Only you can make me smile.

[Adele Smith]

Adele hadn't bothered to make an effort dressing-up ever since Riley had left. There was simply no point anymore. Riley had made her life worthwhile. There was always something to look forward to when Riley was around, but Adele found herself wanting nothing now she was gone. It was a struggle to look at Lowan now, he looked so much like Riley.

Adele carried Lowan through Tākarokaro Park with a deeply sad frown on her face, and fakely smiling every time she looked at Lowan, or Lowan looked at her. She knew Lowan would figure out that something was up soon, he wasn't dumb, just young. But Adele wasn't ready to tell him just yet, not until she could speak Riley's name without crying. Finding a nearby bench, Adele sat down and placed Lowan on her lap, doing her best to keep smiling for his sake. Adele wasn't going to take out her sadness on Lowan. After all, he had done nothing wrong, and he wasn't to be blamed for what had happened. Only Adele could be blamed. She had slept with Hadan, she had kept Riley in the dark until her emotions forced out the truth.

Adele hoped that no-one would notice the red marks under her eyes from where she had been crying. She sniffed in the last few tears as she played with Lowan, Looking into Lowan's eyes, Adele was reminded of Riley again. She had done her best to blank him from her mind until now, but Lowan was just like his Daddy, which had been a good thing until now. Adele placed Lowan safely next to her on the bench, then put her head in her hands as the tears began again. She didn't want to reject Lowan, but she couldn't bring herself to face him right now. Even the slightest thing could remind Adele of Riley right now, even the socks that Lowan was wearing had been bought by him. And Adele just couldn't deal with those memories just yet.

 

[Izaak Finch]

The spring sunshine was pleasantly hot as it beat down upon Izaak Finch, each ray that soaked into his bronze skin reminding him a little more than the last of the person he used to be. That morning had been spent in the comfort of Aly and the two friends had wasted no minute of the sunny weather as they had laughed over an alfresco breakfast together. There was no point in him denying that the girl with the stunning amethyst eyes and the length of blonde hair that tumbled down her back, made him happy. She was his sunshine through the storm of Alexis' sudden departure from the world and Izaak wasn't sure if she knew it but Alianne had saved his life in more ways than one.

So Izaak Finch could safely say that he was happy as he strolled through the bands of people scattered amongst the village park. That wasn't to say he had forgotten about his love, he still thought about her everyday, still missed her so much it ached, he still loved her within a grasping inch of his life. But the denial and the heavy tears that had once made a mess of him hadn't visited the twenty-two year old for quite some time now. But as his azure eyes curved their way down the paved path and over to a familiar figure slumped on a bench, it would seem that they had found someone else. "Adele!" Izaak called out from where he stood before making a beeline towards his younger friend. Once he had reached her his strong and secure arms lifted Lowan up from the bench to make space for his own body and cradled the little boy on his lap like he imagined he would have held his own daughter. "Hey, hey, what's the matter?" Lowan wriggled on his lap as Izaak reached a hand out to her chin, tilting it up so he could look with concern into her teary eyes.

Out of Character:

lame

 

[Adele Smith]

Out of Character:

No Worries.

As Adele drowned her sorrows, she was surprised to hear a familiar voice. She didn't look up, she already knew that voice well, it was Izaak. Adele smiled to herself slightly, maybe Izaak could make her smile again. It would be the first time in days. As she felt Izaak's presence near, Adele tried to dry some of the tears that fell from her eyes. She couldn't make Izaak suffer through having to listen to her problems, it would depress him, and Adele didn't want that. Izaak was probably Adele's only friend right now, and she didn't want to loose him. Although, she was sure that the young man would understand that Adele had made an honest mistake, and truly regretted it now.

Adele looked up as she felt Izaak's hand tilt-up her chin. "Oh Izaak it's nothing okay...it's just Me...and..." Adele thought of Riley. "No actually...it's just Me..." She told him calmly, sniffling in a few tears as she spoke. Adele wouldn't dare say Riley's name. She didn't feel she deserved to, and speaking his name would probably bring continue the masses of tears that Adele new were waiting to be cried out. "Come Here will you?" Adele asked, stretching out her arms to hug the man, then leaning in and wrapping her arms tightly around him. Adele needed hugs right now, it reminded her of the happier times with Riley....the passionate, totally in love times.

 

[Izaak Finch]

The words that Adele spoke, although sniffled and teary, heightened Izaak’s sense of respect for the still teenaged brunette. From the days back in their younger times when her shameless flirting had taken head of the situation, and the days that he had burdened her with his own woes, Adele had come such a long way to the point where it seemed she was taking responsibility for her tears and he didn’t even know what had happened yet. The two seemed a rather unlikely pair of friends, they had been right from the very edgy beginning, but by no means did that stand against the natural urge of protectiveness that drove his shaded azure eyes into the depths of hers. Whatever or whoever had hurt her, even if she thought it was her fault, were not going to hear the last of it from Izaak. She was still far too young to be exposed to this kind of treachery or she was in his opinion anyway. Because having seen his fiancée die by his side at twenty-one, Izaak wished no one such devastating misfortune upon anyone ever. And if he could help, or otherwise reverse the damage for Adele then he would.

Already he had a target in mind, Riley Smith. Undoubtedly this was the kid that his friend was to broken to speak the name of and whatever he had done to hurt her, Adele did not deserve it. Pearly white incisors caught his fleshy lower lip and chewed down thoughtfully, concernedly as his friend struggled with her composure. It was painful to watch, that boy was going to pay. "Come here will you?" Izaak’s hand reached up to flip his aviators up to the top of his head and immediately the bright blue sea of his eyes washed sympathetically over his friend as she opened up her arms in suggestion of a hug. “Oh Adele.” Came his rough sigh, straight from the pain in his own heart, before he pulled the younger girl in tight against his chest, her son still in between them, with a pair of muscled arms that could do no wrong in their provision of warmth and security. “It’s Riley, isn’t it?” Izaak murmured into her hair, just loud enough so that she could almost taste his brotherly disapproval. “What happened?”

 

[Adele Smith]

Adele was comforted by Izaak's hug. She allowed him to pull her in tightly as her hands met at his back. 'It's Riley isn't it.' Adele's heart skipped a beat; she still loved Riley, even the mention of his name could make her tearful as she constantly reminded herself of the dreadful mistake that she had made. Adele would regret that forever, and she didn't quite know how she was going to explain her situation to Izaak, but she hoped and prayed that he would get her through it. It was obvious enough that Adele regretted her night with Hadan, no-one else seemed to be giving Adele a chance in hell, but she hoped that Izaak would understand her problems and regrets.

Adele came out truthfully to Izaak as she released the hug. "No, it's not Riley...he hasn't done anything...he just did what I expected him to do...he left..." Adele said, defensive of her ex-husband who she still loved so dearly. Despite Adele's current crisis, deep inside somewhere, Adele knew that she was still quite fond of Izaak, but it was no longer a teenage crush, it was something different, something that Adele couldn't explain. She felt strangely close to him, even though he had turned her away every time she tried to get too close.

Thinking through her flirtatious, and almost friendly past with Izaak, Adele felt that she could tell him the whole truth now. Adele picked up Lowan and cuddled him softly as she spoke. "I cheated Izaak...it was one night...a fling...a moment of madness, that was it...I admitted it to him and he got mad and left...now he's with another girl...already...and he doesn't even want to know me...shows how much he cared..." Adele blurted out...she hadn't meant that last bit. Even now, Adele would never intentionally slate Riley. She knew all too well that Riley had a number of girls who liked him a bit too much, it wasn't hard, and Caysi had obviously jumped in there the second she could. But despite Riley's cheating nature, Adele still truly regretted her night with Hadan, it was something she'd never forgive herself for. "I don't know what to do Izaak...I made a mistake...and now I don't even have the chance to correct it properly...what do I do?" She asked Izaak desperately in a state of panic.

 

[Izaak Finch]

It seemed all to suddenly that Adele was out of the hug he had wrapped around her, that she had wrapped around him, and now sat before Izaak on the park bench with such ridiculous, false words spewing from her mouth. He stared boggled at her for a moment, fingering the silver hot edge of his sunglasses amidst his frowning confusion. “... he hasn't done anything...” Hadn’t done anything? Clearly the boy had. What, with the whispers about adultery that had been circulating their white wedding air? Izaak had only caught a taste of it and perhaps that was really all it had been at the commencement of the ceremony, just a shock and a disbelief that the couple were actually going to commit to one another. But then again, the twenty-two year old had been out of sorts, he barely remembered anything that looped the time of the accident. Still, now as they hot spring air grazed their skin, Izaak kept his wits about him and his suspicions of her estranged lover on high, even as Adele admitted that he had left her.

Despite his ill-concealed distaste in her victimisation, Izaak was suddenly hung with a sympathy – no, an empathy over his shoulders as he kept his sweet blues fixated upon his friend. The feeling, dreadful and heavy inside of him, plucked down the corners of his lips as it fished some smuggled away memories up from the depths of his mind. That inconceivable insanity that had come with wanting Alexis so badly. It had made him want to throw his fist through the dry wall, need to retch up his insides into the toilet bowl, run him aground with a depression so sullen it had kept him from rising from bed each morning. He knew not if things were that intense for his poor friend but to go without the one you loved was like a curse you couldn’t shake. Izaak wanted to say something, anything to keep him from looking like the awkward fool he was sure he currently was but he needn’t have breathed a word, Adele had a confession of her own to make. And as it left her lips, Izaak felt his heart plummet. He had often played the card of the cheater in his more reckless days but things had come to a seemingly perpetual stop once he had found Alexis half-dead and at the mercy of a werewolf’s jaws. While he could still relate, Izaak had come to realise that life was far too short to dabble in infidelities, especially when you loved someone. If he had only learnt that earlier then perhaps he and Alexis would have been spared a little more time together in the short life that she had been given to lead in this world. If he had not been so ignorant and arrogant and stupidly naive he would have known and he never would have lay a finger on anybody else. No, not even Isabella. Things would have been different, they would have been impossibly better and he wanted with every inch of him to let the rest of the world know it too. But clearly Riley and Adele were a cause too late to save.

The young man sighed and curled a hand around Adele’s shoulder, squeezing it gently in faith and yet still not entirely sure about where to aim his thoughts from here when clearly she knew what she had done was wrong. “Adele... I don’t know.” Sucking on his lower lip, Izaak threw his gaze pensively out over the people that strolled on by them, their falling steps seemingly aiding in patching together his thoughts. “To be honest,” In a voice rough and licked with a sigh, he turned back to Adele and her son with his hands clasped together in his lap. “I don’t think he’s in the least bit reasonable, and don’t try to defend him Adele. He’s a hypocrite, he can’t just play you around like that, laying some leggy, peroxide blonde every other night and then leave you for doing exactly the same thing and only once!” With a deep and steadied breath, Izaak attempted to calm the shaking nerve that was biting through his composure. Azure eyes still burned heatedly with his opinion, but he toned its flame to the point where it was no longer evident in his voice. “Just take it from someone who knows, okay?” A breath in, a breath out and Izaak felt as if he had finally mustered the courage to say it out loud. “Life’s too short to screw around with these games.” Izaak wasn’t sure if it was for his own comfort or hers that he squeezed her hand briefly, but despite it he passed her a solemn smile.

 

[Adele Smith]

Adele remembered her last moments with Riley as she awaited Izaak's response. They were terrible, nothing could be worse than that...only the death of her loved-one, who even though he didn't love her back, Adele still held extremely close to her heart. There would always be a place for Riley in Adele's life, but there was one requirement, that Riley truly loved her again. The couple would never be able to build up that trust that they had before ever again now, but if they could at least be re-united with a passionate kiss, Adele would settle. But until then, all was heading downhill, Riley hated her. Even Cyndi, Riley's room-mate, best-friend, and also Lowan's baby-sitter hated her. All of Riley's friends, who used to be Adele's friends to, hadn't even taken a glance at Adele recently. Adele was well and truly done for. Riley had sealed, closed, and locked away the gap that Adele had left behind when the couple had split, and it wasn't going to be easy to re-fill that gap anytime soon.

Adele was glad to hear that Izaak had infact slated Riley in Adele's defence. "Thanks Izaak. You know you're the only one on my side in this whole situation." Adele looked at Izaak with her first true smile of the day. "I know Riley had been trying hard to stay loyal, but I know Riley all too well, he's used that as his reason to not take me back.....not one for forgiving is our Riley... Adele said, refusing to let herself cry again. "But I'm glad you understand Izaak, I still love him though...I hope you know that..." Adele said, she couldn't have been more thankful to Izaak if she tried. He was her one and only friend right now, and he had cheered her up just by being there. Whether the young-man realised it or not, he had a way of making Adele feel better about herself. Or maybe that was just the little soft-spot that Adele still kept for Izaak.

Adele smiled at Izaak again, this time a little further, as she sniffled away the last few tears. She hoped that would be the last cry, for a few hours at the very least. "Anyway that's enough about me Mister...I never asked how you were?..." Adele trailed off, looking down at Lowan, who seemed quite content sat in-between his mother and her friend. "Did you meet little Lowan here?" Adele looked up at Izaak for a brief second, then looked back down at Lowan. "He looks so much like Riley..." Adele blurted out in a kind of mumbled way. "Lowan this is Izaak...Mummy's friend." She said, leaning down and introducing the pair in a baby voice.