Polokinz and ze Batcat :D Mature Content

When Rhys threw her over his shoulder, Avery was startled - and she didn't have time to resist.
She hated it - but typical of her, she did not want to make a scene. So she resolved to grit her teeth and bear it.
She wished Alex would go. Having him around made her nervous, and it made Rhys... Different. She didn't want to, but she doubted him. He should know better than to put her in a situation that would make her feel vulnerable, or dependent...
I want my Rhys back... She thought miserably, shifting slightly on Rhys's shoulder to take the pressure off her bruised ribs.

Rhys noticed Avery's lack of enthunsiasm and immediatly wondered what he did wrong. Everything started when Alex had come by... So maybe it wasn't him. Maybe it was Alex. As terrible as that might be to wish for, he hoped it was Alex's fault.
With a sigh, he put Avery ddown but kept her hand. Alex walked ahead, probably making sure that the coast was clear, but they still continued their conversation.
"What does he do?" Rhys asked, curious as to what exactly had happened since he'd left. Not left. That sounded too peaceful. More like escaped.
"Well, if you don't get something done exactly right, you don't get some of the pay. And there's usually some sort of physical punishment in there, too."
This caused Rhys to feel a bitter swell of rage surge within him. Those may not have been honorable men, but they were good guys - in a sense - and Carter had no right to go and treat them like that at all! His free hand clenched into a fist, one he wished he could use topunch the guy...

Avery was happier once she was walking beside Rhys again.
At least he wasn't oblivious to her discomfort...
She shifted closer to him, so her arm brushed his side as she walked. She followed the conversation between Rhys and Alex in silence. She wasn't included, therefore she had nothing to say.
When she sensed Rhys becoming agitated, Avery found herself do something unusual. She shifted instinctively closer to him - rather than fleeing the anger - and closed her hand gently around his fist.
"Relax." She soothed quietly, turning soft blue eyes to his face. "We'll get him back one day." She added, a mischievous smirk lifting one corner of her mouth. "One day soon, he'll wish he was never born."

Rhys stopped talking to Alex - ignored him, in fact - and arched an eyebrow at Avery. He slowly uncurled his hand and gripped hers gently. It seemed as though the two fit perfectly. "I've never seen this side of you before." He chuckled. "I like it." He winked and squeezed her hand gently. They had come to a busy road now, and Rhys snorted.
"I can't believe so much of this happened when we were this close to society."

Avery smirked slightly, and squeezed Rhys's hand back. "I didn't let you see it before." She explained simply, a challenging smile lifting her lips. "But you've proved yourself to be trustworthy... So far."
She winked, then came to a standstill as they reached the edge of the forest - leaving them staring out over a busy road.
"Society doesn't care." Avery commented bluntly, "Screw them."
She was gaining confidence now, and slowly finding her defiance again. After a certain number of times being tied down, it was difficult to keep fighting... Who the Hell wanted to fight when they could never win...? But now, she finally felt ready to take on the world again - just as long as Rhys was by her side.

Rhys rolled his eyes. "If you've got nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all." He sighed and looked out across the street. People were looking at them strangely, but who wouldn't. A kid with no shirt and torn jeans, a girl wearing the boy's shirt with nothing else, and a normal looking boy. It was obvious what people were assuming. A car stopped and pulled over.
"Hey, are you guys okay?" It was an elderly man in a blue pick-up truck.
"Grandpa?" Alex asked, eyes widening in amazement.
The man raised an eyebrow, but squinted as if to look harder. "Alexander?" He asked, a little bit of hope in his voice. Alex's face split into a huge grin of childish happiness.

"Relax, I was kidding." Avery assured Rhys with a smile, stretching up to kiss his cheek briefly.
At that moment, a car pulled over. Avery shifted a little behind Rhys, and eyed it cautiously. When she saw the old man in the driver's seat, she relaxed slightly. A little old man couldn't prove too dangerous, right?
Plus... Alex seemed to know him.
Avery shifted alongside Rhys, squeezing his hand, and watched the exchange with interest.
What a rare stroke of luck...

After a couple of minutes of quiet talking and catching up with his grandfather, Alex turned around and pointed to Rhys and Avery. The old man nodded with a smile and Alex turned to them. "My grandfather will take us back to his house so that we can get some food and clothes." He grinned and hopped into the passenger seat.

Avery smiled and nodded gratefully, then glanced toward Rhys for validation. Was this safe...? Well, she was sure it was. Either way, she'd follow Rhys to the ends of the earth...
She hated how quiet he was being, though. It felt like there was a wall between them... Maybe it was her fault. She had been pushing him away...
She hated it, though. She wanted to feel close to him again. To feel appreciated... Loved...
After years of being denied any sort of real love, she hungered for it now - like a vampire for blood.

Rhys smiled brightly and pulled open the back door for Avery. He sighed, wondering why she was so quiet. Again, his thoughts immediatly pushed the blame to Alex. She was probably uncomfortable with him. Who wouldn't be, with your rapists follower? She was probably just waiting for him to turn into one of the flesh-hungry monsters. Like her dad had been. Had been. Because he was dead now...
He shook his head to clear his thoughts then made a grand sweeping motion with his arm.

Avery returned Rhys's smile, and trotted hesitantly toward the car. Before she entered it, though, she paused a moment - glancing uncertainly at Rhys.
She was sick of the barrier between them. She wanted it gone.
And Avery Finn got what she wanted when she wanted it - if she had any say in the matter.
She hovered just outside the car door for a moment, then she stepped tentatively toward him, and stretched up to bring her lips to his. The kiss was soft and sweet, and lasted only a moment - but before Avery pulled away, she whispered three quiet words into Rhys's ear.
"I love you."
Please don't prove me wrong... Please don't let me down...

The kiss shocked everything out of him, so he bareely registered those three little words she'd whispered after. He'd definately felt them though. The soft, warm breath on his ear, lips gentle brushing of her lips against it... Yep, he felt it. The words came to him later.
"I love you."
Rhys pursed his lips tightly together, pondering this. It'd become clear to him before. He did not love Avery. Well, he did, like a little sister or best friend way. But definately not the way she was implying it now. And he felt like a total dick for making her believe he felt the same way. He was stuck. He didn't know what to do.
So he just nodded, a fake smile pulling his lips. "I love you, too." That wasn't a lie. He did love her, just not the way she'd interpret it.

Avery hesitantly returned Rhys's smile, and nodded mutely in response to his words. Outwardly she was happy - inwardly, nothing had changed.
It didn't make any difference. She thought miserably, Something still isn't right.
Naturally, she couldn't work out what - but she was alert enough to know when something was off with Rhys. She just wished he would talk to her... She hated feeling so shut out.
With a quiet sigh, she slipped into the car - sliding quickly to the opposite side of the back seat, and staring out of the window.
Honestly, all she wanted was to be alone... She had always been the sort of person to work through her thoughts alone - slowly tackling each problem that unfolded in her own mind before taking it on in reality.
But now, no matter where she was, if she was alone - she felt like there was a target painted on her back.
Nowhere was safe. Not for her. Not any more...

Rhys glanced at her wearily. Avery was so hot and cold. How could she say, "I love you," with so much passion one minute and refuse to even sit next to him the next?
"I hate girls." He muttered under his breath, not loud enough fo Avery to hear.
"Where are we going?" He asked Alex. His grandfather answered.
"My wife and I live just a few miles north of here. I think the young lady back there could use another female to talk to." He looked at Avery in the rearview mirror and winked kindly at her, green eyes sparkling.

'Young lady'... These words made Avery glance up in distaste. But when she saw the man's kind expression and heard his suggestion, she let her glare soften slightly, and merely nodded. She turned back to the window with a sigh - wondering silently to herself why it was that people always assumed she'd need to talk about things. She was the 'suffer in silence' type. And why shouldn't she be? She was born a loner, and she would die the same way. That was the conclusion she had reached.
Funny... She had been reaching a lot of conclusions lately, and they all seemed to contradict each other...
It was just a few short hours ago that she'd been happier than she'd been in several long years - yet now she was as miserable as ever.
Mom, why did you have to die...? She thought bitterly, If you were still alive, none of this would ever have happened. I would've had a normal life...

They finally pulled up to a small house with peeling red paint. The car bumbed to a stop, wheezed, then died. Alex made a joke about how the automobile was probably as old as his grandfather, who winked and said, "Not quite."
Rhys hopped out of the car and moved around to the other side to be and gentleman (like Laiko xD) and open Avery's door. He smiled warmly at her and picked her up out of the seat, carrying her to the front door, which Alex held open. The smell of baking cookies wafted through the door, and Rhys inhaled deeply, a devious smile on his face as he winked at Avery and made a chewing motion to indicate he wanted a cookie.

Although she appreciated Rhys's gesture - Avery was annoyed at being picked up again. She wanted to be alone. Alone! She didn't want to be carried around - nice as it was at times... Now was not the time.
But all the time, she fixed a cheerful expression on her face, and murmured a quiet 'thanks' to Rhys, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Through trying to convince him that she was enjoying it, Avery soon began to convince herself - and as they stepped through the door - she sniffed appreciatively at the cookie scented air. Glancing back to Rhys - she couldn't help but giggle at his goofy antics. Finally, her smile lifted to her eyes, and she watched him fondly for a moment.
It was true... She did love him - but she still wanted to get away...
Why was that?
Why did she feel the need to be forever sabotaging herself?
I guess I just like being miserable...

Rhys sighed and let her go, setting her down on a light green couch and looked around the room. The house was dainty and quaint - it was obvious that old people lived here. He chuckled. It even smelled like old people!
He noticed Avery's expression with reluctance. It was obvious that she wanted alone time.
Suddenly, an old woman bustled into the room with a big smile. "Avery, Avery," She said excitedly. "Come here, we need to get you some new clothes and get you away from that excuse I have for a grandson and his friend." She winked at Rhys and proceeded to pull Avery out of the room.

Avery followed the old lady reluctantly - plodding submissively after her, even though she did not particularly want to. She had pretty much resigned herself to doing what other people wanted her to...
Besides, she did need new clothes.
She watched the lady with a dull, blank expression - stubbornly maintaining her silence. She would speak when spoken to - that was it.

The woman sized Avery up with a critical look. "You're about my size, dear." She said kindly and started going through her closet. "I'm sorry that all my clothes are probably not 'hip' enough, or whatever terms you younger kids use today." She rolled her eyes and pulled out a plain light blue T-Shirt.
"See how this fits."

"Thanks." Avery mumbled quietly, catching the T-shirt. "Is there somewhere I can change?" She asked quietly - clearly not comfortable with stripping down in front of this lady - no matter how kind she seemed. She was still a stranger to Avery... And Avery was still a little conservative, despite all that had happened.

"Of course, let me find you a pair of pants, too. And call me Emily." Emily bent over to go through another drawer, this one full of various skirts and capris. She finally pulled out a pair of tight fitting khaki pants and handed them to Avery with a smile. "The bathroom's down the hall and to the right."

"Thank you, Emily." Avery replied politely, mirroring the woman's smile. She accepted the pants, then scuttled off to the bathroom and changed hurriedly. The clothes were hardly stylish, but they fit well, and Avery certainly felt more comfortable.
With Rhys's shirt slung over her shoulder, she wandered aimlessly back to where she had left Emily.

Emily was gone, she'd went back to the green room where Rhys and Alex were greedily shoving cookies into their mouth. If they were blue, then they could've been the Cookie Monsters from Sesame Street. The thought caused Emily to laugh as she slapped the boys' hands away from the remaining treats.
"Leave some for your friend!"

When Avery didn't find Emily, she wandered back to where she had left Rhys. He, at least, was in the right place. And as it turned out, Emily was with him - and Alex, too...
Everybody grouped together. More company. Exactly what she wanted...
Snorting sarcastically to herself, Avery forced a smile and trotted over to the group, sitting down beside Rhys.
"Greedy." She teased him, poking a cheek that bulged with a mouthful of cookie.
"You could have waited for me." She nudged him playfully, then helped herself to a cookie from the plate.
Yummy...