Hello everyone! about a year ago i posted a (rather pathetic) fic on the EWFN, and then kind of disappeared for, well, forever pretty much. but i'm here now, stumbled across this site after randomly revisiting EWFN. Anyway, that's beside the point, i'm rambling, sorry. So yea, this isn't my first fic, but it's my first one here, so please be kind! i'm a bit out of practice, and most of it's written around midnight, so... oh yes, and no guarantees as to how often i'll update, esspecially once school starts up again. *rolls eyes* shut up and post Jewels

lol, right then, on to my poem/prologue....
~*~

Living Ghosts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
so cold
jaded and unfeeling
torn heart
can't remember if she's breathing
She's forgotten what it's like
to be who she really is
so she'll just stay in place
frozen and screaming
razor burned crimes tracing her veins
the living ghost
without a reason to breathe
and no one even knows...

(disclaimer and rating posted in fourth post on this thread, sorry about that (rated R))

~Chapter One~

Julianna Larson clapped her hands together and yelled applause as her friend Kevin finished up the last phrase of his latest work of art to be preformed on stage. The rest of the audience at the Poetry Slam roared with applause as well, but at the moment Julianna could only see herself and Kevin.

They had been friends for over five years then and knew far more about one another than was healthy. Kevin had grown to be one of Julianna's best friends over that span of time, largely due to the fact that he had a very high tolerance for irrational ranting over IM on a nearly daily basis.

The small theater faded into the back ground as Kevin met eyes with Julianna and they both smiled, laughing to themselves. The rest of them didn't really have a clue what they'd been through, or how much energy went into his poetry, but they knew. Kevin winked knowingly at Julianna before stepping off the stage and sitting two chairs down.

Julianna tried to hide the frustration darkening her eyes that had followed Kevin to his seat to face his girlfriend Anna, sitting between them. Julianna muffled an annoyed sigh as Anna grinned and kissed Kevin, complimenting his poem in her own way. Julianna focused her attention back on the stage, shrugging inwardly.

The Kaisen Theatre in New Zealand was tucked back behind chain shopping centers, unnoticeable unless one was searching for it. Julianna had nearly missed it herself, having already been turned around by her rental car. "Don't they know they put the wheel on the wrong side of the car?" she'd commented, only half joking when Kevin had gone with her to pick it up the afternoon after their flight had landed in New Zealand.

New Zealand had proved to be every much as beautiful as her friend Beth had raved as Julianna had purchased her tickets a few weeks before. Julianna and Anna had been sharing a hotel room down the hall from Kevin and his younger brother Todd for the past week. Just that morning Julianna had spotted a flyer for the Poetry Slam that night and practically ran over Todd in her rush to show Kevin. They were "regulars" at the local theatre back home; always sitting in the front row the second Friday of the month. With Anna sitting between them of course.

Anna trusted Julianna and Kevin; and with good reason too. Julianna had gone to Anna first to admit her reoccurring feelings for Kevin, to reassure her that it meant nothing, but that she had a right to know no the less. Shortly afterwards Julianna had told Kevin up front how she felt, and that she didn't want anything to change between them. She was happy for the two of them and Julianna was used to being around them; but it still hurt sometimes.

"Hey fris, what'd you think?" Kevin called over both the music and Anna.

Julianna pretended to think it over very carefully, "Well, the second stanza was a bit lacking..." she teased, snickering to herself.

"Jules!" Kevin pouted and Anna laughed at the two of them, "Don't upset him Julia; I have to put up with him tonight." Julianna pretended to gag and Anna smacked her in the arm, "That's not what I meant and you know it! Punk!"

Julianna laughed and stood up, grabbing her purse, "Watch my seat will you, I have to go "powder my nose"," she made exaggerated quotation marks in the air around the phrase 'powder my nose". Anna made a muffled "okay" as Kevin pulled her over to him and kissed her again. Julianna flashed them one last annoyed look before sneaking out of the theatre door to find the restroom.

Jules slammed the door to the bathroom stall shut behind her and closed the lid of the toilet before sitting on the back of it with her feet up on the lid. She gritted her teeth as she rummaged through her purse for the tiny blade she had "borrowed" from her roommate back home, Skye Morgan.

It's a twisted habit, cutting. And frighteningly widespread as well. Julianna tried not to cry as she pulled back her long sleeved sweater and made tiny lines along the side of her wrist. Julianna knew how upset Skye would be at her if she knew that she had cut herself over the waves of guilt that washed over her now and then after being around Kevin and Anna for long periods of time. Jules didn't blame them, she knew it was her own fault for just bottling everything up until she HAD to do something to dull the pain.

Julianna calmly wiped up the tiny bits of evidence for her crime and wiped away traces of tears, checking her reflection in the mirror. Once she no longer saw shame and instead saw herself gazing back at her in the mirror, Jules tossed the wadded up tissue and stepped out of the restroom.

"Pathetic," she heard in her mind, "I can't believe you did it again; pathetic." Julianna shook her head to clear the thoughts away as she walked back to where the poets were performing.

"Ahh!" Julianna swore under her breath as she crashed into someone in the dimly lit hallway. She slipped and barely caught her fall by grabbing onto the small table against the wall behind her.

"I'm so sorry!" The man had reached out to help her catch her fall. But Julianna just grumbled as she stepped away from the corner of the table that had dug into her back on impact. "Not your fault," she said, "I should have been watching where I was going-"

"Well so should I." Julianna caught a glimpse of the man as he smiled back at her, laughing to himself. She did a double take and then took a step back, "I know you!" she gasped.

The look on his face quickly transitioned to worry at having been recognized. Sean had seen Elijah and Orlando put up with plenty of raving fans, but had made a point to avoid them himself. Julianna noticed the look on his face and sort of laughed.

"It's Rudy right?" she joked, holding out her hand to shake his, "Just kidding." Sean shot her a puzzled look and then smiled and shook her hand. "I'm Julianna," she added.

Sean was used to stunned fans calling him Sam to his face, but it had been a long time since anyone had accidentally called him Rudy. And he could tell Julianna knew it too, just as she knew his real name.

"I really am sorry for crashing into you." Julianna smiled again and moved to walk past him. Then she paused and looked at him strangely, "What are you doing in New Zealand anyway? Are they STILL filming extras?" she sighed as if that possibility exhausted her.

Sean laughed, "No, actually," a mischievous look washed over his face, "I'm here with my wife and some friends."

Jules narrowed her eyes in mock suspicion, "Which friends?" her mouth curved up in a slight yet very mischievous smile.

"You're not another one of Elijah's stalkers are you?" Sean snickered as Jules pretended to be extremely offended. "Well I never!" she laughed, "My friend Anna on the other hand..." she shrugged with a sigh and a wave of the hand.

Sean laughed at her, "Catch us afterward and I'll make sure they don't all run away from your stalker friend," he joked, "And I want you to meet Christine; she'd love you."

Jules just stared at him for a moment before pulling herself back together and answering, "Great!". Julianna smiled and nodded goodbye, "And I'll keep Anna under control for you." With that she turned and walked down the remainder of the hall, slipping back into her seat as the second to last poet took the stage. "Did that just happen?" she studied the ground in front of her curiously. Things like that didn't happen to girls from the central valley. Okay, she didn't live there anymore, but the fact that she'd grown up there she annoyed her.

"Took you long enough," Anna teased, "What'd you do, fall in?" Jules rolled her eyes at Anna, "Yes fris, that's what I did." Jules said sarcastically and received an elbow in the ribs before focusing back on the poets.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nice start, hope to see more up soon :)

thanks Ryvyan :laugh:

um, yea, i suposed i should put my disclaimer, just incase ya'll didn't know that; no, i do not own, or know any of "the Lads" (darn) and they don't know me (darn again). it's all fiction, well, the good parts at least lol. though there's the whole "write what you know" rule so i borrowed bits and pieces of my own life, my friends lives and other random ideas, etc. none of the mentioned movies or songs or anything belong to me (darn!) but the poem at the begining is one of my older ones. hmmm, i hope i've remembered everything...

oh yes, it's probably going to end up being rated R, though i can't really be sure, it more or less depends on what my fingers end up writing, but yea

crud, i'm suposed to be being a good little hostess right now and i'm doing a horrible job of it lol :lalala:

later then!

~Chapter Two~

The lights flashed on after the last poet recited, filling the room with blinding light. Julianna paused in her applause to shield her eyes and glance around. Anna continued to yell and clap even after the last poet stepped off the stage, causing Julianna to exchange glances with Kevin before they both reached up and pulled Anna back down into her seat. "Hush!" Julianna teased, "Don't be such a nerd."

As if on cue, Anna glanced across the room and let out a scream, "Oh my gosh! It's-" Julianna slapped her hand across Anna's mouth before she could say another word and let out an exasperated sigh. "For Crissake will you shut it already?"

Anna twisted her head away from Julianna's hand and scowled, "But did you see who's over there?!" Excitement filled her eyes as she practically bounced up and down in her seat. Julianna looked at her like she was insane and opened her mouth to speak but before she could get a word out Anna jumped up and raced across the room.

"ANNA!!" Jules grabbed at her friend who stumbled like a fool toward the back of the room. "Kevin, your girlfriend's acting like she's freaking drunk!" Jules glanced over her shoulder at Kevin, who was of course wrapped up in a conversation with another poet and didn't even hear her speak. Julianna swore under her breath and followed Anna, reaching out to grab her just as she was a yard or two from her destination.

"Ahh!" Both Jules and Anna let out a scream when Jules grabbed Anna's arm. They both fell; it was the chair's fault, really it was. Regardless Anna tumbled to the floor and Julianna flew head first over her, landing in the midst of their group. "Owww..." Jules mumbled as she brought her hand to her forehead and looked up to see Sean and company.

"Having a bad day Julianna?" Sean laughed and reached out a hand to help her up. Julianna took his hand and he pulled her to her feet in the middle of their circle. She chewed her bottom lip and reminded herself to breath, making an obvious attempt at not blushing. Surrounding her were four "hobbits" and two very amused women.

Julianna stepped to the side as the group gaped at her uncomfortable figure attempting to hide in the shadows.

Sean turned to the women next to him, still laughing, "Christine, this is Julianna," the confusion was wiped from Christine's face as she turned back to Jules and smiled slightly, "You know, you don't have to jump on us to get our attention next time."

Julianna looked back at Christine, a slight smile making its way to her lips. "Oh, but that would take all the fun out of it." She sighed, falling back into character and enjoying the amused look that washed over Christine and Sean. Jules finally allowed herself to glance over the other four members of the group, taking each of them in slowly.

"I'm Elijah." At that point Julianna was so star-struck that she had trouble remembering how to shake someone’s hand. Elijah's eyes were more beautiful in person than any picture of movie could have captured, if that even seems possible. They shown like bright (and rather amused) sapphires across from where Julianna stood in awe. And yes, he was short, Jules smiled to herself at the thought. She wasn't very tall herself, but she defiantly surpassed him in the height category by an inch or two.

Still, she was shorter than Billy, but not by much. He grinned in his own friendly way, as did the woman he had his arm linked around. "I'm sorry," Julianna said to the woman, "I'm sorry to say that I know all of them through their work," she shrugged, "But I don't know you. I'm Jules."

The woman smiled back at Jules, her own olive colored eyes sparkling with amusement. "I'm Adria. And you are something else Jules." The irony in that statement came when Adria then stepped forward and hugged Julianna. Jules just stood in shock, looking over Adria's shoulder at Billy, who was making a poor attempt at muffling his laughter.

Adria pulled back and held Julianna at arms length, "You looked like you needed a hug." Julianna pulled her eyes away from Adria then, feeling as if Adria had gotten a glimpse passed the last few minutes into Julianna's darker and more painful level of consciousness. Adria then smiled back at her as if to tell Jules that her secrets were safe with her, and then Billy again wrapped his arm around Adria's waist, pulling her back to him.

"Hello Julianna, I'm Billy Boyd, but you can call me Pippin if you like" Julianna grinned at Billy's good natured joking, "That's alright, I think I can settle for calling you Billy." Billy pretended to be hurt and Adria just snickered to herself, "I don't know Jules, maybe you should call him Pip so he can stop acting like such a big baby." Billy grumbled in reply, suddenly feeling as if he should be very stubborn. Julianna just smiled at the two of them and stepped back into her place in the circle.

Jules hadn't even noticed that Anna and Kevin had appeared at her side until she felt an indignant finger jab into her ribs. "Ow!" she grumbled and then reluctantly stepped aside to allow them into the circle. "These are my friends Kevin and Anna," she gestured to them. The former group greeted the newcomers with nods and welcoming, if slightly reluctant, smiles. Kevin immediately stepped forward and shook everyone's hand; a simple task for him considering he really had no idea whom he was being introduced to. Anna, on the other hand, simply stood in place, her big brown eyes wide with disbelief, until Christine stepped forward and introduced herself.

After a moment Julianna furrowed her brow and looked around, having realized she still hadn't said a word to Dominic. Having witnessed Jules dramatic fall, he had then proceeded to become extremely fascinated with the artwork to his right. Wild, abstract paintings brightened up the entire wall, each color distinctive and sharp. Julianna could tell just from the way he held himself that something else was on his mind; so she made up her mind to let him introduce himself to her.

"And you, you played the elf, er, one of the hibbits, right?" Anna stumbled over her words, attempting to appear nonchalant at their presence, and she wasn't doing a very successful job of it.

"Hobbit." Julianna corrected as Anna reach stepped across the circle and reached awkwardly for Dominic's hand to shake it, "Hello!" she proclaimed, smiling brightly at Dominic's confused face.

"Um, hello." Jules watch carefully as Dominic quickly shoved aside whatever he had been dwelling on a moment ago. He smiled back at Anna and turned to shake her hand at a more comfortable angle. Kevin stepped in and also shook Dominic's hand, introducing himself in his carefree way.

Julianna waited until Dominic glanced away from Kevin and looked straight at her before she realized how intensely she had been studying his actions. She mentally took a startled step back and plastered a smile on her face to mask her still lingering curiosity. "It's Dominic right? I'm Jules."

Dominic watched Julianna carefully as he took her hand to shake it, "Hello Jules." He let go of her hand quickly and let his hand drop down to his side. Julianna just kept her gaze off the side, away from Dominic's own blue-gray eyes.

Having notice the awkward silence his actions had caused, Dominic quickly spoke up, "So then, are you three from New Zealand, or just visiting?" Julianna stepped back into her place between Christine and Kevin, who answered Dominic, "Actually, we're heading back home to the States tomorrow morning. We've been here about a week, enjoying the incredible environment."

"You're from the States?" Christine inquired, "We are all on our way to them tomorrow as well. Still, it's a pity that you three should have to leave this beautiful island so soon. Are you traveling alone?"

"Pretty much," Kevin answered, "Except for my kid brother; who refused to leave the hotel room to come here tonight," Kevin shrugged dramatically, "What can you do, he'd rather watch mind numbing TV than come here."

The majority of the group grinned slightly to themselves at Kevin's comment about television, but no one said anything. "Well then," Kevin spoke again, "We had better get back to our hotel; we still have to finish packing tonight." He retrieved his notebook that he had placed on a nearby chair, "It was nice meeting you all. Perhaps we'll see each other again." With that he moved to leave the theatre.

Anna, who was still standing in shock, finally snapped out of her daze and smiled weakly at the group before following Kevin. Julianna thanked them all, and again apologized to Sean for running into him in the hall, and to the group for having landed on them. Christine, Sean, and Adria all quickly hugged Julianna good-bye, Christine making Julianna promise to call her sometime at the phone number she gave her (Sean defiantly had a knack for guessing whom his wife would take a liking to no doubt). The rest of the group just smiled and nodded good-bye, and Jules finally picked up her bag and hurried to catch up to Kevin and Anna.

Christine yawned slightly and Sean kissed her on her forehead. "I figured you'd find her amusing," he smiled.

"She's got some eyes, doesn't she?" Christine noted as the group made their way out of the theatre.

"Yes she does." Dominic mumbled to himself, trailing behind the group as he still studied the paintings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So this is a Dommy fic? :blush: Heh, sorry, just wondering

heh heh...

well, he's definatly IN the fic ;-)

but i swear, i've been creating so many characters that it's going to be interesting to try to give them all depth *sighs*

lol right then, back to writing....

~Chapter Three~

"I can't believe I missed meeting all four of them!" Todd exclaimed for the millionth time as the four of them made their way to the boarding area of their flight.

"I think you'll live little bro," Kevin laughed as he struggled under the weight of both his and Anna's suitcases. Anna had repeatedly offered to carry her own, but Kevin had always been the sort of guy to refuse that kind of proposition. he would have carried Jules bags too, had it been humanly possible.

"No, I won't!" Todd grumbled stubbornly.

"Don't be so immature," Jules teased, whacking Todd in the shoulder with her carry on. She set her bag down in one of the seats and scanned their surroundings, spotting a cafe down the hall, "Hey all, I hate to interrupt," Jules rolled her eyes at Kevin and Anna, who had settled into a chair (yes, ONE chair) and were kissing in a way that made Todd pretend to gag as he threw bits of paper at them.

"...Anyway, I'm going to get something to drink at that cafe over there, anybody want anything?" Julianna pulled her wallet out of her bag.

"You and your coffee." Todd teased, resulting in Jules smacking him in the shoulder again. "Very funny," Jules poked him in the side and he sighed dramatically before flopping down into his seat, "I'll be back in a bit." Julianna wondered if Kevin and Anna had heard a word she said. But she shrugged it off and wandered over to the cafe, lost in her thoughts.

She rounded the corner into the cafe and managed to slip on a puddle of God-knows-what on the wooden floor. Jules let out a little cry and flung her arms out to catch her fall, nearly knocking a picture off the wall in the process.

"Having trouble staying upright lately?" Julianna mentally smacked herself as she turned toward his teasing voice. She shot Dominic a sarcastic and slightly annoyed look as he smirked at her from his seat next to Elijah. Elijah just looked up at her slightly, trying to hide the laughter in his eyes.

"Very funny Dominic," Jules grumbled at him, smoothing over her forest green, collared shirt as she stepped up to their table. "Stalking me lately?" she teased them.

Elijah smiled and gestured for her to sit down. Jules looked at him uncertainly for a moment, "Are you sure that's a good idea?" She glanced around, half expecting a paparazzi to jump out from around a corner. Elijah just casually laughed at her, "Don't worry; We're willing to take our chances."

Jules shrugged and sat down in the chair, careful not to slip again, "So," she sighed slightly, still a bit uncomfortable about "hanging out" with a couple of movie stars, "Where's everyone else anyway?"

Elijah shrugged, "Ah, the two couples are off being all sappy, leaving us single guys to amuse ourselves." Julianna just smiled back at him, keeping an eye on Dominic as he pretended she wasn't there. Elijah pretended not to notice, "Did you want something to drink?"

Julianna snapped out of it for a moment, "Um, yes actually. I came in here to get my daily fix of coffee," she joked and Elijah flashed her a brilliant smile.

"Here," he offered her the drink in front of him, "You can have mine and I'll go get another. Don't worry," he winked at her, "I didn't get any of my germs in it." Julianna smiled and thanked him, laughing inwardly as he stood up to get another drink.

"Well you've certainly managed to win your way into the hearts of my friends haven't you?" Dominic said coldly, causing Julianna to set the coffee back down and then turn to him, clearly annoyed.

"Did I do something to you that I'm unaware of?" She asked, narrowing her eyes slightly, as if ready to fight. She wouldn't take this from her friends, and she certainly didn't need it from him, "Because, honestly, I don't know why you've decided to hate me."

"Unlike the rest of them," Dominic turned to face her straight on, "I haven't decided on anything yet."

"And what right do you have to judge me?!"

"You're just some random girl who "happens" to run into Sean and then fall into acquaintances with the rest of us-"

"What are you implying Dominic?" She spat out his name as if it were a swear.

"Come on Jules, just call him Dom like the rest of us," Elijah sat back down at the table, ignoring the obvious tension between the other two. Jules and Dom continued to glare at each other, so Elijah sighed and sat back in his seat, "Would you two stop fighting already?"

"We weren't fighting," Julianna straightened up, "Your friend Dom, was just letting me know what he thinks of me, and I wasn't swallowing it; that's all." Elijah glared at Dom for a moment, "Be civil would you?" Dom pretended not to hear him and went back to ignoring them both.

"I apologize for my friend," Elijah shot Dom an annoyed look before turning back to Julianna, "So then, you're from the States?"

"I think we've already established that." Dom scoffed without taking his eyes off whatever it was that he was focusing on across the room.

Julianna ignored him, "I'm from California actually. The central valley," she shrugged, "But now I'm at UCLA, more or less. When I'm not working."

Elijah focused all of his attention, including those incredible eyes of his, on Julianna, "Really? What kind of work?"

Julianna laughed slightly at his curiosity, "Why so interested?" she teased.

"Sorry." Elijah frowned and shifted in his chair.

"I'm in advertising. Well, sort of. Actually, I'm more or less 'paying my dues', you might say. I'm only a secretary at the company right now," She paused and shrugged slightly, "But I'm more of a writer at heart."

Elijah was still focused entirely on her, taking in her every word in a way that surprised her. He locked eyes with her for a moment, "I'd have thought you were an actress; those eyes of yours belong on screen." Having realized what he'd said, Elijah blushed slightly, confused by his own behavior.

"Just my eyes?" Jules joked, watching him over her coffee as she sipped it slightly. Never would have thought she'd be the one making a movie star squirm.

"No, I meant," Elijah eyes stayed locked into hers, "They're just a certain kind of blue that, I don't know..." he trailed off.

"-Like the ocean," Dom broke in, not looking at either of them, "They're the same color as the ocean." Then he stood up and wandered over to the counter of the cafe without another word.

Jules watched him go with a mixture of resentment and curiosity before focusing back on Elijah, "You're crazy hobbit-boy. Everyone knows you're the one with the eyes." She smiled slightly as he blushed again, "You know," she continued, "The ones that make all the girls swoon." She laughed and pretended to faint, bringing her hand dramatically to her forehead and fluttering her eyelids. Elijah smiled, holding back laughter at the sight of this... unique girl.

Julianna sat back up and cleared her throat slightly, smoothing out her clothing again after her performance, "I'm sorry to bring it up, but, umm... why does he have such a problem with me?" She gestured to Dom, who was now seated at the counter with a drink in front of him, still staring into space.

Elijah sighed and sat back in his chair, "Why, are you going to go write to all the tabloids?" he joked.

Jules just shot him a look, "It's Anna you'd have to worry about there. And she," Jules leaned back in her chair to catch a glimpse of Kevin and Anna. They were still wrapped up in each other, with a very annoyed Todd slouching in a chair near them, "You might say she's "otherwise engaged" at the moment."

"Alright," Elijah let a crooked smile make its way onto his lips and then leaned forward, lowering his voice slightly. "You'll have to cut Dom a little slack, he's had a hard time of it lately." When Jules just gave him a puzzled look, Elijah sighed and continued, "He was more or less engaged to a girl, Jessica, and well," he shifted in his chair, "She decided to break him by going to the press and blabbing a lot more than they needed to know."

"Ah." Julianna sat back, much less confused by Dom's behavior toward her now. But that still didn't excuse it. "Why in the world would she do that to him?"

Elijah shrugged, "I don't know. It just happens I guess."

"Poor little Dom gets his heart broken and then stomps all over me," Julianna said flatly, glancing over at him again. "If it 'just happens' like you say; why on earth do you trust me? You hardly know me."

Elijah looked at Jules strangely, "I don't know," he admitted. "Christine likes you," he laughed, "that's got to count for something."

Julianna smiled slightly and glanced at her watch, "Crap! I'm so sorry. I've got a flight to catch."

Elijah checked the clock behind the counter. "So do I actually," he grumbled, finding himself wishing he didn't, "Maybe you and I could hang out some time, if Christine ever invites you to visit or something..." he trailed off again, surprisingly awful at this sort of thing.

The two of them stood up to go and Julianna grabbed a napkin out of the dispenser, scribbling on it with a pen, "Or," she handed him the napkin, "The famous Elijah Wood could just invite me himself." She smiled and then wandered back to where she'd left her friends.

Dom walked up beside Elijah, who was trying not to grin at the phone number scribbled onto that napkin. "You're pathetic; you know that?" Dom rolled his eyes, "All the girls in the world, and you get sappy over some odd one that can't say hello without falling on someone."

"Dom," Elijah look over at him, "Shut up."

Dom shrugged as if he hadn't meant to offend, "Let's hunt down Bill and company eh?" Dom smacked Elijah on the back and then the two of them walked out of the cafe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

:cry: c'mon, are ya'll really gonna make me beg you to read my fic (and comment)?

:hug2: *begs* really guys, i need opinions other than my friend sarah's *sighs*

*gasp* it's merry!! :merry: *laughs* :pip: and Pippin! heh heh :sam:

emoticons are fun :jippi:


:newyear:

snafu... they need a emoticon for snafu, maybe it could be a plane blowing up or something... hm, or my life *yawns* later all

Why is Dom so resentful against Jules?! Maybe because she reminds him of his ex-girlfriend?

Hmm, commenting? Well, I think you're great at this third person view writing actually! :D Conversation between them is great as well, basically can find no faults in this lol

Don't worry, i'll get to why Dom's being such a bum :yes:

thanks btw

*debates whether or not to post more today* hmmm... we'll see won't we?

later! :D

(did i forget to mention that jules' friend skye is kinda sort of bisexual? sometimes. eh, my bad. anyway, the thing is that my REAL friend that skye's based on's reaction to my making her bi instead of just gay, was... not so great, so i'm probably going to end up having her be "just friends" with people, and then leaving it alone. i don't need sarah (aka skye) getting all mad at me *grumbles* anyway, it doesn't matter much anyway lol, just fyi)
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~Chapter four~

"I'm home!" Jules announced as she walked through the front door of her apartment, dropping her coat and purse on the couch nearest to the door. "Did you miss me?"

"Did you go somewhere?" Skye teased from the kitchen, where she was busy making coffee. She knew better than to not have coffee made when Julianna was around. The two of them had become friends at the beginning of high school, and despite various complications, were still close friends, not to mention roommates. Jules parents had of course hated the idea, given that Skye had debated with her sexuality during high school, but Jules had told them where they could go and then allowed the issue to remain up in the air. That sort of thing didn't matter to Jules; if anything it let her know that she was, defiantly, straight.

"Hmph! Fine then, I guess I can keep this book full of paintings of New Zealand for myself then!" Jules smirked and watched as Skye ran into the front room, sliding across the wooden floor.

"Heck no!" Skye snatched the book from Julianna's hand and wandered out of the room as she flipped through it. "There's coffee in the kitchen, fris. Oh, and some messages on the answering machine are for you."

Jules followed Skye back through the kitchen and found her sitting at their table, absorbed in the book. "Why didn't you just answer the phone and write down my messages?" she asked.

"What do I look like, your secretary?" Skye laughed to herself without looking up from the book, "These paintings are amazing..."

Julianna retrieved a mug from the cabinet above the coffee machine and poured herself some, "I figured you'd like it. You're frighteningly predictable my friend." Jules laughed as Skye responded by waving her hand and telling her to shut up.

"Well then, I can tell when I'm not wanted!" Julianna huffed out of the room in mock indignity. She wandered back into the front room to pick up her things and hauled them into her room, dropping them on her bed with a thud. "And why did I come back again?" she sighed to herself, glancing around her room. Everything was in place, just as she had left it a week before. Only, after seeing the sites of another country, her room looked pathetically simple. Jules made a mental note to retrieve her movie and music posters from the hall closet, as soon as she had absolutely nothing else to do.

"Aren't you going to check your messages?!" Skye yelled from the kitchen.

Julianna snickered at Skye's curiosity, "Yea yea, I'm getting to it." She wandered over to her phone, hitting the "play" button for new messages. Skye appeared in her doorway as the first message began to play back to them.

"Hello Julianna, this is your mother..." Julianna rolled her eyes and pushed "skip". She'd call her mother once her good mood had already been ruined by something else.

"Hello Julianna, this is Mark. I know you're on you vacation right now, but I was just calling to remind you that you need to be around tomorrow for the North account..."

"Right, right, I know..." Julianna shook her head and laughed. Comfortable her boss was not; he had to be the most paranoid and jittery man she knew, but in a good natured way.

"Julianna, this is your mother again. I really need to discuss when you're going to come home for your birthday so that we can have everyone over..."

"She still thinks you're coming 'home' for your 21st birthday?" Skye snickered.

"I think I'll have to have 'something come up' at work," Jules shrugged in mock innocence.

"Ah yes, your work is sooo demanding sometimes."

"Hush!" Jules shushed Skye as the next message began to play.

"...Hey Jules, it's Beth. Dang, I forgot you're gone this week. Skye are you there?... You could get up off your lazy bum and answer the phone you know..." Julianna snickered and Skye made a face. "... Well anyway, give me a call when you get home fris. I've got some great news! Bye!"

"...Julianna, what good does your having an answering machine do if you're not going to call people back?" Julianna grumbled at the sound of her mother's voice playing, once again. Skye smirked and pushed the skip button again. "Thanks," Jules shook her head and laughed.

"No problem."

"...Julianna! Hello, this is Christine! Hopefully this is the right number... Well then, I was just calling to say hello, and invite you to a party Sean and I are throwing soon. It won't be a lot of people, just us and the rest of the 'Fellowship' crew. And bring your friends! Alright dear, just give me a call back and let me know..."

"Fellowship crew? What the heck is that? And who the heck is Christine?" Skye looked at Jules curiously, "Are you out making new friends without me!?" She pretended to be insulted and turned to storm dramatically out of the room when the last message began to play.

"...Jules. Hey. This is Elijah. I was wondering if Christine had invited you to the party at her and Sean's place this Friday... Probably, she's pretty quick about those kind of things... Anyway, I was just calling to say hey, and yea.... I'll call back later. Bye."

Skye looked at Jules in mock suspicion, "Who was that?" she teased, snickering.

"That was Elijah." Jules grinned mischievously and then turned to unpack her things.

"Oh no! Don't you think you're gonna get away with not tell me everything! I'll follow you around like a shadow until you spill it!" Skye placed her hands on her hips, a determined look on her face that made Jules laugh out loud.

"You won't believe it anyway," Jules shrugged, turning back to her things. She let out a burst of laughter when Skye jumped in front of her, on top of her bed, and glared at her, "TELL ME!" she laughed getting up in Jules face.

"Fine fine!" Jules threw her arms up in the air in defeat, "Really though, you're going to think I've lost it." She sat down on the corner of her bed.

Skye folded her legs and prepared herself to listen, "You never 'had it' to begin with, so spill"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skye sounds great with Jules and all :D

heh, yes. sarah (skye in real life) is a great friend. if only she'd PICK UP HER PHONE!!! grrr she has my papers, and i need them to write my essay, grrr

*sighs* right then, another chap today probably..... lalala

(i rewrote the second part of this chappy so it would work better for what i need lol, so this is the most edited part, ta da!"


~Chapter five~

"Good morning sunshine!"

Jules shot Skye a look as she slumped down at the kitchen table, her barely chin-length hair still wet from her shower. It stuck out in every direction and would remain that way until Jules got mad enough at it to actually style it. At the moment however, all Jules could think of was coffee, and lots of it. She struggled up from her seat at the table long enough to fill a mug full of coffee and then slumped back into her seat, banging her head down on the table with a groan, "So....tired...."

"Jet lagged eh?" Skye snickered at Jules and then wandered merrily out of the room. Julianna rose her head up only enough to sip her coffee and then lay back down, practically her entire upper body stretched out on the table, "Mmm coffee. I love you coffee. You're the best friend a girl could have." Jules continued to mumble into the tabletop until she sat up straight at the sound of a crash in the other room. She forced herself to her feet and stumbled into the other room to investigate.

"AHHH!!!" Jules screamed and covered her eyes, bursting into hysterical laughter. The moment she'd walked into the room a man ran out of the hallway and landed on the couch, wearing only a towel, and laughing hysterically at Jules reaction.

"I don't look that bad do I?"

Jules peeked through her fingers at the man, who was seated on the couch, grinning up at her. His bright green eyes sparkled with laughter, and his shaggy ash blond hair was even messier than Jules'. Julianna just gaped at him, her eyes wide with disbelief, pulled her bathrobe tighter around herself regardless of that fact that she was also wearing flannels underneath it.

"SKYE!!!!"

"Yes?" Skye's amused face appeared from around the corner into the hallway

Julianna glared at her like she was insane and then stumbled across the room, "And why exactly, is there a man wearing only a towel sitting on our couch?!" Regardless of her state of shock, Jules couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, that's Timmy." When Jules kept starring at Skye like she was insane, she continued, "Yea, after you passed out last night I went downtown to this new club, Club.... something... Anyway, I met Timmy there, he works at the bookstore next to the cafe I work at." Skye grinned at Jules as if that explanation made sense.

"And he ended up here, in a towel; HOW?" Jules glanced over her shoulder to see that Timmy had turned on their TV and was channel surfing at the moment.

Skye shrugged, "Well, when two people really love each other..." she joked. Jules rolled her eyes and started toward her room to get dressed, "Straight today I'm guessing then eh?"

"Yep. Well, last night anyway. Today..." Skye shrugged and laughed as Timmy dropped the remote and almost fell off the couch looking for it.

"Skye, you know 'the rule'. WE made 'the rule'!"

"I know I know, I'm sorry," Skye looked annoyed, "But nothing happened, really!"

Jules just shook her head and shuffled down the hall, still dragging her feet and exhausted, "Right, good for you. I have to get to class. And would you PLEASE get him some clothes already??" Jules slammed her door shut behind her and collapsed once again onto her bed. "Mmmph... sooo....tired...."
~*~

That afternoon, Jules was entertaining herself by perching on the edge of a the couch in Mark's office, pretending to look the part of a aloof secretary. She'd been late to work again, having fallen asleep in the parking lot after her two classes for the day at UCLA. Still she considered herself lucky that she hadn't been driving at the time, which would probably have resulted in her wrapping her truck around a telephone pole. Besides, Mark still hadn't arrived at work ten minutes after Jules had rushed inside, breathless.

Grumbling from boredom, Jules leaned back and landed on the couch with a soft thud. As if on cue, Mark sauntered in at that exact moment, barely glancing at Jules before setting his things down on his desk. "Don't bother getting up," he teased as Jules scrambled to a sitting position, laughing off her ungraceful fall. She knew Mark wouldn't even have a problem with her standing on the furniture and singing to the stereo (not that had ever happened before of course...heh).

Mark had been a friend of a friend when Julianna had applied for the position in his privately own, and rather small business. Actually, it was his father's business, and Mark was just going along with his role of "the good son that went into the family business without a fuss". Jules had always suspected that Mark had always wanted to do something else deep down, but he would have feel too guilty leaving his old man out to dry like such.

Jules had shown up to the interview half asleep, due to the fact that her coffee machine had broken the day before. She had fallen asleep while Mark took a call, and he'd walked back into the room to find her passed out, leaning against the wall. Being the nervous wreck he was, Mark had shaken her awake, accusing her of showing up with a hang over, to which Julianna had just laughed and explained her situation, while handing over her resume. She was one of the few people Mark had ever met that just laughed in his face when he was having a nervous breakdown over something trivial, and they'd become fast friends, bonding over the coffee he'd made to keep her awake during the remainder of the interview. They were friends first, boss and employee second. And though that may seem as if it could become a problem, it had only made life at work easier for the both of them in the long run.

Jules jumped up from the couch and hurried to get Mark some coffee, still playing the part of a responsible secretary. Most of the time, however, she wandered in and out of his office, coffee in hand. Fortunately for her, Mark hardly ever had anything for her to do, and when he did, it was little more than a letter to write or a call to make. Mark himself was assigned many assignments. Unfortunately for him, his work had "suddenly" improved when Jules had started working for him.

Mark started on his next assignment, plopping down in front of his computer and squinting at the screen. Jules did her usual "wandering" act for a while, and then sat down and redid Mark's appointment book. No one was calling Mark, nobody needed his immediate assistance, so there was frighteningly little for her to do (other than appear busy when Mark's father wandered by).

After a while Mark emerged from his office to argue with his father, nodding grimly at Jules as he walked by. Jules waited until she could hear the yelling begin before wandering back into Mark's office.

"I swear to God, I hate this damn job..." Jules looked up from where she was pouring herself more coffee when Mark wandered into his office grumbling. He looked up at her as he sat back down in his chair, "Hey," he mumbled. Jules forced a sympathetic smile.

Mark grumbled and hit the "enter" on his keyboard to get rid of the screen saver that was scrolling Jules latest "insightful quotation" across the screen. Jules yawned and wandered back to her desk, flopping down in her chair and pulling out a book she'd been meaning to read.

"Julianna?" Jules heard Mark call from inside his office. Jules set down her book and rolled her chair over to the door of Mark's office, opening up the door a bit, "Yes your majesty?" she said in mock sweetness. Jules really didn't mind Mark at all, he was a decent enough guy. Her only real problem was the idea that he might have a heart attack from all his worrying and she'd have to deal with the emergency medical people as they hauled him away in an ambulance. Unfortunately, such thoughts reminded her of her mother's scolding about immaturity and she mentally scolded herself.

Mark shot her a look and said, "Did anyone mess with my computer while I was gone?" He stared at the layout he'd been working on, puzzled. Not only was it finished, but it was done surprisingly well.

Jules put on her puzzled look, "Nobody except me was in your office Mark, why?"

Mark eyed her suspiciously. If she wasn't going to say it, he wasn't either. "Nothing, never mind." He saved the layout and popped the disc out of his computer. Jules had already returned to her book when he emerged from his office. "Can you cover for me for the rest of today?" Mark asked her, uneasy about asking more of her.

"Hmm, no problem. Why?" Jules took the disc that Mark handed her and set it on her desk.

"I have somewhere I need to be," he glanced nervously at his watch, eyeing his father's office. He was nearly six years older than Julianna, but in the shadow of his father Mark acted like a scare teenager. Away from his father was a completely different story though.

"And where might that be?" Jules asked and Mark pretended to be annoyed.

"I'm meeting a friend." Mark shifted uncomfortably.

"Are you telling me my little Marky has a date!?" she laughed, pretending to be shocked.

"Ha, funny little Miss Julianna. Now pull yourself together and act normal." Mark grumbled as Jules stifled laughter. It was only after he'd wandered away grumbling that Jules had once again mentally scolded herself for being immature. She put a match out in her hand before going to hand in the disc, just to get rid of that guilty feeling and her mother's disapproving voice playing over in her head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shooting photos? Of the LotR lads? *grins*


*am a dork*

~Chapter six~

Julianna wandered in to her apartment, which was eerily silent at the moment. Jules shrugged off the silence and wandered into the kitchen, making a pot of coffee to keep her company. All had gone as usual the day before, regardless of Mark's absence, which in itself had made for an interesting conversation the next morning. Jules picked up a magazine and flopped down on the couch, letting her mind wander to that morning.

As far as Jules could see, Mark was a complete nerd. Not that she didn't love nerd, but he could become the annoying kind if not shot a "CHILL ALREADY!" look now and then. He was in his late 20s (try 28), though one would think he was still in college with the way he sometimes conducted himself. In particular the way he blushed like a fool when Jules had teased him about his date; teased and forced every possible detail out of him almost simultaneously.

Apparently Mark's date had been a short, quiet beauty, named Samantha. She was the daughter of some big corporation kind of man, but didn't act at all snobbish (this is all, of course, according to Mark). Dear Mark and Sammi (as she preferred to be called) had gone out to dinner at some "fine" restaurant, chatted about the usual first date small talk, and then kissed, once, when Mark had dropped her off. Jules almost hadn't gotten that last detail out of him due to the fact that she had already been holding back hysterical laughter. A date with Mark seemed like something high school-ers were supposed to do; in the 1950s. Still, Mark seemed to have really liked this Sammi, and Jules had politely inquired after whether or not they had any plans that Friday.

Of course, at that point she'd realized she still hadn't called Christine back and had changed the subject. "Dang it!!" Jules sat up, grumbling, after her thoughts had made their way back to that issue. She sighed and went back into the kitchen to grab a mug of coffee before wandering back into her room and sitting on the floor next to her phone.

Jules picked up her purse and rummaged through it for a while before retrieving the phone number with a triumphant "Ha!" She leaned back against the side of her bed, picked up the phone, and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Um, hi. This is Julianna. May I please speak to Christine?"

"Jules!" Billy laughed on the other end of the phone, "Well well, calling us night and day already?" he teased, "I should have known you'd be the stalker type."

"Um, first of all, I've only called once," Jules used her official tone of voice, set on proving him wrong, "And second of all, why are you answering the Astin's phone?"

"I'm babysitting!" he sounded particularly proud of himself and Jules muffled laughter.

"Like heck he is," Adria picked up a phone in a different room, "He can't even take care of himself, let alone other people's children," Billy huffed and Adria giggled at him.

"Adria?" Jules was a bit confused, "Did the party get moved to tonight or something?"

"Party? Who is this?" Adria was almost as confused as Julianna.

"It's Jules, from the Poetry Slam thing."

"Ohhhhhh," Adria nodded knowingly, even though she was alone in the living room at the moment. "I'm sorry hun. I probably should have figured out who Billy was talking to before I got on the line, no?" she laughed a bit. "Darling, people are over at Sean and Christy's practically ever day. It's a wonder they don't kick us all out!"

Julianna smiled, "About the party?"

"Oh, yes. I'll get Christine..."

"Never mind! I'm in the kitchen- Billy would you please give me the phone?" Christine held out her right hand for the phone as Billy griped it with one hand and held a wooden spoon in the air with the other, "Nope too bad!" he snickered. Then Sean appeared behind him, snatching the phone away, "Hello?"

"Jeezz! It sounds crazy over there. Do you think there's even room for myself and a few of my friends?" Jules laughed, toying with the edge of the blanket that hung over the edge of her bed.

"Who is this?" Sean asked. But before Jules could answer she heard someone tell him it was her. He said "Good-bye" quickly before handing the phone over to his wife, smacking Billy in the head, and exiting the kitchen.

"Julianna? Hello, this is Christine. Did you decide to come over this Friday?"

"Yes, and you can hang around with us lovely ladies as the men drink themselves silly," Adria added, still on the other phone.

Julianna laughed at bit, "Defiantly, I'd love to come. What time? Where?"

Christine filled her in on the details, "And bring some of your friends!" she added, "I'd love to meet them." Julianna saw her own face looking very surprise and confused in her mirror across from where she was sitting, "Sure, thank you so much!"

"No problem at all Julianna," Christine assured her, "We'll see you then!"

"Right, good-bye"

"Bye Jules!" Adria said before hanging up the phone. Jules could hear Christine laugh and then start scolding Billy again as she hung up the phone. And then Julianna hung up last. She was usually the last one to hang up anyway.

Still laughing a bit to herself, Julianna looked at her blinking "new message" light on her answering machine and hit "play".

"...Hey Jules, it's Beth. Umm... about tomorrow... Call me okay?" Julianna had called Beth back the night before, set on weaseling whatever good news she had been talking about out of her. Beth, however, had refused to explain over the phone, and the two of them had agree to meet on Beth's next day off, which happened to be Wednesday. Julianna yawned slightly as the next message played.

"Hey Jules, this is Elijah again. Dang, this is the second time I've missed you. Well... Hopefully you're going to be at Sean's on Friday, and I'll make sure not to miss you there!" Jules smiled at the sound of his slightly nervous laughter, "Right then, sorry to bother you again, bye"

"... Julianna Alexandra, this is your mother. Call me as soon as you get in. I'm tired of talking to this darn machine. We need to discuss your birthday; CALL ME." Julianna sighed to the sound of her mother angrily slamming down the phone. Reluctantly she picked up her phone again and dialed her mother, figuring she couldn't ignore her forever.

"Hey mom. It's Jules..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

hey hey

just letting ya know that i'm editing/rewriting parts of what i've already posted (eek sorry!) bc Jules wasn't convincing enough and...well if u were me, you'd get it lol. when i'm finished with them i'll repost (in place of the old ones), and then perhaps a new chappy :yes:

until then, i've got stats hw to do, ugh

Hey, love the story :yay: ...Billy is so funny...he seems like he would be a great guy to be friends with in real life.

::wishes she lived in Hollywood and "accidentally" ran into "the lads" and became friends with them::

lol I can totally picture Billy fighting off Adria with a wooden spoon while trying to talk to Jules.

I can't wait til you post more! I can tell it's going to be good...

*coughs* correction, billy was fighting off CHRISTINE with a wooden spoon lol

i think i'll post my "edited" chaps now lol

i just saw cold mountain, and was pleasantly surprise. it was stinking good! and sad :cry: *sighs*

i freaking hate war *shrugs*

(...and a NEW chapter yaaaaaaay. you'll have to pardon some cruel remarks from jules toward Skye, i certainly don't mean them. and sarah's fine with it, so *shrugs* still, if anyone takes offence, i am sorry)


~Chapter seven~

"Come on in, I'll go check to see if Jules is around," Skye unlocked the door to her apartment and stepped through, her friend Julie trailing behind.

"You're sure she won't mind?" Julie glanced around nervously as she wandered into the front room.

"Pfft," Skye waved her hand in the air, dismissing the idea, "She's probably not even here." She wandered in and out of the kitchen and then down the hall, calling out for Julianna.

"I'm not here!!" Skye turned toward Jules voice coming from the bathroom, suddenly concerned. She continued down the hall and pushed open the bathroom door to find Jules curled up in the bathtub. She wasn't crying, she was just lying there and shaking, holding her left arm away from her as if the bits of blood on it would burn the rest of her body like acid.

"Oh Jules..." Skye sighed and then called over her shoulder, "Julie! I'm sorry girl, but something's come up. I'm really sorry; could you let yourself out? I'll call you later."

"Alright..." Julies uncertain voice called from the living room as she picked up her purse, "Is everything alright?"

"It'll be fine, don't worry about it. Bye!" Skye turned back to Jules as the sound of the door closing seemed to echo through the apartment. She stood over Jules, her arms folded and a disapproving look on her face, "Julianna, I thought we were passed this."

Jules glared up at Skye, "Skye, I thought we were passed your lesbian phase!" She spat out the words, her voice laced with fury and sarcasm. The problem was that the fury wasn't toward Skye, it was toward herself. As soon as the words escaped her mouth Jules eyes when wide with terror and she covered her mouth with her right hand.

"Oh my god! Skye, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it! Oh gawwwwwd...." Jules burst into fresh tears as she reached down to the bathroom floor to pick up the razor she become well acquainted with earlier.

"Oh no you don't!" Skye snatched up the razor and tossed it into the sink. Jules curled back into a ball in the tub, whimpering to herself, "Why did I say that?" she sobbed, "I didn't mean it. GOD! I'm such a horrible HORRIBLE person!!"

Skye sighed, "No, you're not," she insisted.

"How can you not hate me?! I just-"

"Jules; shut up."

Jules snapped her mouth shut and took a moment to look at herself, "Oh gawd, how pathetic am I?" She groaned and then grabbed a handful of tissues and started wiping off her arm.

"You called your mother and told her you weren't coming home for your birthday." Skye didn't need to make it a question, the pathetic look Jules gave her said all.

"I'm a spoiled, self-indulgent little girl who is making herself crazy!" Even after the wreck she been for the passed hour, Jules could still quote "Girl, Interrupted" smirking at the whole situation. "Shit fris, did I really just say what I think I did to you?" She licked a clean piece of tissue to get it wet and bit her bottom lip as she scrubbed at the blood on her arm.

"Yes," Skye sighed, "But I know you didn't mean it." She smiled a bit, trying to reassure Jules. She'd take a lot worse than that from Julianna, given that during high school she'd given just as bad when she was cutting on nearly a daily basis. Skye thought back to the hours Jules had spent on the phone with her, talking her out of the piles of pills she'd been stuck on swallowing. It had happened more than once, but Jules hadn't given up on Skye, and she'd do the same for her.

"This however," Skye grabbed Jules arm and squeezed it; hard, "Is unacceptable Julianna."

"I know, I know..." Jules sighed, tossing the bloody tissue into the toilet and flushing it. "I feel like such a jerk when I do it. But I just... and my mother..." Jules bit her lip again, "I just needed to block her out; to block the guilt out." Now that it was over Jules couldn't believe she'd done it. But wasn't that always the case...

"What'd you end up telling her?" Skye asked, pulling a band aid out from under the bathroom sink. For such small cuts, they certainly had bleed more than enough.

Jules grumble, sticking the band aid over the cuts, "I tried the 'I have to work' excuse, but she saw right through that. Heck, I think she would have given me grief even if I HAD had to work." Jules grumbled, now almost completely back to her normal self, "She gave me the usual guilt trip."

Skye huffed, furious with Jules' mother. There were just certain people that could make Julianna lose it in a heartbeat, and her mother was defiantly one of them.

"Well, you got out of it at least; right?"

"Yes."

"Good! Next Friday is gonna be the best birthday you've ever had." Skye nodded as if it sealed the deal, and stood up to go make some coffee, "It's gonna be decaf I hope you know!" she called from the kitchen.

"Awww man!" Julianna smile slightly, standing up in the tub and stepping over the edge. She turned and looked back to where she'd been laying and bit her lip again, an awful feeling in the pit of her stomach. Whenever she thought about it, she couldn't help but feel like a fool; but in the times when she did it, it seemed like the only way out. The only way to block out all the menacing "Stop being so selfish Julianna”s and "Family should be your priority!”s that had been flung at her since high school. Her reasons for cutting seemed childish, and maybe they were...

Jules shook her head to snap out of her daze. She hated trying to make sense of her depression, because it just didn't make any damn sense. So she ignored it. It's not a disorder unless you can't function in daily life...right? And she was functioning just fine... most of the time.

"Is that coffee ready yet or what?" Jules teased as she yawned and wandered into the kitchen. "Who was she anyway? What happened to Tim, or whatever his name was?"

"That was Julie; she's just a friend from work." Jules rose an eyebrow, but let it go. There were just some things that should be left alone as far as she was concerned.

"We're just friends. And Timmy is just a friend. He passed out on our couch last night after drinking about a gallon of beer. I just kicked him out of the shower when you walked in on the scene." Skye finally explained fully what had happened two mornings before.

"Hey, you know I don't care what you do; just don't do it here. And the same goes for me, I know I know." She crossed her eyes and made a face, pretending as if it was unfair.

Skye shot her a look, "Timmy and I are going out Friday to-"

"Oh crap!" Jules exclaimed, making Skye jump, "WHAT?!" Skye looked at Jules, annoyed by her sudden outburst.

Jules laughed, "Well, there's this party..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jules, don't be so depressed! You're friends with the hobbits and elf! ^_^

Party? I like parties! This should be good...

Props!

hey "good hobbit", one word;

MUSHROOOOOOOOOOMS!!! :laugh:

mwah hahahah... i can't wait :lalala:

i have COFFEE!!!! mwah :yum:

heh heh heh...

"We were just taking a shortcut."
"Shortcut to what?"
"Mushrooms!!!"

lol party time...post it, post it! (haha no pressure)

mwah ha! okay fris, i'll posty for you! *grins* (even though you've read it *coughs* i mean, who are you again? *blinks in mock confusion*)

~Chapter eight~

Beth had ended up canceling her lunch plans with Jules for that Wednesday. Her work was just like that sometimes; short notice and demanding. But she had sworn she'd be the first one over at Jules' apartment on her birthday the next week (aside from Skye, who lived there).

And so it was that Friday night, Julianna found herself ringing the doorbell to the address Christine had given her with two couples trailing behind her. Timmy and Skye were trying to flick each other's ears, and Mark and his Sammi were nervously standing silently next to one another. 'But holding hand,' Jules noted with a snicker. She made a mental note to tease Mark later about how 'fast' he and Sammi were[n't] moving.

As soon as the front door opened Julianna found herself trapped in a hug from Adria, who laughed as she said hello, and then proceeded to introduce herself to the rest of Jules' group. Before she'd noticed it, Elijah had appeared beside her, leading her inside with his head on her lower back and grinning. The Astin's average (but completely wonderful, in Jules' opinion) home was already filled with everyone Jules had already met, along with a familiar elf who was busy bossing people around in the kitchen. Julianna snickered to herself, knowing Beth would be kicking herself right now for having to work if she'd known she was going to miss meeting Orlando Bloom.

Julianna smiled and stood still for a moment, taking it all in. Elijah was babbling to Mark and Timmy now, his arm reluctant to find itself around Jules' waist. Sean emerged from the kitchen and after saying hello, quickly joined in on their conversation. Adria was smiling brightly and chatting with Skye, who was going on about some sort of artistic issue. Sammi stood between them, her eyes moving back and forth like she was watching a tennis game as they spoke. Christine was in the kitchen arguing with both Orlando and Billy, both of which had been trying to help, but ended up only getting in the way. Jules caught Sean explaining that Viggo and his wife Amelia had taken Alexandra and Elizabeth to baby-sit for the overnight, and that the girls hadn't had one bit of a problem with that. Apparently their Aunty Mia and Uncle Viggo spoiled them rotten, so who could blame the little girls?

The whole, chaotic yet wonderfully together scene reminded Jules of the few evening's she'd spent at Kevin's home before they all had moved away from home. Anna and Kevin were now both living about an hour's drive away from Jules' apartment. They didn't live together, however, they lived in dorm rooms on their college campus. Jules laughed inwardly at the thought of Kevin, the pastor's son, living with his girlfriend. He's dad would have skinned him alive, if Anna's father hadn't gotten to him first. Julianna had missed those moments after moving away, often wondering if she'd ever been worthy of playing a part in something so wonderful. Wonderful, and not at all like her own home, that was not very sociable at all. Her parents had their good points, Jules had to admit in the end, but sociable they were not.

"Jules, do you want something to drink?" Elijah offered, bringing Jules out of her daze. She looked at him in confusion for a moment before what he had asked registered in her brain.

"Oh, yes, thank you. I-"

"Just make sure it doesn't have any alcohol in it," Mark broke in, snickering, " Little Julianna here won't be 21 for another week." Julianna shot him an annoyed look and then smiled apologetically at Elijah, who just smiled back.

"Not a problem." He nodded and disappeared, reappearing a moment later with a Coke in hand, "Sorry, this is the only kind of soda stingy old Sean has." Sean shot Elijah a look, rolling his eyes.

"You'd better watch it kid, or I'll have the other hobbits help me beat you up," Sean joked.

"It's perfect Lijah, thanks." Jules reassured him with another smile as she opened the Coke.

"Good thing it wasn't diet too," Mark felt the need to add in his commentary again, "She's picky enough about that. Don't even try to give her a diet soda; remember that." he told Elijah, gesturing with his hand.

"Hobbits?" Jules cut in, "Is Dom here too?"

"He was a second ago. Must have disappeared to the loo as soon as you all showed up." Sean looked around for Dom, who just then appeared from the hallway and went directly to sit at the counter between the kitchen and dining area. He acted as if he was the only person there as he sipped at his drink. Sean shrugged and then started babbling about some sports team Julianna had never heard of before. Then again, Jules hadn't heard of many sports teams at all, they just weren't her thing.

"I'm going to get a glass for this if you don't mind," Jules broke in as soon as Sean had taken a breath.

"Sure thing. In the kitchen. Christy will show you which cupboard." Jules thanked Sean and slipped away from the group, making her way to the kitchen. She paused for a moment near Dom, who was still absorbed in his drink.

"Hey Dom," she said casually. He glanced up at her, his blue gray eyes suddenly brighter than she had remembered. He didn't say anything, but just gave her a half smile and a nod of acknowledgement.

"Having fun?" She asked, though it was obvious he wasn't. Dom just looked at her like she was crazy and then went back to his drink, so Jules continued into the kitchen in search for a glass.

"Julianna!" Christine called out when she saw her, "I'm so glad you made it!" Jules smiled back at Christine, who was elbow deep in the food she was trying to make. "I'm glad you invited me!"

Just as Jules spoke, a carrot bounced off her shoulder and she looked over at Billy and Orlando, who were looking back at her rather sheepishly.

"Orlando did it." Billy proclaimed. Orlando responded my smacking him in the head, "I did not!" Then he turned to me, "Sorry about that, Billy has the worst aim in the world," Jules couldn't help but blush a bit as Orlando shot her one of him charming and oh so enticing smiles, "I'm Orlando," he held out his hand to shake hers, "And you must be Julianna."

"Yes." Jules managed, still in rather a state of shock. Orlando grinned at her again, laughter in his eyes due to the fact that Jules was obviously star-struck (yet again). Then Billy dumped ice down the back of Orlando's shirt and the two of them went tearing out of the room, shouts of "I'm gonna kill you, you punk!"

Christine just smiled and shook her head as they went, "Men, they never really stop being boys you know." She held out a bag full of baby carrots with a 'Help, PLEASE?' look on her face.

Jules laughed and took the bag from Christine. "Believe me; I know," she said as she arranged the carrots carefully on the plate.

"Christine?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry if this seems strange, but why do you trust me so easily? I mean, not that I don't appreciated it, I do, very much, because you're all so wonderful. But..." Jules laughed at herself, "I don't know if I'd be so trusting of strange girls that run smack into my husband at a Poetry Slam."

Christine laughed, "It's your eyes dear," she explained, "They give you away. You're like one of those picture books, it's so easy to read you." When Jules furrowed her brow at that, Christine added, "Don't worry Julianna, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Especially in your case." Jules let out breath of relief and laughed at herself.

Christine glanced over Jules shoulder at the neatly placed carrots and laughed, "Don't bother hun; carrots are healthy, those guys won't even notice they're there." Jules smiled and dumped the rest of the carrots onto the platter. "There you go," Christine nodded in approval, "Oh, did you come back her for something?" She laughed as she realized she been having her guest help her in the kitchen, "I'm so sorry Jules!"

"It's fine," Jules assured her, "I was just looking for a cup." Christine pointed out the cabinet and Jules pour her soda into a cup before returning to the dining area with her drink and the platter of carrots and various other healthy foods. Just as Christine had told her, they guys all dived straight for the chips and beer. Jules just shook her head, grabbed a carrot and her soda, and headed over to join Adria and Skye's conversation. Jules eventually ate plenty of unhealthy (and delicious) things (of course), it was just after the 'wolves' had calmed down enough so that one of them wouldn't take her arm off.

"So in the first movie, Schwarzenegger was an evil terminator, and him being sent back in time actually caused the event he was sent back to prevent?" Adria looked very confused as Skye tried to explain the details of the Terminator trilogy to her.

"Yes, I mean; since he was sent back, Reece was sent back, and Reece ended up being the-"

"Now this is a mature conversation." Jules broke in, laughing a bit.

"Isn't it though?" Sammi grinned, still in her place between Adria and Skye.

"Hush!" Skye demanded and then turned back to Adria, "Anyway, the point of it was that it was all supposed to happen, so that the future could happen..." Jules smiled due to the fact that Adria was still obviously confused. "Maybe you should just watch the movies." she supplied.

"Probably," Adria admitted with a sigh and a shrug.

~movie credit- "TheTerminator" (jic you hadn't figured that out lol)~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hiya Jewelz!!

This fic is awesome!! :yay: I am so loving it! But what's wrong with Dom he has withdrawn from everyone...it's sad. In his little corner :( I'm sure we'll find out soon though, right?

Love this story!

Julie

agh! i'm so mad, i totally wrote out this whole post thing and then it disappeared or something! oiy vay!

anywho; YAY, new reader! welcome "tammy82"! i'm glad you liked it

more coming soon, i hope, i'm starting to get busy again with class and chruch and various other event (Sucide Kings performing here THIS WED!! AGHHHH!!!! YAY!) so yea. too much to do, but that's okay, i'm less crazy this way lol *sighs*

maybe i'll post today lol, but first, i have to do laundry FUN *rolls eyes* lol *shrugs* oh well, later all.

ps. LOOK i'm a baby hobbit! *grins* yaaaaaaay *does the happy dance...notices people staring...sits back down*

*coughs* heh heh ;-)

(i suppose i can "afford" to post this chapter now, lol. hope you like it ;-) , i know i do *grins mischiviously* mwah ha. oiy i think it's one of my longest too hmm...)

~Chapter nine~

"Are you sure you don't need anymore help in there Christine?" Julianna called from her place on the couch.

"Not at all, you've done more than enough," And Christine was more than grateful to Jules. She had insisted on staying after the "crowd" had died down to help Christine clean up. The rest of Jules' friends had been set on getting home before midnight, so Elijah had offered to give her a ride home when she was ready. It was nearly 1am before Christine had politely "kicked" Jules out of the kitchen, insisting that she had down enough. Julianna had brought in some more plates, resulting on Christine kicking her out again, before settling on the couch next to Elijah.

Now, at nearly two in the morning, Julianna found herself in a place she'd never have imagined herself ending up, not in a thousand years. She eventually spread out more on the couch, her head on Elijah's stomach, but her gaze shifting back and forth between the TV, and Dom, who was slumped into an arm chair, practically asleep

Christine and Sean had insisted everyone stop drinking at midnight (or as soon afterwards as they could managed to gather up everything containing alcohol. Since then Dominic had settled into that chair, gazing blankly at the television.

Elijah and Jules had finally managed to have an actual conversation an hour or so after she had arrive. They had managed to discover they had a love of music in common, and Jules had promised to check out Elijah's cd collection some time soon (not that she minded; Elijah had a LOT of cds she wanted to..."borrow" aka burn copies of). Elijah had proven to be sweet and gentlemanly, just as all the magazine's Jules had read while killing time at Anna's house during their high school years. She loved the way his eyes lit up when he was passionate about what they were discussing, and his almost shy smile was adorable (of course).

Still, now at 2 in the morning, Jules couldn't help but want to make faces at Dom, or just do SOMETHING that would snap him out of his daze. Elijah continued to chat cheerfully to Jules, and she chatted back, though she defiantly was beginning to think of how nice it would be to be very much asleep in her own bed at the moment. She'd practically fallen dead asleep before Elijah laughed and asked her if she'd like to be driven home.

"Yes, get her home before she passes out on our couch!" Sean joked from where he had been wiping off the table behind them (at Christine's request of course, his wiping the table that is, not Jules' leaving). Julianna sat up and look groggily over the back of the couch at him, "What are you talking about? I'm not tired at all," Unfortunately, Jules yawned halfway through her argument, basically killing her own case.

"Right then. Up we go." Elijah laughed as Jules looked up at him like he was crazy when he offered her his hand to help her up. "Come on Jules, everyone except these three have left already, and Sean and Christine live here." Elijah smiled and then glanced over his shoulder to chuckle at Dominic, "Dom, however, had no excuse."

Dom looked up at the sound of his name, appearing to be rather confused. "What the hell time is it anyway?" He stretched his arms and legs out, yawning loudly. Then his eye focused on Jules, "What are you still doing here?" he said, harsher than he'd intended due to the fact that he was still rather out of it.

"Dom!" Christine warned from the kitchen, "Go home," she added, rather annoyed but still sympathetic.

"Yea yea..." Dom yawned again as he stood up and walked passed Elijah, who's hand was still extended, waiting to help Jules up. Jules silently watched him wander back down the hallway, undoubtedly heading toward the bathroom, where he remained until after she and Elijah had said goodbye to Sean and Christine.

Christine told Jules she would defiantly call her before next weekend. "I heard something about a birthday," she had winked before hugging Jules and closing the door behind the two of them.

Elijah wandered to the passenger side of his car, opening it for Jules, who giggled a bit before saying "Thanks," and sliding into the seat. She was already rummaging through the pile of cds between the seat when Elijah sat down in the drivers seat and pulled his door closed behind him.

"Jules?"

"Hmm?" Jules looked up from the stack of cds she'd been looking through and blushed slightly, "Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just started going through your cds without asking. It's just that I'm used to acting this way with my friends and I don't know," Jules stopped babbling when she saw that Elijah was looking at her like she was crazy, "What?" she furrowed her brow and just looked at him curiously.

Elijah laughed, "You can go through them if you want." Then his laughter trailed off and he turned to face forward in his seat, chewing on his thumb nail.

"Then what?"

"Nothing.." Elijah glanced over at Jules, who was shooting him a look that said "Spill!" Elijah smiled slightly and removed his thumb nail from his mouth, "I was just... I mean, I hope it's alright with you, the way I was acting during the party. I didn't mean to act possessive or anything.." He trailed off as Jules burst into laughter.

"What are you talking about silly?" Jules continued grinning at him, "You, the movie star, are worried about what I, the... well 'nobody', thinks about you?"

Elijah furrowed his brow and faced forward again, "Oh. No, I mean if that's what you think of me, then that's...fine... but you're not a nobody Julianna."

Jules studied his expression from her seat, "Lijah, hun, I didn't mean to offend. I'm just not used to having people like you even knowing a person like me-"

"-Jules," Elijah broke in, "Please stop referring to us as people like such and such!" Jules backed off a bit, surprised by Elijah's reaction. He continued, "As far as I'm concerned; you're Julianna, and I'm Elijah. And none of that other stuff should matter, right?"

"I'm sorry Lijah," Jules sighed. Elijah mumbled that she didn't need to be sorry and then started the car, pulling away from the Astin's house. Jules fell silent and once again concerned herself with the stack of cds in her hand.

"Jules?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"Don't worry about it Lijah." Jules reassured him, "...What's this?!" she grinned, giggling to herself as she pulled a cd out of the stack, "You have a 'Josh Kelley' cd?" She snickered, holding it up.

"Uh...no, of course not. That's not mine. It must be my sister Hannah's"

Jules continued to giggle, "Sure it is Lij." She stuck it into the cd player and started singing along with the first song. "You paint a picture on the wall, cause you've got a lot to tell me, but you don't think you could say it better, oh baby..."

Elijah glanced sideway at her and laughed. Jules just blinked at him, "What?" and then laughed alone with him, "Don't you love my singing?" she joked.

"Um... sure..." Elijah teased her. Jules let her jaw drop and she huffed in mock indignity. "Hmph!"

Suddenly the car lurched, "Oh shit!" Elijah slammed on the breaks, "Aw come on!" he grumbled at the car, "Don't pull this now!"

Julianna could help but laugh as Elijah steered the car off to the side of the road. The hood of the car was smoking and strange noises were coming from within. Elijah grumbled as he shut off the car, "I'm so sorry! I'll fix it!" He jumped out of the car and ran to look under the hood.

Julianna waited until she could manage her giggling before stepping out of the car and walking up beside him, "So, what seems to be the problem?"

"I have no idea," Elijah admitted sheepishly, "Here, I'll call AAA." He dug his cell phone out of his pocket and flipped it open, "I really am so sorry about this Jules," he apologized again as the phone rang on the other end.

"It's fine," Jules smiled to reassure him.

"Hello?" Elijah spoke into the phone, "I'm gonna need a mechanic out here, my car decided to die on me..." He wandered off as he spoke, leaving Jules to stare blankly under the hood of his car. Suddenly she wished she had paid more attention during all the times her father, and Kevin, had attempted to teach her about cars. Jules was lucky if she remembered what kind of car her OWN was.

Elijah stepped back up next to her, scratching his head and looking under the hood again, "They said they'll be here in a half hour, at the earliest," he shrugged, defeated.

Jules shrugged and leaned against the side of the car, "No problem, the cold air's keeping me awake."

"Oh, did you want to wait inside the car?" Elijah looked uncomfortably inside the car, "I can wait out here for them," he added quickly.

Jules just smiled, hiding her giggles, "No, that's alright, I'll keep you company out here."

"Well, here, at least take my jacket," Elijah shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Then he leaned against the side of the car next to her, folding his arms to keep himself warm.

"Are you sure?" Jules looked at him as he shivered, "Or are you going to stand there and complain about the cold like Kevin would have done?" she joked.

"Kevin?" Elijah thought about it for a moment, "Oh, Kevin from the Poetry Slam, right. He would do that?"

"Has several times before, he's a punk like that." Jules just smiled slightly, remembering. "Are you sure you don't want you jacket?"

"What? Oh no, I mean, yes, I'm sure," Elijah nodded and then went back to staring at the highway.

"You know," Jules said, "You and Christine, and Sean, and Adria, and Billy, and, well all of you, you remind me so much of some friends I had in high school."

"How so?" Elijah asked.

"Well, I knew this guy in high school, and he just started hanging around me and joking around with me for no apparently reason-"

"I bet he liked you," Elijah teased, pretending it didn't make him just a bit jealous.

Jules laughed, "No actually, he had this girlfriend. And, oh boy, he was so totally in love with her. They were adorable."

"You liked him?"

"Elijah, no!" Jules rolled her eyes and laughed, "I mean, I absolutely adored him, but that wasn't my point!"

"Oh... sorry."

"Stop apologizing!" Jules teased, and Elijah held back the "sorry" that he almost replied with. "Anyway," Jules continued, "One day, I was walking to lunch with him, we had a class together before lunch," she explained, "And I just randomly asked him if he thought of me as a friend."

"And?"

"Well, he said yes of course. After that we were always inviting each other to things, like church. Actually, Anna invited him to that, and he and Nadia came-"

"Nadia?"

"His girlfriend. And then the next week, Kevin, Anna and I went to their church. Everyone there was SO friendly, and they didn't even know us. We were the only ‘non-regular’ attendees that were there, and Alex was late of course-"

"Alex?"

"My friend, sorry," Jules laughed, "My point was that they were so nice, and friendly, and non judgmental; I couldn't believe it. It was wonderful. That's how you all remind me of them; you're all so nice to me, and I don't have a clue why," she admitted, laughing slightly. "Other than it has something to do with being able to read me like a picture book," she added, giggling to herself.

Elijah smiled at her, "Something like that," he joked. Then he sighed, "You never did really answer whether or not I acted inappropriately tonight..." he trailed off, a worried look on his face.

Julianna smiled back at him. And then she kissed him. She was surprised at her own boldness, she had never been the sort to just kiss some guy, gorgeous eyes or no. But there was something so harmonious between the two of them, everything feel into place so easily. Almost too easily... Still, given Elijah's response, kissing her back sweetly, Jules didn't worry much about it.

"Would you two get a room already?" Dom called from his car window, having slowed down to offer a ride. Jules quickly pulled away from Elijah at the sound of Dom calling to them, causing Elijah to grumble slightly before he faced Dom.

"Having car trouble again Elwood?" Dom teased.

"...Something like that," Elijah answered softly as Dom pulled his car off the road in front of them.

~song credit- "Amazing" by Josh Kelly~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh they kissed! Is Dom going to be a little jealous, maybe? Will we find out why he's being so grumpy? Is he going to help them?

Awesome chapter!
Post more soon, eh?

Julie

*grins*

julie! thank you so much for putting my fic in your signature! *hugs julie* lol

ugh, i wish i could write right now, but i'm totally not in the mood, maybe tonight *sighs*

glad you liked it!

I agree...there is some tension between Elijah and Dom...

Hee hee, Billy and Orlando are so silly (in ch 8) :laugh:

why is it that cars always have to break down at the most inopportune times? and he was just as clueless about his car...AAA to the rescue, lol ;-)

Elwood, haha... I bet that Jules is going to have to tolerate a bit more of Dom very soon...I swear, I'm psychic or something, ;-)

hmm...anybody like my new banner? *grins* lol, it's no biggie, but i'm proud of ti bc it's the 1st one i've made, that i got on here, that fits...lol

um, yea. i have brilliant ideas for my fic (brilliant? pfft! lol) but school is so hectic! oiy, hopefull i'll be able to write soon!

TWO DAYS and counting til the poetry slam and the SUICIDE KINGS!!! YAYYYY!!!!!

lol, later

*snickers* hmmmm i think you might just be *laughs* mwah hahaha ;)2

You write so well!!!! I love it! You should write more and more and more so I have more stuff to read!!!! Maybe I should start a fic...*ponders* maybe when i finish the two im working on. Good Work!!!!!!!!

Thanks Jinx! i luved your fic btw, the first three chapters, maybe you should post them on this message board too, i'm sure there's a forum for em... hmmm, well i think you should anyway! :yes:

laters!

~Chapter ten~

"I called AAA, but they won't be here for a while still," Elijah explained the situation to Dom. The two guys, and Jules, were now standing once again in front of Elijah's car, staring blankly into the engine.

"Do you need a lift?" Dom offered Elijah, making a point not to glance in Jules' direction.

"Nah, I'd better stay here so nobody steals my car. Though I don't know why anybody'd want this hunk of junk," Elijah kicked at one of the tires, sighing. Then he looked up at Jules, who had returned to her place, leaning against the side of the car, struggling to stay awake. "Maybe you should drop Jules off though, before she falls asleep?" Elijah smiled at Jules, who's eyes were starting to close on their own free will.

Both Dom and Jules snapped their heads toward Elijah as he spoke. Then they glanced passed him and each other and scowled slightly. "No Elijah, that's okay, I'll just stay and wait with you. Let Dom leave."

"Jules, you need to get some sleep." Elijah stated flatly, "Dom, would you mind?"

Dom opened his mouth to protest, but Jules broke in, mumbling, "Of course he minds." Dom clamped his mouth shut and just stared a Jules, who was resting her head against the car, eyes closed.

"Actually, she's more on my way than yours." Dom supplied.

"I never told you where I live," Jules noted.

"Well Elijah lives that way," Dom pointed the opposite way from which they'd been driving, "And I live that way," he pointed the other direction, "So it wasn't that hard to assume."

"Go on Jules," Elijah urged her.

"But I want to stay," she mumbled.

"I'll be fine," he assured her, "I'll call you tomorrow okay?" Jules opened her mouth to protest again, but Elijah stopped her by kissing her quickly on the mouth and then leading her toward Dom's car.

"Lijah..." Jules grumbled as he shut the passenger behind her. Jules dozed for a moment while Dom and Elijah spoke outside. Dom grumbling about Julies assuming things (that he didn't want to drive her) and Elijah pointing out that Dom had assumed plenty about her as well (that she would treat them all like Dom's ex, and blab to the press). That resulted in Dom leaving in a huff, and Elijah climbing up on the trunk of his car to wait for a tow truck.

Dom slid into the driver's seat, rather annoyed, and looked at Jules, expecting some sort of snide comment. Instead, he found her to be fast asleep, her head leaned against the back of the seat, facing him, and her legs curled up onto the seat. Dom watched her sleep, just for a moment, as she steadily took soft breaths in and out. Then he snapped out of it and turned on his car, pressing his foot on the gas, and took off.

A few miles down the road Dom realized that he still didn't know where he was supposed to be driving Jules, so he reluctantly shook her shoulder to wake her. She was a lot less threatening to him when she was asleep... Dom wished that he could shake the dreadful feeling that she was a threat to him at all.

"Hey," he shook her a bit and Jules opened her eyes, groggily looking up at him, "Where am I driving you to?" he asked.

Jules yawned, sitting up, "Home."

Dom glanced over at her, annoyed, "At that would be where?"

Jules rubbed her eyes a bit, trying to wake herself up, "Oh, sorry..." she mumbled, giving him directions to her apartment. "Thanks for driving me Dom," she added carefully.

Dom just looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Uh huh," he mumbled

"'No problem Julianna dear,'" Jules was awake enough now to mock Dom's coldness, "Honestly Dom.." she sighed, frustrated.

"What?" Dom didn't take his eyes off the road.

"I know we got off to a bad start, but you have to keep being so cold to me all the time?" Jules sighed again.

"What 'all the time'?" Dom asked, "We've only known each other for a week..." he trailed off, and then added, "Though a week was apparently long enough for you to hook Elwood back there."

Jules just shot him a frustrated (and annoyed) look, "See, that's what I mean. What is wrong with Elijah and I being together?"

"Nothing, until you get bored and blab to the Enquirer-"

"Dom!" Jules was about to lose patience, "I am SORRY that your fiancé hurt you! But I am not her!"

Dom jumped a bit at Jules' yelling, very much surprised. He hadn't had a clue that she'd known about what had happened, "Oh, so you read the tabloids do you?" he accused her.

"No, I do not. Elijah told me when I asked why you freaking hate me!"

Dom's breath caught in his throat. "I don't hate you," he said flatly.

"Could have fooled me!" Jules scoffed. "You know, I was so totally surprised by the way Christine and everyone acted toward me. It was almost as if we'd been friends all along. And you don't meet those kind of people very often." Jules paused and took a breath, "But you; you automatically decide to hate me for something I haven't even done! Why Dom? Actors show up in tabloids all the time, why does what she said matter so much?!"

"-Because she told them about the worst parts of me," Dom broke in suddenly, "You wouldn't be so eager to trust new people if someone who was SUPPOSED to love you told the world about your darkest moments!"

Jules sighed, feeling sympathy find its way into her emotions toward Dominic, "But Dom, I wasn't the one who did that. And I'm not going-"

"-But you might!" Dom exclaimed, frustrated at himself for letting go like he had, "And I'm not willing to risk-"

"-Dom!" Jules screamed at Dom just before he hit the curb and the front tires rolled over it, pulling them into a ditch. Dom swore as the car came to an abrupt stop, lurching him and Jules forward in their seats.

"Are you alright?" Dom turned to Jules, who was shooting him a rather annoyed look from her seat, "Yes I'm alright." she grumbled and then pushed her way out of the car. She was surveying the damage when Dom appeared on the other side of the car.

"Damn, this hunk of junk is a goner." Dom glanced over his car. The right front tire was flat, and he'd managed to bash the front into a tree. "If I didn't know better, I'd blame this on you," he joked, almost allowing a smile to creep onto his lips.

"You know, I think it might be," Jules joked along, "I mean, seriously, two cars in one night, that's a record even for me." Dom just looked at her like she was crazy as she continued, "Yeah, maybe, I smoked some pot, and cut some wires in you and Lijah's cars. Heck, that pot must have been good, because I don't even remember smoking it..." She trailed off, grinning across the car at Dom, who was trying not to laugh.

"Whatever you say Julianna," he shook his head, "Feel like walking?" he started away from his car.

"But what about your car? You're not just going to leave it here are you?" Jules called after him as she retrieved her purse from inside the car.

"Well, if I let you walk home alone, and you got killed, I'm pretty sure Elijah would never forgive me," Dom joked, "So come on!" Jules jogged to catch up to him, luckily feeling a second wind coming on that was enough to keep her awake.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey! New reader here!

Just discovered this fic this afternoon and finally had a chance to read the whole thing. I really like your story Jewelz! It's really great how they're all so nice to her... well... except Dom, of course... We'll have to work on him! lol

Keep it up!

B)

See, I told ya, lol.

I love the part where Elijah tells them Jules can get a ride with Dom:

haha...
Ah, so NOW we see why Dom's so defensive around her. If I wasn't mistaken, I think he's not entirely hating her... ;)2 hmmm....lol

so they're walking down the road now? This should be good...

*grins* eeeeeeeeeeppppp!!! a new reader!! yay!! WELCOME! very much so...

*snickers* i'm so stinkin happy with myself right now *laughs* my last fic on EWFN only had...two or three readers... of course, two of ya'll are my friends from the dreaded beyer high, but still *counts readers* FIVE *grins* and I absolutly adore you all for it too!

*shakes head at self* it's the coffee, i swear lol

yes yes my hobbit frister, are we to always have your little hinting b4 i post a new chapter? lol i supose that's what i get for letting you read ahead lol *shrugs*

IF i have time to write today, I'll post another chap. i've only got a few in stock and the last thing we want is me writing cruddy chaps bc i'm desperate to get something out riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight? *coughs* wow, i'm wording things strangly *ponders* anywho

the POETRY SLAM IS TOMORROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW!!!!!!!!!! :yay:

btw, love your avatar fris.

WE WUV BILL-EH!! :love: hehehehehe

:lalala: later!