The Unexpected Reunion

[Natasha Armitage]

Natasha walked down the street, entering Diagon Alley. She had purpose to her walk. It was her lunch break and she was determined to get another book from Flourish and Blotts. She was wearing one of her flowery dresses. Her long golden hair bounced lightly as she walked past the cafes, Second-Hand Robes, and Ollivanders Wand Shop. Finally she had made her way to the south side of Diagon Alley and walked past Eeylops Owl Emporium, The Magical Menagerie, and finally turned a corner at Quality Quidditch Supplies and slipped into Flourish and Blotts. Little did she know she had gotten someone’s attention, a certain attractive blonde Michalka.

Natasha made a beeline for a section of the bookstore and quickly found the book she had been searching for. It was a classic she had yet to read. After paying for her book she smiled and laughed at something the guy behind the counter had said. It felt almost strange to laugh, but not unpleasant the way her mouth drew into a wide grin. Only then did it dawn on her how little she had laughed of late. She needed to get out of the house, she certainly needed to live with someone other than her mother. She loved her mother, and she liked spending time with her, but living with her certainly wasn’t helping things. Her mother wanted to hang on for dear life, as if Natasha was a porcelain doll about ready to break at any second, but she wasn’t and she wouldn’t. These thoughts escaped her as soon as she exited the shop and there she saw him. “Kyle,” she breathed in surprise her feet walking towards him before she could stop herself. “Hi,” she greeted him a little astonished.

((ooc: Hope this is okay Emma, I can change anything if you want.))

[Kyle Michalka]

((ooc: It’s great! Not that it matters hugely but he looks like that.))

“I’ll see you tomorrow, mate,” Kyle said in parting to Marcus as his friend began his shift at ‘The Coffee Bean’ just as he finished his – there was the usual ‘handing over of the apron’, so to speak, and then a quick sigh of relief that work was over for another day. Not that Kyle didn’t love serving people coffee, obviously he lived for that kind of thing. But especially not when the sun was shining and casting its tantalising rays through the window of that one little coffee shop on Diagon Alley. He wasted no time in hitting the street after he clocked out of work, throwing a casual wave back to Marcus taking his place behind the counter, before he’d disappeared into the warmth of the midday sun. His feet trailed over the cobbles, not exactly in a hurry to be anywhere, he could afford to just wander aimlessly and enjoy the summery weather whilst it lasted, which wouldn’t be long – this was still Britain after all.

He stopped by Quality Quidditch Supplies to check out the latest broom in their window display, wondering to himself whether he could persuade his mates on their little baseball team to also start up a friendly Quidditch league – he was ever the sports nut, after all – before something surprising caught his eye in the window. And this time it was not a piece of merchandise but rather something infinitely more personable. The reflection of one ex-girlfriend that he really wished was not such, the ex part that is, not the girlfriend part as a whole. Through the reflected image he watched her duck into Flourish and Blotts and sighed to himself, running a hand through his hair anxiously. Something drew him to her, he wanted to talk to her, to see how she was doing, to ask her when on earth she’d got back to England, but all of this was at war in his head with the ‘don’t go there again Kyle’ instinct. Because it would only ever end the same way.

But apparently he was a glutton for punishment because he made no move away from the street near that bookshop. And he made no move to walk away from here when she noticed himself. No, instead Kyle shook his head, “You’re really here then.” Those were the first words out of his mouth. No ‘hello’, no ‘I’m so glad to see you back here again’. Because both those sentiments didn’t need to be voiced, they just were. “Hey. I’m not sure why you’re looking so astonished, I mean, it’s my town, shouldn’t I be the one looking surprised to see you in London again?” he suggested. It should have been a light-hearted enough comment but there was something of an edge to his tone, ever so slight but still there if you really listened to him.

[Natasha Armitage]

Natasha stared up at him in surprise. She was about to say ‘how are you,’ and opened her mouth, but then closed it again when his response was not a greeting but a statement ‘you’re really here.’ “Yes, I’m really here,” she replied trying to be nonchalant.

At his next words she gave a little sigh. Her green eyes shifted awkwardly towards the ground. She felt guilty for leaving him, for leaving London without so much as an explanation, she hadn’t told him anything. She wanted to response with kindness, an apology even but that didn’t happen. “Who ever said it was your town?” she asked coolly glancing back up at him from beneath her eyelashes. She had been unexplainably happy to see him until he started speaking, then she realized that she had hurt him and she felt devastated. This was no going to be the happy little reunion she had hoped for, if at all. Natasha had imagined it going in so many different ways, but none of her fantasies ended like this.

[Kyle Michalka]

“So you are,” Kyle agreed with a firm nod, affecting the same amount of nonchalance as she was also working at that very moment. Until there was something of awkwardness or... was that guilt? Eyes downturned to avoid looking at him… definitely some kind of guilt.

He snorted softly as Natasha moved back to her usual – cool diffidence – shaking his own head slightly. “I don’t know, I think I have more claim to this place than you do right now. I used to live here, I work here, both jobs. I think that makes it more my town than a girl who disappeared months ago to goodness knows where and whose own mother, father and brother refused to tell me exactly where she’d gone. Just saying.” The shrug that rounded it all of was casual, overly so, but there was an audible edge to his tone, a kind of irritation that was not commonly heard in his voice at all.

The boy sighed heavily and ran a hand over his face, brushing away any kind of anger or irritation that was bubbling to the surface. “I’m sorry. That was rude. I just… you left… and I couldn’t find you, even just to see you for a minute. Lack of closure, y’know?” he tried to explain, disjointedly really but it was an effort, before he smiled sadly at her. “You’re back properly then?”