The moment Clara entered the room; Lucas could see Fay tense up. He watched the way her eyes darted around the room, looking for ways out. He gently squeezed her hand, pulling Fay’s attention back to him. Lucas knew that what he was doing was risky and could backfire on him, but he was also hopeful that he could make things much better than they had been for years.

  “Oh! Lucas? Fay? What are you doing back here?”

  Clara sounded confused, but she’d obviously picked up on Fay’s distress quickly enough.

  “I can go, if you’d like,” She offered.

  Fay went to open her mouth, but Lucas stepped in and interrupted her.

  “Please, stay,” He replied.

  He turned to Fay, staring into his girlfriend’s eyes and squeezed her hand again. “Please,” He pleaded.

  While she didn’t relax, Fay did nod her head after a moment. Her grip on his hand tightened, though.

  “What’s going on? Master Leonidas sent me back here, he said that there were some papers he needed me to grab and work on.”

  “I asked him to send you here so we could talk,” Lucas explained. “Or rather, so you two could talk.”

  The two girls looked between one another and Lucas felt Fay’s grip on his hand tighten even more.

  “We really don’t need to talk,” Fay quickly said.

  Though she tried to hide it, Lucas spotted the way that Clara flinched when she heard Fay’s dismissal.

  “Yes, you do,” Lucas replied, his tone gentle yet firm at the same time. Before Fay could stop him, he kept going. “I heard from both of you how you were good friends years ago. But after Clara’s father died, everything between you two fell apart. It sounds like, after that, you two never even talked again and it’s been years.”

  Gently, Lucas grabbed Fay’s free hand and squeezed. “Every time you see Clara, you get so tense and skittish like you want to run off and hide. You can’t just keep avoiding the problem forever, Fay. Especially not now that you’re part of the guild that she works for.”

  “Fay?”

  Both teens turned when Clara spoke up, the older girl looking far more sad than Lucas had seen from her so far as she gazed at his girlfriend.

  “Why’d you stop talking to me after dad died? You acted like I didn’t even exist after that.”

  Lucas felt the way Fay flinched when she heard that. He could see the tears gathering in Fay’s eyes as she opened and closed her mouth, trying to find the words to say. Eventually, she just blurted it out.

  “I was scared,” She admitted.

  “I was crushed when Uncle Markus died and I didn’t know what to do. Then your mom…” Fay trailed off and bit her lip. “She blamed us for Uncle Markus dying. I was so terrified that you’d start blaming me too that I just ran away anytime I saw you.”

  “Oh, Fay,” Clara looked heartbroken as she listened. “Why didn’t you ever come talk to me after that? Mom apologized and it’s been years.”

  “I don’t care that she apologized!” Fay snapped angrily, stunning both Lucas and Clara. As her anger soared, a strong gust of wind erupted from Fay's position, sending papers flying around the room. In her anger, the younger girl seemed completely oblivious to what she'd done.

  “She blamed me. She screamed that me and dad were the reasons why Uncle Markus was dead and that it was all our fault. Do you know how much that hurt to be told that you’re the reason why your uncle died by a person you looked at like an aunt?”

  Clara looked just as shocked and horrified as Lucas felt at that moment. He’d never realized that things had gone that far and clearly Clara hadn’t known either.

  Fay sobbed quietly, her shoulders shaking as the first few tears finally fell. “I was so scared that you’d blame me, too. So, I just avoided you all I could. I figured if I never talked to you, I’d never have to hear you blame me, either. I couldn’t handle hearing you blame me for it, too.”

  Lucas went to hug Fay, but he was beaten to the punch as Clara rushed in and wrapped Fay up in a tight hug. Fay's body tensed at first, but she quickly sank into the hug and gripped Clara just as tight as the older girl was holding her.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “I never would've blamed you, Fay. I didn't blame Uncle Magnus, either. I was just sad that I lost my father, my uncle, and my friend all at once,” Clara tearfully admitted.

  “I missed you so much,” Fay sobbed as she desperately hugged Clara.

  “Why didn't you ever come and talk to me, you idiot?” The older girl asked.

  “When I wasn't scared of you blaming me, I was terrified of you being mad at me for ignoring you for so long. It just got easier to try and ignore you then face my fears.”

  Both Lucas and Clara could hear the regret and shame in Fay's voice as she spoke. Clara just hugged the blonde tighter and Lucas took a step back to give the two some space. It was obvious that they both needed it.

  “You're still an idiot, Fay,” Clara giggled through her tears. “I missed you too, so much.”

  Lucas stayed silent while the two girls slowly sank to the floor, holding one another and crying as years of suppressed emotions were let out.

  Clara was the one to finally break the silence as she wiped at her eyes. “Can we go back to how things were before? Before my dad passed away?”

  Fay didn't respond verbally, but she swiftly nodded her head as she continued to hold on to Clara.

  “Good,” Clara mumbled. “I missed you so much, Fay.”

  The younger girl's shoulder shook and Lucas silently watched as she tightened her hug even more. When Clara flinched, it took Lucas longer than he'd like to realize what was wrong.

  “Fay, easy,” Clara groaned. “No magic, remember?”

  Immediately, Fay pulled back as if she'd been burned. Lucas could see how red his girlfriend's eyes were and she was quick to look over Clara like she was terrified she'd hurt the older girl.

  “I'm so sorry!” Fay apologized. “I just forgot!”

  “It's ok. You didn't hurt me or anything,” Clara promised.

  Off to the side, Lucas smiled as he watched the two reconnect after years of distance. Seeing Fay and Clara both happy and smiling was enough for him to know that he'd made the right choice. He'd taken a risk and it had paid off in the end.

  “Do you want to come over for dinner later? Dad is making steaks?” Fay offered.

  “Steaks? Oh I loved when Uncle Magnus would make steak!” Clara beamed. “I'd love to come over, but are you sure your parents would be ok with it?”

  “He'll be fine with it, I'll make sure of it,” Fay vowed. “I passed my test, which means he'll definitely be making his best steaks.”

  Lucas couldn't help but chuckle a little bit as he watched Fay almost drool at the idea of the steaks that Magnus was going to make later. That little noise alerted Fay and Clara, reminding the two that they weren't alone.

  “Oh gods! I forgot you were there, Lucas,” Fay said as she jumped a little.

  “Kinda the idea,” Lucas joked. “I wanted to let you two talk. I'm glad you two are alright again.”

  He paused. “You two are friends again, right?”

  Both girls giggled and nodded.

  “Yeah, we are,” Fay agreed.

  “I'm glad,” Lucas repeated as Fay and Clara got up off the floor.

  Fay was quick to wrap the raven-haired boy in a hug and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for this. I was being a coward.”

  “It's ok to be scared,” Lucas replied with a content smile as his arms wrapped around his girlfriend.

  “So…” Clara's voice cut through the sweet moment and the two turned to see the older girl looking them both over. “Little Fay got herself a boyfriend.”

  Fay's face went red and she sent a glare at Clara. “Don't you start! I'll take back the invitation to dinner,” She threatened.

  That was apparently enough for Clara, as the dark-haired girl lifted her hands in surrender. Despite the threat, both girls were grinning at one another.

  “As much as I want to let you two keep talking, we should probably give the Guild Master his room back.”

  The reminder of where they were brought the conversation to a halt and Fay flinched when she saw the papers scattered all over the room. Clara, on the other hand, went a bit pale.

  “Oh no! This place is a mess!” She gasped.

  Quickly, Clara began to rush around the room, grabbing the scattered paperwork that had been sent flying by Fay's anger.

  “Help me out with this!” She called out to the other two.

  With the three working together, it only took a couple minutes to gather all of the papers and organize them back into a fairly neat pile on Leonidas’ desk. Once they finished, Clara finally relaxed and let out a sigh of relief.

  “He would've been so annoyed if he walked in on that mess,” She muttered.

  “What mess?”

  All three heads snapped towards the door to the office and froze as they saw the towering figure of Leonidas ominously standing in the doorway.

  “N-Nothing!” Fay quickly stuttered.

  “No mess here, Master Leonidas!” Clara agreed.

  The older man stayed silent as he looked at the two girls. After a few moments, the ominous feeling fading away as Leonidas nodded and smiled just a bit.

  “I'm glad to see you two talking to each other again,” He looked towards Lucas next and nodded again. “You did a good thing today, kid.”

  Lucas knew he'd already made a request to the Guild Master, but he figured that he could try and push his luck just a bit more.

  “Would you be ok letting Clara out a bit early?” He asked. “Fay invited her over for dinner.”

  “Hmm… I don't see anything wrong with that. Clara, finish up the last bit of paperwork you were working on, then you can head out for the day,” Leonidas agreed.

  Clara and Fay's smiles lit up the room and Lucas couldn't help but join them. Seeing Fay look so happy, he knew he'd done the right thing.

  Just because something was broken, didn't mean that it couldn't be fixed. It took some effort, and it wasn't always easy, but the end result was worth it.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~