Take Me Away | Richard Madden [Completed; Editing]

Chapter 5 - It's a Moment Too Soon

"What's so funny?" she asked, playfully shoving him.

"Nothing, nothing." He removed his sunglasses, folding them onto the collar of his shirt.

Mia lost herself in his ocean blue eyes, as if she had never found herself there countless times before. She felt her heart sink in her chest, her gut flip over itself. She took his hand in hers, almost surprising Richard. He remained calm, squeezing it.

"Richard, I'm sorry," she confessed, like letting out a  deep breath she had been holding for years. "For being a total dick and all. I know you didn't deserve it because you're right. It's been a long time."

He placed his other hand over their clasp. "It's fine, Mia. Don't worry about it."

"But I do." She sighed. "I do worry about it. I've been worrying about it a lot."

Richard pulled her into a hug, catching a whiff of her fruity scent. He guessed it was her shampoo, and he buried his nose into her hair, placing a soft kiss atop. "Mia, if you keep worrying about it, you'll never move on. Just let it go."

She held him close, clutching onto his arms like it was her life. "I'm sorry, Richard."

He pulled away and cupped her face, giving her a tiny nod. A forgiving nod, one that reassured Mia, immensely, that she had never been under fire in the first place.

Richard stood up and motioned for her to do the same. "Come on, let's go home."

—•—•—

Tranquility had always been misunderstood in Mia's world; erased from her vocabulary; rotting at the bottom of some unknown abyss. So when she found herself tucked snug in a blanket on the Madden family couch, she couldn't describe how she felt. Not at that exact moment, at least.

"Look at this one," Richard said, handing a photo to her.

She examined it carefully, trying to rule out the white scratches across the yellow pigment. There was a toddler dressed as bee, with a daisy in her hand. Her hair was short and bobbed, and her face beamed with joy as arms waited above, ready to carry her.

Mia gasped as she noticed the black buckled shoes on the little girl's feet. "This is me," she said in a hushed tone. "Where'd you get this?"

Richard pulled out a shoebox from the end table and opened it. He placed it on Mia's lap. "Mum has a ton of photos of you. I think you're her adopted third daughter." He chuckled, picking up another photo. "See."

The image was of Richard's mother holding a toddler in one arm while another child hugged her leg. Mia realized that it was herself and Richard, probably not older than four, in the school grounds they used to attend. She was the one in the young mother's arms, while the son stood by her feet, begging to be carried as well.

"Aw, you were so jealous of me," Mia said, pointing at the boy in overalls. "Desperate."

"You have your own mum," he reminded her, sitting back on the couch. Watching Mia dig through more, he raised his feet and rested them on the coffee table.

"But she adored me." Her smile had never been at its widest in a long time. She was a sucker for throwbacks, and the memories prompted a channel of warmth to travel through her.

Richard nodded. "She still does."

As if on cue, Pat shuffled into the living room, wiping away at her reading glasses. She smiled at the two best friends, hoping that they'd keep their relationship consistent. With a mother's intuition, she knew that it had been rocky for them lately, but she was also certain that it wasn't as preposterous as how others viewed it.

"Richard, did you offer Mia some tea?"

He nodded. "Yes, mum."

"What about coffee? Biscuits?"

"Yes, mum. She's fine." He groaned under his breath, making sure he didn't raise his voice. Mia noticed this and nodded in unison.

"I'm good, thank you." She rubbed Richard's arm comfortingly, knowing that he was growing impatient. He hated being treated like a child, but he knew it was for the better. He just wished it didn't happen frequently whenever he was home.

"Alright. Well, I'm off to bed. Good night, loves," Pat said, turning towards the stairs.

"Good night, Ma'am," Mia said loudly, making sure she could be heard from across the room.

Pat laughed as her voice faded into the distance. "Oh, hush! I haven't been your teacher in years, Amelia." Her laugh continued as she went upstairs, vanishing when she entered her bedroom.

Mia closed the shoebox and placed it onto the coffee table. She wrapped herself under the blanket again, making sure it was tight enough for the extra heat.

"Are you cold?" Richard asked.

She shook her head. "Not really, I just love how soft this blanket is." She looked at his arms and distinguished a few goosebumps. She frowned in concern. "Aren't you cold?"

He shook his head and rubbed his arms. "No."

She sensed his bluff and unwrapped herself. She directed her body towards him, her arms opened.
"Here. We can share."

Richard hesitated, but she insisted on it. Mia draped the maroon blanket over both their shoulders before leaning back against his chest. She rested her head just below his shoulder, forcing Richard to wrap an arm around her waist as not to be in the way of her position. His other hand awkwardly rested on the armrest until Mia noticed it in her peripheral. She took it and placed it over her torso, reveling at the comfort she found in him.

Shifting his body while also guiding hers, Richard stretched his legs out across the couch. The armrest pressed against his lower back now, but it didn't trouble him. He made room for Mia to secure herself along his torso, her legs between his. She could feel his breathing steady, slow and calm. Immediately, she caught herself doing the same, almost in synchronization.

Mia couldn't remember the last time they had cuddled that way, but Richard did. It reprised in his mind rapidly, like a film set in rewind.

The last time they had held each other closely was the night before Mia left for New York. They had trouble sleeping that night, dreading the moment they'd begin living apart. Young and reckless, neither Richard nor Mia knew what was coming for them back then, but they would have never thought that they would grow apart. It was staggering how much had changed since then, but for some reason, they had always managed to find themselves back — not always to one another, but at the very least, back to such familiarity.

Mia wanted to fall asleep in Richard's arms, but the universe didn't allow it. A loud buzz from Mia's phone vibrated against the end table behind Richard, prompting him to reach over and grab it. He caught a glimpse of the caller ID: Bart, or Brent? he thought, doubting his eyesight.

"Thanks," Mia said, taking it from him. She sat up slightly, but not far apart, making sure that the blanket still kept them close. She answered the call.

"Hey, baby."

Richard's eyes widened. If it was his eyesight he had questioned himself for earlier, now it was his hearing. He refused to believe it. Maybe "baby" meant "babes," a pet name he recalled Mia giving one of her friends at university. Maybe "baby" wasn't "baby" — a term for endearment.

He hoped that he had guessed right.

"Yeah, I miss you, too."

But of course he was wrong.