× Mercury

The third of December was when it started to snow. I didn't know this because outside every window you saw a white sheet on every surface, but because when I first stepped outside, I nearly fell on my ass because a patch of ice lay right outside the door.

Campus was covered in a heavy blanket of snow, like an unfinished painting. So much of the canvas was still white, as if waiting for the artist's hand to return back to the art. Footprints overlapped each other around the labyrinth of paths, the snow hugged the old buildings, icicles the size of tusks hung from the gutters, and the branches of trees drooped low with the burden of snow.

I walked down the shoveled path, the crisp, cold air biting at my skin. Winter in London didn't seem like a wonderland I was hoping. Everything was meek and gray and just plain... wet. The snow was dirty and nothing like you might see out of a children's book or a ski brochure.

The Art Hall was a round building with lots of windows. Over my shoulder I had my mother's camera bag I had found in the attic at Grandma's. Professor Johnson was the photography teacher at Roehampton and I was hoping he could help me figure out how to use it since I knew next to nothing about film.

Inside the building was alive with color and emotion. Paintings of all kinds are hung up on the walls along with charcoal drawings and abstract mosaic pieces. Encased in glass were sculptures from vases to detailed statues. It definitely beat out all the other buildings with creativity, that was for sure.

As I walked down the hall, trying to figure out where the photography section was at, I heard singing down one of the hallways. Theater was probably down that hall, practicing for the upcoming musical.

"Lynn?" someone said from behind me. I turned and saw Thomas, a huge grin on his face. "I haven't seen you in this building before."

"Uh, yeah, I just came to talk to someone. I didn't know you were into art." I said as I noticed a portfolio under his arm.

"Graphic Design is my backup plan," Thomas clarified. "You know, creating logos and photo manipulating. I hope to go into illustration if football doesn't work out for me."

"Backup plan?" I questioned.

Thomas nodded and ran a hand over his buzzed, black hair. "Yeah, if something were to happen, like, if a scout doesn't want me and I don't go professionally or I get injured so I can't play, I can go into something that involves graphic design. Don't you have a backup plan?"

"No," I said, shaking my head slowly. "I'm pretty secure for going professionally; I don't need one."

"Sure, you're golden in that area, but what if you get hurt? Lynn, you almost lost your chance to play again last year with your ankle. Didn't that scare you enough to at least get some kind of degree just in case?"

His words melted into me like the snow the moment it touched my skin. A backup plan had never really occurred to me, and it was honestly stupid of me to not even consider it. Last year did scare me, but I just thought that it wouldn't happen to me again, kind of like getting struck by lightning. But I guess that one park ranger proved that wrong seven other times.

"As much as you might think, you're not invincible," Thomas said.

"I wouldn't even know what degree I would get..." I told him honestly.

"What are you good at? Or what do you like to do?"

I thought for a moment before looking down at the camera in my hand. "Take pictures."

Photography... I never really thought about doing that for a career. If I was being honest, I never really thought about anything but soccer being my occupation. I supposed it wouldn't hurt to look into it.

"I should really get going," Thomas said through my thoughts and walked to the door. "We can talk about this more later, if you like?" I nodded and he opened the door, stepping out into the cold.

I looked over my shoulder at blowup photographs some of the students must have taken for the class - everything ranging from landscape, to portraits, to wildlife. I did really enjoy taking pictures. I liked the whole idea of capturing something and keeping it forever. I liked the idea of taking something so simple like a background and putting a body with some fancy clothes and maybe some props to tell a story. I liked the idea of expressing emotion to both the person in the picture and to the viewer, what their take of the portrait means to them. I just liked the whole idea.

Maybe I'll consider Thomas' idea for a backup plan. It sure wouldn't hurt.

Ten minutes later I stepped out of Professor Johnson's office after showing him my mom's old camera. He explained to me all about film and where I could develop the prints and even showed me ways to preserve any damage that may have occurred on the negatives over time.

I was stepping out of the building when my phone started to vibrate in my pocket.

"What's up, Ireland?" I said into the receiver.

"Are you at your hall?" he questioned.

Side stepping away from a slick patch of ice, I continued walking down the sidewalk. "No, I'm at the art building. Why?"

"Did you forget about the wedding? The one Coach told us we had to attend!"

The wedding! Oh my god, I had completely forgotten about that! I looked at the digital clock on my phone and saw that it was almost six in the evening. After arriving back in London from our game yesterday, I took a nap and decided to go to the art building, the wedding wasn't a priority to me so it wasn't on my list of things to do for the day. And now that it was here, I groaned into the phone and hunched my shoulders in defeat.

"You know what, it doesn't matter," Niall said. "I'm thirty seconds away; I'm coming to pick you up."

"No, wait!" I shouted but was only greeted with silence as he hung up on me.

Shivering in the cold, I decided to wait for him inside the building. Looking through the window, I watched as the snow gently fell to the chilled ground like fairy dust. A few feet away stood two large trees, their branches intertwined together. I stared at them for a moment, finding it poetically beautiful that the branches together formed a heart. I remembered the story of Tristan and Isolde and how two trees had sprouted from the ground of their graves, very much like the trees I was staring at.

I was just about to dig out my camera and take a picture of them when someone said my name.

"I've been trying to get your attention from outside," Niall said as he stepped through the doors of the building. "What are you so fixated on?"

I pointed out the window. "Do those trees remind you of something?"

Niall stood beside me, looking at the intertwined branches. "No, should they?" he asked.

Opening my mouth to say something, I suddenly lost any form of communication as my eyes landed on him. I tried not to take notice, but Niall looked good. For being just as against this whole wedding, he sure didn't look like it in his outfit. A black blazer with the sleeves pushed up to the elbows was over a white Henley shirt, finishing the look with nice black boots. The blonde stylish mess of hair that was pushed up off his forehead was soft enough to make anyone want to run their fingers through.

"You look really nice," I told him.

Niall looked outside one last time before turning his back to me, ignoring my comment. "We should go, we're late."

I quickly caught up to him, carefully stepping down the steps outside and maneuvering cautiously around icy patches on the sidewalk. "I gave you a compliment," I told him. "You're supposed to say 'thank you'."

"Thank you," he said monotonously.

As Niall looked like a God, I myself had on white skinny jeans and a peach color loose-fitting sweater; a dark gray trench coat over my shoulders. My boots were black and the multiple rings on my fingers were gold, the florescent lighting dancing off them. I looked like a slob next to Niall.

When we got to his Jaguar Coupe, I opened the passenger side and hopped in, gently placing my camera bag in the backseat as Niall got in and took off out of the parking lot.

Even though I knew the answer, I asked anyways. "Can we stop at my place so I can change?"

He looked at me from head to toe before his eyes met mine. "You're fine."

I slumped in my seat. "Do you at least have another dress in your trunk for me to wear?"

Niall laughed. "Even if I did, I don't think it would be a good idea to wear it. You'd easily outshine the bride."

× × ×

The room buzzed with excited chatter and children ran between the tables in a good-natured game of tag. Niall and I sat in the back, just the two of us, with glass plates stacked with food. We had already been there for twenty five minutes and neither of us had seen Coach yet.

I looked around the large room, taking in all the people passing and dancing on the floor and wondered who exactly were the recruiters and if they knew we were coming.

The Waldorf Hilton Hotel was big, so the dance reception room left very little to the imagination. I have been to a good share of weddings in my day, but none of them even became remotely close to as extravagant as this one. There were twelve chandeliers dangling from the high, arched ceiling, rounded tables with dark red coverings clutter around the dance floor, little fancy table pieces on every single one. The marble floor was golden, and the walls decked in floral wallpaper looked just as fancy.

"Hey, check that out," Niall grinned, pointing to the dance floor.

I followed his finger and saw a young couple, maybe in their late twenties, pressed against each other and one layer of clothing short of passing their dance as porn. Considering Edwin McCain's song I'll Be was playing and there were kids running around, they acted as if they were at a club.

"It's not a wedding without a little grinding," I laughed as I took a sip out of my wine glass that was actually filled with water.

Sitting at the table, I started drumming my fingers on the tabletop. My desire to run was flowing through my blood fast and thick. I hated weddings so much. When I was at my cousins wedding, I had people coming up to me the whole night asking when I was going to get married. I told them that as soon as the Supreme Court says I can legally marry a slice of lasagna, you'll get my invitation in the mail. They thought I was kidding.

Then there were the wedding cakes. I know they spend a lot of money on those tiny little icing flowers and those tiny little bride and grooms on the top, but it's just awful - especially if you have fruit filling.

"You made it!" a familiar voice spoke from behind us.

I turned in my chair and saw Coach Mathews, his red tie loosened and white shirt half unbuttoned. His short hair was suspiciously wet and his gorgeous green eyes were swallowed up by his large pupils. I didn't have to guess what kind of liquid was in his glass.

"Have you tried the shrimp yet?" he slurred. "You should try the shrimp."

Niall frowned. "Where are the recruiters you promised?"

"The what?" he asked, confused, like he honestly had no idea what he was talking about. And then as if someone was standing nearby with cue cards, Coach's face changed to understanding. "Oh, the recruiters! That's right. Well, they're not here yet."

"What?"

"They're not here yet. If I had known they would be late, I would have told you. Why don't you just enjoy yourselves until they arrive? Try the shrimp!"

I opened my mouth to say something, to get any information he had out of him because if I had to watch dancers do the Cha-Cha Slide or the Hokey Pokey one more time I was going to explode. But before I could even utter a word, he walked away and engaged himself into another conversation.

Sighing, I took out my phone and started scrolling. Temptation to check the media took over and I typed my name into the search bar. Without fail, there was unnecessary drama. Just seeing the first headline told me that I should stop before I got in too deep.

Lynn Mercury Moved Onto New Teammate?

I didn't need to read any further to know from the image at the side that it was about Jace and I. The picture was before the game yesterday when the team was bombarded with paparazzi, of Jace's arms around my waist, trying to get me out of the way from the people crowding us. I could probably click on the article and find nothing about the actual game we played an hour later that image was taken.

"You don't like weddings, do you?"

I jumped when Niall spoke, not because it startled me, but because he was suddenly closer, his arm brushing against mine.

"What gave it away?" I asked, trying my best to act like I wasn't surprised by his sudden appearance next to me.

Niall studied me, and I had the feeling he had been doing so all night. "You're gritting your teeth together, biting your bottom lip, and wiggling in your chair. You've also had your arms crossed ever since we stepped foot inside and I know you're not self-conscious."

I may not have been startled by his swift appearance beside me, but I was a little surprised that he could read me so well.

"You got me," I said and slumped down in my seat, still refusing to uncross my arms. "I hate weddings with a passion. It's all... fake."

"Why do you say that?"

I thought for a moment, wondering how I should go about this. It was a topic I haven't much expressed outside of my friends, so I was a little weary about giving out my opinion.

"Being in love isn't a requirement for marriage, its financial survival. There are tons of perks to getting married and none of them have anything to do with love," I started slowly, tasting the words in my mouth before I continued. "People obsess over it, like a fetish or something. Marriage isn't a ring worn or a paper signed. It's not something endured... but valued."

Niall propped his elbows on the table and leaned in to get a better look. He was doing it again, trying to get a read on me. I've noticed him doing this more and more - looking at me like I was some formula he was trying to decipher, and not as a human being. I wasn't sure what he was trying to decode now, but from the look on his face, he seemed to crack it.

"So, you don't want a wedding of your own?" he finally asked. "Don't all girls have fantasies of their wedding day, what their dress is going to look like or who is going to be their maid of honor?"

I shrugged. "Not really. I was too busy dreaming of other things, like soccer and seeing the world. I have a lot of kinks, but marriage isn't one of them."

Niall smirked at that comment, but I didn't let him think too much on it as I turned away and put my concentration on the people on the dance floor.

Marriage is a fantasy. We get turned on over the idea of spending the rest of our lives with someone and having their children. But in reality, the divorce rate in America is 50%. As often as our fantasy is fulfilled, it is left empty - and we were likely unsatisfied long before signing the papers. There is a better use of time and money spent than on rings and a wedding. Like a down payment on a house, or an international travel excursion, an experience, something that changes you and forces you to grow, both individually and as a couple.

"Dance with me."

I turned back to look at Niall to find him still staring, his eyes burning through me so deeply that it was impossible to miss the heat.

"What?" I asked because surly I didn't hear him correctly.

"Dance with me," he repeated softly.

There were a hundred different reasons why that was a bad idea. The stiffness in my spine from the long game yesterday and the ride back home today. The fact that the chancellor was somewhere around, and that we would be feeding him false information he already suspected. But mostly it was because I didn't want to dance. I just wanted to disappear.

But he didn't let me. He just looked at me with those big, blue eyes of his, making me feel very visible, very noticeable, and just overall seen.

"I don't think so," I said, taking note that a slow song had begun to play.

But Niall just grinned, wider than before, like something had just occurred to him. Instead of arguing like I thought he would do, he stood up and took my hand, making me have no choice but to follow him out onto the dance floor.

"Our song is playing," he said.

"Our song? What are you talking about?"

Out on the floor, he stopped and spun on me, taking a step in. "When I picked you up at the airport, this song was playing in the car."

I blocked out all the noise of chatter and the clanking of glasses and focused on the song coming through the speakers. All around us, people coupled up and swayed together, like two trees intertwining in the wind.

You never know when you're gonna meet someone, and your whole wide world in a moment comes undone. You're just walking around and suddenly everything that you thought that you knew about love is gone. You find out it's all been wrong.

Niall smiled softly, knowing that I remembered exactly what he was talking about. He was so close now - when had he gotten so close? I couldn't meet his eyes anymore, so I dropped my gaze and soon felt his fingertips on my wrists. His touch left goosebumps along my skin until he finally let his fingers lace through my own, sending a thrill through my chest.

He was so close; it made his words feel too soft when he said, "Please."

I could feel him there, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Attentiveness and terror hummed through him and I couldn't tell which was stronger.

Everyone knows life has its ups and downs. One day you're on top of the world and one day you're the clown.

I wasn't sure if it was because of the people slow dancing around us, or if it was the soothing melody of the music filling my ears, or if it was from the hanging lights above us twinkling like stars, or for the fact that Niall had remembered what song was playing on the radio when he picked me up from the airport, but my left arm slowly wrapped around his neck. With the small smile still on his lips, he grabbed my waist and closed the last bit of distance between us.

There was no denying the fire that burned between us. I wasn't an idiot. I knew what that hollow feeling in my stomach meant. I knew why his hands seemed to bring with it sparks and explosions, all along my waist and sides. Maybe that was why I let my head fall into his chest. Maybe that was why, even after everything, I was grateful for the presence.

Because I don't know where it's going, there's a part of me that loves not knowing. Just don't let it end before we begin.

"You're a puzzle to me, Lynn Mercury," Niall said, his heart drumming against my ear. "Whenever I look at you - think about you - I get these calculations, cause and effect models, possible outcomes, and endless theories. It's like... It's like I have to solve you or maximize your potential."

"Why is that?" I asked quietly, lifting my head up to look at him.

"Because..." he started, "you are the Chaos Theory in effect."

Absentmindedly, my hand went to the back of his head and I started playing with the soft hair at the nap if his neck. Everyone around me, all the couples dancing and the kids running around, high off energy, disappeared. It was just Niall and I, pressed against each other, and I was happy.

Everything that had happened brought us there on that dance floor. However far outside logic, there wasn't a formula for this, despite what Niall might think. It was just... this.

And I'm gonna say what I need to say, and hope to god that it don't scare you away. Don't wanna be misunderstood. But I'm starting to believe that this could be the start of something good.

I wasn't sure what might have happened next. Maybe since the song ended, so would our dancing and the two of us would go back to our table in the back of the room and wait for the recruiters, or maybe we would continue to sway there on the floor until the next upbeat song played, or maybe Niall would take my hand and lead me away to a deserted corner of the room and kiss me, and maybe, just maybe, I would let him. But none of that mattered because as soon as the ending note of the song faded out, Coach was there, and the look on his face was enough to ruin the mood.

"I got some bad news," he said, disappointment dripping in his voice. "The recruiters aren't coming."

Niall removed his arms from around me and stood tall in front of Coach. "What do you mean they aren't coming?" he asked, irritated.

"I mean they're not coming. My brother just informed me on this otherwise I would have told you sooner. I'm sorry you came all this way for nothing, but at least you got some free food out of it."

Shaking his head in disappointment, Niall turned to me. "Let's go."

Seeing as Niall was my ride home, I didn't have much choice but to follow after him.

"Before you leave, try the shrimp!" Coach shouted after us.