The (un)Lucky Girl

AUTHOR'S NOTE AND WARNING TO READERS: This is a love story, though it does contain several graphic sexual scenes. Please look at the tags and make sure that you're comfortable with them all. Furthermore, it has moments of sadness within, and deals with some rather difficult topics - but in a healthy way, hopefully. And who knows? Perhaps it has a happy ending?

This is my contribution for the Winter Holidays Story Contest 2023 - So I'd be thankful if you could please leave a rating at the end.

This is a work of fiction, and everyone in the story is eighteen or older.

All of my stories are copyrighted.

--- THE (UN)LUCKY GIRL ---

There was so much snow on the rooftops that they risked caving in. The whole world seemed to be painted white, the monotony only being broken up by the salted asphalt and the Christmas decorations hung along Central Street. The evergreen boughs and red ribbons were a jarring reminder of the holiday season that was swiftly approaching, though Marcellus didn't care much for such traditions. He had no known family, and his memories of Christmas celebrated at the orphanage when he was younger were far from pleasant. Now he was cursing silently under his breath.

"That's fucking great.." he muttered as he saw the last bus of the night drive off a mere thirty seconds prior to his arrival. The commuter train had been delayed due to 'signal error', whatever that meant - and now he had arrived in the small town where he rented an apartment, just a tad too late to make the connection. This would mean he'd have to walk home - a full 35 minute trek - and the weather was absolutely freezing, the winter winds lashing against his face and the thin layers of clothing he wore. His coat was more suited for the autumn than the harshly chilling weather, and he had no scarf or winter hat to speak of. At least the black leather gloves helped some.

Shivering, he glanced at the snowflakes that fluttered down to the ground in a flurry of dancing shapes and sensations that was more irritating than fascinating in his current mood - praying he'd make it home before succumbing to hypothermia. His dress shoes felt slippery on the frozen asphalt, and he cursed his workplace for forcing him to wear a suit despite the snow and the bitter cold - but nonetheless, he began walking through the bus station plaza. Walking down the streets, he paid attention to the houses, which all looked the same in this part of the city. Christmas decorations in the windows, festive lights adorning every porch - the illumination dazzling across the bleak night. At least the town was clean enough and well maintained - no broken fences, garbage piled up on corners, or cracked pavement. There was hardly a car on the streets, the clock being slightly past midnight - and the town's population wasn't much higher than 5,000 people. It was a place where people came to live the simple, quiet life - yet it was only a 30 minute commute into Stockholm.

He kept walking for a long time, feeling melancholy. Marcellus felt displeased about where he had ended up in life. A corporate drone that was too young to be an actual member of society but too old to be regarded as a kid. Despite his wits, which he felt was his best feature, he felt like the world just didn't care about him - and that it never had. His long hair fell down his face, hiding the frustration he felt deep in his heart. The moonlight bathed the world in a soft blue hue, reflecting off the freshly fallen snow - which would have been beautiful if he'd take the time to appreciate it, but he didn't. Instead, his gaze was locked onto the ground a mere few feet in front of him, keeping his head tilted forward to avoid the whistling winds kicking too much snow into his face.

But he looked up just in time. Just in time to see her - a young woman - climb onto the railing of the bridge he was just about to cross, gazing into the icy dark waters below, not quite frozen over yet. Even from a distance, he could see the sorrow painted upon her face - and her puffy red cheeks implied she might have been crying. He stopped, eyes wide with worry and apprehension for the briefest of moments, before his instincts kicked in.

"Hey!" he shouted, "Don't do it!" Marcellus started running, the woman looking over at him with an expression of bewilderment and fear. As if she was caught doing something she should have known better than to attempt. Yet, her response to him had a defiant tone to it.

"Why not!?" she yelled back at him, "Just leave me alone!" Her voice was soft and high-pitched, but strong and assertive in tone. And so were her words.

Marcellus kept running toward her, quickly closing the distance. "Come on, we can talk about this!" he cried out, his heart caught in an unpleasant rush and his stomach fluttering with worry, "We can get help from someone!"

"Don't come any closer or I'll jump!" the girl threatened, even as she hesitated to move. She was visibly shaking by that point, and tears flowed freely from her eyes - her footing seemingly uneven as she balanced on top of the metal railing. The bridge wasn't exceptionally far up, but the shock of being submerged into cold water was likely enough to be fatal. The black depths would easily suck her down, and her lungs would struggle against the freezing temperatures - and swimming with thick winter clothes on was no easy feat even in the best of conditions.

Marcellus slowed down to a stop before reaching the girl, trying his best to keep a neutral face - holding his hands up as if to show he was no threat, not wanting to agitate the young woman in any way. "Please, get down," he asked her, "You won't solve anything by doing this." The young man was not sure why he cared so much about a total stranger, but he did. There was a deep, inherent sense of right and wrong inside of him, and life was precious - but more so, he could relate to her pain, having struggled with depression for all of his life, and having attempted to take his own life once as young as ten. "What's your name?"

The woman's head jerked to the side, as if she was a scared puppy trying to avoid eye contact. Her gaze was downcast as she mumbled her reply. "Selena," she said, pushing a lock of her hair behind her ear - as black as night itself. "But why do you care? Please just go away!"

Marcellus frowned. "I know what it's like to be in pain," he said - trying to reach some sort of common ground. "I won't judge, okay? You can trust me." He lowered his arms and started to inch closer. "What's hurting you?" he asked gently, not wanting to scare her off.

It took a few moments for Selena to reply, and her answer was surprising to Marcellus - and even more so due to the sheer power behind it. Her eyes filled with tears, her expression turning from defiant to fearful and sad. "I'm dying anyways," she said, sniffling and trying to hold back a sob - which made Marcellus pause. "Brain tumour." The girl said nothing else, but it was clear that she had come to this decision all too recently, her emotional state in turmoil.

Marcellus frowned deeply as he tried to digest the information. "Oh. I'm so sorry." A brain tumour.. "How long have you been diagnosed?"

Selena shrugged, looking away again. "A month or two."

"What about your friends and family? Are they offering you the support you need?" The concern was clear in his voice. Marcellus felt a surge of empathy for this girl who he had only just met. She seemed like a nice girl - her voice soft and her expressions heartfelt. "Isn't there someone you could call?"

"... I don't have anyone in my life," Selena mumbled, hurt painted across her features.

"I'll be your friend," he offered - and felt rather foolish for doing so. "Just come down from there, okay?"

Selena looked up at him, and her gaze pierced him to his very core. Her eyes were like two deep pools of liquid ink - reflecting the stars above, as if she had no fight left inside of her. "I can't," she said quietly - almost calmly - and then.. She jumped.

Marcellus dove forward, managing to grab onto the railing, watching Selena fall. Marcellus' world seemed to shatter, his system whiplashed with a pure sense of dread. The wind seemed to die out, even as it blew past his ears and kicked up more snow in the air, as if time stood still. Even his heart pounded like he had run ten marathons within the last thirty seconds. All he could do was stare wide-eyed and dumbfounded as the young woman dove into the freezing water, swallowed by the dark abyss.

Without being able to explain why, or thinking his decision through at all, he dove after her - crashing through the water tension into the depths below. Marcellus felt fear, but not the kind of primal, animalistic fear he'd have expected to feel - no, it was the same emotion he had felt when he had tried to kill himself at the age of 10. It was like he had somehow been called back to the moment he had slit his wrist, watching the blood seep out into the basin and painting the cold porcelain red. He could feel himself breaking down, becoming mentally paralyzed as he recalled the horrid memory.

And yet, somehow, he moved. His body floated down into the murky depths, pushing forward into the darkness. The pressure against him increased with every foot travelled - as if it were squeezing him, or trying to hold him down. And when he opened his eyes under the icy water, it hurt. He felt as if a thousand tiny needles were poking his corneas, piercing through his eyeballs into his brain. But her light beige coat was clearly visible just ten feet below him - the girl struggling to swim towards the surface. She tried to breath, but inhaled water - her flailing becoming weaker for every moment passing.

And then Marcellus was there, grabbing onto her - her lips blue from the cold and her eyes wide with fear. She started panicking even more when he grabbed hold of her, but the young man didn't let go - instead, he dragged her up towards the surface, his lungs feeling like they would explode, his heart about ready to jump out of his ribcage. Their bodies breached the surface together mere moments before his system was about to go into total shock, and Marcellus forced her to gasp for air - pulling her up onto the river bank, before collapsing on top of the snow himself, gasping and panting. Selena spit out water and then just laid there, shivering and sobbing quietly - staring up at him in sheer awe.

"Thank you.." she managed to choke out, her voice hoarse. "Thank you, thank you, thank you.." Selena was struggling to speak, tears rolling down her cheeks and snot dripping from her nose. Marcellus sat up slowly, eyes wide as he looked at her - wondering how it was even possible for them to still be alive. She was so pale she might have been a ghost, her body visibly trembling - her lips were blue and she was practically turning into ice before his own two eyes.

"If we stay here, we'll freeze to death in no time," he said - getting up on his feet, holding out his hand for her. She took it, her grip surprisingly strong for someone so frail. He pulled the woman up on her feet, supporting her as she nearly fell over, and then walked her away from the bone-chilling water, towards his home that was a mere two minutes away. The whole time, Selena was silent.

"Get in the shower," he told her as they crossed the threshold into his apartment. "I'll call an ambulance."

"D-Don't," she said through chattering teeth. Her whole body shivered intensely, and she tried to hold onto him like a drowning kitten - clutching onto him as if her life depended on it, burying her face into his shoulder. "Please.. Please, don't.."

"But you need treatment. I can't take care of you in this state." He pulled away slightly, meeting her eyes with a confused look on his face.

Selena's expression was hard to read. "We just need to get warm," she insisted. "Come.." Their clothes was just about frozen solid, and after they got rid of their coats, she dragged him into the shower stall, otherwise fully dressed. She turned the hot water on full force, and they both sat down on the floor under the stream of near-scalding water, breathing hard. It wasn't until then that Marcellus fully realized just how badly his muscles ached, and how exhausted he was.

As the girl started to breathe normally again, she hugged him and held onto him tightly, pushing her face up against the side of his neck. Her body was shaking still, and her breathing was ragged, yet she clung to him as if letting go meant she'd fade away.

Marcellus sighed and rubbed his temple, closing his eyes as he leaned back against the tiled wall. His mind was racing as it tried to make sense of the events that had unfolded - the fact that he had followed a stranger into such incredible danger, the fear that had washed over him when he had seen her jump, and the dread that had struck him in the dark below. He wondered if she was going to be okay - or even more so - if he was. It felt surreal. And so, without thinking about it, he hugged Selena back.

"I'm sorry," she said over the sound of the shower pattering upon their clothes - sniffling and still shaking. "I.. I was so scared once I jumped, and the cold enveloped me.." she admitted. "I'm sorry."

Marcellus sat there, leaning against the wall, in his drenched suit - all alone with this young woman. He opened his eyes and really looked at her for the first time. She had chubby cheeks like a cherub, and dark chocolate eyes full of expression. Her hair, like the scales on a black mamba, fell down in soft curls to her shoulders - though it was dripping wet. Her face was covered in a fair amount of acne, and she wore no make-up at all. Overall, she was a little bit on the bigger side - not overweight, just not quite in proportion with her body. She looked to be in her late teens or early 20's, and wasn't what Marcellus would describe as classically beautiful, but there was something cute about her that made her far from unattractive.

"... It's alright," he finally said, sighing softly and petting her wet hair, before turning the shower off without getting up. "I still think I should call you an ambulance though," he said gently. She looked so fragile at that moment, so weak and vulnerable.

"Please don't," she said with a lot of determination behind her words. "They'll keep me there for days to evaluate my mental health, and I.. I really hate hospitals.." She bit her bottom lip, which had returned to it's natural cranberry colour by now. "Please.. Let me stay here. With you.." she sounded desperate, needy even.

"Okay, okay," Marcellus conceded. "You can stay here tonight. Hopefully your clothes will be dry by tomorrow morning." He stood up and helped Selena get to her feet, before handing her a towel. "Let me get out of this suit before I drip all over the floor, then I'll go find you something to wear." And with those words, after grabbing a second towel for himself, he left the bathroom and began to undo his tie and unbutton his shirt.

Marcellus still wasn't entirely sure what had happened - but somewhere deep inside, he could still feel the after-effects of the adrenaline, making his legs feel weak, his heart hammer in his chest. Even as he was stripped down to nothing but a pair of wet boxer briefs, he couldn't seem to think straight. Running a hand through his black locks of hair - brushing them to the side - he heard the jostling of cloth and turned around. Selena was standing in the doorway of the bathroom, holding her bundle of clothes against her chest in a large ball, otherwise seeming completely naked.

"... What do I do with these?" She seemed so meek, so vulnerable - not the strong and defiant woman who had jumped into the icy water mere minutes prior.

Marcellus looked away, trying to be a gentleman. "Just leave them on the floor. I'll hang them up. Let me go find you a t-shirt or something." With that, he went over to his bedroom, picking up a bundle of fresh clothes before returning to the living room and handing it to Selena. "I'm sorry I don't have anything your size," he mumbled - though it didn't seem like she cared much about it.

She was wrapped in the towel, and he was only wearing his underwear. Suddenly, there was the slightest hint of sexual tension in the room, highlighted by her rosy cheeks. He gulped down hard, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he tried to avoid staring at her.

"I never asked.. Uhm.. What's your name?" Selena just stood there, looking up at him, as if trying to decipher his secrets with her dark eyes.

"... My name is Marcellus," he said quietly. "Want a cup of tea or something? I still feel cold inside somehow."

Selena nodded, biting her bottom lip. "That sounds nice," she said.

Two minutes later, the kettle was on, and Marcellus had dressed himself in a tight shirt and some sweatpants. Selena stood in front of the couch in the living room, adjacent to the small kitchen, wearing nothing but one of his t-shirts - and although it was almost big enough on her to be considered a dress, it just barely failed to cover the very bottom part of her buttocks. She stared at him as he moved about in the kitchen, turning around to get something from the cupboard.

"Pants were too big," she said quietly.

Marcellus was acutely aware of just how awkward and out of place he felt despite being in his own home - and he wondered if she was doing this to him intentionally. "Tea will only be a minute. I don't have any unflavoured ones. Chamomile or cinnamon okay? Or I have lemon, as well."

"I'll have the same as you." Her soft voice cut through the tension. The sound of her feet padding over to him seemed to echo in his ears, though he wasn't sure why. "Thank you.." she said meekly, standing right next to him as he took down a pair of mugs, pouring hot water into both.

Marcellus nodded, then the young man entered the bathroom, his own wet clothes in his arms, and fetched the foldable drying rack from IKEA that he had bought when he moved in, and proceeded to hang all of their clothes upon it. They were so wet that he had serious doubt that they'd dry until tomorrow morning, dripping all over the place, but that was an issue for a later time. As he walked back out into the hallway, he saw Selena bending over to pick up their coats from the floor - and as she did so, her entire bottom came into view, the t-shirt riding up her legs - her glistening, pink labia right there for him to see. He gulped hard, nearly choking on his spit.

The young woman straightened up and looked over her shoulder at him, smiling bashfully as he could do nothing but stare at her wide-eyed. Her lips parted slightly as she blushed intensely, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she turned around and handed him their coats as if nothing had happened.

Marcellus blinked rapidly, trying to rid himself of the image in his head. "Thank you," he said quietly, hanging the garments on the inside of the bathroom door. "You want milk or sugar in your tea?" he asked her as he made his way back towards the kitchen.

"... I'll have the same as you, thank you," she repeated again. A few seconds later, she took the cup he offered her and smiled softly. The smell of lemon drifted through the air, and the warm steam caressed her face, and her gaze wandered to Marcellus.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he offered, sitting down next to her on the couch.

Selena bit her lip and stared into her cup, trying to keep her emotions in check. "... I promise I won't do it again," she said.

Marcellus nodded, placing his cup on the coffee table in front of the couch. "Good. I'm glad."

Silence fell upon them. For a few moments, the only sounds came from their soft breathing and the air conditioning unit. It was exceptionally dark outside, and the snow was raging on the other side of the windows. They both sat there, looking at each other, unable to form words - as if they didn't dare to break the tension.