To Trust.

"You haven't been to the meets this week."

Funny how the world could be so small sometimes. So I thought as I scrambled to get a hold on myself. It took all my effort to not just run and get the hell out of there, and I didn't even try to control my heart which was doing all sorts of acrobatics just at the sound of his familiar voice.

There were plenty of places he could have looked for me, the plentiful cafes in town, the parks where we used to hang out, the usual library I went to near my college. But somehow, he managed to find his way here, of all places.

Or maybe he already went looking around all those places for me, another part of my mind whispered. I ignored it and continued to gather my books. Steeling myself as best as I could, I finally looked up to meet his eyes. "For obvious reasons." I pushed back my chair and turned to leave.

"And what would avoiding me achieve?"

"It expresses my... answer to your suggestion best. Or it should have." I swept my gaze to the side, unable to bear the stiffening of his shoulders, the taken aback look in his eyes. It felt so damn wrong to talk so formally with him. "And I hoped it would give you some time to get over your..." I trailed off, mentally looking for the right words. "...misplaced interest."

Anger flared in his eyes at the term. "Misplaced interest? What the hell?" Hating him for making me do this, hating myself for hating him, I brushed past him with a "I need to go."

He caught my wrist, "Wait--"

Unable to fight back against the strong feelings of relief, mixed happiness, hate and most importantly, betrayal, I spun around and spat out, "We promised. That day we promised each other, dammit. You promised me you'd never hurt me. You promised me."

He flinched at the anger and resentment in my voice, hurt shimmering just under the the words. "I'm not trying to hurt you, Leia. I'm not, and I won't."

"But you are!" I said, exasperated. "You know that where this is going will only lead to hurting each other."

Frustration evident in his voice, "So what? You expect me to ignore what I feel? Will you keep pretending that you really just think of me as a friend?"

"If that's what it takes, then yes."

"Well then you must be made out of stronger stuff than me, because I couldn't go on pretending the day I realized I was in love with you."

In love with-- I choked. I tried to struggled out of his grip, but his fingers just tightened. "Let go of me." My voice trembled.

"Stop trying to run away. Look at me." His other hand cupped my cheek, turning my face to face him. "Look at me, Leia." His intense hazel eyes found mine. "I'm not going to hurt you." He said. "I don't ever want that."

"But you'll leave me. They always do. In the end, for one reason or another, you'll leave me." And that would hurt me more than anything else you could do. "This way, we'll still be friends, even if it takes a while before this whole mess is over."

"The only way I would leave is if you asked me to." By this time, I had stopped struggling and was simply trying to hold back my tears. "Trust me, Leia. Loving someone isn't usually the hard part, but trusting is. Trust that I won't leave you, trust that I really do love you, trust that the only person's happiness I care about more than my own is you."

I shook my head, lowering my gaze. "I can't. I'm scared, Caleb. I can't. I'm so sorry." Then I bolted out the door, not stopping to look back even once.

How I Met Your Father

The four of them were doing their nightly bonding ritual--well it was more like a Q & A time for them to answer their inquisitive eldest daughter's questions and putting their younger one to sleep--when her beautiful little girl asked a question that made her burst into laughter.

"Mommy?"

"Hmm?"

"How did you and Daddy meet?"

The couple exchanged one incredulous look and then their frames shook from boisterous laughter. Taking a steadying breath while her husband still chuckled, she answered honestly. "Well... I slapped him twice and he dunked me into a pool of cold water."

It was her first time seeing a skeptical look on an eight year old.

"What? You don't believe your mommy?" he tickled his little girl's side, making her giggle. Pulling her onto his lap, she replied, "Well, I don't think I'd like it very much if a boy dunked me into water..."

"If a boy did, I would hang him upside down above a pool of sharks." her father promised, grinning. The sound of a child's laughter was beautiful, she thought.

Smiling, she asked her eldest child, "Would you like to hear the story of how your Daddy and I met?" Caramel locks bounced as she nodded vigorously. "Okay, come and sit between Daddy and I and I'll tell you."

"It began like this--"

Grumbling, she once again glared at the man/boy/guy who she just couldn't not hate, even if everyone around him treats him like an idol or something. He was sitting on the bench with legs wide apart, shoulders slightly hunched as his wrist flicked a dagger round and round agitatedly. His mere presence was just so annoying--and when he opened his mouth it was even more so.

Why oh why couldn't she get stuck with someone else? Anyone else would be a relief compared to him--it could even be a dog or pig or something...

"Could you stop with your staring? It's bad enough to have to put up with you, but having you trying to burn a hole through my head with your eyes even though I'm doing this to help you is grating on my nerves." He snapped.

"Are you really an FBI agent? Because I would've thought someone from the FBI would be able to tell the difference between a glare and a stare!" She snapped back.

He gripped the handle of his knife just a wee bit too hard. He tried to resist the temptation to throw the thing at her as he narrowed his eyes. He'd been through every kind of endurance test, but none of them had prepared him against this stupid, ignorant little girl.

He had been so proud when he was promoted to fully-trained FBI after only three and a half years worth of training. It had been a record and some had been worried if he was up to it, but he had proven himself to be fast enough, skillful enough, and sly enough to go on missions fully-trained FBIs went to.

But due to lack of experience, he had been assigned to a girl who was under Witness Protection Program after she witnessed a serial killer killing a man. At first they had thought the killer didn't know she saw his crime, but a few hours ago a sniper had tried to take her out. Protocol decreed that he had to take her somewhere safe and isolated until they were sure the coast was clear--she was the only one who could identify the killer and absolutely couldn't be compromised.

Which is why they were inside an old public indoor swimming pool that people rarely used because of a story of how a girl was murdered in this very pool. Funny how that might actually happen... he slid a glance to the girl who was pacing around impatiently. ...if she pushes me again.

Suddenly she stopped, squatted and curled herself into a ball with a sigh. He momentarily sympathized with her. Normally seventeen-year-old girls worried about boyfriends and zits rather than psycho killers. She must be pretty bored too. Deciding to get a moment's rest, he lied back on the bench and closed his eyes.

There was nothing but the sound of water lapping quietly in the pool, lulling him to sleep. Chiding himself for allowing himself to relax on the job, he straightened and promptly froze.

The door was wide open.

He gaped and quickly strode towards the door, She didn't... He glimpsed a petite figure vanishing round a corner. She did.

Even if the killer didn't, he was so going to kill her.

Heart pounding, she tried to run as quickly and as quietly as she could. The dude didn't even notice her slip away! Ha, take that, stupid FBI agent! She knew she shouldn't but it was so unfair--she had to be stuck with a grumpy old coot while it was her best friend's birthday! She was not going to sit around doing nothing but being bored out of her mind--after what she'd been through, and having the courage to tell the authorities what she'd seen, this is what she gets in return? No. Way. No freakin' way.

Considering for a moment, she decided to head downtown, where there were lots of people. She'd be safe there, she doubted he'd risk exposure to get rid of her... She had actually wanted to go home, but--

Thud.

A familiar solid wall of male stood before her, and when she peeked at his face she knew she was toast. A growl emitted from the back of his throat, and his entire presence screamed dangerous. She involuntarily took a step back in reflex and he misinterpreted it as another attempt to run. His eyes narrowed into slits as his temper finally snapped.

Without further preamble, he grabbed her waist and pulled her onto his shoulder, ignoring her yelp. Quickly he strode back into the indoor pool and unceremoniously plucked and dropped her roughly on the ground.

Mortified at being caught like a child in wrongdoing, indignant at being manhandled, and having all the pride and ego of a seventeen year old, she did the first thing that came to her mind and drew back her arm.

A surprised look momentarily wiped off the angry look on his face when her backhand caught him full on the side of his face. Then it returned fiercer than ever. It took every single ounce of some very, very hard earned self-restraint to not to do anything that he would regret... much, much later. Grabbing both her wrists, he drew in a deep, soul-calming breath and gritted out in a rough, stony voice, "If you do that again, I will throw you headfirst into the pool."

He let her struggle in his grip for a while, wanting her to be fully aware that he was much, much stronger than her and that she was powerless against him. When he felt his temper slip back into his control--though only a bit of it--he let her go.

She went for his left cheek this time.

That is it. He lifted her up easily, and while holding her like a sack of potatoes,he chucked her into the pool headfirst. She had a fifth of a second to scream before she was engulfed in cold, cold water. Gasping and flailing, she said shrilly in a disbelieving tone, "I can't believe you actually chucked me into the pool!"

He stood right at the edge of the pool, and looked down at her. She was glaring up at him, but what with her flailing and her soaked hair, she was amusing at the most. If anything, she looked like a soaking wet kitten sulking. He smothered a smile. "I'm a man of my word." He said dryly.

She snorted.

"The end!" She grinned at her child, who was taring open-mouthed at her. Well, she did edit a few details, but even with just a rough idea of what happened, it must have seemed... perplexing for a kid her age, at the least. Abruptly, a childish smile adorned her kid's chubby face as she gushed. "Wow, Mommy, that's so cool! I want my future prince and I to have an interesting story like that, too!" The parents chuckled. Then her father swept her into his arms, and said, "Okay, enough storytelling. Time to go to bed." "Aww..."

She was about to go with them when her six-month-old baby started wailing. Gently, she held him and rocked him back to sleep.

As she settled her baby into her crib, she felt strong, warm arms wind around her waist and smiled. Pressing a kiss to the crook of her neck, he murmured, "But it is an interesting story, don't you think?"

Placing her arms on his, she said, "I do think so... And best of all," she turned and held his face, "it's our story." Then kissed him on the lips.

Every Time I Close My Eyes

Lucius sat alone in the conference room.

But then again, he had never been alone ever since he'd dedicated himself to this, because every time, every single time he made a decision like this, and closed his eyes, just like this, he always saw them. Thousands upon thousands of faces, their gazes trapping him eternally within their eyes. Each pair was a blazing neon sign that reminded him of the lives that were now in his hands, how each move he made would change the outcome of so many lives. 

Each time he closed his eyes, he would see those eyes. They came in different colours and sizes, but they were all the same. All of them conveyed the same message to him,

I trust you.

What I Feel

Though only one person had ever said the question out loud, I won't pretend to not notice it in the eyes of the people around me. They ask,

What are you to him?

What is he to you?

What feelings do you have for him?

What kind of love do you hold for him?

It's basically the same questions, with a simple answer, really. But then again, it took me a long time to find that answer too. Somehow, I feel that this question and its answer isn't of much significance, at least it shouldn't be to others anyway. Oh well, he is him, so everything concerning is of significance, I guess. Hmm.

Well, I'd tell you the answer, but many people don't understand, though it's simpler than many things... 

It is undeniable that he is more than just my lord. Everyone acknowledges that. But I have also fought with him, not just for him, and so he is also my comrade. He is my friend, my adviser, my teacher, my partner. He is nearly everything.

But then you insist that this is not an answer. This is not the answer you want. You already know I love him. You wish to know,

What kind love do I have for him?

Sigh. You still don't understand? It is not a kind of love that can even be defined. No, not a knight's love. Not a comrade's, nor a friend's, nor as a partner nor lover.

What I have is love in its simplest form.

I simply love him.

That Hot

Derek was irked.

Two days ago, he was in a good mood and decided to be nice and helped out their class weirdo, who began spouting out stuff about karma and proceeded to arrange a blind date for him--which of course, he did not go to...

...Which brought him to be in his current predicament. His friends were all sighing and shaking their heads in disbelief and mock-pity. Apparently they had gone to meet his supposed 'date' without him anyway.

He nudged Ashton beside him. "How hot was she?"

Ashton gave him a look and said, "I'm gay, and you're asking me?"

"Well, for one you're the only guy who hasn't told me I'm an idiot twice today, and even if you are gay you're still a dude, and dudes appreciate pretty girls."

Ashton contemplated this for a moment. "Honestly?" He finally said.

"Yeah."

"She was almost hot enough to turn me straight."

Catch My Drift

"So do you catch my drift?"

Mercy looked at her in befuddlement. "I feel no drift coming from you. Even if I did, how am I supposed to catch it?" He asked in a are-you-ridiculous tone.

She rolled her eyes, "I meant do you understand..."

"Oh. Yeah..." He frowned. "Why do you people come up with such confusing terms?" Shaking his head, he sighed.

Grinning, she said, "To confuse people like you."

The Bronze Couple

The Bronze Couple--'cause they were hardly perfect.

Take One

Kyle was sleeping face down on his much too cramped bed, oblivious to the world when the screams of My Chemical Romance's Teenagers woke him from his blissful sleep. Groggily, he fumbled around--not even bothering to open his eyes--for his phone. Grabbing hold of the vibrating and annoyingly loud little machine, he answered with a bleary "Hello?" and cursing mentally whoever it was that woke him.

"Oh my gawwddd!!! Kyle you have got to come over here right now something big just happened to Shane we were walking down the street and then I saw this cute little bag just perfect for me and--"

Kyle did a double take and almost hanged up when his gentlemanly instincts--insert cough here-- halted him for a split second. Mentally sighing, he analyzed the information his brain had sent him.

1. An annoyingly high-pitched female had woken him up from a much needed sleep.

2. Said female was not his girlfriend, automatically making it okay to hang up.

3. The caller ID was from his girlfriend, who would never allow her psychotic best friend to use her phone to wake him up when she knew he hadn't gotten any sleep these past two nights because of a picky and over-zealous customer.

4. Which meant that in conclusion, something probably did happen to his girl.

Either that, or he did something that really pissed her off enough to unleash Tash--short for Natasha--on him.

Preferring to think that she had not gone PMS on him, he interrupted Tash's ranting. "Tash, take a deep breath." He listened to her audibly doing as he said while putting on a pair of jeans. "Now hold it... and don't let it out. Text me where you guys are, I'll be there in a few." Slamming the phone shut, he put on a coat and grabbed his keys.

When he got there, his heart stumbled when he saw a crowd of people around two familiar figures. As he pushed past him, he heaved a small sigh of relief when he realized Shane was holding her head in her hands in exasperation instead of something else.

Natasha, on the other hand, was probably the reason behind it. She was flailing her hands around, wailing "What should I do?? Call an ambulance?? Oh god, someone HELP!!!" and had attracted a large crowd. His Shane hated crowds.

Stepping in to take control, he clamped a hand on Natasha's mouth who gave a squeak of protest. "Sorry, nothing to see here, there's no emergency--" Tash screeched in disbelief. "--you see, she has ADHD." Natasha bit his hand and he struggled not to rip her head off. There were 'oh.'s and 'ah.'s of understanding while most of them looked annoyed. "I apologize--we didn't mean to let her get put of hand. This won't happen again." The crowd began to disperse, then he finally released Natasha. 

She spat and growled at him-- like a bitch, he thought grumpily-- and he was really about to rip her head off when Shane wearily said,  "Tash, for the zillionth god forsaken time, I'm fine, so shut up." When she opened her mouth, Shana said, "Shut up before I return those Burberry boots you just bought." And then finally there was silence.

Knowing that it usually took more than Tash to get to her, he frowned and crouched in front of her to look at her face. She looked annoyed, and...mortified? Gently, he asked, "Shane? What happened?" She grunted at him, and mumbled something about him catching some sleep.

"Shana..." she didn't like her name because she thought it was too girly, but it always worked in getting her to talk. She mmphed at him.

"...It was nothing, you didn't have to come--Tash overreacted as usual..." He gave her a look and she caved.

"Alright, alright... I... fainted."

"You what?"

"Fainted." No wonder she look mortified. Hmm. She looked kinda cute when she was embarrassed.

"Damn, I didn't get to see that. Do it again."

Blind Date

The characters were borrowed from Dreamer with her permission. Thanks, Dreamer ;)

Nikki banged her forehead against the wall. "Why am I here again?" she groaned, agonized.

"...Because Nathan tricked you into it?" Haley piped up helpfully. "Oh right, that." Haley peeked at her brother from the corner of her eye. He was grinning madly, barely suppressing the very obvious urge he had to laugh his ass off. Hesitantly, she said, "Why don't we call it off? You're so going to have your ass sliced off after this, Nate."

"No wayyyyy....Besides, he's here already." He cackled madly, eyes trained on an approaching figure. The three of them were currently seated in an open-air cafe, having tea together. Nathan ran to receive the person, still cackling in glee. Nikki moaned, burying her head into the fold of her arms.

"Haley, remind me what exactly happened again?"

"Well, you came over to my house like usual..."

"Uh huh..."

"And then Nate eavesdropped on us when we were talking about our crushes and our 'type' of guy..."

"Asshole..."

"Then he told us he knew a dude that was exactly your type and showed you a picture of said dude..."

"I'm soooo going to slice his ass..."

"Then you laughed and said that yeah he was exactly your type, and that you'd go on a date with him if you actually knew him."

"And then he said if he arranged for us to go on a blind date I would have to go." Nikki clawed at the table in stress. "I'm such an idiot to actually agree," she groaned again. "How should I have known they actually knew each other?"

"...Shouldn't it have been obvious?" Nikki huffed. "He is so dead he is so dead I am going to kill him after this..." She muttered within a breath.

Haley couldn't help it. "Well, that is if you don't die from embarrassment first." she said cheekily.

Nikki shot her a sour look, "You're shameless nowadays." Then all of a sudden she gave a great big sneeze. She rummaged through her messenger bag for her handkerchief while Haley frowned. "Are you sick?" she asked. The two dude were approaching the table, talking and laughing about something Haley couldn't hear.

Nikki blew her nose into her handkerchief, sighing loudly. "I didn't sleep well last night." Just then, Nathan and a golden-brown haired dude came over. Ignoring the dirty look Nikki shot him, he introduced them.

"Rafael, this is my sister Haley and her friend Nikki." Rafael smiled friendlily at the pair of them. "Hey." he greeted. "Hi." Haley smiled politely. She sneaked a glance at Nikki, and promptly dropped her jaw.

Nikki was looking up at Rafael all googly eyes. She looked as though she'd seen a god or at the very least Brad Pitt or something. There was a happy pink flowery aura shining so brightly all around her. Haley was dumbstruck. Nathan looked as if  he wanted to record their date on video.

"...Hey." Nikki smiled shyly--shyly!-- at Rafael. When he answered with his own friendly smile, Nikki quickly looked down and blushed. Nikki. Her best friend. Blushing because of a guy she'd met not two seconds ago.


I think she's fallen in love at first sight, Haley thought numbly. Nathan coughed, awkwardly trying to hide his laughter. "I think me and Haley will go over to the arcade to kill some humans on screen. You guys..." He sucked in a breath in an effort to retain his sanity, "have fun."

Rafael blinked in surprise. "Oh.Okay..." As he spoke, Nathan swiftly dragged Haley off to the arcade. Looking over her shoulder, Haley caught one last glimpse of Rafael seating himself across from Nikki.

Once they were a safe distance away, Nathan burst out in laughter he had struggled to keep in. Between breaths, he said, "Did you see her face?? Did you see her face??" He laughed again. "Oh she is so... lovestruck." More laughter. "You get it? Lovestruck?"

Haley didn't think she was going to recover from the shock she received. But then the look on Nikki's face flashed in her mind and she couldn't help but join her brother in laughter. Gasping for breath, she said breathlessly, "Let's go play some games before we lose it."

Nathan grinned crazily at her. "Do you even have a brain to lose?"

Half an hour later, they couldn't resist wanting to know what happened, so they sneaked back to the cafe and sat a few tables away from Rafael and Nikki, spying on the pair. Nikki seemed to bask in his attention, and she practically glowed every time Rafael laughed at something she said.

If only he would notice me too...Then maybe we'd be on a date like them. Haley frowned. Did she really just think that? Wow, Nikki was right. She was getting shameless. All of a sudden she heard a very loud noise from Nikki's table. Nikki was holding up her handkerchief, wiping her nose. Nathan was literally drowning in laughter, then a few moments later Rafael stood up and excused himself, leaving. Nathan and Haley walked over to Nikki.

She had a sad puppy look on her face, as if she wished Rafael hadn't left so soon. "What did I do wrong?" she asked. Nathan guffawed. Haley sighed mentally, then put a hand on her shoulder. "Nikki..."

"Yeah?"

"You remember the time Nathan's car got stuck in the mud and he kept revving the engine to get out of it?"

"Uh huh..."

"The way you were blowing your nose sounded exactly like it."

Sisters

Alice-- cute little girl.
Alison-- teenager twice Alice's age.

"What's that?" Alice asks innocently, blinking up at her sister.

"A dustbin. You wanna go in? I bet you could fit in."

"..."

November 4th

"Here." He held something wriggly and furry to my face. I eased back a little and realized it was a kitten struggling to break free...

..and it was blue. I stared, gobsmacked. Mercy frowned at me. "I am supposed to give you a gift on the day of your birth, am I not?"

"Yeah, thanks Mercy... but why is the kitten blue?"

"Well, there were two things I concluded that you liked, cats and the colour blue."

I smacked myself on the forehead. He painted a freaking kitten blue. Hopefully they'll fall off after it grows new fur. Oh well, what else could you expect from Mercy? I held my hands up for Mercy to pass me the kitten. "It's sweet of you to notice what I like though. Thanks Mercy, and I mean it."

He gave the mewling kitten to me. "I'm supposed to say 'You're welcome', right?" I smiled. "Right." Hugging the kitten to my chest, I stroked his head and felt his vibrating purr. Well, it acted like a normal kitten enough-- he just looked... unique.

I wriggled my eyebrows at Mercy meaningfully but he didn't get it. "What?" He asked.

I smothered a sigh. "You're supposed to wish me 'Happy Birthday'!"

He struggled to understand the reason why. "Happy Birthday?" He repeated quizzically.

"Yeah, like when it's the new year you wish someone 'Happy New Year' and when it's someone's anniversary you wish them 'Happy Anniversary', so you should wish me 'Happy Birthday'!" I beamed at his puzzled face. He was just so cute, the way he was clueless about the most mundane things in life.

"Happy Birthday?" He repeated doubtfully. I grinned widely at him.

"Thank you." I pranced forward and gave him a peck on the cheek.

Kirstyn

Born in light, made of darkness.

That is who she is. It was who she was and there was nothing she could do about it. She was made in such a way that she wouldn't fit in, but blended in too well at the same time. It's taking her some time but she thinks she's slowly learning to accept it.

When she found the Nephilium, she found home. She found the place where she belonged, and the beautiful feeling of belonging was addictive. However, even then, light penetrated into her shadowy home, in the form of Lucius, Faye, Vanessa, Marcus, Alexius. Just as light was drawn to darkness, darkness was drawn to light. It was in the works of world.

After a slow realization of this fact, she couldn't help but feel chagrined. The thing that she had tried to avoid was the thing that she couldn't be without. She wonders why she was born in this way, wonders if she would've belonged if only she was like them.

As time went by, she realized that light, too, wanted to be a part of darkness. That sometimes it felt lost and alone. That their feelings were exactly a mirror of hers. She found the reason why they were all drawn together.

It took her an even longer time to realize, that together, hand-in-hand with light, was exactly where she was meant to be all along.

This, was home.

Echo

He looked up at her, alarmed. Somehow, even though he had only just met her, he felt like he wanted to know everything about her-- he hadn't even gotten her name yet and she was already leaving!

"Hang on!" She paused and turned her head around to look at him.

"What's your name?" Her lips curved ever so slightly upwards. She was already starting to fade into the darkness.

"Say that again."

"What's your name?" He repeated.

"That's exactly what my name is." Her voice was but a whisper on the winds as her form completely disappeared into the darkness.