Title: Where You and I Begin
Pairing: Dante Falconeri/Brook Lynn Ashton
Rating: PG
AN: This story stemmed from a scene between Olivia & Dante talking about when he was younger. So it follows most of canon with a few little twists... sort of a reinvented near-future fic.
Dante was six years old with dark hair in his eyes and an angry scowl on his face. The tear tracks already dried up on his face. He looked up at the disassembled tree house forlornly, kicking at the stump before grabbing up a stray nail on the floor.
His ma's words reverberated in his ear. You'll understand one day, baby. I'm just tryin' to keep you safe is all.
Dante huffed, brushing his hair out of his face. He was a big boy… went to school now, could even jump and swing on the monkey bars all by himself. His ma was just being overprotective, like always.
"Stupid tree house. Stupid rules," he grumbled, kicking up dirt and sticks.
"Who ya talkin' to?"
Dante whirled around, eyes narrowing. "Nobody."
"Oh," she dragged the word out. "Sounds boring. Were you cryin'?"
Dante's face scrunched up, affronted. "No."
"Ya sure? Your nose looks all puffy," she started, nose wrinkling as she moved closer leaning into his space, scrutinizing his face.
Dante backed away. "Well, your face looks puffy." The girl rolled her eyes, shrugging her shoulders.
"Can't look too bad… my ma's always callin' me cute." She wrinkled her nose again as if disgusted by the idea. "So's ole lady…"
"…De Luca."
"—De Luca."
They chimed in at the same time, petulant and tinged with annoyance.
The girl laughed making Dante smile in return. "You, too?"
"Yeah. Bet she don't pinch your cheeks though."
The girl growled a squeak of sound. "Only once. 'Til I bit her hand on accident. Never again," she grinned wide showing off a missing front tooth. Dante couldn't help but actually like this girl… not like-like 'cause hello, girl—but she was pretty cool.
"I'm Brook Lynn."
Dante snorted until Brook narrowed her eyes at him, hands on her hips… a show of anger so much like his ma he gulped. "Uh, I mean. Cool. It's a cool name."
"What's yours?"
"Dante."
She held her hand out and Dante dropped the nail in his hand to grasp his hand in hers. "Nice to meet ya, Dante."
"Uh… yeah," he smiled tentatively, shaking her hand. It was only a second or two before they let go, Brook looking up at the tree house and biting her lip.
"What's with the tree?"
Dante sighed. "Was gonna be my tree house." He kicked dirt up against the stump again. "But my ma said I couldn't play on it. Too dangerous," he added, bitterness coating his words.
"That sucks."
Dante looked over at her just in time to see Brook blow the bangs away from her face. "Big time," he snorted.
"I don't got a tree house but my ma's makin' sandwiches. They're the best ever. You wanna come over, maybe?"
Dante looked up thoughtfully at the tree house then back over at Brook Lynn. He shrugged, smile catching on the corner of his lips. "Sure."
"Cool!" She exclaimed, grabbing hold of his wrist and pulling Dante with him as she ran back towards her house. Dante almost fell over in Brook Lynn's flurry of movement but quickly caught himself, stumbling behind her with a surprised laugh.
She'd been picking him up every time he was down ever since.
Dante looked up at the haggard tree wistfully. He traced his fingertip over the carved in patch of wood; the pad of his finger ran along the outline… not of a heart but a circle—friendship. Their initials carved into the center. They'd gone back to that tree and marked up the bark with that lonely nail.
"Things were simple then, huh?"
Dante's lips curved into a smile, palm of his hand opened flat to cover the entire carving in one touch. "Yeah." He turned to look over his shoulder, hand still pressed against the tree. "Way I hear it… you're on your way to becoming America's next big thing so life can't really be all that bad."
"You been talkin' to my ma, haven't you?"
Dante shrugged. "After finding out I was Sonny's son… there really weren't that many people I could talk to… nah, make that, that I wanted to talk to. Guess she heard from someone, called me up and wanted to talk, and I couldn't shake her loose."
"Like a dog with a bone, that's my ma." Brook sighed.
"How'd you know I was here?"
"Your ma called my ma." She laughed, rolling her eyes. "She was worried. They both were. I know it's been a while but you found me here after I left Port Charles, so I just figured—" She let her words trail off and Dante couldn't do anything but just look at her… his best friend, always trying to pull him out of the fire.
"Yeah," was all he could think to say. He rubbed the back of his neck, voice rough and tired. "I keep thinkin'… next time I come back here this tree ain't gonna be here anymore. Then I finally do come around and there it is, still standing… worn down but it's still there."
Brook's smile was soft, amused. "You thinkin' in metaphors now, Falconeri?"
"Blame it on the nostalgia."
"Miss me that much?" She offered. Dante shrugged going for non-committal. "You coulda just called me."
"Phone works both ways, Brook."
"You're right," she exhaled. Truth was neither one of them could get over themselves to make the first move. "I just—I didn't know what to say. That night, Dante, it changed… god, everything."
"Only 'cause we let it," Dante interrupted. "You're still my best friend, Brook. You gotta know that."
"After – when we, you know," she muttered, cheeks pinking up. "I didn't want things to change. I knew you were goin' back undercover and I wanted to be anywhere that wasn't Port Charles… we were just goin' our separate ways." She bit her lip, looking somewhere over Dante's shoulder. "I wanted to call you, so many times, but I couldn't even get myself to pick up the phone and dial your number."
"You came back to the tree."
"You did, too." Brook smiled.
"Kinda got a soft spot for it."
"Yeah, if I remember correctly, the first time we met you were crying over it," she teased.
"What? Crying, no. Your memory's foggy, little girl."
Brook shook her head, laughing. "You so were. And I'm not a little girl… haven't been for some time now."
Dante smirked, eyes alight, taking the subject change with pleasure. "Yeah, I remember that, too."
"Unbelievable," she huffed.
"I'm just sayin'."
"Well don't."
"We're never gonna talk about it then?"
Brook blew out a frustrated breath, annoyed. "Way I hear it you got a girl now so there's no point in rehashin' it. It's Lulu, right? I know her and—just, god, we don't ever gotta mention it, okay?"
"You sayin' I'm that forgettable?"
"Are you serious right now?"
Dante moved into her personal space, fingers flexing against her side before resting on her waist. "Me and Lulu? That's—you don't gotta worry about that."
"Dante—"
"Hey, I'm not messin' around here. I wouldn't play you like that. I came here to get away," he admitted, "from everything, everyone. 'Cause I don't have anything back in Port Charles that was making me stay. I needed to clear my head. Figure out what I'm gonna do and here you are… here we always are, Brook."
"You're kiddin' yourself if you think this is some sort of fairytale in the makin', Falconeri."
"I'm a Detective barely holding onto my badge, Brook. There ain't no fairytale living here."
"God, you're insane."
"I'm baring my soul and you think I'm certifiable, nice."
Brook rested her palm in against his neck. "This was not how I saw this little encounter going s'all."
"Really? Cause I was kinda hoping we'd have a repeat of last time."
"That's not funny," she grit out. Dante chuckled, leaning forward so they were barely an inch apart. "You do remember what happened after, right?"
"Well, I was thinkin' this time we don't run away after," he answered matter-of-fact.
"I didn't run."
"You kinda did."
"You really wanna talk about this now?"
"I sorta had other plans in mind, ones that don't really involve talking, but I'm guessin' that's not gonna happen," Dante rasped, thumb rubbing along the waist of her jeans.
"You goin' back to Port Charles?"
"I wouldn't really call it home but I got a job there. Family," he muttered.
"I'm on break right now," she said, contemplative. "I could stay for a couple of weeks, maybe. See how things play out. It'll be a start."
"Gotta start somewhere," Dante agreed. "So… can I kiss you now?"
"You really need to ask?"
Dante shook his head, smiling wide. His hand moved to tangle his fingers in her hair, pulling her forward the rest of the way to press their mouths together, lips connecting in a soft kiss. It was a good place to start… for the moment.