Running on Empty//Closed; Kay

[Ashton Wentworth]

The hurt look on his face was temporarily replaced by one of minor triumph as she crossed into the elevator to stand opposite of him. He allowed his hand to drop to the towel around his waist, adjusting the loop to keep it in place. Waiting for the doors to shut he considered pressing the stop button once more, this time in order to ravish her, just because he could. On a subconscious level he might have just wanted to give her a newer, more positive memory of the two of them in an elevator. He knew that he was more than a handful, and he tended to let his temper get the best of him, but she did provoke it. Given what he had seen in her eyes last night have proven to him that she was not a girl who let go of things easily, she held grudges, or whatever word could be used to describe whenever people couldn't let go of their fears. Without thinking, he rolled back onto his heels and rolled forward without lifting, he didn't want to seem anxious. The tension between them was palpable, the boring music choked in the silence, he focused on their breathing. He could see the rise and fall of her chest out of the corner of his eye. Inhaling deeply he wanted to say anything, even just something plain but he never had been very good at small talk. As her eyes focused on him, apparently having the same internal dilemma that he was having he focused his attention on the illuminated red button with the letter 'L' on it. His heartbeat was starting to pound, he didn't often feel uncomfortable, so it was a very strange emotion for him. He couldn't quiet pinpoint the reason as to why she was making him so on edge, it was almost like butterflies in his stomach, only much, much worse. The doors finally closed after what felt like a year, and the drop to the ground floor started.

In reality it only took a few seconds, but without words it felt like far longer. As it came to it's destination he finally exhaled, letting the burning within his chest cease as she began to move out into the lobby. Sorry” He heard her mutter as she kept moving into the foremost of the building. He was stopped in his tracks, she had done that a few times now in their meetings, uttering apologies and running. He wasn't quiet sure what she was apologizing for, insulting him, his clothing, or insinuating that he wasn't good enough to be in her presence. A lump apology could mean just about anything without her ever having to be specific. The doors in front of him started to close, jutting a hand out to stop them the bounced back open and he slid out, quietly following her lead out into the, hopefully warm air. The lobby was just as immaculately decorated as her apartment was, though he was willing to bet that the decor in here at least had some dust on it, whereas her apartment would never have something as crazy as dust in it. He wondered if she ironed her socks. Smiling at the thought he saw her push through the doors and head down the steps he assumed lead to the beach or water front. Padding behind her and ignoring the odd looks that he got from the doorman he considered winking at him, but didn't want to put forth the energy that it was going to need. Instead he pushed on, since he was now significantly behind her he doubled his pace. He didn't want her to get too far ahead and have people thinking that he was some sort of mental stalker. By the time that she was halfway down the stairs he had caught up to her, the smooth concrete of the stairs were a nice start for the beating that his feet were bound to take in the next few moments until he was able to find something better for him to wear. Crossing ahead of her once they hit the bottom of the stairs he hit the cobbled street way only a few steps ahead of her. It wasn't a race but he didn't much care.

In comparison to the air in the hallway, the outside air was very comforting. It was still drizzling, adding a heat factor to the rain, making it feel almost like sweat. It was an absolutely horrible feeling, since his towel was starting to get more heavy the longer that rain droplets were being added to the fabric, the lower it was hanging on his hips. The weight of a wet towel was incredible considering how light and fluffy it was whenever it was dry. The wet cobblestone pathway leading from the condos toward the waterfront was slick and uncomfortable. It was almost worth it to trudge back up to her house and nab his boots to save his feet from becoming bruised. The water was making the weathered stones slick, and with the added weight of the towel was causing him to have to really concentrate to keep his constant balance. If it weren't for his constant need to be stubborn and his desire to win whatever argument that he was presented with, he could have just nabbed something to cover his tired feet with. However, he was aware that his appearance was causing her at least a small form of embarrassment, and that was enough reason to endure. He struggled to keep his face blank but the uneven road was not fun. As he crossed over to the water front where they had their second encounter ever he paused, as if to allow her to decide what they were going to be doing, when in all reality he just wanted to stop and give himself a break from walking. It didn't seem as if any of the stores in the immediate area were open, but that wasn't to say that down the line there weren't a couple clothing stores open. As funny as it might have been to stop into one of the obnoxious tourist stores and pick out a Hawaiian style pair of swimming trunks, just for her furthered embarrassment, he didn't think that he would have been able to wear them either. Too bright and shiny for his tastes. He wasn't sure when he had actually stopped and bought new clothing was, and while she did have a point that it was high time that he bought something new to add to his suitcase he didn't think that it was needed just yet. Not until he had a proper place to put them.

As her body drew closer to his that strange feeling in his chest seemed to reappear, craning his neck in the direction of the strip to see if maybe there was something a bit down the line that he could duck into to see what clothing they had to offer. He wasn't going to wear just anything, and he had already made up his mind to dislike whatever it was that Kaydence was going to choose for him.

[Kaydence Morgan]

He had finally caught up to her, but Kaydence wished he hadn’t. Mostly because she was still upset with him for forcing her out of her apartment. Ashton may not have demanded she left verbally, but his actions had told her otherwise. She was also still extremely embarrassed that she was walking around with a barefoot man in nothing more than a towel. She had seen the looks that the doormen had given the two of them. The fact that he was doing this deliberately infuriated her. Plus she was not happy that he was going to get her towel filthy. Hadn’t she suffered enough already? Not to him apparently. Doing her best to keep her arms from crossing Kaydence instead folded her hands in front of her. She needed to do something with them to refrain from backhanding him for continuing this charade. Throughout their walk to the Boardwalk, she made sure to let her sighs of impatience and anger be known. It wouldn’t affect Ashton, she knew that, but deep down she hoped that he would eventually cave in and give her at least a little bit of sympathy. She wondered if he’d put on the clothes she was going to chose for him automatically or continue to insist on wearing that bloody towel until they went back to her condo. If he decided against the clothes wearing, Kaydence would have no choice but to attempt to keep him locked out. She was sure he’d be embarrassed having to walk by himself back to the resort.

She was having some relief at the look of his misery. Whether he was trying to show it or not, Kaydence assumed not, she knew he had to be regretting his decision. It was raining lightly and most definitely hitting the towel, which would ultimately become a weight, if it hadn’t started already. He was also shoeless. The cobblestone pathway to the Boardwalk had no effect on her given that she was wearing flip-flops. Ashton didn’t have socks on to ease some of the pressure off of his feet. He had to have been hurting. Kaydence turned her gaze down to them. The sides looked a little red. “Looks like you could use a pair of shoes,” she commented, matter-of-factly. She looked behind him to see if any blood had been drawn, but couldn’t see anything. It was a shame. It was cruel to wish such pain on someone, but it was also cruel to try and prevent someone from doing what their disorder made them do. Kaydence would be thinking about her apartment the entire time they were out today. It wasn’t like she wanted to. She wished she could accept that the mess was there and then just deal with it when she came back. Her compulsive nature was so bad that she almost had to stop several times to get her thoughts back on the mission at hand. That and the thoughts of Ashton being too proud to admit the pain he had to be in were her best defense against her obsessive compulsion.

Smirking at the thought of his suffering, Kaydence was relieved when they had finally reached the stairs up to the long strip ahead of them. The last time she had been here was with him. Her cheeks began to blush involuntarily as she recalled their time here. The café wasn’t in sight, but it became a lingering presence in her mind as she took the stairs leading up to the area. It took just a few seconds, but she was glad when they had reached the top. The constant rain was starting to make her hair frizzy and damp. She wished she had brought her oversized hat. Or at least an umbrella. She would also blame Ashton for those. Kaydence had been too distracted upon seeing his retreating from her apartment that all sense had briefly left her. It hadn’t been until they were downstairs that she had even remembered that she hadn’t brought any protection with her. She made a mental note to buy something for herself while they were down here. Ashton would be on his own since he had been too much of a jerk this morning already. She stood still as she looked down at the endless row of shops and food stands. Like them, there were a few stray wanderers pacing around. Some of them had shopping bags which was a relief. There were still shops open and some would have to have clothing for sale. Kaydence prayed that one would have normal looking clothing instead of the location suitable beachwear. She had seen some of the shirts and swimming trunks that some shops offered to cater to the Ilfracombe tourists. She would prefer him in his towel over some of them.

Kaydence began leading them down the strip. The only shops open in sight had cheap gifts, clothing for women only and food. The aroma of fresh fries wavered into her nostrils, reminding her of how hungry she was. She hadn’t had anything to eat since waking up earlier. She needed to pick up a snack while they were down here. A few moments later Kaydence stopped in her tracks. A store was open a few feet away that sold shirts. It was a fairly large space and had hundreds of shirts displayed on its walls. It wasn’t a bad start. Walking closer to the shop, she looked around it. A majority of the shirts were beach-themed, but there were several that just had stupid sayings on them that weren’t very funny. Ashton would more than likely find them hilarious though. Rolling her eyes, she turned to face him. This was not what she had in mind, but she was desperate for him to have something on his torso, at least out in public. There were enough people around for her humiliation to come back into the picture. Lifting her right arm she indicated towards the shop. “Go ahead,” she said, ruefully, “I will let you have free roam. I’m sure you’ll something distasteful enough for your liking.” Kaydence hoped he would take her up on her offer. it was amazing enough that she even agreed to let him go into such a place while she was with him.

[Ashton Wentworth]

With every step that they shared she let her frustration be known, with every sigh and grunt that left her lips his smile grew. Her frustration made him feel a bit better, he wondered just how much of her apartment she was picturing, if she was mentally figuring out how much her spells should have accomplished by now. If she wasn't just far too busy picturing him in his towel, or being upset with him for standing in her company wearing something as crazy as well, nothing he wondered if it was overpowering her OCD. If it was, he was going to have an interesting time later pointing out the fact that she had been successfully distracted for the majority of the day. At least, that was assuming they were going to be together the rest of the week. Maybe he had inadvertently ruined their little happy bubble by moving them out of the apartment. He couldn't tell for sure the look on her face, but all the evidence would point to yes, he had. “Looks like you could use a pair of shoes,” Instinctively he curled his toes inward to hide them from her view. Frowning he fought back a comment or two and decided to stay quiet, he couldn't have decided on weather or not the spit out something sarcastic or to make something rude about her or her appearance. Her smug look was enough to cause him to turn away from her and begin moving once more. As the couple ascended the stairway up to the boardwalk be found himself cursing under his breath louder each step. The rubble that had been tossed about the night before was causing havoc on his feet. Luckily he ran about barefoot as a child, else his feet would have likely been torn to shreds at this point. His pelvic bone was starting to poke out of the top of the towel as he trudged onward, his money bag clasped tightly against the fabric of the towel, the sound of coins clanging together with each step. He watched her form ahead of him as she paused to look at something. It seemed that the weather hadn't put a damper on business as he might have expected. More than half of the stores were already open and had people filing in and out of them, some of the more vendors on the other side of the strip had their tents already put back up and pedaling food and the like. his eyes started automatically scanning for somewhere that he could purchase some nicotine. There seemed to be something down the pathway that also sold snow globes of all things. That would be first order of business, just the thought of finally filling his lungs with chemicals was enough to make him push past the pain in his feet easily. He just needed a bit of perspective after all.

Brushing past her and the enticing sent of various food vendors that were happily masking the smell of stale water and whatever else had been churned about in the waters temper tantrum last night. While he could eat, he didn't want to take the time to stop and purchase something, much less give up his hold on the towel in order to use both hands to eat. He didn't have much shame, but he also didn't fancy flashing all of the merchants out there today. Following behind her he made sure to stand close enough to her that it was unmistakeable that they were together, she enjoyed seeing him miserable before, and he was going to enjoy watching her miserable now. As she slowed to a stop he found himself crashing into her, forcing her body forward at at least a step as he grasped hold of her shoulder to keep her from falling forward onto the ground. Grimacing as she automatically caught her balance, her heel landed on his bare foot. Grimacing he slowly released her shoulder, knowing that it was mostly his fault anyway. Taking a step back from her he made sure that if she was going to start moving once again he was not going to run into the same problem that he had just had. Turning away from her he moved to the stand on their right, fishing out a few sickles as he moved for another lighter and a pack of cigarettes, he was at the point where he honestly didn't care what kind they were, pointing at the closest pack he paid and began searching the crowd for Kaydence once again, she had drifted toward a store, which didn't surprise him in the least. The cashier of the store was staring at him with a strange gleam in his eye, not to mention the array of other people passing him on the street. It wasn't warm or dry enough for him to have any reason to be in a towel aside from the fact that he might be suicidal to be swimming in the water at a time like this. H was blissfully ignorant of the strange looks and hushed voices around him as he caught up to Kaydence, she might as well have been tapping her foot. She was so impatient.

“Go ahead,” She was going to let him go in by himself? Was this some strange test that he wasn't going to pass or was she going to go off and do her own shopping. He had no intention of going into store after store looking for her, anymore than he wanted to go from store to store trying on clothing or watching her shop. They were just about the most horrible forms of torture that he could possibly think of. “I will let you have free roam. I’m sure you’ll something distasteful enough for your liking.” Glancing from her face up to the store front the corners of his lips started to turn upward. It seemed to be mostly novelty clothing which was interesting. He could picture holding up different shirts with random vulgar saying on them just to torment her, holding one after another up to his chest and watching her face go from annoyed to disgusted and onward to horrified. He wondered just how horrible the shirts really were, he could only go so far due to the fact that he did have standards. Even if it didn't look like it to the untrained eye, it wasn't easy to look like he didn't care, it did take some work. While he may not often do anything to his hair, he did have to wash it a certain way in order to get it to stand up in the directions that it did. His most recent purchases in hand he took the two steps that was needed to go into the open shop door. There were racks with shirts on them just about everywhere that he could look, a couple of them holding pants. In the corner seemed to hold swim wear and next to that women's intimate apparel. Which seemed a bit out of place given that it was on a beach and under garments normally weren't worn here. He didn't wait for her to follow him into the building he began moving about the racks, gazing at the various shirts, including one that stated 'Your Mom Was Here' and an arrow pointing south, it was just the thing that he could have used to embarrass her but chose to rise above. She should be thankful he could have picked it up and pretended to size her up in it, maybe make a comment about her wearing it some night after leaving his room. Placing it back down he settled on a grey checkered hoodie, it would eliminate his need to wear a shirt, since he assumed that they were going to be spending the day on the beach anyway he wouldn't have to wear it if he decided that he didn't even like it. Removing it from the hanger once he had found one in his size he flung the garment over his shoulder and moved in the direction of pants and swim wear.

Glancing over his shoulder to see what she was doing he didn't see her at first and didn't want to hunt her down and afford her the opportunity to change her mind and start picking out stuff for him to try on and thus keeping him stuck in this store all day. While it might be interesting to annoy her to the point that she stormed out, he would use those tactics as a last ditch effort if needed. There were jeans around that he could put on if needed but given the sweaty nature of the weather he wasn't sure if it was great idea, he was going to be alright in the sweat shirt so long as he either kept it unzipped or sleeves rolled up but on top of jeans might be a bit much. Shrugging he decided to take his chances with the heat, if it did start raining again he would be in favor rather than herself. Picking a pair in a rather light wash he began pulling them up over his bare lower half and pulling them up, yanking off the tags and holding them in his hand, removing the towel from his waist as he did so. Setting his cigarettes down for just a moment as he did the same with the sweat shirt and pulling off the tags once again, flinging the towel over his shoulder to dry he placed the cigarettes and new lighter into his pocket and headed up toward the counter and placed the tags down, he wasn't going to give her a chance to critique him or ask him to pick something different, he had avoided the shirts with the words on them for her and that was just about the best that he was willing to do. Placing the money on the counter and then placing the money bag into his jeans pocket he began looking for his companion, he longed to get outside and have a chance to smoke even if it was just a little bit. His body was starting to ache, he had been smoking almost all of his life despite the reasons that he had for quitting dozens of times.

[Kaydence Morgan]

Kaydence had no desire to go into the shop with him. She needed whatever time away from him that she could get just so she could rejuvenate herself for whatever he was preparing for him. Plus she was still a little pissed over being collided into a few minutes earlier. Waving him off with one hand she prayed he wouldn’t come back in anything more embarrassing then what he was leaving her in. Kaydence thought she had been awfully nice so far. One or two crude comments were nothing compared to what else she could be doing to him right now. She could have dragged him off to a store of her choosing, berating him along the way. She could have been complaining about the state her condo had been left in and how she was going to have to spend the rest of her day cleaning it up. For all he knew, she could have given him a bloody silent treatment. She contemplated the new idea. That had yet to arise in any disagreements they had so far. She wondered how he’d react to it. Ashton would either do his best to outdo her or would get severely irritated with her own defiance. Unlike her, he would probably have no problem with leaving her and going back to his suite. Kaydence pondered as she walked away from the shop. He was making her unquestionably miserable, but the thought of him leaving wasn’t appealing. She tried to convince herself that it wasn’t only because she still needed to find some way to make her pay for the damage he had caused in her living room.

More people slowly began to find their way onto the Boardwalk causing more shops to open. Kaydence considered vanishing for a little while to have some uninterrupted shopping time with herself. If she did that, Ashton would ultimately find her and cause a scene by yelling at her for leaving him. She sighed in frustration as she chose to go to one of the food vendors nearby instead. It irritated her to no extent that he was having this much control over her. Kaydence was used to being the one in control. Not the other way around. The worst part was that she was permitting herself to let him play his mind games with her. The thought of spending a normal day at the beach was unfathomable if Ashton was involved. All he’d do was pout and mope if she wanted to go to this shop or go down to the beach before doing this. The idea of testing out her silent treatment came back into the picture. Maybe she did need some time away from him. It was sickening that she had to worry about how much he was humiliating her. Even though she had tried her hardest not to notice, she had seen the bewildered looks of passerby. He had made it a point to stand next to her to show the public that they were here together. Had she really deserved all of this? Kaydence hoped he still wasn’t pulling at strings from their night before. If he was, she could easily lift her top to show him the remnants of the injury he had caused. Besides, she thought they were past that after the way things had ended last night.

She allowed her mind to float back to the few minutes before they had decided to go to bed. Laying there in the dark had been the most tranquil Kaydence had felt since picking him up from Tripp, even after that moment on the couch where she had fallen asleep on him. In the dark, nothing could be exposed. No emotions showed on faces, no stares into the others eyes, nothing. They would never admit it to each other, but they had been connected for that brief period. Darkness always seemed to bring out those inner feelings that would otherwise never be exposed. Forcing herself to come back to reality Kaydence approached the stand she had seen earlier. Those fries had smelled too delicious to pass up. “A large order of fries with extra sea salt,” she ordered, pulling out coins from her purse, “and a bottled water.” The rain was close to stopping completely. The dark clouds were moving fast now and she could see beams of sunlight exposing through the cracks. The temperature had also considerably warmed up. Water would be the best option to stay hydrated for however long they would be out here. Paying for her food, Kaydence took a couple of packets of ketchup and napkins and made her way over to the nearest bench she could find. It was conveniently to the right of the shop he was in. Unfortunately, he’d be able to see her as soon as he stepped out.

Sitting down, she set her purse to the side of her and crossed one leg over the other, placing two napkins on the top of her thigh to rest the carton of fries on. She opened one packet after another, dousing one side of the small box with ketchup. Kaydence was very particular about her ketchup being apart from her fries. That way if she didn’t want any fries with the sauce she didn’t have to have anything. Picking up one fry, she began to nibble at it slowly. The fried potato taste with the chunks of sea salt was to die for. She would have to try to finish it before Ashton found her. With his love of food, he would no doubt be entranced with the deliciousness as she was. She supposed that they could always buy another one if it came down to it, but these were her fries and she had suffered today. If he wanted any more of what she would be kind enough to offer, then he could get it himself. It seemed like this would be her only slice of heaven today and Kaydence hoped it too wouldn’t get ruined for her. She looked up in time to see him walk out of the shop and her fry dropped from her hand. He had found clothes, pants and a shirt surprisingly. The pants were a bit much given that the air was starting to warm up around them, but she didn’t care. He was dressed casually but in normal attire. After all she had been dreading, Ashton had chosen not to get some vulgar shirt that told people he was with stupid.

As he walked over to her, Kaydence quickly picked up the fry she had dropped and ate it. She was intrigued as to why he was dressed so normal. He had been so keen on embarrassing her earlier and he was coming out in this when she was sure he had so many other options to choose from. He must have been tired of suffering for his own enjoyment. There would be no other reason why since she knew he would have never done it just to appease her. Smirking, she picked at another fry. “You look much better,” she commented once he had approached. “And dare I say…normal.” Chuckling, she extended on the fried pieces of goodness to him. “You should try these. They’re outstanding.” He took it from her and she leaned back into the bench. She wasn’t sure what else the day had in store for her, or them. Ashton had no expression on his face so it was hard to tell what he was thinking. “You’ve got your cigarettes and new clothes. What else do you need to do for yourself today?” It was Kaydence’s discreet way of finding out his intentions for the rest of the day. They had never discussed what they were going to do afterwards, but she figured now would be a better time than ever. If he chose to leave, she could hastily make her way back to the condo to finish cleaning and then came back out to the Waterfront later. Secretly, as risky as it was for him to stay since he would more than likely try to do more things to embarrass her, Kaydence hoped he would stick around. He owed her one after all.

[Ashton Wentworth]

The towel was heavy on his shoulder, and he very much wished now that he had traveled down here stark naked just so that he could manage to not have anything extra to carry around. While it was a bit absurd and he doubted that he would have made it so far as the elevator before Kaydence had body slammed him to the ground, begging for at least a towel. Perhaps he should have pushed for the nudity bit with more force than he had before, she might have come round to the towel after all. He considered tossing it in a bag but he didn't want to carry anything, which was the whole point. He could have just left it on a rack for somebody to find, he would much prefer buying her another one than carrying this one around all day. Even if he had his wand on his he could have levitated it up to her house and been done with it, maybe even just zap it dry really quick. Heaving a sigh he zipped the two halves of the jacket together and made his way out since Kaydence didn't seem to of followed him in. Strange, he honestly had been expecting her to start weighing in opinions at some point. Unless she wasn't as shallow as she seemed, but he doubted it. As he exited the store he began packing his cigarette box against his opposite hand, the slapping sound stood out against the crowd, but there seemed to be more people wandering about. Apparently the store from last night hadn't had the same effect on everybody last night as it had on the two of them. It had cast a sort of bubble that stopped their fighting, he felt like it had brought them closer, but he wasn't unreasonable to assume that almost everybody had just slept through it. Extracting his lighter from his pocket he placed one cigarette into his mouth and lit it, returning both the pack and the lighter into his pocket once more whenever he was finished. The air outside was warm enough that he lowered the zipper on his jacket until it was only half closed. Checking the fry stand that she had been gravitating to earlier he found it had a small line, but no Kaydence.

Had she left him? He wouldn't have doubted it, his eyes instantly darted over to the direction from which they had come, she was likely up in her condo right now scrubbing her little heart out. It was such a rookie mistake. Frowning he pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and took a couple steps in that direction, checking to see if he could see her head ducking into the building. He hadn't been inside of the store for very long, he wasn't super picky whenever it came to clothing and he didn't have an uncommon size. He should have dragged her into the store with him, then he would have at least been able to keep an eye on her. Of course she had wanted him to go into the store alone, why hadn't he seen it before? He should have picked up on the out of character behavior right off the bat. Exhaling slowly a pillar of smoke left his lips. It was one thing that he greatly admired about Europe, he could smoke just about anywhere that he pleased. It was certainly helping his nerves right now, and kept him from kicking himself. As the small gathering of school aged children in front of his dispersed, he spotted her sitting directly in front of him. Merlin that was stupid She had been waiting for him, well that was good news at least. She apparently had gotten fires after all. Heading over to her direction he sat down next to her, contemplating on weather or not she would have packed her own wand in her purse or hidden somewhere against her body. Pushing his sleeves up to his elbows, stretching out the hand holes he stretched absently on the joker tattoo that spanned the upper part of his forearm. Pausing only whenever she had extended a french fry toward him. Happily he accepted, he wasn't one to refuse free and hopefully tasty food. If she did have her wand tucked away in her purse maybe he could talk her into getting rid of the towel for him, it was going to smell like rain water soon and he didn't want to bother it. Sliding it off of his shoulder and dropping it onto the bench at his side, he was more than content just to leave it where it lay. he could always replace it if needed.

“You look much better,” Shrugging he stuffed the fried goodness into his mouth, only tasting the intense salt that she had placed on it, he didn't mind. He had already preferred salt to sugar. "Whatever" he mumbled with his mouth full, and helped himself to a second fry. He didn't plan on taking too many, but they certainly tasted very good. Glancing over her shoulder to the stand he considered going and getting an order for himself but strangely enough the half bagel he had consumed before leaving her house had actually left him feeling slightly full. SO the few that he was going to steal from her felt like more than enough. As he took a few more drags off of his cigarette and the fries had started to settle in his stomach, it was a very pleasant feeling. He convinced himself he was only being more tolerant and kind to her because he had gotten the start of his fix of nicotine and thus he was impaired. Honestly, he did feel a little light headed since it had been so long since he had smoked, but it was a welcome change to the burning in his lungs. “You’ve got your cigarettes and new clothes. What else do you need to do for yourself today?” Glancing down at his feet he grimaced, he didn't fancy walking any great distances since he wasn't going to be caught dead in a pair of beach thongs. His boots were safely tucked away in her condo, his trainers in his suite. SO that was out, he assumed she was planning on including herself in whatever plans he was about to come up with given she was asking. She could have just led them on her own and made him tag along. But he very much liked that she was putting him in the position of power. Georgie had always planned everything for him, and always had shot down whatever plans he had come up with. It was refreshing. It was interesting to him how much he was starting to enjoy her company, how accustomed he was to romping around with her before bed time most nights of the week.

Choosing to finish his cigarette rather than steal another one of her fries he took a moment to think. Not about how he didn't have a boot to stomp out the cherry of his cigarette, that he would worry about later but what he wanted to do. The best option was to avoid anything with any sort of pavement. He hated that most beaches in Europe were covered in rocks rather than sand until you gout out at least thigh deep into the water. Given the storm he hoped they might have been washed away. Then again, he had never been to this particular beach before, it might have been wizard made, in which case they might be lucky enough to actually have sand. It seemed the best option for his feet at this moment. Taking one last very slow drag he used the bench they were sitting on to extinguish the butt and drop it to a crack in the ground. Nodding in the direction of the beach he figured it was best "Maybe hit the water?" He did know that he wasn't dressed for such an occasion but he also didn't much care. He could get his cloths wet and then just lose them again since he still had the towel, or he could make her dry him off, or convince her to lose her clothing along with him in some corner of the sand. Rising to his feet he extended a hand in her direction to help her up, once she stood he wasn't exactly sure why he did, but he put his arm around her shoulders, walking along with her. As he pedaled the two of them toward the water front he hoped he wasn't out of line, it just seemed like the right thing to do, and he couldn't very well retract his arm without causing the situation to rapidly become very awkward, so this was just going to have to do unless she removed it for him.

[Kaydence Morgan]

Kaydence was satisfied at the misery that seemed to be oozing from his pores. She hadn’t told him to pick out the clothing he had. He had to have known that she would have been surprised by what he had walked out of the shop in so if he even tried to give her any crap for that she was going to let him have it. Thankfully, he didn’t. Instead, he accepted the fry she had offered him and continued to puff on his cigarette. She had never seen the appeal of smoking with eating. Kaydence figured the tastes didn’t mix well together. The thought of it made her feel a bit nauseous. She didn’t even like kissing Ashton after he had finished one of the sticks. Of course she never said anything about it to him since she knew that was a battle she wouldn’t be able to win. Many times she had pictured what would go down if she had criticized his dirty habit. He wasn’t fond of her when she critiqued his clothing or disheveled appearance anyway. He’d probably snap if she said anything about his smoking. Now knowing what was behind the man when he lost it, Kaydence had used that as her ultimate reason to keep her opinions to herself on that at least. She figured he didn’t overly care about the clothing and appearance insults, probably because he was used to people saying something to him about it. Besides, he was already starting to get an idea of the person she was. If he didn’t like it, she wasn’t keeping him from going.

Her eyes were fixed on his hand as they continued to steal fries from her carton. How she hoped he didn’t take too many more. Kaydence hadn’t gotten a large size as it was. Taking an extra couple into her hand, she set to work on eating them as quickly as she could without looking like a pig. While in the midst of her eating and the silence that had fallen over both of them, she let her thoughts get the best of her. She enjoyed the comfort that had made it present. She couldn’t speak for him, but it was nice to not have the awkwardness lingering around like some plague. Sure, she was still pissed about the condo, but it had strangely begun to ebb away from being a priority. Now the only concern in Kaydence’s mind was what he was going to want to do with her while they were out here. He still owed her for the rejection earlier. Maybe he would lead them to some secluded location on the beach to make it up for her. Then again, that may not have been the best idea. Removing sand from tight spaces was the worst. She had been there done that. While it was romantic, she didn’t want to have to spend an hour in her shower making sure that she was completely cleansed. It didn’t really seem his style anyway. If she expected to be whisked off, then it would be to one of the shop’s dressing rooms like they had done weeks ago in one of the dress shops in Alzubra. He was classy. However, when she wanted it, Kaydence usually didn’t care where she was at.

”Maybe hit the water?” She responded by quirking an eyebrow as she finished chewing on the fry in her mouth. “Go swimming?” she asked slowly, once slowing the remainder of the fry. Kaydence wasn’t dressed to go swimming. He definitely wasn’t. She rolled her eyes between the tinted lenses of her glasses. At least he had the towel. The damn towel. She looked over at the damp fabric resting on the other side of him. The image of her embarrassment replayed in her mind. She wanted to say no, but wasn’t eager for the fighting between them to start up again. “That’s fine,” she agreed, finishing up the last bit of the fried goodness. After stealing one last fry, Kaydence had been relieved to see that Ashton had left well over a majority of the portion for her. That had been all she wanted. Smiling, she moved her hands to the side of her and wiped them off before using a napkin to rid her skin of the excess grease. Once satisfied that she had removed as much of the residue as she could, Kaydence took the hand he had offered to her and stood up, adjusting the strap of her purse higher onto her shoulder as she did so.

The feel of his arm draping over her shoulders caused her to look strangely at him through her lenses. He was always so full of surprises that she didn’t understand why she questioned anything he did. There was nothing forceful or playful in his touch. He looked to be, dare she say, at ease. Smirking, she turned her head forward and let his arm remain on her shoulders. Ashton was passing his comfort to her and she had no problem accepting. Sliding one hand into her pocket, she bit down on her lower lip. Out of habit, Kaydence wanted to follow suit. The last time she had tried to ease the tension though she had ultimately wound up with a huge carpet burn on her lower back. Glancing around, there were so many weapons at his disposal. The planks of wood looked like they could send some nasty splinters into her skin. He also could run her into one of the benches and bruise her shins. Even worse, if that monster really came out, Ashton could send her sailing over the wooden railing and onto the sand below. Kaydence hadn’t fallen down into the sand from such height before but she imagined that it would hurt pretty bad. It was so hard to fight the urge to keep her free arm to herself though. Plus he had made the first move by taking hold of her first. Sighing, she closed her eyes and side-stepped closer to him before placing her arm around his waist.

Nothing happened. Kaydence was still biting down on her lip as she opened her left eye to look at him. His face remained expressionless, but she could swear his lips had turned a little at the corner furthest from her. Opening her other eye, she decided to stare straight ahead. It didn’t feel like he was resisting any desire to berate her in front of everyone. Kaydence smiled. She wanted to learn her head on his shoulder; her height would make it easy, but decided against it. She didn’t want to push any luck he was giving her. When he had finally led them to the platform lowering down to the beach, she took the opportunity to push herself a little closer to him. It was a tight squeeze after all. They had finally reached the bottom of the walkway when their feet hit the sand. It was when she looked across the rippling tides that she remembered that they had forgotten the towel. Stopping them in their tracks, she turned her head to look at him. “We forgot the towel.” Turning her head in the opposite direction she tried to see if it was still on the bench they had left. Unfortunately for her, they were too far away to see it. Biting down on her lip again, Kaydence brought the hand that had been in her pocket up to her mouth and chewed anxiously on her thumb nail.

[Ashton Wentworth]

“Go swimming?” He nodded once as an answer to her, while it hadn't exactly been his first intention, it was possible. If she was going to whine about not having the right sort of attire for it, he could always just take her attire from her all together, then she could really talk about being embarrassed. Smiling at the thought of her waist deep in the water, holding onto her various lady bits as he stood on the shore smiling, the thought only got better whenever he pictured her face growing more and more frustrated with every growing second. A curt chuckle left his lips as the thought continued to expand. “That’s fine,” His fingers had begun to absently play with her purse strap as they walked, getting a feel for the weight of it. Women's purses always seemed to be more heavy than he expected them to be. They begun their walk in silence, wordlessly moving next to each other. He felt her hand slid into a familiar position on his waist. Not familiar in the sense that they had walked like this before, he had walked arm and arm like this with more than a couple women in his life time. Even though she had wordlessly agreed to becoming 'his' last night, even if she had done it thinking that he wouldn't remember, he did remember. To him, this really sealed the deal so she couldn't back out of it. He was glad that she didn't just reject him right off the bat by kicking out from his arms grasp, the whole day might have been spoiled if she had. He might have been forced to retreat up to his room and have a proper shower, wash the clothing that he had just bought a few dozen times so that it would have the proper feel. The jacket wasn't so bad, but the starch pants were going to be awful. He only had chosen the light color because he didn't want his legs becoming stained in indigo dye if he did happen to get wet once more.

He felt her body press closer to his as they passed the walkway and entered the beach. Ash was very happy to see sand not more than a few paces away. He could already feel the bits of sand under his toes that had been dragged up by both last nights storm and the thousands of feet that walked this very path on a daily basis. Sand could carry so far. His heart rate sped up until he felt her take a step back, it left a bit of a smile on his face, but he didn't want to appear too eager. Who knew, if he looked to happy, she might decide to test him again. Start pushing buttons that he really didn't need to have pushed again for a very long time. She was such a confusing women, first she would snuggle up next to him, lapping up all the attention and affection that he could spare for her, and the next she was tossing insults at him and lashing out. She might just be as bi polar as he was on top of her OCD. He sure knew how to pick them, first cancer girl and now this. He almost stumbled whenever there was a small dip down to the sand. Ashton found himself releasing an audible sigh.The feeling of sand on his feet was so much better than the torture of the rapidly heating pavement and cobble stone. The rain had all but stopped now and the sun was starting to heat things up. The water was coming off of all the buildings as steam. He normally hated days like this, he would rather be inside sleeping, or doing other equally relaxing things that were more worth his time. He didn't mull around aimlessly. He would even had locked himself in his room with some food and a book, which was the most guilty of all of his pleasures. Something that he didn't want anybody to know about him. He doubted that even Georgie had known about his affinity for the written word. He could pass off the dumb jock look with the best of them. He had a library placed in their house and had kept the door locked at all times, if she had ever broken in he had no idea what she would have said, and he knew that she would have said something if she had seen it. Given, he was enjoying his company, while he wouldn't verbalize it for her to hear, that would be giving her too much ammo to work with, but he would let his limited actions do the talking, if she looked into it then fine, but it not then he wasn't going to make it a big deal.

The water was slapping up against the shore, yet it wasn't as violent as he had been expecting. It was still high tide, but he was expecting more debris and stronger currents to be pushing the underside to the top. Maybe it had just seemed bad because they were indoors, he hadn't been watching the storm and he had managed to sleep through the bulk of it. He had just assumed that it was going to be bad given the damage that it had done to her living room. Maybe that was just karma in some form or another. Wiggling his toes to really let the sand cool them off he was glad that his foot hadn't been cut open, or else this would have stung a great deal. “We forgot the towel.” Sighing once more he had really been hoping that she wasn't going to notice that he had left it behind. He didn't want to carry the thing around anymore, it was heavy and was bound to start smelling. If he had been wearing it still that would have been one thing, but he was in proper clothing, all for her request and she was still going to find something to complain about. It was very tiresome. He wasn't exactly a glass half full sort of man either, he had been around the block enough times to not need to bother with it. Yet, he didn't feel the need to nit pick and pry. Allowing her to pull away from her he drew the line whenever she started to nibble at her fingers. It was just a damn towel, there were hundreds of more exactly like it. Unless it was some hand sewn towel that her mother had from her grandmothers cousin or some rubbish he didn't feel any sort of emotional attachment to it and she should not have either. He had absolutely no intention of going back for it. He also had no intention of letting her go back for it either. This obsession was going to get out of hand. How had he not noticed it before? Probably because he didn't keep her around during times that talking was required. Grasping her wrist firmly but not in an aggressive manor, he lowered it to where she was not going to be able to bite at her nails any longer unless she doubled in half. "I'm got going back for it" that was the truth he turned and took a couple more steps down the beach, dodging a few stray branches. Rotating his torso to look back at her his face clearly said 'lets go' he didn't want her to give in to her obsession, if somebody was crazy enough to steal a single towel without knowing where it had been then they needed it more than she did anyway. It was likely to still be there whenever they were done.

[Deleted]

(Sorry...its long....)

The week was finally over. After hours upon hours of watching keepers, beaters, chasers and seekers dart through the sky trying to impress him and the other Ministry scouts that had come to watch, it was over. Tristan had been sent to the Barberus Bragge Quidditch Pitch exactly a week earlier to scout talent for Austria’s national Quidditch team in the forthcoming Quidditch World Cup. The first several days had been torture. Anyone who showed any sign of potential mucked it up within a day or two. On more than one occasion, Tristan had seriously considered stealing the ref’s whistle and taking over. A bulk of the supposed talent made rookie mistakes left and right. From not being aware of their surroundings to frequently forgetting the rules for their own position, they all seemed hopeless. Plus the constant presences of their agents hanging all around him had been irritating. They always had something to say. ”No don’t watch him, watch mine!” “Hah! You see what that idiot did? My guy has never done that before, just watch and see how amazing he is!” Tristan had felt like he was surrounded by a group of children with all the ‘mines’ that were floating around. It had been enough to almost get him to the point of obliteration several nights after practices.

Miraculously, after the fourth day, it seemed like everyone had gotten a nice kick in the arse. The aerials were better, the ball movement and holding, the goal keeping, everything. Tristan hadn’t been able to understand it. It was like something magical had happened overnight that had changed people’s attitudes and performances for the better. In the end, they had five of the seven positions filled with ten names his department needed to go back over and discuss. They had also managed to successfully pick a coach, an assistant coach, an entire roster of back-ups and almost all secondary back-ups. Needless to say, things had ended on a much better note then they had started and Tristan was thankful for it. It had made his job infinitely easier. Debating with his superiors on the remaining star positions would be the hardest thing he would have to do. But even that didn’t seem like it’d be too difficult. He had the edge over every one of his superiors. With the exception of one imbecile who had been a reserve, Tristan was the only one with Quidditch playing experience and who knew the ins and outs of a Quidditch field. He strongly believed that his opinion needed to be highly regarded. And if they didn’t, well he was just going to have to send a strongly worded letter to Minister Raghnall informing him that he was not to blame with any disastrous results from the selected talent.

Besides the successful ending to the tryouts, Tristan had also been accepted for a condominium at Ilfracombe’s newest residence building. The condominiums were a modern work of art. Every room was different then the next and he had all the freedom in the world to adjust it to his liking. He felt it would be classier living here. Brixton Courts was not bad for the recent Galaxia graduate, but for a Ministry head and part-time Auror, it wasn’t cutting it anymore. If he was going to have to make a life for himself here then Tristan figured he needed to go all out. The condo was just the first step in fully easing himself into the Austrian social class ranking. He considered himself middle class, but was slowly working his way to upper middle. He made a decent living doing what he did. Nothing great, but he survived. Tristan had big plans for the end of the year though. He was determined to get himself promoted to full-time Auror status and have this bloody World Cup go off without a hitch. If it did there was a very nice bonus waiting for him. A bonus so good that he would be able to fill his new closet with top brand clothing items and apparel. He would also be able to purchase other goodies, but a newer wardrobe was the first thing in mind.

It was his last day of work in Ilfracombe. Practices had ended early due to the hard work the talent had put in all week. Tristan had finished up the last bit of his official paperwork and was scott-free of all business duties until returning back to the Ministry tomorrow morning. He had to sign the lease for his new place in a few hours, but until then the day was his. Realizing that he had been unable to take in the gym that Ilfracombe Resort had to offer, Tristan decided that catching up on his fitness routine would be the best stress reliever after such a long work week. He had walked down from his suite at the resort to the gym only to find it full of witches and wizards with the same idea. He knew it would be better to find something else to do and then come back a little later when it had died down. There had been a massive thunderstorm last night and the Waterfront in particular had been affected. Sand had been tossed and turned every which way causing a nearly quicksand like mixture. Running on the beach was a good workout, but with the sand in the condition that it was, Tristan knew he could get in a killer leg and calf workout in. He decided to head down to the beach to make use of his failed gym time. Even though it was starting to get sunny out and warm up again, he doubted the beach would be too full at this hour. Many were probably unsure of the ferocity of the water. Storms usually affected the island in a bad way when it came to high tides afterward. This way, he would be guaranteed a decent run without any real distractions.

Tristan reached the Waterfront in no time. As expected, there were a few tourists here and there, but not enough to have to dodge one every second or two. Sliding the hair band he used from his wrist Tristan put his short mane of hair up so it wouldn’t be in his eyes for the duration of his run. He glanced down at his watch and noted his time. His best time in a five mile run along the beach was 45 minutes. He was hoping to get it down to thirty five. As long as he kept up a steady pace he figured it wouldn’t be too much of a problem. Setting the timer on his watch, he began jogging as soon as the seconds started ticking away. The best way to have a successful workout was to jog on the sand for a few minutes and then sprint as fast as he could on the sand that the waves constantly rolled over, due to it being strangely firmer. He would repeat this several times for the best time possible. Tristan pumped his arms back and forth as he felt the adrenaline kicking in. There was nothing like a good run, nothing. Grinning, he jogged for a few more minutes before breaking out into a five minute sprint. Once he had finished, he raised his arms up and brought his hands to the back of his head to allow oxygen to flow freely through his respiratory system. Breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. Repetition was key to success. He had just begun to jog a little faster when two people off in the distance caught his eye.

Slowing down to a walk, he peered as best as he could to the two. They were still a bit further away, but the hair that needed to be badly brushed was unmistakable. One was Wentworth. A snarl formed from the corner of his lips. It would be just like the prat to show up and ruin his workout. He seemed far more interested in his companion, who looked female, but the thought of Wentworth being on the same sand as him made him ball his fist in rage. Tristan had only seen Wentworth once since the fight that had got them both suspended from work weeks ago. It had taken every ounce of strength he had then, like now, not to pummel the goblin-looking idiot in the face. He seemed to be pulling at the arm of his companion and Tristan couldn’t help but to move just a few feet closer to see if he could see the assumed woman’s face. And he did. He knew that look of conceit anywhere. What better way to add even more hatred to Wentworth then adding Kaydence Morgan into the picture? He had never got on with Kaydence. The two had been in separate houses, but the woman had been Head Girl for some ungodly reason in their seventh year. She had frequently belittled him in front of his house mates, mostly just because he was a Gryffindor. However, the insults got even worse after any Gryffindor vs. Slytherin game. Morgan constantly insulted his position, his skills and his looks on the field period. Tristan had been taken serious offense to her comments given that he was very proud of his Quidditch ability and his house. That had been the reason why he never liked the woman. Plus there was always something about her that was just off. She had been in Slytherin, so that had been a huge reason for her being off as it was, but he had a feeling there was something more. He liked to think he had a keen ability in judging one’s character and he was one hundred percent sure that Kaydence may have been involved in more than she let on. Then again, Tristan usually thought people were involved in more secretive business.

Tristan continued to walk, but slowed his pace even more. He was curious as to what the two were doing together, but didn’t want both to see him and ruin his day even more. Seeing the two of them together brought a strange feeling in his stomach. Not only because he hated the two and the crap they always seemed to give him whenever they saw him, but because they both gave him the feeling that they were up to no good. Kaydence somehow more than Ashton. Tristan recalled an instance back at school where he had seen Morgan in the courtyard with a bunch of her Slytherin hussies, including Centara Zealon. He distinctly remembered her rubbing at her forearm and gleaming at it. There had been nothing on it, but usually forearms had bode the Dark Mark. From then on, he had a sneaking suspicion that Morgan was somehow involved with the Dark Lord and his army of followers. He had never been able to prove it, like Ashton, but the feeling in his gut whenever he saw her never went away. The two of them together now made that feeling even more noticeable. It was highly possible that Morgan and Wentworth were in cahoots. The realization made Tristan’s eyes widen. This could quite possibly be the link he needed to show Rutherford that his pet was working for the Dark Lord. He knew that Morgan’s family-line had notable witches and wizards who had been arrested or had suspicions arouse of their involvement with the Dark Arts. Suddenly, he had made up his mind. Kaydence Morgan was absolutely a DeathEater and she was teaming up with Wentworth.

He wanted to run over to them, to call them out for their public appearance, but given the way the two were looking at each other he decided against it. Even from the distance he was at he could see the two looking at each other with affection? Tristan felt nauseous. Not only where the two in cahoots, but they were dating? He felt sick to his stomach, but also had a new sense of satisfaction emerge. This could be used to his advantage. Grinning a little too sadistically, Tristan turned on his heel and decided to go back to his suite at the resort. He needed to get a workout in, but it could wait. This new development would take precedence over that. He needed to get as much information on the Morgan family that he could, as well as seeing if anything for Wentworth actually existed. Kaydence Morgan was his key to getting to Wentworth and exposing him for the dirty rat Tristan knew he was. Now he just needed to do his research.

[Kaydence Morgan]

Kaydence doubted that it would be possible for Ashton to ever understand her. Of course she wasn’t helping much by not revealing anything about herself, but it was far too early in their relationship to go to that level. Besides, she knew damn well he had his own secrets about him and had no intention of telling her. Why should she be the one to open up instead of him? Kaydence felt like she had been the one most affected by the other since she had first met him. He had been so normal during their first meeting in the gym. He was even tolerable during their first romp in his suite. The elevator incident had been what ignited her suspicions. She still didn’t forget the name that he had given her. Georgina. Who the hell was she? Kaydence could have sworn she had heard the name somewhere before, but where was beyond her. Regardless, she had never been a fan of a man calling her by another woman’s name. Especially after meeting them for the first time. From there on, somehow, she was the only one exposing herself, at least that’s what it felt like. She genuinely believed that in all the scenarios they had found themselves in, she was the one letting him see some of the innerworkings of her life while she knew nothing about Ashton, besides the fact that he had a nasty temper and got off on trying to find ways to knock her off of her pedestal. Kaydence hated the fact that she had no power over him. He did what he wanted when he wanted and she was the one who had to abide by it.

It bothered her that he didn’t take her compulsion seriously. She failed to realize that he was actually trying to help her, but when Kaydence had her mind set on something, as she was proving now, she saw nothing but what it was that she wanted to see. All she wanted was some bit of sympathy. She couldn’t understand why he was refusing to just help her, even for a second. Bringing up her free hand to her forehead she took a deep breath to keep her emotions at bay. For someone who bothered her so much, she had no idea why she had accepted his offer to enter a casual dating thing. It was just that. Kaydence had no idea who she had agreed to be informal with. He seemed to be as bi-polar as she could be. When he was terrible, he was terrible. But when he was affectionate, Merlin was he. It wasn’t much, but she was at a point in her life where she didn’t need the lovey-dovey clinginess she needed when she was a teenager. The unnecessary brushing up against while walking past, the feel of skin touching hers with a simple caress or a simple chuckle because someone had thought something she did was cute. Those things were what really struck a chord with her now.

The way his fingers wrapped around her wrist was not aggressive, simply insistent. ”I’m not going back for it.” This was so damn irritating. Kaydence wanted to yell and scream, stomp her feet and throw a tantrum like a child. She wanted to push him off and storm back to the park bench to grab her towel, and then leave the Waterfront to go back home and clean her life away. She actually had to bite down on her tongue briefly to keep from opening her mouth. She was the spoiled little rich girl who couldn’t stand when things didn’t go her way, especially when someone was trying to get her to relax. She didn’t want to relax. She wanted to do just one thing she wanted to do without feeling like she was being scolded for the person she couldn’t help but to be. It wasn’t fair that she was being forced to do something she didn’t want to. Kaydence always had to put up a fight. She had been doing it for so long that it came naturally to her now. She had went to a store in Alzubra the other day and fought with a store clerk simply because the store didn’t have a dress she wanted in her size. It was relentless. It probably showed without her saying anything, but since leaving Austria so long ago, her mind had become a mess.

One thing that she was thankful for was that a majority of the time, her inner battles were contained. Unless she absolutely felt the need to expose them, Kaydence preferred them to stay hidden. It made her look less crazy. She would never in a million years admit that her mind had never fully recuperated after undergoing such trauma. It was fixable, but with time and effort. Until now, she had never really had any reason to seriously evaluate her sanity. The thought of actually being crazy depressed her. She was sure Ashton could sense the change in her posture and facial expressions. She had gone from worried to vacant. Her wrist was limp in his grasp and her steps zombie-like as they moved towards the water. She was glad she had chosen to wear sunglasses today. Not only to keep the rays from the sun out of her eyes, but because she didn’t feel like Ashton seeing the blank stare that came from beneath her lenses. She was absurd. Not willing to seek any sort of help or outlet to help her cope with what she thought she could handle on her own. They finally stopped inches away from the water met with the dry sand. Unsure of the reasoning for stopping, she decided to take the liberty of doing what she felt needed to be done to improve her state of mind.

Sliding her tiny wrist from his hold Kaydence stepped in front of him and brought both of her arms around his waist. She pushed her body closer to his and locked her hands together behind his back. Looking up, she smiled at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see people walking past, a built jogger walking down a ways from them and then turning to run back in the direction he had come from and beachgoers enjoying the raising temperature of the water. Each one of them oblivious to anything except for whatever it was that they were doing. Slowly, Kaydence was starting to feel that way as she continued to look into Ashton’s eyes. Her sunglasses were still on, but she made no move to remove them. She didn’t want him to see that the blank stare had turned into something else. Admiration perhaps. Merlin she really was crazy. There was no other explanation to this constant pull to a stranger. Raising herself up to his level, which only caused her to stand a bit taller since she was close as it was to his 6’2 frame, Kaydence angled her head a bit to the right and captured his lips with her own. The passion in her kiss was evident, but not enough for him to assume that she wanted to bring him down to the sand and ravish him. She just needed to get it out of her system. Though she couldn’t deny the feelings that overcame her every time their lips met. They were familiar, odd, anxiety-filled, but something that she couldn’t explain. Instead, she resisted the urge to question them and bring them out in the open. Now was not the time for her to get caught up in them.

Kaydence ended the kiss and lowered herself back ground. Once her heels rested firmly on the sand she laid her head in the small cave of his neck and looked out over the water. “Fine,” she said, after minutes of silence, “but you have to buy me another.”

[Ashton Wentworth]

Ashton had found himself at a crossroads a long time ago. He was torn between wanting to cut himself off from the world all together, and opening up and letting some lucky person in. He was so tired of people not understanding, yes, he was a jerk and he knew that but he had his reasons. He wanted somebody, anybody to understand him. Not even his wife had fully gotten it. The few people that he considered family couldn't even stand him long enough to stick around. Warren had moved to London, and never looked back. They had seen each other maybe once since long before he had graduated from Galaxia. He didn't even know what Grace had gotten herself into, maybe she had moved back to be with Warren, they deserved to be happy, even if Ashton didn't want them to be. He loathed watching other peoples happiness, it just reminded him how alone he was. It was a tiring business, being so damned angry all the time. He knew that he was a victim of circumstance, but enough was enough. He knew, within his heart of hearts that if he could manage to vent the shutters in his life, somebody could worm themselves in and he could, and wanted to make them happy. He had yet to find anybody to want to put forth the effort that it would take. Merlin he knew that it was going to be one hell of a fight. Georgie had tried, she had wanted so bad to be the only thing that he thought of, and he had done things for her that he had never done for anybody else in his life, and he wasn't likely to do again if he didn't have to. He had been with her, stood by her in sickness and in health, even if he did complain every step of the way. It was asking a lot of people to look past his flaws, and he wasn't often willing to do the same if the situations were reversed. He had the capacity to care, he just lacked the motivation.

For ever word that he said, a million more were running behind his lips. He didn't say much but whenever he did he tried his best to make them count. He wanted to be a better person, he just didn't know how. Probably the only man in existence with Daddy issues. He was far more intelligent than he let on, he liked to watch, he noticed things better that way. Sure, his anger often took the drivers seat. He almost never meant a word that said whenever he was angry. He didn't like to live in the past, he didn't like to look back. He used all the energy in his body at any given moment to keep it from boiling over and swallowing him whole, he focused on the present. If only, he could find somebody willing to overlook all of that, and be patient with him. Maybe then he could love somebody again. He was trying. It appeared that he wasn't the only one working hard today. He watched in silence as she brought her arms up in frustration. It was an adorable nervous tick. The sand on his feet was soothing, it helped to keep him from becoming angry that she was questioning him. She wanted to make him go get it, that much was obvious. But, apart from cursing him to do it, she was going to find out that it was going to be very difficult for her to force him. She was only a fraction of his size, there was no way on earth that she was going to push him over there. Whenever she accepted to follow his lead he moved them away, softly letting go of her wrist with caution. Ready to grab it again lest she attempt to bolt in the wrong direction, though she really was wearing the wrong shoes to make any sort of speedy get away in the sand. It seemed to all but drop to her side, like the life had gone out of her. It was strange having her not put up a fight, he wasn't quiet sure that he even liked it. His face was puzzled, that much was obvious, staring into the sunglasses he attempted to see past the tinted lenses but the sun that was rapidly coming out was in his way and a glare was bouncing off the rims of her frames. Nervously he reached into his pockets, wanting to smoke again but trying to refrain. Grasping instead onto the lining of his jacket pocket he pulled at the small fibers inside, making a small ball of cloth on the inside of the pocket.

He hardly noticed whenever her small body moved closer to his until he felt her on his chest. His eyes widened, his stomach tensed. His arms had moved out to the sides, hovering over her body, he wasn't sure what to do. They weren't in the cover of darkness anymore, they were exposed. There were people walking up and down the beach. A man jogging away in the direction of the resort, a couple and their small child taking tiny wobbly steps toward the wet sand with caution. Why anybody would bring a child to the beach on a day like this he wasn't sure. There was a twang of sorrow in his chest as the people were replaced by him and his tiny family, memories of him an Georgina on this very beach more than once. The day that the waves had stolen her wig stood out the most. He could remember jinxing his hair away in the changing tent that day, as an act of solidarity. She had been so furious, whenever he had thought that she was going to be happy that he had become as bald as she was. Instead she was pissed that he lost the hair that she loved to touch. He had tried convincing her that it was just hair, it would grow back if she just gave it time. She had become even more angry whenever he had burst out laughing and dragged her out of the tent, attempting to make her believe that nobody cared, and that the way her body had looked in that bikini was more than enough of a distraction from her head. The memory brought a smile to his lips, she had given him hell for the next few months until he got a good fuzz back on his head, he just thought that the whole situation was more than funny. Glancing down at the long flowing locks of the woman clinging to him he slowly lowered his arms against her body, holding her warmth closer to him. He allowed himself to be pulled into her kiss, closing her eyes and attempting once more to squash the memory of Georgie for good. He couldn't help but feel guilty, kissing another woman while thinking about her. It just wasn't fair to her memory or fair to Kaydence. Who know doubt would box him if she knew. As his eyes opened again, Georgie was gone, put back into the small box in his mind that she loved to break open so often.

As she lowered her head to his neck, her free hair began to blow around on his skin, bringing his hand up he attempted to push it back into place, using a finger to tuck it behind her ear. "Fine, But you have to buy me another" His small smile stretched further toward his ears, it was odd how calm he felt in this moment. The birds starting to caw and circle the water. The water starting to come in harder, sending spray up against their feet and gathering in the hem of his new pants. He could feel her breathing against his own chest, feel her her breath on his exposed skin, even in the heat. It was nice, feeling the world start to fade away, just letting himself feel. Not something that he really wanted to get used to just yet, but for now it was alright he guessed. "I figured as much" he breathed in response to her comment. Maybe he would get to save a few coins if it was still there whenever they decided to head back up to whenever they were going to go next. He watched over her head as a few people started to throw a Frisbee around to each other, others were collecting sticks. No doubt wanting to collect for a bonfire once night fall came. It was a good enough idea if the company was good. He could hear a small hum of more people starting to gather on the strip behind them. He wondered how he looked to other people, did they look like a happy couple enjoying the morning together? Did they look like friends who were going through tough times? He doubted very much that he looked like what they really were, whatever label could be used to describe them accurately. Lowering his chin to rest atop of her head he sighed, and allowed his eyes to close for just a moment, when did she start feeling so comfortable with him? Just a week ago she had called him up asking to join him for the evening, he had no idea what she had wanted but he had barely managed to say hello before she had jumped him. Not that he had minded, but as soon as it was over she gathered her coat and tossed it on, all but running out of the room. No time for him to say goodbye either, not that he had minded of course.However, he never would have pictured them like this, standing on the beach, getting sprayed by water every few seconds. It was just such a strange feeling, given the circumstances. He had only learned her last name yesterday, and the briefest of histories.

What if this was really only supposed to last the weekend? Who was he to keep her from other prospects? He wasn't good for anybody, he wasn't willing to put in the effort to figure her out, not yet anyway. He was just being selfish, dominating her time like this. She hadn't given him any signs before this weekend that she had wanted anything else to do with him, he had just assumed and like always, pushed her into agreeing with something that he had no clue if she really wanted. She never really had answered him after all. Lifting his head again and returning to his full height he looked down at the crown of her head, confused. He didn't want to drag people into anything that they didn't want, but then again she was the one holding him, couldn't that be classified as taking things to the 'next' level? Maybe, subconsciously, he was working his way into her in ways other than what he had been expecting. That thought alone scared him more than anything else. Taking a step back away from her out of fear and impulse he gazed out over the water for a moment, hoping to Merlin that she didn't think that there was anything fueling his motioned, although if she had learned anything about him then she should know by now he had a reason for just about everything that he did. He didn't want her to see the look on his face, bringing his hand up to his brow to shield his eyes from the sun the water was starting to look vibrant and beautiful again, he was such a sucker for beautiful things. Looking back at Kaydence he smiled, giving her a coy wink before sliding his arm back around her waist and walking with her down the water line a few paces in silence. He didn't know what to say other than to bring up the towel or apartment again, but she was doing so well that he didn't want to ruin it for her. If he could be her distraction, then so be it. At least he would be doing something good this weekend. Kicking the sand away from him as he walked, he could feel it creeping up the insides of his wet hem and in between his toes. Passing a few couples as they went they grew closer to the resort and he pulled her a fraction closer.

[Kaydence Morgan]

If there was something that could be learnt from all of this, it was that Kaydence’s weakness for men was apparent. To her at least. No matter how much of a tough persona she tried to give off, she was a sucker for them. Her biggest problem was that she fell far too easily. She was never worse to the point of being a stalker, but she did tend to make herself vulnerable quicker. Her heart frequently got the best of her. Kaydence had started dating Evan along those lines. They had gone out on a date, slept together and then decided to start dating. They had known each other long enough during their school years, but not to the point of agreeing to date after one adventurous night together. Kaydence didn’t know how to play cat and mouse. To be honest, Ashton was the first man that she had been acquainted with for more than a few weeks before agreeing to be in whatever sort of relationship this was that they were in. They had slept together, often, but nothing serious had come from it at first. He had bloody kicked her out of his room all the time. Nothing had ever been exposed before this weekend. Although she obviously wouldn’t tell him, Ashton had plagued Kaydence’s thoughts more often than she would have thought possible. The last time a man had affected her this much had been Evan and that was well over three years ago now.

In the short time they had known each other, she had already allowed herself to do naughty things with him in public, forced him to buy her things, even if they were only replacements, allowed him to spend the weekend at her condo which was a dangerous thing in these times, mostly because Kaydence trusted no one, but that was not even the part that made her most weary. The part that scared her the most was how she was feeling so at ease with him during certain moments, like now. The battle that was raging on inside of him was apparent. She had been there, done that and knew how risky it was to allow herself to get caught up in someone like that. With every one of his pushes, she only seemed to find herself more appealed to him. It was a dangerous combination. He was accepting her advances now, but Kaydence was still aware that it was very possible he would find a way to force himself from out of her arms. And she would be upset, but back in his arms a few minutes. That’s what he got for being interested, if that’s what she could even call it, in a mentally unstable woman. Kaydence hated being this way. She yearned for the ability to play hard to get and genuinely have a man work for her heart. If so many of them had actually realized how hooked she had been from the get go, she wondered how many of them she would have actually wound up dating.

It probably didn’t help matters either that Kaydence was all by herself in Austria now. She didn’t have any contact with supposed friends or a family to lean on. She had no mother that listened to her troubles and offered the type of relationship advice that only a mother could. It was sad that she had no one there for her. No one to console her with her feelings towards Ashton. She hated that he was her only source of comfort here when she wasn’t even sure if he wanted the same. With his constant indecisiveness, Kaydence didn’t even know if he was mentally ready for a relationship himself. She was a believer in things happening for a reason. There had to be some warrant for why they found themselves together now. She strongly believed that they were supposed to be here, there had to be given that they clashed so often yet still remained on speaking terms and had no agreed to enter an informal relationship with the other. No way was it possible that she had been led to him out of pure chance. The baggage she held from him was not for the weak-minded. Whatever he had going on within himself could have possibly been as dramatic as hers. Kaydence’s suspicion that all would be revealed in time was a strong one. Unless she found someone else. Ashton wasn’t aware of what he would get himself into. Besides the events causing her to leave Austria, her brother was never far from her mind. How Evan had managed to stay with her for so long with all the crap Darren had given him was unbelievable to her. Though she had no intention on informing Ashton of her bloodline, Darren being aware of his presence would guarantee a severe and potentially violent reaction for him. He didn’t deserve that.

She wanted to tell him to leave, but the way his chin rested on her head just felt right. Being involved with her was dangerous. Kaydence could guarantee that he had never been with a woman who could threaten his very life. It was so selfish of her to allow any of this to proceed. If he ever caught wind of what dark secrets she hid away from the world, he’d be furious. It would be the right, and best, thing for her to do to leave him standing on the beach watching her retreating back. Ashton may have been such an asshole at times, but was it enough cause to put a target on him? It wasn’t. As he pulled away from her Kaydence was too conflicted to look up at him. Had he heard her thoughts? In a way, she hoped he had. That would make things easier and would end things faster. She could handle a verbal lashing if it was going to save his life. But no words came. She bit down on her lip and looked up at him. He seemed distracted, but wasn’t walking away. It was strange that his lack of movement was giving her peace. Crossing her arms, she followed his gaze to the water. The sun was hitting the water in a way that looked as if thousands of diamonds were shining across the top of its rippling waves. Way out in the distance, she could see figures coming up and then back down into the water. It looked undoubtedly to be dolphins that were famous for inhabiting the island. They never came close to the shore, but they always made their presence known. Kaydence had seen them several times from her balcony. She could watch them swim around in the water for hours, looking to not have a care in the world except for taking care of the ones around them. Watching them had often brought thoughts of her unborn child to her mind and how things would be so different if she had someone to care for.

His hand found its way back around her waist and she gave him a small smile. Kaydence kept her arms crossed. Too many emotions were running rapidly in her mind all of a sudden for her to give him the attention she wanted to. Instead, she allowed herself to remain close to him, leaning her head lightly on his shoulder as they continued to walk, hoping it would be enough to satisfy him. They had been walking for a few minutes when something white caught the corner of her eye. Looking to the right, she saw something moving several feet ahead of them. Kaydence lifted her frames from her eyes to get a closer look. It was a dog. And the poor thing looked filthy. “I think there’s a dog over there,” she commented, nodding her head in the direction of the animal. It had been a long time since she had any sort of pet, but she had always had affection for animals. Probably due in strong part to the fact that they were the only things in this world that couldn’t harm her. She kept her eyes fixated on the dirty dog, watching it as it kept its nose to the ground, searching for something. There was something about it that kept her drawn to its every move. From this distance, it was hard to tell, but it didn’t look like there was any sort of shine or color coming from its neck. His arm dropped from her waist as she moved forward in direction of the creature. As she approached, the dog finally noticed her and slowly started taking the steps away from her. Kaydence felt her heart begin to melt. The thing looked so pitiful and so scared that all she wanted to do was reassure it that she meant it no harm. Getting down on her knees, she patted at her lap. “Come here boy.” She had no idea if it was male or female but hoped it would respond regardless.

The animal stared at her as if examining her. “It’s okay,” Kaydence coaxed, smiling as she continued to pat at her legs. “I won’t hurt you.” It inched closer slowly. “That’s it. Come here.” The dog kept advancing cautiously. It was so cute and so childlike that she completely disregarded the dirt that clung to its fur. When the dog was a few inches away from her Kaydence leaned forward and extended her hand, allowing the dog to sniff at it to sense that she meant no harm. Its cold nose found her palm and began to study it. Grinning, she waited patiently. If she made any sudden movements, the dog would either run away or bite her hand. Not wanting to make a trip to Everdines, she kept it as steady as she could. She suddenly felt the dog’s wet tongue lap at her hand and she laughed. It must have smelled the fries that she had eaten early. Kaydence carefully brought her other hand forward to begin petting it. It recoiled slightly, and she stopped, but once it began licking at her hand again, it permitted her to pet it. Strands of its fur were stuck together causing pieces of it to stiffen. Instantly, she knew that the poor thing hadn’t just wandered off from its owners. It had to have been a stray, making it even riskier for her to be so close to it, but she felt a connection to it.

As she began to rub at its neck, the dog sensed the same and moved closer to her. Kaydence laughed and let her hand move down its spine. “That’s a good dog,” she cooed. The animal moved so its side was pushing into her body as if asking her to continue rubbing at the spot she was. Laughing, she obeyed, oblivious to the sound of sand particles flying through the air as feet walked towards her. She had completely forgotten about her company.

[Ashton Wentworth]

A part of him wanted nothing more than to just push Georgie and his marriage out of his mind and out of his heart as quickly as he could. Never look back if he didn’t have to and never deal with the pain and sorrow locked within his chest. He wanted to replace the memories of carrying Georgie’s small body down to the water and kissing her bald head before tossing her into the water, the memories were sepia tainted as they played again in his mind, like the replay of a weathered film strip, Huddling with her in the dressing tents, attempting to convince her that he still thought that she was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen. He didn’t want to think about them, he didn’t want to even remember their existence because it caused his chest to heave and his vision to swim. He wanted this memory, of walking down the shoreline with Kaydence to dominate his mind. He wanted nothing more than to erase exactly what was causing him to stay silent as they walked. Yet, he knew that if he did he wouldn’t have ever been in this position with her. Fate was a cruel mistress. It was far too difficult to wrap his head around whether or not he really wanted to miss out on the firecracker that was Kaydence just so that he could either bring Georgie back, or be living in a bar, drinking his body weight in ounces every evening. He was glad that Kaydence wasn’t looking into his face anymore, grateful that she seemed to be taking in the view of the ocean as he was, his eyes looking far past the water into something that he didn’t know. He found himself wondering whether or not she would give a damn if she knew the significance of his arm wrapped around her shoulders, it wasn’t even recognized by him yet how important it was that he was pulling her body close to his. Walking with her like this might back been a common occurrences in his youth, but over the past five years or so it was not common at all. From the day that he had been dating Georgie he had snuck a string of girls in and out of his apartment, but on the surface he had only been with her, he knew that she had her little snacks on the side as well, he had even been forced to live with the gloating face of the most common of them. The day that he had been married and ever since then, he had only held one woman like this, most of them had gotten the boot like she was very used to by now. No doubt she was confused by his behavior, and was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. He couldn’t blame her if she was. Yet, he knew that there was no way they could ever go back. From here it was go big or go home.

He hoped that she didn’t regret the choice come next weekend, he knew that tomorrow morning he was going to wake up, put his cloths on and trudge his way into work, deal with his boss, hopefully pick up an assignment or two and be on his merry way for the most of the week. He might be able to stop in at her abode a few times, but she had no way of knowing that it was going to be his schedule keeping him away. They hadn’t ever talked about work and this day didn’t seem like it was a good time to bring it up. Before now, he didn’t have to check in with her, or have any reason to explain why he wasn’t calling her on a daily basis. He just came and went, just as she did whenever it was convenient for them. Or so he wanted her to believe, he didn’t want to let on to her that the few nights a week that he was home before midnight he had called her, ready with liquor or room service to have her keep him warm for a few hours. He had a feeling that letting her know a thing like that might come off as clingy, and he was the farthest thing from it. She was just better company than he was willing to admit. He knew that he was not ready for a relationship; he knew that he was bad for her and he knew without a doubt that he was going to hurt her. Yet, he had a feeling that was exactly where they were heading. He had no intentions of stopping them, from wherever they were going. Caution had never stopped him before and it logic wasn’t going to stop him now. He just hoped that the collateral damage wasn’t going to be too bad. He wanted her to be strong enough to handle him, to handle the hurt that he was inevitably going to cause her, to have the mental capacity to handle his baggage whenever she found it out, it was going to happen, and he just knew it. While he could prolong it for as long as he possibly could the way that she had rested her head on his chest not long ago, the way that she had looked at him last night, clung to him this morning as he woke up, she was hooked. He was a fool to think that he wasn’t.

He wasn’t aware of how long they had been walking, his mind had been lost in thought, he did notice whenever she tore away from his body toward something else. Stuffing his hands into his pockets he pulled out a cigarette and lit it, hands shaking. He was grateful that she wasn’t looking at him, clenching and unclenching his fists he willed the shaking to stop. Yet they wouldn’t, the realization that he had genuine feelings for the woman racing toward something in the debris from last night was too strong. “I think there’s a dog over there,” He didn’t go with her, Georgie had forced him to put up with her three cats their entire relationship, they had been horrible creatures. He was not fond of animals; they smelt and couldn’t use a toilet. They had to eat and cost money, not to mention the shedding where the fur stuck to everything. He had an owl during his school years just for the purpose of mail. He still had it somewhere, it tended to follow him wherever he chose to move to, but it was a free animal and it knew it. They just had mutual respect, and were convenient to one another, Ashton normally had extra food that he never managed to dispose of properly, thus giving the animal food, and whenever he had a letter that needed to be delivered, the creature was there for that. He didn’t own a bird cage, and the animal didn’t live in the house with him. He could hardly take care of himself on a daily basis, much less care for anything else. His feet stood firmly planted in the sand where he stood as she made her way away from him toward the lump. “Come here boy.” He watched as she knelt to summon the thing, so she was an animal person. Just great. That put the kibosh on them ever cohabitating for prolonged periods. The thing was filthy, who knew how long it had been outside, it was likely just a diseased stray. Yet, somehow she didn’t seem to care that her legs were becoming covered in sand, or that the dog was covered in mud. If her apartment was even the least bit out of order, she had a meltdown, but a living thing that was home to who knows what kind of parasites? Sure, no problem. Rolling his eyes as he indulged in his cigarette slowly, letting the smoke fill his lungs and calm him down. He was grateful for the distraction that the dog provided, but he didn’t want to stay in his company for any long time. “It’s okay,” He heard her calling and he wanted to say something, about how much of a hypocrite she was, and that her apartment was dirty enough, she didn’t need to add to it. Then again, so long as she didn’t want to take the damned thing home it shouldn’t be a big deal. He just didn’t want to deal with it.
He was astounded whenever the thing actually started to move closer to her, inching its dirty body closer to her clean clothing. He couldn’t help but smirk, the towel would have been useful after all. Now she was going to get herself filthy just because she couldn’t resist a damned dog. . “I won’t hurt you. That’s it. Come here.” Whenever the thing started to lick her hand he couldn’t stop his face from crinkling, he forced himself to take a step closer to her so that he wouldn’t be shouting across the beach “Kaydence, come on” he urged, wanting her to move away from the thing, but she was laughing and petting the thing like it was the most amazing thing in the world. She didn’t often get that enthusiastic about him, in any situation, yet the little flea bag had already wormed its way into her affection. “That’s a good dog,” His disgust was apparent. He moved a few steps closer to her, the sand shuffling around the hem of his pants. He didn’t care if he started the thing and it started to run off, the father away they got from the dog the better as far as he was concerned. Whenever the thing flopped against her body he rolled his eyes again “Kaydence, you have no idea where that thing has been” It was like his words were falling on deaf ears and he didn’t like being ignored “It probably has mange” which would just be the icing on the cake “Or Fleas” He sighed, flicking the butt of his cigarette at the dog in an attempt to scare the thing off and get her attention. “Or worms, it’s disgusting” he commented, if he was even the least bit dirty she fussed, if he left a dish out she couldn’t not wash it. How was the dog any different?

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[Kaydence Morgan]

There was nothing in the dog’s movements that made Kaydence feel as if it would do harm to her. Actually, it was doing otherwise. She could tell that it was enjoying the attention that she was giving it. The closer it pushed itself into her, the more secure it felt. It was strange to see how quickly the animal was attaching itself to her. Even more so that she was returning as much of the affection as it was bestowing upon her. The smile on her face was genuine as she continued tangling her fingers within its dirty fur. Its filth hadn’t even fazed her, which was amazing since it was rubbing off a lot of the grime onto her clean clothing. Kaydence laughed as it licked at her hand and then rubbed the top of its head against it. “Aww, you’re precious,” she cooed to it, wrinkling her nose as she stroked it with even more affection. ”Kaydence, come on.” Ashton’s voice faded into the noise of the background. There were more pressing matters at hand then his impatience. There was a filthy, but loving animal who was all alone wandering around the beach. The small whines that came from its throat indicated that it was hungry. The poor thing had to have been starving if it was out here the whole night. Her pity for the creature grew even more. Tilting her head to the side she examined it. There was no collar, nor any sign that one had recently been removed. It appeared healthy; a little thin, but able to walk without any problems. It had probably fed itself from the garbage bins outside of the Boardwalk.

Ashton appeared at her side a few seconds after calling to her. It was amazing how much distance he had covered so quickly. ”Kaydence, you have no idea where that thing has been.” At his words, the dog growled at him and barked. Glaring at him, she put her arm around it as if preventing it from attacking. “You hurt his feelings,” she said defensively. Looking back to the dog, she patted its side to offer comfort. ”It probably has mange. Or fleas.” The dog growled deeper as did Kaydence’s glare. His insults were irritating and she had already heard enough the past few weeks. The dog had done nothing to him. Its reactions were natural due to the negative aura surrounding Ashton. It couldn’t be blamed at all for being defensive. Still, he did have a point. She had been too gaga over the animal to take into consideration what might be lingering on its body. Taking her gaze away from Ashton she quickly studied its frame. After a minute or two, she was able to determine that besides it being dirty and in need of a bath, there were no odd bumps or small black things crawling over the strands of fur. “Nope,” she said with a smug, “just needs a bath.” Kaydence couldn’t fathom why he seemed so unhappy with the sudden appearance of the dog. Already, the creature had showed her more undivided attention and craving for some of her own then he had since she had first met him weeks ago.

She gasped as the butt of his cigarette was flicked at the dog. Instead of it backing away and whimpering, it took Kaydence’s weight to prevent it from lunging at Ashton. “Seriously?” she yelled over the barks of irritation. “Do you really think that was necessary?!”She wanted to smack the look of disgust off of his face. ”Or worms, it’s disgusting.” His ability to alter her moods was uncanny. He could make her go from content to angry to content again to livid in a matter of seconds. Before him, Evan had been the only one with such an unfortunate gift. But even he hadn’t been as talented as the man standing above her. He loved to thrive on negativity. Kaydence couldn’t understand it. It was like he intentionally found ways to be antagonistic. Furrowing her brows she cradled the dog closer to her. Its body was still vibrating from the growls it was continuing to emit towards Ashton. The look on his face had worsened, clearly frustrated with her irritation at his response to the two of them. She wondered if there was anything that could truly make him happy. From this weekend, it appeared that the darkness and her being asleep were the only things that could. If he was bothered by the amount of attention that she was giving to the creature, then that was just silly. He had gotten every ounce of it for the past two days. It wouldn’t kill him for her to break away for an hour or two to take care of something clearly more badly off than the two of them.

Standing up, Kaydence wiped the excess dirt from her knees. The dog took the initiative to move closer to her until its hind paws were nearly on top of her feet. She smirked at its guarding. She had known that there was a reason for why the dog had captured her attention so quickly and how it had held on to it. Fate had brought her to the animal. Like her, the dog had been alone, searching for a way to make it on its own. She looked down at the dog and couldn’t help but to admire it. She had no clue as to how long it had been out here, but judging by the state of it, it had been out here for awhile. Kaydence had always been an animal person. Not to the extent of being a crazy cat lady or taking in every stray she found, but she always felt at ease having an animal under her care. She enjoyed being needed and having the responsibilities to shelter, feed, clean and entertain it. She may have been a cruel and selfish person, but when it came to animals she was a completely different person as Ashton was sure to be seeing. Being unable to take care of something that she produced, Kaydence felt she could provide for something she didn’t. There was no doubt in her mind that she would have an unconditional love for the dog and every single bit of it would be given right back to her. The lack of stability in her life and whatever this relationship was that she had agreed to was unwavering, but at least she could have something to fall back onto.

There were plenty of words that she could say. So many that would set him off and potentially earn the dog a swift kick to the ribs. Not wanting to hear him rant or pull the dog off of a limb for kicking it, Kaydence said nothing, instead rubbing at the dog’s neck. “Well, I suppose another thing that you should know about me is that I am a very protective woman, especially when it comes to an animal.” Patting at her leg, she began to walk in direction of the condominiums, the dog following close behind her. She had every intention of taking it back to the condo with her to give it plenty of tender love and care. It looked like it needed it. She knew that she could have bought it something from one of the beach-side stands, but the dog only deserved the best and the food in her home was the best. Ashton was surely not going to be pleased by the sudden change of events, especially when he found out her fridge would be involved, but she had by no means asked him to follow suit. As the dog caught up to her, she looked back and saw Ashton still standing there in bewilderment. Good. It was time for him to finally get a taste of everything she had been experiencing with him for their time together this weekend. Kaydence turned her gaze back to the dog and grinned at it, bending over to knead behind its ears. “I think I’m going to call you Luka,” she told it. Luka panted happily in approval. She could already tell the two were going to have a wonderful relationship, which was weary of being used to describe hers with Ashton.

The wind kicked up around her, causing her to hold down to stray pieces of hair that were being knocked about. Turning around, she saw that Ashton was still standing there. They were too far away to see the look on his face, but Kaydence was sure that nothing had changed. “I’m not forcing you to do anything!” she yelled at him, shielding her eyes from wisps of hair still blowing. “If you want your freedom, you got it.” She wasn’t trying to push him off, but she felt her time for payback had finally arrived. He would have to be the conflicted one. Smirking, she shrugged her shoulders and turned back to continue walking towards her condo. She hoped he would follow even though she was still bothered by his lack of respect towards her new dog. She wasn’t worried for Luka in the slightest, given that the dog hadn’t taken too kindly to him either. Kaydence was more interested in seeing how the two would interact with each other in such close quarters. Even more, she wanted to see how far the two would go in trying to take her attention away from the other. It had been awhile since she had been put in the middle of two living thing’s affection and it was safe to say that she missed it.

[Ashton Wentworth]

The second he had flicked the butt of his cigarette in the direction of the dog Kaydence had changed. He had been under the impression that they were actually having a nice day together, he had been nothing but kind to her all day and now she was treating him like some horrible axe murderer. Merlin he hated animals, and he hated animal people. He couldn’t believe that Kaydence was one of them, whenever it came to their little furry things they were so defensive. There was nothing worse than those who thought of them as their ‘children’ he hoped that she wasn’t one of those as well. He could understand people being lonely, but he was here with her, what could she possibly have to be lonely about? He thought that he had made it fairly obvious that he was going to be sticking around for a while, and that he wanted to be with her? Apparently, he was nothing more than chopped liver. The mutt was growling at him, that should have been more than enough of a sign that he wasn’t to be trusted, he was her, well, whatever he was. She should be taking his side not defending some infested overgrown rodent that she had known for all of five seconds. His eyes narrowed at the same time hers did. Why couldn’t she just do one thing to make him happy? He had spent all damned weekend with her, he had bought new cloths at her request and yet, all of that seemed to mean nothing to her now that some little furry lump was in the picture. If she insisted on keeping him that was exactly what he was going to call him from this moment on, Lump.

He watched helpless as the thing moved to stand in front of her, its own little way of keeping Ashton away. He was very used to territory displays; he had been on both ends of them many times, but not from animals. Who the hell did little Lump think that he was? Ashton had been around for weeks now, there was no way that he was going to let some little butt sniffer come into the picture and take away whatever he had spent all weekend building. He gazed at Kaydence’s resolute face with bewilderment. Was she seriously choosing a filthy animal over him? His eyes widened as she set her hips. Throwing his arms up in the air he turned away from her, he wasn’t going to deal with her if she was going to talk like a crazy person. “Well, I suppose another thing that you should know about me is that I am a very protective woman, especially when it comes to an animal.” Laughing darkly he turned back to look at her “An animal that you know nothing about and just found hiding on a beach” he stated, she owed nothing to this dog, it wasn’t some family pet that he was allergic to so she was forced to choose, it wasn’t an animal that she had raised. It was some random dog. “Seriously Kay?” he shortened her name for the first time, pleading. He got his answer whenever she turned to leave him and head back toward her home with the lump following close by, stuffing his hands into his pants pockets he stood waiting, hoping that by holding his ground she would realize how crazy this all was, yet she didn’t even seem to care. She was content living in her crazy person land. “I’m not forcing you to do anything!” That was true, she wasn’t forcing him, just making it overly obvious what she wanted him to do, and that was shove off so she could be alone with the lump.

“If you want your freedom, you got it She was seriously leaving him? The weight of her words was unknown, was she telling him to get out of her life for good? Did she really only have room in her life for one man, human or canine? His face darkened, kicking at the sand he turned away from her. The wind was starting to pick up, zipping his jacket closed he wished he had socks just so that he didn’t have to deal with the only part of him being exposed was his feet. As he watched her retreating back he said goodbye to any chance of beach sex, or a good rest of the day. Suddenly the thought of work in the morning was a very welcome change, he knew that there was no way he could have expected to spend a whole weekend with a woman and have it be a good experience. She was more deranged than he had originally expected. Turning his back to the wind he pulled out another cigarette and watched as the tip turned red, sliding his lighter back into his pocket he pulled the hood up and over his head. Shaking his head in disbelief as he watched her turn the steps toward her condo, she didn’t even seem to care that he wasn’t following her, didn’t give a damn that she had chosen a dog over him. Here he was thinking that he really cared for her, and yet she could drop him so quickly that she wasn’t in the least bit sad that he wasn’t there, not that she had just cast him aside. At least he had finally seen how she had really felt about him. Jogging slowly back toward the way that they had come he could feel a burning in his calves and a tug in his chest; he refused to believe that it was his heart. Taking the few steps back up to the boardwalk he was happy to find out that the towel he had abandoned was still there. Glancing up he saw her head of hair disappear into the building.

Shock overcame him, he was in utter disbelief over what had just happened. Fine. She wanted to be a bitch about it, he would be having the last laugh whenever they got upstairs and she was reminded of the state of her condo, how wrecked it was. The dog was only going to be making it worse, tracking in little muddy footprints and shedding all over her white furniture. Once the flea bag got something in his stomach he was going to be done with her and want to run off and be stray again, wandering around the beach until another woman came around and it weaseled its way into her heart and repeated the process again. It was nothing more than a tiny canine con artist. Kaydence was a fool for not seeing it. Flinging the damp towel over his shoulder and began heading in the direction of her condo, he was at least going to need to get his stuff from her house, shoes, cell phone, and what was left of his leather jacket. The rest he couldn’t care less about. Sulking, he slowly made his way in the direction of the steps that would take him up to the entry of her home. His cigarette finished just as he made it up to the automatic doors. Trudging through he was in no hurry, he hoped that she was sweating over why he hadn’t followed her, as much as that was what he wanted he doubted it. She was likely too enveloped in her new boyfriend to even notice that he would arrive. He didn’t bother wiping the sand from his bare feet as he stepped onto the elevator and headed up to her floor. He needed his room key at the very least; as soon as he found them he could be on his way.

Reaching her floor he stopped before he got off the elevator, he had no idea what was going to happen whenever he entered her condo, no idea what he was going to say to her. He did know that he was going to get as much sand on her carpet and upholstery as he possibly could and blame it on lump. Pushing her door open without knocking he let himself in and headed straight for the ruined couch, her cleaning charms had been doing a very good job but they were not doing much for the furniture. Sitting on the arm of the couch he picked up one of his boots and begun hitting it against the leg that he was sitting on, shaking loose any particles had had become affixed to it, and then used his hand to free all the sand from the sides and bottom of his foot before wrestling the thing onto his foot. Glancing around he didn’t see her in the immediate room, so he picked up his other boot and began hitting it against the leg of the couch in the same fashion only louder, his jealous and anger was apparent. Wiping his foot he placed the second boot on and went about adjusting the leg of his pants so that they were on the outside of his boot

[Kaydence Morgan]

If her attention had been solely on Ashton, Kaydence would have found the use of her nickname to be significant. It had been so longed since she had been called that. Probably since before leaving Austria. People only referred to her by her shortened name when their relationship with her had bettered. Usually at least close friends. When it was time for shortened versions to be used, it was due in large part to their level of comfort with her. If Kaydence had taken the time to fully let Ashton’s use of it sink in, she probably would have been shocked. For someone who so often showed little to no concern for her more than affection, mostly before this weekend anyway, she had gotten to him more than she thought. It would have been overwhelming and she would have been insanely flattered, as well as undoubtedly smug. That didn’t happen though. Kaydence was more focused on the canine trotting happily next to her. She couldn’t help but to smile and shake her head at it. At least something was satisfied with her. Looking behind her shoulder, she watched as Ashton’s form finally begin to start moving, but at an angle towards the Boardwalk. Her brow furrowed slightly. She had really hoped that he would accept what was happening and take his side next to her as they walked. Well, it would have been interesting to see if Luka allowed it anyway. The two had already set such a memorable impression with each other.

But if that’s how he wanted to be, then so be it. Kaydence was slowly started to get used to his mood swings. If he wanted to pout and go back to the suites, then so be it. She had much better company to keep her entertained anyway. As the condos came closer she veered them off to the right and towards the other large staircase that led up towards the building. They took to the stairs and she made sure to get money out of her purse while she did so. She wasn’t sure if her building allowed pets or not, but it would now. Kaydence grasped the coins in her hand as they approached the door. As expected, the doormen began to open their mouth to say something. She shook her head and showed him the coins, dropping them in his pocket as the door was opened for her. “’Preciate ya,” she told him, throwing him a wink while the pair made their way to the elevators. Fortunately, a lift had just opened and she scurried them into it. While she may have been able to pay the doormen off, the building landlord may not be as easy to please. Once the doors closed, Kaydence lowered herself back down to her knees and rubbed affectionately behind the dog’s ears. Luka continued to pant happily before licking the back of her hand. “That feels good, huh?” This dog was simply too precious for words.

She raised herself back up when the elevator stopped. Leading them out of the open doors Kaydence took them to her door and found the keys from her bottomless purse. It only took her a second or two to open the door, but as soon as it was open Luka ran in as if he owned the purse. Kaydence laughed and closed the door behind him, too distracted with his happiness to lock the door. He ran into the living room and she followed suit. The cleaning spells had done wonders on the carpet. There was still a discoloration, but nothing compared to the damage earlier. She would have to go to the apothecary sometime this week to try and mix together a homemade cleaning potion to see if that would do the trick. The end of her couch was still a mess. Frowning, she realized that finding a spell to get rid of that damage may have well been impossible. She could try, but would probably ultimately have to go out and buy another to replace it. This was fine with her considering how much she enjoyed shopping. It was just the thought of having to replace something that wasn’t even a month old yet because of Ashton’s carelessness. Scoffing, Kaydence placed her purse on the counter and patted the tops of her thighs. Luka had taken the liberty of inspecting his new surroundings, but was instantly at her side when she had called for him. “Though it probably doesn’t matter much, you need a bath,” she cooed at him, beginning to walk down to her bedroom. Kaydence was curious to see how he was going to react to her washing him in her tub. He had remained calm and willing to abide to her any wish since the beach so she prayed that it wouldn’t change as soon as he saw the bathroom.

Kaydence opened the door for him and he made way towards the bed. “No,” she firmly said, pointing down to the floor, “not yet.” The dog obeyed, but gave her a look of sorrow as it did. “Not until you’re clean.” She used her back to open the bathroom door and turned on the light as she did. Luka approached the door, but made no further movement into the bathroom. She ignored it briefly while she got the water started. Turning her attention back to him, she kneeled down and whistled at him. “Come on, it’s not going to be that bad.” Luka continued to peer at her through the doorway. “You are a filthy mess, come on boy.” No movement still. Sighing, she raised herself up and grabbed a spare towel underneath her counter, careful not to exert too much pressure on the tender area of her back. The water filled up the tub for another couple of minutes and once she was satisfied with the temperature and level she turned it off. Sliding the curtain all the way back to the wall Kaydence turned to face her dog again. “Luka,” she called, using the firm tone again, “here.” The dog whined. “If you want food, you need to get a bath.” At the mention of food, the dog lowered its head and began to slowly walk towards it with its head lowered. He was so human-like sometimes that it amazed her. Once he approached her, she took hold around his middle, lifted him up and into the bath water. He was heavy like one too. “If you turn out to be an animagi, I’m going to be upset,” she warned him. The dog panted in response. Kaydence had no dog shampoo so she used her own. Thankfully she liked the scent enough to be surrounded by it. She squeezed a bit of it into the palm of her hand and began rubbing it together with her other one.

Kneading her fingers into the fur, she began to scrub soapy suds into Luka. Fortunately the animal stayed still for the entire time. In fact, it actually seemed to like being cleaned. Just as she finished, she could have sworn that she heard her front door close loudly. Puzzled, she waited for a moment to see if she could hear anything, but nothing came to her door. Shrugging it off, she proceeded to wash the soap from Luka’s skin. He continued to remain calm while she gingerly poured water over him. Merlin was she thankful for finding such a tame dog. Kaydence wondered if he was recently abandoned or if he had grown up as a stray. His behavior was too calm for living as a stray and for not being an animagi. Luka shook off the excess water causing a few of the bubbles that remained to splatter all over her. Laughing, she held up her hands to prevent anymore of the soap from getting on her. It was then that a loud banging sounded from the living room. Capturing both the attention of her and the dog, she raised herself up as Luka began growling. “Keep quiet,” she commanded, raising a sudsy finger to her lips. She stayed in the same position for a minute longer before the banging stopped. Looking down to Luka, the dog still had its face pointed towards the doorway. She bent over to lift it out of the tub and grabbed the towel that she had taken out earlier. Kaydence wanted to dry him off before they went off to investigate mostly so she didn’t have to clean up even more excess water from her living room. While she was rubbing at him, the banging sounded again except much louder. Luka began barking, eager to go and see what it was that was making so much damn noise.

Once satisfied that he wouldn’t track any unnecessary water to her carpet Kaydence stood up straight and allowed him to shake off any remaining droplets. Throwing the towel down she followed the dog as he marched to the bathroom door, into her bedroom and then out to her hallway. She was greeted with the sight of sand particles leading from her entrance towards her living room. Waiting for her on the couch was Ashton who preceded banging his boot and sending loose particles over her floor. Her eyes narrowed into small slits as Luka’s growls became louder. “Stay,” she commanded, walking over to Ashton as he wiped his dirty foot on the carpet next to the couch. At this rate Kaydence was just going to have to hire someone to do all this cleaning for her. Clearing her throat, she stopped a few feet away from him and crossed her arms. “You mind telling me what you’re doing?” she asked, clearly annoyed. “Or do you just thoroughly enjoy acting like a child?” The look on his face was full of spite. She had no idea what his problem was and why he was finding it necessary to further dirty her already destroyed living room. Luka barked as if demanding an answer. He was such a good dog. Stepping closer until she was directly in front of him, she lowered herself and tilted her head to obstruct his view. “Well? You think this is really necessary?”