itinere | [open]

At some point in the chaos, Persephone had disappeared. Blue had mourned the loss of the woman who had helped to raise her. But as more time has passed, the easier it's become to live here without feeling the ache of missing people back home. Sure, she still misses her family almost every day. She especially misses Moira Sargent. This is the longest she's ever been away from home and her mother and it hasn't always been easy. But Blue's lucky. She knows that she's lucky. Each of her raven boys are still here. As long as she has them in her life, Blue knows that she's at home.

Since it's return, Blue has spent a good amount of her time cleaning up Monmouth. She doubts that the warehouse home has ever been so clean. At least, not since Gansey had originally moved in. The big difference between the Monmouth here in Itinere and the one back in Henrietta is that this one is her home. She had moved in shortly after arriving here and has yet to move out. Even the appearance of a 300 Fox Way on one of the random blocks in town hasn't gotten her to budge. She had tried for all of one night but it's just not the same without all of the women that lived in the house with her.

So she cleans. And cooks. And continues to work her part-time job at one of the cafes downtown. She rides her bike around town and spends enough time at the beach that she suspects that she might be getting a tan. As lives go, it's not a bad one. Especially given that whole end of the world thing that nearly happened a couple of months ago. Blue's not complaining. But there's still one thing that she wishes she could do above anything else and that's kiss Richard Gansey III. Dating a boy, let alone your true love, is difficult when kissing will never be an option.

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Gansey misses Henrietta and Cabeswater. He even misses Helen and his mother, but it's been a number of years since he spent much time with either of them. He's happy enough here because he's got his friends. The whole end of the world thing had been interesting, but he's grateful that it's all returned.

Lately, Gansey has been pre-occuped with the idea that Cabeswater is much, much bigger than they had thought and what that means for Adam. He's concerned and he's started a whole new journal for this place. He's trying to help Blue keep the warehouse clean, but he gets distracted. He's also been working on his cereal box replica of Henrietta, which seems more important now than it ever has. HIs insomnia still plagues him so when he does sleep it's at all hours of the day and night.

He wakes up from a marathon sleeping stint, finds Blue gone (not an unusual occurrence) and decides to go find her. He pulls on his khaki cargo shorts, a lemon yellow collared shirt and sunglasses. When he finds Blue at the beach, he takes his boat shoes off, carries them in one hand and walks through the sand toward her, sitting down on the beach. "Finished with work? Or didn't go in today?"

She had spent her whole life in that house on 300 Fox Way. She had spent it surrounded by eccentric, independent women who had helped mold her into the girl she is today. To say that Blue doesn't miss those women would be a lie. But for those same sixteen years of her life, she never had friends like the friends she has now. It's as all-encompassing a relationship as any she's known with family. So while she misses Henrietta, there is also no other place Blue would rather be than with these boys.

Of course Gansey's been preoccupied. He wouldn't be Gansey if he hadn't found something new to investigate and distract him from day to day life. Blue doesn't mind keeping Monmouth clean. Someone has to do it and she doesn't trust either Gansey or Noah to be all that great at it. Maybe it's a little sexist of her (okay, it's very sexist), but she doesn't care. It's not like she has school to go to on top of her odd jobs here.

When Gansey sits down beside her on the sand, she moves to rest her head against him. This is safe. Resting her head against him can't possibly lead to kissing. "Slow day. They didn't need me to stay past my shift."

Not that she's made a habit of that.

It feels right somehow, being here together. Maybe there's nothing else right about this place, but that is. He worries about Blue sometimes being separated from the women at 300 Fox Way. He knows how close they all are. He's not entirely sure that they're enough, he and the boys. He hopes that they are.

It is his natural state of being. He appreciates what Blue does even if it's something he's generally too distracted or too pre-occupied to do himself. Occasionally he cleans Monmouth back home, but it's generally because he's expecting someone to drop by.

He smiles when she rests her head against him and leans his head against hers to keep from kissing the top of her head. He's not entirely sure what all the rules are to this thing. "My good luck then." He lifts his head to look at Blue. "Care to take a walk along the beach with me?"

Nothing will ever capture the dynamic of life at 300 Fox Way and Blue doesn’t want it to. She always wants her home to be unique in whatever memories she has left to make. She always wants to remember the eccentric women there as the people who raised and influenced her for the first 16 years of her life. Life among the Raven Boys should never be like life in that house had been. It should - needs - to be its own thing. And perhaps it’s them, perhaps it’s the all-encompassing nature of this friendship, but it is enough. They’ll always be enough.

She wishes she knew the rules. She wishes she knew if it’s only a kiss that she initiates which would doom her true love or if a kiss he starts is just as equally fair game. She wishes she could know if it’s just his lips Blue’s forbidden to kiss or if it’s every inch of skin that’s off limits. Blue has so many questions that she had never sought answers to. Then again, up until she had met and fallen in love with Richard Gansey III, those answers had never seemed necessary.

At least there’s one thing that Blue doesn’t question and that’s her love for him. She’s fallen, fast and hard and completely. When he suggests a walk on the beach, Blue doesn’t hesitate to agree. “Always,” comes the answer as she slips her hand in his.

Gansey can understand that. Not only does it create a separation between her childhood and her adulthood, but it also keeps her childhood home special in her mind, as it should be because Gansey can only imagine how wonderful and special growing up there had been. He used to love to go to 300 Fox Way and just be a part of that place. Yes, they're enough despite missing others from home.

He wishes he knew the rules as well. He likes to tell himself that he would be satisfied with the limitations if he knew that not everything was a no. Of course, he also realizes that that might very well be a lie, but he tells himself that anyway.

Gansey has never really questioned his love for Blue. it's always been something that just was the way that Ronan is like his brother and Adam and Noah are his best friends. It's been that way from moment one with all of them, like they were puzzle pieces clicking into their proper places. This time, he doesn't reach to help her up, simply lets her take his hand as she wishes and gets to his feet. He leads the way down the beach at a leisurely pace.

And she'd like to think that he'd be welcomed back anytime. If they ever manage to make it back to Henrietta. Having all the Raven boys in the house at the same time might be psychic chaos, especially when Blue is there to make everything louder, but she likes it anyway. Face it, she just likes being around the boys wherever they all are.

Blue won't even pretend that she'd be satisfied with the limitations if everything was a no. She can't kiss her true love without risking his death. Even if he could kiss her on the forehead, that wouldn't be enough. Not with Gansey.

Once she stands, she slips her hand back into his. As they walk down the beach, she begins to swing their arms gently. Her eyes close for a few seconds as she takes a deep breath of salt air. She hears the gulls somewhere in the background and the way the waves lap on the shore. Gansey's hand is firm and warm in hers. The world is alive around them. It's perfect.

"Do you miss Henrietta?" she finally asks, finally breaking the silence. Her eyes open to look up at him, lips pursed together in thought. Home isn't something they've talked about much since arriving here. Still, she's curious.

Would it be arrogant of him to say that parents usually like him? Though, the psychic chaos might be reason enough for the women at Foxway to kick him out. He's grateful when they do allow him to stay. He's grateful for that as well because he feels much the same way. They'd spent so much time at Nino's because of Blue. The pizza had been a bonus.

She's far more honest than he is.

It is a relatively perfect moment, one that seems to have a low chance of being ruined, which he appreciates. This isn't a stolen moment, or one they can't speak about with their friends around. That's nice as well.

He takes a deep breath at her question and ponders it a moment before nodding. "Sometimes. Henrietta is the first place I've ever been that felt like home. However, as corny as it sounds, I've come to realize that home has a great deal more to do with the people around you than a location and I think perhaps that's always what made Henrietta feel like home."

Is that an actual answer, Blue? You decide.

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