I know this is number two today but oh well... I'm sorry if the ending of this is a bit cliché, but I just thought that it had to happen! And I only own the OC's!
It was dark when he awoke. There was a silvery-blue tint to the sky over the ocean that provided a little light. Yassen lay still, listening as a few tourists walked past the window.
His entire body hurt, it was like restarting the training, only now, his heart hurt too. He stood up slowly, feeling bones and muscles take the strain and groaning as joints clicked and straightened.
The bar downstairs was packed with locals and tourists. Hunter sat at a table on his own, picking at a plate of roast beef. Yassen went over and joined him.
"Hi, sir," he said dully. Hunter looked up and his eyes widened; Yassen looked awful, his eyes were dull and uninterested, he looked like he was being slowly tortured to death.
"Yassen, shit. You look terrible, look; it's on me, just… eat something!" Hunter ordered another roast and a glass of orange juice. Yassen didn't really move; he breathed and blinked, but he could have been in a coma. Nothing registered.
"Talk to her. Don't let your friendship go without a fight," Hunter said as Yassen started on his food. He looked away from Hunter.
"What's the point? She won't change her mind and I'm going to lose her anyway." Hunter's heart went out to the boy, he sounded so dejected and hopeless.
"No, probably she won't change her mind, but she's your best friend, she doesn't want to hurt you. You have to think about what's best for her. She isn't cut out to be an assassin, you are." Hunter's face flickered for a second but Yassen didn't notice.
He bent over his food and concentrated on eating. Hunter watched silently. As soon as Yassen finished, Hunter stood up and caught his arm.
"Come with me." It was an order and Yassen found himself following on autopilot. Holly was lying coiled in an armchair. Yassen pulled back when he realised what he was meant to be doing here but Hunter gripped harder, his fingers raising bruises on Yassen's arm. "Talk to her," he repeated.
Yassen wrenched his arm free and tried to run to the stairs. Hunter tripped him up without looking round and then yanked him to his feet. He pushed Yassen towards Holly who had opened her eyes, and was watching with interest.
Yassen glared at Hunter as he was forced into a chair next to Holly.
"If he runs, call me," He told Holly as he went out of the room. She nodded and turned to Yassen.
"I'm sorry. I know that this hurts but I can't help who I am." Yassen turned away, hearing the truth in her words but refusing to believe her. She caught his shoulders and turned him to face her. "I really am sorry; but can't you be happy for me? I thought you were my friend-" Yassen snapped his head up to look her in the eye.
"I thought you were my friend," He mimicked. "Yeah, me too. But friends don't just abandon other friends do they? So I guess that you're not such a great friend after all." Holly sat back, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Yassen…" She whispered weakly. He looked away from her. "I didn't want to hurt you; you've been hurt too much already. I hate having to do it, but better now than when I get to Malagosto.
"SCORPIA won't miss me if I go now, if I get in there and learn all the names and all that; they won't want me to go. At least, not alive." It was a chilling reminder of the mercilessness of his future employers and although he wanted to disagree, Yassen couldn't. He didn't want to use lies to argue for her to stay.
"I'll miss you," He murmured. Holly smiled and hugged him.
"I'll miss you too. Maybe you could come to visit me at some point?" the words sounded fake, and Yassen knew that he wouldn't see her again once he left. But he nodded and hugged her back.
"I'd like that."
"And, I could come and see you maybe? Once you're trained." He nodded again. Hot tears welled up and flowed down his cheeks, soaking into Holly's jumper. He felt a wet patch on his shoulder and knew that Holly was crying too.
"Look," he whispered. "I don't want our last conversation to consist of empty promises. I think we both know that we probably won't meet again." Holly nodded into his shoulder and dissolved into fresh sobs.
"Yassen?" she gasped suddenly, drawing back.
"Hmm…? What?" he looked at her, puzzled.
"I…have to tell you something." She took a deep breath and stood up, "I think… I think… I…love you." She turned and ran.
Hunter appeared from nowhere, think that it was Yassen. He dropped his arms and let Holly race past. Yassen was kneeling where he was, stunned.
"Looks like it was one hell of a talk," Hunter commented dryly. Yassen looked up at him blearily. "What did she say? You look worse than you did downstairs." Yassen laughed harshly.
"Right, so you weren't listening to every word we said?" he asked sarcastically. Hunter pretended to be insulted but his face fell when he saw Yassen's expression.
"She told you then? I didn't listen to the last bit," He explained.
"You knew? You knew and you didn't tell me?" Hunter held up his hands as Yassen advanced, carried to his feet in a blaze of fury.
"It was obvious. Everyone could tell, even Mel and she only saw you with Holly once. I guess people don't see what's under their noses. That's got to change by the way, if you want to succeed as an assassin." Yassen nodded sullenly. "Yassen, pull yourself together. She leaves for Keswick tomorrow morning, she's going home. Don't you dare sleep late, now go to bed." Yassen's legs walked him up the stairs to his room.
He didn't sleep, couldn't sleep. He lay awake for the whole night, tossing and turning, trying to find some speck of understanding. He cried at times, and he laughed out loud as he ran through his memories.
Yassen drifted into a kind of waking dream. Troubled images chased through his mind and filled him with worry and fear.
Dawn. Yassen heard the birds calling from the trees and leapt up; he dressed quickly in jeans and a tight-fitting t-shirt. He shrugged into a jacket and ran out the door.
He could have sworn that Holly had moved into the lounge. She was crouched on the windowsill, staring moodily out to sea. Yassen crept up behind her and tapped her shoulder.
She lashed out again, much like the way she had on the day they had agreed to get along. This time however, Yassen was ready. He caught her arm as it whistled through the air and twisted it gently but firmly behind her back.
"Way too slow," He whispered in her ear, letting go of her arm and stepping back. She smiled up at him, clearly uncomfortable.
"I didn't think you'd want to come," She said quietly. Yassen shrugged and sat down beside her.
"Well, I didn't want our friendship to end just like that." He snapped his fingers, "Plus I would have missed you even more if I hadn't said goodbye properly."
"It wouldn't be possible to miss you more than I'm going to miss you, whether you said goodbye or not." Her eyes filled with tears again and Yassen hugged her. She hesitated, and then hugged him back, pressing her face into his neck.
"Holly, the car's here, oh…" Jack stood awkwardly in the doorway, a slight smile tugging at his lips. He picked up her bags and left. Yassen gently disengaged her arms from his throat and took her hand.
"One last adventure?" he asked gently. She nodded and smiled, squeezing his hand.
They walked down the stairs and out into the bright January sunshine. Hunter stood talking to another man who, upon closer inspection, turned out to be Spider. He looked Yassen over as he came out and spoke quickly to Hunter.
Yassen was focusing mainly on Holly, but he noticed Spider. He noticed the way Jack and Laura stood so close as to be almost glued together. That made him smile, though in jealousy.
Holly was crying openly, clinging to Yassen's arm but also trying to pull away; torn between her home and the love she had for Yassen.
Jack called her and she let go of Yassen's arm, and went to talk to him and Laura. Hunter came over and stood beside Yassen.
"Well done for coming to see her off." Yassen shrugged, watching as Holly hugged first Laura, then Jack. She smiled through her tears at Yassen and Hunter as she walked back.
"Thanks for everything, sir," She said formally, holding out her hand. Hunter knocked it aside and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Don't be silly," He said. "Take care of yourself." Hunter let go of her and tactfully moved away as she turned to Yassen.
"I'm going to miss you," He whispered. She brushed a couple of tears away and wrapped her arms around him again. He looked down at her and, for the briefest instant, their lips met.
"I love you," Holly murmured and fled to the car. Spider accelerated away and up the hill.
Yassen waved until the car was out of sight, but he could scarcely see it anyway. Tears flowed down his cheeks and he could tell that he wasn't alone. Sobs came from behind him but he didn't turn. She was coming back. Any second…
Hunter laid a hand on his shoulder and turned him back to the hotel, even though the older man's body was racked with suppressed sobs. She was coming back…
One more chapter… but I have an idea for my next fanfic! So mixed blessings ,really.