From the moment Isaac and Elliot started learning how to fight, it soon became second nature to them. Although Elliot took considerably longer to adjust to this skill, in matter of days, they both knew the basics. Maybe it was because all that weekend, they devoted their time solely to the gym, but I knew they both had the capabilities to be great.
It was obvious that it was taking its toll on Elliot though. I had always thought he would be the one who found it harder, especially emotionally. It seemed that I was right.
'I'm too tired, Aria,' Elliot admitted as Isaac and Ted went off to get us some lunch. 'I can't take any more.'
'You can stop training if you want,' I said reassuringly. 'We weren't making you push yourself at all. Ted and I just want you both to learn, that's all. Why don't you take a break back at the apartment?'
'But, I can't,' Elliot shook his head in upset. 'I need to show Isaac that I'm capable. That I can carry on like him. That I can match him. That I'm not weak.'
'Isaac's not going to judge you, Elliot,' I said, placing my hand on his upper arm to soothe him and calm him down. 'No one is. You're both beginners, remember?'
'But, that's why I want to prove myself,' Elliot insisted. 'I'm the only beginner. Isaac's had training before.'
'Really?' I asked, shocked.
That why he was better than Elliot. He had an advantage.
'Yes, really,' Elliot confirmed slightly sarcastically. 'Last year, when you were... Missing. With this bloke called Ed or something.'
'My old training instructor was called Ed, well, Eddie too,' I laughed at the similarity.
Then my happiness turned into sadness. Eddie. Why did I have to mention him? Even think about him? That hole was still unhealed in my heart, and I could never change that. All my life had been a lie in Central City, and I had had no power to stop any of that from happening.
'You don't look too happy either,' Elliot picked up, looking at me in sad curiosity. 'What's the matter? Did this Eddie do something to you?'
'Yes,' I nodded with a heavy heart. 'Eddie was supposed to be one of the nice guys. He was my boyfriend in Central City, but he decided to go and hurt me with who I thought was my friend.'
Anna. I really thought she was incapable of hurting me too, but she had chosen to hurt me in the worse way possible; be the one Eddie had cheated on me for. At least now in my life I had good friends I could trust.
'That's weird,' Elliot picked up on what I had said. 'Ed was from Central City too. Said he was trying to find this girl he loved.'
'Well I hope he didn't break her heart either,' I said in a slight laugh, trying to stop moping around about Eddie. 'Did he have blonde hair by any chance? Blue eyes?'
'Er... Yes,' Elliot said, cocking his head in confusion. 'These Eddies, they're too similar to be different people. I don't think this is a coincidence, Aria.'
'Me neither,' I said in shock. 'Was his last name... Thawne?'
Elliot just nodded his head.
Why had Eddie been looking for me? I was so confused. Too confused. It didn't add up, what Eddie had said to Elliot. Eddie chose to leave my life, I hadn't. It had been his choice to chose Anna over me, so why was Eddie looking for me now? He wouldn't have known if I was missing at sea, if that was why he was looking for me. But wait... Merlyn had taken me away from Eddie, not the other way round. Maybe Merlyn had been lying to me this whole time. Maybe Eddie hadn't cheated on me, but it had been Merlyn's little cover story so I would trust him and stay in Starling. And maybe Anna was a good friend after all.
Maybe my life hasn't been a lie, but Merlyn had been telling me them instead.
'I'm so sorry Elliot, but I have to go,' I mumbled quickly, leaving in much haste.
I needed to find out where Eddie was. He was most likely to be in Central City or his hometown, Keystone City, but he could still be back home in England. I guessed my biggest chance of tracking him down would be to go to the SCPD; after all he had been training to be an officer, and so there could be records of his whereabouts there or another police officer could've known where he was.
I couldn't give up hope now. I had abandoned him without even saying goodbye, and I need to fix this broken bridge between us.
'Aria? What are you doing here?' Lance asked as I entered the station in a hurry. 'You're supposed to be off today!'
'I need to find out something,' I explained quickly. 'Well, about someone. Do you know anyone called Eddie Thawne? A few years ago he was training to be an officer in Keystone?'
'Doesn't ring a bell,' Lance dismissed.
'Okay, thanks anyway,' I smiled barely, before rushing off again.
Trying to think, I decided to go to the lab for help. I knew Helena had access to the criminal database, so maybe she had access to the police database too.
'Hi,' I quickly greeted her as I made my way to her computer.
'Hi...' Helena replied confusedly. 'Why are you here? It's your day off!'
'I need access to the police database,' I explained briefly. 'Could you log me on?'
'Okay?' Helena said in a questioning voice, but loading the software anyway.
'Thanks,' I smiled at Helena's cooperation.
She didn't even know why I was asking her to do this, but she was such a good friend that she didn't question my intentions.
'Eddie Thawne,' I muttered to myself as I typed his name into the search bar.
Nothing.
'This can't be right...' I said, puzzled, repeatedly clicking the enter bar.
'Would you like some help?' Helena offered me a helping hand.
I really needed help right now.
'I'm trying to find an officer, Eddie Thawne,' I explained. 'I'm not sure where he is or anything, but I do know he trained at Keystone City and could be in Central City.'
'Why didn't you tell me earlier?' Helena exclaimed in a question. 'I have contacts in Keystone from all this forensic work. Last year, they needed extra help in the KCPD, and so I went for about two weeks. I can call them now if you want!'
'Oh my gosh, thank you!' I hastily hugged her.
'Can I ask why you need to find this Eddie guy?' Helena requested, intrigued.
She deserved to know; after all, she had helped me obliviously. I could have been plotting a murder and she would've willingly helped me.
Looking round, I realised that all the other forensic scientists must've been off for the day, Helena busily working away no matter what day it was.
'So, you know that ex boyfriend I talked about, like ages ago?' I started.
'The guy before Tommy?' Helena remembered. 'Who you left back home?'
'Well, I never left him in England,' I owned up slowly. 'I left him in Central City.'
'Wait, so you lived in Central City?' Helena asked, astonished. 'Why didn't you want to tell me this before now?'
Merlyn. That was why. But Merlyn was still an overhanging threat in my life; I couldn't risk Helena's life, or anyone's life yet again.
So, I kept quiet, like I always did.
'Come on, Aria,' Helena said knowingly. 'It's obvious you did live in Central City.'
'So maybe I did,' I shrugged. 'Anyway, so I left because I thought Eddie was cheating on me. Turns out he may have not been.'
'Can't you just call him?' Helena asked. 'Or send him mail or something? Instead of having to use all this tech?'
'It's not that simple,' I shook my head sadly. 'I found out Eddie had actually moved to England to find me when I was missing last year, and I don't know if he went back to Central or Keystone City.'
'I understand,' Helena nodded. 'I'll contact them now!'
Taking her phone, Helena dialled the number from memory, obviously meaning she had been highly involved with the police department in Keystone. Had there been a mysterious, important case there, or was it something do do with her personal life? I couldn't tell, but one thing I did know was that she was helping me, regardless.
'Hi, Steve!' Helena greeted the callee friendlily. 'Yeah, I'm fine, you? Really, oh wow-'
After a few more minutes of small talk, Helena was back off the phone.
'They know where Eddie lives,' Helena said immediately. 'He was on the police records, as you suspected, he's an officer now, and training to be a detective- Anyway, he lives in some apartment. Here's the address.'
She handed me a scribbled on strip of paper.
'Thanks, Helena, for everything,' I hugged her suddenly. 'You've been a massive help, and I don't think I would've been able to him without you.'
'It's fine,' Helena smiled. 'Just, make sure you're ready to meet up with this guy. Don't put yourself into a situation you know you won't be able to cope in.'
'Okay, I'll try,' I laughed. 'I've just got one question; when's the next train to Keystone?'
---
As the cab pulled up outside the apartments, I tried to keep calm as I paid the driver and walked up to the doorway of the grand building. Eddie had done rather well to say he was an officer, but he did have his father's wealth, after all.
I was scared. So scared. What if Eddie had another girlfriend before I had had s chance to tell him how I really felt. I knew my love life wasn't exactly perfect, but maybe Eddie would forgive me for running off like I did. But that wasn't really my fault, was it? Another reason to get revenge on Merlyn.
'Here goes, then,' I muttered, barely pressing the buzzer to Eddie's apartment as my fingers uncontrollably trembled.
'Hey, who is it?' I heard Eddie's voice ring from the speaker like all times.
'It's... It's Aria,' I said nervously, trying not to panic and run away.
Silence.
Did he not hear me? Or was he too scared to open the door.
'... Eddie?' I said, louder this time. 'Are you there?'
'You- you can't be here,' he said quickly, before ending our conversation off, denying my entry.
I had been expecting a different reaction than that. Why was he also worried to see me? I wasn't going to hurt him or put him in danger, was I? Merlyn was all the way back in Starling, and he couldn't know I had found Eddie.
So why was he so scared?
'Eddie,' I pressed the buzzer again. 'I need to see you!'
Silence.
So I decided to take matters into my own hands. Waiting for another five minutes at the door to figure out how to get in, one of the residents appeared at the door with her shopping.
'Hi, um,' I started, trying to catch her attention.
'Are you alright, sweetie?' She asked with a warm smile.
'I'm here to see someone and they're not answering when I'm pressing the buzzer,' I explained, trying to get her to open the door for me.
'Just come in with me then,' she smiled again, opening the door for herself and me.
Well that was easy.
Running up to Eddie's apartment, I rapidly knocked on the door, needing to see him. I wasn't going to leave without seeing him.
The door opening slowly, Eddie tried to close it again the split second he saw it was me. Unfortunately for him, I had stopped him from doing so, my foot between the wall and the edge of the door like a doorstop.
'I thought I stopped you from coming in,' Eddie said, frowning anxiously.
'Someone else let me in,' I explained.
'You need to go,' Eddie muttered, his face looking almost pained.
'I need to talk to you, Eddie,' I insisted, taking a step closer.
'Just, another time,' Eddie almost pleaded.
'Whatever's the matter, it can wait,' I insisted again, needing to make amends with him before it was too late. 'I was wrong to leave you in Central City. I thought you were cheating on me, so, instead of asking you, I just left you without any proof. And now, I see that I still loved you, and I will never stop loving you.'
Suddenly, Eddie's face changed from that worried, pained look he was wearing into a surprised, yet loving one. He still cared for me, but still, I could feel an underlying sense of sadness and helplessness, as if he couldn't go back to how we once were.
'I never cheated on you,' Eddie said definitely, almost like a promise. 'I've never been able to move on from you. From us. I looked for you. In England, in Starling City, but then I heard you were... missing. I gave up hope. But now, you've come back. You're alive. And you don't believe whatever you were... told.'
His face was back to that anxious, pained look again, as if he had said something terrible. But how did he know that Merlyn had told me that? What exactly did he know?
'That doesn't matter now,' I said, trying to forget about Merlyn.
Maybe he'd just guessed that someone had told me that.
'I'm the one to blame,' I carried on. 'I was rash with my decision to leave you, and I blamed you for years about how my life was all-'
Eddie interrupted me with his lips, those lips I had missed for far too long. His arms wrapped around my torso, pulling me inside the apartment with ease. I didn't understand a lot at that moment, but what I did understand was that we both had love for one another. And nothing would stop us.
But then, something did.
Feeling my body go limp and my mouth feel numb, I could taste a strange substance on my tongue.
The last word I heard from him was sorry.