Stranger

11

Chapter 11:

(Daisy's/Charlie's POV)

I had avoided this moment for a while, coming back into this apartment was just too difficult to handle. Looking around the empty hollow place I would be calling home was overwhelming enough, unbearable even. I dropped my bag on the chair closest to me as I took my coat off feeling unwelcome and emotional. As much as I wanted to run from here to get away from my problems, I knew that running wouldn't help anything this time, that hiding from the situation was just going to catch up with me anyway. When I turned, I saw movement in the corner of my eye, turning a little more I saw a man with his back faced to me looking out of the open window admiring and overseeing the view below him, and to be fair being this high up in the city did give the apartment a pretty great view, but who was this guy? How did he get in here for starters? And why was he here?

"Excuse me can I help you?" I asked rudely finding the intrusion unnerving.

"I believe you can, I am looking for my wife." He said, his voice recognisable in seconds. But how was this possible? John ... I stood in state of shock and surprise as he turned, revealing that he hadn't aged a day since when I last saw him.

*Flashback*

It had been 7 months since me and my mother had the accident and it had been strange, John was still questioning what had happened to us in the hospital and what had happened to our eyes, but I did not know the answer to his question,and neither did my mother. I was adjusting his tie as he got ready for the day ahead. He worked in a bank and would be gone all day and with Elizabeth going to school, the house felt a little lonely.

"I wish you didn't have to go." I stated, placing hands flat on his chest.

"Nor I but it is the reason we live the way we do and have the finer things in life my dear. Now I must go, the time is upon us, I will see you later." He said before kissing me briefly. As he went out of the door, he turned back to face me giving me a smile as he left.

Later that day his bank was caught up in a match and was set on fire, 4 men out of the 103 that were in the building survived, John wasn't one of them.

*Flashback*

"You are a hard woman to find Daisy." He said as he took steps closer towards me.

"Whatever sick and twisted game this is I demand you to stop. You are not real, my husband died in 1814." I said keeping my distance.

"I never died, I don't know how or why I am here today but I am." He explained not giving me much to go off.

"Then why did you take this long to find me?" I asked crossing my arms The look written on his face told me that he had missed me, he looked nervous as if he didn't know what to do about my reaction.

"As I said before, you're a hard woman to find. I looked everywhere on the planet, I even became a shareholder for a company called Google so they could help me find you, of course this was when they started out, I tried to find as much information about your whereabouts as much as possible, even gave the company the idea for the maps. But you were thorough." He explained. Google huh, I invested in yahoo as a shareholder, the irony.

"How am I suppose to believe you? You might just be another doppelganger. You could have just found the information out easily and used this to your advantage." I suggested not believing a word. 

"I would never do that" He replied sounding sincere. 

"What do you want? Money? Power? What?" I asked looking at the distance between us, making sure there was enough to be safe just in case. 

"This age, time has changed you. You are not the same woman I love." He commented looking upset at my reaction towards him. He looked the same as John did when he felt the same expression, the resemblance was uncanny. 

"How did you find me?" I asked. 

"Your mother's death was in the news and it mentioned your name in the article." He explained as I undid my arms trying to relax.

"I also heard about Annabeth, of how she lived a full life. When ... when did she die?" He asked, the tone going down in our conversation. It was him ... nobody knew that me and Annabeth were linked in the history books in the end, me and my mother made sure she was safe from us int he records. So even if he were an impostor, he wouldn't have known. But he did. It was him, it was John. 

"She died in 1877." I replied looking around to avoid eye contact, I hated talking about her death but I was thankful she lived her life normally not like her family, she lived peacefully. He began walking towards me as I spoke, once he reach me, separating the distance between us, he spoke up.

"I missed you, both of you" He stated talking my hand to cup in between his. Actually feeling his skin, the warmth coming from it told me he was alive. I slide my hand out of his and wrapped my arms around his waist, pressing against him tight just to make sure he was real and that my hands weren't deceiving me, but they weren't.

"How did you know I would come back here?" I asked letting him go trying to hold back the tears that were my emotions,

"I found your name under the apartments rent name and considering how close it was too close to the accident, I had to check and see if it was you." He explained. That sounds about right for my mother to do that, so I was liable in case anything went wrong.

"Oh." I muttered 

"It's such a relief to see you Daisy." He said kissing the top of my hair. I don't know how, I don't know why, but for some alternate and out of this world reason, the world has given us a second chance.