The Reunion

Ayalla nodded at Vanessa's words, chuckling a bit as finally eating, well anything that wasn't a cube, was nice. She smiled at Darren as he took the piece, nodding as he just thanked her. She took the drink that Gareth offered, taking a good gulp before handing it back. She leaned her head slightly against his shoulder, eating as she thought of how strange it would be to wake up from this dream right now. This was her true home, surrounded by her friends, and even if that to some seemed strange, she knew it was the place for her. However the bubble seemed to pop slightly at the mention of the chips that would be inserted into both her and Vanessa. Darren's comment made Ayalla shrug, perhaps because she didn't see Samuel as some great villain. But maybe she was biased on that front.
"He should've done it way before we left the facility, he was just thinking that his words would hold value in the real world," Ayalla said, turning to look up at Vanessa with a faint smile. "I mean, if I was running such a big corporation I would make sure to know everything all the time, but also entrusting some people with management - To me it seems like Samuel has a hard time letting go of his responsibilities," she said, maybe reading too much in to it. She shook her head, leaning back against Gareth. Just thinking like Samuel should or shouldn't could give her a headache. "However he'll have a hard time finding material that I won't be able to mess with," she said with a small smirk. Of course she knew that the daemon had almost unlimited sources, but making a fully functioning chip without any sort of metal would be hard.
Ethan had remained silent for the most part, taking in the fact that Vanessa was going to get put on more surveillance. It hurt him, and Samuel's words were ringing in his head. He was afraid of what it would mean, and to what extend would that chip monitor her? What if it kept track of her heart rate and could see when she was happy or sad? He had no doubt in his mind that Samuel would try and make Vanessa as miserable as he could. "I'm not giving up on you," he mumbled in to Vanessa's ear, closing his eyes as he just held an arm around her, his forehead against her temple.
Ayalla was finishing up a couple of her last pieces, but she felt like she could hardly get anything more down her throat, placing the chopsticks on the small tray and breathing out in a sigh. She was full and happy, but she still felt like there was some talking to do. "Dare, do you have a minute?" she asked, moving to her feet, holding out her hand for him to take. They could just go to her room to talk, and if he followed her, she turned around to look at him after closing the door. "I know you might be angry, alright, but I thought it was the only way," she started out explaining, not sure if he knew much more than what Gareth had let slip.

Ethan sighed, nodding because he knew that it wouldn't be pretty once Samuel found out what they had been doing. He felt a little lost, but Vanessa seemed to continue eating, and his attention turned to the TV as if to zone out for a bit. It did help clearing his thoughts before he looked down at Gareth with a frown. "What'ya finking 'bout?" he asked, furrowing his brows as he wasn't quite sure if the daemon would ever disclose his true thoughts and feelings. However Ethan had seen the genuine relief of Ayalla being back, however he worried that once the hybrid made up her mind, it would break their friend group somewhat.
Ayalla smiled apologetically as he mentioned how she had kissed him. She nodded, but she had kissed him because he had made her feel so happy despite how bad she should've felt. "Did you worry I left because it was a bad kiss?" she asked, trying to make the situation a bit more light but she sighed, walking closer to him and wrapping her arms around him. "I guess I was lost too," she mumbled, holding him close. It was a strange place to be at. She knew she loved Gareth, because her heart still ached for him whenever he was around. However Darren had snuck up on her, infiltrating her mind and feelings unlike any other. "I know how you feel about me ... And truth is I do love you Darren," she said, pulling her face away from him to look him in the eyes. "But I also love Gareth, and I'm not one to play games or toy with other people's emotions," she said, breathing out in a heavy sigh. It was quite the predicament she had to come to terms with.
She let go of him slowly, but her touch was still lingering on him. "I honestly don't know what to do," she confessed. It would've been so much easier if he could just read her mind, see that she was torn in so many ways.

It was pretty normal for the daemon to dismiss him when he had a lot on his mind, so he simply nodded. Ethan chuckled lightly as he saw Vanessa get progressively more and more drowsy, thanking Gareth for catching the tray before getting on his feet. "I'll put this one to bed then," he said, lifting Vanessa up from her seat, planting a sweet kiss against her temple. He knew he should chill it with the affection, but when she was looking this cute it was very hard for him to contain himself. Moving in to the bedroom he looked around at the room that was still way too neat, even with Vanessa's rearrangements. "Ya look so cute," he chuckled, as he placed her down on her bed, helping her if she wanted some of the clothes off. Leaning down he pressed his lips to hers, smiling a bit as he nuzzled his nose to hers. "Sleep ... I'll be in when we're done," he promised her.

"But how can I be happy if I hurt one of you?" she mumbled, looking at Darren as her green eyes searched his. She could see the hurt in his eyes, see that he wished it was more simple. Or maybe she was just reflecting what she was feeling herself. If you had asked her before she had gotten to know the human like she had, she would've known her answer right away. But he had been what she needed when her heart was aching, and somehow he had managed to nudge himself into it as well. "I wish I could split myself in two, but I don't think it would help a lot," she chuckled, breathing out through her nose in a heavy sigh as she closed her eyes. Had her and Vanessa really gone toe to toe like that just for her not to choose Gareth? And what about those feelings that she did have for Darren, were they just to be discarded? Sadly it seemed like no-one had the answer. "I just don't want to break up a friendship and ruin the group," she then said, opening her eyes to look at the human in front of her.
"Just ... Whatever I decide to do, promise me you won't just disappear out of my life," she then said, moving her hands up to hold the ones he had on her cheeks. Giving his fingers a light squeeze it was clear that she hadn't made up her mind yet, but she knew she had to eventually. "C'mon ... If we don't go back soon Ethan won't stop teasing me for a long time," she said, pulling a slight smile. Moving out in to the living room once more, she felt like her heart was heavier than before. She looked at Gareth, wrapping her arms around herself. She really loved him, but could she manage if he broke her heart again? "I'm getting a little tired," she confessed, feeling so naked when she didn't have her hair to hide her emotions behind.

"That's fair, Vane passed out too," Ethan chuckled, looking towards the bedroom door to hear if she said anything. However when it was just silent he turned his eyes back on Darren. "You staying the night too?" he asked. He knew he was staying and Gareth wasn't looking like a guy with a plan to move any time soon.

Ethan chuckled as it was rather tempting just to crawl in to bed with her already, but he also felt like he needed to be there for the others in some way. And with the way Gareth were acting he wasn't sure if it was him or Darren that annoyed him.

Ayalla looked up at Gareth as he came closer, his touch making her melt a little as she still felt rather overwhelmed at how he just so openly showed it. Had he really meant it all? But where should he sleep? She knew the answer, but she also knew that Darren didn't like it, but she needed him close, needed to feel Gareth hold her and make her have a good night's sleep. "As close as I can have you," she confessed in a soft whisper, her eyes showing how much she was hurting from all the things she had gone through. Moving a hand up, she placed it against his cheek, looking at the grey blue eyes she had come to be so familiar with. Ethan of course had to come and ask the question everyone was wondering, making her feel guilty. Darren's words made her nod. "No, no it's fine, of course you can stay," she said. If only she could split herself in two and be with both at once.

Ethan nodded at Darren's words, but frowned a little. What was going on in these people's minds? He knew that his friend knew to some degree, but was he really wanting to stay here if Ayalla and Gareth was in another room together? "Well, uhm, goodnight then - Ya know where ev'ry fing is," he just said, feeling a little weirded out by the situation so he went to the bedroom. Vanessa was sleeping soundly, and he chuckled as he rid himself of his pants and shirt, crawling under the covers to her and pulling her in to her arms. "Ello cutie," he whispered, kissing her forehead before closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep.

Ayalla looked after Darren as he went to the kitchen. She sighed, leaning her head against Gareth's chest. "I love you," she whispered, looking up at the tall daemon, not expecting an answer, but just letting him know. "I'll make the couch cozy for him, be in in a minute," she promised, moving out of his small embrace to fold out the couch that doubled as a guest bed. Finding a good blanket and a few good pillows as well before walking over to a drawer and finding some headphones for him. Then she walked in to the kitchen, watching him pack away the leftovers. "I don't know if you still listen to music before you fall asleep, but I've put some spare headphones on the couch for you," she said, looking down as she wasn't quite sure what to say other than that.

Gareth smiled at her confession and nodded. He didnt really care much if this was annoying Darren, he was done hiding it by now. He'd rather see her happy than being mindful of those around them, at least right now. He leaned his head into her hand but resisted the urge to just lean forward and kiss her, because that would definitely a reaction. He instead placed a hand over hers and turned his head to kiss her palm.
"Yeah yeah, g'night, and all that shite," Darren mumbled as he went into the kitchen. Gareth's eyes followed him for a second but then he wrapped an arm around Ayalla as she leaned against him. Her whisper made him swallow but he did whisper it back in a gentle tone. It wasnt something he was used to, but he thought he could adjust. "I'll wait for you," he promised her with a kiss to her temple before he went to her room.
Darren had finished packing and was in the middle of throwing out the one-time use containers. He looked at Ayalla and nodded at her words about the earphones. "Thank you," he said with a trying smile. He really didnt want her to feel awkward regardless what he was feeling about it all. He hadnt been lying when he said he just wanted her to be happy. "You should go sleep instead of feeling bad for me, yeah?" he chuckled, raising his eyebrows a little at her.

"To be fair it would be a lot easier if you didn't have those puppy dog eyes," she said, smiling softly as she breathed out. She was terribly tired, but she still had so much she needed to tell Gareth about. Moving closer she leaned in, placing a kiss against his cheek. "Sleep tight," she mumbled before walking to her room.
Once inside she looked at her bed, feeling like it had been ages since she had seen it last. Then she looked at the daemon, walking over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck before pulling him down in to a kiss. Pressing her body close to his, she sighed softly against his lips, kissing him again. "Sorry ... I just missed you," she mumbled apologetically, but she wasn't really sorry. She had missed how he felt, how his long fingers figged in to her sides when she kissed him just right. "I feel like I have so much to tell you, and yet I don't know where to start," she confessed in a timid voice, looking at his eyes with a bit of confusion to them. He had whispered back that he loved her, but she didn't know if he said it just to please her or if he meant it. Moving over to her bed she removed her shirt and pants, simply dropping them on the floor. Even though it had felt like a relief to wear her own clothes, it was much more a relief not to wear anything. Crawling under the covers, she urged him to join her, snuggling up to her, letting her head rest on his chest. Just hearing his heart was enough to make her eyes feel wet.
"I'm not sorry for what I did ... But I'm sorry that it hurt you," she whispered, looking up at him in the dim light coming in from the outside. Her fingers running over his bare chest, she felt like she knew where each tattoo was.

"Oh fuck right off with them puppy eyes," Darren scoffed in a chuckle shaking his head gesturing her for to go on already. He knew they could just catch up any other time and frankly it did feel slightly awkward if she lingered when she would be lying in Gareth's arms in a bit. She leaned in to kiss his cheek and it made him sigh while his emotions just felt like a jumble. Luckily those pills were deafening the mental activity around them, so he didnt have to deal with that too. "You too, A," he said sincerely, watching her go before he laid down on the couch with a thump and covered his face with his arm. He pulled out his phone to check for messages before he drifted off to sleep.

Gareth was just leaning against her desk, getting up as she entered, not seemingly minding that she walked over to wrap her arms around him. He placed his hands against her lower back and pressed her closer as he returned the kiss. "It's okay babes," he said in a soft chuckle, rubbing his thumbs against her back in soft sweeps. "I know I know," he whispered in a soft tone, looking at her with eyes that didnt seem much worried about catching up. He leaned down to kiss her forehead. "We've got all the time in the world, aight?" he assured her, letting her go to let her undress. He did the same, lying down next to her to let her snuggle up to him. He placed his hand around her shoulder and caressed it gently, looking up at ceiling for a bit before he looked at her. Her whisper made him look at her, sighing deeply as he lifted a hand to touch her bald head. "Maybe I deserved it for treating you like shit. I just havent felt this way for someone in a long fucking time, and I guess it scared me," he explained, looking at her with serious eyes. "What hurt me the most was knowing you were punishing yourself for something that wasnt your fault. That Samuel took advantage of your small moment of weakness," he said, grabbing her hand on his chest to just hold onto it, looking at it and seeing how skinny she had become. "I just want you to be happy," he mumbled, frowning a little to himself before looking at her with soft eyes. He wasnt exactly the kind to get sentimental so this was rare.

Frankly Ayalla didn't know how to feel about how she had acted. She had almost expected for him to still be angry, and she would've deserved every part of that anger, however he seemed to be more caring. Had something happened while she was away?
"I don't know ... I guess it was just seeing you with that random girl like I really was nothing more than that; How Vanessa got so angry and Darren I hurt just because I couldn't do anything," she sighed. It had all been a culmination of everything, and honestly she felt like such a teenager. She hadn't known what else to do. The way he was touching her, feeling strange that he was actually caressing her bald head made her feel out of place. It had just been so long since she had gotten to feel like this, feel how he held her close when no-one was looking, making her feel that love she hungered for.
"What you said at the club; Did you mean that? That you actually want or wanted to try us?" she asked, feeling his heart beat against her fingers. She looked down at his hand holding hers, seeing how he was actually wearing the ring she had given him despite it all. Had he kept it on all this time or only put it on for today? "I don't need to be in a relationship with you to love you, you know," she admitted, frowning at her own words before shaking her head, looking up at him in the dark. She wanted him to be happy as well, and if he didn't truly want to be with her, she wasn't going to force him. Being robbed of ones freedom, even if it had been voluntarily, gave her some perspective.

He listened to her, nodding a few times before he leaned his head towards her and kissed the top of her head gently. He let his lips linger, closing his eyes for a second as he thought it through. "I guess a part of me wanted to make you feel that way because it felt easier than to deal with how I was feeling about you. And then the thought of someone else making you happy just got to me," he said, not knowing if it made much sense, but it was how it had been.
Her question made him lift his head as he looked at her and shifted between her eyes for a second. "Yes," he said sincerely, moving his hand down to gently hold the back of her neck, massaging her with soft touches. "I just dont know how to do that though. It's been so long since I had to think about relationships and shit..." he said, frowning a little as it was clear that he had a want to try but at the same time, he didnt want it to just end up with him hurting her. Her confession made him look at her with a bit of a puzzled look. "What do you think we should do then? Because I know you also love Darren, so I cant just ask you to let go of whatever you have with him," he asked, because he didnt really know.

It made sense, of course it did, and if Ayalla had any chance at doing the same she would've. Only thing was that she would have been bad at pretending. She felt a bit of relief as he said he had meant those words, feeling the butterflies in her stomach fly wildly, her heart beating faster. "You're talking to the secluded experiment girl who has never been in any type of relationship," she said with a small shrug. Life hadn't been fair, but Gareth had been real to her. Everything he had done with her, even if it had hurt her, had given her insight in to herself. She knew that she loved him, and that she would regardless of him hurting her. Maybe it was naïve, but frankly it was the truth. He brought up the fact that they were now at a crossroads, and the fact that he knew she loved Darren too. "I think I love him differently," she said. When she had kissed Darren it had felt good, but it had been temporarily. Afterwards she didn't know how to feel about it, because it wasn't really a romantic love like the one she felt for Gareth, she just didn't have the vocabulary to express that without sounding like a bitch.
"I want to try the whole relationship with you ... I know how Darren feels, but I also know that he understands that what I feel for you isn't something he could ever compare to," she admitted, frowning as she now felt cruel. But then again, how could she really move around this delicately when she had never tried anything like it? "We don't have to go all out public if you don't want to; I just want to be able to be with you in any way that you can," she confessed.

"Differently?" he asked with a small confused frown because he wasnt sure if that was true. Surely there was something more, he could quite easily see it before. But maybe it was his jealousy or maybe he had just read her wrong during those times until the narrative was fitting whatever he thought of it. "We can try out the relationship stuff.. But honestly, you do make me wish I was the kind of guy who could settle down just like that," he said with a scoff because he was being truthful. It was something that he wanted but he also couldnt just lie to her and make her believe that it would just all be sunshine and happiness from here on out. "I promise that I'll do better than last time," he said because that he could promise. He leaned closer to kiss her head, sighing deeply as he looked up at the ceiling. "But I want you to promise something too," he said, frowning a little as he wasnt quite sure how she would react to his words. "I want you to untangle yourself from all that shit with Samuel. I know that there are certain things that you cant free yourself from. But he's nothing but bad news. And I'm not really looking into jumping into things and then have my heart broken," he explained, hoping that he wasnt saying something that didnt make sense.

Ayalla nodded. She had had more than enough time to contemplate it all while she had been held in the facility. She loved Darren, she cared about him and wanted to be there for him, but thinking back she felt like the kiss she had given him hadn't been bearing the meaning it should've. "Who said anything about settling down? We don't need to be boring or start living in the suburbs," she chuckled softly. Ayalla was not one to slow down, sure she knew she at some point wanted something that resembled a family. Not that it had to be in the traditional way, she just wanted something that felt like family.
He promised to do better, and she nodded, letting him kiss her head, even though she still felt rather insecure about her bald head. His next words made her frown too, looking at him as he spoke about untangling herself from Samuel. What did he think she had with him, besides her trying to make a deal with him? "I'll try," she promised, reaching down to take his hand, looking at the ring on his finger that she had given him. It still amazed her that he had kept it, that he still wore it. "I don't want to fuck this up, alright, I want this to work," she assured him, giving his hand a small squeeze.

Ayalla yawned, nodding as she nuzzled herself closer to him. Being away from him for so long, not having anyone to even touch had made her starved for any sort of comforting touches. "Don't go anywhere," she mumbled tiredly, before falling asleep close to him. Her dreams were mostly peaceful, for once in a long time, and it was like her body knew that Gareth was there beside her, making her lips pull up in a faint smile.

//End of topic <3 To be continued!//