Bound

Burden of Truths

While the men attended to their stomachs, the girls finished their morning of excitement, and their lunch.

“So, will you be? My Maid of Honor, that is,” Cally asked apprehensively.

“Hmm...” Remy teased, which elicited a cackled ‘Remy!’ from her only female best friend. “Of course, I will! Honestly. I would’ve been rather put off if you hadn’t asked, Cal. Why would you think I wouldn’t agree?”

“Well... because... you know... uh...” Cally floundered before taking the bull by the horns. “Gabe’s obviously going to ask Stu to be his Best Man.”

“Oh...” Remy took the moment to breathe and organize her thoughts. “Well, it’s not like I really expected him to pick somebody else... I mean, imagine what your brother would do then?” She waved her hand about, “He’d probably jump off a cliff! Or at the very least, have a tantrum,” she continued, hiding behind the levity of the words.

“Oh, sure... you would love that, wouldn’t you?” Cally said, slyly acknowledging Remy’s attempt. “But are you sure you’re okay with the setup?” Concern was clouding her eyes but her smile was hopeful.

“Cal, you’re a wonderful friend, but this is your wedding day. And it has to be perfect for you.” Remy leaned over to hug her friend, meaning every word. “Besides, it’s not as if I’ll be going anywhere near him. At least, not outside the roles we are to play in the wedding.” She pulled back to smile encouragingly at the newly-engaged woman. At least she hoped it was encouraging, considering how she was internally dreading the very thought of seeing the blasted man again.

At this, she noticed Cally fidget. She had an inkling of what her friend was itching to ask, and it was not going to bode well for her. She knew she could not hold her friend off forever, though. Or else Cally might resort to hearing it from the irreverent tongue of her recently-hired, recently-gay, thoroughly-loyal, non-magical friend, Nathan.

Come to think of it, she should just bring Nathan as her plus-one to the wedding, but that will have the unintended side-effect of bringing her to the attention of the gossip-mongers and so-called journalists. Well, more than she usually was.

With a resigned sigh, Remy burst with, “Oh, for Morgana’s sake, Cal, just ask.”

“Well, you already know what I want to know... so?” Cally replied stubbornly. When she saw that her friend was waffling on answering her, she added, “Honestly, Rem, I have been asking it for a while now. And you’ve probably told me only half, maybe even a quarter, of the story. And even those I had to painfully draw out of you. Plus, my dolt of a brother’s being more evasive than you... and you know that I can’t stand being out of the loop anymore... and I can’t even go hound Nathan about it now because he’s just started seeing...”

Remy’s brow went up at that last statement. Well, she did not know that. It seems she needs to hunt her other friend down.

“Come on, Rem, what happened? It’s not as if I’m not your friend too... he may be my brother but you...” Cally tried to cover up her slip by dragging the topic back to focus.

“We just didn’t work anymore, Cal,” Remy interjected before her friend could complete her jump from pleading to righteous indignation.

Apparently, Cal did not need to move on to further tactics. The look on her face was enough arsenal to put a c***k in Remy’s haphazardly built defense walls.

“We’ve been going out for so long... really, the end of that war was not the greatest time to start anything. We were all a bit messed up, remember? And... we weren’t really able to remember why we even started. Well, more like I didn’t... and, most probably, he didn’t either. We weren’t really in the right frame of mind then. But he had such a stupid way of trying to make me remember... it’s just... ugh.” Remy shook her head, trying to dislodge the memory of the night her world was rocked. One of the foundations she built herself on crumbled that night.

Cally gently put her hand atop her friend’s, and that was it. Remy decided to finally relieve herself of the burden of the truth.

***

Stu had asked to meet her that night, at the top of their tower – the one where he first told her he loved her – on the eve of their seventh anniversary as a couple.

She had been feeling low for quite some time and had pinpointed her dissatisfaction in her relationship as the catalyst. She was going to talk to him about it; try to find out why she felt incompetent by his side.

Deep inside, she knew that something had to change, and that change might not be a remedy to their relationship. She was going to talk to him and show him that what they had was not working for them anymore. That they were probably staying together for the wrong reasons, and had problems that neither really wanted to attempt fixing anymore. That, somehow, they had both fallen out of love.

She had felt awful after coming to such conclusions; had even put off voicing such opinions after her failed attempts at fixing the little cracks of their relationship. She had readied herself for the hurt she was going to inflict on one of her oldest friends, on the man she had once loved.

Stu, however, had gauged from her recent actions and attempts at talking to him, that she was preparing to show him that something was not quite right with them. And he, in his own typical, non-thinking way, had other ideas on how to beat Remy to it.

When Remy arrived at their spot on the appointed time, she saw two shadows in the corner. It hit her, like a dagger to the heart, flaming orange hair and all. Stu was throat-deep in another woman. And before he could look up, she had Dematered out.

It had never occurred to Remy that she would be the one hurting so much. She honestly had probably been too complacent and too overly-concerned over how their end might affect Stu. The shock his actions had brought clarity to her.

She knew that Stu could easily replace her, being a celebrity of his own right – especially after he was signed onto a lucrative deal. And Remy also knew that being who she was, she couldn’t do the same.

If that had been what Stu was trying to imply by his actions, he had thoroughly succeeded. So much so, that she didn’t need for him to explain it in more detail. They were at different points in their life. And there was no line to bridge those points that either of them were willing to cross anymore.

So, they have not talked. Seen each other, yes. Awkwardly trying to avoid being near each other at those functions and other such get-together. Well, in Remy’s part it was awkward. Most of whom she associated with were related to him.

***

“That daft prick! He told us you wanted to end it!” Cally’s burgundy hair was wild after gripping it through her friend’s recitation of the recent end of her relationship.

“Well, technically, he was telling the truth. I did want to end it. He just made it easier, and took the decision out of my hands. He is fairly on the competitive side, remember?” Remy waved her hand about, as if batting away a thought. “I never expected him to be so... well, be as cunning and sneaky as he displayed.” She had gathered back her composure at the thought.

“If he’s as smart as you’re willing to believe he was, why the hell had he set out for Romania and tried to face a full grown dragon by himself?” Cally’s words dripped with sarcasm, “I mean, he even pulled Gabe in on it because of his superior lack of smarts!”

“He’s not really alone if he’s with Gabe,” Remy slyly pointed out, but backtracked when the force of Cally’s glare hit her. “What, exactly, did you mean by facing a dragon?”

“Gabe wouldn’t tell me, just that his daft arse definitely needed saving. Gabe even got a bad souvenir from that unexpected trip.” Cally shook her head disgustedly as she started pacing in agitation.

Remy moaned as she realized something. “Draconis Infligere. Of course.”

“What?” Cally was sidetracked from burning a hole in her floor.

“Gabe had asked if I could brew him a Draconis Infligere healing potion for a bloke and his partner in his department. Said both were too embarrassed to go to the healers at Hermes Medicus. I didn’t think it was them.” Remy explained. “How could your brother be so stupid! Chuck could’ve have helped him with whatever he needed, he still works with the dragons there, right? They weren’t seriously injured, were they?” her own agitation flared at the thought, and was quickly dismissed by a more comforting one. “Well, of course they weren’t, else I’d have been asked to brew more of the potion.”

Despite her anger towards her erstwhile lover, she didn’t want him getting hurt. And she especially didn’t want her other best friend getting hurt for Stu’s irrational actions.

“Actually, Stu wasn’t hurt at all. That’s why he’s not allowed here for, well, for however long I feel like banning him. He actually hightailed it out and left Gabe with his partner to deal with them.” Cally had put quite an emphasis on the word that Remy could not help but repeat it.

“Them?”

“Two... a Horntail and a nasty Ridgeback. And as much as I’d like to wring Stu’s neck, I’m abstaining because I know my mother will miss him. He is still, unfortunately, my brother. The dolt.” Cally finally fell back on the couch in exasperation. “Needed some fresh dragon’s blood, he said. Was advised to get it straight from the source, himself, for the potion he’s having brewed to work at maximum. i***t. Anyone with a brain could tell he was being had.”

“Well, now I’m a bit worried for that new deal he signed onto. His brain probably doesn’t need that much knocking into anymore that it probably had, if he believed that tripe.” Remy tried to hide her smile. Her ex definitely acted before he thought. That’s why they used to balance each other out. But sometimes, there’s just a line.

“As spiriting as your reactions are, I do need to go, Cal.” Remy decided that leaving on this high note is for the best. It was a bit embarrassing to detail the sordid end to her relationship. “I’ve already skived off work this morning. Leaving Nathan to himself might blindside me with another blind date in my schedule. I swear, my secretary likes him more than he likes me these days.”

“Have I ever told you how I love your new partner in crime. It was quite the talk when you hired him on, but I know he’s brilliant despite not being magical.” Cally couldn’t help but voice out.

“Yeah, it was unconventional. But you know he’s going to protest that he is magic all on his own, even without powers,” Remy said through a chuckle, completely missing the soft sigh from her friend.

“Well, you’re pretty brilliant yourself, Remy Tillman. Nobody would’ve thought to hire a non-magical for magical problems. And I know a lot of what you two are working on are big, top secret things that you’re doing for the Minister, so don’t even deny it.” Cally flippantly replied, knowing her friend was a bit insecure with a lot of her recent decisions.

At Remy’s appreciative smile, Cally added, “Oh, and yes, I give you leave to save the magical world again, Ms. Maid of Honor.” Leaning it to bear-hug her best girl friend.

After a surprised chuckle escaped her, Remy could only shake her head at her friend’s ability to lift her spirits. “And you need to get your pretty little behind to the bath, Future Missus Former. You wouldn’t want him to see you in last night’s clothes and this morning’s unmade hair.” She teased back.

“Well...” Cally sportingly replied as Remy looked about to see if she forgot anything, “it was his fault that I still am.”

With a bark of laughter, Remy finally Dematered out.