Erin Marie Chase and Dean Mitchell
Anaheim, California ~ Disneyland
The cool breeze gently blowing through the park sent a shiver down her spine, causing her to wrap her arms tightly over her chest in an attempt to keep warm as she hurried out of the ride so that she catch up with the rest of her friends. Splash Mountain… she knew from the beginning that she was going to be getting wet- especially when Dean had practically forced her to sit right up the front of the small canoe type vessel, but she hadn’t expected to become as soaked through as she actually was at that very moment; not that it wasn’t fun. Lifting her hand up from where she had it wrapped tightly across her chest, she let her fingers brush gently against her forehead, dragging some of her long and damp dark brown locks back off of her face before neatly tucking them away behind her ear so that they were no longer obscuring her vision in any way; her attention turning over to where her friends all stood a couple of steps away, each of them huddled in a circle with their heads down and eyes glued to the park map that was given to the group upon entry to what everyone knew to be the happiest place on Earth.
“..we have to go on the Haunted Mansion ride..! I’ve been waiting all year to be able to go on it..! Oh please, can we go on that ride next..? Please, please, please..!”
She couldn’t help the gentle chuckle that fell through her lips as she quickly closed the gap, slipping herself in between both Tristan and Dean so that she too could look down at the map as Gale tried pleadingly to get them all to follow along with her excitement- it wasn’t as though they didn’t want to go on that ride; they wanted to go on them all, or at least as many as they possibly could while they had the chance- so far they had been in America a full week, with three more left before they were going to be heading back home to Australia; and though they had probably made quite a huge mistake by going to Disneyland first, it had most definitely been worth it.
“Gale, you know we plan on going on every ride that we can while we’re here; we still have plenty of time to go on it, so don’t go rushing about or it won’t be as fun- besides…” A soft tinge of red crossed over her cheeks as her dark brown eyes met with that of Dean’s- the both familiar and cheeky smirk playing over his lips something that she had gotten used to over the years that they had known each other, though it was always something that caught her off-guard… her older brothers more charming and upfront friend always managing to keep her upon the balls of her feet, “.. we have the rest of the day ahead of us; and the parade is starting in like, what? Fifteen minutes..? Why don’t we high-tale it back to the main street, grab some snacks and a great place to watch it from? Then we can go check out some of the other rides they have around this place. What do you think Erin..?”
“U-Uh… I think it’s a good idea- we’ve been running ourselves flat out since we first got into the park this morning; a break could really do us all some good.” Eventually managing to tear her eyes away from Dean’s so that she was instead looking over at the other two that were standing with them, she relaxed herself once more before her lips turned up in a bright smile, her head nodding lightly up and down as though to push her point in agreeing to the plan that he had come up with, “Not to mention that it’ll also give us time to dry off from that last ride.”
It was just like clockwork. The very moment that the words had slipped out through her lips, her hand lifted up to take a hold of the pendant that was hung around her neck, the beautiful interchangeable golden tree pendant adorned with both red and white small jewels. It was a symbol of Fall… a symbol of Autumn… The season of which the days grew cooler, and the leaves changed color- where the once most vibrant of greens switched the most fiery of reds, oranges and yellows… where the animals that surrounded them began to get ready and prepare themselves for the frosty chill of the Winter climate that they all knew was on its way. She wasn’t used to this type of weather… it was as though she was stood under a completely different sun, but she knew as well as everyone else around her that it was one in the same.
Allowing her attention to wander away from the conversation that was going on around her, she let her gaze lift up to look at the vast sky that spanned out for miles and miles; such a beautiful shade of blue, and then painted with the familiar whites and greys that made up the clouds- a little bit of heat wasn’t going to hurt… not too much, but just enough to dry them off so that they could go and enjoy the rest of their day without having to worry about catching a cold or anything. Tilting her head ever so slightly to the side as her mind began to fill with the thoughts of those perfect summer days… the kind of days that she had spent with her brother and their friends, playing in the surf and the sand of the beach that their family’s home backed onto… the days that led cold drinks that you couldn’t hold onto without a stubbie holder, the unmistakable smell of snags, steaks and lamb chops cooking away on the barbie; days that led to running around barefoot and in your bathers in the backyard, messing around in the pool with your mates, and throwing water balloons at anyone who wasn’t paying any attention to what was going on- the very thought of it had her smile growing wider and her features lighting up happily; the feeling of the temperature heating up around her soon helping to spread an ever familiar warmth through her body, her clothes seeming to dry at a much quicker pace than they had been minutes before.
“Erin, come on..! You’re going to miss the show if you don’t get a move on..!”
“..huh..?” Pulled out of her daze by the sudden sound of her name being called out from somewhere in the area that was around her, she turned her head over towards the general direction she believed the source of the extremely familiar voice to be coming from, her dark eyes slowly flicking about the area in search of it until eventually, they came to a stop upon Dean’s figure standing over by the path that led back towards the main street of the park, “Oh… I’m coming; wait up, Dean..!”
Not bothering to give a second thought or any sort of notice to the slow but ever increasing climate around her, she quickly hurried to catch up with him, reaching out with her arm as she grew closer until she was able to take a hold of his hand, the simple action once more causing her cheeks to turn a soft shade of red. Feeling the warmth of his hand wrap around her own, she lifted her head up so that she could meet with his gaze for a few moments; the sweet familiarity behind his greyish-blue eyes helping her to relax as the two of them began to make their way side by side towards where the others they had come with had run off to.
Slowing down as they grew closer and closer to the ever growing crowd in main street, she slipped her hand out from his hold, bringing them both together in from of her stomach as she lifted herself up onto the balls of her feet so that she could get a better look around, her eyes flicking back and forth in search of their missing friends, “Dean… I’m so sorry; if it wasn’t for me lagging behind, we never would have lost the-… H-Hey, what are you doing..!”
Widening her eyes ever so slightly as she felt a large pair of hands take a gentle though firm grip over her hips, she dropped her attention down from the crowd to watch on, her stomach muscles tensing up as much as they could as she felt her lithe frame being lifted up from the ground before he let her down, sitting her down on top of his shoulders before wrapping his arms firmly around her legs and then shrugging as best as he could under her weight, “This way, you’ll be able to get a better view of the parade shortie.”
Feeling her cheeks growing a brighter shade of red at the sudden embarrassment of being lifted up into the air, she hunched her back over ever so slightly, her hands sliding down her leg for just a few moments before she took a gentle hold of the front of his top in an attempt to help keep herself from falling from her new perch, “I’m not
that short Dean… besides, it’s a bunch of floats, I’m sure I’d be able to see them from the ground.”
“Oh really now…” Keeping her attention focused on him as he continued to walk until they had gone and completely joined the crowd, she watched on as he tilted his head back so that it was resting up against her stomach, flashing her his normal mischievous grin and chuckling softly before he began to reach back up to her, causing her to quickly pull one of her hands back to swat his own away from her altogether, “Well then… if that’s the cas-…”
“No..! I mean…” Slightly flustered under his never wavering gaze, she lifted the hand that she had been using against him back behind her head, her attention slowly turning away so that she was staring out into the distance as she lightly rubbed at the back of her head, “I said I would… didn’t say that I wanted to…”
It took her a few moments before she realized that the sound she was hearing was the sound of his gentle chuckle escaping through his lips before eventually, the sound of the crowd cheering around them caused the both of them to look over to where they could see movement upon the street. It was like nothing she had ever seen before- no matter how many times she visited the theme-parks up in the Gold Coast, no matter how many times she watched all of her favourite Looney Tunes, Marvel and Wanner Brother’s characters pass her by; it was by far no match for what it was that she was now seeing before her very eyes…
“Oh, Dean look..! It’s Minnie and Mickey..!” She couldn’t help the surprised yelp that slipped through her lips as she felt herself lifted even higher into the air, her grip tightening out of pure habit as he pushed himself up onto the balls of his feet so that he could get an even better look at his favourite character over the heads of the crowd- it felt like a dream, something that she could only ever dare to imagine as the parade slowly but surely continued on past them; the whole scene unfolding in front of her along with the music filling the air causing a twinkle within her eyes as she continued to gaze upon the characters that she had grown up admiring pass her by, adding to the already quite enthusiastic atmosphere that the crowd was giving off- the strange movement of one of the cast members within the parade itself catching her attention as the woman began to stumble about on her feet, her body hitting the ground causing those who were apart of the procession behind her to come to a complete halt before they rushed forward to make sure that she was okay.
Lifting her hand up from where she had it resting against his chest, her fingers pressed lightly against her lips in an attempt to hide her surprise- something wasn’t right here… people were beginning to drop all around them; not just the staff, but also those that were within the crowd, causing a panic to begin spreading throughout those that were left standing upon two feet. What in the hell was going on here..? People didn’t just drop down out of nowhere for no apparent reason; things like this didn’t just happen like that... they couldn’t, could they..?
“..Erin…” Taking a few moments longer to continue gazing upon the ever worsening scene that was going on right in front of them, she turned her attention down to where she could feel Dean’s hands once again gripping a hold of her hips, her body moving with his as he quickly pulled her down from his shoulders so that she was instead standing in front of him, his expression worried as he searched her eyes for answers she wasn’t sure that she would be able to give him, his voice lowering down to a whisper so that the conversation could go one between just the two of them, “..is it just me, or does it seemed to be getting a bit too hot for Fall weath-…”
The sound of terrified screams filled the air around them, cutting the rest of his sentence off mid-way and causing the both of them to turn their attention back to the road; the familiar dance of bright orange flames lapping up against and engulfing what they could see was left of the Sleeping Beauty float- the Princess herself quickly pulled to safety by her ever adoring Prince. This wasn’t right; she had never meant-… Turning her attention back to where Dean stood holding onto her tightly, she looked up at him with tear-glazed eyes, an all too familiar sting running across their surface showing him just how close she was to one of her break downs; the guilt from already having forgotten all about the small change that she had initiated only helping to fuel emotions, “I-I only meant to help dry off our clothes so that we wouldn’t catch a cold… Dean-… I never meant for this to happen…”
Feeling the gentle tug of his arm wrapped around her waist, she allowed him to lead her back and away from where all the commotion was going on, the two of them slipping around the corner and into a quieter area where they could be alone- she knew what he was doing… he was trying to calm her down; to reassure her that everything was going to be okay… that she would be able to fix this once she was able to focus again. Out every single one of their friends, he was the only one that knew about them; that knew about her and her brothers abilities, and after everything they had seen… even after Claire Bennet had gone out of her way to expose their kind to the world… he had not only kept their secret, but had also stuck by their side and helped to look after them both.
“Shh… it’s gunna be alright Erin…” Closing her eyes tightly as she brought both of her hands up to rest against his chest, she let her body fall into and press hard against his own as he tightened his arms around her, keeping her as close against him while he continued to try and soothe her enough to try and help her fix the situation before it became any worse, “..we’re gunna fix this okay? You and me… together; we’re gunna make this right…”
“..t-that’s the thing… Dean… I-I don’t think I can this time…”
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