The big city.

Layla went back behidn the rock. She grabbed Bailey's arm again and appeared on the shore behind Lenora. "looking for someone?", she asked seeing her looking around.

Bailey was still standing next to Layla even though she had let go of her arm.

Laurinda stuck her tongue out at him, but she was smiling.
~!!~
Lenora jumped and spun around, and glared at Layla. "What were you doing with her?!" She demanded. "You'd better not have hurt her!"

Layla laughed when she jumped. "It doesn't matter what I was doing with her", she said.

Bailey was silent and walked off and wrapped her towel around herself. She was done swimming.

Alice came out of the water when she saw Bailey and looked at Layla but said nothing.

-----July 30------

Laurinda was at the park, waiting for Lance. It was around 5 pm. She was on the swings, pushing herself back and forth slowly. She had been meeting with him here for a while now, mostly to talk, but despite her protests he brought her food or something sometimes. She still stole, after all, how else could she survive? And she hadn't allowed him to call the cops about her uncle, not that he could. He didn't know his first name, or where they used to live. She was scared, honestly. She didn't want to be found, or hurt again.

She looked up, humming lightly to herself. She missed him every time she wasn't with him; was that how it was supposed to feel with a friend? She had never really had any good ones back 'home', anyways, and that had been about a year ago anyways.

She wanted to see him again. They met a few times a week, and she always came, unsure of what day of the week it was. It was easy to lose track when you lived like she did. She looked up at the setting sun, and pushed herself higher, her dirty, now longer hair flying back behind her. She closed her eyes, and she felt like she was flying. She sometimes wished that she could just fly away from it all.
~!!~
Ashlyn and Chip were still going out. She liked him, a whole lot, but with each passing day whatever she was feeling for Mason grew stronger as well. She didn't know what to think of that; Mason was dead. But it didn't seem to matter to her.

She had gotten her paycheck now, and her apartment was stocked up on food, mostly snack food. She couldn't cook. At all. She was keeping up with all her payments, and it was all going good. She was mostly using the money she had from back home, and knew she'd have to take up another part time job soon unless she somehow magically got a raise or something.

Right now she was at work, juggling five different orders and working as fast as she could go. Chip was watching, an amused grin on his face. She just wanted to forget about Mason, just for a while. Just for a while…but knowing him, he was here.
~!!~
Ava was…..happy. No other words could describe how she was feeling but just that. Happy. Nick was gone, she was in love, Cora was happy again, everything was great. She felt as though for once in her life, or afterlife in this case, nothing could go wrong.

She turned a page in her book, trying not to get too happy. She knew that every time she did that, something always went wrong and gave her reason not to be happy anymore. She was reading Romeo and Juliet again.
~!!~
Elliot was in Jake’s cave, knees pulled up to her chest, singing softly to herself a lullaby that her mother used to sing to her as a young child. She wasn’t in the best of moods, but how could she be, given where she was? But she wasn’t acting depressed or too happy. But she was in a sort of good mood, and she refused to let anyone change that for her.

She wanted to go see Tyler again soon. She thought she should right now, but couldn’t bring herself to move. She continued to sing softly, only looking up as she heard footsteps.

Andrew.

She looked away quickly, falling silent.

“I was enjoying your voice,” he teased, sitting down next to her. She scooted away. He sighed, and looked forward again.

“I already told you,” He said sharply. “It’s not my fault I’m the way that I am.”

She turned to him, breaking her silence that had been maintained up until now.

“It is!” She shouted. “You could have changed the way you are. You can’t blame what happened to you or did not happen to you in your life for the way you act! It’s a personal choice!” She shouted.

“Then what about your once insane boyfriend?” he pointed out. She fell silent then.
~!!~
Cora was on the couch downstairs, remote in hand. She had been worried sick over the paste weeks about Carlisle’s upcoming judgment, but there was little she could do about it but enjoy the time she had left with him. She kept reminding herself of her brother’s advice. That alone should tell her how serious this was; she would never take advice from Blake!

She turned the TV off, laying back on the couch and closing her eyes. She was tired, from all her worrying and from work. The judgment was only days away now. It was closer than ever.
~!!~
Sable was in heaven, heading for the crow tree. He looked happy; and why shouldn’t he be? Things were going well for him, save his sister falling for the angel who had ruined so much for him.

He knew her well enough to know that she was falling for him. He had seen the hope in her eyes when she asked if he had seen him, the disappointment when he said no, the way she looked at him. It was obvious to him, if not to anyone else. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this.

He sat down under the crow tree, looking around for Jade.
~!!~
Raven was at the park, on the other side from Laurinda. She was climbing a tree. She often did this in life, but Sable would always tell her it was too dangerous and chase her down. Well, not now.

She pushed herself up another branch, grinning to herself. She wondered if she would see Aden today.
~!!~
Lenora was at James’ house, sitting on the couch downstairs, thinking. Her back hurt from all the times she slept on the floor. She still refused to take the couch from Dust.

She had an empty drawing pad in her lap, thinking. She finally set it down, sighing. She knew school would be back soon, and she wasn’t looking forward to that. At least James was a senior this year. She moved to the floor, laying out on her back, sighing. If no one saw her they would probably trip over her on their way down the stairs.
~!!~
Hymn hadn’t found Chris at all the past weeks. It had been so long since she’d seen him, at least it felt like it. She lost track of time in the underworld. She had given up on finding him days ago, and now just accepted that he probably didn’t want to see her. And why should she care?

‘Because you really thought he cared,’ she thought. She was in his cave again, looking at the drawings. She wondered where he was, where he had been. He knew not to come here, for she was here. He was smart.

She stood up, breaking the piece of chalk under her heels. She had tears in her eyes, and pulled her cloak up over her head to hide them and her face. Chris hated it when she did that. Good. She would do it then.

She walked down the corridors, and finally entered his other cave, where his bed was. How many sleepless nights had she spent lying there, wondering where he was? One would think it would be easy to find him, but one was wrong. The underworld was a big place. Huge, in fact, and filled with many demons. And she preferred to stay near to the throne room. The ‘worse’ demons hung out further away from there. And fallens weren’t exactly welcome around there.

She sat down on the edge of the bed, staring down at her feet. She was the angry, bitter, fallen girl around others, but to Chris she had really opened up. No, it wasn’t that. She had changed. He had changed her, shown her a part of herself that she never knew existed. But then….where was he?

Carlisle's nervousness over his judgement grew as it approached. On this day it was tearing him to pieces, but he tried to hide it. He walked downstairs and saw Cora, thinking he would be unable go hold it together he walked outside and sat on the porch.

Lance smiled as he wacthed her swing back and froth. He had a bag in his hand, but he didn't make his presence known yet. He was enjoying seeing her like this.

~!!~
Mason was smileing as he watched her. He was there, invisable.

~!!~
Blake sat down next to her, readingover her shoulder.

~!!~
Dust's back was also hurting from the floor. He still refused to sleep on the sofa, and he didn't mind sleeping next to Lenora anyhow.

~!!~
Chris sat down next to her a few moments later. He reached up and pushed her hood back, he took her face in his hand and made her look at him. Yes her felt aweful for what he had done, but for a reason, a reason. "You souldn't be in here."

Cora frowned as she heard footsteps. She opened her eyes and looked up just as the front door closed. She sighed and stood up, walking to the door. She opened it and saw him there, sitting on the porch. She pulled the door closed behind her silently, and sat down next to him.
~!!~
Laurinda swung herself higher, and suddenly jumped off. She landed on two feet with a low grunt, and smiled as she stood up. She hadn't done that since she'd gone to the park with her parents....

She heard a noise behind her and spun around, but immediatly relaxed when she saw Lance. She smiled slightly at him, then her eyes widened. How long had he been there?
~!!~
Ashlyn dropped a plate, and it shattered on the ground. She listened in silence as one of the other workers began yelling at her, but Chip got them off her back. She gave him a grateful smile, and swept up the broken pieces of glass.
~!!~
Ava didn't even seem to notice him. Her lips formed the words she was reading silently. She was at her favorite part; the very end. It was sad, but she loved it.
~!!~
Lenora stared up at the ceiling, hands folded on her stomach. She groaned. Boredom was a horrible thing.
~!!~
Hymn didn't even seem to hear him until he was close and someone pushed her hood back. She jumped, then saw it was him. She looked away, but he took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him. How many times had she imagined him here? But this was real, and she knew it.

'You shouldn't be in here.' Of course she shouldn't. He obviously didn't want her anymore.

She pushed herself away from him and stood up. She glared at him, masking the immense pain she was feeling. "You could have showed your face at least once," she said quietly, and quickly made her voice louder. "Do you know how I've been feeling??" She demanded, eyes narrowing even more. In truth, she was trying not to cry.

Carlisle grabbed her hand lightly. "Hi..." he muttered. He was looking down at an unopened pack of cigarettes on the ground. "Tell me that if I do it then I'm an idiot..." he needed a reason not to smoke.

"A while." Lance said, as if he could be read her mind. He walked up to her, and handed her the bag.

~!!~
Blake remained silent.

~!!~
"Lonly? Sad? Heartbroken?" Chris asked, he did, he been feeling the same way, he been regreting his decison.

Hymn glared at him. "If you knew, why would you do it?!" She demanded. "If you were sick of me, if you didn't want me anymore, you could have at least had the guts to say so to my face!" She shouted.
~!!~
Ava closed the book a few minutes later, and sat in silence. She still hadn't noticed him there.
~!!~
Laurinda frowned, her cheeks heating up slightly. She looked at the bag, then took it slowly from him. "What's this?" She asked quietly. She was still uncomfortable taking things from him.
~!!~
Cora sighed. "If you do that then you're an idiot," she repeated, but she squeezed his hand lightly. "This is not the way to deal with things," She said quietly, on a more serious note, as if he didn't already know that.

"I wish that was enough..." Carlisle muttered, he pushed the pack away slowly and looked up her and sighed. "I'll try but I don't know if I can right now." he said sadly.

"I didn;t say I was sick of you." Chris whispbered. "I love you, I really do."

~!!~
"Food." He said.

~!!~
Blake kissed her cheek

Cora nodded slowly. She sat down next to him, never once letting go of his hand.
~!!~
Laurinda nodded slowly. "Thanks," She said quietly. She had been having problems getting that lately. Stores had begun to recognize her, and had threatened to call the cops several times if they ever saw her again.
~!!~
Ava jumped and screamed, spinning round, but quickly relaxed when she saw it was Blake. She had been half expecting to see Nick standing there, but he was gone.

"Sorry," she breathed. "You scared me."
~!!~
"Then why did you do this to me?!" Hymn shouted. "I was convinced you were gone!" She cried, taking a step back as she felt tears coming. She wouldn't let him see her cry. She just wouldn't.

Carlisle picked the pack up of the ground and put them in his pocket. "It's getting too close..." he muttered, "Everyday I feel like I'm going to let you down if it goes bad..." he added.

"Do you trust me?" chris asked.

~!!~
Lance nodded, and sat down on the ground. "Haven't been sick?"

~!!~
"Sorry." He said quietly.

Laurinda sat down across from him. "Nope," She said. She set the bag down next to her ratty old backpack, and looked at him.
~!!~
Ava smiled at him. "It's okay," She said softly. "Just don't sneak up on me like that," she teased him lightly.
~!!~
Cora shook her head. "You could never let me down," she said softly.
~!!~
Hymn looked at him. "I did," She said simply. "Give me one good reason why I should anymore," She said sipmly, her voice low and even. "And I will."

"You say that now but when I'm no longer me then what will happen?" Carlisle's face and tone showed how serious he was, "I can't be your husband then. The smart thing for me to do is never see you again if I am changed, I couldn't hurt you like that." he said

Chris shook his head. "I can't tell you right now." He said. "But i'll in time." He said.

~!!~
"I was here for a while." Blake said.

~!!~
"You come stight to my house if don't feel well." He said, like every time.

"You don't know that," Cora protested. "No matter what you are, you're still....you," She said quietly. "I believe that, and you have to, too," She whispered. "And besides," She added. "You will be judged worthy. You can't not be. It's impossible."
~!!~
Laurinda nodded, as always. She leaned back, and smiled at him slightly. "How have you been?" She asked quietly.
~!!~
"Then I can't trust you," Hymn said simply, struggling to maintain her composure.
~!!~
Ava blushed lightly. "How long is 'a while'?" She asked.

"How long did it take you fisnh the end?" He asked.

~!!~
Chris sighed and stood up. He grabbed her hand, and kissed it softly. "I need you to trust me, love." He said softly. He let her hand drop. "But if you can't, I understand."

~!!~
Lance smiled. "I'm fine, you?"

"As good as I can be," Laurinda said. She stretched her arms out, stifling a yawn.
~!!~
Ava shrugged. "I don't know," She said. "I always lose track of time when I'm reading," she said.
~!!~
Hymn pulled her hand away, no longer able to hold back her tears. "You can't honestly come back here, after making me think for weeks that you had just decided to get rid of me, and say you still love me!" She said. "You don't. You made that obvious by now," She said, taking another step back, hands shaking.

Lance smiled. "Tried?" He asked.

~!!~
Blake smiled and kissed her cheek again.

~!!~
Chris frowned and took a step back, and looked away. "But I do." He said. "You have to trust me, please, you have to wait." He said looking back into her eyes, begging.

"Always," Laurinda said. She was smiling as she said it, though. She found herself smiling around him a lot lately.
~!!~
Ava smiled and turned to face him. "Say, do you know how Cora is doing?" She asked, brushing a strand of her short blonde hair behind her ear.
~!!~
Hymn slowly nodded. Something in his eyes told her he was telling her the truth, but it still hurt, badly. So many times she had been wondering where he was, if he would ever come back for her.

"I just hope they feel the same way as you. Although you might be a tad bit bias." Carlisle teased, "I keep hoping this is all just a bad dream that'll I'll wake up from. Everything lately has been too much to deal with. The only good part over the past few months is you." he muttered. He took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. He put it to his mouth and took it away to blow smoke out, making sure none would reach Cora.

Lance frowned slightly. "I wih there was a way fo to get everything you needed."

~!!~
Blake shook his head.

~!!~
"Thank you." Chris said quietly.