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Vi watched the waves roll on and off of the shore. The wind blew her hair over her eyes, obscuring her view. She attempted to tuck it behind her ear, but that never worked. None of it ever worked. She turned her head towards the wind. Away from the sea.
Cold blue eyes met her own. Blue eyes that had once been so full of warmth when they looked at her. Blue eyes that used to only spark a feeling of delight and excitement in Vi’s heart. But now they only made her shoulders tense and her lips thin. A lump in her throat was forming.
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” Vi said, her words sounding barely audible over the howling wind.
This would be her last time standing on this beach. The beach she had grown up on. The beach she’d spent long days building sand castles on as a child. The beach she had spent late nights drinking on with all of her college friends. The beach where she had shared her first kiss. With Caitlyn.
“I know,” Caitlyn replied matter-of-factly, blank expression hardly changing. “Mylo told me.”
“Right, yeah,” Vi sighed, looking away again. “Of course he did.”
She found even the annoying way her hair was covering her eyes was a better sight than Caitlyn’s face at the moment. Perhaps she could blame how her eyes were beginning to water on the harsh winds.
There was a tense minute of silence. Vi was considering walking away. She wondered if Caitlyn already had.
But then there was the soft feeling of someone’s fingers brushing her own. A feeling she’d grown too used to over the past few years. A feeling she’d once loved. But now - now it only felt wrong. It felt fake.
“I’m sorry, Vi,” Caitlyn whispered, suddenly sounding far closer. “I didn’t want it to end like this.”
“No, of course you didn’t,” Vi scoffed.
She felt fingers wrapping around her own. She wanted to pull her hand away, to wrench it out of Caitlyn’s grasp. It didn’t belong there anymore. But then she felt it. The ring. That horrible, evil ring. The ring that had ruined everything. Circling Caitlyn’s finger so securely, so perfectly that Vi didn’t even want her to take it off anymore. It belonged there, clearly.
“You- you don’t have to leave,” Caitlyn murmured, sounding distant again. “You could stay - stay with us.”
“No. No I couldn’t.”
Then there was a hand gripping her chin, forcing her to turn her head around. Something it had done many, many times not so long ago. She met the eyes again. But the coldness had vanished. Now they were just regretful.
“You know I still love you, Vi. You know I always will. Nothing could change that.”
A breathless laugh slipped from Vi’s lips before she could push it away. “No, no you don’t, Cait. It’s time to stop with the lies.”
Caitlyn’s thumb met Vi’s lips, tracing them carefully. “I do, though, Vi. I could never stop loving you.”
“You need to stop, Caitlyn!” Vi huffed, frustration flooding her veins. She grabbed Caitlyn’s wrist and shoved it away from her. Her lips weren’t for that hand anymore. And they never will be. “Stop - stop changing your mind, all of the time. One day you call me your love, and the next day you tell everyone else that he is. Both are not an option.”
The tears were escaping now, drawing their paths down her cheek. She could hide them, she could wipe them away. But she didn’t. They weren’t worth it anymore.
“You know I had no choice,” Caitlyn replied, as though that was obvious. As though that was true. “It’s what Mother would have wanted. I’m doing this for her. I’m doing this to be strong. For her.”
“Nothing about you is strong.”
The corners of Caitlyn’s mouth tilted downwards slightly. A stranger wouldn’t have noticed it. But for Vi, the years she had spent staring at those lips made it as noticeable as a bolt of lightning and the cracking of thunder.
“The Vi that I knew a year ago wouldn’t have said that,” Caitlyn whispered, using the hand that Vi had pushed away to tuck a strand of hair behind her own ear.
“That’s because that was a different Vi. A Vi that was loved. A Vi that thought she knew you. But clearly, she was wrong. She was stupid and naive.”
“No she wasn’t. No she wasn’t. You know that.”
Vi could only chuckle this time. “Something about you is fake, Caitlyn. After all of the love that you gave me, after everything I gave you, you still chose him. You still chose him.”
“I had to, Vi. You- you don’t understand. We were never a choice.”
“But we were,” Vi laughed. “We clearly were. Every time I came around, Ms Kiramman would smile at me. She would ask me how I was. When I stayed the night, on numerous occasions, she’d always greet me with her polite ‘good morning’, asking me if I’d like any tea. She was fine with you being with me. All she wanted was for you to be happy, no matter who brought you that happiness. Clearly I didn’t.”
“But you did, Vi. You still do. It’s only you that can - can make me wear a real smile.”
“It’s fake. I know.” Vi turned away again. The wind had died down now. She watched the tide getting closer to them. It was growing late. The dark, grey sky was getting darker. She knew the rain would fall soon. “I can’t affect you, anymore, Cait. And I can’t protect you from yourself.”
“I don’t need protecting. I just… I just need you.”
“No you don’t. Not anymore. And you haven’t for a while, now.”
“That’s a lie.” Vi could just about hear the soft footsteps against the mix of pebbles and sand that made up the carpet of their beach. Caitlyn appeared in front of her again. For the last time. Blocking the sea from her view. “And you know it.”
“I’m leaving tomorrow, Caitlyn,” Vi sighed. “With grace in mind.”
“No you’re not.”
Vi didn’t say anything. Instead, she simply leant forwards and placed a soft kiss on Caitlyn’s left cheek. For the last time. And it still grew as rosy as it had on day one. Nothing had changed; everything had changed.
“Goodbye, Caitlyn.”
She met those eyes for the last time, studying each one carefully. She could see the tears that were waiting to leave.
She turned around and began her walk back to the town. Back to her old home. She had new eyes to see.
“Goodbye, Violet.”