Oneshots

Falling In Love Again (Herophine) - Part 1

I always thought that a divorce can only end with fights and yelling and bad stuff. The decision was easy to take. We met one time for a coffee and we decided together that it's not working anymore. We both agreed that everything is down for us and that the best decision is to go our separate ways.

Once, we were the high school couple that made it so far. The couple that went through a lot over the years, but the love between us was enough for us.

But with time, life crept in like rust on metal. We didn't break – we just... wore down. Quiet arguments, missed dinners, weekends spent apart. Love faded into this routine. Smiles turned into silence. And somewhere along the way, we stopped reaching for each other.

So, here we are, talking one last time before filling in the divorce papers.

"You can have Luna on the weekdays, and I can take her on weekends. We can have her when one of us is out of town. The apartment, I don't need it. It's all yours. I only need my car."

"That's fine by me." I say as I look around. "I think we should look in the storage room. I think you have some stuff left there."

"Yeah, sure. After you."

I walk with him behind me in the storage room. I look around and I find three boxes on a shelf. On all of them I recognize my writing, but two of them are his and the other one has written "US". I run my fingers across the faded label. US, written in my teenage handwriting. The "U" is a little crooked—he used to tease me about that. My hands hesitate on the cardboard lid. Like opening it might unleash every version of us we used to be.

"I think this is our box." I smile and I try to grab the box.

"Let me." I move away and he takes the box and he let it down.

"Thank you." I excitedly open the box and I look speechless at it. "Oh, wow... A lot of memories are here." I took out two bracelets from our first concert together.

"The bracelets from that Coldplay concert." I spot a smile on his face. "It's been what? Nine years since then?"

"Something like that. I was sixteen and it was really hard to convince my parents to let me stay overnight with you."

"But I managed to convince them. It was the best concert I have ever been."

"Yeah, it was." I say and I look to find a red velvet box. My first engagement ring. "Oh... here it was." I open the box and I look at the cheap ring. When Hero proposed me, it was my 18th birthday and he was working with his father at their car service, on a low salary. I remember when he gave it to me—his hands were shaking. We were just kids, terrified and certain at the same time. That ring didn't sparkle like others, but God, I thought it was magic.

"That ring cost me half of my salary at that time." He laughs.

"It was really nice for that time, Hero." I smile. "I took care of it with my whole heart." I let the box and I took out a keychain.

"Hmmm... The keychain of our first apartment."

"Apartment is a lot. It was a studio with a really small bathroom. And that bed... Jesus!"

"But it was our home for almost a year, Jo."

"Yeah, that's true." I remember renting the studio for one year, right after I graduated. He was still working at his family's business with car service and I was starting my first job in marketing. After our wedding, we had some money and we decided to move from his parent's house.

I take out something else from the box.. "Oh... this..." I giggle as I hold the small piece of material. "My garter from our wedding. It's been almost five years since then."

"And now it's over..." He says.

"It was amazing in the last years, Hero. But if the feelings are gone... we shouldn't stay together."

"I agree. It's the best decision for both of us."

"Yeah." I say and I look through all the things inside the box until I find a folded paper. "What is this?" I say and I open the paper. "Bucket list to do in the next 10 years. Oh, wow! I remember writing it after our wedding."

"Oh, shit. Yes. Let's see what we've done from that list."

1. Watch the sunrise from the mountaintop

2. Dance in the rain

3. Crash a wedding

4. Write letters to each other to open in ten years

5. Go skinny dipping

6. Sing karaoke in front of strangers

7. Visit Europe

8. Adopting a pet

9. Kiss like it's the first time

10. Have fun for the rest of our life

"Okay... We adopted a pet."

"And we visited Europe for our honeymoon. The other... I think we were a little bit to busy to live."

"Yeah..." I stay and I look at the list. Suddenly, an idea forms in my head. "I..." I start to say and I stop. It's really stupid.

"What?"

"It's stupid. Never mind."

"Tell me. You can tell me anything."

"No! It's really stupid, Hero. It doesn't matter."

"Talk to me. You know you can say the stupidest thing and I wouldn't mind."

"What if we're going to check all our wishes before getting a divorce?" He looks up at me.

"You mean... do the whole list?"

I shrug, trying to play it off. "One last time having fun together. I'm working from home and... well, why not?"

"Yeah. Sounds good," he says quietly. "Let's do it before signing the divorce papers." Then, almost a whisper— "Who knows? Maybe it's our chance to fall in love again."

Suddenly, I hear the soft shuffle of little paws across the hardwood floor. Luna pushes the door open with her snout and waddles in like she owns the place—which, honestly, she kind of does. Her bat ears perk up, and her tongue lolls out in that ridiculous way that always made Hero laugh. She plops herself between us and lets out a small grunt, like she's tired of being left out of the conversation.

I smile. "Look who decided to join us."

Hero reaches down and scratches behind her ear. "She always had good timing."

"She probably thinks we're arguing." I stroke the spot between her eyes, and she leans into my hand like she used to when she was a puppy.

"She was there for all the good moments." Hero says softly. "And all the bad ones too."

"Poor thing's been through everything with us. She probably deserves a bucket list of her own."

Luna sneezes dramatically, then rests her chin on Hero's shoe. We both laugh. And for a split second, it feels like the old days—like nothing between us ever cracked.