Rated Mostly Mid-High T for Twisted Relationships.
This is a random one-shot I had to write! It has no relation to any other stories.
A/N: Also, I know Sophie's last name in real life is stylistically written as De La Rosa, as in three different words. The reason I write it in this fic as 'Delarosa' is because that's how Sawyer pronounces it. Cheers! :)
And lastly, AU Future Fic means the characters have been aged with my interpretation of how I think they will become in an AU future (as in not affiliated with BATB canon).
Enjoy!
UPDATE 03.08.2015: I revised the story (since I kind of forgot to before lol), fixed certain parts and made sentences more coherent. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own BATB, but I do own the drive to make their lives miserable in fanfics. WAHAHAHAHA!
Sophie doesn't think she can possibly get any angrier than she is at the moment. Don't get her wrong, she's usually at varying degrees of pissed off throughout the day, maybe because the barista fucked up her order of coffee, or one of her brothers accidentally texted her something inappropriate instead of his girlfriend (her name is Sophia). But never angry like this. And never for such an extended period of time.
She's been sitting at her computer, trying to write a frickin dissertation for her master's program for hours. Not only has she been stuck writing the same sentence for the past ten minutes, but she also can barely think past said sentence to figure out what the hell she's trying to say.
Why?
Because her damn next door neighbour is always blasting his stupid country music at ungodly hours of the night! Including right now. Which she can totally and completely hear through the thin ass walls of their apartment complex. Said country music is always accompanied by grunts and the sound of metal clashing and clanging and things hitting the ground.
Once again: Why?
Because he's working out.
At 2 AM.
Who the fuck works out at 2 AM?!
She's fairly new to the neighbourhood and complex, and she hasn't really met any of her neighbours yet, save for that one old hippie dude downstairs who spends his evenings walking around naked…
(Why hasn't he been arrested yet?)
But she's finally come to understand why no one has lived in her current apartment for almost a year. This idiot constantly makes a lot of noise with no regard for anyone who lives nearby him. And that isn't all. The worst, the absolute worst, is when he brings girls over. On those evenings, Sophie grabs her overnight bag and hightails it out of her apartment so fast. She stays with Pepper on the other side of town until she deems it safe to return.
She's been enduring his constant neighbourly shittiness and loud, obnoxious behaviour for about a month or so, but no more. Enough is enough.
"Hey! You're too loud!" she shouts, right up against the wall, "Shut the hell up!"
The music cuts off and no other sounds come from the apartment the rest of the evening. Sophie smirks to herself and treats herself to some ice cream, proud of her accomplishment.
~.~.~
Two nights later, hands full of groceries as she climbs the stairs to her landing, she hears it. Loud country music cascading down the hallway. Does no one ever complain about this abomination? She doesn't care that she looks crazy with her hair in her wild bun and that she is in her lounging around baggy sweater and spandex or that she has a bajillion bags of groceries in her hands. She's fed up.
She storms to his door and kicks it several times. Violently.
The volume of the music lowers, and she hears footsteps coming to the door. The guy who opens the door surprises her. One, because he's shirtless, wearing a cowboy hat, dripping with sweat, and Sophie has to force herself to keep from staring at his toned chest and defined abs. Two, because he has the most gorgeous green eyes she's ever seen. Three, because he's a lot more attractive than she had expected. And four, because he's staring at her like her interruption seriously annoys him.
"Hi. I'm Sophie De La Rosa. I live next door?"
"Sawyer Huggins." He has this outrageously thick country accent, and somehow, it just fits with his image.
"Yeah whatever…" she responds, her blood boiling and teeth grit, "Could you do me a favor… and shut the fuck up?"
His eyebrows raise like he can't believe she just said that.
"What?"
"Turn down your music! I can hear you all the way down the hall."
"Oh. You're the one who was shouting the other day."
"Why the hell do you think I was shouting?! You're too fucking loud! Can't you see that you're disturbing everyone else on this hall? Especially me because I have to live next to your loud ass! And could you be any louder when you're screwing someone?! I mean shit! I'm pretty sure people in China can hear the girls you bring home! Ugh!"
When she finishes her tirade, he stares at her in shock like she's lost her damn mind, and it only pisses her off more because she probably does look like she's crazy, especially after her ranting.
"I didn't realize I was being that loud…" he says slowly, leaning slightly away from her as if she might explode and beat him up or something.
"Yeah, w-well you are. So pipe down, or I'm filing a noise complaint!"
She stomps away without another word, unlocking her door with a little bit of difficulty, knowing that her face is red, and she is completely flustered. She's glad she got her point across to the idiot, but does he have to be so damn attractive? Now she really feels like a crazy woman.
But later, when she's in her room and only hears a few stray notes every once in a while, she smiles to herself. At least he respected her wishes.
~.~.~
"So this is what your new place looks like, Sophie?" Bella nods in approval before relaxing on the loveseat, stretching her arms above her head. "Not bad."
"How are things with that annoying neighbour of yours?" Pepper asks from the kitchen, pouring some drinks in glasses for their movie night.
"Annoying neighbour?" Bella pipes up, "What annoying neighbour?"
"Oh yeah." Pepper winks, "He's this stupid guy who lives next door who is always blasting his music at top volume. Every time he's doing someone, Sophie can feel the wall vibrating."
"I don't feel the wall vibrating!" Sophie comes out of her hall closet with the selection of movies they have to choose from. She pops a random one in the DVD player, "She's exaggerating, Bella. It's not like that. He's just really loud."
"How come this is the first time I've ever heard about him?" Bella asks, taking an eager sip of the tequila laced fruit punch Pepper hands her. After her pretty bad breakup with her long term boyfriend, Kyle, she really needs this. "Is he still loud?"
"He's not as annoying anymore." Sophie plops gracelessly on the couch next to Pepper, settling her legs on the coffee table. "He broke up with his, like, tenth girlfriend the other day. She was throwing shit everywhere and acting like a total immature bitch. I got a front row seat to her yelling."
"Why do you endure that? You could just file a noise complaint."
"I don't need to. I already told him he needed to quiet down myself. I'm glad he listened to me."
Pepper and Bella glance at each other with raised eyebrows before turning back to Sophie with narrowed eyes.
"Myself? Listened to you? What do you mean?"
"Oh…" Sophie's cheeks begin to turn a little red, and she takes a long swig of her drink. "I asked him to keep the noise level down a week ago. Nothing big."
"Wait. You've seen him? And met him?! What is he like?!" Pepper asks enthusiastically, eyes twinkling in that way that makes Sophie's nerves increase.
"Nothing. He's just your average guy next door." She takes another heavy gulp, knowing she's turning red now, judging by the mischievous looks on her friends' faces, "Let's just watch the movie, guys."
"Who cares about the damn movie?! We've seen it hundreds of times. This is far more interesting!"
"Guys, it's really nothing. Cut it out!"
"If it's so called nothing, then why are you blushing so hard?"
"Is he cute?" Pepper whispers conspiratorially. "And by cute, I mean fuckable."
Sophie gives her a dry look, "Really, Pepper? We're supposed to be adults. Not high schoolers…"
"You're stalling." Bella points out, "Answer the question."
"…If you must know, he was… somewhat good looking…" Sophie responds tightly, pointedly avoiding their gazes.
"But was he fuckable? I'm only interested in whether or not he was fuckable."
"Yes, Pepper. He was fuckable." Sophie finally says after an intense eye roll, "But it doesn't matter anyway because he's an infuriating little shit. And I'd never fuck him anyway."
That puts the conversation to bed, and movie night continues without any problems. Sophie only hopes he heard none of that conversation because their thin walls are a two way street. If she can hear him talking on the phone sometimes, then he probably can hear loud conversations with hyper friends.
~.~.~
Sophie doesn't realize she's started to acclimate to constantly hearing the soft sounds of some country music on occasion along with the rhythmic beats of his workout regimen until she realizes she hasn't heard anything from across the wall in a week or so. Getting sleep without being woken up in the middle of the night because of his workout isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the week goes by, and she starts to get restless. It becomes increasingly obvious that he is quite absent when she notices that his mailbox has been untouched in a long time. So telling herself it's just to help out the mailman so he doesn't have to find new ways to stuff all the new mail in, she picks up all his mail to give to him when he returns.
It gets to the point where she sometimes plants her ear on the wall for any sounds of life next door, only to be slightly disappointed when there are none. And a little lonely.
(She would be lying if she says she doesn't miss his tasteful collection in bluegrass. It is surprisingly intriguing music).
But it isn't like she misses him or anything like that. She barely knows him.
It's just that she has gotten very accustomed to his schedule and his day-to-day activities. Listening to his daily routine has somehow become part of her schedule as well. She's even learned the names of his best friends, and somehow, has become odd friends with them too (even if she doesn't even know them). There's Troy, who is in the army reserves and apparently thinking about making a switch to active duty. And then Newt, trying to get a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering.
Strangely, his life is part of her life in some small way, so now that he hasn't been around in a while, she finds things a bit odd and off balance…
One day, she hears movement in his apartment and against her better judgement, hops off her couch and heads next door, knocking loudly a couple times. She tells herself it's just to see if everything is alright, and it's not because she's welcoming him back. Besides, she's just returning his mail.
Imagine her surprise (and slight disappointment) when a pretty petite brunette with sea foam coloured eyes opens the door.
"Oh… You're not Sawyer."
She smiles, "Nope. Sadie. I'm just here to water the plants until he gets back."
Sophie nods, knowing her face is starting to turn red again. This is so embarrassing. And why the hell is she blushing?!
"I, umm, I have his mail." She says, handing it to Sadie. "Figured he'd need it."
"Thanks." Sadie says, watching Sophie with a twinkle in her eyes. "I'll let him know you picked it up for him."
"Sorry to disturb you then. I thought he moved away."
"He still lives here. He's just staying on his grandfather's ranch for the week." Sadie smiles, a secretive little thing that reminds Sophie of Bella when she knows something no one else does. "Can I ask who's looking for him?"
"Uh yeah… Sophie. A, um… friend."
"Got it. I'll let him know, Sophie."
She nods and bids her farewell, going back to her apartment feeling entirely too stupid. Of course his girlfriend would be taking care of his apartment. Sophie goes back to reading her lecture notes on her couch, vowing to never let herself get caught up in anyone else's business again. Especially not his.
~.~.~
"I'm almost done getting ready Bella! Chill. I'll be over soon." Sophie hears a knock at the front door, "Do not call, text, email, or anything Kyle, you understand? He's not worth it. And he's not worth you."
There is another knock, and Sophie shouts that she's coming, setting down her razor on her kitchen counter next to the sink and tightening her towel around her form. She painstakingly slowly lowers her leg, making sure the shaving cream doesn't get rubbed off in her motion. Damn her shower being broken the very moment she needs to use it.
On her way out of the kitchen, she stubs her toe painfully on the wall corner of her foyer.
"Mierda! Hijo de puta!" she cries out. Dammit! Who the hell is knocking on her door on a Saturday night when she's about to go out with her friends?! It's all their fault she hurt her toe!
"What happened Sophie? You okay?" Bella asks in concern.
Sophie yanks open the door in irritation, ready to rip this person a new one. Her expression quickly dissolves into one of shock as she looks up at the amused face of one Sawyer Huggins. He's leaning on his elbow against her doorway, his trademark cowboy hat on his head and a smirk on his lips. Sophie's jaw drops, and she blinks a couple of times.
"Howdy neighbour." He says, looking like he's trying to hold back a laugh.
"You're back."
"Who's back?! Mr. Fuckable?" Bella shouts through the phone.
Sophie ends the call quickly, pulling her towel up when it rides a bit down her cleavage.
"Yeah. I'm back. My sister told me you stopped by."
"Your sister?"
He chuckles, "Sadie. She told me 'my cute girlfriend with the dreamy eyes' was worried about me. I could only assume she was talking about you?"
"Whose girlfriend?" Sophie frowns, snapping out of her little trance, "And let's get something straight. I was not worried. Just wondering why your annoying ass hadn't been making noise for a while. In fact, I was happy you were gone."
"Oh yeah? Good to know."
"You better not make any noise now that you're back. I've enjoyed my peace and quiet."
"I'll try not to." he says with a grin. "Anyway, I've got something for you."
He leans down and picks something up from an icebox, handing it to her. It's a slightly mushy, somewhat thick package wrapped in white paper. It looks like something she would get at the meat section of the grocery store.
"What the hell is this?"
"It's a high grade cut of beef." She gives him an incredulous, borderline disgusted look, and he hastens to explain himself, nervously scratching the back of his head. "From my childhood cow, Crazy Nellie. It's why I had to go back to the ranch. She had to be put down this week. My grandpa wanted me to be able to say goodbye."
"That's, uh… I'm sorry to hear that." She readjusts her towel again, looking down at the pack of meat kind of uncomfortably. "But why are you giving it to me?"
"I'd rather a lot of people share Crazy Nellie. I'd like to think she would have wanted that." He smiles, "And because you've been getting my mail all week. So thank you."
"Oh, well no problem." Sophie still thinks it's a little weird that he's giving her some of his cow as a thank you though. But then again, he is Sawyer, her weird country ass neighbour. She's heard him describing in detail the birth of a cow to a friend on the phone once, so this isn't exactly outside his realm of crazy.
"Hey, I'm having a couple friends over to watch the game next weekend. You should come over. Bring your friends."
"My friends?" Sophie asks suspiciously.
"You know? The hyperactive one and that girl who drinks a lot to forget about her ex?"
Pepper and Bella no doubt. "How do you know my friends?"
"I'm not the only one who's loud you know."
"…Right…" Clearly, he can easily hear them. She hopes to God he hasn't heard any conversations she's had with Pepper about his body. "I'll let them know."
He nods, "Cool. I'll see you around, Delarosa."
"Yeah." And then she takes a deep breath, knowing what she's about to ask is more in the realm of what close friends would ask. He could very well turn her down. "Hey, um, could I use your shower please? Mine won't get fixed until tomorrow. But I kind of need it."
"No doubt…" he jabs teasingly, staring at the cream still on her half shaven legs. Sophie's face burns red. "Sure. You can use it."
"Thanks."
"No problem, neighbour."
~.~.~
Sophie knows the minute she tries to get out of bed and her hair gets stuck in the rungs of her bed frame that it's going to be a bad day. The fact that her friends will officially see what "Mr. Fuckable" looks like is the deciding factor. She contemplates not going at all. But once Bella finds out about the invite, all bets are off and the blonde forces them both to cancel any and all other Saturday plans. A Cowboys game is a clincher for Bella. A Cowboys game with sexy guys that she can possibly use as a rebound to get over that little shit Kyle for breaking her heart? No question whatsoever, they are going.
And so Sophie finds herself with Bella and Pepper, slightly buzzed, in Sawyer's arguably nice apartment cheering on the couch and shouting profanities at the screen with the guys. It's actually fun and slowly, her nerves start to disappear. She thinks maybe the omen of the bad day was just that: an omen. But then half-time comes. And people start talking.
And then shit hits the fan.
"So, Sawyer. Who is this lovely lady and her friends? Introduce us?" The short one she recognizes as Newt from his voice says. He's staring at her with this twinkle in his eyes like she's a ray of sunlight in his dark and dreary world. She groans and quickly finishes her beer, trying to ignore the come hither look and vibes he's sending her way.
"Forget us. What about you? I don't think we've met before." Bella cuts in charmingly, cuddling up next to Troy and putting her hand on his thigh. Everyone can tell she's definitely past the tipsy stage. She looks like she's two seconds away from hopping on his lap, possibly manhandling him, or ripping off his shirt. Maybe all three. Sophie glances at Pepper who looks just as shocked. What the hell happened to reserved, slightly shy and nervous wreck Bella whenever she meets someone she's attracted to? "Bella Dawson. Pleased to make your acquaintance, cutie."
He doesn't particularly look like he dislikes her forwardness. "Troy Dixon. Nice to meet you too."
She slowly licks her lips, a cat-like smile on her face. "We should hang out sometime Troy."
Sophie wants to bury herself under the ground.
"Oookay." Pepper says, snatching the cup out of Bella's hand, "I think you've had enough for the evening."
"But Pepper… He's supposed to be my rebound!" she whines cutely.
There is a moment of silence where everyone just kind of stares at her in shock. Troy's smile turns a bit uncomfortable.
"Uh, maybe I should sit on the other side of the room?"
"Yeah." Sophie replies. "Sorry about that. Bella's not usually like this. She's just been dealing with something rough lately."
Bella giggles at her friend's embarrassed faces, "I was just kidding you guys. I promise I'm sweet."
"Were you, though?" Sophie mutters. She has a feeling Bella really is not kidding, especially with the way she's eying Troy like he's a piece of meat.
"It's all good. I'm sure you are." Troy says, laughing good-naturedly. Their eyes meet briefly, and Bella's smile turns coquettish. She blows him a kiss, and Troy clears his throat, turning quickly to Pepper. "S-so you are?"
"Pepper." She replies, extending her hand and shaking his. Then she gestures to Sophie with her thumb, "And she's Sophie."
"Wait!" Newt suddenly exclaims, "Psycho With The Sexy Legs?"
Troy makes a rapid motion with his hand to tell Newt to shut up, but the damage has already been done.
Pepper's jaw drops, and Sophie frowns, slowly turning her head to glare at Sawyer. He looks like he wants to jump out a window. In the past, she'd heard him and his friends discussing some girl who they dubbed Psycho With The Sexy Legs. Apparently, said girl always looks crazy whenever he sees her. And she apparently hasn't been laid in almost a year. And she is always screaming profanities whenever she's on the phone with her brother…
Suddenly, she understands exactly what is going on.
"Wait… I'm Psycho With The Sexy Legs?!" Sophie rounds on Sawyer, "You guys are so disgusting. Stop eavesdropping on my conversations!"
"Why are you getting so upset?" Bella snorts, laughing her ass off. When had she gotten back her glass? "You've said much more raunchy things about Mr. Fuckable over here."
Sophie knows she's going to die of mortification. She grabs another beer, chugging half of it down and hoping maybe she can just drown herself in alcohol to get out of this embarrassing moment.
"I'm the Mr. Fuckable you and your friends keep talking about?" Sawyer says, eyebrow raised in amusement.
"Shut up." Sophie growls, glaring at him, "You keep talking about my legs. Pervert."
"You keep talking about my entire body. I didn't realize you were so attracted to me." He laughs when she flips him off.
Sophie shoots up off of the couch, taking some empty bottles with her to recycle in the bin. "I'm not."
"Sure, Delarosa." He follows her to the kitchen, laughing the entire way. "I don't blame you though. I'm quite the catch."
"You keep telling yourself that Mr. I Gotta Shave The Hair On My Pubes Because They'll Give Me A Rash."
"I told my friends that in confidence!"
"And in confidence, I overheard it."
"Oh yeah? Well that certainly can't be worse than that mustache you have to shave every month."
"How the hell did you find out about that?!"
Their friends give each other knowing looks, little smiles on their faces as the two continue to bicker in the kitchen. Pepper nudges Bella suggestively, and they start to giggle. It's the first time in a long time they've seen Sophie challenged by someone and looking alive for once. Sophie doesn't even realize that she's grinning from ear to ear.
~.~.~
One day, Sophie comes back from her class in the evening and can't find her key. So naturally, she finds the spare key she knows Sawyer is keeping under that welcome rug and goes into his apartment. Her intentions are perfectly noble. She simply has to pee really badly, and she knows she'll leak before she even finds her key in her mess of a bag. So she rushes to his bathroom and opens the door without paying attention. And she's greeted whole bodily with post shower steam and a glistening Sawyer shaving his jaw with only a tiny towel wrapped around his waist. Awkwardly, she closes the door and leaves, the urge to pee having disappeared almost entirely. She's appalled at herself for gawking at him like a horny school girl. But she's even more appalled that he caught her staring and only supplied her a smug grin. She spends almost an hour in her bathroom taking care of herself after that.
Surprisingly, that's really all it takes for them to become something of friends.
It's not like she plans it, but before she knows it, she starts hanging out with Sawyer more regularly. It's not like she particularly enjoys his company. Sometimes (read: almost always) he's a huge pain in her ass, and he's always traipsing about shirtless or in just his pair of boxers. But their schedules align and sometimes she's bored and sometimes he's bored so he shows up at her apartment telling her he made dinner or she shows up at his apartment anyway. She'll never admit it to him, but he's a surprisingly great cook. And besides, dinner at Sawyer's is always healthier than her typical omelet and noodle ensemble.
(That's pretty much all she knows how to make that's not toxic. Give her a break! She never properly learned how to cook).
It gets to the point where she spends so much free time at his apartment that he gives her a key to come and go as she pleases. She finds an unlikely companion in him, and strangely, they tend to get along well, save for a little spat every now and then.
She learns more about him. Like the fact that he grew up on a cattle ranch and is getting a master's in business and management because he's planning on taking over his grandpa's ranch. It turns out Sawyer was Luis and Ricky's, Sophie's twin younger brothers by a year, upperclassman back in undergrad and actually knows them. They apparently played football together.
Sophie, in turn, tells him about growing up in a house with nine brothers and having to exert her presence by being tough and just as rowdy as the others. She tells him that she doesn't quite have all her plans laid out, but she does know that she wants to join Peace Corps after she gets her masters in Spanish and Latin American linguistic, literary, and cultural studies, and then possibly become a university professor once her two years are up.
They become closer friends, and she finds, despite the fact that she is revolted by his sometimes perverted behaviour and obvious smugness of his looks, she can talk to him about anything and ask for any advice, and he'll help her without hesitation.
~.~.~
Sophie orders another drink and knocks it back so hard, her head sees stars for a moment, and she wobbles on her stool. She's dizzy, and she can barely stay seated anymore, and she has no idea how many shots she's knocked back at this point, but the only thing she wants right now is to feel numb off her ass and forget about that horrible confrontation.
Fuck dating. Fuck relationships. Fuck love. Fuck marriage. Fuck everything. And above all: Fuck cheating, lying scum who use naïve women inexperienced with dating and relationships!
"Bartender!" She slurs loudly, raising her hand up in the air, "Onemore vodka shot!"
The bartender frowns in worry but goes to get that shot. Sophie groans and slumps on the counter, sliding her face around to cool it down.
"I hate 'im… I hate 'im!"
"Sophie? Babe, don't you think that's enough?" Pepper asks tentatively, rubbing Sophie's hunched back as the woman bangs her head on the counter. Drunk Sophie is never a cute sight. She's aggressive and rude and loud and pretty scary sometimes.
"NO!" Sophie screams childishly, "I need more!"
Pepper glances at Bella to help her out. "I don't know what to do Bella. She won't stop."
"I got this." Bella responds, "Sophie? Give me your phone."
Sophie slides it over without any fuss and scoffs, "Aren't you stillgetting over Kyle the Vile? Why aren't yougetting totallywasted with me, Bella the Smella? Isabella the Salmonella? Bella the Flagella? Bella the… pella?" Sophie dissolves into raucous laughter. Patrons of the bar look over at the trio, disgusted and annoyed frowns on their faces.
"Sorry!" Pepper calls out, "Bad break up. Nothing to see."
Bella flips through Sophie's contact list before finding a name and texting them a quick message.
"Did you call a cab?" Pepper asks quietly. "Neither of us have a car to take her home."
"Answer my question, Bella!" Sophie shouts, pointing an accusatory finger in Bella's face.
"I texted Sawyer." Bella answers Pepper quickly. She leans down and gently pulls Sophie's hair away from her face, trying to calm her down. "Well, I don't really need to get wasted anymore, Sophie."
"Whaaaa?!" Sophie looks affronted, "Why the hellnot Bella?! It's an abomi… abomina…abomition?"
"Well…" Bella shrugs, looking sheepish, "I'm kiiiinda seeing someone…"
Pepper gives her a look, "Huh? Wait, you are? Who?"
Before she can answer, Sawyer walks into the bar, a concerned look on his face. He spots them at the bar counter and walks over, a raised eyebrow when he sees Sophie sprawled all over the counter, hair in her mouth, in her empty cups, and covering most of her face.
"Sophie?" Pepper says, "Sawyer's here to take you home."
"Sawyer the Vagina Destroyer?!" Sophie spins around happily and stumbles inelegantly off of her stool. She would have faceplanted if it weren't for Sawyer's quick reflexes. He catches her by the arms and steadies her easily. He raises a questioning brow at her friends at her very crude and disturbing greeting.
"Don't look at me. This is what she gets like when she's drunk." Pepper says, hands up in the air, "Sorry you have to witness it."
"Thoughtyou were at a family dinner?" She purrs, clinging to his arms in a vice grip. "Your arms are yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, delicioso!"
He pushes her slightly away from him, wincing at the sheer amount of alcohol on her breath. "I was, but clearly you need some help getting home tonight. So I came straight here."
"That's so nice…" she gushes in a very high-pitched voice, making everyone in the direct area cringe.
"What happened for her to be drinking like this?" He asks Bella and Pepper, still struggling to keep her from sinking her nails in his arms. She's latched onto him like a leech.
"She'd been seeing someone from one of her late lectures for about a week. She found out he's married today when his wife showed up and told her off."
"The fucking fuckass fucking made me a fucking home wrecker! Fuck!" Sophie looks like she's close to tears and wraps her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.
"It's not your fault." Sawyer says softly, gently smoothing down her hair. "You don't deserve that…"
"...Take me home?" she whimpers quietly.
"Sure, Delarosa."
Her friends bid her goodbye, and she barely registers the fact that Sawyer helps her to his car and drives her back to the apartment. By the time he carries her into his apartment (she doesn't remember where her own keys are), she is barely awake and barely coherent and fighting to keep her eyes open. He brings her to his bedroom and lays her down on his bed under the covers before standing up to leave.
"Wait... Where ya goin'?" she whimpers groggily.
"I'm sleeping on the couch. You can take my bed."
"I don't care about that! I mean it's too hot! Take off my clothes you idiot."
He laughs. She's still abrasive even when completely wasted. "As much as I want to, I can't do that, Delarosa. Besides, sober you would kill me."
"Sober me sounds like a real drag…"
"She's alright. When she's not trying to cut off my balls, that is. She hated me when we first met though."
"She didn't hate you, you doofus. She wanted to fu–" Sophie abruptly stops speaking and burps loudly. Her face goes a little green, and she suddenly sits up. "I'm gonna barf…"
Faster and more coordinated than he would ever expect from a drunk person, she clambers out of his bed and hurdles over a chair toward his bathroom. The disgusting sound of wet, chunky vomiting soon fills the air, and Sawyer groans, knowing he'll have to clean that shit up himself. He brings himself to the bathroom, and sits next to her, holding her hair back as she empties out the contents of her stomach in the toilet and rubbing her back soothingly to help her relax a bit.
When she's plum exhausted from the retching, and he's forced her to drink a shit ton of water, he finally helps her to bed.
"Thanks…" she mumbles sleepily. "G'night…"
And then she passes out, snoring soundly, body curling into a ball and head stuffed in his pillow. Sawyer cuts the lights off in his room and leaves quietly, smiling warmly.
"Goodnight… Sophie."
~.~.~
Sophie doesn't make it a habit of being dependent on people or clinging to them for that matter, but right now, she's hungover, she feels like shit, she's annoyed and disagreeable, and all she wants to do is bug Sawyer. She knows she should have left his apartment as soon as she woke up several hours ago, but he has food here, and he's warm and comfortable, and she really doesn't give a shit. She wants him to wait on her hand and foot, despite the fact that he is trying to work on some assignment due soon.
When she comes back from calling her boss to let him know she won't be coming in, she finds him totally focused on analyzing his paper, glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. It's a little bit surprising to be honest, only because it doesn't fit the cowboy image she's placed him in.
"You wear glasses?" she snorts, hopping on the couch next to him, peeling the clementine, she snagged from the kitchen.
"Only to read."
They fall into comfortable silence, and Sophie channel flips for a while, before settling on some show on The Food Network. She glances at Sawyer, who is totally undistracted from anything, though she knows he's probably not concentrating that well with her distracting him every other minute. He did a lot for her, and she can't help but feel like she might owe him a little. Or at the very least, she owes him a proper thank you.
"Hey Huggins?"
"Hmm?"
He doesn't look up from his notes, and Sophie lets out a sigh, turning completely until she's facing him.
"Sawyer." She says seriously.
That gets his attention.
He turns to look at her in surprise at her actually not using his last name. Or using his first name in a non-derogatory manner. Sophie smiles at the stupefied look on his face.
"I just wanted to say thank you for taking care of me yesterday." She feels her cheeks start to rouge at his unwavering gaze, "You had plans with your family, and you ditched them to take care of me and make sure I got home safely. So thank you."
Before she overthinks it, Sophie leans over and lightly kisses him on the cheek, before turning back to resolutely face the TV. He sits there in shock for a long moment, wondering if that actually happened.
He eventually goes back to his paper, a little half smile on his face. "What's this? Is Sophie Delarosa actually being nice?"
"Don't get used to it stupid."
~.~.~
"Okay, so Troy and I are going back to our undergrad and staying for homecoming weekend."
Sophie stares at Sawyer dryly, her eyes blinking slowly, wondering why he's bringing this up after waking her up at this ungodly hour (she knows it's 6 PM. Shut up!) after she pulled several all-nighters in a row to finish a 15 page exposition and a 60 page semester lesson plan proposal. The point is: she's tired and sleep deprived, and she's sure she's got severe bags under her eyes, yet he thinks it's okay to wake her up after she warned him she would be out of commission for the next three days.
"So?" she says sourly, blocking the door. Maybe if he sees how closed off she's being, he'll get the hint and leave her to her much deserved sleep.
"So I don't know how to tie this damn tie…" he sighs, looking sheepish and defeated. "You've got nine brothers. You probably had to tie multiple ties, right?"
Her cloudy eyes unglaze, and she realizes he's wearing a suit and holding the ends of the loose green tie around his neck. He's actually brushed his hair to an extent this time and tamed the wild curly locks. Somewhere in the back of her mind, it comes to her attention that this is the first time she's ever seen Sawyer in formal wear, and she very much appreciates the way he looks. Usually she sees him in jeans and plaid, so this is a very big difference and the effect is huge. She likey. She likey a lot.
"Help me?"
She finally relents with a smile when he playfully bites his lower lip shyly and flutters his eyelashes, "You're hopeless…"
"Not my fault. I've only had to wear a tie maybe twice in my entire life."
She takes the ends out of his hands and quickly loops the small end around before curling the large behind the knot and then over and inside it. She's got the process muscle memorized and it's so easy she could do it in her sleep. She tugs the tie to rearrange it and pulls it to a comfortable adjustment for his neck.
"Don't worry about it Sawyer." She says, patting the tie against his chest. She's very aware that they look like a husband and housewife standing in her doorway like that, but she ignores the little fantasy playing in her mind. "You look distinguished. Enough."
Maybe it's the fact that she's sleep deprived. Or the fact that the tie is really bringing out the color of his eyes, and he smells like heaven, but she finds that she doesn't want to let go just yet. She takes a small step closer to him, rearranging his collar before letting her hands slide down to his chest.
He watches her with a soft smile, "Distinguished enough? Not absolutely charming? Or sometimes sexy?"
"You need to stop eavesdropping on my conversations. Or we're gonna have a problem."
And then he laughs, and she can't help but join in and laugh as well. And before she knows it, he's tucking a strand of her wild bedhead hair behind her ear, and she straightens and takes his shirt in between her fingers. And funny thing, she finds herself staring up at his lips before she meets his intense emerald gaze, and then he's leaning down, and she's standing on her tip toes and pulling him by his shirt, and she can feel his breath on her lips and knows they are so close to something…
Until Troy loudly calls out for Sawyer to hurry his butt up next door and bangs on his door.
Sawyer curses under his breath, and Sophie quickly averts her gaze and releases his shirt, smoothing down the little wrinkles she formed.
She swallows thickly, finally taking a step back. "You should probably go. You know… before Troy thinks you bailed."
"You're right. I'll see you next week?"
"If I'm awake by then."
He leaves with a snort and a wave, and Sophie chastises herself for almost acting on impulse. What the hell is wrong with her?
~.~.~
Maybe if Sophie does some digging down deep, she'll realize she is a little scared to be around Sawyer. She's so attracted to him that it's not even funny. So when he has another game watching night, she watches the game mostly from the kitchen, pretending she's searching for food, while everyone else sits on the couch and watches from there. She knows she's acting very awkward and abnormally around Sawyer. So much so that Newt makes a comment about them acting as if they drunkenly hooked up or something. She clips him on the head with a chip, he quiets, and everyone disregards the comment, but Sophie can't help but think over and over about the almost something.
She's so preoccupied with her own thoughts and avoiding Sawyer that she doesn't even notice that Troy and Bella came to the party together. And that Troy has his arm around Bella's waist, and that she's curled up in his side with her head on his shoulder and clearly something happened there. It isn't until Pepper points out how close the two are that Sophie even notices it. But Sawyer walks into the kitchen after that, and she quickly relocates to the corner of the couch.
She knows she's being obvious and stupid, but honestly, she's scared. Scared that if they're left alone together, she'll do something really stupid and ruin this tentative friendship they have built.
The game ends and everyone leaves after a bit more partying. As Pepper is leaving, she confronts Sophie.
"What's the deal with you and Sawyer?"
"Nothing. We're fine."
"Clearly not." Pepper rolls her eyes, "Do you think I was born on Mars?"
"Yes."
Pepper ignores her. "It's pretty obvious something happened between you two and now you're too scared to talk to him or even be near him because clearly you think something is going to happen that will screw up your friendship."
And then Sophie gapes at Pepper because she literally took the words right out of her mind before she has a chance to even properly analyze all that they mean. She opens her mouth to respond, but Pepper looks over Sophie's shoulder and shuts her up.
"We will talk about this later, Sophie. I'll see you next week."
Pepper leaves quickly, and shocked, Sophie spins around and realizes Sawyer is walking towards her with a trash bag. It isn't lost on her that they are the only two people left in his apartment. Her nerves increase tenfold.
"You're on clean up duty." He says simply, handing her the bag. Their hands brush against each other, and Sophie involuntarily shivers, jerking her hand back and trying not to look directly into his magnificent green eyes. He frowns, but doesn't say anything.
"Why do I have to clean up your apartment?" she finally retorts, a bit too late and a bit too sharply.
If he notices her vocal blunder, he (thankfully) doesn't show it. "Because if you don't, I won't make you anything for the rest of the week."
That's pretty much enough incentive for her to get her butt in gear and start picking up little bits of trash and other stuff their friends left on the couch. Sophie is glad for the distraction because staying focused on the task keeps her from thinking about her current dilemma. But once they've picked up every last cup and beer can and vacuumed up all the crumbs and there's nothing left to clean, Sophie feels her trepidation rise again.
"So, what's up?" Sawyer asks, addressing the elephant in the room. "You've been acting weird, Sophie."
She knows she can't avoid it forever.
She turns to him with a smile that she knows is a grimace and tries to make light of the situation.
"It's just that I don't know what to think since…" she tapers off, losing her nerve when he turns around and faces her.
"Since what?" he asks abruptly, no expression on his face.
Sophie's mouth clamps shut at his blunt response, heat slowly crawling onto her face as she fiddles with a loose string on the bottom of her baggy sweater. She doesn't realize he's walked towards her until he's right in front of her and all she can see is his blue t-shirt in her gaze.
"Since what, Sophie?" He presses, forcing her to address her issue.
"Since Pepper seems to think something happened between us…"
Silence falls for a moment. Sophie chews her lower lip, cursing herself and hoping Sawyer doesn't pick up on the fact that she's absolutely, 100% flustered... Because of him...
"Did something happen between us?" he asks softly.
She looks up and meets his eyes, realizing he's pushing for verbal confirmation from her own mouth, even though he knows damn well what would have transpired had Troy's timely interruption not happened. And she can feel her legs shaking like they're about to give out and her breathing harshen with each breath she takes, but she can't break away from the hold his eyes have on her.
Maybe she's crazy, but in that moment, all that matters is them, and how much she wants, needs, to feel him around her.
So without a second thought, she pulls him down to her by the shirt. Their kiss is intoxicating; it leaves Sophie delirious, and she can't help but moan deeply when they make contact. His hand slides into her hair while the other snakes around her waist until her entire body is pressed flush against his own. Her back hits the wall behind her, and she gasps, overcome with the feel of being trapped by the hard planes of his body. He chuckles against her lips and for a moment, they pause, reveling in the feel of each other. She can't explain what's happening to her, but she knows she's never wanted this more in her life than ever before. She knows there won't be any turning back after this.
"No regrets?" he asks, lazily leaving lingering kisses along her neck.
Sophie moans raggedly. "Shut up and kiss me for real, Sawyer…"
So she takes his jaw in her hands and brings his lips back to hers. He tugs her sweater off, she unbuttons his jeans, and they stumble their way out of the living room.
~.~.~
Sophie wonders if she's completely deranged for being so addicted to the quite literal cowboy, but there's something about Sawyer that she just can't get enough of. His touch, the way he smiles, his pervasive kisses, the way he cradles her to himself when they're both spent, as if he never wants to let her go. Everything he does has her coming straight back for more.
She doesn't necessarily have to tell her friends about the new development. The just kind of figure it out as time goes on. Pepper, Bella, Newt, and Troy apparently had a bet going on how long it would be until they caved and screwed each other. Pepper won.
Maybe there will be repercussions to her addiction to him, but for now, she doesn't care. She just loves being around him and spending time with him. And spending time under him.
(Can you blame her? He's very good at what he does...)
So their little game continues. It gets to the point where she spends more than 90% of her time in his apartment. Her stuff, naturally, follows their owner and before she knows it, most of her clothes are in his apartment and half of his bathroom cabinet has all of her toiletries.
"Are you still paying rent for your apartment?" he asks.
"Yeah…" she responds, languidly tracing patterns on his chest with her finger. "I don't know why though… I barely live there anymore."
"Move in with me."
She tilts her head up to look at him and raises an eyebrow, "What?"
"Move in with me." he repeats, slowly running his hand up her back in that way that makes her turn into a puddle of goo.
She rolls onto her back, yanking him on top of her with a half-lidded come hither look that makes his eyes darken dangerously.
"Okay."
~.~.~
By the next week, she's totally moved in and by the week after that, they develop a natural way of life living with one another. It just works. They spend their off days with each other. He tries to teach her how to cook, she tries to teach him Spanish (neither are very good…). They go on random walks together, hands intertwined, sharing little kisses like a couple.
That's not to say there aren't issues. For one, she still cannot stand his late night workouts, so they have to learn to compromise. He works out while she's at work. And her loud, obnoxious phone calls bother him, so she learns not to be as loud when talking on the phone or to go outside. And then there's his obsession with cowboy hats and memorabilia. And Sophie's destructive periods. And the occasional spat and yelling match when one of them crosses the line. Those usually get resolved fairly quickly though (and usually with angry sex on the floor or on the kitchen island). Regardless, they make their relationship—no matter how slightly dysfunctional—work somehow.
But truthfully, she doesn't quite know what they are. Friends with benefits? That doesn't sound right because their relationship is just a little deeper than that. Lovers? She's not sure if she can say with definite fervor that she necessarily loves Sawyer, though he is definitely one of her favourite people in the entire world. Maybe they're dating? But really, at this point, their relationship is more like that of an old married couple.
He doesn't seem to want to necessarily label anything either, so she never brings it up, and they remain whatever it is they are.
But she can't help but become apprehensive when over time, she realizes she no longer considers their sex as just sex.
~.~.~
Her eldest brother comes to visit her on one of her off days from work. She hears banging on her old apartment door next door. She knows someone new has moved in, but what surprises her the most is upon hearing the door open next door, she hears her brother's confused voice asking for a Sophie.
So she pops out of their apartment and calls her brother over. She invites him in and lets him know she's moved in with Sawyer. Sophie's brother is shocked that she's even been able to hold onto a guy long enough to move in with him (har har). But also shocked that Sophie actually lives amicably with a guy and hasn't castrated him yet for pissing her off.
"Believe me, Juan… I almost did castrate him when I first met him…"
But when Juan asks her what her relationship is with Sawyer, Sophie says he's her boyfriend, because the real answer is a bit too complicated to explain. And then she realizes, that it's not complicated at all. All this time, he already has been her boyfriend. It's shocking how easily the label just fits. Maybe it's because she's probably considered him her boyfriend way before they even moved in together.
Her brother leaves with the usual wishes for nieces and nephews before he grows too old to pick them up (to which Sophie responds with the usual eye roll. (Her brother isn't even 40). And when Sawyer comes home, she confronts him.
"Hey you. You're my boyfriend."
To her chagrin, he starts laughing like she's just said something incredibly stupid.
"What?" she says, affronted.
He wraps his arms loosely around her, kissing her lightly, "Are you stupid? I was pretty much already your boyfriend the day I was subjected to cleaning up your nasty used tissues when you got sick."
"Shut up!"
~.~.~
Several weeks after Sophie's brother comes to visit, Bella forces the three of them to go to a bar to drown her sorrows in alcohol. When they meet her, she's pissed off and crying and blubbering that she's never going to date again because everybody ends up leaving her. They find out Troy switched to active duty a while ago and is going to be deployed in about a month or so, but he hadn't told Bella so she found out the hard way. His father had heard about his impending deployment and sent him a letter, but Bella had found it first.
"I hate him… I never want to see him again…" She cries, "How could he not tell me about this?"
Sophie rubs her back in consolation, "I'm sure he must have had a good reason, Bella. What did he say?"
She sniffles and whimpers, "I don't know. I ran out of his apartment."
"But Bella, if you ran, how do you know what his reason was?" Pepper asks tentatively, gently nudging her own shot to Bella. She would most likely be needing copious amounts of alcohol to get over this one. It seems she really liked Troy.
"You should have seen the guilty look on his face Pepper!" Bella wails in despair, "Like he was about to cut me loose…"
Pepper and Sophie glance at each other in worry. Usually at this point, Bella has about a dozen shots at once and numbs the pain to help get over the guy, but she's not even touching the shots sitting in front of her.
"Bella…"
She sniffles and lets out a curt, mirthless laugh, "I hate this… I don't even want to drown my sorrows in alcohol…"
"What?!" Pepper's eyebrows are high on her forehead in surprise. Sophie doesn't say anything, but she knows her facial reaction to Bella's declaration is the very same.
"I know I asked you guys to come meet me, but honestly, I just want to go back home…"
"Bella, you must be really messed up over this…"
"It's killing me, Sophie…" Bella wipes away the snot dripping from her nose, and shakes her head sadly, "The worst part is, I honestly like him a lot. He's the best thing that's happened to me in years. I just want Troy back… But it doesn't even matter because he's leaving me!"
Pepper helps Bella stand up, "Let's take you home, hun. We'll stay the night with you. We can do a 'Let's help Bella feel better' party tonight. Just the three of us. And watch movies and eat junk food like we used to do in college. How does that sound?"
"I'd like that." she says quietly.
"Do you want us to take you to Troy's apartment to get your stuff?"
"No… I just don't want to see him right now…"
Sophie nods silently and the girls leave the place solemnly. She already knows Bella and Troy had been seeing each other for a while now, but she never realized the extent of their relationship. Bella isn't the type to get attached to someone that quickly. It took years for her to really get so worked up over any guy. That's why Kyle dumped her saying she was never as invested in the relationship as he was, even though she had been trying. For her to be so fucked up over Troy, not even wanting to drink, means that this wasn't just a normal relationship for her.
They take her back to her apartment, Sophie telling Bella that if she wants to trash Troy's apartment or TP his car at any time of the night, she and Pepper would be happy to take care of that for her. To their surprise, when they open the door, they find Troy in her living room, worried and pacing frantically. He sighs in relief when he sees them.
"I've been looking everywhere for you…" He sounds breathless, like he's run a mile to get to her apartment.
Bella turns up her nose, "Really? Good for you… Because I've been trying to get as far away from you as possible!"
"Bella, we need to talk."
"What about? You made your decision. You're leaving me. Just like every other stupid idiotic man in this world!"
Bella spins around and begins to storm out of the apartment, but Troy quickly grabs her wrist and stops her, pulling her back inside. She turns around indignantly.
"Let me go, Troy. There's nothing to talk about." Her voice wavers, and her eyes are glassy again with unshed tears.
"Would you just wait? Bella, please. Just let me explain." He pleads earnestly before she has a chance to reject him again, "I already made up my mind to switch to active duty before I even met you. That's why I didn't know how to tell you. But even though I'm leaving, I don't want to lose you Bella. I want to be able to come home when I'm allowed and always see your beautiful smile."
Tears are trailing down Bella's cheeks by then and even Pepper has to wipe away a lone tear from the corner of her eye from the heartbreak in his tone.
"Wh-what are you saying?" she asks quietly, sniffling.
"I'm saying I love you. I know you're the one." Troy gets down on one knee, pulling out a velvet box. "I know I'm being selfish to ask you to wait, but if you're willing… Isabella Dawson, will you make me the luckiest man alive?"
"Do you even have to ask?" she gushes, laughing breathlessly , "Yes you dummy... I love you."
Pepper screams loudly and starts hopping up and down in excitement, gripping Sophie's shoulder with her sharp nails. Sophie grins from ear to ear, happy that Bella can finally get her happy ending. The two of them are crazy for making this decision (they've literally only known each other for a few months), but she can't help but 'awww' when Bella tearfully hops into his arms and kisses him after he slips the gold band on her finger.
At least, until they start to get gropey and handsy and moany.
Sophie grimaces and pulls Pepper out of the apartment, shutting the door behind her.
"And that's our cue to leave."
Later that evening, curled up against Sawyer's side as they watch a movie, she can't help but wonder where their own relationship is going. Which leads her to wonder if he even considers her a serious endgame.
Because she sure as hell knows that she can't see herself being with anyone else.
~.~.~
Without prelude, Sawyer tells her he invited his parents over for dinner (or rather, they invited themselves over because they want to meet the ever elusive Sophie that he keeps talking about). She'd never tell him, but she's incredibly nervous and wants to make a good first impression. So she digs up her old college clothes buried in a suitcase at the back of their closet and pulls out the bane of existence.
The red, strapless monstrosity hugs her curves a little tighter than it used to and stops a little higher above her knees than she remembers, but she wears it anyway. She fixes her fluffy hair into a somewhat neat bun and puts on those damn special occasion heels and jewelry. She hates dressing up in any kind of way, but she knows this is important to Sawyer, even if he doesn't say it outright. And thus, it's important to her.
She thinks she looks stupid as she helps him set the table, but clearly from the fact that he keeps getting distracted, she does not. He's staring at her like all he wants to do is shove everything off the table, rip that dress off of her and take her right on top of it.
"Do I look okay?" she asks flirtatiously, swinging her hips on purpose as she places glasses at the table.
"Did you wear that on purpose just to rile me up?" he growls lowly in her ear, pulling her back against his chest by the hips.
"That depends…" she giggles when he kisses her on the neck, hands roaming down her sides. "Did it work?"
His long, sensual kiss tells her all she needs to know.
"How much time do we have?" she breathes heavily, arching her body into his.
"Five minutes..."
She knows his parents are going to arrive in any second, but there's nothing wrong with fooling around a little bit…
~.~.~
Dinner goes a lot more smoothly than she expected. Aside from her initial embarrassment when Sawyer points out her exposed hickey (that he put there himself, the asshole!), and the hard kick she delivers him under the table (very satisfying to see him curse and bang his knee under the table), everything goes swimmingly. Dave and Meryl are very cool people. It's obvious Sawyer gets his outrageous accent and love of all things cowboy related from his father, who looks like a 100% genuine, burly cowboy, down to the spurs on his boots. But he clearly gets his looks from his mother, especially those outrageous emerald eyes.
From the moment they step in, Sophie can tell Meryl is the real brains behind the operation. She's got this air of cool, no-nonsense, no bullshit control that Sophie immediately looks up to. Conversation with them is easy. They ask amicable questions about Sophie's family and her goals for the future. Dave is very impressed by her master's program and her plans for Peace Corps. Meryl apparently also played softball in high school and early undergrad. In addition, they also both have several brothers and have always had to wrangle them and fight to be recognized. And, Meryl cannot cook for shit either. Before long, she and Sophie are cracking jokes at Sawyer's and Dave's expense and chatting like they've known each other for years.
"Sometimes, I accidentally kiss the coffee pot in the morning, instead of my husband." Meryl quips, giving Dave a coy little smile. "He has about as much personality as a coffee pot, so when I'm tired, I get them mixed up."
The table erupts in loud laughter.
While Dave and Sawyer watch recaps of a football game, shouting their disappointment at the screen, Meryl helps Sophie clean up in the kitchen. She shares tales of how Sawyer's never really been good at relationships or keeping them since he's been young.
"It takes a special kind of girl to put up with Sawyer."
"I've never been in a long lasting one either." Sophie admits, a little bit embarrassed, "I was always either too butch, too aloof, or too bitchy."
"Until now." Meryl says with a smile, turning off the tap when they finish off the last of the dishes.
Sophie blinks in slight surprise, nodding slowly. "That's right…Until now…"
And then Meryl gives Sophie a tight, life-squeezing, bone crushing bear hug.
"Sadie was right. You are perfect for Sawyer." Meryl pulls back and gently tucks a stray piece of Sophie's hair behind her ear with a smile, "And definitely the perfect person to keep his ass in check."
As Dave and Meryl depart, Meryl gives Sophie another hug and a wink, and Sophie feels like, somehow, she's gotten the seal of approval from his parents.
And then all thoughts of approval and the dinner leave her mind when Sawyer lifts her up and unceremoniously tosses her on the couch.
"Time for this dress to go." He murmurs, looming above her with a rogue, predatory grin.
~.~.~
Living with Sawyer is a dream come true, but like all dreams, she knows they must end. She just didn't think hers would end so soon. The carefree cloud she's put herself into pops harshly and abruptly when two months later, Sawyer tells her he's going to finish out the last year of his master's closer to the ranch. The ranch that's in another part of Texas entirely.
Sophie isn't sure how to react, so she just nods blankly.
"Sophie?"
"Good for you." She says somewhat coldly, "When are you moving?"
He frowns, "The course starts at the beginning of May."
"So three months?"
He nods, a little put off by her abrasive indifference. "Yeah. What's wrong?"
"Nothing." She says, picking up her jacket, "I'll be back later, okay?"
She leaves and heads straight to Bella and Troy's new apartment. She always had known that this day was coming eventually, what with her deciding she would go to Peace Corps. She knows they had avoided talking about it forever, but now that he's officially brought it up, it's in her face and it frightens her that now she has to make a choice. It's time for them to decide their future. She still has two years left in her program, so she can't just leave and follow Sawyer. But for some reason, she's scared that if he leaves and she stays, the next time she sees him will be at his wedding to some cowgirl named Betty!
(She knows it's ridiculous. Cut her some slack. This is her first huge relationship, and she's insecure).
She and Bella paint each other's toenails like they used to in college when they couldn't sort their thoughts. Don't ask her why. There's just something about putting sparkly silver on her toes that helps her figure out what her next steps should be.
"How's Troy?"
"He's good!" Bella is positively glowing, "I just sent him a care package. With a bonus gift of a pair of my panties to get him through the lonely nights."
Sophie frowns, "Are you allowed to do that?"
She shrugs, "It was either that or a pregnancy test."
"Bella, what the hell. It's been about two months. Don't you think he deserves to know by now?" Sophie laughs, "He's going to come back to an unfamiliar child."
"Children." Bella corrects, rubbing her growing baby bump. "Found out I'm having twins. And I will tell him… Eventually."
Sophie laughs and adds a splash of neon green to Bella's toe, trying to make the Christmas tree fit on the small toenail. But she's not really feeling it today. For some reason, the toenail painting ritual doesn't have the same effect that it usually does. With a sigh, Sophie closes the polish bottle and sits back against the couch.
"How do you deal with it?" Sophie asks quietly.
"With what? Troy not being around?" Bella questions, watching her carefully. Sophie hadn't mentioned her reason for stopping by, but Bella is starting to pick up on clues.
Sophie looks up at her, "Yet you're always smiling."
"I can't tell you it's easy. I miss him every day. And every day, I get even more worried that he'll lose interest in me. There's no guarantee that he'll still want me when he gets back. But I love him nonetheless. All I can do is wait for him. And wait for the day when I'll have him to myself again."
Sophie frowns, but nods, "Sawyer told me he's moving back to his hometown for the final year of his master's. That's in three months."
Bella reaches down and wraps an arm around Sophie's shoulders, "I'm so sorry. Did he say what he wanted you to do?"
"No. It's like he was trying to get me to decide or something."
"Well what are you going to do?"
"I don't know Bella…" Sophie groans in annoyance, rubbing her temples. "If I go with him, I can't finish my masters, but at least we'll be together. If I don't go with him, I'll probably only see him once a month. And once I'm in Peace Corps, I may not see him at all for another two years. And then there's the fact that I want to be a professor at a university. I don't know if I'd be able to even live regularly on a ranch."
"So you don't want to lose him…"
"But I'm not giving up my dreams to move with him." Sophie closes her eyes, "You and Troy work because you're just that kind of couple who can survive long distance. But I don't think Sawyer and I are like that… How will I even know that he even wants me to come along in the first place?"
"Sophie, as stubborn as you are and as difficult it may be for you to accept this, you and Sawyer can handle long distance. Do you want to know why? Because you have something simple between you. It's called love." She shrugs when Sophie shoots her a look, "That's the reason why Troy and I are okay. Because we love each other."
"Okay, so maybe I love Sawyer. But people fall out of love Bella. If we don't see each other regularly for several years, who knows what will happen? And then the next time I see him, he'll be married to some cowgirl named Betty!"
"Okaaaay…" Bella snorts, "One. You're acting like Pepper. Calm down. And two. Give him some credit, Sophie. Sawyer hasn't even had a chance to talk to you about this yet. Before you jump to conclusions, you really should talk about this together. Figure out where your relationship is going."
Sophie knows Bella is right. No matter how much Sophie is dreading addressing their future, she knows it needs to be done. Especially since Sawyer will be leaving in a few months. Which is why after chatting for a little longer (mostly about Pepper going to the Himalayas with her weirdo outdoorsy boyfriend), Sophie heads back home, finally ready to discuss what needs to be said.
~.~.~
He's sitting on the couch watching an old game when she quietly returns. The confidence she built up while walking over is almost totally gone when she sees his messy curly mop of hair, and she realizes with a start that not seeing him every day is going to wreck her. She can say with ease that she loves him, but the depth of which she does is clearly more extensive than she originally believed. Suddenly, the idea of being apart knocks the wind out of her and her knees momentarily buckle. She steadies herself against the wall and takes a deep breath in preparation.
"Sawyer." she says, her voice shaking a bit as she walks over to the couch and sits next to him.
He turns down the volume and smiles kindly at her, "Hey… you okay?"
She wills herself not to tear up because he's being so patient with her, despite the fact that she walked out on him.
"I will be." She supplies, "You said you're moving in three months, and honestly, I can't uproot my life and go with you. But then I realized you never even mentioned me coming with you, so I guess that means you want to break up?" To her horror, tears blur her vision, and she averts her gaze down to her lap, picking at her nails dejectedly. "I-I understand if you want to… After all we're not going to see each other for several years and who knows. We might be different people by then. So do your worst. I'm ready."
An uncomfortable silence falls between them when she quiets. After a while, Sawyer takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.
"Are you done?" he asks.
"Yes."
"Okay. So first of all: I don't want to call it quits. Let's straighten that out right now." He takes her hands in his gently, "And two. I know you've got a lot of plans for your future. Why do you think I didn't mention you coming with me? I could never force you to choose like that. But that doesn't mean I don't want you to come with me."
Sophie looks up and meets his gaze, sniffling softly, "So then what?"
"So we make a promise to each other." Sophie doesn't notice he pulled out sparkling, topaz encrusted ring from his pocket until he slips it on her finger.
She gasps softly, "Where did you get this ring?"
"It was my grandmother's promise ring to my grandfather when he was away at war." Sawyer rubs the back of her hand softly with his thumb, "We won't see each other for who knows how long, but I'm willing to wait. And one day, if you're ever willing to settle down at a ranch however many years down the line, and you don't change your mind about us, then I'll propose."
"Sawyer…"
"I know I'll have to wait several years, but you're worth it. You're worth waiting for."
"…Are you stupid?" Sophie mutters, rotating the glittering jeweled ring to and fro, watching as it catches the light in different ways, "…Are we both stupid?"
But she knows that she'll go with it. Hell, she'd already made up her mind the minute he'd put the ring on her finger.
"Sawyer, if I get that job as a university professor, you do know I'll have to live in the city five out of the seven days? And I might not even get work in a city near your ranch."
"It's a gamble I'm willing to take, Sophie."
Whatever emotions she has been trying to keep off her face all seem to come out at once, and she breaks down, laughing somewhat hysterically. Not because she's sad. But because she's so overcome with happiness and absolute adoration for this man who she, about half a year ago, wanted to strangle for blasting his damn music so loudly. Her soulmate. The love of her life.
"Sawyer…" she laughs, cries, sobs, and blubbers all at once, "I love you so much. So, so much."
Sawyer smiles affectionately and rests his forehead against hers, wiping away her errant tears, "I love you too, baby."
They may not have everything figured out right now, and they still don't know exactly what is going to happen in their future, and they will definitely have a lot more trials and rough patches to deal with in the future, but it doesn't bother Sophie because she knows in the end everything will work out.
Afterall, he's Mr. Fuckable, and she's Psycho With The Sexy Legs and somehow, they're perfect chaos together.