And Send Her My Greetings
Summary: And all I could think of was Artemis and the utterly broken look she gave me as my tongue slipped at that airport, asking her to tell her dead mom I said hi. — College 'verse AU, Artemis's mom lives in Vietnam. drabble
Rating: T
Characters/Pairing(s): Paula, Wally, Artemis, slight Spitfire
The road, a narrow, stuffy black strip, was full of slowly driving cars and taxis dropping off their occupants in front of the grand San Franciscan Airport. I slowly pushed down on the brake and the car slowed down, temporarily parking to help unload my friend's suitcases.
"So, I guess I won't be seeing you again for the next few months?" I asked her, my voice sounding so devoid of any emotion – just like how I felt now: empty and numb and just so tired.
"Yea," she sighed, nodding in agreement. Her eyes, usually a beautiful grey sparkling with life, were as dull as the cloudy, grey sky before the storm. "Don't forget; I– I'm just an email away. Okay?"
"More like half a world away," I muttered under my breath, uncharacteristically bitter. But then again, no one really was in character now. Tragedies tended to do that to people.
She flashed me a look of concern. Are you sure you'll be okay? the look seemed to ask me. It was a look that she seemed to aim at me more and more recently. I turned away, not meeting her intense gaze. I hauled her heavy suitcase out of the car and dropped it at her feet.
"Goodbye," I said bluntly, my back facing her.
She placed a tentative hand on my shoulder; I flinched, but I didn't turn around.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" she asked, so full of concern and worry that it almost hurt to hear her sound so upset. It was whispered so softly that I could only barely hear her. I just harshly shrugged her hand off and whirled around to face her.
"Artemis, I'll be fine, alright?" I snapped, causing her to flinch back a bit, looking scared at my sudden outburst. I immediately felt bad.
"Wait, no! I'm– I'm sorry," I stuttered profusely, stepping forward and grabbing her hand. "I shouldn't have snapped at you, Artemis. I'm just – It's just... everything is getting to me, is all."
She pulled me into a tight hug, and I could have sworn I heard her, a feisty, tough blonde that almost never cried, let out a choked sob. I hugged her back tightly.
"It's getting to all of us, Wally," she whispered softly in my ear.
We probably could have stood there forever, but suddenly, a car behind us honked and we stepped apart. Artemis gave me the ghost of a smile, a smile that usually always sent my heart racing but now just tore my heart in two to see her try so hard to seem okay. Then she inhaled deeply, calmly, as if mentally readying herself to leave for what could be half a year – even more.
"I'll see you soon, okay Wally?"
I nodded. "Soon," I agreed.
The car honked again. Scowling at it, I marched back to my door and sat down in my seat. The engine roared to life and I looked back to see Ivy waving at me.
"Goodbye!"she yelled grandly, eyes sparking with just the slightest hint of their old life. It almost felt like old times again – the times before life caught up to us and things went south as reality struck with its storms full of tragedies we didn't need.
"Have fun in Vietnam, Artemis!" I shouted back instantly, a small smile tugging at the corner of my lips. "And don't forget to tell Paula I said hello–!" I stopped instantly, eyes widening in shock and smile dropping off my face. Whatever small spark of life her face held just a moment ago instantly disappeared, replaced with an expression full of hurt and pain and tears glistening in the corner of her eyes.
It hurt.
I turned away from her shattered expression, speeding away from the airport as fast as I could. Tears that I thought had dried up long ago now threatened to spill during the whole two-hour ride back home.
As I drove into the familiar background of our city, the park we always used to hang out in came into view and snow started to drift down from the sky. I pulled the car over in the empty, snow-covered park, violently unbuckling my seatbelt and storming out of the driver's seat. I trudged through the snow, ignoring the harsh and biting cold and blindly continuing on.
When I reached our bench under our tree, I collapsed tiredly into the cold steel frame and let myself fall apart. Tears I didn't even know I still had to spare flowed freely down my cheeks, hot as fire compared to the numbingly cold weather around me.
And all I could think of was Artemis and the utterly broken look she gave me as my tongue slipped at that airport, asking her to tell her dead mom I said hi.