'Icarus laughed as he fell.
Threw his head back and
yelled into the winds,
arms spread wide,
teeth bared to the world.
(There is a bitter triumph
in crashing when you should be
soaring.)
The wax scorched his skin,
ran blazing trails down his back,
h...
Exams were finished and Ariadne never felt so good. She had done it, she survived. She had the man of her dreams and nothing could go wrong. Felix and Ollie had repaired their broken friendship and Farleigh had reigned himself in (per Ariadne's request) when bullying Oliver in group situations.
Summer was in full swing at Oxford, but summer never truly started until they got to Saltburn. Nothing could truly harm her there, all the good of her brother used to shine at the Catton's family home, she called it the Catton effect, the family would either bring out the best in you or the worst, it depended on the type of person you were.
Tonight was the Summer Ball. A celebration of the year they had all pushed through. Another year closer to true adulthood. And it scared her, she didn't want to grow up truly, not with Achilles forever stuck as a teenager, frozen in the ground. It didn't seem fair.
Felix was her date tonight and she was thrilled, their relationship progressed massively over the course of a few weeks, she wasn't his girlfriend per say, but they had a deeper, mutual understanding that they were both something more. They loved each other deeply, but neither of them had garnered the courage to vocalise their feelings to the other just yet.
She had picked out a white floor length dress with gold trim for the ball, mirroring the attire of her namesake in a Grecian fashion, baby breath adorned in her curled hair. She looked like a vision in white, almost like a bride going to the altar. She was meeting Felix there and she couldn't wait to see him, in his tux, his eyebrow piercing glinting in the evening sun like it always did. She would miss it when they went to Saltburn, his mother hated anything that affected the natural beauty of her beautiful sons face.
When she made her way out onto the campus quad, she was flooded with compliments from her peers, saying she looked amazing and her dress was to die for. A pair of hands reached around her waist and swung her around, she hoped it was Felix but to her dismay it was Farleigh.
'Hey Buttercup, looking good' he sang to her, using the nickname that had been applied to her ever since she had introduced him to The Princess Bride when they were thirteen, the name stuck when a thirteen year old Achilles and Farleigh noticed the likeness between the two blonde girls.
She ruffled his hair while admiring him in his tux 'You clean up nice Farleigh, you almost look civilised' she joked, a mischievous grin on her face.
'Where's loverboy then?' he enquired, looking around for the boy who was typically attached to Ariadne's hip 24/7.
She smiled as if to hide her disappointment at Felix's absence. 'I don't know, he said he was meeting me here at 7.' Farleigh looked at the girl, her blonde tresses glittering in the dusky sky, knowing that Felix had gone off with fucking Oliver Quick, with the promise he would be back to get Ariadne later.
'Buttercup, he went off with Ollie earlier, something about wanting to get pre drinks in with him or something' Farleigh cringed, hating the fact that Oliver was receiving all the attention from his cousin. 'But you didn't hear it from me okay?' Farleigh changed the mood of the conversation quickly to avert the girl from falling into a pit of sad thoughts.
'It's not like I'm Felix's keeper, am I?' Ariadne quipped in a light hearted tone, 'The night is young and I wanna make some memories' she wooped, dragging Farleigh into the venue for tonight's debauchery.
It was 10pm when Felix finally rocked up, buzzed from the champagne him and Ollie had necked down by the river beforehand. He felt horrible for letting Ariadne down, but when he entered the large hall, she was the centre of attention, singing and dancing with a drunken Farleigh, screaming Linger by the Cranberries at the top of her lungs. Felix was entranced as he watched Farleigh spin her around, she looked like a girl at her wedding, and he hoped that one day he would be the groom looking on at his beautiful wife, her.
He had invited Ollie to come to Saltburn for the summer. He knew Farleigh would fucking hate it, a stranger in his house but Felix didn't care. Ollie was his best friend.
He cut in between Ariadne and Farleigh as the song came to a close as Farleigh shouted over the reverberating bass beat 'Well well well, looked what the cat dragged in.' Ariadne tipped her head back, cackling at Farleigh's hostility towards Felix.
Felix merely laughed in return, a hand falling onto Ariadne's waist. She looked up at the boy and drunkenly pouted and asked him where he was, putting her disappointment on display for him to see.
'I was with Ollie, darling, he was upset about his Dad so we threw a rock in the river for him.' Felix replied, he had deliberately kept Ollie away from Ariadne tonight, fearing that he would break down again and Felix had no wish to force unnecessary torment and stress onto the girl, knowing how she reacted when others broke down in front of her, she couldn't handle it.
'Oh poor Ollie, I hope he gets better over summer' she mused, fiddling with the button on Felix's suit jacket as they swayed to a slow song.
'He's coming to Saltburn' Felix breathed out at the end of the song, as Ariadne smiled in response. She wasn't thrilled at the revelation but thought it would be good for Felix to have other company than his family, they were tedious at times.
'What the fuck mate, why the fuck would you invite him?' Farleigh butted in on the couples conversation, angered at the fact he would have to be in Oliver's vicinity for the whole fucking summer.
'Mate, his dad just died and his mum's a bitch, what the fuck was I meant to do?' Felix hissed. Ariadne just stood there, amused that the two cousins were fighting over something so trivial and stupid. The estate was huge, Farleigh could easily avoid Ollie if he wished.
'So, why can't he just fuck off back to wherever Prescot is and leave us in peace' Farleigh exclaimed, waving his arms about as he stormed away from the two, leaving Ariadne in a fit of giggles as Felix concluded that it was time to go.
She was far gone into the land of oblivion as she stumbled home, using Felix as a human walking stick essentially. He admired her as she was lit up by the lamp posts on the journey back.
This time tomorrow they would be at Saltburn, and he couldn't wait.
This summer was going to be the best summer of their lives he thought, as he cradled her body in bed that night.
Oh how wrong they were.
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a/n: saltburn next chapter!! can't wait to start writing all the gritty, dark side of this plot line! thank you for all the love! i appreciate every single one of you!! lots of love!
