Disclaimer: I have absolutely nothing to do with Desperate Housewives.
Story Summary: Tom and Lynette ride a Ferris wheel. Takes place during the missing five years, sometime after Tom was electrocuted and almost died.
A/n: Perhaps the fluffiest fic I've ever written. I needed a break from the angst. Enjoy!
A Ride on the Ferris Wheel
A story by Ryeloza
"How have you never ridden a Ferris wheel? Were you never a child?"
Tom threw a sardonic look in Lynette's direction, but continued to walk determinedly through the crowd of people without saying a word. Her inability to goad him to respond frustrated her even more than the fact that he was unceremoniously dragging her down the boardwalk to ride the world's slowest and most repetitive ride. Start, stop. Start, stop. Start, stop. It was the veritable definition of dull.
"The kids are going to wonder where we are."
He squeezed her hand, tugging her along. "The kids won't even notice we're gone. And the twins have cell phones now. They can call us in the one in a million chance that they get bored in that arcade."
"We're supposed to be on a family vacation."
Tom stopped short and turned around to face her. Startled, she stumbled into him. "We're supposed to be having fun. This will be fun."
"How do you know? You've never even ridden a Ferris wheel."
With a grin, Tom leaned down and gave her two quick kisses—one on her lips and the other, unexpectedly, on the tip of her nose. "You're so cute when you argue just for the hell of it."
Lynette rolled her eyes, but that only made Tom's smile even broader. In spite of herself, she felt the corners of her mouth twitch, just managing to keep herself in check. Tom was right, of course. There was no logical reason for her to be fighting so strenuously against this except that it felt natural and this was their pattern. He came up with something completely out of the blue and she gave him a hard time about it. She couldn't help herself; repartee had always been one of her favorite forms of foreplay.
"Come on." He took her hand again and shortened his stride a little so she could keep up with him better. It was funny to see him so excited about something as inconsequential and silly as a ride on a Ferris wheel, but not entirely surprising. Since his accident, Tom had sprung on her one surprising request after another; crazy, random things that he'd always wanted to do and had never gotten around to before. In fact, it was why they were on this vacation now.
The line for the ride wasn't long, but the entire time Tom bounced on the balls of his feet like an overeager child. It was, to be truthful, something she'd seen Penny do any time she was excited, a funny mannerism for her to have inherited. The thought was so amusing that by the time Tom handed two tickets to the operator and they were seated in the little red car, her argumentative spirit was entirely exhausted.
The car backed up about five feet and then stopped so the next pair of people could get on. "See," Tom said. "Fun!"
Lynette laughed and looped her arm through his. "Okay. Fine. You win."
"What's that? I didn't hear you over the small stroke I just had."
"Ha ha." She shook her head, faux disapprovingly. "Don't get me wrong, I still think this ride is pointless. But it's making me happy to see you so excited about something so stupid."
"That sounds about right." The car backed up again. "Well, this is off to a slow start."
Lynette poked his arm and he jokingly let out an ow. "I told you!"
"I'm sure once it gets going…You know, the circling…" Tom shrugged. "You wanna make out? This feels like a make out ride."
Apparently taking her responding giggle as assent, Tom turned and kissed her soundly. Her laughter got lost in his mouth, but it didn't stop her from smiling the whole time. As much as she liked to needle Tom, times like these were some of the best in their marriage. He always had a way of making her forget the whole world when he wanted to.
With a sudden rocking of the cart, the Ferris wheel actually kicked into life and began its rotation up and around. Tom pulled away from her with laughter in his eyes. "Now this is thrilling."
The Ferris wheel circled around about five times, during which Lynette relaxed, just resting her head against Tom's shoulder and breathing in the scent of the ocean. When they finally ground to a halt again, their cart was at the very peak of the cycle. The view was spectacular: the sun was dipping down into the horizon, seemingly melting into the ocean in a mix of pink and purple and blue hues.
"I was scared," said Tom. She lifted her head, but he just continued to stare straight ahead at the never-ending sea and sky. With a slightly furrowed brow, she put a hand on his shoulder, kneading it gently.
"Of what?" she asked quietly, though it wasn't hard for her to understand what he meant.
"Of the Ferris wheel."
Lynette dropped her hand and raised an incredulous eyebrow as Tom finally turned to face her. "What?"
"When I was a kid. I was scared of Ferris wheels. That's why I never rode one."
A whole host of emotions ran through Lynette, going by so quickly that she couldn't quite process any of them. After a moment, she finally stuttered, "Well, it's not so scary, is it?"
"No," agreed Tom. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to him. "Not with you here."
Lynette buried her face in his chest, hiding a small, shy smile, and Tom kissed the top of her head.
Maybe the Ferris wheel wasn't so bad after all.