And we wait...

[angela]

Standing on the edge of the pier, Rayleigh-Charlotte watched as the sun finally dipped down into the water, casting hues of orange, pink, red and purple in the lightly clouded sky. Spinning lightly on her heel, she sighed, the lights just starting to flicker on dimly over the small town. *The town, my place? No that doesn't sound right. It's probably just another place where I'll stay and then skip out in a few once they come a lookin' for me... again.* Twisting her pretty lips into a downwards scowl, Charleigh, sighed, her dark almond eyes scanning quickly down one length of the beach, back up and down the north end.
Her camera bag slung loosely over her shoulder, she carefully put one foot forwards, pressing down lightly, as if a landmine were buried within the depths of the rock pier. Finding her long and swinging stride, she let her legs swiftly carry her down the length of the beach. The night air starting to pick up a cool chill as the wind gained speed, feeding off the ocean waves. The smell of salt stinging her raw throat, how long had it been since she had drunk last? Oh god, it felt like forever.
Her hands unconsciously curled into tight fists as she crossed her arms over her chest. *Why? Why? Why? Why does it always have to end like that? Why does it always seem to happen to me? Couldn't it happen to anybody else, even just once? Hey God, if you're up there listening to me for once tonight, could you just help me out, even just a little. Something really, maybe send a nice person, like somebody I could maybe trust this time? Eh? That isn't too much to ask you is it now? Come on really, I bet this must be the most you've heard from somebody like me in a long time? How long has it been now anyways? Eh? Yeah, right. Why am I asking you the questions, it's not like you're going to be answering me anytime soon. Right-o there bud. A big pat on the back for you.*
Stopping suddenly, it dawned on her that she had not a trace of idea where she had let her body carry her while being in her somewhat-unconscious state. Groaning and with the shake of her head, she scanned the beach around her, her eyes falling on an outcrop of rocks. Shrugging, she made her wave over and flipped open her bag, pulling out the tiny blanket she carried. Picking a spot hidden in the midst of the rocks, she spread the blanket out and then carefully placed the camera bag - her camera bag, her sole prized most possession - and then sat down, back up against the rocks, watching the night close in over the town and the wind sweep over the rolling waves, crashing upon the beach, sending a shiver down her spine...

[hannah]

Jackson's life these days seemed to be all about Lucy. He followed the silly dog into the barn but that didn't end so badly because he found Blue Moon. But now he was sitting on the beach barefoot and shirtless. It felt wonderful outside and Jackson didn't mind the looks that all the women gave him as they walked by. Tonight he wasn't really in the mood for playing though.
Unless fetch with Lucy counted. That was a different kind of game than he played with women.
He was just looking for the right spot to sit and throw Lucy her favorite ball. She was right on his heels jumping up randomly trying to take it from his hand. Amazingly he was quicker than her and had kept her from getting it for a the long walk on the beach.
"Just, chill," he finally told her. He plopped down on the sand. "Well sit here and-" Jackson threw the ball into the water and off Lucy went. She was a flash of red and white as she jumped into the surf. The man had to give it to the dog. She was skilled at this whole retrieving thing. Maybe that's because she was bred for it though.
The tide had taken the ball out a little further than Jackson through it but he knew that she could handle the waves so he took his eyes off her for a moment. He scaled the rocks for any signs of human life. No one seemed to be near them. They were all closer to the pier and the rocks.
It seemed that they were alone to have some man and mans best friend bonding time. Not like they didn't get enough of it already.

[angela]

Charleigh could feel her eyes lids getting heavy, but she refused to late sleep fall on her again. Not like this, not when the sky was becoming so ominous and almost to the point of threatening. It seemed like the airs of threat and uncertainty followed her around everywhere these days. Shaking her head, she shifted her weight, leaning forwards, closer to the spray of water as the incoming waves pelted the rocks. A flash of auburn and white in the water suddenly brought Char back to alertness. This wasn't normal, was it?
Shifting her weight again and gathering her bag, she moved into a crouching position, ready to jump up and run if it should become necessary. She knew she could be friendlier than this - at one point in her life-, but she just wasn't sure about it right now. To many factors were in play, were they still trying to find her, was it just a dog, somebody's beloved animal?
Kneeling now Char let her brown eyes investigate the growing shadows on the beach. At first glance, her eyes skimmed right over the man and fell on the bolting dog. The dog coming her way. Fear kicked in, but at the same time, the adrenaline did too. Glancing around again, this time her eyes caught sight of the other human, motionless, as if set in stone. His eyes weren't looking her way and she felt her fear drop a notch. She suddenly felt more at ease, almost safe - but that would be stretching it a bit. The fact then hit her, they weren't looking for her here, at least not yet, if they ever would. Would they?
Running her fingers through her short brown curls, Char found herself standing slowly. The same first tentative steps coursing through her. The camera bag found it's secure place back over her shoulder and she took the first careful steps into the range of the bounding dog and near visuals of the man.

[hannah]

"Good girl, Luce," Jackson called with a big smile on his face as the dog came bounding back with the green and orange tennis ball in her mouth. "Drop it." Lucy immediately obeys and waits for the ball to be thrown again. But, that was before something caught her eye. Before Jackson could even get out the words "Lucy stay" she darts off in the opposite direction of the blue water.
Jackson hit the ground and then pivoted his body to see where the dog had gone off to. Normally she was well behaved and didn't stray far from him. He'd never had to doubt her training before this moment.
There was a girl. A skiddish looking girl and Lucy was headed straight for her, with a wagging tail.
"Damnit Luce," Jackson cursed before starting to stand up again. He brushed some of the sand off of his legs before starting to walk up the beach to where he was sure Lucy had already greeted the girl.

[angela]

The man's husky voice carried over the wind. A deep and new southern sound to it. This sound rung in her ears like something she never heard. Growing more curious with each cautious step she was just shaking on the inside, *This isn't me. What the fuck am I doing!? Hell, I should have run the other way, but I can't. I want to, but my feet, they won't let me. Dammit.* The words teaming in her mind were harsher than she would have imagined, it was just another human, was he not?
The pup rocketed towards her, tail wagging, ears flapping, eyes bright. This motion, it looked so free, and so happy. Something she had forgotten about so much in the past while. It warmed her to see the pup bounding her way in some strange reasoning. Really she ought to be more scared, this was a strange and new animal she'd never met, for all she knew it could be coming to attack her in it'd mad dash. *No! No it's not! Stop thinking that way. Just don't make any sudden movements. He could be undercover. This could be another of those ploys! Just don't say I didn't warn you!* her mind taunted her, but she shoved the voice back, trying to grasp the situation at hand.
The man had hit the sand pretty fast but gotten up equally as fast. This intrigued her even more. *Who is he? He... he.. he... I don't know, but my damn..* Flashing her eyes back down to the sand before her, the dog lunged forward and plowed into the girl. Unprepared for the blow from the pup, she stumbled back, her hands instinctively cradling the camera bag as her knees buckled and she went down.
Leaning away from the excited dog. She slowly put one hand forward, flat out, waiting for the Spaniel to make her move.

[hannah]

Upon colliding with the girl Lucy stood staring at her for a moment and then darted forward and licked her face. She'd gotten what she wanted so she sat back on her haunches and waited for something to happen.
Jackson, on the other hand, was not pleased with his dogs actions. Jogging up the sand he decided if it didn't kill him running to the dog, he'd kill her. It was rude to knock people down and Lucy knew that. Paige had only spent months teaching her that.
Paige also taught you patience, his subconscience reminded him. That stopped Jackson in his tracks. It took a shake of his head before he continued up the beach towards his dogs' victim.
"Hey, I'm, look, real sorry," Jackson stumbled out. Normally he had no problem talking to girl but his dog had never possibly injured a girl before either. "Are you alright? Let me help you up?" It was a question, not a command. He extended an arm and was oddly aware of his farmers tan in this sun.

[angela]

A small half giggle like sound escaped from between the girls part lips, it sounded so strange to herself. She hadn't laughed in the longest time, had she? Propping herself up into a more sitting position, she eyed the dog, her brown eyes slowly shifting to the man crunching towards her over the sand. *He must be the pups owner. Why else would he come this way?*
As he came closer, Charliegh took the moment to search him over. He seemed simple enough and clean, not clean as in a shower lately, but free of any handcuffs, radios or guns. Seeing this, she decided she could come to trust him, if he played his cards right.
Looking up, but still in her sitting position. Rayleigh silently weighed her options, but when he spoke again, spoke to her, not the dog, her heart gave a little shudder, both out of fear, but of something else she couldn't quite name, but she knew it was something she was not overly familiar with.
Not trusting herself to speak right away, she just gave a nod of her head, an acknowledgement. His next question was friendly enough, almost apologetic. It wasn't like someone who was coming after her to apologize.
"Yeah, I think I'm pretty good. Just a little shaken, that's all," Char replied slowly, her voice wasn't like his, she knew it. Not only was it because she was Canadian, but she hadn't had a drink in such a long time, or at least it felt that way.
A half-smile found her lips as he reached his hand out for her, carefully she moved, as if to just make sure she wasn't hurt, reaching with her left hand she caught his. His hand was warm around hers, and he felt strong. With caution still, she started to allow this new stranger into her world as he helped her up.

[hannah]

Jackson waited with his arm outstretched and his handing waiting for the girl to decide if she wanted to put hers in his or not. After a moment he offered her a small smile. "I'm glad. Lucy may be two, but she's still very much puppy," he laughed. When the girl placed her hand in his a tiny electric shock pumped through him. But he ignored it and pulled her to his feet in a manor that just seemed to be polite. "I'm Jackson," he smiled again, "And this," he pointed to the dog," as I said is, Lucy."
The Spaniel wagged her tail at the mention of her name. "Say hi, Luce..to, well, girl whose name we don't know."
And there it was. That charm he was known for.

[angela]

With his help, Char was able to amble to her feet, and take a small step back. She felt a small flush of colour rise to her cheeks as he made the introductions. Turning her head slightly, as to look away, she hoped he wouldn't notice the change in her colour.
Taking in his smile, Rayleigh felt herself stretching more to her full height. Her dark skinned, slender frame was muscular and her muscles everywhere screamed as she stood tall.
"Jackson," she let the name roll off her tongue like it had always been there. "Lucy." The girl gave the pup a quick ruffle behind the ears as she sat next to her master. Looking back to Jackson, she smiled, a bit warily, "I'm Rayleigh, but usually just go by Charleigh, or just Char."

[hannah]

"Rayleigh," he tried out the name and let his smile reach his eyes. "That's a pretty name but I'm just trying to figure out how you get Charleigh from that," he tiltled his head to the side. "I get the 'Leigh' part, but the rest I'm not sure on. What do you think Lucy?" He looked down at the dog who cocked her head to the side as if she was just as confused about this concept. "Care to explain?"
Jackson was being awfully friendly and forward. His friendlyness knew no boundaries. "You can call me Jax if you like."

[angela]

"The Char part of the Charleigh from the Rayleigh," she hestitated a brief second but decided it wouldn't matter to him, just pure curiosity, not something he'd want to use against her. The look in his eyes started to talk to her alone, drawing her in, and she couldn't help but let herself fall in.
Checking back in with reality, Rayleigh shook her head to quickly clear her wandering mind. "Right. Sorry. My birth name, it's Rayleigh Charlotte. When I was little my parents.. they would, sign my forms using that name. It eventually just got to the point where they didn't care anymore and informally shortened it, and it's the way I've rolled since."
"Nice to meet you Jax. It's good to finally know someone else around here. Wait, you live around here, right?" A hint of alarm struck her question at the end, a sliver of almost panic seeping into her eyes as she searched his face, even though she didn't want to.

[hannah]

Jackson stared at her with blank eyes for what seemed like forever. This girl confused him more than just about anything else in his life. And he'd only been talking to her for no more than five minutes. "That just confused the living hell out of me. Some I'm going to ask no more questions and just call you Charleigh. Fair deal?"
He thought it was fair anyhow.
"Yeah, I live at Second Chance Farms, sorta. Sometimes I live in Hattiesburg sometimes I live in Canton. But that's a long story."

[angela]

As the confuse crossed his face, she couldn't help but give an easy laugh. "If you stick around long enough, you'll get a lot more confusion from someone like me," she flashed him a simple friends grin. "No worries. Charleigh is perfect."
This time it was her for the confusion. "I think I've heard of Second Chance, you'll have to give me some credit for that. But as for Hattiesburg and Canton, you've lost me."

[hannah]

Jackson laughed again. "You're not American are you? I'm a dumb southern boy but I'mma bet your Canadian?" He half guessed. "Hattiesburg is in Mississippi where I was born and Canton is in Georgia where I grew up. There all three home really."

[angela]

"Dumb southern boy," she scoffed, "You might want to check that fact again. But you're right on that. A runaway Canadian you could say. Another long story."
She shook her head in awe, "Three homes? You lucky man."
A slightly foolish grin slipped to her lips as she slipped down into a more casual stance. "Mind if we walk, just hate standing around sometimes." Without waiting for an answer, she let her legs carry her forwards, her stride yearning to stretch into a run.