Title: I'm Not the Only One
Author: OCDdegrassi
Pairing: Bill/Fleur, Percy/Bill
Rating: T
Warning: Infidelity, Slash, Incest, EWE, Angst
Note: Written for the "Happily NEVER After Challenge" and the "Title Prompts Challenge." Inspired by the song "I'm Not the Only One" by Sam Smith (a really good song; check it out if you've never heard it before). In this story, I refer to Bill as 'William' because that is how Fleur always referred to him in the books, and this is told from her perspective. This does have Percy/Bill in it, so do not read if incest stories make you squeamish. This is not epilogue compliant, and it's a companion piece to "Childhood Fantasies."
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Fleur couldn't take this anymore. Over the last few months, she had been growing increasingly suspicious of William. He went out with his "friends" most nights and came home late, and it wasn't as if he had never spent time with his friends before, because he had, but this was different. At first she thought that he was acting strange because it was his way of coping with the grief of Fred's death, but after a while, she started to have her doubts.
Every time he told her that he was going out with friends, the guilt was evident on his face, and his eyes were shining with unspoken apology. He was a good man, and as such, he had never been good at lying, so she knew something was going on. She could feel it, deep in her bones and in the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. William had become distant, pulling away from her more and more every day.
He never held her anymore, and he barely ever kissed her, aside from the peck that he dutifully bestowed upon her cheek whenever he left the house, almost as if by obligation. There was nothing physically separating them in bed, yet they always slept with a gap between them that seemed far larger than the few inches that it was. The sheets were usually cold by the time he came home, and she felt empty and defeated every time he climbed into bed without saying a word to her.
She didn't understand what happened. Had he really changed that much? Greyback's attack and the final battle (along with Fred's death) had taken its toll on him, of course, and she didn't expect him to be exactly as he was before, but she also didn't expect it to ruin their relationship. She didn't expect him to stop loving her, yet that's exactly what seemed to be happening. She had tried denying it for months, hoping that things would go back to the way they were before, but she was tired of living a lie.
They were married. They had made vows to one another, and if he was breaking his commitment to her, then she deserved to know the truth. She had tried confronting him, but he always denied it, and worse, he made her feel crazy for being suspicious, like it was all in her head. She had always been so confidant in herself, and she hated that he had enough power over her to make her feel so insecure and small.
She had never been the "jealous" girlfriend. She had seen far too many girls act that way with their boyfriends whenever she was around, and she told herself that it was pathetic and she would never stoop so low. Yet here she was, following her husband to try and catch him in the act of cheating. She knew what he was doing, but she had to see it with her own eyes in order to finally accept it. She needed to know who had replaced her in William's heart.
She followed him outside when he left to get together with his "friends" again, but he apparated quickly once he was a few houses down. She sighed in frustration, but she wouldn't give up. She had been a Triwizard Tournament contestant, for Merlin's sake. She could figure this out. She closed her eyes, focusing in on finding William.
She felt the pull of apparition, pressing in on her from every side, and when she opened her eyes again, she was standing in a dark room. There was a sliver of light coming from inside another room, the door partially open in front of her. She peered inside quietly, staying hidden in the shadows, and she felt her stomach drop.
It wasn't her greatest fear; it was far worse than she could have ever imagined. She expected to see her husband with another woman. Nothing in the world had prepared her to see him with his own brother. She saw William kiss Percy passionately, his hands sliding under his little brother's shirt, only disconnecting their lips for a moment so that Percy could pull the shirt over his head and discard it on the floor.
They resumed their desperate kiss, hands roaming as they grinded their obvious erections against each other through the fabric of their trousers. Stifled moans were heard like a confession in the otherwise quiet room, and Fleur felt like she was going to throw up. It was wrong on so many levels, and too disgusting to even explain.
She wanted to run, but she felt rooted on the spot. Percy's hands were tangled in William's long hair, which hung loosely around his neck, and her husband's hands were wrapped around his little brother's torso, holding Percy tightly so that their bodies were flush against each other.
Fleur felt dizzy. This was why William had been so distant; this was who had replaced her in William's heart. Or maybe she had never held his heart at all. She wasn't sure anymore. She knew that her husband had always had a soft spot for Percy, and his abandonment of the family was hard on William, but she never had any idea that his feelings reached so deep. Was all of this going on before Percy left? Is that why Bill decided to ask her out right after Percy's departure? Was she the rebound?
It felt surreal. Her entire world had been flipped upside down, though it explained why William hadn't left her for his "mistress" yet; he couldn't. He could never be able to be with Percy the way he was with her, because they would always have to hide. He was using her to put forth the image of a normal man and husband, all the while having a sick, incestuous affair with his brother behind her back.
The thought of William's hands on her after they had been on his own brother were enough to make the bile rise in her throat. How could the man she fell in love with be doing something so twisted and disgusting? Did she even know him at all?
She realized now that she would never have been enough for him. Her entire life, she had been able to get any man that she wanted, and even some women, yet her own husband didn't want her. Her part-Veela charm didn't work on the one person that she wanted to be with. It was ironic. A cruel cosmic joke.
She watched as Percy lowered his hand between them and reached into William's trousers. Her husband moaned, his head falling back, and Percy kissed and nipped at the exposed skin on his neck. She watched Percy nibble and lick William's ear, blowing hot air onto it softly, and her husband shuddered against him. William was biting his lip as he held Percy's back tightly, and she heard him whisper Percy's name like a prayer.
The world suddenly came rushing back to her. She turned around and ran, not caring if they heard her as she apparated back to the home that she and William had made together. No, not together. He had never really been there at all. It was all just an act; she was his mask of normality. Did he ever love her at all, even a little? She supposed it didn't matter, because it wasn't enough, and it never would be.
She stood in their living room, feeling lost and in a daze. The picture of their wedding day stood on the mantel, smiling faces and a loving embrace. Yet as she looked again with renewed vision, the curtains finally swept away from her eyes, she could see that the smile didn't quite reach William's eyes. There was a hint of sadness in them that she had never noticed before, and now she wondered how she could have ever been so blind.
If Percy had shown up at the wedding, would William have even gone through with it? She felt a burst of anger suddenly rip through her at the thought. She picked up the picture and threw it across the room, watching as it smashed against the wall and the glass shattered into tiny pieces, much like her heart. She didn't even know that it was possible to feel so hurt and angry at the same time. It was too intense, and she hated it.
She had loved him so much and given him everything, and for what? To be given less than half of his heart. To be lied to and cheated on. To be looked in the eyes and told that she was only one, when in reality, she was no one to him. What the hell was wrong with him? What gave him the right to use her as a conciliation prize? He made her feel like she was crazy for being suspicious, when she had been right all along. She deserved so much better than that.
She was tired of letting him push her to the point of feeling insecure and sad. She grabbed her trunk from the closet and began throwing as many of her possessions into it as she could, using the undetectable extension charm, blinking away tears of rage and pain. He had torn down everything they had built together, their relationship reduced to a measly trunk of items, and now she was left to pick up the pieces on her own. It wasn't fair.
She briefly thought about telling people his dirty little secret, but even in her anger, she knew that she wouldn't do that to him. She did love him, despite everything, and if people ever found out the truth, the consequences would be terrible. He would never truly be able to be with Percy; not openly and in marriage, the way she suspected that he wanted to be, and that was enough revenge for her. The universe always had a way of punishing people for their sins, and she doubted that he would be any different.
When she had packed enough, deciding to leave quite a few things behind because they would only bring her painful memories, she looked around the house once more. She hesitated, only for a moment, wishing that she could turn back time. A part of her would always love William, but she couldn't live like this anymore.
She wrote a note in cursive, elegant handwriting and left it on the dresser for William to find when he came back. She apparated out of their home for the last time, the ink on the parchment still drying with the words "I know I'm not the only one. Goodbye William."
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A/N: Reviews are lovely. Flames are not.