Asi Es Perfecto, an el tigre fanfic

Asi Es Perfecto
Linda/Linables/Imprefectlin

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Author's note: I did write the song I used in this fanfic, if anyone was wondering, lol. It's not the best thing I've ever written, but I was doing something that's not very much my style - a happy love song. While I write immensely fluffy fiction, (As you'll see demonstrated here) my lyrics are mostly about emotional issues and angsty love problems. (Something like Alanis Morissette, only not half as good. XD At least I don't think so.) I used to write happy love songs, like...five years ago in middle school, but I really can't anymore. I don't know why...my love life is actually a lot better now than it was then. But hey, enough about me, on to the MxF fluff!
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OH MY GOSH MANNY!!! I can't believe it!! The Atomic Sombreros got a gig opening for THE PARTY CRASHERS. I am sooooooooooo excited I can't even speak which is why I'm texting you this. Meet me at Ice Cream City at 4:00 to celebrate, okay?? OH MY GOSH. :) :) :)

- Frida

Manny Rivera smiled as he read the new text message that had just popped up on his cell phone. It was about time someone gave his best friend's band the credit they deserved, he thought. And what an awesome opportunity, opening up for a band that big! Putting his phone back in his pocket, Manny decided to head off to meet her a bit early. He didn't want to risk being late. (This was, after all, MUCH more important than school.)

Getting his dad's permission to use the car, ("Don't forget to follow all traffic laws and be a courteous driver!!") Manny headed towards downtown and got to his destination with fifteen minutes to spare. He parked in front of Ice Cream City, the popular sweet shop he was meeting Frida at, and saw her sitting at a table inside. Smiling, he quickly got out of the car and ran in to congratulate her. At first, he didn't notice that she had been writing on a piece of notebook paper - which she quickly hid when she saw him.

Manny enthusiastically hugged his best friend. "I'm so happy for you! Congratulations on the gig!" he said, wrapping his arms around her waist. Frida, using one hand to hide the paper she had been writing on behind her back, hugged him back as well as she could. "Thanks!" she said, attempting to fold up the paper with her one hand and slip it into her back pocket. This, although, was to no avail, and Manny became aware that she was trying to hide something.

Curious, he peeked behind her back as they parted. Frida clutched the paper with both hands.

"What's that?" Manny asked.

"What's what?" was the answer.

"That paper you're holding!"

Frida quickly slipped the paper into her back pocket and held out her now-empty hands.

"What paper? I'm not holding anything! See? I don't know what you're talking about!"

"No, I saw it! You were trying to hide a piece of paper from me! Where'd you put it?"

Running out of excuses, Frida relented.

"It's in my back pocket," she said. "But...it's uh...something I really don't want you to see yet."

Manny stared quizzically at her for a few moments, then shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay. If you don't want to show it to me that's fine. We're here for ice cream to celebrate anyway, right?!"

Frida's face lit up with a smile. "Yes!" she exclaimed, and, the mysterious paper forgotten for now, the two best friends enjoyed a jumbo chocolate fudge sundae.

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The next day at school, (With twenty days to go for the senior class) Frida was busy putting up posters in the halls. They were emblazoned with the headline, "ATOMIC SOMBREROS BIG BREAK CONCERT - MIRACLE CITY GRANDE AMPITHEATRE, FRIDAY MAY 25TH, 8PM. OPENING FOR THE PARTY CRASHERS" and featured a picture of Frida and her band mates posing with their instruments. The concert was going to be perfect, she told herself. It was just a few days after graduation, so everyone would be looking for a good time, they had a great venue and an awesome band to open for, and Frida was in the process of writing a new song that she planned to unveil at the concert. That song had, in fact, been the thing she'd been writing when Manny surprised her at Ice Cream City the day before. She hadn't wanted him to see it because...well, it was complicated.

Frida sighed as she taped a poster up above the band hall water fountain. She wasn't quite sure what to do with herself, or her feelings. It seemed like out of the blue one day, everything had just hit her. She had been dumbstruck by the realization - she was doing just the thing she'd been saying she never would. She was falling for her best guy friend. Falling hard. And when she pulled herself together and sat down to think about it, she realized something that was perhaps even more shocking.

This new revelation wasn't exactly new - looking back, Frida realized that this had been brewing for years. All the times a shiver had run down her spine when she and Manny hugged. All the surges of delight she had as she watched El Tigre's feet hit the ground after delivering the final punch to a villain. All the times she'd been captivated by his triumphant victory smiles. All of this rolled up into one, and crashed hard into Frida. She'd been building these feelings all along. She just hadn't realized it.

Drifting back to the present from her thoughts, Frida sighed. She stared up at her poster. The song she was writing was meant to be a confession to Manny. After she had come to the conclusion that she was in love with her best friend, and had accepted it, she immediately made up her mind to tell him in some way. There was no use in denying it anymore, and she wasn't the type to keep secrets anyway. So the concert had provided an excellent opportunity for her to confess - after all, the easiest way Frida could find to express herself was through song.

She just hoped it wouldn't make a terrible mess of things.

So after taking one last look at her concert poster, Frida turned and headed down the hall to cover the walls of the lunchroom.

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The next next few weeks went by in a blur. First came prom - where, to her shock and pleasure, Frida was asked to dance by her best friend. (She tried to convince herself that it wasn't just because he was too shy to ask anybody else, or because most of the other girls were practically falling at the feet of Luis Lopez, the most popular boy in school.) After prom came graduation and the graduation parties, and then, at long last, the day of the concert drew near. Frida could hardly contain her excitement about performing, and Manny could hardly contain his for feeling so happy for her. Everything seemed perfect.

So then the morning of the event dawned, bright and promising. Manny and Frida spent most of the day together, getting ready for the concert. (Naturally, Frida had gotten her best amigo a front row ticket, and he was all geared up to look his concert best.) They both bought eclectic rock-and-roll outfits from a second-hand shop, and Manny toyed with the idea of getting a red faux-hawk. He eventually decided against it though, instead going for just a spray-on stripe of red color. After they both agreed that they looked rocking, Frida left to go to the concert venue to have a final pre-concert rehearsal with her band.

When Frida left, Manny decided to kill some time by walking around the city. He didn't want to take the chance of going home and being told by his father to 'clean himself up'. He'd wait until after the concert for that - he really wanted to keep his hair this way. So he wandered rather aimlessly towards the outskirts of Miracle City, using up his time any way he could. Unfortunately, a very unwelcome time-taker appeared when Manny reached the edge of Calavera. He was about to turn back and return to safer parts when he heard something - something that made him wince. It was a loud 'twang' that sounded suspiciously like a large guitar, followed by a huge boom. Manny quickly changed into El Tigre and rushed into Calavera to confirm his suspicions. It was Sartana.

'Damn her...of all nights to carry out a vicious villainous plot, it has to be tonight...' Manny thought to himself. 'Well, I guess I'll just have to work twice as hard to beat her before the concert...I cannot miss it!' And Manny set off to work trying to defeat Sartana, all the while anxious about the tick-tick-ticking of the clock.

The job was taking far longer than Manny had hoped or expected. Sartana had increased the size of her zombie armies, and everywhere he looked there was another one looming over him. Once Manny finally managed to barrage through the masses of decaying soldier-corpses, Sartana had already advanced to Miracle City and carried out her plan to its final steps. Some quick thinking and some even quicker attacks from him managed to take her out - but the time Manny had sacrificed to do it was tremendous. He gasped in shock as he checked his watch after the battle - 9:14 pm. Too late.

Rushing away from the scene as fast as he could, Manny made a beeline to the Miracle City Grande Amphitheater.

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Frida was beginning to get nervous. Her band was all set to go on stage in five minutes, and she still couldn't see Manny anywhere. Where was he? He knew when the concert started. He had his ticket. And he would never stand her up! But as the seconds ticked away, so did Frida's hope. There was no sign of him, and it was beginning to look more and more like she would have to perform while smiling to an empty spot in the front row.

Someone called out, "60 seconds, Atomic Sombreros!" and Frida sighed in defeat. She got into position on stage with the rest of her band, but her heart wasn't in it. She had been counting on her best friend being there so he could get her pumped up to sing, and also for something even more important - her confession. But that wasn't going to happen, apparently. Feeling rather crushed and mildly numb, Frida watched her feet as the spotlights began to come on.

3, 2, 1...

Frida blinked and looked up at the crowd in the stadium. It wasn't full, but a good half of it was packed - something that would have usually made Frida giddy with joy. Now she only stared hollowly at the empty seat in the front row, until her drummer Ana whispered "Go!" through her teeth, startling Frida into noticing the microphone below her nose. Snapping out of her thoughts, Frida nervously looked at the microphone. She supposed she should say something.

"Uh...hello, Miracle City, we're the Atomic Sombreros...and I want to thank you for coming to see us play tonight, it really means a lot to us. So uh...we're gonna start with a song called 'Kinda Crazy'...I hope you enjoy it."

Frida sang the song, and the others that followed, as well as she could. It wasn't the same without Manny there, but she couldn't let this chance pass her by. She only hoped that no one could tell how upset she was, although she knew she was doing a pretty poor job of hiding it. She almost broke down during an upbeat love song - singing it reminded her of all the times she had stood on her bed at home with a hairbrush rehearsing it, thinking of Manny and smiling. It was enough to bring a small tear to the corner of one of her eyes.

Several songs later, the time came to have their big finale with the confession song. Frida felt hollow and stood in the middle of the stage, microphone in front of her face. Her band was waiting for her to announce the song dedication. Taking a deep breath, Frida spoke up in a shaky voice. "Uh...I was going to sing one more song, but after much thought, I've decided it isn't appropriate right now. So I guess that means that was our show. Uh...well...once again, gracias to all of you for coming, I hope you enjoyed us. Now here's your lead act, the Party Crashers. Thank you, Miracle City."

And with that Frida turned and walked off the stage, leaving her drummer and and bassist to meet the curious gaze of the crowd.

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Manny stood in front of Miracle City Grande Amphitheater, catching his breath. He knew he was too late to see Frida perform...but he had to at least go find her to apologize and explain. As he broke into a run again, the worst case scenarios ran through his head. Frida yelling at him for being a horrible friend...Frida crying...Frida being all-around let down. Manny shook his head. He didn't want to think such bad thoughts. Perhaps he was in for all of that, and he knew he deserved it - but the thoughts were painful.

The reality of the situation also stung immensely. Manny couldn't believe he'd actually let down someone he cared about so much again. Especially when it was Frida - Sartana or no Sartana, he was always there for her. He'd gladly let a part of the city be destroyed if it meant that Frida would be happy. There was nothing he wouldn't do to help her.

He sighed as he paused again to breathe. Manny knew he'd been thinking these things very much lately. Shifting gears a bit in his mind, he now focused on his feelings for the girl he'd just let down. They were immense, and he'd only recently begun to fully comprehend them. He'd actually come to the decision some time ago that he felt a lot more towards her than simple brotherly friendship. It had been a shocking revelation, especially since they'd both always thought that they were 'just friends'.

All of those thoughts were fading fast. It seemed obvious now to Manny, and he found that he didn't even want to try and fight it. The idea of him and Frida together wasn't as shocking as he'd made it out to be when they were younger; it was actually very fitting. And wouldn't loving her be exciting? Manny started to like the idea very much. Of course right now anything happening between them was still limited to his imagination. And, he thought with a surge of sorrow - after tonight, it very well might always be. But maybe he should still tell her.

Picking up speed again, Manny's heart began to race. We would do it. It was going to be hard facing Frida and keeping his composure as he took in the disappointment that was sure to be showing on her. He would have to though - and he would tell her the truth about how he'd been feeling about her. She deserved the truth, especially now. Even if she flat-out rejected him as both a lover and a friend, Manny felt he owed it to Frida to confess. So he snuck backstage and went to search for her.

He found her sitting alone at a table in an empty room. Slowing down, Manny walked into the room and bowed his head as he approached Frida. She was staring at her hands in her lap, rather motionlessly, and her face was blank. He moved closer.

"Uh...may I sit down?" he asked nervously.

"Yeah, sure." she answered, not looking at him. She knew who it was.

Manny sat, and there was a short period of uncomfortable silence as he worked up his courage. Then, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he launched into an apology.

"Frida, I hope you know that I am so, so, so incredibly sorry that wasn't there to see you perform...I wanted to see you so badly and I feel terrible, and I know I'm a bad friend and I understand if you hate me now but...Sartana and the city being attacked and...damn it, what was I thinking, that doesn't matter to me as much as you, Frida, I'm so sorry, I should have been there and will you ever forgive me???"

Manny blurted this all out in one breath, and when he stopped, panting, he realized that he had moved off of his chair and onto his knees on the floor. Frida looked at him. His expression was full of distress, sadness and true regret. Her own expression softened a little, and Frida slowly joined Manny on the ground. He looked up when she kneeled in front of him. Their eyes met, and both stared at each other. Then Frida noticed something - a small red spot on his shoulder. She moved closer, and Manny began to breathe faster. She reached out to touch the shoulder with the spot...and she realized that it was wound that had bled through his shirt. She hadn't doubted his word that he had been absent because his superheroing was needed somewhere, but this made it concrete.

Frida's fingers lingered on the spot for a few moments. Then, realizing that she should probably help him with it, she pulled back and ran to get the first aid kit in the room. He followed her with his eyes as she retrieved it and kneeled back down. "I forgive you, Manny..." Frida said, opening the kit. "I understand." Manny lifted his head to meet her gaze. As Frida prepared a bandage for the cut, she continued. "I...really do understand. I know you can't choose when some crazy wacko will attack, and of course you need to protect the city. It's El Tigre's job."

They looked at each other for a few moments, and, finally having had enough of the somber atmosphere that didn't suit her, Frida tried a small smile. "Now...you'll have to take off your shirt so I can put on the bandage...how did you not notice that cut earlier, by the way?" Blushing, Manny stammered his way to a reply. "Uhhh...well...I kinda noticed it, but I didn't pay much attention to it. Once I saw the time, I ran here as fast as I could. I knew it was too late to see you play, but I had to come and see you to apologize. And I am so sorry!"

Frida stared in awe. Manny was really willing to let his own condition fall second to her feelings? She blushed herself, and shyly asked, "Seriously? You really care that much about me?" Manny, smiling for the first time since earlier that day, nodded. "I care more about you than anyone in the world." he answered, holding her gaze. A moment of comfortable silence was needed for both to revel in the new truth that was beginning to come out.

Frida realized then that the time to sing her confession song had finally come.

After she tended to Manny's injury, (Trying her best not to become a blushing, stammering wreck upon touching his bare chest) she stood up and held out a hand to Manny. He took it, and she pulled him up as well.

"Manny..." she said, shifting her feet. "You know that piece of paper you caught me writing on at Ice Cream City last month?"

Manny quickly searched his memory.

"Yes!" he said. "Can you tell me what it was now?"

Frida nodded.

"It was...a song that I was writing for you. I was going to sing it tonight, but I didn't. There was no point in singing it when you weren't there."

Manny looked devastated again. He once again began apologizing.

"Oh my gosh, that makes it even more terrible for me to have not been there! I am so sorry Frida, I really am, I can't believe how big of a jerk I..."

He was cut off by Frida, who placed her fingers over his mouth.

"If you'd like, I can sing it now." she said, a hopeful look playing upon her features.

Manny, regaining his composure, lit up in a smile.

"Yes!" he said. "Would you...please?"

Frida smiled back. She fetched her guitar from the table, and started to play, looking at Manny throughout the song.

¿Qué ocurre con mi corazón?

I've looked at him for so many years now
When we were younger I thought there was no way
That I could ever see him different than I did
It seemed ridiculous to come out and say:

I think we're really good even more than this
No matter how much I denied that we were
So I think now it should lie out in the open
'Cause I think now I am totally sure

He's more than everything I ever thought he could be
He's more perfect than anyone has been for me
And I wanna watch him like this indefinately
'Cause he's strange and wonderful
No tricks are left to pull

I know he might think that I'm totally crazy
And he might laugh, I might be in too deep
But what's the use in not telling him all this?
Leaves me with nothing but a secret to keep

So here's my confession, this is what I feel
It's up to him now which direction we go
It took me years to admit it to myself
But now I have, and you also now know

As the last chord sounded, it was like an over wound spring inside Manny had finally popped. His face broke out into the biggest, most genuine smile he'd worn for ages, and he rushed forward to hug Frida. Surprised, she laid her guitar down and returned the hug. She certainly hadn't been expecting this - perhaps a friendly acceptance and a reassuring grin, but nothing like this. She certainly wasn't complaining, though, and she squeezed Manny hard. She wanted to take this hug for all it was worth, just in case she didn't get the same opportunity again.

But it looked like she would.

As they parted, Manny was still grinning ear to ear. His face was touched with pure happiness, and he couldn't seem to contain it.

"Frida..." he asked slowly. "Do you really mean that?"

Suddenly blushing, Frida answered, "Yes, of course, Manny. I...love you. I couldn't find any other way to say it."

Those words made Manny positively glow.

"Oh Frida..." he said. "I love you too. I love you, I love you, I love you. I was going to tell you tonight no matter what. I owe it to you to be honest. I've loved you for some time now."

Frida almost cried with happiness.

She moved close to Manny, and they looked at other with no emotion held back. That moment was all it took for the two to fall victim to each other for good, and, in one swift motion, Manny pulled Frida to him and kissed her.

The kiss seemed to last for ages. Both were momentarily suspended in time as Manny's arms wrapped around Frida's waist, and hers loosely draped around his neck. Neither held back - after all this time, there was no desire to do such a thing. Lips pressed against lips, chest pressed against chest, and there was no going back, only wanting more. Much more. So Manny shyly opened his mouth against Frida's and licked her bottom lip, coaxing her to follow him. She did, and their tongues meshed together beautifully. All hesitation and distress was forgotten.

As the kiss ended, the two looked at each other.

"Wow..." was all Manny could say.

Frida, at a loss for words completely, could only smile and nod.

The surreal moment lingered. They clutched each other's hands.

"...Can...can you believe we just did that?" Manny said upon finding his voice.

Frida then found hers.

"Yeah, I can..." she said. "And...I really want to do it again."

A loving glance was shared.

"Me too," said Manny.

And with that they leaned in to fulfill their wishes, a few choice chords echoing in both of their heads. Asi es perfecto.

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Translations:

Asi es perfecto: This way it is perfect
¿Qué ocurre con mi corazón?: What's up with my heart?