herophine - Trouvaille

Chapter 35

Crosby, Liverpool - England, 2026

When the sun is up, Sofía and Jo work in their relationship. They take short walks to Moorside Park, where they feed the squirrels they find or just play in the children's park, and they share nice time together building up the new puzzle.

In the evening, Hero and Jo also work in their relationship. They don't communicate with many words, though. It's been three days since Christmas Eve and even though they all went back to their respectives beds, ever since that day Josephine sneaks into Hero's bedroom at night. Three days in which Jo hides in Hero's body, making up for all those years they've missed together. Meanwhile, delaying the pending conversation about this new relationship, which is undeniable they have.

Tonight, the fourth night, Hero falls asleep next to her for the first time. But, Jo looks for any excuse to stay a little longer next to him before going back to the living room.

And that's when she discovers they have a problem.

Her manager is annoyed because Jo told her she would be taking a break, but Lena needs her client to come back to Los Ángeles as soon as possible. She has missed calls and unread messages, but instead of replying back, the blonde girl uses her time next to Hero to delete them. And, on the process, she sees it.

Effectively, someone took a picture of them at Merseyside Market.

The worst thing is that the person who took the picture, also recognized Hero and took a picture of him.

And outside their bubble, the world has gone crazy.

"The main actors from the After movies, Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, back together for Christmas."

"Mystery solved: the hidden spot of Hero Fiennes-Tiffin."

"Were fans correct about the romance between these co-stars?"

Her heart pounding fast while she goes through every new that mentions her. Josephine is not a social media person, but this time she goes into Instagram and keeps revising non-stop, looking for any mention or picture of Sofía. She breathes a little bit of relief when she doesn't find anything involving her daughter.

But, is only a matter of time.

- I'm flying to wherever you are, Josephine. - Lena says in her last text message. - I will be there in two days. We really need to talk.

Josephine knows that she has to wake up Hero. But once she does, the little progress they've made in their relationship these days, will go to hell.

Before she has time to wake him up, Hero's phone starts ringing. He sits startled and grabs the noisy phone from the nightstand. Josephine gets to distinguish "Mercy" on the screen, right before he presses the green button.

She stares at him talking on the phone with his sister, and by the change of his face expression, she intuits that the information he is being given is the same that the one she just discovered. Hero hangs up after trying to calm his sister down, and when he leaves his phone again on the nightstand, every appearance of tranquility fades away.

He runs his hand through his hair before letting himself fall backwards to the bed and covering his face with the pillow while letting some grunts out. Jo doesn't know how to act, she doesn't know if she should touch him or move away. She wants to hug him and for him to hug her, ensuring one another that there is a solution. However, the boundaries between them are a bit fuzzy right now.

- Lena told me she is coming in two days.

By Hero's gesture, she deduces that it was not what he wanted to listen. Instead, he stands up angrily and with his muscles tensed. Jo realizes then about her own nudity and grabs her pyjama from the floor.

She did not expect his next words to surprise her so much. Or that they hurt like that.

- You need to leave, Josephine. It's the only solution. - He says after running his fingers through his hair once more.

She understands the logic. The news are mostly about her, because he is no one if it isn't related with Josephine Langford. He used to be someone more than famous, but not anymore. The prey dogs will chase her and they will never find out about Sofía. Josephine understands that Hero's first instinct is protecting her daughter. It is also her first instinct. But, it is disheartening thinking that the only solution that comes to his mind is Jo moving away from Sofía. And from him.

Hero continues walking nervously, mumbling to himself that it is the only solution and running his fingers through his hair like one hundred times more. Once he stops, he turns to stare at the woman who remains silent on the bed. She has her back straightened and tensed, with a serious gesture on her face. Hero can see her teary eyes and he stifles the impulse of hugging her, because the priority has to be Sofía.

Always Sofía. Only Sofía.

__________________

Heyy,

what are your thoughts? did you forget about the pictures at Merseyside Market?

let's hope this doesn't pull them apart!

Xx.