Better Off This Way

[Jaegar Ansari]

Jay made it to the station ready with his stuff to head home for awhile. He figured it would be best. He figured a lot of people would be better off without him. He was just a speed bump in their way. The train pulled up. He watched and waited for his turn to board it. He figured he would be back to Hogwarts someday. He looked back with tears coming down his cheeks. He then looked to see the doors open on the train.

[Jaegar Ansari]

... He boarded the train hoping to forget the bad things that happened to him this term but remember all the good things for a long time. He would be going back to his parents and twin brother. He would miss a lot of people but maybe they would write.

[Riley Taylor]

"JAEGAR!" Could be heard coming from a young girl who was running down the platform. She had ran all the way from her dorm in Hogwarts to the platform the moment she had heard that Jaegar was leaving. She had things to give him, and also things to say.

Riley yelled again. "Jaegar?" She said almost more calmly now, hoping she hadn't missed him. "Oh no.." She muttered, feeling as though he was gone. Tears streamed from her cheeks as she realized she had never said her goodbyes.

[Jaegar Ansari]

Jay heard someone scream his name. He sat his stuff down and saw Riley. He ran to her. He gave her a big hug as he cried. "I'm leaving Riley. I will miss you so much. I still love you and always will. I don't know how that skinny boy treats you but I will always love you." He cried like a baby. "Don't ever call me a stranger."

[Riley Taylor]

"I heard.." Riley muttered softly, not wanting him to leave. She knew that they hadn't planned on getting back together, and hadn't really seen each other much since their breakup, but she didn't want him gone. Not yet, not completely. She hadn't let go yet. "I'm going to miss you." She held out the two boxes she had in her hands. One was a present wrapped in Christmas paper, and the other was the box with his grandmother's necklace in it.

"Open it, now, please." Riley wanted to watch him open it.

[Jaegar Ansari]

Jay opened it and saw his grandmother's necklace. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and another big hug. He cried so hard. He backed away slowly and began to sing to her one last time.

"You call me a stranger
You say I'm a danger
But all these thoughts are leaving you tonight
I'm broke and abandoned
You are an angel
Making all my dreams come true tonight."

He boarded the train and the train took off. He waved goodbye to her.

[Riley Taylor]

Riley cried as he sang to her and waved goodbye on the train. She couldn't even muster up the energy to put her hand up to wave goodbye. She crouched down, crying. There was nothing she could do now, he was gone. She wondered if he had yet opened the box wrapped in Christmas paper. It contained something very important to her.

Before they had broken up, Riley had taken the time to draw a beautiful picture. Swing sets and merry go rounds. The very first place Riley and Jaegar had met was the playground. It was symbolic. She had drawn in the very nicest letters she could 'Riley & Jaegar, Always & Forever'. She didn't have to heart to rip her drawing and throw it away when the two parted ways, and figured giving it to him for Christmas would show him how much he really did mean to her, even though she was being forced to move on. She knew that things would never be the same between them, and also knew that she could never take him back. It would be too hard. Maybe in time, but there would need to be plenty of it.

Also, she had put the gold bracelet in the box with the drawing. She found it laying on the ground a few feet from the Gamekeeper's Hut, almost exactly where she had left it. With both the drawing and the bracelet was another necklace, but it was made for a guy to wear. On the one bead on the necklace it said 'Riley Ann'.

All of these things she had planned to give him, besides the bracelet, long before Christmas was even close to approaching.