geena: (Default)
Geena ([personal profile] geena) wrote in [community profile] rainbowfic2012-03-17 10:27 pm

Heart Gold 25

Author: [personal profile] geena
Color: Heart Gold 25. You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly. - Sam Keen
Styles and Supplies: Stain (The follies which a man regrets most, in his life, are those which he didn't commit when he had the opportunity. -Helen Rowland), beading wire (this photo)
Word Count: 468
Rating: G
Story: _____; the title of this story is In Union.
Summary: He comes to her wedding, to her surprise.

***

She marries in the dead of winter. There’s something meaningful to that, she knows, but she doesn’t allow herself to investigate that thought too closely.

The ceremony is small, just a handful of people they know. Her mother makes an appearance, and she’s surprised to find out how much that simple fact means to her. Her father doesn’t show and she pretends that doesn’t hurt.

The justice of the peace is a older man, a man with white hair at his temples and kind eyes. He smiles at her, asking her a few last minute questions, and the soft cadence of his voice lulls away her remaining fears and nerves, until it’s all she can do to stop herself from pouring her heart out to this stranger that acts like he cares.

They say their vows. They kiss.

In the corner of her eyes she sees him make his exit through the double doors in back.

It takes a few minutes to extract herself from the sudden onslaught of well wishes and teary-eyed hugs. Murmuring a half-excuse to her groom, she hurries out of the suddenly claustrophobic room and into the halls of the courthouse.

“Wait!” A fit of panic rises as he reaches the staircase. “Please, wait!” The echo of her cries bounces between them.

He pauses without turning around, one hand on the railing.

Lifting her skirt, she flies toward him, feet pounding on the smooth marble floor, until she’s skidding to a stop a mere foot away. “Please, I--” Now that she’s here, now that she’s so close she can touch him, the words won’t come.

“I’m sorry.” She doesn’t catch this at first, his whisper so soft. “I shouldn’t have come. I’ll leave.”

“No!” Sure of the fact that she wants him to stay, sure of it more than she’s been sure of anything in this world, she reaches a tentative hand out. The feel of his arm beneath her fingers is like coming home. “Stay. I want you to stay.”

“I don’t think I should.” He still has his back to her, his posture unusually rigid. “I just wanted...”

She clears her throat, prompting, “Wanted?”

At this, he turns in one slow, deliberate movement. Locking his gaze with hers, the sight of those familiar eyes bore into her. “I wanted to know if you were happy.”

She doesn’t know how to answer that.

“Honey?” They wince at the sudden intrusion, turning as one. “Honey, what are you doing? We’re all waiting for you.”

“Just a minute.” Her grip on his arm tightens. “Please stay.”

“I can’t,” he says, low enough that only she can hear. “I’m sorry.” Wrenching free, he hurries down the stairs and disappears out of sight.

With a heavy heart she sighs and makes her way back to her obligations.

***
bookblather: A picture of Yomiko Readman looking at books with the text "bookgasm." (Default)

[personal profile] bookblather 2012-03-18 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, ow. I mean, I'm very glad that her life got better, because it seems like she's at least not unhappy, but there's this sense of something broken forever, irretrivable. Well done.
subluxate: Sophia Bush leaning against a piano (Default)

[personal profile] subluxate 2012-03-18 04:06 am (UTC)(link)
Like Kat said, there's this sense of brokenness, even though she's happy now. Good job.
kay_brooke: Side view of a laptop with text "Being an author is like being in charge of your own personal insane asylum" (writing quote)

[personal profile] kay_brooke 2012-03-18 06:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, the sadness in this piece. There's such a sense of regret and missed opportunities. I do hope she is happy with her husband, though, no matter what happened in the past.
clare_dragonfly: woman with green feathery wings, text: stories last longer: but only by becoming only stories (Silly: wut is your wishes)

[personal profile] clare_dragonfly 2012-03-20 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
Oh... it's so hard that she doesn't know how to answer whether she's happy. I hope she figures it out and that she is.
sarcasticsra: A picture of a rat snuggling a teeny teddy bear. (Default)

[personal profile] sarcasticsra 2012-03-21 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
This is definitely bittersweet, and that comes across so clearly. I feel bad for them both, with the weight of all that history. Well done.
shipwreck_light: (Default)

[personal profile] shipwreck_light 2012-03-25 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
This story really FEELS like winter too. The curious rushing around when there's supposed to be so still. It has such fantastic atmosphere, especially for being so small! But, you do rule at that and such :D.