Thread: What Might Have Been (AndNich123 & Reydan)

The emerald eye swam with emotion in that door crack. Not a peep came from the other side of that door, not a word at all, even as Maddy poured her heart out through the gap. Laid herself emotionally bare in the hope that it would repair the burnt and broken bridge between her and the other girl. But not a sound came. All there was were the tears, trickling down those freckled cheeks, and the slight sight of fingertips white with the tension of holding the door in place. Even at Maddy's final invitation there was no reaction. The green eye followed her as she sat up and, regretfully, trailed down the stairs back to the garage. Charles turned at her voice. Maddy sounded like before, and the familiar, confident, playful, tones took him back a number of years. The sight of her standing there, in those jeans that clung to her gorgeous body, silhouetted by the dying sun outside, made his heart leap for a moment. There had been times...times where the eager teenagers they used to be had clung, hot and desperate, to each other's bodies in this garage, lingering and luxuriating in one of the few spaces where they were often uninterrupted. You'll be seeing us later joked Daniel, slapping his gobsmacked brother on the back. I'll make sure of it. As stunning as ever he smirked to Charles once she had left. If you aren't going to can I have a crack at... Shut up Danny Charles muttered, tossing an oily rag at him. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx The two men had secured a corner booth in at Joe's by the time she showed up. Charles had changed into a clean green button down and fresher jeans for the evening, but Daniel had made a real effort. The older Lerwick smiled as he watched the younger propping up the bar, flirting outrageously with Emmy Silverman whilst she served. It was quite the transformation - Danny had been an awkward, geeky, nervous young teen when Maddy had left. Now? Now he was all charm and easy laughter, a nice young man with more than a little skill with the ladies. Thankfully he wasn't too much of a heartbreaker, Charles smiled to himself. There wasn't a trail of tearful girls and irrate fathers beating a path to his garage, which wouldn't have been good in a small place like their's. He was dwelling too much on the past, he thought idly as he swirled the beer in his glass. Or maybe, just maybe, he had been like that for a long time. Maybe since Maddy had left. He sighed. Spending time with Danny was useful insight. He had been just fourteen when it had all gone down, and whilst not a child had nevertheless not really understood the events of her running away. Now, as a strapping young adult, he saw it all as ancient history. Something to be worried about, in terms of Charles's feelings of course, but something a long time ago. Danny wasn't the only one. He knew that all manner of people in their small hometown wondered about it. From the young women whose attempts to flirt he brushed off to the older members of the community who wondered why an eligible bachelor like himself was still alone. Even Maddy's Mom - he'd heard her, once, talking to someone after church. Wondering how long it would be before Charles stopped darting down aisles to avoid her in the local supermarket. The only person who shared his obsession with the past was Jenny. His eyes fell on the empty seat opposite. They had waited, but she never appeared. Not even answered their knocks on her resolutely locked bedroom door. Maybe, he wondered for the first time, they kept each other back. That their sympathy had locked them into the past in an unhealthy way.