Reunion

David stood rooted to the spot as he looked at the person he thought he would never meet even in his wildest dreams. Involuntarily, tears began trickling down his face as he muttered in a shaky voice, "Y-You… what're you doing here?"

Seeing her childhood friend stand in front of her, Elena was filled with happiness, as well as nervousness. She was delighted that she could finally see him, but she was anxious about how he would behave toward her. After all, she had indeed left without a word all those years back.

Over the past year, though, Elena had been secretly keeping an eye on him. And now that she was only a few meters away from him, she became emotional. Her eyes reddened as she rushed toward him. "David, I'm back."

She put her arms around him and hugged him tightly. As she rested her head on his firm chest and felt his beating heart, she couldn't help but feel ecstatic. She felt like she could forever remain this way, in the arms of the man she loved and cherished the most.

Suddenly, she felt that something was wrong. David hadn't put his arms around her waist. That wasn't what she had expected. She looked up and saw his expressionless face and a sense of foreboding welled up in her heart. She nervously asked, "D-David, what's wrong?"

He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away. He looked at her as tears continued to stream down his face and stoically asked, "Why're you here?"

Elena's heart ached when he pushed her away. On the verge of crying, she could only stutter, "W-What do you mean? I'm here for you."

David clenched his fists in rage. He gnashed his teeth and said, "Two years.…"

Elena tried to approach him and gently spoke, "I-I know I made a mis—"

David screamed at the top of his lungs, "TWO FUCKING YEARS! I cried myself to sleep most nights trying to figure out what I did wrong that made you leave me."

Elena began sobbing as she heard David speak. "P-Please… just let me explain—"

"I don't need your explanations!" He looked at her, his eyes filled with anger, rage, and pain. "You were my everything…. But in the end, you abandoned me…. Without a word."

Elena completely broke down, then rushed toward David and hugged him again, this time tighter than before, afraid that he'd leave. "David, please just listen to me. I know I made a mistake, just hear me out."

David didn't reply; he just cried his heart out, and so did Elena. A few moments later, he shoved her away and began walking toward the exit, "I don't need your explanation. You're just like the rest."

Elena grabbed his hand and tried to stop him from leaving. She begged with teary eyes, "David, please just listen to me for once. I-I love you, please…."

David turned around and deeply looked at her. He was heartbroken, and tears continued trickling down his face. "If you love me… then why?" He grabbed her shoulder and screamed, "Why did you leave me!? You knew how much you meant to me… then why!?"

Seeing his despairing expression, Elena's heart ached. "I made a mistake.… It was my fault, I didn't think things through. Just… just give me another chance, I beg you!"

David didn't reply. Instead, he silently sobbed and thought back on his life. For as long as he could remember, he'd never known what love was, not until Elena had come into his life. He had never known parental love, nor what being a friend truly meant.

Elena was the only person who had shown him what it meant to be a friend, what it meant… to love. But in the end, she had still left him. After that, his life was incomplete. He was once again back to his lonely self. Even worse, perhaps; after having finally felt friendship and love, he'd lost it and had to live knowing what he was missing.

Since his mother had died in childbirth, he'd always subconsciously felt that he had been abandoned by her. His father blamed him for his mother's death and made his life even more miserable.

In school, whenever he was bullied, no teacher had ever come forward to help him, leading him to believe that even they had abandoned him. After years of living in the darkness, he had thought he finally found a family in Nico, Roberto, and the others... but they too betrayed him and left him to die.

Thinking back to how Roberto and Nico had betrayed his trust and stabbed him in the back, David was overcome by unprecedented fury. He pushed Elena away and walked toward a nearby painting, then viciously grabbed it and slammed it on the ground.

"WHY!?" he roared in anger, then walked toward a nearby table and hammered it into pieces along with the lamp atop it. "What did I do to deserve all of this!?"

He went around breaking everything he saw, but all the while, he continued to cry. Elena tried to approach, but David always shoved her away. A few moments later, he dropped to his knees and sobbed with the utmost pain. "You're all the same…."

Seeing him finally calm down a little, Elena approached him and crouched down beside him. She stretched out her hand and caressed his face. "David, please just listen—"

David slapped her hand away then rose to his feet and turned around without even glancing at her. "Leave me alone."

"D-David...." Elena looked at his departing back and reached out to him. Her shoulders trembled as her sobs grew deeper and she hiccuped, "Stay… I beg you…. Please!"

But there was no reply to her plea.

And when he finally left the room and disappeared from her sight, she began bawling out loud. "Just give me a chance… please!"

She continued crying for a very long time until Natasha approached her, crouched down, and warmly hugged her. "It's alright, young miss. He'll come around."

Elena hugged her back and cried even louder. "Natasha… why won't he listen to me? I know I made a mistake…. Just why…."

Natasha gently stroked her hair and wiped her tears. "Young miss, everyone he's ever come close to has ended up betraying him or leaving him. Back then you were just a child, and you made an honest mistake... but he doesn't see it that way."

Elena sniffed, "Then what should I do…? I can't live without him…. I don't want to live without him…."

"Give him some time," Natasha gently said. "He's just been reborn and his mind is a mess. And it sure doesn't help that the people he considered his new family stabbed him in the back."

Elena's eyes turned teary and she meekly nodded. "Mhmm."

"In the meantime, perhaps you can start making it up to him?" Natasha suggested.

Elena looked at her and innocently asked, "How?"

Natasha smiled. "Remember all those girls that went out with him?"

"I see!" Elena's eyes lit up. She wiped away her tears and then affectionately hugged Natasha. "Thank you… for everything."

Natasha warmly smiled as she gently stroked her head. "Young miss, it is my job."

After the two shared a heartfelt moment, Elena then looked up at Natasha and said, "Go be his shadow for the time being. He still doesn't know our ways and he'll need someone to guide him."

Natasha hesitated. "But young miss, what about you?"

"Don't worry about me," Elena shook her head, "worry about him, I don't want anything to happen to him."

Natasha deeply looked at her young miss' solemn expression. In the end, she nodded and dissipated into shadows, then disappeared from the suite.

Elena remained seated on the floor for a long time, her back looking extremely desolate. She brought her hands in front of her chest, interlocked her fingers, and supported her chin. Her lips quivered as she muttered under her breath, "David… please be safe."