into the dark /.

[gabriel van buren.]

- - - he was ridiculously antsy as he shuffled off his plane behind a women who probably required more seats then the two they demanded she buy, he felt guilty for his disparaging thoughts but right now she was the only thing between him and his car that would take him to na'ima. going to italy had not held the same excitement for him as it normally did, he was less worried about his mother sure, as nai had offered to stay with the ailing woman – with absolutely no complaints from his mother who was almost more in love with nai then aiden. which, really, truly was a completely unimaginable feat. every single thought revolved around her. he was truly "whipped", he had heard the teasing from his friends since they had finally gotten together over the summer while they had been in new york. it earner them separate lectures from the head of their agency, his with a more simple "don't get her pregnant." while nai had been up there much, much longer. nai wasn't up to talking about it but she said hers had consisted of the same message of not getting pregnant, pregnant models didn't make money and children would ruin her career. that had effectively quashed the brightness of fresh love, still it hadn't slowed them down any. obviously. her room at their apartment was all but abandon, she kept her clothes in there and everything because there was not room for both of their stuff in his room. they had spent every night they were both home at the same night, together in his room or on the couch.

- - - they had become the couple aiden used to love to tease, the kind that used to nauseate him and roll his eyes. he had never expected to find that, but he wasn't complaining that he did. he had never been so eager to leave his brothers, he had never ever imagine being disappointed that he would be upset when he had to leave his eternally dreary hometown for longer the two days. he would have been just as excited as normal if nai had agreed to go with him, but her reasons for not going were correct and spot on. it had not been a good visit, darius had been vague for a reason. he had returned to italy to find rinaldo in the hospital and their uncle... their uncle was dead. knowing rinaldo's temper and the tumultuous relationship between him and terenzio, he was certain that it was by the hand of rinaldo. in an even more startling turn of events it had turned out his zio had fallen defending rinaldo... it was a rough visit, he should have stayed longer, until his brother was out of the hospital, until they were at least 95% sure that he would be able even leave the hospital, but work and nai called him back. nai would never complain about it and he could have talked to his agent to get out of work for awhile, but he just couldn't stay there, his dependence on nai becoming incredibly evident, the only thing he had wanted when he had found out about his uncle and then his brother was being with nai, having her comfort him and not the sobbing family that had come out.

- - - he hadn't yet told her why he had been called, just telling her that it was serious and not to worry his mom. breaking that news had to be his job, he needed to be there in the aftermath of that news. now all he needed was comfort, he hadn't yet had his mourning, nor was he ready to tell his mother until he was sure he could do it without breaking down. he didn't even bother to get his things out of his car, forgot to the lock the doors, and practically ran up the stairs, the elevator much to slow. he dropped the keys at least five times, while trying to unlock the door, his shuffling must have alerted nai or she was just as eager to see him as he had been because the door opened and she seemed even more beautiful then his memory did justice. relief flooded through him, but seeing her finally tore apart his resolve, he no longer needed to help be the strength for the family. nai, he said, breathless and shaky before he pulled her into his arms, kissing her deeply before burying his face in her hair, pulling her as tighht as he could against himself.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - tagged na'ima aria vanderbilt
- - - status done
- - - words seven sixty nine, so much for mini, eh? lol
- - - clothes click this
- - - location the apartment.
- - - notes naiden=love.<3 this is going to break my heart.

[na'ima vanderbilt.]

she was so fucking pathetic, she could heard nya's lilting voice in her head chastising her for being so far gone for a boy. the blonde was sitting in her apartment, sitting at the bar in her kitchen staring at the green block letters on the stove that were telling the time and taunting her at the same time. it had been almost five days since she had seen aiden. five nearly unbearable days, staying with his mom for him was possibly the only thing that had kept her from spending the whole time in her apartment moping. pathetic! she scolded herself again. staying with aiden's mom was great, she was the sweetest person she had ever met, treating nai like she was her daughter and na'ima didn't complain, she welcomed the actions and felt a little guilty and like she was betraying her own mother with the way she was eating up the maternal care. her week with aiden's mother had also brought her some of aiden too, his mother set up his room for her and then supplied her with endless baby pictures, leading the blonde through a pictorial of his high school days, including a brief stint in football. it made his being in italy a lot easier on her. however there was an unspoken worry between her and adelina, aiden had been home for two days before he called and he was about as cryptic with the both them as darius had been with him. he'd told her that things were serious, but told his mom that there was nothing to worry about. the strain in his voice made her nervous... the time zones made it difficult keeping in touch and they only got a few minutes each day, which drove her nuts.

any longer and she was sure she would lose her mind, the thought made her feel pathetic again. she groaned and got off the stool, deciding she would head back to the couch and plant herself there refusing to run to the window every time she heard someone pulling into the car park, today would be the busiest day in the history of forever. all the while she could still hear nai taunting her, this was something na'ima swore she'd never do with a guy, she'd always vow- hold that thought. she jumped up from the couch, breaking her promise and pushed back the curtains to the bay window, excitement churning in her stomach and her face failing as she noted it was only her neighbour. she shuffled back to the couch her shoulders slumping, stealing a glance at the clock on the stove again, it should be no time at this point. she pushed a breath through her full lips, debating whether or not to turn on the tv when she heard another car, she froze, every muscle twitching to throw herself off the couch and to that window but held still. another car, another debate, to which she won. now she was bouncing staring at the door, waiting. she thought she heard shuffling, maybe a groan and she flew over the back of the couch in a way she thought only happened in movies and pulled the door open, her breath coming out in relief, a part of her feeling whole again, and able to ignore the nagging voice in her head. however there was pain clear all over his face, exhaustion mingling with sorrow and her heart broke for him. her mind immediately thinking something very bad had had happened to her least favourite of his brothers, all her harsh words flooding back to her and cutting her like a knife. but she had no time to worry about herself as aiden brought her close, her thoughts were effectively muddle by the press of his lips, urgent and tense against hers, an edge she didn't like in the way his lips molded to hers. when he pulled back from her she didn't even get to take his face in before it was against her neck, his pain rippling through her.

worry tore her apart now, she took a step as he pushed through the door, shutting it behind himself, the only thing he had sai so far was her name but she knew it was terrible. she pulled him closer to, wondering if the moisture she could feel on her neck was from tears or the heat of his breath. she rocked him a little, "aiden, honey..." was all she managed before, tried to extract herself from his arms, pulling his face away from her, hand firmly on either side of his face, even with her height she had to nearly go on tiptoes to see into his gold flecked ones. "baby, what happened?" she asked, stroking his cheek, kissing his forehead then pulling back to look at him, "is he alright?"

words "eight hundred and twelve " tag "aiden dakota van buren " threads "right here" notes"this is mini for us! haha."

[gabriel van buren.]

- - - right now, nothing else really mattered to him, he had nai wrapped safely into his arms, her hands stroking his hair, he could feel the beating of her heart and confusion and concern coursing through her body to his. he was worrying the shit out of her and that made him feel like shit, but he just couldn't take it anymore. everything was there. he had taken the burden of being the rock from darius during his stay, he was the one who was helping take care of everything giving darius his time to fall apart, which he did, o completely. how he had pulled himself back together so quickly and effectively, returning to his normal stoic state had thrown aiden for a loop, but really he didn't care to much about it then, all he wanted was his turn to fall apart. worry for his brother and sadness at losing his zio, he had a million it seemed but everyone of them was just as close to him as anybody else in his family, whether there was a quantifiable connection or it was just a man he'd known from down the street that had been a family friend for years before he came along. a renewed zest for his life entered his body there too, suddenly everything took on a new perspective. yes, just like in those shitty hallmark movies na'ima loved so much. he turned his head into her blonde curls, honey and currant swirling around him ti amo cosi tanto, bella. he breathed into her ear, pressing his lips to her neck. spending the last five days speaking nothing but italian would take awhile to shake but he spoke to her in italian because even though the meaning was the same she heard 'i love you' all the time, something seemed different to him as he whispered this into her ear now.

- - - he blinked rapidly as she brought her face across to his, in case any tears had leaked from his eyes, he wanted to stop his eyes from her in his moment of weakness but she was always too enchanting, her vivid, blue eyes holding him. he shut his own eyes, leaning into her hand, bringing his from her hip and resting it over her little one. not right now... please. he said flicking his eyes back up to her, before he pulled her face up to hers, giving her a softer kiss and picking her up. without breaking his lips from hers he walked across the room and laid her on the couch, keeping his full weight off of her, before he pulled back from her again, and pulling them both on their sides, returning his face to her neck, breathing in her scent and trying hard not to cry. this is what he had wanted but now he wasn't so sure about crying in front of her, he drew his hand up her silk sheathed thigh, and brought it to rest on her hip. despite his want to now bury it he knew he'd have to tell her and he could feel the distress in her, her brought his face away from his skin after pressing a kiss to it, he's alright.... he finally allowed as he turned to look up at her, hoping there wasn't moisture in his eyes, i mean, he should be alright... but... his gaze dropped again and he fingered the silver necklace he had given her that hung around her neck now, the charm falling into the top of her dress. my zio... terenzio... he's... the words refused to form and he knew if he was having this much trouble telling nai, he didn't know how to tell his mother that her brother was... he couldn't even think the word. not as alright... he said before he had to turn his face into her skin again, non posso vivere senza di te. the thought of losing her made him ache more then the pain for his brother and uncle.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - tagged na'ima aria vanderbilt
- - - status done
- - - words six seventy six
- - - clothes click this
- - - location the apartment.
- - - notes this is more mini, lol. the last bit in italian is "i can't live without yu" or some approximation, i'm rusty haha.. and i think you know enough spanish to manage the first phrase, haha

[na'ima vanderbilt.]

she had officially risen from concerned to utterly freaked out, rinadlo may not have been her favourite of his brothers, the spot was held by darius, reminding her much of nya's brother, but not in the romantic way she used to see nya's brother. still, she didn't want to see the hole in the family it would leave. she couldn't see poor adelina ever recovering from that, she was so fragile as it was. the worry over the meaning of aiden's vague updates had already made her feel marginally worse. the actual reality of someone in her family gone would tear her to pieces, something to similar to the way aiden seemed to be doing in front of her. the way he dodged tried to dodge her eyes, worried her more, but when he did bring them to her she could clearly see there was a huge possibility she was right, but she prayed she wasn't. she'd never been able to handle death well, it shook her to her core, even if it was someone she had only barely knew, but rinaldo was different, he was closer to her, he called her his little sister. she could feel tears beginning to sting her eyes and she thought of him dying. she was dying to push aiden into giving up what had happened but she knew it would be worse for him, this was something he'd have to correct when he finally told his mom. "i love you too." she said back, her voice shaky. could he make this anymore painful?

she moved her hand from under his, pulling it with her own and lacing their fingers, dropping her other hand to his shoulder and draping it around his neck, opening her mouth momentarily to protest, but she didn't know what to say "spit it out" was hardly appropriate, but she didn't have any more time to think about that as his mouth covered hers, effectively erasing any worries from her min, no trace of the edge that was there earlier and completely making her forget about the edge she had felt there before. suddenly all she could think about was the press of his skin against hers, the last five days with his mom were gone, her impatience with the clock for moving slow and her foolish freaking pining for him. it was all gone, lost as his lips moved with hers in a way she could never out that they weren't just meant for each other. perfect puzzle pieces, to make it even cheesier then her rushing thoughts already had. she didn't hesitate as he lifted her, wrapping her legs around his waist and pushing harder against his lips, her fingers moving into his hair now, trying to bring his face even closer. the way he'd been hovering over her cued her into the fact this was just something to distract, he knew her and her hormones to well, when he pulled away she was still wearing a stupid grin over her face, big and toothy, like she had just gotten a pony for her birthday. though it fell as she caught his eyes before he nestled back into her neck.

his distraction worked amazingly well, but she now her worry had returned, added guilt for being so dang happy while he was ripping apart at the seams. so, she leaned her cheek to his head, snuggling closer to him and running her hands over his hair soothingly, trying desperately not to demand what was wrong this instant. his lips sent a flutter to her heart, but she tried to keep that in check as he brought his face to hers a part of her hoping that he was going to kiss her again, but the more dominant, less teenage girl in her knew it was serious time now, and was thankful, but also a little disappointed. a breath pushed through her lips as some relief struck her but she knew something worse was awaiting her. she looked down at his fingers as he played with the chain of her necklace, waiting for him to continue. she drew his hand through his hair again, the way her mother had when she was sad. she looked back to him as he spoke and her heart had officially broken, it clattered in her chest and she frowned, pulling him closer as he returned his head to the crook of her neck. "baby..." she whispered, into his hair, kissing the top of his head, "i'm so sorry..." she said nuzzling her face into his hair, rubbing his back, shivering as his breath hit her neck with his words. she wasn't positive of his words but the message was still clear, she pulled him closer to her, kissing the top of his head again. "baby, it'll be okay..."

words "eight hundred and five" tag "aiden dakota van buren " threads "right here" notes"never have confidence in my ability to decipher spanish or italian, lol. i know you said i love you but the second part is lost on me. oh but of course i know what bella means! haha. i'll have to google it. "