listen well, will you marry me? ``open

[gabriel alexander webb]

i'll wish on this,
i'll wish with this.

There is a spot by the river that is perfect. A beautiful patch of the greenest grass you've ever seen, cut short and neat, looking over the deep-blue-nearly-black waters of the Potomac. On a sunny day the river sparkles and shimmers like many sequins on an evening gown. And on cloudy days, it's just as beautiful: the calm white sky mutes everything, so that all is peaceful and subdued. There is a place to lay out a blanket and have a picnic, and a big oak tree stands nearby, providing shade for sunbathers that get a little too warm. This twenty square foot of property attracts all kinds of people: couples looking for a romantic getaway, loners looking for a place to brood, or even writers looking for privacy. It really is the best place to clear your head, since everything around you just seems so pure. You can see every blade of grass, every leaf of the big oak tree, every ripple in the river. It's a sacred shrine, really, to the beauty and overpowering presence of nature: the only thing man can not control, no matter how hard he tries. And, as you can probably tell, this spot does not stay open for very long. As soon as one patron vacates the premesis, another moves in. People who snag this spot are truly lucky, and should feel as such.

Gabriel is a very lucky person. He was strolling through the park, just thinking, when he saw the spot. It was open, and no one was around. Granted, it was kind of a cloudy day, but that didn't matter: an opportunity like this doesn't come around every day. He made his way over to the tree and sprawled out underneath it's branches, drinking in the shade that seemed to be coming in at him from all angles. There wasn't much sun, but it still felt nice to be under the cool protection of a great oak like this one. Sighing contentedly, Gabe looked around his area with satisfaction. He had spent three other afternoons here at this spot after discovering it last summer, and they were three of the most glorious days he'd ever had. Just resting yourself in the soft green grass and staring up at the slowly coloring foliage was enough to make anybody feel at ease. It was like the ocean without the noise of thousands of kids screaming at the top of their lungs. Here, it was quiet.

Gabe looked around and suddenly realized how quiet it really was. Not just here, but throughout the park. There were less people around than usual, considering it was overcast, Thursday, and early afternoon. Most people were still at work, and Gabe was only not attending class beause he had none. His last class of the day had been cancelled and he rushed over to the park in order to relax and do some thinking. It was hard, being cooped up at school all the time, with barely any fresh air and no freedom. Gabe loves learning and attending his classes, but some days he just wants to break out and collect his thoughts. And he certainly has a lot of thoughts. Most of the time, his brain does not have a moment to rest between ideas, memories, and assessments. He's been accused of over-thinking things, and that accusation wouldn't be far off. It's not unjustifiable, however, since he does have a lot on his mind.

As he began to dwell back into his normal thought process, Gabe frowned. The "spot" had taken his mind off his ponderings for a moment, but now they were back, and stonger than ever. Lately, there's been a serious internal struggle going on inside of Gabe Webb. Every time he tries to resist the fact that he is indeed gay, it becomes harder to resist, ironically. He wants to be happy, but he also wants his parents to be happy, which would mean he'd have to contradict himself entirely. But it's getting more and more difficult to be attracted to girls, as hard as he may try.

A slightly decayed red leaf floated down from above to land on Gabe's hand. Opening his eyes and coming out of his mind slightly, he looked at it, and then pushed himself up on his hands, looking towards the river. He stared at it blankly, seeing it for a few seconds before it eventually blurred and became unrecognizable. He was back to his deep thinking again, and oce he got started, it was hard to get him to stop.

[mariah grace fergusen]

for those of you who thought you'd be forgotten,
the friends you've made will try their best, to make it so

On most cloudy days, Mariah would have tried anything to stay indoors. She found going outside a unavoidable necessity. Whenever she had to go someplace, even if it was close, she would drive there. Anything to stay in and inclosed space. It wasn't that she had a phobia of open spaces, no, of course not, that was stupid. She just f0und the indoors much more... comforting, yeah, that's the word, comfortimg. And what did she do while inside? Why she wrote of course, poetry, novels, short stories, haikus, nothing escaped Mariah's attemtpts at writing. She even enjoyed writing essays and the like, just because it was writing. The ability to expresse ones ideas through the written or typed word it was just invigorating, like a drug possibly.

But what would pull Mariah away from something that was so obviously dear to her? What could pry her fingers away from a pen or a keyboard? Well, a dear friend of course. Her only true friend really. She cared for him deeply and knew that something had been bothering him for the longest time. Even she hadn't been able to concentrate for long on writing anything. She would begin to scratch out a word when Gabriel would come to mind and for long stretches of time she would just think about him and whatever could be bothering him. Finally she had given up, put down her pen, grabbed a coat and proceded to look for Gabriel.

She hadn't been to school today, she had a bit of a cold so she had spent the day at home, which was the best time for her. That mean neither her sister or her father had been home. But now that it was around the time school ended, Mariah was out looking for where Gabe might be. She had comendered her father's other car even though she only had a learners permit, oh well, if she got in trouble so be it. She thought about where she might find Gabe, her first thought was the park. It was where she went to think about truly serious things, especially near the river. So it was quite possible that Gabe had the same thought process or she hoped so.

She pulled into the parking lot of the park, her parking job was a bit awkward. She shook her head slightly, oh well, didn't really matter. She got out of the car and quickly looked around, slamming her car door shut. She went down onto the path that led to a certain spot of the park, a beautiful spot that seemed so serene on any day, no matter how many people where there. It seemed like a tranquil place to sort through things. Her dress swirled around her knees as she did a bit of a jog. She didn't know why she was rushing, it just felt like she should. Gabe was her friend, she wanted to be there for him, and she could the quicker she was.

Finally she made it to the area, the river wove it's snake-like path near it. Even though the day was cloudy, the spot was nearly breath taking. For a few seconds, Mariah had forgotten the reason for being there, her writers mind taking over for those seconds. But she shrugged it off, not an easy task for a person like Mariah. She glanced around, her dusky brunette hair brushing over her shoulders as she did. Finally she spotted the person she had been looking for. For some reason, she felt relief just to see him. "Gabe!" Mariah called out, moving towards him, the area was a bit emptier then it usually was. It was earlier then school should have let out, had Gabriel skipped?

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[gabriel alexander webb]

i'll wish on this,
i'll wish with this.

A voice yanked him out of his reveries. It sounded familiar, though he didn't quite catch what it had said: the water had been performing a beautifully intricate dance just before, completely monopolizing his attention. Turning his torso and head around, he looked behind him and smiled as he saw Mariah coming towards him. "Mariah. What a surprise." He said, patting the ground next to him in a gesture to show that he would like it if she sat down. "Shouldn't you be... you know, writing something?" He teased, commenting on the fact that it was so difficult to pull the girl away from her desk usually. It was therefore, a surprise to see her out and about without putting in any real effort. He furrowed his brow slightly: she must have an ulterior motive. Gabe loved Mariah, and knew her well. She was so compassionate and understanding that she must have been worrying herself over him. He smiled appreciatively at her, feeling incredibly lucky and guilty at the same time. He didn't mean to make her worry about him, but she was so damn nice that he couldn't help telling her all of his problems. There were so many times when he felt so bad for unloading all of his crap onto her, he felt like he could never repay her for all of the things she had to sit through. It made him love her even more than he already did. There was just something about her that made Gabe feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and it pretty much boiled down to this: she was the family that he never had.

When your own parents and siblings look down on you, it's very common to find someone to take their place, and that person is Mariah for Gabe. He's spent years and years walking on eggshells in his own home and to have someone like Mariah is such a relief. Thinking about this, Gabe watched her adoringly. "I love you girl, you know that?" He asked, knowing the answer already. There was no possible way that Mariah did not know that he loved her, in an obviously platonic way, of course. As soon as Gabe becomes close with anyone he instantly opens up and gets all cheesy and crap. He can't help it: he's a cheesy person at heart. He loves old romantic movies and the idea that there is one person out there for everyone. Of course, nobody really knows that except for his dearest friends, because he's too cowardly to show it off to the world. It was one of the things plaguing him lately, and the only thing on his mind, really, was figuring out how to not be such a sell-out phony.

Shaking his head of these thoughts, he focused on Mariah. He knew she didn't have the easist of lives, no matter how much it looked like it. Her past was dark, and having a sister like Livvy didn't help either. "What's on your mind, chick?" He asked her, turning his face from her and looking back over the water, still smiling. The sun was coming out and making the river come alive. "And you better not say that it's me either. I'm not worth your precious brain-space."

ooc; ack! sooooo terrible! and sooo late! ugbdsufgdsfu. sorry.

[mariah grace fergusen]

for those of you who thought you'd be forgotten,
the friends you've made will try their best, to make it so

Mariah sighed slightly as Gabe looked over at her. He had seemed to be entranced by the water in front of him, almost like it had been hypnotizing him. She remembered a book where something called a thinny would call people to it. It was like a siren, calling to them, telling them sweet things, telling them what they wanted to hear so they would come to it. It would entrance them and lure them into it, and then destroy them, because that's what thinnies did. They were worn places in the fabric of the universe. For a brief second there, Mariah thought that it was lucky that Gabe hadn't jumped into the river. But she reprimanded herself, Gabe wasn't suicidal, not by a long shot.

She nodded slightly when Gabe patted the ground, she knew that he would want her to sit down with him. Mariah figured it was because he though he owed her for always listening. She didn't think he did, not really, that was what she figured her part in life was. To listen. She wasn't good at anything else, not even writing. So she thought that if she could be that shoulder to cry on, that go to person that everyone needed, she could at least do something to help someone. She was certain that if Gabe tried to push her away, she would probably let him, she wasn't a fighter, no. She was too timid to fight, but she doubted he would do that either.

She sat down slowly on the grass, tucking her dress underneath her legs to keep it from blowing around and showing off her underwear. She gave a small smile and nodded. "Yeah, probably," She said with a small laugh. "It's weird not seeing a pencil or pen in my hand, no?" She asked, holding up her right hand and waving it slightly. Actually, now that she though about, it did seem kind of weird to not really be writing anything. But she couldn't think about that now, she had to think about Gabe.

Mariah didn't think Gabe needed her, not by a long shot, that would just make her seem like an idiot to think that. But Gabe did need someone to open up to. Mariah felt lucky to be that person. Gabe was a sweet guy and anyone was lucky to even have the chance to talk to him, let alone share stuff with him like Mariah did. She wouldn't admit it, but the first time she met him, she had developed a bit of a crush on him. But that quickly faded as Gabe saw her more and more as a sister, and she the same with him, just as a brother. Another thing she wondered was if he resented her for not opening up to him. Did he think she didn't trust him with her problems? Mariah thought she should ask, but she knew she wouldn't.

She giggled slightly and blushed. Mariah always hated it when people showed fondness of her. She always would find faults with herself to turn any compliment around. But Gabe, she wouldn't do that to him. He didn't seem to think too much of himself, so someone had to be the positive one in their friendship, and that had to be Mariah. She reached out and ruffled his hair. She usually never touched other people but Gabe was once again different. "Of course I know that," She said with a quick nod, returning her hand to her lap. "And you know that I do too." She rarely used the word love, it seemed to strong of a word.

Mariah gave a fake impression of shock and asked, "Now, why would I think about you, my friend of friends?" Her tone was sarcastic but she quickly grew serious. "Yes I'm thinking about you," She replied, she reached out and patted his leg. She gave him a small, comforting smile and looked out at the river. "You're worrying me, you're one of my closest friends, and I don't like it when you're withdrawn." She glanced over at him, her sapphire eyes moving over his face. "Talk to me, please."

OOC: Lol, my posts are always terrible. And the funny thing is, this was my first thread to reply to.

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