InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Engage."

Alice West (bestwest) wrote in genome_project,
@ 2012-09-25 08:01:00

Entry tags:

alice west, boo collins, september 2012

Who: Alice, Boo, and NPC Rob
When: Tuesday
What: Run ins with ex-boyfriends are ALWAYS fun
Where: NYC
Rating: PG-13?

Alice was happy, really happy, the kind of giddy and obnoxiously smiley happy that had started to drive her co-workers a little crazy when she showed up to work like the sun was shining out of her rear end. Things were easy with Bradley. He was sweet but sexy and underneath it there was still that hint of dangerous that she knew he kept tucked away. He had put up with all of her quirks, been patient until she was ready to sleep with him (which had involved him agreeing to date her officially in a very interesting conversation involving an overly aggressive barista), and he'd even managed to emerge from a run-in with Caleb largely unscathed.

She supposed she should've known it couldn't last. She should've known things couldn't have been easy and perfect forever, but when she spotted him that day, the look on her face clearly said otherwise.

Rob.

It was hard to put into words exactly what she felt upon seeing him there. Anger. Humiliation. Sadness. Fustration. Fear. She had honestly thought that Rob was the one, that she was going to marry that boy some day, and she'd thought that she could trust him with the truth about who she was, that final piece of her she'd been keeping. She couldn't have been more wrong, and the series of events that had followed, the loss of her friends, her job, a huge portion of her life, all because he couldn't handle the idea of her being able to see through a wall.

The impulse to run was suddenly overwhelming. She wanted to get as far away from him as possible. On the other side of the street. On the other side of the city. On the other side of the world. "Let's have lunch," she mumbled, gaze still stuck on the well-dressed brunette heading in their direction. Without even thinking, without even looking, without even remembering she still had a hold on Bradley's hand, she abruptly moved to cross the street.

...In the middle of a very busy intersection.

Alice felt a rush of air, heard a car horn ringing somewhere in the back of her ears and jerked herself back on to the side walk with widened eyes. "...Right." she breathed, her hold on his hand now resembling something very close to a death grip. "Sorry."

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iamtheoddone
2012-09-27 01:03 am UTC (link)

A nice, fall walk was not supposed to be a dangerous event. Boo had never taken Aice for being the type of person who liked to run into traffic for fun, and while he was pretty convinced she had her share of secrets, he didn't think adrenaline junkie (or, more appropriately in this situation, suicidal) was one of them. She' wan't very big, but she'd definitely given his arm a decent yank when she headed into traffic.

"There are cars there, you know." He pointed out dryly once she was safely back n the sidewalk, but despite the sarcasm, he was glad she was safe, and wrapped the arm not in her death grip around her, "We can't get lunch if you're dead."

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bestwest
2012-09-27 12:36 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah," she answered with a small, nervous laugh. She chanced a furtive glance to her left and felt her heart rate shoot up when she realized he was getting closer. She away, staring at the street determinedly for a while, before she caved and looked again.

And realized he was looking right back at her.

"Oh God."

Was he walking over there? No, no he wasn't. He wouldn't. What good could possibly come of-

"Hello, Alice."

Looking distinctly similar to a ghost, Alice's lips parted and a pathetic 'hello' managed to escape, barely audible.

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iamtheoddone
2012-09-28 05:23 pm UTC (link)

Yeah, was right. Geez. Cars probably wouldn't even see her. If anyone should have been leading a dangerous expedition across a busy street, it was him. Boo was still a little too distracted by that incident to notice Alice's odd behavior until they had company.

"Oh God?" He asked with a quirked eyebrow. What the hell...? Rob got a very serious sizing up. Yeah, he could take him. And judging by the terrified look on Alice's face, he might have to. "And you are?"

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bestwest
2012-09-28 09:09 pm UTC (link)

Rob wasn't a small man, but it was hard to look anything but when you were standing next to someone like Boo. His gaze shifted over to the beef cake who had an arm around his ex-girlfriend, and he smirked slightly.

"Robert Brown," he answered easily, eyes trailing back over to Alice. "He seems awfully protective of you. Seems unnecessary, don't you think?"

Alice frowned at him. As if X-ray vision somehow made her dangerous. It was her brothers he should have been worried about. "What do you want, Rob?" she muttered.

"Just thought I should check in. Make sure no one else gets a nasty shock. Have you told him yet?"

Alice blanched. "Shut up, Rob."

"You haven't, have you?" he asked, smirk widening as his attention turned back to Boo.

"It's none of your business, Rob." The emotional strain of the conversation was starting to affect her as the passengers of cars suddenly became visible beneath their windows, and Alice could feel a headache coming on.

"You're right. It's his, isn't it?"

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iamtheoddone
2012-09-29 04:27 am UTC (link)

What the fuck was this business?

Boo tried to keep up, but it was like he was the only one speaking English. "Told me what?" He glanced between Rob the creep and Alice, who clearly wanted to get the hell out of there.

He frowned at Rob and tightened his grip on Alice protectively. He didn't care who this guy was, he didn't like him. Making Alice uncomfortable and talking around him like he wasn't there was enough reason. "Look, whatever it is, it's clearly not going to happen with you around, so I think you should be going."

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bestwest
2012-09-29 07:32 pm UTC (link)

Rob gave a mock bow as he took a step back. "As you wish. But I'd watch my back if I were you, man." He returned to an upright position and cast a glance in Alice's direction. "See you, Alice."

Alice groaned as he sauntered off, suddenly feeling suffocated by Bradley's embrace as she stared down at her feet. "He-" She sighed.She didn't quite know how to explain what category Rob fell into. Definitely something below ex. Something much, much more painful. Not wanting to delve into that, however, she simply offered, "Ex-boyfriend."

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	iamtheoddone 2012-09-29 07:42 pm UTC (link)
	Boo rolled his eyes at Rob and his stupid comment. Whatever this secret was, he was sure he had no need to watch his back. The Alice he knew wouldn't hurt a fly. But of course, now he was curious. "Interesting choice." Caleb's overprotective streak was starting to make sense. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

bestwest
2012-09-29 07:46 pm UTC (link)

Alice managed a weak chuckle in response. "He wasn't always like that." Or, well, she supposed he must've had it in him all along, and it just took her honesty to make it rear its ugly head. Plenty of people had said that the break up wasn't her fault, but if she had just kept it to herself, never told him, she believed they would have stayed together. She wouldn't even in be in New York, most likely. Whether that was healthy or not was a completely different story.

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	iamtheoddone 2012-09-30 03:58 am UTC (link)
	Whether he was always like that or not wasn't really the issue. The issue was that he had been a dick right then and there, and now Boo's girlfriend was shaken. It was not appreciated. He grunted in response, "Yeah, okay." Really. It didn't excuse anything. "He made you sound like some kind of axe murderer." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bestwest 2012-09-30 04:07 am UTC (link)
	Alice eased her way out of his arms with that comment, away from the street and more toward the direction they had been heading before Rob decided to butt his stupid head into things. "You know me. Saving animals by day, killing innocents by night," she answered with a forced smile. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

iamtheoddone
2012-09-30 04:36 am UTC (link)

"Sounds about right." He nodded. Alice was doing that weird, sweeping the whole thing under the rug with a joke and a forced smile, which seemed vaguely familiar.

"Um. So..." It wasn't a question. It wasn't even the beginning of one, but it was an opening. She didn't seem keen on sharing still, which was fine. He hadn't ever been big on it himself, but it was supposedly healthy. Something to do with not bottling emotion. Some court appointed therapist had suggested at some point in the 6 months of sessions he'd been obligated to attend (much like Caleb, really) before he'd been deemed fit enough to go without.

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bestwest
2012-09-30 01:25 pm UTC (link)

Alice had zero intention of sharing that afternoon. In fact, she was rather keen on not explaining what Rob had meant with all of his warnings any time soon. Sure, it probably let Boo's mind wander, but she doubted anything he could come up with would be similar to the actual truth. Serial killer. Secret ninja. Spy. None of the possibilities was believable when you looked at her tiny frame.

"So," she answered, hands easing into her pockets. "Kind of puts a damper on the afternoon, doesn't it?" Nothing like an ex-boyfriend throwing warnings your way to kill the mood.

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	iamtheoddone 2012-10-02 12:29 am UTC (link)
	Right. Yep, definitely familiar. Boo sighed and nodded. It didn't seem like he'd get anything moe out of her. "A little," he agreed. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	bestwest 2012-10-03 12:28 am UTC (link)
	Alice felt her throat tighten a little when that sigh escaped him, but she was doing her damndest to maintain some semblance of composure, so her shaky smile stayed in place. "Maybe we should just go home?" she finally managed to offer up. "I'm kind of... not in the best mood anymore." (Reply to this) (Parent)