biana vacker gazed at her reflection in the floor-length mirror mournfully, thinking of all the wondrous things she had been, and what she had no choice in becoming. pale but jagged white lines marred her once-beautiful face— flaws that hadn't been there before. and reminders of her weakness. in a little black dress, the rest of biana's scars were all too visible. swirling white lines ran down her arms, down the side of her body, and even lingered on her legs. they were like the cracks on a glass surface— veiny and spread everywhere.
suddenly regretting her choice of dress, biana wrapped her scarred arms around herself, and retreated into her closet. dresses were already strewn around the delicately carpeted floor, but she continued to throw dresses around, looking for the perfect one to hide everything that was wrong with her.
at last, her eyes landed on a floor-length black dress. the skirt would cover her legs perfectly. the mesh sleeves of the dress would cover her arms, too. and the rest of the dress didn't have any cutouts or anything, so the only thing biana had to focus on was fixing her face.
she pulled the dress on, ignoring the way the material scratched her scars. beauty is pain, biana told herself firmly, even though, deep down, she knew that it wasn't right.
she exited the closet and cross the room, beelining for the floor-length mirror. all her scars disappeared beneath the black cloth— except for the ones on her face. but biana looked like a grandmother in the dress. the fabric hung off her body like an i'll-fitting potato sack. there were no jewels, no sparkles, no ruffles, nothing that made it interesting. this dress wasn't like anything she would wear prior to the incident, but now biana would just gave to deal with looking old and frumpy.
because there was no way she'd put her scars on display. the dress might have been ugly, but her scars were certainly uglier.
which made her ugly too.
her mind flashed back to all the instances where she had received compliments— from family, friends, classmates, mentors, and even total strangers— about her looks. her beauty and sense of fashion had never gone unnoticed, and always garnered attention in the form of both praise and envy.
but now, all that beauty was gone.
not even one part of her body was untouched; the scars were everywhere. there wasn't even one part of her that was bare, flawless... beautiful.
a sob-like sound escaping her lips, biana turned away from the mirror sharply.
"biana?"
the sound of a door opening graced her ears. the wooden floor creaked. biana glanced up hesitantly, glossy teal eyes meeting silver-blue.
tam.
biana only hummed in response, not trusting her voice to refrain from breaking. she guessed that her boyfriend was going to offer her kind words of encouragement, tell her that she was beautiful, and wrap her in a tight, tight hug.
and she couldn't deal with any of that.
"i thought you hated that dress," tam said instead. biana glanced up at him in surprise, eyebrows knitting together. there was a small frown on his pale lips, and his eyebrows were turned down– not in anger, but in concern.
"hated, yes," she nodded slowly. "past tense, tam. in the present, though? i should get used to this dress, because i can't wear anything different."
"why?" he crossed the room and, when biana averted her eyes, he grasped her chin gently and tilted her face up, making her look hin in the eyes. "why, bia?"
she pushed his hand away, and glanced away from him. "look at me," she whispered, and her voice cracked pathetically. rolling up the mesh sleeves and pulling up the skirt of her dress, biana displayed her scars for the first time. but not in pride, no, it was all embarrassment and self-pity. "look at these scars, tam," she practically forced. "they're ugly. and they're a part of me now, so they make me ugly." point made, she let go of the fabric, letting the skirt cover her legs again, and rolled down the sleeves once more.
"you're not ugly, bia," tam said fiercely, pulling the brunette into a tight, tight hug. "you could never be ugly."
a proper sob escaped her lips, and biana hid her face in the crook of tam's neck. "yes, i am," she cried. "i am ugly. you don't have to lie to me, i know what i've become."
"you're ugly?" he repeated, as a question. biana only sobbed harder, nodding and burying her face into his shoulder. tam put his hands on her shoulders, and pushed her away lightly. tears traced their way down her scarred cheeks. a cold, unforgiving fist clenched around his heart as he gazed at the teary mess his biana had become. "no, love. youre gorgeous. with scars, without scars, it doesn't matter. please don't put yourself down, bia, i love you so much, and it hurts to see you like this."
almost at once, her sobs stopped. a hiccup escaped biana's lips as she gazed at tam questioningly. "you love me?" her voice cracked, as if she couldn't believe his words.
"i love you," tam repeated.
her dark eyebrows furrowed together. "but... why? vespera broke me. i'm nothing now. i was at least pretty before, but now? i'm nothing but scars."
tam sighed, and pulled her into his arms. "look, bia, you're beautiful and perfect as can be. no amount of scars will ever change that. your scars don't make you ugly, my love, they never have. they just confirm that you're beautiful on both the outside and the inside. and that you're beyond brave and would do anything for your friends— even if it cost you your own life."
a small gasp escaped biana's lips, and she held onto tam tighter.
"these scars," tam continued. "they're proof that you can do anything. that you can survive anything life throws at you. even vespera. and if you can fight off that psychopath and live to tell the tale, you can push through all the rumours and the nasty comments. and, this time, i'll be at your side the entire time. anyone wants to say anything to you? they have to go through me. and i'm not afraid of throwing hands. and, if its you and your thoughts, i'm still here for you. to listen, to support, anything you need. because i love you. even— no, especially— with your scars."
he pressed a kiss to the top of biana's head, and she sighed slowly in contentment. "thank you tammy," she told him softly. "i guess i really needed to hear that. and... i love you too."
a grin lit up his face, and he kissed her forehead. "you do?"
"i do," she confirmed, and pressed a light kiss to his lips. "thank you for always being here for me."
his grin grew wider. a nod, and then, "we don't have to go to sophie's party if you don't want to. in fact, i'd rather stay home and revel in our newfound love for each other." he waggled his eyebrows at biana, who giggled, and then slapped his arm.
"okay," she said a moment later. "let's stay home."
tam unzipped her grandma dress, and biana pushed it off her shoulders and onto the floor. she now stood in her silk slip, and flushed, looking down at herself. her scars peeked out from the white cloth— the scars on her legs, arms, neck and face.
noticing this, tam frowned softly. he took biana's hand and kissed her scars. "see?" he told her. "beautiful. just like you."
"i love you," she said once more, overwhelmed with emotion as tears— content tears— pricked at the corners of her eyes.
"and i you," tam replied in kind. still holding her hand, he walked her over to the bed and pulled them onto it. he pulled the comforters over both of them, and then snuggled closer to biana. "cuddle?"
she nodded, teal eyes shining, and scooted closer to her boyfriend.
word count: 1359
ik this isn't exactly canon-compliant but i loved the idea when it struck and i actually wrote it all today while on a road trip lol. basically tammy and bia are aged up in this oneshot and they were in a relationship when the whole nightfall-vespera-mirror thing happened.
anyways i hope u guys liked this oneshot!!! please please please vote & comment <333 also i have a bunch of more oneshots planned out so keep an eye out, bc there's more coming soon! one of them is gonna be loosely based off a taylor song hehehe
i loge u all sm babes
have a great day/night wherever u are :)
~ gigi <3