I Hate Fairytales
Please Note: I'm still learning about Parks & Recreation but I must say I have become a major April x Andy. He makes her less cynical. (: So I'm completely into it. Sorry if this isn't that good. I just had a quick thought. And Bam! This lovely dear was made. (:
Disclaimer: I do not own Parks & Recreation, at all, no questions asked about that matter. I also don't own anything that is italicized.
Summary: It's hard to believe that even sarcastic April dreams of Andy being her prince charming.
It started as normal as possible for April Ludgate. She strolled into work an hour fashionably late and Ron asked her what teen romance movie she was watching this time. Today's was not a teen romance; instead it was Disney's 1950's version of Cinderella. Ron took a sip of his coffee and nodded then stated he was proud her movie genre has expanded from just erotic thrillers. He walked into his office because he needed to go over some budget propositions which was Ron talk for "I need a short nap. Make sure no one bugs me." April waited until the shades were drawn and the door was closed to race to the bathroom. She hadn't had time to paint her eyeliner on and was applying a nice amount when Ann sauntered through the door. April made a point to avoid Ann as much as possible simply because it annoyed her that this girl had broken Chris' heart. Maybe it wasn't that dramatic but still.
"Good morning April." Ann's perky grin made April dislike her more. It was no wonder why Andy liked her. Ann was beautiful, smart, sweet, and nice. It was like the case of Kat and Bianca in 10 Things I Hate About You. April was stuck as the mean, sarcastic, misfit girl.
"Hi Ann, what brings you to the hallowed institution that is Park City Hall?" April asked with her usual deadpan voice.
"Oh, the normal. I just came to see Mark." Ann pulled out her makeup case and searched through the tiny bag for something. April didn't want to continue the awkward conversation she said goodbye then left. She was going straight back to her desk to play Sims 3, the game she'd recently became addicted to, but she spotted Andy from around the corner. She sashayed over and vaulted into an empty shoeshine chair.
"Hey Dwyer, nice crowd you got this morning." April said, the sarcasm laced with playfulness.
"Well, Ludgate, got to make a living." Andy smiled.
"Sure, anyway, when was the last time you watched Cinderella?"
"Uhm, I don't know like six years ago. Why?" April touched her hair and shrugged.
"I watched it this morning and it made me hate fairytales even more. It's fake, the whole idea that a prince would come and save you."
"Someone sounds hateful to love. Tell Dr. Andy." Andy looked up briefly from the paper he was scribbling on to wink at April who smiled for a second.
"I would but I promised Ron I'd play Tekken 3 with him. He snuck it into his office. I'll just talk to you later." April slide off the chair then pulled down her black tank top dress she'd worn.
"Okay, you want to get dinner after work?" April was momentarily stunned. Was Andy asking her out? She doubted he was but agreed to meet him after work. The rest of the day sped by as she and Ron versed each other as every Tekken 3 character. They did have to hide it from everybody because they would probably all want to play. Ron didn't seem at all bothered about shirking his work duties because he stated he only really has work if Leslie is onto some new idea. At precisely five, April grunted a goodbye to Ron and walked to her impending date that wasn't a date. Andy was in the process of pulling off his apron when she appeared behind him.
"Hey Andy, lots of shoes today?" He nodded and grabbed his wallet from behind his counter.
"Yep, a rather good amount and enough tips to pay for what we are doing tonight."
"What are we doing?" April asked with an impatient wonder.
"You will find out when we get there now come along. Question: You won't get in trouble because it's a school night right?" Andy asked. It was a running joke between them. Andy always mocked her young age.
"I'm 21, not 16, Dwyer." The two walked to the parking lot and went towards Andy's car. He opened the door for her and then got in himself. April had a momentarily thinking attack because of the door open but she took a breath and calmed down. She focused on the odd shape of his car and remembered something.
"What kind of car is this?" She asked.
"It would be an '81 Honda." Andy said.
"Is this any reference to Employee of the Month?" Andy smiled and laughed for a second.
"You caught me, April. I love Dax Shepard so much. He's hilarious. I found this exact model online and bought it for a mere $200."
"Wow, that's real movie worship. The most I've done is buy a hamburger phone for $15 at this weird novelty store."
"That's a good start, now we're here. Out of my '81 Honda." Andy pulled into a parking space and took of his seatbelt. April looked out of the window and laughed. Chuck.E. Cheese. The unmistakable sign was placed on top of the building. The pair went towards the building and April tried to remember when she was last at a place like this. They got $20 worth of tokens and went to work playing skeeball, the NBA Hoops game and random other games. They ate warm tasty pizza for diner and got loads of tickets because unbeknownst to April. Andy was amazing at all the games. She inquired whether he came here a lot.
"Sometimes, I don't really have many other hangout places but I'm usually alone." Once again April thought about everything. Was this a date or just a wholesome hanging out? At a quarter to ten they headed out to a next location. Andy seemed happy to be hanging with her. They ended up at the local elementary school.
"We're here to swing." That was Andy's logical explanation. April got on the swing and didn't swing high. She just sat and moved back and forth slowly. Andy was going fast but he slowed down and moved in sync with her.
"Did you have fun, April?" April smiled thinking about how her ball never went in on the basketball game and how she laughed loudly when they were playing some Battleship game.
"Yeah, it was really fun. Thanks for this."
"Cool, now to top it off we're watching the cinematic comedy that is Big Top PeeWee." They sat on the swings for a few more minutes then went back to Andy's car. They ended up at Andy's apartment complex. His whole house was painted in fun vibrant colors and hilarious 80's movie posters adorned the walls. She sat on his bed staring at the TV screen while he was getting soda. She once again, had her thoughts. What would happen once the movie was over? Would he drive her home? Would they-? April didn't really want to finish that thought. Andy handed her a mountain dew and took a spot right next to her. They laughed and made juvenile comments to each other and were sad when the movie ended. Andy clicked the TV off and inhaled.
"This was a lot of fun Andy. Thanks for this."
"No problem April. I liked having someone around." The conversation was silent until Andy spoke up.
"So was this better then Cinderella's fairytale?"
"What?"
"You said fairytales are a waste of time and sure people can't be happy together 24/7 but at least they can try."
"You did this to teach me about fairytales?"
"Did it work?" Andy asked with a grin. April rolled her eyes and nodded.
"Yes, it did. You want to drive me home?" Andy said yes but had a distracted look on his face.
April opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. The bed was nice and warm. It was one of those mornings she didn't want to get out of bed for her dumb job. An alarm rang and then it stopped. She rolled over to meet Andy's tired eyes.
"Morning." April mumbled. She remembered asking him to drive her home but then he kissed her on the mouth. It surprised her but then she kissed back. She ended up having to text her sister to tell her mom she wouldn't be home that night.
"We have to be work in like an hour." Andy spoke up.
"Um, I have no clothes. " April wasn't worried about being late to work but she didn't really want to go home to her mom and answer questions about where she was and if she was safe.
"I can give you something. It'll be like a dress." Thirty minutes later they were in the car showered and sort of ready. April was wearing one of Andy's dress shirts that were huge and it was sort of like a dress. A minidress. And she wore her long vest cardigan to make the shirt not seem so large. Her hair wasn't dry and straight like usual, instead the shower had made it curly and shiny. Her makeup wasn't ruined but unless someone was completely blind, they could tell her outfit was a definite Walk of Shame. Plus, she and Andy walked in about twenty minutes late, together. Nobody said anything until Andy left the area. April set her stuff down and looked up at everyone. She knew Tom would be the first one to say something.
"Wow, someone got busy!" She remained without a smile on her face but the comment made her want to laugh though she had no idea why.
"Yeah, you know."
"So, are you and Andy together?" Leslie asked with a motherly look. Even though she did offer a high five the second Andy was gone. April admitted she had no idea.
"Well, congratulations. April." Mark yelled for his desk. April knew his real motives.
"Thanks but you're only happy because you think me and Andy are in a relationship and he'll stop lusting after your girlfriend." April replied, her deadpan monotone back. It was a thought she hadn't realized until Mark spoke. Was last night just a onetime thing? April stood up intent on finding out if it was. Before she left, she asked the workers if this was always how they deal when someone comes in from a wild night. The question was met with an overwhelming yes. April went to the shoe shine area and found some guy sitting in the chair. She waited off to the side but Andy acknowledged her.
"Hey darling. What brings you here? Are you bored already?"
"Was last night just a one night stand?" She asked blunt and to the point. The guy who was sitting looked at them over his newspaper. Andy gave her a look and put more shoe shine polish on the rag.
"I'm not sure. Do you want it to be?"
"Why would I want it to be? In case you haven't noticed I kind of like you. And you're really good at you know. So, what?" She tugged nervously on the bottom of Andy's shirt.
"Thanks, you're pretty good yourself." The guy once again looked at them over the newspaper.
"So, what now? Are we dating or ...?" She let the question trickle off as she didn't want him to be freaked out.
"Sure, but you may want to bring some clothes over to my place because I only have so many shirts you can borrow." Andy stood up after dusting off the man's shoe. The guy nodded at the work and handed over a five dollar bill. Before the guy left he called over his shoulder that the "two of them were a very good match". April then commented on how that seemed to be out of one of those cliché romantic comedies.
"Eh, anyway, do you want to go home after work so you can bring clothes over so you have something to wear tomorrow morning. I want some Italian tonight. So it's Olive Garden all the way." Andy pulled April closer to him and kissed her mountain dew flavored lips.
"Sure. I'll see later." April smiled then turned around; not bothering to hide the smile that had weaved its way across her pink mouth.
Now, it wasn't a typical romance. But then again what type is? April had to admit that she and Andy didn't follow any guidelines. All of April's clothes were at Andy's place within a month, her other stuff soon followed. They were grocery shopping together by their two month anniversary and when their six month anniversary arrived, nobody was surprised to see April arrive in the office with a diamond ring on her finger. Their marriage was cute and April's usually hidden smile was out at all times. Even Leslie's drunken speech and Ron's serious yet sweet monologue didn't make her smile waver. Even though April hated Cinderella she had to admit that Andy was most definitely her Prince Charming.
Wow, ultra cheesy ending, but still I kind of like it. (: Well, Andy and April belong together and yeah, that's it. I hope you enjoyed this story. If you didn't I'm sorry. So review with your opinion. Thanks. (: