The man was tall. He carried a satchel, slung over one shoulder, and moved with a self-assured, leonine grace. Wherever he was going, he was in no hurry to arrive.

He stopped short in front of one of the odd-numbered houses on the east side of the street to study a scrap piece of paper. It was difficult to read in the spare light, and he lamented that he should have had the address memorized now. There had been so many appointments this past week: with his real estate agent, his counselor, his doctor…

When his own handwriting still wouldn’t give up its secrets, the man sighed, and leaned against the picket fence like a scarecrow on break from the fields. Eventually he raised his gaze to the house. A lone light glowed in the east bedroom; though the curtains were drawn, the pane was cracked. He knew this because he could hear someone crying within. The sound was stifled, unending, and indisputably feminine. It was the song of a rare night bird calling out and going unanswered.

After the eternity of a heartbreak, the light switched off, the crying ceased, and the man’s eyes lowered. Turns out the key he held in the crease of his palm fit the front lock to the door next-door.

The dead-end house was appropriate, he thought.

The neighborhood Nicholas Cherrywood had moved to, sight unseen, seemed a fine place. Every cookie-cutter home housed a cookie-cutter family, with a cookie-cutter doghouse and a cookie-cutter dog (always an avowed rescue). It was the sort of place a guy like Nick thought he could learn to love. And in the following days, he found that he had fallen in love: with the perfect fences hemming in their worthy botanical gardens, with the gorgeous couples that drove gorgeous cars and reared gorgeous children. He sat out on his bedroom's balcony every evening to take in suburbia; he smoked imported Woodbines and watched, eyes alight, as the neighborhood youth frolicked through lawn sprinklers at dusk, shrieking with laughter while their liberated purebreds bounded at their heels.

He noticed that there was another, identical balcony across from his own; he noticed, too, that it remained empty no matter the time of day. Whoever owned it made no frequent use of it, and the curtains were always drawn. Though summer evenings might call for it, the window never so much as cracked again after that first night.

He hadn't introduced himself yet to any of them. He had been out of the house the past few days running errands in the city, and hadn’t left enough clues lying around to hint at his existence among them. He had purchased the house on a whim; the 'for sale' sign was still staked in the lawn.

But now that he had most of his affairs in order, Nick looked forward to a day of leisure. The man rose early, and took his breakfast—toast with jam and a pot of hot coffee—out onto the balcony, where he settled into his new favorite chair to watch the neighborhood resurrect around him. Today was the day, he decided, that he would dress and introduce himself to his new neighbors.

"Nicholas Cherrywood," he rehearsed in front of the mirror. He then spent ten minutes adjusting the length of his hoodie's drawstrings to make them even, as other men adjusted their ties. "Cherrywood," he pronounced again.

He had said his own surname so many times that morning it was starting to ring false.

Nick left the house. He wandered next door. He admitted himself through the front gate and strolled right up to the porch, his unlikely name already on the tip of his tongue. Just as he was about to raise his fist to knock, the door was whisked aside, and he was left staring stupidly at one of the occupants of the household: a young woman, eyes red-rimmed, scowl formidable. All pre-prepared words flew from his mind.

Then, as his own gazed lowered a little, his brilliant greeting came to him:

"Ah. You have something on your face. Right here." He indicated his own cheek, unblemished save for a gold dusting of stubble. His eyes, Robin's egg blue, expressed his deepest sympathy. He'd hate for their situations to be reversed—it was really pretty embarrassing for her.

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?

Deny thy father and refuse thy name;

Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,

And I'll no longer be a Capulet

There was a light laugh, the same voice that spoke the words by one of the greatest playwrights of all time. It echoed throughout the barn, where the tractors and such were already put away for the night, the moon light peeking through a few places that needed to be patched before the spring rains came. There was a ladder at the back of the barn, leading up to a loft where hay bales and various equipment was placed. But in the middle of all that, there was a young man and woman, probably both about seventeen or somewhere near there. It had been the young woman whose laughter flowed down to the level below.

The two teenagers came up here often, not to do anything that involved being louder than their whispering words, just to talk, to see each other without having to avert their eyes. Their families owned two of the biggest ranches in this part of the state. The ranches were separated by a mere wooden fence that ran along the lines of their property, but the families might as well be pushed apart by the likes of the Berlin Wall. The girl had said many times that their tale was almost like those ill-fated lovers. The boy always replied that he wasn't planning on letting her die any time soon.

It was the male that the first part of this story revolves around. He was stretched out, his boots crossed at the ankle. His blue jeans were clean, having taken a shower and gone about his daily things before sneaking out of his home to meet the girl. A long sleeve shirt was buttoned up hurridly as he had been running late on their nightly meeting because his father had been rambling about her family. Running a hand through his dark brown hair, there was a smile on his face as she continued to speak the parts of young Juliet in that famous scene of the play. Gosh, he loved her.. since the first time he saw her.

His father had always told his sons to stay away from the girls across the fence, how they were just as bad as their parents. Young Nathan didn't understand how or why it was so bad not to speak to the family who had land near theirs. After all, his parents had also said to make friends, to not discriminate. Quite a confusing thing for a seven-year-old to comprehend. How was he supposed to know that the pretty girl who sat in front of him in class was one of those girls that his dad had warned him against.

One day, she had forgotten her schoolbook and was highly upset, but Nathan, being the kind little boy that he was, said that if she scooted her desk beside his, he would share. From then on, they had a friendship. Almost a year had went by before he finally got around to mentioning the girl that he was friends with in class. His mother had asked if she had the same last name as the other ranch. It dawned on Nathan that he wasn't supposed to speak to her.. so he lied to his mother, giving her another name.

Time went on and he was twelve when his older brothers decided to bring in the youngest Browne's first teenage birthday, they were going to go on the opposing family's land and let all of their animals out. Nathan didn't want to go, but his brothers insisted, calling him a coward and all sorts of other names until he finally gave in. Nathan could never remember being so scared. Not only because he was trespassing, but he was afraid that his friend would find out it was him who did it and be angry with him. They weren't caught though their father seemed to know it was them. He laughed, saying that he was proud of his boys and having their mother make them a cake.

Nathan, at the age of fourteen, had finally decided to ask the girl if she would go out with him. Of course, it would have to be secret. Their family would accuse the other of so many things. They were taking a big risk just because their hearts told them to do something. She accepted though, and since then they had skirted around their parents and siblings, meeting up with each other in places like the loft, places in town where not many people were..

Yet, with all of their careful planning of when to meet and where, there were times when they had to cancel because of their families. Sometimes the hostility between the two was just too much, Nathan and the girl having to not see each other for a few days. Oh, it hurt Nathan sometimes, but than goodness for him being able to have the internet. They could send each other mails, but it just wasn't the same. He wasn't able to touch her, to hear her laugh, or smell that distinct sent that made her.

A yawn escaped him, causing him to shift from resting on his side to laying on his back, the girl resting her head on his chest. It was just another night with her, with the girl that he loved yet his family loathed. All because of her last name. He would deny his father, his name if she promised to no longer be a Capulet. He closed his eyes as he whispered that he loved her. Her voice was the last thing that he heard before he drifted off to sleep, the feel of her lips on his. "I love you too, Nathan Browne.."

The rooster crowing caused Nathan to rouse from his sleep, a groan making it past his lips. One of his arms had fall asleep from him resting it over his eyes, making it feel like it weighed a ton. Lifting his head, he saw that she had already left, a note placed in between his belt loop and his belt. Smiling, Nathan propped himself on his elbows, opening the note to see that familiar curvey writing. It said the usual.. that she loved him, wished their families would stop fighting.. And to meet her again near the tree that both sides claimed even though it was on his family's side of the fence later on in the day, when the sun would start to go down. His eyes flickered over the letters a few more times before he tucked it into his front pocket, rubbing at his arm that was still asleep and started to head down the ladder to act like he was getting a head start on his chores before breakfast.

OOC: There ya goes Kristen.. O.o; I almost spelt your name crystin... Dunno where that came from

Dollface - 11/24/2005 at 11:46 PM

She always loved their meetings. She always found it intriguing how they had to sneak around, just like the two in the famed story of Romeo and Juliet. The seventeen year old didn’t quite things were going to stay a secret like this, with how her older sisters snooped around her room when they were bored. Or at least, that was the excuse she was always given. Claire knew that the two of them knew something was going on. She knew that they were suspecting their younger sibling was up to mischief behind the family’s back. The fence between the two large fences could never separate her from seeing Nathan. She’d always give her father the excuse she was going to visit another friend from school, leaving through the back door and across the large area of land and hopping over the fence, sprinting through the grass to the barn.

Sure helped that she was on the track team at their high school.

Claire remembered the clear words of her father: “Baby, don’t go o’er that fence, or talk to them boys over there.” Of course, since she’d been so young she just obeyed her father’s wishes, but she didn’t have a clue why. She didn’t know why that her parents didn’t want her to talk to the Browne boys that were the next house over. Claire hadn’t a clue that both of their families owned the biggest ranches in the state, and were feuding. She hadn’t learned that for a while, until her older sister Bethany had informed her on the reason why. But still, Claire didn’t understand all too well her father’s reasons.

“’Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What’s a Montague? It is nor hand nor foot, nor arm nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. O, be some other name!” She tried to finish, another set of giggles quietly slipping past her lips as her vibrant gaze had read over the tiny words placed on the book that she’d brought along with her. She set it down though next to her, curling up next to Nathan. It was much too hard for her to keep talking like that, since it just seemed to make her break into laughter every time she spoke like the people did way back when.

Claire remembered that they were young when they’d first met. At least ten or so years ago, she remembered. It was that which triggered the feelings that for so long had been bottled up. So young and she knew she wouldn’t want to be with anyone else rather than the boy that shared his schoolbook with her when they were but the age of only seven. She’d told her mother and father that night at dinner about the nice boy, who shared his notebook with her, but they’d asked what his name was, and she’d started saying it, when all of their eyes seemed to bug out at her, and then she gave him a fake last name. She knew she would’ve been in deep trouble if she’d finished his name off with the last word being ‘Browne’.

After that she usually stayed quiet, only speaking of the other friends that she spent her time with. Or, the made up friends she supposedly spent her time with at school. Luckily her older twin sisters were already in their middle school years, so she didn’t have to worry about them sneaking around and watching their little sister associate with Nathan. Because even at that age, she knew her older sisters were snitches. Even now, at the age of twenty-one as they still lived at the ranch with the family, they told on their little sister when she got into any kind of trouble. Whether it be at school, or she was slacking on the chores that needed to be done around the house or if she’d forgotten to feed the horses or something or other.

Bethany and Brittney were always there to tattle on the younger sibling.

Claire remembered distinctly that night when Nathan and his older brothers had gone to her barn, letting their animals loose. She’d watched them cross the fence actually, from the window seat she sat on, usually gazing up at the stars that filled the dark night sky. But that night, on his birthday, she actually had witnessed them sneaking onto her family’s property. Yet, for his sake she stayed quiet, not saying a word to either of her sisters or her mother or father. Claire had to admit, she was a bit disappointed at first that Nathan would’ve given into the pressure she figured his brothers put on him, but it eventually wore off. She was usually one to just forgive and forget. So she secretly forgave him, and forgot about it, letting it slip her mind as the next day rolled by. She hadn’t mentioned anything the next day either to him. She went along as if nothing had happened at all, as if she didn’t know that he and his brothers were the ones that let their animals loose.

Luckily that fence did some good work, because the animals didn’t get very far before her father had sent Claire and her sisters out to retrieve the animals that had gotten loose.

When the age of fourteen rolled by, and he’d finally asked her out, that was the best thing to have happened in her life. Sure, there had been other great things, and there were things that came later that were good. But she knew nothing even nearly amounted to when Nathan asked her if she’d go out with him. It was pretty much an immediate answer. She was never one of those girls who left the other person hanging, saying she had to ‘think about it’, or that she needed time to ponder the thought. There was no thinking needed; she didn’t need to ponder the thought. Even at that age she knew the feeling was strong; she knew it was love. None of her friends knew, none of her family knew. Her friends would gossip, which would get to their older sisters, and then it would get to her older sisters, and then it would end up with her parents knowing about the secret. And then everything would spiral downwards.

Oh, there were plenty of times when they had to cancel. One time especially she remembered when she was supposed to meet him, and then learned that it was the night that her grandmother had passed on. They had to take a plane to a whole different state. It hurt her, it hurt her bad. There was no way to talk to him, not by computer, nothing. She hadn’t a laptop or anything of the sort, and her parents wouldn’t allow her on the computer that her aunt and uncle’s, where they were staying for the few days that they were in the different state. But luckily it had been only a few days, not a week, and she was finally able to go back home.

But it still did hurt, when they had to cancel for other reasons. There was the internet, sure. But she too knew it wasn’t the same. She hated that; she hated the fact that their families just couldn’t get over their differences and set them aside. Claire wished she could just lead a normal life without having to sneak around. Everyone she knew who had a relationship didn’t have to sneak around; even sometimes her friends would ask her why she hadn’t ‘hooked up’ with someone yet. They’d tell her that one of their boyfriends had a friend that she would go out with. But she would usually shake her head in response, giving them some excuse that she was just waiting for the right one, didn’t want to date around with other guys, or she was too busy to be in a serious relationship right now. She was rather busy, though; yet, never too busy to drop anything to see Nathan.

A smile curved her thin, pale pink lips as he whispered his love to her, her head moving up slightly as she’d pressed her lips gently to his own softly before resting her head against his chest again, letting her eyes slip closed as well before whispering, “I love you too, Nathan Browne..”

And then those were the last words that she’d spoken before she’d fallen into a deep slumber as well.

It was when she woke up the next morning, around three or four in the morning. It had still been dark, but she roused because there was that tingling sensation in her arm, as it had fallen asleep because of the way she’d been sleeping on it. She hadn’t noticed she’d fallen asleep until she’d lifted a hand to her straight, blond tresses, feeling the small pieces of hay that had gathered in some places in her hair. It was when her vibrant emerald gaze had fallen to Nathan did she notice she’d fallen asleep in the loft in his barn, a curse being muttered under her breath. She’d taken a piece of paper from her pocket and a pen from her jacket pocket, writing a few words down before leaving it next to him, scurrying down the ladder and out of the barn, sprinting across to the fence and over that, and into her own yard and towards the back of the house.

Luckily her parents hadn’t been waiting up for her; from what she remembered she probably told her mother and father she was staying at Nadine’s for a while, and told them not to wait up for her, because she figured she was probably going to be late, depending on what they were doing that night. Sure, she was full of complete and utter lies. But her parents still wouldn’t keep her from Nathan, ever. Claire had then sneaked up the creaky stairs and into her bedroom, slipping into her pajamas before falling into bed again, drifting off to sleep once more.

It was only a couple more hours till she was woken by Bethany, telling her she had her share of chores to do before she was able to go out. Of course, Claire was probably going to give the excuse that she was going to go to Nadine’s. But not yet. She nodded her head at her sister’s words, rubbing her hand over her face before stumbling out of her bed and towards her closet, slipping out of her pajamas, and voila, quickly into different clothes that were probably more suited for doing the chores that were needed to be done. A plain black shirt was worn on her torso, jeans on her lower half, blond hair cascading down her back, her bangs falling to curtain over her emerald gaze, usually obscuring her vision most of the time. There really wasn’t much to do; she just had to wash the dishes after breakfast was done with. She’d completely forgotten about the note until she found her gaze falling out the window, eyes skimming over the land that was next to hers. She’d quickly finished with those dishes, turning to her father and mother who were still seated at the breakfast table.

“You think after dinner, maybe I could go over to Nadine’s, stay the night maybe?” She asked, chewing on her lip a bit, before looking to straight to her father, who soon spoke.

“Sure, baby. Be back before lunch tomorrow though, alright? I’ll need you and Bethany to help out a lot tomorrow.” Claire merely nodded her head solemnly, moving out of the kitchen and towards the wooden staircase, her feet padding lightly against it before she reached her bedroom, closing her door behind her as she’d moved to her vanity table. It was really only a few seconds after when she heard the door opening, her head turning to see the face of Bethany, her brows furrowed as she looked to the younger sibling. Her feet slapped against the wooden flooring before Claire turned back to the mirror, looking to the freckles that were gently sprinkled across the bridge of her nose.

“What do you want, Beth?” She asked almost coldly, keeping her gaze on the face that mirrored hers.

“I know who you’re goin’ to see later on, Claire. And it ain’t Nadine.”

“What do you think you’re talkin’ about, Beth?” She snapped, turning her head to see her sister again. “I am going to Nadine’s, and even if I wasn’t, it ain’t any of your business in the first place.” She retorted, turning her gaze back to the mirror in front of her once again.

“Whatever you say, Claire. But I know you’re going to go see that Nathan boy over there.”

“Well, you’re wrong Beth. You know I wouldn’t associate with any of the Browne boys.” She said with a roll of her eyes, hating how she had to say just what she said. She knew she loved Nathan, but she couldn’t let her sister know about this love that was so horridly forbidden by what seemed like everyone that knew about the Browne and the Griffith’s family feud.

The older female rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Alright, whatever you say Claire.” It was then the sound of her sister’s feet leaving the bedroom sounded through her ears, Claire’s emerald gaze slowly drifting to the large window, looking to the tree where she told Nathan to meet her at later on in the day. She gave a sigh of relief as she heard the clicking of the door behind her sister, her hands pushing herself off of the stool and to the window seat, sitting herself on the cushion, eyes once more drifting to that same tree.

She surely couldn’t wait till later that day, when she could escape.

OoC|| There ya go, Rhey love. <3 =]

edit 2/14/06;; Yaay, finally found what Claire would look like, pretty much! A little late, yes. xD

rejecteddounut - 11/25/2005 at 01:35 AM

Nathan paused as his feet reached floor, resting against the ladder some, a boot propped up against a ladder rung as he looked to the ground. One day, one day he would be able to say outloud that he loved Claire, not just in whispers up in the loft or some other quiet place. One day, Nathan Browne would go right up to his family, in the middle of breakfast because they all seemed to gather there and say he had a girlfriend and not listen to his brothers teasing him.

“One day.” He said softly, right as the barn door opened, one of his older brothers tilting his head and looking at the younger.

“Boy, what do you think you’re doin’? Don’t you know Momma’s lookin’ for you to go and eat breakfast?” All four of the Browne boys had the same untidy hair, different shades of brown, but it was all cut the same way because whenever it got too long their father would sit them down on the back porch and cut to his liking. 'None of this long hair in your eyes like those city folk. You can’t work on a farm with hair like that.’ As the father said.

“Oh, just thought I’d get up early.. start my chores so I could get them done quick and relax.” Nathan replied, pushing himself off of the ladder, brushing at the hay that clung to his clothes. “I’ll go eat breakfast though. Thank ya, Michael.”

He started to go past the brother that was just a year older than he was, but the other grabbed his arm, not letting him pass. “What girl you take up there all the time?” Michael nodded towards the loft, causing Nathan to give him a crazy look. “C’mon, don’t play stupid. You got hay all over ya. I know you ain’t that excited about chores to get up b’fore Dad does.”

“I just want to get done so I can go to town Michael. I got the hay on me cause you know how it is.. All you have to do is walk in the barn and you’re dirty.” Nathan pulled his arm from his brother’s grasp, shaking his head and going inside to eat breakfast.

It was like his brothers to ask him if he was taking girls anywhere. They said they were worried about Nathan, that he couldn’t get a girl because all of them had girlfriends by the time they were fifteen. Hah, what they didn’t know was that the youngest of them all had beaten that. He just couldn’t tell anyone.

Nathan went through his daily chores, sighing because it just didn’t go by fast enough. His mind was elsewhere. Right over the fence if you wanted to get specific about it… wondering if Claire got home without questioning.

Dollface - 11/25/2005 at 12:52 PM

All that was going through her mind right now was last night. And all the other nights that were spent in the loft in his barn. She knew they could never get away with sneaking around in her own barn; someone was always in there, doing something. Her fingers fondled with the soft material of the almost translucent curtains that were draped away from the window, her eyes watching the horses they owned trot in their little area, her eyes once more wandering towards the property on the other side of the fence. That fence that was such little of a barrier, yet at the same time, divided families, making them go against each other.

She too longed for the day that she would be able to put the family's differences aside so that she could also be the one to just shut them up during dinner or some other family meal, saying that nothing could keep her from speaking or meeting with Nathan. Really, nothing could. Not her family, or that fence, not the silly feud that was being carried on for what was probably no apparent reason whatsoever. Thoughts interrupted, feet sounding outside of the door, the sound of another sibling's knuckles rapping against the wood door.

"Come in," Claire murmured, eyes moving to the door as Brittney walked in. Brittney wasn't as bad as Bethany; Bethany was the bigger snoop, the bigger snitch of the two of them. Brittney was usually the more understanding of the two, but still, Claire didn't dare tell her, no matter how understanding she was towards anything. "What do you want?" Claire asked, raising her brows, brushing strands of hair away from her face.

"Papa says he needs you to go into the stables and feed the new foal and his momma." The older sibling said, sitting down on the younger girl's bed and looking to her. Claire merely shrugged, moving off of the window seat and towards her dresser, slipping her sneakers onto her feet and taking a hair band, loosely tying her blond tresses in a pony tail to rest along her back. The older sibling still looked to the girl who finished tying the strands of hair away from her face, her eyebrows rising. "Is everything alright, Claire?"

No, everything wasn't alright. "Yeah, of course. Just not feelin' too well, that's all." She stated, turning and moving towards the door and letting herself out, running quickly down the stairs again and out the back door, and towards the shed to gather what she needed before moving towards the stables. It was only at least half of the day till she was able to see him again.

A half of a day that had seemed to drag on, and on. She hadn't gathered anything, because of course, she wasn't going to Nadine's. Usually when she did this she'd just tell her parents Nadine had stuff over at the house that she could borrow to sleep in. Which she did a lot of the times when she would go over to the house. After dinner, as the sun began to fall behind the hills, she tugged the hair band out of her hair, letting the blond tresses cascade over her shoulders to rest above her shoulder blades, her feet carrying her across the vast amount of land before hopping over that fence that divided the two sets of land.

Of course she made sure nobody was around before she quietly made her way towards the tree that thankfully wasn't too far from where she was. She didn't need to get caught sneaking onto the Browne's property.

rejecteddounut - 11/25/2005 at 02:11 PM

The Browne boys were like steps, one right after the other. The most distance between their ages was the first, Gregory, was two and a half years older than the next. The father in the family liked to brag how he had four sons to help with work on the ranch while the Griffiths just had three girls. Nathan’s father was always like that, talking about how the family with land next to theirs was lower than them. Often Nathan would hurry and finish dinner, asking to be excused, usually to go and meet up with Claire somewhere.

His father had came up while Nathan was mending a part of the fence, looking over the Griffith land and tut-tutting about this and that until the younger Browne asked if one of his brothers could help cause there were a few other places that needed to be fixed. With a nod, his father headed off only to have Michael come up again. It was Michael who gave Nathan the most trouble about having a girlfriend, causing his ears to redden with frustration and anger.

“You know, Ameila’s little sister has been makin’ eyes at you Nathan. Why don’t you come to the movies with us tomorrow night and you can sit with her.” The other said as Nathan shook his head.

“No, dammit Michael, leave me be. I don’t want no girlfriend right now, focusing on gettin’ through school is good enough for me.” He replied as he picked up a hammer out of the grass to put a nail through a board.

“You ain’t gay, are ya?” Michael asked just as Nathan swung the hammer, hitting one of his fingers instead of the nail, his curses rolling down the hills.

That’s what was brought up sometimes, if he was a little funny. Nathan couldn’t ever decide which one would upset his family more, if there was the possibility that he was gay or that he had a girlfriend, it was just Clair Griffith. He ignored his brother the rest of the day, not saying a word toward the other.

Finally, finally he was able to escape his family with talk of going into town or even visting some of the teenagers around here that got along with the Browne’s. But he headed off in another direction, making his way toward the tree that was close to Clair’s side of the fence. Seeing her in the moonlight, he made a big circle, coming up behind her and putting his arms around her waist, swinging her around some before setting her down. “Hey darlin’.”

Dollface - 11/25/2005 at 02:51 PM

Claire’s father would sometimes go into a large ramble about how he wished he had a son to help around with the work on the Griffith’s ranch. But with the way Claire worked harder than the other two in the family, she made up for not having a boy around. Of course, nobody else had a clue that she did a lot of the dirty work around the ranch, because Beth and Brittney were always afraid about getting their nails chipped, or their hair would frizz from the dry weather. Claire knew that wasn’t true; they just said that so their baby sister could get to the work while they went into the city to pick up on some of those boys.

Claire never found any of them attractive, really.

Just as Nathan’s brother gave him trouble about not having a girlfriend, Claire’s sister, Beth, gave the younger one trouble about not having a boyfriend yet. She was already past the age that the Griffith girls were allowed to date, but she’d had a boyfriend long before that. But none of them knew that, now did they? Of course they didn’t know that. But luckily, Beth hadn’t been able to get to Claire today, because while feeding the horses she swore she heard the two’s car backing out of the driveway and down the road, probably heading into the city.

That was like them, really. Ever since Clair was younger, and the older siblings were allowed to drive, they gave their father the false excuse that they had to go into town to get some hay or something or other, and they would leave Claire to do most of the dirty work. Like feeding the animals in the barn, or the horses - even though, that was probably her favorite job around the ranch. But she was never one to complain about this. Really, she was never one to complain about anything. Though, if she wanted, she would complain about the stupid feud between her family and the Browne’s.

She probably hadn’t been standing where she was too long in the peaceful silence that rang throughout the area when she heard someone rounding the tree and walking behind her. She hadn’t had time to snap her head back to look at who it was when she felt arms around her waist, though she knew exactly who it was. Immediately a smile curved her lips, her arms snaking around his neck as she was lifted from the ground, only to be set back down again.

“Well, hey to you, too.” She muttered, standing up on her toes some as she pressed her lips to his before breaking away. “How you been?” She asked, her brows rising as she looked up to him again through the hair that still curtained over her green orbs.

rejecteddounut - 11/25/2005 at 04:51 PM

Nathan had heard Claire speak of how her sisters were often. They weren’t as bad as his family put them off to be, but they were awfully lazy. The Browne boys hardly ever got out of work with excuses and tricks. Their dad would find out and put them on a tougher job than they were complaining about. Nathan had told Claire to just not do a day’s work, fake sick and see what her sisters did then. Once in a blue moon, he would do something like that. If he and Claire had stayed up late into the night talking with each other, he would just pretend he wasn’t feeling well and not have to get up.

He smiled, kissing her lightly in return. He tilted his head, pushing back some of her hair so he could see her more clearly. “I’m fine. Michael and me were working on the fence today and I nearly smashed my finger to pieces with the hammer.. but nothing got dropped on me.” It seemed like whenever he worked with the next to youngest brother, he got hurt. Last time they had been moving hay and a bale fell on top of him. Another time a horse stepped on his foot. He pretty much liked to team up with another brother to keep from getting injured.

“What about you?” He asked her, tilting his head and lifting an eyebrow. “Your sisters giving you any trouble about coming home late?” If anyone didn’t know any better, they would think that there were no problems with their families--that the Brownes and Griffiths got along and approved of their children’s relationship. Too bad that it was far from that fact. Nathan would give anything to be able to meet with his girlfriend in town, let her sit down and have dinner with his family like his brothers’ dates.

Dollface - 11/25/2005 at 05:13 PM

Claire had actually done that once, when she fell ill. She told her father she was too sick, when she really was, and Beth and Brittney were left to do all of their chores, plus all the dirty stuff Claire did every day. It was actually quite amusing; seeing them walk in all dirtied up with their hair messy, dirt under their fingernails, pouts set on their lips as they scowled at Claire who lay horizontal on the couch, watching the television in all her bliss. It had gone like that for a couple of days, when she was still sick, but of course, after that, she didn’t try that sick thing anymore and just got used to having to do most of the work around the ranch, along with her father.

She scrunched her nose a bit as he brushed away the hair from her eyes, the thin strands tickling the bridge of her nose, her hands curling a bit tighter around the back of his neck. At his words, she figured that his brother had been bugging him about ‘not having a girlfriend’. She knew it had to be annoying, especially while working. She had to deal with it when her sister would be bothering her when Claire would handling one of the big bags of feed for the horses, and one time almost spilt it everywhere when she’d gotten distracted by Beth. Now the older girl knew not to bother her while working. Nothing major happened to her; only once had she gotten bucked off one of the horses, luckily not much damage was done.

“He buggin’ you ‘bout not havin’ a girlfriend, again?” She asked, tilting her head to the side a bit, looking upwards towards him as she shook her head to rid her eyes of the hairs that obscured her vision still. But she shook her head at his question, glancing over the fence and towards her house, the light in the kitchen still on, and the light in Beth’s room on as well. Luckily they hadn’t given her any trouble, because they were all fast asleep in their beds. She always gave them an excuse they would believe. Something that would seem rational. Of course, she never thought that maybe they would call Nadine’s, but knowing her parents, she figured they wouldn’t.

But she wouldn’t be surprised if Beth or Brittney would do that dirty trick.

“Nope, I didn’t get any trouble, thankfully.” She said, nodding her head, a smile flicking across her lips once she looked back towards him. “I told ‘em I was stayin’ the night with Nadine, just like I did just before I came over here,” Claire added on, the smile on her lips only widening a bit. All throughout her work that day it was all she could think about. She would find herself lost in her world, gazing at the tree that seemed like it was in the middle of the two properties, but knew very well it was on the Browne’s. Maybe that was what caused the stupid feud, she didn’t know. Still, she wished they would get over it. For her and Nathan’s sake.

rejecteddounut - 11/25/2005 at 06:12 PM

It was hard for him to concentrate when his brothers were pestering him about getting a girlfriend. He told them time and time again to leave him alone, that when he wanted one, he would let them know. But he already had a girl that he loved and when they talked about her, Nathan would have to say that he had something else he had to go work on before it got too late. It was hard to hold it in sometimes, to tell his brothers to shut up about the Griffith girls, Claire especially. It was hard to have to keep quite about her when everyone else in school got to talk about their significant other.

He nodded at her question, letting out a puff of air before giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Yeah, but I told him to be quiet ‘bout that. He’s tryin’ to get me to go see a movie with some girl’s sister. I told him no, then next thing I know, I got pain shootin’ up my hand.” The young man gave his head a shake, moving on to a different topic. One not focused around their families. “What do you want to do tonight, Claire? We’ve got ‘til sun-up.”

Nathan never worried about his brothers snooping around in his stuff. They seemed to only be focused only on one thing with their youngest sibling--getting him a girlfriend. If they would just leave that alone, he would be just dandy. “Oh, here.. You forgot this when you left yesterday.” He said, dropping his hands from around her and reaching behind him where he had tucked the book with Romeo and Juliet in it. “It’s more yours than mine. My brothers find it, they might ask why it smells like a girl.” He smiled lightly.

Dollface - 11/25/2005 at 06:30 PM

Usually at meal time - breakfast or lunch, dinner, any of the three - her father always managed to bad mouth the Browne family. For anything, really. Mostly it was just his bitter hostility towards the other family, or saying how when he was around town he saw the older boys being all ‘goofy-like’, as her father would say, with some other girls that lived around the area. Yet, she never spoke up. She bit her tongue, keeping herself quiet. If she spoke up for the other family, then she knew the others would think that something was going on with her and one of those boys.

She let her eyes close gently as he leant down to kiss her cheek, and then listened to him as he spoke. She shook her head gently, laughing a bit at his words. “Oh, he just won’t give up, will he? Just like Beth. Always buggin’ me why I don’t got a boyfriend yet.” Oh, if she knew. If only she knew the truth all that badgering would stop. But of course, there was no way the elder sibling was going to find out. “Well, now ya know for next time: don’t be hammering while you’re brother’s buggin’ you.” She said with another faint laugh, though now realizing that the shake of his head meant that he didn’t want to stay on the topic of their families any longer.

With a shrug of her shoulders she sighed faintly, chewing on her lip a bit. What was there really to do? If anyone saw them together, then it would be trouble. It almost seemed like every single person knew about the Browne and Griffith’s hostility towards each other. So if anyone saw the Browne’s boy with the Griffith’s girl, she figured that it wouldn’t be good at all. “I’unno, it doesn’t really matter to me.” She stated, chewing on her lip a bit, her gaze once more wandering away from him for a moment.

That is, until he started speaking again, her eyes slowly drifting towards him, looking down to his hands. Her emerald gaze then fell upon the tiny booklet in his hands, a small smile flicking across her lips. She dropped her hands from his neck, taking the book into one of her hands. She knew she’d forgotten something when she scurried out of the barn earlier that morning, but hadn’t quite realized what it was. “Thank you.” She said softly, a hand reaching up to rest along the back of his neck again, her lips seeking his once more.

rejecteddounut - 11/25/2005 at 08:33 PM

He smiled as she told him not to be hammering while his brother was bothering him. That made a heck of a lot of sense, but when he was trying to ignore his siblings, he focused on other things. At that time, he had been thinking of how Claire’s accent sounded so funny when she read Juliet’s lines in the play. Of course, he probably sounded worse than her, his words coming out more muttered and country than hers.

Hearing her sigh, he rested his forehead against hers, knowing her thoughts. “One day we’ll go into town, you an’ me, and not worry ‘bout anyone sayin’ anything to our Mom an’ Dad.” It was the promise he told her often. That they wouldn’t have to worry about what their parents thought, what anyone thought. But for now, they would just have to meet in secret, beneath trees after the sun went down and in hay lofts.

“Welcome darlin’.” He replied as she thanked him for the book. He had given it to her one Christmas, having found it for sale at the town library because they had newer copies of the works. A small smile tugged at his lips as he kissed her gently.

Dollface - 11/26/2005 at 01:39 AM

She knew for a fact it did sound rather odd when she tried to speak like they did when Shakespeare had first written the play Romeo and Juliet. It was that country accent that made the words sound funny, and she knew that for a fact. But she still loved the play nonetheless; still loved reading it every now and then while laying in bed, bored half to death while unable to fall asleep as thoughts drifted through her mind. She actually did have to admit that it sounded funny when Nathan would read the parts of Romeo in the play, but still, she loved it. The nights that she spent with Nathan in the loft of the barn were the ones that stuck out in her mind, as those were the things that kept her going through the day. It pretty much made her take her mind off of the fact that she was stuck with all the work, while her sisters were out and about.

She closed her eyes gently as he'd rested her forehead against her own, another small sigh passing her thin lips. She wished that the day would come soon; the day when she wouldn't have to worry about sneaking out of the house, the day she wouldn't have to tell her parents she was going to Nadine's, but that she was really going to see Nathan next door. But would that day ever come? Sometimes Claire wasn't so sure that it would ever come. "I hope so, Nathan. I really hope so..." She murmured gently, pulling her head away from his, eyes glancing back upwards to him once more.

But, right now she wanted to rid her mind of that. Was that really the important thing right now? Not in her mind. She was with him, and she felt that they didn't need to waste anymore time, even if they did have till sun up, when she was probably going to be expected home, and when - she figured - he would be expected for breakfast and then chores. Surely that kiss had pulled the thought from her head as her other hand tucked the small book into her back pants pocket, a small smile forming across her lips. Her hand that rested on his neck fell to rest on his shoulder, lips breaking away from his own, though only lingering centimeters away.

"What should we do then, hm? There might be somethin' better than sittin' around here doin' nothing probably." She said with a faint laugh emerging from her lips again.

rejecteddounut - 11/26/2005 at 04:40 PM

If Nathan’s brothers ever caught wind that he knew Shakespeare, whether it be for a girl’s sake or not, they would call him a sissy. It would be another thing for them to tease him about. Being the youngest of four boys always had its downfalls. Being the brunt of all of the jokes was just one of them. He rolled them off with a shake of his head, keeping on his business of whatever task was at hand. The only time he ever slightly revolted against his older siblings words was when they had something to say about his public lack of a girlfriend.

There was always that worry, that small bit of doubt that his promise to her of being able to tell the truth of where they were going after chores were done. Nathan thought about it the days that they didn’t meet after the sun set. While he was lying in his bed, tired after a hard day’s work, and stared up at the ceiling, he wondered how the two families would react if they found out that their children had a relationship. A relationship that had its starts in elementary school.

He gave her a smile as she pulled away, him still feeling her lips even though they weren’t truly touching his. “Let’s go for a little walk.” His eyes trailed away from her toward the few lights on in her house. She had said that she was able to see the tree from her home, he didn’t like to stay there that long, just in case someone decided to come outside. All those years of sneaking around would be blown. Though, they have been lucky considering that it had been a decade since Nathan had shared his school book with her. He always knocked on wood for luck to keep that record going whenever he thought about it. “How ‘bout that ‘til I maybe can come up with somethin’ better.”

Dollface - 11/26/2005 at 06:24 PM

Claire was never teased much by her older sisters. However, when they would have their older friends over, sometimes the two would joke about how their baby sister was a ‘tomboy’. They were always saying something such as, “Little Claire’s always too busy doin’ work rather than out on the town with a boyfriend or somethin’.” But she’d just let it slide, going back to whatever she was doing before being nagged by her sisters. Usually it was then the older siblings would leave her alone again, because the teasing really didn’t faze Claire. It took more than that to set Claire off, and even then it was very rare to see someone like her get angry over something.

A walk sounded like a good idea to her; it was better than lingering near the tree, where it was able to be seen from a few of the windows of the house. From her window and Beth’s, and from the window above the sink as well. She nodded her head at his words, her eyes drifting towards the house as well, watching as the kitchen light flickered off. She figured her father and mother must’ve decided to head up to bed now, because the house now seemed to be dark as Beth’s light had turned off as well. Usually that meant she was sleeping, or maybe sneaking out of the house. Claire just didn’t know anymore.

“Well, even if ya can’t think of anythin’ else, just takin’ a walk sounds fine to me,” she said with a gentle smile on her lips again as her gaze had found its way back towards him. Luckily it was still silent, meaning that Beth hadn’t decided to sneak out. Because if she had, she could’ve possibly seen the younger sibling on the other side of the fence. It hadn’t happened yet, but Claire always feared that maybe that day would come.

rejecteddounut - 11/26/2005 at 09:33 PM

Beth, that was the sister who always gave her trouble. Well, the one who tried to pry more into Claire’s life from what Nathan had heard from her words. She was high on his list to avoid whenever the families happened to cross paths. Which they did occasionally, they did live next to each other and the town where the children went to school was small. There was something about that sister of Claire’s that had the young man wary, like maybe she suspected the truth. Who knew what she would do if she figured out what was going on.

“‘Course, I might never come up with somethin’ to do. Ya know me Claire, it takes me just ‘bout forever to have somethin’ to say. Just slow on everything ‘cept for farm work.” He gave her a smile, glancing once more toward her now dark home until he started walking in the opposite direction, sliding her hand in his. “Kinda cold tonight, felt good this mornin’ while I was workin’ though.” He could hold a conversation about something rather than just his family and things around the ranch. He and Claire talked about tons of things, things that he could never bring up around his brothers. They were focused only on the ranch and girls.

Nathan opened his mouth to say something else, but he tilted his head to the side, a familiar sound reaching him. A horse trotting through the field, but at night all of the horses were put in the second barn. He looked to Claire, his brow furrowed. “C’mon darlin’. I gotta hide you.”

Dollface - 11/26/2005 at 09:49 PM

Claire knew exactly what her sister would do, knew exactly what her sister would say. If she told their father first without telling Claire, then all the glory would be brought to her. Then her father would probably send Claire off somewhere, away from the ranch so she wouldn’t be able to be with Nathan anymore. But if her sister decided to just make Claire’s life miserable, by black mailing her, Claire knew she would just be stuck with even more work than she already took on. Sometimes she had a feeling that Beth knew that Claire was sneaking around. Somehow Claire had a feeling that Beth had caught on years ago. But she couldn’t be too sure; for knowing Bet as well as she did, Beth would’ve already said something.

“True, true,” she stated with a faint laugh, glancing up towards him at his words, “‘Sides, we can’t really do anything else ‘round here, or ‘round town or anything.” She said with a faint sigh, though trying to stay away from that topic once more. Claire figured this was going to be one of those nights when neither of them could think of what to do, and they would sit and talk. Either way, it was fine with her. Because really, even that was better than not being able to see him at all. She nodded her head solemnly at his words, eyes glancing up towards the sky, eyes dancing across the stars that wouldn’t be able to be seen past the skyscrapers in the city. “Yeah, but just be happy that it ain’t rainin’ yet, ‘cause then it’s all muddy. ‘Specially ‘round this area.”

That’s when having to do all the dirty work really was no fun. It was tough getting the horses back into the stables, rather than leaving them in their little fenced area two of them stayed in, while trying to get them through the mud as the spring rains fell hard. But as she had looked to him, having a feeling he was going to say something, she caught the fact that his mouth had opened, yet he’d tilted his head to the side. The all too familiar sound of the trotting of a horse caught her ears as well, heart pounding against her chest. She knew who it was, and apparently, so did Nathan.

She cocked a brow at Nathan, though she nodded her head, turning her head slightly in the direction that the sound was coming from. “Your brother comes out this late with the horse?” She asked quietly, trying to keep her voice hushed in case the other might be able to hear her, for she couldn’t quite tell how far away he actually was.

rejecteddounut - 11/26/2005 at 11:22 PM

If her sister did find out, if Claire was sent off, Nathan would be heartbroken. The poor boy would have lost his love, part of his life, his Juliet. The youngest Browne would do his damndest to find her, plead to her parents to bring her back because if Claire was gone, she’d take a half of him with her. The thought had crossed his mind, come into his dreams and taunted him where he was running around trying to find her and everyone was pointing him in a different direction then where she actually was, laughing at him because he was going around in a huge circle. A time or two he had woken up in a cold sweat because of those nightmares.

Nathan wrinkled his nose lightly at the mention of anything to do, having already strayed from that topic once. Yet his eyes rose to the heavens as hers did, nodding a bit at the mention of rain. Rain was a ranch hand’s enemy, but at the same time it was a thing to pray about. During the spring, they cursed the rain and the muck that it brought along with it. It made work that much harder because they had to prepare for it, they had to keep the fields from flooding, the animals from getting ill from so much rain. During the summer, it was begged for. The hot atmosphere with the humidity so thick that it made it hard to breath had those who worked on farms as close to water as humanly possible.

All thoughts of weather and everything that came before it were forgotten when he heard the sound of the horse. Only one person would be out this time of night on a horse. “Michael and his damn horse.” Nathan cursed his brother and his ways. Michael raced that horse against the other boys around these parts. Their mother didn’t agree to such a thing, forcing the animal to be pushed past its limits because Michael never took the time to try and train it, to even warm it up. Sometimes, Nathan’s brother was an idiot. He bit down on his bottom lip, trying to find somewhere to hide Claire, his eyes flickered to and fro before settling on the tree just a few feet away. “Baby, ya think you can climb up that tree fast?”

“Sayed, you asked for it next week, not today. So you’ll get it next week. That's what Joe said on Monday, I'm just -- you go and change these deadlines on me and I just can't keep up. I can't do it.”

He leaned back in his chair, a huff of air pushed through his teeth in a poorly concealed demonstration of frustration. He was staring into his computer monitor, where a pixelated image of another man looked back at him.

“Well yeah, our plans changed. We lost the bid on the Venice Beach condo, so the Seaside property is getting priority. We needed those plans like, yesterday. Our clients are coming into the office tomorrow to take a look at what we have for them and we can’t screw around on this one. She’s a real … Real Housewives of Beverly Hills type. If you know what I mean. Joe said he emailed you about it. Did he not?” 

Hidden beneath his desk, his left hand was shaking. He felt it up to his elbow, deep slices of pain cutting through to the bone. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. His focus shifted behind the monitor, to the floor-to-ceiling windows of his home office. He could see the ocean, the reason he bought the place sight unseen. It made up for him not being able to get out to the beach as much as he would like. Kind of. 

He looked back at Sayed, his right hand gripping at his left forearm in his attempt to stop the tremors. 

“If Joe actually did email me, do you think we would be having this conversation now? Because I can tell you, as much as I love having your disembodied head magically appear on my computer screen like the Wizard of fucking Oz, it’s a bit of a pain in the —” 

“Theo. Jesus.” Exasperation. A quick, stuttered sigh of his own. Behind Sayed, the office was bustling. A bright, optimistic and distinctly Californian sun glared against the office tower’s windows. Despite the unpleasantness of the conversation, Theo couldn’t help but liking Sayed’s accent. He’d clearly gone to an English boarding school while growing up in India.

“I get that you have your issues, but work with me here, yeah? Joe and I are doing our best on our end, so can you show us some flexibility and be a team player?” 

Issues. He smiled.

“I’ll try for tomorrow.”

He hit the big red hang-up button on his desktop before Sayed could respond, and his the Skype window disappeared. His home was suddenly quiet, save for the whispering sound of the wind blowing through the dense thicket of black oaks and cedars surrounding his property. It was like living in a tree house, he used to think. Now he just felt isolated. The man up on the mountain, connected to the rest of the world only through Google Fiber. Theo shut his eyes, dug his palms into his eye sockets. He wanted to curse, he wanted to scream. But mostly, he just wanted to go back to sleep. 

He didn’t want to work. The thought of spending his evening staring at his drafting software while his hand had him twitching like a fucking junkie made him want to break something. Or drink something.

He wanted to go.

He stood up decisively, though rather slowly. His right hand gripped the arm of the desk chair a little too forcefully, a little too hard. It took him more effort to stand than one might expect for a 29 year old, but his shaking left hand, held close to his body, betrayed his somewhat more serious medical issues. Propped up against the desk was a cane, which he took in his right hand. He’d laughed when he’d first got it three years ago, impulsively ordered off Amazon and appearing at his door only a few days later. 

He still couldn’t feel his feet. It felt like he had blocks of ice tied to his ankles with shoelace. 

Huh.

He made his way to his bathroom, slowly, cane tapping jarringly against the whitewashed hardwood floors. Pulling a keychain from his jeans pocket, he unlocked the medicine cabinet. One anti-convulsant, dry swallowed. One muscle relaxant, dry swallowed, with only some difficulty. He stiffly unscrewed the top off the orange tube containing his Valium, and peered into the container skeptically. Either he was popping these like tic tacs or Michael was stealing from him again. He shook out two of the pills, cracked them between his molars and chewed, and shut the cabinet door. 

His face greeted him as soon as he closed the cabinet, the mirrored reflection showing him what he didn’t really want to see. He would have thought he looked like shit, with his messy, unshowered hair, the no-longer chic auburn scruff lining his jaw, and in particular, the suddenness in the way his angular shoulders seemed to droop. But, to be optimistic as Dr. Burnham told him to be, the shadows beneath his eyes really made the blue of his irises pop, and the gauntness of his face really did his cheekbones a favour or two. 

It wasn’t all bad. 

He tried calling Michael, but he didn’t pick up. The disadvantages of dating (fucking?) someone ten years your junior was that voicemail didn’t seem to be in vogue anymore. He had trouble texting, and the voice-to-text function on his iPhone always screwed up one word or another to the point where he felt like a grandmother trying to use Facebook. 

He checked on his cats, which were really just wild, feral things he liked to feed in his backyard. And eventually, Michael called him back. He was busy working on a school project, that he’d be staying in late with his school friends. So, that evening found him at the church down the street from his house. He wasn’t religious or anything close to it, he just had a fondness for the depression support group that met there. He didn’t think he was depressed, not really, but he liked listening to their stories, he liked people opening up and being vulnerable and exposing their raw fleshy insides. It was like poking at an open wound. And he liked not saying a word. It made him feel good that he wasn’t the only person suffering. The only person who looked fit and young, but was really broken on the inside. The only person who felt like shit all the time. 

The slow, twenty minute walk down the side of the unlit road into town was tiring, but his doctors told him exercise was good for him. It prevented relapses, and ultimately his inevitable and untimely demise. It made him think of his mother back home telling him exercise was a cure-all, like when he complained of a headache, or a lower backache. Or the entire left side of his body going numb. 

The church itself was a simple thing, plywood and donated pews. The basement was a gymnasium; tonight, set up with twenty or so chairs. The MS group was clearly less in demand, situated in a side room with no more than five chairs at a time. Here in the basement, the floors creaked and the coffee was stale and there were donuts. And Greg, the group leader, always made everyone introduce themselves. 

The Valium made everything good, as it always did. His hands were steady. He didn’t stumble, or worse, fall right the fuck over. He held a styrofoam cup of coffee and didn’t worry about dropping it, and smiled at the people he knew, the people he didn’t. He stuck his stick-on name tag to his pullover sweater, the navy one with the loose knit that pulled out thick woollen threads if he wasn’t careful. He had a grey collared button up underneath that only had the top two buttons done up. 

Greg came in. He was a big old man with a pony tail, whose chair creaked when he sat down in it.

“I’d like to start tonight’s meeting with asking, how are you all doing today? I’ll remind everyone present that you can decline to speak, but we invite everybody to.”

Theo sat back in his fold-out chair, totally buzzed and totally comfortable.