Almost a month later Fred began to feel better. As though his body was adjusting to the absence of his other half. He hated that he no longer felt sick, it was as though he was forgetting all about Calliope, and the absence of his discomfort enabled him to begin to hate her for leaving in the way she did. For withdrawing from him in the wake of his father's death when he needed her there most.
George seemed delighted to have his brother return to him, he and Natalie had been running the shop themselves with just the help of their newly hired assistant Verity. Whilst George had wanted to wait until Fred was okay to open the shop, but he couldn't argue that they could not afford the missed business. They had invested all of their money in the shop and wouldn't be able to afford the rent unless they started making some money. Therefore the opening was a subdued affair.
Fred could still feel Calliope's emotions just enough to know that she was physically okay and uninjured, her mental state was quite the opposite though as deep despair had enveloped her. Fred found himself waking in the middle of the night to stabs of terror through the bond or stopping during the day to wince as an emotional onslaught hit him.
He couldn't miss the looks of pity that Natalie and George shot him, and their murmurs when they thought he wasn't listening. Fred and Natalie swapped places in their sleeping arrangement as Fred slept in Calliope's room in the sheets that still faintly smelled like her.
Several times Fred felt a brief sense of peace flow through the bond and he whirled around looking for her. He had convinced himself that this sense of peace could only come is Calliope returned to him. He was also convinced that at least once he saw her in the corner of his vision in one of these moments. She was opaque but as beautiful as ever. Her pale green eyes trained on him analysing his every moment. But when Fred looked around to get a better look she was gone. He tried to persuade himself that these sightings were his imagination, but deep down he knew he was wrong. She was still checking on him, ensuring that he was safe.
Without Calliope Fred definitely didn't feel safe. He thought that her presence would make him feel a thousand times better.
He began to go through the motions of his life in a robotic manner, working in the shop, putting on the epitome of the buoyant fun-loving owner of a joke shop that the customers would expect. Fred someone convinced himself that if he looked okay to other people then he would be okay on the inside.
He was wrong, but he continued to smile and laugh, trying his best to ignore the two gaping holes in his life that had been left by his father and by Calliope.
Oh my sweet babies. Let's hope things get better for them soon!
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~Em xx