Blowing off some steam... (PRIVATE: Anime)

Salone slept soundly while Riley conversed with his mother, the lines of worry had vanished from her face and she seemed content in her spot snuggled up next to Riley. Her breaths came and when with a calming steadiness. When Riley picked her up she moaned in her sleep, before mumbling something about Du'Art travel then falling back to sleep. Her curls cascaded over her face and her hand was pressed between one cheek and Riley's pant leg. 
Upon attempting to wake her Salone's eyes flickered open and she looked up at Riley, offering a small smile before wincing at the abrupt pain in her cut face. 
"Oh, did I fall asleep?" She asked quietly, sounding slightly like a small child as she sat up. Hound made a noise of greeting as she settled down in the front yard to go to sleep and keep watch. Salone slid out of the car before starting up the steps and through the front door. She drifted into her room and kicked off her shoes, toes aching. 
Salone moved her hand up to the zipper of her dress and tugged at it a few times before realizing the zipper was stuck. Crap...
She poked her head out into the hall, 
"Pst, anyone still awake?" Salone asked, slightly pinked cheeked at this whole embarrassing situation. 
***
William sighed, "I am concerned because i do not have your brother's approval... that and I am not the nicest person on the planet."
He tried to pull her into a hug, as it was apparent she was in distress, "I don't want to ruin things with you." 
William's brain was a jumbled mess at the moment... girls... either he was very good with them or he was totally clueless. With Alison it appeared to be a mixture of the two.  A light knock sounded at the cabin door, Will arched an eyebrow at Alison, as if inquiring if she was expecting someone. 
"Come in," He called and Fabian walked in, narrowly avoiding hitting his head on a dream catcher someone had put in. 
"Hey, am I interrupting something?" He asked quietly, his eyes darting from one person to another, suddenly looking anxious.

"You did," Riley spoke, laughing and brushing a curl away from her face. He followed her up the stairs into the house before going up to his room, determined to get up the stairs despite his exhaustion. He made it, and the first thing he did was hop into the shower. 

Meanwhile, Riley's mother moved about tiredly downstairs; she was about to go to bed before a head peeked around the corner. She smiled as she realized it was Salone and went to go help her. The girl explained that her zipper was stuck and Mrs. Peterson couldn't help but laugh. Before unzipping her; however, Mrs. Peterson turned and faced her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you for getting Riley out of there tonight," she spoke, her tone hushed so that her son wouldn't be able to hear through the door if he happened to be walking by. "I know he might not have appreciated it, but I'm sure he needed it. You know he had trouble coping after his injury, and if he'd been in there during this explosion, I don't think that it would made things any better. You're okay, right?" she asked, eyeing Salone warily.

--

Alison leaned away from Will's grasp, pulling her knees to her chest and meeting his eyes. "Look, Will, you don't need my brother's approval to be with me, but-"

There was a knock on the door, and Alison jumped, her eyes widening for a moment. A wave of relief washed over her as Fabian walked in the door. He looked to be nearly as confused as she was in this situation, and it took a second before the gears clicked in her head and Alison answered his question, putting on her best candy-coated smile and getting up, packing up her books. 

"You're not interrupting anything; I was just about ready to get going," she lied, shrugging on a denim jacket and walking over to the door. "Fabian invited me to the music night tonight. Maybe I'll see you there," she spoke, forcing a smile at Will and walking out the door before Fabian could say a word. In truth, Alison would rather have curled up into a ball alone in the corner of her cabin than gone to the music night, but that didn't seem to be an option for her at the moment.

(alison is being so strange LOL)

At Mrs. Peterson's laugh Salone turned a deeper shade of red, "Yeah, I can tell. He does a good job of trying to hide it... but I worry..." 
Her voice was low too, "Technically I have died once before and I don't fear it happening again... in that choice I realized that. Good night Mrs. Peterson." With that she walked back into her room, unzipping her dress completely and getting into the shower, washing away all of the grime, blood, and muck.   
When finished she dried and pulled on a pair of pajamas before sliding into bed, absolutely exhausted. Salone was dead asleep before her cheek hit the pillow.
***
Fabian followed Alison out of the cabin with an amused expression, "He playing with your head?" 
His hands where in his pockets as he trailed after her, giving her some space considering she might explode at some point... no pun intended. Fabian walked with her to the amphitheater and was ambushed by an Apollo girl who has having issues with the sound board. 
Fabian followed her over and and ducked underneath it, re plugging in some stuff and changing out wire heads. 
A band had assembled together several different instruments and were doing a sound check.

"Good night, and thank you again," Mrs. Peterson responded, smiling at the girl before fixing her dress' zipper and leaving her be. She checked on Riley- who appeared to be sleeping- before going to bed. In truth, Riley was far from sleeping, and after a while he was up and moving downstairs as quietly as possible since he didn't want to wake his mother or Salone. He made it to the kitchen, where he made himself a cup of tea, which he downed with a few anxiety pills. He probably took one more than he should have, but he was exhausted and wanted to sleep nightmare free. Apparently they worked, because by the time he made it back up to his bedroom he just about passed out under the covers, sound asleep.

He slept through the night, and in the morning he was still asleep when Mrs. Peterson went to work around 10 AM, leaving a note behind; she was on call after the events of the night. 

--

"You could say that," Alison spoke, making a face and following Fabian to the amphitheater. Of course he was drawn away within minutes, and Alison was left to her own devices. A kid came up to her and offered her a glass of punch, and she took it, taking a sip. It tasted clean, but she couldn't be sure that it didn't contain alcohol, and so she sipped it sporadically, waiting a few moments and watching the set up before looking around for Fabian.

Salone walked out of her room, still half asleep. Mrs. Peterson had already left and Dog was asleep on the floor, on his back with his legs sticking up in the air rigamortis style. That was how Salone spent her morning, curled up on the couch; blowing hair at the sensitive hair between the pads and watching him kick the air.  After about half of an hour she wandered into the kitchen to get something to eat, she was starving. She ate about two bowls of captain crunch and three pieces of toast.
Then she cleaned up her mess and let Dog out (who was now awake) and then let him back in before sitting on the couch… apparently dog wanted to snuggle.
***
Fabian grinned at her, crookedly and was about to respond to her when he was hauled away again; something to do with the lighting. Most of the males were shirtless as it was hot outside.  A few on the Aphrodite girls and the Apollo girls were sneaking peaks at the toned abs of most of the males.  That was the nice thing about camp for females, the males after a few weeks here were not sticks. 
Fabian was now carrying boxes when Alison walked back up to him, “Hey again.”
He placed the box down at the top of the lighting fixture.  
“What’s up?”

((Headache... no color today))

(I feel like I am mocking you in some way with this riley post but I did not intend to xD.)

Riley woke up with a splitting headache and a warped sense of reality. Actually, he'd awakened twice in the middle of the night to puke his guts out and fall asleep once more, but upon awakening a third time at about 1 pm he didn't remember that, at least until he walked into the bathroom and took a look at himself. His hair was completely disheveled, and his shirt had somehow come off of his body; on the floor was his orange bottle of anxiety meds, strewn as if he'd chucked it on the floor. The amount of pills within it was as he'd left in the night before, and he thanked the gods that he hadn't been stupid enough to take more. Stupid. That's what he was, thinking that he could drug himself up on meds and forget all of his problems, all of which were coming back to him in bits and pieces. Before he could think about it he turned the shower on, leaving it cold to allow his senses to come into focus. He took his time, brushing his teeth about three times before he was satisfied enough to get dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. 

Finally he made his way downstairs, hoping not to have to explain himself to Salone after everything that had happened. She would probably get mad at him, and he was already ashamed of himself; he didn't need her on top of him to stress him out further. He was going to make himself food, but he was lazy, so he just popped a couple slices of wheat bread in the toaster and plopped down next to Salone on the couch, petting Dog affectionately and managing a smile. "Morning," he spoke, glancing at the clock because he knew it was already the afternoon. He winced at the sound of his own voice; this headache was getting to him.

--

Surprisingly enough, Alison was too preoccupied to take a second glance at any of the abundance of shirtless guys. It didn't seem like long before Fabian returned, setting down a large box to talk with her. 

"You know, after your injury today you probably shouldn't be carrying that," she spoke with a knowing expression on her face. He would do it regardless of his injury and pain; she knew that about him, and she'd only spoken with him for a short while. "Anyway, not much is up being that we've only just gotten here, but I'm having second thoughts; I don't know if I want to have another confrontation with Will,"
she admitted, glancing down at the ground.

Salone looked up at Riley as he walked through the family room to get to the kitchen. He looked awful, Salone wasn’t going to lie. She waited quietly as he wandered back in before he slid back onto the couch. She slid her arms around his chest as she was situated behind him slightly and rested her cool forehead on the crook of his neck.  
“You sound awful… “ She murmured quietly before relinquishing him. Salone began to knead at the muscle in his neck and back with her fingers. Riley was wound up so tight that she barely made a dent in massaging the rock his muscle had developed into.
“One word… Yoga.” She stated, teasingly before stopping and looking at him. 
***
Fabian grinned at Alison; her eyes seemed to be having issues in staying in one place.
“Alison, I went to the Apollo cabin and got it fixed. I can barely feel any pain… or maybe that is all the pain killers I have taken.“  He crinkled his brow trying to remember before shrugging and listening to her plight. “I can take you somewhere different, if you like the local bookstore or something…” He trailed off, not sure on what he would want to do.

"Thanks," he spoke in reply to her comment about his voice, softer than usual so as not to cause himself unnecessary pain. He shivered as she pressed her head against him; his skin was feverish still, and her body temperature had to have been lower than his even though he had been too thoughtless to even check his temperature. She kneaded at his neck and he couldn't help but wince again as her fingers pressed into stiff muscle, pain spreading through his spine in the form of a dull ache. 

"One-legged yoga... sounds like fun," he spoke sarcastically, his humor not quite showing through like it usually would. His toast popped up out of the toaster and he forced himself up, retrieving it and buttering it. More for the sake of duping Salone than out of hunger, Riley forced himself through a few bites. But his stomach turned, and he knew he couldn't handle much more, so he sipped a glass of water and hoped for the best as he sat down at a bar stool at the kitchen's island.

--

"I know," Alison spoke resignedly as she considered his suggestion. A book store... she brightened, meeting his eyes. 

"That sounds like it would be nice, but don't you want to stay? You seemed excited about it earlier, and I don't want to ruin your night or something," she said, beginning to ramble a bit.

Salone sighed as Riley got up and walked away, she guessed he had a hard night. She was half surprised Riley didn’t come find her last night either.
After a few minutes she followed after him and looked at his face.
“Riley, you’re sick; go lay down,” Salone pleaded gently with him. The boy did look really awful with the shadows under his eyes and the look of strain across his body. She sat down on the floor and leaned her head against the cupboards while waiting for his response.
***

Fabian arched an eyebrow,  “It’s my job to make sure you are happy tonight. Which obviously you are not and your eyes kind of glazed over when I said book store.”
Indeed they did, the boy recognized that look on most Athena kids faces when he said the word and he couldn’t help but grin at remembering this tidbit.

Riley shut his eyes for a moment before standing up, making his way back over to the couch and lying down at Salone's request. His nausea returned, but he was sure he wasn't going to be sick for a bit. His headache persisted, so horrible that would smash his head into a wall if that would provide relief. 

"Stupid," he groaned softly. "I'm so stupid."

--

Alison blushed, meeting his eyes. "It would make more sense if Athena were my mother, actually," she mused. 

"But if it's really your job to make me happy and you insist, I would say let's go," she spoke, a smile playing across her lips.

(I must be an Athena kid because my eyes do that same exact thing)

Salone followed him over to the couch and sat on the arm, smoothing stray hairs away from Riley’s face with her fingertips.
“Fortunately, most of the time we can recover from stupidity,” She stated gently before falling silent before leaning her head against the side of the sofa. 
**
Fabian grinned broadly at the expression on her face. It was one he was well familiar with.  Fabian reached into his pocket and pulled out his truck car keys. With that he walked to the battered grey truck just outside camp’s borders that was covered in a dark green tarp.  The drive to the book store was short and Fabian made polite conversation with Alison.
 
(Pathetic posts but )

(oh well haha)

It was silent for some time; Riley shut his eyes and tried to allow himself to relax, which was impossible.

"I just wanted to be able to sleep, and I took more anxiety pills than I needed," he croaked, the words slipping from his mouth. It was hard for him to lie to Salone, and his inhibitions were lowered to a dangerous level. He probably shouldn't be telling her this; his head throbbed, and he was on the verge of tears. To stop himself from crying he closed his eyes for a moment, opening them once again as he looked up at her. "I could have died; that's how stupid I was."

--

The two arrived at the book store, and Alison was out of the car too quickly for Fabian to open the door for her, gazing into the glass shop window. It wasn't one of those enormous Barnes and Noble stores; instead it was a tiny secondhand book store that reeked deliciously of the things, in which it seems that someone can find treasure if they look hard enough for it. She was inside its doors once again before Fabian could make it to open the door for her.

Salone felt her heart constrict, and she slid down next to his head, and adjusted it so his head was in her lap. 
"Luckily you're not," She ran her fingers calmingly on the edges of his face. "Just try and get some sleep okay?" 
Salone did her best to comfort him as she tried to get Riley to sleep. At some point Salone realized she was still in her pajamas but she didn't care very much.
** 
Fabian followed Alison into the bookstore, she had drifted in with a glazed expression. He chuckled low in his chest; it almost sounded like a purring noise. He followed her in, picking up a book here and there only to have one occasionally whipped out of his hands if Alison thought the cover was mildly interesting. 
Fabian sighed and walked next door for a few minutes to return with two cups of hot chocolate and to see if Alison had developed any emotional attachment to any book.

Riley's stomach twisted as he realized that Salone wasn't angry with him right now; she just spoke to him softly and ran her fingers against his cheek. 

"I'm sorry," he whispered after a moment, reaching up to his face and taking her hand in his. He laced their fingers together and watched as he traced the back of her hand with his thumb. "I love you, and it was stupid of me to take those pills. I'm throwing them out; I can't take them anymore after last night. I need to be here, completely." Riley spoke even though his head continued to throb and Salone urged him to sleep; he pressed a kiss to her hand before letting it fall away from his.

"Are you hungry?" he asked after a moment, feeling guilty that he was holding her here. He wasn't sure if she'd eaten breakfast or not.

(my knack/passion for posting and writing fiction is returning and I am so grateful)
 
--

It took Alison a little while to get her bearings; it seemed that she was intoxicated by books, and she couldn't think properly. How could you when there was so much drama, mystery and romance? Shakespeare, Jane Austen and JK Rowling? Of course all of those authors were so completely different, but that was what made books interesting; you could open a hundred random books and have none be exactly like the other. Before she knew it half an hour had passed, and Fabian had returned to the shop with two cups of what looked to be hot chocolate in those insulated paper to-go cups that she shouldn't have loved so much, but she did. She looked up, away from a book she had picked up on a whim, and met his eyes, cheeks flushing as she smiled bashfully and took the cup that he had offered her. The cocoa was delicious, just rich enough to be tolerable and not too sweet but just sweet enough to balance out the richness. Alison gestured for Fabian to sit down in the armchair beside her; the bookstore was quaint and elegant, with antique upholstered chairs and rows of worn, loved books. 

"Thanks," Alison said softly, mostly for the hot chocolate but also in gratitude to him taking her there. After the day that she'd had, this was exactly what she had needed. Fabian had been right.

Salone felt her heart flutter faintly beneath her rib cage with happiness; her fingers returned to what they had been doing previously. They ran around his jawline, ears, cheekbones, and eyebrows, lightly as not to upset his massive headache. 
"Yes, I did eat... but I may or may not have eaten all of the captain crunch," She stated lightly, running her fingers along the back of his neck.  
Salone leaned her head against the couch, her hair tumbling down over the back. Her dark brown eyes were fixed on Riley. 
**
Fabian flashed a bright smile back, glad to have helped her feel better. At her motion he obediently sat down in one of the armchairs, they were composed of worn leather and had a table next to it stacked high with novels.
On a whim he picked one up and flipped it over. The book itself was a copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, filled with the bookish musty scent that attacked his sensitive nose. 
"No problem," He stated, turning the pages. Every few chapters there was a faded glossy picture, the artwork itself was fantastic. 
Fabian checked when this specific book had been published, "Hey, look, first edition of Alice in wonderland." 
He handed it carefully to her.

"I don't care; I feel too sick to want to eat that anyway," he replied, managing a weak smile. He looked up in concern, meeting her eyes. 

"How are you feeling?" he asked softly. After last night, he wasn't sure how she was doing, although she was certainly handling this much better than he had. "I think we should try and leave tomorrow; I don't want to put my mom through any more of this." His voice became quieter, more subdued even than before.

--

Alison looked at him dumbfoundedly, taking the book and turning it over in her hands, scrutinizing it. "Are you serious?" she whispered, meeting his eyes. "Do you realize how much these are worth?" She spoke quietly, so as not to alert the elderly salesmen. She opened the front cover, searching for a price. Five dollars. Her stomach flipped. These books could go for thousands of dollars, not that she would sell it right away.

Salone gave a tired laugh, "I feel fine... it was so weird, I'm not sure what happened. One second I was there and the next I wasn't. If anything I feel so exhausted after the whole thing."
She closed her eyes briefly as if showing how she felt, her fingers still trailing over Riley's skin. "I still feel tired, that's why I was snuggling with Dog." 
Salone made a faint agreeing noise with Riley. "We should... but after we both feel better if it takes longer than a day." 

***

"Yeah, I think so. If you look at the year this book was published." Fabian lowered his voice as not to alert the shop keeper. "Several thousand if I am correct. Do you want the book?" 
He asked gently, holding his hand out. It was obvious she did so he took it and walked over to the counter. 
He bought the book and the shopkeeper didn't spare him a second glance. Fabian got the door for Alison and offered the book to her.

"Mmm," Riley hummed in assent, having listened to her. He was exhausted, and his headache was finally allowing him some relief; his stomach had stopped turning and only ached dully now, empty and raw. Somehow her voice lulled him a bit, it was comforting in its own way. Riley was fatigued; he longed to shut his eyes and allow sleep to take him, but he was afraid of the nightmares that would probably haunt him if he did. A fleeting thought struck him as he struggled to remain awake, and he couldn't help but smile again. 

"Your birthday," he spoke, more of a croak than a vocalization. "You hoped I would forget, but it was yesterday, wasn't it?"

--

Alison's eyes widened as Fabian went and bought the book; she could barely even believe it as the shopkeeper tiredly exchanged hands with him. She stalked him quickly out of the shop, feeling vaguely guilty as she took the paper bag that contained the book. 

"I can't- alright," she spoke as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. The night air kissed their skin gently, cool enough to be a relief from the muggy summer heat but not so cool that they even felt it. "I feel bad, that man was old and oblivious. If I sell it, I have to give him something," she vowed pensively. "And you, because technically you bought it; you found it, and you're its true owner." She smiled at him admiringly, taking a sip of her cocoa as they walked aimlessly down the block. She thought vaguely about Riley, wondering how he was doing on his trip home. She would have to call him at some point, but she was afraid to do so, lest it cause monsters to flock to him.

Salone grumbled under her breath, "Of course you remembered." Raising her voice slightly she answered, " No, I don't want anything and no I don't want a party." 
Salone strongly disliked her birthday, generally because of bad and blacker memories. "Just go to sleep silly or I'm going to kick you out of prime snuggle position."  
The blonde girl threatened, still tracing the outline of his jaw with her finger and over the edge of his ears. Salone wasn't really mad about the fact he had remembered, she was rather impressed actually. She had only mentioned when her birthday was once, if Salone remembered correctly.  

***
"He wasn't oblivious," Fabian said with another low chuckle that sounded faintly like a cat purring. "He told me that he had two other ones even older than this one back at home and this one he was willing to part with it. " He watched Alison for her reaction before stuffing his free hand into his pocket. He cracked a slightly crooked grin at the thought of being that book's owner. "Well... I don't have anywhere to put the book. So you can have it."

Fabian pulled the truck keys out of his pocket and got the door for her.

"You underestimate me, Salone," Riley murmured, gazing up at her through his heavy-lidded eyes. He would never have dreamed of throwing her a party, lest she decapitate him and roast his remains over a spitfire. What he'd actually had planned had kind of backfired after the whole school-exploding thing; he'd made a point of not bringing up her birthday at all the day before to avoid her protests. He would figure something out, now that everything was over, once everything was back to normal... or as back to normal as his life could ever be. But right now he was exhausted, and he could tell that she was too, even if she wasn't as tired as him, and so on a whim he shifted off of her, reaching over and grabbing the knit blanket that'd been left on the side of the couch and then snagging her around the waist, pulling her down beside him while struggling to envelope both she and himself in the blanket. He laughed as he looked down at her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"I think you have to agree that you were wrong; this is prime snuggle position," he said softly, offering up a weak grin and shutting his eyes for a moment. He struggled to remain awake after a few minutes, but he ultimately wound up falling asleep, his arm around Salone. He was still asleep when Mrs. Peterson came home a couple hours later, clad in nurse's scrubs.

--

"But- wha-?" Alison was speechless. She followed him to his car like a lost puppy, getting into the seat as he opened the door and murmuring a "Thanks." Gingerly she removed the book from the paper bag and examined it, turning it over in her hands. 

"I have no idea why he would part with this willingly," she spoke softly, looking to him.

Salone arches an eyebrow, "Uh huh. "
She stated, she did not entirely believe that Riley did not, at some point , have anything planned. However, the daughter of Anubis did not poke at what he may or may not have planned. She squealed when her boyfriend snagged her around her slim waist and pulled her down so she was snuggled into his chest.
"Ok fine, this is prime snuggle position. " Salone agreed, adjusting her position slightly so that her cheek rested on his chest. "Go to sleep silly."
For the next several hours she drifted in and out of sleep. Salone missed Mrs Peterson comming in as she was also asleep.
***
Fabian gave her a crooked grin, "No idea. But don't question it to much or you'll be even more confused about it."
His grey eyes checked everything around him before swiveling around on his hip and laying his hand on the back of her seat so he could back out. Fabian's nose twitched as his sensitive nose picked up Alison's scent. Slightly nutty... with a hint of spice. 
"Just be content with the book and read it, after you can tell me if you like it. I don't read much because I have horrible dyslexia,  worst than most". 
He started driving down the road, seeming very relaxed at the wheel.

Salone had managed to wrap her part of her blanket around her a few times due to her tiny capacity before she and curled up into a comfortable spot next to Riley. When he pressed her lips to her forehead she murmured something in her sleep before drawing up into a tighter ball. Salone slept till about noon, being utterly exhausted as she was. Occasionally she would whimper and make some other noise but still remain fast asleep.

She woke up officially and scrubbed at her eyes, before apparently changing her mind and buried her face in Riley’s side. Salone’s plan didn’t go as she thought it would so she stretched out, before adjusting her position, “Now why do you want to drive?”

**
Fabian grinned crookedly, glancing at her in the mirror for a brief second to catch her pale blush.
“You’re feeling better I take it,” He said gently.  He couldn’t help he was observant, it came from his mother he guessed. The heightened senses may have had something to do with it. “Books are indeed something; it’s hard to believe they used to be outlawed in many cultures.”

He may not be the brightest, but he paid attention. So that must count for something.


(sorry for the mehhh post but i need to sleepppp)

"Morning, gorgeous," Riley spoke before answering her question, suppressing a wry smile. "I need time to think, and it'll be good for us. It's hard for monsters to track demigods traveling in a car, and I feel like I need a little bit of normal right now," Riley explained, shrugging. He smiled slightly as he didn't tell her his ulterior motive, to fulfill her birthday plans, which really weren't big, anyway, but he wanted to do that. As she curled into his side he thought about just how lucky he was to have her; he couldn't lose her again like he'd done before.

--

"Just a little bit," she spoke, shooting him a smile. "But it's not so hard to understand why books would be banned, when you think about it a little. So much opinion and information can be crammed into a book, and those in power didn't want to give the lower classes access to this knowledge. It's much easier to control ignorant, hungry people than those who are filled with wit and wisdom," Alison said, her voice softening toward the end of her sentence. She'd learned that firsthand when she'd been captured by the Hospital; she'd been trapped, left in the dust while those people determined her fate just out of her hearing range. When they hadn't been engaging her in some sort of bizarre procedure or questioning her to no avail, she'd been left alone in that stark, locked room, her mind not vast enough to contain her. She shivered lightly, gazing out the window as the memories flowed back to her.

Salone poked him sleepily in the chest, “Not gorgeous.  “ She told him before scrubbing at her eyes again.
“Being normal is over rated,” She grumbled, sitting up. “But I will go with you if you wish.”
She was joking of course, but she scooted over and snuggled into him for several moments before stretching again. Salone attempted to get off the couch but she had a faint suspicion that Riley would hold her hostage.
**
Fabian returned her smile, “That’s what I would have done if I was power hungry enough.”
He looked over at Alison after she had fallen silent for several moments, “You okay?”


It was very clear that she was not… she had the look of one who had been through something very traumatic. He reached over and squeezed her hand before turning his attention back to the road. Within the next several minutes they were back at camp and crossing over the boundries. 
They could hear the thudding of music in the distance and Fabian glanced over at her, “You wanna go take a look? Or not so much?”