Westminster, England: Winter Wonderland

Winters in Westminster were always gorgeous, but only if you could get past the biting cold and constant snow. At times like this, though, when the powdery snow only drifted down, it was beautiful. The district would turn on all the lights, and at night, the entire place would glow like some sort of ethereal land. In Hyde Park, people would go and build snowmen and ice skate on the lakes, which was exactly what she would do today. It would be even more magical since Ryan was now visiting for the first time.

Harley was crazy nervous, especially since this would technically be their first time going out. Still, she stood waiting for him by where the carriage would stop in her city. In her hands was a small box that contained her gift to him once he had arrived. It had taken her hours to find the right material since she, being the amazing girlfriend she was, had handmade it. It was kind of lame, but she doubted he would tell her if it was. Suddenly, she heard the rumbling of the carriage down the road, so she looked up and sure enough, it was making its way down the path. A smile instantly lit up her face as she saw her boyfriend's face inside. Harley lifted her hand to wave at Ryan just as the carriage came to a stop close by.

Ryan had been feeling a lot more better since his brother began talking to him, even if it was a short conversation. It was still something and they were getting somewhere. It would take some time for Ryan to warm back up to his big brother but he was so willing to have him back into his life that the wait wouldn't be long. His sleep schedule was back to normal and the bags under his eyes were gone. He was looking a lot better and happier. When Harley had invited him to visit her in her hometown, he couldn't say no. This was a chance to see the place she lived and meet the people she knew. He wasn't nervous like anyone else would be, he had too much confidence for that. His confidence was a pain sometimes.

Finally the carriage came to a stop and he looked out the window to see his girlfriend waving at him. He grinned and exited the carriage. He walked the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her waist for an embrace. "Hey," he said softly, a grinn played on his lips.

Harley smiled as she accepted his hug. "Hey to you too. So, I have today planned out, but tomorrow and every day afterward we can do whatever you want, okay?" She hadn't told him of her plans for the day, she wanted it to be a surprise. The box holding their skates was in the car since they would drop Ryan's luggage off at the house first. After that then they would go ice skating at the park while it was still bright out. Then, they would go get lunch somewhere and explore the city a little. She wanted to show him the city via London Eye since once it began to get darker, they would turn on all the streetlights and turn the place into a glowing utopia.

"I got you a gift," she said, pulling out the shiny, gift wrapped red box from behind her back. Inside was a blue and mostly green scarf she had made specially for Ryan since at the end was a snow white, rabbit sew-on patch. It had taken her a while, but it was soft and warm. Now that she was giving it to him, though, she thought it was actually kind of stupid and maybe she should just not give it to him and replace it with something else, but before she could pull it back, he took it out of her hands.

Ryan had never been out of France and it probanly showed. But he didn't complain that he was out of his element, instead he took pictures of the places he passed by on his way to get to Harley. Ever since they took pictures in Art and Music Club, he carried his camera almost everywhere. He really had a thing for it and it took his mind off of thinhgs that he couldn't control. When he was behind the camera, he could control the camera and that was good enough for him.

He nodded as she spoke. Sounded like a good plan and henknew he was going to enjoy himself. "A gift?" He was expecting anything, the trip here was good enough for him. He opened the box and grinned at what was inside. He let the box fall to the ground, he'd pick it up in a moment. He held up the scarf to get a better view before wrapping it around his neck. "Thank you," he kissed the tip of her nose then picked up the box from off the ground.

Harley wrapped her arm around Ryan's and smiled at him. He stuck out in England with his French accent and uncharacteristically good looks, so as they walked to the car, people stared at them. "You'll love it here, I promise." She new he liked photography since that one meeting in his club. In fact, she would bet anything that he was carrying it in his bag right then.

"Yeah," she said, urging him to take the gift. He looked surprised that she had bothered to get him anything, but that was the cool thing about gifts. "You're very welcome," she responded. Her nose was freezing from the cold, but the small gesture of affection seemed to warm her to her possibly frost-bitten toes. "Well, let's head to the well heated car where Elijah is probably waiting. Can't wait for you to meet him." She helped unload the luggage from the carriage and wheeled one suitcase to the car.

Ryan hadn't been nervous to meet Elijah but now that Harley had spoke his name he had small butterflies in his stomach. Usually he was very confident but meeting the person that had taken care of his girlfriend for like ever. "Do you think he'll like me?" he said as he took his bag from the carriage and followed Harley to the car. He wasn't sure how to say hello to him. He was going to make a fool of himself, he just knew it. The butterflies were growing and they began to multiply. He bit his bottom lip before turning to his girlfriend. "What if he doesn't like me?"

He hadn't meant to get so nervous and he found it hard to keep it cool like he usually was. He brought his index finger to his mouth and chewed on his nail. He kept them at a certain point and made sure they were always clean. He always made sure he looked his best.

Harley scoffed before saying, "Don't worry. He'll love you. You're, like, perfect boyfriend material. Just," she kind of hesitated for a second before continuing, "Just don't be your old self. You know, an ass." As much as she didn't enjoy pointing out people's flaws, she figured they were close enough that he wouldn't get offended by her honesty. "Really, though, just, and I know this is the shittiest advice ever, be yourself. Well, your nicer self, but yourself, sarcasm and all."

Finally, they arrived at the curb and smiled at Ryan before hugging him. "I'm glad you're here." She released him and raised her arm, waving at a passing car that pulled over to their street side. Smiling at the man in the rolled down window, she said, "Hey, Elijah. Thanks for the ride." Elijah grinned back and unlocked the door to the backseat before responding, "Hop in, kids."

Perfect boyfriend? Well, if the shoe fit. She said it, not him. He was still worried though but he didn't say anything more about Elijah not liking him. He knew he was a handful and most people didn't like him but he would try his best to be a likable person around this man. His grandparents were very old fashioned and taught Ryan to respect the people that were older than him. He also knew a handful of other things to impress people. "I'll try to be on my best behavior," he promised before pressing a kiss to his girlfriend's nose. He had done it plenty of times before and liked to think it was his thing.

As nervous as he was, he still managed to grin at the man in the front seat. He held open the door for Harley. "After you," he grinned. He was being a nice boyfriend by holding the door open for his lovely girlfriend.

She rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's chivalry before smiling and saying, "Why, thank you, kind sir." Harley climbed into the backseat and took her present for him so he could get in easier. Once Elijah started the car towards home, Harley immediately started reciting facts about the local architecture and landmarks. "Over there," she said, pointing to the clock tower in the distance, "That's Big Ben. It was completed in 1859 after materials had been shipped from all over the UK. Yorkshire Anston stone and Cornish granite made up the outside, but the roof is made of iron from a Birmingham foundry. There was a seven year delay after the dude appoitned to build the clock died, but his stepson kept it going. The clockmaker, though, he designed the double three-legged gravity escapement which made sure that nothing would affect the clock's pendulum and the clock hands like wind or something. It's really cool, actually." Once she finished, she realized she had been rambling about a clock tower of all things. She was such a dork.

Elijah's deep laughter sounded from the front seat when he said, "She does that a lot. She talks and talks whenever she's nervous. Told me the entire floor plan of the Birmingham Palace when I was going to drop her off on her first day of Beauxbatons." Harley blanched and laughed a little before realizing they were pulling up to their house. It was a four bedroom terraced house that was tucked between two identical places, and none of them came cheap. "We're here," she blurted, hoping to get out of the awkward topic of her babbling. "Home sweet home."

He sat quietly as his girlfriend went on and on about a clock. He didn't really care but he listened anyways. It was kind of cute that she knew so much and was just rambling about it. He didn't say anything until Elijah said she was nervous. "Nervous? You're nervous?" He let out a small laugh then grinned. Now that was cute. "What are you nervous about? I should be the one that's nervous, I'm out of my element." He have never traveled outside of France and it was probably obvious. "Can you tell me all the answers on the next test we'll be having in Potions?" he joked. A little bit of him was serious.

He turned to look out the window when Harley announced that they were there. It was nice but his house was a bit bigger. His grandparents were wealthy and they had given some of their money to his parents so they were set off well along with the jobs they worked. Ryan had also been working over the summer for a landscaping company in order to work for the car that his parents had bought him. Even though he was pure blood and he didn't really need a car, he a begged for it for his birthday. "Nice," he commented with a grin.

"Oh, come on," she joked. "Everywhere is your element. You're naturally..." She struggled to find the right word. "Fabulous. I'm, like, not." It was true. Even though Ryan said he was nervous, he looked totally in his comfort zone. "Answers are unfortunately the one thing I don't know. But I would never do that because it's very, very wrong," she laughed before quickly inputing when she saw Elijah's glance.

She smiled cheekily at him before bursting out of the car. "Alright, let me show you around." Harley grabbed his hand and dragged him inside after about five minutes of digging through her bag for her keys. "Alright well, down here, theres the garage, and past that's the utility room. Go even further and thats the kitchen and breakfast area.Behind that's the patio where I grow strawberries, blueberries, and sometimes tomatoes because Elijah loves them. Up the stairs there's Elijah's room and the reception room, and on the third floor is my room and the two guest bedrooms, where you'll stay." She was nervous, to say in the least. Was the house too cold? She didn't get cold so she wouldn't know. What if the place smelled weird? They hadn't cooked anything lately that would cause that, but who knows?