First SITR fic! Yay! Enjoy and Don't be mean:)
"So Much More Than He Can…"
A Singin' in the Rain fanfiction
Prologue
It was hot in the summer of 1989. The sun beat down on Kathy Selden's and Lina Lamont's tan bodies as they lounged on beach chairs. In front of them, the pool party at the Pittsburgh City Y raged. Some, like black-haired, handsome Don Lockwood, splashed water like immature children, laughing loudly. Others, like Kathy and Lina, lay on beach chairs tanning. The Y was throwing a party for its former members, and since Don and his best friend Cosmo had taken swimming lessons there as children, they had been invited, and they had invited Kathy and Lina.
Lina sat up. Her blonde hair perked up, sensing men. She raised her purple glasses and looked across to the opposite side of the pool. Don had scrambled out of the water to greet his best friend, Cosmo Brown, who had just walked into the pool area.
"Kathy! Kathy!" Lina tapped her best friend's shoulder, taking her sunglasses off.
"What?" Kathy sat up and raised her sunglasses.
"Look!"
Both girls' jaws dropped as Cosmo took his red T-shirt off. He wore nothing but blue bathing trunks and his red hair shone in the sun. A silver shamrock necklace glittered around his neck, a symbol of his Irish heritage. He and Don stood shirtless on the opposite side of the pool, checking out the girls. Both of the boys winked at the girls, whose insides melted.
"Wow," Kathy breathed. "He's cute." Both girls' glossy red lips stood out like beacons in the hot afternoon sun.
"Who? Cosmo or Don?"
"Both of them," Kathy said, wide-eyed and barely moving her mouth.
"Yeah," Lina said dreamily. "They may be dorks sometimes—well, most of the time-but you gotta admit, they have nice bodies."
Cosmo and Don watched Kathy and Lina from across the pool.
"Someone's gonna get it in tonight, yeah?" Cosmo poked Don.
"I don't know, dude," Don stared lovingly at Kathy. "I mean, Kathy looks pretty hot in black, but you know how difficult she is. I betcha we'll just make out or something. What about you, dude?" Don wore jet-black swimming trunks to compliment his jet-black, water-soaked hair.
"Me? I don't have a girl."
"You're eyeing Lina pretty closely, dude."
"Well, yeah, she's fly, but she's SO annoying!"
"You'd kill to make out with her, wouldn't you?"
"Just for kicks, yeah, but she's not my type."
"What IS your type, man?" Don asked, taking his gaze off of the girls and looking at Cosmo.
"I don't know…someone like Kathy?"
Don's brown eyes widened. "Do you have a thing for my girl, dude?"
Cosmo smiled mischievously. "Maybe."
Chapter One
Cosmo Brown felt like punching someone.
He stared at the coffee table in his apartment, in his white T-shirt, black jeans, and a towel around his neck, his damp, newly-washed red hair clinging to his scalp, staring at the things he had stolen.
Earlier that night, Cosmo sat alone in his apartment drinking vodka when all of a sudden a strange adrenaline rush swept over him. He put gel in his hair, grabbed his leather jacket and left.
He had considered calling Don, but figured he'd be asleep.
He hadn't bothered to lock his apartment. He didn't mind. Nothing he owned was valuable, anyway.
Cosmo had also forgotten his wallet.
He hadn't planned on taking it.
He didn't remember much now. He was hungover and drunk at the same time.
All he remembered was getting in his car, half drunk, driving to GetGo, and jumping over the counter when the clerk wasn't looking and stealing two packs of cigarettes, some beer, and soda.
He did all of this unnoticed. His slender frame made him easy to miss. Once, on a Halloween, he and Don had filled an entire swimming pool with flour and rolled around in it. Then they had put dirt on their faces and borrowed some of Kathy's mascara and applied it under their eyes. They had dressed in rags and scared the hell out of everyone in GetGo, allowing them to steal what they wanted.
Cosmo came back out into the parking lot and saw a gun laying behind his car.
He laughed maniacally when he heard a loud bang when he backed up.
He came back to his apartment drunk and took a freezing cold shower.
And now here he was. Staring at a crime. A crime that he had gotten away with. Everyone got away with it. GetGo had the worst security equipment and staff in the entire city of Pittsburgh.
Cosmo had no idea what was wrong with him, either.
He heard a knock on the door. He grabbed some French fries and went to go open it. He was too drunk and hungover to be surprised at who it was.
"Hi, Cosmo," Kathy Selden greeted him.
"Hi, Kathy," Cosmo replied, rolling his eyes and sighing. "It's five AM." he added, desperate to remain by himself.
"I realize that, Cosmo. May I come in?"
Cosmo rolled his eyes and widened the door, allowing Kathy to step in. He leaned against the door as she surveyed his apartment.
Ever since she had started dating Don, Cosmo naturally had become jealous of their relationship. But instead of just becoming jealous, Cosmo had fallen in love with Kathy, although the physical love was greater than the emotional love. He hadn't acted on it yet, even though he and Kathy had been alone several times now. He waited. He knew she would make the first move.
Kathy sat down on the couch and stared at Cosmo. "Well?" she asked. "Are you gonna sit down or what?"
"I was gonna go to bed," Cosmo said tiredly, but sat down on the couch next to her anyways.
She got up and went over to Cosmo's cassette player and turned it on. "In God's Country" by U2 came on.
"I see right through you, Kathy," Cosmo said gravely. "You hate U2."
"I hate all the rock bands you and Don listen to," Kathy answered in a monotone.
"Shouldn't you be with him and not here right now?"
"Yeah..."
"Yeah? And?"
"...He snores."
That was an excuse. Cosmo knew that. Don didn't snore. His guardian angel and the Devil appeared on his shoulders. Why do the things that always seem wrong seem right in the end? he wanted to scream to them, but then he realized they weren't there.
"Aren't you going to offer me something to drink?" Kathy asked snootily.
Cosmo pointed to the half drunk bottle of vodka on the coffee table. Kathy went and got a cup from the kitchen and poured herself some vodka. She plopped down next to him and smiled at him as they both rested their heads against the couch. The smile faded from her face and she glided her hand along his thigh. Cosmo looked away, suddenly wanting to throw her out and go to bed, suddenly not wanting what he had wanted for so long, but at the same time, wanting it even more.
"Did you just take a shower, Cosmo?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah."
Kathy hummed and licked his neck seductively. Cosmo didn't know what to do, so he just sat there.
A few minutes later, she was still licking his neck. Cosmo knew he had to seize the opportunity right here, right now. He turned to Kathy and kissed her on the lips. They stared at each other for a moment, then Kathy grabbed him and kissed him passionately.
Their tongues explored each other's upper bodies as Kathy ran her hands through Cosmo's fine red hair, and Cosmo ran his hands through Kathy's smooth brown hair. The angel was telling Cosmo to stop altogether, and the Devil was urging him to go forward. He listened to the Devil. He had wanted this for so long. He ran his fingers down her face and neck as he kissed her until he got to her blouse. Still kissing her, he unbuttoned the first button of her blouse. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down on top of her. He removed her blouse, immediately moving his hands over what he had desired since he had first met her.
Suddenly, he pulled back and sat up, dazed. Kathy looked at him, staring at the ground, wide-eyed. She didn't say a word. She put her blouse back on and left.
"Naked flame/she stands with naked flame/I stand with sons of Cain/Burned by the fire of love…"
Cosmo Brown felt like punching someone.
Chapter Two
Cosmo couldn't see what it was. It was some kind of monster, some kind of entity, some kind of noise that sounded like rushing water, and he had to run from it. He had no idea where he was. It was dark and there was no light the end. He just kept running, and running, and running. He stumbled and got up again.
Suddenly, the rushing noise stopped and he saw two eyes in front of him. Two bright red eyes that were so bright he had to shield his eyes from them. He fell to the ground as the red eyes grew fangs and closed in on him...
"Cos!" the fanged creature said in a deep, growling voice.
Cosmo screamed.
"COSMO!" the creature yelled and opened its mouth.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME, YOU BLOODSUCKING FREAK!"
He screamed louder and felt himself being shaken.
The creature yelled something again, but Cosmo couldn't make out what it was.
He fell.
He opened his eyes. His damp red hair was in his eyes and he breathed in and out quickly. He felt like he was going to throw up and immediately a puke bucket was thrust in front of him, into which he regurgitated without thinking. Still hunched over, Cosmo brushed his sweat-drenched hair out of his face and felt his clammy forehead. He sat up, only to be met with the conspicuous worried face of Don Lockwood, who conveniently lived in one of the downstairs apartments.
"Are you okay, Cos?" Don asked cautiously.
Cosmo stared at his Pittsburgh Steelers bedsheets in shock before slowly turning to Don's face with wide eyes. "What the hell just happened?"
"I don't know..." Don said, barely moving his mouth. "I just came up to invite you to a party downstairs and you were going psycho, dude!"
"W...was I saying anything?"
"'Stay away from me, you bloodsucking freak!'" Don's expression eased and he laughed. "Been watching a little too much Horror of Dracula there, eh, Cos?" he said, slapping Cosmo on the back.
Cosmo started coughing uncontrollably. Don ran into the kitchen and came back with a glass of water.
"It's okay," he cooed softly. "Just drink this."
Don sat on Cosmo's bed, rubbing his back and staring at him warily as he coughed sporadically in-between sips of water. He looked around Cosmo's room. On his bureau, a glass jar labeled "Abnormal Brain" that Cosmo had used as a costume prop last Halloween sat idly filled with water. The brain was still in there, floating in the chicken broth that Cosmo had used to give it the appearance of bodily fluids, a rubbery blob in the darkness. Elsewhere around the room, action figures from classic horror movies stood on Cosmo's night stand and bureau. Film stills from classic horror movies and silent films hung on the walls.
Cosmo looked down at his shirtless, sweaty body. This was the fifth night he had woken up screaming. Every night he went to bed with intense sexual fantasies of Kathy. How did they always come to this? He realized that Don had been the one calling his name in a desperate attempt to shake him out of his nightmare. That was the first time Don had come to his rescue.
It had been the same nightmare every time his head hit the pillow. It would start off as a romantic dream; one minute he and Kathy were together, happy, talking, laughing, smiling. The next minute they were making passionate love, and the next minute he was running from some rushing noise and seeing those two red eyes and those fangs about to dig into him...
He had to tell him now. He had to tell Don now.
"I love her," he breathed, staring at his bedsheets.
"What?"
"I love her."
"Who's 'her'?"
"Kathy."
Don stood up and looked at him. "You haven't...have you?"
"I kissed her."
"What?"
"She came onto me. I kissed her."
Don pulled out a piece of gum and shoved it in his mouth. He chewed quietly as he stared at Cosmo. He opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, but he decided to give it up and leave, leaving Cosmo staring at his bedsheets, contemplating what the point to his existence was.
Chapter Three
Cosmo couldn't believe he was doing this. He couldn't believe he was sitting here, in his car, outside his best friend's girlfriend's apartment, about to take her on a date.
It was raining. He wore a black suit and tie, and it was raining. Fucking weather, he thought. Fucking weather.
Last night had been the first night in a week that he hadn't had the nightmares. Instead, an intense, passion-filled dream had occurred.
Kathy sat on her kitchen floor, in a red satin dress. Her fingernails and lips were red and she was blindfolded. Cosmo reclined behind her, biting her light brown curls brightly as she bit into a crimson strawberry.
"I love strawberries," she breathed seductively.
"I love you," he said huskily against her neck and kissed it deeply, putting his hands around her waist. She turned around and they embraced and kissed passionately. They fell to the floor slowly, kissing deeply. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he broke their embrace and looked at her lovingly.
"Why can't I be yours, Kathy? I'd take you anywhere. I'd go anywhere for you. I'd do anything for you..."
"I love you, Cosmo..." she murmured as she pulled him back to her lips. He removed her dress as she took off his sweater. He unsnapped her bra...
"Hi, Cosmo!"
Cosmo gave a start and looked at the passenger's seat. He almost gave another start when he beheld the beautiful creature sitting beside him. Kathy looked amazing. She wore a lavender dress that sparkled and a lavender shawl. She smiled at Cosmo, and as he smiled back, he could almost feel his lips touching those ruby red lips.
"So where are we going?" Kathy asked, smiling mischievously.
"Um," was all Cosmo could manage in response.
Kathy continued to look at him, daring him. Cosmo stared at her grinning red lips for a good few minutes before he snapped out of it. He knew exactly where to take her.
"How about we go dancing?" he suggested.
"I'd like that," Kathy said, still grinning mischievously.
The dance hall was crowded and hazy with smoke. Cosmo had removed his tie. It hung around his shoulders as Kathy rubbed her hands over his shirt and kissed him seductively.
"Don't tell Don, baby," she simpered against his lips.
"My lips are sealed," he murmured, smiling, against hers, and resumed kissing her.
Both lovers were sweating, both from the heat in the non-air-conditioned room and from the five numbers that they had danced. Kathy broke away from him as he took a drink. She noticed the pack of cigarettes in his lapel and took one out and slipped it between her lips. Cosmo pulled out a lighter in a fluid motion and lit her cigarette. She blew a puff of smoke into his face as she leaned across the table.
"How about you and I get outta here?" Cosmo muttered silkily.
Cosmo pulled up in front of Kathy's apartment and shut off the engine. Immediately, Kathy jumped on him and began to kiss him torridly. Cosmo was stunned but he happily returned her advance. He couldn't believe that the scene that he had replayed over and over in all of his dreams was finally happening. The lovers broke their embrace. Keeping his blue eyes fixed on her, his right hand held her back while the other slowly slid up her right leg as she slowly undid the top button on his shirt. She brushed his lips with her own and swiftly got out of the car, leaving Cosmo to stare after her, confused. He didn't care if he had had a little to drink. He was still sober and he knew he wanted more, so much more.
He got out and locked the car and ran over to where Kathy was nervously fumbling with her keys. She ignored him and went in once she had opened the door. Once they were both inside, he grabbed her and kissed her hard, almost biting her lips. She placed her hand on his fiery hair and moaned as he moved onto kissing her neck, this time sliding both hands up her legs, grabbing her panties. He was about to pull them off when she grabbed his hands and pushed him away from her lightly. She shook her head at him and walked up to her apartment.
Cosmo followed her upstairs and found her in front of her apartment door. He grabbed her from behind and pushed her against the wall, burying his lips into the nape of her neck. She clawed at the wall, groaning and sighing, wanting to resist his advances but at the same time not wanting him to stop.
"I can love you so much more than he can..." he mumbled against the tiny hairs on the nape of her neck and kissing it.
She broke away from him and went inside and closed the door. Leaning her head against the door, she thought, what was she doing? She loved Don, yet she knew she had some feelings for Cosmo...
"Hun?" came the voice from the hallway. She heard the door budge for a few minutes, and then nothing. Then the voice came again.
"Kathy, I'm sorry!"
Kathy knew she couldn't hold back her feelings for him anymore. She opened the door, grabbed him by the back of his hairline and pressed his lips to hers.
The two lovers moved into Kathy's bedroom and immediately their clothes came off. Cosmo felt the same sensation of disbelief that he had felt in the car sweep over him again. This is exactly what happened in every single one of his fantasies concerning Kathy. Now that it was actually happening, he savored every minute of it, not wanting this bliss to end.
The couples explored each others' bodies more deeply than they ever dared to before. Both knew that they were committing a crime worse than murder, and yet they couldn't stop. With every passing second, their desires came out in a massive explosion of animal passion. They had wanted each other for so long, and they could no longer restrain themselves. Together, they explored these alien sensations, aware but unmindful of the sole person they were hurting.
"I can love you so much more than he can..." Cosmo mumbled against Kathy's soft skin.
Chapter Four
Don and Kathy arrived back at Don's apartment. They had just gotten back from a date on which they had had a bit to drink. They leaned against the door and giggled as Don kissed Kathy deeply. Kathy wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, needing to feel his body against her. As Don bit her lower lip, she ran her hands down his arms, needing to feel his bulging muscles underneath his black suit. She knew what she wanted. She needed to feel his entire body and stuck her hand down his pants.
Don broke away from Kathy and the two lovers leaned against each other, taking pleasure in one another's company. Kathy opened her eyes and something strange happened. The jet-black hair turned fire-red. The muddy brown eyes turned to clear blue. The lips, licked by a pink tongue, became fuller. The body grew skinnier, the fingers holding her longer. Kathy gave a short gasp, forced the key from Don's hands, hurriedly unlocked the door and ran inside, shutting the door in Don's face. Don stood motionless, unsure of what to make of what had just happened. He timidly knocked on the door and Kathy let him in.
"What was that all about?" Don breathed.
Kathy walked into Don's bedroom, unsure. "I don't know."
She looked around Don's room. Posters of ACDC, Queen, and Jane's Addiction adorned the walls. Bobbleheads of Roger Samuels and John Smiley, two of the pitchers for the Pittsburgh Pirates, stood on the bureau. Smiley's autographed baseball card lay next to his bobblehead. Kathy turned around to see Don, who had taken his shirt off and was looking at her curiously.
"You're Don again," she muttered.
Don was confused. "Of course I'm Don, Kathy. What are you smoking?" he chuckled.
"Donald!" Kathy stamped her foot. "This is serious!"
"What's serious, sweetheart? Us? What we're about to do?"
"Yes!"
Don sat down on his bed and pat the space next to him. Kathy gave up trying to talk to him and sat down next to him. Don slowly connected his lips with hers, and the kissing became more passionate as they fell on their backs.
"I love you, Kathy," Don mumbled as they fell.
Kathy's head rested against the pillow as Don took off her black dress and earrings and kissed her lovingly. He unsnapped her bra and slowly pulled off her panties as he kissed her neck deeply.
He pulled back to look at her, and as he did, the chocolate-brown eye that Kathy was looking into turned into a clear sapphire sphere.
"Get off of me!" she cried and threw Don to the side of her. She sat up on the side of the bed and looked down at her small breasts, sweating. Was she really seeing who she thought she was seeing?
Don got up and sat next to her, putting his arms around her neck. Kathy immediately got up and put her dress back on. She looked at herself in Don's mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot and her curly brown hair stuck out to the sides. She was sweating, and even though the lipstick she had applied earlier that evening was still on her lips, they appeared chapped and her skin a pale white. She wanted this to be a terrible nightmare and she wanted to wake up right now. She realized she was shaking. Don noticed this too and put his suit back on and went to the mirror and kissed her neck slowly and deeply.
"Baby, you don't wanna be alone tonight, do ya? Stop pushing me away. All I wanna do is love you," he said in-between kisses. Kathy noticed the sudden change in his tone of voice. It went from the voice of familiarity that she knew to be Don's to a higher-pitched, trumpeting voice that she knew to be…
No, she thought. No, it couldn't be. He's nowhere near here and he has no reason to be.
Don stopped kissing her and looked into the mirror. Kathy looked up, expecting to see her boyfriend's reflection, but Don wasn't there. Instead, she saw Cosmo's strawberry lips, glazed blue eyes, and flat red hair. She swiftly turned around and pushed Don to the ground. She looked down at his shocked and confused face and rubbed her temples.
"Kat, are you all right, babe?" Don asked, still on the floor breathing heavily.
"No, Don. No I'm not. I keep seeing Cosmo."
"What do you mean?"
"Like, every time I look at you I see Cosmo."
"Kathy, what are you talking about?"
"I slept with Cosmo."
"Kat, you're not making any sense."
"I SLEPT WITH COSMO!" Kathy screamed and stamped her foot. Don's eyes widened and he stood up slowly.
"W…when did this happen?" he asked quietly.
"Last night."
Don hesitated and looked at the ground. "I think you better go," he said quietly.
"Hey, Kat?" Don called as Kathy was leaving. She turned to face him. "Yeah?"
"Maybe you should see a doctor, or maybe even a shrink."
Chapter Five
Don caught up with Cosmo as he walked slowly through the set, writing in the little black book that he always carried with him.
"Hey, man, whatcha doing?"
"Nothing, just…working on my comic book."
Don leaned in to see what Cosmo was doing and saw a series of crude stick figures and thought bubbles. Don chuckled inside. Cosmo prided himself on being a talented artist, but really all he could draw was chicken scratch.
"Is that all you're working on?" Don asked, looking up at the man that had been his best friend since he was two.
"What?"
"I think you know what I'm talking about," Don said calmly.
Cosmo began to sweat. He closed the book and tucked it under his arm. "N-no, I don't," he stammered, walking away hurriedly.
"Admit it!" Don called after him, smirking. "You slept with Kathy!"
Cosmo stopped dead in his tracks. Everyone else on the set stopped and turned to see what was going on. Cosmo turned around slowly with wide blue eyes and a worried stare on his face.
"How do you know that?" he asked timidly.
"Who do you think?" Don said, folding his hands. "Your little blonde confidante."
"Lina?"
"Yeah, Lina. You honestly thought she was gonna keep your dirty little secret for you, huh?"
"I begged her," Cosmo said, half to himself, looking at the ground.
Don laughed evilly. "She doesn't listen to begging, you fucking idiot." He unfolded his arms and walked forward, noticing but ignoring the hurt tears welling up in Cosmo's ocean-blue eyes.
Don walked up to Cosmo and punched him square in the cheek. Cosmo fell to the ground, unconscious. He staggered to his feet after a few minutes on the ground, only to be met with another blow from Don's fist.
"You fucking idiot!" Don said in-between blows. "You KNOW she's mine! You KNEW if you touched her, I'd kill you!" Don stopped punching and looked at his bloody and bruised victim. "That's what pisses me off the most, Cos! Why would you do something like this to me?"
"I told you I loved her. You wouldn't listen to me," Cosmo said in a calm but slightly arrogant tone. He shrugged. "It's not my fault your girlfriend's a whore," he said with a smirk.
Don's eyes grew wide. "What the fuck…"
"Who's the fucking idiot now? You goddamn jackass," Cosmo said loudly, hobbling forward. "She spreads her legs open for the first guy she meets. She doesn't tell you that. And here you and I thought Lina was easy. So instead of making ME look bad, you made YOURSELF look like the moron."
Don lost control. He rammed Cosmo into a nearby wall, punching him repeatedly in the stomach while his prey coughed up showers of blood.
"STOP!" a female voice called out. Kathy Selden ran over to the altercation and pulled Don's hands off of Cosmo. "Don, what are you doing?"
"Did you sleep with this guy?"
Kathy hesitated. "Yes, but…we were drunk! It didn't mean anything!"
"Yes it did!" Cosmo blurted out, flabbergasted. "Kathy," he said calmly, touching her arm. "Everything we said and did that night, we meant. You know that." His big blue eyes looked into her brown eyes. Cosmo was smarter than everyone took him for, Kathy thought. He had a memory like a photograph. He remembered everything that was said and every move that was made. It was no use trying to hide her feelings from him. Although she loved him and she had enjoyed their night together, she knew who she wanted to be with.
She hesitated. "I'm…I'm sorry, Cosmo."
She took Don's arm and the couple walked away.
Cosmo Brown slumped to the ground and cried.
Cosmo Brown stopped crying.
After he was done crying, Cosmo Brown stood up with an angry look on his face.
Cosmo Brown felt like punching someone.