Disclaimer – I own nothing but the plot. :)
A.N- Thanks a lot to everyone who is reading and reviewing this story. It really makes me smile. Sounds simple but a smile is worth a thousand words, you know? ;)
My Steady Heartbeat
LoverGurrl411
/And when you fall apart, am I the reason for your endless sorrow?
There's so much to be said. And with a broken heart, your walls can only go down but so low.
Can you hear me when I call your name?/
-Call Your Name by Chris Daughtry
Chapter 2 – The Measure of a Man
The measure of a man isn't in how tough he is or how much he bench presses, but in the weight of the tears he sheds as they hit the ground. And Terry's few tears sparkle like diamonds as they crash against the cold wind that blows, trying to move him closer to Melanie. But he can't. He is standing within arm's reach of her but can't find the will to move closer.
"Melanie…" he whispers, but Melanie has already turned to face him.
"What is there left to say, Terry?" Melanie says simply. Her eyes sing the song of pain along the edges of every shine that stands within.
"Everything" Terry blurts out incredulously. But after the words are out of his lips, his chest clenches at the thought of what that implied. Would he have to admit that he never read her letters? Would he have to admit to wanting her something fierce?
Melanie looks at him. Really looks at him. It's those kinds of soul searching stares that make men quiver deep within themselves and women shift uncomfortably. After a long minute she speaks, and the words that leave her lips are strong and yet Terry had never seen her so vulnerable.
"You're girlfriend is waiting for you back there. I'd say there's nothing left to say besides that." She speaks, her eyes transforming into the milky-way; mixed with emotions so raw that Terry took a step towards her unconsciously. He didn't know what to say or do, so instead he keeps walking until he reaches her, and for the first time in what felt to Terry as forever, he embraced her as the lover he once was to her.
And with a moment of hesitancy, she embraces him back…and for those few seconds of blissful ignorance the world was right again.
Until it wasn't. Melanie detangles her arms from Terry's waist, crushing the pieces of his heart that were already shattered on the floor. She tries to step away but Terry just grips her tighter in a moment of unmasked emotion. He didn't want to let her go.
'It's not fair' Terry thinks to himself. But life never promised anyone fair, only the liveliness of every moment. But to accept that he couldn't control what would happen makes the Batman in him roar and rage and shake in his cage locked deep within Terry's mind; it isn't in Batman's nature to lie down and play dead. So Terry silently begs God to promise him more moments like these, hoping to appease the Batman and his lonely heart.
"You never read my letter did you?" Melanie asks perceptively. There was something in the way Terry is gripping her that sets Melanie on high alert that something is wrong.
'Maybe he never got my letter,'she thinks but she knows better. Batman is the most responsible man she'd ever met. Terry received the letter, she was sure of it. So instead of badgering him, Melanie allowed Terry to engulf her in the heat of his body, waiting out his answer.
It was a hard moment for Terry. It is a moment where language fails, and all the emotions that Terry wanted to say couldn't translate. All the emotions and all the thoughts that were incoherent in his mind and heart does not convert to English, and all he is left with is a simple "No" leaving his lips.
"It's okay, Terry. No, really, it is." Melanie tries to soothe Terry. She notices that he seems so tense and all she can do is attempt to comfort him, though the pain of hearing her fears confirmed is almost all consuming and crippling. "We can't help how we feel sometimes, and…" she trails off.
She's afraid. Melanie is afraid to say her pain allowed, because then it would be real. She starts to shake slightly, and Terry just grips her harder.
"And, you didn't care enough to read my letter. And that's okay" She finishes, letting out a huge breath at the end.
"No!" Terry yells at her. He releases her as if she had burned him, and betrayal aligned his eyes.
'How could she think that about me? About us?' Terry's mind screams at him, weighing him down with emotions to strong for just a man to bear.
'As if he has a right to feel that way. HE left me. Not the other way around" Melanie thinks to herself. The air coming into her lungs becoming shallower but she wouldn't give in to panic and pain. She wouldn't, and just like that she feels the cloak of Ten enshroud her and she's never been stronger and more fierce. Her bright blue eyes glisten with unshed tears, but there is a fire in them that makes Terry want to shrink back into himself, but he doesn't. He too sees the battle lying ahead of him, and knows that he isn't strong enough to face such tribulation. He isn't tough enough but Batman is, and so that is where they stand: Ten and Batman, unmasked, facing off ready for an epic battle of the Heart in an indeterminate street.
And Terry's phone rings.
-TBC-
AN- I know, I know! You hate me right? It's really short, but I wanted to give you guys something to hold you off. I've realized that if I make my chapters shorter that I update a lot more *as in every week/couple of weeks* than if I make one long chapter, which then takes me MONTHS to get out. You guys can tell me if you prefer the one long chapter though. :)
Anywho, love ya'll and review and tell me what you guys think! :D
