Thread: What Might Have Been (AndNich123 & Reydan)

'He's better,' she thoughts. The way his feet embraced the music. It was in his veins now. The music had found a way to touch him, to aid in his movements, to show him how to dance. She always knew he had the capacity for this. Charles had opened his heart and let her in. With dancing, he just had to open his mind. Of course, practicing played a big role as well, and she had been more than happy to be his teacher. It was easier to learn when you trusted your teacher, and when your teacher could show you the beauty in the music. Charles had always been the beauty in the music for her. The love he gave her was the true beauty. It lit up everything it touched and burned hot. He was the flame she was able to touch. His love was the beauty she could hold and feel. Even amid the stares from those on the dance floor, she could begin to feel that flame sparking to life once more. It was there, at that moment. The years of being apart, the years of living with the decision she had made, seemed to melt away, landing at their feet, giving them....a second chance? They were weightless, floating through this space, holding on to one another. He lifted her up, and she felt even higher. She was afraid she wouldn't find her feet, and even if she did, she feared her legs wouldn't support her. Charles had that effect on her. He always did. At that moment, she wondered if she ever told him. Perhaps she was about to ask him. She wasn't sure, but something was pushing her lips to part and to speak to him, though she had no idea what she would say. Something was there, begging to come out, begging to be heard, but Maddy couldn't even begin to know what. It's strange. Normally a person is in control of what they say, but it was as if she were waiting, wanting, to be surprised by what was going to come out of her mouth. It all came to a halt when he turned and left. The air changed. The mood changed. He changed. She looked around at all the stares that were now crystal clear. They had been looking the entire time. They must have been. She just didn't notice. Maddy could feel her heart racing. The people on the dancefloor suddenly were too close. Joe's was far too small. Suddenly the soft whispers that she hadn't heard before were becoming a roaring noise she couldn't ignore. Maddy moved, taking the same path he took and fled through the door she flung open. That's when she saw him. He spoke. It was the words she had feared from the second she had seen him. For the first time since the crash, she feared something more than those memories that had plagued her. She stepped closer to him, still unsure about how to answer his question. Her eyes looked off in the distance, towards a familiar place. Though it was dark, and they couldn't see it, she knew it was there. It was a good walk away from where they were. They had spent time there years ago. The sweetest apples you'll ever find, she said a hint of a smile in her words. You remember that place. Everybody else had to pay, but for some reason, he took a shine to us. He'd let us pick all we wanted, and that's his slogan on the sign. The sweetest apples you'll ever find. I remember that one summer we had a bushel of apples picked, and we were ready to leave. I was gonna bake you an apple pie. Homemade. As we were leaving, you saw this one apple. It was up way too high for us to reach. I told you to forget it, but you just had to have it. You climbed up into the tree, and I told you you were too old for that. I laughed and joked with you to get down, but you wouldn't listen. You kept climbing until you had it in your grasp. Unfortunately that when you fell out of the tree too, she laughed. You hit the ground so hard. I was scared you were hurt. All you wanted was that one apple because you thought it was the best one, and you wanted the best one for me. Do you remember that she asked, still not moving her gaze. I saw an apple, or at least I thought I did. This town, these people, it's all so small Charles. I was being suffocated here, and I thought there was so much more out there to see and do. I had to find out. I had to get out, and I knew if I saw you, I'd never go. There was no way I was going to see you on our wedding day and still be able to leave. I loved you so much that I would have given up everything if I had seen you. So I ran, like a coward, without saying anything, but I never got away from you. You followed me. You are in my heart, my blood, my very being. I have pictures of you all over my apartment. I always have a picture of you with me..when I..when I fly. I take you with me everywhere I go. When that plane was going down..you..you were all I could think of. If I just live through this..I wanna go back..I wanna go back and see him one more time. I wanna set things right. I wanna tell him why I left. I wanna see..him. I wanna see if it's still there. I wanna see if he still makes my heart beat like it's going to come out of my chest. I wanna see if he still makes the entire world go away when he looks at me. I wanna see Charles, my Charles. I had to. She wiped away a tear, one of many that had started to fall. I had to see you, Charles. I had to tell you why. You deserved that. I'm not looking for forgiveness. I don't deserve it. You've already given me far more than I deserve. You're a better person than I'll ever be or ever was. You're the apple I should have been trying to grab all along. She wanted to stay there, but Maddy wasn't sure exactly what more to say. So she turned and began to walk in the direction of the apple trees, of the orchard that she knew was off in the distance. It would be a long walk, but it would be comforting. Of course, it made more sense to get in her car and drive there, but Maddy needed the quiet and she needed to peace the walk would give. Realizing she was about to leave him without telling him everything, Maddy stopped in her tracks. She had barely taken a few steps. I'll be leaving soon. Now that you know the truth, I don't want to be a constant reminder to you. So I'll go. She wanted to tell him she didn't want to go. She wanted to rush up to him and throw her arms around him, but Maddy wanted to be respectful of his emotions, of his feelings. That was something she should have done years ago instead of fleeing like the coward she was.