☄Darkness in the Way of My Dreams (1x1)

[Cloudsong]

Aer smiled back at her, glad that she seemed to be recovering. Seeing the usual brightness return to her stormy gray eyes made him feel better. "No problem," he said warmly, watching her as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Bet you weren't very comfortable last night, huh?" It had been cool in the night, and he expected her to have been cold. Wanting to change the subject, however, he said casually; "So do you want to go down to the pier or something?" He always was trying to make her come away from her fear, and go back into the ocean. Somehow, he knew that deep down, there was still that passion for surfing. His suggestions were always vague; going down to watch people swim, taking a walk in the sand... He knew that she wouldn't thank her for outright asking her to go back into surfing - in fact, it would most likely hurt her inside.

He glanced around the forest, remembering all the times they had hung out here when they were younger. He remembered how sad she had been the day she had lost her mother; he had been there; been there to comfort her. Somehow, though, she has to go back.

[тнε.τяαgιϲ.нεяσιηε~]

Aer was right, the floor was very uncomfortable, but it beats hearing her aunt ramble about surfing. It just makes her sick to the stomach on how pushy these people are in trying to get her back on the board. It annoys her how they don't understand that she doesn't want to go back for it will bring nothing but horrible memories to her. The thought of the ocean being a horrible memory covers up her real memories with her mother and the time they spent together surfing.

"The pier sounds nice." Tori headed out of the forest, watching where she stepped on until she reached the sands on the beach. She could hear the waves crashing against the field of rocks while the seagulls flew up ahead, looking for some breakfast. There were a couple of people in the beach, some that she knew. Tori removed her flip flops and carried them in her hands as her cold feet embraced the warm sand. She slowly made it pass the group of people she knew hoping that none of them would take notice of her. But unfortunately, Aaron saw her. "Victoria!!" he yelled, waving his arms to grab her attention. Tori looked over, he began to jog over to her with his arrogant smile. He moved closer to her, only inches away from Tori's face. "Why don't you come with us and ditch this nerd?" he said softly, trying to be seductive, but Tori's not buying it. She looked away and refused his offer. Aaron smiled cockily and picked her up. Tori's eyes widen, "Put me down!! Put me down!!" she shouted while she tried to move from his tight hold.

[Cloudsong]

Aer followed her as they walked through the forest in silence, approaching the beach. He didn't speak, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable if he pried the subject. Though he wanted to know what exactly her aunt had said to her, he didn't ask. She would tell him if she wanted him to know. A sense of relief washed over him as they were outside of the forest. It was too dark for his liking in there, with all of the trees... It had gotten lighter since he had first gone to see her, and the fog had cleared up, leaving them with a clear, beautiful day.

He fell into step beside her, narrowing his eyes slightly as he saw the people from their school close by. They had never been friendly to him, so his guard was instantly up. As Aaron ran up, he felt himself inwardly frown. Crossing his arms, he heard Aaron trying to seduce Tori. For some reason, he felt unexplainable anger come across him. Not from the name-calling, though from the way Aaron spoke to her. Was it jealousy? When Aaron picked her up, with Tori screaming for him to stop, he finally dropped his cool. "Let her go," he spat, taking a step in front of him to block his path. He knew that this would be opening ground for cruel taunting, but he didn't care, though; all he wanted was for Aaron to take his hands off of her.

[тнε.τяαgιϲ.нεяσιηε~]

Aaron chuckled as Aer blocked his way, "What are you going to do? Throw your calculator at me?" he said laughing as he put down Tori.
"Or could it be that you're jealous I get to touch her like this?" he smirked and moved closer to Tori as he placed his hand under her chin and leaned in almost kissing her, but Tori pushed him away. "That's enough, Aaron! Leave him alone!" Tori protested. Aaron shook his head and laughed. He placed his hand on Tori's head as he caressed down her smooth blonde hair. He moved in quickly and kissed Tori's cheek. Tori glared at him and flicked his hand away from her hair as she wipes her cheek from his kiss.

"You know you like it, Tori. You've always had a crush on me and there's no point in hiding it." he said smiling as he headed back with the other students, but pushed Aer to the ground as he passed him. Tori shook her head and walked towards Aer. "Hey are you okay?" she asked him with her soft angelic voice. She pulled her hand out in front of him, hoping to help him up. The wind blew Tori's long hair to the side as she brushes it behind her ear.

[Cloudsong]

Aer watched them warily, his cheeks burning a very faint pink as Aaron taunted him about liking her. As he kissed her cheek, he balled his hands into fists behind his back, wishing he could punch the guy. But then... what if he was right? Does Tori like him? Somehow he couldn't make himself believe this... It caused him to think, however. For a moment he just stood there, blankly watching them as a question burned in his mind; was he jealous? Though he would never even admit it to himself, he had always loved Tori as something more than a friend. Something he would never tell anyone, for it would ruin their friendship. He wondered if she would want to be with someone who was more... handsome.. cooler than he was. I'd never stand a chance.

As Aaron pushed him to the ground, he didn't flinch. He felt the strong loathing feeling as he watched him walk off towards his friends. For the first time, he really wished that he could bring himself to get into a fight. Not meeting her gaze, Aer pushed himself off of the ground, dusting the sand off of his pants. "I'm fine," he said quietly, turning away; he didn't want her to see the dark look of anger that was still on his face.

[тнε.τяαgιϲ.нεяσιηε~]

"Aer....." her voice trailed off as he distanced himself from her. She knew that Aaron has bullied Aer before, but she's never seen him ignore her like this. She felt so far and distant from him. She knew it was best to let him be for now. She didn't want to make matter worst. Trailing behind him, Tori followed Aer to the pier. Her pace was a little bit slower than his since she wanted to give him some air and space. He always knew how to make her smile and happy again, but she never knew how to do the same to him.

Victoria fasten her pace a little bit and caught up behind him. She wrapped her arms around his chest from the back and rested her head on his back.

"P-please don't be mad......" her voice was soft and mellow. She knew that hugs always made her feel better, so she thought it would be the same for him.

"Come, I'll treat you for your favorite ice cream." Tori slowly released her hug and took his hand in hers as she ran towards the little ice cream store.

(What's his favorite ice cream?)

[Cloudsong]

After a while of walking in front of Tori, Aer felt guilty for ignoring her. He sighed, opening his mouth to apologize for how ridiculous he was acting, then closed it in surprise as she hugged him. It wasn't often that she would do this, and it took him by surprise. At the sound of her voice, he bit his lip, the guilt increasing. She sounded as if she didn't understand why he was angry, and he realized that she didn't suspect anything. "I'm not mad," he said finally, as she released him. His tone was light again as tried to reassure her. Honestly the feeling of anger he had previously had was gone now, and he didn't want her to feel guilty. Perhaps I am just a nerd, he thought vaguely. A nerd that will never have a chance with you. He left the words unsaid, knowing how stupid he sounded.

As she suggested ice cream, he hesitated, not wanting to outright say that he didn't want any. Halfheartedly, he followed her, casting a glance over at the ocean.

(Hmm... pistachio? XD)

[тнε.τяαgιϲ.нεяσιηε~]

As Tori headed for the ice cream store, she realized that Aer wasn't very fond of ice cream. She looked down feeling embarrassed.

"S-sorry, I forgot that you don't really like ice cream...." she said brushing her blond her back putting her hand down the pocket of her jean shorts. Tori headed towards the pier and looked at all the different kind of boats. She walked over to the board walk and looked out to the ocean. Sitting on the edge of the board walk, she looked down at the blue ocean and her gray eyes went into a daze. The ocean brought nothing, but pain and misery to her. It even took the only family she had, her mother.

At the age of 3, her mother divorced her father for cheating and ever since then, she never bothered getting re-married. All she cared about was her daughter and Tori was happy just being with her.

Tori pressed her thighs against her chest as she wrapped her arms around her knees and looked down at the ocean sadly. This was the closes she can ever be to the ocean. Any further, her memories will just engulf her just like the ocean's current. Tori uncurls herself and sits criss-cross. She pulled her hair to the side and began to braid it. She smiled and looked over to Aer. "How does it look?" she smiled sweetly and beautiful with her gray eyes filled with life.

[Cloudsong]

Aer tipped his head to one side as Tori corrected herself, directing her steps towards the board walk again. He followed, stepping next to her. Every so often he would glance over at her casually; wanting to see what she was looking like. He had always been able to read her like an open book; her emotions were always etched on her face in a rather read-able way. Or perhaps it was just that he knew her well enough for this... It was a relief to him, frankly, that she seemed back to her normal life-filled face. However, he couldn't help but wonder if she had gotten back to normal after their encounter with Aaron. Did she really like him?[/i]

Will she ever look at me as something more than a friend...? The question burned in his mind as he inwardly sighed, realizing how ridiculous he was. He focused on the scene in front of him, sitting down beside her cross-legged, staring down into the blue water. For a long while he was silent, then he returned his gaze to Tori, seeing she was busying herself with braiding her hair. "Very nice," he said, grinning. "Hey... I was down by the beach yesterday, and I saw that there's going to be a surf competition later today..." His voice trailed off, and he made his tone casual, as if it were just a wild thought that had crossed his mind. "Maybe you'd like to come out with me to watch?" His suggestion was aimed at her getting to compete, but deep down he knew that this was a long shot.

[тнε.τяαgιϲ.нεяσιηε~]

Tori smiled at his compliment, but it didn't stay long. He began to mention the surfing competition and her face fell blank. She looked away and ignored his suggestion. It wouldn't hurt to just watch, but she knows the people there and they're the ones who keeps pushing her to go back surfing. She knew that Aer didn't intend anything bad, but it was inevitable to feel the way she did. Her hand began to stroke down her braids as she tries to calm down. Not wanting to accidentally blow a fuse with Aer because he's the only one she got. She noticed the awkward silence between then and decided to break it.

"As much as I would like to....I don't think I can handle thebpressure people will put on me there. Not yet...." she didnt want to reject surfing completely because there's still that chance that she might go back.

"Hey Aer. About what Aaron said. Don't listen to it or over-think it. He's just arrogant and thinks that every girl likes him, which I don't. But I have heard around that he was going to ask me to the prom, but that's not for month." her knee was raised as she rested her chin on it and stared at the water. It pushed and pulled, towards and away from her. It was almost haunting her.