How far can you go before you fall?

DATE | February 7th 2022
TIME | 2 am
LOCATION  | just the small streets
WEATHER | Cold and dark
ATTIRE | Link
TOPIC FOR | @Ryan
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This was great. Right? Yeah it was. She had danced so much her feet were sore by now, perhaps gotten just a little to much to drink. But she felt like the top of the world for the first time since she had found everything out. Since she had found her so called father had covered up her friend's death after him and Rebekah had killed her. Basically just toyed around with her and killed her. Then lied about it, it had only been when Nicole had canceled out the powers she had realized her memory had been played with. Something she hadn't taken lightly, and actually she hadn't even spoken to them ever since. Which had been weird. She had just stayed with Aleks, who had of course been worried about Sebastian and Lexie at the moment. She had in her drunken state managed to climb up on a bench and from there up a ladder to a roof top, where she was just standing, holding her arms out to the side, feeling the freezing cold breeze grab her as she closed her eyes. Then she opened her eyes and looked a little down, notching a familiar face in the crowd of people on their way home. "Ryan look! I'm flying!" She yelled trying to wave at him to get his attention, well one should not step on icy surfaces when drunk, and it only took one misstep before she made a fall towards the ground.

Ryan had attended a private party with some of his friends that he hadn’t really been speaking to while he was in a relationship with Seraphina. They were now on their way out to explore things and paint the city in whatever color possible. At least, that had been the plan until he heard someone call his name and his drunken eyes looked around. I’m flying! He looked up and noticed Nicole standing on a rooftop. Even though he had gotten more than enough to drink, it was like his mind sobered instantly. “Cole!” he shouted and ran to the side of the building, almost in a race with her falling. Luckily he got underneath her managed to catch her in his arms, but the speed she had had from the fall, he tumbled over so she laid on top of him. Well, alt least she didn’t land as hard as if he hadn’t been there. “Orgh… Jesus, ‘Cole,” he mumbled feeling a little sore before he sat up  and pulled her with him to look for any bruises or alike. “Are you hurt?”

She had closed her eyes, and barely really felt they had landed. She blamed the alcohol. Nicole just looked into his eyes, such pretty eyes, okay time to focus, she blinked a little, realizing they were on the ground and she was on top of him, "always seem like you are falling for me Walker," she teased a little bit, "great catch." She chuckled a little as she sat up when he did. Looking over her legs, a little scratch it so seemed. "Nah, I'm good," Nicole assured looked back at him, before breaking into a little laugh and shook her head. It seemed like forever since she actually had seen him. Knowing he had been rather busy at the Nelson's, and she had wanted to be there more for him once he had heard about Romeo dying. Well, she had been over but it had been in the times where he had been sneaking out to Seraphina, and boy she had heard his parents complain about it. Enough for her to not feel like she should be over. Then there was the unspoken and yet not unspoken fuel between Ryan and Aleks. "Are you hurt?" She then asked a moment after, realizing he had taken most of the hit.

A light chuckle left Ryan by the cheesy remark about him falling for her. “Thanks, I’ve practiced,” he laughed a little even though he tried to keep himself somewhat sober when he got up and checked for bruises. He wouldn’t want to accidentally end up with neither Rebekah nor James being unhappy about him. Okay, maybe it was a little too late for Ryan and James relationship.
She assured him that she was good, even though he did notice the little scratch on her leg. She started laughing and he looked at him with a little laugh, though the laughter grew. The laughter died a little as she asked if he was hurt. “I’ll be good,” he assured her, even though his elbow was bleeding from taking most of the fall. But it was just a deeper and uglier scratch. It  would heal in no time. “Why were you on the roof?” he wondered and tried to mingle around so he could get up and help her up. He would definitely support her, since it seemed that she had been drinking more than him – or maybe it was just his metabolism that worked faster, who knew. He would have one arm on her shoulder and another on her hip, in that way he should be able to correct if she was about to fall in any direction, or catch her if her legs buckled under.

She nodded and breathed out. He would be okay. He was fine. "Oh that roof?" She pointed towards the roof where she had been standing just a minute ago. "I don't know, I just needed to feel... something and ended up there. It was something I tell you that," she chuckled a little bit herself, as they managed to get up on their feet, holding onto his shoulders to make sure she wouldn't lose balance even if she always did have been great at keeping herself on her feet. Nicole however did like the support of Ryan holding her making sure she wouldn't fall in the heels right now tried to find her balance in - stupid shoes. Her eyes locked on his, almost breaking into laughter of embracement of not being able to stand up straight without almost falling to the sides. "I think I got it, yeah  - yeah," she chuckled a little bit. Now drunk Nicole was a rare sight, because well drinking and her dancing didn't really go hand in hand, so it took a lot before she actually let herself fall out that far. She slowly let go of Ryan's shoulders, "my knight of the night."

Ryan shook his head and laughed a little. If he had been fully sober he might’ve told her that she could’ve killed herself with that trick, but he was certainly too drunk for such serious matter. “I bet it did something,” he said. He noticed just how much she swayed from side to side, and he had some difficulty to keep himself from laughing at it. “You definitely don’t,” he laughed a little and felt how she let her arms glide of his shoulders. He narrowed his eyes for a moment before he slowly let go of her. “Even though I don’t mind being that, I truly hope you’re not going to be falling off a roof again,” he said with a wide smile, getting a little lost in her eyes for a moment. He closed his eyes and licked his lips before he looked at her again. “So, are you on your way home?” he wondered, even though his night was only just starting, it really seemed like it would be best if she was heading home and not onward.

Nicole chuckled a little bit, "I promise you I will not go on any roof top nor fall off, unless I know it's safe to say you will be standing right there to catch me," she nodded laughing a little bit again. "On my way home?"She pressed her brows together. "Well, sort of, but why would I go home when you are here. I've missed you," she closed her hand into a loose fist and bumped it gently against his chest to prove her point, laughing still. "Besides, I needed to just be me for one night. Day... things have been a little much, so I'm just out here," she raised her arms into the air taking a step back and almost lost her balance again, but caught herself this time. "One of my friends died last months so, or before that  - my father covered it up for months till I found out so, yay, family the year, just another lie or brainwashing to get their way - brillant!" She lashed her arms a little bit dramatically out, didn't really know anymore if crying or laughing was the best thing to do, then realizing her phone was ringing and picked it up, drying a little tear that wanted to play away, before picking her phone out of her purse. "It's Aleks, two seconds," she took a deeper breath in trying to sober herself up. "Hey," she exhaled a little closing her eyes for a second, which was a bad idea when you tried to keep your balance.

Ryan laughed a little as she assured him that she wouldn’t walk on rooftops. “Good,” he said with a wide smile. He smiled caringly as she told him that she had missed him and wouldn’t want to go home just right now. He laughed with her as she pumped it against his chest, “Hey, hey, I’ve missed you too,” he laughed and gave her a little puff back with three fingers, though he was cautious that it wouldn’t cause her to lose balance. He furrowed his brows a little as she explained how she felt like everything had been a little too much. “Alone?” he wondered. Where was her so called boyfriend? Shouldn’t he make sure that she didn’t do things like crawling onto a roof? He was about to reach out to grab her when she caught her own balance again. She explained how one of her friends had died, which made him furrow his brows a little.
“Cole,” he said feeling bad for her and wanted to comfort her, but before he got that far Nicole’s phone started ringing. He watched how she looked for her phone and shortly looked up at her eyes as she mentioned who it was. Surely her boyfriend called now, just a few minutes too late from Nicole’s stunt.

“Hey. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you,” he said though his voice was a little drowsy. It was late after all. “Where are you?” he wondered and was almost on his way out of his bed to get dressed and drive around to find her.
Ryan however wasn’t having it, and immediately noticed how Nicole swayed a little more as he closed her eyes. He took a step closer, and without thinking much of his hands position, he simply let one hand wrap around her waist and a leg be behind her, just in case she was going to fall, then he would hopefully be able to catch her bum on his lap or something. Ryan held her close, not being blind for the tear that had spilled from her eyes. “Let me talk to him,” he said, not really letting her protest before he quite gently took her phone from her hands and put it against his ear. “She’s in safe hands, idiot,” he told Aleks and could feel how his heart roared a little. “You’ve got to be blind, not to notice that something ain’t alright,” he told Aleks.
“Give Nicole the phone”
“I don’t think you’re listening, man. Why the hell are you letting her walk around in the streets on a cold night like this one? She’s all alone,”
“Ryan, give my girlfriend her phone back,”
“Mimimi-fuck you, Aleks. Get yourself a fucking spine,” Alex hung up which made Ryan look at the phone before he handed it to Nicole. “I’m sorry,” he said, feeling how the aggression left him. “Nicole, ba-” he stopped himself from using nicknames he didn’t have the title to use. “Come here,” he said and pulled her in for a hug.

Nicole was just about to answer Aleks, when Ryan got a safe hold on her, making sure she didn't tumble around, and her head rested against his chest as she took a deeper breath in, trying to collect herself. Just listening to the conversation between Aleks and Ryan, without actually listening it was like a mix of actual sound and a very deep echo of mumbling ringing in her ears, and then people down  the street taking her focus as she tried to focus on them as well. Nicole however lifted her head from Ryan's chest and looked at the phone, "he hung up?" She blinked a little bit. Well, she did know Aleks and Ryan did have a more complicated history. "It's okay," she exhaled softly when he apologized, moving her eyes back to him when he spoke her name. Come here, she then within seconds felt his embrace, and let her arms snuggle around his body, putting her cheek against his chest just allowing herself to get consumed into his embrace and closed her eyes for a moment. The safe warm embrace. "I've missed this," she mumbled a little bit and took a more relaxed breath in, then exhaled.

“Yeah,” he confirmed softly. Ryan and Aleks had never been on a good foot, and most of the things stayed between them, mostly because Ryan didn’t want to ruin Aleks life. One thing was being angry at each other, the other was putting charges. Aleks hadn’t really been the ‘best boy’ on the street, and it was something most people either didn’t know or tended to forget.
She got into his embrace and even wrapped her arms around him. Even though he had been drinking, he too closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying it while it lasted. “Me too,” he mumbled. The phone started buzzing again, but Ryan did his best to ignore it. It was Aleks who was certain that after a little while Nicole would be having her phone by herself again.. “Are you cold?” he wondered and was already in his mind preparing himself to give her his hoodie.

The phone buzzed again, making her mumble small complaining noises mostly because she had just put it away, and her hands were around Ryan. She couldn't really reach her phone. Then pulling a bit away again, as he asked if she was cold. "A little, but it's okay, the alcohol really makes one feel immune to the weather," she assured him knowing she would most likely catch a cold from being out in this type of weather dressed like this. "I should maybe call him back," she picked up her phone again, the last thing she really wanted in times like this was picking a fight that wasn't really worth being a fight. But Lara's death had hit them both hard. Then mixed with everything else, it had been weird despite of them living together and knowing each other - things like this brought out different things in people. So, she took a deeper breath in and called Aleks back, "hey - it's me," she licked her lips a little bit. Because she also knew that Aleks could and would search the entire city till he at least got a call back, even if she was safe here with Ryan. "I'm okay, just out in the city, ran into Ryan a few minutes ago," Nicole explained, trying to sound as sober as possible.

Ryan smiled a little as she mentioned that she felt immune to the weather. Well, he could agree to that, but since she was aware that she was a little cold, he believed it might be for the best that she borrowed his hoodie. Besides, he wouldn’t be getting sick that easily and was much warmer than her. He loosened his grip around her a little as she mentioned she had to call him back. He understood.
While she called Aleks, Ryan shortly let go of her to take of his hoodie and wrap it over her shoulders before he would support her yet again, this time just with his arm around her and his hand resting on her shoulder.
“Hey,” one could hear a sigh of relief when Aleks realized that it wasn’t Ryan taking the call. “Hello me,” he laughed a little. “Do you want me to come and pick you up?” he asked with a soft voice after she had explained that she had run into Ryan. Even though she tried not to sound drunk, he could hear it a little on her, but didn’t take it that alarming. The thing that was most alarming was the fact that she never were out this late and he was worried that something was truly wrong – even more after Ryan had told him so. He sat and bit his thumb nail a little while he waited for a response.
“I can follow you home?” Ryan suggested as he heard how Aleks tried to convince her to being picked up. He had after all heard how she had missed him and they both knew they hadn’t seen each other for a year – at least.

She looked towards her shoulders as the warm hoodie gave her some warmth along side Ryan's hand on her shoulder. Almost making her forget to answer the question at first. Which was perhaps why Ryan also just suggested that he could just follow her home. Just having both guys voices echo in her mind almost made her brain foggy. "No it's alright. There is no need for you to get out now, its most likely very late, I would hate for you to sleep all day just because I kept you up all night," she tried to argue her case, which mostly just turned into a little ramble that made perfectly sensible to her at least. "You have had a long day, and I haven't seen Ryan in what over a year - holy sweet jesus, that's a long time. See, and I mean it's not that long of a walk and be there soon enough - how about that?" Nicole nodded to herself, well she wanted to talk to Ryan, there was nothing wrong with that? Not when it had been such a long time, she couldn't see any issue in that.

Aleks was told not to get out because she didn’t want him to be sleeping all day. He looked towards the clock in his room to notice what time it was. He would much rather have her home as soon as possible, so he could relax with her by his side. She started to talk about how she hadn’t seen Ryan for a long time which didn’t really help the case in Aleks eyes. Ryan did after all have dirt on Aleks. He exhaled slowly and couldn’t really believe himself. “Please be home before three, okay?” he whispered. It wasn’t because he wanted to cage her in or anything, but to him, Ryan was just really… Well he knew how to say things, and it simply worried Aleks, because what would that dude ever say to Nicole now that they were in a relationship? Ryan nodded to her, being able to hear what Aleks asked of her. “I can make sure of that,” he told her, so she could tell the worried boy.

Nicole looked towards Ryan when he said he could make sure that she would be home before three, wait was it already that late? "I will be home before three," she promised with a smile even if Aleks couldn't see the smile, it was still there. Then she hung up and put her phone away again. "Holy smokes, I can't remember the last time I've been awake for this long," she exclaimed realizing it was also Monday. Shit, she usually started working out within a few hours. Then again she hadn't really spoken to her father, yet that had not made her cut or slack on her training, but she might for this time chose not to get her morning workout in and actually get some sleep. "But it feels good you know, just letting go for a little while, I've needed that. I'm sure you can relate to that," she moved her eyes towards Ryan, then grabbing his hand so they could start walking, as if they couldn't really walk anywhere if not holding his hand. Then she was sure she couldn't get away from him and end up lost somewhere. Nicole had heard a little bit of all the drama from his side, well Aleks did hear or took part in most of the Nelson drama after all, and everything Aleks knew - Nicole knew and the other way around. It was just how they always had worked.

Ryan laughed a little with her as she explained that she couldn’t remember when she had last been awake for so long. “Yeah, you also surprised me with even being here,” he laughed. Nicole had truly not been one that he  had expected to see walking around this late. A calm smile spread on his lips as she mentioned that it was nice to let go of things. “I can,” he agreed and felt how she grabbed his hand. Now, he hadn’t really expected his heart to flutter, but could it do anything else when it was his first love that he had been with for five years? Besides, it hadn’t really been because they wanted to be apart, it was her father who had been… Well, Ryan wasn’t certain, but he didn’t want them together for some reason. Ryan simply didn’t understand why I was different with Aleks. Why would James rather have Aleks than him?
“Did you know it’s a month ago that I was shot?” he wondered, knowing very well it was something brutal to share, but it had been in the news and all that, but maybe she hadn’t seen it, since she … Lived in Moonlight Falls? Or did she live more with Aleks by now? He honestly didn’t know.

She turned her head so fast it could possibly have cracked, yet did not, when he mentioned he was shot. No, she had not heard that. Maybe being caught up in Lara's death and all the lies really had isolated her from anything that wasn't Aleks' house. "Excuse me, you where what? Where? When?" Nicole blinked a little bit, and stopped walking to let her eyes wonder over him, as if she actually had a chance of finding the wound - well of course she couldn't, but it comforted her mind to look. No, Nicole who otherwise was fine updated what went on had been taking her time to grief and understand what had been going on. But how did you understand your so called parents had killed your friend, after you had let your brother in her care? Nicole still sat with the thought of thinking she should have stopped it, found a way to stop it, even if she deep down knew that no one really could stop Rebekah and James whenever they sat something in motion. But why Lara?

He stopped when he saw how she turned her head. Okay, she didn’t know that he had been shot. “I- Cole, hey everything is good,” he assured her before he would continue anything. “The fifteenth last month, right outside my home,” he said and turned his back a little to her, “I was shot in the back,” he said and folded his arm up on his back to show approximately where he was shot. “But I’m okay and all,” he assured her while turning back around. “I’m sorry I honestly thought you knew,” he said looking a little apologetic at her. He hadn’t really wanted to start a dramatic topic for their walk, but now he was here.

Okay the alcohol in her system did make her reaction an inch more dramatic than it was in her own head. She exhaled when he said he was okay and all. "I wished I had known. I guess I was so caught up with myself to see over my own nose, I'm so sorry," she grabbed his arm pulling it a bit closer as they walked, giving it a soft kiss for a second. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that," she mumbled a little leaning her head against his arm and took a deeper breath in. What a terrible friend she was not even been noticing things were wrong? Anywhere? what was she, blind? Nicole cursed a little low at herself. Maybe if she had just been a slightly bigger person she wouldn't have lost Lara, she could maybe have saved her, even if the gods had different plans. "I've just been really sad lately, it's really - sad, yeah, but I will be fine at some point," she sighed a little bit. Well of course, she had just told him a while ago what had been going on, at least parts of it. But he didn't know about her family, how she had met them back in summer. How she started regretting not having picked up on the contact with them, because maybe they could help her in this mess?

“Don’t worry about it,” he said almost at the same time as she kissed his arm. He didn’t give it much thought, mostly because he had been used to it from when they had been together, and honestly just thought of it as a caring gesture. He licked his lips a little. He had had some complications after the injury with nightmares, backaches and having jumped a little more by loud sudden noises, but he was certain that was going to disappear at some point. He made sure that he wasn’t going to accidentally loose a hold on her, and therefore didn’t mind that she leaned against his arm.
He turned his eye towards her as she mentioned she had been sad. “It’s okay to be sad,” he said softly. “Is it something you wanna talk about?” he wondered. He knew very well that it wasn’t everything you wanted to tell your partner, and maybe it was good for her to be able to talk with someone else than just Aleks and Sebastian.

It was okay to feel sad. If she didn't feel sad she would have reckoned something had been wrong with her. And she found comfort in some of her older friends had found way to Gaia as well, Howie and his girlfriend was planning on moving Gaia next month. So, Nicole naturally felt like it was about time to reconnect with some old friends, especially after losing someone. "Well, it's just that day was so weird. JJ drove me to Aleks' took Lara with him, almost dragged her out and everything just went so fast, and then some time past - and I got home knowing now my mind was changed. They killed her, they killed my friend. JJ's not claimed mate but still mate," she licked her lips a little frustrated. Now, she had been confused for the actions Lara had in the past, like killing her parents, hurting Howie, but death was not deserved upon anyone. "I haven't told him they did it. I don't think he would look the same at me if he knew what they did," because no matter what the death of your friend a person you cared about was hard enough. "Not that anyone would be surprised that team James and Rebekah would come up with a brillant idea like that - but I guess I feel a little used as well, changing my mind, knowing my powers, it was a risk, a foolish risk to take," she shook her head a little frustrated.

He listened to her explain about the day that her friend had died. He tried to follow the story and raised his brows a little as she explained. Her parents had killed her friend and her brother’s unclaimed mate. It sounded like quite the loss for both of the siblings. Ryan didn’t blame JJ at all for what had happened from her story. It didn’t seem logical for a warlock to bring their mate to their death willingly, unclaimed, or not. He looked towards her as she explained that she hadn’t told him that. Was it JJ or Aleks she hadn’t told? For now, he guessed it was Aleks, JJ was after all older and… Quite wicked himself, just from the few encounters he had had with him. He had to fold his lips to keep in a laugh as she mentioned ‘Team James and Rebekah’, only because he thought about ‘Team Rocket’, with Jessie and James. He was quick to shake the thought of his shoulders, because when she reminded him of how they had manipulated her mind, he got furious. “I can’t believe they did that to you,” he said and looked towards her. Yes, Ryan was normally the very forgiving type, but one thing was what others did that could hurt him, another thing was when people hurt others, with seemingly no good explanation. Rebekah and James were more than old enough to be responsible for their decisions and actions. The last thing that made Ryan not so forgivable was the alcohol he had been drinking, even though he was burning it quite quicker than Nicole. “Have you told them how irresponsible they are?” he had furrowed brows while he looked at her. “I fully understand if you are feeling furious, violated, mad, confused, betrayed, let down, overwhelmed-” No matter if she stopped him, or if he himself had used so many words that he figured he should stop he would look at her and blink a couple of times, “Sorry. I just don’t think what they did was fair. One thing is what they did to their friend, but what they allowed themselves to do to you… It’s just not okay,” he said keeping his eyes on her this time.

Nicole chuckled a little bit, even if the situation wasn't funny at all. "Oh yeah, I will go up in the face of Rebekah Sinclair and tell her to go fuck herself. That will go well," she sighed a bit, not that she actually believed that James would let Rebekah hurt her if it came down to it. But was her being upset worth risking anything on, everyone knew making an enemy of Rebekah wouldn't do anyone any favor. Even in a drunk state of mind Nicole was taught better. Nicole let him ramble, didn't interrupt him and his ocean of adjectives. It was not okay, he was right about that. "It's not. But when have the two of them actually done something that didn't in some way would end up be beneficial for them or just because they felt like it?" Nicole pointed out with a sigh. Looking him in the eyes. "I hate this," she hissed a little bit, almost stamping her feet before she then just sat down for a moment, letting herself just lie on the ground for a moment, looking up at the clear night sky, "I don't want to  feel like this... live like this, just feeling like its eating my up inside," she shook her head a little bit.

She put his suggestions on the spot as if he directly had told her to face Rebekah Sinclair. Well, if she didn’t want to face her, she just had to face her father, right? She was after all a precious being to him, correct? Maybe her father just did all of these violent things to keep her safe in some sick manner? He laughed a little of how she had turned his suggestions around.
He raised his brows and bopped his head a little to each side, while his lips were pressed together into a thin line. She had a point. They always did something to benefit themselves. Greedy bastards. “Me to,” he agreed with a sigh, but simply agreeing to it made his shoulders relax a little. Or maybe it was just being with Nicole that relaxed him – if one didn’t look at the fact that he had just been rambling different adjectives for a whole year about how he thought it was unfair of them to treat her like they had. “I’m sorry you feel like that,” he mumbled, pulling a little on a thoughtful crooked lip. “I know it’s really odd to say,” he spoke licking his lips for a little break for his thoughts, “But then don’t?” he looked towards her, and as if it was natural for him, he let his fingers interlock with hers, “Don’t let them set the stones for how you live. Don’t let them control you nor your friends. Show them you had enough by not showing up to them. You got more than money enough to move out and be independent from them,” he said nodding a little to point out the most important things. Of course, he didn’t know how much of the money she lived by was from her parents, but he just hoped it wasn’t all her parent’s money.

But then don’t? His fingers interlocked with hers, and she gave his hand a little squeeze just needing a little bit of comfort. It was difficult because she knew Aleks had cared about Lara too, he had helped her up to the day she died. And it was like both of them lived in this little box of guilt, just ripping each other apart in some way. And the silence had become dreadful some moments. "I guess I just just a little sense of who I am," she exhaled a little bit feeling her vision getting a little bit blurred as her eyes got wet and allowed her to blink a small tear out. But it was also true she could buy her own apartment, her own house even and just be. Maybe it had been a little too much just battling both her and Aleks' demons, also after what had happened to Aleks' brother back in December. Everything that had happened to his family while he seemed to take it easy, she also know seemed was the key word there.

"Remember when we just to talk about that house near the beach in Oakheart? The one we used to pass every time we went on walks," she chuckled a little bit. As the young fools they had been, who could have blamed them for picking out houses and imagine what their futures would have looked like? Then looking back now, none of them would have known that her father would have torn them apart. One thing she really did realize first now, just how much he had taken in the name of 'her safety' - it wasn't fair.