A small sigh passed through the woman's lips as she heard her grandparents speaking about her once more. She knew something was up, she just didn't quite understand what it was though. She bit her lip lightly as she tried to listen to the whispered words. She then pushed herself up and out of the chair she had been sitting in. She had been working on one of her many assignments for her classes, and decided she needed a small break. She made her way to the door and opened it slowly, and slipped into the hall.
 

She could hear her grandparents in their bedroom speaking. She made her way over to their door and leaned against the wall to listen. "Do you really think they will come after her? I don't know what I would do if we lost her Jamal.." came the sound of her grandmother's voice. She held her breath as she waited for her grandfather to speak. It didn't take long before she heard his voice as well. "I'm not sure Melinda, I think they will. She's been marked for years" he said in a low voice.
 

"She's been marked since she was a baby. You know how she was growing up, always asking about the mark on her wrist. Always playing with it when she was nervous. I hate lying to her Jamal.. I feel like she has a right to know what's bound to happen" her grandmother said. There was a couple seconds of silence before her grandfather spoke once more. "I know you do, but I think it's better if we don't say anything to her quite yet" he said softly. Juniper narrowed her eyes a bit at that last little bit.
 

What were they hiding from her? She took a breath and reached up to knock on the door. That's when she heard her father shush her grandmother before calling out. "Come on in Juniper" he said in his normal voice. She reached out and turned the knob and stepped into the room. "I got hungry, and wanted to know if you guys wanted something to eat?" she asked. Her grandparents shared a look and it sent a shiver down her spine just then. "No honey I'm okay, thank you" he said smiling at her.
 

"I would love to join you, but I have to meet the other's for our card game in the next little while" her grandmother said. She knew they were fighting everything in their power to hide whatever it was from her. She nodded lightly as she shoved her hands into her pockets. "Alright, if you change your mind let me know" she said with a small smile and backed out of the room, shutting the door behind her. She stood there waiting to see if they would say anything more. There was silence on the other side.
 

She sighed as she made her way back to her bedroom and kicked the door closed. What the hell were they talking about? What was this thing about her being marked? She bit the inside of her cheek lightly as she moved back over to her desk and sat down. She then heard her phone going off, and she reached for it. She spotted Atlas's name on the screen and opened up the text message he just sent her, scanning over the words before her. Juni! What are you doing right now?
 

A small smile passed over her lips as he used the nick name he had given her, before she started to type out a reply. I'm just finishing up some homework. I was about to message you and see if you wanted to go and grab a bite to eat. She read it over before sending it. That's one thing she adored about Atlas, he always reached out to her when she was about to do the same to him. She sighed as she moved over to the bed and plopped down onto it.
 

I'm about to head over to Mark's for that party tonight. Why don't you join me? We could grab a bite there, or leave a bit early and get something to eat. That and you need to get out a bit more as well. So what do you say? Should I come and pick you up?
 

I mean I wasn't really planning on going anywhere, but if you'd like you are more than welcome to meet me there. I'll have to shower and what not before I leave. I'll meet up with you in about an hour in a half. She then hit send and let out a small sigh. What the fuck was she doing? She didn't want to go anywhere, but she knew the male wouldn't stop bothering her until she came out with him. She might as well, since she didn't have anything else better to do anyway. She didn't even bother waiting for the other to reply. That's when the ding went off.
 

Alright, I'll see you there. Make sure you look amazing as well. I'm sure you'd get laid tonight. and she rolled her eyes. That's one thing she didn't like. He was always trying to hook her up with anyone, and she wasn't really in the mood to deal with that right now. She pushed herself up and went to grab a quick shower. When she was done she dressed in a pair of jeans, and an off the shoulder shirt. She then applied a little bit of makeup and was finally ready to go. She grabbed her phone, wallet, and car keys and slipped her feet into her shoes and walked out of her room.
 

"I'm going out with Atlas! I'll be back late, so don't bother staying up waiting for me" she called out. She then made her way down the stairs, and out the front door. She was then behind the wheel of her beat up car, started it up and pulled out of the driveway. She then headed into town. She knew where Mark's was, but she didn't know who would all be there. She bit her lip lightly when she pulled up to the curb outside of his home. Sure enough she could hear the loud music playing from inside.
 

She shut the car off, climbed out and made her way inside. When she did she didn't see Atlas right away, but knew that he would be around sooner or later. She then made her way to the kitchen and filled up a cup with liquid. She lifted the cup to her lips, and her eyes caught the eyes of a male not much older than she was. She had to admit he was nice to look at. Maybe she would get luck that night, but she wasn't going to hold her breath on that one. She took another sip of the liquid and let her eyes wander the crowd of people.

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The morning wasn't really that eventful to say the least. Atlas had been up most of the morning getting his apartment cleaned, and somewhat messaging Lilly back and forth. A small smirk passed over his lips at the thought of the beautiful woman. He didn't know how it happened, but they ended up sleeping together one night, and since then they've been seeing each other in secret. It was like she didn't want someone knowing about him, but he didn't want Juniper to know about Lilly either quite yet. A small sigh passed through his lips just then.
 

Thinking about his best friend just then saddened him a little bit. He hadn't seen her for a while, and he was wondering how she was holding up with everything. He knew her grandparents had been talking in secret about her, she's told him about it. He drummed his fingers on the desk before him as he thought about messaging the woman to see what she was up too. He reached for his phone just then and sent her a quick message after all. It was small, simple, and pretty much straight to the point.
 

Juni! What are you doing right now? The two had always known when something was wrong, and he had a nagging feeling right then. That's when his phone went off and he read the message from the woman. I'm just finishing up some homework. I was about to message you and see if you wanted to go and grab a bite to eat. of course she had been doing homework. She was always the good student, even when he had told her over and over not to really worry about it, but she still did.
 

I'm about to head over to Mark's for that party tonight. Why don't you join me? We could grab a bite there, or leave a bit early and get something to eat. That and you need to get out a bit more as well. So what do you say? Should I come and pick you up?
 

I mean I wasn't really planning on going anywhere, but if you'd like you are more than welcome to meet me there. I'll have to shower and what not before I leave. I'll meet up with you in about an hour in a half.
 

Alright, I'll see you there. Make sure you look amazing as well. I'm sure you'd get laid tonight. was all he had said after that. He knew the woman would think he was insane, but at the moment he wanted to get her out of the house. He had an hour in a half before he would have to meet up with the woman, so he thought about messaging Lilly and seeing if she wanted to head over to Mark's place later that night.
 

He couldn't help but wonder how Lilly and Juniper would react to one another. He wanted to make things official with Lilly, and show her off to the world, but something in his gut was telling him not to quite yet. He didn't know what it was, but he couldn't help but wonder if it had to do with Juniper and how she would react. He let out another sigh as he messaged Lilly. Hey beautiful, how would you feel about going to a party later tonight? A friend from class is throwing it.
 

If you don't want too we can meet up somewhere and I can take you to dinner or something instead. Lemme know, and I'll be at the park waiting for your beautiful face to arrive. He read the lame message over and over before finally sending it. He then took a quick shower, dressed in a pair of clean jeans, and a black t-shirt. He then made his way to his truck and headed to the park. The sun was slowly starting to set, and he wondered if Juniper would start blowing up his phone if he was late.
 

At the moment he didn't care. He was more interested in seeing Lilly right then. He pulled into one of the parking stalls, rolled the windows down, and shut the truck off. He might as well let fresh air sweep through the cab while he waited. He drummed his fingers against the wheel watching as the sun fully set. It was such a beautiful sight before him as well. He sighed as he leaned his head back, closed his eyes and waited to hear from the beautiful woman who had captured his attention months ago.

Kristopher stood in his kitchen, staring at the report he had written on his computer screen. He had been scanning it for errors but he had read it so many times he was sure by this point he could recite it by heart and therefore wouldn't notice any mistakes.

"You know there are plenty of seats if you are going to work honey, you'll hurt your back standing hunched over like that." The voice of his mother soothed his anxiety for a moment, and he closed the laptop with a sigh.

“I'm just stressing out now the deadline is getting closer. I'm sure it's all fine. Perhaps I should take a break from reading it and come back to it with some fresh eyes.”

"Go hang out with your friends, have a drink and relax." Kristopher chuckled at this response from his mother. "And before you tell me I shouldn't be encouraging you to party and drink, I know I raised a responsible young man so I trust you." She said kissing his cheek.

His mother wasn't really his biological mother. He didn't know the full story because he didn't care to know, but his parents adopted him when he was too young to remember and he grew up knowing that. He never once felt the urge to find out anything more about his biological family because he had everything he could possibly want here with his family at home.

"Alright, Mark is holding a party tonight, nothing too crazy. Perhaps it will do me some good to let loose a little." He said with a smile, hugging his mother before taking the stairs two at a time with his laptop in hand. 

Once he arrived in his bedroom he placed the laptop on top of his desk and started to remove his clothes so that he could take a shower but before he did, he shot a text to Mark to let him know he'd be there tonight.

With that, he disappeared into the bathroom and went about his normal shower routine before brushing his teeth and styling his hair. He found it pretty easy to get female attention since his whole demeanour was so confident but tonight he was just looking to hang out and have a laugh. He wasn't looking for anything more. With that in mind, he picked out a pair of jeans and a fresh shirt with top three buttons left unclasped so that the top of his chest was showing slightly. 

He checked his appearance in the mirror before spraying a bit of aftershave and made his way to the front door. Luckily Mark's place was in walking distance of where he lived so he didn't have to worry about a designated driver and could fully relax. He said a final goodbye to his parents now that his father was home from work, and he made his way towards the party.

When he arrived, it was already looking lively but as he has said to his mother, it was nothing wild. He walked through the door and helped himself to a beer as she waded through the crowds, greeting people he knew and sizing up the people he didn't. That was when his eyes fell on a woman he hadn't seen before, yet there was something about her that felt so familiar. Had they met somewhere before? He couldn't place her face and he hadn't bumped into Mark yet so he decided he would introduce himself and see if talking to her jogged his memory a little.

He approached Juniper slowly, placing a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "Hey! I know this is going to sound cliche, but I feel like I know you."

A relationship had never really been something that Lilly was looking for. She felt independent enough and had convinced herself that didn't need a man and that she had plenty of time for all that. She wanted to focus on herself and figure out what she wanted out of life but is seemed that life had other plans for her, and those plans seemed to come in the shape of a man she least expected.

Atlas was the opposite of what she thought she wanted but he was exactly what she needed. He was attentive and made her feel things that she never thought she was capable of. Not that she had told Atlas that. She didn't want to scare him away. After all, they were both keeping their relationship on the down low and perhaps a part of that was because Atlas didn't see this as a serious thing.

Speak of the devil. She thought to herself as she saw his name light up her phone as she drove home from work. Lilly pressed a button so that she could read the message through the car functions and smiled to herself when she read it. While Lilly was not usually the type to attend parties, if it meant she got to spend some time with Atlas, she would go. Even if it was just to see him and talk to him.

Instead of typing a message to him she sent him a voice note.

"Hi Atlas, I'm just heading home from work. The park is right across the street from my place so I'll just pull in, change real quick and head on over. Are you sure you want me to go to a party with you? It might be a bummer being able to see you and talk to you but not hold your hand or kiss you." She said into the mic, releasing her finger to send him the message. From then on, she didn't really have time to check her phone as she wanted to get ready as quickly as possible.

Lilly worked in a cute café across town. It was run by someone who was trying to be the most Instagramable café in town and Lilly was confident that she could do it. The wages were good, and the people were nice enough so it would do for now while she tried to figure out what her own dreams were. Lilly didn’t have everything figured out and she was slowly beginning to realise that it was okay that way.

Once she pulled into her driveway, she found herself heading straight for her bedroom where she freshened up her makeup, changed her clothes and grabbed a few things she needed for her purse. Lilly smiled to herself, almost feeling giddy at the thought of seeing Atlas, especially since the last time they had spent time together, they hadn't made solid plans about when they would see each other again. 

As soon as she was happy that she had everything she needed, she made her way back out of the door and headed straight for the park across the street, noticing that all the streetlights had come on now that the sun had set. 

Lilly scanned the area for Atlas and before long she spotted his car. The butterflies in her stomach danced around a little and willed her to approach. She knocked on his window gently when she was close enough and smiled the moment she saw his face.

"Hey you."

The longer that Juniper stood there, the more she felt like a total idiot. She hadn't heard anything from Atlas in a while and she knew the reason behind that was Lilly. She was happy for the male, but there were times like tonight she needed to know he really was going to arrive and not just ditch her. She was scanning the room around her wishing she was anywhere but here. She didn't realize she had gotten so wrapped up in people watching and her thoughts, she didn't hear the person come up to her, until she felt his hand on her shoulder.

She jumped a little and looked towards the male. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him. He was taller than she was. Not much older than her, and he wasn't too bad to look at. Her fingers gripped the cup in her hand a bit more and she shook her head lightly. “No it's not weird at all. We do kind of live in the same town, so we most likely bumped into each other a time or two. Or walked by each other on the sidewalks” she said loud enough for the male to hear her.

She had to admit she felt like she had seen him a time or two but she just couldn't put her finger on to where she had seen him. She sure as hell would have remembered him if she had. She took one last look around looking for Atlas but she hadn't seen him yet. She then turned her attention back to the male beside her. “I don't know about you, but it's getting a little too crowded inside here. Care to join me outside? It's most likely a bit quiter as well" she said over the noise wanting to leave the house.

She nodded towards the back door and pushed herself away from the counter and made her way to the door. A couple people bumped into her and she nearly dropped her drink a couple of times. She narrowed her eyes a bit as she finally reached the door, opened it and nearly ran out. She wanted to get out of that cramped place and be out in the open. She walked out into the night air and took a deep breath. She started to feel a bit better being out in the air. She felt like she could breathe finally.

She looked over her shoulder and spotted the handsome stranger behind her. There was something about him that drew her in. Was it the way he looked at her? Was it the way he just approached her? She always thought people hated her and didn't want to speak to her, because of the fact she did keep to herself. This stranger though took time out of his night to even speak to her. She then realized she hadn't told the male her name. She turned and walked backwards slowly her eyes locking on his. “My name's Juniper. And you are?” she asked lightly.

She didn't need to yell since they were outside. She lifted the plastic cup in her hand to her lips and took another sip. She stopped when she was in the middle of the yard and looked up at the night sky, trying to see the stars but had a feeling she wouldn't because of the lights from the house spilling out into the yard.

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As the male was waiting for Lilly to arrive his mind was racing. Was he doing the right thing? Was he really letting someone into his life without really thinking about it? The only person that he really trusted was Juniper. She was the only one that had seen him at his lowest point. That was until he met Lilly. Just something about her drew him in. The way she carried herself. The way she stood up to other people. Those were things he really admired in a woman, and she had all of them so far. As he was waiting a message came through.

He opened the message and saw it was a voice message. He pressed on the play button and her voice filled the cab. That voice he could easily sit and listen too all day long. God what did this woman have on him? Was he really falling head over heels for the woman? He felt like he was at a loss for words with her. He smiled a bit as he didn't even bother to reply. He knew that she would message him when she was done. He looked up towards the small cafe he was sitting outside of.

He was kind of hungry and he knew he hadn't eaten anything at all that day. He was too nervous about tonight. He opened the truck door and made his way towards the cafe. He walked inside and smiled lightly at the woman behind the counter. “Good evening to you. I hope you're doing well” he said lightly. The woman nodded her head. “Hello and welcome into Mimi's. I'm doing wonderful, thank you. What can I get you?” she asked lightly looking the male up and down. Atlas knew she liked what she saw, but he didn't say anything.

He knew he was an attractive guy. A lot of people told him that, but he only had eyes for one person and one person only. Lilly. The woman he was taking to some stupid party. He sighed lightly as he looked up towards the menu. He honestly didn't know what to have. That's when his eyes landed on the turkey and cheese sandwich. “I'll get the turkey and cheese. Could you possibly grill that for me? Along with a Coka-Cola please” he said lightly as he pulled out his wallet to pay. The female nodded and took his order down.

She told him the total and the male paid. He then stepped aside as other's slowly started to trickle in. He was glad he had come in when he did. He lowered his head as he waited for his food. About five minutes later his order was being called out. He walked up to the counter, grabbed the bag along with the cup. He nodded his thanks as he walked back across the street to the park. He climbed back into the truck and waited for Lilly. He opened up the bag, the smell hitting his nose made his stomach growl.

He pulled the sandwich out and took a bite. The flavors hitting his tongue took him back to a more innocent time. He let his eyes close as he chewed slowly. Before her knew it there was a knock on his window. He opened his eyes and spotted Lilly standing there and he grinned. He put the sandwich back into the bag, opened the door and climbed out. “Hello to you as well” he said as he rounded the truck and took the woman up into his arms, pressing her lips against hers. God he missed those lips.

He then set her down and looked down into her eyes. God she looked amazing. A small smirk passed over his lips. “Ya know, if we didn't have plans to go to this stupid party I'd take you to Make Out Point right now” he said in a soft whisper. He would do anything and go anywhere with this woman. He moved his hands to her hips as he leaned his head down kissing her once more.