Disclaimer: See previous chapter, in addition I do own something in this
fic! I own Prue Hathaway, Mrs. Basil and Marcy Ammerman! Huzzah!
We All Fall Down
Chapter 2: No One Is Alone
Relena caught the next flight to Boston. She needed release, she needed to vent, she needed to hear the voice of reason speaking to her again, she needed Prue. Relena had met Prue Hathaway some number of years ago at a social gathering. The two young women, frighteningly grown up for their age became fast friends.
Relena sank deeper into the leather couch and continued to ramble "And the whole time I was there I just kept on thinking that it was all somehow my fault, and maybe if I had done something different he wouldn't be there. Maybe if I had gotten closer to him, or maybe if I left him alone, goddamnit Prue I should have done something!"
Prue poured coffee into two large mugs as she spoke "The way you describe it, it seems to me like this guy had dived way off the deep end. Don't beat yourself up over it, there's nothing that you could have done." She walked towards Relena and sat down in armchair beside the couch placing the two ceramic mugs on the coffee-table in front of them.
"Prue," Relena asked "Have you ever known someone like that? I mean, someone with a mental disorder?"
Prue pushed a loose strand of wavy brown hair off of her face and replied "Yea I did. In college, there was this girl Marcy Ammerman, she was a friend of mine. Brilliant music major, anyways Marcy was bipolar, except she wouldn't take any medication she said they killed her creative spirit. When she was up she was really up, I mean she felt totally brilliant and invincible. But when she was down, oh god....She would leave these frantic messages on my answering machine about how she was ontop of her appartment and she was gonna jump. And I would always rush over there and talk her out of it."
"So what happened?" Relena asked leaning in with intrigue.
Prue sighed heavily "Well this one time, she called and I rushed over there as fast as I could. Except there was an accident on the intersection of Chapel Street and Hill Street, and I got caught in traffic." Prue paused for a moment and then looked up "That day I was too late. By the time I got there Marcy Ammerman had swan-dived onto the pavement."
Relena felt ashamed for asking such a personal question, she wished she had never brought up the topic. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be." Prue replied. "Anyways I beat myself up for months about it. What if I gotten home earlier, and heard the message sooner? What if I ran instead of taking the car? It took a while but I realized there was nothing I could have done, all the times I stopped her I was just delaying the inevidable. Sooner or later Marcy would have jumped." She looked at Relena "Don't make the same mistake I did, don't blame yourself."
"Thanks." Relena said "That helped a lot. It made me feel like I wasn't alone in this whole mess."
Prue smiled nostagically "To quote Steven Sondhiem, you are not alone, no one is alone."
For a moment Relena stood in awe of the amazing Prue Hathaway. The genius hiding behind big sweaters, and thick rimmed glasses. 'How does she always know the right thing to say?' Relena wondered, then the phone rang.
Prue bolted out of her chair and grabbed the phone "Hello....Yes, she's here. Hold on a sec," She turned to Relena extending the phone to her "Relena, it's for you. It's your housekeeper." Relena was puzzled she couldn't think of a reason why Mrs. Basil would be calling. She got up nonetheless and accepted the phone.
"Hello, Mrs. Basil?"
"Yes it's me Ms. Darlian. I'm very sorry to bother you, but there's a man here. He says his name is Duo Maxwell, and you invited him to stay here. I told him to leave but he insisted on me calling you."
Relena's eyes widened with surprise. Duo was the last person on earth she expected to show up at her house. A part of her wanted to say that she had never even heard of Duo Maxwell and that she wanted security guards to come and take him off the grounds of her house immediatley, that would certainly be fair payback for the way he spoke to her. But she knew she would never do something like that. Duo needed a place to stay where he could sort out his feelings without worrying about anything else, and if she was able to provide such a place it was her duty as a decent human being to allow him to stay there.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Basil, I guess I forgot to tell you. Mr. Maxwell is allowed to stay as long as he likes. He may take the northern guest room." She paused and then added "Will you please arrange for me to take the next flight out of Boston home?"
"Yes Ms Darlian, I'm sorry to have disturbed you."
"No it was no trouble at all, good bye Mrs. Basil."
"Good bye Ms Darlian."
Relena looked to her friend "I'm sorry I'm leaving on such short notice, it's sort of an emergency." Prue cocked a dark eyebrow with surprise "This isn't the same Duo Maxwell that said all those horrible things to you, is it?"
Relena sighed "Unfortunately it is. Before you say anything Prue, it's not what you think. I'm not letting him walk all over me, he really needs help. He and Heero, they had a history, kind of."
Prue took another sip of coffee "Hey it's your life. I won't pass any judgement on you. Just promise me you won't let him abuse you."
Relena smiled "I promise."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That night Relena had a strange dream. She was standing at the ledge of a tall building ready to jump. She could hear voices all around her whispering things she couldn't understand. When she looked down she could see Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei watching her with disaproving eyes. But that had not mattered, she let herself go.
As she felt her feet leave the concrete surface of the ledge her heart soared. And as she plummeted downward she felt glorious relief. It was ironic, Relena felt most alive seconds before death. It was as if the great weight of lofty expectations had been lifted off of her shoulders. The senseless muttering of the voice faded and she could hear one clear voice. It was Prue, and just before Relena fell to the ground Prue said "You only live once."
Relena sat up in her bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Yes, I know this was kind of short. The next chapter will be longer, I promise. This chapter was mostly stuff that felt was kinda neccisary for atmosphere, there will be more of the G-gang in future chapters. Please Review, I really want to know what you think. Much love! ~Lady R
We All Fall Down
Chapter 2: No One Is Alone
Relena caught the next flight to Boston. She needed release, she needed to vent, she needed to hear the voice of reason speaking to her again, she needed Prue. Relena had met Prue Hathaway some number of years ago at a social gathering. The two young women, frighteningly grown up for their age became fast friends.
Relena sank deeper into the leather couch and continued to ramble "And the whole time I was there I just kept on thinking that it was all somehow my fault, and maybe if I had done something different he wouldn't be there. Maybe if I had gotten closer to him, or maybe if I left him alone, goddamnit Prue I should have done something!"
Prue poured coffee into two large mugs as she spoke "The way you describe it, it seems to me like this guy had dived way off the deep end. Don't beat yourself up over it, there's nothing that you could have done." She walked towards Relena and sat down in armchair beside the couch placing the two ceramic mugs on the coffee-table in front of them.
"Prue," Relena asked "Have you ever known someone like that? I mean, someone with a mental disorder?"
Prue pushed a loose strand of wavy brown hair off of her face and replied "Yea I did. In college, there was this girl Marcy Ammerman, she was a friend of mine. Brilliant music major, anyways Marcy was bipolar, except she wouldn't take any medication she said they killed her creative spirit. When she was up she was really up, I mean she felt totally brilliant and invincible. But when she was down, oh god....She would leave these frantic messages on my answering machine about how she was ontop of her appartment and she was gonna jump. And I would always rush over there and talk her out of it."
"So what happened?" Relena asked leaning in with intrigue.
Prue sighed heavily "Well this one time, she called and I rushed over there as fast as I could. Except there was an accident on the intersection of Chapel Street and Hill Street, and I got caught in traffic." Prue paused for a moment and then looked up "That day I was too late. By the time I got there Marcy Ammerman had swan-dived onto the pavement."
Relena felt ashamed for asking such a personal question, she wished she had never brought up the topic. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be." Prue replied. "Anyways I beat myself up for months about it. What if I gotten home earlier, and heard the message sooner? What if I ran instead of taking the car? It took a while but I realized there was nothing I could have done, all the times I stopped her I was just delaying the inevidable. Sooner or later Marcy would have jumped." She looked at Relena "Don't make the same mistake I did, don't blame yourself."
"Thanks." Relena said "That helped a lot. It made me feel like I wasn't alone in this whole mess."
Prue smiled nostagically "To quote Steven Sondhiem, you are not alone, no one is alone."
For a moment Relena stood in awe of the amazing Prue Hathaway. The genius hiding behind big sweaters, and thick rimmed glasses. 'How does she always know the right thing to say?' Relena wondered, then the phone rang.
Prue bolted out of her chair and grabbed the phone "Hello....Yes, she's here. Hold on a sec," She turned to Relena extending the phone to her "Relena, it's for you. It's your housekeeper." Relena was puzzled she couldn't think of a reason why Mrs. Basil would be calling. She got up nonetheless and accepted the phone.
"Hello, Mrs. Basil?"
"Yes it's me Ms. Darlian. I'm very sorry to bother you, but there's a man here. He says his name is Duo Maxwell, and you invited him to stay here. I told him to leave but he insisted on me calling you."
Relena's eyes widened with surprise. Duo was the last person on earth she expected to show up at her house. A part of her wanted to say that she had never even heard of Duo Maxwell and that she wanted security guards to come and take him off the grounds of her house immediatley, that would certainly be fair payback for the way he spoke to her. But she knew she would never do something like that. Duo needed a place to stay where he could sort out his feelings without worrying about anything else, and if she was able to provide such a place it was her duty as a decent human being to allow him to stay there.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Basil, I guess I forgot to tell you. Mr. Maxwell is allowed to stay as long as he likes. He may take the northern guest room." She paused and then added "Will you please arrange for me to take the next flight out of Boston home?"
"Yes Ms Darlian, I'm sorry to have disturbed you."
"No it was no trouble at all, good bye Mrs. Basil."
"Good bye Ms Darlian."
Relena looked to her friend "I'm sorry I'm leaving on such short notice, it's sort of an emergency." Prue cocked a dark eyebrow with surprise "This isn't the same Duo Maxwell that said all those horrible things to you, is it?"
Relena sighed "Unfortunately it is. Before you say anything Prue, it's not what you think. I'm not letting him walk all over me, he really needs help. He and Heero, they had a history, kind of."
Prue took another sip of coffee "Hey it's your life. I won't pass any judgement on you. Just promise me you won't let him abuse you."
Relena smiled "I promise."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That night Relena had a strange dream. She was standing at the ledge of a tall building ready to jump. She could hear voices all around her whispering things she couldn't understand. When she looked down she could see Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei watching her with disaproving eyes. But that had not mattered, she let herself go.
As she felt her feet leave the concrete surface of the ledge her heart soared. And as she plummeted downward she felt glorious relief. It was ironic, Relena felt most alive seconds before death. It was as if the great weight of lofty expectations had been lifted off of her shoulders. The senseless muttering of the voice faded and she could hear one clear voice. It was Prue, and just before Relena fell to the ground Prue said "You only live once."
Relena sat up in her bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Yes, I know this was kind of short. The next chapter will be longer, I promise. This chapter was mostly stuff that felt was kinda neccisary for atmosphere, there will be more of the G-gang in future chapters. Please Review, I really want to know what you think. Much love! ~Lady R
