( CASSIA. )
She thinks, maybe if she’d found someone else, this moment would have been wholly different. But she didn’t. Sure there were men and women, flings and month long courtships, but none of those changed the fact she was looking for Dimitri in every person she came across. His smile, his dry wit, his outlook on life… Cassia however, should have learnt long ago that looking for someone else in another person — that never works. She saw it first hand with her mother, yet somehow; in her little girl delusions, she’d convinced herself that it would be different. She wasn’t her mother, trying to replace happiness, or keep up previous patterns of existence.
Cassia was her own person. Smart and educated, confident and bold — all things her mother wasn’t, least not to the level that Cassia was and therefore — it would be different. ( The phrase, like mother like daughter, never stung as much as it did one cold Friday night, staring out her window at the twinkling sky, loneliness pressing on her chest like a heavy weight. ) As such, she’d thrown herself into her work. Worked the hours as so to avoid going home to her empty apartment — all the more poignant now that Nik had permanently moved out post-college. She’d done the equivalent of two people’s jobs for the sole fact that work filled the empty parts of her life. ( It was easier to work herself to the bone rather than face the reality her life wasn’t at all like what she hoped it would be at this stage in her admittedly, longer than most life. )
“I missed you too.” She breathed out, enjoying the feel of his hands smoothing along her waist, foreheads pressed against each other. It feels like a weight’s been lifted off her shoulders, which honestly, Cassia wasn’t expecting. She didn’t think the question mark status of their relationship weighed so heavy on her, that Dimitri’s avoiding her for the last month had taken such a toll. Stupidly, she’d believed that because they were fine, to a certain extent, polite and smiling —everything was fine. Once again, she was made a fool. But it doesn’t matter anymore, not really. They found their way back to each other — despite everything, every shit storm and family problem, despite all the time they’d spent running away from each other and their marriage — here they were again.
Together.
( Just as they always should have been. )
A soft laugh fell from Cassia’s lips, a bright grin following in it’s wake. “You’re always going to be an idiot. Full stop. That’s what I love about you. I get to be the smart one in the relationship.” Her nose crinkled up slightly with a teasing light to her eyes. Silence reigns for a moment — she’s honestly content to just bask in this moment, the sheer audacity that this is happening; she’s not dreaming, she’s not dead, she’s not been forced to bear witness to the one thing she wants by come crazy witch. This is real. They’re real. She’s content to bask, before something Dimitri said previously comes back to her.
Pulling her head slightly back, Cassia looked at Dimitri. Chewing on her bottom lip for a moment, she allowed her hands to smooth up the curve of her arms, coming to lace behind his neck. “I’m — I’m not scared.” She exhaled. “I was just overwhelmed I think.” She shrugged, glancing away from his profile. “Never quite expected the two of us to end up back here again.”
He never thought he could have this, this kind of happiness. He thought that all the times that love hadn’t worked out for this meant that he didn’t deserve to have it. Dimitri had made his peace with that fact a long time ago, after everything with Cassia and Elizabeth and the few serious girlfriends he’s had after them. He’s sure that it has something to do with his mother, some kind of deep rooted issue that formed when she turned. To this day, he doesn’t understand what happened. He doesn’t know why she’d done it or why he hadn’t been enough when to him, he’d thought of their home life as perfect. But in this moment, none of it matters because he is happy with her. It wasn’t expected, but it was entirely welcome and he plans on relishing in it for as long as possible.
Dimitri smiled, lips pressed together and he feels absolutely smitten with her. His hands tightened against her waist for a moment before he returned to lazily stroking instead. His nose brushed against hers before his chin raised just slightly so he could look her in the eyes. “Sorry I was so weird with you this month. It seemed like a perfectly intelligent plan at the time, but obviously it was the only bad plan I’ve ever had.” His tone was as cocky as ever and his mouth broke into a grin. “Promise I won’t do it again.” He’s sure that he can make it up to her now that everything is out in the open, that there are no more hidden truths between them. They have all the time they need to be together, there’s no reason for him to keep his distance from her any longer. He wouldn’t want to anyway.
He practically snorted at her words before laughter burst past his lips, taking no offence to her response. “Baby, you’d be the smart one in any relationship. You’re the smartest person I’ve ever met, Miss Hot Shot Lawyer. Though I think being with me unfortunately makes you an idiot by association. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.” He shrugged, the look of fake innocence on his face as he tried to hide his utter amusement at their conversation and he almost feels like a teenager again. Like when he was in his early twenties and they’d only been married a couple months and would banter on a regular basis. It used to be the best part of his day.
“Really? I am a bit.” He confessed to her in an even voice. “It’s been a while since I’ve had anything serious.” His fingers drummed a pattern against her waist before sliding around to rest against her back as he pulled her just that little bit closer. “Yeah, it was a lot to take in. I’d have a hard time taking it in if my idiot ex-husband realized he had feelings for me twenty years later. Speaking of, I should see how he’s doing.” He joked though he acted as though he was serious.
Looking down at her, his mouth pulled into that same dopey smile that he was wearing earlier when she’d said she missed him as well. Dimitri hadn’t felt this happy in years. It’s why he knew that them being back together really was right, it wasn’t just some happy fantasy he had concocted in his head. Leaning down, he pressed a light kiss against the corner of her mouth, trying to get her to look at him against before he captured her lips with his own. It was softer this time, less hurried unlike the one before had been. It was the type of kiss that should have been the one they shared for the first time since their divorce, but hey, they had never been a conventional couple. He leaned his forehead against her own as he broke the kiss after a moment. “We should go to bed.” He murmured quietly before returning his mouth to hers, one of his hands sliding down to rest on her ass.










