i.
.:.: summer is to love :.:.
May day (late is my middle name) fic exchange for the lovely Dee (rush of the past).
Pairing: Alicia X Landon
Prompts: red ribbons, tan-lines, "catch me if you can"
Summer is the time of year when anything can happen. Summer is the time of the year for pool parties. For dinner on the beach, for bandeaus and bikinis, for vacations. But, more than anything, summer is the time for love.
Love… is for summer.
He met her on the fifteenth of august.
She met him on the fifteenth of august.
They are no longer children. This is long buried; forgotten. But the tale of love in the summer lives on.
The alpha was long gone, that summer. Forgotten, but not completely, by the boy with the curly black hair and the bright blue eyes. Of course he recognized the girl standing before him on the beach. She was the alpha's best friend. The… what do they call it… the beta of the group. The one who used to date his old (old old old) friend.
The beta was no longer a beta. In fact, she was no longer in the group. They were free… to do what they wanted. Go where they wanted. The alpha was gone. And they were free. Memories linger, however, and of course she remembered the boy with the bright blue eyes. Who could forget… the one you coveted? All those years ago?
A shaky hello, is said by the boy with the long curly hair, trying hard (oh so hard) not to stare. The soft periwinkle bikini has crisscrossed straps. They've shifted, he can see the sharp contrast of light skin against dark.
The girl smiles back… she can't help herself. A perfect opportunity. Where is the alpha? Gone. Gone Gone Gone.
They are no longer children. But memories linger, if only buried by senseless thoughts. A story to tell.
It was the summer before his freshman college year. The summer before her senior year. A year separating them…
One
Year.
The perfect age. The perfect time of year. The perfect situation.
"Just yesterday they were tying ribbons in trees…" It's frightening how easily we forget.
They shared a kiss… a touch… purely lust, they thought. The next day, it was almost forgotten.
Never to be seen again, they thought. Never.
It was summer. A time for… anything…
Twice, a day passed, before they stumbled upon each other again. It's awkward, this time. Both recall their thought of never, and blush.
She's reaching for a branch of a tree, a scarlet ribbon in hand. He places his hands and helps her up. She ties it in a perfect bow. He never asks what for.
Where have the memories gone?
Now… barely two hours passes before they meet again. A proper date, he says. We have to stop running into each other this way.
She murmurs why, and burrows deep into his coat as they watch the tides.
Is it possible to fall in love… and then forget?
"Would you come after me?" she says suddenly. "If I left?"
He's confused. He's the one who's leaving for college, not her. Then he understands, when she's halfway across the beach, giggling, and running barefoot… as fast as she can go.
Can you catch me? Catch the memories… to remember?
Of course he catches her. That's the nature of things.
The memories… can you remember?
Two days more.
Two… more…
Of course she doesn't cry at their parting. He doesn't really expect her too.
But, he does smile when she ties the scarlet ribbon around his wrist. A smile. A kiss. He touches a soft palm to her exposed shoulder, marveling at the crisscrossed skin. As he brakes the embrace, she whispers a single phrase in his ear.
Catch me if you can… (If you can remember.)
To this day, a certain red ribbon exists, if only in a dusty old box in a cob-web encrusted attic.
One day… he might remember.
Where have all our memories gone?
Summer is a time for romances we forget.
Just stories to tell.
Sorry Dee. That was awful. I don't even know where... what... why...?
Anyway, sorry for murdering your prompts. They were so nice.
sp