Early Wednesday afternoon, Skate Ramp

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Lorna goes for a run and ends up running into Alex (not literally). They pick up where they left off last night.




Lorna didn’t really buy the workout as catharsis method of coping—no, not coping because she was okay—but they’d run out of breakables in the suite and her hands couldn’t take another session of beating on immovable objects so she’d grabbed some running shoes and headed outside to see how fast one had to run to outrun one’s thoughts. Whatever it was, it was faster than she could sprint.

Skating was Alex's only way of coping and skating was also one of the few things he could put his entire concentration in, so he didn't have to think about other things. He rolled up one of the ramps, did a 360 spin and landed back on his board, riding back down the ramp, His attention was on what trick he was going to do next and didn't even notice the nearby runner.

Lorna slowed when she noticed that the skateboard ramp was not empty the way it had been when she ran by the first time. Shoving sweat dampened hair off her face with one bandaged hand; she squinted against the sun then swore with great feeling. Out running problems worked better when you didn’t run into your problems. She gritted her teeth and was determined to run by without a word.

Alex skated up the next ramp and attempted to do a rail grab, when he saw a flash of green out of the corner of his eyes. Startled, he almost missed, but his hand grabbed the rail and he managed to some how land it. He rolled to the bottom of the ramp where he stopped. "Hey." When he didn't get a response he crossed his arms across his chest. "Or you can ignore me that works too..."

She whirled back, breathing hard, “Yeah?” Nice resolve there, Dane, she thought disgusted with herself. What was that, like, thirty seconds? She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms against her own mental chiding.

Raising his eyebrows as she copied his stance, Alex uncrossed his arms and kicked up his board into his hands, slinging it under his arm. "Who did you go out with last night?" He wasn't up for beating around the bush.

“What the hell do you care? Have you become my mother without my knowledge?” She yanked on her ponytail again, tightening it. She stalked a few feet closer at an angle so the sun wasn’t in her eyes anymore.

Instinctively stepping back a bit as she stepped forward, "I am not your mother, I was just curious. You certainly seemed to have moved on fast." It came out worse then he expected, though even he couldn't miss the jealous undertone.

It hurt that he moved away. The jealousy was gratifying and angering all at the same time. She wanted to apologize and that was even more angering. “Excuse me? Aside from the fact that you have no right to say that to me, exactly how long should I have spent in mourning, Alex?”

"I didn't say anything about mourning. I believe it was you, in your little speech on Saturday, that mentioned taking time out before trying again. I guess taking time out meant really seeing if the grass was greener on the other side." Yeah it hurt, he admit it. Her little speech, while depressing him a bit, had also given him a tiny bit of hope. Hope that was now dashed about ever getting back together and Alex was angry for its loss.

“I asked you to forgive me. I begged you to take me back.” That hurt her pride, something she’d sacrificed gladly before. She wasn’t willing to do it again. “How dare you try to make this seem like I just wanted to get rid of you. We both decided to take a break. You don’t get to tell me what I should be doing with it.”

"Begged to take you back? Really? I'm having a hard time seeing it as you go off with the next guy you see..." He snorted harshly in disgust. He couldn't believe he'd actually believed her, thought she was sincere, thought....Alex shook his head. He certainly didn't think it anymore.

“I don’t have to justify myself to you.” She uncrossed her arms and started to pace. “We aren’t dating and I don’t owe you anything. I may love you but I’m not obligated to do anything because of it.” She couldn’t believe he was doubting her. Couldn’t believe he didn’t trust her enough to know that she wouldn’t have done anything.

"Now I know why Shiro thinks I'm insane because I still love you, I'm beginning to think that myself!" He watched pace her for a few moments before turning away, feeling disgusted and still slightly jealous. "No you’re not obligated to do anything nor do you owe me anything, nor do I want anything from you." He shook his head, again in disgust.

“No, you don’t want me but you don’t want anyone else to have me either. Whatever happened to I hope you find someone who deserves you?” She turned away from him and took several gasping breaths, fighting tears and losing. She fisted her hands against her eyes and swore again.

"I never said I didn't want you!" He found himself practically shouting over his shoulder at her. Alex took a deep breath to compose himself, slightly. "And I meant that...though I admit I was rather hoping it wouldn't turn out that way. Guess I should quit hoping." He said the last quietly, almost out of her hearing.

She couldn’t hear it over the horrible sound of the sobs she couldn’t quite stop. “Look,” she choked out finally, “It was just a guy from class. I’m sorry.” Saying it was the last straw. “God damn it.” She sat down abruptly and buried her face in her hands.

Alex saw her fall to the ground out of the corner of his eye and turned toward her, even taking a step. But then he stopped himself, afraid of what his touch would do. Watching her cry, all his jealousy and anger vanished. "I'm sorry too..." He said just loud enough for her to hear, then suddenly feeling uncomfortable, he started back for the mansion, his head hanging low in total shame.