[right][sub]TIMESTAMP: Crashing Tide, Part 1
FT: [color=18A136]Eleanor Costigan[/color] & [color=9f1b3e]Caterina Belmonte[/color][/sub][/right]
[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/230206/30e51267c1cb36c3bcff38793502db61.png[/img]
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[img]https://i.imgur.com/PkUsdLd.png[/img]

[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/users/brutalbx][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/211015/b5878257bfbd9cdd76a67a003c983966.png[/img][/url]  [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/211015/52f6860b6ef04523593be20b787cf5af.png[/img]  [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/users/lovelycomplex][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/211015/450efa6a0ce5a6f0235bac836bcc1708.png[/img][/url]

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[img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/230206/da808f91ca750445e483b5483dc95519.png[/img][/center]

[color=lightgray][indent][indent]Eleanor Costigan sat on a bench outside of Sinclair Health, staring up at the big blue sky above. There wasn’t a single cloud to darken the day. The breeze was light and warm, as if the day was built from scratch to be perfect, the calm after the storm. She had spent the morning putting out fires and being quite confused about what the hell was going on. When her nephew, Adam turned up at her door, a boy she had not seen in years thanks to her big brother, that should’ve been a sign. Then she watched Jamie O’Hara, a girl she had known from the day she was born in the very hospital that now sat behind her, had a heart wrenching breakdown. 

Ellie didn’t even clock that her own son was in the middle of the fracas until he was being loaded into an ambulance. She tore out of the house and jumped in with him. Her little Clay was a mess, bloodied, battered and bruised. When they arrived at Sinclair, she let the doctors take him whilst she called Sean, who was still a few miles out at sea and Laura, who as pragmatic as ever said that there was nothing to be done until the doctors had come back.

When they did, they told Ellie that Clay had a severe concussion, some broken ribs and a slipped disk, the artist couldn’t help but sigh in relief. It was mostly surface damage and he would recover with rest but that didn’t stop her heart racing. She had always worried for his safety, that’s just what a parent did. Yet she was the parent of a police officer; Eleanor’s greatest worry was that she would get a knock at the door or a phone call in the middle of the night that Clay was shot or that he was dead. She hadn’t yet come to terms with that worry. It haunted her.

Blowing out the stress from her chest, she tightened her grip on the seat of the bench, her fingers still stained gray with the clay from her unfinished morning pottery project. 

At this point, Cat’s confidence had deflated and she was not the strong woman she tried to be everyday. The woman that was walking from the parking lot to the entrance of Sinclair Health was broken, a shattered glass ballerina glued together, trying to prepare for the worst outcome possible. During the car ride, her mind was on replay. She saw her and Clay’s first disagreement the day before and how she so easily let him walk away. She saw when he took her to the lake and he comforted her, let her lean on him, only wanting one thing in return, that she’d go back to being okay. She thought back to when he pulled her off one of her husband’s lovers at Afterlife and brought her to the safety of his apartment. She replayed their first kiss and their first time. She replayed their moments from now to when he ran on her father’s boat naked and into her arms. 

Hugging herself, trying to not fall apart, Cat saw Clay’s mother sitting and staring at the sky. Swallowing hard, it felt like there was a ball in her throat, she approached the woman with a crestfallen expression. Her emotions had reached its peak from her mother battling cancer to her family ripping apart from the seams. She didn’t know what she was doing and she couldn’t hide the pain anymore. Not at this moment. Not when all she could think about was Clay not having another morning with her to eat breakfast, to joke, to dance with, to climb every mountain with and if she needed to rest, he’d be there to wait for her or pick her up and tell her it was going to be okay. She was going to be okay. Everything was okay.  

Her mind was racing because for a short moment she finally understood what it meant to be happy and to not be ashamed of her tears and her broken pieces. He steadied her and kept her safe when she was constantly holding her family together. For once in her fucking life, she found someone who would swim a whole ocean for her just because he loved her and that’s it. All because he loved her. He loved her. He loved every flaw, every weakness, every ugly part and saw beauty where she didn’t. He did all that and all he wanted in return was her to be with him. For her to find happiness with him. 

Fuck, what was wrong with her? 

[color=9f1b3e]“Is he okay?”[/color] Cat breathed, announcing her presence to the mother of the boy that slipped his way into her heart rapidly and without warning. A boy that crashed into her like a tsunami. Instead of knocking her off her feet, he carried her where the light couldn’t. Caterina was terrified, scared shitless of anything bad happening to Clay. If only she told him how she felt.  

Ellie’s chocolate eyes fell from the sky and onto the pained face of the neighbor girl. She shared her eyes with her son, so dark but so expressive. Many thought little of Ellie. She was a foundling, a Callahan no less, so life was easy for her. She was a space case who couldn’t remember what day it was and had many times been referred to as an unfit mother with no basis. Eleanor was far more clued in than people thought. It was easier for her to pretend to be dumb than to make others feel bad. 

She had always known about Clay’s crush on Cat. The way he looked at her, the way his little eyes twinkled when he heard her smoky voice. And she knew her son, he would wait and fight until he landed the woman of his dreams. When they arrived at the hospital and they asked who Clay’s emergency contact was, Ellie assumed it would be her but when they read out Cat’s name? That all but affirmed her suspicion that her son was having an affair with the woman. She saw it coming before they did.

Ellie pushed herself up to her feet and took a step forward. She wrapped her arms around the younger woman and pulled her into a tight embrace. [color=18A136]“He’s ok. A little banged up but he’s going to be fine.”[/color] She whispered into Caterina’s ear as she nuzzled into her neck, letting the pain out and letting love fill them both.

The sudden warm embrace of a mother opened the floodgates. Cat wrapped her arms around Eleanor, her purse hanging from her arm and silently sobbed into her shoulder. She had been a mess since yesterday that not even wine could console her. [color=9f1b3e]“I’m sorry,”[/color] Cat muffled into Ellie’s shirt. [color=9f1b3e]“I didn’t want you or anyone to find out this way. I’m so sorry if it’s caused you any pain,”[/color] Cat choked on her tears. 

Picking her head up, Cat gazed into the eyes of the older woman who was a parental figure she and her siblings looked up to growing up. She was fifteen when her father decided to pack their bags and leave their home in the Big Apple. She was fifteen when she moved to Edenridge. She was fifteen when she was welcomed on Scott Street by the Costigans. One of the first families to make them feel part of the town. One of the first families to open up their home to them. Vivia grew attached to Eleanor and even picked up a paintbrush. Cat, however, had too much going on as the eldest Belmonte to stop and take in the fresh air. When she looked at Ellie she felt that. She felt her spirit and how unbothered she was of most things but not because she didn’t care. Eleanor Costigan was the embodiment of: [i]don’t worry, don’t hurry, and be sure to smell the flowers along the way.[/i] 

[color=9f1b3e]“I’m so glad he’s okay,”[/color] Cat uttered. Her pain bled through her words. There was no doubt there was so much guilt and grief in her words, woven in one tragic blanket. Unwrapping her arms and hands, Cat wiped her ugly crying face, blushing in shame and embarrassment. 

[color=18A136]“You should go to him.”[/color] Ellie reached forward and wiped away some of Cat’s tears herself. [color=18A136]“I reckon at this point he’ll be more happy to see you than me.”[/color] Of course she wanted nothing more than to be with her baby boy but she could see it on Caterina’s face, the guttural cry and the shaking hands, the girl needed to be with Clayton. She was in love with her son. Selling Sean on the idea would be a mission unto itself but he could wait, he was still somewhere in the Atlantic. [color=18A136]“I need to go get his Dad anyway. He’s in room thirteen on the second floor.”[/color] Elle leaned forward and pressed her lips to Cat’s cheek, holding her arm gently as she did so. [color=18A136]“Look after him for me? He’s a good boy.”[/color]

[color=9f1b3e]“Okay,”[/color] Cat struggled to find the words. Her mind, in a haze. [color=9f1b3e]“I promise. No,”[/color] She corrected herself. [color=9f1b3e]“I will. You have my word.”[/color] She needed to stop guessing and hoping her life would get better. That her father would open up and admit his own struggles and pains. That her siblings wouldn’t take things for granted. That her kids didn’t hate her. 

Already Cat was taking charge of her life by filing for a divorce and studying to become a police officer. Now it was time to embrace the feeling with the person that she wanted more than anything in this world. The future was unknown but she knew relationships were a commitment. She’s been through a few, one being a long, toxic marriage. She shouldn’t be afraid of this feeling. It made her happy and what was wrong with that? What was wrong with being happy? Cat needed to stop doing everything for everyone else and start dreaming again for herself. She needed to find her own happiness.  

And that started with Clay. 

[color=9f1b3e]“Be safe, Ellie, and… thank you.” [/color][/indent][/indent][/color]