Fic: Fractured Fairytale (GH, Audrey, Lanaverse)
Title: Fractured Fairytale
Author: empressearwig
Prompt: 16 - Heartache
Pairing/Character(s): Audrey, Audrey/Morgan
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Any character first appearing on GH does not belong to me. All original characters do.
Word Count: 1512
Spoilers/Warnings: Part of the Lanaverse series.
Summary: Audrey's heart had always belonged to Morgan.
Author's Notes: Written for theechochorus.
Audrey’s heart had always belonged to Morgan.
One of her first memories was falling and skinning her knees while chasing after her brothers and their friends. Cameron, Jake, and Spencer had all ignored her, because they hadn’t wanted her tagging along after them in the first place, but Morgan hadn’t treated her like a nuisance. Morgan had dried her tears and taken her back to her nanny, and held her hand while her knees were clean and bandaged.
She’d fallen headlong in love with him that day, and she’d never quite gotten over it.
Of course, falling for a boy that was very nearly family, and that was considerably older to boot, was sure to end in disaster, but Audrey didn’t care.
She was a princess, and every princess deserved a knight in shining armor.
Morgan was hers.
*
As she grew older, the crush didn’t diminish like everyone in her family had thought it would.
Her brothers would tease her about how tongue tied she got when Morgan came over for dinner or to spend the night. Her father would make noises about she wasn’t allowed to notice boys until she was in her thirties or he was shipping her off to a convent.
Only her mother seemed to understand. She’d tell the boys to leave her alone, and when she tucked Audrey in at night, she’d tell her stories about how when she was a girl she’d had a hero of her very own.
When Audrey would ask for stories about him, her mother would dissemble and say that it was something Audrey could learn about when she got older.
Audrey was tired of waiting to get older.
*
When Audrey was thirteen, Lila Alcazar moved to Port Charles.
Even though her brothers and their friends and girlfriends mostly still treated her like a tagalong, they let things slip around her that they wouldn’t have a few years before. Audrey and Ella discussed it all in fervent whispers, desperate to be a part of the group older than them, but still mostly lumped with the babies.
Audrey knew from overhearing Lana and Molly that Lila had flirted unrepentantly with Jake when they first met, and that Lana hated her as a result. Molly didn’t seem to mind her as much, but as in so many things, it seemed to be what Lana thought that mattered. She’d heard Kristina and Spencer talking about games, and though she didn’t understand all of it, Kristina seemed to be warning Spencer that he was going to get hurt.
And then there was Morgan. Whenever she saw Morgan and Lila together, she’d watch them carefully, trying to understand. She saw Morgan stare at Lila with amusement and affection and something that she couldn’t quite identify, but she knew it was different than the way she’d ever seen him look at another girl.
It made Audrey want to be Lila.
She wanted Morgan to look at her like that.
*
That summer changed everything.
Spencer went off to Oxford, and other than rare visits, he showed no indication in ever coming back. Lila stayed in Port Charles for her senior year of high school, much to her very evident dismay. And Morgan, he went back to New York for college as planned, but with one major difference.
For the first time, he actually had a girlfriend.
Audrey tried not to let it bother her. After all, it wasn’t as though she’d ever had a real chance with him.
But that was when Audrey decided she needed to grow up. She wasn’t going to be the annoying little sister any longer. She was going to be an adult.
And in the back of her mind was the persistent belief that someday, when she grew up, Morgan was going to be hers.
She hadn’t held on for that long to lose.
*
Of course it was impossible to jump from being thirteen to actual adulthood, but Audrey did what she could to hasten the process.
She let her mother sign her up for the deportment classes and ballroom dance lessons that she’d sworn she’d never take. She started to experiment with clothes and makeup, learning that the simple, classic elegance of her mother’s style suited her best, and made her look older to boot.
Audrey was all about looking older.
She started begging for permission to go to the country club dances that she’d had no interest in a year before, practicing her flirting with her brother’s friends and sons of her father’s business associates. She pled with her mother for permission to make a formal debut into society, and her mother, so grateful at the about face, had the grace not to remind her that she’d professed to anyone that would listen that such practices were archaic and anti-feminist.
She still thought that, but she was competing with a debutante, and she’d be damned if it wasn’t going to be on a level playing field.
*
The day that Morgan’s engagement to Lila was announced, Audrey cried herself to sleep.
The next morning, she announced to her parents that she’d be moving to Paris for college.
It wasn’t like she hadn’t been considering the possibility anyway. Her parents had thought about shipping her off to a European finishing school for her senior year, but she’d persuaded them to let her stay. No matter how painful it was to watch Morgan with Lila, to see someone else in the spot she knew she belonged, she hadn’t been able to leave.
But this, him actually marrying someone else, that was something different.
She might be a glutton for punishment, but that didn’t mean she was a total masochist. Even she had her limits.
So off to Paris she went.
At her going away party, she’d danced with Morgan, putting the years of ballroom dance classes to good use. They’d chatted about inane topics, him telling her about the joys of college and the horrors of dormitories. She’d nodded, pretending she was listening to every word, but really she was trying to memorize the sensation of being in his arms, knowing it might never happen again.
When the dance ended, he brushed his lips across her cheek and wished her farewell, before retreating to the edge of the dance floor, to his waiting fiancée.
Her father swept her into his arms, demanding to know how she was enjoying her party and wanting to know if it was too late to talk her out of leaving him.
She answered and smiled and played dutiful daughter, but all she could think about was the feel of his lips that was still burning on her skin.
She carried that kiss with her for the next three years.
*
Two months later, Morgan married Lila.
Audrey didn’t attend.
She made the excuse that she was stuck in classes, that she couldn’t get away, but the truth of it was that she couldn’t stand to watch.
She didn’t care if it made her weak.
*
Almost three years later, Audrey came home to chaos.
The news had finally broken that Spencer and Lila had been having an affair. Audrey had suspected for years, of course, but she’d never outright asked. She didn’t really want to have that kind of information. She didn’t want to know the one thing that could totally shatter Morgan’s happiness.
Janessa, Spencer’s wife, had immediately fled back to England with their newborn daughter, Tatiana. Spencer was fighting her on that, but since he and Lila were being flagrant in their open couplehood, it wasn’t exactly going well. Neither of their divorces was even final, yet they were living together, and Spencer’s ring had replaced Morgan’s on Lila’s finger. Morgan had shut himself up in Greystone, and wasn’t allowing anyone inside.
Audrey had no hopes that he’d actually see her, but she had to try.
One afternoon, she pushed her way through the walls and past the guards and shoved her way into the great room, the room that she remembered now, had been so full of light and happiness the night they’d celebrated Morgan and Lila’s engagement.
A glass of scotch within easy reach, Morgan was sprawled out in a chair, looking unseeingly at a portrait of Lila that hung over the fireplace.
Standing in the doorway, Audrey said simply, “Morgan.”
He looked at her in confusion, not understanding what she was doing there or how she’d even gotten past the people he was paying to keep everyone out.
“Morgan,” she repeated, coming to kneel next to his chair, pushing the glass further away.
He blinked. “What are you doing here?”
“Helping you.”
He snorted. “I’m beyond that.”
She shook her head. “No, you’re not.” She reached up a hand to stroke his cheek. “Let me help you.”
His hand caught hers, holding it fast against his cheek. “Why?”
“Because I don’t know how to do anything else.”
He nodded, still holding onto her hand.
For the moment, it was enough.
Sometimes the princess was the one that did the rescuing.
Author: empressearwig
Prompt: 16 - Heartache
Pairing/Character(s): Audrey, Audrey/Morgan
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Any character first appearing on GH does not belong to me. All original characters do.
Word Count: 1512
Spoilers/Warnings: Part of the Lanaverse series.
Summary: Audrey's heart had always belonged to Morgan.
Author's Notes: Written for theechochorus.
Audrey’s heart had always belonged to Morgan.
One of her first memories was falling and skinning her knees while chasing after her brothers and their friends. Cameron, Jake, and Spencer had all ignored her, because they hadn’t wanted her tagging along after them in the first place, but Morgan hadn’t treated her like a nuisance. Morgan had dried her tears and taken her back to her nanny, and held her hand while her knees were clean and bandaged.
She’d fallen headlong in love with him that day, and she’d never quite gotten over it.
Of course, falling for a boy that was very nearly family, and that was considerably older to boot, was sure to end in disaster, but Audrey didn’t care.
She was a princess, and every princess deserved a knight in shining armor.
Morgan was hers.
*
As she grew older, the crush didn’t diminish like everyone in her family had thought it would.
Her brothers would tease her about how tongue tied she got when Morgan came over for dinner or to spend the night. Her father would make noises about she wasn’t allowed to notice boys until she was in her thirties or he was shipping her off to a convent.
Only her mother seemed to understand. She’d tell the boys to leave her alone, and when she tucked Audrey in at night, she’d tell her stories about how when she was a girl she’d had a hero of her very own.
When Audrey would ask for stories about him, her mother would dissemble and say that it was something Audrey could learn about when she got older.
Audrey was tired of waiting to get older.
*
When Audrey was thirteen, Lila Alcazar moved to Port Charles.
Even though her brothers and their friends and girlfriends mostly still treated her like a tagalong, they let things slip around her that they wouldn’t have a few years before. Audrey and Ella discussed it all in fervent whispers, desperate to be a part of the group older than them, but still mostly lumped with the babies.
Audrey knew from overhearing Lana and Molly that Lila had flirted unrepentantly with Jake when they first met, and that Lana hated her as a result. Molly didn’t seem to mind her as much, but as in so many things, it seemed to be what Lana thought that mattered. She’d heard Kristina and Spencer talking about games, and though she didn’t understand all of it, Kristina seemed to be warning Spencer that he was going to get hurt.
And then there was Morgan. Whenever she saw Morgan and Lila together, she’d watch them carefully, trying to understand. She saw Morgan stare at Lila with amusement and affection and something that she couldn’t quite identify, but she knew it was different than the way she’d ever seen him look at another girl.
It made Audrey want to be Lila.
She wanted Morgan to look at her like that.
*
That summer changed everything.
Spencer went off to Oxford, and other than rare visits, he showed no indication in ever coming back. Lila stayed in Port Charles for her senior year of high school, much to her very evident dismay. And Morgan, he went back to New York for college as planned, but with one major difference.
For the first time, he actually had a girlfriend.
Audrey tried not to let it bother her. After all, it wasn’t as though she’d ever had a real chance with him.
But that was when Audrey decided she needed to grow up. She wasn’t going to be the annoying little sister any longer. She was going to be an adult.
And in the back of her mind was the persistent belief that someday, when she grew up, Morgan was going to be hers.
She hadn’t held on for that long to lose.
*
Of course it was impossible to jump from being thirteen to actual adulthood, but Audrey did what she could to hasten the process.
She let her mother sign her up for the deportment classes and ballroom dance lessons that she’d sworn she’d never take. She started to experiment with clothes and makeup, learning that the simple, classic elegance of her mother’s style suited her best, and made her look older to boot.
Audrey was all about looking older.
She started begging for permission to go to the country club dances that she’d had no interest in a year before, practicing her flirting with her brother’s friends and sons of her father’s business associates. She pled with her mother for permission to make a formal debut into society, and her mother, so grateful at the about face, had the grace not to remind her that she’d professed to anyone that would listen that such practices were archaic and anti-feminist.
She still thought that, but she was competing with a debutante, and she’d be damned if it wasn’t going to be on a level playing field.
*
The day that Morgan’s engagement to Lila was announced, Audrey cried herself to sleep.
The next morning, she announced to her parents that she’d be moving to Paris for college.
It wasn’t like she hadn’t been considering the possibility anyway. Her parents had thought about shipping her off to a European finishing school for her senior year, but she’d persuaded them to let her stay. No matter how painful it was to watch Morgan with Lila, to see someone else in the spot she knew she belonged, she hadn’t been able to leave.
But this, him actually marrying someone else, that was something different.
She might be a glutton for punishment, but that didn’t mean she was a total masochist. Even she had her limits.
So off to Paris she went.
At her going away party, she’d danced with Morgan, putting the years of ballroom dance classes to good use. They’d chatted about inane topics, him telling her about the joys of college and the horrors of dormitories. She’d nodded, pretending she was listening to every word, but really she was trying to memorize the sensation of being in his arms, knowing it might never happen again.
When the dance ended, he brushed his lips across her cheek and wished her farewell, before retreating to the edge of the dance floor, to his waiting fiancée.
Her father swept her into his arms, demanding to know how she was enjoying her party and wanting to know if it was too late to talk her out of leaving him.
She answered and smiled and played dutiful daughter, but all she could think about was the feel of his lips that was still burning on her skin.
She carried that kiss with her for the next three years.
*
Two months later, Morgan married Lila.
Audrey didn’t attend.
She made the excuse that she was stuck in classes, that she couldn’t get away, but the truth of it was that she couldn’t stand to watch.
She didn’t care if it made her weak.
*
Almost three years later, Audrey came home to chaos.
The news had finally broken that Spencer and Lila had been having an affair. Audrey had suspected for years, of course, but she’d never outright asked. She didn’t really want to have that kind of information. She didn’t want to know the one thing that could totally shatter Morgan’s happiness.
Janessa, Spencer’s wife, had immediately fled back to England with their newborn daughter, Tatiana. Spencer was fighting her on that, but since he and Lila were being flagrant in their open couplehood, it wasn’t exactly going well. Neither of their divorces was even final, yet they were living together, and Spencer’s ring had replaced Morgan’s on Lila’s finger. Morgan had shut himself up in Greystone, and wasn’t allowing anyone inside.
Audrey had no hopes that he’d actually see her, but she had to try.
One afternoon, she pushed her way through the walls and past the guards and shoved her way into the great room, the room that she remembered now, had been so full of light and happiness the night they’d celebrated Morgan and Lila’s engagement.
A glass of scotch within easy reach, Morgan was sprawled out in a chair, looking unseeingly at a portrait of Lila that hung over the fireplace.
Standing in the doorway, Audrey said simply, “Morgan.”
He looked at her in confusion, not understanding what she was doing there or how she’d even gotten past the people he was paying to keep everyone out.
“Morgan,” she repeated, coming to kneel next to his chair, pushing the glass further away.
He blinked. “What are you doing here?”
“Helping you.”
He snorted. “I’m beyond that.”
She shook her head. “No, you’re not.” She reached up a hand to stroke his cheek. “Let me help you.”
His hand caught hers, holding it fast against his cheek. “Why?”
“Because I don’t know how to do anything else.”
He nodded, still holding onto her hand.
For the moment, it was enough.
Sometimes the princess was the one that did the rescuing.