I know I'm not the one, but I still can't help but call you.

[Ashton Wentworth]

Angry didn’t even begin to cover what he was feeling. Confusion - rage, bitterness - he couldn’t have chosen just one to focus on if his life depended on it. For the life of him he couldn’t understand why it was that she was so angry. Unless the years of doing - whatever the hell it was that she was doing for so many years had pushed her the rest of the way off of the deep end and into the psychosis. She was clearly insane. There was no other explanation for it. Yet, the words that came out of his mouth only seemed to make her even more angry. More just that he was DARING to be next to her. The laughing was beyond anything that he could have explained. She had followed him. She had pushed him back. She had practically COMMANDED him to follow her back here. Now that he had done it - her plan was what? To yell at him? “Don’t just put this on me, Ashton!” Who else was he supposed to put it on? Her wedding planner? The person at the shop - oh or those kids who had knocked her over? Clearly that was it. Blame that random person collecting trash off the streets. He could have picked any number of people to blame it all on - and it was never going to have been himself. Ashton’s rage was boiling inside of him - rising higher, “I SAW you at the restaurant,” That wasn’t possible. So she had what - come running out in front of him in hopes of catching sight of him? She wasn’t even facing him? Ashton’s eyes widened fractionally because she really, really had lost it. “I HEARD you. I know those stupid fucking boots anywhere. You shuffle when you’re too lazy to pick your feet up off the ground.” His...BOOTS! She had an issue with the way that he walked now? She had an issue with the fact that he wore boots? How could she have POSSIBLY have heard him? It simply didn’t make any sense. He kept thinking it over and over in a big circle. Nothing she was saying made sense.


It couldn’t possibly be his own emotions that weren’t making sense. Absolutely not.


The hell was she pointing her ugly ass glasses in his face for? Ashton resisted the urge to take another step backward when she moved closer to him. Honestly he wasn’t entirely certain that he trusted himself standing so near to her - smelling like she did. “What the fuck are YOU doing here?” Merlin’s fucking beard. She didn’t own the fucking place - he was allowed to go anywhere that he damned well pleased. He swore - if the end of those glasses fucking touched his chest he was going to lose his fucking mind. “THIS is not your scene. You don’t belong here.” What. Ashton’s face neutralized in that moment before he could stop it. Had she been here this whole time? Had she just...gone back to her fucking apartment? He had been so upset - he hadn’t dared to come back here. He hadn’t set foot on this island more than once before Noah had needed to come home. She had been here this whole time? Hiding away on here, spending her money and shopping her black little hearts content. “So it makes a little more sense that YOU were following ME. How the FUCK did you find me?!” Find her? How did he find her? Was she implying that she had been actively hiding from him? Years of deeply repressed pain flashed across his face for only a moment. Couldn’t even acknowledge the smashing of her glasses. She was going to regret that. “You’ve been here...the whole time?” He asked softly in spite of her angry words. Knuckles on his hand cracking with the effort it was taking to keep from moving. Couldn’t trust himself to move at all. “The...whole time?”

[Kaydence Morgan]

Her head hurt. Her hand hurt. Her chest hurt. Everything fucking hurt. After this, whenever she finally got the chance to go home and eventually put Lukas to bed, Kaydence was going to sneak into Noah’s secret stash of goodies and spent the rest of the night in a drug-induced haze. She was going to put some music on, lay back on one of the patio lounge chairs and watch the stars and moon warp into different patterns and shapes. Maybe she’d get high enough for the trees to start breathing and she could spend hours watching nature literally come to life. Anything to get her attention off her current situation. Anything to get her mind off of the very person behind her now. Kaydence had already been around him too long for the memory of his face to etch itself in her brain. It was going to take a very high dosage to get it to go away for a little bit. Or at least Noah’s presence at the condo. She had no idea when he was going to be coming back. If he even was tonight. Mikkhal had said he’d be back for dinner but she knew damn well how quickly plans could change with him. If he could have just taken one day off maybe this would have never happened. If he knew even a fraction of what her former life was like he would have never allowed her to come here. At very least without him.

At the thought of Noah, Kaydence opened her eyes enough to catch a glimpse of the sparkler on her hand. Ashton had still yet to stay anything about it. Part of her was curious as to why he hadn’t made some lewd comment about it. She had done nothing to hide it ever since taking his hand earlier. Perhaps she should have. She wondered how he felt about it. Betrayal? Sadness? Hurt? Anger? There was no telling, but it wasn’t important enough of a subject for her to press upon right now. They were both in their own stages of shock. Surely they would be entering the next stage of whatever this was soon enough.

"You’ve been here…the whole time?” Her brow furrowed as she heard his voice behind her. “What?” Kaydence responded, though still looking at the wall. “The…whole time?” She frowned. What was he talking about? Turning her head back to him, she did nothing to hide the confusion on her face. “I’ve been here?” He couldn’t have been that stupid. Could he have really thought she would have upped and left while he was at work just to go home? She would have never returned to her old apartment. Never in a million years. She could have never stayed there after what had happened to her. After her brother’s minion nearly killed her. After her blood stains sunk into the white carpet. That place had been condemned the minute he had snuck up on her and tackled her to the ground, binding her in those tight ropes that had cut off circulation at various parts of her body. The reminder of that night allowed another level of anger engulf her. Again, none to Ashton’s doing. He had saved her that night. Kaydence owed him her life. He didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of this memory but he was the only thing standing in her way at the moment. Her body turned completely around and her eyes narrowed. “Are you that stupid?” The comment had slipped out before she had time to process what she was saying. “I’d stay here…after everything that fucking happened between you and me and everything else?” Against the better judgment of the inner voice telling her to stay put, Kaydence begin to slowly walk towards him again.

“I didn’t fucking stay here,” she said, still inching ever so close. “And I stayed away until circumstances changed. Circumstances I should have just ignored and kept to what I’ve been doing since it worked for so…long.” Finally, Kaydence stopped, her eyes noticing the clenched fist next to Ashton’s side. She needed to choose her next words carefully. Actually, she probably should have just shut up then and there since flashbacks of these same stances were suddenly happening all around her. Yet age had not made her the wiser. It had done nothing to teach her of when it was time to just back off. “How quickly seeing you reminded me of why I should have left earlier then when I did. There was nothing here then…and there’s still nothing here now.”

[Ashton Wentworth]

. “I’ve been here?” Well. Ashton supposed that in a very roundabout way - that answered one question. It wasn’t a great answer, but at least she hadn’t been here. So close and he just - hadn’t ever noticed. It oddly made him feel better, at least about that very small thing. “Are you that stupid?” Yes. He really fucking was that stupid. If he had a brain inside of his head, he wouldn’t have been here in the first place. A smart person wouldn’t have spent hours picking out apartments with her. A smart person wouldn’t have been sleeping with the ‘Dark Lord’s’ sister in the first fucking place. He wouldn’t have gotten wrapped up in a girl far too rich for his blood. He wouldn’t have spent time saving her - he wouldn’t have involved himself in her business. He wouldn’t have been put on probation for his associations with her. He would have minded his own fucking business. In fact, the only smart thing that he had done, regarding all of this was letting her fuck on off out of his life. “I’d stay here…after everything that fucking happened between you and me and everything else?” Right. Because he had anything to do with her leaving. He wasn’t the coward here. He wasn’t the one who had caused all of their issues. Sure, a good handful of them could be placed squarely down at his feet - but not the ending. Not the problems that were so directly tied in with all of the rest of it.

Ashton did take a step backward again as she moved closer - he didn’t trust himself close to her. It had been a very long road, attempting to get even a small hold on his temper and she was flinging that key around, stomping on button right after button. Throwing a tantrum like a child. How could he have ever thought that she was anything else? Worse, he was wanting to react in the same fashion. “I didn’t fucking stay here,” There she fucking went. Getting closer and closer. Ashton’s jaw was ticking - his teeth hurt from how self controlled he was currently being. “And I stayed away until circumstances changed. Circumstances I should have just ignored and kept to what I’ve been doing since it worked for so…long.” Circumstances changed? She clearly had to mean that fucking show stopper on her finger. He should have known. So that was what she had done? Went off hopping around from asshole to asshole, prick to dick until she found one with deep enough pockets to support to lifestyle? Oh no, she couldn’t leave her family. Not for Ashton. Ashton didn’t have enough coin for her to make that worth while. She had to go and find another family that would provide that comfy ass lifestyle that she was so accustomed to - that was how she went and got what she wanted. So fucking obvious now.

“How quickly seeing you reminded me of why I should have left earlier then when I did. There was nothing here then…and there’s still nothing here now.” Ashton scoffed, pulling another cigarette from his pack with trembling fingers because if he didn’t do something with his hands then he was going to shove her. Certainly didn’t need to add that to his list of transgressions for the day. “Oh? I’ve reminded you? With all of the words that I’ve gotten in edgewise?” He scoffed, exhaling plain in her face and on purpose, letting the smoke billow around her face. “What did it? Oh. Right. The boots - with your freaky little bionic hearing apparently.” he waggled a finger in her direction, walking a half circle around her until he was no longer standing in the way of where they had come from. A clear cut line back to the streets. “As you’re operating under the delusion that I wanted to find you, let me clear that up.” With two fingers he shoved her shoulder forward. Patting her hat right back onto her head, as if she were a child. “There you go - back to your life then princess - off you go.” Each word spat more bitterly than the last.

[Kaydence Morgan]

Kaydence had always had a problem with holding her tongue. Even as a child, watching her father belittle the house-elves had made an impact with her. She had always been fascinated with the profound impact words had on an individual. Words were just that…words. However, when those words were used in certain context, they were powerful. Growing up, things always had the tendency to go her way. So to say she felt privileged would have been an accurate assessment. Rich and privileged. It had always seemed that the two went hand in hand. Giving anyone lucky enough to have both the ability to say what they wanted, when they wanted and to whom they wanted. The trouble had finally started near the end of Kaydence’s seventh year at Galaxia. Getting so close to being thrust out on her own into the world, several things had happened that should have humbled her. Yet they didn’t. If anything, they caused a great deal of resentment towards anyone and everyone. Even the few whom she deemed friends always seemed to be on the receiving end of some tangent that could so quickly form from something or other. Her tongue was always her downfall. Becoming more secluded as an adult had kept it at bay but Noah could certainly vouch for instances in which she opted not to think before she spoke. Lukas had gotten his first sample the other day during their argument over her refusal to take him to the beach.

She had to give credit where credit was due. Throughout her little tantrum, Ashton had remained quiet. He had done nothing but stare at her as she crept towards him. She must have looked crazy. Kaydence felt deranged. There were times she felt all the trauma of her early adulthood had impacted her. Her mood swings always came hard and fast. She was irrational, completely unable to see the fine line between common sense and her own selfish needs. She had developed severe anxiety after fleeing Austria for the final time. The protective nature of Noah could do nothing to ease it. It had gotten worse after the birth of Lukas, for now she had someone besides herself who she truly had to think of how her actions would affect. That little boy had been the only person in her life who had taught her some sense of responsibility and true selfless love. She may have been bad at many things but the one thing Kaydence truly prided herself on was her ability as a mother. She was capable of being an affectionate woman. She was capable of putting someone’s needs before her own. Before Lukas, Ashton had seen it. Rarely, but she remembered select times. Giving him the remote the first time she had allowed him back to her apartment, sharing food with him not too far away from where they currently stood and even at the Battle of Gringotts when she sent him flying into nothingness just to prevent a DeathEater attack. She tried to show she cared in her own strange ways.

The expression on her face slightly faltered. Kaydence swore her mind was constantly at ends with itself. No matter how hard she tried to calm it, whether it be target practice, time with her family or the occasional pill, the relief was always short-lived. There were times she thought that she should seek professional help for it, but she didn’t trust anybody enough to fully talk about every aspect of her life. The paranoia was too great of trusting the wrong person, even someone who was paid to listen to her vent, that would be detrimental to the well-being of her and her family. She watched as he took another cigarette out from his pack, convinced he had done it just out of spite. “Oh? I’ve reminded you? With all the words that I’ve gotten in edgewise?” Kaydence said nothing. Again, he was right but this time she could think of nothing to snap back with. Her eyes closed as he blew a puff of the toxic smoke into her face. Yes, she was most definitely convinced he was being spiteful. “What did it? Oh. Right. The boots – with your freaky bionic hearing apparently.” Her eyes opened again. Her lips formed into a straight line. So many emotions bubbling to the surface. “As you’re operating under the delusion that I wanted to find you, let me clear that up.” Well that one certainly hurt. A question with an answer that she didn’t know she’d ever have the answer to…until now. He hadn’t looked for her. Kaydence didn’t know why this bothered her. She had made it abundantly clear with her own departure that she wanted to leave and disappear into nothingness. A small part within her though had always wondered if he had accepted that. If he just allowed her to go. With his comment seemingly confirming that, a pit grew in her stomach. One she didn’t deserve, but one that was there nonetheless.

For so long, Kaydence had always felt alone. Of course most of that was her own doing. She was a dangerous person to be around. Not just because of the volatile mood swings but of the enemies she had made. She tried her hardest to give people a way out by treating them like shit. It was a peculiar defense mechanism but one that seemed to work just fine. Until Ashton. He had just always been so damn persistent. It didn’t how many times they fought, he always seemed just as willing to make up. He was going to be the one to get through. Eventually. In the short months they had been together, he had made strides where others had only made the tiniest of steps. Kaydence couldn’t explain it. She wished she could. Maybe he had just come in her life at the right time. She had already been tired of keeping up the façade of a strong woman willing to take down anyone in her path to get her freedom back. In reality, Kaydence was fucking exhausted. He had been the only one to not accept what she told them. He constantly fought her and pushed back. Sure, he gave in every so often but was quick to humble her whether she cared to admit it or not. He had been right for her. That’s why she was so damn scared to have anything happen to him. His pride. The arrogance that he could take any baggage that came with her. He was naïve. She tried to tell him that over and over but he objected time after time. In the end, Kaydence had done what was in his best interest besides her own.

“There you go – back to your life then princess – off you go.” The shove at her shoulder hurt but Kaydence allowed her body to be pushed forward. She turned back around sharply. She wanted to get in his face, push him back, maybe a slap for old times sake, but she couldn’t. Turning her attention down to her injured hand, she didn’t flinch as she took in the dried blood on her wrist and the cut that still bled. Bringing her fingers to the piece of wood sticking out, she grasped the end and pulled, grimacing at the air that hit the open wound. She really needed to get this bandaged up. Kaydence looked back up to Ashton. “You might not believe it, but I left because this-“ She motioned between them with her bloody hand “it wasn’t going to end well. You know that.” Giving him a look, she shook her head as tears threatened yet again to spill from the corners of her eyes. She spun around, saying nothing more as she proceeded to walk near the entrance of the alley. Though instead of leaving, Kaydence took a seat on a crate and placed her bag on her lap, opening it to begin mending the cut on her hand.

[Ashton Wentworth]

Would it be better if she left?

Would it be better if she stayed?

Honestly, Ashton couldn’t tell. He wasn’t sure if he wanted her to go - so that he could just tuck this whole event away like it didn’t exist - just like all of the rest of it. He wasn’t sure if he wanted her to walk away just for the simple fact that he would be able to watch it. That he would have been able to see her, physically, and in person walking away from him. Something to help overlay that last time that she had up and disappeared. At least she wasn’t dead. That was another question answered that he hadn’t been willing to consider. If she stayed - all they were going to do was fight. It was like he was a young man all over again. How was he supposed to exist inside of that headspace without allowing all of that same hurt to overcome him? How was he supposed to stay standing? On his feet? How was he supposed to remain upright...let alone breathing? She didn’t want to see him clearly. Since she had already confirmed that she had left, she must have been only passing through. Ashton was accustomed to being alone. Every person that he had let close to him - either hurt him or left him. From his childhood to this very day. Those that he claimed as his siblings. His ‘mother’. The figures that had replaced those same three beings in his life over the years. Those who came in and out, the very few friends that he had or had ever claimed to of had. All of the relationships that he had tried to have. His failed marriage. His failed - whatever the hell it was that he had with Kaydence. The lack thereof of anybody serious since she had left. This was how he was supposed to be. It was the only real option for him. Had only pulled himself out of that liver failing pit that he had drunk himself into for two tiny bodies that relied on him.

Kaydence allowed herself to be shoved forward, he was half surprised that she hadn’t whipped around and bit those fingers that were prodding at her like she was an animal. He wanted to hurt her. He wanted her to feel...anything for the way that she had just up and left him. He wanted her to know that she was a monster and he lacked the capability of finding words cutting enough to spout at her. Having her leave would have been better - and wherever the pieces fell from this shatter, would be his to pick up on his own. Just like he had always been. Ashton’s focus turned her hand when it was exposed - nasty little splinter that was. No. Fuck her. He wasn’t going to bite. No way. Fuck her hand. “You might not believe it, but I left because this-“ Sure, brandish that blood in his direction. He couldn’t stop himself - talking over her even as she tried to explain. “You left us, FOR us?! And I’M the stupid one?!” “it wasn’t going to end well. You know that.” “Well that’s just fucking stupid, Kaydence - who gives you the right to-oh for fuck’s sake.” He shouted over her words, refusing to hear them before his heavy bootfall carried him over to the crate she had sat on. Squatting in front of her and yanking her injured hand with both of his own. Inspecting that there was no wood left in the thing he pulled his flask from his back pocket, spinning the top open and dumping perfectly good whiskey over that cut in an effort to help sterilize it. Grasping the edge of her sundress. It was certainly going to tear a lot easier than what he was wearing. Ripping a bit of hem from the fabric and moving to tie it tightly around the wound. Pausing to ensure it was correctly tied - he then pressed his index finger tightly into that same spot that she was hurt - for good measure. Like a damned child. “That wasn’t a choice you got to make alone Kaydence, and you’re a coward.” He wouldn’t look at her when he spoke - replacing the top to his flask and putting it back into his pocket before picking back up that cigarette he had placed on the crate next to her when he was working. Rocking back onto his heels and inhaling deeply. “I hope that hurts.” Spoken without malice as he gestured to her hand. He didn’t mean it - at least not so far as her hand went.

Slowly, his head lifted to look up at her - a dozen and a half things waiting on the tip of his tongue and he couldn't pick a one of them. If he were being honest with himself, it was for the best that she had gone. He wasn't the sort of person that would have put a ring like that on her finger. He tended to be a rather miserable little shit most of the time. Sure, he held his own but his good qualities were never going to outweigh the bad things. Surly and given to drink. He wasn't a commitment man and he had always had trouble keeping his eyes on only one woman. At least, until it was that it had come to her. She was the sort that was hard to take your eyes off of. He hadn't had that issue with her - as much as he would tell himself it was simply because with all the different versions of her personality they were enough to keep him more than occupied. What sort of life they would have had together, was anyone's guess. She had things that she needed to get away from and he knew that it wasn't just him. It was the battle. It was her family. It was a dozen other things besides and he wouldn't take the blame for all of them. "Was it worth it?"

[Kaydence Morgan]

Kaydence had only just opened her bag when he had appeared suddenly, kneeling in front of her and taking her hand. Those same sparks electrified at all the areas their skin made contact. She forced her eyes to stay on the work Ashton was doing. “I didn’t ask you to do that,” she said softly, yet he either hadn’t heard her or refused to respond. She watched as he grabbed his flask. Still a drinker she saw. She hoped he had at least cut it back a bit. Flashbacks of the night she picked him up from the club came to Kaydence’s mind. As well as those from late nights at the office or scuffles that he and Stavros had gotten into. In this circumstance, she hoped that it had been work that had been at fault for how tired he looked and not the premature aging that tended to result from alcoholism. He was better than that. Kaydence knew he probably didn’t think so but she had seen glimmers of redeeming qualities he had always tried to assure her he didn’t have.

She hissed as the whiskey poured onto her wound. She should have seen it coming. Kaydence’s eyes followed his hands as they moved towards the bottom of her dress. She took a sharp intake of breath. Literally everything he did had some sort of memory attached to it. This probably being the most pleasant of them all. How easy and nimble his fingers were when they trailed up the tops of her thighs to their final destination. She didn’t expect him to get handsy with her now. They were being civil at the moment but they both knew how quickly things could change. As he ripped her dress, Kaydence’s confusion turned into annoyance. She didn’t have to tell him how expensive that thing was. Even though she was a witch and more than capable of casting a quick charm to fix it, as had happened with other clothing items while in the presence of Ashton, she often didn’t want to be bothered by the inconvenience and simply tossed the piece out and replaced it shortly after. His hands were rough yet still gentle as he set to work on tying the knot. That was until the very end when he made sure to signal he had finished with a quick press into the cut, causing another hiss to escape. “That wasn’t a choice you got to make alone Kaydence, and you’re a coward.” As she so often did when she got pushed back into a corner, Kaydence remained silent. He had a point she supposed. The two were often more similar then she cared to admit. Although there was no family history of Dark Magic, it was evident that he casted people out as much as she did. Maybe at that point eight years ago they had both needed each other in the same way.

“I hope that hurts.” As he moved back, Kaydence quickly missed his touch. She pulled her hands back to her chest and hugged the left on top of the right. “Not as bad,” she responded, looking off to the side. The tension that had once been in the air had been replaced by something else though she couldn’t quite put her finger on it just yet. So many things they both wanted to say to each other. That much was obvious. This conversation wasn’t going anywhere near how she had expected but for the moment, Kaydence was glad that they weren’t yelling. She was tired of yelling. That and she had already brought enough unwanted attention to herself. They didn’t need prying faces appearing in the entrance of the alley. As always, all it took was ONE person. Her gaze shifted back forwards, locking eyes with him for the first time within a few minutes. He was so handsome. He always would be. Even times when Kaydence had been furious with him for one thing or another, she often couldn’t stare at him for periods of longer than a few seconds as she would find herself captivated by the man looking back at her, stern or not. It was happening again. Did he feel the same? A question that had a high likelihood of a dangerous answer she didn’t need to know.

“Was it worth it?”

At that, Kaydence felt the air being sucked from her lungs. What was she doing? This was unsafe territory. She was spoken for, clearly by the huge rock on her finger. Was Noah worth it? He was. He had taken care of her. He had been so very good to her from the minute they met. When he had found out about her pregnancy, he could have casted her to the side so easily. Demanded she abort the child as to not to ruin a reputation she had known nothing about previously. But he hadn’t. It seemed obvious to Kaydence that Noah had not suffered traumas as she had. He was closed-off, to an extent, but all of his secrets were only business-related. He never wanted his professional life to interfere with his family no matter how many times she had asked how his day went. Was Lukas worth it? Absolutely. She would have never given birth to that beautiful boy had she stayed here. He would have had to grown up in fear of all of his mothers’ enemies. That wouldn’t have been fair to him. Sure, he was guarded now but he was still safe. Noah would never, never let anything happen to their son. Kaydence couldn’t promise that to him here. Her and Ashton taking care of a kid? Merlin they could barely take care of themselves together. Noah had stability, which had made him such an ideal candidate for taking care of their child. Ashton, she had too many questions of whether he could stop feeling sorry for himself long enough to break himself of bad habits to put a child first. She hadn't stuck around long enough to find out.

Smiling weakly at him, Kaydence nodded. “It was.” There was an iota of truth to that. Lukas of course was worth every reason for leaving here, for leaving him. Her family. She had remained with the same man for eight years. Not just by choice but because it had felt right. He was her person. It didn’t matter what fleeting emotions had been triggered by Ashton’s appearance. She was about to have everything that she ever wanted. But then why was there still an emptiness inside? Kaydence didn’t know what to say next. Where do they go from here? Should she leave, for good this time? Did they make small talk and satiate the curiosity of what the other had been up to? Merlin knew she was interested as hell but was afraid of how he might answer. She didn’t necessarily feel comfortable talking about her engagement. Or Noah. She sure as hell wasn’t going to mention Lukas. Rubbing her hands together, she sighed. “Have you been taking care of yourself?”

[Ashton Wentworth]

The moment that the words had left his lips - he wanted to take them back. His eyes couldn’t break from her face for the first time since seeing her. She had hardly aged at all. Tiny crows feet at the corners of her eyes - laughter lines around her mouth and nothing else. She could have easily passed for the same person on the outside if it weren’t for the hair. Why she had gone with the lighter shade he didn’t know. It wasn’t that it didn’t suit her, it was just not one that he was as familiar with. He could tell that she was considering whether or not she even wanted to answer that question. His throat was getting dry. He wasn’t sure if he wanted her to answer because if she said no - then where were they? Nowhere. Nothing was going to come of this moment. It wasn’t like they were going to be falling all over one another just because they happened to be in the same proximity. He liked to think that he had...slightly more self control than that. At least on his good days. He wasn’t even going to say that if she said yes - it would change anything. They were still going to walk out of this alleyway in however long it took - and they were going to go their separate ways. There was no other way that it could end. Not with the life that he was having to live in this moment. Not with her and that giant rock on her finger. Their lives were changed and for all either one of them knew, they were entirely different people. For Merlin’s sake - they brought out the absolute worst in one another.

“It was.” Ashton’s head dropped, hanging heavy between his shoulders for a long moment, arm curling to bring that cigarette to his lips. A strange, hollowness was stemming from his stomach outward and he nodded, moving to lift himself back up to his feet. That was all that there was to it then. It had been so long ago, that Ashton was almost willing to write it off like some sort of closure that she was offering him there. She didn’t look back on it - she didn’t regret it - and it was worth it. Clearly, she was better off this way, than she would have been with him. He couldn’t think of anything to say - and was ready and willing to leave it there. That was enough for him. Then she spoke again.

“Have you been taking care of yourself?” Ashton’s gaze lifted again, brows furrowed together in the center. What did that matter? Why did she care? Scoffing as smoke billowed from his nose and mouth he pushed back to standing - free hand lifting to rub at the back of his head. He still wasn’t used to the short hair. It was needed because of how much he was having to travel at the moment, but he liked his devil may care hair. As she hadn’t been in the country, he had no way to guess as to what all she currently knew about his situation or the life that he was living. He wasn’t about to offer up any information. So that left him with what? Talking about his house that he couldn’t see? The job that he was legally and magically bound from speaking about? The children that over his dead body did he want anybody finding out about? He had...nothing that he could tell her. “Sure, pet.” His eyes rolled “I’ve been taking care of myself.” Spoken sardonically as he moved to lean heavily against the wall opposite of where she was sitting. There was that acid in the back of his throat. Wanting to tell her that she should have stayed here to take care of him and then she wouldn’t need to be asking these questions because she would have already known. He wanted to spit out that if she had just told him - said a single word, included him in any way that he would have gone with her. Didn’t have to stay in a country that she wasn’t comfortable in. There were ministries all over the world that he would have happily transferred to without a second thought. Yet - she had just up and left. Making all of the choices for him. He wanted to yell, or maybe smash a couple of boxes around the various space available to them here. “I don’t have to ask how you’ve been - I can see you’re doing just dandy aren’t ya?” He gestured to the giant rock on her finger, damned thing was glinting and there wasn’t even any direct light back here. “How long you had that thing?”

[Kaydence Morgan]

In retrospect Kaydence shouldn’t have asked anything. She should have answered his question, bid him farewell before taking one last look at him and disappearing through the narrow entrance to fully move on with her life with Noah and Lukas. That would have been the right thing to do. However, given the closure neither she nor Ashton had, there was simply no way that was going to happen. They had both been invested. It would have taken one huge blowout to end things once and for all. That was their style. Kaydence would be lying though if she said that’s how she wanted to end it though. Stubborn, yes. Argumentative, naturally. Yet deep down she yearned to have an open and civil conversation. They were both adults now so wasn’t that possible? Maybe. They had already gone this long without getting into each other’s faces, yelling and screaming. They had only physically pushed each other one time apiece so surely that had been a sign of maturity on both ends. Maybe it was also possible that the two were simply scared of letting the other just walk away after so long of being apart. Though they really had no business being together at this point. Kaydence knew well that if Noah had been made aware of their relationship, he would not allow the two of them to be together, alone.

The way he moved away from her, Kaydence had expected that to be it. After she had solidified that her time away had been more beneficial to her then staying here, he had every right to be upset. It was written all over his face. Sighing, she looked towards the sky, cursing herself for asking that stupid fucking question. Whatever she had opened up would have been her fault. If he even chose to answer. Now, possibly, would be the time he’d raise his voice again and thank her for being so concerned for his well being after so long. “Sure pet. I’ve been taking care of myself.” It wasn’t a yell but he did nothing to keep the sarcasm from dripping at every word. Looking back to him, Kaydence leaned into the wall and crossed her arms to her chest. “I don’t have to ask how you’ve been – I can see you’re doing just dandy aren’t ya?” She followed his gaze down to her ring. She had seen him look at it several times throughout their time together thus far that it was only a matter of time before he verbalized whatever it was he was thinking. She had hoped he wouldn’t. She hoped the trophy would have been something he would want to avoid talking about. Ashton was a very possessive man. Kaydence could easily recall instances in which he had made it abundantly clear to her, or other men who had difficulty keeping their eyes to themselves, that she had been his and he wouldn’t allow that to be disrespected.

“How long you had that thing?” She decided to be honest with him. “A few months,” she answered, holding his gaze for a few seconds before she began feeling uncomfortable. “We’ve been together for awhile.” She refused to tell him exactly how long. Ashton would probably lose his mind knowing that she had met Noah only days after she had last been with him. She was sure he’d have some comment about her being a whore at very least. Biting down on her lip, Kaydence then asked the question that had also been on her mind. “Did you find anyone or is the Ministry still making that impossible?” She was honest with him to an extent so maybe he would do the same for her. He didn’t owe it to her, by any means, but if said yes, potentially that would be her own closure. It’d hurt like hell but this could extinguish whatever feelings may have still lingered and allowed her to focus on her future. He deserved to be happy. Even with that arrogant persona, he deserved to have someone to come home to every night. Someone who would be there every night for him unlike her.

[Ashton Wentworth]

He swore he was trying to be civil. He was attempting to have a conversation - biting his tongue and keeping all of those comments that she didn’t at all deserve to hear come from him to himself. He didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that she had hurt him. He didn’t want her to think that he in any way cared - about any of it. He didn’t want to admit to having feelings and least of all for her. No doubt she didn’t want to talk about that abomination on her finger. What sort of people must she be hanging around now that she felt the need to flaunt such a thing around? Worse, if she wasn’t hanging around anybody - and she was only using it for herself. That was the sort of thing that Ashton would spot and say that person was compensating for something. Perhaps she was. Perhaps he didn’t want to know. “A few months,” That sounded like the truth - an actual honest statement. Instantly, Ashton’s mind started to go over all the possible details of their relationship that he wanted nothing to do with. What he looked like - how much money he likely had in his wallet at all times. The number of closets that she was taking up in their place, because of course she would have found somebody to live with and actually stay there. Not that he had ever wanted her in his house. Of course not. How had he asked her? Had she even let him ask or had she just up and announced that was what they were doing? Poor bastard likely had no idea what he was getting himself into. Ashton couldn’t claim to know how many people in Kaydence’s life had seen her at her absolute worst - but he knew that he was one of them. He was also certain, that whoever had given her that ring absolutely had not. “We’ve been together for awhile.” “Awhile.” He echoed the moment after she spoke. Nodding, barely able to contain the derisive laugh that came from his mouth following it. “Just awhile - that’s...well that’s just great. Congratulations of course.” Didn’t mean a word of it, but she knew that. “You know he just sounds swell - a whole while. Man I sure missed out huh.” Brows lifting in open mockery. He just couldn’t bring himself to put the malice behind those words that the rest of them had carried. He was almost teasing - “Did you find anyone or is the Ministry still making that impossible?” And then she did that.


Of course he hadn’t found anybody. He wasn’t the easiest person to get along with. Buckets of commitment issues and the personality of a cactus. His good looks could only get him so far before he needed to have at least some other sort of redeeming qualities. Ashton didn’t even know how to answer that question - because she had unwittingly put him into a position that forced him to lie to her. It wasn’t even something he had a choice about. He was magically gagged - couldn’t talk about his job in any honest way even if he had tried. Would have ended up puking up something foul he was certain. The last time he had had mushrooms coming out of all ends of him for three weeks. Not - something that he was jumping to have repeated. Ashton couldn’t talk about the fact that he hadn’t really been looking for anybody else - and he couldn’t even dismiss it so simply as saying ‘something like that’ because it was still too open ended. “So you haven’t heard then.” Ashton’s arms dropped from the way that they had been folded in front of him and let them swing. Wouldn’t that be something - that she had no idea what he was up to now. That he was almost as much of a wanted man as some rather special members of her family lately. Waving the topic off he started as if to make a second comment - and stopped, rapidly changing his mind and turning back to her. “Are you saying that my job was what made things impossible?” She had better have not been meaning what he thought that she had. “What - too straight edge for you? Need things to be more dangerous, keep your blood pumping?” Wouldn’t it be ironic now that he was playing at that exact type of life style. For all intents and purposes he was that person now - enemy of the state. Deep into the magical black market and trades. Hands in too many nefarious things to count, at least that’s what the papers wanted for people to assume. “Run off on some little adventure until you could bag yourself a sugar daddy with enough money to keep you in all your pretty things?” Couldn’t tear them off of her like he did.

[Kaydence Morgan]

”Awhile.” Closing her eyes, Kaydence released a sigh and allowed her head to drop back onto her shoulders. The tone in his voice had changed. “Just awhile – that’s…well that’s just great. Congratulations of course.” She said nothing in response. She could have, easily. A sarcastic smile with an equally sarcastic thank you, I’m really happy. It wasn’t appropriate. “You know he just sounds swell – a whole while. Man I sure missed out huh.” Although her head was still at the strange angle, Kaydence opened her eyes just enough to narrow them at him. Noah was swell actually. Again, she remained silent. She owed this to him. Whatever sardonic things he had been building up for the past eight years. She had matured enough to be on the receiving end for a certain period of time. Maybe not as long as she deserved but hopefully long enough for him to get whatever had been building up over these years. Though if Ashton was still the same man she had left that was very likely to take awhile. Kaydence’s patience may have grown over time, thanks in large part to the eight year old boy oblivious to her whereabouts back at their condo, but even she would eventually reach the point where enough was enough. He should be grateful she was allowing him this much time.

Silence ensued for a few moments after before he was the one to break it yet again. “So you haven’t heard then.” Kaydence’s eyes narrowed further. “Heard what?” Since she had left, she had made it a point, no matter how hard it may have been in the beginning, not to pick up any copies of the Daily Timestopper or keep in contact with anyone who she used to have any sort of relationship with her. No idea what had become of Cammie. No idea if that gorgeous moron Stavros was still at the Ministry working alongside Ashton. Whether or not her old frenemy Centara was held up in a dark hole somewhere hissing at light. The only person Kaydence could safely assume hadn’t changed much was Damien who had likely drunk himself into oblivion and was very fat due to the mass alcohol and éclair consumption as a young adult. When Ashton didn’t say anything in response, she chuckled to herself quietly. “Guess I haven’t,” she murmured, looking down at her arms, shifting slightly as the crate she was sitting on was starting to make her stiff.

“Are you saying that my job was what made things impossible?” Since when had that ever entered the discussion? Scoffing, Kaydence rolled her eyes and looked at him, replicating the glare he was currently giving her. Truthfully, his job had nothing to do with the reason with why she had left. Sure, the nights of him coming home hours later than he had originally intended were rough sometimes. That was mostly because she was just so bored. She had loved spending time with her dog but the lack of social interaction was such a drag. They’d spend time for an hour or two after he got home and made himself comfortable. Sometimes she had dinner waiting for him. Sometimes it was just a little sex before bed. Kaydence enjoyed whatever time they had been able to have together though. In the end, she could have given two fucks that he worked for the Ministry. After she disavowed her allegiance to Darren, she had always been more concerned with his safety. His manor had been charmed with invisibility spells to prevent the wrong eyes from knowing where he lived. The Ministry’s building though was not. Located right off Alzubra Alley, it was more than easy for one of Darren’s minions to keep tabs on him. Hell, even work in the same building as him without him knowing. She knew he was smart enough to not talk about his personal life to anyone. There was always that chance though that it wasn’t enough. That beautiful bastard Stavros knew about them and he seemingly hated Ashton. Perhaps one day Ashton would piss him off enough for Tristan to get vengeful and start a secret mission into finding her and using her as bait. Though as Kaydence thought about it, that also was unlikely given his holier than thou attitude of his everyday life.

No, the job had nothing to do with it. Kaydence had merely been asking to figure out if it continued to take up all of his time to devote to anyone else besides her. She opened her mouth to try and rephrase the question when she was cut off. “What – too straight edge for you? Need things to be more dangerous, keep your blood pumping?” Her lips formed into a straight line as she straightened her body completely forward. “Yes, because me hiding away in a dark castle like a damsel in distress wasn’t enough of it.” She couldn’t help herself. “I missed having the target on my back. Needed to get out, stretch my legs and hope Darren or one of my old acquaintances would bump into me while shopping and ask if I was down for a little torture to pass the time.” Ashton kept going. “Run off on some little adventure until you could bag yourself a sugar daddy with enough money to keep you in all of your pretty little things?” Laughing, Kaydence brought her hands to the sides of the crate and pushed herself up. She wanted to tell him how she hadn’t been looking for so-called “Sugar Daddy Noah” (though he was). She had gotten lucky to stumble upon him at the club in Sweden that night. It wasn’t her fault he had found her so captivating and mysterious. It wasn’t her fault he liked to buy her nice things as an apology for not being home all the time with her and Lukas. She had been raised that way so just to assume that she would have refused them would have been daft. Yes, she liked nice things. She loved them.

“Don’t be mad because I found someone who accepted me completely as I am for all my shallowness and vanity,” Kaydence started, slowly inching towards him again. “You can choose to be upset that I found someone who was a better match or you can just accept it and we can be done with this whole charade and be on our way.” She stopped once she was only an inch away from him. The smell of cigarette smoke was overwhelming. “I know I fucked up,” she admitted, poking him in the middle of his chest with her nail, “but I can’t tell you that I didn’t know what I was doing. That it was just “in the moment” because it wasn’t. When things had gotten themselves situated, I left because I had to. You didn’t deserve to be taken from what you had going here because of what I had going on. I couldn’t ask you to relocate. There was too much shit still going on with Darren’s aftermath for you to just up and leave.” Kaydence paused momentarily, focusing on a piece of lint resting on his shoulder. She moved her hand to the spot and flicked it off. It would have driven her crazy if she hadn’t. “You don’t have to understand and that’s alright.” She then noticed how lop-sided the sleeve of his dark t-shirt was and fixed it, again enjoying the quick brush of his skin against hers. She needed to stop touching him so much.

[Ashton Wentworth]

“Yes, because me hiding away in a dark castle like a damsel in distress wasn’t enough of it.” Ashton scoffed as he spoke over her, venting out his thoughts on the subject before she kept going. He certainly hadn’t been the one to call her damsel in distress. He knew just about how well that would have gone over. She would have chewed his whole head off and not in a fun way if he had dared to call her a damsel in any way that he actually meant it. She wasn’t hiding away anywhere - and even if she had been, he certainly didn’t think that her running away was any better of an option. . “I missed having the target on my back. Needed to get out, stretch my legs and hope Darren or one of my old acquaintances would bump into me while shopping and ask if I was down for a little torture to pass the time.” Right, he had forgotten that everything had to be all about her all of the time. Nothing could ever shift focus. Granted - thing had gotten really bad for her at the time but if she was was that concerned about it then she should have said something. He would have helped her - another thing that she seemed to be missing about this whole situation. She hadn’t been in it alone - and nothing that he said was going to make that any clearer for her. “Don’t be mad because I found someone who accepted me completely as I am for all my shallowness and vanity,” He could have spat at her feet for how stupid that sounded. “That’s exactly what you found - something shallow.” He scoffed again, his voice raising right in time with hers. “Vain. So very fucking vain. Can’t see past your own shadow half the damn time!” Head up her own ass all the hours of the day that it wasn’t busy preening itself in the mirror. Pretty sure did come with a hefty price tag when it came to her.


“You can choose to be upset that I found someone who was a better match or you can just accept it and we can be done with this whole charade and be on our way.” A better match. A better match. Ashton’s brow lifted because what she was saying was utter and complete nonsense. “YOU. FOLLOWED. ME!” punctuated as his temper boiled to a head because she was irritating him to no end. Whatever charade she seemed to think that they were entering into was beyond him. She got under his skin. She always had. “WHAT CHOICE DID I HAVE KAYDENCE!” His hand pressing into his own chest in protest of her comment - because it wasn’t actually a choice. This pretend option that she was offering to him, because she was going to choose for him. She was going to do whatever she liked regardless of how he felt. “Don’t PRETEND to give a rat’s ass how I feel about anything one way or the fucking other!” Couldn’t handle it. At least she was agreeing that she was both of those things. Perhaps that was a bigger personal growth than Ashton had managed yet, as he still tended to deny his faults with a fierceness. “I know I fucked up,” It wasn’t fair when she did that. Ashton never knew if she did it on purpose, or if it was just some sort of test to see if he was in fact paying attention or not. She had a way with words when she didn’t mean to - throwing a wrench into an argument at such a choice moment that it always threw him for a loop, leaving him coming up stammering. Inevitably, it would make him just that much more angry but there was never anything to do about it - because it always made him pause to think. What did she mean by that? How did she think that she had fucked up. Why couldn’t she just say what she meant. Worse if that was the only thing that she meant by what she had just said. He didn’t want to accept it as the only possible meaning. “but I can’t tell you that I didn’t know what I was doing. That it was just “in the moment” because it wasn’t. When things had gotten themselves situated, I left because I had to. You didn’t deserve to be taken from what you had going here because of what I had going on. I couldn’t ask you to relocate. There was too much shit still going on with Darren’s aftermath for you to just up and leave.” So it was a planned out thing. She had been wanting to leave for awhile and just - hadn’t felt that he needed to know that? If she was planning on leaving she should have at least broken up with him. If they were even a couple - but they had to be a couple. There was too much there to unpack all at once. She clearly thought that he was a much better person than he was if she thought that he wouldn’t have picked up and left for her.

All things that he would never dare to say out loud.

“You don’t have to understand and that’s alright.” What the hell was she doing - Ashton was confused enough by the change in their argument to focus on the piece of lint drifting to the annoyingly clean ground. He wasn’t willing to let go of his anger that easily. It was the one thing that he hadn’t allowed himself to feel when she had left. There had been a lot of emotions there that he had went through, giving each one it’s due process except the anger. Kaydence’s hand moved to fix the way his sleeve was flipped - soft fingertips brushing against his skin for just a moment and Ashton lost it. His hands lifted to encircle the wrist that had been touching him - the other finding the non-offending wrist just as simply. Seething, he tried to keep from holding her too tightly. His words seething and forced out between his teeth. His jaw was going to get locked like that one day. “You never gave me the chance to understand - you didn’t explain - a single. Fucking. Thing.” Pure condescension when he looked her over “You just left.” He couldn’t let her hands go. His tone dropped into something different, impossible to have interpreted. “Without a word - just up and left.” His face softened for half a second. “What’s there to understand about that?”

[Kaydence Morgan]

Kaydence was surprised at her own admission of the preplanned departure. She had never given Ashton any indication that she planned to leave. It was going to be easier that way. She had no interest in telling him her plans for fear of how he would respond. He could have begged her to stay or worse, kicked her out of his house to get a head start. She had been scared to have that conversation with him altogether. She didn’t want to see the look in his eyes or watch his lips turn down at the corners into a frown or scowl. Kaydence couldn’t deal with being in the present to see his reaction. Perhaps if she had, it would have changed her mind. Maybe if she had considered his feelings a little more, things would have wound up so much different. In the end though, what had been done was done. At the time, she felt that was the most appropriate action…to just up and leave. Cowardice, sure, but as everyone knew, except for Ashton, that’s simply how Kaydence Morgan dealt with her problems. She just ran away. The only exception being when she was eighteen and kicked out of her family’s manor. They had forced her to run. Possibly, that had been what fed her constant need to flee. She had never been able to discuss things like adults with them. Like civilized human beings. It was easy to blame all of her problems later on in life because of it.

She didn’t have too much of a chance to process the resulting guilt as the simple movements of her fingers against him had stirred something from within. Kaydence gasped as he grabbed her wrists. Just like old times. She braced herself for the impact her back was sure to have against the wall. This was how it always started. He’d get upset, grab her forcefully, sling up against a wall or a piece of furniture and yell at her for a good minute or two before she’d fight back and the two get into a minor altercation. She had always hated how he felt the need to remind her of his masculinity. Often, she would mock him. Usually mentioning how big of a man he was to put his hands on a woman. Sometimes Kaydence would ask him what he was compensating for. Ashton’s response would usually include some other aggressive use of force or reciprocate with his own insults. They’d go at it for minutes. Sometimes on and off for hours but the ending typically was always the same. Apologies or, when they were tired of using their words, take out their frustration with the other with animalistic sex. They were psychotic. Their behavior together was never normal. As much as Kaydence tried to tell herself that she couldn’t take it anymore, that she couldn’t take Ashton’s belittling or being the target of his anger that was really directed elsewhere, she could. Because she always had done the same. damn. thing. And he took it just as much as she did. Truthfully, being with Noah at times wasn’t as entertaining as when she had been with Ashton. He didn’t keep her on her toes as much as the man gripping the hell out of her wrists now did. Noah was a gentleman. Ashton was a brute. And right now, it was extremely difficult to differentiate between what she really wanted and didn’t.

But the impact never came.

”You never gave me the chance to understand – you didn’t explain a single. Fucking. Thing.” Kaydence looked up at him with a glare, grimacing slightly as his hold remained firm but strangely not as it normally had in the past. “I didn’t,” she agreed “because I didn’t fucking want to.” Again, another truth. One she didn’t feel the need to elaborate on. She doubted he would even believe her that she had dealt with the resulting guilt for a long time afterwards. ”You just left.” She attempted to shake herself free but his hold was still dominant. “I told you. I had to,” she said through gritted teeth. “I didn’t have to owe you an explanation for anything. If you couldn’t put two and two together because of everything going on then that’s only further proof why we weren’t going to work.” It was his next comment though that caused Kaydence to go silent. ”Without a word – just up and left.” She stopped struggling. His tone had changed though she couldn’t detect how he was feeling. It was almost as if it he was allowing himself to process his emotions. ”What’s there to understand about that?” Her mouth opened somewhat but closed almost as quickly as she really had no idea how to respond to that. Ashton had been one of the most difficult men that she had ever been in a relationship with. Everyone else before, and after, had always made their feelings towards her evident. There were no guessing games. They loved her and made sure she knew. Kaydence never had to think one thing and literally have her entire perception change within the course of a few seconds. She had always had to accept with Ashton that he cared even if he had immense difficulty with verbalizing it. Still, would it had ever killed him to tell her that he cared instead of dancing around the subject time and time again?

Looking down, Kaydence shook her head before returning his gaze. “Because it was just easier to go.” Her voice was sorrowful. “It was easier to just leave and not look back Ashton.” Her body suddenly felt very heavy and she longed to collapse into his chest and rest on him. “I didn’t want to be told what you thought the right thing to do was. If you even fucking said anything at all. You’re really telling me that if I told you I wanted to leave that you wouldn’t have just pointed to the door and tell me how if I really fucking wanted to leave then there was my way out? What would be the point in even having that conversation if I already knew how it was going to end? Waste of your time and mine.” Finding herself irritated that his grip was still on her, Kaydence brought arms up and shook again. “Let me go.”

[Ashton Wentworth]

“I didn’t, because I didn’t fucking want to.” it was traitorous, the way that hurt crept up inside of his chest. Hammering in his heart as his body grew cold. She didn’t want to tell him that she was leaving. She had never...because she didn’t feel...how was he supposed to keep moving with that knowledge? They were never supposed to have been anything at all. They were never supposed to have anything to do with one another. It was just a fling. Was never supposed to be anything but a fling. Just something to pass the time. Just a body to keep him warm those nights. One bed to another - it was never supposed to be something that would have put him in the position to have gotten hurt. Ashton scanned her face - looking for any hint of a lie. Anything that he could choose to interpret as something other than what she was saying. There was no way he could read it as a lie. Nothing to give him a hint that she was misleading him - saying things in anger to hurt him. She had done that countless times before but this was something more. It was parts of the truth, or the entire truth. Their years apart couldn’t have stopped the way that he could read her. It was one thing out of all of this that he was willing to say he knew for a fact. She was attempting to pull herself free but he couldn’t lessen the grasp on her wrists. He couldn’t let her just leave it like that. “I told you. I had to,” She didn’t have to do anything. She had always lived a life where things were chosen for her. Where she was told where to go and who to be. Being born into the family that she had been, that was something she wouldn’t have been able to help. Ashton had been born the opposite of her. Into a world where he had nothing. No family, no people, no privilege. He had to fight for each and every thing that he had ever had. Including her. Then she had just - taken it away. Never looked back. It was apparent to him, not once in these eight years apart had she ever looked back. She must have run from him - and been so fucking grateful just to have been away. Why was he still standing here with her. . “I didn’t have to owe you an explanation for anything. If you couldn’t put two and two together because of everything going on then that’s only further proof why we weren’t going to work.” Every part of him wanted to think that she was just saying things to further the proof to herself that her actions were justified but she sounded like she meant it. It sounded too much like the truth that he had assumed...had he really been wanting her to tell him something different?


“Because it was just easier to go.” Ashton didn’t like the way that her voice dropped. Didn’t like the way she sounded the way that he felt. Of course it was easier to go - there were no repercussions to her actions because she had just left. “It was easier to just leave and not look back Ashton.” Of course it was. Ashton felt like his breathing was becoming more shallow. He was fighting against the way his chest was pulling to keep from allowing it to reach his face. “I didn’t want to be told what you thought the right thing to do was. If you even fucking said anything at all. You’re really telling me that if I told you I wanted to leave that you wouldn’t have just pointed to the door and tell me how if I really fucking wanted to leave then there was my way out? What would be the point in even having that conversation if I already knew how it was going to end? Waste of your time and mine.” The longer she spoke, the further away she was starting to sound. She didn’t know him at all. That was most likely his own fault. Ashton had never been the sort of person to express the way that he felt in words. He was the sort to attempt to use actions - to be as present as he was capable of being. If that was what she thought about him, if that was actually how she thought that would have gone - then the conversation had no point. He might not be exactly as reckless as he had been back then - but he knew then the actions wouldn’t have mattered, he would have done it. Consequences would have come afterward because that was the man that he had been then. He wouldn’t have thought twice. He had seen her family as an issue. He had seen it as a problem that he needed to fix - if she had felt that he couldn’t do it quickly enough, if they had ever spoken about their individual intentions things might have gone differently. Kaydence’s hands lifted again, and he could hardly hear the words out of her mouth for the way his blood was pounding in his ears. His fingers lifted one by one, uncurling from their grasp around her wrists until she was free to pull her hands back to her person.


Ashton’s shoulders fell heavy against the wall he had started to stand from. He felt - so bodily defeated that standing on his own was going to prove to be an issue. His gaze shifted to his boots, then to the ground somewhere off to the side of their bodies. What else was there to say. Swallowing hard, he lifted his hand to brush at the underside of his nose with a nod. All he could do was accept what she said. There wasn’t an apology to be had here. Closure was never going to be an option. Ash’s face pinched, considering the words that he wanted to say next. Shuffling on his feet uncomfortable his arms lifted to fold in front of his body. The way his shoulders lifted, to pull his body in closer on itself betrayed too much to the internal struggle that he was having. “Well.” He started - and paused, changing course from what he had been intending to say. He wanted to tell her that she knew nothing. That perhaps he should have been more clear. That he should have done better - that they both should have tried harder but the new knowledge that she had never...felt...the way that, he had...was overwhelming. “I imagine that you have things to get back to.” His gaze lifted back to her finally, hollow when it did. “If you’re done enlightening me?”

[Kaydence Morgan]

It was growing increasingly difficult to look at him. Ashton’s eyes bore into her soul. Kaydence could feel them digging, trying to pull apart everything in their way in search of whatever it was he was looking for. His grip was still tight on her wrists but there was a difference in his body. No trembles but she could see his chest moving oddly out of the corner of her eye. Anger, surely. He was doing his very best to refrain from pushing her away from him and really causing a scene. One that would surely get any passerby involved, concerned for her safety. That would be an interesting situation to deal with. A dilemma in which Kaydence had zero interest in being involved in. Although she didn’t have any sort of security with her today, with her luck, and knowing how everything had not at all gone in her favor today, the gossip would have made its way around like wildfire and eventually made its way back to Noah. Somehow. She really didn’t know if he had taken in the island at all on his own. They had that dinner the first night here near the resort. She wasn’t sure if any of his contacts had met him here though. He never typically conducted business near the family unless it was a highly trusted associate. Well, besides that stranger who had picked him up in the car earlier this morning. Merlin, she had completely forgot about that.

Her mind wandered briefly before the feel of his fingers leaving her skin brought Kaydence back to reality. He still had yet to say anything so she took the time to quickly cross her arms to her chest. She wasn’t hurt, not physically anyway but she responded the only way she knew how. “So considerate of you.” She took a step back from him, rubbing the back of her arms as she did so. It was a nervous habit of hers. She watched intently as he righted himself, his gaze finally leaving hers. Something was wrong with him. His body language exposed that. Shifting uncomfortably, staring around at everything around him other than her, focusing heavily on those dirty ass boots of his. Kaydence really had no idea what was going on in that beautiful head of his. This was unknown Ashton territory. His actions tended to speak louder than words but even she was having difficulty transcribing what he was trying to tell her. Still could have been doing what he could to internalize whatever anger seemed to course through his veins all the time. He had possibly sounded hurt not too long ago but that could have just been a fleeting thing. Whatever this was, he was making her feel incredibly uneasy and the need to leave was stronger than ever. She had already been gone from the condo so long already. There was no telling if Lukas had realized she was gone yet. That would be something else she would have to prepare herself for on the walk back to the apparition spot on the beach. Too much had gone on today.

”Well.” It had taken quite awhile for him to finally say it. Kaydence peered at him, finding herself hanging on that, completely captivated by whatever it was he was going to say next. ”I imagine that you have things to get back to.” And that was not what she had been expecting. The dismissal. ”If you’re done enlightening me?” Typical Ashton. Typical fucking Ashton. Chuckling to herself, she slid her top lip across her bottom, releasing a small puckering sound and looked up. It would kill him just to say something. Anything. Conversation wasn’t his forte. This was all Kaydence really should have expected by prolonging whatever the hell they were doing here together. Closure? Laughable. Yet he had the audacity to think that she should have said something to him before he left. Because clearly that would have gone somewhere. He would have really told her how he felt about her leaving? Fuck him. Bringing her gaze back down to him, she smirked. “Okay.” She turned to the right. She had no idea where the fuck she threw her sunglasses but suddenly that was a lot more important than looking at that cold bastard. Moving away from him, Kaydence stomped over towards the area and began her search. It didn’t take much time. As soon as she found her frames, she placed her hand on her back to keep her dress from hiking up as she bent down. He didn’t deserve to see her. Maneuvering just as carefully, she pulled her wand from the strap on her upper thigh. A simple concealment charm kept it hidden from eyes. She refused to have it anywhere other than on her person when she was out and about. Pointing it down to the shattered pile, she mumbled. “Oculus reparo.” The pieces of glass and wire quickly flew together and melted. It wasn’t a perfect fix but enough to get by until she could convince Noah to buy her another pair.

Placing them on her face, Kaydence lifted herself back up and turned to again face Ashton. Her wand was still out and though it was so tempting to aim it at him and curse him into oblivion, she didn’t. She did stand there momentarily though out of spite just to mess with him. Memories of her apartment fight when he had taken her to the Ministry for questioning flashed back. Lifting the right side of her dress up just enough, she slid the wand back on her and quickly pulled the fabric down. She then darted over to the crate where she had been sitting and scooped up her purse. Adjusting the strap on her shoulder, she exhaled sharply, turning yet again to face him. Saying anything to him at this point was stupid. He wouldn’t care. He’d divert the subject, unable to deal with whatever the hell was going on in his brain and Kaydence would wind up getting even more irritated then she already was. She was tired of the same old song and dance. She had always been tired of it. Still, her temper got the best of her and she stormed over to him. She stopped when she was a few inches away. What was it with her feeling the overwhelming need to be as close to him as she could? Lifting her hand towards his face, she curled her fingers together leaving only her index finger exposed. “Fuck. You.” Nothing but ice. Dropping her hand, she backed away. “Fuck you,” she repeated. “You don’t want to deal with it. Fine. It’s done. I’m done. Fucking pointless.” With that, she pivoted to her left and walked out of the alley.

She had no idea if he would follow her this time. The noise quickly built up around her from the excited voices of the other people on the Boardwalk, something she was insanely grateful for as tears began to spill from her eyes. It wasn’t the closure she expected but Ashton being Ashton, it was the closure she was going to have to get. Yet with the heavy feeling in her chest that was weighing her down like a ton of bricks, Kaydence knew that still nothing felt different. In fact, everything just felt a lot worse.

[Ashton Wentworth]

“Okay.” It was over. In as final of a way that it was ever going to be over. If Kaydence wanted to have the last word on the matter, then he was going to let her. Everything was on her terms. There was just nothing about it to be done. What was the point in fighting with her? It came down to the fact that it wasn’t how it was then - they were older, and he was engaged. Or married. Or whatever the hell that ring meant to her. He had a job to get back to. He had things that he was supposed to be doing. Ashton didn’t know what she wanted him to say - she had made it clear that she didn’t care what he felt, that she had never cared for him in the first place - as well as insulted him, nearly assaulted him, and said she was glad that she left. Why did she sound like she was looking for something else then? What else could she possibly want from him? Ashton didn’t have to look up to see the way that she was shuffling around - gathering her things in preparation to leave, after she fixed those ugly ass glasses he did turn his attention to her though. Turning to her purse he finally watched her. Seeing the way she moved and gathered her things. Committing to memory the image of her leaving - yet again. Agreed with her - wasn’t good enough. Fought with her - wasn’t good enough. Argued or said nothing at all - never good enough. She didn’t even know what the hell she wanted. Stuff. She was always fucking shopping. Always accumulating - and for what? Did the things fix anything at all? Did that bag that she was shoving up and over her shoulder somehow solve any of her issues? Did it make her feel better at night? Curled up with all of her bullshit possessions and the man who likely bought her everything because she was too fucking bored to entertain herself most days. It was the only thing that he could come up with as to why she hadn’t just left already.

He had told her to, twice.

Yet here she came - rushing back at him like a crazy person - pointing that finger at him like she somehow had the right to do so. Shouting at him - she looked insane, she had to know that. “Fuck. You.” All ice. Cold hearted btich that she was. If possible, she had managed to leave for a second time - on an even worse note than before. . “Fuck you, you don’t want to deal with it. Fine. It’s done. I’m done. Fucking pointless.” Deal with, what exactly? She had already contradicted herself a dozen times. Was she stalling? No, she couldn’t possibly be stalling. It would have been insane. There was no dealing with it - because it didn’t exist. He didn’t want to let her have the last word. He had wanted her to shut up - take her victory lap and fucking leave. Not - all of that garbage that she had just done. Without much effort - Ashton threw up a magical barrier in front of her path. Blocking out the sounds of the alleyway from their little alcove, silencing the two of them back together again. “You don’t get to do that.” He pushed off of the wall that he had been leaning against. Using magic and willpower to force that barrier to further block her path - and divert her right back to where she was facing him again. She didn’t get to just think she won all the fucking time. “You left. You chose. You ran. You fucking hid and made a whole new life for yourself.” He started, building up steam as he went, his voice erriely level as he did. “You forced my hand - where there was NOTHING to do, BUT to fucking deal with it. On my own - with not so much as a REASON from you. Not a word. Not a sound - fucking nothing.” Probably the most words that he had ever used in her presence at one time. “You. LEFT. ME. You don’t regret it, fine. You’re happy in your new life - that’s fine. You want to leave things all in the past, EVEN BETTER, but you know what you don’t get? Me to explain things to you. You lost that right - to know how I processed anything - the way that I had to face things, because you weren’t there. You weren’t a part of it - and since you’re so fucking pleased about that? Then be done - and leave it, you wanna be angry at somebody about it? Be angry at yourself.” His chest held too tightly - too many words spoken too quickly, he couldn’t take his eyes from hers. He could hardly blink. “So fuck you Kaydence. The horse you rode in on. The poor fool you’ve trapped. Fuck every single thing about you.”