"Why not?" She stood up and took a couple of steps away from him.
"You deserve somebody who can help you raise your brother," He hated talking to her back, but he couldn't blame her, "Someone who looks nice standing next to you. Someone who won't screw up and insult you every five seconds."
She turned back to him, on the verge of tears. "I like that you don't look as good as all the other boys. If I wanted perfect, I'd freakin' go out with a male model. And I could if I wanted to. I'm not weak, I can handle the insults. But your also sweet, and caring, you realize when you make a mistake and you try to correct it."
"Don't do this, Sarah, please." His eyes were pleading, his will wouldn't last against her and he already knew it.
"Why not?" She sat back down. "You don't know what I feel when I'm around you, what I've always felt. Being with you, it's like being whole when there's a gap in my heart that's almost always there. I need you, don't you get that."
"You can't need me, it's not fair to either of us." Hoggle insisted, grimaced at her. Her eyes flashed, anger heated them in a passion she so rarely showed. Within seconds she was up again, seeming not to be able to hold still for long.
"Fine." Her hands were clentched into fists, nails biting through the skin and making her bleed. The pain was a welcome distraction. "Tell me you don't love me and I'll leave it alone. I'll never bring it up again and we can forget this ever happened."
"I don't love you." He examined the flowers that were growning beside the bench.
"Now look me in the eyes and tell me." She insisted. She scooted across the bench so that she was sitting practically right next to him. He had no choice but to do as she asked, losing himself in the olive green eyes he cared so much about.
"Alright, I love you, but I'm not going to let screw up your life like this." He couldn't move, god, he couldn't even breathe. She was so close, he could smell her hair, a rare thing indeed. She smelled of cucumbers, cool and fresh.
"Thank god you don't get to choose the mistakes I make." She smiled brilliantly. She acted fast, kissing his lips quickly before he could pull away. He stared at her, unblinkingly, as she sat back on the bench.
Shocked by her own brave move, she jumped up and ran back inside. She'd never kissed someone before, wasn't sure whether he should have. He'd just stood there like a statue, not reacting at all. What if he had lied to get her to shut up? God, that would be horrible.
As she sat at the table and buried her head in her hands, she thought of what an idiot she'd been.
Hoggle hadn't been able to chase after her like he wanted to, for certainly he would pass out. His head was spinning and he knew any second his dinner would be all over the ground. So it came as no suprise when he bent over and hurled.
His vision turned foggy and he tried to stand up straight. Unfortunately, seconds later, he was on the ground, seeing nothing but black.
He wasn't dead, he couldn't be. And yet, he stood in the light as a red headed woman stepped out of nowhere. "Where am I?" He started, but stopped when he didn't recognize his own voice.
His voice was smooth and deepened, not whiny and nasily like usual. "What's going on?" He asked the woman. She wore black, her pale face jagged yet beautiful. Somehow he was sure he'd seen her before.
"You don't really remember me, do you?" She shook her head with a laugh. "It's not suprising, after all, it's been twenty-four years. Maybe I can show you." She held out her hand, willingly he took it, not noticing how different his hand looked.
He felt like he was falling as everything went black again, and a minute later they were standing in a beautiful cottage. "Do you remember any of this?" She looked at him curiously, he was trying to take it all in.
"I would have been one." He nodded slowly, there were things he never wanted to remember, and this was it.
"This was the day you lost everything." She murmered, walked toward the kitchen. Ten seconds later there was shouting.
"How dare you do this to me!" A woman with curly black hair that hung over her shoulders stormed through the door. She was fuming, turned back to a younger version of the redhead. "There is nothing I have that you want!"
"Silly girl." The redhead got within inches of her face, her eyes spoke volumes. "All I want is your son. I see what's in store for him, but I can give him so much better. You don't have the money to care for a child the way he'll need to be cared for."
"Hoggle's mine." The raven haired girl ran for a doorway, came out holding a baby. She was trying to lull it to sleep. "Please, leave."
"Then this is for your own good." The redhead smiled wickedly, pointing at the baby. A pink lightening bolt struck the baby as the mother screamed. He started crying as she pulled away to look at him. His face was different, he wasn't the beautiful baby she gave birth to. And all her love for him crumbled away.