Goodbye
Things had calmed down between the two of you after a few minutes. There was an anger still resting inside, but you were trying your hardest to let it go.
"So yes, my intentions weren't true necessarily when we first met. I still only had one goal in mind but things changed, I promise," he still insisted, holding onto your hands so tightly, terrified you'd slip away.
No matter what he was saying, it couldn't change the aching you still felt inside your chest. You knew he was too good to be true, you just knew that there was no way something like this could truly happen to you.
'Why did I ever think this fairytale could be real?'
"I wish you would stop saying that, it was real!" he yelled, anxiously searching your mind every second, desperate to ease your thoughts.
"No it wasn't! How could you live with yourself taking me on date after date! I really-" you choked up. "I really thought for once, someone actually liked me enough to just-"
You couldn't finish the sentence before bursting out into tears. You'd tried all night to not breakdown, but begrudgingly the stupid damn tears came out anyways.
As much as you had tried to let things go, you were finding it hard to rationalize what he did to you. Even if you loved him, there was still a nagging in the back of your head reminding you of what his intentions were. It felt like every fear you had about things being too perfect was becoming real, and Druig did nothing about it but watch you cry.
Things grew silent as the tension became thick between you two.
"Please stop crying, I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry, I can't apologize enough," he begged, still having no clue how to navigate this situation.
"I know you're sorry, I do. And I'm trying my best to still hear you out but this is so much to take in," you professed.
"That's why I didn't want to tell you, I knew it was too much!"
"So it would've been better if you kept lying to me? That's ridiculous, and you know it Druig," you snapped.
He sighed and you tried to take another calming breath.
"Look I'm going to get over it, I will. But right now, I just-I don't know how else you thought I'd react."
Druig knew there wasn't enough time, that you didn't have time to wait to try and forgive him. Every minute passing of you upset and mad, was one you wouldn't be able to get back with him.
"Oh, fuck it," he blurted out, as he stopped fighting his emotions and finally let his desires take over.
The sudden adrenaline pulsating throughout your body sent him into overdrive as he crashed his lips into yours. A fiery inferno began, igniting your senses and sending your mind to the most thrilling fantasies. Shockwaves were pulsating throughout your body, sending chills up your spine.
Despite how many times you had imagined it, the kiss was more passionate and electric than anything you could've dreamed of. It was pure ecstasy, his lips ravishing yours and his hands exploring your body. Every inch of you he wanted to touch, he wanted to claim all of you.
Druig's heart was racing so fast, he couldn't believe how perfect this moment was.
How perfect you were.
You simply couldn't recall ever feeling this intoxicated by a man's kiss. It was exhilarating, yet time stood still like every planet was suddenly in alignment. The world around you simply ceased to be as his hands moved to your neck, his mouth pressed to yours.
After the most blissful, Earth-shattering kiss, you both stopped despite the painful desire to continue things further.
Druig knew things had already gone too far. He had let his emotions take over and foolishly had started to care deeply for you.
Very deeply.
But he couldn't let you go without finishing explaining. He refused to leave you still in this fragile state, not entirely understanding his reasoning and just thinking he was a horrible person.
Druig looked at your flushed face, smiley and giddy and looking at him with the most endearing expression.
"So, does that change your mind at all?" he asked you rhetorically.
"I-I mean, yes for right now I suppose," you replied breathily, still not recovered from the kiss. You knew it was his only way to truly show you just how serious he was and how much he cared for you, without using those words.
And as expected, it had overwhelmingly showed you how he felt.
"Then please, let me finish telling you why I did this. I need you to understand," Druig begged.
You were pulled back into the disheartening reality and figured you could hold your emotions back long enough to finally hear him out, after all of his pleading.
"Okay."
You prepared yourself for anything he would say, even if it sounded radical and crazy. The man was still full of surprises.
"Okay." He wiped his hands nervously on his pants. "Well, I basically took you through stages of my life on Earth without you even knowing. I've been trying to show you my life story this whole time."
"What? I don't understand," you asked trying to decipher exactly what he meant.
"Okay, the park we first went to with the lake. Long before that was a park, it was trees. Literally just acres and acres of forrest and untouched land. It was my first time in this region of Pangea, you know the supercontinent that used to exist?"
"You were alive during Pangea? Holy shit," you gasped, his age truly resonating with you for once.
"And I was amazed by it." He resumed with a sigh. "The lake and the nature surrounding it was just incredible to me. I was alone and in peace. Even Sprite came around for a few decades." He laughed.
"Who is Sprite?" you asked, not yet hearing her name brought up in conversation.
"Uh, well I'm not sure what I'd say she is anymore," Druig muttered, recalling past events. "Sort of a sibling. We stayed here for a while though."
"I see. So you were showing me your first time in North America?" you asked calmly.
Druig couldn't help but adore your curious and questioning nature through it all and was so relieved that you were taking things so well now.
It was what he loved about you. And the reason why he chose you.
"It wasn't so easy to decipher back then but I suppose that would be about what the area became. Really, it was the first time I had actually viewed Earth as beautiful. Of course, I didn't know this area specifically would eventually become North Carolina, or America at all."
"How did you find it again? I mean Wilmington isn't a big town, I can't imagine how hard it must've been to find."
"It was hard, took me about seventy years or so. I thought it would be another failed empire, but I was shocked upon return that America had become a country hundreds of years later. And even more so that this little empty land had become a city."
"Wow. I can't believe this silly little town could mean so much to someone as old as you," you laughed, your anger having subsided entirely by now.
"You made it even more meaningful. Of all the places on Earth, I would come back here every time. For you," he said intertwining his hands with yours.
Your heart fluttered at those words; how special it made you feel.
Druig couldn't help but read your mind and smile in response.
"So, that explains the park. What about here at the Riverwalk? Was it something with the Cape Fear River?"
"This river is where Sprite and I fought a deviant when we were living here. It was awful, he just came out of nowhere. I still remember how unprepared we were," he explained, still lost in the memories of it all. "None of our other siblings were with us and I was scared shitless. But Ikaris came and killed it at the last minute."
"And a deviant is what exactly?"
"Deviants are essentially the reason I exist. My purpose on Earth was to keep humans safe from deviants. But along the way, things got off track. We thought the deviants were gone, so we all went separate ways waiting to go to our home planet."
Well, that explains why you've always felt so safe with him.
Druig had yet to bring up that he was completely from a different planet... which was a bit unsettling to think about.
"I'm sorry I should've told you already. But I thought it would freak you out even more if I said it along with every insane thing about me. I'm a mess I know," he rambled ashamed, after reading your thoughts about him being essentially an alien.
"You know, my thoughts are just that. Thoughts. They come and go, and by the time they've passed my opinion may have completely changed. Don't pay so much attention to them."
And of course, just like the miraculous human being you were, you had given him a completely different perspective on his gift that he'd never even thought of before. It's not like he had ever been close enough with a human to ask about that aspect of consciousness in the past, though.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but you bring up Ikaris quite a lot. I know he tried to kill you but, uh is he your brother?"you stammered, trying to figure out how to not sound completely offensive.
Druig groaned and looked away awkwardly.
"Yes. I really never talk about him; it's just been around you that I feel sort of... okay talking about him since he died."
You stroked his back softly to comfort him.
"I'm sure that's been difficult. Your feelings are valid, that you still care for him and miss him despite what he did to you. That's how families work," you suggested delicately.
"Thank you," Druig responded vulnerably. "I've been very lost since he died. We were all together again and it felt so right. And then we split up so soon-I just," he sighed. "It made me realize how precious my time here on Earth is."
"I understand now. Of course, I'm sure I won't ever be able to fully comprehend it, but I know now why you felt the need to tell someone about your life after realizing how easy it is to be taken away."
Druig felt hope once more that things could continue for you two as you finally were able to see things from his perspective.
"I'm glad you can see that now. I'm sorry I was so horrible to you at first, I have so much guilt and regret," he professed shamefully.
"I forgive you."
After hearing him out, you realized that his intentions weren't as horrible as you had first thought. It was quite sad actually that his family had left him in such a broken place and that he had absolutely no one to talk to about it. He even sought out complete strangers, just to have someone to talk to.
Druig began contemplating if he really would have to leave you after all, so optimistic that things had taken a turn for the better. He dreamed that you would have many years with him to truly forgive him in due time and he honestly believed that it could be your future.
"Thousands of years on this planet huh? I can't imagine what to do with all that time on my hands," you said offhandedly, looking again to the starry night sky and knowing somewhere up there is where Druig actually came from.
"Oh, I did this and that throughout my time here. Which is why I took you to the museum. I was involved with, hmm." He paused trying to recall that time of his life. "Probably about 80% of all the empires we saw."
Your eyes widened and your jaw dropped. All that knowledge he had in the museum was his memories from living through it all.
'No wonder he was such a history genius.'
"No way. So what you said about Constantine was true?!"
"Indeed. I spent many years determined to save just one empire from their demise and when it came time, I couldn't do it. It wasn't my place, as much as it pained me."
"So what? You just let them... die?"
"Yes, essentially I did. After so many years, it becomes too much. Which is why I went into hiding for a few thousand years. Raised a village of my own safely, generation after generation."
The thought of him having his own little cult was slightly disturbing but the millions of deaths he could've stopped was a bit more alarming.
You couldn't understand completely as to why he would let so many people die even though he knew he could save them. It didn't sound like the man you knew...
"Ikaris and Ajax didn't want me to intervene. Ajax was insistent on it. Ikaris didn't want me to either though, he persisted that I can't just fix human conflict. I had to let nature take its course."
"So that museum we went to basically had artifacts from every empire you tried to save? Isn't that extremely sad?"
He looked down solemnly. You could see how much he hated thinking about them, and what he didn't do to save them.
"Yes," he said flatly.
You cleared your throat, trying to immediately switch topics so he didn't have to keep thinking about it.
"Okay, so I do understand why you took me to these places now. I understand your age, your abilities, the fact that you aren't even human. But why me, why did you feel the need to explain this so desperately to someone?"
"I told you, I almost died. Ikaris-"
"No, you've already told me that. And I can see in your eyes that you wanted more than that, it wasn't just about having your life here remembered. Come on, you can tell me," you taunted, interrupting him.
He looked at you confused, perhaps even a little stunned.
Druig was the one who was used to figuring people out and knowing exactly how they felt.
But for you to have figured out his true motives with nothing more powerful than observation and compassion, was astounding to him.
"Hmm, wait let me guess. Something else related to your family?"
Druig nodded, embarrassed.
"Perhaps I was tired or seeing my siblings happy and in relationships. I was living alone for centuries with people who served me involuntarily. Isn't that just sick?" he laughed dryly. "Maybe I wanted a connection with someone more than I care to admit." Druig confessed.
"I understand that, really I do. My years of life may be nothing compared to yours, but the loneliness I've felt is still just the same," you replied, your voice straining with passion.
Druig knew at the exact moment, precisely right then and there that he was surrendering to this infatuation, and there was nothing he could do about it. No matter how much he had urged himself to not feel this way, to ignore the seven thousand years having not felt this full of life and happiness, he could not any longer.
He snaked his arm around your waist and tenderly kissed the top of your head. You snuggled into his chest and savored every minute, knowing that no words needed to be said to define this moment.
It was so easy with Druig, and comfortable yet every touch was still pouring with passion.
"How about we go home? You've been through enough in one day," he suggested, rubbing your arm gently.
"That would be perfect."
—————————————————————
The drive home was silent.
Not a bad silence, it was almost pleasant. A certain calm having draped over the pair of you.
You two held hands over the console as you stared out the window, still not over the kiss you two had shared. Everything he had told you about himself was still in the back of your mind, but it really didn't matter at the end of the day. You were just so in love.
Druig however was very conflicted throughout the whole drive, and the stress of it was about to make him pass out. He had nothing but his own thoughts battling it out and trying to convince him that he had to leave anyways. That bastard of an angel sitting on his shoulder reminding him that half of his family was still missing. He couldn't believe he was having to make this decision today, of all days, right when you had learned the truth and accepted him anyways.
'It isn't fair, it shouldn't have to be this way. How could this be the end of things? She understands me, she doesn't care about my ability, why is this happening to me! What about fate?!'
He truly knew that he had to return to the only siblings he had left and that this second life he'd been living couldn't go on any longer. When Druig left his siblings with Eros, he had no goddamn idea what this one girl would do to him. One insignificant girl who was really not at all insignificant. You were the most significant person to have ever been apart his life and here he was weeks later, still on Earth when he was supposed to have returned so long ago.
But it wasn't enough.
After spending thousands of years never allowed to do what was right, morally or ethically, this was something he had a choice in. The siblings he had left, torn apart and the fate of the world hanging in the balance quite loudly spelled out what he had to do.
Reluctantly, Druig knew that he had to leave.
He would know no peace if he lived in this fairytale with you, having abandoned his family. Druig had never wished so much in his entire life that he was a human, that he wouldn't have been brought here with these responsibilities or with his siblings. He wanted nothing more in this moment than to he just an average person who could live out his life happily with such a wonderful woman.
But his mission here was complete. Druig had found you, the one person on this planet to know him and love him for everything he was and was not. You were the person he had searched a million lifetimes for, and for that he was eternally grateful. But this was the end.
You both returned to your apartment in the quiet, early morning hours. Your new phone still rested on the counter, and your shoes were still piled by the door. Your apartment was so human and messy and filled with pointless knick knacks to look pretty. But everything about it is what made you, you. Druig cherished looking at your little city apartment one last time before he'd never see it again.
There was no mention of a couch, or who'd be sleeping where. In yet another ugly old high school t-shirt and plaid pajama pants, you curled up into your bed where Druig was already laying. He wordlessly cradled you and stroked your hair until you fell asleep. Arms latched tight on to him, you felt so safe in his arms and secure.
You never would have expected what he was about to do.
Druig cried, which he very rarely ever did these days, and prepared himself to leave. It felt so wrong to have you in his arms, the girl he'd waited seven thousand years to find, and to willingly be leaving.
Well, willingly wasn't exactly what it was.
It was technically his choice to leave and return to his siblings with Eros. Because he was a good man, and he knew that was what was morally right. But thinking of the turmoil and pain you would go through when he left without a trace, made him sick.
And just as planned, after the sun had rose and you began to toss around a little bit, he slowly untangled you from his body.
Druig quietly stepped toward your front door and after seeing that stack of papers that never did make it into your office, decided that he couldn't leave you with nothing.
Scribbled on a piece of paper was the only three words that you two never exchanged.
I love you
- Druig