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Writer's Block (2AM_Club and Josu_T)

Drew smiled at Veronica. She seemed really unsure of what to do, but at least she was suggesting things. At her suggestion he nodded. "Sure, let me give you a bit of a tour of the town. Then just explore a little, talk with people, and if any events are happening we can join in. Hopefully it will give me some ideas."

He grabbed his jacket and wallet and went toward the door. He waited until Veronica seemed ready, then he opened the door and held it open for her. He went with her to the elevator and hit the button, waiting for it to arrive on their floor to take them back to the lobby. He smiled at Veronica again. "So, are you excited to see my home town?"
 
Whatever unpleasantness had transpired between the two of them before seemed to be forgotten. Veronica couldn't help but smile back at Drew. It was reassuring that he seemed to have confidence in her ability to help him. She figured he was also more at ease because he was back home. In the back of her mind, she also thought he might be more relaxed because he saw Emily, but she wanted to keep herself from speculating about their relationship beyond what she was told.

She grabbed her things and followed Drew out of the room, down the hallway, and to the elevator. She nodded at his question. "Very excited actually." She paused, unsure of whether to continue. The line between rational adoration and crazy infatuation was a thin one and she didn't want to come across as some kind of weird fanatic. "I've always wanted to visit. You know, since you grew up here. I always thought it would be nice to have a visual contexts for what I've been reading." She shrugged, trying to keep her demeanor casual.
 
Drew was glad to hear she was excited to see his town. It was more proof that she was really wanting to help him. That was good. Her reasoning was good as well. He was glad that only a few people really knew where he was from. It was a small town and he wondered what would happen if all his fans knew it was his home town.

They took the elevator down and he led her out of the hotel. He then started to lead her through town. He gave her a tour, telling some of the few stories he remembered or had been told by his parents. He made sure to cover everything, finishing with his childhood home. It was maintained but not lived in, so he went right in. Stories and a few memories entered his mind. He sighed. It had been a long time since he had been in the house.
 
Veronica did her best to keep up with Drew's tour. There were so many things to look at. So many places that held significance for him that it was almost too much to take in. She smiled and laughed at his personal stories. He seemed to enjoy being home and showing her around. While he talked animatedly about his life, she couldn't help but see him differently. She felt like she wasn't interacting with Drew the writer, but Drew the man. It was an eye opening distinction that she made for herself. She hoped that he would be able to get some sparks back since he appeared to really be at ease and comfortable now that he was home.

She followed him into his childhood house, trying to imagine him being there as a child. She stopped her surveillance when she heard him sigh. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "That's a good sigh, right?" she asked with a smile. "If you want some time to be alone or something I can always wait outside."
 
Drew smiled and laughed as she offered to go outside and let him be alone in the house. He shook his head. "No, no. That is not nessecary. It was a good sigh. It has just been a long time. There are a lot of stories about this place. A well as a few memories. If you want, I can show you around and maybe tell a few stories."
 
She gave his shoulder a tender squeeze before moving her hand away. "Definitely. I'd love to hear more about this place," she said, looking around again. "I keep trying to imagine you here as a little kid," she admitted with a laugh. "I bet you were a handful," she teased with a smile. "Always getting into all kinds of trouble."
 
Drew chuckled and just didn't respond to her comment. He started taking her through the house. He showed her where his family members rooms were and some stories about them. Then he showed her his bedroom from when he was a young boy. He ended with the kitchen and dining room, finishing in the living room again. It had taken some time but he had enjoyed going through the stories and remembering about times when he didn't have problems or troubles.
 
Veronica took his chuckle to mean that she was right. She didn't press him on the matter, it was probably more entertaining for her to make something up anyway. She found everything he said so fascinating. She didn't know if it was already because she was already captivated by Drew or if she thought her own life paled in comparison. "You know, you should write about all this. I mean, I know it wouldn't be some made-up story but I think all this stuff is pretty interesting. Maybe it is time for you to write something real."
 
Drew listened to her suggestion and shook his head. "No, I don't know about that. Sure, I can tell some stories, but I don't think I would be able to get them down on paper very well. I write best when I am making things up. Anyway, I don't know how many people would really find it interesting. Stories about my childhood? I think I'd prefer to just continue writing fiction. I is a nice suggestion though. Thank you for working so hard to try to help me."
 
She walked around slowly, thinking. "Well, are there any stories in your childhood that you wished had turned out differently? Certainly you've daydreamed about the various endings your stories could have had. Why not start there? Take something from your real life and just change it to a made up story." She shrugged. "Well, i guess you already do that though, huh?"
 
Drew listened again as Veronica tried to help him with a suggestion. He considered it for a moment. As she finished by suggesting he turned his real life situations into his novels he had to laugh a little. "I don't know about that. I'm a romance novelist. Those would be some pretty crazy experiences. Usually I see someone or something and an idea just pops into my head."
 
She gave him a slight smile. "Hey, nothing wrong with some crazy experiences, right? Hmmm so do you go people watching? To get ideas? We could go somewhere and try that for a little bit. if you want." Veronica resisted the urge to shrug again. It was barely the first day and she was already running out of suggestions on how to help Drew. Typically these things just passed on their own, but unfortunately, Drew didn't have that kind of time. If he didn't come up with something soon, the company wouldn't give him another contract.
 
Drew listened once more to another idea. Again he thought about it. He smiled at her. "It is not what I normally do, but it is worth a shot I guess. Let's go see if we can find a good place. Oh, and thank you for all your help. It might not be completely working yet, but it is very apreciated."
 
"It is the least I could do. I honestly wish I could be more help. I feel kind of useless," she said with a slight laugh. She gestured toward the door. "Lead the way. I'm sure you have a lot of places around here that you'd like to visit again. And I'd love to hear more of your stories."
 
Drew started toward the door and placed a hand on her back softly, leading her out. He smiled at her. "You shouldn't feel useless. If either of us is useless, it is me. I'm the one who needs help. You're at least coming up with ideas." He led her outside and then thought of where to go next. He figured that the park would be a good place to start. He led her down the street to the local park. It was a nice place. He started to wander around, doing as she had suggested and people watching. He just hoped that the people didn't recognise him.
 
Veronica let herself be guided out of the room. She felt Drew's hand on her back and was comforted by his polite touch. "How about neither of us is useless?" She smiled back at him. "I think we can figure this out. You have too much talent for us not too." She followed him down to the park. The weather was perfect and it made Veronica happy to be spending time outside. She took a deep breath. "This is definitely better than a stuffy office," she said looking around. She walked away a little bit and sat down on a bench, letting Drew take his time and take in his surroundings. She didn't want to get in the way in case an idea came to him.
 
Drew went around the park for a while. He looked at people and watched what they did. He tried to catch bits of conversation. He spent a fair bit of time, but nothing stuck for him. With a sigh he returned to Veronica and shrugged. As he looked at her he found her more interesting than any of the people he had seen at the park. He sat next to her and sighed again. "No ideas. No inspiration here. Do you have any suggestions of places to go that might be good? Just any sort of typical place. I'll know if we have something like that here. Or just anywhere you want to go."
 
Veronica waited patiently while Drew strolled around the park. She enjoyed the sunshine and the mystery of being in a new area. Everything was so foreign to her and she actually liked that feeling. After a bit, she stretched her legs out in front of her, just enjoying the outdoors. She was so used to being coped up inside all day. She made a mental note to get out more often.

Her eyes flickered open when she heard Drew sigh. "Nothing, huh?" she asked as he sat beside her. She sat up straight and looked over at him. "Hey, relax. It's only day 1." She didn't want Drew to get too discouraged too fast. "We should go where there will be the most people? A grocery store or a market. Or a school or something." She grinned and nudged him playfully. "You know, a budding romance time of thing. But you know this place and I don't. Take us where your mind guides you. Or your heart, I guess."
 
Drew nodded. It was only the first day. He needed to keep some hope. He smiled softly at her. At her suggestions he thought. He wasn't sure if he'd get much inspiration at the grocery store of a relatively small town. However the local college might be a possibility. There was a small college that served a number of towns in the area. He got up, grabbed Veronica's hand, and led her off in the direction of the campus.
 
Veronica returned his smile. One of the few things she could actually do was keep his confidence up. She knew how good of a writer he was. As long as she managed to keep up his confidence, he could do the rest. She laughed at Drew's renewed vigor and let herself be led away from the park. She kept a good grip on Drew's hand. Not too tight, but just enough to feel his flesh against hers. It seemed a little unreal and she was vaguely aware of her quickened pulse. She knew he didn't mean anything by the gesture, but it did surprise and please her.
 
Drew didn't let go of Veronica's hand the entire time he led her to the college campus. He just didn't think about it even though it was all the way across the small town. When they finally go there he stopped and looked around. There were a number of students there, some studying, some just hanging out. He just hoped he could get some inspiration. As he decided where on campus to go he still didn't let go of Veronica's hand, still not really thinking about it at all.
 
Veronica kept expecting Drew to let go of her hand, but he didn't. He kept a hold of it as they walked through the town. When they stopped when they reached the campus, she thought sure he would let go of her hand. The only reason why he had grabbed it was so that she could keep up walking around in an area she was unfamiliar with. Veronica knew she didn't want to let go first, so she kept her hand in his. "Plenty of people," she commented, even though it was stating the obvious.
 
Drew nodded as he decided what to do. He finally released Veronica's hand without a thought. He smiled at her and just walked off to 'people watch'. He started outside jsut passing by groups of people, trying to catch bits of conversation. Eventually he just sat in a spot that seemed to have a lot of people nearby who he could watch and try to listen to.
 
Veronica was a little startled when Drew let her hand go. He released it just as quickly as he had grabbed it; completely without warning to Veronica. She managed to hide her surprise and smiled back. She stood awkwardly when he walked off, not knowing if she should follow or not. After a moment, she trailed after him slowly and sat down next to him when he stopped.
 
Drew was a little surprised that Veronica joined him. He didn't mind though. He smiled softly at her and then just started watching people. He listened to any parts of conversations that he could. A lot of the discussion was about classes. There were a few personal conversations, but not much. What he noticed most of all was the number of people using their phones and texting. He sighed and looked over at Veronica. "It looks like most of the personal stuff that would inspire me happens in the digital world now. Conversations happen on phones with text instead of voices."
 
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