Too Long Has It Been }{ [Esme]

[Skylar Mc'Gaven]

It was something he had been dreading for quite some time now. The news had gotten to him weeks ago, and yet even still, with all that time to prepare, he was still nervous- maybe even afraid of what would happen. After all, this wasn't the first time he'd pulled a stunt like this. Just up and vanishing without a word, without a trace, without so much as a letter sent or a message left behind with someone to deliver it. Nope, he'd just simply up and disappeared- twice now- with no explanation to the only person who really cared whether he lived or died.

'That's not true...'

The snide, snickering voice in his head. That was the reason he'd had to leave. The first time it wasn't something so serious, but the second? He'd had to get away. To go home and spend some time away from all of the things that were making his darker personality more mental- no pun intended. So, he'd left. No time for goodbyes, no time for a letter to leave behind in his wake. He just simply had to get out and get away before someone got hurt.

So now here he stood in the entrance hall, staring around and almost too afraid to move. Skylar McGaven, too afraid to face the one person who'd been on his mind through all of the unfortunate events that had taken place during his absence.

'Poor Sky-Bear...Too afraid to find his girlfriend. Wonder if she'll even look at you after you've pulled this little stunt a second time.'

That thought made the boy's lip curl, but over time he'd learned not to give in to Sky's taunting ways. It just made it easier for the darker half to take control and mess things up, and that was certainly not something he needed right now. No, right now he needed to find Esme- whether he was afraid to or not. She needed to know he was here, why he'd been gone, and he needed to explain himself. A frown pulled at his lips at the whip cracking sounds in the back of his mind. Still, with a shake of the head, the boy threw his garment bag over his shoulders- his trunk had been taken from him upon arrival- and he set about asking around for the girl in question. Hopefully, someone would see him who knew him and Esme both and send her to him, but if not- well...he had a lot of ground to cover...

[Esme Allejandro]

Esme had been looking forlornly at her dwindled form in the mirror when she had heard the news. During the months Skylar had been gone, the already thin girl had lost a great deal of weight- similar to last time, though it seemed more pronounced this time- and she had been busy pinning her skirt once again so ti wouldn't fall off her hips.

When he first had gone, she couldn't believe he would do this to her again. Esme had spent hours wandering around the castle, looking for him, thinking that maybe he was just avoiding her again. but after a week, a month, she had to accept the fact that he was gone again. And then she started losing weight, worrying Raiden and Dessy and...everyone frankly. But she didn't care- the one person she would die for was gone, and it seemed as if she was actually going to prove that point this time.

But then she heard the news. Three first years knocked on her door looking terrified, saying some strange boy was standing in the great hall asking anyone with a Ravenclaw patch to come get her. Her eyes widened, and without a single word or glance in their direction, walked down the spiraling stairs with a calm gait. Her robe, unfastened, blew behind her in the chill air filling the hallways.

When she made it to the stairs, it took no time at all for her to find the tall, slightly stringy boy she fell in love with not a week after she had met him. He wasn't looking at her, and she took that moment of unnatention to descend the staircase and, walking swiftly for the first time, make her way towards him. She just stood there for a second, eyes uplifted towards his before she let out a little sob and reached her hand out to his face, not quite touching it. "You..." she whispered, and suddenly unable to speak again, broke her steady gaze at his face to look to the side, unseeing.

It had been longer than ever. She had all bit starved herself, been unable to function- even the professors had noticed, since her normally apt and precise grades had begin to falter since the winter holidays. But she couldn't walk away. She wanted to touch his face, press her face into his shirt and sob in relief. But she didn't move, frozen in place. He was back, her soul cried. He was home.

[Skylar Mc'Gaven]

Out of all the sights he'd expected to see when finally coming face to face with Esme again, this was certainly not what he'd envisioned. Slowly Skylar's brow creased once he caught sight of the object of his affection, and the corners of his mouth pulled down steadily until a firm, yet concerned frown was marring his features. Once Esme was stood in front of him, he too just stared at her, his eyes taking in the far too lean sight of her. His chest swelled once, then twice as he fought to keep control of himself. It had been quite some time since Sky had come so dangerously close to breaking the softer side's control, but the sight of Esme, like this, and knowing it was his fault was nearly enough to do him in.

'My, my, Sky-bear. I didn't know you were capable of such cruelty. I don't think I could destroy a person nearly as well as you have her!'

The cackling amusement in his mind caused Skylar's lip to curl briefly. Another sign that he was fighting to keep himself in tact. Still, he hadn't come this far, and went through all he'd gone through just to fall apart now. So, with a deep, steady breath, the stringy Slytherin simply lifted a hand and turned Esme's face back so she was looking at him once more. For several moments he stood in silence, just studying her face, before he shook his head slowly. "What did you do to yourself?" His tone was soft, quiet, and yet was as demanding as Skylar had ever come to being with Esme. This wasn't right, she wasn't supposed to fall apart like this. Though, as usual, it was all his fault...

[Esme Allejandro]

Esme watched in silence as Skylar scrutinized her. It was only then that she realized quite how much she had changed since he left. After all, losing as much weight as she had, she looked drastically different. She had watched it happen, and so knew the wraith in her clothes as herself- but to someone who had been away, it would be quite a shock. She watched him breathe once, twice, and realized that he was trying to keep control of himself. It was a familiar gesture, and that, of all things, really made his return feel real. She would even welcome the appearance of his caustic other half.

But it seemed that his control had grown, and as she felt his hand on her chin, turning her to face him again, Esme felt happy tears welling up in her eyes. The only response she had for his question was a murmured, "I'll be fine."

A tear broke loose from her eye and the girl moved in slowly to wrap her arms around Skylar's waist and press her face into his chest. "I just haven't been well...you know." She muttered quietly into his shirt, wetting it with hidden tears. Her voice cracked and she was silent for a long while. She wasn't entirely sure what to say- what did you say? Of course she wanted to know why he left, where he'd been, but she couldn't find the words. They sounded trivial and pointless in her mind, and so she simply stood there, silent and letting the warmth of Skylar's body absorb into her.

[Skylar Mc'Gaven]

'Oh, now you made her cry. What an arse you are, Sky-bear.'

As always, the darker half of the boy's mind was doing it's best to wiggle free and into existence. And unfortunately for Skylar, this time, his darker half's words stung. It seemed to be a very common thing where Skylar was concerned- making Esme cry, that is. Somehow or another, he always seemed to be bringing tears to her eyes. No matter where they were, or what they were doing, he always managed to screw up just enough to make the girl now clinging to him cry for some reason or another. This thought made the scrawny teen sigh, though rather then pull back and shy away, Skylar's arms simply circled around Esme's frame and held her against him.

"I'm sorry." It wasn't a formal apology. That wouldn't come until he was ready to tell her why he'd had to leave again. But it would have to do for now. What else was he supposed to say right now? Anything he added would either frustrate her, or make her feel worse, so sticking to the simply form of apology was going to have to be good enough for the both of them for now. A soft, somewhat annoyed sound was made in the back of Skylar's throat, though it wasn't directed at Esme in the least little bit. Without much thought over the matter, the boy pressed a kiss to the crown of Esme's head, then seemed quite content just to hold her against his chest. If she wanted to cry, that was fine- whether it made him feel bad or not.

This wasn't about him right now. It was about her, and making her feel better, though he had no idea how he was supposed to go about doing that. Still, she seemed to want to be held, and if that was the case, he'd oblige for however long she needed.

'Softy...' the voice in his head made a disgusted sound, then fell silent- though both halves of Skylar's personality knew the darker half wouldn't stay silent for very long...

[Esme Allejandro]

Esme did feel horribly at home in Skylar's arms- it was one of the reasons she kept coming back, no matter what he did to her or the people she knew. She had never felt so at home and whole with anyone else before.
That being said, it had just been so long, and her heart had been so broken that even with her tears on his shirt and the warmth of his body going through to her once cold bones, he still felt sort of like a stranger.

And what did one say, in this sort of situation? She, of all people, should know- this was the second time she'd been through this, after all- but it felt like she was about to ask a stranger to marry her. Her words kept catching in her throat, her mind- it's like there was some barrier against her speaking.

Eventually, her tears stopped and she made a slow move to pull away. "I'm...so happy you're back, from wherever you were." Esme looked down at the floor and studied a crack in the heavy stone floor. She couldn't help but wonder where he had been-it was the most natural question she could have asked at a time like this but after months and months of being Skylar's on and off girlfriend, she knew that pushing him into anything wasn't the best course of action.

So she left it at that, only moving her face to look up into his eyes again. Her lips involuntarily pulled up into the slightest of smiles. "So happy."