Never thought I'd see you again

He felt his heart skip at her words, he saw her wink and couldn't help but smile. "When and where sweetheart? Then you can take all the time you need." He gave her a wickedly mischievous smile. "Well whenever you wanna just let me know. Really?" He looked like he was thinking about it for a while. "I think I have a little more than that." He said grinning widely at her. He remembered every single one that he had tattooed on his body and remembered what the tattoo artist said every time he came back in for one.

"Okay I'll see you then." He said with a smile. He was surprised when she kissed him on the cheek then walked quickly away. He could still feel her lips on his cheek as he started making his way to his door. Hearing her voice again he looked behind him, "Alright." He said then watched a little bit when she walked away.

Axel walked into the door of his home to be greeted by his daughters who came squealing down the hall. He picked them up and gave them kisses. His mother came in from the living room with her arms crossed with a look on her face. He knew that look and he put the girls down, who quickly ran back down the hall to their room. "Alright mom what have I done this time?" He asked as he walked into the kitchen to put the groceries away.

"I saw you talking to some woman on the sidewalk outside. Who is she? Did you ask her out?" She said with a inquiring look on her face.

"It was Imogen mom. We were just catching up, I'm meeting her for dinner at her house at ten after six." He said softly before turning to take in his mother's expression.

"Oh my." His mother said with a hand on her heart. "You ok? I know what happened last time you two were together sweetheart. Just don't let your guard down." She said with a wry smile. "I'll watch the girls tonight while you go visit her."

Axel gave his mom a smile and went to go take a shower in his bathroom that was connected to a door in his room. He felt all the stress of the day melt away as he finally stepped out, he checked his face but found that his beard wasn't too bad so he decided to leave it. He went to his closet and changed into a pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt that showed off his arms. By the time he was finished and walking into the kitchen it was a little past four. He took out the ingredients that he bought and began chopping up all the vegetables then slicing the chicken into strips. He began frying the vegetables with a few spices and a little olive oil, then he threw the chicken in with it to fry it up with them. He grabbed out the tortilla shells to warm them up in the microwave as he put the finishing touches up on the chicken mixture.

"Jane, Kaitlynn come eat." He shouted out as he fixed their plates and his mother's plate who had been cleaning up again though there was no mess. "Come eat mom." He said as he began making the dessert for them to eat afterwards. It was a fruit salad with a tiny bit of sugar mixed in with it, he put in the the fridge for them for later. Looking at his watch he groaned seeing that it was six o' clock, "I gotta run mom. I'll see you later, I have tomorrow off so I won't need you to babysit. I'm gonna spend some much needed time with the girls." He said with a grin as he pulled on his boots and headed out the door grabbing his leather jacket on the way.

He hit the sidewalk and began running down the street towards where Imogen lived. He hit her street at half past six and cursed to himself as he looked at the numbers before finding her house. He walked up fixing his hair as he did so then too a deep breath. He knocked on her door nervous the entire time, trying to keep himself calm as he waited for her to answer the door.

Imogen did not like to use magic while cooking. She thought in that way meals can not be as good as if it would be prepared by her own hands.
She was slowly chopping vegetables, she is some kind of perfectionist and made sure that each piece is the same size.
Just put the meat to fry when she heard a knock at the door.
At the same moment, her heart began to pound faster.
She repaired her hair, looking in one cabinet and then headed for the door.
"I'm coming," she shouted and then she finally got to the door, took a deep breath and opened it.
Here it is, beautiful as ever.

When she saw him she could not endure without laughing.
"Hey, you made it. Come in" moved away from the door so he can get in there.
"I must return tto the kitchen, you can make me wait in the living room or to get into the kitchen with me," she said, and then went to the kitchen to continue with dinner.
Since yesterday she baked cookies, she was ready for dessert today.

While cooking, the whole time she was thinking about them and everything that was between them in the past.
Secretly, she prayed to God that he does not ask her why she left. She just wanted to leave that behind them and be friend to him.
Elizabeth told her today that she heard that he has kids, it means that he is married and she will not try anything with him.

Axel only hoped that he didn't screw this up and didn't end up losing her for a second time.
Hearing her voice as she was coming to get the door, he quickly fixed his hair again before she opened the door. Once she opened the door all words left his mouth, he was nervous about being alone with her but he couldn't help himself. He always admired that she would throw on anything and still look amazing in it, even the track suit she had on. He gave her a warm smile knowing that she would smack him if he so much as gave one laugh. It was just something he did when he was nervous because the one thing bad about having editic memory is he was a klutz but he was horrible at lying to anyone.

"Yeah, I'm actually a little late." He said as he walked in when she moved back so he could. He nodded when she said that she needed to get back to the kitchen. He walked into the living room sliding the jacket off and draping it carefully on the back of the couch. He looked around but in the end walked into the kitchen leaning against the door frame and watched her cook. He wondered what she was making since he couldn't see from the door way he walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder. "It looks good," He said his mouth close to her ear as he tried to see what else she was doing.

He backed up after he inspected what she was doing and leaned against the counter top arms crossed.
He knew that he needed tell her about his daughters no doubt someone would have told her about them already. He also wanted to ask her those questions but he didn't think after she invited him over that he should bombard her with questions so quickly. If he was being honest with himself truly honest, he wanted to kiss her and see if her lips were just as soft as they were back then.

As she watched him enter and smiles at her, she noticed how much he is nervous.
She knows that by that his smile which is forced smile that would always laugh when is nervous.
However, she was pretending that nothing is noticed because she did not want him to be too uncomfortable.
As he passed near her, she could not help but notice how good he smells. He looked elaborately, as if he's preparing for an important meeting. Maybe he need to go somewhere later with someone important? That hurts her.

She went back to cooking and she did not notice that he was standing in the doorway.
She just wantd to turn the chicken that was in the pan when she feel that he is standing behind her back.
She sighed almost imperceptibly, when he spoke she realized how close he is to her. His lips were just a few inches away from her.
A little shudder and then just smiled and turned the chicken being careful not to burn it.
"Would you like some wine? Or something without alcohol?" as she said, did not look at him. She was afraid if she look at him her feet will be issued and she will collapse.
Maybe this dinner was not the best idea.

He stepped back and she ended up with cooking. All served on two plates and brought it to the table.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked him after she noticed that he is somewhere engrossed in his thoughts. One moment frowned as if thinking about some of the tough decisions and the very next moment, smiling.
She sat at the table watching still in him.

"Maybe I'm a little overdressed for our dinner." He said with a small laugh. "I didn't know what I should wear so I thought jeans and a t-shirt would work." He ran a hand through his hair nervously trying to think of things to say. "Your house looks really nice." He wanted to hit himself for saying something something so stupid.

He smiled when he saw that it was chicken and thought about him making dinner for the kids just earlier. "Smells great Imogen. You were always a great cook." He said then thought about her question for a moment. "I'll have some wine if you have it." He said thinking that maybe some alcohol would help him get the courage to finally ask her the questions. Or just maybe he'll ask just one question that has been bugging him since she walked back into his life. He watched her cook out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but think how gorgeous she still was.

He looked up when she had asked the question didn't realized how deep in thought he really was. "A lot of things, though there's something important I need to tell you one of which you can't tell anyone." He said as he walked over to the table and sat down. "I have two twin daughters. Before you start assuming that I'm married or something. I'm not married, the girls aren't biologically mine. I work as a healer at St Mungos, one year I had volunteered at a foster home for children. They needed help getting kids looked at and things, so I went and I saw two twin girls. They were babies when they were there, they were going to separate the girls if they could get someone to adopt them together. I had spent a most of the time with the babies that were there but I had fallen in love with these little girls. So I moved into a bigger apartment and adopted them, no one outside my family knows the truth." He paused for a moment to think about how to phrase his next words. "People outside the family have different theories about me raising the little girls. Most of the things are not that friendly, I would rather them say those things about me than to say it about them. Most people assume that I had gotten a girl pregnant and she didn't want them so I took over. Or I was married and the mother left because I had too many tattoos." He said softly hoping that she would understand what he was saying. "I haven't been with anyone since you."

She eyed him carefully and laughed, "Do not worry, you look great in everything you wear," she said honestly and shrugged.
She looked at him in surprise, "Oh, well, thank you. In fact, Beth arranged all in this house, she just like everything to be in perfect order, even in my own house," she laughed and then went into the kitchen.

"Well, thank you. I really like to cook," she smiled and looked at him."Wine is in the lowest cabinet on the right side. There you will find various types, dry, sweet, white, black ... really a lot of wine, take one" she smiled and then pulled out of the showcases two glasses for wine and laid them on the table.
Great, wine might help her to overcome this anxiety, alvohol is always good in situations like this one. Or will eventually get drunk and do something stupid. Thus, the wine will be her salvation or perdition.

"Oh, all right, go ahead." She already knew. He would tell her he is married. Or he is planning to propose his girlfriend.
She was not ready to hear it, not yet. She drained a full glass of wine at once and then poured another. Perhaps she would need something stronger to survive.
She carefully listened to his words.
"I know that you have two daughters, Beth told me," she said quietly and then listened to the end.
"It's wonderful Axel, you took a great responsibility upon yourself. After all, your tattoos are beautiful. You're wonderful, I know you're a great father. These girls could not wish for a better father."
And just like that, she began to cry. Why?
These were mixed feelings.
Luckily, because he is single. Then relief but also sadness because she hurt him once.
"Oh Alex .." she said sadly almost as cramped.
"I always hoped you'd find someone and be happy. I ... I hurt you and I .. This, I think. I'm not. I could not. This" just started to falter. There was so much she wanted to tell him, but at the moment she could not say anything meaningful.

"You look amazing in everything you wear as well." He said with a smile and with honesty. "Wow. Wait Beth arranged your house? Why?" He said with a confused look on his face. "Why does it have to be in perfect order here?" He then got a mischievous idea to move something to see what Beth might do. He would make sure she knew it had been him that did it because he wouldn't want Imogen to get in trouble.

"Yeah? Learn any new recipes?" He asked with a smile. He looked in the cabinet she indicated and pulled out a bottle of sweet wine. He had a big sweet tooth and loved sweet wine, so he grabbed one then raised up. He popped the cork on the bottle and poured a generous amount in both glasses. He took a sip of the one he poured and liked the taste of it. He only hoped that the wine wouldn't hit him really fast because then he knew he'd end up doing something stupid.

He narrowed his eyes at her response of him saying he needed to tell her something. He wondered what was going through her mind at those words. He only hoped that she wasn't thinking that he had someone 'special' in his life like a girlfriend or something. When she said that Beth told her about the kids he figured that would happen but at the same time he wondered how Beth knew he had kids. He drank the rest of his glass and like her poured himself another one. Her next words caught him off guard, "I couldn't leave them to be separated. Thanks, I try to be a good father most days I think I'm failing." He said softly then saw that she had started to cry. "Imogen," He said trying to figure out why she was crying. Hearing her words he moved his chair closer to hers and lifted her from her chair placing her in his lap. "I couldn't not when I loved you so much still. I knew that if I went into a relationship after ours it would be doomed to fail. You mean so much to me that being with anyone else would have broken me. You have always meant so much to me that I couldn't bear to be with anyone else." He said holding her close to him, his head resting against hers as he talked. "You are my first and only love Imogen." He put his hand under her chin so he could look at her face better.

"Thank you," she smiled shyly and she felt her cheeks become red.
Great, now she acts as a dumb teenager.
"Oh, I'm fine with that. Suddenly I came here and bought a house. Things were completely scattered all over the house before I let her to remake everything. Due to the constant shooting, I never had the time. However, I like the way now it seems, on me is just to keep the house clean, "she shrugged and smiled.
When it comes to her sisters, especially Elizabeth, Imogen trust them the most on the world. They have always been there for her since they did not have a mother and Imogen was just a baby when they parents left, with them Imogen learned how important family is.

"In truthfulness, I learned a few new recipes. Some of them are quite complex. Recently, I almost burned the kitchen while I was trying to make some kind of meat," she laughed, remembering how much time it took to put out the fire because of fear she completely forgot that she was a witch and that magic can quickly put out the fire. She was half an hour struggling with tap water.

She listened carefully to his words. She admired him. It must have been difficult to decide to take this step, and despite everything he could and was raised girls as best he could. Elizabeth had heard for children from Ev, which again heard that from a tattooed guy who knows Axel. The complicated story, but in the end all that find out and Imogen.
When he landed her on his lap, her mind was telling her off. Her mind was screaming to get up, but her heart won and she just hugged him around the neck.
His words just made her cry even more.
Is it in the blood of Blackburn sisters to hurt the ones they love?
Elizabeth left Nikita, Ev had to fake death to protect Alejandro and Imogen had done most selfish of all, she ran away because she was scared.
"I love you. I never stopped loving you. But we can not be together, I can not afford to hurt you again," she said quietly, and then she got up from his lap and went into the living room completely oblivious to the food.

He simply grinned when he saw her get red from his compliment, he didn't say anything though. "Well your sister would probably go crazy if she stepped inside my house. It's a complete disorganized mess but it's clean but everything is kinda backwards. I can find everything perfectly but it's kinda strange to see how everything is put together. My mother tries to fix it only to come back the next day to find it back the way it was, drives her nuts but she leaves it." He said with a crooked grin remembering how he did it to his mom once as she was cleaning. She had ended up throwing her cleaning rag at him and muttering things under her breath.

"Any that I would like? I'm always up for a challenge with cooking, I've gotten really good." He said then laughed when she said that she almost burned down her kitchen. It took him a minute to control his laughter before he asked, "Did you remember to use magic to put it out?" He asked trying to refrain from laughing again.

He didn't know her reasoning for leaving him but having her in his arms like this was a dream. He wanted to keep her in his arms all night, he wanted her to meet his girls. He wanted so badly to have her back in his life that he held onto her tightly burying his face in her hair. He missed her more than words could describe and having her there now in his arms was like a dream. He felt her arms go around his neck and held her as she cried wanting to ease the pain that there were both going through. He wanted her back in his life but the only thing was did she want him in hers. Hearing her next words made his heart beat faster knowing that she still love him then the last almost broke his heart again. He got up and walked to the edge of the living room, "Why? Why did you leave all those years ago? Imogen I wanted to marry you, I wanted a life with you. Why did you leave me?" His words were spoken softly as he walked towards her. He stopped in front of her wanting to know the answer to his question. "You were the one person that I could trust with my heart and with everything that I was." The words that were spoken were that he still had that ring, the one he bought when he was prepared to ask her. He never had the heart to sell it, he didn't even have the heart to throw it in the river.

She started to laugh, shaking her head.
"Actually, I'd probably lost my mind too. I'm very organized. While my house was in disarray ever I was in confusion," she said honestly, and laughed.
However, wherever he is with hher it probably would be right, could manage.

"Well maybe you'd like it. I'll make you one day something new," she looked at him pretending to be angry.
"Stop it! It's not funny," in the end, had to be, and she laughs. His laugh is simply contagious.
She looked at him as if he is not normal. "Of course not! Who would be in
panic, and remember to use magic? I fought fire with water half an hour," she shook her head, laughing.

She went into the living room and sat on the couch and leaned back on and hid her head in her hands. Being next to him, it was so right.
Was it fate that she meets him just today when she decided to go the long way to avoid the crowds in the square? She felt he approached her but did not have the strength to look at him, everything she wants now is to kiss him, but she knew that she could not do that.
Finally, she looked at him, her eyes was red from tears and almost started to scream the next words.
"I was scared! So I went! Aaron told me that you're getting ready to propose to me, and I panicked. I knew that we were too young for marriage, I just was not ready! If I had refused then, everything would change, I know that nothing would not be the same! That's why I left, "the last words she said in a whisper.
"I wanted to say you goodbay, but you were sleeping so peacefully .. I could not, I could not do that, so I just kissed you for the last time and left hoping that at least you'll be happy again when I can't!" she said honestly and then again crept face in her hands. Why is this all happening now, after so many years? She hoped that she would never have to explain why she left.
"I love you so much .." she said, so softly that not even sure if he heard.
"After you I have tried to be in a relationship, but in every guy I was looking for you, so do not go. I've often wondered how it would be if I had stayed, I was then married you."