Runaways

"Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"I'll be fine," Lydia laughed into the phone. Her morning of packing was interrupted about an hour ago by a phone call from Jet. It had definitely slowed down her progress. "I've done this how many times before?"

"I know. I just want everything to go alright."

"Why are you so worried? Is there something I don't know about?"

"No. It's nothing like that," Jet quickly assured. Maybe a little too quickly. "I want you here already. I want to spend as much time as I can with you. Mostly because I know your grandmother is going to steal you away from me as soon as she can."

Lydia smiled at that. She'd been in Berlin for almost three months now and she'd be lying if she said she didn't miss her grandmother. Or her grandfather and Jet for that matter. But this place has been good to her so far. It brought her Paul. "I miss you guys."

"Well good. Because you're going to spend time with us even if you didn't."

"Gee, thanks Jet."

"Of course," she laughed. "Well, I guess I'll leave you to your packing. Just make sure to text me before your plane leaves."

Lydia nodded, "I will. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Alright. Be careful."

"Always."

The two hung up and Lydia turned back to her clothing covered bed with a sigh. At least she still had an hour before needing to leave for the airport. That should be plenty of time, right? She hoped so. Though she was half tempted to pack light. Even if she was only going for a week, Jet would still probably drag her on a couple of shopping trips and she'd need to fit all that in her suitcase.

With a groan she slowly rose up from the floor. It had been a good idea and a fairly comfortable spot at first. But by now her back and knees hurt. She stared at the bed for a moment, drumming her nails against a pant clad thigh in contemplation. Deciding it was now far too quiet in the apartment, she strode into the living room to put on some music. After turning on some rock music Paul picked out for her on one of their more recent record store trips, she went back into her room to hopefully focus on packing.

Thirty minutes later and more than a few checks to the weather apps on her phone, Lydia was finally done packing. She did end up packing light for the sake of shopping trips but went with warmer clothes. Supposedly it was going to be cold the whole week.

While going over her checklist a knock came from the front door. She quickly left her room and opened the door after the second knock.

“Paul.”

“Hello,” he greeted with a warm smile. “I was hoping you hadn’t left yet.”

She checked her watch before responding, “Not for another fifteen minutes or so.”

He nodded. “I was hoping I could drive you to the airport.”

“Oh. You..you don’t have to do that. I don’t want to be a bother.”

“I’m offering. And I wanted more time with you before you have to leave.”

Lydia nodded slowly with a growing smile. “Okay. But only if you are sure. Um, would you like to come in?”

He hummed softly in conformation and slowly entered when she moved to the side. “How long are you going to be gone for?”

“Just a week,” she replied while following him to the couch. Unlike the previous times, they sat in the middle with very little space between them. If one of them shifted even the slightest bit they would be pressed against each other.

A slow progress.

“Any idea what you’ll be up to?” He asked. It was a poor attempt at conversation but he wasn’t quite sure what to say. At this point, Paul just wanted to be around her.

She shrugged, “I’m not really sure yet. I know Jet and I will have one of our annual shopping trips but other than that? Who knows. I think I’m just happy to be visiting.”

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Mhmm. Almost three months.”

“It’s so strange,” Paul mused softly. “I feel like I’ve known you for so much longer than that.” Not even three months and he felt like he’d known her for years.

She nodded in agreement. “It is starting to feel that way.” While this wasn’t something Lydia felt all the time, it was hard to ignore when she did. The only other person she had that feeling with was Jet. And they’d been friends for years now. “Maybe we knew each other in a past life,” she joked.

He laughed. “Now you sound like my fellow guitarist.”

“Richard, right?” at his nod she continued, “does he really believe in that kind of stuff?”

“He does, actually. And very strongly too. He once said that the minute he met his first wife he suddenly had the feeling they'd known each other for a thousand years. But those two haven’t been married in, oh,” he paused in thought before huffing and shaking his head, “I don’t even know. Long enough for him to have a few short and long lasting relationships. And a child in the process.”

“So a long time?” she teased.

“A long time,” he chuckled with a nod. He enjoyed it when she did that.

Lydia opened her mouth to say something else but quickly closed it due to an alarm going off. She fished her phone out of her pocket and silenced it with a sigh. “Time to go.”

He frowned but nodded. “I’m ready to go when you are.”

“Okay. Just let me grab my bag and I’ll be all set.” She hesitantly rose from the couch and went to her room. Upon entry she stared at her bag for a moment in thought. Why was this suddenly so hard? Like a weight had settled deep in her chest? Was it because of Paul? Or more accurately, was it because she was leaving Paul? Even if that was the case it was only for a week. And it wasn’t like they hadn’t gone that long without seeing each other before.

Trying to shake herself from those thoughts, she dragged her bag off her bed and went back into the living room to see Paul slouched forward on the couch, elbows on his knees and fingers playing over his lips. He looked exactly how she felt. “Ready to go?”

He sat up and flashed a weak smile. “Only if you are.”

“I think so.”

“Are you sure you have everything?”

“Unfortunately I do.”

Paul nodded and stood up with a groan, knees popping in protest of his movements. “After you.”

The pair were hesitant to leave the apartment and even more so the building. Despite being away from each other for days and the occasional week at a time due to Paul practically living in the studio some days, this still felt weird. Perhaps because Lydia was the one doing the leaving this time. Either way, the excitement of the trip was starting to wear off.

Thankfully these feelings were momentarily forgotten and gave way to surprise when Lydia saw the car Paul was taking her to the airport in. While it wasn’t anything fancy like a sports car, it was still big and slightly suspiciously looking with it’s blacked out windows.

“I didn’t know you had a car,” she confessed with a slight laugh. They always walked or got a cab.

“Oh I don’t. It’s a company car,” he snickered.

“Paul!”

“What? I needed it for the day.”

“You didn’t need to make such a big deal out of it,” Lydia groaned. “I would of been fine with just taking a cab.”

He shrugged and loaded her bag into the back seat. “I rarely get the car and today was a good excuse to have it.” He frowned and turned back to her. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I just thought it would be a nice change.”

“I’m not upset by it. I just don’t want to cause you any trouble” she confessed quietly.

“It really wasn’t any trouble,” Paul was quick to assure. “It’s a benefit just about everyone in the record company has. Most people use them every day. And I promise you it won’t get me in trouble.”

After a few moments, she relented. “Okay.”

He grinned, “Alright, let’s go.”

They finally climbed into the large vehicle and left for the airport. It was a silent but not uncomfortable ride. They simply had nothing left to say except for goodbyes and that could wait until they reached their destination. For now they were content to just enjoy each other's company. No matter how short lived.

Deciding to take this moment for what it was, Lydia not so subtiley began looking and then staring at Paul. His hair seemed to have more grey in it lately, especially around the back and sides where it had recently been shaved. She distantly wondered if it would be dyed by the time she came back. He had silver earrings in and a blue scarf that seemed to match his eyes today. And despite the fact he'd definitely shaved since the last time she saw him a couple of days ago, he was beginning to look rather scruffy. But she liked it. She also liked the way his lips were twitching up into a smile the longer she looked at him.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing," she murmured. "I'm just going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too," he said in a voice just as soft as hers. He feared he would ruin the moment if spoke any louder than that. "But it's only a week, right?"

"Right," Lydia agreed. "But it is strange that a week feels too long?"

"No. Because I feel it too."

They fell back into silence after that and didn't speak again until Paul pulled into the airport. And even then they sat there for a little while, neither wanting to break the spell of comfort that had fallen over them. But unfortunately they had to.

This time it was Paul who spoke up. "Could you text me when you land? It would put my mind at ease."

"Of course. Maybe I could tell you about my day too?" She nervously asked.

"Please," he nodded. "I would like that very much."

Lydia nodded and bit her lip for a moment before asking, "Can I hug you before I go?"

Paul immediately reached across the console and pulled her into a slightly awkward but firm hug. "I'm going to miss you so much," he whispered.

"I'm going to miss you too. But it's only a week. We can last that long, right?"

"Right."

"I mean, it's not like we haven't done it before." As they pulled away, she paused to kiss his cheek. "So maybe it will be over before we know it and I'll be boarding a plane again. And I'll probably end up texting you all the time to…." she trailed off as her mind finally caught up with her actions. She slowly turned away from the door and back to Paul.

He was staring at her with wide eyes and a slacken jaw. While it was a simple gesture to most, it wasn't to them. This was the first time she had done such a thing. And he almost couldn't believe it. After a moment or two he finally regained the ability to speak. "You are welcome to do that any time you want to as well."

Lydia blushed and giggled a little in surprise. Well that was a better response than she hoped. "I'm um, going to go now."

"Okay."

She nodded and exited the car. She stood there for a second, suddenly feeling a bit giddy, before opening the door to the back seat and pulled out her bag.

"Lydia?"

"Yeah?"

Paul cleared his throat, "When you get back, would you like to have dinner together? I...I would like to cook something for you this time."

"Okay," she murmured shyly. "I'd like that."

"Okay. Good. Um, okay." He awkwardly cleared his throat again. "I'll see you in a week."

"I'll see you then," Lydia agreed before shutting the car door and walking into the airport.

"Fuck," Paul whispered to the steering wheel, "what am I going to make for dinner?"

Throughout her wait and then the plane ride, Lydia continued to think about what happened. Something as simple as a kiss on the cheek felt more life changing than her marriage. It was such a crazy thought but it felt right. Like they'd somehow made a natural progression towards that point in their friendship.

This was definitely something she needed to talk to Jet about.

After arriving back at the apartment building, Paul decided to go through his cabinets to try and figure out what to make for dinner. If not he could always call Richard. Maybe even Christoph or Oliver. Someone who wouldn't relentlessly tease him over this. But, then again, they all probably would for a little while.

So what if he was planning ahead? A week goes by fast and he didn't want to spend all that time panicking.

Those thoughts, however, were momentarily put on hold when the elevator doors parted and he stepped out onto his floor. A man was standing in front of Lydia's apartment. A very tall man with short blonde hair and dark beady looking eyes. Unfortunately he was also very handsome. Like he could of been a famous actor if he tried.

"May I help you?" Paul asked when he was close enough.

The man turned and smiled in a way that was incredibly fake but he probably thought was charming. "Hello. I'm looking for my wife, Lydia."

Oh no. His eyes immediately narrowed and any attempt at being civil was gone. "If you are looking for her then she probably doesn't want to be found."

Alexander sighed and shook his head. "I don't expect someone like you to understand this or what we are going through. But it is very important that I find my wife. Now, does a Lydia Dupont live on this floor or not?"

"I have never met anyone with that last name before in my life," Paul stated. "And I don't think I would want to if you are anything to go by."

He scoffed and shook his head. "Look, if you happen to see her, tell her that her husband is looking for her."

"If I meet a Lydia with that horrible last name, I will." Because he knew those two were not legally married. This guy has to be up to something, Paul decided.

"Thanks," Alexander sarcastically muttered before brushing past him and walking to the elevator.

As soon as it was clear, Paul hurried into his own apartment and took out his phone and dialed. "Hey, Flake. Do you still have that lawyer friend?"