Tu Es Ma Lumière

65 - Worries - Part 3 *Modern*

"So, you and I meet again." Mary glared towards her former almost beau, looking him in the eye. He stood tall at the foot of her bed, but he couldn't hold her gaze for very long. No, one hand remained pressed to his lips, the other wrapped around his waist. His black jacket appeared rumpled like he had been laying on it, she noted. But of the way things with them ended, it honestly wouldn't surprise her if he actually had been. 

"Yes, we do." Francis began. He glanced up at her again, observed all the bruises and cuts she had all over her face and arms. It had been a few days since Mary had awoken from her ordeal and had the breathing tube removed, and in those few days, Francis had finally built up enough gaul to look his former flame in the eye for everything that had happened between them in the past.

"Why?" Mary asked, slowly folding one bruised arm over the other, resting them both across her tender chest. He rose a brow in response. "Why are you here?" she clarified. "Out of all people, in fact. I've seen my mother and son, my best friends, yet you turn up. Why you?" Mary asked him, unfolding her arms to retrieve a small blue plastic cup of water. She sipped from it, relieving her of the tension in her throat.

"I-I heard what happened." he began. "And I wanted to know if you were okay." he finished.

"Who told you?" Mary asked, raising a brow. She winced, forcing her face back into relaxation. "Who told you what happened to me?"

"James." he revealed. Mary paused. "James told me first, Mary. He came into class one morning, mimicking the noises of an ambulance. He told me that you had gotten hurt and he had been staying with his grandmother. Bash and Kenna filled in the rest for me." he finished. "I was concerned for you, he could have been alluding to anything happening to you. Regardless of how things went and ended between us, I still care about you and would never wish anything bad to happen to you. James concerned me, and I had to make sure that you were alright." he finished.

Mary looked at him, long in the eye. "Forgive me, but I don't believe one word that comes out of your mouth, Francis. Would you like to know why? Because when a girl goes through an awful marriage with an abusive drunk and finally finds a good man, only to have him end things with her in favour of an old flame for nothing but a few nights of fun, she tends not to trust anything that same man says to her." Mary finished, looking away from her.

Francis sighed. "I know you're still angry about what happened. Believe me, I don't blame you. However, I need you to trust that I still have good intentions when I come here. I know things ended badly between us, and I know you must hate me for what I did when we were together, and the last thing I want is to hash up old feelings. I just wanted to know that you were alright after what Darnley did."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm not, okay?" she asked. "I'm not." she finished. "Now, leave me alone, go to your little girlfriend and leave me and my life alone."

"Déjà vu." he mumbled to himself, lowering his blonde head to the floor again.

"What?" Mary demanded. Francis looked up at her.

"After I broke things off with you, to give things with Olivia another go, that's exactly what you said to me. That you wanted me to leave you and your life alone and to keep my nose out of your personal business. Remember that?" he scoffed.

"I do, and can you blame me? Act the victim? You had given me hope that I had finally found a good man, an honest man, to take care of me and give James a proper father figure. Only to have it ripped away from me because of a pretty blonde and a few nights of passion. Didn't that work out well for you?" Mary scoffed right back. Francis tensed. He didn't know she knew how things with Olivia had ended. "Yeah, I do know." she stated, he frowned, wondering if he had actually spoken those things, or if she simply read his mind. "Lola told me. Lola and Bash and Kenna were more than happy to keep me informed about what you had done with her. I thought you were a smart man, I really did, but that was a stupid decision, wasn't it? Or was it karma, I'll never know." she finished.