Derrick slowed the horse down as his parent's house had come into view. He really didn't want to take his fiancee here for her safety's sake but selfish reasons, masked behind meeting his parents, burned inside him. Tiffani resided here and he yearned to see her, smell her, be with her just one more night before his wedding. He hadn't seen her since he had been dating her sister and the nights of fiery passion boiled in him every night he was with Felicity. It never was the same.
"Mother, Father... this is Felicity Maynard. She is my bride-to-be." he said, focussing back on the current situation. Felicity had been waiting for this day for years. She always spoke of meeting his parents, and Derrick knew she wanted to make a good impression. Her family had accepted him in, probably because they lost a son once. They rarely spoke of him or Tiffani though. The night went slowly, his thoughts constantly revolving around Tiffani. He was so close to her and yet so far away. At times he had wondered if he made a mistake, sleeping with Felicity while Tiffani was away. It wasn't that she didn't satisfy him because that couldn't have been further than the truth. It was simply that he was stupid and wanted to taste the many different flavours of women Athlendyr had offered him, that's how he thought at the time. While Feli slept, Derrick dreamed of her sister. While Feli worked in the house with his parents the next day, Derrick searched for her. A stranger he met told him Tiffani worked as a barmaid at the Cloak and Dagger. Finally he had found her. He went home to change before meeting her but Feli stopped him. She wanted to go with him, blindly, without knowing where he was going to go.
Derrick sat her down beside him and told her he had found Tiffani. In fact he spoke with such innocence and shock that he even surprised himself. Felicity believed that he had accidently found Tiffani and against his better judgement, convinced him to stay another night until she too would go with him. Derrick watched as she ran to her room wordlessly, for whatever reason.
As the night before, this night dragged and he again dreamed of Tiffani, a beautiful angel in his past. He felt guilty for dreaming of her while Felicity laid naively beside him but his guilt washed away as easily as it had come.
In the afternoon he caught sight of an owl, a letter tied to it's foot. He let it in as it rapped on the window and skimmed the letter, resealing it as Felicity walked in. She too read the letter eagerly, crumpling it up once she was done. "What is it?" he asked ignorantly as the tears stung her eyes. She looked to Derrick. "Which tavern?" she asked. He knew what she was talking about. She wanted to see Tiffani too. They both quickly dressed in layers and walked down the familiar dirt paths to a building not too far from his parents house, his blood pumping rapidly at the thought of her. Rowdy drunkards welcomed them in, shouting and singing loudly but there was no sign of Tiffani. The couple snuck into a room and waited for the bartender to arrive. Damien Karlos, as he presented himself, came not long after every last drunken customer was pushed out the door. Derrick instantly lectured him, Feli chiming in everynow and then. They were abruptly interrupted when Feli thought she heard a noise but Derrick thought she was making an excuse to leave. He found little point sticking around so he left with Feli, thoroughly disappointed at his loss.
"Promise me you won't go back? Please?" she begged. He put his arm around her. "I promise." he lied. He intended on returning when Tiffani was present. He needed to see her, if nothing else.
