Hanne

[nola_joshlyman]

Diego had to stop putting it off. He had a bunch of Hanne's mail that he needed to give her. And he knew he should do it now, because she was seeing someone else and was in love, and so what was the point of holding onto her mail or asking her to drop by? He had to shift his thinking, again, into a new era of Hanne and Diego. An era in which there wasn't a Hanne and Diego.

So it was late morning when Diego went by Hanne's new apartment with the mail in one hand, following a different resident into the building. He knocked on the door, steeling himself for seeing Hanne again for the first time, knowing now that she had moved on.

Comments

[nola_tristan]

Max bent down to suck the chocolate chip into his mouth, kissing her fingers in the process. “Secret two: I ate chalk when I was eleven just to see what it tasted like.” It tasted bad.

[nola_yvaine]

Hanne was so surprised into laughter that she clapped a hand over her mouth. When she dropped it again, still laughing, she said, "I can't believe I'm in love with a chalk-eater."

[nola_tristan]

“I can.” Max would never stop grinning at this rate. “It’s very you.”

[nola_yvaine]

"I am not giving you any of these pancakes now," she lied, pretending to be offended.

[nola_tristan]

“Secret three, I already know you’re going to share the pancakes,” Max said instantly.

[nola_yvaine]

"Only because I need you to have the energy to take me back to bed after," she playfully insisted. Hanne piled the second batch of pancakes on the plate with the first and turned off the stove.

[nola_tristan]

“You want to make it all the way back to the bed? I was just going to dramatically sweep everything off the table, throw you down onto it…”

[nola_yvaine]

Hanne laughed as she put everything on the table--pancakes, butter, syrup. Their plates and everything else were already there. "Promises, promises."

[nola_tristan]

“Maybe that’s just what brunch brings out in me.” He leaned over and kissed her quickly.

[nola_yvaine]

She caught his face in her hands and drew it out for a moment. "Then we're having brunch every weekend."

[nola_tristan]

“Marriage, kids, brunch,” Max said, when they finally parted. Their list of goals was strong.

[nola_yvaine]

"Sounds perfect," she agreed, then pointed at the table. "Now sit, eat. It's not chalk but I bet you'll like it anyway."

[nola_tristan]

“I can give up chalk for you,” Max said with a playful sigh, sitting down at the table. “Especially because this looks amazing."

[nola_yvaine]

Hanne sat, put her hands over her heart. "I've never been so touched in my life. Sacrificing for me already."

[nola_tristan]

“It’s going to be tough, but you’re worth it.” Max took a bite out of a pancake, and it was great.

[nola_yvaine]

He was so ridiculous, and she loved him so completely. She smiled the entire time she was eating, one foot resting against his under the table, just for the comfort of contact.

[nola_tristan]

“Hey Hanne?” He asked between bites, enjoying that extra contact.

[nola_yvaine]

She pushed a piece of pancake through a puddle of syrup and then tried to get it to her mouth before it all dripped out again. "Yeah Max?"

[nola_tristan]

Max watched this like it was the most fascinating thing in the world, and to him, it was. “Do you want to talk about the Diego thing?”

[nola_yvaine]

"Do you want to talk about the Diego thing?" she asked back because, well, he'd been having feelings about Diego even before he'd shown up at their--her--their? door.

[nola_tristan]

“It’s not my favorite topic. But I don’t want you to feel like you have to silence yourself because of me.”

[nola_yvaine]

"I'm not." She paused, correct herself. "I don't think I am. Not on purpose, anyway. It's just...very very weird to have my life change so much so quickly. Even though it is, entirely, for the better," she assured him, reaching over the lightly touch his hand. "And I can't tell him the whole story, even though it might make him feel less awful. Or maybe it wouldn't, and I just miss being able to tell him important things, because I've told him every important thing until now. I don't know."

[nola_tristan]

“You were both so sad. I’m sorry I’m part of that.” But Max would never be able to understand their relationship, he suspected.

[nola_yvaine]

"You make me so happy, Max. I hate that that is hurting Diego, but I'm not going to be less happy because of it. That's not fair to you, and that's not fair to me. It would be a waste of what we have." What they had was this beautiful, amazing, literally fairy-tale thing that Hanne couldn't take for granted.

"It's going to take some time to get used to the fact that I can be this happy and it's not with him, but this is what was supposed to happen. It was why I left. And I'm still going to be happy. I'll just...wish on one of my falling siblings that he finds someone better for him than me soon." Not that that was going to be all fun and games for her, but she still loved Diego enough to want the best for him.

"It's all easier when you keep moving forward, he just feels like he isn't." She'd gone back to school, she'd moved, she'd found someone. He hadn't. She understood why that was so hard for him, and she wanted to help, but she couldn't.

[nola_tristan]

"You make me so happy too. I feel sorry for him, because we're meant for each other, and I know what loving you feels like, so I can't blame him for doing it. Maybe this is the push he needs to move forward." And maybe he wouldn't come around again to make Hanne cry!