Hey everyone! Second update this week, I hope you all have a great weekend!

I came across a picture that immediately made me think "Yes! That's Thorne!" So I included it for you guys down below. ;-)

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Falling

The next two weeks were both busy and weird. I worked extra at the Stonefish to help cover for Matt's absence and though I grew closer with Mitch and Dev and went swimming with them regularly I really missed Matt. Which told me I was already beyond having a little crush on him and really well into the possibly falling for him stage.

I was happy I'd told him no when I realized that, I couldn't risk getting closer to him if all he wanted was something casual. That would really get me hurt in the end. Better that he was off on that salvage job.

My dad was back home only one night those two weeks; I made dinner for him and ended up with another load of dry cleaning to take care off. He said barely anything to me but brooded as hard as Matt had done since I'd rejected him. He left without either of us talking about what had happened and that was that.

At school everything seemed really quiet and I hadn't run into Jamie at all. Then when Mitch and Dev made it official even at school that they were a couple things got a little wild. There were droves of girls coming up to them all the time, asking them if it was true and sorely disappointed when they confirmed it. At some point they were so fed up with it that the next time a gaggle of girls showed up and begged them to tell them it was a joke and they weren't actually gay and a couple, Dev just reached over and grabbed Mitch for a full on make out session right there in the hall.

They got detention for that, so I hung out with Jones and Cam some and Cam's girlfriend Kira but it was a little lonely to not have my friends around now that I'd gotten used to being in their company all the time. Especially since every stray thought went to Matt, wondering what he was up to, if he was diving right now. When he'd be back. It was kind of pitiful really.

Jamie got her retaliation on a Friday right after school. Dev and Mitch still had detention so I was on my own walking from school to the Stonefish. Even without them I'd taken to camping in a booth or sometimes the office if it was busy when I wasn't working because I didn't like the silence at home. Thorne was always happy to have me since I never minded lending a hand even if I wasn't scheduled to work if it was necessary.

The payback wasn't anything elegant or pretty. Just Jamie and her friends ganging up on me as I was cutting through a side street. They were with five of them and got in a few good licks before I managed to get away and I wasn't too proud to just bail and run instead of fighting back. My nose was bloody and I had a few bruises down my side, mostly on my hip, a scrape over the palm of my hand.

So instead of going to the Stonefish's front door where I'd have to walk past all the customers I went to the back door and let myself in. The cook in the kitchen took a look at me and then told me to get to the office, he'd send in Thorne with a first aid kit.

"Shit," was the first word out of Thorne's mouth when he showed up with said first aid kit a few minutes later. I was a little bloody but I'd managed to stop my nose from bleeding by leaning my head forward and plugging my nostrils with some tissues. I was fairly certain that though it smarted it wasn't broken so I figured I'd be good as new come Monday.

"What happened to you?" he asked while he plopped down on the salon table in front of me and opened up his kit. "Run in with some girls from school," I answered and then couldn't keep myself from joking: "You should see the other chick." He raised his eyebrows and I grudgingly admitted, "Fine they jumped me five on one, I just bailed as soon as I saw an opening."

It stung when he cleaned the scrape on my hand and he felt down my hip to check if he could feel any fractures but he said I was fine. When I'd washed the blood off my face in the bathroom I looked almost presentable again, except for the bloodstains on my shirt.

"Please don't tell anybody okay?" I asked Thorne when I got back to the office and saw he was still there. "Mitch and Dev might get in trouble all over again if they find out." Thorne made an angry scoffing sound, "They shouldn't have landed detention in the first place!" I grinned at seeing his outrage, "Well they landed detention because it's not allowed to make out in the hallway, not because they're both guys you know? Sucks but it was actually pretty equal treatment."

He shrugged his wide shoulders and then rubbed at his brown and red beard in a thoughtful gesture. "I suppose, well I'll promise I won't tell them you had a run in with some girls." "Not anyone Thorne," I pressed and he was silent for a long while before at last he gave me a nod. "Well you might as well grab a clean shirt of Matt's from upstairs and then give me a hand. The Friday crowd promises to be big tonight."

It was a bit weird to go up to Matt's apartment when he wasn't home and sort of invade his privacy but I figured that since Thorne said I could it would be fine. In Matt's closet I looked around for something suitable to wear while working and noticed a plastic bag in the corner, tucked away. My curiosity got the better of me so I pulled it out and opened it.

The bag held various female clothing items, all of them smelling clean, it was clearly the reject pile and I felt a surge of hurt and sort of disgust. This is the bag he'd gotten that denim skirt and thong from when I had the tail incident here. There were at least a dozen more skimpy panties and two different sized bra's and a bikini top as well. There was also a top in hot pink and a simple black tank top so I fished out the black one and exchanged it for my bloodstained white shirt.

I felt inclined to toss the rest of the bags contents in the trash but stopped myself. That went straight into jealous girlfriend territory and I so didn't want to go there, especially when I had no claim to him whatsoever. Besides, except for the past two weeks I'd seen Matt pretty much every night and he'd never been with another chick in that time as far as I could see. This stuff could be pretty ancient...

The black tank top had a wolf on the front and the words Howlin' Hunters printed below it and had clearly belonged to a bigger girl. It hung slightly on me so that at my armpits the edges of my bra peeked out, showing I'd gone with turquoise lace that morning. Figuring it was the best I could do I went back downstairs and shoved my stained shirt in the side pocket of my bag, then I got to work.

I didn't have to stay until closing time, my shift ran till nine but it was busy and I wanted to stay busy too. My hip was pretty sore and my nose didn't feel all that nice either but at least when I checked in the mirror there was only faint bruising down the sides of my nose, a little make up and no one could tell.

Thorne tried to tell me to go home but I refused which came back to bite me in the ass when suddenly Matt stepped into the barroom. He looked tired but good and had a duffel slung over one shoulder as he surveyed the crowded room. Then his eyes fell on me and he frowned and I felt stung over the reaction. Was he really that angry with me? I could hardly believe that, he wasn't that petty which meant something was really bothering him in this situation with me.

I was about to take the cowards way out and slip out the back when he started my way and I was too proud to leave then. Since I was standing behind the bar he just went up to it and plopped himself on a bar stool, leaning in to make sure I understood he wanted to talk. Going so far as to lean his tattooed right arm across the scarred surface so it felt like no barrier at all between us. "Hey Dani, what are you still doing here?" his eyes slid over my body to take in the tank top and the gaping edges that showed hints of my bra. "Dressed like that?"

Automatically I crossed my arms over my chest while I lifted a shoulder, "I spilled something on my own shirt. Thorne told me I could grab something from your closet and this was the only thing that sort of fit." "You found that in my closet?" he frowned, when I shrugged again he glared and said: "Go on home. It's late."

"Fine," I shot back and stalked off, bumping into Thorne as I darted out from behind the bar. He took one look at Matt glowering on his bar stool and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Idiot, just ignore him," he assured me. "Come on I'll drop you off. He can deal with the lock up on his own."

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Much love,

Robin

P.S. As promised, pic of what I think Thorne looks like: