Even Smiles Fade Away [Margaret]

[DANIEL ALEXANDER CROSS]

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Danny was both worried and depressed, neither of which he enjoyed very much.

They weren't emotions that normally plagued the young man, making this day rather unusual in a very uncomfortable way. Danny was fairly certain no one enjoyed being upset or anything like that, but these emotions simply didn't happen to him. In fact, one might say that Danny was one of the more cheerful young men around. Of course he had his fair share of problems, but he preferred not to let it get him down. Danny considered himself to be fun, and did his best to make other people happy. It was no wonder that this emotion bothered him. He hadn't really had it very often. Sure, he had been worried when he had first came to the school. But who wouldn't? It had been more excitement and anxiety than worry, anyway. And depression? Unheard of! His parents did not raise him to mope about, that was for sure!

As for the source of his worry and depression? One beautiful girl named Margaret. Danny had dated before her - for some reason, he was popular. It was beyond him, and he was often baffled, but hey, Danny wasn't complaining. But Margaret had been something different. She was someone special, someone who you didn't come around very often. Danny wasn't a mushy guy, but he was smart enough to know they he cared for her more than just about anyone. They had been dating for a while, and he had been extremely happy. Danny was a romantic at heart, though he'd rather die than admit it. After all, it wasn't manly to admit that you spent forty-five minutes trying to decide what colour roses to buy, now was it? Danny had done his best by Margaret, but it seemed like his best wasn't enough.

Something was wrong. It was strange, but Margaret seemed.. different. More distant, more withdrawn. Danny was absolutely baffled. Had he done something wrong? Danny had an almost chronic open-mouth-insert-foot syndrome that often pissed people off. He didn't mean to be rude or insensitive, but it happened. His oldest sister had once informed him that he had all the sensitivity of a wooden block. Danny had tried, of course, to figure out what was going on. But Margaret was a female, and everyone knew that females were a mystery to men. Danny had tried to ignore it, but hat just made him uncomfortable. Dancing around a subject just seemed to make that subject bigger, and it really wasn't helping.

With a sigh, the black haired boy flipped open his cell phone to send a quick text to Maggie, as it said in his cell. Hey, I'm at the restaurant. Normal booth. See you soon. <3 Danny set his phone on the table with a slight clack, playing with one of his fries. He was sitting in a booth near the back of Conley's, a little restaurant the two of them frequently. He really wasn't hungry, but somehow, he felt like he might need the strength...

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[MARGARET ANNA HIRSCH]

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Margaret dug her face in her scarf and crossed her arms across her wool coat. She risked getting caught with these dates. Students were not allowed off the island outside of breaks, which included Christmas, Spring and Summer breaks. But Daniel insisted that they have a date in one of Castle's restaurants, just off the island. It seems, that sneaking off, has become second nature to the students of AMG. Many used multiple techniques to rid themselves of the isolated island, including teleportation, flying, hypnosis and whatever method they could think of. In fact, heaps of students fled the island, but the staff seem to ignorant to notice. Besides, there were thousands of them, and only dozens of them ... it wasn't like they could expel them all.

For this particular date, she had asked her friend to teleport her here. All she had to do was hold on and they would poof themselves onto the mainland and teleport back. Sounds simple, right? Not when you are a novice in your powers and end up in several different places before actually getting to the destination you were supposed to be. Margaret had paid them five dollars for their troubles and asked them to come back for her, in the same spot in about an hour. In fact, many students ran their business like this on the island. Several of them making small fortunes, if they had gotten good enough at it. They were like personal taxis for the other students.

Also, Margaret had only asked them to wait one hour because she didn't expect this date to last long. She was here to break up with Daniel, a boyfriend of too long. Margaret imagines that Daniel will simply storm off at the news. Either that or their date wouldn't last long anyway. She had a taxi to catch. And as she walked off the dock of Castles, she heard her taxi teleport from behind her, to wherever they needed to be. Her boots gave off a muffled clunk as she made her way down the street and into the restaurant. Her noise and cheeks were rosy pink as she entered the restaurant, which had greeted her kindly with blasts of warm air.

"I'm with someone." she said, pulling down the scarf from her face, to the waitress who offered to seat her. Margaret glanced over to their booth, to see Daniel waiting patiently for her. A twang of guilt spread through her torso as she unraveled her scarf. This was going to be tough.. Daniel had been so good to her. This was to surely hurt them both. "Hey." she smiled softly, hair sticking to her face due to static. Margaret undid her coat and took off her toque before making herself comfortable on the cushioned seat.

She avoided eye contact. This was how it had been for the past couple of weeks. Distant. Withdrawn. Margaret couldn't help it. She found herself emotionally drained most of the time and poor Danny was at the receiving end of that. Margaret thought it would be unfair to him to continue the relationship. She wanted him to experience a real romance, that he couldn't get from her right now.

As they sat across from each other, Margaret looked diligently at the plastic menu, although both of them knew what the other would order. Margaret would order the Alfredo pasta dish, with a regular coke and fries... Daniel knew it. They didn't even need to look in the menus anymore. Margaret flash-backed only a few weeks ago when they were laughing and holding hands in this very booth. What had happened? Who knew? Margaret waited for Daniel to say something.

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[DANIEL ALEXANDER CROSS]

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Danny sighed again, resting his chin on his hands. This was his first real relationship, and he had been paranoid about messing it up. Coming from a big family, he had always want one of his own. True, he was still in school, and he was young. There would be plenty of time to have a family. But still. Margaret was his first relationship, and he had wanted it to go well. He had thought he was doing a good job, too, but obviously not. Poor Danny had no idea what to do at this point. He thought about buying flowers, but would probably botch that up too.

And then Margaret was here. Danny looked up, his chocolate brown eyes melting at the sight of her. Margaret was beautiful. She was also bright, friendly, and gentle. Danny really did love her. He smiled his little crooked smile at her. "Long time no see." He watched as she ordered her usual, and he sat back, watching her. Something bad was going to happen here, and he knew it. Danny hated the feeling of impending doom, and would rather get something over quickly. He had a feeling he knew exactly what was going to happen as well. The boy crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back.

"What's on your mind, Maggie?" Danny asked, using the pet name he had for her. Danny nibbled on his fries, not able to look at her. His heart hurt. "You might as well come out and tell me." Danny never messed around. True, he was laid back and on the relaxed side. But that didn't mean he was going to back down. He didn't mess around. If she was going to break up with him, she might as well do it now.

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[MARGARET ANNA HIRSCH]

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She barely touched her food, which sat hot and ready for her to dig in. Somehow, her throat had dried and her stomach was refusing any kind of food. The moment had arose and Danny sat across from her, with his arms crossed. Margaret looked up at him from her food, and her stomach flipped. He was so beautiful, with his eyes ... and so muscular. Not to mention he was genuinely a great guy. For a moment, she had forgotten why she was going to break up with him. But the moment didn't seem long enough.

A twang of something had hit her hard when he called her Maggie. That really hit home, and Margaret was sad to do this. However, she wasn't going to let it show. The rock in her throat that had stopped her from talking had fallen deep in the pit of her stomach and allowed her to make some kind of noise. She faced him, arms crossed on the table. "Danny, you know this was coming." Margaret made firm eye contact with him.

Margaret was unsure of what to say next, she hadn't really thought this through. "I-I feel that I'm so God-damned distant from you, it's not fair... so we should take a break until I'm more ... myself." she said, maintaining the eye contact she initially established. Oh how did it pain her to do it. Margaret cared for this boy like no other, and to end the relationship was suicide. No doubt she'd be an emotional wreck for the next few weeks.

With the move to AMG, Margaret found herself more and more homesick. She found it unfair to Daniel to stay in this relationship, if she wasn't even going to contribute anything to it. "I love you. I love you very much, and I know this is going to sound like the lame 'It's not you, it's me' but it literally is." Margaret reached for his hand across the table. "Please Danny, say something."

She looked deep into his eyes, which at times didn't look at her back. Margaret yearned to caress his cheek like she always did, or be wrapped warmly by his big, muscular arms. She wanted the two to cuddle in a soft bed, covered in satin sheets ... however, that was not what they were doing. What she was doing was certainly the opposite of what she yearned for.

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[DANIEL ALEXANDER CROSS]

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A look of anguish crossed his face, and he quickly tried to cover it. But Danny had never been good at hiding his emotions. He just wasn't good at lying. Everything he thought or felt showed up right on his face. It was an endearing trait, but in sometimes, like now, it sucked. He looked down at his fries, studying them so hard Danny half-expected to burn a hole through the plate. He expected it to come, ye, but the words... God, it was more painful than he expected. His eyes burned at her first words, but he refused to cry. No. He wouldn't do that, wouldn't hurt her anymore than she was already hurting.

"I did." Danny's voice cracked, and he lifted his brown eyes to meet hers. There was pain in those normally warm eyes, and an aching sadness. He crossed his arms over his chest, as if trying to keep his heart in one piece. He had heard the term, but never thought that one's heart could break. It felt like it was cracking right now with every word she was saying. He didn't say anything for the longest time as she spoke, trying not to fall to pieces. Not here. Later, when he was alone, he'd fall apart. But he'd stay strong for Maggie. Because it was just as obvious that this hurt her as well.

Finally, she was done speaking. It was almost cliche - it's not use it's me. But he could see that she really meant it. He knew that she was in pain, that she did miss her family. He had tried to be there for her, tried to do his best to be what she missed. But Danny couldn't. He had failed her. The dark eyed boy had tried his best, but his best hadn't been good enough. She pleaded for him to say something, and for almost a minute afterwords, he couldn't, his throat closed with pain. His voice was thick with pain when he finally spoke. "I love you, Mags. I really do. Which is why it hurts so much to say that I understand." His voice cracked, and he had to look away. He didn't want this. Not like this.

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[MARGARET ANNA HIRSCH]

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homesick for a place that doesn't exist

Margaret's hand was still outstretched across the table, beside her cooling Alfredo pasta for his hand. He didn't seem to acknowledge the gesture, but Margaret kept her hand palm up, just in case. It felt like being stabbed in the stomach and heart simultaneously as she confronted him with the inevitable. She was merely saying what was being left unsaid, and was breaking both of their hearts in the process.

A sweep of relief escaped her as he said that he understood. She breathed easy for a moment. "I'm glad. I'm glad you understand. I just think we need to ... you know, take a break. We can always pick it up ... a-another time." he voice faded as she said the words and she picked up her heavy, metal fork. She looked away as the tears stung the back of her eyes. Her eyelids fluttered in a vain attempt to get them to disappear. When they refused to surrender, she fidgeted with the heavy fork.

She wasn't sure if he could see, but Margaret felt like someone had ripped her insides out, stomped on them and left her there, bare, to die. Margaret pulled one of her stray hairs behind her ear with a trembling hand. Was she really going to do this? She looked up at Danny's deep set of eyes and felt a tear wobble itself just outside her bottom lashes.

Quickly, she wiped it off her face and stood up in the booth. It was an awkward fit, but she didn't know what else to do. "I should go." her voice trembled as she began collecting her things. Tears betrayed here as they began to invade the upper part of her cheeks. Her food, untouched and cold, opposite to what she felt like. Her blood boiled with mixtures of frustration and sadness and remorse.

TAGGED: daniel | OOC: poor danny-boy :c