((This Thread takes place the same day then Leila's arrival back from her 'Killing Spree' In Australia. It's about January 20-25))

Leila emptied her Rucksack on the bed with an annoyed look on her face. She had her wallet, where her ID, Australian money, Credit Cards, and Driver's Liscence all were, and the knife she had used to kill her father. She'd have to wash the dried blood emidiately, before anyone stumbled upon it. She bit her lip, wondering if throwing it in the bottom of the lake on the Grounds wouldn't just be a better idea. She quickly put her Wallet back in one of her purses lying around, and then pocketed the small knife.

She made her way outside, stumbling on nobody. She was greatful for that, having a bloody knife in your pocket wasn't really something people would feel comfortable with. Plus, she didn't want to be turned in, that would be very bad. She had given good evidence that it was someone else with her father's killing, and the first one had seemed like an accident. As a matter of fact, it had been an accident.

After dumpting the knife in the middle of the water, she sat down on the frozen ground and gazed out at the water, and the trees marking a forest in the distance. It was beautiful, Leila could imagine herself sitting here, drawing this scenery over the summer. She laid flat on her back, ignoring the cold, damp ground that threatened to ruin her perfectly white coat.

Arielle once again found herself bored at the Mansion and decided to take some time outside by the lake. With her, she carried a blanket, a thermos of hot chocolate, a bag of cookies and a nice romance novel to read. She thought she'd be the only one there but to her surprise, she saw a familiar figure by the lake side as well.

"Leila!" she called waving at the blonde and ran over to plop down beside the dolphin shifter. "Whats going on? How ya been? I haven't seen you in a while," she said. Which was true because Arielle spent the majority of her time out with Aiden and at his apartment ever since they had hooked up.

"Cookie and cocoa?" she offered to Leila.

Leila blinked once as her name was called. She sat up quickly, looking back to see Arielle. "Hey!" she replied, watching as she sat down on her blanket beside her. "Well, nothing big has been going on," the Order Member lied, though it could be truthful, her trip to Australia hadn't been that big. She thought of the cover-story she'd give everyone, making sure no one could detect that she'd been lying. "Iv'e been in Canada for a few days. Visiting my cousin in Ottawa. He's been dying to see me in ages." she explained.

"And I could say the same about you too. I haven't seen you since the Party about a month ago! Where did you and Shin go? Sam saw you guys walking out, but he didn't know much more then I did." she grinned, suddenly wondering if they'd gone back at the Mansion to... those thoughts were pushed away as she spotted the Hot Chocolate and Cookies. She smiled as Arielle offered some.

/Sure, thanks." she said. "Whatcha reading?" she added, her eyes now on the Lake again, watching the Winter birds flying overhead.

"Shin and I just went out for some, well I had dessert, he had breakfast at some little cafe'. Mainly cause I was steamed at the fact that I'm underage to drink here in America while back at home I would have been plastered. I mean, 21? Lame!" she cried, followed by a laugh.

"oh, well..." Arielle grinned when Leila asked what she was reading. "Nothing. I just went the the book store yesterday and got a little something to read...." she blushed a bit showing Leila the front cover of her book.

"Heh..." she scratched her nose a bit nervously. "I've been inspired to read such things. I met a guy last week while I was in Central Park. He's hot. Tall, muscles, short blonde hair, and his eyes, they're just unique and beautiful. I mean at first I was just physically attracted to him, but then we went out dancing and that lust completely transformed into something...incredible." was the only word she could say thinking about how Aiden made her feel. "Leila...girl talk time. Nothing really personal though. I just wanna ask you, what do you feel like when you're around Sam? When he holds you and kisses you? Is it like a melting feeling?" Arielle asked.

Leila grinned sympathetically. "The Legal drinking age in Canada is 19. I'm not necessarily a big drinker, even at awesome parties, but I guess it must be pretty annoying. I'm glad I turned 21 before coming to the States." she said. "Iv'e been in New York for nearly 6 months, lived at the Mansion for 3." she added. She loved it here, not just the Mansion, but New York in general. She had lived in many places throughout her childhood, but never in big Cities. Sure, Toronto had been her Birth Place, but she couldn't remember anything about the place, only brief visits at her Maternal Grandparents'.

She lived in Ottawa with her cousin Austin for 2 years and a half, but they'd been more or less in the Outskirts of the city. Now, she was in the middle of it all, and Big Cities were what she belonged in. The people, the noise, the stores, the sights. She simply loved it here and she wasn't about to move anywhere out of the city anytime soon.

"Oh, that looks interesting." she said, but before she could say anything else, Arielle had changed the topic a bit. She had met someone? How great for her! Leila smiled, listening as she deiscribed him. "Well he does sound like a stunning man." she said. Then Arielle asked her about Sam. Leila's smile widened as she closed her eyes. "Sam and I are great together." she thought of the last time she'd seen him, that had been leaving his bedroom the morning after their relationship had taken on a dizzying new kind of awesomeness.

"Truthfully though, the feeling I have whenever I'm near him, is more then just 'Melting'." she said. "I never felt like that around a man before, but I guess... I guess I never loved anyone like I love Sam." this was the complete truth. She wouldn't see herself with anyone but him now, her life seemed to revolve around him, and if ever he was cut out of it, she'd be lifeless, she knew it. Sure, she'd be able to walk, eat, sleep, but that would be about it. Her soul would be dead.

"I see..." Arielle nodded and couldn't help but smile at the way Leila was talking about Sam.

"Love?" her eyes widened a bit at the word. "So you love him? That's awesome. When did you figure that out? How long have you guys been together? Is it possible to fall in love with someone after only two weeks?" the questions continued to roll off of her tongue. She had to figure out exactly what true love really was. Though deep down, she knew that was the feeling that always arose when ever she'd think about Aiden, but she didn't want to admit it. People don't just fall in love after only a couple of weeks...at least that's what she continued to tell herself. She cared deeply about him, that was true, but was it love?

"I'm sorry if I'm bugging you. I'm confused. It's like my mind and my heart are playing tug of war with my feelings..." she sighed a bit.

Leila nodded, "Yeah, I do. More then anything in the world." this felt oddly strange said aloud. She'd been thinking it ever since they'd made love the other night, but she'd never mentioned it aloud. Not to anyone else but Sam. "I know Iv'e been with him for only a few months, but I just... I don't know, but there's something, some connection between us. I can't really explain it." she felt bubbly, strange, exited... Talking about Sam like this was something she wasn't used to, how would Sam react if he happened to over hear this right now?

All the questions that came out from Arielle's mouth made her laugh. "I knew I loved him, ever since the Party you and Shin ditched. It wasn't until... a few nights ago that I told him, that I told myself that was the feeling that tormented me, seriously, I couldn't sleep at night, he haunted me, but in a good way." she laughed again, this was so cheesy. Everything about her life was cheesy right now. Her romantic life, her Murder life. She couldn't beleive she'd actualy wanted to kill someone. Now that she thought of it, had that been a bit too evil for her? Sure, she was glad her father was dead, but still.

Was she happier that she'd done it? That she'd been the one to end his heart from beating? Yeah... She was happy, she had reasons to be. He had been a terrible father, the reason her mother was dead! That was only what he deserved. She quickly came back to reality, pretending she'd been thinking of the next two questions. "Well, we were sort of... hanging out, making out... Around November, but we were offical on New Year's Eve." she said. "And two weeks isn't that bad. It depends, the way you talk about this guy, you really do seem as if you like him a lot. You might just have to wait and see." she paused a minute, "By the way, what's his name? I might know him..." but really, she didn't know any blonde guys in New York. She just wanted a reason to know who Arielle was dating.

"I see..." was Arielle's response after taking in everything Leila had said. Apparently Leila had only been together for months before she realized how much she loved Sam. That seemed to make more sense than just two weeks.

"Aiden." Arielle replied when Leila asked for his name and when the name came up, so did that feeling. "He's not the first boyfriend I've ever had, but he is my first..." she paused for a bit. "The day I met him, we went dancing that night, and the following saturday, he took me to a ball. It was the oddest feeling Leila. When we were dancing it was as if everyone else had disappeared and he and I were the only ones in the ball room. Like we entered our own little world. Then when he song ended and everyone stared at us. Mainly him because of his tiger eyes and it pissed me off. You know how humans are, so I had to get us out of there before anything happened. Mainly to prevent myself from doing something drastic and ending up on the evening news. .." she laughed a bit before continuing.

"I was a bit upset, until her wrapped his arms around me for comfort and we kissed and next thing I knew, I was in his bedroom. Kinda made me feel a bit skanky because I'd only known the guy for like a few days in reality, but for some reason, it felt longer than that. It keeps messing with my head. I've never felt this strongly about anyone before. It scares me, but excites me at the same time." she said looking out over the lake and placed a hand over her chest. "You're right about me caring about him a lot and that I should wait to see how everything goes, but I'm completely a wreck about this guy. It's not puppy love. Been there and done that all through out middle school and high school. It's gotta be the real thing. It might sound crazy, especially after only a couple of weeks, but then again, maybe it's not so crazy if you've found the right person."

"I would ask you how good Sam is in bed, because with Aiden it was like I was on cloud nine. I just had to get that off of my chest. We are having girl talk and I consider you a good friend, but I understand if you don't wanna talk about it." she laughed taking a bite of one of her sugar cookies. "I'm not asking for graphic details. Just on a scale from 1 to 10."

Leila nodded, Aiden, that didn't ring a bell. "I don't think I've ever met anyone named Aiden. Is he a Mutant?" she asked, searching her brain for any tall guy with blond hair. She had seen some around New York; a lot of them, but never had she actually spoken to one. Truthfully, after meeting Sam, she had never paid much attention to men. She listened as she counted the dates she and Aiden had been on. "Well, he seems like a good guy. I'm not your mom,--" she laughed, "--but I wouldn't stop you from seeing him if I were." she grinned,

Leila didn't laugh when she said she didn't want to do anything drastic. "Yeah, I had the same feeling about Sam sometimes. He's just to hot for his own good." she didn't want to admit it to Arielle, as the two were getting along so well, but she had felt that way when the two of them had been in the Living Room, and Ari had tried to flirt with him. She trusted Sam though, she knew he would never cheat on her. Plus, it wasn't like she was much better, she hadn't really tried to stop Geo from flirting with her a little at her Sanctuary visit.

Leila laughed as she asked how Sam was in bed. "I have to say 11. Let's just say, I would be surprised if I'm the first girl he ever went that far with. But yeah, Cloud Nine would be an other way to describe it." she closed her eyes again, trying to feel his touch, his lips on hers, but it was just not possible. "I consider you a good friend too Arielle," she added now more seriously. "This is really fun, just the two of us talking. I haven't really talked like this with many people."

"Yes, he is a mutant," Arielle answered when Leila asked if Aiden was one and she laughed when she said Sam was too hot for his own good and his rating in intimacy. "Ah yeah, Sammy boy is quite a looker, I wouldn't be surprised if he did have experience under his belt. His little black book is probably thicker than the yellow pages. Small joke." she giggled giving Leila a light nudge with her elbow.

"I know Sam is a good guy. Tell you the truth I was a bit jealous of you, Leila. Not because you had Sam, but because of what you had with him. I like my fun and games, but I got tired of it and I really wanted someone steady. Love is needed for the soul the same way food is needed for the body and every time I'm with Aiden, it's like my soul is at the buffet. It's corny, but its what I feel. I can admit to it, but I don't know if he just really likes me, or if I'm food for his soul too." Arielle paused, going a bit in thought about the ordeal some more, which was all she ever did for the last couple of weeks.

"And yeah, it's good to have people to talk to like this. To have good relationships. Not just romantic ones, but to build strong friendships also. One of my favorite quotes:

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you're smiling and everyone around you is crying.

I maybe a bit out spoken and a goofball, but I'm just being me and living my life and hoping I will have a positive impact on the lives of others."

Leila grinned, "Sorry, I don't mean to get in things that aren't my buisness, but does he live here, at the Mansion?" she felt a little guilty as she asked all those questions about Aiden, but that was just her. When her friends started dating unknown guys, she liked getting all the info she could. She could feel that Arielle wasn't that much different then herself too. Who knows, a close friendship may be to be seen up ahead. Leila would certainly not bet against it.

Leila smiled, laughing softly at the joke. "I don't think he's had much experience. Not in that particular part of the book." she said, continuing to refer to his black book. "But I'm positive he had a lot of girls before I came along." she said, and hopefully, she'd be the last. How had this conversation taken on a so personal level? They'd been talking about her book only ten minutes ago, and now here they were, talking about Leila and Arielle's sex life.

Leila smiled, "Well, what we have is pretty special I suppose. Don't worry though, you probably have exactly that kind of relationship coming your way in the very near future." she winked, smiling so that her perfect white teeth showed and flashed in the sunlight of this wintery afternoon. The way she spoke of Aiden though... Arielle shouldn't at all be questioning weather she was in love or not. Leila could see it in her eyes, there was a sparkle that hadn't been there the previous time she'd hung out with her.

Leila smiled at the quotation. "That's a good one, I'll keep it in mind." she said, repeating it a few times in her head. "And I'm pretty similar too you... I may seem like a perfect, crazy, snobby little princess to people, but deep down, I'm not all that pretty and my life sure isn't perfect." she shivered once, "It's getting colder, huh?" she said after wrapping her white coat around her. She looked up at the sky, the afternoon was drawing to an end, and by the looks of it, it was about 4:00 O'clock.

"Shit! I have work at 4." she exclaimed, "Do you have a watch?"

"Hm? Oh no, he doesn't live here in the mansion. He has his own place. Another big plus," Arielle laughed giving Leila a thumbs up. "And I hope your are right about my relationship. To be putting this much effort and thought into it and to be crushed...I'd probably snap and shank a bitch..." she sighed. "Though they say it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all, which I suppose is true. I haven't been this happy in I don't know how long."

She laughed again at Leila's snobby little princess comment. "Yeah we do have a lot in common. Obviously we're not extremely snobby princesses since we both managed to find two caring and beautiful blonde haired, blue eyed princes to put up with our bullshit." she laughed more. "And now that you mentioned it, it is getting a bit nippier." Arielle said and looked at her cell phone when Leila asked for the time.

"Yeah, it's about a quarter to 4..." Arielle sighed. "Where exactly do you work? I'll go there with you if you want. I have nothing better to do. The book can wait."

Leila nodded, "Yeah, that's good. Though with Sam being only a few doors away, it's easier to just... drop by." she winked again, smiling still. "Yep. I'd do exactly the same if Sam was to hurt me." and Leila knew that she'd actually hurt him like crazy, it wasn't just a figure of speech. She'd hunt him down until all his pretty little X-Mern bones were crushed. But until that happens, she'll love him like crazy and die for him. Juust as long as he doesn't upset her, he'll be fine.

"Exactly." Leila laughed in agreement. She sighed as Arielle pulled out her Cell, fifteen minutes. She still had time to get dressed, but she'd be a little late, it took her a good twenty minutes to get there. "I work at the Aquarium, Dolphin Shifter; Aquarium, works well together. If you're sure you want to come, then I don't mind. Just be careful what you think whenever your around my boss, he's a Mutant too. Mind-reading."

She got up a little stiffly and stretched out her arms. Holding out a hand for Arielle, she looked up at the sky again. Clouds had started to invade the blue emptiness, and Leila could tell a bit of snow would be coming before morning tomorrow.

"Aquarium? Awesome," Arielle said. "I love sea life. There's just something...enchanting about the ocean world. And who cares if your boss is a mind reader. My thoughts are mine and I can think about whatever I like." she said. The only thing that was constantly on her mind now was her little were-tiger anyway.

Arielle took Leila's hand and hopped back on to her feet. Gathering her blanket, snacks and book she said "We better hurry up. You don't wanna be anymore late than you're gonna be."