Hiram chuckled... "Silly girl, I'll call you any name you -want- to be called. Esmerie, Esme, Barbara, I do not mind. All I know is, for some reason, when I am around you I do not feel..." He sought for the words.

"They say misery loves company... I no longer feel like this when I'm around you. I just feel... Whole?" He chuckled. "I'm terribly sorry if all of this has been so detrimental of your way of life and your carefree love of the world. However, I do not mind your name. It is a name befitting of such love, and life, that I know she would gladly share it with you. However, I also desperately understand the need to have something that is completely -yours- and no one else's."

Placing an arm around her, he smiled. "Are you prepared for nothing but beauty? I've seen Elyan's home in L.A. Our uncle. We will be joining him and his family. Oh, however, you should be warned... They are twins." He stopped, gripping both shoulders as he faced her to him.

"So understand, while Carlisle is cold, blue eyed like me, and calculating... Ely is... Not." He chuckled. "I mean, he is calculating, but he is warm, and loving, and full of life like yourself."

He snickered and started walking again. "Come. I'm sure Christian is ready to pack everything so we can leave soon. I know he said early in the morning, but for us, that is around four... So you will need dinner and rest, and we must still get your things packed away in the car." He smiled.

"You'll love the out doors of Ely's place. I promise you that."

That... wasn't exactly the answer she had hoped for. He could have picked one... she didn't really care which one... as long as it wasn't 'barbara'. He could have said he liked it and didn't want to change it. As it stood, his half-answer was as good as she was going to get. At least, she reassured herself, he didn't hate it. He could hate it. At least that was something. 

"Space will be nice," she managed to mumble half-heartedly, "And fresh air." 

It was a long, quiet walk back to the house as she struggled to pull herself out of the sad-mad-flabbergasted stupor that had settled into the hollows of her bones. 

What was she doing? Walking away from the only thing she'd ever known, the only things she'd ever owned... to step into a world where she had NOTHING but empty promises and aching, hollow, longings? She must be insane. Surely that was it. She'd fallen off the roof again, and bumped her head. She was really lying comatose in a hospital bed somewhere... all alone. And all this was just a fugue state... a figment of her damaged imagination. He was right. She desperately wanted something to call her own. As it stood, if this was real, she couldn't go back. Which meant that she had nothing. Nothing. Not even her name was her own. Her entire life suddenly seemed borrowed or stolen. And she had nothing. 

It choked her... literally. A soft, almost gentle, gagging gasp barely escaping her as she continued refusing to look at him. People say gypsies are meant to be wanderers... that they do better with no attachments and no responsibility. But suddenly, unmoored and unanchored from EVERYTHING she'd ever know. Esme thought she would give ANYTHING for just one thing that she could truly call her own. An anchor, of sorts. Something to reassure her that she belonged... that she wasn't just a helpless pawn or a secondhand rip off of recycled irony. 

"I'm... glad... that I make you feel better," Esme tried to reassure him as they neared the house, giving his hand a light squeeze. "Why don't you pick one... from one of your books. Not now. Just... when you're reading... sometime... and you stumble across one that makes you smile... like you're whole... then... maybe... we'll pick that one." 

Her sad frustration washed over the house like a bitter cloud as they passed the gate. And neither Christian nor Sal were one to miss the drastic change in her demeanour as the front door creaked open. Christian met them at the door, a look of grave concern on his sombre features, expecting the worst. 

"What's wrong," he asked Hiram, his tone almost accusatory, "What happened?"

With a heavy sigh, Esme pulled the locket from her pocket and pressed it into his hand without a word. Leaving her bag with Hiram, she purposely crossed to the other side of the foyer... giving Sal a remarkably wide berth as she slinked into the kitchen. Coffee. She needed coffee.

Hiram sighed as she pressed the locket into Christian's hand. He whispered softly to his brother, who whispered back in a more harsh sounding tone than was probably necessary. Sal, on the other hand, slipped over toward Esme and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, child. I promise. All of this, all of everything we have will also be yours. There's no reason to feel...Worried. I will let him know and understand." Salvatore, of all people, leaned in and kissed Esmerie's cheek, then gave her shoulder a squeeze before walking by and touching both Hiram and Christian as they spoke in hushed tones... Both of them quieted down and looked at Salvatore before looking to Esme.

Sal nodded, then took the locket from his brothers and walked back to Esme. "Please, I know he wants you to wear it. I can tell it makes him feel good to see it around your neck. He misses her, but you make that longing disappear... And not because you look or remind him of her either. He says these things, but it's you that he longs for now, even if he won't admit it to himself. He cannot hide his feelings from me."

Salvatore smiled, then frowned... "He does not hate your name. In fact, he loves it. Finds it very befitting of you. He's said as much, yes? It's true. He doesn't think any other name will be as perfect for who you are, but he worries that you feel like you don't fit the name of someone he once loved."

Salvatore caressed her cheek. "He doesn't think any other name will live up to what he expects of you, and that is greatness." He smiled, then closed his eyes and took what seemed like a deep breath before releasing her. Hopefully she would feel a bit better with a little sorrow gone. However, Salvatore hurried away from the room after giving everyone a look. He had to go before her unguarded feelings spilled over.

Hiram stepped through the doorway and sat her things on the center counter before walking over to her and reaching for her hand.

"As scared as I am to admit it, Salvatore speaks the truth... There is no name more perfect and fitting of such an amazing, and strong woman. Someone capable of tracking and hunting me, and then making me fall madly in ..." He paused and gulped. Had he really fallen off the deep end so quickly?

"I've not met anyone like you at all... Not in four-hundred years. You share a name, you share a bit of your looks, but nothing about you is like her... You are so much more than I could have ever imagined, and I am thrilled to know more." Hiram sighed, looking at Christian who nodded and made his way back to his office.

"Forgive me if I have made you feel troubled, or worse, unwanted."

Esme was silent. The tears welling in her dark eyes threatened to spill down her cheeks as she tenuously held herself together. 

Sal's words helped... more than she could admit. And she was equally grateful and mildly upset that he had to field them for her. As if he didn't have enough on his plate already. With a soft whimper, she leaned into his palm as he caressed her face. Surprisingly, he was much warmer and far softer than his brother. And the thought that he must be wonderful for cuddling - on many levels - brought an unbidden chuckle to her lips as she pulled away... allowing him to take his space. 

The late afternoon sun sparkled through the kitchen window, making the tears in Esme's eyes glimmer like cognac diamonds as Hiram reached for her hands. How was it that tears made her seem even more beautiful? And how horrible a beast did he have to be to think so?

Her thumb traced absentminded circles along the back of his hand as she listened to the words he didn't say, smiling despite her glistening tears. "It's not your fault," she reassured him with a gentle squeeze, "I mean... to be fair... you didn't want me." She chuckled awkwardly, "And maybe part of you still doesn't. And I don't know how big or small that part is, but I know it's fair. I don't know what I was expecting... waltzing in here unannounced. It wasn't... it's NOT fair to you. Assuming that you would just...." She trailed off for a moment searching for words, but finding none, "I don't even know what I thought. That's the problem. I didn't think at all. I just saw... something. I don't even know what. I don't know what this is," she admitted, reaching out and tugging at one of the vibrant blue threads that only she could see... it's light shining just a bit brighter as she clutched it in her fist. "But I saw it and I RAN for it... like... water in the desert. And I still don't know why... other than I knew... or I thought... in that moment that anything that happened after would be better than never knowing. And now... now I feel...like a hand-me-down... like a recycled newspaper... like some half-remembered fever dream you heard through the grapevine once and don't really WANT to recall. And I'm not sure that knowing WILL be worth it if... if..." 

Esme lowered her eyes to the floor. She couldn't make herself say it. "But none of it is your fault. You are just as much a pawn in this as I am... probably MORE because I at least had some semblance of a choice... at first. I didn't give you that. So, I'M sorry... for everything. I'm sorry for putting you in this situation. I'm sorry for... thinking... or... hoping... I'm sorry that my name tastes like bilberries and grief, and I STILL LOVE the way you say it. I'm sorry that your father is a supreme cunt, and I'd WILLINGLY invite him in knowing what I know now. I'm sorry that you had to lose the whole world, and that I'd take it from you all over just to get here. I'm sorry that I didn't give YOU a second thought when I made my choice... and I probably STILL wouldn't if I had it to do over. I'm sorry that you're stuck with me. And I'm sorry that it scares you. And I'm sorry that I don't know how to walk away. And I'm sorry that I don't know how to let you go. I never did. Or I wouldn't have climbed the gate." 

She was spiralling, and she needed him to catch her as she leaned in and hugged him desperately. She had a zeal for life, that was sure. And her intensity made him feel ALIVE. Maybe that was why he liked her so? She was like pie.

His arms wrapped around her, and he smiled. Genuinely smiled.

"I don't want to let you go. I don't want you to walk away." Swallowing hard and calming himself, he turned into her neck and whispered into her ear.

"I wouldn't change a thing if it leads me back to this moment, Esmerie." He smiled, holding her tightly.

"Your love of life, your zest for everything... It's part of what attracts me. So, even if you tracked me... Even if I didn't have anything to do with you chasing me... Even if it means I'm scared..." He pulled away and looked her in the eyes.

"I am willing to traverse this feeling of life and living with you. I wouldn't change that. I've not felt so alive in years! You're like..." He paused and thought it out for a moment.

"You're like the best piece of pie I've ever had... And I haven't even tasted it yet!"

Christian and Slavatore both slapped their foreheads... Tsukina and Amelia's mouths dropped to the floor... Jakoby burst out laughing... Evelia blushed and hid her face in the book she'd been pretending to read.

Hiram turned and looked at them, "What? Was it something I said?"

Giggling softly, Esme snagged him by the chin, dragging his attention back to her. So, maybe it wasn't as romantic as Poe or Byron... it was meaningful to HIM. And that meant more than some flowery, composed drivel any day. Smirking softly, she drug him toward her, sliding one arm around his neck as she leaned in and kissed him softly. 

Peaches and honey. 

Quietly, she chuckled, grabbing her bag as she tugged him toward the door. "We still have to finish packing," she smirked as drug him toward his room... the door closing behind them with a soft 'click'.