Chapter 11

The transition from the train to the real world happened quickly. As he felt his feet touch solid ground the first thing Simon did was make sure Grace was still there. Her hand was still holding his and she was standing next to him, it was okay, they were okay. The first thing Simon noticed about the outside world was wind. He'd forgotten about wind because it appeared in cars so infrequently. In fact weather in general on the train was basically non-existent unless the car was focused on it, so many cars were just room temperature. So the second thing that he noticed was that it was warm. After initial observations about the outside world he just let out a breath. This was it, off the train. It wasn't something he'd ever anticipated seeing and yet here he was. A part of him wondered if this was just a really big car and the train was simply playing a cruel trick on them. This fear was quashed when Grace tapped his shoulder and spoke to him.

"Simon, look up." she said eyes watering with awe. He did as she said and was met with stars, a sky full of them. Now his eyes watered too as he spoke back.

"I forgot about stars." he said to no one in particular. Grace squeezed his hand a little tighter, she'd forgotten about them too. It was like that for a moment, the two simply staring at stars and trying to comprehend that they really were off the train and together. But as the shock from this wore off there were other concerns to be had. Grace looked around the area that they were in. It was dark out so everything was a bit hard to make out.

"Where are we?" she asked walking forward. Looking closer Grace found her answer as she almost stumbled over a gravestone and looked to see rows and rows of them surrounding her. Simon stated the obvious.

"I think we're in a cemetery." he offered. Having no way to navigate the darkness the two simply walked along the rows of gravestones attempting not to step on anything until they made their way to the fence surrounding the perimeter of the cemetery. There was a sign on it that Grace took it upon herself to read.

"Cemetery hours: 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, all trespassers will be apprehended-" Grace had gathered all the information she needed from that sign before turning back to Simon. "We need to get out of here." As if on cue at that moment a flashlight shone on the two of them and an authoritative voice spoke to them.

"Hey, no trespassing!" the person said to them before heading in their direction. Perhaps out of sheer panic, perhaps out of muscle memory, or maybe due to a combination of both Grace grabbed Simon's hand and the two made a mad dash in the other direction. Running through the rows and jumping over gravestones while Simon internally apologized to the deceased they were trampling they made it to the back of the cemetery only to find a giant fence and a forest behind it. The two shared a look considering scaling the fence and running off into the woods but ultimately they turned around and allowed themselves to be apprehended. The person chasing them looked them over while shining a flashlight at them. "Geez, I swear this place is nothing but a hot bed for dumb teenagers. Well come on, you know the rules." she said as she ushered the two into the back of a police vehicle. As Grace and Simon sat behind the woman they quietly talked to each other.

"Great, our first day back and we're already in the back of a cop car." Simon said jokingly. Grace laughed at this and joked back.

"Hey it's not my fault someone can't scale a fence." she teased. The air was weirdly calm between them for two people who were currently getting arrested. Maybe that's just what years of living on a magic train does to a person. Grace looked back to the officer. "Hey where are we?" The officer looked back at the two of them. They were both dressed weird and that was a very odd question. She made a note to add a drug test to her of things to do and answered.

"We're in Catonsville, Maryland." Grace and Simon looked at each other and realized that they'd never actually shared where they were from. They both gave each other a silent nod indicating that they were both fairly close to their respective childhood homes. Grace felt her stomach twist in knots thinking about just how close her parents were. Was she really ready to see them again? Silently Simon put an arm around her shoulder as a show of support. She would be fine, everything was going to be okay. As they arrived at the station the officer gestured them out of the car and sat them down in the waiting area in front of her desk while she filled out some paperwork. The station was tiny and clearly very old. It was likely that teenagers sneaking into the cemetery was the most that happened around here. After she finished writing something down she looked up at them for a moment. "I'm going to level with you kids, I don't feel like filling out this paperwork and considering I've never seen the two of you around before I'm going to assume this was a one time thing. So I'll let you off with a warning." the woman said. The two nodded and got up beginning to leave the station in an attempt to try and figure out what they would do next. However as they reached the door the woman asked them one more question. "By the way what are your names?" she asked. Seeing no reason to lie the two simply offered up their true names.

"Simon Laurent." he said. The officer looked surprised and turned to Grace.

"Grace Monroe." The woman looked as though she'd seen a ghost. Shaking herself she quickly backpedalled.

"Yeah, the two of you can't leave." she said seriously.

"What? What did we do?" Grace asked

"You're Grace Monroe. Of the Monroe missing persons case, the most famous missing child case in history. There have been movies, books, and tv miniseries made about your case." Grace still stared at her dumbfounded. "And you," she turned to Simon. "Simon Laurent, another missing child case from around the same time." she shook her head. "I'll be contacting your guardians." Simon raised an objection to the two staying there.

"Legally, I don't think you can keep us here against our will." Simon said confidently.

"Actually technically the two of you are under arrest, so I really should put the both of you in the holding cell." The officer mused to herself before doing just that. So there sat Grace and Simon on the cold little slab bench in their holding cell.

"We've been back less than thirty minutes and we're already in jail." Grace noted humorously.

"I'd be mad if it didn't feel absolutely appropriate." Simon responded. From the cell he could see the woman picking up the phone and dialing a number that she'd gotten from a file. This was really happening. He honestly felt exhausted from everything that had happened. Between them spending all day traveling to the engine, seeing Hazel, going home and being arrested everything they'd done had taken all of the energy out of him. Simon yawned and Grace snuggled up next to him as she yawned as well. They deserved a nap even if it was from behind the bars of a holding cell. Holding each other was a comfort they'd enjoyed for years and that wasn't going to stop just because they'd left the train. As they slept they knew that when they woke they would be forced to face a reality they hadn't truly processed. Grace was the first to wake of the two, the sound of the door across the station opening being what jostled her awake. She didn't move for fear of waking Simon but still looked across the room to see who had entered. She let out a silent sigh of relief when she realized that it wasn't her parents who entered, though it was a man and a woman. One look at them told her they were Simon's parents. She studied them as they stood at the desk talking to the officer who'd arrested them. The woman was short and thin with light chestnut colored hair that fell seemingly at random across her face. Looking at her eyes she could see where her son had gotten them from, they were the same gorgeous dark color as Simon's. Her features were mostly pointed, like a doll's but Grace was drawn to her hands. She wrung them nervously as she talked with the officer and Grace noticed the quiet precision in each of her movements, they were artist hands like Simon's. Looking at her clothing she wore a white blouse with no design and khakis. Practical, just like he'd described her. She turned her attention to who she assumed was her husband. One look told her that he was definitely Simon's father. He was tall and sturdily built which made sense for someone with a military background. His hair was the exact same pale blond as Simon's though far shorter and he had an actual beard in sharp contrast to the stubble Simon had been attempting to grow out for about two years. She could tell he was nervous by the way the corners of his mouth tucked inward the same expression his son made when he was on the verge of spiralling. Two halves both containing pieces of Simon. She wondered if people looked at her parents and could see the same in her. After finishing their conversation with the officer they began walking towards the holding cell. Grace shifted to the other side of the cell and out of their line of sight. She wasn't exactly looking forward to meeting her boyfriend's parents for the first time from behind bars. As they reached the bars it was the woman who was first to speak.

"Simon?" she said. In her voice there was fear and pain. And maybe just a hint of hope. Simon's eyes opened immediately after hearing it. He would have recognized that voice anywhere, even if he'd been gone seventy years rather than seven he would have recognized it. And now he was staring face to face with his parents. Wordlessly he stood and stared at them before choking out the first thing that came to his mind.

"Hi mom and dad." he said. He didn't realize until after it had come out of his mouth that he'd been crying or at least that he had been crying that much. The three did the best approximation of a group hug possible with bars in between them and none of them seemed to care all that much that it was difficult. And now they were all crying, him and his mother and father. He'd seen his father cry before, he was the type of person who cried at movies where the dog died. But he'd only ever seen his mother cry before once and it was when he'd told her he hated her. It wasn't lost on him that both times had been because of him. They clung onto each other so tightly it was as if they were afraid they'd lose him again if they let go and it was a fair thought. As Grace watched such a beautiful emotional reunion she could only grow more nervous of her own parents' arrival knowing that whatever they did would be in sharp contrast to this display of familial love. Finally their hug ended and the complete and utter mental chaos of finding your missing child set in.

"What happened?" his father asked and it was the obvious question. Simon knew that right now probably wasn't the time to try and explain the whole magical interdimensional train thing so he shook his head.

"I'll tell you about it later." he choked out. "I'm so sorry." They looked at him with utter shock and confusion.

"What are you sorry for." his mother asked him.

"I...I yelled at you and made life difficult for you when you were just trying your best, I was a bad son-" his mother cut him off.

"Don't ever say that. You were a child Simon, you weren't a bad son and you don't have to apologize." she said. And now they were all crying again and it was okay because it had been seven years and none of them thought this would have ever been possible. Suddenly Simon remembered that Grace was there and figured that this was as good a time as any to introduce her. Turning to her he gestured to his parents.

"Grace, these are my parents. Parents, this is Grace, she's my girlfriend." Grace looked at them awkwardly, she'd always imagined that meeting your significant other's parents was something done over dinner like that one old movie one of her nannies had shown her. However despite the circumstances being less than ideal she still attempted to make a good first impression.

"It's nice to meet you both." she offered nervously. When meeting adults before she left, she'd been expected to give her full name and title, to answer all questions succinctly, and to be seen and not heard. And once she'd gotten on the train her and Simon quickly established the no talking to adults rule so it had been a while since she'd tried to interact with an adult she was trying to impress.

"You're so pretty." his mother said and she let out a sigh of relief. Things were calm for a moment. Grace had the mildly sad wish that maybe her parents wouldn't show up and she could keep pretending to be normal. That maybe this moment of peace wouldn't be disrupted by a reminder of exactly what she'd been running from. However like most things this couldn't last. As Simon's parents went back over to the desk to release him from jail the door opened again and in walked her parents. Or at least Grace thought they were her parents. They looked vaguely enough like the images of her mom and dad she had saved in her mind but in her mind her parents were giants, monoliths of power and strength. The people who had just entered the police station were not that. They looked far too human to have been her parents and far too old. That was the first thing that struck her about them, how they'd aged. Grace of course knew they'd look older but they looked more like they'd aged twenty years rather than seven. She stared at her father first. His face was wrinkled and his hair looked like it hadn't been cut in while. This was of course in sharp contrast to the father Grace knew growing up who was adamant that every hair was to be in place. He wore a normal looking shirt and pants which gave Grace great pause, she couldn't remember ever seeing her father outside of his regular expensive suits. He held car keys in his fingers and he gripped them so tightly they'd no doubt leave an indent later. She couldn't imagine her parents driving at all, much less her parents driving a car that required a manual key. The only car like that they had was an old one belonging to her father and she'd never seen him drive it, nothing was important enough that they couldn't wait for the driver. Expect this apparently. She turned her attention to her mother or at least the woman she assumed was her mother. The first thing that caught her off guard about her mother was the bright gray stripe in her hair that extended from the roots to the ends of a broad portion of hair on the left side of her head. Grace recalled a conversion years before in which, out of frustration her mom had said something to the effect of,

"Grace you must be quiet. When you speak I become stressed and stress will turn your hair gray and I refuse to allow you to do that to me." or the like. And yet here she was her formerly long hair cut into a shorter style and a bright patch of gray for the world to see. Grace couldn't decide if the change was natural or from stress like her mother had warned. Her mother's eyes were different too. They weren't filled with the contempt Grace remembered them as having when she was young but rather with sadness and with pain. Unlike her father her mother at least was still dressed the way Grace remembered, a fashionable dress that was likely in season. But it was clearly thrown on hastily, it wasn't ironed. The parents she remembered would have scolded her for going out looking so unkempt. The two finished speaking with the woman and locked eyes with her. Grace felt her blood run cold as they stared at each other from across the room. There wasn't any anger in their eyes. There was sadness, and maybe just a hint of hope. As they walked toward her Grace braced herself. She readied herself to have every part of her be picked apart by them to find some reason, any reason, why she couldn't be their daughter. She prepared to be told that she was too thin, or too prepared to hear that her hair was fair to messy to be their daughter or for them to say that their daughter would never be so reckless as to be arrested. She was ready for them to demand a blood test before they even considered looking her in the eyes. She could have handled any of that. She couldn't handle them simply walking over and staring at her. They look like they'd seen a ghost and perhaps to them that was what she was. It was highly likely that they'd thought she was dead after all, that they'd moved on and coped with her loss, and maybe even started another family. They were ghosts to her too after all. She'd assumed that she'd never see either of them again. But it was the first thing they'd said that broke whatever resolve she'd had.

"We are, so sorry." It was her father who had said it but it might as well have come from God himself parting the heavens considering how she reacted. She told herself to refuse their apology, to ask them exactly what they were apologizing for, to tell them every bad thing they'd done and what it had turned her into. She told herself to say that they were the reason she'd left. But when it came down to it, when she heard those words be spoken all Grace could do was cry. She felt like she had when Hazel had left except worse because at least when Hazel had left she'd been crying for someone who deserved her tears. Her mom was the one to reach out to her and offer her comfort first. It was a bit awkward considering Grace couldn't remember ever receiving physical affection from her parents and yet when she felt her mother offer her the best approximation of a hug she could give based on the circumstances she took it like she'd needed it to survive. She let her parents hold her as she cried and became that same sad scared little girl who got on the trains seven years ago, when her parents had proved to her that they'd never be able to give her the love she needed. As they held her she could hear both of them crying too and she wondered if they'd done it before. If there had been nights where they'd woken up and cried for her. Her mother spoke to her now likely just sharing the thoughts she'd had since Grace had disappeared.

"Grace, we know we should have been better for you, and we're so sorry that we weren't." Grace looked at her parents and waited for this to all be a trick, to look in their eyes and to see that they were just playing this up for the other people in the room and that as soon as they were out of earshot everything would be how she remembered it. But their eyes refused to look anything other than utterly sincere. Grace didn't care if this was all fake, if the negging she remembered as an integral part of her child would return as soon as her parents felt they could get away with it. Right here, right now, she was getting everything she hadn't as a child and she only wanted to hold on to that feeling for as long as possible.

"I love you." Grace said.

"We love you too." they said back to her. It was the first time Grace could remember them saying it to her and she cried again upon hearing it. This time however Grace wiped her tears rather than indulge in them and gestured to Simon who was doing his best not to intrude on their family moment as his parents finished securing his release.

"This is Simon, he's my boyfriend." she said matter of factly. Simon looked a bit awkward but still stood and tried to appear respectful.

"It is very nice to meet you." he offered. They looked at him for a moment and nodded in response. Grace gave him a look that indicated that was a good thing. His parents walked back over along with the officer who opened the cell and let the two of them out. Unobstructed they both got proper hugs from their parents now and it sunk in that this was real. Maybe a tiny part of both of them still yearned for the train where things were easy and simple. But even through fear, even through loss, even through sadness they had made it. When they'd been on the train there had been so much to worry about, a constant persistent fear that maybe this would be the time that they didn't make it out okay. As Simon and Grace stood in that police station being held by their parents who they hadn't seen in so long, at that moment they were more sure then they'd ever been that both of them were going to make it.