There were no words to describe how she felt at that moment. Physically, she was wrapped tightly in her father's embrace, but her mind was back in the cell, lips pressed to Vaughn's in a way she thought she'd never feel again. She shook as she cried against the stiff fabric of her father's suit. She cried to be home, she cried for her life, she cried for Vaughn.
Her world paused as he walked toward her. His wife. Even after six months that word still felt like poison. Their arms wrapped around each other and she could feel the bile bubbling in her throat. She tore away from her father and swiftly walked to the restroom, barely making it into the stall before the contents of her stomach were emptied into the toilet. Leaning back onto her heels, she pushed her back against the cool steel of the door and allowed her head to fall to her chest.
Her thoughts were scrambled and swirled around in her head, running away from her as she tried to make sense of them. Not even twelve hours ago, she'd been sitting, beaten and broken, in a jail cell thousands of miles away. She had been preparing herself for death, and although she'd never been more terrified in her life, she had also never been so at peace. In those final moments, the world consisted only of she and Vaughn and the love they shared. Knowing that they would soon be away from the horrors of their world and free to love made the experience they were about to enter one of liberation rather than destruction.
"There is only one person…" he had said. "We'll find each other, we always find each other." She reassured him. And she had meant it. The dramatics of the situation were almost too much for her to handle. Tears fell from her eyes as she realized the morbid truth that the only way they would ever be together again would be in death.
Taking shuttering deep breaths, she prepared herself to leave the bathroom. She would go home. She would shower and sleep and wake up in the morning and go on with her life. She had to. She needed to move on.
"I want you to know that I'm moving on. If it helps…"
The truth was that she wasn't moving on. Will was just a distraction. She wouldn't say that she had used him, but in a way, she had. It had been so long since she had felt wanted, and even if it wasn't by the person she wanted it to be.
Slowly, she rose, dusting off her pants and taking one final, deep breath before exiting the stall. She opened the door and stepped out, only to be stopped in her tracks. Her breath hitched.
"Hi, Lauren."