Author's Note: Hey! Here's another chapter but before that I would like to thank Samoka, xWicked Soulx and Corrupt Blossom.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Moonlight but my OCs.
Gabrielle almost laughed out loud. This just had to be a joke. She refused to believe it was the truth. She had seen Mick and he had seemed so in love with Beth. Maybe this was some sort of plan where he tried to pry the secret from her. It has to be. She nodded to herself forgetting that Mick was sitting in front of her waiting for some sort of reply to his ridiculous confession.
But Mick was so serious, there was no change in his firm lips and his wide eyes staring back at her watching her face intently. So she finally broke.
"No...no you don't Mick. You're mistaken," she told him softly as though she was speaking to a child that just did something bad.
Mick shook his head, "No, I know I love you. I've always love you Gabrielle," Mick reached across the table for her hand but she flinched and pulled away from him. Mick saddened. His heart broke and he wanted to shake her violently to tell her he always and will always love her no matter what.
"Mick...you love Beth," she cracked. Her voice wavered unable to hold the same confident before. She was so confused. Hadn't it been clear to the both of them that they were and would always remain as friends? That their relationship in the past was simply, in the past? Apparently it was clear to her but not to him, oh no, not to Mick St. John.
"I...I don't know but I know I love you. She was there when you weren't, she reminded me of you with her spirit, her determined spirit that was so much like you," Mick explained leaving a few details out. He wanted to grovel at her feet now, pleaded for her to love him back but he couldn't.
"Don't do this Mick, you don't love me in that way anymore. You love Beth," she forced the words out slowly. She wanted to scream at him, hit him with all her might for him to wake up from whatever world he conjured up. She didn't love him like that anymore. She didn't see him as a lover like she had; he was her friend, her brother because the night he walked out of that door, leaving her alone and broken, she had forced her heart to forget such feelings with Mick St. John; her best friend.
But here he was, confessing his supposed undying love to her, something that seemed to be from a fairytale. It made her want to laugh and cry at the same time.
"I know what I feel Gabrielle," he almost snapped at her. Mick narrowed his eyes at her, his throat burned for the taste of blood and he almost snapped when Gabrielle gave him a look. She was questioning him, her eyes narrowed as her body leaned back against the chair.
"Do you really?" she asked almost laughing with disbelief, "Do you really know what you feel?" she asked again. Mick hesitated and that was all Gabrielle needed to continue, "Mick you married a woman who turned you into something you hated Mick then there was you and me, you're just confused because I'm still in your life,"
Mick laughed hollowly. It was like he knew what she was saying was the truth but he wanted to deny it. He wanted to believe that he knew what he was feeling, who he really was in love with. Admit it Mick. She thought trying with all her might to send him that silent message knowing there was no way he could receive it but she tried.
"You...you're wrong, I love you. I'm in love with you," Mick refused to admit to her words. Gabrielle smiled sadly.
"What about Beth? Didn't you confess your love to her just days ago?" she asked hopeful that he would open his eyes to the truth that she was laying out for him. His just confused. He doesn't love me like that anymore. she believed that Mick was just confused because of his lack in the love department. He didn't answer her just stare at the table seeming to be interested in the carved writing and cracking surface. "Mick, tell me how you feel about Beth," her voice sounded so serious so desperate for him to answer her but he didn't know how to. He was so confused now. This wasn't how he imagined things to be. She was supposed to tell him that she felt the same and together they would run away.
"Beth..." her name left a sweet taste in his mouth. His dead heart have a thump like just her name made him feel more human, "Beth...makes me angry, happy and worry all at once," he confessed looking away from the table and up to the tear filled eyes of Gabrielle. The sweet taste in his mouth vanished leaving only a bitter feeling. He had hated when Gabrielle cried and he still does. Mick closed his eyes remembering how he smiled when Beth was around and talking to him when he was lost in the moment with just the two of them but often he would pull away quickly. He hated what he had become and wouldn't wish for Beth to condemn herself for him. "She's a beautiful woman. Her soft skin. Her silky locks. Her sweet spirit..."
Gabrielle watched Mick as his eyes closed, his eyes moving frantically beneath those lids. He was remembering. She thought watching as her best friend remembers moments he had with Beth, with the woman he really loved. He's just confused. She sadly thought the tears wanting to fall down her cheeks this is so wrong. Why now? Why had he confessed now? After so long apart...I've moved on. If he had told her he loved her years before she would have readily accepted it but now...her heart didn't belong to Mick anymore. No, she found someone who made her skin tingle and her heart race.
"She had reminded me of you but no one could compare to you Gabrielle. Beth has such a beautiful smile, she walks so confidently and she's so stubborn," he gave a short chuckle as Gabrielle smiled softly to him, "even when I warned her to stay away she continued to move forward to me," Mick smiled remembering the first time they kissed. The smell of her was so over whelming to him, he could still smell it now.
His eyes snapped open to stare deeply into Gabrielle's, "I love her. I really do love her," Gabrielle nodded with a wide smile on her face. "But..."
Gabrielle slowly reached across the table and held Mick's hand. Her fingers locked across his palm and she gave it a squeeze, "You may have befriended her because she reminded you of me but...you felt a strong connection to her and continued to see her and slowly you really did forget about me and fell in love with her" she tried to explain for her confused friend to see clearly.
Mick sighed feeling so tired from his emotional rollercoaster. He knew she was right but somewhere in his un-beating heart he didn't want to let Gabrielle go because they had memories that he knows Beth would not be able to replace. They had been together far too long for him to forget her and replace those sweet memories with him and Beth. He still loved Gabrielle but whether it was as a friend or lover, only time can tell now.
"I'm sorry Gabrielle," Mick apologised as Gabrielle smiled and nodded accepting it, "I...you're right, I was confused with my feelings but...I still love you," she gave his hand another squeeze.
"I know and I love you Mick but I don't love you like a lover, you know that right?" Mick smiled sadly and nodded. He knew that for a long time now but refused to believe it. "And you know that even if you love Beth, it doesn't mean I wouldn't be in your life. You're my best friend Mick, I'll always be here for you," she confessed smiling and rubbing her thumb across his palm to comfort him.
Mick gave a nervous chuckle, "I know now. I've been denying the fact that I am in love with Beth because I didn't want to believe that you didn't hold my heart anymore," Mick stared into those beautiful chocolate eyes almost like his last time of seeing them, "I know I'm selfish...I wanted you and I wanted Beth and that's unfair for Beth because she doesn't know...about what really happened with us," Gabrielle froze but Mick ignored that and continued, "And I will tell her the truth, everything about us, about what's going on and how much I really love her and not you,"
Somehow Gabrielle hoped what he just said to her wasn't really something he was saying to make himself believe. She hoped that it was what he really felt. "Good...you'll always be my best friend Mick," she added and emphasised that that was all he would play in her life now. Their moment was over, long over.
"I know just like I'll always love you," she nodded hesitantly but Mick continued to smile. A huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. His feelings more clear. He understood now. He didn't love Gabrielle like he was in love with Beth. He had just wanted to hold the thought of loving Gabrielle in his mind because they had so much together. He was in love with Beth now. He had to tell Beth the truth; the reason why he was hesitate in their relationship besides the fact that he hated his vampiric self.
Gabrielle's phone rang breaking whatever thoughts the two friends had. She smiled apologetically at Mick glancing at the caller quickly to see it was Josef and her cheeks flush as her grin widened. Mick felt saddened by the fact his friend's heart began to beat faster, "Josef's calling," and then he understood, he finally noticed the same signs that she had when they were dating – engaged, the way her eyes lit up when she said Josef's name but he couldn't go back down that lane.
No...it's the past now he tried to willed his mind to Beth and it worked for a few seconds before Gabrielle's laughter broke his concentration. Beth...he thought picturing her face and smile in his head and he smiled. The sadness he felt before lifted away slowly. Because now he knew who he was in love with and because now, he had Beth to heal his heart and make new memories that would go along with the memories he had with Gabrielle. Happy memories. Memories he would always remember and knew she would too.
Review Response:
artemidouia: Thanks for the review! Hope this chapter is to your liking. :)