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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 16, 2011 22:54:22 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width:380px; height:200px; background-image: url(http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss283/amostprofoundseduction/paper1.jpg); padding:3px 10px 10px 10px; border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px;] I'M NOTHING BUT A TIN MAN, DON'T FEEL ANY PAIN. rusted from the rain,
I STUMBLE THROUGH THE WRECKAGE, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO SALVAGE, NO ONE LEFT TO BLAME. AMONG THE BROKEN MIRRORS, I DON'T LOOK THE SAME - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . Joshua groaned as he stared at the bars of the jail cell. Why me? He asked the question to himself, leaning his head back against the scuffed once-white brick. Just when things were starting to look okay. He had been hanging out with Nell a lot--studying more often than not, but it was still the highlight of his weeks. His parents still hadn't let up on the whole grounding issue, so as soon as school let out and Joshua went home, he was once again condemned to the area that was his room. It wasn't too bad, though, because he IMed with her then and decided that maybe he didn't hate it so much when it was his only other option besides reading. He adored his books, but when they were his only options, it was boring. So things had been alright. And then it had happened--suddenly he was arrested for alleged charges of sexual assault. "I didn't touch her!" Joshua insisted loudly to the officer that was hanging around nearby. He knew the man heard him, but he did not turn around. "I already told you what happened, you already interrogated me! We argued and I left! I didn't do anything!" It was no use, however. The man continued to ignore him, laughing at something one of his coworkers said. Joshua sighed and gave up, sitting back down and running his fingers through his jet black hair. "Holy shit." The memories assaulted him then, and none of them were very helpful.
- - -
"You're cheating on me, aren't you?" It all started with the outrageous accusation from Angel as she advanced upon him, scowling deeply. "Jesus Christ, Angel, could you keep it down?" Joshua hissed as he glanced around the sparsely populated street where a couple of people had looked round. He had agreed to meet her here to give her the usual cash, wanting to keep this whole pregnancy thing on the down low. It wasn't a pleasant thing for Josh. "People are staring!" But that didn't stopped her. "Good!" she shrieked. "I hope they stare! I hope they all stare, Joshua Dale, because you owe me! You promised to be good, Joshy! You promised you weren't going to lie to me!" This unsettled him. She was less calm and manipulative than usual, like she'd snapped somehow. "Don't call me that," he shot back in reference to the detested pet name. "I didn't promise any of that. Angelica. I promised to give you the money you asked for the freaking kid, and that was it. We aren't even dating!"
"You're just saying that because you want to get away from me!" Angel cried with a hysterical sort of choking sob. "I saw how you acted with that--that freak!" Brow furrowing, Joshua demanded, "What freak? Jesus, you're not making any sense!" Angel's blue eyes were fiery as she glared accusingly at him. "Nell! I saw you laughing with her in Tim Hortons, I see the way you sneak off to meet her in the library--" But Joshua drew the line there, cutting her off. "Woah--what? How do you know about Nell? How do you know her na--wait. Wait. You followed me? Hell, that is not okay! That is called stalking!" |
[/colour] She completely disregarded this, however. "Did you knock her up, too, Joshua?" Angel's voice was dripping with uncharacteristic venom. "Is that why you're sneaking around behind my back?" The Fire graduate was alarmed and outraged by the accusations. "No! And for the last damn time, we--are--not--going--out!" He couldn't help himself but to be enraged with her. "Not Nell and I--you and I. You are not my girlfriend." He was practically panting with exertion now. "Fine," Angel said icily, folding her arms. "Want to say that again, Joshua? To the tune of a nice little press conference? Mommy would just love you ruining her life, wouldn't she?" Unfortunately, Joshua's rage made him selfish. "You know what? I don't fucking care. I'm done with this--done with you. Find someone else to help you, because I am sick of this." With that, he stormed off and left her standing there in shock. - - - Apparently, after he left the girl had been attacked in an alleyway by... someone. He didn't know who, and clearly the police didn't know either. For she'd blamed him, and he was as far as they would look. Joshua had been in his room when the cops had showed up. Apparently the butler had let them in and led them right to the already imprisoned boy. Rather than questioning why the teenager had been locked in the room, they'd cuffed him and nonchalantly announced that he was under arrest. "My parents aren't even home! This shouldn't be allowed!" He was not a minor, however, and so they considered going into the house to arrest him to be completely fine. He'd finally gotten over the initial shock and demanded to know why he was being arrested, and then the words had been spoken. "Sexual assault." What? What? That was impossible. He might have slept with a lot of girls in his life, but never without their permission. No. Unless they were talking about Nell and the fact that he was dating a minor? But they hadn't done anything! They hadn't given him any details, instead just hauling him off to a holding cell. The interrogation had not helped his case at all. He'd expected them to listen to him, to realise that it had all been a misunderstanding and that he was not the man they were looking for. But he was wrong. They had remained firm in their beliefs that he was the perpetrator, and the only way he was getting out before the court dates were arranged was if his parents bailed him out. Assuming that Donovan wouldn't believe that his son could stoop so low, he'd used his one phone call to beg for help. Patricia was at some government conference in Ottawa and so she couldn't do anything for him. Don's reaction had surprised him most of all. "No." His son had held the phone in stunned silence at the word. "I cannot believe you, Joshua. I am disgusted to think that my own son--but no. A criminal is no son of mine." Hurt, Josh had only managed to stammer, "Y-You don't believe me?" The reply had been short. "I don't know what to believe with you any more." The line had went dead, and so had his hopes of any kind of release. This was going to suck.[/div][/center] GO ON CRUSH ME LIKE A FLOWER, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. COME ON STRIP ME OF MY POWER, BEAT ME WITH YOUR CHAINS. AND IF I'M THE KING OF COWARDS, YOU'RE THE QUEEN OF PAIN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . [/td][/tr][/table][/center]
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Aug 16, 2011 23:55:04 GMT -5
Nell crouched down on her knees, peering underneath the couch. ”Really, Pablo, you want to watch the news so bad?” she said, and turned back to look at the cat who had batted the remote underneath the couch. Like any lazy human being, Nell wasn’t going to get up and change the channel herself. No, she was going to try and ninja slide her hand underneath the couch to try and get it out. Sighing, she sat back up on her knees and told the kitten, "You’re the one who batted it under there, you should be the one getting it out.” But Pablo was quickly distracted by a dust bunny moving across the floor, and he used that at his new play thing as she went back to trying to worm her way underneath the couch and pull out the remote.
But she stopped in her attempts when she heard a familiar name issuing from the television. Sitting back up, she looked over at the screen as more words were spoken from the news anchor. Joshua Dale and sexual assault. Oh god. He was in jail. Now the television had her complete attention, and she sat down on the couch, dumbfounded as she listened to the details. Of which, there were none. They apparently didn’t have enough yet to release to the public, but what she heard was enough. He was just a trouble magnet. But more important than her exasperation was what he had been charged for. Could she believe that Josh would do something like that?
No.
Of course not. Even with the circumstances under which they met, she still couldn’t think that he’d be so low. Because he had the opportunity to rape her, and yet he didn’t. Plus, she knew him. He was a good guy underneath all the asshole behavior. He’d gotten the kitten currently rolling around with an almost invisible piece of dust. I know him. And he was apparently her ‘boyfriend’ now, and whatever that entailed. She still didn’t really understand. But it didn’t take her long to decide that she couldn’t believe that Josh had done what they were accusing him of. After all, the last time they were arrested, it was because he’d panicked about the gun and he was trying to keep her from getting into trouble. It could just be an honest mistake. Back in the states they were condemning her for first-degree murder, which was not true at all. So to say she had little faith in the law was putting it lightly.
But then came another dilemma, and that was what Nell should do. He was in jail, and the memory of what it was like caused enough of a physical affect that she nearly choked up. She didn’t want him to have to go through that again. It was a terrible place, and she believed only the lowest of the low should be sentenced to it. Josh was not the lowest of the low. Still, what was there that she could do? Bail him out. The thought had been a joke at first, but then she really began to consider it. Wouldn’t his parents take care of that? He was still supposed to be grounded, at least she thought… She honestly didn’t know. Nell decided that it didn’t matter. She had to do something. She didn’t want him to waste away in jail for a crime she couldn’t believe that he committed.
It only took a few moments to grab her car keys and make her way to the police station, stopping at the convenience store’s ATM, because she wasn’t sure if jails accepted credit cards. Hey daddy, your money is going toward bail for someone you don’t like. She didn’t want to dwell on the satisfaction of the fact, because she was more concerned about Josh right then. Even though she should be really concerned that a police station was probably the worst place for her to be. She was a fugitivve living under false pretense, and she was walking into the danger zone as she entered the station. But she was all smiles as she said she was there to post bail for Joshua Dale to one of the officers. Apparently, his parents hadn’t come to bail him out, and she didn’t know whether or not to be surprised. It took only a few papers and a handing over of money before they said that he’d be released into her custody. Nell was at least proud that she managed not to break down and confess to her own crimes as she waited, feeling incredibly uncomfortable in this place.
When they brought Josh out, she immediately pounced on him with questions. ”Josh, are you okay?” was her first one, asked with wide eyes as she tugged on his arm as if this would urge him to answer her. Her next question got to the heart of the matter, however. ”The hell happened, why were they talking about you on the news…and…and sexual assualt?” Nell was shaking her head, face full of confusion. She honestly couldn’t believe it, refused to believe that he’d done anything like that. Which is why she even came down there in the first place, and risk anything happening to her to post bail. ”C’mon, let’s get out of here,” she said, nodding toward the door and wanting to get the hell out before some detector went off and everyone in the station learned that she was a fugitive.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 17, 2011 0:26:53 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width:380px; height:200px; background-image: url(http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss283/amostprofoundseduction/paper1.jpg); padding:3px 10px 10px 10px; border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px;] I'M NOTHING BUT A TIN MAN, DON'T FEEL ANY PAIN. rusted from the rain,
I STUMBLE THROUGH THE WRECKAGE, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO SALVAGE, NO ONE LEFT TO BLAME. AMONG THE BROKEN MIRRORS, I DON'T LOOK THE SAME - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . It was frightening to sit there with a couple of people he'd never met and know that you were suspected of sexual assault. He caught the threatening looks of one of the other males and sat as far away from him as possible, swallowing hard and casting a worried glance toward the officer who was supposed to be standing guard and making sure that no one killed each other. His hands were cuffed and so were Joshua's, but it wouldn't be too hard to club someone over the head and--stop it, stop it, stop it. He was starting to hyperventilate slightly and he realised with stunning clarity that he was not getting out tonight. I'm going to have to stay overnight. With... with... oh, god. He didn't want to feel like a pussy or a wimp or anything, but Joshua could feel himself trembling. There was no way he was going to allow himself to sleep together, lest one of his 'cellmates' decide to kill him in his sleep. That's what they do to sex offenders, right? Oh god. Why didn't Donovan come and post bail for him? His parents could hate him for the rest of the year, he didn't care, just as long as he didn't have to suffer through this. His own father had hung up on him, knowing the charges and knowing where his son was trapped. What about Mum? His throat tightened and he swore he could feel the lump. He wanted to rub at it, but that was impossible at the moment. Would Patricia come for him? Even if she could pull herself away from her important conference, would she be just like Donovan and leave him here with a bunch of tougher, scarier folk that were probably here for actual crimes?
It was with these thoughts that he spent the next couple of hours, resisting the urge to get up and pace because he knew that he would call attention to himself. He wasn't even hopeful when the officer unlocked the door to the cell, figuring it was for one of the other inmates. "Dale," the voice said with disinterest. "Get up. Someone posted your bail." Joshua blinked, unable to even form a coherent question. The next thing he knew, the cuffs were off his wrists--he ran his fingers over them anxiously, looking for any sort of marks--and he was free. What? Did my father change his mind? He was almost hopeful, but whatever he'd been expecting, things flipped upside down when he came across a certain girl standing in the station. "Wh--Nell? What are you doing here?!" He sounded anxious and a little freaked out, glancing around at the officers as if expecting one of them to say that they had taken her in for questioning about a murder. But they did not, and then it clicked. "Jesus--were you the one that posted the bail?" The lump in his throat was back, but now he wasn't sure what he was feeling. Confused? Shocked? Touched, maybe? Perhaps it was a combination of all three, but he couldn't really think more on it before Nell was yammering on with her questions and then insisting that they get out of there. "Y-Yeah," he said weakly, sounding relieved as his voice shook a bit. "I'll, uh, explain it to you once we're... outside." He cast another distrustful look to the officers and followed her out.
Swallowing nervously once they were down the steps outside of the police station and out in the open air, Josh thought about what to say... and came up blank. "I probably can't stay for too long," he confessed. "My parents--" But then Joshua broke off with a bit of a frown, realising something. He didn't care. It had been his friend--girlfriend?--that had busted him out, not his father. Why should he listen to their stupid rules? "You know what? Fuck my parents, I don't even care right now. I called my father and he--ugh, nevermind, I don't want to dump this all on you." He furrowed his brow and bit his lip, shooting her an apologetic glance. "Can we go somewhere a little less... public? I'm a bit worried about what might happen if I hang around." She'd mentioned that he was on the news, after all, and he didn't think a lot of people would stop and let him explain things before trying to beat his head in with a brick or something. The girl was only fifteen or sixteen, he'd never really asked her age and couldn't remember if she'd told him. If people decided to take things into their own hands--no, no, he couldn't think that. Concentrate on happier things. Like... Nell, even though she probably thinks you're a rapist. Lovely. So much for optimism. Anyway, he was serious about wanting to get out of the area. "Uh... how about the park?" It was where they had went when she had told him about her mother, after all, and it wasn't too far.
Kicking the dirt with the toe of his boot, he really didn't know where to start with the whole 'explaining himself' thing. So instead, he started with something important, "Uh... thanks for helping me out back there." He gulped again and ducked his head a little. "Whatever they said on the news, it's--it's not true, okay?" He was strangely self-conscious around her again, only this time it wasn't only internal but displayed in every aspect of his facial features. "Just give me a chance to explain!" he said quickly, and before Nell could protest or correct him, he was launching into a hasty rant. "I don't know what happened because they wouldn't tell me, all I know's that Angel got into some trouble with some guy in an alleyway and she blamed it on me and I'm really not sure why because we were arguing but I didn't think that she was going to turn around and try to pin me for sexual assault just because I didn't want to talk to her any more. She's crazy, Nell, she's a stalker and she--she knew your name! I never told her anything about you and all of a sudden she knows your name and where we hang out and it was fucking scaring me so I backed out and--" He broke off, unable to catch enough breath. "and then I don't know what happened after that," he finished lamely.
Gray eyes going wide, he realised what that might have sounded like. "And it's not like I was cheating on you or anything, I swear!" Tone still breathless, Joshua was frantic to insist upon this last little bit of information. "She's not my girlfriend--I don't know why she even thinks that!"
GO ON CRUSH ME LIKE A FLOWER, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. COME ON STRIP ME OF MY POWER, BEAT ME WITH YOUR CHAINS. AND IF I'M THE KING OF COWARDS, YOU'RE THE QUEEN OF PAIN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . |
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Aug 17, 2011 1:00:56 GMT -5
Nell attempted a smile at him when he questioned what she was doing there. ”Posting your bail, of course,” She smiled a little wider when he realized that it had been her to bust him out of his cell, even though she shouldn’t have been smiling because he sounded so terrible and nervous. Dammit, Josh, why do you have to get yourself in trouble so much? Of course, she wasn’t mad at him. How could she be mad when he’d just had to suffer through another night in jail? Maybe because he was accused of sexual assault. No, she refused to believe it, that he actually did what they said. Maybe it was naivete to go believing in him so easily, but she trusted him more than she trusted anyone else and she wasn’t about to suddenly doubt him because the law she didn’t trust called him into question. Nell nodded as he said that he’d explain once they were away from the hellhole of a police station, and she hoped she’d never have to go back there again. Never ever, ever. But if Josh kept on getting into trouble like this…
Looking up at him curiously when he cut himself off after speaking about his parents, she was surpised to hear him curse them out. She shook her head when he stopped himself from talking about whatever his father did, and she shook her head. ”It’s all right, really. I’m guessing your father didn’t post bail for you?” After all, she half-expected him to already be out by the time she’d gotten there, but if he’d called his father and he didn’t do anything, that meant that his father did not come down to help him out. Did he believe that his son did what the news was accusing him of? And was it strange that she was the one to believe him instead of the man who raised Josh? She didn’t have time to mull this over before he suggested that they go to a less inhabited spot. ”Yeah, sure, sure,”
[/color] she said, since she didn’t want to hang around either, for both of their sakes. She was still expecting an officer to run out and cuff her after realizing that the identity she’d created for herself was completely fabricated. ”The park sounds fine,”[/color] she said, already walking so she could bring them both away from that horrid place. The law really sucks.Patient as ever, she waited for Josh to tell his story, arms crossed over her chest. She wore another smile, this one more authentic now that they were away from the station, when he thanked her. ”Any time,” she said. She didn’t think that anything would stop her from bailing him out of any sort of trouble. Was that really bad, having so much faith in him? Oh, she didn’t care. He seemed almost sheepish when talking about the news. Giving him an incredulous look as she tilted her head, Nell said, ”I thought as much…which is why I came down here.” Did he think she’d buy into the media so easily? Back in America the press called her a cold-blooded murderer, it wasn’t like she fed on everything the news said as the highest truth. It played a big part in her bailing him out, other than the fact that it was very hard to convince her that Josh could do something so terrible. With these thoughts in her mind, she was shocked to hear him getting defensive after she’d bailed him out of jail. She didn’t have time to remind him of this fact before he started going on about this Angel girl and getting in trouble in an alley and her knowing Nell’s name. ”Whoa, whoa, pull it back, Josh,” she said after he finished his spiel, holding out her hands as if that could stop him from going on about anything else and giving himself a brain aneurysm. ”Who is Angel and why has she been stalking you and how does she know my name?” Whoever she was, she soundeed very, very, creepy and what Josh had said so far greatly disturbed the Earth girl. Then he was defending himself again, and more confusion crossed her features. ”Cheating on me?” she asked after his hasty and breathless explanation. Right, cheating is when one person goes out with another person when dating someone else. She didn’t have time to feel proud of how savvy she was getting with relationship lingo, because she was trying to sort out what he’d said in her head. ”Why does she think she’s your girlfriend, then? That's kind of a hard thing to miss.” Nell asked slowly, still utterly confused by all that Josh had said so far. It seemed pretty straightforward to her, after all. She thought that it was how these things happened now—guys asked girl out, without any gray areas. How could someone not know they were dating someone else? You don’t really know, she reminded herself, but that was different. That was because she had no clue what she was doing.[/size] [/blockquote] [/blockquote][/justify]
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 17, 2011 1:31:33 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width:380px; height:200px; background-image: url(http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss283/amostprofoundseduction/paper1.jpg); padding:3px 10px 10px 10px; border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px;] I'M NOTHING BUT A TIN MAN, DON'T FEEL ANY PAIN. rusted from the rain,
I STUMBLE THROUGH THE WRECKAGE, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO SALVAGE, NO ONE LEFT TO BLAME. AMONG THE BROKEN MIRRORS, I DON'T LOOK THE SAME - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . Though he was still seething with anger toward his parents and the fact that they hadn't thought to bail their only son out of jail, he did stop for a moment to breath and to shake his head vehemently. "No. No he did not." Even though Josh had said that he wasn't going to get Nell involved, he honestly couldn't help himself as he spat, "How could he think that of me? He doesn't even know the details and he--" The boy cut himself off again, shaking his head more violently this time. He seemed so confused and frustrated that it was almost pitiful. Joshua knew that Donovan thought badly of him on a lot of fronts, but he never would have expected this. It actually struck him emotionally, tightening his chest and stealing the breath from his lungs for a moment. Fuck no, he thought angrily. You are not going to cry. And of course he wouldn't, much as he might like to. "Sorry--again," he mumbled under his breath. He felt really bad for slinging his baggage onto poor Nell within five minutes or so of her breaking him own. Which he was grateful for, truly, he just wasn't sure how to go about dealing with everything that was going on right now. How could you blame him? His own father believed that he was guilty of sexual assault and now he was worried that his (girl)friend was going to believe it, too. It was a lot of stuff to handle.
After his rant, Joshua would have had to have stopped and caught his breath whether Nell spoke or not. So he breathed, nodding a little to show that he'd heard the question but holding up a finger in a request for her to give him a moment. He was expending way too much of his energy and seriously worried he might pass out if he didn't take enough air into his lungs. "I don't know," he said by default, and then glanced away as he realised that he was lying to her. You weren't supposed to lie to the people that you cared about, were you? He was telling lies after she'd just busted him out of jail, for Christ's sakes. So he drew breath and admitted, "Well... alright. I do know, but it'll take a bit of explaining. I hope you're comfortable?" His lips twitched in a pathetic attempt at a smile that didn't even look somewhat convincing as it died on his lips. "I didn't know who she was either until a couple of months ago. Around the beginning of the year, actually, a little bit before... um, a bit before I ran into you. We were having difficulties when I decided to... uh, drink." Well, that was awkward detail number one out of the way for you. "Anyway, she started this whole thing off by telling me that she was pregnant." The pause was intently awkward. "I... I did believe her until recently, but it was a lie. She wanted my money, that's the only reason I can come up with. She knew my parents were rich and she--" He took a breath. Fuck, it made him angry just thinking about it. "I think she decided to take advantage of that."
Josh ran a hand nervously through his hair. "You know about the stupid shit that I've done with... um, girls, and drinking, and stuff like that." Well. Way to make an awkward situation even more awkward, right, Joshua? "I didn't recognise her at all. She actually had to tell me her name, told me everything about herself that I had apparently 'forgotten'. She said that I, um, slept with her. Then she started with the threats. I figured she was just stressing out and fuck, it seems so obvious looking back, but I believed her." He was disgusted with even himself, shaking his head. "I don't know why she started stalking me. I didn't know about it myself until earlier today. I also don't know how she got your name." As usual, Joshua was having his infamous lady problems and now poor Nell was being dragged into them for no other reason than for hanging around him. "I'm sorry you ever had to get involved in this. I don't know what's going to happen now. We were arguing about the fact that she was following me and I didn't like that she called you a freak and that she apparently knows your name, so I left. That's... that's seriously all I know." He exhaled, and it was only then that he realised how violently he was shaking, hands shuddering like he was experiencing an internal earthquake.
However, now that all of that was over with, he came to an even more crushing realisation. "Looks like I'll be stuck at school," he muttered. "I've got another thing going for me if I think my father'll let me past the doorstep after all of this." Coming to terms with the fact that he was probably disowned--at least for the time being--made Joshua feel strangely hollow and apathetic. He supposed that grief might hit later, but for now the poor guy was just in shock. A whole lot of shock. "Where the hell did you get the cash to post bail?" he realised, feeling a bit sick as he worried about her now rather than himself. It wasn't her responsibility to bust him out of jail. That discretion should have been left with his parents. Not that he was about to chastise her for helping him out, or anything, just that he was feeling regretful. This was nothing unusual. I've always got something to feel sorry for when it comes to her. It might have made him chuckle wryly on any other occasion, but now he just felt horrible. "I'll have to pay you back somehow," he frowned, "though without my parents' money it'll probably take ages. Sorry about that... again." He heaved an exaggerated sigh. Would he ever be able to stop apologising. "Are you... alright?" he asked. "That was really stupid of you to just walk right into the station... but I'm glad you did." He did smile this time, even if it was a pained one.
GO ON CRUSH ME LIKE A FLOWER, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. COME ON STRIP ME OF MY POWER, BEAT ME WITH YOUR CHAINS. AND IF I'M THE KING OF COWARDS, YOU'RE THE QUEEN OF PAIN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . |
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Aug 17, 2011 2:13:14 GMT -5
Josh seemed pretty angry with his father, as she guessed he should be. After all, parents were supposed to take care of you and shelter you, not leave you to rot in jail. Nell honestly didn’t know what to think about that. She didn’t know the dynamic of their relationship or how real parents acted. Was it normal for a father to not post bail for his son? She just didn’t know. And it wouldn’t work comparing it to the situation with her own father. He was going to have her deported the next time she landed in jail. Yeah, she could definitely understand rage toward fathers. It seemed that neither of their fathers were doing good in the parenting department. He seemed to be struggling when he apologized and she tilted her head. After a sigh, she said, ”And again, I really don’t mind. At all.” She didn’t mind listening to him ranting and ravign about his father, since he had every right to be mad at the man right now. In her mind, there was no doubt of his innocence, and so it was pretty inconceivable that Donovan though the complete opposite. She’d be angry, too.
It would have been almost comical, the fact that he seemed like he was about to pass out, but this was a serious situation. She waited for him to recover, a little worried that he would fall over right in front of her. And then she’d have to call the hospital, where his father worked and she didn’t know whether that would be a good or bad thing for Josh. Eventually, he went on to say that he didn’t know, and she nodded, ready to believe him like the naïve girl she was. It was not too good of a thing, this complete trust she had for him, but it was what she felt and it pushed every doubt out of her mind. But then he went to say that he did know and he brought up the one particular incident she was sure both of them would rather forget about. Nell let him continue without interruption, until he came to the part about her being pregnant. ”Josh, that was months ago. And you just found out that she wasn’t pregnant? I think…she would have started showing by now.” Maybe guys didn’t understand stuff like that, but she didn’t dwell on it as he continued, telling her that Angel was taking advantage of him for money. It sounded kind of funny, a guy like Josh being taken advantage of by a girl, but she couldn’t laugh about something that was so terrible. Who would do something like that? You. Oh Jesus, she was taking advantage of her father for his money, and she was just as bad as Angel, and she was never ever going to tell Josh this detail. I have good reason, and he doesn’t miss it, he hasn’t even brought it up, she said to defend herself in her mind.
These thoughts were forced aside by Josh’s voice and his explanations of his…drunken escapades. Right. She nodded through his winded explanations, the cogs of her mind working to piece the story together. So he was drunk and slept (or not) with her and she lied about being pregnant. ”You panicked, that’s understandable.” Well, she didn’t understand that much since she’d never been put in that kind of position before. A position that really, really sucked. To add to that, this chick was apparently stalking him now, and she shivered thinking about it. And then Josh was apologizing again, and she shook her head, but waited for him to stop before saying anything. Noticing he was shaking, she sighed again and a smile played across her lips. ”It’s all right and I believe everything you say. Really. I never would have thought that you could do what the media was saying, even before hearing the truth from you. I mean, back in America, I’m a cold-blooded killer. If anyone knows how screwed up the law is, it’s me.” She scratched the back of her head, realizing she’d gone off on a bit of a tangent. ”But yeah. I trust you more than I trust the Canadian legal system.“ And that was that, end of story, period. Nothing could change how she felt about Josh, especially not something she didn’t believe in.
Nell’s features softened in sympathy with his plight. ”If you just told him what you told me…” Okay, maybe it wasn’t too good an idea to tell his father that he’d gotten so drunk that he couldn’t remember getting a girl pregnant. But really, it wasn’t Josh’s fault that Angel lied and got him arrested because she was upset that he’d left. And that she was lying this entire time. She threatened him, right? How coud his father not be merciful after hearing something like that? You don’t know the situation. She decided it might be best not to ask or say anything more involving his father, because she was ignorant to how they worked. Speaking of fathers, Josh just had to bring up the money… ”Uh…Papa’s rich,” she said simply, though a blush heated her cheeks from how ashamed of herself she was. Just like Angel, she was using a man for his money. But this passive aggressive revenge on her part. Completely justified, right? She held up her hand as he said that he’d owe her. ”Don’t worry about it. It’s not my money, after all. And honestly, he can live without a few bucks. He won’t miss it.” Since she’d been putting a constant drain on his bank account like a spoiled little brat. He owes me for more than money can by, it is completely justified. She smiled and shook her head, looking off when he said that it was stupid of her to do that. ”I knew that going in but…obvious stupidity never stopped me before.” She laughed a bit at his next words, the sound airy. ”I’m glad I did it, too.” Even though it could have gotten me imprisoned. Neither of them needed to be reminded of that.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 17, 2011 12:39:43 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width:380px; height:200px; background-image: url(http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss283/amostprofoundseduction/paper1.jpg); padding:3px 10px 10px 10px; border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px;] I'M NOTHING BUT A TIN MAN, DON'T FEEL ANY PAIN. rusted from the rain,
I STUMBLE THROUGH THE WRECKAGE, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO SALVAGE, NO ONE LEFT TO BLAME. AMONG THE BROKEN MIRRORS, I DON'T LOOK THE SAME - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . Josh winced slightly at what Nell said about 'showing', not liking the way it made him sound like an idiot. He knew that his friend didn't mean for her words to come across like that, but his pride was a sensitive thing that didn't like the idea that he was being called dim. "I know that," he sighed. Normally he would have snapped at someone from saying such things, but the fact that this was Nell made his words much more light. "She faked it," he said, "and she wasn't too stupid about it, either. She must've stuffed or something. I wouldn't touch her, so it's not like I knew it wasn't real." He had been so disgusted by Angel that he didn't want her anywhere near him, let alone so close that he could feel whether her supposed 'baby bump' was hard enough to be a part of her actual stomach. "She had things like pregnancy tests and documents from doctors visits that must've been fake. And she always made a point to threaten my Mum, so... I didn't have much choice either way." His throat tightened as he spoke of his mother, the words afterwards coming out a little more strained, forced. He had probably ruined her career for real now. He probably should have thought of that before he stormed away from the girl in a blind rage, but his selfishness had overtaken him. I'm a terrible son, he thought bitterly to himself. "It sort of... scares me... how much she planned all this out." He hated to admit being scared, but it was only a natural reaction in the face of this.
Why was Nell so understanding of him? He wondered this each and every time he got into trouble for some reason or another and she just waved it away as being 'understandable'. Even when he'd nearly gotten them both thrown in jail and Nell thrown to the wolves that was the American justice system, she hadn't blamed him. I don't deserve her, he sighed internally, knowing it was true. But there was the selfishness again--he didn't want to leave, either. He was so choked up when she said that she'd believed him without all the details that it took him a moment to stutter out a quiet, "Um, th-thanks." Damn it, why did Nell have to be such a good person? He felt like he was not only using her, but he'd also ruined his mother's career and perhaps his Dad's reputation as well. He was destroying lives over here and she just stayed with him anyway. It was infuriating to someone like Josh, whose last 'friends' had shown they cared by trying to kill him. "Well then America clearly has it wrong," he said firmly. "You are not a cold-blooded killer by any means." Then he realised what he was doing--sticking up for her just as she had for him. It even made him chuckle a little sheepishly, as strangled as the sound was with his mixed emotions. "I guess we can both just say 'fuck the law', right?"
He sighed when Nell's optimism showed through as usual. They really were in shades of black and white, these two, weren't they? He saw everything as negative as possible and Nell tried to find the position points in a situation. "I did," he sighed, then shrugged. "He doesn't believe me." If you were to just listen, he didn't sound that much like he cared. But if you were really concentrating on Joshua's tone, his shell was cracking. There was slight hurt showing through in his voice as he fought to keep it from trembling. His own parents had abandoned him, wasn't this great? Pushing the thought away, he concentrated on Nell. Apparently her father was rich, another detail he hadn't known. "Ah," he said. "Alright." If it really had been Nell's money and she'd insisted on him not paying her back, Joshua might have argued. But this was the father that didn't like him, right? Well, think of it like revenge. He didn't care so much about León. "As long as you're sure it's okay. I don't want you to get in trouble with him, after all. If he tries to pin the blame on you, send him my way." He wasn't insinuating that he would hurt Nell's father in any way--no, he wouldn't do that unless his friend asked him to or the man actually attacked him full out. He was just saying that he would deal with it if she got into trouble because of him. "This is my issue, after all." Whether or not it was his fault Angel had him arrested, it had still happened.
Joshua lapsed into a somewhat awkward silence when Nell confirmed that she was glad she'd helped him. Why? Why the hell was this girl so ready and willing to risk her own safety to guarantee his? Sure, he would probably do the exact same thing if the roles were reversed, but he didn't understand it regardless. He also wished that he could somehow convey his thanks in a way that seemed less awkward and uncertain than when he actually spoke the words. Josh wasn't used to thanking people and it really showed in situations like this when he was faced with a dilemma. Either he said nothing at all and sounded like an ungrateful little dick, or he tried to thank her and sounded even less genuine by wearing out the sincerity of the word. It was a losing situation whatever way you looked at it. Though only a couple of seconds had passed since it had gone quiet, it felt like a giant chasm of time. He had a weird sort of feeling in his gut when he glanced at his (girl?)friend, one which was frustratingly unidentifiable. Well. What was he supposed to do with that? "There's got to be some way I can show you my gratitude better than this." |
[/colour] The words were mumbled and sounded confused. The decision to kiss her was impulsive, and Joshua hadn't really been sure what he was doing himself until he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers, then threw caution to the wind and kissed her lightly. It wasn't the sort of thing Joshua was used to doing--his usual romantic partners went straight for the full-on make out session, no questions asked. But this wasn't some fling or one-night stand. This was a relationship, and even though he had no idea what he was feeling or if he was supposed to be feeling it, he knew he didn't want to move too fast. He might scare her off. If she hadn't even known what 'going out' was, that probably meant that she'd never done this before. So he would pace himself. It would be difficult, but Josh would try for Nell's sakes. He lingered for a moment before pulling back, cheeks actually heated with red. She'd actually managed to make him blush and she hadn't even done anything. Joshua ducked his head and laughed almost nervously, rubbing at the back of his neck. "So, um, thanks."[/div][/center] GO ON CRUSH ME LIKE A FLOWER, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. COME ON STRIP ME OF MY POWER, BEAT ME WITH YOUR CHAINS. AND IF I'M THE KING OF COWARDS, YOU'RE THE QUEEN OF PAIN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . [/td][/tr][/table][/center]
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Aug 17, 2011 14:18:05 GMT -5
Nell of course hadn’t meant to make Josh feel like some kind of idiot, she was still just trying to process the information he’d told her. It was kind of a big deal, considering the fact that this was a part of Josh’s life she had no clue about. So she nodded when Josh explained, and in the back of her mind some little voice told her how comical it was that Angel stuffed like a girl stuffing her bra, but this wasn’t a funny situation so it didn’t fully register. Right now, she was just a little freaked out about this chick. Okay, maybe not a little. Maybe a lot. But she listened to him nontheless as she made sense of this all. ”I can see how you would believe her, after she went through all that.” Unfortunately, Nell knew something about forging about papers and could understand how easy it was for someone fake something like that. And Josh acknowledged just how frightening it was for someone to do that, to lie about a pregnancy to take him money. ”Yeah, I’m starting to think maybe she’s the one that should be in jail. Stalking is a crime, right? And lying about a pregnancy to drain you of money might be one too. In any case…scary is right.” Still not understanding exactly how crimes and all those things worked, she didn’t know exactly what he could get Angel for. She just wanted to help her boy?friend, because she had a hard time just imagining how crazy it must have been for him.
As usual, Nell couldn’t find any reason not to believe Josh. Because she was so adamant in the belief that he was a good person. Underneath the temper problems and all the other problems covering him up, she honestly believed him to be a decent human being. More decent than the law system she believed to be corrupted, that she refused to believe both because of her distrust and her faith in Josh. ”Of course,” she said because it was just that easy. She still didn’t know some of the details, but she trusted Josh and that made all the difference. Even if he was accused of murder, she’d give him the benefit of the doubt. He’d given her the benefit of the doubt, after all. And she didn’t think he was like that, just like she didn’t think he was a rapist. Even after he told her he used to be a gangbanger and had a gun, she found it a simple task to believe him. Nell smiled softly at his protest, even though sometimes she wondered about herself. It was easy to believe in him, it was a different story to believe in herself. She was so terrified of what she could become (namely her mother) and the fact that she was already a murderer didn’t help. But this was about Josh and his problems with this crazy chick and not hers with the law back in the states. She would really not like to think about that. ”It seems to be what we do best,” she said with a small smile. More Josh, considering he was the one who kept getting arrested. But it wasn’t like she wasn’t in constant state of law breaking. And as much as she wanted to be a good person, she didn’t quite believe the law to be the best institution.
At the ready with more ways to try to get through to his father, she bit her lip to stop from saying anything that would sound stupid since she didn’t know their relationship. There was the desperate need to help Josh, and yet there wasn’t anything she could directly do. Well, save for bailing him out of jail when his parents wouldn’t. ”Right,” she said quietly. She didn’t really understand how much it was affecting him, but it had to hurt, right? He and his father had a relationship like a father and child should, and it sucked that she couldn’t be a better advice giver or anything. She hated feeling powerless like this, but this was Joshua and his family and she had no part in it. But something she did know about was her father, and her relationship with him. Nell was glad he made no argument about paying her back and she told him, ”No, he’s uh…he’s trying to help me out in his own way, so he’s cool with it. I guess.” Well this was pretty awkward for her. Yeah, he father had given her a credit card to help her out and try to repay her through materialistic means for everything he did—or didn’t—do. Nell was trying to teach him some kind of bitter little lesson by spending all that money. Yet, she had to keep convincing herself that she wasn’t a complete jerk by doing it. ”But thanks for that. He can be…troublesome. But I don’t’ think he’s anything to worry about in this case.” Especially since he didn’t know a lot about her own personal life and what she did, no matter how much he tried to weasel his way in. Maybe if she wasn’t so bitter, it could have been easy for the both of them, but she constantly angry at him. And even though she’d love to help Josh out whenever he needed, and she’d let him rant her ear off anytime, she did not want to burden him with her own daddy issues.
Looking on curiously, she tried to decipher what was going on in his head as he fell into a silence. This task was—as usual—completely fruitless and vain. There was no way to figure him out, and yet it was total trust on her part. She found some irony in that, but she didn’t care. It just came back again to the fact that she liked him too much to find any terrible faults in what he did. At his muttered words, she tilted her head. ”Josh, you really don’t have to, I mean…it was my decision to come down here. I wasn’t expecting anything in return.” But her arguments apparently fell on deaf ears, because the next thing she knew his lips were on hers and she didn’t know when the heck that happened. The only thing she really understood was that this was her first kiss, and it wasn’t bad at all. Nooe, she didn’t think she could complain, even though she had no idea what she was doing. Nell pressed her lips against his, feeling her cheeks heat up. She didn’t know if this was going too fast or too slow, despite the amount of research she’d done. Nervous about this entire thing, she didn’t want to slip up and do something wrong. But she was glad that Josh wasn’t pushing anything because she’d also been nervous about him. He’d been with lots of other girls, and she had a feeling that she just wouldn’t compare thanks to her naivete. But he’d shown no signs of going beyond what she was comfortable with, and for that she was thankful. Still reeling a bit from the shock when he pulled away, she noticed that he was blushing too and at least she wasn’t the only one here. Nell would have commented on the fact that it was cute, but she was just a little breathless. ”Yeah, sure. Uh, yeah…you have a good way of expressing gratitude,” she said, giving him a thumbs up and laughing uncertainly.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 17, 2011 15:31:18 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width:380px; height:200px; background-image: url(http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss283/amostprofoundseduction/paper1.jpg); padding:3px 10px 10px 10px; border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px;] I'M NOTHING BUT A TIN MAN, DON'T FEEL ANY PAIN. rusted from the rain,
I STUMBLE THROUGH THE WRECKAGE, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO SALVAGE, NO ONE LEFT TO BLAME. AMONG THE BROKEN MIRRORS, I DON'T LOOK THE SAME - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . At least Nell seemed to understand his issues with Angel after he explained a little more. He wasn't sure what he'd been worried about (her doubting him, perhaps?) but whatever it was, it wasn't happening and he was grateful for that. She said something about jail and he nodded. "That's what I thought, too. I saved a lot of the threatening phone messages and even some of the text messages. I'm sure I have a copy of a few of the documents, too, if I remembered to bring them from the apartment." He wasn't sure why he had kept them, but he had. A few of the messages had been lost to instances of angry deletion, but Josh was pretty sure he had evidence against her. "As long as they hear my side of the story I think I should be alright. My only problem is that, well, all of that stuff is at the house." He was probably going to have to break in if he wanted to get it, and that would make Joshua look like the criminal in the situation. He was pretty sure his father had video cameras installed on the property in case of such things, but Josh had never had to worry about the security measures surrounding his household before. "Unless I can maybe convince my parents that I didn't do it, but..." Joshua sighed as if suggesting that this was probably a lost cause. Donovan was a man of very strong opinions, and it wasn't likely that he would listen to his son even if Joshua put up a good argument. "I think I've got a better chance with Mum if my father doesn't get to her first. She's in the capital right now, though, and I don't have contact details." Josh ran a hand through his inky hair, stressed.
Both of them were red-faced after the unexpected kiss, and Joshua shifted his weight slightly over to his left side and tried to resist breaking eye contact and glancing away. He usually wasn't this shy in this sort of situation--it was somewhat alarming. Why the hell was he even blushing? It wasn't like he'd never kissed a girl before. Huh. Is it Nell's first kiss? He wanted to ask, but felt that might be too personal or something and so he held his tongue. He'd been through his first almost-absolutely-everything by this point, so Josh didn't need to worry about covering his bases, but Nell was a different story. Maybe that was why he was so shy? Because it was her, and not some random sleaze at a party? Yeah, that was probably it. He coughed slightly and managed a nervous smile. She had kissed him back, that was a good sign, right? They were technically dating considering they had both confirmed as such, but even though they'd had that status for a couple of weeks, this was the first time Joshua had acted on it. Then Nell spoke, and he joined in her nervous laughter. "Yeah, I try." He really was trying, too, which was the weirdest thing about all of this. It was usually purely impulsive and without much thought on his part, but he was thinking about this all right. "Generic 'thank yous' are a lot less entertaining." He ducked his head again with the attempt at a joke. Holy crap, this was both awkward and simultaneously hilarious, so much that he didn't know how to handle it. Neither did she, apparently, so he didn't feel too bad.
Now that the whole awkward stage was over with--so this means she's really my girlfriend, yeah?--Joshua decided that he was sick of hanging around this seedy park. "Let's go do something fun," he said decisively. He pulled his wallet out the pocket of his jeans, a wallet that had been given back to him as he was leaving. "I doubt he's thought to terminate my credit card, so I'll just spend a shitload of his money before he does." He said this with complete seriousness, obviously not kidding. He was angry at Donovan for not believing in his son's innocence, so why should he have enough respect for the man that he would resist such things? "I could probably use my bank card, too. I haven't spent much of my... ah, allowance, I guess you could call it." |
[/colour] It stacked up over the months every single time he didn't go on any shopping sprees, so he had a respectable amount. Unlike most teenagers, Joshua also didn't have to worry about a college fund. College tuition at the Academy wasn't too expensive and his parents were paying for medical school, so it wasn't any skin off his back. So he was pretty bent set on spending a ton of money, but where could they go? There were a lot of places to have fun in the Hollow, but he wanted something that was both interesting and had the potential to be expensive. This was a rotten and ungrateful thing to be doing to his parents, but fuck them right now. They would have left him there. That was when it hit him. "Wanna head to the mall? We could watch movies or buy shit or troll the food court, I don't really care as long as it costs." It was funny, really. A lot of people would look around for cheap things to do in a city, and Joshua was currently viewing this with a 'the more expensive, the better' outlook. But really, didn't Donovan owe him this? He certainly thought so. "Are you comfortable with spending even more?" he asked after a pause, seeing as she'd just spent a shit ton of her father's money on bailing him out of jail. "Cause I really don't have a spending limit. The more the merrier." He didn't even care that this was making him out to sound like a giant douchebag. "What do you want to do?" It was nice to ask, after all. He didn't mind if she'd rather go somewhere else. (Again... as long as it was expensive!)[/div][/center] GO ON CRUSH ME LIKE A FLOWER, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. COME ON STRIP ME OF MY POWER, BEAT ME WITH YOUR CHAINS. AND IF I'M THE KING OF COWARDS, YOU'RE THE QUEEN OF PAIN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . [/td][/tr][/table][/center]
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Aug 17, 2011 16:51:03 GMT -5
”Threatening…messages…” she repeated, eyes wide. Sweet baby Jesus, this chick was nuts. She felt terrible for Josh having to deal with that, someone so horrible and icky. She shook her head a bit to clear it of the creeped out shock she felt, and said, ”No…yeah, evidence is good.” Disturbing evidence was even better. She didn’t want to imagine having to deal with someone like that. But you can. There was her aunt the one time she’d gotten hold of her number—and she still hadn’t forgiven her father for even that much—and her threats were very, very real. But she wasn’t creepy so much as goddamn infuriating. Angel was just something else. She wanted to be the optimist and say the police will definitely listen to his side of the story, but her preconceptions of law made her a bit more doubtful. But still, she felt the need to say, ”Sure they’ll listen to your side.” But inside, she was thinking of how no one had cared about her side. But his family wasn’t obstructing justice, right? Hey, that’s a crime. She pushed these thoughts aside when he brought up the fact that the evidence was at his house. Right. Well, a change of plans would be better. ”Your parents are more reliable than the police, so that’s good. They’d be more inclined to listen to you than anyone else.” Please, please, please let her be right for once. Even so, she knew she wasn’t, because his parents were pissed at him. But he was their son, that had to make a differene. Oh look, another string of hope she can cling to. ”When is she coming back? You can tell her then.” Trish seemed really nice, aside from the whole grounding thing. Parents do it all the time, Nell, stop it.
She wasn’t aware that both of them were feeling their way through this situation, the whole relationship thing, and so she was curious as to why Josh was blushing too. On her part, she simply assumed that since he slept around that he must also have had a lot experience with actually dating people. Therefore, he shouldn’t have been as awkward as her. Right? Or maybe this was how it should be, the whole awkward, funny feeling she had right then. Like butterflies in her stomach and awkwardness all over the place. Her research didn’t say anything about that. Jeez, you’re becoming just like Josh. But how else was she supposed to know about this stuff? She could ask her girl friends, but she didn’t want to seem naïve around them to. So now she was left wondering what they hell she was doing here. And she just wasn’t aware of the fact that Josh was having much the same problem, but she was clued in since he was acting all awkward too. Are all relationships like this, or is it just us? In any case, she was joking right back, saying, ”They definitely are.” She was okay with kissing, she guessed. It must have been the fact that it was a whole new experience and she was feeling more like a fish out of water than ever that had her so flushed and embarrassed. ”We should do this again sometime,” was her own attempt at a pathetic joke, accompanied by the same light laughter and the same heat coloring her cheeks.
Moving past that, Nell was overjoyed at the prospect of fun. Fun was good. Fun wasn’t jail. ”All right,” she agreed, looking at him expectantly since it seemed he had something in mind. And when he pulled out his wallet, she was blown away by his words. So she wasn’t the only passive aggressive asshole in existence? How reassuring. Listening to his plan for spending mass amounts of money, Nell said, ”Sounds like a great plan to me. Spending out of spitefulness, I’m guessing?” Please, please, please let it be that. Just so she knew that she wasn’t being a complete dirtbag in spending as much money of her father’s as possible. That was what Josh was planning to do, right? Grinning at Josh as he listed of things they could spend money on, she said in a mock infomercial salesman tone, ”We can do all that, and more!” Way to be awesomely corny, Nell, way to be. She gave him a sly look. ”I’m more than comfortable,” she said. She was freaking enthusiastic about spending more of her father’s money. You’re a terrible, terrible person. But in that case, so was Josh. But it wasn’t the same, she told herself. He was pissed at his father right now because he wouldn’t bail him out of jail—somehow that seemed more okay to her than spending a man’s money because he left the family and thought he could find his way back into her life through materialistic means. No matter how much she justified it, she knew she shouldn’t be doing it. She should confront her father about it all. But whenever she tried, she ended up getting so pissed off that she just stomped away. Absurd amounts of spending was a good way to channel her bitterness.
The more the merrier? ”That’s my favorite kind of logic.” She had her own credit card and extra cash in her pocket from the ATM. Of course, she had to go into her father’s account quite a few times since it only gave out five hundred dollar bills at a time. Her father would probably notice that, but he hadn’t questioned her so far. And she knew that he probably thought he was actually getting through to her, which made her feel a little worse about the entire situation. The fact that he wasn’t even saying anything to her worried the girl a bit, but she didn’t dwell on it. Their relationship was scewed up enough as it is without her putting so much thought into it. ”We can start with the mall and raid it. Most of my money will be going toward the food court, no surprise there.” She also would go and get some clothes probably, anything to join in on Josh’s crazy money spending. ”You wanna walk there, because I can just leave my car here.” Josh definitely did not need to experience a ride inside her PT Cruiser. That would probably just scar him for life.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 17, 2011 19:42:50 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width:380px; height:200px; background-image: url(http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss283/amostprofoundseduction/paper1.jpg); padding:3px 10px 10px 10px; border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px;] I'M NOTHING BUT A TIN MAN, DON'T FEEL ANY PAIN. rusted from the rain,
I STUMBLE THROUGH THE WRECKAGE, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO SALVAGE, NO ONE LEFT TO BLAME. AMONG THE BROKEN MIRRORS, I DON'T LOOK THE SAME - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . Nell seemed shocked by the fact that she'd sent him threatening messages in the past, and he nodded a little gravely. "They started out pretty simple," he told her. "Things like 'If you don't pay me, I'll sell the story to the press' and stuff like that. But once I moved back in with my parents and I had more money to give, it started to get worse. She threatened to break into the house and steal things, even threatened my life once." Josh shuddered and shook his head. "I thought she was just playing it up, but now I'm starting to realise she might have been serious." It was scary to consider the fact that Joshua actually had a genuine stalker. He'd never had to deal with anything like this before, to be honest. He wondered what sort of thing Nell was expecting from Angel. Honesty. Right. "I could let you listen to the messages," he offered. "Provided I can get back into the house and get my cellphone." He didn't consider how scary or frightening this might be to Nell, someone who was an outsider in the situation and who didn't know Angel personally. If he had noticed the fact that she was freaked out, he might have dropped the subject indefinitely. "She should be home soon, I think. The conference is over today and she has to fly back. Sometimes she'll stay a few days longer but... I think my father might call her." He gave an awkward cough.
Normal people might have hesitated to admit to something that could be potentially demeaning to their character. Joshua, however, had no qualms about admitting flaws in his character, especially not when they felt justified like right about now. "Spitefulness, indeed. He'll regret doubting me when he sees the bill." Joshua may or may not have been digging himself into a hole here--he didn't know how much trouble he would get into for spending all of this money, but at the moment he didn't care enough to think on it. His father usually didn't care how much Joshua spent--the boy had gained full access to the inheritance the moment he turned eighteen, rather than having to wait for Donovan to die instead. The same had happened with Donovan himself when he'd came of age. Even still, that access could be cut off at any time. "You like spending a lot of money, too, eh?" His gray eyes were glittering with amusement. He was such a terrible influence on his fr--no, she was his girlfriend now, had to get used to that now--girlfriend, and it was even more sad that he didn't even notice it himself. He'd nearly gotten them arrested and now here he was authorising a spending spree of possibly thousands of dollars each. "It'll be fun," he mused. "I may not be as gay as my grandfather hopes, but I can certainly shop." He threw her a wink and an amused grin. He had been shopping for himself since before he'd even hit his teens, so he was accustomed to the world of the shopping centre--even though he usually shopped designer, the thought was the same.
That gave him a good idea. "Hey--we could hit the strip, afterwards," he told Nell. Realising that she hadn't grown up here and probably didn't know what 'the strip' was, and--not wanting her to think he meant strip club--he quickly clarified, "Um, the strip is this street full of really expensive shops in the upper-class bit of town. It's where my family usually gets the shopping done." It was the perfect place to spend a lot of money on things that you could probably buy for a lot cheaper somewhere else. There was also a grand theatre there where they often held plays and the like. It was one place that Joshua usually didn't like being dragged off to. It would be fun if the plays were actually interesting, but many of them held no bearing for Josh. There had been a few times he'd enjoyed himself there, but most turn-outs were pretty mundane. "But the mall should definitely be our first stop. There's a Dairy Queen in the food court, and I could really do with a sundae. There's probably a Wendy's, too, and I love their sea salted French fries." It made his mouth water even thinking about it. Laughing, he nudged Nell playfully. "I think you may just be rubbing off on me." He was vegetarian, but that didn't imply that he had absolutely no taste. He had foods that he both hated and enjoyed just like almost every other person. Almost... because Nell had implied that she could eat anything. This still amused him.
"Yeah, we can walk," Joshua confirmed with a smile. Nell seemed to be alright with it and he didn't want to waste more of her money on gas or something. Besides, walking together was nice and it gave them a chance to enjoy the outdoors. Chatter was becoming a natural habit of his now. Nell had taught him how to behave in a friendship, and now they were just going to have to get the hang of a relationship, too. Eventually they reached the mall, and Joshua glanced at the map, immediately singling out the locations of the food court, bookstore (of course) and movie theatre. "Food court first?" he suggested with a barely hidden grin. He wanted his sundae and fries and he was pretty sure Nell would be good for business in the court. "I haven't eaten all day," he mused. "All the same, we'd better save room for some popcorn. I could go for a movie... or maybe two." He grinned wider, and if this had been a film like that which they might be going to see, there would be dollar signs in Joshua's eyes. True to his hopes, the food court in question did indeed have Wendy's. He got himself a large fries and a large soda, sitting down at one of the tables. For someone that didn't smile a lot, he seemed to be a in a pretty good mood. Thank goodness for Nell, or he'd be miserable behind bars right now. "Ten bucks doesn't feel like enough," he huffed in complete after a swallow. "Ah well. At least I can hit up D-Q after."
GO ON CRUSH ME LIKE A FLOWER, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. COME ON STRIP ME OF MY POWER, BEAT ME WITH YOUR CHAINS. AND IF I'M THE KING OF COWARDS, YOU'RE THE QUEEN OF PAIN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . |
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Aug 18, 2011 2:54:51 GMT -5
Josh’s descriptions were not helping Nell out, and even though the weather was warm, she felt very cold. It took several mouth movements where nothing came out before she managed a distressed, ”How many people do you have after you, Josh, because I’m really worried.” Her eyes were plates in her head. First he had the whole gang business, which was bad enough in itself since he almost died and now he had a psycho stalker? He just seemed to pull trouble toward him like a magnet. And still, Nell didn’t think once that maybe she shouldn’t be around him for her own safety. She was more worried about Josh than what could happen to her getting involved with a guy like him. ”Let me listen…to the messages,” she repeated slowly, which she seemed to be doing a lot. I would certainly appreciate the nightmares, thanks. ”Sure, I guess that’s fine…” But none of this was fine, at all. It was very, very disturbing and wrong and creepy. She didn’t know that Josh could get himself into shit like this, she didn’t know whether to be impressed or frightened. Especially since this basically came out of nowhere, and it apparently had been going on for a while. She guessed she should have known better, since he was so good at keeping secrets. ”Well, all right. That’s good, I guess.” Or maybe not, she didn’t know. She didn’t know how any of this would work out.
Okay, good, she wasn’t alone in the asshole thing. But she wasn’t about to admit that out loud to Josh, oh no. Just because they were similar in that aspect didn’t make her feel like any less of a jerk about it. ”Spitefulness is the best reason to go on a shopping spree,” she said matter-of-factly. It was the reason for her sprees after all. The question of her spending lots of money, well… ”When the mood is right,” she said noncommittally but the half-smile revealed that it was supposed to be a joke. When it came to her father, yes, very much so. But even then, she used her own money to pay for living expenses. She wasn’t going to slide by in life with her father’s money. She just used it for the excess stuff. That way she knew she was surviving on her own while still getting all the revenge she wanted. Just as Josh was about to do. Nell snorted about the Patrick comment. Well, he was obviously not as gay as his grandfather said considering he had a girlfriend. And she was ver sure about the whole girl part, even though she was still wondering about being a girlfriend. But she guessed it wasn’t too hard to understand. She could get the hang of it, right? ”As long as I’m getting rid of some money, of course it’ll be fun.” Did that sound bad? It probably did, but she didn’t really care.
Nell was greatly amused when he corrected himself about the strip. Because she did know what it meant in the sense that it was a lot of stores put together. ”So we’re not going to a strip club? Too bad,” she joked, even though she really didn’t know what a strip club actually was (she had a general idea). Should she ask, or would that be weird. Motioning with her hands, she asked, ”Uhh…what is a strip club exactly, Josh?” She'd never actually been inside one after all, but she'd heard the term used before, just without context. Anyway, quickly moving on from another thing she barely had a clue about, she thought about what the strip actually was like. Nell found it hard to kick her frugal habits when trying to spend as much as possible. She’d been concerned with finding the cheapest things for so long, it was now more or less a habit for her. A habit she should really kick if she was going to ruin her father. Way to be bitter. ”A sundae? Or do you mean three or four?” She grinned, remembering the things she’d learned about him in their game of twenty questions, his sweet tooth being one of them. It was still funny to think of Josh as having a sweet tooth. ”I’m a very bad influence. Or maybe my eating habits are contagious. Either way you should watch out before you start eating vast quantities of sea salted french fries.” Maybe she wasn’t that into fast food since she tried her best to stay healthy, but it was pretty darn hard to resist.
Nell was very happy about being able to walk. It was pretty nice out after all, and a car ride would mean her apologizing the entire time about the fact that her car sucked instead of holding an actual conversation. The mall came up quickly, though, and she left Josh in charge with directions and all that. Big buildings with lots of rooms was like a trap built especially for her. ”Speak for yourself, mister, I always have room for…well, everything.” Nell was basically always hungry, and there was no need to point that out since Josh was already very much aware of how much damage she could do. When she got herself two baconators, she wondered if she should be eating so much meat around Josh or if he thought that to be insensitive. But she always needed to get at least two burgers, no matter how huge they were. Nell would have suggested he’d gotten more than fries if he wanted to make a dent, but considering fast food places didn’t necessarily cater to vegetarians, she figured he wouldn’t be able to get much more. ”You should have gotten two sodas,” she chastised after finishing her first burger in record speed. She sighed, shaking her head. ”That’s the downfall of getting fast food, unfortunately. It’s just too cheap.” But apparently Josh had really wanted his fries. Now that she thought about it, there was a lot of irony in the fact they were disappointed in the cheapness of the food. ”I guess that’s where you’ll really do your damage,” she teased Josh, wondering if he could be as bad as her with his sweets.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 18, 2011 12:53:54 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width:380px; height:200px; background-image: url(http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss283/amostprofoundseduction/paper1.jpg); padding:3px 10px 10px 10px; border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px;] I'M NOTHING BUT A TIN MAN, DON'T FEEL ANY PAIN. rusted from the rain,
I STUMBLE THROUGH THE WRECKAGE, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO SALVAGE, NO ONE LEFT TO BLAME. AMONG THE BROKEN MIRRORS, I DON'T LOOK THE SAME - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . As Nell made a hesitant query about how many people were after him, Joshua finally realised that this might have the potential to freak her out much more than he had thought. "Just them... and her," he said quietly. He didn't like to think about the gang, but he was being honest. He thought about adding Patrick into the mix, but that would really frighten her because even though honesty was a good thing, too much of it could be terrible. His grandfather had ways to access the house and knew a lot more about Joshua than his psychotic stalker and a bunch of washed out gang kids. So he left it at that. "I doubt she'd have actually done anything," he said by way of hopeful reassurance. "She's never attacked me when we're actually hanging around one another, and getting past the security of the mansion is a lot tougher than you'd think, which is why even I'm sceptical about trying to break in without Mum's help." Joshua hoped that he was doing his job of convincing Nell that it really wasn't anything to worry about. "As for the gang, they don't know who I am. I led a bit of a double life when I was with them. They only knew where I was that night because--" He couldn't tell Nell that it had been his own grandfather to sell him out, so instead he thought up a quick work-around, "someone tipped them off." Someone, not his own grandfather. "I don't know who. They never said." Even know he felt guilty lying to her, but Joshua knew that it was for the best.
When Nell joked about strip clubs, Joshua laughed along and figured that she was completely informed about what he'd been waiving. Instead, however, she took the next moment to ask him what a strip club was. Joshua blinked--was she serious? This is Nell, he reminded himself. There are things she's still naive about. Like relationships and the internet. The thought amused him, but he didn't express such amusement aloud. Instead, he said, "A strip club? It's, uh..." Jesus. How did he put this lightly? Nell was a girl and he didn't want her to get too offended by his choice of words. "Uh, it's kind of like a bar, but with strippers. Like, uh, female dancers and stuff." It couldn't get any more awkward if he was trying, and Joshua cleared his throat. "Not that I'd have any personal experiences with them," he added, trying not to sound too hasty. "It's... not my thing." He would go to a bar and flirt with women, but it really did make him uncomfortable. It wasn't how he'd been raised--instead, Donovan had drilled into him that clubs were dirty and they made men into cheaters. He might not have had many morales, but that stuck with him. "Probably the latter," he admitted with a laugh when Nell questioned him about sundaes. He was glad that they could move on from the topic of strip clubs, because if it was awkward to explain in general, it was even more awkward when you were involved with the person you were explaining it to. And very much male.
Joshua did not mind at all when Nell got herself two burgers, understanding that vegetarianism was not for everyone and having no desire to shove that sort of a lifestyle onto everyone else. He even knew how to cook meat from the times he'd babysat Annabel and he was the only one in the house. Of course, like many things, it had been learned from books rather than trial and error, but his sister hadn't complained. "We can go to Northern Lights after," he said with a shrug. "The food is good, but it's so expensive it makes even my head spin. My family eat there a lot." Plus he was old enough to order the wine now, though if Nell agreed to this he probably wouldn't. Drinking around her made him somewhat uncomfortable, if only because of the rather unique way in which they'd become acquainted. "And the damage shall now be done," he grinned as he polished off the last fry and tossed the box into a garbage can before heading over to the Dairy Queen. He did indeed get two of the large sundaes with as many toppings that could be combined without making it taste terrible. The servers gave him a bit of a look, but he just grinned. It didn't take him very long to eat them, either, after he'd sat down. "It feels like it's been forever since I had Dairy Queen," he told Nell with a laugh. "I don't have fast food a lot." When you had rich parents and a personal chef, it was fast food that was the treat rather than going out to eat at a fancy restaurant.
After they had their fill of the food court, the two spent time wandering in and out of the shops, messing around and being typical teenagers in the company of the large mall. Joshua had been purposely avoiding the movie theatre until now, and he smirked a little as the entrance of it yawned in front of them. It took up a good part of the building, not just one of those small little theatres but an actual theatre that could also be entered from outside of the mall itself. "Let's go see what they're playing," he said cheerfully. He actually planned to pick a movie they both wanted to watch, too. Joshua didn't see the point of going to a theatre just to sit there and talk to whomever you were with, disrupting the rest of the people there with stifled giggling. "How about an action movie?" he asked, remembering how Nell had said she was fond of them. He didn't mind action flicks either, and he was glad that she wasn't into chick flicks or he would have probably chickened and backed out. He'd been forced to watch a romantic chick flick once when it hadn't been his say in the selection, and it would have been more entertaining to sit at home and watch paint dry, or grass grow, or something. All they had done was make out, then argue, then have sex, then argue more, then break up, then get back together. Lather, rinse, repeat. It had bored the ever-living fuck out of him. Josh also got himself a large popcorn--"Huh. Free refills. I guess I'll have to conveniently 'forget' the bag if I want to pay for seconds..."--and a large drink, quite a stock of candy bars and some nachos as well. It was a bit of a hassle to carry it all, but that was okay. It had cost quite a bit, and that was all Joshua wanted.
GO ON CRUSH ME LIKE A FLOWER, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. COME ON STRIP ME OF MY POWER, BEAT ME WITH YOUR CHAINS. AND IF I'M THE KING OF COWARDS, YOU'RE THE QUEEN OF PAIN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . |
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Aug 18, 2011 16:24:04 GMT -5
‘Just them and her’ like it wasn’t a lot of people at all, even though it was still pretty terrifying. But she still believed him when he said that, finding no reason for him to be hiding anyone else. Because it wasn’t normal for one person to have so many people after them, and one more would be quite astounding. Of course, she had people after her but they weren’t stalkers or gang affiliated. Well, there is Jane, but— She shook her head a little bit to keep her mind from going anywhere else when he was trying to assure her that it wasn’t as bad as it seemed because this chick was basically all talk. ”Oh jeez, forgot about the whole mansion security deal,” she said, feeling momentarily like an idiot. Right, big houses with nice things usually had cameras and electric gates and shit like that. As for the gang, she was about to ask who it was that sold him out, but that thought was quickly brushed aside when he said he didn’t even know who they were. And again, she believed him. Benefit of the doubt and all. ”Okay then,” she said slowly, though there was still apprehension working its way through her gut. ”You sure you’ll be all right though?”
[/b] It was kind of scary, thinking of how much trouble he was in. The gang business was bad enough, but now a stalker? Nell blinked up at him with curiosity, feeling more comfortable asking him these sorts of questions than she usually was with others. Because by now he should have realized how ignorant of everything she truly was, where with other people it was just the whole naïve thing. And she’d rather have them think she was a innocent little girl than what had really happened. And when he very awkwardly explained, she hit her forehead with the palm of her hand, rather unaware of just how bad this was for Josh. ”I’m a complete dunce, duh.” Now the politically correct term ‘exotic dancers’ made sense. She first thought that they shipped them in from South America or something, but… Oh. Right. This was kind of difficult for him to have to explain to her. ”I believe you,” she said simply, still relatively naïve about it all. She’d really need to actually go to one or at least watch more TV to understand what it really was about. Nodding, she was rather excited about going to Northern Lights. Not only was it a restaurant, but it was an expensive restaurant. She found herself wondering how much her father checked his bank account, and hid the grin she acquired from that thought behind her burger. ”I’ve been there a few times,” she said, still smiling with the gleeful thought of spending money. Of course mainly it was going out with her father when he wanted to have father/daughter bonding moments or talk about things in Spanish that they really shouldn’t talk about in public places. He had been especially surprised by her appetite, and when he made note of it she was at the ready with a comback about the fact absentee fathers don’t notice much. When will this anger go away? At this point, never, but she could at least channel it into heavy spending with Josh. Speaking of Josh, she was rather interested to see just how much sugar he could consume and if he wasn’t just exaggerating about the number of sundaes he would eat. Before getting her own sundaes with less toppings, she gave him a round of applause. ”Kudos to you,” she complimented, adding a little bow in. ”I was doubting your sweet tooth, but now I see the error of my ways.” Even she couldn’t handle that much sugar (she was trying with the healthy diet thing, dammit) and so she had to give Josh his dues. Speaking of health... ”I try to avoid fast food. But unfortunately Burger King is right across the street, and when there’s not food at my place at two in the morning…” Cost used to be an issue for her, and it still was considering she used her father’s money for shit like this. Plus, she wasn’t worried about gaining too much weight, because she made efforts to keep it off. She certainly wasn’t high maintenance (what would she be now spending her father’s money?) but she needed to stay healthy for the amount of food she consumed on a daily basis. It was kind of weird doing something with Josh that she usually did with her normal friends. Because she realized that they didn’t ever really have a normal friendship—and now relationship, she guessed—and so shopping sprees weren’t usually something they did together. But it was much more fun with someone who had a lot of money, especially now that she had money. Speaking of money, the theater was a good place to spend some considering their prices were astronomical. How the heck did I ever afford this before papa came along? Then she remembered it was mostly rented movies, to avoid the price of movie tickets. ”Action movie sounds great.” Of course they did—explosions, sweaty guys, Steven Seagal… Oh wait, he’s too old now. In any case, most any movie would be okay with her, she could never really complain about the cinema she watched. She snorted about conveniently forgetting the bag of popcorn, considering most people would be hellbent on remembering it for refills. At least movie theater portions were huge, and a large tub of popcorn with extra butter was enough for her. You’re jogging five miles tomorrow, missy. As if her habits weren’t already bad enough. After the movie was over, she looked to Josh, and asked, ”Where to next, oh great spender?” She grinned as she said it, feeling only a little bad that she was having so much fun sucking the life from her father’s bank account. [/size] [/blockquote] [/blockquote][/justify]
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 18, 2011 17:15:04 GMT -5
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=style, width:380px; height:200px; background-image: url(http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss283/amostprofoundseduction/paper1.jpg); padding:3px 10px 10px 10px; border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px; -moz-border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px;] I'M NOTHING BUT A TIN MAN, DON'T FEEL ANY PAIN. rusted from the rain,
I STUMBLE THROUGH THE WRECKAGE, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO SALVAGE, NO ONE LEFT TO BLAME. AMONG THE BROKEN MIRRORS, I DON'T LOOK THE SAME - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . The guilt rose like a lump in his throat as Nell easily accepted his lying, but internally he knew that it was for the best. This wasn't her problem and so it was in Joshua's belief that any involvement that she had in it should be minimum. It wasn't her fault that Patrick was a giant troll and a douchebag, and so she shouldn't have to deal with the baggage that came with such family problems. "I'll be fine," he reassured her, and he even managed to give a smile to back it up. "Do you really underestimate me that much?" He was only kidding, however. Nell's faith in him seemed to be constant and unwavering no matter what he did or who he admitted to having hung around. Former gang affiliation? Sure, why can't we have a friendship? Casanova romantic history? Heck, why wouldn't I go out with you? The longer he thought about it the more of an ass he felt, so he tried not to think about it and instead concentrated on Nell. "The messages aren't even that bad, you'll see. I just kept them in case my parents found out." He didn't want them to think that he was leeching their bank account for no reason. Josh always felt guilty whenever he took his parents' money for Angel's sakes. It was different when he spent a lot of money for his own benefit. That was either out of revenge or out of boredom, and he doubted his parents would mind as long as he gave an explanation of why so much had went missing. This had been for someone else, someone that wasn't even a friend in need. He'd bailed his friends out of tough spots like being unable to pay rent before and his parents had understood, but this was different. The fact that he'd thought she was pregnant made it worse. How would he have explained that?
He felt kind of sorry for Nell when she smacked her palm against her forehead, not wanting to make her feel like an idiot. "Nah, it's alright," he insisted. "I don't think you're an idiot. One person can't know everything, after all." It actually sort of relieved him that she was ignorant of strip clubs and stuff like that, because that meant there was one element of extreme jealousy and suspicion that they could keep out of their already-somewhat-awkward relationship. He had been telling the truth when he'd said that strip clubs weren't his thing, but girls that understood the full workings of said clubs might not have so willingly accepted the answer. "Besides, it's better to ask me and be informed than to just remain ignorant of this kinda thing, right?" Awkward as it had been, Josh really didn't mind if she asked for his explanation or opinion of some things. He didn't see Nell as 'less' than anyone else just because she didn't know what going out entailed, or because she'd never been to a strip club. It was actually adorable in its own little way. She was so innocent compared to him that it was laughable. Definitely not the type of girl someone would expect a guy like Joshua to go out with. "Thanks," he said when she told him that she believed him. The trust meant a lot to Josh. He had given her his trust and it was nice to have it in return.
Joshua had to hand it to the filmmakers, the movie wasn't quite as plotless as he'd been expecting, and he even managed to make the one bag of popcorn last the entire time because of the fact that he didn't want to get up halfway through. No bathroom breaks or snack attacks for Joshua. He didn't go to the movies often and when he did it was usually with his kid sister and never a movie that the both of them would actually enjoy. His parents just insisted on buying a movie from the On-Demand feature in their cable and watching at home in the 'theatre'. He usually agreed to this, because he wasn't usually trying to drain their bank account like some leech. "That was great," he commented to Nell after a swallow of the last candybar he'd gotten, having already finished everything else. He still felt like he had a little more room for food, but he probably wouldn't be able to hold an entire meal at Northern Lights until his stomach settled a bit, so he replied, "Hmm... let's hit up the strip." With a devilish little smirk on his face, he winked at her. "Not strip club." He wasn't poking fun at her naivety but rather just cracking a joke at his own expense. He'd been the one to bring strip clubs into the conversation in the first place after all. Uncomfortable as it had been for both he and Nell, he didn't really regret bringing it up. It wasn't so bad, after all. She trusted him (thank goodness), he didn't judge her (of course not), so they were all good.
"Huh. It'll be a bit of a walk, too bad I don't have my car and we left yours back there." Outside, he gestured in the general direction of the police station. "Oh well, we need to walk off all the shit we just ate anyway. I can drive us around in my Lambo some other time." He chuckled as he said this. That would be fun, cruising around the streets in his Lamborghini with Nell and attracting as much attention as humanely possible. He loved his car and he loved the attention that it grabbed, but right now it was probably a good thing they were left walking. The much more commercial area that the mall was in slowly changed to neater streets and more expensive store fronts as they moved away toward the fancier part of the hollow. There were nice cars here--perhaps not all of the sports car type, but at least better than beat up box-like things. "This is the strip," he chuckled. Northern Lights was down a nearby street, as was the Blackjack bar. "This is a favourite store of mine," he said, leading the way into a small but well-stocked building. Everything here was designer brand, and the reason it was Joshua's favourite didn't even have to be spoken aloud--there was a back wall with an impressive array of shades on display. "I could definitely use a new pair... or two..." He smirked at Nell meaningfully. The spending had only just begun.
GO ON CRUSH ME LIKE A FLOWER, RUSTED FROM THE RAIN. COME ON STRIP ME OF MY POWER, BEAT ME WITH YOUR CHAINS. AND IF I'M THE KING OF COWARDS, YOU'RE THE QUEEN OF PAIN - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . |
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