Chapter 11 - Expressions

Mike smiled as he watched Susan pour him a bowl of cereal. He had stopped insisting that she not wait on him a while ago, as she would listen to none of it. She even poured the milk and placed a spoon next to the bowl before returning to the kitchen counter to get herself something to eat. When she turned to take a place at the table she saw an expression on Mike's face that suggested he was in pain and trying to hide it.
"Mike? What's wrong?"
"My wrist again." When he had gone to pick up his eating utensil his forearm had exploded in pain yet again. "Doc said I'll probably have pain the rest of my life."
Susan wanted to say something so badly, she literally had to bite her tongue. Although Mike let her serve him, he'd asked her not to talk about the hit and run. He knew better than to tell Susan not to look into things, especially big important things like people trying to kill Mike, but she had foolishly agreed not to say anything.
So Susan stayed quiet. But the more she didn't ask about that night, the more the tension seemed to grow. She knew the mystery of Who Hit Mike would be hanging over their heads until it was solved. Mike knew it too, but it was something neither of them wanted to admit. They were engaged and they wanted to enjoy every minute of the rest of their lives together. Knowing they were in it for the long haul helped with the denial.
"Here, I'll get that." Susan offered to take Mike's dish to the sink, kissing the top of his head as she went by. He grabbed her wrist, pulling her on to his lap.
"Ah!" Susan yelped, barely saving the dishes from falling on the floor. Mike kissed her, an unneccessary reminder that no matter what, she was stuck with him for good this time.
"I love you too." Susan told him when he finally released her.

Edie posed in front of what would now be the house formerly known as the Applewhite residence. She'd spoken on the phone with a man so she had put on her shortest skirt and tightest top. He was coming to the house in about five minutes; Edie had arrived early to rehearse her pitch, preparing for every possible question, including and especially "Are you free tonight?"
She was hoping he'd be relatively young and attractive. A Mike Delfino would be the best case scenario, though a single, childless version of Tom Scavo would certainly suffice. She'd missed the latest poker game to show the house to another potential buyer. Unfortunately for Edie, that person had turned out to be more of a Karen McClusky, so Edie made sure to mention the basement dungeon more than once.
An unfamiliar car came into sight and Edie adjusted her chest one last time...

"Hello, Erin."
The reactions that showed on her face would have been imperceptible to a stranger, but over the years Orson learned to read them. His greeting got no response at all, which meant Erin was in a mood.
"I'm sorry I haven't been visiting as often. I can see that you've noticed." Orson took a seat next to her by the window where the nurse always brought her for their visits. "I've met somone." He explained. "It's getting pretty serious."
Erin's eyebrows furrowed just a little. For a moment Orson thought she might be jealous, but he remembered what put her in the hospital in the first place. She didn't want his attention, not romantically anyway.
Orson looked out the window, onto the courtyard below. He looked past the nurses in blue and white scrubs and wished he was on a picnic with Bree instead of sitting here trying to explain this new woman in his life to someone who refused to speak. Erin had no one else, and Orson at the very least owed her an explanation as to why he was changing the plan.
"I did something very...impulsive." Orson said, laughing bitterly at his own sugar coating. "No, it was stupid. When I put my foot on the gas pedal and hit Mike Delfino, I wasn't thinking clearly. I saw red and thought it was the right thing, the only thing, to do. But I could have been caught. If he'd died and I'd gone to jail I'd never be able to visit you again." He watched Erin's face as her anger turned to despair. Leaning over, he took one of her hands in his. "I don't want that to happen. I want to be here for you. I want to be around when you decide to start talking again."
Orson slowly placed her hand back in her lap and patted it in a friendly way. "But...I also want to be with Bree Van de Kamp. That's the other reason I can't go through with killing the man who-"
"Mr. Hodge?"
Orson looked up to see a nurse approaching them from her desk at the far end of the hall.
"Visiting hours are almost over." she informed him politely.
"Thank you." Orson waited for the nurse to return to her post, and turned back to Erin. "It's not worth putting everything at risk. I'll find some other way to make him pay. I promise."
Erin leaned back in her chair, her expression going blank again as she stared out the window.
"I knew you'd understand." Orson stood, waiting for a response, just in case, as he always did. When will I see you again? his conscious asked on Erin's behalf. For the first time in a long while, Orson wasn't sure how to answer it.

Bree heard Danielle before she saw her, as her daughter came barreling down the stairs to the living room.
"Mom? Can I borrow the car?"
"Sure, sweetie. Where are you going?"
"Shopping with Julie. Fairview mall."
"Oh, that sounds splendid!" Bree rested the magazine she'd been reading in her lap. "Susan and I were just talking about you two rekindling your friendship. The four of us should do something together."
"Yeah, Julie mentioned that when I slept over. Sounds great!"
Bree could tell she was in a rush to get out the door. "Well, you girls enjoy yourselves. If I'm not back when you get home-"
"I won't wait up!" Danielle interrupted her, giving Bree a quick kiss goodbye on her cheek before she went for the door.
"I was going to say I'll leave some dinner on the stove!" Bree called after her, but Danielle was already gone. Bree smiled, trying to remember that teenage sense of urgency in all matters. And then she realized that Danielle had kissed her. She hadn't done that in years.
Bree went back to her magazine, an expensive one filled with home decoration tips. She saw the words but hadn't ingested any information in the last half hour, too distracted by thoughts of Orson and all they hadn't planned to do that night. Somehow they always ended up staying at home...in bed.
The phone rang; it was Gabrielle, wondering if Bree wanted to come over for coffee and a chat. Now why hadn't Bree thought of that? Before she left, Bree wrote a quick note to Danielle, always worrying as only mothers did about her daughter being out and about town. At least she was out with Julie Mayer. She was such a good influence on Danielle.

"Thank you so much for the ride, Danielle."
"And the alibi." Danielle reminded her friend. "Sneaking off to see Zach, how un-Julie of you. Are you still not allowed to see him or something?"
"I don't know...and it's not worth asking my mom right now. She and Mike act happy, but I know they're worried out of their minds about what happened to him. Mike, I mean. I don't need them worrying about me."
"Would they have a real reason to be worried?" Danielle knew parents could stress needlessly about the company their children kept, but in Zach's case it had always seemed to be justified.
"No, Zach has been really cool lately. He seems happier. More confident."
"Well if this new house is as amazing as you described it, I wouldn't be surprised. They say money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes you powerful. Did I tell you how much my dad left me for college tuition?"
"No. Oo, slow down the driveway is up here."
Danielle turned onto the property, and quickly forgot about bank accounts. "Holy shit!" she exclaimed.
"I told you." Julie flashed a grin. "Oh, I told Zach you were coming with me..."
"He has an indoor pool, right?"
"Why...did you bring your bathing suit?"
"Well I pretty much assumed Zach still hates me. I was kind of a bitch to him. Don't worry about it, I'll swim, and you guys can hang out and do whatever it is a non-couple does in a mansion, all alone, with no supervision."
"It's fine, you can hang out with us!"
Danielle sighed. She'd tried to put it nicely...
"Julie...I kind of don't want to." Danielle smiled and shrugged, handing the keys to the man in uniform who appeared next the car as she pulled up. Julie had to remind herself that although Danielle had mellowed, some parts of her would never change. And that's why she loved her.

"You haven't been to visit him at all?" Bree looked at Gabrielle with a mix of concern and understanding as her petite friend was setting out plates for the biscotti Bree brought over.
"Would you visit him, Bree? I caught him in the garage. The garage, of all places! They couldn't even leave the property to screw each other?" Gabrielle was at the point where the affair itself wasn't what made her upset anymore. She'd had too much time to stew on the details.
"I have to admit that is an odd place to choose. But you said you were getting along better with Xiao Mei lately?" Bree tactfully tried to shift the subject to something positive.
"Yes...sort of." Gabrielle sat with Bree at the kitchen counter. "One day she suddenly went back to being the old Xiao Mei: sweet, respectful...subservient."
"Hm. Maybe it's the hormones."
Gabrielle appreciated Bree's sunny outlook on the situation, even if she didn't believe any of her suggestions. How a woman with Bree's recent past could still have faith in humanity escaped Gabrielle completely. Gabrielle thought about that as she dipped the biscotti in her strong coffee, but she looked closer at the older woman's face and she could tell there was something she wasn't saying.
"Go on, say it."
"I know it feels satisfying to think that ignoring him will cause him the same pain he caused you," Bree said, the words spilling earnestly. "But Gabby, I know from experience that it will only end up hurting both of you. Rex and I did a lot of things to push each other away. We lost so much time trying to hurt each other. I can't tell you to reconcile with Carlos, but I have to tell you it is worth it to try. You never know when it's going to be too late."
Gabrielle folded her arms and rested her forehead on them. Reconcile with Carlos? She could barely think about him without wanting to smash their wedding picture. She felt Bree's hand on her arm.
"You just have to clean the slate. Tell each other that you're even."
"I don't know, Bree." Gabrielle lifted her head. "I don't know how."
"Do you still love him, Gabby?"
"If I didn't, I wouldn't be having such a problem letting this go."
"Can you still imagine yourself being with him for the rest of your life?"
"We're having a baby together. When we planned it, that's what I was imagining, but now..."
Bree smiled sadly. "It can't just be for the baby. A happy family needs two happy parents." Gabrielle had a chance to repair and keep things that had been broken and lost in Bree's life, is what she was trying to say. Things that she'd trade her future for if she could get them back from the past. But the future could only be used to improve on the present. "Visit him, Gabby. Give him a chance to say he's sorry."
"He won't. He'll blame it all on me, I can already hear it."
"Give him a chance to prove you wrong. The bigger regret will come from not doing it sooner." Bree matched Gabrielle's smile. "Now, I am truly sorry to do this, but I have to go."
"See? I want that glow."
Bree looked at Gabrielle quizzically. "What glow?"
"The one you get every time you're off to see Orson. That new relationship glow."
"I think you can get it back, Gabby. Once you see your baby's eyes open for the first time, you'll be in a whole new world."

Bree stopped to get her mail on the way back to her house, but the box was empty. She noticed someone on her front step and her lips parted in a smile. Orson waved with one hand, and held up the other which was full of envelopes.
"I got your mail," he told her when she came close enough. "I didn't peek, I promise."
Bree didn't go for the envelopes right away. Instead she put her arms around his neck, pulled him close and told him how much she'd missed him. "I missed you."
They'd only been apart for a day but Orson felt the same. "Me too." he said. Boy, she smelled good. Like flowers and gourmet cooking. "So what are we doing tonight?"
"Why don't we go inside and see what we can come up with?" Bree said, as suggestive as she could get in broad daylight. She led the way inside, looking at each envelope to sort out the junk from the bills.
"I know we've been staying in a lot," Orson said as he followed, taking off his suit jacket and draping it on the couch. "And I can't complain - come to think of it, you haven't complained either - but I thought maybe we could go to the theater tonight. I get comp tickets by being a donor to the theater company..." Orson trailed off, as he noticed Bree had frozen in place when she came upon a certain piece of mail. "Bree, what is it? You OK?"
"It's a postcard. From Andrew." Bree read the message to herself, distractedly handing it to Orson when she was done. He looked at the picture on the front, wondering if Bree had even seen it. GREETINGS From The Gutter, it said. It was made up to look like a spectacular showcase of whatever state the sender had been traveling through, except instead of open country and livestock it featured pictures of the homeless life in each letter. The message on the back was even more spectacular:

"Momma,

I know we'll never forgive each other for the things we've done. I just wanted Danielle to know I'm alright.

- Andrew"

Orson tossed the card aside. For such a light object it made a very heavy impact.
"Bree..." Orson saw her sit down stiffly on the couch. He wasn't sure what to say to make it right, or if there was anything at all he could do.
"I don't think I'll be very good company tonight." she said calmly. She was in full trying-not-to-fall-apart mode.
"We don't have to do anything, I'm fine just sitting here with-"
"Orson, I'm sorry. I just want to be alone."
"...There's nothing I can do to change your mind?"
Bree turned to face him, true sorrow in her eyes for sending him away like this. "I'm sorry."
Orson leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Don't be." Looking into her eyes he still saw everything he wanted and was willing to wait for. "I'm just a phone call away. Any time of the night, for whatever reason."
"Thank you." Bree whispered, before receiving a warm kiss goodbye on the lips. Orson picked up his jacket and realized he had the strong urge to tell Bree he loved her. He knew it wasn't the right time to say it, so he kept it inside, promising to put a smile on her face the next time he saw her.

On his way to the door, Orson glanced at the postcard one last time. If Bree had been watching she would have seen a dark expression cross his face. It was not directed at Bree, or even at Andrew, but at the situation Bree was in and the fact that he couldn't fix it. Orson's angry face was actually quite distinctive. It was an expression that would soon betray him to a man who didn't yet remember he had seen it.