Break In

“Dem, please, don’t do this,” Ariadne pleaded. “Just...just come back over here. We can talk about this, and it will all be fine. Please.”

Demeter turned her head and chuckled, “You don’t get it, do you Ari?”

“G-get what?” Ariadne said.

“It was you all along,” Demeter said. “Calli wanted everything, and she would do anything to get it. I lost everything and everyone. But you...no, you knew all along that what you got was what you were meant to have - nothing more, nothing less.”

Demeter teetered on the edge, smiling and looking down. A gust of wind made her sway, and Ariadne cried out for her.

“It’s alright, Ari.” Her voice was a whisper but it was so loud in Ariadne’s ears. Demeter closed her eyes, and as she fell, she said, “This won’t hurt a bit.”

Ariadne awoke, startled by the suddenness of her dream. Her pulse raced but her breath caught in her throat and gave her an almost choking feeling. She sat up slowly and looked around the room. The light from the sunset barely touched every wall in the room, but she saw a large shape across from her, sitting in a chair.

“P-Paddy, I’m sorry,” she sighed in relief. “I didn’t mean to give you a start. I just-”

“Save it,” said an unfamiliar voice. “What are you doing here?”

“I, um...where’s Paddy-”

“Downstairs,” said the voice. “He’s not important right now. What are you doing here?”

“This is the only place I have left,” said Ariadne. “Wh-who are you?”

“Even if I told you, I don’t think you would know me anymore.”

She took a deep breath. “...Tommy?”

“You got no right to be here,” he said sternly.

“What the hell are you talking about, Tommy?” Ariadne replied. “I have every right to be here. As far as I’m concerned, this is your father’s house, and he is letting me be here.”

“He’s a twisted old man, bent on trying to make it up to everyone he was around when he was drunk,” Tommy snapped. “He can’t get me, so he’s getting you-”

“How can you say that? He’s your father?”

“He’s an old drunk. Maybe he fooled everyone else around him, but he let me down when I needed him most, and I can’t forgive him for that.”

“Tommy, please, I have nowhere to go. I need him-”

“Don’t-”

“-and I need you!”

There was a long silence, and Ariadne wondered if she’d already pushed him too far. A second later, though, he appeared from the darkness. Ariadne let out a small breath of air and smiled. She stood from the bed and all but ran to him. He put his arms around her, but he didn’t squeeze for fear of crushing her tiny frame. She felt as if she hadn’t eaten properly in weeks.

Ariadne took in every curve of his muscles, every ounce of his scent, and every second she was in his arms. He had nearly doubled in size since she’d last seen him, though he was huge then too. She buried her face in his chest and began to cry. She wasn’t sure what had made the tears begin, but she didn’t attempt to stop them. He put a hand on the back of her head and stroked her soft but knotted hair.

“Tommy,” she said.

Tommy swallowed the growing lump in his throat and said, “Ariadne.”

“I’m sorry,” she cried. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about anything right now,” Tommy said. “We’ll talk at dinner, alright? Just me and you.”

She nodded and put her arms around him. He calmly stroked her hair, not saying a word. He knew, though, Ariadne being back meant he had a weakness again. He was vulnerable.