one year. it’s been one year since she left him, packed up & taken everything, with just a note that said i’m sorry i had to go, i love you. it was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do, but it’s what was right, at that time. ( don’t tell anyone, but maybe it wasn’t ever right. ) it’s been so long since she’d stepped foot in paris, having gone to south france.
she’s been waiting here, at the bridge for a while. the bridge where, a little over a year ago, she’d kissed him and he’d smiled into her mouth and embraced her. she’d written to vlad two months ago ——- asking for dima to meet her at the bridge. she’d asked him to not tell dima it was her, or else he might not come. she doesn’t even know what vlad did with it… doesn’t know if he’d tossed it the moment he saw it was from one anya petrova, petrova being the name of the nurse who’d cared for her for so long.
she stands, leans on the railing and plays with her hair ——– wonders if dmitry would recognize her after a year ? after the weight she’s gained, after the lack of hollowness in her cheeks & the new found shortness of her hair & change in its color, from a strawberry blonde to a brown tone. a need to blend in and not appear suspicious.
she jumps a little, when she hears an intake of breath from behind her, while she’s staring at the ocean, and she sees him. there’s a desire to go running into his arms, to hold him & never let go and tell him she loves him and only him. instead, she finds her feet frozen, eyes wide & lips slightly parted.
‘ dima ——– ’ it slips out, she’s not sure she’s allowed to call him that anymore. she wants to take a step towards him, but it’s as if she’s lost all ability to move. ‘ i ——– i wasn’t sure you’d come. i wasn’t sure vlad would tell you. ’
@arussianrat / inspired by this !
after anya had met him on the bridge, he had gotten used to staying up, or waking up in the middle of the night to check in on anya; making sure she wasn’t in the middle of a nightmare, or that she was just still there. it’d been a year since anya had left, and well, old habits die hard. maybe, it was the fact that vlad had ( oddly enough ) asked dmitry to meet him on that very same bridge today, or maybe it was just the MISSING that had kept him up all night -- woke him up in the middle of the night to reach for someone who was no longer there; someone who had walked away from him like he had meant nothing to her, with just a simple note I’M SORRY. I HAD TO GO. I LOVE YOU.
the words echo in his mind as he makes his way over to the bridge, wondering why vlad had him meet here today - he’d spend most of his time trying to avoid this bridge; trying to avoid all the places that reminded him of anya. had thrown himself into occupying his mind with any distraction. surely, vlad knew what today was, of all days. just because dmitry had declared a ban on all things anya - had asked vlad not to mention the strawberry blonde girl ever again, didn’t mean that either of them were likely to forget when their trio became a duo once again.
there’s a girl, on the bridge, that his eyes immediately gravitate to - one of similar stature as his anya ( he still hadn’t learned not to think of her as his anymore ), but different - a girl of brown hair - it couldn’t be her. and yet, he can’t help himself from walking over - just to see the similarities - he’d had his fair share of flings after anya, trying to find someone who could replace the girl in his heart - who could stop the pain - and maybe this girl could. readies himself to charm her, when she turns.
he corrects her, regretting it instantly - the sound of his name on her lips is easily one of his favourites. but she’d long lost the right to call him dima. not after she’d walked away and never reached out. so this was all vlad’s doing. he should’ve known, from vlad’s recent secretiveness - how long had the two of them been in contact? how long had vlad KNOWN that anya was safe, and how she was doing - and had kept it from him? knows he can’t blame vlad; that it was probably for the best that he’d kept it all a secret.
❛ what are you doing here? ❜
