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[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.
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But it's Les. Her Les. And she's almost to the stairs when his words catch her. Wrap her in a net of assurances and love. He is her family. She and him. If there's one truth, it's that, even after all the years they were apart. She promised she would never leave him again. She promised and she can't go back on that.
At his words, the waves of anger subside. Her shoulders hunch and the tenseness of her stone body melts. Her voice cracks. "I'm not going to ask you to choose." She turns back to face him, but can't bring her eyes from the floor. "As much as I want you to. Really want you to. What if she's your happiness. Your one." She lets out a tearful shaky laugh. "If that's even a thing."
She finally raises her head to look at him. Eyes wide and vulnerable and a little scared. "But you're my one. Maybe not like that. But it's like you said. You and me." She takes a step back to him, shrugging her shoulders in case they might be wrapped in a hug. "I'm sorry..."
It doesn't change how hard this is. That the thought of April, of April and Les, makes her want to run far away. That she's going to need time. But that's not his fault. He's willing to choose her. He would, he's made that clear. How can she make him do that? Maybe the old selfish self-absorbed Corrine would, the celebrity with all the wants of the world at her hand. But she's not that girl anymore. And other people do matter. At least Les. Especially Les.
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What if April's his happiness? That's another part of it, that's hurting Les. Because he knows how unshakable his loyalty is to Corry. He knows he would choose her over anyone else in the world when he's forced to do it. He just can't help himself when it comes to her, they've been through too much together. But it would be a lie to say, having to go tell April they can't see each other anymore wouldn't hurt too. Even through all the drama with the sirens and her mom's money he had asked April to call him. And the idea, that they might become something more, something real, it left him warm and excited. He doesn't want to give her up.
But it doesn't mean he wouldn't if Corry needs him too. If April's connection with her father, changes their friendship. He would because Corry was there before April, before anyone else.
Her change in demeanor is a weight lifted from his chest though. Where it felt like the room was suffocating him, suddenly he takes a breath of air. He would do anything for her, she has to know that. "I'm sorry too---" He really doesn't hestitate to hug her this time, wrapping his arms around her back with a sigh, resting his chin on her shoulder. He understands what she means. Les has lost many things, but she's the one thing he intends to keep forever. No matter what comes along. Ten year gaps. New relationships. Absent fathers. Death. It doesn't matter. He is keeping her.
"You and me," he tells her, and it's a promise. Whatever happens. They have each other. He releases her from his hug and looks back at her holding her shoulders. "We'll get through it. We always do."
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She's still crying, softer now, but the emotion still comes. She can't handle any of this right now. It's too much and even if she knows Les is still really and truly on her side, the ache is there all the same. He's too wrapped up in this. In April. And he'll understand. He'll understand if she needs to step away for a little. Because as much as he means to her, as much as he is so much of all the good she has, it still hurts. In ways she can't fully explain or convey and needs more time to sort through. On her own.
"I know." She sniffs, hanging her head again. "I know, but Les, I need some time. I just - I can't right now." She feels like she's repeating herself. Going around in circles. She can't figure out an end or any direction that can be right now. "We'll get passed it. But I can't. Not right now. I - I need a break, or something. Just give me time."
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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.
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"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.
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"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."
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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.