Choose Me

Disclaimer: I don't own I Am Number 4, and neither do I own Aqualung's "Strange and Beautiful" Thanks for the inspiration.

Mark James gazed at Sarah Hart as she sat on the grass bank, doodling on her sketch pad. Her beautiful blonde hair fell over her face, like a golden cascade. He longed to reach out and touch it. As if sensing his gaze on her, Sarah turned around and smiled at him. And her smile, that dazzling smile, was the most beautiful thing in the world to him.

After the trauma they'd gone through, being hunted by aliens from another world, the destruction of the school by the Mogadorians, the death of Henri and lastly, John Smith leaving to pursue his destiny, they had formed a tentative friendship. It was not how it used to be when they were dating but it was a reaching out, of sorts. What they'd gone through had bonded them. Just not the way he'd like the bond to be…Sarah insisted that she loved John and John had promised he'd be back for her, however long it would take, as Loriens only loved once, and she, Sarah, was the girl he had given his heart and soul to. So, this was how it was with them, they were together, facing the future and yet, not together.

Mark often felt like raging at Sarah, to scream at her and tell her that she was the one for him and he was her one and only. He'd never got over their breakup and that had led to his obsessive behavior towards her, as he'd once told her during the regretful pseudo abduction incident at the Spring Festival, she was a problem for him. He was the king of the school, the town even, everyone knew who he was, and everyone wanted to be with him. He had girls throwing themselves at him and yet he only wanted her. And she was pining away for an alien who might never even return. And therein lay the gist of the problem. Mark lived in hope that in time, if he was by her side and John never returned, Sarah would choose him because for him, no one could replace her. She was his love for all time.

But as for now, he felt like he was watching her world from afar, he'd been trying to be where she was; all the while he was secretly falling apart unseen. To him, Sarah was both strange and beautiful, and he knew that she was perfect with him but Sarah just couldn't see it. Mark often wished that he had some magical powers or some form of arcane knowledge where he could put a spell on her. Sarah would be sleeping beauty and when he'd wake her up, he, Mark James, will be the first thing she sees. And Sarah Hart would realize that she loves him.