20

Prue was shocked by what she had just heard. So far Alex hadn't mentioned anything about a relationship between him and Claire, only their deep friendship over a long time. If she could only remember…but why should he be lying? So far he had been honest about everything, she had seen it in his eyes. The same eyes that had were now wet from tears again. The eyes that were so similar to her daughters. He was telling her the truth…

"We…were together? Why haven't you said anything about that yet?" she finally asked him.

"I didn't wanna push you or anything…I'm sorry. I swear I had no clue about Emily until you told me you were pregnant when they found you. I didn't even know how old she was."

After that there was silence again. Neither of them knew what to say. Prue had so many more questions now about their relationship but at the same time she was afraid what Alex might tell her, expect from her. She looked at him. He was handsome yes, but she didn't know him at all. As far as her brain was concerned she had just met him a couple of hours ago. What if he expected to keep on their relationship? What kind of a relationship had that been? Had they been married, engaged, just had fun? She needed to know…at least if they had been married.

"Alex?"
"Yeah?"
"We weren't married…were we?"

He smiled. "No, we weren't even engaged…" he then said and Prue could hear the sadness in his voice.

"How close…was our relationship then? I mean, it must have been close enough to produce a child…"
"Claire…sorry, Prue! I'm really not sure it's a good idea to tell you that…I mean, you can't remember any of it and it's been such a long time ago…why don't we just forget about it and be friends again…"

"Sounds good to me…but I'd still like to know what we had. Just so I know what to expect when other people see me and ask me about you…they must have known, didn't they?"
"Yes, all our friends and family knew…it had taken us long enough to get together. If you really wanna know I'll tell you but I also want you to know that I don't expect anything from you. All that happens after this is completely up to you…" he said as if he'd been reading Prue's thoughts.
"Thank you Alex, I really appreciate that…"
"Ok, as you already know, me and you were friends for a very long time. Almost all our lives. And all this time I loved you but didn't know…it took us both 15 years to realize what we felt for each other but once we had admitted it, it was perfect. The truth is…the day you had the accident…" Alex's voice broke and Prue could see more tears in his eyes "The day of the accident I wanted to ask you to marry me…"

Now Prue had tears in her eyes as well. Although she didn't know any of her feelings back then and couldn't remember a thing of what had happened she could almost physically feel Alex's pain. She couldn't imagine what it was like to love somebody that much and lose him the day you want to propose.

"I'm so sorry Alex…I…I didn't know…I shouldn't have asked…you were right, maybe we just should have left it as it was…"
Alex had gotten his voice back and looked at her "No, don't feel sorry…it's just old feelings welling up again. We'll make a new start here and now and see where it takes us, all right? That is if you can trust me…I mean, you don't actually know me, do you?" He said with a weak smile.

Prue smiled back "No, but that's all right with me. I've lived without a past for the last twelve years and although I still can't remember it you've just given me a past and I really trust you…so, where do we go from here?"

"Thank you…and why don't we go to bed now? It's late and I'm not sure if we'll hear anything from the kids tonight…I really hope they're all right…"
"Me too! And if they are I'm gonna kill them with my own hands I swear!" Prue looked on her watch and then realized how late it actually was. Her and Alex had talked for hours without noticing.

"Come on, I'll show you your room so you can try to sleep…it's been a long day and I'm sure they'll find Charlotte and Emily tomorrow…" Alex got up and picked Prue's bag up from the floor. She followed him into the first floor and he opened a door to a room.

"Here's your room…I've kind of taken the day off tomorrow, my hands know what to do so I'll be around in the morning. The bathroom is this door right across the hallway and if you need anything my bedroom's over there. Unfortunately my house keeper is not around for the next couple of days so we'll have to fix ourselves something to eat…"
"Oh, that's no problem I can do breakfast for us in the morning…" Prue said and saw Alex's confused look. "What? It's my job…I do it every day, I really don't mind…"

Alex laughed. "It's not that…it's just…before the accident you were about the worst cook I can think of besides myself…"
"Oh, well…then I've definitely changed that…" Prue said amused "Good night Alex…and thank you for everything…"
"Night Prue…and you're welcome…" Alex touched her arm and then quickly left for his room.

Prue closed the door and sat down on the bed…what a mess! Here she was in the house of her almost fiancé that she couldn't remember, with her two daughters missing of which she also only knew one. Even though it was late she felt the need to call Laura and tell her about what had happened and what she had found out. She knew her friend would be waiting by the phone all night so she took the sat phone out of her bag and dialled her own number.

"Hello?" she heard Laura's voice on the other end of the line.

"It's me…"

"Prue! Are they with you?"
"No, they're not here…take it you haven't heard anything either…"
"No, you know I would have called you right away…why are you calling?"
"Something has happened Laura…"
"Not with the kids?"

Prue had to smile. Her friend was thinking in circles…they had just discussed that nobody knew anything. "No…but I know who I am now…"

"You do? Did your memory come back?"
"No, but I was the reason the kids ran away…Laura, I'm Charlotte's mother, too…"

And in the next half hour Prue explained to her friend what her and Alex had found out that evening and why Emily and Charlotte had run away.

"So…you are Charlotte's mother and that Alex Ryan you're staying with is Emily's father…did I get that right?"

"Yes you did."
"And who is Charlotte's father?"
"A man called Peter something…can't remember the last name right now, I heard so many names today…it looks like I had an affair with a married man and Charlotte is the result of that."
"Oh…that doesn't sound like you…"
"Alex said I didn't know he was married so that might explain it" Prue left the part about the fling out on purpose. The story was complicated enough the way it was. "Oh Laura, you wanna hear something funny?"

"Yeah, go right ahead…this story is so strange that I could do with a laugh right now."
Prue chuckled. "Alex just said that I couldn't cook before I had the accident…"

She could hear her friend laugh on the other end of the line. "Well, that would explain why you had to learn it from scratch when you started to work for us…"

"Oh yeah…Laura?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for everything you've done for me and Emily…"
"It's all right Prue…or should I say Claire? Just promise me you'll let me know as soon as you get notice of the kids…"
"Like I wouldn't…and Prue's fine at the moment…I don't feel like Claire yet…Anyway, I should probably try and get a few hours of sleep and so should you. Give Bernard a hug and tell him what happened and I'll talk to you tomorrow…"

The said goodnight and Prue put the sat phone back in her bag and changed for the night. When she lay in bed her thoughts drifted to her daughters. 'Where are you girls? I really hope you're all right…' she thought to herself and then fell in a deep exhausted sleep…