Title: The Old Pieces and The New
Summary: After a bad break-up with Jared (Novel version Male! Jessica Rabbit), Rhoda Rabbit (Movie version Girl! Roger Rabbit) just wanted to hide and pick up the pieces. But life threw a curveball when she met Jesse (Movie version Male! Jessica Rabbit) again, whose rejection she had accepted a long time ago.
Author's Notes: In every fic I've written so far, Jesse is always the one that started noticing Rhoda. Now, let's turn the tables! Plus, what if a male "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?" version of Jessica Rabbit is in the story? Let me know what you guys think!
Chapter 1: Mistakes Had Been Made
Mater would always say girls shouldn't chase after boys.
Rhoda Rabbit kept the smile on her face, already regretting her decision.
Jesse stared at her, his face unchanged. In his hands, he held a dainty package of carrot cake that she had made for him.
"Why?" he asked.
Do rabbits sweat? Rhoda wondered if her smile looked like a heavy-duty clamp-on was slowly squeezing her skull.
"Because you're kind," she replied, feeling her face burn. Her heart drummed, bare under his detached puzzlement.
She wished she could turn back time and convince her past self that this was a bad idea.
Weeks ago, Rhoda first met Jesse when they became guest stars to a live action movie.
She first noticed him when he had quietly uprighted a trash can that some of the human actors have shoved out of their way.
When one of the crew's child was there, Jess knelt from his tall frame to help him tie his tiny shoe.
She realized the mysterious pull for what it was, the first time she had made him laugh. Warm and home. Strange words to describe a laugh.
But now… judging from his puzzled scowl, her attraction for his kindness was either kooky or worse, shallow.
"You are!" she laughed nervously at his unconvinced visage. "I've seen it! That's why..." Rhoda looked down, her rabbit ears fidgeting shyly. She took a deep breath and took a leap. "... I want to go out with you!"
She shrugged sheepishly. "You know, get to know you better."
Her stomach sank when he saw the "no" in his face long before he would speak. The slight discomfited frown. The pressed lips. The slight lean of his body away from the conversation.
"But if you'd rather not, that's fine!" She pushed her lips into a smile. "We can still be friends. I'll just let you be if that's what you want."
She felt both a little better and a little worse when his shoulders loosened, his face relaxing into a small, gracious smile.
"Thank you, Rhoda."
She rocked on her feet. "You can give the cake if you don't want it." Her shoulders shrugged as she looked down on the ground. "It's just a gift." A go-out-with-me gift.
The rest of weeks of filming after that was an enjoyable blur.
"See ya next time!" Rhoda said, happy at least, to have a friend in him. Maybe they would see each other again. In another film perhaps. Or an ad. Or a show.
But they never did.
How could they? As a cartoon show actress, Rhoda would get up before the sun rises, ready for action and would be out like a light at night. Jesse would work late in the Paint-and-Ink Club and would sleep through the day.
Rhoda was the fool of family fun. Jesse, the adonis of adult entertainment.
Though they were both of showbiz, they were also both of different worlds.
Sometimes, they'd see each other in passing. Rhoda would manage a friendly wave whenever she would see him. Usually accompanying Martha Acme.
A faint twinge would touch her. But Rhoda didn't mind.
Mater was right. But don't worry. I like me!
Fifteen years later, something changed that.
XOXOXOXOX
Rhoda faced the decrepit cottage at the edge of the suburbs. The boards were rotted out. The concrete was fractured. Judging by the state of the tattered roof, she wouldn't be surprised by the water damage inside. Thick foliage and brambles clutched territorially of what was once a lawn.
She slumped on the curb. It was already an awful time to reflect on her life choices. Especially when she was on a cracked sidewalk, with a beaten suitcase of distressfully grabbed belongings, borrowed camp gear and a sad shack behind her.
A moist snout licked her out of her reverie. A big, black toon dog nosed her cheek. Rhoda couldn't help but giggle. The ribsy stray wouldn't stop following her after she gave him her sandwich.
"You shouldn't have followed me." Yet his tail wagged at her touch. "I'm a mess," she continued.
Rhoda jerked her thumb back at the crumbling cottage. "Like that house." After a pause, she turned back her head at it. "No offense, Mr. House."
It's the most that I could afford, she had sheepishly said to Mina weeks ago.
You're crazy, Baby Mina said. Afford something else, ya dope!
Rhoda ducked her face into her palms, remembering everything that had led to this present moment. It wasn't just because the cottage was literally worth a penny.
It wasn't just because her ex messed up her head so bad, she couldn't tell who was right or wrong anymore.
It wasn't just because Jared fooled around her, she couldn't tell if it was her fault for not being more, her fault for staying, or her fault for finally leaving.
It wasn't just because her awkward questions that had lead to his deflections and blame. In their relationship, he said she was overreacting. Too needy. Too insecure.
Maybe it had something to do with living together after a month of blissful dating. He asked and she agreed. Practically married with a shared bank account. That was what love would do, right?
Maybe it had something to do with her gut feeling that something wasn't right throughout their time together. A feeling that festered worse by gossip columns. The Hollywood Tattler would gleefully print of whom and where Jared had been seen with. And they were many.
Maybe it had something to do with her overlooking his… over-friendliness. She would win him back. They would be like they were when they had started dating. She would make him remember.
But in the end, it had most certainly had something to do with the fact that she wasn't strong enough. Didn't love him enough. Didn't hold on enough.
Because wasn't that what love would do? Forgive and love anyway?
Rabbit nature. Buggy Bunny warned her the day before Rhoda moved in with him. Rabbits mate for life, doc. Artists instill real-life traits to the toons they would create.
Yet when she had shattered, when they broke up, she waited for that madness to consume her.
It never came.
Because she had never loved him. She just wasted both of their best years and broke herself in the process.
Rhoda laughed, the sound echoing in the empty sidewalk. But it sounded like a sob of a parched well instead. The dog whined in concern. She swallowed, tasting something bitter.
Her hand ruffled the dog's fur. "A-soup… well, I think their name is A-soup, did say laughter's the best medicine, and medicine can be bitter."
She stood up, her cottontail dusting the seat of her red overall dress.
"I still think you chose the wrong toon to follow. But you're welcome to stay, I guess."
The gaunt dog wagged his tail. She pointed at the house as they entered the front yard.
"That house is me, and I'm gonna fix it."
The dog romped off to the backyard. Probably to mark.
Rhoda stood before the "For Sale" picket sign, slapped with a "Sold" sticker. With her yellow mitts, she grabbed it by the handle and pulled.
And pulled.
She tugged and tugged. The sign's handle only squashed and stretched with her efforts.
Frowning, she planted her feet on either side of her and imagined she was uprooting the biggest carrot ever.
"Whoah!"
The whole world upended and Rhoda fell back with bunny tail up and her feet flopped over head.
At least she finally got the picket sign off.
"Rhoda?"
She froze. It couldn't be. She hadn't heard of that voice for a long time. Except for snatches in the radio, curling in her ears, deep and rich in its velvety tones.
"Rhoda Rabbit?"
In her upside down vision, her eyes finally fixed to the person peering over the fence.
Of course, they had to meet again with her ass up in the air.
She flipped into a blur, hands firmly pressing down her skirt against closed thighs. This time, in her rightside-up vision, her blue eyes looked up to his tall frame and broad shoulders. Of cool emerald eyes, half-hidden by those wine red locks.
"Jesse!" she grinded out with a well-practiced smile. The last person she wanted to see. Right next to her ex, her ex's creator and the rabid part of his fanclub.
His face surprisingly broke into a small smile. She still remembered what his genuine smile looked like.
Her heart thudded. Jeepers, why?
She tried not to break her act. Rhoda doubted she made a lasting impression or even a good impression on him. Not after her stupid attempt to ask him out years ago.
Not after the fact that Jared looked so much like Jesse. Only Jared looked slimmer and a few years younger. With violet eyes and hair the color of sunset. She wondered if his artist, Lancy Lupin, was inspired by Jesse's image.
"It's good to see you," he said, looking as perfect and pristine as ever in his suit, provocatively classy.
No, it's not, her mind groaned. She was a metaphorical wreck in a literal wreckage. She didn't need an old friend, especially an old crush, to witness what she had become.
"You too," she replied, all bright and chippy. Her fingers itched to adjust her blue bow tie with yellow spots. "What're you doing here?"
The question was more of curiosity than of consideration. One would have thought someone so debonair would be in the posher side of ToonTown.
"I live next door," he replied, gesturing at the house beside hers.
Beneath her placid face, Rhoda might've made every psychic deaf with her internal, horrified scream.
"Oh that's great!" she exclaimed.
There was suddenly a thud inside the cottage. Rhoda winced. The house was already breaking down inside. Just like her in real life.
"I'm planning to camp out here while fixing it myself," Rhoda sheepishly answered to Jesse's raised brow.
He walked out of his yard and entered hers.
"Let me check what made that-"
"Grrrrrroooowwffff!"
A giant, dark blur dashed toward Jesse before Rhoda could act.
"Jacques, NO!"
Something small and white planted itself between Jacques and Jesse.
Jacques screeched into a halt. He tilted his head at the sight of another intruder.
The fluffy toon cat gave him a quiet, glaring stare, her tail waving contemptuously.
His tail wagged back in return. He crouched down on his paws and gave her a friendly bark.
The cat sniffed, as though allowing him to live… for now.
"I'm so sorry!" Rhoda cried, hugging Jacques around his collarless neck if he tried to do anything else. "He can be quite protective."
Jesse stepped back a little. "It's okay. So is mine," he said, gesturing at the cat.
"What's her name?" Rhoda asked, looking at the dainty queen regaling them with her presence.
"Veronica."
"Very elegant," she commented, letting the cat sniff her outstretched hand.
"But it was too long, so I just call her Ronnie."
"Very approachable," she smiled as Ronnie rubbed herself against her.
"What about him? Why Jacques?"
"Remember our co-star in Baby Mina's shorts?"
"Ash? The Disney Prince?"
"Yup, in his movie, he has a helpful mousey sidekick named Jacqueline."
"Ah." He walked past Rhoda and her dog as though Jacques didn't try to sic him. Peering through the cottage window, he pointed inside.
"Looks like a beam fell down."
Rhoda peeked inside beside him.
Jesse crouched down to her height and directed her eyes to the fallen structure. "See that over there? The impact made the dust around it thinner."
She sucked in her breath. "Whoa, you're right. I would've never have thought of that-" she turned to face him and was suddenly aware at how close Jesse was.
It didn't help that his finger gently brushed her ears, pulling away an entangled spiderweb.
She averted her eyes, screaming in herself to get a grip. "I-"
Jacques suddenly appeared and sat between them, his feathery tail accidentally whacking Jesse on the face. At least Rhoda thought it was accidental. Jacques opened his mouth, panting dog breath on to Jesse.
Jesse could take a hint.
He straightened up. "You're planning to fix this house?"
Rhoda internally winced, too aware of the house's desolate state. Jacques gave her one last, reassuring lick before galloping for the backyard again.
"Yes."
"And camp out here while fixing it?"
She fought control over her face, swallowing another grimace. "Yes," she replied, offering no explanation. She glanced at the camping gear she had borrowed from Mina, practically unused.
Jesse stared at her, she could almost hear his gears grinding. Jeepers, he's judging me. He knows I've hit six feet under rock bottom. He's trying to decide if I deserve pity or punishment. He probably read those tabloids-
Her breath caught when he kneeled down to meet her eyes.
"Remember the time you told me you liked me because I'm kind?"
A screech resonated inside her like someone suddenly pulled a sword off her skewered gut.
"Yes?" she mildly confirmed.
"I don't want to sound strange. But you can stay with me while you fix your house."
Her stomach dropped. Pity. She got pity. Call her a masochist, but she'd rather not have pity. Especially his.
She called on her straggling supply of sunshine with a cheerful smile. Her cheeks already ached with how many times she had to give it.
"I'll be fine!" she brightly said. The mangled rawness inside her twinged. She savagely squelched it.
I'm Rhoda goshdarned Rabbit, for Walt's sake! The slapstick-y bunny who always bounces back!
His brow furrowed.
She paused. Was that concern? It couldn't be.
Plus, she had already inconvenienced Mina when Rhoda had broken down on her. The night that she had broken up with Jared, she was a hysterical sobbing mess in Mina's doorstep.
If only I didn't confront him.
She couldn't be a burden to anyone else. A burden who couldn't fix her own problems.
"Rhoda..."
He hesitated. His mouth parted as though he had something to say. Rhoda waited.
Instead, he simply brushed back her bangs. She jolted from the casual touch.
"You got dust in your hair."
"Oh." She patted her white fur and tugged down her ears for inspection. Still cottony white with pink skin.
He picked Ronnie up. "If you need anything, just ask."
I want to move out again, she thought miserably.
But it was too late. She had already bought the house. Never mind that she was an A-list toon star. Never mind that it was easy to buy a house in the 60s. She bought the house for… reasons.
He gave her a warm smile, worlds away from the smirk he would wear in the magazine covers and centerfolds.
"It's really nice to see you again," he quietly said. Rhoda berated herself for thinking it sounded intimate. Like tones dear friends would use in soft conversations at night.
Jesse just wanted friendship from her. Just because her heart was all over the place like TNT-ed tatters…
He left the cat inside his house. Rhoda waved at him when he got into his car and drove off. Probably to rehearse in a club.
She just wanted to fix her life by fixing the house. She just wanted to avoid the people that were giving her grief. Rhoda couldn't even blame life for mocking her. Because just like with Jared, she only got herself to blame.
"I should've thought who would be my neighbors," she told Jacques, scratching the back of his ears.
Then she said the words that had become a recurring theme in her life. "I haven't thought of that. But I should've."
Author's Notes:
My followers, probably: Callie, stop writing about Rhoda and Jesse!
Me (with hypnotized eyes and beating a dead horse): wrrrrriiiiitttee mooooree.
My followers, probably: Callie, no more angst, please!
Me (crazed, hypnotized eyes and cranking up the angst volume): aaaaaaaannnggsst.
If you think my grammar's off (especially the tenses), tell me, please. I'm trying to improve.
Guys, especially the anons. I'm thankful for your reviews and unfortunately, ffnet isn't allowing me to respond to questions of anonymous feedback. So here's the deal. If you want to tell me what you think of my stories, are curious of what I will answer or react, but are too shy to reveal yourselves, I've got a Tumblr account for WFRR. It's toontowncrazyDOTtumblrDOTcom
Let me know what you guys think!