MACGYVER'S RESIDENCE
LA
Bozer, suitcase in hand, a grin on his face and whistling, walked into his home.
He found Mac, Riley and Jack in the kitchen, preparing a selection of food to go on the grill, and his grin widened as they, too, grinned.
'Welcome home, Boze.'
Bozer grinned at his BFF, then put down his suitcase and held out his arms.
'It's good to be back, guys. And boy, have I got news for you!' His grin grew impossibly wide. 'Leanna and I are getting married!'
There was complete and utter silence, aside from the sound of a plate smashing as it hit the floor, for thirty seconds.
Then, Jack pinched himself, hard, and winced, before turning to Mac, who seemed to be stuck in some kind of 'buffering' mode that Jack would have made a joke about if he wasn't absolutely reeling, and at Riley, who was staring at Bozer in complete shock (and – Jack might have been imagining things – with a tiny, tiny bit of something akin to hurt or betrayal in her eyes), ignoring the broken crockery at her feet. The older man finally found his voice.
'You…you two heard that too, right? I didn't imagine that; Boze is really getting hitched?'
Mac finally seemed to finish processing and nodded. Riley snapped out of whatever was going on in her brain, and shook her head as if to clear it, before stepping over the plate fragments and reaching out to hug Bozer.
'Congrats, Boze.' Her voice was still astounded, and Bozer could tell that she wasn't convinced of the wisdom of his and Leanna's decision (to be fair, he had his doubts too, though every instinct he had was telling him that he'd made the right choice), though her congratulations were completely genuine. 'Leanna's a lucky woman.'
He hugged her back with a grin, then let go, only for Jack to reach out and hug him too.
'You're a bit young to be getting a ball and chain, brother…but then again, might as well take every minute you can get with the right one, eh?'
Mac, meanwhile, grabbed a bottle of very nice whiskey (it'd been a Christmas present from Charlie; Mac had been saving it for a special occasion), and four shot glasses, pouring them all a drink.
He handed the first one to his best friend, pulling him into a side-hug as he did so, as Jack and Riley took their own shots, then, his arm still around Bozer's shoulders, he held up his own glass.
'To Bozer and Leanna!'
Jack and Riley echoed that, and all four of them clinked their shot glasses together.
That evening, as an extremely happy, almost-literally-glowing Bozer headed inside to answer Leanna's phone call, Riley, Mac and Jack, sitting around the fire-pit, toasting marshmallows for s'mores and sipping the excellent whiskey, exchanged a significant look.
Bozer really did seem like a man in love, the sort of love that made one go purchase extremely expensive, symbolically-important, shiny somethings and want to vow to love, honour and cherish someone else for the rest of their life.
He'd waxed lyrical about Leanna, who was apparently not only really hot, but also brave and strong and sassy and very, very competent, as well as incredible, amazing and special, and he had never, ever, ever felt this way about anyone before.
But…we've heard him talk this way about a woman before.
She's sitting right next to me, drinking expensive whiskey and toasting a marshmallow, right now.
Mac sighed, staring into the fire for a moment.
And Bozer and Leanna have only known each other for about a month, and, well, to borrow from a certain Disney movie…you can't marry someone you've just met.
The blonde looked back at Jack and Riley again, a silent conversation, a vow, a promise, passing between the three of them.
But we love Bozer.
He's not just a friend, he's family.
And you support your family.
Even when they make choices that you think might not be the best.
Mac sandwiched his perfectly-toasted marshmallow between two Graham crackers with a piece of chocolate, waited for the optimal period of time to get some melting of the chocolate, but not loss of the warmth of the toasted marshmallow, then took a bite.
And, well, maybe he and Leanna will live happily ever after.
Sure, it's fast. It sounds unbelievable and ridiculous, like something out of a movie.
But, hey, I'm definitely a guy who understands spontaneity and making things up as I go along, and more than anything, I want my loved ones to be as happy as possible.
I hope with everything I've got that Bozer and Leanna get their happy ending.
FIVE WEEKS, FIFTEEN INVITATION SAMPLES, FOUR TEST WEDDING CUPCAKE RECIPES AND A TUX SHOPPING DAY LATER
'Jack, are you sure that's a good idea?'
Mac looked up from where he was building a wedding-photography-drone, over at the older man, who was sprawled out on his couch, feet on the coffee table, browsing the websites of several 'gentlemen's clubs' in LA.
(Jack had insisted on planning Bozer's bachelor party, and had complained loudly and often about the fact that they were only going to be in Las Vegas for the wedding – Bozer and Leanna were semi-eloping; their close friends and family were invited, but it was going to be a pretty simple affair scheduled for two months from now; he insisted that it was a missed 'golden opportunity' to have the best bachelor party ever.)
Riley, who was sitting at the dining table, on her laptop booking flights and accommodation for them all (she had a program to search the entire web automatically to get them the best deal possible), looked up and over at Mac.
'I'm just pretending I know nothing about it, Mac.'
She gave an exaggerated shudder of disgust, which Mac couldn't really blame her for.
Look, I appreciate a beautiful woman as much as any other red-blooded man who swings that way, but…a 'gentleman's club' isn't really my scene.
And even though Jack is definitely my surrogate father-figure…he isn't my sort-of stepfather and the closest thing to a dad I've ever had.
There are some things you don't want to tell the closest thing you've ever had to a father, and some things you don't want to imagine him doing.
At that moment, Jack's phone rang, and he glanced at the screen and noted the caller ID, and a smile that could only be described as goofily besotted appeared on his face. He immediately put aside his laptop and answered.
'Hey Diane, how's it going?' Mac and Riley exchanged a glance and fondly exasperated head-shakes, well aware that despite Jack's flirtatious nature, despite his definite weakness for a good-looking woman, despite the fact that he'd waxed lyrical about the freedom of being a bachelor, he was a faithful man who loved deeply, loved true and, deep down, really wanted that fairytale ending. They couldn't make out Diane's exact words in response, but they did pick up on the fondly exasperated, almost annoyed and frustrated tone in her voice. Jack gave a little chuckle in response. 'Yeah, he's turning into a real Groomzilla…'
Bozer is shopping for a cupcake stand for the wedding cupcakes he's going to bake.
It sounds like a simple errand, but it's turned into something that's frankly ridiculous.
Mac's best friend had declared that there was absolutely no way he was taking Jack with him as his second pair of eyes, since Jack would alternate between complaining and making absurd suggestions, while Mac was apparently out of the question because I love you, bro, but you really don't have an eye for style, man, and Riley was completely sick of helping Bozer with wedding shopping, having gone with him for everything from his tux to the cake toppers.
Thus, Diane (having the same Bozer-approved eye for style as her daughter, not suffering from wedding fatigue, and having a lot of patience and tolerance) had been asked to help Bozer out today.
(Mac put the odds at Diane agreeing to help again at less than 50%.)
Two weeks after Diane and Bozer's first (and probably last) wedding shopping trip, Leanna managed to get a long weekend off and came down to LA to visit Bozer and to properly meet his friends-who-were-family.
As Riley and Bozer gathered up the burgers that he'd prepped earlier, to take them outside to put on the grill, while Mac started up said grill, supervised by Jack and Leanna (it'd caught fire last time they'd used it, probably due to the latest tweak Mac had made to enable Bozer's amazing pastrami to cook in half an hour without catching fire), the former regaling the latter with embarrassing stories about her fiancé, Riley smiled widely at her friend (probably her best friend, in all honesty), bumping him lightly with her shoulder.
'Leanna is amazing. Like wow.'
Riley had had a good feeling about the other woman when they'd first met, had liked her. Really liked her.
Leanna was smart and confident and sassy and funny, and she had wicked dance moves, and, as her response to what had befallen Bozer that night had shown, she was a good, kind person.
But Riley admitted that she was just a little bit fonder of the other woman because she made Bozer so happy.
Anyone who could make him grin like that (sickeningly – but also really sweetly – besotted and joyous) was good people in her books.
Bozer laughed and grinned right back at her.
As Bozer scraped the plates and loaded the dishwasher, Mac walked into the kitchen, bearing the last load of dishes and cutlery, smiling. He put down the dishes, and started helping out his best friend, then gestured with his head back outside towards the deck.
'She's fantastic, Boze.'
Bozer smiled widely; his best friend's approval meant an awful lot to him, of course.
'Thanks, bro.'
Mac's own smile widened in response, then he reached into the cabinet under the sink to grab his DIY dishwashing powder (it was superior to anything available on the market, according to the blind tests he'd done).
Leanna makes Boze happy, and even if it's really, really fast, to the extent that it honestly seems unwise, they love each other.
Bozer loves her.
And thus, because of all three possible reasons given by the three possible permutations of emphasis of that sentence, of course I like her.
'You picked a good one, son.'
Jack reached out and clapped Bozer on the shoulder as they met halfway through the living room, as Jack headed towards the bathroom and Bozer headed out to the deck with dessert, a distinctly paternal smile on his face.
Bozer smiled back, looking very young.
Jack patted his shoulder one last time, then continued towards the bathroom.
He ignored the tiny, niggling little seed of doubt in his mind.
Bozer had gone ga-ga over Leanna, completely head over heels seemingly almost as fast as Mac's could fix a supposedly 'irreparable' household appliance with some paperclips, half a roll of duct tape and a couple of other scavenged odds and ends.
And he was completely, utterly, totally besotted. He'd risk just about everything for her, Jack reckoned. He'd even keep her a secret from Mac, his best friend, if that was what it took to keep her in his life.
It reminded him a little too much of how Nikki had been able to turn Mac's big brain to mush with a little touch or a particular smile or a special swing in her hips.
He shook his head.
He was definitely being paranoid; Leanna really did seem like good people.
(He was protective of the kids, maybe too much.)
(Then again, that was probably just part of being a parent.)
'You gotta see it!'
'It's definitely worthy of cult-classic status.'
'Like Sharknado.'
'And the various sequels.'
Riley and Mac grinned, looking far too innocent to be up to anything other than mischief, as they set up a certain movie made by a certain self-proclaimed 'waffle wizard' staring a certain engineer as both a green monster (who didn't appear to be covered in ping-pong balls anymore, in no small part thanks to a certain hacker) and a middle-aged Chinese general on Mac's homemade projector.
Jack just gave a little smirk and reached out for a beer refill from Mac's walking, self-opening Esky, kicking back to enjoy the show, as Bozer glanced at his fiancée and made a face that was somewhere between gulp, cringe and it's showtime, baby!. Leanna just quirked an eyebrow in response, not quite understanding what was happening, and sipped her own drink, leaning against Bozer's shoulder.
Jack and Riley (but not Mac, who was making a last-minute repair to the projector) noticed the look that crossed Leanna's face, and exchanged a confused glance of their own.
How could Bozer's fiancée not have an inkling about his lifelong passion for film?
Surely they had to be mistaken…or maybe Leanna was messing with them, as part of some plot with Bozer (or a plot on his behalf) to get Mac and Riley back for the little stunt they were pulling.
Yeah, that had to be it.
'Wait, that's Mac?'
Leanna stared at the blonde in disbelief, then turned back to the screen, where General Wang was delivering a dramatic speech in Mandarin, then back at Mac, who just nodded with a smile.
'Yeah, Boze did a great job with the mask and the make-up.'
Bozer just grinned sheepishly, even as he preened a little at the praise.
'Mac's the only guy I know who speaks Mandarin.'
Jack grinned, knocking back the rest of his beer.
'Our boy Boze wrote, directed, did the costumes, hair and make-up and the filming of that.' He gestured to the screen. 'And some of the CGI, too.'
Leanna's brows rose, and she turned to her fiancé, who shoved his hands into his pockets a little awkwardly.
(Mac, Jack and Riley exchanged a surprised look. Clearly, Leanna was either a really, really good actress and really, really committed to pulling one on them, or she really, really didn't know that Bozer had spent years trying to get into the movie industry in his teens and his college days, and still did on the weekends and after work.)
'I was trying to break into movies. Thought I'd be the next Steven Spielberg.'
'Really? You never told me that.'
Bozer looked more sheepish.
'Well, when you're trying to impress a girl, you don't normally want to bring up things you've failed at.'
Mac took a sip of his beer, then put it down and pulled out a paperclip, as Jack and Riley exchanged another glance.
That is true, but there's a bit of a difference between trying to impress a woman and, well, not bringing up something that's important to you, a lifelong passion, to the woman you're going to marry, going to spend the rest of your life with.
Look, at the end of the day, I think there's no point trying to be someone you're not to impress a woman, because if she doesn't like you for who you really are, it's never going to work out anyway…
RILEY'S RESIDENCE
LA
When did that happen?
When did that happen?
When did that happen?
When did that happen?
Sitting on her couch, Riley rubbed her forehead with her right hand and stared at the wall.
She liked Bozer.
Really, really liked Bozer.
In a way that was definitely distinct from the way she liked Mac, and very, very, very, very far removed from the way she liked Jack.
Sure, Bozer had behaved questionably in the early days of their acquaintance.
(Then again, he'd also found her an apartment, taught her how to cook and even talked her into playing that ridiculous rubber-duck-hitting game, just to make her laugh.)
(And he hadn't demanded anything in return. She knew that part of the reason why he'd done all of those things was because he'd liked her, but she genuinely believed that he didn't think that she owed him anything because he'd done it. That he'd do this sort of thing for any friend in need.)
But then, he'd gotten the wake-up call he'd needed, and they'd become really, really close friends.
(Yes, Bozer had had the occasional backslide, but bad old habits died hard, and she knew his heart was in the right place, and honestly, being somewhat inappropriate and occasionally a little creepy was very Bozer.)
And the real Bozer, the Bozer who wasn't trying to be cool and smooth and suave and someone he wasn't, was really great and honestly cute.
He was sweet and loyal and caring and funny. He exuded an earnest goodness, and he always, always tried to do the right thing, and always, always tried to provide light and joy and humour for his loved ones, provided home, did everything he could to look after them, even if it didn't seem like a lot.
(But it was a lot. Definitely a lot.)
(Her mom had had to work long hours to provide. There was a lot of ramen and home-brand mac n' cheese and assorted foods from cans in her past. And then she'd gone to prison. Riley really, really appreciated Bozer's home-cooked meals, made with great love and care.)
Once upon a time, Riley had been into bad boys.
(Which Bozer definitely wasn't.)
But after her run-in with The Collective, after she'd gone to prison and then gone straight…she'd changed.
And with that, her taste in men had changed too.
(Yeah, Bozer was sometimes inappropriate and creepy. But there was almost something comforting and attractive about that, in the sense that he was earnest and genuine. He genuinely believed in the sentiment behind what he was saying, wasn't trying to play or manipulate others. She wouldn't be surprised if his lines were practiced in the sense that he'd stood in front of a mirror and delivered them beforehand, but they weren't practiced in that cruel, manipulative way.)
(She'd had enough – more than enough – of smooth, polished guys who always knew exactly what to say and were, essentially, con-men. Manipulators. Users. Lies.)
(Her mom had enough ex-boyfriends of that type. And she'd been charmed and taken in by a shamefully large number of guys like that, when she'd been younger.)
Riley sighed.
Yeah, she really liked him.
She looked down at the floor, sighed again, then looked back up at the wall.
'I've got great timing.' She gave a rather bitter half-snort of laughter. 'Not.'
Two days later, Riley sat at her kitchen table, across from her mom, hands wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate (made according to Bozer's apparently 'top-secret-but-I'll-make-an-exception-just-for-you' hot chocolate recipe).
Diane looked at her daughter, who was staring into her drink, something in her gaze that made it seem as if she was staring straight into Riley's soul.
There was no judgement in her eyes, and there wasn't even any real surprise, either.
(Riley and Bozer were so very close, had a special connection, and Diane knew her daughter better than anyone, and had seen the look in Riley's eyes of late when she spoke of her friend.)
There was a touch of happiness (because every parent wanted their child to find love with someone who helped them be the best version of themselves), and a much bigger touch of sadness.
After a moment of silence, Diane reached out and brushed a lock of Riley's hair back, tucking it back behind her hair. Her daughter looked up at her.
'What are you going to do about it, baby girl?'
Riley swallowed, eyes darting down for a moment, before looking back up at her mother, voice very sad, with as much pain and vulnerability as Riley ever showed, but firmly, resolutely resigned. Decisive.
'He's getting married.'
And in that moment, Diane felt a rush of pride (wise beyond her years and selfless was not what most people would think when they saw her daughter, with her snarky, sarcastic attitude, leather jackets and multiple piercings, but mature and selfless Riley was) and her heart broke for her baby girl, all at once.
AN: Oh, poor, poor Riley…but don't worry! She's badass, she's awesome, and she's strong, and she is not going to let this stop her from being happy (or from being a great friend, of course!). This interpretation of Riley's taste in men probably only sort-of fits in what we've seen in canon, given 2.18, Riley + Airplane. However, my caveat would be that Billy Colton, despite the 'smooth, suave, cocky' personality, also comes across as genuine, and was definitely raised properly by Mama! Yes, Billy's a bit bad-boy, but he's definitely a good person, methinks – we know Riley (at least according to her ex) used to like bad boys, but given her experiences, I think that would definitely no longer be the case.
For my thoughts on 2.20, Skyscraper – Power, please see the AN at the end of my episode tag, Like in the Movies.
