Episode Fifteen:
ALTERNATE UNIVERSE
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E L L I O T T ' S P O V :
She disappeared. Evaporated, dissipated, and disintegrated to nothing more than a fading blur when his arms wrapped tightly around her forearm and pulled. Taking her with him – dragging her with him as they left the stadium.
"Elliott! Way to go!" Hollers Daka, coming down from his seat as we waste no time to return to the car, what's there left to see here? She's gone now.
No one's here.
See, he takes everything with him. Fawn, my composure, sanity. There's nothing more for him to latch onto, so now he's leeching on limbs, and heartbeats. Things you aren't supposed to take.
You can't own a human.
Can't carry it around like a rag doll, and let it get dirty as its face scrapes against the dirty concrete. You just can't, but he does. And it's starting to piss me off that I can't do anything without feeling like he's stealing something from me every passing second the things I'm familiar with are lost.
I don't like Fawn.
Sometimes I have to remind myself this, but seeing him treat her so –
I'm human, and I would be lying if I said I didn't care. Even if she doesn't care about me, and even if she yells at me at that darn grocery store a hundred times – I will always care.
It's human nature to care about things that bring you comfort.
Even if it's the strangest, most annoyingly familiar comfort that can drive you mad, it'll always have that place in your heart.
She'll always have a place in my heart.
"Hey, you mind if I ride home with Isla?" Daka asks, pulling down on his long sleeves as he stares down at his cellphone screen.
"Um, yeah, why?" I ask, and he gestures to the tall Ukrainian transfer waving him down from across the parking lot behind me with the nod of his head.
"You know that chick is nothing but trouble, right?" I ask, and he shakes his head with a light chuckle sounding around him as he begins his walk over.
"Trouble's hot man,"
"How long have you been flirting with her anyway, a month?" I ask, and he grins glancing back to the girl with a wink before responding.
"I've been hitting on her since she got here,"
"Whatever, just go," I laugh, pushing him towards her.
I turn around to face the girl parked a ways down in the corner, long blonde hair, hazel eyes and I knew from past conversations a killer accent. Dressed in a thick coat and a pair of pastel pink mittens the girl stood waiting, until Dakarai strolled over to her with the swagger I knew he had in him and conquered his prey.
Just kidding, but that was more cinematic than – he walked over and said 'Hi!' politely.
Catch my drift?
Shaking my head, I turn back around and walk back to the car more than ready to pass out when I arrive back at the house. I guess it wouldn't be such a bad thing to drive home alone. Nothing new, that's for certain.
Sighing, I get to the car and go to unlock the doors when I find the passenger side already unlocked. What the – did someone break in?
The only other person with a set of keys was Dakarai and sure he brought them to the game, but I was just talking to him! He isn't anywhere near here, so, why?
Hesitantly I inch the door open only to find Fawn curled up in the back seat – sleeping peacefully, any evidence of the emotion I'd seen her display earlier were erased, and blended over as her chest expanded and collapsed rhythmically.
How did she get in here?
I crawl in through the passenger side, closing the door silently behind me as not to wake her. Not yet at least – not yet.
I turn around in the seat to face her sleeping figure bundled up with a bulky school sweater and a silly winter hat. It was so quiet that I could hear her breathing, and the sound of her clothes rubbing against the leather upholstered seats of the truck as her body moved to inhale.
Eventually, I tapped the side of her cheek lightly, hoping the chill of my fingers on her sensitive skin would awaken her with no force at all.
After a few seconds her eyes fluttered open, and blinked a few times coming to adjust to the lighting, and the sight of me. The guy she'll never need.
"Elliott? Oh, this i-is your car. Um," She sits up flustered fumbling for words as she reaches deep into he pockets.
"Daka gave me his keys earlier in the game because I had p-pockets," she mumbles quietly, daring to look up to my eyes only once to offer the glinting metal to me.
A sheepish smile washes over her features as she explains herself further.
"Lawrence told me to w-wait outside his car, but – it was really cold," I nod her on encouragingly, "Your car was right here, and all tucked away and cozy looking – so, I went ahead and c-climbed on in,"
"Trespasser," I smirk, and she slaps my arm lightly.
"It was cold!"
"Oh, so you're cold?" I grin, before crashing into the back seat with her, arms and legs intertwining as I surround her with myself, "Still cold?" I ask with a chuckle, while she continues to lose her breath to the laughing fit overpowering her.
"Not a-anymore," she admits giggling, falling into my chest as happy tears are pressed out of here smile squinted eyes. With a sigh, her hands grip onto my jersey, and her head rests upon my heart as though I'm her pillow, and bed to recover. As if on instinct my hands surround her body, and her breathing falls steady, and peaceful.
"Fawn?" I whisper, twirling the tips of her hair between my fingertips.
"Yeah?"
"If we were in an alternate universe, would this be normal?" I ask quietly.
She looks up to meet my eyes, glances at both of them in a trance, lost in thought. Her head collapses back down, gravity pulling her under, as she smiles dreamily.
"I think so," she whispers, "I'd like to think that in a-an alternate universe we're best friends – not best friends actually, but – c-closer. Closer than we are here, and I tell you my secrets, and you t-tell me yours, and we hug. We hug a lot, Elliott. All the time, we hug,"
"So why not here?" I ask, and her smile dissipates.
"Because here I like Lawrence, and I hate you," she frowns, "And that's just the way things are around here, that's what our life's plot consists of, and – this – whatever this is – would never ever work, because you hate me too,"
"What if I didn't?" I question, thumb brushing underneath her eyes, as they flutter closed for a moment.
"If you didn't, than I wouldn't know what to say, because it would be a plot twist in the whole book analogy thing Elliott," she laughs airily, eyes blinking open to read mine, before shutting closed once more.
"Definite plot twist," I mumble, watching as her eyes fell closed for the final time, and her cell phone lit up with a text. From Lawrence – she ignored it.
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QUESTIONS:
Thoughts on Dakarai and Isla, the girl he said he'd been hitting on?
Think anything will come of it?
Thoughts on Fawn hiding out in Elliott's car?
Thoughts on their moment together?
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hey guys! Hopefully you enjoyed this one because I really enjoyed writing it! Thx so much for all of the support it really means the world to me!
Don't forget to vote, and comment what you're thinking!
- tat <3