A/N: This was originally for a fifteen minute writing exercise, but I decided to expand it a little. I liked it so much that I thought I would share it with you guys. This is the only thing I have written out so far that does not really take place during, or right before, the first season, so I hope you all like it. The prompt was laughter.
And She Laughed
It was her laughs that did him in. Not her attitude, though he loved it when she snapped at him. And not her quips at his expense, though they always amused him. He did love to bicker. But no. It was the sound that would well up from her diaphragm when she was amused, or nervous, or excited, even when she was trying to cover up the truth. He had all of them memorized. He had been listening to them for years.
When she was younger, everyone could tell when she was lying. It was just so easy. She could never really help it. She tried, she really did, but she was just no good at it.
He could picture her trying to convince his mother that it was his fault the dishwasher was leaking some sort of red foaming liquid all over the floor. The stains had remained on the kitchen tile until he was 12. He protested, naturally. It had been his idea, but he was not the one who actually put the powdered drink mix in with the dirty dishes, so he refused to take the blame. He was also not the one who put regular soap into the machine instead of dishwashing detergent. She almost got away with it too. His mother was just preparing to yell at him, but then the little girl next to him giggled. It was magic. He had never seen someone look so guilty while they were giggling before. And she apologized, refusing to let him get in trouble for something she did.
And he knew they would be best friends forever.
He also loved the way she could laugh off trouble. Even if she was terrified of getting caught, she could set him at ease with a quiet chuckle while they hid behind a dumpster or a half open door or at the back of a theater. Even if he never understood the plan, and even though they inevitably would get caught, that slight laughter and sarcastic tone when she attempted to explain her way out of the situation made him brave.
He even stood up to her mom once. His legs were shaking and his voice may have wavered because that woman was scary, not to mention hot, and yes, he realized that even way back then, but he had to back her up. It was ridiculous for his best friend to take all of the blame. She stood up for him when they were five and messed with the dishwasher, so when they tried to bake a cake in the second grade, he knew he had to return the favor. Her mom had the same quiet chuckle, and when he heard it, he knew he had managed to keep her from getting into too much trouble. So what if they almost broke the oven? It was an accident.
And that was when he knew he would always bail her out.
He was introduced to a new side of her laughter in middle school. It was a little breathless, like she was trying to giggle, but had forgotten that air was a necessity to keep living. It only made an appearance around cute boys, so he rarely got the chance to hear it.
At first, he found it annoying. Any time he tried to point it out, he received a glare or a smack to the shoulder, and he never told her, but he might have been more than a little jealous. He knew each and every type of giggle that ever bubbled to the surface, and this was the only one that would never be aimed at him, or so he thought. He started trying to avoid hearing that giggle, cracking jokes and insulting the people she was aiming it at. Sometimes this earned him another glare, other times there was a quiet chuckle, almost like she was trying not to let it out. Because, like it or not, he could always make her laugh.
And he knew he never wanted anyone else to make her laugh the way he did.
The laugh he found the most amusing was the surprised yelping sound that would follow something unexpected. It was like her "eep," but it was never laced with fear. He found he did not particularly like it when she was scared, and for that reason he avoided seeing horror movies with her for a long time.
The yelp made an appearance when her dog ate her mom's favorite necklace. It was one of those times where she knew she should have been mad at the dog, but the expression on her mother's face would so be worth it. That woman had way too much jewelry anyway. It took an entire day for her to notice that the necklace was even gone. He heard the story in detail of the attempts to get the dog to "pass" the long gold chain over a marathon phone conversation that night. When her mother yelled that she had to stop flirting with him and do her homework, that yelp came out again before she giggled, almost nervously.
And that was when he began to hope that maybe, just maybe, he stood a chance with his best friend.
His favorite though was much more than a giggle or a chuckle or one of those surprised yelps. It was more like hysterical laughter. It only came out on rare occasions.
Like that time they stayed awake until dawn eating chocolate cake and waiting to catch Santa Claus on his roof. They sat on his bedroom floor all night, whispering, trying not to wake anyone up. She was supposed to be sleeping in the guest room, but she just had to know. Maybe it was the large amount of sugar. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation. But every time he told a joke, she would try to hold in the laugh until she just could not take it anymore. When he got frosting all over his bedspread, she smeared some in his hair, and that set her off all over again. They laughed until their sides hurt at something else he was sure was stupid. He could no longer remember just what it was. They were only nine at the time and he never had a very good memory. She had tears streaming down her face and her cheeks were pink in the moonlight.
And right then and there he knew he would love her forever, even if he would not get up the courage to tell her for another six years.
When he finally did say those three words to her, she looked shocked, like she did not believe him, like she did not know what to say. They had been hanging around at the beach and she was grinning at a joke he had made when she said it. Her eyes were bright though and her cheeks were pink, just like Christmas. And the words just came out. Before he could stop himself, before he could even think.
And then she laughed. A sweet, relieved kind of sound, as if the shocked pause was only because she wanted to be sure he was not going to take it back.
And that was that.