Chapter 1.07 Exploring

Autumn came fairly quickly, and with it, leaves.

 This was probably one of the only downsides of living in such a forested area, when the leaves fall off the trees, there's going to be a lot of raking to do...

"Oh, for God's Sake." Thomas grumbled as he brought the washing outside to hang on the washing line. He kicked several of the leaves out of his way, and sighed as some of the pesky things decided to stick to the washing.
He really started to hate Autumn.

When he came back inside, he made sure to get the leaves off of his shoes. He looked up, and saw the ink on Erin's shoulder.
He cleared his throat "What's that?" He asked, folding his arms. She got a tattoo?
"Waffles." She responded, carrying on eating "They're really good too, I put them in the fridge if you want some-"
"I mean," He interrupted her "What's that on your shoulder, the thing that's shaped like a dragon." He tried not to sound too angry, but he really hates tattoos. He went up to her, and she stood up
"Its a tattoo, but its not a big deal." She shrugged.

"Yeah, but why did you get one?" He furrowed his eyebrows, looking at her tattoo. He knew she's not had it for long... He may be bad at noticing things, but he knows he's not that bad.
"Because I wanted one." She answered simply, shrugging. "That, and I found it fitting. A dragon tattoo for Dragon Valley." She grinned.
He sighed a little "I just don't get where your sudden want for one came from."
"Well, when I had that rude talk with Ro-..." She decided not to talk about that. If ever that certain redhead's name did come up, she knew Thomas would get into a bad mood because of it. She couldn't help but wonder why exactly though.

"Anyway, can you look after Connor again? While you have a few days off and spend them with Rosie, I thought that there's no point me staying at home as well, so I could go out earning." She smiled, somewhat uneasily. She mainly wanted to go out to look around for leads on what was spoken of in her dream.
Thomas gave her a funny look "You know, you can't always rely on me to look after your kid." Erin bit back a frustrated sigh, not wanting to get annoyed.
"I'm not. When you're at work, I stay here and look after Rosie. I don't get why it can't work both ways." She folded her arms. She was honestly proud of herself for making quite a good point. "Anyway, I'll see you later." She said, then went into her bedroom to get ready and left.

Erin knew about certain mysteries in the town already, like the Arboretum in town. Not many people come here, or really to any of the certain places like this. Its not much of a surprise really, when most people think nothing bad is ever going to happen in peaceful Dragon Valley. Since The Great Dragon Attack, nothing interesting has happened.
Erin knew that was going to change soon.
She looked around a little, before opening the door and stepping inside. There was honestly nothing important in there, just a bunch of plants. Maybe because she wasn't a fairy...? Ah well, it couldn't have been too important whatever was in there, right?

"You okay today, Princess?" Thomas asked, sitting in front of Rosie. Erin probably let her out earlier while he was sorting out the washing.
"Okay." She chirped in response, smiling. She then frowned in confusion "Where Ewin?" She asked, tilting her head like how a dog would. 
"Erin's out playing guitar." He answered, then laughed a little at her "You look like a puppy when you do that." He grinned.
Her eyes widened "I wanna puppy!" She stood up, grinning. She then followed up by rambling about dog names and barking like a dog.

The next place Erin explored was more for research rather than finding out if there were any unknown secrets around the town. It was obviously an old building, probably underrated too. Really, some of the places here were pretty, its just a shame most people didn't realize how historic they truly were. After opening yet another heavy door, she stepped inside, trying to find something; anything.

That doesn't mean that all she did that day was just adventure around, she did actually do some busking after lunchtime. She spent quite a while outside, actually wanting something to bring home. She didn't want the questions to rise when she was busking and earned nothing. Sure she could say that people weren't tipping... But it was easier this way.

She even still played when it started raining, much to her displeasure. Unfortunately, she was already soaking wet by the time she had managed to pack up her guitar and put the tip money in her pocket. She was honestly happy to be heading home, today has been an honest disappointment. She tried to find leads, and all she could find out was that fairies liked flowers and only movie vampires sparkle.

She was happy to be home, but not all too happy to be met with sarcasm. "Hey, is it raining outside?" Thomas grinned, as Erin gave him a bored look.
"Yeah, it is. You know, you should be thanking me for going out in the pouring rain." She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Yeah, thanks." He mumbled.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that? I'm not all too good at hearing." She grinned.
"Oh thank you Erin for risking your life by going out in the rain." He exaggerated, half smiling.
She took it as a compliment still "You're very welcome." She grinned. "Look, I'm going to go out again, I have stuff I need to do. I'll be back around ten-ish." She said, and left the house before Thomas could protest. 

He turned around, hearing the padding noise of feet on the wooden floor "Ewin?" Rosie called after hearing her voice. She then frowned disappointed "Where'd she go?" She asked, tilting her head again.
"Erin's busy, Princess." Thomas mumbled, walking up to her and picking her up. "I don't know what she's doing though." He mumbled, frowning. He was honestly starting to get worried about what Erin was doing...

"B-But I wanted to play!" She protested, frowning. She looked up at Thomas "Make her come back!"
"I don't know where she's gone, you still have me though." He half smiled.
"I want you and her." She frowned, then realized what he said "Gone? Where she gone?" Her eyes widened, scared that Erin's gone forever.
"She's just gone out for a little while, Princess. I promise she'll be back and can play with you tomorrow while I'm at work." He smiled slightly, "Maybe Connor could play with you too?" He suggested.
Rosie made a face "No. Boys are icky." She crinkled her nose. "Apart from you Daddy." She grinned, resting her head on him.
He chuckled "Remember that when you're a teenager. Boys are icky." He started walking into her room.
She looked up at him "Even Connor?" She whispered, worried he might hear, even though he was a room away.
Thomas sighed "Even Connor. I want you to stay away from them." He said, and then turned off the light.

Erin went to the Elixir Store, which was honestly her last hope. The woman behind the counter looked like she was just there until some singing career finally took off.
"I wanted to ask you some questions." Erin started, trying her hardest to stay serious.
The woman grinned "Hey, you're that girl that banged Danny in the park, right?"
She tried to keep herself from blushing. "That's not what I want to talk about..."
"Aw... Come on, you can talk to me." The woman grinned still, like the Cheshire Cat. "Was he good? Apparently he met another girl on the road." She whispered.

"I said I don't want to talk about it." Erin snapped, that sentence coming out a little more bitterly than planned. Even though she did love Connor, she honestly wished that she was married, or at least in a relationship, before having kids. Sure, it was a normal thing back in the city, but she wasn't in the city anymore...
"Oh honey, if you really wanna talk about all this crap, none of it is actually real." The woman scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Its either just all gems and plants or mumbo jumbo books and 'potions'. Now can we please get back to the interesting stuff?" The woman's eyes twinkled, hungry for more gossip.
"You want to know the truth? Fine. We slept together, and he left the next day. I wanted to tell him something important and he was just an ass about it all." Erin glared at the woman, annoyed now "I didn't tell him what I needed to, and now he's gone and he's probably with some high class whore." She smiled, wanting to swear like the city girl inside her, but knew that everything here was a crime.
She stormed out of the store, pissed off and upset.

She sat down outside the store, starting to cry. She knew it was a stupid thing to do, but she couldn't help but get upset over this. Some guy she thought she trusted, she thought was nice was only using her. He was nothing more than a fling, and when it turned bad, he wouldn't have even been there for her.
"Well done Erin." She mumbled to herself, something she only did when she was upset "Everyone here won't care at all about what you do, they'll only know you as the girl who got knocked up by the world's biggest sleazeball." She kicked the dirt.
"So, that's what you've been hiding, huh?" She heard a familiar voice.

"Alex." Erin mumbled, shifting as if she was about to stand up "You're here..." She whispered.


Chapter 1.06 Two Things New                                                                

Chapter 1.08 (My) Old Flame

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AN: I'm just going to leave you in suspense(ish) there... Mwahaha! 
Oh, and Happy 2014. And now I must go to bed because its quarter past ten and I'm tired.