[center]It was going to be a long day, Christian felt it. It was already mid-afternoon and Clara had not emerged from her room as of yet. He had let her sleep for a while; told himself not to bother her, but then again – she couldn't stay in there forever.  The man had eventually gone and taken a shower and dressed for the day, determined to get the other female up and out for the day. He'd seen her like this before, although these days had occurred once in a blue moon anymore. At first, he'd allowed it so many years ago. She needed to grieve, she needed to work her way through everything. But now – no, now she had no excuses and she needed to get herself out of bed. There was no point in moping around- it would do her no good. 

Once he'd gotten dressed, Christian headed towards Clara's room, pausing outside the door. With a slow sigh, he ran a hand through his hair and knocked quietly, waiting to hear any form of life within the room. He'd been met with silence, just as he expected, so he slowly opened the door and made his way in. 

There she was, buried in a mess of blankets and pillows, her long hair tossed around as she buried herself further at the sound of his entrance. He received a little grunt in return as he eyed her, moving to open up her curtains one by one. 

"Come on, love. Time to get up." 

"Leave me be, Christian." Clara mumbled, burying her face into her pillow as she tried to block out the light. "I want to stay here." 

"I know you do, but what good does that do you?" He asked as he reached the last window before moving to the side of her bed. "Come on – come into town with me."

"But Christian – really, I—"  

"No buts – I'll take you to the book store – I know you still enjoy a good book from time to time." He commented, sitting down on the edge of her bed. She'd stuffed herself in the middle of the king-sized bed, making it difficult for him to reach her. Once more, he was only met with a little grunt.  "Clara – I'm not going to leave until you get yourself out of this bed. "

When he was met with silence again, the man gave a huff. "Suit yourself." He murmured, and slowly climbed on the bed, yanking the blankets from her. Her smaller form curled up tight at the sudden assault and chill that hit her, and she tried tucking her bare legs under her shirt. "Stop!" The girl nearly whined, and she reached over to grab another pillow before swinging it at him. 

Christian grinned and grabbed the pillow, tossing it aside before he pulled her legs out to pull her away from the pillows. She gave another whine at his actions before she finally gave a puff and slammed her hands down on the mattress. "Fine." Clara glared at him. "You win. But only for a little.  I'm really not in the mood." 

Christian only smiled and brushed her excuses off before he stood back up, straightening out his clothes. "Get dressed. I'm only giving you twenty minutes." And with that – he headed out of her room, pleased with himself.

Clara groaned as he left, staring up at the ceiling for a moment longer before she forcefully pushed herself out of bed. Going into town was probably the least exciting thing for her at the time. She didn't want to run into [i]them[/i] again, nor did she feel like interacting with anyone at all. Christian was in too good of a  mood and it only irritated her further. Still, she owed everything to him and if she needed to entertain him once in a while then so be it. Not to mention she knew exactly why he'd been trying to get her out – no sense in brooding and crying all day! What good would it do her?

It wasn't long before Clara was back downstairs, her hair down in loose curls this time. She'd managed to dress in lighter colors that morning, creams and browns to her corsets and skirts. And yet, she still hardly looked pleased to be out of bed. Christian only smiled at her pout, offering his arm which she took reluctantly as they headed out the door. "Now darling – please [i]try[/i] to enjoy yourself today." He commented, carrying her off into the middle of town – where she'd already begun to notice that pull again. No; she'd ignore it this time. If he wanted to be away from her for now, so be it. 

Even as they entered the center of town, Clara made sure to keep her attention only on the shops. She would not have it today; Of course, Christian couldn't help but notice both Kieran and Ryanair entertaining a few children – who could miss both large males with a group of them laughing and running around. It made him raise a brow, wondering just how long they'd been living in that town. After all, Clara and Christian had only returned for a temporary amount of time just the other day. [/center]
[@Arista]