Lawli: I wasn't going to post this until it was nearly complete, but... today's my birthday so I can do whatever I want, and I wanted to publish this on here.
My inspiration for this fic is the Adele CD '21' - specifically the song "Someone Like You." Every chapter corresponds to a different song on the CD, which I encourage you to look up on Youtube (or you can find the chapters on my LJ, where I also have the videos to the songs embedded). The titles of the chapters are the songs which inspired them.
Anyways. This fic will feature Suzaku as a "happily married" husband and father and Lelouch a refrain-addicted home-wrecker. Pretty much... I just wanted a reason o write Suzaku as a daddy, because that is just an image I find absolutely adorable, for some reason. Don't let that fool you, though. Despite the sometimes fluffy-and-cute moments that will occur in this fic (mainly in the One & Only chapters, such as this first chapter) I think this is actually one of the saddest stories I've ever written - which is saying something, coming from an angst-whore like me - because I've tried to make it as realistic as possible. Oh, and I also have to thank the author WhiteApple... because it's through fangirly discussions with her that I better developed this idea, and actually decided to write it. :3
The rating will eventually go up to M, but that won't happen for a while still and when it does I will give fair warning!
This is my first time writing a story in present-tense, also. So if there is anything I messed up on, please point it out to me! Constructive criticism is always appreciated!
Disclaimer: Still don't own anything.
Fragment 01
One & Only, Part 1
"You've been on my mind
I grow fonder every day
Lose myself in time
Just thinking of your face"
It's winter. The trees are bare and the park deserted, save for a lone boy sitting on a stone bench reading a book far more advanced than his grade level. Lelouch gets cold easily but his mother thoroughly bundled him up in a thick down-feather coat and wool scarf, and he likes the tranquil atmosphere of the park – especially when it's secluded like this – too much to let the weather spoil his enjoyment. Snow falls gently from the sky, some flakes nestling in his dark hair and others melting upon contact with his skin or clothing. The rest gathers in small heaps upon the grass.
Lelouch turns the page.
He enjoys reading. It is relaxing, and though he would ever admit it to any of his siblings he sometimes envisions himself as the main characters, partaking in thrilling adventures and rescuing shy maidens from fates worse than death. Pretending is nice. Schneizel would call it immature but Lelouch calls it safe, because he can pretend he is anything in the world – the prince of a holy empire, a dark wizard, anything the stories imagine he can be – just not Lelouch Vi Britannia, who hates the sound of yelling and breaking glass and his sister crying as a family dinner dissolves into another senseless fight and his father storms out of the house yet again.
Lelouch hates his father. Not only because of the fights, but because most of the time he feels as if he doesn't even have a father at all. Schneizel says he's the favorite son, but Lelouch never believes him; Schneizel is a teenager and all teenagers do is lie, and Lelouch can count the number of birthdays his father has attended on one hand.
Today is his birthday. Lelouch did not ask for presents or a big party, only for peace and quiet. He stays at the park much longer than his usual hour or two because he knows his mother is planning something anyways and he knows something will happen (something always happens, usually because of that man) to make it only painfully memorable. If at he stays at the park, maybe they'll only get mad at him, and not get mad at each other, and there won't be any shouting or throwing the cake like on Nunnally's birthday...
Something hits his leg.
Lelouch blinks, looks down, and discovers a soccer ball. He's about to kick it away, but sees someone has already come to claim it as he follows the path made in the snow up to a boy about his own age. The boy is dressed in faded jeans and a baggy sweatshirt (isn't he cold like that?) with a blue tuque pulled over his head; his breath comes out in white clouds as he runs.
"Hi," he says once he's close enough. He stops three or so feet from the bench and lingers there expectantly. Lelouch only stares at him, mildly surprised at the intrusion of privacy, until eventually the boy shifts uncomfortably and scratches at his elbow. "Um, sorry... That's mine." He points to the ball and approaches to pick it up. Lelouch waits for him to leave, but he doesn't. "What are you doing out here by yourself?"
There's genuine curiosity in his voice and, Lelouch detects with a small amount of resentment, concern. Lelouch hates being babied.
"Reading," he answers coldly, and holds up the book for emphasis. The way the boy's face flushes in embarrassment – because, really, that should have been obvious – pleases him.
Rather than Lelouch hoped, the boy does not simply take his soccer ball and go. Obviously subtlety is lost on him and Lelouch resorts to curling his upper lip and purposefully scooting away as he is joined on the bench.
"Reading what?"
Lelouch looks the boy up and down, decides from the hand-me-down state of his clothes the boy's socioeconomic status, and says something he hopes will sting enough to get him off the bench and back out of sight. "I highly doubt you'd know it, even if I did tell you."
The boy laughs, much to Lelouch's shock and annoyance. "Probably not. Hey, do you want to play?" He holds the soccer ball up in invitation.
Unlike his step-brothers, Lelouch has never been good at sports. His chest cavity is narrow, his lungs can't expand fully, and the other boys tease him when he just can't keep up in class – not that he cares what any of them think. "I'm reading," he says. Something about the way the boy's face falls makes Lelouch's stomach flip unpleasantly; he's never dealt well with guilt. "Won't your teammates be upset?" he asks, sighing in defeat.
The boy's hands - not covered in gloves like Lelouch's own - grip the ball tightly. "I..." He looks away, blushing. Lelouch quirks an eyebrow. "I actually came alone," he finally says before meeting Lelouch's gaze hopefully.
There is something familiar about his eyes. A despair hidden deep within emerald pools that Lelouch identifies with, fights to mask every day in front of others. But he knows in that instant the boy has seen it, and their shared sorrow is what made him take that seat beside Lelouch on the park bench.
Lelouch sets the book aside and instead places his hands over the boy's. The boy's smile lights up his whole face, and it's infectious; Lelouch finds himself smiling as well.
It's winter. The trees are bare and the park deserted, save for two boys laughing together on a stone bench.
It is Lelouch Vi Britannia's twelfth birthday, the day he made his first true friend, and the day he fell in love.