Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or this world. I just like to be a part of it sometimes
Author's Notes: This is all A/U, but let's take this all the way back to right after the finale of Season 3. Sometimes you just have to write angst, and that was such a great time in the show.
This was heavily (completely) influenced by Zedd's song, Beautiful Now.
Summary: She stepped into the Barn, she was gone. But then, she was there. Or, was she?
Beautiful.
After the Barn disappeared, he sat in the grassy field for what had to have been hours. People slowly trickled out of there, some bloodier than others, until he was all alone. He would always be alone now, because she was gone. He couldn't stop her, and she was gone. And even though he knew she needed it for strength, she had cruelly given him a taste of what they could have been together, and it was glorious - even if it was under horrendous circumstances. For those brief few seconds, the world dropped away, and it was only the two of them.
When he finally was able to stand, he stumbled through the dusky light towards the end of the field. He was lost, and didn't know where to go or what to do.
It shouldn't have surprised him that he would be pulled towards her apartment. The only place where memories of her would still exist would be at her place or at the station, and he couldn't stomach running into anyone at the station. At this point, everyone in town would have heard what happened only hours ago. He knew people would be giving him their condolences, and he didn't want that. He couldn't have that. Condolences would destroy him. Even more so than he already was.
And then he was there, in the parking lot, looking at the darkened building in front of him. Would it ever reopen? Did he care? No, right now, he didn't care. He didn't feel anything – either physically or emotionally. The Troubles were still here. Something went wrong, and yet, she was still gone. Life had dealt him yet another cruel blow, and he wasn't sure if he could continue much longer.
When he reached the top of her stairs, he expected to see nothing more than an empty balcony, but instead, the sight before him had him gasping. There she stood, looking over the railing towards the little island in the water. She was wearing a white sundress, which was billowing behind her in the slight breeze coming off the water, and with the soft glow coming from the setting sun, he could see she was wearing nothing beneath it. All he could do was stare. And force himself to breathe.
He didn't know why, and neither did she. They didn't know why or how, but tonight, she was still here, and she was beautiful, and tonight, they would be together.
Tonight, they would chase away the darkness. They would light up like the stars above them. Together.
Neither knew where anything was going – tonight, their relationship, their lives – but they were going to chase it together. They were given this unexpected moment, and would not waste it.
Here they were, two orphans, finding their way to each other. Their worlds had collided in ways neither could have imagined. And somehow, deep down, they both knew this wouldn't last forever – they would never be forever – so they needed to stop fighting it, and just focus on the here and now. Now is what mattered.
So as he watched her, he knew they needed to live tonight. They needed to brighten the world, because the world would be over for them soon. They needed to make sure others would fight their fight.
But tonight, it was only them.
And in the morning, as he woke alone in her bed, he wasn't sure of anything. He wasn't sure if she was actually there last night, or if he was already going crazy. He wasn't sure what he was going to do today, tomorrow, or the next day. He wasn't sure if he could go on.
He knew he needed to do something, so after one last deep breath of her pillows, which still smelled of her, he pushed himself off the bed, and out the door, into whatever life was going to bring.