Gia Swallowed A Breath. It Felt Like Saltwater In Her Lungs. She'd Done This, She Knew Deep Down, She

Gia swallowed a breath. It felt like saltwater in her lungs. She'd done this, she knew deep down, she done this to him. Ariella was only a conduit, demanding justice for their sins, but Ariella hadn't committed those sins: Gia had. Even at the time, she'd known it was a bad idea, she'd known she should do better, be better...but instead she'd given in. That was what she'd feared. "Ev, I-" she shook her head, but she found, quickly, she didn't have to say anything all at once as he pulled her into his arms, onto his lap. Gia didn't say anything at first, as he buried his head in her neck, but rather wrapped her arms around him, fingers running through his silky hair. She felt as if her heart were imploding, collapsing in on itself, ripping itself apart as fell in shred to sink deep beneath her ribcage. "You deserve better, Ev," she whispered, "So much better." His breath was hot against her skin as he spoke. She glanced up at nothing, feeling a tear drop down onto her face, running down her cheek. Hastily, she wiped it away before he could see and nodded. She couldn't begin to fathom why, sometimes, but he always had placed such deep trust in her and the last thing she had ever wanted to was to betray that - especially now, given what it would mean for him. She swallowed, waited till she felt sure of her voice - that it would not waver, would not crack, and answered. "I know we'll be ok," she said, slowly. "Because you're here." His fingers were tender against her skin, closing her eyes, she focused on the sensation, leaning into his touch as her eyes opened to meet his again. Her brow creased as he spoke and she reached up to place a hand over his. "Devon makes it easy," she said with a small smile, through it all, at the thought of their daughter. The tears she'd fought back started to enter her eyes again as he spoke, as he went so far as to declare pride in her, but she did not cry. It was a small victory, and hard won. "Everett, don't you see? All of that, all of it...Came from you. I never could have done it, any of it at all, before you came along and saved us all." Her eyes lowered as he spoke of the released vampires. She bit her lip, softly. "I don't know what we can do for them," she began. "Except maybe some anonymous tip to one of those v-rehab charity places that've been springing up lately. Maybe the humans can help," she suggested with a shrug. They'd been abjured and that was absolute; it had to be. Gia couldn't see a better answer. "Or perhaps we could chase them out of town, somehow." She wasn't sure that would actually help them, but it'd get Everett off the hook, at least. Gia bowed her head when he spoke of Tristan. "I'll call him tomorrow," she promised. "We can work it out, I'm sure. Having a strong support system, and realizing the ramifications on others beyond yourself, that people count on you...it's a big part of moving on," she added. "I'd know. And I know we can help him, too. He's one of us and he's stronger than he seems. We can save him." Gia tilted her head forward, resting her forehead against his. "You are not their lackey," she assured him. "You belong to nobody outside this Pack." Cupping his face in her hands, she pulled away just enough to look into his deep brown eyes. "Everett, listen to me. We'll save you, too. That fanger can't touch you, can't make you do anything you don't want to, you hear me? I won't let her." She paused, gazing at him, caressing his cheek before smiling softly. "That's the beauty of being a Pack: we're never really apart, not ever. We're gonna get through this, together," she whispered. "And in the mean time, Everett, we're gonna be safe to do that because of what you did. You gave us this chance, and no one else."

Aftermath || Gia & Everett (closed)

He let out a breath, “I got the feelin’ that she meant any wolf in my pack who relapsed; and the three that I abjured…” He sighed again, placing his drink on her coffee table then reached out, pulling Gia into his lap and leaning back into the couch. He felt best when he held her like this, so completely surrounded by the smell and feel of her.

Everett buried his face in her neck for a moment, just trying to get himself together. He knew how empathetic Gia was, especially with him, the last thing she needed was to suffer because he was suffering. “I believe in all of you,” he finally spoke against her skin. “Tristan… and especially you,” he said, pulling back to look at her.

A hand came up to cup her face, “I mean, look at you. Look how far you’ve come from those days. You’ve come to befriend the very source of your former addiction. You’re the best mom I’ve ever seen to that beautiful girl outside…” He let his fingers come up to brush her hair back from her face, “Goddamn, I’m so proud of you, Gia.” Tears nearly filled his eyes again but he fought them back.

"But what about those three I abjured? They don’t have the pack anymore to keep ‘em strong; and Tristan. He has the pack, sure… But I’ve seen the struggle in him everytime the topic is brought up or a vamper goes by. It’s with him every second of the day… And there ain’t a damn thing I can do," he said, a bit of anger in his last few words.

He gripped Gia and pulled her to him again, his thick and muscular arms enveloping her as he fought back the urge to cry - or scream. “I feel so powerless, so useless to those who depend on me most,” he whispered into her hair, “I can’t defend us against our biggest threat. And now… I feel like their damn lackey; carryin’ out their orders just to keep them from slaughterin’ the whole lot of us.”

"So basically when the cameras weren’t rolling, I made sure that I individually eyeballed every single one of [the heckling and catcalling male extras] until they realized we were a force to be reckoned with. Just because we were girls didn’t mean that we couldn’t be badass." — Emilia Clarke

Emilia Clarke | SV Magazine 2014

Gia smiled wanly before taking a sip herself. She arched her brows after swallowing, letting the fluid run down her wind pipe and pausing before daring to breathe again. Laughing softly, she shook her head. Turning back to the girl, she tilted her head inquiringly. "So, do you wanna talk about it?" she asked. She shrugged. "I totally pushed in on this so no worries if you don't. And if you wanna be alone," she shrugged once again. "Just tell me. I won't be offended, I promise."

Jack Tears { open }

Charlie sighed when whoever was lurking in the shadows sat down next to her. She took a deep breath and saw saw Gia, which instantly made her feel bad about her sarcastic comment. When the woman pulled out the bottle of whiskey, Charlotte just stared at it. She had been fighting with her father because he couldn’t even bother to pick up his mess, which included a bast a vast array of empty liquor bottles. She really didn’t want to follow his example, but Charlie knew that alcohol could help her relax. 

"Sure, thanks." She took the bottle from her hands and took a sip, coughing before handing it back to Gia. "What are you doing out here so late?"

Gia's laughter was soft as she quirks a brow at him. "I knew it," she teased. "Let's be real, Belfront, I keep things exciting," added with a wink. Her teasing demeanor dropped, however, as she watched his face. Weariness seemed to settle into his bones, his face worn and yet he still managed a smile. Gia's brow creased as she reached out to touch his arm. "You bear it well, but you know if you need anything..." She shrugged. "Whatever you need." As he mentioned his reason for being here, Gia nodded and, extinguishing the last of her cigarette she turned towards the door, pulling it open. "Only three?" She gasped in horror. "Let's fix that, right away!" Gia chuckled softly at the mention of the Packmaster. "You might be surprised," she retorted with a wink. If anything, though, he had helped change her - for the better. Gia didn't like to remember the scared, lonely little girl who'd first wandered into Oxford. "How's Brett?" She asked. As the self-appointed werewolf matchmaker, as well as a mutual friend to both Toby and Brett, Gia had always seen how they interacted and firmly believed there was something there. She saw it as her personal mission to help them along as much as possible. "It's been too long since I've talked to her."

Dammit Moon Moon | Gia & Toby (closed)

Toby shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, sending a nod and a smile at another couple walking into the Tavern for the evening as he stood outside with Gia. He laughed easily at her witty banter, shaking his head as he answered. “You know I miss you every second we’re apart,” he rolled his eyes — though his words weren’t technically a lie. Toby appreciated the pack more than he could ever put to words. Luckily, they were the type of pack, however, that he didn’t have to. It was a breath of fresh air, being out tonight. After his week from work hell, daily texts from his father on his mother’s condition only made things worse instead of better. Her bad days were starting to increase; to double. She had far outlived her expectancy, much to the surprise of the doctors and no surprise at all to the rest of the wolves, but it could be any day now. Toby almost had to hesitate before answering. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell her — Gia already knew more than most about his situation — it was simply a matter of how to answer without sounding completely… Awful. “It was a bad week,” he shrugged, looking down a moment as he kicked at a gap in the concrete with the toe of his shoe. “It’s not lookin’ good.” Toby looked back up to her, a small, only slightly forced lop-sided grin gracing his face as he shrugged again. “That’s why I’m here, after all. Not to mention you have been apart of at least 3 of my 5 most insanely black-out-forget-it-all drunk nights, so that’s pretty convenient,” he teased. Toby had to let out a low, belly of a laugh as she brought up Devon, his face tilting back to grin up at the night sky as he shook his head. “Well, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, G,” Toby chuckled, looking to her with a brow raised. “I would have thought you would have learned that by now with Everett,” he smirked. It was always easy to poke fun at Gia’s life. So glamorous. So ridiculous. So drunk. He made a face as conversation turned to him. “Good god, absolutely nothing.” Which wasn’t exactly true, he’d been a bit unlucky when it came to the ladies of his life as of recently. “Taking on more hours; taking on more of my dad’s clients, now that he’s retiring for good now. Mississippi summers are hot as hell.”

Gia shot the trucker a withering glare before glancing back towards Charlie. Gia was a deeply protective person but especially towards those who lacked her wolfish...advantages. Her humans, such as Charlie and Brett, got the full brunt of her protective nature, whether or not they ever knew it. "I can take care of that for you, if you like," she offered in a low voice. "Bless you," said Gia as Charlie slid her her drink. "My day is definitely looking up," she teased, green-blue eyes twinkling. "At least tell me your day was going well before you got here?" she inquired. "Let's see..." Leaning against the bar, Gia tapped her fingers as she tried to dredge up the last gossip. "I'm sure, by now, you know that Lill Carson is back in town. Oxford just wasn't the same without the last member of a founding family," she sighed. Lill had always been a friend, but specifically a friend of Blaize which, in Gia's mind, made her an honorary friend of the Pack. She wondered if Everett felt the same, but that was another matter entirely. "Not to mention our recent influx of vampires. What is that even about?" she wondered, aloud. Unlike humans, she didn't need to worry about whether or not a vamp-in-disguse might be listening in. Her werewolf senses allowed her to pinpoint them. There were none here (though even if there were, Gia wasn't the sort to edit herself).

Tonight It's Bottoms Up | Gia & Charlie

There was nothing that Charlie enjoyed more than seeing the familiar face of someone she actually liked, so when she saw none other than Gia approaching the bar, a smile soon decorated her face. “Gia! Sure thing! I’d give you preferential treatment and pour you a drink right away, but the trucker over there has been acting pretty pissy since I refused to lower my shirt for him.” She rolled her eyes, already used to that kind of incidents. “Anyways, I’ll be right back.”

Before the man could say something, Charlotte handed a man a glass of cold beer and winked at him. Sure, it wasn’t exactly what he wanted, but it seemed to ease him enough for him to stop glaring at her. A few other customers were waiting for their drinks, so Charlie took care of their orders before leaving the best for last. Once everyone was happy, she prepared Gia’s drink and placed the glass in front of her.

"Here you go doll. So!" Since now she had no drinks to prepare, Charlie took this as a chance to  relax for a while. "Anything new with you? Tell me something that will keep me from falling into a boredom induced coma."