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On Tuesday, Alicia doesn’t make any contact with the group beyond sending out the text message regarding Thursday.

That night, she visits Rhys again, spending the night with him and leaving in the morning before he wakes up.

Wednesday morning, Rhys catches sight of Alicia coming out of the principal’s office, her less-than-pleasant mood evident in her face and body language.

"Alicia!" calls Rhys, as he runs to catch her up. "How's things?" He's wearing that dopey grin of his again.

Alicia freezes at the sound of her name. For a second, she looks like a deer caught in the headlights of an approaching car, tensed to flee but unable to move.

Finally, she acknowledges Rhys, though her face remains impassive. "Things are fine. Just f**king peachy. What do you want?"

Rhys' grin falls away, to be replaced by a look of confusion.

"I was just saying hello," he replies, meek and mild. He seems hesitant to continue, but he presses on anyway. "I wanted to tell you I've enjoyed the last couple of nights..."

Alicia stares at him, a hand on her hip, her shades successfully masking any emotion.

Her voice just drips sarcasm. "Glad to hear it. Anything else? Should I schedule a massage for later? Fetch you your slippers? Fluff your pillow?"

Rhys gets defensive at that. "Hey, you were the one who came to my room in the middle of the night - I didn't ask for it. So don't get like that. I've never ordered you around or asked you to do anything. Hell, I didn't even get pushy about having sex when we were both naked in bed together, even though I wanted to. What's wrong with you?"

Alicia moves up to Rhys, pushing her face forward.

"Maybe what's wrong is that I'm finally realizing what an idiot I was for falling for your BS, Welshboy."

There's a frantic tone to her voice, as if trying to force the words out before others can form in her mouth.

She pokes him in the chest, hard enough to push him back.

"So don't worry about me ruining your beauty sleep any more. I'll stay away from you and you'd do well to stay clear of me."

She pauses as if trying to say someting else, but before she can speak, she twists around and walks away quickly. She calls out over her shoulder, her voice straining, "Just leave me alone, hear me?"

Rhys sputters for a moment in stunned disbelief before finally managing to get out "Fine! I will!"

If he sees her at all the rest of the day, he avoids her. Others will notice, if they care to, that he appears to be fuming about somthing.

Later that night, Rhys will notice a text message on his phone:

im sorry

It takes some time for him to reply, and when he does, all Alicia gets is a noncomittal:

oh?

thts crap. nothngs bettr. whats really wrong?

The response is long in coming.

i am

nonono. pls. i cant let any mor ppl get hurt cuz of me.

The speed of the responses show that Alicia is likely reading the messages as soon as she gets them and answering back.

This one actually takes a bit to come back.

u stil wan me

to stay?

Where Rhys' answer takes no time at all.

yes

The answer comes with the ringing of the phone.

The first thing Rhys hears as he answers is Alicia's exasperated, almost screaming voice.

"Estúpido! Why won'chu understan' what I'm tryin' to say!?! You. Will. Get. Hurt. If. I. Stay. How could'chu possibly wan' dat?"

Her Spanish accent is thick, a sure indication of her high agitated state.

"I don't know." Rhys is just as calm as Alicia is agitated. "I haven't really had time to think about it yet, but I know it's what I want. I want you. Pain and all."

And do you ever need me...

Rhys' composure just seems to agitate Alicia more at first.

"Aiiee! Chu drive me crazy with your quiet talk! Chu get me all con-fused so I don' know what to think..."

She does manage to calm down enough to lower her voice, although Rhys can still hear her heavy breathing.

"You do want me, even though I'm a stupid crazy bitch with 'anger-control issues'?" Rhys can hear the quotes in her voice when saying the phrase.

"God help me, I do. Mae hi wedi cachi arna i, but I do."

Alicia manages to chuckle. "There you go again with your Whale swearing."

There's a moment of silence on the line, then Alicia's voice comes through again, now soft.

"Were you truthful when you said you wanted to... have sex with me again?"

"God, yes. You're as beautiful and untamed as a force of nature, and that's a tremendous turn-on." Um, was that the wrong thing to say? "I'm surprised you couldn't tell what with me poking you in the back and all." Okay, that was definitely the wrong thing to say. "Um, I mean... oh, cnych."

Alicia laughs, her mood shifting again like sand in a tidepool.

"Well, I knew what your little head was thinking, but I wasn't sure what the big one was."

She's quiet for a little bit, then speaks again softly, her tone serious but wistful.

"I don't deserve you, but I don't care. If you'll have me, I am yours. Look out your window."

She is sitting on the ledge of the building across the street, perched like a gargoyle on a Gothic cathedral.

Rhys smiles as he closes his phone. He opens the window and then takes a step back into the center of his room. When Alicia comes to the window, he has already formed the wings from his angel-form, but the rest of him looks normal. The wings spread out in an enveloping gesture.

"I think you need a guardian angel, my little sinner," he says with a rather wicked grin.

Her eyes bright, Alicia kneels in front of Rhys, hands on her thighs, eyes downcast, and quietly repeats her last words.

"I am yours."

OOC: Shall we run down the curtain at this point? And to forestall our GM, yeah, I'm pretty sure bodily fluids will be generously exchanged. Fate (1d20=3) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1878708/). Uh oh.

{I told you before: real condom. This ain't his first party... Fate: 1d20=2 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1878711/)}

OOC: And Alicia's on the pill. Big deal. That wouldn't stop an enterprising Rat Bastard GM like Darren. ;D

Oh, and this time Alicia will make sure to say goodbye to Rhys before leaving to go back home in the morning.

{And that will make a pleasant change. :) }

OOC: And dammit, if I don't feel like putting that in the story now.

Rhys awakens in the morning to see a pair of yellow-green eyes, still puffy from crying, staring at his from inches away.

"Good morning, mi amor," Alicia purrs softly.

Rhys smiles and brings his hand up to stroke Alicia's face gently. "Yes it is." He leans in and kisses her.

She presses in, deepening the kiss. She whispers, her face still against his, "I have to go."

She pulls back to look at him as she continues, "Mom yelled at me yesterday for being out at night; that's part of why I was so pissed off when you met me. I didn't tell her I had been here with you because... well, I hadn't.

"I'll go tell her now. I think she'll understand."

Reluctantly, she slips off the bed and starts getting dressed.

Rhys props himself up on one shoulder and watches her lithe figure appreciatively as she moves. After a moment, he says:

"Isn't it better that she knows you're with me instead of out doing God-knows-what? That might help her worry less. And then she might not be so prone to yell."

Alicia gives her a smile as she gracefully manages to stand on one foot while slipping on her pants.

"Yes it is. Which is why I'll tell her."

She straightens and looks at Rhys for a second. Taking a deep breath, she says, "Ree-is, you're not the first boy I've been with. And... well, it didn't end well, and I think my mom may be worried that I'm going that route again."

She walks over to the bed and kneels to bring her head down to his level. "You are very different from... him, but she may need some convincing of that."

"I'll do whatever it takes to convince her I'm a good boy," he says with a grin.

She responds with an evil grin of her own. "Yes. a very good boy."

She darts forward for another kiss, then presses her head against his shoulder and takes a deep breath, inhaling his scent.

Skipping out of reach, she finishes dressing and stands by the window.

She pauses at the threshold, looking at Rhys. "I... I'll see you later in school, OK?"

He lies back, stretching his arms over his head, baring his pale, be-freckled, scrawny chest.

"Oh, yeah. Barring the unforeseen, I'll be there."

Another smile flits through Alicia's face. She slides through the opening and out into the morning.