YOU AGAIN //

[GRACE ALEXANDRIA BARKER]

I'M GONNA GIVE ALL MY SECRETS AWAY.
TIL ALL MY SLEEVES ARE STAINED RED. FROM ALL THE TRUTH I'VE SAID.

On more occasions, Grace never liked to take the easy way out in things. She always liked to find the difficult routes to get things done and what not. One of the many things that didn't make "smart". If she was the type of person to get things done with speed, she'd find the quickest option. Too many she wasn't like that. Everything she did almost had to be planned in advance. Always. Always. Always. She hated the feeling of being behind - so she liked being one or two steps ahead of everyone. Also part of the reason why Grace gets so stressed out. The brunette would constantly question herself of why she was growing gray hairs here and there. She was too young for this. Being twenty-one did not include aging either so she wasn't too happy. Hence, she took off a semester of college. Yes, it meant graduating later but Grace didn't care. To be honest, she was glad she made this decision. Going back home, living with her crazy family and just sitting on the family couch felt so nice. Grace didn't have to worry about the rent, her job or anything for that matter. Okay, maybe her job but it was something temporary. It was just a way to get money. Grace's mother wasn't too happy about this because it's not something you would picture on a daily basis - especially coming from Grace. She had always been a studious person that buried herself in her room. This female was almost like a hermit that never came out of her shell. Her room was her sanctuary and that was all that mattered.

It's been months, or maybe even almost a year since Grace was home. She had missed the holidays (which was a big no-no) due to her work schedule. Not having to sit down with her family and have a good meal ... sucked. It was like a reality check that she was on her own. Everything she did and decided was all on her own. Grace didn't have her mom or anyone to have an influence on her decisions. Maybe this was for the better, maybe it wasn't.

Things were actually slowly falling into place. Grace's life didn't backfire like usual and she was beginning to have a social life. She was able to go out, have some drinks or catch a movie with a friend or two. The feeling was weird but it's definitely something she could get used to. Grace loved the feeling of being able to laugh and share some funny jokes with her friends. Although she may only have a few friends, it was better than no friends at all. She was tired of saying she couldn't make it because she had to type a photography report or something along those lines. There always something that got into the way. It made Grace seem like she was full excuses, which she really wasn't. It was just the truth and there was really nothing she could do about it. She could either take a good grade on a report or flunk out like a bum. Even thinking of those options didn't appeal to Grace whatsoever.

Winter was just beginning in Jersey. Things remained brutal, snow piled, and all you can hear on Sunday mornings would be snow shoveling. The weather wasn't warm enough for the snow to melt. Everything began to clump together. Grace never liked walking through snow but today wasn't so bad. Now that the windchill disappeared, it was actually a temperature Grace could deal with. The sun was out and it was an special opportunity to take some pictures. It's been awhile since Grace had time to herself to enjoy the Northridge scenery. She needed to add more to her winter collection anyways - so why not? As the brunette walked down the path, her boots made a loud smush sounds, crushing against the ice. Her nose was bright pink from the cold and her lips were growing chapped. Hanging the camera around her neck, Grace lifted the camera up. The dark brown eyes of hers were set on a couple helping a little girl ice skate.

Everything started to hit her again. Grace wanted to tear after taking such picture but what was the point? She was no longer in denial. This female was well aware of her inabilities and other medical problems. She didn't know how to deal with it, at all. The only thing that she could do is just find other things to distract her. No matter how much Grace wanted to be a mother, it wasn't going to happen. She was in no shape to be one and didn't even plan about it anymore. Continuing to snap a little more pictures here and there, Grace finally set the camera away. She needed to breathe the crisp winter air for once. Just kick back and relax.




TAGGED;; DOMINIC <3
WORD COUNT;; 823
NOTES;; :DDD TADA! It's not as long as I wanted it to be but at least its not rambling. lulz. I hope this is all right!
CREDITS;; LYRICS BY ONE REPUBLIC, PICTURE CREDIT @ CAUTION, LAYOUT & POST ALL TO ME

[DOMINIC OLIVER DARLING]

EVERYBODY KNOWS I'M IN

[/font]
OVER MY HEAD, OVER MY HEAD[/font][/center]

Dominic's life in the past few months had been completely and utterly consumed by his job, if he wasn't in work teaching a class he was marking papers, helping his students or planning his lessons. He had been so stuck in his job since he had moved into town he hadn't really met that many people that weren't in some way connected to it. But now he had passed the trial period and had his job secure, now he had won over the majority of his students and was totally into the swing of the whole job he thought it was time to get himself out, to let his hair loose a little and start meeting people out side of the school.

At least this was the plan before he got a nice phone call from his sister. A call that led to Dominic agreeing to baby sit his little nephew while she and her husband went on a romantic weekend away. Looked like the 'me time' would have to wait a little longer. Not that Dominic minded, he loved kids and he loved his little nephew and it wasn't often he passed up an occasion to see the little guy which was probably why Kendell had called Dom first, that and he was the closest sibling with the exception of Olivia and they didn't trust her to look after herself never mind a 4 year old.

A knock on his apartment door, some quick small talking with Kendell and her husband followed by an ever quicker goodbye, a half hour game on the wii and lunch a incredibly lame and easy game of hide and seek in the small apartment and Dominic was already out of fun things to do indoors. He'd been spending so much time with moody teens he'd forgotten how much energy was required to keep a 4 year old entertained. He was going to need to work a lot harder to tier the kid out other wise he would have a repeat of the last visit, where he was kept up most of the night because he was too excitable to sleep. "How do you fancy taking Jake to the park?" Dom asked, the lazy basset hound looked at Dominic as if to say 'do I have to' but Brad's reaction answered that for the dog he begrudgingly walked to the kitchen where his rarely used leash was hung as the little boy ran around babbling and squealing excitably.

It was a fight to get Bradley into suitable clothes for the cold weather outside because he refused to sit still in his mad excitement but once he finally got his coat, gloves, hat and everything else on he all but ran out the doors, Dominic and Jake both being dragged along. Once they got to the park Bradley sprinted ahead "Race you!"

[/b] he shouted once he was a good length away from Dominic so much so that her thought he would beat him. Dominic laughed and ran after him, slowly catching up and picking him up and spinning him around a few times before he was put down again.

Dizzy, Bradley ran off again giggling, unknowingly running into the sights of a girls picture, his arms out like he was a plane, running in circles and fighting not to tumble to his feet. His uncle was far too busy laughing to notice his nephew running into the picture for a good few moment. When he did he ran over "Bradley!" he shouted but only for his attention not shouting at him. "I'm so sorry" he apologized turning his attention between the 4 year old and girl who had been trying to take a photograph.

It was at this point that he got a proper look at the girl and noticed how pretty she was, his instant thought was that she should be in front of the camera but he kept the thought to himself and forced himself not to stare at her like a crazy person, turning his attention to Bradley who had made his way over now, over his dizzy spell and was stood at his uncles side looking up at him with a confused look on his little face "Whaat now uncle D?" he whined, he was excitable but well behaved, most of the time.

STATUS;;[/b] finished!
TAG;; Grace Barker! <3
WORD COUNT;; 826
NOTES;; Yay Jake G and Anne H <3
[/size][/blockquote]

[GRACE ALEXANDRIA BARKER]

I'M GONNA GIVE ALL MY SECRETS AWAY.
TIL ALL MY SLEEVES ARE STAINED RED. FROM ALL THE TRUTH I'VE SAID.

Handling a school and a job were no longer a problem for miss Barker. She dropped out of school. Correction, she's taking a semester off. Grace didn't like the idea of being sucked into the idea of photography anymore. She was barely holding a roof over her head due to her part time job. Things had to change because her mother wasn't helping anymore. It was all independent work now. Grace was clearly not ready for this. No where near complete to leave the nest. In fact, she wanted to move back in where things were almost free. It was a place where she didn't have to worry about rent, food, or certain fees. All of those numbers would disappear. She wouldn't have to take time out of her life to write large paychecks to pay for a crappy place. She wished things to get easier but all they did was grow harder on her shoulders.

For the first few weeks of not going to class, Grace developed a case of insomnia or almost close to it. She didn't feel like herself because she had always been studious. Now that she didn't have to write papers or finish an album bothered her. She believed that she was just going crazy and it was a phase. Maybe she was making a mistake about being free from college. Maybe it was the right decision. Bottom line, Grace was beginning to feel disgusted with herself because she was "unproductive". She took a full time job and busted more hours to get a higher check. It was working but Grace didn't have time to herself. Working at a retail store didn't her anywhere. At this point, Grace was living from pay check to pay check. She needed a room mate. Hell, someone to talk to for once. No one liked her, not even her family. She found it surprising if her sister-in-law would have a light conversation. Things were not going well. It was just a hapless road that seemed never ending.

Grace walked around a few times, slowly taking in the calm environment. Her heart felt unbalanced and the winter air seemed to break it just in time. She decided to take a few more pictures, but this time, Grace took a shot of just a path but as soon as she took it, she heard some yell in the distance. The brunette couldn't help but take the camera away, ruining the picture. Hearing the guy apologize, Grace nodded with a soft smile. "Oh no," she said shaking her head. "No need to apologize...." This photographer began to trail off her words because she was lost in how he appeared to look. She had never witnessed a man so handsome before. It was something that seemed too peculiar to be real. Looking down at the child, she smiled in a friendly manner. She really did want children. Too bad it wasn't going to happen. Looking back up, she shook her head one more time to make sure that it was nothing Dominic had to apologize for. "Kids will be kids." she laughed softly, showing her white teeth.





TAGGED;; DOMINIC <3
WORD COUNT;; 823
NOTES;; ls;akjsdl;kfjaf love it !
CREDITS;; LYRICS BY ONE REPUBLIC, PICTURE CREDIT @ CAUTION, LAYOUT & POST ALL TO ME

[DOMINIC OLIVER DARLING]

EVERYBODY KNOWS I'M IN

[/font]
OVER MY HEAD, OVER MY HEAD[/font][/center]

Dominic had always been a hard worker, unlike some of those lucky people out there, he wasn't naturally clever, he couldn't just swan through school without putting the effort in like his oncr best friend had the luxury of, while she was busy doing, well other things, he was busy studying his ass off to just get through. It had just become a habit to keep busy at this point in his life. The short period of time he had been between his job in England and the job here in Ridge wood had been hard and he'd done everything he could to keep busy and like he wasn't wasting his time. Sure he was glad he had time for himself to do what he liked but it bothered him not having anything really constructive to do with his day, and the fact that he was waiting to get his feet firmly in the door defiantly didn't help. One of his many flaws, impatience, especially when he wanted something so much.

Another of Dominics flaws was that he could never get a good balance of work and play, he worked far too hard for his own good which meant a lot of the people in his life were neglected at times. Not that he meant to and he was trying to loosen up a little, it wasn't even as if he wasn't fun, he was just too focused on everything he did being perfect and perfection takes time. Not that he had all too many people to be making time for in Ridgewood, since he was new and the girl he had been spending a lot of his time with (Gwen) hadn't really worked out, he'd been a bit of a hermit, it was hard to meet people when he didn't know people to go out with that well. It was a vicious circle that was hard to break but he was determined to do it.

For the most part, Dominic was good at meeting people, he was never the loudest in a group of people but he could easily carry a conversation or spark one up with a stranger if need be, or, like in the case at hand, if he wanted to. He just hadn't had the chance to do that much, he had been wrapped up in his job and the time before he started teaching he had been busy getting himself settled, finding an apartment which hadn't been easy since he had a budget and a dog to cater for and almost all of the places within his price range weren't pet friendly. Even his place now had taken some serious work, convincing the land lord had been a task in it's self but Dominic was quite the persuasive guy as well as determined. He loved that dog and it wasn't like he trusted his sister enough to leave him with her at the 'family home' but he couldn't bring himself to stay there either, even with the temptation of free rent. The idea of living under the same roof as Olivia and sponging off his parents sent a shiver down his spine, as much as he loved his family, he wasn't exactly slow off the mark to get out of there and as far away as he could get.

With the exception of his and Bradley's presents, the park was serene and quite on that cold winters day, most sane, normal people were hid away in their homes with the heating on full watching the Television. Dominic hated being stuck, well he did these days, it just made him so much more aware of how alone he was almost all of the time, it was miserable but he tried to look past it though it was hard not to notice his bad luck when it came to love, first his ex during university, cheating on him with his female best friend, then the girl he started seeing ended up being one of his students in his class. Still this didn't mean he was ready to give up, just meant he would be a lot more cautious when it came to romance.

Dominic laughed at her 'kids will be kids' didn't he know it, whenever his parents were around, Bradley was as good as gold, a calm, quite and incredibly lovely, his sister had always been strict, probably something she had gathered growing up as the eldest of a family as big as theirs, but the second they had walked out of the door Bradley had burst with excitement like a volcano running around and shouting. Dominic was a sucker when it came to Brad though, he couldn't shout at the kid without feeling guilty and the kid new it and took full advantage of it. ”and don't I know it” he laughed shaking his head a little at the little boy before bringing his attention back to Grace. ”I'm Dominic” he introduced himself and was about to do the same for Bradley before the cheeky 4 beat him to the punch ”And I'm Bradley, very nice to meet you” He stepped forward to shake her hand. ”Your far too much like your dad y'know” Dominic laughed with a shake of his head, far too smooth for his own good.

STATUS;; Finished!
TAG;; Grace Barker!
WORD COUNT;; 994
NOTES;; -dances about with excitement-