5I'm Sorry, Angel
Two-Shot
Seth / OC + Werewolf
Genres: Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, etc.
Of course it had to come to an end. Good things always do. It just angered her that it had come to this. He barely spoke to her anymore, and scarcely kissed her. He didn't touch her at all, especially in public. He kept his distance, and it was irritating her. She tried to fix it—she had, at first, pretended not to notice his drifting away, and only stuck by him closer. It didn't work. If anything, it made him retreat more quickly. She had to confront him. It was obvious. Not that she hated confrontations—but she did not like how this one would end, for she knew how it would end.
Thus she had made up her mind to confront him. When and where, she did not know, but she would. She just needed the most opportune time, with the least amount of witnesses possible. Finally, one day, when she went over to his house and, for once, no one else was home, she decided to confront him. They were sitting on the couch in front of the television, but he sitting on the other end, as far from her as possible. Alexia couldn't take it anymore.
"Okay, what's the matter with you?" she demanded, jumping to her feet and crossing her arms. Seth, startled, looked pained for a moment. Alexia walked over to the TV, turned it off, and stood in front of him, a scowl on her face and her dark eyes fixed in a hard stare.
"What are you—"
"Don't give me that!" she interrupted. The silence was nerve-wracking. With every second, she felt her resolve threatened, and she knew that it was getting hard to stay strong when Seth's handsome face was watching her sadly. Alex closed her eyes and shook her head. "I want to know why."
"Why what?" His reply was quiet, but it aggravated Alex.
"Why you ignore me, your girlfriend," she hissed, and saw him wince. "Why you even bother trying to keep up the façade of us dating when, clearly, you don't like me anymore!"
"Lexi…"
"No! You're going to hear this! I've spent the past few weeks in pain because I couldn't figure out what was wrong with you! I couldn't figure out what I did to make you start avoiding me! I thought we were okay, Seth—why were you distancing from me? Why did you not even want to kiss me or hug me or—"
In one swift movement, Seth reached for Alexia and pressed his lips to hers. Before he knew what was happening, he wrapped his arms around her waist and her fingers threaded in his hair, tugging softly. She parted her lips to him and their tongues met and fought for dominance.
And then Seth realized what he was doing.
He pulled away as delicately as possible, their forehead pressed together. His eyes were dark, and Alexia was flushed. Seth closed his eyes, thinking, I hope he doesn't kill me.
"Don't ever think…that I don't want you…" Seth whispered, opening his eyes, staring into hers. He felt the heavy pain in his heart that he'd carried around all month only grow heavier.
"…then why, Seth?" Alexia murmured, her eyes glistening with the start of tears. Seth felt a pang of guilt for having hurt her so much.
"Alexia…" She frowned. "Lexi, I'm so sorry." I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry I'm not good enough for you. I'm sorry you're not mine. The apologies ticked on, one by one, in his head.
"I just need to know why." Seth sighed. He moved away from her and, seeing her distress at the action, took her hands as she sat near him on the sofa.
"You know that I'm a werewolf, right?"
"Hard to forget." Alexia didn't like where this was going. He'd told her he was a werewolf a month ago. In fact, it was around that time that he started distancing from her…
"Well…"
"Well, what, Seth?"
"I'm so sorry." He dropped his head.
"For?"
"I'm sorry…but I'm not meant to be yours."
"…what?" It was as if there was cotton in her ears. Alexia could almost hear the sound of her heart shattering. In seconds, she was frantic again. She clutched his hands tighter. "No…no! Seth, you're not breaking up with me… You still love me, don't you? I told you, long ago, that you should only break up with me when you didn't love me anymore… Anything else, Seth, we can work through!"
"You don't understand." He raised his head to look at her, and reached up to wipe a stray tear from her cheeks, to brush strands of brown hair behind her ears. "I love you. I loved you ever since we became friends on the playground in elementary, when you called the teacher after I fell out of the tree. I remember thinking you were some kind of angel." They both gave a tiny smile at the memory. "I love you, Angel."
Alex grinned. He hadn't called her that for a long while now… Maybe there was a chance. Maybe they could stay together. She intertwined her fingers with his. The action, though, seemed to snap Seth out of it. His smile—which he was known for—faded yet again.
"I love you, Angel…" he said softly, "…but we can't be together."
It took a second to register what he had said. Seth was avoiding looking at her. She felt her heart squeezed and maimed—
"Seth, please!" Tears were threatening to overflow. "Seth, I love you, we can work past whatever it is!"
"No…we can't."
"Seth…"
"Angel… Alexia, I'm sorry." Alex threw her arms around his shoulders and clung to him desperately. Seth instinctively wrapped his arms around her protectively, rubbing her back soothingly, but then he remembered—she wasn't his. With a broken heart, he removed her from his person, only being able to watch helplessly as she cried in front of him, heartbroken.
"Why, Seth?" she asked in between sobs.
"Because…" Seth glanced to the windows in the living room, as if expecting to see someone there. "There's someone better for you than me. There's someone that could make you happier."
"Seth," Alex started, wiping at her eyes, "all I want is you. I don't want anyone else."
"As much as it kills me to say this, I know you'll love—whoever it is—more than you could ever love me."
"Seth…"
"Please, Alexia?" Seth felt his own tears start to overflow, and he looked away from her pleading eyes. "I…will always love you. In some way. But we're not right for each other. I'm just sorry that I had to hurt you so much."
"Seth—"
"Just—just go." Alex inhaled sharply. This was it. There was nothing more she could do. They were breaking up. Not only were they breaking up, but they wouldn't be best friends anymore. That was possibly what pained Alex the most. If she couldn't save their relationship, she had to at least try to save their friendship.
"Seth…can I just…" Seth glanced at her hesitantly. Alexia pressed her lips to his, one last time. Seth tasted her salty tears. He poured all of his love, his frustration, and his helplessness into the kiss, and she hers. And then they parted. Alex pressed her fingertips to his lips. "…I guess that's the end of it…isn't it?"
In a moment, they both felt as if they were little kids again. Alex wrapped her arms around Seth's shoulders and laid her head on his chest, and he hugged her comfortingly. They both knew it was over. They both knew it would never be the same between them again. They were mourning for both the loss of a relationship and a friendship, and trying to comfort each other at the last moment.
Alexia realized she couldn't stay any longer. She broke the embrace and gingerly moved away from the couch. At the door, she glanced back at Seth, watching her with barely suppressed agony. She bit her lip.
"Seth…" She offered a smile. "We'll still be friends one day, won't we?"
Seth made no motion for a short moment. Then a smile spread over his features. It was nowhere near his famous, sunny grin, but he was healing.
"One day."
Alexia nodded, and, the weight on her heart easing the slightest, she left the Clearwater residence, still smiling through her flowing tears.
She didn't know where she was going; she just knew she needed to walk. She found herself at First Beach sometime later. Cloudy though the day might have been, it had gotten brighter by now. Alexia found herself sitting at a large log, staring out at the ocean waves. All the memories of her and Seth seemed so far away. Her heart was tired. She felt at peace here, remembering the decade's worth of memories with Seth. Alexia was certain she would have her best friend back, some day. Maybe not now, for the wounds were too fresh, and maybe not this month or this year. But one day.
"What are you doing here all by yourself?"
Alexia looked over her shoulder and up at a tall, tan, boy she remembered seeing once at a bonfire she went to with Seth. She felt a bit ashamed that she couldn't remember his name.
"Nothing much," she replied, gazing back toward the waves. She felt a warmth beside her.
"If you say so," he said, smiling. "Nice day, isn't it? Actually sunny for once."
"Yeah, and without the pale-faces from Forks here to ruin it." Alexia grinned as he chuckled.
"There's that, too. Barely anyone here." He held out his hand. "Brady Fuller, at your service."
Alexia shook his hand. "Alexia Littlesea." Brady quirked an eyebrow.
"Littlesea? Like Collin?"
"Yeah. Collin's my cousin. Never see him much, though."
"I'm sure you'll see him more often," Brady said, a crooked grin in place. "He's my best friend."
"Oh, and what makes you so sure I'd want to hang out with you?" she teased.
"Because I'm amazing, of course. And amazing people have to hang out with other amazing people."
With a smile, Alexia rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Brady, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."
"I'm counting on it."
Seth stared out the window, watching as Alexia walked down the road and out of sight. He dropped his head into his hands, feeling the stings of heartbreak and loneliness. He wished he didn't have to hurt her. He wished that she hadn't become his girlfriend, ever, because if they were just best friends, they wouldn't be in this situation. But they were, and now they weren't friends anymore.
One day.
Some day, they'd be friends again. For now, all Seth could do was wait.
"At least she's happy now…" he whispered aloud. Seth placed a hand on his wrist—there, a wristband, one that Alexia had made him by braiding leather strips. It had been too big for his wrist when he was younger, but now it fit him perfectly. It was a bittersweet reminder of his first love, his first best friend. But Seth smiled. He would be her friend. Not now. Some day, they would be best friends again.
Seth toyed with the leather wristband, smiling at the inscription. "Best Friends Forever," it'd said. And on the other side, "I Love You, Sethy! ~ Lexi". It brought a tear to his eye.
I'm sorry, Angel, he thought. I'm sorry I messed up our relationship by falling in love with you. I'm sorry I fell from the tree. I'm sorry I broke your heart. He ran a hand through his hair. Most of all… I'm sorry I wasn't the one who imprinted on you.