A siren rang in the distance as Julian walked his way down the street. It was nothing foreign to hear a sound such as that in the south side, and having grown up straddling the line between the north and south, he was more than used to it. Even after not being in town for several years, nothing had really changed, or at least not enough for it to matter.
With every block, every house was just the same, albeit slightly aged, and every business was still just as worn down. He gradually made his way toward the business side of town, hands shoved in his pockets as he walked, hood pulled up over his head to break the chill of the autumn air.
Julian rounded one last corner, approaching the entrance of a local diner of sorts, Patsy's Pies. They'd always had some of the best pies, along with food that tasted as homemade as restaurant food could. Stepping inside, the male looked around, choosing a table and taking a seat.
After a few moments, a waitress came over to bring him a menu and take his drink order. She informed him that they were in the middle of a shift change, that his server would be with him soon. Julian thanked her and started to look over the menu, though he knew in his mind that he'd undoubtedly order the same burger and fries that he always did.
A few more minutes passed, and soon, he saw a new waitress approaching him. Apart from seeing that a woman in a Patsy's uniform was heading his way, he didn't take notice to much else. He had a full day planned, and he had only wanted to stop for a bite to eat, so that was his focus in that moment.
"Hi, thanks for waiting. What can I get for you?" the brunette asked, and Julian froze.
He would know that voice anywhere. Though it sounded a bit aged, that voice had been burned into his brain from the time he was fifteen, and it was impossible to forget. He should know, after all, he'd definitely tried.
Lowering his menu, he looked up at the female, eyes questioning as he took in the sight of her. It had been over five years since he'd really seen her, and she still looked just as good as he remembered. Life had worn her down, he could tell, but if there was anything that he knew about Fiona Gallagher, it was that life could never keep her down.
"Fiona?" Julian questioned, noting in his mind how stupid it was to question that it could truly be her. Who else would it be?
"Julian! Holy shit, it's been what, years? How are things?" Fiona asked, her head tilting with the question.
The two hadn't parted on bad terms, per se, yet it hadn't been a great way to end things, either. The two had been together when Fiona dropped out of school, and from that point on, they seemed to gradually fall out of touch until eventually, the only time that they spoke was when they'd run into each other in public.
After high school, Julian left Chicago, heading off to college and to begin a life for himself. It wasn't until a day ago that he'd returned, intent on spending some time reminiscing on his past, among other things. He had no idea, however, just how much of his past would come out to play.
"Things are.. things are good," he replied with a little chuckle, eyes roaming over her frame, then back to her face. "I'm back in town for a little while. It seems like the same old neighborhood," he spoke, taking a glance out of the window, then back in her direction.
"It might as well be," Fiona laughed lightly, nodding. "Some things have changed, but it's definitely the same old south side," she shrugged. Shaking her head as she looked him over, she noted all of the small changes about him. He had some facial hair now, when before he'd always kept himself clean shaven for school. It suited him.
Despite any changes, Fiona observed that he definitely still had the same soft eyes. They'd always differed from the persona he put forth to anyone who would accept it — that he was tough, an asshole, someone not to fuck with. While that was true, Fiona had known the other side of him, the side that was warm, that showed he cared, and was fiercely protective of not only himself, but her too.
Fiona shook her head, realizing that she'd allowed herself to trail off into her own thoughts. "Did you know what you wanted, or did you still need more time?" she asked, gesturing to his menu.
Julian looked down at the menu, closing it a second later. "Yeah, just the classic burger and fries, please." He passed the menu back to her, which she took and nodded, taking note of what he wanted in her mind.
"Okay, I'll get that order in for you," she spoke with a little smile, then started to walk away.
"Fiona," Julian called, causing her to stop in her tracks. Turning on her heel, she moved back to his table, "Yeah?" she asked, curious if she'd forgotten something.
"Are you busy? Or can you come back and catch up once you put that order in?" It was a long shot, but he hadn't seen her in years, and he wanted to talk with her more and see how things had really been for her within that time.
Fiona bit down on the inside of her cheek, shifting from one foot to the other as she thought it over. She had gotten this job as a favor from her parole officer, and though the manager liked her, the last thing that she needed was to screw it up. She'd already seen just how much of a challenge it had been to get a job with her record.
"I'll try, yeah. I don't know how long I'll be able to stay at a time, but I can try?" she spoke, tilting her head as she waited to see if that would be alright with him.
Julian thought for a moment, "What time do you get off?" he asked.
"Ten," Fiona responded, nose scrunching a little at the fact. She doubted that he'd want to waste his time with her that late at night.
He nodded in response, thinking it over. After all, it was only lunch time, and he did other things planned for the main part of the day. "Do you have plans then? I could pick you up," he suggested.
Fiona hummed a bit in thought, thinking it over. It would be nice to have a ride, though she wasn't sure she should push it too far with how late she stayed out. After all, she had just recently gotten off of house arrest.
"Come on," Julian urged, "we can't corrupt each other any more than we already have." A soft smirk played on his lips at the joke, and he saw her roll her eyes at him, and then smile, just as she always had years before. It was always a sign to him that he was getting somewhere.
"Fiona," he spoke, tone insistent and pleading. "Live a little," he shrugged.
Fiona let out a huff of a breath and shook her head, "I've lived enough in the past few months to last a lifetime. But.. fine. Ten o'clock it is," she agreed, turning on her heel and walking into the kitchen to place his order.
Julian shook his head to himself, letting out a soft laugh. He was glad to see that even as the years had gone by, Fiona had managed to retain her personality. Though she had always been beautiful, her personality was something that stood out to him. She got him in a way that no one else ever had, and most of all, she had given him a chance when most of the kids at their school had written him off as the north side kid slumming it on the other side of the tracks.
His parents had been from opposite sides of the city, his mom growing up in the more privileged north side, and his dad on the south side. His mother, Emilia's parents had always despised his father, Christian, complaining that he was dragging Emilia down. The last thing that they'd wanted to hear was that Emilia was pregnant with Christian's child and the two of them were planning to do the right thing, or at least what was seen as such at that time, and get married.
Upon hearing that, and without their daughter knowing, Emilia's parents offered Christian a large amount of money, enough to leave and start over with a new life elsewhere. The only thing that they wanted in return was for him to leave the city and never speak to or see their daughter again.
As months went by and it came closer and closer to the time that Julian would be born, Christian felt more and more like a fish out of water, forced to fit in with the north side crowd and attend presumptuous events like Emilia's family. Two months before Emilia was due to deliver, Christian took the offer that was given to him and left Chicago, regretfully never contacting Emilia or his child as per the agreement.
Several years went by where Emilia was left devastated by Christian's abrupt, and to her, unexplained departure. Once Julian was nearly four years old, Emilia began gathering his important documents such as his birth certificate to enroll him in preschool. While sorting through the filing cabinet that her parents had kept those important documents, she found an old checkbook ledger, spotting a notation for August 26, 1989 marked simply CH.
The date had stood out to her like a sore thumb. CH, Christian Herrera. August 26 was the last day that she'd seen or spoken to Christian.
Upon confronting her parents, they admitted to paying Christian off, and out of spite, when enrolling Julian into school, Emilia ensured that he attended within the south side school district. She intended to make her parents' skin crawl, just as well as teach Julian how to be strong, tough, and take nothing from no one, even if that someone was family.