One Beating Heart •

[Naia Reeve Pelletier]

It was another typical day for the young Canadian criminology student. Naia woke up early, walked Marlowe, took a shower and had some breakfast before taking her time driving to the university campus. She made sure to leave early enough so that the traffic of the morning rush didn’t affect her typically good mood. She parked her small bug in the usual spot and grabbed her bag and folders, smoothing down the skirt of her dress as she stepped from the vehicle and turned the key in the door to lock it up, securing it for however long she would be on campus for today.

Her first class was one of the most interesting that was running this semester. It was a psychology seminar that made it so much easier to write her assignments with valid and confident arguments. Naia spent most nights reciting lecture notes over the phone to whichever relative she was speaking to, purely because she found it so interesting. By the time the class was over, her notebook was several pages closer to the end and her fourth finger had a small indent in the skin from where she had been gripping her pen and writing for so long without stopping. Naia stopped at the cart to grab a coffee and a cookie to make up a mid-morning snack between her classes. She had a few hours to spare and was considering what she could do with that time.

She didn’t really fancy locking herself away in the library for the purpose of studying, so that took the most obvious of options away. In the end, she decided to spend some time outside, enjoying the sunshine while it was out and while she didn’t have any assignments or exams to cram for. She still had a good week to go before that needed to happen and she was taking every chance to relax before that came and she would have to give up most of her alone time to spend in the library or with her textbooks and binders. Sipping at her cooling coffee, Naia slipped through the crowds until she was outside, adjusting her hat just enough to block out some of the blinding sunlight so that she might see where she was actually walking. She found a deserted bench and took a seat, placing her bag at her feet on the floor before unwrapping her recently purchased cookie and taking a small bite into it, smiling as her sweet tooth gained some satisfaction from the small treat to herself.

[/size][/justify]

• • •

TAGGED! Reese!
WORDS! 459!
OUTFIT! Summer Cutie!
LYRICS! Bound To You - - - Christina Aguilera
NOTES! <3

[reese morgan webb]

Reese was allowing his life to be shaped and defined by the diagnosis he had received a few years ago. He was passing up on the chances to enjoy his youth in case it ruined the lives of those around him or meant that it would be even sooner that he would have to give up his own independence. Still, he sat there with a fake smile on his face whilst his classmates spoke about their dates, their girlfriends and the big party that was coming up on Friday night. Reese may pop in for a short stint, but he was always out of the door the second a twinge pulled at his lower body, afraid of what might be admitted if the alcohol continued the flow as it was. He was less insecure if there was a barstool nearby that he could spend the night perched on, resting as was necessary but no one really sat down at a party unless there was something wrong; something Reese never wanted to admit too.

His classes today were more theory based than actual practice and it was with a bored expression that he finally stepped from the lecture hall. Recently, things hadn’t been so bad for him and he had been taking advantage of that, enjoying all the sports he loved the most and walking places instead of driving his truck through the polluting traffic of New York every single day. Still, all good things had to come to an end and he felt that oh-so-familiar warning twinge of his BMD kick in just as he reached the bottom of the stairs that led to the front of the building and the sun filled courtyard where he was heading to grab a bottle of water before moving to his next port of call; the library.

Reese had hoped to be able to make it all the way there before he needed to sit down. At least then it would be less suspicious to any friends who might see him and he would be able to get some work done and distract himself from his crippling condition. Things didn’t want to work with his plan though and the moment he purchased the water from the vendor cart and stepped away, he felt the pain worsen dramatically. If he was going to sit down, he had to do it now. He spotted a half vacant bench which was partly occupied by a dark haired young woman snacking on a cookie. His knuckles were turning white as he clutched the water bottle and staggered to the bench, almost falling into the seat before grabbing at his left calf where the pain was coming from.

Tagged- Naia!
Words- 472
Lyrics- Secrets by ONEREPUBLIC
Clothes- Over here
Notes- xD
[/size]

[Naia Reeve Pelletier]

Naia was no stranger to tragedy. She didn’t play the role of the wounded survivor like some people did, but all it took was one glance at the scar on her neck or ankle to suggest that she was a fighter. Most people found the biggest tragedy to be the leaving of her mother, but Naia didn’t see that as a bad thing anymore. She hated her mom more than anything else, but to Naia, the crash at nineteen only made her stronger. She didn’t like to talk about it much, but with her short hair, the scar was easily visible and people did ask her what had happened.

She wasn’t paying attention to the people around her, but she could hear the voices of people as they passed by; the usual complaints of studying stress, the laughs of happy students and the excited chat of the weekend and the parties that usually always accompanied the Friday nights. It was the typical sort of thing you expected to hear in the university courtyard, even just from the people passing through on their way from class to class. Her own little world pulled her in and whilst Naia was working through the little checklist mentally and sorting through her thoughts, there was a sudden crash back to reality as a guy Naia had never seen before crashed into the vacant spot next to her.
The pixie haired girl took a few seconds to regain her bearings, her green eyes blinking repeatedly before she could think straight again. She turned her head to look at her crash landing companion, her eyes moving over him until they caught him massaging his leg. She smiled softly, knowing far too many people did the same thing from time to time.

“Let me guess; cramp? It’s a nightmare when it hits like that.”

[/color] Naia’s ankle surgery had left her right leg susceptible to the same thing, especially when she was walking about for a long time. She couldn’t believe she still had to work her physiotherapy on it a few times a week when it had been almost four years since the accident that caused the problem to begin with. She watched him for a second longer as she chewed the remainder of the cookie in her mouth. “Do you want me to fetch you some water or something?”[/color] She offered politely, smiling as always. It wasn’t in her nature to leave someone in pain, even if it was just a case of cramp. She had spent too much of her life caring for others and now it was an automatic response for the young Canadian woman.
[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/justify]

• • •

TAGGED! Reese!
WORDS! 477!
OUTFIT! Summer Cutie!
LYRICS! Bound To You - - - Christina Aguilera
NOTES! <3

[reese morgan webb]

Reese was growing more and more annoyed at his worsening condition. The doctors said that there was nothing to blame specifically for causing it, but most medical journals seemed to suggest that the condition was genetically inherited from the mother of the son. It wasn’t enough that he already disliked the woman for how she had raised himself and Rhiannon and how she expected them to behave, but now he got to resent her for this too. He was still refusing to tell anyone about what was really wrong, so he had to mentally blame her throughout every meeting and phone call they did share. Plus, he didn’t think he’d ever actually have it in him to come out and blame her outright, not unless he finally actually exploded one day from keeping it all locked inside.

Usually, people didn’t really say anything when they saw him rubbing his leg, if they saw him at all. One of two people who might pass by would politely offer an “are you alright?” but they were quickly on their way again once he forced a smile and nodded his head. It wasn’t like a sore leg was an uncommon thing that screamed at anyone and everyone that there had to be something more serious wrong with him. This was why he was a little surprised when the person next to him spoke up, seemingly talking to him. Turning his head to look at the stranger, Reese took a moment to take in her appearance. She looked cute and wore a friendly smile. All in all she looked like quite the sweetheart; the girl who didn’t have a bad word to say about anyone or anything. However, that didn’t mean he was going to confess everything to her like some strange movie moment had befallen his reality. “Yeah. Yeah, it is. It should go away soon.” He said, forcing a tense smile across at her.

Reese continued to massage his calf muscle in the way the doctor had shown him a few years back. It helped ease off the pain of the weakening muscles and hopefully, in a few more minutes he would be able to walk to the library like he had originally planned. “Thanks, but I’ve got a bottle right here.” He said, copying her politeness as he showed her the bottle he had purchased right before he had collapsed on the bench. Uncapping the water bottle, he stretched out his leg, testing it as the ache remained in his muscle for a little longer. No harm could come from sitting there while he finished the drink and at least then he was even less likely to hit the floor the second he put the pressure on the leg that had chosen to give him grief today.

Tagged- Naia!
Words- 488
Lyrics- Secrets by ONEREPUBLIC
Clothes- Over here
Notes- xD
[/size]

[Naia Reeve Pelletier]

Naia couldn’t blame her own mom for her accident, but it had been the same feeling of entrapment that had made her unable to see the pothole that would cause the accident. She hated the fact that she had followed in the footsteps of the woman she refused to be like. Luckily for Naia, her younger brother had been there to play the hero before she left Nova Scotia, talking sense into the dark haired girl before she ended up doing something as drastic at their uncaring mother had. How someone could be so selfish like that baffled Naia, but she was determined to never be like that. Her move to New York had been for school, so that she might chase her dreams at last, but she was somewhat certain that when the time was right she would return to Wolfville and live her life back in the small town she called home.

She wasn’t the kind of girl who could walk by someone in need. She always dropped some change into an empty cup on the street and if someone looked like they had been crying or hurt, she always stopped to ask if everything was alright and to offer them a tissue or a shoulder to cry on if they needed it. It didn’t seem to be a sentiment shared with the rest of New York, but then Naia didn’t want to become like the people she bumped into on the sidewalk, yelling into their phones and angrily barging past innocent people. She still believed in helping others, regardless of who they were and right now, the guy next to her didn’t look all that comfortable with his leg. “They say the most common cause of cramp is dehydration, which is surprisingly easy to happen, despite how much people drink. If it’s not water it doesn’t seem to do the trick.”

[/color] She said with a smile, offering an unnecessary explanation for a simple problem.

There wasn’t a lot else she could do to help him, but he was starting to look in less pain now that he was sitting up a bit more, sipping from the bottle. She smiled softly and nodded in understanding before breaking off half of her cookie. “Want a bit?”[/color] She offered him, once again with politeness shining through that was still uncommon to most people in the city, it would seem. “I’m Naia, by the way.”[/color] She told him with another big smile.
[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/justify]

• • •

TAGGED! Reese!
WORDS! 414!
OUTFIT! Summer Cutie!
LYRICS! Bound To You - - - Christina Aguilera
NOTES! <3

[reese morgan webb]

He was still surprised that this girl was talking to him. He was so used to dealing with this alone and going unnoticed by the rest of the world that he didn’t think collapsing onto a bench next to a young girl would actually make her want to talk to him. If anything, he thought she might get up and leave at the image of the scruffy young chemistry student massaging his leg as though he was trying to revive it. This was one of the first times that Reese had been wrong and he didn’t really know what to do with everything now, considering it wasn’t really cramp bothering him and he didn’t know all that much about what the pixie haired woman was talking about.

He didn’t want to be rude but his leg was hurting, he didn’t know this girl and he didn’t have cramp bothering him. She was being nice though and the friendly smile she was throwing him was enough to stop him from snapping at her, though that didn’t make him feel any less awkward around the young woman. Reese still found it in him to try and hold up the small insignificant conversation since he would be moving away in five more minutes. “Sounds like you’re quite the expert.” He said with a small smirk as he looked across once again at her smiling face.

He had to laugh softly as she offered him her cookie. Of all the people who could’ve been on this bench it had to be the girl with the heart big enough to rival his little sister’s. Not many people would be as nice as this girl was being and she made it impossible to try and tell her where to go. “Thanks.” He said, accepting it and taking a small bite. It still seemed crazy that this girl was offering him cookies and being polite when so many others wouldn’t have even cared about him or what was wrong with him. “Pretty name. I’m Reese.” He said, complimenting her and introducing himself in one fluid motion. He probably would never see her again after this encounter and she’d just be engulfed in a sea of students and become nothing more than a passing face in a crowd as the classes come and go and everyone rushes back to their social lives or their studies.

Tagged- Naia!
Words- 421
Lyrics- Secrets by ONEREPUBLIC
Clothes- Over here
Notes- This sucks.
[/size]