Of Chance and Providence PV Angel D

It seemed like forever before Evander merely stared at her. Years had silently passed between them, turning those childhood memories into bits that often seemed imaginary. But regardless of the time that had passed between them and all the people he had met along the way, the recognition happened as easily as breathing. The time had left marks on her face and on her appearance but had done very little to change the girl that had used to run with him across the woods, her hands full of earth and her laughter ringing in the forest.

"I have." he replied, barely louder than the noise around him. "Longer than I ever thought I would wait." A slight smile curved his mouth, but his eyes remained distant. There was affection there, of course, but also caution. He had replayed this scene in his head hundreds of times over the years, often while sitting under the old oak tree where they used to meet in secret. But now that she was here in front of him, he couldn't think of any of those speeches or questions or maybe even complaints. "I..." He laughed softly in spite of himself. "I thought I was imagining things for a moment."

He fidgeted with the strap of his satchel, which was probably unnecessary; he was always able to control himself easily. Now, however, that didn't seem to be the case. "So many years..." he said quietly to himself. It had been so long since he last saw her. Years of birthdays and summers had passed in between, and somewhere during the years, he had talked himself into thinking that she had just forgotten him. However, as he stared into her eyes, the certainty that he had been feeling began to lose its hold on him. He became softening with his eyes.

"Angel, I have missed you." The admission came from his mouth easily, as if it did not cost him anything at all. There was no trace of bitterness in the admission, as if trying to make her carry the burden of his years of loneliness. Just pure truth. Truth for one who once knew everything about him.

𝔬𝔬𝔠 𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔢𝔰 This is the calm before the stormmm
(mentioning @Chatt Auclair for magnanimously making the melancholic banner)

The name seemed to hit him harder than he thought it would. Evan. How long had it been since someone had used his name? He laughed lightly; a warm laugh, one that brought about a loosening in his shoulders. For the first time in meeting her, he realized that the gap between then and now might not be as unbridgeable as he thought.

"I guess I deserved that..." he confessed, touching his hand to his head. "But I hope I have grown a bit." His smile lingered on before fading slightly. "You remembered."

It wasn't a question. In the child-like innocence of his tone, it seemed that he had managed to convince himself that those years belonged to him alone. Perhaps he had been the only one who carried them with him.

His eyes moved to the stone floor between them before moving back to her. He could see the slight smile, the hesitation behind the composed façade. She had not changed as much as she might have thought herself to have done. She still weighed each word before letting it out.

"I used to wonder..." he said softly, "if I had imagined it all." Those afternoons walking in the woods. The summers where time had somehow become too fast to be true. The conversations under the big oak tree. They were such alive moments in his mind that after all those years, it began to feel as if those memories did not belong to him at all, but to somebody else.

"When you stopped coming..." And he hesitated, choosing each word carefully. "I was thinking that maybe life had just taken you elsewhere. You were busy, then you had just forgotten me, and finally..." He made an embarrassed smile. "Finally, I have stopped guessing."

There was nothing in his voice that blamed. Just the quiet sad tone of a boy who waited for so long that waiting became something natural. "But looking at you here..." His eyes were now meeting hers, softer than earlier. "I'm glad we both have those memories."

For just a moment, the Great Hall with all its commotion became distant. "I'm not angry, Angel." His lips curved in another smile. "I don't think that I can be ...But I suppose I’ll always demand an explanation one day or another." These words contained just the faintest hint of mockery, reminiscent of the young man she had known all her life. Someone who, in spite of it all, had chosen to embrace her return.

𝔬𝔬𝔠 𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔢𝔰 I'm loving thiz sm
(mentioning @Chatt Auclair for magnanimously making the melancholic banner)