Come Fly With Me ((Autumn))

[Eden Gothar R6]

Eden stood on the bridge, leaning against the railing, looking over it, down onto the water. This wasn’t just any bridge however, this was the bridge; The Golden Gate. Probably one of the most famous bridges in all of the United States, but if you asked Eden, it was his bridge. When Eden stepped out his front door in the mornings, there was no real word for how he felt. All that could be said was that it was the feeling of complete control. Now this isn’t to say that Eden felt like a dictator, because Eden doesn’t, and never will. But Eden did however; feel that he owned that city. San Francisco belonged in whole to Eden. He knew it like the back of his hand and he was proud to say so. It was his love; his world. It was a strange passion, the passion he had for the city. It was like the passion an artist feels for his masterpiece; the kind of passion that bonds two things together. Eden felt, everyday, like he and the city were one in the same. They breathed together. Their hearts beat together. Sometimes Eden would even consider the idea that his own heart was the beating heart of San Francisco. Eden found it impossible to walk down the street without smiling and waving at all the people he encountered. He felt like he was San Francisco someday, and so therefore he needed to greet all of the people who lived within his city. Overall, Eden had a near obsessive love for the city, but who could blame him? San Francisco was nearly all that Eden had. Sure he had his brother, and he’d always have the club, but where would either of those things be if not for San Francisco? The city brought together all of Eden’s great loves into one booming place. If it wasn’t all of those things that kept Eden from falling out of love with the place, it was the lights of the city. Of course, right now it’s in the middle of the morning and there aren’t really any city lights shining to demonstrate my point; you’ll just have to trust me. But back to Eden’s current thoughts at hand as he stood on that magnificent bridge. They weren’t particularly life changing ones. There were two things on his mind; messages, and kisses. Now I know, they don’t fit together at all, but just listen. Firstly, Eden was truly staring down at the water from the edge of the Golden Gate bridge, and every time Eden did such a thing, he found himself wondering what would happen if he wrote down his address on a piece of paper along with the word “hello” and then shoved it in a bottle and dropped it down into the water. Now of course this would be lunacy, because doing such a thing is a federal offence and Eden would be arrested if the wrong people found his address, but he couldn’t help but wonder if someone would write back. And if they did, where would they be from? Is it possible that the currents of the water would carry his message to some far away place where they hardly even spoke English? Or would his bottle only make it to the shore, where some boat man would pull it out and write him a letter stating that polluting that water was a federal offence and he should be glad he wasn’t turned in. Eden liked to hope the journey of his message in a bottle would be more similar to the first option.

Moving on. On, to Eden’s other thoughts. His thoughts, like I said before, were about kisses, but not about just any kisses. Eden’s thoughts were about the kisses he had received the previous night, for he had received two. The first was from someone he’d known for quite a long time but never expect to receive a kiss from, and the second was from nearly a complete stranger. Amanda Leeves had done it first, and while Eden sure did love Amanda, it wasn’t that sort of love. Eden had never considered the thought of kissing Amanda, nor having her kiss him, nor doing anything of the sort more or less then kissing with Amanda. Amanda was just Amanda and she was a great help at the club, a friend of Matt’s, and she made a great lemon-lime soda. Overall, Eden needn’t dwell on Amanda’s kiss for very long, because though he’d never received a kiss before that one, he knew that that was less of a kiss and more of a peck and pecks never count. Besides he had the thought in his mind that the kiss was probably less out of the will to kiss him, and more for another reason. Thought he didn’t quite get that just yet. On a side note, the night before, when Eden had laid down for bed he couldn’t help but laugh at what Amanda had said after kissing him, and whether or not his kisses were indeed ‘yummy’. There was only one other person who could really tell Eden the answer to that question aside from Amanda, and that was Autumn, Autumn Leeves; the second girl who’d kissed him. That kiss, Eden had every right to dwell on because it in fact had been a kiss. A real kiss. The kind of kiss that might have very well meant something, and Eden had need to wonder if it had in fact meant something. Now of course, he couldn’t see why it would have. He had only known Autumn for about fifteen minutes before she had kissed him, and then after the kiss she’d retreated and he hadn’t seen her the rest of the night. Before he’d left he’d asked Amanda about her, and Amanda had assured him she’d be ok, and that they’d lock up before they left. Eden left Dazzle reluctantly. He had wanted to apologize to Autumn if he’d done something wrong when she kissed him. Oh goodness, apologize if he’d done something wrong. He sounded so stupid; all evening and night and now morning he’d spent thinking about it and wondering if he’d done something wrong, and then wondering if he should in fact have apologized. But at the same time he was ultimately confused about whether or not he had reason to feel sorry for doing something wrong, it wasn’t like he was prepared for the kiss or anything like that. She had sort of just…stolen it.

Eden turned away from the edge of the bridge and began walked back towards the city. He reached a hand into his back of fortune cookies and pulled out the last one before tossing the bag into a trashcan on the path off of the bridge. Eden had already meandered through China Town that morning and bought a small bag of fortune cookies. He’d even eaten them all, despite his extreme dislike for them. He’d just needed something light in his stomach, and something inside him had hoped maybe one of the fortunes he received would let him know what to do about his thoughts, though he also knew that all the fortunes were printed out of a machine and then machine packed into the small cookies. But no matter, he cracked open the last one and read it, frowning when it told him something ridiculous; “True love is around the corner.” He didn’t even bother to check his lucky numbers before shoving the piece of paper in his pocket, along with the eleven others that were already without their cookies. Eden shook his head as he walked down the street. Ahead of him he watched as a trolley car crossed an intersection and tale off down the perpendicular street that it was already moving on. Immediately a rare grin spread across his lips and he bolted forward, hooking his hand around the street light and swinging around it to head down the road in the direction the street car had just gone. He was moving quite quickly when he had to move sideways to dodge a red-headed girl walking down the street. After passing her Eden skidded to a stop and turned around, running back to her, grabbing her arm and turning her around. “Autumn?” As soon as he saw her face again he laughed and took her hand, pulling her at a sprint off down the street toward the trolley without an explanation. “Come on!” He shouted over his shoulder, and as they ran they finally gained on the car. When they were right up along side it Eden turned, and in one swift motion, grabbed Autumn around the waist and pushed her up onto the car. He then had to run a bit to keep up with it before he could jump on as well. Once he was on the car and everyone was sufficiently chuckling at Eden’s latest adventure (for he was a regular trolley rider and people had begun to recognize him) he took Autumn’s hand and led her through the car and to the back, where they could stand and watch the city roll by. “Sorry about all of that, I just wanted to talk to you but…I had a date with the trolley car.” Eden laughed and leaned against the car. “So um…once you catch your breath and get over the surprise of being shoved onto a trolley by Yours Truly – I know you don’t do well under surprise – tell me, how’ve you been?”

[Autumn Leeves S5]

"You didn't have to," Amanda insisted for the billionth time that morning and since last night as she poured milk into her cereal bowl – the creamy white spilling over her Cocoa Puffs. Autumn yawned into the palm of her hand before raking her fingers through her red hair and resting her head on the armrest of the couch. She wasn't really paying any attention at all to her cousin; in fact, she hardly ever paid any attention to Amanda when she went on like this. Actually, she might pay attention for the first ten minutes or so, but after that, Autumn would completely tune her cousin out and go about her merry way. With this particular subject, though, Autumn was finding it harder and harder to keep herself from screaming at the older girl. She had hardly slept the night before, what with her mind being full of thoughts – running back and forth, and so her patience was low. Autumn looked up as Amanda took a seat beside her on the couch, poking her in the foot gently before taking a bite of her cereal. After she had chewed the chocolate sugar filled disaster, Amanda continued with her annoyance; "I only kissed him because, well, I thought it would be funny. What I can't figure out is why you did it." Autumn sighed and stood from the couch, hoping that her sudden redirection would give Amanda the hint that she had been giving for the past 12 hours or so. No such luck, "Do you like him or sommem?" she asked with a mouth full of cocoa puffs. Autumn looked at her cousin with disgust and shook her head sadly before deciding she needed to get out of the apartment and perhaps into the sunshine. She headed into the bathroom, stripped out of her clothes, and then hurried; wanting to get out as soon as possible. Autumn usually enjoyed her showers, relaxing in the steam, perhaps sang a little, but today she just wanted to go and go far away. So, today, she rushed. When she came out of the shower, she wrapped a towel around herself and then blew her hair dry with the muggle hair dryer. Once it was nice and dry, Autumn put everything away, gathered her clothes, and then left the bathroom to head back down the hall to her room; easily avoiding Amanda because her cousin had called one of her friends and was chattering with her back to the hallway. Autumn pushed open her door quietly and stepped into her hideous room, throwing the clothes into the hamper, she made her way over to the trunk and opened it. After she rifled through it for a bit and picked out an outfit, she got dressed, pulled her hair back with a barrette on one side, and pocketed her wand safely.

Now, came the hard part of sneaking past Amanda. Autumn groaned and mentally prepared herself before pulling open her door slowly and silently, and stepping out into the hallway. She peered into the living room and didn’t see Amanda at all, but she knew the girl was somewhere. Probably hiding in a closet just waiting to jump out and tackle Autumn to the ground, nearly beating it out of her why she kissed Eden. Goodness her cousin was insane. Autumn bit her lip gently and nearly tiptoed toward the front door, trying to keep her heart from beating too loudly. Amanda wasn't anywhere in the living room unless she was hiding behind the couch, but even Amanda was far too mature to do that. Autumn reached the door safely, unscratched, and then wrapped her hand around the door knob, turned it, and pulled the door open. "Where are you going?" Amanda's voice came from…what place else? Behind the couch. Autumn sighed and took a step out into the hallway that led to the entrance to the apartment building, "Out." Was her reply before she closed the door and hurried out of the building out into San Francisco at 11 in the morning. Autumn heaved a heavy sigh as she crossed her arms and walked with her head straight and her eyes looking ahead of her. She had no idea where she was going or what she was going to do with her time, but she figured anything would be better than staying at home with Amanda pestering her about her motive for kissing Eden Gothar. She really wished she could answer Amanda's question, but she really honestly couldn’t because she didn't even know the answer. Autumn hated things like that. Where she know she did something, and yet she didn't know why. It had felt like this invisible force had compelled her to kiss the guy and did she regret it? Yes. She did. She had spent nearly the entire rest of the night in the restroom she had retreated to and she wouldn't come out until Amanda came in with the key in hand and said Eden had left and they were closing up. Autumn hadn't even listened to or spoken to Amanda on the way home and she had no intention of speaking to her ever again. Okay, so perhaps that was an exaggeration. Regardless, Autumn had felt humiliated and ashamed of her actions and she didn’t ever want to see Eden Gothar ever again. Even if it meant avoiding Dazzle, which made her quite sad because even though she had hated the circumstances in which she was made to sing, she did enjoy it. It brought out something in her she rarely ever felt or had. But if that was the price, she would happily pay it to never see Eden Gothar's face again.

Autumn hadn't been paying any attention to where she was going, which probably wasn't the best idea in San Francisco, but she couldn't help it. Her mind was filled with a billion other thoughts that were ten times more important than where she was going in a foreign city. She was walking down some street or another, rather blindly, when someone rushed past her. She shook her head and then before she could contemplate what was happening someone had grabbed her arm and turned her around. Oh, great. It was exactly the face she could have gone forever without seeing for a long while. Eden Gothar. Before she could respond or do anything, he was pulling her by the hand toward the direction he had been running only moments before. Ever run with someone pulling you? If you have than you know that there is no stopping or saying 'no!' or digging your heels into the ground because you'll topple over. It was for that specific reason that Autumn continued to run with Eden toward the trolley car he was chasing. She knew that if she protested and dragged her heels, she would only fall and Autumn hated falling. So, she ran with him, her breathing becoming quite irregular. Autumn wasn't athletic in the least, in fact she was rather unathletic. She didn't participate in Quidditch at school and she didn't do anything muggle sports wise, either. Her exercise was her walking and she did that rarely unless it was necessary. This running was nearly killing her lungs; and she had lungs of a singer, a jazz singer no less. Autumn felt her eyes go wide when Eden turned, grabbed her around the waist, picked her up, and shoved her onto the trolley car. A cry escaped her lips and she grappled for the nearest bar, which her hands found, with relief. Moments later Eden was on, too, and dragging her toward the back of the car where they could lean against the wall and catch their breath. Autumn stared at Eden with disbelief in her eyes as she took in several deep breaths of air. He spoke to her, smiling, and Autumn had to gather her thoughts. They were going at a hundred miles per hour. How could he be just so nonchalant about everything? It really irked Autumn. Finally, when her breathing was regular again, she gripped a bar and stared at him before replying in a rather cool tone of voice, but not one that said she hated him; "I've been okay, I guess. As okay as I can get considering I'm living with Amanda the 'Let's just kiss a guy!' Gal. And you?"

[Eden Gothar R6]

Eden of course noticed the look on Autumn’s face; the one that showed just how shocked she was by his behaviour. But he just didn’t have it him to apologize for what he’d done. Eden had a suspicion that Autumn’s life didn’t exactly consist of very much adventure. At the risk of being cliché, Eden’s middle name was Adventure. Every day of his life held some sort of spontaneity and adventure. There wasn’t a day that went by that something completely out of the ordinary didn’t happen to Eden. Running and jumping on a trolley car was nothing new, and while he had never exactly run with a girl and tossed her onto a trolley before, it wasn’t unexpected from him. Eden knew that if he ever died on some random day, he wanted it to be because he was doing something spectacular, not because someone else had been doing something stupid. And because Eden knew first hand about the frailty of life, he lived every day as if it were his last. And not in the way some people did. Eden didn’t ‘live every day like it was his last’, Eden really did live every day like it was the last. He didn’t just claim to be that way when truly he didn’t believe that that day might be his last. Every night when Eden went to sleep, though he hoped that tomorrow would come, he honestly could say that if the world ended he would be content. If the world ended that night Eden would not be surprised. Sure, some people might have thought that it was like living with a cloud over his head, but to Eden it was just living with a constant reminder that you needed to make every day count. Eden wasn’t sure, but he didn’t believe that Autumn was that kind of person. Just the look on her face told him that running and jumping on a trolley was not something she did every day, nor once in a year. It was funny to think that she had even kissed him last night, because she most definitely didn’t seem like the kind of person to do something like that. Amanda might have been, but Autumn just didn’t seem to be the type. She seemed so…so compiled in the way that she caught her breath and looked at him like he was a mad man. And while Eden knew that in her head she was probably contemplating calling the authorities on him, he couldn’t help but love that look in her eyes; the one that said he’d totally surprised her.

Autumn had gripped the bar by now and Eden was still smiling at her, leaning against the car, his arms crossed over his chest, waiting for her to respond to him, or walk away and go sit somewhere else on the trolley. She didn’t move however, but she did respond, and Eden felt himself chuckle again. “Amanda is pretty spontaneous like that, but alright, whatever floats her boat.” He shrugged and looked out at the street behind them. “I’ve been alright I suppose, considering there’s a high possibility that the police might show up at my place tonight to arrest me for mistreating a lady.” Eden looked over at Autumn, his usual smirk on his lips. “I hope you don’t hate me for it, you just seemed like you needed a ride. Walking is over-rated.” Eden nodded in satisfaction and gave her a small wink before looking back out at the street. “I don’t know why anyone would be walking in San Francisco actually, unless you had to. I mean, with all the hills and all?” At that moment the street car tilted as it moved to go up an incline and Eden’s hand move casually to hold onto one of the bars on the back of the car. He looked back over at Autumn for a moment. “So where exactly where you going all by your lonesome in this big, wonderful, city?” He waited for a few moments before thinking about what he’d just said. “Actually, now don’t take that the wrong way. It’s a wonderful city, but it’s big and it’s probably not the safest place for a girl like you to be walking around all by yourself.” Eden eyed her for a moment, supposing that she couldn’t be any older then he was, which only made her situation worse. He found himself frowning slightly at the thought of something bad happening to her while she was alone in the city. “Yeah…you most definitely shouldn’t do that again. Not the greatest of ideas, darlin’.” He nodded and took his hand off of the bar of the car as the street evened out and the car straightened out as well.

Eden continued to watch the street for a while, unless Autumn spoke, because then he would have looked at her. He was trying to remember what route this trolley took, when it finally stopped and all of it’s riders filed off. Eden smiled brightly and took Autumn’s hand once more, leading her off the car and down onto the street. There were in a more main part of town now, and Eden led Autumn down the sidewalk at a leisurely pace, keeping her close beside him. As much as Eden loved his city, he knew the dangers a good looking lady like Autumn could bring if the circumstances were right, and while he didn’t think anything terrible would happen right in the middle of the street, you could never be too careful. As they walked Eden decided where they were going and at the next intersection he turned right and led Autumn down that road a short ways before they reached a small café. The place had a semi fenced in area, which contained tables and things for people who wanted to eat outside. Eden led Autumn into the area and chose a table, where he pulled out one of the chairs and smiled over at Autumn. “Have time to stop for a bite?”

[Autumn Leeves S5]

A small, short, 'hrumph' escaped Autumn's tightly pursed lips as she tore her gaze away from Eden to look out at passing San Francisco. Her eyes took in the sights, but she saw none of them. She did not notice the passing people, she did not notice anything, because she could not. She did not comprehend these things, because her mind was elsewhere. Elsewhere on a place better known as Amanda and her spontaneous kissing which in turn led to her kissing Eden, as well. How, or rather why, had she fallen into that so obvious trap? Was she really as dense as her cousin often told people? To be lead into this trap of demise? Autumn liked to think she was rather clever, or at least cleverer than her cousin was, but she had just proven her cousin right and herself wrong. She apparently wasn’t clever enough to dodge her cousin's plans to torture her in some odd way. Was that really Amanda's intention, though? Or was Amanda just, once again, trying to get Autumn into a relationship that Autumn just didn't want to be in? Amanda wasn't one to shy away from other peoples' personal lives. In fact, she was definitely the kind of person to butt into them and make more trouble than there was originally. Autumn pulled herself from her thoughts and looked over at Eden when he spoke again, this time about police arresting him for mistreating a lady. Autumn smiled gently and let her eyes dance away from Eden once more to the surrounding city before replying in a calm and collected tone of voice; "I like walking," she said in response to his questioning why anyone would want to walk in San Francisco, "Back at school, I walk all the time. Up flights of stairs, around the lake, I walk up the hill to the ca-building, too, instead of using the stairs like the rest of my classmates. Walking helps me clear my head, and I prefer walking to any other form of transportation." That’s truer than he knows, she thought as her eyes looked at him briefly. She hated all forms of transportation except walking. Cars, planes, trains, boats, broomsticks, floo, apparition. She hated them all. They either made her nauseous or just downright ill. It was for this reason that Autumn tried to walk whenever she could. Today, however, she had walked because she wanted to get away and hadn't thought of taking any other form of transportation. It just happened to turn out that way and Autumn hadn't even thought of complaining about it because she didn't mind it. She did mind, however, being shoved onto running trolley cars; though, perhaps, not as much as she thought she minded. After all, she wasn't yelling and screaming at Eden. Then again, Autumn didn't think she could ever yell and scream at Eden, there was just something about him that put her in a calm place. Even the first time they had spoken, she had been completely frazzled, and he had somehow had this calming affect over her that made her just relax. Sure, she had turned into a total and complete spoilt rich girl, acting as if everything should go her way and delivering snide remarks about his zoot suit, but she was still relatively calm, relax, and collected. She didn't know what it was about him that made her behave this way, and half of her told her not to question it – but Autumn wasn't one to just feel, because… if you remember… feeling doesn't necessarily mean it's real.

She had, once again, returned to the conversation at hand – her eyes meandering back over to Eden. She hadn't really allowed herself to look at him before, after all, why would she? She wasn't ever going to see him again, right? But today proved her wrong and she knew that fate had a lot more in store for her dealing with Eden Gothar. Not that Autumn believed in fate, but she did believe in something's being done a certain way for a certain reason. Obviously meeting Eden today wasn't a complete accident nor a complete coincidence, but she couldn't necessarily say it was completely fated either. Anyway, Autumn looked Eden over, now. Not indiscreetly as if she were checking him out, but just in a brief way to actually get the feel for the way he looked, dressed, etc. The first thing that drew her in were his eyes. Her own eyes were a lovely shade of green, a green so green they looked like emeralds. She had always preferred blue eyes, though, and so that was what made her so drawn to Eden's eyes. They were blue. Not just any blue, either. If they were any blue, Autumn would have looked at them once and then moved on. But these were a blue so blue that she could honestly tell you she had felt like she had just been shoved into a block of pure ice. Normally, if you look at ice - the kind you put into a glass with a soda – it's white, or it appears to be white. But pure ice, ice from the arctic, icebergs, those kinds of ice… those are blue; and that's exactly the hue of blue that Eden's eyes were. She literally had to tear herself away from looking into his eyes for too long. Not only because he might find it a bit awkward, but also because she had to finish "getting the feel for his looks." Autumn let her eyes drift up to his hair, which was quite odd to look at. She couldn't tell what colour it was exactly, and she found herself smiling lightly – the corners of her mouth barely perking up, Chameleon hair, she thought to herself. She studied his hair a bit longer, deciding it was a shade of blonde that just randomly decided to change colours every now and then, before letting her eyes travel down to his lips. His lips, as she had the pleasure of knowing, were probably just as soft as they looked. But she must not think about kissing him at that exact moment, besides she didn't want to kiss him again. Instead, she made a mental note on how they always seemed to be turned up into either a smile or a smirk. It could go either way, and a smirk wasn't always bad, either. Her eyes lingered on his lips a moment before she took a small step back and surveyed his height. He wasn't extremely tall for a boy his age, but being rather short herself, she knew he was taller than her by a good 4 inches. Which was rather short compared to him. She wondered how she had kissed him so easily, but again – she reminded herself she must not think about that again. C'mon Autumn, focus. "Oh, no where special. I just had to get out of the apartment, Amanda was being rather annoying – hiding behind couches and all, asking bothersome questions, I just…needed space." Autumn nodded her head as if that was all there was to it and then reluctantly (why it was reluctantly she wasn't quite sure) tore her eyes away from him again to look out at San Francisco, which now paled in comparison to the near-god standing beside her. "I'll keep that in mind," she muttered as she turned completely to rest both of her arms on the railing of the back of the trolley, not really taking his advice to heart. She had never done well with people telling her what to do.

Autumn ran her fingers through her hair as the trolley came to a stop, and before she could rest her hand on the railing again – Eden had grabbed it and was pulling her off the trolley onto the firm ground once more. She was keenly aware of how close Eden kept her to him, but she didn't argue for once. He had pointed out that the city was big and perhaps a tad dangerous as well, and well honestly? Autumn wasn't looking to be anyone's midnight murder – although it was the middle of the morning. She followed Eden obediently, posing no question to where he was taking her. He was probably the one person she trusted in this entire city besides Amanda. Heck, who was she kidding? He was the only other person she knew. Autumn followed Eden into a small café sitting area, allowing him to pull out a chair, and then she looked at him a moment before sitting down uneasily; "I suppose, I mean, if this is the alternative to getting peppered with questions from a certain blonde, I think I'll take it." She smiled and shrugged before relaxing into the chair, immediately adverting her gaze to the passers-by as they meandered past the café. Eden had taken the seat across from her now, but she didn't look up or over at him until she spoke in a quiet tone of voice; "I really hate to bring this up, but I feel like there's this huge pink elephant at the table with us, and I don't like that feeling," she paused here to take a deep breath and look at him straight in the eye, "I'm sorry for my behaviour last night. It was completely unacceptable, and while I blame my cousin – she cannot take the full blame for my actions. For this, I apologise whole heartedly."

[Eden Gothar R6]

“Hmm. Well they make me walk at my school too, but I really hate it. I try to take classes that are all in the same area, but I’ve got one class that’s at like, the top floor of the school and I have to take a million stairs to get up there. I prefer to be able to just stand and watch the city move under my feet.” Eden smirked, knowing that what he said wasn’t exactly what happened. He was just being silly of course, making a joke, and he hoped Autumn would pick up on that, he really didn’t want her to look at him like he was crazy. Sometimes however, Eden’s joke was truer then usual. Occasionally, when Eden rode the trolleys, he really could just watch the city and imagine he was just floating along down the street. Then there was the part about having to walk all the time at school, and that was obviously true. Hogwarts didn’t exactly have public transportation, and so therefore if you needed to go somewhere you walked. Often times going to class meant going up the stairs and then down the stairs and then down four or five hallways. This was half the reason Eden had dropped Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. He also rarely went to quidditch games because he would have to walk to the pitch if he did. Eden really didn’t like to walk out on the grounds. He found the grounds to be so boring. The castle was far more interesting, because it was a building. Eden had never been interested in nature, but he had always loved architecture. He had always assumed it was because his father had been an architect. Matt had never really looked up to their father like Eden had. Eden had adored his father; Matt had stuck close to their mother. Eden couldn’t remember a time in his life when he hadn’t wanted to grow up to be just like the man. Eden’s father had always had a way about him that kept his family almost in a steady rhythm. It’s a hard thing to explain, but Eden’s father had given off an air that calmed and soothed any room he was in. That was something Eden had gotten from his father; the ability to stay calm in almost any situation. The only times Eden could remember his father losing his cool were the times when he fought with Eden’s mother. Which is backwards if you think about it, you would assume that a couple in love wouldn’t fight with each other and that they would be able to be calm if they did fight, but it’s actually exactly the opposite. When you fight with someone you love dearly it’s harder to remain calm like you would in another situation. Particularly because you want nothing more then to stop the fighting, but something in your brain just won’t let you. Fighting with a loved one is the hardest thing a person can ever do. It kills to watch yourself hurt the one you love. Strange how we fight with those we love more then we do with those we hate. Nevertheless, the ability to be calm in awkward situations was one Eden had gained from his father, just as he’d gained his love for architecture. He was positive that was half the reason he loved San Francisco so much; all the architecture. He felt like he could look at the city skyline and almost feel his father’s calm radiating off of the buildings. The city just held so much of Eden’s family in it. Anyway, this is all rather irrelevant, so let’s get back to Eden.

Normally when Eden rode the trolley, he watched the city pass by him, but this time his eyes were nearly glued to Autumn standing next to him. And that was only partially because he was talking to her. Eden had a bad habit of looking around when he talked to people, because he could never keep his focus on the person he was talking to. He would be perfectly in tune with the conversation, but his eyes would be trailing from one bit of scenery to the next. With Autumn however, his eyes were drawn to her when he spoke to her. It was like her presence demanded his attention; vocal and visual. It was like the first time he’d seen her perform in the club. Usually, if Amanda had asked him about someone else singing, Eden would have at least turned to her and nodded, but in Autumn’s case he refused to even take his eyes off her as she sang. And so it was unusual for Eden to give one person so much visual attention, but of course Autumn wouldn’t know that; normal people looked at each other when they spoke. I suppose that means that for today Eden was a bit more normal then usual. Anyway, Eden found himself practically staring at Autumn as he spoke to her, talking about why she was out in the city alone and telling her she probably shouldn’t. He smiled when she mumbled back a reply that didn’t sound very whole hearted. “Not big on taking other people’s advice, I see. Well I don’t blame you, I mean, taking my advice would be taking the advice of a guy who wears zoot suits on a weekly basis and pulls certain red-headed girls on a trolley. And who knows how trustworthy those kinds could be.” Eden smirked, his tone completely suggesting sarcasm. If Eden had a say in his own trustworthy-ness, he would most definitely say that he was a very trustworthy guy. Eden was the type of person who never really talked about other people’s business. If there was something on your mind, it was Eden that you could go to and talk to about it, with knowledge that he wouldn’t go around gossiping. Eden let other people’s problems go into his head and be packaged cleanly away in a little box in the storage room in his head. He didn’t just let peoples’ words go in one ear and out the other however. Eden retained all the information he ever heard someone tell him, but not because he wanted to use it against them. He retained it so that he could feel a connection with that person. Therefore if they ever came back to him again to talk he would know the back story to everything. Eden wanted his peers to feel that they could rely on and depend on Eden. He had always wanted his presence to be that of a safe place, a comfort zone. That was one of the things that bonded him so tightly with Dazzle; Dazzle was a safe place. Well obviously Eden had only been playing with Autumn about not being trustworthy, and he surely hoped she wasn’t afraid of him. Eden looked down at himself quickly to analyze his appearance. Today he hadn’t worried too much about his appearance. From his feet up he was in simple black chucks, blue jeans, a white undershirt, and a black button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He hadn’t thought too much on what he was wearing this morning. Autumn on the other hand seemed to radiate. Eden had finished speaking now and Autumn had looked off the trolley to watch the passing city, so Eden was free to glance at her occasionally and admire her. Admire her from a distance of course. She really was pretty, even more so in the sunlight then she had been in the dimly lit Dazzle; and that was saying something because she had outshone the entire club that first night Eden had seen her. She was dressed up a bit more today then she had been in the club, but to Eden that didn’t make much of a difference. He wasn’t the fashion expert; that was Matt. She looked extremely lovely however, wearing an outfit that, well, Matt would have approved of. Eden smiled comparing his own outfit to hers; she made jeans look far better then he did. But then again, she was a lady.

Eden had to pause in taking in all of Autumn’s beauty when the trolley stopped. He had no intention of leaving her alone in the city now however, so he took her hand and pulled her along with him down the street. He was well aware that he was being rather forward with her; shoving her onto trolleys and pulling her around the streets, but he wasn’t being rough or anything. By pulling, I mean to say that Eden had her hand in his and he was keeping her close to him as they walked. Someone passing them on the sidewalk might assume that they were a couple out for a stroll, but it was true to say Eden was holding her hand a bit tight, he didn’t want to lose her in a crowd or anything. He didn’t know how much he trusted the city with something as precious as he was beginning to believe Autumn to be. If her appearance was enough to call her a treasure then she was definitely a ruby that had hidden itself from Eden within this crown of cities. He smiled at the thought; a ruby. It was obviously in reference to her hair, he thought as he glanced over at her as they walked. Her hair was a wonderful shade of red that made Eden’s smile s a bit brighter. Most of the girls Eden spent his time around were blondes and there was no denying the fact that Eden had had quite enough of them. Just the red of Autumn’s hair mixed with the green of her eyes made her different from most other girls, and those things had definitely caught his eye. Blondes with blue eyes were quite overrated. Eden could say that; he was one. Finally he and Autumn reached the café he had been wanting them to reach, and Eden let go of Autumn’s hand as he moved to pull back her chair. They sat down and after a few minutes Autumn spoke up. Eden looked up at her and listened quietly as she spoke, and when she finished he didn’t say anything. He cocked his head slightly and then looked to his right, then his left and then got up and walked around the table twice before sitting back down in his chair and checking over his shoulders once more. When he had thoroughly done a good search of the area he turned back to Autumn and looked at her confused. “Where’s the elephant?” He smirked at her and picked up his menu. “But seriously, no more of that I’m sorry stuff, there’s no need.” He smiled and looked at the menu. Not even a second after he’d told her no more, Autumn was opening her mouth in a fight. “So any idea what you want?” Eden said in response to her. When she continued to argue with him he just continued to look at his menu. “I’m pretty hungry…but very thirsty…I’m gonna have a water…” Once again Autumn argued and he made a loud, ‘hmmm’ noise, and then a, “oooo cheesecake. I love cheesecake, how about you?” Finally he looked up at her with a smile suggesting he hadn’t heard her argue at all. “Or are you one of those chocolate cake lovers?”

[Autumn Leeves S5]

Autumn grinned, slightly, at what Eden had said about the city moving beneath his feet, "Wouldn't you get motion sick?" she asked with a hint of teasing in her voice. She knew she would, but then again Autumn was easily made sick from motion. It was part of the reason she hated any form of transportation. She never looked at the scenery because of that particular problem – when she did look at the scenery, though, she enjoyed it; until her head started spinning and her stomach started churning. Autumn didn't say anything more on the subject, simply because she really didn't have much else to say on the subject. She just continued to look out of the trolley car as it rolled by San Francisco, before she realised that she would get motion sickness if she continued to watch; and so she closed her eyes to the steady motion. After she had decided that Eden was a near-god, that is. All the while she spoke, she looked at Eden, and he looked straight back at her. She got the feeling that it wasn't something he normally did, though, and it made Autumn feel a little bit anxious because she wasn't used to such scrutiny. She wasn't fidgeting or anything, because Autumn never fidgeted when someone scrutinised her or paid attention to her and how she was talking or acting or whatnot, but that doesn't mean Autumn didn't feel anxious while he was doing it – him or anyone else who did. Autumn laughed sardonically when Eden spoke of her not being big on taking advice from others, "No, I never have been. I've never had to listen to anyone's advice. My parents sure as hell never gave me any and Amanda? Oh, please, like she's any good with advice." Autumn looked at him a moment longer and then looked away again, not really wanting to dwell into her personal life with her parents or whatever. She was quite glad that he didn't ask about it or anything, because honestly? Autumn didn't have it in her to explain exactly what she had meant and she doubted – after this break- she would ever see him ever again and so it wasn't worth telling her whole life story to him. Or perhaps it really was, and she just didn't want to believe it was. Whatever the case, Autumn was relieved he didn't ask what she had meant and she was relieved that he didn't really seem to care much at all about it. Anyone else she knew, she probably would have been peppered with questions, and Autumn hated those types of people.

He was staring at her again, or rather not staring, but scrutinising her. Autumn tucked her hair behind her ear and then turned her gaze away from him again, quite happy to not have to acknowledge the fact that he was, indeed, checking her out. Autumn didn't quite know how to deal with that kind of thing. No one ever checked her out, or if they did – it was so blatantly obvious to the fact that they were doing. She wasn't going to call him out on it, though, or yell at him for looking at her when she had been doing the exact same thing only moments before. Besides, before she even had the opportunity to do such a thing – even if she was going to – the trolley had come to a stop and Eden had then grabbed her hand and pulled her off. She kept quiet the entire walk to the café and she did not intend to talk to him about anything on the walk. Actually then, Autumn hadn't been planning on talking to him at all – but it was funny how things turned out. Eden held a tight grip on her hand so she couldn't stray away from him on the sidewalk. He was really worried about her when he probably shouldn't be, but again – Autumn said nothing. Why would it matter? They weren't going to see each other after this break anyway, were they? Deep down, Autumn knew how unlikely that was considering Amanda worked at his club and she was living with Amanda now – but still, that didn't mean she couldn't stay away from Dazzle. But again, we've gone over the fact that Autumn clearly loved the club and the feeling it inspired inside her. Eden wasn't a good enough reason for her to avoid the place. Why would she want to avoid Eden, anyway? There was just something about him that made Autumn…nearly swoon, nearly. Autumn had never swooned before and so she didn't know that this was the feeling she felt. Regardless, she knew it was an unfamiliar feeling and Autumn hated unfamiliar feelings – she hated them enough to want to run from them every time she encountered one and Autumn hardly ever ran from things. She confronted them, head on, because she knew that was the only way to get something accomplished and to get what you want. Her parents, if they taught her anything, taught her that. That was quite odd for Autumn to be able to say. Her parents were rarely ever a part of her life enough to teach her something, but they had taught her that you had to work for what you want – and she used it as a guideline for her day to day activities. In classes, she worked hard for her grades, and they weren't above average but neither were they below. She worked hard for the grades she received, and she was happy with them because she knew she earned them. She wasn't like all the other Slytherins who bribed their way into certain things or had mummy and daddy pay their way. Autumn was independent and she loved being that way.

After they had reached the café and were sitting and Autumn had used the other thing her parents had taught her; business first, pleasure later, she sat with her hands folded in her lap and breathing heavily as if she had just had the air knocked out of her. In truth, she was nervous. She didn’t know what Eden would say to her apology because she didn't know him well enough to assess what his response would be to anything. So she sat, her hands shaking in her lap, until he finally responded. His initial response was just to stare at her and then he looked around, got up from his seat and walked around the table, sat back down and asked where the elephant was. Autumn smiled and shook her head, her nerves disappearing almost instantly. She was once again in that calm trance that Eden seemed to be able to put her in. He spoke about not being sorry and not wanting to hear her apologise again, and Autumn sat in silence for a moment – letting him think he had won. "No, I have t—" he completely cut her off, asking her if she knew what she wanted. Autumn sat there, dumbfounded, and fuming at this point. She really hated being interrupted. But there wasn't anything she could do about it. Autumn sat in silence again and then tried once more, "Eden, I… you….how can you n—" she was cut off again. This time he was talking about what he wanted to eat and Autumn sighed heavily, her hands moving from her lap to finger the menu – not looking at it just yet. She would try once more, at least once more; "I can't just… let you forget it, Eden." She spoke so fast that he couldn't cut her off, but he ignored her instead of interrupting. He looked up over the menu and asked if she liked cheesecake. Autumn floundered a bit and sighed, clearly annoyed that he wasn't listening before she answered in a rather curt tone of voice; "No, I'm lactose intolerant. Cheesecake would be suicide. I don’t like chocolate cake either. I'll have the apple pie with strawberry ice cream on the side." She wasn't really that hungry, but she figured she would eat anyway. Autumn wasn't one not to eat in front of people. She loved food far too much to do that, but she was just worried that she wouldn't be able to eat much. She would eat the pie and have a glass of lemon water, but that would probably be it. After a moment of silence, Autumn looked down at the table and noticed that the napkin was pink. She smiled to herself before searching through her purse for a pen and then pulled the napkin to her, drawing an elephant on it, before capping the pen and sliding the napkin over to Eden, "There's your elephant."

[Eden Gothar R6]

Even when Eden was a young boy living with his parents he had never been in a family where people were so formal. Eden had been raised in a very casual life style and that’s how he liked it. Half the reason he hated living with his uncle was because his uncle had never been as laid back as Eden was used to. Matt was far more laid back, having been raised in nearly the same environment Eden was, but now that Matt had his new job he’d gotten a bit less casual. Matt’s profession involved working with people of a high class, and to do that was to expect to have to be a bit more dignified and proper then usual. Therefore, Eden alone was left to uphold the casualness of his family’s name; the casualness of his parents; of his father. Eden was quite sure that was where half of the calm attitude came from in his father; the casualness. Everything in the Gothar family house had always been relaxed and so therefore anyone coming into the house would either fit the mould and become relaxed, or be completely out of place and feel very uncomfortable. That was the same thing that happened when people came around Eden. Either they melted into his calm state of being, or they stood there completely awkward and uncomfortable. Eden had always preferred when the first thing happened, but if the second was the option someone chose, then it was their own fault. From Eden’s eyes, his lifestyle was the greatest one to chose. Eden had the luxury of not needing to worry. He had always believed that everything he needed would be provided. Now this isn’t to say that Eden just laid around all day waiting for all he needed to come to him; Eden worked for the things he needed. But he never stressed himself over them. To Eden, if he found himself unable to attain something that he had wanted, that was just life’s way of saying he didn’t need it. Eden worked for what he wanted, but he didn’t make gaining things his first priority. Eden’s happiness was his first priority in life, and therefore, overworking himself to get something and making himself unhappy in the process was not going to happen. Eden had never been one of the people who worried about making money to pay bills or have food because Eden believed that as long as he did his best in life and didn’t slack off or become lazy, things like money and food would work themselves out. It would all fall into place when it was supposed to. Eden liked living his life that way, he liked allowing his life to fall into place. Things were so much simpler that way. The point I’m trying to make is that Eden had always lived his life in a casual manor. Even when he went with Matt to a fancy party, Eden didn’t worry himself about acting like everyone else; he was just the same old Eden. So obviously, the way Autumn was handling the situation ha d completely thrown Eden for a loop. He had the greatest urge to tell her that they were not in a boardroom or executive office and so therefore there was no need to speak in such a way, but he didn’t bother. He suspected that Autumn hadn’t exactly been raised in the casual manor he had been, and so he simply let it go.

Well that is, after he looked for the elephant. Eden had always been the person to try and pull jokes out whenever a situation had turned sour. He had a good sense of humour and he used it to his advantage. Once he had finished investigating the area, and he had managed to make Autumn smile and noticeably calm down from the almost hectic state in which she had been in, he looked down at his menu. She began to argue with him, but he cut her off immediately. And he continued to do so every time she argued with him, knowing full well that she was becoming frustrated with him. Eden didn’t mean to frustrate her, but he honestly saw no reason for her to be sorry. When he looked up at her and asked if she liked cheesecake he wasn’t shocked to hear her answer him in not exactly the most pleasant tone of voice. “Ah, I don’t know how someone could live being lactose intolerant. But, I’m in no way suggesting that you’re um…handicapped or anything. I’m quite sure you live your life contentedly without any milk products. But I couldn’t do it. I guess that makes you a stronger person?” He smiled brightly and shrugged, clearly again turning the subject in all which ways to make it more entertaining. “I like chocolate milk and cheesecake especially.” He grinned and looked back down at the menu. “Pie. Hm…I’m not a big fan of pie. ‘Cept chocolate pie of course.” Eden grinned and looked up at Autumn as a waitress came over to take their orders. Eden looked over at her. “I am going to have a slice of cheesecake and a water, and the lovely lady across from me would like a slice of apple pie with strawberry ice cream on the side, and…oh dear, she didn’t tell me what she wanted to drink.” Eden chuckled and looked over at Autumn. “Did you decide?” Eden smiled and waited as Autumn told the woman what she wanted to drink, and as she did that he folded his menu and set it on the side of the table. Eden wasn’t going to say anything to Autumn, but he had every intention of paying for the meal, after all, it was his idea to stop for a bite to eat. He just didn’t want to say anything because he wasn’t sure if she was one of those girls who would argue to pay for their own meal. Eden might have been casual, but he was still traditional. His father had taught him by example how to treat a lady; you get the door for her, you get her chair, you get her coat, you walk her home, and you pay her meal. Eden knew all the traditional things and he respected them whole heartedly. Besides, it wasn’t like he wasn’t perfectly capable of paying for lunch. Aside from the money Eden made managing Dazzle, his brother wasn’t the kind to just send him off without any bit of money. Eden looked across the table again, a smile occupying the corner of his lips as he watched Autumn finish ordering. Only a few minutes after the waitress had gone Eden watched as Autumn reached for her bag and began to ruffle through it. In a few minutes she’d pulled out a pen and began to draw on the napkin sitting in front of her. Eden waited patiently until she pushed the thing over to him, and then he let out a laugh.

“That is one nice elephant if I do say so. I’m no good at drawing animals. But I can draw you a building.” Eden smiled and reached across the table to pull the pen from Autumn’s fingers. Then he began to draw on the napkin next to the elephant. The item he drew began as two lines which connected at the top in a point, but after a few more minutes, a couple more lines, and then a satisfied grin from Eden he pushed the napkin back to Autumn. “Now it’s an elephant in Paris.” He said, indicating the quickly drawn Eiffel Tower. Eden then smiled and crossed his arms on the table, looking across at Autumn. After a few minutes of considering whether or not it was a good idea, he spoke again. “So’d you like Dazzle? I know you didn’t spend much time outside of the restroom…for that I apologize. I don’t blame you though, had I kissed myself I would have run off in fright too. You must be scarred.” Eden let his smile turn to a smirk, hoping he wouldn’t offend her. He was only insulting himself after all.

[Autumn Leeves S5]

"Water, please," Autumn had gathered herself – her composure. She had to control the flustered feeling she felt growing in her chest, beating its wings like an agitated butterfly. Autumn was quite easily frustrated, yes, but there were good reasons for that – reasons that Autumn knew would make sense to everyone else including herself. However, she didn't ever really let her frustrations show all the time. She would only do that when she was annoyed enough, or possibly hurt. Autumn eyed Eden surreptitiously, trying not to let her alarm and frustration show too much on her face and shine too brightly in her eyes. Autumn was never too good at concealing her emotions unless it was a life or death situation – well, a life or death situation according to Autumn. "Is that something you do for everyone you take out to lunch, Eden?" she asked in a crisp tone, but not one that could be mistaken as a cold one. She eyed him still, waiting patiently for his answer. It wasn't that she didn't like the fact that he had done it – in fact, she found it rather refreshing that a guy was willing to order for his…company. It was the idea that he had done it without her permission. If they were on a date, which they most definitely were not, it would be perfectly all right with Autumn; but they weren't on a date and so he had just assumed that he could order for her and Autumn hated assumptions, although she made them quite often. She didn't know how long she had been staring at Eden, but when he spoke again; it was about her elephant. She blinked a couple of times and shook her head slightly to rid herself of her daze and listened to what he was saying, watching his hand draw lines onto the napkin. She hadn't even realised he had taken her pen from her hand. When he was finished, he slid it back to her and Autumn peered at his added sketch. A small smile pulled at the corners of her lips as she turned the napkin so it was facing her the right way before taking the pen from him and drawing a beret on top of the elephant's head. There was a silence between them and for a moment it was as if Autumn had completely forgotten the fact that he had ordered for her, surely she would remember it later and give him a good scolding, but at this moment…she wanted to relax and just unwind in a way that she did nearly every day with Amanda. She continued to add little touches to the napkin drawing as Eden sat back in silence. After awhile, though, he spoke up again and was talking about something that made Autumn look up. She capped her pen and set it on the table, sitting back in her seat as she mirrored Eden and crossed her own arms over her chest, "Honestly? I've never seen anything like it. I feel so at home there and I've only been there once. Of course, it's nothing compared to the feeling you or Amanda seem to have about the place. I just…I feel so in my element there. It's hard to find a good place to sing where I go to school, and it's even harder when I'm in London. Dazzle's something else," she smiled a small smile again and looked down at her lap before looking back up at Eden, now remembering that he had mentioned her being in the bathroom the rest of the night; adding some comment to how he would have run away too if he had kissed himself.

Before she could stop the words from getting out, Autumn blurted; "I wish you wouldn't do that." The way she said it, she sounded almost like… a girlfriend, or someone who had known him for quite some time, but she couldn't take them back and she tried to cover up for the fact that she sounded so girlfriend like with more words, "I mean, it wasn't like it was a terrible kiss or anything…as far as first kisses go, I think it was rather good. My kiss was probably the one that was lacking, it was probably terrible compared to Amanda's." Even though it was a little pathetic peck, she thought to herself, I so hate her. Autumn shrugged in a way that would have been nonchalantly if she hadn't just gotten this tremor going up and down her spine. That agitated butterfly was back, only now it was beating its wings slowly, as if it was keeping pace with her heart with flooded through her ears. Autumn felt her cheeks get hot, but she calmly looked away as the waitress came back and set their food in front of them. Autumn smiled a thanks and took a sip of her water, fully aware that Eden was watching her again. She shrugged her shoulders, trying to loosen up her tension, avoiding his gaze. They sat in silence for a moment before Autumn looked over at him steadily, "So, um, okay…" Autumn sat up in her seat, scooting to the very edge and leaned over slightly, so she could speak in soft tones; "If… if I told you that… me hiding in the bathroom had nothing to do with the kiss, and everything to do with the fact that I didn't want to deal with Amanda's gloating, would you leave it at that and accept my apology that I made earlier?" She bit her lip gently in anticipation, in wonder, in hope. She really wanted this whole thing to be behind them, not that it would ever really be behind her. Autumn, as much as she didn't want to admit it, had felt something in that kiss – that kiss which she had initiated, that kiss which didn't feel just like a kiss a to her and yet it had to be because it couldn't mean anything more than just a kiss. She stared at Eden a while, not creepy staring that made people squirm, but calm staring and then her eyes took in his facial features again. Every curve, the brightness of his eyes, the smile that seemed to appear on his lips all the time, and then lastly those lips. The lips that were so soft and yet, when hers had touched them – they felt so electric, as if a spark had gone off between them. Autumn had to tear her gaze away from them before she did the unthinkable and kissed him again. She looked back into his eyes as he gave her his answer, which was ultimately a no, he couldn't do that. She sighed and sat back in her seat, picking up her fork and starting to take off a piece of the pie. She wasn't really hungry now, but then again Autumn wasn't ever really hungry if her mind was lolling over thoughts that it probably shouldn't be lolling over. The thoughts that she shouldn't be lolling over at this particular moment was the fact that regardless of how much she didn’t want it to be true, she felt like there was something between her and Eden. She wouldn’t go as far as to say that they were soul mates and it was some magical connection or anything, but she couldn't deny that that kiss had brought about a feeling in her that she hadn't ever felt before and that she…even though she told herself she didn't…wanted to feel it again.

She ate her pie and ice cream in silence, not really wanting to talk much more about the incident from the night before and certainly not wanting to try and struggle through the mixture of emotions that were engulfing and overwhelming her. Autumn finished her pie and ice cream within 15 minutes of getting them and gulped down her water to get rid of the film the ice cream left in her mouth. She hated ice cream for that pure fact – and although she was lactose intolerant and she had just eaten ice cream, she had taken her medicine that morning (somehow before she managed to sneak past Amanda) and so the ice cream shouldn't affect her too badly. Autumn pushed the bowl away and set the silverware inside it before wiping her mouth with the napkin that wasn't drawn on and reaching down for her purse again. She was now just looking for something to distract her, as a prop, something that will make it quite obvious she didn't want to talk anymore on the subject. Autumn finally looked back up at him and smiled a small smile, "I'm here for two weeks before I go back to the U.K. for school, I suppose it would be alright with you if I sang every now and then at Dazzle? I mean, if it's not, that's okay – I can sing at home, no problem… I just haven't performed in a while, and that's what I miss most. The performance, that and the people dancing to my songs. You can't really get people to dance to your songs if you're home alone singing while you're cleaning," she smiled brightly and tucked her hair behind her ear again before unclipping her barrette and fixing it.

[Eden Gothar R6]

The words had barely made it out of his mouth when Autumn shot them down. And by words I mean Eden’s joke about how he would run away from his own kisses too. He didn’t say anything of course, instead he leaned forward on the table again, resting his chin in his hands, watching Autumn speak. Eden found himself laughing. Not at her of course, because Eden didn’t think he could ever have it in him to laugh at a girl like Autumn, more so just laughing at what she had said, or implied. “You know I’m no expert about kisses, but I’d have to say as far as yours compared to Amanda’s goes? Yours was more of a kiss, Autumn.” He shrugged and chuckled, sitting up again as the waitress brought back their food. “At least, yours felt more like a kiss. Amanda’s seemed more like something your grandmother gives you when you go to visit…except…I think Amanda might have made a small attempt at doing something with her tongue. And I don’t think grandma’s ever do that.” Eden laughed again and shrugged again, picking up his fork and taking off a small bit of his cheesecake. He surely wouldn’t say anything about it as he sat there with her, but there was defiantly a huge difference between the kiss Amanda had given him and the kiss he’d shared with Autumn. Maybe that in and of itself was the difference? Amanda’s had only been received, but with Autumn, Eden had actually shared the kiss. He had actually kissed Autumn back. Sure he had actually had time to kiss Autumn back, but he still did it, and to him that said something. To be honest Eden couldn’t even imaging himself kissing Amanda back, that would just be weird. But kissing Autumn was a thought that came up clear as day in his mind. He could see himself doing it, and more so he could see himself enjoying it. For a moment Eden thought maybe it was something serious he felt for Autumn, but then he reminded himself that he’d only known her for hardly 48 hours, and that to have serious feelings for someone in that little amount of time made no sense. Did it? Was it even remotely possible for Eden to actually have affections for a girl he’d just met. Sure, she was pretty, and smart, and she could be rather charming. She had a beautiful voice, and she was obviously a good kisser. But… “No.” Eden said simply, with a smile of course, and a small shake of his head. He reached for his water glass and lifted it to his lips, taking a sip. “I just cant accept an apology over something so silly, darlin’.” Eden looked at her, a soft smile on his lips as she sighed and sat back, beginning to pick at her pie. “I know, I know, I’m such a disappointment. But really, don’t apologize alright? There’s nothing to be sorry for.” He shrugged and took another bite of his cheesecake, eyeing Autumn still. “You know, I’m sure it really is good…and I’ve never heard of pie to bite before.”

Eden smiled once more as Autumn began to eat her pie and ice cream. Eden was finished with his food shortly before Autumn was, and he could honestly say it was the first meal he’d ever had with someone in complete silence. It was nice though, because for one reason or another he wasn’t bothered by the silence. It wasn’t a bad silence; it was just a calm silence. Eden sat and finished his cheesecake, and the only time he spoke was whenever the waitress asked him if he wanted another glass of water, in which case he’d agreed and gotten another glass. By the time Autumn spoke up again, Eden had nearly drained his second glass as well. “Really? You want to sing at Dazzle?” Eden’s face lit up and he sat up a little straighter in excitement. The truth was that Dazzle was lacking fresh entertainment. The oldies who used to sing were slowly fading away, losing the will, the talent, or the life (sadly) and so it had all but dwindled down now to just Eden and the band playing. Together they did alright, and people loved to come to Dazzle anyway, but to have a talent such as Autumn singing at Dazzle was something Eden couldn’t have even dreamed of three nights ago. “Oh that’s wonderful! We’d be happy to have you!” This was one of the rare moments when Eden’s grins stayed on his face for more then a second. In this instance he couldn’t wipe the thing away. He had loved hearing Autumn that first time, and he could only imagine what life she could bring back to Dazzle. As much as Eden hated to admit it, the place was fading fast. All its patrons were slowly falling away and Eden just didn’t know how to bring in a new, younger crowd. Eden was absolutely disgusted by the kinds of music going around in their day, it just wasn’t any good. He just couldn’t wrap his head around how a person his and Autumn’s age could want to listen to anything other then the classics. It was impossible that anything could match up; impossible that anything could make you feel the way the old music did. Eden’s smile fell away as he thought about these things. But when he looked at Autumn again that small smile at the corner of his lips came back. “We’d love to have you. We really would. You can do great things for Dazzle. Believe you, me.” He nodded as the waitress came over with their bill. Eden’s smile brightened as he pushed the thoughts of the fading Dazzle from his mind and pulled out his wallet. Eden paid the bill and as he stood from his seat he left a tip on the table before pushing in his chair and moving over to Autumn’s side of the table, pulling out her chair and holding out his hand to help her up. “Would it be alright if I walked you home?” He smiled and took her hand, leading her out of the courtyard without waiting for her answer. Whether she said yes or no it didn’t matter. If she said yes, he’d walk her home. If she said no, he’d just drag her around town with him. She really was great company.

Eden walked down the street, taking a few turns here and there, still keeping a tight hold on Autumn’s hand. “You know, your performance the other night really was wonderful. I could just feel some sort of weight being lifted off that club. Eden smiled over at Autumn, slightly sad as they waited at a street corner for the light to change. “I’m worried about Dazzle Autumn.” He shrugged slightly as the light changed and he led her across the street, his pace slowing from a near frantic-with-excitement walk to a calm, easy walk. The kind of walk when you have something to talk about. His grip on her hand didn’t loosen as if he would let her go of course, but it might have lightened so it was less of a death grip and more of a caring hold. “I remember the first time I walked in there; I got this feeling of purpose. Like… ‘this is where I’m supposed to be’. And till this day I still feel that way, but in the beginning Dazzle was something else. The life in that place would just glow in the evenings. I remember some of the guys that used to sing there. There was Tom; he was a swinger. And then David must have been the greatest Jazz singer you could find in San Fransisco.” Eden’s smile became a bit more passive and he looked ahead of them, almost in a fog before speaking again. “And then Bonnie and Bobby.” Eden grinned as he looked over at them. “Bonnie and Bobby Phillips. They were married, probably the happiest couple I’ve ever seen in my young life. Bobby’s dad started Dazzle, years and years ago.” Eden chuckled. “Back when all that stuff was still new. When it was still roaring.” Eden squeezed Autumn’s hand lightly. “Bonnie had the most amazing voice, and she broke so many guys hearts I hear. Because she was so in love with Bobby.” Eden looked over at Autumn for a minute. “I wish you could’ve met her, you’d love her. You kinda…remind me of her.” He shrugged again, his smile evaporating again. “She died a year after I met her. It was sudden, she had been completely healthy and one morning…she just didn’t wake up. Bobby never really recovered from it. But oh man, back in that first year I knew them both, Bobby taught me everything he knew.” Eden grinned and then shrugged. “When Bobby started to really get sick last year, he made me promise I’d keep Dazzle going. He made me promise I’d keep that feeling alive.” Eden paused on a street corner, right across the street from where he knew Amanda lived. “I really think…you can help me with that.”

[Autumn Leeves S5]

Water threatened to pour from Autumn's mouth, and it would have, too, if she hadn't covered her mouth with her hand. The idea of Amanda trying to do anything with her tongue in Eden's mouth made Autumn's stomach churn. She wasn't quite sure why it made her stomach churn, because in all honesty it probably shouldn't have made her stomach churn. There was no reason for her to feel this way. It was a mixture between jealousy, not that she had ever felt jealousy before (that she could remember), and anger toward Amanda; both things that she rarely ever felt for her cousin. Autumn never envied what Amanda had, but last night she had acted on the emotion of envy. It was mind boggling and terrible. Frightening, even. Something that Autumn rarely experienced. And yet, she knew that it would have been just like Amanda to try and slip Eden some tongue. She would have done it subtly, too, to make Autumn think her kiss had been more of a kiss. Even Eden had said it was more of a kiss than Amanda's, but then again – he hadn't been kissed until that night. Autumn tried to shrug her thoughts away from the thought of Amanda shoving her abnormally long tongue down Eden's throat and pulled herself back to the conversation at hand. By now she had apologised again, in a way, about the kiss and Eden simply replied with a smile and a no, causing Autumn to deflate slightly. She listened to him give an explanation as she picked at her pie with her fork, her eyes watching the pink strawberry ice cream melt against the apple pie. She had been tuning him out somewhat, not exactly wanting to hear his reasoning for her not being allowed to apologise, but it was when he spoke about her pie that she looked up at him. Her green eyes bore into his blue ones and she held his gaze for a moment or so, her heart pounding in her ears before she said in a soft tone, "Apparently you haven't had Amanda's mum's pie before, then, if you think pie doesn't bite." She grinned and began eating her pie and ice cream, thinking about the evil pie that had actually had teeth. Kindra had been experimenting with the pie, trying to make it less dull, and somehow it had made the pie grow teeth. It was quite odd and honestly? It's what threw Autumn off chocolate pie. Autumn and Eden ate in silence. She looked up every now and then; reticent glances, but mostly Autumn kept her eyes on her food or on the passers-by. She didn't want Eden to look up and notice that she had been looking at him. Eating in silence wasn't anything new for Autumn, she hardly talked when she ate because she found that if she talked she forgot to eat – especially if she was in a conversation she was really excited to be a part of. It was for this reason that Autumn rarely ever dated, well, that and the fact that she just didn't think guys were worth it.


She smiled brightly, finishing her pie and ice cream, when Eden seemed to express sincere excitement for her performing at Dazzle. It made her heart nearly skip a beat at how happy he seemed that she wanted to perform there, "Yeah, I want to. And I mean, I don't promise to bring in huge crowds or anything and I wouldn't dream of asking for money… this is something I want to do because I just fly away when I sing and I don't have that luxury at school. But, absolutely, if you're okay with me performing I have another two weeks or so and then I have to head back to the UK, but… other than that I'm living with Amanda during hols and such, so I can perform then." She felt genuine excitement as she talked about performing. It was something she could see herself loving, if she was dressed in the proper attire, "And who knows?" she said with a broad grin, "Perhaps you and I can sing together some time?" She was saying this as the waitress came up. Autumn smiled at her in thanks as she set the bill down, but she didn't reach for it as she would have normally. Instead, she willingly let Eden pay, making a mental note to pay him back the next time she saw him. Finishing off her water, she followed Eden with her eyes as he stood and pulled her chair out, offered his hand, and asked if he could walk her home. Taking his hand and grabbing her purse with her other, she stood from the seat and allowed him to lead her out of the restaurant back onto the streets of San Francisco. Autumn had to walk fast to keep up with Eden, considering his stride was a good three times bigger than hers, causing her walk to be more like a jog. He was holding her hand as he had been before, but this time she didn't squirm in his grasps. It was as if she was used to it, even though she shouldn't be. She looked at Eden with a confused expression on her face when he mentioned a weight being lifted off Dazzle. They had paused at a crosswalk, but Autumn didn't say anything in response. Instead, she let him continue, as she knew he would. And continue he did. He talked about how he was worried about Dazzle, and now the light had changed so they could cross the crosswalk. Once they had crossed, Eden slowed his fast paced walk to a more leisurely one, and Autumn wasn't jogging to keep up with him now. She watched him silently as he spoke about Dazzle, knowing better than to interrupt. She wouldn't have liked to be interrupted. All the while Eden spoke, she watched him intently unless she was aware that she had to side step something. He squeezed her hand once before saying he wished she had met Bonnie, which was met with a small smile from Autumn before she looked ahead of them and continued to listen to him; nearly flashing back.

He finished his story as they reached the street parallel to Amanda's apartment. Autumn turned and looked at Eden as he spoke, still looking as if he were seeing something beyond her. Finally, he seemed to pull back into reality and he mentioned how he thought she could really help with Dazzle. Autumn tilted her head and grinned up at him, "Really? I don't know how much help I'll be, but I'll try. I promise." She squeezed his hand gently, even lighter than he had squeezed hers, to let him know that she would try her hardest to get Dazzle roaring again. After a moment or two, Autumn tugged on Eden's hand gently, "C'mon, Amanda's looking at us through the window," they crossed the street to the apartment building, which Autumn opened with her key and then headed up the stairs to the apartment. She had let go of Eden's hand by now as she climbed the stairs and walked down the hallway to their apartment door. When they reached it, Autumn smiled and fiddled with her keys, trying to think of what to say, but finding nearly nothing to come up with. "Thanks for paying… I'll pay you back soon. I have the money, I just need to exchange it… it's in…pounds and all." That was a lie. It was in galleons, knuts, and sickles; not pounds. She opened her mouth to say something more when the door opened and Amanda stood, wearing shorts and a tank top. Autumn shook her head at her cousin as the blonde spoke with a cheeky grin, "Heya, Eden. Thanks for returning my darling cousin in one piece. I was worried when she ran out on me." She winked at Eden playfully, knowing it would make Autumn roll her eyes. It was what was next, though, that made Autumn flare up; "I'm sorry for that kiss incident last night. I don't know what came over me. It must be because you're so darn cute!" And then Eden had the audacity to accept her apology. Autumn looked from her cousin to Eden and then back again before letting out a frustrated tone and storming past her cousin into the apartment. Amanda made a face and then smirked at Eden, "Well, then, someone's ticked the fiery redhead off. Was it you or me?"