Maybe I Miss Your Body
Tina's POV:
"Too bright..." I mumbled, burring my face into the soft pillows. My head hurt like fucking Mardi Gras and I didn't even bother to open my eyes again. It was way too bright even with them closed.
I'd slept on my arm funny and couldn't move it, I had to grab it with my other arm and drag it out from under my back. I could already feel the tingly sensation fill the limb, like when your arm falls asleep.
Even the sheets were too rough. Was I wearing a shirt? Pants? Who cared, they wouldn't stay on long once Bette woke up anyways.
I felt a warm kiss on the side of my neck and a soft voice whispering in my ear.
"Morning, beautiful."
"Too loud..." I grunted in response, getting a mouth full of yuck-tasting pillow. Not my favorite breakfast.
"Oh, that's right, you went into a drinking frenzy last night." I could almost see Bette's knowing smirk in my head as she said it. "The Captain is not your friend, Tina."
I rolled over onto my back, squinting against the sunlight, even though the blinds were down and closed.
"Hey, I had a good reason to 'chill with the captain' last night. In case you don't remember, my parents came over for diner." She brushed the tangled hair out of my face. That felt better. I rolled over into her arms, snuggling against her warm body. Okay, I had no pants, but a shirt. Did I get laid?
"Hmm," She let out a little laugh. "I thought your senses were supposed to be heightened with a hangover. Isn't my pillow too rough?" She slid away, grinning. Nice, Bette, tease the girl with a pounding headache.
"Noooo...warm. Hey, come back here." I whimpered, rolling over to her.
Rolling...rolling...rolling...rolling...where did Bette go?
THUD!
"Ouch. Shit." I held my head as I stood up, taking in my surroundings. Dark windows, blinds down, stuffy old apartment smell, complete with rusty kitchen sink. The furniture was worn and what was once beautiful white carpet was now a sick yellowish color, the fabric missing in clumps and patches on the floor. The walls were plastered with peeling, crumpled ancient wallpaper that had what looked like little sunflowers on it with a brown background. The only light sources available were the 3 undersized windows (currently darkened with mini-blinds), miniature reading light by the bed, and stand-up lamp stationed at the side of the couch.
As if it weren't trashy enough, the smell of aged liquor was in the air from the previous night, and dozens of beer bottles were strewn across the floor. A new bluish-green stain was visible from underneath a margarita glass in the small dump of a kitchen.
"God, I don't even want to know what the bathroom looks like," Alice said from the doorway.
"Uhg, so you're what woke me up." I groaned, shuffling over to my bed to sit down. With a smug look on her face, she said
"Are you sure it wasn't your bad breath that woke you up?" I just glared at her. "Looks like you could use one of those house make-overs from TLC, huh?" She smiled that everything's-fine-as-long-as-I'm-making-jokes smile and crossed her arms, looking around at the scattered trash and beer bottles.
"Yeah, I didn't exactly get a chance to clean up the place. I didn't exactly know you were coming." I said sarcastically, wincing at how loud my own words sounded.
"Yeah, you were too busy getting shit-faced, huh?" She still kept that smile, though now I could tell it was her way of matching my sarcasm. Classic Alice.
"Well I think I had a good excuse! Ya know, my girlfriend and I have a miscarriage, then she cheats on me with her fucking carpenter, I have the baby I hadn't told her about before because she couldn't handle another miscarriage, then I start getting these longings for men for the first time since I'd met Bette, I get a boyfriend, then he leaves me because he thinks I'm still in love with my baby's mother. And to top it all off, I get kicked out of my own house for the second time, and now I'm living in this shit-hole." I collapsed onto my side, burring my face in the pillows to keep from crying.
"Well…it could be worse." Alice said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
"How?" I asked, my voice muffled in the fabric. "How could it possibly be any worse?" There was a pause.
"The girl you love could be recovering from cancer."
Shane's POV:
"Okay, okay. So you're saying you wouldn't fuck Johnny Depp?" Carmen asked, raising her eyebrows in silent disbelief.
"Ew, no way! I'm strictly a pussy and tits girl." Jenny replied, a slow grin spreading across her face.
"Alright, what if he…let you dress him up like a girl? Oh, better yet, a drag queen!" Carmen persuaded, licking her lips for exaggeration.
"Hmm…maybe. But only for tabloid and blackmail pictures."
"Ah ha, it's all about the Benjamin's, huh?" I laughed as Carmen took my hand and leaned against my shoulder. Even the slightest touch from her could make me insane. I still held the ring in my pocket. I carried it around every day, just waiting for the right moment. It had to be perfect. Nothing less for my girl.
I love everything about her: her laugh, her smile, the way she spoke partly in Spanish when she was around her family, God, I just liked the way she talked! Or when she got really pissed off and started yelling in Spanish. That was really hot. She's been teaching me some Spanish, too. She says I'm getting really good. And believe me, if I was horrible at it, she'd tell me. She always speaks her mind like that. We've been taking a Spanish class at a local collage together, too. Since I'd never finished high school, we'd had to bribe the Dean to let me in, but it all worked out. Carmen thought It's be good for me to take some basic classes, too, even though my career's fine. Actually, it's better than ever. The guys at WAX have been great with flexible work hours now that I'm back at school. And I get to practice skating during my breaks there! That is, when I'm not making out with my lovely girlfriend. I've even entered into some competitions…for skateboarding, not making out. Though if there were a contest for that I'd totally win!
Carmen's family has been great, too. I went to see her mom after Carmen kind of exploded at the family dinner that day. I apologized and told her that I wanted to ask Carmen to marry me. Her mom was ecstatic and said she'd be proud to have me as a daughter-in-law. Can you believe it? (I still can't believe she made me wear that dress!) I'm actually going to have a family!
Not that the gang at the planet isn't family. They're just different. And they've got their own problems without having to deal with mine, too. Bette and Tina's relationship hitting rock bottom, Moira…sorry, Max going through her… his 'transformation,' Jenny's job hunting…and Dana and Alice. Wow, we all felt bad for Al when her and Dana split, and we all thought it was pretty funny with her obsession, but that disappeared when Dana got breast cancer. God, that was heart-breaking. Still is, actually. We all thought she was going to die. And if Dana died, Alice would have been right behind her with a noose.
But Dana's recovering pretty well right now. The doctors say even though she won't be as strong as she used to be (they had to take out a lot of tissue and muscle), she'll still be able to build up a good amount of muscle and play tennis again, maybe even go back to playing pro. Best of all, now that they've gotten rid of the cancer, they've given her a long and healthy life sentence.
Laura never came back. I guess she decided she liked Paris a lot more than this old place. Kit says that there'll always be a job open for her at the Planet if she does decide to come back, though.
Oh! Kit's music! Well, her and the Ziff's finished their CD, a full 12 track album, and it's rockin' the charts. It's pretty kick-ass if I do say so myself. Her and Angus are engaged, now. He popped the question at the CD release party. It was pretty romantic, actually, if you're into that stuff: white picket fences, screaming kids and such. I hope to have that with Carmen one day soon.
But until the perfect moment comes along, that ring is staying right in my pocket.
Alice's POV:
I pulled Tina up off the bed by the arm. God, she could be really stubborn sometimes.
"Come on, hun. You've got to get up sometime, and now is that time. Now up!" I gave her a final yank and she sprung up onto her feet. "Good. Now just go shower. You smell like a drunk." I have no problem being blunt. Some say it's one of my best qualities.
"I hate you." She replied, stumbling to the bathroom.
"I know." I replied, nodding. Why yes, I can take verbal abuse!
"So much." I turned the shower on and adjusted the temperature.
"I know, I know. So much hate. Do you need help with that?" I noticed her fumbling with her shirt, trying to get it over her head.
"No." She grunted stubbornly. I stood there for another two minutes with my arms crossed until she threw her arms up in defeat. "Alice?" I just laughed and pulled the shirt off her.
"Are you good with the rest? I've got to go check on Dana."
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I think my drunk self can remember how to shower properly." She said with sarcasm dripping I her voice.
"Well you never know!" I said, leaving the apartment. I got into my blue mini and drove the short way to the hospital.
"Hey there, Alice." The nurse greeted as I made my way over to sign the guestbook. I'd been coming here every day since Dana was first put In the hospital, so she knew me by name now.
"Hi." I replied. I walked the whole 7 feet to the vending machine and got 2 Mountain Dew's: one regular, one diet. Dana always drank diet. I stared at the floor as I walked the distance to her room. I knew the way by heart, and I hated looking at all the sick people without being able to do anything for them, so there was no use in looking up.
I creaked open the door slowly and slipped inside, closing the door behind me. Her eyes were closed and she was curled up in a little ball, snoring quietly. I crept over to the window and opened the shade, letting the light fall on her face. She wasn't as pale as she used to be, her color was returning a little more each day. So was her strength. I sat down in my chair, noticing she was holding something I her arms as she slept. I looked a little closer, and saw that it was the singing flower I had brought her the day she went into emergency surgery.
God, that day had sucked. The nurse had told me I should get out of the hospital, I hadn't left in 5 days. So I'd asked Dana if she could do without me for a little bit and went to the store. I'd seen the flower on display and as soon as it played "you are my sunshine" I'd thought of her. So I'd bought it and went back to the hospital. Something was off as soon as I'd stepped into that hallway. It was just…weird. Not right. I peered into the her room to see doctors crowded around her. I'd been so scared. One of the nurses in the room saw me standing there and went to open the door to talk to me. As soon as the door opened it'd snapped me out of my shocked trance and I'd rushed inside, grabbing hold of Dana's hand. They'd tried to get me out of the room, but I wouldn't leave. I actually bit one of the nurses when she grabbed me. But I'd stayed by Dana's side the whole time and talked to her, knowing that somehow she could hear me. And she'd pulled through. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't.
A stirring sound pulled me out of my reverie. I looked up to see Dana's gorgeous eyes blinking sleepily at me.
"Hey there." I said, getting up and kneeling by her bed. "The doctors say we can take you home in a few more days." I smiled reassuringly at her.
"Mmm. Thank God, I'm dying here." I must have had a look of shock on my face after she said that because she quickly amended herself. "Not literally." I let out a breath.
"I see you've found a sleeping buddy." I said, nodding towards the flower she still held in her arms. "Getting a little lonely in that bed, huh?" She let out a little laugh.
"Glad to see you haven't lost your sense of grotesque humor while I've been in here." I smiled and lowered my head.
"Well someone's got to make you laugh." She took my hand at the bedside.
"You always do." She was silent for a minute, and I could tell she wanted to ask something but was hesitant about it.
"What?" I asked, my curiosity having been sparked. "Just ask."
"Um, when you take me out of here…can I…can I go back to your place? I don't want to stay alone."
"Of course, sweetie. I'd never planned on leaving you alone." We were both blushing a little now. Her and Laura had broken up, and Laura hadn't come back…
No. She's not even out of the hospital yet! I kicked myself for even thinking about getting back with her. She probably didn't even want me back after my obsession period with her.
I heard the door open behind me and the nurse came in.
"Alright, Dana, time for the meds again." The nurse smiled, setting a couple pill bottles on the nightstand.
"Great. Drug me up, Doc." She said sarcastically. You see, I've rubbed off on her….not in a sexual way, though. Well, technically I have…