Hello Fans!
This is my first Fender (Fry x Bender) fic. I thought that I should try something new as most of my stories are Freela (Fry x Leela) fics.
This is just a one-shot, so don't expect any more chapters for this story but please tell me what you think of this and I may do more fics like this. This is done in Fry's POV BTW.
I will continue writing 'Jealousy Is A Terrible Thing' though, it's just I have major writers block with that story, so expect that to be updated next week or so (although Ch 9 may not be that good).
Enjoy reading this!
Old Playground Rules
I'm sitting on the couch looking for something good to watch on TV. Nothing good on. My mind slowly wonders to what Leela is doing now. She could be doing the same thing I'm doing now – nothing. She did mention having a date earlier today, but what if her date cancelled on her and she is alone at home upset? Maybe I should call her to arrange a date so she is not alone. That seems like a good idea.
As soon as I reach for the phone, Bender walks into the room.
"What are you doing meatbag?" Bender asked me.
"Calling Leela" I reply.
He sighs. "Again? Why don't you just watch something on TV?"
"There's nothing good on, and besides, she might be lonely."
"She told you that she has a date tonight!"
"Well, her date may have cancelled on her."
"Even if her date was cancelled, do you really think she wants to spend the rest of the night with you?"
"You're right, maybe she'll want to go out with me tomorrow."
"Fry, you dumb idiot! She obviously doesn't like you!"
"She likes me! We sometimes watch TV together."
"I meant that she just wants to be friends. She doesn't like you that way."
"Not now she doesn't, but maybe after tomorrow she will, if she says yes" I said, dialling her number.
"Fry, I swear that if you call her I will take that phone out of your hands and throw it at you!"
"Come on Bender, you and I both know that is not going to happen."
"Oh yeah? Watch me!" Bender said, angrily.
True to his word, he took the phone out of my hands and threw the phone at the side of my head.
"Ow!" I said, placing my hand on the bruise. "That hurt!"
"You should have listened to me meatbag!"
Before I could say anything else, Bender stormed out of the room.
I woke up the next day with a splitting headache. Bender didn't say a word to me and on the way to work, he pushed me into the road a couple of times, but we eventually reached the Planet Express Building. I immediately sit on the sofa and watch TV. Since most of the time we don't go on any deliveries, it was nice to think that I was getting paid to watch TV.
After a few minutes, Leela comes into the room on the phone. She hangs it up and looks at me. "Hi Fry."
"Hi Leela. Who were you talking to?"
"I was making reservations for my date tonight".
"Were you making the reservations for us?"
"First of all, no I wasn't, that's never going to happen. Second of all, what happened to your head?"
"Oh, this?" I said, pointing at the swelling at the side of my head. "Bender and I got into a fight last night and he threw the phone at me."
"What were you fighting about this time?"
"I was going to call you to arrange a date for tonight and he got angry for some reason and you know the rest."
She started to laugh. "You two seem like an old married couple sometimes."
"We are not!"
"I said you seem like one. I never said you were one."
"Sometimes I don't know what is up with Bender. He always seems to act like this whenever I say anything about you or other girls that I've been with..."
"Well, he does cares about you..."
"It doesn't seem that way. He always beats me up, insults me and throws stuff at me. I wouldn't call that caring about someone."
"Shemsh, he obviously cares about you" came a voice from the doorway.
I turned my head and see everybody standing in the door way. Well, everyone but Bender.
Leela sighs. "Don't you people understand the meaning of 'private conversation'?"
"Yeah, what she said" I said.
"Of course not, we're nosey!" Amy said. Everyone took that as the signal to walk into the room. "Now, about you and Bender..."
"There's nothing going on between me and Bender. Why would there be?"
"Haven't you heard of the old playground rule?" Hermes asked.
"No, what playground rule?"
"When you like someone, you treat them like dirt."
"That makes no sense to me" I said.
"Coming from him, that says a lot."
"And I don't understand the playground thing."
"Didn't you have a playground at your school?"
"No, I didn't go to school. I was home-schooled."
"Why?"
"My parents thought it was a waste of taxpayers money to send me to school."
"That explains a lot" Leela said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
I ignore them and continue talking. "Are you saying that the reason Bender treats me like dirt is because he likes me?"
"Not just 'like' you. He 'likes' likes you" Zoidberg said.
"What?" I said confused.
"He has a crush on you!" Amy suddenly blurted out. "It's so obvious!"
"What? No way!"
"Yes way!"
"There is no way that Bender has a crush on me!"
"As hard as it is to believe, it is true."
"But he's a robot!"
They all shrugged.
"He's my best friend! Surely he would have said something..."
"Would you tell a person that you have a crush on them, especially if you think that they may not like you like that back?" Hermes asked.
"Sure, I tell Leela all the time" I said.
"It's true, he does" said Leela. "But I'm not sure I believe in that rule."
"Why?" I asked.
"If the rule was true, then everyone who picked on me as a child at the orphanage had a crush on me."
"Fry, Leela don't think of this as a bad thing" said Zoidberg. "I mean, back in the day I was quite the starfish-stud myself."
"A starfish? Aren't you a lobster?" I asked.
It was obvious that he wasn't listening to me as he continued speaking about his past. "Many different girls have said things to me like 'Get away from me you creep' and 'Keep your jelly away from my eggs'. Those girls liked me."
"There is a difference between bullying and liking someone..." Leela started to say.
"And from what you told us, they obviously didn't like you, you rotten lobster!" Hermes interrupted.
"Hermes please, not here. At least wait until the others leave" Zoidberg said. He starts to laugh but then ducks when Hermes tries to hit him with a rolled-up newspaper.
"I still don't believe Bender thinks of me that way" I said.
"Come on!" Amy said. "You too would make such a cute couple."
"What about me and Leela?"
"No, I just don't see it" Leela said. "After all this time of you hitting on me for years, it gets boring after a while." Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Really? So, you don't think of me that way?"
Everyone sighs and leaves the room. Leela starts to leave as well, but I grabbed her hand before she had the chance to leave. "Leela, you didn't answer my question."
"Listen, I like you as a friend. I don't like you that way and I don't think I will. Lets face it, you and I are a lost cause."
"So you're saying that I should either try harder with you or be with Bender."
"No, I'm not saying that. Just think about what you really want" she said before leaving the room.
"Well, that was weird" I thought to myself as I turned the TV back on.
After a long day of watching TV, I return home to find Bender sitting on the couch watching TV. "Hi Bender" I said.
"Hey Fry" he said, not looking at me.
I slowly walk over to him. "I'm sorry."
"Is this about yesterday?" he asked.
"Yes..."
"Good, you're forgiven. Now sit down, shut up and watch TV."
I stand there looking at him. The way he sat there watching his cooking programs without a care in the world... I could sort of see what everyone was talking about. I do enjoy hanging out with Bender more than anyone else...
"Are you going to sit down or what?" Bender said.
I go over to sit down next to him. He continues watching TV as I slowly rest my head on his metal shoulders. Maybe there was the slightest chance that they could be together... But this is fine for now.
Okay, I'll admit this isn't my best work, but I think that this is good and I enjoyed writing this.
Please tell me what you think of this. Is it nice? Is it rubbish? Or is it the greatest fics you have ever read? (Okay, the last question may be pushing it a bit).
I am aware that most of the characters are OOC (mainly because I couldn't figure out how to write it well so I twisted their personality slightly) so please don't point that out but feel free to point out other things that need to be done.
Please review and read my other stories.
Bye!