Half of my heart [Gia]

[Craven Grimley]

The moment Jet drifted toward Craven he was on his feet. The signal for Craven to know that Gia was in her room was made when the crow flew in a full circle around his head. He had to make it up to her. This was just plain stupid. He was being a hell of a coward by avoiding her and he really did not have to live up to his name's sake. He could do better then this. He could toughen up, go to her and be a man about it. Craven closed his eyes for the longest moment. Took too deep breathes and started removing his guitar from his case.

~~~

What should have taken five minutes, took Craven 30 that day to actually come to a stop in front of Gia's dorm room and knock on the door. The day they had a fight about the kiss had been the very last day he'd spoken to her. Other then that, he'd been avoiding her completely. He'd been dodging her at every given opportunity and they'd been tight. So so close that they were seen everywhere together. The best of friends and Jet was actually starting to come around and was starting to accept Gia in Craven's life which was hard for a crow to do.

The door opened and with a relieve, he saw it was Gia rather then any of her roommates. He placed a finger over his lips to keep her from talking.
~I'll totally loose it if you say anything at all.~
Craven rolled his eyes again, took a deep breath, glanced up and down the hallway and started strumming. Then he sang. He sang to her like he had to the other girl that night. Only this time, it was the right girl he was singing to. Once the song was over he hoped she'd understand.

She was a supermodel. He was the guy that sat in the back row and fell short of being worthy of her. She belonged with someone better. Someone greater. Someone ... well sexy.

---

Tag: Gia
Words: Too lazy to count
Mood: Nevous
Comments: Yay!
Song: Half of my heart - John Mayer.

[Gia Elliot]

It had been too long since she had spoken to Craven, and the fact that they'd ended it in a fight for something she had done was killing her. It wasn't like she hadn't tried to talk to him. She wanted to. To apologize for the kiss, even though she had wholeheartedly meant every emotion in it. And yet, every time she saw him, or tried to get close enough to talk, he vanished, leaving her hurt and alone and standing there like an idiot with apologies on her lips and longing in her heart. She wanted to make things right, get her best friend back, even if it meant shutting down the majority of the feelings she had for him. She could keep them to herself, locked in her mind. After all, she was the telepath, not him. He couldn't access her head without her letting him, and if that was what he wanted (though she seriously doubted it would come to that) she could keep a lock on that area.

With all of Craven's running, the last thing Gia expected was for him to show up at her door. Who ran from the situation and then turned around to confront it head on? So the knock on the door didn't seem like it was going to be anything near as big as it turned out to be. After all, it was Craven on the other side. The wood swung open and Gia's eyes widened. In joy, in surprise, in confusion: you pick. But as his finger hit his lip and his direct thought flew into her head she sunk a touch and nodded. No speaking. What was this if not a talk about what happened? Her eyes traveled to the guitar as Craven started checking the hallway and she closed the door, putting him and her alone in the hall so her roommates wouldn't hear whatever he was about to play.

How had Gia known him so long and not realized he played guitar this well? She was meant to be his best friend. Or ex-best friend. Or something. Why hadn't she known? No, no, that didn't matter right now. He was playing for her. Singing for her, and she needed to pay attention. She watched him, debating whether to look at his thoughts or to just listen to the song, though the lyrics seemed a bit confused. What on earth was this supposed to mean? He liked her? Or he didn't like her like that, but didn't want to hurt her? She stared at him as the song stopped, wanting some indication of how she was meant to take that. It was a love song, that much was clear, and that was how Gia wanted to take it, but no matter what Craven thought, Gia was certain that she was the one loving up. If that was the part she was meant to grab from it.

She wasn't nearly as pretty as he claimed, and she certainly wasn't worth a whole hell of a lot. The kid of a maid and a man who walked out: definitely a prize to be won. Craven came from wealth, and he was still not arrogant or mean like his brother was, and he was cute. That crow, the one that Gia was certain didn't actually like her much, but the bird adored Craven, and really, any guy that is loved by an animal can only really be a good guy. Bad guys weren't loved like that. "Craven... I don't know what you want me to say. I really, really like you, and I want us to get to be together, but I'd rather be best friends than keep this, this awkward avoidance thing going if you don't like me the same way. I can get over it, I think. Just... if any piece of you does like me, you know, like that, give me a chance? I miss you. I'm sorry." There. The apology was out, but Gia really did want him to give them a chance. One time. If it didn't work, she'd go back to being the servant's kid that played with him.

[Craven Grimley]

Craven felt his heart melt when he saw her innicial reaction. One person that was always happy to see him was Gia, no matter what the hell he said or thought she wouldn't tell him to leave her alone and he messed up quite a lot. He really had kept his nose in books too long when he was growing up and spoken to too many crows and dead people to have any decent people skills but somehow, that didn't matter to Gia. He was her best friend. She was a good person like him aiming for the best possible outcome in every situation just like him.

Craven bit his lip and slowly swung the guitar to his back so he didn't have to hold it in his hands. He watched her, waited for her to say something to avoid him messing it up or babbling or something awkward. Finally she spoke and he could feel his shoulder ease up a little on the strain he had within them. Her words made his eyes drop to the ground.
"I kissed you back that day."
A soft smile crossed his lips before he lifted his eyes to meet hers.

She was different now. She wasn't his best friend anymore. She was beautiful. A white dove next to a black crow.
"I uh... am sorry about what I said. You're not fridgid."
He rubbed at the back of his neck watching her then reached out with the same hand taking her hand in his and intertwining their fingers.

"This is how we're supposed to be Gia. You and me against the world. I'm so sorry for hurting you. I guess... I'm just scared of messing things up badly. If you hadn't noticed I'm kinda good at doing that."
Craven slowly lifted her hand and started twirling her around slowly like she was his little ballerina. He finally felt like he was fixing something. After what had happened two days ago with the Martin kid he needed Gia. He needed her smile and the light in her eyes when she saw him.
"I missed you too Gia. Wanna go for a walk?"

He'd more then missed their walks together and their talks and his babbling and her laughing and basically everything. Did the kiss, the fight and everything have to make their friendship bad?
"And if you wanna give it a try... we can give it a try. I just don't wanna loose you when we have a fight about something I said and then I loose my best friend. I can't live without you.... I really struggled these last few weeks. The first were okay..."
Oh God! He'd already said something stupid!

"I mean I missed you! I just didn't really wanna be around you..."
Craven's eyes widened.
"... without knowing what to say to you..."
Craven sighed heavily and let his eyes drift away from her. ~I'm gonna shut up now. The grave's deep enough.~

---

Tag: Gia
Words: 494
Mood: Messing up again
Comments: awwww....
Song: I'll be yours - Placebo

[Gia Elliot]

Her heart was sinking fast the more she said, but when he made his confession about the kiss, something the back of her mind had known, but since she hadn't really kissed anyone before, she didn't know what it felt like to have someone kiss back or not kiss back. It made her smile that he had kissed her back though. Like there was a chance. But still, some of the words stung that he said. She didn't want to believe they were true, and she wouldn't ever hold anything against him, but she had become far more self-conscious of how she acted, how frigid she must be to other people, even though she still wasn't totally sure where it was. She smiled at Craven as he looked at her.

Beauty. What was beauty anyway? Gia didn't think she was pretty at all. A sparrow in a world of doves and swans. Still, that confidence leapt several notches as Craven told her she wasn't frigid or cold or anything like that. That had been the one thing she had worried about since the fight. He didn't want her because she wasn't emotional enough. It was instant forgiveness, and had he not grabbed her hand, she would have thrown her arms around him. Kissed him again. She held back though as she had to be able to hear Craven continue talking. Her mind was only half paying attention, with the other half too preoccupied with just how perfect their hands intertwined felt. Still, when he brought up messing things up, she frowned and quickly shook her head. "You never messed anything up, Craven."

She blinked as he spun her around, surprised by it and worried that she might step on him, or herself, or trip. She wasn't much of a dancer, but she'd have flown over the moon if Craven asked her to, so she spun, just as he wanted. "Of course I want to go for a walk." She smiled at him happily. A walk meant they were together, and they could be alone. That was how they became such good friends, right? Walks and talks together. Sharing personal stuff. Still, as he went on, and Gia swelled with happiness that they could try taking it even further, becoming boyfriend and girlfriend, or however he decided to term their relationship, she beamed at him, eyes as full of light as they could possibly be. Still, bringing up fights wasn't really something Gia wanted to talk about until, if, they came to it. And the fact that he used 'when' instead of 'if' made her frown slightly. "When have we ever fought about something you said?" She watched him, smiling a little as he worked to correct himself. It had always been adorable, that, but she'd never hold it against him. She squeezed his hand lightly before moving to start the walk down the corridor. "I know what you mean, so the grave's not so deep at all."

[Craven Grimley]

Craven found it hard to talk so openly to her about all this... when it was about her most of all. He didn't know if this would work. They'd been such good friends for so very long and then she had to kiss him and he was scared that it would change the dynamics of them as friends. He didn't know how to tell her this. He needed his friend more then he needed a girlfriend. He could live very nicely with only having Gia as his best friend but telling her that might have hurt her so he kept it to himself and instead just watched her smiling face.

Her defense of him was heart warming but he knew what he was like. He always said things without thinking about what he was saying and how self conceited they sounded to other people which was what probably happened with Odion and everything. It seemed he'd done easier with Odion's boyfriend though. He smiled at the thought of Alex, the pat on his shoulder that was meant as sympathy, he was sure. The thought that maybe they could be friends, entered his mind but he didn't think Martin would be too pleased about it so now, whenever he saw Alex walking down a hallway, he dodged the encounter and choose a different direction.

After all, he could only avoid so many people but as promised, Craven kept his companion crow, following closely behind the young thief to make sure there was no foul play at hand. Craven sighed and shook his head. Craven wrinkled his nose when he heard what Gia said about his thoughts and he started walking down the hall beside her leaning in to kiss her cheek lightly as they walked.
"I have so much to tell you Gia. About the thieves and ..."
Craven quickly dug out the diamond ring from his pocket showing it to her.

"I need your help again when I explore Jet's mind to find out where she stole this one from. It's pretty huh?"
He smiled down at the glittering diamond whis was tilted in his fingers so it could catch the light at different angles. If Gia was there she could probably pull him out if he went under the influence of other crows wanting a chance to show him their images too. Corpses of animals. Beautiful flights across large stretches of land. Diamonds, jewels, other glittering pieces.

All those images forced into his head did make him ill and he didn't want anything to happen to him while he was truth hunting. They exited the hallway, hand in hand, like it had always been with them. Maybe this would be easier then Craven presumed. She was the missing part of him.

---

Tag: Gia
Words: 462
Mood: happy
Comments: awww they's together again
Song: none

[Gia Elliot]

Of course Gia would have been hurt if Craven had looked at her and said he didn't want her to be his girlfriend. It would have broken her heart, but she most definitely would have done her damnedest to keep that emotion off her face if he ever said anything like that. Sure, going back to being best friends would have been okay. They would have been around one another constantly, but one of two things would have happened: she'd stay in love with him and have to hide it indefinitely, or she would be terrified of getting hurt again and refused to put herself out there. Craven was the one person she knew wouldn't go dragging her heart through the mud. He was sweet and kind, and he (mistakenly) thought that she was too good for him. The truth was quite the opposite, but Gia was glad to have someone that thought highly of her.

That train of thought, which was actually working fairly well to keep the rogue thoughts of random passersby out of her head, stopped abruptly as Craven leaned into her and kissed her cheek, the smile that was already on her face instantly brightening and a deep pink blush crept across that same place he had kissed as her face burned. She beamed at him as he started talking, letting the grin fade back into the happy smiling that they were hanging out again. She nodded as he spoke about catching up, though she didn't have quiet the same amount to tell him. Her life was so much less exciting than his was, and she was thankful for that. This way, she could live vicariously through all of his adventures, and still not have the risk of bad events happening. The last thing she needed was another event like her dad leaving.

The diamond caught her attention away from his face, and she stared at it, the smile vanishing in amazement. Her first thought was most definitely off, and Gia chided herself for even thinking that Craven would propose her to ever, let alone after only a kiss, a fight, and an actual beginning of a potentially romantic relationship. The blush returned before Gia glanced at the bird who very clearly had some impeccable taste in fine jewelry. "It's beautiful, Craven. Whoever owns it must be missing it. Of course I'll help you." Softly, she chuckled a little, glancing between the black bird and the sparkling diamond in Craven's hand. "She really should stop stealing, but yo have to admit. She has amazing taste."

[Craven Grimley]

Craven's eyes flashed from the diamond ring to Gia's face and he nodded slowly.
"This is the second one she stole. She stole this other diamond ring and I kinda left it in the library because I felt bad that I'd upset some redhead. "
Craven winced at the thought that he'd just given away someone's wedding ring... possibly. How could he have done that? Just out of guilt? They stepped out into the yard and as expected, Jet came swooping down to land on his shoulder peeking between the ring and Gia once she mentioned the good taste part.

Craven rolled his eyes.
~But if I tell her she's a bad girl for stealing, I'll hurt her feelings. She just doesn't see it a stealing. She sees it as a girl.~
Craven frowned down at the ground slipping the ring back in his pocket as he walked beside Gia towards the exit of the school ground. He wanted to go to the park with her and sit under their tree near the lake so he could concentrate better. Peace and calm in the air that would surround him.

Craven knew she could hear his every thought and he tried to keep the actual words in his head from revealing to much but it could be hard to do such. She was his best friend and he wanted her to know him inside and out so when it came to her, he found it difficult to keep himself from just thinking random thoughts.
~I wonder if she knew that I fantasized about her?~
Craven slowly smirked at the ground then let his eyes drifted to their intertwined hands.

~Boy Tanner's gonna hate this.~
"So I wanted to ask you about helping me with maths. I always have issues with maths...."
~And ever since you've been out of my life, I've begun to hate it.~
He squeezed her hand finally making eye contact. Her blush had faded somewhat by now and she was her normal porcelain doll white. Precious, perfect, beautiful.
"I am rediculously out of my league... why not Tanner? Why me?"

He didn't realize that he was rambling from one topic to another and so much of it was due to the fact that he had these many things that he needed to sort out in his head and there was no outlet for it.
~Or Robbie! He was hot and smooth and I don't know any girl who wouldn't wanna be with him. Even just for a night.~
The sun had chased away what few clouds had threatened their day with rain and it was turning into a beautiful afternoon. Perfect for the lake.

He remembered spending days upon days like this with just her and whatever new book had come out at the store for them to read to each other. He always made sure to buy two copies when he went to book surf. One for her. One for him. He'd make sure he kept up with her pace so they'd have something to discuss over dinner, lunch and breakfast besides the usual school gossip which didn't entertain enough to hold a conversation about. Craven and Gia... against the world and he hoped it would always be like this.

[Gia Elliot]

Saying that the bird had stolen other pieces of jewelry wasn't too much of a surprise to Gia. Saying that it was the second diamond ring she'd stolen since the fight was though, and Gia's shock was very clear as she stared at the bird resting on Craven's shoulder now. What on earth posessed the thing to steal diamonds? There were other shiny things out there. Gum wrappers were shiny and wouldn't be missed by anyone. Or pennies. People dropped pennies and those were never missed. Hell, a lot of places had done away with them all together. Surely those would be gifty enough for the bird. "What about suggesting twigs? Or if it has to be shiny, gum wrappers. You could throw those away or just collect them. I mean, those wouldn't be missed."

Gia was doing her best to keep his thoughts out of her mind. It was the one thing she really wanted to master from her power. She didn't much care about extending it, or strengthening it, or any of that. As long as she could make the noise stop, she'd been perfectly content. Still, there were somethings that she couldn't stop. Things that were far too strong to tune out, and one of those things made Gia freeze in her tracks, turn bright red and look as far away from Craven as she could. The situation was just about the epitome of an awkward silence now. He fantasized about her? What fantasies? Going out? Just hanging out? Those were more realities, and Gia didn't want to think about what possible fantasies there were in Craven's mind.

And then the topic changed to maths. The frown that crossed her face was more of confusion than anything else. How did anyone jump from fantasizing to math? "I.. uhh... sure, I can help you. You shouldn't hate anything though. Even if it is maths" She smiled as her head actually fell into the current topic of conversation and her blush faded. Her head and gaze traveled to their hands, so perfectly fit together that Gia couldn't help but think of it as fate rather than any coincidence. And just when Gia was getting used to the maths, once more, the subject turned, but this time, Gia wasn't really that happy about where it was heading.

Why not Tanner? Why not absolutely anyone else? Why did Craven not understand that he was the one she wanted. That he was the one who was nice to her, who was the cuter of the two brothers, who actually cared about what she thought rather than tossing her into bed and having his way. Why would she even think about Tanner in anyway other than 'he's the boss's kid and deserves my respect. oh hello sir'? She wasn't shallow, and she'd already seen a side of Tanner that perhaps Craven didn't know was there, but Gia certainly did. "You aren't. And I..." she frowned, unsure how to best phrase what she wanted to say. She couldn't just say that she didn't like his brother.

"Because Tanner's been mean to me, and he doesn't respect people or get to know them. He's... he's just a bit arrogant. And you're not. You're sweet, and you care. You return what Jet takes as best you can. She looked at him and smiled, letting a brief thought touch his mind. 'You're better looking than anyone else here too.' "And I don't want to have anything to do with a guy who acts like my father." Tanner: screw'em and leave'em. Just like dear old dad, although Tanner may not have the same greed about taking everything a woman owned as well. After all, their father had enough for Tanner to be comfortable without ever lifting a finger the rest of his life. "And anyway, I'm not any girl, Craven. 'Just for a night' is far more eventful than I want my life to be."

Oh why did they need to be talking about this? Why not maths? Or the books they used to read together? Gia hadn't really gotten much reading done outside of classes lately, not since the fight, since it wasn't nearly as much fun if she couldn't discuss the books with Craven. Living in her head was safe, but at the same time, it was lonely, and quiet and timid as Gia was, she did like to be around real people more than on her own.

[Craven Grimley]

Craven smirked and glanced down at the girl by his side. Oh if she only knew that he had tons and tons of those. Pieces of glass, can tabs, bottle tops, pennies. Everything that was shiny, she was collecting for him but he supposed that he didn't make enough fuss over the things that she brought that were just junk to him. The big things like jewelry and diamond rings were the things that he kept very much close to his side because they were the things he planned on returning. Maybe he had to make more of a fuss about the junkie stuff that the bird brought him rather then the other things.

Regardless of his thoughts on the matter, he nodded to her and shrugged.
"At least she's not bringing me pieces of animal or things that she's found that's considered as road kill as well as food for birds so I should be a little more grateful about that I suppose. "
He mused more to himself then to Gia beside him, smirking a little at the thought of Jet even touching a dead rat or something more grotesque then that. Ah the perks of his powers. He hated the mere thought of crow gifts.

With this circulating on Craven's mind he was hardly aware that beside him his girl had read one of his most private thoughts. Maybe he should have rather thought in images rather then actual sentences. There was some kind of key to blocking her out. he had to test his theory at some point, he was well aware of that. When she froze, he stoppped beside her and half turned frowning at her for having frozen. A smirk slipped across his features when he saw the redness of her neck but the smirk faded when his eyes focused on her skin.

An image of kissing her skin right there and nipping his way along to her lips crossed his mind and his eyes fluttered shut, too shy to play those thoughts out. It would be as awkward a moment as this was and right here? Craven glanced around, eyes flashing open. Jet took flight once more circling high above them, having become impatient with the pause of the human beings she was watching over. Craven swallowed and dragged his eyes back to Gia who clearly didn't want to look at him right then and he let out a heavy sigh.

Was it so wrong for him to have fantasies about her? He was sure LOADS of guys fantasized about her. Even Tanner might have done so. Craven frowned at her words and tugged at her hand so they could keep walking. He shook his head.
"No, that's not fair Gia. You can't read my every thought. Wasn't what I was thinking before teaching you some kind of lesson?"
His eyes narrowed once more but a slight smirk settled on his lips as he watched her with accusing eyes.

His tone wasn't harsh or anything. More teasing. It was night to know that she was in his head when he needed her but the down side was that when he thought about kissing her or something, she'd know about it and awkwardness always followed thoughts that were to private to be read. Gia turned to him and stated denying that he was out of his league. He gave a sigh and shook his head.
~I soooo am.~
She hesitated when she was about to say something about herself.

It took him quite some time to finish her unfinished question and halfway through her reply he smirked and nodded waiting for her to finish something she could have said in less then five words. Instead she was rambling on with useless stuff to protect his feelings.
"It's okay. I know Tanner can be a git sometimes but I thought girls like bad boys. Especially when they're kinda handsome... Not that I think that of my brother... That would be weird right?"
His eyebrow pulled together as he watched her.

Soon his eyebrows were raised again when her thought touched his mind and it was his turn to blush just a little, lifting a hand to rub at the back of his neck. Craven sighed when she again plucked something from his head but shrugged it off and turned to her cupping her face with his hands, one now warm from their shared body heat. He tucked her hair behind her ears looking into her eyes as he did so to see the slight hint of annoyance in them. He knew the looks she gave and how she felt and at which point he'd pushed the topic too far.

Right now, he had reached that point and he leaned in to lay his forehead against hers.
"I'm sorry, my G. Please forgive me. I didn't mean to make you annoyed or angry. I guess I just feel like I'm dreaming. I just keep wanting to kiss you again...."
And why was he saying it and not doing it? Why was he thinking it and not doing it? Craven slowly moved a hand to push back the hair from her neck then leaned in to press his lips to her warm skin. Her soft skin. The fragrance she was wearing, instantly attacked his senses and he felt like moaning with desire.

The smile he was so used to, her hair and the shampoo she preferred using, made him feel comfortable at the same time as the scent on her skin made him tremble. His finger tips still on her neck, took in her beating heart. So this was what it was like to share something more intimate then a kiss on the forehead or in her hair when she was feeling down? Craven didn't stop there... He did what he'd fantasized about before. His kisses trailed up her neck, along her jaw bone, across her cheek and finally his lips captured hers for the second time and the second kiss he'd ever had in his entire life.

[Gia Elliot]

"I guess" was the only thing Gia could come up with to say to Craven as far as his crow not bringing him dead animals. She didn't want to think about some poor creature being killed as a sacrifice, not to anyone let alone Craven. She knew what he'd say about that. Crows will be crows, and no amount of begging for them to stop would ever change that fact. And after all, the birds were scavengers. It wasn't like they were killing the... well... whatever little dead gifts they were bringing themselves. Everything was found. But even knowing that, having had that conversation on more than one occasion, didn't make the idea of a dead thing on the doorstep any easier for her to handle. In fact, she was a bit revolted at the thought, and she was certain that that fact was clear all over her face. But that expression of disgust vanished in a flash.

Red as she was, Craven was not helping the situation much by looking at her. Even though her mind was on so many other things that the images running through his brain weren't caught up, she could feel his eyes watching her and it made the uncomfortable situation worse. His plan was right. Images were much easier for her to tune out, since they were harder to pick up anyway, but the bigger help was that now she couldn't get off the fact that he was fantasizing about her, and what on earth fantasies was he imagining her doing? Her skin was crawling slightly and she wanted more than anything to go hide in her room until the moment passed, but they were outside. One. Two. Three deep breaths before she was calm and back to her normal color and could look at Craven again.

Right, yes maths. Helping him. And being scolded? Had the bit about him hating maths been in his head? Gia frowned and sunk a little bit. He wanted her to stop reading his mind, but it wasn't like that was what she was trying to do. There was no link now between them anyway. Just because she couldn't figure out how to make a barrier between her mind and the whole world, she had to listen to the thoughts of everyone, no matter how personal, or deep, or shallow they were. The number of girls who thought about how cute Craven was, or how amazing Jimmy Bob Joe Smith's behind looked, she heard it. Her eyes found the ground, and she frowned down at it, sorry that she had the stupid power in the first place.

He was her best friend, and Gia wasn't certain why he was criticizing her lack of control over her telepathy when he couldn't tell one crow not to do something without a bunch of them starting to do it too, but she hadn't ever said that. Heck, she'd never even thought it. Still, even when he claimed to be out of his league, and she'd rejected it, she pushed hard to try to keep the thought from him out of her mind. He didn't want her hearing the stuff, she would try her best to stop, but it hadn't worked in the past, and it didn't work too well know. Maybe that was it. She just needed to pay more attention to what was coming from the mouth and what was coming from the mind, and make sure to simply never ever bring up anything from the mind.

She simply shrugged a little as Craven talked about his brother. Git was a bit of an understatement, but just as she hadn't wanted to call the older brother a name before, she definitely didn't want to now that she had Craven annoyed at her for hearing his thoughts. "Not every girl is bored enough or has the commitment issues to want to be around a guy who's only going to be a fling. Not everyone wants a guy to- to sleep with once and wear around like some badge of honor." She still didn't understand why Craven thought he was worse than his brother as far as being wanted. Gia wanted him. She was certain other girls did too. Other girls called the whole attitude Tanner had of treating people like dirt, confidence. Gia called it arrogance. When did kindness and sensitivity mean less than arrogance?

She gave a soft sigh at the apology and smiled at him, glad that he didn't mean any of the things about her being with Tanner or Robbie for a night, and once again, a soft blush touched her cheeks at the mention of a kiss. Not so bad as before, but it was definitely there, especially as her own mind started into it's fantasy of Craven actually about to kiss her.

Except then his lips hit her neck, and Gia's eyes widened. Not a fantasy then? And god it felt good. Gia bit her lip softly and her eyes shut and Craven moved. Her mind stayed on his hand at her neck, as her body focused on the trail of kisses until he was at her lip and there was an anxious smile on her face. Stupid suspense. Why did this have to be like some hollywood romantic comedy, at the end, when they're in public and the one character has just realized their love for the other and runs forward and kisses them, but of course they stand there for several minutes staring at one another until they actually k-- Oh. There it was. Gia's whole body eased into the kiss, and she very much kissed him back. It hadn't truly been that long, but iit had seemed an eternity. But the waiting was over, and this was bringing a new meaning for her to "public display of affection."

[Craven Grimley]

Craven, too was revolted by the idea of dead animals being brought to him and the more he thought about it, the more he was sure that his power was unfortunate and horrible. He would have wanted any OTHER power then what he had which was why he never did well when he was in power control classes with his teacher to help him try and control his powers. He just could not bare the idea of having the birds slip into his mind eager to show him what they found and when they found it. He didn't want to see dead things or things being stolen from someone else.

He wasn't that kind of person and his mother would not have wanted him to be that kind of person. He had nightmares about the things that he thought the crows could find and bring to him. Seriously scary nightmares and maybe that was why he didn't want to use his powers. Maybe that was why he was reading his book while in power training class. He couldn't imagine that Miss Sokolov liked him very much. Oh well. Just someone else to add to his growing hate list. What was he doing thinking about that when he was with Gia anyway.

When he was kissing Gia. Craven pulled back abruptly from the kiss. Was he even doing this right? Was this making out or not? What was this? He stared into Gia's eyes not sure what exactly came after a kiss like that.
~Uh...~
"Your lips are really soft..."
What?! Did he just say that?

Craven twisted away from her and covered his face. That was romantic. He'd managed to do something romantic right? He'd read in books about how girls liked to be kissed in the neck and stuff like that but he'd never read any fictional character saying 'your lips are really soft' after kissing the heroine in the book. Craven had that moment again... That moment he had where he wished he had geokinesis so he could tell the earth to split open right then and swallow him whole. Craven turned back to Gia and sighed.

"Can we pretend I didn't say that and keep walking? Maybe? Please?"
Craven winced at her praying she'd agree.
"I'll totally never do that again. I'm such a moment ruiner... I'm just a fail. I'm sorry."
Craven shook his head. This was gonna kinda sorta torment him for quiet a while heading into the next two weeks. Possibly three. Probably four. He held out his hand for her to take.

[Gia Elliot]

The kiss was exactly what Gia wanted her second kiss to be like: loving, and tender, and sweet, and a bit of a surprise, but most importantly, with Craven. He really couldn't have any idea to what lengths she'd go to make him happy. To see his smile was the highlight of her day, and with the fight, and the long bout of not getting to talk to him, to see him, Gia had been in emotional agony. But she'd always put it off, letting herself believe that that was what made him happy, and therefore, she would have to just live with him hating her. True, it would have been more ideal to have him happy with her around, like he was now, but even if she had to enjoy it from some prison cell in the middle of the pacific ocean, she'd do anything to make her best friend, her crush, her boyfriend (the thought made her smile even more into the kiss) happy.

So she was more than a little bit shocked when he pulled away and she smiled at him, her eyes watching his, waiting for something to happen. Eventually he spoke, and Gia's eyes shifted to watch his lips. Her resolve not to respond to his thoughts any more begging her to check that he was, in fact ,saying these things, and not thinking them. Check. She smiled at the compliment about her lips, and pulled a and up to rub at them slightly, curious in what way they were any softer than his were. And wondering whether they were softer than anyone else's. She didn't do a whole lot to make them that way, after all. Maybe it was simply the fact that, as far as she knew, Craven hadn't kissed anyone else either that made them seem softer.

Still, when he turned away, Gia watched, him, the smile fading to a worried furrow of concern, and she shifted to make sure he was okay. She hadn't said anything about the comment, and she certainly wasn't planning on berating him for it. It was sweet, and Gia didn't know what was supposed to happen in these moments any more than Craven did. This was, after all, just as new to her. Eventually he turned around, and once again spoke, this time taking back what he'd said and promising not to ruin the moment again. She glanced at the hand he offered her, and took i slowly before moving closer.

And she kissed him again. Softly and quickly and with an apologetic smile before she pulled away, making sure her hand was still holding onto his. "You have nothing to apologize for. You didn't ruin anything, Craven. You have soft lips too." She grinned at him and moved closer again. Some part of her was terrified that maybe he'd run again, and leave her, avoid her, all over again, and that part of her tightened her grip on his hand ever so slightly. Still, he wanted to keep walking, and Gia felt like everyone had a window facing them, and was watching them standing there like two idiots in love, and wanted to get away from the school, to somewhere private as well.

[Craven Grimley]

It was fairly nice to be kissing someone. To have someone to kiss. To have someone to call his own. He watched Dani and Robbie sometimes with envy in his eyes and jealousy set in that he could not have that kind of thing but now that he had it, he felt better. He felt confident and brave and happy. He had Gia so it meant he was something other then a waste of time right? And like Adrianna kept telling him, he didn't need to be popular to be liked. He just needed to continue to be adorable like she said he was. But he didn't want to be adorable anymore.

He wanted to be sexy. Like Romeo, like Robbie. Like the jackass, Zac. Girls wouldn't admit it but Zac was sexy. Why couldn't he be sexy. His power was pretty neat. Imagine, if he set his mind to it, how cool it would be if he could accept having his awesomely neat power and have crows swarming around him. Wasn't that guy from the Crow hot? He WAS the guy from the Crow, damn it! Why wasn't he hot? He was sure if he brought this up to Adri, Robbie or Gia they'd all be like 'of course you're hot!'. But that was just friendship talking.

Now if he was to ask Romeo or Zac or someone who would be straight forward and honest with him they'd laugh in his face. The moment she took his hand and moved closer to him, his breath caught and his thoughts washed away. Had she always been this beautiful? He'd never noticed. His lips parted and he looked down at her lips in such close proximity to his own. This time his thoughts lead their kissing to a bedroom, a bed, her beneath him. Craven closed his eyes for a moment praying she didn't see those thoughts.

He'd be in serious trouble if she had. Those were bad bad thoughts. He couldn't be thinking that with her. Her lips touched his just as he was about to break the fantasy but she pulled away and spoke before he could get into the kiss. His heart skipped a beat and his lips curved into a cheesey grin. Thank you Chapstick! Before he could respond to it she kissed him again. His fingers slipped into her hair and in the back of her head. He deepened the kiss and the fantasy took over his mind. His body reacted accordingly and Craven pulled away sharply groaning softly.

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry! You're just so beautiful and I really should NOT be allowed this close to you."
His face flushed bright red at the fact that his pants had grown just a bit tighter and his eyes snapped shut. Now what?!

[Gia Elliot]

Telling him what he wanted to hear or not, Gia thought Craven was hot. He was cute and handsome and hot and amazing, and she wanted him to know that. There was nothing he could do to make her stop thinking that, even if she didn't get to say it out loud. If he asked her to stop, it would become like reading thoughts. She simply would try her best not to say it out loud when she heard a floating thought, but that didn't mean it wouldn't still be happening. That she wouldn't still be thinking it to herself. No, Gia loved him and was attracted to him more than she'd been for anyone else. And that was why she'd kissed him the first time. And the second and third and fourth.

Still. as he held her close and they kissed, Gia couldn't help but follow his mind through it's fantasy. Sure, she had wondered just what he was fantasizing about, but honestly, Gia couldn't tell whether these were her thoughts or his, and her face turned bright red as it continued to the bedroom, and a soft, whimpering moan was muffled into his lips. What if he was seeing these? What if he'd heard that? When he pulled away, Gia stared at him, red as a beet and horrified that maybe he'd leave again. Her mouth clamped shut and suddenly she felt him pressing against her ever so slightly. Pressing where she hadn't realized he'd been before. Her eyes fell away awkwardly and her breath caught.

It took several tries to swallow the lump in her throat and, that done, Gia let her breath out slowly, listening to him. He was sorry? They were his thoughts then? That meant she couldn't say anything about it, right? Even if she'd been thinking the same? She wasn't really ready, and with a blink, she thought about what might happen if their parents found out? His dad would be pissed that Craven was seeing a working class girl, especially one who had worked in the house, and Gia's mom. Well, she'd be happy, sure, but disappointed that Gia couldn't keep her feelings to herself. That she'd just go after a guy. Gia was sure that would be her mother's reaction (although, to be honest, she would have been happy for Gia finding someone).

Slowly, after quite the delayed reaction, Gia shook her head. It was to wave away the apology, and to attempt to get rid of the compliment, and to disagree with him all at once. Because he was wrong. "Don't be sorry, and I'm not that pretty, Craven. But I do like being close to you." She smiled at him and once again squeezing his hand and started walking slowly. She didn't know where she was going, she just wanted the walk to keep going. "I don't want you to think you have to stay away. Not having you around isn't fun, Craven."

[Craven Grimley]

Her delay allowed Craven some time to calm himself down enough. When she abruptly pulled away from him, he froze on the spot covering his face with his one hand while the other was tugged to walk beside her. She was talking and he was trying to pray here. Pray that the circus tent had maybe disappeared or vanished at some point. Please dear God. Think about corpses. Where were the crows and their dead kittens in soup bowls when you needed then the bloody most. Craven 'hmmed' and then peeked down at his crotch smirking.

His hand fell to his side and he actually sorta chuckled. Cool. He did it. His eyes glanced over to Gia.
"What were you saying? I didn't get that? Sorry..."
I was totally thinking about corpses.
Craven chuckled again and slipped his free hand into his back pocket pulling out his wallet.
"Gia? Have some wine with me? Let's go downtown? We can sit by the lake or something."
He offered quirking a brow at her.

Note to self. Do NOT try and be close to her till you're ready...
How did someone prepare for this. It wasn't like some exam or something where he could just go study and it would all work out fine. She was a girl that he would hurt while doing it... The whole idea of sex seemed...like it was totally sexist. He'd be recieving pleasure but hurting her the first couple of times. Craven gave a grown as they walked toward the gates.

"I don't wanna hurt you, Gee. "
He gave her a worried and almost sympathetic look.
"Girls bleed don't they? Don't go all blushy please... I need to analyse this. You know I'm much much better when I analyze stuff... so I'm gonna have to... analyze our possible but inprobable sex life."
Craven frowned analyzing his own words before frowning at her.
"That sound as insensitive to you as it did to me?"
He questioned.