Kudos to gaaraxsasukexlover! They figured out the song: Upside Down by A*Teens! Though minor correction: it was popular in 2000, roughly nine years ago... I was ten, and had yet to discover the wonders of Emo music. That would come with Evanescense, who is, btw, featured in this week's chapter!
Sad note: We didn't get enough reviews for an early posting... I'm sorry. At least I'm posting on time! Minor little recap from the beginning of the last chapter, so you don't really have to go back and reread the last paragraph...
Disclaimer: If I owned anything, I wouldn't be taking out student loans, now would I?
"Oh fuck..." Amy hissed, trying to squirm away from Murtagh and ignoring the gasps of those around her at her language. She had to stop that song, she had to! She was such a moron for locking her computer down after the duet started...
As if on cue, the grace she had managed to maintain only thanks to hours of secretly practicing the dance with Murtagh slipped away like it had wings and she went skidding to the ground with a pained yelp. "Amy, slow down," Murtagh scolded with a laugh, reaching down to help her up by the elbows. She could only look at him, with wide, fearful eyes, which made his amusement fade. He frowned at her and kept his grip on her elbows even though she was now standing. "Sister Rider, what's wrong?" he tried to tease, only to have her flinch at the pet name Eragon had given her when they weren't squabbling. The teenage brunette tried to squirm away again, but he refused to let go, even as the music continued to play from the laptop. It shocked Eragon, who knew that Amy never tolerated being kept in someone's hold without vigorous protests, physical attacks, and mental backlashes. What was going on with her?
"Under your spell, again... I can't say no to you. Crave my heart and it's bleeding in your hands... I can't say no to you..." Amy's familiar voice came from the laptop and she froze, looking like a deer cornered by a pack of wolves. Everyone else did too, the meaning of the words not lost on anyone listening. "Shit..." she breathed brokenly, finally ceasing her struggles and letting Murtagh pull her forward into his hold gently, trying to offer her comfort for something he couldn't understand. "Shouldn't have let you torture me so sweetly. Now I can't let go of this dream, I can't breathe but I feel...good enough... I feel good enough...for you..."
"Amy...?" he made to ask her who the song was for, only to be cut off by the song picking up again. She clung to him, a rather unexpected turn of events. It wasn't until Murtagh realized his tunic was getting wet that she was crying.
"...And I've completely lost myself, and I don't mind," she softly sang along with her own voice, her tone matching perfectly despite the fact she was crying and upset, though Amy had to pause for a few moments to catch her breath and keep her voice somewhat steady "...now I can't let go of this dream, can't believe that I feel... good enough... I feel good enough..."
"Shh..." Murtagh tried to sooth her, resting one of his hands on the back of her head. He couldn't imagine having his feelings for someone revealed this way, by accident. She was too upset to move and seemed resigned to letting the song play out now that it had started. Understandable, since her group of followers would have insisted on hearing it once it reached their ears.
All this streamed through his mind in a few moments, and he was pulled from it by Amy's hands fisting in his tunic, her obvious attempt to keep a physical anchor as she tried to keep her feelings of humiliation and heartache from leaking to those around her. He was amazed she had kept them from him, with him holding her so close, much less the memories of the many attacks she had suffered that were notably absent. "And I'm still waiting for the rain to fall... Pour real life down on me... Cause I can't hold on, to anything this good enough..." she whimpered as she finished the last line, her hands relaxing though staying pressed against his chest. The distraught girl raised her head so it was no longer completely hidden in his tunic, though she still wouldn't look at him. "Am I good enough...for you to love me too?" she sang, finally glancing up at him from underneath her bangs.
Murtagh felt, and was sure he looked, pole-axed. It was him... Oh hell, it was him that the song was for... No wonder she cussed when it started to play! She had been pressed against him like a second skin... Okay, more like chain mail, but she had been in a rather intimate position all the same...
What was he doing rambling about that? Amy just confessed her love to him and all he could was stare at her as the laptop played her going through a long series of wordless notes.
Before he could recover, she pulled away from him, taking several steps back, looking like a frightened hare or fawn. Her arms were protectively crossed so her hands ended up on her shoulders, and she refused to look at him again. The delicate, moon-touched girl looked to be near tears again. "So take care...what you ask of me. Cause I can't say no..." she finished the song dourly, only to then turn away. The laptop was forcefully slammed closed, and she shoved it into her bag as she ran. Her sobs could be heard by everyone present even after she was gone from the clearing.
Jadia, thankfully, didn't hesitate for long. She flapped her wings and took flight immediately, obviously knowing that her Rider would need her to keep from doing anything drastic. Murtagh could only collapse where he stood. His knees protested their sudden impact to the ground, as did the palms of his hands, but the pain felt like it was just deserts compared to what Amy was feeling... Delicate, fragile Amy that tried so hard to act tough so no one would even think of hurting her again, that made those who cared for her just want to wrap her up in their arms and assure her that they could be trusted, they would protect her...
Who the hell was he trying to kid now? The only other one who felt that insanely protective of her was her dragon. Murtagh was the only other Rider, the only other person for that matter, who felt that way about her, who saw beneath all her carefully constructed walls and shields.
What killed him was how obvious her affections were in hindsight. She wouldn't hit him even in practice, though she didn't hesitate to give Eragon bruises on and outside of the training grounds. Her mental backlashes from being touched by a male or being physically restrained never hit him, and in fact she seemed to have found a way to make them stop entirely unless she forced them to appear. The young girl was always nervous, always anxious, when left alone with him, and tried to leave as soon as possible...
Gods, he really was blind.
"Murtagh..." Eragon's hesitant voice made him sit back so his hands were fisted on his knees. "Murtagh!" he finally said more sharply. Raising his head to glare at his half-brother, Murtagh was stunned at the fear he saw there. "Brother, I need you to think for a moment," he said more gently, "Think about Amy. She just had her heart accidentally shown to a large group of people, the man she has feelings for had no reaction, and she's alone. Do we need to worry about her?"
Water stained red with blood. Sister screaming her twin's name as she begs the dying girl to live... Not to leave her alone...
"Yes," he managed to croak, "Don't leave her alone, or even just with Jadia. Lyn... Lyn took her own life after her love died, Amy knows how to do it."
"Lyn?" Arya questioned as Eragon rushed off on Saphira's back for the other Rider's home. He vaguely heard her kneel down beside him, though her warm hand was a shock when it touched his shoulder. He felt so cold, so chilled at recalling Amy's last memory of her sister....
Murtagh finally managed to explain, "Amy's twin... She died a few months before Amy came here. They were nearly identical... And from what I could tell, they had a bond as strong as that between Rider and dragon. It broke something inside her when Lyn died, also like a Dragon/Rider bond, when she realized she was all alone and had to survive on by herself... She built walls, defenses as strong as any, to protect herself from feeling anything like that again..."
And thanks to him she was. He shuddered, feeling even colder. What if she followed Lyn...? A world without Amy's teasing and sarcasm, the light she managed to shine despite of how bent she was... Because Amy could never be described as completely broken, no matter what happened to her. Hell-bent, maybe, but never shattered like other women who had suffered from similar attacks. She was fragile, yes, and definitely needed to be protected and coddled no matter how vehement her protests, but she had her own kind of strength, and they needed that strength.
He needed that strength.
Much like his realization that it was him Amy had affection for, his own feelings for her felt like they hit him over the head. He was as bad as she was, trying not to hurt her during weapons practice to the point of pulling his blows back till she was barely feeling a fraction of them, even though he and Eragon would beat each other black and blue. Murtagh took extra efforts to make sure Amy was comfortable, especially in crowds. He had even chased away any potential suitors at that dance well over a month ago and kept her attention focused on him. And it wasn't easy to forget Eragon's teasing whenever a random sighting of Amy sent him into a daze.
He loved her, too.
Then why are we still here, while she is somewhere else? Thorn asked, bemused by his Rider's slow uptake. Obviously all three dragons had been in on what was going through Amy's head, since they all refused to ask her what had her so on edge all the time.
Murtagh didn't need further prompting. He was up on his feet in a flash, striding towards the garnet dragon as fast as his feet could take him.
"Where are you going?" Arya demanded as she copied him, though she had to stop after a couple of steps. Brom was clinging to her skirt, obviously frightened and unsettled by everything that was going on around him. The elf rested her hand on his head reassuringly as she anxiously waited for a response from her brother-in-law.
He barely glanced over his shoulder at her as he swung himself up on to Thorn's back. "To find Amy," he told her, "I need to tell her that I feel the same way she does."
Watching Thorn take to the skies, Arya looked down at Brom's hesitant call. She knelt down beside him, taking his hands into hers, as he shakily asked, "What's wrong with Amy? Why did Papa and Uncle Murt go after her?"
"Your uncle was a bit slow in realizing what Amy said in that pretty song of hers," Arya assured her son, "He's gone to go talk to her and apologize." He sniffled and she pulled Brom into her arms for a comforting hug. So young, but still, he was very in tune to the emotions around him, especially in those he adored, like Murtagh and Amy. Even Arya was mildly upset by watching this drama take place on what had been a lovely, peaceful day. However, the tension had been building between the two for so long now, it was almost a relief that they were finally going to stop tip-toeing around each other.
Murtagh resisted the urge to press Thorn to go faster. The bulky dragon was built for combat, and as such he wasn't the fastest flyer. He still beat walking on foot, though that didn't curb his Rider's impatience. It took him by surprise when the dragon landed at the base of Amy's tree rather than on the dragon's landing. It wouldn't hold all three of us, and Jadia and Saphira are already there, Thorn explained as Murtagh dismounted. Now hurry.
I am, Murtagh mentally growled back at his dragon. The stairs were just as steep as they would be for an elf, but Murtagh was used to his own nightmarish climb every day, so he was able to take them two at a time for at least a while. His mind was open, and he felt Eragon's consciousness brush against his half-way up. How is she? he demanded, pausing to catch his breath.
Eragon hesitated a moment before he answered, She's lying in her bed, so she's physically sound. But she's completely blocked Jadia and I from her thoughts and emotions. I can't tell you what she's thinking right now.
I'm on my way, Murtagh promised, feeling his brother's relief. Eragon was a great person to have around usually, but with Amy he tended to say the wrong thing. She desperately needed someone else with her, but she had set off so fast and the risk had been so great Eragon had been the only choice. If it had been any other kind of situation, Murtagh would have gone, but this time he needed to get his own head straight before he tried to help the newest Rider.
Please, Amy, please, he mentally pleaded rather than waste breath needed to climb, willing to bet she still didn't hear him, Wait for me and hear me out... Just wait for me...
He stumbled on a step and had to grab the wall to stay standing when he felt the barest of brushes against his mind, giving him the sense that she had heard him and would wait. It wasn't short enough that he didn't feel her anguish, but he also wasn't sucked into the vortex that he was sure her mind had become. Murtagh hastened his steps even further; he wasn't going to waste that temporary acceptance.
And so now we are set up for the infamous confession scene... Any ideas on how Murtagh is going to fess up to his feelings, or do you think he will chicken? And how will Amy react to all this?
...
I only sorta know... I've got about a quarter of the next chapter done. That said, I'll try and finish it this weekend so it can be done by Monday. Once again, it's up to you on how early you get the post: 80 reviews before Thursday, and I'll post early.