From Partier to Hermit (Craven)

[Craven Grimley]

Craven gave her a sort of scowl when she said her self loathing words about how people finally figured her to be mentally ill and emotionally unstable. He rolled his eyes at her and gave a sigh shaking his head.
"Don't be like that... You're none of those things. I never even said anything of the sort and saying those things will make you those things."
... which deserved an explaination and he didn't know if she believed in the whole possitive thinking thing.

"See? If you keep saying that to yourself, you'll become that. "
Craven could only but pray that he was making sense to her. Craven blinked when she claimed that he was lying. Well there we go. Another first for them. She'd never said that to him. Never really been annoyed that he had told his little white lies. Maybe he just didn't want her to know everything. Especially the part where he kinda promised Gia that he would ask for her hand in marriage.

That part would hurt her. Then again... maybe it wouldn't. Maybe he was just some part time crush and it was soon passing over. It seemed that way for a moment there but Craven wouldn't question it. He sighed and tilted his head at her.
"Okay, I don't wanna tell you. I didn't know I could use that card between us. I'll have to remember that."
Besides, she didn't need to know every single thing about his life did she?

Even though she hid it very very well, Craven could tell that he'd buckled her knees a little when he'd mentioned that they would simply be friends. He had to make room for Gia. She had to understand that. The reason he was so close to her and te reason there was this weird sexual tension between them was perfectly explainable. He was relying on her too much right? That had to be it. If he relied on himself and Gia a bit more, maybe he wouldn't want to be with her that badly.

Adrianna agreed to be just friends and turned to the TV drawing Craven's attention to it as well even if it was a blank screen barely reflecting his friend's form. Craven moved to sit down a bit behind her and watched her when she asked if they could do horror.
"Whatever makes you happy..."
How come it all felt so pretentious right now? This whole situation. The thing between them seemed so thick.

"It feels like the flow between us dissappeared but it's funny cause I never remember either of us really desprately wanting each other when we still had the flow. I remember only ever wanting Romeo badly. "
Craven said softly watching the light dance across her brown hair.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

"Don't you get it? You may not have said those things, but other people have Craven. I'm a wreck that can't be fixed because every time I get close to someone I do something to push them away. What do you expect me to think of myself? That I'm actually worth something? You know what, never mind. I shouldn't be saying this to you." Adrian took a breath in and let it out slowly as she held back everything else that had been on her mind for weeks. She'd told him once before how she felt, but only a small part of it. She felt like an object to men, but that wasn't all of it. She felt like no matter what she did, she'd never be worth anything.

Was it a dumb way of thinking? Hell yes! But she didn't see it that way. She was looking at it from the point of view of her father. The man that caused all of her fears. The main fear that was currently at the forefront of her mind due to the fight she was still having, abandonment. Adri wasn't trying to make it worse with Craven. She wanted to accept what he said and just hang out with him like they had before, but things then had been different than they were now. For all she knew, she'd been ripped out of that place in his heart where she had been before. Maybe he was really planning on leaving her behind, he had Gia, he didn't need her anymore to build up his confidence and tell him how great he was. That was what Gia was for.

Adrian no longer had a purpose in his life. But she didn't realize just how completely wrong she was and she'd learn the hard way.

"Good because I will too," She said quietly, more to herself than him. It hurt to know that she wouldn't be able to tell him about how she was starting to actually move on. Or was trying to at least. How she'd found a guy who had gone through something similar and knew exactly how she felt. What would he think of Lani? She shook her head to dismiss the thought, it didn't matter. He didn't have to like Lani at all, but she wanted him to know that she was trying to be happy. She was trying to get through this bump in her life.

His words made her eyes slide shut and her breathing shook slightly, but only once. Whatever made her happy? Really? What would make her happy, was if this wall between them would come crashing down. If she could just have her best friend back the way they'd been before. Intimate or not, it didn't matter. She just wanted him to be there for her to talk to. Now, she felt like he was falling away from her slowly.

"Funny? Not exactly the word I'd use for it," Adrian said quietly as she picked out one of the lame horror flicks her mother had sent her. Rest Stop, the name alone sounded completely stupid. "I guess the whole forbidden love thing just makes it all the more tempting."

[Craven Grimley]

Craven frowned quickly at her shaking his head. Not this again. Didn't she remember what happened last time? And they were doing it again. Last time he'd came close to showing her how special she was by nearly kissing her. He couldn't allow himself to do that. He couldn't allow for them to get too close... ever again and now she was bringing it up again. The reason she felt like an object was because she fell into the arms of every guy raising an eyebrow at her. She fell in love with male after male.

Her appetite for men was the problem and it all boiled down to her father. That was why she was so messed up. She found love with one guy then got bored because it was real actual love then she'd move on to the next. Didn't she see that? Was he the only one who saw Adrianna clearly? It was like Gia. Something like home. Knowing Adrianna was his home. Knowing Gia was his home but Gia had a completely different problem to Adrianna. Gia was shy, insecure and withdrawn.

Gia squeaked when she was meant to talk and avoided eye contact when there was supposed to be a conversation happening. His Girlfriend didn't know she was a super model with a killer smile that didn't get used often enough. No matter what he did, he couldn't fix either of the two girls sharing his heart. They'd go on denying whatever he said no matter how many times he repeated it. He felt like a parrot repeating the same lines over and over again. Craven frowned at her stubborn answers.

He was hitting the ball and at every hit she was hitting back. It was so awkward that it actually made him smile. Of course, she couldn't see that because he was sitting behind her now and then she mentioned the forbidden love thing and Craven had to hide a groan. God.... she had no idea. Why did people like chocolate when it could make you fat, give you diabetes and in worse cases, give you a heart attack? Because it felt so good. He didn't even know if Adrinna felt good.

He hadn't kissed her, by some small miracle, and he was starting to envy the bastards who had. Craven watched her move over to the DVDs and bit quickly into his bottom lip at the thoughts running through his mind. Craven closed his eyes and sighed, laying back against the wall.
"Adrianna.... I just remembered that I have to help Romeo with a science paper..."
He finally said. If he stayed here any longer he'd embarress himself... or at least his body would.

Craven got up from the bed and moved over to her, kissed her cheek and headed for the door. If he said anything else he'd break down and scream....

[Adrianna Carstyn]

It was almost as if she'd expected it. She didn't have precog or retrocog or anything, but she knew Craven just well enough to know that he was getting frustrated. Maybe not frustrated, he just couldn't handle this any longer. She saw it coming, and didn't know what would make it not happen. No matter what she said, it was wrong. Everything she did, was wrong. Why couldn't they just be friends like he said? Was it really so difficult?

She was exhausted and didn't want to argue anymore. She wanted to curl back up in her bed and hide from the world again. How was it that she'd changed so much in just a matter of a year? The drama was taking it's toll and she didn't know exactly how she could keep the drama from over-taking her life. She was determined to fix this though.

His words came and she frowned slightly. He was always running from her these days instead of running to her like he had before. Adrian looked up at him and smiled half-heartedly with a small wave, "Have fun..." She looked away, "And I'm sorry for everything." But he had already been headed towards the door so she hadn't expected him to hear.


((Wrap))