He hadn't been watching the broadcast. There were no calls from friends about the news. He hadn't been expecting it at all. So, when he opened his web browser and saw the featured story, he was completely blindsided.
Alexandra Udinov Returns!
Completely unoriginal, of course, but that didn't really catch his eye. It was the picture accompanying the headline that held his attention. It was her.
He clicked on the article. The picture disappeared to another part of the page, he assumed, so he began to read.
He read about the 'modern day Anastasia', the girl he knew as Alex. It was all lies. The article. It wasn't the strict truth, at least.
If she was lying to them, though, to the world, could he really believe anything they'd had was real? He'd been asking himself that ever since he left, and now the feeling only grew stronger.
She'd never turned him over, but if he hadn't shot the gun himself he'd never have known the girl who'd visited her was dead. There was nothing on the news and no one trying to arrest him, anyway.
To be fair, she'd tried to tell him about the danger. She hadn't pushed when he didn't listen, either. She'd told him to run after it happened and he'd never heard from her again, left trying to cope with the fact that he'd killed someone.
Then... he remembered. She had laid down next to him. She was upset, and he just wanted to help. She wouldn't let him, but he could tell she was worried.
"Alex, what-"
"Alexandra," He listened to the slight accent in the name, confused and not quite able to identify it from her whispered interruption "My name is Alexandra."
He may not have understood, but...
Nathan smiled.