GOT MY HEARTBEAT RUNNING AWAY [carson]

[CARSON PARKER GARROWAY]

Pacey didn't seem like much of a handful, so Carson figured he was joking and thus offered him a humored smile. She could not imagine being an only child, but that was probably because she had her siblings. It was hard to envision being in a position that she could not be in. "It's not a bad thing," She replied with a small shrug and another smile, then tilted her head. "I dunno. You're just really sweet and friendly and like doing things for others, and you aren't really awkward." Maybe it was simply a stereotype, or maybe it was the result of watching too many movies that portrayed said stereotypes, but that's how she envisioned an only child to be. Unable to socialize extremely well, self-centered, kinda grumpy. Pacey wasn't any of that, that she knew. She clapped her hands. "Yay! I'm glad you're staying." Would her brothers come around too? That would be an awful lot of people for dinner. Not that she minded! Family was important.

And she knew that Pacey probably thought his family was important too. There was a slight surge of excitement at meeting them some day, given that she could find the time to visit Toronto. Unless they came to visit the Hollow at some point. She blinked when he stopped mid-sentence, thinking back to what she said. "Ah, nothing," She waved him off with a smile. It would be difficult for her to explain and so decided it wasn't a big deal. Essentially it was a complement, albeit a blunt one. She turned red again and nibbled at her lip; the day was definitely memorable and she looked forward to telling her friends about his romantic gesture with the roses. Such a sweetie. "Ohhh, Paris," Carson swooned, resting a hand on her cheek thoughtfully as she batted her eyelashes. "I've never been but I really want to go. Hey, we should go sometime!" Being as money came easily for her she never did think about how expensive a trip like that could truly be, not to mention the timing. Maybe one day though! And maybe Pacey could go with her.

"Do you have pictures of these places?" She asked, genuinely interested in all of the places he mentioned. Although her family traveled quite a bit they didn't visit Europe often. Her trips consisted of cruises and the Bahamas. "I mean, I've been to England but the other places sound soooo amazing. How did you sleep if it was daylight twenty-four hours a day? Or did you just...fall asleep whenever you felt tired?" That was so cool! But she felt that her body clock would be so messed up by that. She hoped that it would be on the list of future places to visit, though. Traveling was one of the things she really enjoyed. His question caught Carson off guard and it took her a second to come up with an answer. "Uhm, I've been to Fiji! It was so gorgeous there. The water is clear to the bottom and the weather is perfect. And we took a cruise to Alaska and saw the whales." Those were the two she remembered the most, and the places they frequented when they felt up to a vacation. It never got old. Her smile grew wider. "Yes, shopping!" Any sort of shopping was ideal, really, but clothes shopping was her favorite. Pacey seemed to take notice of that too and she could only giggle. "Oh, was it that obvious? Whoops. But thanks!" Yeah, it was fairly obvious the girl had a thing for clothes and fashion.

Although Carson wasn't extremely hungry, talking about her favorite food did make her stomach grumble a little. Come on, it was Thai food! She wondered if the cook could make a Thai dish for dinner. "Oh, okay! We should both go then. I've been a couple of times before but I figure you could show me where all the cool stuff is." Realizing she was asking to tag along to practically everywhere, she amended herself. "I mean...if you want to, of course. I know that you would probably visit family...and stuff." She glanced away from him long enough to realize that the previews were done and the main screen was displayed, waiting for them to press 'play'. She did. Her mind wasn't exactly on the movie, but it did make nice background noise. "I don't remember a whole lot but the city was pretty big. There are a lot of farms and stuff out there too. I like being here in the Hollow though." She smiled a little but allowed it to fade away as Pacey talked about going home for university, allowing her head to fall to the side as she watched him. She would understand his leaving but definitely didn't have a very happy feeling about it. Carson was a very clingy person and didn't do well when people left her.

Her head was now resting on the bed now, her arm tired from supporting the weight of her head. It had started to tingle and fall asleep. "That would be cool! Your own place." She said this wistfully, wondering if she would do that when she graduated from high school. Probably. She never even thought to judge him on his parents' hand in getting the apartment; Achelle and the family did a lot for her too. Money had its benefits. Her mind drifted off now, eyes moving up to watch the movie for a minute before she cuddled up closer to him, burying her face in his chest. Pacey made her feel safe and comfortable. "I hope you stick around..." Carson's voice was muffled by his shirt. "I'd miss you too much." It wasn't intended to be a guilt trip, just an honest statement.

[PACEY LUCAS BAEK]

Pacey grinned a little bit. "As long as it's not bad," he said, not overly concerned with it. He didn't think Carson was likely to purposely try to insult him or something, and he wasn't easily offended when people unintentionally said things. "I try to be as not awkward as possible, but I dunno sometimes..." he joked, pulling a silly face before relaxing back into a grin. Okay, true, some only children were pretty awkward (as were some kids with siblings, he was sure, but she was right that it seemed to be the trend). Pacey was lucky he hadn't been too ill-affected by his parents' decision not to have anymore kids, actually -- but his cousins were just pseudo-siblings anyway. "Me too! I want to meet your family. Or... some of your family, at least," he said, frowning. Her family was pretty huge so, clearly, he probably wouldn't meet all of them at once.

He just smiled when she swooned at the mention of Paris. They didn't call it the city of love for no reason, obviously. He liked it enough as a place to visit, though he wasn't sure he could handle ever staying there for super extended periods of time, any longer than a few weeks, actually. Other places were different. He liked Toronto best, though -- Toronto and Maple Hollow, where he actually lived. Maybe it was just an adjustment thing -- he'd actually been pretty miserable coming to the Hollow in the first place. "Paris," he agreed with a smile, thinking back to his trip there. "It's a lot of fun. And really nice. You'd definitely love it," he told her with confidence, smiling. "We should! Just pack our bags and take a tour. Around all of Europe. Or just the whole world." He wanted to travel the world one day, actually -- take an eating tour across all these different countries and everything they had to offer, both food-wise and in general. There was a lot to see and do. "Yeah! Here, wait, I can..." He trailed off as he reached into his pocket and fetched his phone, tracking down his vacation pictures pretty quickly. "This isn't all of them, but there are a couple." There were a few dozen on his phone and many, many more stored on his computer.

Her question made him laugh a little and shake his head. "We just checked the clock and went to sleep whenever. Closed the curtains and stuff so that it was kind of dark-ish." Naturally, with the curtains drawn, it was very dark in their hotel rooms -- he assumed that this was because of that whole constant light thing, so that the guests would be able to actually sleep. Pacey wasn't overly sensitive to light, though, luckily. "Though I mean, I dunno. We ended up doing a lot of hiking and stuff in Iceland so a lot of the time I just kind of crashed whenever I got back," he admitted with a small laugh. The scenery out there was beautiful and there was just a lot of nature to explore, even though they'd had a car that they'd driven around everywhere. He was an Earth elemental -- and so was his mom, actually; it was only fitting. "Ohhh, Fiji," he said, eyes lighting up. "I've never been! We should go there one day too. And all the places. And whales!" His mind was all over the place in his kind of silly excitement, but he liked to travel, and the prospect of going to visit all these places with his new (and beautiful) girlfriend was awesome.

As a dude who enjoyed shopping more than the average guy, he just nodded a few times in agreement. "A little obvious, but in a good way! I like shopping. And clothes." It was a pretty unmanly thing to admit, but then again, she probably hadn't thought he was particularly manly in the first place anyway. "No one knows a place like the locals," he agreed with a nod. He hadn't been in a long time, and admittedly since the last time he'd actually lived there was at thirteen he hadn't done much exploring back then, but even on his visits back every summer he was glad that he kind of still knew the city really well. His family and old friends helped, too -- he was still finding neat places there. 'It has some of like, the best poutine too. You know, besides places in Quebec and stuff, but that's cheating." That was like saying sushi was better in Japan. Like... duh. Her sudden correction of herself made him cock his head a little bit to the side. "No, it's cool! You should definitely come along if you can. I think everyone would wanna meet you, too." One of his cousins was at the Academy, but then there was Sydney, and his parents, and his aunt and uncle, all of whom were very important to him.

Pacey let her move away to press Play, though admittedly he had already forgotten what movie he'd put into the DVD player in the first place, and he didn't really care to find out, being much more interested in their conversation. So much for a movie date, but that was okay! "But that's fun," he murmured when she returned. "I think I might have been, once. But I don't really remember." There had been many places he'd been in Canada and out of it, and some of them blended together when they weren't totally distinguishing, like Paris or something. "I like the Hollow too," he agreed, allowing his head to rest down on the bed as well so that they were still facing each other without his having to be on a weird awkward angle. "Yeah. All my own. Maybe a few roommates," he murmured, though his parents would probably still pay for it all. He just liked having company, honestly. He hadn't yet thought about things like cooking for himself and cleaning a whole apartment and what-not, either, which would be an adventure and a half in itself. However, this wasn't really at all on his mind as Carson cuddled up on his chest. "Hey," he mumbled, voice quiet to match hers (though he was pretty sure that for her, it was because she was kind of talking against his shirt). "I'd miss you too..." Pacey sighed, putting an arm around her. "I'll probably stick around," he admitted, "But, but it's a couple months until graduating anyway, so..." This just meant a couple of months until he had to actually make important decisions, which was a weird thought. Having a girlfriend (whom he'd have been dating for a while, by the time he graduated) also changed things a lot, actually.

[CARSON PARKER GARROWAY]

Traveling always brought a smile to Carson's face. She was not a very stationary person, preferring instead to hop from one thing to another and find something new and intriguing if at all possible. There were so many cities and countries to visit, places to see, pictures to take, memories to create...ah, it excited her beyond words. Not to mention that all of this was quite accessible considering the family wealth. School liked to get in the way of everything though. Mentally she groaned at the hindrance to her travel plans. All she wanted to do was go and visit all of the best places in the world. "I'm sure I would!" Carson exclaimed with a squeal, smiling brightly. Paris sounded so beautiful and romantic and just the pictures alone excited her. The Eiffel Tower looked so beautiful at night. That was one place she wanted to take a picture of. "Ohhh," There was a glimmer of wistfulness i her eyes. "The whole world would be amazing, wouldn't it? So many places to see. It would be cool if you went with me! Because really, I am going to go traveling one day." She nodded at him seriously. That was not an exaggeration or some dream. She would travel at some point. It was all a matter of when. The girl bounced up and down a little as she took his phone and flipped through the pictures.

A few 'ooh's' and 'ahh's' passed her lips as she went one picture after another, the smile never fading. It looked like so much fun and ugh, if only they could go right then and there! Too bad school prevented that. She listened to him talk about Iceland as she continued to look at the pictures, stopping every few seconds to look up at him and nod in excitement. He had been to so many cool places. She had, too, but there were many more to visit and explore. "I'm definitely going to go to Iceland now. You seemed to do okay with the twenty-four hour sunlight so maybe I can manage!" If she did all of the hiking and things too, maybe she would just fall asleep whenever she had the chance like he did. That would be the easiest way, in her opinion. "We can definitely go! We will go everywhere and do everything and just...leave for a while." That sounded heavenly. Would they still be together when they had the opportunity to do this? She did not have any second guesses about much of anything, especially relationships.

"I'm glad you do, because we can shop together," Carson stated with conviction, nodding and smiling all the while. How awesome was it that her boyfriend didn't mind going clothes shopping? Going out with the girls was awesome and fun but now there was the opportunity to go with Pacey too. "Well, Mr. Local, I look forward to the tour." She said with a chuckle. A tour would be fun! She found a lot of things fun though, so that may not have said all that much. Carson's lips made an 'o' shape at the mention of poutine. "Oh god," Her voice was heavy with anticipation. "We'll definitely have to go for the poutine then. No if's, and's, or but's about it. You'll need to take me to the best place for poutine and we can stuff our faces with it." She was not a big eater and did not revolve her daily life around food but man, did that sound delicious.

Family was certainly a big deal, bigger for some people than others, and the girl just wanted to ensure she wasn't intruding on anything by inviting herself to come along. "I'd definitely like to meet them!" She wasn't necessarily nervous about meeting his family; the girl hardly knew a stranger as it was so they would not be too different from that. The only true distinction was that they were her boyfriends family, not random people on the street or in the halls at the Academy. She wanted to make sure she chose the best outfits for the occasion when it came around. She shrugged. "Even if you haven't you didn't miss a whole lot. But that's just my opinion." It was her birthplace but that did not contribute to who she knew now, aside from family. All of her friends were in the Hollow. "Roommates are always fun!" Carson chirped happily. "Who are you thinking of rooming with?" It didn't particularly matter to her; the inquiry was merely to satisfy curiosity.

She looked up at the word 'hey' and stared at him. Her eyes betrayed the twinge of anxiety she felt but didn't say anything as he put an arm around her. She was a clingy person by nature so the thought of her boyfriend going to another city was a bit jolting, to say the least. "Yeah," She mumbled, wrapping her own arm around his waist and giving him a small squeeze. Thinking about that only bought her spirits down so, instead of lying there and wondering what the future held, she sighed and shook off the feelings with a smile. "Have any other questions for me? I don't think I have any right off the top of my head..." Carson thought for a moment but came up empty. They talked about quite a few things.

[PACEY LUCAS BAEK]

Pacey smiled brightly and nodded. Paris really was beautiful, even if the Parisians were a little obnoxious. Hey, everyone in every city was obnoxious! As a city boy he knew that well enough, even though it wasn't like he'd always lived in the heart of the city or anything -- he did, however, get to visit downtown often enough when he was at home. "So much stuff to see! And things to do. And food. The food would be the best," he said, mouth watering at the thought of all these different things there could be to eat across the world. He was always open to trying new things -- food-wise, yes, and also just in general. "Traveling's great." It really was, and he could speak from experience as well as just a general belief that hey, it was a cool as heck world out there, and he really wanted to see more of it. "Yeah, you'll be fine! It's a lot of fun. So pretty there," he enthused, nodding to further affirm this. "Definitely." He was a little less optimistic, but hey, he liked Carson a lot and the future was a wide open place, so there was no reason that they shouldn't be together later on, he figured. If he could take her around the world, then he definitely would. School, and their parents, were probably the biggest problems.

Shopping with his girlfriend actually sounded awesome, and he looked forward to it -- seeing her in nice clothes? Yes please. He had a thing for clothes... and, obviously, for Carson. The girl was always well-dressed, though, which was fantastic. He grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "We can! Anytime you want," he said. He spent a disproportionately high amount of time at the mall, actually, compared to some of his bros... except, of course, the few he could drag with him often enough. "You'll love Toronto," he said with confidence. He did like his hometown a lot. "Just call me Mr. Tour Guide! I don't have a double decker bus, though. That kind of sucks." He would probably also be a very bad tour guide in actuality, so it was a good thing that this was all in jest. Pacey wouldn't trust himself with the entire city of Toronto -- it was a big place. "Yeah! There's this really neat place, they put all this amazing stuff on it... So good," he said, nodding. "And they have poutine pizza! Actually I think other places do, but Toronto does it better." Of course, he was heavily biased, but he expected that she already knew that anyway. He liked Toronto a lot.

It made him happy to see that she was so interested to meet his family, and he grinned widely. "They'd probably like to meet you too!" They were dating now, and Pacey expected that before long he would have told his parents all about Carson, mostly because he got happy and silly and excited about these things. He told his parents a lot, actually -- there wasn't too much that he had to be ashamed of. He smiled a bit. "No? Aw. But you're in the Hollow now! And the Hollow is fun," he said, nodding. Each city was different and Edmonton, he was sure, was a lot bigger than the Hollow... maybe. He didn't know the specifics; he just really knew that Toronto and Vancouver were both huge, and everything else varied. Maple Hollow was a relatively small city, though. "I dunno, actually!" he said, shrugging it off without too much worry. "I mean, I do kind of. Noah, maybe, if he wanted. Or... I dunno. I should probably know by now. Is that bad?" he asked, smile sheepish. Maybe it was. He should really know these things if he was actually planning on being on his own in an apartment after high school.

He was quickly distracted, however, by the sudden anxiety that came with his mention of potentially going back to Toronto. Oh, man. He frowned, feeling a little bit guilty for bringing it up. Way to go, Pace. "I... There's a lot of time left still..." he said, trying to be articulate and rational and logical, but failing at it very badly. He would miss her, too. There were many people he would miss, and all in all he was pretty sure he would never be able to go back to Toronto, much as he did sometimes miss his parents and all of his friends back there still. Pacey shook his head a little before shifting forward and kissing her -- hopefully something comforting and not completely out of the blue. When she seemed to shake it off, however, he gave her a small smile. "Other questions? Um... Favourite colour? Last TV show you watched! Um... On a scale of one to ten, how bad am I at asking questions?" he joked around, trying to lighten things up. He stuck his tongue out at a little for extra silliness. Okay, so he was kind of a dork.

[CARSON PARKER GARROWAY]

"Yay! Then we'll have to plan for a shopping trip soon." Carson replied enthusiastically, already thinking about all of the awesome things she could buy and new clothes she could try on for her boyfriend. It was nice to showcase it to a guy who was a) more than a friend and b) was capable of enjoying fashion. Most of her expeditions to the mall were with her girlfriends, and while she loved them dearly it was simply not the same as going with Pacey. "Aw, it's okay! I don't think we'll need a double decker bus just for me anyway. Though they are pretty cool..." She tapped her chin and giggled, the thought of sitting on the bus by herself with Pacey playing tour guide more than amusing. Maybe they could rent a car or something and drive around the city. That was entirely possible, right? All of this made her very excited. "I'm sure they do," She said with a smile. "We'll definitely have to get poutine pizza while we're there then! And it will be delicious." Pacey really seemed to love his food, which was alright by her. He was just all levels of adorable, really.

For some people meeting their significant other's parents could be daunting, but Carson looked forward to the whole thing. She loved people, loved talking (obviously), and did not get self conscious very often at all so pre-meeting jitters would not be nearly as intense than if she were someone else. "It'll just be one awesome meeting then." She said with confidence, beaming at Pacey. She nodded. "I love the Hollow," Her voice seemed almost wistful. "It's awesome. I have everything I need right here." Family, friends, and Pacey. That seemed pretty awesome to her. Of course the girl adjusted to change quite easily so, even if they were to move elsewhere, she could acclimate in due time. Missing friends was unavoidable but she could always make new friends too! There was always that. "No, it's not bad. It's not like you have to find roommates right away, y'know? I'm sure you'll find people sooner or later." She gave him a pat and nodded for reassurance.

Maybe there was a lot of time left but the thought still made her sad. If Carson weren't so clingy this would be easier but as it was being close to those she cared about usually surpassed a lot of things. Oh well; as he said there was still time so maybe things would change by then. His kiss made her feel better though; she couldn't help but smile against his lips. Pacey made her happy. "Favorite color? Oh oh uhm...I like a lot of colors! I guess pink and green are higher up on the list though." Anything bright and happy, really, but she wasn't overly picky. "TV show? I don't even remember. I usually just watch movies. Though some of those comedy shows are good." Like Friends, which was one of her favorites. Most of the time the TV turned into background noise if she became distracted. She giggled. "Uhm...because you're cute, I'll give you a four out of ten. Or maybe two out of ten if you kiss me again." She perked up her eyebrows and gave him a playful smile.

[AHAHAHA. AHAHA. HAHA. i managed to cut it down and it only took two pages, and probably near the end of the thread. >>;]

[PACEY LUCAS BAEK]

Pacey grinned and raised his hand to wiggle his fingers at her a little, imitating something even though he wasn't really sure what it was. "Can't wait! Text me the deets, girlfran," he said, taking on what he thought was a very sassy tone. He winked. The kid was a little ridiculous but it was okay -- he liked his life that way. "Well, we could let other people on, I guess," he said, sighing as if this would be a lot of trouble to him, just letting other people on the bus. "But they are cool! I guess they're more of like a London thing, though." They probably were. There were tour buses in Toronto, and most large cities he was sure, but those huge red double deckers did always remind him of London. Maybe one day he'd go on one of those -- he had been all over the place but somehow not on a double decker. "It's pretty awesome! And sushi pizza!" They weren't really pizzas at all, and he was sure they could find sushi pizza at just about any sushi place, but hush. "And, y'know, all the other foods that aren't called pizza, but..." He just shrugged and grinned, not overly bothered.

He was glad that she didn't seem to be overly bothered by the thought of meeting his family, because he was certainly a little nervous about the whole thing. Well, he was actually doing alright, really -- he was a pretty friendly guy and he doubted there would be any problems. He nodded his agreement when she said that she had everything she needed in the Hollow. He missed his parents a lot sometimes, and that was one major factor in wanting to return to Toronto, but on the other hand, almost everyone else in his life was here in the Hollow. "I do like the Hollow a lot," he said, sighing a little bit. There was a small smile on his face. "Nah, there's a while left. And I can probably go ahead and move in first anyway," he added, shrugging a little. Perhaps he should have been more concerned than he was, but truthfully he had yet to consider the reality of being on his own. "Yeah! But I'm kind of excited," he told her, the enthusiasm evident in his voice and the small grin. "Like, being an adult. Or something. Except kind of not, because like taxes and stuff, but... yeah." Pacey didn't know much about the real world at all, at least not in terms of living on his own and getting food every day.

He liked her voice (among many other things about her) and he felt like he could probably listen to her ramble on and on, even if it were just about her favourite colour. Well, maybe not. Luckily for both of them, though, the answer was fairly simple, and Pacey grinned. "Pink and green are nice colours!" he agreed, nodding. Then again, he wasn't really opposed to any colours. He would probably dye his hair pink if he thought he'd look half-decent in it -- but maybe not now. He sort of did things to his hair on a whim as it was. "How can you not watch TV?" he asked, tone taking on a tone of mock shock and awe -- no, he wasn't even half-serious (and she could probably tell) but this was also typically the reaction he got when he said he didn't watch much TV. Generally, instead, he marathoned everything all in the matter of a few days. The kid had a problem. "Still a four? I'm only that cute?!" His expression was nothing short of appalled and highly offended but he was still only kidding. "Hm..." Pacey pretended to give her a skeptical look. "I think you can probably be cute enough for both of us. If I kiss you twice will you bump it down to a one?" His grin was cheeky. There was no shame.