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[catfindr]

[hannah-deactivated20220725]

Life After the Fight, part III

Words: 837

Characters: Aria & Mr. Fluffers

Genre: angst angst aaangst

Situation: Aria has moved out on her own. Here’s part 3 of her little story. <3

If you missed part I, you can view it here.

If you missed part II, you can view it here.

Aria woke with a start in a cold sweat. She’d been living on her own for about a month now, and it’s been really hard on her. She knew she still had the love of her fathers and that they would come over in a heartbeat if she ever asked them to, but it just wasn’t the same as living with them… she honestly kind of wished she hadn’t been in such a hurry to move out.

Sighing, she padded to the kitchen to grab a cup of chamomile tea. When it was made, she went to her couch and plopped down, holding the cup in both hands, right up to her face… letting the steam warm up her otherwise freezing face. She closed her eyes, letting the silence of her apartment wash over her. Finally, she took a long drink from her cup.

It was nice… calming. She opened her eyes again and stared blankly at the tv screen before her. She couldn’t believe she’d been back in New York for about a year… it felt so long yet so short at the same time. Just… going to work, coming home, crying, sleeping and doing it all over again.

She had a tv but it was never one. A thick layer of dust covered the screen. She sneezed a couple of times just as a little grey kitten came mewing up to her. She looked down at the kitten with a smile and patted her lap. The kitten jumped up into her lap and started spinning in circles to get comfortable before laying down on her lap.

She stroked the soft fur of her new kitten as she took another drink from her cup. Good thing she didn’t have to work that day. It was 3:30 and she felt wide awake. This had happened almost every day since she’d moved out on her own. It was starting to get to her.

Yawning, she grabbed the remote for her tv, but just like so many times in the past month, she set it back down almost immediately with a heaved sigh then took another drink from her cup.

Life on her own was… rather boring. And depressing. She had way too much time to think about Sam and it broke her heart. She felt so alone. Even though she knew her parents would do anything for her, she felt absolutely alone.

Several times over the course of the last year, Kyle had given her letters written by Sam, but she would throw them into her fireplace to be burned and wouldn’t even bat an eye over it. It never haunted her what he would possibly have to say in those letters. After all, if he proved anything, it was that their friendship meant nothing to him… so why should she care anymore? Why should she put him above all others? Marcus had never hurt her, yet she barely thought about him. And Claire… she could only imagine how Claire reacted when she learned she was moving… but she didn’t dare think about that. Not too often, anyway.

She started to rub her face as the kitten started purring loudly in its sleep, snuggling closer against her. At least she had this little fella. He was good to her. Any time she felt alone, it was like he had a radar for her misery and just… popped up.

Her bottom lip started to quiver as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. She rubbed them, begging them not to fall, but they did not heed her pleas.

Finally, she forced herself to her feet, setting the still sleeping kitten down on a fluffy pillow gently. She threw on a jacket and changed into jeans and hurried out the front door. She climbed down the stairs and went to the road. A walk sounded perfect. The cool night air, exercising her dreariness away… yeah, perfect.

As she trudged along, she heard a rustling in a bush nearby and glanced over. More curious than freaked out by what it could be. When she didn’t immediately see anything, she moved closer and tried to make out the form from within the bush.

“Hello?” She called as she stepped closer, eyes narrowed at the bush. There was no response at first. But then a man - no, an elf - stepped out from behind the bush. His eyes looked wild, like he wanted to kill her but he also looked confused, which confused her.

“What were you doing in that bush?” She asked when he hadn’t spoken to her. He didn’t reply, only ran away. She thought that strange but thought nothing of it and continued her walk until she started getting tired. When she reached the house, her kitten was back in the bedroom, curled up at the foot of the bed. She plopped down in the middle of the bed and screamed into her blankets. Crying, as she seemed to do every night, she slowly and fitfully fell back into slumber.