A/N: Fluffy cottonswabish goodness!
Thunder rumbled outside and Lola sat on her couch next to Bugs, who was enthralled with the horror flick they were watching.
She glanced at her phone and let out a sigh, which Bugs noticed.
"Not likin' the movie?"
"No, I love this movie."
Bugs looked over at her. "Then what's the matter, it's almost at the best part."
A blood curdling scream came from the television and Bugs quickly looked back.
"Aww man!" He picked up the remote and proceeded to rewind back to what he missed.
Lola fought the smile that was creeping onto her face. She was glad to be with someone that was into horror movies the way she was.
He noticed her looking at him out of the corner of his eye and smirked.
"What?"
"Nothing. Just happy."
"What was the sigh for then?"
"Nah, don't worry about it. I don't want to ruin the night." Lola reached for the popcorn and shoved a handful into her mouth.
Bugs paused the movie and looked over at her.
"C'mon…"
Lola grumbled, but conceded. "It's Lily."
"Oh." Bugs leaned back.
"She hasn't talked to me in over a month. She won't return my messages or answer her phone when I call."
"And that's a problem?" Bugs chuckled.
She elbowed him and stifled a laugh. "I'm serious! She's really mad at me, and won't talk to me about it."
"Don't worry so much. She'll get over it." He pushed play again and continued to watch the movie
"I dunno. This is Lily we're talking about. I can't stop thinking about it."
Bugs slipped his arm around her shoulder and scooted closer.
"Hmm…I wonder if there's anything I could possibly do to get your mind off of it…"
She gave him a sultry look and leaned into him. "I could think of a few things…"
Just as the space between them was about to close, Lola's front door swung open.
Wind blew in, blowing a few papers off her coffee table, and lightning struck in the distance, illuminating a figure that stood in the doorway, dripping from the rain.
They both turned, more annoyed than concerned.
"Speak of the devil." Bugs' voice was very deadpan. Another scream erupted from the TV, which would've made the scene more humorous, had Lola not been so concerned.
"Lily!" Lola quickly jumped to her feet and approached her waterlogged sister.
Lily's head hung low and she spoke in a barely audible voice.
"How could you…"
Lola let out an agitated sigh as her concern faded when she realized that her sister wasn't going to take the mature route.
"Answer me!" Lily's head shot up and her eyes met Lola's.
Lola put her hands on her hips and glared at her.
"You drove all the way from San Francisco so ask me this, when I've been calling you for over a month? I'm not going to make excuses for who I date or why, because of your delusional fantasies!"
"But why him? Of all people!"
Bugs went un-noticed as he looked back and forth between the feuding sisters and ate popcorn.
"Double feature."
Lola grew more agitated and lowered her eyes.
"Not that it's any of your business, but I didn't pursue him, he pursued me!"
Lily scoffed in disbelief. "He what?"
Lola's arms stiffened at her sides and her hands clenched into fists.
"Why do you find that so hard to believe?!"
"Because you're…you!" Lily suddenly noticed Bugs sitting on the couch and he waved at her.
"GAH!" She fell backwards against the wall, leaving a large wet spot on Lola's wallpaper.
"What is he doing here?!"
Lola crossed her arms again and rolled her eyes. "We were watching a movie! Did you not notice his car parked out front?"
"Oh." Lily turned and looked out the still open front door and saw Bugs' car. She looked back sheepishly and put her hands behind her back. "I guess not."
"You had me worried sick, ya know! You wouldn't answer my calls, and Ma said even she couldn't get a hold of you! I was half tempted to drive up to San Francisco and smack the stupid out of you!"
"You called mom? Does she know?"
"I haven't told her. I thought you would've."
Lily turned away and crossed her arms. "I've been in my room crying all month and tracking down Lenny's asshole father, so I could get away and see this for myself!"
Lola threw her hands up and paced back and forth. "You're being ridiculous! You can't lay claim on a person! I can date whoever I want!"
Lily looked over her shoulder with a glare. "There are un-written rules about dating the guys that your friends or sisters are interested in!"
"What the hell? 'Un-written rules'? That's the most retarded thing I've ever heard!"
Lily turned and looked at Bugs.
"You've heard of the un-written rules, right?"
Bugs put his hands up defensively. "Whoa, I'm stayin' outta this…"
Lily slumped back against the wall and teared up.
Lola sighed and walked over to her. "Lil, you're acting like a teenager."
Lily refused to make eye contact, and instead looked down at the floor. "You didn't even like him…"
"How would you know who I liked, you never cared about that before. All you cared about was how you felt, and getting your way. It's not until I get something that you want, that you give a damn."
"Ooh, burn." Bugs said under his breath while he continued eating popcorn. Lola tossed him and amused look.
"It's not fair." Lily put her hands over her face and started to cry.
Lola rolled her eyes and put her hand on Lily's shoulder.
"Geez, you're being selfish."
"I am not. This is the one thing I've wanted my entire life, and you took it away from me."
Lola sighed and looked back to Bugs, not sure of how to handle the situation.
"I uh, I think I should go." Bugs stood up and brushed his pants off for any stray popcorn kernels.
Lola turned to him. "No, don't go."
"I don't want to get involved in this. This is between the two of you."
"I know but…"
He put a hand on her shoulder and leaned close to whisper.
"You can handle it. Just, get this squared away with your sister, alright? I'll see ya tomorrow and we can finish not watching that movie."
He kissed her on the cheek and winked at her as he made his way to the front door. He gave a sympathetic wave to Lily and shut the door behind him.
Lola grumbled and turned angrily to her sister.
"What?" Lily looked at her innocently.
"Stho, have fun last night?" Daffy elbowed Bugs as they wrapped up the final scene of the day.
"Not as much as I would've liked."
Daffy rubbed his chin thoughtfully and smirked. "Really? She doesthn't sthrike me asth the, "hold back" kinda girl."
Bugs glared at him, then raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure how to take that."
"Blondesth have more fun, right?"
"You should know, you married one."
"Three Bugs…three." He emphasized by holding up three fingers.
"Whatever. She's not that type of girl. Doesn't matter anyway, not with her sister showin' up in the middle of nowhere."
Daffy faked a gasp and smacked his arm. "Bugsth! You didn't!"
Bugs gave him a confused expression, that turned into an irritated one. "Wha? Shut up you pervert! Not like that! I left after she showed up."
Daffy laughed to himself as Lola walked up to them.
"Still at the dirty innuendos phase?" Lola smirked and put a hand on her hip.
"Of course." Bugs nodded.
Daffy looked back and forth and crossed his arms.
"What, you two have a systhem on how to rate how I act?"
"I don't know what you're talkin' 'bout Daff…" Bugs turned to Lola and let out a sigh.
"So, how'd it go?"
"Uhm, in a word, horrible. She's too stubborn; I can't seem to get through to her. But she's shut up for now. She's heading home this afternoon."
"Strange that she would waste such a long trip, just for that."
"She's Lily, her and logic rarely meet. She thrives on drama."
"Sthay, not to interject but, why even be where people can show up at random?"
They both turned to Daffy.
"What do you mean?" Lola raised an eyebrow.
"I mean, why be at your house where your sthister can show up anytime, when you could go to Bugs'th house where she'll never find ya."
Lola turned to Bugs and pushed his arm.
"Hey, ya know what; I haven't even been to your house yet!"
Bugs looked side to side, then back at her. "So?"
"So? Why are we always at my place?"
"I like your house. It's quaint." Bugs shrugged.
"Well, I wanna see your house." Lola crossed her arms.
"Yeah! Show her your house Bugsth!" Daffy poked him a few times and Bugs smacked his hand away.
"Shut up Daffy." He turned to Lola again. "Fine, we'll go to my house."
"Good. Tonight?"
"Uh, sure." Bugs scratched the back of his head.
"You don't have anything you wanna hide do ya?" Lola teased him.
"No…"
"Ok then." Lola looked at Daffy. "Any other comments you'd like to add?"
"Don't uh…hmm…no, I'm out."
Bugs stopped his car at the entrance to a gated community and stared forward for a moment.
"What's the problem?" Lola looked over at him, confused.
He let out a sigh. "Look, promise ya won't think differently of me once you've seen my house, ok?"
"Why would I think of you any different?"
Bugs looked at her seriously.
"What, your house a mess?" Lola tried to lighten his expression by cracking a joke.
He smiled. "No, I'm a near freak, you know that." He pulled up to the gate and it opened.
He continued driving down the road for about a mile, whilst Lola gawked at the mansions they passed by.
"You live in a house like these? I thought you lived in a hole!"
"Those are cartoons, Lo."
"I know, but still."
They finally arrived at a very large gate, which opened to reveal the largest mansion Lola had ever seen in her life.
Her mouth hung open, gawking at the expansive lawn that stretched on for acres of perfectly manicured trees and hedges.
"It's…a fucking castle!"
Bugs raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"It's…wow! What's the square footage of this place?"
"About 100 thousand, I think. I'm not really sure anymore."
They got out of the car and Lola stood on the cobblestone driveway and looked around at her surroundings.
Bugs opened his front door and whistled to get her attention.
She stumbled in, still lost in her amazement of the sheer size and beauty of the place.
It was immaculate, masculine and modern, but still warm and inviting, which surprised her. The ceilings were more than 20 feet high, and she strained her neck to look up and take in everything.
"That's the biggest friggin' fire place I've ever seen in my life!" Lola emphasized by pointing at it with her eyes wide open.
Bugs walked over to the large, antique couch in front of the fire place and leaned on it.
"Care for a tour or…"
"Yes, tour!" She smiled excitedly.
After showing her most of the things worth showing in his house, and they made their way up the stairs to the second floor, which led down a long hallway.
"So where does this lead to?" Lola asked, dragging her hand along the wall as she walked. She admired the deep rich colors on the wall and rug, and the simple yet ornate wood that bordered the walls and door frames.
"My room."
"And what are these rooms, guest rooms?"
He nodded. "Pretty much."
"Had a lot of people here at one time?"
"Sometimes. Family and friends mostly…"
"That's sweet."
He shrugged and reached for large double doors at the end of the hall. He opened them and stepped inside, followed closely by her.
"Whoa…" Lola walked in and stood in the middle of Bugs' massive bedroom suite.
"This is bigger than my house!"
"That's the 75th time you've said that today." He smirked and sat at the foot of his gigantic bed.
She ignored him and walked around his room, spinning as she did so. Looking at various bits and pieces of his life.
"Keeping track, eh?" She walked up to his bedroom window and peered out.
"Ooh, balcony!"
"All the bedrooms have balconies."
"I'll bet this one's the biggest." She looked over her shoulder at him and he smirked.
She closed the curtains and continued inspecting his room. She walked into his bathroom and flicked on the lights.
"Also huge, am I sensing a theme here?"
She peeked outside the bathroom and giggled.
He eyeballed her suspiciously and smiled. "What're you getting at?"
"You're not over-compensating for something are you?"
"I can assure you, no." He laughed and crossed his arms.
"Hmm…" She went back into his bathroom and hummed to herself.
"What are you doin'?"
"Looking through all your stuff, what do you think I'm doing?"
She opened his medicine cabinet and tilted her head.
"God, nothing."
He appeared in the door way and leaned against the door frame. "What d'ya mean nothin'? It's full of crap."
"Nothing incriminating I mean."
Bugs laughed. "You've been tryin' so hard all day. When are ya gonna give up?"
"Closet…I'll look in your closet." She poked his nose as she walked past him and made her way to his closet.
He smiled and jokingly rolled his eyes and followed her.
She flung his closet doors open and walked into his large walk-in closet.
"Wow…this is-"
"Bigger than your house? 76 my dear."
"Oh hush." She laughed and looked around.
"Nice suits! Ooh, and shirts." She tugged on the sleeves of a few and shook them lightly.
"That is what goes in closets." He crossed his arms and watched her flip through his clothes.
"No dresses though. Poo." She walked up to him and put her hands on her hips.
"Heh. Oh, I've hidden those well." He joked and stepped aside letting her pass.
She walked up to his bed and sat on the edge.
"Your house is…amazing."
He sat next to her, near the head of the bed. "Thank you…"
"I can't believe you never took me here before!"
"And I can't believe it's not butter!"
She gave him a sarcastic look and laughed. "Man, you're a dork."
"Am I now?" He leaned back and gave her a mischievous look.
"Yep. A neat freaky, big house-ed, uber dork."
"Them's fightin' words."
Before Lola could react, she was knocked upside the head by a large pillow.
She regained her composure and reached for a "weapon" of her own.
"You asshole! Hitting an unarmed lady!"
She swung at him and missed and he knocked her in the side, causing her to fall over again.
He stood at the side of the bed and smirked.
"Call me a dork will ya? I'll whoop yer ass, lady or not!" He whacked her in the back of the head with the pillow again and she used her pillow as a shield.
Her muffled laughter vibrated the bed as he stepped up onto it and straddled over her and prepared to whack her again.
Just as he was about to swing, she kicked her leg out and tripped him, causing him to fall onto her.
She held onto him and whacked him as many times as she could with her pillow before he was finally able to lift himself up onto his hands. He grabbed her arm as it was about to swing and hit him again, and shoved his pillow in her face with his free hand.
She released her pillow and grabbed onto him with every free limb, and tried to roll over on top of him to gain the upper hand, but he fought back and they wound up rolling off the side of the bed, into a large pile of sheets and pillows.
He landed on top of her again, and she hit him with the pillow in the back, tiredly.
"How come I always land on the bottom?"
"Jelly side down, Lo."
"What are you saying, that you're the nut?"
He smiled at her before smacking her with a pillow again on the side of the head.
"Grr!" She tried sitting up to add momentum to her swings, but he pinned her down and whacked her in the head again.
"You suck!" She struggled to break free of his grasp, but the weight of him held her down and she eventually tired out.
"Uncle?" He looked down at her and smiled.
She tried not to smile and grumbled. "Uncle. Let me up, fatty."
He whacked her with the pillow again. "What did you call me?" He laughed.
"You're heavy! Lemme up!"
He whacked her again and she cried out in mock frustration.
"Bugs!"
And again.
"Alright!"
And again…
"You're not fat! Ok? I'm sorry!"
And again…
"Gah!"
He stared down at her again and she winced, preparing to get hit again. Instead he leaned down and kissed her forcefully causing her stiffened body to relax and melt into his. She wrapped her arms around his neck, releasing her tight hold on her pillow. He also let go of his pillow and ran his hands up her arms to hold onto her shoulders and keep her in place.
She gripped onto the back of his shirt and wrapped her legs around him as if to bring him closer than he already was to her. He reached a hand up to run it through her hair and grip onto it. He tilted his head to deepen the kiss and she moaned into his mouth.
There was suddenly a loud, rumbling, alien-type sound that seemed to emanate from them.
This caused them to stop and stare at each other for a brief moment. Bugs hung breathlessly above her by an inch with a questioning expression.
"What the hell was that? Was that you or me?"
"I think it was both of us." Lola too was out of breath.
"When…was the last time we ate?"
She look to the side to think about it more deeply. "We ate today?"
Bugs buried his face in her neck and laughed. She hugged him and laughed too.
He sat up on his knees and sighed. "C'mon, let's go eat somethin'."
He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet with him as he stood.
"Damn stomach…"
He walked towards the door and grabbed a pillow off the floor.
"Hey!"
He turned around to a pillow being thrown at his face. He caught it and tossed it on the bed.
"Hey what?"
"After seeing this place, you better damn well believe you're taking me somewhere fancy, at least once!"
He smiled. "Of course…"
Lola looked over the menu in front of her in awe.
"I've never been to a place where everything on the menu was over 50 dollars."
"Ya wanted fancy, ya got fancy. L'Orangerie is one of the best French restaurants in Hollywood."
"We got in without reservations didn't we?"
He nodded and she giggled to herself as she clutched the menu.
"Hehe, this is so cool. I wish I had a tiara, or something dumb like that."
Bugs smiled. "Who's the dork again?"
"Shut up." She continued leafing through the menu. "Hey, how come everything's in French?"
"What part of 'French restaurant' didn't ya get?"
She tried to kick at him, but was too far away to reach.
"Just pretend I kicked you, ok?"
"Duly noted."
She glanced around the restaurant, and chuckled to herself, realizing she was severely under dressed.
"Bet it costs a fortune just to get in this place.
"Nah, it's only 100 dollars a head or something, I think."
She threw him a sarcastic look that went un-noticed. "Oh, only 100…"
"This is very foreign to you, ain't it?"
"Well duh! The ritziest place I've been to is the Olive Garden."
Bugs laughed and leaned back in his chair. "You're hilarious."
"I'm not kidding."
"I know, I love it."
"Well I'm glad I entertain you." She looked down at her menu and noticed she couldn't understand any of it. "What is, "Lah Canard dey Barbie eh la Trooffe Noirie?""
Bugs continued laughing. "You mean, Le Canard de Barbarie et la Truffe Noire? Aren't you from Louisiana?"
"Details."
He shook his head in amusement and looked back down at his menu. "It's duck and black truffles I believe."
"Have you ever had it?"
"I'd never hear the end of it, if I did..."
Lola smirked.
"What is good then, none of this menu makes sense."
"Depends on what ya like, I guess."
"They got snails on here?"
"Yes."
She turned her nose up and raised her shoulders. "Eww gross! Let's get some."
He raised his eyebrow at her and tilted his head. "You eat snails?"
"No, I just want to see it!"
He shrugged and went back to his menu. "Alright. You can get whatever you want."
"Really? I want some of those fancy French cheeses. They got those here too?"
"Of course…"
"Sweet…"
He regarded her for a moment and smiled. "You're so…refreshing."
Lola looked up at him. "That's a good thing, right?"
"Yes."
She smiled back. "Wine, we have to have that fancy wine too. Can we taste everything?"
"If you want."
"I've never had restaurant wine before. I buy all mine at the grocery store."
"Well do you want red, or white?"
"Can we try both?"
"Well there's many kinds of red and white too ya know. Are you sure ya wanna try them all?"
She scratched her chin and nodded. "You're right. I don't want to get shitfaced. Maybe just one of each."
Bugs smacked the table and laughed. "I'm driving, so get as shitfaced as ya want."
"Yes well, I'm not entirely sure I'll be able to trust you." She gave him a sly look.
"I promise, I'll be a perfect gentleman."
"Well, not I'm disappointed."
He smirked and set his menu down and watched her.
"Thank you for taking me here."
"No problem."
"So what are you getting?"
"Ravioli I guess..."
"I want meat." Lola set down her menu.
"Then get meat."
"I will then."
"Fine."
"Alright then."
"Do it then."
"I will."
"Ok."
They both stared at each other, confused by what had just happened until a waiter broke their silence.
"Um, monsieur, are you ready to order?"
"Yeah uh…I'll have the Foie Gras Chaud, and she'll have…uhm, meat."
The waiter gave him a quizzical look. "Erm, what kind of meat monsieur? We have un poisson, et Le Boeuf, et Veau de Lait, er…L'Agneau?"
Lola looked back and forth at them with a confused expression.
"Whaa…?"
"You want fish, beef, lamb, or pork?"
"Beef…I guess. Whichever."
"Yeah and uh, she wants to sample your cheeses and escargot."
The waiter raised an eyebrow but wrote everything down and nodded, not daring to question him.
"Anything else, some wine perhaps?"
"Yeah…uh, both."
"Both monsieur? Red et white?"
"Yeah."
"Which type would you like?"
"Whichever's most expensive, I don't care…"
"Very well, I will be right back with her…cheese."
He took both of their menus and walked off.
As soon as he was out of earshot they both snickered.
"She'll have meat and….cheese!" Lola rested her head on the table and continued to laugh.
"Do you know hard that was to keep a straight face?"
"I know! He must think we're total idiots!"
"Yeah." He put his hand up and she high-fived it.
"That was great…"
The night had come to a close, and they both stood in front of Lola's house, holding hands.
"Thanks for letting me ransack your house and humiliating you at a fancy restaurant."
He smiled and nodded.
"I had a really great time. Thanks for putting up with me."
"Thanks for not changin' the way you think of me…"
"I don't know why you think I would, but…you're welcome I guess."
"What you just said, made it even better."
Lola blushed and said nothing.
"I had a really great time too. I can honestly say I've never had a dinner quite like that before." He laughed at the thought.
Lola wiped her shirt off smugly. "Yeah, and I didn't get drunk. Successful night out, I'd say."
Bugs chuckled and looked down. "You're so weird."
"That's why you love me…" As the last word slid off her tongue, she brought her hands to her mouth as if to stop what she'd already said.
(I did not just say the "L" word!) Lola watched in horror, while the emotions played across his face as he processed what she had just said.
"I'm…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to--"
"I do." Bugs cut her off.
Her arms dropped to her sides. "You what?"
"I do love you." He looked her in the eye and she could feel the sincerity radiate off of him.
She began to tear up and twisted the bottom of her shirt nervously. "R-Really?"
He took a step closer and nodded.
A tear ran down her face and she collapsed into him, taking him by surprise.
"I love you too! So much." She kissed him as hard as she could, almost making him lose his balance. He wrapped his arms around her and pushed her back until she was up against her front door.
Suddenly her porch light flicked on and they both looked up at it, stunned.
"Is someone here?"
Lola slapped her forehead. "Lily probably hasn't left like she said she would."
"Ah." Bugs stepped back.
Lola looked in her driveway and saw Lily's car still parked in the grass.
"Yep…it's her. She's probably spying on us."
Bugs gave her a mischievous smile and kissed her again.
"I'll see you tomorrow."
Lola nodded and watched him walk back to his car and drive off.
She let out a happy sigh and unlocked her front door and came face to face with her sister.
"Geez!"
Lily glared at her and stepped aside, letting Lola get passed her.
"Gee, thanks for letting me in my own house. I thought you were leaving this afternoon."
"And I thought you were coming home after work!"
"I had a change of plans." Lola set her purse down on the hall table and walked towards her room.
"Where were you?" Lily followed closely behind.
"None of your business."
"You can't just go off and not tell anyone where you're going! I was worried!"
Lola stood in her bedroom doorway and whipped around.
"Excuse me? I can't go somewhere without letting my little sister in on it? The same little sister that refused to answer her phone for a month, and freaked out her entire family?"
Lily backed up and looked defeated. "Point taken."
"I take it you're staying the night, again?"
"If that's alright…" Lily looked at the floor.
"Fine then. See you in the morning." She was about to shut her door when Lily stopped her.
"Lola…I'm…I'm sorry."
She turned and looked at her. "What are you talking about?"
"I did a lot of thinking today, and you're right. It's not right to claim someone that doesn't want me."
"Uh. Thanks."
Lily looked down and began to walk away, leaving a stunned Lola hanging onto her doorknob.
A/N: To clarify for those who care, the "Lenny" mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, is Lily's son. He'll be in later chapters.
Uh…I think this barely went anywhere but…er…I have no real excuse.
Relationship development….yeahhhhhh.
(flees)