Selcouth
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A/N: Welcome, welcome fanfic readers! I don't really know what to say... I'm new here sooo, yeah...
Hopefully I don't suck. Well, review... I guess. I mean, if you liked it.
Enjoy lovelies!
Disclaimer: Disclaimed.
Caution: OOC up ahead.
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Him
He'd recognized her the moment he laid eyes on her. She'd felt it too, the small spark of recognition was evidently clouded behind feign oblivion, she tried to sneak past his radar but the memories of her smile replayed. Though, he walked past her as she did the same, only stopping to stare at her retrieving figure. She did not look back.
She never looked back.
Then
The first time he saw her was in England. Beyond his better judgment, he'd been waiting for his less mature, brother to finish his ridiculous mirth in merely jumped around in the play structure. He had been awaiting, book in hand, when he saw her.
Bright, honey eyes wavered. He'd caught a look by chance and thought them to be marvelous, although it hadn't been in his interest to approach her, just to admire from a distance. But when he noticed, he'd already positioned himself in her way, colliding with her small figure.
He was five.
He couldn't refrain from reasoning with the possessive "I saw her first" claim. He had and clearly his brother paid no mind to the fact when he started to date the bubbly brunette. He'd been enraged; he had been the one who met her first! He had been the one to accidentally-on-purpose crash into her for no other reason than to get to know her!
But he was also hurt. And it hurt badly.
She was intoxicated. Her slightly disfigured gown was showering down, drenched with the midnight rain. He was sixteen, young and intelligent. He had been a fool, but that had passed, although when he saw her standing there in the rain, the swinging tang of pain vibrated through his chest.
She'd looked at him and smiled, his chest became queasy. It had been three years since he last saw her or his late twin, and the thoughts of her slowly faded into occasional happenings. He had traveled to an exchange program and had graduated high school early.
But, that wasn't why he was here. His twin had tragically passed away when he had ventured to Japan to seek the bubbly brunette out. He had said he wanted to marry her. His chest tightened, he did not understand.
Her smile wavered, and she cried as he tried not to, but for a completely different reason.
He hadn't seen Martin in a month, Luella had said he was out on business and wouldn't return until that weekend. He had been in the small office he'd claimed and had been cramming his head with piles and piles of files. He had taken after his adoptive father's musings; he had a morbid fascination with the paranormal.
Luella worried for him; he tended to dismiss anything or anyone who possessed no useful information on what he needed. He rejected the thought or even mention of social interaction and was unfazed and usually unresponsive to the mention of a female partner. She'd wondered idly if he was indeed interested in the opposite sex.
But she quickly dismissed that thought at his intense glare.
He smirked wryly; she seemed to discourage the situation. He'd found out that his father's supposed "business trip" was in fact a carefully planned trip to Japan to retrieve his twins old girlfriend. The brunette seemed uncomfortable as Martin and his mother confronted his suspicious aloofness.
But he paid them no mind, staring openly at the girl across from him who seemed to fidget as Luella croaked into tears. She was beautiful, she'd always had been. He couldn't explain it, the radiance and unrefined wisdom in her youthful, doe eyes.
He realized, shamelessly, that he'd been hauled in the same inescapable ocean of waves that he'd been trying desperately to escape and that all his fruitless attempts were now a shout in the void.
But, God she was beautiful.
She kissed him, it'd been a spur in the moment, but he felt his chest thud in pleasure. It'd happened three months after she settled back in England; he'd discovered her mother had passed once she'd graduated elementary. Her apartment was small but cozy. As he helped her, he listened attentively on how she had lived in Japan and how she attained a college scholarship to Cambridge.
She did not talk about his brother, or of her past lovers, or even as to why his father had personally brought her – although that had been obvious. She spoke of a rebellious monk, a prideful priestess, and many others he deemed insignificant.
Her face would brighten at the mention of one in particular, a college student who seemed like a never ending line of network-gathering information. Although when he asked, she had said he wasn't interested in her like that. She'd darken at the mention of some famous medium and occasionally whine at how beautiful she was, he'd scoff at this.
As night drowned, and she finished a bottle of wine, she walked him to the door, said goodnight, and kissed him tenderly. Then, promptly slammed the door in his face.
It was her mistake but his pleasure.
The rain lifted, and his mother had called him down for the evening festivities, which displeased him. Parties promised endless chatter and extravagant attires, not to mention his mother's pestering tendencies to direct any willing lady his way. He wasn't interested in pursuing a relationship with women whose admiration only adorned his face.
The frivolous affairs of the party goers seemed to be encouraging his migraine, so deciding the whole ordeal was irreverent, he wondered the corridor with a lacking patience. He was never suited for such festivities that had always been his brother – the social on-goer.
It was no wonder why everyone loved him.
She had said she was leaving, for good this time. Said she was going to travel the world until she discovered her purpose, said she hadn't got a clue as to who she is, where she can call home. He didn't want her to leave and he'd debate inwardly to tell her to stay. Stay with him.
But he couldn't. She had never been his girl. His brother had been smart enough to snatch her up first and he'd been left with just a front row seat. His chest ached, he'd finally had her back, and back to the way they were when she'd been her own.
He wanted her to stay, but all he got was his own unheard "I love you".
He watched her leave; idly pass him as if they were distinct strangers. And he couldn't take it. It couldn't end with just a memory. Abruptly, he ran after her, whirling her around and catching her by surprise. Her wide eyes puzzled as he panted desperately.
"Oliver-"
"I'm coming with you."
She blinked, and he assessed her beauty as the light shone on her creamy skin.
"What are you saying? Does Luella know where you are right now? You don't know what you're doing Oliver-"
He growled, "Stop treating me as a child."
It was inevitable; of course, she'd been a year older than him.
"Noll," she said softly, successfully melting his rough exterior, though he wasn't going to back down. He wouldn't give up on her, not again.
"What do you see me as?"
She hesitated.
"Gene's younger brother?"
She looked away.
"Do you care for me?"
She frowned, "Of course I do Oliver."
He twitched.
"You know I do! What's gotten into you?"
His chest quaked, "I'm in love with you, Mai. Even when you dated my brother and I always will. I love you, but you don't and that's okay. I just want to be near you. It may never be enough but your smile is, and I'd do anything to just watch you smile."
She laughed and he enjoyed the sound.
"You never did tell me?" she said as he swept her bangs out of her captivating eyes, he hummed in response. Her eyes shone with the same tender curiosity he'd grown accustomed to yet her beauty still was radiant.
The sun scorched desperately aching to breath on all part it's missed; the air was humid and dry. She seemed to like it and he didn't mind.
Her hands intertwined with his.
"Why you never asked me out before you're brother did?"
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A/N: Incredibly cheesy, I know, I know.
Sooo, please let me know what you think of my little story and whether or you liked it or blah blah blah... I'm not very good at this, so I'm going to go!
Bye, lovelies!
XOXO, Elena