Everything is upside down

Letha blinked a little with her eyes as he suddenly took her hand, telling her that she had to come back. And furthermore, that he was going to drive her there. She let out a soft chuckle and followed along. He really was hard to figure out what he wanted. It was a mix of him just wanting her to tell him that he could go screw himself and she left. Not coming back. And that she could never leave him again. She wasn’t sure she would ever be able to do exactly the right thing. She looked at the car trying to take her hand back to go over and place herself in the front seat. Her brow lifted as it seemed like she wasn’t allowed to even do that without him holding on to her. It got weird as he almost placed her in the seat and put the seatbelt on her and walked around the car to sit himself behind the wheel. Now, there was a big chance that he would tell her to shut up again. “I’m sorry, is this now we sign a contract and I have a safe word or something? Because then it would be apple” she teased giving him a bright smile, placing her hands on her knees.

He turned on the engine as she started to speak about a contract and put the car in reverse to get out of the garage. He shook his head a little and a hint of a smile could be seen on his lips as he placed the arm closest to her behind the neck of her seat while he drove out of the garage. “You’re so foolish,” he mumbled. As soon as he had the car out, he removed his arm and turned back to look out. “I can make you a contract if you want,” he said and glanced towards her. “But I got no experience in making a contract for… Yeah, I don’t even know what I would call this,” he said and gestured to the thing between them with his free hand. He started to get a little quite as he was thinking about asking her about how well she had been in contact to their children, but thinking about it, he simply thought about the fairy that he had almost killed. Now, Oscar was no real monster. He would never hurt his son’s love, but he had known from the start that it was a mental attack and he had both tried to defend himself and reacted out of fear, because what he had seen had been hurting him so bad. Some part of him wanted to apologize – not to the fairy, but to his son. It was weird, because from this, he thought about Aria, which made him think about the gala, where he had met Letha, and where he had thrown red wine at a waiter, and just that, let him to open his mouth and break the silence he felt had filled the car, even though he wasn’t even sure how long they had driven right now. “If you want something which isn’t blood, you have to go shopping by yourself,” he informed her and glanced over at her once. “I guess you don’t have your old money yet, so you can just use my card till you get access to your own,” he said leaned over to open the glove compartment where there was a wallet with different cards in it.

She hummed in approval of him calling her foolish. Maybe she was, but Oscar also didn’t really know her as this person. Even if she wasn’t really what Letha had been, she was more like her than any of the others. She was still kind, she still had feelings and heart leading her actions. She was funny, she hated cooking and weren’t all that great at it. She thought for what she felt what was right, and she stayed with the people that she thought needed her. To be honest, she wanted to drive by Zadkiel at the hospital. But she also knew that he would follow her, if she would jump into the deeps of the earth, he would follow her to try too safe her. Maybe that was the real reason why she knew she had to let go and had to do it in such a drastic manner. She just prayed that Zadkiel one day would understand and wouldn’t blame himself. Blaming her, she would be okay with that. She could take it if anything else, she also deserved it. “That remains to be seen” she just added to the fact that he had no idea what this was.

Silence had filled the car and she looked outside the window at the noticed the buildings that the drove past. Before he could lean to open the glove apartment, she closed her hand around his. “Oscar” she said with a soft smile on her lips “I might not have my old money, but I’m not poor” she added giving him a smile. Yes, she had lived in southside before she had gotten Tidus to buy her the apartment in Thunder Grove. But she had just found it convenient and with that never really spend any of the money that she actually had. “I’ve lived over eighty years as Letha, I’ve been in the army, and I used to be a quite good private detective, I hardly use any money, and I have a job at the academy – You don’t have to pay for me, I can do so myself, but thank you” she added letting go of his hand again.

She grabbed his hand and he looked up at her instead of at the road. To Oscar, he didn’t need to know more than that she wasn’t poor. But she cut it out in pieces and told him that she had lived a life to earn money by herself. He nodded a bit and pulled his gaze away from hers, but when she let go of his hand, he took her hand and placed it on top of the gearstick, with his hand on top of hers. “Alright,” he mumbled.

Finally they reached Thunder Groove and he parked the car as close to their home as possible. “Do you want a hand?” he asked and looked over at her as if she had a choice. “I promise not to wreck anything,” he assured her.

She raised her brow as he took her hand again, placing it so they kept having contact through their skin. And somehow, it comforted her. It shouldn’t. But it did. Letha let out a soft sigh as they kept driving. Her eyes looking up the building as they finally parked at the luxurious building. They really didn’t need money those that lived around here. Did she want a hand? She looked towards him, and gave him a half smile, then she let out a laugh, when he promised not to wreck anything. “You’re good” she said, not saying that Zadkiel had done a better job at hitting things in their apartment, than Oscar had done of damage when he had been there. But the smile died when her thoughts wondered to all the great and bad memories they had shared in that apartment. “Let’s go” she said and stepped out of her jacket, finding the keys that she would now leave behind. Giving him the apartment. She didn’t need it and would rather find a new place to stay. She started to walk towards the glass door that would lead them inside the building, as they only needed to go to the first floor, she walked up the stairs.

Opening the door, she had to close her eyes as the scent of Zadkiel almost attacked her. A soft sigh left her, before she walked up the stairs into their bedroom. She everted her eyes as she found a bag and started putting her clothes into it. She didn’t really mind what Oscar was running around doing. She just wanted to get it done as quickly as possible and then get out.

Oscar smiled a little as she told him he was alright to get inside, but he also noticed how her smile faded and occasionally told him to tag along. He exited the car and locked it, following her to her apartment. She opened the door, and just like Letha, he could smell the angel lived there. He even noticed how Letha reacted on it, because Oscar himself didn’t feel the need to close his eyes and savor the heartbreaking moment. He let her get upstairs and Oscar took a quick look around. He folded his lips as he was trying not to think some of this was funny. So, for his own fun and giggles, he let his powers move everything a little to the side. Not enough for the bare eye to notice, but he had this idea, that some else would notice when he got home. He could hear how Letha was packing everything upstairs. Rushing almost. “Were you going to leave a note?” he asked, not really caring to raise his voice, since he knew she could hear him easily. He found her office and opened the door and slowly started packing what he felt he knew he could pack somewhat organized. He didn’t want to mess anything up for her – not her work at least.

He asked if she were going to leave a not “yes” she said back, in the same tone of manner as she wasn’t going to shout when he knew he could hear her, like she was standing beside her. Taking everything, she needed and made sure not to leave something behind that would look like she would come back to get it some other day. Not that she had much, she had never been a woman that really cared with how she looked. No, that wasn’t true. She cared how she looked, but she didn’t want to spend ridicules amounts of money to do it. It wasn’t what was important to her, not anymore. She took her skincare products which was the only thing she used money on, and actually enjoyed using. Then she moved downstairs after a short look at the room. Remembering all the things that they had done together. She closed her eyes and swallowed a small lump in her throat. Then she closed the door and walked down the stairs. She placed the bag on the floor and then she looked around, even though it wasn’t visible, she had learned to live with the OCD that Zadkiel had. Which meant she had also learned how things needed to be standing, shaking her head she walked into the office where Oscar was. “You can be such a dick, have I told you that lately?” she asked with the hint of a smile on her lips, as she found some paper and started writing down a note for Zadkiel. It was harder than she had thought it would be but managed to jot something down. Then she put it in an envelope and sealed it, writing the name on it and left her keys. Then she took the last important things, which was her computer and some files and the box that Oscar had already packed. Leaving her with a backpack, a big duffle bag and a box. Amounted to all the things that she had that she needed and would take with her. “There” she whispered placing the note on the kitchen table.

Oscar looked over his shoulder as she said he was a dick. He stepped a little to the side to show her how he had tried to help her with her files, and truly looked innocently at her, as if he didn’t know what she meant by him being a dick. But she made it quite clear for him that it was all of the furniture that he had moved. A cheeky smile formed on his lips. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said and turned his head away from her again. “I promise you… He’ll appreciate it,” he mumbled. Even though he didn’t know the boy, he knew that the boy had some issues, and that having to think about something else instead of just how she had left with no further notice. Oscar didn’t interrupt her as she was writing. He let her do her thing. He knew that she had loved the boy and that it probably was difficult for her. Oscar assisted her with anything she needed and help her carry it. “Are you ready to say goodbye?” he asked even though he was already on his way to the door to open it for her. He was so tempted to hide the letter, that as soon as Letha seemed to be ready to leave and not look back, he made the letter fly under the oven.

It was weird that someone that could both hate her so much, could also be this sweet to her. Letha wondered if Oscar even understood how he was acting around her, or if it was because he did understand that he wasn’t able to just despise her and give her all the blame. It was weird, being drawn and connected to someone, and still not really know what to do about it. Other than just see how things would end up, and if they would just end up destroying each other on the way to try to figure out what they wanted to do with their lives now that everything was up in the air. As she turned around, she heard how the note fluttered in the air and hit the ground. Maybe it was because she was already expecting him to do something like that, because she knew him. “Oscar” she said in a slight warning tone “Put the letter back” she didn’t turn around at first before she was out of the door and turned her face towards him with a slight raised brow. Putting her bags on her shoulders she closed the door after she was sure that he put the letter back to where she had put it. Without putting much thought into it, she took his hand and started walking back to the car.

“What?” he said as Letha spoke his name, looking at her with slightly wide eyes and his arms stretched out a little in front of him, almost as if he was trying to prove that he was not doing anything and hadn’t taken anything. He tried to keep the mask as she talked about the letter. “What letter?” he said and noticed how she had raised her brow, “Fine,” he said almost sounding like someone who surrendered. He lowered his shoulders a bit and made a flick with his fingers, which made the letter get back to it’s original place. He only got to do it, before she grabbed his hand and walked back to the car. He didn’t mind it, and quickly picked up the pace to walk next to her. “Do you want to see him before we go home?” he spoke in a soft tune – like a normal human.

She closed her eyes for a moment when he took her hand and focused on how it felt against hers. Not in a way lovers did, but because it still gave her an anchor something to put her mind to, while walking away from a life she would never be able to return to. But the further away from the apartment she came, the more she understood she had made the right discission for her. Which might seem cruel to others, but in all of this she also deserved to let go when she couldn’t see a way where this would ever end as a happy ending. And Zadkiel deserved that.
Letha looked towards Oscar as he asked if she wanted to see him before they went home. They went home. A soft smile formed on her lips, only for a moment before it left her again. “No, I just want to go… back home” she mumbled walking down the stairs towards the car to place her stuff in it.

He didn’t say anything to her, as she told him no. He simply helped her get her things packed in the car. Once again, he showed her to the passenger side, opened the door for her, and let her get in. This time, he also leaned in and put her seatbelt on, slapping her hands if she tried to do it herself. When she was secure, and there was nothing in the way for the door, he closed it and got to the driver’s side quickly. He looked at her with a soft and none pushing look, he reached his hand over to her, so he could grab her hand and put it between the gearstick and his hand. Shortly after, he would drive them home.