Notes: A really short fic about one character I forgot to include in my Crash and Burn story Companion piece, so to speak. Hope you guys like it. If you find this work good, please review and maybe read my other fics, as well.
Disclaimer: I own a Voot Cruiser. And Blistered Fingers.
The More They Stay
"He says it's time to let go."
-Finding Nemo
It's funny, really.
The sheer amount of emotions and vindications that normally pass through this place within the course of a day- brick walls and seductive lighting casting improbable hopes and dreams to fates of either resurrection or condemnation.
Sometimes both.
Sid had seen it all, after so long a time playing barkeep and busboy in his very own corner of Neverland. Each glance giving him all he needed to know about the life and times of any party of customers.
And they all had their stories, tall tales about love lost and quiet ones about love found. And the only thing that had really come to mean anything, over the years, was the fact that life will always be pulling the rug from under you- always changing things so drastically that you forget who or what you are in the blink of an eye.
So all he did, most of the time- was just watch; put on a fake smile and mildly interrupt a rant to ask for orders, trying to fool people into thinking that he cared for them even just a little bit.
But none of the others lit his interest more than the scene between the pretty lady doctor and her FBI agent partner. Everything else- selfish melodrama and all- faded to the position of backdrop.
It had been captivating- seeing their silent partnership slowly and deliberately take hold. Shy glances softly developing into slight touches of support; a finger here, an arm there.
And now, he could finally witness what he had been waiting for since he had become aware of their blatant chemistry- a turning point, a chance to change.
The question, of course, was whether it would be a change for the better or for the worse.
And as that cold, rebellious thought sprung to mind, Sid suddenly and irrationally started hoping that he was mistaken. That this was not some turning point, not some chance for all the world's ugliness and expectations to crush and put out the innocent bond that he had slowly grown to need- if only from afar.
Why did things have to change? Why couldn't they just be the same forever? Things like his childhood, his ex-wife, his dead, estranged father.
And now, this- one of the few things left that he could honestly say was pure and good.
He overheard snatches of conversation, amidst the prerequisite clinks and egotistic monologues of his restaurant.
He was telling her that he had at last found the bodies.
That there was no longer a doubt- and that the case was now truly closed.
Then he asked for forgiveness.
And for her to finally let go.
The silence that lasted between the two filled the room deafeningly. Wisps of dreams and memories making their deaths known by sounds of gulping and unshed tears.
It's the things we leave behind that hurt us the most.
And it seemed to him that he would have to leave behind his last ray of hope.
In his very own corner of Neverland, Sid allowed himself to forget everything and anything- who and what he was, his dead dreams, his lost loves. Now, his whole life was hung on the wings of her answer- it would prove, once and for all, whether or not there was still something left to live for.
And when things changed, as they all inevitably did, they didn't always mean to leave you behind.
The brick walls suffocatingly seduced; the sconces ornamentally caging him into this one- singular, moment.
And miraculously, she nodded. A whisper of a smile, a portent of relief.
Clinks and tall tales drowned the room. Stories of changes and left behind things.
But for now, all Sid could see was the couple in the corner. Arms and eyes seeking and providing comfort and care.
It's funny, really.
How the more things change, the more they stay the same.
And that the things we leave behind are the ones that set us free the most.
He slowly turned towards them, offering seats, food, and the comfort of Neverland.
It was funny, really. So he smiled.
Notes: Was it okay? This is a companion fic to my Crash and Burn series, and sort of a parallel one to a story I'm writing on the Invader Zim Fandom. Hope you guys liked it. Reviews are the patties in my hamburgers.