[Kelin,Rora,Jo] Jolene

[Aurora Jane Bates]

Ethan said it seemed like as good an excuse as any and didn't elaborate on why he came over but if he needed an excuse to come over he must have wanted to.  Rory blushed slightly.  Just earlier today she would have thought she convinced herself not to let her thoughts get involved with him but apparently all it took was him to show up at her apartment for her to fall apart like jello.  It felt kinda wrong to carry things on with him because he was engaged and all but he was the one that showed up here.  It was funny in the way he didn't exactly elaborate, yet her pounding heart told her what she already knew.  She knew why he was here.  Rory nodded seriously about their friends, "It may very well have been that long since they've had one," she said playfully.  Ethan offered her his hand and she took it and hopped down.  Why did guys have to have such strong hands.  It reminded her of the other day in the record store when they danced.  "Thanks," she said, looking at him whimsically.  He'd offered her a drink in her own home, someone knew how to make themselves feels right at home apparently.  "Okay," Rory said, gesturing to the kitchen, "This, is the kitchen."  She took a step back toward the couch and said, "And THIS, is the living room."  She nodded with a smile and walked toward the hallway.  She was thinking she may have just saw Jo and Kelin go this way.  "Bathroom," she pointed as they passed by and poked her head into Jo's room.  Well maybe Jo hadn't come down here then, she wasn't in her room.  "This is Jo's room.  And this," she said finally reaching her own door, "Is-" but she looked in to see Jo and Kelin, who was looking around quite focused.  Rory looked at Jo quizzically, "Well... yeah that's the tour."  She looked at Jo like, what are you doing in my room...?

[Ethan John Fox]

Ethan smiled when she took his hand and hopped off of the counter. Maybe there wasn’t much to show in the apartment, but he had a feeling that when there weren’t as many people there it probably looked bigger. ‘Oh what a lovely open floor plan,” he said, holding back a smile as she showcased the living room before starting to make her way down the hallway. Ethan peeked into the bathroom as she continued to walk, and smiled, giving a nod at Jo’s room, knowing that hers would be next. But when she seemed confused he peeked inside to see Kelin and Jo, trying to throw him a subtle look. “ Here,” he said, reaching across Rory and took the door handle, shutting the door slowly before he straightened up and looked down at Rory. “ Do you know you live with a thief… Also… I thought you said her room was over there,” he said, keeping his eyes on hers as he pointed toward the other end of the hall. “ Why are they taking your room?”

[Kelin Dean O'Reilly]

Kelin had followed Jo to her room, having agreed that if he could find the ring, he could have it.  Well alright then, he was up to the challenge.  As he looked around, careful not to invade her things too much, he mentioned, "So do you always serenade your friends during parties?"  He glanced at her, "Actually, you have quite a beautiful singing voice, though I'm sure you're aware of that," he joked.  "So what exactly are you studying then to get yourself an internship on set?  If you don't mind my asking," he added, glancing through the picture frames on her desk.  There were pictures of herself and her roommate, Rory, and pictures of Rory and a cat, pictures of Rory and some people that looked like maybe her parents, pictures of Rory as a kid... "Hey..." he said and turned to see Rory herself looking bewildered and Ethan before he shut the door.  Kelin crossed his arms and turned to face Jo, a smile creeping onto his face and lifted an eyebrow, his arms crossed, "This is not your room."  It was more of a statement than a question.  

[JoHanna K Roberts]

Jo instantly made a defensive face as he questioned whether or not she sang at parties, “ Do you always talk like that?” she asked, commenting on his accent. Rude. But as he complimented her she looked down at the floor, not finding something rude to say back to him. " It just happens when I open my mouth," she said awkwardly before gesturing to his face as she spoke, " Like when shamrocks come out of yours," she offered with a shrug. “ I do mind you asking,” she said, giving him a blank expression as he continued to move around Rory’s room. She lift her eyebrows as he seemed to be piercing together that this wasn’t her room. “ Is it …not?” she questioned, looking slowly around the room. “ I swear I left it here…” she mumbled under her breath. Finally she rolled her eyes, “ Fine.” she said, unfolding her arms as she opened the door and walked toward her room. A sense of calm came over her as she entered the slightly more organized room. Jo bit the inside of her cheek, holding her hand to the side of her arm as she stood in her room and gave a quiet sigh. “ I’m a history major. With an emphasis on European studies and political science. As well as psychology and anthropology,” she said, giving a small nod. “ …In Ireland your people have been clashing since the 1600’s ever since the Catholics controlled the parliament but the Protestants controlled a majority of the religious outpouring of events which has led to a common hatred between the two sects of religions and has almost ruined you economically multiple times,” she said, blinking in his direction, “ A potato might be worth more than your financial assets in your country before it’s over,” Jo waited a moment before smiling awkwardly to herself, bringing her hands behind herself, popping her knuckles nervously.

[Aurora Jane Bates]

Rory sighed, leaning against the wall and looked at Ethan, "Yeah... she borrows things."  Rory also nodded, "Her room IS over there, I really don't know why they are in my room.  Otherwise I would show it to you."   She shrugged and pointed up at the ceiling, "I can show you the roof though, if you'd rather see that."  Well maybe he wouldn't rather see that over her room but it beat standing in this hallway.  Rory took a drink of her beer and passed through the living room where they were listening to 90's radio on pandora and playing Cards Against Humanity.  She led him up the staircase and opened the door at the top, a rush of sunlight immediately pouring over them and stepped onto the roof top.  "I'm not sure any of the other tenants come up here, I think they try to avoid our floor altogether," she joked, glancing around.  She spent a lot of time up here, mostly to water her flowers.  They sort of engulfed the entire roof.  There were planters everywhere, on every ledge and a pergola built in from some past tenant.  Roses climbed in vines up the sides and created a canopy over the top, and underneath the pergola was a small garden table and two chairs.  She kind of thought he was going to think she was weird, with all of them.  But even though she loved the city and her school and the opportunities it held for her career, the concrete jungle felt suffocating to Rory.  She missed trees and hills and meadows full of purple flowers and running through them and being miles and miles away from everything else.  She grew up in a place like that.  People came from all over to vacation in such a beautiful place, but to Rory is was just home.  

[Ethan John Fox]

Ethan made a face as he continued to follow Rory. It was one thing for her to borrow things, but why would she bring Kelin in to do it? Ah right, the ring. He took a drink of his beer as he followed her through the apartment that while having people in it surprisingly didn’t feel over clustered. He held onto the staircase, following her up another pair of stairs for the second time in a couple of weeks before his head peaked out into the sunlight. Sometimes it was nice to be on top of New York, to look down at streets. But it also made you feel so extremely small to be able to look down and see everyone walking around like ants at a picnic. He turned to look at Rory, smiling at all of the flowers that canvased around them on the roof top. “ You take very good care of this,” he said, assuming it was hers and not Jo’s because Jo hadn’t spent much time up here. Ethan had a place like this, that was special to him that he rarely showed to people. He walked over to the little pit that was on the roof, taking a seat before he gestured for her to do the same. Ethan rest the beer bottle on his knee, turning it slowly as he looked over at her. “ I bet you’re curious as to why I’m here,” he said, clenching his jaw together as he swallowed. “ I’m curious as to that myself,” he said quietly as he stared down at the beer bottle, getting lost in his own thoughts that he so seldom let people in on.

[Kelin Dean O'Reilly]

Kelin frowned.  He got the notion he should be offended but at the same time she had quite a sense of humor.  Even so, he followed her to her actual room, which was a little tidier than the other one.  To his surprise, though she 'minded', she began to tell him what she was studying in school and about his own country's past turmoil.  He glanced at her for a second and just stared at her.  That, he wasn't expecting.  "Wow," he said genuinely, "You really know your stuff, that's very impressive."  It was plainly obvious that she was passionate about her studies.  Actually, it was quite attractive.  "Well," he added, looking around, "I must admit I feel like I'm invading your space here," he laughed, "I'm not getting that ring back am I?"  Kelin looked a little at the few other pictures in her own room, "Maybe next time I'm around you won't crawl out in the middle of your song?" he joked, sincerely wanting to hear her sing again sometime soon.  

[JoHanna K Roberts]

Jo kept her eyes on the man as he stood inside her room. Man was putting it correctly, he was older than any guy she had ever dated. Though she did her best to avoid him on set, and was not going to let herself be one of those idiotic girls who trailed him on set, she did notice him. She’d spoken to him once, on her first day, telling him a pirate joke. From there she had noticed little things, like how he preferred to study his lines by himself. He took careful time to examine furniture around him that he thought was beautiful to see how it was built, trailing his hand along cherry wood on set often. He was beyond friendly with the staff that was responsible for building sets. And the moment he put those leather pants on, something in him changed, a little spark. It wasn’t the actual hook or the coat, it was the pants, that was the character transformation and it suited him well. She watched him as he looked at the pictures and found herself suddenly feeling judged. She kept her mouth shut, taking in quick breath as she started to turn her picture frames over and looked at him. “Don’t pretend you want to know me, Kelin. I’m just the girl who stole your ring and you’ve come to collect it,” she said, finding her stance hardening as she watched him.

Jo licked her lips as she looked down. “ I’ll give it to you on one condition,” she said as she looked him back in the eyes. “ Admit that you could care less what my major is. Or …” she said, gesturing to one of the picture frames. “ Where my best friend and I went for vacation over spring break. Or the fact that you are flattering me and telling me that I can sing, because you need something from me. You could’ve told on me and you didn’t. Why? “ she narrowed her eyebrows as she looked up at him. Surely he was trying to trick her. “ Why are you standing in the bedroom of the one girl on set who doesn’t kiss your ass, when you could have just as easily ratted me out and kept your name clean?”

[Aurora Jane Bates]

It was a little strange to be showing Ethan the rooftop like this.  Normally people came up here to sit around the fire, not to be like, shown around.  Like here is my roof, it's special to me.  It was the making yourself vulnerable part that made her anxious and showing people special things was like a one way ticket to vulnerability city.  Rory nodded when he mentioned that she took good care of it, "Yeah.  Helps with the homesickness I guess," she smiled with a little shrug.  She didn't know why she was telling him things.  It was sort of easy to tell him things.  And she got the feeling when he spoke to her about why he was here it wasn't something he would normally address out loud.  Like it was difficult to say.  She understood what it was like to have difficulty saying important things to people.  She watched him for a moment while he watched his beer and then glanced away.  It was beginning to get dark now.  It wasn't as exciting because you couldn't see stars.  After a moment she said quietly, "I'm glad you came though." She looked back at him, wondering what he was thinking.  Her eyes had a habit of telling people things she didn't necessarily want you to know.  And maybe he wasn't quite sure what drew him here, but she meant it when she said she was glad he was, and those eyes didn't lie.

[Ethan John Fox]

Ethan brought his hand up, scratching at the scruff that seemed to permanently be on his face these days. He tilt his head, looking down at the pit which on other nights surely burned with a bright fire. Fires were intriguing, how it was the same thing yet constantly changing. He wondered for a moment if that was like himself, a constant state of changing and movement and whether or not it was okay to change who you were, who you thought you would be. He looked away from the fire, looking up at Rory as she said that she was glad he had came. He kept his eyes on her for a moment, his own mind reeling of what the hell he was doing sitting on a rooftop. It just felt like right now in his life he was searching for something, for who he was, for who he was meant to be and why that was changing from who he was even just two years ago. He could say ‘ me,too’. But that was without saying, he was here. He had chosen to stay. “ Come on, it’s getting dark,” he said, downing the remainder of his beer before he stood up, going over to the rooftop door to open it for her. There was something battling inside of himself, trying to collect his thoughts as he looked at the girl in front of him. He clenched his jaw, looking down at her as a million thoughts raced through his mind. He looked down at the features of her face, settling for a moment in his own thoughts before he blinked, almost causing his brain to adjust the camera and refocus. He lift his eyebrows, standing up straight again before offering her a smile and stepping back so that she could walk inside.

[Kelin Dean O'Reilly]

Kelin looked at Jo with furrowed eyebrows as she began suddenly to turn all the picture frames down. She was right, before he came here, he was just looking for his ring back from a stranger. But that was before he had been afforded the opportunity to learn about her. And now he had. He had been in her home and saw her in her natural habitat and learned new things about her. Now that he had, he felt happy to have been given the privilege. At least at this point, he felt she was worth knowing. She was very interesting and a little strangely guarded, yet as fast as she pushed him away, she let him in a little bit too. When Jo asked him why he didn't rat her out, when he very well could have, he reeled back a little. He had asked himself that question but his honest answer was that in his gut, that option felt like the wrong thing to do. To rat someone out like that felt judgmental. "It didn't feel right, to do that." he answered honestly, frowning. And as far as the why was he there, in her room, "You invited me in." As if it were as simple as that.
A loaded answer for a loaded question.  It would have been easier to leave had she iced him out, but little by little she was tossing him a rope and letting him in on who she was.  Even just a little.  He was compelled enough to stay.

[JoHanna K Roberts]

Jo became very aware that she was standing in her room with a man that she honestly didn’t know. All she did know , was that he was gorgeous, and his voice sounded smooth like summer rain. She watched him, putting her walls up brick by brick in her mind. She knew that it was easy for him to just walk away. She knew that the only thing he wanted from her was a ring. Everyone wanted something from somebody. Just like those girls just wanted him for his fame, or his body. Or both. But if something was worth having, wasn’t it worth earning? She watched him slowly, painfully aware that at this moment they weren’t an actor and an intern. They were two strangers standing in the middle of her room, with an internal battle of how much she should have her walls up. Still, he had come here looking for a ring. Jo opened her mouth to say something smartassy to his blunt answers to her questions but instead found herself standing there with her mouth slightly agape. “ Sorry,” she said, shaking her head slightly before she turned to get the ring for him. Jo brought her hand up, holding the side of her neck anxiously as she went through her jewelry box. She took the necklace out that she had placed the ring on and turned to face him, unfastening the necklace and let the ring tumble down the chain and into the palm of her hand. She offered it out to him. “ You can stay and have a couple of drinks if you like… since you came all the way here. I have a feeling Ethan will be staying,” she said, pulling her hand back after he took the ring and set the chain on her vanity before she left her room quickly. But when she stepped outside she saw that everyone had left and narrowed her eyebrows looking around. “…AJ?” she called out, rolling her sleeves up as she went to the kitchen to get a drink for herself and Kelin.

[Aurora Jane Bates]

As Rory stood to head back inside she couldn't help feeling like they kept sharing a series of moments that always came to an end and they would go back to reality and she would wonder why she felt like she had just walked into a wall.  Or hit with something.  And then they were going to have to go back inside and Jo would look at her like she knew everything like she always did and Rory would blush furiously and wasn't that how things went around here?  Ethan held the door open for her, but before she could step through there was a brief moment that felt like forever and she looked up at him.  And you couldn't mistake it for a passing glance, not when she was looking up and he was looking down at her and for a moment it just seemed like an unspoken thing was happening.  And Rory didn't know what kind of this it was and what would come of it, but even though in ways it felt wrong to feel however she felt toward him, she didn't want to stop feeling this way either.  The moment passed and she tore her eyes away, heading down the stairs and back to the apartment as she heard Jo calling for her, "Right here," she replied back, letting Ethan in and shut the door behind them.  Rory stopped and looked around, pointing to the empty room, "Where is everyone?"

[Ethan John Fox]

Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose as he followed Rory back to her apartment, trying to get his own thoughts together. But whatever he was searching for deep inside himself, chances were he wasn’t going to find all of the answers tonight. So as he stepped into the apartment behind Aurora, noticing that everyone had left he lift his eyebrows and looked at Kelin. Were they supposed to stay? But there was Jo, standing in the living room and offering Kelin a drink, while staring at AJ with a confused expression of her own to match the theme of the evening. Ethan licked his lips, putting his hands together in a quiet clap. “ I think that means we all have to start drinking,” he said with a nod. Surely alcohol would help these circumstances. He wasn’t worried about drinking their alcohol – mainly because he had every intention of replenishing it. “ Did we scare your friends off?” he asked apologetically as he looked down at Aurora.

[Kelin Dean O'Reilly]

And just like that once more, just as quickly as Jo was putting walls up she was wrecking them herself it seemed, and handed over the ring after apologizing.  Just like that.  Kelin turned it over in his hand and glanced at her curiously before pocketing it.  "Thank you, I really appreciate that."  he surely wasn't expecting her to ask him to stick around but actually he was strangely happy that she did.  "That sounds nice actually, I think I will if you don't mind..." he trailed off, confused by the empty room.  And as if on cue, Rory and Ethan returned, looking equally as confused, or something else, Kelin didn't know and glanced at Ethan quizzically.  But Jo was handing him a drink and Ethan declaring that they drink, and so Kelin thanked her and found a place to sit around the various blankets and musical instruments.  "You know, I actually think I quite like your apartment, it's very homey."  He meant that in the best way.  He didn't feel like he had to take his shoes off or not use the throw pillows, it was like, once you walked in, you just made yourself at home no matter who you were.