My Little Girl (August)

[Lucah Ivaskov]

Skype was a wonderful thing, really it was. The fact that Naus had been able to make an account for Jez and keep it under the radar enough for his father not to even know, that was a miracle in itself. It was a huge relief every time he got to see her even if the computer loaded a bit slow. Over all he was happy just to have the chance to talk to her, to see her. But every time he did, it was like a new hole was being punctured through his heart.

He hadn't been able to really hug his sister, to hold her close and tell her how much he loved her in person in so long that it hurt. And at the end of every conversation between them on skype, she'd get those tears in her eyes and tell him that she missed him. It was a lot to deal with after all that had happened. He missed her almost as much as he missed his mother. Of course Dimitri didn't care about that though, he was too pissed off that Luc had disobeyed him to care.

At night it was the worst for Lucah. He'd close his eyes and see his sister screaming and thrashing against the men that lead her away from him at the cafe. It was the last time he'd been with her and it tore him apart from the inside out. There were times that he would wake up in the middle of the night calling her name. And then Andy would tell him to shut up and 'go the fuck back to sleep.' Not many people understood how hard it was for him without her. She was his tie to his mother and he no longer had her.

Sitting out by the lake, he strummed lightly on his guitar and sang quietly, "Beautiful baby from the outside in. Chase your dreams but always know the way that will lead you home again. Go on, take on this whole world, but to me you know you'll always be my little girl." His throat began closing up as he said the last three words and he kept going, tears filling his electric blue eyes. The eyes that were usually so cold and distant, filled with emotion. If only everyone that thought he was such a jerk could see him now.

"When you were in trouble that crooked little smile could melt my heart of stone. Now look at you I've turned around and you've almost grown. Sometimes you're asleep I whisper 'I love you' in the moonlight at your door. As I walk away I hear you say, 'Lucah love you more."

[August Swan]

August had little reason to be at the lake other than the fact that it was a beautiful fall day, and she had nothing else planned. And so, with a nice, thick book in hand, layers of jackets and sweaters and scarves piled on and a cute beanie over her auburn hair, she found herself walking along the banks of the water, looking for a nice place to sit, hopefully a little out of the wind.

The boy's voice was unexpected, and as soon as August heard it she stopped, cocking her head to hear better. Almost immediately she recognized the song, and a very faint smile crossed her lips. She didn't know many people that liked that sort of music, although her heart twisted a little at the obvious emotion in the voice. He sounded hurt. And she couldn't help but wonder why.

She turned her eyes to look around before catching sight of the singer in question. He didn't look much older than she, but even from this distance, she could tell his was pretty. Normally she would ignore someone like that and make a beeline away from him, but something about his voice captured her. He just sounded so heartbroken, and she wanted to make him feel better.

Putting on a very rare front of boldness, she shuffled her boot-clad feet through the fallen leaves to where he was sitting and, keeping her gaze directed at the ground, said,"I really l-like that song." She clutched her book to her chest, shooting him a very brief glance before looking down again. "I'm sorry, I d-didn't mean to interrupt, but I thought I was the only one t-that liked Tim McGraw in this town." Her southern accent was obvious in her voice, a heavy indicator of why she was into country music. There was a lot of it in Texas.