Bell Bottom Blue | Camden AU 1
the-best-lookin-kromer:
âEzra will help me â if I can find him.â Daniel left it at that, unsure if he should elaborate. For all he knew, Ezra couldâve been cast from heaven, done by an archangel themselves to punish the angel for helping a Kromer â a damned Kromer, at that. Daniel still had a vague amount of hope that the angel would answer him. He was by far not a praying man, but fuck he had tried.Â
At the mention of his father, Daniel stiffened, like he relived the moment itself. âIâm glad heâs dead,â he said slowly, looking at his palm once more. âI let him die, Charlotte. I didnât try to save him. It was either him or me â and I was fuckinâ â I said let it be him.â That was really what it amounted down to. Bryan Kromer expected nothing less of his son; heâd lived his life, Daniel, while in his 30âČs, still had longer to live. And what a miserable existence it was. Thereâd been a time it was better; with Charlotte, and a love he hadnât let himself feel in far too long. Now, he felt like a stranger. He had gotten over not having a soul â itâd have been far too stained at this point, anyway. It was deserving. âHis funeral was a fucking mess. It rained â not âcause the sky was weeping, but Iâm pretty sure it was just taking a dump on whoever decided to show up.â
Daniel ran a hand over his face, âA lot of shit, Charlotte,â the Kromer trailed off, leaving it at that as he stood. âCan I use your shower?â he asked finally, downing the rest of the coffee. âI ainât gonna slide into your bed without using the shower,â he joked, running a hand down his face again. âI donât sleep at night,â he reminded her, pacing back and forth instead of heading towards the bathroom. He waved a hand towards her, âYeah â ainât none of my business, I get it.â He wasnât sure if he had any clothes left at Charlotteâs house, or if she kept any. Nevertheless, he was fine sleeping in nothing, if he had to. It was nothing Charlotte had never seen before.Â
Resting was enough for him, even as he made his way back towards the bedroom. âFeel free to join me,â he called over his shoulder, having no shame to his game as he pushed open the door to the bathroom, tugging his shirt off in the process.Â
Charlotte provided little response to Danielâs guarantee that Ezra would help, save a glance in the opposite direction. Â The woman could think of little that was less likely to occur than an angel knowingly dabbling in the affairs of a demon, but perhaps it could happen. Â Perhaps the bond between Kromer and angel were stronger than she suspected. Â Still, she didnât hold her breath.
The sudden tenseness in Danielâs posture and shift in the roomâs atmosphere didnât go unnoticed by Charlotte. Â She listened to him explain how he had left his father to die both knowingly and willingly. Â She wasnât sure if Daniel regret it or felt guilt over it, but she knew what it meant to be backed into that same corner. Â The woman met his eye and remained quiet for a moment carefully selecting her words. âYou donât owe me an explanation for it,â Charlotte finally responded. Â âIâm not sure if youâre trying to explain it to yourself, or justify it to me, or youâre looking for some sort of forgiveness from someone. Â It doesnât exist in situations like that,â she added quietly. Â She was still looking toward Daniel, though her eyes seemed to be looking beyond her as she recalled the faces of the dozens of individuals sheâd chose her own life over. Â âNo greater good or lesser evil when itâs done,â she mumbled, her eyes focusing on Danielâs again. âOnly our choices.â
Charlotte offered little in response to Danielâs observations about Bryanâs service. Â âI would have come, if youâd asked.â She wasnât sure if it was a lie or not, wasnât sure if she would have been allowed by Evangeline to actually arrive--but she would have gone.
Something cold flooded Charlotteâs veins when Daniel chose to withhold the answer to the question sheâd asked about the scar.  She peered up at him when he stood, her only response to his request being her lifted arm gesturing back toward where he would find the shower.  She didnât seem to find the joke terribly amusing.  âItâs not that thereâs just⊠too much to do tonight and too much to tell,â Charlotte tried to explain.  The woman caught his hand when he waved it toward her, beckoning him closer by slightly pulling his hand toward her.  âTry to sleep tonight.  Iâm on a novena for Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, but Iâll pray it to Saint Giles instead tonight. If that doesnât work Iâll wake you.â  She released his hand not really waiting for him to argue with her, before prompting him to go.
By the time Daniel had looked back toward Charlotte trying to tempt her into joining him, she was set up with a small pamphlet and something beaded clasp firmly in her other hand. Â âSorry, love,â she excused herself, holding the beaded object up revealing it as a rosary and as if to say she was obligated to her prayer rather than keeping him company. Â âTimes they are aâchanging.â
However, the noise of the shower had barely begun before she found her mind trailing away from her nightly prayer.  It was the same plea night after night calling out to whatever patron saint she could think of or begging the Virgin Mary for favor with no response.  Her exhaustion and months and months of pining for Daniel left her mind wandering from her Hail Marys to the hot spray of water and warm body just feet from where she sat.  Fifty-some novenas since Daniel had left, and not an ounce of favor amongst the sainthood⊠but Daniel walking back into her life felt like the answer to every last prayer.Â
Charlotte placed her hands flat against Danielâs back when she had slipped silently into the walk in shower with him.  Both of her palms rested above a knot of scar tissue, one old, one new.  A moment later, she pressed her forehead against the center of his back and her thin arms snaked around to the manâs front.  Charlotte held him tight, but there was something about her body that felt infinitely frailer than before.  She took in a deep breath remembering the scent of the man before giving him a chance to turn and face her.  Her hands lifted to gingerly hold his face for a moment and draw him down toward her before she pressed a soft, smooth cheek to his rough face and nuzzled against him for a moment.  She lifted her head again and peered into his eyes for a second before whispering, âI donât know if I told you how much I fucking missed you, or how god damned sorry I am that I didâŠâ












