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Post by kristay on Jan 5, 2012 7:46:20 GMT -5
Aya had managed to walk all the way to Dan's house without getting a seizure. The entire ordeal was wearing her nerves thin and though she had the support of her family, of Garret and Monte and everyone she cared about, she still hated the fact that she had to break the heart of a person that mattered to her. In one way or another, Aya did love Danian Arthur. That was the truth. But it just wasn't enough for her and she knew that if their relationship progressed any further, she'd just hurt Dan even more. Even from the beginning, she had had that nagging feeling deep in her gut that she was using him to suppress the pain of ending her relationship with Monte. And that wasn't fair to Dan.
She took another deep breath as she trudged towards the front door of the Arthur home. Aya muttered something incomprehensible to herself as she looked at her jeans that she had tucked into her boots. She adjusted the purple sleeve of the hoodie she was wearing and undid the zipper, revealing a black lace tank top. The amount of energy she had exerted in walking and freaking herself out was enough to make the girl sweat. Once she was sure she was presentable, she stuffed one hand into her pocket and took a deep breath as she rang the doorbell.
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Post by Raebee on Jan 6, 2012 4:10:06 GMT -5
Danian looked up from the book he had been absently flicking through as the doorbell sounded throughout the house. He exhaled slowly and stood from where he had been sprawled along the couch. Rubbing his eyes, he pulled open the door and smiled warmly, his eyes sparkling as he greeted Aya. "Hey Spike". Pulling her into a hug, he held her closely before releasing her and stepping out of the doorway. "Come in, come in. I'm glad you came over, you know how ages ago you told me to do something nice for Jade? Well I just finished it. I want you to see it before I show her."
Reaching for her hand, he tugged it lightly before turning back down the hall, his voice carrying backwards as he walked. "She misses her..our dad a lot, but she's too mad to talk to him, you know? So I thought, why not try my hand at building something". He entered his room, and knelt down beside the bed.
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Post by kristay on Jan 6, 2012 4:35:58 GMT -5
Aya had just about nibbled on her lip raw, waiting for Dan to open the door... Hoping that he'd open the door. When she finally did get to see him, her heart stopped in her chest. He was smiling, so happy. She hated this. With every fiber of her being, she hated it. When he took her up in his arms, Aya hugged him as tightly as she could; inhaling his scent, remembering what it was to be with the 'good guy'. The one who she knew would never hurt her. And yet she was letting him go for someone who everyone claimed to be an asshole, a jerk, one who would always hurt her. Maybe something was wrong with her... But she knew she loved Monte in a way that could never compare with anyone else.
"Hey Dan." She managed to say a bit breathlessly as they pulled away at the same time. Aya didn't even have a moment to say anything else as Dan gently pulled her along to his room. She followed willingly and moved closer, curious at what he had made for his sister. She was glad nonetheless that Dan had thought to do something nice for her. Hopefully the two would patch things up soon; she hated it when siblings fought.
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Post by Raebee on Jan 6, 2012 4:55:42 GMT -5
Dan continued talking, oblivious to the fact that Aya had barely spoken since she'd arrived. Reaching under the bed, he pulled out a carved box, covered in an intricate pattern all across the lid and front panel. "M-Our dad was a carpenter, so I was kind of hoping some of his skill was genetic. Luckily for me it panned out or I'd have to think of something else."
He chuckled softly, and pulled the lid off. The box was lined with crushed forest green velvet and nestled safely inside was a picture frame with the same design as the box. A mass of photos sat inside the frame, all containing the same two people, over a span of years. "It took a while, so that's why I haven't been around a lot. I'm sorry about that. The photos were hard to get, Rae's still pretty angry with Dad but she knows it's important to have your parents around if they can be". Rocking back on his heels, he glanced over at her, suddenly shy. "Do you think she'll like it?"
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Post by kristay on Jan 6, 2012 5:08:27 GMT -5
Aya couldn't help but move closer and kneel beside Dan as he pulled out the box. She hesitantly ran her fingers over the surface of the lid; the intricacy of the design was amazing. She gasped in surprise when Dan opened the lid. She hadn't expected all the photographs but she knew, just by looking, that it had taken an incredible amount of time to come up with this entire project. This was just another evidence of the kind of guy Danian was and for some reason it just broke her up even more. She couldn't help the tears that were suddenly pricking the corners of her eyes as she nodded jerkily. "She's not going to like it Dan; she'll love it. I'm sure." Aya couldn't look him in the eye as she stood up and hastily wiped at her eyes.
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Post by Raebee on Jan 6, 2012 5:17:43 GMT -5
Dan watched her reaction, his smile transforming to an expression of confusion. He mirrored her movement as she stood, and moved towards her. "Aya, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" He folded her once more in his arms, holding her tighter this time, and kissed the top of her head. "Can I help? Is something wrong with your family?" A thought dawned on him. "You're not sick again are you? The cancer hasn't come back right?"
He stopped talking, realising that he hadn't given her a chance to answer one of his questions, let alone all of the ones he'd just hurled at her. Letting her go, he put the lid
Back on the box and shoved it under the bed out of sight. Sitting on his unmade bed, he patted the space beside him. "Talk to me Aya."
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Post by kristay on Jan 6, 2012 5:32:47 GMT -5
His gentle response to her tears made her weep even more as she covered her face with her hands and let him hold her. Once Aya had finally gotten a hold of herself, she looked at him; her tears still continued to trickle down her face as she sat down beside him on his bed and bit her bottom lip as hard as she could. She shook her head at his questions. "No, no it's not your fault I'm sorry... And I'm not sick again and my family's okay." This was it. The moment when she, Ayame Tay, would break the heart of someone who had done her no wrong. The moment that would paint her in history as a selfish bitch.
"Dan, you know I care about you right?" She smiled tremulously at him as she continued. "You're sweet and funny; intelligent and you love your family. You take care of everyone and you are just about... the nicest guy I know. In the world, probably, you're just the nicest." Aya paused and shook her head. "You're amazing; really. Just amazing. And I'd be an idiot to not like you." But I am an idiot. A complete and utter idiot.
She knew she was rambling and she was probably scaring Dan more than her explanations could calm him. Aya was terrible about this and she ran a frustrated hand through her hair, looking down at her lap before raising her eyes to meet his once more. This was it. This was really it. "Dan... I... I still love Monte."
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Post by Raebee on Jan 6, 2012 6:07:39 GMT -5
Danian sat on the edge of his bed, concern etched across his features at the tears continuing to fall on Ayame's face. He took her hand as she started to speak, relief flooding through him as his most important question was answered. He broke into a smile as she managed one herself.
He froze momentarily, then he withdrew his hand and wiped his face. "You're...you're not serious are you Ayame?" It felt strange to use her full name, but any nickname, or his own pet name for her would leav a bad taste in his mouth right now. "Tell me you're joking. Please." He lowered his hand, and turned to face her. "Why? How? How can you still love him when he did what he did? How can you choose him over me?" He frowned, fighting to keep his temper. "You don't love me do you.."
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Post by kristay on Jan 6, 2012 6:14:29 GMT -5
Dan's physical and emotional withdrawing of himself from her was what really broke her. "I-I don't know Dan! I don't know how I can do this to myself over and over again; even when my mind says Stop! Please! It's enough for him to hurt you once, twice, but not anymore! But my heart just doesn't want to hear it. All it wants, all it yearns for is him." The betrayal, and utter disappointment in his eyes made fresh tears trickle its way down her cheeks. "I do love you Dan. I love you so much that doing this is just breaking my heart into pieces. But I'm not the one for you. I love you but... I don't love you enough. And I know it sounds terrible and I hate myself for saying it but I can never love you and care about you the way that you do me." A soft gasp escaped her lips and she covered her mouth as the terrible words finally escaped her throat; rushing out like word vomit. Ugly and painful. Even to her own ears.
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Post by Raebee on Jan 6, 2012 6:36:25 GMT -5
Danian wiped his face again, feeling resentment rise like bile in his throat. He stood quickly, moving away from the bed to the other side of the room. "I don't understand. I honestly just do not get it. You say you love me, but how can you? If you love Monte, then there's no possible way that you can love me too. We're as different as night and day. He's an asshole, and I'm not. I respect people. He doesn't. I care about other people." The venom in his voice as he spoke his name surprised him, scared him even and he took a deep breath, and closed his eyes and counted to ten silently before speaking again.
He forced himself to look at her as he spoke, keeping his voice even. "I'm sorry. Ayame...Do you remember when we went to Palmers that first time? Cause I do. That's what's going to happen to you if you go back. And it'll happen again and again and again. And I don't know if I could be there for you while you do that to yourself." He grimaced, folding his arms against himself. "There I go, assuming that you'll still want anything to do with me now your prince charming is back." Resting his head against the wall, he directed his comments to the ceiling. "Why didn't you just send me this in a message? Just tell me "Hey thanks Dan, this was a fun way to waste my time while I wait for Monte?"
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Post by kristay on Jan 6, 2012 18:58:34 GMT -5
She whimpered as each word from Dan was like a bullet straight to her heart. Aya rose from the bed and stood to face him, "Dan please don't be like this... Of course I love you. And I know you're different from Monte. Why do you think I'm telling you all this? Because I'm not the one for you; you deserve someone who is sweet and kind and would never hurt you the way I'm hurting you now." Her tears would not stop now, "I'm here because you deserve better Dan. Better than me. Better than all this."
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Post by Raebee on Jan 7, 2012 0:48:02 GMT -5
Dan looked down at her, trying not to notice how tiny and frail she seemed at that moment. "Don't give me that. You're just saying those things so that you feel better about what you're doing. What if I don't want someone else huh? What if I think you're the one for me?" His heart wrenched, every part of him screamed at him to stop attacking her and just tell her everything was going to be fine. But he couldn't do it.
He scowled, turning his face away once more. "Just go Ayame. I don't want you here anymore. Go run back to Monte. I just hope for his sake, and yours, that he treats you right this time. I think it's great that he finally chose you when there was no one else left."
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Post by kristay on Jan 7, 2012 3:52:30 GMT -5
Though every word that Dan said was the truth, she couldn't help but believe that Danian would never say those things to her-- not her Danian. Then again, he wasn't hers anymore was he? She nodded gingerly, her entire body feeling numb with shock, pain, and guilt; so much guilt. Her movements were mechanical as she stepped out of his room and walked down the hall to the front door. She managed to open it, knowing that this was probably the last time she would step inside the Arthur home and she wished with all her heart that Jade and Dan would be okay.
She had managed to open the door and step outside; her feet working on auto-pilot but upon reaching the house 2 doors away from the Arthur's, her leg gave way, her knees buckled and she fell, finally breaking down. Aya burst into tears as she crumpled on the sidewalk, her face in her hands as she wept at the loss of Danian. The sad thing was that she knew there was no one to blame but herself. Though Monte wanted her back, the decision to end it with Dan was her own and she couldn't forgive herself for hurting someone who always just wanted the best for her. This was the right decision, wasn't it? This was what she wanted... Wasn't it?
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Post by Raebee on Jan 7, 2012 22:35:15 GMT -5
Dan kept his face turned away, but his ears were tuned to her every step. As the door shut behind her, he turned in an uncharacteristic fury and slammed his bedroom door. His rage suddenly spent, he leaned against the cool wood, before sliding down to the floor and cradling his head in his hands.
This was the first time he'd had an argument, in fact ever spoken to anyone outside his family so harshly, and he stopped himself from running after her to make sure she was ok. He frowned, making a note to ask Jade to check on Aya via Georgie.
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