Dedicated to AdzBala! :D Her username is very familiar to me now. Haha! I just noticed now that I haven't dedicated a chappie of Realize to her yet. Hehe. :D

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There she was; sitting beside Janice was Margaret Islestorm.

She had long straight red hair; she was pale as a porcelain doll that she looked quite delicate. She wore an elegant dress that was just above her knee. She radiated beauty and elegance like none other.

In Maxine's opinion, Margaret "Maggie" Islestorm was every boy's dream girl and every girl's dream appearance.

When her eyes reached Maggie's, Maxine noticed that she was staring at Todd. She couldn't exactly say what her expression showed. And before she could really get to the word to describe Maggie's expression, Natalie spoke.

"Sweetie, this is Margaret," Natalie told Maxine, gesturing a hand toward Maggie.

That was only when Maggie's eyes looked at her. She smiled warmly and stood up. She walked toward Maxine and gave out a hand for a handshake.

"Call me Maggie," said Maggie as she smiled fully, showing her pearly white teeth.

Maxine accepted it, though a little dazed at how anyone could be so beautiful.

"I'm Maxine," she said as they shook hands.

Now that she was closer, Maxine could see Maggie's tantalizing greyish blue eyes. She slowly pulled her hand away while Maggie turned to Todd, who was staring out the window.

"It's been a long time," said Maggie, hoping to get Todd's attention.

He ignored her.

"How have you been?" she tried again.

Still no answer.

"I think I better call Mike," announced Janice, standing up. Not a second later, she exited the room.

"James, can I cook something for dinner?" asked Natalie, turning to James.

He reluctantly looked at her. "Er, no need to do that, Mrs. F. Our cook is going to prepare for us."

As soon as he said the last word, he turned his eyes back to Todd and Maggie - obviously anticipating what would happen next. But Natalie insisted.

"No, I think he just called your mother and said he cannot come by today. I really do want to help your Mother prepare our food," said Natalie pointedly.

James sighed and nodded. "If you say so. Come, I'll lead the way," he added politely, cottoning on.

Alex followed them.

It took three seconds for Maxine to realize the situation. The others intentionally left Todd and Maggie alone to talk. She had to leave them, too.

So she turned around to leave the room when she felt warmth held her hand. She looked over her shoulder and saw Todd stopping her.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

Maxine hadn't yet thought of a reason why she was leaving. In fact, she didn't want to leave. She feared that if she did, Maggie might manage a way for Todd's feelings to return. With a beauty like that, how could he not? Then again, Todd wasn't that shallow. Surely, he wouldn't fall for her good looks.

But . . . what if . . . just what if . . . his feelings returned?

She might not be able to handle that.

"I - uh . . . I'm gonna help Mom prepare dinner," she said, smiling weakly.

Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, she continuously told herself.

"Don't leave," murmured Todd tonelessly.

"Why?" she couldn't help herself but ask.

"Because I don't want you to."

That was enough reason for her to stay. But just one look at Maggie and Maxine knew she had to. They had matters to settle. They needed closure.

Hopefully, only 'closure' is going to happen.

"But I need to help prepare," said Maxine, her voice cracked.

They stared for a long time. And finally, Todd nodded. As soon as he let go of Maxine's hand, she left the room.

Maggie touched Todd's arm, but he made no movement.

"How are you?" asked Maggie, sincerity was clear in her voice.

Todd looked at Maggie's hand on his arm.

"As you can see, I'm still breathing," he said in a flat tone, removing Maggie's hand.

"Yes, you look healthy."

"We're talking about health," he nodded, as though approvingly. "Well, at least we're not talking about the weather."

"At least we're talking," she mumbled.

Todd let out a breath. "I guess that's my fault. I apologize if it took me three years to finally be able to come here and talk to you."

Sarcasm was apparent in his voice, and Maggie noticed that. Her eyes became watery, tears daring to fall but she held them back.

"I didn't mean for it to happen," she whispered with a shaky voice.

"What's the point in telling me this, Maggie?" he asked, with a raised eyebrow. "You're aware that you can't change what happened even if you say it wasn't your fault. "

"If you please just let me explain," she pleaded.

"What for, to re-write history?"

"Yes!" she snapped. "So that you know what exactly happened because you didn't let me have a chance to explain everything because you started ignoring us and pretending that we weren't even born!"

She couldn't hold them back anymore, tears started streaming down her face.

Todd gazed out the window for what felt like ages. Until finally, he sighed.

"Look, we were kids. We didn't know what we were doing half the time. I was childish to act that way. We were stupid to think that we could actually be in love at that age."

"Are you - Are you saying that you didn't love me?" she asked, her voice full of hurt and disbelief.

"As a friend, I did."

There was an awkward silence.

Todd stared at the Christmas tree on the corner while Maggie stared at him.

"Can you give me a chance to explain myself, then?" requested Maggie calmly.

Todd's wandered to the dancing flames by the fireplace.

Truthfully, he didn't care if Maggie explained herself or not. The past was the past. There was no sense in talking about something that ended in misery. He was somehow even thankful that it happened.

He strongly believes that everything happens for a reason.

A reason that would be understandable in the future.

Odd, but there was only one face he could see as he gazed at the dancing flames.

A face of a strangely cheerful and strong girl. The girl who managed to make him smile in amusement, and she didn't even know how much she affected him.

Thinking of the future, he could only see her.

But for now, he had to face his past. It was the only way for him to fully move on.

"All right," he told Maggie.

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Hehe. ;D

Photo of Maggie!! See? Isn't she beautiful?! Well, he character is played by Emma Watson, after all. >>>

Note: Ah, I guess the next will be the... Hmm. I'll leave it to your imagination to guess. Haha! It must be running wild now. XD

Upload: I upload on weekends. ^_^ I swear on the River Styx that I would upload this Friday or sooner.

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