ι'м ησт qυιтє нυмαη, вυт ι'м ησт qυιтє α мα¢нιηє {Rue}

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Aron walked to the front door and grabbed their coats off the rack, handing hers over.

[assassinrue]

Hesitantly she put it on. "Please don't take me to the pound." She joked as she stepped toward the door.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Aron laughed. "No pounds," he promised. He opened the door and stepped outside, holding it open for her. "Don't worry."

[assassinrue]

Valerie walked outside and took a deep breath in the sunlight. "Where to now?"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

"We're going to Brooklyn," he told her. "I'll lead the way after we get there."

[assassinrue]

Valerie looked at him in confusion but walked beside him quietly. She had the sudden urge to lean against his side as they walked but she couldn't bring herself to do it and dismissed the thought as quickly as it had come. She was irritated with herself. She had known Aron a long time, she'd never known him well, but they talked and ate together. And now, after one instance of a little torture and a mistaken sleepover she was suddenly attracted to him? Ridiculous.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Aron glanced over at her occasionally, a somewhat wistful look on his face. He thought about taking her hand, but realized it was a stupid thing to do. He forced his eyes ahead of them again and shoved his hands in his pockets, his face turning hard.

[assassinrue]

"Can I ask you something?" She finally said, slowing her pace a little.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Aron glanced over, one eyebrow raised. "Shoot," he said.

[assassinrue]

Valerie looked at the ground. "Sometimes you look at me and then you look so mad, like somehow I've pissed you off. Have I done something?"

(im thinking about getting back into fanfic again...)

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

(Yeah? What category would you write in?)

Aron gave a soft laugh and shook his head. "No, you haven't done something. I'm just frustrated. Not with you; with myself."

[assassinrue]

(I think I'd like to do a drama around the war.)

Valerie continued to avoid his gaze. "Why?"

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

(Ohhh, interesting.)

"Because I completely screwed you over," he said. "I got you tangled up in my mess, and I should make you leave but I don't want to."

[assassinrue]

She looked at his this time, daring to touch her fingers to his arm. "Then don't. And even if you tried, I would stay."

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Aron reached up and caught her hand in his before he could think about what he was doing. "Why?" he asked.

[assassinrue]

"Because I want to. And I've tended to notice the more people push other people away, the more the actually want people around." She let her daring take a hold of her. "Your tough, no doubt about it, but I think your grumpy loner deal is just an act. I think you do want someone." She held his gaze a second longer then looked at their hands with a slightly confused expression.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

Aron suddenly dropped her hand like it had burned him. "Maybe you don't know as much as you think you do," he said harshly. The worst part was she was right. He was lonely, but he'd been alone for so long that he didn't remember what it was like to have someone who cared for him. Someone for him to care for. He didn't know what it was supposed to be like.

[assassinrue]

Valerie flinched away from him, deciding to keep her mouth shut for the rest of the afternoon before she ruined something else. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself.

[ᴄʀʏsᴛᴀʟғʀᴏsᴛ]

The silence lasted all the way to Brooklyn. Aron walked purposefully through the streets at a quick pace, his hands back in his pockets. The temperature had dropped slightly, and his breath misted the air now, and his cheeks were starting to turn pink from the cold. "Almost there," he told her.

[assassinrue]

She didn't respond but held herself tighter against the cold, ignoring the flash of pain along her stitches.