𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔

She went through her usual routine - dropping her keys on the table, shrugging off her jacket and tossing it onto the arm of the couch before turning into the kitchen for some water. Only, she wasn't expecting Beck to be sitting at the counter - already staring at her when she turned into the doorway. Letting out a small yelp, she pressed her hand to her chest and leaned on the doorway - staring at her twin in disbelief. For a moment, she felt like a teenager being caught sneaking in at 2am. "Holy shit, Beck. Can you please warn me next time? Say a hello?" She teased, before walking over to finally get her water. At the extended silence, she turned over her shoulder - before finally noticing the look on her brother's face. Her smile dropped into a frown almost immediately as she walked around to sit on the opposite side of the counter as him. "What's the matter? Are you okay?"

The disorientation of losing time was unlike anything Micah had experienced. They figured it might be similar to learning that you had been in a coma, though the recovery period would be an easier one comparatively. They felt that they should be grateful for this reason, but it was hard to think about it with anything but dread. They surely had an onslaught of trouble that they had to deal with in their business life, where the world moved on without them. In their personal life, however, it was clear that things had not changed. 

Maybe the circumstance was different; they’d never held Hailey closely for so long, never brushed tears from her face and caressed her cheek, but the feeling of being around her was the same as it always was. When she looked up at them, they felt the familiar sensation of something uncurling in their stomach, like a flower blooming. It was stupid, they realized, to feel this way and to do nothing about it. At this point, fearing rejection or unreciprocated feelings was no excuse for letting time pass with inaction on their part. They leaned down and kissed her, tenderly, telling her I miss you and I want you and I’m glad you’re okay in a way that they couldn’t articulate with words. They pulled away, throat burning for more. “I.. You are…” They found that the articulation had not come to them. “Me too.”

The ease in which Micah eased back into her life was slightly jarring.  Looking up at them caused a familiar warmth to spread in her chest, and Hailey was momentarily overwhelmed with just how much she had missed the feeling over the past six months.   While this was the longest they had stayed in each other’s orbit since they first met, she couldn’t deny how much her heart sang at something as simple as being held in Micah’s arms like this.  

Although, the look in their eyes was new, and not for the first time, Hailey couldn’t decipher what was going on in Micah’s head.  She toyed with the idea of asking, of trying to get a little deeper into their head while the bond between them felt so open, but she was enjoying the simplicity of the moment too much to risk breaking the calm that had settled between them.  That is, up until Micah decided to give her an answer to her unasked question anyway.  The gentle brush of their lips against hers caused her body to freeze, her mind to spiral, and her pulse to race as she tried to process what was happening.

The kiss was over as quick as it had started, though during that time her hands drifted down, clutching at their shirt to try to keep them close as she was just left to blink owlishly up at them.  “I...” I’m what? “What...?” Tell me.  Her throat burned for the question to slip through, desperate for answers to all the questions that had surged out of her brain over the last few moments.  

He happily took Rory up on her silent offer of french fries, eating while she explained her life. His eyes widened at the mention of her promotion, and he laughed with her as well. Gods, it felt good. “I am not cut out for quests,” he sighed, voicing the thought that flashed through his mind. “Ugh. I’m so happy for you! I’ll have to come by. Give me a sense of normal, please. And don’t feel too badly about your habit of wandering off path,” he continued, a twinkle of amusement in his eye. “Our journey brought us to a magic island where time ran completely unlike here. I think I have you in terms of getting lost.”

Rory stuffed another fry into her mouth, nodding along as Gabe spoke about his quest.  However, the topic of a magical island where time doesn’t really work right wasn’t what she expected to hear.  Coughing around the food in her mouth, she reached for her drink and took a long sip before she could speak.  “What the fuck, seriously?  Are places like this just chilling out?” A flash of annoyance flowed through her at the reminder of her time in the Lotus hotel, but she quickly casted it aside.  “I mean you definitely beat me, I was only trapped in that place for like...two weeks I think?  Totally messed with my head afterwards.”  Growing more serious, she rested her elbows on the table, leaning closer to her friend.  “How are you doing?”

“My little sister, obvi.” Faust let out a breathy laugh. “We weren’t gossiping, exactly. It was supposed to be brunch but then I was running late, so really it was lunch. And I was asking her what was new and she said she hadn’t seen much of Brennan at all and I wondered why and oh, hmmm. Fancy that! Maybe it’s because he’s been spending time wiiiith youuuu?” She sang, wiggling her eyebrows at her best friend. Had Sadie really revealed all that? Absolutely not, but anyone who knew Faust knew she was prone to exaggeration and looooved some intrigue. And what was more intriguing than her best friend crushing on her brother? “Oh, psh. Of course it’s total bullshit. You’d tell me, right? Because I would absolutely wingman you. Or I can wingman you tonight when we go clubbing. We’re still going, right?” There was a challenge in her words as she popped her gum again, looking at Miranda expectantly.

Miranda raised an eyebrow at Faust, clearly not amused with this source of hers.  She knew that her bestie had been spending time getting to know her siblings - especially Sadie since she was the newer face of the Nike kids, but Miranda wasn’t close to the girl herself.  So naturally, she knew this was mostly Faust drawing at straws - the fact that she was correct was definitely not the point here.  “Have you even met your brother?   ‘Cause if you do, then you know that he spends a good chunk of his time studying and reading than anything else.  So sorry babes, your little sis gave you bad info.”  Dropping into the chair nearby, she blinked innocently up at Faust.  “And of course I would tell you.” She was absolutely lying, this was not a good time for conversation.  When is a good time for it? Miranda brushed off the silent question.  “Uh duh we’re still going? Why would we not be, did Mal or Pierce back out?”

Bren hadn’t heard the knock at first but soon he was aware of it. He figured Katie would get the door and greet them especially while he was in his room working on his studies. As the knocking became more incessant, though, he remembered that Katie said she was stepping out for a bit. So he quickly stopped his work and pushed the chair out from the desk to rush to the door. He opened it and sent the visitor an annoyed glance without knowing who was on the other side. “You brought me lunch?” He asked, but the annoyance was already dissolving, so by the time he was finished speaking, he was smiling. “What time is it? I thought it was still morning.” He joked and let her inside. “Thank you for this, wow,” He said as he walked over to grab some plates. “You have enough food with you for you to be eating with me too?” He hoped that was the case.

Despite the smile on her face, Miranda rolled her eyes at his lame joke, bumping him with her shoulder as she walked past and into the apartment.  Making herself comfortable in his kitchen, Miranda occupied herself by pulling various boxes out of her bag.  “Yeah I actually just bribed the Italian place to open at 9am to make me all this food.” She teased.  “I figured you’d have a serious book hangover by now.” A pause, her head tilting over so slightly. “Actually now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t know if thats possible for you.” She shrugged, before moving over to where she remembered the plates being, talking over her shoulder as she reached for them - silently answering his question by pulling two out.  “Also, I texted you like three times and you never answered. Thought you might have suffocated in a book or something.”

“You’re disgusting,” Ben deadpanned. “Like it’s so out of the ordinary to make out in a night club.” He glanced away from the screen and, finally, cracked a smile. As annoying as it was, he liked that they were doing this. That they could do this. He appreciated the love, and that his friends cared so much. “Gods. Shut up.” Ben sat back on the couch and crossed his arms again. “I can’t believe I did it, either. It just kind of… happened.”

“I’m sorry, when did I say it was ‘out of the ordinary’? I mean if you asked twenty-year old me if either of us would ever do that, I’d think you’ve lost your mind.”  Honestly, she still couldn’t fully picture either of them being in that kind of situation - though Hazel was really happy that Dex was bringing out a new side of Ben - a happy side of Ben.  “Is it weird to say I’m proud of you?  It feels weird.”  She couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous she sounded.  “Maybe I’ll just retract that and go with I’m happy for you.  Is that better?”

Gab smiled, warmed by the outwardly excited reaction. He’d spent far too long with sullen faces and low energy. “Rory, Rory!” he groaned as he stood, holding his arms open. “A few days ago.” Gabriele wrapped his arms around Rory. “It’s so good to see you, too. Gods, I will never go on a boat again, I don’t think.” He sighed, shaking his head, and stepped out of the embrace. “At least not for a year. It’s been so long, and… Please, sit. How are you?”

Rory hummed in understanding, stepping back from the hug to sit down at the table.  “I totally get you, that’s me with planes.  I know I’m suppose to love it cause of the whole ‘child of the sky’ thing, but like, no. Hard pass.”  Stuffing a french fry into her face, she pushed the basket more into the center of the table, silently inviting her friend to take if he so pleased.  “I’m actually doing really good.” She responded after her food break.  “Fionn promoted me, so I’m basically running Twelve Trials right now.  Amazingly enough, it hasn’t burned to the ground yet, so big win there.  Oh! And you’ll be proud to hear that I’ve only gotten myself lost in the woods three times since you’ve been gone.” She joked. 

Micah didn’t find any merit in comparing what they’d been through to what Hailey obviously had as well. Instead, they sought comfort in her presence and hoped that their own would do the same for her. Already, holding her was an effective treatment in assuaging the anger that had been coiled in their stomach. The confusion as to what was the point of the journey? If they were honest, the worst part of their journey had been long over. They had Wes, which was important, and who had been through far worse than themself, and though they had to work through everything that had been complicated through loss of time, they had the ability to now, instead of waiting in limbo.

“I’m okay,” they assured her, running their hand along her back soothingly. “It didn’t feel like that long for me. We were stuck on a timeless island, so the shock was probably the worst part,” they explained, leaving out the shipwreck and the kraken since that could all be elaborated on later, when emotions were high and they were both exhausted. They moved only so that they could rest their hand on her cheek and fully look at her, using their thumb to wipe away a stray tear. “And how are you?“

Micah’s presence was more than enough for her, so their presence mixed with being wrapped up in their arms and having the comfort motions against her back was enough for Hailey’s bones to melt.  Letting herself sag into their hold, her eyes slipped shut as she silently prayed that they weren’t relying on her to hold them both up.  While she was more than confident that Micah would never let her fall, she wasn’t too sure either of them would really be able to get back up if they toppled.  Hearing the confirmation of their health caused a shot of relief to flow through her veins, only putting her more at ease.  Hailey wasn’t sure how much time could’ve passed - all she knew was that she felt safe and hopefully she was able to provide the same feeling for Micah as well.  

Feeling them shift in her arms, her eyes flashed open as she turned to look up at them, only to lean into the warmth of their hand as it came to rest against her cheek. “I’m fine.” She responded automatically, a small smile appearing on her face.  Of course they were worried about her, why wouldn’t they after vanishing for six months? Honestly, the idea of it made Hailey want to smack them upside the head, but instead she only tightened her grip.  “I’m better now, I promise.”

“Hey!” Ben protested, leaning forward on the couch. Hazel obviously had no idea what happened after they relocated, but the callout made his face burn all the same. “We were fully— I don’t even know why I’m explaining this to you. And what’s your frame of reference for me, anyway? Dex was on top of me, what did you want me to do? I’m not the most outgoing guy but I’m not dead.” He was trying so hard not to laugh along with her. “This shit reminds me of when Koda used to follow us fucking everywhere with her polaroid. I don’t get any privacy from any of you.”

Hazel let out a mock gasp, mirroring his actions by leaning forward as well - though her actions made her sunglasses slip ever so slightly.  “Like that was my fault?  I happen to remember you laughing more often then not while you left me to deal with her, you little prat.”  Her hand reached up and quickly shoved her sunglasses back into place on top of her head.  “Besides, you told me your a bottom because you love me, obviously.  Though, given how quickly you guys vanished, I’m not so sure anymore.” 

Where Hazel was amused, Ben looked entirely unimpressed. He stared at her face on his laptop, arms crossed. “Just some random couple?” he asked, raising his eyebrow. “You care so much about that, right? Nice to see you, too, by the way,” he grumbled, though a smile started to tug at his lips.Dex had helped him cover up the hickeys this morning before he came back to his apartment, partially because he hadn’t wanted Hazel to immediately call him out. Well, so much for that. “It was actually a nightclub,” he continued, emphasizing the word for dramatic effect, as if that made it even more shocking. “And you guys are seriously worse than the people who took pictures of us on a date. She wasn’t even there, you know that? Malia told her. It hasn’t even been a day.”

The look on his face almost made her burst out into laughter - it was the exact face she had pictured in her head for this conversation.  “Of course I care, I have to keep up with the town gossip somehow, Ben.  But you’re right, nightclub, my mistake. I’ll be sure to tell Ko of my wrong doings against her establishment.”  As Ben continued to complain, a laugh did actually make it’s way out of her this time.  “Of course Mal told her, you basically had sex with your boyfriend right in front of her!  And you're surprised she told people? Come on now, you should know better by now.”