And so totally smitten
that Pane was the only thing she talked about with her girlfriends.
Up until falling so hard over Pane, Linnie was all about the books.
Always the strict Knowledge Sim she never had much interest
in the opposite sex and even back in high school when she and Pane
first became friends, she didn't think of him as anything but a casual friend.
It was when they ended up moving in together as college room-mates
that she started seeing him a whole other way.
When Ruby died Linnie actually turned to her other favorite interest -
fitness to deal with the grief.
She wasn't "partying" like her father, Nick, feared, (and assumed), but Nick wasn't listening to her when she tried to explain herself and that just made her avoid him more.
So, she wouldn't take his calls and stayed away from his house.
Some of the messages that Nick left for Linnie were very hurtful -
accusing her of not caring about what the family was going through and even going to the extent of accusing Linnie of not loving Ruby as much as she professed she did.
THAT really hurt Linnie, once again only making her want to avoid talking to her dad at any cost.
But she did love Ruby, (very much), and the day finally arrived that she felt the need to visit the cemetery and pay her respects.
But she didn't want to go alone so she asked Pane and her other 4 room-mates to go with her. Well, the only one who didn't have a TON of studying to get done was Pane. She didn't know it at the time but he was just as into her as she was him and the last thing he wanted was for her to go do something like that alone so off they went to the cemetery together.
It was all fun and games between them when they first got there.
The reality of it hadn't hit Linnie yet.
She was too busy enjoying having Pane all to herself.
But all it took was one look at Ruby's headstone
for Linnie to crash-land into the real reason she was there.
Yep, the fun and games were over
It was a tough thing for Pane to witness.
At first he just kinda stood there watching his good friend sob.
But then he finally moved in and gave Linnie
the comfort she needed.
Didn't take long for Linnie to pull herself together.
Of course Pane being at her side helped a lot.
But she wasn't ready to leave the cemetery just yet.
Unlike Nicole, Linnie really wanted to see Ruby's ghost.
She convinced Pane to hang out for a little while longer
Then they decided to toss a football around for awhile
And it was while they were tossing the football to each other
that Linnie looked over and there was her dad, Nick,
walking by Ruby's grave.
At first she wanted to grab Pane and hide from her dad.
But deep down she knew that was the wrong thing to do.
*There is one thing I'd like to interject here -
I do stage a lot of events with my Sims for the sake of the story,
but in this case, I did NOT set it up that Linnie would run into her
dad at the cemetery - Nick just showed up on his own!
It came as quite a surprise to me and of course, I HAD to take pix!!
Their meeting was rather awkward at first -
neither of them had expected to see the other.
Linnie didn't know what to say but she was very happy to see her dad.
So that's what she came up with to say,..
Her and Nick talked for quite awhile.
Pane kept himself off in the distance and Linnie never called him over. She knew she should have but she wasn't sure if her dad would understand her being at the cemetery with a guy and she didn't want to take the chance of giving Nick anything more to stress out about.
She did muster up the strength to be totally honest with her dad about how his grief was so very hard for her to be around. She chose to be with her friends because they lifted her spirits instead of bringing her down. She also apologized and told her dad she'd make a point to come over and visit soon.
Nick told Linnie he was sorry too, he hadn't realized that his sorrow over losing his mother was such a negative thing for Linnie and he promised to "work on that".
Nick also told Linnie it did his heart good to see her visiting Ruby's grave.
Tears came to both their eyes when they talked about Ruby but it was a good conversation. Nick had to get going, he'd stopped at the cemetery on his way home from work and he didn't want to miss dinner with Sammy and the kids.
Linnie hugged him tight when they said good-bye, very happy that she didn't run and hide when she first saw him.
Linnie felt the weight of the world get lifted off her shoulders
after being able to "clear the air" with her dad.
She felt so good that when Pane rejoined her
she reached out and caressed him -
just like that!
Yep, Linnie and Pane fell in love
And they both enjoyed their "First Kiss"
The cemetery isn't the usual kind of place that two college kids
would fall in love and have their first kiss, but they didn't notice.
After that first kiss they only had eyes for each other.
Right there in front of Ruby's grave!
They never did see any ghosts that night.
Maybe Ruby's ghost hung back to give Linnie some good,
look-ahead-to-the-future kind of memories to leave the cemetery with?
By 1 am they headed home, talking, giggling and holding hands
the whole way back to the dorm house.
Both of them were too keyed up to go to bed when they
got back so they decided to play darts.
Both of them are really into games!
And then right out of the blue!
Of course Linnie said yes!
Linnie couldn't be happier!
And Pane too, he'd been wanting to tell Linnie his true feelings about her for a long time. And now it was out in the open and they made plans to marry as soon as they graduate. But that won't be right away, both are sophomores.
That night when Linnie went to bed all she could think about was Pane and their future together.
Then suddenly she saw her father's face flash before her eyes.
Would he be cool about her engagement or not?
THAT was now the BIG question!
She wanted to call him with the news right away but the thought of her dad getting upset about it mortified her! It was a situation like this that she really wished that Ruby was there, she'd know what Linnie should too.
She waved off her worries and went back to thinking about how much she loved Pane and how happy she was that he loved her too.
She'd worry about her dad some other time,...
