Two stories in one day! Phew!
OMG! This story has taken me YEARS to finish. I seriously started working on this story over three years ago. I've just never been able to finish it, for whatever reasons.
This story is about my cat character Deliah, who didn't even have a proper ref until a year ago. This is her introduction/background story!

Story by me
Deliah belongs to me

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Deliah was used to hardship. She had dealt with it her whole life. Her mother died when she was six and her father had left them long before that. With no other known relatives, and her father nowhere to be found, she was placed into foster care, along with her little brother, who was three years younger than her. They were adopted together many years later.

Unable to have kids of their own, her adoptive parents wanted nothing more than to raise a family and they couldn't separate a brother and sister from each other. Although they were very loving and devoted, they were barely able to make it by. Her adoptive dad worked three different jobs and her adoptive mom worked long shifts as a waitress. They lived comfortably, but money was always pretty tight.

When she turned fourteen, Deliah started taking on small jobs from neighbors. She would clean for the elderly woman next door or babysit for the single, young mother down the street. She was always looking for ways to earn extra money to help her own family. At fifteen, she lied about her age to get a job at a restaurant and started waitressing after school.

An okay student in school, Deliah's true passion was dance. Unable to pay for dance lessons, she would sneak into the studios when no one else was around and practice. A lot of her technique was picked up by watching dance crews who performed in vacant parking lots or abandoned buildings. She kept where she spent her time after school a secret, afraid her parents would disapprove. Although she avoided any involvement, gangs were pretty common in her area.

Despite her best efforts, she was unable to keep your brother out of trouble. By the time he was eleven, Jackson was hanging out with the wrong sort of friends. They were troublemakers and enjoyed vandalizing public property. It took no time for him to show up on the police's radar. At thirteen, he got involved with drugs, in both dealing and using. Things just got worse from there. He wasn’t afraid of getting caught and actually looked forward to going to the detention center, thinking it would help improve his image.

Deliah constantly worried about her little brother's safety but he would just brush her off, saying that he could handle it and she wasn't his mother, stop fretting over him. He was arrested at fourteen as a suspect in a shooting incident but was later found innocent. Deliah tried again to get him to straighten up his life. She was close to graduating high school and hoped to be leaving for college soon. Even with her grades, she managed to be accepted for enough scholarships and grants, plus what money she had been able to save up over the years, that she could afford to go.

When it came time for her to leave, Jackson hadn't changed his behavior at all. In fact, it had escalated. He stayed out so late most nights partying and getting drunk that Deliah rarely saw him. The day she moved out to live on campus at a college two hours away, he was so high he barely knew who she was to say good bye. She cried silently the whole train ride there.

Her first semester went by without any problems. Deliah had a wonderful roommate that she got along with. She made a few friends and her grades remained steady. But she hadn’t found time to make it back home. What little money she made working at the campus bookstore and at a local deli, Deliah needed to keep so she could continue going to school. Just before Christmas break, she got a phone call from her mother. The police had found Jackson's body in an alley. He had been shot three times, once in the shoulder and twice in the chest.

After making arrangements with her professors regarding her remaining finals, Deliah rushed home. It was a week before she was allowed to see him. The coroner had to finish the autopsy and report to the police the findings. She could barely recognize her brother when she went to view his body at the funeral home. He looked like he had aged five years in the months she had been gone.

The next few days were very rough. Her parents were a wreck; her dad hardly spoke and her mother was crying almost constantly. Deliah put on as happy a front as she could, but it was eating her up emotionally. Guilt plagued her. She blamed herself for his death, that she hadn't tried hard enough to keep him on the straight path, that there was more she could have done, that she had let him down as his big sister.

When Delilah finally returned to campus, she locked herself away in the studios. While most of her coursework the first semester had been general education requirements, she had taken one dance class. Deliah had always wanted to learn how to do classical dance. During this break between semesters, she would practice for hours on end, perfecting her technique, until her feet and ankles were so sore she could barely walk.

Her roommate grew worried, but Deliah refused to talk about it. She had lost her last surviving blood relative that mattered. She felt incredibly alone. At times when she felt her loneliest, she would rub the feather charm on the necklace she always wore. It had belonged to her birth mother, one of few things she had to connect with her.

A few weeks into the new semester, Deliah left her job at the deli. Emotionally, she couldn’t handle being around that many more people a day. Going to class had become difficult. She had to force herself to attend rather than hide away in a studio. If she didn't keep her grades up she would lose her scholarships and not be able to continue her dream. Deliah wanted to be a background dancer for famous performers. She had a natural ability, but her skills weren’t quite to that level yet.

One night while Deliah was dancing alone in one of the studios, she just started to cry. It had been two months since her brother's death and this was the first time she had really grieved for him. She sat on the floor, legs pulled up to her chest, and just cried.

There was another dancer practicing late that night in the studio next door, a king cheetah named Talon. He had been coming in most of the same nights as Deliah and had seen her around. They had never spoken before, Talon always focused on his dancing and Deliah more focused on avoiding contact.

Hearing Deliah crying, he debated on whether to go check on the other dancer or leave. His compassionate side couldn't stand the thought of walking away from someone in distress. When he entered the studio Deliah was in, he found the dainty feline sitting on the floor, head resting on her knees. "Hey," he said softly, not wanting to startle the other dancer by suddenly appearing.

When the golden feline didn't look up or say anything, Talon took that as an acceptance of his presence. He sat down on the floor next to Deliah. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly. It was a stupid question to ask. Clearly the female was not okay. He didn't know any other way to find out what was wrong though.

Before Deliah knew it, the whole story started to spill out. Here was someone she barely knew, hardly ever spoke to, and she was opening up to him about everything. As she continued to speak, she felt a little lighter, like there was less pressure pushing her down. At one point, when her sobs were the strongest, Talon had put his arm around her shoulders and Deliah laid her head on his shoulder. By the time she finished her story, the sobs had stopped and only sniffles remained.

The golden female giggled self-consciously, touching the damp spot on Talon's shirt her tears left behind. "I'm sorry. I barely know you and here I was crying my eyes out and baring my soul to you."

Talon grinned and lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug. "Don't worry about it. Every guy's deepest wish is to rescue a damsel in distress." When that was followed by a giggle from said damsel, Talon felt emboldened. "Hey, how about I buy you some coffee or something?" he suggested.

Deliah straightened, putting some space between her and the cheetah. She sat there studying him for a few seconds. Part of her wanted to run away and hide in embarrassment. But the other part of her was interested in taking up his offer. Talon was in a few of her classes, although he was older and more advanced in his studies, and she saw him so often around campus. He had proven himself to be caring and he wasn't bad looking either. What could it hurt to give him a chance? Besides, she felt she owed it to him after her crying spell.

Just as Talon was starting to think she would refuse him, Deliah said, "I'd love that." He smiled brightly. "Great. I know just the place," he said. After he got to his feet, he held out his hands to pull Deliah to her feet as well.

In the City That Never Sleeps, coffee shops and cafes were open no matter the time of day. As the two felines walked down the slightly deserted streets, they continued to talk, the conversation following the pattern of two near strangers trying to become acquainted with each other.

True to his word, Talon bought Deliah a coffee and a slice of cheesecake that they ate together. They sat and talked for a while, each finding that they were liking the other more and more. As it was quite late by now, Talon offered to walk Deliah back to her dorm room. At her door, Deliah hesitated, staring at the floor shyly. "Thanks again. For tonight," she said, peeking up at Talon through her eyelashes.

"I'm glad I was there. I had a nice time tonight." He gently lifted Deliah's head to look into her hazel eyes.

Deliah began to blush furiously. Before she had a chance to talk herself out of it, she placed a kiss on his cheek. "See you around," she said before escaping into her dorm room. That night, she got the best sleep she had since her brother's death.

As the days and weeks went by, Deliah and Talon continued to spend time together, until eventually they became an official couple. Deliah had never had a serious boyfriend before, so this was a whole new experience for her. That Spring Break, Talon took her to Miami Beach. It was there that she lost her virginity.

They remained a happy couple for the next two years. Deliah was the happiest she had ever been with Talon. Through him, her world expanded. She met many people and made a few more friends. He also helped her improve her dancing abilities. Too soon, the day came when Talon would graduate. He had been offered a job on the west coast and would be moving there shortly after graduation. Although they tried to make it last, holding up a long distance relationship became too great a strain for both of them. They mutually decided to end it. And although she missed Talon after the breakup, Deliah knew it had been the right call.

After she turned 21, Deliah took a job at an out of the way bar. She would tend the bar and during slow moments would sing for the crowd. Her voice was pleasant enough, though not so great that she could make a career of it, even had she wanted to. Dance continued to be her one true passion.

She continued to date as she finished up her college courses. And a few of the regulars at the bar flirted with her constantly. None of them turned into anything serious, like her relationship with Talon had been. She didn't mind it, though. That just meant she was able to focus on refining her dancing technique without a boyfriend pressuring her to spend more time with him.

Deliah continued working at the bar even after she graduated. Although she had applied for several dancing jobs, she hadn't been accepted for any of them. That didn't dampen her spirit though. She was determined that she would one day fulfill her dream. Until then, she would continue to work at the bar and sing.