[Rin]Accidental Marriage[Davey]

[Davey Word Hunter]

Alex quietly swore to himself when he exited the hotel and saw that Sofia was nowhere in sight. "This is not good!" he mumbled to himself. Coming to a quick decision, he caught a taxi and went home, hoping that Sofia had already done so. Unfortunately Sofia hadn't. "How was the party?" Debra asked with a smile when Alex walked in the apartment, and then she looked past him in confusion as she inqured, "Where's Sofia?" "Believe me, I would love to know that." Alex said in return. He then gave Debra a brief account of what had happened at the party. Alex really wasn't in the mood to just sit there and wait for Sofia to come home, and so he picked up the phone, dialed Greg's number, and said, "Hey Greg, it's Alex. I've got a bit of a problem." He then repeated to Greg what he had told Debra, and added, "I'd go out to look for her, but I can't drive." "Don't worry. I'll come to pick you up, and then we can both look," Greg said in return. "Thanks, buddy. I knew that I can count on you. Before you come to get me, call a couple of guys on the team and ask them to help look. Don't call Nate, though. He's probably busy getting happy with Brandy, and we can't trust him to not tell Brandy about what's going on." "Got it.I'll be there in a few minutes." Greg said before hanging up. Alex then called a couple of his teammates as well while he waited for Greg to arrive. In an effort to be helpful, Debra asked, "What do you want me to do?" Alex thought about it and replied, "Just stay here, in case Sofia gets back before I do. Have her give me a call. She should have my cell phone number."  

[Rin128564]

Debra and Alex weren't the only ones worried when Sofia wasn't there. Bo had walked over to the door and began to scratch at it as if wanting them to let him out so he could go find his owner as well. To see Alex there and not Sofia was confusing to him, animals weren't stupid after all. It probably would help to have Bo go as well since he might be able to track her as well since no one would really know where she had gone. The only person...in this case dog she took anywhere was Bo. There were only a couple places she would have gone in her upset state but no one but Bo would know. Then again Aeron might have known as well but no one had his number and even if they did no doubt he was out clubbing as usual and thus would prove to be a bit useless.

After what seemed like blocks of running Sofia had arrived somewhere she could not recognize at first but upon further analysis she realized that she was at the beach. The area they lived in it would take about thirty minutes to reach the beach by car but the hotel was just ten and so it only took her twenty minutes to reach by foot and since Alex had gone all the way back home it would take some time to even think about her being at the beach. The moon was bright and so it gave her enough light to see where she was walking. Soon enough she was on the pier and sat there dangling her legs over the water below. The water at night always looked so scary, as if it would swallow you whole in darkness. It was very cold out and she didn't have coat but she was far too lost in her own thoughts that she barely even paid attention to the temperature. If she was in her right mind she would have realized that she had made those close to her worried. Even if her parents were told that she had gone missing they would most likely not care and think that she would turn up on her own eventually.
 

[Davey Word Hunter]

The way that Bo was scratching at the door, as if looking for Sofia, gave Alex and idea. Dogs were supposed to be good at tracking people, and if there was any dog that could find Sofia, it was Bo. When Greg arrived at the apartment, he told Alex, "I got a hold of a couple guys, and they said that they'll help look for Sofia. Hey, that's a nice dog you have there!" "That's Bo. He's a really good dog. Aren't you Bo?" Alex said in return, and he added, "While you were on your way over here, I thought of something that should help us. Let's go." Alex then beckoned for Bo to follow them. Bo seemed to be a bit hesitant, possibly because Greg was a stranger, but he finally went along. Debra wished Alex and Greg luck as they were on their way out the door. There was a bit of a delay as they worked at getting Bo into Greg's care, but that was successful too. Alex then directed Greg to drive back to the hotel. Once they were there, Alex led Bo to the front of the hotel and said, "OK, Bo, find Sofia! Go find her!"  

[Rin128564]

After the drive to the hotel Bo began to grow a bit restless but when he was finally let out he had began sniffing around for Sofia's familiar sent. He had picked up on the perfume she wore, the one she typically wore from time to time so he knew it was her. It was a dull sent though but he began to follow the sent and it was bet that Alex and Greg follow Bo in the car since he tended to run then walk, then run again so there was no sense in running after him since he was fast and Alex was injured.

Sofia had left the pier and began to walk along the beach, the cold water barely reaching her bare feet as she held her shoes in one hand. Though she had cried her face wasn't marked with any makeup since she hadn't caked it on like many girls tended to do though the redness of her eyes was enough to indicate that she had cried. About twenty minutes into Bo's and Alex's search, she could hear a distant barking. Sofia had stopped, still walking along the shore line. Glancing back she spotted a dog running down the slope of the sand and it was until he reached her that she saw it was Bo. She knelt down and hugged him, smiling and glad to see him. "Bo! What are you doing here?" She rubbed his head and stood up, dusting the sand off her dress and legs. She figured he had slipped out of the house some how and managed to find her...she didn't realize that Alex was looking for her.
 

[Davey Word Hunter]

Greg had stayed in the car, and so they only had to wait for Alex to get back in before they started after Bo. In time they followed Bo to the beach. Thinking that Sofia was probably somewhere on the beach, Alex had Greg stop the car, and he was opening the door before the car had stopped moving. It was going to be a bit tricky for him to cross the sand with his crutches, but he should be able to do it. Soon Alex saw that Bo had found Sofia, and so he went to them while calling out Sofia's name.  

[Rin128564]

Bo had turned and ran off toward Alex's direction and she began to rush after him, not wanting him to get lost but when she heard Alex calling out to her she stopped and finally realized what was going on. Bo didn't slip out of the house, no, he had been useful in helping Alex find her. She sighed heavily knowing that she caused people to worry, something she didn't mean to do. Sofia was certainly ready to apologize to everyone for making them search for her. She met Alex half way as she stood there looking down at the sand as Bo sat there simply happy that he found her.

"I'm sorry..." she muttered with yet another sigh.
 

[Davey Word Hunter]

Deciding to take a light-hearted approach, Alex replied, "Don't worry about it. You have to admit that it was a pretty good way to get the both of us out of that party. Anyway, Bo could use a little exercise." Greg had parked his car by then, but had chosen to stay there. Alex then remarked, "Debra had her grandmother bring her a pizza and a bottle of Sprite. If we hurry, we'll get home in time to share with her."  

[Rin128564]

For now all she could do was agree with him and so with a faint nod she followed him back up the slope toward the car, Bo rushing a head of them as he barked and wanted Greg to let him in. Once they reached the top she looked at Alex's friend and apologized for the inconvenience but she also thanked him. This would be the first time anyone other than Alex and Debra to see her look the way she did. Greg had never once seen her look this way though he would probably keep his reaction to himself...or not. Either way she got in after Alex did. Sofia sat in the back with Bo, the dogs head on her lap with his tail wagging, glad that he had found her.  

[Davey Word Hunter]

Greg could not completely hide his surprise for the way that Sofia was dressed, or his admiration as well, although he did keep that low-key out of respect for Alex. After they had gotten in his car, Alex said to him, "We both will appreciate it a lot if you could keep all of this to yourself." "No problem," Greg replied. As Greg was driving Alex, Sofia, and Bo home, Alex called the guys who were helping to look for Sophia and told them that they could stop looking now. Perhaps it was just as well that Alex and Greg had found Sofia first, because there was no guarantee that the other guys wouldn't talk about it when they got to school the next day.  

[Rin128564]

Sofia sat in the back in silence as they made their way back home. She listened to Alex talk to some of his friends who had been out there looking for me. The fact that there were others looking for her made her feel that much more guilty for causing so much trouble. Sighing softly to herself she simply let Bo warm her up as much as he could since it was still cold and she had no coat with her. It didnt' take long for them to reach home however and so she got out of the car with Bo and once they were all out she walked to the steps and looked at Greg and smiled ever so slightly.

"Thank you again...I'm sorry for having to inconvenienced you at this late hour. Drive home safely," and with that she went inside where Debra was waiting and when she entered she greeted her friend and apologized if she had worried her too.  

[Davey Word Hunter]

"Hey, don't worry about it. You did what you had to do," Debra said in return. Gesturing towards the pizza box on the coffee table, she added, "There's still some pizza left, and some Sprite. I asked for Coke, but my grandmother wouldn't buy it for me. I hope you don't mind Hawaiian pizza." After helping herself to another slice of pizza, she then gave Sofia an impish smile and continued, "Alex mentioned something about how some guy had been mauling you and you decked him by slamming your knee into his family jewels. I want to hear your side now, down to the tiniest detail."  

[Davey Word Hunter]

Alex lingered at the car after Sofia had left so that he could thank Greg again. "I'd ask you why Sofia doesn't look that way all of the time," Greg remarked, "But I think I've figured it out. For one thing, if she went to school like that all of the time, all of the girls will hate her twice as much as before. But then again, maybe they'll take the hint that there is no way that they can compete with her. For another thing, if Sofia did go to school like that, you'd have to carry around a baseball bat to keep all of the guys away from her. Except for me, of course, and Sofia's gay friend. The reason why you want me to keep all of this to myself is so that you can keep Sofia all to yourself. I certainly don't blame you." "There's more to it that just that," Alex insisted. "If you say so," Greg replied, and after wishing Alex and Sofia a good night, he went on his way. After Greg had left, Alex returned to his apartment.  

[Rin128564]

Really, Sofia was still not in the best of mood to really even think back on what had happened but she had to play it all off. Sitting down she chuckled lightly and told Debra what had happened and she even filled her in on who the guy was as well as how horrible of a kisser he was. Truly she's only been kissed by two guys in her life and even if Alex was the first, it only took that one time for her to feel that he would be the only good kisser she'd ever find. Perhaps that was love talking but she still could not openly admit it nor could she really admit to herself that she loved him. Either way after a while Debra had been sent home as usual and now they were alone yet again, with Bo already curled up asleep on his bed in the kitchen.

Sofia had taken a shower a while a go though she was sitting on the couch rather than on the bed. It was around eleven now, close to midnight but she could not sleep. Sofia simply sat there thinking about the disastrous day. Every now and then she would sigh heavily.  

[Davey Word Hunter]

While it was unusual for Sofia to be in the living room when it was that late, and with a school day the next day, Alex could tell that she was still upset about the night's events. Instead of just sitting there in silence, he asked, "Would you like to talk it out? It could help."  

[Rin128564]

With a heavy sigh, Sofia replied, "I suppose I really just blame myself for being this way. Every year I hold some hope that they would remember this one day. But I find myself being disappointed yet again. There was a lot that happened today that I wish you didn't see but nonetheless they happen and I can reverse time. Just once...I wish I wasn't invisible..." She sighed, her voice cracking ever so slightly as she wiped away a tear that managed to slip down her cheek.