A vintage's touch: a brother's love -Arthur x Mary-
// Not in a sappy mood, eh?
Arthur loved Mary like he loved Ada. She was a sister to him, someone who understood his very soul. Mary was not afraid of Arthur, not even when he started to get loud, restless, and violent. Not even when he was beside himself, did she feel fear. She wasn't afraid of him. After Grace's death, the eldest Shelby protected Mary like a bloodhound. He wanted to make sure she was safe, wherever she was and for a while, his motivation for staying sober was so that he would be sharp enough to be able to protect her. Arthur couldn't tell his brother that he had dreams.. or most likely nightmares about the death of the young woman. How could he survive losing Mary? how could he survive being responsible for not having been able to protect her like he vowed he would?
Arthur loved Mary like he loved Ada. She went through the same ordeal as he did. She understood his addiction for she shared the same with alcohol. She was drowning her sadness with liquid fire and was trying to move forward the best she could. She understood him and she was compassionate. She was patient. She welcomed him with arms wide open whenever he knocked at her door, looking for Tommy and drunk out of his mind. Night and Day, the hallucinations and daydreams strangled him with fear. He couldn't properly sleep because he had flashes of her bloodied and battered body against his. He had flashes of his tears, of the blood-curdling screams he would let out in the event of her death. How could he imagine losing Mary?
Arthur loved Mary like he loved Ada. He wanted her to be happy. It tore his heart apart to see him suffer. It hurt him to see the fresh tears that had rolled down her cheeks. It hurt him to see her lose Hope. She wouldn't say it, but Arthur knew she was hurt by the lack of commitment from his brother. She wanted him to claim his love for her, to make their relationship proper. She wanted to be reassured that she wasn't just a replacement for his former wife. She wanted to be reassured that she wasn't just there to raise his child. She wanted to be told he wanted to share his life with her. Tommy wasn't sappy. He wasn't romantic anymore. War had changed his brother. War had made Tommy colder, distant, and secretive. Yet, he had a woman who loved him. He had a good woman who loved everything that he was, and who understood him more than any other person. yet, he stalled... Yet he deflected... yet he made her wait and Mary would wait but she wouldn't do it forever.
So she could leave. And if she left, who would understand Arthur?
Who would see the good he could bring?
Who would reassure him the way Mary did?
No comments:
Post a Comment