Just a Key

AFG Angst: Ex's Best Friend

♡🔑 ♡

Cora Hale had never intended to return to Beacon Hills after she, Laura and Derek left. In fact, she had promised herself she never would return for any reason. Then she got a call from Genim, her best friend and there she was, returning to Beacon Hills. The two of them had kept in touch after she left, both only seven at the time but through letters, phone calls and as they got older, text messages they never lost contact.

Genim also happened to be the best friend of the guy Cora had once dated before admitting to herself that she had given her heart to someone else many years ago. From the way he smiled at her when she pulled up today, Cora knew Genim had kept her heart safe, and was both humbled and honored by the knowledge of her trust in him. Maybe, just maybe, now they could become more than they had been before. Maybe, just maybe, they could finally follow the path that fate had set them on years before.

With a small shudder, she got out of her car by the edge of the preserve. Genim glanced over and smiled. They exchanged a quick hug and then laced their fingers together as they went for a long anticipated walk. It was quieter than she remembered but no less comfortable. Her free hand fiddled with the keys in her pocket. As her fingers brushed one smaller key in particular, she was thrown back to the day she got it.

Laura would always drive them to and from school every day, but Cora wanted to unlock the door when they got home. Finally, after weeks of snagging Laura's keys and using them to unlock the house, their mom, Talia, gave Cora her very own house key.

Over the years, Cora had been asked by many people why she still kept the key if it had no purpose. She never knew how to explain its significance to them and if she tried, they wouldn't understand. The door was of course only ashes now but that didn't matter. To some it was just a key, a piece of useless metal that didn't do anything, but to Cora, it was a link to her past, a reminder of her mother's trust, and before today that would have been all.

Yet, as they reached the clearing, she couldn't help the soft sob and the plethora of tears. Genim had found the knob and lock to their old house and when her Uncle Peter, with Sheriff Stilinski's help, had begun construction on the new house, they used the lock and knob from the old house, for the new front door.

She felt Genim kiss her cheek and step aside once they reached the porch, though his hand still held hers. Cora could barely breathe but she gathered herself, pulled her keys out, slipped the key into the lock and with a click, she unlocked it and pushed the door open.

Home. Her hand squeezed Genim's and she smiled over her shoulder at him. He squeezed back, giving her a soft smile. Yes. She had come home.

♡🔑 ♡