The Final Goodbye

Trauma

"I quit."

"Like hell!"

Ryan pushed the binders across the desk firmly. "Much as it pains me," he said without an ounce of regret in his voice because he never wanted to work as a substitute at the school in the first place, "I can't work for you anymore."

Alaric glared at him, "Are you leaving?"

"Not yet."

Alaric stood and pushed the binders back, "Then keep them. You made a deal, you—"

"I kissed Hope." The words felt awkward coming from his mouth. He still couldn't quite believe he did it, or that it was real. But he had and it was.

Knowing Alaric saw Hope as a quasi-daughter, Ryan braced himself for the anger he saw flaring across the man's face.

"Aw, Christ, I knew it!" Alaric pushed back from his desk, standing as fast as a rocket, preparing to launch himself across the wood and grab the former mudman. Since Hope first insisted Ryan stay at the school, he knew something was up. He really wished he hadn't been right.

Ryan didn't back up. As a mudman, this particular human never intimidated him. He didn't intimidate him much as a human either. Ryan wasn't egging him on until he punched him this time. He was just admitting the truth and quitting a job.

It took all of Alaric's self control to not go after Ryan. He's a human now, he reminded himself. He also needed to stay away from Hope, but no amount of arguing on Ric's part was going to change anything. After years of taking care of teenage girls, he knew his words would fall on deaf ears.

Clearing his throat, he forced himself to ask, "Is that a... one time thing?"

"Does it matter?" Ryan was fairly certain it would be a one time thing, not that he would mind if it wasn't.

Yes, it fucking mattered. Ric didn't want Hope involved with him. Also, if he could convince him to take his mind off Hope and put it on substituting instead, that wouldn't be as bad.

As if it would ever be that easy.

"Well—" given how much Alaric needed a substitute, and how much he wanted it to be a one time thing...

"I kissed a student," Ryan spelled it out plainly. It didn't matter if it was a one time thing or not. No teacher or authority figure at the school should be involved with a student in any inappropriate manner even if he didn't teach that particular student, and Alaric knew it.

Being a human meant he had to live his life as a human. Human rules applied to him now, and since he wanted to live a normal human life, he knew this needed to be done. He wanted to be a good human, not fail at it within the first two weeks.

Alaric slowly nodded, knowing he spoke the truth, knowing he wouldn't win this particular battle at the moment. He grudgingly pulled the binders back toward him across the desk.

"But you say you're not leaving." Alaric settled into his chair again, bristling at the idea of letting Clarke stay especially in light of this new information.

"She asked for my help with Malivore," Ryan reminded him. "That's the only deal I ever made."

"And once Malivore is gone?"

"Then so am I." Ryan had made a promise to himself. He became human to leave the supernatural world behind for good.

"You sure about that?"

Ryan nodded. It's the one dream he had his entire life.

"She's been through a lot." Alaric couldn't help but issue some kind of warning. It was her life to live as she saw fit, but if there was one ounce of humanity in the new—and supposedly improved—Clarke, then he hoped he understood. "If you hurt her..."