[o] Night Out

A smile slowly spread over he lips, growing wider as he listed off more and more things.

"You're good at flirting."

She assured as she leaned forward and kissed him again, letting her lips linger for a little longer than normal as her hand stroked over his neck.

Her hand paused in it's track a little as it brushed over his pulse, pulling it away in what she hoped looked like a natural movement before ending the kiss and sitting back a little, biting the inside of her lip as she tried to will her fangs to go away.

His hand slid into her hair when she pressed the lingering kiss to his lips, fingers weaving through the dark locks.

When she pulled back, he let his fingers skim down the side of her neck.

"I'm glad you think so." His smouldering blue eyes gazed down at her and his lips curled up into a small smile.

The brush of his hand in her hair and down her neck sent small shivers through her body, his touch seemed just as electric as his eyes were.

She got lost in the colour of them, staring back up at him as he smiled.

Lily blushed softly and looked back down at her lap, she didn't know whether it was the alcohol, the fun they had just had or whether it was just him, but she was starting to feel like she had made her choice when she left that club, and she wasn't regretting it at all.

Ian's grin widened when Lily's eyes dropped to her lap.

The flustered look was adorable on her.

"Do you have a sudden need to start singing again?" he asked as he gestured for the bartender to give them a repeat order.

Lily's hand reached up and covered her mouth as she spoke, hiding it with a small cough before she spoke.

"A little more alcohol before I head back up I think."

Another drink would at least give her time to let her fangs retract again.

Normally she was quite good at keeping them down but Ian seemed to make her self restraint a little more weak.

"Wanna forgo the second sing-song, finish these drinks then maybe head back to mine for some coffee or something?"

He wanted to sit and chat with her without the whole club atmosphere.

"Or we could go find a pizza place or a coffee shop," he tacked onto the end quickly. He didn't want to make it seem like he was desperate to get her home. It wasn't like that.

She looked up at him in surprise when he suggested going back to his place but gave a soft chuckle as he added on extra options.

"Your place for coffee sounds nice."

Being out in public was nice and all but some privacy to talk and act like themselves sounded like a better options.

She wanted to get to know him.

"Let's finish these then," he said as their drinks were placed in front of them. "My round," he reminded her as he passed over a note to pay for both drinks.

He took a sip from his glass and leant back against the bar.

"I should probably warn you that we're a big household and there's always someone up and causing trouble."

She poked her tongue at him when he paid for both drinks but took the glass and sipped at it.

"Thanks."

It was nice to have a guy actually being a gentleman and not just trying to get in her pants.

"I'll remember that."

She replied, living on her own it was usually fairly quiet at her place, it would be nice to have people around.

Nice was a matter of opinion.

When you lived in a big house, you got far too annoyed at people randomly appearing to make sure you were okay.

He took another deep drink.

"If you're lucky you might get to meet Nonni. She's lovely."

"So you live with your family?"

She asked curiously, it was fairly common practice in Italy, she knew that well enough.

The only reason she lived out of home was because she had to travel off the main island for work.

"Uh-huh. With my mammi, nonni and one zia." His lips tipped up. "And half the time with my nieces, too."

It was a pretty open house. Brothers and nieces and nephews and aunts came and went whenever they pleased.

"It's a pretty full house," he chuckled.

Lily gave a soft laugh and shook her head.

"This could be bad, your Aunt already thinks we are going to end up married."

She remembered the trip to the coffee store all too well.

The women in his family seemed determined to push the two of them together.

"I'm sure they won't be too much trouble if I barricade the door."

He paused for a moment to mull the idea over.

It would save them the embarrassment of being walked in on while they were chatting.

He downed the last of his cider and set the glass down.

It didn't take long for her to finish her drink as well, grabbing her bag and sliding off of the stool.

"We will have to be careful with that, you know how women like to gossip, I can only imagine what they would say about a locked door."

She replied with a soft giggle.

Ian rolled his eye as he took her hand.

"I don't think a barricaded door will give them much more feed for the mill. They're probably gonna gossip up a storm no matter what happens."

His family liked to talk.

They'd come up with a million scenarios before they even walked through the door.

Lily chuckled and held his hand, she could only imagine what they would be saying, and how long they would be saying it for.

Italian women were the worst gossips.

"I should feel bad for you but this is going to be too funny."

Poor Ian would feel the brunt of it when she left.

"That's mean."

He gave a little pout. "Leaving me to the mean gossipers while you go home to the safety of not having your ears talked off about marriage and giving lots of grandchildren, nieces, nephews and great-grandchildren."

Every time he bought someone home, he got the gossip and talks.

Ian lifted the woman's hand and span her around.

Lily laughed as he pouted, leaning up to poke his cheek, he really was cute when he pouted.

"Well if you ever need to a safe place you're welcome to escape to my apartment since it's my fault the hounds of hell will be nipping at your ankles."

A soft giggle sounded as she was spun around.

Ian growled playfully and turned his head to nip at the finger she just poked him with.

"They're a little worse than the hounds of hell, I think. At least the hounds of hell can be called back."

He tugged playfully at a lock of hair as they crossed a quiet road that unofficially split the town from the houses.

"Almost there. Have you braced yourself?"

She poked her tongue out at him as he nipped at her finger, reaching up to tug at his hair in return, which was difficult given his height.

"I hope you're overreacting."

She replied with a little grimace before nodding and following after him.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

Ian grinned cheekily and leant down so Lily could tug his hair easier.

Teasing her for her height was far too much fun. Teasing any short person because of their height was fun.

It wasn't long before Ian led her up the path of a huge front garden towards the front door of an incredibly large house.

"Get ready," he sighed as he produced a set of keys from his pocket and pushed them into the lock.

Lily's eyes widened a little as she looked up at the house, it really was huge compared to her tiny one bedroom apartment, she could only imagine how many people lived in their.

Suddenly she was wishing they had gone back to her place or to the coffee shop.

This wasn't going to be a quiet evening at all.

"If I wasn't scared before, I am now."

Ian chuckled softly.

"We just have to get through the kitchen then we'll bee on the home straight. I have my own annex connected to the kitchen."

An annex that only his Nonni and the kids ever went into so it was relatively private in the later hours when the kids had been forcefully chained to their beds.

He unlocked the door and ushered Lily into the hallway.

After locking the door back up, he reached out to grasp her hand and led her down to hallway to get to the kitchen. You could hear the woman bickering quickly in Italian from outside the closed door.

"Nonni's up," his tone was pleasantly surprised.

"Lets hurry then."

If they hurried through the house maybe his family wouldn't know she was there and they wouldn't have to deal with them.

Some private time would be nice but as she was ushered into the house and moving through the hallway she knew that wouldn't be an option.

You could hear the bickering quite clearly so that meant you could hear most things through the house, like someone coming home.