Something's Gotta Give
Summary: Jason and Sonny in the kitchen with Courtney and Carly taking a sudden code of celibacy? Only with the Fab 4.
A/N: So, this was supposed to be a Valentine's Day fic; more specifically, a sequel "Red Wine & Pinky Rings". However, since it's like, oh, summer time, let's just call it a regular one-shot with absolutely no theme. Just pure Fab 4 (remember them?) randomness, okay? Okay.
They were hell-bent on never becoming saps. They promised one another that they wouldn't even consider giving into their wives' every little yearning. They swore up and down that whatever the situation, they would have top authority. But they had failed big time. What else could explain Sonny clad in a pink and red, heart embroidered robe and Jason with wire-rimmed glasses perched on his face?
"I don't understand this," Jason said squinting at the top of a silver spoon that held cake mix. "I don't know if this is a tablespoon or a teaspoon."
Sonny sighed heavily and slammed down his shot glass filled with whiskey. This was going to be one long night.
He heard muffled giggles coming from the living room and wondered if Carly and Courtney were laughing about them, especially since this entire evening was their idea –well, Carly's idea.
As a joint Christmas gift, their wives decided to spring a surprise dinner on them, but, as usual, business had called and they were quickly taken away from their usual holiday commitment.
Carly and Courtney knew exactly what came with the territory of marrying such men, but neither could get over the fact that not only had their dinner plans been ruined, but that they wouldn't even be able to spend Christmas with their spouses.
Their anger was still present when Sonny and Jason returned three days later. Both men arrived to Courtney and Carly sitting on the latter's couch in their pajamas with huge pink and blue Velcro rollers in their hair.
Their eyes were glued on the television set as the two walked in.
"We're home," Sonny announced as he and Jason sat down their luggage.
"Buy a vowel you idiot!" Carly screamed.
"Nah, I'm thinking she should go with 'L'," Courtney said. She blew on her newly deep red painted nails. "No, maybe an 'M'. Oh, hell, just forget it. Turn the station. Steel Magnolias is on."
"Hello?" Jason said. "We're back."
Both turned to him and quickly offered a 'Hey' before focusing back on the television as a commercial came on.
"God, I love Shop the Soaps," Carly said with a smile. "I mean, who wouldn't want Babe's Eternity Bracelet? I know I would!"
And thus began the slow fall into realizing that sometimes, you just had to give in.
Carly decided to go with the silent treatment but went a tad further when Courtney suggested depriving Sonny of something a little different –the exact same "punishment" she was using on Jason.
"So, you just told him, flat out, no sex?" Carly asked.
"Nope," Courtney whispered over the phone as she sat cross legged on her bathroom floor at 2 AM one morning. "I don't say anything. I crawl into bed, give him a kiss on the cheek and go right to sleep. But, I know Jason, Carly. My husband is climbing the walls right now. It's great."
And so Carly took the same stance. After two months, and Jason taking a new liking to his metal bat by going to the warehouse just to smash things out of "frustration", along with Carly claiming Sonny had suddenly started spending hours on end at the shooting gallery everyday, of course, the boys had finally decided that something had to give.
"Bake a cake," Carly blurted out. Courtney looked over at her in disbelief but then smiled in agreement. She nodded. "With candy confetti. Rainbow candy confetti. Oh, and write 'We Heart You and We're Very Sorry' in pink icing. Cursive, may I add."
"And someone's wearing that beautiful pink and red apron with the hearts in there," Carly continued.
"I'm not baking a cake," Jason answered adamantly crossing his arms.
Courtney shrugged. "Fine by me."
"Just remember that the next time you're in the shower, buddy," Carly replied.
"You told her?" Jason cried.
"Of course she did!" Carly said. "Oh, I know everything. Even what happened that one night on that hotel balcony in South Beach …"
"Carly, stop it!" Courtney yelled. She turned back to Jason and Sonny. "Listen, you know what happens if you don't bake the cake."
Both women prayed their husbands would agree because, frankly, the situation was killing them too.
Sonny crossed his arms and looked at Jason who was just shaking his head.
"Alright. We'll bake," he finally answered. And, as always, Sonny had the final word. So here they were in Sonny and Carly's kitchen elbow-deep in cracked eggs, sugar and icing.
"Forget it, Sonny," Jason said clearly frustrated. He dumped the content of the spoon into the bright orange plastic bowl and began to stir the mix violently with a large wooden spoon.
He stopped when he caught Sonny staring into space as he sipped a new drink. "You could at least help." Sonny blinked. "Get the icing or something."
Sonny blinked again. "You want me to put the icing on the cake … when there is no cake," he answered quietly looking at the bowl of batter.
"Almost done in there, boys?" Carly called out from the living room. When they didn't answer, she and Courtney laughed loudly.
"Look," Jason whispered, ignoring her. "Let's just have Max go to the bakery down the street and bring us a cake. They'll never know."
"And don't even think about sending Max out to do your dirty work!" Courtney yelled. "Leave that poor man out of this."
Sonny poured himself another shot. "Look, I'm not staying in here all night. I'm just going to whip up some spaghetti …"
"Spaghetti? Carly and Courtney said cake. You know what happens if we don't bake a cake."
"What?" Sonny asked as he ventured over to the elaborate glass containers that held the pasta. "The sex thing?" He laughed at Jason's distraught expression. "Courtney's not really holding you to that is she?"
Jason nodded. "It'll be two months and one week tomorrow."
"You've gotta be kidding me," Sonny said. "Carly gave in after two days."
"She what?"
Jason and Sonny turned around to see Courtney standing in the kitchen.
"She what?" the blonde repeated, this time a little louder. "Carly! Get in here!"
"Courtney, wait--"
"No," she answered.
Carly walked in with a handful of Skittles she popped into her mouth. Sonny looked at her in disgust. "What's going on? Ah. No cake, I see. Hm. Someone's not getting any tonight."
"Cut the crap, Carly," Courtney said. "Apparently, you've been getting plenty. You gave it up on day two."
"You make it sound so dirty," Carly said with a frown. She sighed. "Alright, alright. So, I couldn't keep up my end of the deal. But let's not forget that you're the one who went to Kelly's to get Christmas dinner for Jason!"
"And who did I just so happen to see there? You! Buying dinner for Sonny!"
"But I--"
"Wait a minute," Sonny interrupted. He turned to Carly. "What is she talking about? You went to Kelly's instead of cooking for me?"
"Sonny, it's really not that big of a deal," Carly said rolling her eyes. "That was a really long time ago. Don't dwell on the past."
"You told me that you were going to cook din--"
"You told him what the Christmas gift was?" Courtney cried. "You have got to be kidding me!"
Carly waved her off. "Well, I needed permission to use the kitchen! And you're making mountain out of a molehill. So I slipped? It's not that serious. Is that box of saltwater taffy still in the cabinet?" She made her way past the three and began searching the kitchen.
"Unbelievable," Courtney remarked. "You know, Carly, this was supposed to be something that we were supposed to look back and laugh on years from now. It was funny. What happened to all of that 'We need to be in control' talk you gave me? You just had to go ahead and ruin it. But, you know what? I'm not surprised."
Jason nodded. "Yeah, neither am I. You should probably call off the whole thing ... and go back to the penthouse."
"You shut up," Courtney said to him. "And take those glasses off. We're leaving."
She grabbed Jason's coat and threw it at him. "Goodnight, Sonny," she said before making her way towards the door with Jason following closely behind.
"Can you believe her?" Carly said twirling a strand of the thick candy around her index finger. "She is such a drama queen. Now was that necessary?"
"Oh well." She grabbed Sonny's hand and began pulling him towards the staircase. "Let's go upstairs," she said nonchalantly.
"Naw, I'm good," Sonny replied, taking his drink and sitting on the couch.
"What do you mean? Sonny, it's late. Come on."
"I'll sleep down here," he replied. "For the next two months."
"She and I will not be talking for a very long time," Courtney said as she flicked on the light switch in the penthouse. "I mean, sure this isn't something huge but it's just the principle of the situation. This idea was amazing. It was brilliant. But no, Carly just couldn't handle it because she always has to put Carly first."
She plopped down on the couch and Jason sat down next to her. She turned to him. "You didn't know about the dinner did you?"
Jason shook his head no. "Not at all."
"Tell the truth."
"Do you think if I knew that I would have let everything go on this long?" he asked.
Courtney laughed. "No … I guess not."
"Cause its, uh … it has been awhile, you know …"
"Okay … okay," Courtney said sighing as she stretched out her legs in front of her. "Get upstairs."
A slight grin appeared on Jason's face. "Really?"
"Really," Courtney smiled. "Something's gotta give, right?"