Don't fall in love, its just another one of life's terrible things. / spin-off of immortal hearts. for the twelve days of christmas challenge.
a/n: uh this is short bc I kind of cut out a large chunk of it due to dissatisfaction so sorries
terrible things
"Now, son, I know you've heard all of those fairy tales-here's one that goes past the happily ever after."
.
Once upon a time there was a boy with brown eyes and shaggy blonde hair who couldn't help but want to fall in love with a girl. He wanted to feel something, something other than disappointment because his dreams were always just that-disappointments.
The boy grew tall and strong. He had his mother's twinkling eyes and his father's chin. The handsome young man still dreamed of being some girl's knight in shining armor, to have his own twisted little fairy tale. He searched for his princess, girl after girl after girl. Unfortunately, none of those beautiful young maidens met his high standards. None of them made his heart race, or ruptured sparks from the moment their lips touched.
"Don't date him," girls would whisper to their friends. "He's nothing but trouble." The blonde haired boy would frown and wander away from the voices, not understanding where he went wrong. Didn't Prince Charming slide the glass slipper on every woman's foot before finding his Cinderella-the perfect fit? Unfortunately, this was no story book and he would have to live with it.
Soon enough, the whispers and gossip would subside to nothing. The young man watched as everyone around him fell in and out of love. Their lives were full of it- love, loss and even dreams. All of the things he was missing. The things that could never be fulfilled.
Oh and dreams, how they fade. He always wanted to be a soccer star, but suddenly he was twenty four and stuck in a stale office building with crisp white walls and battered cubicles. He had slummed through college, earning a degree in something and landing a job somewhere. Life was bland and unexciting-not that that was anything new.
But then, there she was.
Curly chestnut brown hair cascaded down her back as she sashayed into a dry office party, a warm smile on her lips. It wasn't exactly 'love at first sight', but the young man liked to pretend it was. He nodded in her direction shyly, sipping his non-alcoholic drink. The young man couldn't help but notice that they were the youngest two in the blend of tired-eyed employees. After absentmindedly staring at her, studying her movements as if she were a subject under a microscope, the foolish blonde boy walked up to her and said, "Hey."
And that's all it took.
.
They were sitting in a bar when they first kissed. Just a little bit tipsy, the whisky lingering on their lips. Some old song they would never remember was playing in the background, and they were the only two in the room. Maybe it was their intoxication but it didn't quite matter, they stood from the stools and danced. She twirled and he in turn caught her from stumbling. Brown eyes met amber.
Young love was always dumb so maybe in that cliche moment they leaned in. She would wrap her arms around his neck, breathing softly against his lips. He would hold onto her waist and close his eyes.
It's simple to conclude where it went from there.
.
Wispy clouds hung above them, swirling around the sky. Their bodies were sprawled out across the grass, the green needles pricking their skin but they didn't quite notice. They felt too spontaneous and dizzy to even care at all.
Silence. The sweet silence of chirping birds and swaying branches, the wind sweeping up leaves and swirling them around in the air. The kind of blissfully loud silence that soothed everything to nullnullnull.
"I don't have much time left." Maybe it was the way she said it, her voice cutting through that silence like a knife, but Derrick knew she wasn't talking about her time at the park with him. She wore a dress with black polka dots that sunny afternoon. Derrick could find himself looking at them all day, tracing patterns and shapes with his eyes. Dots, dots, dots and they all meld together. Unforgiving. Black.
.
"And please know, I'm only telling you this because life can do some pretty terrible things."
.
Black.
Roses, roses painted black.
Funerals drag on and time can't quite pass quick enough for him, the foolish young man who wasn't so young or foolish anymore. So, he walked into to her death party, leaning over the coffin to see her dressed in black much too soon. He saw her with pale lips and a dark dress before he could see her glowing smile in a white gown.
It's oftentimes that bitter illness which kept the young man awake at night. That disease that ravished his princess and ended her-their storybook. He thought about it too much.
Unfortunately, thinking about it didn't bring her back.
And it didn't fix the numb feeling.
Didn't mend his heart.
.
"Just promise me you'll never fall in love."
"I don't want to lie to you."