SUE: Good Vibrations (Gabe)

[Gabriel James]

Frankly, Gabe wasn't positive why he was so keen on letting Kiara into this part of his life. Perhaps because the way he felt about the situation was what first brought him to Kiara. Perhaps it was just the way she seemed to care so deeply about everything. She was a bit different than Everett that way. And frankly, Gabe needed to talk to someone about it. And as he remembered explaining to Kiara, sometimes Gabe's guitar was easier to talk to than his best friend.

"Yeah we talked about you a little bit," Gabriel told Kiara honestly, not sure if he should tell her the details of the conversation. It was probably better delt with if and when it ever came up. "He was impressed I took you out to dinner to apologize and talk about it afterward. He didn't even take the time to figure out the aftermath," Gabriel explained, taking another spoonful of soup and letting it slide down his throat. It burned a bit at first, but helped relax his tight muscles in the end. "I think he's starting to see that maybe he overreacted just a tad," Gabe said in a hopeful manner, wanting to believe that was the truth. Sure, Everett had the right to be upset, but the amount of time he was upset was a little difficult to justify - especially when Gabriel was doing everything he could to make sure the entire experience was pulled through positively for himself and Kiara.

Gabe turned his head to look at the blonde as she stuck her feet up on the chair he was sitting, as he slurped at some more soup - which may be considered rude but Gabe always slurped his soup. Even if he was a gentleman, he was also a child at heart. He laughed at Kiara when she claimed he looked like a mess though, again, causing a small coughing fit. "I was going for 'sick, 101 degree fever, mess' when I woke up this morning," he said snarkily with half a mouthful of soup. After swallowing, he continued, "And if I look like such a mess," he started, putting his elbow on the table and mocking the pose Kiara was in at the other side of the table, "Why are you looking at me like I'm the cutest damn thing in the world?"

Now Gabe was pretty oblivious when it came to girls, at least when it came to girls and their feelings toward him. Well... he was oblivious to anyone's feelings about him. He liked to assume he was well liked by everyone until they expressed differently. But even Gabe wasn't oblivious enough to Kiara's gaze. It wasn't creepy to him though. Gabe chalked it up to her pitying him in his sick state, looking at him like he were a little boy wrapped up in his batman blanket.

[Deleted]

Oh, great… They talked about her. Kiara wasn’t too sure what to think of that, even after Gabriel explained what had been discussed. Perhaps the fact that it didn’t confirm her suspicion led to it. Or maybe she even felt a little bit disappointed that Gabe didn’t mention her ex-boyfriend. If he had, she could have dug deeper to figure out how her brother was feeling about that at the moment. Either way, she also felt glad to know that Everett seemed to grow more acceptant of what had gone down between his sister and best friend. “Just a tad bit”, she repeated with soft laughter, indicating that was quite the understatement. “But I’m relieved he might be able to look at you normally again, to treat you like his best friend. I know we agreed to not apologize, but I do feel bad towards him for having messed up his strongest friendship…”

At least that awful feeling faded some as blue eyes rested on Gabe after she had switched her position. His lighthearted and joking nature made it feel worth it, if only during the times that he was around. She wanted to give him a mocked nod of approval and to state he was very good at it, but instead the music teacher caught her completely off guard and she found herself bringing the hand down to the table as her head no longer dipped to the left. A rather dumbfound expression could be spotted on her face as lips parted some, yet no sound came out during the first two seconds.

Had she really been staring at him like that or had it been his interpretation? Kiara wasn’t sure, but she could feel a blush darken her cheeks, almost feeling like a teenager who had been caught doing something wrong. “I…” The girl stammered for a moment while visibly trying to recover from something she wasn’t even sure about. An almost nervous-sounding chuckle slipped past her lips as she sat up straighter, not retrieving her feet, and rested hands in her lap. “Was I really looking at you like that?” She didn’t sound certain, but it also came out mixed with a certain sense of guilt. The smile on her face was sheepish, and the fumbling of her hands with the hem of her shirt betrayed just how much his statement affected her relaxed state.

“But um, yeah, maybe because you are the cutest damn thing in the world?” Ki tried to recover, also inwardly cursing at herself for not having shot that back right away. She didn’t sound that confident anymore either. “You’re cute…” Ki added before faintly motioning a hand to Ev’s blanket. “all wrapped up in that.”

[Gabriel James]

Now for as good as Gabe had been picking up the look, he was right back to being an oblivious boy during Kiara's reaction. He took her motioning to his blanket as confirming his suspicion, and didn't even take much notice to her hesitation, or the dumbfounded look on his face. "Yeah I'm aware I'm basically a 5 year old," he agreed, picking up his bowl of soup, smiling slightly at how warm it made his hands, taking a sip of the soup right from the bowl. It seemed more efficient than trying to use a spoon at this point.

"I can think of at least three things that are more adorable, though," Gabe offered, wiping his chin with the sleeve of his sweatshirt, not even taking notice of how much he was truly regressing to his childhood state while fighting his ailment. "Puppies." He said definitively. "McKenna," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Annnndddd...." it took Gabe a moment to think of exactly what he wanted to list as his number 3 cutest thing ever. "And Red Pandas," he decided, a very serious look crossing his face, as if he meant business about his choices. "I can't compete with any of those things if I wanted to."

He took another sip of the soup directly from the bowl, a meatball hitting him in the nose, leaving some sauce there, though he didn't take much notice. "Plus... we'll see how cute I am in a couple hours when this soup decides if it wants to complete the trip or evacuate." The soup was the first thing he'd eaten all day after a night of bowing to the porcelain throne.

[Deleted]

Kiara was oh so grateful when Gabe seemed to be very oblivious to the confusion that simple question had caused. Given he didn’t confirm that, yes, she had been looking at him like that, it gave her a moment to try and eliminate the blush. Hands were brought up to her cheeks, almost as if to check the temperature as she cupped them both. But him not pushing her further to the edge of a nervous breakdown didn’t mean that she managed to ignore that question though. While she did succeed to push it to the backburner, it continued to linger. Faintly, but still there.

When hands lowered, they nestled in her lap again. She would pay extra attention to not end up in another situation like that. She could probably blame it on being very comfortable, but perhaps that might be weird given the circumstances. In the meanwhile Gabriel succeeded at reviving her more genuine smile. It was a soft one though and more inward, just the way she was imagining the things he summed up. “You left out unicorns.” Ki mused upon lightly resting her side against the back of the chair, dipping her head to the left.

“And me… because clearly you can’t compete with that. Not even while you’re in mess mode.” Fingers were absentmindedly braiding the end of a thin blond strand. Her gaze was settled on that, but she did look over for a second. Fake disgust had been plastered on there, but it soon got replaced by a look of amusement as she now motioned at her own nose. “You should…” Fingertips brushed over the tip of her own one, hoping he caught on without her having to specifically point out the mess he was making.

“So, um, is the soup okay?”

[Gabriel James]

"Oh you're on a different scale all together," Gabe promised, at first with a very serious business-like face. "You have more cuteness in your pinky toe than I could ever hope to posses in my entirety," Gabe continued, his serious face turning into a cheeky smile. He enjoyed their back and forth. It had been a while since he was able to just joke with someone like that - especially since he and Everett had only put themselves back on decent terms quite recently.

Gabe's hand flew to his nose when Kiara implied he had something on his face. He laughed at himself after his initial embarrassment, finally realizing what a mess he was being. He still didn't feel like getting up to retrieve a napkin, so he wiped the soup off his nose with his thumb and then licked it off. "The soups great," he said with a smile. "I really do appreciate it. Even if you brought it for Everett and not me," he added at the end, a face of mock disappointment being thrown in Kiara's direction.

He couldn't keep the face long though, and broke back into a smile, followed by a sneeze and another smile. "So... been up to anything interesting beside making soup for those less immuneo-proficient?" Gabe asked, making up his own words, and slurping up the last of his soup.

[Deleted]

Luckily Gabe caught on to that wordless hint. While it was not as bad as notifying someone that they had some salad between their front teeth, it still made her feel awful to make him aware of it. His amusement with himself limited the feeling though, so at least that personal ridicule reached its goal. And so was his playful jab. “Given I knew how jealous of a person you are, it’s a good thing I made a spare bowl for you, huh?” Except not really. Had she known Gabriel was sick as well, sure, but she hadn’t been updated on that fact. Therefore the initial plan was to give both to her brother and to let him enjoy it for more than one day. This, of course, was something Everett would never know.

Fingers let go of the strand that she had been braiding and while the gentle smile remained, it faltered ever so lightly. Perhaps not enough to be noticeable though – at least not for Gabe’s insight in people. “Making soup for those pathetic immune-less creatures is my life, obviously.” Ki first tried to save herself, but as soon as those words were spoken, a bitter sigh joined in and she offered him an almost tired smile as well.

“Actually, my ex-boyfriend is kind of back in town… Not really sure if I got to specifying my mood that one evening, but he was pretty much the reason for it.” Afterwards, Kiara shifted her position back to how she had been seated when he questioned the look on her face. Except this time it was nowhere near as light and carefree. “We have him to thank for that then…” To at least see a silver lining in it.

[Gabriel James]

Gabe had a vague idea of what had been bothering Kiara on that fateful night, but he hadn't pushed her into talking about it. The way she referred to him was enough of a hint that things ended on less than stellar terms. "Well he doesn't know what he's missing out on," Gabe offered, dropping his voice to a low sultry rasp- as sexy as he could manage without causing another coughing fit. He winked at Kiara as he stood to put his soup bowl in the sink to wash later. He hoped that bit of joking wasn't too much, but hey, Ki started it.

Gabe pulled his blanket even tighter around himself as he shuffled away from the sink and toward the living room. He gestured for Kiara to follow, figuring it wouldn't hurt to find a comfier spot to chat. Gabe flopped down exactly where he had been sitting for the Skype call - he tended to pick that one spot over the rest- and pulled his feet up under him Indian-style.

"So this guy is still bothering you?" Gabriel asked, still unaware of the complexity the situation held. Not that Gabe found it easy to deal with break ups. In fact, he was still kind of nursing the wounds from his last long-term relationship that ended his senior year at Hammel.

[Deleted]

A warmhearted moderate smile tugged at both corners of her lips as a nod was given in response to his harmless joke. While her reaction was a sign of agreement, she wasn’t able to fully back it up. The fact that Jackson had returned, and the way he had explained it to her, made it seem that he had returned because he did know what he was missing out on. Either way, when the man shuffled back to the living room, Kiara got up and pushed both her and Gabe’s chair under the table before rejoining him on the couch.

There she momentarily shifted to get comfortable, seated sideways with bent legs, feet just barely draping off the cushion after Vans had been taken off. The spare fleece blanket that had been laying behind her now rested on the blonde’s upper legs as she distracted herself by fumbling with one of the corners of the blanket.

“I wouldn’t really call it ‘bothering me’.” Laughing weakly at herself while acknowledging just how much of a mess it was, she raised both her shoulders into a shrug before letting them slump again. “He never bothered me, you know? He just kind of left and then showed up again nearly eight months later.”

Ki looked up again, trying to give Gabe a smile to try and limit any pity this might stir. She didn’t like that. “He left without a word and now he’s back and it’s just one big mess and I don’t even dare to mention it to Ev.”

[Gabriel James]

"I meant bother in more of 'my ex's reappearance is hindering my mental well being' kind of way than 'my ex is physically going out of his way to harass me' kind of way," Gabe clarified with a small shrug. "I can tell the situation is weighing on you, that's all," Gabe offered, showing his concern. For one, she would have never gotten drunk and slept with him if she was ok with her ex's return. Ki had already made that pretty clear.

And before Gabe could ask why Kiara seemed so emotionally torn about the guy and his return, she was explaining the situation, leaving Gabe with a perplexed look on his face. "To be fair," Gabe started with a sniffle and a cough, "I think as your brother it's Evertts job to hate guys who leave you without explanation for months at a time."

Gabe chucked at himself a bit, but continued, "Did he ever give you a reason? 8 months is a little ridiculous," Gabe noted. Then again, he kind of left Pilot Ridge for 3 years without much of a word... But he had already pretty much ruined his most recent relationship by that point.

[Deleted]

Oh, right. Kiara should have considered that second possible interpretation. She had just made the assumption that guys never were interested in the effect on girls’ mental wellbeing. Whenever you were asked if someone was bothering you, it tended to be a question that often led to the man asking in order to act all heroic by confronting the other person. Gabe seemed genuinely concerned though, and a small nod was given. “I guess it’s kind of affecting me,” she chuckled sadly.

Spreading open the fleece blanket, the blonde swung it back over her shoulders to practically mirror how Gabe was cuddled up in his. Ki wasn’t cold and she wasn’t sick; she just needed to regain some comfort and the feeling of security. Legs also shifted, planting feet on the cushion as she wrapped both her arms and blankie around her legs. “Everett hates every guy that dares to just look at me. He hated Jackson even before he left like that, so I’m kind of terrified about how he might react now that he’s back…” And it was also why Kiara wanted to tell her brother before he found out randomly.

“Like, if you had simply given me a hug and he walked in on that, he might still have given you the silent treatment.” It probably didn’t need any further explanation, but the young woman added it nevertheless. After that, Gabe’s question received an answer. “His baby mommy claimed to be pregnant again and took him to court. She refused a pregnancy test until the child was born, and in the meanwhile tried to get custody over their son. So I guess that counts as a reason?” Kiara explained it as if it were nothing. By now she had adjusted to the idea of baby Gabe, plus she had met Natasha at one point. Therefore it didn’t shock her that the woman was capable of that.

[Gabriel James]

"Yeah, but Everett doesn't hate me anymore," Gabe pointed out smartly, grabbing a tissue off the end table to blow his nose. "I'm just saying... he cares. Just in his own weird way. I wish my brothers gave a shit about me," Gabriel noted before actually taking the time to try and clear his sinuses. "I'm not trying to take sides or anything. I don't even know this guy. Though I must say him leaving for so long without even trying to contact you is pretty shitty."

It was shitty! You didn't just do that to someone. But when Gabe heard the reason he could sort of see why Kiara was torn. "Well... that would be a reason," he agreed with a dry laugh, not even really sure of what to make of Kiara's ex's situation at all. What Kiara had described made the whole thing even more complicated than Gabe could have imagined. "I wish I could say I have advice, but I do not have much experience in guys who leave me for 8 months to secure custody of his child... I'm just a sick guy on an unfeasible quest to understand the inner workings of the feminine mind."

He sniffled. "So has he apologized?" Gabriel asked curiously, somewhat interested in how good (or not) of a person this guy was. Because suddenly Kiara was someone he cared about and he didn't want her to keep herself emotionally attached to someone who wasn't worth her time. Though at the same time... who was he to tell her what to do? Or give her advice? He was just some guy she slept with in a moment of weakness. What kind of authority did that give him on anything involving Kiara? Was even just talking to her like this as a friend cross some sort of line? Gabe decided to stop questioning himself before he made himself dizzy and threw up.

[Deleted]

Kiara knew Everett cared – and she adored him for it. What was hateful about is was his advice often going against what she wanted. In turn that usually led to disagreements and to her doing to exact opposite of what her brother had been hoping for. The latter could only be blamed on the fact that she thought he gave lousy advice though, so she usually just stuck to her own opinion. Right now, however, the girl was clueless about how to handle this, and not knowing how Everett’s words might affect her cast a scary feeling down upon her.

“Yeah…” Ki breathed out with a sigh. It was shitty, but at the same time the reason behind his disappearance justified it. What she could not accept, on the other hand, was how Jackson pulled it off. Nor how he came waltzing in again without her having had a chance to mentally prepare herself. The current outcome might have been different had he at least given her a warning. Honestly, though, the blonde was unable to mull on that much longer as Gabriel threw that little joke in between. A genuine soft laugh came in response and features lit up to a certain degree. “Just listening helps. Don’t wreck that one brain cell.”

Readjusting the blanket on her shoulders, Ki held it close before resting her chin upon one of her knees. “Multiple times.” She mused while leaning her side into the back cushion of the couch. “It will just take way more than that, you know?” Perhaps Gabriel didn’t. The girl actually had no clue on how he treated girls; she had no idea if generalizing his attitude towards her would be valid. What the music teacher might understand, however, was the complexity that were feelings.

“It probably hurt double as worse because he was my first.” Kiara didn’t deem it necessary to advocate why she was so torn, yet at the same time she sort of feared that Gabe would see her as stupid for even being stuck in this situation in the first place. Then again, that was only a tiny part of that mess.

[Gabriel James]

"Oh trust me, I know it takes more than a couple 'I'm sorry's," Gabe said, realizing it may have seemed differently., "I've been a dumb guy. I've made mistakes," he said. He still didn't forgive himself for some of them. Well... one in particular. "I just wanted to know if he at least realizes he's an ass, because sometimes that's half the battle." That was pretty much the entirety of Gabe's. Had he not been so proud... had he not been so stubborn, who knew where he'd be right now.

Gabe tucked his legs to the side, allowing himself to lean his lower back on the arm of the sofa and face Kiara more. "Losing your first is tough," Gabe agreed sympathetically, not even thinking for a second that Kiara was telling him that sort of personal information for anything other than a search for comfort. "I mean... you still have a shot though. If you really wanted it to work, it seems," he said, not advising Kiara to go for it or not, just reminding her that it was an option.

The crude part of Gabe only briefly wanted to ask her if that made him her second. But he bit his tongue. Now was not the time to joke about something like that - something so personal. Gabe was slightly surprised that Kiara was so willing to share. It made him feel like he should do the same. "You know... people change. Believe it or not, I wasn't always this suave and gentlemanly," he said with a small wiggle of his eyebrows. "Well... maybe I was. But I do have experience in the 'I'm a stupid boy' category. I learned a lot from it."

[Deleted]

Kiara’s knowledge about Gabe was limited. When he confessed to having been a dumb guy who made mistakes, she almost found it difficult to accept. It did stir some questions, and she kept them ready to ask once the timing was more right. At the moment it felt better to first address her own issues before attempting to avoid them again. Gabriel was correct though. Or at least to a certain degree. Ki still had a shot, but it would require time and effort and patience. At this point, she had no idea if she would be able to muster it all.

“I don’t know what I want,” the blonde confessed with a sad smile. That merely added to the confusion. As for his words of comfort that people change… that didn’t necessarily mean it was a good thing. “People don’t always change for the better.” Nevertheless, the motion of his eyebrows lit up gloomy features. “You’re suave and gentlemanly?” One arched eyebrow caused her to give him a joking and questioning look. It soon melted into a slightly curious one though, with a hint of gratitude. “What placed you in that category though? Did it involve a girl?”

Kiara was genuinely interested. Usually she preferred to listen to happy love stories, but something told her that wouldn’t be the case right now. Hopefully Gabe was prepared for the fact that she would ask way more questions than he had. Of course he still had the chance to dig deeper when it came to her issues, and she might spill some more while possibly comparing to his situation, but at the moment her self-pity diminished some. The young woman subconsciously hoped that if his mistakes had involved love, his actions and feelings during it back then could help her figure out how to handle her own situation. Maybe to understand Jackson better.

[Gabriel James]

"Psh, of course it involved a girl. You creatures are nothin' but trouble," Gabriel grumbled dramatically when Kiara asked, but a hit of a smile staying at the corner of his lips as he spoke - as was usually true to his positive, humorous ways. He didn't mind talking about it now. It was years ago, and not as fresh of a wound as Kiara may feel with Jackson. It still stung a bit when he thought about it sometimes, sure. But Gabe tried to tell himself it was puppy love and they would have broken up by now anyway.

"Her name was Mikayla," Gabe said, not sure why he found that detail important. But he did. And saying her name again even brought a small knot to his stomach. "She was beautiful. 5 foot 2, long dark brown hair, olive skin," he explained - again, not even sure why it mattered to the point of the story. "But her most important feature to me at the time were her eyes... they were pretty, but kind of hazy and in a dreamlike-state. Because Mik was blind. She went to Hammel. Weather manipulator. And it was basically love at first... my sight. I ran into her and knocked her lunch clear across the cafeteria. She didn't know what way she was facing afterward and I had to lead her around and I bought her more pizza."

"At the time I had to wear sunglasses indoors because I had literally no control of my power," Gabe explained, "and Mik had this crazy theory that if I took them off around her it would have no effect because she's blind. I was scared to try it though because I didn't want to ruin that for her... and for like almost 2 years she thought I didn't wear my sunglasses and eventually glasses around her because I didn't effect her. Well she found out... at a school dance... and she got so upset but I refused to accept the fact that I was wrong. Because hey! I was just trying to do what I thought was right. Taking advantage of girls is not cool."

Gabe sighed at the next part, "And I guess the nail in the coffin was when I broke into her bedroom window to talk to her about it, but came across her roommate instead. Who was a pheromone manipulator with less control over her power than me. And well... she touched me, I looked into her eyes. Shit basically hit the fan. I lied to Mik about that too in hopes she would never find out, but she already knew. I think I apologized 7000 times, but nothing was ever enough. 3 months later I graduated, and after 2 more months of trying to prove to her that I could stop lying, I just left. Went to LA. I couldn't take the heartache and I couldn't go back home so..." Gabe shrugged at the end of his story. So he lied, and technically cheated on a blind girl. You really couldn't get much more scummy than that right? "Turns out my charm doesn't effect her, by the way," Gabe added at the very end, making the whole story that much more ironic - though Kiara may not understand that since she didn't even know much about Gabe's ability other than that it exists.