coppelganger | ic contact; MoM

[ She nods, unable to speak, and places one shaky hand in his. She reaches up with her other hand and wipes at her eyes. After several deep breaths, she manages to say something. ]

I'm not... a good person, George, okay? I'm trying... but I need you to know that.

[ Otherwise she might as well be lying to him still. ]

[He shakes his head. Yeah, he knows she's probably done a lot of stuff he wouldn't want to know about, but he's not going to sit here and listen to her self-loathing laundry list. That's not what matters here and now.]

It's not black and white. You're always saying that I'm so good? All I see what I look at myself is the stupid screw-up who cheated on his wife and threw himself in front of a goddamn bus. I look at you and I see this brave, strong, beautiful woman who loves her family and wants to be better. That's all that matters.

Edited 2015-12-29 02:06 (UTC)

[ As soon as he says "threw himself in front of a goddamn bus," she gasps and puts a hand over her mouth, completely blindsided. All she can think about is Beth, and the train, and what she did afterward, and how George looked so sick when she mentioned Kira getting hit by that car, and— ]

George, oh my god. You didn't.

[Didn't wh- oh. Well. Serves him right for bringing that up in a relationship talk.]

I didn't plan to. I was upset, and I'd been drinking.

[Why else would he ever cheat on his wife?]

Edited 2015-12-29 02:24 (UTC)

[ Oh my god oh my god oh my god. ]

I don't know what to say.

You don't have to say anything. [He gets it, really, from how horrified she looks.] ... I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner.

[And what surprise is it, really? If she thought he was such a good guy, of course she's going to be disappointed to find out he treated another woman so badly.]

I swear, though, it was a one-time thing. I'd never cheat on you.

[ For several seconds, she can only stare at him, not sure whether to laugh or yell at him. How could he even think that was what she meant? ]

I'm not talking about your wife, I'm talking about you throwing yourself in front of a bloody bus, you tit! Why would you—?

... Oh.

[Funny how cutting that off before the "for a stranger" part really changes the meaning.]

Um. There was- It was gonna hit somebody. So I tried to...

[Awkward.]

I'm sort of realizing now that the whole part about the bus just... didn't come out right.

You didn't kill yourself?

[ She puts her face in her hands, letting out a huge sigh of relief. ]

Jesus...

No! No, it wasn't- God, Sarah, I'm...

[If her hands weren't on her face - which they are due to his stupidity - he'd be reaching for them.]

I didn't kill myself. I was just... I was stupid, and slow, and I...

[He shakes his head, his eyes wide with sadness.]

And this isn't about me, it's about you.

[ Slowly, she lowers her hands. She can feel herself starting to cry again, but she manages a tiny smile when she sees his stricken expression. ]

I'm sorry. I'm just relieved.

[And he immediately reaches out and grabs those hands between his. He's silent for a moment, still processing what must have just gone through her mind. Comforting words aren't coming to him, so his default is to joke.]

... See, you aren't all bad. You care.

Yeah. I do.

[ She sounds like it's still a surprise to her, that she really does care about people. ]

[He squeezes her hands, and gives her the smallest smile.]

So. You're a clone, and you're a bad person, and I still want you to be my girlfriend.

[ Looking at him, she can almost make herself believe that everything will work out for them. But even if it doesn't, he's still the best thing that's happened to her since she showed up in this universe, and that has to count for something. ]

Okay.

[Excuse him while he just mentally processes what she just said.]

Okay...

[Wait.]

Wait, you mean yes?

Yes.

[ And then, because it needs to be said again, but fondly: ]

You tit.

[He runs his thumb over her knuckle. If there wasn't a table between them he would scoop her up and kiss her right now, but he doesn't want to throw too much at her at once. They still have more to talk about. He knows there's more he needs to understand about her - about what being a clone entails, why she had to protect him from it like that. But looking at her face, he can see happiness, and he believes that she wants this.]

Huh. Well, that went better than I thought it would.

[ Still smiling, she looks down at their hands. ]

Me too. You, uh... took the news better than I thought you would.

I guess I was imagining something worse.

[SHALL WE COUNT THE WAYS.]

Like, I still want to talk about it. I want to understand more. But for now... I just needed to know this first.

You're gonna have to be patient sometimes. The whole... not dating arseholes thing, it's still new to me, yeah?

[ And actually, it's fucking terrifying. ]

Hey, I get it. No worries.

[At least, no worries that he's currently aware of and anticipating. He knows she's scared, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't concerned about how this is going to go. But he knows how he feels.]

We just need to talk about things. And not run away to De Chima to get drunk and feed the homeless.

Is that where you went? I was wondering.

[ She had a lot of time to think over Christmas, okay, especially after she called him and learned that he was out of town probably just to avoid running into her. ]

[His eyes dart away from her, and his smile falters just a little.]

Yeah. I, uh, wasn't super excited about being alone. It was nice, though. We saved some puppies.

Cute.

[ And not to get super depressing, but she does feel like she ought to let him know this sooner rather than later. ]

Helena got Ported out. I found out a couple days before Christmas.

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