1x1 with x_fire

Zach sighed, pulling his cell phone from his backpack, once inside the school. HIs parents had given it to him for emergencies only, and he dialed his father's number, knowing the school would call their mom to come get Maddie. He pressed the phone to his ear, hands shaking.
"Hello?" Demitri's smooth voice sounded on one end, "Dad?" Zach breathed, "Zach, what's wrong?"
"Can you come get me?" Zach's voice quavered, "Sure, I'm on my way" Demitri said, a small sigh esacping him.
"Thanks Dad" Zach clicked the phone shut and went outside to wait, slipping past Taylor, who looked to have a broken nose. Once Demitri's car pulled up, Zach barrled inside, telling his dad everything, after breaking into tears.

Serena's shoulders also slumped as she heard what her father said.
"That's so long" She grumbled, looking at Nick dejectedly, the twins had never sat still for eight hours, even sleeping that was impossible. She rubbed her eyes, looking at her father, who was rifling in his bag, "Time to board" He said, glancing up as their plane was announced.
"Come on" He muttered, taking Serena's hand, they had gotten first class seats, Maria, Seren and Nick on one side, Alexi across the aisle.

"She what?" Maddie winced, hearing her mothers voice clear since her canine hearing was active. Her hand throbbed painfully, and Maddie sucked in a breath, looking down. Her knuckles were badly brusied, and there was a cut running from her thrid knuckle down her hand. She must have caught part of Taylors tooth too. Good. Maddie thought.
"I'm on my way." Kristen said, already climbing into her car as she hung up the phone. At the school, Kristen had to park and go to the front office to find Maddie. Her daughter was sitting on a chair with a small bag of ice on her left hand, looking slightly content.
"You'd better have a good reason for this." Kristen said, eyes flashing.
"Taylor." Was all Maddie said, knowing Kristen could guess the rest. Standing up, she grabbed her bag with her good hand and followed Kristen back to the car.


"It'll be fine." Maria said, hoping four hours in the kids would fall asleep. Hearing it was time to board, Maria took out their tickets and passports before walking over to the gate. Once everything was settled they walked onto the plane.
"Whoa, cool." Nick said, looking all around once he was in his seat. The chair were comfortable and roomy, and although the plane had a werid clean scent, Nick thought it was pretty awesome.

Demitri pulled up to the house, a small sigh escaping him as he glanced at his son.
"Don't worry Zach, I'll talk to the school, make sure that this gets cleared up" He said, hugging his son as they slipped from the car and Demitri took Zach into the house.
"Want some icecream?" He asked, to which Zach nodded, climbing onto his favorite stool while Demitri dished him up.
"Here we go" He said, handing the little boy his bowl. "Thanks Dad" Zach said, still looking very lost and lonely.

Alexi helped get the kids settled and the bags stowed, before he sat down in his seat across the aisle from them. Zach and Serena were in the middle and window seat, Maria sitting across from him. It was easier to keep an eye on the twins that way, and they figured the twins woud need a lot of watching while on the plane.
Serena's eyes were huge as they glanced around the plane, before she was put in her seat, seatbelt fastened. She peeked out the window, legs swinging lightly.
"Cool" She said, looking at her brother who was next to her, and then her parents.

Kristen frowned, pulling up to the house to find Demitri's car in the driveway. What was he doing home? He had told her he would be in the office all morning. Glancing at Maddie, Kristen turned off the car.
"You sure about this?" Kristen asked, since Maddie had explained why she'd gotten into the fight today. Maddie winced as she pulled the ice off her stiff fingers. She clenched her fist with a deep breath against the pain but she nodded.
"I didn't need to read Zach's emotions to know what was going on. And I didn't need to hear what they were saying either." Maddie muttered harshly. "Zach wasn't happy with me though." Maddie sighed as she stepped out of the car, followed by Kristen.

Inside, Kristen realized why Demitri was home; he must have picked up Zach just before Kristen picked up Maddie. Nodding for Maddie to go wash her bleeding hand, Kristen glanced into the kicthen from the hallwat. She looked at her son, and realized Maddie was right; she didn't need to read emotions to know how upset Zach was. Then she glanced at Demitri, who she assumed knew all about this already if he'd brought Zach home. She nodded gently for Demitri to come over, and walked into the livingroom.

Maria sighed, sitting back against her chair with a soft sigh. She was glad that the kids were enjoying themselves so much, and all they had did was board the plane. Maria looked up as more people started to fill into the plane, and she smiled as the crew ran their routines.
"Do you two remember," Maria said softly, instantly catching Nick's attention with the tone of her voice. It sounded like she was about to read them a really good bedtime story, so Nick looked up instantly. "That ride you both went on with your Father at the Carnival last spring?" Maria asked softly.
"The one where it went really fast and was kinda loud?" Nick asked, just as quiet.
Maria nodded. "That's how the flight is going to start. You'll be able to hear the engines start, and then the plane will start moving. It won't last long though." she reassured as the engines did start up beneath their feet, and the turbines began to spin.

Demitri glanced up, seeing Maddie and Kristen come in. He glanced at Zach, who scowled in the direction of his sister and ran upstairs. He sighed, rubbing his eyes and went to talk to Kristen.
"So..?" He asked, knowing that she was going to talk to him about what had happened at school today. Zach had told him everything, including Maddie's intervention, and why the little boy was so upset over it. He sat down, arching an eyebrow at Kristen, a small sigh escaping him.

Serena glanced at her mother, rubbing her eyes and nodding, jumping a bit as the plane's engine roared to life.
"Woah" She said, peeking out the window, eyes wide, though she was obviously amused. She smiled, looking across at her father, who was sliding his iPod headphones in, obviously settling down for the flight. She figured if everyone else was calm, then this was all normal and fine.

Kristen watched as Zach walked upstairs, a worried look on her face when she turned to face Demitri. "What's been going on?" she murmured, though it wasn't exactly a question for him to answer. "I get a call from the school, saying Maddie broke some kids nose today, and that she skipped class in order to do so." Kristen said, doing her best to keep her voice quiet. "I get there, and she's got bloody nuckles, and tells me that it was Taylor who she'd punched. Apparently he's been picking on Zach? How long has this been going on for?" Kristen asked, tossing her hands up in the air and passing around the livingroom, obviously upset.

Nick's eyes went wide as the plane lurched forward. "Whoa." he echoed, looking over Serena's shoulder as the tarmat outside begain to move away. He could hear the roaring of the enging grow a bit sharper, and he winced as the plane lifted skyward, forcing him against his seat.
"Easy." Maria murmured softly, rubbing Nick's hand gently. "It's only for a little while. Look! We're in the air now." Maria said, sounding excited as she pointed to the window, and the airport that was growing small in the distance.

Demitri sighed, "Its true, Taylor and his friends have been bullying Zach lately, only for a few days, since Zach and Taylor's fight" He said, shaking his head.
"Zach's definately bothered by it, and I said I'd speak to the school, and if it continued, he asked that we trasnfer him" He shrugged, "But, he's also pretty pissed with Maddie, he was embaressed by her behaviour" He sighed, "He wants to be able to defend himself, like any little boy, having your older sister step in, well.." He smiled at Kristen, "He doesn't like being in Maddie's shadow"

Serena stiffened as the G-Force forced her back into her seat, though she calmed at her mother's words. She glanced back, smiling lightly, "Wow" She said, grinning as the plane soon levelled off, and the seatbelt sign flashed off, basically saying people could use the washroom, etc. Serena glanced at her twin, watching her father get up, and grab the carry-on bag filled with all the toys and hand it to Maria.
"There love" Alexi said, settling back in his seat, eyes sliding closed as he immediately began to zone out.

Kristen took a deep breath, brushing her hair from her face as she collasped onto a chair. "I do not understand the point of bullying." Kristen muttered fiercely, shaking her head. "I mean, what does that accomplish?" Kristen asked, holding her forehead as she leaned forward in the chair. Hearing that Zach was upset about Maddie's interference, Kristen sighed.
"Well...she shouldn't have been there in the first place..." Kristen murmured, knowing she'd probably have to have a serious talk with the little girl about all this. "And I understand that Zach would want to defend himself but something like this shouldn't be taken on alone. I could see if he had gotten into another physical fight with Taylor but bullying is just abuse...if Maddie hadn't stepped in, how would we know about this?" Kristen asked, looking up at Demitri then. "How much longer would it have gone on before Zach told us?"

Nick glanced up as Maria took their bags from Maria. He smiled, taking his and handing Serena's hers.
"Here, if you want to color..." Maria said, reaching to the table trays that came down from the back of the seat in front of them. Nick's eyes went wide, since he hadn't noticed that before, and for a moment, he was amused by the workings of the retractable tray. He pushed it up, locking it in place before tossing the switch for it to fall back down. Nick chuckled.
"That's cool. What else is on this plane?" Nick murmured curiously, looking around again before he started to ruffle in his bag for something to do.

Demitri sighed, "We don't know the answer to that love, but, it's not Maddie's fight to fight, and it was not something she had the right to get involved in" He said with a small sigh.
"Bullying doesn't make sense love, but its part of life for kids, Zach spoke to me about it" He sighed, "I'll talk to the school, deal with this" He said with a small smile, "But I still don't agree with what Maddie did, and I'm not going to let this fighting slide. I get she wanted to protect Zach, but she skipped class, and started yet another fight. The school's threatening to expell her Kristen" He sighed, "This has to be delt with, now"

Serena was also surprised by the table, and took her colouring book, and carefully pulled out her coloured pencils. Carefully, she flipped to a clean page, a picture of a unicorn in a forest, and slowly began to line up the colours she wanted to use. Serena was mildly OCD, and tended to be very obsessive over stuff like her coloured pencils. Picking up the black, she began to outline the unicorn, before beginning to shade it in.

"I don't agree with bullying being a part of life..." Kristen murmured, but she did partly agree with Demitri; Maddie had to stop fighting.
Sighing deeply, Kristen ran her fingers through her hair. "Madison. Come down here." she said, loud enough for their daughter to here.
By now, Maddie had her hand wrapped in a small bandage; it was still throbbing but Maddie was choosing to ignore it. She stepped down the stairs slowly, knowing that if Kristen used her full name, it was never a good sign. She turned into the living room causiouly, as if she had no idea what she was stepping into.
"Yes?" Maddie asked softly, looking between Kristen and Demitri with concern and mild curiousity.

Nick glanced over his sister's shoulder, watching her for a moment before finding a lego peice set that he hadn't quite finished yet. Maria helped him keep all the peices on the table, watching the two kids contently as they played. She prayed that they would be amused for the next eight hours...or at least the next six, and then they would fall asleep. Asking them to fall asleep though was almost like asking for a miracle with the twins; they had too much energy.

"Hows your hand?" Demitri asked, watching Maddie curiously, hed'd let Kristen talk to her about the fighting, that was generally how it worked with Maddie, he only stepped in if he felt the need. He looked at Maddie's hand, a small sigh escaping him as he finally took his tie off, having forgotten that he had had it on from work. He glanced at Kristen, rubbing a hand over his face as he heard Zach putting a movie on upstairs. Poor kid, he was very much cutting himself off from the rest of the family, from school lately.

Serena glanced at her twin, picking up her green pencil crayon, after carefully replacing the black one. She knew her twin wondered about why she was so obsesive about her pencil crayons, she couldn't explain it, but her mom and dad seemed to understand. She sighed, glancing out the window occasionally, colouring in between glances. She rubbed her eyes, looking around as she looked at Nick, a small smile on her face.
"What lego set is that?" She asked curiously.

"Fine." Maddie lied with a small shrug. "I can move it." she murmured, flexing her fingers softly as if to prove the fact. With the way it was wrapped, Maddie couldn't clench her hand, and even attempting it hurt. There was a small thin red line forming on the bandage, since her cut was still bleeding slightly.
"Your lucky you didn't break it." Kristen said, subtleing voicing the reason why she had called Maddie down. The little shifter was quick to pick up on her Mother's tone, and she stepped back in slight shock.
You're honestly upset about this?" Maddie asked, as if she didn't believe this. "When I had a solid reason this time?"
"There is no solid reason for starting a fight." Kristen said clearily.
"He was asking for it." Maddie protested.
"I don't care if he was three inches from your face. That doesn't give you a reason to start a fight." Kristen repeated, shaking her head gently. Maddie took a deep breath and looked away from her mother, down at the floor, obviously angry.
"So you expected me to stand by, and do nothing, while my brother was being verbally abused?" Maddie asked, doing the best she could to keep the hostility out of her voice, knowing very well that it would set Demitri on edge if she didn't.


Nick glanced up at his sister with a small smile. "One that I got for our birthday." Nick explained softly. It was a small set that when finished, was a small red racecar. He worked slowly and diligently, making sure he put every single peice in the right place before finding the next one.
Within the next twenty minutes, Nick had his racecar that could be rolled across his table. He smiled.
"Very good darling." Maria said, watching as Nick drove the car around on an imaginery track. Glancing over the top of Nick's head, Maria glanced at what Serena was coloring. "That's very pretty sweetie." she said, smiling at her daughter.

Demitri sighed, "Maddie, what Taylor did was wrong, no one's arguing that point. But it wasn't your fight" He said, trying to keep the anger and frusturation from his voice.
"You skipped a class Madison, left a class to spy on your brother, and then start a fight with a boy who was yonger then you" He said, shaking his head, frowning softly.
"We appreciate you defending Zach, but this was his problem, he's responsible for this issue, telling a teacher, or us" He said, his voice hinting that she had overstepped her bounds.
"It wasn't your fight Madison"

Serena glanced at her mother, "Thanks" She said softly, glancing at her twin.
"Oh. that's cool" She murmured to Nick, her brown eyes amused. She continued colouring lightly, outling the images in a darker shade, before lighty colouring them in. She rubbed her eyes, "How much longer?" She asked, wondering how long they'd been flying for now.

Maddie bit down hard on her tongue to keep herself from saying something she would later regret while Demitri talked. She took a deep breath, unable to hold back the small growl of frustration in the back of her throat.
"If it was mom you wouldn't say that." she mumbled, shaking her head as she folded her arms over her chest.
"Excuse me?" Kristen asked.
"I said if it were you, Dad wouldn't be saying that it was your problem. He would be the first one to step in because he cares so much about you." Maddie said, shaking her head, looking more hopeless then angry at this point. "You guys always talk about how family is important and we have to watch out for each other. Yea, I skipped class, yea I hit a kid, yea it was wrong. Ok, I get that, but I'd do it all over again if I was given the choice."
"Well then your grounded for the rest of the month." Kristen said. "You come home do your homework, stay in your room until dinner, shower and bed. No t.v., no phone, no going outside, no puzzles."
"Fine." Maddie said, turning around then and heading upstairs, her door closing to say she was in her room.
Kristen sighed heavily, falling back against the couch, rubbing her face like the whole conversation had drained her physically.


Maria chuckled, glancing at her watch. They hadn't even made it three hours before Serena asked the question.
"Quite some time mi amor." Maria murmured softly. "We've only been in the air for an hour and a half." she explained.
Nick was ruffling in his bag again, though his lego car was still sitting on his table. He pulled out his sketchbook then, and his own set of pencils, since Serena had to have her own. He turned to a clean page, glancing at what Serena was coloring before looking back at his racecar. Not touching it, Nick started sketching the small red car, just wanting something to draw.

Demitri frowned, opening his mouth to say something, but Kristen and Maddie cut him off, and she soon was sent off.
"I'm sorry love" He said, going over to Kristen and hugging her lightly, knowing the conversation with their daughter had bothered her immensely.
"I know this sucks love, but, she has to learn" He said softly, "Though, she's right, I would try and step in, though, knowing you, I doubt you'd let me" He sighed, "Just like with that shifter back at school, you wouldn't let me protect you" He sighed, "But still, Maddie has to learn not to over involve herself in everything" He said gently, "And, missing a class is a big deal, there are concequences for her actions, she has to learn that" He said softly.

Serena sighed, glancing at her mother, "Ew" She muttered, mimicking her Mother's voice, a small smile on her face.
She flipped to a new page in her colouring book, carefully beginning to colour it as well.
"Looks good" She said to her twin, beginning to squirm around in her seat, looking a bit annoyed at having to sit still so long. She glanced at her colouring book, trying to distract herself with colouring, which normally worked, but it didn't seem to be working so well right now.

Kristen turned her face into Demitri's shoulder, taking a deep breath in the comfort of his arms. She rubbed her face and sighed deeply.
"I know she's right, and I probably would have done the same..." Kristen murmured softly, which was why it had been so hard on her to punish Maddie. If Kristen had been in her shoes, she would had done just as Maddie did. At their school though, it wasn't exceptable.
"I guess that's where Zach gets it from...." Kristen sighed, knowing she would try and stop Demitri from interferring. Both children had the strongest of Kristen's faults; they were both too proud and too stubborn. Zach thought Maddie was wrong since he wanted to handle the situation himself. Maddie that she was right because she was defending someone she cared about.
"I know..." Kristen said, nodding gently. Looking up at Demitri, Kristen gave a small twitch of a smile. "You need to call the school. Maybe they could transfer Zach into a new class so he doesn't have to deal with Taylor or something..."

Maddie collasped on her bed, laying back and staring up at the ceiling. Tears burned in her eyes and she let them run freely, though she held back her sobs. Maddie looked down at her hand and rubbed the bandages gently as her fingers throbbed painfully. She held her hand to her chest, since both were hurting. She thought about Vlad. After today, Demitri wouldn't let her see him...he probably hadn't even called. Did Vlad already know though? Didn't they feel each others pain? Maybe he was busy...a depressing thought hit Maddie. Maybe he didn't care... Sighing, Maddie brushed the tears away, glancing out the window and watching the clouds roll by to calm herself down.


"I cant get the front right..." Nick grumbled, looking at his half erased and re-drawn picture. He tilted his head to one side for a moment before taking the eraser to his paper again and reconstructing the difficult front nose of the racecar.
"Well, that's better." Maria said, having watched over Nick's shoulder. They really needed to put the boy in an art class whenever possible...he was good for his age, understanding the dimensions of the drawing and the shadding effects...though that might have come from Alayna's teaching.
Seeing Serena ruffling, Nick glanced over at his sister. "Did you bring a book?" he asked, guessing she was getting bored of coloring. "Or your horses? They can ride in the car." Nick said, trying to joke as he pointed to his small legocar.

Demitri sighed, hugging Kristen lightly, "I told Maddie I'd call Vlad today.." He said softly, looking at her with a small smile.
"Do you still want me to speak to him, ask him to comeover, Maddie wants him to, but does letting him violate her grounding?" He asked, arching an eyebrow with her. He sighed, rubbing his eyes. He knew Maddie and Vlad needed to deal with one another, but he was sure that Vlad was busy, and Maddie was grounded, but... He sighed, rubbing his eyes and looking at Kristen curiously.

Serena glanced at her twin, "No, my horses wouldn't fit in that car" She grumbled, though she dug around in her bag some, "Mommy, can I watch a movie?" She asked, arching an eyebrow at her mother.
"I know you packed some new ones, that you and Daddy bought yesterday" She said softly, "Can you put one in for me?" She rubbed her eyes, she figured a movie would help calm her down, and make her stop fidgiting. She sighed, she looked at her mother, eyes wide, hopeful.

Kristen shook her head. "Maddie has had more then enough attention for one day." she mumbled, sighing deeply. "Your brother has other prioities I'm sure." Kristen said, rubbing her neck gently. "Can you please call the school though? You know most of what's happened since Zach told you. I don't want to send him to school tomorrow if things are going to be worse for him because of what happened earlier."

Maria smiled gently at Serena and nodded. She pulled out the bag from under her seat which held the portable DVD player. While she was pulling it out, Maria handed Serena the dvd case.
"Pick something out love." Maria said as she put the batteries into the portable device. Nick ducked his head, since he was sitting between Serena and his mother, not wanting to get hit with DVD's and the bulky player itself.
Once Serena was seated with her movie playing in her lap and her headphones plugged in, Nick sighed and went back to his drawing. Maria rubbed her forehead for a moment, glancing a the children and then over at Alexi. She couldn't help a small laugh; he always slept on plane rides.

Demitri nodded, "You might want to break that news to her love" He said, standing up and going off to the kitchen to make a phonecall. He rubbed a hand over his face, dialing the number of the school and holding a brief conversation in Russian. Hanging up, he glanced up and walked back into the living room, looking for Kristen.
Finding her upstairs, just leaving Maddie's room, he smiled. "Zach will be moved into a new class, starting the day after tomorrow. Due to the issues going on, the school wants Zach to remain home tomorrow, just until things are sorted. As for Maddie, she's on a warning system, one more warning, and she's done Kristen.." He sighed, "They understand shifter fighting, but she's taken it to a new level, plus Taylor's injury will take awhile to recover from" He said, "Apparently she, and we are requested at a student teacher conference, with Taylor's family tomorrow afternoon at the school"

Serena smiled, picking a movie at random, since she had liiked all the ones her mother had brought, and put the headphones in her ear. Half way through Spirt, Stallion of the Cimmaron, her all time favorite movie, she glanced up, pausing it for a moment.
"Mom, can I have something to drink?" She asked softly, rubbing her eyes and absentmindedly biting her finger.

"I'll just tell her Vlad's busy." Kristen murmured, shaking her head gently. As Demitri left, Kristen sighed and stood up slowly. Walking upstairs, Kristen didn't bother knocking, opening Maddie's door to look inside.
Maddie was still laying on her bed, looking out her window which was on the wall Maddie's bed was up against. Hearing the door open, Maddie's eyes didn't even dart over to recognize that Kristen had walked in.
"Your Father told me you were expecting Vlad to come over." Kristen said, ignoring Maddie's cold shoulder. "He wanted me to tell you that he's a bit busy. Maybe at the end of the week he can stop by alright?" Kristen said.
"Fine." Maddie croaked, and as Kristen closed her door, Maddie covered her face with her pillow. Maybe at the end of the week something would come up in West Ireland that Vlad would have to take care off...

Kristen closed Maddie's door gently behind her, glancing up as Demitri walked over and told her what was happening. Hearing about the parent teacher conferense, Kristen sucked in a breath. Four shifters in one room? Never a good combination. "I can take them putting Maddie on a warnging for explusion but a meeting?" Kristen said, shaking her head gently. She didn't like it one bit.
"That'll be interesting..." Kristen grumbled, rubbing her forehead gently. She walked down to Zach room, before stopping mid-way and looking back at Demitri.
"Maybe you should tell him..." Kristen sighed softly; after all, Zach had gone to his father with this.

Maria opened her eyes, hearing Serena ask for something to drink. She nodded to Serena, standing up to reach into the overhead compartment where her carryon was stashed. Pulling the bag down, Maria placed it in her seat for a moment as she ruffled through it. Finding a bottle, Maria handed it to the little girl with a small warning.
"Don't spill it." Maria warned. "Nick?"
"I'm alright." Nick murmured, shaking his head gently. Maria nodded, zipping the bag back up and putting it away before resuming her seat again.

Demitri sighed, "It's mandatory, it'll be fine, you'll have me their, as well as the principal, and Maddie and Taylor's teachers" He said, smiling as he walked down the hall to Zach's room.
"Hey kiddo" He said, sliding onto the bed next to Zach. "Hey Dad" Zach muttered.
"Um, I spoke to the school, their gonna move you to a new class, no Taylor" He said, Zach glanced up at him, smiling.
"Thanks Dad" He said, hugging him lightly, "No problem, um, tomorrow, your mom, sister and I have to go into town, do you mind staying with Keith and Alayna?" He asked, "I don't have school?"
"No, tomorrow you get the day off" He said, smiling, "Okay" Zach said, taking his legs and beginning to play with them, watching his dad wander off.
"Done and Done" Demitri sang out, grabbing Kristen from behind.

Serena smiled, "I wont" She muttered, pressing play on her movie as she sipped from her bottle. She smiled, her excitment bubbling within her as she watched, this movie always made her happy, and made her want a horse even more. She sighed, rubbing her eyes and finishing off the blood, putting the bottle aside as she excitedly giggled at one of the funnier parts in the movie.

"Right..." Kristen murmured, going downstairs when Demitri disappeared to tell Alayna and Keith what was going on.
"Hey." Kristen called, knocking gently on the bedroom door. Alayna came to open it, smiling lightly.
"Hey, what's up?" Alayna asked.
"Would you guys mind watching Zach tomorrow during the day? Demitri and I have a meeting with Maddie at the school." Kristen explained gently with a small, pleading smile.
"Oh, I have an interview tomorrow...but Keith was going to stay behind." Alayna said, brushing her hair behind her ear. Kristen smiled.
"You're gonna get the job?" Kristen asked curiously. Maria's taylor that had fashioned Kristen's-and then Maria's-wedding dress had fallen in love with Alayna's taste in clothes, and had been asking Alayna for a starting portfolio that he could promote. Alayna had been on the fence for a while, though now that she had a liscence and a small car, things seemed to be changing for her.
"Yea I might. I just finished the porfolio he wanted. How come Zach's staying home?" Alayna asked curiously.

And then Demitri was there. Kristen gasped softly, being caught off guard slightly as Demitri arms wrapped around her.
"Um, he was having some issues at school..." Kristen murmured. "It's a long story." she sighed, shaking her head. Alayna frowned but glanced back at Keith with the questoin Kristen had voiced.

Keith smiled, "Sure thing Kristen, I don;t mind hanging out with Zach" He said with a small smile, stretching his arms above his head.
"Not a problem" He liked the little boy, and enjoyed spending time with him. Like Alayna, Keith had gotten a liscence, though he didn't have a job, but lately had been disappearing for days at a time, working for Heaven once again, though nothing dangerous, no war. He sighed, "Though, if you could be home before six? I have to take off again" He said.

Demitri smiled, "We can be home before six Keith, no problem" He smiled, "Congrats Alayna" He said, "On the interview, the tailor is very, very good" He said, smiling lightly and grinning at Keith and Alayna.
"Well, I'm off to shower" He said, kissing Kristen lightly, figuring she'd either stay with Alayna and Keith, or head upstairs to lie down.

Alayna leaned against the door as Keith came up to join the crowd. She rubbed her forehead against her arm as Keith mentioned he would be leaving again. She sighed softly, though looked back up as Demitri addressed her. She smiled in thanks, though it was slightly obvious that Alayna was nervous. The tailor worked for a big firm (Alayna had researched) and his designs competed in the top-of the line fashion that would call the shots for the rest of the year; it was intense.
"I hope it all goes well anyway." Alayna said with a shrug. She really wanted no deal in the marketing; she would merely be paid for her designs on specific cloth lines. And since the tailor had seen Alayna's wedding dresses, he wanted more.

"Thanks Keith." Kristen sighed as Demitri left. Alayna saw how drained Kristen was, and she rested her hand on Kristen's shoulder, giving the shifter a small boost of energy. Kristen smiled thankfully, looking up at her friend with a deep intensity in her eyes.
"Is it Maddie too?" Alayna murmured softly, knowing something with Zach wouldn't be this stressing on her friend.
"A good part of it. You know Maddie." Kristen said with a sad nod and a sigh, running her fingers through her hair.
"You should go lie down. You look ready to pass out." Alayna said, still holding Kristen's shoulder. Kristen nodded, almost in an obedient way before looking up with another thanks and leaving to collasp upstairs. Alayna winced.
"I haven't seen her that drained since that New Years party Maria and Alexi threw..." Alayna murmured softly, rubbing her arms gently.

Keith sighed, "Well, she does have to active children, who have been having issues at school" He murmured, hugging Alayna from behind. "She'll be fine, she just needs some down time" He said, kissing the back of her head.
"And you're exahusted as well, you've been working your butt off the last few days" He said softly, "On your portfolio and stuff" He muttered, "I'm sorry I have to leave again love, but I'm needed, ever since I got my promotion" He sighed, he had been promoted, thanks to his older brother, and was now working full time for heaven, just on earth, thanks to the deal he had cut with the bosses.

Demitri slipped fromthe shower, a towl wrapped loosely around his waist. He sighed, seeing Kristen basically passed out on the bed and went over, carefully sliding her under the blankets, his brown eyes sad. He kissed her lightly, "Get some sleep love" He muttered, pulling his boxers on and toweling his hair dry as he slid in next to her, though he didnt go to sleep, wasn't even close, instead he flipped his laptop open, and began to work on the books for the next few days, since he doubted he'd be going into the office.