keep your L O V E l o c k d o w n || Ellie

[sergio rowan cohen]

He straightened his collar, and tried to decipher the pang that struck his heart when he walked up the steps of The Lodge. Making the commute from Italy to La Push/Forks all the time wasn't easy - he had no reason to anymore, unassumingly. The long year had passed and his clan had gone their separate ways; there should have been no tie that would connect him any more to the little town. Serge spent some of his time baffling himself over it, before shaking his head and realizing some things he might never fully understand. There was one reason he tried to visit as often as he could - and that reason went by the name of Ellie. It had been a very long, very excruciatingly boring two weeks without her, and Serge was never one to turn down money from his clients. In fact, that's probably how he could afford to fly first-class all the time; however, some other bodyguard would have to protect the government employee this time. Serge had politely excused himself from duty; it seemed he had planned on taking a one-week vacation. And it also seemed the best way to spend that week was with a werewolf, a particular one that managed to steal every ounce of affection in him.

That also hadn't been an easy feat - Serge, at first, didn't understand the 'big deal' Ellie had panicked about given the nature of their species. So he happened to suck blood on occasion and she morphed into an overgrown dog, what was the problem? There wasn't a simple way to wrap his head around it, honestly. Who cared if they were supposed to loathe each other with every fiber in their being? He thought she was interesting, pretty, and likeable - and worth the attempt at dating. Even when he had flown to La Push for the first time for her, it had taken a small part of reassuring on his part ("No, I won't attack your wolfy friends, El, I promise.") to ensure her that no harm could be done... on his side, anyway. By her constant anxiety, it didn't take a genius to tell she was worried about what her pack would do when they found out. Although Serge also exclaimed (without a touch of modesty - hey, a guy has a right to boast) he could handle it if a fight should arise, she still stressed.

From what Serge could figure, it settled down in the past year, at the very least. He was always on his best behavior, courteous and a gentleman, around her friends and family especially. But the constant back and forth travel was tiring on the both of them - there was no way to describe it other than completely unfair, that they would have each other for a weekend or a few days (maybe a few hours, if they were really unlucky), and he would have to fly back almost immediately after. Serge couldn't understand the pull that made him ache for her every night that he wasn't there with her, even if he wouldn't be able to sleep if he tried. Holding her in his arms while her breathing slowed and evened out was enough; it only took a few words of comfort to usher any of her bad dreams away. His last girlfriends had been special to him, sure, but none of them compared to her. None of them would make him either swim or fly across the ocean almost weekly; it was only something Ellie could compel him to do.

So when the tinkling of the bell above alerted the restaurant of a new customer (or, you know, not - he'd still put a healthy amount of cash in the tip jar every now and then so Ellie's coworkers wouldn't accuse him of taking up her time), the tightening in his chest had faded with a small smile placed on his lips in replacement. He could smell her familiar, warm scent - surely the accusation of werewolves and vampires smelling awful to each other was false, because he couldn't sense anything but pleasantness about it. Serge was sure she knew he was here now, too; interesting how they seemed to almost gravitate towards each other, and no matter how much time they spent together, it wasn't quite enough. He touched his lips lightly to her cheek; golden eyes were alight with unsuppressed content.

"Missed you."

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[melody rochelle buckner.]

[/i] her coworker, Lizzie, finally shouted. Everyone else jumped, and Ellie shook her head, her eyes cloudy and confused. It's lunch break. For God's sakes, girl, what on Earth have you been thinking about? Cameron, Lizzie's boyfriend, chimed in. Ellie sighed. "Nothing you would ever understand," she muttered. Whatever. Lizzie and Cameron turned and sat at a table, were Ellie realized their lunch was spread out, and everyone else gave her a weird look and walked away as well. Ellie stared at the ground, her cheeks pink from embarassment, her eyes starting to tear as well for the same reason. Everyone seemed to have taken to ignoring her, and she couldn't blame them. How had she let her thoughts run away with her like that? And at work. She watched as everyone headed into the back room to finish lunch, since it was obviou Ellie wasn't going to and she needed to be alone. It's okay to miss him, Ellie. It's rational. They just don't understand is all. Don't cry. And even as she told herself that her tears were blinked back and she shook her head to clear her mind. Almost instantly, though, she heard the bell on the door tinkle, but her head didn't snap up like it normally would have. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Lizzie peering ou, but then she disappeared from view.

Ellie frowned and inhaled deeply, a smile creeping onto her face as his familiar scent reached her nose. She looked up right as he kissed her cheek, and she smiled when he spoke. "Missed you more," she whispered, reaching reflexively for his hand. Two weeks had gone by and all she'd done was wonder when the next time they'd be together was. She had worried about him, obssessively, maybe, but no one could blame her. Her eyes found his face and then his eyes. "Yep. Definitely missed you more," she sighed, her eyes bright and warm. Her love and care for him radiated from every bit of her, as it always did when he was with her. All her worry had melted away the moment she'd smelled him; he was okay, if he was with her. Her smile only showed how happy she was now, her embarassment gone completely, although her cheeks were still pink.[/font]
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[sergio rowan cohen]

If there was something Serge Cohen hated in this world, it was seeing Ellie cry. Or even start to, in specifics. He knew the distance between them made the strain on their relationship more difficult than it should ever be, but seeing it in plain view made him wince. People in general spilling tears made him uneasy at the very best, but Ellie was different than just regular ‘people’. She was amazing, beautiful, and crazy (but in a good way, Serge wouldn’t forget to add); and on top of all of that she was his girlfriend, so there was no reason in this world that she should be sad if he had anything to do about it. He held her in his arms for a few, sweet moments before she spoke and addressed him. When Ellie reached for his hand, he sought hers and squeezed lightly. It was obvious she had missed him just as much as he had missed her – if not more so. At least he knew when he’d be able to come back to her (most of the time, anyway, some of his more tiring clients sprung up unexpected work days), aside from Ellie, who, Serge had guessed, had no guess to when he’d be back whenever he left.

Although, the edge of her lips forming a smile caused all, or most, of his concern to be swept away. That was it, that smile. My smile,

[/i] as Serge had fondly recalled it by. It was different from the smiles he had noticed whenever she spoke of her friends or good moments with her family; almost as if it was reserved just for him and him alone. And Serge Cohen was a lot of things, but never a fool; it was for this reason that he appreciated it so much. It’s always the little things.[/color] From what Serge could also assume, her co-workers had never dealt with this situation before with Ellie, or anyone else at that, probably. What do you say to someone who’s ocean’s apart from their lover, their lifeline? What could you say to make it right? Ocher-colored eyes searched deep within Ellie’s, and there he found his answer: nothing could ever make their separation right. Only bearable with the knowledge he would return, and in times such as these, have each other to hold once more. A small smile edged itself onto his features as he met her gaze, staring at her in amusement. ”So you missed me more, huh?”[/color] Serge cocked his head to the side,”I might be willing to wager on that, Miss.”[/color]

Her warmth (literally, werewolves were good for that sort of thing, he mused) enveloped his cold frame; in the early stages of their relationship, he was slightly uncomfortable thinking Ellie wouldn’t appreciate the lowered temperature he was constantly in, but somehow, someway, she didn’t seem to mind. It baffled him, but if it was one less thing to worry about, then so be it. There was very little Serge was insecure about their relationship, anyway; wasn’t it him who had told Ellie he didn’t care if she was a werewolf or not? There was little, if anything at all in Serge’s mind, that could manage to be a constant obstacle for them. So far, what seemed to be the biggest problem was distance? A problem he would, hopefully, soon fix… not that Ellie knew that just yet. Serge leant down to rest his forehead against hers, pressing a light kiss to her lips. ”I think I’m finally home,”[/color] he murmured softly.[/size][/blockquote]

[melody rochelle buckner.]

[/color][/b] she repeated teasingly. She knew perfectly well what he meant, but any long period of time away from him made her a bit overexcited when she saw him, so it was only natural for her to tease him.

But for once, she wasn't worried, not about him, or even about him being there again. She had Clary, Kate, and Cassie to back her up if anyone objected to him (not that they were going to anymore, since he was her imprint) and she was much more emotionally stabilized when she was around (though not completely). His presence alone made her relax, even if he just lurked in the shadows sometimes. Even the little things like just hearing his voice or being able to talk to him in any way made her relax. And there's no comparison to anything like that; it's not something that's easy to explain, either, and it's something you only get once. Ellie had just gotten lucky to get such a great guy, even if he was an ocean away. And she was certainly reminded of that when something cool touched her lips and forehead, and she closed her eyes for a moment before meeting his again. "Mmm. It's almost like you never left," she breathed. But he had left, hadn't he? And she'd worried for two weeks straight. She turned her head to the side and studies his face carefully again, a slight frown on her face.

And then she reached up with her free hand and flicked him on the back of the head. It wasn't like it would hurt him, but it was significant enough. "You made me worry again," she said, her voice half reproachful and half relieved. "Which you've really got to stop doing, or Clary's gonna come after you. One of these days I'm gonna drive her up the wall." Well, that wasn't exactly why he shouldn't keep worrying her, but it was true. "I'm like a zombie when I worry, you know that," she whispered, releasing his hand to wrap her arms around him. She might have put on a sad face, but she couldn't. He had worried her, but he was here, and she wasn't dreaming or anything. So it was okay - for now.[/font]
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[sergio rowan cohen]

His eyes had rolled only lightly at her none-too-subtle to check that he still had all body parts well in tact, cocking his head to the side with his same, playful grin. "You caught me,"

[/color] Serge confessed in the most forced monotone he could muster, blank face and all,"I had an arm ripped off in a terrible subway accident. The one holding your hand now is prosthetic."[/color] The thereafter sheepish shrug proved he was only kidding, although he wondered vaguely in some corner of his mind of prosthetics were just as effective on vampires as they were on humans. Not that he'd ever put Ellie through the heart attack of him being injured, and not that he'd put himself through the painfully ego-bruising of being hurt in the first place.

"Did I stutter?"[/color] he asked amusedly, shooting back a teasing comment of his own,"It's because I'm completely unsure of where I stand with you, therefore have no idea whether to miss you or not. How'd you guess?"[/color] Serge knew it was unfair of him to be so far away all the time, which was why he had planned, if she wanted... moving to Forks full-time. He expected her to protest, about money or something equally as ridiculous and foolish but so Ellie, but the decision still weighed anxiously on his mind; though it wasn't really his, but his anxiety over her possible anxiety, if that made sense at all. Which it probably didn't. But what he did know made sense, was that the days had stretched far too long (without even counting the agony of night) without her, and every mile that separated them was just one mile too many. "Maybe,"[/color] he muttered quietly, sounding more far-off and to himself than to Ellie, but who was certain anyway? Serge was, admittedly though, pulled a bit out of his reverie when the corners of her lips turned downwards.

He pursed his lips as she flicked the back of his head, realizing it might have hurt if he were still fragile and young, and obviously human. "I'm sorry,"[/color] Serge apologized, sounding honestly so, golden eyes burning with tinges of regret. It had been a long year since they had met, and since then the times where Serge's eyes with return to a bloodlust red were very few and far in between now. Before he hadn't thought twice of personally disposing of anyone that caused a threat to a paid client, but after he met Ellie? That person, wrong or not, probably had family. Maybe had a daughter, and just maybe had eyes like hers. Not that Ellie had ever really commented on his eyes before and the meaning of what color it was, but he liked to think he could so this small, unsaid gesture for her, if it made things any easier.[/blockquote][/size]

[melody rochelle buckner.]

[/color][/b] she started, her tone suggesting it would be really foolish to interrupt her. "You know I don't like that, even if it's not a joke. Jokes are supposed to be funny, and that isn't. If anything happened to you I'd go ballistic, and you know that!" She inhaled sharply, pausing before releasing the sudden breath intake as slowly as possible, all the while keeping her eyes on him and giving him a look that simply said, I'm not done. "Joking about things like that upsets me anyway, but you. Still. Do. It. Just...don't. Please."

She inhaled sharply again, her expression softening somewhat now that she was done with her simple little lecture (in a sense). Still, she turned away for a moment, staring out the window of the resteraunt, wondering vaguely what would happen if something were to happen to her, fast healer or not. She was completely doubtful that anything serious could happen to Serge, but then, she had been wrong on things like that. She'd been doubtful she'd ever see Cassie again. She'd been doubtful Nikki would live last year. And she's always been doubtful that she'd ever hurt the Buggy. She turned back to him when he spoke again, a tiny blank look lingering in her eyes. "I didn't know you could stutter," she teased right back, smiling again. "Seeing as you're my mister perfect." That was entirely true; in her eyes, he was perfect, vampire or not, and he was hers. Just the thought made her eyes sparkle.

She paused, taking in everything he said, then shrugged and grinned widely. "Call it girl's intuition, I suppose. That, or we're just on the same page. Again." Ellie seemed to have a knack for being on the same wavelength as Serge, especially times like now, when she was seeing him for the first time since he'd left. For some reason, the fact that she was drawn to him seemed to work on her brain, too, so more than once she'd been able to tell what he was thinking or feeling. She didn't know why and nor did she care; her eyes searched his face reflexively for any flicker of emotion. She heard what he said (he wasn't the only one with superhuman hearing) but didn't acknowledge it. What was the point? She was nearly positive he'd been talking to himself, somewhat, and it wasn't much to comment on anyway.

There was hint of amusement in her voice when she spoke again, rolling her eyes. "You should be," she told him, her voice far from reproachful now. She stepped towards him again, wrapping her arms around his neck (although she had to reach; he was considerably taller than she), her eyes meeting his once again. She stretched onto her tiptoes and kissed him again, longer this time, and filled with a lot more emotion. Still, just like always, when she pulled back she didn't let go of him; she didn't even step back, she just let the heels of her feet smack back down on the ground. She missed him too much; she didn't want him to leave again. It hurt her more than she let on.[/font]
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