Streets of NYC

Ryan rolled his eyes when he saw her so happy picking clothes`` trying to win me over with that disarming smile of yours, so obvious `` he said under his breath, just high enough for her to hear it and began laughing not giving her time to respond `` you know I`m just playin` around with you right?`` he said with a playful smile that suddenly began fading away ``you just remind me of someone I used to really care about`` his voice was serious probably for the first time since they had met, his eyes slowly wandering off.

Nia looked at him. "I'm sorry then." She said, looking briefly away. "What happened to her? If you don't mind me asking." She said looking back at him, with soft warm brownish-green eyes.

He took a deep breath, as flashes of what had happened crossed his mind. Then he looked back up at her, looking resignated ``someone broke into my house and killed her and my sister....I guess, you can`t always protect those you care about...`` his voice had a mix of anger and shame. Deep inside he had always blamed himself for not being there when it happened. He found himself staring at her mouth, whenever he talked about them he just couldn`t look at anyone in the eyes. They always seemed to look at him with a sympathetic look that just made him feel worst. He began absently drumming his fingers over the clothes he was carrying and after a few seconds of silence he finally let his eyes meet with hers and his expression whent back to its playfull self ``so do you always give people that seductive look or only with guys like me that you just can`t help it with?`` he joked trying to change the subject to a less serious matter.

She laughed, knowing he was trying to change the subject. "Once again, your not my type." She said throwing her hair over her shoulder. "Now, will you help me pick what to wear?" She asked, walking over to her clothing pile.

``ok, but you seem to have a really bad taste in things`` Ryan said referring to her insisting he wasn`t her type ``let`s see here…`` he looked over the clothes she had chosen and then turned back to her ``well at least you don`t have as bad taste in clothes as you do in guys`` he gave her a small wink then handed her the red dress she had shown him when he had arrived ``what about this maybe with some strappy heels? you really seemed to like `em``

Waverly dug quietly through the piles of clothes, while allowing an eavesdropping ear on Ryan and Nia's conversation. Sad. She thought. She had never known that kind of loss except for when her grandmother died who had taught her everything she knew about magic and Wicca. Since then she had had to learn the rest by herself and put up with her flaky mom and her frequent boyfriends. But at least she had moved out from that house a year ago and was now living on her own. Waverly knew very well that she couldn't buy anything as she was already in debt from frequent buys at the record store and numerous other clothing stores, not to mention rent, utilities, and all that other nonsense. I really should not work at a record store. She thought to herself, while looking at a 70s, post-punk denim skirt with studs on the side that she couldn't afford.

Ryan looked over to where Waverly was and waved at her to come over ``hey Waverly, come here! maybe you can give Nia a hand with clothes and such!`` he droped the clothes he was carrying for himself by Nias pile.

Nia rolled her eyes at him. "Your just not Zeus enough." She muttered mainly to herself. Then she picked up the dress and the strappy shoes. "Yeah, this is perfect. I'll try it on!" She said and skipped back into the dressing rooms she closed the door and put the dress on then the strappy heels. She walked out. "What do you think?" She asked, looking at herself in the mirror, the dress was really pretty with small straps, and it made her curves that didn't exsist look like they did.

Ryan looked at her a bit wide eyed, his yaw slightly droped and he followed her with his eyes then slowly walked closer to her and said ``you look…`` then cut himself short. He was about to say gorgeous but decided not to, after all that would make him seem too interested in her and would take away the magic of playing around with her ``regular, I mean I`ve seen better`` He continued finally closing his mouth, but not really been able to keep his eyes away from her.

"Oh. Okay." She said nodded softly, her eyes falling. She walked back over to her pile of clothes, and looked for something different. By the way he said regular, and that he'd seen better she didn't want to wear it. She shook her head a little, and slid the heels off and grabbed a pair of black leather boots. They went to her knee and had a small heel, then she grabbed a pair of tight skinnyish jeans, they were stone washed blue, and had holes in the knees and along the legs. Then she grabbed a loose fitting grey tank top which had The Runaways going across the top, and then the bands first album. She also grabbed a bikerish leather jacket. If she wasn't going to wear a dress then she was going to be comfortable. She walked back into the change room and put it on. She put the dress back on the hanger and walked out in her new outfit. She put the dress back on the shelf, and sighed softly.

Ryan watched her as she whent and got changed with a confused expression ``Am I that good a liar?`` He asked himself then hurried to her side ``wait, you are going to buy that outfit you showed me right?`` he asked with a hint of concern. Maybe I should give her a break… he thought.

Nia shook her head. "Why would I? You said I only looked regular, I mean that kind of dress is suppost to make me look different and cute at the same time. But it didn't do either of those things." She said shrugging, and started to walk towards the counter. "Um, do you think you could deliver this to my apartment building?" She asked the person working there, pointing towards the pile of clothing. "And I'll wear this outfit out."

He walked up to the counter and grabed Nia by the hand and pulled her back to were the dress was, mainly because he didn`t like the idea of talking to her infront of the clerk, and handed the dress back to her ``you looked gorgeous`` he said looking into her eyes and giving her a confident smile ``that`s what I was going to say before``

Nia smiled. "Really?!" She asked taking the dress back into her hand. "Yaay!"

Ryan laughed seeing her so happy again, then arched his eyebrows noticing he was still holding her and pulled away ``wow, no hand holding on the first date! I mean I know it must be dificult but try to control yourself`` he said accusingly then walked away to where the clerk was ``whatever they buy charge it here`` he said giving him his credit card.

Nia walked away from him, rolling her eyes. Then she looked at the Clerk, "I can pay for my own stuff." She said walking up. Then she turned to Ryan, "Honestly, I have alot of money, it's not a problem for me to pay."

Ryan frowned when she said she would pay her things ``but I want to give them to you as a gift, that way next time you want to wear any of this you`ll remember the cocky guy you just couldn`t stand`` he said grinning ``and I`ll tell you what if you let me pay I`ll let you take me out for a drink next time we meet`` he said centering his gaze on hers.

Nia nodded. "Fine." Still feeling bad about making him pay for all that. "And that does mean I'll agree to go out with you for drinks." She said, and poked him softly, and grinning.

Ryan shrugged his shoulders lightly with a sly smile ``actually I think I changed my mind, you would probably try to get me drunk and take me home or something, maybe a movie....but you`re still paying`` he slipped the credit card to the man and looked at her tilting his head slightly to his right. Suddendly he began getting closer to her until he was face to face only a few inches away from hers. Then made his way slowly to her neck and after a few second of staying completely still breathing on her neck ``I knew it! I have been smelling flowers all this time!`` he said straightening himself back up ``at first I thought it was the park but it`s you!``

Waverly followed Ryan beckoning and a nodded her head at the dress Nia was trying on. "Yeah, you look hot. If I was a guy I wouldn't push you out of bed." She replied with a grin. At Ryan's comment of Nia's 'normalcy,' Waverly rolled her eyes and smirked slightly. What a guy, she thought. "Hey, I'm going to the record store next door if anyone wants to come with." She called before disappearing out the door and into Other Music, Inc.

When she walked into the store, the clerk looked up at Waverly and smiled. "Hey, Waverly. What are you doing here? Not to buy more records, are you?"

Laughing, Waverly, began sifting through the stacks, shaking her head. "Nah, Sophie. I already bought two CDs at the end of my shift this morning. I'm actually here with a few friends."

Ryder followed Waverly into the record store. "So, Waverly the Wiccan." He said softly to her. "Whats your favourite CD?" He asked her, grinning softly.

Nia's eyes widen and she hit him on the shoulder, and it was surprisingly hard for someone who was her size. "Don't sniff me!" She yelled and threw a card with her address onto the counter, "Send the clothes here. I'm leaving." She said shaking her head. "And by the way! I have flowers in my hair!" She yelled and walked into the record store. "Ugh." She muttered. She knew it might be a little obvious that she didn't like being sniffed nor did she like people almost figuring out who she was.

Waverly grinned at Ryder's approach, and then she pushed her eyebrows together in perplexion. "How'd you guess?" She asked, both surprised and pleased. However, it wasn't as if she drowned herself in pentagrams and chained jeans. While digging through the stacks, she laughed at his question, and shrugged her shoulders. "Wow, I can't even start. I have too many favorites. But among them, as I'm sure you can guess by the shirt, is David Bowie. And there's Tegan & Sara, PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, Nightmare of You... Death Cab for Cutie, Meg & Dia, Metric, Rogue Wave... haha." She both laughed and blushed when she realized how she was rambling. "What about you, Ryder?"

Ryan was shocked by her reaction and watched her leave as he rubbed his arm ``that girl has a hell of a right hook`` he said outloud then heard the clerk laugh ``what are you laughing at?`` he took the credit card from him ``take my things to her place as well I guess.....and stop listening to other peoples conversations`` he quickly made his way to the next door store ``hey wait up!`` he called out to Nia ``what was that all about?`` he asked scratching the back of his head.

Ryder listened to her smiling. "Your blood, it's different. Plus you just seem Wiccan-y." He said laughing a little, "Oh, music. Well, I've been alive for a while. It just depends, I like Bowie though. He really is an amazing preformer. But I like alot of different stuff." He said, he didn't really talk alot.

Nia ignored him for a few seconds then turned. "You know, it's not really nice to sniff people! I mean I knew you acted like a dog, but sniffing people is really taking it to far!" She yelled, as she pretended to look at records. "And so what if I smell like flowers?!"

Ryan tilted his head trying to figure out what the right response was ``nothing, it`s just a really nice smell...I don`t really get what you`re getting so worked up about`` he said resting his hand on his neck ``is it that bad that I like how you smelled? or is there something else your not telling me?``