Spirals of the Mind

Title: Spirals of the Mind: Chapter 3
Author: JadeHeart
Archived: If anyone would like it, please ask me first!
Fandom: Highlander
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: angst/sexual situations
Timeline: Not sure exactly when, but they’re in Seacouver, after Tessa’s death.
Characters: Duncan/Ritchie/Kaiya (OC)
Feedback: Feedback is always welcome!
Summary: The crossing of lives and loves; they come and go.
Author’s Notes: This story is a bit of an experiment to see how it will come out, so I’m really just trying to play with the characters personalities a little.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, they belong to the creators of ‘Highlander’ , nor am I making any profits from this.


Chapter 3

Duncan and Kaiya were settled comfortably in Paris, but Duncan soon decided to return to Seacouver. He felt that his life in Paris had reached its end, and he was tired of trying to go back to the past. His decision was based on his new relationship with Kaiya, and he wanted to move forward. Paris for him, would always be about Tessa, so he wanted to start afresh. When they arrived in Seacouver, Duncan felt immediately that he had made the right choice. Already he was feeling as though he had shifted a weight from his shoulders. Perhaps his stay in Paris had actually affected him more than he had thought it had. Yes, it was time to move on with his life.

Kaiya moved into the loft above the dojo with Duncan, quickly unpacking her few items and taking great delight in looking around at the various knick-knacks that Duncan had scattered around. She, of course, recognised most of the items for their antique value, mainly because she could identify the periods they were from. He found he felt great amusement in watching her poke around in his things.

Ritchie had also returned with them, for which Duncan was very glad about. He had worried that perhaps the boy would remain in Paris, or at least in France. He knew how much Ritchie had come to like the country. However, when he had told Ritchie of their plans to return to Seacouver, he had immediately indicated his interest in coming back also, if Duncan and Kaiya didn’t mind. Duncan had offered him a place with them at the dojo, but he had immediately found his own apartment across town and settled in there. Although it was a reasonable hike to commute from his apartment to the dojo, Ritchie was still frequently there and would often stay for dinner after his workouts. This was a good time for the three of them to catch up and spend time together, just enjoying each other’s company. Duncan also still enjoyed spending time continuing Ritchie’s training, in honing his skills. Even Kaiya would sometimes participate, but she maintained that she would rather just let the ‘boys’ battle it out.

Duncan had accepted the invitation to attend the exhibition at the museum, courtesy of an old acquaintance of his in the antique business. Some of the pieces would be auctioned privately during the course of the evening, whilst the majority were for viewing only. He had no intention of bidding on the few items for sale, although he enjoyed examining them closely to determine if they truly were originals or just very clever fakes. His friend would sometimes invite him for this purpose exactly, knowing that if Duncan spotted anything that seemed out-of-place he would notify him immediately before the pieces or money could change hands and cause substantial embarrassment for all parties concerned.

They arrived at the front of the museum, Duncan dropping Kaiya and Ritchie off whilst he went to park the car, returning to them shortly on foot. It was an extravagant black tie affair. Kaiya was stunning in a simple black dress, with Duncan and Ritchie cutting dashing figures in their tuxes. Kaiya smiled at them, as each extended an arm for her to link with hers.

“I’m going to be the envy of every woman in the building.” she said, winking at them. “It’s not every day a lady can have two handsome men escorting her to a party!”

“Only the best for milady.” Duncan said smoothly, with a low sweeping bow before they mounted the stairs. Kaiya chuckled at his antics.

Ritchie ran his finger around his collar, grimacing. “I feel like this damn thing is going to choke me!” he complained.

“Stop fiddling with it.” Kaiya said, frowning at him. “You look fine, and if you don’t think so much about it, it won’t bother you. Just enjoy the evening.”

Ritchie heaved a sigh and tried manfully to ignore the urge to tug at his collar again, going as far as to stuff his free hand into his pocket to keep it out of mischief.

Inside was a blaze of light, with crowds of people milling around. Everyone here screamed ‘money’, from the expensive cut of the clothes, to the jewellery that positively dripped from some of the women. Ritchie was all agog at the sights, but bemoaned the fact that he couldn’t see a single female under the age of 40, and that included Kaiya, even if she did look less. Duncan laughed at him and told him he should go and make certain he’s checked all the possibilities, because quite often some of the daughters of these rich people came along. Ritchie’s eyes lit up at that thought, and with a quick smile disappeared into the throng. Kaiya smiled after him, shaking her head at his exuberance.

“Something funny?” Duncan asked, steering her towards the table where the champagne was set out.

“Just thinking of how young Ritchie is. He’s so full of life!”

“He certainly is that.” Duncan agreed, handing her a glass. She took a sip and screwed up her nose just briefly, before schooling her expression back to a pleasant smile. “Not to your liking?” Duncan asked.

“I’ve never cared for champagne. I have always believed it is one of the most highly over-rated alcoholic beverages that there is. I can think of hundreds of others that are much better.”

Duncan chuckled. “I agree. But when in Rome…”

“Do as the Romans do.” she finished the sentence for him. She took another sip and grimaced again, “I never cared much for the Roman Empire, you know.”

Duncan laughed out loud, drawing a few glances from the people around them. “I can’t say that I had the pleasure of being there at that time.”

“Believe me, it wasn’t all pleasure and I’m not really sure that you missed much.”

“Darius seemed to like it.”

“Well, it was his era, so he had a soft spot for it. Personally, once you’ve seen one Christian thrown to the lions, you’ve seen it all. The highlight was when Nero let Rome burn, even if he was a dreadful violinist.”

“Come on.” Duncan said, still chuckling as he took her arm. “Let’s see what’s on offer tonight shall we.”

Duncan and Kaiya managed to find a corner to themselves, having been caught up in a dozen different conversations with various people as they had wandered through the rooms. A number of the people there had either met, or seen, Duncan at other such events, and had gathered he was a bit of an expert on such things, so they had attempted to draw him out on his opinion of the pieces displayed there that night. Duncan kept his own counsel, managing to fend most of the questions off. He always ensured that any views he had, were provided to his friend, and his friend alone. He was not present to offer free advice to anyone else. This didn’t always go over well with everyone, and they had left more than one miffed person in their wake. They, for one, were just grateful to get away for a short time. Ritchie joined them just a moment later, looking glum.

“No luck?” Kaiya questioned, referring to his hunt of any eligible female under the age of 40.

“Oh, there were a few amongst these old dragons, but they either didn’t want to speak to me, the snooty cats; or they were hanging off the arm of some peacock stuffed in a tux!” Duncan let out a snort of laughter; Ritchie just glared at him. “Come on, Mac! Why can’t you ever take me somewhere exciting? This is so boring!”

As if Ritchie’s words were prophetic, just then all hell broke loose. Masked men suddenly surged in from the various doors, guns in hand, cutting off the exits. Screams of disbelief and fear rose from the patrons, rising in volume as more people realised what was occurring and reality was beginning to sink in. Duncan was prepared to just let the event play out. It appeared to be nothing more than an elaborate robbery, as two of the men began circulating through the crowd, demanding jewels and wallets be dropped into the bags they carried. Two stood menacing the crowd, whilst he noticed the last two make their way into one of the exhibition rooms, crowding around one of the pieces. Obviously that had been their main target; the rest was just an added bonus. He sighed. He didn’t like just standing on the side-lines like this, but there was no point in attracting attention to himself, or causing the situation to escalate. Jewels, money, even the antique were still nothing more than possessions and most could be replaced.

“We should do something!” Ritchie hissed quietly to Duncan, watching the men.

“Don’t do anything stupid!” Duncan ordered him in a low tone. He glanced over at his young friend and could see him poised for action, righteous anger on his face. He sighed. Sometimes the boy was a real trial. Kaiya, on the other hand, stood at his side completely calm.

“Ritchie, you’ll just make things worse. Just let it go. And wipe that expression off your face! If it looks like you’re going to defy them, they are just as liable to try and make an example of you.”

“Let ‘em try!” Ritchie snorted, flexing his hands into fists.

“Ritchie,” Duncan growled in warning.

Ritchie flashed a look towards his mentor and realised that Duncan was deathly serious. He sighed. He didn’t want to let any of this just slide by. It was wrong, and he knew that he could help because he couldn’t get hurt. But he had already made that mistake before and knew that Duncan was correct. It wasn’t up to them to solve this, and they shouldn’t draw attention to themselves about it. He heaved another deep sigh and tried to bury his anger. He didn’t know how Duncan did it. He knew he friend felt just as strongly about right and justice, so it must be just as difficult for Duncan to just stand there and watch.

He felt a soft touch to his arm and turned to look into Kaiya’s calm green eyes. “You’re doing fine.” she said with a small smile. He shot her a quick grin for her support.

The men who had gone to retrieve the artefact had returned, carrying the item carefully. The others roaming the room began to make their way back to their comrades as well. Duncan watched all this closely. It looked like it was going to all be over very shortly; they had what they wanted and were leaving. They were obviously a professional group. No audible alarms had been set off, and if they were really clever they would have ensured they silenced the inaudible ones to the monitoring stations as well. Security staff had either been incapacitated or caught unawares by the suddenness of the strike. Well, now that they had what they came for it appeared that they were happy to go. Good, he thought.

Just then the unthinkable occurred. A young man standing on the other side of the room reached inside his jacket and withdrew a gun. Duncan saw it occur from his position on the other side of the room. Oh, no! his mind screamed as his feet were already moving him forward. He heard the shot ring out and one of the masked men fall. The others turned, brining guns to bear, and immediately shots began to ring out.

The original hero was the first casualty. Duncan saw the flowering red stain on his chest and knew that he was dead before he touched the floor. Two other patrons fell to the ground, dead or only wounded, he didn’t know. As though that first shot had been the spark to ignite the powder keg everything just went downhill from there. The other security guards, two of them, that had been trapped within the room with them, now also drew guns and began firing. Patrons screamed and didn’t know which way to run, reminding Duncan of frightened sheep. Caught in the middle of the fire-fight, their flight more often than not took them into the deadly paths that spun around them. The more sensible had dropped to the floor, hugging the tiles and keeping well out of the way.

He picked up a vase from a nearby wall table, emptying the contents ruthlessly onto the floor and hurled it with practiced aim at the gunmen. It struck one heavily, sending him to the ground. Duncan ducked out of sight before the rest could train their weapons on him.

“Go!” Duncan ordered to Ritchie. “To the roof.”

“But….”

“Go!” Duncan shouted again, as he headed back to try and see what he could do to help. Standing by was no longer an option, and in an effort to reduce the casualties he had to see if he could bring things to a halt. He imagined that the authorities would be arriving very shortly now that this quiet robbery had turned into a vicious gunfight, and the casualties were mounting. He wanted to make certain that Ritchie and Kaiya were well out of the way.

Ritchie sighed and grabbed Kaiya’s hand, heading to the roof access. Fortunately the weather was mild out, but there was still a slight breeze on the open roof top, so Ritchie slipped out of his jacket and draped it over Kaiya’s shoulders. She flashed him a smile of thanks, and moved to the edge and sat there, draping her legs over the side. Ritchie had noticed that Kaiya seemed to enjoy heights, or maybe it was just the sense of freedom that the open expanse gave her. He couldn’t say that he was that thrilled about them, but he still joined her.

“Do you think Mac’s okay?” he asked.

“Duncan will be fine.” she replied confidently. “He likes to be the protector.” she said this with a smile.

“I know, but I think he should let us help as well. It would be safer.”

“Perhaps. But it is his decision.”

“You’re really happy with him, aren’t you?” Ritchie said.

“Yes, I am. These past years have been wonderful. Duncan, you, everything.”

“I’m glad you stayed with Mac. He needed someone and there’s not really been anyone since Tessa. Not in the same sort of way. I guess it was the same for you with Darius.”

“In a way.” she replied. “I never expected to find myself loving someone else, like Duncan. And even you.”

Ritchie looked at her and almost blushed at her smile. “Well, I’m glad I’ve got you and Mac as family.”

“Always.” and she reached out and they hugged.

Just at that moment Duncan arrived on the roof. As soon as the sound of the sirens could be heard and the thumping of feet pounding down the corridors, he had decided to make himself scarce and leave the rest to the proper authorities. He had been able to provide some distractions to focus the gunfire in his direction and aware from the rest of the people in the room, but unfortunately the zealous security guards continued to draw attention to themselves as well. So with the arrival of the police he had slipped away to check on Ritchie and Kaiya. He was at first relieved to see both of them safe, although rationally he knew that little could have hurt them. Then he took in the scene before him; both of them sitting on the rooftop under the full moon, Ritchie’s jacket around Kaiya’s shoulders, arms wrapped around each other. He felt a completely irrational surge of jealousy overwhelm him.

“So this is what you were up to!” he snapped. They broke their embrace.

“Duncan!” Kaiya said, a smile lighting her face at the sight of him.

Even that did not cool his anger. “I send you to safety, and instead you move in behind my back!” he directed at Ritchie.

Ritchie scrambled to his feet. “Now, Mac...” he said soothingly, holding his hands out as though to ward him off. “It’s not what you might think.”

“No?” Duncan grated out between clenched teeth.

“No.” Ritchie said firmly, as he turned to give a hand to Kaiya to assist her to her feet. This act of courtesy only fuelled Duncan’s anger.

“So I see. It’s exactly what you’ve been waiting for.”

Kaiya had lost her smile long before now. Now she looked at Duncan with her own anger building, as Duncan turned and stormed off.

“Duncan!” she called out, trying to make him stop, but he didn’t. “What is wrong with him!?” she asked, watching his retreating back. “Come on. Let’s get back and sort out what is going on.”

“We’ll take a cab. I don’t think Mac’s going to be waiting with the car.”

“I think you’re right. Let’s go.”

Ritchie and Kaiya entered the dojo, Ritchie picking up the buzz before her. “He’s here.” he said.

Duncan came out of the office. “What do you want?” he snapped.

“An apology for Ritchie would be a start!” she said, snapping right back.

“I won’t apologise to someone who is trying to steal my woman!”

“What?!” Ritchie said. “Look, Mac, you know I wouldn’t do that.”

“You were after Tessa, you were after Amanda, now you’re after Kaiya. What’s wrong, boy? Can’t get a woman on your own so you have steal mine?”

“Now wait a goddamn minute!” Ritchie took a step forward, beginning to lose his temper also. Kaiya placed a hand on his chest to halt his movement, seeking to calm him.

“You’re not welcome here anymore.” Duncan said, and stalked away to the elevator.

“Mac!” Ritchie called.

“Leave!” Duncan threw over his shoulder, not turning around.

“Fine!” Ritchie shouted and turned away.

“Wait here.” Kaiya said to him, and she followed after Duncan.

When she reached the loft, she angrily pushed the door up. “Just what is the matter with you?!” she snapped, striding forward. “How can you talk to Ritchie like that? You know he wouldn’t do anything like that to you.”

“He’s in love with you.”

“I know.”

“You know?” Duncan’s voice dropped, but she didn’t notice.

“He told me.”

“So you’re both at it.”

“What!?”

“Get out.”

“Duncan…..”

“I said, get out!. I don’t intend to live a lie any longer.”

“What are you saying? I love you, you know that.”

“You don’t know the meaning of love or of commitment. You don’t know what it is like to stay with someone because of love. You ran away and left Darius!”

Her face grew pale at this verbal assault. “Fine.” and she spun on her heel and walked away.

When the elevator reached the ground floor, she exited the dojo to find Ritchie standing on the doorstep, a bag at his feet. He had emptied his locker and was ready to go. He turned as she approached, stepping towards her. “Well?”

She pursed her lips. “He’s not listening.”

“Then, that’s it. I’m not going to justify my every thought and move to him. If he doesn’t trust me, then so be it.” Ritchie slung his bag over his shoulder. “You going to be okay?”

She looked back up at the building. “I’ll find somewhere to stay.”

Ritchie paused, “Huh?”

She turned back to him, “He threw me out.”

“What?!” Ritchie was stunned. That was the last thing he had expected. He could sort of understand Duncan being mad at him, perhaps over re-acting a little, but he could understand it. But he would never have thought that Duncan would ever have let Kaiya go! She stood before him looking quite lost, and no less stunned. “Come on. You can crash at my place. It’s not much, but if you excuse the mess, it’s not bad. You can sort things out in the morning.” She didn’t argue and he flagged a taxi down and they headed for his place.

His apartment was quite nice, and he was rather proud of the way that he kept it. In daylight it was quite bright and airy, at night it was cosy. He fortunately did have a spare room, small but adequate. H moved things off the bed and did a quick tidy up, so Kaiya would be comfortable. She made her way to the living room, standing by the open window, the breeze lifting her hair. He went to the fridge and got a beer, taking a sip to calm his emotions. He looked across to where she stood in the dark and reached out to turn the light on.

“Don’t. Please.” she said and he didn’t, instead walking slowly into the room to stand near her.

“Don’t worry. Mac will have calmed down by morning. This will all be sorted out.”

“Will it?” she queried. She had discarded his jacket on the couch and had her arms wrapped around her body. She looked at Ritchie. “How can it just blow over, Ritchie? There’s some truth in what Duncan said.”

“I know I said I liked you, and I know it’s wrong, and I’m sorry I did. But that shouldn’t affect you and Duncan, and Mac knows that. He’ll realise it soon enough.”

“It is not just you, Ritchie.”

His heart almost stopped in his chest. “What do you mean?”’

She dropped her head for a moment before looking him in the eyes. “It is my feelings. I love Duncan. I do, and I have, and I never expected to, after Darius. I’ve loved Duncan with all my being.” Tears began to form in her eyes. She reached out a hesitant hand and touched his cheek gently. He felt an almost electric shock jolt through him at the contact. “But I found myself loving you also. From not believing I could ever love someone as I loved Darius, I found myself faced with the fact that I loved two people. So it is not just you, Ritchie. It is me.”

Ritchie took a step closer towards her, putting the beer on the sill. He couldn’t help himself. A part of him was saying to keep his distance but he couldn’t listen to it.

“I would never have done anything, Ritchie. I was committed to Duncan, I loved him dearly, but I was so glad you were in my life also. Now I’ve lost him, Ritchie. How can I trust him, knowing he doesn’t trust me? Darius never gave me cause to believe he doubted me in anyway. I never thought that Duncan would either. I’ve stayed all this time with him, living with him, being with him, following him. I left all that I was behind.” The tears streaked her face as she turned to look at him. “What do I do now?” she asked painfully.

“I don’t know.” Ritchie answered honestly. She dropped her head and her hair hid her face but he could see her shoulders shake with silent sobs. He gathered her into his arms, gently rocking her. “Shhh. Somehow it will be okay. It will.”

He continued to comfort her and she clung to him, arms circling his waist to hold him close. He could feel her face pressed into the crook of his neck, her tears soaking his skin and shirt, her lithe body pressed against his, his hands feeling the contours of her spine and shoulders. He mentally took a breath and drew himself back a little, though he didn’t fully release her. He looked into her face and he reached up to wipe a tear away gently, cupping her face, his fingers lingering there. He cleared his throat. “You must be tired.” and he made a move to disengage, but felt her arms tighten slightly, trapping him. “Kaiya,” he said, warningly.

“You said you love me.”

“I do. But I don’t want this.”

“What do you want?”

“I don’t know. But I’m not going to go behind Mac’s back.”

“You’re not.”

“You’re with him.”

“No. I’m not.” she said with finality.

“In the morning, it will be different.”

She shook her head, “No, it won’t. I will not stay with someone who doesn’t trust me. I will not return.” She seemed so certain that he wanted to believe her. She reached up to cup his face. “Ritchie, I love you. I am not doing this to spite Duncan, or to be cruel. I’m not trying to use you to get back at him. I love you, for who you are, and what you are, and for yourself. I would have loved you if you had had nothing to do with Duncan.”

“Why now?” he had to know. Part of him was still trying to say to leave, to put some distance between them, but his heart wouldn’t let him, and he could admit that his body didn’t want that either as it was beginning to respond to her close proximity.

“Because now I am free to do so.” she replied. “Duncan accused you of trying to steal ‘his’ woman. I am no one’s possession, I am my own person and I stay with whom I wish, for how long I wish. Love is the only binding that held me, that and trust. Duncan has shown that he thought of me more as an object to own, and I will not be that. He has broken the bond we had. Now I choose to be with you, because of the love I bear you. Losing Darius showed me how foolish I had been, that I cannot just walk way from love, leave it behind and not experience it, to not give and receive. I won’t make that same mistake with you. You ask, why now? Because now is the right time. I am free to choose. And I choose you.” The last words she said as a whisper, her breath brushing his lips before her kiss stole his thoughts away.

It was as though his last defences crumbled at this gentle onslaught. He wrapped her in a tight embrace and kissed her back passionately. It started off gentle, soft. His hands roamed over her body, he rained kisses over her face, down her neck, she returned in kind. But soon the fire banked, the embers burned brighter and erupted into searing flames that burned into their beings. Frantically they stripped the clothes away. He picked her up into his arms and carried her to his bedroom, almost falling on top of her but mindful not to crush her with his weight. Every touch of her skin seemed to prompt him, urging him on. Finally, naked bodies met, entwined, and joined.

Ritchie felt he was dying in a way he never had before. It was as though the final release of their love was too intense to bear and they would be consumed by it. Over and over during that night, they wrapped around and into each other, touching and exploring every aspect of their being, until spent, they fell into an exhausted sleep, tightly wrapped in each others arms.

Ritchie woke late the next morning, sunlight filtering through the half open blinds. His body was warm, flesh pressing against flesh. Kaiya half lay across his chest, one leg thrown over his. This close physical contact felt wonderful to him, it felt right. It was also highly arousing. He lay still, enjoying the sensations and slowly and gently ran his hand up and down her shoulder and arm, relishing the silky touch of her skin. He felt her move slightly, wriggle a little closer, then lift her head.

“Morning.” he said quietly, a little uncertain of what his reception would be. She leant forward and placed a light kiss on his lips. She slid her body higher until she covered his and the kiss deepened. He had been aroused before, but now it was unbearable. They made love passionately, then Ritchie drifted into sleep again.

The next time he awoke, he felt no body contact. He rolled over and reached across the bed to find the bedclothes thrown back and the bed cold. He ran his hand across the open sheet and sighed. It had been too much to hope, that come morning she would want to remain with him. He knew how much she loved Mac. What could he have offered her? Still it hurt that she had gone, and without a word. Now he had been with her, had a taste of what it would be like to be with her permanently, he didn’t know how he could go back to the way things had been. Maybe it was time to move on, make a fresh start somewhere. He supposed he should think about getting up. The bedside clock showed it was almost midday.

The bedroom door was suddenly pushed open, startling him so much that he automatically reached for his sword by the bed although he had felt no buzz. He stared in amazement as Kaiya entered, wearing one of his long sleeved shirts, only buttoned on the lower half, and carrying a tray with cups, coffee pot and toast.

“Thought you’d be hungry.” she said cheerily, kneeling at the end of the bed and carefully placing the tray in the centre between them. He sat up fully, sheet bunched around his waist, and watched as she poured his coffee just the way he liked it. “I thought toast was the safest.” as she handed him the cup “Especially after I examined what else was growing in your fridge. I’m sure something talked back to me.” and she smiled impishly at his embarrassment.

“I don’t bother shopping much.”

“So I noticed. We’ll have to rectify that.”

He reached out and caught one of her hands. “I thought you had gone.” He voiced his fear.

She squeezed his hand. “No. I made my choice.”

“I’m glad.” and they had a leisurely breakfast.

As they cleaned up, they stayed close to each other, even showering together. She dressed in an old pair of track pants and shirt of Ritchie’s. “I’ll have to get my things from Duncan’s.” she said.

“I’ll go with you.”

“No. It’s better if I go alone.”

“You sure?”

She smiled at him, “I’m sure. I don’t have much. I travel light.”

Ritchie dropped her off and left her with a kiss and smile. He didn’t tell her that he was afraid that once she met Duncan again she would choose to return to him, but it was a fear he had to face.

Kaiya entered the dojo, and concentrated hard for a moment. She couldn’t sense Duncan and so went to the elevator and up to the loft. She quickly gathered her things together. There was more than she had realised, accumulated during her time with Duncan, but it still fitted into two manageable bags. She finished and took the elevator down. As she exited, Duncan walked in. He had been pacing all night after the altercation, agonising over what had happened. He was angry at himself, at Ritchie, at Kaiya. He worried about her; was she alright? When he saw her standing in the middle of the dojo, his first thought was of relief that she was okay. Then he stopped as he noticed the packed bags.

“What’s going on?” he asked, hands in pockets.

She glanced back to the elevator and wished this could have been avoided. “I think I have everything. If you find anything else just throw it out. I’m sure I don’t need it.” She picked up the bags and began walking past him to the door.

“Where are you going?”

“Somewhere.” was her cryptic answer, not turning around.

“Are you really going to do this?” Duncan asked, his voice thick with emotion.

This time she paused. “Yes.” she finally replied quietly and left, leaving Duncan standing alone.

She caught a cab back to Ritchie’s place and sat at the door. He had forgotten to give her a key, so she waited. The waiting was hard and she couldn’t stop the tears that fell at the break she was making with Duncan.

Ritchie arrived a few hours later to find her there. She was no longer crying but he could see the signs that she had been, and cursed himself for not thinking forward enough to give her a key so she hadn’t been left sitting like an evicted person on his doorstep. He closed the remaining distance between them and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Let’s get you inside.” and they entered together.