(( Hey all, just had bit of inspiration strike and this was born. Yes it is a song fic. Please read and review and hope you enjoy. Also I do not own any of these characters ,just taking JE's generosity and putting it to use. ))
Glass
She sat on her couch, in her crap-tastic apartment with her knees drawn up to her chest. She felt miserable, and alone. Everyone always told her she was so brave to do the job of a bounty hunter. That she was brave for not giving into the pressures of the burg. Everybody knew she had told the Italian Stallion to take a hike, when she walked in on him and Terry Gilman. That she told her mother that under no circumstances was she going to get back with him and until her mother accepted it, to not bother to call her.
What that didn't notice or even realize, that those things were simply a long time coming, no when it came right down it, Stephanie Plum, was nothing more than a chicken. She did all of it, for what. To simply throw away the chance she had to tell the one man who truly believed in her, who supported her, who protected and rescued her so many times, how she felt about him.
It had taken her months to realize that what she had with Morelli was simply not right, that while she had cared for him. She was never really in love with him. Yet it took her a while to figure that out. To figure out that the only reason she stayed was because she was afraid.
Yet it was his final act of deceit that thrust everything into the light. That if it could hurt so much to be betrayed by one that you were never really in love with. How could she survive rejection or betrayal with the one the man she did feel that way.
She was still contemplating things, when she heard a knock on her door. She knew it wasn't who she wanted it to be. He didn't knock and he was in the wind, know she feared she never get that chance to tell him. She remembered the conversation the day he told her had had to go.
- flashback-
"Babe"
Stephanie hadn't jumped, at the sound of his voice, a knot in the pit of her stomach told her was coming, and the sound of her locks tumbling only bolstered her confidence in such a belief. She stood in her kitchen simply peering down at Rex, who was running on his wheel. She waited until she felt another presence within her kitchen to look at him. She put on a smile.
"What can I do for you ranger? "
He only cocked his head in the slightest, an emotion she had never seen before or even in small glimpses played over his features seemingly in slow motion, before that blank face appeared.
"I'm going to be out of touch for a while, Call Tank if you need any help "
She nodded, as with those simple words he turned and headed back towards her door. She wanted to scream at him that she loved him. Yet those words never came. He would pause at her door. With his hand on the knob, he turned to look back at her, Speaking.
"Don't go crazy "
She stood frozen, unable to move and the only words that she could force past her lips.
"Don't get shot "
He was then gone, as silently as he had come.
-End flashback -
That was two months ago, she had heard nothing, not even a sign that he was alright, her spidey senses told her that he was fine, She had forced herself to believe that if something really did happen, that Ranger would of instructed one of his men to at least tell her.
She heaved a sigh and got up of the couch and trudged to the door, as someone was still their knocking. She opened it and was not even the least bit surprised to see Marylou, Connie, and Lula standing there. Lula spoke first.
"White girl you best get your butt ready, we are all having a girls night, and we will hog-tie you, if we have to"
Connie and Marylou chiming in next in that respective order.
"Yea Steph come on, you need to get out, we haven't done anything together in weeks "
"Please Steph, it took me days to convince Lenny to babysit, so you have too"
She wanted to fight and tell them she was too tired, but she they were right, and truthfully she was afraid Lula wasn't kidding about the hog-tying. She raised her hand and stepped back, to allow them in entrance as she spoke
" Alright, Alright. Let me get changed. "
She had taken in their outfits to get a better understanding of the dress code, before trudging off her to her room to change. They all had on dresses, but they were flirty causal types nothing risqué or overly revealing. She began to go through her closet really quick. She found one that she felt would be perfect.
A simple teal dress with black geometrical print. The back was cut out into a diamond and the skirt flared out. She moved to the bathroom to do her hair and make-up. She left her curls down, but used some of Mr. Alexanders miracle stuff to make them look tame, keeping her make-up light with only a little extra mascara for that extra boost of confidence.
Slipping on pair of black heels, she grabbed a clutch and transferred her essentials. Her friends all grinning in approval and telling her she looked wonderful. It wasn't until they were all in the car and had been driving for about 20 minutes that she even thought to ask where they were headed.
"Where are, we going anyway?
Connie and Lula casting a glance to Marylou. Marylou herself winced slightly and spoke a bit hesitantly.
"well don't get mad, but I let slip about how we used to sneak into BASS in high school, well Connie explained to Lula, that it was a karaoke bar. So, it kind of came out that you can sing, so we are headed to a new karaoke bar in Newark, called Swifts. "
Stephanie blinked, she wasn't sure her friend had taken a breath in any of that, but all she did was sigh in resignation, as she spoke.
"All right, but you all owe me "
They grinned happily as they turned up the radio to jam out for the rest of the half hour drive. It wasn't long before they were parking, and piling out of the car. They would wait in the semi long line, and easily get in after showing proof of age.
They had been there about an hour, each having a drink. Expect Marylou she volunteered to be the driver so she simply sipped on a cherry coke. For the past ten minute Steph kept rubbing the back of her neck. She would then look around.
Lula and Connie had gotten up to sing the classic duet of "Summer Lovin" from grease, causing Steph and Marylou to laugh, they didn't sound bad but the song was so cheesy. Once they returned they had finally convinced to her to sign up herself.
She spent several minutes going through the book, before finding the perfect song, and with one more rub at the back of her neck. She put her name with the song in, the DJ telling if she wanted to wait a moment she was next.
She took several deep breaths, before heading up onto the stage once she was handed a microphone. Her eyes had closed a moment, once she was centered and once they opened, she found the source of the tingle. There on the opposite side of the club sat Ranger, with Tank, Bobby, Lester, and Hal.
She closed her eyes once more and opened them, she was going to bolt but the music started and she realized in that moment the lyrics to the song said what she wanted to tell Ranger. She made sure that those blue orbs of hers locked on his own chocolate ones. She then began to sing.
Trying to live and love,
With a heart that can't be broken,
Is like trying to see the light with eyes that can't be opened.
Yeah, we both carry baggage,
We picked up on our way, so if you love me do it gently,
And I will do the same.
We may shine, we may shatter,
We may be picking up the pieces here on after,
We are fragile, we are human,
We are shaped by the light we let through us,
We break fast, cause we are glass.
'Cause we are glass.
Stephanie put everything she felt for Ranger into each musical word that left her lips. Marylou was not surprised she had told Connie and Lula who were looking gob smacked, weather it was at the fact that Marylou had clearly been telling the truth, or the fact the song choice was not something they had expected from the Rock loving girl.
I'll let you look inside me, through the stains and through the cracks,
And in the darkness of this moment,
You see the good and bad.
But try not to judge me, 'cause we've walked down different paths,
But it brought us here together, so I won't take that back.
We may shine, we may shatter,
We may be picking up the pieces here on after,
We are fragile, we are human,
We are shaped by the light we let through us,
We break fast, cause we are glass.
We might be oil and water, this could be a big mistake,
We might burn like gasoline and fire,
It's a chance we'll have to take.
We may shine, we may shatter,
We may be picking up the pieces here on after,
We are fragile, we are human,
And we are shaped by the light we let through us,
We break fast, cause we are glass.
We are glass.
She handed back the microphone after the song had ended. In that time Ranger had risen from his seat and made his way towards the stage, offering his hand to her, to help her down. Without an ounce of hesitation, she took his hand and spoke, the words she thought she never to get to speak.
"I love you Carlos, more than anything and I want our someday, whenever you are ready "
He looked at her and gave her that full blown smile, that he reserved for special reasons and said the one word that could say a million different things on any given day, today its meaning clear, with the unexpected softness of his eyes, and that unidentified emotion that she could finally name in his features. It was love.
"Babe"