The Bearer of Bad News

She burst into tears as he aproached her. She couldn't say anything. What could she say? "Alex, I.... I..."

He touched her arm. "Door...believe me when I say that I love you more than anything...and that there is nothing I can do. I've tried. But there's no way out of this."

She gazed at him, blue eyes full of hurt. Instinctively jerking away when he touched her she shook her head. "...Why don't I believe that, Alexander?" Without waiting for an answer, she turned heel and ran full-tilt back home, blinded by stinging, burning tears...

Alexander watched her go, hand still mid-air. He let it drop, staring after her, heart aching.

A moment passed, and he turned and started trudging back home.

[[...What of Thatch...? XD]]


----------

Aislin glanced out the window. "...Is Door...crying?" she gasped, standing.

Thatch twitched and ended up spilling the game everywhere. "What!?" Getting to his feet, he nearly broke down the door in his effort to open it. "Door!? WHat's wrong? What happened? ...Where's Alex?" The last question held a twinge of suspicion.

Door just shook her head and hugged Thatch as tight as she could. "He's.... he's--"

Aislin shrunk away from the door so she wouldn't get nailed with it.

Ariel blinked questioningly at Tremor.

[[[[[[...Sadistic, but I love this...]]]]]]

{{ I know. }}

Thatch peeled Door's arms from around his waist. "Woah, hold on. Slow down. What. Happened?"

Door took deep shuddering breaths, trying to calm herself. "He's--ohh..." She wiped her face and steadied her sobs. "He's--he's getting married!"

Thatch gaped as his sister crumbled into tears again. "He... what?"

Tremor blinked, jaw hanging open. "No..."

The twins did that weird thing where they have the same expression and yell something at the same time without intending to.

"He's getting WHAT?!"

----

Alex sighed as he shuffled slowly down the paths. He tried not to cry, but he was pretty sure he'd just ruined his life.

{{Thatch: Oh, can I?? Can I, pleeeease??

*holds door open*

Thatch: Yessss!! *dashes out*}}


"No...," Thatch echoed, shaking his head. "He can't be! He values life too much to--" He grabbed Door's shoulders gently and stared at her. "He IS?"

She sobbed, nodding.

Thatch looked at Tremor, who shook his head in horror.

"I--I'll be right back," Thatch said softly, squeezing Door's shoulder. Get hersomething to drink, Trem? Please?" He walked out the door--

--And was gone.

Aislin took Door by the arm. "C'mere. Sit down, okay?"

Ariel pulled out a chair.

"Now, what happened?" she asked.

Door sat, trying to calm her sobs. "He--he..."

Tremor came from the kitchen with a glass of water, handing it to Door. "Here," he said softly.

The water helped, and Door steadied herself. "He said he'd been engaged to someone else," she began, feeling the tears well up again.

-------------------

Thatch could really move, when he felt like it. And boy, did he feel like it. He'd caught up with Alex in no time, and tapped on his shoulder. Once. With great self-control.

"'Scuse me, Mr. Vanderpuye?"

Alex froze at the sound of Thatch's voice. This wasn't going to end well...

He started to turn. "Thatch, I can explai--"

-------

Aislin scowled, deeply. "Oh, he has, has he? Well, here's to hoping Thatch gives him a good thrashing."

Ariel blinked, confused. "...Wait, what? But he...?"

AT other moments, Thatch would've paused to say something clever; something like, "Face, meet fist," or "Let me introduce you to a friend of mine," or something along those lines. But not this time.

This time, Door was involved. And there was nothing funny about that.

He slammed his fist into Alex's stomach, then his face, not caring what he hit as long as he hit something. Rubbing his knuckles, he stared disdainfully down at the older boy. "Yeah, you can explain. You're going to explain to me why you just stepped all over my sister's heart."

--------------------

Door blinked sadly at Ariel. "I don't know," she whispered, voice still shaking. "I don't know why... He wouldn't tell me... I guess it wouldn't have been as bad if he'd explained himself, but he just...."

Aislin rubbed Door's hand reassuringly, looking helplessly at her twin, who only shrugged.

Ariel glanced at Tremor questioningly.

It doesn't make any sense... she signed.

---------

WHAP!

He was on the ground before he could even react.

Alex coughed to get his breath back, blood dribbling out of the corner of his mouth. He spat, and one of his molars was on the pavement. Tears stung his eyes, and he could taste the sickeningly sweet taste of blood in back of his mouth.

After a moment, he found his voice.

"I'll tell you what I told her," he said, surprisingly calm for a guy that just got decked, "I can't do a thing about the situation. I don't want to marry this girl; it had been arranged by my parents without my knowledge. I only just found out about it this morning. I love Door, and I hated to hurt her, but there is no getting out of this marriage, and I can't help that."

He stared up at Thatch defiantly, prepared for a sharp kick or another punch or anything Thatch might throw at him.

Figuratively and literally.

I know, Trem replied, shaking his head. It just doesn't add up... Something's just not right.

Door swallowed back another sob, calming a bit, but not much. "I just..."

-----------------------

"I've never told you how much you disgust me," Thatch growled. "You probably knew it already, but I'm just making sure you know exactly what you've done: You've crushed Door. Crushed. She thought she had everything, and you pulled it all out form under her." The scowl on his face grew darker with each passing moment. "She really loved you, you know that? And then... and then this! This is exactly what I was afraid of, why I haven't liked you from the beginning! You just ruined any respect you may have earned from me, Tremor, and most of all, Door."

Aislin sat down beside Door, and Ariel nodded her head towards the yard. I have to talk to you about something, but I don't want Door to hear.

----------

Alex stood up and looked at Thatch, the pain on his face as plain as day.

"You don't understand," he said quietly, his voice cracking. "You just don't understand. And I can't properly explain it, either. You don't seem to know that I don't want this. I didn't want to hurt Door. You think I wanted to do this to her? You think I planned it this way?!"

His voice got louder, more passionate, and he got closer to tears with every passing second.

"It's killing me to do this, Thatch! I never, ever, EVER wanted this to happen...I am cornerned, and there's not a thing I can do. Do you get that?!"

Alex grabbed Thatch by the shoulders, desperately trying to prove his point.

"I would rather die than hurt Door like this. Do you understand that?! But I can't do anything! I have tried, but I can't do anything!!"

{{Urgh. This is hard. I'm on the verge of tears. Note to self: Turn of Evanescence before going to KoH.}}

"Why not?!" Thatch yelled back, seizing Alex's collar in his fists. "Why can't you explain it properly!? Why can't you do anything?? What have you tried to do? You say you've tried, but what have you done? This is DOOR we're talking about, do you realize that!?"

{Oh, Lord. I can't do this much longer...}
---------------------

Trem nodded, getting to his feet.

"I'm going for a walk," Door said softly, raising her head to stare out the window."

Tremor frowned. "Door...?"

"I just need to think about things for a while," she replied firmly, standing. "Okay?"

Alex swallowed the lump in his throat.

"I've talked to my father. I've talked to the family of the girl. I can't get out of this marriage. I have tried to find a loophole. There are none. There is nothing. I. Can do."

He pushed Thatch off of him, shaking his head sadly. "You don't understand. Just imagine if...if...Aislin! What if you had to leave her and you couldn't do anything?"

------------

Aislin walked Door to the...door, while Ariel pulled the quietest vanFoyer aside.

"Something's not right." she said quietly. "It's not making sense."

Thatch's eyes widened for a split-second. "You leave her out of this," he said softly. "This has nothing to do with her. And even if I did have to, I'd do more than talk, which is all you seem to have been doing..."

--------------------

Trem nodded, watching Door walk slowly to the exit, as if in a trance. "That much is obvious..."

Because I can't do anything else without that snake-in-the-grass and her brother slitting your sister's throat!! Alex screamed in his head.

"You will never understand my position." Alex said sincerely, realizing he'd stepped on a bit of a landmine. "At least, I pray you never do."

---------

Ariel sighed. "The way he looked at her...he adored her." Ariel said, shaking her head. "For him to do this...something...well...I don't know..."

---------

Aislin watched Door go, uneasy.

Door trudged down the street, intent on crossing thedrawbridge. She just needed some air, some room to breathe... Some space to scream.

-------------------

"What do you think it is," Trem asked in his neutrally insightful voice. "It can't be good, to make him drop her like that..."

-------------------

"You still haven't answered my question," Thatch growled. "I've asked you three times, and I still get nothing. Why. Can't. You. Do. Anything. About. This? Try something other than talking! Get off your well-padded pretty-boy arse and stand up for something! Fight back," he snapped, prodding Alex none-too-gently in the chest. "Try that for a change!"

{{Haha... Thatch has a British accent now, I guess. }}

[[...Oh my God. I love British accents! XD]]

Alex searched for a reason, any reason at all...

"I have tried fighting back!" he cried, "I got into a fight with my father about it. I talked to the girl and her brother won't budge! They're parents died or something and my father went behind my back and made an agreement with this girl's brother! I started packing my things but one of the servants ratted me out and I'm basically under house arrest. It took an hour of begging and pleading just to see Door one last time, and even now I'm being watched by my father's servants!"

That was true. Mostly. Except for the servants watching him...Gabriel was the one watching, most likely...

Thatch's eyes darted left and right reflexively. "...Whatever," he said, glaring at Alex. "I guess talking is all you're capable of. Well then, you've talked. You've said your piece. And you can't seem to come up with anything original, so I guess I'm done with you."

{{Come ON! Where's this ego that Alex said he has??}}

--------------------

Once over the bridge, Door opened a window and stepped through, past caring if anyone saw her or not. She wasn't feeling like a big jump, just little hops until she got there...

[[Crushed by fear, frustration, and hurt. XD]]

"Well, I'm certainly glad. Nothing seems to get through your thick skull!"

----------

Aislin sat by the window, thinking quietly.

Ariel sighed. "I think...something must've happened. And I want to find out what...would you be game on doing a little snooping later?"

Trem nodded. "I'm game for a little snooping now, actually. But it would be best if Thatch comes back first."

------------------

{Oh, no you di-in't!}

Thatch, in the process of leaving, froze mid-turn. Good, he thought smugly. There is a bit of something in there... "...What did you just say, pretty boy?" He had his back to Alex, putting on a scowl. "Say it again. I dare you."