Firstly I would like to thank my reviewers for their opinions, they have
been a great help to me. Secondly I would like to wish good luck to Steven,
(you know who you are) who is a fantastic writer and has inspired me more
than he knows. I hope the novel goes well! Thirdly I will be updating
'because you loved me' soon but I had a few thoughts today and started to
put them down and this is what I ended up with. Once again, I don't own
Lara Croft so please be nice to me and reviews are very welcome. Angelina-
G xXx
Everything's Eventual.
Lara Croft stood in front of the mirror that hung in her bathroom and smoothed her long chestnut hair away from her face. She stared into her own eyes in the reflection presented before her and sighed, this couldn't be happening, not to her. She had always been too careful, shaking her head as if to try and shake the thought away she picked up the tester stick that sat on the white porcelain sink unit and stared at it. She knew immediately what the answer was, after all she had read the leaflet at least ten times before even doing the test and this was the answer she feared the most. That little blue line was going to mean the end of her life as she knew it. For the first time in years Lara collapsed to the floor, buried her head in her hands and cried.
On the other side of London, Alex West woke up with the world's worst hangover; he had been up most of that night drinking himself into a stupor over Lara. They had once again had another huge argument over something trivial that really didn't matter and her words had really cut him deeply. She knew how to ruin a perfect moment that was for sure but he knew that everything she said about him was true. That was what hurt. He was selfish, he did take her for granted, he had never once done anything for her and yet she continued to take him back. Realising how bad he had been to her hit him like a freight train and he became conscious to the possibility that he had finally pushed her too far and lost her. He wasn't prepared to give her up without a fight though and decided to act, tidying up his flat as best he could, he took a shower and made himself presentable. As he was waxing his hair he heard the letterbox on his front door go and the unmistakeable sound of the newspaper hit the mat, wiping the wax from his fingers he grabbed his keys to his Land Rover, picked up the paper and left it on the coffee table that sat in the middle of the room without looking at it then left the flat, locking the door behind him.
An hour later a knock came at the door of Croft Manor, Hillary, Lara's ever attentive butler opened it almost instantly a broad smile on his face.
'Good morning Hillary' Alex said to him in his heavy American accent.
'Good morning Mr West' Hillary addressed him back his smile faltering slightly, he knew the moment Alex walked in one of two things would happen between him and his young employer. Either the two would end up arguing again and Lara would get upset, or the two would make everything back up again and then Alex would go ahead and break her heart. Whatever way Lara always ended up the upset one and Hillary would have to console her.
'is Lara here? I need to speak to her.' Alex asked as Hillary showed him in to the grand foyer of the manor.
'She hasn't come down yet this morning, so I assume she is still sleeping.' Hillary lied, he had heard her crying through the bedroom door but didn't want to meddle in anything, he knew if Lara was in trouble she would go to him. Never the other way around.
'Oh, right. That's unusual, it's getting on for noon. You're sure she hasn't been down yet?'
'Yes Mr West I'm sure.' Hillary gave him one of his don't accuse me of lying looks and Alex took the hint.
'right, well I'll go see if she wants anything.' Alex said as he started upstairs towards her room. Hillary opened his mouth to give him a warning that if he upset Lara he would personally deal with him but decided to stay out of it.
Knocking gently on her door Alex invited himself into her room and was amazed at the state it was in. The bed was unmade, clothes littered the floor but most disturbing was the full length mirror that stood in the corner of the room near the balcony was smashed, and leading from that to the bathroom was a small trail of blood. Dropping his jacket and the flowers that he had bought for her from a florists on route on the floor he ran into the bathroom to see Lara sitting on the floor pulling the shards of glass out of her hand. He knelt down in front of her expecting her to hit him or shout at him, instead she did neither. She burst into tears and put her arms around his neck, he held her as she sobbed into his shoulder not knowing what to say.
Eventually she calmed down and Alex lifted her off the floor and carried her into her room and sat her on the bed, he washed her wounds with cool water and gently prised the remaining pieces of glass from her hand. Had he caused this? Had him not telling her how he felt and abusing her trust taken her to the edge? The thought of it drove him insane, looking at her he knew he couldn't stand hurting her again, she looked so vunerable sitting there. Her dark eyes red from crying, a smear of blood on her cheek from where she had used her hand to wipe away a tear, her long hair hung down each side of her face concealing it in shadows but despite this she was beautiful. Alex felt a pang in his heart as she whispered to him.
'I'm sorry.' A small smile appeared on her full lips
'what are you sorry for sweetheart?' he asked her as she ran her fingers down his cheek.
'For a lot of things. Mainly for scaring you just then, but also for starting that argument last night.' Alex cut her off mid sentence by placing his finger on her lips.
'Shhh, Lara, just tell me why you did this.' He was scared to death of the answer he was going to receive but he had to know. She looked down at her hand and sniffed.
'I was angry with myself, I took my anger out on the nearest thing I could get to. That was a family heirloom, I never should have broken it.' She said, her eyes filling with tears as she realised what she had done.
'It doesn't matter about the god damn mirror Lara, are you alright? I'm the reason you were angry aren't I?' he probed gently kneeling in front of her.
'If I'm going to be honest Alex, partly. I've just got so much going on right now I'm finding it hard to cope. I want you to be completely honest with me now. I need to know if you are going to be here with me though whatever happens, or if you are just in this for the sex.' She looked at him, her eyes wide and sparkling from the tears that threatened to fall. He took her hands in his and smiled.
'Lara, I thought I'd lost you because of my stupidity, I realise I've been a jerk and I want you to know that I'm gonna be here from now on.' He leant forward and rested his head in her lap as she stroked his hair, 'You complete me.' He whispered as he moved his head and kissed her stomach. Lara remembered the result of the test that morning, and Alex's move just then had sparked something. She no longer had just herself to think about, in about 8 months she was going to be a mother. This child had the right to have a good father, someone who was going to be there for them both, not just until he got bored. Could she trust Alex enough? Should she tell him at all? Her head began to pound from the crying and massive information overload it was receiving, she took a deep breath and decided to talk to Hillary first. He would know what to do and would take care of her no matter what was decided. First she had to sort out her feelings for Alex, and for her to do that she had to be alone.
Everything's Eventual.
Lara Croft stood in front of the mirror that hung in her bathroom and smoothed her long chestnut hair away from her face. She stared into her own eyes in the reflection presented before her and sighed, this couldn't be happening, not to her. She had always been too careful, shaking her head as if to try and shake the thought away she picked up the tester stick that sat on the white porcelain sink unit and stared at it. She knew immediately what the answer was, after all she had read the leaflet at least ten times before even doing the test and this was the answer she feared the most. That little blue line was going to mean the end of her life as she knew it. For the first time in years Lara collapsed to the floor, buried her head in her hands and cried.
On the other side of London, Alex West woke up with the world's worst hangover; he had been up most of that night drinking himself into a stupor over Lara. They had once again had another huge argument over something trivial that really didn't matter and her words had really cut him deeply. She knew how to ruin a perfect moment that was for sure but he knew that everything she said about him was true. That was what hurt. He was selfish, he did take her for granted, he had never once done anything for her and yet she continued to take him back. Realising how bad he had been to her hit him like a freight train and he became conscious to the possibility that he had finally pushed her too far and lost her. He wasn't prepared to give her up without a fight though and decided to act, tidying up his flat as best he could, he took a shower and made himself presentable. As he was waxing his hair he heard the letterbox on his front door go and the unmistakeable sound of the newspaper hit the mat, wiping the wax from his fingers he grabbed his keys to his Land Rover, picked up the paper and left it on the coffee table that sat in the middle of the room without looking at it then left the flat, locking the door behind him.
An hour later a knock came at the door of Croft Manor, Hillary, Lara's ever attentive butler opened it almost instantly a broad smile on his face.
'Good morning Hillary' Alex said to him in his heavy American accent.
'Good morning Mr West' Hillary addressed him back his smile faltering slightly, he knew the moment Alex walked in one of two things would happen between him and his young employer. Either the two would end up arguing again and Lara would get upset, or the two would make everything back up again and then Alex would go ahead and break her heart. Whatever way Lara always ended up the upset one and Hillary would have to console her.
'is Lara here? I need to speak to her.' Alex asked as Hillary showed him in to the grand foyer of the manor.
'She hasn't come down yet this morning, so I assume she is still sleeping.' Hillary lied, he had heard her crying through the bedroom door but didn't want to meddle in anything, he knew if Lara was in trouble she would go to him. Never the other way around.
'Oh, right. That's unusual, it's getting on for noon. You're sure she hasn't been down yet?'
'Yes Mr West I'm sure.' Hillary gave him one of his don't accuse me of lying looks and Alex took the hint.
'right, well I'll go see if she wants anything.' Alex said as he started upstairs towards her room. Hillary opened his mouth to give him a warning that if he upset Lara he would personally deal with him but decided to stay out of it.
Knocking gently on her door Alex invited himself into her room and was amazed at the state it was in. The bed was unmade, clothes littered the floor but most disturbing was the full length mirror that stood in the corner of the room near the balcony was smashed, and leading from that to the bathroom was a small trail of blood. Dropping his jacket and the flowers that he had bought for her from a florists on route on the floor he ran into the bathroom to see Lara sitting on the floor pulling the shards of glass out of her hand. He knelt down in front of her expecting her to hit him or shout at him, instead she did neither. She burst into tears and put her arms around his neck, he held her as she sobbed into his shoulder not knowing what to say.
Eventually she calmed down and Alex lifted her off the floor and carried her into her room and sat her on the bed, he washed her wounds with cool water and gently prised the remaining pieces of glass from her hand. Had he caused this? Had him not telling her how he felt and abusing her trust taken her to the edge? The thought of it drove him insane, looking at her he knew he couldn't stand hurting her again, she looked so vunerable sitting there. Her dark eyes red from crying, a smear of blood on her cheek from where she had used her hand to wipe away a tear, her long hair hung down each side of her face concealing it in shadows but despite this she was beautiful. Alex felt a pang in his heart as she whispered to him.
'I'm sorry.' A small smile appeared on her full lips
'what are you sorry for sweetheart?' he asked her as she ran her fingers down his cheek.
'For a lot of things. Mainly for scaring you just then, but also for starting that argument last night.' Alex cut her off mid sentence by placing his finger on her lips.
'Shhh, Lara, just tell me why you did this.' He was scared to death of the answer he was going to receive but he had to know. She looked down at her hand and sniffed.
'I was angry with myself, I took my anger out on the nearest thing I could get to. That was a family heirloom, I never should have broken it.' She said, her eyes filling with tears as she realised what she had done.
'It doesn't matter about the god damn mirror Lara, are you alright? I'm the reason you were angry aren't I?' he probed gently kneeling in front of her.
'If I'm going to be honest Alex, partly. I've just got so much going on right now I'm finding it hard to cope. I want you to be completely honest with me now. I need to know if you are going to be here with me though whatever happens, or if you are just in this for the sex.' She looked at him, her eyes wide and sparkling from the tears that threatened to fall. He took her hands in his and smiled.
'Lara, I thought I'd lost you because of my stupidity, I realise I've been a jerk and I want you to know that I'm gonna be here from now on.' He leant forward and rested his head in her lap as she stroked his hair, 'You complete me.' He whispered as he moved his head and kissed her stomach. Lara remembered the result of the test that morning, and Alex's move just then had sparked something. She no longer had just herself to think about, in about 8 months she was going to be a mother. This child had the right to have a good father, someone who was going to be there for them both, not just until he got bored. Could she trust Alex enough? Should she tell him at all? Her head began to pound from the crying and massive information overload it was receiving, she took a deep breath and decided to talk to Hillary first. He would know what to do and would take care of her no matter what was decided. First she had to sort out her feelings for Alex, and for her to do that she had to be alone.