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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 17, 2009 14:44:46 GMT -5
Ariel tried as well as he could, but he didn't have much of an appetite, so the nurses left with most of the food still on the plate. He was able to stretch out a little more than he had been able to before and opted to attempt a little sleep while he was alone. But soon, he heard the door open again, and when he opened his eyes he saw a still-angry Maverick come in. He wrestled to push himself up to sit.
Maverick had come in as soon as he realized he had the chance to be alone with Ariel, and away from that girlfriend of his that had hung onto him for who knew how long. "I shouldn't even have stayed, you know that?" he said, "I should have left but you're still under my name on everything, I'd probably get sent in for neglect or something. How the hell am I supposed to pay the bill?"
"I wasn't going to ask you to pay," Ariel said, wincing away from his brother's looming figure as it advanced to the edge of the bed. "I didn't even want you here."
"Oh, because lying and dying from withdrawal would leave me off the hook, you idiot," Maverick shot back, bracing his hands on the edge of the bed. "What the hell made you think you could go off doing drugs, Ariel? Where'd you get the money, anyway?" Was Ariel stealing? Maybe even dipping into Maverick's own account? He didn't think that a job helping in a shop in Diagon Alley would be enough to keep this kind of habbit.
"It's not like you don't use up every bit of spare money we have on beer and cigarettes, Maverick," Ariel said, his eyes hard. At least the argument gave him something to concentrate on other than the pain.
"I had to have something to do all f~ing day when you were at school, Ariel. Dad should have thought that out before he left me with an eight-year-old." It wasn't like Maverick had wanted to be father of the household, and he couldn't very well just off and go try to do something, he was stuck there as long as Ariel was under his care. "You're more trouble than you're worth," he said dismissively, then pushed away from the bed.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 17, 2009 14:53:15 GMT -5
When Markise got back, he was told he couldn't go in to see Ariel. At his question, he was told that Logan's brother was in there, and they were having a private conversation. "What do you mean, private?" Markise asked. "He's not alone in there with his brother, is he?" He was, apparently; when the nurses had changed their shifts, there had been no note left about Maverick needing supervision. "Someone has to go in there," Markise said, then repeated everything he'd said to the night-shift nurse about Maverick being abusive. The nurse sent someone in to check.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 17, 2009 15:08:51 GMT -5
Ariel was stung by his brother's last comment more than he cared to admit and had already geared up for an angry response when someone came in, immediately sensing the tension in the room. The man informed Maverick that he needed to leave the room. Ariel saw Maverick's jaw tighten and then shrank when Maverick turned toward him.
"Don't come home this summer." Maverick stared levelly at Ariel, then at the man in the room, before he left, barely sparing even an angry glance at the girl standing outside of the room. He didn't want to deal with it anymore, he had tried to tolerate having to raise his brother, had done the best he could considering the circumstances and how he himself had been raised, and now his brother was a druggie stuck in a hospital going through withdrawals. He wasn't living with it anymore.
Ariel sat, shocked, and stared out the door. What was he supposed to do now? He had tried the entire time they were in Australia to get his brother to approve, had finally come to a point of acceptance sometime in the last year they were there, and now even that little thread of family was gone.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 17, 2009 15:14:00 GMT -5
Markise wanted to go immediately into the room, but apparently the nurse who'd gone in was checking on Ariel, so he had to wait. The moment the man left and he got the go-ahead, he slipped back into the room. He could feel that something had happened. He shot a mental glare toward Maverick, wherever he was, and one hand rose to twirl a lock of pale blonde hair. "What happened?" Markise asked softly.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 17, 2009 15:16:50 GMT -5
Ariel was still in shock from what Maverick had said by the time Markise was allowed in again. "He told me not to come home this summer," he said softly, then his eyes moved up to look at Markise. "Said I was more trouble than I was worth, and not to come home this summer." Of all the things he had expected his brother to say, he had never expected Maverick to tell him not to come back.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 17, 2009 15:25:15 GMT -5
Markise's eyes widened, and shock tore through him as well. If Ariel couldn't go home, where would he go? His mind was a blur of possibilities, many impossible, many frightening. Dammit! He wanted his loose ends tied up before he left! Ariel being a homeless prostitute/drug addict in London was not tied up. Markise's fingers tortured that lock of hair, and his brows knitted. "Do you know what you're going to do?"
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 17, 2009 15:34:49 GMT -5
Ariel shook his head and looked out blankly into the room. He had no idea what he would do. "I...I'll have to get a job..." But that was as far as he could get. If he didn't have any money saved up, he wouldn't be able to afford somewhere to live. And he had no money now, surely his account had been emptied as soon as possible.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 17, 2009 15:52:00 GMT -5
Markise's lips pressed together as he tried to think, but there wasn't a spur-of-the-moment answer he could give. Was there? He could let Ariel run his shop and live upstairs, but he'd be so close to London, and Markise didn't want to offer him something that would keep him so close to everything he wasn't supposed to do. He had a flickering thought about asking him to come to New York for the summer, but he knew his dad would never agree, and when he really put his foot down, his mom always caved. "I... wish I could help," Markise said, moving toward the bed.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 17, 2009 16:02:20 GMT -5
Ariel shook his head, "It's not your responsibility." As much as he had been glad to turn seventeen, he had fully expected to have until he graduated to really go out on his own. He looked away from Markise, unsure what was going to happen now. But he didn't want Markise to feel like it was his place to offer help. He would have to find something to do, even if he barely even knew where to start.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 17, 2009 16:08:14 GMT -5
It's not your responsibility. Markise knew it wasn't, but he couldn't help wanting to. If there was something in his power that he could do to help a friend, he'd do it. A friend. The thought stopped Markise in his tracks. He and Ariel hadn't known each other a year, and most of that they hadn't spoken. He didn't know why, but he couldn't not be attached to Ariel. "I want to help anyway," he said.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 17, 2009 16:16:25 GMT -5
Ariel closed his eyes and pulled his knees up to wrap his arms around them. He didn't want to be more in Markise's debt! "You've already helped me more than you needed to," he said finally, his voice a little stronger as the shock began to wear off. He could find somewhere to work, and if he hurried, he might be able to make enough before school ended to find somewhere really cheap, especially if he didn't buy anything. And assuming he got a job as soon as he got out of the hospital. And that they paid well. He closed his eyes again.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 17, 2009 16:25:01 GMT -5
"I'll help as long as I can," Markise said, moving to stand at Ariel's bedside. He continued to torture that strand of hair as he tried to think of how to put his thoughts into words. "I can't stop... caring what happens to you," he said. "It makes me feel better to help you. To know you're okay," he corrected himself, though it still didn't sound right. He didn't think there was a way to make it sound right. Not without delving into thoughts and feelings that had never been allowed to fully develop.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 17, 2009 16:34:36 GMT -5
Ariel's eyes tightened and he shook his head. "You're leaving as soon as I get out of here," he said softly. He had let himself hope earlier, but now...now it was hard to hope. The one person in the world whose job was to care about him had left, he couldn't let himself believe now that Markise wanted to help him, that Markise cared.
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Post by Markise Sterling on May 17, 2009 16:46:32 GMT -5
"You'll have somewhere to go before then," Markise said, though it was a ridiculous promise. What was he going to do? Masquerade as Ariel and go job-searching? If the other option is letting him go back to all that! He struggled to think, but his mind kept going back to the same thing over and over again.
"Come with me to New York," he said, his heart beating faster at just saying the ridiculous words. "I can afford an apartment, and if Dare can get my shop to work, it'll work." It had to work, it was all he could think of.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on May 17, 2009 16:57:09 GMT -5
Ariel's eyes opened and he looked over at Markise. They widened as he ran what Markise had said over in his mind again just to be sure. "But..." Was Markise really offering that? His breath caught, though with the rush of emotion and thought he wasn't exactly sure why. Markise, who had wanted to get away from him for so long....was offering to let him stay in an apartment in New York? "Why are you offering me that?" he asked quietly.
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