Brighter than the Sun ( Oliver-- private)

[EMILIE GRACE BENNETT]

outfit: www.polyvore.com/untitled_89/set?id=43738554

The day couldn't be more perfect than this! The sun was out, hardly a grey cloud in the sky, and the temperature was perfect for being out of doors. These were the kind of days that Emilie looked forward to when she wasn't behind a desk grading papers, or lecturing in front of 20 something of the brightest students. Pretty intimidating really, but after 3 years of teaching Emilie had this! After she finished her coffee, and put away her already graded research papers. Ugh, 4 down...16 to go. Free Bird!!! Emilie slipped on her shoes, and latched on Jake's long leash and got pulled out her front door.

She laughed as she tried to keep up with her mammoth of a dog. " Hold on boy, slow down," she called and laughed some more. She lost grip of the leash, and Jake took off like a flash. Uh oh! Emilie picked up the speed and ran into the opening of the park from the grove of oaks. Jake stopped and looked back at her, his tongue hanging out, and wagging. Emilie caught up and stopped, and bent over catching her breath. " Thanks for reminding me how much out of shape I am boy," she said and reached into her bag and pulled out a tennis ball and the dog got excited. " Let's see if we can get some of that energy out of ya,"she whispered and held the ball and threw it as hard as she could. Playing rec softball in high school was about to come in handy. But it'd been a while since she had thrown a ball like that in a while. That was gonna hurt later!

[OLIVER BARTHOLOMEW TRENT]

OUTFIT

Oliver didn't get much time to himself to work out anymore, or go on real runs. These days, he mostly just had to run the pants of his son Mikey and hope for the best. Toddlers were exhausting, so hopefully he could stay in shape. It was a little easier when he'd been a baby than it was now. The three year old always seemed to be underfoot.

That was okay though, Oliver loved Mikey, and he wouldn't change anything about their relationship. There of course were moments when he missed his wife so much, and Mikey would come over and put a hand on his knee and just ask 'Daddy, what's wrong?'. But Oliver tried not to let Mike see the hurt.

Today they were at the playground, Mikey climbing all over the plastic and metal kingdom, Oliver on a bench watching. The laughter and playful shrieks of kids filled the air, it was a Saturday afternoon. The weather was nice, chilly of course, since the holidays were rolling around. Thanks to global warming though, it was still milder than Oliver might have liked. He grew up in places of snow, even if she had then spent years in Cali.

[EMILIE GRACE BENNETT]

Emilie kept tossing the ball, and Jake always brought it back. There was no slowing down for this dog! She gave another hard throw, and Jake would take off like a shot and go after it. Emilie ran her fingers through her hair and felt a chill go down her back. She loved the cold weather. In Jersey, it would snow, and she missed the snow. Once school was out for the break, she was hoping to go home and see her family. There aren't a lot of them. It's normally her dad, Benjamin, a few cousins and uncles and aunts. When Jake came back with the ball, it was covered in drool, and a few blades of dead grass. She made a face and brushed off the grass.

Emilie gave another hard throw and it flew high in the air towards the playground. Jake sat and waited for the signal from her to go. Wait for it...go. Signaled for him to go, and he bolted off towards the ball. He found it under the playground, and picked it up. Some of the kids on the playground saw him and chased after him and screamed. Poor Jake. He ran over to Oliver for protection, and sat next to his leg. He looked up at him and saw that something was wrong. He nudged him and lightly pawed his knee. Emilie walked over and saw him, and she called for Jake. Jake looked at Oliver, and then Emilie and trotted over to her.

[OLIVER BARTHOLOMEW TRENT]

And then a dog was running through the playground. Some kids started to chase the animal, while others tried to hide, tears in their eyes. Oliver stood up, about to see what he could do when he realized he knew this dog. He couldn't quite remember how though. The dog seemed to remember too though and walked over to his bench. Some parents gave him looks and he said, "He's not mine."

Then the dog was being called and his eyes followed the voice. Oh, Emilie. They'd been friends in high school and had bumped into each other at the grocery store shortly after he'd moved here. He'd been a wreck then, very closed off, and certainly softer than the leather clad kid he'd been when she last knew him. He had so much family around, but it was nice to have a friend. They'd attempted to get together some, but they weren't really close.

Oliver waved at her, and after spotting Mikey, he got up to go say hi. "Hey Em," he said with a smile as he got closer to her, checking again for Mikey. He had to keep an eye on his kid.

[EMILIE GRACE BENNETT]

Emilie got a hold of Jake's collar and held him as she put his leash back on. She patted him on his side, and Jake sat down as she pulled the ball out of his mouth. She looked up and saw Oliver approach her. She bit her lip and brushed back some of her loose bangs, and then she smiled. " Hi Oliver, glad to see you here. How's Mikey?" When they were growing up, Emlie had a childhood crush on him, but she knew that his heart belonged elsewhere. Sometimes she felt foolish for putting her heart on her sleeve for something that didn't exist. She brushed back her hair again, and rubbed behind Jake's ear. " How are you liking things over at the high school?" she asked him and tried not to let her tongue go running away with babbling questions.

[OLIVER BARTHOLOMEW TRENT]

"Oh he's good, growing like a weed," Oliver said with a smile. But of course kids his age were like that. Kids did so much growing. It was sort of astounding, and frankly taught him how much you could grow and change in a year, even as a adult. Only as a grown up you grew inwardly as opposed to externally. Oliver was pretty lucky with Mikey, he was a sweet kid sound and real. But then again, Mikey did have some of Lucy in him.

"Oh you know, good," Oliver nodded. "I like teaching." He'd taught before Rosewood of course, but every school was different. He really wished he had a job at the academy though, he could use the benefits for Mikey's schooling and he could certainly use the bigger paycheck. Supporting them all on his own was tough for a school teacher.

"I'm applying to a spot at the academy," He said, remembering she worked there. "Depends how some things pan out, but I'm hopeful." The man Oliver had talked too seem to think there was plenty of room in the science department.

[EMILIE GRACE BENNETT]

Emilie smiled and looked over at Mikey who was running around with the other little kids. He had a few curls that were flying in the air as he ran. " He looks just like you Oliver, and I also see a little bit of Lucy in him. He has her smile. He's very lucky to have you as a father, you're doing a very good job with him Oliver. I hope you know that," she said softly. She now regretted bringing Lucy into the conversation. It hadn't been very long since her death, and she knew that Oliver took it especially hard. She wanted him to know that she was here for him to talk to if he needed a friend, but she didn't want to be to the point of annoying, and she just gave him space and let him cope.

She looked down and fiddled with Jake's leash and she quietly cleared her throat. When he had mentioned that he was applying to Rosewood Academy, she lifted her head and smiled. That would be awesome, because it would mean a significant pay raise, and they would be lucky to have someone like Oliver work for them. " That is awesome Oliver! I know that they would be lucky to have you. I know you could teach our students a good thing or two about Physics," she said and gave him an encouraging smile. " Actually, have you tried to talk to Casper Thorne? He's one of our science teachers, and he would be one of the best persons to talk to. Oh, this is awesome news Oliver," she said again and gave him a small hug.

[OLIVER BARTHOLOMEW TRENT]

Oliver smiled softly. "He does have her smile," He said with nod. Oliver was so proud of Mikey, he was turning out to b such a well adjusted kid, which was a miracle for a single child in his opinion. Of course, being a single parent wasn't an excuse for your kid, he kist wished he had even more time for Mikey. "Thanks." He said. Oliver figured he was a good father by most accounts. He tried not to push things on Mikey. If he wanted to wear a tutu oh well, if he wanted to play t-ball, fine. Little things were dumb to fight about. Mike was going to be his own person someday.

"Yeah, I talked to him already, nice guy... quirky though," Oliver said thinking back. The funny sweater was so unfashionable but the guy didn't seem straight to him. Not that it mattered really, but he was curious about it. Oliver was as straight as it got though, so if Thorne was interested, he was out of luck.

He accepted the hug with a smile. She had always been this formal and slightly awkward, and it reminded him of the good old days. "Yeah, some teacher is on maternity leave, so it may just be temporary, but maybe I can blow them away... or maybe she won't rush back, babies are a lot of work." Of course, this teacher probably wasn't in it alone.

[EMILIE GRACE BENNETT]

Emilie smiled and was glad to hear that he was already one step ahead of her. " Well I am glad that you talked to Casper. He really knows his stuff, and plus he's a good colleague to work with. I speak from experience. Have you contacted Dean Charleston about an interview? I could put in a good word for you if you're nice to me," she gave him a playful smile and heard the children laughing. She laughed herself at his comment of blowing them away and she shook her head, " Oh Oliver, if anyone can blow an interview ot of the water, I know it can be you. You always were better at the mock interviews in high school," she said.

She sat down on the bench and crossed her leg over and leaned back. She watched Mikey running with the other kids on the playground, she took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. She looked down and then at Oliver. " Stop me if I cross any lines Oli, but how have you been since her death?," she asked softly and had a look of concern yet she was sincere.

[OLIVER BARTHOLOMEW TRENT]

Oliver chuckled. "He sure seems to, funny guy though," Oliver said. Of course, it made sense for a science teacher to be a dork, but somehow he hadn't been expecting it. Oliver was an outlier when it came to science teachers. he was an ex-bad boy single dad. "Nice, but dorky, you know?" He said with a shrug. Oliver tried not to judge as a rule, but he was better at it when it came to his son than he was toward anyone else.

"I haven't contacted the dean yet," Oliver continued, chuckling at the idea that Emilie would have anything bad to say about him. Growing up she always seemed to dote on him, and it seemed true even now too. "But I'll let you know when I do." Oliver smiled.

Then he laughed, "Yeah I was only good at debate because I got in a lot of trouble back then." He laughed. Oliver was never a bully, but the slicked hair, the motorcycle, the tattoos, the denim and leather.. those things certainly defined his youth, and informed the man he was today, but he felt it made him a better parent-- he knew that it was like to be wild.

And then she asked him a question he should have been ready for, people asked him all the time, that pointed 'so how are you really?' question. She also called him Oli, which almost no one called him but he could only deal with one thing at a time. Oliver looked at Mikey for a moment before answering. "Well, I mean, I'm surviving." He said finally. It had been two and a half years since it happened, the drowning. It added such insult to injury, him having been a coastguard and there had been nothing he could do to save his depressed wife from swimming in a storm.

[EMILIE GRACE BENNETT]

Emilie had to admit that back in the day she did dote on Oliver...a lot. These days she couldn't tell why she was so good to him, but she was glad to be his friend. They were total opposites growing up. She was from a well to do family, debutante material and almost all the guys wanted to be with her. He had this bad boy image with his tattoos, motorcycle, and slicked hair. What girl could resist. She didn't want to be with any of those guys, but she did want to be with Oliver. However, their feelings were mutual, and just left it at that. She went off to college, and well, she didn't know what he did after college. She did get a wedding announcement from him, and a birth announcement when Mikey was born.

Emilie looked at Mikey, and at Oliver when he gave her the answer that he was doing well, but 'surviving'. She nodded in response and took a deep breath. Trying to hold back from bombarding him with advice, pity, and what not. She knew that he knew she was here for him to talk to. She remembered the day that she got that call out of the blue from Oliver that his wife was dead. She could just hear him sobbing on the other end, and she sat there on the other end and just took it in, when she wished that she was there to hold him.

Emilie played with a strand of her hair and bit her lip. " This may sound silly, and you don't have to go if you don't want to, but would you like to go to my school dance with me. It'll be fun," she said rather fast and tried not to stumble over her words.

[OLIVER BARTHOLOMEW TRENT]

Oliver just looked off for a moment, thinking about Lucy. He missed her so much. He'd been so lucky to find love so young, everyone told him so, and about how tragic it was to lose her so soon. Though, it was somehow comforting that he never had to see her grow old, she would always be young, smiling, laughing... She wasn't so happy in those last 6 months. She had tried though.

Oliver snapped from his revere when he heard Emilie mumble an invitation at him like a school girl. It was almost too hilarious for words. Weren't they older than that now? "The dance at RWA?" He clarified. Oliver didn't know of any other dances in town. It seemed a silly request, and maybe a come on. Oliver wasn't sure if he wanted to go, so to avoid telling her that he might not want to he just said, "Maybe, depends if I can get a sitter."

Not a total lie after all.