A/N: Hey guys, this is a birthday fic forTheRushingRadiancexx. Happy Birthday John!! (Her name isn't actually John, it's just this thing we do. She calls me Fred.:D) Love you! Disclaimers: I don't own the song "Shine" by Anna Nalick, nor do I own the characters of Charlie Bone.
Stars are meant to shine.
[And she was born to be a star.]
She was born the night of September 19th.
She was born a star that night.
[That was eighteen years ago.]
-
She began to fall in love the night of October 18th.
She began to shine that night.
[That was four years ago.]
-
She lost her heart the night of November 17th.
She lost her shine that night.
[That was three years ago.]
-
She promised to never love again the night of April 16th.
She promised to never shine again that night.
[That was two years ago.]
-
She began to fall in love again the night of August 15th.
She began to break her promise that night.
[That was one year ago.]
-
She had stopped denying she was in love again on the night of December 14th.
She had stopped denying that she had found her shine that night.
[That is tonight.]
Oh the night makes you a star
And it holds you cold in its arms
You're the one to whom nobody verses I love you
Unless you say it first
Olivia never thought she would fall for Damien Smerk, but here she was at the age of fourteen, swooning over him as if he were the only boy in the world.
She thought of him as the night. He was cold, but beautiful and completely untouchable. His blonde hair was as light as the moon and his eyes were as dark as the night.
She realized it the night of October 18th that she had fallen in love with him.
And one day, she went on a whim and told him she loved him. And by some inexplicable miracle, he told her he loved her too. That he had since they were eleven and did everytime he made fun of her hair, or insulted her clothing, or embarrassed her.
And he took her in his arms and kissed her and she was happier in that moment than she ever had been.
[That's when she began to shine.]
-
Within three days, news that Olivia Vertigo and Damien Smerk were an item had filled the entire school.
One person wasn't exactly happy about it.
But Fidelio Gunn kept his mouth shut, and smiled, and pretended to be overjoyed for his friend.
[Even though he wished it were himself in Damien's place.]
-
He swore he'd make Olivia a star to the world, if it were the last thing he'd ever do. He swore that he'd share his fortune of having a star to himself. As he embraced her, he swore she was his star.
The embrace made her cold, and it was new and exciting and she knew this is what she wanted.
Damien swore a lot of things to Olivia.
[Damien lied.]
-
He never said "I love you" randomly.
She always had to say it first.
She always had to wait.
[That's when she should have left.]
So you lie there holding your breath
And its strange how soon you forget
That you're like stars
They only show up when it's dark
Cause they don't know their worth
At fifteen, she lay down, ever-so-excited and ever-so-nervous and ever-so-calm. She held her breath, counted to ten, and got up. She looked around her room, located her cell phone, and used it to call her boyfriend of a year.
She asked him if he was coming. He replied sorrowfully that he couldn't.
She was going to have to check herself.
She hung up, downhearted. Her phone rang again about two hours later.
"Hello?" She answered, trying (and succeeding) to keep the sadness out of her voice.
"Hey, Liv! Did you make it?"
Olivia smiled at the voice of her best friend and instantly cheered up a bit. He always did that to her. "Hey Fido. I don't know yet. I haven't been able to check."
"Why not? Weren't you and Damien going to?"
"Damien can't come. I'll just check tomorrow."
"Olivia, are you insane?"
His bluntness surprised her. It always did.
It made her smile. It always did.
She was about to reply when Fidelio cut her off.
"You can't just throw this aside and say you'll check tomorrow. You worked so hard for this. You need to know if you made it. If you worried about going alone, I can go with you."
"Really?"
"Well, yeah. I'm your friend, and…" He got no farther. He was cut off by Olivia.
"Then I'll meet you where Angel Flowers used to be. Thank you so much, Fidelio!"
"No problem. See you in a few!"
She hung up, feeling a lot better than she had before. She felt slightly too happy at the fact she was going to spend time with Fidelio.
And as she made her way to the abandoned store, Olivia realized just how much Fidelio meant to her. He always came when she needed him. She didn't know how, but he did.
[He was the star that shined when it got dark.]
-
The chilly evening air around her screamed November (the 17th, in fact), with its cold wind and subtly bitter breeze. It was the time you were getting ready to bundle up for winter and saying goodbye to the last remains of autumn.
It was a slightly depressing time.
Especially for a young girl of fifteen whose chance at fame was once again given to another. And also for her companion who hated seeing her so upset.
[If only they knew what was about to come.]
-
Damien messed up, badly.
Fidelio always hoped he would, but not like this.
Olivia just wanted to leave somewhere and never come back.
[The one that screwed up, the one that hoped for the screw up, and the one that got screwed over.]
-
He was with someone else. He blew off what was supposed to be the biggest moment of her life so far to be with someone else.
He swore he was going to make her a star. He lied.
And Olivia could only watch helplessly as he looked at and smiled and held another girl, thinking that she should have been the one there, and how she wasn't.
Fidelio took her away, made her not see what she had to see. He held her, and reassured her, and it felt good to know she was loved by someone, even if (right now) it was the wrong person. His embrace was warm and comforting and made her feel worth something. It should have felt wrong. It didn't. Fidelio made her feel special, even at her worst. He always did.
She didn't remember how Fidelio (somehow) coaxed her into going home. She didn't remember how she got to her room. She didn't remember crying her until her head hurt until her head actually hurt. All she remembered was the feeling of numbness.
She sent him a message with her cell phone telling him they were done (he had done worse). He called her. She told him what she saw. They argued. She hung up.
They saw each other again. He brought it up. She didn't want to talk about it. They argued. He left.
They saw each other again. He brought it up. She didn't want to talk about it. They argued. She left.
They saw each other again. He brought it up. She didn't want to talk about it. They argued. He left.
This is how it went on.
[And by the time it stopped, she'd lost not only her love for him, but her shine as well.]
There are times when the poets and porn stars align
And you won't know who to believe in
Well that's a good time to be leaving
The arguing went on for seventeen months. Damien spent seventeen months trying to get Olivia back.
[It was a wasted effort.]
-
The evening before the last month was finished, he cornered her, and demanded to know what she saw that night. She told him. He told her that looks could be deceiving. She said she didn't care.
She thought it over that night and realized how nothing made sense anymore.
[It was time to finish this.]
-
She asked him why he was still fighting.
He answered by quietly asking her if she still loved him as much as he still loved her.
She answered no.
The look on his face, the shock, the hurt, every emotion she felt when she found out was plain on his face. This is what she wanted to give him. It still hurt her.
He finally admitted it. That he was a liar, a cheater, a heart-breaker. And as he walked away, Olivia promised herself one thing. That'd she'd never fall in love again.
[She promised to never shine again.]
And the past knocks on your door
And throws stones at your window at 4 in the morning
Well maybe he thinks it's romantic
He's crazy but you knew that before
Fidelio always came when Olivia needed him. She didn't know how, but he did.
[Somehow, he just always did.]
-
She used to compare Damien to the night. Now she only thought of him as the past. And how whenever he knocked on her door, she answered right away. And how she never would again. And finally, she let herself cry one last time. She'd kept it in two years and it felt good to let it out.
She began to cry at eight in the evening. She finished at three thirty, the morning of August 15th. And when she finished, she stayed cross-legged on her bed, hugging her pillow, just staring at her window for half an hour. Then, at four o'clock to the dot, she jumped as something hit the window she was staring at. She walked over and when she reached it, something hit it again. She opened it, and there was Fidelio standing there, looking self-conscious at the fact he was throwing rocks at a girl's window at four in the morning.
"What are you doing?" Olivia hissed. Fidelio looked up, and smiled brightly. "Come down!" He replied back.
She stared. He grinned. She was in shock.
[He was dead serious.]
-
"Explain to me again why we're taking a walk around the whole city?" Olivia asked.
"Because I was bored and I thought you needed cheering up, since you've been so down lately. And it's not the whole city, just from your house to mine and back. Twice." Fidelio replied so casually, he might as well have been talking about the weather.
"At four thirty in the morning?"
"Yes."
"And did you really have to throw stones at my window? I mean seriously, Fidelio –" Olivia didn't finish her sentence. Fidelio had stopped walking, and grabbed her hand. It felt strange. It felt tingly and warm and it was like their hands fit together perfectly, as if they were made for each other to hold. It felt right.
Olivia didn't understand why.
She also really didn't want to.
"Listen, Livvie, you love this sort of thing. You find it romantic and rebellious. And it's just something you'd love to do. I know that and so do you. You said you wanted someone to do this for you, at least once in your life. That's why I did it. Now please stop complaining." He said.
Her heart swelled at the fact he knew. This was something she'd said to him when they were eleven and they were now seventeen and yet somehow, he'd remembered.
The rest of the walk, Olivia felt giddy and bubbly and sparkly, but somehow as if she were on fire. She felt butterflies in her stomach and wanted to scream and dance around like no one was watching. She felt every cliché she possibly could.
But if you asked her, she'd deny it.
Because that would mean she was in love.
And Olivia Vertigo promised not to love again.
[Yet she'd found her shine again.]
-
"Fido, you know you're crazy, right?" She asked just before she left to go inside.
He grinned and answered, "You figured it out now?"
They left each other laughing.
[And she still didn't accept that she broke her promise.]
Won't you shine, shine, shine, shine over shadow
Shine, shine, shine, shine over shadow
They were eighteen and it was December 14th, and they were leaving college for the winter holidays. He was driving her home. She couldn't look away from him.
[She'd already accepted that she had undeniably and inexplicably fallen in love with Fidelio Gunn.]
-
He brightened over every shadow in her life, no matter how big, how small, how dark. She realized that she never lost her shine.
[He was her shine.]
-
He'd pulled over in the middle of night to take a break so they could get some rest.
That's when he told her.
She wasn't even sure whether or not she'd heard right. She was already half-way asleep when she heard the words "Olivia, I love you" come out of his mouth.
She looked up in sleep induced haze, caught off guard. She'd never, ever been told that before she said it. Maybe it was some cruel joke or something. Or maybe it was meant in brotherly way. Yeah, that made sense.
She didn't care what he meant it as, or whether she had even heard right. She wanted to hear it again. So she intelligently mumbled "What?" and hoped that he'd say it.
Fidelio smiled warmly. "More accurately, I'm in love with you. And I guess I'm telling you this now is because I need to get it off my chest. I've been in love with you since we were eleven and I sort of wanted to kill Damien when I found out you guys were dating and especially afterward when you were so heartbroken and whatnot. And I guess I'm choosing now to say this because you probably won't remember in the morning, when you wake up –" was all he got out of his obviously longer speech.
Olivia had moved herself upwards, with her mind set on one thing, and one thing alone. She then kissed Fidelio's cheek (which is what caught him off guard into stopping) and muttered "I love you too" before promptly plopping back down and falling asleep.
[She shined again, only this time, for the right person.]
And I think you need to stop following misery's lead
Shine away, Shine away, Shine away
Isn't it time you got over how fragile you are
We're all waiting
Waiting on your supernova
Cause that's who you are
And you've only begun to shine
They were stars. They were both meant to shine. They shined together. She shined because of him, he shined for her.
[And this was only the beginning.]
A/N! Yay!! I finished this all in like half a day or whatever. Anyway, Happy Birthday Sun!
P.S. I edited this a little when I got home. Yay!
P.P.S. Ok, so adding to that note, I've edited at least five times now. From yesterday to today. It's the stupid Single Line Breaks. They keep screwing themselves up. And i'm hoping they'll be normal now, but if they aren't, I'm really sorry. It's not mi fault.