Hey Moon {{Open to first person to reply}}

For the first few months of school, Gerard had kept his head down. He'd written a lot in various notebooks, scattered in drawers, all the new ideas rushing and had really just stayed in his room. Now he was stuck, a mental block balanced precariously in front of all the stampeding ideas behind it. It was just... nothing came out. It was like a block between his brain and communication centers. He was out here, in this downpour, in the dead of night, to get rid of that block. That loss of connection that was frustration and hurt Gerard like nothing else. He'd always been able to write. The stress of it was that now he wanted to write, he couldn't- now that he had to write anyway.

"If all our life is but a dream..."

His voice trailed into the black air, and he contemplated going back inside and playing his clarinet. The mud was stuck to him now, as rain sleeted through the atmosphere, soaking through denim and making him stiff. Yet still Gerard didn't move. Somehow, in that twisted mind of his, he was seeing the sparkling words bold against the night sky, hanging deliriously close, almost close enough to touch, but being yanked away when he tried to reach out for them. Finally, his head fell back onto the wet bark that had left green imprints up and across his back.

"Fine then. So, I'm doomed without words, right?"

A sly smile crossed his face before he closed his eyes, lapping up the thin rain and really not caring about his hair. Of course, who would see him like this? It was so dark that his torch, which he clutched across his body, would only just light his way home. Or back to the dorms at any rate.

Saffron was walking, kind of in a zombie-ish sort of way. It wasn't an oddity to find her out in the woods this time of the day- or night. She had her camera with her- good ole' Fred hanging around her neck, and in her hand. Her iPod shuffle was clipped to her belt loop, T.I.'s Live Your Life blasted into her head. She walked to its beat, looking for something to capture with her shiny black contraption.

"If all our life is but a dream... somehow managed to break through the musical barrier. She took the headphones off, and turned to look toward the sound. She knew that voice right away, of course.

"Fine then. So, I'm doomed without words, right?" Doomed? Gerard? Those words didn't even belong in the same paragraph, let alone sentence. Unless the sentence were saying that he was not doomed. Then it was okay. Otherwise- no.

Saffie turned and stood as still as she saw her friend stood. She watched him, with a weak sort of smile on her face. The rain was falling more now than it had been when she'd left the dorm, and she stuffed Fred in the little green backpack she carried slung over her shoulder, zipping it up quietly so as not to disturb Gerard. Though it was a struggle- part of her really wanted to snap a picture. He looked so... well... it was hard to explain.

"Hey GeeRaRa," she said, using her normal tone. She didn't want him to know she'd just been staring at him. Creeper much?

Gerard was pretty sure he could feel someone's eyes on him, but of course, that was impossible, he would have heard them coming. Next thing he knew, he was startled from his relaxed position with a squeal, suddenly overly self-concious.When he realised what had left his mouth he clamped a hand over his lips, going delicately red in the dark. He bit his lip and smiled up at Saffie when he realised who it was, changing the grip from his mouth to his hair, desperately flattening it.

"You snuck up on me Saffie! Way to surprise me... What are you doing out here at this time anyway?"

He sat back, hand still desperately flattening the hair that was beyond rescue, before letting out a sigh and releasing the hold on the strands that now flew up at every angle. He was out here just to relax, maybe let out some deep thoughts and get rid of this writers block. Instead he was going to be looking like an idiot in front of Saffron. In his head, Gerard congratulated himself for being such an idiot. Rain trickled down his back, and made him shiver.

"Hey, where's Fred? Doesn't he go everywhere with you?"

Frowning at the lack of Fred round Saffie's neck, Gerard pushed himself up, using the tree as a support. He just felt too vulnerable that low down and was also filthy, jeans covered in mud that would dry as he would walk back to the dorm, denim that was already sticking uncomfortably would make him walk like a prat.

And for some odd reason- even though it was Saffie, who, he had to be honest, he wanted to look good around- he found he really didn't care right now.

Saffie leaned to the right, swing her left foot in a childish sort of way- kicking a growing puddle by that foot. She smiled as Gerard squealed- he was such a cutsey-shmutsey. Haha. Cutesy-shmutsey... funny words... Woah. ADD much? Saffie shook her head a little, her smile still on her face.

"Gawsh, don't seem so surprised. Don'tcha know I'm a ninja?" She stuck her tongue out. "I always come out around this time- to take pics. No one else is usually around so the whole place is free for me to use as I please. It's cool. But I don't mind you being here- it's actually refreshing. I was getting kind of bored."

She watched him mess with his hair, and this just made her smile wider. Was he seriously concerned about that? She could never tell the difference anyway. Gerard was Gerard, no matter what state his hair was in.

"He's here," she patted her green bag, "He doesn't like the rain, so I put him in his case and all. He was very insistent that I do it." She shrugged and shook her head like she didn't know what could have made Fred do that. Like she was actually regarding him as a person. But it was so silly that she just couldn't help herself from laughing afterward. "So, what were you doing out here all by your lonesome mister?"

Gerard laughed a little at Saffie's words, raising an eyebrow as if suspicious.

"A ninja? Right, okay then."

Nodding in agreement, Gerard looked around at the otherwise empty woods. When he caught the even wider smile on Saffie's face, his chest swelled slightly with something resembling pride, that he had made that smile happen. So maybe that small and slightly silly crush he had was a little more than small. And maybe he quite liked the privacy that the woods allowed. He shook his head slightly at Fred's insistence,a slight smile alighting his face.

"I'm out here because I got writers block and it's quite annoying really. But then you come along and it doesn't matter about my block anymore, I'll figure that out later. I was getting rather bored... and muddy... and wet on the floor."

Almost wading through the mud, Gerard offered his arms for a hug, a sort-of unsure smile on his face. He liked the solitude, sure, but the hugs from Saffron were far better. All warm and bear-like and snuggly and sometimes he felt like a girl. Silly campness that made him want to snuggle and watch chick flicks. But, hey! It meant he could talk to girls a lot easier and not be all stupid and macho! It meant he didn't feel the need to show off other than in appearance. Which was currently awful. A last ditch attempt to sort his hair out was made, before Gerard realised he was spreading mud in his hair. Lovely.

"Yuck. I'm wet."

Just to state the obvious.

Saffron giggled as Gerard walked forward. Her eyebrow rose, and at first she backed away.

"You look like a swamp monster!" she laughed, her nose scrunching up at the thought of it. She had some mind- always going to monsters and scary things and such. It reminded her of when she mistook Kaylor for a blood-thirsty axe murderer. Oh the horror.

It wasn't so much of an exaggeration when she looked at GeeRara, though. Gerard was in fact- very wet. And very muddy.

"Duh- but... what the hay, right?" She lightly tossed her green backpack to the side. And after having taken so many steps back she ran forward, lunging into Gerard without too much force, but enough to knock him over back into the mud- and gravity demanded that she go with him. On the ground she ruffled his muddy hair with her hands. Rolling over to his side, she allowed herself to sink into the mud a little. It wasn't so bad, getting muddy. Not with Gerard.

She wished she could help him with his writer's block... if they were anything like hiccups, then she'd probably have just cured him. Saffie was the best hiccup curer ever. She was just such a good darn surpriser.

Smiling at the giggle that left Saffron's mouth, Gerard pulled his arms into some sort of zombie/swamp monster combination and growled. He almost subconsciously wrinkled his nose, copying Saffie.

"Rawr! I'm going to kidnap you and take you back to my swamp!"

His jovial expression was anything but forced, he enjoyed Saffie's company. "Ooft!" He let out an exclamation of something like pain or surprise as he hit the muddy floor, Saffie on top of him. He held her arms to make sure she didn't roll into the mud as well (which she did anyway, despite Gerard's best efforts to keep her from getting horribly muddy and swamp-monster-like), shaking Saffie's hand away as she ruffled his hair. She sunk into the mud and a light blush graced his cheeks.

"Well... This is awkward."

He said after a beat, avoiding looking exactly into Saffie's eyes, the blush still remaining on his cheeks. His breath was struggling to remain even- he'd been a little winded by the fall, but not so much that it would hurt him.

"You know the problem with you? When you fall on people you have sharp knees."

Though he sounded accusational, his expression was anything but. A breathless and rather small laugh left his mouth, as he grinned at Saffie.

Saffron had been an expert in using her imagination since the day she'd popped out (ewww). She'd climbed mountains in her living room, swam through rivers while in bed, and sunk into the quickest sand in the entire sandbox! But somehow, she found this to be the best make believe-ing she'd done. Ever. She loved chilling with Gerard. He was like... her favorite person in the whole wide world.

"Awkwardness makes life worth living." That was her motto. She was so freaking blunt and crazy most of the time she was the cause of the awkwardness. This was one of those cases- seeing as she'd been crazy enough to just tackle her friend in a pit of mud.

She sputtered out a laugh, grabbing a handful of mud and throwing it in Gerard's direction. "I have sharp knees? Well... you have... um..." Saffie stared at Gerard for a while. His smile was very nice. How had she missed that before? Had she even missed it? Or had it just been blocked by Will's?... She smiled awkwardly, no longer even remembering what she was saying... this was... odd. In a kind of nice way. Until she snapped back into it. "Um... you have... hair..." Hair? He had nice hair... but... that made no sense. "Muddy. Uhh- muddy arms!"

Smiling in response to Saffie's motto, Gerard shook his head.

"Now see, I don't believe that's true. What you do makes life worth living, because you could theoretically have all these awkward moments and your life could be worthless. But, if you get out there and do something, you're life is worth living."

Part time student, part time philosopher. That was Gerard's occupation. He spent a lot of time thinking, maybe too much, which was probably what had caused his writer's block and... wait. He was thinking again. He was thinking and Saffie was right there, sounding a little flustered and confused until she came up with "muddy arms".

"Saf, that makes no sense!"

Gerard burst out laughing, hugging Saffron with one of his muddy arms, all the while thinking about how sweet she sounded all confused.

"But if you had said bad hair..."

Gerard growled threateningly, poising his hands to tickle Saffie.

[[ ooops. ^^" squiishy's bad. ]]

Do something? Yeah... do something. That was an interesting concept. One not too far away from Saffie's mind at the moment. Yeah... do something. She could do that. And as far as making sense was concerned- well, that just wasn't her forte. Especially considering this weird butterfly feeling taking over her stomach. It was overcoming her. She was drowning- drowning in butterflies! Oh, the tragedy! Oh, woe! Woe to her and her death by butterflies.

Saffie gasped a deep intake of air and tried to scramble away from the swamp monster as his hands rose threateningly into the air.

"Ahhh! Eeeek! Oooohh! Noo!!! Don't you dare! You know how ticklish I am," she squealed. "If you tickle me- if you do it- then I'll have to... um... I'll just have to... uhhhhh..." She was really struggling here. Words were failing her. She had speaker's block! Oh dear!

It was never Gerard's 'thing' to play games. Contact games, sure, like rugby. But to roll in the mud, playing make-believe with Gerard as the swamp monster, about to tickle the girl beside him? Well, no. It just... wasn't Gerard. Saffron brought out the light-hearted soul inside him that played these games and just had fun without needing to be under the influence of substances. He laughed slightly as she attempted to scramble away and laughed a little more at the squeal Saffie let out.

"No I didn't know, but now I do know, I shall tickle you and see what happens!"

Gerard lifted himself from the mud, and attempted pinning Saffie down to the wet and squiishy ground, with one hand aiming for the hands and the other running lightly over Saffron's sides. In an attempt to hold her still or something of the kind, he swung his leg across her body, into a straddling position.

"Wrong thing to say that, Saf."

Gerard told her as he did spider movements across her skin.

This was like a total dream. Saffie lived for days like these- moments like these. Moments that were purely and completely fun, light-hearted and just made her feel all amazingly fuzzy and cuddly inside. She felt like she was floating- laying there laughing until she felt her head go all light-headed. But it wasn't just a lack of oxygen causing it, she realized as she inhaled deeply.

"You don't want to do that!" She managed to gasp out, trying desperately to squirm away- but it wasn't working, especially not when Gerard's leg came around and she was pinned underneath him.

"You're gonna make me use force aren't you?!" The spider movements was the last straw. It sent tinglies up her spine, and she arched her back, bringing herself up, and without a moment of more thought in this process her face came up and met with Gerard's. Her hands had flung themselves over his shoulders and her lips pressed nicely against his. Not hard, not soft- but just right- so it seemed to her. And then she realized...

She pulled back- about an inch. Wide eyed she looked at Gerard's face, and breathing heavily, waited for his reaction.

Saffie looked all wonderful, all glowy and happy and... this was just testament to Gerard's writers block, the lack of ability to describe exactly how Saffie looked.

"Oh sure, why shouldn't I?"

Gerard laughed at Saffie as she squirmed, pretend quaking as she threatened force. For a moment he stopped in shock as Saffron pressed her lips to his, but before she pulled away, Gerard returned the pressure. He blinked slightly when she pulled back.

"What did you stop for?"

Gerard asked, voice sort of rough as he tried to figure out where this was wrong, why he felt weird. Then before he could think anymore he pushed his lips back to Saffie's. A warm smushy moment, one that didn't happen all too often- he was too used to being drunk when this happened or at least intoxicated on something. Well, ok, he was a little intoxicated on the warm smush feeling right now, as he planted his hands firmly in the mud either side of Saffie's head.

Saffron was sooo confused at this particular moment. It was an okay confusion though. It was a rather nice confusing actually. She was glowing, she was glowing underneath the icky mud that clung to her face and her hands and her hair. She was shocked. She was shocked that she had done that- although it had certainly been worth it. She'd kissed Gerard, and the butterflies beat against her stomach lining. And then she'd pulled back.

And then Gerard had spoken. And the butterflies pounded. And then he moved. And she thought they'd burst right through her. She pressed right back toward him, enjoying this all too much. She'd never had a kiss as spontaneous, a kiss as shmushy (considering the mud and all) and certainly not as nice. Her hand moved up to Gerard's hair and her lips only moved away to take a breath and then... and then... she pulled back again. Her face was red underneath all the brown.

What... what was she doing? This was... this was crazy! This was not Saffron! Was it? Did she know she could do this? She... she had to think- think about this... too fast- too much. She pulled back, breathing heavily still. She stood, looking frazzled.

"I- I have to go." She ran to her green backpack, picked it up and started to walk away- but then turned. She turned and ran back to Gerard and pressed her lips against his again- yes- it had been good. And then she turned and ran.

Ever so confused as Saffron got up, (well he couldn't think particularly well at this moment in time without overthinking things) Gerard kept his focus on Saffie, climbing to his feet and taking care not to slip. His brown eyes were slightly sorrowful, and he tried to make her stay just through the power of his eyes.

"No, please..."

Gerard begged as she went to leave, silenced by the kiss on his lips. He stood there, a little shocked, as Saffie ran, before his brain kicked into gear. His shoes pounded on the floor as he ran, desperate to catch up, all the while yelling Saffie's name.

"Wait, Saf! Saffie!"

Well, was this because he was an idiot, or because he did stupid things? His crush had been so not secret over the past year or so, and now he'd kissed Saffie... and she'd run away. What was he supposed to think? Everlasting love, for example? Yeah right.

This was amazing. This was... a dream. A dream, right? Saffie pinched herself. Uh- it was real. She'd just... kissed him- it had been like an impulse or a reflex. She'd been tickled and his face was right there, all handsome and perfect and... kissable... lips... wow. That had been a really nice kiss.

And now Gerard's voice was stuck in her head. "No, please..." And his eyes... It was tearing the butterflies apart... "Wait, Saf! Saffie!"

She felt so stupid- Gerard was her best friend, possibly in the whole entire world- possibly ever! And if- if they did this... what if they broke up? Then what? Then she'd lose her best friend. And what would she do? Who would she cry to, or joke to, or be happy with, or share butterflies with? But if she really did like him- which she obviously was discovering that she did, then wasn't it a crime to deny it, especially if he liked her back- which he obviously did.

She slowed down... and turned to face him. "Gerard..." Her eyebrows furrowed, coming in together above thoughtful eyes. Her mouth frowned- she was unsure. But... she wanted to be sure. "I..." She couldn't put words to it... but she couldn't run anymore either. She was stuck... this was weird. So emotional. Where was the light-hearted joking? Why did she suddenly feel like she'd been transported into the alternate dimension of drama? She didn't like this knotted up stomach feeling. All these stomach feelings... butterflies, and whatnot. It was just started to make her nauseous.

Gerard skidded in the mud as Saffie slowed, eyes beseeching and wide. He clung onto the words that left her mouth- taking in the frown with a slight expression of confusion- before pausing, waiting for the next word to come. When it didn't, Gerard took the cue to start babbling ridiculously.

"Saff, I've liked you since we came to school. Really liked. And you're so pretty, even with all that mud on your face and all over you, because you just look so alive and that's truely beautiful, in the way that makes me wonder if there could be more beauty in one single being. And... you know what, I think I'm just rambling here. So I'm gonna stop."

His face had coloured a dramatic red underneath the streaks of mud that crossed his face. But his brown eyes remained fixed, focused on Saffie's own eyes that always seemed to change colour- well, of course they did with those damn contacts.

"Saf, you're one of my best friends, and I've wanted to be more than that for so long. Think about it."

Gerard caught her hand and squeezed lightly, before tounching it to his lips, all the while still keeping his eyes focused on Saffie's.

Saffron was astounded by the speech given to her by Gerard. She'd always known he was a writer. She'd read his stuff herself, but hearing it like this... about her... Wow, he really did have a way with words. It was enough to bring little tears to her eyes. Maybe this was mushy, maybe it was overemotional, maybe it was totally sappy, and Saffie'd never admit to anyone in her entire life (well, except maybe Gerard, of course) but she'd never thought anyone would call her beautiful- and to hear it...

Her heart throbbed in her chest, she could feel the goosebumps rising on her arms, and yet she felt warm all over. As the tears formed, her edges of her lips pulled up into a smile. Her eyes searched Gerard's face. He was definitely being for real. Allowing the green backpack to slide down her arm to the ground she let the handle go and swung around into Gerard, enveloping him in a hug. She laid her head against his chest.

"You are my best friend, Gerard. I trust you with everything. So... that includes me," she said softly, her thumb rubbing the back of his hand gently. "Why didn't you ever tell me how you felt?"

Gerard noticed the tears in Saffie's eyes, and stepped forward, almost fearing he'd done something terribly wrong and upset her. Then he noticed the smile and his body relaxed slightly, but he still stepped close. It made the hug a lot easier, and he sighed slightly, an exhalation of breath that caught his vocal chords in his relief. He hoped that Saffie couldn't hear his heart punding that much quicker when she touched him, laid her head on his chest, but it pounded anyway.

His own hand twisted to link with Saffron's, as she talked to him, quiet and muffled my his chest, but he couldn't particularly focus right now, not when Saffie was rubbing her thumb across his hand like she was right now, in this hauntingly quiet and dark surrounding, when they were being pelted by rain still.

"Because... I was afraid you... You woudn't like me the same way I like you. And... I guess that it would hurt too much if- if you rejected me for any reason."

Gerard's voice was also soft, matching Saffie's in volume. His own words sounded fuzzy and he had detached himself from what he was saying. And it was still incredibly hard to say. But apparently the hardest things to do were the best things. And that should not have been an innuendo that crossed his mind.

Saffron looked up at Gerard's face, her head tilted upward, but still against his chest. She could feel and hear the soft but certain beating of his heart, and it made her smile to hear it beat the way it did. Did she make him nervous? As she watched his expression though, she couldn't shake the feeling from her mind that he was thinking something dirty... she knew him too well. Maybe if he could feel her heart beat he'd feel better- knowing it was going possibly doubly as fast as his.

"I would never," she simply replied. And then she thought about how long they'd known each other- how long had Gerard liked her? Since they met, he'd said? Wow... that was a long time... And she thought about the guys she'd dated in that time... mostly when she'd gone back home for the summer. Losers, all. And all the while... Gerard... She laughed a little, very lightly. "Gawsh, GeeRawr, do you have any idea how many awful guys I could have avoided dating if you'd just told me?" Her carefree laugh was proof that she wasn't in the least bit bitter about this fact. Just thoughtful. And to further show she wasn't at all mad, she pushed up onto her tip toes and pressed a kiss to his lips again. "Mm," she smiled, biting her bottom lip. "I don't think I'll ever have that problem again..."

Lowering just slightly, Saffron took her free hand and tousled Gerard's hair further, her other hand reaching up to wipe her eyes of those little gleaming tears that'd started. She laughed, "Ugh... I feel so silly... and wet. Definitely wet."

Gerard knew Saffie wasn't lying. Saffron would never lie to him. And he knew that, was so sure of it because he would never lie to her... Just... Omit the truth occasionally. Like whenever he'd talked to her about the losers. He always said "You'll find someone better." Never said that he wanted the someone better to be him. There were a lot of things he hadn't said that wanted to come pouring out of him now, but he was restraining himself. They'd have time.

"You mean the countless number of idiots I threatened to beat up for you?"

He smirked at Saffie, before accepting the kiss and tightening his arms round where they were on her waist. Gerard pouted when Saffie ruffled his hair, but as payback, he poked her buttcheek, grinning at her to show her it was a harmless gesture.

"Me too. And muddy. That's the other one. And my hair is a mess. A stupid mess."

Even so, he kept his hold on Saffie, refusing to move and leaning his head against hers, eyes closed as his mind began to drift to lots of different things, not once changing from the general subject of Saffron. His Saffron. Maybe. Which left one last thing. He pulled back a little to look Saffie dead in the eyes once more. He was more comfortable now he knew Saffie would never turn him down.

"Saffron Wickersham, will you be my girlfriend?"

Saffie's small smile was widened and again by Gerard's words. Yes, he'd threatened to beat up quite a few guys for her. And now she was beating herself up on the inside. How had she not seen it before? How had she missed in all of those times he'd said those things... those looks in his eyes, it all was coming to her clearer now. He really had always liked her. And she'd missed it... ugh, Saffie... "You'll find someone better," He'd always said. But she didn't need to find anyone. She'd already had him.

"Hah, yeah... them..."

She gasped a little when he poked her. "GeeRawr!" She laughed, and her hand continued to mat at his hair while he spoke. She twirled little curls around her finger. "I happen to find it quite shmexy." She giggled.

She leant his head against his as his leant against hers. What was he thinking about? But it was soon clear. She was about to just squeal a big huge YES! But then something caught her very widened eye. She looked at her green backpack, the little green backpack carrying precious 'ole Fred. And she saw that it as well was very, very wet. Like, sitting in a puddle wet. She gasped. "Only if you get me and Fred out of the rain right now oh em gee he could be soaked by now!" She grabbed the backpack up, but her mind wasn't working and she couldn't think which direction to move in. If Fred was broken, she was done for- there was no money to get her a new one. Daddy wouldn't have it. If Fred was broken, it was law school for her.

Laughing as Saffie played with his hair, Gerard shook his head as much as he could without pulling his hair out by way of Saffie's fingers, or without wrenching fingers out of place.

"You lie! It's knotty and yucky."

One hand left Saffie's body to comb through the hair, and he winced as he hit a knot, but was still smiling inside about his hair being called sexy. Of course Saffie never lied, he just liked to have dry hair that wasn't matted with mud and knots that tangled up completely, seeming so irreversible that he found he really didn't care.

The gasp left him aching for a moment, before deciding to play the knight in shining armour, or, as it was at the moment, knight in soggy jeans. When she grabbed the backpack up, Gerard bent down and took her legs, swinging her up into his arms. For someone who never played sports (well he did work out...), he was surprisingly strong.

"Here we go, mi'lady, I shall rescue you- and Fred- from the terrible flood!"

His English accent was quite good for someone who had very little to no interest in performing dramatics, but had decided to try out for the musical this year on a whim. He pressed Saffron into his chest, holding tight and hoping she had enough common sense to hold on tightly.Because he'd feel really bad if he dropped her and broke Fred, especially.

"Woah!" Saffron laughed as Gerard scooped her up into his arms. She cradled Fred in her one free arm, while her other arm hooked around Gerard's neck to hold her to him. She definitely didn't want to fall from his arms- he'd probably feel really bad if that happened... and she'd feel bad for making him feel bad.

"On to the girls' dorms, oh genteel Sir." She giggled lightly as she spoke, still a little too concerned for Fred to be sincerely laughing. She wasn't in the least bit surprised about Gerard's ability to pick her up, but she was surprised by the action- it was very spontaneous and unexpected. She loved it. "After I check on Fred, I'll have to clean you up." She was able to let out a nicer laugh at this. Devious thoughts entered her mind as she considered pushing Gerard into her shower. Oooh, settle down Saffie. For realzies.