A/N: I was not high when I wrote this.
I almost called this fic, "excess alcohol is dangerous for health", but I decided against it ...
Maybe if I had been, it would have turned out better, lol.
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It was damp.
It was cold.
She cautiously walked through the fog, she had no idea where she was walking too, but she couldn't stop, she couldn't stay here, she needed to find a way out, she was lost, she was alone. It wasn't safe for a woman to be out all by herself after dark, something could happen to her, she could get herself into a whole load of trouble.
What exactly was she doing outside in the middle of the night?
She had no idea at all.
She kept on walking.
She was starting to get worried, how was she supposed to know if she was going in the right direction if she couldn't even see past the tip of her own nose. Suddenly a voice interrupted the eerie silence, startling her, "It's a damn cold night, miss. What are you doing out here all by yourself?"
"Just trying to figure out this life," the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, it was almost as if she had no control over herself anymore. "Won't you take me by the hand, and take me somewhere new."
What on earth was she doing, she thought to herself. She didn't even know this man, this stranger. She couldn't even see what he looked like in the thickness of this mist.
But when an extended hand appeared in front of her, she couldn't stop herself from taking it.
"I don't know who you are ..." her voice trailed off.
"I'm with you," the mysterious stranger replied.
As they progressed the fog got lighter and lighter, the sun was rising -had she really been out all night long? And with a stranger?
Mammy would be furious, she was going to be in so much trouble when she got home.
The fog lifted, revealing a clearing in the woods she had apparently been walking through, the clearing gave way to a meadow.
It was absolutely beautiful in the light of dawn, little purple flowers were scattered all over the place, she could hear birds singing, she felt like Snow White in the fairy tale. Her face cracked into a smile, she was a little girl again, a child who was fascinated and filled with wonder for everything. She wanted to dance, she felt delirious.
She had almost forgotten she wasn't alone.
She looked up, at last she got to catch a glimpse of the stranger she had been blindly following. He was tall, tanned, broad shoulders which narrowed down towards a thin waist, his jet black hair was combed back on his head. He was one of the most handsome men she had ever seen, sure, he didn't exactly fit into the pattern of the perfect golden Prince Charming she had dreamt about since she was a young girl, but she couldn't help but feel attracted to him.
He looked down at her, and she had never felt anything quite like it, it was almost as if he understood her completely, as if he knew exactly how her mind worked, and didn't judge her for any of it. But it was impossible, she didn't know this man, how could he possible know everything about her.
They were still holding hands, she had never felt as comfortable and as at peace in her entire lifetime, they stood there for a while in complete harmony.
"Who are you?" she finally broke the silence.
He sighed heavily, "You know who I am."
"No … I think I would remember if I did," she argued.
"Just look into your heart, deep down into the core of your being, Scarlett," he said as he let go of her hand and turned away from her.
"Wait, where are you going?" she asked worried.
"Away."
"Will you come back?"
"Probably," he replied, in an almost defeated tone. "I can never go too long without seeing you."
This last statement left Scarlett a bit perplexed, but she brushed it off and asked, "For how long will you be gone?"
"I'm not sure," he answered, walking away. "Depends on you ..."
And as mysteriously as he had appeared, he was gone, she tried to follow him, but it was as if he had disappeared into thin air, the more she looked for him, the more she got lost, once again she had no idea where she was.
The sun was setting.
It was getting cold again.
The fog was rising again.
She was afraid again.
She woke up with a startle, the pain in the back of her head reminding her that finishing off that second bottle of brandy hadn't been her best idea.
She opened her eyes, her vision was blurry, shooting pains seared through her every limb, where on earth was she? Her vision cleared up, oh, right, she was on the stairs, she hadn't had the strength to walk up them last night.
It was then that she remembered.
He was gone.
He had left her.
She started sobbing uncontrollably again. A vision of that bright and sunny meadow flashed before her eyes again, and she stopped crying. That man, in her dream, that man was Rhett.
He had said that he would come back, that he couldn't stay away from her too long. He had it said that it depended on her.
She would go after him, she would confess her love to him once again. She would show him exactly just how much she loved him, just how important he was to her, just how necessary he was to her life. And he would understand, he would realise she's telling the truth, he had to.
She stood up, steadying herself on the banister as a wave of nausea passed over her -god, she needed to stop drinking. She was going to Charleston, and she was going today, she was going right now. She just needed to throw a couple of things in a bag and she would go to the train station, buy a ticket, and win Rhett over.
She was going to bring her husband back home, eve if it was the last thing she did.
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THE END (THANK GOD)
Written for SCARLETT JAIMIE:
Suggestion by CeeJay (BlaqueCat13): "It's a damn cold night, trying to figure out this life,won't you take me by the hand take me somewhere new, I don't know who you are but I'm with you". (Avril Lavigne, I'm with you).
When Rhett leaves her, or quite possibly while she is struggling at Tara during the war.
Scarlett's POV.
Sorry, it's not as cheery or sunny or funny as it should be, and it's more of a 'the alcohol has screwed up Scarlett's brain for good' fic, but I was working with a depressing song, a depressing time in the novel, from Scarlett's perspective, this was a difficult assignment.