Meghan was hurting the rest of the day, but Luke's warm prescence eased the pain a bit. He was probably the only one she knew in the country that could've been any help at all, and she was very grateful to have him.
In fact, she was feeling more grateful for him every second.
"I've got just the ticket to cure your sadness." he said.
And he took her to McDonald's. Which, even with Ronald's big, fat clown head staring at them from every corner, seemed like the most romantic gesture Meghan could imagine.
As she hungrily ate her cheeseburger, she watched him tactfully dip french fries in ketchup and eat them, one at a time.
"Oh, I'm such a pig!" she said, suddenly horrified.
"No." Luke responded casually. "I'm just a snobby peer of the realm."
"What's a peer of the realm?"
"Nothing worth going into." he laughed.
"Fine. I'll just look it up in my British slang dictionary."
"I wish you luck with that."
And she went back to eating and watching him eat as she did so. She found it interesting.
Then, they took off on his motorbike again. He took her to see the Peter Pan fountain.
Standing in front of it, he reached into his pocket. He pulled out two coins - one for Meghan, and one for himself.
"Toss it in and make a wish." he said. He then proceeded to flip his coin into the fountain.
"What did you wish for?" Meghan asked him.
"If I tell you, it won't come true." he said.
"Oh. Fine then." Meghan turned and tossed hers in.
"What did you wish for?" Luke asked her, slyly.
"Same thing you did."
They sat on the bench in front of the copper-colored water feature.
"What do want to do now?" he asked her.
"I dunno. What do you wanna do?"
He smirked.
"I think I know a place. Where we can go 'chill'." he said, trying his best (and failing) to sound American.
Meghan giggled.
"Right then. Brilliant. Lead the way." she said, sounding flawlessly British as she gestured ahead of her.
"Not bad." he had to admit as he stood up. Smiling, Meghan followed him.
Once again, she found herself being driven into that exclusive part of the city. She couldn't help but notice that a few people were staring at them. She'd seen people staring from the first time she and Luke had been out together. It was kind of unsettling.
They came through the big iron gates that led into Brenshire Manor. Meghan was led through the house and out into the back again, but this time, Luke turned in another direction - and they were in a small, charming little garden.
It was then that Meghan noticed the two people who were sitting at small outdoor cafe table in said garden. A man and a woman, both looking to be about Catherine and Libby's age.
The man was sort of dashing but looked a little like a scoundrel at the same time. He had short and very curly brown hair, and his face looked a teensy bit like a chipmunk's. He was wearing a suit.
The woman looked decent, though she seemed to look like she'd had a bit too much plastic surgery done on her cheeks. She had dishwater blonde hair, and was wearing a pink tweed outfit.
Luke noticed them as well.
"Oh! Mother! Father! I didn't see you there. Meghan, these are my parents, Matthew and Lillith Brenshire. Mum, Dad, this is Meghan Reynolds."
"Hello." Meghan told them, holding out her hand.
Matthew took it, staring at her in a sort of dazed fashion.
"Pleasure to meet you, lovely lady." he said. "Nice weather we're having, isn't it? Hasn't rained in weeks! Oh, how now..." He immediately got up and shuffled into the house, his mind distracted by a new thought.
Lady Brenshire, however, was not distracted in the least. She seemed to be studying Meghan thoroughly.
"It's nice to meet you too, ma'am." Meghan said, holding her hand out again.
"Oh, yes...my, you have rather strange hair, child...rather bent. Are you sure you know how to use an iron correctly?" the woman casually asked her.
"Mother!" Luke immediately swooped toward Meghan, gently pulling her away.
"Oh, what is it now, Lucas? I was simply telling the girl that her hair-styling techniques - "
"Enough, Mother." he said. He hastily pulled a very confused Meghan to another part of the garden, out of the woman's sight.
"I'm sorry." he immediately told her. "My mother can be a bit...frank, at times."
"Your dad seemed nice." she told him.
Luke looked away for a second.
"Yes, well, I suppose he is." he said as he faced Meghan again. He sat down on a small stone bench, putting his hands together.
"Is - is something wrong?" Meghan asked him.
He looked up.
"No, no, nothing to fuss about." he said. "It's...it's just..."
Meghan sat down next to him.
"The truth is, my father's a bit too nice." he said.
"Too nice?"
"Yes. Because -"
Meghan waited.
"Because...he's a bit fond of the bottle."
She looked down.
"But like I said. Nothing to fuss about. I'm sure your father's a right decent man."
She kept looking down.
"He was." she told him.
Luke was silent for awhile.
"...Was?" he asked, carefully.
Meghan hesitated.
"Yeah. My dad isn't around anymore."
Luke was quiet again, not sure he should tread any further.
"What...happened to him?"
Meghan turned to face her companion, gazing into his eyes once again. And she decided to open the door, and let him in.
It was August 18th, 1998. Meghan and her mother had been washing dishes together when they heard the doorbell ring. Catherine turned the water off and picked up a dishtowel, drying her hands as she went to answer the door. Meghan wiped her hands on her jeans, and followed her.
The door opened to a stern-looking man in uniform.
"Hi, can I help you?" Catherine asked.
"Good afternoon. Are you a Mrs. Catherine Reynolds?"
The woman looked at the man strangely. Meghan, confused, studied him from her position, a few feet away.
"Yes..."
"Mrs. Reynolds, I regret to inform you that your husband, Luietenant Aaron Reynolds, who is currently serving in Kosovo, has been reported missing in action."
"...Oh." Catherine's hand flew to her mouth. Meghan's eyes widened as she tried to process what the man had just said.
"Let me assure you that the military is making every effort to locate him and bring him to safety. However, I must inform you that his circumstances may be very grim."
That had been enough to send Meghan running to her room in tears. But later that night, after they'd both cried for awhile, Catherine and Meghan had sat on the couch eating butterscotch ice cream and watching The Tonight Show, and they'd hugged, and Catherine had assured Meghan that yes, he'd be okay. They'd find him.
Then, months passed. Every week, there was a phone call that gave Catherine an update on the search's progress. Of which, unfortunately, there didn't seem to be too much.
Soon, the phone calls started coming less and less often. Month after month, Catherine struggled to pay the rent, and the utilities. To buy food, clothes, and every other necessity. All on her small assistant's job.
And then, they recieved one last call. The call that informed them that, due to the dangers and risks involved for the other young men and women who were serving, the search for Luietenant Reynolds and the others reported missing had been called off.
That day, Meghan had seen her mother fall to the floor, sobbing, with the phone still in her hand. Clutching it, as if by squeezing it hard enough in her shaking fist, the person on the phone would tell her that it was all a joke, or a bad dream.
Meghan had just stood there, watching, unable to believe it. It was like something she'd seen in a tragic movie. She couldn't grasp it. All she could do was kneel down and put her hand on her mother, to comfort her in any way she could. At the moment, Meghan herself just couldn't cry - it was too surreal.
It had hit her later, when she was taking off her silver locket to go to bed. Aaron had given her that locket - she'd had it since she was five years old. Now, now she finally realized that...that her father was probably never coming home.
Her mother had heard her crying, and had rushed in to console her. Catherine made a decision that night - that it was time to get away.
And so, by next week, Meghan and Catherine were loading their possessions into a U-Haul van, packing up everything that would go with them to their new home. They would be staying with Aaron's younger sister, Elizabeth, and her daughter, Daphne.
When they'd pulled up in front of the building that housed the artist's loft and stepped out of the car, Libby and Daphne, who'd been waiting for them outside, had pulled them both into a sweeping embrace. Meghan would always remember how her aunt had smiled at her that day - she had looked like an angel. It had given Meghan comfort. And Daphne had given her that goofy grin, which at the time, Meghan had only seen a few times before. It had seemed to say, "Welcome, Meghan. From now on, we're gonna be together, and that makes me very happy."
And for a long, long time, they'd hoped together. The four of them had talked about Aaron every day, convincing themselves that any day now, he'd turn up. They didn't want to accept that probable truth, that he'd remain missing forever, like so many soldiers before him.
But one day, they'd just stopped talking. All at once, the four of them had seen that light start to fade as they started to believe that what they had was not hope, but denial. And ever since that day, it had been hard to talk about him at all - and mostly, they never did.
And Meghan convinced herself to move on, because she knew it was what her father would want. She remembered him saying once, before he'd gone overseas:
"If anything ever happens to me, I want you and your mother to keep going, understand? I want you to be happy. So don't you ever, ever be sad for me. Because no matter what, I promise I'll always be there. And I'll make sure you don't cry."
And now, Luke looked at Meghan, and Meghan looked back. Her shoulders had been cold that entire day, but now, Luke's arm was draped over them. And they were warm.
Okay, two things.
One, I'm not quite sure if anyone throws coins in the Peter Pan fountain in London, but this is rhapsodyflowerland, and in rhapsodyflowerland, they do.
Two, about the Kosovo thing - I did some reasearch, and fortunately, in real life, there were no American casualties when they really did fight there, and I don't think there were any MIAs either. Sadly, there are MIAs in this story - but the bad things that take place will make the good things better. And trust me, VERY good things are going to happen. :)
Back soon!
-rf-