I'm sorry, I made you wait again -.-"

37

Claude

She was laughing. A few days ago, I would have thought it impossible, but Laguna was laughing.

I was too focused on hoping Alex's name was not mentioned – not even by accident – to really follow the conversation, but someone made her laugh.

Something close to a shiver ran down my spine. Someone. Someone I wasn't expecting. Someone unwanted.

I had a bad feeling.

Hoping no one noticed, I left the house and moved towards the back gate. My unwanted guest was there.

With his arms crossed and dressed exactly like her, Alex was waiting, right outside my gate. He had rolled the sleeves of his sweater and looked at me.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed, getting closer. "Go away!"

"You are not in the position to give me orders, Claude. I want to see her", he retorted, his arms now along his sides, clenching his fists.

"You want to do what?" I asked, surprised. He wanted to see her? Did I get it right? "No way. You don't know what you're asking. It's impossible".

"You can't stop me", he said, stubborn. He was looking at me sideways. He was not going to win. He was not going to hurt her again. I knew what would happen, if she saw him again. She would go back to that couch, curled up, looking at the clock. No. I would not permit it, not again. Not now that she was laughing.

"I can't let you see her again, Alex. Not after what you did to her…" I shook my head.

"What I did? Me? If you had shut that trap, maybe…" if the gate hadn't stopped him, I would have been afraid. He was furious.

"You can't blame me. You could have told her", I replied, calmly. "Or, you could have stayed the hell away from Adrianne…" if, in that moment, she hadn't appeared, if I had looked at Alex, if I hadn't looked toward the house, the gate wouldn't have stopped him.

Just a few steps, not even a third of the distance separating the house from the gate. She saw him. She saw Alex. I feared the worst. I feared she could become the Rose again. I had struggled enough to teach her some control, but she had learned to control herself.

She stopped, froze, breathed deeply, and then started walking again, stopping beside me.

"What is he doing here?" she asked me, her voice devoid of any expression, her eyes still blue and icy, a hand on my shoulder, even though I was a lot taller than her.

"He wanted to see you, ma petite Cherie", I replied, putting her hand to my lips and kissing it, while looking at Alex. He clenched his jaw, and his fists, so much that his arms trembled.

"Good. He has seen me, now he can go away". She looked at him and then stepped back. "I'll go back inside". She turned, and started walking towards the house.

"Laguna! Wait!" Alex called her, reaching for her with an arm through the gate. I could see the pain in his eyes. But it was all his fault.

Laguna stopped. I expected her to turn around and come back, but she didn't move. She only spoke.

"Magdalena. My name is Magdalena. Keep that in that thick head of yours". Then, she disappeared inside the house.

.

.

Alex

"Magdalena. My name is Magdalena. Keep that in that thick head of yours".

The way in which she had looked at me, the way in which she had asked what I was doing there, the way in which she had practically kicked me out and the way in which she had reminded me that her name was Magdalena… what had happened to her? What had been of her, in those three years? What had Claude done to her?

"Claude…" I growled. "What have you done to her?"

"Nothing. It's all your fault. I have only tried to pick up the pieces. You broke her, Alex." He replied, calmly. I hated him.

"If you hadn't told her about Adrianne…"

"Do you really think you could have kept it from her? Do you really think she wouldn't have found out? That she wouldn't have seen it in your memories?" I couldn't reply. I bent my head. Yes, Laguna would have found it out. "You don't know how she had been… curled up on a couch, staring at a clock, counting the seconds…" he shook his head, clenching his fists. "You know nothing!" he roared. "You say you love her… and you do this to her! I wonder what you'd do if you hated her! Go away, Alex. Do it for her, if you really love her. Go away, for ever". He turned and started to walk away.

"Claude!" I called him. He turned and looked at me, tired.

"What do you want?"

"Have you ever…" I couldn't even think about it, let alone say it. Laguna and Claude together. But he seemed to read my mind. He shook his head.

"No. Despite everything, in a way that goes beyond any logic, she loves you. Even if she denies it, she loves you". He turned again, going to the house, leaving me alone with my thought.

I would get inside, I would see her again, talk to her again.

It couldn't end like this.

No.