Old Flames [ Astoria ]

[meepmeep]

Her body was streamlined, athletic. Enough to make some of the other girls jealous at how tone she was without seeming like she was some sort of crazy body builder. She rolled her eyes at his comment and giggled, feeling her usual high spirits returning to grace Zeke with their presence.
"Perhaps I'd oblige if I was drunk enough and ballsy enough," She then stuck her tongue out, and rolled her eyes. "No such luck, Maxwell."
There it was. The glimmer of hope that the hardened warrior could disappear. But in truth, no one truly knew Astoria.
Not even her closest friends.
In truth, they'd only see what she wanted them to see. But right now, she didn't know so much as to whether or not that was what she wanted. Most importantly, she didn't know if she could continue to hold onto this fading dream and pretend like it all would be okay the second she opened her eyes.
Because it never was.
When he tried to bring her back to reality, she felt herself slipping away from his hand. She looked him in the eyes, that apprehension and confusion being akin to that of a creature in pursuit. She knew he had got her on the spot. He had caught her in an attempt to disappear. Quite honestly, it amused her that he had caught her. She giggled and sighed. "I was just saying...You never know...Trust me, if I have it my way I won't let you out of my sight. I'll watch you through my window and blame you for everything just because you'll be sitting in your favorite chair reading half the night. Just kidding, that's weird." Of course she would joke, but a part of her was relieved that he had pulled her out just before she could fall any deeper into it. Then again, she'd fall back and forth from the edge of that line.
She then paused for a moment, allowing a dark smile to creep across her lips. "What I want and what I need are two completely different things and something I'd discuss with you on a later date."
And that would be all.
The fact that he was a year older than her gave him a bit of an advantage in the sense that he definitely had to take on a lot more maturity. Then there was Astoria, who refused to mature and enjoyed being childish because it was comfortable. At the same time, she hid her maturity because she didn't want people knowing how truly unshakable she was. When he spoke, she looked back over at him and smiled softly. "I must learn to crawl before I learn to walk, Zeke," She whispered. "But thanks for the advice as is. I'll put it to use eventually..."
What trly brought Astoria to this overwhelming sense of guilt was that she knew that Zeke was a good person. She knew he cared. Most importantly, she knew she was one of the few that saw that side of him. As she sat there in silence, she drew her knees to her chest and wondered if she should just get up and let him go spend time with someone who wasn't a monster like her. The words monster rang in her head like some sort of reminder that she didn't deserve him. She didn't deserve the intangibles of love and friendship and to keep him from being disappointed she knew she had to pull away. But she craved attention--She craved affection. She craved feeling like someone cared about her. There he was, caring about her again telling her not to let them win. A determined look crossed her face and her eyes narrowed ever so slightly to 'spur on' the fact that she needed to fight those inner demons.
She needed to fight to hold onto what she craved so desperately.
"I've still got feet, don't I?" She muttered, carefully raising a brow. "Time to put them to use and pull myself back out of the abyss..."
And when the two fell against the ground tangled in each other and lips sealed in a kiss, she didn't fight it or even think twice. She knew she needed him, and her nails gently raking down his back would be evidence of such. In all honesty she didn't care if anyone saw. It was a reunion that was well-needed.

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TAG; zeke
NOTES; sorry for such a delay!!! a lot going on~
CREDITS; credit to callie![/ul][/size][/font]

[ZEKE ANTHONY MAXWELL]

Zeke laughed and quickly reached out and tried to snatch her tongue before she slipped it back in her mouth. “I believe, I’ve warned you in the past about that tongue.” Zeke grined wickedly, “If you keep wasting it and sticking it out at me, I’m going to grab it and put it to good use.” He smirked and just shook his head; he delicately leaned in and brushed her hair behind her ear, bringing his lips within an inch of her ear, “One day I’m going to get you drunk Ms. Greengrass, and I’m going to steal you away back to my dorm and take advantage of you by ravishing your body.” he whispered softly letting his breath linger and tickle her earlobe.

Zeke gave her a perplexed look, trying to figure her joke, Astoria was never the joke-telling type, why was she trying now? “Why would you be looking at me through a window? If you want to stalk me, I expect you to at least do it inside of my house.” He gave her a half-smile trying to figure out what was going on in this girl’s head.

That’s what ate at him the most. Sure, he had left her, but she had agreed to it. It had been mutual. But Zeke still felt the guilt that came along with her transformation, he should have checked on her, cared for her, protected her during the war. But he just let her fend for herself, let her go through it alone. Zeke hated himself for not protecting her, and he looked at the fragile little girl that stood in front of him, a mere shell of the girl he use to know. Did that girl he used to love even still exist? Or was the old Astoria gone forever? Zeke felt a pang of guilt as he thought back to the happy and carefree girl he had known the one that was always smiling and laughing at jokes that weren’t funny. Could he bring that girl back? Could he revive the Astoria he once knew? He could see fleeting bits of her, he knew she was drowning, but he had to at least try to bring her back.

“But you have to want to walk before you can crawl.” Zeke said softly. It was the phrase he most remembered from his Grandfather. Zeke looked at Astoria and he could tell that she had admitted defeat to herself and Zeke realized there was no coming back from where she was at unless she wanted to climb out of her hole, and Zeke didn’t know if she even wanted to climb out of her abyss.

He found his answer in her touch, he groaned into her mouth as she raked her nails down his back. He pressed himself tighter against her body, his fingers lacing themselves inside of her hair and gripping tightly, holding onto her, afraid that if he were to break the kiss, he’d lose his Astoria forever.

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