D E A D by sunrise [Shiloh]

[david brayden oxford]

[/b] As he talked he pulled up directions to the nearest hotel on the GPS. "There's a hotel 7 minutes from here." He looked over at her only to find a doubtful look on her face. "You can sleep in the car if you want, but I'm going."
[/ul]
ooc: If you are going thinking of stalking this thread, definitely go read the entire account of voicemails exchanged between the two up to this point! :][/size]

[shiloh maya west]

on a monday i am waiting and by tuesday
* i am fading into your arms so i can breathe - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shiloh had been living a stressful life recently. It had made her pores huge and so prone to black heads and white heads that it made her want to puke. But, at the current moment, her pores weren’t her biggest issue. It wasn’t even her wardrobe or appearance or grades or anything regarding anything she usually cared about. The main thing in her mind that was just eating her up inside was David. They had had a horrible conversation the other night. The really crappy part was that it started off as innocent fun. They were going to go on a road trip to pick up their project. However, upon the exchange of voicemails, the conversation amounted into something completely different. It had actually come to a point where David challenged her to admit her feelings for him. He still had feelings for her, as he had flat out stated. And while Shiloh felt such a big attraction to him, she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. She couldn’t say it back to him. It wasn’t even the three little words that change relationships; it was just a simple agreement. It should have been simple; they made it into a mountain.

It wasn’t like anything was different, though. The two had always fought like cats and dogs; it was just in their nature. Shiloh could tell hour after hour of stories of them fighting. Sometimes she thought of what they did as just some fun bantering back and forth that always made for some friendly competition—though when the two of them argued, it was more than competition, it was like a battle. But, she loved that kind of thing. Then, of course, there were times when it was less than cordial between the two. They could go after each other like two alpha males fighting over the only piece of steak; they had done that once but they weren’t wolves, obviously. It was one fateful picnic that they had attended when they were younger and the two of them had gotten in late from playing in the park, but that was a whole different story for an entirely different time. Now, she needed her mind to focus on the situation and on David.

It was about seven am on the day that she was due to go on the trip with David. She had slept horribly, again, and so she was staring up at her white ceiling, wishing that she could just go back to sleep. It seemed that sleep was eluding her and had been ever since the two had fought over voicemails. It annoyed her that it had to be over voicemail, of all things. Well, she supposed that it was better than texting or emailing but still, a voicemail? That was just plain pathetic. Anyway, Shiloh had restless sleep every night and she would wake up feeling like crap. Though it had only been a few days, her test grades and just overall academic performance had gone down. That was how much this was getting to her. She hated that she had let herself be so vulnerable, and all over some guy. Some guy that she happened to be totally in love with but that was supposed to be beside the point.

After her very stressful day of school and then a big swim meet after school coupled with Spanish tutoring that she promised she would do, Shiloh was swamped and overly exhausted for their little road trip. She had hoped that everything would go over smoothly on the trip so she could just relax and enjoy the car ride and maybe the music but Shiloh was smarter than that. She knew that the ride would probably be one from hell and that she was just setting herself up for disaster. Somehow, though, she didn’t really seem to care. It was almost that spending time with David outweighed the hell she would be putting herself through to do it. Shiloh figured that she was either going crazy or had already reached crazy—either which way she figured that she should just try and enjoy the ride as best she could—if that was at all possible.

She looked down at the floor, her eyes going back and forth between the hard wood and her shoes. Shiloh was just trying to pass the time until David came to get her. He had threatened her to be ready by eight or he would leave without her. So, she had done something really horrible. She cut out earlier from her swim meet so she could go home and shower and change and be ready for him. It was horrible as she was co-captain of the team and it was like, her job to be there through the whole race. She had just left though, slipped out while the pool was in a bit of chaos, and never bothered looking back. Some would call her irresponsible, but she called it being a dedicated friend. She refused to call it anything to do with the word love though. Shiloh wouldn’t let herself become infatuated with that thought.

When he arrived, she waited a full minute to not make it look like she was too anxious for him before she left her house, locking the door behind her, and walking down to David’s car. She gave him a simple, “Hello,” and got in the front seat, next to him. He had barely acknowledged her presence and took off for the journey before she could buckle herself in. Shiloh felt the tension just pour over her as she sat there. Apparently she had hurt David worse than she thought. She could tell that she was so screwed.

The drive to the house was freakishly quiet. Shiloh only dared to offer a few words every half hour for fear that she would get her head bitten off if she said much more than that. David wasn’t any help as he kept his answers to the minimal amount. When they reached the house, the two were in and out extremely quick, almost before Shiloh could bat an eyelash. They were sweet and cordial to the grandmother but once they had left the house and the door was closed behind them, David was back to hating Shiloh and Shiloh was back to feeling like shit.

Once they got back in the car and headed home, Shiloh turned her head to look out the window and she vowed that she would not say a word to him until they reached her house. There was no way she was going to continue looking like an idiot, attempting to make pointless conversation while David sat there like a bump on a log. She bit her lip to keep herself quite and just looked outside as they drove home in perfect silence. She was so absolute in her plan of ignoring David that it wasn’t until the engine had stopped running that she realized that David had pulled over.

Her eyes widened as she replayed David’s words in her head. She had thought she misheard him the first time he spoke to her but as she thought about it, she realized what he really had said. She was scared out of her mind to spend an evening with David in a hotel but her only other option was to sleep in the car and there was no way that she was going to sleep in a SUV. She unbuckled her seat belt and grabbed her purse, which contained their project from the floor of the car before hopping out and pushing the door shut behind her. “Let’s go,” she said in a clipped tone, finally showing him that she was a bit pissed as well. He wasn’t the only one who got to act like an eight-year-old brat and get away with it. Now that wasn’t fair. Shiloh took off walking towards the hotel, hoping that things might actually get better once they got real food and a chance to get some sleep.

[/font][/blockquote][/blockquote]

finished STATUS!?
hunky david TAGS!?
click here OUTFIT!?
pieces of me - ashlee simpson MUSIC!?
sorry that took a while, hope it's good & i went through so many music choices NOTES!?

[david brayden oxford]

[/b] Without so much as a reason he signaled for her to get into the car. There was a look on her face as she looked over, although it was unknown to him whether the look was from before or if she had yet another reason to be frustrated at him for.

Always been a talent at directions, David knew exactly where he was going after having studied the map a little bit from not too long ago. In less time than the GPS had suggested, due to a total lack of traffic, they had arrived at a well-decorated Four Seasons hotel. The place was expensive, but they would soon find out that it was pricey for a reason. The brightly lit building stood tall as he pulled up along the entrance side. The car was taken care of almost immediately as a service-person approached them and offered to park the car in the garage. At the sight of the hotel, David was relieved, knowing that it was not some shady run-down hotel with horrible services. However, his heart was a bit unsettling, as if having a bad feeling about what was yet to come.

Walking into the lobby at around thirty minutes until eleven that night, he realized that the hotel was filled with people. Trying to tell himself that there would be enough room so that he would not have to end up sharing a room with Shiloh he made his way toward the front desk. "Two single rooms please." Things would have turned out better if either one of them were smokers since unfortunately, as the clerk pointed out, there was only one non-smoking room left unoccupied. Turning to look at Shiloh, who was standing next to him, he noticed that there was a gift shop of some sort not far behind her. His eyes shifted to the gift shop for a split second and then dismissed the view, focusing back on the girl. "I think I should get the room. I have to drive in the morning and I need to actually sleep well." Hoping that she would just agree with his logic and avoid a fight over this, he waited for her to answer. Surely she was not going to make this easy for him, however, as he was sure of it. Why would she willingly take up a room in the smoking sections, allowing for herself to suffocate through the thick cancer-causing smog while he comfortably rested in the non-smoker room like a king. He really didn't think this through well enough.
[/ul][/size]

[shiloh maya west]

on a monday i am waiting and by tuesday
* i am fading into your arms so i can breathe - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shiloh didn’t want to be with David right now. She wanted to be in a pool, swimming, or in a bed, sleeping. Hell, she would rather be with her boyfriend, making out—and that was even after she had told him if he wanted her, he wouldn’t be able to kiss her. It wasn’t insane if you knew the circumstances. The really long-winded story, shortened, was that Shiloh was seething with anger at him. That message she had left on his cell phone last night, the one where she was calling him a crap load of names, well, Shiloh was really starting to believe that that was how she felt about him. He couldn’t even try to be nice to her or make conversation with her. She had no idea, now, why she had decided to come on the trip. It was one of the stupidest mistakes she had ever made. Well, it actually came in second, now that she thought about it. The first mistake was how she could have liked David in the first place. Shiloh had no idea how she could have falling for such an ass in the first place.

She started to walk along the deserted road, in the direction of the hotel. She crossed her arms over her chest as she went. What she really wanted to do was sleep and leave him and this place. Maybe she would go away for a week just to rid herself of this horrible feeling that she had. She looked down at the gravel as she thought about how she had felt that past week. Shiloh had slept horribly, eaten junk food, snapped at everyone, nearly punched her twin, and just failed all of her tests. And it was all for some guy who didn’t even have the decency to make one pathetic conversation with her? She was so messed up.

Shiloh heard a car starting behind her and she glanced over her shoulder to see David starting up the SUV again and driving towards her. Once he had reached her, he slowed and told her to get in. She rolled her eyes as she continued to walk on. Shiloh weighed her options and it took her a good minute to force herself to realize that the smart thing to do was get in the car. While being in an enclosed space with David was the last thing she wanted to do, she knew it was the most logical thing to do and so she walked in front of his car and got in on the passenger side, slamming the door once she was safely inside.

She didn’t say anything for the duration of the ride to the hotel and she didn’t plan on saying anything else to him for the rest of the trip. Once they had gotten to the counter, David asked for two separate rooms—smart of him. When they were informed that there was only one non-smoking room left, Shiloh’s blood began to boil. There was no way she was going to share a room with him. Apparently David thought the same thing as he turned to her and suggested that he take the non-smoking room.

Shiloh thought his argument was complete crap and any other day she would have completely shot him down on the idea but now, he wasn’t even worth her time. She didn’t even respond but rather, just turned to the next employee behind the counter and asked for a queen bed in a smoking room. The woman nodded and began to ring her up. Shiloh got her credit card out of her purse and placed it on the counter along with her Driver’s License. The woman thanked her and continued on with the transaction. It wasn’t very long until Shiloh was signing the receipt and getting handed her room key.

Quickly grabbing them off the counter, she thanked the woman and turned to David, saying in a very pissed off tone as she didn’t want to talk to him in the first place, “See you tomorrow. Oh and I have my phone should you feel the need to cuss me out sometime tonight. ” With that she left the counter and walked over to the bank of elevators, selecting the up button. The doors dinged immediately and Shiloh stepped in and pressed the button to go up to her floor. She couldn’t wait to get away from David.

[/font][/blockquote][/blockquote]

finished STATUS!?
hunky david TAGS!?
click here OUTFIT!?
pieces of me - ashlee simpson MUSIC!?
oh yeah, we were totally planning for all of this to happen NOTES!?

[david brayden oxford]

[/b] He yelled at the man as he swung his right fist directly across the man’s face. Adrenaline took over and David jumped across the desk leaving his credit card and driver’s license on the floor as he dropped them. Grabbing the man by his collar as he lied on the floor, David shouted into his face, eyes burning through his. ”You got something to say!? Say it to my face fucker!” The woman who processed Shiloh’s payment called for the security, and David, not wanting to get beaten up yet, released the man and got up. Walking around the desk he picked up the credit card and driver’s license, only to realize that the rest of the lobby was filled with eyes of judgment upon him. Some babies were in there too, crying at the mess David had made, so obnoxious as if they were crying in a movie theatre and he was sitting right next to them.

He couldn’t hold it back anymore as he confronted the rest of the people. ”What?! You never seen a fucking pissed off teenager before? You know what, you can all go and kiss my fucking ass! And you people with kids, fucking cover up their ears when someone’s throwing out cuss words, you assholes!” The security approached him and he, trying to retain any sort of dignity, walked out of the lobby door on his own. As he exited he realized that his car was already there waiting for him. Grabbing the car keys he quickly got into the car and drove off, leaving the lively light show behind him as he drove into the dimly lit streets yet again. In the end he still could not summon up the courage to be a bigger man. Meanwhile the woman at the front desk made her way up to Shiloh’s room to inform her of what has happened, and offered to switch her from her room to the on David was going to take.

He didn’t care if the engine would give up as he sped through the streets. Hell, he didn’t even care if the car were to blow up in flames, taking his life in the process. Blasting random Brand New music he drove around trying to find a liquor store. Before he could find one, however, he was stopped by a police officer who had written him a few tickets for speeding and loudness of music. He waited for the police officer to leave, sitting in his car with his windows rolled up cursing his luck. Driving carefully and quietly, forcing himself to do so, he made his way to a 24-7 liquor store. Shady as it seemed, David still found an impressive collection of alcoholic drinks throughout the store. Picking up a few bottles of beer he paid for them with his fake ID. The cashier didn’t seem interested in a real ID. He probably dealt with enough of teenagers illegally buying alcohol on a daily basis anyway.

Making his way back to the bowling alley he parked the car in a parking space close to the one he was in the first time they had stopped there. Opening a bottle of beer he basically chugged it dry, with a powerful urge to smash the empty bottle against the windshield. Taking out his phone he stared at the screen, which was a picture of him and Shiloh together. He couldn’t tell if he was getting angrier or sadder as he stared at the picture. He just knew that there was a terrible ache in his heart. Pulling up his contact list he scrolled the menu down to Shiloh and pressed “options.” The selection “delete” lit up in white and lingered as he stared. His thumb almost pressing down to confirm the deletion he pulled it back forcefully, knowing that he would probably regret it later. The selection switched to “call” and his thumb lingered in air for even longer this time. He knew if he called she would not pick up, and he sure as hell didn’t want to leave another voicemail, and neither did he want to text her. Yet he wanted to pressed that button and just call her. Grabbing another bottle of beer he popped it open and took a rather large sip.[/ul][/size]

[shiloh maya west]

on a monday i am waiting and by tuesday
* i am fading into your arms so i can breathe - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shiloh stood in the elevator with her arms crossed, staring at the doors. She bit her lip as she thought about what had just happened. She wasn’t pleased; in fact, she was pretty damn furious at David and the whole situation. Her grasp on her key card tightened, as she grew tenser. Shiloh thought about how he was acting like an ass and making her feel horrible about herself. She swallowed, attempting to make all of the negative thoughts go away but David had done such a good job engraining them all in her brain that his words were like a song stuck on repeat, playing on a loop, over and over again.

She was so tense that by the time she reached her floor, she could barely move herself off the elevator. The doors started to slide close when Shiloh stuck her hand out to stop them, which they promptly did and started to open up again. She cocked her head to the right and the left and then stepped out of the elevator and onto the carpeted hallway. The smell of smoke wafted towards her as soon as she stood still. Her nose wrinkled at the scent that soon filled the hallway. Why people would choose to smoke and submit themselves to lung cancer was really beyond her. Looking down at the key card in her hand, she located the number she was looking for and she started to walk through the halls to find her room. It wasn’t long before she found her door and slid the card in. Upon seeing the green light, she twisted the handle open and entered the room where she would sleep. Luckily for her, the stench wasn’t quite as bad as she expected it to be but it certainly wasn’t as nice as a non-smoking room.

Shiloh let the door swing closed behind her as she stood near the bathroom, looking at the bed. The room wasn’t actually all that bed. It was modern with crisp, clean lines and colors. She nodded, thinking that she might be able to survive just a night in the room. Besides, she would always be able to wander the non-smoking hallways if she needed a breath of fresh air. Her eyes went to the balcony and the sliding door. Shiloh walked over to glass and unlatched the lock, sliding the door open to reveal the balmy summer air. It hit her like a ton of bricks and she broke into a wide grin. Never, in her life, had she been so happy for fresh, outside air, as she was at that moment.

Looking to the left, she noticed that there was a chair and she promptly sad down in it. She let her eyes flutter closed as she sat still, letting the breeze wash over her. Her mind drifted away from the smoke filled hotel room and the balcony and went to David. She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She tried to take herself out of that time and place and think of the David that she always dreamt of. That David was pretty much a gentleman and an amazing guy to be around. She always had this dream of them in park and him being on the swing set, so obviously it was a little kid’s playground but the two of them didn’t care. He was swinging and she came walking along, not looking the happiest. He used to say hi to her and call her over. He would talk to her, trying to make her feel better. Eventually she ended up laughing and then she sat down on him, except she was opposite the way he was sitting so that she was facing him. It was like that silly spider they used to make on a swing as kids. She giggled as he tried to swing but they nearly fell over from the extra weight. She always felt so happy when she was just hanging out with him, not really worrying about anything. Then, he would look into her eyes and lean in and—a knocked interrupted her daydream. She opened her eyes and quickly stood up, walking back into the room and sliding the door closed behind her.

Once she reached the door, she was surprised to see that it was not David but rather the female who had checked her in. Shiloh opened the door with a polite smile and asked if there was anything she could do for the woman. She feared that the woman was here to tell her credit card had been declined for some inane reason but what came out of the girl’s mouth was nothing of that nature. Shiloh looked at her as she said that she had a non-smoking room just become available and asked if she would like to have it. Giving her a perplexed look, she inquired as to where this room had come from. The woman looked away, almost nervously, when she told her that the male at the desk had decided to leave. Biting her lip, she looked at the woman who looked to be in her mid to late twenties. Shiloh leaned against the doorframe as she crossed her arms. She decided to ask the woman what had happened to make the male leave. At first the woman wouldn’t give up any information but eventually, Shiloh managed to glean that David had caused some sort of scene and walked out of the hotel without actually getting a room. It took her only a second before she agreed to come with the woman to the new room.

The trip to the new room took about a minute and when the two stepped off of the elevator, Shiloh breathed in a sigh of relief. There was no hint of smoke, at all, and she was happy to have escaped the other floor. Once at the door, Shiloh exchanged her key with the woman and she left, allowing Shiloh to have her privacy whilst viewing the room. The room, at least in Shiloh’s eyes, was a million times better than the other room upstairs. That fact didn’t seem to make her feel too much better about the other issue that was going through her mind. What had caused David to do such a thing? Shiloh had no clue.

Sighing, she walked over to the bed and took a seat on the edge. She let her purse slide off of her shoulder and fall onto the floor with a thud. Shiloh bent down to pull her phone out of her purse. She grabbed the device and lie back on the fluffy bed. Running her fingers over the keys, she looked at her phone’s background, which was currently a picture of her and Nicole at the airport with security. It was about a week ago that her phone was a picture of her and David when they went to a party. The two were smiling and laughing and looked like they were the happiest teens in the world. She had changed it after their voicemail fight. Biting her lip, she went to open her phone and look at the inside screen. Naturally, her fingers went to the speed dial from which she could make a call or send a text. Shiloh went down to the one that said David. Her finger rested on the send button as she stared at her phone. She couldn’t figure out if she wanted to call him or not. As she was about to close her phone, it vibrated. Before she could think twice, she hit accept. The moment she did, Shiloh started to panic because she didn’t know what she was doing. Freaking out, but not wanting to hang up, she did the only thing she could think of—pretend to be her voicemail. She spoke in a very even and calm tone, “Hi, you’ve reached Shiloh’s phone. I’m not here at the moment but if you leave me a message, I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Here comes the –beeep-” She then became very quiet as David started to talk.

As she listened, tears began to well up in her eyes. She didn’t want to cry because she was afraid that David would hear her and so Shiloh turned over, burying her head into a pillow as she held the phone out next to her. She could still hear him as he apologized and told her that he would pick her up in the morning. She was sad that it had taken all of that for him to realize what a jerk he had been but at the same time, she was equally sad that she had been the cause of it all.

She didn’t turn over for a good five minutes after the phone call ended. She didn’t want to move, didn’t want to think. All she could do was cry into the pillow, feeling like she was a bitch. Finally, she did manage to calm herself down enough to turn her head so she was resting on one cheek. She breathed out and just looked around the room. It was then she realized that she couldn’t sleep in that room. There was only one way that she would be able to get sleep and she knew that was by going after David.

She finally managed to shut her phone and sit herself back up. Shiloh tossed the phone into her purse and stood up. It took her a minute or so to regain her composure but once she did, she placed the key on the table by the bed and exited the room, not intending to return. She quickly rode the elevator down to the lobby and took a side door out, wanting to avoid any looks that she would get from the employees.

Once she had left the hotel premises, Shiloh began to slow down. It was then that she realized that she had no idea where she was going. She came to a complete stop on the side of the road. Fishing her phone out of her purse, she glanced down at the screen, trying to think of where he was. Closing her eyes, she went through a list of places that he could possibly be. Just then, a bright light filled her eyes and she opened them to see a car headed right towards her. She jumped back off the road and into the grass as the car sped by. The passenger yelled at her, “Get off the road bitch.” Shiloh frowned then realized she knew where David was. She took off running in the opposite direction, towards where they had been earlier. It was a couple of minutes before Shiloh got annoyed with the ‘thwacking’ sound her shoes made as they hit the pavement. With a frustrated sigh, Shiloh stopped and took off her shoes. She started yet again, running on the gravel, not caring if her feet would get cut up. She was going to find David.

[/font][/blockquote][/blockquote]

finished STATUS!?
hunky david TAGS!?
click here OUTFIT!?
pieces of me - ashlee simpson MUSIC!?
she had a lot of time to kill as she didn't have any action adventure scenes NOTES!?

[david brayden oxford]

[/b] He whispered as he stared at the phone, as it returned to the main screen.

Though he had set out to sleep in the car, David found himself not at all tired. Wide awake, he realized that he needed to find something to do to pass the time before he earned the urge to fall asleep. However, in the state he was in right now, emotionally, he was in no mood to do anything fun or productive. Instead, he just sat there, with the bottle of beer in his hand, with his phone leaning on the steering wheel. ”Well…cheers.” He raised and rocked the bottle before taking a large sip of beer, when suddenly he realized where he was. It was not the parking lot that was important in this sudden realization; it was the fact that he was right in front of a bowling alley, a place where he and Shiloh used to hang out at quite a lot of times.

Staring at the silent building he began to reminisce, seeing the past as if it were the present. It was colorful and filled with excitement, quite the contrast to the environment he has allowed himself to be in right now. They used to bowl a lot, competing with each other playfully, sometimes wagering stakes. She was a lot better than him at the sport, and so naturally she was satisfied with the results for the most part because she would win and Shiloh was a person who liked to win a lot better than she would like to lose, which by the way was basically almost never. He didn’t mind, even though he didn’t like losing at bowling so much, because losing was the only way he could see that victorious smile on her face. Back then, that was his definition of winning, but perhaps not anymore. Needless to say, the first time ever that he did manage to defeat her, there were endless reminders for a rematch. At first he refused and wanted to just end it with his record of one win, but ultimately he yielded and humored her, finding himself aiming for that smile time and time again.

Chuckling at how foolish of an idea that was, to lose for such an incentive, he drank to the memories and finished the bottle. Still holding the glass bottle in mid-air he looked through it at the bowling alley, as if attempting to twist the course of history, or maybe just to represent the current feelings he had for the scene. Swinging the bottle to the left lightly he saw through it a moving figure, poorly shaped through the glass view. Thinking that it was a person jogging, he was a bit shocked at the idea that he had been sitting there for so many hours already. Reaching for his phone he realized that it had only been almost twenty-five minutes since he had called Shiloh, which meant that the night was still young, way young. ”Why am I not tir---Shi!?” Wondering why he could not manage to sleep he looked up for no reason but found that the “jogger” was Shiloh, or looked like her from afar. ”What the…” He had to make sure to find out if it was her, as he opened the door and practically jumped out. She looked just like her, but why would she be out there and not resting at the hotel. Part of him began to fear for the worst, and with an unsettled heart he yelled towards the figure, ”Shiloh?”
[/ul]
ooc: Sorry not very good :[[/size]

[shiloh maya west]

on a monday i am waiting and by tuesday
* i am fading into your arms so i can breathe - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shiloh had gotten a little winded since she first started her evening run. True, it wasn’t a typical evening rum—she didn’t have shoes on for goodness’s sake! But she didn’t honestly think that just taking off shoes would get you that tired that quickly. Maybe it was just the day’s events finally catching up to her. The school day had made her cranky and tired, the swim meet did nothing but eat away at her energy, the ride to the house with David frayed her nerves, the ride back was even worse, the fight just ticked her off and now she was running through the middle of the desert? She probably had a reason to be tired; it was a natural reaction.

She felt something sharp jab at the bottom of her foot and Shiloh spit out a string of curses, upset that she had cut herself Logically, she knew it was going to happen but she had hoped to avoid any kind of injury. In retrospect, it was rather stupid of her to hope for no injury as she was running on gravel in the middle of the night. But, for whatever inane reason, she had decided to take her shoes off and run barefoot. She could at least assure herself that she was moving more quickly without shoes than with them.

Shiloh could tell that she was getting closer to where she wanted to be as she saw the outline of a building in the distance. It resembled that of the bowling alley that Shiloh and David used to frequent. With a renewed sense of energy, Shiloh picked up her pace, making her legs move even faster. As she rounded a slight bend, she thought she saw what was the glimmer of shiny metal in the distance. The moon has struck the side of what appeared to be a car before the clouds came to cover it again. Shiloh had to squint her eyes but she swore that it was David’s truck parked in the parking lot. Was he really that predictable? No, he wasn’t. She just knew him too well—almost as good as he knew her, if he didn’t know her better.

Leaning forward a little, Shiloh tilted her head as she thought she heard her name called. Hearing had never been her strong point as she spent a good amount of time in the pool. She knew that a moment ago, a car door had slammed. That only made her want to run faster, almost with filled with fear. She didn’t know where the sound had come from but she was hoping that it was from the truck up ahead and that that truck had David, otherwise, she was done for. Shiloh willed herself to haul ass over to the truck and as she was within ten feet of the vehicle, she started to slow down and actually breathe.

Letting out a huge breath, she actually wondered if she had stopped breathing for a few moments there. She stumbled a little to the right before regaining her composure and jogging towards David. Her body completely relaxed as she saw that it was indeed he, though he looked a little stunned to see her. Not exactly caring that they had fought just a little while ago, she ran into him, throwing her arms around him and squeezing him tightly. Shiloh didn’t speak for a few minutes; she just stood there, taking in David and loving the fact that he was alive right now. She had actually thought someone was going to go after him. She knew her mind had gone a bit overboard with all the scenarios but that was just how crazy she really was. She was just happy he was here and all in one piece.

Then, all of her words started to gush out as she stepped back and looked at him, “Are you alright? What’s going on? Is the police coming? Are you hurt? Is someone else hurt? Do I need to call a lawyer or a judge or Special Agent Gibbs? Or is this just minor or are you making it all up and what the HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!” Shiloh finished her rampage by punching him in the arm. She finally put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. Shiloh could now breath an hopefully get a hand on what the heck was going on around here.

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[david brayden oxford]

David did not know what was going on, as he stood by the vehicle, still as a tree deeply rooted into Mother Earth, watching as Shiloh made her way toward him. The silence of the night was the perfect catalyst to set off a chaotic web of stress. Slowly, as if he were a feather, free falling from the sky, David walked forward, footsteps sounding in a disorderly rhythm unheard of except by those who have felt their minds rushing in infinite directions at one single instant. Shiloh, his own voice resounded within his mind, attacking his mental comfort over and over again. He picked up his pace little by little, unknowingly attempting to catch up to the speed at which Shiloh was running toward him with. Her act of acceleration only worried him more, and it was as if eras of sediments were pushing down on him, threatening to deform and break him.

Sensing that they would collide into one another, forcefully if neither one found it in their best interest to cease movement, David stopped in his tracks, slowing down harshly as if a car was making an emergency break. Before anything, he felt Shiloh embracing him wholly and tightly. Looking past the golden hair glistening under the dim street light standing meters away, he watched the darkness at its rest, questioning if Shiloh was running from someone, or if she was just running to him. The clock of the night sat still, breathing a hesitating yet comfortable wind past the two, now standing upon pavement. No one was coming after them, that much was certain.

Though she had wrapped herself around him, David was unsure whether or not she would welcome his touch. His arms rocked slightly, like pendulums without directions, and remained fallen to either of his sides. A few minutes of silence passed, and David summoned up the courage to return the embrace. He wanted to say something, ask her what she was doing running around town at this hour of the night, but decided against it, convincing himself that the moment needed no words. Slowly, he bent his arms at the elbows and circled them around her. Almost exactly when he had placed his hands on her, she snapped away, stepping back in precedence of unleashing what seemed to be a series of interrogational questions.

She punched him. She punched him after her quick-launched chain of words, and he knew then that things were going to be all right between them from now on. The fear of losing her caused by his own immaturity was now diminishing, released back deep under the sea of emotions where he would not be able to venture. He wanted to answer her, but the words escaped from his lips as he stood silently still, staring at her. Still, there existed a sign of distress in his eyes as well as lips, as he was still worried about her well-being. ”I’m fine. Nothing’s going on. I just needed some air,” he said, at last. ”What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at the hotel? How did you even get here?”

A sudden breeze circled around them, and he realized that the smell of alcohol lingered, like an annoying mosquito flying about that just wouldn’t leave. Oh crap. He was sure Shiloh was going to call him out on drinking, and there was no way that could lead into development of good feelings. He was just lucky that there wasn’t a police officer around. He wasn’t actually drunk, but he did possess alcohol acquired in an illegal fashion. The thought somehow sparked his mind to tell his hand to reach for his phone in the pocket, and that was when he remembered that he had left her a voicemail not too long ago. Perhaps that was the reason why she was out here. Perhaps she was looking for him to tell him what she thought upon hearing the message. That couldn’t have been it though, he figured. Why would she come looking for him when calling him would have gotten the job done? Feeling an itch in his throat he quickly turned to the side and let out a cough, probably from the beer. Turning back he looked back to Shiloh, appreciating her presence.