But You Promised (tag: Lani)

[Haley Shapiro]

Haley had made it a point to always visit Lani by dropping by his dorm room. Through the window, but who paid attention to detail? That night, it was no different as she slipped through the open window to find some boxes haphazardly stacked all over the room.

A small frown made it's way on to the young brunette's face before she shamelessly went through them. Pictures of him and the Odiot, clothes, books, pictures of what she could only gauge to be Lani's mom and sister, more clothes and more books. Was he already graduating?

The frown deepened as she sat on the sparsely decorated bed, kicking off her boots and drawing her feet up under her.

Was Lani leaving her? She had to ask. He couldn't leave her like that. He promised he wouldn't leave her.

As the thoughts permeated through the confused haze that was her brain, Haley didn't even take notice of the figure at the doorway.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani had been packing off and on all day. If Odion had thought his room was a mess before he should see it now. Things were half packed and half exploding all over the place as he tried to figure out where to pack things. Nothing was organized and everything had been in at least two boxes by this time. And he still wasn’t done packing and repacking. The problem was he wanted everything to be packed, so he packed then he realized he still needed something and had to dig it out. His parents were headed to Vermont in a few days to help with the move. Lani smiled to himself as he crossed the hall from Odion’s room where the redhead had also been packing, but in a far more organized way. They had been fighting so much recently, Lani wasn’t sure what was the true cause but they hadn’t done more than bicker like always today.

He didn’t bother with keys anymore. He still had them, and his lock pick, just in case. He felt another presence in his room and for a moment stopped baffled by the feeling of clothing over a body. Well, Odion wasn’t the only one that made surprise visits through his window. He was starting to wonder if he should start teaching Shapiro the true art of sneakery, but she was well on her own way. Lani smiled to himself and wondered what she must think of his messy room. Well, at least Shapiro wouldn’t mind. She was the sister of his soul and they were very much alike. Which is why he could not figure out why she and Odion didn’t get along. The myriad of times that Lani had tried to explain t her that things were different now, that that time she had had to smack him with a stick was over, nothing seemed to stick.

Slowly and quietly Lani opened the door wondering if he could startle her at all. But seeing her on his bed surprised him. She looked so thoughtful. So pensive. What was on the child’s mind? Lani was oblivious to the affect that the boxes were having but something was definitely bothering her. He’d known her long enough that he could tell that from here. “Hey-yo, Shapiro,” Lani said brightly as he dropped his phone on his desk. He plopped on the bed next to her and gave her a hard look. “Why the long face?”

[Haley Shapiro]

It took her awhile to realise that Lani was sitting beside her. She looked to her side, the frown still on her face. Without saying anything, she jumped off the bed and crossed over to his desk.

She must look like a downright baby, with her pouting and her sad face. No wonder Lani was leaving.

Haley fiddled with her thumbs before shrugging.

"Where you going?"

[Lani Hunter]

Lani sighed softly when she got up and leaned back on his hands so he could watch her. She looked like someone distraught but struggling to act as if nothing was wrong. He didn’t know what was eating at Shapiro so much. Then she asked and Lani’s eyes widened for a moment before he caught himself and looked at the boxes piled at irregular intervals all over the floor. Oh, now it made sense. She knew he was moving now. The memory brought through his mind and he held back a wince, he remembered now at the beginning to this past academic year he’d told her he’d be here a while. Now he was graduating. So much had happened in a year. Back then everything had seemed to helpless. And now he had relatively good control, he could at least keep himself from hurting people.

But in a sense he had lied to Shapiro, telling he was going to stick around and now he was leaving. He took a deep breath and mimicked her shrug. “I’m moving. I’m graduating this year.” He’d told her that right? If not he would soon regret it he was sure. He leaned forward his elbows resting on his knees. “I’m not leaving Pilot Ridge though. I’ve gotta come back for training, you know,” he rolled his eyes but he realized she wasn’t really in a joking mood. He lost his smile and looked at her with his puppy dog eyes imploring her to forgive him for leaving without telling her. Now that he thought back he realized that he hadn’t told her. Now he felt even worse.

“Shapiro, are you okay?” He asked unnecessarily. He just wanted her to talk to him. For the second time he had been negligent with one of his good friends and he viewed Shapiro as more of a sister. To have her angry with him would hurt just as much as if Caroline were mad at him.

[Haley Shapiro]

It was just her luck that she befriended one of the more perceptive people in Hammel who saw the turmoil she tried her best to hide underneath. She didn't wear her heart on her sleeve but whenever she was around Lani...it just escapes.

How in the hell did he manage to do that, she didn't know but there she was, her emotions clear as day on her face for Lani to see.

She saw him try to lighten up the situation but she didn't appreciate it. Like an insolent child, she kept her pout on her face, not letting him get the best of her.

His question had her rolling her eyes, her arms tightening around her small, thin body as if it could protect her from any external pain.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? I'm used to getting lied to. No big deal or anything." She winced a little when her tight hold made her recall her injury from a few months back.

She knew she was being a little dramatic with her display but she hadn't realised how much Lani meant to her until now. Now that she saw the boxes and got a verbal confirmation from him that he was indeed moving.

"When were you planning on telling me?"

[Lani Hunter]

Lani quickly sobered when Shapiro was not laughing. It was not something he wanted to see. Another good friend that he had hurt. Hell, Shapiro was more than a good friend. She was his little sister, his best friend. He now wished he had Odion’s power so he could go back in time and tell her. This wasn’t how he wanted her to find out. Even when he didn’t outright lie, he was a liar. He was terrible at this whole honesty thing. It was times like this when it was so easy to fall back into old habits. He had no excuses and he could feel the tearing in his heart like he had when Adrianna had called him on his negligence, if not worse.

Eyes dropping to his hands. He nodded slowly holding back emotions that were threatening to spill out. He needed to be strong, why was he being so weak? He bit into his tongue in frustration. How was it that a couple years ago he would be good to live and let die, but now that someone was constantly angry with him he just couldn’t take it? He had found himself a few close friends here at Hammel and he had quite effectively pissed them all off. Perhaps that was why he’d lost all of his friends from Boston. Maybe it wasn’t them, maybe it was him. The thought troubled him and he closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them and looked back up at Shapiro.

“I didn’t lie to you,” Lani said calmly but stubbornly, “I’m just down the street, I’m not leaving you.” He wanted to get up and comfort her, but if he knew from experience generally that was the worst thing to do. And where Shapiro was concerned doubly so. Even if she didn’t mean to, if she forgot herself and hit him for it he could be in some real trouble.

It was tempting to Lani to try his hand at another joke, but Shapiro was hurt and that was nothing to laugh at. Jokes were just a defense mechanism. He took a deep breath and looked up at her. “I meant to tell you as soon as I found out two weeks ago. I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure I was graduating.” And it had been a close one too. It had all come down to his trainer signing off that he was ready and then being tested. He hadn’t maimed anyone so they’d deemed him alright and he was graduating with a rather sad but passing GPA. “I’m sorry Shapiro, I guess I got caught up in everything.”

[Haley Shapiro]

Not aware of the inner workings of Lani's emotional downward spiral, Haley kept up with her petulance, refusing to be anything but selfish to her own needs. She did, however, see the dropped gaze and she instantly felt bad. It didn't stop her from continuing her pouting though.

When Lani tried to explain his stand, she wanted so badly to argue but he was right. He wasn't leaving. He was still in town. She could still easily steal away from the compound to sneak into his apartment any time she wanted, even if he told her not to.

Even to her young ears, Lani's justification made sense. She had nothing to guilt him with. So now she looked pretty stupid, pouting and with her arms crossed.

She sighed and shrugged once more. "It's cool...I guess." Fingering a bauble on Lani's desk, she handed it over to him.

"Guess it's a good thing you got half your things packed already. I would have wanted to help." She teased after a long pause.

[Lani Hunter]

Shapiro was wiser than she let on Lani knew if he were going to apologize it couldn’t be half asses or with faulty logic. In the end what slipped out was the truth. He took a breath and waited for her to start yelling. He didn’t even paused to think of such ramifications of that, it was only something he had started to expect. He’d made a lot of mistakes recently and a lot people were angry with him. Adrianna wasn’t speaking to him and Odion, well things with Odion were amazing and terrible all at the same time. When he was with Odion it was like all was right with the world and when he was gone it was like something was missing. But they seemed to be doing nothing but fighting recently and it was wearing on Lani’s nerves.

Even leaving on a good note from the first time in a long time that he and Odion had been together that they hadn’t fought about something Lani felt like he was dancing around dangerous subjects. He was a liar and Odion was a liar. Between them truth was all that mattered and they couldn’t even give each other that. Not for lack of trying, but for lack of courage. More than once Lani had been terrified that that might be it. That that one things that slipped out would be the end of them. The poisonous words he’d said to Adrianna and then in return to Odion were still stinging his mind like salt in a wound.

She sighed and he looked up at her. He frowned knowing she was still hurting but she wasn’t yelling. That almost had Lani smiling, but he had a feeling he wasn’t out of trouble yet. He took the object and smiled a little to himself at the memories it held. He glanced back up at her and then back at the small thing. He honestly didn’t know why he still had it, it was a palm sized charm that had a blue eyeball looking creepily out. He set it aside on the bed. It was supposed to ward off bad luck, a whole lot of good it had done him.

Lani gave a little smile and glanced around at the boxes. “Between you and me, I’m terrible at packing,” he paused to look up at her giving her a pathetic look, “I could use a little help.” He rose and looked around before knocking himself in the head with the heel of his hand, he would have packed all of his pens. He dug one out of a box and tore a page out of the back of one of his notebooks. He scrawled his new address on it in his chicken scratch and handed it over. “You’re welcome anytime.” Then he caught Shapiro in a hug before she could escape him. “I’m sorry, Shapiro. And thanks.”

[Haley Shapiro]

Haley gave a small breathy laugh as she maneuvered her way around some boxes at her feet. "Man, the only experience I had of packing was a duffel bag. And it only had my toothbrush, my guitar picks and this hoodie." She picked at her hoodie, pulling it away from her.

She looked on curiously as he searched for something. When he gave her a piece of paper, she looked down at it long enough to not realise Lani had hugged her. She almost leaned in but she knew she shouldn't. Not yet. Maybe not ever. Having feelings freaking sucked.

"It's okay man. Just...it's okay man." She wanted to tell him that she deserved to be told beforehand but who was she to Lani that she deserved to be told?

She patted Lani's front, pushing him just slightly. "So maybe I'll just help you load your shit in your car once you're packed because if you let me help you, I'd just dump everything into one box and call it a day." She tacked on a big smile, giving him one of her 'I can do anything' faces.

[Lani Hunter]

“Then we’re at about the same skill level,” Lani joked in return looking at the sad array of boxes. He was sure Odion would help if he asked, if there was anyone who knew anything about organization it was Odion. Lani had never needed to pack more than a duffle, that’s what he’d packed when he came and then his parents had come later with the rest of the stuff. He supposed he should be grateful but he’d been so furious back then. So much had changed in the few years he’d been at Hammel. If he hadn’t been here through all of the sweat, blood and tears he probably would have never recognized himself. He’d changed but he wasn’t sure it was a bad thing. New weaknesses had been unearthed but at the same time new strengths had come to light.

Lani didn’t take offense when she didn’t return the sentiment. He was glad she didn’t just shove him off, Shapiro was not the touchy feely type. Lani on the other hand, usually kept his distance fairly went in normal people terms, but then some people broke thought the walls of his heart and he was indeed affectionate. Lani frowned and shook his head at her stilling clinging to her. He needed a hug, she didn’t even have to return it, he just wanted a hug. “It’s not okay,” Lani said looking down at her, “You deserve much better.” Oblivious to her inner thoughts Lani ducked his head and smiled a little backing off when he felt her push against him.

Shapiro’s inner timer had gone off and Lani’s time was up. “That’d be nice, though, I’m still car-less.” He shrugged and gave an innocent look. “My parents are coming and providing car assistance…” Lani was cut off and laughed and patted Shapiro on the head. Oh he’d missed her. “How’ve you been Shapiro? Got any summer plans?” He asked because he was intent on making it up to her. Summer was coming up quickly and soon he’d be graduated and Shapiro would be on break. Maybe he could see if he couldn’t get her to see Odion as a good person. Speaking of which… he should probably tell her he was now dating the redhead. “He-hey Shapiro,” Lani started and backed away a bit and sat on his bed again. It was always hard to say, he was never sure how people would react. Adrianna had figured it out terribly because he couldn’t figure out how to tell her. Caroline was the only one who officially knew, however Cameron seemed to have figured it out. “Can I tell you something?” He just didn't want her to look at him differently.

[Haley Shapiro]

His words rang through her, rattling her core. Haley had always thought he was a mind-reader. And had he never shown her his powers, she would have probably figured that it was. But he just seemed to read her like a book most of the time. It was because of his words that Haley almost, almost leaned in and draw her arms around Lani.

"You don't have a car? Loser." Haley jumped on the spot and ruffled Lani's hair with a grin. She didn't have to go too far, which meant she was growing. Score!

"Summer plans? Besides trashing the beach and going back to the warehouse? Not so much. Although I've got like this book list I have to go through. What a drag." She rolled her eyes and shrugged, even though the past few months had sort of given her a new vigour in learning.

Lani's hesitance drew Haley's eyes up and with a jerk of her head, she gave him a look as if to ask what. "Uh...yeah I guess."

[Lani Hunter]

Lani laughed and shook his head his hand raking through his hair to fix it. She was getting taller, he guessed he hadn’t really thought about it but she didn’t have to jump so high this time. Well, so long as she kept having to jump at all Lani found it as a victory. He shrugged. “I’m actually thinking about a motorcycle.” He said reminiscing the feeling of riding Cameron’s. It was freeing feeling the wind in his face, granted he hadn’t gone very fast at all but he was definitely going to take Cameron up on his offer to ride his until he felt confident enough that he could get a license for it. He supposed he should probably looking into the steps to getting one. It might be easier to get one in Massachusetts.

Lani laughed and uttered a ‘yeah’ in agreement, he was not about to reveal his nerdiness by telling her that reading wasn’t so bad. “Sounds like fun, except the beach,” Lani wrinkled his nose, “I can’t stand the sand.” He laughed a little, yeah it was the sand that was the problem, completely disregard the whole largest body of water in the world part. “Let me know when you’re gonna go trash the warehouse again. That was fun, at least until someone decided to pass out on me.” He gave her a look that spelled trouble if she tried to go without him. Part of him knew and accepted that she probably had gone back and not told him but he was a worrier and he didn’t care what kind of damage that she caused so long as she was alright in the end.

Watching her for a moment Lani ducked is head and sighed. Why did he do that? This was going to end badly. For a few seconds his mind ran through the number of things that he could be talking about that could warrant him hesitating like that. Not a lot of things came to mind. He’d have to tell her eventually, she was his best friend and the one that helped him out of his last rut. She deserved to know and considering he hadn’t told her about moving. He scratched his hand through his hair and realized he was stalling. He could trust her. Couldn’t he? He looked up at her his eyes narrowed a bit with thought. “I’m sorry Shapiro, this is hard to say…” He puffed his cheeks out before blowing out air. “Um…” he closed his eyes and told himself to just spit it out. “I’m dating Odion.” He blurted and looked up at her his expression one that was wary.

[Haley Shapiro]

"Very nice." Haley stated with a nod of agreement. She had always envisioned herself on a bike. It seemed a rather better fit for her than a car. It spoke more about her than a car could and that was cool in her books.

She hesitated to tell Lani that her plan to trash the beach wasn't entirely true. Since she found that small cove on the beach a few months back, after the accident, she decided that it was her spot. She had brought her guitar and sketchpad along and spent the whole day just sketching and occasionally plucking at her instrument. It was a pretty good day, considering.

"The sand's pretty gunky, yeah." She nodded in agreement. Especially when it gets into her shoes and socks. If she bothered with wearing them in the first place.

"Well hey now, now I know my limits! That's the point of being in the warehouse to begin with, am I right? Testing limits, pushing boundaries, all that shebang?" She challenged him with a smirk.

When he finally told her what looked to be heavy on his shoulders, she sighed and shook his head. "That you are even dating sickens me." She made a face before giving the boy a wry smile. "Look. Let's put it this way. We're gonna have people in our lives that either of us isn't gonna approve so if I start dating an ex-con in the near future, please God don't even make me think of dating, you're not allowed to give me shit, you copy?" She raised an eyebrow and pointed at Lani.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani waggled his brows and nodded at Shapiro. “Yeah, I rode my friend’s once and I loved it.” Though a car would definitely come in more handy it wasn’t nearly as fun, besides if he ever needed a car he could always lift one. Lani smiled to himself, he still wondered what Odion would think about a motorcycle, the idea of riding it with Odion’s arms around him made him practically giddy. He caught himself smiling and quickly shrugged and added a joke to cover his tracks, “Besides, what’s more badass than a motorcycle?” He might even let Shapiro ride on it.

It showed how much Lani knew, he had no idea that she could sketch, and absolutely less idea that she played the guitar. There was so much about Shapiro that Lani still didn’t know and he loved learning. Though, if Shapiro wanted a hiding place, the beach was the perfect place, Lani wouldn’t come near it. Not unless he absolutely had to. And spying on Shapiro, as fun as that would be was not high on the absolutely necessary list. Not when water was involved at least. There were not a lot of things that made that list. Imminent danger was the number one all others were too far down the list to even consider.

“Very gunky,” Lani agreed laughing a little at the terminology. She had him smiling very broadly at her boast and he crossed his arms and gave her a no-nonsense look. “Yes, and testing limits is not a good thing to do by yourself, we learned that, right?” He said with a little bit of a grin, “C’mon, Shapiro, for me? You nearly gave me a heart attack, so for the sake of keeping my hair blond, promise you’ll at least let me know when you go?” Lani asked giving her his puppy dog eyes. Lani did not want to go gray too early.

Lani’s eyes widened and his face shadowed with hurt. Sickened. She was sickened. He was thinking she was sickened for different reasons and Lani’s heart plummeted. He may have just lost his first friend by being who he was. This was what he had always been afraid of. His eyes dropped and he did his best to hide the pain that was making its way slowly from his heart to his mind. But Shapiro continued and Lani glanced up confused. Had he misunderstood? So she wasn’t sickened? But she was? Was she sickened that he was dating another man? Odion? Or just dating in general? The confusion plastered over his face as she kept dating and then Lani gave her a knowing smile. He waved a hand to stop her. “Hold up! Number one, that’s totally different. And number two, if you start dating an ex-con I will lock you in a tower.” He rose to his feet and crossed his arms daring her to challenge that.

[Haley Shapiro]

"I bet." She responded enviously, grinning a little. She had virtually forgotten the hurt she had initially felt when she came here. "Exactly, right? You better let me ride it when you get it." There was no if in Haley's mind. She knew Lani was going to get one way or another. "Because if you don't, you know I'm gonna steal the keys anyway." She smirked, waggling her eyebrows at him.

It wasn't really Lani's fault that he didn't know about her hidden talents. They were exactly that, hidden. She didn't need to advertise what she did in her free time. Also, it was mostly because she was still very much insecure about most of the things she had played and sketched. And it would be largely embarrassing if Lani ever saw her sketchbook that is filled to the brim with sketches of him.

His worry about her made Haley grin and roll her eyes, still not entirely comfortable with having someone who actually cared whether she lived or died. "Fine, jeez...you're like a mother hen." She chuckled, biting her tongue from continuing her next line: "Like I would know, right?"

Unaware of his thoughts, Haley kept the smirk on her face. To her, she knew she was joking. It was Lani's stupid problem if he wanted to see people. So long as he didn't forget her, she was fine with that.

"Double standard! Like the Odiot isn't a criminal already!" She blurted out without thinking. "Besides, at least he's an ex-con. Come on, have a little faith in my judgment, man." She patted Lani's shoulder gently.