Chapter 14: Fervent Jealousy

(Trouble's point of view)

Trouble stormed furiously into his house, slamming the door behind him. The vehemence in his reaction showed in the way the sound echoed through his house, and feeling livid and crestfallen, he yanked out a chair from his little dining table and sat on it, silently fuming. Trouble's arms crossed over his chest as he contemplated what Holly had said to him before:

"You know we'll always be friends, right?"

Friends! Trouble almost rebuked the idea. As if he could just be friends with the wondrous Holly Short. The words that had flowed out of his mouth in reply to hers were merely tainted words of hypocrisy that he obviously did not mean.

"I guess."

Such deceitful words! Trouble scolded himself. He should have murdered himself there and then. Lying to Holly, and lying to himself, was something he did not usually do. It disgusted him to think that he was such a coward, to give up in the battle for her love when he had suspected that she had chosen someone else, namely, his nemesis, Artemis Fowl. He had retreated from the war like a fool, and ran away from the situation at hand, instead of facing up to it like a man and choosing to steal her back from under Artemis' very nose. Yet, what had he done? Not only had he run away, but he had told Holly to go and pursue her happiness with Artemis. The happiness that rightfully, should have been shared with him. He'd known her longer, for D'Arvit's sake! Artemis doesn't deserve her, Trouble thought viciously, animosity overwhelming any rationality he had left.

As his angry thoughts consumed his impressionable mind, Trouble banged furiously on the table, even though there was nobody there. "It's not fair," he hissed to himself, "Holly's supposed to be mine. I will love her like no other, why can't she see that?"

Trouble shakily ran a trembling hand through his hair as his eyes sparked with a newfound fury against the world; against Artemis; against everything that had caused him to feel life was being unfair. In contrast to Holly's new philosophy on life that he was unaware of, he had no cause to feel life was sweet; nor that life had given him a chance to leap with joy and go "Alleluia" like overly eager people. No.

In fact, life was bitter, and his tongue almost seemed to recoil in horror as it got its first taste of present life. How is it that one person could find joy at the expense of another's misery? It seemed that as if for every one person who embraced life to the fullest of his or her ability, another one out there would be cursing life for the hostile conditions it brought. Trouble felt like one of the unlucky ones. How could life change so fast, that like a whirlwind, it sucked him into a pool of misery when just a moment ago he had optimistic hopes for a better future with Holly? He felt a resentful hatred towards what life had served him on a platter - it was not to his liking, and he had a burning desire to throw the foul dish away and replace it with a more delicious one.

Well, why not? New thoughts had popped up in Trouble's head, and he made no effort to suppress them.

If you can get Artemis out of the picture, Holly will be yours. It's as simple as that, his sub-conscience taunted him.

But how do I do that? he debated.

Seeds of hatred began to sprout in his brain, and a deliciously evil plan began to formulate in his mind.

It's not over, Artemis. Oh no. It's far from over.

~*~

(Holly's point of view)

"Is that what you actually do for entertainment?" Holly began snidely, a slight teasing grin on her face.

Artemis did not look up from his laptop, absorbed in his task. The screen blinked merrily with every rapid clack of the keyboard. Holly almost felt dizzy as she tried to comprehend what he was typing, and if she could take a stab in the dark, she would guess that it was programming code. At least it looked suspiciously like it.

"If you don't count provoking you and generally being evil, yes," Artemis said sarcastically, while furiously typing away.

Holly grinned. "What a miserable life you lead."

Artemis finally looked up, the cursor on the screen blinking like an eager student as it awaited its next command. His eyes shone with merriment. "Not as miserable as some people I know. Why, after work, they don't even stop by the hottest nightspots in town but end up being annoying company to people who are obviously busy. But then again, I forget. They don't seem to use the eyes given to them, nor the intelligence."

"How very self-centred you are," Holly replied, resisting the temptation to roll her eyes. "It's a wonder how you haven't exploded yet, what with all the inflation your ego is taking."

Artemis grinned. "We are getting nowhere with all this, Holly. Shall I cut straight to the chase, and ask you what I really mean to - that is, if you missed me today?"

"You are being so nauseatingly corny that even if I ran to the bathroom at the amazing speed of light, the short time would not hold back my puke," Holly shot back.

"Your knowledge of science is appalling!" Artemis said theatrically, drawing a large gasp dramatically. "Surely you must know that it is virtually impossible to beat the speed of light?"

Holly yawned. "If you always initiate such boring conversation, it is no wonder you don't have a social life."

Artemis smiled. "I'm not the only one."

"Thank you for that insult. It was rather unoriginal, if you must know."

"You're welcome. Now will you tell me if you missed me at work today?"

"Urrrrgh!" Holly replied, shuddering. "Don't blame me if you suddenly find yourself covered in fairy vomit!"

"Is it magical?" Artemis asked, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. "Does it happen to cure warts or anything of that sort?"

"Why? Do you have a wart?" Holly asked, resisting the urge to chuckle at his ridiculousness.

"Of course not. I pride myself on personal hygiene."

Holly rolled her eyes.

"What, that's not on your list for qualities of a perfect desire?" Artemis grinned.

"Do you seriously think you're qualified?" Holly raised an eyebrow, pretended to scrutinize him and then made a big show of gagging.

Artemis pretended to scowl. "You mean I'm not?"

Holly laughed and pondered the question. "Hmm, for a moment there I thought I might have saw something that would have completely proven me wrong, but I just realised it was the misplacement of the light. Sorry, my mistake."

"Ouch," Artemis shut his eyes and pretended to be heartbroken.

Holly chuckled. "Did you really expect me to consider you as an example for the perfect desire? Please, place that idea in the 'never-going-to-happen' category of your brain."

Artemis laughed. "You know, you're so evil. A guy could get really offended with the mistreatment you give to his ego."

"I take that as an honour," Holly replied, grinning maliciously.

"If I didn't know you better, I would have said that you are a feminist," Artemis replied, smiling.

"What makes you think you know me so well?" Holly said haughtily.

Artemis raised an eyebrow and pulled her gently to him. "There are a million things I could tell you," he whispered. "Where should I start?"

Holly's heart began to beat erratically. "I don't know," she said lamely, looking up into his cobalt blue eyes.

A slow grin spread lazily over Artemis' face as he used his fingertips to ever so slightly whisk away a strand of hair out of Holly's eyes. The gesture alone was enough to make Holly's heart beat so fast within her ribcage that if it went any quicker, it would explode into nothingness.

"Well...you hate flowers," Artemis whispered, his fingertips running lightly down her cheek, sending shivers of bliss down Holly's spine. "You probably think they're too gushy and a very bad way of showing one's affection."

"Score a point," Holly whispered back, smiling.

Artemis' grin grew, and his hand cupped her chin. "Then for some absurd reason, you think verbal sparring brings us closer together, and you enjoy a battle of wits as much as I do."

"Score another point," Holly whispered, getting lost in his blue eyes.

"You don't trust love to be eternal," Artemis said softly, his fingers tucking Holly's hair behind her ears and sending tingles everywhere in her body. "You're afraid to love, because you don't know if it'll last forever. You've been rejected, hurt, cast away so many times that you don't feel like you have the ability to love anymore."

"How is it that you can just...analyse me like that? It doesn't...it doesn't seem right," Holly said timidly.

Artemis smiled a wistful smile. "If you were left alone almost all your life, it's almost a given skill that you can observe things about people. It's elementary, really. Because people who do have friends mostly take things for granted. They don't notice the littlest things about their friends."

Holly's heart ached. The subtlety of his sentence caused her to realise that in front of her stood a man who had been misunderstood all his life, who yearned to break beyond the barriers that had been placed around him by the cruel hands of society. Just because he was a cut above the rest, he was deemed a social liability. Everyone automatically assumed that he was arrogant, haughty, and thought himself to be superior, because of the label that had been given to him; the label of 'genius'. A label that not even he chose. A destiny that he did not even create. Yet, the moment he had come into the world, his talents had been discovered, and he had been shunned by people of his age. Shunned out of jealousy, envy, and the fear of not knowing how to converse with a person of higher intelligence. Yet, underneath the skin, ran the same blood. The blood was still red, like everyone else. Why should people judge a person's character based on what test results showed? Sad to say, Holly had to admit that she had been one of them.

"I'm sorry," she found herself saying. She bit her lip as she watched Artemis' reaction. Confusion clouded those eyes of blue.

"What are you talking about?" Artemis frowned, puzzled.

"I'm sorry for...for not understanding...you," Holly blurted out.

In Artemis' eyes sparked a glint of melancholy. "It's never too late to start now, isn't it?" he almost chuckled to lighten the mood.

Out of instinctive reaction, for the first time, Holly took the initiative to lean forward on her toes and give him the kiss he rightfully deserved for missing out on companionship the past seventeen years of his life; the kiss that would cure the lonely hole in Artemis' heart.

~*~

(Trouble's point of view)

"Is it ready?" Trouble kept his voice low, and looked around him cautiously, making sure no one was listening.

"Yes, yes," the man replied eagerly, getting out the object Trouble desired. "Be careful with it."

"I know what to do," Trouble snapped. "Remember, don't tell anyone about this," Trouble said sternly, dropping a bag of gold on the counter.

The man's eyes glinted greedily at the sight of gold. He realised he was being bribed, but wisely kept shut for the benefit of getting the gold. "No, sir. My lips are sealed."

"Good," Trouble said, and for the first time since Holly's rejection, he smiled. A smile of pure malice. It stayed frozen, etched on his face, as he tucked the object in his pocket, turned around and walked away. It was just the beginning.

The seeds of hatred were going to be sown.

A Very Long Author's Note:

I'll just take this time to clear a few things up. A few reviewers left queries in their reviews, and here are the answers to them:

booksluver - Yes, Holly is married to Trouble with a daughter, but that's in the year 2013. If you haven't realised, Chapter 2 to the current chapter is a flashback of what happened. The flashback takes place in the year 2006. That's why I asked if anyone read my Author's Note, because you're not the first person to have asked something like this. :) I mentioned the beginning of the flashback in the Author's Note, but I probably should make the transition clearer. Thank you for bringing it up.

tesuka! - Oh well, to each his own. :) Sorry if you found it very corny, I tried not to make it as mushy as possible. Looks like it didn't work -_-'

Blue Yeti - Thank you for your critical comments as usual, and NO, you're not too analytical for your own good. I apologise if some parts are unrealistic because I don't have the first and second books of Artemis Fowl to refer to. I lent them to my friends, hoping they would be converted. ^_^ Anyway, you asked how I was writing this story, and I actually have the plot all mapped out, and divided into their rightful chapters already. I have written a brief summary of what happens in each chapter to remind myself of what I am going to write. It also prevents me from getting writer's block. :) However, sometimes, new ideas hit me as I write the chapter, so they end up getting longer. For example, Chapter 12 and 13 were originally supposed to be one chapter, but because I had more ideas as I went along writing it, I was forced to divide it into two so that it wouldn't be too long. :) That's about it, really.

To the rest of the reviewers, thank you once again for your helpful encouragement. It touches me to know that there are actually people out there who appreciate this story. I would like to leave a warning for all anti-Holly/Artemis readers or anti-romance in general. :) There isn't going to be much action/adventure after Chapter 13 anymore, since Holly's father is already dead. The chapters that follow will centre around the relationship between Artemis and Holly as well as Trouble, so if you don't like that sort of thing, then I suggest you don't read it. Unless you have an urge to flame me, of course. :) And be patient, people, the reason why Holly married Trouble will be revealed in due time. (Hehehe...)