Ad Infinitum
Summery: When his friends managed to tempt him to claim a middle-class high school after-graduation bash they'd gotten wind of, the very last person he expected was to see her there. She had always been pretty in his memory, but she had matured well into her looks and he wasn't surprised when the only thing he wanted to do was anything she wanted to ask of him.
Authors Note: Just a random idea that popped into my head and stirred around, one that will be a one shot no matter how it ends. Some of you will just have to be dissatisfied, sorry in advance because I somehow know it'll be one of those endings… Just tuck yourselves in for a long read and be prepared for anything.
All standard disclaimers apply.
Rated PG-13 for mentions of alcohol, mentions of intoxication, minor mention of drugs, slight adult language.
Ad Infinitum
Antonio stood casually beside the two well dressed men that had convinced him to 'revisit the good times' that he wasn't all that sure had already changed. In fact, aside from the much lower budget, he couldn't see many differences in the party going on inside the front door to the parties that went on in the clubs they normally visited. Actually, if he thought about it, he would rather be in a club. A club would provide him with a long selection of conquests he didn't have to ID whereas he wouldn't be surprised if a younger brother or sister of the grads had snuck in behind their parent's backs.
Ragen, a friend he'd had since middle school and the very reason why he was being pressured into the mess inside, punched his shoulder lightly and grinned, "No way, is Prince Perez upset about going to a party?" The ebony haired man jerked back before he could retaliate, "Seriously, every chick in this house right now has spent the past twelve years of her life wanting to break bad since middle school and tonight is the night they can do it without fear of repercussions. You really want to miss out on that?"
There wasn't much argument he could think of to use against the presented fact just handed to him had the slight resistance that had managed to stall him from following the first time the antique pained glass door had been opened fade into the background. His memories from the trio's after-party celebration were a hazy blur of ultimate freedom where the only rule had been 'don't get caught'. It had been wild, energetic, and euphorically liberating to the point that it had taken two days afterward to recover from the rambunctious and impromptu events.
"He's caved, let's go in!" Darin, the tall dark man already pushing between the smaller two crowding the stoop so that he could push against the partially cracked door and burst into the loud music and crushed mass of bodies within. "Ladies of Class 2017, your knight in shinning boxers has arrived!"
"I can tell you who's not getting laid tonight." Ragen joked, already stepping with a light buoyancy that spoke of his many years training in the ring with his father. The second his foot touched the tiled floor Antonio watched an over-enthusiastic girl wearing the square black hat from her recent graduation, and not much else, settle several handfuls of cheap beaded necklaces over his head before pulling him into a wet kiss. When she pulled away laughing, Ragen lifted some of his beads and tilted his head before grinning back at him, "I'll take that back, they're running a Madri Gras theme."
The loudly playing fast beat music inspired several tightly clad bodies to sway and bounce as Antonio passed, sending seductive smiles to any potential girl that reached out to pull his jacket for his attention. Several had already made his list, including one that had taken up a position in the living room dancing atop a sturdy side table someone had pulled closer the make-shift DJ table someone else had set up in the corner. Ragen and Darin had disappeared into the back yard for the cooler air and live music while Antonio had cornered a small group of women to chat up.
The small group of women proved, unfortunately, too intoxicated to be of much use in anything other than dancing; which none of them knew they were tragically terrible at.
When he found the back kitchen door and stepped outside he considered re-evaluating his club vs. grad party thoughts and took a moment to absorb what the drunken graduates had accomplished. While the indoors was obviously a quick last minute put together, the outside had been lavishly prepared around a pool with green and yellow balloons covering the top. To one side, the live music preformed atop a decorated stage with shinning gold streamers that reflected the flashing colored strobe lights set up behind the musicians. A large open tent had been sit up on the other side, the empty walls showing a small group of tables covered in green and gold cloths and went unused in favor for a much larger bar placed at the top of the pool where a smartly dressed man busied himself making drinks.
Strangely enough, it was at the bar where he could easily spot his two friends standing close with encouraging smiles directed down to the hidden person they crowded. Which ever had been designated the wingman had abandoned his role to throw in his own hand and created a competition that didn't surprise the Mexican in the least. It happened on a near nightly basis, one or the other inspiring a 'friendly competition' that began and ended the same way every time.
Antonio sidled up behind them and smoothly shouldered them aside to take their prize from them with a smooth smile and observational compliments that usually earned him extra points. The process was one that he'd worked since childhood, taught to him by an overzealous father, and had used on countless women even as a toddler. The girl was an attractive brunette with the lithe body of a dancer and sweet brown eyes set behind silver engraved black rectangle frames, "Nice glasses-"
"Antonio?" The girl choked, her head jerking back and her eyes revealing a shock large enough that her entire body jerked back as well. "What are you doing here?"
Unsure how to handle the now accusing tone she lashed out at him with, he straightened and tried to place how she would know him and just why she would be looking at him as if he'd risen from the grave just to spite her. "I am enjoying the festivities our gracious host has supplied." Not knowing who the 'gracious host' was, he gestured widely behind him to show what she doubtlessly had already observed herself, "Is that not what one does during a party?"
"Antonio, you know Margo already?" Darin groaned and Antonio immediately felt the electric spasm of surprise jerk into his own body and mind. She was still staring at him stupidly, mouth partially open as she slowly understood that he was not only standing before her at her graduation after-party, but that he'd seemingly forgot who she was as well. "Doesn't look like she likes you, so just step aside and let her charming companions get her back into the party mood."
Too stunned to refuse, he let himself be shouldered out of the way to allow his two friends to shamelessly try to flirt with the now bewildered daughter of his family's worst enemy. He remembered her clearly from their brief and innocent affair before Felonous Gru had taken his father into custody and as her brown eyes defiantly narrowed, apparently sensing that he'd finally remembered her, he felt a spark of irritation. She had changed, growing into her features to become a stunningly beautiful woman from the awkwardness of her youth.
Whether or not it came from the party, or if her sense of style had changed, she had chosen to wear a simple pair of light jeans and a silky long sleeved dark green blouse that enhanced her warm coloring and pale skin. Antonio wasn't surprised that both of his cohorts had zeroed in on her and chose her to be their prize for the evening, with only her glasses and a small teardrop necklace as her accessories she sparkled brighter than any other. Her almond shaped eyes, now turned to Ragen with a loosened attention hinting that she'd already consumed enough alcohol to be considered 'buzzed', gave a sense of exotically luxurious nights that made his fingers curl into her palm just before a freely given giggle of amusement spilled from full pale pink lips.
Darin, never one to be outdone by anyone, took advantage of the small space between bar chairs to slip his arm between Margo and the boy behind her to use as leverage so he could lean in to whisper in her ear. Whatever he said caused her to laugh again before turning to playfully shove him away and Antonio felt himself bristle, pulling the man behind him so he could loom over her already stiffening form. "These two men are my amigos, mi encantadora; do you not think you would be better matched with one of the little boys you go to school with?"
Watching the immediate reaction his words stirred, he appreciated the soft blush of anger that flushed her cheeks the same delicious pink that he still remembered clearly was only a shade darker than the one that would come from shy pleasure after being complimented. She set her palm against his chest to attempt to force him back and he smugly braced his arms on either side of her against the edge of the bar, "You will need to start lifting weights if you ever want to push me anywhere."
The sharp sting of her slap echoed loudly in his ears, his face forced to turn from the impact to see the surprised face of Ragen blinking at him. Antonio Perez was not a man that women slapped; he was a man that women worshipped no matter their age. "This one is off limits, find someone else to play with tonight."
As always, the two men left amicably at his dismissal and he was left more-or-less alone with the furious beauty that had clearly forgotten her station in life. Her glare was all but filled with poisonous daggers that he ignored in favor of shoving the drinking man beside her from his spot so that Antonio could slid smoothly into the free seat, "I would have thought you smarter than to play around with the bad guys, Senorita Gru." Motioning the bartenders attention, he placed an order and casually propped an elbow against the bar so that he faced the woman fully. "You have grown to be very beautiful woman, but I am glad to see you still in glasses."
His compliment somehow mutated in her ears, narrowing her glare into thin slits before she leveled an expertly formed sneer at him, "Is that some weird way of saying you're surprised because I was such an ugly child?"
"That is not what I was implying at all." But she would be someone who would think so and, as much as he disliked reminding himself, even if he'd had no hand in his father's plans for world destruction he had still betrayed her trust in him. A trust that he hadn't known had been important until she'd already disappeared from his life under the protective eyes of the very man that had frozen him into a solid block of ice. "I am simply stating that I am pleased that you still wear your glasses when many other women would choose contacts."
A small glass was set before him, the amber liquid inside sloshing slightly against the smooth clear glass that he snatched into his hand and took in two large swallows before slamming it back to the wooden surface. "You need to leave." Margo's words and voice rankled his already growing agitation and he slanted her an unconcerned glance, "I mean it, take your friends and get out."
"To leave the drunken daughter of my father's nemeses to enjoy her doubtlessly first intoxicated frolic among the masses of testosterone already plying her full of as much liquor possible with the singular hope that her normally good senses fail her?" Motioning for a refill, he gave a sarcastic chuckle and shook his head, "That is not going to happen. You may have become a shrew, but you are a shrew that deserves far better treatment than that."
"Am I a shrew because I'm an ex-girlfriend, or am I a shrew because I don't like looking at you?" she managed to look honestly curious before taking a long drink from her larger glass containing the thick icy margarita that either Ragen or Darin had pressed onto her. "It would take one call to Gru to get him to come chase you off in a second."
"Then make the call and prepare yourself for the disappointment of a parent learning their eldest child has abandoned their common sense, illegally ingested alcohol, and shamelessly teased two fully grown villains that have already accomplished many respectable heists." As he spoke he watched her imperious bluff die out to leave her mulishly pouting at the drink in her hands. The guilt of being the one to dampen her spirits at an event that was supposed to celebrate her independence tried to prod the small amount of conscience his father had yet to squelch, urging him to feel at least partially responsible. "Although, I am sure he would appreciate knowing he will have a second chance to turn me into a gorgeous ice sculpture that would go very nicely with the wonderful decorations of the party."
A small twitch at the corner of her lip let him know that she had either witnessed the first time or had heard of it afterward, either way he was pleased that she knew he'd gotten his just deserts for the cold shoulder he'd given her that Cinco de Mayo. He was not a bad guy, would never want to be a bad guy, and did not believe bad guys and villainy went hand in hand. Perez men were respectable, honorable, and loyal; they certainly didn't invite women to parties and then ditch them. When his father had returned home and discovered what he'd done the dishonor had been punished with a crushing weight of responsibility and physical exercise that left him nothing but bitter and depressed until, slowly, bitterness faded and understanding grew.
A new glass was set before him before the old was taken away and Antonio slid it in front of him before lifting it up and peering within, "I do not wish to intrude upon your fun, but I will not leave you into the incapable hands of your," A loud scream broke him off for a moment and he quickly turned to watch a drenched woman angrily swimming to the edge of the pool as several people walked around to kick the balloons back in place. "friends' care." He made a mental note to thank the group of idiots gathered close together exchange high-fives as if they'd accomplished something previously thought impossible for their unwitting visual aide.
"Their care has less potential for disaster." Margo stared levelly at him, her expressive eyes the only hint that her loosened guard had given way for old hurt to enter. When she gave a fierce shake of her head he didn't question why, "If you're not leaving then I will."
"I do not believe that is necessary, we should be able to attend the same party without bothering each other, yes?" not wanting her to leave, he grabbed the back of her chair before she could spin around to stand. The immediate glare his action earned snapped his hand back instinctively before she could lash out at him even as a thrill of excitement ran through his body.
She had always been attractive, so her beauty hadn't shocked him, but both past and present was put to shame at the goddesses feet as she stepped off her chair to better leer down at him with the demeanor of a queen. "You don't get to stop me from doing what I want, Senor Perez. If you try to stop me from doing anything then I will personally see to it that every female on this property believes you're riddled with so many diseases their hair and teeth will fall out just from thinking about sleeping with you."
Perversely and entirely without his consent, an honest laugh escaped him and he had to quickly smother it before finishing his glass and setting it on the bar now at his back. He hadn't even been aware that he'd turned to face her, but now that he was he only laughed more. It had taken her four years, but in those four years she had become the very definition of verdadera mujer. What would Eduardo Perez say when he discovered that Antonio's youthful ignorance had derailed him from the very creature that ever full blooded man with half a brain would beg on his belly to have? There was no way that the older man wouldn't find out eventually, even now he knew that El Macho was steadily gathering information on Felonious Gru?
"You think I can't?"
"I know you will."
His correction stumped her enough that her glare of superiority slipped into a cautious confusion before she hesitantly stepped away, "Fine, we'll do this your way then, Perez." The decision sounded stilted, as if she'd rather the words caught in her throat and choked her, before she finally turned away from him to make her way to the stage.
He quickly followed without thinking twice or giving even a full second to allow her the space that she obviously wanted. There was very little possibility that she wouldn't notice him chasing her wavering steps, but the glances she received from the men that she passed kept his steadier steps from faltering. The ever confident stride only a step behind her and a confident smirk that dared disobedience had the crowed parting enough for even her staggered walk to cross without bumping into an unexpected body.
"I'm pretty sure you said we could both be at the same party without bothering each other?" the question was slightly slurred, sounding more dubious than accusing, before she finally stopped just off the thick plastic roll out dance floor near the thin silver weights that had been staked in place. "Go away."
"No." flatly refusing with an easy shrug, he grabbed a plastic cup from the 'tray' one of the insiders had brought out and was offering with a large smile. "You are a special woman, mi estrella, and I will not have unworthy men trying to take what they will never deserve." Saluting the very men he insulted to a loud applause from the female population, he smugly arched an eyebrow at the puzzled girl, "I will be a quiet observer."
"You mean a chaperone?" in the flash of an eye her confusion gave way to dry wit, her arms crossing daintily as she turned her body enough to thrust her hip out. "I don't believe you're qualified for that position."
"Think of me more as your personal body guard for this evening." As far as he was concerned, either title would keep the lower class males away and prevent anyone unworthy of her attention from getting close.
Mindless of the crowd they already had, Margo abruptly reared back and slammed her glass onto the soft grass below with enough force to shatter it onto the dance floor and splatter her jeans with iced red flakes of her mixed drink. Even he found it necessary to back away from the raw fury that rolled into the very air around the enraged woman and rippled out in a powerful wave. "I've never been drunk before, Antonio." She slowly straightened, smoothing out wrinkles from her sleeves with a forced calm Antonio knew she didn't actually posses. "There's a chance that in a few seconds I'll be fine, but there's a greater chance that I'll decided battling it out with you would be worth the danger of getting hit a couple of times."
Summoning whatever hidden acting abilities he might have, he adopted a stance of nonchalance, slipping his hand into his jacket pocket and arching both eyebrows in what he hoped looked more perplexed than antagonizing. She studied him for a moment and he struggled not to flinch or weaken his position by taking yet another step away, "Would you like me to get you another margarita, Margo?"
When her lips thinned he felt himself relax and turned to see that even the bartender had stilled to watch the scene only for the realization that the music itself had stopped. Not missing a beat, he motioned for another drink to be made and fluidly sent a glance to the musicians on stage. As if he were back on the compound where the people that jumped at his command knew why they were jumping, six employees returned to the jobs they were being paid for without another hint.
Margo frowned at him before looking to the shattered glass and her jeans before blanching at the mess she'd made. When she slowly peeked up to face the see of interested viewers and made to apologize Antonio cut her off with an amused chuckle, "You can do whatever you want, mi reina, break as many glasses as you like and I will pay for them."
"I'll break one over your head if you don't stop calling me whatever idiotic pet name that comes to mind."
"Then I will pay for that one as well." He shrugged, daftly avoiding the frustrated slap she tried to give only to have her lose balance. Dropping his cup in favor for swooping down to catch her before she fell and hurt herself, he spun her around and neatly dipped her over his arm to grin into her eyes. As if fate had ordained it, her glasses tilted over her nose to clearly reveal her eyes to him and he couldn't resist daftly settling them back into place, "Cool glasses."
"What exactly is 'cool' about glasses?" she asked, her voice an intentional rasp that he knew had everything to do with her fall and unexpected rescue and little to do with his touch. Not waiting for an answer, she tugged at his arm sleeves to remind him to stand her up and he easily ignored the unspoken demand. Four years apart had not dimmed his body's immediate instinct to bring her closer, one that had frightened him with it's intensity to the point that he'd been stupid enough to trade her for a connection that didn't capture his every attention.
One that he suddenly knew he would not be ignorant enough to do again, and as he allowed his arms to do as they pleased, sliding her body along his to straighten them both before spinning her the two steps needed to the firm plastic floor. Once again she gasped, her arm automatically reaching out to balance the unexpected twirl even as he neatly stepped onto the floor as well to spin her back into his arms. Without hesitation her body moved in the same gracefully fluid motion it had in his memories, allowing him to move her as their dance insisted without resistance. "Anything worn by you, Margo, is cool without question."
The suspicious glare gave way into indigence, but before she could give whatever snappy reply she had up her sleeve Antonio moved them closer to the center of the dance floor, "Are you still taking lessons?"
"Lessons?" her attention swerved to focus on his seemingly random question and he used it to his opportunity and spun her away from him again just so he could see the long locks of chestnut fan out wonderfully. When she returned she seemed to have given up trying to understand and made to jerk her hands from his, "I don't want to dance with you."
"Ballet lessons, hermosa; do you still study the dance." Continuing his question earned another distraction from the slender girl that gave way into a surprise that stared up at him in shock. "I remember distinctly that you told me you took lessons for six years; I was merely curious if you decided to make it an even ten."
Several heartbeats passed until she finally answered with a question of her own, "You're telling me you remember something I told you?"
"I remember everything that you told me." Including the last time she'd spoke to him. In fact, those words he remembered so clearly from both reality and fantasy. He remembered hearing them, murmured nightly the very voice that had brokenly whispered them as she'd walked away. "I remember that you like to fly kites at the beach instead of swimming and I remember that you wouldn't tell me why." He flawlessly spun her around him, not worried in the least that she wouldn't be able to keep up with the fast paced steps. "I remember that you hate onions because of their texture, but that you enjoy the flavor and prefer picking them from you plate and hiding them in your napkin."
"I don't do that anymore." She lifted her chin imperiously with a sniff of indifference and he grinned at the soft becoming blush that disappeared under the neckline of her blouse. Just because he could, he brought her closer and ignored the spark of anger that flashed across her eyes, "What are you doing?"
Rather than answer the obvious and rile her further, he slipped her into a deep dip before snapping her back up and into yet another spin. The clear dizziness his moves inspired had her clinging to him and he instantly tried to memorize the feel of her slender fingers grasping the front opening of his leather jacket with flushed skin as she tried to steady her gasped breaths. Not thinking even once about it, his hands moved of it's own accord so that he could lean down to breath into her ear, "Usted es exquisite, mi angel de baile."
When she shivered he brought her closer and was pleasantly surprised when she allowed it without even a single biting word said. He was thankful for it, and as he casually lead her off the temporarily empty floor to the rowdy roars of appreciation and back to the bar he reminded himself to use dancing as his primary distraction if he found himself needing one. Her body harmonized too well with his for her to do anything but accept him as a dance partner at the very least, even if he did have to drag her to the floor to get her there.
As they sided up to the bar a couple quickly stood up to allow them room, obligingly waving off Margo's insistence that they reclaim them before Antonio neatly thanked them and gently pushed her into chair. As he slipped into his own he could feel her studying him closely and turned to give her a disarming smile that she didn't return, "I want to know what you're trying to do."
Knowing that she wouldn't be appeased until he complied, he racked his mind to try and find an answer that wouldn't send her fleeing back home to tell her father. The bartender appeared to inform him that the previous margarita he'd ordered had melted a bit with the hinted hope that it would be fine. It wasn't. Margo coughed and he looked to see her drumming manicured nails against the polished faux wood bar top to send another electric pulse to race through him.
Women shouldn't be so enticing when they were angry, it didn't bode well for him whatsoever and gave yet another advantage he desperately didn't want her to have against him. Discomfort had him selecting his words carefully and he was smart enough to know that she was a hundred times smarter than he could ever hope to be, making it even harder to worm his way out of giving her what she wanted. "If I told you that I had no plans, you would not believe me."
"I can't imagine why I wouldn't believe you." She responded with a dry bitterness that made him feel the awkward teenager to her sophisticated noble. A position he doubtlessly deserved after obliterating what he should have been intelligent enough to understand was a rare opportunity. "Are you trying to get information out of me?"
Antonio's head snapped back as if she'd struck him, "Of course not, Margo." Just the thought of trying to do so was laughable. "You are too smart for someone like me to ever hope to achieve such a useless endeavor even if I were idiot enough to make such a useless attempt. I know this as well as I know how to breath."
The way she silently contemplated him made him grateful for the barkeeps interruption in the form of two glasses, one of which he daftly picked up as he motioned for another. It was the first time in his life that he understood what his father had meant when he'd told him of the first time he'd met Antonio's mother he had needed 'liquid courage' to even get close enough for her to see him.
Now, Antonio was swallowing his courage and struggling on finding a way to sooth her suspicion without hurting his chances of rectifying his past. With no other options coming to mind, however, he gave in and reluctantly gave her what she wanted, "Quiero que te enamores de mi otra vez. ¿Es tan malo?"
It was the silence after he spoke that he realized he'd unintentionally answered in Spanish instead of English and, from the odd look she was giving him, he guessed that she didn't understand. It seemed to baffle her that he'd chosen to answer her in a way that she couldn't understand, eyes staring blankly at him even as her nose scrunched and her lips pursed in both confusion and aggravation. "No hay nada que lamento más que por temor a los sentiminentos que me hacían sentir."
The liberation of finally speaking the words out loud left him feeling slightly giddy and before he could fully appreciate his new freedom Margo let out an annoyed huff, "That is so like you." Reaching for her drink, unsatisfied but appeased with his final compliance, she took a long sip and peered at him from over the rim of her glass. When it lowered, she heaved a long sigh and rubbed her temple, "Promise me this has nothing to do with my family?"
The exhausted request was something he could happily oblige, "Absolutely nothing, you have my word." And if she would yield enough to allow him a second chance he would do everything within his power to have his father's villainous persona release them from his vengeance. "Just allow me to be with you tonight and I will make no other requests from you."
"Using anything you see to black-mail me isn't going to get you anywhere, either." The warning was sharp, pointedly informing him that she wouldn't bend if he came later with threats. "As a matter of fact, once I'm done here I plan on going home to tell Gru what I've been up to all evening. So don't think about using either my drinking or yourself to your advan-"
"You could break a bottle over someone's head, stab the bartender, and strip naked to do the chicken dance without fear of me ever breathing a word." He cut her off evenly, not bothering to think whatsoever about it before reaching for the waiting glass sitting beside his elbow. Taking care to sip at it rather than slam it down as he'd done with the previous… Three? Four? … it didn't bode well if he couldn't remember the precise number, but he was damned if he cared at that moment. "What will make you feel better with my presence?"
"Telling me why you want to be in my presence."
Her answer was immediate to the point that he'd hardly gotten his question out before she could cut him off and he couldn't help laughing, something that the already frustrated woman beside him clicked her tongue at. "Because I wish to be in your presence, Margo, that is all; but since I know that alone will not relieve you of your worry you will have to make another request."
As if his response wasn't something she expected, it took her a few seconds to understand his words before she frowned and leaned against the back of her chair. He waited patiently, sipping his drink as he watched her face clearly expresses one thought before advancing to another with a slight twitch of her nose. "Give me your phone."
The way she said it, as if it were a dare she doubted he would take, had him smoothly reaching to his belt to snap both it and the black leather case from his belt before holding it out for her to take. "If you would like, you may pat me down for anything else you might want." Leaning back with a large smile, he couldn't resist and added, "In fact, I encourage you to take as much time as you would like to do this."
"That won't be necessary." She eyed offered phone dubiously before her hand darted out to snatch it from his opened palm and held it tightly to her chest as though he might change his mind and demand it back. "I'm going to be honest. You're confusing the hell out of me and I'm not exactly sure what to expect out of you tonight."
Taking a moment to take in his unexpected, reluctant, and bemused date, Antonio could feel the determination to prove himself in her eyes as someone worth a chance of recapturing lost feelings with build. When she looked at him he wanted to see the warmth that came from her care, to see the gently encouraging way she had looked at him… As if he could easily do anything he wanted and become a success at anything he thought to try. To feel as if he could do better, be better, to deserve the tender feelings she had for him. "You can expect me to be your loyal servant tonight and leave me to grant any wish that should come to you."
When she laughed it transformed her once again and the knowledge that he had been the one to light the bright giggled into existence startled him with a rush of warmth that settled into his chest. "I wish I knew what you were thinking."
"I am thinking of how incredibly pleased I am that I made you laugh, chicka." When she laughed he joined her, settling his feet on the cheep steel foot bar before changing his mind to prop them on the thin wooden piece holding the legs of her chair in place. "I might have to make it my mission in life to be the one to do so as much as possible as I am afraid I am too greedy to share this feeling with anyone."
"Oh yes, I'm sure." She rolled her eyes before turning her chair seat so that she could prop her smaller feet atop his legs and grinned at him with a questioning lift of her brow. He lifted his glass in a silent salute to her ability of making him useful to her and a slow smile blossomed onto her face, "You must be drunker than I am if you're willing to get your pants dirty."
"I doubt that's possible, I've only had five to eight drinks."
Another bright laugh followed that sent another rush through him and he nodded his head, "Yes, I am definitely not sharing your laugh with anyone."
"What if I wished you to?"
"Then I will comply and allow you to enjoy it as well."
For several relaxed moments their conversation carried on, spiced liberally with her growing ease and laughter that drew out his own the more she shared it with him. While there was some topics she diverted from, she willing told him that yes, she had continued with her ballet and had advanced enough to choreograph her own solo the following month. It was the one and only time he'd asked for his phone, putting the date and time into his phone before handing it back with a promise that he would be in the front row. A promise he would keep if he had to spend every last cent he owned to acquire the necessary ticket.
When they'd finished talking he had lured her back to the dance floor, enjoying the slightly smug smile she gave when the center immediately opened to them as several people cheered in anticipation. There he learned that Margo was every bit as easily persuaded into complex turns and tips she would execute with the flawless ease that belied years of disciplined training in a simple coy smile that taunted up at him and made him laugh when she paired it with a little wink.
She allowed him two more dances before she insisted on a break that had him leading her to the patio tables under the wide tent several more people were already making use of. A quick glance proved that Ragen had made himself busy displaying the various skills he had with a simple deck of playing cards to a petite girl with brilliant red hair before looking up to give a slow shake of his head and an insinuating smile.
Wrapping a casual arm around Margo's waist, he lead her away from the empty table she'd been heading for and redirected her to where his friend sat. When he pulled her chair out for her she nearly flopped into it and took a loud breath, "I'm never dancing that much for that long again."
The redhead looked up and gave a large smile as her eyes landed on Margo's tired slump Antonio suspected would straighten once she'd rested, "Margo! I seen you dancing earlier and I was totally surprised! You never told me you could move like that, I thought you hated that kind of dance style, but you're really good at it, huh?"
"Shut up, Kimmy." Margo leveled the girl a threatening look that had 'Kimmy' snapping her mouth closed even as she eyed the brunette questioningly.
Since it probably had something to do with him, Antonio turned to Ragen and eyed the playing cards he shuffled in his hands, "Those are just playing cards, right?" The man certainly couldn't be drunk enough already to have brought out his 'business' cards, however Ragen smirked at him in answer and Antonio groaned. "Margo has told me she wants to enjoy her night and I'm sure that if something somehow blows up she will blame me for my incompetence and I will be forced to beat you within an inch of your life."
"Chill out, bro, you know I've got this." He continued shuffling the cards when one flipped out of his hands and hit the center of their table with a defining snap that had Antonio jerking out of his chair to brace himself for whatever weird shit Ragen had thought up to make it do.
After a moment, when nothing exploded, caught fire, shot bullets, or released poisonous fumes; Antonio allowed himself to relax and sit back in his chair with a mild glare, "What was that?"
"That was a regular playing card, you didn't think I would seriously bring business to a party like this?" Ragen had already retrieved the lose card and slipped it back into the stack with an air of superiority that Antonio considered killing him over. "Consider it revenge for tricking me out of the spot you're in."
Being made to look like a paranoid fool after putting as much effort as possible into making Margo believe he was someone she wouldn't mind speaking to had him struggling not to retaliate. "You should be thanking me as it's my position at the moment keeping me happy enough not to tempt risking it with inflicting as much damage on your body as I am capable of; but trust me amigo, we will be discussing this later."
'I'm kicking your ass after we leave, douche bag.'
"I'm happy that you're willing to hold your temper in the presence of our ladies, Antonio, but I am sure you are overstating your reaction a bit."
'As if you could, asshole.'
"I'm sure he's not, and considering his reaction to that ridiculous card you 'dropped' on the table I'm willing to guess that whatever he does to you is well deserved." Margo snipped into the conversation with her expertly narrowed glare piercing across the table towards the other man with the precision of a skilled assassin. "I want those cards out of my sight before I lose my temper."
"Really, they're just car-"
"Margo's wishes are to be fully granted without question, Ragen, I gave her my word." Feeling entirely too pleased with the new situation before him, Antonio happily kicked back to balance the chair its back legs and crossed his arms behind his head. "Or don't and make it a challenge for me, I don't mind either way." Ragen sent him an amused glare before making a grand show of putting them back into their little box and shoving them in his pocket.
Once finished, he threw back the rest of his drink and gave a quick rap against the table with his palms, "We need more to drink, what'll you two beauties be interested in?"
Knowing a hint when he got it, Antonio excused himself and walked with Ragen to the bar, and sure enough it wasn't until the orders were put in that the man turned curious eyes and started asking his questions. "I thought she was off limits."
"That is because she is mine." Voicing it out loud was every bit as thrilling as he'd expected it would be and had him looking back to where he'd left her with a broad grin, "You will have to discover your own verdadera mujer because that one has been claimed for some time now." Turning back to his friend with his smile still in place, he lowered his voice and added, "That being said, I can not afford to slip in front of this girl again. Is that understood?"
Ragen laughed, "Are you telling me or asking me, man? All I want to know is where the Prince disappeared to, because I'm starting to wonder who this stranger I'm talking to now is." A small tray with four drinks sitting atop was placed before them and Antonio picked up his and Margo's with a singular shrug when Ragen suddenly grasped his arm and jerked him around, "Wait, how long've you known this girl, Antonio?"
Trying to keep the drinks from spilling over the rims of the glass to every bit of his concentrated effort, but once he'd accomplished it he cleared his throat, "Four years."
"Four years, huh?" the lighter toned man reached for the remaining two glasses, a deep crease of concentration etched between his brows when he suddenly stopped and blinked at him. "Wait, really?" as if he'd traded his neck for a spring, his head bounced from their table to Antonio before the glasses slipped out of his hands to spill across the grass and he gaped at his friend, "That's what happened to you?"
"You spilled the drinks, very smooth." Taking a step away so as to keep it from getting on his shoes and forcing him to smell like a drunk the rest of his impromptu date, he jerked his head to the barkeeper and tried to distract the other man from doing anything that would embarrass him. The last thing he needed was for the man to continue staring at him like a fish thrown out of the water when he could already feel Margo's eyes watching him from several feet away.
The orders were taken and delivered, leaving both men to slowly return to their table. Antonio, because he didn't want to leave his unpredictable friend behind to think up strange ways to intentionally sabotage him for kicks more than friendly worry that Ragen's feelings might be hurt. He should have remembered, however, that Ragen wasn't nearly as covert as Antonio could be and the moment the drinks were handed out to their respective owners he started questioning Margo, "How do you know Antonio?"
Margo's eyes slid to his curiously and Antonio flinched in answer before turning to Ragen to give him a silent warning stare that the man ignored in order to fire another question, "Did you two date?"
"How is that your business?" Margo's clipped answer didn't sound remotely amused and Antonio could almost see her walls going back into place around her.
Kimmy shifted uncomfortably, "Um, Ragen, Margo doesn't like people questioning her personal life like that-"
"I'll take that as a yes." Ragen's eyes flashed victoriously and Antonio flinched, "So then, you're clearly comfortable enough around him now."
Instead of answer, Margo's lips thinned and Kimmy gave a tense laugh, "Gee, Ragen, stop teasing Margo 'cuz she doesn't like it and she's my friend so I don't like it."
"I'm sure nobody likes it." Antonio put in, silently wondering what in the name of all things good in the world Ragen thought he was up to.
Ragen, whom Antonio knew for a fact cared less about what people liked and didn't like than he cared about his license being suspended over his flagrant hatred of stopping for anything while in control of a sports car of any kind, ignored everyone in favor of shooting what he probably thought was a friendly smile. "I'm just kind of curious what happened to make you break up with him, because he came back home pretty messed up o-"
"That's enough!" slamming his palm against the table in nothing short of panic that the man was actually not only accusing Margo of being the one to end the relationship, but was also in the process of opening a private conversation he wasn't even the slightest bit prepared to have. "I swear on my mother's grave that if you continue I will go to my own hating you for it."
The other man balked at the promise against him before standing up to loom over the table, "Fine, I won't say anything about the shrew sending your ass back broken and just watch you wander back into her fancy little net. How's that?"
"Excuse me?" Margo jumped to her feet, the speed of it sending her into a small series of flailing that had Antonio trying to keep her from falling and avoid getting hit in the process. "I broke him." She jabbed her index finger against her own chest before thrusting her thumb at him in disbelief, "That was me, I did that?" turning to stare at him, she narrowed her eyes dangerously and fairly snarled into his face, "You ditched me for Beatrice the Bitch and go home telling your little friends that poor wittle Antonio got dumped?"
"No, no. I didn't say anything like that, it's just that Ragen's a damned idiot who thinks he understands more than he actually does, Margo. Calm down." He couldn't decide if he should back away and give her space or stay where he was to make sure her furious gestures didn't unbalance her. Indecision had him moving from foot to foot before he realized what he was doing and turned to glare at Ragen, "If this is ruined, I am coming after you. Understand this, amigo."
Margo opened her mouth to start yelling at him again, but he neatly captured her elbow in a gentle unyielding grip he wouldn't allow her to shake off. Kimmy was already up, her anger at the way her friend was treated firing at both Antonio and Ragen, only the latter of which seemed somewhat befuddled at the speed in which hell had broken lose around him. "Margo and I will return, we must discuss some things in private. I assure you, once we have returned, that this will not be spoken of and no questions will be asked out of respect to our privacy."
The chances of him being able to return to the table with Margo was so slim he could almost feel them slipping between his fingers and had to resist dropping her arm so he could cup his palms together. Instead, he pulled her resistant body alongside his own and ignored the angry words she hissed at him in favor of locating a room for them to talk in; a room that turned out to be their hosts who was more than happy to comply with his request without asking why Margo had begun pounding her fist useless against his hand in attempt to free herself. Chances were that questions weren't needed, because from the time it took to leave the table and the time it took to stumble across the party host, her voice had risen into a solid shout that let anyone interest in knowing that he was a lying, two-timing, dog-slut that needed to be neutered for the sake and safety of womankind.
Actually, it was probably the very reason why the sympathetic looking man had found them and the moment Antonio brought Margo into the bedroom and locked the door was the moment he reached into his walled and removed whatever cash was inside to drop onto the dresser surface. There would be no way he could return the man's favor as he had little intention of ever meeting him again, but he was sure that the money would serve as a proper enough 'thank you' that would doubtlessly last several weeks.
"You told him-"
"I told nothing to anybody aside that I wasn't feeling well. Ragen asked me at the bar how long I have known you and I answered him; the rest was pieced together in his head during the two or three moments he took in thinking about it." Out of the many possible reactions he had worried about he had not even considered such a thing; even knowing he had was difficult for Antonio to accept because, surely, no one person could be so amazingly stupid.
Margo glared at him before digging into her back pocket where she'd kept his phone to pull it out and throw it at him. He dodged it by reflex, which he regretted before she even realized it to stamp her foot and give an angry string of obscenities that managed to slur together into a single long howl of rage. Once she finished, she tried to get past him to the door, her feet and hands striking out to try and force him aside before giving up and putting as much distance between them that the room would allow.
When she silently stood, swaying to and fro as if standing on the deck of a ship while struggling to keep a single balance that would give her at least the appearance of being more sober than she truly was, Antonio gritted his teeth and shoved his hand through his hair trying to think how to get back to where he'd been just moments ago. "I was fourteen feelings things I damn well shouldn't have been for a twelve-year-old girl, Margo!" he shouted abruptly and gave up any pretense he was anything less that furious himself. "You were smart, you were beautiful, you were funny, and you were a blast to be around even for a minute."
The way she continued to stare emotionlessly at him fueled his temper enough that he didn't bother resisting the urge to kick his phone across the room to watch it impale the wall before breaking through outside. It only served to anger him further and he was forced to hold himself in check least the rest of the room be damaged, "You scared the hell out of me and I wasn't prepared to handle that, okay? So I did what most fourteen-year-olds would do and I found a way out that wouldn't leave me feeling like a coward for running from a girl that hadn't even reached her teens."
"Like that made you any less of a coward you bastard!" she stalked over the small hole he'd created to glare at before turning her eyes to him, "You are paying for Jeremy's wall."
"Yes, I'll pay for the bloody wall, mi amore. I will buy him and his family each a new bloody house if you stop caring about that and try to understand where I am coming from!"
"Gru already told me where you were coming from, Antonio." She snapped harshly, her arms crossing under her chest with her nose high enough to allow her to glare down it at him. "I just didn't believe him, and if I'm not going to believe him then you haven't got a prayer." Giving a scornful laugh, she gave up trying to stand straight and instead went to sit on the edge of the bed, "Neither one of you thought to care if I might have been a little scared, neither one of you thought ever considered that maybe I wanted to run away and lock myself in my room until that stupid mission was over. You were fifteen, but I was twelve. Imagine going through all of that when you're twelve only to have the guy you're going through it over just up and abandon you for Beatrice-the-Bitch on a date he had asked you to go on!"
The accusation stung far worse than any hit he'd taken while training with his father and he felt himself hit his back against the door before sliding down it to stare sightlessly ahead of him. Before he'd known it had happened, their discussion had turned into sights unseen and he was now lost in the middle of an ocean he'd never known existed, "I didn't know you were scared, Margo."
Would things have turned out differently if he'd known? Would he and Margo be sitting someplace cozy, feeling utterly content and secure in their love instead of snarling at each other from opposite sides of the room?
Different scenarios flashed through his mind, each one making him feel sicker and sicker before he finally gave up and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes to try and make them stop. "I didn't know anything, I didn't know that you were my verdadera mujer, I didn't know that I had given up the only thing I would ever want; and now that I do know I can't think of an actual way to fix it except to make you fall in love with me." The images wouldn't stop no matter how hard he pressed so he gave up, allowing his hands to drop into his lap and surrendering himself to his bittersweet imagination. "As a matter of fact, the one thing I do know is that I'm going to die loving you even if you hate me and that thought's so frightening I'm wondering if it wouldn't just be best if I just kidnapped you."
"I never said I didn't love you, Antonio." She whispered softly, her fingers threading together as she clenched her hands between her knees. "I just can't trust you with it, it was too easy to be hurt last time. I never managed to recover. While all my friends gushed over their crushes and obsessed over boy bands I stayed quiet because my crush had crushed me and I didn't want anyone to know how much it hurt." The soft waver in his voice drew his attention to her eyes and he silently cursed himself to see that tears were beginning to fall from them, "I didn't even have it in me to be angry, so I just sat around hurting until I was able to get used to it enough to hide."
Both admissions were painful to hear, but a small spark of hope lit and he found himself slowly pushing himself to stand. Before he could think about it, he crossed the room to her and kneeled before her, placing his hands gently over her knees to free her hands so that he could take them in his own. Carefully untangling her fingers from each other, he slowly pressed his palms against hers, relishing the piercingly sweet agony of the incomplete hold he hadn't felt since May fifth, two-thousand-thirteen. "I have worked hard to be a better man, my Margo. I have learned many lessons and have been taught several things, but nothing I know helps me get you back. I want to know what I need to get you back. Tell me what you want me to do and I will do anything to see that it happens."
Margo gave into her tears then and he gave into his failure, his eyes glued to their hands so that he could study the way her slimmer fingers ended a quarter of an inch shorter than his. How the warm velvet of her skin seemed to cushion his hard won calluses. Even the tremors that the force of her broken tears. Each wonderfully horrible memory carefully stored and placed into his heart to remember what his mind could not before he slipped his fingers through hers and threaded their hands together in what would be the last time that he would be able. "You are my soul, Margo."
"And you are mine, Antonio." She whispered, searing a beautiful scar into his heart that he gratefully accepted as he kissed the trembling fingers tightly holding his hand as if she would never let go. When she pulled he willingly closed the distance between them and pressed her lips against his own, feeling the soft lips that he had spent years dreaming of without ever knowing their taste drove him to taste the sweetness within to swallow the flavor that seared his throat and filled his stomach with a straight whiskey heat.
He wanted it to go on into forever, would have done anything if he could have made it happen, but all too soon it was over and her forehead lightly touched his own. It was time for him to leave, they both knew it as surely as they knew their first kiss was a kiss of goodbye; but as much as he tried he couldn't force his hands away and it tore a pained laugh from him before he shook his head, "I can't do it this time, Margo. I'm not strong enough to let you go again."
"You never let me go in the first place, Antonio." She sniffed, her eyes closed against him to keep her turmoil to herself, "I don't think we could do that even if we died." When she moved he wanted to cry out, to beg, to steal her and take her to a remote island far, far away where nothing and no one could reach.
Instead, he numbly uncurled his fingers from around her hand and watched himself pull away as if merely a witness to the tragedy instead of the antagonist that had done nothing but ruin both his life and the life of the only woman he could every love as deeply as the one slowly extracting her hands from his. "Wait!" panic sliced through him and he quickly retook his hold and shook his head, "No, Margo, just… Just wait, okay?" the room swam before his eyes and he couldn't stop his body from shaking, his thoughts running chaotically inside his mind refusing to slow enough for him to grasp even one. "Please, just wait. I'm not ready yet, so just wait a little longer."
"I can't trust you-"
"So let me spend the rest of my life proving to you otherwise!" looking into her beautiful brown eyes, eyes that continued to cry because she couldn't stop them. "Don't let go, Margo. If you are frightened then I will be with you to help with the fear. If you want to run then I will follow wherever you go." She sobbed and shook her head, twisting her arms in attempt to free the hold he wouldn't and couldn't release because his life truly depended on it.
Then, suddenly, he understood what he had thought he'd understood years ago. His eyes seeing what they'd watched without noticing as Margo curled herself against him and refused to meet his eyes. When she gave one last weak tug he held on for a moment longer before placing their hands in her lap and allowing her the freedom she thought she wanted. "I will let you run as you let me run on one condition." She whimpered, her hands already clasped over her stomach so she could curl around them and bury her face against her knees. "You have to let me try and prove myself to you."
"Antonio-"
"I will visit everyday, if you will allow it. I will speak to our parents, I will end their stupid grudges, and I will prove that I am more afraid of living without you than I ever was of my feelings." Stroking his hand through the soft smooth length of her hair, he bent and pressed a final kiss against the back of her neck, "Please, Margo, when I come all I want is for you to answer my knock."
He wasn't entirely sure how he got home that night, but he knew Darin had called shortly after asking where he was and he knew Ragen had gotten chased off by Kimmy shortly after he'd taken Margo to speak in private. What he did know was that when he awoke he held a broken cell phone that contained only one schedule he cared about keeping and nothing else.
Memories of the party kept flooding into his mind, filling him first with anger before brightening to hope, then flittering around joy before it all crashed around him so quickly that he hadn't been able to stop it… But he had postponed it, had set it aside indefinitely in order to force his foot into the crack of a door that had nearly closed on him entirely and he had every intention of breaking through. That fact alone had him up when he wanted to stay down, plowing through his closet to find the perfect clothes instead of wearing the same jeans and shirt he'd worn the night before, and as he tore through the large mansion his father told him was home his only thought was to get into the lair and find the first hacker he came across.
It took him only an hour to jog to his car and open the door, forty-eight minutes to speed to her house, and ten minutes to gather the pathetic amount of courage it took to mount the three steep steps that brought him face to door with the Gru family home. When his fist lifted to knock against the solid oak door it was all worth it to see the knob turning before he'd made even a single hit.
Authors Note: I like to think that Margo was waiting for him to come and that Gru didn't become curious as to why Antonio's doubtlessly sporty car was parked in front of his house for ten minutes only to see Antonio Perez sniffing around his daughter again. I've got about twenty endings in my head, each one screaming for me to type them down and share them, but I'd like to think that maybe there are twenty more screaming for you to write. Which you can do, if you'd like; I'd certainly be interesting in reading them, so if you do then please make sure to give me a shout so I know to look.
With love and passion,
Paradise