After cleaning up, Amanda sat down on the couch for a while, having nothing else to do. Soon, she stood up and went to the area where she saw Chris looking at the movies a while ago, and decided to just watch a movie herself. There were lots of romantic movies that she didn't really liked and she was craving for mystery genre. When she found out that there was none, she sighed in defeat and just grabbed a movie called " Letters to Juliet ". An hour later, she got bored with the movie, and just decided to sleep. But she didn't want to sleep in the bedroom. ' What if Chris would want an afternoon sleep too? I'll just sleep here ' Amanda thought as she spread herself out on the couch and fell asleep.

After a half hour or so Felix was having a small party in the house by himself. The volume of the music had ramped up a notch, and he'd found various munchies in the kitchen (with which he was becoming increasingly familiar) and had a couple of bowls laying around the couch, and was tearing up a battlefield on the PS3. He tried not to think about what a nice day it was outside - the kind of day he'd really much rather be on the beach - and the fact that he was inside playing video games. It was a sorry state of affairs in some ways, but the fact that he'd been given a license to be antisocial (in the form of being disallowed contact to or from the outside world) was something he'd exploit for the time being.

Hey, if this was marriage training, in a month's time he'd probably be doing this in his boxer shorts with a beer at ten in the morning. That was how he pictures what married life did to you...he didn't see himself in front of the sink with pink rubber gloves and a frilly apron. Not. Going. To. Happen.

For whatever reason, he just couldn't get absorbed in his game. Why? Because this wasn't how he played games. Normally he's have a few of the guys open. There'd be banter and jeering and the loser being sent to get a fresh round of munchies. What a waste, he thought looking around the room. This would be the perfect place for a house party. Hah! They really should let him throw one too. That was Brit would see what she was really letting herself in for in this 'marriage'.

He glanced at the time on the digital display of the entertainment unit. Why was the time going slowly? He had everything in the world to do. But without people to be around...it just kind of stank. He dropped the controller on the floor with a frustrated grunt. At this rate he was gonna turn into a fat, slobbish couch potato.

Chris swam laps for the next half hour, trying to keep his mind focused on repeating exam questions in his head. The proper way to give someone their Miranda rights, what cases would be best served by using pepper spray...everything he had read and memorized from the academy practice test. He had never studied for anything as much as he did that booklet. He hoped that is parents had placed it somewhere in the house. After all, he would still need a job to support the "wifey" after they...got out.

The boy reached the edge of the pool and pulled himself out, quickly grabbing onto the waistband of his boxers as they threatened to fall off of his hips. Yeah, a swimsuit would be for the best next time, he thought. Glancing around he saw an outdoor shower near the corner of the porch. Next to it, tied between two posts, was a hammock. "All right!" He exclaimed, bending down to grab his wet clothes before heading over to the shower. He turned on the water and scrubbed his clothes as much as he could to try and get the chlorine out of them. Tossing them over onto one of the lawn chairs, he then showered himself, shampooing his hair to try and keep the chemicals from damaging it. As a kid he had swam in the local pool too much and his blonde hair had turned green. Now that he was older and his hair darker, he still tried to keep such things from happening. He turned the water off and hung his clothes on the lawn chair arm handles to dry in the sun. Exhaustion washed over him as he went back to the hammock. It was in the shade of the wall and the darkness along with his wet boxers cooled him down. Flopping down in the folds of the fabric, he closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

When Amanda woke up, she immediately looked up at the clock. It was already 5 pm. " I still want to sleep. " she muttered to herself. But she needed to wake up now if she wanted to prepare dinner with Chris. He did tell her that he would teach her how to cook. She stretched her arms, then her legs. She sat down on the couch for minutes, preparing herself to stand up so that she won't get dizzy. After some time, she stood up, grabbed her towel and took a bath in the bedroom. She dressed herself up in a shirt one size too big on her and a pair of shorts.

" Chris? " Amanda called out. When she got no reply, she went outside to check on the pool. He wasn't there. But when she glanced at the hammock, Chris was asleep. She suddenly wondered if she should go and wake him up or not. ' He might be tired. I'll just sit down here and wait for him to wake up ' Amanda thought. She sat down on the floor beside the hammock, her eyes set on the pool in front of her.

Chris opened his eyes and was confused for a moment where he was. Outside...hot...pool. Then he remembered and sighed before sitting up and swinging his legs to the ground. He spotted Amanda sitting next to him and yelped in surprise. "Geeze! What are you doing there?!" He stood up and backed away, his heart still beating wildly. Then the boy noticed he was only wearing his boxers and blushed. "Oops, sorry," he mumbled, walking over to where his dry clothes hung and putting them on. "Is it dinner time already? Is that what you were waiting for?" Chris looked up to the sky and noticed the sun had sank down considerably. He didn't mean to sleep as long as he did but he guessed he had been more tired than he thought. Shrugging, he pulled down his shirt. "Let's make some lasagna. If we make a big batch we can have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow." Chris was a big fan of leftovers; everything seemed to taste so much better after sitting in the fridge a bit. "C'mon, time for your first lesson." He headed into the house and started to gather up the ingredients.

She seemed to startle Chris that she stood up and said she was sorry continuously. " Yes, I'm really looking forward to you teaching me how to cook! " Amanda exclaimed with excitement. She followed Chris inside but headed to the library. Quickly, she found the cookbook that she was reading a while ago. She brought it to the kitchen counter and read the ingredients. One by one, Amanda took them out of the fridge and laid them on the counter. Once the ingredients were prepared, she proudly looked at Chris and said, " I'm really looking forward to this. And I hope that I got the right ingredients. I just followed a cookbook after all. Or do you have your own recipe in mind? "

(Sorry for not posting early, I had to prepare for my friend's birthday!)

Chris wondered where Amanda had went when he set down a couple of bricks of cheese and found she wasn't in the kitchen with him. "Strange girl," he muttered to himself, shaking his head and going back to find the ricotta cheese. He knew he had seen some in there earlier while getting some eggs. He was reaching in for the tub when Amanda bent over and began taking things out as well. He felt how near they were and tried to hide the blush on his face. No, he scolded himself, I'm not going to do thing. Once they got everything out he backed up and surveyed what lay before them. She had added some ingredients that he never put in his own lasagna but was willing to try. "I do my own recipe; it's my mothers and she can make some of the best lasagna out there. But if you'd prefer to follow the book for your first time that's fine. It's better to do that at first than to make a horrible mess by improvising. First, let's get some water boiling for the noodles." He looked around for the pots and saw they were hung up on a rack over the kitchen island. The one he saw they needed was very high up and he could barely reach it on his toes. Amanda would have to climb up on the counter to get it. With how accident prone the girl seemed Chris wondered why anything in this house was set up in a way to promote that. "Here," he handed her the pot. "Fill it up and add a little oil to keep the noodles from sticking."

Chris handed her the pot and she did what he told her to do. After some time, she handed the pot to Chris. " Is that alright? " Amanda asked him as she handed the pot back to him. " And, um, it's okay if you follow your mother's recipe. I'll just return the ingredients that you won't be needing. Just tell me what they are " she added shyly. She suddenly wanted him to be comfortable with her, and she had the idea that she restrained him a little just because she wanted to follow the cook book. Amanda didn't want him to think of her as a dictator. Especially when they are bound to get married soon. The thought made Amanda shudder from the inside. Being married was a little bit too sudden for her. What was her parents thinking anyway? Letting her marry someone who was a complete stranger? And she didn't even have the slightest idea of what Chris thinks about her.

' He probably thinks I'm an accident prone girl ' she thought.

Chris glanced over to Amanda then shrugged. "Nah, let's follow the recipe. I'll just add some stuff to it. One thing about cooking is that there are general rules; how long to cook the noodles, the technique used...those are important." He reached forward and tapped a jar of cayenne pepper. "But then there are the stuff that aren't in the book that you might want to try. My mother likes to make her sauce a bit spicy and I have grown up enjoying it so...I add a little cayenne into the sauce mix. But if you prefer something a bit more earthy," Chris picked up a bottle of dried oregano. "Then we can put in a bit more of this. Cooking is about making things that YOU enjoy eating." Chris turned and started to root out where a blender might be within the cabinets. "So...what DO you enjoy eating? Sweet? Spicy? Earthy?"

((So sorry this took me so long to reply. My home internet has been going bonkers and I have had little time to write with finals coming up.))

" Don't add the oregano! Cayenne pepper is alright though " Amanda said as she stopped Chris' hand from adding the oregano. She blushed a little as she made contact with him and quickly withdrew her hand. " I'm sorry about that. Just don't put too much earthy things, alright? " she added with a tone of excitement to hide her embarrassment. She glanced out at the window and saw that the sky was already dark. " I'll just switch all the lights on. I'll be back quickly " Amanda told him, thanking the darkness for an excuse to flee for some time. After some time, she got a little confused on where the light switches were, but she was able to manage. She silently made her way back to the kitchen and asked Chris, " What would you like me to do now? "

(It's alright! :)) )

Chris had squinted in the dark and finally found the blender, grumbling at whoever had shoved it in the back of the cabinet. He hadn't noticed the girl's blush or the awkwardness she withdrew her hand; he was too busy thinking about cooking. If he wasn't going to be a policeman, he thought he would like to go into cooking. He wasn't that competitive, though, and probably guessed he wasn't cut out for the fast-pace of a professional kitchen. He hit his head on the corner of the open cabinet door and cussed, dropping the blender onto the counter before grabbing the back of his head with a wince. "Jesus," he hissed, trying hard to press the pain away before Amanda got back. Slamming the door, he saw there was a little blood on his hands and hurried to wash them off before she returned. He turned to fake a smile at her when she came back by the sink as he scrubbed his hands clean. "Go ahead and find a can-opener so we can start putting the sauce together."

She saw that Chris was blood on the sink, from where he was washing his hand. " Chris? What's wrong? " she asked him as she went to the counter and pulled out a drawer. She grabbed the can opener and handed it to Chris. She then saw that his hand was bleeding. " Why didn't you tell me? " she muttered as she left to get some bandages. She went to the bedroom and inside the bathroom, where a medicine cabinet was placed. She didn't open the lights wince it would just take some seconds. She opened the medicine cabinet and several things fell out. She squealed out of shock but then picked up the things. But she felt something soft and rubbery. And she just sat there, frozen by what the thing was. She slowly stood up and opened the light to see what she was holding. When the light was opened, she looked into her hand.

" Just how many condoms have they placed in here? " she yelled in disgust.

Chris winced to himself when he saw Amanda had noticed the blood. "I'll be fine; just bumped my head." He reached for a piece of paper towel and folded it up before pressing against this head. He was still bleeding a bit but nothing serious, thankfully. He found some ice in the freezer and plopped it into a plastic baggie, wrapping the paper towel around that and setting it on his head. In the distance he heard Amanda yell something and he chuckled, imagining that she had found the condoms. "See?!" He yelled back to her, getting the blender set up and plugged in. Not wanting to continue until she got back and when the bleeding had stopped, he went to a bar stool and sat down, swinging his legs underneath him while he stared out into the backyard.

When Amanda got back down, Chris was staring off into the backyard. Silently, she took his hand and bandaged it. The bleeding had already stopped, but she knew that it would still hurt. " Chris, are you alright? Did I do something wrong? " Amanda asked him, afraid that she had done something she didn't notice. She continued working with their dinner, as she followed the recipe in the book. She sat down on the couch, suddenly feeling tired and wasted, although she hadn't done much in the house. Maybe that was why. She was doing nothing and her body was suddenly adjusting.

' No. I have to at least do something ' Amanda thought as she stood up from the couch. She went back to the kitchen to get some plates and utensils, then quickly set them up on the table.

Chris watched her bandage his hand and shook his head. "Sorry, no. I sometimes zone out in my own thoughts. If you've done something I'll try to be sure to tell you. Do the same for me too, okay? I hate not knowing if I've pissed someone off." He helped make dinner and soon they had the pan in the oven with about a hour to wait until it would be ready. Brushing his hands together, he noticed her sitting on the couch and looking tired. "Hey, why don't you take the bed after dinner? I don't mind sleeping on couches and hammocks; I think that mattress is too soft for me, anyways." He lied as he searched for some bread to make some garlic bread while they were waiting. He saw her get up and start setting the table and snuck a few glances at her body before scolding himself. "So...uh...what's your favorite subject in school? What are your plans for after graduation and getting...out?"

" My favorite subject in school? Probably Gym Class. I seem to be active in sports. I actually hate math, it makes my head hurt. Don't laugh at me for hating math. And as for my plans after getting out? I actually want to pursue being a detective! And honestly, I'm really excited about it " Amanda smiled at him as she turned back to look at him. It was also really nice of him to let her have the bed, but the couch was alright with her.

" Maybe you will need the bed more, since you must be tired. I can handle sleeping on the couch either " she added. She didn't want it to be awkward between them, since it was just their first day of living together. So she just keeps on smiling,but deep inside, she actually feels bad for her parents about forcing them like this.