Fic from 30_nights
Prompts from 30_nights.
1. Telling you the truth
Jason hated telling the truth. It tended to be more serious, more boring, than a lie. He could fabricate the biggest stories, making everyone around him believe every word, hang on everything that he was saying, but when he told the truth, people walked away.
Perhaps that was what kept him lying over the years.
If people stayed, it was because he was interesting. If they left? It was because he lied. There was no middle ground, no way of getting hurt by being rejected. He didn't even give anyone the option of taking the truth and using it against him.
So when he started being serious with Natalie... it was a bigger deal for him than he'd ever let on. Slowly, he stopped lying to her, unless he was trying to entertain her. And when he finally told her the biggest truth of his life, he knew that he would be opening himself to be crushed.
He didn't care.
'I love you.'
2. I will never hurt you
He knew that she wouldn't believe him, no matter how many times that he told her that he wouldn't hurt her. She was too closed off, too... walled. She didn't want to open up and let people in, even though he'd come closer than most anyone else.
He knew that, and he continued to tell her.
But one day?
He stopped saying it. He didn't need to repeat it, not when she wasn't really hearing it anymore. Slowly, he kept chipping away at her, no longer trying to prove that he wouldn't hurt her. He just stayed there, by her side, comforting her when she needed it, laughing with her when there was an amusing moment.
There was only so much skepticism that he could take. It had been a while... some would say forever... and she still didn't believe it. Not in any real way. Sure, she said that she believed him, that he wouldn't hurt her, but he could see it in her eyes. She didn't think that he would stay, and it took everything in him to not prove her right. There were times when he thought that it would be better if he left, if he proved her theory about people right.
Most of the time, though, he knew that he had to show her. He would be the one.
And sixty years later, when he was still there; when she was laying on her death bed -- he leaned over, taking hold of her hand and smiling that oh-so-familiar smile. Even with how much time had passed, he couldn't contain his words. "I told you I would never hurt you."
Her faint grin was the only reply that he needed.
1. Telling you the truth
Jason hated telling the truth. It tended to be more serious, more boring, than a lie. He could fabricate the biggest stories, making everyone around him believe every word, hang on everything that he was saying, but when he told the truth, people walked away.
Perhaps that was what kept him lying over the years.
If people stayed, it was because he was interesting. If they left? It was because he lied. There was no middle ground, no way of getting hurt by being rejected. He didn't even give anyone the option of taking the truth and using it against him.
So when he started being serious with Natalie... it was a bigger deal for him than he'd ever let on. Slowly, he stopped lying to her, unless he was trying to entertain her. And when he finally told her the biggest truth of his life, he knew that he would be opening himself to be crushed.
He didn't care.
'I love you.'
2. I will never hurt you
He knew that she wouldn't believe him, no matter how many times that he told her that he wouldn't hurt her. She was too closed off, too... walled. She didn't want to open up and let people in, even though he'd come closer than most anyone else.
He knew that, and he continued to tell her.
But one day?
He stopped saying it. He didn't need to repeat it, not when she wasn't really hearing it anymore. Slowly, he kept chipping away at her, no longer trying to prove that he wouldn't hurt her. He just stayed there, by her side, comforting her when she needed it, laughing with her when there was an amusing moment.
There was only so much skepticism that he could take. It had been a while... some would say forever... and she still didn't believe it. Not in any real way. Sure, she said that she believed him, that he wouldn't hurt her, but he could see it in her eyes. She didn't think that he would stay, and it took everything in him to not prove her right. There were times when he thought that it would be better if he left, if he proved her theory about people right.
Most of the time, though, he knew that he had to show her. He would be the one.
And sixty years later, when he was still there; when she was laying on her death bed -- he leaned over, taking hold of her hand and smiling that oh-so-familiar smile. Even with how much time had passed, he couldn't contain his words. "I told you I would never hurt you."
Her faint grin was the only reply that he needed.