"Here." Rube slapped the post-it's down in front of them, and one by one they picked them up, studying the scrawled writing. Bella Ellwood leant back in her chair, glancing at the clock and then at the time on her post-it.
"As you wish." She grinned at Rube, rolling her eyes at his confused expression. "You don't watch many films, do you?" She asked, watching as Rube stood and shifted out of the booth.
"No. Goodbye." With that he disappeared, taking the book with him. Bella pouted, fidgeted, before glancing at Mason and George.
"Where you guys today?"
"Um the pool...oh god I hate drownings." George let out a dramatic sigh.
"Mason?" Bella was determined to get this guy to open up to her, to at least be her friend. But as it was, he wasn't in the mood for being friends with the girl who had taken the place of the love of his life.
"Don't know." He stuffed the post-it into his pocket, frowning at his empty plate. "Georgie..."
"Fine." She groaned. "Order what you want. Bella, where you off to today?"
"The mall. I hate malls." Bella fidgeted with the post-it. "You ever seen Princess Bride?" She asked, looking up at George, hoping to god the other girl said yes.
"I thought that sounded familiar." She tilted her head to one side, her lips pouting while Mason just looked blankly at Bella. "Yeah, I've seen it."
"Oh thank god!" Bella's head fell onto her hands.
"The main guy was pretty cute."
"God yes!" Bella laughed. "Cary Elwes. You see him in Men in Tights?"
"Yes!" George grinned at her, leaning across the table and ignoring the strange look on Mason's face.
"Bloody gorgeous in that." Bella's smile was easy as she stretched her arms above her head. "Mmm, Robin Hood..."
"What the bloody hell is it with girls and Robin Hood?" Mason snapped, standing up and walking away.
"What..."
"Mason!" George called. "Mason breakfast!"
"I don't want it." He called back, pushing the door open and stepping out onto the sidewalk.
"Great." Bella sighed, glancing down at her plate. "The only other dead Brit I know and he hates me...and why'd he get annoyed at the Robin Hood thing?"
"Daisy blew Errol Flynn." George replied, sounding very bored.
"Oh...ew." Bella's face contorted. "That's...so wrong."
"I know. Need a lift to the mall?"
"Please."
Up until a week or so ago, Isabella Ellwood had been on the brink of stardom; so close she could taste it. The drummer for the rock group 'R4AD' (aka Requiem for a Dream), she and the guys were touring the US, before signing a contract that would help them kick off. The gig they'd played that night was only small, about 200 people, and that was just the right amount for Bella. There, she had shaken hands with a woman called Daisy Adair, who claimed to be a rep for one of the Major labels. After telling her the band wasn't interested, Bella had shaken her hand and turned to go on stage.
A roadie had dropped a guitar from the large amp at the side of the stage midway through the set, and Bella had found herself standing next to the guy who'd been with Daisy. Mason had given her a cheeky grin, informed her she was dead and that now, she could move on. So long, farewell and thanks for the fish.
But Bella hadn't gone.
Instead she'd opted to hang on a bit longer, because Mason was looking for his friend Daisy and she felt inclined to help him, and she wanted to see the aftermath of the death. Plus, she told Mason, wouldn't she know herself when she was moving on?
He'd agreed, and so after looking for Daisy he took her to the 'gang's hangout; the Waffle house. There, Rube gave her a once over, Roxy didn't pay any attention and George muttered something like "not another one Mason!"
"This one isn't mine." He had explained patiently. "She's Daisy's."
"Of course." Rube nodded knowingly, as George looked confused at Bella.
"Where's Daisy?"
"I don't know!" Mason's whine was, to Bella, quite funny. Endearing if you will.
"Shouldn't I be moving on now?" She asked, fed up with this.
"No. What's your name?"
"Bella."
"Bella. OK then." He'd ripped off a couple of post-its, handed one each to George and Roxy. "Early morning reaps. George, take Bella with you, explain things to her Peanut." With that, Rube stood up and left leaving the other three staring at Bella with shock.
"No fucking way." Were the only words to leave Mason's lips the rest of the night, before he settled for giving Bella the silence treatment plus glaring constantly at her.
"Mason, can we still get drunk?"
The house contained only the two of them. The house Mason had willingly given up to Daisy and George because, well, because we do crazy things when we're in love. George was off at work, and so Mason felt forced to talk to the new girl who had taken the place of his beloved.
"Yes." He stares blankly at the TV, which shows some daytime trash. He can hear her in the kitchen, rummaging through something.
"Score!" She replies with a tinkling laugh, before she has suddenly leapt over the sofa and places a bottle of beer in Mason's hand. She flashes a grin at him, holding up her own bottle, before clinking it against his, still grinning. "Cheers Mason."
"Are we toasting to anything?" She can't help but pick up on the whine that is still in his voice, coupled with the pure hatred of her very presence.
"Yes." Her look becomes thoughtful as she looks at him. "To new friends, but don't forget the old ones."
She feels relieved to see a shadow of a smile flicker across his face. "Good." He nods, tilting his head back and drinking almost half of the beer.
"Mason, I'm sorry Daisy had to go. And I'm sorry you don't like me, and I'm sorry I dead and I'm sorry a roadie dropped a guitar onto my head. But I can't change it, any of it. And I promise, if I could swap places with Daisy I would in a second, not just because I hate watching people die or taking souls from them, which I do hate by the way...but because I think I'd like you, if you were, you know, nicer to me. And it'd be nice to see you smile."
And he sat there, staring off into space in silence, making no reply, but instead thinking of how hard he'd tried to make Daisy happy, even if she didn't like the engagement ring, and how it wasn't because he wanted to marry her or anything, but because he wanted to see her smile. And he thought of how Bella reminded him of himself, back then.
But it didn't once cross his mind that the little drummer from Wales, who had died in a strange, foreign country, was more like him than he realised, and that she, too, might be feeling the sense of unrequited love he had felt towards Daisy.
She disappears, and Mason has no idea where she's gone. Then he hears soft words coming from her bedroom. He stands there, listening to her as she pours her heart out, singing something he recognises. Then he realises where he knows it from; it was one of the bands songs. He heard it on the night she died, the night Daisy disappeared.
He opens the door to see her singing the words, head tilted forward as she bends over a notebook, he can't help but smile at the sight of her there, tongue poking out in concentration, the sunlight flowing in the room and lighting her up.
"Hey darling, what you doing?"
"Writing." Her mumbled reply is followed by a lift of her head as she smiles gently at him. "You called me darling."
He realises what it means, and moves to sit beside her. "Guess it means I like you then." He tries to keep his voice neutral, glancing over at the notebook. She shuts it quickly, moves it away and stretches out on the bed. "What were you writing?"
"A song."
"Called?"
"You're nosy, aren't you?" She asks, tilting her head to one side. He grins at her.
"Yep. So what's it called?"
"Doesn't have a title yet."
"So what's it about?"
She looks away, staring out the window. "Heroes and arseholes."
"What?"
She laughs, running a hand through her hair. "Heroes and arseholes. One of the guys in the band said I always went for either heroes or arseholes."
He nods, considering her words. "Alright then, what am I?"
She still doesn't look at him, Bella narrows her eyes, thinking it over. "You know what Mason," finally she replies "I really don't know."
A/N: This is just kind of snippets for the fanfic I'm planning to write really soon, the title is part of one of those 100 Theme Challenges on DeviantArt, and I used it to get some of my rough ideas for the fic down. Let me know what you think, what you like or hate because like I said I'm going to be 'expanding' on this soon.