Okay so here's what you need to know first:
1 – I HATE soap operas with an almighty passion but have found some kind of sick obsession with Minx.
2 – I have never written fan fiction before in my life until the Minx Fever found me, and now it's my genuine guilty pleasure.
That said, I've been tossing around the following story in my head for a few weeks and spent a valuable amount of time plucking up my resolve to actually write the damn thing, having to first overcome my aversion to using other people's characters in my writing. But the Minx Fever finally prevailed when I realized just how dissatisfied I was at how the actual storyline played out. Now don't get me wrong – I thought it was beautifully portrayed and acted with the time they had to put into it and there's definitely more reasons than just those for why I fell in love with this couple in the first place. I just felt that this story had so much more potential than it was really allowed to show simply because AMC was going off the air (and maybe also because of the bigots in the big office chairs). I also felt like they wasted SO MUCH TIME with the buildup to them actually getting together and then were forced to U-Haul the shit out of them to make up for it. So in my head the more logical thing would have been for them to move faster in the beginning and slower after that, and also in my head there's no outrageous drama with JR just so that he would spiral into oblivion and shoot everyone at the end.
So I'm going back to before Bianca made the biggest mistake of her effing life by handing that incredible music box to Dipshit so that he would get all the credit. That was such an unfair and unbelievable distraction and it just makes me cringe; I also know that our dear Marissa is much smarter than she was given credit for where Dipshit's bullshit is concerned. So I'm starting this story right in the middle of the 6/10 episode and working forward in a completely new direction from there.
Oh and yeah I own nothing. Neither of these beautiful ladies nor their stories really belong to me. I'm just daydreaming here, people.
JR-B-Gone
Marissa was so angry that seeing straight was actually becoming an issue, the blood pounding against her ears so hard that all she heard was its rapid thump thump thump inside her eardrums.
How dare him, she thought darkly, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the steering wheel and forced herself to take a few calming breaths. How dare he treat me like I'm just a blind fool.
The sudden chime of her cell phone ripped her from her furious reverie and at first she made no effort to retrieve it from her bag on the seat next to her, thinking immediately that it was likely to be JR calling to beg her a little bit. But she had no intention of returning to the mansion that afternoon, though when she had gotten in her car and sped away in a blind rage just minutes before she hadn't headed to the Yacht Club like she'd planned, knowing instantly that being trapped inside the stark four walls of an empty hotel room was not going to make her feel any better. But her flaring anger made the repeated chirps of her cell phone impossible to ignore and so she plunged her fingers into the bag and yanked the phone out, letting out a loud and aggravated grunt when she saw JR's name flashing at her.
"Go to hell you manipulative jackass," she muttered as she practically hurled the phone back into her bag and gripped the wheel with white knuckles again. "Take all your little tricks and shove them up your…"
Her cell phone chirped again and Marissa stopped only to cry out in frustrated rage. She snatched it back up and refused JR's call, but when it started ringing again before it even hit the seat as she tossed it aside she answered it without looking, bringing the phone to her ear as she started yelling.
"Leave me alone asswipe!" she shouted, throwing every ounce of her fiery anger into her voice. "I'm done falling for your tricks and believing your lies – you and I are through JR so now just leave me the hell alone!"
"Whoa Marissa – it's Bianca," came her friend's shocked voice over the line and Marissa immediately slammed a hand over her mouth.
"Oh my god Bianca I'm so sorry…" she started, but Bianca cut her off.
"Don't be sorry, what's wrong?" she asked, her voice dripping with instant worry and Marissa felt some of the anger leak out of her chest. "What happened with JR? Are you okay?" Marissa was shaking her head, the sudden silent tears at hearing her friend's concerned voice preventing her mouth from opening as they poured heavily from her eyes. Bianca waited patiently for a quiet moment before asking gently, "Where are you Riss?"
"Uh – on the highway just leaving the Chandler's," she answered with a watery cough as more tears stung her eyes.
"Okay – I just dropped Miranda off at a friend's and I'm at Wildwind now," Bianca told her soothingly. "I'm here if you want to come by and talk about it. Or I could meet you somewhere if you don't want to come this far…"
"No that's perfect," Marissa sputtered through a small sob. "I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Okay but Riss are you okay to drive? If you're really upset then pull over and I'll come get you."
Marissa had to laugh at her friend's overzealous caring, the swell of affection it brought to her chest a good distraction from her dissipating anger since hearing Bianca's comforting voice. "No Bianca I'll be fine, promise," she told her, sucking up her still falling tears in an attempt to keep her friend from worrying anymore. "I'll tell you about it when I get there."
"Okay, the door's open. Just make sure to get yourself here in one piece, alright?"
"Promise," Marissa told her before hanging up. As she tossed her cell phone back into her bag she clicked it on silent, finding it much easier to ignore JR's continuing stream of desperate calls and already feeling noticeably better at the prospect of heading in the direction and relief of her best friend.
/
Okay just breathe, Bianca thought to herself as she paced along the driveway at Wildwind, her eyes glued to the gate at the bottom of the drive which stayed torturously still. It's only been twenty minutes. It could take longer than that to get here from the Chandler's, depending on the traffic. She's fine. She was upset and so she's probably taking it slow just to be safe…
But none of these thoughts really helped her calm her tingling nerves and she found herself almost skipping in agitation as she walked a wide circle in front of the door. She checked her cell phone again which was clutched almost painfully in her hand, resisting the urge to call Marissa after her last seven had already gone unanswered. That's completely explainable, Bianca told herself in the voice she reserved only for times when she really needed to make herself believe anything. She was upset at JR and she thought that my call was him so she's probably just turned her phone off.
"Stop freaking out!" she said aloud, forcing herself to also stop her pacing. She sighed heavily and sat down on the front steps while trying to keep her stomach from twisting into knots.
You know why you're so nervous, she thought with a bemused chuckle, her conversation with Kendall from earlier that afternoon replaying like a crisp movie in her head.
"Binx you're not gonna know how she feels unless you talk to her," Kendall had told her in her maddeningly wise big sistery way. "What are you gonna do? Maybe Marissa could be the one woman in this world that makes you incredibly happy."
And Bianca had told her sister that she was just going to cut her losses, but that was before she'd heard Marissa screaming at who she thought was JR. Had she really meant it when she said that the two of them were through or had she only shouted it in a thoughtless rage? Could it possibly be that Marissa had finally seen JR for the unchangeable scheming jerk he was always going to be?
Bianca kicked herself for what felt like the 100th time that she'd helped that same jerk start winning Marissa back when she'd suggested a date to a comedy club instead of that awful play. Guilt had followed her around ever since like a black cloud and she'd wanted to come clean to her friend but somehow never got the nerve, not after seeing Marissa's attitude toward JR shift and the light start burning in her hazel eyes again. She wanted a steady, loving home for AJ and she wanted JR to be able to provide that, so who was Bianca to tell her that was wrong? And she definitely couldn't confuse her by confessing that she'd once again fallen helplessly in love with her straight best friend.
But then Marissa had answered the phone cussing JR to high heaven, and Bianca's stomach turned over so violently that she actually had to clutch her abdomen. "You and I are through JR…!"
And then mercifully Bianca saw the gate to Wildwind swing inward and Marissa's car appeared, and Bianca couldn't keep herself from running out to meet Marissa where she parked, forcing her legs not to go into full-on sprint. The minute that Marissa opened the door she bolted outside and allowed herself to be scooped into the brunette's open arms, almost losing all her resolve at the comfort that washed over her as Bianca's strong arms snaked around her back.
"Good god you had me worried for a minute," Bianca whispered into the redhead's hair, holding her friend closer as she felt a quiet sob shake through her. "I was about to jump in my car and come after you if you didn't show up in five minutes. And where's your cell phone?"
Marissa laughed silently, wiping a few tears from her cheek. "Oh sorry. I was driving outrageously slow without realizing it because I was trying to calm myself down. And I turned my phone on silent because JR's been calling nonstop since I stormed out."
"Why'd you storm out?" Bianca asked, stepping away from the redhead and leading her inside. "What did he do this time?"
"He was just being the same old JR he's always been, only today I really saw it and it completely pissed me off. And then I was even more pissed off at myself for starting to fall for his bullshit again in the first place. I should have been able to see through him after everything he's done in the past, only I blinded myself for some reason," Marissa finished angrily as she and Bianca sank down onto the couch in the living room. "No actually – I know the reason. I kept trying to make JR into someone he's just not, can never really be, just because of AJ. AJ wanted his parents together and I wanted AJ to have whatever he wanted, and I thought he deserved that. A loving home – a stable home with two parents who love him. But then today I realized that that's never going to happen with JR because I would always be sacrificing my own happiness by being with him. I'm just not in love with him anymore."
"Well what happened Marissa?" Bianca asked curiously, her heart fluttering slightly at the conviction she heard in her friend's voice. "What did he do to finally make you realize all this?"
"We were going to go get ice cream with AJ," Marissa began with a deep, steadying breath. "I'd finally convinced him to hire somebody to help Scott finish the gatehouse, and to start being a little nicer to him because of everything he's been through recently. JR of course accused me of needing a buffer between us, once again flaring up with jealousy over my friendship with Scott, but I brushed past it because I wanted JR to finally get it through his bull-head that Scott deserves the support of his family. But when JR agreed the weirdest thing happened – I knew he was lying. I was positive that he was only placating me again, just telling me whatever I wanted to hear without the slightest intention of following through."
Bianca nodded agreeably, urging Marissa to continue and forcing herself to stay silent until her friend was finished – she could wait another two minutes to congratulate her on finally seeing through the golden veil, right?
"So then AJ came in wanting ice cream and JR jumped up and turned it into a family outing, but I wanted to see if my suspicion was right so I made him make the phone call to the guy he was gonna hire for Scott. It seemed like he was really doing it at first but again I needed to know for sure so I walked out of the room in the middle of the call but stopped at the door to listen." Marissa paused for a minute, her eyes once again flashing with a sparkling rage that Bianca had never seen before. Slightly startled, she urged Marissa forward.
"And what did he say after you left?" she asked, and Marissa took another deep breath.
"He told the guy that he'd double his money if he made sure that the job never got done," she said despondently, and Bianca's jaw dropped open.
"What?" she exclaimed loudly. "What a dickhead! Just because he didn't want Scott moving back in the house?"
"He just didn't want to really help Scott but he wanted me to think he was being some kind of valiant hero," Marissa told her. She leaned back heavily into the couch cushions and gazed at Bianca, who sat rigidly forward trying to tame her own anger. Marissa had to grin at Bianca's constant empathy and compassion and reveled in how much better – and calmer – she felt now that she'd reached Wildwind.
"So what did you do after you heard him?" Bianca questioned her, not really sure if she was prepared for the answer because she knew that whatever had happened had caused Marissa to fly out of there in an emotional frenzy, and the pain she knew that Marissa was feeling right then made Bianca's heart ache.
"I waited for him to finish his call and then stood in the foyer until he found me there," Marissa supplied quietly, and Bianca noticed how calmly she was speaking by then, as if she were explaining how to open the refrigerator while trying not to fall asleep. "You should have seen his face though – he immediately lost all the color in his cheeks when he saw me standing there."
"Marissa – uh Bruce said he'd be happy to help Scott finish the gatehouse," JR had said, flashing Marissa his best 'I'm completely full of shit but I want you to overlook it cuz I'm handsome' smile. Marissa merely looked at him, holding her best poker face until she got JR to back himself into a corner.
"He said he'd be here on Monday to start helping out," JR went on somewhat awkwardly but never ceasing fire of his pearly whites. "He thinks that maybe they can have it done by Christmas…"
"Oh really? That soon huh?" Marissa placated him. "So then you didn't just offer to double his commission to make sure that the gatehouse wasn't even done by next Christmas?" she asked squarely, the billowing rage in her stomach exploding all over the place as she spoke.
"What? No of course not," JR tried futilely, but Marissa was having none of it.
"Quit lying to me JR, I just heard you," she informed the smug playboy as she stepped menacingly in his direction. "You did exactly what I knew you'd do – you played me just so you could get what you wanted."
"Marissa I was just trying to make you happy…"
"No you weren't, you were playing games with me again!" Marissa shouted at him. "You haven't changed and you never will and I'm done trying to pretend otherwise. All those wonderful things you've been doing have all been one giant act just to get me to fall for you, only it's not really you! The real you is this guy – this self-involved egotistical manipulative rich kid who doesn't have one genuine bone in his body. So I'm done JR – I'm done giving you the benefit of the doubt because that's always what I'll do where you're concerned – doubt. I'm never going to trust you and I never should have in the first place. All you've ever done is break my heart but I'm not going to give you the chance to do it again."
She turned and walked purposefully to the door, wrenching her hand away from JR as he made a grab for it. "Marissa wait," he pleaded pathetically and Marissa only narrowly beat back the urge to whirl around and slap him. "You can't just walk out like this. You can't just walk out on AJ."
"How dare you suggest that I'm walking out on my son," Marissa hissed at him, using all of her energy to master the body-shaking rage that pulsed through her every time she looked at the snake in front of her. "I will never walk out on AJ, I'm walking out on you JR. I'll be back for my son and my things in the morning."
She'd breezed out the door before giving JR another second to respond.
"Well," Bianca let out a low whistle as Marissa finished her recount, her head reeling from everything she'd just heard. "I want to say good for you but I can tell by the look on your face that you wish this had never happened."
Marissa shook her head. "No I think this has been coming for a while actually, I guess I just hoped that it wouldn't wind up with me being so angry. But I've been suspicious of JR ever since he started his ploys to win me back, only today was the first time I was able to actually catch him at it."
"I thought that maybe here recently you had changed your mind about him a little bit," Bianca ventured nervously. "I mean he did seem like he was changing for the better, you know?" Why was she defending him all of the sudden? I have to know for sure that Marissa's thought this through, she thought desperately, the look in Marissa's tired eyes difficult to read.
Suddenly she sat forward and took one of Bianca's hands in her own, interlocking their fingers and Bianca shivered at her warmth. "I wanted to think he was changing, but I always knew better," she told the brunette thoughtfully as she examined their clasped hands. "He's never going to be what I need for him to be, and I couldn't make that happen no matter how hard I tried. And he's not really what I want anyway."
"What do you want Marissa?" Bianca asked instinctively, leaning forward so she could look Marissa in the eye. "What do you need to make yourself happy?"
"AJ," Marissa smiled. "AJ and a happy home for him to grow up in, with someone who makes me feel comfortable and safe and seen. Someone who just gets me, who I get, who I can just be with. And I found none of that with JR – I've never had any of that with him," Marissa finished sadly, and Bianca felt the grip on her hands slacken. "With JR it was always – scary almost. Like I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, to get caught up in another one of his schemes."
"You've always deserved better than JR," Bianca assured her. "And you deserve every ounce of happiness that this world has to offer, and AJ does too. And I know it may not make you feel any better right now but I'm incredibly proud of you for finally standing up to JR. You're kind of a badass sometimes, you know that?"
Marissa laughed out loud, her broad smile making Bianca's heart jump up into her throat. "Thanks, and it does make me feel better actually," she said, her eyes gleaming happily at her friend. "Nice to know I've finally done something to keep up with you and your own general badassness."
"Hey, don't get crazy," Bianca smiled back. "Just let me give you a compliment and then keep your mouth shut for once, will you?"
"Is that the polite way of telling me that I'm talking too much?"
"No that's the polite way of telling you that you should start thinking more of yourself," Bianca answered flatly. "I meant every word, Riss. You're magic and more than I want you to know that I want you to see it for yourself."
Marissa's heart started doing a series of gentle flips and her breath caught in her throat as Bianca said the word "magic," the look in her sparkling chocolate eyes sending Marissa's heart rate up at an alarming pace. All she could do was sit there in a stunned silence, all at once completely flattered and a little embarrassed, as she looked at the woman which she herself had described as "magic" on numerous occasions before. She couldn't hide the wide grin that crept up onto her face and she didn't try, allowing herself an awe-filled moment of gazing at her best friend, a woman who she once again realized she had quite a fascination with. Bianca of course noticed Marissa's change of emotions and grinned widely back, making Marissa's heart race off on her.
"What?" Bianca asked hesitantly, and Marissa just shook her head lightly.
"I don't know how you do that."
"Do what?"
Marissa had to sigh serenely at her friend's continued innocence. "Always know exactly what to say to make me feel like I can conquer the world if I want to."
Bianca blushed at Marissa's words and both women noticed, exchanging a timid chuckle as they both glanced away. "I'm just trying to be your friend Marissa, and I have to admit that I was really trying to make you feel better. Although I still won't take back anything I said."
"No it's really more than that Bianca," Marissa said with gentle conviction, eyeing her friend with a piercing gaze that rocked straight through the brunette. "I mean thirty minutes ago I was so upset I thought I was going to murder someone and now I'm sitting here on the couch smiling this goofy grin just because I'm talking to my best friend. You're amazing, and you keep surprising me every day."
"Okay you're going to have to stop that before my head pops off my shoulders, and if it gets any bigger it just might," Bianca said breathlessly, bringing her hands up to cover the deep blush that colored her whole face.
"Okay fine, let's be done with the seriousness. I'm ready to start celebrating my new freedom! Where's the tequila?"
But before Bianca got too excited at the prospect of a celebratory evening with Marissa she needed to make sure that she was in fact alright and not just putting on a brave front, so she grabbed the redhead's wrist and tugged her back down on the couch before she headed to the kitchen. She fixed her friend with a solemn stare intending to keep the conversation on track. "Before we get to that… seriously Riss, are you really okay about all this? I mean just this morning your whole attitude about JR was completely different so I don't want you to make any decisions right now just because you're completely pissed off at him. Maybe you still need a little time…"
"No Bianca, I'm done wasting time trying to sort out JR," Marissa told her gently, smiling confidently and Bianca recognized the dazzling look in her hazel eyes – it was the look of sheer conviction that the fiery redhead embraced only when feeling extremely self-assured, a look that the brunette wished she could see every single day. "And besides something snapped for me today where JR is concerned – catching him playing both sides again just finally made me see him for the person that he really is, not the suave and annoyingly charming pretty boy that he tricked me into thinking he was. But I've wised up now and the thought of going back to that mansion for anything other than to clear out my things makes me sick at my stomach." She reached forward and placed her hand on Bianca's knee, who just barely managed to cover her sharp intake of breath with a small cough. "So you can quit worrying, honestly. I feel so much better now that I've just gotten it all out there, you know? And also partly because I have your constant best friend amazingness behind me, so I'm all good."
It took Bianca a second to find her voice, having trouble remembering to breathe as her stomach started flip-flopping around her abdomen again at the feeling of Marissa's searing palm against her jeans. She heaved a heavy, dumbfounded sigh, completely unable to rip her eyes from the endless shimmering pools of Marissa's. She was really done with JR now… and she was really okay about it…
"What about AJ?" Bianca finally managed to sputter out, and it was Marissa's turn to sigh again.
"He's going to be disappointed I know," she said gloomily, "but hopefully he'll understand with a little bit of time. And god knows that JR is probably twisting the situation around as we speak – I ran out of the mansion before AJ got back downstairs and now I'm sure JR is filling his head with whatever color he's going to paint this."
"Well we could always go over and get him," Bianca suggested. "The girls are both at sleepovers tonight but he could stay in the playroom. You could stay in the guest room if you wanted, too."
"That sounds perfect, I'd much rather stay here tonight than have to check into a lonely hotel room, but I think it'd be best if I left AJ alone, for tonight anyway. Plus I don't want to go sweeping back into the mansion and take AJ away and give JR a chance to twist it into me kidnapping him or something. Regardless of my ire with him I'm going to have to play nice because I don't want to lose our joint custody arrangement."
"Yeah I guess that's smart," Bianca agreed, having to keep her eyes trained on the rug to keep Marissa from seeing her instant giddiness upon realizing that the two of them would be alone that night. Child-free evenings were a rare treat for the pair, and the prospect of being able to have margaritas and watch a movie that wasn't made by Pixar made Bianca smile like a big kid herself.
After a moment of comfortable silence Bianca turned back to face the redhead, who had evidently been peering at her with a crooked grin on her happy face. "What?" the brunette questioned.
"You realize what this means don't you?" Marissa asked, her coy smile making Bianca's breath catch in her throat. She shook her head, momentarily afraid of every single thing that could possibly come out of her friend's mouth, but Marissa leaned forward and started laughing wildly. "It means we're not on mom duty tonight!" she bellowed happily, leaping off the couch and skipping blissfully to the kitchen. "Now where's the tequila? I'll make the margaritas while you pick out a trashy movie."
But as Marissa skipped out of sight Bianca merely leaned back into the plush cushions of the couch and ogled the fact that once again her best friend's thoughts had practically mirrored her own and took a moment in the sudden silence of the vaulted living room to recollect herself.
Okay just breathe, she repeated to herself for the second time that night, only this time she did it to help cool the nerves which had erupted for an entirely different reason. But Marissa's words kept ringing in her ears and made it impossible for the brunette to settle the raging storm in her stomach.
"I feel so much better now that I've just gotten it all out there, you know?" Yes Marissa – she did know.
I still can't say anything tonight, she told herself with confident resolve, understanding immediately that what Marissa needed the most right then was a friend, and that's exactly what Bianca wanted to do for her. It will wait… but maybe not too much longer, she thought finally, pulling herself from the couch and making her way to the high shelf for their evening movie selection.
/
Marissa was in a state of shock at the complete 180 degree turnaround that her mood had taken since the moment she saw Bianca waiting for her as she'd pulled up to Wildwind and took a brief moment in the empty kitchen to relish this new feeling of contentment.
I'm finally free of JR, she thought with a wistful sigh. I'm really going to just put it all behind me, after all this time. She practically danced around the kitchen to the bar and began gleefully digging for the booze, immediately locating all the required ingredients for a batch of her special homemade margaritas. As she loaded the hooch into the blender her mind began drifting to the brunette whom she heard rummaging around in the living room and the involuntary smile that leapt onto the redhead's face almost made her backtrack for a moment. That's why I'm okay right now, she thought abruptly, turning to take a peek at Bianca through the doorway and giggling slightly as she stood with ten different movies in her hands and a very serious expression on her face. What a friend that woman is, and how lucky am I that she seems to care so much about me?
"If only she were a man," Marissa mused aloud, cocking an eyebrow at the spinning green concoction in the blender. But as soon as the words left her lips Marissa jerked compulsively and slammed her hands against the counter to steady herself, the wave of chills that coursed through her body nearly making her knees buckle. But Bianca is flawless the way she is, the redhead thought immediately, and the image of trying to make the graceful perfection that was her best friend into a clumsy burly man made Marissa cringe.
"But…" she whispered, the sound lost over the rattling buzz of the blender. "Bianca's a…"
But Marissa shook her head vigorously and discarded the thought before she said it out loud. No, she told herself sternly. I will not allow myself to go there just because Bianca's gay. I refuse to place either of us inside that particular stereotype.
But as Marissa finally killed the noise of the blender and poured its contents into glasses she found herself completely unable to shake the new realization that had suddenly filled her mind:
I would be blissfully happy to spend every night like this with Bianca, she thought, stopping dead in the doorway to peer wide-eyed at her friend who still stood intensely weighing options for movies. Marissa didn't actually walk back into the living room until she felt the painful chill of the frozen margaritas in her hands, and when she finally moved into the room she couldn't clear her mind of an entirely new thought – What in the world have I been missing?