Their Violence, Your Silence.

When Katie and Cas were finally done with me it was exactly eight o'clock. One look in the mirror told me I looked nothing like myself.

My hair had been straightened so it wasn't it's unruly curly mess. Straightened it was a lot longer then I expected reaching to my tailbone easily. They'd braided a few locks and tied them back so my hair couldn't fall in front of my face.

I hated that because it meant I couldn't hide my face when I was blushing or anything of the like and I just knew Caleb was going to make me blush. A lot probably.

They'd done make up too but I was glad to see not a lot of it. Just some eyeliner and mascara, behind the glasses it made my eyes look even bigger then normal. I'd been biting my lip a lot so Katie said to forget about lipstick, I'd probably ruin it.

I didn't mind that. I hated lipstick.

They'd even done their best to camouflage the cuts on my forehead and the bruises on my throat.

I was wearing a dress, it was black with a slightly puffy skirt that came down to my knees and a white flower pattern on one side. The top was snug and I felt exposed when I saw the bit of cleavage showing.

I'd been utterly surprised when Cassie appeared with a set of boots to go with the dress. Black leather, knee high, combat style type of boots. There were roses on the side though, red roses that made them look more feminine.

The combination made me look sort of rebellious. I liked it. Especially paired with a short leather jacket Katie had supplied for the occasion. It seemed like they had it all planned out even before I knew I'd be going on a date.

'Alright now, don't be shy okay? You know Caleb, and make sure to kiss him before the end of the date!' Was the advice the girls gave me before they ushered me down the stairs just as the door bell rang.

My heart was pounding in my throat now, what if Caleb didn't like the new outfit? Maybe the make up was too much? Where was he going to take me? I nearly tripped over my own feet on the last stair.

Cassandra’s mother had opened the door and Caleb looked as always completely amazing. Designer Denim's riding low on his hips, a ripped hole on his left knee. His own pair of combat boots underneath and a white dress shirt that appeared to be his attempt at semi formal clothing. The top button undone to show just a slight hint of his muscular chest.

His usual slightly worn leather jacket on top of it all gave him that dangerously male look I'd found so incredibly irresistible. I really just wanted to run my hands through his messy sun touched brown hair and hide my face in the crook of his neck.

'Wins,' was all he said when he saw me though, reaching out a hand for mine. 'You look beautiful.' I smiled up at him, relieved that he liked what I was wearing, and took his hand.

'Thanks all!' I yelled over my shoulder to my friends as I followed Caleb out to his car.
Caleb had swiftly pulled away from the curb and we were now speeding out of the city. 'So are you going to tell me where we're going?' I asked him, bouncing in the soft suede seat.

Nervous that I wasn't dressed properly for what we were going to do all of a sudden.
Caleb laughed, 'Relax Win, we're going to the fair. Almost there too.' Just as he said that I could see the lights of the Ferris Wheel come into sight.

A real fair? I didn't even know there was one right now! I'd never been to a fair before but I'd heard Katie gush about it and about date's with boys there to know enough. I really hoped Caleb wasn't going to ask me to go on the Ferris wheel so we could kiss and make out...

Nonetheless I was very excited, I didn't really know what kind of stuff there was to do on most fairs, other then what I'd seen on the TV in movies and such.

The fair was situated on a large field inside the park and we had to walk a little while from the parking lot to get to the entrance. On the way there Caleb talked about stuff like we usually did in school or like we had yesterday, it calmed my nerves.

It had nothing to do with the fact that his warm hand was on the small of my back just underneath the short leather coat Katie had supplied. Although I had to admit it help anchor me to the here and now. Preventing me form letting my imagination run wild.

I was to busy staring at everything when we reached the entrance to notice Caleb buying tickets to enter or the few low words he exchanged with the guy in the ticket booth. All I saw was the mass of people and the blinking and flashing lights everywhere with that semi cheery music blasting through crackling speakers.

The scent of cotton candy and corn-dogs filled the air. Mixed together with the smells of animals and wasn't hard to spot the small pen with goats and bunnies and the like. I could even see a few ponies little kids could take a ride on.

'Like what you see?' asked Caleb suddenly from beside me. His hand returning to the warm spot at the small of my back. Guiding me onwards into the crowd.

I smiled at him, 'Very much.'



I was currently sitting on a small bench looking out over the lake, the noise of the fair behind me and the lights reflected on it's smooth surface.

I was in fact trying to eat cotton candy without getting the sticky stuff all over my face and hands. Obviously I was failing miserably and so was Caleb.

We'd been in several rides and seen most of the stands by now. I'd never laughed so hard in my life as when Caleb tried to win a teddy bear for me. A little shame faced he'd told me he had the worst aim ever.

I felt happy and content now. If dates were always like this I really ought to go out more. But I was pretty sure it mostly had to do with Caleb. I really liked how relaxed and easy going he was, he had a thousand questions to ask as if he wanted to know every little detail about me.

'This isn't working,' I told Caleb, dumping the remains in the trash and then turning around to pluck a strand of the pink stuff off his cheek.

He laughed, 'I agree, but it tastes so good!' reaching out he removed some from my own face with a smile. 'You look really pretty tonight Wins, you're smiling a lot, does that mean you're enjoying yourself?'

The mischief in his eyes told me he already knew the answer of course. I couldn't help but blush though as I nodded slowly, 'This is amazing Caleb.' Then I surprised myself by saying: 'Lets go on the Ferris Wheel next.'

Bad girl! Here you where thinking that that's where they usually try to kiss the girl. Even going as far as to hope he wouldn't wanna do that! And I go and ask him myself... Of course I knew Cas and Katie would be very proud of me now.

Caleb seemed unaware of my inner dialogue though as he nodded and got up off the bench. Already reaching out his hand to help me like a gentleman.

We'd just turned around to walk back to the fair when I heard the voices. I couldn't help but groan loudly and Caleb immediately stopped walking. 'What's wrong?' he asked.

'Think Marley and her gang are nearby... I can hear them talking.'

Caleb looked a little impressed when he said: 'Really? You recognize them from this far?' But he stood still to listen closely before hurrying me along to a more crowded place.

For a moment I worried if that was because he didn't want to be seen with me but then I felt stupid. He'd already broken up with her and he certainly hadn't left my side for almost two weeks now. It was stupid to think something like that.

It seemed faith wasn't smiling on us however because we turned a corner in the crowded lanes between the stands and rides and walked right smack into two of Damiens friends. The Ferris wheel looming right behind them, taunting us with it's closeness.

To make matters worse: Marley and her gang seemed to come up from behind us. They hadn't spotted us yet but they would soon... there weren't many places to hide.

Caleb came to the same conclusion it seemed because he squared his shoulders as if preparing for a fight and drew me closer to him and slightly behind so the guys couldn't get near me. He even turned us a little so we could face both ways and see Marley and her group clearly as well.

'Is that Caleb?' I heard one of the guys say followed by the other one saying: 'Yeah and he scored a hot date too!'

'Hey Caleb! What's up?' the first one then yelled, obviously thinking it was okay to say hello. The other one hit him with his elbow though hissing something to his buddy that I couldn't quite understand but I was sure it was something along the lines of: we're not talking to Caleb! Remember?

Caleb was wary but still friendly when he greeted both guys by their names. Nodding in their direction. Then he looked back at Marley with her friends who were fast approaching now.
I was happy to see Damien wasn't among them though, maybe he wasn't allowed to go out? I sincerely hoped so.

'Caleb!' Marley's voice screeched when she spotted us, they were about ten feet away now. But I suppose she'd been too engrossed with talking to her friends to notice us before.

I looked up and met her eyes, knowing that she was staring at me and not at Caleb. She seemed a little confused though, as if she couldn't place who I was. Did a little change of clothes make such a big difference?

'Who's that with you Caleb? Got tired of that stupid geek already?' asked Marley then, somehow coming to the conclusion that she did not know me. The tone of her voice was smug as if she was thinking: 'I told you so!'

Caleb's arm around my waist tightened a little more, I was pretty much pressed flush against his side now. Allowing me to feel the muscle underneath his shirt and the warmth radiating from him.

'Never Marley, I wouldn't tire of her. This is Winter!' said Caleb, his voice already sounded angry. Was this going to come to a fight? One look at those friends of Damiën told me that they were very excited, already rolling their shoulders and flexing their muscles.

One of the girls in Marley's group gasped and said: 'Look at the glasses! I think he's right, this is that stupid geek!' Marley glared at the girl so fiercely that the girl staggered backwards a little.

Caleb was about to open his mouth to retort something angrily but I squeezed his arm to stop him. He was only making it worse this way... We just really needed to get away from them, I did not want this to turn into a fight.

He looked down at me with his beautiful green eyes in question so I leaned up to whisper: 'They're not worth it, lets just try to get away without this escalating alright?'

I was glad to see that he nodded slowly and that he stopped glaring to look around again. Clearly he was looking for away out now.

'You asshole!' yelled one of the boys suddenly. Jumping forward he punched Caleb straight in the face. 'That's for hurting Marley!' Shocked I saw blood dripping from Caleb's nose.

A second punch followed which Caleb dodged but in doing so he let go off me and pushed me back hard enough to slam me into a tent pole holding up a stretch of canvas. The canvas dumped it's heavy load of water on me, soaking my hair and shoulders.

I didn't see what happened next, too busy to wipe the water from my glasses so I could see again. But when I could see again I saw Caleb wrestling with both guys and several of the girls from Marley's gang cheering them on.

There were other spectators, some of them screaming at them to stop, most egging them on but no one stepped in to pull the guys apart.

As far as I could tell, Caleb was mainly trying to defend and dodge, the few punches he threw aimed to disable without serious injury. Both other guys weren't so nice though.

Marley suddenly appeared in front of me. 'You should have stayed away from my man, you whore!' she snapped, flipping a lock of her blond hair over her shoulder.

'You will pay! Both of you!' then she turned on her heel and stalked away. Her gang followed her like an obedient pack of dogs.

The guys gave Caleb a last hard shove and I saw him sink to his knees. Then they turned and followed Marley as well. One of them had busted lip that was dripping blood down his chin and a nasty black eye forming. The other guy was limping badly.

'Caleb!' I hurried over to him just as he'd gotten back to his feet. 'Are you alright?' I hurriedly smoothed my hands over his chest to check for injuries, ignoring the amount of blood on his own face.

He was leaning back his head to stop the blood flow so his reply was muffled: 'Fine Wins, I'm good at dodging. Are you hurt anywhere?'

I nodded, 'Yeah, yeah, I'm great, just a little wet... You sure you okay? I couldn't see what was going on well...' I cursed myself for having to wear the stupid glasses once more.

Around us, people were ignoring what had happened and the fact that Caleb was bleeding and went on having fun at the stands. Rushing past us as if we didn't even exist.

*~*~*~*~*

'You sure you don't wanna go home?' I asked for the umpteenth time as I frowned at the bruise forming on Caleb's left cheek.

It didn't look that bad now that all the blood had been cleaned away, except for the few stains on the collar of his white shirt. But I felt really bad about what happened. Because of me Caleb had gotten hurt.

'Wins! I'm fine! And you wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel remember?' Caleb said, a little exasperated by now. His arm was loosely draped around my shoulder this time and he kept scanning the crowd as we stood in line.

I hadn't said anything about the scrapes and bruises on his knuckles yet though. Nor about the tear on his left knee which clearly showed he'd scraped his knee too.

When it was our turn we got into the small booth quietly. It didn't go unnoticed to me that the guy from the ride exchanged a meaningful look with Caleb before he grinned widely. I didn't want to know what that man was thinking.

As soon as the wheel turned and we were moving upwards Caleb wrapped his arm back around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him. 'How did your hair get wet?' he wondered, carefully moving it to the side with his other hand.

'When you pushed me back I bumped into a tent pole... The water on top of the canvas came down...' I replied frowning as I realized my hair had to be a mess now. Everything had been carefully straightened but as it dried all the curls must be returning...

Self conscious I reached up a hand to feel at it and smooth it out a bit but Caleb stopped me. 'You look beautiful Wins...'

Of course that made me blush.

'But it's curling again... It'll be an unruly mess in no time.'

'I love your unruly hair Wins...'

I stared at him in surprise, did he just use the L-word?

His hand was warm on my face as he carefully tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. His thumb softly rubbing across my heated cheeks. Those green eyes of his boring into mine.

'Caleb, why do you spend all this time with me? You're only getting hurt...' he pressed a warm finger to my lips to silence me.

'Wins! That's not your fault... besides I kinda like the thrill,' he added.

I think by now my heart was beating in my throat and it was so loud that he should have been able to hear it. His hand was so warm and his arm around my shoulders gave me tingles. Those ever so green eyes nearly drowning me.

I hadn't even realized how close Caleb's face was to mine until I felt his breath flit across my lips. I stopped thinking about whether or not it was safe for Caleb to be with me , stopped worrying about what Marley's warning words could mean.

'I'm going to kiss you now,' whispered Caleb, and then a warm pair of lips covered mine.

It was perfect, soft and sweet although way to short. His lips molded after mine and my toes curled in my shoes. A billion butterflies rushing through my stomach and then out so my whole body felt warm and tingly.