TITLE: Afraid to Sleep
RATING: M
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any recognizable characters from the Reba show. I would have made Reba the movie by now.
SUMMARY: a tragic accident brings two of the most unlikely people together in a time of loss, confusion, and nightmare riddled dreams. Set around right after Van got his arena football contract.
WARNING: So….I would not normally write an entire story like this, but I had a dream that sparked this thought and it can no longer be ignored! Be advised, there are character deaths, and I'm not entirely sure where I'm taking this yet. Just please bear with me.
"Van…mmmm…please…." Reba panted and Van finally pulled away from her. Reba knew her lips were swollen because Van's were. They were going to have to find a way to get upstairs without being seen because Kyra would know instantly what was going on. They made it up the stairs and into the separate bedrooms . As Reba laid down in bed she realized she missed Van being so close to her, like on the nights when he rushed to her side after a nightmare, she also realized it was getting harder and harder to say no to him…..TBC
Ch.9: First Fight
Reba was surprised at how well Van adjusted to being her assistant. He actually wasn't half bad at his job when he wasn't spending his time in the break room trying to concoct the perfect cup of coffee. Reba still got queasy when she thought of the honey, chocolate, caramel, ketchup mixture he had managed to get her to try. Then she started to notice Van getting restless. He had been working for her for three weeks and he suddenly wanted to go out to the open houses with her.
"Can I come with you today?" Van asked and Reba tried quickly to think of an excuse for why he couldn't go. "Did you alphabetize the files?" Reba asked. Van looked at her. "I did already." "Well….Van….we are trying a new system, and they have to be alphabetized and then…..arranged by date! Have you done that?" Reba asked and Van glared at her. "No, I haven't. You're just trying to keep me from going with you, I'm your assistant I should go!" Van said and stomped his foot. "Van, that is exactly why you can't go, you have a tendency to be a little childish and the last thing I need is for you to be talking them into trying one of your awful coffee concoctions." Reba said trying to remain calm. Van saw Mr. Yearling pass by and he stopped him. "Mr. Yearling, she won't let me go with her and I've finished all the work she gave me!" Van said and Mr. Yearling looked at Reba. "Take him with you, it might make things easier on you." He said and continued on. Van smiled triumphantly and Reba growled and headed off towards the car.
Twenty minutes later they were showing a young couple a house and Reba was already mortified by Van's approach. "The fireplace mantle is good for stretching!" Van said and kicked his foot up onto the mantle. Reba walked over to him, smacked him upside his head and turned to the stunned couple. "I apologize for my assistant, it's his first time to be involved in an open house and he forgets that he's only supposed to stand there and look pretty." Reba said and led the couple into the kitchen. "Now, the kitchen is beautiful, it has stainless steel appliances along with gorgeous marbled counter tops, plenty of cabinet space, and space for a sizable table." "Hey, Doug, while Reba is showing your wife the boring stuff let's go check out the court and shoot some hoops!" Van said and made a swishing motion before dragging the man away leaving Reba with the wife. "I really do apologize." Reba said before moving on to the next room. As they headed upstairs and Reba looked out the window she could see the two in the backyard playing one on one. Reba's mouth became dry as she noticed that Van was shirtless. His toned body running back and forth. Reba shook her head and refocused on the woman, but not for long, she soon saw how sweaty Van was becoming and how his mouth opened as he tried to catch his breath and Reba became stuck with the most inappropriate visual images to be having at a time like this.
As they headed back downstairs the guys were coming in and Reba noticed Doug was sweaty, and shirtless as well, but she still had a hard time keeping her eyes off of Van. Her phone rang, and upon seeing that it was Kyra Reba excused herself into the next room and listened to her daughter talk about how Elizabeth had gotten sick and gave her instructions on what to do and explained that she and Van would be home shortly. She knew the deal was blown anyways. When she hung up and returned, she noticed that they were nowhere in the house, but instead were out front and….all huddling over her car? Reba went out to see what was going on and as soon as Van spotted her he ran up to her, picked her up and screamed "I sold them the house!" Reba was so shocked, and so mad at the same time that she didn't know what to say. He had apparently showed the wife the garden while she was on the phone, and convinced them to sign the papers with the house's original offer. Reba smiled at the couple. "Um…we are going to have to finish hammering things out in my office tomorrow. Van, Elizabeth is sick, and Kyra is at her wits end. We need to get home." Van nodded and they parted with the couple. The drive home was awkward and Van could feel anger and tension pouring off of Reba's body. Reba was at least grateful that Van had put his shirt back on. "Why are you mad?" Van finally asked and Reba glared at him. "You know exactly why I'm mad, and we can discuss this later right now we need to check on Elizabeth." Reba said as she parked the car in the driveway.
"Mom, I let Jake go play at a friend's house earlier before Elizabeth got sick." Kyra said and Reba nodded. Reba noticed Elizabeth was sleeping on the couch with a trash can beside her and Kyra continued "I spoke to her friend Mimi's mom. Apparently Mimi's older brother had a 24 hour stomach bug and when Elizabeth was over she must have caught the remains of what was hanging around." Kyra said and Reba nodded. Elizabeth stirred and woke. "I want Daddy, and Mommy" she began to cry and Van sat down beside her and began stroking her hair. Elizabeth looked up and saw Reba and she said to her "Mommy, I don't feel good." Reba knelt down beside her in time for Elizabeth to lean over and throw up into the trashcan. Kyra had already put her hair back for her so Van and Reba rubbed soothing circles on her back. Reba went and got her some ginger ale and she took a couple of sips before falling asleep again. Meanwhile, Kyra went upstairs to shower, since she still smelled a little like vomit, and Reba cleaned out the small trashcan and set it back by Elizabeth's head.
"We still need to talk about why you're so mad." Van said and Reba turned to him and glared. "Fine, upstairs. Now." Reba said and Van followed her up and shut the door to her room so they wouldn't wake Elizabeth. Van turned to her. "No, I don't know why you're so mad. So why are you?" Van asked and Reba turned on him seething "What you did today was so unprofessional on so many levels. First you go over my head when I originally refused to let you come with me, then you pull the stunts that you did! Those stunts are EXACTLY the reason why I wouldn't let you come with me! You may look like a man, but inside you're immature and you've still yet to grow up! Stretching on the mantle? Playing shirtless one on one with the client?" Van started to say something and Reba cut him off. "NO! I don't want to hear it! As if all that wasn't enough, you had the nerve to 'make the sale'! Van! You don't have a license! What you did is illegal, and if anything would have been finalized today before I got back out to where you were you could have been in serious trouble! The fact that you did something so irresponsible! You've acted like a complete monkey's butt, no scratch that, a complete mo-ron all day! Just when I think you've grown up, and changed, you pull some crap like this!" Reba yelled and began pacing. "Well, I thought I was helping!" Van yelled back. "I thought that when I made that sale that you would be so proud of me! Well, I guess I was wrong." He said getting quieter. "You aren't proud of me, and with the way you treated me today, you're ashamed of me. You think I'm an idiot. Well, I get that I'm a goofball, but I'm NOT an idiot. Just because I'm not as smart as you are and trying to learn by going with you, doesn't make me an idiot." Van said and continued even quieter than before.
"I have grown up, that process began the moment Cheyenne got pregnant, and continued on after Elizabeth was born. Then after Cheyenne, Brock, Barbra Jean, and Henry died in that crash, I stepped in and grew up because my family needed me. You needed me. I grew up enough to comfort you in the middle of the night when your nightmares decide to haunt you, and I grew up enough to fall in love with someone as grown up as you." Van said and turned and walked out of her bedroom equally angry, and hurt…..TBC
NO ONE KILL ME! I NEEDED A GOOD CLIFFHANGER! I WILL UPDATE AGAIN SOON I SWEAR!
