I Need a Hero (Lani)

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna knew for a fact that she’d already fallen too hard way too fast, but there was an inner voice that told her it could be different. Maybe she’d finally found a guy who wouldn’t take advantage of her innocence and ability to trust so easily. It was possible and Lani just didn’t remind her of any prior men in her life really. There were moments that the scene itself reminded her of something, but he always managed to surprise her with his response to it. For example, when that drunk guy had started getting all touchy-feely with her. She saw most of the men she’d been with before stepping in and being obnoxiously overprotective and maybe even hitting the guy. Lani had let her stick up for herself and she appreciated that far more than she would have appreciated him ‘coming to her rescue’ as most possessive men put it. They thought it was romantic, she thought it was annoying. There was a time for being protective and something small like that was not the instance to act that way. Lani had gained a lot of her respect from that.

And another thing. His dancing. Most guys that she had been with were very up close and all over when they danced with her. It was like they had to be touching somewhere in order for it to be okay. And hands just wasn’t enough. Lani at least kept his distance until she was ready for them to get closer. He wasn’t pushy or overconfident or arrogant. He was so much better to her. His words made her smile wondrously and she rested her forehead against his chest with a nod in agreement. The day had gone by so quickly, but she wasn’t ready for it to end. She wasn’t sure she’d ever want it to end. All the bad things that had happened, all the horrible memories and thoughts she’d had before simply weren’t important when she was with him.

Adrianna looked up at him and smiled timidly, “Well, I dunno. It just seems kind of weird that a girl, a peppy one at that would like those movies don’t you think?” She asked quietly. It wasn’t so much that she was ashamed of what she liked, she just didn’t want to be judged by it. And most people judged harshly when it came to what girls ‘like her’ were supposed to like. To be honest, she hated the stereotypical stuff she was ‘supposed’ to like. Teen dramas? Really? Her life could be one of those lame tv shows. Her mind came back to the present when he spoke again. More reasons to like her? As if she couldn’t already stop smiling, that had just made her smile more. Adri swayed with him and chewed on her lower lip trying to think of something that would match that. It was lame, but she was still a sucker for cheesy lines. “I don’t need any more reasons to like you.” Her voice was soft, but loud enough for him to hear. Her stomach was flipping, but not in a bad way. (If that made sense.)

With a giggle she shrugged innocently until he pulled her closer. Her breath caught for a moment and she shivered involuntarily. His words sent what felt like an electric current running throughout her body. And she’d actually felt that before. Adrian had caught onto what he was saying. They were different in some ways, such as her being more careful and not as reckless, but they also had their similarities in being daring. Her joke was meant to be funny, but she knew he wouldn’t think of it that way, at least not at first. When she kissed him, she could almost see the will power draining. Having that affect would come in handy, but she wasn’t the type of girl to use it whenever she wanted something. She met his smile with a bright one of her own. “I’m glad you believe me. Besides, I’d like to be the only girl who can say I’ve gotten you to cross-dress.” Her giggle was back to that devious and utterly charming smile she had.

Again he pulled her close and with no hesitation, kissed her passionately. She couldn’t deny the fact that she liked his confidence and the fact that he was just a bit possessive of her. His arms fit around her nicely and she was happy to just stay there. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and her fingers were entwining in his hair. She loved how soft it was and the fact that it wasn’t too long, but long enough for her fingers to curl into it. Finally breaking apart from yet another heart-stopping kiss, she had to keep hold of him for a moment as her head stopped whirling. She more than willingly followed him out of the crowd to a less packed area. She couldn’t stop laughing as he flailed about very nearly hitting a guy as him and his date were going towards the dance floor. It was a hot mess, but it was a very cute hot mess. Teaching him to dance would be very entertaining.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani was enjoying the music and the scene and the dancing, however bad it was but he was mostly enjoying the company. He was certainly an old soul when it came to music, he preferred the real music that could pull one into an obligatory head-bang or air drum and guitar solo. It was the last thing his father and he had in common. The one thing they could agree on was that on a long car ride The Who better be included in the play list. Perhaps it was this old soul of his that supported the idea of a partnership instead or a ‘taking care of’ type of relationship. Sure he wanted to take care of someone but he didn’t want someone who was going to hide behind him all the time he wanted someone who had the ability to stand up for themselves. Of course if things had gotten out of hand Lani would have more than happily broken the man’s nose. That was not a way to treat a woman.

With a smile Lani hid the sadness that was slowly sweeping over him. He could have had this life. He could have been someone who knew how to dance and to sing and go out to parties. If he hadn’t had so much on his plate perhaps he could have been this person without a care in the world. He liked this Lani, the happy carefree mask who loved pranks and jokes. He hoped Adrianna would never have to see the other Lani that was so full of anger and frustration that it blinded him to everything else. The real Lani was somewhere between these two extremes and usually let one or the other take over. When the masks fell over Lani’s face his couldn’t bring the other out. It took a while if he was angry to come back to this happy self. How strange then, when he met Adrianna he had been so angry, so tired of being angry, but in a few minutes she had him laughing and smiling. She rested against his chest and he smiled warmly in happiness and thanks, he hadn’t seen this side of himself with anyone other than his sister in a long time.

Lani grinned at her loving that adorable timid expression. He looked up at the flashing lights as if lost in deep thought. “Well, I suppose it would be strange if people were one dimensional. But I can see that there is so much more to you than what is on the surface.” He caught her eyes with his own and there was that glint of humor hidden behind a sharp and serious gaze. “Who cares what people think?” He challenged. He grinned and wiggled his body. “I certainly don’t or else this would be a very embarrassing situation,” he pointed out, “besides I’m not sure anyone who doesn’t like Star Wars is human.” He smiled, there was so much that was coming out between them, not anything deep but special nonetheless. Lani’s eyes widened a little in surprise at her return. His eyes softened and he rested his forehead against hers unable to find words to say. He could only hope she would still feel like that if his secret ever got out. He closed his eyes and a soft smile lit his face.

Well she certainly wouldn’t be boring, that was for sure. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the dress still though. His sister would probably be weak with giggles if she ever heard about this. The kiss was somewhat intoxicating and it scared him. His will power that was usually so strong and so stubborn was weakened by something like that. That scared him; he would never have thought he could feel vulnerable. It was a different sort of feeling and it sent a flash of panic through him when he realized that very feeling could threaten the freedom he held so dear. He hid this panic very well and his smile smoothed over his lapse in strength. Maybe it was commitment that scared him, or maybe just the idea that he might actually have feelings, well, there wasn’t really a might anymore. He had feelings for her, but that control she had over him he was weak and vulnerable to her. He wanted to pull away; he couldn’t trust her, not yet. He wasn’t sure he was ready to let her see him vulnerable to such a thing. She spoke again pulling him out of his flashing panic. He smiled and pushed the thoughts back. He laughed. “Trust me, if you win you’ll be the only one who ever has.” His expression became one of mock worry, which only shadowed the real worry in him. What if she did win?

Sensory overload started to overtake Lani. It was somewhat of a control thing, he didn’t like her to have the power to make him vulnerable but then he could say he definitely could take control of a situation. As he pulled away he realized he wouldn’t mind too much being close to her. He certainly wouldn’t have a problem being possessive; he loved his freedom and would never wish to take that away from another person. Her hands on his neck and in his hair made him get chills all over. He wanted her to be his, but did he have the courage to ask. He’s have to see, he wasn’t even sure what he wanted anymore. Leaving was out of the question, he didn’t want to leave her or Cassie. He was a little self conscious that she was laughing, but then he was actually enjoying being able to be the dork who made her laugh. He added his laughter to hers. One of his flaps connected with another body. Lani pulled back like he had been burned and turned to apologize. A man was glaring but his date was laughing. The apology came blurted out when he realized he recognized the man. The man raised a brow and waved him off with a laugh of his own. The man clapped him on the back and his eyes locked on Lani’s hard and threatening. Then the man turned, smiled at Adrianna and disappeared into the crowd. He was a little shaken, what was one of his boss’s men doing here?

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna was one of those people that could dance to anything. Golden oldies were what she was used to. She’d started dancing at three and her mother was a very big Elton John fan. Her first solo dance was to Tiny Dancer, ironic huh? Eric Clapton was another one she danced to regularly, and of course the Beatles. Nowadays she would take songs and mix them. Take something old and mix it with something new then put steps to it. Some things worked beautifully, others were better as a vision and not as an actual dance. She was good with any type of music. Ballet was usually classical music, lyrical could be any song that had a nice flowing melody, hip/hop could be MC Hammer or Lil Wayne. She appreciated it all. It was one of the things that made her such a great dancer. She could become a part of any song and make the emotions behind that song come out through her dancing.

Growing up with such a supportive mother, her life had been pretty easy with all things considered. Her relationship with Amelia made up for the lack of relationship with any of the men that had been part of her life whether it was early on or before she was even born. Once her mother got diagnosed with cancer, they just grew that much closer because Amelia was afraid of wasting any time with her daughter and as Adrian got older, she started feeling the same. That was why she never liked getting pity for her mother’s illness and from the people that knew about her daddy issues. Her life was great and there wasn’t a day that she regretted never going out to find her father. She was happy with the way things were. The only thing she really wished for, was someone to care about her in a way that her mother couldn’t. Of course she knew it was possible that she’d never really find love, after all, her mother hadn’t. And if Amelia couldn’t how could she? But she was a typical girly girl who dreamed of finding that perfect guy. The worst part was, every time she got close, something got in the way. And because of that, she was losing hope. Lani seemed so perfect, but she knew that no one was perfect and eventually something would happen that would either make them or break them. The creeping depression came right back to her mind and she hugged him tighter.

His grin made her relax, but only fractionally. He locked eyes with her as he spoke and she knew he was right. She wasn’t one dimensional by any means and what was on the surface was nothing compared to the chaos that stayed hidden deeper inside of her. She smiled and laughed, “Agreed, anyone who can’t quote the adorable little green guy is probably just some strange alien.” With another giggle she rolled her eyes playfully. Having a silly conversation like this was something that usually was lacking in most that she had with other men. It was fun, but it also helped them share information that wasn’t so full of meaning. It was important, but not as hard to handle as the other things would be. Flaming hot and more embarrassed than she’d been all night after her little comment, she was more than relieved when he smiled and leaned his forehead against hers. He accepted every little thing she said, no matter how silly or cliché. But he never made her feel like a child when she acted so adolescent. He never patronized her or made her feel dumb for what she believed.

After getting a bit dizzy from the kiss, she tried to push back the overwhelming fear that kept threatening to expose itself. She didn’t want this. She wanted to take her time. She was so scared of being hurt again. Her innocence and her past experiences kept popping up in her head. It wasn’t right to fall like this. Yes, he was sweet and he seemed as if he might actually be special, but her judgment had been off before. She looked up at him and smiled, but it wasn’t as bright or full of mischief as it had been before. She just hoped he didn’t catch on. Trust me. That’s what he’d said. At a time where her mind was so full of craziness and disarray, she was incapable of forming much of a response. “Well that’s good.” Her voice had softened vastly and was now hinting at her thoughts.

Adrianna tried to calm herself again just focusing on what she was doing, how he made her really feel. She didn’t want to be overwhelmed by fear anymore. Being run by the past was not something she was ready to handle and she knew he could be different. Maybe if he knew just how damaged she still was, he’d be able to help her through it. Maybe he’d take it into consideration and try harder to be so different from them. She was laughing, more comfortably this time as she thought about what they already had between them. She hoped he wouldn’t think it was her laughing at his expense, she was just happy to be living in the moment again. A hand clapped over her mouth when he hit the man. The girl with him was laughing, but the man seemed to be less than amused. The look he gave Lani gave Adrian the creeps and the smile he gave to her didn’t help much either. Her eyebrows pulled together and she reached for Lani’s hand without really thinking and looked up at him with confusion in her dark brown eyes.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani might not be a generous to all types of music as Adrianna was but he was willing to try anything once. He never liked rap very much but hip/hop he did. Usually it was a rhythm thing; rap was bred from poetry, when it had stopped being such he couldn’t say. There were a lot of things Lani could say he liked about a lot of different things and others that he could hate. As he danced and he smiled and laughed a pang of something uncertain came through him. He knew this was dangerous. Why was life always toying with him like this? Giving him opportunities to be happy then tearing them all away. Perhaps this time would be different, for both of them. Lani because he might be able to finally find someone who he could relate to and love without fear. Adrianna because Lani was indeed different than the others, at least he liked to think so.

But then, Lani wanted to leave. Eventually at least. So how was he any different? He didn’t know Adrianna’s past with men but the thought of leaving left him feeling terribly confused. A mix of excitement, desire, regret and fear would periodically rush through him when he thought of it. He was glad he was here with Adrianna, even when they had talked over the phone and he had had to help her though her mother’s decline she had made him feel better just by being her. Being human, someone he could relate to and care about. Someone who he could help. Maybe that was it, he liked being able to help and protect people. He was doing his best to be perfect, he didn’t know that that might scare her away. He was too worried that if she knew how flawed he really was she would be scared away. Lani was the farthest from perfect someone could get, or at least that was how he felt sometimes. Especially when someone could list out his flaws. He hated being told his flaws. For some reason people seemed to think he didn’t know what they were. He shook his head rolling his eyes at the people who had done that.

His eyes softened as she hugged his tighter. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her close giving her a place where she could know she would be protected. Leaving this moment right now seemed like something that would be impossible. “Very true, you are,” Lani answered with an air of infinite wisdom. He laughed with her surprised that his sides were actually starting to ache from laughing so much. That hadn’t happened in quite some time and he was rather happy about it. “Though I can’t say I would call him adorable,” he smiled, “Badass maybe.” He pondered it for a while. It had been rather brilliant of them to make a character seem adorable and weak and then have him destroy everything when he needed to fight. “I have to say my favorite was always Anakin, I mean before he went insane of course.” He smiled, it was small but it was a step toward opening up about himself. Truth be told he really identified with the flawed Jedi. Turing to the dark side believing foolishly that it would help the one you loved.

Lani’s mind came to a screeching halt at her expression. Had he gone too far? It was his first time even considering a relationship and already he had ruined it. Perhaps it was for the best, he was a little afraid, it was almost a relief that she was as well. He didn’t want to scare her away. He pulled away a little giving her the space he thought she wanted. His brow came together with worry that he had done something wrong. Was it something he said? Her response only confirmed his fears. His eyes soft and an apologetic smile on his lips. “Adrianna, I’m sorry,” he said, “Are you ok? I didn’t mean to… I mean I wanted to but… I don’t want to go too fast. Was that too fast? That was too much. I’m sorry, I don’t want to pressure you.” He closed his mouth realizing that he was rambling. With a touch of shame he admitted, “I’ve never done this before.” He said it softly as if needing it to be said but hoping it would be missed.

Before he could dwell on this too far bad news came around. He moved a little putting himself between the man and Adrianna. At the quick exchange of glances it was over the man had made his message clear. He was here to make sure Lani wasn’t slacking. That could only mean his boss had noticed and was unhappy with the decrease in Lani’s production. When he patted him on the shoulder Lani felt his hand move and slide something into his back pocket. He gave a blink of understanding and felt with his power a card of some sort. He pushed it deeper into his pocket securing it. The exchange was quick and would go unnoticed. He glanced at Adrianna when she reached for his hand. He took it surprised that he felt… what? Reassured? Comforted? Yes, comforted by her presence. He smiled at the man and watched him vanish. A sigh drew from his lips and he turned back to Adrianna. “What a creep,” he said, “Good thing he was forgiving. What do you say I don’t show off my super awesome moves anymore and keep it toned down?” He grinned trying to smooth her ruffled feathers by pretending not to notice the look he had been given. The lie was smooth and the transition to joking clean. He found he hated himself for it. Lying to Adrianna seemed to be different than others.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Music and people always seemed to be similar. Music was based off of feeling, at least most of the time. Lyrics helped convey the message, but it was the instrumental part that gave it the true feeling and emotion. She tended to listen to different things depending on her mood and eventually she’d dance to it and all of the raw emotion came out. It was one of the things she hated when she danced and another reason why she was so shy about her dancing when someone watched her. The raw emotion that was shown through her dancing was practically her inner most thoughts and mind-set. It was personal and intimate. When someone saw her dance, especially if she was going through something rough, they saw everything. To say that it freaked her out would be an understatement.

Graduation was next year for her. She planned on going to college to be a dancer or a party planner. She wanted to make her mother proud and follow in her footsteps because soon enough, she’d lose her. Being a dancer, going to a high-end academy for dance was something she’d always wanted to do, but her stage fright wouldn’t allow it. Singing was also out of the picture. Unless someone could make her comfortable with singing in front of a large group, she was going to be a party planner. At least that was a good money-making job. She’d be able to support herself and maybe meet some interesting people. But Adrian had plenty of time to worry about that. She needed to focus on her mother. On whether or not she was going to stay in Vermont or move back to California. If her mother kept getting worse, she knew she’d end up feeling guilty if she didn’t move back, but she hated thinking of leaving all of the people she had here behind. What if her and Lani did have a future in store for them? What if he stayed and she left and it ruined absolutely everything? It was horrifying.

When he held her close, she felt so much more at ease. The worry, the problems, all of it just evaporated again and she felt protected. The thought of not being with him made her chest hurt and the back of her eyes sting as if she were about to start crying. He was different. The moments they shared were different from what she was so used to. Same scene, different person. Call it intuition, but she knew he wouldn’t hurt her like the others had. Adri couldn’t even express how happy she was. “He is adorable! I mean he’s badass too of course, especially when he fights that Count Dooku guy! But guys can be adorable and badass at the same time.” She looked up at him and smiled brightly, “Like you for example.” She blushed and giggled nervously at her cheesiness again. “Anakin was hot. I mean, cool. But hot. I think it was sweet that he went to the other side to save his girl. He seemed like he was just sucked in to the bad part when he had such good intentions.” Her words were true, but she didn’t realize that it would tie to Lani in any way. Not yet at least.

Pulling away was partially the opposite of what she wanted. Adrianna knew that her expression and her tone had given away to her fear, but she hadn’t expected him to take it personally. He started rambling and it just made her feel guilty. She placed her hands on the sides of his face and she started shaking her head slightly, “Lani it’s okay. I’m fine. It wasn’t you, really.” She sighed lightly and brushed her thumbs across his soft skin. “I’m just worried, my past luck hasn’t been so great and I’m a little scared is all.” Her hands slid down his neck and again, out of habit, she started tracing patterns in the back of his neck as she thought. “I really like you and I like this, us. We’ll just work through the fear and the inexperience okay? Everything will be fine though, I’m sure of it.” Adrian met his eyes and her determination shown clearly in her features. The words that passed through her lips were honest and she would try her best to make sure that her fear didn’t get in between them.

Adri noticed him being protective of her again and she almost smiled, but the man still had her spooked. She couldn’t understand what the silent communication was between them, but there was more to it than Lani just accidentally hitting the man. It wasn’t her place to ask, but her curiosity was gnawing at her. How could Lani know someone so scary? She was relieved when he took her hand. As she had expected, Lani tried playing it off as if he didn’t know the man. But Adrian knew. She’d had remnants maybe of a telepathic power because she could almost feel the tingling sensation she got when using her power. Something was going on, but she was too afraid to ask. “Might be a good idea, we wouldn’t want any more problems with big scary men for the rest of the night. I think we’ve had quite enough of that,” She said with a smile as she stepped closer and pecked him on the cheek. “We’ll save the super awesome moves for your hip/hop lesson.”

[Lani Hunter]

Lani was a man of hidden talents. His emotions were something of a crazy random surge that he couldn’t find ways to express. So against all expectations he wrote. Now no one would ever see these secret works because he didn’t keep most of them. They usually were discarded soon after their creation in the trashcan. He didn’t think he was that good so he usually just wrote to get out his emotions and then discarded them when they had done their job. Sometimes these went on for pages and when they actually built into something he wanted to keep he stowed them away in a box under his bed. Unlike dancing, where he felt mostly silly and fun it was a good escape in writing. Especially since his powers were so closely linked to his emotions he needed to find a way to blow off steam without blowing something up. His ideas came out in words rather than images like Adrianna’s but he also never wrote anything happy, they were dark and that was part of the reason he discarded them. After the emotions were gone he never wanted to remember having them.

Graduation was not something Lani wanted to think about. He was jealous of those who had plans, his only included stealing. And he couldn’t do that forever. Eventually he would get caught or just be too old and creak when he moved. He wondered what Adrianna’s plans were. He really didn’t want to talk about them because chances were she’d have the same reaction as his family. He was not going to graduate. To be honest he wouldn’t mind having another year if it meant he could be with Adrianna, well as long as he could live off campus. If he was going to have a girlfriend, or perhaps even a wife somewhere in the distant future he wanted to be able to provide for her. It was complicated, because he wanted a partnership as well but he would also feel the need to protect whoever it was from the cruelties of the world. At least they wouldn’t have to worry about being robbed; he knew every trick in the book. Well either way he didn’t want to start thinking about the future.

Lani closed his eyes just holding her tightly. He laughed a little at her smile and her star wars statement. “Oh yes! Count Dooku didn’t stand a chance.” Lani couldn’t believe how much of a nerd out he was having at the moment, much less with a woman. He rolled his eyes and laughed again. He didn’t think it was cheesy but he definitely ignored the adorable part. “I am pretty badass, aren’t I?” He rubbed his chin and his eyes flashed with mischief. “But you know I’m not three feet tall and green,” he said as if dismayed. He grinned and raised a brow at her wondering where she was going with Anakin. His other brow quickly joined the skyward climb when she said she thought it was sweet he went to the dark side. He recovered slowly from his shock. “You really think so?” He asked ready to trip her up by taking the opposite stand. “You don’t think he went there initially then liked it on the dark side. They do have cooler costumes. Maybe he went there with good intentions but is that what Amidala would have wanted?” He knew Caroline sometimes blamed herself against his best tries. But the fact still stood that if she hadn’t gotten sick he wouldn’t be a thief. But the only way she wouldn’t have gotten sick would have been to never have been born and that was the last think Lani wanted.

The calm that she filled him with when she touched him was almost magical. His mind stopped whirring and he looked into her eyes. He could tell she wasn’t fine, but he didn’t know what to do to make it better. Oh how he never wanted her to look so afraid and sad! He cocked his head at her not understanding at first. The way her hands moved and soothed him almost held the answer. Of course she had dated before, he was so dense. Then what she said made him reassured by afraid at the same time. What did this make them? He nodded feeling rather strange being on the comforting side of this situation, what a surprising change. Even though she was upset she was worried about hurting him. Her eyes were determined when he met them and he understood her honesty. “I like us too,” Lani said the joking gone from his voice and sincerity in its place, “We can move as slow as you want to.” He realized he had just handed over some power to her but he didn’t mind. He didn’t want to hurt her. “I don’t know how to say this… but, Adrianna, I don’t want to be friends. I’m actually not sure I can.” There it was, his emotions laid out for her, well as much as they would be for a while, he still didn’t want her to know how incredibly taken he was with her.

His eyes drifted through the crowd and he noticed the man had gotten the only information he had needed and was no completely occupied by his date. Lani frowned, this couldn’t be good. He shook off his nerves, hopefully before they became apparent and smiled back at Adrianna. He grinned at her making as if nothing was amiss and was glad she had bought his trick. The guilt was still there but it would have to wait until later to be dealt with. “Club can’t handle me.” He quoted with a snicker. He took her hand and pulled her close with the other and swayed dancing in a little circle like he had seen in the old time movies. The night was young and he was already going down he didn’t even care who saw. It was known that he was smitten with Adrianna now by the only people who he would have kept it from. There was nothing left but to dance.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Most people knew Adrianna was a dancer, actually close to everyone that knew her were aware of her skills as a dancer. A lot of people also knew that she enjoyed sketching. One thing that no one knew was that she sang. Her voice was pretty well-developed, but she was extremely self-conscious about it. She enjoyed singing when she was alone and she made sure no one else was around. Stage fright was one of her biggest fears and it was the main reason why she refused to go to college for dancing or singing or music in general. She couldn’t perform in front of a recruit and have her acceptance to a college be based off of that alone. It put too much strain on her and made it less fun. Dancing was a reliever, singing was an escape, and sketching was something she just happened to be good at. All of them were important things that helped her; she didn’t ever want them to be judged.

One more year of school at Hammel and she’d be off on her own. She’d have a good grip on her power and maybe never have to use it. Of course if someone was in trouble and her power would help she’d use it, but a power mimic had no use for powers in the real world. A party planner didn’t have use for a power either. Sure, super speed would come in handy and cryokinesis if she was dealing with keeping the ice sculpture cold for a party would too, but the only way she’d have access to those powers was if she stayed in a place that was more populated with metas. California was much too huge to be surrounded by metas. Pilot Ridge was probably the best place for that, but she still wasn’t sure if she was staying or not.

Adri snuggled into his chest, happy to be held by him. She giggled and was surprised at the fact that she was actually talking about one of her secret likes. Nerding was something she didn’t often do, but when she did, she was quite good at it. “And modest, too.” She rolled her eyes and laughed again. She noticed his eyes sparking with that hint of wickedness and she shook her head slightly at him. When she talked about Anakin, she wondered how he’d take it. Most people would think she was crazy for actually liking the bad guy. In her eyes though, he wasn’t all bad. She found some form of good in everyone, even if no one else could. Though, she was still trying to find goodness in Zac, and that was posing as quite the challenge. “Yes I really think so and they may have cooler costumes or whatever, but I know that in his position if I had to do something that I knew could save my mother’s life, no matter how bad it was or what would happen to me…I’d do it. She may not want me to, but because I care about her so much, I’d do it anyway. Just so I knew I did everything I could to help.” Adrianna said quietly trying to explain it in a way that he might understand. When she’d first watched the movies with her mother, it was after Amelia had been diagnosed. Adrian was still young, but she understood where Anakin was coming from. It was another reason she liked him so much.

Adri could almost feel his tension slipping. After getting a good sense of his power at the training field, she also knew how much stress he was under because his emotions were tied to his power. She only felt it when she was touching him though, physical contact strengthened her power. She was glad he was starting to relax and it made what she was saying easier. Her heart squeezed when he spoke and she chewed on her lower lip as he continued, waiting for the words that would either give her the go ahead, or make her want to run. She smiled faintly when he gave her a slight bit of power over how fast they moved. And then he said he didn’t want to be just friends. She nearly died right then and there. With a bright smile she let out a deep breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in. “Are you sure? I mean, you should probably know what you’re getting yourself into…” Her soft voice trembled a bit and she looked up into his eyes. “I’d really like to be more than friends though, I just want to be sure you can handle a nutcase like me.” Adrian said with a short laugh, though her eyes were completely serious.

Adrianna giggled when he pulled her closer, trying hard to forget about what had just happened. If he ever felt the need to tell her what really was going on, he would. She wasn’t going to push it. They still had a while before curfew and she was all for having fun. “Psh, you ain’t got nothin’ on me boy,” She whispered in his ear with a wicked smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck and swayed easily with him. Now that the more consequential and serious stuff was over, she was going to flirt up a storm. Let’s just hope Lani can handle her.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani didn’t want to think about the future, he couldn’t see one in which he was happy. Someone was always going to have a hand on his leash. Lani learned early not to bite the hand that held him but that didn’t mean he didn’t resent it. His boss had been like a father to him but as he grew older and teenage rebellion started to thread through Lani his boss had really asserted his control over Lani. He spoke in terms that Lani understand, basically do what he says and get paid and if that didn’t work do what he said or something bad might happen. In many ways he was at war with himself. He knocked himself down as regularly as he built himself up. One side was Lani’s anger fueled by the lack of freedom and the other side was the side that enjoyed the thrill of stealing and getting away with it.

Adrianna’s comments about Anakin really took him by surprise. His eyes lost their humor and he really listened. She couldn’t know how those words affected him. No one could know. Caroline. If it happened again he knew very well that he would more than happily do this all over again. Was he like Anakin though? Was he becoming one of those people he resented? Was he evil? Or was he a good person? It was discerning that he didn’t even know. It felt as though with her words her hand was touching his heart and he wasn’t sure if he could handle it. Lani was silent for a long time because he feared that if he spoke something might spill out. He wondered if that was really her way or if she was just saying that. If she were faced with someone who she knew that did that would she still feel the same. Perhaps… perhaps he could trust her with his secret. Perhaps he could let her in, she could understand. Perhaps… But there was too much uncertainty in that perhaps. He forced a small smile, he wanted to thank her for her words, but couldn’t without explaining everything. “I understand,” he said instead, “I would have done anything to make sure Caroline was alright.”

He closed his eyes and saw the fights with his father. The slipping grades, Lani’s entire essence slipping into oblivion behind the weight of this responsibility he had taken on. At least his boss never asked him to kill anyone. Lani refused to do that. He had gotten into this to save someone’s life, not to take another’s. When she snuggled against him he gained just as much comfort from it as she did. It made him feel good to feel needed again. His emotions were in such flairs that he had to clamp down hard on it. It was parasitic and more often than not reacted before he could even think about a situation. He had been dealt a bad hand in this life, his sister, and then this power that was much more of a bane in normal circumstances. Though it was quite useful and he loved it when he was stealing. But then add the stress of his boss and his emotion linked power that he had to keep secret from his boss and you get someone who isn’t as stable mentally as he liked to imagine he was. Now his boss sent someone and he knew about Adrianna. Oh when would life be done with him?

He swallowed down these emotions as she helped calm him and the tension slipped off his shoulders. He still felt the weight of the world on his shoulders but he no longer felt the dire need to deal with it all right now. Lani’s eyes locked onto Adrianna’s sweet brown orbs as she spoke. He nodded no amount of joking in his voice, “I’m sure.” A smile crossed his lips and a low chuckle came out of his throat. “We’re all nutcases in our own way,” he said to her, “Anything that will come up, we’ll either get through it or we won’t. But we won’t know unless we try.” Lani discretely left out talking about what she would be getting into. He felt a little guilt pulling her into his life, if things were ideal and Lani was selfless he would tell her she didn’t want to be involved with the likes of him. That she should run before something happens. But that wasn’t how it was. Lani was selfish and while he knew he wanted to be with Adrianna he also knew the safest place for her now was at his side. Distancing himself from her wasn’t going to fool anyone.

He smiled glad that the emotions were out on the table, he was more than willing to acknowledge what had happened and let the subject drop. He wasn’t very good at talking about his feeling and so the less that came up the better. A smirk grew on his face as she flirted. “We’ll see about that,” he grinned. She had that wicked smile that made Lani’s skin get hot. “You might be hot stuff on the dance floor but just wait until I smoke you on the race track.” He winked at her. He pulled her close and as soon as he was about to say something he felt was sly a song he absolutely loved came on. It was a fast beat slightly techno pop song. "Love this song," he grinned, "Adrianna you should show your moves!" He backed off giving her space if she wanted to show off.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrian understood growing up at a young age. She’d been ten, which wasn’t so young, but for a little girl with no father to take on so much responsibility, it was pretty young. Living her life as if she were already middle-aged taking care of her aging mother, she’d learned early on not to depend on someone too much. Her goals in the future were all about independence and supporting herself with her own money. Of course her own mind wandered towards having someone care for her instead of the other way around, but she knew it would be far in the future before she settled down. She’d have her career in order, her life on the right track and she’d have time to have a family. The path that she was on seemed to be good, but with Adrian’s personality, it wouldn’t fair well. She would get absorbed in work once her mother was beyond recovery and she would become the person who works incessantly and never has a social life. The completely 180 of how she was now.

In all reality, her future was bleak. Unless she managed to find a man who could keep her stable, keep her safe and never abandon her, she was a goner. Her problems that had developed early in life would only intensify when she was grown up and in the real world. Her naivety would get her nowhere in life and she would most likely go completely insane when her mother died. Of course, she didn’t know all of this yet. She still had hope for the future, but it was only a matter of time before that hope up and disappeared. There were only a few things that could set her on a good path at this point: finding someone to put all of her doubts and fears to sleep or gaining that independence that she seeks. Adrian believes she has it now, but she is much too dependent on her friends for her to be stable. It’ll come back and bite her later on if she didn’t fix it soon.

As good as she was at lying to herself about things, Adrian always spoke her mind around others. Sometimes it would be sugar-coated, other times she’d be straight forward and rather blunt. Either way, the girl never said something just to make herself sound like a better person. What she was rambling on about during her nerd-out, she truly believed. Anakin was her favorite because he did what he had to just to save the one he loved. No one else really saw the true meaning behind what he was doing. Most people saw a man that wanted power because he was greedy, which in Anakin’s case was true, but that wasn’t the only thing. Lani was silent for a while and Adrian started to question what she’d said. He probably thought she had a thing for ‘bad boys.’ Finally he said he understood and she relaxed with a smile, “I know you would have, I can see how much you care about her.” Adrianna was oblivious to his thoughts, but she guessed that they were on Caroline as much as hers were on her mother.

Being held like this made her feel special. They’d just started hanging out, but with him things were already different. She hadn’t made him pity her for her abandonment issues and she wasn’t complaining about feeling like an object. They were talking about a nerd movie, dancing and just having a good time. She knew that once she told Amelia about him, instantly her mother would be all for it. After what happened with Craven, Amelia was all for any other guy (only if he was good enough for Adrian though). The guilt from pushing the two together so much made her want Adrian to find someone else. And Adrian knew that Amelia would appreciate his reckless and fun behavior. It would be good for Adrian as far as Amelia was concerned. Adri could almost hear her mother saying that she needed to be more adventurous and that Lani was just the thing to cure her worries. She smiled faintly against his chest and took in the warmth that surrounded her. Luck was definitely on her side tonight.

The assurance she got from the lack of humor in his voice made her own tension slide gracefully away. Before she could stop herself, the words came stumbling out of her mouth, “But even if we don’t get through everything…you won’t just leave me right?” Fear had crept back into her tone and her eyes were wide. The one thing that she needed to make sure of right now, no matter how much he didn’t know about her past that would back up her question, she just wanted to hear him say it. Even if he was lying now, she had to hear it. Maybe in the future it would be true, but she knew that he couldn’t promise her anything just yet.

At the smirk she got all flirty again. He was clearly accepting her attempts so that meant she could keep it up. “Yes we will,” She lifted her chin up a bit to show that she was getting a bit cocky. The girl had no arrogance really, but she was confident. “Honey, I’m hot stuff everywhere, the only one that’ll be smoked on the race track is you. Just don’t get your pretty little face burnt. I might need that later.” Adrianna giggled and winked at him with a smirk that held a slight bit of innocence and shyness. She couldn’t believe she had actually said that. He pulled her close and she waited for him to say something else, but just before that the song changed and his excitement made her laugh. She wasn’t too happy about the space he gave her, but she did sort of want to show off. So she did, and several people backed up to watch her.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani hummed along with the music not willing to sing and expose the world to his tone deaf singing. He did sometimes forget himself when he was alone in his room and start belting out something but usually it was something he knew so well he could fake it. It was very easy for Lani to forget his future and live in the here and now. Certainly they were always in the back of his mind but when he had a job he couldn’t be worrying about anything but that. It wasn’t so much that Lani had focus but he knew how to keep his mind from wandering, even more now since his power thrived on wandering thoughts. He really wasn’t sure what he would do if he ever stopped stealing but he really didn’t want to think about it either.

Lani was envious of Adrianna, she knew where she was going. She was stronger than he was when it came to perseverance. She was naïve though, and that worried him. He knew there were dark places in this world and he would hate it if Adrianna found herself in a situation that she couldn’t get out of because she had trusted someone too easily. Lani was independent to the point where his parents were frustrated that he hardly came to them for things anymore. He wasn’t sure how he would do with being tied down to someone, it was a threat to his freedom, but then he wasn’t really free at the moment either. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing to be dependent, at least in this point of life. Most teenagers still relied on their parents for advice and help. Lani had stopped that long ago and he was starting to feel the effects of his bad decisions. He had a stubborn idea that he could do it all on his own and he wasn’t liking the idea that he actually couldn’t.

A little smirk grew as Lani thought about her ideas. Well if she wanted a ‘bad boy’ she had certainly come to the right place. There is indeed a thin line between darkness and light, and it was easy to think you were doing right when doing wrong. That was Lani’s idea on the thing. He could try to justify his crimes until the end of time but that didn’t make them any more right. Well, they say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. He smiled softly his thoughts running off to his sister. “She’s the best, I hope you get a chance to meet her. I’m sure you would love her,” he gave her a little wink, “She doesn’t like my recklessness either.” Oh Caroline, his wonderful little sister. She was his rock as much as he was hers. His sister was the most important thing in his life and if anyone hurt her he would make sure they paid. It was the one thing that he was sure would destroy him if he lost. Caroline was quite literally everything to him and people knew that. If they really wanted to ruin him they could. Lani would probably destroy himself trying to destroy whoever hurt her, and if it was the cancer…

Lani’s eyes went wide at her stumbled question. What was he supposed to say to that? He knew what she wanted to hear but he wasn’t sure he could say it. He shied away from the question but her eyes held him fixed. They were so desperate and he opened his mouth but no words came out. He closed his lips again and closed her eyes and the internal debate was ongoing. To lie or not? Finally he tried something in the middle. “Adrianna,” he said slowly and carefully. “The future is uncertain and I don’t want to make a promise that I can’t keep. But if life allows I will not just leave you. If this doesn’t work out, even if I’m not here physically, know that you’ll have me as a friend forever.” Well if that wasn’t a mess of confusing half-promises. He felt like he was blundering in the dark trying to be honest with her and with himself and at the same time give her the answer she wanted to hear. He was never good at this sort thing. It hadn’t been a complete lie, his future was uncertain and chances were if they ever broke up he would probably take flight.

He laughed at her cockiness glad to move on from the hard topics. “Don’t be jealous,” he winked slyly. “Oh-ho!” He exclaimed and his eyebrows jumped, “That’s a lot of smack talk you’ve got going on!” The rest of his comeback got tangled in his tongue as his face heated and she talked about his face. “Ah, there’s Devious again,” he grinned teasingly, “But just know in order to do that you’re gonna have to beat me first.” He leaned close slowing his words down and annunciating carefully. He was goading her into a challenge but the fact still remained, he was not going to wear a dress. He leaned in as if to snag a kiss and then just to tease her pulled back again. He grinned at her looking very much like a happy puppy.

She danced and Lani was entranced. Several other people started to crowd and there were cheers and laughs. She was better than he thought, it wasn’t like she was doing flips or anything like a ballerina but it was just so fluid and smooth he couldn’t even hope to get to that point. Curfew would be coming up soon but then again, he wasn’t ready to leave. Of course when had he been back before curfew anyways? He smiled at Adrianna, Adrianna would probably not want Hammel to give her detention because of that. He reached out a hand for her to take and was very glad to have jealous eyes on him for being able to call her his date.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrian heard him humming and felt the vibrations rumble through his chest as her cheek stayed rested there. She wondered if he could sing too. Of course she didn’t sing in public, but her shower head thought she was quite good. Singing was something that she only did by herself. It wasn’t even that she was a bad singer, but she didn’t think she was all that great. In reality, she was almost as good at singing as she was dancing and she’d been dancing longer. Songs were always floating around in her mind, when she was alone they happened to come out every once in a while. Every now and then she’d get caught singing while doing something in her dorm, but only if the song was playing on a radio or something. Levi had actually caught her once.

As well as Adrian knew what she wanted to do, she didn’t know what would happen in her social life. Work life would be great, she could even get famous for planning events for celebs. But her naivety would get her in a good amount of trouble. She trusted so easily and never saw the bad things in people no matter how obvious it was. She looked past those things, mostly hoping she’d change them. One of these days she’d get in too deep with a guy that seemed perfect on the outside and in public around her friends, but later on he’d get abusive and end up hitting her while they were alone. It was just a matter of time. And Adrian was too weak to do anything about it. She’d let it go on because he’d make her believe he only hit her because he cared about her. She’d believe him without a second thought.

The girl could have a backbone when someone else was there with her, but alone, she had the worst will power ever. Had Lani not been there, the drunken guy that had hit on her would have gotten what he wanted, maybe not everything, but she wouldn’t have stood up to him like she did. Lani had saved her from getting hurt that time, but would he be there every time something came close to going wrong? Unlikely. She didn’t expect him to follow her around to make sure she didn’t do something she’d regret later. Though it would be quite helpful if he did, not that she’d admit it.

Adrianna smiled when he talked about Caroline. She seemed sweet just by the way he spoke of her. And Adrian knew the tone that was hidden behind the bliss was one of shear worship. She’d said it once and she’d say it again, older brothers practically kissed the ground that their younger sisters walked on. Lucah did with Jez, Robbie did with Desi and Lani did with Caroline. All three of the boys were so completely tied to their younger sisters that she couldn’t help but already like the little girls. If Jezebel could make Lucah like that, she had to be strong, if Desi could make Robbie keep going back home, she was clearly special and Caroline managed to pull through her cancer while keeping Lani under control at the same time, that little girl had to be a miracle. “I’d really love to meet her, she sounds like the cutest thing. I’m hoping you’ll get to meet my mom, she’ll love you more than you can even imagine.” She laughed quietly when he said that his little sister was like her in the aspect of being cautious. “It’s funny that you say that, my mother doesn’t like me being overly-cautious, she thinks I need someone that will make me do more adventurous things. You two will make a great pair I’m sure,” She said with mock enthusiasm, but a genuine smile played at her lips. Hopefully he’d get the chance before she plummeted into her illness.

Stuttering and falling over herself when she spoke was not something that happened often to Adri. When it did, she was clearly worrying excessively about whatever it was that she was talking about. Him staying was definitely something she was worried about, or rather, him leaving. The hesitation mad her heart fall slightly and she knew he was going to be honest with her and say that it was unlikely he’d always be there. She was glad he’d been honest with her, but it still hurt too much for her to really like. With a sigh, she nodded and kept quiet because her voice would give away too much. Due to the overwhelming sense of abandonment, she hid her face in his shirt and hugged him again. The fact that they could have a limited amount of time together just made her reluctant to ever let go again. Why couldn’t the answer be simple and yet still honest. A short and sweet ‘of course’ would have sufficed, but things just had to be complicated.

“Psh, jealous? Ha!” She giggled and nudged him with a smirk. She grinned wider and nodded, “It’s not smack talk if it’s the truth and I’m so not devious. I don’t know what you could possibly be talking about.” She looked around innocently and laughed again. He leaned in real close and her eyes widened slightly, completely captivated by his proximity. Her eyelids fluttered when he leaned in closer and she was ready for him to kiss her, but right before their lips connected, he pulled back and she nearly groaned in frustration as he toyed with her. She couldn’t stay frustrated for long when she looked up and he was smiling at her. He was lucky she thought he was cute, otherwise she would have made him regret messing with her. (In a flirty way.)

Adrianna was focused on Lani as she danced, trying to look as desirable and flirty as she could, not that it took much. Her movements flowed together nicely and she did a few advanced moves that the crowd reacted to. When he reached out for her, she took his hand and spun right into his arms with a wide smile on her face. She slid her arms up around his shoulders and pulled his lips down to meet hers, this time making sure that they touched and not only touched, but stayed there for a good while. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a few girls huff and walk away in disappointment which only made her smile.

[Lani Hunter]

A smile had been plastered on Lani’s face all night. That was quite a record, too bad that all good things had to come to an end. Time was something he had no control over. And personally he didn’t want to have to deal with Malcom for coming back late. Lani had respect for the man but there was still a piece of wariness and that knowledge that he was on the other side of the fence from Lani. An enemy of the thief. Lani had to say that he certainly liked the man a lot more than he liked the other security personnel. Even Taitum, but then again Taitum had vanished and Lani felt a mixture of relief and betrayal. Relief because Taitum was like a wall and betrayal because just when Lani thought the man might care for him, and had tentatively started to trust him the man had up and left. Cassie too, but then again he knew her parents were only doing what they thought was best. But he missed her.

Lani couldn’t lie, he worried. He worried a lot. About Caroline, his friends past and present, Martin, Adrianna. He was just a worrier, he tried to take the world upon his shoulders and protect those he loved from everything imaginably bad. With Adrianna he wasn’t so much worried about her making bad decisions, she could certainly handle herself. But he was worried about a situation she could get into. She was so innocent she trusted to easily. He could easily see someone conning her, either to get something out of her or even taking it to another level and completely manipulating her for her powers. One of Lani’s goals, even though not voiced was to give this girl a backbone. He didn’t want to be able to walk all over her. Especially in Lani’s case, if someone didn’t stand up to him every once Lani tended to take them for granted.

Even despite her question Lani really did want to be there for her. He just didn’t want to make a promise and then have something happen. Chances were just as likely that he would die tomorrow as it were that he would break his pencil. Taitum had one thing right. They were fragile. He hadn’t really thought about it until recently but it was a scary thought to think that some car accident or even sickness could easily take him out and then it would be lights out no more Lani. What would she do then? Had he promised to be with her always would he then feel obligated as a spirit to follow her around? Lani was very much a person that liked to expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised. So if he prepared her for his possible departure then wouldn’t it make it all the sweeter if he stayed?

But then no quite. It could just make the person skeptical and make them not trust someone. Oh well, better to let things play out as they would and not worry about it. What will be will be. He knew that his sister knew that he would keep his promise to be there for her even if he wasn’t there physically. She need only call and he would come at breakneck speed through all the police in the world and all the walls. No one could keep him from his sister when she needed him. He smiled glad she would like to meet her, Caroline had certainly been more than excited about Lani finally having a love life worthy of talking about. He laughed and gave her a grin. “You really think so?” He asked. “Maybe it’s like that thing, siblings and even parents are often opposites. But you know if you’re looking for adventurous you certainly came to the right place.” His eyes flashed with mischief and he started thinking about what kind of person Adrianna’s mother would be. How strange though, that she hadn’t said anything about her father. Though, Lani hadn’t exactly been a fount of information about his parents either.

“She is the cutest thing though,” Lani said his thoughts diverting back to his sister. “She has the tendency to think the best of people and I think she would just love you.” It didn’t take Lani long to figure out that he had made a bad blunder. He should have just lied. Let her hear what she wanted. She hid her face from him and he was sure if she wouldn’t have noticed he would have delivered himself a slap to the forehead. Why it affected her so much he couldn’t tell but he hated to think that the thought of him leaving would upset her so much. It wasn’t healthy. He took her shoulders and gently tipped up her face so she would look at him. “Hey now, the future is a long way away. Let’s live right now, ‘cause right now I’m not going anywhere.” He knew it wouldn’t make the fear in those eyes go away but maybe it would help her know that if he were to leave it wouldn’t be his choice.

Her mood shifted again and Lani was starting to wonder if he could keep up. “You don’t know that,” he protested, “And you are so devious I can’t even stand it! It’s really hot.” He narrowed his eyes obviously very taken with the young woman. He was teasing her and loving it. The look she gave him told him his ploy had worked. Whatever her mind had been on before that was so depressing was gone. Or at least shoved to the back until later. As she danced he realized he wanted to kiss her, to hold her, to… But the physical attraction was overshadowed by the mental attraction. She was challenging him and flirting. He chewed on the inside of his lip as he watched her very much intoxicated by everything about her. It was almost unfair. How could she be so good? It was almost as if she were speaking to him without words.

She spun into his arms and he decided he didn’t want to let her go. He smiled down at her, “You are truly a spectacular sight to behold.” He didn’t get to say much more for she claimed that kiss he had denied her earlier. He melted and pulled her close deepening the kiss loving the way her warm lips felt against his. Lani was rather clueless and didn’t even realize that there were disappointed girls around him. He leaned close and whispered in her ear, “Hey we’re pressing time,” he said frowning, “I mean we have time but if you want to get back before curfew we should probably leave now.” He shook his head a little and gestured up at the bouncers who were currently wading through the crowd and trying to encourage people to find the door. He took her hand and led her through the mob and out the door. It was nice and cool, it felt like he could finally breathe in the night air.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Adrianna was beginning to realize that they’d been at the club for quite some time. She knew curfew was creeping up and she was not happy about it. Why couldn’t she have time control just so she could prolong her time with him? Then again, she was hoping she’d have plenty more time with him. Even if it wasn’t forever, it had to be longer than a few days. He clearly didn’t seem like he wanted to just pack up and leave her right then and there. But she knew things changed. Change could be good at times, but there were those times that it really just hurt. Whether it be personality changes, relationship changes, feelings, emotions. She’d witnessed change quite a bit.

Like Lani, Adrian was a worrier. Never about herself though. She was one of those rare selfless types. Only every once in a while did she really even care about what she was doing. Her friends and her family were much more important to her than she was. There was no point in worrying about her when she was a train wreck already. Things could only go up from where she was, right? Wrong. Realization hadn’t hit that her life could have been quite worse. Her mother could hate her or worse, she could have died years ago. Growing up without a father was one thing, not having a mother around to talk to was a wholly different thing. The very thought of it was unbearable to Adrian which was probably why she hadn’t realized that her life could be worse. Once her mother was gone, so was her backbone. Amelia was what kept Adrianna out of most trouble she encountered. If Amelia died, Adrian wouldn’t have that voice telling her to stop anymore. That was when things would get worse. If Lani really could help her, she might actually get through life without being manipulated.

The question was something Adrian really hadn’t meant to ask. The fact that she had was a mistake and she instantly regretted it the moment the words left her lips. What Lani didn’t know was that it was just a matter of time before the abandonment issues came up and she started freaking out or she’d end up comparing him to every other guy like she’d been doing in her head. She wasn’t trying to push him away, but her mind was a chaotic mess and something always slipped out. Word vomit. It was an unpleasant thing that got many people in trouble many times. Her included. As calm as she came off in person, she was really just in utter disarray. Confusion often fogging up her brain.

It had been months since Adrian had a real love life to tell her mother about. Sure, she’d had a fake romance with Craven for a short amount of time, but it didn’t count because it had only been known by a select few people. And it was only in order to make Cooper relax and get off of Craven’s back. Ever since her break up with Talen, Adrian hadn’t talked much about her love life with Amelia. When she’d mentioned going to the club with a guy, her mother nearly squealed. Adrian had started describing Lani from what little she knew about him and Amelia was thrilled and already talked about meeting him. Adrian couldn’t help but wonder how her mother would act after she described the night’s events to her. It would be entertaining to say the least.

Adrianna nodded with a small smile playing at her lips, “I really do think so and it’s weird because my mom and I are polar opposites in some cases but everyone else says we’re so much alike. Which I can understand the looks things because we look more like sisters than mother and daughter, but our personalities are pretty different.” His words made her grin widen and she shook her head slightly, “Oh golly, what have I gotten myself into?” She said with a look of mock horror and a light giggle. “She sounds a lot like me ya know? I mean the whole thinking the best of people part. I’ve got a bad habit of doing that, too. I’m really quite excited to meet her though.” Her voice had dropped in volume, but she kept smiling.

When she hid her face, she hadn’t wanted to look at him. She didn’t want him to see how hard it was for her to hear something like that. It wasn’t normal. Now he’d know something was wrong with her and he’d probably think she was a freak and it would all be over. As he pulled away she expected the worst. A look of confusion and fear on his face, repulsion at the thought of her being so attached already, it was only normal. He tipped her chin up and she met his eyes shyly. With a tight and incredibly uncomfortable squeeze of her heart, she hugged him again relief slowly clearing her mind. He was right, living right now was the best option. He wasn’t going anywhere. He was still with her.

Adri giggled, “But I have a fairly good idea. Maybe I’ll happen to run into someone with super speed before our race, then you’ll definitely lose. Thought if I did, I probably wouldn’t use it because I’m not a cheater.” She said with a serious nod before she was back to smiling again. She had a bad habit of changing moods quickly usually leaving someone far behind on what mood she was in at the moment. Back and forth. All the time. When he said her wickedness was hot, she darkened a lot more than she had that entire night. With a wink she made her most evil looking face she could conjure up. It really wasn’t that evil though, it came off more seductive than anything.

Happy to be back in the circle of his arms, Adrian cuddled closer to him. His words soothed her and she sealed her happiness with a kiss. An intense kiss that she didn’t have any intention of ending first. He pulled away and leaned down, the warmth of his breath tickling her ear and sending shivers down her spine. His words were what she expected. Curfew was coming up and her fairytale night was coming to an end. She heard the frown in his voice and as she looked up she saw it. It made her smile though, he was really reluctant to leave her. She followed him through the large crowd of people and was happy to be back outside with the cool air. The club had gotten muggy, but the night was clear and relaxing. Adrianna wrapped her arm through his and rested her cheek against his shoulder, “Too bad this night has to end.” She looked up at him with dreamy eyes that held all the happiness that she’d been filled with.

[Lani Hunter]

((Sorry its so short!))

Lani smiled and his mind was centered. That was rare, usually his thoughts wandered very significantly and that was when his power was able to slip out. Most of the time he was thinking about several different things but he suddenly felt as if he had a balance between his secret thoughts and being able to be aware of the world. He wasn’t distracted which was good, and he was focused on the situation and the person in front of him. It was this strange serenity between his thoughts that made something click for him. He could use his power and do pretty much anything, but as soon as he did his focus would be taken and he would lose touch with what was going on around him. It came apparent mostly when he had Malcom had crossed paths.

He was really looking up to the older telekinetic. He was somehow different than the others. Lani had this bad feeling that he was starting to latch onto people. He prided himself on his independence but the more hopeless his life started to look the more he started to look for people to make role models. Strong figures, like Taitum and Malcom. Those that wouldn’t put up with his teenage moods. But Taitum had left leaving Lani with more questions than answers and he was terrified that he had just moved onto the next person. He was his own person, wasn’t he? He just needed a little help, guidance. Things would probably go a lot more smoothly if he could actually admit that he needed help. He was still rather proud that through all of Taitum’s efforts he had never broken through Lani’s wall and gotten at his secrets.

If someone else could, that still remained to be seen. Adrianna was speaking again and he realized his mind being centered was a temporary thing and he had let himself get distracted internally again. He laughed, “Yeah I don’t think you could find two people more different than my father and I.” In reality he and his father were exactly the same. Both hardheaded, stubborn, rebellious (his father had quite a few stories from his youth), and very big risk takers. But if someone were to say how alike they were both would be up in arms in a moments. Lani because he could only see how weak his father was, in not being able to care for his family so that Lani had had to pitch in and essentially ruin his life and how his father had turned against him. And his father because he wouldn’t be compared to someone who he simply saw as not caring about what happened to him and what he was putting his family through.

He waggled his eyebrows at her. “You really have no idea. They do say that caution breeds crazy and crazy breed cautious.” He shrugged and at her next comment he looked at her as if startled by the comparison. Caroline was young and innocent, Adrianna was older and he was sure she was innocent but seeing the good in people as old as she was, well that was just foolish. “You should always hope for the best and expect the worst. But, sometimes you just have to realize that sometimes there is no good in a person.” He wasn’t philosophical by any means but he was blunt about this. It was foolish to him but most people would say it was good to see the good in people. Sure Lani on the one hand looked like a criminal and was, but some people would say his heart was in the right place, but sometimes it wasn’t just that, sometimes he just wanted to steal.

He didn’t want to chase her away by being afraid that she was attaching to him so quickly. But in reality it scared him a lot. Because what if he did leave and she was left here? Would she break down? Would she fall into the arms of another man? Would she finally become independent? He wondered if it was possible for him to help her find her independence and be with her at the same time. He shrugged; he couldn’t know what would happen. He needed to listen to his own advice. The future wasn’t something he could see, but it was something that he could influence. Her eyes were unreadable, it was clear there was hope and innocence inside but there was also some sort of unexplainable fear within those brown orbs.

He shook his head at her and smirked. “Just use it enough to win right?” He asked with a raised brow. Her reaction to his blurting was very desirable. Her eyes were dark and he was pretty sure if she was some sort of evil creature she could seduce him and he wouldn’t be able to resist. But then both of them were taking their time, perhaps Lani was better at keeping his distance, at least emotionally, but her expression wasn’t very menacing and more so made him want to kiss her. She was cuddling against him and he liked that. It was nice to feel needed again and he knew he would protect her, but from what he wasn’t sure. How far would he go for her? They didn’t know each other very well yet, but would he be willing to let her into his heart and open himself up for the possibility of being hurt?

He grinned as she twined her arm into his and leaned against him. He nodded in agreement, “Curfew is such a stupid thing.” He hailed a cab and it took them back to the school. He walked with her to the dorms and gave her a farewell hug and kiss. “Goodnight,” he gave her a sweet smile. As he walked away a beam grew on his face and as soon as he was safe in his room did a little dance of excitement. Adrianna really was a unique person and he was looking forward to getting to know her better.