Jack stayed in his place barely outside the fair grounds for some time. He thought about what he'd gotten himself into- 'An actual relationship that has nothing to do with them..' Jack sighed deeply and moved out of the parking lot to avoid getting hit by some driver who didn't see him standing there. He'd almost turned home when he felt a dull buzz against his pocket. He flipped out the phone and read the text. 'Tristan.. "Rendezvous at A6".. We never go there anymore- why wasn't I informed of this?'

Shortly after Jack had changed motives and gone all the way to the city on foot, he realized how late it was getting. He was in a state of confusion and worry over his text. Jack never got a text from Tristan, despite how they were both 'in charge' of their little gang and talked in person so much. He recalled how Tristan had been annoyed with him for a long time and vice versa since Tristan popped into the 'group of friends' Jack hung out with. They were always on bad terms with each other, and neither of them would be the first to admit it. As the eerie thoughts echoed through his head, Jack kept walking. He was getting closer and closer to the unused secret hideout when his mind suddenly turned over to Jun. "Be careful, Jack." Out of the blue, just as the text had brought him into the city, the remembrance of Jun's advice brought Jack all the way home where he stayed put for the night.

Jun curled up on her bed hugging her bear as tightly as she possibly could. After all of these years.. why her 'mom' suddenly interested in her? She didn't like it though, it gave her a bad feeling. A very bad feeling. It also scared her... If she remembered one thing about her mother, it was that when she wanted something- she'd stop at nothing to get it.

Sabrina sat out in the living in case Jack called and Jun didn't hear. Maybe she could ask him if something happened at the fair...

Jack slipped into his house and made it to his bedroom safely while his parents weren't paying attention. He'd made it to his room where he crashed, still conscious, from walking clear across the entire city into his neighborhood outside the suburbs where life got a little less busy. He buried his face in his comforters for a few moments but was startled wide-awake when he thought he heard a gunshot. Clearly unsettled, Jack looked out his window and found that there was nothing to be afraid of. When his anxiousness turned into annoyance, he tried to go back and take a mini-nap. All it did was give him another gunshot hallucination.

A few swear-words pierced the silence in Jack's room. He stood up angrily and muttered something about sound waves and his mind's inability to correctly "fill in the blanks" for sounds. He shifted so that he had his back against his wall as he sat on his dark comforters. Jack pulled his phone out again and exited out of his messages list from earlier that hour. He dialed up Jun's number by heart and listened to his dial-tone create a pattern of sounds to correspond to the set of numbers he'd entered in.

When the phone rang Jun sprung out of bed and her room. "I got it!" She called to her aunt and picked up the phone. "Hello~?" Jun asked all happy. They didn't have CID but she had a feeling it was Jack. Sabrina giggled quietly from the living room.

"Hey~" Jack said almost instinctively after he heard Jun's voice. He quickly glanced at the time on his phone before he said anything further. "I felt the need to check up on you, since it's not eleven.. Am I interrupting?"

[[ One and a half liner :i ]]

Jun blinked a few times. "Wha? No, no, you're not interrupting." She giggled a little. "I'm really glad you called." Jun said, keeping the peppiness in her voice.

Jack laughed a bit himself when Jun told him that he wasn't breaking into something. "Me, too," he said. He still felt a tad on-edge about how his night had changed upon leaving the fair grounds. It was as if Jun possessed some ability to attract the normal things while Jack walked around bringing the bad luck. "I like hearing your voice."

Jun blushed slightly and her eyes softened. "Me too..." She said softly, gripping the phone a little tighter. She wanted to tell him that the lady from the fair was the same woman she told him about the night he stayed over, but couldn't bring herself to say anything with her aunt in the room. Jun was already keeping it a secret from Sabrina. "I really had a good time. Maybe we can go on another date someday?" She said finally after a short pause of silence.

Jack tilted his head back against the wall of his bedroom and looked out the window, still holding the phone to his ear. "Sure," he said in a somewhat dreamy state. "I'd like that a lot." Then, Jack got a slightly secretive idea. He didn't want to pressure Jun into answering personal questions whatsoever. Jack understood that telling someone they had the right to denial didn't necessarily mean they would actually use those rights. "We could go someplace and have it be just you and me."

Jun still blushed, and smiled happily. "I'd love that~" She chimed not-too-loudly in a cheerful voice. "Just.. nowhere that could possible collapse on us, okay?" Jun said in a hushed voice.

Jack nodded to himself as if to put Jun's words on a list of things he had to check off before planning a date. "Okay," he replied kindly.

[[ >x< omega 1-liner, gomen ]]

[[ it's okay ^-^ it happens :3 ]]

Jun looked at the time and frowned. "It's 10:59, which means it's time to say good night." She said softly. "Sweet dreams alright Jack?" She smiled sweetly to herself.

Jack blinked once when he heard Jun announce the dreadful time and he was reminded of his semi-sarcastic promise to Sabrina. Jack sighed a bit and shifted to wake himself up. "Sweet dreams," he said across the phone line. "I'll talk to you soon."

Jun kept her smile. "Yeah." She said quietly before saying a final farewell and hung up the phone. Jun sighed softly and went over to aunt to give her a good night hug and kiss then went to her room and curled up on the bed after closing her door. she got under the covers with her bear in her arm and went to sleep sooner then expected.

Jack took a short breath of relief when the line ended and he wasn't connected any longer. He turned his phone off completely and set it aside. He saw that he had completely fallen out of his bad habits within days of Jun showing up in his life. Jack questioned what he'd been doing his entire life while simultaneously making a note to never let it get out of his grasp. He liked being able to spend time with someone other than the people who pressured him and lead him astray. Half an hour later, he was asleep.

Jun tossed and turned in her sleep. In her dream she was alone in a pitch black space-like-room just walking around like a scared little girl. "Hello...? I-is anybody here...?" She called with uneasiness in her small voice. A figure wearing a black and red hooded cloak carrying a scythe appeared in front of her, causing her eyes go wide and to stagger back a little and fall to her bum. "You, little girl, should be dead! Your hour-glass has been empty for quite some time now..." He then came after her with his scythe. She screamed then blinked when she looked up to see Rie, but only because it was a dream and anything can happen in dreams. Minutes later Rie and Mr. Reaper where gong at it. "You won't harm a hair on her head!" (Rie) "I'm just doing my job! Her soul is in need of being collected!" (Mr. Reaper)

Jun awoke and sat up, scared to death. It was probably around two o'clock in the morning. 'Just a dream.. right...? There's no way the Grin Reaper's after me...' She hugged her teddy tightly. "Jun? Sweetie are you alright?" Sabrina asked as she neared the bedroom door. When she entered the room she saw her niece rocking back and forth slightly, and she looked scared to death. Sabrina went over and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Jun jumped and slowly moved her gaze to her aunt. "Auntie..." She hugged her and began crying. Sabrina blinked a few times and gently wrapped her arms loosely around her niece and did her best to coo her.

[[ *like a gossipy schoolgirl* oooooh, someone's in trouble with Death >o< ]]

Jack had been asleep on and off for what he thought was an eternity. Sometimes he would open his eyes and glance around, only to 'blink' and realize that an hour had passed. When he tried to repeat the event to just get through the night, though, a minute truly did last forever. After a while, it began to rain again and then Jack really couldn't sleep. He fumbled for his phone around in the darkness and finally managed to turn it on. He was surprised to see that a bunch of text messages were waiting in his inbox- 'Tessa... Andrew.. John..' some of his friends had even messaged him twice. '"jack wru tristan is locked up r u ok?"--What the heck!?' Jack sat straight up and flipped through the messages one by one as he skimmed. After reading every message, he could piece together that Tristan and about six others were arrested due to some gang incident. Jack jumped when his phone buzzed and another text showed up. He almost called Jun- almost. Instead, he looked out his window in shock.

~ * ~ * "Be careful, Jack." * ~ * ~

[[ it kinda hit me last night sometime before i actually went to sleep xD poor Jun ]]

When it started to rain Jun only glanced out the window. Sabrina carefully tucked her back under the covers and sat in the chair beside the bed. She hugged her teddy tightly as she laid still in her bed. Jun pretended to be asleep until her aunt left the room, then she sat up again and oh so silently slipped out of bed to stand closer to the window. Watching the rain fall with a small smile. Rain always seemed to calm her.

After an eternity of silence sitting in front of the window, Jack impatiently stood up on cue of the rain and stretched. He had decided that enough time had passed for him to emotionally stress over what had happened between his friends. Jack knew he was ignoring them already and didn't want to be alone thinking if that wasn't his original intention. So, he changed out of his comfy pajamas and quietly slipped on a pair of jeans. He also grabbed a jacket to top off his clad-in-black look and protect himself from the rain. At the same time, wonders of this mysterious Tristan buzzed about his head.

Finally, Jack made his bed, wrote a quick note in a spiral, and set it on his bed. He'd often times disappeared from his household, so the routinely process of leaving detailed notes on one's bedspread became the only way for his parents to figure out where he was. Rules had long since been established that legal trouble would not be shared between family members. Jack sighed and finally crept out of his window and across the rooftop of his home, closing it shut behind him and locking it with another magic key of his. It wasn't hard for him to reach the tree that grew parallel to his house- Jack had gotten good at climbing that thing. When the obstacle course test was over, Jack began to jog towards Jun's house. In the middle of the night.

[[ i drew this last night~ http://www.menewsha.com/forum/album....ictureid=53170 ^-^ ]]

Jun went to sit on her bed after turning her bedroom light on and grabbing a book. Most likely her aunt was asleep and the last thing she wanted to do was wake her so she stayed in her room. She was definitely glad it wasn't thundering. Jun like the sound of rain but absolutely hated thunder. She got this weird feeling and stood back up to open her window. Jun poked her head out the window and looked around before shaking her head and stepping back into her room and closing the window. "Why would he be out in this weather...?" She asked herself quietly.

[[ lawls, it's -adorable- *uber squee >w<!!* ne, is that from the fair incident? ;o (noticed the >< sign x3)]]

Jack felt so proud of himself upon walking up to Jun's house- he hadn't gotten lost. Not once. He pulled a hand out of his hoodie's pocket and waved the way a person does when they're far away, with his entire arm. He sighed when the window was closed on him. When he reached about the porch where some of the rain missed his clothes, he looked around at the entire house. He knew immediately that ringing the doorbell was extremely off-limits. At least, if he wanted to see the light of day ever again. So, Jack sat in thought about how to get to Jun.

[[ xwx; didn't know where to go.. I know some houses (like Jack's) are all roof-y (ohey, has to do with Tristan's rohypnol usage ;D.. roofies.. *cough*) and then my old house was totally an ice block, impossible to climb .w.;; what's Jun's house like? ]]

[[ -nods- hai~ i had to <3 *giggles* glad you like it ^-^ ]]

Jun went and opened the window again when she saw Jack and poked her head out again only a little further so she could see him. "Jack? What're you doing out here in this weather?" She said asked just loud enough for him her to hear her then shake her head. "Don't move, I'll go let you in." She smiles a little then pulls herself back into the room, closes the window again, leaves her room to go the hall way and unlocks the door before opening it and carefully pulling him inside and closing the door again. For him to up, let alone out, at this hour or this weather something must've been bothering him... She concluded. "Is everything alright?" Jun asked quietly in a soft voice with a hint of concern.

[[ like an old run down house from the salve-days (there's the main roof and two smaller ones that connect to the main one on the level of the bedroom windows for making a quick escape, the front porch, back porch) i'll have to make a sketch to explain it properly >x<' ]]

Jack looked up towards the sound of Jun's voice. He'd had just enough time to do that much and listen before he noticed her disappear yet again into the house. He hadn't even gotten the chance to take his hands out of his pockets. Jack blinked once in his little dazed manner and glanced around himself, as if he were going back to the old idea of climbing up to Jun's window. By that time, however, his ideas were too slow. He didn't resist being pulled inside, but he still made the effort to stay mouse-quiet.

Jack pulled a shy smile and looked away when he was asked if he was alright. "No one's awake and I couldn't sleep.. I don't know why I thought you were up, but I sure am happy that you are." Jack stopped himself and his attention was drawn back to Jun. "I've been thinking about some things that kept me up a little too long and just wanted to be able to talk to you."

[[ ah, no need, my house is kind of like that ^^ we've have a raised front porch as well as a semi-wrap around roof that connects to me and my sister's bedroom windows in case we decide to dash out-- escape from some sort of danger. (though i've got this fire-escape ladder to put down the side of my room that doesn't connect to the roof >o<..) ]]

[[ oh, hehe ^^' ]]

Jun rubbed the back of her neck lightly. "Let's go to my room, we can talk all we want." She smiles a little and turns to lead him to her room. 'Now I'm glad I'm up...' She thought to herself and held the door opened for him.

Jack murmured a soft "okay" and followed Jun into the room he'd been in once before with her. Those memories swam underneath the surface of his consciousness like fish and left traces of sparkling emotion swirling in the darkness. He was again reminded of the parallel world he'd seen once upon a time when he had searched the whole community for Jun. Jack stood in-thought for an extra second or two before looking back to Jun. He grinned when reality struck him that it was so late. "What are you doing up like this?" he asked curiously as a drop of water fell from the edge of one of the curves in his dark hair.