[BELLE] Taking one for the team

[David Julian Greyson]

There were a variety of things David missed from home, and some of them he was able to get stateside.  Food, for the most part, was easy in New York.  Finding somewhere and people to play rugby with not so much.  But if there was something he put effort into, it was making sure he found a group of lads in the area.  He supposed it started as some good old boys from England that were looking for the same sort of reminder of home, but there were some American lads as well.  It was a good group, they played pick up games when most of them were available.  Usually weekends.  And it was cool, sort of similar to American football in some ways, minus the protective gear.  Sure David wasn't a huge built guy, but he was fast.  In a game where you couldn't throw the ball forward and had to run it, this came in handy.  His goal was also to take advantage of his speed to avoid getting hit too hard.

For the most part David just liked the connection to home, aside from loving the game.  He'd wanted to play professionally when he was younger, which obviously didn't happen.  He was pretty pleased with himself for intercepting a pass and ran the ball to the try-zone, earning points for his team.  "Nice man, hey switch me, be a wing," one of the guys offered to give him a quick break.  He might get the ball if they had their strategy down.  "Sure thing," he replied, tossing his water bottle back down.  The bigger guys played the front line, David yelling from his place, "Aw come on, Trevor was off sides, he was already ahead when Justin kicked!"  David threw his hands up in annoyance.  Some of the American guys were still getting used to the rules.  Someone checked their phone and they decided they should give themselves a half time before playing a second half.  David sat down in the grass just off the field near some of the other guys, chatting for a bit and rehydrating.

[Belle Fitzgerald]

Belle puffed her cheeks out in boredom as she went back to playing with her hair. She was putting it up in a momentary ponytail before dropping it back down. She wasn't really sure what style she should go with, plus she was just trying to distract herself really. Usually on Saturdays she was able to get coffee with David, but he had decided to play some rugby with the guys. And she didn't want to intrude on that. I mean how desperate could she be? She puffed air from one cheek to the other as she spun in her chair, trying to think of what to do with her time. She paused, looking at her books. She could actually study.... no. "Ugh," she muttered to herself in boredom before she lifted the screen of her macbook and let it come to life. She opened her iTunes, letting it go to a quick shuffle before she pulled up her browser. " Alright rugby... what are you.." she muttered to herself as she typed it into the google search. Belle put one hand under her chin as she started to look at some of the images. She felt she understood rugby to an extent, from what she had seen on this really old show...Friends. But as she looked at the images she couldn't help but scrunch her nose. David could get clobbered. "Okay. Time to be desperate." she said matter of factly before shutting the computer lid. Belle went to her closet, opting to stay in her ripped skinny blue jeans, but decided walking on the grass probably called for converse instead of heels. She walked into the shoe closet, trying to decipher which color converse to get before she pulled a white t-shirt on over it. After grabbing a black baseball hat to match her converse she put her ray bans on, grabbed her leather jacket and was out the door.

Incognito... that was a thing, right? Maybe that's how she could portray herself. It was a quick walk, and stopping to get herself a lemonade took a few extra minutes. Especially since a block later she turned around to get a second one as well for David. But once she made it to the park she could tell that the rugby game... match.. whatever, was in full swing. She took her jacket off and set it on the ground, deciding to rest there before she placed both lemonades to the side of it. Belle sat down, leaning back on her elbows as she propped one knee up. Yeah she wasn't going to pretend she knew how this game was played, or start cheering at the completely inappropriate time. But it looked like they were taking a break of some sort. David was surrounded by some of his friends, so it didn't seem like the opportune moment to go and bother him. This was guy time, I mean sure.. yeah.. she saw how she was slightly intruding anyway. But google images was not friendly to the idea of rugby. Maybe she cared a little bit. Maybe if he got bruises that were noticeable in class, she'd rather know where they came from than sit and obsess about it all class Monday. Really she was just being studious.

[David Julian Greyson]

After they'd all taken a few minutes to rest up and regroup, started up again.  David on the end of the line.  It was slow moving; they had done a decent job of matching up their teams.  He'd picked up the ball from the ruck a few times, they could just use one decent run.  "Hey mate, check it out," one of the guys near him said, "Anyone know her?  Damn, she's fine."  David turned to look at what he was talking about.  "She seems interested in the game," the guy smirked and David realized who it was.  He thought for a moment about whether or not he should say anything, yeah I know her?  She's one of my students?  Oh I'm seeing her? yeah she's 18...  The guy had gone off to get into position anyway, David glancing back at Belle and waved slightly.  That was awfully nice of her, he didn't think she'd be interesting in watching his rugby game.  He tried to focus on the game.  They were almost finished as it were, maybe she'd want to grab lunch when he was done.  He started down the field, skirting the outside edge as the ball got passed along the back line right to him.  He caught it and secured it in his hands, taking off full speed trying to take note of where the opposing players were.  He just needed to avoid those guys.  He laughed a little, dodging one of his friends who came in the the tackle on his left, falling right behind David.  He hardly looked back forward and he felt someone else charge into him from the other side, reeling backwards.  David tumbled back, falling over top of the guy on the ground behind him.  He tried to hold onto the ball but as he hit the ground he felt the wind rush right out of him, losing the ball and taking someone's elbow to his face, just above his eyebrow.  He tried to regain his surroundings as three of them untangled from the pile they had fallen in, but just taking a breath had becoming suddenly difficult.  "You alright, man?"  "Yeah," David answered, trying to sit up, "Just got the wind knocked out of me is all."  David sat up, rubbing his eye and felt the warmth run over his fingers, "Am I bleeding?" he asked, looking at the others, "Just the tiniest bit, mate, you'll be alright I would say."  "I didn't even see you," he chuckled, noting that his head was already clotting, though he feared he might have a slight bruise.  David walked back to his position, stretching his arms out and felt his ribs protest a little.  He looked back over at where Anabelle was sitting, shrugging his shoulders a little but offered a small smile across the field.  Tackles happened, that was rugby.  He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the slight moment of light headedness. David held back, watching one of the centers finally run the ball into the try-zone.  They'd probably call it a day.  David and the others reconvened over water bottles, saying their goodbyes, and David started over to where Anabelle was sitting.  "I see you've taken up an interest in rugby," he said as approached where she was perched in the grass. That looked nice, he needed to sit down.  He was still breathing a little raggedly, though his chest didn't seem quite as heavy as a few minutes ago.  He sat beside her, taking a drink of his water bottle, "Happy to see you though," he smiled.

[Belle Fitzgerald]

Okay so Belle might not understand rugby, but she understood what was going on. She sat up as she watched him essentially get the life knocked out of him, causing her to push her sunglasses up on top of her head. She stood up, placing her hands in her back pockets as she sort of paced for the rest of the game. He was bleeding. I mean he was bleeding from the head, and they were just going to let him keep playing. Had any of these people heard of concussions? Did anyone care that he was bleeding? She cared, but she didn't want to make a big deal about it at the first game of his that she came to. So instead she had to wait for it to be over, nearly biting her lip raw with anxiety. She forced herself to sit back down, noting that his smile at her was some small attempt at letting her know he was okay maybe. But she wasn't entirely convinced. The least she could do was sit down and pretend she wasn't being an entire nutcase about whether or not he was okay. When the game finished and he came over, she smiled at him apprehensively. "I googled it...." she said, as though that were self explanatory when he came over. She smiled though as he said that he was happy to see her. He had to stop doing that.. causing that little flutter to happen in her chest when he said things like that. I mean, she knew that she probably liked him a hell of a lot more than he liked her. And that coming out in public was probably risky... Belle took a slight breath, smiling at him before offering him the lemonade she had got for him. "I have a proposition" she said, standing up and then wiping the grass off of her hands onto the side of her jeans. "Out of the.. " she said, gesturing around to the public around them. " Your place. Warm chinese food. Cold beer. And let me clean up what's going on with your eye. You're starting to look like the Hunchback," she said, giving him a pointed smile as she put on her jacket, "Which portrayed a social construct of what a gargoyle was at the time of the renaissance because they were all into the dark aspect of the arts as a means to replicate what was going on in their daily lives," She bounced her eyebrows up and down playfully before leaning down to pick up her lemonade and offered her hand out to him to help him stand up. "Let's get you some frozen peas, killer," she said, winking at him playfully.

[David Julian Greyson]

David took the lemonade she handed him, glad to have something refreshing and took a sip.  She had a point, maybe they should get out of the public eye.  Her proposition was tempting; his place, food, drinks, no prying eyes.  "I see where you're going with this," he nodded, standing with her, "I think that sounds like a good plan."  it might be better if no one from school had an opportunity to see them.  David reached up touched his face again gingerly, "That bad, is it?" he asked, thinking maybe it had gotten worse.  "I am impressed though, sounds like someone's been listening in class." David started out of the park with Belle beside him, noting her mention he really probably needed some ice, "Yeah... I went down pretty hard, definitely going to feel it tomorrow," he admitted, but smiled.  They definitely weren't headed toward the East Side, and it suddenly occurred to David that his place was not at all what she was probably used to.  Sure he had grown up wealthy, but he'd been on his own for a few years now, and what he could afford was based around what he had managed to save and what earned on a private high school teacher salary.  Which, since he was by himself, was a one bedroom apartment in an older building that had just enough charm to make him feel like it was worth the price.  The truth was, nothing here was really worth the price.  

As they approached his building, and old brownstone that had been divided into  multiple units, he mentioned, "Not very palatial, but then I'm only a high school teacher, aren't I?" he joked.  He climbed the stairs and let them in before climbing another set of stairs to the upper floor.  He had the front unit that over looked the street, at least he could say they had some trees out there.  They entered into the modest kitchen, with a kitchen island and a few bar stools that  faced the rest of the living room.  The exterior wall was down to the brick and the old fireplace was closed off on the inside.  David was currently storing some books in there since the floor to ceiling shelves on the opposite wall were already full.  He also had a lot of house plants, records, a few artifacts from his travels displayed on the mantle. He glanced at her timidly, knowing his mix matched furniture and random assortment of things scattered around by no rhyme or reason at all was probably a far cry from home.  To the right of the kitchen was the bathroom, and through the living room through the only other interior wall was some old french doors to his bedroom.  David moved to his junk drawer in the kitchen, "Well, make yourself at home, peas are in the freezer," he joked, pulling out a few Chinese take out menus and sat down on the over sized couch, "So this place has amazing egg rolls but their peanut sauce is subpar.  This place has the best szechuan, but this one always gives me extra dumplings in the won ton soup.  I think the old lady likes me," he grinned.

[Belle Fitzgerald]

It was ridiculously nice to get out of the upper east side. It was one thing to belong in the upper east side, but it was another thing to also feel like you did not belong in the upper east side. And in the bottom of her heart she knew that was Lucy's future kingdom. She was just there for the par. And for Lucy. It was hard to walk beside him and not lean over, wrap her arm around his. It's what she would do with any other guy, but he hadn't been as blatantly interested in her, for his own reasons. She looked up at the Brownstone, smiling to herself. She loved the look of old historic buildings. She felt like they had so much history behind them. Lucy and herself used to sit and wonder what it must've been like to come to the big bright lights of New York City instead of being born in it, to come with your hopes and dreams. How many flapper girls had run up and down these steps? How many italian mafia members yelled out meaningful threats... Newspaper thrown on the steps. Everything about it felt more magical than the "Established in 2016" Public Works stamps on buildings where they just continuously built upward in the upper east side. Belle followed him inside, taking her jacket off and stepping out of her shoes, finding herself immediately transfixed by all of his little knick knacks. She wondered what little pieces of her soul would look like when she was able to decorate on her own someday, what little treasures she would put on display as the most important.

Belle looked over at him and smiled, "I love it,... and don't pretend I didn't hear you deprecate yourself as just a teacher," she added sternly before going over to his kitchen. She dug through the freezer, finding some odds and ends frozen vegetables before grabbing some towels and placing them in warm water. Belle took her phone out, finding this cool record player that also allowed you to plug in an aux cord. "Cool," she muttered to herself, before pulling up a Hozier pandora station and setting her phone down. "Well who wouldn't like you? she said, smiling at him. "I want.. chicken lo mien. With a half dozen cream cheese wontons. And eggs rolls. I also want as many fortune cookies as they can put in our bag." she said, smiling excitedly. "Okay, you have to be really still,' she said. Belle cleared her throat, not realizing how serious her own tone had changed as she brought the rag to his face, trying to let the warm water soften some of the blood that had dried and caked on over his cut already. She pursed her lips, finding herself growing more and more irritated with the fact that he had done this for pleasure. It wasn't her place to say anything, though. But she also never would've thought it would have been her place to find herself here.. on his couch.. in his apartment. "... It was a little careless." she said, not realizing how agitated she sounded with him. "Head injuries are serious, David" she said, shaking her head slightly. She was doing her best to not seem annoyed. Which, considering she usually had a laid back demeanor probably wasn't going very well. "I mean what would you have me do if you would have gotten more hurt?"

[David Julian Greyson]

David dialed the number so he could place their order, letting it ring and nodded, "a dozen rangoons, coming right up," as she sat beside him with a warm towel to try and clean him up.  "Yes, hi I'd like to place an order for take out... yes this is David, how are you?  I'm wonderful thank you, yes that's the correct address," he said into the phone, smiling at Belle and placed his hand on her arm gently when she told him to sit still, "Yes can I get the chicken lo mein, a dozen rangoons, some eggrolls... the scezhuan beef.  That's it.  Okay thanks," he added before hanging up and laughed as he put his phone down while trying not to move, "Am I cleaning up nicely," he asked, glancing at her.  She had taken a slightly serious tone with him and he frowned, "I usually try not to be pummeled, sometimes its unavoidable."  He glanced at her, seeing that she was clearly upset with him over it, she'd called him David.  Even though she was unhappy he still liked the sound of it.  He just hadn't realized she'd become so upset that he'd been a bit roughed up, "Well I'm alright now, you're patching me up.  You won't stay upset with me, will you?"  he asked, "You've only just gotten here."  Maybe she cared for him a bit more than he realized, and he wondered how that had happened.  

[Belle Fitzgerald]

Belle lowered the towel for a moment so that she could dip it in more warm water and gave him an annoyed expression as he tried to charm his way through this. "You can't just dazzle me with charm," she said, pushing her hair from her face and going back to work on him. "I mean if I hadn't come today.. and you showed up with this bruise on Monday. I wouldn't be able to focus. And I get that the point isn't to try and be clobbered,... but you do get clobbered," she said, frowning and she pursed her lips again. "I just..." she said, lowering her arm so that she could look at him. "Sometimes we do things that we know will hurt us,.. and we do it anyway. And I just , you..." she said, getting frustrated with the fact that she couldn't put her words together straight. "I came back and I'm trying to be... you're a good influence on me," she said, bringing the towel back up to his face. "What happened in my past is... I was trapped in this room of darkness. And the only way to escape was to get high. Or drink myself into stupidity." she said, lifting her eyebrow slightly as she worked on him. "And then I came home from rehab, and everything is still dark. It's familiar, and I know where everything is... the same way you know your apartment in the middle of the night. You make it work. Every now and then you stub your toe, but you are used to the familiarity of it all," she said, getting more water. "But then you came and you, you just... you turned on the light," she said, making a slight face like she wasn't sure if she was making sense. "I saw the colors again, and the details. And i saw a purpose. And... then you just ....." she sighed, gesturing to his face. "Your eyes are my favorite thing about you. I see colors again finally, and yours are... the most captivating hazel I have ever seen in my life. And now I'm cleaning blood away from just near them. I can finally see perspective, and you getting hurt ...terrifies me,"

[David Julian Greyson]

Apparently he wasn't getting out of this one easily, but to be fair, British people were like, charming by default.  It was second nature to charm the pants off of people, both literally and figuratively.  He wanted to tell her he was alright, it was just a few scratches, just to ease her concern, that it was just like the football american boys played, or hockey, or any other physical sport.  Sure, it had it's dangers, but he loved the game.  But as she continued to speak to him, he knew she was getting something off her chest, trying to explain herself, open a window to why she was reacting the way she was.  So he listened, hearing someone who had been hurt, down and out, struggling to pull themselves out.  And sometimes they just couldn't do it alone, so that's when your loved ones came in and helped you away from the precipice.  It was about the time she was finishing what she was saying, that it occurred to him what she was saying; he was that person.  Somehow, in some odd unexpected twist of things, he had become something to her that was making her whole again.  He turned to look her in the eye realizing something else too; he hadn't felt this close to someone in a long, long time.  That, despite her age, she had brought some sort of light into his life as well.  Because since they'd begun spending time together, he was smiling more than he had in ages, he was getting up in the morning anticipating seeing her face and hearing her laugh, and going to bed at night with thoughts of seeing her again tomorrow instead of lying awake wondering about a life he might of had that was ripped away from him.  He was beginning to think in terms of how his future might look if they went to that movie, or ate at that restaurant, went on that road trip.  He was what-iffing things with her now, when he used to what-if the life he lost in England.  He used to get down on himself, thinking about a parallel life where he was married, with a small child to call his own.  But he was beginning to think all of that had come to pass for a reason, that he might travel, and regroup, to find a new purpose in life, and all of that led him here to this moment.  All of those things he had considered unfortunate events, had led him here, to her.  Suddenly it all just clicked into place.  He didn't know if this would last, or if it was meant to be, but at this moment in time he felt a strong pull, something so natural there wasn't any sense in trying to suppress it.  For this moment, years felt like a useless man made measure of time, and whatever reservations he'd had about any kind of relationship with Anabelle melted away.  He wasn't thinking, he wasn't trying to analyze it, he was just going on a feeling when he reached over, taking her hand away from his face and placed his other hand gently against her cheek.  He didn't hesitate to pull her closer just slightly as he leaned forward to kiss her, probably a bit more assertive than he should have been.  But nothing about it felt wrong, it didn't matter that she was younger, and one of his students right?  David placed his other hand on her waist, deepening the kiss, when that exact thought flew up a red flag in his mind.  He pulled away, regretfully, not out of regret for doing it but for having to put an end to it.  "I'm sorry," he said quietly, "That was... probably out of line."  Here he was, supposed to be the more adultish adult, and he had crossed the line first.  if anything he had probably just made this all the more confusing.  "I just... I'm sorry, I just forgot for a moment."

[Belle Fitzgerald]

There are moments in time where it felt like silences spoke more loudly about a situation than actual words. And here she was, having just stammered her way through a half assed confession, just staring at him as he seemed to be processing his own thoughts. That wasn't fair of her to do, to just go and forcibly change whatever their dynamic was. It was one thing to jest and be flirtatious with him, but she knew that more often than not she crossed the line. He was a bit more forgiving about it when there weren't prying eyes and ears. At first when he began to push her hand away she felt that the moment she had been dreading was finally coming, that she knew how the next moments would play out. He would tell her that her flirtation was inappropriate, that she needed to leave, and that he had let this carry on long enough. He was the older one after all, and to her that didn't mean he needed to be more or less responsible, it meant that he had more choices. And why would he choose her? But there was a slight catch in her breath before he kissed her. If she had seen colors before, she felt like he had just jolted her with electricity. She was frozen, just for a moment, trying to truly comprehend the moral implications when the rest of her thought...screw it. Belle leaned forward, pressing herself closer into him while trying to be wary of his bruised face. Was it possible to get a different sort of a high off a person? Because kissing him felt like it was the best drug she could've possibly taken, and then just like that... the lights went back out. She sighed, feeling her shoulders slightly deflate at the frustration of him pulling away from her. She stared at him as he talked about it being out of line, and apologized... that he forgot? That he forgot what, that she was his student? Because that was only a matter of time. Belle leaned forward, this time probably being the one with more aggressive actions. She planted her lips against his before gripping her fingers to the side and back of his neck, moving so that she was leaning over him. " Forget again," she said quietly before biting down against his lower lip as she moved her hands down to his chest.

[David Julian Greyson]

Davis wasn't sure how to proceed; he really liked her and he didn't want her to go, but that was an unfair desire if he wasn't going to let the relationship go any further.  He wanted it to, he also just knew it put them both in a very difficult place, now he had made things more difficult.  He felt bad and wondered if maybe they should talk about it; what  they planned on doing, if they saw this turning into something in the future, maybe when she was out of school.  Because that would be totally different.  David wanted to kiss her again, but he needed to let her make her own choices.  But it seemed she was, as she leaned back in to kiss him, telling him to forget again, because they were doing this.  Okay, forgotten, he thought to himself, because this was what he wanted and as long as she was in agreement that they were both in this, then that was it.  He realized as he pulled her closer over him, that there wasn't any stopping it now, it was definitely too late.  Yeah, they would have to talk about this, just not right now.  Right now it was apparently just to hell with it all.  He moved to kiss her neck, his hand sliding under the hem of her t-shirt, just not caring if it was wrong or right, because in a lot of ways he felt like he deserved some appreciation.  He'd been pitying himself long enough, he deserved something new and exciting and something that happened this naturally wasn't something he thought he could ignore for much longer anyways.  "There's... we could... move... the bedroom," he added between kissing her neck and her lips, offering an easy out if she wanted to take it.

[Belle Fitzgerald]

Belle had a reputation for being... promiscuous.. she'd put it at that. But the thing was, unless you were trying to cover up the pain for accidentally murdering someone, then you didn't really get an opinion in the matter. Drugs, alcohol, sex.. literally anything to forget about it. But this time it didn't feel like she was trying to use David to fill some void where she was trying to feel anything other than pain. It wasn't really like her to care for someone or develop feelings. Maybe it was the excitement of it all. Maybe she was attracted to him because he was her teacher. Or maybe it was because he made her believe in a part of herself that she didn't think existed anymore. "Oh thank God," she said, as though she was frustrated that it had taken him that long to come to that conclusion. Belle backed away from him, grabbing him by the front of his shirt before she led him to the bedroom, leaving her own clothes in a trail behind her.

Some while later Belle was staring at her fingertips on David's chest. She tapped them softly before she sat up slightly so that she was resting on her left elbow with her hand in her hair. So this was what it was like to sleep with someone that you actually wanted to see a future with... Belle smiled, almost more nervous now than she had been before. "I... look, I hate to be the girl that talks about this now... I mean, really, because I've done this a lot and never be- no! I don't mean I have a lot. Probably more than the av-" she said, putting her hand up slightly and shaking her head. "Not the point," she said, resting her hand back on his chest. "I just.. I'm just gonna put it all out there." she said, taking in a deep breath. "I like you, David.. I mean obviously. But I mean, I wouldn't.... I understand how risky this is for your career for the next few months. I'm not careless about your future. Because I care about it.. I kind of want to be in the foreseeable part of it. Or however long you'll have me. Which is probably naive and young on my part. But at the end of the day, what I am trying to say is... I know what great risk comes with this, and I care about you enough that I wouldn't have acted on it if I didn't have real feelings for you," she said, hearing his buzzer go off. "... Don't respond yet. I'll go get the food.. and you can get dressed and think for a second," she said. Belle slid out of the bed, grabbing one of his shirts and putting it on before grabbing her wallet and heading out to grab their dinner.