"You should wear blue," he commented with a slight smile. "I think you'd look good in it."

He'd almost expected her to be a good child due to efact that she was good at the present moment. It was strange really, just a way of predicting something so simple.

"What do you think is going on in the city," he asked a moment later. "I've gotten no news so far."

((i'm at the end of interior design, sorry it's short))

(Haha, okay.)

Verona really didn't say anything about the blue comment, since really she didn't like the color that much. It was okay, but not her most desired color.

"He has probably been going crazy trying to find us, or really me.. He seemed upset when I didn't want to marry him, and he told me you were dead."

Staring ahead, Verona squeezed his hand, "But I didn't listen. I cried, but I didn't listen. And then we had that public announcement.. When we got in the limo, I smacked him hard, and several times.."

Ezekiel laughed when heard about how his brother was, in a way, attacked by such a petite girl. He seemed to sigh slightly before letting a few more laughs out.

"I can see that almost," he admitted. "My brother probably raised his hands to shield his face but had no other real reaction to it I'm guessing. Sorry about that though, he can be a bit arrogant at times. I've worried about him though..."

While admitting his anxiety there was a slight tremor in his voice connoting a slight fear that surrounded that subject. He seemed almost distracted by something at that point but shook his head as if trying to rid of it.

"Well he'll be a fine leader," he said with a slight smile.

Verona's face turned a bit sour as Ezekiel practically praised his brother.
"Well also he'd make a good rapist, but.."

Well, she said it. And he kind of would considering his lack of respect for personal space, and all of that.
But she would just drop the subject here.

"So I have another question," she began. "Why me?"

Looking down, she felt it was a decent question.
Of course there had to be people before her that he cared about, that was what that letter was for.
But she hadn't ever heard him say anything about why he loved her, so now seemed as good a time as any to find out.

Ezekiel had seen him in this vicious act once before. He could remember when his brother had actually slept with one of the girl's he'd been interested and convinced her that he (Ezekiel) was a horrible person and should be avoided.

"He..." he started to say. "has different intentions. I'm sorry this is hard to explain. I really don't like degrading my brother since he is well... my brother. He went after you because he knew that I would eventually fall in love with you. I'm guessing he knew how to break the curse but didn't say anything."

He looked slightly mournful for a moment and crossed his arms over his stomach slightly. He glanced at her and smiled weakly. He loved seeing her, she always made him feel better. ((sleepy time))

(Haha, mm-kay.)

Verona only nodded in response as Ezekiel explained for Eric again.
She disliked him quite a lot, no matter what he said, and most likely, things would stay that way.

"But why did you fall for me," she asked.

Really, that was what she was after in the first place.
"I mean, you had to have had some other girl that you cared for more than me.. And somehow, you ended up here.. You probably could have had anyone.."

(short! :o)

Ezekiel didn't seem shocked when she asked that particular question. He was formulating what he was going to say when she continued her thought process.

"I've seen a few people," he admitted. "But something bad always has happened and they ended up hating me with their entire being. I never know what I did."

He paused slightly to see if she reacted at all or turned and ran in fear of something strange growing on his face. When she didn't he smiled and brought her closer to him.

"Well I fell for you because you didn't give up after the first night I saw you," he admitted. "The last time someone came to visit me while I had a hangover was to chew me out for some stupid thing that had ruined their reputation the night before. You were quiet, and it was soothing in a way. Thank you, I don't think I could thank you enough for that."

((Now sleepy time XD))

(Haha, okay.)

Knowing this made Verona feel lighter.. She was somewhat glad that he fell for her because she was herself.

She moved closer to him as they walked, and the air seemed to be cooling down a bit, the sun sliding gently out of view.

Verona had been getting tired as they walked, even though as they "swam", really they didn't do very much, if anything at all.
It was more of Verona and Ezekiel standing around hugging each other.

Ezekiel was glad that she had been walking closer to him. He was currently contemplating a few issues he'd run into earlier. From what he knew there may be or have been a vicious rumor going around about him and the time he spent with women.

He glanced at Verona, and for a moment wondered whether or not she knew of this rumor. If she knew about it he wondered if her opinion of him would change since every single rumor was basically true.

"Did you hear any rumors about me before you met me?" he asked after a moment. "Anything?"

Verona felt a bit surprised when Ezekiel had asked her if she'd heard any rumors. Yes, she had heard quite a few, but when she met him, really met him, she forgot all about the things people had been saying.

"I've heard a few, but now that I know you, I know they can't possibly be true.." she hoped.

But there was always this small, nagging feeling that held her up, telling her that everything she heard was true, and that he was a horrible person..

"You know, it was just some small stuff."

It wasn't just some small stuff though, it was stuff that people got killed for..
The kind of stuff that people went to prison for, well, some of it.

"What kind of things did they say?" he asked, but it sounded more demanding than requesting.

He seemed ridged as he contemplated what else they could have said, hoping desperately that it had been something else.

Sebastian had caught up to them at this point but seemed to be mostly in his own world, studying the fish that he had caught.

The horizon now had changed to a more peaceful colour despite the nervous mood radiating from Ezekiel.

((writer's block))

Verona's face jerked up suddenly when Ezekiel demanded to know what people had said, his tone and atmosphere had changed so fast, it was actually quite disturbing.

"Well," she said. "I dunno.."

She was stalling, and she knew it. Stalling off to prolong the inevitable, the truth, the lies, everything, the things she didn't really want to know.
Looking back down, she avoided making eye contact with him, it was too disturbing for her to do so and keep content about herself.

"They just said some stuff.."

Stuff. Yes, that could work for now. It would keep Ezekiel at bay for maybe another few seconds, but it would help.

(What kind of rumors should I pop out of her mouth?)

((promiscuity levels - ie. who he's 'had over' and what not))

Ezekiel just looked frustrated when she couldn't think of any, maybe it was worse than he expected it to be. He took his arm and locked it in front of him and cross his arms.

"I'm sorry," he said after a moment despite the fact she still couldn't pinpoint it. "Do you think you could still figure out what they said?"

Sebastian had made sure to back away a few feet so he was just out of hearing for this since he'd heard some of the rumors and knew that it would be best to make it feel as if he didn't.

Verona only stared at the ground now, or more appropriately at her feet as Ezekiel waited. Well, her thinking path hadn't really gotten very far, except for the things she wished weren't true.. The worst of the rumors.

"Well," she said. "I've heard a few about you.. and some women.."

She could feel her face growing quite red. Some of the rumors had actually come from these women, and some of them, knew Verona, and told Verona first hand, what a guy could consider everything.

Of course, at the time she really didn't care very much, only giggling and gasping when necessary.
But now, it stung a tiny bit, just to imagine him with some of those girls..

Ezekiel had winced slightly when the words had actually come out of her mouth. There had been more senseless rumors, that had been false but he couldn't say these weren't true.

He wanted to defend himself but he was afraid to, he thought it might be rude. The indecision was clear on his face as he glanced at her and then stared ahead.

"I'm sorry," he said after a moment.

He was hoping that she didn't want to know why he'd been like that. It was a stupid reason. Usually he was either too drunk to realize what he was doing or he'd ended up getting his heart broken, and he'd done that on purpose too.

"I'm really sorry," he said again. "Are you mad at me?"

Placing her hand over her mouth, Verona never had once looked up from her toes.
Shaking her head after a second, she still had yet to look up.

"I'm not mad," she said softly. "Disgusted, but not mad.."

She had probably heard a few things that weren't true from these,"friends" of hers, but still, she had heard enough to know the extent of what he had done.
But she wouldn't hold anything against him, never would she do that.. And she knew no one was perfect, and this was all in the past, so there was no point in worrying with it now.

He hated the fact that she was disgusted by what he'd done, what he essentially had been and he hid his face slightly. It was steadily growing dark and Sebastian was beginning to urge the forward.

The outline of the small house could be seen now and Helen was standing out back, just waiting for them with arms crossed as if she were angry. There was smoke coming from the chimney which most likely meant she had a fire going and it would be nice and warm in there.

"I'm really sorry," he said again. "If I had known it... I just... I'm sorry."

Sebastian ran ahead of them at this point to give the fish to Helen, who seemed rather pleased. Giving the two, meaning Ezekiel and Verona, time to discuss what they were talking about seemed to be an important thing to Sebastian at this point.

Verona smiled slightly, stepping over to Ezekiel, she lifted his chin up slightly to face her.

"You're forgiven," she said hugging herself onto him.
"I'm not going to hate you for something that happened a long time ago, okay? I'm not.."

Looking back up to him, she smiled, "Now see, that wasn't so bad.. I mean, okay it kind of was.. But still, I love you, and I won't care anymore!"

Poking him in the stomach, Verona then grabbed his hand and began to tug him backed towards the house, "Come on, Helen is probably angry.."

Ezekiel was struck by how she was so forgiving. He didn't quite understand it due to the fact that no one had forgiven him for the acts. He'd only done it because he was lonely, depressed, and generally angry at his family just for giving him this curse.

"Thank you," he said after he was being tugged slightly towards the house.

As they passed the garden he managed to pick the bucket that held the rest of the ripened vegetables. He grabbed her hand with his free hand at that point and seemed to be calmed by the connection.

"So what will we talk about tonight," he asked while fighting back a slight yawn.

He was sore for the most part but it wasn't bothering him quite yet. He doubted he could do more than two days in a row of that work but he'd try as hard as he could, just for Verona.

"I will think of something," she said in her normal, perfect voice.
"We have all night long to talk, and kiss."
Jumping up suddenly, Verona popped him a quick kiss on the cheek, giggling a bit.

"I love you," she told him as she happily tugged him along.

There was no reason for her to judge him on his past, or make things hard for him now, because there was nothing to change what he had done.
But if he had the choice, Verona was almost positive he wouldn't make the same mistakes.
And love was supposed to be forgiving, and she could do that must at least.

Ezekiel had been only a bit surprised when she kissed him but he smiled slightly.

"I love you too," he said in a sweet voice. "Like sugar. No bad analogy... I love you like..."

He stopped due to the inability to actually think of anything to compare his love to. It was most likely nothing of inconsistency and was not unreasonable in the least sense.

At that point he realized he was still shirtless and he blushed slightly. The skin on his back felt warm from being out in the sun so long and he was guessing that he was either burned or tanned. His eyes seemed to have a welcoming glow to them, unlike when he'd first met her at the bar.

Smiling, Verona held onto his entire arm now, engulfing him in a small munchkin in a white top.

"You are the sun to my shine," she said laughing at herself.
She hadn't said something like that in years, and now seemed like a good time to use one since Ezekiel was fresh out of words.
But "I love you" was good enough.

When Helen spotted them, she only smiled a bit, and seemed to leave them alone for the most part.

"And besides," Verona began. "Your love is enough, it can't be compared."

The way that he looked at her at this point was almost unbelievable. It was the entire reason Helen had left them alone for the most part. His expression was filled with love and care and seemed to be unmeasurable.

"Then, my love, I shall not compare it anything," he said softly. "Then words could never express the unmeasurable love I feel for you."
He'd kissed her on the cheek after that, almost seeming to purposefully avoid her lips in fear of poisoning her with his treacherous past; the words that could describe those fateful days hung on his lips, wanting to leave and be heard by a pair of ears so kind.

"A man is hungry though," he said breaking the mood as they entered the small house. "And food must be delivered to the stomach at an eventual and expected time."

Verona felt overjoyed at this point, how she loved him so. It felt like no matter how many times she could tell him, that it would never be enough. It would never satisfy her heart.
But she couldn't say that she wasn't hungry as well.

"That sounds about fair," she told him. "I would love to have some food as well.. We haven't had anything to eat since morning."

And the hunger was beginning to gnaw on her stomach, craving a well-cooked, and delicious meal from home.

(sorry if it's short.)

Helen had been cooking the meal while they had been heading back and there were two plates that had food on it sitting at a small table. The table hadn't been there before and Ezekiel was at once confused.

"It looks like you and I can eat together with Sebastian and Helen," he said with a grin.

Helen had sat down next to Sebastian who was staring at his food while he waited for the other two to sit down. Ezekiel decided to tease him a bit and he slid out Verona's chair. When she sat down he slowly, in a snail-like motion went to his chair.

"Oh come on," Sebastian complained. "Could you go any slower."

"Actually I could," Ezekiel teased.

He did but was punched in the arm and therefore forced to sit down almost immediately.

((it's fine))