dreamy [✓] | mystical [✓]

♪ 𝓶𝔂  𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓽𝓱  𝓲𝓼  𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼   ♪

'the stars exploding, we'll be fireproof'

He watched her carefully out of the corner of his eyes.

She didn't know he was there. In fact, if he hadn't doubled back to check that he hadn't been hallucinating, he would've missed her altogether.

They had known each other all their lives, growing up together in the same small town where everyone knew everyone. It was more of a surprise not to know someone.

But they had been neighbours, the same kids who often stole snacks and ran away to the hidden clearing in the forest, chatting and playing for hours before sneaking back into the house to grab bags they'd prepared previously. Then they would run down to the beach, leaving behind everything that grounded them to reality in favour of the beautiful ocean spread out before them.

Growing up in a small town next to the ocean, which was a hotspot for tourists, there were very few spots along the beach that weren't overrun with visitors and holidaymakers. But when they were seven, they'd stumbled upon this particular place.

It had water clearer than the purest cut diamond, a beach cleaner than any other, and the water was always the perfect temperature.

More often than not, they could be found there, if you could find them, that is.

They were masters of running away.

And it had always been to their advantage. Yet, when she turned nineteen, she'd run away, and even he couldn't find her.

That was five years ago.

Ellie Madrigal, the one person who'd seen him cry, the girl he'd grown up walking to school with, the same girl who'd run to him to gloat about getting first place at her swim meets when he hadn't been there, successfully guilt-tripping him into paying for her whole shopping spree.

Tristan Elsher was a well-known name in the world of fashion. After all, he'd strived to bring the name of his brand into the spotlight of the world.

Le Madrigal was his brainchild and an ode to the girl who let him love her through his youth. It had been an online store at first, shipping globally even when it had just been a small business.

It took off when his ideas and drawings had reached the hands of Vogue's top executives, and that was that.

Le Madrigal had been his biggest hope of finding Ellie, and after years of dead ends, he'd finally found her, although it had been on his own accord, and had nothing to do with the brand.

He was on the way back from a conference in Paris when he spotted her. More precisely, he spotted her hair.

She had the most beautiful hair.

Straight, brown locks that went down to her waist, with touches of blonde scattered throughout, bringing out the flakes of gold in her eyes.

"El," his voice wasn't loud, in fact, it was quite the opposite, but she heard him.

Her pace faltered, and her head darted up. He watched her turn in a slow circle, scanning for him, a glimmer of something that looked a lot like hope in her eyes. When she didn't see him, the spark faded out, and her face returned to the stone-like mask it had once been.

"El," he called again, and this time, her hazel eyes met his.

The branded bag she'd been carrying dropped to the floor as he took three quick steps to reach her.

She put some distance between them faster than he could blink, and further than he would've liked.

Her luggage seemed to be the only thing supporting her, as the hand that tightened around the handle whitened.

"Holy shit, Tris," she uttered his name like a forbidden word, a taboo she hadn't spoken for years. And she probably hadn't.

Involuntarily, his feet stayed glued to the floor. "I wanted to believe it so fricking bad, but I couldn't find you," she whispered, as though someone was eavesdropping. But if someone was, he hadn't noticed.

Because the moment they'd made eye contact, the whole world fell away.

It was only them.

He found himself looking into the same eyes that saved him from drowning when he was eleven, the same eyes that taught him how to swim.

Every memory, good and bad, came fluttering back to him.

Most of them starred the ocean, their love of water, and that same pair of mahogany eyes.

He found himself standing shell-shocked while a pair of warm arms circled him in a hug. He looked down to see the feisty girl he spent most of his youth bickering with clinging onto him as though he was her lifeline.

"You left," his voice held a tone of accusation, and she stumbled back, eyes filled with regret and hurt. "I'm sorry," she pleaded. "Sorry doesn't explain why you made the decision that left my heart broken for five years, El, it doesn't explain why the hell you decided to run away, why you decided to leave the town, leave our friends, leave your family."

He broke off, his voice cracking.

"It doesn't explain why you left me."

She gazed up at him, her eyes misty with tears. "I'm glad I ran into you here, Tris," she smiled, as though the entire weight of the world was on her shoulders and she couldn't bear to have him know it.

"That's not the answer I'm looking for, El. I want an explanation," he demanded as she once again put distance between them. Picking up her fallen bag in one swift motion and grabbing her luggage, she met his eyes almost regretfully.

"I wish I could tell you everything, but I can't. Not because I don't want to, but because I can't." He couldn't do anything but watch as she picked up a fallen photo, which had escaped her watch.

He caught a glimpse of it.

It was a photo of the two of them when she'd turned sixteen, at the clear waters of their secret spot.

"When the time is right, I'll find you, but until then, don't come looking for me. I will never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you." Rising to her toes, she placed a light peck on his cheek and disappeared into the crowd, blending in so seamlessly that even he couldn't find her anymore.

They'd played hide and seek in the ocean their whole lives, but this time, no matter how hard he sought, he'd never be able to find her, not until she wanted to be found.

'runaway now and forevermore'

✎...A/N: hide and seek brings back fond memories of a wonderful childhood, this one's for all the children who are playing it with their friends, no matter how old you are

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