Seriously? He had just said I could have it off. What was happening? And now the dinner is just two days away. I don't think Devin owned a gown. Oh and that was another thing, he had the fucking audacity to bring up the fact that blue is Tori's color. Ugh. I heard a shriek from the living room, I bolted out there. Devin was standing upright, her eyes glued to her phone

"What what!" I yelled frantically.

"I totally forgot that our Christmas concert is Wednesday. Our dresses are on their way!"

"Wait, what concert?"

"The orchestras concert. Remember a while ago we had rehearsed one last time. And then we were going to play on Christmas day."

"Oh, uh not really" I replied scratching my head. She rolled her eyes

"That's because you were gone for most of it." She crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at me. Very childish, but the memories of that day hit me like a truck.

"Oh yeah, Now I remember, sorry "

"That's okay. Anyways, he switched the date because many of the members are going to be out of town the whole week of Christmas and new years."

"Ah. So Wednesday. What time?" She looked back at her phone

"Ummmm 3-5 o'clock."

"Sounds good. Remind me tonight that I have to tell you something."

"Anything I should be worried about?"

"No. Secondly, I have to go away for a little bit tomorrow. I'm not really sure what time."

"Alright. Thanks for telling me. I have it all set up by the way."

"What's all set up?"

"Just Dance, remember? We were going to do a couple of songs."

"Oh yeah. Sorry, just lots in my brain at the moment. Speaking of dresses were going to be buying you a gown tonight."

"Um okay, any special reason?"

"You will find out later." With that he grabbed the remote from the coffee table and got ready to beat her. They laughed the entire time, their stomachs hurting as they fell onto the couch. They had done four songs so far. They had each won two. Now they had to do a tiebreaker to see who the real champion was.

"Really Tommy, I think your cheating somehow." She said devolving into giggles afterword.

"Me? Dev. Really, would I cheat?" I replied trying to keep a straight face as I put a hand to my chest.

"Yes, yes you would. Remember when we played Mastermind?" She waggled her eyebrows at me.

"Well yeah, but-but this is different. There is no way to cheat."

"If you say so." She took a sip of water and bounced to her feet "Alright! Last one and then we have to get ready for dinner."

"You're on!" I said. I selected the next song and we followed the actions. Earlier I had told her that we were going to a fancy restaurant, a suit and tie kind of one for me and an elegant dress for her. We followed action after action, my arms were sore and I'm sure hers was too, but she kept going. It was the best kind of exercise to get before a big meal. The crown went back and forth between our names. Finally the song ended, and the crown was on mine.

"You won!" She shouted and we high fived. I did my own victory dance as she turned everything off, then we went and got ourselves ready for the events of the night. I headed into my room to put on my suit, or the penguin as I like to call it. Because that's how I always felt I looked like, a penguin. I wondered what Devin would be putting on.

(*)-Devin

He had said to wear something fancy. So, I took my black dress out. The one that hugged every curve I had and showed a little cleavage. Along my waist was a thin ribbon, on that ribbon was a line of tiny diamonds. I tied the strings of the ribbon into a nice little bow in the back. The back of the dress showed a little of my back, but not much. The straps were wide and went around the side of my shoulders. There was a slit that showed off my right thigh. I paired my dress with blue suede lace-up heels. I put small diamonds in my second earring holes and big dangly ones in my first earring holes. I applied a little mascara and then put my hair in a side ponytail. Then I put on my silver chain with a single raindrop pearl attached to the bottom. Glancing myself over, it was simple, but enough. I opened the door to find Thomas standing there, a rose in hand. His eyes widened as he took me, I looked him over, he looked very handsome in his suit

"For you m'lady." He said handing me the rose. I took it and brought it to my nose and breathed in the smell.

"Thank you, it's lovely." He stuck out his arm and I put my arm through it, he grabbed a brown fur coat and draped it over my shoulders. I fingered the softness. When and where had he gotten this, it looked like the real deal, not those fake fur ones.

"Your carriage awaits." He smiled as we walked out into the hallway, to the elevator and down to the garage. He unlocked the car, and opened the door for me. I sat down and pulled on my seat belt while he ran around to the driver's side after shutting my door. I was all jittery inside. I mean we had only been on a couple of dates. But I loved dates. It let me be able to get to know him out of his comfort zone and on a more romantic level.

(*)-Thomas

I didn't know beauty until I saw her. Actually let me rephrase that, I hadn't seen another woman look this beautiful since Tori had died. Here she sat as pretty as a picture. I mean it was a simple black dress, but the diamonds stood out, they glittered in the fading sun. We would definitely be getting a vibrant gown, maybe. At least something other than black, even though it looked amazing on her. She still held the rose delicately in her hand as if the slightest movement would cause it to fall apart. I took it out of her hands, she watched me place it in the vase that I had in the cup holder, a smile stretched across her face.

"You thought of everything didn't you?"

"Maybe." I gave her my best smile. I wanted tonight to be extra special since I was going to be gone for how long tomorrow. I got the feeling, that she hated when I was always gone. I used to, but now I felt bad always leaving her. Hopefully this assignment wouldn't take too long. We arrived at Beldine's. The fanciest restaurant in my city. The valets in their crisp red uniforms open our doors, we step out, I meet her at the steps as they go to park my car. Then I place her hand in the crook of my elbow, she lifts her dress a little and together we ascend the stairs. Walking in, a lady in a black dress with four big white buttons down the front leads us to our table. They, of course, knew me because I had brought Tori here often.

"Your table sir." She says in a crisp British accent. I pull out Devins chair for her and then sit down myself

"Some Champenge please."

"Of course." She bows her head a little and leaves. I turn to look at Devin. She's looking around bug-eyed. The walls are a dark burgundy color, the floors are carpeted with black, the kind of carpet you would find on hotel hallways Sewn into the carpet is an oriented design of gold and black tiny circles. The booths were tall and wide half circles to give more privacy. The cushions were comfy and creme colored. The table was a half-circle, made of marble. The half-circle allowed you to sit easily next to the other person or persons. The lights overhead were dim, the ones in the other parts were a harsh light. There was soft classical music playing, and soft chattering could be heard.

"Do you like it?" I asked. Her head whipped back towards me.

"Oh yes, I do. It's absolutely stunning. I've never seen anything more beautiful." She replied her smile wide and never fading.

"Good. Now, the thing I have to discuss with you."

"Oh yes, please tell me."

"Well, I-"

"Here is your champagne sir." An older gentleman stood at the table bearing a platter with two small wine glasses and a bottle.

"Thank you Ferick." I said. The man bowed his head and opened the bottle and poured the liquid into the glasses. He handed one to Devin and one to me. Then he left.

"What were you saying?"

"I was saying that on Wednesday, we are going to dinner with my father. Well he's not my father, more like a father figure."

"Well that will be fun!"

"I don't know. My brother will also be there." He replied spitting out the word brother and putting them in air quotes.

"I take it you don't like him."

"No. Not at all. He's not even my brother, I don't know why I call him that."

"Well, it's natural. If the man is like your father, and you've known his son for a long time, they become like family."

"I guess. But going back to Wednesday. Your concert is that day too."

"Oh." She stopped thinking "Well what time is the dinner"

"I'm not sure, he was going to tell me today I think."

"Well, we'll just go to my concert, and then we'll go to dinner. It's simple."

"Or you could invite them. That way I can meet them beforehand and it won't be awkward." She gave a firm nod of her hand and took a sip of her champagne. That was my girl, always coming up with a plan.

"I'll run it past him, okay?"

"Okay." The waitress came and I ordered the special for today. It was a surprise special. We sat back and waited, making small talk about random things.

(*)-Devin

If I had tried to take Lyric here, I don't think we would have made it through the front door. This place had to only be for the rich. It was so elegant and peaceful. I wasn't worried about the whole dinner, but he did. I wondered why was it because of his father? It may be more his brother, that seemed to really tick him off to say the word. Our food came, this time, it was a younger man, he had copper-colored hair and grey eyes. He set the tray down and took the covers off our plates, in his french accent he said

"Smoked Salmon Potato Cakes with Herbed Crème Fraîche" He grabbed the covers and the tray and left. I looked down at my plate. It looked delicious. I unwrapped my fork from the napkin and cut a small piece off. I put it into my mouth. I moaned at the yummy flavors that attacked my tongue. I opened my eyes to find Tommy looking at me with an amused look on his face.

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry." We talked little as we ate. Finishing it all, he called for some chocolate fudge cake. The cake came soon and instead of eating it, he had it boxed up, since it was getting late and he wanted to still go find me a ball gown for the dinner. We walked to the door, they handed us our coats and then we waited for his car to come around. When it did, we walked to it, one of the valet's opened my door. Thomas gave them a tip and then we drove off to the Mystic Gowns store. It was only a couple minutes from the restaurant which was nice. I was excited to go and see what they all had.

(*)-Thomas

I had already called ahead and picked out one I knew she would like, but I told them to have her try on a couple and then bring it out. We pulled into the parking lot, I found a nice spot near the front. There were a couple of cars, but not many, we walked through the double doors of the teal-colored building. Inside everything was painted white, the floors were a white tile. Giant pictures of models hung on the walls. We walked up to the receptionist and I told her my name. She had us sit down and wait for Gene who was helping someone at the moment. We sat on a plushy oval couch. A coffee table was in the middle and held refreshments. I let my eyes roam the room. There were dresses of every length, style, and color. Some were simple and some had a lot of extra fabric. Soon a tiny woman with straight short red hair came, her eyes a light green.

"Hi, I'm Gene. You must be Thomas and Devin." She wore a navy blue buisness suit with a white silk shirt underneath. On her feet were black heels. They were the kind of heels that are pointy in the front. We rose and shook hands with her. She gave a second look and I figured it was because my eye still had some color to it. I could now crack it open a little. We followed her back to the private dressing rooms. They had me sit on a plushy chair while they took her back. In front of me was a giant circle like stand with a mirror a couple feet away. I assume that that's where Devin will stand to look at herself. A woman came and brought me refreshments and magazines to read while I waited. The more I thought about, the more I decided to just buy all the dresses they gave her. That way if she had to dress up formally again, she'd have more options.

(*)-Devin

I had never been treated like a princess before. Well, I mean I had when I did that photo shoot. But here, they gave me a massage, and then they brushed out my hair and put it in two french braids and twisted them up into a bun. Then they put me in a robe and walked into the dressing room. Opening the blue door, I found myself looking at three gorgeous dresses. Two of them were the same just different colors. They took my robe off, I felt self-conscious in only my bra and undies. They took an embellished long sleeve floor length V-neck gown down off of the stand. It was gray in color with an A-line silhouette. It had illusion sleeves and an ivory gold beaded waist. I put it on and ran my hand over the polyester fabric. They ushered me out into the hallway I heard Gene whisper with another woman

"Tell him we're ready." The woman nodded and disappeared, then she came back and nodded her head. They ushered me out and up on the pedestal, Thomas's eyes were closed. Gene pushed a button and a red satin curtain covered me from sight. Then I heard the woman say

"Open your eyes." And then "1,2,3" And then the curtain dropped and I saw Thomas's jaw drop. I turned and faced the mirror. My hands flew to my chest as I saw the elegant gown on me. It was beautiful.

"Do you like his one Thomas?" Thomas shook his head yes. So they ushered me back in and had me put on another dress. Then the same process, spinning around, I looked in the mirror. The dress was all over lace black one. It had an illusion off the shoulder neckline. The sleeves were slender and long. The bodice was a corset style, with a creme color under the lace. The skirt fluttered into a full ballgown silhouette. Again Gene asked the question and Thomas said yes. They ushered me back.

"Gene, I like the other dress too, but their the same, I don't think I need to try it on."

"Your right. But don't fret, we have one last one for you." With that she left. I stood there fingering the lace. The door opened and my eyes almost popped out of their sockets when I saw what she had. I changed quickly and they helped me into the last one. I eagerly walked out there and onto the pedestal. The curtain rose and then fell. Without looking at Thomas's reaction, I looked at the mirror tears surfaced to my eyes, I don't know why they did, but they did. This dress was a collarless one. It was pink in color with lace all over. It was off the shoulder with long sleeves. I turned back to him and found him right behind me. He leaned down and captured my lips with his. We pulled back, he looked at Gene and said

"We'll take them all." My eyes grew round. This must cost over a thousand dollars, probably more. I went back and changed into my former dress and then we sat and waited for them to box it all up.

(*)-Thomas

"Are you sure?" She softly said to me as we waited.

"Yes, I'm sure. That way, if we go anywhere where you need a gown, you'll have some to choose from." I smiled at her. She smiled back and rested her head on my shoulder. It was now 6:30. I still needed to text Blade, but I would do it when we got home. Soon all the dresses were packed, a man came and helped us put them in the car.

"Thank you Tommy." She said as we headed home.

"Your welcome Dev. Tomorrow while I'm gone, I want you to go shopping for shoes. So that you can have ones that match your dresses."

"Um o-o-okay." She replied stuttering

"I'll give you cash since I know you don't currently have a lot."

"Oh no, I couldn't use your money."

"Yes you can. I'll have it in an envelope on the table. I'll most likely be gone when you wake up."

"Oh that's right, you have to go to work."

"Yeah." We fell silent for the rest of the way home. Arriving home, we decided to take showers. She let me go first since she said that she would probably take a while. I took a fast one and then changed into dark grey sweats. I knocked on her door and let her know the bathroom was free, then I settled onto the couch to text Blade. I heard the water start, she had been so surprised when I said yes to them. I mean quite frankly I was too, but I was so happy to have someone to buy for. Blades text came back

Dinner, 7 sharp. I texted him back thank you and told him about Devin's concert.

Then we shall attend it. And ride together to my home. I breathed out my breath. I hadn't wanted them to come. But Devin, even though it was just a suggestion, she had predicted that he might want to come. I sighed and turned on the news.

(*)-Devin

I was still mind boggled that he had boughten all those dresses. I had scooted all my clothes over and hung them up very carefully. They looked odd hanging up in the midst of pants, blouses, formal dresses that weren't as pretty. I turned the water on, letting it warm up as I took my hair out. Getting in, I let the warmness wash over me. After standing under the water for a little bit, I finally started to wash my hair. After washing it twice, I washed my face with a washcloth and then scrubbed my body with soap. After I was all done, I stood under the water for a little bit longer. Shutting the water off, I opened the door and grabbed my towel quickly wrapping it around myself. I changed into my ugly pajamas and wrapped the towel around my head like a turban. I walked into the living, stopping short at the entrance, he sat on the couch with no shirt. I had never really seen him without his shirt. I suddenly felt very awkward. I walked softly back to my room and unwrapped my hair. Feeling better, I walked back out.

"What are you watching?"

"Just the news."

"Oh. Anything interesting"

Not really. Wanna watch a movie" he asked finally looking at me. My cheeks turned pink as I realized I had been checking him out

"Sure." I shrugged my shoulders. He decided on My Babysitters a Vampire. I warmed up some coffee for us and he got out some blankets and then we snuggled on the couch. I was thankful for the fabric between me and his bare skin. Halfway through, my eyes began to droop, I looked back at him, his head was to his chest and he was snoring softly. I giggled to myself as I turned off the t.v. I woke him up and then we went to bed together. I no longer slept in a room by myself, which I was fine with. I put my head on his chest and we both fell asleep quickly. That night, I dreamed of dresses and shoes.