Title: Learning To Hunt
Chapter: Section 20 - INCOMPLETE
Fandom: The Tribe
Author: PinkTribeChick
Summary: Sometimes, love is just right under your nose . . .
Extended Summary: An alternate-universe Series 4 romance story, from the point of view of Pride, Jack, and an original female character.

Rating: Teen
Pairing: Jack-Original Female Fiction Character, Pride-Original Female Fiction Character, Jack-Ellie, and Bray-Amber, with a few mentions of other pairings.
Author's Notes: Massive thanks to Ariannya and Whit for their thoughts and proofreading on various sections over the years! Enjoy, and please review! Feedback is much appreciated!

*This section is more or less where the story stops – the section isn't even complete, as you will notice. I just lost my muse . . .*

Disclaimer: All characters, situations, and song lyrics remain the property of their respective owners. Any original characters are sole property of me, PinkTribeChick.

Learning To Hunt

Section 20

Liliana could hear Pride slamming things about in the kitchen, the beginnings of sunrise casting a golden glow through the window and out the doorway of the room. She walked to the door, and leaning against the doorframe, watched him as he prepared a cup of hot tea for himself. His brow was furrowed, and he was frowning, creasing his normally handsome face with unattractive lines. Finally, he looked up and saw her standing there examining him, arms crossed over her chest, lips pursed in thought. He let out a sigh, setting down the mug that was in his hand.

"What's eating you?" she asked plainly as she walked over to the cabinets and got out a mug for herself, preparing to sit down and take hot tea with him and let him pour his heart out. He grimaced with embarrassment for letting his hurt be so outwardly obvious. Unable to look at her, because just looking at her made him feel so sick and dizzy all at once he thought he would just collapse, he stared out the large window at the coming sunrise.

"Nothing," he snapped in a soft tone. He heard her snort.

"Liar," she responded, calling his bluff. "I've known you too long. I can always tell when you're upset about something, so don't try to hide it from me. C'mon . . . what is it?" She set her mug down on the table beside his and put an hand on his arm, trying to turn him to face her. He shrugged her grasp off and walked to a table near the window, sitting down silently. Tears filled her eyes. He'd never been so openly hostile to her before.

"Please . . . just leave me alone. I don't want to talk about it. Not with you anyway," he said in a flat tone. He closed his eyes, tears spilling down onto his cheeks. Liliana let out a quiet, startled laugh, becoming irritated with his distant attitude.

"That's a first . . . I thought we told each other everything," she said rigidly.

"So did I." He reached up and wiped his face, and it was then that Liliana realized he was crying. "Until last night." Liliana moved across the room to him and sat down at the table, facing him.

"Last night?" she asked, looking at him in confusion. As he stared at her stonily with his emerald green eyes full of tears, it came to her. She sat back in her chair, pinching the bridge of her nose to stop her own onslaught of tears. "Jack . . . how did you know?"

"I was coming to see you last night . . . see if you were okay, because Amber had mentioned you being upset earlier . . . and there you were . . . standing outside of your room . . . kissing . . ." As his voice cracked, he leaned forward, putting his head in his hands. Liliana closed her eyes and flinched as he cried openly. It was a few seconds before he regained his composure and was able to speak again.

"You see . . . the funny thing is . . . what makes this just hurt all the more . . . I've been having these dreams lately . . . pieces of things I've forgotten . . . things I didn't even know had happened. Like at Deirdre's party," he said quietly. Liliana's stomach sank to the floor. He looked up at her finally. "What I need to know is . . . I know what I said to you that night . . . but did we . . . ?" He gestured a little, but Liliana knew what he meant without him even having to say it. Hanging her head, she nodded.

"Yeah, we did," she answered. Pride let out a deep breath he'd been holding in.

"That's what I thought. Why didn't you just tell me?" he asked.

"Because you wouldn't have believed me if I had," she whispered, beginning to cry.

"Did anything else happen that night that I need to know about? Because I still don't remember all of it," he responded. Liliana's face contorted in pain, thinking of Samuel, but she shook her head. She couldn't bring herself to tell him. Pride nodded. "Okay . . . so where does this leave us?" Liliana swallowed and raised her head to look at him.

"I don't know," she sobbed. "I really . . . don't . . . know. I never expected . . ." She trailed off, unsure of what to say. Standing up, she moved to leave the room, but he stood up and blocked her way. She sobbed harder, and he put his arms around her, holding her close.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, burying his face in her hair. "If I'd known . . ." She was taking short, rapid breaths, her mind racing.

"Did you mean what you said? That night . . . ," she questioned. Pride smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"Yes. I'd been feeling it for so long before then . . . I just didn't know how to say it," he replied.

Like I said – the section is incomplete, and I lost my muse. But I wanted to share it with you anyway. I don't really have a synopsis for where it goes from here written up like I had for the Bad Day Trilogy. This story was always more or less all in my head. I do have a couple of future sections, alternate versions of the flashback scenes, some outtakes, and a brief bit of writing for my thoughts for the sequel. I'll give you the future section first – so you can see who Liliana ends up with. Enjoy!