One of those days

Ryder grins and shakes his head at Thirteen. "Nope. If we drove it would take us a day, but Jason said we're gonna fly. I guess he lined up an Elite jet."

Taking the basket of clothes, he mixes it in with his own laundry, adding soap and turning on the water. "Have you ever flown before?"

As Jade sees the little boxes, she looks at them curiously. They looked an awful lot like jewelry boxes, but surely he hadn't... 

Accepting the first one she opens it carefully to set her eyes on the earrings. Her mouth hangs open just a little and she blinks, realizing how expensive these must have been. Glancing up at Dan, a smile comes to her lips. "Oh Dan... they're beautiful." She looks back down again, fingering the little stones. The earrings were so pretty... and automatically her favorite already. 

Moving on to the longer box, when Jade realizes that it's a matching bracelet, her breath leaves her for a moment. Not even sure why, a little tear comes to her eye. Looking up to Dan again such an expression is on her face that one might thing something was wrong. But in reality, she was just so surprised. She'd never received a gift like this before from a man and it felt... special. 

Taking the bracelet from the box, Jade is still quiet. Reaching out, she motions for Dan to help her put it on. Once it's on her wrist, she studies it sparkling in the firelight. A smile slowly spreads on her lips and she throws her arms around Dan's neck. "Thank you.... they're so pretty and... and special." 

Kissing his cheek, she draws back, still smiling. "I didn't need gifts to make this day any more perfect but I have to admit..." She looks at the jewelry again. "...you have good taste." 

Laughing, she rubs noses with him. "Thank you, Dan." 

Getting up quickly, she goes behind the couch to bring the bag she'd had wrapped for over a week. She sits back down again, careful to keep track of her earrings and making sure she didn't lose anything. 

She hands Dan the bag, hoping that he likes the new leather gloves and the belt with his initials tooled into the leather. She'd also found a music CD she knew he wanted and a handbook with all sorts of horse facts in it. 

Gage sits in his dark apartment, the Christmas tree providing the only light. Staring into the dimness, he recalls the day. It had just been one of those days. Community service had not gone well and he'd messed up several times, then had gotten in an argument with the police officer, ending in a harsh warning that made him back off. Once that was over, he'd gone to TJY to find Scott who was back from Texas and who had left a message for him that they could go driving that afternoon. Gage had accepted and had learned a lot, but there had been a whole lot more to those two hours than just driving, and it very well may have changed everything. 

Sighing, he leans down on his mattress to curl up on his side. Sapphire would be here soon... at least he thought she would. He'd left only the deadbolt locked so she could get in with her key, but now he didn't even know if she'd show up. Not after what Scott had said to him.