Chapter 5

Year 1986

"Miss Williams is waiting for you, Selene."

The young brown haired girl bit her lip before entering the Principal's room. Her parents were going to kill her tonight, but the head of this school might beat them to it.

"Sit!" the old woman ordered.

Selene cringed at the severe tone before she sat before the woman.

"Do you know why you're here, Smith?"

Of course, she did. The girl glanced at her right hand where the knuckles were turning purple. She simply nodded, her head down because she was ashamed of herself but another part of her was proud that she did what she did.

"I should have you expelled for what you did, I don't tolerate this behavior in my school. I want an explanation before I make any decision."

"I apologize for what I did, miss Williams. I didn't think of the consequences, it was wrong, I was wrong."

"Of course, it was wrong!" the older woman told her. "You almost broke your friend's nose. You're lucky that his parents are nice people, they are not resentful."

Selene cringed at the word 'friend' but she chose to say nothing.

"I'm sorry," she said again. "I'll respect the decision you'll make."

Miss Williams scanned her before she sat back on her chair, with a sigh.

"You're expelled for two days, Selene. I think it's a good punishment. And you're going to apologize to Adam, personally." The girl nodded. "You can leave now, I'm going to call your parents."

"Thank you miss Williams, have a nice day."

She was relieved that her sentence was less severe than what she was expecting. Selene walked through the school's halls towards the nurse's office. She knocked at the door before entering the room.

"Oh Selene, you came for your hand? I'd have to take a look later." the nurse told her.

Selene didn't answer but, instead, was looking at Adam's parents. "I'm really sorry." Adam's dad shook his head before pointing at his son, who was sitting on a chair. His nose was the same color as her knuckles, and it looked like it had stopped bleeding. She joined him as the nurse gestured to his parents to leave the room, in order to give them privacy.

"Miss Williams forced you to come here, didn't she?"

She rolled her eyes at him before she sat on the chair, next to him.

"How's your hand?" the boy told him.

"How's your nose?" she retorted, raising her eyebrow.

"Hopefully not broken, but I heard something crack and it wasn't my nose." he answered, looking at her hand. "You should get it checked."

"I'm sorry Adam," she blurted out. "Even if you deserved it, I shouldn't have hit you like I did."

"That didn't sound like an apology, but I'll take it."

"Fine," she said, before standing up. "See you on Monday then, I'm expelled for the rest of the week."

"Wait!"

He halted her before she reached the doorknob, and she turned around. "What is it?"

"Go out with me?"

She frowned. She had just punched the guy and he was asking her on a date.

"Me and you? You mean like on a date?" He nodded. "You're serious." she stated, confused.

"Come on Emma! Emma! Emma!"

Selene snapped out of her memories before staring at Mrs Luis, who was handing her a cup of tea.

"Are you ok?" she asked the young woman.

"Yes sorry." Selene answered, taking the warm cup before she gave Donna a big smile.

"You seemed to be in your little bubble for a while." Donna told her, before she sat on the couch facing the other woman. "A memory?"

"Yes." Selene admitted, with a faint smile. "From my high school years."

"Oh, so it might be a good souvenir then?"

Her heart clenched as she nodded. She hadn't thought about Adam for a long time...Was it because of her date with James? Was she scared that this wouldn't end well like it did in the past? No, this would be different: James was her soulmate, the Universe had chosen him for her and she had accepted it. She wasn't going to mess it up, she wasn't going to repeat the same mistake.

"First crush?"

She looked at Donna, who was looking at her expectantly and she smiled sadly.

"First love, actually."

(* * * * * *)

Selene had been on edge the whole day, glancing at the clock from time to time. She had come to the realization that she was stressed. It had been years since she had gone on a proper date with someone, and even though it wouldn't be a real date, she was starting to get anxious. She was wondering if it was a good idea: she felt like she might have pressured James a little. Selene had literally inserted herself into his life without thinking if it might affect him. She wasn't a selfish person, she always tried her best in order to not hurt other people. She was human after all.

She heard the door of the shop opened and she looked up to see who it was. She froze when she saw Elijah standing before her and an angry feeling rising inside her. She didn't understand what kind of games he was playing, but she would really prefer to be excluded from it.

"You again? How did you find where I'm working?"

She was glad that they were both separated by the counter, also he wouldn't dare to harm her when Donna was in the next room.

"I was just passing by and I saw you through the store front. You didn't leave me no choice but to track you down, since you didn't want to listen to me this morning."

"Maybe I don't trust you and I don't want to listen to whatever you wish to tell me." she told him.

"Give me five minutes and I'll explain to you."

Selene looked around them: the shop was empty meaning that it was almost time to close it. She looked at the time – it was almost 6 pm – before she looked back at Elijah.

"Wait for me outside, I'm almost done." she said, as she started to clean the counter. He nodded and left the shop.

Mrs Luis came back in the room, and Selene suddenly remembered that she was supposed to ask her about the piece of china.

"Hey Donna? Do you remember the little cat stuff you gave me? It was made of porcelain." the old woman nodded her head. "Where did you get it from?"

"I don't remember, but I think it was part of a gift from my late husband. Why?"

"Well, you're going to find this very funny...So, this morning while I was jogging, somebody broke into my apartment and they only stole the cat you gave me."

The older woman laughed in disbelief.

"It's not a great loss Emma, don't worry about it but I'm more concerned of why somebody would want to rob you in the first place."

"I don't know either." Selene said, thoughtful. "Well, see you next time Donna."

"Have a good night."

Selene left the shop to meet Elijah outside, still waiting for her.

"There's a ten minutes walk from here to my apartment." she declared. "What do you want?"

They started walking.

"Someone paid me to find you." Elijah told her and she frowned.

When Selene had left her hometown, she had faked her death in order to move on. It was a very difficult choice to make, but her parents had convinced her to do it to prevent people from being nosy.

"I'm not dead yet, so this person doesn't want to harm me…" she muttered and Elijah grinned.

"I've already told you that I wasn't a threat. I'm here to do my job and then I'm leaving."

She suddenly stopped eyeing him. "Are you some kind of private detective?"

"Kind of." he simply answered and she scowled at him. "I was paid a generous amount of money in order to find you."

"By whom?"

Elijah stopped walking and took out his phone, before dialing a number. He, then, handed the phone to Selene who was now more confused than ever. After three tones, someone answered it.

"Did you find her?" It was a male voice.

"Who is this?" she asked.

"Selene? Is that really you?"

"Who are you?" she repeated more fiercely. She didn't understand why she was getting anxious, all of the sudden.

"It's me Selene. It's Adam."

She went still, the phone still in her hand, as she was struck with an avalanche of memories. Then, tears started streaming down her face and she hung off the phone before giving it back to Elijah.

She wanted to throw up, the Universe was really messing with her. She had thought about Adam this morning and suddenly he was the one looking for her but this was very weird and fucked up, because Adam was supposed to be dead.

"Is it fun?" she yelled at Elijah. "Hurting people like this?"

"What?" the man stuttered, he didn't seem to know what she was talking about.

"How much did he pay you? I can pay you more so you can leave me alone!"

"You're attracting attention…" he told her, as he noticed the look the passersby were giving them.

She started to leave before turning around, her face red with anger.

"Supposing this person is who I think it is and it's been a long time since we've last seen each other, why did he want to find me?"

"I don't have the answer, he just wanted to know where you were. That's all."

"Then, you've never found me. I'm dead." Selene said, before she left him.

I think I need a drink.

(* * * * * *)

She was late. Very late. At first he didn't mind, thinking that maybe she was stuck at work and she might have forgotten about their meeting, but now he was really worried.

Bucky took another look at the clock, before staring back at the entrance. He wasn't the impatient type but the streets weren't safe at night, especially for beautiful women like Emma. He should have asked her where she was working, so that he could have joined her and made sure she would get home safely.

Something caught his attention and he looked up to see a man entered the place. The stranger wasn't alone as he was helping Emma walking up the stairs, she seemed off at that moment and Bucky's protection mode turned on. He stood up and went towards them.

"Emma, are you ok?" he asked her, before glaring at the man. "Who are you?"

The stranger looked at him from head to toes, before he glanced back at Emma who had now become aware of her surroundings. She blinked a few times as she stared at James, and then she stared back at the man before she yanked her arm off him and she stumbled back, trying to find her balance.

"Is she -?" Bucky frowned, taking a closer look at her. Her pupils were dilating and her cheeks were dark red.

"Are you a friend?" the stranger cut him off, but he didn't give the man a chance to answer. "I couldn't leave her walking home in that state, alone in the dark."

Bucky stared back at Emma, she was massaging her temples with her fingers. It was a sign that she was getting a headache. He didn't answer the stranger but gently tapped on the woman's shoulder.

"Hey, let's get you home," he told her and she smiled widely at him.

"I'll follow you everywhere James." she whispered, with a serious tone.

Ignoring the fact that his heart had sped up at her words, he gently put his arm around her waist and led her up the stairs. He didn't even give a second look at the stranger, who was still watching them until they were out of his sight.

"Where are your keys?"

She reached in her pocket before taking out the keys and she gave them to him. He unlocked the door and they entered the apartment. Bucky watched, carefully, as Emma threw herself on the couch before she laid down.

"Do you need something?"

"I'm really sorry that you have to see me in this state." she whispered, her eyes closed. "Usually I don't get drunk, I can handle a little alcohol."

Bucky noticed the trembling in her voice, and he saw a single tear escaped her closed eyelid. Emma wasn't in the right mind to talk and he didn't want to bother her with questions. It was her personal life after all, but he had a bad intuition about the stranger who walked her home.

"Can you stay until I fall asleep?"

He didn't answer but he closed the door behind him, before settling in one of the chairs.

"Don't leave me James…" Emma murmured.

He raised his head to look at her and saw that she was already sleeping. He stood up and came closer to her to take a better look. Her face was bare of sadness and worry – instead, she was smiling in her sleep.

Bucky had known her for a little time and he was already fond of her. He wasn't sure if he was able to feel this way again for another person before, but now he had his answer. He was now wondering if this was a good idea.

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Hi everyone!

Thank you for reading.

A chapter very focused on Selene and some elements of her past.

FYI: Elijah is 'played' by Michael Rosenbaum.

Young 'Adam' is 'played' by Ty Simpkins

Adult 'Adam' is 'played' by Josh Duhamel.

Can't wait for you to read the next chapters.

Thank you to those who followed the story.

Love you and see you next time.