That One November Night

Chapter 35: Picture in the hallway

Connor's POV:

I don't think I can recall ever being quite so elated! Just being in her presence once again made me see an entire new outlook on life. I knew that she was euphoric too, even if she wasn't quite the same as before with how she expressed her emotions; I was able to see it. More aware of herself and less likely to let others (including myself) in on her life. As if during our time apart she had grown decades worth of experience rather than a mere few.

It was paradoxical to admit that this little girl had grown up without me getting to experience it but she probably thought the same about me too. I hoped that she did at least. It wasn't as if we weren't going to have the rest of our lives together from now on, but at the same time I wish it hadn't taken us so long to finally get together without there being a wedge dividing us. This wedge of course being the one with a print on his face.

Almost immediately, I moved in with her, this cleared her debt and meant that I didn't have to travel so far to get to work. So for the both of us it was beneficial.

The house was quite plain. On an off street of a barren main road in a highly deserted town not far from where we grew up as children. Built in the middle ages, the houses structure was like most of the others surrounding it: drab, bleak and mundane. There was a garden out back but the concrete slabs displayed the same cracks as the interior walls of the building.

Each room besides the bedroom was some primitive shade of cream or brown. The bleak walls made me question her past as she explained very little to me: I was too loved up to care all that much. There were some personal touches around the house though, although it was kept very bare, with most rooms being kept uncluttered and minimalistic the hallway had two photos hanging up. The first of her and another boy and then the second just of the boy who looked to be around about sixteen in the photo – covered in achene with freckles stretching from his cheeks up through his button nose.

I once found photos of Travis – many in broken frames – when I looked through the side cabinet of the dining room but I decided it was best not to question it.

Gwen did tell me a basic summary of what happened when we lost contact. This was a few days after having spontaneously bumped into one another at the shop, she wouldn't speak to me much about her past before then.

'After you left, Travis seemed to calm down a bit, as if he knew there was nothing that would make me leave him anymore; you were gone. He found some way to grow up even if he was still aggressive toward me on occasion. We were still a 'couple' even though I was shaken. I did after all love him. Somehow... I hate to admit that.

You are right when you asked about university. I didn't go. I wasn't able to. My parents were maniacal beyond belief at my exam results but they always tried to support me even if they despised Travis and the lack of a career I had.

Travis and I moved out from our childhood homes thanks to his families' wealth, this was around about the time he started to become decent. He stopped hitting me as much and controlling me all the time but I can guess the fact that he was tracking me helped. I think he finally saw that it was wrong but he still thought it was necessary.

I cared about him. Like Stockholm syndrome Rob would tell me. I loved him. Did, that's the past...

Anyway he broke up with me not long after us getting the house. It was weird. I was alone. He broke up with me from... From boredom. Yeah... he got bored of me... He wanted someone better. Someone without baggage. It left me in a really bad place especially since I thought you had moved on'.