[08] Mending Fences & Finding Closure - Part III

[callmeles]

Mending Fences & Finding Closure
Part Three


It was good to know that all these years later, somethings didn’t change. Adonis still loved his cars, as David had. For once, Piper was glad that he was driving. She had driven to the house the day before… before she’d ended up at his penthouse and she wasn’t sure she could make the trip twice.

At least this time, she wasn’t alone. He was there and… fuck, had this been all those years ago, that thought would not be comforting. At least, she would refuse to acknowledge that it was.

The house was a solid forty-five minutes outside of London on an estate that Adonis and David had bought at least a hundred years ago (if not longer). When they’d arrived after traveling, Jordan and Piper had fallen in love with it and decide to make it their home base.

It had everything they needed and after six months, Jordan and Piper’s ambient magic had spread through the house and through the estate. It took them a little longer than it should to realize that the house and grounds started to take on some sort of life of its own. The estate had started to become lusher and richer than before and it started to attract a few species of fae who lived in the woods. They ultimately started to take care of it and look out for it.

Which was for the best, honestly. None of them had a green thumb to save their lives. But they did what they needed to keep the fae happy. It was on the grounds where they had made a memorial to Jordan and David/Dom after the ritual which would ensure whatever magic lingered would help protect the home and grounds for at least the next decade or more.

Piper’s hand tightened on the passenger’s interior car door. They were getting closer; she could feel it and she suddenly wanted to run –

As if anticipating that very reaction, Adonis reached over and took Piper’s free hand in his, giving it a squeeze. She wasn’t the only one feeling the urge to leave and the touch was as much for her benefit as it was for his.

Piper exhaled harshly, not daring to admit that she had needed that.
It was five minutes but it both felt like the longest fucking five minutes of her life and like no time at all. Adonis pulled into the drive and when the gates came up, pressed a button on the steering wheel. Piper watched as they opened then looked back through the side mirror as they closed behind them.

“She’s not happy,” she said after a moment of silence as Adonis drove up the driveway and around the circle drive, parking in front of the house.

“No, I imagine she’s not,” he admitted, turning the car off and looking outside the window at the majestic home in front of them.

“I don’t blame her,” she murmured and gave Adonis’ hand a squeeze before releasing it and opening the door, stepping out. She really missed this house but being here made the sadness and the lingering guilt return in full force.

Adonis shut the driver’s side door behind him and walked around the car to stand shoulder to shoulder with Piper.

Piper could feel the presence of the house (Magestic as she was fondly named) touching on her magic and her mind. Piper closed her eyes and swallowed, letting the presence feel her out. ”Hello friend,” she whispered inwardly.

She didn’t hear it exactly but if a house could snort, it would have and rolled its nonexistent eyes.

Piper opened her eyes and walked up toward the stairs leading to the front door. She was grateful that the house had been protected all this time. It was also a blessing to not have any neighbors close by, so they didn’t look crazy talking to a house.

“I know and I’m sorry. I have no excuses for Adonis here but…,” she exhaled slowly. “We’re both sorry. It was really hard afterward and I couldn’t,” Piper finished with a whisper.

Adonis followed her up the steps and to the front door, resting a hand on the door frame. “I’m sorry, old girl – neither of us realized how long we’ve been gone. We should have come sooner.”

Piper felt the bristle from the house at the term ‘old’ and shot him a look. “Do you want her to throw you out,” she hissed. “Now is not the time to call her old.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he hastened to apologize and shot Piper an apologetic look. The last thing he wanted to do was get on Magestic’s bad side. He still had a lot of things inside that she could make disappear if she wanted.

Truth be told, living off of Jordan and Piper’s magic for as long as it did, it was no wonder when it started exhibiting some quirks from both women. It also explained why Piper continued to have a connection with the home despite not being here for a decade.

She felt the house settle but still didn’t quite give in and open the door. Considering both she and Jordan had been stubborn as hell, it was no wonder that the house had that in spades.

It would also make this a challenge.

“I promise I will visit more and stay here more,” Piper finally whispered after a few moments of silence, pressing her head to the door. “I missed you. I miss them.” She had talked about more of her feelings and her emotions in the last twenty-four hours than she had in the last ten-twelve years.

It was exhausting, honestly.

“I’m sorry I left yesterday… I wasn’t ready. I am now. We both are.”

Watching her just then reminded Adonis of their travels when the girls had graduated high school and the way Piper always seemed to just know what to say and what to do in a situation. He was sure that she was flying by the seat of her pants but everything she did, he knew, she truly believed in.

He was reminded of the time in Scotland when she and Jordan roped him into helping them take a boat out to the middle of the Loch to talk to their friend “Nessy”. David and he had thought them both a bit mad, but before his eyes, they’d done it. They’d made friends with the fucking Loch Ness Monster.

Adonis cleared his throat and looked at the front door then up at the house properly. “I know I have less excuse than she does,” he admitted. “But I will try and stay here more often. It was always our dream to fill the house with as much happiness as we could. And I’m sorry that we haven’t been back until now. That will change,” he promised.

After a solid thirty minutes of standing there and talking to the house, the house unlocked the door. Piper exhaled slowly and closed her eyes tightly, willing herself to not cry at that precise moment. “Thank you,” she whispered before opening the door and walking inside.

Part IV