so this is the first thing i've written in a while, that i've actually felt proud of and it was also a birthday present for my lovely friend, cee. (also, she introduced me to stitchers and i am forever grateful.) this is ubeta'd so any mistakes are my own!
disclaimer: i don't own stitchers or the characters.
It's perfect. She never wants to leave. She's tired of fighting. She's tired of being alone. She's sick of her father's mind games and her sister's rejection. And she's pretty sure everyone is sick of her, tired of her obsession with catching her father and the trouble it caused. But here,with her mother, she's finally where she belongs. She's with someone who wants her, who loves her, the one person who never let her down and had never left. Her mother never left, she was taken away from her.
Slowly, reality slips away and her mother becomes more and more real. It can't just be her memory. She watches her mother brush her hair, as a little girl, braiding her hair gently. She can smell her mother's perfume, some fancy brand with a limited edition cherry blossom scent. She can see her mother bake chocolate brownies, can almost taste them.
She watches her younger self and her mother, so real and pure, holding hands as they walk down the street. Each memory becomes more clear: eating ice cream in the park, her mother pushing her on the swing while reality fades.
After two weeks, she forgets Ivy. She doesn't remember meeting Camille or having coffee with Linus in the break room. She starts to forget Maggie's stern, determined expression and Fisher's protective stance whenever he thinks they're in danger (which is pretty much all the time. Both the danger and his protectiveness.
The person that is the hardest to forget is Cameron, of course.
He has never left her. But sooner or later, he would have, either by her father's hand or by Cameron's own choice to be with Nina. And that's okay, it's his choice. She wonders how different her life would have been with her mother, without having to deal with her father. She could have given her heart freely. She thinks Cameron loves her: the way he looks at her, the way he supports her, how he slowly kissed her back. Hesitant at first, but with fire burning at the end. The way he moved his lips against hers, tasting of mint and coffee (black with two sugars, just the way he likes it) and love and happiness.
But somehow, even when she thought he wanted her, she wasn't ready so he found someone else And maybe that's okay. Because everyone leaves eventually. But her mother never did.
Eventually she stops on dwelling on it, this world doesn't allow her to think. Soon, she forgets. She forgets about Liam's betrayal and her grief. The boy with the red cap disappears completely and Cameron is the memory now. She watches her mother read a bedtime story to her, how she tucks her into bed. She breathes in her mother's scent, her hair smells of her honey and vanilla and her cherry blossom perfume. She holds her mother's hand as they walk down the street.
It's real. It's perfect. She never wants to leave. Because her mother never has.