Braylinmorrow - Tumblr Posts
Walk away, that your specialty isn’t it…(x)
Oxford was a winter wonderland. A freak storm had left the place a blanket of white and, while it seemed to terrorize most of the native inhabitants, Gia reveled in it. She’d missed the gentle touch of snow on her cheeks and the crunch of it beneath her feet - not to mention as a white wolf, it was the one and only time she had any actual camouflage in wolf-form. The winter weather made her think of the old days - snuggling up with Braylin by the fire with hot cocoa, or sitting closer than entirely necessary with the good old excuse of trying to keep warm.
Every once in awhile, she wondered what might have been. If she’d stayed, they’d be married. Maybe they’d have pup or five running around, terrorizing the town and ensuring New York would never be the same again. Gia wasn’t blind to what she owed him: together, they’d discovered exactly what it meant to be a werewolf, how to conceal it, how to use it…Everything. And he’d been good to her, unselfishly good to her - the first person to show her some kindness without any need to do so, and one of the few people who’d never let her down. It’d been Gia who’d done them wrong; not him.
It was easy to think of him, somehow, today. For half a second, she’d almost thought his scent was in the breeze, but that was ridiculous. The snow had put a damper on scents, anyway, and she was sure she was just imagining it…at least that’s what she told herself. Everett had mentioned to her that there was a new Packmaster in town, who’d arranged a meeting, but that had been just before Gia took a weekend trip to visit Devon, and she’d only just returned late the previous night.
When she awakened, her first thought was coffee. She’d stayed up much too late every night with Devon and then, again, with Everett - not that she regretted either decision, but coffee remained a must. Dragging herself into the kitchen…she came to the harrowing discovery that she was out of the substance.
As soon as she’d gotten herself dressed and together, the first thing Gia did was head into town in search of caffeine. It was too late to go to the grocery store to make it herself: by then her need was much too urgent. Besides, Gia would always be Gia and stepping into the heart of Oxford was a sublime opportunity. Though she’d once come here a total stranger, Oxford was now much more her home than anywhere else had ever been and she felt relieved to walk back into town and see all the familiar faces.
Seeing her need at once, at Oxford Barr, they were blessedly quick in serving her, but that wasn’t what she would later remember about this particular venture, later.
It was him.
She could hardly believe her eyes, the first moment, and almost wondered if the glass between them had half-obscured the man’s face till, given that she’d been thinking of him, he looked to her like Braylin. All at once, though, she knew the truth. He looked at her like a dream and she half-wondered if she were seeing a ghost of a future she might have had. Words clung to the back of her throat and guilt fanned her cheeks into a blush.
It was true that, from time to time, she felt guilty for being happy. Particularly, for being happy with someone else. She’d run away - after he’d proposed - because she thought she couldn’t handle that responsibility, because she’d been afraid of ruining everything and hurting him…and that’s exactly what she’d done, in the process. She wondered, knowing what she did now, if she’d stayed, could they have made it work? Or was Everett the only one who was patient enough to make it work with a girl like her?
Gia swallowed hard, the spell broken when he said her name. “I think I grabbed the wrong kind of drink,” she tried to joke, but then she was in her arms. Wrapping her own around his neck, she hugged him tightly and for a moment, just a moment, buried her head in his neck as she went on her tiptoes. When she pulled away, it wasn’t too quickly, but wasn’t too slowly either. He’d have smelt Everett on her, she knew: she didn’t have to tell him that, but she knew she still should. She just couldn’t figure out how. For a moment, she looked up at him before cracking a bright smile. She realized she was guilty in something else. She should’ve picked up the phone, she should have reconnected, said something, anything.
"Wow, I-" Gia shook her head, swallowing hard. The words she was searching for were all wrong. Somehow sorry seemed more a slap in the face than saying nothing at all and she brushed her hair from her face. “It’s been so long,” she shrugged, but she smiled. “We have so much to catch up on! Um, why don’t we grab a seat? Or do you wanna take a walk?” she shrugged. “It’s,” her smile was warm. “It’s honestly so great to see you. What, um, what brings you to Oxford, of all places?”
It didn't occur to her, until too late, that he probably wanted to ask her the same question.
I Fell Heavy Into Your Arms || Gia & Braylin
Braylin had caught scent of her here and there. The first few times, he’d simply brushed it off as his mind playing tricks on him. But then it kept happening. Every time he went through the main part of town, he’d catch wind of her. For his first week in town, he did his best to ignore it. After all, he was here on important business, to find the packmaster of this town’s pack. He was rather shocked to find that the packmaster was also the mayor of this town; but nonetheless made it easier to get hold of him. But then - much to Braylin’s chagrin - he’d found that the packmaster was covered in the scent of Gia.
Gia. His Gia.
It had taken him nearly two days to shake the mood it had put him in. It had taken all of those two days for him to convince himself that he just needed to go find her. But even as he stepped out into the brisk January wind, he brushed his hair back in exasperation. Was he really going to do this? Go looking for the girl he’d told himself he had to let go? As his nose caught scent of her and his feet moved forward of their own accord, he knew he was. If there was a chance he could see her again, that was all that mattered. It was all the plagued his mind as he followed the trail to her.
He lost the scent in the plethora of people that milled about in the square. His blue green eyes gazed around as he stuffed his hands into the camel colored jacket he wore. Being from New York (and a werewolf, he supposed) meant he was hardly even cold here in the forty degree weather that these southerners found to be so chilly. But his usual attire of thermal shirt covered by flannel plaid shirt and then jacket hardly changed, even in the heat of summer. He was a lumberjack through and through.
Sure that he’d lost his trail to Gia, he turned and headed down the sidewalk to the small local cafe. He reached for the door and pulled it open just as someone was about to walk through; and it all hit him at the same time. The smell of coffee, the smell of Gia, and then Gia’s eyes were on him, as wide as if she’d just seen a ghost. Braylin’s usually quiet demeanor (and her apparent shock) left them standing there staring at each other through the glass of the door as he held it open. For all he knew, they stood there for a month before he finally found his vocal chords, “Gia…”
Braylin might be quiet; but that didn’t mean he was slow. He had put two and two together. A packmaster (who, admittedly, was good looking) covered in the scent of Gia obviously meant that he and she were something more than friends. He hadn’t missed the picture of them together on Everett’s desk. But even being the good man he was, he couldn’t help himself. Propping the door open with his knee, he reached forward and pulled Gia’s 5’2 frame into his 6’ body. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her hair, just like he always had when they were young. He couldn’t find any words to say, but just held her there in his arms, completely awestruck that he was once again holding the woman he’d never stopped loving.
You’re in love with him, and he’s in love with you, and it’s like a goddamn tragedy, because you look at him and see the stars, and he looks at you and sees the sun. And you both think the other is just looking at the ground. But god, just notice you’re both looking at the sky. (x)
braylin--morrow
Knowing that Gia had moved on to someone else was much easier to handle when she was still this fluid concept that he couldn’t get a grip on; when she was still the girl that people had told him a million times “if she hasn’t come back, then something probably happened to her”. Some nights it tortured him to think she might have died; some nights it comforted him that maybe she hadn’t come back just because she couldn’t. Facing the fact that she hadn’t come back because she’d found something better was much, much harder than anything he’d ever done.
“Yeah,” he nodded, “Let’s sit.” He didn’t trust himself to walk. He needed to sit, because he felt like his head was swimming and the last thing they needed was his six foot frame hitting the ground. He motioned back inside, and once she’d stepped in, he followed behind her. The door closed out the cold wind that was brushing over the snow, and he raised a hand to his hair and shook out the snow flakes that had settled there before reaching out to pull out a chair for her. Braylin may have looked imposing, and been a werewolf, and a packmaster… But he was a softie on the inside.
He took a seat across from her and simply gazed at her for a long time. Braylin had always been a man of few words; but then… what exactly did one say to a woman who’d run away after you’d proposed to them? He couldn’t quite figure it out. He supposed it was this sentiment that meant the most, “I’m glad you’re okay.” He paused for a moment, looking down. “When I never heard anything… I worried…” he said softly, trying not to think about how desperately he’d searched for her. Especially now that he knew she’d come here and found… happiness.
He could smell the guilt on her before she’d even opened her mouth to apologize. He raised a hand to silence her and smiled just a bit, “Gia, don’t. It’s… You don’t have to apologize or feel bad. It’s… It’s okay.” He dropped his hand back to the table and his fingers drummed against it, “All I ever wanted was you to be happy. And it… Well, you look happy. So, I’m glad.”
She smiled up at him as he pulled the chair out for her and sank into the seat. It felt, surreal, in that moment, to sit in this chair at this place and watch Braylin Morrow sink into the seat across from her. She’d had good intentions. Once, she’d decided to send him flowers (at first she’d wanted to send a letter, but it had turned into flowers once she’d sat down to write it and stared endlessly at the blank page, unsure where to begin) with a return address, so he’d know where she was if he needed her...but she’d chickened out, even of that, at the last moment.
Gia had thought, in the past, about what he’d say if she saw him again. It was a spew of all the vitriol she felt towards herself, usually, (deep down, she wasn’t sure if he’d really say those things...but she still felt as if she deserved to hear them,) detailing every little way she’d hurt him. Oh, yes, she’d thought of the things he might say, but every time she’d imagined a way of responding, of defending her actions, she’d come up blank. It was perhaps because of this that she’d never said anything, at all.
Still, it was good to see him. As long as she’d known him, Bray had never failed to bring a smile to her face and she felt it glowing, even now. Whatever else they’d been, they’d always been friends: she’d always cared for him, trusted him, relied on him, and she liked to think that, once, he could do the same. She wondered if she could ever hope to repair that, now.
Her brows knitted together when he said he’d worried. Of course he had. She bowed her head. Gia had never quite considered that: she’d considered the hurt, the anger, he must have felt, but not that. She should have given his selfless heart more credit. “I didn’t mean to worry you,” she said, softly. She meant, too: I never wanted to hurt you, but somehow the words didn’t come out that way.
“But I do,” she responded, biting her lip. “I owe you that much, at least.” She shifted. “I just don’t know where to start.”
All I ever wanted was you to be happy, he said. Gia felt a pang. Impulsively reaching across the table, she touched his hand. “Bray, that’s all I ever wanted for you, too.” Her fingers curled around his hand in affection, but quickly she pulled away again. It was terribly strange, this notion that their lives had taken such a different track. Strangely enough, before he’d proposed, she’d never imagined living her life separately from his in any way. Now, though, her life with him seemed worlds away, and she wondered how she could ever hope to repair what she’d so damaged. She wanted to ask if he hated her now - she couldn’t blame him if he did - but she found she didn’t want to know if the answer was ‘yes.’
“I was too afraid to say goodbye, I think,” she murmured. “But then, I don’t think I really thought it’d be goodbye. I just...” Gia looked at her hands, folded in her lap. She’d just left. She hadn’t thought, she’d just run. After her father had abjured her and Braylin had proposed, Gia hadn’t had a single rational thought. She’d just run.
Gia nodded softly when he said she looked happy and she nodded. “I am happy,” she said, softly, hoping those words didn’t sting. He didn’t look terribly happy, just then. “Oxford is like no place on earth, Bray,” she added. “You’ll see.” Of course, when she’d first arrived, it hadn’t been nearly so charming. She’d never forget that poor fledgling vampire chained in burning silver she’d discovered in the basement...She’d quit V cold turkey, then, and she liked to think she’d been a stronger person since, but she knew where the change in both Oxford and in herself had come from. They all owed Everett Lawson an unpayable debt.
“That is,” she added, softly, “If you...stay?” She was certain he must have a life back in New York to go back to - maybe a wife (who wouldn’t desert him), some pups who must adore him, even a Pack drawn to his personality, but she couldn’t help but hope...Well, it was silly. Things could never be as they’d been once, anyway, but Gia found somehow she wanted her old friend back, at least: the chance to make things right. She couldn’t fix what she’d done, but she could do right by hm, now, and Gia knew that was the only place to start.
I Fell Heavy Into Your Arms || Gia & Braylin
☽: for the final voicemail ever received: giaylin (I'm thinking like after she ran away???)
“Hey, Gia… I don’t even know if you’re getting these anymore since I haven’t heard back from you. I’ve spent… so much time trying to find you, but I guess you don’t want to be found. Look, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I asked you to marry me, it was too much too soon. I know that now. I love you, G. You were the best thing that ever happened to me. I hope that I improved your life in some way. I hope that… wherever you are, you’re happy. I hope that one day, you’ll allow yourself the love I know you deserve. I love you, Gia Desstrin. Know that will never change. Goodbye…”
