(Alright, SoulKat here! Just to let you know, this is a NorwayXFaroe Islands fic, except they aren't countries. They just kept everything else, but they are normal humans, m'kay? Enjoy the angst 3)

Reality- life's lover

She was innocent. She didn't need to be persecuted for something she felt. It was my fault she was dead. Six feet under, pushing daisies, blue in the face. Dead. Death. No pulse. No function. No life.

I gripped my briefcase tighter as I stared at the 8 by 10 school picture of Holly Sorensen. Her peachy face seemed to glow by the single candle left by her brother, Mattias. Wilted flowers from Bella, her brother Mattias and I lay sadly on the little pedestal with Holly's school picture along with a note from her elementary school kid neighbor, Peter and our engagement ring. I inwardly growled at people not even caring if my younger sibling brutally cut Holly's life short. They didn't even care, the cheered him on. A coppery taste dribbled into my mouth. Registering I had bit my lip, I sucked at the small cut and pondered.

If Holly and I had never fallen in love, would she have still been alive? No, farther back than that. If had not even signed up for this job, would she still be here? Probably. The principal had fired the chemistry teacher before me, Arthur Kirkland. I was hired in his place. From the moment I welcomed 4th period Intensified Chemistry my fate changed. There she was. Effortlessly beautiful. Her long creamy legs and chocolate ribbons that curled and cascaded down her petite shoulders and framed her angelic face perfectly. Her eyes were a warm topaz and her lips always curled in a soft pout. My heart leapt for her. She was so flawless I was sure she was the daughter of some famous bombshell. Nope. She was as ordinary as ordinary could be. She got good grades. She wasn't snobby popular, but she was well known. She had an amazing talent for drawing. She played the flute and enjoyed reading. She wasn't a disturbance. She hardly ever wore makeup and was always dressed nicely. She was polite to the teachers and was eager to participate.

"Holly, would you come up to the board and balance this equation please?" I nodded to her once. The way her name rolled off my tongue was absolutely delightful. Holly, Holly I whispered her name to myself over and over all afternoon and night. It had such a sweet ring to it. Simple, but yet so enticing. I caught myself more than a dozen times staring at her. The way she carried herself, the way she spoke. She was like an illusion. Here in the slums of such a crappy, not-even-marked-on-a-close-up-map-town was this…god. After a few weeks, I began giving her more leeway and special treatment. It was a real treat to get to go drop off the attendance. Getting to skip 5 minutes of class was like heaven-sent for any of these delinquents. She was immeditently assigned attendance duty. I glanced sideways to watch her skirts or pants curve deliciously around her bottom before starting the warm-up problems. I also found out her middle name was Heather-Marie. This made me sigh her name multiple times while in the shower or alone in the car. Holly Heather-Marie Sorensen. Her name was like an exotic dialect and never failed to send a hot flush to my cheeks.

My closest meeting to getting next to this rare phenomenon was one sunny November afternoon. She had missed a day (she had the sniffles, oh so cutely sneezing and then excusing herself in the most adorable, little kid-ish tone of voice) and had stayed in my room for lunch while she finished her assignment. I corrected it quickly. She missed a question. As I leaned back in my rolly chair, she came around the side of the desk and leaned down to my level to see what mistake she made. I was very aware of how close her…bosom was…to my cheek. I could smell her citrus perfume and the fresh scent of her shampoo. Gulping hard I continued to explain the problem to her. A growing problem in my pants made me speed up the explanation and thrust the paper at her before staggering off to relive myself. There, in that bathroom stall, I realized I loved her. Nobody had ever made me feel this vulnerable. I was used to being the cold, arrogant, overlord of everybody. She made me melt into a puddle of gushy emotions. Her gentle demeanor, her smooth as water on a moonlight night voice, her warm, peachy skin. Everything. I could just imagine her being the one in my arms, dressed in white, golden ring on her finger being claimed as mine. I saw stars as I relived myself and I pulled up my pants. My rational side taking over I realized it was wrong. She was what, eight years my junior? Wrong, wrong, wrong. You sick weirdo. Who do you think you are? Justin Beiber? She wouldn't love you even if you were the last man on earth. I hate my rational side, but it was right. I felt a little better but I still couldn't shake her lingering presence from me. Her (ehem) developed chest so close, her invigorating fragrance, the glow of her eyes as she learned more and more. Screw rational thoughts. It was only a fantasy right?

Wrong. Over the next few months we got to know each other better. She seemed to have enjoyed the quiet peace in my room at lunch and we often chatted long after the school had closed for the day. She was interesting at that. We never ran out of things to talk about, despite me hardly ever making chit chat with any of the other teachers unless needed. She chided me about my frozen demeanor; I nagged her about being nosy. She'd laugh and bump into me playfully. Holly was pretty much late to 5th period every day because of me. She'd be silly and dance around on the desks as she opened up to me and told me more about her life. Her parents were long gone and she lived with her brother who went to the local college, she had a cat named Daffodil, she loved to finger-paint, she hated eggs and tomatoes, she loved Spongebob, she liked culture and history but hated math. The more I spent time with her, the more I wanted to soothe my knowledge hungry brain. I wanted to be with her, to hold her when she was scared, to be the only one she shared a bed with, and to be her number one advocate. Our relationship became more relaxed and she casually called me by my first name or even by her childish nickname "Olly" because she said it rhymed with her name. For a moment I could see a different emotion flicker in her tawny eyes when she mentioned it. A stronger, more immense feeling. It was gone by the time I had registered it. Fleeting and swift. She nodded quickly and left for the day, leaving me in stupor and pondering.

Our little affiliation took a sharp turn one January afternoon. I was leaving for the day, a bit disheartened that she hadn't come to visit me afterschool. As I pushed one last folder of papers into my ready-to-burst-at-the-seams messenger bag I heard a soft sniffling at the door. I glanced up to see my love in the doorway, tears streaming down her face, hair rumpled and a cat collar in her hand. She sprinted into my arms. I knew this couldn't be good. She sobbed hysterically into my chest, dappling my gunmetal gray shirt with darker spots. Through her slight pauses in her waterworks fest I pieced together that she had gone home and she was looking for her cat, Daffodil. When she looked out the window, she saw her feline friend, motionless in the street. This made me sad as well. Holly's face would glimmer with pure exorbant bliss as she mentioned her cat. Now that she was gone, Holly's ego was massacred and left out to dry. I wanted to kiss her so badly. I wanted to ruffle her skirt and pull her into my lap and wipe away her tears. I couldn't do that though. The most I could do was rub her back (even that sent me into euphoric fantasies) and try to explain things. What she did next was a bit of a shock. She pressed herself closer to me (she seemed shy at first) and hugged me tightly. "I-I need you." She murmured into my chest. A hot ripple of adrenaline shot through my chest. This is it, what you've wanted right? Do it. Make her yours. As she looked up at me with those huge, tawny eyes, want and misery swirling in her topaz pools I leaned down close to her. The tips of our noses were touching. She seemed to be searching my ocean blue eyes for something as well. I pushed my nose against hers slightly. She returned the action harsher. I was a few inches taller than she was so she stood on her tip toes as we explored each other's eyes. "Do you dream of me?" she whispered. I almost gaped, but my body resisted as I would have looked a fool. "Yes." I managed to sputter out awkwardly. A coy look flashed across her eyes as she took me in "As do I." I swear to god my heart stopped. I had no time to register what just happened as she pressed her velvet lips against mine. My blood was boiling with the body heat she gave off. My dreams, my fantasies, could fate really be this kind? I quickly decided to ignore it and savor the moment. Our lip lock was long and sweet. Her tears were long gone by the time we truly broke apart. Prettily batting her long, luscious eyelashes at me she purred "I hope you know I'm not kidding around."

I took her hand and interwove my fingers in hers and grinned slightly "Neither am I."

She only smiled and touched noses with me.

After our little confession session in the dull afternoon of January we held a small funeral for Daffodil in Holly's back yard. Her elementary school neighbor, Peter, came over as well. She was still out praying to her feline friend long after the ceremony had ended and dinner was served. I came out to tell her it was cold and it was time to go inside but I heard her mumbling to her deceased "and I think he really loves me, Daffy. He really does. You'll never know how happy I am right now…" I smirked and decided not to interrupt her and tip toed back inside.

From that moment our lips touched, school had been different. 4th period seemed only 5 minutes long and the day seemed to drag on. I asked her out to dinner multiple times. She said she was going out to see one of her friends. We had kept our relationship secret though. I was eight years her senior. I would be weird. Nobody knew. Until one day. We had become serious after a while, close to the end of March. She told me she wanted to go all the way. I sighed and we bickered about it. But she convinced me. She was going to graduate soon anyways and she was more mature than most people her age. That was her excuse. We had been close knit and were not the least bit flaky in anyway. Some people at the restaurants gave us the "lovebirds' discounts" and the heart shaped silly straw; some random guy at the diner asked me if I was going to pop the question! I told him no and awkwardly excused him. Holly seemed to enjoy that people actually thought we had tied the knot. I was a bit embarrassed, hoping no one thought I was some kind of pedophile. I agreed to go all the way with her. We were both actually kind of into it and we didn't feel like rushing home, since Room 416 is where we actually made our connection. She was actually a bit scared but calmed down quickly. I enjoyed finally being able to see what was under that skirt and blouse. I felt like I was on top of the world. Since she took swimming and gymnastics she was lithe and firm. I cherished having her in my lap, her squeals and mewls of bliss. We were both so close. I bucked harder and she howled my name. Everything was perfect-

"O-oliver…?" It was my younger brother, Emil. Emil was also one of Holly's best friends.

Caught red handed.

"What…is this?" the soft venomous hiss that came from him shattered everything. My stomach sank, I was no longer aroused. Holly squeaked and hid her face in my unbuttoned shirt. He glared at me with such intensity I was sure I was going to be set on fire. "Sick bastard." Was all he said before he turned tail and left.

From that moment on, he made sure my life was a living hell. He would spit nasty remarks at me when I'd bring Holly over for dinner or unplug the phone line while I was on the phone with her. He made sure to dirty my clothes when we went out, he made sure all my food was undercooked or burnt, he made sure I never got important messages on the answering machines he made sure to "accidentally" use my credit card for his stuff. I was worn out by the end of every day. The only thing to cheer me up was a text message from Holly or a home cooked meal waiting for me on the table with her in her cute apron that said "Wife". Those nights were the best. She'd crawl in next to me, softly asking me how my day was, keeping up with bosses, meetings, unruly children or other matters. She'd gently brush my bangs away and we'd kiss and then fool around some more before we moved together as one. Afterwards we'd try to express our feelings for each other but never could because it was so intense, and we'd fall asleep.

Emil seemed to ignore our relationship after a while. He was no longer study buddies with Holly and he continued to make his crude remarks but he seemed to get bored with it. I relinquished our brotherly bond but he never seemed to, which was fine. Holly made up for that. It was like we were married. She practically lived with me. We always seemed to know where each other was and know what we were gonna say. It was amazing. My life had been so boring and pointless until I was with her. Every waking moment was a new adventure with her. A simple morning in April marked a new milestone in our relationship. We were in the courtyard of the school (nobody was there, thankfully) and I pulled a white box out of my pocket and placed it in her palms, cupping her delicate hands within my own. She carefully opened the box. No sooner had she laid eyes on the gift inside she squealed with joy and kicked her feet out like a giddy child. I had given her an engagement ring. I knew it was early but I told her to hold onto it until it was time. She said she'd take good care of it and we kissed. Holly told me she had secret surprise for me as well. She shyly stood up (not before glancing around) and pulled up her shirt and glancing down at her slightly distended lower abdomen before grinning up at me. She laughed and told me to guess. I was dying to know "You have mini rainbow glitter ponies in your stomach? Did you swallow spare change again? What have I told you about doing that?" Holly gave me a scornful smirk and told me to be serious. What she said next flipped my world upside down. "O-Oliver…I'm…I'm pregnant." A bashful blush dappled her cheeks as she gave me an encouraging look, as if she wanted my approval. I probably looked like I was angry but I felt like doing backflips. A child, of my very own! I jumped up and hugged her tightly. Words were flowing but I couldn't express how over the moon I was with this. We hugged and giggled and cried tears of joy while we were nuzzled in our own little world. The bell rung. I was disappointed at the fact we didn't even get to discuss names but the list in my mind was already forming. If it was a girl I would name her Lily, no… Lorilei. If it was a boy I'd rather name him Lukas or maybe Eirkur. I was grinning and spazzing like an idiot all throughout the day. Holly would make a fine mother. She told me while she was passing through the halls she was proud to bear my children. I whispered in her ear that I was honored to father hers.

However I didn't know what lay in store that lunch recess.

Holly decided to have lunch with her much neglected friends. As they were let out for recess in the front lawn, I watched from the window of the teachers' lounge. I had a rather dumb grin abnormally plastered to my normally stoic face. I kept adding to the list of names as I ate my key lime pie yogurt. I stared out the window dreamily, imagining my life with Holly happily. I continued watching the students congregate. Usually, the kids would separate into their own crowds and rarely mingle with each other; however, today I saw them gather in one huge mob. Confused, I opened the window to see what was going on. Holly was being dragged by Augustus van der Slyke into the middle of the crowd. Emil's snow white hair stood out in the jumble of browns, reds, blacks and blonds. He stepped forwards to meet Holly, who was apparently grumbling about her arm hurting from being dragged. A sinking feeling weighed on my stomach. I sprinted like a race horse outside and hid behind a large oak in the front yard. I could hear Emil clearer now.

"You little whore." He hissed and stepped forward to meet his former friend "Sleeping with my brother. Nasty girl. You like old men? Do they turn you on Holly?"

Holly's eyes were as big as saucers "E-Emil….you have it all wrong…please let me explain…and we can be friends again."

"Never." He spat on her shirt "You are a bad little brat. You know you shouldn't be with your professor. And don't worry, rotten peach, I've already sent out a mass text message to everybody in the school telling them about your affair with my brother."

Holly looked like she was trying to decide to fight back or break down in tears. She was backing up to run away but bumped into Augustus and Emil's other friend, Xiang. Emil dug for something in his pocket and pulled out a silver pistol. The crowd gasped and scooted away. Holly was pale and shaking like a leaf.

"E-Emil! Put that away! What are you doing? You could get in trouble!" Holly's voice rose to a high pitched shriek.

"I'm doing something that should have been a long time ago. I'm sorry Holly. You've been a good friend, but it's time for you to go somewhere other than you're forbidden love's arms." And with that, he pulled the trigger and shot her in the heart. She died instantly.

"NOOOO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs and sprinted towards her. My heart was beating like I was having a heart attack and my brain was whirring with the sudden events. I shoved the students aside and kneeled down next to my love. I held her head in my arms and watched blood trickle from the wound in her chest. I held her hand in mine and rocked back and forth. Praying to god this was all just a horrid nightmare and it would be over soon. The crowd diminished and slunk away. Emil stood behind me with a twisted smirk on his face. "For your own good." I felt a blazing fire inside me flare like nothing I'd ever felt. My commonly icy feature curled into a vicious snarl as I whipped around to face my sibling.

"You!" Emil was as cool as a cucumber "You killed her! You…you killed my child!" I howled before swinging at him. My cold, hard fist collided with his pale face with a sickening crack. Holly lay motionless on the moist grass. Suddenly aware of what I had just shouted, I looked around. Students' mouths were agape and the teachers who had come to see what the entire ruckus was about were appalled. I was suddenly self-conscious and embarrassed. "I'm happy for you brother" Emil grinned insanely before running off to his car and speeding away. My stomach hurt and I felt sick, vomit bubbled up in the back of my throat and I turned away to heave. All our memories, all our love, all gone- in a matter of seconds. I kissed her repeatedly in hopes she would wake up like Sleeping Beauty and her prince. She never did. I took off the engagement ring she wore on her necklace and placed it on her finger. I bit my lip and placed my other hand just over the hem of her skirt, where our child would have been swirling around happily inside her. Tears dripped from my cheeks to hers as I mourned her and my child. How I would reveal their death to her brother would be next to impossible. But for now, I just wept.

She was pronounced dead in the hospital. I called her brother and told him everything. He was distraught and enraged. We had a small funeral service at her house. Peter, Bella, Matthias and I all attended. It was long and sad. Anybody hardly said anything. She was buried next to Daffodil. I returned home that night to an empty house. No comforting hum of the television or the scent of burnt TV dinners in the microwave- just cold, empty, lifelessness. Emil never came home.

My life would never be the same. After going home and moping around I decided to avenge her death and put her murderer where he belonged. I wanted to make my brother pay for his crime, harshly cutting my lover and my unborn child's life short. I picked up the phone and hired the best detective I could afford. I was a bit queasy, as I had not made any communication with another human being since Holly's death. He said he'd do all he could to find my brother. I thanked him and hung up.

The next morning I sat down sorrowfully and sipped my freezing cup of coffee. I always drank it black. Turning on the news, a recent headline caught my attention: "Young teen drives car off bridge into local River". My heart dropped to my stomach, which gratefully swallowed it. My hands curled in rage and grief as the teen that had been identified was none other than my brother, Emil. Tears gurgled up in the back of my throat and I place my coffee cup on the table, pulled my arms over my head and cried. I quit my job at the school.

Remembering that day will be hard for me. It's been two months since her death. Bella and Matthias made a small remembrance pedestal in the middle of the courtyard with flowers on it, holly leaves and berries dappled the lilies and roses. Her school picture is the focal point. Peter left a note, Bella left flowers, Mattias left a candle and I left our engagement ring. Monday morning, we all gathered here to sing prayers for her. Nobody else did. They all turned on her in her last moments here with us because of my sibling and my secret. I'll never forget my brother and what he did, I'll never forget our relationship, but most of all I'll never forget you, Holly Heather-Marie Sorensen.

~X~

Phew! SoulKat here! I managed to crank this out in about 3 hours. I was experimenting with character death and stuff. This is the plot line of a FanFic idea I had called "There's Chemistry Between Us" (Illy's a chemistry teacher, gettit? XDDD) So yeah, I lurve angst and fluff. I worked with my demented side today while listening to Lady Gaga. This is also a celebratory piece for me joining . Please review (and don't flame! /3) Also note:

Oliver- Norway

Holly- My OC, The Faroe Islands

Matthias- Denmark

Bella- Belgium

Peter- Sealand

Augustus- Netherlands

Xiang- Hong Kong

Emil- Iceland