He was standing in the classroom, reorganizing the bookshelves, when he felt a pair of eyes on him. He was not intimidated, and continued working at his task. But as the moments went by and the person's gaze grew more pronounced on his skin, he became increasingly irked. He was about to address them when they finally spoke.
"Fakir!"
He sighed and turned – only to see Rue standing in the doorway. He paused for a moment in surprise, then picked up the next novel. "Rue. What do you want?" He checked the cover and set it on its proper place.
"I don't really want anything. Just came to visit." Her tone was heavily saturated with sweetened sarcasm, and she sauntered over to perch on a nearby desk.
"You never visit. Not me. So just spit it out, or get out." He turned to pierce her with his frosty gaze before going back to the books.
She didn't reply for a moment, just crossed her legs and smoothed her skirt. Finally, she looked up. Her maroon eyes glinted with malice.
"I can stay as long as I'd like. Besides, why should what I do bother you?"
He didn't answer. The tap of the books being set into place gradually turned into slams. Irritated, he spun around. "Get out!"
"No," she purred, tapping her fingers on the desktop.
He stared at her with unfathomable rage before picking up the remaining books and stalking to the door. Immediately, Rue hopped down from the desk. "No, wait!"
He turned once more to face her. "I'm getting extremely tired of your stalling. Just say it; I'm losing my patience!"
"I have nothing to say that I haven't already shown you!" Her gaze pierced his.
His eyebrows went up in confusion, and she clapped a hand over her brow. "No, I mean – Well, I thought I was being obvious!"
"I knew you were evil, but I was still undecided on the 'insane' part. Now I'm very decided." He made to leave, but she grabbed his elbow.
"I said wait!"
"No! I want nothing to do with you!" He jerked desperately to get out of her grasp.
Her hands fell away immediately at this. She stared at him. "You really feel that way?"
He looked at her with an expression beyond exasperation. "Do I know you? Have you lost your mind? Why would I ever want anything to do with you, who has caused Mytho so much pain?"
Rue cringed away from his words.
"Answer me!" He yelled.
"Because I love you!" She screamed back, eyes clenched shut.
An uncanny silence misted over the room. All too quickly, the silence poured around them and made them both uncomfortably aware of the littlest things – their own breathing, their heartbeats, the ringing in their ears.
"I have since we were small! But you always treated me like I was nothing! You always wanted to be with Mytho. But you – you never wanted to play with me. I wanted to join in. I wanted to be with Mytho too! But when you felt like it, you actually replied and spoke to me. Mytho couldn't do that, but I loved him anyways because he was beautiful. You aren't beautiful, but you're honest, and…"
She took a deep breath. Fakir remained frozen to the spot, his eyes wide and his gaze unwavering. An odd flush steadily ran up his neck to his cheeks.
"…And I knew that you could never love me." Her eyes were still closed, and now tears spilled out from underneath her lashes. Down they fell, leaving damp spots on her skirt. Her head bowed, and she said nothing else.
Fakir sputtered for a moment, then settled on an answer. "This is foolish."
Rue's head shot back up. "What?"
"Rue, you have to stop this. This nonsense! You're just going to drive yourself into an even deeper rut." His tone was awkward and undecided.
She stared at him in incomprehension. "Wh… what do you mean?"
"Listen to me!" He dropped the books – they fell with a crash to the floor – and grabbed her arms. "This can't happen! Snap out of it! Did your own insanity rub off on you?!" He shook her.
"I can't," she sobbed, even as his shaking rattled her back and forth like a doll. "I can't, I can't! I've held it in for years! I'm sick of this!"
He released her, and she stumbled backwards. On the floor, the cover of Wuthering Heights stared up at them.
"I knew that if I posed a threat to Mytho, you'd pay me more attention! But I'm also in love with Mytho, and…" She fell, wracked with violent sobs, to the floor. "I don't know what to do! I don't know what to believe!"
Fakir said nothing. Outside, a mourning dove cooed near the window, oblivious to the tension on the other side of the glass. He knelt down next to Rue and tugged at her arm. "Listen, Rue, you don't know what you're saying. Go home and – "
"No!" She shrieked and tore away from his grip. "Don't tell me I don't know how I feel! You're the one who's in denial!"
"Would you listen to me?! Rue, I'm not thinking about petty love affairs. Think of the story – think of Drosselmeyer! There are four main characters in this accursed tale – you, Mytho, Tutu, and me. What do you suppose will happen if the two dark characters fall for each other?!"
Her eyes wandered aimlessly in a daze. "Two negatives make a positive."
"Not in Drosselmeyer's tales! The balance would be thrown if at the very least. At the worst, we'd both die. Is that what you want?!"
Rue emerged from her stupor with a vengeance. Her gaze pierced him like a knife. "That would suggest that each dark character is paired up with a light character. Is that what you're getting at? That you love Tutu?!"
Fakir swallowed and remained silent. Their gaze held.
"But this isn't really about even her, is it? It's just that you don't love me, and can't bring yourself to say it! You're stalling! Who's beating around the bush now?!" Her eyes burned bright. "I should've known that I was nothing in your eyes compared to her. I'm surprised I didn't see it sooner. But of course it would be Tutu – it always is."
He grabbed her once more. "Don't you dare lay a finger on her!"
"Maybe I will." She smiled with pure malevolence. A single tear trailed down her cheek.
He released her. "Fine, then. Do what you may – but if you even plot harm against her, I won't hesitate to reciprocate."
Her smile grew wider. "Are you really suggesting that you'd hurt Mytho?"
His eyes were cold. "No, but I don't consider you off limits."
Her smile dropped away. "I see." She stepped away. "At least I still have my prince, and that's all I want." She bit the inside of her lip. "I'm not upset. I'm fine."
"Then that's all that matters." His tone was steady as concrete and cold. He turned away from her to glance out the window at the encroaching sunset.
"And what if I kill her?" Rue whispered. Fakir leaned against the windowsill.
"You won't."
"Want to place bets?" She hissed.
"No. I don't need to. You haven't sunk quite that far yet." He looked back over his shoulder. "And when you do attempt to, I'll be there to stop you. You'll have to kill me first."
She turned pale. "Why can't things just be the way they used to be?" Her voice was little more than a timid breeze.
"Because they were never that way." His gaze locked on the distant sun.
Rue cleared her throat and took a deep breath. "I want to hear you say it." She straightened up, swaying, though her voice was oddly steady.
"Say what?" He pushed away from the windowsill.
"I want to hear you say that you hate me." Her hair flew about her face as she rushed to him. "Say that you hate me! Say you don't need me! Say it, now!"
He gazed down at her tear-marked face, his expression unreadable. "You have lost it, haven't you?"
She buried her face in her hands. "Because if you don't say it… I won't care about anything but you!"
His eyes didn't leave her. Behind his gaze, a storm was brewing – a struggle that no one else could see.
"I hate you."
She gasped. Her eyes flew open, wide and terrified. "You really do?"
"Always and forever. Why would I ever care about you?" He moved closet to her until they were side by side. "You're always in the way. You make everyone miserable. You are nothing to me." An unimaginable darkness shadowed his eyes. "Now leave."
She drifted to the doorway, her hand resting upon the doorway. Her gaze lingered on him – face still pale, eyes devoid of emotion – for barely a moment before she breezed out and was gone.
The darkness was still clouding his eyes, and he knew full well it would not leave him for many days. He sat down limply at a desk and stared out at the sunset. An odd emptiness filled his chest.
"I hate you," he whispered – but his voice cracked on the second word.
Author's notes: My first Fakir and Rue fanfiction. I should feel proud, but at the moment I'm too emotionally drained by writing this to feel much anything but angst.
By the way, ironically, this story was started by a line that popped into my head, which I didn't even get to fit into this story. So here it is:
"Your love would be the death of me," he whispered.
I have to say I love the Fakir and Rue shipping, because it's so fun. While Tutu and Mytho is the sweetest shipping, Fakir and Rue are both very volatile and emotional characters, so writing about them is like the motherlode of emotional writing.
This story was inspired by Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, for those of you who've read it. I highly recommend it – it's very different from most other classic novels. Anyways, I pictured Rue as Catherine and Fakir as Heathcliff, and that also helped me write this story.
I'll probably be writing more Fakir X Rue fanfics in the future, so stick around! :D
Musical inspiration: Something About Us by Daft Punk, Lovefool by The Cardigans (the live performance from London, which is on Youtube)