Laugh
AN: This is for Erika, for her birthday on December 10th. Happy birthday Erika! I really hope you like it. And sorry about the late update, I'll explain why at the end of the oneshot
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. If I did, why would I be on here, making up my own stories when I could easily put it on TV or something?
One of the things Michael Barrett knew how to do, was to make people laugh.
It usually took people a couple of minutes of 'Barrett Humour' as Michael called it, to make someone smile. Following the smile, one more goofy thing and it got the person to laugh. Even the most stubborn person in the world could laugh at Michael and the things he did. He was a child at heart, after all. And everything he did, every childish thing he attempted, it worked, and people would eventually laugh.
All except one.
There was only one person that didn't laugh at Michael, didn't find his jokes funny. Quinn Pensky, his good friend, was that person.
She didn't find him funny at all. If she laughed, it was usually because of someone else, or if she was laughing at him, it was the kind of fake laughter. Michael knew that time during Miss. PCA was fake. He deliberately let Quinn believe he thought Quinn thought he was funny.
It wasn't like Quinn wanted him to try to make her laugh. He gave up long ago on making her laugh. It was mostly because her brain was 'on a different frequency than other, her mental capacity changing' as Quinn put it. Basically, she had her own definition of humour.
Michael wouldn't take that away from her, oh no. He would keep trying to make her laugh, as subtle as he could get, but he wouldn't obsess about it as he used to.
He did remember a time when she did sometimes laugh at his humour. Things have changed though; Quinn had gotten older and wiser. And things had definitely changed since eighth grade.
Everyone had changed and evolved during high school, and now, during Senior Year, if one of their old friends, Dana Cruz, came back, she would definitely not recognize the people she once knew. No one was the same as they used to be.
No one expected Logan Reese and Quinn to start dating, no one expected Lola Martinez and Vince Blake to fall for each other, nor did they expect Stacey Dillson to lose her lisp.
But no one, absolutely no one expected Quinn to lock herself in her room and not letting anyone in, telling no one, not even her boyfriend, why.
A Friday afternoon, on the fourth of February to be exact. Quinn had herself locked in her room for hours. She wouldn't let anyone in, not even Logan, the person she trusted the most. It was really worrying anyone. Earlier that day, they had gone to eat lunch, and Quinn had told them she'd meet up with them later. An hour later, Lola and Zoey were walking back to their room, when Quinn rushed past them, into their shared room and locked it so no one could come in. After a while of banging, Quinn finally put wires on the door, like she did last time when she was upset, when she had her own room in ninth grade.
Everyone had tried to get the seventeen year old to come out with no luck. Well, almost everyone. Zoey and Lola had tried, followed by Logan (who Quinn had yelled at and threatened to break up with him if he didn't go away, which Logan gladly left), James had tried, Vince had tried, Chase was already trying to get Quinn out as the rest of the gang were in the girls' lounge, worried about their friend.
"I'm really worried about her. She's never yelled at any of us. Her attitude is un-Quinn-like," Zoey said sadly as she sat beside Michael as she waited patiently for her boyfriend to come back with, hopefully, good news.
"Yeah. She never acts like this. Something must have really upset her," Logan agreed, sitting on the chair closest to the exit. He kept looking to the door, to see if Chase or Quinn would emerge. Lisa sat close to Michael, as Lola was sitting on Vince's lap. Finally, the sound of footsteps walking to the lounge interrupted them. All the eyes looked up to see Chase walking through the door. Zoey immediately got up and walked to Chase.
"Well?" she probed gently. He shook his head.
"She refuses to open the door. I don't know what else to do. She sounded so upset, like she was…crying," Chase admitted. Lisa sighed as she stood up.
"I guess it's my turn to go," she said. Lola, however, held up a hand.
"Wait, I think Michael should go next," Lola suggested. Michael stood up, shocked.
"Wait, why? How would I help? My humour won't help. After all, I joke under pressure," Michael asked. Lola shrugged.
"It's worth a shot," Lola said. Zoey nodded.
"Yeah, go for it Michael, you can do it," she said as everyone agreed. Lisa planted a kiss on Michael's nose.
"If anyone can do it, you can Michael. You may be the funniest guy here, but, apart from Chase, you're also one of the more sensitive ones," Lisa said. Logan nodded.
"Yeah dude, please do this. I'm really worried about Quinn," Logan said. Michael nodded.
"Ok. I'll go get her to open up. I mean, you guys don't want to sleep outside do you?" Michael joked, causing the whole gang to laugh.
"Just go," Lola said as Lisa pushed him gently toward the door. Michael moved his feet away from the lounge, toward room 101. His mind was racing. What would he say to Quinn? Was he the one that would get her to open up? Would his humour actually work? It's never worked in the past, so why would it now? Michael stopped outside the room where Quinn was now. On the door, there was big writing on the white board that said, GO AWAY OR ELSE…. Michael, afraid of what the or else was, turned to go but stopped. He had to do this, or at least try.
He turned back to the door and knocked once. When no one answered, he knocked again.
"GO AWAY! CAN'T YOU READ?!" Quinn yelled through the door. Michael sighed.
"Quinn, it's me. Can you open up?" he asked.
"NO!" she yelled. Michael thought of how to get her out. He smiled.
"Um, Quinn, I just wanted to tell you that a letter came for you. From some guy named…Fredward?" Michael fibbed. He remembered Quinn saying she had a cousin, Fredward Benson, from Seattle. Well, if it would get her to open the door…
"Slide it under the door," Quinn finally said.
"It's a little too big," he told her. Seconds later, he heard the door click and it opened, revealing a very teary eyed Quinn standing there, looking hurt, lost, and confused.
"There's no package," Quinn realized. Michael smiled sheepishly.
"I know, I'm sorry. It was the only way for you to open the door. Can I come in? Please?" he asked hopefully. Quinn thought then gestured him to come inside. Once he was, he closed the door.
Michael sat beside Quinn on the single bed Quinn finally got that year.
"So, what's wrong Quinn? Everyone's worried about you. This is definitely not you," Michael asked, letting his sensitive side get the best of him. Quinn shuddered, a sob escaping. She finally calmed down and took a deep breath.
"Otis….passed away this morning," Quinn whispered as a tear fell down her porcelain cheek. Michael instinctively wrapped an arm around Quinn and squeezed. She leaned into him, letting more tears fall.
"I'm sorry. I know how much you loved Otis," Michael told her, letting himself be overwhelmed with sadness. He knew what it was like to lose someone close to you. He lost his uncle Jeff in a car accident the year previous. And a few months ago, his mom told him his beagle, Butter, passed away too. Michael had been close to Butter, and saw why Quinn was upset. After all, what person would bring their alpaca to PCA for the weekend? Certainly not someone that wasn't remotely close to the animal. But how Michael dealt with sadness? Well, alone, he'd cry, but when around people, he used humour. Maybe it would work with Quinn.
"I did. He was my very best friend. We did everything together. I got him when I was nine years old, when everyone was making fun of me for being a spaz. Otis never judged me. He was by my side, always. And now that he's dead, I just-"Quinn broke down. Michael let Quinn cry on him for several minutes, tears falling down his own face
(What can you say? Michael's a very sensitive guy)
Finally, after several minutes of letting her cry, Michael spoke.
"Well, think of it this way. Now that Otis is in animal heaven, he'll finally meet a nice female alpaca and have a wonderful after-life together," Michael joked. Quinn looked up at Michael and cracked a small smile. Michael smiled.
"You like that, huh? Well, I have many more jokes that'll make you laugh," Michael said. Quinn wiped the tears away.
"What would make you think I'd laugh at your jokes now?" Quinn asked. Michael thought as he gave her a cheesy smile.
"Well, because you're a very vulnerable person, and deep down inside you laugh at my jokes," Michael answered. Quinn rolled her eyes.
"Sure. I'd love to see you try, especially now, in my...time of need," Quinn said, almost breaking down again. Michael grinned. He had to make her laugh. Laughter was the best medicine right now, right? It would be the only thing to get her out of the dorm room.
"Ok, knock knock?" he asked.
"Who's there?" she asked tiredly.
"Alpaca," he said. Quinn glared slightly.
"Alpaca who?" Quinn asked.
"Alpaca you and ship you off to Mexico!" Michael declared gleefully. Quinn didn't smile. Michael sighed as he thought of another joke.
"Ok, bad choice there. Um, ok. I got one. What do you call a joke that is based on cobalt, radon, and yttrium? CoRnY," Michael said gleefully. Quinn didn't laugh.
"Wow, tough crowd. Ok, let's see, when a third grader was asked to cite Newton's first law, she said, "Bodies in motion remain in motion, and bodies at rest stay in bed unless their mothers call them to get up." Michael tried, but Quinn shook her head.
"Stop trying Michael, science jokes won't make me laugh," Quinn said. Michael thought.
"A neutron walked into a bar and asked, 'How much for a drink?' The bartender replied, 'For you, no charge!' Get it? Charge? None?" Michael tried. Quinn shook her head.
"I need Otis," she whispered. Michael thought. What could make Quinn laugh? Then, suddenly he got it!
"Ok, I can guarantee you this next joke will make you laugh, or at the very least smile," Michael said proudly. Quinn sighed.
"Fine, tell me," she said. Michael grinned as he said the joke.
"Ok, so how do you get Logan Reese crying like a baby? Take him into the House of Mirrors," Michael said. Quinn smiled.
"Hey, that's pretty funny. Mostly because it's true. Logan is still quite obsessed with himself. It takes him longer than me to get ready for our dates," Quinn said. Michael grinned.
"Ok, let's see what else I have. Logan is so rich, he can buy happiness," Michael joked. Quinn smiled as Michael kept throwing Logan-jokes at her. Finally, his last one, "Logan's definition of a crisis is there's no hair product left," brought her to laughter. It bubbled up until she let out a clear laugh. A harmonious, loveable laugh. It continued for a minute, Michael joining in, glee overcoming him. He finally made Quinn laugh! Who knew the secret would be Logan-jokes?
Finally, after a few minutes of laughing, Quinn slowly stopped, clutching her stomach.
"That was funny! Thanks Michael, for cheering me up," Quinn said gratefully. Michael nodded.
"Any time. Just call the Humour Hotline and Michael Barrett will come a-joking," Michael joked as Quinn let out a laugh.
"It feels so wrong to laugh now, especially after Otis…died," Quinn said seriously. Michael nodded.
"I know, but Otis will always be with you. Heart and mind, you need to realize that," Michael reassured her. Quinn nodded. Finally, Michael stood up and extended his hand to Quinn.
"Shall we go see the others, to prove to them you're still alive?" Michael asked. Quinn bit her lip, nodding. She took his hand and Michael pulled her up as they walked out to the lounge.
"Thanks a lot Michael. You are a funny guy, but sometimes, you try to hard," Quinn added. Michael nodded.
"I know," he said. And the two entered the lounge to find everyone waiting. Once they saw Michael and Quinn they relaxed.
"Thank god. Are you ok?" Logan asked, embracing Quinn. Quinn nodded slowly.
"I will be, thanks to Michael," she said, giving him an all-knowing glance.
Weirdly enough, this moment brought Michael and Quinn closer together. Quinn appreciated Michael more, and Michael considered Quinn's feelings.
Michael was forever grateful to make Quinn laugh, even on a serious day.
Ok, so I hoped you like it. Michael/Quinn friendship is just too cute, so here you go Erika! Hope you liked it, even though it's a week late! And this is why:
Last week, about the 9th of December, the day after my best friend and her ex-boyfriend broke up, he decides to ask me out on MSN. I said no (I was absolutely furious, and I don't get mad easily, but this angered me) and now all my friends and other people know, and absolutely detest this boy too for doing this, even though he's apologized. He says he didn't mean it and wasn't in the right frame of mind and was spitting all this crap out, so now we're not friends with him, even though we still see him, and he is bugging us to be his friends again. But it's not gonna happen, so I've been dealing with this drama for the past week or so. So yeah. But everything's ok now, it's not resolved yet, but it's been taken care of for the time being.
But I'm alright now, happy, especially since I found out for iCarly, SAM AND FREDDIE ARE GONNA KISS! Woot! I' terribly excited, so this news overtops my drama-tastic life. So, I'm excited for iKiss, and Christmas and everything! I'll be having another oneshot out very soon, and a Christmas oneshot for iCarly, and maybe a Christmas oneshot for Zoey 101. I'm in a writing mood today! So yay!
Reviews, por favor
-Jess