Topic: 'Fessing Up

Jonathan Granger

Date: 2011-10-06 20:19 EST
Helena's car was in the shop again. So a friend at work dropped her in the marketplace on her way home, and Lena walked up from there to the inn. She'd left a message for Jon earlier; hopefully, he'd gotten it, but as she checked her phone again for the twentieth time that afternoon, she was frowning. She clomped up the porch steps, shoving it into her pocket as she passed the handful of people who lingered outside.

Jon got the message, but didn't answer it, assuming his sister would meet him at the inn, as planned. He was running a little bit late when he pulled his precious Bentley up in front of the inn and climbed out, setting the car alarm and heading up the walkway.

A hand on the knob and a slight lean of her shoulder against the door carried her inside. Her destination: the bar.

He thought he caught sight of his sister just heading inside and hurried up the porch stairs after her. "Lena!"

Already inside, she missed him calling. But it was just as well. She slowed as she got closer. The woman who'd come into the spaceport bar talking about Jon and divorce was there. She watched her for a step or two, and then picked up the pace. Maybe this would be her chance to find out what was going on.

"Hello." Though she was already deep in conversation with someone else, Helena was patient. She slipped behind the bar with a dimpled grin and a long study of the couple stolen in peeks while she got herself some coffee.

He noticed a few familiar faces - very few. Namely Ella and Helena, and a few others he didn't know by name. He ducked his head like he was heading into battle and started toward the bar. Time to put on his game face. He tossed an amicable wave to Ella, before coming to a halt at the bar.

Jon's arrival squelched any plans she'd had for privately quizzing the woman. And he knew what she'd been planning; she could tell from the look on his face before he turned into Jonathan Granger: Film Star and Heart-throb!

"Coffee?"

"Hey, Lena! Sorry I'm late. I lost track of time." Or something like that. "Coffee would be great, thanks."

She handed over the cup she hadn't sipped from yet, and went back to the pot to pour a second for herself. "No problem. I just got here."

He took the cup from her and took a sip, settling his tall self on a stool. "You wanted to meet me here?" he asked, lowering the cup and setting it on the bar top.

"I thought it would be closer for you than having you drive all the way over to the mill. I need a ride home...." Her brow creased, and she looked mostly amused. "Did the message cut off on me again?"

"You said to meet you here and here I am." He flashed the dimpled Jon Granger grin, hoping his charm would work on his sister.

"O-kayyy."

He glanced at the girl who just darted off and smirked at his sister. "I think you just scared her away."

"Probably. I do that a lot, thanks." She made a face at him and blew on her coffee. "Sorry to be a pain about the ride, I wasn't going to bother you. I just haven't seen Eli around for a while and I didn't want to ask Merideth to drive all the way out to Maple Grove."

His expression turned serious. "It's not a problem. I have a little time before I have to be at the theater." He took a sip of his coffee, feeling more than a little awkward. When had he started feeling awkward around her" "I haven't seen Eli either." Not that he would. Lena was the one Eli kept in touch with, not him, but all things considered, he was a little concerned. He was worried about foul play, namely that of a certain vampire.

If he was worried, she was more so. "He hasn't come back to the house, from what I can tell, in a couple of weeks, and he hasn't called. I'd check the clinic where he works, but he never told me where it was, exactly."

He was frowning worriedly now and assuming the worst. It made sense that the vampire would want to hurt Eli, since Eli had been responsible for killing her fledgling. But did the vampire know that, and if so, had she plucked the information from his head" All these thoughts went through Jon's mind unsaid, a look of worried concern on his face. His face paled a little, remembering Josephine's threat, wondering if she'd made good on it or if she was still meaning to do so. "You don't think..." He trailed off, leaving the thought unsaid.

"What' What don't I think?"

"Maybe you should ask Caro if you can stay at the big house for a while. Just until, you know..."

"No." Flat and unequivocal denial. "Why don't you tell me what?s going on instead of hiding things?"

"I'm not hiding things." A shifty eyed gaze as he took a sip of his coffee. And if you believe that, he's got some swamp land to sell you. For an actor, he was never a very good liar when it came to his sister.

She set the coffee cup down and slipped out from behind the bar, heading to the door as she answered. "Right. Look, I'm just going to call a cabbie at the market. You need to get to the theater anyway, and I don't want to keep you from things you need to do."

He frowned over at his sister. "Look, Lena....I just....worry about you is all. I..." He glanced around the room again, knowing the walls had ears, his gaze settling on Ella for a moment.

Jonathan Granger

Date: 2011-10-06 20:22 EST
"It's not safe for you to be wandering around alone until this is over."

His words fell on deaf, heard-it-all-a-million-times ears. She let the door thwack shut behind her as she left.

He didn't bother to finish his coffee, but tossed a nod to Ella and hurried after his sister, hoping to catch his sister before she stormed off into the night angry at him again.

Helena stormed out of the inn; she was angry, but she wasn't running. Her wooden wedge heels clomped down the walk and gave her away, even when she wasn't in a pool of light from the streetlamps.

He didn't seem to be in her good graces very much lately and he really couldn't blame her for being mad at him, all things considered. "Lena!" he called to her, hoping she'd give him a chance to explain.

She kept walking, but she slowed and glanced back.

"Lena, wait!" He hurried to catch up with her, reaching for her arm when he got close to stop her. "Let me explain."

"I don't want you to explain, Jon. I don't need the stories or the big brave face, or you trying to protect me. I want you to tell me what?s going on." She stopped, turning to face him as his fingertips brushed her elbow and curled around her arm.

He had that look on his face he always had when she scolded him, when he felt like he'd done something wrong, like a kid who'd just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar, only worse. Guilty, remorseful. "I know," he admitted. "It's just....hard. I didn't mean for any of this to happen..."

"What do you think happened to Eli?" F*ck hard, said her tone.

"I don't know what happened to Eli," he admitted. He really didn't. He thought Josephine might have something to do with it, but he had no way of knowing for sure. He sighed and shoved his fingers through his hair. "This....vampire....Josephine....She's..." How was he supposed to explain it' It had been so much easier explaining it to Mataya. "I keep hearing her in my head."

She'd been there for his 'recovery' so she had a small idea of what he was talking about. "She's calling you." Her voice hadn't edged from the flat knife's edge of her irritation yet. "Are you answering?"

"Yeah..." He agreed with the first part, but then he scowled at her question, looking almost insulted that she'd think that. "No! Of course not! I don't want anything to do with her."

"What's she saying?"

His expression changed again, back to worried, anxious. "An eye for an eye."

"And eye for an eye. What's she mean?"

"Revenge for the one Eli killed, I think," he answered, glumly. "Lena, you should stay at the big house until this is over, just in case. Caro won't mind."

"No. I'm not going to be any safer there than I would be at home."

"Damn it, Lena, this is important!" He sighed and lowered his voice, trying not to make her understand. "I don't want you getting hurt."

Anger sparked in her eyes. "I know that. But you want me to put Caro and Richard in danger, too' How are they going to stop her?"

He furrowed his brows at her, his turn to get a little angry. "No, I don't want to put them in danger. I don't want to put anyone in danger! I'm trying to deal with this. What do you want me to do' Pretend nothing is wrong" I'm doing my best."

"I just don't see how my staying at the big house is going to do anything to help."

"I'm afraid she's going to try and hurt someone I love." He finally spit it out.

"You should have warned us when it started. You need to tell everyone so they know to be careful instead of trying to deal with this by yourself."

There was that look on his face again, a little hurt that she didn't seem to trust him, that his stupidity had caused a rift between them. "I'm not dealing with it by myself."

"Caro knows to be careful" Gigi does" Dom and Correy and Ollie and Kaylee?" Her tone and expression had softened, but not the urgency. "Who's helping you?"

"I wanted to tell them. They all think I relapsed. I didn't relapse, Lena. And I didn't ask for this to happen either." He blew out a breath. She might be softening, but he was only getting more upset. "I hired a slayer."

There was no change in her expression. She stared at him, waiting for the rest of the explanation.

There wasn't much more to explain. "I hired a slayer and..." He frowned. She'd seen Ella talk to him, make her cryptic remarks. He'd been sworn to secrecy, but she was his sister. "Ella is trying to break the connection." He glanced down at his left hand and a fading mark across his palm.

"I'm going to tell Caroline." That was the first thing she told him. "They need to know to watch out. It's not fair to leave them in the dark, no matter how hard it is to admit what happened."

"I never said not to tell anyone, Lena." He frowned again, feeling not only guilty but a little ashamed. "I'll tell her myself. I started this. I put the family in danger. I'll deal with the consequences."

"I'm worried about you, Jon. I don't want anything to happen to you, and I'm feeling helpless." That was the second thing. "I don't know what to do."

"I don't want you to worry. I started this and I'm going to finish it. All I wanted was to remember. That's all. Maybe some things are better left forgotten.?

That said, the conversation shifted, and Jon drove his sister home, as promised, before Mataya sent out a search party for him. He wasn't feeling any better about the situation, but at least he was finally starting to open up about what was going on. He knew what he had to do next. He had to fess up and tell Caroline everything, no matter the consequences.

((Thanks to Lena's player for the above scene, which has been adapted from live role-play.))