<span style="color: #FF80FF"> <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><div style="text-align: center;">Lea Stevens</div></span></span> </span><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><a class="postlink" href="http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn24/SociallyToxicBeauty/036e0d3a-b28c-47ec-b858-0eaea6c67e4d.jpg">[ img ]</a></div><br/><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="color: #FF80FF"><div style="text-align: center;">"Jazz"</div></span></span></span><br/><br/>When Lea had woken up, she ached all over and her head was booming. She decided to lay in bed wrapped in Carlos' warmth for a few more minutes before she quietly untangled herself from him to get dressed.<br/><br/>The moment her feet hit the floor and she stood, she gave a whimper. She had forgotten about the cuts on her feet, but now they reminded her of their presence, threatening to overwhelm her with pain. She clenched her jaw at the bruised, sharp feeling and made her way slowly to her closet to put on some shorts and an old tshirt.<br/><br/>She then went out of her room to survey the damage she had done, the mess upsetting her mind. Carlos had come just in time, though he likely did not realize it. She had been contemplating suicide quite seriously and just as she was about to grab the nearest and largest sharp object, his arms had wrapped around her.<br/><br/>As quietly as possible she began to clean, starting with picking up anything that wasn't broken--which was very little--and putting it back in its place. After that, she began to pick up the larger chunks of garbage, glass cutting her hands up even more, though she didn't care. Her desire to fix the apartment outweighed any other thought at the moment and she was just as desperate in her cleaning as she had been when she destroyed the place.<br/><br/>She then wiped everything down, followed by sweeping, vacuuming, and mopping. Once that was done, she wiped everything once more and double checked for anything she may have missed. She then took garbage out into the hall, throwing it down the chute. Just as she was about to walk back in, one of her neighbors came out. It was Tim, a young man who lived in the apartment across from her.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="color: #0080FF">"Hey, Lea...are you...feeling better?"</span></span>he asked cautiously and she blinked at him.<span style="color: #FF80FF">"I...am fine..."</span>she replied back just as slowly. He gave a nod and asked her to wait one second, disappearing and coming back out with something wrapped in tinfoil.<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="color: #0080FF">"Your friend told me you were having a hard time and so I baked you a cake. I mean, I know it is probably silly and all, but I don't know..I just..."</span></span>he was beginning to ramble and was clearly embarrassed, his cheeks red. Lea gave a soft smile even though she didn't feel like it, accepting the cake.<span style="color: #FF80FF">"Thanks Tim. It means a lot,"</span>Lea said and the guy looked happy to have done something for her. They both said good bye and Lea came back inside.<br/><br/>She set the cake down in the kitchen and then walked back to her living room to sit among the only things she had not put away. The memories from the box. She drew her knees to her chest and reached out, grabbing a photo of her husband, son, and herself enjoying a barbeque at a friend's house. She missed doing things like that and she frowned, her finger tips tracing the smiling face of Lucas as he gave her a sloppy, BBQ sauce covered kiss. Her own eyes were clenched shut as a laughing smile engulfed her own face and John stood off to the side with a beer in hand, a satisfied and peaceful look on his face as he watched his wife and son.