prompts: "you're worth it", light sabers, & promise rings

"She's the girl that no one ever knows

And I say hi, but she's too shy to say hello

She's just waiting for that one to take her hand

And shake her up

I bet I could."

- We The Kings.

. . . . .

Sitting on her couch, eating caramel glazed popcorn, she yells, "Die, you evil Sith scum," rather ferociously at the television screen, taking the time to throw a kernel or two at the bad guys. Her mother is out doing who-knows-what and her dad went for his weekly guys'-night-out, so it's just her lonely at home on a Saturday night, watching DVDs of Star Wars. She thinks she's going to be alone for the rest of the night until there is frantic pounding on her door. Pausing the movie, she gets up and walks over to the door, her hand pausing over the handle. After an internal conflict with herself, she opens the door, only to be nearly trampled by the six feet of male species; he shuts the door behind him and rests his back against it, breathing heavily.

She notices him as Derrick Harrington, the hawtest guy at OCD by far. "Derrick..." she begins unsurely. "What are you doing here?"

"Hiding," he pants. "I'm hiding from her rage. Please, just hide me." He runs and hides behind the second sofa in the living room, which is well out of sight of the front door. It's just in the nick of time, because there is knocking on her door again; this time, it seems as though the door is about to break. "Yes?" she asks, feigning annoyance. She's not faking most of it; part of her is annoyed because she hates pausing movies midway through them.

"Where is he?" Massie seethes, and it scares Claire, because she's never seen her as angry as this.

"Who?"

"Derrick. I saw him come this way; where the heck is he?"

"I don't know. Maybe he jumped the fence. I wouldn't blame him," she adds under her breath.

Massie's left eye twitches but she lets it go; instead, she turns on her heel and leaves the house without so much as a last word. "It was nice having you here, too," Claire calls after her, but, she gets nothing in response. Sighing, she locks the door behind him and goes back to her default position, resuming the movie. She gets so into it, she forgets that there's another body in her house.

The movie ends, which isn't long after; she gets up to change DVDs. "Hey," says a voice, making her jump about a thousand feet into the air. She spins around and sees Derrick lounging on the couch - her couch - and her brain stops functioning. She's spaced out for quite a while, because he waves his hand in front of her face. "Hello?"

Finally, she snaps out of it. "Uh... hi..."

"You like to watch Star Wars?" he asks, motioning to the screen.

"Yes, it's my favorite series of all time."

"Mine too," he says, smiling. "Come watch with me. You were watching it before right?"

Tentatively, she smiles back, and this is the beginning of a strange, yet special relationship.

. . .

He's holding her hand throughout the entire line until they get to the front of the line; and she blushes all the way and he thinks it's just too adorable. She gasps when she finally realizes where they are and why he bought the things that are currently in the plastic bags in his other hand. "You brought me to a convention?" she asks, surprise written all over her face.

"Yeah, I thought it'd be a great present. This is the only one that'll be in town for a long time." He hands her one of the bags. "Go put it on. I'll meet you back here in fifteen minutes."

So she goes to put it on, and when she puts it on and looks at herself in the full length mirror, she's almost pleased with the way her body looks; she looks like Princess Leia from the movies and it all just feels so magical. And when she goes out, she sees Derrick standing there looking ruggedly handsome in his Han Solo outfit; it makes her want to melt. Suddenly, though, they find themselves at a booth that looks surprisingly like those you find at carnivals. It's one of those knock the bottles down games and the mega prize is this light saber that looks so authentic, it could have been taken out of the movies; and she wants it so bad, so he pays the man at the counter, taking seven whole tries before he wins it.

Wherever they go, people look at them oddly; not because they look out of place, but because Princess Leia is holding a light saber rather expertly with one hand, clinging onto Han Solo with the other hand, as though he is her lifeline.

In a way, he sort of is.

. . .

The news is delivered and Derrick takes it like a knife to the heart; in the blink of an eye, he's at the hospital, demanding to see her. "Claire Lyons," he says to the lady at the front desk, and she smiles sadly at him before pointing him in the direction of Claire's room. His breathing is shallow and the box in his back pocket feels heavier than it should; he was going to give it to her today before the news came along.

When he enters, his heart melts because she's lying there, pale and hollowed, as though there isn't a soul left in her body. The doctor beside her bed also smiles sadly. "She's been calling your name ever since she became conscious. You must be Derrick." He pats him on the back before leaving him to be with her. Derrick glances around and is angry; there's no one else there.

"Where the fuck is everyone else?" he asks angrily and she winces, because he's never used swear words in her company. Seeing this, he rushes over to her bedside and takes her palm in his. "I'm sorry. Where is everyone, though? Did they come?" She shakes her head sadly and he's just plain pissed off. The least her parents could have done was at least show up; he wants to shout this but he doesn't want to scare her even more. Vulgar words about her family circle in his train of thoughts until he's calm enough to look at her sad face.

"Why are you here?" she croaks. "No one else cares; why did you come?"

"Because," he says, looking her straight in the eye. "I came because you're worth it. You're worth it, Claire, and I don't think I've ever cared about anyone else in my life more than I care about you." A single tear rolls down her cheek and he wipes it gently off; now is the perfect time to bring it out. He reaches into his back pocket and brings the ring case out, but it's only a promise ring, nothing more. "I want you to have this, Claire." He slips it onto her finger. "No matter what happens, I'll always care about you and I'll always love you, okay? I promise."

This time, she's crying and she wishes she could sit up. "I love you, too," she says, slowly because it hurts to speak.

. . .

She passes away with the ring still on her finger. He visits her grave every single night, even on school nights, because that's how much he loves her. On every visit, he brings a white rose, to show the innocence that she had. On every visit, he lays down a piece of Star Wars memorabilia. Each time he comes back, the rose and the memorabilia are always gone. There are many explanations, but, he knows that somewhere, somehow, she's the one doing all this - taking the roses and memorabilia. And he knows that even though she's gone, she'll always be with him. That's all he could ever ask for.

. . . . .

"You're an angel

Grab your halo

And let's fly tonight."

- We The Kings.

oh goodness. who even enjoys seeing a person die? nobody. this was so sad for me to write, but, life doesn't always have happy endings. i'm tired, even though it's not that late, so excuse any mistakes. i might even take a nap...

review? that'd make my day :)

ox,

aly