Author's note: I apologize for not having updated this story in a while. I've just been busy with the holidays and rushing around to get all my Christmas shopping done and over with! Life is hectic, but bear with me, because I love this story and want to do the characters justice! I own none of the characters, nor the locations mentioned. I only wish I did.
~oOoOoOo~
Cordelia sat at the edge of her mattress, a grimace plastered upon her face. The pain medication that she had received from the hospital did little to ease the pain of her burns, but it could do little to alleviate her emotional turmoil. Each morning, her mother had waltzed in Cordelia's bedroom to help her up and to get her in the shower and get dressed. And each morning, Cordelia was reminded of the strain that existed in her relationship with Fiona.
Fiona was trying. Cordelia could see that... a poor choice of words... but nonetheless. She knew that Fiona was trying to make up for the times that she had been absent in Cordelia's life, but it wasn't as easy as it sounded.
After being away from her mother for so long, only seeing her when she occasionally popped back in to see the progress that was being made in the Academy, Cordelia had been accustomed to thinking that she didn't have a mother. The only mother figure in her life had been Myrtle, and she too had been ripped out of Cordelia's life.
The people that Cordelia cared about had a nasty habit of doing just that-walking out of her life when she needed them the most. First, Fiona. Cordelia's mother had dropped her off on Myrtle's doorstep the day she turned eighteen, and drove off before Myrtle had even stepped foot outside. Fiona didn't care then, she didn't care now. Her actions were out of guilt, not love.
Then came Hank, the love of Cordelia's life. She had always regarded Hank as though he hung the moon and the stars in the sky, but she was blind to his ways. It was ironic, really. She was blind then, and she was blind now-but now, in her absence of sight, she could finally see. It was a clarity that Cordelia had never experienced before. It was a clarity that frightened her, a clarity that made her week in the knees.
Hank proved to be much like Fiona. Birds of a feather flocked together, but Fiona had despised Hank from the moment she first laid eyes on her. Time and time again, she had pulled Cordelia aside, begging her not to agree to marry Hank. Most times, Fiona was ballsy enough to say it in front of Hank. Fiona was a bitch, but regardless, mother knows best.
Now, she was without Myrtle-the one woman that had actually cared about Cordelia's wellbeing. The one person that wanted to see Cordelia succeed. To Fiona, Cordelia was nothing more than a pawn. A burden. Something to be passed off to the next individual, like an ugly Christmas sweater. Now, Cordelia certainly felt ugly. She couldn't see her own reflection in the mirror. Most of the time, she couldn't even say with certainty whether or not she was actually standing in front of a mirror, but the stares of the girls, Fiona included, burned her face hotter than any sulfuric acid ever had.
Cordelia was disfigured. Useless. Ugly.
She knew what the people around her were thinking, but today would be the day. Today would be the day that Cordelia would lose it, and break down crying. She didn't care who saw it, or who heard it. She was tired of fighting. Tired of living. And most of all, tired of being treated as though she couldn't fend for herself. Cordelia was raised to be a fighter. She had been fighting for her life for as long as she could remember, but none of that matter. Not a single bit of it mattered now.
Like a daily routine, Cordelia heard Fiona's pumps falling against the wooden floor, reverberating within the Academy's corridors. She turned the door and flicked on the lights, but it mattered not. Cordelia couldn't see to complain about the light on her tender eyes.
"Delia..."
Fiona's tone was hesitant, as if she feared startling her, but she continued after she was certain she had Cordelia's attention.
"We've got to get you up. The doctor ordered bed rest for a week. Do you remember that?" Fiona's head tilted to the side, trying her best to sound affectionate, and swallowing her pride.
Cordelia's head whipped to face Fiona, or so, she thought. In truth, she didn't know where she was looking. She could have been staring at the wall for all she knew.
"Now I'm blind and forgetful, huh? Woe is me," Cordelia spat, her words articulated with venom, intended to hurt Fiona's feelings. Indeed, it had proved to be successful. Cordelia thought she would have felt satisfied at hearing her mother's muffled cry, but she didn't. If anything, she only felt worse. Cordelia considered apologizing to her mother, but she didn't feel like talking anymore. She only wanted to get through her morning routine.
Eventually, Fiona came closer, realizing that, talking to her beautiful Delia would do no good. The girl was stubborn, just about as stubborn as Fiona was, if not more. Fiona grasped Cordelia's wrist and helped her to get off the bed, risking her own secrets to aid her daughter.
Fortunately, Cordelia hadn't seen anything this time. Fiona was counting her lucky stars. She knew she had secrets buried, secrets that could tear Cordelia's very soul apart. She didn't want to inflict that kind of pain on her daughter. She'd already done enough in the past. Fiona didn't toss that acid on her daughter's face, but she sure as hell felt as though she had.
Together, the two walked to Cordelia's shower. Her daughter was a private woman. Her pride was too strong to allow her mother to see her nude. When Cordelia nodded her head as a signal for Fiona to depart the room and stand just outside the door, Fiona did, but first, she reminded Cordelia that she'd be just outside should she need any help.
"Let me know if you need anything. I'll be here," Fiona spoke, closing the bathroom door behind her.
Now, as Fiona heard the water turn on and her daughter step into the shower, she cried. She cried harder than she had ever cried. She screwed up with Cordelia, and she wasn't sure what she could do to make up for it, but she would try.
Not only did she owe it to herself, but to her daughter. Her beautiful daughter. Even covered in burns and scars, Cordelia was gorgeous, in Fiona's eyes. The image of perfection.
If only Cordelia knew it.
~oOoOoOo~
Let me know what you think! I really have enjoyed writing this story, and would love to continue it. Leave some suggestions for me if you'd like to see me write something else into the story!
