Knock Me Out, Hit Me With Your Punch Drunk Love

[Alisha]

He looked down at her, offering a tiny sad smile. If you had asked him even a week before, he would have never told you that he'd have this beautifully messed up girl sitting on his doorstep. Before, he didn't think he had time for a complicated relationship, but then she came into his life-a whirlwind of strength, but still so vulnerable at the same time and changed those thoughts. No longer was it 'I dont have time for this.' but more like, 'How can I not make time for this?' With her apology, his brows furrowed in confusion. "Sorry?" He asked, "I don't think you're the one that has something to be sorry about, other than trusting me."

[Kelli-wa]

She shook her head lightly and brought her knees up to her chest, crossing her arms over them, still looking to the ground. "I'm sorry I rejected you. I didn't realize that I had hurt you so bad." She licked her lips and looked in the opposite direction from where he was sitting. "I was just really..." she didn't want to admit what she was, but it needed to be said. "I was scared. I'm not really good at--trusting people. Especially not guys." A few more tears escaped her eyes. "I'm sorry that I hit you. That wasn't necessary either, but I'm not sorry that I pushed her." And she wasn't. Cybill really hated girls, especially when they did that prying thing that Alegrah had done just minutes before.

[Alisha]

Mason remained silent for a moment before speaking again. He'd make the mistake last time, speaking before he thought about what he was really saying. Now that she was back, and remarkably still here with him, he wanted to make sure it stayed that way. "I was stupid for asking for something you weren't ready to give." He said finally, his voice quiet. Mason wished that he didn't feel like he could touch her, because her tears were making it really hard on him. "It's okay to be scared, Cybill. But you shouldn't let fear dictate your life. " When she mentioned hitting him, he instinctively brought a hand up to rub the spot on his shoulder. He knew that it was going to bruise. "Yeah, I kind of deserved it, and she deserved it too. I don't know what got into her." He shook his head. "Are you okay? I'm sorry she kicked you."

[Kelli-wa]

Cybill wiped her face off with the back of her hand. She shrugged, "Not really stupid. Someone finally wanted to invest in spending time with me and I was scared," she admitted again before she finally looked at him. "You understand how hard it is for me to admit this shit, right?" she asked lightly, hoping that he did understand. She licked her lips and shrugged lightly as he apologized for the girl kicking her. "I've had worse, it's not a big deal." Cybill was a fighter, but that wasn't really what she was talking about. She was talking about all of her skateboarding accidents when she'd first started to learn how to skate in the bowl and on the half pipe.

[Alisha]

Mason didn't smile, just stared at her with a blank expression. It was hard for him to just sit there and talk to her, but it was also something he welcomed. He had thought she would leave and he would loose any chance he had. But now, as they sat on his front porch, he couldn't help but feel hopeful, even if that hope had only come in a very small amount. "I know it's hard for you, and I appreciate you talking to me about it." He said softly. After all, they couldn't move forward if they didn't start talking about things. Her next words caused him to smile. He knew the feeling. Though her hits did hurt, he had definitely had worse as well. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I've had my fair share of beatings." He said with a chuckle. "Motor vehicles can be very mean if you aren't careful."

[Kelli-wa]

Cybill let out another sigh, trying to figure this out. She needed to understand what she actually wanted. Obviously she didn't want to just leave and not speak to him again or she wouldn't still be here, but what was it? "Look, apparently fate wanted to tell me something, and I'm trying to figure it out. I thought when I got her it was saying, 'Leave, this isn't what's supposed to happen,' but then when I walked out I couldn't make myself walk to my car. So I just sat here instead." She shook her head, still not getting it. She smiled at his last few sentences. Of course he understood that. She glanced over at him briefly and let out a light giggle. "That they can be."

[Alisha]

Mason nodded in acknowledgement of her words. He understood that she was still very confused, but wished that she didn’t have to doubt him. It made him uneasy. He grinned, “Any chance the gods are telling you to let me spoil you?” He teased, in an attempt to lighten the mood a little. The negativity was like a blanket when it was too hot outside: suffocating. “I know it’s been impossibly difficult for you, but I’m glad you didn’t walk away. You’d probably be less than amused with me stalking you.” Her smile made him happy, made the things weighing on his heart and mind a little less heavy and a lot more bearable. He didn’t want her to ever stop smiling.

[Kelli-wa]

Cybill let out a small hiccup of a laugh, "You stalk me, and I'll beat your ass," she said lightly before she licked her lips and nodded, "I don't think that's it, I think they're just trying to tell me that I can't keep running away from everything that makes me feel something. I guess that's what I have to do." She licked her lips and looked over at him. "You get that I'm not going to be easy to win over again, right?"

[Alisha]

Mason smiled a teasing smile, shooting her a wink. “I think I’d be the nice kind of stalker, no missing panties or anything.” He let out a chuckle before returning to silence. His face became more serious with her last words though, and he trained his eyes on his feet. “Again?” He asked, “I didn’t win you over the last time, Cybill. You still walked away.” Mason looked at her again, offering a small smile. “But I can be very persistent, you know, if the reward is big enough.”

[Kelli-wa]

Cybill shrugged and shook her head gently, "Well, obviously you did since I came back." She looked up at him. He really couldn't deny that, she would have sent her brother over if she didn't want to see him, but she did want to see him and this was happening. "I don't know if it makes any sense to me, but please don't give up. Not so quickly anyway. Because three days isn't really giving a girl much time to come to her senses..." She licked her lips and looked away again, down toward the beach before she let out a sigh. What else was there to say? She had no idea. "Do you want to go back inside?"

[Alisha]

She was right, and he couldn't deny it. Last night? He could have. But there was no point in trying to justify what he had done the night before, especially when his thoughts and actions barely made sense to himself. "I guess your right." He had another apology on his lips, but bit it back. She didn't need another reminder of his mistake. "Defeat can make someone do a lot of stupid things. But, I'm not going to give in so easily, no matter how much you hit me." Mason's eyes widened in response to her question. "You aren't leaving?" He was almost certain that she didn't want to stick around, today anyway.

[Kelli-wa]

Cybill nodded. Even though she didn't understand why this was turning out this way, she wanted so badly to keep trusting him, or start trusting him, rather. She wanted this to be different than it was, but like usual, Cybill wanted her way. Her way or no way. No highway option. She kicked her lips. "I just. I need time." She nearly glared at him when he asked if she wasn't leaving. "Why? Did you tell her to come back after a while so I'd think I was safe and you just pull the same stunt?" she asked sharply, on the offense again, or perhaps just a very sharply tuned defense.

[Alisha]

Mason almost wanted to bang his head against the door when she accused him. In fact, he nearly did. He chose not to, just stared at her quietly for a few moments. He knew he would have to get used to the distrust, and having her thing there was always a ulterior motive behind everything he did or said, but it was hard. Mason wasn't used to not being trusted. He finally raised a brow, "No." He said, shaking his head. His eyes drifted away, to watch the water rolling in. "I just didn't think you would want to spend time with me right now, other than what was necessary, that's all. You surprised me." Heaving out a sigh, he looked at her again. "I'm going to say this once, Cybill, and I want you to try and believe me. I'm not giving upon you, nor am I going to sleep with anyone, kiss anyone, flirt with anyone, other than you. Even if it takes you a while to let me in again, you're it for me. Now that that is over with, we're going to go inside." Mason stood up and held out his hand, "Come on."

[Kelli-wa]

Cybill stared back at him before he answered, giving him a look that said, 'You'd better choose your answer wisely or I'm going to lay into you like there's no tomorrow.' When he answered she let her eyes return to normal, or normal for Cybill which was typically suspicious. "Well, so you know, I really don't want to spend time with you right now, but if I don't do it now, it probably won't ever happen. I'm not the type to just let shit off the hook so it's kind of a big deal that I haven't left yet." She stood up, not accepting his hand, more out of spite than anything else. She didn't want him to see her softening any more than she already had. It was annoying to her.

[Alisha]

Mason swallowed the things he wanted to say, along with the feelings of disappointment in himself. He knew that feeling wasn't going to go away anytime soon, but the best thing he could do for now was push it to the back of his mind. He didn't need to be thinking about his huge mistake, not to mention the fact that he had basically thrown any trust she had for him out the window. A small smirk formed on his face when she declined his hand, dropping it to his side with a sake of his head. He almost told her that she didn't have to stay, the words on the tip of tongue, but stopped himself. Mason knew that it would probably just send her into a fit of anger and accusations, and he had enough of that for five minutes. "Well, thanks, for staying." He said, turning to enter the house again. His eyes scanned the living room, remembering the haphazardly thrown t-shirts and dishes littering the room. "It's kind of a mess in here, I haven't been doing much to keep it clean lately."