Title: A Heart Given
Fandom: Pushing Daisies
Pairing: Ned/Chuck
Rating: G
Words: 472
Summary: Emerson asks Ned why the Piemaker and Olive never dated
Inspired by: "I've Just Seen Your Face" fanvid by Laurathejimslayer on YouTube
Disclaimer: I only own these characters in my thoroughly twisted imagination
Feedback: I love getting some!
Emerson's question still lingered and churned in the Piemaker's mind, long after the detective had asked it while wolfing down a wedge of triple-berry with extra flakey crust.
"How come you never thought of Olive in a romantic sense? I mean, before Dead Girl showed up?" Emerson had queried in between large mouthfuls. "The girl throws herself at you and you had no idea to do some pleasurable catching?"
Now many hours later, stretched out in his bed, Ned still struggled to come up with an answer. He had always thought of the diminutive waitress as attractive. He definitely enjoyed her company, especially when they worked long hours side by side at the Pie Hole. So why hadn't he felt even a smidgen of romantic inclination toward Olive? Starting that kind of relationship with her would have been easy as, well, pie. Convenient too.
In her bed, he heard Chuck's slow, steady breathing and he couldn't help smiling. Ned thought back to the day he'd touched her cheek and their life together had begun all over again. Right from the first, he'd experienced a tenderness and passion that overwhelmed his senses. A rush of emotion that had been so unexpected. Now, he couldn't even think of a life that didn't include her. Her bright smile, her enthusiasm, her way of making him feel so full of life.
But that wasn't the reason he'd never dated Olive. He'd had girlfriends, some of those relationships intimate ones. Yet, he'd spent most of his life tucking his feelings as far back into the corners of his soul as he could. Safer that way. Much safer. (Which, although he rarely admitted it to himself, is probably why they never lasted very long.)
So why had Chuck instantaneously demolished the heavily-walled reserve he'd spent 20 years fortifying? The only other person he'd ever felt that way about—who'd made his insides turn to warm mush and put a constant grin on his face—had been, well, her. Her at age 8, that is.
Still, the feelings he had for Chuck at 8 couldn't be the same ones he had for Chuck at 28. His 9-year-old self merely had a boyhood crush that he'd mistaken for love. Or had he?
No, he had to admit the truth that he'd probably known all along—or at least since he'd seen her face again in the casket. At that instant, he knew that he loved her and he'd always loved her. He'd freely given her his heart as a boy. So he'd never really had a heart to bestow, not to Olive, not to anyone else.
So while his damaged yet yearning heart still beat in his chest, it belonged irrevocably to Chuck and only Chuck. Truth be told, he couldn't imagine it any other way. Nor did he want to.