worn to the bones

Thu Jun 06, 2019 2:24 am

worn to the bones Tumblr_inline_pfbgv1Mzx61uxnbj0_1280

September 13th, 2019

Lachlan caught goodbyes with a couple people who were on the way to the door, and told them to say goodbye to anyone that he had missed. The last people who caught them on the way out were Steve and Marley. Steve clapped Lachlan on the back and Marley hugged Skye. She was saying something about how she was sad they hadn't gotten to hang out more and get to know each other that night, but Lachlan wasn't really listening. Honestly, he was pretty angry.

The conviction with which Skye had said that they were leaving was enough to ensure that he was not going to convince her to stay. They needed to stay, though, for Oliver. Sure, from the little bits of the story he had gotten, Skye hadn't had a top notch night, but some times you just have to tough it out. Instead, they were leaving with hours left in his best friends party.

Eventually, they broke free and were making their way up the stairs. Lachlan stopped into the green room to grab her bag off the counter, and then made his way back out to Skye in the hallway. He handed the bag to her and then put his empty hand in his pocket. They pushed out the main doors and as they shut behind him, Lachlan mumbled,

"You really couldn't have stuck it out for Oliver, could you?" And sipped from the bottle. The way he said it was quiet enough that it was like he hadn't wanted her to her, but loud enough that she definitely would.

Thu Jun 06, 2019 2:57 am

worn to the bones Tumblr_inline_pnx0wvvYeA1t9ndkh_1280

worn to the bones Tumblr_inline_pnx0xwVbdp1t9ndkh_1280

Even drunk Skye can see that Lachlan is angry. She can see it in the way they barely exchanged words the whole time they were leaving, in the forced smiles and the way he walked. She doesn't bring it up though, even though she knows whats coming. It's best if they stay civil until they're outdoors, where less people can overhear. She can feel the tension between them, just as she had before many of their fights. She's not sure how this one will end though, and she's not really thinking that far ahead.

She hears him mumble when the doors to the Apollo close behind them, and she was expecting him to last a little longer than that. Though, she expects she has the bottle in his hand to thank.

"You don't have to walk me home, you know. I'm a big girl Lachlan, I can make it to my house by myself. You can go back and party." She's not going to let him guilt her tonight. He doesn't have any idea what she's going through. Besides, he's choosing to be here, she doesn't care if he wants to go back and dance until the sun comes up, she won't stop him. This is his choice. His choice to leave. His choice to be angry.

Thu Jun 06, 2019 3:39 am

Lachlan did not want to have this fight, especially here. He and Skye had done so much better about their bad habits, like these fights, since they became official. Was their honeymoon phase actually this short? He thought that they would at least have a little bit more time of pure fun before they started snapping at each other like this. He wasn't going to back down, though. Lachlan thought that Skye was being selfish.

"I'm not mad that I am leaving with you. I want to walk home with my official girlfriend and hold hands and be happy. What I didn't want was to leave my best friends party when he had died and just needed to be supported. I didn't want to be selfish. We should be back there for Oliver, and you know that." Lachlan said.

They weren't walking anymore. They were standing just a few feet from the front door. They hadn't even made it down the fancy stairs. Lachlan took another sip from the bottle and drained what was left. He hadn't drank the whole thing, several people had taken sips or gulps from it, but he had definitely made a significant dent, and he was feeling it. Lachlan tossed the bottle in the trash can by the door.

Lachlan had several other things that he had wanted to call Skye on, and he was kind of afraid that it would get there.

Thu Jun 06, 2019 4:20 am

Skye rolls her eyes, fully aware that they had stopped walking. Even if all she wants to do is go home and get out the dress that she's been in for hours, she knows they can't go anywhere until this is done. She's hoping that this will just be a passing storm, though something is telling her this is going to be closer to a hurricane. New Rome didn't really get any extreme weather, but she's seen the damage hurricanes do on the news. The way it destroys everything in its path, leaving the landscape unrecognizable. Here they are, drunk and reckless, just like a hurricane. She just hopes that they're able to rebuild.

"I'm not like you, Lachlan, I can't just turn my brain off and forget that ever happened. I saw him die, I saw his dad just take over. He-" Skye pauses. She knows what she needs to do. She knows she just has to tell him the truth. Even if every molecule in her body is telling her not to. Even if this isn't the best time to approach this, when they're drunk and angry. It feels like it was years ago that they were waiting in the green room.

"He gave me some of my memories back. It's not just that, I've been remembering things for months now. Not a lot but tonight," Skye shakes her head, "Tonight I ended up with six months worth of memories and I don't know what to do."

Thu Jun 06, 2019 3:26 pm

Lachlan could feel that anger was setting all the way in and he was actually kind of glad that he had already thrown away the glass bottle because he kind of felt like throwing something. As Skye talked, he crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, just because it's what I do, and what I want to do, that means that it's brainless and dumb? So, you saw some shit. So have I! So has everyone in this stupid city. But we keep going. We don't let ourselves shut down." Lachlan snapped. Part of him knew that it wasn't fair, but how she was being wasn't fair to him. "Do you think that it was easy on me to see him die? In the morning, I am going to have to call his mom and tell her what happened."

It hit Lachlan like a ton of bricks when Skye said she'd been getting her memories back and he hadn't known. Sure, it wasn't her obligation to tell him everything, but that seemed pretty damn important. If she was going through the ringer with all of it, how was he supposed to help if he didn't know?

"This has been happening for months, and you didn't think it was worth mentioning? With all the time we've spent together it just slipped your mind?" Lachlan said, angrily.

Thu Jun 06, 2019 5:43 pm

Skye can see this getting worse and worse, and she's not sure how to stop it. Here they are, tearing down everything they had so carefully built over the last two weeks. She expected them to last longer than this. She thought they could be better. Maybe being in a relationship doesn't change them. Maybe this was always supposed to happen.

"That's not what I meant, Lachlan," She snaps. She knows it hasn't been easy on him either, she saw him in that hallway. Except he was able to look past that and go back and party as if it never happened. She can't disconnect in that way. She can't force herself to have fun, not anymore anyways. The Skye she used to be could. She could forget all her troubles and go to Lachlan's place or go to some party in the field of Mars. Now it feels like all she can think about are the bad things. Everything she does or sees reminds her that she shouldn't be here.

Maybe that's why she never told anyone about the memories. It's just another reminder that she isn't who she used to be. She's damaged and it feels like she's trying to constantly fix something that's broken in an attempt to feel like she has her shit together. She has no clue what she's doing, or where she's headed. She used to plan constantly, she used to have a good idea of where her life was going, but then she goes on a quest and everything falls apart. Maybe around Lachlan she could feel like she was put together for a little bit. Except now she doesn't feel that.

"How am I supposed to tell you, Lachlan? How am I supposed to put that into words? I can barely make sense of it myself."

Thu Jun 06, 2019 6:01 pm

A small part of Lachlan's brain was telling him not to be angry. It was shouting trying to be heard that this was the Skye he cared about and that she was obviously going through something and needed his support. Lachlan had never been trained to be calm. Even from a young age, things had be handled with screaming and slamming doors in the Reid house. As his life progressed, and he started forming relationships, a lot of them were built on uneasy ground and doomed to topple when the screaming inevitably came. So, he couldn't will himself to be calm.

"Well, you just did. I'm not asking for you to write me a novel about it. I just want to be there for you, and support you. I'm your boyfriend, for gods sake Skye, and I cared about you long long before I was that. I just don't get why you don't let me in. Instead you put yourself in a corner and pout and make everything about you." Lachlan was fully yelling now, talking with his hands.

"I just want to be privy to what's going on your life. Oliver and Delilah and you have all these therapy jokes and things you know about each other and I am left full on the outside." Lachlan said, and mentioning Delilah made him think of something else that had been getting under his skin lately. Ever since their fight, Lachlan had gained knowledge on something that he felt like they hadn't wanted him to know, but he felt like he had a right to know.

"Speaking of Delilah, was that something else you weren't planning on telling me, too?"

Fri Jun 07, 2019 1:43 am

Skye just looks Lachlan in the eye, "Well if you care about me and want to support me, maybe you shouldn't be yelling at me for telling you something that was really hard for me to say. 'Cause here I am, trying to let you in, and instead you get angry that you weren't let in earlier. I'm sorry, okay? Is that what you want to hear?" She throws her hands up in surrender. Her voice isn't rising like his, despite her fighting to keep it level.

"First of all, I hope you realize therapy isn't just some club where we go to hang out and chat without you there. You know it's been two sessions since someone hasn't broken down crying? It's a new record, we're very proud. Sure, we make jokes about it, but we're there because we have serious issues. Just be glad you don't have a reason to be there." She takes a breath, hoping that her pause will let her words sink in enough. She never meant for him to feel left out, but also he can't just act like it's some big party for them. There are so many times she's left therapy feeling drained. Maybe the jokes are there to keep them from feeling the weight of it all.

Then, there's Delilah. She's not sure how much he knows exactly, but even then, it's a strange subject to broach. She had tried to leave it behind her, especially because she's with Lachlan now.

"What do you want to know, Lachlan? We kissed before I left on the quest, and then nothing came of it afterwards. There are no feelings there anymore. Do you want a list of everyone I've kissed? Because I didn't know that was a requirement to our relationship." She shakes her head, "You aren't entitled to every detail of my life, Lachlan."

She doesn't know where to go from here. She doesn't know where they go from here. Is this going to be commonplace between them? Are they going to be the couple that fights constantly? She doesn't want that, and she doesn't know if she could even handle it.

Fri Jun 07, 2019 3:09 am

Lachlan snorted with a scoff. He didn't really know how to respond to Skye. She made a good point about how he was acting, but it wasn't his fault that he was mad. It wasn't fair for her to be putting it on him like this. As she continued to lay into him about her therapy sessions, more and more was building up in him. She acted like everything was so damn perfect in his life, but it wasn't. It just wasn't fair. "I don't need an apology. I just want us to get better, and that's not going to happen if you keep acting like I'm a side character in your grand story. I've always been more than that."

Lachlan was not only mad, he was starting to get downright frustrated with Skye. It was like she just kept intentionally missing the point. She was taking his words and twisting them around to make it sound like they were him complaining about things he wasn't.

"I don't care who you've kissed. I would like to know if Augustine or Oliver, or any one else that is literally or practically my sibling is on that list. Maybe you don't get it, or whatever, but it feels like shit when you feel like you're just another box on a list. I want to mean something to you, Skye Maddox." His voice was a mix of anger and plea-ing. He was desperate for something to come from this, but he couldn't stop being mad.

"Och awa' an' dinna talk pish, y'know?" Some of the Scottish slang that his father would use in arguments when they were young slipped in. It was basically his way of saying they were talking crazy, and dismissing their arguments when he was getting done with the conversation. It tracked that the parts of him most like his dad would come out in an argument.

Fri Jun 07, 2019 3:40 am

"You think I didn't tell you because I didn't care? Lachlan, I care about you so fucking much. You are the only person I've talked to about my mother. You are so important to me. I need you to know this." Lachlan is the first person she wanted to tell about her memories, he's the person she would feel most comfortable going to in the middle of the night when she feels like she's drowning on dry land. It hurts to think that he doesn't think that he means that much to her.

Skye has to full stop when he speaks gaelic. Maybe its the drinks she's had or maybe it's the drinks he's had, but she doesn't understand a word of what he said, aside from the last one. She just stares at him for a full thirty seconds before saying, "No, Lachlan, I don't know. I have no clue what you said."

The air is growing cold and she crosses her arms tightly, trying to keep the warmth in. She just wants to go home and forget this ever happened, but she doesn't want to give up on what's in front of her. She didn't fight so hard to get him to understand if she didn't want them to work.

"I want to be able to tell you this stuff." She says, and her voice has softened, "It's just hard for me. I'm trying, Lachlan, I am."

She wants to tell him about how sometimes she feels like she's disconnecting from reality, how she feels like she's about to be swallowed by an empty void that turns her into something she doesn't want to be. She just doesn't know how to start. Maybe she's afraid of him looking at her like he is right now.

Fri Jun 07, 2019 3:53 am

Lachlan heard the change coming from Skye's voice. It instantly sent an electric shock to his brain that almost felt like it shut him down. She sounded well and truly hurt, and that hurt him. He wanted to believe that she cared about him like she said she did, but it was hard. He was always worried that maybe they couldn't work, because of how they started and where they'd staked their claim for so long. Maybe they were doomed to keep falling off the same cliff ad nauseum.

Lachlan was about to reply to her when she responded to his Scottish comment. He'd barely even noticed it had happened. The Scottish, both Gaelic and slang, he knew came out when he was the most off his rhythm, like then. He knew how absolutely ludicrous it could sound, and how foreign it must have been in her ears. It actually made him laugh a tiny bit.

"It means, like, that's crazy talk, or you're talking rubbish. But, you're not really." Lachlan looked up at Skye again. There was some residual anger and sharpness to his voice, but it was softening. The storm had stopped, but there was still static in the air, and one bolt of lightning could set it all in motion again. "I think that maybe, after everything, we still don't really know each other too well."

Right as Lachlan said that, he heard the doors open. Stumbling through them was Leighton Barnes and Hannah Lindquist. His arm was around her shoulders and she was laughing as he was bent over and talked directly into her ear. They stopped and smiled at Lachlan and Skye, still giggling between them.

"Oh, hey! I thought you were leaving!" Leighton said between the laughs.

Fri Jun 07, 2019 4:18 am

Skye is about to respond, when she hears the front door of the Apollo open. She turns, trying to hide any signs that they had just been in a fight. The first person she knows is Hannah, then Leighton behind her. She misses the days Hannah and her used to be close, and she wonders if Hannah feels the same way. She can't tell by the way that Hannah is looking at her, like she's trying to hide something behind a smile.

It takes her another second to realize that Leighton and Hannah are there together. She remembers Hannah having the biggest crush on Leighton when they were fifteen. She wishes that they still talked, because she'd like to hear about the story behind this.

"We're headed out now," Skye says, taking Lachlan's hand, "Have a nice night, you guys."

"Yeah, we're headed out too." Hannah says, and she pulls Leighton off in a direction that is clearly not the way to either of their houses or to camp.

There's a long silence where they're surrounded by crickets and the sound of frogs. She waits until Leighton and Hannah are probably out of earshot, before looking back to Lachlan.

"I really am sorry, for not telling you earlier."

Fri Jun 07, 2019 4:30 am

Lachlan was grateful when Skye took the lead with talking to Leighton and Hannah. He didn't know Hannah too well, but them emerging from the party together made a lot of sense. She seemed like Leighton's type. Leighton wasn't the kind of guy who stuck to his type much, but it was nice to see him at least taking a shot at it. The son of Fama watched as they hurried away towards who knows where as he bit the inside of his thumb. When they were out of sight, he looked down at his feet until Skye talked, when he looked up her. Lachlan sighed and closed the space between them. He kissed the top of her head, and pushed a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

"I'm sorry for not understanding what you're going through. I'll try and do better." He said softly. There wasn't the anger in his voice anymore. He genuinely did think that he could do better than he had, but so could she. They could do better. They needed to do better. The cliff was always too close.

Lachlan took Skye's hand in his and kissed it lightly. He was still drunk. The fight hadn't managed to knock that out of him. He just wanted to be next to Skye again. He couldn't stand the space between them.

"Come on. I think we could both use a good nights sleep. It's been... a day." He said, a small crack in his voice that led to a much deeper crack inside of him, miles deep.

Fri Jun 07, 2019 4:51 am

Skye smiled lightly when he kissed her hand, but she still felt the sting from their fight under her skin. There are couples that could withstand hurricanes and come out stronger than ever. Then there was them. They were the hurricane. She just hopes this is the end and not just the eye of the storm.

They start their walk home, on the empty sidewalks of New Rome, slowly weaving up towards the hill their neighborhood sat on. She's quiet for most of it, having found their fight taking up most of her words. Instead she just holds his hand and lets the silence take over. Maybe it's what she needs, a quiet moment to truly reflect. Their walk is mostly solitary except for the odd car passing.

She thinks back to the moments they had only an hour ago. Standing in that hallway, being forced to face the possibility that they'd lose one of their own. She doesn't know what she would do if that death had been permanent. Even the thought of it scares her. She couldn't imagine being Delilah, almost losing someone she loved so early in their relationship. She doesn't know what she would do if Lachlan had been in his place. When they reach the turnoff into Augustus Avenue, Skye pauses. Suddenly she doesn't want to leave him.

Even though she's drunk and the world still feels wobbly, she realizes that she's missed her curfew. Even if there's not a light on in her house, she knows her grandparents would probably have words for her in the morning. So, what's a couple more hours?

"I don't want to be alone tonight." She says, looking up at him, speaking barely loud enough for him to hear.

Fri Jun 07, 2019 5:05 am

Lachlan had mixed feelings about the silence. On one hand, it was almost welcomed after the fighting. There was a calmness between them that felt nice after the fight, like applying aloe to a sunburn. On the other hand, he worried about things that may have gone unsaid when they were interrupted. How did Skye feel about the things he's said that they hadn't covered. There had some spark to the last thing he had said before Hannah and Leighton came out. Would that ever come back around?

As they walked through the winding streets, he thought about the things that had been said. Lachlan really didn't understand what she was going through. He had no way to understand what it was like to get smacked by months of emotions all at once. He also didn't know why Letus had been so forward to give them back to her. What did he have to gain from that? He decided that he couldn't pry tonight. It wasn't too late for the storms to rage overhead.

Then there was the Delilah thing. He felt like they'd only briefly shined a flashlight on it. He didn't know what it meant. Why had it happened and why did it stop? Why was there such a pain in both their voices when they talked about it on the night they all fought? Why did it cut him so much deeper than it should?

As they turned onto their part of their street, Lachlan didn't want to let Skye go. Thankfully, she broke the silence first.

"I don't either, but you have a curfew that we already missed." He lived right next door to her legal guardians. It was risky for him to play too close to that fire. "I just want to be with you a little bit longer." He said quietly, holding her hand a little tighter. It may have been selfish, but it was true. As he looked at Skye, he had so many words he wanted to say to her, but he knew he couldn't. It was too new to say them yet. He'd have to settle for just sharing space with her.

Fri Jun 07, 2019 5:20 am

worn to the bones Tumblr_inline_pnx0y11Bjd1t9ndkh_1280

worn to the bones Tumblr_inline_pnx0wt0o9y1t9ndkh_1280

Skye shrugs, "I'm already going to be in trouble, and they're asleep. I can sneak back in before they wake up." Besides, maybe she needs to be a bit rebellious when there are actually rules to break. That and going back to her room alone seems like a death sentence.

"We're allowed this." She says, and she means it. They had just been through hell in the span of three hours. They're allowed to be selfish after watching their friend die. They're allowed to want to be close to each other.

So, they walk together, past her house, through the green space, past the main house with no signs of life, to the door of the guest house. She leans against the side of the building while Lachlan unlocks the door. She remembers standing here countless times, but she knows tonight will not be like those nights. She knows that all she wants to do is sleep next to the person she cares about. She also knows that she wants to get out of this dress, but that's beside the point.

Fri Jun 07, 2019 5:32 am

worn to the bones Tumblr_inline_pfbgiwiaK71uxnbj0_1280

worn to the bones Tumblr_inline_pfbgj4qnwK1uxnbj0_1280

The way that Skye said "We're allowed this." struck Lachlan in a way that he hadn't expected. It was late, pushing midnight on what felt like The Longest Day, and he was standing here with Skye and she looked so beautiful. They were allowed this. They were allowed to be happy and they were allowed to be at whatever point on the road to being in love with each other they were. It wasn't a straight road, but it was their's to drive together. They were allowed to drive it for however long they could. Lachlan smiled a small, almost shy, smile and nodded.

Her hand was still in his as they walked to the door. There were a million stars in the sky above them as he unlocked the door to the clubhouse. Lachlan and Skye had walked these steps before, but tonight was different. Tonight was calm and was made for them to just be close to each other. As Lachlan shut the door, he undid the tie around his neck and walked to his closet. He grabbed a pair of navy basketball shorts and a CalTech tshirt.

"Need a shirt?" Lachlan asked, tossing the shirt to Skye before he got an answer. He stepped into the closet and changed out of his formal clothes and into the short. He stepped back out into the kitchen, where he grabbed two water bottles. Once Skye was ready, he moved his way up the stairs and laid down on the left side of the bed.

"Thank you for being you." He whispered when she was next to him, running his hands softly through her hair.

Fri Jun 07, 2019 5:51 am

Skye catches the shirt with a smile, taking a second to look at the logo on the front. She unzips her dress and changes into the shirt, taking a second to lay the heavy material over the side of the couch so it didn't wrinkle. She pulls the pins out of her hair, running her fingers through it a couple times to try to break up the stiffness left by the hairspray. It feels therapeutic, methodically taking apart the appearance she had spent so long putting together.

She climbs the steep spiral staircase, phone and charger in hand, and it isn't until she misses a step that she realizes how drunk she truly is. She's just glad it didn't send her crashing down. Lachlan's loft is clear as day, even in the dim light. She's been here plenty of times before, occasionally in the same state that she is in now. Still, it feels different being here now. Maybe because she knows all they'll be doing is sleeping.

She lays on her side of the bed, setting an alarm for early morning before she forgets. She turns over towards Lachlan, smiling at him. "Anytime," She says, but she pauses before saying, "I want to tell you more about my memories. Not tonight, but tomorrow."

Fri Jun 07, 2019 4:05 pm

Lachlan turned back around as he heard Skye trip up the stairs. He laughed and shook his head. "At some point, you think that you would get better at this." He turned around and continued his ascent up the stairs.

Lying in his bed, Lachlan was laying on his side looking up close at Skye's face. He let out a small, sharp sigh when Skye said that she wanted to tell him about his memories. There was still a small sore part from their argument, but when she said that, he felt that slip away. Maybe they could actually be better than they were before. Lachlan kissed Skye lightly, and then pulled back, smiling with a hand on the side of her face.

"Whenever you're ready, I want to hear about it." They were talking quietly, despite the fact that they were entirely alone. His window was cracked open and the curtains were blowing a little bit. It was so different then the kind of close they were usually, but it felt so soft and so natural. Lachlan had one thing that he needed to ask Skye.

"Are you happy with us?"

Fri Jun 07, 2019 5:43 pm

Skye studies Lachlan's face for a moment, trying to find the answer that he's looking for, even if she knows it wouldn't be written plainly in his expression. The truth? They're flawed. Deeply so. This night proved it. At the same time though, they didn't let it break them. Maybe that meant more. Plenty of couples could have lesser fights and call it off. They somehow managed to stay together through pure stubbornness to hold on to the good moments. They're still here together.

"I don't think we're perfect," She admits, "but I'm happy with you."

She can feel the night around her so clearly. The light breeze, the sounds of the frogs and crickets, the feeling of Lachlan's hand on her cheek. She can feel the emptiness in her chest still, and she has a feeling she might just have to live with it. She can't let it overtake her, though. She needs to stay grounded. She can't miss moments like these.

Fri Jun 07, 2019 11:01 pm

Lachlan wasn't sure what he expected to be Skye's answer, but that wasn't it. Part of him thought that this was a movie, where everything was perfect and rosy. He thought Skye would make some grand profession of love about how they were the perfect couple and the world could suck it. In another way, he thought that she would say that she wasn't happy with them. That she had made a mistake and wanted to end it right here, right now. That she was running back to someone else.

Her answer was real, though. They weren't perfect. Tonight was a better sign of that than anything. But she was happy, and so was he. This fight was one step on the path to the best version of them. One day, maybe, they could be perfect. And as Lachlan kissed Skye on the tip of the nose, that's what he was thinking about. He imagined them laying in bed, not this bed, somewhere that was their's years down the line when finally they had finally figured out. He was willing to wait for that.

Lachlan looked at Skye's blue eyes and he wanted to know more about her. "Tell me about the best day of your life." He whispered.

Sat Jun 08, 2019 12:49 am

Skye smiles, pausing while she searches her memory. She has plenty of happy days, though admittedly almost all of them are from before her quest. Still, finding the happiest, the one where she had reached her peak joy, that is difficult to ascertain. So, she takes her time, looking at Lachlan the entire time, before speaking up.

"I was seven and my mom took me to the San Diego Zoo and then we went to the beach. She got me a t-shirt with a penguin on it and I'm pretty sure I wore it almost every day that summer." Her favorite animal wasn't even the penguin, she just loved that shirt. She outgrew it quickly, and it was a tearful goodbye when she had to send it to goodwill. She doesn't have many things from her mother anymore.

"What about you? What is the best day of Lachlan Reid's life?"

Sat Jun 08, 2019 1:11 am

Lachlan studied the way that Skye's face moved and changed as she talked. He wasn't expecting her favorite memory to involve her mom. After everything that he knew about that she had been through with her mom, he guessed that that would have tinted her memories of her. It was nice, though, that she could separate that from that good memory. Lachlan didn't think that he could do that with memories of his dad. Their childhood parties would always be tinted by the knowledge that he was just faking Dad.

Lachlan wasn't expecting the question in return, but he already knew his answer. "I don't know if you remember when my family went to Scotland when I was 8. I got to meet my grandmother and spend some truly special time with her. One day, my dad had gone to visit with some primary school mates, so it was just me, Augustine, and Grandma Isolt. She taught us about the mythology of the area and how to speak some Gaelic. She told us stories about her life and meeting Mercury and when my dad was young. Believe it or not, he was a normal kid at one point." Lachlan said with a small laugh before frowning a little bit.

"That was the day before she died. If we hadn't been there she wouldn't have spent that day with anyone." Lachlan looked down at his hands to avoid making eye contact. "Most days I carry around her rosary in my pocket. It was silly. Even though she didn't believe in the Christian God, she found peace in going to Catholic church and praying the rosary and stuff." He said, softer than before even.

Lachlan knew that he had never told anyone about why they had gone to Scotland or the rosary he carried. Even then he had his walls built tall and strong.

Sat Jun 08, 2019 4:17 am

Skye listens to his story. She remembers him leaving for that trip. She remembers her grandmother telling her that Lachlan's grandma had died. She had thought it was sad, but she really didn't conceptualize it.

"She sounds like she was special," Skye whispers.

Still, the talk of her death reminds Skye of the events of that day. It also reminds her of her sitting on that couch before he had been possessed, telling Oliver of her fears of her role in their deaths. It sends her back to a day back in late July, when she had returned to this bed to talk to Lachlan again. He had asked her a question, and back then she thought she had an answer, but after today, she's not so sure.

"You know how you once asked me if I feared death?" She asks, and she watches for the inevitable change in expression from Lachlan. Her hand finds his and squeezes, a silent reassurance of something she's not sure how to say.

Sat Jun 08, 2019 4:43 am

Lachlan nodded against the pillow when Skye said that his grandmother seemed like a special person. "She really was. Sometimes I wish I had been raised in Scotland with her. It was so beautiful. Edinburgh is an amazing city, and once you get out of the city it is just so beautiful everywhere. We took a trip up to Stirling where my ancestors are from. We'll have to go sometime." Lachlan said. It was weird that he was so willing to make commitments of the future with Skye. It wasn't like him in any relationship before. It just felt right, though, to talk about a future for them, assuming that they work out.

Lachlan wasn't prepared for the turn that Skye took. He felt his eyebrows turn in. He remembered the day easily. It was the first time they had spent together since she came back from her quest. A white-flamed fight turned into passion: their old MO. They'd broken that mold a bit that day though, the start of more breaking they would do over the next couple of months to lead to now. Skye had stayed with him, and they had talked. With a promise of one truth, Lachlan had asked if she feared dying, silently adding like he did.

"Yeah. You said something about dying seeming peaceful." Lachlan had never understood that. To Lachlan, death was all turbulence; the last Great Earthquake of someone's life. He thought about the shock waves that Oliver dying had sent out. How could that be seen as peace?

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