Rose and Thorn - part 3 (PG)

[draco]

Oh God! I nearly expected him to pass out on Beth. This memory is still so intense for him. I don't think he will ever get over the might have...
So very sad again. I really love this story.
I'm with wollstonecraft61 - just hug him till the pain is bearable again

[allegrita]

What a breakthrough...and what a risk. Maybe it's the experience of becoming human again that lets him finally unburden himself. And maybe it's the realization that if he and Beth are to have something real, it has to be built on truth, not deception.

Your description of what it's like for a newbie vamp is so good--I can almost feel it myself:

How could he describe it? His senses intensified to the point of madness, every noise too loud and every light too bright, drowning in scents he could not even recognize. Rage he couldn’t explain, hunger so intense it was unbearable.

Hard as it is for Mick to tell Beth about Rosie, this is such a positive step in my view. Not only is he sharing something incredibly important, but Mick also finally manages to get Beth to listen to him long enough to really understand (as much as someone who hasn't been there can understand) that he means it when he says he did terrible things. And that he WAS a monster. And what more monstrous thing could a loving brother do than nearly kill his own sister?

But wow, that's some burden. Poor Mick! What a horrible, horrible weight to carry for so long alone. I'm so glad he trusted Beth. I have faith in her...I think it's going to be OK.

(By the way--were you just tickled to death when Mick told Bonnie Morrow in FtP that secrets are a disease that eat you up on the inside till you tell somebody? It resonates so much--and you said it first, and sooo much better.)

[Shadow]

Oh God! I nearly expected him to pass out on Beth. This memory is still so intense for him. I don't think he will ever get over the might have...
So very sad again. I really love this story.
I'm with wollstonecraft61 - just hug him till the pain is bearable again

He did come pretty close to it! it didn't make it into the final story, but Beth had to do the driving home part .....

[Shadow]

What a breakthrough...and what a risk. Maybe it's the experience of becoming human again that lets him finally unburden himself. And maybe it's the realization that if he and Beth are to have something real, it has to be built on truth, not deception.

Your description of what it's like for a newbie vamp is so good--I can almost feel it myself:

How could he describe it? His senses intensified to the point of madness, every noise too loud and every light too bright, drowning in scents he could not even recognize. Rage he couldn’t explain, hunger so intense it was unbearable.

Hard as it is for Mick to tell Beth about Rosie, this is such a positive step in my view. Not only is he sharing something incredibly important, but Mick also finally manages to get Beth to listen to him long enough to really understand (as much as someone who hasn't been there can understand) that he means it when he says he did terrible things. And that he WAS a monster. And what more monstrous thing could a loving brother do than nearly kill his own sister?

But wow, that's some burden. Poor Mick! What a horrible, horrible weight to carry for so long alone. I'm so glad he trusted Beth. I have faith in her...I think it's going to be OK.

(By the way--were you just tickled to death when Mick told Bonnie Morrow in FtP that secrets are a disease that eat you up on the inside till you tell somebody? It resonates so much--and you said it first, and sooo much better.)

Having Mick be human - such a huge and disorienting life change - was my best excuse for letting him open up - but after LLF I thought he'd also realize that Beth needed to know the truth, or she'd never begin to understand him. ...

And oh yes - that moment in FTP was indeed a delight! (wow, I just love that you said mine was better. ) And it was amazing too, in WLB, to actually see Mick sit down and start talking about something very difficult and important with Beth. Gave me shivers .... plus it was really something to actually get a story that dealt with Mick's wartime past and with family (if in a very different way.)

[librarian_7]

Shadow, this story continues to be hauntingly powerful.

And I love the way you think. I was particularly struck by:

He had nearly attacked Leni; for a time, in the fever dreams, he thought that he had.

I'd thought much the same, and in fact, did a short fic some time back concerning exactly that concept. It seems like an entirely valid interpretation of that sequence in Fever.

I'm looking forward to reading on!

Lucky

[Shadow]

Shadow, this story continues to be hauntingly powerful.

And I love the way you think. I was particularly struck by:

He had nearly attacked Leni; for a time, in the fever dreams, he thought that he had.

I'd thought much the same, and in fact, did a short fic some time back concerning exactly that concept. It seems like an entirely valid interpretation of that sequence in Fever.

I'm looking forward to reading on!

Lucky

Glad you are liking this, Lucky.....

I suppose there could be a lot of interpretations, but that was sure what I felt was happening in Mick's mind during that sequence.

(And it sounds like there's a story I need to add to my want list!)

[jen]

Shadow

Just came by for a reread and was struck anew with the power of this story. Mick is so damaged by the pain he has experienced, and yet it has shaped him into a truly remarkable, strong person.

And Beth loves him.

When he had the chance to talk to Rosie, he learned the harsh truth of the old proverb, you can't go home again' but he didn't kill her. He watched over her and waited for the ambulance to come.

Wonderful, wonderful job.

Thank you!

Jenna

[Shadow]

. . . he learned the harsh truth of the old proverb, you can't go home again.

Gosh but isn't that the truth for a new vampire! And it's such a great part of the pain that Mick experienced. I've always been so haunted by that little scene in ep 3 where Mick talks about giving up his family. So desperately sad.

Thanks so much Jen, for coming by again.

[MickBethKiss]

Awwww... Poor Mick. This is so beautifully written, and the scene so amazingly depicted... Yes, I'm crying.

[Shadow]

Thanks so much, MickBethKiss, what a lovely comment! Wonderful to know you've been reading this . . . and I'm glad it could make you cry . . .

[maggatha3]

Oh my, sharing that kind of memory must have been really painful, for Mick and Beth but also for you! It was such powerful writing, I was reading it without a breath...My heart ached for him and it was so relieving to see that in the small glimpses he took of Beth, he saw mostly understanding in the end...and he was so strong to share that difficult part of his life, his early years and his attack to Rosie ,he could have lost Beth indeed. Still, it sounded so very very true to me, in the beginning of this chapter, that..

the closeness he’d felt a moment ago was fading, and maybe it never had been real, not when he was keeping so much of himself hidden from her.

You know, that thing Mick said to Bonnie, about secrets eating you up in the inside! That was quite a proof of this!

[Shadow]

Wow maggatha, I'm glad this felt so powerful! it was hard to think of anything more terrifying for Mick than letting Beth know those dark secrets from his past.

You know, that thing Mick said to Bonnie, about secrets eating you up in the inside! That was quite a proof of this!

Since I wrote this before FTP aired, it was pretty exciting when Mick said that in the episode . . . such a great fit with my story . . .