I pulled a blanket across my lap as I settled into the couch. I just finished cleaning the living room and kitchenette. Ugh, cleaning is literally the worst. I want a job already. I'd rather have the apartment be a pig sty and have job than be stuck at home cleaning all day like a housewife from the fifties. Okay, maybe that isn't entirely true.

  Anyways, I've decided to take a break from the cleaning and relax with a cup of tea. I can't spend too long chilling out, though, as I've still got two more rooms to clean and I only have today to do it. I want to get everything clean by tomorrow because Thanksgiving was today. Yeah, Thanksgiving- a holiday that is only celebrated in America (and possibly Canada?). Alex agreed to go out to dinner with me and there was a possibility some friends and my parents would come over to play games or something. Sounds like a lame party, now that I think about it... Oh well.

  Suddenly, I heard the front door open. At first I was a little freaked out because Alex wasn't due to be home for another four hours. But I relaxed when I saw Alex walk into the living room.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned. "You aren't supposed to be home for a few hours."

"I came to get you," he responded.

"Um, what?"

"Yeah, come on and get up. Let's go!"

"Whoa there, Sparky, slow down. What do you mean?"

"I mean get up and get in the car," he said as if that clarified anything.

"I'm-"

"Quit arguing," he interrupted sarcastically, placing my mug of tea on the coffee table and pulling me up.

"Alright, if you're so set on taking me to YogTowers, let me change," I said. He nodded. Seeing as I'm in booty shorts and one of his T-shirts, he made the right decision. I went into the bedroom and pulled on some random jeans. I kept his shirt on though. Hey, don't judge, it's really comfy. I pulled a jacket on before joining Alex back in the living room.

"Okay, you're all dressed. Let's go," he said. "Still wearing my shirt, but that's fine."

"Shoes, Alex!" I scolded. "Why are you in such a rush?"

"Sorry, babe, but we do need to hurry," he apologized after I put my shoes on.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I exclaimed in shock. "Did you just call me 'babe'? What happened to no pet names?"

 He just sighed and grabbed my hand. He lead me outside and opened the passenger side door for me.

"Put your seat belt on, Len," Alex said as he started the car.

"Not until you tell me what's going on," I sassed back.

"Fine, you know how you've been looking for a job?" he asked. I nodded. "Well, this may or may not have something to do with that."

  I shot him a big smile as I buckled the safety belt. 

"So you called me babe," I smirked after a moment of silence.

"Still on that, are you?" Alex laughed.

"Yep," I giggled. "I like it. It's a lot more personal than 'dear', which is what you always say."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, giving me a quick glance.

"Yeah," I smiled back.

  We pulled up to YogTowers and made our way inside. We went into elevator and rode it onto the second floor. We walked into the common room and, oddly enough, there was a teenage girl sitting on the couch, her head in her hands.

"Stay in here for a second," Alex said. "I'll be right back."

"Um, Alex, who is that?" I whispered to Alex, pointing at the girl.

"That's Duncan's daughter," he whispered back. "You should go say hi. She's been pretty stressed lately."

  And with that, he left. Wait, Duncan has a daughter?! 

  I approached the couch and sat beside the girl. She looked at me and squinted. She grabbed a pair of black glasses from the chair's armrest, slipping them onto her face. Her strawberry blonde hair hung down to her chest and her minty green eyes assessed me carefully. She kinda looked like my daughter would, if I had one...

"Er, who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Lena," I said warmly. "What's your name?"

"I'm Carder," she responded, "and I'm Duncan's kid."

"So I've been told," I said quietly, more to myself than to her. 

"Who exactly are you?" she questioned, breaking me from my thoughts.

"I'm Alex's girlfriend."

"Parv, Smiffy, or editor Alex?"

"Smiffy."

"Cool," she said nonchalantly. "So you're an American?"

"Yeah, I'm from California," I smiled. She really seems to be opening up to me.

"But I thought Californians were supposed to be tan," she joked, noticing my pale complexion. 

"I get that a lot," I chuckled. "If you don't mind my asking, why are you so stressed?"

"Oh, um, I'm applying for a job at a publishing company and-"

"Ah, say no more. I totally understand! Ya know, before I moved to England, I worked at a publishing company."

"Really?"

"Uh, sort of. It was a kids' magazine publishing company. I was one of the artists."

"That's awesome," she smiled. I nodded and gave her a smile. That's when Alex and Lewis walked in the door. "Oh hey Lewis, hey Smithy."

  They waved at her as she stood up. She walked over to Alex and whispered something to him. I don't know what she said, but whatever it was, it made Alex laugh. She started to walk out of the room but stopped just short of the door.

"Thanks for the talk, Lena," Carder addresses. "It helped a lot."

  With that, she left the room. 

"Alright, Lena," Lewis began, "ready to start?"

"Start what?" I asked, looking between the two men.

"Oh right I didn't tell you," Alex chuckled lightly.

"Smith!" Lewis exclaimed. "You said she knew!"

"Sorry, Lewis. Anyways, you," he helped me up from the couch and lead me over to one of the computers, "are gonna draw something."

"It's a job interview," Lewis clarified. "You have thirty minutes to draw a dwarf having a tea party with stuffed toys."

"A dwarf having a tea party with stuffed toys?" I repeated, not quite believing what I'd heard.

"Simon came up with it," Alex grinned. "And besides, it's the Yogscast! Did you expect it'd be something normal?"

"Not really," I mumbled, picking up the drawing tablet. "So this is a job interview?"

"Yeah," Lewis replied. "If we like what we see, we'll put on part time. If we love what we see, you'll go straight to full time."

"Oh my gosh, that's amazing!" I exclaimed. "Thanks, Lewis!"

"Anything for a friend," he smiled. "And besides, Smith's the one you should be thanking, not me."

"Thanks, babe," I smiled warmly at Alex. He leaned down to kiss me but was interrupted by Lewis.

"No time for that! Your time starts now!" he announced. I quickly pushed Alex away and went about making the table's outline. 

"Glad to see I rank below furniture," he huffed.

"Sorry," I lightly laughed as I continued to draw.

/////

"Five minutes left!" Lewis announced. By now, a large group had surrounded the computer. They all want to take a look at my skills, I s'pose.

"I can do this," I whispered to myself as I finished coloring the tea pot. Only the stuffed animals left now.

"Oh, I like the color of the tea set!" Turps said.

"Yeah, the blue looks good," Duncan agreed.

"I like the stuffed alpaca!" Kim giggled. "It's so fluffy!"

"Yeah, the alpaca's cute, but look at that bada*s raccoon!" Sjin said happily. "It looks like it's about to ice some motha' truckas'!"

"Can you guys stop commenting," I said with a twinge of seriousness. "You're kinda distracting me."

"Sorry," they all apologized in unison.

"And.... time's up!" Lewis shouted. I sighed and put the tablet down. I looked at my art. It wasn't bad and it was complete, which is always good. "Okay, let's have a look."

  Both Lewis and Alex refrained from watching me draw so they could look at it when it was all done.

"Wow, Len!" Alex exclaimed. "That's amazing!"

"It really is good, Lena," Lewis agreed. "I especially like the teddy wearing the Mad Hatter's top hat. That's a nice touch."

"Thanks," I smiled, blushing like a madman. Alex leaned down and kissed my cheek, causing me to blush even more.

"So, Lena?" Lewis asked.

"Yeah?"

"Ready to work full time?"

"Yes!" I squealed. I shot up from the chair and hugged him tightly.

"I need to breathe, Lena!" he chuckled.

"Oh, sorry..."

/////

  I smoothed down my skirt as I stepped out of the car. Alex smiled at me and linked my arm in his. We walked into the restaurant and made our way to our table. We weren't at a really fancy place, but it was at least fancy enough to where I couldn't pronounce the name of the place. It's something French, I know that much...

"You know this isn't just a Thanksgiving celebration for you," Alex said after we ordered.

"Yeah it's a celebration of me getting a job after far too many months without one," I smiled.

"Not just that. There's something far more special," he said cryptically. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. I can't think of anything really special that's happened recently. What could be so special that he would... Oh no... Is he...?

"Alex, are you talking about-"

"How we've been together for almost a year now? Yes, I am," he grinned.

"You scared me!" I laughed, putting my hand over my heart. "I thought you were going to propose!"

  His face grew sad and he looked downward.

"Well, I was going to but I guess you don't wanna marry me," he said sadly.

"What? No! I didn't say that. I just think that now isn't the time. I-"

"Lena, I'm joking," he laughed happily. "Don't freak out."

"Alex!" I scolded. "Quit scaring me!"

  He just laughed flashed me one of his adorable smiles. How did I ever get so lucky to call this man mine?

  After dinner, we went back home and chilled out. By the time we got home, it was too late for a party so we decided to do it some other time.

  I yawned and stretched my arms over my head, causing Alex to yawn too. I laughed and snuggled closer to him. He wrapped his arm around me as we continued to watch the TV.  To be honest, I wasn't paying that close attention. I was too busy enjoying Alex's company.

.....

  Holy crap, it's been a while! I'm so sorry for not updating. I've just been so busy and on top of that, I've had monstrous writer's block. I'm really and truthfully sorry about the lack of updates. The good news is I'm on Thanksgiving break now so I've got a whole week off from school. Hooray! I plan to put the free days to good use and put out at least two chapters next week. Hooray!

  Also, I added a new character. Her name is Carder Jones and she's from that_m_style_girl's Every Family Has A Story... This Is Mine. It's super awesome and you should check it out. You may even find a certain green eyed,  Alex Smith loving girl named Lena in it... Okay, that's all for now. Love you!

.....

They call me Long-Shorts. Paddy Long-Shorts.