![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
[Les & Corry]
If there's one thing April doesn't often admit to, it's that she's nervous.
The past several weeks have been exceptional, though, and now she finds herself waiting with Les at his place for Corrine's arrival so that she can tell the woman that they're related. There's a part of her that still doesn't want to say anything, that feels like nothing good can come of this, but Corrine will find out sooner or later. Les knows and Bach knows, and April hadn't asked Bach not to say anything. Besides, Les know and she knows how close he and Corrine are that asking him to keep it a secret is something she can't quite bring herself to do. And even if she was able to ask, she doubts he'd agree to it anyway.
It feels a little bit like everything is unraveling and she's always been in such firm control of her life that this makes her uncomfortable. It makes her want to leave Siren Cove, but at this point she's fairly certain that if she does, she won't make it very far, not with those three sirens looking for their money. She still hasn't decided what to do about them, but she's trying not to think about it right now. Not when she's supposed to be focusing on what she's supposed to say to Corrine.
"I'm not looking forward to this," she admits to Les, looking down at her mother's letter. It had been in her purse at the time the sirens had attacked and she's not sure if she's grateful for that or not. It doesn't really prove anything, it's still just her mother's word, but it's all she has. She's wondering if she shouldn't just let Corrine read the letter and watch everything unfold from there.
The past several weeks have been exceptional, though, and now she finds herself waiting with Les at his place for Corrine's arrival so that she can tell the woman that they're related. There's a part of her that still doesn't want to say anything, that feels like nothing good can come of this, but Corrine will find out sooner or later. Les knows and Bach knows, and April hadn't asked Bach not to say anything. Besides, Les know and she knows how close he and Corrine are that asking him to keep it a secret is something she can't quite bring herself to do. And even if she was able to ask, she doubts he'd agree to it anyway.
It feels a little bit like everything is unraveling and she's always been in such firm control of her life that this makes her uncomfortable. It makes her want to leave Siren Cove, but at this point she's fairly certain that if she does, she won't make it very far, not with those three sirens looking for their money. She still hasn't decided what to do about them, but she's trying not to think about it right now. Not when she's supposed to be focusing on what she's supposed to say to Corrine.
"I'm not looking forward to this," she admits to Les, looking down at her mother's letter. It had been in her purse at the time the sirens had attacked and she's not sure if she's grateful for that or not. It doesn't really prove anything, it's still just her mother's word, but it's all she has. She's wondering if she shouldn't just let Corrine read the letter and watch everything unfold from there.
no subject
He does wish she would have hugged him back, returned the comfort that always been so easy between them. He gets it, but it doesn't mean he has to like it. He knows she needs time, but he still wishes he could help her through this. That's what he's always done. He hates that he won't be able to this time.
He can't help Corry on this one because a piece of the hurt is him. His relationship with April. He knows that Corry is angry about her father, about April being her sister but also about him. Angry that he and April share something different, something intimate that he and Corry don't. Les realizes that then, and he pretty much hates it. It's the first time that he sees it, how the adult version of their friendship has its own vulnerabilities they've never dealt with before. But Corry says they'll get through it. He believes her because he can't fathom anything else.
Nodding, he releases his hold on her, putting back space between them. "A break," he agrees. Even though he's already wondering how good he'll be at that. Since Corry has been back home, they've been just as inseperable as they were as kids. Hell, he lived with her for over a month. Now a break? No Corry time at all? He frowns not at her request but at how hard that will be. "Just. Just stay out of trouble," he says with a half-smile. Well. What else is left to say. Nothing. That's probably the worse he feels, and he glances away. "So. I'll let you..."
Leave. But he doesn't want to watch her do it. He just shakes his head, not expecting the sting. "Bye, Corry," he says, heading for the door and then down the stairs to the first floor, trying to shake off the emotion pressing down on his chest. He isn't sure where April went exactly. But Les goes into the basement, figuring she may have escaped down there. He had given the grand tour when she arrived. Even if she didn't he really wants to be somewhere he won't need to think.
no subject
"Wait! Les, please."
Her voice is heavy with emotion and raw of the events of the day. She follows him there to the door, to the top of the stairs. She won't chase him. Not when she herself pushed him away. But this is worse. Ending like this, is far worse.
"I don't mean..." She bites her lip, not even sure if he can hear her with the heavy thump of his feet on stairs. "If you need me... you know I'm still there. In a second. No questions. You know that." Her voice cracks again as she nods. "Right. No trouble, got it." A fresh stream of tears finds her cheek. "Can I - we should... Can I at least get a hug first?" As much as she can barely handle the thought of him, right now, in this moment, tangled with everything, leaving this emptiness, this abyss between them and disappearing down the stairs - the moment between them is unbearable. It will be okay. They will be okay and she needs to know it as much as she's assured him this. Even if she doesn't know if she believes it herself.
no subject
"I know that," he says nodding. He actually feels like he knew that back then too. That's why when she came home a few months ago, ten years later, he hadn't asked any questions. He had just been there for her because that's all he knows how to do. He musters up a rather pathetic smile, trying not to be completely sad. It won't be forever. "Just one--" he says, pathetic smile turning into a more familiar one at her question, but not completely, and he wraps his arms around her into a hug for a few seconds, tucking her close against his chest. Les doesn't linger though. If this is what she wants, if this is a break, he needs it broken. They could stay here all night otherwise.
He pulls away with his hands on her arms. "Okay. No trouble for real," he says, squeezing her biceps then letting go. "I'll see you."
no subject
When his arms find her, she wants to run away and wants to stay forever. She lets out a pathetic sob against his chest before they both mutually pull away, because it's all too much. But it's a final assurance of love, of the connection they share, before the gap and separation.
She needs to leave but it kills her. It kills her that any and all of this has happened. But being around it, around him, around everything now will make it worse.
Corry nods, shifting her feet, preparing herself to walk out the door. "I'll see you, Picklebrain." Her voice cracks again, and she looks away. "So... Bye."
And then she's out the door before she completely shatters all over.