Welcome Home

Ami felt bad for what happened the previous night and set out to try to make Eric feel better the next morning. "Hey, Eric...! I'm all packed. Listen... about last night."

Eric interrupted her. "Wait... Before you say anything, I wanted to apologize. I guess I got a little hot headed about all this... Would you let me try again? To talk about it again?"

"Er... Well yeah I guess. It's what I kind of wanted to talk to you about too..."

"Listen... When I meant try I didn't mean... try to love me or try to break the curse... I meant... try to open your heart to me. I've been trying my best to be completely supportive of you and kind and caring but... Well I feel like you're completely shutting me out. That you're not even trying to see me as a potential friend. I don't want you to think about Jason or the curse or any of that. Just about me... About us..."

Ami pushed her fingers together nervously. "I suppose you're right... I have been kind of... distant. And I can't deny that I... I-I do like you... It's just this whole business had me scared to admit it."

A shy smile crept on Ami's face as she shifted. "I g-guess I could... try. I guess there's no harm in that... right?"

Eric formed a big grin on his face and immediately gave her a quick kiss. This took Ami by surprise but she didn't pull away. Instead a smile formed on her face as her cheeks turned pink.

The ride home was slightly awkward but not really in a bad way. Eric and Ami felt like giddy teenagers that were with their first love. Though for Ami, this was her first. She had a couple of crushes back in school but had never even gotten the courage to say hi to one of them. She had to admit that it felt good. When the two got home, they both had problems not giggling and giving each other shy looks. "You're home. That's good... Did something happen?" Ami shook her head. "No."

Jason frowned. "Mmm... Something tells me you're not telling the truth." Ami raised a hand. "Promise! Nothing happened!" Eric spoke up before Jason could press further. "Hey, after we get settled in, lets go down to the summer festival, okay?"

Before leaving for the park, Ami had to give Daisy a big hug. "Oh, I missed you girl. Did Jason treat you alright? How about the dog sitter?" "Arf, arf!" Daisy wagged her little tail happily.

Ami loved the way the park was set up for the festival. She liked the one back home but this was definitely bigger and she thought it was nicer in some ways.

While looking around, Ami found this pretty bird. "Well hello there... Aren't you something?" The bird was fine with her watching it, but as soon as Ami tried to reach for him, he'd hop away. Ami frowned. "Aww... You're no fun..."

When she was done playing with the bird, Ami went to play soccer with Eric. She certainly liked seeing him in his work out gear. "Ugh!" Ami giggled. "Haha, you missed. I thought you were athletic!" Eric frowned and stood up. "I am! I just need to warm up!"

After their fun and some walking around, Eric took Ami's hands as she smiled at him. "Eric... I've had a great day out with you... I didn't know soccer could be so much fun." She laughed a little. Eric smiled at her.

Suddenly Eric pulled her in to his arms and gave her a kiss. This startled Ami. While she didn't exactly pull away, she did end the kiss sooner than Eric would have liked.

Eric bit his lip. "S-sorry... I guess that was pretty forward of me..."

Ami smiled nervously. "Just a bit... It's okay though. No harm done..."

Eric smiled at her. "Let me try to put what I meant in to words, huh? I very much enjoyed out time out as well and would like to continue having a nice time. Would you like to join me for dinner and a movie?" Ami laughed. "Why certainly."

Eric and Ami got all dressed up and headed down to the bistro where they had a lovely dinner. Only, a waiter had spilled some food on Eric. While his twin brother Jason would have been likely to blow up at the man, Eric was sweet and even helped clean up. In return, Eric got a free baked angel food cake.

Next came the movie theater where they watched a romantic movie. Eric liked the results in this as by the end of the movie, Ami was considerably close to him.

Meanwhile at home, Jason was staring out towards the street. "Where are they...? They've been out for some time now. I thought they were just going to the festival." He growled under his breath. "That girl better not have run off..."

As the two exited the theater, Eric shocked Ami by quickly taking a hold of her. He smirked. "I think you and I should head on home... Don't you?"

Ami felt her heart skip a beat as they moved close to each other. "I... I guess we should... I'm afraid of Jason bothering us though..." She swallowed hard as his lips were close to hers. "I mean because... I'd like to continue to talk with you... alone."

Eric smiled and pulled back to look at her. "Don't you worry about Jason. I've got a lock on the master bedroom that he wont be able to get at."

Ami smirked a little. "Master bedroom...?" Eric laughed. "Hey, I came prepared knowing full well that he wouldn't mind barging in on me. Nothing will happen that you don't want to happen."

Eric then scooped Ami up in to his arms. "Come on, let's go home." Ami closed her eyes and held him tight. There was no denying that she had feelings for him. She loved the way he spoke to her, his touch, his smell, and how comforting it was to have him hold her. She had never had someone that cared for her the way Eric did.

When the two arrived home, Ami went to fill the food bowl before going up stairs. Jason happened to be in the dinning room. "Well... Aren't you dressed up nicely? Had a good day?" Ami shrugged.

Jason didn't bother to say anything else but held a smug look on his face.

"Jason saw me in the dinning room..." Eric smiled. "It's alright. I have the door locked. He wont be able to come in or anything." Ami looked around the room as she lay back on the bed. "You know, this room isn't all that bad... Or maybe the house is growing on me."

Eric laughed and pulled her close. He liked this; being close to her. What he didn't like was that he knew that time was of the essence. Jason did need an heir to the blood line and while Eric wasn't exactly old, he knew Jason wanted more than one child to choose from.

Eric was lucky and thankful Ami didn't spurn his advances. But in some ways he wished she did. I'm sorry... I would have rather done something like this after we were married but... Time ticks on...