A/N: Basically, Ariadne is angsty (and a bit horny too if you will) and Arthur finds her. Nothing too graphic, just angst and a bit of foul language. As always, Inception belongs to Christopher Nolan and all I enjoy doing is making his characters do questionable things with each other.
She can't keep away from him.
No matter how hard Ariadne tries, her mind still wanders back to him. The point man. Her point man (she likes to believe he is hers, anyways).
But she knows she can never have him. The last time she saw him was at her graduation 3 years ago. Ariadne knows she's not seeing him again. So she does her best and moves on with life. She begins dating again, but finds that all of her relationships and occasional trysts are all with shorter (well, taller than her, but on the shorter side if you will), lanky men with brown hair and hazel eyes. But every time she kisses the soft pink lips of each of these men, it is Arthur that she is kissing. But then she gazes into their eyes and realizes her mistake: this is not Arthur- his eyes are not the same.
Even in her dreams, she sees Arthur. Ariadne rushes into his arms, but when she looks at him, it's not the same. It's never the same because she can never get his eyes right.
-
Ariadne is at a bar, drunk out of her mind. She chats with a man who looks too much like Arthur. She begins to believe he is him. Just to be sure, though, she presses her body up against this man and gives him the slightest peck on the lips, gazing into his eyes like she has with her past "lovers." This man is not Arthur, she decides. He is not Arthur at all. His eyes are nothing like Arthur's.
"I have to go now," she whispers with a smirk as she slinks away from the bar, leaving the man dazed and confused.
Outside, Ariadne leans against the brick building and sucks in the cold air quickly, a bit too quickly, causing her eyes to tear up, and exhales slowly. She stares as the cloud of mist that is her breath forms in front of her. It is cold outside and she should really be wearing a jacket, but the years of self-inflicted pain and tears have numbed Ariadne's body and now, she could care less.
Ariadne pulls a cigarette from her purse, clamps it down between her lips and lights up as she quickly makes her way home. She picked up the habit of smoking the moment she realized she couldn't live without Arthur. When she realized she was possibly in love with him, she simply got up and bought a pack of cigarettes.
When she gets home, she drops her things on the ground and instantly makes for the bed. Ariadne rolls into bed, crying herself to sleep. She was so close tonight.
-
When she wakes up in the morning, Ariadne is a mess. She hasn't looked in the mirror yet, but she can feel it. She can feel herself losing weight from not eating because her mind is too preoccupied with Arthur. She can feel how puffy and red her eyes are from crying all the time. She can feel how fucked up her life is without him.
Ariadne decides that it is time to find him. She has allowed for Arthur to screw up her life for far too long.
She reaches for the phone, but then realizes she has no clue where he is or how to find him. She contemplates asking Cobb, but chances are, he's probably too preoccupied with the kids. Finally, she picks up the phone and dials the only other number she knows (besides 911) - Eames.
The phone rings 3 times before he finally picks up.
"Hello…?" he asks lazily.
"It's me- Ariadne."
"Bloody fuck, Ariadne! Have you any idea what time it is?"
"Shut up," she commands. Ariadne can hear how shocked Eames must be without him even saying a word. She doesn't care if she's interrupting his slumber- she needs Arthur.
"Where's Arthur?"
"I dunno… Last I heard, he was in New York… I can give you his number if you like."
Ariadne smiles. She knows what she's going to do today.
-
After an 8 hour flight from Paris to New York, Ariadne feels a little bit better. She reaches into her pocket and feels something cold. Her totem. She is a bit puzzled as to why it's there, but then she remembers: in a rush to make her flight, Ariadne stuffed whatever clothes she could find into a suitcase and absentmindedly grabbed her totem as well. She doesn't know why she took it. For safekeeping, perhaps. Ariadne smiles as she clutches the bishop in her pocket and makes her way out of the airport.
Her confidence turns into fear and doubt the moment she steps out of the airport. What if he doesn't want to see me? What if he doesn't feel the same way? Oh god, what if he's already seeing someone else?
Her smile falls into a frown and her grip on her totem loosens. Perhaps this trip is a fluke. Maybe she should just go back and forget it. But she doesn't. Ariadne hails a cab and hops in, not even knowing where she's supposed to go.
Ariadne finds the closest, cheapest hotel and checks in. The room isn't fairly large, but it's not miniscule either. The furnishings could be better, but at least the bed and sheets are soft, just the way she likes them.
The whole first week of her trip is spent staring at the phone, wondering whether or not she should call Arthur. Every day is generally the same. Ariadne wakes up around 9 eats breakfast and stares at the phone until she decides, tomorrow, she will call him tomorrow- and then she never does.
-
On Wednesday of her second week, Ariadne finally plucks up the courage to call him. He doesn't pick up the first time. She tries again later in the day. He still doesn't pick up, so she decides to leave him a message.
"Hey, Arthur it's me, Ariad-" and before she can even finish her name, the other line clicks.
"Ariadne?" the voice on the other line asks, flabbergasted.
"Arthur?" she questions back.
Then silence.
"I'm in New York," she finally says.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
More silence.
"Where?"
"In a hotel."
"I'm gonna need more than that, Ariadne." She laughs for the first time in what seems to be ages.
"Holiday Inn a few miles east of JFK, room 213."
"I'll be there," is all Arthur says before he hangs up.
The phone slips from her hands and hits the nightstand.
"Shit. He's coming," she mutters in anguish. Ariadne stands, frozen in place, not knowing what to do next. Her life is one big chess game and Ariadne is losing- she has run out of moves to make.
So, she does what she always does when she gets frustrated. Ariadne drinks. She orders bottle after bottle of wine off the room service menu. She doesn't know how many bottles she's had (she lost count after 4). All Ariadne knows is that she's drunk and Arthur still isn't here.
-
When Arthur finally arrives, Ariadne is so drunk, she can barely stand. Arthur knocks twice. When Ariadne doesn't answer the first time, he pounds on the door.
"Shut up, I'm coming!" she yells from her seat next to the bed. She crawls to the door and lets him in.
"Ariadne…?" he asks, looking at the mess that is Ariadne sitting on the ground. She's changed. She's lost so much weight (if that's even possible), her hair is disheveled and her eyes are red and puffy.
Arthur on the other hand hasn't changed much. He looks exactly as Ariadne remembers- tall and lean, brown hair slicked back, and always, always wearing a lovely 3 piece suit. Even his eyes are still the same shade of chocolate brown, she realizes when she stands up and stares into his eyes. The only difference is that today, his eyes are filled with judgment. And Ariadne is the victim.
"Yeah, that's me. What do you want?"
"You called me, remember? What happened to you, Ariadne?" he asks, wincing at how harsh the words sound when they come out.
"What happened to me? I'll tell you what happened. You happened. You just up and left; ran out of my life. Didn't even leave your number. Even Eames left me his number, Arthur," she spits angrily.
"It's not my fault. I was still in the business. It wasn't safe."
"Well you could have at least told me something! But no, instead, you just left me to rot away. You drove me insane for 3 whole years, Arthur!" she yells at him.
"Ariadne, I'm sorry-" But his words are cut off when Ariadne raises her hand and slaps him, square across the face.
"Fuck you, Arthur!" she screams, not caring if people in other rooms can hear them. She expects him to leave, but he doesn't. Arthur simply stands there. And then he wraps his arms around her.
"Go away! I hate you!" Her yells are muffled by his shirt as her small fists hit against his chest. Ariadne feels bad, knowing that a series of small bruises will form later on his chest, but that doesn't stop her. Arthur grabs Ariadne's wrists and stares her down.
"I thought about calling you every day, Ariadne," he explains calmly.
"Why didn't you?" she cries.
"I didn't know if you felt the same way."
"I literally drove myself to the brink of insanity thinking about you. I can't eat, I can't sleep, fuck, I can't even look at anyone without seeing you," Ariadne sobs. Arthur stares at her for the longest time and she thinks he's trying to formulate some witty quip, but he doesn't. Instead, Arthur leans over and presses his lips against hers.
"Took you long enough to find me," he mutters, smiling.
"Shut up," Ariadne pants, kissing him again, this time harder, more urgently. It's been too long. Before she knows it, her clothes are scattered around the room and she's naked, in bed with an equally naked Arthur. And then she can't remember anything beyond that.
Ariadne wakes up in the middle of the night, wondering what just happened. She thinks it was all just a dream until she realizes she's still naked and Arthur is next to her, asleep. She wonders what kinds of questionable things they have done, but she decides it's unimportant and she can find out in the morning. Ariadne smiles, propping her head up on one arm and watches Arthur's chest rise and fall to the tempo of his soft breathing.
And at that moment, Ariadne decides that nothing else in her life is more important than having Arthur.
-
In the morning when she wakes up, Ariadne finds herself clutching onto something cushiony that is definitely not Arthur. She opens her eyes to see that she is in fact, not holding Arthur but a pillow instead. Ariadne shoots up in bed, looking around the room, but she realizes he's not there. A million thoughts run through her head, most of which are along the lines of: "Shit. He left me" and "Arthur is a fucking bastard and he is gone." But then she hears the sound of running water and she sees his clothes (as well as hers) scattered on the floor. Ariadne picks up Arthur's shirt and puts it on. The sleeves are much too long for her and it almost reaches down to her knees, but it's Arthur's and that's good enough for Ariadne. She buttons the shirt up and rushes to the bathroom to see Arthur standing in front of the sink, wearing only his boxers.
Ariadne pads over to him and wraps her arms around Arthur's stomach from behind, pressing against him. He turns around and cradles her face in his hands, slightly tilting her face up. Ariadne stares into his eyes again and this time, for the first time, she sees clarity. In Arthur's eyes, she sees what she wants- him and only him. Neither of them needs to check their totems because they know this is real.
Because their eyes are right this time.