Good Night

A/N: at the end hahaha

****

It was almost impossible to catch the girl with her guard down. Her senses were too good. Josh could never surprise her by visiting at random times but he could still try.

Josh unlocked the door of the girl´s apartment. Nichole was at the opposite end of the place, the sun was setting, and its light outlined her silhouette. She was sat by the window on a tall stool, a canvas in front of her and a paint brush on her hand.

Click. Josh camera made a sound; she had stayed still as he had aimed the focus to her allowing the picture to be taken. Josh aimed for another picture but this time she turned to see him with an expression that said “enough” but still with a small smile on her mouth. He took the picture and then he walked towards her. He stood behind her and bent to kiss her cheek. He felt her smile.

“That smells good…” she allowed herself lean back a little and he kissed her cheek again.

“Hungry?”

“Mmmhh” she got up and walked towards the couch where her black gloves were

“You don´t have to wear those” Josh said from where he still was standing close to the half-done painting. She gave him a somewhat sad smile and put them on.

“No, sit down, please” Josh told the girl when she was going to get the dishes. She only raised her eyebrows and took a seat on the stool on the other side of the kitchen island. They never ate on the dining table, she never used it.

“On the dining table, Nic” he took out the dishes

“What´s wrong with here?” a slight smirk on her lips

“Ok, where you want is fine” he leaned to brush his lips to hers

“Always the good guy” she looked at him with intensity in her eyes. He put a plate in front of her

“Look at what I go here, want some?” Josh showed her a dark bottle

“Trying to get me drunk?” Nichole raised an eyebrow. He laughed some nervousness in his laugh.

“Just wanted a nice dinner” he said knowing well how she didn´t enjoy public and crowded places. She looked at him with warm eyes.

“Should I have dressed up?” she smiled standing up as he went to her side

“You look great” he looked over at her denim shorts, sandals and white top with thin straps and small splatters of paint. She laughed

“Less clothing, more skin kind of guy?” she raised both her eyebrows “and I thought my Josh was a good boy” a few blinks and a nervous laughter was what she got

“You know that´s not what I meant…”

“No?” she tilted her head

“I mean… yeah, you look great –he looked at her from head to toes as to prove his point- but that made me sound like…”

“Hey, relax, babe, what is this about? I´m just playing… Is everything ok?”

“Yeah” he smiled and sat “Bon appetite” they started eating.

“I think… -she started talking over the soft music playing in the house, she always played music when painting and that day she hadn´t turned it off when Josh arrived –that it made a deep impression on you when I said that you had this –she reached for his face and brushed a finger over the small mole on the corner of his eye –back when we were at Burgeoys…”

“You were the first to notice it even after not that long” he smiled fondly

“You, to this day, -she moved her hand from his face –are the only one able to know when I am smiling for real”

“I see you”

“And I see you –she smiled –Josh, those amazing eyes talk to me… They´ve gone from deep green to pale a lot tonight… What is it in your mind?” her warm eyes seemed worried, he looked down and shook his head

“It's nothing… over dessert?”

“I want dessert now”

“Ok –he sighed- you told me Camille is out of the country right?” he asked and she nodded “You spend Christmas with her”

“Yeah…”

“I was wondering if you´d come to spend Christmas with me and my family this year…”

“Oh” she said and he looked expectant “Oh, so this is why you brought the wine” she smirked

“No!” he said too fast. She laughed.

“Look –she closed her eyes for a second –I know the Arlington are pretty friendly and too bad that you ended up with a hermit…”

“You don´t have to go if you don´t want” he interrupted her

“Don´t I?” she raised both her eyebrows

“Well… no, if you don´t want to, you don´t have to”

“I´m willing to go out of the cave and be civil for you” she winked

“I want to be with you that night… but I don´t want to force you to go…”

“No?” she glanced the food and then to him and then to the bottle of wine and back to him. He laughed

“That´s just feeding you like you did back at Burgeoys” he winked

“Right”

***

There were many stars that night, the sky was clear of clouds but the wind was cold. There was no moon but the many stars made it ok. The quiet night was interrupted by a melody, many years old, it was a piano playing. Nichole no longer kept her phone in vibration mode, it had been a long while since she got a call to be the monster but her phone in vibration mode still made her very uneasy but this tune made her smile, a tiny almost imperceptible smile.

“Hello Josh” she picked up. The melody that sounded with his call was his, the first one he´d made for her back in the Art Club.

“Where are you?”

“Whoa, wait! What´s with that question?” just like the phone in vibration feeling like anybody wanted to control her made her uneasy. She heard Josh take a deep breath on the other end.

“I´m at your place, it´s almost midnight and you´re not here”

“Nope, I´m not there”

“Nichole…” he said in a tone with a mix of irritation and worry

“Hey, why are you at my apartment? You´re supposed to be at your family´s place”

“Yeah… -he took a minute to answer –I wanted to spend some time with you” he said and she felt warmth spread through her body, she smiled.

“What if I was asleep?”

“Then I was going to surprise you”

“Are you drunk?” she teased him

“Do you take me for an alcoholic?! –he said and she chuckled –but tell me where you are so I can go to you”

“Guess” she was already coming down from the roof

“I brought dessert” he said and she heard the sound of plates

“That’s cheating”

“It is not” she heard the smile in his voice “now… it might not be complete if you are not here… it looks really good”

“Don´t touch my dessert” she said just for him, she didn´t really care that much for dessert, she even had at least three different kinds of dessert in the fridge

“I think I´ll have the cherry…”

“No, you won´t” he heard her voice in the apartment. He went towards where he heard her voice

“Where were you, beautiful” he asked kissing her cheek

“On the roof. Why are you here? I thought you were coming until tomorrow”

“Tomorrow is in less than an hour”

“When did you become such a smartass?” she had a crooked smile

“Back in high school” he winked making her laugh

“If you had told me where you were I could´ve taken it to you” he handed her a plate with a piece of cake and a cherry on top

“It was cold up there”

“That might have been better”

“There´s still the balcony if you’re that hot” she smirked taking a bite of her dessert, he narrowed her eyes.

***

“Nic, Nichole, gorgeous, wake up” she heard Josh´s voice very far but she knew he was close. They had set up a blanket on the balcony´s floor and taken her laptop to watch a movie.

“Did the movie end?” she lift her head from his shoulder as she felt his arm around her

“Yeah… a few minutes ago… Let´s get you to bed…”

“´m tired… don´t wanna get up” she had placed her head back on his shoulder

“Have you been staying up?”

“Mmhh”

“Why?”

“Nightmares” she mumbled

“You should´ve called me” he kissed her forehead

“Just dreams” she mumbled again

“You´re really tired…” he chuckled

“…”

“What are you doing?” her eyes snapped open when she felt his arm under her legs and the other around her back. He lifted her

“I´ll take you to bed” he had a gentle voice

“I can walk, Josh!” she tried to stand but he held her closer to his chest as he started to walk

“Put me down!”

“Nope”

“Josh”

“Merry Christmas, gorgeous.”  He brushed his lips against her. She buried her face in his neck as if it was embarrassing. He chuckled. He lay her on her bed and put a blanket over her. “I´ll go close the balcony´s door” he whispered, she just hummed.

“I´ll come back later” she heard his voice followed by a kiss on her cheek. The clock on her nightstand announced it was two thirty in the morning. She caught his wrist as he was leaving.

“Stay” her voice was merely a whisper. Josh wasn´t sure if he had heard correctly but then he saw her move over leaving some room on her bed. He sat and removed his shoes. He had stayed a few times but only when they accidentally ended up falling asleep. She had never invited him to stay and she had never accepted his invitations to spend the night either. He lay on his side, facing her. Tentatively, he passed his arm over her waist. She tensed a little but quickly relaxed and moved closer. He felt her breath on his neck, it tickled, he, then, felt her take a deep breath and she smiled against his skin.

“I hear your heart” here was some humor in her voice “Do I make you nervous?” she said against his skin and he thought that it was impossible for her to get closer but he was wrong, she moved closer to him.

“More like crazy…” his voice was husky

“I´m sorry” she started to move away but his arms stopped her

“Believe me, I don´t mind”

“Josh…” she whispered as she buried her face in his neck. He felt her eyelashes brush against his skin when she closed her eyes.

“Good night, gorgeous” He sighed contented and allowed his eyes to close. Sleep came quick. 

**********

I don´t know about this one... There´s a big part that I took out of this and it´s actually two different FF put together... I really like the part that I had to delete from this one but idk I don´t think the characters are ready for the events in it even if this is has little to do with the main Double Life story... As always, I haven´t read it over... but I wanted in here so... 

Thinking

My dear friend, Saku:

You see so many flaws in yourself. You are so not a waste of time. Such a beautiful heart shouldn´t be tossed aside as if it was nothing but air.

What I find most interesting is that what you see as your flaws –and I might be wrong but it seem that those are not your thoughts but what the world full of insensitive people has been shouting and whispering at you in every step of the way and so the echo of their stupidity is now crashing inside the walls of your soul… but I´m going far from my original thought, so again, what you seem to think your flaws are make such a great person and I´d never call those a flaw but completely the opposite.

Kindhearted and caring, I always say it –and I guess I´ll keep saying it, sorry but you know I´m a stubborn person- I wish there would be more people like you, there´s too much selfishness… It is so refreshing to find someone so selfless. There´s too much talking. Everyone speaks louder trying to be heard above the many other screaming voices and there surrounded by a forest of mouths there´s someone who´s willing to listen and listen and listen…

It is so sad that because of that, the world has kept you captive inside your own mind…and have made you forgot how to talk and has made you forget how your thoughts do matter, how what you have to say should be heard as well…

I want to close my mouth and open my ears, but before closing my mouth, I want to say again how important what you have to say is… even if it´s little… after all little things made big things.

***

These were just some of the thoughts I had last night... because I´m bad at spontaneously speaking, I wrote it down.

Wild Cat

A/N: This one´s about the day in which Ash and Nichole met for the first time from Ash´s perspective. "Wild Cat" has been sitting on my notebook for quite a while, I wrote it before Melted Emeralds but I guess I´m too lazy to type sometimes. I´m sure there are mistakes and all the things as always but... typing it was enough hahahaha -what a bad writer...

oh, the pictures, they took me a looooong time to find and I couldn´t decide between both of them so I¨m just using them both.

********

“Ashley, we´re taking you and mom to the city with us” my uncle told me, he´d taken me out to the porch to talk in private. As he said this I felt anger rising in my chest. He hadn´t asked, he was saying it like it was final.

“Lola doesn´t want to go to the city, she´s never wanted that” I said to him calmly but firmly. Living with Lola, my grandma, had taught me that being calmed but firm was the best way to go about things.

“Mom is getting old, Ash, she´s not strong as before to take care of you, to raise you properly and you will live better in the city, you will go to a better school there than in here”

“She´s raised me well enough and she´s taught me enough to be able to take care of myself and you don´t need to worry about my school because it´s just fine”

“Ashley, be reasonable. In a couple of years mom will be someone to take care of and in just three years you´ll be going to college… you don´t want to be held back to take care of an elderly woman” my uncle said and the rage in me seemed to boil

“She´s never thought you or me were holding her back. I´m sorry that you feel this way but Lola is no sacrifice for me, not now, not ever”

“Ash, you don´t get it. I just want to take care of you and mom”

“Well, don´t feel guilty because we are fine –I was surprised that I had managed to suppress my anger this long- no, you know what? Feel guilty because you´re thinking of taking her away from her home without even letting her decide. That´s not how she raised us” I ended up hissing and then I couldn´t take it anymore so I just walked away, going around the house to the back of the property. I passed a couple more houses separated by big yards and then a road that was bordered by the thick woods.

Lola, my grandma, used to bring me to the woods whenever I have had a tantrum when I was little and then when I started to ask about my mother and then about the jerk that is my father. She said walking inside the green would calm me and it did except that this time I was really mad. Louis, my uncle, had gone away a long time ago and had never come back to visit Lola or to help her in any way and now he just wanted to take us as if we were things. He has to be out of his mind if he thinks Lola and I will go just like that.

I had been walking fast and then I slowed down as I calmed down but by then it had been over an hour already. Lola never liked it when I got so deep in the woods, she was mostly worried that some snake or some animal attacked me but I had gone in without noticing how much I had walked. I had been following the river that way I wouldn´t get lost from my path though I knew well this part of the woods, however; it was the afternoon and the woods are tricky, one moment there´s sun light and the next it´s all dark.

My mouth was dry so I stopped and squatted to drink water. The river was crystal clear; I could see the bed of rocks under it. Lola and I used to come to the river during summer to swim but she´d gotten old and she can´t walk long distances anymore. Suddenly, I heard leaves and tweaks crumbling and I looked up thinking it was some animal, instead I saw a girl staring at me, she was wearing a blue plaid pleated skirt with a white shirt and a blazer with the badge of the fancy school on top of the hill, in the middle of the woods.

She had obviously come out without permission, those fancy kids don´t wander around in the woods; they don’t know them. Maybe she was lost. My mouth became a smirk as I thought this. She eyed me without showing any emotion on her expression and then she started to walk again. She was very graceful and didn´t seem clumsy at all, it was like she knew the forest, her feet didn´t seem to trip with the trees roots, this made me curious and since she was going down and I was ready to go back home I started to walk her direction.

The breeze of the woods touched the girl´s hair and skirt making them flow a little, she didn´t seem worried at all about her hair being messed by the wind and she didn´t seem worried about me at all even if she was alone or maybe she hadn´t heard me, so, I decided to make my presence known because I was not a crazy stalker who follows people or girls like that, yet, it had been about twenty minutes and she still didn´t seem scared or lost.

“The going back to school might be hard –I said because I knew going from here to the top of the hill took about two hours, she glanced me, still with no readable expression on her face or eyes, I smiled because this girl seemed tough, no blush, no nervous eyes, like she knew she could take me if I tried anything –yes, I know you go to that fancy school on the hill” I said mostly to get her to talk to me. I was intrigued but she didn´t answer.

“Yeah –I chuckled- all snobby and cold…” I said because I had seen groups of girls and guys from there on our small town, when they saw us it was like we weren´t good enough to be paid attention to but it made it funnier for us commoners to tease them except I had never seen any of those girls get close to the woods despite that they lived surrounded by it. I had to know this rebel girl.

“…But you, pretty girl –I was no blind man- have gone out and you don´t seem the least scared of the dirt. And though I’ve never gone all the way up I know it´s a long way. No sprained ankle yet?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Where do you come from?” she finally spoke and her voice was as pretty as her looks

“I’m a wild cat. I live here” I said with a smirk. Some of the girls that visited our town during the weekends used the word cat to talk about us in a diminishing manner but instead of affecting me I found it funny.

“Where does the kitten drink his milk?” she had a pretty voice that seemed to mingle with the forest and was she asking me for my address? And above all she was talking to me without that snobbish tone those girls who wore that same uniform had. She just got prettier. I chuckled at my hormones taking over my mind

“I hunt” I raised my eyebrow and wondered what she´d say at my attempt of being cool

“I doubt that, you look like a domestic cat” she matched my tone but she was being playful

“…And look at my luck! I´ve found myself a fine kitten” I half smiled, she didn´t seem affected by my words

“A real wild cat” the corner of her mouth went up as she closed her brown eyes with her long eyelashes bating once. I snickered at her calling herself a cat. She had to know what it meant for a Burgeoys student to say that to other people and specially to call herself that. This girl was something else.
Suddenly, I saw her change her path and I was having too much of a good time with her hidden playfulness.

“Kitten´s gotten scared?” I was smiling but then I wondered if maybe she was actually scared, I was a stranger after all

“Wild cats don´t leave the wilderness” she said looking back to me and then she sat with her back against a tree, there was no way she was going to make it on time before the sunset but maybe she was tired.

“Are you sure you´re not too tired to go back up?” I asked raising my voice a bit. I was still on the other side of the river, she didn´t answer. “I can give you a piggy ride” I offered and my offer was sincere. Lola had taught me to help those in need but then she wouldn´t say a thing and once again, Lola had taught me that if a girl says no, it´s no and even though this girl hadn´t answer I was pretty sure her silence was a no.

“Ok, ok –I said- I know when to leave a girl alone” and with that I started to walk the rest of the way out of the woods, across the street and back home to Lola. I was hoping that Louis had gone already. I was wondering if I´d ever see the girl again.

Guitar Pick/ Evil in your heart

I just realized that I have Nichole´s Guitar Pick necklace... so, this is how hers is supposed to look like, except that I imagine hers to have either a white or a black guitar pick -oh and mine doesn´t have the cat, but I´ll see if I can add it -haha- just to have it I guess

And since I´m adding DL stuff, there´s a song that is a lot like what Nic thinks of herself. The "song" is the intro Paramore used for one of their tours -so it´s not really a song- apparently it´s called "Evil in Your Heart"

Double Life: Playing

A/N: This is a short one but I like how it turned up... I might add something more at the end, later, or not, we´ll see

*****

“Play something” Nichole nodded towards the guitars on the side, she and Josh had gone down the basement after Aaron left for his swimming afternoon. They had turned on the TV

“Sure, what do you want to listen?” he turned off the TV and walked over to the musical instruments

“I don´t know, surprise me”

“Acoustic or electric?” he asked and she made a pondering face

“Acoustic”

Josh grabbed one of the acoustic guitars and pulled one of the chairs of the desks, then he motioned for Nichole to move to it, then he pulled the other chair for himself.

The boy started to play a song as she watched his expert fingers move, his eyes focused on the strings, his head moved to the beat of the song and he occasionally looked up to Nichole and when he caught her eyes he smiled as he kept singing. She smiled back.

“You gotta sing with me now” he said once the first song ended

“I rather listen to you”

“No, you´re singing now so tell me a song” he had light in his eyes and a small grin on his mouth

“Wonderwall” she bit her lip, he started to play and she let him sing, but his eyes were on her as if inviting her to sing as well. She just smiled a little and swiveled on the chair twice, by the time it stopped she was singing 

“Backbeat the word was on the street that the fire in your heart is out…” she sang along with him and his smile grew as he kept singing smiling

“…Because maybe you´re gonna be the one that saves me and after all…”

They kept singing together, and once that song was over he made a transition to a faster song and he started singing

“…What´s it like in New York city… I´m a thousand miles away but tonight you look so pretty…”

She let him sing the song. She was watching him and occasionally swiveling on the chair. They sang the chorus of the song together since she didn´t know the lyrics. They sang a couple more songs.

“Do you know how to play any instruments?” Josh asked as she was spinning on the chair

“Nope”

“Want to learn something?”

“Nope” she couldn´t keep a straight face and they both laughed

“Here” Josh gave her the guitar he was using and took another one “You´ll be playing with me now” he sat

“I can´t play, Josh”

“But I do and I´ll be teaching you” he grinned, she sighed

“You´re taking advantage ´cause I´m at your place, don´t you?” she narrowed her eyes, as side of his mouth twitched up

“It won´t be bad…”

“Ok, tell me what to do…” she sighed and his grin grew

“The position of your fingers is important, you have to put your fingers between the frets –these, he pointed to the metal strips- the closer to the fret, the better the sound will be. Try to hold the string down firm, oh, and using the fingertips is better, now do what I do” he placed his fingers on the frets and brushed down the strings, she imitated him and closed an eye when the notes didn´t sound the same, he did it again and she tried to imitate him, they kept doing that for a while

“You could learn quickly” he said

“No, I could never sound as half as good as you” she had a small frown, he chuckled

“Years of practice are on my favor”

“And talent” she smiled

“How about if we try playing a song now?”

“It won´t be pretty and I don´t know how to read music”

“Just follow me” he played the first couple of notes

“Whoa, wait that´s too fast for me”

“Sorry. Ok, I´ll go slow now” he started again at a slower pace that she tried to followed but messed a few times

“How about if you play and I pretend that I can make music” she poked her tongue out “my gloves seem to make it harder as well”

“Oh… You can use a guitar pick… let me find one…”

“I have the one you gave me” she pulled a silver chain out of her shirt, it was some kind of long necklace that was hidden under her shirt, from it two items hung: Josh´s guitar pick and a silver cat pendant”

“You keep it with you” Josh said as she took the guitar pick out of the chain

“Oh… yeah, it was a great birthday” he saw a light pink color her cheeks, he grinned

“…And the cat?”

“Oh… a nice memory” she said with a melancholic tone as sadness filled her eyes

“I´m sorry… I shouldn´t have…”

“It´s ok, it’s a good memory. Now let´s get back to you teaching me” her eyes changed, he observed her for a moment

“Watch my hands…” he finally said

“I still think it´d be a better idea that you played and I pretended like I can do this”

“But if we´re going to fake it let´s make it electric!” there was some gleam in his eyes, she laughed

“Josh, Nichole” they heard Maggie´s voice calling them over the song Josh was singing and playing. He stopped. “In an hour we´ll be going to my sister´s gallery and then we’re going for dinner, so start getting ready” she smiled

“Ok, mom” Josh said and the girl smiled. Josh put away the guitars as Nichole put the guitar pick back on the silver chain and hid it inside her shirt; then they headed upstairs

sink in

+++++++ another rant for my extense collection of them+++++++ I wonder if I´ll be "analized" or w/e for things like this...

***
+
+

I wanted to be mistaken -and I want to make it short, I don´t have time- I wanted to be mistaken but I knew it´d eventually sink in... It´s been four days since my last doc´s appt... The news were not so nice, they weren´t nice at all and for some reason I was fine with it, as if I could care less... often my visits to the doctor lead to a night of crying until I fall asleep, not that friday but I kind of wish it had been like that, it was Friday after all...

This doctor said things were not going to be easy... she sort of said I could get better but that it´d take a lot of time and it was as if I wasn´t even there, it was as if I was somewhere else where nothing bad happened... Saturday was bad but Sunday, Sunday was good, my first 24 hours in almost an entire year without pain and I guess I allowed myself some hope, that was mistake number one... Monday came and there was pain... Monday night and the many pills I take every single day are hurting my stomach... and it seems like I have to choose which pain I prefer... meds that make somewhere else hurt and they don´t even relieve all the pain....

Well... I should be used to this.

Double Life: Walking Paisley out

On Sunday morning Nichole opened her eyes before the sun came out, she lay on the bed watching the ceiling and listening to the birds singing. A small smile tugged at her lips. She stayed there for a long while.

“You´re following me Ash” she whispered to herself reaching for one of her books, she opened it where a blue feather was, she brushed her finger on it then she put it back. She got up, wore the jeans she´d wore the day before and a sweater, she didn´t want another member of the Arlington´s family to see the green and yellow bruised.

She had enough experience in getting in and out of places that no one listened when she went down and in the kitchen to drink some water, after that she went out towards the bird´s cage, the dog started to bark as she stepped the grass.

“Shhhh, easy” a voice that Nichole recognized said

“An early riser, huh?” the boy said

“Mhh”

“Couldn´t sleep?”

“No, I just woke up. Do you get up this early?”

“Yeah, my bedroom is that one –Aaron pointed to the window that faced that side of the yard- so I hear Paisley´s whining when he wants to go out”

“Oh”

“Why are you coming out here?”

“I came to see the birds”

“So, you did like his gift” Aaron chuckled

“Yeah, he´s peculiar when giving gifts” she had a small smile, Aaron´s eyes were observing her

“Wanna go for a walk with me and Paisley?” he smiled, she shrugged and walked with him at a slow pace and mostly silent, the dog occasionally tugged his owner towards a tree or a door to sniff.

“Thanks for the watch” Aaron said, she´d sent him a Christmas present too.

“You´re welcome”

“Sarah was mad at you” he spoke again after a while. She raised both her eyebrows

“What did I do to her?”

“When Josh took you with him she took it as if you were the cause of him not talking to her” he shook his head

“Wow… so I am guilty of that…” Nichole laughed humorlessly

“Yeah, she´s got a problem to remember the things she´s done”

“You seemed fine with her” the streets were empty, Aaron shook his head

“I tolerate her for Josh… he´s pretty loyal and respectful, he didn´t want me to bad mouth her even after she´d bad mouthed him”

“He seemed pretty mad the other night… What changed?”

“You” Aaron looked at her with a smug expression on his face

“Right” she rolled her eyes, he chuckled

“He tried to talk with her but she never wanted to listen…”

They sat in one of the benches of the park where they had arrived. Aaron unleashed the dog and it went running around the park.

“I´m going to go swimming at Helen and Bill´s this afternoon, you can come” Aaron broke the silence once again

“Ok”

“Are you going?”

“No”

“But you said ok”

“To let you know I had heard you”

“Why not to come? You like swimming”

“I don´t like swimsuits”

“Don´t wear any”

“You´d love that, wouldn´t you?”

“Indeed”

“Not happening. Ever” her voice sounded bored, he chuckled

“Come on! Some swimming wouldn´t hurt you or are you still afraid that I´ll win?”

“You´re not being convincing in the least”

“What do I have to do for you to go?”

“Are you leaving your brother behind ´cause I assume you´re not taking him to swim?”

“No, of course not”

“So you want to take me with you while he stays behind?” she had raised eyebrows, Aaron gasped

“That´s not what I said”

“It was”

“No, I just wanted you to join us in the swimming”

“What´s with you and trying to take me to places?” she raised an eyebrow

“I just want to be friends”

“Why? You didn´t seem to want to be my friend before?”

“I was mad at you”

“You have a crooked nose now” she smirked

“I do not!” he touched his nose

“Yeah, you do”

“No, I don´t and don’t try to make me mad at you!”

“I´m just stating the obvious” she had a mischievous grin

“No, you just don´t want to be my friend”

“You still didn´t answer why you changed your opinion of me; you seemed to be into the gossips”

“Well… they´re pretty crazy but you had just broken my nose and then you did it to Brighton and you never leave your gloves or that bandage on your hand… You´re the best student but everybody knows you miss school when you want to…”

“See, you got no reason to want to be friends with me. You shouldn´t” she said as if she was giving a piece of advice

“Josh seems pretty fond of you. I trust his judgment” he smiled with the corner of his mouth she chuckled

“You didn´t seem to trust in it before…”

“I might disagree with him but I always trust his judgment”

“Do you think he´ll want me to go swimming with you in who knows whose pool?” she asked with curiosity but there was an underlying tone of teasing. His eyes grew a little.

“Would you mind if he didn´t want?”

“Would you?”

“Well, yeah… he´s my brother”

“Then, shouldn´t you stop trying to get me in pools and in less clothing?”

“Would he mind you being in less clothing?”

“As you and most guys, I doubt that´d be a problem”

“Then why would you bring that up?”

“Is your brother my friend?” she asked and he furrowed his eyebrows

“I don´t know, is he?” he tilted his head a little and she laughed

“I asked first”

“I guess he is… You really care about him, don´t you?”

“Shouldn´t I?”

“Do you like him?”

“Yeah, otherwise I wouldn´t talk to him even less stay at his house”

“You know what I meant”

“No, not really” she looked at him and he stared at her, she had an expression of innocence, he blinked a couple of times

“How do you manage that?”

“What?” her face remained the same

“Have a smirk on your face one second and then be the picture of innocence…” he was observing her, the girl narrowed her eyes marginally. The twins were good at noticing

“I am the picture of innocence” she had a mischievous smirk on her face, it amused her that the twins were the only ones that made her somehow enjoy the abilities of the monster

“You’re trying to make me forget the question, don´t you?”

“Why do you seem to believe I live my life plotting?”

“So you and my brother are together?”

“No… I´m together with you now”

“You deflecting my question is a good indicator of the answer”

“You may take it as you want”

She stood up and Aaron called the dog, the started to walk back. The park had started to get occupied by people doing exercise

“I saw what you painted for him” Aaron spoke again

“Mh”

“You´re good at painting and you seem to like him” he said and she chuckled

“I asked him about the one you sent to our mom”

“Ah”

“Did you give it to him?”

“No, he saw it and he wanted it”

“Where did he see it?” he asked she looked at him with an ‘are you kidding me?’ look on her face

“You do know he´s in the Art Club just like me, don´t you?”

“I saw the other paintings you did of him”

“Ok”

“They were like he is the only thing you see…”

“Did you listen to his part of the project?”

“Yeah”

“Then you know what the whole thing was about. It´s getting annoying that you keep going on and on about the nature of the relationship between me and your brother”

“I wouldn´t go on and on if you just told me”

“I only have three things to tell you, Aaron, one, I don´t have to tell you anything, two, you can go and pester your brother about it and finally, you seem to just want to listen to what you think things are, you are not listening, are you trying to get involved with me or something?”

“You know the answer of that”

“No, I don´t, one day you hate me, the next you ask me out, then you seem to want your twin and I involved, then you start acting tolerable and now you´re just plain annoying”

“I… just want to know”

“Your brother and I are just friends and if you ask me about it one more time I´ll have to shut you up!”

“How will you shut me up?” he smirked

“You still have a nose; I can make good use of it”

“Ha-ha as if I´d let that happen again”

“I bet I can do it again”

“No, you couldn´t”

“I can always make you faint too”

“How would you do that?”

“A magician never reveals her secrets” she winked, he chuckled

“I was distracted that time at the library, there´s no way you could cause me any harm”

“Keep believing that”

“Pffft you do know I´m in the karate club, don´t you?” he used the same tone she´d used before

“No, I didn´t” she mocked gasped “But that won´t serve you against me” she said with a smug disposition

“If you weren´t a girl I´d fight you right here and now”

“Right in front of the door of your house?” she raised an eyebrow

“No, mom would be very mad if she saw me fighting her guest and Josh would kill me if I attempted anything against his girlfriend” his tone seemed to voice a challenge

“Then you´d be dead by now if that was true” she entered the house

“And you say I am annoying” he passed next to her to go leave the dog in the yard

“You are the picture of it” she poked her tongue out as she started to go up the stairs

Double Life: Caged Birds

*A/N: I changed that tittle 3 times, I´m still not happy about it... *

“Cousins, this is Nichole –Josh motioned to the girl- Nic, Helen, Will and Bob” the boy motioned to each of them

“We just had to see who made the twins stay home!” Helen smiled

“That´d be me” Nichole said and the girl laughed

“Movies?” Bob said, he looked like the youngest of them

“Let´s do karaoke!” Helen clapped her hands. Will groaned

“Movies, Helen!”

“Let´s vote!” she smiled

“What are we voting for?” a girl in fitted jeans and a black cardigan over a blue shirt said as she came towards them

“Sarah?” Josh´s eyes widened and quickly looked at his twin who shrugged and then to Helen

“Hello, Josh” she kissed his cheek

“Helen?” the boy addressed his cousin

“She came to visit me when we were leaving… I couldn´t just leave her…” she sounded apologetic

“Josh, I´ve said I´m sorry many times…”

Nichole who was sitting next to Josh looked behind him to Aaron who was next to Josh. “Josh’ ex” he mouthed, she said a soundless “oh”

“Look, I can leave if you want” Sarah said some annoyance in her voice but pleading eyes. Josh looked to a side not replying. “Come on! Don´t be like that, you have to talk to me” she squatted in front of him. He stared at her with anger, she flinched. “Josh, tell me how to make it better” she pleaded.

“You said you were leaving” the melted emeralds became cold jade. Sarah stood up and stayed frozen in place, everybody else was silent.

“I´m not going until you talk to me” Sarah´s brow was slightly knitted

“Keep waiting” he stood up taking Nichole´s hand with him, he walked away with the girl who glanced Sarah her eyes had unshed tears.

Josh and Nichole ended up in the basement, it was completely decorated, it had a few spaces that seemed to be work places, and there was a drawing space, musical instruments on another space and one more space with couches and a TV. Josh paced the place, behind the couch that Nichole had taken.

“The nicest guy on Earth just left a girl crying. I think the world as we know it will end up tonight” Nichole said after a while, she was watching Josh who stopped as she finished speaking he stared at her and without wanting he laughed

“I think I got the gist of what was going on but you could explain why you made the hottie up there cry”

“I told you what happened with Sarah”

“You just said she was scandalous”

“Sure, when they shout at you in the middle of the cafeteria it´s considered that way”

“I am not Sarah” Nichole didn´t like his voice filled with sarcasm, she´d never heard it

“You´re right –he breathed in and let out the air through his mouth- I´m sorry” he sat next to Nichole

“You seem to dislike her quite a lot”

“I didn´t think she´d come here as if nothing happened”

“She seemed to want to apologize”

“Are you on her side?”

“I´ve got no sides but I´ve never seen you this mad, I wanna know what she did to you”

“Nichole is curious” he had a crooked smile on his mouth

“Cats are often curious” she lifted her eyebrow

“Ok, but you´re telling me about the jerk who hit you” he lifted his eyebrow. She wrinkled her nose

“I don´t need to know about Sarah”

“Too late, you´re not getting out of this one” he narrowed his eyes, she pursed her lips

“I see it was wrong to come to the lion´s den” she grinned, he chuckled

“You don´t have to tell me” he said after a while

“I know… He was just some jerk that refused Rox, the girl I met, get her inhaler, I told him he was a jerk, he didn´t like it and tried to hit me, I ran but I had to slow down when I got close to Rox or I could´ve hurt her and then he pulled me by my hair –he winced- and he hit me –she explained quickly- don´t be mad, I´m fine” she said touching his arm when his eyes became cold jade again

“Why were you even there? Are you sure you´re ok?”

“It´s your turn now –she poked her tongue out- but these just look worse than what they are” she looked at her shoulder

“Ok. So she dumped me in the middle of the cafeteria, she wouldn´t listen to my reasons, a week later she was dating someone else and she was a witness against me and Aaron and she hadn´t even seen!”

“Wow, that´s mean. Aaron seems fine with her”

“He doesn´t hold grudges for too long…”

“But you do? Remind me not to make you mad” she joked

“I tried to talk to her, she wouldn´t let me explain, it was not nice, if anyone still believed us she made sure to say bad things” he sighed

“Your cousin, Helen, seems fine with her”

“They´ve always been friends, I assume she forgave her or whatever”

“You really liked this girl…”

“Yeah, I did” he blew air through the corner of his mouth

“You´re a good guy, you´ll find another one”

“A good guy” he laughed

“What?! Wanted me to go on and on about how cute you are?”

“How cute I am…” he repeated her words

“So very hot, Josh” she put both her hands on his chest and leaned forward to whisper

“Err… Your turn”

She laughed “I win” she winked and sat back, he shook his head

“Why were you in that place?”

“I told you , I went there to train”

“But the other girl didn´t sound so good at it, had you meet her before?”

“You´re a good listener, boy –she shook her head- she wasn´t used at all at that kind of exercise”

“Why was she there then?”

“Many, if not all of the kids there were there were trouble-makers, the kind that their parents can´t handle anymore… we were supposed to learn discipline” she rolled her eyes

“But you´re not trouble makers…”

“I miss classes, and skip some others, I go out of school without permission, I bring up boys to my room, oh and I never give my phone before classes… I think that makes me a trouble-maker”

“You are at the top ten, you´re a great artist, your phone never rings during class…”

“You´re doing good defending me… but I was just sent there to train. Rox just happened to be there as a punishment but she was ok”

“You made a friend” melted emeralds was what she saw, she pursed her lips

“One more slave for eternity” she said, he chuckled

“Now, you´re responsible for her forever” he reminded the other argument of the conversation they had have when she saved his life

“It´s a good change” a small smile spread across her lips

“So, we´re just staying here?” she said as he was going to say something else

“Oh… we can go up if you want”

“Let´s watch some TV”

After a while of them watching TV making random comments, Aaron and the twin´s cousins came down. Helen apologized to both Josh and Nichole. They all stayed quietly watching TV until they started to go over the lines of the characters making them into funny and mostly silly remarks. They all laughed.

At some point they changed the channel to a music one and they ended up doing karaoke until after midnight when the cousins left.

“Not inappropriate things, kids!” Aaron pointed a finger to his twin and Nichole as he left

“Like you´re one to talk!” Josh threw a cushion at him

“I still can´t believe you´re here” Josh said softly watching the TV screen

“But here I am”

“Are you sure those bruises are ok, I mean, where else do you have them?”

“What? Do you want me to show you? Do you want to make me take my top off?” she smirked

“Don´t do that, Nic” he glanced her way

“What?”

“I meant what I said, I don´t want you to get undressed” his voice was gentle but firm. She closed her eyes

“They´re there, looking at them won´t make them better” she opened her eyes, emotion drained of her brown eyes

“Some ice and maybe some ointment might make it better”

“I’m taking care of them, don´t worry about it, you´ve seen me worse. I´ll live” she winked, her face a mask.

“That doesn´t make it better, you about to bleed or you feverish is not to make bruised you look like nothing” his brow was knitted, she inhaled deeply and let the air out through her mouth

“I know… I´d be so much easier if you were planning to undress me instead of you being worried about me…”

“How come?”

“I could beat you up to make you stop and you would but what do I do with you being… nice?” she seemed at a loss, he smiled

“You do nothing, except tell me where it hurts so I don´t accidentally hurt you” he said and she made a face as if she was pondering this, she ended up sighing.

“You saw the ones here –she pointed at her shoulder and arm- here –she put her palm over her ribs and closed an eye –here- she pointed to the middle of her chest –there- she motioned for her ankle –here too- she moved forward closing both her eyes tight and pointing the middle of her back –and that´s it” she looked at him, he seemed an odd combination of angry and concern

“You have to tell me who was this jerk” cold stones looked at her

“Are you going to save the damsel in distress?” she raised both her eyebrows. He closed her eyes

“You can´t allow him treating you like that and let him walk away as if nothing happened!” he had gritted teeth

“Hey, hey, calm down –she touched his arm- I´m ok. I´m here and if it makes you feel better, he isn´t just walking as if nothing, he got his fingers broken, a broken nose, kicks in his stomach and in places that´d made a guy cry. I can fend for myself. Don´t worry, please”

“Why would you even have to fend for yourself?” he took her hand

“Some things just happen, Josh” her voice sounded tired and melancholic

“I´m sorry” he said above a whisper, the corner of her mouth shot up

“Stop apologizing for what you didn´t do”

“Alright… it´s just… you´re such a nice person” he said and she chuckled

“You don´t know me, Josh” she bumped her shoulder against his

“You saved my life and it sounds that you saved that girl you met” he smiled and his green eyes were smiling too

“Not enough to balance …but it was good”

“Balance…?”

“Darkness”

“Haven´t you heard that light shines brighter when it´s surrounded by darkness?”

“Where do you get those things from?” she chuckled

“Actually, Sarah told me that one” he grumbled, Nic laughed

“You still like her, don´t you?”

“I liked her a lot. I got over that. I´m still mad though”

“Because she didn’t believe in your innocence?”

“No, if she didn´t that was ok but one thing was her not believing and something completely different was to make sure no one believed in us anymore”

“Ok”

“Childish of me, huh?”

“Those words never came out of my mouth”

“Sure, sure. Let´s go up, I got something for you” he turned off the TV

“What is it?” she followed him up the stairs

“Did you send Christmas presents for us?” Josh asked as they crossed the living room and turned to a side, he opened the glass doors in front of them

“Well… yeah” they walked in the yard

“It was a few days ago but I got something for you too. Did you spend Christmas at school?” he asked, she pulled him closer and they stumbled a little

“Dog toy in the way” she said

“Did you see that? It´s pretty dark”

“I ate my veggies”

“Christmas at school?” he reminded her of his prior question

“No, I just sent them there so that they sent di to you since I didn´t know your address”

“I should´ve thought of that” they slowly walked on the grass towards the end of the garden

“They didn´t have my address. I wasn´t at home” she said and he stopped

“You spent Christmas alone?”

“There were a lot of kids where I was” she explained. He hugged her, her hands on her sides. She opened her mouth to talk but a dog bark interrupted her

“Your dog doesn´t like me” she chuckled, he let go

“Paisley!” Josh shushed the dog “he´s usually very friendly” he turned on the lights, there was a dog house, a golden retriever looked at Nichole, he looked angry.

“Some animals react to me that way, it´s ok”

“Oh” his mood looked deflated

“What is it?”

“Bad gift, let´s go back”

“Come on! I want my gift now” she bumped shoulders with him

“I didn´t think you disliked animals” he glanced to the end of the garden where there was a big cage inside it had a tree and several birds chirping

“You got me birds?” she seemed both amused and surprised

“Sort of” he touched the back of his neck

“You know pets are not allowed at Burgeoys and I told you how I can´t pet animals… they die” they both sighed. His cheeks were pink

“When we went to swim, as we walked you stopped briefly, closed your eyes and smiled at the sounds of birds” he chuckled nervously

“How do you know I smiled at that and not at something else?” she inquired with a tiny smile

“Your eyes closed and your tilted head towards the chirping of the birds…?” he ended up with less confidence. She smiled and then started laughing with joy.

“You give the most thoughtful gifts” she hugged him still smiling, it was a quick hug “not all of those are mine, are they?” she asked. There were many birds, he shook his head

“Three of them are yours”

“Where am I going to keep them?”

“The idea was to set them free in the woods, close to Burgeoys or around your house if you preferred” he was pensive

“Thank you… really” she said above a whisper as she looked at the birds that once again went quiet and closed their eyes