MAB CARMELLO
Witch
Posts: 81
Age:
34
Occupation:
Unemployed
Status:
Interested In
Partner:
Mikey Buckley
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 16, 2024 18:04:55 GMT
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Post by MAB CARMELLO on Mar 18, 2024 22:47:28 GMT
You don’t have to accept my apology, but at least let me know you’re still alive. Please.
Asking nicely didn’t come naturally to her. Begging didn’t either, but for Mikey she’d have done before for an eternity. She was the one who’d driven him away after all.
Mab dropped her phone onto the coffee table and sank back on the couch. Right in the spot where she’d sat the last time, offering Mikey sympathy, her help and a kiss that he couldn’t possibly have torn himself out of any quicker. It had been over in seconds, but she could still feel his lips against hers, imprinted deep, like he had been in her bed. Would that feeling outlast those things taking him again? Would the thought of him be enough to let her bring him back a second time?
If. Rocking forward, Mab planted the heels of her hands against her eyes, pressing hard enough to have sparks glittering behind her closed lids. Chances were he’d just come to his senses about who she was. She wasn’t supposed to be the woman you could rely on, the one who opened her life up for you, the one who started to think of walking away from her life for a good man again. Raised for one thing only, she should’ve been using whoever she had to here in town to get her hands on St. John. That was the deal she’d made with her great-grandmother to try and make everything up to the man who’d died for loving her. Like a fool she’d started down the same path again.
Images flickered in her mind, lit by those sparks like embers of a fire. Pulling open the car door in front of her apartment building here, light spilling inside. Mikey’s face lit up in that faint glow, his neck the one that had been snapped. Flat dark eyes staring up at her, reflecting back the agony she’d brought to his life. She’d been pulled from that nightmare for three days in a row, worst case scenarios chasing her in and out of what little sleep she’d managed as Mikey had remained silent.
He’d probably deleted each message as they’d come in. Stripping her out of his life as much as he possibly could, he was a good man trying to cut the bad out of his life after all. Repenting in a way she hadn’t been able to yet. Fuck it. Once she knew he was alright, she’d let him do just that. The part of her that had gone soft under those late night embraces would harden back up eventually, scarring over like the rest of her.
Shoving to her feet, Mab headed for the door. Mikey wouldn’t be able to duck her as easily in person. An apology offered at his apartment door before she walked away. It wasn’t as though he’d let her come through on her promise to help track down and free Kit anyway.
Driving through town, Mab contemplated finally leaving. Maybe she’d been a fool to believe St. John had stayed here anyway. There’d been no sign of him, no complaint from Tobi or Cassie that some vampire was stalking them looking for a little payback. Like her great-grandmother he was probably cowering in some dark hole, hoping that he’d be the one to survive this vendetta. Go back to New York, find a new trail, leave this town in her rearview mirror. Mikey was better off without her here anyway. None of the darkness would creep into his life the way it had Joseph’s. Her great-grandmother wouldn’t even know he existed.
But she would see him. In her sleep, feeling his arm around her, his chest solid against her back. Standing outside the Diner. Apparently back at work without her help and not a word from him to tell her that much had happened at least. Eventually her temper might’ve spiked enough to wash away her regrets in its tidal wave. Seeing Mikey standing there made it happen all the sooner.
The car screeched into the curb in front of the Diner. Mab felt that mask slip back over her expression as she climbed out, the hurt of his rejection slipping back beneath the surface. She rounded the car, almost expecting him to scramble back inside. ”I guess you didn’t need my help after all,” she said dryly, looking over his shoulder at the sandy haired man manning the cash register behind the glass. It seemed like Kace had found his way back.
Green eyes that had gone dark like a storm tossed sea slid back to meet his and then slid away. Her lips curved faintly as she shook her head. ”Why?” she asked, her voice going hoarse. ”What was that, Mikey? Was it your way of finally telling me what you really thought of me? You could’ve done that without leaving me thinking you were dead or snatched back up by those things. You were never afraid of telling me just how you felt about me before.” Until she’d let her shields down and had shown him how she’d started to feel about him. Then the disgust had hit and he couldn’t get away from her fast enough.
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MIKEY BUCKLEY
Kanima
Posts: 143
Age:
41
Occupation:
Line Cook
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Mab Carmello
Played by:
Jodi
Broken isn’t the same as unfixable
Last seen Nov 12, 2024 16:41:49 GMT
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Post by MIKEY BUCKLEY on Mar 20, 2024 14:29:31 GMT
Rushing from Mab’s apartment was probably the worst thing he could have done, but now he’d made matters worse by ignoring all her text messages and phone calls. In true male fashion he was burying his head in the sand instead of facing up to how he felt about Mab and how she might feel about him. The begin with it wasn’t clear, but now she’d kissed him it was pretty fucking obvious she felt something too. Where did they go from there? Speaking about his feelings and how things were affecting him had never been something he was comfortable with. In jail all the inmates would be thrown into some therapy circle where they were encouraged to speak about their past and their issues. Some would open up, but Mikey rarely uttered more than five words. It didn’t help that there was always someone watching him, keen to report back to Agnellis’ if he said something. The best option was to keep silent, even if he did get a lecture from the therapist afterwards that it wasn’t healthy to keep things bottled up. The only person who had been good at encouraging Mikey to open up was Chase. When he was with his brother he didn’t feel the need to hold back with his emotions or explain what was going on inside his mind. Now Mab was slipping into that category. She’d successfully peeled back layers of Mikey, leaving him feeling very exposed. She’d made him believe he wasn’t broken beyond repair, he just needed a little time to put himself back together after being referred to as a number for so long. The system swallowed him whole as a teenager then spat him out decades later as a middle aged man. Mystic Falls wasn’t exactly New Orleans. He couldn’t hide from Mab forever. She knew where he lived and where he worked. It was only a matter of time before she showed up somewhere demanding answers from him. So he wasn’t surprised when he stepped out of work to find Mab climbing out of her car, looking unimpressed. Mikey sighed softly, rubbing his fingers deep into his forehead, as if he was massaging away the headache that was about to come. Mikey glanced back over his shoulder at Kace inside. They had a deal to go down to the bar every night until they found Kit, but it never happened because Mab kissed Mikey and he ran away like an idiot. A beautiful inspiring woman literally kissed him and he backed away. What the fuck was wrong with him? He turned back to face Mab, not saying anything, mainly because he didn’t know what to say. He remained silent as she spoke again. He drew his bottom lip between his teeth, nibbling on it anxiously. “I’m sorry for ignorin’ your messages. I just…” He swallowed harshly, trying to slot together a sentence in his mind. Telling her he was pissed at her for convincing him to break into the college was different to telling her how he felt about her. “I’m not very good with explainin’ how I feel about things… or people.” But she was here because she wanted to know the truth. Mab wanted to know how Mikey felt. He took a few steps towards Mab, risky game considering she might blow him up or something for being closed off with her. “You wanna know the truth Mab? I thought about you every single day in that train station and I missed you so much it hurt.” He rubbed the palm of his hand across his chest. He could still feel the ache he felt during those months without her. “When you came to save me I wanted to kiss you so fuckin’ badly but then I remembered how we met and why you came to Mystic Falls. You’re looking for a way to bring your ex-boyfriend back from the dead.” Forcing into the role of being second best. “I can’t just be some temporary man in your life until you save your ex nor do I wanna stand in between you and him.” Whatever would happen their friendship had been shot to pieces. There was no coming back from what happened. MAB CARMELLO  |
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MAB CARMELLO
Witch
Posts: 81
Age:
34
Occupation:
Unemployed
Status:
Interested In
Partner:
Mikey Buckley
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 16, 2024 18:04:55 GMT
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Post by MAB CARMELLO on Mar 20, 2024 18:49:45 GMT
The brutal reality of what her great-grandmother had done to Joseph had hit in waves that night. Each hitting harder, each dragging her further under to drown her in an agony she’d never imagined could exist. The old bitch’s laughter had gurgled behind her, making sure that she couldn’t kick free of the riptide her life had become. Who did she think she was to believe that there might be a different life for her? Grief had wrapped itself around that house in 1944, shrinking down around the old woman’s body, a shroud that hadn’t put her in the ground yet. Until she was at peace, none of them would be. Tied to her they could have a taste of what she had felt, but there was no escape from it.
Anything soft had been crushed out of Chiara Meraviglia. Standing on the sidewalk outside the rotting brick pile of her prison, Mab had been sure the old witch had just done the same to her. Joseph had been the one to show her she was something more than what she was being made and then he had been gone, taking it all with him. Seeing Mikey look away from her as she hit the sidewalk here, as though he’d find some exit, Mab knew it wasn’t true. Who she was hadn’t changed. As it had done for years as a kid, a teenager, that part of her had just been shielded. Even now she could feel the part of her that had exposed again – by him - aching like a raw nerve. The pain crawling up her throat to lodge behind her eyes.
Mikey had never been the talkative sort, filling those silences as they’d watched a movie or sat together over dinner with endless chatter. He was the opposite and there’d been a comfort in that, no need make up a million gilded lies and pretend to be someone she wasn’t to match that. He stood silent again now, the only sign he was even hearing her the clamp of his teeth on his bottom lip. That broken glass feeling started in her throat, leaving a coppery taste to the words as she finally spat the last of them out. Why would he have had to use his words when his disappearance had been proof enough of how he felt? She’d been an idiot to even get out of the...
The thought slammed to a stop when the apology came. Mab frowned faintly, her eyes remaining locked on his like if she looked away he’d stop talking and that explanation wouldn’t come. ”You just run instead?” she asked hoarsely. It felt like she was caught in a maze of her own paranoid thoughts. He’d given it to her with both barrels at Campbell’s when she’d trapped him in the booth. Had that just been because his only other choice was to cause a scene by physically lifting her out of the way? In her apartment there’d been a way out and he’d taken it, leaving her drifting, stinging from a rejection she hadn’t seen coming after how far things had shifted between the two of them.
Swallowing hard as he stepped closer, Mab tilted her head back slightly to keep her eyes on him. She tried to keep that mask in place, but the glitter that was probably there in her eyes wasn’t barely suppressed anger. Slowly, she blinked the feeling back, but it just rushed in faster as Mikey did what he’d just sworn he wasn’t good at - what she’d forced him into. Everything else in her, in the world, seemed to go still as he let it all over, but her heart and lungs. They continued to pump, too fast, too hard, as though her body could only handle what she was hearing by flooding her with the emotions that were usually hammered so viciously down inside. He’d thought about her there, like she’d thought of him since he’d come back and she’d realised just what she’d missed. That solid body she’d gravitated towards in sleep didn’t look capable of hurting that way. He’d probably say the same about her, she didn’t look capable of having feelings like that towards someone else.
Why didn’t you? As he admitted that he’d wanted to do just what she’d done, the question lodged in her throat. Mikey wasn’t done. It wasn’t just that he wanted to kiss her, or that he’d missed her so much it hurt. There was always a but coming and that was the sucker punch that had her lips pinching together, the tears finally welling in her eyes enough that she tore her gaze away from his. She’d told him about Joseph, wanting to explain why she’d risked him dragging him into trouble with her at the college. She'd revealed enough for Mikey to see a trap ahead that she hadn’t even considered. ”You’re not temporary. I wouldn’t throw you aside.” The assurance was hoarse, the promise carrying more weight than she thought it could’ve.
Her great-grandmother had forced her to stay with the promise that she’d get a way to bring Joseph back if she stuck with the hunt. A life for a life and God, she’d wanted it so desperately, wanted him so desperately she would’ve agreed to anything. It was selling her soul to a devil that would never give it back. ”I had to bring him back,” Mab admitted, shaking her head as her eyes closed. ”If I hadn’t let myself get involved with him, he wouldn’t have died, she wouldn’t have laid a finger on him. Even if I bring him back now, how long is she going to wait until she does it again?” A minute? An hour? After Mikey had told her he couldn’t be involved in what she was doing, she’d spent days debating whether or not she could bring Joseph back into that. Back home neither one of them could ever be free. Here she’d fooled herself into thing she was. That freedom hadn’t been pictured with Joseph at her side. Mikey was the one who’d slotted into that reality and she’d curled herself into the dream of it.
For the dream he thought she wanted, Mikey was ready to step back. She wasn’t sure now how any of it would turn out, but one thing Mab knew for sure was that she couldn’t bring either one of them into that world. Joseph was beyond it now, maybe at peace somewhere beyond, but Mikey was here, tearing himself away from her so she wouldn’t have to choose between the two of them. Her heart still pounded in her chest, the words that would somehow sort through all of this locked in her throat. ”I don’t know if I can ever go back. I know I don’t want to. You showed me another way, saw someone else I can be. I don’t think I can walk away from that.” Or him. It was tearing her apart just thinking about it. Mikey ending up the same way Joseph had would kill her, whether or not it was her great-grandmother's hands that finally did the deed or a broken heart that wouldn’t heal this time.
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MIKEY BUCKLEY
Kanima
Posts: 143
Age:
41
Occupation:
Line Cook
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Mab Carmello
Played by:
Jodi
Broken isn’t the same as unfixable
Last seen Nov 12, 2024 16:41:49 GMT
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Post by MIKEY BUCKLEY on Mar 24, 2024 21:59:09 GMT
Running wasn’t his first option. He wanted to stay there with Mab, kiss her back longingly and bask in the moment but fear ripped him away. Concerns slipped into his mind instantly, putting a barrier between the pair. He should have sat there and explained himself to Mab, but he chose to run. You couldn’t accuse Mikey of being the type of person to run when things got tough. He didn’t bolt it after the robbery. He stayed behind, tried to save the owner and gave up twenty years of his life. “I am sorry Mab. I’ve just been tryin’ to figure out what to say to you.” He went from distancing himself from Mab because of what happened at the college to wanting to spend everyday with her. He’d gone from disliking her to liking her on a romantic level. Another thought that had been creeping into his mind was that Mab was too good to be wrapped up with someone like Mikey. She knew about his past by now, but with Nemo back in town he was scared she would soon be swept up with that. Nemo had already found Chase, landing him in hospital. What the fuck would he do to Mab? He was already struggling to keep his anger in check with Nemo after finding out what he did to Chase, but he was telling himself he had to for Chase’s sake. But what if they went for Mab? There would be no holding Mikey back. He’d be back in jail instantly for murder. History would repeat itself. Mab would visit him and tell him she was unable to wait twenty years for him, suggesting they put an end to their relationship. Gianna ditched him and Mab would do the same. He’d spent the rest of his days staring at a brick wall until death came to collect him. The truth came slipping out of him. He watched as her expression changed, a shine in her eyes from the tears forming. It broke Mikey. The right thing to do was to step forward again, throw his arms around her and apologise for everything, but he remained glued to the spot. If he closed the gap any further he would find her in his arms again. His lips would find hers and they’d be back where they started in her apartment a few days again. He didn’t have the strength to enter into something with Mab knowing that one day she might toss him aside for her ex. Maybe one day she’d be presented with the chance to bring him back from the dead, then what would she do? Mikey didn’t want to know the answer. Mikey was aware guilt was something that could have people reacting in the wildest ways to try and right their wrong. He was constantly weighed down by the feeling of guilt. If someone told him there was a way to change the past, he’d snap the chance up in a heartbeat. “What happened wasn’t your fault.” Something he’d been told so many times he’d lost count. Apparently the store owner dying wasn’t Mikey’s fault. Apparently Chase getting beaten up by Nemo wasn’t Mikey’s fault. He knew Mab wouldn’t believe it wasn’t her fault. She was carrying that guilt the same way Mikey was carrying his. It was just another reason he was so drawn to her. She understood him. “What are you tryin’ to say? You don’t wanna bring him back?” Now tears had started to well in Mikey’s eyes. His gaze fell to his shoes for a moment as he tried to swallow them back. It was difficult to keep his emotions under control when Mab was standing in front of him. She was saying the thing he was terrified would happen from the outset. They couldn’t go back. They had crossed a line in their friendship and now that friendship was shattered because feelings had pushed their way in. He couldn’t let that happen. He looked back up at Mab, “I can’t walk away from you. You’ve been there for me through some difficult shit and I don’t know how I would have survived this past year without you in my life, but…” He paused for a moment. There was always a fucking but. His voice had started to shake, the tears had started to fall from his eyes slowly. Damn, he didn’t even give a shit that he was crying on the sidewalk outside his place of work. All he cared about was Mab. “But I think we should stay friends for now. I don’t wanna lose you and I’m scared if we go any further with this I will.” He hated that he was backtracking so fucking hard with Mab, but if they continued down the path they were on it would end in heartbreak. Their friendship would be beyond broken. Finally he peeled his feet away from the sidewalk, taking another step towards Mab. Slowly he placed his arms around her, drawing her in for a hug. “We’re always gonna be there for one another.” He rested his head gently on top of hers, “I promise I won’t ignore your messages ever again.” He said with a light chuckle. MAB CARMELLO |
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MAB CARMELLO
Witch
Posts: 81
Age:
34
Occupation:
Unemployed
Status:
Interested In
Partner:
Mikey Buckley
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Nov 16, 2024 18:04:55 GMT
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Post by MAB CARMELLO on Mar 26, 2024 16:17:09 GMT
For a split second she thought he’d meant that he’d just been looking for a way to let her down easy. Of course Mikey had cared for her feelings, because beneath that prison honed body was the good man she’d assured him he was right before she’d kissed him. He didn’t want to hurt her, he hadn’t wanted to risk ending up hurt himself because no matter how much he’d come to trust her, he wasn’t sure that included trusting her with his heart.
Mab could almost feel it there, held in her palm as her eyes filled. A vulnerability she’d only ever seen in Mikey when he’d slept emerging. She’d always fought to be the one in control (anything to avoid thinking about the hold her great-grandmother would always have over her thanks to what had happened to Joseph), but now she wished she could push that away. The last thing she wanted was to crush that heart and she could. The thought left her feeling sick as the first tear broke over her lashes. Getting Joseph back was all she had wanted. Now she felt like she was standing on a high wire, her heart the thing that could take her in any direction, the thing that could be sliced in two by whatever decision she made.
The assurance of what she wanted left her wobbling up there. She wanted this, wanted him as much as she had the future she’d imagined with Joseph, but that was part of the problem wasn’t it? Stepping in, wrapping her arms around him and declaring that she’d made her choice – it would always be him – would close the door on that future with Joseph. There would be no more indecision on whether to let him find peace if he hadn’t already. God, she was a coward for not doing it, for admitting that Joseph would be better off without her. Maybe Mikey would be too, but she was weak, letting her heart blot out what her conscience was screaming.
”If I hadn’t agreed to go with him, he would still be alive. That makes it my fault. He paid for loving me.” A price that was too high to ask Joseph to pay it again. Mab pressed her lips together, the tears breaking over her lashes finally. She shook her head, swiping a hand over her cheeks to wipe them away. ”I don’t want him to be her pawn again. Joseph was one of her people. Once you join the family, you can’t walk away. He deserved more, he deserves peace.” He wouldn’t get that with her. Mikey wouldn’t either, no matter how long she could pretend that all would be OK if they just stayed here. At some point Chiara would tire of her lack of progress. She’d probably sprout wings out of spite, flying down here to remove any obstacles in the way of her getting vengeance on the vampire who’d been just as trapped as the rest of them.
It was as though the truth had formed a mirror between them. Mab could see her tears shining back at her in Mikey’s eyes. The gleam of them in those rich brown depths reflected her own feelings right back at her until he tore his gaze away from her. She wanted to wipe them away, but how could she when she didn’t know how to go ahead with any of this? No matter what had happened with Joseph, this was unknown territory and the last thing in the world she wanted was for her to take from a good man again only to have him swallowed up by the world she’d been born into.
”Then don’t,” Mab begged hoarsely. Her throat felt like it was closing up, the tears falling faster as he told her how she’d gotten him through the last year. Oh, it was the other way around as much as anything. What would she have done without Mikey in her life? Maybe Tobi wouldn’t be with his family now, he’d be rotting in a hole in the ground with Cassie, the anger at her failure dragging her down into those cold, dark depths her great-grandmother had lived in for decades. Mikey had been the one keeping her in the light, showing her another way. He’d found one after he’d stumbled into his own period of darkness. It had given her hope that she could now feel crumbling like sand through her fingers as she swallowed back a sob.
Friends. Both of them taking a step back from what they wanted. Mab was already shaking her head, but she knew he was right. ”I don’t want to lose you either. I can’t.” Her voice broke as she said the word. She wouldn’t just be shattered this time, there would be nothing left of the woman Mikey had fallen for, just a doppelganger of her great-grandmother, a brittle shell filled with hatred and bitterness. Knowing it was better for them this way didn’t ease the pain of the wound tearing itself through the centre of her again. Maybe a promise that what they were scared of wouldn’t come to pass, but the tears rolling down Mikey’s cheeks kept it locked in her aching throat. No matter how much it hurt to put that barrier back on, she wouldn’t do that to him, wouldn’t risk crushing him.
Her arms went around Mikey as he stepped into her, fingers curling into his shirt to anchor him there the same way she had in the train station. Mab rested her head against his chest, tears still falling to dampen his shirt. ”You’d have to tear me away,” she promised. ”I don’t know how good I’ll be at this, but I’ll try.” For him she had been trying since that night at the college. The cactus spines of the attitude she’d always used to protect herself crumbling, letting Mikey close enough for her to feel the light rumble of his chuckle through her bones now. Mab smiled, even though her couldn’t see it. ”I won’t let you,” she promised. ”Next time I’ll be right here, pushing for an answer. How about dinner tomorrow, as friends?” Some part of her would ache for this, for the feel of Mikey’s arms around her again, but she’d survive it. She’d survived almost losing him after all. Twice.
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MIKEY BUCKLEY
Kanima
Posts: 143
Age:
41
Occupation:
Line Cook
Status:
In a Relationship
Partner:
Mab Carmello
Played by:
Jodi
Broken isn’t the same as unfixable
Last seen Nov 12, 2024 16:41:49 GMT
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Post by MIKEY BUCKLEY on Mar 29, 2024 17:01:16 GMT
No matter what Mikey said to her Mab would never accept she wasn’t to blame for her ex-boyfriends death. He hoped that one day she’d accept it wasn’t her fault, but Mikey had been facing a similar situation for twenty years and he still hadn’t rid himself of the grief. “I’m sure he doesn’t blame you for what happened. He chose to go with you ‘cause he loved you.” It wasn’t like he had a gun pressed against his head, being told he had to do something. But she was right. Who knew where Joseph was right now? He could be at peace, his soul existing happily in heaven. It would be selfish to pull him away from that. He had reached a point in his life now where he didn’t just want Mab in his life, he needed her in his life. When he stepped off the bus in Mystic Falls he was worried he wouldn’t form any kind of connection with anyone in town. His social skills had been completely shot to pieces and he was so heavily institutionalised that he struggled to think independently. Those few days in Chase’s apartment he just walked around aimlessly, as if he was waiting for someone to tell him what to do. He felt he couldn’t just walk up to the cupboard, pull a bowl out and pour himself a bowl of cereal. He needed Chase’s permission to do so. Slowly he started to do things without asking but there were scars prison had left on his mental health that would never disappear. Life outside of prison was overwhelming. But then Mab waltzed into his life and they formed a connection he didn’t think was possible. A connection he needed to prove to himself that prison hadn’t stripped bare. He was capable of making friends. Mikey didn’t want to storm into some kind of relationship with Mab though. Forming a friendship with someone was a hell of a lot different to forming a relationship with someone. The stakes were higher and they had more to lose. Thankfully Mab didn’t reject his suggestion that they stay friends. His hands stroked her hair softly as she buried her head into his chest, tears still flowing from her eyes. “Mab. You’re good at everythin’ you do… apart from cookin’ you need some lessons from me.” He said with a chuckle. He was no five star chef, but he could show her how to not burn pasta. A smile formed on his face as she suggested they go for dinner, as friends. “Dinner sounds good.” The pair fell into silence for a few seconds as Mikey wondered whether he’d made the right decision with Mab. There was a chance he’d just lost the opportunity to fall in love with the most amazing woman or he’d just saved them their friendship. For now though, he was happy holding Mab until her tears subsided. MAB CARMELLO - the end! |
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