Strong Enough (Champagne Challenge #129) PG-13

[Lucy]

Champagne Challenge #129 - The Road Not Taken
by PNWgal » Wed Jun 08, 2011 11:31 pm
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost


We've all been faced with choices and I'm sure we've wondered what the consequences would be if we'd chosen one way instead of another. What if we'd chosen not to take a certain job, or turned down a date with the person who eventually became our spouse?

I bet we all have Moonlight scenes where we wonder what would have happened if different choices were made - I know I sure have. What if things had gone a different route when Mick bounded up those stairs in B.C.? What if Beth hadn't knocked on Mick's door at the end of Fleur de Lis? What if Emma really had exposed the vampire Community in Sonata?

The possibilities are endless.

This month, our challenge is to go down the Moonlight Road Not Taken of your choice. Any rating, any length, as long as it involves our beloved Moonlight characters.

Please post your creations in your respective offices. If you don't have an office and would like one, please PM allegrita and she will set you up with one.

The OP will be updated as your offerings are...well, offered.


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Strong Enough

So it is Josef’s belief that he became a vampire to meet his true love, Sarah. Does it prove that anything is possible? Who we are is who we are supposed to be, or so he says. Who am I?

I’m the guy locked into a 30 year old body, I wasn’t doing so well before Coraline gave me the “gift”, now thanks to Coraline I have Beth on the brain, 24/7 for twenty some years. Finding my friend’s secret “wife” in a coma between dead and undead is a mind bender.

What was the whole reason I became a vampire? It was desire, Coraline’s desire for me, my desire to be the “man” and take a wife. My vows just had no expiration date on them….. “till death do us part” didn’t exactly apply.

Watching Beth defy her boyfriend to follow me across the continent is another mind bender. There is no way for her to purify this story for BuzzWire or Josh.

Ralph Martan was done for. Josef was patched and mended. I get the radiant vision of Beth processing Sarah’s condition.

Her bright eyes examined us, the undead our fealty forged in blood. Beth’s lips moved silently as she watched Josef’s confessions over human and vamp relationships. Was she praying for supernatural transportation from the brownstone directly to her shabby chic apartment?

These newly revealed facts crunched everything I knew, everything I felt about Beth from the size of an iceberg down to an ice cube. The weight was still bore down heavy yet the mass was easy enough to slip into my pants pocket and carry it with me always.

Beth and I made our good byes to Josef and caught the cab. I love Beth, I wanted to show her a good time, treat her to a “New York” experience, and perhaps pluck a kiss from her at the top of the Empire State Building.

“Hey, you gonna be alright?” I pried, tugging for a string that would untie her feelings.

“Yeah, I just can’t stop thinking about Sarah; she was so in love with him.” Her eyes widened with her next words, “Do you really think there’s a cure?”

I wasn’t going there tonight. I wanted to think there was, I didn’t want to think about it right now. Right now we were in New York. My bravado answered.

“Let’s go do something, something fun, quintessentially New York, just you and me on the town” Full steam ahead I plowed.

“Our flight leaves in a couple of hours” She bantered reality, not a refusal. I could read it in the corners of her mouth, the flash of her eyelashes.

“We’ll take a later flight” I posed, watching the impatient cab driver wonder if he was getting a fare to the airport or just a few miles. I ignored him to read Beth; I scented the slow heat rising from her, all pheromones and carnal excitement.

“You mean it?” suddenly she was 17 before the prom and when I felt her heart beat escalate I rubbed my hands together to cause some semblance of warmth. I want to hold her hand, just like that guy that asked her to the prom, “I meant to go back to LA and hash it out with Josh, but…..” She slid into the back seat of the cab and I was next to her in a snap. “I’ll send a text; let him know I’ll be back tomorrow, later”.

“We’ll, we’ll be home tomorrow” I nodded, almost fearful to nuzzle into her neck like I wanted.

“We? Both of us?” tired blue eyes perked right up.

“You want “we”?” I asked holding out my hand.

“Mick, I need to settle things with Josh, then…then…yes I want “we”. Beth took my hand in both of hers and traced the prominent veins on the back of my hand, then sighed, “I just felt like once I met you I gave up on Josh”.

What could I say to that? That Josh lost, I won? Give up, Break up……it’s a division either way you assert it. I wrapped my free arm around her shoulder and we slid into each other on the slippery vinyl cab seat. We watched the lights and bumped along in silence, returning the Cab Driver’s stare in his rear view mirror.

When the Driver focused on the road I took that chance and nuzzled Beth’s hair, awash in her divinity I whispered, “Giving up doesn't always mean you're weak; sometimes it means that you're strong enough to let go.”

[maggatha3]

Oh, Lucy, thank you .. for waking up to find that story..I really hated Beth that night in NY for leaving him back like that, and you made it so obvious that it would be so easy and comfy to just stay with him, it flows like water and it is so much better. In the episode it felt as if Mick was holding his heart out in front of her and all she did was staking it!! Crazy woman!! In your story her reaction caresses him ...finally. And what a beautiful expression to end this story with!! Letting go seems like the perfect thing for them to do at that point!!

[allegrita]

What a wonderful what-if... if only...

[francis]

How wonderful!!! This should have happened. Then, the events of LLF could still have happened minus the waking up with Josh in bed part. He would still want to safe her from Tejada's men who wouldn't know they broke up recently, and she would still feel guilty for his death, maybe even more so as she hurt him just days before by breaking it off.
I so would love to know what they did in NY after this scene.

[Kara]

If only. However, I would not have felt good if Beth stayed with Mick in NY. Unlike some, I did not fault Beth ditching Mick. She was still with Josh. Although it said alot by going to NY with Mick and not even letting Josh know until the last minute. Still, the right thing to do is to end a relationship before starting a new one. And I for one am glad that Josh died thinking Beth still loved him.

Good story. Thank you.

[loveyoumick]

What if...what if...Oh God, this should have soooooo happened !!!! And you put it beautifully.
Thank you !

[wpgrace]

Nice what if.

[Lucy]

Oh, Lucy, thank you .. for waking up to find that story..I really hated Beth that night in NY for leaving him back like that, and you made it so obvious that it would be so easy and comfy to just stay with him, it flows like water and it is so much better. In the episode it felt as if Mick was holding his heart out in front of her and all she did was staking it!! Crazy woman!! In your story her reaction caresses him ...finally. And what a beautiful expression to end this story with!! Letting go seems like the perfect thing for them to do at that point!!

I had been thinking about doing a 3 part short about this episode.....this challenge just prodded a bit harder. Thanks for reading-glad it hit the mark!

[Lucy]

What a wonderful what-if... if only...

Thank-you!

[Lucy]

How wonderful!!! This should have happened. Then, the events of LLF could still have happened minus the waking up with Josh in bed part. He would still want to safe her from Tejada's men who wouldn't know they broke up recently, and she would still feel guilty for his death, maybe even more so as she hurt him just days before by breaking it off.
I so would love to know what they did in NY after this scene.

Thank-you, Francis.
Yes, Josh had so much class that he still would have wanted her safe, even if she came clean and opted out of their relationship. I always wanted more from SB.

[Lucy]

If only. However, I would not have felt good if Beth stayed with Mick in NY. Unlike some, I did not fault Beth ditching Mick. She was still with Josh. Although it said alot by going to NY with Mick and not even letting Josh know until the last minute. Still, the right thing to do is to end a relationship before starting a new one. And I for one am glad that Josh died thinking Beth still loved him.

Good story. Thank you.

Thanks for reading!
I never felt they had any "prurient" activities, just a neutral ground to discuss what they were to each other. Mick is a man of another generation and he wouldn't have pushed...in fact I penned an outline to finish the night. Hope to post within the month.

[Lucy]

What if...what if...Oh God, this should have soooooo happened !!!! And you put it beautifully.
Thank you !

Always glad to "fill in"
You are welcome!

[Lucy]

What if...what if...Oh God, this should have soooooo happened !!!! And you put it beautifully.
Thank you !

You are welcome!!
Glad to conjure it.

[jen]

Fabulous vision of a much more satisfying conclusion to SB.

Thank you!

[darkstarrising]

You gave that episode the ending it should have had...only Beth wasn't quite 'strong enough' to let go....yet.

Loved Mick's POV, his characterizations, just like the voice overs in the series