land of a thousand men [open]

[alexander2007]

Alex was overjoyed to be back at Hogwarts. He however missed the Littrell household since he had stayed there the last few days of term change. The young Mihael boy had had a fantastic time with Mandy's family, though still felt discouraged on whether or not Bryce actually liked him. It was confusing, seeing as he needed to feel protective over his sister, whom Bryce believed Alex liked or something. It was something unheard of. Mandy was his friend, and that would remain the same. He was not ready for relationships of any kind at the moment. He'd never been into the whole 'girlfriend/boyfriend' scene, mainly because people got hurt. Alex didn't fancy being one of those certain people to be honest. He had been hurt before, by friends. Those that turned out to betray him - it had literally killed him inside to know people could be like that. Knowing that his real parents were out there somewhere, hurt him also.

The thought of relationships and such brought him wanting to explore the grounds of Hogwarts once more. After all, nothing beat the outside world. It was oh-so marvellous.

A skinny-jeaned young man traped over the Grassy ground. Even through his Vans, he could feel the breezy cold. A sigh escaped his mouth, hugging himself for warmth. Alex was hardly a stranger to cold, but even so it grow annoying. Mihael boy looked quite an idiot wandering around the Lake hugging himself, with about two layers covering the upper-half of his body. Indeed. An Aiden tee shirt and a +44 Hoodie. His Jeans were Light Gray. Hardly warmed him up, but even so, they looked good on him. Alexander chuckled, placing himself down gazing towards the Lake.

Soon it would Ice Over. Well, it was more than likely. With all this freezing cold weather, there was going to be snow. And with snow, it would ice the Lake over. It wouldn't be bad news though, as perhaps he could ice skate over it. That would be quite fantastic, The boy lowered his head, closing his eyes for a second and thinking of random things. He was glad to be back.

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[rain1994]

Rain walked out to the lake. She was bored and was desperate for a familier face. During the term-end hols she'd not left her dorm and had slowly been wasting away. Her sisters had come in from time to time and given her food but it wasn't much. She'd lost a lot of weight and her siblings had obviously told her parents as they'd sent her an owl telling her to eat more and a bag of her favourite chocolates came too. But she didn't eat them. Even now as she wandered down to the lake she was just picking at them. She stopped and looked about herself. She saw Alex, her crush, sitting on the grass and decided to talk to him. She looked down at her clothes. A thin plain black shirt and a denim vest jacket, with studs and band patches on it adorned her upper body, her lower in some black skinnies. But even they were getting a little too big on her now, she was so dangerously underweight.

Sitting down next to Alex she muttered "Hi." and dug in her bag for her choclates. She offered one to Alex.

"So umm.. how'd you spend the holidays?"

[alexander2007]

Alex was not alone for long, as a familiar person joined him. He knew too well whom it was, but cast her a look of shock as he saw how twin she was. The last time they had seen each other, Rain had been more-or-less the average size of a teenage girl, but now it seemed she had lost much weight, and looked dangerously underweight. Gulping at the thought of her perhaps been unwell, he forced a smile on his plain, handsome face - although it looked fake. "Rain! Good to er .. See you again."

He did his best to act friendly, and seem as though he saw nothing of her skinny figure, but it was hard. Alexander was growing concerned of his friend. It was not natural to be this thin. A little perhaps, but not so it was dangerous or anything. Did he say anything, or leave it unnoticed? Alex chose the second option, feeling it was the easiest way to go at the moment. But if it came up in conversation, he would have to admit to her how he felt. It may or not be her fault, either way this was not right.

"My holidays? Oh, I stayed here for a few days but then went to stay with my friend, Mandy for a bit. How about you?" the Mihael asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Maybe she had gone home to see her family. He wondered if Frank Ireo, her father, had been at home or busy with the band (My Chemical Romance). There was still some jealousy over the fact that not only did she know Frank, but he was her father. He would do anything to meet him, as he was one of his many musical heros.

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[rain1994]

Rain shrugged. She knew Alex was looking at her weight. She needed help and she knew it. "I spent the holidays here. I didn't leave my dorm, and didn't eat much either. Passed out at one point." she paused to nibble some chocolate. She grimaced at the taste and reached into her bag for the only thing she could stomach to drink - water. She took a gulp and looked back to Alex.

"Parents were busy, so we all stayed here. Although they want us home at christmas. You can come too if you wanted. I hate not seeing them. Dad's away all the time and mum works at the store {a.n. Frank Iero has a label called skeleton crew} and we've been from nanny to nanny for years. And then we stay here over the hols. It sucks Alex. " The young Rain Iero burst into tears and cried on the grass. She hated crying but she couldn't stop herself.

"I'm ill Alex. Help me get better." she sobbed. She curled up and sobbed until she couldn't cry any more.

[alexander2007]

Mihael frowned at what she said to him. No wonder she was becoming thinner, if she wasn't eating. He refrained from speaking once more. What was he to say? Alex hardly wanted to argue with her over her eating habits, or be too kind and say 'it doesn't matter'. He was lost for words, and there was nothing he could do about it.

She was inviting him to hers for christmas? That seemed a total change of conversation from what they were talking about a moment ago, but even so it didn't matter. "I would love too, but my 'parents' will want to see me. After all, I never saw them in the break, so I'm sure they'll be wanting me back for the Holidays. It was a lovely offer anyway, I feel quite sad to turn it down." Sighing, frowning also [this time at himself], patting her shoulder.

Alex had hardly expected her suddenly start to cry, but she did. Majorly. The poor Ireo girl lay helplessly upon the ground, tears streaming her beautiful face. "Please don't cry," he said softly, stopping to listen to her when she spoke. He had been wrong about it being her fault, she was ill. Alex sighed, wanting to cry himself. but he couldn't. He had to remain strong and be here for his belovered friend.

He stared at the curled up figure upon the ground. Alex joined her, hugging her close to his chest. "Please don't cry, I'm here." What else could he say? Lost for words once more, there was nothing more he could do.

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[rain1994]

Rain cuddled close to her friend. She wiped away her tears and just cuddled him for a while, grateful for a friend who actually cared about her.

"I swear i never meant for it to get bad. I just didn't eat one day and then I just stopped eating altogether. Can you help me? Could you make sure I eat something when ever I'm with you? Just to help me get better a little."

The youngest Iero child wiped the back of her hand over her eyes, smudging the make-up she had been wearing. She got her water again and found a carton of juice. Her sisters must have snuck it in earlier. she looked at it for a minute and then had a small sip. She'd always liked orange juice and her sisters knew it. t first she grimaced at the taste but then she had some more and the taste got better.

"Did you think I'd done this on purpose?" she said with a small sad smile.

[alexander2007]

Alex listened to her speak, hardly sure of what to say himself. He could help her, but it wouldn't be easy. Plus, he had no idea what to do. After all he could not force her to eat as that would not be fair on her. Gawd, this was hard. A part of him wished he had nothing to do with Rain, but that caused him to feel worse. She was his friend, and he needed to help her. One way or another. "I'll try," he answered, giving her hand a squeeze.

He watched as she took a sip of Orange Juice, smiling that she was doing something. "Tasty?" Trying to make her smile, but he doubted she would now. Her next question to him shocked him slightly, but he knew the answer. "I did at first. But I didn't know the whole story, but what am I to know?"

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[rain1994]

Rain grinned at his comment about the juice and pushed the carton back into her bag as she finished it. Laying on her back, she looked up at the sky, watching the clouds go by.

"Thanks Alex. For saying you'll at least try to help me. I'm sorry I'm putting a lot on you but I'm fed up of my brothers and sisters. It annoys me so much. I just needed to get away. Being the youngest doesn't help."

She sighed and got another choclate, nibbling at it slightly, still not welcoming the food. She offered some to her friend, whom she appreciated very much. She was pretty sure anyone else would have just left her. She smiled and played with the end of her hair slightly.

[alexander2007]

She was his friend, of course he'd want to help her. "Don't worry. Your my friend and you need help - i'm here for you Rain, I promise," he smiled softly, giving her a quick smile. "You be fed up of them hun. They're your family and you need them, trust me. Let them help you. Because like me, they just want what is best for you." Never had he been that brilliant at giving advice, but at that moment he had really risen beyond himself. Alexander was always there for those that needed help. He was that kind of guy.

Alex was offered chocolate but he turned it down. It was hers and he wanted her to eat it up. "I'm fine thanks." She would be alright wouldn't she?