Angelo and Marie, backdated

[x-skin.livejournal.com]

He goes to see her just before she leaves, and they say their goodbyes and promise to keep in touch.



Angelo made his way along to Marie's suite. He knew she'd be leaving before too long, and wanted to say goodbye before he missed the chance. Arriving at her door, he knocked and waited.

Marie found herself repacking photos from home that she'd just unpacked weeks before. "Come on in," she called, when she heard the knock.

Angelo pushed the door open, sticking his head round. "Hey. Just came to wish you a good journey."

"Hi, honey." Marie tucked a few things in a box. "Thanks for coming by. How're you managing with those exams?"

Angelo moved absently to pick a few things up, holding them out to her. "Oh, not too bad. Better'n I thought, actually."

"Thanks." She took the wrapped photos and added them to the box. "I knew you could manage a decent grade in spite of everything. You worked hard to catch up. Are you going to stay on over the summer?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Mom's not gettin' to move over here for another couple of months, an' there's some summer classes here that sound pretty cool."

"The summer semester is usually the most fun, actually." Marie sat down on her bed. The room was full of neatly stacked boxes, all the shelves were bare and the closet stood empty, its contents already packed into suitcases by the door. "I'm kind of sorry I"m going to miss it."

Angelo glanced around the room, eyes suddenly sad. "Yeah. But you're doin' what you need to do."

"That's kind of my life story, doing what I need to do." Marie reached for the tape. "But at least this time it's for me. Or, for us, really. I'm glad we're going, as much as I'm going to miss you all."

Angelo nodded. "Gonna miss you too", he said quietly. "But you need to take some time away, I guess. I can understand that."

"C'mere." Marie held her hand out to him. "I'm not going far. It's a short flight away, and it's not like I won't write or call. This is just something we need to do right now."

Angelo took her hand, letting her pull him into a hug. "Promise you won't lose touch? Just an e-mail every couple of months'd be enough, so I know you're okay. Or phone calls, or whatever."

"I promise. You'll hear from me." Marie hugged him warmly. "I don't know /anyone/ up there. I'll want to hear from my friends."

Angelo returned the hug, burying his face in her shoulder. "Good. I'm not so good at startin' those things off, but I'll do my best."

"Oh, honey." Marie rubbed his back. "You've been such a good friend. I'm not letting you go just because I'm moving a few hours north. And who knows what'll happen, right? I'll be back if y'all need me. We'll work something out."

Angelo smiled weakly. "Yeah. I'll try an' get up to see you a time or two as well, maybe."

"Well, of course you can." Marie held him by the shoulders and moved back so that she could look him in the eye. "Angelo, it's not far and the work Logan's doing there, it's almost the same as he does here, it's something we believe in only he'll get to do it with his friends, people who understand and respect him. And I'll get to work every day with a doctor while I get my degree. I'll have something more to offer than just marking papers and going out and fighting once in a while."

Angelo couldn't argue with that, even if he'd wanted to. "You'll be happy?" he asked softly. "Less stress?"

"Much less stress. The only person aside from me I have to look after is Logan, and he's pretty self-sufficient." She smiled and ran her hand over Angelo's hair, smoothing it back. "No little people with nightmares, no invasions, no colds or flus, no romances, no infighting, no classes, no papers... I worry that maybe I'll be lonely, but I'm sure I'll make friends."

"You get lonely, you always know we're still here", Angelo told her, rallying somewhat, though his eyes were still bright. "That thing about only bein' a few hours away, or on the other end of the phone? Works both ways."

"I hope so." Marie was relieved to see that Angelo was at least looking at things positively. "There's nothing keeping me from flying down for a weekend or something when I'm bored and lonely. We're the jetset generation, you know. Borders don't mean much."

Angelo chuckled, and it came out almost convincingly. "Yeah, you're right. But God, I'm goin' to miss havin' you around the mansion, so much."

"I'm going to miss it too," Marie admitted. "Having my friends right down the hall, day and night, just being able to walk over and talk... but I wasn't getting to do that anymore, and I felt like I was living in too many worlds. I'm going to miss all of you so much, Skin, but I'll get to actually be with the one person I need to be with most, so we can figure out what's between us without the rest of the world falling down around us every week or two."

Angelo nodded. "Yeah. 's the most important thing, that. God knows you've earned a bit of peace and quiet." He freed one hand to brush at his eyes.

Marie hugged him fiercely and then let him go just as suddenly. "I think we /all/ have. I just hope you get some peace and quiet here as well, that it's a great summer. I feel like I'm running away, maybe I am, but it's the right thing for now. I'm sorry I didn't say anything until the last minute. Logan and I were kind of fighting about it until yesterday."

Angelo raised an eyebrow. "He didn't wanna go?" he asked, drawing the obvious conclusion since Marie so obviously did want to.

"Yeah." Marie looked exasperated and sat down on the bed. "He didn't even tell me he had a job offer. One of his friends mailed me to ask if I could get him to reconsider, and I was totally in the dark. With me being stressed and tired and him being stressed and worried, you can imagine how smoothly things went after that."

Angelo nodded, sitting down beside her. "Why didn't he tell you?" he asked quietly.

"He didn't want to make me choose," Marie said simply. "Between him and the school. He didn't want to take this place away from me."

Angelo pulled a face, knowing exactly how she would have reacted to that. "Guess he didn't realize how you were feelin' about the place lately?"

Marie nodded. "I think he figured it'd get better next semester, but even if it does, Angelo, I'm not who I used to be. This is not some stupid 'stand by your man thing', this is what I want for /me/. This is the rest of my life I'm playing with here, both my education and my relationship. I need some time to work on both of them. And I'm never going to get that time here."

Angelo nodded, knowing she was right. "You think you'll come back someday? Not just for visits, I mean?"

"I can't say for sure, or when." Marie shook her head. "But Charles says that this is home for me, no matter what. If life gets hard, he says I can come home any time." Her eyes welled up with tears but she blinked them away. "How can I say no to that? I still believe in him, with all my heart. So, if for nothing else than that, I'll come back if he needs me, when I'm really grownup, instead of just trying to be."

"Or if you need to be back here", Angelo reminded her quietly, reaching out to wrap an arm around her. "We all love you here, Marie, an' no matter what, we'll always want you back."

"Thanks, Skin." She put her head on his shoulder. "Running away from home was the best thing I ever did, back then. I'm not running away this time. I'm just moving away for a while. Doing what needs doing. And you still know where to find me if you need me, right?"

He tried to smile, stroking her hair absently. "Yeah, I know. Mail me soon as you know your address an' phone number, right?"

"I will. As soon as we have a place." Marie looked around at the boxes. "Think I can get you to help me with these? Mr Marko said I could store them downstairs until we're settled."

Angelo glanced around in turn. "Sure thing. Where are we takin' them?"

"Elevator, and then one of the storage rooms under the ballroom." Marie ran her fingers through her hair and straightened. "I've got to get going or we'll be late for dinner with Heather and Mac when we get there." She gave Angelo a smile. "I'm glad you came. I feel better now, actually."

Angelo smiled back, completely genuinely for the first time since he'd arrived. "Good. Glad I could help."

"You usually do. It's one of the reasons I'm glad we're friends." Marie handed him a box, smiling back at him. "Now. Let's get this mess cleaned up for whoever gets this room next, shall we?"