ONCE BURNED was made by MEL. Copying, altering, or stealing any of the site's content is prohibited. All of ONCE BURNED's characters are the original work of their owners and may not be replicated or stolen. All images and graphics belong to their rightful owners and ONCE BURNED does not claim to own any of them.
After extensive phone calls with vendors, designers, new employees and a couple of siblings, Luca had realized that the whole time he'd been with Callie the other day, not once had they really caught up. He had no idea what was going on in her life, although he wasn't sure that he wanted to dive into his own life and what had happened after he left. It was an excuse to see her, something that he had to seize and take hold of because he'd missed out on it for years.
It only took him a day, which he knew probably made him out to be desperate, but it was Callie. There was no point for him to feel desperate for seeing her because she was one of the only people in the States that knew him. So as he'd promised before getting whisked away the prior day, he asked her to dinner. He didn't know anything about Oregon, what were nice spots to eat and where the true holes in the wall were. He basically threw a rock in the direction of a restaurant when he picked it and showed up completely unsure of what to expect.
He was dressed in his usual, dark jeans and a dark button-up with a leather jacket for no real intent other than to feel seemingly normal. Standing by the entrance, he had the bottom of his foot pressed against the wall while he leaned against it, waiting for his former flame to rescue him from the impending feeling of awkward discomfort.
It had been odd how easily things fell into place with Luca. He hadn't seemed mad and he hadn't really been all that awkward about getting in contact with her after they reconnected. It only took him a day to decide she was worth calling. Given the stress of how things progressed with Chandler, having someone want her company was a nice, well-received change. One she happily accepted.
Callie made sure not to keep him waiting. She always hated that. One her way she had to ask herself the obvious question; was this a date? Or were they at a place now where dinner together didn't automatically count as such? Perhaps it was safer not to put in so much thought. When she saw him there, waiting, she was a little worried she got the details wrong.
"I'm not late, am I?" She asked. Chances are he made some kind of reservations, and she didn't want to ruin that.
Luca lifted his head and his eyes right as Callie made her way closer. Her question made his eyebrows pull together and he shook his head, "No, no, you're good. I'm just weirdly early all the time." With a shrug, he gave her a once over, focusing on not lingering for too long. She always had been beautiful, no matter whether she tried harder one day or not. He was just happy for the familiarity of her and the comfort he took from the fact that she'd been willing to have dinner with him after everything.
He motioned for her to go ahead while he held the door. It wasn't long before they were taken to a table and he, in typical fashion, pulled out her chair for her and didn't sit until she was settled. Old habits died hard. He placed his napkin in his lap and ordered a water before the waiter left the table. Luc chewed on his lower lip briefly before glancing up at her.
"We didn't get much chance to talk the other day, I still feel a little crappy for having to just leave like that. The opening is so close and everyone has been breathing down my neck," He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck as if to emphasize his words. "How've things been though? How're your brothers and the rest of the family?"
Relief clearly caught her face when he said she wasn't late. Callie knew that already, so why be so nervous about it? It was weird how her mind felt so out of touch with reality just because she was standing across from him. Nostalgia worked wonders to erase common sense.
Familiarity came in the way he held the door. How he helped her to her seat. They weren't things she'd dealt with from anyone else she'd ever dated; in her mind, they were all his trademarks.
Truth be told, Callie saw little harm in not getting the chance to talk. She had no idea what she was supposed to say if he started asking her questions. Honesty was always the best policy, but to him, she wasn't always known for it. "The family's good. Eric's with dad running the company, and Niko's studying architecture across the world." They had everything figured out. And then, there she was.
"It must be nice to have some of your siblings around."
Luca had always been pretty impressed with Callie's brothers. They were successful, but neither of them were cruel in order to be successful. And while they both reminded him a bit of his own brothers, the Ivaskov men always had an undertone of cruelty within them. Which he hoped that Callie never had to find that out by meeting them.
Her question made him hesitate because she wasn't all that aware of how many of his siblings were around. He'd mentioned Lorena and Jez, but he figured he might need to tell her about Mar, too seeing as she was in charge of the marketing for the club, they were bound to meet each other at some point, too. "The ones that I'm with frequently, yes, but it isn't just a few of them anymore. My older sister works for the club, too. And my brother Cris is going to OHSU for medical school." And Darius was all too quiet back in Romania, which he highly doubted would last very long.
"I should apologize now for if any of them bombard you, you were one of the only people I talked about when I was in Romania," Luca wasn't even embarrassed by that because she had been worth talking about. And even when he'd been upset, he couldn't find it in himself to bad mouth her to any of them.
Though she never wore it, Callie had to be a little jealous of how lucky he was. She could hardly ask either of her brothers to stay in a place like Stagfort. One wasn't built for the life here and the other wasn't built for staying in one place for more than a month. Settling down as a unit and working on a business together? He was also lucky he had a compatible enough relationship with them, or that could have spelt a different kind of trouble.
"So long as they don't automatically hate me, I'm sure I'll do okay." Callie replied then. She had no problem with siblings. In her own mind, she was kind of a pro at dealing with them. It was just bound to be a little more difficult when she'd broken one of their hearts. "Though, to be honest, I don't know how much good stuff you'd have to say about me."
Lucky is not the word Luca would have used for his situation. Mar and Rena were the only ones he could ever imagine working with. But Mariana was flighty and he wasn't sure how long she'd be content with living in America, or rather, Oregon. She was good enough to go onto a bigger city, but he supposed she was a little tired of being on her own. It was only a matter of time before she found a replacement for her position. He didn't bother saying that to Callie though.
His expression turned confused and he realized that might have been a typical reaction for family to have, maybe, but he'd explicitly told the few siblings that he'd dove into the story with, that Callie hadn't done anything wrong. She may not have handled it the way he'd have liked, but if she was to be hated by his family than it was safe to say that her own probably should have hated him for the way he reacted. "No, I wouldn't expect them to. The women in my family are forgiving people, not that they'd have anything to forgive anyway," He shrugged.
But she pressed on about the few things that he'd have to say in light of her, and he had to admit that it sort of miffed him that she would think so. "Callie, you're not a bad person. I can't think of anything negative to say about you and even if I could, I wouldn't go spreading it around just to make myself feel better. We were teenagers, we were bound to make mistakes." If he hadn't been so uncomfortable with the way he often came off when touching someone, cold skin and all, he might have reached out in a reassuring gesture, but as it were, his time in Romania had pushed him back a few steps. The ex hadn't much liked how frigid his body temperature was.
It was nice to hear him say the women in his family were forgiving. In Callie's experience, most women just weren't. It was a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless. She instantly felt herself stressing a lot less over something she'd only just found the time to worry about. Better to close it off completely instead of worrying about it at all.
When he continued on, Callie couldn't help but look surprised at the way he spoke. He was so gracious in his forgiveness for the downfall of their relationship. She was starting to think she deserved that grace.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound that way." She explained then. The last thing she wanted was for him to expect that she painted him in any sort of unsuitable light. But she also doubted he wanted to hear about why she could feel so negative. "It's not that I think you'd ever go low like that. That's just what most people do, I guess."
Luca had to smile at that, "I pride myself on not being like most people." He was more different now than he'd ever been from others. Working towards being a semi-decent person, he just figured it was better to accept the past and move on with the future rather than hold onto grudges. Especially when it came down to someone who was so pure in so many ways, he just couldn't manage to taint the picture he had painted of her in his head.
He was grateful for the drinks that were brought and asked for a few more minutes before ordering. He was in no hurry and he'd hoped that Callie wouldn't be either. Luca took a sip of his drink and pursed his lips when he set the glass back down. "Is there anything else that's new? I mean, it's been nearly five years. I must have missed out on something exciting." She sure had, though he wasn't quite jumping at the chance to tell her about what had gone on in Romania.
His reasons for leaving were obvious in some regard, but she didn't have the full story and he wasn't sure if he should mention it or not.
Callie supposed in silence that she should have given him a lot more credit. Assuming he'd act like most others would wasn't fair to everything she knew him to be, after all. So she nodded as he spoke, because she agreed with exactly what he said.
His question seemed wanting of something. She drew a blank, shrugging her shoulders at his questioning. "I wish I had something good to tell you." She replied, "But that's kind of it. I mean, sure, I went to see Niko for a few months when he was working in Mykonos, and I stayed for almost a full year. But I don't think that's a big deal; My yia- Grandma still lives there." And there wasn't a soul in this world that could pry her from the island.
"But you, I mean, you left. You must've had a reason to." Not something she ever fully got, anyway.
"That's exciting though, I mean, staying for a full year must have been amazing. I'm still envious that you have a place like that to go to," Not that he was sure he'd get to enjoy it much if it was during the summer. Although, in all fairness, there weren't very many places he could enjoy year-round. "It's probably nicer than Sibiu, or rather, the people probably are," He laughed.
His laugh fell short when she brought up him leaving. It was easy for him to tell her that his reason was always the same, him and his father fought and Luca couldn't take it anymore. Which was the honest truth, but there was more to it this time. A finality to it. He wasn't sure he'd ever be welcomed back in his childhood home, though he didn't think he'd want to go back.
"I think the more shocking thing is that I stayed for as long as I did. I stayed longer than I had after my mother died," And he'd left the moment that he was given a choice. Going back, he knew had been a mistake, he'd known it the moment the plane took off across the country. "You know why I left, it's always the same."
Though she enjoyed the banter they shared, it worked to remind her how much he really hated where he was from. It was why Callie had always been so curious about why he left in the first place. Though she'd never asked him about it, she assumed it wasn't because he wanted to. When she did question him about it, she could see the way his face fell a little. It must have been a sensitive topic still.
She always forgot how lucky she was to have the freedom she did. Her parents were supportive of just about everything she did, and money had never been a worry. She looked at him with obvious concern, and she couldn't help the way she frowned. "So, why'd you stay then?" She asked him, because it felt like the most obvious question.
Luca looked down at the table while he considered his words. His reason for going back home was obvious, he'd needed to get as far away from the heartbreak that he'd suffered. As well as he faced it now, at the time, he'd been a mess. Thinking that going home would be some kind of reprieve, well, it was obviously a joke.
"I think I just wanted a change. Going back home, I had my life all laid out for me. Where I'd live, what I'd do, who I'd associate with. It was thoughtless and in many ways I didn't have to feel anything either," At the last bit, he looked up to gauge her reaction. It was no surprise that he wanted to shutdown, who wouldn't in that kind of situation? At least at the time it had seemed like a good idea.
He continued, "Once I was there, I mean, it was miserable no doubt, but I had my family back. On some level." Luca had stayed put for Lorena's sake the most, he had to admit. While he didn't know exactly what it felt like to be her, he'd seen the wear his absence left on her and he couldn't imagine putting her through it again. "I was more sickened by the thought of leaving Lorena and Jezebel behind than I was by the way I was treated."
For Callie, the details about why he left were still lost to her. Despite how she should have, she didn't piece the two points together quite so easily.
Instead of asking, she listened to the way he explained why he stayed somewhere so negative for so long. Perhaps there was some kind of simplicity for him in having everything pieced out for him. Given what Callie knew of Luca already, she could tell he felt he'd made a lot of mistakes in his life. If he put that pressure on someone else and let them call the shots, it was easy. It was their fault, not his.
Her bright blue eyes looked at him with obvious concern. Did he have anyone to talk to about any of this? Is that the kind of role she filled for him now? It almost seemed like too much of a privilege. "That's such a brother-thing to do." She pointed out, knowing the over-protective actions incredibly well.
He laughed at her response and nodded, "Yeah, I know. I think it's just guilt, I've made them deal with so much on their own while I was here." What could he do though? It wasn't like he could go back and change anything, he wasn't sure he would have even if he wanted to.
"You want to hear something awful?" Better to play it off as the joke it was than anything more. If he got ahead of it, perhaps it wouldn't upset her, assuming she actually cared at all. Luca knew that it was a lot to ask of her to really be put off by what he was going to tell her.
He cleared his throat and laughed, "I, uh, I actually almost got married while I was there."
