ChapterEleven: Put Your Records On

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Note: Almost have the schedule back for the cruise. After this whole thing plays out, we'll move on a skip and go into the cruise. Sorry, again, for the extreme delay. Slight Mandon fluffiness later on. Once again. Enjoy, hopefully.

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Westchester County
Crane Household
Sunday, July 8
1:43p.m.

LC;

Celia was in the kitchen, dutifully busying herself with the process of making tea. My… father sat awkwardly, staring at his hands. He couldn't look at me, which I knew. And I couldn't really look at him either. An unfamiliar weight grasped my shoulders, making my posture stiff and tense.

My mom came back in, holding two mugs of tea. She gave one to Aaron, earning a wry, half-lipped smile, and took a feeble sip from the other. She was already aware that I didn't prefer it. I stared at the beige carpet, taking in every inch of its immense fluffiness to distract myself.

"Well, I suppose I should start from the beginning. I'd been into minor poker and gambling, albeit at casinos, before the marriage. It has to do with this slightly, I suppose. After we got married it was pretty simple. The honeymoon stage lasted way after the honeymoon, resulting in you," he replied, looking at me pointedly. I grimaced, and Celia was beginning to look a bit on-alert, setting down her tea.

"Right, so?" I prompted.

"Landon, be polite," Celia sighed half-heartedly.

Aaron released another humorless smile. "Relax, the gene runs in the family. Anyways, I'd been out one night with the guys, playing poker and blackjack and messing around. There'd been a deal made between another man and I, dealing with quite a sum of money. I was confident in my abilities though, and had the match in the bag within the first dry minutes.

"He wasn't the sort of man to give up easily though, and what can I say? I stopped going, because I knew he was pissed off. But, he found me. And for some reason he completely skipped my own son on the radar, and went straight for the wife. He threatened to kill her if I didn't come back and give him the money. But, he couldn't threaten her if I was around, because I wasn't there and he wanted it from me.

"So, as of three years ago, I'd finally taken care of everything, and was able to come back. It took a long time, I admit, and then a while to build up enough courage to come back and find you guys, but I did," he finished lowly, looking down.

Celia's hand had picked up the mug again, but was clutching it so tightly that her knuckles were white. "But you said that… you finally realized where your heart was," she accused desperately.

"I had to lie, because you can't exactly find the love of your life and inform them of that straight-up. It's… a difficult situation."

Neither of them seemed to notice when I stood up and walked out of the room, too intent on making up for lost years of love.

…

Westchester County
Block Estate
Monday, July 9
10:00a.m.

MB;

I licked a glob of Yoplait yogurt off of a spoon, savoring the peach flavor. My legs were crossed Indian-style on the stool as I stared uninterestedly at the Journal News. I drummed my fingers against the granite once again and stuck another spoonful of peachy-goodness into my mouth, grabbing my phone.

0 New Messages.

I snorted and set it back on the counter, struggling with an internal debate. I'd talked to Landon the night before, but he'd sounded distant and hadn't said much.

Really… the most detailed thing he said was that his parents were evidently still very much in love and he wasn't sure how happy he was about it. And that he was still pretty happy for his mom though.

I felt like I couldn't just call him or show up or something, because despite the fact that I was in fact the "concerned girlfriend" (people label everything), I just knew that I'd have to let him come to me. I'd noticed that; Landon didn't show it often, but he didn't like divulging major things to people.

I violently shoved another spoonful into my mouth just as Kendra walked into the room, looking quite confused at my display.

"Darling, the spoon isn't out to get you," she drawled, chuckling as she grabbed a mug and poured coffee into it unceremoniously.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I doubt that. So round and evil; the like," I retorted instantly, another forceful shove of peach-ness following.

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What's on your mind?" she asked.

I opened my mouth to respond when William walked in, straightening his tie. "Morning, dad," I greeted automatically, giving him a smile before I turned back to my attack on the breakfast dairy food.

"Is she in a mood?" I heard him whisper to Kendra.

"Boyfriend troubles," Kendra answered smoothly. Someone was obviously a whole lot more perceptive than they seemed; either that, or I was completely blatant when something was bothering me.

"Am I that obvious?" I queried, looking up.

"Well, either that or you're completely unaware that you cannot stab something with a spoon—especially yogurt. Yogurt is soft and mushy," she laughed.

I groaned and put my head on the counter.

"She's acting like she's sixteen again," William chortled. "I'll be at work. Have a good day, both of you."

"You too," I answered on reflex. However, I was still staring at where he'd been standing in bewilderment after he left.

"What just happened?"

"That, Massie, would be the product of our decision to try counseling before we move straight into… well, straight-st-straight into…" Kendra stammered, unable to get out the word.

"You don't have to say it," I assured softly.

Divorce.

I stabbed at the empty plastic carton and Kendra took it away.

"I'm driving myself insane," I muttered against the countertop.

"Actually, love is driving you insane. It has a way of doing that sometimes. You care so much that it almost hurts, but you know them well enough to stay out of it until they want you in it," she responded calmly, patting my head.

"That's a little scary sometimes," I sighed. "I'm going to call the girls, and make something out of today."

She nodded in agreement.

…

1:00p.m.

Olivia took a massive swallow of her vanilla bean Frappuccino and blinked rapidly. "Brain freeze," she stuttered.

"Derrick tried to give me a haircut last night, five minutes before claiming that he loved my hair. I'm beginning to think he wants to make a shrine for it," Kristen giggled, taking a bite out of some chocolate biscotti.

The four of us (Alicia, Kristen, Olivia, and myself) were all sitting in Starbucks. It had been a tradition in our high school years: going to Starbucks every Friday and Monday, sitting in the very back corner booth, and talking. Even when I'd veered off a little, we still met.

"I'd be a little concerned if I were you! Then again… that one time we got Chris to get drunk with us… he started to pet my hair," Alicia said in a mock-horrified voice.

They all looked at me right after that statement, making me pause halfway through licking whip cream off my straw. "What?" I demanded, making it come out without the 't' sound because of the straw.

"Oh, come on, you can't deny that Landon has never shown some sort of liking to your hair," Olivia laughed. "Josh named mine."

Yes, Josh did in fact name Olivia's hair. I think he'd named the right half Olive and the right half Via. Original, no?

"Well, whenever we sleep together lately, I normally wake up to him playing with it," I admitted. Their jaws all dropped and my eyes widened. "Oh my, God! Not like that! Do you all have a one-track mind?" I covered my face with my hands and Alicia let out a long 'Oh.'

"I was going to say…" Kristen trailed off and winked.

"You've been spending too much time with Derrington," Olivia snickered.

"He still hates that nickname," I agreed, peeling off the piece of chocolate croissant and sticking it in my mouth.

"You know, I can't help but notice that you've seemed rather violent when in the presence of utensils today," Alicia noted, pointed out the way I was stirring my drink. "I mean, it's plastic, not the Mafia."

"It might be a conspiracy," Olivia whispered, throwing a handful of glitter at us.

I sputtered out the sparkly pieces. "Where'd that come from?"

"Josh. He gives me glitter all the time," she responded dreamily.

All three of us laughed at her in response.

It felt nice, I do admit, to hang out with the girls again. In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but worry about Landon, and my parents, but I was also able to just release my worry a little and relax.

Alicia finally stopped giggling, giving a little pleased sigh at the end. "No, but seriously, Mass. Something bothering you? You know that you can tell us everything…"

They all looked at me curiously; also looking a bit worried in their own right. I shrugged finally, "The 'rents are… I don't even know. Counseling now, I guess. One minute they're arguing in the downstairs hallway, thinking I can't hear them, and the next they're laughing with each other like it's nobody's business. I mean, seriously."

I didn't tell them about Landon because it was a subject I didn't want to broach until I knew completely what exactly I was handling. Of course, I knew the gist of it, but there was probably a lot that I didn't know.

Would I ever even know it all?

…

11:30p.m.

I bit my lip and adjusted my glasses, proceeding to adjust my laptop screen and keep typing. My iPhone buzzed and it took me a second to realize that it was mine, and not some mysterious outer object.

Landon: Are you awake?

Massie: Indeed… probably will be for the next four hours.

Landon: Well…

Massie: ?

Landon: I, um, I'm kind of outside your house.

I stared at the phone for a second before literally scrambling. I struggled with my blanket and ended up falling on the floor with a loud thud. I jumped up, barely aware that I'd just face-planted and that my glasses were askew, and took off out of the room.

It was a good thing that both Kendra and William were already asleep at ten.

Going down the staircase, I nearly fell again three times, and it was like a burst of utter joy when I finally reached the front door, unlocking it and throwing it open.

Landon looked up and blinked, his eyebrows furrowing. "Did you rush down here, by chance?" he asked, looking adorable when he wrinkled his nose a little too.

"No…" I denied.

"Your glasses are sideways."

I crossed my eyes to get a better view and realized that he was right. "Oh, I knew that. I was just trying out a new look," I answered casually, grabbing the befuddled eyewear and placing it on top of my head.

He gave me a very soft smile.

Something clicked in my head and I resisted the urge to slap myself. "Come in?" I offered. He gave me an enigmatic nod and stepped inside with me, watching silently as I locked the door.

Naturally, we went upstairs into my room and I set my laptop back on the desk.

He sat lightly on the edge of my bed and I perched on the side I usually slept on, crossing my legs. "You have my full attention," I stated solemnly, setting my glasses on the nightstand. I only used them when I was reading something.

Landon looked at me for a moment, giving me a look that seemed to delve into my entire being. I started biting the inside of my lip. He opened his mouth and proceeded to close it again.

"I'm not sure how to start this," he murmured, properly sitting on my bed and looking down at his lap.

I said nothing, letting him get some cohesive thoughts, since they were evidently not into making an appearance.

He finally started to tell me and I quickly discovered that it was quite a story. Romance. Danger. Sadness. Seemingly lost hope. I just sat in raptured silence, my writer's ears tuned into every last syllable.

"I just don't know what to make of it," he finally said, leaning back. My room was dark except for the faint moonlight flooding in from the window mystically. I was a bit of a night owl, but preferred not to turn on the lights.

"I think you need to follow yourself. You already know you're happy for her, so let that be. As for your father, maybe you can try to build a relationship with him. You never did get a proper one, and now you know that he didn't want it to happen so badly. It's hard, forgiving and forgetting. I would know. But, it's either that or live with a grudge forever," I advised gently, one of my hands sitting on his arm.

Landon just nodded in agreement, mulling over the words.

Subconsciously, we'd ended up lying down. He was silently playing with my hair, deep in thought, his chin resting near my ear. It was calm and innocent and us and despite the hidden slices of raw worry, it still felt like it was right. I was immensely glad that he'd chosen to open up to me, and it seemed to have helped somewhat, albeit he'd gone into the brooding silence stage. I already knew that that would pass eventually though.

I glanced at the clock, knowing that he was probably going to get up and leave soon, since it was nearing one.

Going on a burst of pure instinct, I asked, "Do you want to stay?" It was a quiet, simple question, but I looked up to gauge his reaction.

He gazed at me for a moment, his teeth dragging across his lower lip once. It pushed right back into place and he nodded.

I smiled softly, glad that he had agreed and leaned up to give him a careful kiss. And as an end to the night (or beginning to the day since it was one in the morning), my day had been pretty successful. Despite my violent yogurt stabbing, things were looking up. Landon was opening up, my parents were trying to work things out, and Olivia had her glitter fix taken care of.

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Note: Sorry, couldn't help myself. Got to have a little fluffy crap in there. After everything. Next update shouldn't take so long. That took a horribly long time, I know. I think that the next chapter will wrap everything up before it switches to the cruise.

Ciao. Smile?

-Splattered Teardrops

PS that screen-name will be changing again soon, so if chapter twelve shows up under a different name, ignore it.