Dependance

She had so wanted to stay in bed that day. So wanted to curl the quilt around her palm and snuggle into it...But alas irony has reigned down upon her once more. Lorna stared bitterly from her place on the toilet seat at her knickers which were soiled with blood. Why did it always have to start at night, of all times! Which often meant she was caught unawares whilst slumbering and would end up with embarrassingly dirty underwear. Groaning out her irritation, she removed the article of clothing carefully and threw them into a hamper basket that fitted all cosy like under the bathroom sink. She could feel the swelling of pain in her lower abdomen and let out a breath.

This was going to be a very long day...

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Vincent sighed, coming into consciousness in the most gloriously lazy way possible. He shifted laggardly onto his side and yawned pleasantly into the material of the bed. He heard a noise and peeped open his eye to see Lorna storm into the room in nothing but the pink bra from yesterday and a pair of lilac knickers.

What is she doing? He thought, mind screaming.

His eyes involuntarily scanned down her back, where he noted the muscles were tensed. Lorna was apparently having trouble getting a shirt off of a coat hanger. Vincent's eyes went lower, observing how the undergarment had been hap-hazardously placed around her some-what narrow hips; on one side the material had been bunched slightly, and the other normally fitted. And lower yet, he saw her legs. Well, no wonder he always thought she was short, she had little legs! It was kind of cute, in his view (and he did have a view). But aside from that his gaze was fixated to her thighs. They were not big like most women's thighs would be...just sort of curving in a small way that was innocently arousing.

Lorna abruptly let out an aggrevated sound, said something about 'killing ovaries' and slammed the wardrobe door shut and began to turn around.

Vincent snapped his eyelids shut, and dug his head deeper into the quilt, hoping she had not spotted him looking.

Killing ovaries...? Oh them things that produce eggs. So, she's on her period? A tad ironic seeing as how we only talked about this yesterday.

Lorna had stopped - he could hear from her rageful breathing - and then began to make her way around to her side of the bed. Vincent felt a chill riddle his spine as she got under the covers and let a draft in. When the covers were back, he felt her shuffle more towards him. Then a head was rested in between his shoulder blades. Pausing in his breathing, Vincent stared at the plain walls.

Well...He wouldn't want to disturb her. So it wouldn't hurt to just have a sleep-in.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

He woke up once again in a slow fashion, savoring the quiet and numb moments of first consciousness. Lorna's head was still lay gently against his back, but it was about time he got up, else he become lazy. He did not want to miss the warmth that her forehead was supplying...Yet his stomach made up his mind and gave him a clear message:

'FEED ME, VINCENT! FEED ME!'

"I'm up..." He mumbled as he tore himself from the comforts of the bed.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Half an hour later Vincent was sat at the kitchen table, spooning Cheerios into his mouth and pondering.

Lorna was not in the mood. Not at all. And it was only 10:00 AM! He did not want her to feel any worse then she obviously was...partly because he did not want her to take out her aggression on him. He had yet to face that herdle with Lorna and was deathly afraid that when they do get round to falling out with each other, that she would desert him. And that thought frightened him. There had to be a way to make her feel better...

Chocolate.

Lorna had mentioned yesterday that chocolate helps with the pains and puts you in a better mood. Something to do with endorphins anyway. As Vincent placed his spoon back in the empty bowl with a melodic clank, his line of sight drifted to the cupboard that had been signed 'Sugary Goodness'. He smiled.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Vincent stood in the threshold of the bedroom door, entranced as Lorna stretched cat-like then sat up. She noticed him wearily and gave a half-hearted 'hi'.

"I got you some breakfast." he said hesitantly.

"Oh, thank you." She sat up just a little more, trying to see what was atop the silver trey he held. Mentally she damned him for being so tall. Watching curiously as he stepped forward, Lorna saw the contents of her breakfast as he set it down on her lap: Ice-cream, lots of chocolate ice-cream. Dripping in chocolate and strawberry sauce, wafers poking out of the treat and broken bits of chocolate bars and cookies strewn all over it. Lorna's mouth was close to overflowing with drool. She looked up at him. He looked nervous...Wait a minute! He knew she was on her period? How did that come about? She had not shown any signs of aggressiveness yet-

Oh bloody hell he must have seen her in her underwear earlier this morning! Oh dear. Oh very dear. Blushing she took a spoon in hand; mainly to just do something with her hands to relieve the humiliation she felt. Normally she would flex her fists. Well...aside from the embarrassment this was an amazingly sweet gesture - not many women have the luxury of being pampered by men at that time of the month. Lorna beamed up at him, eyes brimming with her appreciation.

"Not my idea of a normal breakfast, but I'm not about to say no." She chuckled.

Sighing silently in relief, Vincent set himself at the side of the bed. He was not sure why he sat there. He did not really fancy the idea of watching her eat. Maybe he just wanted company. After all there was just two of them in this house. He glanced out of the corner of his eye to see her thoroughly enjoying her 'breakfast'. Smiling he looked back to the window and watched mildly at the pure white sky. All of it was cloud. He noticed also that it had been getting rather chilly lately. They were going into winter.

"Do you think he's gone? My Dad, I mean.." Lorna asked out of the blue, staring pensively at the bowl that was a mere few spoonfuls from being cleaned. Vincent gazed at her softly. He didn't mean to burst her bubble but it had to be said:

"No. He's out there."

The girl flashed him a hurt look, then (to avoid eye contact) looked at the shiny laminated flooring. It was not what she wanted to hear, but it was the truth, and there was no denying it. Of course he wasn't gone! Unless he had been stuck by a stampede of llamas there was no chance he was suddenly dead. No...he was alive, and out there either biding his time or searching frantically for them. Lorna looked back up to Vincent's deformed face, to find he was still waiting for her response. She badly wanted to let a few tears leak - just a few. After coming to this idylic place, she hated to think that at any minute her Dad could jump up from the floorboards and drive some sharp object through her or Vincent. But then again her mood could be due to PMT - in which it's best not to let any emotion loose or otherwise she might lose all control.

"Okay then."

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In the meantime Vincent was outside, trailing the cables and such that lead from the house. He remembered two days ago Lorna had asked him about it; he should have done it yesterday, but he had a foreboding feeling that this place just made you forget a lot of things. Chilly breezes nipped at his open cheeks and fallen leaves crunched about his boots - there was just something about the noises that his feet made that were reassuring. Maybe it was the fact that you could hear your foot fall in the right place. Ten minutes later a large grey box stood before him, wires protruding from the rusted metal obstruction. Well that explained where the electricity was coming from. He checked for marks, and found the official company one that indicated that what was before him was legal. But why they were being supplied with electricity, he had no idea. People had to bills for that, so what was going on here? Vincent stood there for a moment frowning...

He remembered briefly that Bo had struck a deal with someone in the city so they could get free electricity. Maybe the previous owner had done the same.

There was no way he could find out, not without being noticed. He would have to wait for something to happen.

xXxXxXxXxXxXx

Right, there was no helping it. She was not an introvert and bottling up things did not sink in well with her mentality. Lorna let the tears leak. Well to be honest, there was only two; one that rushed down her face, and the other meandering. That was all she needed - a few millilitres lost in fluid and a couple of sniffles. However the problem with sniffles is the fact that they bring attention to yourself. But what was tears without sniffles? Nothing.

She snorted in the air unevenly and let out a loud breathe.

"Lorna?" Vincent called out from the kitchen (where he had been doodling absent-mindedly), soon to appear at Lorna's side. She looked up from the sofa, eyes gleaming with previously restrained emotion. "You alright?" He questioned. He mentally smacked himself. Of course she wasn't alright!

"Um...In all honestly no." She spoke calmly enough but maybe she just wasn't the type to bawl. "It's just...it's been so nice here...and he'll come one day, wont he?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Vincent replied sitting next to her.

"Why can't you give me a straight answer?" Lorna blurted out before she knew what she was saying. Vincent's eye shot up from where he was looking; his face held a pained expression. The girl's hand came up to cover the 'O' her mouth had made. She was horrified with herself. In all the time she had known him (which really wasn't that long) she had never, never, raised her voice at him, or protested about anything. And now that she did, it was over the pettiest of things. Lorna was half scared that he would hurt her, but that was nuke-bombed out of her mind when she spotted a tear spill reluctantly from his eye and onto his cheekbone. Oh bloody hell, she'd made him cry! "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to snap!" She cooed. Automatically her arms came around his shoulders, enforcing her apology.

"Sorry." Vincent whispered, brows frowning with the force of trying to retain his dignity. So...the herdle of arguments had been crossed; he had admittedly over-reacted there and luckily she had made up with him in a matter of seconds. He returned her embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. It was a fickle needy thing, like the moon craved the stars. Sometimes the stars weren't there but it was such a pleasure when they were. The was a rather scary thought to think that the last time they had hugged, the had kissed.

"It's not you. It's me. I'm just being a moody bitch who can't keep her mouth shut." She replied. Vincent did not agree with that statement but he kept quiet. He did not want to ruin the chances of having this display last longer.

After a few minutes of solid hugging, tiredness drew upon them and Lorna yawned languidly into Vincent's soft, slightly wavy hair. He either heard it or felt it because he lay both of them down on the couch. Lorna wondered where he had found the strength to do something so bold when he had been hugging for emotional support just moments ago. She wasn't complaining though. Feeling uncomfortable in the position she was in, Lorna rolled on the spot until she faced the coffee table and had her back to Vincent's stomach. She did not remember the sofa being wide enough to fit two people sideways...and she did not remember the weather suddenly changing over the past few days.

Vincent shifted once she had turned and wrapped an arm around her lower waist. Lorna looked behind her with an almost quizzical expression.

"I felt you shivering." He said simply, hiding the waver that would have been in his voice. After hearing no response and seeing her rest her head back on the cushion, he tentatively moved her hair away from the back of her neck and nuzzled the creamy skin there. Vincent felt her intake of breath, and observed curiously as the goose bumps raised the flesh. He had absolutely no idea why he was doing this apart from one rational thought: he wanted to. Not much of an excuse, but his body agreed with him. Cautiously, he placed a delicate kiss on the junction between her neck and shoulder. Vincent heard the smallest of gasps reach his ears, and it enticed him to kiss just a little more...

Lorna's mouth kept opening and closing like a fish out of water. She had clearly forgotten about the other side of his personality. More butterfly kisses scorched her now sensitive skin and Lorna gave an involuntary arch of her back. Her right hand reached back and cupped Vincent's heated cheek as his arm grew tighter, drawing her further into him.