Revamped it again. This is going to be alot different. Enjoy. Review if you want.
**Chapter One: Galaxies And Maelstroms.**
Julie Cooper considered herself a fair woman. You could do whatever you wanted with her:, her and Jimmy and been through enough, but when it came to her daughters, she would lose life and limb for them, which is probably why she was in an airport at midnight with her eldest Marissa.
Said daughter was standing a couple feet away, her eyes wet with tears as her and her best friend said a teary goodbye.
"I appreciate you letting Marissa see her off, I don't know if I would be able to put up with Alex if she didn't get to say goodbye." Robert 'Ace' Kelly thanked her again as he fiddled over something with his assistant, exchanging boarding passes and information for when they landed.
"Trust me; it wouldn't be in my best interest to have not allowed it. Marissa was preparing to handcuff herself to your front door if I hadn't." Julie smiled; the two girls had been inseparable, from the exact moment they met. It was best friends from the get go, and Julie couldn't have been happier for her daughter. Her daughters happiness was all Julie wanted, but the fact that she was rubbing shoulders with movie stars and celebrities at birthday parties was a big plus in her book.
"Thanks Sammy, have the final contract sent over as soon as it's finalized." Rob told his assistant before sending him away, his blue eyes falling briefly on the two girls, their conversation muted by the sounds of the airport. "I don't know if it's the right thing to do, Kirsten said she would let her live in the pool house. I just don't want her mixed up in all of the drama living near my asshole of a father can create." He turned his eyes back to Julie.
"She wants to meet her niece, I mean Caleb is an asshole, but to just turn away family like that." Julie couldn't image ever doing anything to hurt her daughter like that, she would kill before she allowed anything of the sort to happen.
"Well when he met my mother, he was already married and denies that I'm his. And now with the test he merely wants to sweep me under the rug. He thinks I want money, when in short, I could give a flying fuck, Alex deserved a grandfather and he robbed it from her."
"What does Charlie think of you moving so far away? She must want to see Alex?" On top of the baby mama drama, Rob and his wife Charlotte; 'Charlie' had split up, from what Julie could only imagine is the Hollywood curse. Being a famous actress Charlie was extremely busy, and with Rob being one of the most recognizable faces of music, it was a marriage with a ticking time bomb.
"She thinks is extremely drastic, but has already made plans to visit once Alex is settled in at school." Overhead a woman's voice called the first boarding call for Heathrow international. "That's us; I just have to make a quick call, would you excuse me?" Julie nodded, her eyes moving over to the two young women, watching, but unhearing as they said their goodbyes.
"Do you really have to go?" It was a question ten year old Marissa Cooper already knew the answer to, but as she tightened her grip on the taller blonde before her, she hoped that the answer would change, for the brunette didn't know how her heart was going to keep its steady rhythm when Alex left. Yes it might have been dramatic to think, but the blonde had been the reason for its prolonged beating for as long as Marissa could remember, and the young girl was terrified of what would happen when the blonde left the circle of her arms on this chilly September night.
The blonde shifted, her hands creating small patterns on her counterparts back. No not patterns, words. Marissa realized, making out the words miss you which only caused her to vainly hold back more tears and she turned her head into the crook of Alex's neck, inhaling deeply.
Coconuts, the blonde always smelled like coconuts, it was one of the things Marissa could remember from when they first met, Alex had defended her when an older boy had kicked her sand castle and when Marissa began to cry, she hugged her. Marissa stopped crying almost immediately, and remarked on it, before Alex settled in and they made a coconut sand castle.
Her lungs inhaled deeply breathing the blonde in, taking in as much of the air surrounding them, starving for it. As the air reached her lungs she tasted another flavour, vanilla, Alex's shampoo was vanilla, she knew because Alex knew it was her favourite kind of ice cream, and had been using it since she was five, when she found out.
The fingers on her back continued to spell out words, broken phrases, and words she couldn't understand but could feel. Overhead she heard a woman's voice call out the first boarding call for Alex's flight. Inhaling deeply once more, she gave her lungs their vice, once again breathing in Alex, the smell of the ocean hitting her lungs, and they savoured it, her lungs would be deprived of their essence soon. Marissa was sure she was being dramatic but no other air filled her lungs like the air saturated in Alex, it filled her, warmed her. No other air would do, it made her heart beat skip in its rhythm and her nerve endings to quiver, and she closed her viridian eyes, willing herself to commit this to memory.
"That's us." Alex's voice was raspy, a quality she inherited from her father. "I don't want to leave you." Marissa's head lifted from the crook of her neck, eyes shining with tears that had yet to fall. From the moment they met, Alex had been captivated by them, she had never seen anything so beautiful, and as she grew her adoration for them grew. And now as she looked into them, she finally understood why. It was staring her in the face the whole time, and it took that instant for her to realize.
She was in love with Marissa Cooper.
"You promise you'll write?" Marissa demanded more them asked. "If you don't write I swear I will find a way over there to whoop your ass. And I want full details! Of everything!"
"I promise." Blue eyes swirled sucking Marissa in, they were like a dangerous storm, you want to turn back, but you're already in too deep when you start to see little golden treasures, hidden deep down tempting you to search to for more, to drown trying to find their hidden wonders.
Marissa could swear the secrets of the oceans, that the hidden secrets of life were hidden in Alex's eyes. Columbus had nothing on her, in this moment Marissa wanted to find the hidden world in those maelstrom eyes.
"You are going to be so beautiful; it's going to suck not being able to see it." Alex tried to lighten the mood, getting a small laugh disguised in sniffles. "I swear to god sometimes I swear you have stars in your eyes. Your eyes are galaxies; I'm always finding something new I could stare at them forever."
It was then, standing fifteen or so paces away from the two girls, so obviously locked in their own world, Julie noticed something change. It was subtle, a simple movement, hands tightening , bodies moving but not at the same time, mouths opening, eyes darting, chests heavy. Julie's eyes stared to watch them move closely, she read the blonde's lips, her mouth dropping slightly as bodies moved, and lips connected.
"Alright everything is all set to go!" Rob stepped into her line of view, blocking the scene she had just witnessed. "Thanks again Julie, I'm sure we'll be seeing each other soon, what with those two, Alex already plans on coming back next summer."
Recovering quickly, Julie plastered a smile across her face. "Yes of course Rob, it's going to be such a bore..." Everything said after that point didn't matter, if it was up to her, and it was, Marissa would not be seeing or hearing from Alex Kelly for a long, long time. Julie Cooper considered herself a fair woman. But she would protect her family.
"I love you Marissa." Galaxies widened and a tidal wave crashed upon her lips as lapping at the shore, before returning back to the stars before receding with the tide, becoming hidden behind eyelids, before the softest pair of lips connected with hers, stars exploding behind eyelids as gravity disappeared, the known plane of existence fading, until nothing but this instant, this feeling of utter bliss is all that remains. They both think, make this go on forever.
Gentle flutters of lips, eyelashes tickling high cheekbones, hearts beats matching the other in perfect harmony, inhale, exhale; meeting and re meeting, like magnets, unable to retreat far before returning falling into a simple dance the silent music had created.
It's in that instant Marissa knows. Knows Alex's feeling is returned, because a galaxies need oceans, galaxies' need air, and to Marissa unknowingly Alex had been providing her with oceans, and with air, form the day they met. Together they created a plane of existence where only they existed, where they were everything, where galaxies and oceans collide.
They were their own universe's creation, and as lips fell in sync, worlds were created as they touched, a chemical reaction only they create, and time slowly ticks to a stop. A world where this is forever is created, and they are the only occupants.
It's so beautiful. We can make this go on forever.
"Second boarding call for flight…:" The woman's voice destroyed the magnets pull, like being sucked out of a black hole, the world they created disappears, time ticks forward, the universe they created becomes a memory vaulting itself away somewhere deep. The simple dance stopped; exhale, inhale, the beat of their hearts un synced, eyelashes no longer tickled, lips no longer fluttered. The feeling of bliss retreats, disappearing slowly into the deep recesses of their memories, the known plane begins to fade in, the stark contrast causing the cosmic display in viridian eyes to fade, the maelstrom fades, the ocean reveals itself, seeing the moon in those eyes, high tide comes, crashing over eyelids, and down cheek dunes, realizing the mistake, when she sees the confusion in the star speckled eyes.
"Al- what- I-"The words are short and the voice is cracking, arms fall returning home, a step backward, and Alex is cold. Her arms slowly pull away her fingers tracing apologizes as they go, but they are un read, and as her hands falls to her side, the cold spreads, slowly raking through her body until she is the artic, her eyes a reflection of how she feels.
"I'm- I'm sorry I don't, I…" Words cannot explain, she grasps at straws vainly before throwing them away, and grasping anything, "I couldn't leave- I – I'm sorry Marissa." Her head fell, shoulders shaking. "Don't hate me-"
"No." The word brought artic eyes to hers, slowly melting, Marissa hoped she could convey more with her eyes then her words.
"Hey Da Vinci, Come on I know it's pretty much a private flight but we don't want to keep them waiting." Her father's heavy arm lay across her shoulder and squeezed her to his body. He moved forward and brought Marissa into a hug picking her up off the floor. "Hey kid, don't worry; before you know it Alex will be back for spring break!" He squeezed her and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Be good! Don't go giving you mom any heart attacks! She's too young for that!"
Marissa smiled lightly, as Julie came up beside her resting a hand on her shoulder. "Come on sweetie, it's late and you have school tomorrow morning." She looked at Alex, her eyes frosty, "We hope to hear from you soon Alex, I'll be waiting for you first letter in the mail to give it to Riss." She plastered another fake smile on before hugging the blonde and kissing her cheek.
"Thanks Mrs. C" Alex smiled at the older woman but felt that something had changed. Had she seen? No she was talking to her father the entire time, too busy to notice the galaxy and ocean colliding. Looking over again she put on a brave face, and smiled at Marissa. "So I guess I'll be seeing you star."
"Goodbye Alex." She wanted to hug her, but felt her body would explode after what had just happened. Her body was hyper aware of how close she other girl was, and this was a safe distance to keep her lungs from trying to breath her in again.
"Goodbye Marissa." Turning around, she began to walk towards the gate, following her father, each step was like a cosmic explosion in her head, echoing as she got father away.
"Hey Alex!" Stopping she turned. "You smell like those things monkeys use for a bra!" She yelled, remembering the first thing she ever said to the blonde, that day on the beach all those years ago, when the ocean met its galaxy.
The smile that spread across the girls face as contagious, are artic eyes thawed back into beautiful pacific, "You want to make a bra sand castle?" she shouted back, and felt her heart beat pick up again knowing that the girls across from hers was doing the same until they were harmonious again, for a split second before returning to their natural rhythm. After committing everything she could to memory, Alex turned and disappeared through the gate, the door shutting behind her.
Leaving the airport Marissa dozed off. Her dreams searching for that universe her and Alex had created, where they were everything, where the world of forever existed and on it that utter moment of complete and total bliss that would define the way she lived over the next six years.
**five years three hundred sixty four days twenty three hours and forty five minutes late..**
She never wrote. She never called. After a month of silence Julie walked into her room with an envelope finally. She had been miserable for the month she had been gone, and seeing the letter literally got stars exploding in her eyes.
But as she read the note, the stars slowed and the universe remained hidden in her mind, as the cosmic dance that had already begun, was halted by the reality of the words on the paper before her. As she got to the end, black holes had formed, sucking all memory of the forever universe into the deep recess of her mind, protecting her from the raging maelstrom she couldn't reason with, her galaxy wasn't as bright, the stars dimmed, the air they so desperately needed nowhere to be found.
It had said that she had made a mistake and could no longer talk to her. She wouldn't visit or continue writing, the kiss had meant nothing, and to Alex so did their friend ship. It was short and to the point, like ripping off a band aid and it was all Marissa's fault. She quickly wrote a letter back, telling Alex that it couldn't end, how could you end something that was bigger than them? They had no control of this, and eventually it would return they were like magnets, the galaxy would collide with the ocean again. She wrote the letter and gave it to her mother to return. She waited weeks, and got nothing in return. After writing more letters then she could count, she gave up hope.
Life continued, she made new friends, got a new bestie, and slowly forgot all about coconuts, vanilla, oceans and galaxies. But always in the back of her mind it was there, she would sometimes space out and get lost in memories, memories that meant so much more now.
It was hard finding love like that at such a young age. Words were spoken but never understood, by the both of them; now looking back she understood them a little more. She kissed boys, but none of them caused that instant of absolute bliss like the one she had shared with Alex.
Alex had become a famous artist, she even had her own gallery in London where she still resided. Marissa followed her career secretly, her first pieces were sold for big money and they were amazing, Kirsten Cohen her boyfriend's mom had one hanging up in her house. She could feel the emotion crashing into her as she admired it. She had won numerous awards and had a very lucrative producing career that she began to focus on more as of late.
The sound of waves lapping brought Marissa out of her memories. She was at the abandoned lifeguard tower, this had been where she had meet little Alex Kelly. She had been four Alex was six, all tomboyish with a missing front tooth and dirt covered knees.
She was the cutest thing Marissa had ever seen.
Looking out at the ocean she wondered if Alex was somewhere doing the same thing, thinking the same thoughts. Her world had been empty; lately it was becoming more noticeable. Everything bored her, her boyfriend, even though Ryan was great. Her friends, Summer and Seth could have their own sitcom with the stupid shit they pull. Her home life was crap, her little sister had gotten shipped off to boarding school, her father was running a cruise ship in Hawaii, and her mom had re married the devil. Caleb Nichols, but he's a whole didn't story.
It seemed she was only content when she was here, at the life guard tower, thinking about unknown planes of existence and how many new sunken galaxies Alex had pulled into her eyes.
Its like you have stars in your eyes, I could stare at them forever. The words slipped out from her memory banks, those maelstrom eyes sucking her in, drowning her, consuming her.
Without realizing it, a tear had slipped down her cheek; she wiped it away hastily, placing her hands on her chest as her lungs inhaled, exhaled. The air was needed, not welcomed. It tasted nothing like her, no coconuts, and no vanilla. The only thing that was right was the ocean, but it was still wrong because it wasn't her. It wasn't Alex.
She wondered if she still smelled the same. She hoped she did. Because she hoped one day she would come back, and forgive her.
"I thought that was your car." Ryan Atwood's voice cut the serenity of the gentle waves lapping at the shore. "What are you doing here it's almost midnight."
"Couldn't sleep, went for a walk and ended up here." She stood, pulling her hoody closer to her body. Ryan wrapped his jacket around her as well before pecking her on the lips. Nope, no stars exploding, she just had to make sure, you never know when your hearts going to start working again was her reasoning. "You?"
"I was just going for a drive, couldn't sleep either," he checked his watch. "I didn't think I would be out until midnight though." He grinned, before grasping her hand in his, it was much too large his hand, and it swallowed hers up, no breathing room.
Six whole years, Marissa thought as the realization dawned on her. Maybe I should just move on, she hates me, cause if she didn't, she would have tried to contact me by now, right? Sighing she rested her head on Ryan's shoulder.
As they walked further from the shore a rough breeze ruffled Marissa's hair as she inhaled deeply, the scent of vanilla, her vanilla filled her lungs, she exhaled almost choking but played it off as a light cough as she inhaled again, her head becoming light as for a split second that one utterance of complete bliss flooded her body, and then as quickly as it happened, vanished. Inhale, exhale, the air was no longer vanilla scented, and they were at the front door of Caleb's monstrous mansion.
"I'll pick you up at eight!" With that Ryan kissed her deeply once before pecking her lightly on the lips and smiling at her.
Blinking, Marissa stared at the eyes looking at her, Ryan's blue eyes where changing, they were, they were an ocean, a maelstrom sucking her in, drowning her, consuming her, promising her hidden worlds if she dove into them, blink, back to being Ryan's baby blues. Noticing Ryan furrowed his eyebrows.
"You okay?" Marissa nodded, smiling widely to appease him before spinning and entering her house, closing the door she fell back against it.
I love you Marissa. The words reverberated off the corners of her mind, eyes closed, Marissa allowed the weight of the ocean to carry her to another plane of existence, where galaxies and oceans met, universe's were created, where tsunami's of emotions raged, and black holes to moments of utter bliss existed, where it was only Marissa and Alex, in a world she could make that one memory of beauty could last forever.
Enjoy. Domin0