A World Apart

This is a double post, so go back and read the previous chapter first if you haven't already!! Lots of cute/sappiness/fluff in this chapter. Only one more chapter after this one!!

Chapter 34

"Last time I went shopping had been with Robin," I said to Logan, who was pressed up close to me in the parking lot as we walked towards a huge department store, “We went clothes shopping. He was fussing over me like I was Barbie."

Logan laughed, opening the door for me," Yeah, you're my little Barbie Boy."

"Oh God...don't call me that," I whined.

"What do you want me to call you, then?" He asked with a smile," Sugar, honey, baby, sweetie, sweetoms, pumpkin, angel....hmmm...lover."

"How about Raven? I think it fits me quite well," I said suddenly.

"How about, Love?" He asked with a little smile and we followed Justin and Robin into the electronics department of the huge store.

We let Justin and my brother wanted around the store. It really wasn't much of a double date, more like an outing. I sifted through the CD's. I hadn't bought one for so long. I used to listen to them in my car, but then I sold my car and bought my bike. So, the CD's I had were really old. It didn't matter much though. I liked to save my money for bigger and better things. Logan came up from behind me, glancing over my shoulder to see what I was looking at.

"Here it is!" I heard my brother’s voice shout triumphantly from across the aisle.

Logan and I turned to look at where Robin was holding up a single CD in the air and smiling victoriously. He turned to me and ran over to where I was. He held the CD out in front of him. It was of some young guy singer that I'd never heard of. Robin held it against his chest.

"I've been looking for this CD forever! I can't believe I found it here!" He said giddily.

I watched Justin come around behind his boyfriend and grabbed a hold of the CD, “I'll buy it for ya."

Robin turned and with big eyes said, “No. You don't have to do that. I have money."

I heard Logan laugh from beside me, “See how they are, Justin? They never want us to buy anything. So, that's exactly what we're going to do. You buy Robin something and I'll buy Rave something, how's that sound?"

"You don't need to waste your money on me," I said.

"Sure I do. You're my boyfriend. So pick out something you like and I'll get it for you, ok?" Logan said.

I couldn't argue with him, but I wanted to. We walked around the store together. He'd occasionally point something out and I'd shake my head saying it was "too expensive, or not my style" or whatever. We had somehow ended up in the clothing department, mostly because Justin was trying to ease Robin out of it.

"Rave! Rave, come here!" Robin said from a few racks away.

I sighed, followed his voice and ended up in believe it or not...a leather section.

"What?" I asked.

"Look at this, Rave. It looks just like your old one. The one that got ruined when you got in that fight," He said, holding up a new, black leather jacket.

True. They had said my parents kept my jacket for me. They had, but it was just unwearable. It had been torn and the zipper had been broken. There had been dry, caked blood clinging to the leather. It was something that couldn't be fixed. I had tried to wash it and get the blood off it, but it only ruined the jacket even more. So, after much deliberation, I finally threw it away.

I had stared at the jacket in my brother's hand. It was a pilot’s jacket, with a button high on the top attaching the two sides and a simple zipper going down the front. It was black and smelled of expensive Italian leather.

"Try it on," Robin said, pushing the jacket towards me.

I shook my head, “No."

"Why not?"

"Because Logan'll want to buy it for me...and look at the price. It’s more than a hundred dollars! I'm not letting him buy it for me!" I said, gently putting the jacket back on the rack.

"But you really like it, don't you?" Robin said.

"Well, yeah, but I can't have everything I like. Now can I?"

"You never get anything you like. You never buy anything - or let anyone buy you anything for that matter."

"You’re saying I should allow him to buy me a jacket that costs over a hundred dollars?"

"No, I'm just saying that you should accept presents when offered to you," He said with a little shrug.

"Well..." I began to get a little pissed, “I'm not trying it on."

"Okay, whatever," Robin said, shoving past me and walking away to find Justin.

I stood there, staring at the jacket. I did want it. He was right. I never buy anything for myself. I felt warm hands settle on my hips and I jumped. Logan pressed his lips against my neck and rubbed his ears against my head.

"What are you staring at, Love?" He asked.

"Nothing," I replied with a shrug," Can we leave?"

He nodded after a moment, took my hand and we walked quickly out the door with my brother and Justin following in our heels.

The four of us walked downtown and went into a small family owned cafe. It was decorated like a coffee house. We waited in line for a while to get seats. Finally, after rustling around for a while, Justin turned to us.

"I've got to go pee. My mom made me drink the whole carton of milk this morning because she says it would have gone to waste otherwise. I'm gonna go find the bathroom. Anyone with me?" He asked, while doing a little jig.

"I got to go, too," Logan said and I watched the two walk disappear out of view.

Robin and I finally reached the front of the line and the hostess asked "How many?"

"There's going to be four of us," Robin said softly.

She led us down a small hallway into another room toward the back of the cafe. It was cozy looking with burgundy, brown, gold, and black colors. The table was pushed up against the wall and had an assortment of different chairs to accompany the unique table. Robin took a seat in front of me, so our boyfriends could sit next to us.

"You two get along really well," My brother inquired.

"Yeah, we do. I really like him, Robby," I said softly.

"Umm...I wanted to ask you a question, Rave. Is that ok?" He asked.

I leaned back in the dark colored seat with a raised eyebrow. He was asking to ask a question. Weird.

"What's on your mind?" I said.

"Well, today, when you and Logan were in the kitchen. I noticed that you rubbed your ears against his and he did the same and you guys started purring a lot and-"

He looked up to see my face had reddened. I can't believe he just repeated what he saw out loud.

"I was just wondering if you knew what that meant?" He said finally.

"It means that I like him and I like being with him," I replied.

Robin shook his head, “It means more than that, Rave. Haven't you read any of the books in school? When you're with your family and you rub against each other, it means that you care for them, but when you're with your partner, it's different. It means you love them, but more than that. It's a natural feline thing. It means that you are giving yourself to them and it means that you belong to them - not in like a possessive way, but more in like a kind of like...I don't know...it's really hard to explain."

"So you mean we do this because we love each other?" I asked softly.

He nodded and smiled, "That's why you do it. It's almost a reflex, when you get to a certain stage in your relationship and you fall in love. It's just one of those weird things."

I spotted the two guys coming around the corner a moment later. Justin came first, squeezing in behind my brother and taking the other seat.

"Where's Logan?" I asked.

Justin smiled, like he knew some kind of a secret, “He's coming. Don't worry..."

Indeed, he did come. He came carrying a large cardboard clothing box. He sat it in the middle of the table and stared hopefully at me. He leaned over, close to my upright ears.

"Open it," He whispered.

"I told you that you didn't need to get me anything," I said softly, careful not to hurt his feelings.

"Just open it, Love," He said again.

Finally I pulled apart the tape binding the edges together and glanced over at my boyfriend's anxious honey brown eyes. He smiled happily and nodded for me to continue. I opened the box and saw some white paper covering something inside. I pushed it away and pulled out the exact leather jacket I had been holding just a few minutes ago. I clutched it in my hands and looked over at him with a bit of watery eyes.

"You didn't have to," I whispered through misty blue eyes.

He placed a hand around the back of my chair and leaned forward, “But I wanted to. I saw you looking at it and I heard what Robin had said. You deserve it, after everything that's happened. You deserve something nice and I wanted to be the one to get it for you."

I glanced at the crisp, leather jacket in front of me. He had pulled the bottom portion of the tag off, where the price had been. I thought it was funny, because both of us had known the cost. I set the jacket down on top of the table and leaned over, wrapping my arms around Logan. He was taken aback, but wholeheartedly accepted.

"Thank you," I said simply, not because I loved the jacket, but because I loved him.