#1: Love in 7 Moments

Notes: AU


1. Realization through Denial

They met when she tripped. Yes, it was really such a cliché, their first introduction.

It wasn't love at first sight though, no. She was barely 16, nowhere near to the first quarter of her life, she wouldn't know love even if it slapped her repeatedly across her face.

But when he caught her, his warm hands suddenly touching her waist and she met with his eyes like black holes that sucked her in, it felt so damn close.

2. Expression of Self

He was an artist. He painted about their love. He depicted them on her skin, blooming flowers of blue, purple and grey, with specks of red from his rare kisses when he especially found her beautiful.

She was the perfect canvas: willing, pliant, submissive and utterly devoted. She took his flowers - the one he left on her flesh, because he never bought any real ones - and covered it, covered her. Only she has any right to see it.

But sometimes, she wished she wasn't the only one who felt it.

3. Luck on Sunny Days

He never cared much for rain, or anything related to water really. So when times came where the sun sweltered and heat emanated in waves from almost everywhere, he would take her hand and grip it tightly in his own, and drag her outside. He would force her to take random, pointless walks around town and even further than that.

With the sun simulating how her life would be once she reached Hell and with sweat rolling down the nape of her neck into her clothes, she just gripped his hand back.

4. Installing Electronic Appliances

She was the techno-whiz in their relationship. So when time came that they had saved up enough money to buy a nicer TV, she was the one stuck on a lazy Sunday frustratingly trying to decipher the instructions on the instructional booklet and untangling years of neglected random wires.

After she finally managed to remove their old TV - taking a whole 2 hours due to said tangled wires - she stood up to get some water.

She of course bumped into him almost as soon as she stood up and turned towards the direction of their kitchen. Losing her wits, she screeched.

"Um, I got you orange juice?" Came his timid reply, explaining her suddenly soaked shirt.

5. Communicating In Bed

He was dominating, that's for sure. He was all exuding, overwhelming masculinity and passion concentrated in searing kisses and long, sweeping touches all across her body; lingering in his coal-black obsidian eyes and with his lips when he terrifies her in his enveloping tenderness.

He was demanding too, with his rough, shaky voice repeating over and over again so that she will never be able to reject him, deny him, or escape.

"I love you."

So that she will never be able to do anything but love him too.

6. Trial through Terror

By then, she knew well enough to stay quiet when he came home smelling like a distillery. She knew to make him a steaming hot cup of tea, 2 sugars no milk, and to go to sleep immediately after.

So while she was brewing his tea, she makes a mistake and idly touches the fading bruise on her left cheek.

She didn't have any dark intent, didn't mean to rub it on his face. It was just an honest gesture she recently took up as a habit, given how sore her face had been for the past few days. It was honestly more out of trying to comfort herself than punishing him.

His hand grabs hers in a flash and in her shock, she shoved the cup, its scalding contents making contact with his bare feet.

"I - I'm sorry, I didn't mean - "

By then, she knew that at that point would come his palm dead square with her face. She knew not to cry or hit back, even though her body never seemed to obey her brain during those times.

So it came as surprise when instead she found herself pressed against him. She had yet to relax into his embrace when he abruptly pulled away.

"I never make the same mistake twice."

7. If This Was a Movie

It's another sunny day. She is still thanking God that he's still holding her while concurrently praying that he wouldn't stop. They end up at the neighbourhood park, sitting on a bench covered by big, maple trees and overlooking the town they lived in.

She doesn't care though because he suddenly wrenches his hand away.

She chooses to keep quiet, focusing her attention at the amazing view before her. She tries not to think about how empty her hand feels, how alone she feels even though he's less than half an arm's length away from her. She suddenly feels overly-conscious of herself and her empty hand so she brings it to her lap and closes it into a fist.

As if to mock her, he lays his hand back on the bench, in the space in between them, and gives her a small smile. She doesn't even think, her hand is already closing around his but upon feeling something small and hard pressing against her palm, she pulls back and looks down.

It looks like forever, she muses.

"Oh," she says rather stupidly as she just stares at him. His smile grows wider and right there, she has another thing to thank God for. Wordlessly, he puts in on for her. She barely registers the fact that he never even asked and she never even gave an answer.

"You said you wanted it to be like this," he says softly.

She shakes her head and watches his face fall immediately.

"I wanted us to be like this," she explains

His distress turns into a mixture of relief and confusion and hesitant happiness.

"But I realized a long time ago that we're better."


- DarlingDearestDeadForever