by Mira Toria
My washing machine just chimed. I’m going to go reunite Minnie and Mickey now. And people say I’m not a romantic.
You’ve always had my love,
Hale
PS: Please excuse my writing, it’s been too long without you and the nights are longer and colder when you’re alone.
Lyris read through the letters and found herself laughing as much as she was crying. Throughout the whole six months she thought she’d become immune to his stupid charm, but that wasn’t the case at all. The letters made her feel close to him again and her chest tightened as she held them close.
His letters weren’t romantic, but that wasn’t Hale. The letters were his thoughts at the moment he started writing and somehow she felt like she was next to him while reading them. They made her feel closer to him than any other love letter could.
This was how they were. They weren’t the most romantic people. They saw romance and love in things no one but them could understand. There was only one person on earth that would be able to write her such short, foolish letters and still make her feel as loved as she did then.
“I hate you,” she whispered and laughed through her tears. “I hate you so much I can’t help but love you for it.”
Lyris sat in her car and wondered what the criterion was for stalking because she felt like she was on a stakeout. She thought that once she had parked outside the store, she’d muster up the nerve to get out, but she gave herself way too much credit. She was petrified. Her knuckles were white from how tightly she was gripping the steering wheel.
It wasn’t as if she had driven here by accident – she knew exactly where she was going and even had a game plan in her head – but now that she was here, she couldn’t move out of the car.
“Lyris?” West sounded confused on the other end when he picked up her call. “What’s up?”
“Evey’s in a meeting and I don’t want to bother her, but West, I’m really scared.”
“And you need Super West to come save you?” He chuckled at his own joke.
“I need you to tell me I’m not crazy.” Lyris exhaled. “I’m outside Hale’s shop.”
“Maybe I need to rescue Hale instead.”
“West!” She couldn’t stop the laugh that slipped out and she felt some of her tension slip away. “I know that you and Hale have been speaking since our break up, but this isn’t weird, is it? Is it weird that I’m coming to you about him?”
“What’s weird are the things you think are weird,” West muttered. “What the hell goes on in that head of yours, Lyris?”
“I want to see him,” she said in a small voice. Just the thought of it made her heart skip. “But what if he doesn’t want to see me? I would actually be that pathetic ex-girlfriend that shows up at work. Would you be breaking some sort of bro code if you told me?”
“You girls seem to think we actually have rules about shit like this.” West sounded like he was a few seconds from rolling his eyes. “Hale and I don’t really talk too much about you, Ly. I can’t really tell you too much about it, but I do know he would be happy to see you.”
She swallowed hard and hoped West wasn’t just humouring her. “Really?”
“Don’t ask me why he’d be happy though. He must’ve been dropped on the head as a kid.”
“I love getting pep talks from you.”
“Love you too, Ly.” West chuckled on the other end. “And if you’re wondering, I don’t think Hale’s going to throw away the BFF necklace I got him because you confided in me.”
Taking a deep breath after hanging up the call, Lyris headed towards Vintage Cellars. When she entered the shop, she wasn’t expecting it to be so inviting. It looked exactly like a vintage cellar. The colours of red and brown wood brought in a warm ambiance to the shop without being too much. The wine themselves were stored in what looked like wooden crates, Lyris highly doubted they were just wooden crates found on the side of alleys, and other liquors and spirits were placed neatly on wooden tables or wooden barrels that all had colours that complimented the vibe of the store.
Lyris was impressed and it just made her that much more nervous to face him – what if he had moved on? It wasn’t impossible. People move on regularly and it wasn’t as if they were exclusive considering she’d only read his letters a few days ago. She was interrupted from her thoughts when someone greeted her from behind.
“Lyris!” Leon came from behind the counter and hugged her. “You look amazing!”
If there was anyone that could’ve made her feel more at ease in that moment, it was Leon. “I didn’t know you were working!”
“I just come in randomly to see how it’s going,” Leon admitted. He shrugged off her surprise and beamed, showing her around. “But what do you think of this place? I wanted to show you before but . . .”
Seeing a slightly flustered Leon was new. “You guys did a beautiful job with the place,” she said, gesturing around the shop. “Everything here looks so welcoming. I can see how lucky Hale is to have you as a partner.”
“I make a point in reminding him daily.”
“Now that I can believe,” she laughed. As she walked around with Leon, she caught a record player sitting in the corner. “Hale’s idea, isn’t it?”
“You know him well.” Leon watched her carefully. “Why didn’t you assume it was me?”
“He likes records because he swears they have a more organic sound,” she said absentmindedly. Being in this shop made her feel close to him, but seeing his own personal touch in the store made her even more aware that he was close by.
“I’m going to grab a bottle for you to sample,” Leon said slowly. It sounded like he was planning something, but Lyris wasn’t bothered to figure out what. She was still trying to figure out what she wanted to say to Hale if she saw him.
“I should’ve known you’d go for the chardonnays.”
She spun around and her heart leapt to her throat as she saw Hale again for the first time in six months. He still looked the same as before with the sleek simplicity of a black dress shirt.
“I knew it was someone special considering Leon hardly stays late for anyone.” Hale grinned and poured some into a glass for her to taste. “I doubt he’d open this bottle for anyone.”
She wasn’t really listening to what Hale was saying because whatever plan she had in her head went right out the window the second she saw him.
Six months and butterflies still manifested in her stomach, fluttering about and letting her know that she wasn’t just happy to see Hale. She was downright nervous.
He watched her curiously. “You’re awfully quiet.”
How could he just stand there looking so casual? Lyris wanted to scream out in frustration. How could he look so indifferent, like she was just anyone else? Is that what she’d become – just another person to him?
A sinking feeling fell in her stomach until she noticed him shuffling his feet and rubbing the back of his neck. He only did those things when he was nervous. She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of their situation – two nervous wrecks standing in front of one another.
“I got your letters.” She tried to keep her jaw from shaking before she started talking again. “And I just wanted to say that I loved you.”
Silence took over before Hale asked in a low voice, “You loved me?”
“Don’t interrupt and just let me talk, okay?” She knew that she wouldn’t be able to get through everything if he did. “I loved you.” Confidence fuelled her adrenaline and resolve. “I loved you more than I ever thought I could love someone and I thought you felt the same.
“I never had to worry about everything I was afraid of when I was with you. Then the whole Annabelle situation happened and every single thing I had been scared of started to drag me under. I let it drag me under until there was a point where I had to save myself. I couldn’t let something or someone control my life.
“I’m someone that falls in love so hard and so fast, I lose track of who I am. When I’m
out of the relationship, I have a hard time adjusting and remembering who I was. But this time,” she said, “this time I wanted – no – I had to prove to myself and everyone else that I could survive without you.”
Hale had been listening to her quietly the whole time, but his eyes hardened when it became clear what she wanted to say. She shook her head to remind him that he promised to let her talk, even if he didn’t want to hear it.
“I did it. I got back up from my café burning and losing you. I didn’t lose myself in the process. I can stand on my own two feet without having to lean on you. But,” she smiled when she saw confusion flash in his eyes. “But I found out being by yourself isn’t fun. There’s no one I can sneak fries from whenever I choose wrong between curly and regular. I can’t pout to just anyone so that they eat more of the pralines while I gorge out on the ice cream.
“It’s insane – it really shouldn’t be like this – but is it possible for me to love you more now than I did before? What we had before seems so naive, like we thought we were running, but really we were only learning how to crawl.
“I’m so sorry for making you wait, but I needed to know whether or not I could do this without you. I can, but I don’t want to. I want to do this with you, Hale.”
He was leaning on the table with his arms uncrossed, not looking happy at all. His voice was gruff and cool. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Lyris’ eyes darted to the left and right in confusion. “No?”
“Do you think it’s funny to come in here after six months only to fuck around with my head and then to tell me you want us to get back together?” Hale’s jaw clenched tightly as he continued to speak. “Why would you do something like that?”
“I thought – ” She was at a complete loss for words.
She never thought he would react like this. It was embarrassing, but in truth she wanted this to end up like the movies. A moment where he says he was wrong and then crosses the room to kiss her. Apparently that wasn’t going to happen because when she really thought about it, Hale did anything she expected and that was something she had loved him for. But this time it might be the reason why everything was blowing up like a bad science experiment.
“You thought wrong, didn’t you?” he said coolly. “You don’t live in the movies, Lyris.”
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I never – I really never thought that – this wasn’t what I wanted.” Her voice was meek and she was mortified. “You – I’ll show myself out,” she said, glancing at the door. “I’m so sorry for wasting your time and shit, I am just really really sorry –”
Before she could say anything else, Hale took three long strides across the room towards her. At first she thought he was actually going to throw her out, but she was wrong.
So happily wrong.
He crushed his mouth on hers, taking away any coherent thought as he parted his mouth beneath hers. Her heart palpitated and heat cradled her, holding and filling to her toes, amplifying his touch and making her lightheaded.
She felt the familiar grooves of his body as her hands made their way up his chest, sighing happily against him as he deepened the kiss. He tangled one of his hands in her hair and the other pressed the small of her back, moulding him closer to him.
After what felt like forever but still not long enough, they parted. Though they weren’t kissing anymore, Hale still didn’t open his eyes as he rested his forehead on hers.
She giggled and looped her forefingers to the belt loops on Hale’s pants. Swaying her hips side to side, she nudged him gently. “You’re an ass, you know that, right?”
“So I’ve been told,” he laughed. His voice was gruff but she could hear affection coming out, so different from how he sounded earlier. “Am I forgiven?”
She was still breathless, but she managed to get a few words out before kissing him again. “You’re forgiven for the Annabelle issue, not so much the shit you just pulled.”
“The shit I just pulled? Babe, you laid out the cards and all I did was play.” He laughed and Lyris bit her bottom lip as she resisted the urge to pull herself up against him and do something that would violate every health regulation.
“I just thought it would make for a cute story when we tell Evey and West about it,” she explained. “So sue me for wanting a dramatic reunion.”
“It was dramatic.” His shoulders relaxed as his fingers dug into her. “Lyris, I don’t give a fuck if this is a hallucination. I can’t even tell you how much I’ve missed you.”
“That is what you should’ve told me after my little speech.” Even though she tried to sound peeved, she still couldn’t stop smiling as her arms wrapped around him. Leaning into his shoulder, she knew this was their moment. It was so Hale to do something like this – just after she thought she had figured him out, he would do something to throw her off.
She was pressed against him, almost uncomfortably so, but she didn’t want to move. She did not want to move in case everything turned out to be a dream. “Are we crazy for wanting to do this again?” she whispered. “If you think about it, we’re kind screwed up.”
“Do you know anyone else you’ll want to fuck up with in the future?”
She felt his laughter against her body and she couldn’t help but join in. “If I do, I might want to start seeing if there are any lonely poets because that was awful,” she giggled.
“Sorry girl, I plan on sticking around for a long time.” He gripped her even tighter. “At least long enough to hear about some of your infamous blind date stories.”
“The next time you let me leave, I’m going to test out how well I’ve been doing in the shooting range. Just kidding,” she added, seeing his shock as he pulled away. “Sort of.”
Lyris stirred and her heart halted for a moment when she realised she wasn’t sleeping alone. Before she could react, a bleak reminder popped up in her head – it was only Hale. After two weeks of getting back together, she still hadn’t become accustomed to waking up next to him.
“Please don’t jab your fingers into my throat again,” Hale mumbled sleepily, waking up from Lyris’ sudden movement. “I’m lucky I didn’t lose my voice or die the first time.”
“Sorry,” she whispered. “It’s still weird waking up next to you.”
Hale pulled the covers up to his neck and turned away from her like a child. “Not exactly what anyone wants to hear, so I’m going to pretend this is a nightmare.”
“It’s nine in the morning,” she told him. Stretching her arms, she flopped herself over him and kissed the top of his nose. “And it might be weird waking up next to you, but it’s still not a bad way to start my morning. I suppose I could do a lot worse.”
Hale’s eyes were half open, but he was smiling slightly. “My pride’s wounded.”
“It could do with a few punctures,” she said, sliding off him and wrapping her arms around his torso. “But I’ll be the big spoon this time so you’ll just have to forgive me.”
“I just have to?” Hale turned and locked his fingers with her, eyes still closed. “I don’t know Ly, I feel used and cheap being so easily won over.”
She’d only been awake less than ten minutes and somehow he already had her smiling for the majority of the time. He knew how to piss her off – that was certain – but he made up for it on days like this and on days he surprised her.
When she came home one night, she found her Minnie sock on her bed and Mickey right next to it and a note from him, telling her how the two of them were clean and that they were ready to help her take on the world, one foot at a time.
“Okay fine,” she rolled her eyes. “But it’s a little early in the morning for what you’re thinking about.”
“How do you know what I’m thinking?”
“Because it’s about 80% of what you think about,” she teased him.
“See, I’m so used.” He flicked her nose and smirked. “I’m just here for you to satisfy yourself at night and when you wake up in the morning, i
t’s as if you expect me to be gone.”
“Don’t pull a Cinderella on me right after the fun ends.” She tried to make it light, but it came out a little more serious than she intended and he wasn’t fooled.
“I’ll be sure to pull a Hansel and Gretel if I ever have to leave so you can always find me and test out your shooting skills,” he said. “Besides, do you really believe I’d think about leaving after what happened last night?”
A bright red blush crept up Lyris’ cheeks and she kicked his shin before making a shushing sound. “You’re so loud!”
“Not compared to you last night I wasn’t,” he said, his eyes bright with a mischievous glint.
“Hale!”
The wicked gleam she was so used to seeing came back in his eyes as he pinched her cheeks before running his hand along the side of her body. “You definitely said that a few times, but it was with a different sense of urgency.”
She arched her back and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of his hands on her. Heat pitted at the bottom of her stomach and she couldn’t believe she would have the energy to do anything, especially with what happened last night. She was starting to get back into it when he stopped abruptly.
“Now you’re just being a tease,” Lyris grumbled.
Hale ignored her and crawled on her bed to pick something up. “Why does this have my name on it?” he asked.
Her earlier frustration disappeared when a smile pulled at her mouth. “I’ve had that for a while. I guess it slipped my mind.” Her heart beat erratically against her chest for some reason, like she was nervous about the present all over again even though it’d been almost a year since she bought it. “It was supposed to be for your birthday that year. Remember how I forgot to bring it and you refused to drive me home to get it?”
Hale didn’t say anything and instead just stared at the present like he wasn’t sure what to do next.
