Never Again [Kavetham]

Chapter 3

A/N: Hey guys I am so so sorry for the slow updates I'm losing a lot of motivation rn 😭 and I've also been quite busy. I'll shorten the chapters if u guys don't mind so u guys will have the full story befor ei decide to discontinue it

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The next morning, Alhaitham had woken up on his own bed without Kaveh's little device still plugged into his earpieces. His finger also felt a little empty as he'd thrown away the wedding ring last night. He was so used to having it on his hand that he felt a little awkward without it. Alhaitham got up from his bed and made his way to the kitchen. However, when he looked at the drawer next to the front door, he saw his own wedding ring with a more next to it. It looked like Kaveh's handwriting. Alhaitham picked it up and read it,

"I'm so sorry for all of this, Haitham. I'll leave you alone for now as I figured that's probably what you'd want. I'm so sorry for pressuring you so early like this. I don't expect you to forgive me. Although, if you need me, I'm staying at Tighnari's place for a few days. I hope you could understand where I'm coming from. I l ve o ."

The last few words looked like it had been erased, or at least tried to be erased. It looked like Kaveh tried to rub it with his fingers, but it didn't disappear completely. Alhaitham just set the note aside and kept the ring in one of the drawers. Although, when he opened it, he also found the necklace Kaveh had given him a year ago. He quickly shut the drawer and walked off.

Alhaitham went to the kitchen and opened the fridge, looking for something to eat. Fortunately for him, there was an instant meal he could just microwave and eat it, so that was exactly what he did. While waiting, he was just standing in front of the microwave, thinking about how Kaveh was still alive. Yes, Kaveh explained everything, but Alhaitham just couldn't process it. All of a sudden, after weeks of silently suffering, the one he'd loved for so long just appeared at his front door. It was like a miracle, or a curse.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Alhaitham went to go check it out, but saw a letter-looking mail slip under the front door. He picked it up and looked at it. It seemed to be Tighnari's handwriting, so he started reading it.

"Hey Alhaitham! It's me, Tighnari. Cyno and I were going to have lunch at the Palace of Alcazarzaray today. We were just wondering if you'd like to come? I know it's not the best place to invite you to as of now, but we got a private reservation. Don't worry about Kaveh though, I told him not to come. We'll be there at about 1 pm. Hope to see you there soon :p"

Right, it was just another invitation letter. And out of all places, the Palace of Alcazarzaray? Those two really don't know how much Alhaitham had been suffering the past couple of weeks. Alhaitham tried to push everything aside to he could just spend a day out with his friends. Then he decided he'd just finish his food, get ready, and head out. Maybe he could do some work before actually going to meet his friends.

A few hours later, Alhaitham was finally out of his house. He was in his office, sorting out any paperwork he'd missed over the weeks. There were dozens of piles of paperwork on his desk, and that wasn't all too unexpected. There were a bunch of admission request letters that Alhaitham just hated responding to.

After almost an hour of sorting paperwork, there was ANOTHER letter along with some sort of package that came through for Alhaitham. One of the guards gave it to him, suggesting it was urgent for him to read it. He opened the envelope, noticing it was Kaveh's handwriting. Then who sent it here? How did the guards not catch that?

"Hey Haitham. I'm sorry to be bombarding you with so many letters considering how Tighnari sent you a letter this morning. I just want you to know how sorry I am. I really did not mean to cause you any discomfort. I hope you saw my note this morning. If not, I left it on one of the drawers near the front desk. I just want you to know that I've had very good times with you before, you know, 'dying.' We talked about getting married and our future together. I really missed that. I know it's not my place to reminisce about the good times as of now, but I just really need to tell you. I'll be sending you lots of letters from now on until you're ready to actually talk or hang out with me. Please, just at least read them. Or if you really feel uncomfortable, just send one back to me and I'll stop. Thank you for reading this, Haitham."

Of course, it had to be such a letter from Kaveh. Alhaitham didn't want to forgive him, but something inside of him really wanted to be with Kaveh again — to feel his touch. It had certainly been a while since Alhaitham had ever felt safe and comfortable. The more logistic side of him kept telling him it was the best decision to just stay away from Kaveh, but the more sensitive side of him kept telling him to go back to him. There was always just something that kept pulling the two of them toward each other no matter what they'd gone through. It was rough, of course, but it meant something to the both of them. Why couldn't they have it easy like any other normal couple? Instead of throwing the letter away, though, filing a restraint order, or literally reporting a dead person coming back to life to the Corps Of Thirty, Alhaitham decided to keep the letter in his drawer. Despite the pain in his heart, all he'd ever wanted was for Kaveh to be alive and happy.

After he'd kept the letter Kaveh had sent him, he made his way to the Place of Alcazarzaray. Once he reached there, he saw Tighnari sitting at a table, so he approached him. Alhaitham took a seat right next to him. Then he noticed that there were four seats instead of three, so he asked about that.

"Oh, um.." Tighnari laughed a little. He looked a little nervous, as if he was hiding something, "That's for Collei. Cyno is coming with her so.." His voice slowly faded, not making eye contact with Alhaitham. That was odd. Alhaitham just ignored it and laid back on his seat, hoping Cyno and Collei would show up soon.

After around five minutes, Cyno finally walked in. But instead of a short and green haired teenager girl who has a forest ranger outfit on walking alongside Cyno, it was, indeed, Kaveh. However, Kaveh looked surprised to see Alhaitham, as if he didn't expect him to be there.

As Cyno took a seat, Kaveh and Alhaitham just stared at each other as Kaveh was still standing and didn't know what to do. Then he cleared his throat, "Um, I thought you said—"

"The extra seat was reserved for Collei? That's what they told me as well." Alhaitham scoffed. Cyno and Tighnari had just set them up so they could see each other again. Was Alhaitham mentally ready to even face Kaveh though? It was hard nonetheless.

Kaveh finally snapped out of his confused state and slowly took the empty seat which was right across Alhaitham's. Great. That added even more tension between them.

The four of them started eating as they shared a few comments here and there. Although, Kaveh and Alhaitham hadn't talked once to each other. That was not going towards Tighnari's plan, so he decided to get up, "I'm going to use the bathroom. I'll be right back."

Right then, Cyno got the signal and did the same too, "Me too. I need to use the bathroom. Just don't cause a mess guys, please."

After the both of them left, Alhaitham and Kaveh were just left alone again. After a few minutes of silence, Kaveh finally built up the courage to say something, "I know you're not ready to talk about.. us.. right now, but I just want you to know that I really do care about you." He was about to reach his hand to grab Alhaitham's, but suddenly stopped and retracted his hand, "Just... Please, talk to me when you're ready. I'd hate it if we left our relationship to what it is right now."

Alhaitham just looked at Kaveh for a bit before leaning back on his chair and looking back down. He liked that Kaveh was showing some sense of caring, but there was a feeling that he didn't where to be placed. He nodded a little, and they both continued to sit in silence as they waited for the two to return.

After a while, Tighnari and Cyno return and they continue the evening. At the end of dinner, they all parted ways. Even though it was a short dinner with Kaveh and a few friends, Alhaitham still felt a little better that Kaveh was alive and well. Hopefully, things would get better between them.