Fairytale

Just wanted to share something I wrote in the little bit of time I can squeeze out when I'm not writing my novel. It was my and a friend's 10 month "friendaversary" and I wrote this for him. Kudos to anyone who can guess what other story of mine he was in.

~

Once upon a time there was a girl, quiet and distant as the moon, just wandering her way through high school. It was like being in a dark room – feel your way until you figure out what’s going on. Sometimes you get hurt on things you didn’t know were there, sometimes you found things that ended up changed your life.


Finding him was one of those things that turned her world upside down. He was a sun, shining and surrounded by those orbiting planets. She couldn’t get close. Being a moon, being surrounded by the stars that were cold and distant, it was hard to get close to the warmth.

For he was always surrounded, always protected by a barrier of people she couldn’t get the courage to go talk to. Those that scorned her, those that wrote her off as a nerd or “one of those stupid emo people”

There were the common threads that drew their orbits closer though. Rowing in the river, something neither one had control over, it connected the two. Things were rocky at first, but it was one of those ‘opposites attract’ situations. (Even though some days were worse on about twenty different levels).

Things progressed. Days faded into nights, sometimes making it hard to tell when one became the other. They spent more time together, in and out of the boat. Soon they didn’t need the planets or stars hanging around, should things explode. Soon they knew they could exist in the same space without consequences.

When the moon fell for the sun, the days had grown warmer. They spent as much time together as possible, and just maybe he was falling for her too. Days were spent wandering around, sitting in the swing and talking about life and all its mysteries. Time spent by just being together, tracing life lines and holding just holding on.

She left for the briefest of times, and in her absence the sun imploded. Did something stupid, causing the moon to wane and hide within herself and her words. Forced her into covering the pain to make it all work out.

Things got worse before they got better. For a long while, the moon was bitter and hated the things the sun had done. Hated how it ruined their chance, since they only seemed to get one. She shed many a tear, covered the world in fierce moonlit rainstorms.

Little by little, though, she let the sun back into her life. Let his warmth shine in, illuminating her world and showing her what she was missing out on when she hid in a corner and read. Introduced her to people and programs she would have been far too shy to have found on her own.

He helped her grow. She over came so many fears just by talking through them with him. Through their late night conversations, she learned just as much about herself as she learned about him. Even though he denies it, sometimes she thinks she sees a side of him he doesn’t normally show people. A side that makes her feel all warm and fuzzy inside when she sees it. The person she fell for in the first place.

And it breaks her heart every time.

Oh, she knows that everything in the past is gone and done with, but she can’t help it. He’s the very closest and best friend she’s got, and it would kill her to lose him like she thought she had before. She guards her heart now, jaded by love, but she doesn’t want him to go through that. Because she’s so protective, none of the girls he parades in front of her measure up.

None of them are me, she can’t stop herself from thinking, though it won’t do any good for either of them.

The truth of the matter is, the lines are blurred sometimes with them. The sun goes off and doesn’t talk to her for days, then can’t stop telling her how much he loves her the next. She doesn’t mind, has gotten used to these ups and downs – something, she reasons, any sun has the right to do, being so warm. Everything must have it’s time to relax, take off the mask – but some days are harder to deal with than others.

There are so many things, though, that she wishes she would have been bold enough to do. Seized those moments she knew he wanted to kiss her, gone for it instead of waiting for him to make the move. Been more assertive and told him exactly what she thought. Shouldn’t have second-guessed her feelings and her ethics.

In the here and now, though, the moon is genuinely content and happy. Who better to have in your life, she reasons, than this person? He’s amazing, and always there when you need him. In short, how could you not want him in your life?

They have known each other not even a full lunar year, but she feels as if it’s been millennia longer. He knows her more than anyone else. Sometimes it scares her, to think that someone can guess her actions and motives before she even knows them herself, but it’s a nice thing sometimes too.

Simply put, the moon would do anything to protect the sun. She would stand in front of the bullet, protect him against others, even as he yelled at her to “Get out of the way, stupid!”

It works both ways. She wears her heart on her sleeve and loves with every last inch of it. Not surprisingly, it scares people off. It nearly scared him off. So he acts as an older brother, a bodyguard. A guy starts to like her? He has a nice little conversation with them about what happens if they hurt her in any way, shape or form.
She’s never felt more loved or more protected. Never felt safer. Never felt that she had someone not inside her family that could care this much.
And she loves it.
It helps her through her darkest hours, lets her know she’s not alone in this cold universe. Though he has his days – he is a Sun, after all, and prone to those ups and downs – she knows he loves her just as much as she loves him. There’s an unspoken agreement that he’s just not as good about expressing it as she is.
She used to think that she wanted and needed this more than he did, but she’s starting to change her mind. He can seem cold-hearted and distant, but she knows when he just needs some time alone and then he’ll be fine.