-10 Years Ago-

The sky is painted black, filled to its rim with soft speckles of stars. On a normal day, Mary and her friends would sit out here on the roof of her house and stare up at it and talk about something on the borderline of nonsense. Tonight they are quiet.

"Oh Lola, please be careful," Greer's voice cut through Mary's thoughts and she sticks her hands out for Lola to grab onto.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Lola insists, climbing out the window and trying not to put too much pressure on her wrapped up ankle, she reaches for her crutches but decides against grabbing them as she hops over to sit between Mary and Kenna. She sighs heavily, resting her head on Mary's shoulder.

"Your phone is ringing," Lola says softly but Mary just shrugs.

"It has been for the last hour," Mary says it just as softly, she doesn't even have to look to know who it is. It's Francis. He's been calling on and off since earlier and Mary has been ignoring him. She should really get back to him, it's likely he heard about the accident, probably picturing Mary on a slab of metal in a morgue or something. There is a morgue, but it is not her who inhabits it.

Lola grabs the phone buzzing by Mary's leg and answers it.

"Francis…" Lola says softly and then there's a pause, "She's not really talking to anyone at the moment…" Another pause, "We're fine. Just a few bruises and I broke my ankle. But-" He doesn't let her finish and she swallows her words for another pause, this one longer and okay, she should have answered him before. After it happened, Mary should have answered the phone but the shock and...all the blood. She wasn't sure she wanted to talk to him and she doesn't even know why that is.

"Aylee didn't make it," Lola says, cutting through whatever he was saying. "She's...dead, Francis." It's how she says it that brings it all rushing back up. The car slamming into something, the sudden shatter of glass, looking up and seeing that Aylee was no longer in her seat anymore. Mary swore she saw her put her seatbelt on but maybe she didn't, maybe she unbuckled to reach for something but she can't remember.

She remembers the blood all over her hands as she tried to press the back of her friends' skull together, keep the remnants of her brain within the safe confinements of her blonde head. The soft, "I don't want to die" on Aylees lips, words rushing out in one breath and then she was gone, pupils were blown wide and grey eyes staring up at the sky. It took Mary forever to wash her hands, she's not sure if she scrubbed hard enough, she swears she can still feel it like a sticky paste on her fingers. Will it ever go away?

Mary jumps when Lola hands her phone back, smiles softly as she leans her head back against Mary's shoulder and Kenna weaves her fingers with Mary's, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"He's coming over isn't he?" Mary asks softly.

"He just wants to make sure we're okay." Lola says, "You especially." At this point Kenna would make a joke about Mary and Francis, how obvious it as that they loved each other, how they should be together, or at least having some fun; God if only she knew. Kenna is silent though, just leans her head against Mary's shoulder too.

They all jump at the sudden sound of the window being reopened, and then there he is, standing in her bedroom, peaking out.

"You guys are going to get sick if you're out here for too long," Francis says simply and her friends start to move. Lola is first, Francis being mindful of her ankle as he helps her inside.

"Help her down the stairs, Bash is in the kitchen." He says softly to Kenna and then Mary is alone. She hasn't moved, she's not sure if she can.

"Mary." Francis says softly, "Come on, you're next." She doesn't move and then she hears him sigh, then a few seconds later she feels something heavy gets thrown around her shoulders.
"Did you take my comforter off my bed?" She asks, turning her head to look at him and he just shrugs as he sits next to her.

"I don't want you to get sick." He says simply and as the breeze starts to pick up, she wraps him in it too. He pulls her against him as his arm snakes around her waist, being careful to not touch the huge bruise on her side. "I'm sorry about Aylee." He says after a few beats of silence and she swallows the lump in her throat.

"Me too…" She says softly, Aylee didn't deserve what she got. If anyone out of all of them deserved the chance to live a hundred more years it was Aylee. She deserved more than the sixteen years she was given. "We shouldn't have been driving on that road…"

"Don't do that." Francis brushes a stray strand of hair out of her face and tucks it behind her ear, "Not your fault."

"Feels like my fault."

"Well, it's not." He says, he's trying to make it better, and in a normal situation, having Francis next to her usually helped. This isn't a normal situation though, it's not every day she has to hold her friend while she stutters and convulses on the street. "You had me worried today."

"I'm sorry."

"My mother said you were in an accident and she said someone died…" Mary squeezes her eyes shut as she realizes why he's been calling her all day. He actually thought she might have died.

"I'm sorry, Francis." She whispers.

"It's alright, just please, make sure someone is able to tell me it's not you in the body ba-" He stops, doesn't say it. She's looking at him, and he runs a hand through his hair. "Sorry…"

"It's fine…"

Eventually, he coaxes her inside, going first to help tug her back in through the window. And then it's a team effort to get her blanket through, tossing it back on the bed.
"See? Nice and warm." Francis says as he closes the window and Mary smiles a tiny smile as she steps back into him. His arms go around her instantly and they stand there for a little while before he attempts to pull away, her fingers are curled tightly in his shirt and she tugs him back to her.

"Mary, we should really go downstairs…" He says softly but he doesn't try to pry himself from her grasp. She nods, but she doesn't move. If they stay up here alone in her bedroom, her friends will start to get suspicious. She steps a little closer until her body is completely against him and he's so warm, so warm and then she's tilting her head up, catching the side of his mouth with hers and he smiles against her lips, tilting to get a better angle and to press his lips against hers correctly.

He doesn't even question it, it doesn't take him by surprise anymore. He just leans into it like it's second nature. They seem to always end up here, despite not really knowing how it even started, or what it is they're even doing. But they always wind up with their hands on each other, their lips smashed together.

Mary's arms go around his neck and as the kiss deepens, her lips part and Francis takes full advantage of that. Her hands slide down his chest to his belt, she just wants to touch him. His hand always finds it's way below her waistband, but she notices tonight he isn't doing any of that. Instead, he grabs hold of her wrist before she can do anything, breaks the kiss, and steps back.
"Mary…"

"What?" She asks softly. Why does he always stop? He always stops them before it can go too far before they can shed any clothing.

"You're grieving...I…" He shakes his head, "I wouldn't feel right." He says softly and she understands. He doesn't want to think he's taking advantage of her vulnerabilities.

"Okay…" She says softly and he presses a kiss to her forehead. He grabs her hand and tugs her to the door.

And just like all the times before, they don't talk about it.
They just move on.

-Present Day-

"I know you tried to reschedule, but Catherine isn't taking any new clients right now," Mary says as she unlocks her car, phone wedged between her shoulder and her ear. She's trying to be careful not to break her ankle on the ice as she opens the door, nodding along to the man on the other end. "My condolences for your daughter, Gideon, but Catherine is still a very busy woman. I can try to get you in next month." She says softly, rolling her eyes at his insistence that he be allowed in this afternoon. Which can't be done, because Catherine is meeting with someone all afternoon. "I'll see what I can do." She sighs, "There's a charity banquet next week, I can send you an invite. And maybe you can try to catch her attention there. I have to go, bye." Mary hangs up before he can agree or disagree and jots down his email address before pulling out of her apartment complex.

The snow is coming down pretty hard this morning, she squints as she passes houses decorated with pretty Christmas lights. She wonders if Kenna still has her Halloween decorations up, she knows she's pretty terrible at taking them down and when Mary was over for Thanksgiving, she still had styrofoam tombstones in her front lawn. Mary sends Catherine a quick text about how she may be late as she pulls into the coffee place to pick up Catherine's usual order.

She was right about being late though, she gets stuck behind a school bus halfway to work. As she drums her fingers on the steering wheel she swears she sees him out of the corner of her eye, but that would be impossible.

He isn't here anymore and it's still so hard to get used to. Mary shakes her head, takes a sip of her coffee.

Now she's standing in front of an elevator, coffee's in hand as she waits for the ding, it doesn't arrive and Mary nearly jumps out of her skin when Catherine suddenly appears behind her.

"You're late," Catherine says as she reaches for her coffee and Mary nods.

"It's snowing pretty hard out there."

"Hm.: Catherine hums her acknowledgment and lets Mary's tardiness go and then she turns down the hallway with her at her heels. "Anything I should be aware of?"

"Last weeks budget meeting revealed there wasn't much of a change but it is lower than this time last year." Mary says, "And uh, Gideon Blackburn has called for you several times since last week."

"Did you tell him I'm busy?"

"Yes but he's very insistent on meeting with you"
"I'm not too keen on meeting with a man who didn't bother to cancel the last meeting he never showed up for."

"His daughter died." Mary supplies softly and Catherine's usually stone cold expression, softens just a tiny bit.

"Still." She says, "I am sorry for that, but I can't let a no-show slide. Send him a basket of some nice fruit or something." She says with a wave of her hand. Well, that's the end of that. "Is that all?"

"I need a list of everyone you want specifically at the Banquet on Saturday."

"All of my children." Catherine says, "Yes, that means Claude as well. Find her a nice dress, I won't have a repeat of last year." Claude showed up to the Banquet wearing something akin to a streetwalker. Black leather and tight, short, so revealing no one even paid attention to the donations. Mary nods, Catherine reaches in her pocket, jots something down on a sticky note and sticks it to the side of Mary's cup.

"What's this?" She asks, noticing the number but not recognizing it.

"Francis' number, I assume you don't have it." She says coldly. Mary's stomach does an involuntary flip-flop and she nearly drops her coffee.

"Um...No, I don't."

"Hm." Catherine says, "Schedule his flight."

"Can't he do it himself?" Mary doesn't mean to sound harsh and god does she wish she hadn't just snapped at Catherine of all people, the woman knows how to make people disappear.

"Yes." Catherine says, "But of the many luxuries of having a mother who has a person hired to do her bidding, he doesn't have to. Does this bother you?"

"No…" She says softly

"Good." She says with a sweet smile that oozes something sinister, "Besides, it's the least you can do after what you put him through." It cuts like a knife. It always did when Catherine reminded her of the damage she caused her son. Her favorite son at that. She doesn't say anything else, Catherine taps the sticky note with his number scribbled on it and goes to her office.

Mary spends a long time just staring at it on her desk, admiring Catherine's handwriting as she drummed her fingernails on the surface. She bit at her nails, pulled at her hair. She can't do this, she can't call him. She texts someone who can.

Mary: "If I give you flight information, can you get it to Francis?"

Bash: "Why me?"
Mary: "Catherine wants me to call him myself and I can't." His next message takes a little longer to arrive and Mary jumps at the ding. When she opens it, it's just a number. She already has his number, it's on a sticky note in Catherine's handwriting. Another ding and she jumps again.

Bash: "You can do it, Mary, just call him."

Bash: "He misses you." She straightens at that. She's sure it's a typo because Francis doesn't miss her. He doesn't. He hates her, the last time she saw him was two years ago when they broke up. Mary hurt him, she caused him irreparable damage and she's regretted it ever since. Francis cut her out completely, making sure he only flew in to visit family and stayed far far away from her. He's managed to go two years without seeing or speaking to her. She can't blame him for that, but he doesn't miss her.

Mary: "That's not…"

Mary: "That's not funny, Bash."

Bash: "Mary, just call him…"

She sets her phone down and leans back in her chair. She just has to give him the flight info and then that'll be it. She's sure he won't prolong the conversation, he may even hang up once he realizes it's her. Mary sighs, taking a few more steady breaths before she grabs the phone and dials the damn number. What time is it in Paris anyway? It's six in the morning here, he can't be that far ahead of them. She did the math and it's about mid-afternoon there.

"Please don't answer…" She whispers, "Don't answer…" If he doesn't she can just tell Catherine he was unavailable and Catherine may call instead. Maybe he isn't answering because he doesn't know the number. It rings and rings and rings.

And then he answers.

"Hello?" His voice cuts into her. It doesn't sound cold or angry, heartbroken. He just sounds like Francis, he sounds normal. "Hello, anyone there?" She opens her mouth to speak but nothing comes out and she hears him shift wherever he is. She goes to say hello, or his name, she's not really sure but it comes out strained. Like someone has her hand firmly wrapped around her throat.

"I don't have time for this." He breathes and then she hears something else, "So...bye I guess."

"Francis." It comes out quickly before she can stop it.

"Mary?" He questions. She hears his sharp intake of breath, hears him shift again and she swears he almost hangs up on her, but he doesn't. She swallows. Someone really should have warned him.

"Hi…" She says softly, mentally kicks herself for it.

"How the hell...who gave you...Mary?" He wants to know who gave him her number, he worked hard to make sure she didn't get it after he changed it. She doesn't even know his email address. He wanted nothing to do with her, and again she can't really blame him.

"Your mother wanted me to schedule your flight...so…"

"You don't have to do that…"

"I already did."

"Will you be picking me up from the airport as well?" He asks, his voice taking on a slight edge and she frowns.

"No…" She says softly, "It's at six in the morning next week. Charles De Gaulle international, the ticket is already paid for so just give them your name."

"Alright."

"If you have any questions, you know just-"

"Yeah, thanks, Mary." He says quickly and then the line goes dead. Well, they lasted longer than she thought they would. It went well, she thinks as she puts her head down on her desk. As well as expected, the man sounded like he'd rather be talking to the devil than to Mary. She swallows again, the lump reforming. She wills herself not to cry, it's been a while since she's cried over Francis. Hearing his voice again after so long, it certainly stirs everything back up.

The sky is just starting to turn black by the time she gets home, Catherine let her off early so she could go find a suitable dress for Claude. Mary hangs it on the back of her bedroom door, unzips it from its bag, and snaps a photo.

Mary: "it covers but it's form fitting."

Claude: "Perfect. I knew I could count on you not turning me into a Nun."

Mary: "You can pick it up at my office tomorrow morning." Claude doesn't reply, she hardly ever does, hopefully, she remembers to pick it up. Mary sighs as she kicks off her shoes, tries hard not to think about Francis any more than she already has been. Hearing his voice today made her think about how close they used to be. How their life would be now if she hadn't let him go. She finds herself in front of her dresser, hand searching the back of the drawer for something and then her fingers close around a black box. A Pear cut diamond ring nestled safely inside. She really shouldn't have kept it, she should have given it to him the day he left for Paris, but the thought of taking it off at that time. It made her sick. Mary watches it sparkle in the dim light of her bedroom and then snaps it shut when she hears her phone ring. She shoves it back in the back of her dresser.

"What?" She asks as she crawls on her bed, lying down and looking out the window. The city lights twinkle, some Christmas lights mixed in from the more suburban areas. She moved here after he left, out of her mother's house with the roof she used to sit on with her friends, with the memories of Francis. Her apartment is large, it's bigger than she would have wanted, with fancy furniture and big windows, but if you work for Catherine you have to "Live like I'm paying you well."

"You sound enthusiastic," Kenna says dryly, "We're outside your door, babe, let us in."

"Kenna, I really don't feel much like-"

"Hm. Yeah. Greer says too bad."

"Kenna-"
"I brought pizza and wine, open the door." Mary rolls her eyes as she slides out of bed and goes to answer the door. Kenna strolls inside setting the pizza on the countertop of the breakfast bar. Lola gives her an apologetic look as she sets the wine bottle next to it.

"I'll never get over how nice this place is." Kenna huffs, "I'm so jealous."

"Don't be, it's-"

"Lonely?" Greer finishes it for her, "I told you to get a pet."
"I was going to say expensive," Mary says softly, watching Kenna pull the curtains open, revealing more city lights outside. The window stretches from the lounge area to the start of the kitchen. She hates it, it's too big that's why the curtain is never open and then Kenna plops herself down on the couch.

"Do you ever have sex against this?" She asks, making little hearts in the fog on the window.

"No," Mary says as she opens the pizza. She can't even remember the last time she had sex, it definitely wasn't recent and it definitely wasn't here. She did date someone after Francis but it was so brief she's not even sure she can call it dating. And in the end, he left her for her cousin, saying something about Mary still being too hung up on Francis and she needed to move on before pursuing anyone else. Which stung, but it was true and she hasn't been with anyone since. Hasn't even entertained the thought.

"Wow, not using this place to its full potential." Kenna huffs.

"How was work, Mary?" Lola asks as she helps her get some plates down from the cupboard. "It was nice of Catherine to let you off a little earlier."

"Yeah well…" Mary shrugs. "We were mostly just scrambling around trying to make last-minute deadlines before the Banquet Saturday."

"Still think you should take a date," Greer says with a smirk.

"I'm not taking a date."

"You gotta get back out there…"

"I'm perfectly fine on my own." Mary says softly and since they're talking about it, she might as well tell them, "Something happened today."

"Do tell."

"I talked to Francis." She says softly and the oxygen gets sucked out of the room as everyone's eyes turned to her.

Oh boy, this will be fun.

A/N: Hey guys, it's my first Reign story. Obviously, it's a modern au. It's a pretty slow start but I promise it gets better. Thanks for reading.