Post by rsafan on Jan 29, 2007 4:57:47 GMT -5
A fond farewell...
When he stepped into the apartment, the last thing he expected to find was her bags by the door. Yesterday had been an emotional wringer; he’d stayed with her long after she’d fallen asleep. He knew it would take some time but he was sure they were on the road to recovery. Soon everything would be as it was between them, well almost everything. So when he saw her walking down the stairs, he was shocked. Not only because she was out of the hospital, but because she was carrying a suitcase. She didn’t pause when she saw him, simply walked past him and placed the bag with the others. It wasn’t till he heard her murmur ‘thank you’, that he realised they weren’t alone in the apartment. Turning around, he saw a man walking out with most of her luggage; all that remained were two suitcases.
She waited till his gaze finally rested on her before speaking, “I’m leaving.”
“I figured as much. The suitcases are self explanatory, but you don’t have to do that, this is your place, I’ll leave. Just give me a couple of minutes and I’ll be done.” He turned, making his way to the stairs. He’d be packed in no time; he didn’t have that many clothes. He’d collect his more personal belongings later, when she wasn’t there. When she couldn’t see how much it would hurt him to have to remove them.
“You don’t understand. I’m leaving Salem; I’m going home with my mother. To Chicago first, then home to England… when the doctor okays me for air travel, that is. I’m leaving this evening.”
He spun around, suddenly angry. “What? You’re leaving? Just like that, what about your family here, the people who took you in as their own because that’s what you were? I understand that you might be a bit upset with me, but England? Victoria, that’s half a world away.”
“I’m not leaving without saying goodbye if that’s what you think.”
Was she for real, did she really think that goodbye would make it easier for any of them to see her go, to see her walk away from them, the way she was obviously walking away from him? “This isn’t about saying goodbye. It’s about leaving your family, people who love you without a second thought. Do you know what this’ll do to your parents? It’ll devastate them, Hope especially, they’ve only just found out about you.”
“They are not my parents. My parents live in London England, my father’s name is Richard Campbell and my mother is Gillian. They’re my family; they’re the people I’m going home to.”
“God, were you always this cold? How could you have been this unfeeling or more importantly, how could I not have noticed? You may not think much about me, and you have good cause not to, but you owe the Brady, the Kiriakis and the Horton families a hell of a lot, after everything they…”
“I owe them nothing!” she shouted, suddenly equally angry, “I never asked them for anything, I never expected anything from them. They’re nice people, but they’re not mine. I have a family, one that loves me.”
The spark left his eyes, all the anger simply flowed out of his body and he quietly asked her, rather dejectedly, “It’s that easy for you to just walk away? After everything we had, after everything we’ve been to each other, you can just walk away?”
“Yes!” She spat at him; then the tears started, “No. No it’s not easy; it’s not easy at all. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Not just walking away from you, but walking away from the people here, walking away from Salem. But it’s something I have to do.”
“No it isn’t.” he argued, “You don’t have to leave Salem, you can stay. I know I’m not your favourite person right now and that you probably hate my guts, but give us time. Maybe then you’ll see things differently, we can still be together Tory, we’re good together. ”
She shook her head, “We weren’t good together Max. I relied on you for so much. Don’t you see that? I forgot how to rely on myself, forgot that I was enough, that I didn’t need to keep looking to you for strength. My parents raised this self-assured woman who knew how to stand on her own two feet, but whenever I was with you, I lost that. I don’t know why all I know is that the more I relied on you, the more of myself I lost. It took losing our baby to make me realise that I can’t live like that. I don’t hate you Max, I can never hate you but I can’t be with you either. I hope you understand that.”
“I don’t, I don’t understand why you have to leave. I don’t understand how leaning on me is wrong. I don’t get that, but if you want me to change I will, I’ll do anything. Only say you’ll stay.” Even as he made that last plea, he knew it was pointless. She’d made up her mind and nothing he said would sway it.
“This isn’t about you Max, you don’t have to change for anyone. You’ve been with me this whole time, through everything; you’ve helped me through all of it, through all the scary things with my parents, through the bad moments and through the good ones too. But all of this,” she indicated the apartment, her clothes, “its not who I am, the girl you’ve known for the past year, she’s not me, at least not who I used to be. So please, try and understand that I’m the one that has to change. Some day you’re going to make some lucky woman very happy, my only regret is that it can’t be me.”
NO! He wanted to scream at her, plead with her to stay, to give them another chance but he didn’t, instead he simply asked, “So this really is the end?”
She nodded, “I love you, know that. I’ve always loved you, and I will always love you. I just need to learn to love myself again, if I loved myself half as much as I love you, we might’ve been okay. But I don’t, so we’re not.” She leaned up and kissed him, one last kiss. So sweet, so bittersweet. She broke away when she tasted the salt of tears, not sure if they were his or hers. Not that it mattered. “Have a nice life Max, and be happy.”
Then picking up her last two bags, she left.
“I was just on my way to see you, when were you released?”
She walked in, “My mom sprung me this morning.”
“So, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at home resting?”
“I will be soon; I just have to make a few stops first. My train leaves in three hours, I’m going home, where I belong.”
He didn’t even have to ask, he already knew she was talking about England, about her adoptive parents, her family there. “You belong here too.”
“No I don’t, I never did. Is Mimi here?”
“No, she’s taken Zach to the park, playdate.” he explained.
Now that the time had come, she wasn’t sure what to say. Wringing her hands, the way she always did when she was nervous, she opened her mouth to speak, but instead felt tears escaping her eyes. Shawn placed his hand over hers, “Rex and I have this habit, an agreement really. No hellos, no goodbyes. No endings, no beginnings. I figured maybe we could do the same, because I don’t want to have to say goodbye to you. Not yet, not ever, only I have to go Shawn. This is so hard; I didn’t think it would be this hard.”
He pulled her to him, enveloped her in his arms and held her tight as she sobbed, murmuring soothing words, “Hey, it’s okay.”
She shook her head, lifting her head from his chest, she looked up at him. “No, I have something that I need to say to you. Aside from Rex, I’ve never really had anyone look out for me, not the way you do. I want to thank you for that, for loving and accepting me, even when I was being a brat. For always making me feel better when I needed to, and laying into when I needed that too. Someday I hope to reciprocate.”
He raised a brow, “You mean you haven’t already with all your lectures on forgiveness and mistakes?”
She smiled sadly, “I wish you could know just how much you changed my life, how much you’ve come to mean to me.”
“Hey, I love you too kid.”
“Shawn Douglas Brady, you’re the best big brother in the whole wide world and you’re one of the best guys I know. So one last thing before I go, only because I love you so much. I’ve been in love, so I know exactly how that feels. I also know what its like to be hurt by the one person who wasn’t ever supposed to let you down.”
“Max is sorry about that Tory, I promise you.”
“This isn’t about Max and I, this is about you and Mimi. I know things aren’t as fantastic between the two of you as everyone thinks. And I don’t know if that’s because you still haven’t forgiven her for keeping the secret about Claire, or because of your own guilt. I’m just saying that maybe when you’ve calmed down a little, when you’re less angry or hurt, maybe you should try to imagine what she’s feeling, what she’s going through because all this is not her fault. Maybe you should tell her about Belle, before she finds out from someone else, before she’s hurt even more.”
“I’m not inclined to think about anything from her side. She lied and she ruined lives, she could have told me the truth, she could have told everyone the truth a whole lot sooner.”
“You’re right, she could’ve, but she didn’t. Life is filled with ‘what ifs’ and ‘could haves’; it’s how you deal with the facts that really matters. You have to decide how you’re going to deal with that now.” She took his face between her hands, forcing him to look her in the eyes, “Listen to me. I’m not saying forget what she’s done, I’m saying try and forgive her, really forgive her. Even if you don’t stay together, even if you move on to someone else, or back to someone else, you’ll always have Zach binding you. Think of him.”
“I’ll try.” He promised; then swinging his arm over her shoulders, he walked her to the door, “Now, do you need a lift to the station?”
She shook her head, “No, I still have a few more stops to make.”
“Call me when you get to Chicago, so I know you’ve arrived safely.”
She nodded and left, closing the door behind her.
“Oh Belle; sorry to disappoint.” Mimicking the disappointment in Belle’s voice when she realized it was Shawn’s sister not Shawn himself who had come knocking.
“Was there something you wanted?”
“Yes, to come in.” She walked past Belle into the apartment. “I’m leaving Salem you’ll be glad to know.”
“I was never…”
“Let’s not play games here Belle. There’s no love lost between us, I know about you and Shawn, you seem to forget I walked in on the two of you. I don’t like you for it, I don’t like the way you’ve handled my brother, I don’t like the way you used Philip, I don’t like the way you messed with your best friend’s husband and I certainly don’t like the way you use your daughter to get his attention.”
“How dare you accuse…”Belle tried to interrupt, but she put a stop to it.
“I’m not done. I didn’t come here for some emotional goodbye, you’re not that important to me. So I’ll just say my piece and leave. Bo and Hope love you; they seem to think, like most of Salem does, that the sun shines out of you. We both know better, so I’m giving you a warning instead. If you hurt my brother, there will be dire consequences; I’ll make sure of that.”
“God, no wonder Max didn’t want your kid.”
“Goodbye Belle, I wish I could say it’s been a pleasure, but we both know better.”
“It is. I’m leaving Salem.”
“When?”
“In about an hour, I’ve just been at the pub, saying my goodbyes. I missed you at the loft, so I decided to track you down.”
“I’m glad you did, I wouldn’t want to have missed you.”
“Fight for him Mimi.”
Mimi shook her head, “We have an agreement, a year. I’m sticking to that, if he wants more, he’s going to have to be the one to ask, I’m done fighting.”
“But…”
“No, no buts. These past few weeks have been hell; you have no idea the agony we all went through praying you would make it, that you would wake up. It changed us all, heck Shawn and Chelsea are on speaking terms. If that isn’t a miracle, I don’t know what is. But we all came to realizations about our lives. I can’t hang around and wait for Shawn to forgive me, for him to decide if he still wants to be with me. If it were just me, maybe I’d fight, even though I’m convinced that I’d lose, but I have someone else to think about now.” They were both silent, then Mimi grabbed her hand, “I’m going to miss you, take care of yourself.”
Victoria nodded, “I will, and you take care too. And take care of this gorgeous nephew of mine.”
“You’re like the sister I never had; I don’t want to lose that.”
“You won’t. No matter what happens between yourself and Shawn, I’ll always be there for you.” she said with absolute certainty, by the time they left, they had both shed quite a few tears.
“Is dad here?” Victoria asked nervously, this was a lot harder than she’d thought it would be.
Hope nodded, “He’s in the kitchen; I’ll just go call him.” She said and disappeared into the kitchen. Moments later, both Bo and Hope were back in the living room.
Gillian stood back as Victoria walked towards them, this was something her daughter had to do on her own, she might be running back to England, but she wouldn’t leave without saying proper goodbyes and thanking her biological parents. Victoria handed Hope the box she’d been carrying, “Its photo albums of me growing up, I know you’ve seen them, but my mom…I mean; I thought you might like to have them.”
Hope smiled at her and took the box from her, “Thank you.”
“I’m sure you already know, the rumour mill in Salem is pretty effective, but I thought I’d tell you myself that I’m going home, back to England I mean. I…I umm…I wanted to come and say goodbye…you know, just to…” she ran into Bo’s arms and held onto him as though he was her salvation, he simple wrapped his arms around her and held her head to his chest as they both cried. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I…I know…I know that everyone thinks I’m just running away…But I have to go. Please understand that I have to go home…I’m going to miss you so much…” she sobbed and Bo simply held her till the tears stopped. She simply held on tighter, despite her injuries, afraid to let go.
When she finally pulled away, it was to turn to Hope. She took the box from her hands and placed it on the sofa then enveloped her in a hug so fierce; it was reminiscent of their first embrace, only much sweeter and a lot more painful. It was a bittersweet moment, Victoria didn’t cry, but she held on to Hope with the same strength that she did Bo. Hope felt like she was trying to tell her something so she simply held on to her daughter. She kissed the top of her head, breathed in her daughter’s scent for she knew that this may very well be the last time they saw each other. When Victoria looked up at her, she took her face in her hands and studied every feature, not knowing that her daughter was doing the exact same thing. “Take care of yourself.” she whispered before placing another kiss on her forehead.
Victoria smiled and pulled out of her arms, “I’ll do my best.”
“Do you want us to come with you to the train station?”
She shook her head, “I’ll be fine. Only, promise me something.”
“Anything.” Hope promised.
“Take care of them, all of them and take care of yourself.” Hope simply nodded and then let her hand go. She walked with them to the door, watched them leave and when she could no longer see them, she turned to Bo and wrapped her arms around him in exactly the same way that Victoria had moments before and cried like she hadn’t since Zack’s death. Bo held on to his Fancy Face with the knowledge that while it helped comfort, it didn’t lessen the pain.
When he stepped into the apartment, the last thing he expected to find was her bags by the door. Yesterday had been an emotional wringer; he’d stayed with her long after she’d fallen asleep. He knew it would take some time but he was sure they were on the road to recovery. Soon everything would be as it was between them, well almost everything. So when he saw her walking down the stairs, he was shocked. Not only because she was out of the hospital, but because she was carrying a suitcase. She didn’t pause when she saw him, simply walked past him and placed the bag with the others. It wasn’t till he heard her murmur ‘thank you’, that he realised they weren’t alone in the apartment. Turning around, he saw a man walking out with most of her luggage; all that remained were two suitcases.
She waited till his gaze finally rested on her before speaking, “I’m leaving.”
“I figured as much. The suitcases are self explanatory, but you don’t have to do that, this is your place, I’ll leave. Just give me a couple of minutes and I’ll be done.” He turned, making his way to the stairs. He’d be packed in no time; he didn’t have that many clothes. He’d collect his more personal belongings later, when she wasn’t there. When she couldn’t see how much it would hurt him to have to remove them.
“You don’t understand. I’m leaving Salem; I’m going home with my mother. To Chicago first, then home to England… when the doctor okays me for air travel, that is. I’m leaving this evening.”
He spun around, suddenly angry. “What? You’re leaving? Just like that, what about your family here, the people who took you in as their own because that’s what you were? I understand that you might be a bit upset with me, but England? Victoria, that’s half a world away.”
“I’m not leaving without saying goodbye if that’s what you think.”
Was she for real, did she really think that goodbye would make it easier for any of them to see her go, to see her walk away from them, the way she was obviously walking away from him? “This isn’t about saying goodbye. It’s about leaving your family, people who love you without a second thought. Do you know what this’ll do to your parents? It’ll devastate them, Hope especially, they’ve only just found out about you.”
“They are not my parents. My parents live in London England, my father’s name is Richard Campbell and my mother is Gillian. They’re my family; they’re the people I’m going home to.”
“God, were you always this cold? How could you have been this unfeeling or more importantly, how could I not have noticed? You may not think much about me, and you have good cause not to, but you owe the Brady, the Kiriakis and the Horton families a hell of a lot, after everything they…”
“I owe them nothing!” she shouted, suddenly equally angry, “I never asked them for anything, I never expected anything from them. They’re nice people, but they’re not mine. I have a family, one that loves me.”
The spark left his eyes, all the anger simply flowed out of his body and he quietly asked her, rather dejectedly, “It’s that easy for you to just walk away? After everything we had, after everything we’ve been to each other, you can just walk away?”
“Yes!” She spat at him; then the tears started, “No. No it’s not easy; it’s not easy at all. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Not just walking away from you, but walking away from the people here, walking away from Salem. But it’s something I have to do.”
“No it isn’t.” he argued, “You don’t have to leave Salem, you can stay. I know I’m not your favourite person right now and that you probably hate my guts, but give us time. Maybe then you’ll see things differently, we can still be together Tory, we’re good together. ”
She shook her head, “We weren’t good together Max. I relied on you for so much. Don’t you see that? I forgot how to rely on myself, forgot that I was enough, that I didn’t need to keep looking to you for strength. My parents raised this self-assured woman who knew how to stand on her own two feet, but whenever I was with you, I lost that. I don’t know why all I know is that the more I relied on you, the more of myself I lost. It took losing our baby to make me realise that I can’t live like that. I don’t hate you Max, I can never hate you but I can’t be with you either. I hope you understand that.”
“I don’t, I don’t understand why you have to leave. I don’t understand how leaning on me is wrong. I don’t get that, but if you want me to change I will, I’ll do anything. Only say you’ll stay.” Even as he made that last plea, he knew it was pointless. She’d made up her mind and nothing he said would sway it.
“This isn’t about you Max, you don’t have to change for anyone. You’ve been with me this whole time, through everything; you’ve helped me through all of it, through all the scary things with my parents, through the bad moments and through the good ones too. But all of this,” she indicated the apartment, her clothes, “its not who I am, the girl you’ve known for the past year, she’s not me, at least not who I used to be. So please, try and understand that I’m the one that has to change. Some day you’re going to make some lucky woman very happy, my only regret is that it can’t be me.”
NO! He wanted to scream at her, plead with her to stay, to give them another chance but he didn’t, instead he simply asked, “So this really is the end?”
She nodded, “I love you, know that. I’ve always loved you, and I will always love you. I just need to learn to love myself again, if I loved myself half as much as I love you, we might’ve been okay. But I don’t, so we’re not.” She leaned up and kissed him, one last kiss. So sweet, so bittersweet. She broke away when she tasted the salt of tears, not sure if they were his or hers. Not that it mattered. “Have a nice life Max, and be happy.”
Then picking up her last two bags, she left.
*****
She took a deep breath before knocking on the door. He was on his way out and was shocked to see her standing there. “I was just on my way to see you, when were you released?”
She walked in, “My mom sprung me this morning.”
“So, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at home resting?”
“I will be soon; I just have to make a few stops first. My train leaves in three hours, I’m going home, where I belong.”
He didn’t even have to ask, he already knew she was talking about England, about her adoptive parents, her family there. “You belong here too.”
“No I don’t, I never did. Is Mimi here?”
“No, she’s taken Zach to the park, playdate.” he explained.
Now that the time had come, she wasn’t sure what to say. Wringing her hands, the way she always did when she was nervous, she opened her mouth to speak, but instead felt tears escaping her eyes. Shawn placed his hand over hers, “Rex and I have this habit, an agreement really. No hellos, no goodbyes. No endings, no beginnings. I figured maybe we could do the same, because I don’t want to have to say goodbye to you. Not yet, not ever, only I have to go Shawn. This is so hard; I didn’t think it would be this hard.”
He pulled her to him, enveloped her in his arms and held her tight as she sobbed, murmuring soothing words, “Hey, it’s okay.”
She shook her head, lifting her head from his chest, she looked up at him. “No, I have something that I need to say to you. Aside from Rex, I’ve never really had anyone look out for me, not the way you do. I want to thank you for that, for loving and accepting me, even when I was being a brat. For always making me feel better when I needed to, and laying into when I needed that too. Someday I hope to reciprocate.”
He raised a brow, “You mean you haven’t already with all your lectures on forgiveness and mistakes?”
She smiled sadly, “I wish you could know just how much you changed my life, how much you’ve come to mean to me.”
“Hey, I love you too kid.”
“Shawn Douglas Brady, you’re the best big brother in the whole wide world and you’re one of the best guys I know. So one last thing before I go, only because I love you so much. I’ve been in love, so I know exactly how that feels. I also know what its like to be hurt by the one person who wasn’t ever supposed to let you down.”
“Max is sorry about that Tory, I promise you.”
“This isn’t about Max and I, this is about you and Mimi. I know things aren’t as fantastic between the two of you as everyone thinks. And I don’t know if that’s because you still haven’t forgiven her for keeping the secret about Claire, or because of your own guilt. I’m just saying that maybe when you’ve calmed down a little, when you’re less angry or hurt, maybe you should try to imagine what she’s feeling, what she’s going through because all this is not her fault. Maybe you should tell her about Belle, before she finds out from someone else, before she’s hurt even more.”
“I’m not inclined to think about anything from her side. She lied and she ruined lives, she could have told me the truth, she could have told everyone the truth a whole lot sooner.”
“You’re right, she could’ve, but she didn’t. Life is filled with ‘what ifs’ and ‘could haves’; it’s how you deal with the facts that really matters. You have to decide how you’re going to deal with that now.” She took his face between her hands, forcing him to look her in the eyes, “Listen to me. I’m not saying forget what she’s done, I’m saying try and forgive her, really forgive her. Even if you don’t stay together, even if you move on to someone else, or back to someone else, you’ll always have Zach binding you. Think of him.”
“I’ll try.” He promised; then swinging his arm over her shoulders, he walked her to the door, “Now, do you need a lift to the station?”
She shook her head, “No, I still have a few more stops to make.”
“Call me when you get to Chicago, so I know you’ve arrived safely.”
She nodded and left, closing the door behind her.
*****
She didn’t go very far; in fact she stepped across the hallway and knocked on Belle’s door. Belle opened with Claire on the arm, “Shawn, I though that was...oh, Victoria.”“Oh Belle; sorry to disappoint.” Mimicking the disappointment in Belle’s voice when she realized it was Shawn’s sister not Shawn himself who had come knocking.
“Was there something you wanted?”
“Yes, to come in.” She walked past Belle into the apartment. “I’m leaving Salem you’ll be glad to know.”
“I was never…”
“Let’s not play games here Belle. There’s no love lost between us, I know about you and Shawn, you seem to forget I walked in on the two of you. I don’t like you for it, I don’t like the way you’ve handled my brother, I don’t like the way you used Philip, I don’t like the way you messed with your best friend’s husband and I certainly don’t like the way you use your daughter to get his attention.”
“How dare you accuse…”Belle tried to interrupt, but she put a stop to it.
“I’m not done. I didn’t come here for some emotional goodbye, you’re not that important to me. So I’ll just say my piece and leave. Bo and Hope love you; they seem to think, like most of Salem does, that the sun shines out of you. We both know better, so I’m giving you a warning instead. If you hurt my brother, there will be dire consequences; I’ll make sure of that.”
“God, no wonder Max didn’t want your kid.”
“Goodbye Belle, I wish I could say it’s been a pleasure, but we both know better.”
*****
“Hi, your message sounded urgent.” Mimi, carrying both Zach, and all his baby paraphernalia, dumped herself onto the stool opposite Victoria at Java Café. “It is. I’m leaving Salem.”
“When?”
“In about an hour, I’ve just been at the pub, saying my goodbyes. I missed you at the loft, so I decided to track you down.”
“I’m glad you did, I wouldn’t want to have missed you.”
“Fight for him Mimi.”
Mimi shook her head, “We have an agreement, a year. I’m sticking to that, if he wants more, he’s going to have to be the one to ask, I’m done fighting.”
“But…”
“No, no buts. These past few weeks have been hell; you have no idea the agony we all went through praying you would make it, that you would wake up. It changed us all, heck Shawn and Chelsea are on speaking terms. If that isn’t a miracle, I don’t know what is. But we all came to realizations about our lives. I can’t hang around and wait for Shawn to forgive me, for him to decide if he still wants to be with me. If it were just me, maybe I’d fight, even though I’m convinced that I’d lose, but I have someone else to think about now.” They were both silent, then Mimi grabbed her hand, “I’m going to miss you, take care of yourself.”
Victoria nodded, “I will, and you take care too. And take care of this gorgeous nephew of mine.”
“You’re like the sister I never had; I don’t want to lose that.”
“You won’t. No matter what happens between yourself and Shawn, I’ll always be there for you.” she said with absolute certainty, by the time they left, they had both shed quite a few tears.
*****
Hope went and answered the door a bit apprehensively. Caroline had just phoned to say that Victoria had been by the Pub to say her farewells. She opened the door to find Victoria and her mother, “Come in.” was all she said.“Is dad here?” Victoria asked nervously, this was a lot harder than she’d thought it would be.
Hope nodded, “He’s in the kitchen; I’ll just go call him.” She said and disappeared into the kitchen. Moments later, both Bo and Hope were back in the living room.
Gillian stood back as Victoria walked towards them, this was something her daughter had to do on her own, she might be running back to England, but she wouldn’t leave without saying proper goodbyes and thanking her biological parents. Victoria handed Hope the box she’d been carrying, “Its photo albums of me growing up, I know you’ve seen them, but my mom…I mean; I thought you might like to have them.”
Hope smiled at her and took the box from her, “Thank you.”
“I’m sure you already know, the rumour mill in Salem is pretty effective, but I thought I’d tell you myself that I’m going home, back to England I mean. I…I umm…I wanted to come and say goodbye…you know, just to…” she ran into Bo’s arms and held onto him as though he was her salvation, he simple wrapped his arms around her and held her head to his chest as they both cried. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I…I know…I know that everyone thinks I’m just running away…But I have to go. Please understand that I have to go home…I’m going to miss you so much…” she sobbed and Bo simply held her till the tears stopped. She simply held on tighter, despite her injuries, afraid to let go.
When she finally pulled away, it was to turn to Hope. She took the box from her hands and placed it on the sofa then enveloped her in a hug so fierce; it was reminiscent of their first embrace, only much sweeter and a lot more painful. It was a bittersweet moment, Victoria didn’t cry, but she held on to Hope with the same strength that she did Bo. Hope felt like she was trying to tell her something so she simply held on to her daughter. She kissed the top of her head, breathed in her daughter’s scent for she knew that this may very well be the last time they saw each other. When Victoria looked up at her, she took her face in her hands and studied every feature, not knowing that her daughter was doing the exact same thing. “Take care of yourself.” she whispered before placing another kiss on her forehead.
Victoria smiled and pulled out of her arms, “I’ll do my best.”
“Do you want us to come with you to the train station?”
She shook her head, “I’ll be fine. Only, promise me something.”
“Anything.” Hope promised.
“Take care of them, all of them and take care of yourself.” Hope simply nodded and then let her hand go. She walked with them to the door, watched them leave and when she could no longer see them, she turned to Bo and wrapped her arms around him in exactly the same way that Victoria had moments before and cried like she hadn’t since Zack’s death. Bo held on to his Fancy Face with the knowledge that while it helped comfort, it didn’t lessen the pain.
