Title: If Only

Author: blackout_girl

Prompt: If only love had found us first

Pairing: Sylar/Elle

Ratings/Warnings: G (super squeaky clean, sudo-fluff)

Summary: If only she had been just a girl with a broken watch. No powers, no Company, no lies. If only he had been just a boy who could fix watches. No hunger, no murder, no guilt.

Author's Note: So this is my entry for the drabble challenge. It isn't as good as I would have hoped, but I just wrote it an hour ago because I completely forgot that it had to be finished by Monday. It's about 750 words, which is an awful lot for a drabble, but whatever. Please read and enjoy!

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If only she had been just a girl with a broken watch. No powers, no Company, no lies.

If only he had been just a boy who could fix watches. No hunger, no murder, no guilt.

If only she came into his shop on a cold November morning, the blue light filtering in through the dirty window of the Queens shop, and found the young, lonely watchmaker. If only she had come into that shop and smiled at that boy with her thousand watt smile, the only kind of wattage she had. If only the boy looked up at the sound of her heels tick, tick, ticking in time with the watches in his shop, the only kind of ticking he heard. If only.

She would have flirted; because, even without the daddy issues and the sociopathic tendencies, she would always be a little flirt. He would have had to look away shyly; because, even without her sparks and even without his hunger, he could tell that she was special, a kind of special he longed to be.

She would have liked the way that he looked at her, like she was more than just a girl who so desperately wanted to be loved. And he would have liked the way that she made him feel, like he was more than just a boy who so desperately wanted to be special.

She would have dropped hints about being single, about how hard it was to be all alone in the big city, and every other cliché she believed could catch her a man. Her insinuations would have gone completely unnoticed by the sweet boy and he would have let her just walk out the door of his cold lonely shop.

He would have hated himself for letting the girl walk out of his shop, hated his lack of courage. But she would have come back; and the boy would have hoped that she returned for more reasons than just her watch.

The shop would have been crowded on her return; two old ladies and a young business man, all jammed in the tiny shop. The boy would have seen her the moment she entered though, her presence like lightning to him. He would have begged her with his eyes to stay, to wait for him. She would have beamed at him, happy to have his attention above all others in his busy shop. She would have waited and he would have worked twice as quickly.

When his work was done he would not have wasted a single breath. He would have asked her out to dinner, just like any boy would ask a pretty girl. She would have accepted, just like any girl would a sweet boy.

She would have been the spark of life he needed, so bright, so beautiful, so special. He would have been the calming sensibility that she needed, so elegant, so intelligent, so special. And they would have been happy. She would have never asked him to be more than he was, never demanded that he be any more special than he already was. He would have never been disappointed by her, he would have never looked at her with her father's dissatisfied eyes.

They could have been a normal couple. They could have been in love. They could have done the flowers and kisses and every other little thing that couples in love did so easily, so freely. They could have gotten married on some beautiful June day, the sun in the sky and stars in their eyes. They could have had a baby, a wonderful, perfect little baby boy who would have become another faultless member of their little world. They could have grown old together, living out their lives in common, everyday contentment. And it wouldn't have mattered that they were just like everyone else. It wouldn't have mattered that they weren't special because they were happy. They could have been so very happy. If only love had found them first.

If only.