Never Say Never - 03 - Breakfast of Tears & Smiles
Elena opened her eyes slowly, blinking repeatedly at the pillow before her. This is strange…since when do I have dark red sheets? Mine are navy blue…, Elena thought in confusion. She shrugged it off and stretched. It was then that she looked upwards.
She noticed the headboard and frowned. Red Cedar wood? What the hell? Mine's made of finely crafted birch wood…what's going on? Where am I?
Before she could form any more coherent thoughts, a sudden pang of pain hit her head and she groaned. Great I've got a killer hangover. That's why I can't remember what happened last night to bring me here…wherever here is…I drank too much and ugh…God knows what happened to me then. Hopefully my co-workers weren't total idiots about it.
She sat up slowly and nearly gasped when she saw Reno sitting in an armchair at the side of the bed, asleep. He was slouched over and clearly uncomfortable but asleep nonetheless. She was going to keep quiet and try to figure things out in her mind despite the major headache until she moved and felt the soft fabric of the sheets brush against her bare legs.
She screamed in horror. Reno jolted awake, forgetting he was sleeping in and armchair. He fell right down to the floor, landing with a loud 'thud' on his rear.
"Ow, shit!" Reno cursed. "God 'Lena, I realize you must have a major headache, but didja need to wake me up too and give me one with your damned scream?" he barked, getting up.
"Where the fuck are my pants?!" she shrieked, despite her own piercing headache and Reno winced.
"Relax they're in the washroom…don't gimme that look, I didn't do anything yo!" Reno protested as Elena glared at him. "I didn't! I swear!"
"Then why am I not wearing them?" she asked, trying to refrain from bolting out of what she guessed to be Reno's bed and whacking him so hard he'd fall right back down into unconsciousness.
"Because I don't know if you remember but last night when we got here you rushed to the washroom to hurl cookies in my toilet," Reno smirked. "I mean, you got good aim and all, you got mostly all of it in the bowl but the little bit that got on your pants."
"So my pants are in the washroom since I hurled on them, did you-"
"Yes I read the tag and they're currently soaking in the sink with cold water and detergent, and yes I did keep your hair from getting in the way so stop touching it," Reno smirked again as Elena fingered her hair. She flushed slightly and let it go, pulling the sheets up around her subconsciously.
Reno noticed this and laughed. "What? Afraid of showing off your legs or something 'Lena? I don't know why you bother wearing those pants under a dress that goes down to your thighs; you looked pretty damn nice yo."
"No I just…oh shut up," Elena muttered, letting go of her tight grip on the sheets.
A few moments of awkward silence, she looked up at his smirking face and sighed. "Thank you for helping me…," she whispered.
"What was that 'Lena? Didn't hear ya very well yo," Reno grinned and Elena rolled her eyes.
"Thank you for helping me…," she whispered, only a little louder than before.
"Pardon me?"
"I know you heard me the first two times dammit! Ok, you wanna play like that? Fine, Thank you for bloody helping me!" Elena shouted and Reno's grin only grew.
"Did I hear you before? But why ever would I make you repeat yourself?" Reno asked, still grinning madly.
"Cuz you enjoy being so god damn annoying all the time!" Elena rolled her eyes. "You know what, that's it, I'm leaving. I'm getting my pants, and I'm leaving!"
She got out of bed, not really noticing that her dress happened to have crumpled up to her higher thigh, making Reno's eyes slightly widen. She noticed this and rolled her eyes in disgust, pulling her dress back down to mid-thigh and walking away.
"'Lena wait!" Reno exclaimed, reaching out and grabbing her hand, keeping her from going any further.
"What?" she spat, turning to look at him as she fought to keep her balance against her throbbing head.
"Alright, so I was being an ass, but it's early in the morning and I haven't had coffee, so I'm kinda in one of those 'need to annoy people' moods yo," Reno told her.
"Aren't you always in those moods?" Elena scoffed.
"Yeah but…look I know I probably shouldn't have bothered you since your bad headache and all so, to make up for it, how 'bout I make you some coffee and breakfast?" he suggested.
She thought about it for a moment then sighed and nodded. "Alright."
"Cool!" Reno exclaimed.
"Besides, you cooking? This is something I gotta see," Elena smirked.
"Ha-ha," Reno said sarcastically before letting go of her hand and dashing off towards the kitchen. "Just like, make yourself a spot on the couch or something yo!"
She slowly walked out into the living room and grinned all while rolling her eyes, seeing as how his messy apartment had not changed since she'd been here last. She made her way to the couch and pushed an old pizza box off, wrinkling her nose.
"So, what do you want for breakfast yo? I make awesome pancakes if ya want!" Reno announced from the kitchen and she shrugged.
"Sure, why not?"
"Wow, this is actually good," Elena commented as she took her first bite of her fluffy pancakes and Reno, who sat across the small table her from her, smirked.
"Told ya," he assured her.
"I've had pancakes only once or twice at home before but…these are by far the best I've ever eaten," Elena smiled. Reno only soured at the mention of her home, knowing she had come from a rich family while he had not. Whether they grew up in the slums at the same time didn't change the fact that he knew her father paid for everything she did, everywhere she went, every little thing to spoil her like he'd never done before.
"Really, maybe 'cuz I made 'em with care rather than with money like daddy back home huh?" he asked her with a bitter tone.
At first, she looked up at him, surprised by his mood swing, then her face darkened and she went back to eating, actually stabbing at her food. Noticing this, Reno smirked.
"What's wrong? You and daddy had a widdle argument and he cut you off or something?" Reno scoffed, seeing her reaction to the mention of her father.
"N-no…it's none of your business Reno," she snapped.
"Aw, I'm sorry; did I make ya mad by mentioning the guy that pays your bills?" Reno laughed, not knowing his words were jabbing deeper than he meant them to.
"No, you don't know anything alright?" she told him. "Just eat your stupid pancakes…"
"For one, they're not stupid, they're delicious!" Reno pretended to sound hurt but resumed his cocky tone soon after. "And I do know shit. I mean, I know your dad's stinkin' rich and pays for everything for you since you were little. I know he spoils you rotten while the rest of us try to make a fucking living and I know he's taught you to be just like him when you grow up, callous, bitchy and shallow. How's that for knowing nothing huh? What you got to say about…"
He stopped suddenly when he noticed that during his rant Elena had stopped eating her food and dropped her fork to the ground as she bowed her head. He now saw why as a tear fell from her face onto her plate. "'Lena…?"
Another tear dropped and Elena's head whipped up to glare at Reno through tear-filled eyes. "When I said you knew nothing about my father I didn't mean about that!" she snapped.
"'Lena…," Reno began.
"No, no more half-assed apologies and excuses! You drove me to the edge and now you're gonna hear me out dammit! You think you know shit about my life Reno? Well my dad might've paid for a lot of things in my life, but that was because he just wanted to be rid of me, so he paid me off! Did you know that? That's why I bought my new apartment all on my own!"
"'Lena I-"
"Or did you know that both my parents were horrible smokers, who kept this hidden from me up until the point where both of them ended up in the hospital, dying of lung cancer? I scheduled a day off a month ago to see them but you ended up dragging us off on some half-important mission that you wouldn't fucking let me miss and you know what happened? My parents died of lung cancer two days later! I never got to say goodbye and didn't know about any of it until the doctors phoned me!" Elena screamed, tears streaming down her face now, making what was left of last night's make-up run with them.
"My parents might've wanted nothing to do with me earlier in life, but I still loved them and wasn't there for them when they died! Do you know how much that fucking hurts? Then again, why would Mr. Always-Looking-For-A-Good-Time-No-Strings-Attached know what losing someone they love feel like? You fucking kill people for a living and enjoy it!"
"Elena just-"
"I'm not finished yet!" Elena snapped, her voice raised very high now as she held back sobs. "You wanna know what the worst part was about all this? The fact that my parents just wanted me there because I looked like her, because they thought they could die in peace if they could think that my sister was there, not me! They never give a shit about me; I was just the fucking mistake, literally! They always said she was better, always loved her more and were always more proud of her! They always said I couldn't compare to her, even when I joined the Turks and shit they said I was just trying to take her place, take her shadow!"
"I just wanted to be loved…just wanted to be cared for and even as a fucking Turk I got nothing! The boss I was in love with never even noticed me and ended up dying on my watch! One co-worker was so silent I felt like I was being a total nuisance all the time trying to get to know him and get him to talk. And the third spent all his time insulting me and making me feel like I really never would amount to anything, like trying to be a Turk didn't matter! My parents were always right, my sister was always much prettier, much smarter, much more perfect and way more of a Turk then I ever was…or ever will be…," she finally finished her rant, her hands wrapped in tiny fists clutching fabric from her dress.
Reno got up and went to kneel beside her as she stared at her knees and hands, letting her tears fall down on them. Although he didn't know how she would react, he pulled her close to him and held her tight as she cried. She gripped his shirt and let her tears fall there instead.
"I'm sorry for being an ass and reminding you of all that 'Lena. Had I known I would've just shut my mouth and not said a word," Reno told her in a soothing voice. "As for what your parents said about you being lesser than your sister, they're wrong. I knew her personally, since she used to run with us."
"And…?" Elena muttered bitterly into his shirt.
"They said she was much prettier, much smarter, much more perfect and a better Turk right? Well they're fucking liars," Reno spat and Elena looked up at him, wide-eyed. "You're way braver and way more tactical as a Turk than she ever was. She may have been smart, but you're bloody brilliant yo. I mean, you can hack into shit in the blink of an eye you know? And sure, you've had your slip-ups while out on mission but fuck, the rest of the time you do your best to be as perfect as humanly possible, while your sister only fucking acted perfect. She was arrogant and that's what got her killed. And hell yeah she was pretty, but Elena babe, your much hotter and way more beautiful than she ever was, rookie or not."
"Did…did you just call me…b-beautiful?" Elena stammered, seeing that it was the comment out of all the others that stuck the most. "You?"
Reno frowned, thinking about it for a few seconds. "Heh…I guess I did didn't I?" Reno asked, his smirk returning to his face to replace his earlier sincere and sympathetic smile. "But hey, who wouldn't, you are hot 'Lena. It's why earlier I said you didn't need those pants to wear under that dress when you got a body like that."
"O-oh um…thank…you…um…," Elena said awkwardly, pulling away from him slightly as she flushed.
Reno rubbed the back of his neck and stood up, looking at their half-eaten breakfast, which was probably cold by now. "Hey 'Lena, after all that crying, how 'bout you take a warm shower and I'll clean this up. Then I can…like take you somewhere after to get ya happy again alright?"
"What about clothes?" she asked, motioning to the fact that all she had was a dress and that wasn't really the best if they were going shopping later.
"Eh, I'm sure I got clothes 'round here somewhere that'll fit ya. I'll put them on the bed for when you're done, yo," he told her as he began picking up the plates.
"Alright," she nodded slowly. She got up and walked towards the bathroom but stopped short, turning around to look at him. An image had just flashed across her mind, a memory. A memory she did not recognize. A memory of her and Reno…kissing. "Reno?"
"Yeah?" he asked, turning half-way to look at her. Seeing him, she turned a little pink and decided not to ask him about it, knowing if she had imagined it she would never hear the end of it for he'd never live it down and that if it had happened, it could be a little awkward. She instead chose to think of what he had just told her after her rant.
"Thanks," she smiled.
"No problem 'Lena," Reno smirked before she disappeared into the washroom and closed the door, making a 'click' noise as she locked it. He stuffed the dished into the dishwasher and walked over to the couch where he flopped down, sighing. He thought about what he had said to Elena earlier about the differences between her and her sister. What is going on with me? There's no way Rude was right…is there?
Lannie: Silly Reno, how dumb you can be sometimes.
Reno: Yo! That ain't nice!
Lannie: Shut up, I'm busy talking to my readers! shoves him away Alright, so here's the third chapter! I had two exams today and I have one tomorrow, so I should be studying but I don't care I needed to write this before it left me!!! R&R like always poeple!!
Note to Silver17: I like the idea of Reno getting back at Rude. I dunno how...but I'll think about it...muahahah! Thanks.
Note to other reviewers: YOU GUYS ROCK!! Thanks for the support!