08, Real Life

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"I don't regret choosing Harry," Artemis Hunter says to Chris Evans as they sit with their sides pressed together on a bench at a park they used to frequent when they were younger

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"I don't regret choosing Harry," Artemis Hunter says to Chris Evans as they sit with their sides pressed together on a bench at a park they used to frequent when they were younger. "I don't think I could regret choosing him—because the last ten years, they have been wonderful." She looks sideways at him to find his eyes already trained on her, gaze unwavering as he takes in every word that leaves her mouth. "But I do regret hurting you, Chris. Because you were so good to me, and I did love you. I loved you so much. I wouldn't have—I wouldn't have agreed to marry you if I didn't love you." She brushes the hair from her face and sighs. 

         She thinks about Chris, thinks about him getting down on one knee and telling her that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Twenty-one and so, so sure that she was everything he wanted in life. She thinks about telling her parents, showing the ring with a smile so bright that it rivalled the gem placed intricately at the centre.

          Then she thinks about Harrison, and how he'd turned up at the apartment she'd shared with Chris and told her that he loved her still, after five years apart. How he'd loved her through their break-up, through her relationship with Chris, and the reparation of their friendship. How he couldn't let her marry Chris without knowing that he loved her, too, and that he loved Chris like a friend but he wouldn't—couldn't—let them get married without telling her the truth.

          She thinks about Chris listening to all of this from the other room, and how he said nothing. How he waited for her response, for her choice, how she didn't know what to do, who to choose. Because she loved Chris, but she loved Harrison, too—because he had been her first love and she was the hopeless romantic who believed in their second chance.

          "After the divorce..." Artemis pauses, looks down at her hands placed carefully in her lap. "After the divorce, I thought a lot about what it would have been like if we'd gotten married, instead. If it was me and you at that altar instead of me and Harry—and I wondered if we'd have ended, too. But... But I would choose him again. Because he gave me Caleb and Ellie, and he did give me ten good years. I'm sorry, Chris, I'm sorry."

          Chris' arms are wrapping around her shoulders before Artemis registers the tears spilling from her eyes, all those years of guilt escaping her in a rush of emotion—because she has kept herself from shedding tears for him because she didn't deserve it. But now, Chris is holding her in his arms, and his chin is on her head, and he tells her, "You don't have to be." He brushes the hair from her face. She's thankful that there's no one around—can imagine the headlines if they were pictured like this. "Artemis, I was never mad at you. I didn't need your apology, because for me, there was nothing to forgive. I respected your decision then and I respect it now." He holds her closer to him. "You'll always have a place in my heart, Artemis Hunter. Be it as my fiancee or my friend."

          He'd told her that before, as he hugged her goodbye. But after months of silence, Artemis thought that maybe the words were just an empty parting promise. Now, she thinks that maybe it's been true for all these years.

          Artemis sniffles, and somehow manages to wipe her hands beneath her eyes with Chris' arms still wrapped around her. "Do you—Would you like to come over for dinner tonight?" She pulls away from his side to look at him properly as she asks, teary smile tugging at the corners of her lips. It's one that Chris returns with a grin.

        "I'd love to," he answers, "I've been wanting to meet Pipping and Bug for months."

        "I adopted Bug two weeks ago—."

         "Months, Artemis."

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