Looks like you're having a lot of fun with your game! Love the screenshots and your writing really brings it all to life. Have you thought about migrating your story to a blog? My story blog was once a forum post when I started back in September. With all these writers that I found here on the forum, I became inspired to make an official "home" for my Sim stuff... I was also afraid I might "lose" my story (kind of like what happend to the The Sims 2 stories (they were like slideshows), though on CathyTea's blog, I found some were saved on other locations so that was neat!) Just wondering, lots of people like just doing forum stories! Just keep going and have fun
I'm not going to say never because things might change but I haven't done a blog because I don't feel like having to keep it organized and managed. A topic is simpler and it's easier to keep track of.
I'm not going to say never because things might change but I haven't done a blog because I don't feel like having to keep it organized and managed. A topic is simpler and it's easier to keep track of.
I'm finding that WordPress is super easy--I've got it down sort of to a routine right now, and it's really fun. You seem to be getting a lot of views here, though, so I think that readers are appreciating just being able to read your story here.
The next morning Cassie awoke to strong hunger pangs from her stomach. She still wasn't in the best of moods but knew that she still had to go on with the day anyway. After all starving herself wouldn't do help anything and skipping work would only serve to get her in trouble and getting fired now would really suck given what Gwen had just done for her.
As she headed out to work though she could help but notice the pieces of the easel still sticking out the top of the trash can, reviving all the feelings she'd had last night as she smashed it. Darn it, she thought. Just go away. I'm done with that life I just want to move on.
And with a burst of anger she turned and rammed her foot into the side of the trashcan causing it to topple over spilling it's contents across the front of her lot.
glaring at the chunks of wood angrily she turned and headed towards work really just not wanting to deal with any of this right now.
By the time the work day over her mood hadn't lightened up. Luckily she'd continued to keep herself calm while at work but that just meant the suppressed feelings had time to build up. This on top of knowing the mess in her yard she would get to clean up when she got home lead her to decide that it was a good time to go for a jog. A bit of excercise to give herself a chance to cool off. So after dropping her stuff off at the gym and changing she headed out for a nice long run around the neighborhood.
Shortly into her jog though she ran into a friendly face.
"Hey" Cassie said cheerfully as she spotted Gwen running further ahead along the sidewalk. Gwen turned around with a smile as she realized who had called her. "Hey to you, I didn't think I'd see you around here given work just ended for you at all."
"It's been a rough day is all" Cassie responded, "don't worry no problems at work, Mr. Pope has been behaving himself, just one of those days."
"Well I'd hope he was behaving himself" Gwen laughed as the two walked over to a bench to pause for a quick breather. "I'd hate to think I suffered that evening interview with him for nothing."
Cassie settled down onto the bench looking up at her friend who chose to remain standing. "Was it that bad?"
"Not really" Gwen responded with a shrug "though the guy wouldn't stop hitting on me."
Cassie's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "He did?!" Gwen smirked at the surprised response "What, are you jealous?"
"No, he just doesn't seem your type is all." Cassie replied.
Gwen laughed "Oh trust me he's not, though I'm not sure he quite grasps that idea. He seems to just think that it's impossible for any woman not to fall for him at the slightest provocation. Plus you really should see the guys house, compensating for something is an understatement with that monstrosity."
The two just laughed for a minute, Cassie's mood quickly improving. As they laughed though a light bulb seemed to go off in Gwen's head. "Hey, while you're out here anyway what do you say we hit the club tonight." Cassie looked at her apprehensively, she'd mentioned before that that type of place really wasn't her style but Gwen was adamant. "Come on, we can count it as that dinner you owe me. Plus there's nothing better after a bad day than letting loose with some drinks and dancing. Come on..." at this point Gwen batted her eyes putting on her best puppy dog pout "Pleeeeaassse."
Cassie couldn't help but bust out laughing again. Alright alright, I'll go to the club with you. It's probably better than trying to feed you my cooking anyway."
Gwen jumped up and down in joy and victory.
Cassie laughed again, she seemed to be doing that a lot this afternoon. "You always have to get your way don't you."
"Of course" Gwen replied with a grin "Now just give me a minute I need to swing by my house quickly to change, can't go to a club in my workout clothes after all."
"That's fine" replied Cassie. "I need to go change into some normal clothes at the gym anyway. "Alright then meet you there in a little bit" Gwen called out as she jogged off.
About 15 minutes later Gwen walked up to where Cassie was waiting outside the club.
The bouncer immediately unhooked the rope as Gwen walked up.
"I take it you're a regular" Cassie commented.
"Not really a regular," Gwen responded as she lead Cassie inside. "I come here time to time, it's mostly my name that gets me in. Local celebrity and all that."
Cassie couldn't help but tease her a little "News reporters are celebrities now?"
Gwen spun around a prideful smirk on her face "Hey now, that's best darn news reporter from here to Bridgeport thank you very much. Now enough talking. Lets get a couple drinks and then we're getting your cute butt out on the dance floor for some much needed post bad day fun."
The two settled down at the bar and ordered their drinks. Cassie a simple juice on the rocks, Gwen a fancier drink called a ridgeport.
Still in a teasing mood which was far better than her previous one Cassie decided to poke fun a little more at her friend. "So I take it you couldn't find shorts that were short enough for your liking?"
"Hey I've got the legs, might as well show them off a bit, besides might get me some attention from someone cute."
"Oh ho so that's it, trying to attract anyone in particular?" Cassie said with a smirk of her own to match Gwen's usual one.
"Maybe" Gwen said playfully. "They'll at least draw a more attention than those sacks you wear. Seriously got enough excess room in there you could fit three of you in those things."
Cassie leaned back laughing as the bartender brought their drinks. "Oh, little miss smart-alek has got jokes."
Cassie leaned forward in her seat as she picked up her glass a new question running through her mind.
"So on a different subject, whats with you and Bridgeport anyway" Cassie asked curiously.
Gwen choked into her drink she'd been taking a sip from in surprise at the random question. "What do you mean?"
"Well you mentioned it when talking with Pope on the phone, then again while we walked in, and you ordered a drink called ridgeport. It just seems to be a bit of a trend. Plus you wouldn't have reacted that much if it was nothing."
Cassie took a long drink from her glass as Gwen nodded at the fairness of the point.
"Well look who's little miss smart-alek now" Gwen replied with a chuckle before her face grew serious. "There's really not much to say, I grew up out in Bridgeport, now I'm here. End of story. A couple things like the drink stuck."
Cassie sensed there was actually more than Gwen was telling but as someone who was trying to leave the past behind she wasn't about to pry so she just took another drink before turning the conversations to more pleasant topics.
As the night went on though fate seemed to have it in for Cassie as her bad day swung back around for another shot at her. It started with people constantly walking up trying to butt into their conversation.
Others kept showing up trying to flirt with one or the other of the pair. Gwen handled things fairly well, she was probably used to the attention but for Cassie it was fraying at her already frazzled last nerve, not helped of course by the fact that at this point Cassie had a few drinks in her.
And as the night ran on her temper finally broke when the poor unsuspecting bartender walked up to ask if she needed another drink.
"Why don't you just mind your own Pluming business you jerk. We're trying to enjoy a nice evening here and you and everyone else won't bug the plum off and mind your own business.
Gwen jumped caught off guard by Cassie's sudden outburst. But she remained calm quickly apologized to the bartender slipping him a solid tip in the process and lead her friend up stairs for the moment away from the crowd.
As the two sat down Cassie was still seething.
Gwen looked over at her friend quietly for a moment before speaking. "Is everything okay" she asked.
"No everything's not okay" Cassie said loudly. She wasn't screaming anymore but was still loud enough that her response caused Gwen to wince.
"It's just one thing after another. And I'm tired of it. First the phone call last night, and the mess this morning, now these plum idiots who can't mind their own business. I'm just tired of it.
Gwen stared at her friend in a mix of confusion and concern. This was definitely not how she'd imagined the night going. She'd never seen Cassie like this, sure she'd seen here irritable the evening after her first day of work but this was on a whole new level and she wasn't entirely sure what to do about it.
"Is there anything I can do to help? Do you want to talk about it?" Gwen asked cautiously.
Cassie could feel herself calming down as she took another drink from the glass she'd brought up stairs with them, the cool liquid dulling her senses enough to push back her anger and frustration a little. "No.... it's fine. I'm just.... it's fine." She downed the rest of the glass and stood up wobbly from the table. "I'm just going to go get another drink."
Gwen stopped her, catching her as the young girl started to stumble towards the stairs. "Actually I think it's time we get you home. You look like you've had a enough for tonight and I think it might be good for you to get some sleep.
Cassie gave in, not that she could do much as she wobbled forward under Gwen's careful guidance as the blonde woman lead her back toward Cassie's street.
"Your a good friend you know." Cassie mumbled.
"Yeah" replied Gwen still feeling a bit worried as they slowly made their way down the sidewalk. "By the way, I never noticed those hearts on the sleeves of your sweat shirt. Their cute." Gwen commented just trying to fill the awkward silence.
Cassie glanced at her sleeves in shock, almost as though she were surprised to notice the hearts herself.
I like the decision you made to have them "go home and change" like we do in real life-- while Sims can twirl instantly from sweaty smelly gym clothes (as an example) to a beautiful party dress (or whatever, depending on the Sim in question).
Cassie is lucky to have found a friend like Gwen. Generally, when one meets someone who has anger issues, they usually find a way to fade away gradually rather than get too mixed up with a walking powder keg.
This story will no doubt continue to be a very interesting read!!
Cassie's awoke to find herself lying on the couch in her living room. She groaned as she sat up, her head was pounding, throat dry, felt like she was about to heave. Yep she thought, hangover. It had been a while since she'd gotten this wasted, the last time had resulted in her waking up naked, with Sean..... in the fountain out front of police station. A situation that she'd certainly gotten an earful from her parents for when they came to pick her up from the police station for charges of public indecency. Drunk, arrested, and deflowered all in one night, she couldn't remember her parents ever being that mad. Though admittedly this particular incident was a bit late for the deflowered bit, not that she was about to mention that to her parents as she'd been in enough trouble as it is without digging herself deeper.
Well at least this time she wasn't being arrested, and she had clothes on..... well most of her clothes she thought as she looked down at herself. Where was her shirt?
As she looked around she saw a note sitting on the kitchen counter. Stumbling over to it still wishing the pounding in her head would stop or kill here, either would be preferable at the moment, she looked at it and saw Gwen's name signed at the bottom.
Cassie,
If you're looking for your sweat shirt I left it drying in the bathroom, I had to wash it to get the mud off of it. I don't know what happened to you last night but I vote you avoid alcohol in the future. I understand drunk but you were way beyond that, it really scared me.
I hope your feeling better.
Gwen
P.S. I'm going to be busy with work for the next couple days so we won't be able to hang out.
Setting the note back on the counter Cassie headed to the bathroom for a cold shower. What happened last night? Most of it was a blur. She remembered going to the bar, she remembered the annoying people who kept trying to butt into their conversation, losing her temper at one of the people there though who escaped her.... had she blown up at Gwen? She hoped not. Thinking harder she faintly remembered Gwen leading her down the sidewalk probably making sure she arrived okay..... but the rest was just a muddled blur. And her shirt had gotten covered in mud? Had she fallen over or something?
Oh well she thought as she stepped out of the shower. She'd just have to ask Gwen next time they talked.
She quickly fixed herself some scrambled eggs. She had work in an hour and needed this hangover at least mostly gone and at least according to her parents eggs were a good cure. She couldn't remember the reason just that they would help. Another lesson from that morning with Sean.
Once she'd had breakfast and cleaned up the dishes she was feeling mostly better. She still had a splitting headache and would rather go back to bed but she at least felt like she could function.
Thankfully her work day was fairly quiet giving her plenty of time to get over the remnants of the previous night. As she arrived home she pulled out her phone to give Gwen a call, she still couldn't remember the details of what had happened last night and she hoped Gwen could fill her in so she would at least know if she'd done anything really plum. But the phone just rang and went to voice mail. Whatever, though Cassie. She'd just call Gwen tomorrow. For now she was exhausted. Passing out on the couch the night before had not done good things for her sleep cycle.
As the next morning rolled around, and thanks to a full nights sleep in an actual bed, Cassie was feeling completely back to normal. As she got ready to head to work she pulled out her phone to try calling Gwen again, and again it rang and then went to voice mail.
The lack of contact was starting to worry her slightly as Gwen being a reporter always kept her phone on her but she had said she was going to be busy with work so that was probably it. There was no reason to worry right....
But as another work day passed by and she tried calling Gwen again that afternoon, she again received no response,
Cassie was starting to get worried. Even busy Gwen should have seen the missed calls and called her back right? And she still didn't know everything about what had happened that night at the club. Had she done or said something to Gwen? She remembered losing her temper but couldn't remember at who.
No if she'd lost her temper at Gwen then why would Gwen have brought her home, why would Gwen have gone out of her way to wash Cassie's shirt? But then again how had Cassie's shirt gotten covered in mud? She needed answers and Gwen was the only person who could tell her.
Thinking quickly she tried dialing the news station. Since Gwen was working on stuff maybe she was there? But to Cassie's surprise when she asked the receptionist they responded that Gwen hadn't come to work the last couple days, in fact she'd requested time off.
Now Cassie was really starting to worry. Gwen had told her in the letter she was working but if that wasn't true then what was going on.... something MUST have happened between them that night.... oh no thought Cassie her mind starting to race. What if she had lost her temper at Gwen for some reason. What if they had fought over something? Maybe Gwen was intentionally trying to avoid her. Abandoning her like so many had when they learned of Cassie's temper.
Cassie felt herself gripped in fear. It wasn't like she wasn't used to that reaction, she'd been through it enough that she usually was able to move on, but Gwen had quickly become Cassie's best friend in Oasis Springs. Her only real friend in Oasis Springs. She'd already lost one best friend and she wasn't sure she could handle losing another.
Practically in full blown panic by this point Cassie headed out to see if she could find Gwen in town. She didn't know where Gwen lived as she'd never thought to ask but maybe if she checked the places Gwen went to she'd find her and could at least talk to her about all of this.
But she wasn't at the gym.
Nor was she anywhere to be found at the nightclub.
And after an hour of darting up and down the lake front Cassie still had no idea where Gwen was.
She pulled out her phone and tried calling again but there was still no reply. Just voice mail, that pre-recorded message which she was growing to hate. Dejected as the sun was going down, it's last rays reflecting off the tears streaking down Cassie's face she had no other choice but to go home for the evening. Her hope fading quickly with the setting sun.
But as the sun rose the next morning so to did Cassie's determination. She couldn't let things end like this. She needed to find Gwen and at least explain things, apologize for whatever she had done that Gwen was avoiding her because of, and now that the weekend was finally here she could focus her time on finding the cheerful blonde reporter.
She started off by checking the usual hangouts again but unsurprisingly Gwen wasn't at any of them. Which meant the next step would be trying to find Gwen's house. Cassie felt like kicking herself, why had she never thought to ask Gwen where she lived, it seemed like such an obvious thing to know but somehow it had never crossed her mind. But worrying about that wasn't going to help find Gwen now, and Cassie was determined that she would search the entirety of Oasis Springs if she had to.
However she quickly realized that Oasis Springs was a lot larger than she'd anticipated. She was able to narrow it down to the one side of town based on the direction she'd seen Gwen head when she had gone to change before meeting at the club but that still left a lot of space to cover, especially slow going when you were going door to door. Sadly though her search was bearing little in the way of success, many of the homeowners weren't home and the ones that were seemed to think she was crazy. It also didn't help asking if anyone had seen someone matching Gwen's description since being a lead reporter for OA6 news most of the town knew who she was.
Finally though as the afternoon shadows lengthened she could feel she was getting close. There were only a couple streets left to check. She'd convinced most of the town that she was insane but right now all she cared about was finding Gwen. The finally houses to check were in the upscale side of town which thinking back she should have guessed knowing Gwen but at the same time she found it hard to believe that Gwen actually lived in a neighborhood like this. But those kind of thoughts could wait until later for now she just needed to keep moving.
The first house on the street though wasn't any help with nobody answering when she knocked.
The second however finally bore fruit. It wasn't Gwen's house but the owner knew where she lived, right across the street.
Finally Cassie had found what she'd been searching for. Now all that was left was to hope that Gwen was home and that whatever Cassie had done wasn't bad enough to ruin her chances of saving her friendship.
With a deep breath she knocked on the large glass door.
"Coming, just a second"
A huge sigh burst from Cassie's mouth. She'd known it was Gwen's house but hearing her voice was such a relief after the long search.
As Gwen arrived at the door she seemed surprised to see Cassie standing there but as she opened the door there was no time for her to say anything.
With a burst of energy Cassie threw her arms around the slightly older woman tears running down her face as words started pouring from her mouth.
"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry. Please you have to forgive me."
As Cassie finally released Gwen from the embrace, partially due to Gwen's frantic comments about how she couldn't breathe, she looked at Cassie in confusion as the young girl continued to babble out apologies.
"Cassie, Cassie, calm down. What are you sorry for?"
"I don't know but whatever I did the other night I'm so sorry. I can't help myself and I....."
"Cassie calm down" Gwen repeated. "Are you talking about the bar?"
"No" Cassie replied still frantic from the emotion of everything that had happened. "Whatever happened afterwards, I don't remember it clearly but there was mud on my shirt, and I remember yelling, and you've been avoiding me....."
"Cassie I haven't been avoiding you."
Cassie's babbling stopped in surprise. "You haven't?"
"No, of course not. As I said in my note I had some work to get done."
"But the receptionist at the station said you'd taken time off?"
"Yes" said Gwen laughing, "whenever I get some big projects I like to work from home so that I can focus without distraction. Plus I had a side project I was working on. Look since your here anyway I'll show you. It was going to be a surprise but I think it's good enough to show you."
Cassie didn't know what to think as Gwen lead her inside. First she'd though Gwen was avoiding her but she wasn't, she still had no clue what had happened the other night, and now Gwen was talking about a surprise. So many different thoughts were running through her head that.....
And in a flash all her thoughts stopped as she stared at what Gwen had wanted to show her. In front of her sat an easel, but not just any easel..... her easel.
Thank you for reading. As always I hope everyone enjoyed it
Deeply moving. Honestly. (But to all others who read the story and the comments, I do have a penchant for overthinking things, either in the worlds of the Sims or IRL. Take me with a grain of pepper)
What I mean to convey, is that Cassie's mere thinking she may have lost another friendship due to her temper- (I believe she has put off many with that not just Sean and her erstwhile best friend) -- just based on where the story seems to be going thus far to me-- Might be just the wake-up call that she needs to start considering doing something about that short wick of hers..
And secondly, Gwen's going to the trouble of digging the mortally wounded easel out of the rubbish can, fixing it and setting it as a surprise for Cassie.. among other things since they met, shows that Gwen is the one true friend Sims rarely find and those of us flesh and blood types -- too many of us-- go through life without having had the blessing of meeting.
Lots of food for thought for Cassie.
@AuroraLockwoodYou do have some big time insight into how at least some of use shorter-temper gals tick!
Deeply moving. Honestly. (But to all others who read the story and the comments, I do have a penchant for overthinking things, either in the worlds of the Sims or IRL. Take me with a grain of pepper)
What I mean to convey, is that Cassie's mere thinking she may have lost another friendship due to her temper- (I believe she has put off many with that not just Sean and her erstwhile best friend) -- just based on where the story seems to be going thus far to me-- Might be just the wake-up call that she needs to start considering doing something about that short wick of hers..
And secondly, Gwen's going to the trouble of digging the mortally wounded easel out of the rubbish can, fixing it and setting it as a surprise for Cassie.. among other things since they met, shows that Gwen is the one true friend Sims rarely find and those of us flesh and blood types -- too many of us-- go through life without having had the blessing of meeting.
Lots of food for thought for Cassie.
@AuroraLockwoodYou do have some big time insight into how at least some of use shorter-temper gals tick!
In my case the short temper bit comes partially from personal experience. I used to struggle with my own temper though it was never as bad as I've written Cassie's (mine was more akin to being a loudmouth and was a bit less frequent) and thankfully I've since gotten it under control (mostly at least).
As to having insight into how short tempered women tick, to me it's more just one of many things that isn't gender specific, things like a short temper are pretty consistent to everyone with the issue in my experience so I just think of it as a temper not necessarily a girl's short temper or a guy's short temper. Maybe I'm just weird but I've never put much thought into men and women being that different outside of physical aspects. Things like emotion, desires, habits, and the like are more just human condition than gender ones.
And wow I just realized I got a bit more philosophical than I usually do.
Cassie wasn't sure how to feel as she stared at her easel. The easel that not a week ago she had smashed to bits in anger. And now here it was sitting in front of her in one piece aside from a few small pieces still sitting off to the side next to various glue bottles a couple of which were already empty.
It looked as good as it had before breaking it, nowhere near like new but the easel had worn from heavy use long before sh ever came to Oasis Springs. Running her fingers gently along the wood she could feel the cracks where it had been broken but here it sat restored to working order.
She turned towards Gwen who was silently watching from the background.
"You put it back together?" Cassie said more to fill the momentary silence than as an actual question. "Yeah" Gwen replied as she absent mindedly rubbed at a splinter in her finger, one of many she undoubtedly had gained through the process.
"But why?" Cassie said still in a state of shock.
"Because it is or at least was important to you." I know you told me that one time at your house that you don't paint but nobody holds onto something like that to just not use it. So I knew that there had to be more to it. Then after I took you home from the club that night I saw it had gotten broken and figured I'd try to put it back together for you. As said it was meant to be a surprise but I didn't expect you to suddenly show up at my door. It just has a few pieces left and it should be good enough to go back to your place."
Cassie wasn't sure what to say. The fact that Gwen had gone to such effort, and pain from the splinters the blond woman continued to pry at, all for something that....
"It didn't just break" Cassie confessed. "I smashed it intentionally."
"I guessed as much" Gwen replied "I didn't think it could have broken that badly any other way."
"But you still went through the trouble of fixing it?" Cassie said still not understanding.
"Yeah I did, because I thought it might still make you happy to see it whole again. I'm not going to pretend to know the story behind it, or why you broke it, or any of that. But I just had a feeling that it was something of value and to me that's worth salvaging."
The two walked over and settled down onto the couch Cassie still trying to find words after so many shifting emotions from the days events.
"So what about you?" Gwen asked. "You really thought I was avoiding you?"
Cassie looked sheepish, it sounded so ridiculous now that she was face to face with Gwen but in all the panic of the last couple days it had been the only thing that made sense.
Not getting a reply Gwen pressed a bit harder "Cassie? Why would you ever think I would do something like that?"
Cassie sighed knowing that there was no choice now but to tell the full truth. "Because of my temper, I remember bits and pieces from that night at the club, I remember yelling at someone, I thought it might be you and you might have decided you didn't want to be around me anymore."
Gwen laughed "First off you never yelled at me, ranted a bit but you never directed anything at me. And second even if you had I wouldn't let one bad evening while you were drunk ruin our friendship."
"But it's not just a one time thing" Cassie replied, "The alcohol didn't help but it wasn't to blame. I have issues controlling my temper. I've tried to learn to control it but nothing has helped. So occasionally I lose it and do stuff like.... whatever I did that night. And I've lost a lot of friends to it, people who just didn't want to put up with me, I've lost some really close friends to that."
"Sean I'm guessing was one of those people?"
Cassie looked up in surprise at Gwen's mention of Sean.
"You mentioned the name the other night. After we left the club, the one you yelled at was the bartender by the way, I figured you'd had enough to drink and needed to go home. On the way I noticed the hearts on the sleeves of your sweatshirt and commented about them. You just looked at the hearts for a second and then pulled it off and tossed it to the ground, that's how it got mud on it. You then proceeded to rant a bit about someone named Sean. I couldn't sort out the whole story as you were rambling a bit since you were drunk but I caught the basic idea that he was your ex-boyfriend and something happened between you to. I'm guessing it had something to do with your temper."
Cassie stared in amazement, it was clear why Gwen was a reporter. She was really good at piecing together information. To figure all that out from Cassie's drunken rambling.....
"Yeah, Sean was my boyfriend, now ex-boyfriend. The shirt was a gift from him just before we started our junior year of high school. I always liked relaxed clothing and he thought I'd like it. The hearts on the sleeves represented us, two hearts always always connected, never to be apart.... so much for how that turned out."
Cassie really didn't want to talk about Sean anymore though so she moved the subject back to the evening at the club. "So I didn't yell at you?"
"No not at all"
"But you said in your letter that I scared you?"
"I was scared, I was worried about you. You were ranting and raving like a crazy woman. It caught me off guard. But that doesn't mean I would just abandon you or start avoiding you. I helped you make it home where you passed out on the couch, at which point I cleaned off your shirt and found the pieces of your easel. After that I decided to work on stuff from home for a couple days so I could work on trying to piece it back together in the process." Gwen again picked at the splinters in her fingers. "Turns out that was a lot tougher than I expected."
Cassie breathed a sigh of relief "I'm so glad, I really though I'd screwed things up there. I don't have a lot of friends so it really scared me that I might have done something to make you hate me."
"I'm not going to hate you" Gwen said with a chuckle. "I might find you a bit crazy sometimes but that's a cute point for you."
Cassie busted out laughing now that the stress of everything was finally wearing away. "You're not the only one that probably thinks that, half of Oasis Springs probably thinks I'm crazy from my search for you.
"Oh this I've got to hear" Gwen said with her trademark smirk "What exactly did you do to find me?"
"I kind of went door to door looking for you and asking in anyone knew where you live" Cassie said with a touch of embarrassment.
Gwen nearly fell of the couch laughing. "Oh my, you did. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I'm not sure whether to find that endearing or ridiculous."
Cassie's cheeks puffed out in indignation as she watched her friend rolling in laughter "Well I didn't know where you lived and you weren't answering your phone. What else was I supposed to do?"
"Oh no, you're not pinning this on me. You're the one who overreacted about this in the first place." At this point Gwen calmed down from laughing and gave Cassie a gentle smile "Though I understand your confusion and I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. On the bright side at least I now know what news topic I'm likely going to get assigned on Monday" Gwen busted into laughter again "I can see it now, 'Crazed stalker in cargo pants searches town for beautiful local reporter"
Cassie smirked "That's 'best darn news reporter from here to Bridgeport'"
At this point the two practically just fell over laughing.
After the finally managed to calm down Cassie looked over at Gwen with a big smile on her face.
"Thanks, for standing by me, I mean..... I'm sorry I never mentioned my anger problems before. I just, I'm not really sure what I thought I was just kind of scared that it would be like before where everyone just leaves when it gets to be too much hassle to put up with me. You're such a great friend"
Cassie hugged Gwen tightly grateful to have a friend that wasn't going to run away. But as she started to pull away she saw a strange look on Gwen's face.
"Is that it" Gwen sad with a slight twinge of disappointment in her voice. The woman leaned in close looking Cassie directly in the eyes throwing all the caution of the previous week to the wind. "What if I told you I don't just want to be friends."
Cassie stuttered in shock and confusion. "Wha... what?"
"I like you Cassie, you're a wonderful friend to me as well but I don't want to stop there. I don't want to just be friends."
Cassie still stared in surprise. Her brain was starting to register what was happening but she still wasn't sure what to say. As Cassie stared Gwen continued, determined to say her piece
"At first I decided to take it easy. I wanted to get to know you and find out if you were interested in me as well.... but you haven't noticed. If you don't feel that way I'll understand and I hope we can still be friends, but I can't just sit back and hope you notice how I feel any longer. I want you to know.
"I love you Cassie"
And suddenly before Cassie could respond Gwen had pulled her towards her, and kissed her. But the kiss wasn't the most surprising part for Cassie. What really surprised her was that she wasn't resisting, more accurately she didn't want to resist.
Back in high school someone had jokingly told her and JoAnna that they would make a cute couple. They had just laughed it off with the attitude that it would just be weird, that they were both into guys and didn't swing that way, and nothing until now had lead Cassie to question that..... until now.
Now she felt Gwen's lips pressed against her own and despite that previous sureness, despite the fact that she'd never had any desire to be close like this with any woman, she desperately didn't want this moment to end. And as Gwen started to pull away from the small kiss she'd given Cassie surprised herself further as she felt her arms wrap around Gwen drawing the slightly older woman back in close.
The next thing she knew they'd made their ways upstairs. How they'd traversed the steps Cassie couldn't recall and honestly the logistics really didn't concern her, only Gwen.
She felt Gwen push her down onto the bed, saw her staring down at her with those soft brown eyes. Cassie didn't know what to say, but deep down she didn't want to say anything, didn't want to disrupt this moment that was happening.
And so without a word Gwen pulled the blanket up over them, enveloping them in their own little temporary world as their lips met again.
And as afternoon drifted into night the two spent the remainder of the day blissfully unaware of any prior stresses, heartache, or problems as they simply enjoyed their moment together.
Great Chapter. I love that Gwen put her easel back together for her and I think those too make an adorable couple. I really can't wait for the next chapter.
Great Chapter. I love that Gwen put her easel back together for her and I think those too make an adorable couple. I really can't wait for the next chapter.
I just found your legacy and read through it all, can't wait how Cassie's and Gwen's relationship progresses! Also, all the builds in your game look amazing, makes me want to refresh my sims worlds as well!
The sun rose as always, though on this morning the way it's first rays drifted over the surrounding landscape was being quietly watched from the upper level of Gwen's home.
Cassie stared silently at the peaceful morning, though her mind was anything but peaceful.
What had she been thinking she thought to herself. A week, she'd known Gwen for a short bit and out of the blue she'd willingly jumped into bed with her. Why had she done that, everything reasonable in her told her now that it had been a bad idea but why hadn't she stopped herself before.
"I love you Cassie"
those words still echoed through her head. Was that all it took. Three meaningless words to make her swoon.
"I love you Cassie"
She held her head in her hands wracking her brain for any sense for why she had been such an idiot.
"I love you Cassie"
"Darn it, why do I keep hearing that!"
"Because it's true" Gwen replied, her statement bringing Cassie back to reality as the blonde woman walked up next to her.
"Morning beautiful" Gwen said as she stopped next to Cassie by the railing.
"Morning" replied Cassie sullenly as she looked up only to realize that Gwen was standing there still naked from the night before.
Gwen laughed at the look of shock on Cassie's face. "What's with the surprise. Didn't get enough of a view last night?"
But the look on Cassie's face told Gwen that something was up. "Hey, is something wrong?"
Cassie tried to form an answer, tried to put words to the conflict of feelings she was feeling right now, which was especially hard given Gwen's current state of undress being.... distracting to say the least.
"Look, I need to talk to you about something but it's kind of tough to hold a serious conversation while you're naked.
Gwen looked at her quizically but decided to go along with it, heading back towards the bedroom to get dressed.
While Gwen started sifting through her wardrobe Cassie sat down on the edge of the bed, despite her feelings at the moment she couldn't deny that Gwen had an absolutely gorgeous body, perfectly toned from days at the gym. But given her current thoughts she didn't want to think about that so she diverted to a different comment.
"How can you just walk around like that?"
"Why not, it's my house?"
"Yeah but that was the balcony, what if the neighbors saw you?"
Gwen laughed "There's no real worry. The only neighbor who can see my onto my back balconies is Tara, and it's nothing she hasn't seen before."
Gwen grimaced slightly at the response. Was Gwen really that relaxed about this sort of thing. And this Tara, was she an old fling? Someone Gwen had loved and eventually moved on from before meeting Cassie?
Noticing the look on Cassie's face Gwen decided to clarify. "If your worried about Tara don't be. She's a coworker with me at OA6. We share a dressing room but that's it."
Cassie blushed that Gwen had read her so easily but quickly denied it "I wasn't worried about that."
Now dressed Gwen walked over and sat down on the bed. 'Then what's up, clearly somethings bothering you. What's wrong?"
"It's just...." Cassie again tried to find the words. She didn't want to hurt Gwen but "Look I told you about Sean, well things are a bit messier than what I mentioned."
"Okay" said Gwen not entirely sure where this conversation was going.
"He didn't just leave me because of my temper, that was part of it but.... he left me after I found out he was cheating on me with my best friend JoAnna. That's why I came out her to begin with, to get away from all of that."
Gwen didn't say anything, she still didn't understand what this was all about but she figured it best to just let Cassie explain things at her own pace.
"This wasn't after a short relationship either. Sean wasn't just a quick relationship that came and went. We knew each other for almost a year before we started dating back in middle school, and we dated up until a few months ago. I really loved him.... and he loved me. At least that's what I thought."
Gwen was starting to get an idea as to what was going on but still remained silent not wanting to interrupt.
"His last words to me were that he had done it because he was tired of my hissy fits, and that he was happier without the baggage that came from being with me....."
It was at this point that Gwen cut in. "Cassie, I think I see where this is going but I want to be clear, I'm not Sean. I'm not going to leave you like he did"
"He said that too" Cassie replied. "He said he wanted to be with me, he told me he loved me, we were going to get married..... and then he stabbed me in the back. And even though you mean what you say now I can't be sure that you won't change your mind later." Tears started to slide down her face, Cassie hated what she was saying but knew it was the truth and that it had to be said before things went any further. "I realize that might not be the case and I don't want to hurt you but I can't take the chance, I just can't go through that again. Last night was a mistake that....."
But suddenly Cassie looked up in surprise as Gwen leaned close and took Cassie's hand in her own.
"It was not a mistake" Gwen said firmly. "I understand why you're scared given what happened between you and your ex, but I can't sit here and let you say that. Last night was the most amazing nights of my life. It was a moment where I finally got to tell you how I feel, it was a moment where I got to fall asleep with you in my arms, it was a moment where I felt truly happy, totally assured that I had found the person I've dreamed about being with. Nothing that good can be a mistake and I don't want it to be one. I don't want last night to be a mistake, or a fling, or a one night stand, or anything of the sort because that would imply that what I felt wasn't true, it would mean that all my joy was wrong. I won't sit here and believe that. No I can't tell you that there isn't the chance that things might change, nobody can promise you that. But I can tell you that I want you. I want you more than I've ever wanted anything in my life. I want to fall asleep next to you, I want to wake up to your smile, I want to spend afternoons together on the couch just happy to be with the person I care about. I'm not just looking for a little fun before moving on. I want you and everything good or bad that comes with that because while you may have your issues, your flaws, and your bagage, the joy of being with you is worth it. I don't want a mistake, whether it works out in the long run or not I still want to take a shot at a relationship with you.
"WELL I DON'T" Cassie yelled angrily yanking her hand roughly out of Gwen's.
Tears welled up in Gwen's eyes as she looked over at the anger in Cassie's face and Cassies anger balked.
"I'm sorry but I just can't do this again. I...."
Before another word could come out of her mouth Gwen's lips were on hers again, and like the day before part of Cassie didn't want to let it end.
As their lips seperated Gwen looked in Cassies eyes with every ounce of determination she had.
"I'm not giving up on us, you say you can't take the chance but I can't give up on it. I won't give up on it."
Cassie's tears continued to flow mixing with the tears Gwen's kiss had left on her cheek. "You just always have to have your way don't you"
Gwen smiled as she gently kissed Cassie again. "Only if you can't honestly tell me that you don't want this as well. There is never a guarantee with life, and it may lead to regret later on, but I'll take the chance of regret any day over the definite regret I'll feel if I don't try. I do love you, whether you trust those words or not that is how I feel and as long as part of you loves me as well I refuse to stop trying. I'm not saying we need to rush things, we can take things slow until you feel more comfortable. But I can't give up and I refuse to.
Cassie leaned against Gwen as the slightly older woman wrapped her arms around the young redhead. She couldn't deny that part of her wanted this, the part of her that didn't want the kisses to end, the part of her that couldn't help thinking about how beautiful Gwen was, the part of her that right now just wanted to let herself melt into those strong arms and believe that everything would be alright. But there was still that one bit in the back of her brain that was scared, terrified senseless of going through that pain again, of falling in love only to have her heart broken.
But she did want this, as scared as she was she did desperately want this to be real.
"Okay" said Cassie. "I'll take a chance."
As she said it her stomach interrupted the serious moment with a load grumble. They had been talking most of the morning and hunger was starting to set in.
Gwen burst into laughter both at Cassie's stomach and in happiness over the answer Cassie had given. "Well I guess that's that. Now how about pancakes." With that Gwen lead the way down to the kitchen where she hurriedly started preparing breakfast.
As she settled down in her seat next to the island Cassie couldn't help but grin as she watched Gwen prepare what she referred to as her "famous homemade pancakes." At the end of the day, no matter what conflict she felt romantically, Gwen was still her best friend.
That's it for today. Thank you everyone for reading, I hope you enjoyed it
Very nice.. I have to remind myself that this is a Sims legacy story and time goes by much more quickly for them than us, else I'd be shouting at Gwen, "Rebound Alert! Tap The brakes!"
Note: Just my reflections on what I read. (I did see it coming when Gwen went to a whole lot of extra effort for Cassie RE her boss and dress-code troubles.)
That's it from me. I'll stop the story analysis and just read like everyone else! from here on out.
Very nice.. I have to remind myself that this is a Sims legacy story and time goes by much more quickly for them than us, else I'd be shouting at Gwen, "Rebound Alert! Tap The brakes!"
Note: Just my reflections on what I read. (I did see it coming when Gwen went to a whole lot of extra effort for Cassie.
That's it from me. I'll stop the story analysis and just read like everyone else! from here on out.
Admittedly even by the stories standard it was pretty fast, Cassie even acknowledges she didn't know Gwen long.
Though it also wouldn't run into rebound territory since it's been a few months since she and Sean broke up. There was a bit of time between when they broke up and when she moved out to Oasis Springs.
Comments
I'm not going to say never because things might change but I haven't done a blog because I don't feel like having to keep it organized and managed. A topic is simpler and it's easier to keep track of.
I'm finding that WordPress is super easy--I've got it down sort of to a routine right now, and it's really fun. You seem to be getting a lot of views here, though, so I think that readers are appreciating just being able to read your story here.
Do you also play The Elder Scrolls Online? You can find me there as CathyTea, too!
The next morning Cassie awoke to strong hunger pangs from her stomach. She still wasn't in the best of moods but knew that she still had to go on with the day anyway. After all starving herself wouldn't do help anything and skipping work would only serve to get her in trouble and getting fired now would really suck given what Gwen had just done for her.
As she headed out to work though she could help but notice the pieces of the easel still sticking out the top of the trash can, reviving all the feelings she'd had last night as she smashed it. Darn it, she thought. Just go away. I'm done with that life I just want to move on.
And with a burst of anger she turned and rammed her foot into the side of the trashcan causing it to topple over spilling it's contents across the front of her lot.
glaring at the chunks of wood angrily she turned and headed towards work really just not wanting to deal with any of this right now.
By the time the work day over her mood hadn't lightened up. Luckily she'd continued to keep herself calm while at work but that just meant the suppressed feelings had time to build up. This on top of knowing the mess in her yard she would get to clean up when she got home lead her to decide that it was a good time to go for a jog. A bit of excercise to give herself a chance to cool off. So after dropping her stuff off at the gym and changing she headed out for a nice long run around the neighborhood.
Shortly into her jog though she ran into a friendly face.
"Hey" Cassie said cheerfully as she spotted Gwen running further ahead along the sidewalk. Gwen turned around with a smile as she realized who had called her. "Hey to you, I didn't think I'd see you around here given work just ended for you at all."
"It's been a rough day is all" Cassie responded, "don't worry no problems at work, Mr. Pope has been behaving himself, just one of those days."
"Well I'd hope he was behaving himself" Gwen laughed as the two walked over to a bench to pause for a quick breather. "I'd hate to think I suffered that evening interview with him for nothing."
Cassie settled down onto the bench looking up at her friend who chose to remain standing. "Was it that bad?"
"Not really" Gwen responded with a shrug "though the guy wouldn't stop hitting on me."
Cassie's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "He did?!" Gwen smirked at the surprised response "What, are you jealous?"
"No, he just doesn't seem your type is all." Cassie replied.
Gwen laughed "Oh trust me he's not, though I'm not sure he quite grasps that idea. He seems to just think that it's impossible for any woman not to fall for him at the slightest provocation. Plus you really should see the guys house, compensating for something is an understatement with that monstrosity."
The two just laughed for a minute, Cassie's mood quickly improving. As they laughed though a light bulb seemed to go off in Gwen's head. "Hey, while you're out here anyway what do you say we hit the club tonight." Cassie looked at her apprehensively, she'd mentioned before that that type of place really wasn't her style but Gwen was adamant. "Come on, we can count it as that dinner you owe me. Plus there's nothing better after a bad day than letting loose with some drinks and dancing. Come on..." at this point Gwen batted her eyes putting on her best puppy dog pout "Pleeeeaassse."
Cassie couldn't help but bust out laughing again. Alright alright, I'll go to the club with you. It's probably better than trying to feed you my cooking anyway."
Gwen jumped up and down in joy and victory.
Cassie laughed again, she seemed to be doing that a lot this afternoon. "You always have to get your way don't you."
"Of course" Gwen replied with a grin "Now just give me a minute I need to swing by my house quickly to change, can't go to a club in my workout clothes after all."
"That's fine" replied Cassie. "I need to go change into some normal clothes at the gym anyway. "Alright then meet you there in a little bit" Gwen called out as she jogged off.
About 15 minutes later Gwen walked up to where Cassie was waiting outside the club.
The bouncer immediately unhooked the rope as Gwen walked up.
"I take it you're a regular" Cassie commented.
"Not really a regular," Gwen responded as she lead Cassie inside. "I come here time to time, it's mostly my name that gets me in. Local celebrity and all that."
Cassie couldn't help but tease her a little "News reporters are celebrities now?"
Gwen spun around a prideful smirk on her face "Hey now, that's best darn news reporter from here to Bridgeport thank you very much. Now enough talking. Lets get a couple drinks and then we're getting your cute butt out on the dance floor for some much needed post bad day fun."
The two settled down at the bar and ordered their drinks. Cassie a simple juice on the rocks, Gwen a fancier drink called a ridgeport.
Still in a teasing mood which was far better than her previous one Cassie decided to poke fun a little more at her friend. "So I take it you couldn't find shorts that were short enough for your liking?"
"Hey I've got the legs, might as well show them off a bit, besides might get me some attention from someone cute."
"Oh ho so that's it, trying to attract anyone in particular?" Cassie said with a smirk of her own to match Gwen's usual one.
"Maybe" Gwen said playfully. "They'll at least draw a more attention than those sacks you wear. Seriously got enough excess room in there you could fit three of you in those things."
Cassie leaned back laughing as the bartender brought their drinks. "Oh, little miss smart-alek has got jokes."
Cassie leaned forward in her seat as she picked up her glass a new question running through her mind.
"So on a different subject, whats with you and Bridgeport anyway" Cassie asked curiously.
Gwen choked into her drink she'd been taking a sip from in surprise at the random question. "What do you mean?"
"Well you mentioned it when talking with Pope on the phone, then again while we walked in, and you ordered a drink called ridgeport. It just seems to be a bit of a trend. Plus you wouldn't have reacted that much if it was nothing."
Cassie took a long drink from her glass as Gwen nodded at the fairness of the point.
"Well look who's little miss smart-alek now" Gwen replied with a chuckle before her face grew serious. "There's really not much to say, I grew up out in Bridgeport, now I'm here. End of story. A couple things like the drink stuck."
Cassie sensed there was actually more than Gwen was telling but as someone who was trying to leave the past behind she wasn't about to pry so she just took another drink before turning the conversations to more pleasant topics.
As the night went on though fate seemed to have it in for Cassie as her bad day swung back around for another shot at her. It started with people constantly walking up trying to butt into their conversation.
Others kept showing up trying to flirt with one or the other of the pair. Gwen handled things fairly well, she was probably used to the attention but for Cassie it was fraying at her already frazzled last nerve, not helped of course by the fact that at this point Cassie had a few drinks in her.
And as the night ran on her temper finally broke when the poor unsuspecting bartender walked up to ask if she needed another drink.
"Why don't you just mind your own Pluming business you jerk. We're trying to enjoy a nice evening here and you and everyone else won't bug the plum off and mind your own business.
Gwen jumped caught off guard by Cassie's sudden outburst. But she remained calm quickly apologized to the bartender slipping him a solid tip in the process and lead her friend up stairs for the moment away from the crowd.
As the two sat down Cassie was still seething.
Gwen looked over at her friend quietly for a moment before speaking. "Is everything okay" she asked.
"No everything's not okay" Cassie said loudly. She wasn't screaming anymore but was still loud enough that her response caused Gwen to wince.
"It's just one thing after another. And I'm tired of it. First the phone call last night, and the mess this morning, now these plum idiots who can't mind their own business. I'm just tired of it.
Gwen stared at her friend in a mix of confusion and concern. This was definitely not how she'd imagined the night going. She'd never seen Cassie like this, sure she'd seen here irritable the evening after her first day of work but this was on a whole new level and she wasn't entirely sure what to do about it.
"Is there anything I can do to help? Do you want to talk about it?" Gwen asked cautiously.
Cassie could feel herself calming down as she took another drink from the glass she'd brought up stairs with them, the cool liquid dulling her senses enough to push back her anger and frustration a little. "No.... it's fine. I'm just.... it's fine." She downed the rest of the glass and stood up wobbly from the table. "I'm just going to go get another drink."
Gwen stopped her, catching her as the young girl started to stumble towards the stairs. "Actually I think it's time we get you home. You look like you've had a enough for tonight and I think it might be good for you to get some sleep.
Cassie gave in, not that she could do much as she wobbled forward under Gwen's careful guidance as the blonde woman lead her back toward Cassie's street.
"Your a good friend you know." Cassie mumbled.
"Yeah" replied Gwen still feeling a bit worried as they slowly made their way down the sidewalk. "By the way, I never noticed those hearts on the sleeves of your sweat shirt. Their cute." Gwen commented just trying to fill the awkward silence.
Cassie glanced at her sleeves in shock, almost as though she were surprised to notice the hearts herself.
"Yeah....." she replied as her voice trailed off.
And that's the end of this update.
As always thank you everyone for reading
Sims 4 Comic Legacy
Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it
Cassie is lucky to have found a friend like Gwen. Generally, when one meets someone who has anger issues, they usually find a way to fade away gradually rather than get too mixed up with a walking powder keg.
This story will no doubt continue to be a very interesting read!!
Cassie's awoke to find herself lying on the couch in her living room. She groaned as she sat up, her head was pounding, throat dry, felt like she was about to heave. Yep she thought, hangover. It had been a while since she'd gotten this wasted, the last time had resulted in her waking up naked, with Sean..... in the fountain out front of police station. A situation that she'd certainly gotten an earful from her parents for when they came to pick her up from the police station for charges of public indecency. Drunk, arrested, and deflowered all in one night, she couldn't remember her parents ever being that mad. Though admittedly this particular incident was a bit late for the deflowered bit, not that she was about to mention that to her parents as she'd been in enough trouble as it is without digging herself deeper.
Well at least this time she wasn't being arrested, and she had clothes on..... well most of her clothes she thought as she looked down at herself. Where was her shirt?
As she looked around she saw a note sitting on the kitchen counter. Stumbling over to it still wishing the pounding in her head would stop or kill here, either would be preferable at the moment, she looked at it and saw Gwen's name signed at the bottom.
Cassie,
If you're looking for your sweat shirt I left it drying in the bathroom, I had to wash it to get the mud off of it. I don't know what happened to you last night but I vote you avoid alcohol in the future. I understand drunk but you were way beyond that, it really scared me.
I hope your feeling better.
Gwen
P.S. I'm going to be busy with work for the next couple days so we won't be able to hang out.
Setting the note back on the counter Cassie headed to the bathroom for a cold shower. What happened last night? Most of it was a blur. She remembered going to the bar, she remembered the annoying people who kept trying to butt into their conversation, losing her temper at one of the people there though who escaped her.... had she blown up at Gwen? She hoped not. Thinking harder she faintly remembered Gwen leading her down the sidewalk probably making sure she arrived okay..... but the rest was just a muddled blur. And her shirt had gotten covered in mud? Had she fallen over or something?
Oh well she thought as she stepped out of the shower. She'd just have to ask Gwen next time they talked.
She quickly fixed herself some scrambled eggs. She had work in an hour and needed this hangover at least mostly gone and at least according to her parents eggs were a good cure. She couldn't remember the reason just that they would help. Another lesson from that morning with Sean.
Once she'd had breakfast and cleaned up the dishes she was feeling mostly better. She still had a splitting headache and would rather go back to bed but she at least felt like she could function.
Thankfully her work day was fairly quiet giving her plenty of time to get over the remnants of the previous night. As she arrived home she pulled out her phone to give Gwen a call, she still couldn't remember the details of what had happened last night and she hoped Gwen could fill her in so she would at least know if she'd done anything really plum. But the phone just rang and went to voice mail. Whatever, though Cassie. She'd just call Gwen tomorrow. For now she was exhausted. Passing out on the couch the night before had not done good things for her sleep cycle.
As the next morning rolled around, and thanks to a full nights sleep in an actual bed, Cassie was feeling completely back to normal. As she got ready to head to work she pulled out her phone to try calling Gwen again, and again it rang and then went to voice mail.
The lack of contact was starting to worry her slightly as Gwen being a reporter always kept her phone on her but she had said she was going to be busy with work so that was probably it. There was no reason to worry right....
But as another work day passed by and she tried calling Gwen again that afternoon, she again received no response,
Cassie was starting to get worried. Even busy Gwen should have seen the missed calls and called her back right? And she still didn't know everything about what had happened that night at the club. Had she done or said something to Gwen? She remembered losing her temper but couldn't remember at who.
No if she'd lost her temper at Gwen then why would Gwen have brought her home, why would Gwen have gone out of her way to wash Cassie's shirt? But then again how had Cassie's shirt gotten covered in mud? She needed answers and Gwen was the only person who could tell her.
Thinking quickly she tried dialing the news station. Since Gwen was working on stuff maybe she was there? But to Cassie's surprise when she asked the receptionist they responded that Gwen hadn't come to work the last couple days, in fact she'd requested time off.
Now Cassie was really starting to worry. Gwen had told her in the letter she was working but if that wasn't true then what was going on.... something MUST have happened between them that night.... oh no thought Cassie her mind starting to race. What if she had lost her temper at Gwen for some reason. What if they had fought over something? Maybe Gwen was intentionally trying to avoid her. Abandoning her like so many had when they learned of Cassie's temper.
Cassie felt herself gripped in fear. It wasn't like she wasn't used to that reaction, she'd been through it enough that she usually was able to move on, but Gwen had quickly become Cassie's best friend in Oasis Springs. Her only real friend in Oasis Springs. She'd already lost one best friend and she wasn't sure she could handle losing another.
Practically in full blown panic by this point Cassie headed out to see if she could find Gwen in town. She didn't know where Gwen lived as she'd never thought to ask but maybe if she checked the places Gwen went to she'd find her and could at least talk to her about all of this.
But she wasn't at the gym.
Nor was she anywhere to be found at the nightclub.
And after an hour of darting up and down the lake front Cassie still had no idea where Gwen was.
She pulled out her phone and tried calling again but there was still no reply. Just voice mail, that pre-recorded message which she was growing to hate. Dejected as the sun was going down, it's last rays reflecting off the tears streaking down Cassie's face she had no other choice but to go home for the evening. Her hope fading quickly with the setting sun.
But as the sun rose the next morning so to did Cassie's determination. She couldn't let things end like this. She needed to find Gwen and at least explain things, apologize for whatever she had done that Gwen was avoiding her because of, and now that the weekend was finally here she could focus her time on finding the cheerful blonde reporter.
She started off by checking the usual hangouts again but unsurprisingly Gwen wasn't at any of them. Which meant the next step would be trying to find Gwen's house. Cassie felt like kicking herself, why had she never thought to ask Gwen where she lived, it seemed like such an obvious thing to know but somehow it had never crossed her mind. But worrying about that wasn't going to help find Gwen now, and Cassie was determined that she would search the entirety of Oasis Springs if she had to.
However she quickly realized that Oasis Springs was a lot larger than she'd anticipated. She was able to narrow it down to the one side of town based on the direction she'd seen Gwen head when she had gone to change before meeting at the club but that still left a lot of space to cover, especially slow going when you were going door to door. Sadly though her search was bearing little in the way of success, many of the homeowners weren't home and the ones that were seemed to think she was crazy. It also didn't help asking if anyone had seen someone matching Gwen's description since being a lead reporter for OA6 news most of the town knew who she was.
Finally though as the afternoon shadows lengthened she could feel she was getting close. There were only a couple streets left to check. She'd convinced most of the town that she was insane but right now all she cared about was finding Gwen. The finally houses to check were in the upscale side of town which thinking back she should have guessed knowing Gwen but at the same time she found it hard to believe that Gwen actually lived in a neighborhood like this. But those kind of thoughts could wait until later for now she just needed to keep moving.
The first house on the street though wasn't any help with nobody answering when she knocked.
The second however finally bore fruit. It wasn't Gwen's house but the owner knew where she lived, right across the street.
Finally Cassie had found what she'd been searching for. Now all that was left was to hope that Gwen was home and that whatever Cassie had done wasn't bad enough to ruin her chances of saving her friendship.
With a deep breath she knocked on the large glass door.
"Coming, just a second"
A huge sigh burst from Cassie's mouth. She'd known it was Gwen's house but hearing her voice was such a relief after the long search.
As Gwen arrived at the door she seemed surprised to see Cassie standing there but as she opened the door there was no time for her to say anything.
With a burst of energy Cassie threw her arms around the slightly older woman tears running down her face as words started pouring from her mouth.
"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry. Please you have to forgive me."
As Cassie finally released Gwen from the embrace, partially due to Gwen's frantic comments about how she couldn't breathe, she looked at Cassie in confusion as the young girl continued to babble out apologies.
"Cassie, Cassie, calm down. What are you sorry for?"
"I don't know but whatever I did the other night I'm so sorry. I can't help myself and I....."
"Cassie calm down" Gwen repeated. "Are you talking about the bar?"
"No" Cassie replied still frantic from the emotion of everything that had happened. "Whatever happened afterwards, I don't remember it clearly but there was mud on my shirt, and I remember yelling, and you've been avoiding me....."
"Cassie I haven't been avoiding you."
Cassie's babbling stopped in surprise. "You haven't?"
"No, of course not. As I said in my note I had some work to get done."
"But the receptionist at the station said you'd taken time off?"
"Yes" said Gwen laughing, "whenever I get some big projects I like to work from home so that I can focus without distraction. Plus I had a side project I was working on. Look since your here anyway I'll show you. It was going to be a surprise but I think it's good enough to show you."
Cassie didn't know what to think as Gwen lead her inside. First she'd though Gwen was avoiding her but she wasn't, she still had no clue what had happened the other night, and now Gwen was talking about a surprise. So many different thoughts were running through her head that.....
And in a flash all her thoughts stopped as she stared at what Gwen had wanted to show her. In front of her sat an easel, but not just any easel..... her easel.
Thank you for reading. As always I hope everyone enjoyed it
What I mean to convey, is that Cassie's mere thinking she may have lost another friendship due to her temper- (I believe she has put off many with that not just Sean and her erstwhile best friend) -- just based on where the story seems to be going thus far to me-- Might be just the wake-up call that she needs to start considering doing something about that short wick of hers..
And secondly, Gwen's going to the trouble of digging the mortally wounded easel out of the rubbish can, fixing it and setting it as a surprise for Cassie.. among other things since they met, shows that Gwen is the one true friend Sims rarely find and those of us flesh and blood types -- too many of us-- go through life without having had the blessing of meeting.
Lots of food for thought for Cassie.
@AuroraLockwood You do have some big time insight into how at least some of use shorter-temper gals tick!
In my case the short temper bit comes partially from personal experience. I used to struggle with my own temper though it was never as bad as I've written Cassie's (mine was more akin to being a loudmouth and was a bit less frequent) and thankfully I've since gotten it under control (mostly at least).
As to having insight into how short tempered women tick, to me it's more just one of many things that isn't gender specific, things like a short temper are pretty consistent to everyone with the issue in my experience so I just think of it as a temper not necessarily a girl's short temper or a guy's short temper. Maybe I'm just weird but I've never put much thought into men and women being that different outside of physical aspects. Things like emotion, desires, habits, and the like are more just human condition than gender ones.
And wow I just realized I got a bit more philosophical than I usually do.
Cassie wasn't sure how to feel as she stared at her easel. The easel that not a week ago she had smashed to bits in anger. And now here it was sitting in front of her in one piece aside from a few small pieces still sitting off to the side next to various glue bottles a couple of which were already empty.
It looked as good as it had before breaking it, nowhere near like new but the easel had worn from heavy use long before sh ever came to Oasis Springs. Running her fingers gently along the wood she could feel the cracks where it had been broken but here it sat restored to working order.
She turned towards Gwen who was silently watching from the background.
"You put it back together?" Cassie said more to fill the momentary silence than as an actual question. "Yeah" Gwen replied as she absent mindedly rubbed at a splinter in her finger, one of many she undoubtedly had gained through the process.
"But why?" Cassie said still in a state of shock.
"Because it is or at least was important to you." I know you told me that one time at your house that you don't paint but nobody holds onto something like that to just not use it. So I knew that there had to be more to it. Then after I took you home from the club that night I saw it had gotten broken and figured I'd try to put it back together for you. As said it was meant to be a surprise but I didn't expect you to suddenly show up at my door. It just has a few pieces left and it should be good enough to go back to your place."
Cassie wasn't sure what to say. The fact that Gwen had gone to such effort, and pain from the splinters the blond woman continued to pry at, all for something that....
"It didn't just break" Cassie confessed. "I smashed it intentionally."
"I guessed as much" Gwen replied "I didn't think it could have broken that badly any other way."
"But you still went through the trouble of fixing it?" Cassie said still not understanding.
"Yeah I did, because I thought it might still make you happy to see it whole again. I'm not going to pretend to know the story behind it, or why you broke it, or any of that. But I just had a feeling that it was something of value and to me that's worth salvaging."
The two walked over and settled down onto the couch Cassie still trying to find words after so many shifting emotions from the days events.
"So what about you?" Gwen asked. "You really thought I was avoiding you?"
Cassie looked sheepish, it sounded so ridiculous now that she was face to face with Gwen but in all the panic of the last couple days it had been the only thing that made sense.
Not getting a reply Gwen pressed a bit harder "Cassie? Why would you ever think I would do something like that?"
Cassie sighed knowing that there was no choice now but to tell the full truth. "Because of my temper, I remember bits and pieces from that night at the club, I remember yelling at someone, I thought it might be you and you might have decided you didn't want to be around me anymore."
Gwen laughed "First off you never yelled at me, ranted a bit but you never directed anything at me. And second even if you had I wouldn't let one bad evening while you were drunk ruin our friendship."
"But it's not just a one time thing" Cassie replied, "The alcohol didn't help but it wasn't to blame. I have issues controlling my temper. I've tried to learn to control it but nothing has helped. So occasionally I lose it and do stuff like.... whatever I did that night. And I've lost a lot of friends to it, people who just didn't want to put up with me, I've lost some really close friends to that."
"Sean I'm guessing was one of those people?"
Cassie looked up in surprise at Gwen's mention of Sean.
"You mentioned the name the other night. After we left the club, the one you yelled at was the bartender by the way, I figured you'd had enough to drink and needed to go home. On the way I noticed the hearts on the sleeves of your sweatshirt and commented about them. You just looked at the hearts for a second and then pulled it off and tossed it to the ground, that's how it got mud on it. You then proceeded to rant a bit about someone named Sean. I couldn't sort out the whole story as you were rambling a bit since you were drunk but I caught the basic idea that he was your ex-boyfriend and something happened between you to. I'm guessing it had something to do with your temper."
Cassie stared in amazement, it was clear why Gwen was a reporter. She was really good at piecing together information. To figure all that out from Cassie's drunken rambling.....
"Yeah, Sean was my boyfriend, now ex-boyfriend. The shirt was a gift from him just before we started our junior year of high school. I always liked relaxed clothing and he thought I'd like it. The hearts on the sleeves represented us, two hearts always always connected, never to be apart.... so much for how that turned out."
Cassie really didn't want to talk about Sean anymore though so she moved the subject back to the evening at the club. "So I didn't yell at you?"
"No not at all"
"But you said in your letter that I scared you?"
"I was scared, I was worried about you. You were ranting and raving like a crazy woman. It caught me off guard. But that doesn't mean I would just abandon you or start avoiding you. I helped you make it home where you passed out on the couch, at which point I cleaned off your shirt and found the pieces of your easel. After that I decided to work on stuff from home for a couple days so I could work on trying to piece it back together in the process." Gwen again picked at the splinters in her fingers. "Turns out that was a lot tougher than I expected."
Cassie breathed a sigh of relief "I'm so glad, I really though I'd screwed things up there. I don't have a lot of friends so it really scared me that I might have done something to make you hate me."
"I'm not going to hate you" Gwen said with a chuckle. "I might find you a bit crazy sometimes but that's a cute point for you."
Cassie busted out laughing now that the stress of everything was finally wearing away. "You're not the only one that probably thinks that, half of Oasis Springs probably thinks I'm crazy from my search for you.
"Oh this I've got to hear" Gwen said with her trademark smirk "What exactly did you do to find me?"
"I kind of went door to door looking for you and asking in anyone knew where you live" Cassie said with a touch of embarrassment.
Gwen nearly fell of the couch laughing. "Oh my, you did. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I'm not sure whether to find that endearing or ridiculous."
Cassie's cheeks puffed out in indignation as she watched her friend rolling in laughter "Well I didn't know where you lived and you weren't answering your phone. What else was I supposed to do?"
"Oh no, you're not pinning this on me. You're the one who overreacted about this in the first place." At this point Gwen calmed down from laughing and gave Cassie a gentle smile "Though I understand your confusion and I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. On the bright side at least I now know what news topic I'm likely going to get assigned on Monday" Gwen busted into laughter again "I can see it now, 'Crazed stalker in cargo pants searches town for beautiful local reporter"
Cassie smirked "That's 'best darn news reporter from here to Bridgeport'"
At this point the two practically just fell over laughing.
After the finally managed to calm down Cassie looked over at Gwen with a big smile on her face.
"Thanks, for standing by me, I mean..... I'm sorry I never mentioned my anger problems before. I just, I'm not really sure what I thought I was just kind of scared that it would be like before where everyone just leaves when it gets to be too much hassle to put up with me. You're such a great friend"
Cassie hugged Gwen tightly grateful to have a friend that wasn't going to run away. But as she started to pull away she saw a strange look on Gwen's face.
"Is that it" Gwen sad with a slight twinge of disappointment in her voice. The woman leaned in close looking Cassie directly in the eyes throwing all the caution of the previous week to the wind. "What if I told you I don't just want to be friends."
Cassie stuttered in shock and confusion. "Wha... what?"
"I like you Cassie, you're a wonderful friend to me as well but I don't want to stop there. I don't want to just be friends."
Cassie still stared in surprise. Her brain was starting to register what was happening but she still wasn't sure what to say. As Cassie stared Gwen continued, determined to say her piece
"At first I decided to take it easy. I wanted to get to know you and find out if you were interested in me as well.... but you haven't noticed. If you don't feel that way I'll understand and I hope we can still be friends, but I can't just sit back and hope you notice how I feel any longer. I want you to know.
"I love you Cassie"
And suddenly before Cassie could respond Gwen had pulled her towards her, and kissed her. But the kiss wasn't the most surprising part for Cassie. What really surprised her was that she wasn't resisting, more accurately she didn't want to resist.
Back in high school someone had jokingly told her and JoAnna that they would make a cute couple. They had just laughed it off with the attitude that it would just be weird, that they were both into guys and didn't swing that way, and nothing until now had lead Cassie to question that..... until now.
Now she felt Gwen's lips pressed against her own and despite that previous sureness, despite the fact that she'd never had any desire to be close like this with any woman, she desperately didn't want this moment to end. And as Gwen started to pull away from the small kiss she'd given Cassie surprised herself further as she felt her arms wrap around Gwen drawing the slightly older woman back in close.
The next thing she knew they'd made their ways upstairs. How they'd traversed the steps Cassie couldn't recall and honestly the logistics really didn't concern her, only Gwen.
She felt Gwen push her down onto the bed, saw her staring down at her with those soft brown eyes. Cassie didn't know what to say, but deep down she didn't want to say anything, didn't want to disrupt this moment that was happening.
And so without a word Gwen pulled the blanket up over them, enveloping them in their own little temporary world as their lips met again.
And as afternoon drifted into night the two spent the remainder of the day blissfully unaware of any prior stresses, heartache, or problems as they simply enjoyed their moment together.
That's it for this update. Thank you for reading
30 posts, 50 points, and you have to be a member for 24 hours.
Thanks, I'm glad your enjoying it
though I think Gwessie would work a bit better personally
Agreed!
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O.O that would really suck. I'n glad that wasn't the case either. Lovers is much better than death
Story Blog | Forum Discussion
The sun rose as always, though on this morning the way it's first rays drifted over the surrounding landscape was being quietly watched from the upper level of Gwen's home.
Cassie stared silently at the peaceful morning, though her mind was anything but peaceful.
What had she been thinking she thought to herself. A week, she'd known Gwen for a short bit and out of the blue she'd willingly jumped into bed with her. Why had she done that, everything reasonable in her told her now that it had been a bad idea but why hadn't she stopped herself before.
"I love you Cassie"
those words still echoed through her head. Was that all it took. Three meaningless words to make her swoon.
"I love you Cassie"
She held her head in her hands wracking her brain for any sense for why she had been such an idiot.
"I love you Cassie"
"Darn it, why do I keep hearing that!"
"Because it's true" Gwen replied, her statement bringing Cassie back to reality as the blonde woman walked up next to her.
"Morning beautiful" Gwen said as she stopped next to Cassie by the railing.
"Morning" replied Cassie sullenly as she looked up only to realize that Gwen was standing there still naked from the night before.
Gwen laughed at the look of shock on Cassie's face. "What's with the surprise. Didn't get enough of a view last night?"
But the look on Cassie's face told Gwen that something was up. "Hey, is something wrong?"
Cassie tried to form an answer, tried to put words to the conflict of feelings she was feeling right now, which was especially hard given Gwen's current state of undress being.... distracting to say the least.
"Look, I need to talk to you about something but it's kind of tough to hold a serious conversation while you're naked.
Gwen looked at her quizically but decided to go along with it, heading back towards the bedroom to get dressed.
While Gwen started sifting through her wardrobe Cassie sat down on the edge of the bed, despite her feelings at the moment she couldn't deny that Gwen had an absolutely gorgeous body, perfectly toned from days at the gym. But given her current thoughts she didn't want to think about that so she diverted to a different comment.
"How can you just walk around like that?"
"Why not, it's my house?"
"Yeah but that was the balcony, what if the neighbors saw you?"
Gwen laughed "There's no real worry. The only neighbor who can see my onto my back balconies is Tara, and it's nothing she hasn't seen before."
Gwen grimaced slightly at the response. Was Gwen really that relaxed about this sort of thing. And this Tara, was she an old fling? Someone Gwen had loved and eventually moved on from before meeting Cassie?
Noticing the look on Cassie's face Gwen decided to clarify. "If your worried about Tara don't be. She's a coworker with me at OA6. We share a dressing room but that's it."
Cassie blushed that Gwen had read her so easily but quickly denied it "I wasn't worried about that."
Now dressed Gwen walked over and sat down on the bed. 'Then what's up, clearly somethings bothering you. What's wrong?"
"It's just...." Cassie again tried to find the words. She didn't want to hurt Gwen but "Look I told you about Sean, well things are a bit messier than what I mentioned."
"Okay" said Gwen not entirely sure where this conversation was going.
"He didn't just leave me because of my temper, that was part of it but.... he left me after I found out he was cheating on me with my best friend JoAnna. That's why I came out her to begin with, to get away from all of that."
Gwen didn't say anything, she still didn't understand what this was all about but she figured it best to just let Cassie explain things at her own pace.
"This wasn't after a short relationship either. Sean wasn't just a quick relationship that came and went. We knew each other for almost a year before we started dating back in middle school, and we dated up until a few months ago. I really loved him.... and he loved me. At least that's what I thought."
Gwen was starting to get an idea as to what was going on but still remained silent not wanting to interrupt.
"His last words to me were that he had done it because he was tired of my hissy fits, and that he was happier without the baggage that came from being with me....."
It was at this point that Gwen cut in. "Cassie, I think I see where this is going but I want to be clear, I'm not Sean. I'm not going to leave you like he did"
"He said that too" Cassie replied. "He said he wanted to be with me, he told me he loved me, we were going to get married..... and then he stabbed me in the back. And even though you mean what you say now I can't be sure that you won't change your mind later." Tears started to slide down her face, Cassie hated what she was saying but knew it was the truth and that it had to be said before things went any further. "I realize that might not be the case and I don't want to hurt you but I can't take the chance, I just can't go through that again. Last night was a mistake that....."
But suddenly Cassie looked up in surprise as Gwen leaned close and took Cassie's hand in her own.
"It was not a mistake" Gwen said firmly. "I understand why you're scared given what happened between you and your ex, but I can't sit here and let you say that. Last night was the most amazing nights of my life. It was a moment where I finally got to tell you how I feel, it was a moment where I got to fall asleep with you in my arms, it was a moment where I felt truly happy, totally assured that I had found the person I've dreamed about being with. Nothing that good can be a mistake and I don't want it to be one. I don't want last night to be a mistake, or a fling, or a one night stand, or anything of the sort because that would imply that what I felt wasn't true, it would mean that all my joy was wrong. I won't sit here and believe that. No I can't tell you that there isn't the chance that things might change, nobody can promise you that. But I can tell you that I want you. I want you more than I've ever wanted anything in my life. I want to fall asleep next to you, I want to wake up to your smile, I want to spend afternoons together on the couch just happy to be with the person I care about. I'm not just looking for a little fun before moving on. I want you and everything good or bad that comes with that because while you may have your issues, your flaws, and your bagage, the joy of being with you is worth it. I don't want a mistake, whether it works out in the long run or not I still want to take a shot at a relationship with you.
"WELL I DON'T" Cassie yelled angrily yanking her hand roughly out of Gwen's.
Tears welled up in Gwen's eyes as she looked over at the anger in Cassie's face and Cassies anger balked.
"I'm sorry but I just can't do this again. I...."
Before another word could come out of her mouth Gwen's lips were on hers again, and like the day before part of Cassie didn't want to let it end.
As their lips seperated Gwen looked in Cassies eyes with every ounce of determination she had.
"I'm not giving up on us, you say you can't take the chance but I can't give up on it. I won't give up on it."
Cassie's tears continued to flow mixing with the tears Gwen's kiss had left on her cheek. "You just always have to have your way don't you"
Gwen smiled as she gently kissed Cassie again. "Only if you can't honestly tell me that you don't want this as well. There is never a guarantee with life, and it may lead to regret later on, but I'll take the chance of regret any day over the definite regret I'll feel if I don't try. I do love you, whether you trust those words or not that is how I feel and as long as part of you loves me as well I refuse to stop trying. I'm not saying we need to rush things, we can take things slow until you feel more comfortable. But I can't give up and I refuse to.
Cassie leaned against Gwen as the slightly older woman wrapped her arms around the young redhead. She couldn't deny that part of her wanted this, the part of her that didn't want the kisses to end, the part of her that couldn't help thinking about how beautiful Gwen was, the part of her that right now just wanted to let herself melt into those strong arms and believe that everything would be alright. But there was still that one bit in the back of her brain that was scared, terrified senseless of going through that pain again, of falling in love only to have her heart broken.
But she did want this, as scared as she was she did desperately want this to be real.
"Okay" said Cassie. "I'll take a chance."
As she said it her stomach interrupted the serious moment with a load grumble. They had been talking most of the morning and hunger was starting to set in.
Gwen burst into laughter both at Cassie's stomach and in happiness over the answer Cassie had given. "Well I guess that's that. Now how about pancakes." With that Gwen lead the way down to the kitchen where she hurriedly started preparing breakfast.
As she settled down in her seat next to the island Cassie couldn't help but grin as she watched Gwen prepare what she referred to as her "famous homemade pancakes." At the end of the day, no matter what conflict she felt romantically, Gwen was still her best friend.
That's it for today. Thank you everyone for reading, I hope you enjoyed it
Note: Just my reflections on what I read. (I did see it coming when Gwen went to a whole lot of extra effort for Cassie RE her boss and dress-code troubles.)
That's it from me. I'll stop the story analysis and just read like everyone else! from here on out.
Admittedly even by the stories standard it was pretty fast, Cassie even acknowledges she didn't know Gwen long.
Though it also wouldn't run into rebound territory since it's been a few months since she and Sean broke up. There was a bit of time between when they broke up and when she moved out to Oasis Springs.
It's why I'll stop with the analysis and just be a reader