ALAN - An Alan Rickman fanfic

Chapter 14 - "Say it darling..."

@sephine87 and are are so excited for you to read this one! We love hearing your comments and feedback and giving you hungry readers what you want! Please don't forget to vote and leave your comments. We love hearing your thoughts!

Full of sex, fluff and romance...here we go!

....................................

With just a few days to go before my exhibition, I try as best as I can to compartmentalise the theatre, my family issues - of which have predictably blown up - and Alan, aside from my exhibition prep. With a real lack of sleep and a tight deadline, last night emotions got on top of me and I broke down.

The news of Dad's affair came out last night. Amelia was on the phone to me until the early hours, sobbing, wanting me to come home because she couldn't take the weight on her shoulders. The news broke out after Mum found an email on Dad's laptop from the mystery woman now known as Carol saying how she couldn't wait to see him again, that she longed for the day when the two of them could be together properly and "finally be able to live their lives."

Regardless of every dispute I've had with my parents over the years, the restrictions they put on me, the vice grip they had on the steering wheel of my life, they are still my parents, the people who brought me into the world and raised me. The thought of them going their separate ways was alien to me. I couldn't really imagine them without each other. Last night when I laid down to sleep, every happy memory we'd ever shared as a family ran through my mind until I had to flip my tear soaked pillow. Memories of holidays, Christmases and birthdays were all archived. They hadn't been visited in a very long time. It showed.

................

Monday - the day of my exhibition.

Just as I'm about to leave my apartment, my buzzer goes. Outside is a delivery man with a floral van who presents me with a ginormous bunch of sunflowers. Inside the arrangement, the card reads, "Shine bright, darling. All the best for today. With love, Alan xxx"

Somewhere above the moon you'll find me floating. Not for long however, because Amelia calls, bringing me back to earth. "Mum grabbed all of Dad's stuff and threw it down the stairs yelling. I'm so scared she'll hit the bottle, Ava. You need to talk to her."

"There's nothing I can say over three thousand miles away that you can't say Amelia. Plus, you're there with her. What can I do? She has never listened to me anyway."

Amelia ends the call hitting me with guilt. Why today. I wasn't surprised that she didn't wish me good luck before my exhibition, that I didn't get a text from my parents. It was expected. I think of my beautiful bouquet of sunflowers at home as I ride the subway to the theatre and focus on Alan's positive affirmations - to 'shine bright'

Looks like I'm not the only one with things on my mind this morning. When I reach work, I find Lizzy at her locker in the prop room battling with the zipper on her bag. Something drops out and hits the floor with a rattle and rolls over to me - a brown medicine bottle with a white screw top.

"Here," I pass it, "Are you ok Lizzy?"

Her usual snowy skin is flushed, her bright eyes puffy and her general demeanour not at all like herself. She's been crying. That makes two of us this morning. She locks up more than her bag, denying the evident tears on her face and tells me everything is fine.

"I'm good honey. How are you today?"

"I'm good," I lie.

Lizzy pats me on the shoulders to come on through to the meeting room. "They loved your contribution to the meetings by the way. Greg was saying how the director really thinks you're an asset to the team."