Love me dead [Alecis]

Rowan was on his way to Dahlin from Dian to, I dunno, go shopping or something. Maybe he was buying a gift for his demanding girlfriend, or maybe he was buying something for his babies. Either way he was walking down Theodore Lane, with his hands in his pockets, a calm and content look on his face. Life was good, for once.

Alecis was floating, her eyes closed. Normally this would have been a very bad idea for a lone clio to do on a place as dangerous as Theodore Lane, but Rheis, trotting on the ground beside her had his eyes open wide.

Alecis was on her way to the Dialga Mountains, hopefully to do a little cloud watching or star scanning or something. She hummed quietly, a gentle peaceful tune that calmed the heavy wind that happened to blow through the trees surrounding the small lane.

Rowan looked up when the wind picked up and saw Alecis up ahead, floating above the path with her eyes closed. Oh god, it seemed like she was everywhere he was.

Well, her eyes were closed, he supposed if he just kept walking she wouldn't notice him. But then, if she did notice him and he had just ignored her, he'd feel bad. Stupid thoughtfulness.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Hello," he said quietly.

Alecis was startled out of her thoughts when she heard a familiar voice. It sang to her and yet irritated her at the same time, a voice that could only belong to Rowan. Shaking off the strange feeling, she opened her eyes and saw him walking towards her.

"Er, hey," she answered, equally as quietly. It always seemed so awkward around Rowan, something Alecis hated.

She looked uncomfortable too. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything after all. "I was just, er, on my way to Dahlin," he said in that awkward small-talk sort of way. "I didn't expect to run into you..."

Who was he kidding? He ran into her everywhere.

Alecis nodded in that "Oh, I completely understand" sort of way before muttering a quiet, "Yeah, me either, I'm just going up to the mountains for a while."

Alecis wished she could just be friends with Rowan, but the truth was, that would probably never happen. It would have been better if she hadn't stopped being annoying to him.

"Oh," Rowan replied. Then there was a painfully long silence, before Rowan finally said, "I used to go to the mountains a lot. When I was unhappy and needed to get away from everything."

He looked at Alecis. Maybe she was unhappy and wanted to get away from everything.

"Mm," Alecis said, unsure of what to say to him. "I think it's peaceful up there, and it's a nice day..." she trailed off. It had been polite to stay and talk a minute, but they both knew that neither of them really wanted to be there. At least not with each other.

"I'm glad you're happier now, Rowan." Alecis said quietly. And she really meant it, even if it hurt a little. She even smiled a bit when she realized that saying it didn't stab her as deep as it would have months ago. Maybe she was finally getting over Rowan. At least as much as she would.

"Thanks," Rowan replied. He thought the reason he was so awkward around Alecis wasn't because she'd hated him for three years, or because now she liked him, nor even because she'd lied to him in the rift. Maybe it was because she alone had really seen him at his very lowest, darkest hour, and that was a very personal thing for two people to go through.

"Um, well...I mean...How have you been doing lately?" he asked, hoping she was okay.

Alecis shrugged. "I've been doing better lately, especially now since the kids are back." As she mentioned them a smile grew on Leci's face. "Have you seen Charlie recently?" Alecis asked, not sure why she had thought of the Adhbhar Overloridian. "I haven't been out a lot recently so I haven't seen anyone."

...

Rowan stared at Alecis, stunned. At the mention of Charlie, his heart seemed to drop into his stomach and get eaten away by the acid. In other words it hurt. How could, after all this time, Alecis not know that Charlie was dead?

At a loss of anything at all to say, he just continued to look at Alecis in disbelief.

Alecis looked at Rowan confused. "Well...?" she said, not understanding why Rowan was looking at her that way.

Alecis really didn't know. Rowan didn't want to be the one to break the news to her, but he didn't really have a choice."Um...Alecis...Charlie is dead," he said quietly.

Alecis' eyes grew in horror. "What do you mean, dead?" she asked unbelievingly. "She can't be dead, Rowan, she's only sixteen!" Alecis argued, sure that this was some kind of sick joke.

Rowan looked at Alecis sadly. "She is," he said in a pained sort of voice. He swallowed the burning lump in his throat."She...she got sick." Alecis didn't need to know the details, though she was probably going to ask for them.

Alecis shook her head as pain stabbed her. This couldn't be happening. It just wasn't fair!

"But, but..." Alecis blubbered, her brain not forming coherent sentences. "When... How?..." Tears started welling in her eyes at the sadness that were in Rowan's.

How could Charlie be dead?

Rowan blinked rapidly and looked away. "Several months ago..." he replied in a hoarse voice. "She was sick..." What should he tell her? "She got sick from...her bodyguard..." He said the last two words bitterly.

Alecis kept shaking her head. This was unbelievable, crazy even. How could Charlie, young, naive Charlie really be dead?

"I, I, I'm so sorry," Alecis said as he turned away. She knew how much Charlie meant to Rowan, even if they weren't dating anymore.

Rowan turned back to face Alecis when she said "sorry." She didn't need to be considering his feelings when she had just found out that her friend was dead. "No, Leci, I'm sorry, you shouldn't have found out like this," he said, reaching out awkwardly to put a hand on her shoulder. Awkwardly. He hadn't called her "Leci" since he was amnesiac in the rift.

Alecis sniffed a little but it didn't stop the tears from cascading down her cheeks. "I, I just can't believe it. It isn't fair, Rowan!"

"I know it isn't," Rowan said softly, sadly. The fact that life wasn't fair was a hard thing to accept.