Eternity
They met four years ago. On the subway.
She walked the same path to the subway every morning. She sat in the same seat on the cart, on the same train, everyday for almost a year. Walked the exact same path to her office every morning. Smiled the same smile to her secretary, before sipping the same black coffee she had had since she first arrived in the busy city. Wore the same stiff business suits, with the same boring black shoes. Her hair was always twisted up into a tight bun. She was reliable. She was constant. She was Lily.
He had never been one for routine. Some days he walked to the rundown building, where he rented his office space. Some days he ran. Other times he would drive the beat up pick-up that his father had loved so much. He never did the same thing twice. He was well known at the second hand shops hidden within the city's maze of streets. You see, he never wore the same thing twice and the only way to afford to wear something completely 'new' every morning was to trade things in for something different continually. The clerks in the shops were always pleased to see him, though they never knew when he would return. His 'partner in crime' never knew when he would arrive at the office, but knew he would eventually show, whether it be at sun up or sundown. He was unpredictable. He was ever changing. He was Nat.
It had been a Friday.
Thankful for the end of a long workweek, Lily sighed and slouched down in her usual seat on the train home. It had been a frightful day. Her workload was unusually large, but that had not been the problem. For some strange reason she felt unbalanced, like something was off. Not something here, but something there. It made her uneasy. It made her unable to turn off her mind and fall into normalcy. Unable to slip away from the past. She didn't like reliving the past. That was why she was here. So she couldn't be reminded. That was why everything stayed the same. It allowed her to block everything out. To pretend it didn't exist.
It had been forever since he had last smelled the sweet scent of sweaty bodies, crammed together in the tight little boxes that were the subway trains. Nat had been dying to get away from his office and Aaron for hours. He was suffocating under all the rules and guidelines that Aaron had been trying to impose, once again. He didn't understand the purpose of this. They both new in the end Nat would get his way and Aaron would deal. Without Nat, there would be no business and Nat wasn't in the business to get rich. He was there simply because it allowed him to do as he pleased when he pleased (to a certain extent).
She noticed him the moment he walked in. His unusual hair cut, his holey jeans, the faded cadet jacket with the bright pink sneakers. He was odd. He made her smile. He reminded her of home. He had to be one of them. That thought made her cringe. Lowering her eyes to the floor, she prayed he wouldn't notice her.
She didn't get her wish.
He felt her eyes on him the moment he climbed on board. He glanced at her. She was a stunning woman, but she lacked style. Her bright, red hair made up for it, though. He wondered what it looked like when it was free. He thought at first she might be judging him because of his 'free-spirit', and then she smiled. He thought, maybe he fell in love with her then.
Unable to contain himself, he dropped to his knee then and there. "Marry me?"
Lily laughed a whole-hearted laugh. A laugh so rich and full of life. A laugh that she hadn't laughed in years. He reminded her so much of someone. Someone from her past. Someone she had loved. For a fraction of a moment, she thought it might possibly be him. After all, who else would do such a thing? But when she looked into his eyes, they were blue. They were blue. "Do you ask that question to every girl you meet?" She smiled. Slightly heartbroken. Slightly relieved.
"Only the pretty ones." He grinned back before sliding into the seat beside her. She blushed and thought maybe, he would be a good distraction.
----
As it turned out, he wasn't one of them. He wasn't like her. He stood out because he wanted to. Not because he didn't know how to fit in. He was everything she wasn't and she was everything he could never be. They were an odd match, but they fit together.
Perfectly.
Despite their differences the relationship worked. He loved her. And she thought, maybe she loved him, too.
----
She never thought him to be someone who would settle down. Someone who would want to be bound to another. He proved her wrong.
It was a Thursday.
They hadn't gone anywhere special. Just a little diner a block away from her apartment. They had been there before, once or maybe twice. He wouldn't let her order for herself. She always ordered the same thing. He grew bored with it quickly and so did she. But she was so afraid to change something. To do something that might make her remember.
When she was with him, though, sometimes she forgot to remember what she was trying to forget.
She was busy complaining about his offense against women's rights when he stole the pen holding her hair in its messy bun. She glared, but he only smiled in return before stealing a greasy paper napkin from the table next to them. Her face showed a magnificent frown when he finished his writing and crumpled up the note, throwing it at her.
Rolling her eyes, but smiling inwardly, she smoothed out the paper, revealing the message. Spend eternity with me? Her breath caught in her throat.
His outline was blurry, as her eyes had filled with tears. Nodding her head vigorously, she jumped over the table to him, providing those around them with a brilliant performance of a PDA.
She loved him. She really did.
But, why then, did it feel like betrayal?
This is me taking a stab at a James and Lily centric, alternative universe fanfic. Hopefully, you liked it; I'm not sure what I think, just yet. I doubt this will go over three to five chapters, it's just an idea I have been playing around with occasionally. Anyways, please review, any and all feedback is most welcome.