D is for Darkness
Title: D is for Darkness
Fandom: Pretty Little Liars
Characters: Jenna, Garrett. Mentions of Ian, Jason, Alison, Toby, Aria, Hanna, Spencer, Emily.
Pairings: Jenna/Garrett.
Warnings: Spoilers for S3
Rating: PG
Summary: Written for the A-Z challenge at 1_million_words. Jenna reflects on the darkness that has become her world since the explosion that blinded her; Garrett reflects that the darkness has spread to her personality.
In Jenna’s dreams, she could usually see again. It could be something mundane, just walking through the corridors at Rosewood High. Sometimes, she’d imagine herself at her pottery wheel. Sometimes, she’d see Toby’s face, or her mother’s, or those of her friends. Mostly, she imagined the smirk being wiped off the faces of Alison’s posse.
There was so much that Jenna had taken for granted before she lost her sight; the views from her window, the faces of her friends (and yes, the look on Toby’s face as she threatened him), and her artistic talent. She’d tried to stay positive for her friends at Kristen August, but it was so much harder when she was on her own.
For a few moments, when Jenna had signed up for the pottery class, she felt almost able to pretend that she could see again. But if anything, it made it so much harder for her, participating in art activities while knowing that there was every chance that she would never be able to see her own creations again. (And even more so the day she finally talked about how she felt so frustrated taking part in the activity she had loved so much and yet still being unable to see it, thinking she was talking to someone she didn’t know, only to find out that of all people, she’d just poured her heart out to Aria, one of the bitches responsible for her losing her sight.)
She had to believe that this operation was going to work, that her sight would be restored to her. Jenna would finally be able to see the artworks she would go on to create, to see her family and friends’ faces again.
And maybe one day she’d really see the smiles wiped off Aria, Hanna, Spencer and Emily’s faces, too.
Garrett still remembered the first time he ever saw Jenna Marshall at Eric and Noel Kahn’s Halloween party. He’d been surprised to find out that she was Toby Cavanaugh’s new stepsister and one of Noel’s friends - he’d thought she looked old enough to be one of Eric’s. He had to admire her nerve, taking on Alison DiLaurentis like that. Even from his vantage point as both a neighbour of Alison and her group and as a friend of her brother Jason, he knew she was the queen bee of Rosewood and someone most people didn’t dare cross. There was clearly something about Jenna.
He hadn’t expected her to be interested in him, and had been surprised when she made it clear that she wanted them to get together. She could have had her pick of any of the guys in her grade. Besides, Garrett was so much older than her. Even Ian had made a couple of comments about the age difference, and with Ian’s history, that was saying something.
The day he’d first seen Jenna in the hospital after the explosion that blinded her, he had been so angry that this had happened to her that if Alison DiLaurentis had walked into the room then, he could have snapped her neck with his bare hands. Her friends, not so much; he knew that Alison had been the ringleader, as she always was. When Jenna had first stated that she wanted to kill Alison, Garrett understood, but when time had passed and she still kept saying it, he had initially tried to argue with her. Focusing on Ali wasn’t the way to handle things. And to be seriously considering wanting Garrett to take someone’s life? Alison was a bitch, and Garrett would have done anything for Jenna.
Almost anything. But not that.
He’d wanted to become a police officer for as long as he could remember, to bring criminals to justice. But that wasn’t the right sort of justice that Alison deserved. Why was Jenna going along with blaming Toby, knowing that Alison was responsible? She could get justice by telling the truth. And if Garrett acted on Jenna’s wishes, he would be betraying himself as well as his badge. Jenna was supposed to love Garrett, and yet she was trying to force him into this action. Garrett remembered a half heard argument between Jenna and Toby once, where Toby had yelled something at Jenna about forcing people into things they didn’t want to do. Jenna had made a joke of the argument at the time, and Garrett had chosen to accept that, but now he wondered whether he should have gone after Toby, tried to find out what he had meant. However, he now thought he was starting to understand.
Jenna spoke a lot about the darkness that had become her world ever since the explosion. Garrett had started to wonder whether the darkness had spread to her personality. The Jenna he had originally fallen in love with would never have wanted him to take a life for her, he was sure of it. That was why he had had to take the hockey stick from her, so that Jenna wouldn’t take Alison’s life and cause her personality to become even darker.
When he was arrested for Alison’s murder, Garrett came to start questioning whether he was in fact the blind one in the relationship, for not having seen Jenna’s true nature before, or at least not having faced up to it. He may have been in the darkest place he had ever been in, but the scales were starting to fall from his eyes.
Fandom: Pretty Little Liars
Characters: Jenna, Garrett. Mentions of Ian, Jason, Alison, Toby, Aria, Hanna, Spencer, Emily.
Pairings: Jenna/Garrett.
Warnings: Spoilers for S3
Rating: PG
Summary: Written for the A-Z challenge at 1_million_words. Jenna reflects on the darkness that has become her world since the explosion that blinded her; Garrett reflects that the darkness has spread to her personality.
In Jenna’s dreams, she could usually see again. It could be something mundane, just walking through the corridors at Rosewood High. Sometimes, she’d imagine herself at her pottery wheel. Sometimes, she’d see Toby’s face, or her mother’s, or those of her friends. Mostly, she imagined the smirk being wiped off the faces of Alison’s posse.
There was so much that Jenna had taken for granted before she lost her sight; the views from her window, the faces of her friends (and yes, the look on Toby’s face as she threatened him), and her artistic talent. She’d tried to stay positive for her friends at Kristen August, but it was so much harder when she was on her own.
For a few moments, when Jenna had signed up for the pottery class, she felt almost able to pretend that she could see again. But if anything, it made it so much harder for her, participating in art activities while knowing that there was every chance that she would never be able to see her own creations again. (And even more so the day she finally talked about how she felt so frustrated taking part in the activity she had loved so much and yet still being unable to see it, thinking she was talking to someone she didn’t know, only to find out that of all people, she’d just poured her heart out to Aria, one of the bitches responsible for her losing her sight.)
She had to believe that this operation was going to work, that her sight would be restored to her. Jenna would finally be able to see the artworks she would go on to create, to see her family and friends’ faces again.
And maybe one day she’d really see the smiles wiped off Aria, Hanna, Spencer and Emily’s faces, too.
Garrett still remembered the first time he ever saw Jenna Marshall at Eric and Noel Kahn’s Halloween party. He’d been surprised to find out that she was Toby Cavanaugh’s new stepsister and one of Noel’s friends - he’d thought she looked old enough to be one of Eric’s. He had to admire her nerve, taking on Alison DiLaurentis like that. Even from his vantage point as both a neighbour of Alison and her group and as a friend of her brother Jason, he knew she was the queen bee of Rosewood and someone most people didn’t dare cross. There was clearly something about Jenna.
He hadn’t expected her to be interested in him, and had been surprised when she made it clear that she wanted them to get together. She could have had her pick of any of the guys in her grade. Besides, Garrett was so much older than her. Even Ian had made a couple of comments about the age difference, and with Ian’s history, that was saying something.
The day he’d first seen Jenna in the hospital after the explosion that blinded her, he had been so angry that this had happened to her that if Alison DiLaurentis had walked into the room then, he could have snapped her neck with his bare hands. Her friends, not so much; he knew that Alison had been the ringleader, as she always was. When Jenna had first stated that she wanted to kill Alison, Garrett understood, but when time had passed and she still kept saying it, he had initially tried to argue with her. Focusing on Ali wasn’t the way to handle things. And to be seriously considering wanting Garrett to take someone’s life? Alison was a bitch, and Garrett would have done anything for Jenna.
Almost anything. But not that.
He’d wanted to become a police officer for as long as he could remember, to bring criminals to justice. But that wasn’t the right sort of justice that Alison deserved. Why was Jenna going along with blaming Toby, knowing that Alison was responsible? She could get justice by telling the truth. And if Garrett acted on Jenna’s wishes, he would be betraying himself as well as his badge. Jenna was supposed to love Garrett, and yet she was trying to force him into this action. Garrett remembered a half heard argument between Jenna and Toby once, where Toby had yelled something at Jenna about forcing people into things they didn’t want to do. Jenna had made a joke of the argument at the time, and Garrett had chosen to accept that, but now he wondered whether he should have gone after Toby, tried to find out what he had meant. However, he now thought he was starting to understand.
Jenna spoke a lot about the darkness that had become her world ever since the explosion. Garrett had started to wonder whether the darkness had spread to her personality. The Jenna he had originally fallen in love with would never have wanted him to take a life for her, he was sure of it. That was why he had had to take the hockey stick from her, so that Jenna wouldn’t take Alison’s life and cause her personality to become even darker.
When he was arrested for Alison’s murder, Garrett came to start questioning whether he was in fact the blind one in the relationship, for not having seen Jenna’s true nature before, or at least not having faced up to it. He may have been in the darkest place he had ever been in, but the scales were starting to fall from his eyes.