if waiting for the suspense to build, "-dary!" He finally exclaimed a wide grin bursting onto his lips as he finished the quick sentence. He couldn't help but be goofy around Caroline she brought that side out in him due to her contagious bubbly attitude. Tanner made eye contact with her matching her warm smile as he nodded in full understanding because he too had been suffering from the lack of her physical presence. A chuckle escaped his lips at the odd image that popped into his head of Caroline attempting to cuddle with her laptop, "Well you don't have to worry about that anymore because we have a ton of cuddling to make up for since you've been gone." Tanner scrunched up his nose and a smile formed, as he moved his arm that had been draped around Caroline's shoulder to find her free hand and placed his fingers in between hers playing with them absentmindedly.

Tanner's eyes never left her as she told him about her travels. His smile broadened as she talked fondly about the place she had just left. To hear she had a good time and to see her in much better spirits than she was when she left made him happier than ever. All those times of being quietly upset with her for leaving him had faded from his mind. They didn't matter to him anymore. "That's really good to hear," he was definitely excited to hear things had gone well and she had benefited from the whole experience. "especially about the being home part," he smirked slyly dodging her eye contact fully expecting some kind of reprimand for being selfish about wanting her around. He felt fully at ease now knowing she had gotten her escape from reality out of her system and seemed to really enjoy her time out there. Tanner couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm for their cartoon dates, "As if I, Tanner Mason Robbins, could be childish enough to still be addicted to kiddie cartoons." He had placed his free hand over his chest and scoffed as if appalled by the mere assumption. If anyone had known him like Caroline did they knew it was a straight up lie. Tanner was a kid at heart and his love for cartoons would probably never dwindle.

[/font][/blockquote]

[lykomgitsashley]

"Oh so now I have to pay for your affections? I see how it is." Caroline teased him, trying to sound and look as hurt as possible, but that was only for a minute before she burst into a fit of giggles. She had a hard time being serious for long periods of time. She was far to bubbly and charismatic to be serious. She knew that she didn't have to beg Tanner for affection, he would gladly give it to her. The two of them were always pretty affectionate towards each other. That's why sitting the way that they were sitting was so comfortable and natural to her. She didn't even have to think about it, people around them probably thought that they were a couple and would probably be surprised to find out that they were only best friends. "Oh without you huh?" She asked in a teasing tone. "So what does Tanner Mason Robbins plan on taking me back to France one day than?"

Caroline closed her eyes and smiled for a second while his head was placed on top of hers for a second. It was so great to be home, to be sitting against him. She hadn't really noticed till now how much she had missed him. Every little thing about him felt fresh and new from the smell of him, to the way he felt against her body. The warmth of his skin toughing the exposed parts of arms. She giggled cheerfully at his playfulness about her skype dates, while she wouldn't tell Allie this, she had probably skyped more with Tanner than she had with her. She didn't know why, but there was something about the sound of his voice, that made her home sick, and she had longed to hear it as much as possible. "They absolutely were!" She exclaimed smiling almost from ear to ear. "But you have to tell me, I know you were too polite to before, but now I have to know, what did you think when you saw me on camera with that awful red hair?" she asked, laughing a little.

"I wish you had been there to stop me from drunkenly dying my hair red." She admitted, using her free hand to reach up and twirl her golden locks around her finger. "I mean, because I don't even know what I was thinking when I did it." She too laughed as she picked the image of herself trying to cuddle with her laptop. She shook her head at the silliness of the thought. "Oh I will hold you to it. We'll have to wait until Allie goes out for the night, and make dinner together and have an all night cuddlethon while we watch sappy chick flicks and cartoons" She said, grinning at the thought of it. Secretly wishing that Allie would go out tonight so they could actually do it sooner rather than later. When he had taken her hand and played with her fingers she thought nothing of it, in fact it was so natural to her that all she did really was rub her thumb up and down along the side of his mindlessly as she looked up at him.

Caroline smiled when he said that it was good to hear. His supportiveness on the situation made everything seem better. She knew that even though he had missed her, he was glad that she had, had a good time and enjoyed the experience. She laughed at the especially being home part and shook her head. "Well you know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder." she said with a grin. She let out a sarcastic at his remark and shook her head. "Oh no of course not, why would anybody think that? Your all grown up aren't you Peter Pan." Than as if someone had turned a light bulb on inside her head, her face lit up and she smiled like the cat who had just are the canary. "Oh my god," she exclaimed in an excited tone, "Oh my god" She looked up at him, and then looked him up and down. "We should totally be Tinkerbell and Peter Pan for Halloween... Will you wear tights for me Tanner Robbins?" She asked, in an equally excited tone, but tilted her head to the side, giving him the puppy eyes that she had surely hoped would seal the deal.

[lance warren wright]

Tanner couldn't wipe the grin off his face as he shrugged, thinking it was no big deal that he ask this of her, "It's simple supply and demand, Care, don't blame me, blame the economy." Her laughter was contagious and Tanner found himself chuckling along with her. Having gone so long without sitting next to her like this he was having a hard time calming his beating heart. He kept the laughs and talking up as much as possible to ensure that she wouldn't catch on to racing pulse. He knew it wouldn't take long for him to become completely comfortable around her considering their history together, but he couldn't help and wish it would come soon. Tanner nodded firmly a smug grin on his face, "Yes, without me." His face went blank for a moment taking a second to think about when he could even begin to imagine taking such a trip, "Well, for starters, whenever I can afford something other than ramen for my three square meals a day," his part time job only paid enough for his bills and little spending cash so a trip to France wasn't exactly practical, but now that he had said it the idea was growing on him. "I may not be able to set a date just yet, but I promise you, Caroline Aimee Bradshaw," he poked the fact that he knew her full name too back at her after she had used his, "that I will take you to France and it will be glorious."

Tanner had lived for their skype dates while she had been gone. Any chance to see her smiling face and hear her bubbly voice he had taken it. Talking to her so much had helped with the fact that she hadn't actually been there in the same room with him. Seeing her returned excitement at the thought of their amazing conversations had him grinning just as much. He felt like a little kid who had gotten everything he wanted for his birthday and couldn't be happier. At the mention of her red hair he looked away from her for a moment, lifting his free hand to cover his mouth to hide the small grin that been threatening to break free. "It was definitely....different," his voice trailed off to hold off the laughter that was about to erupt from his throat. He composed himself and looked back down at her, "Honestly though?" Arching his eyebrow in curiosity wondering if she really wanted the truth from him. "Alright," he sighed, looking down at their hands as if he was about to deliver bad news, "you looked great, as always." His eyes lifted to meet hers a childish grin on his lips. "I do think you should stick to blonde though," his eyes scanned her blonde locks, "gives you an excuse for your 'forgetful moments'." He teased her using air quotes to emphasize her forgetful, aka blonde, moments.

"Oh, whatever, you know as well as I do in your drunken states I would have been right behind you to dye my hair and that would have just been a disaster." Tanner had a hard time saying no to Caroline and when they were both drunk they ended up in some pretty interesting situations because of it. He couldn't even imagine himself with any other hair color besides blonde. "It looked great," Tanner reassured her again pressing his forehead lightly against hers his eyes locked with her's and a smile crept onto his lips before he pulled away because it became too much for him. "It's a date then, but I know for a fact you're just using it to get some of my spaghetti you've missed so much," Tanner confirmed with a nod about their night together. Tanner was a pretty good cook, especially when it came to Italian food since he loved it so much. He honestly couldn't wait for it to come up now and just fall back into a normal routine with his best friend. "I'm not so sure about those sappy chick flicks though," he scrunched up his nose in disapproval and shook his head from side to side. Feeling her thumb slide against his caused his stomach to twist itself into what felt like a million knots to Tanner, but he didn't want it to stop as he kept eye contact with her his eyes searching hers quietly.

Tanner rolled his eyes at the familiar term, "Yeah, yeah, yeah," he let his head bob up and down as if it was something he had heard a million times. "Well you know what I say," he placed a hand to his chest like his word meant everything, "presence makes the heart grow larger, eh?" Tanner smirked, thinking himself to be pretty clever coming up with that one. The smirk slipped from his lips at the little nickname she had come up for him, "Damn right I am, Tink." Tanner winked with a sly grin giving her, her own little nickname. Seeing her face light up he got a bit wary the grin slipping from his lips. He narrowed his eyes as if trying to seek out what she was thinking before she said it. When she looked him up and down he joined her in looking at himself before returning his eye contact to her, curiosity written all over his face. His jaw dropped when he finally heard what had gotten her so excited, "No way, I didn't see them!" He exclaimed about the way she was looking at him, quickly averting his eyes and covering them with his free hand. He finally peeked through his fingers to see she still remained looking at him with that look he could never refuse, "Damn." Tanner gave up and let his hand drop from his eyes finally looking at her, "You know you're really lucky we've known each other for so long." He pointed his finger at her for emphasis, "I guesssssss I could wear tights for you." He gave up, though he hadn't really put up a fight in the first place, letting his shoulders slump in defeat. "The only reason i'm saying yes, by the way, is because i'm curious to see how good you'd look as Tinkerbell," shamelessly flirting with her as usual he smirked as if he had turned it all around and won in the end.

[lykomgitsashley]

Caroline tried to look as if she was genuinely offended. "I can't believe you just said that." She said sounding hurt, she even pouted a little. "I'm your number one customer, don't I get like... a discount or something?" She asked tilting her head to the side a little bit, "You know, buy one kiss get like five million free or something like that?" She grinned at her wittiness and shook her head. She laughed when he used her full name, damn she had forgotten that he too knew her full name. "We'll I guess we'll have to start saving now. I'll put a change jar somewhere for all our pennies" she said with a grin. "And just so you know, I'm definitely hold you to it. I feel like i should get it in writing or something in case you forget. " She said with a laugh.

"Oh be quite you know it looked horrible just admit it!" She said nudging him playfully with her elbow, and laughing pretty hard. Though she couldn't help but grin widely when he paid her the compliment of telling her that she always looked great, her ego inflating ever so slightly. "I agree, its blonde always for me." She said with a grin, she would never change the color of her hair, ever again. The red had been a horrible mistake that she wasn't willing to repeat ever again that was for sure. "Oh yes, I agree I need to stay blonde just so I can use it for blonde moments, it's a great escape goat for acting dumb. Isn't that why you stay blonde? " She asked, playfully smirking at her remark, of course she was kidding.

"You right." Caroline said with a laugh, shaking her head. She didn't know why she thought Tanner would have been any help in her drunken state. The two of them usually got themselves into interesting situations when they both were intoxicated. "For all we know, you might have woken up with pink hair, and that would have been pretty horribly hilarious. They shouldn't sell hair color to drunk people, it should be against the law." She laughed, trying to imagine him with pink hair, though it was her favorite color, she didn't think he would look with it. She had a bubblegum pink wig at the house, she would have to make him put it on sometime to see how it would look. "I can neither confirm nor deny that accusation..." She said, trying to sound serious, though he had hit the nail right on the head. Caroline loved when Tanner cooked. She could cook herself too, and she was pretty good at it, but while he was good at making Italian food, she tended to be better at the good ole southern comfort food. "But can you make the little meatballs too?" she asked with a grin.

"Oh does it huh? Well than you must have a HUGE heart right now, since your all wrapped up in my presence." She stated with a grin, teasing him. His comment was clever she'd give him that, but that wouldn't stop her from teasing him. Her grin only grew even bigger when he called her Tink. She made no attempts at hiding her love for Tinkerbell, she especially loved the new movies that Disney had put out watching them over and over again, sometimes putting it on before she went to sleep since the dvd played over and over again all night. Caroline grinned from ear to ear with satisfaction, knowing that as soon as he covered his eyes she had gotten his way. "Oh Tanner you're the best!" She said, practically radiating with excitement, she leaned up and placed a big kiss on his cheek. "If its any cancelation, I'll get the sexiest Tinkerbell costume just to make it worth your while" she said with a wink, not implying that she thought that he liked her, but that he was a guy after all.

[lance warren wright]

Tanner's smug attitude faltered when he saw her pout. She definitely wasn't playing fair and Tanner didn't like it one bit. "You cheat," he stated with a sly grin while he moved his hand to cover her lips, "That's not fair and you know it." Tanner had always given in when Care really wanted something, oh hell the boy would give in whether she really wanted it, or not. He couldn't help himself he was drawn in by her. Now if only he could tell her how he felt everything would be alright in his book. When she brought her proposition to the table, well it was really a suggestion, Tanner lifted a hand to his chin in the thinker's position. "Hmmmmm," he hummed, narrowing his eyes, pretending that this was a difficult decision, "I guess we could arrange something, I mean after all, you are my number one customer." Now if only she could be his only customer. He would be the happiest guy alive if he found out Caroline felt something for him as well. "I'll have my people get with your people and i'm sure we'll figure something out." He waved his hand about not caring for the details. His excitement grew at the idea of them going to France together. It would honestly be a dream come true. "A change jar, huh?" Laughter passed his lips as he shook his head, "Well we'll have to keep it in my room. We wouldn't want you dipping into the funds just to get a kiss from me, now would we?" He teased her with the idea that she wouldn't be able to help herself around the change jar. Tanner wouldn't forget something like this too soon. His thoughts were consumed with Caroline half the time and now that she was back he was sure it would only get worse. He lifted his hand poking out his pointer, middle, and ring finger, "On scout's honor, I promise you, Caroline, that I will take you to France." It's true Tanner had never been a boy scout, but the meaning seemed to be universal nowadays. "And you can't break scout's honor," he finally chuckled, which took away from his seriousness, but he couldn't hold it in any longer.

"It really wasn't bad!" Tanner exclaimed as her elbow made contact with his side. He caught her elbow, after a few more nudges, and held onto it, "Now, now, now let's play nice, Care." He scolded her, but he wouldn't hold it against her if she didn't take him seriously considering he couldn't even take the time to wipe the grin off his face. In his eyes Caroline could never look horrible. Did he think she looked better with her blonde hair? Yes, but he wouldn't have objected if she had come back from France with the red hair as a more permanent thing. She would always look beautiful to him and nothing, especially not hair color, could change that. "Ooooooh, ouch," he recoiled from her touch, removing his arm from her as he slid away. "I'm hurt," he forced a straight face and placed his hand over his heart. He dropped the facade eventually, unable to help himself any longer, "but yes, that would be why I stay blonde. It's a secret though sooo...," he lifted his finger to his lips in a quieting motion, before a grin burst onto his lips and he moved back closer to Caroline.

Tanner may have been a little more level headed than most, but when he was around Caroline he tossed it all out the window. He didn't see it as a bad thing though because his life wouldn't be as interesting without her. She forced him, unknowingly, to come out of his cautious side and let loose and have fun. Tanner leaned his head back as he laughed, "Thank god for that. I mean I know i'm incredibly good looking, but even I don't think I could pull off pink hair." He joked as he too tried to imagine what he would look like with bright pink hair, but all he could picture was horrible and had him laughing even harder. "I kind of want to shake the man's hand that sold it to you," he teased her only giving her a hard time because he knew she regretted dying her hair. Tanner narrowed his eyes, seeking for the truth behind her vague statement. "I knew it!" He exclaimed, rather loudly, as he looked around slowly at all the pairs of eyes that had shifted to them, "Sorry," he apologized lifting his hand in apology as well, hoping that they would go back to their previous conversations. "I knew it!" Tanner repeated, quieter this time, with a smug grin on his face. "But I guess I can make those, just for you," he pointed his finger at her for emphasis that he was only doing it for her. He sure had missed Caroline's cooking, but he would let her make it up to him some other time. She had just gotten home and he felt like he should be the one making sure she was comfortable now that she was back.

Tanner nodded proudly at his clever statement, "Uh huh, and I wouldn't have it any other way." His smile softened as he made eye contact with her. He felt his heart pick up in speed, as it always did when he looked into her eyes. His eyes dropped to her lips for a brief second before he tore them away. He couldn't have her suspect anything right now, at least now with her having just gotten back. It would be too overwhelming, right? He had no idea and the mere thought of telling Caroline how he felt about her scared the shit out of him. It could go wrong in so many different ways and he always seemed to settle for the worse. Tanner rolled his eyes at her excitement, "Yeah, yeah..." he groaned at the thought of trying to put on tights, "but I swear if people start to think i'm gay we'll have to change that. And i'm leaving how we do that up to you because i'm already wearing the stupid things for you." Tanner had no problem with gay people, but he most certainly wasn't gay and he would make sure to prove that to people. He only began worrying about it lately because he hadn't had a girlfriend in a while because of his current feelings for Care. Tanner felt his face heat up as she placed her lips against his cheek again. His eyebrows arched up in excitement at her proposition, "Okay, it definitely might be worth wearing tights now." He was already trying to imagine Care in a Tinkerbell outfit, but he knew even his imagination couldn't do justice to her. He would have to wait for Halloween, which was his favorite holiday, to see this.

[lykomgitsashley]

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. I would never cheat!" Caroline said with a grin, oh she knew she wasn't playing fair, but she wasn't going to admit it. Normally she wasn't one to act spoiled, and try to get her way. But Tanner usually gave her, her way no matter what. She was used to being able to be cute and get what she wanted with him. She had to admit that it was a quality that she liked. She'd never been spoiled by anyone before him, it was nice being taken care of instead of being the person who is taking care of others. She laughed when he covered her mouth, and then again when he looked like he was thinking about her proposition. "My people are eagerly awaiting to hear from your people." She said with a mischievous grin on her face. "Hey! that's not very nice, I would never dip into the Paris jar to pay for kisses." She said looking genuinely offended that he insinuated that she would. "I'll have you know I have my own money!" But then she remembered that she hadn't had a chance to tell him that someone had bought a couple of her paintings while she was in France. "That's right. Caroline Bradshaw made bank while she was in France, this art guy bought a couple of her paintings for a very pretty penny. Let's just say....I could probably afford to take us to Paris right now if I wanted to mister.. But I'm holding you to the fact that you promised to take me." She wasn't bragging she was just excited about the fact that someone had liked her paintings enough to buy them. "Oh speaking of money, I want to donate to your charity. I'll cut you a check when we get home."

"I always play nice Tanner." She said with laugh as she shook her head. "Your so silly, I don't know if I can trust your opinion on my hair. You always see the best in me, and wouldn't tell me even if I did look horrible." She said, but then felt like she needed to add, "Not that I'm complaining mind you. It's always nice to have someone see the best in you even when you don't see it yourself." Caroline had always been very self critical. Nothing she did was ever very good enough for herself. It all started when her parents split up, feeling like she had done something to cause the divorce. Maybe if she'd been a better child they would have stayed together. No matter how many times people told her it wasn't her fault she couldn't help but feel like it was. No one would ever change that. She pouted a little bit when he pulled back from her. Thinking that he had thought she was serious when she had so clearly been drinking. But soon he dropped the facade. "You totally got me! I thought you were mad at me." She said not liking the distance between them. So she decided she was going to permanently close the distance between them. She made sure to move anything in her way, and then climbed onto his lap and leaned her back against the arm rest of the couch.

"Oh we'll see, I'm going to put that bubblegum pink wig I have on you when we get home to see how it looks." Caroline gave him a teasing smile, he might have thought she was kidding because of it. But she was being completely serious she had all intentions of putting the wig on him when they got home. "You would." She said in a clearly unamused tone when he said he wanted to shake the hand of the guy who sold her the hair color. She jumped a little when he explained loudly, but then she laughed as all people in the room seemed to look at the pair of them. Oh my they caused a scene. "Oh boy, you make me feel so special." She said with a grin on her face. "This is why i love you so much." If Care had truly known Tanner's feelings for her, she might have used different wording, especially since she was unsure of how she felt about him. Sure she was attracted to him, but she had never been put in the situation where she had to really decide how she felt about him. "To pay you back, I'll be a good lil wifey and make you dinner when you come home from work one day this week. Whatever you want I'll make it."

Care got a weird feeling in her stomach when her eyes made contact with Tanner's. It felt like butterflies, but she knew it couldn't be. "If people start thinking you gay, you can be like 'Would a gay guy do this?' and grab me and start making out with me." She teased, with a playful grin on her face. "I'm pretty sure all questions of your sexuality will be out the window at that point." She grinned at him, completely excited about the fact that they were going to dress up as peter pan and tinkerbell. Since that movie was probably one of her favorite. "Oh and also you won't have to buy me anything for my birthday, that will be present enough." And just out of excitement and gratitude for him agreeing to do it, she kissed his cheek again.