there's a light, there's a sun. [alyson]

[kaliana brooke sheppard]

But I know, all I know,

[/i][/color]
is that the end's beginning.[/color][/font]

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[/i] at him like he was special, a somebody. And he was, with her. Unconsciously his fingers fell into pattern, louder now, insistent with the song as the temp o increased, his voice smooth and the representation of a quieted determination. This was not a fight or flight situation: this was leaving because the collateral damage was already too much to bear on both of their sides. He had been wrong in trying to find her, however desperate, however pained the idea of losing her completely and forever was. The familiar song echoing back into the hall made an older brunette’s expression soften, already on the way to his room. “Take me home to my heart, let me go, and I will run…”[/color] But after a few seconds of listening, she tapped lightly with her knuckles on the curly haired boy’s open door. “Case?”[/color]

A head of dark brown glanced up, and the sight of the visitor was almost like a light switch going off in his head as a reminder, as Casey obediently set the instrument on his bed, standing up and beginning to rummage inside his closet for something or another. “She’s here,”[/color] he asserted, not an inquiry of any sort, just a statement that was blank enough to make his sister wince slightly as he buried his head in the unorganized mess of hung sweatshirts and other assorted clothes. Kaliana leaned back against his doorway, observing him with a strange expression. “No,” [/color]she started slowly, watching the slight relaxing and then stiffening of his frame as she continued, ”I’d give it five minutes, though, more or less.” [/color]She paused for a moment in her neutral tone thus far, faltering a little when she added, “You don’t have to go, you know that.” [/color]She waited as he pulled away from the closet, silently throwing on a warm jacket on as he finally met her look, brown on brown. The distant, weary shade gazing into her own was enough to make Kaliana want to tear her own eyes away, but she stood adamant, crossing her arms and looking forlornly disappointed. “You, of all people, shouldn’t be telling me that,” [/color]he whispered quietly, though she caught every word and near-crack in his tone, and maybe it was that which didn’t make her force him to stay, to rip off the backpack he was donning on as he slipped open his bedroom window, one leg already swung over as Casey glanced back once more. “How’d you learn to do that?” [/color]she raised a brow, unable to stop the question before it left her mouth. It was the wrong one, however, as he smiled in a painful, mockingly way, not at her, but in a prodding jab at the depths of his heart instead. “Aly taught me,” [/color]he answered simply, letting a bit of affection slip from his expression as he regarded his kin’s anxiety-ridden face again, “I’ll be back in the morning, and I’ll keep warm, I promise.”[/color] She didn’t need to go to the window to know that he had landed cleanly, and was now taking off into the night, leaving the only witness to the flickers of what was hidden underneath.

Sighing and returning her attention back downstairs, she heeded her attention to the kitchen where she had spent the better part of her evening; the nineteen year old took a spoonful of homemade chocolate fudge and taste-tested it, and by the texture and right balance of sweetness, she was satisfied with the result. Kaliana had to eye the long line of other guilt foods that, on any other occasion, would have never touched her counter in such vast quantities. But in retrospect, it wasn’t like any other night, and in addition to the calories there, there were also some health-conscious snack choices for the only sixteen year old girl Kaliana knew would honestly appreciate. She had the time to gather that bit of information, however, by quite a stretch of time: she had known little Alyson Fisher as long as Casey had, and while maybe not to the extent to which their friendship stretched, the protective fondness she held for the smaller girl was always in insurmountable quantities. And by the less than pleasant way her own brother had begun to treat her, she knew the girl needed the night off, a girls night in of sorts, and had only taken the challenge up personally and righteously in her attempts. And even if Alyson wouldn’t feel the need to divulge, she would have food and shelter in these four walls like she always had, and always would, in some way or another. Kaliana’s head raised at the ringing of the doorbell, stopping short of reaching for a frosted lemon square herself, and as her hand swung open the door, she smiled reassuringly at the face that greeted her.

“Hey, kiddo.”[/size]
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APPAREL here.
MUSIC shattered - trading yesterday
WITH alyson fisher! small cameo with case in the beginning.
SETTING the sheppard's family homee.
NOTES told you I'd get this up eventually!