once zoe had agreed to meet with him, oscar had spent most of his time trying to steady the noise in his head. he tried to hide it, smiling and laughing at jess' side and with the familiar faces they ran into throughout the day, but the closer the hour crept, the harder it became to settle his mind. when things had been good between he and zoe, they had been truly great... but all too quickly, they fell apart. increasingly, he'd only be half-present with her even on their best days, his heart always leaning in a direction he never dared to admit to even himself at the time, nonetheless aloud. inevitably, distance turned into silence and thus into resentment. by the end of things, they were speaking through clenched teeth more than anything else. he didn't want to drag any of that into this trip: not with jess here, not with the proposal just around the corner, and not with the weight of old ghosts lingering around every corner. he knew this conversation needed to happen, and it needed to happen now.
the thief's bar was dim and quiet, tucked away from the main lobby: a perfect place to keep this low-profile. even still, oscar felt exposed as he sat there, already dressed for the welcome dinner later that evening in a black button-up under a fitted jacket, one leg bouncing relentlessly beneath the small table. he tapped two fingers against the unused glass in front of him, waiting. he'd already decided that drinks were on him, that heβd at least offer some gesture of peace. his stomach twisted with too many kinds of nerves at once, wrestling with the fear of reopening old wounds, the fear of being seen as the version of himself heβd worked so hard to grow out of... and then he saw her. a jolt shot through his chest, something like his heart dropping and tightening all at once. despite everything, he pushed himself to his feet to greet her, βhey,β he managed, voice quiet and steady even if he didnβt feel it. "thanks for coming." @industryzoe
