Reconciliation

Declan got off work early that afternoon, leaving the Leaky in the hands of his second shift manager, stopping off at the shops on his way home to pick up groceries and a few things for the flat. He had work to do, though, so he didn't linger for very long. Upon returning home, Declan set to work cleaning up, knowing that he wasn't particularly messy but also that Dom would be coming home tomorrow and he would want to have his place looking at least a little better than usual if he was going to invite her around. He'd planned out what he would cook if she decided she wanted to come over, but he didn't want it to seem like he was up to anything untoward.

He sent a series of cleaning charms around the flat as he put away the groceries he had purchased. Some of the fruit was left in a little basket on the bar above his sink, but most of it went into the fridge or the freezer. Even as he was putting it away, he mused over whether or not Dom would actually like any of the things he had picked. He wasn't sure what time she would get in the next day, but perhaps she would regale him with stories while he cooked, or maybe while they both did.

Merlin, he hoped nothing had changed. He couldn't begrudge her a holiday, couldn't have said she shouldn't go. He'd missed her, though, despite the postcards. It certainly seemed as though nothing had changed, if only because of that, but Declan really just couldn't tell with Dom sometimes. It was a great sign that he had missed her, he thought. Just like last time.

Declan sighed as he shut the fridge door, then crossed over to the sink to add some water to the vase of carnations he had bought. He didn't know if Dom liked them, but he thought she might be entertained by the fact that he had also bought food dye. Surely she would get a kick out adding colors in and watching the petals change? If she didn't, he'd do it for her. One day he would have to find out which kind were her favorites, though.

The vase he sat on the coffee table of the little living room area of his flat, and moved into his bedroom to hang up a few clean shirts.

France had been beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. She had been gone for about three weeks, enjoying the sights with her cousin. Rose had been going through a rough patch as well, and had tracked her down after the anniversary party gone sour, and the two had reconnected. It had been Rose's crazy idea for them to go on holiday, and Dom hadn't been convinced until Rose showed up with the gold to afford the trip. Promises and kissies smothered Declan until he admitted that she could probably use the time on her own, and soon the girls were magically expanding their suitcases and clearing out their closets.

It was perfect. Their time was split between beautiful bistros, bright beaches, and bumping bars. Rose seemed to be on a mission to expand her horizons, once dragging Dom to a nude beach, and disappearing with a few cute men now and again. Their little villa, borrowed from a friend of Rose's, was ridiculously quaint and Dom had even rented a bicycle to get around.

It felt magical.

Until she had run into Nico.

It was about halfway through when she looked across the swimming pool at the club they had taken to, and seen her friend Nico pressing a kiss on a woman who then hurried off to the bistro. Their eyes had met and they decided to cross the distance and greet each other.

Coffee with Nico was strange. He was doing well, according to him. Brigitte was a fashion journalist, but very hardworking and incredibly classy. He was madly in love with her, and she loved him deeply too. He had a good few mates, and was working in the French Ministry, and was feeling better than ever.

She didn't share much. She couldn't. She kept it to her trip, to the fact that she was seeing someone, that she was... happy.

The conversation just fizzled.

She felt strange after that. She struggled to engage as she had before, and Rose could sense it. As their holiday began to approach it's final days, she found herself not just missing Declan, but needing him.

"Come on, Dom, stay. It's one more day."

Dom snapped the suitcase shut and stood up, looking at Rose, who was lounging on one of the chic couches, a passed out French men resting his cheek on her knee as she stroked his hair. Dom smirked. "He looks like your cat."

"Dom," Rose warned.

"I just want to surprise him," Dom said lifting a shoulder, smiling.

Rose huffed out a sigh, rolling her eyes. "You're really going to leave me with him?"

Dom smirked. "Maybe you can declaw him."

"Shut up," Rose quipped. "Well, you better make it worth it."

Dom grinned. "I will."

She didn't even drop off her suitcases. She dragged it along with her after apparating and composed herself outside of the door. She had put on a dress, hoping to make the sight a little special, a little exciting. She felt her heart pounding and she wasn't sure why. She knocked three times and rocked back on her heels, biting her bottom lip and trying to shake the nerves from her shoulders with an excited shiver.

When the knock sounded at his door, Declan frowned. Very few people knew where he lived, as most just sought him out by owl or at the Leaky if they were determined to see him in person. He doubted Henry would bother with knocking, so his suspicions were certainly roused by the sudden noise.

He approached regardless, knowing that his wand was close at hand. Not that he would have been able to put up much of a fight if it came down to it, but that was neither here nor there. And it clearly didn't matter anyways, considering every single one of his thoughts flew out of his mind when he opened the door and saw who stood there.

"I- Dom, you're-" Declan shook his head, not even trying to finish his sentence. Instead he stepped forward, sweeping her up into his arms as he had in her parents' backyard, thoroughly shocked to see her but thrilled as anything. "Merlin," he murmured, setting her back down. His hands moved easily up to her cheeks, and he grinned at her before leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead. He leaned back, shaking his head as he tried to figure out what was happening, only to have his attention pulled away by her suitcases.

He hadn't registered in the moment that she had looked nervous. But she was still packed, had appeared worried, and was standing outside of his door earlier than she should've been. Concern filtered into his pleased expression, diluting it until all that was left was a confused man whose hands slid down to her arms, afraid to release her but half worried he had gone too far without invitation.

"Dom, what's wrong?" He asked, dragging his gaze back to search for hers. It only lingered for a moment, though, and then his dark eyes were sweeping over her, wondering how she could have gone to the trouble of dressing up only to have something happen to her. "What happened?"

She felt like she was waiting on his doorstep forever, even though she knew it was hardly a moment in time. She supposed it was that old sentiment, of getting less patient the closer one was to their pay off. She was finding that know he was right behind the door was making her only more and more anxious to finally see him. She couldn't help but feel the natural trepidation of illogical fears - would he be mad to be surprised? Would he not be looking forward to seeing her?

This fearful look was still on her face when the door opened, but the second he stepped forward, her face cracked into a gleeful smile and a laugh of relief tumbled from her pink lips as he swept her up. She clung to him, breathing in his scent, stealing his warmth as her head tilted into his neck.

Her eyes fluttered closed at the tender gesture, her hands reaching up to grip his wrists, smiling as though she were basking in the sun.

Her eyes flicked open in time to see his face morph from one of happiness to one of worry. He immediately began questioning and she let out another laugh, shaking her head. "I'm fine, I'm fine. The only problem I had during my whole vacation..." She swayed a bit, chewing on her lip before glancing up at him. "Was missing you. Like... a lot." She rolled her lips inward, a look of coyishness coming over her.

The relief Declan felt was evident on his face. He wasn't sure precisely what he had thought was the matter, but it went something along the lines of Dom being required to move without warning. But that apparently was not the case, and he was glad for it. He was that much more glad about what she said by way of explanation, though.

In fact, it made him smirk, although the Declan version of a smirk was really more of a lopsided grin. "Well," he said, stepping forward slowly and winding his arms around her waist. "I guess it's a good thing I've taken off work until Monday."

Realizing they were still standing in the doorway, he reached out to pull her luggage into the flat, then stepped aside so she could walk in with him. "For the record," he added as he kicked the door shut behind them, "I missed you like mad."

Declan didn't think that saying as much would surprise her, but he loved that she was back to hear him say it. So he squeezed her against his side, leading her into the kitchen. "You want anything?" He asked. His eyebrows lifted, though, because he remembered something. "Oh. Stay here a second," he requested, releasing her and holding his hands up to emphasize his words. "Don't look."

He moved into the living room, picking up the vase, and came back up behind her. When he returned, he stood behind her and extended one arm to set it down on the counter so she could see it. He dropped a kiss on her shoulder, hoping that she would like them.

He pulled her close and she felt that familiar head rush of exhilaration from being desired by someone she desired. It blew her away, sometimes. He had just been some guy in the professor's lounge who had not rolled his eyes every time she talked. She liked to tease him, like to flirt with him and see him get a bit flustered, liked to call him old even though she found him attractive.

It was that next step that made the whole thing go wonky. She thought the next escalation was fooling around, but he had gone from barely seeing her to suddenly seeing all of her potential, potential she couldn't see. They both took a step forward, but in different directions, causing a head on collision.

She had to take some physical steps away to get turned around, to get interest in falling into step next to him.

He pulled her bags inside and closed the door. His reassurance made her grin at him, as she slipped her sunglasses off of her head, tucking them in her purse, which she set down on the couch. He pulled her to his side and they meandered into the kitchen. "Water, actually, would be great - I'm parched. Or a beer." She smirked. Always down for a beer.

He suddenly broke away and she lifted her eyebrows, slowly lifting her hands to her eyes, covering them. She could hear him approaching, so she dropped her hands slowly, beginning to peek.

A beautiful views of white flowers filled her vision. Her mouth tipped open and she slowly turned to look at him. "I've never gotten flowers before!" She gasped, before smacking his arm. "I didn't get you anything!"

Declan looked down at his arm before laughing, registering just how much had had missed little actions of hers like the one she had just done. "I'm glad I picked them up, then. Besides, I never asked you to bring anything back," he pointed out with a shrug, moving to the fridge to bring out the beer she had requested as well as one for himself.

He figured that, at some point, she would feel comfortable to move around and get things as she wanted to, but he of course felt no frustration about playing the host. It was his job, after all.

As he opened a drawer to find his bottle opener, he gestured towards the flowers with the hand whose fingers were curled around the necks of the two bottles. "These, by the way, are quite cool. I'm not sure how much you know about flowers," he conceded, realizing he might be telling her something she already knew, "but these ones change color if you change the color of the water. And if you decide the color sucks you just put it in fresh water. A bit of Muggle magic for you, thanks to science."

The bottles gave a little hiss as they were opened, and Declan handed her one after pushing the drawer shut.

"So," he said, "tell me all about the painfully French things you saw and ate. I promise I don't have any plans to make dinner in the style of their cuisine," he jested. People could only take the same type of food for so long, he felt.

"I didn't ask you to have anything waiting for me, either," she reminded, arching an eyebrow, her natural tenacity finding a foothold in her surprise. She felt like that tenacity had been sort of lost ever since their fall out after the Yule Ball, always feeling like she had to make it up to him in civility and careful treading. It had only been in missing him that she realized she missed him deeper than just as she had left him - she had missed the man she could tease and poke and prod. And that was her fault. She had turned him into something different in her mind.

Her mouth once again tipped open as he explained the special trick with the flowers. "I bet I can get them to look tie dyed."

She would find out later that adding that many colors at once just turned them the color of death.

She took the beer, tipping the bottle to clink the butt of it against his, before allowing the drink to trickle into her throat, providing her dry throat some relief, certain some of the physical and mental relief would come later. She was still coming down from the anticipation of seeing Declan, still tense from some of the hard realizations she had made in the past week or so. A beer would certainly help.

She flicked her eyes skyward at his comment. "I loved it. It was really great to spend time with Rose, to explore with her. I love travelling, just... ugh, I love it." She sighed wistfully, letting a smile grace her lips. "We did all the touristy stuff, except we felt like locals in that villa - the villa, Declan. Next time Rose has access to it, I'm taking you, it felt so... I never really thought about what kind of place I want to live in until I stayed in that villa."

She paused, glancing down at her bottle. "I had... a lot of thoughts like that, actually. Don't get me wrong, I was enjoying it, of course. But for the first time ever when I was travelling, I was really considering home. And what it meant. And what I was doing with my life and I made a realization."

She glanced up at Declan, and smiled a bit ironically. "I have no idea. Dec, I have no idea what I am doing with my life. I couldn't begin to explain what I've been doing with my career, if you could be nice enough to call it that. Or with my social life. Or even with you. I've been a mess."

Declan's eyebrows lifted as she swooned over the place she had stayed, but it brought an amused smile to his face nevertheless. As much as he had missed her, Declan was glad to know that she had been able to enjoy her time with Rose. But she seemed pretty contemplative, which he wasn't sure she was entirely happy with. He pressed his palm against the top of the counter, leaning to the side as she continued.

An apologetic frown pulled his lips downward, and his chin followed briefly before he set his drink down. An idea had struck him, though he wasn't entirely sure how he himself felt about it. Still, it was more important to him that she maybe liked it, so he determined that he ought to suggest it.

"Dom, you tried to build a career out of just... spending time where you went to school. And maybe some people are fit for that, like the Hayes were for a while. You saw how well that went, though, even for them," Declan frowned again, feeling a bit bad for using them as an example. "Maybe that just isn't where you're supposed to be. I mean, it sounds like you would much rather be exploring the world than siting around in that castle. I may regret suggesting it," he admitted, rubbing at the back of his neck, "but some people get paid, y'know, to travel and review this or that." Picking up his bottle again, he tapped hers with it. "Drinks, maybe."

Declan took a drink but shrugged. "Wouldn't have to be full-time, I'm sure. But maybe it would make you happier. Don't know what I can tell you about the social life, though I would assume you would meet quite a lot of people while on your adventures. And as for me... Well," he smiled gently, "I'm not going anywhere."

The way Declan spoke to her, she knew that he really cared about her. She could not figure out why he liked her, of course, but the evidence of the effort was there. He spoke to her about something as simple as her horrible job experience so far with such empathy and understanding that she knew he had considered it before. Everything was like that with him. Her family, her quirks, her interests... he had thought about each of them long enough to have a sincere feeling about the subject.

"'Building a career,'" she quoted. "You're giving me too much credit." She said it with a joking tone, but she rolled her eyes at herself, incapable of forgiving herself for how carelessly she had treated her own life thus far. There was Lily level of allowing yourself to sink into a pit, and then there was just the ignorance to work towards anything purposeful. She had fallen into the latter trap.

But he had given her an alternative. And while instinct goaded her into negating her interest, so there could be no embarrassment when she failed, she found the words stuck in her throat. Because, wow... That sounded amazing. She knew, of course, those jobs existed, but they had never seemed like they were in the realm of possibility to her. Hearing someone, biased as he might be, tell her otherwise was... something. Something exciting.

"Wow," she said, staring into space as she let it sink in. "I didn't... I've never really considered something that wasn't... you know, in the want ads. I- yeah, that sounds perfect. I mean, I'm sure I'm not qualified..." And a small flurry of indignation directed towards herself changed her features to that of someone determined. "But, I mean, I can go get qualified. Yeah. I'm young. I could totally do that!"

But his last sentence was ringing in her ears. She finally dragged her eyes back to him, and a bit of the sadness that had followed her during her vacation finally reached her eyes, causing a droopy-quality about her. "There is that," she said. "I... I thought about us a lot, Declan. About how weird I am about commitment. I haven't been fair to you, have I? You want to commit, you want to know if I'm your... girlfriend, or whatever. If I do leave, I should probably sort that all out... Right?"

She looked at him, genuinely lost for an answer. These were such uncharted waters for her and she could not be embarrassed anymore at how lost she was. She just needed to find shore.