the fall [00.1]

She watched him cautiously, making no move to open up her home to him. For a moment, she was staunch in her belief that this was not King, that her mind was tricking her from exhaustion or someone had come to make a mockery of her. It had happened before. However, when his voice broke through the beating of rain, her hand dropped from her mouth like a dead weight. Before he could continue on, she joined him out there, ignoring the chill the rain brought. He had left on a rainy day, she remembered. The rain hadn't come back since.

Not until now, at least.

Carmen extended a hand to touch him. She touched his face, his chest, his arms. Her mind still rejected the idea that he was here, but her eyes didn't lie, nor did her ears or her fingers. The rain helped to conceal the few tears that managed to escape her eyes, and she swiped at both as they mixed upon her cheek. Such an emotional response had not been summoned by elatedness, more so by a healing wound that had just been freshly ripped open. She wanted to hug him and kiss him, but she also wanted to slap him and send him away. The weight of both desires muddled her brain, making her retract the extended hand back across her chest.

Eventually, she looked back up at him, the pain and the relief and all of the other things she felt in that moment rolling off of her in waves. "Why?" Her voice was nearly washed out from the beating of raindrops on the pavement, the tone of it utterly broken. She bit her lip to keep it from quivering, wanting nothing more than to fit herself into his arms. She knew better than to just give in to such simplistic wants, though. Carmen was a woman of strength; one who needed answers. Still, the temptation to let all of her questions fall to the ground to be forgotten was quite near irresistible.

If he were to make a move to embrace her, her fragile hold on her stability would crumble to pieces. Even looking at him was nearly unbearable. Four weeks he had been gone without a trace, four weeks she had spent alone in confusion. He had left her with nothing, and now, here he was, casually strolling back in to her life as if he had been there all along.

His hand wrapped delicately around her wrist, pulling her closer to him. She refused to look up for fear of what her emotions would do, reluctantly letting herself be dragged. He rested her hand upon his chest where it had sat numerous times before. Carmen's fingers curled, raking over his wet skin. Her other arm still clung to her opposite shoulder, desperately trying to help hold the woman together.

She knew he hadn't meant to hurt her. He was a calculating man, this she knew, and every move he made was made deliberately. That is what stung. It may not have been entirely intentional, but his absence was planned. He had held her and stayed with her and fooled her.

Her voice had left her, she had nothing to say even when he had reiterated the promise he had made. Carmen lifted her head, craning her neck to look at him, to take in his features in real time. She had taken his presence for granted before; she wouldn't make the same mistake again. Five seconds, it took five seconds of facing him head-on for her to give in to her petty wishes.

Her composure fell to pieces.

A single sob broke through the falling rain, her free hand quick to find her mouth and prevent more of them from breaking through. The hand that rested on his chest had been balled into a fist when she fell into him, burying her face into his robes to further stifle her humiliating reaction. She tried to fight the trembling, but eventually gave in, letting all the pain she had felt for the past four weeks through her carefully contained walls. It did feel good to cry.

Strength had always evaded her when it came to King, taking a step back in his presence. She had promised herself that if she saw him again she would not give in so easily, but her sense had also been hastily discarded when he had come knocking.

So much for standing her ground.

Carmen had been preparing for this moment with the intention to make him pay. She had imagined herself staring him down and demanding some sort of reasoning behind his abrupt disappearance or simply shutting the door to him to illustrate the pain he had caused. Both scenarios had been intricately written and rehearsed in her mind and both had been completely forgotten when the reunion had finally taken place. Relief, suffering and affection had taken up most of the space within her, leaving no room for the more negative emotions to show.

She loathed his hold over her. Carmen had been silly to overlook the negative traits he possessed. He was manipulative and he was selfish, two traits she had been fully aware of when she let herself fall for him. Perhaps she thought herself invulnerable to this side of him, but knowing now that she was not made her wary, more so than she had been before. After all, a good student learned from her mistakes.

His fingers entwined into her wet mop of hair, holding her to him. Carmen wiped furiously at her irritated eyes, trying to calm herself down with deep breaths. Even though he was deemed monstrous by some, a visage she herself saw when time to time, he was something more. They meshed so well together because they saw one another for what they truly and wholly were. She saw the good and the bad and accepted it all. Of course, this little stunt did put a dent in her trust. Surely he was aware of this.

"Eres mi rosa."

Carmen let out a single "ha", her voice still muddled from her current emotional state. A finger lifted her downcast face upward, forcing her to look at him. She knew how she looked, and yet, his own eyes reflected something she did not see. He was admiring her, how, she did not know. When he descended to meet her, she didn't resist.

The kiss lasted a painfully short amount of time before he withdrew, glancing at her once again. His comment made her drop her gaze. That breach of trust lingered, making her second-guess every word he said. Still, she followed him back into her home wordlessly. Carmen sought out two towels from the closet beside her door, burying her face into one and drying her damp skin and hair. She offered King the other one in order for him to do the same.

"You still haven't answered my question." Carmen stated weakly in an attempt to regain control. She couldn't allow him to walk right back in without an explanation. That much was obligatory. "Where were you? What am I to think of your abandonment?"