a/n Hello! Hope you enjoy this and if you do, please review, it'll make my day! :)
Title: Parallel
Pairing: Cain/Charity
Rating/Warnings: K+
Summary: 'I believe that for every decision I make, there is another me out there who made the complete opposite decision. I believe that out there somewhere in the universe, in another dimension, me and her are happy.' – a quick study of Cain and Charity's relationship. (oneshot)
...
i
Initium
It's a Tuesday. They're arguing (as if they do anything else), yelling and yelling about nothing. He doubts that if someone asked them what started this particular slanging match, neither of them would have a clue. It was something she said about Moira – or maybe something he said about Declan, or maybe it was something someone said about Debbie. The long and the short of it is it doesn't even matter. They argue just for the hell of it, just because they get on each other's nerves – just because it's how their relationship works.
It's there - standing outside the Woolpack, screaming insults at each other, just like they have many times before – that something comes back to Cain. It's a passage from a book of someone's he flicked through a few months ago. Cain had happened upon it by accident. Only one paragraph has stuck in his memory, and now in this moment, he's reminded of it.
I believe that for every decision I make, there is another me out there who made the complete opposite decision. I believe that out there somewhere in the universe, in another dimension, me and her are happy.
He didn't give the passage much thought at the time he read it, but now it won't leave his head. She's still yelling, hurling insult after insult at him, and he hits back without a second thought.
He wonders that maybe, there's another universe out there where this isn't normal - where they're happy; where they made the right decisions and did right by each other. Where they can accept that they love each other and can get on without nearly killing each other.
He nearly laughs at the idea.
Never in a million years.
...
ii
Primus
[in this universe...]
She sits in her living room, waiting for her husband to come home. She has everything she's ever wanted.
He sits in his front room, curled up next to his wife, his kids on the sofa, watching telly. He's got everything he ever dreamed of.
[in this universe, they never met]
...
iii
Secundus
[in this universe...]
They've made their beds, and now they have to lie in them.
Twenty five years with nothing, and then suddenly, a chance meeting in the street. It's still there. The attraction that drove them together in the first place, all those years ago, when they were young and it seemed they were in love.
She's always wondered what would have happened if they hadn't been forced apart, forced by those who said they knew better. Except they don't. Because even now, even now their married to different people, they can't stay apart.
They meet in the dark, because, just like when they were young, no one would understand. And for a while at least, it's enough.
[in this universe, they went their separate ways went they were young]
...
iv
Tertius
[in this universe...]
It's a Saturday. They pass in the street. They say a murmured hello. Act like they don't care. They move on. Five minutes later, and they pretend to everyone that matters that they've already forgotten about the meeting with their lost love from so long before, who broke their heart into a million pieces.
[in this universe, Debbie was never born]
...
v
Quartus
[in this universe...]
"Hand us your cup, then."
She stands in the doorway, turning back to face her family, curled up in front of the telly. He stands, trying not to wake the small boy asleep next to him. A girl, slightly older than the boy, sits on the other sofa, trying to watch the telly through drooping lids.
He gets to the door and they share a smile before he hands her his cup. "I think they're a little tired out from all the festivities," he says, whispering because of the sleeping kids in the next room.
"You think?" she replies, sarcastically. "Today's been good, hasn't it?" she asks, a moment later, leaning back against the doorway, glancing into the darkened living room.
He leans forward and kisses her gently. "Today's been great."
[in this universe, everything went right for them]
...
vi
Nunc
He yells. She yells.
[in this universe, everything went wrong for them]
a/n You were probably wondering about the words that came after the roman numerals. They are Latin for (in order) the start, first, second, third, fourth and now. I don't know why I included them. I just felt it needed it. I hope you enjoyed reading this. :)