Aaron "Sullivan"

When Aaron was left in the quarters, when silence enveloped the room, everything seemed still. For a moment, he felt he had complete rational control over himself. It gave him the time to think; he should leave the town for a couple days. Like he does when he goes into the mountains. But this time, he should bring Juniper; he could use the company right now, even if he didn't talk about anything related to his ex.

He took a deep breath. Footsteps sounded, and at a quick glance, he recognized Evanne going to sit on the bed behind him. He looked down at his pack while she began to talk; her presence and voice made his muscles want to pulverize rock into dust.

"You were the one person I thought... I thought you of all people wouldn't call me that." She meant when he called her a whore.

"Me too," he said, his voice weak. He wasn't sure what he wanted to say right now, and he waited for her to go on.

"I'll tell you everything... anything you want to know. You deserve that." There was another pause with a tense noiselessness. "I know it doesn't make it okay but I thought we were over... You remember that fight we had? I had stupidly thought I was pregnant..."

"No, you know what?" Aaron interjected sharply, turning to face Evanne, "I'll be damned if you have the audacity try to put the least bit of this on me. I don't need you to tell me a goddamn thing because I know one thing: of all my short comings and screw ups, I sure as hell did not deserve this. And you're right, nothing you can say or do will make what you did okay."

Aaron's voice was loud; some people may have thought he was shouting. But his voice didn't sound ruptured like when people scream. If he wanted to shout, the town would know about it. His eyes fixated on her blood-stained figure.

"In fact, rather than you tell me a bunch of bullshit, let me tell you how things have gone since we 'broke up.' I was scared out of my mind that you weren't prepared to live outside the town. I was scared that maybe you were going to find some ditch to crawl into and die, because you could've been pregnant and no one wanted to hear it. I didn't know what to think or do because you wouldn't talk to me. You never said, 'hey, I'm seeing other people now,' or 'hey, this isn't working out,' or anything! You just left!"

Aaron stopped for a moment, collecting his thoughts. Now he was shouting.

"Do you want to know why I go out into the mountains now? And wander the desert? It's because when you left I hoped that you didn't go too far! I hoped I'd find you somewhere, and if luck was on my side I wouldn't find your corpse! You were gone a whole year, and at some point I had accepted that you were dead! And for all I knew, you had my child too! Well it's good to know you had someone's child. Waited some ungodly long time to tell anyone that. And the best part was when you came back, still didn't talk to me, and flaunted your child around like it was some trophy."

Turning back to his backpack, Aaron stuffed some food into the top and zipped it up. Hoisting it over his shoulder, he faced Evanne once more.

"I won't ever... be able to understand," Aaron began to say, a deep seriousness overtaking his tone, "how you could ever do something so twisted. Now... if you know what's best for your little family now, you'd run off to your boyfriend, keep him out of my sight, and take care of your bastard child."

With that, Aaron started to walk out of the room.

As soon as Evanne dropped his hand, Noah regretted his reaction, but before he could try to take it back, she was off, pacing the room and not meeting his eyes. His eyes locked on the blood swiped across her forehead that she didn't seem to notice. His blood.

"God, Noah. Do you realise I've loved you since we were kids?"

That grounded him. Through the sedatives starting to swim through his thoughts, he tried to get a word in edgewise. "I didn't-" he started, but Evanne continued.

"Pamela has nothing to do with this!" he countered. His voice was too loud, but he couldn't stop himself once he had started. "You know damn good and well that I don't care what the whole town thinks. At least not when it comes to you!" She was trembling as she spoke back to him, and he lowered his voice to respond. "I never thought of you as a one night stand. I thought it was the beginning; I never once considered that it would be the end."

"I know that we made a mistake..."

A mistake, he thought.

"We were both hurting. I thought Aaron had just broken up with me... but he hadn't." Just like that, she was crying, and Noah felt guiltier than he'd ever felt before.

"Aaron?" Noah vaguely remembered something about them being together, but he'd been so busy pining after her that he hadn't thought of Evanne wanting anyone else, much less being in another relationship.

"That was my mistake. I should have made sure. He came over like everything was fine and... I just had to run... I swear I didn't know I was pregnant," She spilled. Noah's tongue felt heavy, his mouth not ready to form the words he truly needed to say. "I'm sorry... I-I can't do this right now and you need to rest. I... I'll be back okay? I need some air." She was rushing away, and his body was cemented to the bed, weighed down and made immobile by the drugs beginning to kicking in.

"Wait!" he called. "Evanne!" He reached out for her with his good arm, but she was long gone. He was alone in the room, the painkillers numbing his shoulder, waiting uselessly for something to happen or to fall asleep.

---

---

Luke watched Ris leave him to work on his brother. He hoped to hell she knew how to do her job. He'd never been particularly concerned with her skills as a doctor, or really her skills in anything aside from in bed, in the short time they'd been close. But, truthfully, if Luke had to pick anyone in Dust to place the life of his brother in the hands of, it would be Risalda. He, like everyone else in the small town, knew she was still in love with Noah, and love was a powerful thing. Yes, Ris would do anything to save his brother. But, though this brought Luke some comfort, he was perfectly aware that sometimes, all the love in the world couldn't get you what you wanted. The gunshot didn't look like any minor injury he had ever seen, and love alone certainly wouldn't be the difference between keeping his brother in this world rather than the next.

Luke was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he jumped slightly as he felt Juniper lay a hand on his shoulder. "ugh, self-important ass." It took Luke a few moments to understand the words his close friend had said. Those carefree moments only a few minutes ago felt...distant... Like a memory from several months before, not minutes.

Luke somehow found it in himself to chuckle softly. "Look at all this fuss," Luke said softly, a hint of black humor to his voice, "Noah would be so thrilled. Shame he went and got himself shot, he'd love to be watching this..." Then, out of nowhere, Luke took a deep, shuddering breath, fighting the urge to completely lose it.

A few minutes passed before Risalda returned. "He should be fine in a few days, once the bleeding suffices. He's in the back with Evanne."

Luke smiled warmly at her, relief spreading across his face. "Thank you, Ris." Though Luke was sure the gleaming picture of Noah's healthy Risalda had portrayed was probably, to some extent, overly optimistic, to pacify Luke, it was still reassuring to hear, all th same. It did make him feel a little foolish, as though all his anxiety had been over-dramatic, but it was certainly better than the other news they could've recieved.

Luke turned to Juniper. "I'll be back in a moment. I just need to see my brother. Just for a moment." As much of a relief as Risalda's words were, Luke had to see his brother for himself, just to be sure.

Quickly, he slipped into the medical room. Immediately, he was met by the sight of Evanne having what looked like a highly intimate conversation with Noah. Luke knew he should leave, that he was intruding where he shouldn't. But he'd heard something in their conversation. It didn't take more than a few more seconds to realise what they were talking about, and with that, Luke fled from the room.

He reached the pseudo-waiying room where he'd be stood with Juniper just before. His breathing was raggedy and laboured, his heart thudding in his chest. His body thudded against the wall as he made impact with it, before turning and sliding down against it, his hands around the front of his head.

Evelyn was Noah's. She was Noah's daughter. Noah's child. How...how was that possible? How? For such a long time, since he'd first seen the little girl, Luke had been sure she was his. Luke had slept with nearly every girl in town, plenty more than once, and Evanne and him had certainly had their fair share of casual hookups. Though, around the time she was likely conceived, Luke couldn't quite place whether they had been together, once he'd discovered the baby. After all, a significant number of his encounters with women were incredibly blurred by alcohol, and he was with so many he could hardly really be expected to keep track. But he'd been so sure Evelyn was his. When he looked at her, he'd recognised so many of his own features in her face, the classic Ripley jawline, and their familiar eyes. And though he hadn't been entirely wrong, Evelyn was a Ripley, that was for sure, she was not his. Luke had never pushed Evanne to confirm his paternity, believing she would eventually when she was ready. After all, Luke didn't really want children, not then, and especially not a needy, time-consuming baby. He was happy to stand to the side and let Evanne deal with the difficult part, become her father later on. But that wasn't to say Luke hadn't watched out for her in her infancy, watched over her and loved her. But she wasn't his. She wasn't his baby.

Luke looked up at Juni, his body shaking. "Evelyn," he managed to mutter from between gritted teeth, trying to catch his breath. "Evelyn, she's Noah's..." He knew she'd understand, having mentioned his theory to her in the past.

"I'll be back in a moment. I just need to see my brother. Just for a moment."

Juniper nodded her head at Luke's words. Of course he needed to see Noah, he didn't need to be so tentative about it. Though she supposed that was for his own sake not for hers. As Luke left Juniper completely alone with the all too infamous Evelynn she looked at the drowsy kid and asked "Rough day, huh?" With that Evelynn looked at Juniper with those bid blue eyes and then suddenly lulled to sleep. Perhaps it was too much commotion for the little one. After all, she had been crying nearly this whole time since the gun went off. Juniper sighed as she realized as she was talking to an infant that was too tired to even care. Juniper frowned, despite the good news the Noah was going to be just fine she still worried.

This was town was going to shit, and quickly. Perhaps Dust was still too conservative and maybe the newcomers were a stupid idea. Juniper shifted Evelynn to her one side and ran her free hand through her hair. It didn't take long for Luke to come back, but he was not in the mood she expected him. Before he even spoke Juniper could tell that he was upset. His eyes had that dark ember glow in them and his posture was far from relaxed. For a moment, Juniper thought the worst. Had Noah suddenly taken a wrong turn? Was Noah dying? But then Luke spoke. First, Juniper was confused. Why was he talking about Evelynn?

"Evelyn, she's Noah's..."

"What?" Was all the Juniper could muster at first thought. Part of her wanted to laugh, honestly. Juniper was considered the wild child of the town, yet Evanne had managed to sleep with every man with some kind of power. Then she wondered who else Evanne had- No. She didn't really want to know. Though Juniper couldn't really blame her, this town was full of attractive men with good intentions. Well, beside Luke, but most women didn't know how to play his game and simply just got lost in his charm and good looks.

Luke was upset, which surprised Juniper a little bit. They had spoken about their suspicions, but they had never really talked about the fact that Luke have actually wanted a child. The idea made Juniper sick to the stomach for a couple of seconds, remembering Robin. "We're just not meant to have kids," she said dryly. She clenched her teeth for a moment and then shook her head.

"I mean, not yet." Her eyes wandered for a moment and then she let out a sigh. "I'm sorry," Juniper said, brining her attention back to Luke. This wasn't about her. "I didn't know you cared that much," she said honestly. Still holding the little Evelynn she felt the urge to leave this bloodstained, chemical smelling hut. She nervously paced for a moment, trying to listen to Luke.

"We should get out of here."

---

If only she had left a few seconds earlier. God, Ris. She smiled at Luke and watched as he quickly scurried to the back room where his brother lay. Risalda stood there for a moment, and nodded to Juniper, then her eyes grew as she saw Luke come right back almost twice as fast as he'd left.

"Evelyn... She's Noah's..."

It didn't hit this doctor that Luke was talking about her ex-fiancé. Instead, her mind wandered as she stood there dumbly, and in the way. She bit her lip, wondering if Luke had been scared it was his from one of his many lady friends. She shrugged, and sighed as she recalled memories of her, Noah, and Luke when they all could sit in the same room together.

Then, the realization that Noah was a father. A father of a child other than hers, hit her like she ran into a wall. She felt used, and horribly depressed. Risalda looked to Luke, just to make sure that he didn't need medical attention, and started to walk out of the hut, but the scene she had her back to was too much.

"We should get out of here."

She heard Juniper suggest, and Ris turned around slowly. She didn't understand why she even thought about Evelyn. She looked so much like Noah, and it crushed her. But, deep down, she didn't need him anymore. She'd accustomed to her lonely life, and just longed for a friend.

Before she knew it, she was taking a step towards them. "Uhh.. I can take Evelyn if you want. I'll just stay here with her, and take her to see Noah maybe." She paused. "Maybe you two... Need to get out?" She barely chuckled at the end, and scratched the back of her neck. "I understand if you don't.. Trust me." She ended, and nodded to them solemnly.

Entry:
coming up

Chip was a natural at the bow when they started training in the wilderness and now in some ways he was surpassing Pamela. He was hitting moving targets square in the "sweet spot" for a quick death, because nothing was more heart wrenching than a small animal crying in pain. Pamela and Chip spent most of the last two weeks in the wilderness and she loved it. Pamela didn't have to deal with her dad dying, her mom being a tyrant, or any of the town's remedial shit. Her only job was to keep this young boy on a good path. In a way Pamela was getting the family of her own that she always dreamed about. But Pamela was well aware of the rules in Dust about adoption: a child can only be adopted by a stable family, a stable family being defined as two parents. Chip would never be hers unless she found a man she didn't want to kill. There was really only one man in the entire town of Dust that she could see herself with. Pamela told him a few months ago of her feelings for him but he was in a bad place and didn't/couldn't/wouldn't reciprocate. It was embarrassing and it broke her spirit. You can say that Pamela wouldn't be the tyrannical duplicate of her mother if it wasn't for that. Even though Pamela was always more demanding and like her mother, Dana and Pamela were a lot more similar back in the day. Chip brought her back to that. She needed that little brat. She didn't want a son but Chip needed a parent figure and she could adopt him as a little brother...right? She had so many questions that she did not know the answers to.

It was the sound of a gunshot that brought her back to reality.

"Was that a-"
"Yes, Chip," Pamela instinctually held the ten year old closer to her, "it was...which means someone is mad, someone is in trouble, and Noah may be dead." Chip seem to only own a handful of expressions. It was quite hilarious really but now he showed one that even Pamela has never seen...it was fear. He wore every emotion he had right on his face. Pamela knew that was something she would have to teach out of him because in Dust your emotions may get you killed. "We need to go," Pamela took Chip's hand and they made their way back to Dust.

---

Pamela stopped walking when they reached the town an turned to face Chip. "I want you to go to my house and stay with my mother," Pamela rustled her fingers through his dark hair, "she is pretty scary at first....and at second...but she loves children so tell her I sent you." Chip nodded his little head, gave Pamela a hug that might have been too long for normal people, and scurried off to the Clay household. Once Chip was out of her sight Pamela felt the old her returning. Noah decided to let the newcomers stay and someone shot him for it; that much she could guess. Pamela made her way to the guard quarters because one of them would be able to tell her the full story. When she arrived she saw him leaving. He didn't see her because he was preoccupied and seemed out of it. Pamela, in that moment, forgot why she was going to the guards to begin with and ran up to Aaron Sullivan, the only man in Dust she did not want to kill.

"Sully," Pamela stopped in front of him, looking him square in the eye sockets, "I need your help with something."

---

---

"No, you know what? I'll be damned if you have the audacity try to put the least bit on me. I don't need you to tell me a goddamn thing because I know one thing: of all my short comings and screw ups, I sure as hell did not deserve this. And you're right, nothing you can say or do will make what you did okay."

Evanne gave a groan of annoyance. It wasn't coming out how she wanted it to. And he was right. "God, no. I'm not putting the blame on you. I swear." She stood up, shaking her head. "This was all my stupid fault. I'm so sorry." Tears were threatening to overcome her, but she wouldn't let them show. She didn't deserve to cry in front of him.

She bit her lip as he continued. He was shouting now. She forced herself to look at him. She wouldn't look away until he was finished. She deserved it. Well, maybe not all of it.

"I did NOT flaunt Evelynn!" Evanne couldn't help but shout. "I tried to make this easy for everyone. I tried to make this easy on you. I didn't talk to you because I thought you hated me. Thank you for going after me but I needed to leave. I found myself out there. I learned what kind of person I didn't want to be." She told him.

The blonde watched as he turned his back on her and started walking out, well not without trying to get the last word. "I won't ever... be able to understand, how you could ever do something so twisted. Now... if you know what's best for your little family now, you'd run off to your boyfriend, keep him out of my sight, and take care of your bastard child." It wasn't the 'bastard' part that pissed her off. It was the 'boyfriend' part.

She stomped out after him. "You know, you were my first. I love you and I will always love you. But we were never perfect together. We tried to be, but that didn't make things so. And he's NOT my boyfriend. I don't even know if I want him as my boyfriend. All I know is that I'm trying to make things right with you." She told him. "I know you it will probably never happen, but I want to try to make things right."

Evanne stopped short when she saw Pamela came up and said, "Sully, I need your help with something."

Sighing, she shook her head. This wasn't the best time to talk to him. She should let him cool off. She wrung her hands. "I'm... sorry. Just don't leave town. Come and find me when you are able... We do need to talk." She looked at Pamela, realizing that her shirt and portions of her skin were covered in blood. "Noah's going to be okay... as long as he doesn't push himself too fast. And as long as no one else tries to attack him. It was Bobby Kentwood. Aaron can tell you more. He helped take him down."[/b] And with that she walked off. She stopped by her home and changed out of her clothes into a pair of jeans and a new shirt. She rinsed herself clean then walked back to the medical hut.

Evanne sighed when she saw Ris holding the sleeping Evelynn. If she only knew who her father was, she wouldn't be so happy to hold her. "Hey... Thanks for taking care of her... I can take her if you want to go get some sleep... or if you want to go see Noah... I'm not sure if he wants to see me."

---

---

This was the most exercise Ginny had gotten since they arrived in Dust. And Ginny was definitely feeling it. She held Wren to her chest, trying not to jostle her as she hurried along. But she had to stop short when they were stopped my two men. "Hey! Get your hands off my husband and child!" She shouted at them when she saw the man grab Owen's arm and tussle Micah. The newborn started to cry. That was enough to get her energy back. Sure, Owen and Robin were scary. Hell, Robin got into fights a lot so he was very scary. But there was a reason why Robin and Ginny stopped wrestling when they were kids. Robin would end up hurt. And Ginny was not afraid to hold back. Especially when it meant protecting her family. From Kitty to Tigeress in point five seconds.

Ginny moved past her brother and husband so she was standing very near the men. "Now, there's no reason to threaten these men, Robin." She smiled a little too brightly at the men. "Because these gentlemen are going to escort us home. Isn't that right boys? Because it would be pretty pathetic not to help a family with newborns and a woman who just gave birth, less than a week ago, home, wouldn't it?" She said coolly, looking in between the men.

"In fact, you would be doing this town a favor, wouldn't you? I mean our leader just got shot, standing up for us. How would it look if the town found out that you let something happen to the family he was willing to die for to protect? That would be like you not having any respect for your leader. Might even be a reason for punishment... or worse... banishment. And you wouldn't like it outside the walls of Dust... trust me. It's not for the faint of heart." She said sweetly.

Ginny looked back at her husband and then Robin, checking to make sure they were okay. "Now, if you'd be so kind to help us back to our home..." She turned back to the men looking at their worn clothes and their patchy shoes. "I might even be willing to patch your clothes, and even mending your shoes. You don't have anyone around here who works on and makes shoes, do you? It just so happens that my parents taught myself and my brother to do just that. That would be an asset to Dust, don't you think?

Gruffly, Owen stepped back and wiped away the glob that clung to his eyelid. His face was red. The color of the red hills off in the distance. Red with rage and embarrassment and suppression. He knew that he needed to be on his best behavior, and he knew that just one swing at these idiots could get their probation revoked. Usually Owen had plans. He was calculated that way, always having a plan B, C, D, and sometimes even E. Dust, however, was his only plan. Being kicked out was something that Owen couldn't handle right now. Owen needed to get back on balance before he could come up with more plans. And this incident wasn't helping his optimistic spirit.

About to say something foul, Owen held his baby boy close to his chest, as if to shield the young one from the words that were about to fly from his mouth. But before he had a chance to spit fire Robin took the reins. Owen would live vicariously though Robin for now. As much as he loved and trusted his brother in-law, Owen would much rather Robin be banished than him and Ginny and the twins. Owen's dark sweaty hair began to drip as the elevation of irritation grew between the men. The older man cocked his head while the younger one cracked his knuckles impatiently. Owen noted that they at least had the manners to allow Robin to finish his speech before beating the shit out of him.

Ready to hand over Micah and join his brother in some real life action, Ginny interrupted the manly process. "Because these gentlemen are going to escort us home. Isn't that right boys? Because it would be pretty pathetic not to help a family with newborns and a woman who just gave birth, less than a week ago, home, wouldn't it?" Owen raised his eye brows at her last comment. There was the spicy woman that he had married. Though he felt smug knowing that this woman of his could charm the pants off of these farm folks, he kept the initial look of surprise on his face.

After the first string of shame that Ginny blasted at them the older of two rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right," he mumbled, throwing his hands into the air. He approached Ginny with a dirty grin before saying "You don't know anything about this town, lady." The man had a point, though Owen did have a feeling that most of the people in town were loyal to Noah. Ginny remained perfectly sweet and the older man walked away just before sending them a heart warming "Fuck off."

The younger of the two, however, stood there with bambi eyes. He was obviously the sidekick in this situation. The sidekick that didn't really want the glory. He took off his tattered baseball cap that said '49ers', a slogan that Owen didn't understand. The boy was completely different once that hat was removed. "I..." he started, unsure of how to apologize for his behavior. Ginny kept at him, and by the end of her little talk he was wrapped perfectly around her finger. Regardless of Ginny he was still ready for a fight and looking crooked at Robin to make sure there was no funny business. After gaining enough trust in them he glanced down at his shoes. They did need repair. That was true. A lot of shoes needed repair in Dust. In fact, that was the most needed and least talked about thing in Dust. Shoes were usually hand-me-downs, but by the time they reached their third owner they should've been trash.

"I'll take you up on that." He said more confidently, moving away from the men and walking cautiously toward the shack that they called home. The kid personally didn't understand why these new people were being treated so poorly, yet given so much attention. His father was amongst the group of traditional Dusties. His father had taught him that anything and everything form the outside was bad, even good people. He wasn't quite sure about that though.

Evanne bit her lip as she looked at Risalda. She was pissing off everyone tonight. Maybe she shouldn't have come home at all. But wait how had Risalda heard. "Does everyone know or something? She asked. Her voice broke. She looked down at Evelynn as she took her. Evelynn was asleep. She snuggled into her mother's arm, undisturbed by being passed around. She didn't know how she could keep living here if everyone hated her. Hell, she deserved it.

Evanne sunk into a chair, holding Evanne to her chest. "I thought if I came back, I could make things right... but I'm just fucking everything up." She told Risalda softly. She blinked as tears brimmed in her eyes. She didn't bother wiping them away. "I guess you hate me too... I mean why wouldn't you?"

Pushing some of her hair out of her face, the blonde looked up at Noah's ex-fiance. She was probably thinking about all those kids she could have had with Noah. "I'm sorry. You probably don't want to listen to me." She said, guessing Ris would want to escape the moment she could. It was funny the one time she actually wanted to spill her guts, no one wanted to hear it. She glanced back at the curtain that was separating them from Noah. Well, he probably wanted her to tell him everything but she wasn't sure if she could face him just yet. She could always leave town again before he was better. He wouldn't have a chance to stop her then. Right? Hell, he'd probably follow her and yell at her when he found her. If he found her. He'd probably die trying to find her. She wouldn't be responsible for his death.

She looked at Risalda. "I don't know what to do anymore." She told her once friend.

'Great. Luke knows... Which means Juniper knows too.' Evanne thought and sighed. She looked at Ris as she knelt down in front of her. At least there was someone in town who wasn't completely hating her. She gave Ris a small smile when she admitted knowing the feeling of screwing everything up. She chuckled softly and nodded. She pushed some hair behind her ear. "Thanks... It's nice to know I'm not alone... sometimes I just think it was a bad idea for me to come back at all... even if it's better for Evelynn." She admitted softly.

"I don't hate you. I'm kinda jealous you have this little angel if I'm being brutally honest." Risalda told her, looking at Evelynn.

Evanne couldn't help but follow her gaze and look down at her daughter as well. She was so tuckered out. She should put her to bed, but she didn't want to leave Noah's side. She could always put another cot in his 'room' or take the one next to his. She wanted to make sure no one would come in and mess with him.

"Thank you... I don't know what I'd do without her... I don't think I'd be the same person I am now without her." She looked back at her friend. She touched her hand, letting Ris know she wasn't alone. Even in this crazy town, they still had people to be there for them. It had been so long since she confided in Ris, she was a little surprised at how easy it was. She hadn't meant to take Noah's side in the whole fight. But it was easier just to stay out of it then get into it.

"What?" Risalda was kinda caught off-guard and stood on her feet again. "Evanne, I know we have one thing in common, Noah. And, I know you think I hate you. The truth is, I don't. Any hate I have goes towards myself for putting him through what I did. At the time, I was swept up in emotions and wasn't thinking about the future outcomes."

Evanne looked up at Ris as she stood up, frowning a little. The thing was, she understood what she was. But had that not happened she would never have gotten her chances with Noah.

The blonde blushed as the doctor wiped away her tears. She nodded her head. That was one thing she didn't need to be told. Evelynn mattered above everything else. "No matter what happens to me and Noah, Evelynn will always have me." She swore. Nothing would ever tear her apart from her child. She gave her a small smile.

Evanne stood up, adjusting Evelynn in her arms. And then she just said it. "I love him... Noah, I mean. For a long time now..." She sighed. "It's not like I just slept with him to sleep with him." She told her. That was one of the main things worrying her. Did Aaron think she just slept with Noah because she was angry at him? Or was he more angry with her and Noah because he knew the truth? That even though she and Aaron had been dating on and off since they were kids, she had always loved Noah. She might now have openly showed it. She didn't even acknowledge it because she did love Aaron. He was her everything. He was her first. Well, Aaron had been her everything. Ever since she was with Noah and she let herself experience that love she knew that she loved Noah. That he was truly her everything. That was one of the reasons she left. She was so afraid of loving Noah and hurting Aaron.

Aaron "Sullivan"

"Sully, I need your help with something," Pamela interrupted.

"I'm... sorry. Just don't leave town. Come and find me when you are able... We do need to talk," Evanne said, walking out of the room.

"No we don't," Aaron thought to himself. Taking a deep breath, the former town guard pressed his hair back with his hand. He turned to Pamela, his eyes piercing Pamela with anger no one had ever seen come from him.

"You better make this damn good, Pamela. The apocalypse better be happening again," Aaron answered, almost as a threat. Whether or not Pamela needed him, Aaron did need to go outside, and began heading for the exit to the building. He passed Jim, who decided not to follow because Pamela was accompanying Aaron. The family man figured that Pamela could handle herself, and probably Aaron too.

Once Aaron got outside the guard's post, he began walking swiftly towards the residential areas of Dust. In his mind, he had formulated a plan of what he was going to do for the next few days. He He hadn't even bothered to check if Pamela was still following him.

"I- w-what?" Risalda stammered.

Evanne frowned at Ris' reaction. She had hoped that Ris would be happy for her or at least sympathize with her feelings for Noah. Was she angry because she loved Noah? Or was it because he had a chance at a family without Ris. But then when Ris said she'd be happy with him, she definitely didn't sound happy about it. It made sense because maybe she still wanted to be with him.

The blonde sighed and nodded. Of course Ris wouldn't have wanted to listen to her insecurities. And then Ris dropped a bombshell. Ris thought she was talking about her and Luke?

"W-What?" Evanne asked, staring at Ris. "No! No! I-I wasn't meaning you. I-I meant those girls who hang all over Noah, hoping he'll sleep with them and get pregnant and force him into a loveless marriage so they can be the new Mrs. Clay." She stammered. Blushing she stepped closer to her.

"Because you know it meant something to me, there were emotions there. And I'm sure there were emotions there when you... with Luke. Because when I was with Luke, there was definitely emotions there. Mine were more like 'like and hate' emotions but still they were there." The rambling wouldn't stop. Why wouldn't it stop?

"I didn't sleep with Noah to see who was better, even you know girl's wonder. Even still Luke was like 'whoa' but Noah was like 'Whoo-whoaaa!' but... that just might be me. Because he might have been 'Whoo-whoaaa!' for you- oh my god." Evanne pressed her hand to her forehead. "I'm so sorry."

Shaking her head, Evanne felt horrible. She sighed. "I'm so sorry. I just didn't mean you, I swear. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me for even making you think that I meant you." Biting her lip, she leaned down and gave her a one-armed hug. "I'm sorry."

She sighed, straightening up. "I'll just go and check on Noah and let Evelyn sleep without letting her listen to her mother put her foot in her mouth." She gave Ris a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry. Feel free to go to my house and drink all my liquor, spend the night. I'll stay here and check on everything. Go get some rest?"

Evanne moved away from Ris. She had to make things so much worse. She had it meant to. She pulled back the curtain to Noah's room. She slipped in and placed Evelyn on the empty cot next to Noah's. She pulled the blankets up to cover up her daughter. She turned around to face Noah. She adjusted his covers.

Juniper handed Evelynn over to Risalda like she was sack of hot potatoes. As much as Juni loved that little pile of smiles, she could no longer handle the weight. After all, she had other things clouding her brain. The first being Luke. After hearing the news he just seemed to disappear, taking the first exit he could manage. Juniper figured he was off in the back cellars of his bar, finding some quiet place to drink or to just think. All this was a lot to consume. But Juni felt especially bad for her lady-loving friend. One second he thought his brother was going to die and then the next second he was told that Evelynn wasn't his. It was a little strange that Luke had actually cared so much, but juniper just supposed that it was one of those things. One of those things that he had worried about or thought about so often that it became familiar, or even accepted.

Before anyone else could suck her into their vortex of drama, Juniper made her way out of the med hut and into the street. How she thought going outside would be any less chaotic is beyond me. People were still stumbling around like panicking toddlers in Dust. Her crystal blue eyes darted around the main street. She was at the tail end of the chaos and most people were safely tucked away in their houses, waiting for someone to tell them that everything was okay. It was then that she spotted that freckled devil again. Perhaps it was just the way things worked now, Juniper's eyes were trained to find him. He was moving around so buoyantly and sarcastically. Juniper knew that behavior, he was trying not to hurt someone. The blonde stood there, carefully watching as the scene unfolded. For a moment there Juniper thought she would have to run over there and break up a fist fight. The way that the Dusties rolled up there sleeves and the way that Owen's rage slowly boiled up. She knew that family all too well. A nostalgic sigh escaped her lips as she lowered her gaze and kicked rocks on the way back to her house.

Everyone was losing their minds and Juniper didn't know how to deal with it. Evanne and Noah. Ginny and Owen and the twins. Robin. Evanne and Risalda. Robin. Pamela and Aaron. Evanne and Aaron. Robin- Juniper's train of thought was interrupted as the older man that was confronting the Thompkins, Carlos Manch, rammed into her. Nearly knocking her over Juniper looked over her should as he marched away. "Manch, watch it!" she called out. She knew better than to shout at Carlos Manch in such a sour state, but she just couldn't keep her mouth shut.

"You know what, sweetie?" He rebutted, spinning around to face her much quicker than a man his age ought to. "I'm watching alright. I'm watching you and that pack of dogs that followed you back here." His voice was bitter and reminded Juniper of a child, but his aggression and commitment were real. Juniper took a step back, Manch was a stocky man and it wasn't until that moment that Juni realized his true violent potential. Carlos Manch turned around slowly and returned on his route home.

"For the record," Juniper said before Carlo was too far, "they don't belong to me." A small pathetic laugh bubbled out of Juniper as Manch turned to face her once again.

"None of them do... Not anymore."

And with that Juniper made her way home.

Evanne begging Aaron not to leave town was Pamela's first hint that something was off. Aaron was still majorly butt hurt about the Evanne and Evelyn situation but Pamela thought that he was over it by now. There was a high chance that Evelyn was Aaron's daughter, seeing as he and Evanne dated before she ran off like a scared bitch with her tail between her legs. But honestly Pamela would put money on it that Luke was the father. Luke is a whore, Evanne is a whore...and it made sense to Pamela.

But once Pamela saw Sully's face she knew something more was wrong. She's never seen anyone this angry before, and she's seen her mother angry a few times. Pamela was set on asking Aaron to adopt Chip with her and act as his guardians until he was older but now after seeing Aaron...she couldn't. Not here. Not while he was this upset. He stormed off in his rage and walked, pretty flippin' quick, through the town of Dust. The small shacks that the folks called home whizzed past as Aaron and Pamela went through. Pamela was nearly jogging to keep up with him. She was not happy with Aaron for making her do all of this work just to talk to him but...he was pissed and she felt obligated. She kind of loved him as much as her stupid sister loved Noah, and like Dana, she has never told him. As they walked Pamela tried speaking calmly, as calmly as one could speak while speed walking in the desert, but Aaron seemed to be not having it. Was he ignoring her or was he just so deep in his own shit that he couldn't hear her? Even if she had feelings for the bookworm she refused to let anyone treat her this way.

Pamela grabbed Aaron's left shoulder and spun him around, hard and fast. She stared him down and her next words came out harsher than she would have liked, "What the fuck is your problem?"

By now the news of Noah’s injury got to Dana. She quickly connected the dots and figured out that it was a bullet she crafted with her own hands that pierced his body. I am such a bum in this roleplay, Dana thought to herself. She was raised by her father to be the happy sister. She was supposed to be the girl with the happy ending but if her part of the story kept going this way she was going to end up alone…and crazy. She could already feel herself slipping. Dana hadn’t left the Mech Hall since finding out about Noah and all she could do was blame herself. Regardless of who took the shot, it was her bullet which meant there was blood on her hands as well. She stared into the fire burning in the oven; the same open fire she used to craft the bullet that went through Noah. Dana held out her hand to the fire, close enough to feel it fully. She wondered how close she’d need to get to feel her hand burn. It was then that she remembered the story of Mrs. Lovett and how she died. It was painful but maybe it was quick. How many people in this town would take note of her absence? How many people would miss her? Her dad? Patrick was going to be dead soon anyway. All the love in the world couldn’t stop the inevitable that Patrick was sick, no matter how much he hid it by being trying to be chipper and active. Dana was with him every night when he can barely breathe and has to stay up until 3AM with her rubbing his back and him taking anti-inflammatory pills. Eh, maybe that is where Dana got it from. She tried to always be happy so she wouldn’t have to deal with real depression…too late for that now. Dana stared into the fire, inching closer and closer every second. Just a couple steps…just a few.

A sudden bang made Dana hop away from the fire. She looked at the Mech entrance where the sound came from.

“We need to make out,” Luke shouted through the Mech Hall, ringing the automatic bell as he opened the door. Dana’s body leaped away from the oven and she looked up at Luke who, without permission, entered into the back room of the Mech.
“Excuse me?” Dana’s hands found her hips and she assumed her Luke-what-the-hell-is-your-problem-you-are-such-a-creep position.

“I just have this urge to take you into my arms tonight,” Luke shimmied his hips like a Spaniard. Dana smiled wide, she couldn’t help it. Luke was what she needed right now, even if he was absolutely there for all the wrong reasons. “Take me into your arms, huh?” Dana recognized the line, “…why have you been talking to my dad about old musicals?” Luke swung his hips again, “because Patrick is a fucking riot. And because I know you like them.” Dana kept smiling. She needed a distraction so badly from the despair that has been plaguing her life ever since the newcomers came to town. It was times like this where she considered being as slutty as Evanne…but then she’d come to her senses and be a real woman who didn’t throw herself around from man to man. Only men as sleazy as Luke would go down that well-travelled road anyway.

“What’s the real reason that you are here, Luke?” Dana knew his habits well enough to know that he had sex to escape other problems in his life. She thought of Noah and hoped that he was okay, “how is Noah?” Luke stammered, “he’s…alive.” “Isn’t that a good thing?” Dana asked the nervous Luke, “What’s going on Luke?”

“It’s great that he is alive. This town would crumble without him!”

“But….”

Luke scratched his head and looked around the shop, adamantly avoiding eye contact with a Clay woman. All of the Clays were well too advanced at reading people and Dana was no different. She’d be able to snuff him out in seconds. Then again, Dana was going to find out sooner or later and Luke didn’t want to be in the middle of it if she found out that he knew and didn’t say anything.

“Noah…is Evelyn’s…father.”

Dana could feel her legs weakening beneath her. She barely fell to the ground but steadied herself on a hanging bar. “You are kidding,” she choked out. “I wish I were,” Luke frowned at his failed conquest. He didn’t want to do anything with Dana anymore, at least not today. Dana looked at the fire in the open oven and could feel the fire within herself growing, fast and ferocious. Noah is a father? Noah had sex with Evanne? Judging by the age of Evelyn it must have been close to when he and Ris broke up. Evanne fucking stole him from her. She crawled into his life when he was feeling lowest and took advantage of him. That fucking slut. That fucking slut. Dana walked through the Mech Hall, picking up supplies, along the way, ending with a hunting knife she made a while back.

“Fuck this story,” Dana said while putting on a backpack and tucking the knife away somewhere safe.
“Where do you think you are going with that?” Luke’s eyes widened with true fear.
“To the Med Hut,” Dana proclaimed, “I’m assuming that’s where the bitch is.”
“Dana, you aren’t thinking straight,” Luke put a hand on her shoulder but she quickly pushed him off.
“You don’t know what I am thinking,” Dana exited the Mech Hall on a bee line path to Evanne.
She didn’t exactly know what she was thinking either.
The only thing she knew was that Evanne had better start running, and fast.

Aaron "Sullivan"

"What the fuck is your problem?""

The former town guard was spun to face his pursuer, to which he only found to be a nuisance. His stare was even colder than just a few moments ago in the guards' post. His eyes pierced like an arrow through Pamela's gaze upon him.

"I said, another apocalypse better be fucking happening, and it seems like it's not," Aaron said. He tried to keep the fluctuation of his voice under control, as if a tiny poke at him would send him bursting in a hellish fury. Pamela wasnt used to the sass of the townspeople anymore it seemed. She stood there, a hand on Aaron's shoulder, in silence for a few moments. Playing "Mom" to Chip has made her softer around the edges...but she needed to toughen up if she was going to get what she needed out of Aaron.

"You continue to speak like that to me and I swear to God you are going to wish the apocalypse was here," Pamela would not let Sully make a child of her. She was ready to toss back whatever he threw at her. She moved her hand from his shoulder, down his arm, and to his hand. She held it gingerly and spoke calmly, "you must tell me what is going on with you. Noah was shot right? You wouldnt be this upset because of just that. I know you, Sully."

"You must tell me..." the words echoed in Aaron's mind. While Pamela went to make a romantic gesture, her resonating authoritative figure detered him. Still, he considered her actions a bit carefully, and considered the words he was about to speak even more so. Finally, he withdrew his hands and stood more straightly.

Pamela expected him to pull his hand away but that did not stop Aaron's miniscule action from having a major effect on her. She tried to keep her face stuck on whatever position it held before so he didnt notice. She knew she was doing a decent job when he continued speaking.

"Hey, I have an idea, since you're so interested in the town's order and all," Aaron proposed; his sarcasm was evident though. And in an instant, that facade of sarcasm was obliterated. "Why don't you go down to the Medhut and make sure that Noah's okay? Because I'm sure that when the town realizes just how much of a blundering dumbfuck he is, the next bullet won't miss. And then we'll see what revolution we have."

Pamela couldnt help but scoff a little at the idea of the town realizing that their leader was indeed a dumbfuck, blundered to add. All humor left when Aaron mentioned another sort of attack on him though. Pamela wondered if Aaron was planning anything but she quickly dropped the thought. Aaron wouldnt...would he? She got the hint though; he wanted her gone. "Thats the best idea I've heard all day," she responded with an equal amount of sarcasm, "My first idea was to ASK THE FUCKING TOWN GUARD what happened, but I guess that was a silly thought. I apologise for being so rational."

"Actually," Aaron replied, his tone going back to the menacing anger he had when he started this conversation, "it is a pretty damn silly idea, considering I just quit." His stare went cold again as he took a step back; there was somewhere else he wanted to be. And he wanted to leave now. So he began to turn and walk, leaving the sight of Pamela Clay behind him.

This town is going to shit, Pamela thought before turn and walk away. She scratched the idea of having Sully adopted Chip with her...it was never going to happen. Pamela decided to take his advice though and go to the Med Hut to unravel this nuisance of a mystery. "Goodbye, Aaron," she spoke, probably too sofly for him to hear. The goodbye meant a lot more than just that one meeting. They were done. They had to be.

As Noah drifted in and out of restless, dreamless sleep, the tense voices in the next room over did nothing to change how alone he felt. His vision was fuzzy around the edges, and the voices changed in clarity so constantly he had a hard time catching more than a couple words at a time. All he knew was that Risalda and Evanne were not having a pleasant conversation. Every now and then he would hear his name, clear as a bell through the buzzing.

The buzzing came to an unsettling halt. Through the curtains came an upset-looking Risalda with a full IV bag. He opened his mouth to speak--to thank her, to say anything--but he couldn't find the words to say. Frustration filled him, and he flushed and scowled as she left wordlessly. Something, be it the bullet wound or the narcotics, was stealing all the important things he was supposed to say. Everything that would make anything better. He scrubbed his face with the working hand as he tried to remember if Risalda had actually walked or if he had imagined it. Suddenly, the curtains were pulled open again, and Noah sat upright in the cot.

"Evanne," he said, "Evelyn. Thank God you're here. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it, I swear. I--" He chocked back the word vomit while Evanne placed her daughter--their daughter--in the cot beside him. He relaxed a bit into his own cot when Evanne fixed his blankets around him, and he couldn't help the dopey, drugged-up grin that spread across his face.

"I'm glad you came back," he said.

Evanne nodded to Risalda as she walked through. She figured it was better to keep her mouth shut then begin to try and apologise again. She's just make things worse. She smiled at Ris and watched her leave as she tucked Evanne in. And that's when Noah started to speak.

"Evanne, Evelyn. Thank God you're here. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it, I swear. I-" She met his gaze as he broke off. He was looking at Evelyn. She looked down at their daughter too. She smiled lightly. The little girl was still asleep. Evelyn could sleep through just about anything. She gave her a peck on the forehead before she moved over to fix his blankets around him. It may be hot in the desert during the day, but temperatures dropped at night.

Seeing a grin appear on his face along with him getting out the words, "I'm glad you came back" Evanne couldn't help but smile at him.

"Of course I came back... You know it's an impossibility for me to stay angry at you for long." Evanne told him softly. She sat down on the edge of his cot and pulled up the edge of his bandage since she could see blood on it. He had mostly stopped bleeding and his stitches looked okay, but she went ahead and put a new bandage on him. "I'm glad you're not in the mood for yelling. I think I've had just about enough of people yelling at me." She told him.

The blonde met his gaze again and smiled. "You don't have to be sorry for what you said, but thank you." She ran a hand through his hair, trying to smooth it down some, how he liked it most of the time. "I should have told you the moment I got back... It's no excuse, but I just couldn't make the words come out. It never seemed to be the right time to drop the 'congratulations it's a girl' drama on you." She told him honestly.

"I didn't want you to think that I had just used you or something... because I do love you, Noah. I was never going to keep you out of her life." Evanne said honestly, watching him. "She knows who you are and all about you... Most of the time, she falls asleep to stories about you." She admitted with a blush.

Evanne gulped, suddenly feeling as if her mouth was dry. Adrenaline still seemed to be pumping through her blood, first from the shooting, then from the fight with him, then the fight with Aaron, and now this. She cupped his cheek carefully. She could only imagine what he was feeling and going through. "I wish I had just stayed... I'm so sorry... I swear I'm never leaving again... I'll never take Evelyn away from you..." Tears came to her eyes again. She had never been one to cry but apparently she was tonight. "I don't deserve your forgiveness or love and I understand if you can't trust but I hope one day you can. I'll do whatever it takes to make this up to you..."

She looked down at him. She knew she shouldn't. He was vulnerable and on drugs. But like that night they shared together, she was vulnerable just like him. The only one who could help her was him. She leaned down, kissing his lips gently. If he wanted to pull away, she's let him.




Yeah, it didn't really need to be said, but Ginny could turn on her husband in many ways. Sometimes it was just her fiery personality, putting an ass hat in their place that did it. She could tell by the glint in his eye he had gone from wanting to fight to wanted to pin her against a wall. Had she not been so exhausted from the twins and haven given birth so recently, she might had been up for it. She have him as mischievous smirk before turning away and following the shyer of the two men to their little home. "Thank you so much for walking us home." She told him sweetly.

Ginny stepped inside first as the boy held open the door for her. She pretty much knew her way around so she easily put Wren in her crib and moved away to turn on their gas lamp. She turned back to the man and smiled at him. "I'm Ginny Thompkins. This is my husband, Owen, and our twins Wren and Micah, and my brother Rob Braddock." She told him, pointing out each of the members of her family. "Please have a seat and I'd be more than happy to look at your shoes." She told him, point him to the rocking chair as she took a seat on her and her husband's mattress. She sighed at the comfort of being able to rest her sore back and feet. "Feel free to let any of your friends know that we'll be happy to repair their shoes as well. I'm hoping to gather up some more supplies so we can do this for the whole town." She said smiling at him.

She looked over at Owen. Even though she was tired, she knew her family needed this. Owen would plant crops, but if they wanted to be needed by the people of Dust they needed to have an angle. And Ginny could make amazing clothes and shoes. The sandals that she had been wearing the last half of her pregnancy were unlike many had seen in years. Her swollen feet wouldn't fit into her boots. She was perfectly happy in her sandals. They might not be good for hard labor, but for what she did, they were perfect.

"Do you know anywhere I could get some leather and maybe some unusable tires?" She asked the boy.

Aaron "Sullivan"

Aaron left Pamela behind him, trying to forget about the drama for as long as he could. But even he knew that at some point, it would come up again; Evanne was going to seek him out and he didn't know what he was going to do when he saw Noah again. If he had any semblence of self-control, he might only end up stabbing the leader.

After making a few turns between the houses of Dust, he finally arrived at where he wanted to be. Dropping his backpack, he rummaged through it for a metal wire, bending it in an odd manner so that he could pick the lock before him. Normally, he knocked, but for the moment, he didn't feel like talking and he particularly did not feel civil. And also, his main rationale, he didn't think Juniper would mind.

With his town guard expertise under his belt, he was able to pick the lock in short time enough that people would've thought he had a finnicky key. Opening the door, he dropped the wire back in his backpack, and dragged his backpack inside of Juniper's house.

Aaron promptly shut the door behind him, looking around at the interior of a place he had been only a handful of times. He walked towards the middle of the living room, setting his bag downto lean on the couch, and let himself flop down on the comfy furniture as he awaited Juniper's arrival.

Juniper's wild hair bounced as she walked back to her house. While she kept a steady pace her eyes wandered from face to face, ready to pounce if something else fishy happened. Creating a dust path she muttered the recent events over and over again. Oh, she needed to go home and take a moment to absorb everything. Juniper went to jiggle her door open, something that wasn't too hard. Most days Juniper didn't even care to bring her key with her, if you had the magic touch you could get that door open. Unsafe? Yes. But there really wasn't anything to steal so it didn't bother Juni.

Without any effort Juniper opened the door. In front of her was Aaron, laying on her couch. "What the-" Juniper started as she closed the door behind her. "I thought you'd be jumping town... After hearing the news and all."

"Yeah, about that, sunshine," he said to her, with a hint of friendly sarcasm in his voice as he spoke, "you've always been bugging me that you want to go out into the mountains sometimes. So I was wondering, do you want to go like, now? Or in the morning?"

"I-" Juniper stopped herself from saying that she couldn't go out into the wilderness with him. The blonde plopped herself on the couch next him, "Here, scoot over."

Aaron sat up sluggishly, sliding his rear over on the couch so his friend could sit down. So much of her wanted to go out with Aaron and forget all of the nonsense that was stirring in Dust. "I can't, Aaron," she finally said. Trying to come up with a half-assed excuse she spat out a stupid one. "I have to work." The former town guard scoffed; even he knew that was a joke.

"Yeah, right. Like Luke would say 'no' to you if you said you needed the next three mornings off," Aaron replied bluntly. "Listen, I get it if you genuinely don't want to to go. I gather that you learned what I learned tonight about Evanne's... situation." Aaron was still apprehensive, and angry, about the whole ordeal, but he went on just the same. "I'm not going to force you to talk about any of that if you don't want. I'm not gonna push all the shit I'm thinking about right now on you just because we're going camping together. But if you still honestly don't want to go, I get it. If I were you, I'm not sure I'd go with me. I just hoped you would."

Juniper listened to Aaron's small monologue then watched him lie back against the arm of the couch. "It's not that I don't want to go," she contended, "I just-" Did she really want to tell Aaron all of her personal woes? No, not really. She was having a hard time leaving because she didn't want something to happen to the Thompkins while she was gone. Somehow she felt responsible for them, and if not for them, then for Robin.

Observing his friend's hesitant response, Aaron simply waited for Juniper to say something more. If she wanted to say something, then she would. It seemed there was a long and tense silence before she said anything.

"Let's go," Juniper answered, finally making up her mind. From there she stood up and ventured into her bedroom to collect her backpack. Luckliy for Aaron, everything was already packed and ready to go. When she returned, she was greeted by a surprised look on the young man's face.

"Are you sure you have everything? Water, food, knife, method of firestarting, rope, some bags, and a compass?" he asked, listing off the few most essential things for going out into the wilderness.

Juniper laughed at him before saying, "Baby, I've been waiting for this for a long time." Aaron cocked an eyebrow at her response. But, he decided to leave it at that; he wasn't going out alone this time. It would actually be a new experience for him.

"Alright then." With that, Aaron synched up his pack and hoisted it over his shoulder, putting his arms through the shoulder straps and buckling it at the waist. He had no reluctance in leaving Juniper's house, and the town of Dust, if she were to change her mind, or he was to change his.

Entry:
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