Fandom: NDSSG
Pairings: Eventual Ned/Moze
Rating: R for language and sexual themes
Disclaimer: Not mine, don't sue!
Bloody Tears
"Which of your friends would you die for?" Moze enthusiastically asked her best friend, Ned Bigby at lunch one day.
Moze and Ned had been best friends for almost 15 years, now in their final year of high school.
"What?" he said, not paying attention, barbecue sauce from his sandwich splattered all over his mouth.
"Which of your friends would you die for?" she repeated.
"What kind of question is that?" he laughed "Is this some kind of boyfriend test from seventeen magazine?"
"Of course not I'm just curious" she said, finishing her turkey sandwich.
"Oh, sure...sure. I'm sure that article told you to say that" he joked, causing her to give him 'The Look'
"You know" he continued, ignoring 'The Look' reading that is about as useful as getting diet advice from a fat kid.
SMACK
"Oy! What'd you do that for?" recovering from the sock of being hit by a small milk carton.
"Just answer the question, Ned. You're really not as funny as you think you are" she said drumming her fingers on the table.
"Oh really?" Ned placed two french fries in the front of his mouth.
"Although" he said in a badly done Transylvanian accent "i really don't blame you. I am very sparkly, I could give Edward Cullen a run for his money. Speaking of which, don't ever take me to see that movie again. But first..." he moved closer, tickling her "I vant to suck your blood!"
She erupted into a giggle fit, desperately trying to push him away " Ned, stop, no...no...hahahahahahha"
"You smiled! I'm off the hook!" he cracked a smile, and in one swift move ate both friez in a single bite, then winked.
"So anyway," he said trying to stifle a laugh. "Are we still on for tonight?"
"Movie-Videogame-Pizza night you mean?" she asked, clutching her ribs "yeah...after scool you can just come over whenever you want" she finished just as the bell rang
"Alright, sweet. I'll bring my guitar hero controller. I've been practicing so I can finally kick your butt" he scoffed
"Yeah okay...sure" she said, throwing her lunchbag away, then picking up her bag. "I'll see you after school then" She then hugged him, and walked away to fifth period.
"Your sarcasm hurts!" he yelled after her, but all he got was a wave. He laughed at himself, shook his head and began the dreaded walk to his next class.
"Bigby! PICK UP YOUR TRASH!"
"Y-yes ma'am!" he scrambled to throw his leftovers away and get one more look at Moze, walking across the quad to her next class.
* * * * * *
They sat in a room unlike any other, mostly because it was the garage. It featured a pool table, a full body work out set, a pile of DVDs and old guitars hanging on the wall, however the feature that the two teenagers were intrigued in was the PlayStation 3.
"AW COME ON!" he yelled in disbelief, hanging his head in shame.
"I win again! Let's see, that makes...ten games in a row? I lost count after five, I haven't really been paying attention the last few games."
"You have to be cheating or something, there's no possible way anyone could win that many in a row" he pulled on his hair, flopping into a defeated position on the couch.
"Just accept it, you sore loser. I'm better than you" she said with an mock-evil laugh, and raised her Dr. Pepper in a toast "To womankind!" and took a swig.
"Fine then, I'll just eat myself out of depression," he dramatized with a sad face as he grabbed the last slice of pizza.
"Please, you're not a woman with menopause....or are you? Ned what aren't you telling me?" she joked.
"Oh, A lot of things" he said with a wink.
"Wow...just wow is all I can say to that. WHAT? That was the last piece! You bastard!" she jumped from the other side of the couch "Gimme!"
"You'll have to catch me first!" he threw pillows at her and bolted out of the garage door into the house, pizza in hand.
"Ned! Get back here! When I find you you will never eat high caloric foods in this town again!" she playfully yelled as she threw the pillow off of her and bolted through the laundry room into the dining room searching franticly. She caught a glimpse of a red flanel shirt flash across the kitchen and the sound of maniacal laughter echoing along the acoustics in the room. She ran past the kitchen into the living room, checking to see if he could have possibly hidden himself amongst the mountain of DVDs that her family owned.
"no..no...not here" she thought, turning around looking up the stairs "I didn't hear anything from the stairs...so where..Oh my god" she turned to face the sliding glass doors opening up to the backyard to see Ned do his victory dance followed by a very badly done moonwalk.
"Aw nerds...he still has the pizza crust in his mouth, that's the best part! Oh...oh it's an insult to pop dancers everywhere." she stood in shock in the shadows of the stairs.
"No wait..."
Taking advantage of Ned's temporary blind spot, Moze sped out of the french doors to her right leading to the backyard.
Ned's victory dance was short-lived, as before long he heard a female voice coming from the upstairs bedroom of the neighboring house.
"Ned? What are you doing?" said the very snobbish- sounding voice of the most popular girl in school, Raquel. Whom, just a few months earlier would have made his heart skip a beat.
"Oh, hi Raquel...I was just uh...um-"
"Ned Bigby you pizza crust stealer!"
WHAM!
The two hit the ground in a tangle of different body parts as Moze tackled Ned to the ground.
"What the what?" Ned yelled. "Ash what the hell? Oh man I dropped my crust...five second rule!" gulping down the slice that had fallen on the grass.
"Ew, boys ARE disgusting" Moze jokingly pouded as she rested her c hin on his chest.
They stared intently into eachothers eyes until they were interrupted by the sound of Raquel's abnoxious voice.
"Nice one Moze you should have tried out for the football team. They could have used more manly players." she chortled as she walked away from the window, texting.
"Ugh, I can't stand her...Ned are you okay?"
"No, you kneed me in the groin" he groaned
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry" she said quickly pushing herself off of Ned and attempted to brush the grass stains from her pants. "Why is she even home on a Friday night anyway?" pulling Ned up.
"The heck if I know, who cares....Do you want to go the park?" he said smiling.
"Sure," Moze said, smiling.
The two friends walked back inside the house, and as was their tradition, took two fudgesicles out of the freezer before walking toward the park.
Most of the walk, however short it may be consisted of the pair's conversations. Ned and Moze had been friends their entire lives, and the thing that had really sealed the bond between them was their ability to talk, for hours. They could talk about anything: music, movies, their life goals and ambisions, the stars, questioning why there was a single orange cone in the middle of the street, and still they would never tire of the other's presence.
The two sat alone on the swingset, watching the sun descend over the horizon.
"Anyone ever tell you about the haunted bike trail, down the street from here?" Ned asked, chewing at the remnants of his popsicle stick.
"What, no" said Moze with a quizzical look.
"Well, I heard from Ryan, that his friend told him that some kid was madly in love with a girl at his school, but she never paid attention to him. She ended up going out with her best friend, and he was insanely jealous. He killed himself by riding his bike off the edge of the bike trail and into the sharp bed of rocks below. Now he haunts those who are out after sunset, seeking revenge on happy couples." he finished in a spooky voice. "Moral of the story, kids: Always use protection"
Moze laughed "Your scary story is a friend of a friend's? That's not even enough proof for an urban legend, like The Loch Ness Monster, or clean subways."
He smiled, the same smile that never failed to make her day brighten no matter how badly it was going.
They sat in a comfortable silence, listening to the gentle creak of the swings going back-and-forth, watching the sunset cast a beautiful shadow on the surrounding trees. It made the world around them seem surreal, as if they were the only ones in the world.
"Moze, there's a reason i wanted to be out here with you tonight. There's something important I have to tell you..."he leaned closer and grabbed her hand, giving it a light squeeze"I-"
Suddenly, they heard a single crack in the air, almost like a gunshot.
"What was that?"
Crack!
"There it is again! What's going on?" Moze got up from the swing she was sitting on and looked around. Ned did the same.
"Maybe a car backfired?" he suggested. "I don't know, but I don't like it. That's too far apart to be a firecracker, and about two months too early" he strained his eyes to try and look around the twilight-colored park. "Let's just get out of here" Moze nodded in agreement, and the two ran, hand in hand, across the playground, across the woodchips to the street.
"Bigby!" yelled a slurred voice behind them, "C'mere!"
Ned slowly turned around, an iron grip keeping Moze in his hand. What he saw froze him in place with shock.
The school bully, Loomer was standing about thirty feet in front of them in his usual black-gothic leather garb. However this time in his hands he held, not a backpack but an automatic pistol, and in the other, a half-downed bottle of beer.
"He's been drinking...heavily" he said in a low voice "What do you want, Loomer?" Ned shouted back.
"You're always so close to Moze, I bust my ass trying to get her attention and she still ignores me!" he yelled, spraying spittle that was visible even from the distance at which they were standing.
What? Thought Moze He never talks to me, much less try to get my attention. She desperately thought back to all of the times she had spent with Ned, during lunch, during break, after school, and vaguely remembered an angry-looking Loomer in the distance. Crap.
Moze started panicking Why aren't any adults coming out of their houses? Surely they can hear this.
Loomer sloppily aimed the gun at the two of them "If I can't have her. NOBODY CAN!"
Before she could say anything, Ned stepped in front of her.
"Don't do something stupid, Loomer"
"SHUT UP!" Loomer yelled back, tears streaming down his face "You don't have any idea what it's like, watching from far away as you- you spoiled little weakling reap all of her undeserved attention while I watch from the sidelines hoping I'll live another day with abusive father in order to see you with her again! You don't have a fucking clue do you?" he swayed where he stood, as if he were going to fall over.
"He wants me then, so be it, there's no reasoning with him," Ned said in almost a whisper, "Moze, I'll distract him, that will give you enough time to run away. Call the police and tell them everything that's happened here." he let go of her hand.
"Okay-wait No! That's crazy, Ned you're going to get yourself killed don't be-"
Before she could finish Ned sprinted towards Loomer.
"Ned! No! Wait!" she screamed as she reached her hand out towards him.
Everything after that seemed to happen in slow motion. She wanted to run after him, but was rooted in her spot by fear. Loomer raised his gun and shot one-two-three times. Through sheer dumb luck or because of the sloppy aim Ned avoided the first bullet, but was struck with the last two, both in the legs. He stumbled but continued to run straight at him.
Moze snapped out of her trance, and began to run, but not home, towards Ned, but it was already too late. Loomer raised the gun towards him again, and shot, this time in the chest, causing Ned to collapse face forward in the street, spilling blood all around him. Without any delay, Loomer raised the gun to his own head and committed suicide on the spot.
"Ned!" she screamed as she kneeled down next to him, turned him over and cradled him in her lap, her eyes already cloudy with tears.
"Ned, Ned can you hear me? You're going to be okay, I"m calling an ambulance right now!" she fumbled around in her pocket for her cell phone.
Ned's bloodied hand quickly grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer until their faces were inches apart . Moze closed the gap between them and kissed him, kissed him with more love and passion than she had ever thought imaginable, which he returned as best his injuries would allow, then they broke the kiss.
"You," he weakly breathed
"what?" she whispered back, desperately trying to control her tears.
"You asked me-" he coughed "who I would die for, and the answer was you" he erupted into a coughing fit, spewing blood on both of their shirts. "I love you, Moze. I was just too stupid to realize it before"
She trembled with emotion as a cascade of tears fell down her face.
"I love you too, Ned" she said, kissing him again.
He managed a weak smile before closing his eyes, going limp and passing on into the void.
Moze didn't move, she just stayed there, leaning over his body convulsing from the surge of emotion going through her. She shook, overwhelmed with mourning, and cried in a pool of bloody tears.
Moze woke with a start, covered in cold sweat, despite the bone-chilling temperature outside. She tore the covers off of herself and sped-walked to the bathroom. She closed the door and, turning on the light took a look at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were red and puffy, nearly bloodshot and her face was caked with dry tears. She moaned as she leaned on her elbows in the sink, feeling sick.
She rubbed her temples "It all seemed so real, like it was really 15 years ago...like a memory"
"Moze? Hun, are you okay?" called a voice from the bedroom.
She quickly turned on the faucet and cupped her hands under the water, attempting to wipe away the remnants of her nightmare. "Yeah, I'm...I'm fine"
"Are you sure?" he opened the door, squinted for a moment at the brightness, and said "do you know what time it is? What's- Have you been crying?" he asked, looking at her still-swollen eyes.
"Just hold me Ned...please" she said as she raced into his warm embrace and buried her head in his chest, crying.
"What happened? Moze, you know I didn't mean what I said last night...I was just angry, it was in the heat of the argument." he said stroking the back of her head.
She laughed "No, no I don't care about any of that anymore" she said through a muffled voice, "i'm just glad I have you...so glad. I don't love anyone else..."
"Now where's this coming from?" he asked, pulling her away from his chest.
She told him about the dream "...It was so scary...it seemed so real"
He hugged her "Shhh, shhh. It's okay, I'm not going to die anytime soon. We eat healthy enough...I think. Besides, junk food is good for the soul."
She laughed, and looked up at him with a damp yet smiling face.
"There, that's the smile I was looking for" he leaned in closer and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss, which was small at first until she kissed him back letting both of them know how much they cared for the other.
"I love you Ned, I always will, even through the stupid fights"
"I love you too, Moze. You're the only one for me" They kissed again. "Now, I think we should get you two to bed, staying up late really isn't very healthy" he said as he stroked her now rounding tummy.
She yawned sleepily and nodded in agreement, but hadn't taken two steps before he picked her up, bridal style.
"Ned! What the-" he silenced her with a kiss, and she eventually gave in, tied her arms around his neck, and leaned on his chest.
He carried her across the bedroom, and carefully placed her on the bed. He pulled the covers over them, and held her tightly in his arms, never to let go.
"Goodnight," he whispered
But she was already sound asleep.