As Sebastian began up the stairs, Verona only shook her head, "I didn't hear anything." She told him.

But even though she they hadn't heard a word of what Helen had said, Verona knew somehow, whatever that man had been telling her, wasn't good..
She just had one of those feelings, and often when she had a feeling as such, it was almost always right.

"Should we ask," Verona questioned.

She didn't want to pry, but.. It seemed important, and if it was about things happening back in town, she felt obligated to know.

"Come down," Helen said, not looking up from what she was doing. "I knew you two would try to eavesdrop. I'll tell you when I'm back from selling the goods. It may not be till dinner time though."

Ezekiel had taken Verona's hand at that point and led her down the stairs. He was afraid to outright ask what kind of information it was.

Sebastian had followed them and seemed just as interested, although he had other reasons. He seemed to always be interested in what was happening in the city.

Helen surveyed the group before smiling slightly. It was her wistful smile, and the only one that portrayed her knowledge of how they would react.

"In time children," she said. "In time..."

Verona had never been a patient person, well not with information anyway.
She didn't like it when people didn't tell her things, important things, like this. It just seemed so odd for Helen to act like this.. What had happened..?

Surely it was interesting, and the suspense would drive Verona crazy!
But she wouldn't bother Helen about the matter, she wasn't like that, not at all.
Even if she was desperate to know what had happened, and why Helen had told the to wait, she wouldn't ask, not a chance. She had been raised better than that.
She was raised to respect peoples privacy, and she would hold true.

"I can wait," Verona said with a tinge of annoyance in her voice.

She hadn't intended it to sound that bitter, had she..?

Ezekiel had looked annoyed but he didn't speak a word. When he'd recovered himself he just nodded slightly. He wanted to go home and see his mother, who seemed to have abandoned him.

He sat down in one of the chairs after a while and let out a sigh. He motioned for Verona to come sit by him in the empty chair to his left.

"What's for breakfast or is to early?" he asked with a grin.

"Well," Helen began. "Since you are all up I'll make you something but for lunch you're on your own. I'm sure Verona could easily make something."

Now that was more like it.

"Oh yes, I could," Verona said excited, moving to take her seat next to Ezekiel.
She loved to cook, and she planned on making the boys a meal like nothing they'd ever seen.

Good. At least if she was unable to hear the secret now, she would have something to keep her busy.
And that was nice, very nice.

Rubbing her head, she plopped down next to Ezekiel, and leaned against his arm.
She yawned as she sat with him.

It seemed very early, and indeed she never was awake at this time. So you could say her body's timer had yet to ring.

Ezekiel felt a bit more comfortable when Verona was next to him. He watched her for a while before he looked up to see what Helen was doing. Sebastian had sat across from him.

He felt tired for the most part but the nightmare that had woken him up was still lingering in back of his mind. He looked again at Verona and when he was satisfied he looked up again.

"How did you sleep?" he asked Sebastian.

"Fine for the most part but not as much as either of you two," he said with his signature grin.

Verona's eyes were closed as she sat leaned against Ezekiel, she decided to answer this time.

"It wasn't as long as I needed," she stated as she made herself more comfortable.

She was indeed quite tired, although she wasn't sure as to why..?
Maybe it was because the two of them ended up staying awake longer than she had planned.
Or maybe she was just tired from the day before. She couldn't tell really.

"Ezekiel," she began. "How did you sleep?"

"It was fine," Ezekiel admitted. "I had a dream though. It woke me up so I decided to let you sleep since it was early."

He had a fear of actually admitting it had frightened him. He hated admitting fear since he frequently viewed it as a weakness in himself as did his father.

"Nothing but a petty, little dream," he said. "Just a dream."

It almost sounded as if he were trying to convince himself that it was exactly what it was, just a dream and nothing more. There had been a slight tinge of fear in his last three words that he didn't notice and it would most likely give him away.

It wasn't hard to tell from Ezekiel's tone, that his dream was not a pleasant one.
But it had seemed as though maybe he had been trying to had tat fact, so Verona decided it best not to say anything.

"What time is it," she questioned aloud.
It seemed early, maybe somewhere around dawn.

Verona pulled back a bit, so she could meet Ezekiel's eyes and smiled.
It was one of those, I love you smiles, just to show that she did.
She often did things like that to people.

When Ezekiel saw her smile he felt slightly comforted. He wasn't sure of the time but he knew it was early. Helen was nearly done preparing their light breakfast when she'd heard the question.

"It's about five," she said with a smile as she continued to cook.

Ezekiel snorted slightly from shock and clapped his hand over his mouth. He hated it when he did that because it usually meant that he was intending to laugh but it came out the wrong way.

"I get up at four every morning," Sebastian said as he stretched slightly."

"Aw," Verona said when Ezekiel snorted. She couldn't help but to laugh a bit, she thought it sounded cute.
And of course, she had snorted once or twice before..
But she dropped it quickly, considering it seemed to bother him.

It didn't take much longer for Helen deliver three plates of food, and set them at the table for the three of them.

Verona scooted down a bit, so she wouldn't crowd anyone, and then waited for the two boys to start.
All those years of waiting for people had still controlled her hunger urges.

Ezekiel felt even more embarrassed when he knew that Verona that it was cute. He was blushing at this point and when the plates were set down he was quite thankful.

He began eating almost immediately because he wanted to get his mind off of the nightmare that he'd had.

"This is really good," he said after he swallowed down his first bite.

He'd have to eat slowly since this wasn't as much as he was used to.

Verona soon after was scarfing down the food as well.
The earlier one awoke, the earlier the hunger came on, and the stronger.

She nodded in agreement as Ezekiel had spoken of its goodness, and as usual, Helen had cooked a wonderful, and delicious meal. As always.

She seemed to be eating quite fast today though, faster than Sebastian even.
She was quite hungry though.. But she wasn't sloppy about it, that would have been a bit grotesque.

Sebastian had paused in his eating to watch Verona. He looked slightly astonished since he'd never seen a girl eat faster than him. He had no doubt that his sister, Veronica, could eat just about as fast him since he knew what she changed into.

Ezekiel on the other hand barely noticed how fast Verona was eating and seemed to be in a trance like state has he ate. He was eating rather slow for his natural speed of eating.

It was as though he was afraid something bad had happened in town and feared that he would never have Helen's great food again.

Verona had also seemed quite wrapped up in thought, despite the way she was devouring her food.
Glancing up at Ezekiel, she was shocked at the rate in which he was eating his food, and how.. blank he seemed.

"Ezekiel," she said after a moment. "Are you okay?"

Putting down her fork, she brushed her hands together, and waited. Certainly something had to be really wrong for him to eat like this.

(sorry if it's short.)

Ezekiel was a bit shocked when Verona spoke to him and he jumped slightly. He'd only eaten half his food and Sebastian was staring at it now.

"Go ahead and he it," he said shoving it towards him. "I'm fine Verona."

It was true he was fine but he was not okay. There was a difference between the two words in his language. Not being okay meant that he was physically injured while just being fine meant that he had something on his mind. In this case it was his sister and parents.

"You ate fast though," he commented in an attempt to divert the subject. "You must have been absolutely ravenous."

"Are you sure you're okay," she asked him, not letting him avoid anything.

"You don't seem like yourself.."

Pushing what little bit of food was left on her plate towards Sebastian, she stared at Ezekiel now.
She really didn't believe this fine nonsense.
It was true, and she could easily see that.

Ezekiel had glanced at Sebastian as Verona continued to press him for what was bothering him. If he admitted it in front of him he'd be forced to recall it his entire life.

He turned and smiled at Verona. She was beautiful. He reached his hand up and brushed some of her hair behind her ear.

"It was just a nightmare, love," he said. "Why don't we go outside for a while?"

The suggestion would get them out of Sebastian's hearing range and then maybe he'd feel more comfortable telling her what happened in the dream.

Verona still felt uneasy, but agreed to walk with Ezekiel, even in the cool morning air.
At least maybe he would be able to tell her now.
Maybe.

After washing the dishes, Verona began out the door with Ezekiel's hand locked with her own, keeping him with her as they left the home.
They left poor Sebastian in the dust.

"Now please, tell me what is wrong with you.. What was your dream about Ezekiel..?"

Once they had reached the fresh air Ezekiel felt a bit more at ease. He didn't look at Verona right away but simply looked at the horizon.

Helen was gone now and it would be a while before she actually came back.

"I had a nightmare," he said. "It's been bothering me since I got here. I don't know how my mother, father, or siblings are doing. Well... in exception of my brother."

He let out a sigh again and seemed to be in a slightly trance like state as he looked at the horizon.

Verona could understand where he was coming from.
Not only did she wonder about his parents as well, but her own, and even Mayhen were on the list.
But mainly Mayhen.

He was one liable to tell people that she ran off with Ezekiel out of free will. Then people wouldn't press the matter, and Eric was bound to snap about something of that shape.

"It's okay.." she told him. "I worry too. I'm sure everything is just fine."

Ezekiel had nodded slightly before wrapping his arms around her. He let out a slight sigh, still not letting god of her.

"You know if it weren't for you," he began. "I'd probably either be dead or drunk."

Then again if you put him in a room with his favorite beer he wouldn't be able to resist it easily.

It was still slightly dark out but the sun was just beginning to come up over the horizon. He felt a new sense of relief knowing that it was a new day and almost anything good could happen.

As Ezekiel's arms enclosed around her, Verona smiled, knowing that she had somehow helped him a bit.
"Now don't say that," she told him.
"That might not be true."

But deep, deep down.. Verona realized that it was. He may not be dead, but certainly drunk.
Oh, now she felt bad for thinking that lowly of him.
It wasn't very nice though.

"The important thing is that you're here," Ezekiel said with a smile. "It makes things easier to bear because I know someone's there."

He had turned to watch the sunrise. He'd never gotten up this early before, mostly due to the hangovers he'd frequently gotten.

It was beautiful, more beautiful than he could have imagined it to be.

"Let's just look at the sunrise," he said after a moment. "It' almost as beautiful as you."

Verona smiled as Ezekiel spoke to her.
And she leaned against his body, holding to him as she watched with him, the sun rising in the distance. She loved it when the sun set, and rising was almost as nice.

"I love you," she told him.

(Way too short, I'm sorry.)