This is the part where he is supposed to kiss her, supposed to tell her everything is okay. It's in the past and together they can head towards the future. [break][break]

But something in the back of his mind says otherwise, tells him that he can't just accept this. [break][break]

His hand curls around her own, the one cradled against his cheek. [break][break]

"But is it?" he asks her, lips turned into a frown. "Is Cian?"

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

no.
[break][break]
The answer is one resounding no. But, however hard she tried to make the words come out, they kept locked behind tightened lips and widened eyes that searched for a lifeline that wasn't arriving.
[break][break]
Again, she defaults to the only answer she knew.
[break][break]
"I don't know."
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]

If she'd said yes, he would've said she was lying. It may have been years since they'd known each other like they used to, may have been continents of distance since he'd been allowed to know her like the way he wanted, but Ollie still liked to believe that he understood her better than anyone else. [break][break]

When he looks at her, it's not with sadness but understanding. [break][break]

"Don't you want to know, though, Penny? Don't you want -" his words are gentle, squeezing her wrist lightly. "Don't you want to find that out?" [break]

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

"Mmm."
[break][break]

She wasn't sure. Cian had captured her heart in more ways than one. He'd become her heart, soul, and future - someone irreplaceable, despite what might happen.
[break][break]

And yet, he'd become replaced.
[break][break]

A lot has been forced into perspective since then.
[break][break]

"Is that a question or a suggestion," she sighed.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]

She hadn't pushed him away yet, which he considered a win. He knew that if she wanted to, she could've pushed him away - just like he was pushing her. [break][break]

"What do you want it to be?" [break][break]

Because in the end of the day, did what he feel really matter? [break][break]

A hand was placed on her knee. [break][break]

"Be honest with yourself, Penny."

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

She wanted it to be nonexistent. A question to be forced into the back of her mind, for a better Penelope, forcibly wiser through the additional hours of thought. But not now. Now wasn't the time.
[break][break]

"I'm trying," she murmured, eyes closing, "i just don't know what i want. Or what i should do."
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]

Her eyes fluttered shut, amber lashes against her cheek. Ollie knew that he could make this all go away, could pretend it wasn't important. Tuck it away, hide, avoid it by whatever means necessary. [break][break]

A younger Ollie would've done that. Stubborn and defiant, refusing to face the facts that were right in front of him. [break][break]


But Penny wasn't the only one who'd changed in their years apart. [break][break]


Slowly, Ollie lowers his face to hers in a chaste kiss. It lasts but a second, but has enough emotion in it for a lifetime. [break][break]


He leans back. [break][break]

"I'll wait for you," he said, fingers lingering as the pulled back from her cheek. "As long as it takes. But you should take some time, to figure out what you really want, Penny." [break][break]

Ollie turns away then, stepping around the kitchen island to go grab another batch of pancakes. [break][break]

They were going to get cold.

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

It hurt. Feeling the warmth grace her cheek, only to be torn away yet again. This time, however, it wasn't some precarious friendship meddling with their affairs. Nor was it distance or history splitting them far apart.
[break][break]

This time it was Penelope and her inability to do the one thing asked of her: to decide.
[break][break]

When she opened her eyes, Ollie was already gone. He had returned to his pancakes. Feeling the gnaw of loneliness creep up her shoulders, she reached out for tofu instead, looking to dig her fingers into something other than the splitting wood between them.
[break][break]

As she did, two familiar words slipped from her lips.
[break][break]

"I'm sorry."
[break][break]

Did those words still hold any meaning?

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]

'Pika?' [break][break]

Tofu looked up curiously at Penny as she tangled her fingers in his coat, but nuzzled into her touch regardless, an attempt to provide her comfort. [break][break]

Ollie on the other hand was pouring syrup all over his pancakes. Sickly sweet. [break][break]

"You don't have to apologize, Pen," he said blithely. "You didn't do anything wrong." [break]

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

Yet, the world replied, hushed in its whispers. The councilwoman had yet to conceive any wrongs, but in time they would come, and the guilt that now festers will begin to bare its fangs.
[break][break]

But, for now, there was still peace to be had. Love to be enjoyed.
[break][break]

"Still," her voice hesitated, ready to betray her at a moment's notice, "I'm sorry for not knowing."
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]

He shakes his head. [break][break]

"You don't have to know everything, all the time, Pen." [break][break]

It was something that he used to say way back when, when they were dating. At the time, it had made her frustrated - in fact, in some ways, it may have even been the source of their fights. After all, back then, Ollie had been much more carefree than he was now. A bird that needed to soar, that couldn't - that refused to have his wings clipped. [break][break]

He grabs the plate of pancakes, drizzles some honey on it, and walks over so that he sits near her. He places a spoonful in his mouth, lips twisted into a smile. [break][break]

"I just want you to be happy. So even if that takes days, months, whatever, I'll still stand by you." He reaches over, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Even if you end up going back to Cian, or you decide you want something else, I'll be by your side."

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

She nodded, thoughtful in the ways her eyes stared back at his. Before, words like that would drive her insane. They were ways in which Ollie tried to brush the most important aspects of her life under the rug, dismissing not only their significance but hers as well.
[break][break]

This time, however, only comfort is found in the hushed warmth of his voice.
[break][break]

"Okay."

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]