Chapter 36: Divine
Picking her way carefully in the walking cast, Cairo surveyed the ruins of Brickwood. Piles of blackened debris lay all around her, and it was hard for her to find a clear path to walk safely. As she edged towards what had once been her study, she sighed sadly at the remains.
Suddenly, as flash of light caught her attention. Bending down, she shifted her fingers around in the ash until her finger struck a round, smooth object. Picking it up and blowing the dust off of it, she was able to discern a small diamond ring. It was incredibly simple in design, but she still found it elegant.
"Nice, wasn't it?" Nick asked, coming up behind her.
"I supposed," she said stiffly. She had been avoiding him, in the weeks since she had left the hospital. Her and Lacey had taken some vacation time, touring various parts of Europe. Cairo had revelled in the myths of Ireland, and she had been struggling against her injuries, attempting to write, despite the pain. Her hands were mostly healed, but they were still scarred from the burns. The time they had spent together had been precious time that they had used to repair their friendship, which had suffered at the hands of distance.
"I knew you would have liked it," he said slowly, and the full significance of the ring was left unsaid. It was a wound that was too fresh for both of them, and it was better left alone. An awkward moment of silence followed until Nick held out an object he was holding behind his back.
"So, they took you back, didn't they? You threatened them for months that you would be leaving, and you even cut off all ties from them, and they took you back," Cairo said, shaking her head.
"Some people know the value of forgiveness," Nick said, looking away. Why wouldn't she talk to him? He had been trying every way he knew how to contact her, but she just cut him off completely.
"To err is human, to forgive is divine. Sucks that I'm only human, doesn't it?" Cairo said, catching his implied meaning.
"Cairo, when are you going to stop punishing me for this?" Nick demanded, suddenly.
"When it stops hurting," she said bluntly. Her eyes looked so wounded, it broke his heart to see it.
"Kay..." he said, stepping forward.
"Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't do what I know you are going to do, I am way too beyond not talking to you for that yet," she said, walking away.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, a little lost in the oddity that was Cairo's reality.
"You'll let me rant for awhile, and then you'll say something so earth-shatteringly sweet and nice and perfect, and I'll forget why I'm mad at you, and you just make everything all right. And then I instantly ignore every reason I hate you, and poof, issue resolved. It can't be resolved that easily this time," she said, speaking her quota of a mile a minute.
"Yes it will," he said, a small smile on his lips. She turned to face him, outraged.
"You took it back! What can you possibly say that can fix that?" she yelled at him.
"I've always loved you, you know. From that first stupid moment when I threw a basketball at you, I fell in love, and you've had me hooked ever since. You are my soul mate, Cairo Williams, and as much as you hate it, that's the way it is. As much as we fight and bicker and argue and torture one another, we inspire and encourage and support each other. As we always have," he said, reaching for her hand. She hesitated for a moment, thinking over what he had said.
"I suppose that will do," she said, unable to resist the unfailing familiarity of his touch, the completeness that it brought her.
"What did I tell you?" he asked, pulling her into his arms.
"But, you understand that it isn't all gone. You have a lot of grovelling to do. I don't trust you. Hell, I don't even want to be your friend right now, but I think that with time, I can get past that. After all-"
"-It's unconditional," he finished for her. Brushing her hair away from her face, he gently kissed her. With a wicked inspiration, Cairo slid her hands down to his side, and mercilessly began to tickle him. He cried out in defence, to which she responded by pushing him over. And she ran away from him, hobbling a lot more slowly than she could have, with her cast, wanting him to catch her.