Hello!
I'm so sorry for not posting anything in so long! I've had a really busy week and on top of that I've really been struggling to write this one-shot. So if it's not that great, then that's why. I'm sorry that the standard of one-shots has been so poor lately; I've just been finding it hard to write. :/
So this is a light-hearted Tanner & Lela one-shot, which was suggested by Guest123, hungryhipposlol and Lela1846, so thank you for submitting the ideas! I do have another Lela and Tanner one-shot planned, which is going to be a bit more serious, but this one is just meant to be fun. I hope that you don't think that it's as terrible as I do!
Lela was a very busy girl. She was no longer content with just sitting around, waiting for things to happen and allowing for other people to make decisions for her. Mack had taught her to do things that she wanted to do, take part in activities she'd never dreamed of taking part in before and do the things that made her happy. And with Lela being Lela, she couldn't just take a back seat, she decided to take Mack's advice a step further and organise everything as well. However, this was proving to be a lot of work since Lela wanted to try out a lot of new activities.
Our story starts on a sunny afternoon outside of Big Momma's, where the breeze is blowing just enough to be considered comfortably warm without it forcing the weather to be too cold and the shouts and laughs can be heard from all around. With the surfers running around in the waves or playing games on along the beach and a few bikers strolling down the shoreline or fixing their bikes up on the sand, everything seemed to be pretty chilled out. The main couple on the beach where sharing a table on the relatively empty porch of Big Momma's, spending some much needed time together since they hadn't gotten the chance to do so lately. Lela was flipping through the sheets of paper on her hot pink clipboard, occasionally stopping to scribble something down on one of the pages. Whereas Tanner was just sitting in his seat, his head propped up by his hand, as he gazed at Lela. The biker girl had originally wanted him there to help her sort out everything for the many activities that were now held daily in Big Momma's and although Tanner wasn't really doing any of the work, Lela still liked him being there.
"Ok, so Giggles said that she was happy to help out with the art club, which we could hold on a Wednesday. But that won't work this week because that's the evening of the auditions for the play for drama club, so maybe we could hold it in the afternoon. Oh wait, that's when Struts' is lending a hand with the French club," Lela babbled, trying to sort out the schedule as best as she could. While she thought, she gnawed on her lip and twirled her pink polka dot pen between her fingers, her eyes scanning the page in front of her just in case she spotted a space that she'd missed before. But when her steel-blue eyes found nothing new, they moved up to meet the gaze of her boyfriend. "Tanner, what do think?"
"Well," Tanner started, finding it hard to focus and pick out the right words to say when Lela was sat right in front of him. The thing about Lela was that to him she was the very definition of beautiful; her ivory skin remained unblemished and her glossy, raven black hair worked as a startling, but gorgeous, contrast. Her eyes, which were still focused on him, were the colour of the sky just before a storm settles in and they were framed with satin black lashes that made Tanner's heart jump every time they fluttered when she blinked. Her nose turned up at the end, ever so slightly, and it was perfectly proportioned, just like the rest of her features. Today her lips were painted in a colour that reminded Tanner of the fruit punch that was often served at the many shindigs held in Big Momma's, and it looked gorgeous on her. It was easily one of his favourite shades of her many lipsticks, although he thought that she looked equally wonderful in each of them. The sunlight danced off the lustre of her glossy lips and highlighted their gentle incline, making the fact clear that she had a hint of a smile lingering there; a glimpse of the smile that lit up the room like the sun, so it was no wonder that Tanner was so tanned since he studied her smile as long as he did. It was only then that Tanner realised that Lela's gorgeous lips were moving and sound was coming out; sound that he wasn't paying attention to. "Huh?"
"You zoned out for a second there," Lela stated, a small chuckle escaping her mouth at her boyfriend's expression; he looked totally besotted with her and Lela found it adorable.
"Oh, yeah, sorry," Tanner chuckled, returning to his usual, giggly self almost immediately. "Wait," he said after he recovered from his laughter, properly locking eyes with Lela once more. "What were we talking about again?"
"I was asking you what you thought I should do about organizing the activities rota," Lela explained, trying to stifle a giggle that was a consequence of Tanner's scatterbrain behaviour.
"Oh yeah," Tanner chuckled, finally remembering Lela's original point. "Well there's one thing that I know for sure."
"What's that?" Lela asked, lightly tapping her pen against her cheek.
"That no matter what you decide to do, it'll work out," Tanner said, flashing Lela one of his signature smiles as he started to fiddle with the glass candle holder at the centre of the table.
"How can you be so sure?" Lela asked, sitting back in her chair a little bit and tipping her head slightly to the side.
"Because I'm Tanner," Tanner chuckled, making Lela let out her own small laugh before Tanner took her hands in his and went into his more serious mode. "And I know that you're capable of doing it. You're capable of a lot of things, Lela. You're incredible, I've never known someone as strong-minded as you are and I couldn't be any prouder. So whatever you choose to do, we'll be fine."
"We?" Lela questioned, intertwining her fingers with her boyfriend's.
"Of course, I'm not going anywhere," Tanner chuckled, bringing out Lela's smile. But it faded after a few seconds, although Tanner didn't notice it straight away.
"Tanner," Lela said after a few seconds, grabbing her boyfriend's attention once more.
"Yeah?" Tanner asked.
"You don't think I'm being too controlling, do you?" Lela asked, her eyes falling to the table for a few seconds before flitting up again to meet Tanner's.
"What do you mean?" Tanner chuckled, not catching on to how concerned Lela was.
"I just don't want to seem bossy," Lela started.
"Just because you're so good at organising everything, doesn't make you bossy, Sweetie," Tanner said, flashing Lela a quick smile and giving her hand a small squeeze.
"But I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you into things," Lela continued, her eyebrows creasing together slightly as she frowned down at the slats of wood that made up the table she was sat at.
"You're not forcing me into anything, I love all the clubs that we do," Tanner reassured her, helping to portray his enthusiasm by his eyes lighting up. With all of the new activities Lela had put on offer for the bikers and surfers, no one was ever bored at the beach. However, since Lela was so keen to start all of the different clubs, she played a major part in each and every one of them, which sometimes proved to be rather a lot to take on for the biker girl. Not only was it a fair amount to handle for Lela, but since she wanted to show her friends that the clubs she was hosting were not just for girls or just for bikers, boys and surfers were very welcome too, and to prove that she used Tanner as living evidence, which meant that he had to attend all of the meetings for all of the clubs. He didn't mind though, he'd do anything Lela asked him to, just as long as it made her happy.
"Are you sure?" Lela questioned, not completely convinced with her boyfriend's answer.
"Oh, I'm sure I'm sure," Tanner grinned, hoping to dispel all of Lela's concerns so that they could spend some time together without her worrying, he really hated seeing her anxious as well. "All the clubs you've organized are really swell. Take the chemistry club for example; although I don't know what I'm doing most of the time, I still have fun doing the experiment things, especially when the liquid changes colour or does something else cool. Plus, you're always there to help me," Tanner babbled. The more Lela listened to her boyfriend ramble about the activities she had planned, and the more excited he got about them, the bigger her smile grew. Knowing that Tanner was enjoying the events she planned was enough to keep her smiling for a long time. "And the astronomy club is really neat, mostly because we get to roast marshmallows before we start and then after that we just get to look at the stars. But last time when we were laying on the sand I fell asleep because it was just so quiet – don't tell Seacat though, I was having a bet with him to see who could stay awake the longest and I may or may not have lied about losing. Speaking of Seacat, he was really bummed when we lost the soccer match on Thursday in sports club, so was Lugnut now that I think about it, but you girls did really well, you and Giggles were amazing! And I've even been practicing really hard for music club too. Look," Tanner said, picking up the instrument that he had resting against his chair. "I was kind of mad that Butchy got to take the guitar but at least I get to play the tiny guitar."
"Tanner, that 'tiny guitar' is called a ukulele," Lela giggled, her grin lighting up her entire face.
"Well whatever it's called, it's fun to play," Tanner chuckled; glad to see that Lela was back to her usual happy self. "Have you been practising your flute?"
"Oh my goodness, I completely forgot!" Lela gasped, her eyes widening as she started to internally panic.
"It's ok, you're really good at it anyway," Tanner said, sending Lela a smile, which thankfully put her mind at rest.
"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Lela said shyly, a light, barely noticeable, blush forming on her cheeks.
"Well yeah, but that doesn't mean that it's not true," Tanner replied, just making Lela's face flush redder than ever. "And don't worry about forgetting something so small, it's just music club. Plus, who's going to corner you about it? You run the activity, don't you?"
"I guess you're right," Lela chuckled, realising how silly the problems that she was worrying about were becoming of late. "I just have a lot to deal with recently."
"Maybe you need a break," Tanner suggested.
"I couldn't possibly take a break, there's still so much to do," Lela babbled, starting to ramble about all of the things that she had to sort out before Tanner cut in.
"Not like a long break, just for like the afternoon," Tanner clarified, watching as Lela tossed the idea back and forth in her head, deciding whether or not she was actually going to take Tanner up on his offer and abandon her busy schedule for the next few hours.
"Ok, sure," Lela smiled after eventually coming to a decision. "I suppose I could use a break."
"Cool," Tanner grinned. "So…uhh…what do you want to do?" he asked after a short pause, looking to Lela for an answer.
Lela took her time answering, after all, now that she was already making everything happen that she had ever wanted to do, there was nothing new that she wanted to try. So in the end, she decided to bring things back to her roots. "How about we just hang out, like old times, and do stuff that we don't do as much as we used to."
"Ok," Tanner chuckled, seeming to be totally on board with the idea. "So what sort of thing did you have in mind?"
"I want us to sing something," Lela said, completely certain with her answer as she gave a confident smile to the boy sat opposite her, who looked a little startled by the proposition.
"Just us?" Tanner questioned, one of his eyebrows dipping in confusion. "But we haven't sung something with just the two of us in…a long time," he continued, giving up on trying to remember an exact date.
"I know, that's why I want to do it again," Lela explained, hoping and praying that Tanner would agree, she'd missed singing as often as she used to, especially with her boyfriend, so she wanted to bring that back into her life.
"But, Sweetie, what if we're…" Tanner started, gradually getting more nervous about the idea as he waited for a few seconds before continuing his sentence. "Out of practice?" he finished, trying to keep his voice down. It was almost like he was embarrassed about the situation, which Lela found very puzzling. "Or even worse, out of tune?" Tanner added, appearing to be absolutely horrified by the thought of humiliating himself like that.
"Well…" Lela started, trying to make her boyfriend lighten up to the idea. "We don't know until we try."
"Ok, alright, we can do this," Tanner sighed after a few seconds of pondering the suggestion, trying to psych himself up so that there was a bigger chance of him having a better performance.
"Absolutely," Lela grinned, thrilled at the very prospect of taking part in something that she was destined to do. She was the lead in a movie musical after all, she was made to sing.
Tanner picked up his ukulele and started to strum a tune, prompting both teens to get ready, but now that this was actually happening, both of them had become very nervous. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all; maybe they should have just left it for another time. Lela opened her mouth to sing, but nothing came out, it was like she'd forgotten how to form a melody, to even sing a note. Tanner picked up on how his girlfriend was trying to start, which relieved him because he certainly didn't want to begin the song, that was a lot of pressure and he really didn't want to mess up in front of Lela, he was really self-conscious about that. But once he saw that she wasn't actually singing, he decided to step in. At first he had intended to just ask her, however, to his surprise, the sentence that he had formed in his head came out as the first line of what turned out to be their duet.
Tanner: "Do you want to go first?
'Cause I'm happy to wait"
Lela gave a quick shake of her head as the panic over her vanishing vocal chords set in. Hopefully if she just waited it out for a bit then she'd actually be able to sing something…anything, she just wanted to prove to herself that she could still do it because if she didn't then who knows what would happen to the film they were in if there was no music in it.
Meanwhile, Tanner was trying his best to relax into the song, but he was still finding it uncomfortable after the first few lines. Tanner never felt awkward about singing, it's what he did all the time, it came naturally to him, but today it wasn't doing that, and that was starting to worry him. And Tanner did not like to worry one bit.
Tanner: "I practiced really hard
But I'm finding it strange to start with you"
After Tanner's confession, which he didn't know was coming, there was a pause where Tanner just kept strumming the same chords on his ukulele, giving the couple enough time to work out what was going wrong and try to fix it, although that was going to take a bit more time than they had anticipated.
Lela: "So how does it go?
I've forgotten the tune
I haven't warmed up today
So I might sound a bit strange, yes I do"
Lela managed to pluck up enough courage to force herself to start singing, but once she did hundreds of worries flooded into her mind about everything and anything that could possibly go wrong in the space of the few minutes that the couple were attempting to produce a melody. Therefore, affecting her confidence and making her believe that she didn't know simple things that she was fully aware of. Even with all of that going on, Lela was still determined to prove to Tanner, and herself, that she could do this. Little did she know though, that Tanner was telling himself the exact same thing.
Lela: "Cause I"
Tanner: "Can"
Lela: "Sing"
Tanner: "I"
Lela & Tanner: "Swear it's true
I'm just a little nervous in front of you"
Tanner and Lela sent each other shy smiles after realising that they were both having the same concerns. Despite that though, Tanner still had a few issues surrounding their duet, which would no doubt end in disaster if they weren't resolved…at least that's what he thought anyway.
Tanner: "So who's on the third?
I think I'm better at melody
Oh I'm going to get it wrong
Should we try another song?
No? Ok"
After Tanner's suggestion was met with a shake of his girlfriend's head, he decided to just stay quiet until the chorus, feeling incredibly awkward for some strange reason, especially around Lela, which had never happened before.
Lela: "Let's just go for a take
And see how we sound
My heart is beating fast
Oh vocal chords please last
Here we go"
Lela was feeling awkward too, which worried her slightly. She wasn't supposed to get nervous around Tanner, they were meant to be together, there was no need to be nervous. But little did they know the only reason that they were so nervous around each other was because they were both so worried about impressing their significant other that it was impacting on their confidence in themselves.
Lela: "Cause I"
Tanner: "Can"
Lela: "Sing"
Tanner: "I"
Lela & Tanner: "Swear it's true
I'm just a little nervous in front of you"
Lela: "Ah do do do do"
Tanner: "Ah do do do do"
Lela: "Ah do do do do"
Tanner: "Ah do do do do
Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah"
Lela: "Ah ah ah ah ah"
Tanner: "La da da da da"
Lela: "Ah ah ah ah"
Lela & Tanner: "Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh ah ah"
The couple went off track from their song for a few counts, free-styling a bit and testing out their vocal chords again because apparently they'd gotten a bit rusty from lack of use. Through this improvisation process however, Lela and Tanner were finally starting to become more comfortable around each other again and they were managing to relax into the song and enjoy themselves. They shot each other reassuring smiles and gradually their duet turned into a song where they were pretty much just praising their own efforts of singing. With a few ad-lib moments and some small laughs between lines, they were fully jamming out to their simple little song, completely oblivious to the world around them.
Lela: "Hey we sound good"
Tanner: "Yeah we sound good"
Lela: "Yeah we sound good"
Tanner: "We sound so good"
Lela: "Yeah we sound good"
Tanner: "Da da da da da da da da da"
Lela: "Da da da da"
Tanner: "We sound so good, we sound so"
Lela: "Yeah we sound good"
Tanner: "Yeah oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh"
Lela: "Yeah yeah ooh"
Tanner: "Da da da da da"
Lela: "Ooh"
Tanner: "La da da da da"
Lela: "Yeah we sound good
Yeah we sound good"
Tanner: "Yeah yeah na na oh"
Lela: "Yeah we sound good"
Tanner: "We sound so sound so good"
Lela: "Yeah"
Tanner: "Yeah na na na na na"
Lela: "Yeah we sound good"
Tanner stopped playing and Lela's last line trailed off until her note was barely audible anymore as the pair stared rather awkwardly at each other, both very embarrassed but unaware of what had caused them to feel that way. Their freestyle session came to a rather abrupt ending after the two teens realised that they were beginning to sound a little bit narcissistic. Plus, something didn't feel right, but neither of them knew what it was yet. Lela was the first to speak up about it though as Tanner started to strum the simple chord pattern again.
Lela: "I think I messed up
I just wanted to improvise
Shall we try another day?"
Lela's suggestion came as a surprise to Tanner, although neither of them were exactly confident throughout the song, it didn't sound bad, at least he didn't think so.
Tanner: "I think I sounded great so…"
Tanner trailed off as Lela shot him a puzzled look. Maybe he was right, maybe it wasn't as terrible as she was making herself think that they were. From this experience, Lela learnt that although you may not be perfect at something straight away, as long as you believe in yourself then there's no way that you could possibly fail. So what if she hadn't been doing a lot of singing with Tanner lately? That wasn't going to stop her from trying again in the future, it just meant that they were going to have to practice more often, which definitely wasn't a bad thing if it required her spending more time with her boyfriend. So as they sang the final chorus, Lela got up from her chair and stepped over to the railing that surrounded the porch area of Big Momma's, with Tanner following her actions.
Lela: "Cause I"
Tanner: "Can"
Lela: "Sing"
Tanner: "I"
Lela & Tanner: "Swear it's true
I'm just a little nervous in front of you"
The couple were side by side at this point and as they sang the last line, they turned to face each other, their eyes meeting once again. They each let out a small laugh as Tanner put his ukulele down on the table that they'd just been sat at. Although their duet had not been as perfect as they had intended, they had still really enjoyed themselves, and that's what mattered.
Tanner turned back to Lela and shot her a smile as he took a step closer to her. They didn't realise how close they actually were until it got to the point where their chests were pressed together and they were pretty much sharing the same air. Tanner wrapped his arms around Lela's waist as Lela's hands delicately clasped the base of Tanner's neck, bringing their faces even closer together. Loved-up smiles curled at the couple's lips, which were touching within seconds. Lela's finger tips gently ran through the hair on the back of Tanner's head as the kiss continued, whereas Tanner's hands only moved upwards to try to bring Lela as close to him as physically possible. The same smiles were plastered across their faces when they eventually broke apart, although it wasn't for long because even though Lela didn't go in for another kiss, she snuggled her head into Tanner's chest, breathing in the scent of the ocean as she let her eyes slide shut. She had definitely needed a break because this felt like bliss.
Ehhh…that wasn't very good, was it? In fact, that was terrible, I'm sorry that you had to read that. I'd like to apologise again for it not being very good after making you wait so long for an update, I just haven't had the time to write and when I have gotten the chance to I just have no ideas. Sorry!
The song that I used is called (funnily enough) An Awkward Duet (I wonder where I got the name for the one-shot from ;D) and it's by Dodie Clark and Jon Cozart. It's a really cute song and as soon as I heard it I knew that I had to include it in one of my stories!
I didn't get any feedback about improving my OC last chapter, so for now I'm just going to leave it. Until I know what I need to do to make her seem more believable I'm just going to drop the matter and only include her in one-shots if someone has a specific prompt that requires her to be there. I hope that you don't mind! (Even though I doubt that anyone reads these author's notes).
Like I said last chapter, I'm going to be giving away the title of the next one-shot at the end of each story. So the next one-shot is going to be called Prank After Prank After Prank and it's going to be about: (you've guessed it) pranks. I have a few of the pranks planned out but I don't have enough ideas for pranks, so I'd really appreciate it if you could leave some suggestions for me! If you want a specific person to pull the prank or you have a certain person you would like to have it pulled on then include that as well. I'll try to use as many as I can in the story!
Thank you for reading!
-cherrygorilla