One Year
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1. Ours
Tech E. Coyote grinned as the he, his girlfriend Holly Fox and their real estate agent walked around the little flat. It had a circular living room with a fireplace, two nice bedrooms (one will be a perfect inventing room for Tech), a decent kitchen area with a nook for eating and a clean, pristine bedroom. Some boxes were packed around, the real estate agent gave them a large smile as she dropped the silver key in Tech's hand. Their offer had been accepted.
"Yours," she told them.
Tech gave Holly a quick kiss. "Ours," he agreed, and she leaned against him grinning, their fingers laced together.
2. Nerves
"I want to, but what if -" Tech was saying nervously and hurriedly.
Rev clamped the coyote's mouth shut, and Ace slid the inventor's coffee cup away. The coffee was not helping with the nerves. "Tech," he said with his Brooklyn accent. "Just propose."
"Why-would-she-say-no?" added Rev. "You've-been-together-for-what-two-years-now?"
"Two and a half," corrected Tech, who had perked up. "Okay, okay, I can do this." He gulped. "But I'll do it tomorrow." His two friends slapped him on the arm repeatedly. "Okay, I'll do it tonight!" he yelped. Rev and Ace smirked, satisfied.
3. Warmth
Holly snuggled up closer to her fiancé, her new ring glittering on her finger, the two covered by blankets and curled up on a couch with a roaring fire in the fireplace of their small flat. Snow whirled outside of the room's window. Tech looked down at her and smiled, eyes filling with warmth. He kissed the top of her frizzy vibrant red hair and she smiled in her sleep. "Love you," he told her, settling down to sleep himself.
"Love you too," she muttered, her thin fingers closing over his hand, fiddling with his new ring. Turns out she wasn't asleep after all.
4. Coffee & Cleaning
A wet pink cloth dragged across their window, and then Holly sprayed it again. This window needed to be clean. Their view of the city skyline was usually so nice, the but the bitter snow of winter had made gray specs of rain ruin their window's cleanliness.
"Want some help?" asked Tech when he came down for the morning. After the all-nighter he had pulled Holly had made him go back to bed.
She turned to him and smiled appreciatively before turning back to her chore. "No, I'm good." Tech made his way to the coffee machine. "No coffee for you or you'll be up all night again."
"Just a little?" he begged.
She sighed. "Fine, but only one cup."
"Yes!"
"One cup Tech."
5. Stars
Holly gazed out the window at the stars. She could still see the familiar constellations - Perseus and his princess, Andromeda. She glanced back at her sleeping fiancé and thought back to the time he had rescued her. She gently caressed his face with her hand.
She knew that if she fell - even if she fell from the stars - Tech would always be there to catch her. No matter the consequences. And really, wasn't that the definition of love?
6. Arguments
"You should have called!" screamed Holly, waving her hand around angrily. "If you knew you were going to be running late, you should have called me! Is calling too hard for you hmm? Too difficult?"
"You're freaking out over nothing, like always!" Tech yelled back, his cheeks flushed. "So I came home a little late, so what? What about all the times I do call? No, you just focus on my mistakes!"
"Well you just don't care - you don't know how worried I've been for the past half hour! I've always been worried for you! You should have called. End. Of. Discussion." She gave him one last glare, her eyes flashing with angry tears welling up and stormed to their bedroom and slammed the door shut.
7. Apologies
Roughly twenty minutes had passed when there was a timid knock on the door. "Holly?" said Tech gently. "I'm sorry I lost my temper. I should have called, I didn't think about how you would worry."
Holly sighed and opened the door. "I'm sorry too. I overreacted and I'm sorry I accused you of not caring." She pulled him into a tight hug. "You've always cared."
He smiled at her, tightening the hug. "I always will."
8. Mornings
Mornings, Tech finds, are the best part of the day. Holly is often already sitting at the table in the breakfast nook, yawning and having a cup of coffee with messy hair, her drawing tablet out in front of her.
She smiles at him when he sits down opposite from her of their round little table, and gratefully sips the cup of coffee she's already prepared for him. He goes off to his job first - teaching at the very university he was expelled from (and who doesn't love a little irony?) - and she kisses him goodbye. They're always lingering and long and in the back of his mind he thinks that one of those kisses are going to make him late, but he holds her in his arms for as long as he can.
"See you after work," he always says, and slips out the door with a merry mind and a spring in his step, because as long as he has her to come home to, how bad can his day really be?
9. Fire Extinguisher
When Ace and Lexi came to visit after New Years, they questioned why there was a fire extinguisher in every room in the apartment. Tech smiled sheepishly and Holly half-glared at him.
"After the fourth explosion of his invention, I thought it would be better to be safe than sorry," she explained, sounding partially exasperated. Tech turned crimson at their friends' stifled smiles.
10. Blueprints
"What's that?"
"A new version of an anti-gravity ray."
"It looks like a pig."
Tech looked at the sprawling blueprint in front of him, stunned that for such a brilliant design - it would revolutionize the ray market! - all his fiancé could say was that it looked like a pig. "It does not!"
"It does." She pointed towards the spiral point of the ray. "There's the tail, and the ears, the body, legs and the little snout."
Tech craned his neck; okay, so maybe it resembled a pig a little.
"You can see it, can't you?" said Holly, smirking.
Tech's thoughtful face vanished into a scowl and he shook his head. "No - it looks nothing like a pig." Holly continued to smirk and kissed the top of head.
"Oh stop being such a baby," she said, half-laughing. "It could look like something a lot worse." Tech's eyes widened at the horrible possibility.
11. Bliss
She looked stunning, Tech decided, watching his wife-to-be glide towards him. Her frizzy hair is tamed and curled perfectly to frame her face, with the majority of her hair pulled back in ringlets. Tears are brimming in her bright green eyes. Her dress is a shimmering wave of creamy white, intricate patterns of lace giving it just the right touch of elegance.
And when the man finally said, "You may kiss the bride" he did so, and it was pure bliss.
12. Storm
Holly didn't like storms - it was simple as that. The pounding rain, howling wind, rumbling thunder. It made her heart speed up and her nerves became shot. It kept her up at night, startling her just she was starting to drift off.
But Tech helped her through it - he always did well in chaos, living with five very different people for almost five years. He helped her find the eye of the storm. One night a storm came, and she climbed in bed beside him without any trace of anxiousness and falls asleep instantly.
He grinned; he had done his job.
13. Smile
It was one of the first things Holly fell in love with: Tech's smile. The way his lips curved upwards the tiniest bit more on one side; the way it allowed just a flash of teeth to be revealed; the way his green-brown eyes lit up when it happened. The way it brought her comfort when she was sad and happiness when she managed to make it happen.
And the way it's the first thing she sees in the morning when she wakes up.
14. Laughter
It was one of the first things Tech fell in love with: Holly's laugh. The way it had so many varying degrees; loud, until her cheeks hurt and she has to stop to breathe; soft, in slight amusement at whatever had just been said or done; short, just a barking one really, but still a lovely sound to hear; a chuckle, sweet and brief and still brought a smile to his face. The way it brought him happiness that he could make her laugh when she was on the verge of saddening tears.
And the way it's something he sees at least once a day.
15. Introduction
She was new and nervous and just hoped she could remember everyone's names. He was distracted and slightly embarrassed that he had been forgetful that she was coming today.
He swallowed his embarrassment though, and stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Tech."
She shook his head, not realizing despite the fact she thought he was cute, that this was going to turn into something much, much bigger. "I'm Holly."
One year huh?
I started this story on December 29th, 2012. I had had the idea rolling around in my head for a while, a Loonatics contest, which would lead my OC to staying with them. And then it spawned a small idea of a plot, and possible scenarios, and I started to write.
Now it's a whole 85 reviews, 15 favourites, 8 follows and counting later. Seems crazy, especially that something I thought was going to be small was so overwhelmed with positive feedback, and now has a sequel and possibly a third sequel (not promising anything, however) in the works.
And I would just like to say thank you to all of you wonderful people. Your support means the world to me.
So, just to say thank you officially, thank you:
Snheeta: thank you for being my first reviewer and for favouriting. Your constant feedback always made me smile. (PS: check out her amazing LU OC stories!)
Blackwolf6249: thank you for favouriting and following.
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Mitch 566: thank you for reviewing. Your OC fic is wonderful, so I was extremely honoured when you decided to take a look at mine. (PS: check out his amazing OC fic!)
NickyRockit: thank you for reviewing, favouriting, and following. I'm still smiling about the OTP thing. (PS: check out her awesome LU story and sequel!)
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This of course, is just for One in a Million; all the wonderful reviews/favourties/follows of Against the Odds have not been included. If for some reason I've missed somebody's review, favourite or follow, let me know immediately and I'll fix it. So, for one last time, for all the support you've given me, and the love that's grown for Holly and the rest of this story:
THANK YOU!
:D
P.S.: Also, I know a few of you are on DA, so if you ever want to draw Holly, or a scene or anything, feel free! And I would be very honoured to check it out too. (Only if you want to, of course).