The Crossing (PROLOGUE)
Jan. 18th, 2022 06:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shellstepTitle: The Crossing
Author:shellstep
Pairing: Belldom
Rating: Mature.
WARNINGS: None.
Summary: I’m always happy for Matt. That’s just how it is – bittersweet, heartsick, pathetic, tragically happy.
Disclaimer:I don't own Muse.
Author’s note: Well, after a long long break (years), I decided to start writing again in this lovely fandom. This has actually been in the works for quite some time. Hope you enjoy this (tiny) introduction! Find me on AO3 - shellstep.
Friendships are more fragile than relationships. Not that we have one. A relationship, I mean. Friends are friends and lovers are lovers – there’s just no in-between.
Or at least that’s what Matt believes in.
He believes our friendship is as solid as a brick and unchangeable throughout the years. He believes it can’t get any stronger, despite the ups and downs it has suffered.
I believe it only remains this tight because I’m always the one closing the gaps and ultimately giving and giving to preserve this pristine quality of our bond. Yet, he never notices it. Never has. And I hope he never will.
*
Jess sits across from me at Chris and Kelly’s dinner table, decorated with gold, red and white. There’s food for a family of twelve but I can only nibble at some potatoes and hope I’m not seeming too impolite. Jess stares at me with her brow slightly furrowed and I shrug, averting her gaze. Outside of my bubble, Chris, Kelly, the kids, Matt and Gaia all smile at each other, eyes bright and echoes of silverware tinkling like proper Christmas bells. On my right side, I’m sure I hear Matt sighing and his efforts to keep up with the festivities wavering – a fork held with less conviction, two fingers scratching at his neck where it meets his bright red sweater and finally his knees trembling anxiously under the table, sometimes rubbing imperceptibly against my own. I feel sweaty and look past one curtainless window, focusing on a snowflake that slowly descends, its ends sharp and glowing, but ultimately blown away by the wind and substituted by other snowflakes.
Chris raises his glass filled with golden wine and with a wide smile, begins a long toast. Frankie sits on Kelly’s lap with the cutest laugh leaving his lips whenever he catches someone looking his way. Gaia flashes a meaningful look at Matt, I pretend not to notice and Matt strokes her fingers over the table.
“He’s the sweetest guy I’ve ever met. It’s like he’s adorable but not in the overcompensating kind of captivating. He just is. I can’t get enough of him.” Gaia told me a few weeks after she met Matt in Italy. That was six years ago.
That’s when I notice the elegant silver ring on her right hand. My vision is unfocussed for a second and when it adjusts again, all I can see is its irradiating circle of diamond.
Chris has finished his speech and there are rosy cheeks all around the table. How jolly! I love Christmas. But not this year.
Matt coughs. This usually means he’s going to deliver whatever news has been brewing in his mind for who knows how long.
“I’d just like to take the opportunity – seeing as we’re all here and feeling warm and welcomed and…” Matt gulps and smiles slightly. “…and announce – Gaia and I – we wanna announce our engagement.”
Kelly squeals in delight (I hope she hasn’t choked on her wine), Chris whispers (not so quietly) “I knew it”, Gaia raises her right hand, and it hovers over the table, fingers dancing rapidly as if she’s typing on some invisible keyboard, Jess purrs and takes Gaia’s hand in her own, inspecting the ring with worship and I smile a tiny bit.
I’m always happy for Matt. That’s just how it is – bittersweet, heartsick, pathetic, tragically happy.
Author:
shellstepPairing: Belldom
Rating: Mature.
WARNINGS: None.
Summary: I’m always happy for Matt. That’s just how it is – bittersweet, heartsick, pathetic, tragically happy.
Disclaimer:I don't own Muse.
Author’s note: Well, after a long long break (years), I decided to start writing again in this lovely fandom. This has actually been in the works for quite some time. Hope you enjoy this (tiny) introduction! Find me on AO3 - shellstep.
Friendships are more fragile than relationships. Not that we have one. A relationship, I mean. Friends are friends and lovers are lovers – there’s just no in-between.
Or at least that’s what Matt believes in.
He believes our friendship is as solid as a brick and unchangeable throughout the years. He believes it can’t get any stronger, despite the ups and downs it has suffered.
I believe it only remains this tight because I’m always the one closing the gaps and ultimately giving and giving to preserve this pristine quality of our bond. Yet, he never notices it. Never has. And I hope he never will.
*
Jess sits across from me at Chris and Kelly’s dinner table, decorated with gold, red and white. There’s food for a family of twelve but I can only nibble at some potatoes and hope I’m not seeming too impolite. Jess stares at me with her brow slightly furrowed and I shrug, averting her gaze. Outside of my bubble, Chris, Kelly, the kids, Matt and Gaia all smile at each other, eyes bright and echoes of silverware tinkling like proper Christmas bells. On my right side, I’m sure I hear Matt sighing and his efforts to keep up with the festivities wavering – a fork held with less conviction, two fingers scratching at his neck where it meets his bright red sweater and finally his knees trembling anxiously under the table, sometimes rubbing imperceptibly against my own. I feel sweaty and look past one curtainless window, focusing on a snowflake that slowly descends, its ends sharp and glowing, but ultimately blown away by the wind and substituted by other snowflakes.
Chris raises his glass filled with golden wine and with a wide smile, begins a long toast. Frankie sits on Kelly’s lap with the cutest laugh leaving his lips whenever he catches someone looking his way. Gaia flashes a meaningful look at Matt, I pretend not to notice and Matt strokes her fingers over the table.
“He’s the sweetest guy I’ve ever met. It’s like he’s adorable but not in the overcompensating kind of captivating. He just is. I can’t get enough of him.” Gaia told me a few weeks after she met Matt in Italy. That was six years ago.
That’s when I notice the elegant silver ring on her right hand. My vision is unfocussed for a second and when it adjusts again, all I can see is its irradiating circle of diamond.
Chris has finished his speech and there are rosy cheeks all around the table. How jolly! I love Christmas. But not this year.
Matt coughs. This usually means he’s going to deliver whatever news has been brewing in his mind for who knows how long.
“I’d just like to take the opportunity – seeing as we’re all here and feeling warm and welcomed and…” Matt gulps and smiles slightly. “…and announce – Gaia and I – we wanna announce our engagement.”
Kelly squeals in delight (I hope she hasn’t choked on her wine), Chris whispers (not so quietly) “I knew it”, Gaia raises her right hand, and it hovers over the table, fingers dancing rapidly as if she’s typing on some invisible keyboard, Jess purrs and takes Gaia’s hand in her own, inspecting the ring with worship and I smile a tiny bit.
I’m always happy for Matt. That’s just how it is – bittersweet, heartsick, pathetic, tragically happy.
