Ficlet: She's Not (PG-13) Duncan
Title: She's Not
Author: Alpinesun
Pairing/Character: Duncan
Word Count: 396
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Duncan reflects on his daughter
Spoilers: General up through 2x22
She's not Lilly.
She’s not broken yet, like his first Lilly. She’s hasn’t drunk a packed room under the table yet, hasn’t felt the burn of alcohol down her delicate throat and suffered from the subsequent lapses in judgment. His new Lilly hasn’t made out with every boy in a room just to catch the attention of one.
Her eyes sparkle with mischief, the good kind, he tells himself. He doesn’t ask her what she does when she hangs out with those two blond friends of hers. He doesn’t question her when he smells smoke in her hair or the scent of whiskey on her breath. She’s just fourteen. He tells himself that the baggies of white powder he found in her bag are eyeshadow. He won’t ask.
That boy down the street stares at her a lot. He should probably learn that kid’s name at some point. He tries not to notice the intensity of the kid’s gaze. It reminds him too much of Logan staring at Lilly, at Veronica. The kid even looks a bit like Logan, tall and dark and broody. He looks like trouble. Duncan doesn’t know what his own daughter looks like, can’t bring himself to look her in the eye.
His daughter won’t be like Lilly, like Veronica. She won’t be like her mother either, six feet under at seventeen. She’ll be his baby forever; forever innocent, forever pure, sacrosanct, untouchable. His Lilly won’t know pain or heartbreak, won’t understand what it feels like when your whole world falls apart. She’ll grow up sweet, shy. She’d bore her namesake to tears.
He isn’t surprised when he finds her by the poolside. He isn’t surprised at how pale she looks in the moonlight, at how like a broken porcelain doll she is. He is surprised when he looks down and sees her, truly looks at her for the first time in her short life. He barely notices the blood and ignores the glassiness of her eyes. Her hair is long and golden, with little curls forming at the ends, like Veronica’s. Her eyes are a light sky blue studded with gold, like Meg’s. Her cheeks are rosy, like Lilly’s, and her countenance blank, like his. Her face is surprisingly peaceful.
He breathes for the first time in sixteen years. He feels relief. It had been a long sixteen years of waiting.
Author: Alpinesun
Pairing/Character: Duncan
Word Count: 396
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Duncan reflects on his daughter
Spoilers: General up through 2x22
She's not Lilly.
She’s not broken yet, like his first Lilly. She’s hasn’t drunk a packed room under the table yet, hasn’t felt the burn of alcohol down her delicate throat and suffered from the subsequent lapses in judgment. His new Lilly hasn’t made out with every boy in a room just to catch the attention of one.
Her eyes sparkle with mischief, the good kind, he tells himself. He doesn’t ask her what she does when she hangs out with those two blond friends of hers. He doesn’t question her when he smells smoke in her hair or the scent of whiskey on her breath. She’s just fourteen. He tells himself that the baggies of white powder he found in her bag are eyeshadow. He won’t ask.
That boy down the street stares at her a lot. He should probably learn that kid’s name at some point. He tries not to notice the intensity of the kid’s gaze. It reminds him too much of Logan staring at Lilly, at Veronica. The kid even looks a bit like Logan, tall and dark and broody. He looks like trouble. Duncan doesn’t know what his own daughter looks like, can’t bring himself to look her in the eye.
His daughter won’t be like Lilly, like Veronica. She won’t be like her mother either, six feet under at seventeen. She’ll be his baby forever; forever innocent, forever pure, sacrosanct, untouchable. His Lilly won’t know pain or heartbreak, won’t understand what it feels like when your whole world falls apart. She’ll grow up sweet, shy. She’d bore her namesake to tears.
He isn’t surprised when he finds her by the poolside. He isn’t surprised at how pale she looks in the moonlight, at how like a broken porcelain doll she is. He is surprised when he looks down and sees her, truly looks at her for the first time in her short life. He barely notices the blood and ignores the glassiness of her eyes. Her hair is long and golden, with little curls forming at the ends, like Veronica’s. Her eyes are a light sky blue studded with gold, like Meg’s. Her cheeks are rosy, like Lilly’s, and her countenance blank, like his. Her face is surprisingly peaceful.
He breathes for the first time in sixteen years. He feels relief. It had been a long sixteen years of waiting.