Set Me Free

'He wasn't expecting that.'

"No matter how much time has passed, these things still affect us and the world we live in. If you don't pay attention to the past, you'll never understand the future. It's all linked together."

Daniel's POV

Daniel had not been back to his little town in nearly three years.

He needed to move on and the first step for that was a change of scenery. So he packed his bags and moved to London. The busy city suited him more, he enjoyed being in the hustle and bustle of the big city.

He only returned today because it was his mother's birthday.

He decided to come home and lay flowers on her grave, a little present to remember her on what would have been her fortieth birthday. He couldn't help but think what it would have been like if she was still here. They probably would have had a big party, allowed her to celebrate this milestone birthday in style. Instead, he had to settle with a bunch of flowers on her grave.

There was not a day that went past that he didn't miss her.

"What time would you like to go tonight?" Chloe asks as she looks over the many varieties on flowers on display.

Daniel had met Chloe once he moved to London. She was one of his flat mates who had offered him a room once he had nowhere to go. They got along so well that she offered to come on this trip home with him. He was glad to have the company.

"I don't mind, any time is fine," he answers her nonchalantly. He couldn't help himself from constantly looking out of the window, hoping to see a flash of blonde hair he knew so well walk past.

Since he had been back, this was all he could think about. Their town was so small that he knew that sooner or later he would see her again.

He didn't know if he was ready.

He had spent the last three years trying to forget her with not much luck. He believed that distance was all he need to put the past behind him however it was always there, lingering in the back of his mind. He felt like he was constantly surrounded by things that somehow reminded him of her. Blonde hair the exact same shade as hers, a laugh that sounded so much like hers he would do a second look, someone who wore the same perfume that Elizabeth was wearing the night he said goodbye. He was surrounded by these little reminders, almost making it impossible to forget her.

Maybe he didn't truly want to.

She was the one thing that had gone right in his life and he wasn't ready to let that go. Therefore, she was always there, forcing him to remember.

It didn't help that he was still madly in love with her.

After all this time, he could still only image himself loving her. She was his first love and sometimes he worried she would be the only woman he ever loved in his life. He knew he couldn't be with her, he knew that she was probably off somewhere, madly in love with someone else. Yet, he couldn't stop himself from hoping that one day it would him she spent the rest of her life with.

That's why he moved away.

The temptation to track her down was too much, the allure of her was too strong. He didn't think he could stop himself from standing on her doorstep, begging her to take him back that he had no choice but to pack his life up and run away.

Some part of him was glad he did.

The commotion of the new city allowed him to forget about his father, forget about the six years he spent in captivity. He was able to be himself again, to get a job and make friends and be a normal human being again. He loved the freedom of it.