Forever or Never

Forever or Never: 32

Richard seemed to stand in utter silence letting those words sink in before he commenced shouting all manner of things their way; hurtful things, things that he would surely regret saying at a later date, or at least he would if he was any other normal sane minded person. But considering his dislike towards Victor outranked his apparent love for his daughter, it was very doubtful whether he'd even dwell on this meeting once it was finished with.

"Out." He said heavily after catching his breath. "You are to leave. You will pack all you can, and you will get out. You are not to come back here unless summoned, do you understand?"

Victor could only stand behind Mercy and watch as she let out a shuddering breath and nod. She couldn't speak, he could literally see her heart breaking right in front of him, and there was absolutely nothing he could do.

He could try and counter Richard's words, his apparent decision, but to what end? Anything he'd say to the older man would get met with angry heated words.

So he stood, and he watched, and he followed Mercy out of the room and up the empty quiet staircase until they reached her room. And only then did she break down. She turned in a blink of an eye and buried her face against his chest, "Shh," he soothed and pulled away, cupping her face he ran his thumbs under her eyes. She struggled to get her breathing under control, she even hiccuped quietly a few times as she stood sniffling away. "You cannot let them see you cry. To see you cry will give them the boost they need to know that they have won, that they have beaten you down."

"I know you're right...but it hurts...how could he be so cruel?" She said quietly while her face turned to one of sadness again.

"Mercy, my dear Mercy...he would cut off his nose to spite his face. He can say the things he does because he simply doesn't seem to care." Victor said while she slowly nodded, "Come, I'll help you pack." He patted her shoulders gently and watched as she turned and took to pulling nearly every article of clothing she had from her wardrobe out and onto her bed.

He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, she had a lot more dresses and skirts than he ever imagined. When she commenced pulling out nightwear, underwear, and shirts, Victor was more than certain that he didn't have enough room to house her clothes back home. There was barely enough room for his things...they'd come to some sort of arrangement, but as for now they needed to get out of here.

Finding two rather large cases he helped her fold her clothes up as small as possible so they all fitted. It was some sort of miracle that they did. Once they were done she looked at him with hollow eyes which suddenly sparked with some other emotion.

"I'll be right back," she said quietly while tiptoeing out of the room. He watched her go and watched her return with a small bundle in her arms. He watched as she shoved what seemed to be a simple jumper into one of the cases, and then zipped it back up with a nod.

"Ready?" Victor asked, she looked around the room, making silent farewells. Along with her clothes she had packed a few other little knick-knacks with her, photographs, jewellery, reading books, drawing books, pencils...

"I didn't think it'd end like this."

"I know," he held onto the handle of one case while she picked up the lighter one, she looked to his offered hand and slipped hers into his. Holding on tightly she let him lead her out of the room, slowly they turned the corner and walked out of the corridor. Reaching the stairs, they paused. He allowed her to look around her home one last time before gently pulling her towards the stairs. He was rather certain that if they didn't leave soon, that Richard would come and kick them out.

Mercy opened the door, and without so much as a backwards glance, or a farewell to her parents, she left. Victor shut the door and placed his arm around her shoulders as she seemed to falter in walking.

She was heartbroken. He could see it physically, and he didn't believe that such a thing was truly possible, but it was. He had felt grief, and knew what it looked like, and that's exactly what Mercy seemed to be dealing with right now.

He leaned closer and kissed the top of her head. She looked up at him with tear filled eyes, placing her hand against his cheek, she stroked it with her fingertips before leaning up and capturing his lips with hers briefly as they paused on the corner of the street.

"Victor?"

"Yes?" He looked at her curiously, she sniffled a few times and pushed stray locks of hair behind her ears as she linked her arm with his as they continued onward.

"Can we go home?" Mercy asked in a rather small voice, yet there was a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"It would be my pleasure." Victor smiled and picked up his pace, Mercy leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked on. She couldn't help but sigh wistfully, and sadly. She honestly did feel like she was leaving a piece of herself behind in that house. She didn't want to dwell on it, yet a part of her was niggling away.

By the time they got back, Igor was up and looking reasonably more human than what he did when they left. He shot up from his seat and placed the newspaper he was reading on the arm of the chair and turned to them. "How'd it go?"

Mercy went to reply yet could only shake her head as more tears threatened to spill from her eyes. Victor looked at her as she looked sadly down at the floor. He shut the door and ran a hand down her back, "As one could imagine." He replied, "Come on, I'll help you with these and then you can rest up. This has been a rather traumatic morning for you." Victor picked up her other case and led the way to his room, Mercy followed after him, yet she sent a small smile in Igor's direction as they passed.

She looked about the small room and wiped at her eyes. "Victor," he turned at the sound of his name and shrugged his coat off, he placed it slowly down on the chair near the desk and walked up to her. She twiddled her fingers and seemed to struggle to think of the right words to say. She nodded a few times before looking up at him with teary eyes and a tear stained face. "I don't feel...anything...yet, I do...I don't understand, Victor...what is this feeling?"

"A broken heart, perhaps?" He voiced his earlier musings.

"They...just like that..." Mercy said while a frown appeared on her face as she couldn't quite say how simply her parents seemed to disown her. "There's not a cure for a broken heart, is there?"

"No," he replied sadly while putting his hands on her shoulders. He leaned down to her eye level and smiled sadly. "Though to get over a broken heart the possible remedy is to fill it with happiness, more love to forget the old pain."

She looked at him and smiled, placing her hands on his face she pulled him close and nudged her forehead against his gently. She shut her eyes and sighed quietly. "I've found my source for that then."

Victor was content at least to see that she had stopped crying for the moment. Placing a hand on the back of her head, he gently threaded his fingers in her hair, leaning away he kissed her on the forehead. "You look tired, Mercy. Have a rest for a while. All of the nerves and then the meeting itself has taken a lot out of you." He said while watching as she slowly turned to the case which she had crammed her sleepwear into.

"Don't let me sleep the day away." Mercy said standing upright with a white piece of clothing in her hands.

Walking over, Victor smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder, she looked at him with slightly red eyes still. "It is my professional opinion that you get at least three hours' sleep. That why you'll feel not only better, but more alert. Anything below two hours...no," he actually let out a rather childish 'tsk' sound and shook his head.

Mercy smiled, "Fine, Doctor."

Victor smiled in return and nodded slowly, she seemed all right now, well as all right as she could be considering what had earlier transpired. "I don't think that's going to become a reality any time soon, Mercy."

"That's a shame. You'd make a brilliant doctor I think." Mercy said while turning away from him and sitting on the bed. She took to unlacing her shoes and slipping them off before taking to dealing with her stockings.

Victor stood and watched the slow actions, "Thanks." He said awkwardly and got a raised eyebrow sent his way, Mercy smiled and tilted her head to the side. With an equally awkward sounding cough, Victor turned and left her to it.