Of Discoveries And Depression

IC Time: October 12th, 2007
Location: The Magnusson and Grey residences
Synopsis: A discovery is made by Avery and Holly, but it leads to a confrontation between the two that develops into love-triangle drama.
Submitted by: Avery



Forks


Magnuson Residence Forecast: Summer. Fair. 73.3F/22C
The Magnuson house is very much your typical lower middle-class family home; two stories of stable structure hidden behind an exterior that has had better years. The front door opens up to reveal the thick, ugly brown shag carpet that can be found decorating the floor in every room with the exceptions of the kitchen, dining room, and the bathrooms. It's cheap, stained existence seems to set the mood for the rest of the house which seems to value comfort and utility over pleasing aesthetics. But, though the furniture may not always match and seem rather dated, there is a flair of personality in every room, a healthy sprucing up of personal artifacts which give the abode a homely and warm feeling to it. Pictures like the walls, when the floral patterned wallpaper isn't displayed. Usually, it is kept quite meticulously clean and clutter-free.

The largest room, the single common denominator and center of the household has to be the living room, which boasts a brown leather couch, chipped, a pea green armchair, and a set of utilitarian tables, upon which flowers and trinkets like ceramic angels have been piled onto. The bust of a fake, stuffed moose can be found in this brown and green room, as well as one of those 'Singing Bass' mounts - though curiously, the Bass no longer sings. An entertainment system has been pushed up against the wall, harboring a couple of speakers, a descent sized television, and an old-school stereo system that could use an update. Above that a circular clock can be found ticking the seconds away. From the living room, a hallway opens up, leading to the rest of the house on the floor and the staircase that eventually leads to the upper floor. The kitchen holds a chrome-and-teal 80's kind of vibe, but is large enough to hold three people comfortably while cooking. The rest of the rooms tend to be closed off, private to any of those who don't happen to be family members.

— Contents --------------
Avery Holly
— Exits -------------——
Outside [O]


School let out over an hour ago, leaving students to trek home in a light rain or beg rides from friends. Those who stayed after to, say, research folk tales and myths in the school library, have a worse time of it; the rain has picked up by then, falling in steady, heavy sheets from the dark sky. After one particularly large flash of lightning, there's a knock on the door. Opening it would reveal Avery doing her best drowned rat impression, courtesy of having forgotten her umbrella that morning before dashing off to class.

Holly skipped her classes during the day in favor of sprawling on the dated-looking couch in the Magnuson residence, catching up on daytime soaps, reality TV, and anything else of equally mind-numbing nature. She has at least bothered to pull on a rumpled pair of blue jeans and a concert t-shirt, so when a knock sounds, she springs up to answer it, expecting someone for her father, probably. Instead, Avery's standing there, and Holly has to blink for a moment before opening the door wider as if to allow the other girl inside. "Oh, hey. What's up?"

There's a similar reaction for Avery, with the blinking and the hesitation, a moment spent fiddling with shrugging the strap of her bag higher onto her shoulder. "Oh, um…hey!" A smile is attempted. "Not much, I was just…at the library, reading up, and I thought I'd see if Ch—Tiago was home." With the door open in apparent invitation, the teen slides forward to ease past Holly. "I got this book on folk tales that I thought might be interesting, you know?"

"Oh, really? Yeah, I got one —" And then there is the mention of Tiago, and a subsequent awkward pause. "Oh. He's not here." Suddenly, Holly seems a lot less welcoming, her arms automatically coming to a cross in front of her chest, her weight shifting to one of her hips as it juts out slightly. Avery's in the house already though, and Holly isn't one to just throw her out, even if they are in some kind of silent war over a male. "I don't think he's coming anytime soon, so it's pointless to wait for him." Pause. "But could I look at that book? See, I got some more information on the red-eyed girl, just a little more, before Tiago didn't want me to hear anything else for my own safety." Her eyes flicker up toward Avery's.

Avery meets that look, her own eyes widening. "You did? Oh, geez, Holly, that's *awesome*." Given the choice of their topics, Tiago or the local boogeymen, Ree chooses to behave as if she has the attention span of a guppy. Bad guys it is! And a compliment to sweeten the deal. "I've been looking everywhere, since the last time we saw her, but I haven't found anything. I thought maybe we'd get lucky with this book," she goes on, glancing down and swinging the pack to her hip to rummage inside. "It's more local stuff, you know? Monsters of the Pacific Northwest."

Holly runs a hand through her tangled mess of hair, the direct result of lounging on the couch all day. "The book is huge. I haven't had the time to really pick through it, but from what Abbey said, maybe I could pick up on something if I saw it, now. Abbey's like Tiago a were…" She takes in a breath, finding it difficult to say such an awkward reality aloud, "werewolf. When Tiago asked about the red-eyed ones, she looked worried. Said it was dangerous for me to know anything, but she definitely /knew/ about them. You know what this means? We were right to think something was up. They're monsters of some kind." As dramatic as it sounds, the words come out in a low tumble, not exactly an excitable shriek.

Avery produces the book, which is not huge in any way, shape or form, and offers it to the other girl. Her eyes are sympathetic. "That must have been scary. Meeting another one…um." She hesitates a moment, taking a deep breath and then releases it slowly in a soft confession. "Chi and I, we saw her again. Alyse. He…he asked her what she was, and she got mad but she didn't tell him. She, um…" Another pause while the girl shifts awkwardly from one foot to the other. "I think she can like…talk with her mind. She said something to him but I couldn't hear it. He was pissed, made us leave after that. But it's another clue, right?" A completely incorrect clue; Ree will never be a detective.

Holly takes the book and glances at the cover, though for the moment, she simply hugs it close to her chest, finding Ree's story a bit more engaging than words on a page. The mention of 'Chi and I' brings about a noticeably dark flash in her eyes before she rocks back on her heels and allows herself to let it go in order to hear the content of the story. "I don't get it, what's the big mystery? She knows what he is." It's a silly rationale, really; it's more or less her impatience speaking. "Well, didn't he tell you what she said? Can Tiago talk with his mind?!"

"I don't think so," Avery mumbles, gaze flying to the floor. "He swears he heard her talk, like with her real voice. He didn't tell me exactly what she said, just that he was angry because she was acting like it was a big secret too. I don't know why." A quick glance is dared at Holly's face and, seeing no sign of that anger, she adopts a more confident demeanor. "That's why I got the book. We know they're like always really pale, they have red eyes. I met one, and she had like…cold skin, she shook my hand. They're fast. And they read minds. Or can talk with them. So maybe there's something in there…do you want to maybe sit down and go through it with me? Two sets of eyes…they're better than one."

Holly emits a sigh, moving to cross the room and lean lightly against the TV cabinet, book still clutched to her chest. "I don't /get/ it. If it is a secret, then we should know. I mean, me and you — if we're supposed to be the people in danger. You can't help save yourself if you don't even know the enemy, you know? You have to learn everything about them you can." The statement, unknowingly to Holly, takes a bit of an ironic twist as she nods to Avery's suggestion. "Sure, let's go through it. I'll grab mine, too. Be back." She sets Ree's copy on the coffee table in front of the couch and then disappears down the hall momentarily before returning with a thicker tome, and sitting onto the couch herself. "First one to find it wins?"

Avery leaves her bag in the hall and gets out of the drippy hiking boots before padding into the living room in her socks. "I know, it's…it's stupid, really. I mean, if we already know *something's* going on, why not just tell us and let *us* decide what to do? I told…it's like we don't even matter, you know?" Ree learns quickly; certain names will now be omitted to allow civil conversation. Sinking onto the couch, she flips open the book left behind and begins to leaf through the pages. "Wins what?" Distracted as she is, the teenager walks right through that door and doesn't even realize it. She doesn't even look up. "Breakfast at Waffle House?"

Holly nods as she cracks open her book, reading the index and following it through with her finger. "I know, exactly. Well, regardless, we're going to find out, be it if we're told or not." She takes a moment of silence to scan through the names before tilting her head. "Demon, maybe? Shit, anything is possible." Holly exhales and blows at the hair that's framing her face before turning to the prescribed page number. "Breakfast? Sure." Nope, no deeper meanings there. She begins to read. "Disfigured forms… no. Demon possession? Maybe that could be. 'A creature living inside a normal person's body…'"

"Ghosts, thunderbirds, sasquatch…" Like Holly, Avery skims and discards, skims and discards, the bridge of her nose slowly crinkling as each entry comes up useless. "Demon possession?" That brings her head up, eyes lit with interest. She sinks back into the cushions and considers the possibility. "Maybe…like in that movie with the girl, right? Except she got really ugly, and they're all…well, perfect. What works on them? Holy water and crucifixes? God, first time in my life I wish Mom and Dad made me go to church when I was little."

"She did get ugly? Oh, maybe not." Holly frowns and then reads further. "'Descriptions of demonic possessions often include: erased memories or personalities, convulsions, fits and fainting as if one were dying. Unlike in channeling or other forms of possession, the subject has no control over the possessing entity…'" Her light eyes look over to Ree. "I don't think this sounds right. I mean, she seemed pretty healthy both times, no fits and stuff. I guess the only way to know for sure would be if we took some holy water or something. Let's keep it in mind and look further, okay?" She nibbles on her lip in thought before dog-earring the page and returning to the index.

Avery is already shaking her head by the time the description is finished. "Yeah, that doesn't really fit. But maybe if we can't find anything…else…" The dog-earing of the page is responsible for Ree trailing off in mid-sentence. She stares at that sacriligious mistreatment of the book before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Calm. Zen state. In this truce, it's safer to return to the index of her book. "Hey…here's one. The Dask'iya, the child-eating monster. It's a Quileute story," she says, quickly leafing through the pages to find the right one. "A "big woman", it says. That's it…she was beaten by a little girl who pushed her into a fire."

If Holly notices Ree's minor freak-out over the book mistreatment, she says nothing, insteading flipping absently to a page in the middle of the book, having given up on the index. Instead of actually reading her page though, she peers over with faint interest toward Ree's book. "A big woman? Like, fat?" There is a pause. "I don't know if that fits. But she was beaten by fire? Does it describe any of her other attributes? Like how the Desk-ya looks or something?" Holly's not even going to attempt /that/ name.

"Not fat, just big. It says she was also called the "basket woman", she'd catch the children and put them all in a basket, carry them back to…to feed on them." It's enough to make Avery shiver, right then and there. Or maybe she's just feeling the effects of sitting around in damp clothes. "She'd stop their eyes up with gum from trees, so they couldn't see anything but one girl warmed her hands at the fire and got the gum off. She pushed the woman into the fire, and burned her up before leading the children home. I dunno…that doesn't sound right either."

"Yeah. I mean, that thing was stalking us, and we aren't exactly kids. Tiago and I are going to be twenty, after all," Holly says in agreement, a hint of superiority overtaking her tone when she can successful make a 'Tiago and I' comment. "Next… how about… poltergeist? Ugh, no. That's not right. Hey — what's this?" Holly takes the liberty to lean over and flip Ree's book back a few pages, where a glimpse of a darkly inked picture was showing. The illustration reveals a white figure attached to a bloodied body at the neck, a pool of dark liquid around both figures. "Ohh, ew…"

Avery's eyes cut towards Holly and her lips press together, thinning in brief discontentment as that tone of voice is recognize. It takes an effort to drag her focus back to the page when Holly hijacks her book. Fortunately for both of them, what's penned there is impressive enough to completely steal the show. "Oh, god…" The tip of her finger slides along the words on the page opposite the illustration. "Cold Ones," she murmurs. As she speaks, her voice picks up speed and goes higher in pitch. "Enemies of the Quileute, the walking dead. Blood-drinkers. Oh jesus, Holly…pale, cold skin, red eyes…"

The illustration captivates Holly in a rather negative way for a few moments further before she tears her gaze from it and struggles to read along with Ree. "Red eyes! We didn't have one with that yet. Does it say anything about being able to hop in trees and shit? Remember, she was /walking/ in the trees. Can I ever call it a she?" Troubled, Holly nibbles on her lip again, finding herself drawn to the picture again. "This is disgusting! But the Quileutes are close by, you know? Maybe we could ask them."

"More than that, she was outside during the *day*, Holly. You know what this sounds like? What's pale, and cold, and drinks blood? Out in the *daytime*. Running in trees, reading minds…it's like the werewolf stories, it's *different* from the stories. Better for…for Tiago but worse with these." Suddenly Avery can't stand to have that book in her lap, that illustration staring up at her. She pushes it off onto the coffee table and rubs her hands clean on her thighs. "We should tell Chi," the girl goes on, expression twisted in distaste. Her feud with the other girl has been forgotten, with this new evidence. "We should call him, tell him to get here and see what we…what you found."

"Well, wait. If she was outside during the day, then she's not a… a vampire," Holly ventures to say the phrase that is likely caught in both of their throats. "I mean, does the book…" And then the book is flung from Ree's lap, so the question no longer quite makes sense. She flies to a stand though as Tiago is mentioned, her brows furrowed. "No way! You're just trying to get him home so you can like, hang all over him and shit."

"Yeah, but it's *different*. If Chi were like a book werewolf, he'd be a monster when…what?" Avery rises to her feet too, gaping at the other girl. "I am *not*! He's *killing* himself over not knowing what's going on, thinking we're in some sort've trouble, and we've got our first solid lead," she says, sweeping her hand at the book to point out the picture. "He deserves to know like right away! God, Holly, what do you think I am? I wouldn't hang all over him in front of you. That'd be…god. I'm not that mean!"

Holly pauses, seeing Avery's point about the difference between Tiago and the fabled wolves, but doesn't say much, too enraged at the conflict over her housemate. "Well, fine. If we need to call him, /I/ will do the calling, since it's /my/ house." She digs in her pocket for her cell and moves to click onto Chi's speed dial. "Wait. So you'd hang all over him when I'm /not/ around? I thought we talked about this, Ree. Tiago and I are interested in each other."

Avery folds her arms across her chest, attempting "tough" and managing only to hide the trembling of her hands. "We *did* talk about it. I told you he and I were interested in each other but it wasn't serious, and you said the same thing. And you said that was cool." Hearing her own wobbly voice in her ears tickles Ree's temper, or what counts as a temper for the teen anyway, and she finally snaps. It'd be more impressive if she could do it without her voice cracking, though. "He told me he liked me *weeks* ago, before he even knew you were interested."

"Well, I thought you understood that him and I were kind of a thing, /that's/ why I said it was cool," Holly responds back impatiently, crossing the room to lean on the wall leading to the hallway. "Oh, please. I've known him much longer than you, and we've been totally crushing on each other the entire time. Then you arrive and just… sleep with him after knowing him for two hot seconds!" Her nose wrinkles. "You know what, Ree? You should just go."

The color drains from Avery's face. Fatality! "Wh-what…? What did you say? He told…" For a moment, she's as paralyzed as she'd been out in the woods, faced with a teasing vampire and a cute guy who'd just turned into a wolf. Then the heat rushes back in and the teen rushes past Holly to snatch up her backpack. "You know what, you can have him," she says, struggling to get the thing on her back. "I thought *maybe* we could all be adults about this but…yeah. You *deserve* someone who'd talk about that sort of thing with someone else." Then it's off to the door, for the scripted Hurt'n'Angry Exit.

Holly doesn't seem to recognize her folly at first, shrugging when Avery asks if he 'told.' "Huh? Well, yeah. Tiago tells me —" And then she's leaving. Guilt washes over the girl's face as she takes a few steps toward the door, despite the fact that she /asked/ Avery to leave. "Ree, I'm /trying/, really. I could try harder. For what it's worth, you are definitely the bigger person." That's what Leo would say, right? She watches the other girl with a sort of shocked expression.

Avery is in no mood for being placated. It's all she can do to keep from playing the hysteric, complete with tears. By the time she's reached the front door, the tip of her nose has turned a bright and suspicious red. "If you were trying, you wouldn't try to…to push my face in it every time I see you. I told him, I *told* him that we were none of your business, and you and him were none of mine. And then he tells me I'm *important*, and tells you…nuh uh." The door is pulled open (without violence, out of consideration for the actual owners) and walks out. No doubt regretting that her big exit consisted of the words 'nuh uh'.

There is another tug of guilt as Avery actually pushes the door open. Deep down, she /liked/ the girl, she did. "Ree, I… I'm sorry," she says lowly, but it's too late, the other has already disappeared into the rain. The cell phone is in her hand, equipped with Chi's number, but she lets it drop back in her pocket, willing herself back to the world of reality TV instead.


Forks


Grey Residence Forecast: Summer. Fair. 73.3F/22C

Much like Ree's wardrobe, this small room bears the mark of her eclectic taste in style and fashion. The walls are covered with a wild variety of prints— John Lennon, the Golden Gate

Bridge, hippies at Woodstock, a misty forest morning, even a yawning tiger. A small day-bed has been squeezed into one corner to make room for a profusion of overflowing bookshelves,

an antique vanity, dresser and a computer desk that's half-buried under loose papers and notebooks. Her laptop is open on that desk, the screensaver flipping automatically through a

collection of photographs that look to have been taken from National Geographic's website. Except for the paper clutter, Ree keeps her room tidy for the most part.

Type +Rooms for a list of rooms.
Type +Room <Room> to change rooms.

Outside, the night is warm and sultry, and dark clouds hide the stars in patches. Elsewhere they shine brightly. Dew forms on the ground.

— Contents --------------
Avery
— Exits -------------——
Door [O]


You paged Tiago with 'Ring ring!'.

From afar, Tiago answers it in a bright, enthusiastic manner. "Ree! Hey!"

Long distance to Tiago: Avery is anything but bright and enthusiastic. She has, in fact, been crying and the thickness of her voice attests to the intensity of that jag. "…they're vampires, Chi. Cold Ones, it's a Quileute story. Holly and I found it in a book. I left it at your house. And I don't want to talk to you ever again."

From afar, Tiago's voice is full of concern as he cuts her off mid-sentence. "Ree? Ree - are you crying? Are you okay? What - vampires? I don't get what you're…" But here, there is a considerable break in his stream of conversation. When he does speak again, his voice is weak, and it actually cracks at the beginning. "W-what? Why…what did I do?"

Long distance to Tiago: Avery sniffs, but the sound is muffled as if she's held the phone away while trying to get control of herself. When she comes back, her voice is steadier. "I saw Holly, and we found the book that has them in it. I said we should call you and she threw it in my face that I slept with you. You *told* her, Chi. You told her *our* business. She said you tell her everything…how could you do that? How am I supposed to be with you if she knows everything we do together?"

From afar, Tiago sounds confused, almost a bit defensive as he starts to respond. "She did what? And, well, yeah, I did…but you knew that! I told ya I did, when I told ya that we never…god, Ree, that ain't true! She doesn't know nothin' about us, I swear, I don't tell her nothin'. Ever since we said that our business is ours, that's what its been, yeah? C'mon, Ree…" He's pleading by the end of it, his earnestness bleeding through his thick accent and enveloping his words.

Long distance to Tiago: Avery cuts him off, a burst of anger coming through the misery. "I don't want to hear it, Chi. I didn't know you told her we'd slept together, you don't *tell* people that. You *don't*. What if she told other people? Now everyone's going to call me a slut, because that's what happens to girls." The furious effect is ruined somewhat when she hiccups, the tears coming through again. "So…yeah. I don't want to talk to you. The book is with Holly."

Tiago pages: Ree, she wouldn't - I didn't, I…" But, he trails off weakly at this point, sulking as he attempts to draw into his own baggy clothing. "I…I'm so sorry, Ree…don't, don't do that, please, I…Hey! Hey, where're you goin'? You dropped your clothes!" This last is muffled, clearly yelled to someone in his vicinity.

(back at the store) "Hang them up yourself! Jerk!" yells the blonde as she runs down the stairs. Unfortunately, the vintage clothing and coffee shop is completely packed and a blonde running from upstairs, upset, might make for some pretty good gossip. The bell above the door tinkles as she throws it open and tries to slam it shut… but someone else is trying to get in… so they hold it open, just staring after the blonde that is on the verge of tears herself.

***

The Grey kids are latchkey, meaning that (thank goodness) their parents don't arrive home for hours after they do. The downside of this is that it means, when big sister is upstairs having a hysterical breakdown, Robert the Almost Nine Year Old is the gatekeeper. And, when a knock comes on the door, the boy overlooks that fact in favor of standing at the foot of the stairs (clearly visible from the front porch) and hollaring, "I'M TELLING MOM YOU CUSSED AT ME!"

Carly's frantic knocking gets a little moreso, combining it with a call "Hey! Kid? Can I come in? I'm a friend of Ree's, I came over the other day?" She hunts through her purse and comes up with one of her emergency chocolate bars, the ones she keeps in there for when she gets upset about something. She holds it up, waving it to the boy, "Trade you a Hershey bar if you let me see Ree?" She gives him a little bit of a hopeful smile, she's never been good at dealing with kids… she and her brothers are all very close in age.

Tiago, however, is not so smart. The putter of his worn down, mismatch of barely working motorcycle parts can be heard as it approaches the Grey house, him having to go to proper channels before ditching his job in favor of running dramatically to his psuedo-girlfriends house to beg forgiveness. Parking the vehicle, he literally stumbles off of it, and he's jogging his way to the front door all the while ripping off his helmet and depositing it on the Grey front lawn without further thought. "Ree!? Ree? What's your name - Carly? Is she in there?"

Robert whips around and fixes the person on the other side of the door with what is a suspicious glare at first. But said person is blonde and cute, and he's just old enough to start appreciating it when blonde cute girls give him attention. Still, whatever Ree said to the boy leaves him disgruntled enough to drag his feet getting to the door. "Yeah, I remember you." He eyes her a moment longer, just enough to give her the idea that her womanly wiles aren't working on him, then he undoes the safety bolt and steps back so Carly can come inside. His hand is extended, waiting for the chocolate. "I dunno what's wrong with her, she's all freaking out and being stupid, maybe you can get her to shut…Hey! What's going on? Is that a motorcycle?" Robert sounds incredulous, even if he couldn't define the world.

"Robert, what are you doing?" Avery appears at the top of the stairs, scrubbing a hand across her eyes before squinting down into the foyer. A pair of glasses are in the other hand. "You're not supposed to let anyone…oh, crap."

Rushing into the house, Carly turns and quickly slams the door in Tiago's face, locking it. "Don't let /him/ in. He's the one that made Ree cry… so it's kind of all his fault she cussed, right?" All of this can be heard on the other side of the door and the blonde knows it. So she turns to give Tiago one last glare and sticks her tongue out at him.She turns then to race up the stairs, "Ree, are you okay? Want me to get my brothers to beat him up?" She hops up the last of the stairs and wraps her friend up in a big hug, apparently trying to squeeze all the tears out of her. "What happened?"

This is an exercise in torture, it is. Tiago's hopes brighten marginally when the door opens, and he's jogging his way over, allowing brief flashes of him explaining himself and making it up to Avery to be entertained and…then, he is, literally, shut out. The door slams shut in his face, and everything is shattered. His expression reflects this, as well, and out of frustration, he curls his hand into a fist and slams it, aggressively, against the door, making the wood shutter. "Who the - do I even /know/ you? I need ta get in there, I need ta make this better, /please/!" Okay, with that cry finished, he regroups, trying to think up a new strategy to work with. The kid! "Steven…no, Robert! Hey, kid, you like, uhm, videogames, right? I know you do. I need ta go see your sister, let me in, and I swear I'll give ya a new game or somethin'."

"What…Carly? What are you…?" And then the other teen has her in a deathgrip, leaving Avery to wobble on her feet and pat gingerly at Carly's back. "I'm…god, no! I just…is he *here*? What are you doing here?" Count Ree as bewildered. But the confusion is gone in a snap, lost when Ree flinches at the sound of a fist connecting with the door. At the foot of the stairs, Robert let's out a high, startled yelp and scrambles backwards. No game in the world could convince him to open the door for an angry male twice his size. "R-ree?"

Naturally, the fear in her little brother's voice does not improve Avery's temper. She tries to be gentle about extricating herself from Carly's grip, although she does reach for the other girl's hand to hold as she quickly descends the stairs. "What do you think you're doing, Chi? What's *wrong* with you?"

And hold her friend's hand she does. As the pair walk down the stairs, Carly shoots Tiago all kinds of dagger eyes. If looks could kill the boy would at the /very/ least be all kinds of cut up. She glances down to the scared boy and her heart just /melts/ and she immediately lets go of Ree's hand in order to stoop down and hug the little boy. "It'll be okay, we're not going to let him hurt you."

Tiago is frantic, he is desperate, and at the sound of Avery's voice, despite the fact that it's…less than pleased with him at the moment, he plasters himself against the door to hear every nuance, and to try to communicate better. His voice is low, uncertain, but enthusiastic in its raw state. "I need to see you, Ree, I need to apologize and make this better - look, I'm sorry, okay? I don't…I don't get what's goin' on that well, but I'm /so/ sorry. Please open up? I jus' wanna talk. I jus'…" He's breathless by the end of this plea, and his fingers curl with longing against the wooden obstacle that is the door, before balling up into tight fists as the man struggles to keep himself in control of his emotions.

Robert scores; sure it's at least three years before he's old enough to really appreciate it fully, but the kid's got moves. He submits to Carly's embrace, tucking his head to the blonde's shoulder and wrapping his skinny arms around her waist. Sniff. So scared, his friends won't even *believe*. Avery looks back over her shoulder at the two of them, chewing on her lip. "He…he wouldn't hurt anyone. He just gets…um." Reluctantly, the girl slips her glasses on over her ears and reaches for the lock. When it's turned, she steps back to stand beside brother and friend, her own arms curling across her belly.

"Ree!"

"Shut up, Robby. We're just going to talk. Carly's here, it's okay. Go play your game or something."

Raising her eyebrows at Ree, Carly rights herself and folds her arms across her chest, twinning her friend's movements only in an angrier fashion. "I'll kick his butt if he tries /anything/ Robby, don't worry." She is still glaring at Tiago, as if he'd just stabbed her in the heart rather than Ree. "I have my cell phone too, I'll call the cops if he gets all angry and … angry."

Tiago doesn't realize that the rattling of the door was actually Avery unlocking it until about a minute in, and so for a while, the suspense is built. But when he does, he lets out a shuddered breath, fore slowly turning the doorknob and pushing the door open, wide. And as Tiago emerges, framed by the doorframe. he is the utter vision of teenage dejectedness, of hopeless longing rolled up in ridiculously large clothing. His garb, which he usually pulls off with his swagger and pride, seems to drown him in it, and he just looks silly. His eyes fixed upon Avery, there's an almost tangible longing, cluttered around with all sorts of unreadable emotions. "Ree…Avery, I didn't, I thought you knew, I messed up, but…that was a while ago and I…" Helplessly, he trails off and attempts to clear his throat, resolving to separate his incoherent thoughts in actual sentences. "I don't…want ta hurt you. I haven't said nothin' about us since you told me not ta, she doesn't know anythin' and…you've got ta believe me. You /got/ ta."

"I like her!" That from Robert, in his chirpy voice, which earns a quick glare from Ree. "I *said* go play your *game*." The boy gives one last besotted look at Carly before skittering into the living room, lurking just around the other side of the entryway to listen. Big pitchers have little ears.

"It's okay, Carly," Avery goes on, in the silence that falls between the unlocking of the door and the awaiting for Tiago to come in. "He really wouldn't hurt anyone. He just…feels a lot. He's Brazilian." As if that explains everything. She lingers near the other girl, shoulders hunched up around her ears. And here's the source of that uncomfortable posture. The teen listens quietly, eyes anywhere but on the picture of misery before her. "It's…if I'd known, Chi…I shouldn't *have* to tell you not to…to say something like that to another girl. Right?" Help her out here, Carly! "Cmon. Robert's listening, and Mom and Dad are going to be home soon." With that, she turns to lead the pair of them up to the relative privacy of her bedroom.

"Latin men are just trouble…" Carly grumbles, as if she knows, the blonde has never been in a relationship in her life. "Feels a lot my ass-king for a new lollipop. That's just excuses, next thing you know you'll be saying it's not his fault, you just made him angry." She recovers from the potty moment in a most brilliant fashion, she thinks, buuuuut she follows the other girl to her bedroom, keeping her own body in between the heartbroken Brazillian and one of her besties. "She's right, you should /never/ tell another girl ANYTHING. You shouldn't even be talking to another girl about Ree."

Tiago throws a doleful look in Carly's direction, and there is a slight twitch of the mouth that reveals that he would like nothing more than to chew her out for her words. But, miraculously, he's able to stifle this urge and remain in his self-imposed misery. However, when they both gang up on him with regards to Relationship Etiquette 101, he has to rise to the occasion to defend himself. "But I-" a quick glance towards the distant doorway where Robert is hiding silences the lad, and instead he licks his lips nervously, following the females back to Avery's girly room. Once there, he jumps to speak. "But I told you stuff about her too, so I wasn't jus'…I mean, I'm sorry? I really am, I swear it. I didn't know - I wont do it, I'll never do it again, I swear." He stumbles from one vow to the other, trying his hardest to restore the damage his previous recklessness caused.

Once within her room, Ree retreats to the far corner of her bed where she will sit with Mister Fluff the teddy bear, who loves her and would never, ever gossip about their sleepytime fun. "You told me you guys "did stuff". Holly knows we…we…" A quick look is spared at Carly, and she sighs. One more person who knows. Thankfully, the other girl is the pitbull on *her* side. "Holly knows we did it *and* that it…um, wasn't long after we met. She knows *details*, Chi. And now I get to wonder how much else she knows, right? What she's told other people about me. This is a *small town*. It doesn't matter if you don't ever do it again, *everyone* knows. She threw it in my face, and acted like…like I was *cheating* with you." Horror! Shock! And there's a sniffle.

Upon hearing the story, Carly's jaw drops and her eyes go wide. She is unable to keep silent at this point and begins to grab throw pillows, stuffed animals, and other such things, throwing them one by one at the big mouthed Latin lover. "You JERK! You treated Ree like a notch on your bedpost?!" She yells at him, throwing an item with every syllable. "Why don't you go brag about getting beat by a girl? Because I'm going to kick your giant mouth!" She inches closer and once within arms reach she begins to girly-slap him.

Tiago is peering at Avery intently, eyes wide as he wills her mentally to see things from his side of the story, to see his blamelessness in it all. "Well, how much more detail d'you want? I mean, what could I say that wouldn't have hurt you, Ree? And she don't know details or nothin' I didn't tell 'er any of that, just that we were tagether and…" And incoming: The Furry Division of the Air Force. Letting out yelps of surprise, he lifts his hand to try and swat away the projectiles, but before long the blonde is attacking him. It's times like these Tiago likes having longish arms. After protesting with 'heys' and 'cut it out's he glowers at the blonde, trying to hold away from his person with one hand on her shoulder. "Knock it off! Ree, make her stop! I wasn't doin' that, you /know/ I wasn't doin' that!"

Avery scrambles from the bed to help restrain Carly, or get between them, or something, her haste betraying a *little* concern for the young man's welfare. "Carly! Don't! It's…it's okay. It's what it is." Nothing takes a person's mind off of their misery like assault and battery occurring in their bedroom. "He didn't exactly treat me like that…but it was wrong, Chi. You could have told her we were seeing each other, still. She didn't know that either. Look…my parents are going to be home soon, you guys can't be here when they get home. Robert's going to tell them everything…god." Her hands try to go up to cover her face but the glasses are in the way, leaving her frusrated. So she goes to the bedroom door instead and opens it. "I really, really just want to be alone right now, okay?"

Carly seems to get a little more reasonable as she's restrained but when Avery moves to her bedroom door, she yanks one of her hands from Tiago's grip and sucker punches him in the arm, fairly hard. You know the kind of punch, the one that gets right in between a couple of muscles and hurts like the dickens. "Keeping her a secret too? Jerk… Avery deserves /way/ better than you… you… you… Gossipy McGossiperson of the Gossip factory in Gossipton Gossipsota. You're worse than a chicken!" She storms past him toward the stairs, unconsciously leaving the two alone for maybe a minute before Robby races up the stairs or something. She clomps down the stairs to find the boy and gives him a weak smile. "Hey Robby… do me a favor and leave about a hundred of your trucks on the stairs, okay? Make that Jerky McJerkson fall and hit his stupid thick head, hard."

"Ow!" All things considering, Carly's punch doesn't hurt him /that/ much. But, it's still enough to prompt a reaction, and he absolutely glowers at the blonde, suddenly unable to keep it all in. "And who the fuck're you, yeah? You don't /know/ me, you don't /know/ what's goin' on, so step off, kid! Don't fuckin' judge me on shit you know nothin' about. You've got no /idea/ what's happened this back month, so take your…your self-importance and shove it!" This spark, this fire actually encourages the lad to continue on, and while he watches Carly's ultimate retreat, he speaks to Avery. "No, I'm not goin' ta go - I aint leavin' here until you forgive me, Ree, I…" His resolve shatters once he brings his green-eyed gaze over to her form. For a moment, he appraises her, taking in the redness of her nose, the general heartbreak in her appearance, and at that moment, something in him snaps. It's a 180 from a couple of seconds ago - no longer is he highly annoyed and aggressive, but rather he's thoughtful, subdued. "Ree…Alright. I'll go."

Robert perks up when Carly comes downstairs, practically teleporting to the foot of the stairs to meet her. "Is Ree okay? What happened? Who is that guy? He said he'd give me a game!" It probably needn't be said that there are chocolate smears around his mouth. Then he's off again, busy as a little bee to gather up every rolly toy in his possession.

"Chi! Don't, she's like…she's doing what friends do." The tirade against Carly summons up a brief flare of alarm and Avery starts forward to set a hand on his arm, only to catch herself and backtrack rapidly. Awkward. "Look. I just need…a couple days, okay? For real this time. And don't…don't get mad at Holly. She apologized. After. I just…yeah. I'll talk to you later." Then she retreats back to her bed, where Mister Fluff waits to win the girl over with a soft shoulder to cry on.

"I don't need to /know/ you to /know/ you're EXACTLY the kind of guy that Daddy's spend their entire lives making sure their daughters don't get mixed up with!" Carly screams back at the boy. She's livid, furious. "You TALKED about her! How would YOU like it if someone talked about you? You'd probably enjoy it, wouldn't you? Big man?" She whirls around and glares at him at the top of the stairs. As the younger boy wizzes off to comply with the truck request, she flits her gaze to where he's gone, an expression of regret flickers across her face… but only briefly before she turns on her heel and swoops to the door. "And you'd BETTER get Robby the game you promised him!"

It's the touch that disarms him: he had been growing increasingly frustrated by Carly's yelled out response, but the hand on his arm keeps him from screaming is profane piece back at her. A bit stunned, the young man glances over to his arm before staring over to the girl. "A couple of /days/?" He croaks out, his voice heavy and thick with sadness. "Are you…" Pausing, he tries to take in a deep breath, but it doesn't quite work. He also attempts to step forward, to offer over a hand and make some sort of willful contact with the girl, but this is aborted halfway through the execution, leaving him looking rather ridiculous. Finally, he settles on merely deflecting his gaze to the floor, his arms falling lifelessly to his side. "So I guess…I guess this is goodbye. I'll…I'll see you Ree." And with that, the werewolf is out of there. And he's not looking back.

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