It was Richard.

Laura's throat closed up at his voice and she was reminded of the voicemail he'd left her after she'd stormed out the apartment nine months ago. I'm sorry, he had said. It just happened.

Just happened, my ass.

"Hi," Laura managed to choke out. "Is Daniel home?"

There was a short pause before Richard replied, "Laura?"

She didn't want to talk to him, so she repeated, "Is Daniel home?"

Thankfully, Richard seemed to catch onto the urgency in her voice and sighed. "No, I'm afraid not. He went to the store although he should be arriving shortly. Do you want to come inside and wait for him?"

Laura immediately shook her head. There was no way she was stepping inside their apartment. Their, Daniel's and Richard's, not Daniel's and Laura's anymore. Not a chance.

Then, she realized Richard couldn't see her, so she said: "No, that's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, the weather's nice."

"O-okay. I'll be seeing you then."

Hopefully not.

"Yes, bye now," Laura breathed out and took a step back. A click sounded from the intercom and she knew that Richard could no longer hear her. God, she felt lighthearted. She hadn't planned for him not to be at home.

Of course he wasn't, she thought. He just always had to ruin everything for her, didn't he? He couldn't just give her this one fucking thing.

Letting out a groan, Laura slumped down the front steps and sat down on the last one with an irritated huff. Placing her chin on the palms of her hands, she decided that she hadn't come all this way for nothing and so, she waited.

She waited and waited until a familiar figure appeared at the other end of the street. A tall man with dark hair dresses in a grey coat and with two grocery bags in hand was walking towards her. Laura could spot the exact moment he realized who was sitting outside his building, because his eyes widened and eyebrows furrowed.

"Laura?" He called out. "Is that you?"

Just seeing Daniel's face and hearing his voice sparked a certain énouement inside of her. Standing up from the concrete step she's been sitting on, Laura dusted the dirt off her jeans and nodded. "The one and only."

She was surprised by the confidence lacing her tone, but pleasant that she was managing to hold herself together while standing in front of the man that had caused her so much pain. In fact, she was proud of herself, and because of that she felt even more confident.

Daniel came to a halt a few steps away from her. "What's up?" He asked and Laura almost scoffed at the question. The last time she saw him she was shouting profanities at him and if she remembered correctly, she even threw her shoe at him. Nine months later and the only thing he says is what's up?

"I wanted to talk to you," She informed him and crossed her arms over her chest.

He hummed. "Alright, shoot."

For a while, Laura didn't say anything. She didn't know where to start exactly, she also didn't want to say too much. Didn't want him to know how much control he still had over her.

"It takes cells seven years to replace themselves, did you know that?"

Daniel frowned in puzzlement. "Uh, yes I believe I learned that in high school. Why?"

"Because that means that after seven years, my cells will have replaced themselves," she looked straight into his eyes as she said this, watched the confusion in his eyes before she finished, "so after seven year my body will be one that you have never touched and I will be free to move on."

He didn't say anything to that. Just blinked once. Twice. So, she kept talking,

"Because, and trust me, I hate to admit this, but I still have feelings for you, whether they're positive or negative, and I just want to feel nothing when I hear your name and not this crumbling fear of having to fucking say hi to you as if nothing happened." 

Laura didn't swear, and Daniel was well aware of that, which is how he knew she was beyond irritated with him and she could tell because he was studying her with caution, like an amazon explorer would when face to face with a wild animal.

"And the worst part about it is that you didn't even apologize," she exclaimed and threw her arms up in frustration. All the feelings that she had tried to bottle up for the past months were breaking out and she didn't even want to suppress them. She wanted him to know how she felt, feel what she felt and she wanted him to understand what he did. Not because she wanted him to feel bad for her or guilty for what he did, she just wanted him to understand.

"Hang on, of cour-" Daniel was quick to attempt to defend himself but Laura didn't want him to speak, didn't want to hear his voice, so she interrupted him.

"No you didn't!" She laughed. It was not joyous laughter but rather one that follows when you say something that you're just now realizing is so beyond ridiculous that you can't help but laugh. "You've never, not once since it happened, told me that you're sorry for treating me that way."

Daniel couldn't look her in the eyes anymore. He glanced at his shoes and pursed his lips. Laura couldn't tell if it was because he was ashamed or not, but she didn't want him to feel that way because she wasn't trying to guilt trip him.

"I am sorry, you know," he murmured. "I never meant to hurt you."

Laura sighed. "I know. And I don't mean for this to be some kind of a confrontation or for you to go home home and beat yourself up for the past. I just came to say goodbye."

He nodded slightly. "Yeah, alright."

Not wanting to end things on bad notes again, Laura felt the need to say something positive as well. "Thank you," she said, "for those three years. You're a good person, and although you made one very poor judgment, that doesn't define who you are, you know that, right?"

Daniel glanced up at her and she noticed a soft smile on his lips. "Thank you. You're a good person as well, and you deserve much better than what I did. I wish you the best and-" he paused, as if not sure whether or not to say what was on his mind but after a second or two, he sighed, "I do love you, still. And I know I don't have any right to say that to you but I do."

Laura didn't acknowledge the end of his short speech, instead she just hummed and said, "Thank you. I'm going to go now, Jane's waiting for me."

After walking to her bike and unlocking it, Laura glanced over her shoulder at Daniel who still hadn't moved from his spot. He stood there, watching her with a sad smile.

"Goodbye, Laura."