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fandomfrom3Title: Snapshots (no, this isn't your life)
Characters/Pairings: Kim (Sean/Kim, allusions to Tommy/Kim)
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Word Count: 806
Spoiler alert: Spoilers through 1x02 A Stone of the Heart.
Summary: Kim's perspective on the attack on Sean.
Author's Notes: Once again, betaed by the lovely![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nikiness, who keeps encouraging me to write TBD fic. Apparently I am addicted to Sean, which is a nice thing to know. Concrit and feedback loved. Also, my ability to keep TBD timeline straight is ridiculously poor, so corrections in that area would be especially loved.
All of Kim's life has happened in snapshots.
Maybe it's because she's a photography student and a good one, or maybe it's the reason why she's studying photography at all. Either way, she remembers moments, instants, with startling clarity, while the surrounding context blurs into gray.
Nearly a week ago, she was walking out of a class with Tommy Donnelly, and that is a snapshot. She remembers every detail: what he was wearing, what she was wearing, the sharp angle of his cheekbones and the softness of his smile; the smell of fresh-cut grass and cigarettes, the way her textbooks dug into her forearms, the sound of cars passing, and every word they said.
She vividly remembers thinking Tommy Donnelly is going to ask me out, and she remembers planning to say yes.
She doesn't remember why. She can't recapture the butterflies feeling Tommy used to inspire in her.
Nearly a week ago she met Sean Donnelly for the first time, and that is context. Important context, yes, context without which nothing that happens later makes sense. But context nonetheless, blurred and indiscriminate, like a photograph developed too quickly. The outlines are there: Sean on a street corner. Her car. Tommy leaving to talk to another of his brothers. A makeout session that left her breathless and giggly.
But the details are gone. She can't remember what Tommy was yelling about. Or what Sean said to her, the words that got him into her car and pressed against her; or how Sean tried to explain it when Tommy walked out and saw them.
She can't remember the exact curve of Sean's smile or the way his eyes lit up, and that bothers her deeply.
Four days ago, she went on a date with Sean Donnelly, and that is a snapshot. If she closes her eyes, she can still feel the reassuring weight of his arm around her shoulders and the texture of his denim jacket. She can still smell him, warm and solid, laundry detergent and generic soap. She can still hear the gentle rhythm of his voice.
Four days ago, Sean Donnelly was beaten nearly to death in front of her, and that, too, is a snapshot. She doesn't have to try to remember it. Every time she closes her eyes she relives it: the two guys in the car. Sean telling her, quiet but firm, to walk away; the worried crease in his forehead.
His screams of pain and fear and anger. The sickening crunch of boots and fists and clubs against flesh and bone. The feel of skin tearing under her fingers as she tried to pry them away from him. The way Tommy's anguished screams of Seanie! echoed off of the buildings surrounding them.
Kim will never, ever forget the sight of Sean, motionless and broken and covered in blood.
Three days ago, she sat in a hospital waiting room with a cup of stale coffee, surrounded by people she'd barely met, praying for the life of a boy she hardly knew, and that is context. It all blurs together, sepia-toned and overexposed; the doctors, the nurses, the Donnellys, family friends, the beeping of the machines keeping Sean alive. She vaguely recalls thinking that Helen Donnelly hated her, and not being sure why: because she was with Sean when he got hurt? Because she wasn't a good local Irish girl like Jenny Reilly, and Sean wasn't going to marry her and settle down with kids and a house? Because Tommy had liked her first, but she'd gone out with the youngest of the brothers?
She harbors an impression of Jenny Reilly as a lifeline that everyone clung to. She knows that the oldest Donnelly brother, Jimmy, was arrested. She thinks she was scared of Tommy for the first time since they'd met.
But she can't remember why.
Three days ago, Tommy Donnelly asked her to forget, and that is a snapshot.
Do you know what would be good?
What?
What would be the best thing for Sean? For you not to remember what those guys look like.
How would that be better?
Do you think I love my brother?
Yeah, of course you do.
It would really be better for him, okay?
Okay.
She tried. Overexposed the memory, bleached it, stained it, did everything she could to ruin it, but still his face remained in sharp focus, coming at Sean with deadly malice.
And so she hides the memory away, buries it from herself, tries to forget that it is there. Sean is Tommy's family, and Tommy knew best. She doesn't know what's going on. She doesn't need to know. She just needs to know that Sean didn't deserve it, and that Tommy is taking care of it.
And that Sean will be all right.
God, she hopes Sean will be all right.
Characters/Pairings: Kim (Sean/Kim, allusions to Tommy/Kim)
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Word Count: 806
Spoiler alert: Spoilers through 1x02 A Stone of the Heart.
Summary: Kim's perspective on the attack on Sean.
Author's Notes: Once again, betaed by the lovely
nikiness, who keeps encouraging me to write TBD fic. Apparently I am addicted to Sean, which is a nice thing to know. Concrit and feedback loved. Also, my ability to keep TBD timeline straight is ridiculously poor, so corrections in that area would be especially loved.All of Kim's life has happened in snapshots.
Maybe it's because she's a photography student and a good one, or maybe it's the reason why she's studying photography at all. Either way, she remembers moments, instants, with startling clarity, while the surrounding context blurs into gray.
Nearly a week ago, she was walking out of a class with Tommy Donnelly, and that is a snapshot. She remembers every detail: what he was wearing, what she was wearing, the sharp angle of his cheekbones and the softness of his smile; the smell of fresh-cut grass and cigarettes, the way her textbooks dug into her forearms, the sound of cars passing, and every word they said.
She vividly remembers thinking Tommy Donnelly is going to ask me out, and she remembers planning to say yes.
She doesn't remember why. She can't recapture the butterflies feeling Tommy used to inspire in her.
Nearly a week ago she met Sean Donnelly for the first time, and that is context. Important context, yes, context without which nothing that happens later makes sense. But context nonetheless, blurred and indiscriminate, like a photograph developed too quickly. The outlines are there: Sean on a street corner. Her car. Tommy leaving to talk to another of his brothers. A makeout session that left her breathless and giggly.
But the details are gone. She can't remember what Tommy was yelling about. Or what Sean said to her, the words that got him into her car and pressed against her; or how Sean tried to explain it when Tommy walked out and saw them.
She can't remember the exact curve of Sean's smile or the way his eyes lit up, and that bothers her deeply.
Four days ago, she went on a date with Sean Donnelly, and that is a snapshot. If she closes her eyes, she can still feel the reassuring weight of his arm around her shoulders and the texture of his denim jacket. She can still smell him, warm and solid, laundry detergent and generic soap. She can still hear the gentle rhythm of his voice.
Four days ago, Sean Donnelly was beaten nearly to death in front of her, and that, too, is a snapshot. She doesn't have to try to remember it. Every time she closes her eyes she relives it: the two guys in the car. Sean telling her, quiet but firm, to walk away; the worried crease in his forehead.
His screams of pain and fear and anger. The sickening crunch of boots and fists and clubs against flesh and bone. The feel of skin tearing under her fingers as she tried to pry them away from him. The way Tommy's anguished screams of Seanie! echoed off of the buildings surrounding them.
Kim will never, ever forget the sight of Sean, motionless and broken and covered in blood.
Three days ago, she sat in a hospital waiting room with a cup of stale coffee, surrounded by people she'd barely met, praying for the life of a boy she hardly knew, and that is context. It all blurs together, sepia-toned and overexposed; the doctors, the nurses, the Donnellys, family friends, the beeping of the machines keeping Sean alive. She vaguely recalls thinking that Helen Donnelly hated her, and not being sure why: because she was with Sean when he got hurt? Because she wasn't a good local Irish girl like Jenny Reilly, and Sean wasn't going to marry her and settle down with kids and a house? Because Tommy had liked her first, but she'd gone out with the youngest of the brothers?
She harbors an impression of Jenny Reilly as a lifeline that everyone clung to. She knows that the oldest Donnelly brother, Jimmy, was arrested. She thinks she was scared of Tommy for the first time since they'd met.
But she can't remember why.
Three days ago, Tommy Donnelly asked her to forget, and that is a snapshot.
Do you know what would be good?
What?
What would be the best thing for Sean? For you not to remember what those guys look like.
How would that be better?
Do you think I love my brother?
Yeah, of course you do.
It would really be better for him, okay?
Okay.
She tried. Overexposed the memory, bleached it, stained it, did everything she could to ruin it, but still his face remained in sharp focus, coming at Sean with deadly malice.
And so she hides the memory away, buries it from herself, tries to forget that it is there. Sean is Tommy's family, and Tommy knew best. She doesn't know what's going on. She doesn't need to know. She just needs to know that Sean didn't deserve it, and that Tommy is taking care of it.
And that Sean will be all right.
God, she hopes Sean will be all right.
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no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 03:59 am (UTC)But I loved it. I just love Sean, period.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-17 03:01 am (UTC)Aww. I'm interested in Kim; she goes on one date with a guy and spends the next few weeks hanging around his hospital room almost constantly? I think there's a story there and I'd like to know what it is. But as long as Seanie has any love interest at all I think I'll be okay with it.
I just love Sean, period.
So do I. ♥
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. :)
no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 04:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-17 03:01 am (UTC):)
Date: 2007-03-12 01:40 pm (UTC)Re: :)
Date: 2007-03-17 03:02 am (UTC)Thank you so much for reviewing!
no subject
Date: 2007-03-12 04:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-17 03:03 am (UTC)*hugs* Thanks for reviewing, and I'm glad you liked it. :)
AWESOME AGAIN :)
Date: 2007-03-13 08:50 pm (UTC)Re: AWESOME AGAIN :)
Date: 2007-03-17 03:04 am (UTC)Thank you so much for reviewing!
no subject
Date: 2007-03-29 01:05 am (UTC)Also, I'm glad you wrote about it from Kim's point of view, because I really like her. I think she should stick around for awhile, because she's pretty cool. I really liked when Sean told her to go home, but when she saw they were beating him up, she jumped on that one guy. Even if it didn't help, because he just flattened her against the wall. She had good intentions though. ;D
no subject
Date: 2007-05-06 04:47 pm (UTC)Thank you so much! I'm thrilled you liked it. :D