Unfinished Messages • •

[Naia Reeve Pelletier]

Now that the summer was here and Naia didn’t have to worry about school for a few months she was finally getting around to doing the things she had been putting to one side because of assignments and other school projects for her classes. In the last few weeks she had managed to finish some of the novels she had purchased over the year, but never got around to reading. As well as that, her apartment had seen a good cleaning session, Marlowe and Twyla had been dragged to the vet clinic for their annual vaccinations and treatments and Naia had managed to snag a few more shifts at the Hard Rock Café to keep herself afloat and keep the bills paid on time. She would be in New York for most of the summer, only taking a week to return home to Nova Scotia in August, when it would be her dad’s birthday. She had already planned with her brothers to surprise him a few days earlier and to take him out for a family weekend trip, which she knew he would appreciate now that his children were all going off in their own directions.

Most of her free time was being spent with Reese though. She had told him just to text or call if he ever needed anything and it seemed that finally having someone to talk to about his problems had done him the world of good. Some days they just met up for lunch or she drove him to his physiotherapy appointments, reminding him constantly that she didn’t mind or care about sacrificing a bit of time to drive him around. There was a cute little bakery across the street from the hospital anyway, so she indulged in a chapter or two of a book over a cup of coffee and some freshly baked pastries. Today was one of her days off from work and after a lunchtime call to Reese to ask him how a morning appointment had gone, she had invited him round for dinner and some movies. Naia enjoyed his company; he was a funny guy when he wasn’t trying to hide things from everyone.

Plus, inviting Reese around gave her an excuse to cook something. She missed doing it since she moved to New York and cooking for herself wasn’t as much fun as it was to cook for someone else. In fact, once he agreed to come over to her apartment, she had her recipe book out, skimming over the meals she hadn’t cooked in quite some time. Naia didn’t want to do anything fancy, but she was in the mood to really enjoy preparing the dishes, already deciding on an apple pie for dessert before she had even found what she was looking for amidst the dog-eared, handwritten pages. Finally settling on a lasagne, Naia searched out a hair tie before moving into the small, bright yellow kitchen of her apartment. She only ever tied her hair back when she was at work or in her own kitchen, and after turning the iPod dock on, she began preparing the dish.

It was just sliding into the oven when she heard the familiar buzz of someone at the door. Marlowe lifted his head from his bed while Twyla didn’t spare the guest any of her own attention as she settled herself on the armchair as always. Smiling as she opened the door, Naia greeted Reese and stepped aside to let him in. “I hope you brought some good movies because mine are probably the worst collection in the city.”

[/color] They were soppy dramas, romantic comedies or crime thrillers based on true stories and heavily dramatized by Hollywood. Most of the time Naia only put them on for background noise when she was working, unless she really had a need to see something again.
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• • •

TAGGED! Reese!
WORDS! 676!
OUTFIT! Cute Chica
LYRICS! More Than Friends - - - Gabrielle Aplin
NOTES! <3

[reese morgan webb]

With the summer, Reese planned on spending more time with Rhi and his friends. He still had to work around the same hospital appointments that usually popped up in his life every few weeks, but there was less pressure to be in the labs or hunched over the textbooks that took up quite a lot of the room of one of the bookcases in the apartment he shared with his sister. A few extra shifts at work kept his evenings busy, but Reese was definitely hoping for a summer like most of the other kids in his class; one full of fun, memory making and the photographs that ought to be burnt rather than displayed. He might not have had it as easy as most people, but he refused to let his condition steal away any chances of fun, especially not when he was still young and supposed to be running around the city just living in the moment.

He also had the chance to spend more time with Naia, rather than just squeezing in their social time around classes and appointments. It was definitely good to have someone know about his BMD. He had put more pressure on himself over the years to try and keep it hidden and it had probably caused more pain. At least with the redhead around she would just tell him to fall onto a bench or do whatever he needed to do to ease the ache when it came on. Reese still didn’t know how she knew so much about it, but he had figured it out that night on campus that Naia had her own secrets buried deep. He just didn’t want to lose her as a friend by prying; if she had wanted him to know then she was the kind of the girl who would tell him. She was an honest girl and gave it to him straight when he needed it; which was probably more often than Reese cared to admit.

Once his errands were out of the way for the day and he had sent a text to Rhi to tell her that he wouldn’t be home for dinner, Reese made his way around to Naia’s apartment, already knowing that the criminology student was probably carried away with her promise of home-cooked food; he had heard it in her voice the second he had accepted the invitation from her. He grinned across the threshold at her and then held up the DVD boxes in his hand. Luckily he had grabbed a few from the cabinet before climbing into his trick, just on the off chance that she would like a few of them. “I’m sure I can save the evening with these.” He teased as he stepped inside and turned to greet the large and loyal dog that bounded to his side. “Something smells great, Nai! What did you make?”

Tagged- Naia!
Words- 504
Lyrics- Secrets by Onerepublic
Clothes- Over here
Notes- xD
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[Naia Reeve Pelletier]

Naia liked spending time with Reese. He could be stubborn and worthy of a slap from time to time when he slipped into a grouchy mood, but she could deal with that easily enough. After all, she had been there for the teenage tantrums of her younger brothers and they had more of a personal punch than Reese had. Part of her was surprised that he stuck around sometimes when she could be brutally honest. She just didn’t see how it could help him to complain and whine about his condition when he was already doing everything he could to cope with it. Throwing a pity party was not something Naia believed in and it was one of the reasons why she never spoke about her own problems that hovered about from her past. Still, she wouldn’t walk away from someone just because they believed differently. It just made her more determined to help them move on from letting their thoughts linger over their problems. Life was just too short for all of that and she wished more people would see that.

Reese was more than just some project to her though. She liked his company and the excuse to cook for him was more for her, too. She missed making meals and serving them up and she couldn’t remember the last time when she had sat down for an evening in like this. Her light eyes looked over the DVD selection he had with him and her lips quirked upwards into a smile. “I’m pretty sure they will top everything I own. And I’ve not seen two of them, so expect questions by the end.”

[/color] She teased, moving back into the kitchen to grab them both a soda from the fridge. Naia rarely kept alcohol in her apartment since she didn’t drink much and it wasn’t all that often that she had people over. Handing Reese the can, she gestured to the rest of her apartment. “Make yourself at home.”[/color] She had a modest, but very homely apartment that held countless reminders of her family, friends and the place she hailed from. She was a sentimentalist at heart and everything in her home supported that. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just have a lasagne cooking and an apple pie cooling.”[/color] It really wasn’t anything big to her when she had cooked a lot of meals through most of her life.

She left her hair tied up, but tossed the long fiery locks over her shoulder, absentmindedly forgetting why she so rarely tied her hair back. Clicking her fingers, Marlowe obediently returned to the cushion in the room that was his and then she and Reese were free to move to the couch. “It won’t be ready for another fifteen minutes.”[/color] She said, lifting the can to her lips before curling her legs up on the large cushions. She already had the plates and cutlery set out on the counter top in her kitchen, just waiting for her to serve up the meal, so for now she could relax and catch up with Reese. “So, how have you been?”[/color] She asked it casually enough to mean anything, but between the two of them he would probably detect that she was asking about his health, also.
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• • •

TAGGED! Reese!
WORDS! 581!
OUTFIT! Cute Chica
LYRICS! More Than Friends - - - Gabrielle Aplin
NOTES! <3

[reese morgan webb]

Reese had never really met anyone like Naia before. Maybe it was just with the New York lifestyle he had come from, but most of the girls before hadn’t cared much about anyone but themselves. The few Reese had attempted to date over the years definitely hadn’t stuck around once they had seen him in a bad mood. He had to admit, it had made his moods worse and lured him into believing that maybe there would never be anyone out there who would stick by his side through all of this. He wasn’t dating Naia, but she was there and Reese had to say that he didn’t see her so much in the same light as he saw most of his friends, but then none of his friends knew about his condition and Naia did. His feelings for her were confusing, but he liked being with her so he tended to leave the overthinking for once he was back home. Plus, she wasn’t one of those girls who squeezed herself into a second-skin dress and paraded around the nighclubs of New York, which made him like her a little more. He didn’t have the patience or even the health some of the time for adventures like that. Dinner and movies just sounded about right to him.

“Well, I did something right, so that’s good.” He joked, flashing the redhead a small smile. He never really knew what to expect with Naia and since she often was the one to battle his bad mood and send it scuttling to a dark corner, he wanted to do something to thank her for being so kind and patient. Reese just didn’t know how so go about showing his appreciation to Naia. His sister was easy enough to buy gifts for and he had considered asking for her opinion, but he was scared she might ask too many questions and get a little too suspicious about the situation. Reese wasn’t ready for Rhiannon to know about his problems and he didn’t wish to burden her with the news. He looked around Naia’s apartment, noticing that it really did scream the character of the criminology student. Bright, happy and full of reminders of the things and people she had in her life. Hell, just being in that apartment made Reese feel cheerier! “You didn’t have to go to any trouble. You can ask my sister; I eat anything.”

As Naia moved her hair, something caught the corner of his eye, but she had moved again before he could focus on it. His stomach growled, encouraged by the delicious smell of food filling the apartment. “Apparently my stomach can’t wait that long! Sorry.” He joked, chuckling as he settled himself on the small couch next to Naia. “I’ve been good. It’s been a couple of good days actually. I dunno, maybe this new medication is-“ He trailed off when his eyes landed on the same thing that he had glimpsed moments before but dismissed just as quickly. Without really thinking about it, he reached out slowly and let his fingers brush over the scar on her neck, feeling the change in the skin. He had never noticed it before because he had never seen Naia with her hair up before. “What happened to your neck, Nai?”

Tagged- Naia!
Words- 576!
Lyrics- Secrets by Onerepublic
Clothes- Over here
Notes- xD
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[Naia Reeve Pelletier]

Naia had seen and lived through a hell of a lot more than her happy little smile gave away. It took a lot to scare her off and even more than that to keep her away for good. She was stubborn in many ways, but all of them seemed to centre back on her desire to help people and to do some good in the world. With Reese she wanted to help him through his obvious issues and complaints that she was pretty sure only he had. There was more to it though than just his condition and even before she had known the truth about it she had liked him and his company. She had noticed that she made more time in her days to spend with him when in the past she would otherwise be reading or focusing on some extra assignment for her studies. She had come to New York to escape the monotony of the repetitive life she had been falling so easily into and it seemed that it was only with his arrival in her life that she was slowly drifting away from that and allowing herself to be a little less rigid in her plans and routines. She liked it and welcomed it.

Smiling, a warm twinkle shone in her light eyes and Naia shook her head. “It’s no trouble at all. I used to cook all the time at home and then it was for six of us.”

[/color] She explained briefly, shrugging her shoulders lightly. “I enjoy cooking, I just don’t really get the chance to since I moved.”[/color] She added as an afterthought. Cooking for herself never gave her the same satisfaction as serving a meal to family or friends. She let out a small laugh when Reese’s stomach growled. “I can only take that as a good sign. And at least you’re hungry.”[/color] She was always optimistic, even about the little things like that.

Naia was listening to Reese, a soft smile on her lips at his good news, but it turned quickly to confusion when he suddenly fell silent and started to focus on something. She glanced down at her shoulder in case she had something on her from the time she had spent in the kitchen, or if there was something on the small table that ran along the back of the couch that might have something on that would capture his attention. It was only when his fingers touched her skin that she flinched, more out of surprise than anything else. She had forgotten that her hair was tied up and that the scar was exposed. She always wore her hair down to keep it hidden to save these kinds of questions. Reaching up she linked her fingers with his and lowered his hand back to the couch while using her other hand to free her hair from the tie and let it fall back over her shoulders. “There was an accident some years ago.”[/color] She said vaguely, keeping the details in her mind where they were going round on a loop.
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• • •

TAGGED! Reese!
WORDS! 550!
OUTFIT! Cute Chica
LYRICS! More Than Friends - - - Gabrielle Aplin
NOTES! <3

[reese morgan webb]

If Reese was honest, he spent more time looking out for Rhiannon and pitying himself than he did thinking about other people. He wasn’t selfish as such, but he sometimes forgot that people in the world had it worse off than they did. Naia had come along and lifted some of the self-pity away, replacing it with hard truths and reminders to pull himself together and get over the little things. Sometimes her mood alone was enough to make him feel better, lifting his mind from the pain and the aches that befell him from time to time. He owed quite a bit to her, he realised, but she acted as though she had done nothing at all to help him. Naia was just Naia, but Reese still found her endearing whenever she put him in his place after he whined to her about something. It was the way she’d just come out with it and then smile, nod her head and then continue like the sweet mannered girl she was. He had never seen anyone else do it before and it intrigued and amused him. She had all the time in the world for everybody else, but he had yet to really hear Naia tell him about something she had done for herself.

His eyes widened and he took a moment to check that he had heard Naia correctly. “Six?! I don’t think I could cope if I had to cook for more than me and Rhi, and even then I prefer to order in.” He admitted, running his fingers through his hair. Reese knew that Naia had brothers. She had casually mentioned them to him before, but he didn’t think her family was so large. It kind of made sense though when he thought about how easily she helped others or offered advice. She probably had to do it back at home, too. “Feel free to cook for me whenever you like! I’m always going to appreciate food.” He grinned, chuckling under his breath as Naia commented on his rumbling stomach. The food really did smell good and Reese definitely was hungry!

Reese hadn’t meant to upset or offend Naia. He just hadn’t seen that scar before or heard her talk about anything that could have caused it. He had his suspicions about her leg from the time she had found him at the bottom of the staircase on campus, but even that hadn’t been discussed. There was a definite change in the redhead’s mood and he felt terrible for causing it. Squeezing her fingers as she brought his hand to the couch, Reese kept a gentle hold of her hand. “Hey.” He said softly, waiting for Naia to look at him. “Forget I asked, but if you ever need to talk, I’m here. It’s the least I can do for you.” He told her, giving her a warm, tender smile before he let the subject drop entirely. If Naia didn’t want to talk about it then he wasn’t the kind of guy to push.

Tagged- Naia!
Words- 531
Lyrics- Secrets by Onerepublic
Clothes- Over here
Notes- xD
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[Naia Reeve Pelletier]

Naia lived to help others. It had always been her way for as long as she could even remember. It was impossible to think of living her life any differently. She wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, since people didn’t always need that, but she did try to do what was best for the people around her and help them out when they needed it the most. With Reese she had found he needed it more than other friends. He was stubborn, but she could push and play that game right back at him. She was just lucky that her approach had worked and that he had not only confided in her, but then trusted her to keep talking about it. It was nice to see the little changes, even if it was just a smile or being able to laugh about something when he was having a tough day. She liked that she could help with things like that.

Laughing warmly, she nodded her head and smiled. “Yes, six. They probably order in more than they tell me about now, but I always used to make dinner for us all. It was part of my daily routine by the time I left for New York.”

[/color] Shrugging lightly she continued a little more. “The first few weeks here it was strange having the silence in this apartment and not having to spend as much time cooking. Almost lonely in a way.”[/color] She admitted softly. She missed her family, even now. They had all been close and if they needed her then they knew that she would pick up her phone any time of the night or day for them. They came before everything else in her life, regardless. With another laugh, Naia shook her head and smirked. “If you start showing up at my door with a grumbling tummy then we’re going to have to have a talk.”[/color] She teased lightly, shooting him a warning look as though such a thing might actually occur.

It was so easy to forget about the ghosts of her own past when she was helping out everyone else. The twinges in her ankle and the scar on her neck were the only reminders and most of the time they were reminders that she could keep to herself with a moment of brief silence and then a shake of her head to rid the clouds from her mind. If anyone had ever noticed the scar before then they had never mentioned it to her. At the soft sound of Reese’s voice she looked up. Managing a small smile, Naia nodded. “Thank you.”[/color] She whispered, thanking him for several different things all at the same time. Pulling her hand free, Naia moved silently to the kitchen to serve up the meal. Lifting the dish from the oven she placed it carefully on the side, all the time replaying the last few moments in her mind. She had pushed Reese into sharing with her and he had just told her that she didn’t have to reveal anything to him. It made her feel a little bit guilty in some ways. One line from Silence of The Lambs came back to her; “Quid pro Quo, Clarice”. Instead of cutting the lasagne and serving it up immediately as intended, she turned back to the living room, her eyes fixed on the back of Reese’s head. “I was attacked when I was seventeen.”[/color] She confessed on the exhale, revealing for the first time since she arrived in New York, the biggest secret she had to carry.
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• • •

TAGGED! Reese!
WORDS! 632!
OUTFIT! Cute Chica
LYRICS! More Than Friends - - - Gabrielle Aplin
NOTES! <3