A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the brilliant, the glorious, the gorgeous;
Heartbeats77; Haha! Punching the air is the absolute best. I hope you're not disappointed that I couldn't update immediately, but I did try. And hey, at least I'm ontime, right? xD And thanks, dear (: it means the world to me!
CP2girls; Well, no, still grounded. And don't the chapters always wax too short? haha.
Audrey Jenkins; Oh, I GOT some! No, I'm just kidding haha xD Awwwwwwwwwwwwwh! That has to be the single most sweetest thing anyone has said to me in like, so frigging long! I started blushing when I read it. xD I work and work and work on my writing. You have no idea. And I decided I loved Dani too much to not let her have in on this one (the best thing; she's key in the plot). Thanks, dear! Ex oh ex oh and hearts and hugs and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Happy screams. (:
Auluna and dudeurfugly; I hope you're enjoying it so far! Let me know if there's anything I can work on (:
HeadbangGirl; Liebgott? Ensnared by Dani? And that's... trouble? Nooooooooo... okay, yessssssssss. xD Haha. Can you pretty please tell me what you think about this chapter (and I need you to especially, since you brought it up). Eeee! Happy screeching noises. Dani's baaaaaaaaaaaaaack. YAY. RLONLDKJF. :D
ruthie-r89; Lucy's bound to love Dani. I mean, who doesn't, right? haha. The entire feelings-for-Dani-on-Liebgott's-side... well, you weren't tired, I'll put it like that. Just hurry up and go read haha. And tell me what you think! (:
AnImEwIlLRuLe; I copied and pasted your name because I was too lazy to actually type it out tonight. xD OHMYGOODNESS GRACIOUS I HAVE MISSED YOU! If you haven't heard, I got grounded, therefore my phone is taken away, and... well, if you've texted me and I haven't texted you back, there's a reason and the reason is because I don't have my phone. Gr. Parents. Anyways. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it xD and I love Dani more than you do, so ha. :p
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU WHO BOTHERS READING THE AUTHOR'S NOTES; Hi. :) I'm still grounded. Sniffle! But I have my (paid-for, bought by hard earned money that I worked for myself) laptop back. Not my friends, life, phone, or any contact with the outside world except facebook (and we all know how facebook is, right? I mean, come on.)
So, cheer up my miserable and lonely existance and Review this crap so you can make my day and put a joyful smile on my sad-before-I-got-your-review face? (:
Chapter 11 - Lovely Impressions
Lucy wasn't exactly sure how she had gotten seated - all she knew was that the woman across from her, the same woman who had called herself 'Dani Shoemaker' as an alias so she could join the army, was not exactly what Lucy had been expecting, even if she wasn't even sure what she had been expecting in the first place; perhaps a woman with wild eyes, carrying a gun, and wearing a uniform. Perhaps even what Mother Dear had led her to believe; a woman with her legs wide spread, her lips pursed around a lolipop, and jutting her hip out on a street corner.
What Lucy did kno was that whatever she had been expecting, Delvina Argodale exceeded it, high and above. Her smile was bright, her stance easy, her laughter free, her voice smooth, and her words clear. The only indication that she had done what soldiers had done and seen what changed men had seen were her eyes; soft eyes, sad eyes, haunting eyes. They were eyes that stayed with you for your entire lifetime.
"Joe," she said with a welcoming smile that made it clear she was happy to see him. "I thought you weren't coming by today. What gives?"
Joe, being Joe, only gave a thumb-jerk in Lucy's direction as an answer. It was only when Dani raised an eyebrow to indicate that she needed more than this answer that he actually bothered opening his mouth.
"She's a reporter. Her mother's a bitch. She found the idea of a woman in paratroops - fuck, what was the word - fascinating."
And this woman, this admirable creature, took it all in perfect stride.
"Older females blow," she offered as sympathy to the less war-wise woman. 'Anything I can do to help, just let me know."
"You're so helpful, Dani," Joe's silky voice interrupted sardonically. "I was expecting at least a hug or, fuck, I dunno, a pat on the back or something."
"You came too early in the morning for that treatment, Joe," Dani retorted instantly. "Kindness is administered at twelve hundred hours and after, not before; if you come before, you get stuck with a sympathetic smartass."
"Fuck, I just remembered why I don't like seeing you."
The smile on his face said otherwise.
"Ass, stop interrupting my therapeutic abilities," she mumbled before turning back to Lucy. "I'm sorry you have to bear his company. He's a pain in the ass regularly."
"I make up for it sometimes," Joe's velvety voice massaged Lucy's ears as he followed Dani's advance upon poor unexpecting Lucille.
"Rarely."
"Better than never."
"Anyway. I'm sorry, dawling, I forgot your name."
"No, I think that's jut because Joe never introduced us." A smile spread across Lucy's lips unconsciously. "I'm Lucy."
She hadn't realized it was her first time speaking since laying eyes upon Dani Shoemaker until Joe whistled and spoke once more;
"She speaks."
"You're a jackass, Joe," Dani retorted without taking her eyes off Lucy as she extended her hand for Lucy to shake again; it was a firm handshake, confident, relaxed. Almost carefree, unless you looked into her eyes.
Those eyes.
She was even more fascinating in real life than she was in description.
...
They spent hours with Dani, doing nothing and yet everything. They helped make adjustments to the stage for the performance that evening. Lucy soaked in the soothing quality of Joe's voice bickering with Dani's as her exhausted eyes closed and her head leaned back against the chair. But Joe's bantering wouldn't allow her to comtemplate the notion of sleep, so she opened her eyelids again and observed.
The stage was almost set; the curtains were drawing closed and opening again to test before the night's show. And the look in Joe's eyes as he gazed at the oblivious Dani made Lucy look twice.
It wasn't until he bid farewell with the excuse of not wanting to see the actual play that Lucy even opned her mouth to say anything, let alone point it out to the clueless Ms. Argodale.
"Come visit me again, Lucy!" Dani told her enthusiastically while giving her a farewell hug. "And next time, don't bring Joe; he does enjoy talking too much. He tends to leave people out of conversations." She sent a teasing wink Joe's way before she turned and strode off to continue directing the activity surrounding the set. "James, do you enjoy breaking the drops or is it just a dreary hobby you've picked up along the way?"
"What are you talking about, it's my favorite hobby, Dani!" The reply came floating back, and her laughter resonated through the theater room.
"I couldn't tell."
...
It was a quiet sort of peace that settled in the cab on the way back to Joe's apartment. And it was only when they reached the apartment, after they had passed through the creaking door and over the loud floorboards, when Joe was shrugging off his jacket; it as only then that he spoke.
"What'd you think?"
"She's quite a woman."
"She is," his smoky voice agreed quietly.
"You love her, don't you?"
The sharpness of the turn of his head and the look he gave her was all the answer she needed, bu yet he still opened his mouth.
"We all did, I think." Then his head turned back and he began to struggle with the first button on his shirt collar, but yet this time, his mouth kept moving. "And we all stayed back because she was another man's girl." The button came uundone and his lithe fingers moved on to the next one. He didn't realize he was opening his mouth until his voice once again broke the silence; "And what about you?" That Babyface -
If she loved him, that idiot of a young boy excuse for a 'man', then gahdamn if he wasn't going to be disappointed in the female race.
"I thought so," she replied softly, thoughtfully. "Honestly, I thought I loved him. But now I think it was only because my mother encouraged me to have affection for him, and I guess I kind of felt like I should."
Well, he had already known that her mother was a stupid bitch, so that wasn't a surprise.
They dropped the topic after that, and Joe should have been able to stop thinking about it, yet he couldn't; his mind wandered over and over that one question. Her voice kept asking, inquiring, questioning; You love her, don't you?
Driving himself mad, that was all. Driving himself mad.
...
Even in the silence, her mind lingered on the newly discovered information. She would have liked to not think about it, even as she curled up with the book she had borrowed from Dani. However, she found that she couldn't concentrate on the book's pages; instead, all she could sense was the movements of the man across the room and the feelings inside of her chest. And she knew exactly what those feelings were; but she didn't know why she felt disappointed - but it was more than disappointment, somehow. Somehow, she had the strangest feeling of being let down.
...
Without warning, darkness fell across the sky. Lucy waited with dread for Joe to glance at the clock and announce that she should be getting home.
The seconds ticked on, however, and the minutes passed by, and nothing was said. Finally, Joe's long limbs stretched out and his mouth opened into a luxurious yawn.
"Would you prefer the couch or the bed?"
The question disoriented her as efficiently as a dizzy spell. What in the world was he talking about -
Oh, she realized as he looked at her expectantly, waiting for her answer; oh. He meant that she spend the night.
The first thought that crossed her mind was; what will Mother say? And then she realized that her mother was not exactly the best person to think of when considering a decision between a couch and a bed. Mother Dear would undoubtedly tak the bed from "cabbie trash." But Lucille Darling was not Mother Dear and she did not like the idea of invading someone's house and then demanding their bed as well.
And there was still the matter of propriety and whether or not she would even sleep over or not; if Society, that great and roaring beast, found out -
Then again, why or how would anyone find out in the first place? And if anyone did find out, was it really any of their business in the first place?
"Couch," she answered.
An unexpected and relatively called-for - in her opinion - smile crossed his face.
"I wanted to know what you'd choose. Take the bed."
"No, I couldn't poss-"
The look he gave her silenced her quickly; it was a look that told her she might as well give up the fight now because she would lose anyway. It was a look that had won the war.
"Fine," she muttered, giving him a fake pout.
...
The couch gave him strange dreams, he decided when he woke up. All he could remember was her voice pounding inside his mind once again; You love her, don't you? And then his own thoughts conquered her voice and all that was left were dark green eyes.
If he loved Dani, why -
No. He couldn't start doubting himself now; he couldn't doubt something that he'd firmly believed for three years.
But if he did, why did he get a twinge in his stomach whenever he saw Lucy, and the only reaction to Dani was the feeling of being - oh, fuck, there was no word for it. Happy, secure - no. Ah, that was the word - it was the feeling of being familiar, he supposed. Dani was more his home than his own apartment was. She was closer to him than he could remember anyone else being, simply because she'd witnessed the sleepless nights he'd suffered through at the theater because he didn't know of anywhere else to go, didn't have anywhere else to go. And she had been just as sleepless as he was.
All he knew was that he would die for her; without a second thought. Then another thought crossed his mind that shook him to the point that he realized there was a chance he had been wrong for three years;
Wouldn't you die for any one of your comrades?