Topic: When the girl comes a knockin'...

JewellRavenlock

Date: 2006-09-08 23:38 EST
She left the Inn thoroughly intoxicated. It wasn't so much the amount of alcohol she had consumed that did it but the combination of alcohol plus not eating and sleeping. She had every intention of going straight home, running there as she hated to walk alone at night. Naturally, since nothing else was working out the way it was supposed to in her head this week why would a simple walk home work the way it was supposed to?

Obviously when she told her feet "Take me home!" they heard "We want to see Skyler now" and reacted accordingly. She found herself, very much confused, standing outside the Cosmo Beach house. She had only been there once but that mattered not. Several meters away from the door, the sea calling her from beyond the house, she just stood there without a clue of what to do next.

Frustrated tears clouded her vision. She knew that the house wasn't the smartest place to be considering what had transpired the previous night, first with Skyler and then with Tommy, yet she couldn't stir the desire in her to leave. So, she just stood there allowing the night chill to settle into her exposed limbs, swaying now and then along with the sea-breeze.

Skyler

Date: 2006-09-09 15:52 EST
Skyler sat on the gently sloped roof of the Cosmo Beach mansion, hugging his knees to his chest. He stared off into the west, focusing his eyes on that perfectly horizontal line where the starry night sky met the dark waters. The full moon left a gleaming path of lunar light on the surface of the ocean.

He heard a noise behind him, or thought he did, and around to sit and gaze about in the opposite direction. He looked out across the mansion?s front lawn, scanning the property all the way up to the road. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he let his gaze slip downward in a straight line, back toward the front door.

His eyes passed over Jewell once without even seeing her. Then, when they had moved about ten yards beyond her, her figure finally registered in his mind. He shot his gaze back to that figure, that so familiar shape, squinting. Was he seeing things?

No. There stood Jewell, in the flesh.

She didn?t look so good. She seemed to sway in the breeze, like a thin tree limb. And she was cold. He felt the instant urge to jump down, wrap her up in his arms and take her inside, but he knew such actions would lead down dangerous paths, considering their present states. Skyler rose unsteadily to his feet, his long black hair a fluttering, tousled mess from his lengthy spell in the wind atop the roof. Still wearing his black hooded sweatshirt, he moved to the edge. The giant silver ball of the moon glowed just behind his back, silhouetting his slender frame.

Skyler gazed down at Jewell in silence for a long time, thankful she couldn?t see the sad expression on his face. Why was she here? To make things more difficult for him than they already were? To attack him and extract vengeance for slighting her? For closure? To curse him for a fool for throwing away the perfection that was her?

Whatever the reason, the boy felt weak and miserable. His emotions were a wreck. Still, he made sure Jewell saw him, standing as a silhouette before the moon, looking down on her. He struggled a long time for suitable words, but nothing very profound came to him. Yet he was determined to reach out in some way, to show that he still cared for her, even though the nature of his love was not compatible with hers, or didn?t seem to be.

?Hello, beautiful.? Skyler?s smooth, gentle voice drifted down with the wind, revealing none of his emotional turmoil within.

JewellRavenlock

Date: 2006-09-09 19:43 EST
Maybe she heard his movement or perhaps it was just the wind playing tricks with those pointed ears at an opportune moment. Regardless of the cause, every muscle in her body tightened for flight, like a frightened doe. It was the realization that she was very much alone, at night, and very inebriated that made her so nervous all of a sudden.

Grey eyes casted about wildly for the source of the noise before they found him on the roof. She relaxed somewhat but another nervousness filled her as she realized she didn't know what to do or say. Why had she come to see him? It was those rebellious feet of hers!

The high that she had gotten from drinking so much sank back down to a depressing new low. She couldn't think competently enough at the moment to form the defense for herself that she so wanted to give him or to even offer the apology she felt he deserved.

His words made her flinch. Beautiful? No, not when she felt so ugly inside.

Feeling as though she were asphyxiating, she burst out with a strangled, "I'm sorry" before she did turn and run, frozen limbs causing her to stumble those first few steps.

Skyler

Date: 2006-09-10 23:49 EST
Skyler watched her run away, his shoulders slumping as he sighed. He wanted to go to her, to leap off the roof and chase her down, calling out her name. But where would that lead? He would be tempted to comfort her, and that would be dangerous, considering that his attraction for Jewell had always been a constant, even now. Especially now.

He tightened his hands into fists, scowling at the unfairness of it all. It wouldn?t be right for him to ask her to change. He had no right to ask that of her. If she had changed on her own, managing to be those things his heart needed his lover to be, then . . . all would be perfect. But Jewell Ravenlock was Jewell Ravenlock, a unique creature who was who she was, without apology.

In his heart, Skyler knew this split was for their own good. He was certain, deep down, that as time passed, she would start to realize their lack of perfection for each other, too. Eventually she would want the same thing.

As she ran, he called out his own apology, heartfelt and genuine. ?I?m sorry, too. I?m sorry for wanting you to be someone other than you are.? He didn?t think she could hear him, so he lowered his voice and uttered once last statement, mostly for himself. ?You?re brilliant just as you are. Never change that, especially for a dime a dozen male like me.?