Okay, so just read this chapter and the following, and then I will explain.
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans
Summary: AU Love, like war, is easy to begin, but hard to stop. Raven's life had never been easy, but things take an unexpected twist when she meets the arrogant new kid, Richard Grayson.
Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other,
but looking outward together in the same direction.
~Antoine de Saint
Chapter nine: The Day To Remember Part one: Secrecy
"I've been thinking," Vic stared straight ahead, squatting up and down with the barbell behind his neck.
Kori contemplated from the flat weight bench over her shoulder at the sinewy teen, but continued lifting the dumbbells that she contained in her hands up to her shoulders. One at time, in a rhythmic motion, her muscles tensing and sweat rolling off of her creamy bronze skin "About?"
"Settling down," Vic replied, placing the barbell on the on the dumbbell holder above the bench press on the opposite side of Kori. He lay down underneath it, and gripped it, strategically lifting it.
Rich rose from the mat on the gym floor, and stood behind Vic on the bench press, being his spotter, "You? Settle down? Impossible."
"I can't see Vic being in a steady relationship," Kori admitted, pausing her perfect lifting to lay her upper back down on an exercise ball, and hoisted the dumbbells from her chest upward.
"Oh come on, I think I could do it," Vic concluded, not struggling one bit with the heavy weight in his grip.
"Do you even know what being in a relationship means?" Rich asked, rolling his eyes.
"Do you?" Vic countered, "From what you told me the first day you moved here, I wouldn't say you were exactly the most contained guy either."
"I am now," Rich clarified, "I know exactly what a relationship is...I think. Help me out here Kori."
Kori hopped up from the floor and placed the dumbbells on the rack, "A relationship means you are committed to that one person. Which means, you're going to have to make sacrifices in you social life," she stated, picking up a jump rope.
"Sacrifices? Like what?" Vic asked, sitting up on the bench press.
"Number one thing to remember is," she began, jumping triple time through the rapidly swinging rope, "No more whores. And no more collecting numbers, no more dancing with random chicks, no more roaming eyes, less sports related conversation with the guys..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Rich interrupted, "Now that's just cruel, Kori." He shook his head disapprovingly, and began stretching his upper body.
"Yeah, don't even joke like that," Vic agreed.
Kori rolled her eyes and turned in a circle during her jumps, giving them the view of her back.
Vic and Rich chuckled, "There's nothing better than that feeling of pissing off a redhead," Rich joked, finishing up his upper body stretches, and sitting down on the padded floor.
"Especially one who's prancing around in half a shirt," Vic added, going back to bench pressing.
She rolled her perfect emerald eyes, "Why aren't you working out, Rich," she asked, turning around in another circle during her jumps and facing the two teens.
"First game of the season is tonight, I'm going to be working out all day," Rich replied, pulling a yard long theraband from his pocket, "I've got to be perfect, just in case a scout shows up."
"Standard procedure for a serious player," Vic explained, "I do the same thing on football days."
"You two boys put too much pressure on yourselves," Kori sympathized, "I used to be the same way about drill in Kauai." She subtly slowed her jumps before they ended altogether, and she sauntered over to the weight bench, picking up her water bottle.
"Then you know why we push ourselves," Rich pointed out, wrapping the band around his foot, and holding it tightly in his hands while pressing forward on it with his foot, ankle plantar flexion, "Because our hard work will payoff."
"That's not always true, guys," Kori disagreed, gesturing with her water bottle, "Take coach Sanders, he has awards hanging up all over this school. MVP four years straight, district champion, state champion, best all around player, and everything in between. But look at him now, nothing but an old, sweaty, wanna be jock, that pushes around these adequate high school boys, cursing them with his misery every time he's pissed."
"That, is an excellent point," Rich acknowledged, "But this is different, we have something that Coach Sanders didn't."
"And what might that be?" Kori asked, taking a swig from her water bottle, "An ego the size of Texas?"
"No," Vic replied, "It's called, psyched.."
"Psyched?" Kori raised a questioning brow.
"Psyched." Vic vaguely clarified, sitting up on the bench press, again.
"I don't think I want to know, but I'll ask," Kori gave in, sitting on the bench, "Please, somebody, fill me in, what is this "psyched"?"
"Psyched is the term we geniuses use for the seven things a truly gifted athlete must have," Rich explained, still stretching his ankles with the theraband, "Perspective. Stamina, Youth.."
"Courage, Honer, Efficiency." Vic added.
"And, of course, Dreams," Rich finished.
"Boys, boys, boys, sometimes I worry about you guys," Kori admitted, dripping with sarcasm, "And you boys just added more reasons as to why I should be utterly apprehensive about you two."
"Speaking of bitter females and dry humor," Vic insulted, "I wonder where Gar is?"
"Raven said she was going to catch a ride with him. She refused to wake up extra early with me to workout," Kori explained.
"Well, what's taking them so long?" Rich pondered and shrugs were his response.
"Have you fixed it yet?" she stared down at the pavement, tracing the bumper of the car with her foot.
Gar peered over the hood of the car at the dark teen, "Patience, oh eager one," he replied before going back to fiddling with the engine.
"You've been at it for an hour, Garfield, do you even know how to fix an engine?" she asked, restlessly, staring out over the horizon. She should have known one of Gar's "shortcuts" would land them stranded in the middle of nowhere.
"Of course, Raven," Gar halfheartedly responded, "You just..." he looked down under the hood of the car at all the complicated gears and gadgets, "Uh...You just take the doohickey and rap it around the thingamabob and this little rattler thingy starts turning..."
"Why must you be so...odd?" Raven inquired, tucking her hair behind her ear, now enjoying the view.
"Well, you know what they say," he slammed the hood of the car, "In a world of Cheerios, be a Fruit Loop," he smiled, idiotically, and joined Raven on the trunk of the car.
Raven sighed, "What are we going to do?"
"Well, I'd say we have about a couple of hours before anyone comes looking for us," Gar replied, looking at his watch, "And we're a long ways from school, and my mom would kill me if I just left the car here. So, I guess we don't have a choice. We wait."
"One can only take so much alone time with Gar," Raven mumbled.
"But in the meantime we could..." he trailed off.
Raven rolled her eyes, knowing what was coming next, and looked over at Garfield, whom was inching closer to her with his eyes closed and lips puckered out.
"Damn you, Gar," Raven put her hand in front of his face and his lips collided with it.
"I'm walking," she hopped down from the trunk and took off up the road.
"Wait!" Gar called after her, "We're miles from school!"
"I don't care, Gar," Raven stated, not even looking back at the sound of his footsteps approaching her, "I'd rather walk the miles than be stranded alone with you."
"Hold it," Gar grabbed her arm and she turned to face him, "My mom will kill me if I just leave her car," he explained, "And I can't let you go off alone with your sense of direction or lack of it. And not in this horrible city either."
"Garfield," Raven snatched her arm away and gestured over their surroundings, "Look around. There is no city! You and your "shortcut" hitched us a one-way ride to the middle of nowhere!"
"Well if you would've gotten off your lazy ass this morning and gone with Kori, you wouldn't be in this mess!" Gar shouted back.
Raven peered over his shoulder, and smirked, calmly placing her hands on her hips, "Well, Mr. Logan, if you weren't prone to screwing everything up, your mother's car wouldn't be in flames right now," she stated, raising her voice slightly.
Gar spun around and saw the old Cadillac ablaze. "No!" he clasped his hands onto his cheeks, "I'm..so..dead."
"Let's go," Raven grabbed his arm and they sauntered down the road.
"Strength," the word rang through his head over and over as he forced his agile body from the ninety degree angle at his elbows upward.
"Strength," his muscles tensed, sweat rolling off his face, trailing down into the crook of his neck, streaming off his shoulders, and tracing his toned biceps.
"Strength," he skillfully and rapidly flipped over onto his back, straining his abdomen muscles as he pulled himself upward, over and over again.
Never finding the strength to stop, he continued, ignoring the pain, he was too engaged with his mind unexpectedly roaming off.
"Raven," he called her name.
She looked back and quickened her pace as she made her way out the door, but he followed her there as well.
She broke into a sprint, seeing that he was gaining on her, but he chased after her, matching her speed.
"Raven, I need to talk to you," his voice became louder as he rapidly caught up to her.
She halted in her tracks.
She turned acutely on her heels, and he was directly behind her, merely a foot's distance between them.
"What? What do you want!" she demanded forcefully.
"A chance," he replied, his voice stern but a normal tone, "Just give me a chance."
"No," Raven refused, sporting a scowl, "Get a few friends and get a life, you self-centered, egotistical, prissy, little spoiled brat!"
"You don't even know me," he pointed out, "You're being judgem-"
"I don't WANT to know you!" she screamed, and turned to leave.
She'd barely made it out of his reach before he caused her to come to a sharp, halting stop.
"Why are you being such a bitch?" he yelled.
All in one motion, Raven turned back around, and stormed up to the taller teen. She took a swift, skillful swing and socked him directly in the right eye with her notorious left fist.
He cupped his hand over his eye. Raven knew it stung, that's what her victims always yelled about her slender little fist, to her amusement, but this time, she was entirely too pissed to enjoy his pain.
"What the hell, Raven?" he ranted, pointing an accusing finger at her, "What the fuck is your problem?"
Richard shook his head violently, sneering his nose up at his past actions. He wasn't the same guy as he was then. He'd changed so much just from a good knock in the head from the girl he was infatuated with, whom he still is infatuated with.
He hopped up off the floor, rubbing his abdomen as he made his way over to the dumbbell rack.
"Strength" it echoed through his ears, reminding him to look past the two pound dumbbells, "Five, eight, ten, twelve, fifteen, eighteen...twenty...Strength." He lifted the set of twenty pound dumbbells and jogged over to the bench press, taking a seat on the end of it.
He began pulling the loads up over his shoulders, one at a time, and back down again, in rhythmic motion.
Sweat poured off his body and his heart pounded, and yet, he managed to continue breathing through his nose.
"Strength. Strength." He reminded himself, but, he found his thoughts meandering from the start of the soccer season that afternoon, to the goddess whom had been stuck in his brain since he laid eyes on her, but never this much.
His stormy blue eyes observed the exercise room become the school hallway, exactly the way he remembered, and he saw himself standing there, his soccer bag over his shoulder, his school things in his hands, and wearing his white sweats and Pumas. And coming out of a nearby classroom was just the girl who he was itching to see...
"Raven-"
"No, Grayson, I don't want to hear it," Raven denied and continued walking down the hallway away from him. She knew he was bound to come after her eventually, but she didn't know that they would be the only two in the hallway when he did.
"Please, I'm begging you, just listen," he pleaded, running after her.
Raven stopped sharply and turned and faced the teen who was but a foot from her, "What?" she hissed, glaring daggers.
"Why won't you just talk to me?" he inquired, his sparkling blue eyes glazed over with hurt, one of which had a dark red mark underneath it from the incident a few days prior.
"I...do...not...like...you," Raven drawled, a vein pulsating in her forehead. She grabbed all the papers, folders, and books that he was holding in his hands, and threw them on the floor by his feet. She turned, rolling her eyes, and stormed off.
He knelt to the ground, picking up his things, and losing all hope that she would ever accept him, and then he heard her footsteps lighten and slow. He looked up to see her turning around, and coming back.
As she neared him, he looked back down at the floor, expecting for her to punch him in the eye again, not to do what she did. Raven got down on her knees in front of him, and began to help him pick up his things.
He gazed at her in disbelief. This girl, the one that despised him so, was she actually being nice to him? Or was it an act? He wasn't very sure at the moment; he was still in shock and wasn't able to think straight. But, he knew his eyes weren't deceiving him; this was really happening.
"Sorry," Raven apologized, still not looking up at him, not ready to give up her pride just yet.
Rich snapped out of his daze, not at the sound of her voice, but the word she spoke. Not only was Raven being nice, but she was apologizing. Okay, he was finding this a little hard to believe.
Raven picked up one of his things that wasn't completely strewn out all over the floor, "I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine," Rich interrupted her, afraid that he would loose his sanity if she continued, "You're not the first per...well, yeah you are the first person. But it's cool, no need to apologize."
Raven looked up at him and noticed how dark the red mark was underneath his eye. She hit him a lot harder than she thought she did, and a lot harder than she intended to. "Your eye."
"No, it makes me look tough cause I tell everyone it was a soccer accident." Rich only told that to Riley, but he was hoping to stifle a laugh from her. But he only received a slight curve of her lip, which was disappointing.
Raven broke the eye contact that she had with Richard, and looked down at what she was picking up.
He stared at Raven, noticing every one of her naturally flawless features. She was truly beautiful. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and something about her aroused him. Something about Raven lured him in. Something about her made him want to delve deeper into her, and get to know her. Something, that he just couldn't quite put his finger on.
"Did you draw this?" Raven inquired, her voice brought him out of his daze and he stopped admiring her beauty for the time being.
He looked down at the drawing in her hand, "Yea."
"Who is this lady?" Raven asked.
"That's my mother," he replied, also admiring the sketch, "Beautiful, isn't she?"
"She's gorgeous," Raven agreed, uncomfortable that Rich was getting closer to her. She shifted her eyes from the drawing of Richard's mother, to a lot more drawings that were within the pile of papers.
She flipped through them. She saw sketches of many more gorgeous woman, of cars, of graffiti, of roses and skulls, and all sorts of things. "You're really good," Raven complimented, "...Although, you probably don't need me telling you that. Your dad probably bought you a museum to put all your drawings in." Raven tucked her hair behind her ear as she continued examining the sketches.
"No," Rich informed her, smiling, "He and his fiancee don't really pay that much attention to them. They're too busy being proud of my twin brother, Riley. But it's no big deal."
Raven looked up at him to see that he had situated himself beside her instead of in front of her like before. She slowly nodded at the information he'd just given her and he noticed how she slowly inched away from him.
Raven went back to flipping through the drawings, and she came across one of a young woman, around her age. She was standing alone in a meadow, only accompanied by a dove that rested on her extended slender wrist beside her heart shaped face. The girl had a widows peak, with short tresses of shaded black hair, and she was a little short for her age. She was clad in a long sleeve shirt, a vest, and shorts. But Raven realized who the girl was when she laid eyes on a pair of combat boots that she knew all too well.
"Is...is this me?" Raven inquired, and he jumped a little when she spoke.
He looked in her hands at the sketch she held, "Uh...yea, it is you." He was afraid of how Raven would react if he told her that he actually sits around thinking about her and drawing pictures of her. But he was surprised when she didn't blow her top, instead, she just continued looking at the picture, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"No...I don't do her justice," Raven slightly shook her head no, "She's way too beautiful."
"No, the picture doesn't do you justice," Rich disagreed, "You're beautiful Raven. If you weren't, I wouldn't have had the muse to draw you."
He watched as she seemed to quiver in fear underneath his gaze.
"Well, I have to get back to class," she quickly handed Rich his things before getting back up on her feet and walking off.
"Wait," he called after her, "So...are we friends?"
Raven turned and faced him, sporting a smirk, "Don't push your luck, Grayson."
Rich smiled, remembering how wonderful it felt to be on her good side. And remembering the reason that he stuck around.
He allowed himself a few more reps before jumping up and fetching his soccer ball from his bag.
"Skill," the word penetrated his mind as he began his drills with the ball, bouncing it from his foot to his elbow, ricocheting it from his head back to his foot, and dribbling it with his feet around the perimeter of the lengthy gym.
"Skill." His eyes were glued to the soccer ball, but the sight of it made the memory come flooding back. The padded floor of the room became smooth soft grass on which a gorgeous little bird lay, himself standing over her as he bent over to pick up the soccer ball.
"Whatever, Grayson." Raven rolled her eyes, getting herself up from the ground.
"Whatever, Roth," he smirked, "How's about a game of soccer sometime?" he kicked the ball into the air and caught it behind his back.
"I don't want to play soccer," she refused, stopping on the sidewalk.
"Does a certain little Roth girl need another visit from the tickle monster?" he warned, threateningly moving his wiggling fingers closer to her.
"Fine," she rolled her eyes at his smirking face, "Another day." she decided after looking around and seeing that the sun was starting to set.
"You really should be getting home," he read her mind, and they turned around back towards Raven's house.
Almost instantly, he and Raven appeared in her backyard, Raven with a handful of rocks, pegging her own window.
Kori opened the window to Raven's bedroom, but Rich watched as she continued throwing rocks and one hit Kori right between the eyes.
"Ouch, Raven," Kori rubbed where the rock had just struck her, "You hit me with a rock."
"And you pushed me out of a window," Raven let the rocks fall from her hand, "We're nowhere near even."
Richard chuckled and he knelt down so that Raven could climb onto his shoulders, "Oh yeah, Raven," he remembered as he stood with her on his shoulders, "So, after the ceremony for my dad's knew COO, he's having a gala at our house. And I was wondering if you could go with me?"
Kori leaned out of the window and reached for Raven, who clasped onto her hands. He moved Raven's leg's off of his shoulders and pushed her up by the feet, further towards Kori, who pulled Raven up to where she was sitting on the window sill, her legs dangling outside the house.
"It's not as bad as it seems. A gala is just a party filled with nicely dressed rich people. And I'm sick of having to dance with my brother since the girls there are either way too old or way too young. So, will you come with me?"
Raven gave him a smile, "Like a date?" she asked, swinging one of her legs inside her room.
"No, no, no, no, no," he shook his head, "It's just friends...hanging out. Completely innocent. And besides, you're just doing me a favor so my date won't be Riley...again."
Raven climbed all the way in her window, and sat on her knees, still visible to him.
She gave him a sweet, genuine smile, "Goodnight, Grayson," and with that, and the smile still on her face, she shut her window.
Rich came out of his thoughts just in time to prevent himself from tripping over the bench press. He violently shook his head, and kicked the ball up to his elbow, allowing himself time to jog away from the rest of the exercise equipment.
"Skill." He reminded himself, continuing to proficiently dribble the ball, and ran a hand through his moist spiky hair, trying to stay focused.
"Finally," Raven sighed, throwing herself into Vic's arms, "Civilization."
"Whoa," Vic chuckled, "It's lunch, what happened?"
Raven clenched his shirt in her fist and slowly turned her head towards the approaching figure of Gar behind her, "He took a one-way trip to stupid's ville; population, him."
Kori stood up from the lunch table and pried Raven's hands from Vic's shirt, "Calm down, Raven. Gar isn't that bad."
"Yeah, I'm not," Gar pouted, crossing his arms and pouncing down into a seat at the lunch table.
"No, Vic, you should receive an Olympians gold medal for putting up with him," Raven admitted, sitting one chair away from Gar.
"Now, now you two," Vic took the seat between them, "Tell Dr. Vic what happened."
"Gar got us stranded miles away with one of his "sure-fire" shortcuts," Raven explained.
"I've been punished alright," Gar added, "Dudes, my mom's car burst into flames. She's going to kill me. And it will not be done mercifully."
"Serves you right, Jerk." Raven pouted.
"I swear you two have more fights in a day than the UFC has in a year," Kori rolled her eyes, "It's ridiculous."
Raven mutely nodded and she looked around at the surrounding teens. There was the redhead, the bulky pigskin chaser, the string bean, and the bubbly blonde was still on vacation; only three. "Someone's missing," she noted, "Where's Robin?"
The bell sounded, "Oh, I wouldn't bother him if I were you," Vic replied, slinging his bag over his shoulder as he stood from the table, "His first game is tonight, and he's busier than a cat trying to bury shit on a marble floor."
Richard threw his towel over his shoulder after wiping his damp face, and took a swig of water. His workout had gone on and on for the passed few hours, Raven continuously waltzing her way into his mind with every exercise. But other than that, his workout had been excellent, and a quick run on the treadmill sounded like the perfect way to end it.
He hopped on the machine and turned it up to a steady pace, nearly worn out from the exercises prior to this one.
"Speed," the next word rang through his ears.
He turned the treadmill up a few more levels, now he was running in a quick jog too slow to be called a run.
"Speed," his mind prompted him, and he turned the treadmill up another few levels, up to a run now.
"Speed!" the word penetrated his mind, a lot more forcefully, and he turned the treadmill up more than a few levels, and was now in a full sprint.
"Speed," the word slipped from his lips in a whisper, "Speed."
He was trying to stay focused for the last few minutes of training. He needed his focus. It was vital for a win, but with that girl popping up in his mind every few minutes, there was no way he'd be able to focus enough to bring home a win.
And, again, the beautiful girl easily broke through the weak fortress of his mind, and there she was again.
He wordlessly drew nearer to her figure atop the hay bales. Her back and stomach moved rhythmically to her quick, deep breaths. Her smooth deep black hair flapped in the wind behind her. And she was unaware of him approaching.
He stopped a short distance from her, just watching as she held that panda bear close to her, and stroked it's fur, gaining some sort of comfort from it. And he wondered why Raven was so elusive, so obscure. Why wouldn't she just let him hold her? Couldn't she see how much he longed for her to let him?
He mutely said something, and startled, she sharply turned her head and caught sight of him, before turning her face away once more.
Her lips moved, trying to dismiss him, but he took a seat next to her on the hay bail and she scooted away, refusing to allow him a single moments pleasure to delve into those crystal clear pools of violet.
He told his story inaudibly, and then he waited a moment before looking over at her, and she was staring at him with the most incredible look in her eyes that he'd ever had the pleasure of seeing.
The memory faded away and Rich came back to reality, "Speed," he spoke aloud.
But as quickly as that memory faded to black, another came and stole away his mind. He had no choice but to relive the day at his father's gala...
They found themselves in the middle of the ballroom dancing the famous salsa along with the rest of the frolicking couples.
And when that dance ended, they were panting, and in dire need of a break. She turned away from him and started to walk off, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her back toward him as the next song began to play. The Argentine Tango, his specialty.
He broke the out into the Salida, the opening moves and, to his astonishment, so did she. She grinned at the surprised expression on his face and they continued with the sensual dance.
She easily followed his lead, even though he was simply improvising, which is why the Argentine Tango is a complicated dance.
He tried to throw her off by throwing her trick steps or really hard ones to follow, but she was not phased. Every move he made, she countered it, no matter how perplexing it was.
A few minutes later, the music and the dance came to its halting stop, and the two's final pose was full of tension. Her right leg was lifted and laced around his left leg. His hands hand moved to her lower back, and their faces were an inch apart and their lustful breaths were one.
Not only had Rich seen the memory, but he could feel it. He felt her body pressed against his, her soft skin as he ran his fingers over it.
Richard clenched his eyes shut and griped the bars on the treadmill harder, "Speed." he said aloud.
But again, his memories of her were too powerful, and he couldn't stop his eyes as that gala came flashing before them again.
He lifted his hand and moved a few loose strands of hair from her porcelain face. Her skin was like silk underneath his fingers.
"Enough chit chat Grayson," she spoke and stepped back, taking his sketch books and putting them on the table, "Let's have it out on the dance floor. Unless, you're not man enough to dance."
She circled around him, they had now traded places with her being the predator and himself being the cornered prey. He watched her as she slightly squinted her eyes and lifted her eyebrow, proposing a challenge. One of which he accepted by taking her hand and leading her onto the dance floor, where the room was now dancing the classic modern waltz.
"Speed!" he yelled this time, "Speed!" and clenched his teeth and shut his eyes, but she was in his mind.
They ran through the festival hand in hand, she, leading the way.
She turned her head and he laid eyes on the rarest smile in the world, the most beautiful, stunning smile he'd ever had the pleasure of seeing. He felt like the luckiest man on the planet because she chose him to share it with.
"Focus!" he demanded, still sprinting on the treadmill, "Speed!"
He filled the distance between them, dropping his soccer ball, and he began to tickle her all over -or at least in every place that's appropriate for friends.
She fought him at first, but then, his fingers wiggling all over her began to be too much to fight off. She couldn't hold in her laughter, and she let her mind take over. She fell into a fits of laughter. Her laugh sounded in his ears like chiming bells. And it echoed through the dryly cold street, and bounced off of everything around them. He grabbed her and pulled them both over on the ground, and continued to tickle her.
"Damn it! Speed!" Rich exclaimed, turning the treadmill to it's limit and running as if Satan was behind him.
They pulled apart and he took her hand of silk into his and caressed her knuckles with his thumb.
She just stared at him and their smiles slowly faded away.
And then, time seemed to stop, and the world became theirs. Without a care in the world, she allowed her eyes to flutter closed, and him, his dreams becoming reality, copied her notions, and slowly pulled her closer to him. She allowed him, she allowed herself to inch toward the teen whom she desired the most at the moment.
Closer and closer they became, so close that their open mouths were but an inch apart. Their warm breath that contrasted with the cold air to become a visible smoky substance combined together.
Passion burned, Lust flared, and Desire blazed all in the heat of this intense moment.
But, suddenly, time resumed, the fire was suffocated, and reality came flying back. And she realized what was happening, and she stopped herself just as her lips nearly locked with his.
"Get out of my head!" Richard shouted.
He gazed across the lot upon a porcelain doll clad in sexy black attire. In all his years he'd never seen something so beautiful, so alluring. She was so enticing, with a plain look plastered on her face, and strange features. Never, never, had he seen anything like her before, and he instantly wanted her.
Richard slammed his hand on the stop button, and he came to an abrupt halt on the machine. He clutched onto the bars and stared straight ahead, his deep, sharp breaths the only sound in the room. What has happening?
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Absence diminishes small loves and increases great ones,
as the wind blows out the candle but fans the bonfire.
~Francois Duc de La Rochecoucauld
