Work Text:
Nothing was different about this morning.
The alarm sounded, shrill as usual. Martyn groaned and fumbled to shut it off. Cleo likewise made a noise of complaint, wrapping more of the blankets around themselves.
Martyn didn't bother checking his phone, or doing much of anything. He already knew what would happen.
The first time he realized he was in a time loop, he was confused. Scared. But after a while, he had started to accept the monotony of it. The first part of the day went by like nothing, and he found that he could no longer remember how many loops it had been.
He only remembered to shower after Cleo complained about how much he stunk that morning. So he got into the shower, but didn't see the point. It wasn't like he'd be around long enough to actually feel unclean.
Then it was time for breakfast. It was simply a constant that Cleo would always burn the bacon. But he would never complain about that to them, since they were willing to make him breakfast.
"So," Cleo dished him out some extra crispy, extra burnt bacon. "What's the day looking like for you?"
Same as the last. "Eh," Martyn had tried to warn Cleo once and only once about what the day would hold. What would happen. But it hadn't changed the outcome. Nothing would. He didn't have the energy to stop it. "Nothing new."
"Same here," Cleo had their bag all ready to go, with the papers they had spent most of the night grading stuffed inside. He had recently been fired from his job as a bodyguard. Too trigger happy, apparently.
Martyn could practically hear the car driving down the road. Getting closer by the minute. He wanted to tell Cleo to get away from the window.
He wondered if Ren hesitated when he took the shot. Martyn certainly hadn't when he had taken out Lizzie. He supposed that was the reason for all this. It just all felt so stupid. Cleo had told him that was all behind them. They had moved so far away, changed their names, forged all their documents until the only thing that felt real about them was their unending commitment to each other. It was not love. It was simply the knowledge that he would always go to bed with Cleo right beside him.
The car door slammed. There was someone walking up to the window. Silent but heavy footsteps.
When he heard the shot ring out, he did not look up. He didn't want to see it again. Martyn heard the crack as Cleo's head hit the tiles and knew that there was blood slowly dripping onto the counter, onto the cabinets below. He did not look outside the window. Ren did not regret his choice. Martyn knew, he had asked him one loop about it.
He just left and went for work. Next loop he would save Cleo. He could try again next time. Over and over again, until he got it right.