Even if it hurts

Location | The apartment building
Date | 4th of June 2022
Time | Afternoon
Topic for | @Hope
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He had packed all of his things in his car, and left. Simply he had left, only to stop on the way to get some air afraid that his blurred vision would cause him to crash.  So, he had took near a look out and just let out a roar of a scream, stood there for a moment before he had gotten back into his car. Then he had just started driving. Once he had arrived back to the apartment building he started to unload his car, second trip and he moved towards the door when he met a familiar face. It was clear he was upset about something, but also very clear that he was a mand who could pretend till the day he died that he was alright. "Hey Hope," he said giving her a smaller smile, he then walked to his apartment door and dropped the things off right in front of his room. Knowing Hope wouldn't let him go without an explanation he gestured her inside.

She had started feeling lighter. She could feel it in the way that it didn’t feel like the entire world was lying on her shoulders. She could breathe again, and her heart didn’t feel like a stone in her chest, weighing her down in an ocean trying to pull her under and drown her. She now understood whatever she had with Ace, it had been a way to try to mend the broken piece of her that only one person could ever do, and she was fortunate enough that she had found him again. Which had also meant that now that school was over and there were only exams left, she had used as much time as she could over at Jamie’s house, well, at least when he wasn’t working. Then she had asked Jasmine what she wanted to see, do or explore now that they could. She had asked if it would be okay if she took her to some of the things she had hoped to bring her daughter, had she ever become her age. Which meant shopping, even if Hope loathed it; but for those few hours of seeing Jasmine smile, as she had asked if the grey blouse wasn’t a better fit for her, and then ushered her into the changing room before pulling her out so she could see how it looked. Teasing – eating ice cream, gossip.
Having Katelyn over for baking while Jamie had been at work and the long walks with the dogs. It had been as if someone had given her an extra shot at living, and she was trying her best not to let it pass her by.

So, when she saw Reginald pass her in the hall after she had returned home, mostly just to get a change of clothes, she knew. Oh, it was like looking into a reflection when she saw his look. And without much to say, she nodded as a greeting and stepped inside as he gestured to her.
“She got her memories back, huh?” she said with a small smile as she walked into the kitchen area and sat down by the small dining table. “I’m sorry”, she whispered, giving him a sad smile, not wanting to provide him with the whole, but we are still family, and there will be another one. She licked her lips, feeling a question burning on the back of her tongue, but for now, she managed to keep it at bay, knowing there would be a better time for it.

He closed the door behind them, making a small that obvious raise with his eyebrows, as he sat down at one of the chairs, letting out a sight. "Yeah, me too," he shook his head a little bit. Perhaps he had been the foolish one, he had only been out free for under a year and thought he could get into a relationship that fast after, even with the history him and Juniper had. "One could argue it was too much too fast," he shook his head, no it wasn't that, because when why the hell would she just take Francis back with a blink of an eye. "Congratulations I guess, your parents are back together," he wanted to sound funny, but couldn't really manage to fake the happiness that just wasn't there. He wasn't too worried about how Hope would take the split, after all they hadn't known each other for that long, and even so he knew he would be there for her in a heartbeat if she asked him for anything. And now that she was seeing Jamie again, it meant they would still have contact which he was grateful for. Then there was Mariella, he knew she would take it the hardest, because she was so close with him but also had gotten so close with Juniper. Having them split, he couldn't imagine she would take it lightly, but maybe who knew. "I might also almost have choked your father with a root in anger, just in case it comes up," he scratched the back of his head, well Francis would use it against him for sure.

She lifted a brow and let out a soft chuckle as he congratulated her; her tongue ran over her lip. Hope had never wanted her parents to get back together; it wasn’t a wish, even though many would usually hope that was what they ended up doing. Then she laughed; she couldn’t help herself and shook her head a little. “Bastard had it is coming, so you won’t get any ill feelings from me on that accord,” she said with a soft smile, not that it stayed there long “I’m just going on a limb here, not that it will make it easier, but, well I just recognise the story in my own – you had a woman in your life, first true love, somehow tragically died?” she asked, not taking her eyes off Reginald, well, she had her ability to do empathic illusion, and she was the daughter of a criminal mastermind, even though she didn’t wish to think so herself, she reminded more of her father than she would ever admit.

He chuckled a little, glad that she confirmed it, after all you could fear it a little even if you knew it was unlikely. "I did," he pressed his brows together a bit then clearing his throat, "and if what you want to get with that is that I get the entire thing, you are correct. I do," he took a sharper breath in, if Ælfthryth had been alive still, and suddenly fell into his arms, he would have questioned everything as well. Maybe it was the sole reason why he didn't put too much judgement into Juniper's choice. The thing that hurt was how he had found them, not that Hope needed to know that, even if he was sure she sort of got the idea. "I lost her in a fire in the village when I was well younger than Mariella really.  We had two twin girls, Amelia the only one who seemed to make it out alive, and I first found her few months ago," he shook his head a little, being rather honest about the events. But it was also events he couldn't change. He would laugh at God if Ælfthryth suddenly walked down the hallway to the apartment and knocked on his door, it would be twist of faith. "You should tell your sisters though, before they just knock on your mother's door to the surprise of their lives," not that Ayah had met Francis yet, but Ella had and he knew she still was slightly scared of the guy - who could blame her.

Hope listened, letting her fingers glide over the table's surface, making small circles while she did so. Two twin daughters, all lost in a fire, except one of them that he had only just found. What a horrible twist of fate, she licked her lips. Not knowing just how much Jamie had told Reginald about everything that had happened, she knew that there was a chance that Mariella might have confided in him, but if she had to be honest, the time hadn’t really been there to sit everyone down and let them know what was going on.
“I’ll make sure to do so,” she said with a soft smile, letting out a small sigh before removing her hand from the table and using it to push some hair behind her ear. “I know Jamie wanted to get everyone together, something about having that family dinner we didn’t dare to have back in the day,” she said with a small smile “, but I’ll make sure that they get the news quicker, so you can just use the time to relax” she added, knowing that this wouldn’t be an easy time for them, “you’ll still have all of us, even if you’re not marrying my mother” she wanted him to know, even if her mother had chosen to be with Francis, it didn’t take away the times Reginald had already been there for them.

Reginald smiled by the thought of a family dinner, when he first had gotten back after Nigel had gotten him out in August, it had been one of the highlights of his return. Those Blanchard dinners to get everyone together, even though he was sure that the real reason Jamie hooked them up with one was also due the fact Nigel and Irina had their hands full. "That does sound lovely," he gave Hope a warmer smile, "relax? That is a strange word, what does it mean?" Reginald joked shaking his head a little bit. Even if he seemed like a guy who was mostly chilled and relaxed, it was mostly just his amour. "I'm glad to hear it, and you will still have me you know - only a call or a few doors away," Reginald gave Hope a light smile. He pressed his brows together by something familiar, his instincts detected another supernatural creature, something so rare he almost got shivers down his spine by the thought. Then he got up from his seat in the sofa and walked towards the door.

She laughed and shrugged. “I have no idea, but I’ve heard that it should be good for you”, she chuckled, pulling in some air, feeling how her chest expanded before letting go of the air in her lungs again.
“Yeah, same goes to you,” she said with a smile before looking toward his own door “not that I think I’ll be allowed to stay here for long”, she hummed, letting her hand glide through her hair, now it hadn’t been because she was about to leave that she had looked the direction that she was looking in, there was something that pulled her attention, like a presence that drew her attention in another direction than toward Reginald sitting in front of her. She hadn’t felt something like that before, and she would lie if she weren’t a little intrigued about where it came from, and like the person had heard her thoughts, someone knocked on the door.  

It wasn’t that Aimee was supposed to knock on the door, but it was like it called to her, or maybe it was the auras on the other side that was pulling her toward this particular door. She had been called out of Southside, which was unusual for her; Gaia didn’t involve themselves in what happened in Southside, and vice versa. But someone she needed to get in for questioning had been seen around this area, even though it was far from her mind at this very moment, as she waited for the door to open.

It was like fate was pulling him in alle directions at once, and God had a really special hand out for him of lessons he somewhat needed to be put through. Reginald disliked the unsureness and being torn apart in various ways, yet he had also a long time ago realized it was how he was built. It was the life he was built for.  There were very rare moments he cherished, where he had felt peace in his soul and this peace was somewhat following him to the door as it knocked. Reginald rested his hand on the door handle, pressing his brows together for a moment. Resisted the urge to look at Hope and show how confused he felt for a brief moment. But he opened the door, and could as easily have closed it again in disbelief, but instead he just stood there starring at the woman. By her expression, it was clear she was just as surprised as he was: which only could mean one thing. "Ælfthryth," he said blinking a little bit, he should be more surprised, and yet: wouldn't he be a fool if he was shocked about returning lovers who were presumed dead at this point? Reginald stood a little breathless nothing less and looked at her, then blinked a little bit. "I thought you were dead," he cleared his throat, feeling his heart skip a beat.

She just stood there, blinking like a fool, almost gaping like one of those annoying Koi fish you could always find in bigger amusement parks. This couldn’t be true; he was dead, but no. His voice rang out as he spoke the name he had known her by; it was his face, his mannerism, his aura. She gasped as she found out that she had forgotten to breathe; even though she was immortal didn’t mean she could go around and just keep on dying as she pleased; it was still painful and rather foolish to do so because you forgot to do the most human thing on earth.
“I did” she blinked and shook her head a little, almost as to try to bounce herself back into place. “I died in the fire and woke up a week or so later; thinking you had died too,” she whispered; she hadn’t gone searching for him, because why should she; she had thought she had lost everything, but as it turned out, she hadn’t because the most important person stood there right in front of her. Blinking away a couple of tears, she stepped toward him, not waiting for him to tell her that he had someone else or that there had gone too much time now – she didn’t care, nor respected it as she might should have. Instead, she kissed him. Longingly, filled with passion and love. Almost in the hopes of getting all of those years they had lost back through a single kiss.

He took a sharper breath in, wished he had been wiser then, but he could not turn around and change the past. Or he could, but it would be foolish of any to do such thing. Reginald exhaled again just looking at blinking a few tears out of her eyes, then stepping closer towards him. It was no match for the gods of Olympus. So, why would he be immune to the insanity of first love? He wasn't. And as she placed her lips against his, it was like a piece of him just rewound back to back then. Back when the only thing he had faced was the monsters his father had taught him to fight against, before he had known pain and loss. So, he kissed her back, letting all these old feelings that had been kept so closely protected behind walls crash through. Allowing them to be filled. Almost forgetting just what had went on today, what he had lost, because somewhere in his soul the loss was minimal to what he gained from the simple touch of her lips. At last his lips retreated from hers, resting his forehead against hers as he let his mind return to reality. "That was one way of making an entrance," he hummed with a smaller chuckle then pulling his head back, letting his hand rest against her cheek. "I have company," he cleared his throat a little, reminded that Hope was inside in the living-room. "But some on in, if you have time?" He suggested. Odd that him and Hope had just been talking about the sakes of meeting your greatest love again after you thought they had been lost, and then his found her way to knock on his door. Fate worked in mysterious ways.

Low laughter left her as he pulled away, but not so far away that their foreheads didn’t rest against each other. “You know I never did thing halfway”, she hummed because it was true; if she could get away with it, she would make herself loud and heard. She cared little for the trouble that it might cause others; she wasn’t put here in the world to win a popularity contest; if she had, she had never taken the job in southside, everyone knew it was a no-mans-land, where the criminals had taken over the city, and law enforcement had little to say, and yet they still tried; almost like the good Gotham in those horrible Batman movies. But she had found herself fighting evil with evil more times than she could count, so it felt like this job had been made for her; and if she was being completely honest, she enjoyed the challenge.
Her eyes closed but quickly opened as he told her that he had company. Funny thing was that Aimee had noticed both auras, but she hadn’t cared when she had knocked, and it clearly hadn’t crossed her mind when she had kissed him. She looked over his shoulder, and the young fairy lifted her hand and gave the older soul a small smile, clearly a little uncomfortable with the whole situation, not that it fazed Aimee. “I would love that, and I can make time,” she said, stepping inside of the apartment, nodding once more as she stepped inside; Hope got up from her seat “maybe I should let the two of you talk?” she said with a slight smile, it wasn’t that she didn’t want to stay, or maybe it was precisely that; even though she wanted to be there for Reginald, he had only just broken things off with her mother. Not that it came in a thought of judgement, it was instead a; I don’t really want to intrude, nor be a part of this. Aimee shrugged, not really caring if she stayed or not; it was really up to Reginald and what he wanted.

Reginald was in a ocean of raging emotion, and Aimee just managed to put more drops to it, and he knew he had to trade careful if this was going to be fair for anyone. Reginald's heart had always been bigger than his body, no matter how monsterous he had acted at times in the past after he had lost her. "Don't be a stranger kiddo," he pointed towards Hope with a warmer smile, giving her shoulder a soft squeeze before letting Hope go, no they wouldn't be strangers no matter what - he knew that, and he was happy to at least know that. Then he looked towards his former love standing there for his eyes. "I just broke off an engagement few hours ago, I'm in a pretty raw state," he confessed as soon as the door was closed. Also letting her know was possible the best, but he had to let her know Amelia was alive. Sadly they hadn't been able to save Scarlett, but Amelia was alive at least. "Not that I'm not completely blown away by you being here, because I am -" he corrected himself shortly after, yet he knew they shouldn't rush things. He had perhaps rushed things with Juniper, and look where that had gotten him.