Lonely Front Steps (open)

[alina]

It was bright and early in the morning when Alina had heard Trey, her older brother, wake up. He was bustling around like usual and she figured he was off to work or something. She tossed and turned in bed trying to ignore the noises of him eating breakfast, watching the news, etc. but she failed and ended up laying awake in bed for around an hour.

Once Alina knew he was gone, she climbed out of bed sleepily and got herself breakfast, then went outside, still decked out in her pajamas. She wasn't embarrassed - she was comfortable and that was enough for her. Besides, she was too exhausted to change. Trey's gonna get it when he gets home, Alina thought stubbornly, wishing he could have left for work at a normal time, like 10:00. Or even better -11:00. As you can probably see, she wasn't exactly one for waking up early.

Alina sat down on the front steps of the small, cramped home. She shared the house with 19-year-old Trey rather than living with her parents. She'd been in this arrangement ever since she ran away and came back to see that Trey had moved out. She didn't want any part of her parents, but she loved her older brother with all her heart and had come back because of him. Besides, life on the road was rough.

Alina flinched remembering the things she'd tried so hard to forget then tried to focus on her surroundings rather than living in her thoughts. She had a bad habit of disappearing in her own fantasies. A woodsy smell filled the air outside and the sun beat down on her face. By now it was probably about the time she would have liked to have been woken up at. Leaning against the railing, Alina yawned and stared at the woods, which was about as much fun as watching paint dry. If I knew more people, I'd probably be at the mall with some girlfriends. It's Saturday for God's sake! And why does Trey work on Saturdays anyways? she thought. Alina closed her eyes, tired, and eventually drifted into a light slumber.

[ac]

Fox was on the move this morning, he felt as though he had a lot of stuff to do before his morning run like he had always done. He was in his house for the moment running here and there getting his clothes in the washer, washing the dishes picking up the house. He was a busy body but he worked fast to just clean up everything. As he was getting close to done, he ran upstairs and placed on some shorts, converse, a tank top, and his necklace that was his fathers, he than raced back down and looked outside. He noticed it was slightly cloudy and sunny all at once. He sighed than opened his door and walked out. He then locked his door and placed on his headphones on from his little ipod shuffle that he used for running. He used the shuffle for running than the touch for a daily use besides the running of course. The shuffle only had some songs that he used for his workout and right now as he started jogging the first song turned on and he smiled as he listened to it and jogged his way on the sidewalk.

As he was jogging he looked at the houses and noticed that they all looked the same except for his house, his was much bigger and had one or two more rooms, he had bought the biggest house on the block because he wanted a nice house to live in. His parents were always hard working, being a doctor and lawyer paid off, and especially since Fox had his own business now in port Angeles when he already had one in London, as far as he knew he was one of the youngest and richest here, because of how hard he had worked as well. As he kept on jogging he noticed a girl that looked like she was going to drop on the floor just at the moment and he pulled out one of his ear plugs and walked over to her slowly, but not to close, he was going to make sure she was alright of course.He stared at her and noticed she was kind of cute but she looked like she was just about to fall out of the tree, it made him smile but he knew he sometimes get that tired too and he wondered what she had done to look at tired. He wasn't going to ask, he was just going to see if she was okay or not.

"Hey, are you okay? You look like you're going to fall over the steps."[/b]

He had said it nicely and he was a few feet away from her not to close to alarm her or anything, that wasn't his plan really, but as he looked at her, he noticed the house she was living in and it didn't seem like a bad house and he inhaled deeply trying to get a scent of other humans in the house, he could smell remains of another human, but it seemed like they weren't home. He supposed it was just her, he then looked down to meet her own face hoping to see if she would move or at least open her eyes or even say something.

[alina]

Alina snapped awake, only faintly recalling a strange dream about bears and oversized wolves fighting. She didn't remember when she had fallen asleep but she remembered when she had drifted asleep on her front steps; sometime around 10:00 or 11:00. She then noticed the young man in front of her, a couple of feet away from her house maybe. "Hey, are you okay?" his words rang in her head quietly. Alina was still kind of out of it since she had just woken up, so she didn't answer right away.

She rubbed her eyes to clear her vision and then realized she was actually awake, not still dreaming. Alina had figured that but she wasn't completely sure. "Um, yeah, I'm alright," she assured him, even smiling a bit to let him know she was alright. Slowly but surely she grabbed onto the railing and helped herself up, leaning against it. Her eyes stung from the light as they hadn't adjusted yet.

Carefully, she examined the person in front of her. It was most definitely a guy from his tone of voice and he wasn't bad looking either. She just hoped he wasn't going to end up as annoying as the other guy she'd met. It seemed to be going better than that conversation already, though. Alina had totally forgotten that she was still wearing pajamas so she took no notice of this until she put her hand down on her leg and her fingers brushed against the polka-dotted fleece pajama pants. She was relatively embarrassed by this fact.

[ac]

Fox didn't know what she was dreaming about but he could feel the startled emotion when he saw her awaken. Fox couldn't read minds like the wolves could read there own, he had empathy that he used to help him out, sometimes he could turn it off, but this morning he figured just to leave it on and let it take its course. He could sense danger miles and miles away when he was with his pack, but now since he is just himself, he can only sense danger with people that he catch there scent most of the time, but when he smelled a vampire near a human he always knew there was danger there, so he didn't always need his empathy when he had his advanced senses, but still things were somethings complicated not even he can explain and at times he wished life was easier but this was how things were and he learned he had to deal with it even if he didn't want to. He was lonely nineteen years old, he was young and he had a life ahead of him, a full life. He wanted to be happy and care-free but he knew life wasn't like that.

As he stood there staring at the girl watching her very move as she had stood up slowly using the railing to help her. To him, she seemed really tired but he figured maybe because she didn't sleep well or didn't have a nice night, he wouldn't know, for all he knew she could have had nothing happen to her and she was just stressed about something. Fox always let his mind run wildly at the possibilities of things and it never creased to exist because he always ran the scenarios in his head, he thought about anything he could think about and he wasn't worried that he thought too much about things, he always did think too much. But when he looked at her, he noticed that she was still in her pj's, he smiled at that. If only he had a day in to day at home still in his Pj's. Whether its the business or doing stuff around the house, he always had something to do, he hated doing nothing at times. He then could feel her mood change to somewhat of embarrassment and he wondered if it was because he caught her asleep on the steps or if she was in her pjs. He couldn't tell.

"Well thats a relief. I'm Fox, I moved in the big house down the street a few weeks ago."[/b]

What a workout that was, he hated moving all the time and he was glad he moved here, he felt like he had fit in, he was in a small town, and lived near the city where his business was currently at, it was in Port Angeles and he was doing so well so far there and he was happy that he was fitting right in with everyone, so far he hasn't met a rude person and he was grateful, although the wolves weren't as kind when he had first came, soon he believed he was well adjusted here and he was fine with that.

[alina]

Alina rubbed her eyes again and took a brief look around at the trees and the houses that seemed to go for miles. She yawned and leaned forward, propping her elbows up on her thighs and resting her chin in her hands. She was still rather tired, but her hearing and sight were much better than they were when she had just woken up. Alina was still a little distracted, but that wasn't a big deal in her opinion; she was always out of it.

The way this guy, Fox, talked reminded her of her brother. She smiled briefly at this recognition and wondered if he would turn out to be as stubborn as Trey. "I'm Alina and I used to live a few houses away from yours with my parents, but now I live here with my older brother," she explained. She knew what she had said would make him wonder whether she was kicked out or what, when in truth, she kind of kicked herself out. Alina didn't like telling people that story as it was often the reason that led them to dislike her.

She yawned again and thought about whether she should say something or not. She decided yes. Conversationally, she asked: "So how do you like La Push so far?"

[ac]

When he heard her speak of her parents, he looked at her and wondered what did happen, maybe she enjoyed her brothers company or wanted to be free from her parents? He didn't know and he wasn't going to ask in case it was a bad memory or if it was something she didn't want to talk about. He never liked talking about his own parents, he had known for a fact that the London police had told him that his parents were in a car accident and that they didn't make it out alive. Fox knew better, he knew someone had killed them and made it seem like an accident. He knew vampires had killed them and made it seem like a hit and run accident. He just hated vampires with a passion and he didn't like showing mercy at all and thats why he had traveled, he wanted to bring justice and find his parents killer, he had went to the scene where the accident was at and he found a scent and now he was looking for that vampire. But it wasn't as important now.

"Do you like living with your brother or is he another case?"[/b]

He smiled at that and he walked closer to her just not too close but he was in the property, he just wanted to come closer just so he wasn't being rude and talking to her from so far away, he knew that it was rude to be just doing something else when your talking to someone. Fox never liked staying still, his parents would always bicker to him about that but he learned that he should just to have manners and just so people could treat him seriously. He inhaled deeply and when he heard her question, he chuckled a bit and looked down at his shoes. If he had a penny for every question that asked him that, he knew he would have a couple of thousands by now. He then looked up at her and smiled once again, he was always a happy guy or tired to be.

"Its not so bad so far. I like it and my business is doing well too."[/b]

[alina]

Alina chuckled softly to herself at his question. She didn't mind living with Trey and didn't feel like explaining the real reason she moved out, so she answered: "I like living with my brother." She smiled briefly to hopefully help prove her point. Alina stood back up again as she had apparently sat back down and leaned back against the railing.

She took a good look at her house for a moment - the roof was rickety and it leaked, the steps were damaged, and it smelled really earthy but it was still home. Fox had answered her question and mentioned something about a business, which made her curious. "What's your business?" she asked him. Alina was still in school which is why she was so curious - at sixteen years old, she was still undecided about what she would do when she graduated.

[ac]

He smiled at her when she had mention that she liked living with her brother. It was a gift to have a sibling, a lot of people didn't know that but Fox knew, he knew pretty well seeing as he was a only child with no siblings. A sibling to come to when he needed help or to talk to, that would have been good for him after his parents died, but when Fox was younger his mother couldn't seem to get pregnant again with another child due to a medical condition, he wondered if he was meant to walk in this world alone, especially since his parents have died. He inhaled deeply and looked across the lawn not looking at her after she spoke about her brother, at least she had someone to come home to. Fox had no one and sadly, he was getting used to that. He noticed that the lawn was cut clean and not rising like some other hours, he had seen grass up to feets long, but he knew those houses were the abandoned ones.

When he heard her spoke again, he turned his head towards her and looked at her face with a wide smile. He always liked talking about his business it showed that he was successful and that he knew how to be responsible at least with one thing. He then moved towards her but than sat down at the foot of the steps while he looked up at her. He thought it was okay to talk to her right in front of her face, if not than he would back away if he felt a strange feeling. He crossed his legs when he sat and rested his hands on his legs. He cleared his throat. He knew his business was something he loved talking about although he didn't brag about it, he hated bragging. He might say one or two things but he never went on about it.

"Its in Port Angeles. I fix cars, renew them, just about anything you can think of. It's a fun job if thats what you like to do that is."[/b]

[alina]

Alina smiled gently and looked at him curiously. There was something about him that made him likeable, but she couldn't pinpoint it. She rubbed her eyes, remembering how early she'd woken up. She kind of regretted it, but she would wait until Trey got home and blame him. Her eyes darted towards the small bed of flowers that she'd planted after moving in with her brother. The tulips were starting to bloom, but the roses were still just buds. She remembered planting white and purple roses and pink tulips. Alina loved the color purple; it was her favorite, coming second only to sky blue. Something about sky blue had always calmed her down. Maybe it was that it reminded her of being outside.

"Well, it's good that your business is doing well, and now I know where to go if my car breaks down," she answered in a lighthearted tone. A faint breeze rippled through her hair, making the hair she had gathered in a ponytail fly around. There were loose strands near her face that got caught in her eyelashes, so she tucked them behind her ear. "I still don't know what I want to do when school's over. I have two more years to decide, though," Alina said. "So what brings you outside?"