A/N: Hello loves! I've back with my second stab at Ichabbie fanfic. I'm really enjoying immersing myself in the fandom. Anyway, I saw a clip of them doing karaoke that stabbed me so hard in the feels that I had to explore them singing. I hope y'all like it!
Abbie grinned as she put the large white shopping bag on the table before Ichabod. He put down his grilled cheese sandwich—his favorite meal of the moment—and looked at her questioningly. "Lieutenant, I surely hope you have not purchased a present for me. I am already intruding on your hospitality."
"Can it Crane. It's for both of us, really," Abbie replied, still smiling. It was for both of them, but she'd be lying if she said she hadn't seen it and thought of him immediately. "Open it cause Jenny's on her way over to play!"
"Play?" He raised his eyebrows as he peered into the bag and removed the large black box. He read the name. "X-Box? What sort of box is an X-Box?"
"It's a video game system. Like what you do online but now you can do it alone with the tv. Everyone's got one, Crane." She went to the closet in the hallway and returned with another large box that she set on his lap. "It goes with this. I bought it for you before you…left. I didn't know it went with a gaming system, or if you would actually get into it, but I thought you might find it interesting."
He turned his attention to the other box, allowing Abbie to take the X-Box and begin hooking it up the television. He squinted at the box. "Rock Band? How does a rock band fit into a box, Miss Mills?"
"It's the name of the game. There's a guitar and you play it like you're in a real rock band."
Ichabod nodded as he opened the box and removed the plastic guitar. "I see. It is video game karaoke, yes?"
"Pretty much. I think you'll be good at it."
He was surprisingly good at it after he grasped the concept. Abbie smiled as she sat on the couch watching him. He was having a particularly good time covering Queen's "Under Pressure." He had even unlaced his shirt and rolled up his sleeves. She'd never seen him so casual. "I think we've found your thing, Crane."
"Indeed. This is the most enjoyment I've experienced in quite some time."
Jenny arrived a little while later with extra cheese pizza and her Rock Band drum set. She smirked at Ichabod. "You know, I didn't believe Abbie when she said you'd be good at this."
"I find it rather simple. The patterns work in patterns," he replied, still playing.
Jenny hooked up the drum set then sat on the couch and started eating. She looked at Abbie, smirking at her sister's smile. She reached over and wiped at Abbie's bottom lip with a tissue. Abbie looked at her questioningly. Jenny continued to smirk. "Sorry. You had a little love stuck on your face."
"Shut up," Abbie replied, looking back at Ichabod as he finished a round then began examining the drum set with curiosity.
"How does this one work, Miss Jenny?" he asked.
Jenny, mouth full of pizza, nudged her sister. Abbie got up and walked over. "It works the same way as the guitar. Just hit the right color."
"Would you care to join me, Miss Mills?" Abbie frowned and he cleared his throat. "I mean, Abbie."
She smiled as she got up. Jenny smirked. "Uh oh. Somebody's housebroken."
Crane looked at Abbie. "I do not understand her reference. What is broken?"
Abbie shook her head, frowning at her sister. "She's trying to be funny."
He continued frowning, clearly not getting the joke, as he turned to Jenny. "I do not understand but I commend your effort, Miss Jenny."
"Gee thanks," Jenny replied dryly.
Ichabod turned his eyes back to Abbie. "Shall we?"
Abbie nodded and started the level. Oasis's "Wonderwall" flashed across the screen and Crane smiled. "I know this song! They play it many times in Starbucks. I've grown quite fond of it."
Both Abbie and Jenny looked at him with raised eyebrows. Crane looked at the screen, unfazed, as the markers began to scroll. Abbie played her parts, surprised at Crane actually singing along to the song. He did indeed know it. "And all the roads we have to walk are blinding/ And all the lights that lead the way are blinding/ There are many things that I would/ Like to say to you/ But I don't know how..."
"Because maybe/ You're gonna be the one that saves me/ And after all/ You're my wonderwall," Abbie joined in, throwing a glance at him over her shoulder. He was quite deftly handling the drums, the sticks clutched in his large hands. She wasn't sure why, but she had always found his hands attractive, especially his long, usually-flexing fingers.
They finished the song and Jenny burst into applause, making Abbie roll her eyes. Ichabod looked at her, a half-smile playing on his lips. Did he always look at her like that? Abbie couldn't be sure, only that there was something about this particular look that made her stomach flutter. "Miss Mills, what exactly is a wonderwall? Where does one find such?"
"Wonderwalls are people," Jenny answered. "They fall into your life and suddenly everything has changed. All they'll say is hello and something about them will suddenly feel like coming home. And you'll wonder how you ever lived without them, and they'll be wondering too."
"I see." His eyes flickered to Abbie again, looking at her sister but also not at her, with her plump bottom lip pulled between her teeth. He had always found her mouth fascinating, always wanted to lick the delicious swell of that lip, and the delicate curve of her cupid's bow. She turned to look at him and he quickly looked away, hoping she couldn't tell that he'd been staring. He cleared his throat, met her eyes again. "Shall we play another round?"
She swallowed. "Yeah."
They switched instruments and Abbie held the drumsticks, still warm from his hands. The guitar's nylon strap still smelled like the fabric softener on her gray t-shirt. Ichabod's eyes drifted to the ever-enchanting swell of her breasts, the cleft of cleavage peeking above the shirt's v neckline, but he looked away before she saw.
"Through the storm we reach the shore/ You gave it all but I want more/ And I'm waiting for you," Abbie sang, hitting the appropriate notes on the drums. Ichabod stood ahead of her, to her left, hitting the guitar notes. He recognized the song from the old iPod she had given him.
"With or without you/ With or without you/ I can't live/ With or without you," he joined in. Abbie looked up at him with a smile, surprised that he knew the song. He blushed a little, pausing his strumming to rake his hair back from his face.
Jenny looked on with a knowing smile, pizza still in her mouth. She hadn't really come to play so much as to investigate what living together had done for Abbie and Crane's "bond." She often found herself thinking "They're so married" when she watched them interact, especially when Crane went off on a rant and Abbie stood off to the side, murmuring along with him verbatim as if she'd heard the rant many times. Knowing Crane, she probably had. Jenny knew a few of them well, her favorite being his lamenting paying for water.
"And you give yourself away/ And you give yourself away/ And you give/ And you give/ And you give yourself away," they sang in unison, playing their respective instruments as Jenny sat on the couch, waving an imaginary lighter when Abbie looked back at her. Abbie rolled her eyes and continued playing.
"My hands are tied, my body bruised/ She's got me with/ Nothing to win/ And nothing left to lose," Ichabod sang, making Abbie's insides warm. She'd heard him lowly crooning old war songs but she'd never actually heard him sing. His voice was like honey, sweet and slowly flowing, filling her insides with warmth.
She rejoined him, realizing she'd gone silent to hear him better. "And you give yourself away/ And you give yourself away/ And you give/ And you give/ And you give yourself away."
"With or without you/ With or without you/ I can't live/ With or without you." The song ended and Abbie sighed gratefully. Something about singing with Crane-and singing that kind of song with him-had left her breathless. She put down the guitar and looked back at Crane, not surprised to find him already watching her. He extended his long arm, his fist offered, and she bumped it with her own.
"Witnesses, roommates, and now bandmates. And here I was thinking you two couldn't get any closer," Jenny said, filling the charged silence. Abbie threw her sister a look as Crane sat beside the younger Mills sister on the couch and helped himself to a slice of pizza.
"I find this Rock Band game much more satisfying than my online ones. Perhaps because I can play it with someone in my immediate company rather than bodiless voices." Anything he could do with Abbie was automatically better than anything he could do alone. He had always preferred being alone prior to meeting her—even Katrina had had to learn to accept his need for solitude—but with Abbie, nothing gave him greater relaxation at the end of the day than sitting opposite her on the couch watching her knit, a new hobby of hers, while he did a crossword puzzle.
"And isn't everything better when you can do it with Abbie?" Jenny grinned at him.
Crane nodded. "Quite. Your sister is my favorite company to keep."
Abbie couldn't help smiling as she joined them on the couch, nudging her sister aside with more force than necessary. Jenny only snickered as she handed her sister a slice of pizza. Ichabod picked up the remote. "I have found the most fascinating program. It's called Friends. They live in New York City and their shenanigans are endless. Just last night Ross got his new sofa stuck in the stairway. I've scarcely laughed so much in my life. To be quite honest, the whole Nick at Nite lineup is spectacular."
"Crane, you know you can watch all six seasons of Friends on Netflix, right?" Abbie asked, looking at the screen. "This is like the fourth season. You've missed so much."
"Astounding! We must begin at once." He hopped off the couch and quickly walked to Abbie's room to get her laptop.
With Crane out of earshot, Jenny looked at her sister. "I'm your sister and you won't give me your Netflix info."
"He only uses it to watch documentaries, and apparently 90's sitcoms," Abbie replied. Crane returned and hooked the laptop up to the television. Abbie found the show and started it from the pilot, watching as Crane situated himself on the floor in front of her, the pizza box on his lap. It always amazed Abbie that someone so thin could put away as much food as he did.
He pointed at the screen. "I think Chandler may be my favorite character. I rather enjoy his sense of humor."
Jenny smirked. "I always thought you'd be a big Ross fan."
Ichabod shook his head. "He's rather pompous, isn't he?"
Abbie and Jenny exchanged a look. Ichabod went on eating his pizza, finishing off the remaining half of the pizza. Abbie finished her slice of pizza then retrieved her knitting from the table beside the couch.
"Their clothing is quite interesting," Crane commented.
Abbie glanced up from the chunky black scarf she was making him for winter. "The show is set in the late 90's. Things were different then. Stone wash jeans were king."
"And their coffee shop is not a Starbucks. This is most peculiar."
"This was before Starbucks became ubiquitous. If it was set in this decade, they'd have been in Starbucks scrolling through each other's Instagram feeds," Abbie replied, tossing him her bundle of yarn that he immediately began to unravel. She leaned back, her fuzzy-socked feet resting against Crane's right shoulder. Crane—normally averse to any touching—showed no sign of reaction and Jenny's eyebrows raised, guessing from the casualty of their interaction that it was a nightly occurrence.
He nodded as he unwound a length of yarn then began winding it around his hands. Jenny finished her pizza then took the empty box to the kitchen to throw it away. She returned and stopped in the doorway, watching as Crane held up the yarn for Abbie to see that he had wound it into a mini Eiffel Tower. She smirked at her sister demanding he untwine it and show her how he did it. Crane promptly obeyed.
Jenny plopped onto the couch and sneered at her sister, nodding at the scarf. "Is that for me?"
Abbie shook her head then nodded at Ichabod. "This is for him. He won't buy a scarf because the ones at Macy's are 'unsuitable.' Basically they don't go with his colonial garb so I'm making him the thickest, most basic scarf in the world."
"Do I get a scarf?" Jenny asked.
"You don't even wear a coat."
"Make me a hat then."
Crane looked back at Abbie. "May I have a hat as well? I want one of those beanie contraptions that the Starbucks baristas wear."
"A beanie?" both sisters questioned.
He nodded. "Consider it a small assimilation."
"I will personally eat my hat if Crane gets a beanie," Jenny replied.
"I worry that that will impede your digestion processes," Crane teased with a smile.
Abbie snickered and Jenny rolled her eyes as she stood and stretched. "Well I think I'll leave you two to your domestic bliss."
They bid her goodnight and Jenny let herself out, leaving them alone. They finished the first season of Friends. Well, Crane finished it. Abbie was asleep by the seventh episode. Crane waited until she was too asleep to awaken then gently scooped her off the couch and carried her to her bedroom, gently setting her on her unmade bed. He pulled the covers over her and turned to leave but she gave a sleepy whine. "Come back."
He returned to her bedside and squinted at her. "Miss Mills?"
"Don't leave." He couldn't decide if she was awake or simply talking in her sleep. Still, he wanted nothing more than to stay with her so he climbed over her petite form and lay beside her, sucking in a breath when she snuggled back against him and her eyes fluttered open. "Don't leave."
"I won't," he replied.
"Sing to me."
Ichabod wasn't sure what to make of her request but he obliged. "And you give yourself away/ And you give yourself away/ And you give/ And you give/ With or without you/ With or without you/ I can't live/ With or without you…"
She lifted her head slightly and pulled him down to meet her the rest of the way, pressing her lips to his for a moment. His eyes widened and he sputtered an almost unintelligible question. Abbie gave a half-smile. "I just realized I've never kissed you before. It's weird. We've braved certain death but never kissed."
"Shall we do it again?"
"Definitely." She pulled him in again.
A/N: Don't forget to review! XOXOXO