AN: Well, there are a few of you still favoriting and following so I'll keep posting. I realize that this isn't everyone's cup of tea so I truly appreciate your support. This chapter and the next are the last filler chapters before they return to the team. It was actually one super long chapter so I decided to split it up. Just had to get this nonsense out of the way! Thank you for sticking with me.
4: Real Life
When they landed, there was a car waiting on the tarmac. Dembe loaded Red's stuff into the trunk while Red escorted Lane down the stairs. Dembe opened the door for them. Lane slid across the bench seat and settled as Red took his own seat. She gave Dembe directions to her apartment and settled back. Her mind was racing and she was simultaneously exhausted. The entire day felt so surreal. Her childhood friend sat next to her, a complete stranger. Totally foreign to her.
She had to return to her life. Deceive her friends. Leave behind what had become normal. She didn't know how she was going to fake being in a relationship with a man she had taught herself to loathe. What would have happened if he'd never left? Would be an admiral now? Would he and Danny still be best friends? Would he and Lane be friends or would she just get Christmas cards from Carla showing off their perfect life?
"I can practically hear you thinking," Red said softly, not turning his attention away from his window. She didn't turn to face him though she could faintly see his reflection in her own window as she stared out unseeingly.
"It's been a long day," she said tiredly.
"I'm sorry this is disrupting your life. If it's too much…"
"I have my orders, Ray. You know how that works. I'll see it through."
The ride was largely silent and Lane was aware of the weariness that soaked into her bones. A couple blocks from her apartment, she turned to him. Hearing her shift, he turned his head.
"Just…please remember this is my life, Ray. These people matter to me. They're my friends. Whatever unresolved issues we have, whatever dislike you feel for me. Just please leave this life intact for me, okay? Because eventually you're going to go again. You'll be out of my life forever. And this is all I'll have left. Okay?"
She was too tired to mince words. She knew the naked emotion played plainly on her face and she knew her wording was probably more revealing than it should be, but she just couldn't make herself care. This would play out in measurements and manipulations but right now she could only implore him honestly.
"Despite how you feel about me, Laney, and despite my actions to the contrary, I would never voluntarily harm you. I would never voluntarily leave your life in ruins."
"You'll understand if I have a hard time believing that," she said with a sad smile. "We're here."
She tried to see the row of brownstones through his eyes. They were probably mundane and, judging by what she'd seen of his lifestyle, well below the standard he was used to, but this was her happy little life. The sidewalks were clean, most of the homes had brightly colored planters brimming with blooms. It was her little slice of heaven in the bustling city.
Red gave Dembe instructions to wait for him and got out of the car. He walked around to her side and opened her door. She took his proffered hand and allowed him to help her out. He closed the door but didn't move out of her personal space.
"Are you ready to do this?" he asked, his voice almost intimate in tone and so quiet that she felt it more than heard it.
"As I'll ever be," she replied, not meeting his gaze as she reached up to fidget with his tie like she was straightening it. "Ready, Bash?"
His laugh was decidedly fake but she smiled at him as adoringly as she could muster and laced her fingers through his.
"Ben," she called when they entered. The rugs on the hardwood floor muffled their steps as she led him into the apartment proper. A little yellow, one-eyed cat slid into the room with so much personality that Red genuinely chuckled. With an authentic laugh, Lane reached down and scooped him up.
"That is the most disreputable creature I've ever seen," Red said, scratching behind his ears roughly.
"This is Ben's cat, Merlin."
"Hark! I hear voices!" came a male voice from upstairs. A man about Lane's age trotted down stairs looking for all the world like an LL Bean catalogue model. His dark hair was perfectly coifed and he wore khakis and a blue checkered button down with a blue scarf. "Well my, my. What have we here?"
"Ben, this is Bash. Bash, my roommate, Ben. Bash decided to surprise me," she said, widening her eyes at Ben behind Red's back with feigned excitement. A Cheshire grin spread across Ben's face.
"We were beginning to wonder if you were real, Bash. Lane failed to tell us you were so scrumptious. I just love your suit."
"Oh, thank you," Red said graciously, putting his arm around Lane and gazing at her adoringly. "I'm afraid business took me out of the country at the most inopportune time. I'm glad to finally be able to visit for a few days."
"A few days. That's wonderful! I hope you'll be able to catch a performance before Lane's run is up."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Have you seen her perform before?"
"Not in a very long time, unfortunately."
"Well then, you are in for a very special treat. She's positively hypnotic in All That Jazz."
"I look forward to experiencing that," Red said, pressing a kiss to her temple.
"Bash has to go check into his hotel but I wanted you to meet him before we had to leave."
"Hotel? Are you crazy? You haven't seen him in a month. Bash, I insist you stay with us."
"Oh no, really, Ben," Lane said, her voice a bit panicked. "We don't want to make you uncomfortable. He's perfectly okay in a hotel."
"Don't be ridiculous. I look forward to getting to know the new man in your life, Lane. It won't be uncomfortable at all. Just try to keep the loud animal sex to a minimum," he said with a wink.
"Jesus," Lane said, causing Red to genuinely laugh. She elbowed him in the side.
"Our Lane is always so proper," Ben said conspiratorially. "She'll loosen up. We have to leave soon, darling."
"I'll be ready."
"Bash, I look forward to your stay," Ben tossed over his shoulder. "Make yourself comfortable. Our home is your home.
"He seems quite lovely," Red said after Ben ran back upstairs.
"He is. I love him to death. Even when I want to choke him out."
"I'm sorry," Red said, grinning. Her eyes narrowed at him. The gleam in his green eyes said he was enjoying this thoroughly.
"No you're not. Go get your freaking bag," she said, rolling her eyes.
X X X
Lane showed Red around the apartment. It was what he would have expected of the Lane from years past—floral, splashes of bright colors, eclectic. Her bedroom was charmingly feminine and sizeable for an apartment. He dropped his bag on the floor by the picture window. The view looked down on the row of cheerful brownstones. It was quite lovely.
"Please make yourself at home," Lane said, glancing at the clock. "I've got to get to the theater soon."
She dug around in her bedside table and produced a keychain with a flying green witch and a key. He caught it handily when she tossed it to him. He watched as she dug through a drawer and pulled out some clothes. Kicking off her heels, she swept her hair over one shoulder and presented her back to him.
"Undo me, please?"
Slowly, he pulled the zipper down to the small of her back. The back of the dress parted, revealing her creamy skin, her black bra, and the edge of matching black lace peaking out just above where the zipper stopped. He had to swallow a bit, completely caught off guard by the punch of lust that hit him. Lane had always been a gorgeous child and she'd been a beautiful young woman, but he'd always viewed her in the scope of his friend's little sister. Now she was just merely Lane. His girlfriend. Cover or no, it was hard to ignore the woman before him.
"Go," he said roughly, resisting the urge to run his finger down the groove of her spine.
She turned and pressed a kiss to his cheek. When she pulled away, he caught the slight tilt of her head indicating the door bedroom door was open. She walked toward the bathroom allowing the dress to slip off her shoulders. She didn't shut the door but he was eternally grateful that she stepped out of his line of sight.
Rubbing a hand down his face, he toed off his shoes and settled himself back against the headboard of her bed. She came back into the room in black and white striped capri leggings and a black scooped neck top. It was then that he realized he'd been wrong about the bony thing. He could see exactly how well-muscled all those dance rehearsals left her. He couldn't make himself look away as she walked over to the closet and hung her dress back up. She moved with a simple gracefulness that he'd never really noticed before.
From his vantage point on the bed, he watched her go back into the bathroom. She pulled a brush through her hair mercilessly before flipping her head and brushing it smooth into a high ponytail. Humming to herself, she made quick work of pinning her long hair into a neat dancer's bun. She flipped on the water in the sink and quickly washed her face.
"Benjamin Franklin Porter!" she yelled. "Where's my eye makeup remover?"
"Damn, she middle named me," Ben said, coming into the room with a small plastic container.
"Thief," she replied, affectionately, snatching it from him.
"I love those leggings," he said. "Your ass looks positively delicious in them. I almost want to have your babies. Am I right, Bash?"
"She does have an excellent ass," Red agreed, amused.
"Oh, Lord," she said with a laugh, wiping the remains of her mascara away.
She rubbed face cream on her face and neck before she grabbed a box of bandages. She jumped backwards onto the bed, her butt bouncing once. Ben took the box. She scooted up next to Red and wiggled her brightly colored toes. Even from his vantage point, Red could see the painful looking worn spots that had once been blisters.
"Hot, right?"
"Painful?"
"Only on stage," Ben said with a laugh, patching up one foot and then the other. She dropped her head onto Red's shoulder and he pressed a soft kiss to her temple, breathing in the smell of her hair.
"I'm glad you have someone to take care of you," Red said softly, taking her small hand in his and tracing his fingers over the palm.
"Always," Lane said, smiling at Ben. He patted her bandaged foot with affection.
"Five minutes, babe," Ben said, leaning over her side of the bed and pressing a kiss to her other temple before walking out. She stayed there leaning against Red, letting him trace the lines on her palm. She yawned, thoroughly relaxed.
'Time to go, little mama," Ben said from the doorway. She tipped her head back to look at Red.
"See you backstage?"
"Of course, darling," he said with a small smile. She angled her chin up and he pressed a sweet kiss to her mouth. "Break a leg."
She stood up on the bed and Ben turned his back to her. She jumped on and clung like a monkey as he pretended to buckle under her weight. It was clearly something they'd done numerous times before and Red laughed despite himself. He was truly glad she had someone to share her life with.
