Passionfruit 25
Author: sunsetsinthewes
Challenge: Passionfruit 25. But we loved with a love that was more than love - Edgar Allan Poe
Word Count: 315
Rating: PG
Story: _____; the title of this story is Love Dies.
Summary: Years later, long after their last parting, they meet-- and it's too late.
Notes: Still in chronological order. This takes place long after everything else I've so far posted for this canon. This should be the last omg vague one. Also, it may be difficult to see, but those handy underscores in my story title link to everything I've written in this canon.
***
"You look ill. Tired." He speaks with clipped, guarded precision.
Her reply is slow coming. "I expect that I do."
"For heaven's sake--"
"No," she concedes, and his argument chokes in his throat. "You're right. That wasn't fair of me."
He simply nods, and time stretches on.
"Did you know him?"
"That was a long time ago."
"Not for me."
Aghast, he cries, "I didn't mean--"
"No. You never do, do you?" Sighing, she nervously smooths the line of her skirt, and a flicker of movement in her hand betrays her tremble. "When I agreed to this meeting, this talk, I thought-- I don't know what I thought. It wasn't this. Look, we tried, we can at least say we tried, but this clearly isn't working. We're just kidding ourselves. And haven't we done enough damage already?" She stands. "I must say, this has been most illuminating. Now if you'll excuse me--"
"I hate when you talk like that. It's so condescending and transparent," he snarls, regretting the words instantly.
For a long time-- too long-- there's nothing but silence. When she finally speaks, it's with eerie calm, a detached, inhuman quality to her voice.
"He would have killed me."
He looks away, eyesight blurring as he whispers, "I know."
"I-I think you would have let him."
"What?!?" Staring in horror, he struggles to find the words to protest. "No, never! I couldn't--"
"I think you would have," she repeats. "You would have fought it and it would have destroyed you, sure, but I think you would have." There's nothing he can say to that. "'When love dies, hate is born.'"
Desperately clutching at straws, he pleads, "I do love you."
"Yes." Her murmur is soft, barely audible, and she hovers a hand over the door knob. "But that stopped being enough a long time ago, didn't it?"
She's gone before he can answer.
***
Challenge: Passionfruit 25. But we loved with a love that was more than love - Edgar Allan Poe
Word Count: 315
Rating: PG
Story: _____; the title of this story is Love Dies.
Summary: Years later, long after their last parting, they meet-- and it's too late.
Notes: Still in chronological order. This takes place long after everything else I've so far posted for this canon. This should be the last omg vague one. Also, it may be difficult to see, but those handy underscores in my story title link to everything I've written in this canon.
***
"You look ill. Tired." He speaks with clipped, guarded precision.
Her reply is slow coming. "I expect that I do."
"For heaven's sake--"
"No," she concedes, and his argument chokes in his throat. "You're right. That wasn't fair of me."
He simply nods, and time stretches on.
"Did you know him?"
"That was a long time ago."
"Not for me."
Aghast, he cries, "I didn't mean--"
"No. You never do, do you?" Sighing, she nervously smooths the line of her skirt, and a flicker of movement in her hand betrays her tremble. "When I agreed to this meeting, this talk, I thought-- I don't know what I thought. It wasn't this. Look, we tried, we can at least say we tried, but this clearly isn't working. We're just kidding ourselves. And haven't we done enough damage already?" She stands. "I must say, this has been most illuminating. Now if you'll excuse me--"
"I hate when you talk like that. It's so condescending and transparent," he snarls, regretting the words instantly.
For a long time-- too long-- there's nothing but silence. When she finally speaks, it's with eerie calm, a detached, inhuman quality to her voice.
"He would have killed me."
He looks away, eyesight blurring as he whispers, "I know."
"I-I think you would have let him."
"What?!?" Staring in horror, he struggles to find the words to protest. "No, never! I couldn't--"
"I think you would have," she repeats. "You would have fought it and it would have destroyed you, sure, but I think you would have." There's nothing he can say to that. "'When love dies, hate is born.'"
Desperately clutching at straws, he pleads, "I do love you."
"Yes." Her murmur is soft, barely audible, and she hovers a hand over the door knob. "But that stopped being enough a long time ago, didn't it?"
She's gone before he can answer.
***