Title: I Was Always Here
Rating: T
Genre: Angst, romance, friendship, drama
Characters: Oliver, Skylar, Chase, a couple others
Pairing(s): Skase and Skoliver
Summary: He thought he won until he lost her. (Accompanying story to We're Beautifully Broken)
Warnings: None, same as last time
Notes: So, obviously this is the sequel to We're Beautifully Broken. It's from the perspective of the third person in this love triangle (for the record, I really do hate love triangles, but this one has so much angst potential so I'm making the most of it), and it follows the plot of WBB. If you compare the two stories, it actually slots together to fill in all the gaps, all the unexplained things in the last story. So. That's cool!
This is posted on AO3 in the original second person. And again, this whole story sounds so much better in that POV. So, it would be awesome if you could go read that version—I'll link to it on my profile page.
Same as last time, to make it easier, one male character (the narrator) will be 'he/him' and the other male character (not the narrator) will be 'he/him', italicized. Enjoy, everyone!
He loves her, and she's always known. He's told her. But she doesn't want him. She's his friend, and nothing else. And she's told him that.
He's tried. He has tried so hard to make her see that he cares about her, that he always will stand by her side, that he thinks she's worth it.
She doesn't seem to see it.
And he needs her to see it. So he recruits a friend, someone he knows can help.
Because he wants her to fall for him, yes, but also because he can't stand to see her like that, defenseless and powerless. He can't stand the sight of her in another one of those cells like after that very first fight. He doesn't want her hurting anymore.
He wants to make her happy, and he will do anything for her.
He doesn't know it yet, but she won't choose him right away. But something between them will change, for sure.
Then again, something will change between her and the other boy, the one he made help, too.
They will smile that much more, her face will brighten at every mention of his name.
He won't like it.
So instead, he will watch them, observe and make sure he won't do anything to ruin what he's built with her. He will watch them work together, laugh, hug. He can't lose her.
He doesn't know it yet, but she will grow distant.
Even though he will ask her out on a date, and she will say yes, the aftermath is not what he expected. She will smile a brilliant smile and say, thank you. I had a good time.
And he will believe her—of course he will, because why would she lie?
But that will be all she says. She will disappear into her shared room, but he won't hear her snores like he normally do.
His best friend will come in, sit on his bed beside him. He'll give him a serious, solemn look (unusual for him) and ask, how was it?
He will shrug. It was fine, he'll tell him. It was good. It was good, Kaz. He doesn't even manage to convince himself.
His best friend will study his face for a moment and narrow his eyes—because of course Kaz will see through his hesitation, he knows him better than anyone. His gaze will slide away and turn to their other roommate's capsule, then lock back onto him. Okay, he will reply simply. In an unusually touchy moment, Kaz will hug him before standing and turning off the lights, then slipping into his own bed.
He will lie awake for an hour or two, unable to sleep for one reason or another.
And as much as he might hope, as hard as he will try to convince himself that he was just too tired to notice, he won't hear her snores and he won't see him come into their shared room at all that night.
He doesn't know it yet, but he will never figure out what happened between them that night.
He will know that neither of them slept in their own rooms, and when he goes downstairs, it will be only him and the two girls.
His sister will notice the tension between the three of them and quickly excuse herself, leaving him with the other two.
He will look rumpled, wearing the same clothes from the day before with a tired, resigned look in his eyes he won't like. She will be wearing new clothes but will look properly cried out.
He won't ask why, just pull cereal out of the cupboard and pour out some milk. It's their business. He won't try to mask his suspicions, however, and he will be able to tell he has an ugly scowl written across his face. He won't care and will just plop down at the breakfast bar by the other boy, setting his bowl down a little more fiercely than normal.
He won't seem to notice, and he won't care.
She'll come back to him a little after that, and he will hold her closer to him than ever.
He'll pretend not to notice his vehement glare and how she seems to be drifting further away.
He doesn't know it yet, but he'll feel hope again. She hasn't left him for him, and it's been some time.
He will let his guard down, and so when he enters Mission Command one day he won't be prepared for his best friend shouting out a Whoop! as he's doused in… chocolate sauce? There will be another chuckle when something chunky falls on his head, falling toward his feet. Cheese.
Revenge is best served with chocolate syrup and swiss cheese, he will chuckle, and he will detect an edge of some sort of loathing in his voice.
His blood will boil, and that, that is when it will all start falling apart for him.
He doesn't know it yet, but he will lie awake well into the night, most of the time.
As he curls on his side, facing his best friend and stubbornly avoiding the other occupant of the room, he will not hear his screams.
All he will hear is the door creaking open, catch a flash of pajamas that definitely don't belong to his sister. So it must be her.
He figures out he was screaming when she opens the capsule door and his harsh breathing pours out. They walk out, quietly, and he will lie there until sunlight streams through his windows.
He doesn't know it yet, but his harsh breathing will fill the room almost every night.
She will always step in, her powerful senses all-knowing, and lead him out. And every single time, he will feel her slipping further and further away as cracks form in the foundation of his heart.
Oh, she still will be dating him. But he is well aware of his feelings for her, even if he does have the honor not to act on it. (Or the twisted version of honor he seems to follow when he won't tell him the truth.)
And every day feels like dying, and every morning he wakes astonished that his broken heart is still beating.
All he can do is wait, wait until everything crashes down and this tortured, twisted, awful love makes its escape.
He doesn't know it yet, but it will hurt more than anything else could when she finally opens the door.
I'm sorry, she will tell him when she finally corners him on the terrace, and before she says anything else he feels his heart break clean in two. But I'm also not. You're my friend, I can't hurt you like this anymore.
You're not hurting me, he'll snap, because she's not, she's not, she can't be.
I am, she'll insist softly. You deserve better.
He will shake his head adamantly, furiously trying to patch up the cracks, trying to sew together the two halves. You were my dream, he'll say. You are everything I ever wanted. Please don't leave.
She'll look up at him with dark eyes brimming with tears, and her voice will be laced with frustration, anger, and sadness—a tone he doesn't hear often, and has never liked. I was your dream, she will agree. But I—me, real life me, not comic book superhero me you adored—don't live up to that dream, and I never deserve someone who loves you for who you are, who looks at you like the hero, not the other way around. You deserve someone better than me. You have to let this dream of us go, Oliver, for both of our sakes.
Please, Skylar, don't, he will whisper brokenly.
You don't want to be with a broken girl, she will say. I can't be fixed. You deserve better than me.
She will turn, and he will just stand and wonder exactly when his entire world collapsed into a black hole and he didn't notice.
He doesn't know it yet, but he will spend less and less time at home.
If it can be called that anymore.
He will be walking down fifth avenue when he finds a comic book shop. It's not as big as the one in Pennsylvania, but it's something. He will walk in, spotting the cashier, he will guess, with an official-looking name tag reading Rowan.
Hey, he'll say, introducing himself. I'm Oliver.
Hey, Oliver, Rowan will reply, grinning, tapping the name tag. I'm Rowan. Obviously. And I recognize you, you're one of the bionic kids, right?
Finding himself still there several hours later, discussing comics and bionics and superpowers, he'll shoot Rowan an apologetic grin and say, I have to go now, in case there's an emergency. And if there's not, it's almost dinner anyway.
And he will leave, but he'll also leave his number.
And a few weeks after that, when his team is meeting and discussing, he will pay no attention to the way she grabs his hand, because his thoughts will be preoccupied with the text on the phone screen in front of him. The shattered fragments of his heart will tremble in the hollow socket that resides within his chest, because he doesn't know how he feels.
I really like you, Oliver.
And he'll freeze for a moment, because the last time he heard those words it was from Skylar. But… he'll cast a glance over. She will be staring up at him, and in that moment he will realize that he never really had a place like that in her life.
Oliver, another voice will say, out loud this time, and he will look up at his best friend. Oliver, we have to go now.
He will glance down at his phone and rattle off a quick text. I have a mission now, but we'll talk later, Rowan. I promise.
It's not a promise he intends on breaking.
He doesn't know it, but he will find peace.
It will come in the form of true horror that he will find himself watching, as his friend—yes, he's his friend, he can't be anything less just because of these rough past months—tears the world apart.
Stumbling back, he will only be able to watch from afar as everything comes crashing down, but he won't be able to look away. And then—finally, finally—not one, but two figures will emerge from the dust, she in his arms. They all will make their way home, and every time he looks at him it takes every ounce of his willpower to not look him eyes. Instead, he will focus on the cut slicing apart the light smattering of freckles on his cheek.
Eventually, however, he will force him to meet his gaze. There are no survivors, he says coldly, and the girl in his arms clings to him tightly but looks terrified at the same time.
Put me down, she will insist shakily. Please, Chase, put me down.
Chase will nod and set her down, not meeting her gaze. I'm sorry.
This isn't you, she will say to him, and Oliver will want to bolt because this feels too private but he is rooted to the spot. This isn't you and I'm sorry because it's all my fault…
He will feel his duct-taped heart start to fall apart again under her confessions because she might not love him but it feels like hell because he will always love her in one way or another.
Tears will stream down Skylar's face as she pulls Chase's face down to meet hers and pleads with him, please please just be Chase Davenport again.
And again, Oliver will want to run, because this hurts, but then his phone will buzz and even though he won't look at it he will be reminded that it won't always be like this and there will always be others.
He will barely hear the okay that Chase whispers back to her because next to him Bree will be crying, tears of relief leaving clean tracks on her soot-streaked face, and Kaz, his best friend, will laugh and he won't have to tell him why because Oliver already know how strangely insightful he has always been.
And Oliver… he will just watch, patching his duct-tape heart back together with glue and thread this time because yes, it hurts, but it doesn't matter because she's finally happy, and as for him, it won't always be like this.
But for now, all Oliver knows is that he would do anything for her. He just wants her to be happy. And for now, all he knows is that he will do whatever it takes to make sure she won't hurt anymore.
Again… Skoliver is canon so I think Skase deserves a little fanfic. But Oliver still deserves to be happy so I did my best.
Anyway! How did this stack up with the original story? Reviews are appreciated!