[Mackenzie] Oh By The Way...

[Riley Scott Collins]

Riley stepped backwards carefully from the crib after finally getting Lily to go to sleep. She’d had a long few days, turned into weeks. Moving from one home to another, only to suddenly travel all the way to New York.She met each and every person that Riley cared most about in the world, and she seemed to love them just as much as they loved her. But today had been pretty tiring on her, considering all of the flirting she was doing with Ryan. If she hadn’t been in love with him when she met him, she sure as hell was going to be. If her first word was ‘Ryan’, Riley would be peeved. He came downstairs , taking the steps as quickly as he could. He still carried the engagement ring with him everywhere, even if he knew it wasn’t the right time to propose. Yet. He wanted it to be really special for Mackenzie; and though they probably weren’t his biggest fans, he wanted to talk to her father and get permission to ask for his daughters hand in marriage.

Riley stopped in the kitchen, getting some of Mackenzie’s favorite ice cream from the freezer before he took out two spoons from the drawer and made his way back to the living room. He smiled as he saw her familiar shape curled up on the couch under a blanket and set the ice cream down. ‘Hi,’ he said with a suggestive grin on his lips. Riley hovered over her, placing some of his weight gently against her as he leaned down to kiss her, holding his hand firmly into the side of her hair. Ever since their meeting in the restaurant in California, he’d considered himself a taken man. Maybe it was complicated on Mackenzie’s end, he wasn’t sure. But for now he was all in. Riley leaned away for a moment, brushing the hair away from her face and neck. “ There was something I wanted to ask you,” he said quietly against the side of her ear, pressing his lips back against her neck . Riley lowered his hand to the side of her hip where he clung to it tightly, moving his kiss from the side of her neck down to the top of her collar bone in a soft trail.

[Mackenzie Janelle Collins]

Mackenzie was glad to be in New York. She loved the city and everything about it, right down to every crack in the sidewalk and every taxi. She was a California girl at heart, always would be having grown up in Orange County her entire life, but there was something about New York that was huge. Like a whole other world, it made you feel like you were part of something so big with all its connections to the rest of the world. Some days since moving to the city she felt like the transplant that she was but other then that she loved it. Especially in the Upper East Side, Mackenzie was content with although of the East Coast WASPy types that she could relate too. Even though her parents were both from Georgia, her dad had lived in New York until he was twelve and her grandparents had old money on the Upper East side. Nothing like going back to your roots. She'd told her sister they'd have to go visit Grandma and Grandpa Bannon when they were visiting their vacation home in the city, but until then Mack was good with going down to the little neighborhood of old brownstones where Riley was. Wherever he was, that's where she liked it best. She sat on Riley's couch, patiently waiting for Lily to go to sleep so she and Riley could spend some well deserved alone time together. She'd forgotten what it was like just to cuddle up to him on the couch, forgotten how much being in his arms felt like home.

Riley came in, grinning from ear to ear with her favorite ice cream. He knew the way her heart, that was for sure. But before she could grab a spoon he was kissing her, making her forget about the ice cream she'd wanted all but two seconds ago. She kissed him back, her arms sliding around him before he pulled away and told her he had something to ask her. Instead of asking her whatever it was he began kissing her neck, leaving a trail of kisses across her skin and she smiled, curious now what he was about to ask. She leaned away from him, taking his face in her hands and holding it in front of her own. At this rate he was going, he'd never get around to that question and it would go as forgotten as the damn ice cream in less then two minutes. "Whats that?" she asked, she asked, smiling sweetly, sliding her hands around his neck.

[Riley Scott Collins]

Riley smiled against the softness of her skin as he felt her arms move in order to place her hands against his cheeks. Clearly she was trying to get him to focus. Good thing he was in med school; multi-tasking was something they thought highly of. And seeing as how Lily could wake up at any given second , it made sense that he monopolize the time he could with Mack. He tilted his head in her hands to kiss the inside of her wrist. “ I was thinking.. and, I know it’s a lot to ask considering what all it would involve with Lily, and the fact that you’ll be starting school at NYU soon,” Riley said as he leaned back over Mackenzie, stealing another quick kiss from her. ”But I was thinking that maybe you would want to move in with me,”. Just because he was going to ask her father for permission to marry her, didn’t mean he was going to play by ALL of the rules. Riley moved so that he wasn’t laying on top of her anymore, but so that he was pinned against the back of the couch and laying on his side to be next to her.

Riley traced his finger tips under the edge of her shirt and gripped his fingertips against the smooth familiarity of her skin.He stretched his fingers out, tightening them over the curves of her hip. Even his fingertips seemed to crave having more of her touch against them, an insatiable thirst that went along with the rest of him.He smiled softly as he looked down at her, moving some more of the stray hair away from her face. “ You are so beautiful,Kenzie” he said to her quietly. That was a compliment that Mackenzie had gotten many times over from all different types of men, but Riley wasn’t talking about her looks right now. She had one of the most beautiful souls he had ever seen; and seeing the way she interacted with Lily was genuinely the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He wasn’t even sure it was entirely possible, but she was evenmore desireable than she had been before. His hand moved from the outside of her hip to against the inside of her thigh. Clinging to it tightly, he traced his thumb slowly against her skin as he leaned down to kiss her again.

[Mackenzie Janelle Collins]

As if getting him to focus wasn't hard enough, getting herself to focus when he was like this was just as much a challenge. Even though he was once again kissing her, and she could easily give in and forget whatever conversation was struggling to happen here, she let it sink in that he'd just asked her to move in. Mackenzie pulled away from him, pushing his chest away from herself and sat up on her elbows, looking at him, "Hang on, stop. You just asked me to move in, that deserves some kind of conversation with out you distracting me." Mackenzie took a deep breath, mulling it over for a second. They had only just barely gotten back together not even a month ago, not to mention Riley had Lily to think about. He and Mack weren't even engaged. And moving into someone's house wasn't something she had grown up thinking was proper. It had been drilled into her that you should be married before you live with someone other then like, your family or a friend that's a girl. Not that Mackenzie had ever really followed her parents rules... after all it seemed lately as if she barely had parents to speak of. True she'd already broken a lot of rules, drinking under age, an illegal substance here and there, not to mention the sex before marriage rule got broken a long time ago. Going against another rule her parents asked of her wasn't that big a deal. Hell, even giving consideration to her parents beliefs wasn't even something she really even did usually. It was possible she was looking for a reason to tell him no, but she had no reason not to move in with him. She loved him, and being honest, she loved Lily too. If there was a reason not to move in with Riley, it'd be Lily anyways. Like, what if they never gt engaged and broke up? What if they got engaged and broke it off? What if they got married and it ended in divorce? How would that affect Lily? It wasn't as if she had a mother figure, and Mackenzie knew being with Riley meant stepping into that position. Mack also knew that if things ended badly, it would affect more then just the two of them. But in the back of her mind, she couldn't imagine things ending badly. Maybe she was being selfish, but she'd rather risk it knowing that she didn't want to spend her life with anyone else. The future was a mystery but right now she knew what she wanted and that was to be with Riley. She'd fought for him already, not letting him walk away when they both knew that being together was what they both wanted. Now he was giving her what she wanted with out a fight.

Mackenzie held his hand, tracing her thumb over his palm, "You're really sure you want me to move in? If you're sure, then I have no objections over here." She smiled, "I just hope you have a lot of closet space," she said jokingly. In her house in she'd used the bedroom next to hers as a walk in closet, and it had definitely been filled up, barely having space to walk around. She'd done some getting rid of stuff when they'd moved, but that was easily replaceable looking at the kind of shopping there was here in the city.

[Riley Scott Collins]

Riley knew that it seemed like a lot to be asking Mackenzie to move in with him, but the fact of the matter was he was in love with her. There wasn’t any other person in the world that he could see himself being tied down with, having a family with, anything. Mackenzie was his and she had been from that first night he’d been sent on a goose chase to find water for her, tuck her head gently on his hoodie and look at the stars with her. God Bless those Renner bonfires. He knew that theyboth[ /i] came from families that would frown upon them moving in together. But hell,his parents were already dead, Mandi wasn’t going to care, and Mackenzie was able to make her own decisions. She was a lot stronger than not only what she thought, but what everyone else around them thought. The only thing he saw in her that was the slightest sign of weakness in his opinion; was how she kept everything to herself and tried to give off the perfect image.

“ You know I’m sure, otherwise I wouldn’t have asked,” he said with a playful grin across his lips. Riley thought things through and considered every component. If he asked someone to do something, or said something, there was a lot of thought behind it and he chose his words and actions carefully. He smiled against her skin as he kissed her collar bone and moved up to the soft skin of her neck. ” You can turn any room in the house that you want into a closet. It’s not like we don’t have the space,”. He moved to the side of her hair, pushing it away from her neck and ear before he nibbled gently against her ear. Quickly he placed his hand underneath the small of her back and sat back, resting against the back of the couch while simultaneously pulling Mackenzie into his lap. He smiled as he placed his hands over her hips and pulled her closer to him. “ If it makes you feel any better about not having to disappoint your parents, we can just consider it a very.. very.. very, long sleepover,” . Riley smiled as he looked up at her and kissed her again, sort of ignoring the fact at how she had told him to concentrate on the conversation at hand.

[Mackenzie Janelle Collins]

Mackenzie rolled her eyes but smiled. He was being such a guy. But there wasn’t much to discuss, he wanted her to move in, she wanted to move in, what else was there? It was simple, she’d probably move her stuff in during the week. In the meantime, she had every intention of enjoying spending time with him and probably letting that ice cream melt. Especially since Lily was sleeping so time that went uninterrupted was becoming an oddity. Mackenzie leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his neck, “I really don’t care what my parents think about what I do with my life anymore. They don’t exactly act like parents, so they lose all parental privileges,” she shrugged giving a weak smile. She loved her parents, she did. But after her sister died they kind of just forgot how to be parents to their other daughters. It was like they figured Mackenzie and Kiersten were old enough to take care of themselves anyways and just let them live their lives. Any other kid might think it was great having parents who put so much distance between them, but in Mackenzie’s opinion, she didn’t think letting her fifteen year old sister at the time fend for herself was such a good idea. But it was whatever. They’d taken care of themselves now for over a year. They were used to it. Riley pulled her closer and kissed her and Mackenzie leaned into him, kissing him back. It was weird to think that they’d even been broken up for any amount of time. When they were broken up it felt like ages but since they were now back together it was like they’d never broken up at all. Just picked up where they left off, plus a baby. But other than that, it was like nothing changed.

Mackenzie slid her hands down his chest, reaching just under the hem of his shirt and pushing it up over his body before tossing it onto the floor. She let her hands roam over the expanse of his chest and kissed his neck, smiling against his skin, “But you know I love sleepovers.”

[Riley Scott Collins]

Riley wasn’t sure if anyone actually had normal parents in their circle of friends. Maybe Blake and Logan did, which was strange since they had wound up together. He wasn’t sure what the situation was with Shane’s parents, knew that Ryans’ dad was a dick, Madeline’s parents seemed normal, and Scarlet’s.. well her dad was running for frikking President. Literally. But he understood completely what Mackenzie meant when she said that her parents weren’t behaving like parents. It sounded like after Mackenzie’s sister died, they had just sort of… given up. Not that he could blame them. Losing his parents sort of made him want to do the same thing, too. It seemed like the more he kissed her, the more he was worried about Lily waking up and ruining some of the first actual alone time he’d had with Mackenzie in a while.

Riley smiled as Mackenzie suggested that she loved sleepovers. His hands wandered over her lower back , digging into the soft skin that he’d grown to love. She’d gotten pretty good at taking his clothes off without much of a fight from him. He smiled as he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her. “ Well I was always partial to pillow fights” he said as though either of them actually cared to carry on a conversation. Riley stood up , holding his arms around her tightly as he moved quietly upstairs, abandoning the ice cream he had gotten for her and praying to God that Lily wouldn’t wake up when he walked past her nursery. Riley stepped into his room, shutting the door gently with his foot before he brought Mackenzie to the edge of the bed and set her down on it. He cupped her face gently in his hands as he lowered down to kiss her. It hadn’t mattered that they separated, he’d told her that he loved her even when they were and he meant it with all of his heart.