~~ Chapter Six: I Can't Read You ~~
(Inspired by an Daniel Bedignfield song)
Author's Note: I'm back, after a long, LONG break. I was working on other fics, and still am, so if it takes me a little bit longer to post a chapter, that's why. BUT, I decided to come back to this one as well. I figured, I was on such a roll when I left this one, why leave it as it was? So, here I am…and here's chapter six!
Oh, and by the way…I'm changing something. In this, both Tammy Felton/Melissa Marlowe and Darin Hansom lived.
This is only Lizzie, Archie. You know her so well, you could write a biography on her! You know what she lies, what she doesn't like…why can't you just ask her out? Archie racked his brain, trying to think of what to say to Lizzie. Give me one good reason not to just go up there and ask her out, right here, right now! He demanded of himself, knowing that he could answer himself right away. Because she could say no…and if she says yes, where would you take her that she hasn't already been, aside from the seventh stage of heaven? He laughed at his Greg moment, then tried to think of another reason. Because she's so, everything, and you're so…nothing. Just do it, Archie…you can do this, really, you can…and if she says no, your shift is over anyway, so you can just go home. And when you have to see her tomorrow, she'll have forgotten.
Lizzie turned around, and saw Archie debating back and forth in his head, and started to get worried. She stood up, and walked up to him. "Arch?" she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder, to see if he was ok. "You look a little confused," she then thought. Confused, but hot…and laughed at the fact that she sounded like a rabid *NSYNC teenybopper fan, who had just seen Justin Timberlake pondering a serious question. That would be a funny sight to see.
He jumped, and looked toward Lizzie. Seeing her there only doubled his confusion, if not tripled it. He stared at her for a second, and chose his words cautiously. "Too much Greg will do that to ya…" he laughed. "I was just in there talking to him, seeking advice about girls."
"Let me get this straight, Archie…" Lizzie glanced sideways at Archie. "You went to Greg…Greg SANDERS…for advice about women?" she seemed a little more than surprised. As a matter of fact, she looked downright horrified. "It probably would have been safer to go to a rock, or a tree, before you went to Greg…" she grinned, and patted Archie on the shoulder. "But, you came to the right place!" she led him to the table, cursing whoever this woman was that Archie needed advice about, in the back of her head. "I'm willing to help with anything!"
Archie was wishing he'd kept his mouth shut, but while she guided him to the table, he carefully selected what he was going to say. "Are you sure it's cool?" he asked, hoping she'd disagree, and say she hated giving advice, so he could get out of there before either of their feelings got hurt.
No…she thought. "Yeah, always!" she told him, a smile on her face. "I'm Dear Lizzie, the Vegas Crime Lab Night Shift Advice Columnist!" she smirked from ear to ear at the title she'd just given herself. "Hey, we should really have that! I'm going to bring that up to Grissom!"
Archie grinned. Lizzie could always make him laugh, no matter what was on his mind. "You do realize that he'd just yell at you, and tell you what a stupid idea it was, right?" he asked, thinking the same thing himself.
Lizzie's face lowered. She immediately changed the subject. "So, Archie…" she began in a monotone. "What's the problem?" she stuck her tongue out at her friend, and crossed her arms at her chest. "Mr. Meany-Pants!"
Archie laughed, and tried to word this as best he could, without giving anything critical away. "Well, Doctor, let's see…" he poked fun at Lizzie. "I've liked this girl since we first met. She just has something about her; I can't help but be attracted to her. But I'm afraid that if I ask her out, she'll reject me, even worse, or laugh at me. I know this sounds so high-school like, but it just hasn't gotten any easier since then, you know?"
Lizzie got that compassionate look in her eyes, but in her mind, she was on the verge of an emotional breakdown. She had just heard the same thing she felt about Archie, only directed to someone else. She decided to be a total hypocrite, and tell him to go for it. "Well, what is there to lose?" she asked, shrugging. "Obviously, if she can say no to a charmer like you, she has to have some serious issues!" she smiled sincerely at him. Whatever she'd expected him to say, though, she definitely didn't think it would be what it was…
"Ok…" Archie thought about his next action for about a split second, and hoped it wasn't a mistake. "Lizzie, would you like to go out to dinner with me tomorrow?" he almost immediately bit his tongue. That hadn't come out at all like he wanted it to. He wanted to sound casual, but he sounded like Grissom asking Sara out for their trillionth anniversary. He felt so lame.
Lizzie was shocked, almost out of existence, but smiled and said, "I'd love to, Archie…" Her heart was doing back flips, and she was trying not to smile too wide, but she couldn't help it. The smile on her face had grown from just being there, to being about a mile wide. "What time will you pick me up?" she asked.
Archie was in a state of complete and unbreakable bliss. "Does eight sound good?" he asked, standing up from his chair, feeling like a new man. She had said yes to him, and he could barely believe it. Lizzie nodded, as Archie turned to leave, after saying, "See you tomorrow at eight, then!"
She breathed a deep, ecstatic sigh, as soon as he'd left the room. "Did that just happen?" she asked herself, then exited the room, and ran to the first one of her friends she saw. "AAH! EMMA! CECY! OH MY GOSH, GUYS!" she ran into the break room, where Cecilia, Greg, Nick and Emma were sitting, watching TV.
"SH!" Emma yelled, staring at the TV. "They just said on the news that William Spencer broke Melissa Marlowe out of jail…" she told Lizzie, who gasped, and covered her mouth immediately.
She thought for a second. "Archie and I had a huge hand in putting them away. Oh no…what if they want revenge?" she rushed out of the room, to try and find Archie, and warn him. "ARCH!"
~~
"Relax, Tammy…we're just nabbing the first person that comes out of the building. Whoever it is will have an effect on Williams and Johnson, either way! And if it's that Grissom guy, or that Catherine chick, then we'll just wait for the next one!" Darin Hanson reassured a nervous Tammy Felton, while sitting outside the lab, behind a bush. "And if it's Williams or Johnson, we'll be lucky!" the second Tammy and Darin found out who put them away, they were out for blood. Particularly, Lizzie's and Archie's.
Tammy grinned a little. "It will be nice to get revenge, I'll tell you that for sure…" she looked at the door, and smiled wide. "Oh, look…it's our first customer! And look who it is!" she nodded her head at Archie, who looked to be sitting on top of the world. "Oh, and look who's coming! Which one should we take?" she asked, pointing to Lizzie, who was rushing to the door after Archie.
"No…take him, right after A/V Princess says whatever she wants to say," Darin watched Lizzie open the door, and rush up behind Archie.
"ARCHIE! ARCHIE!" Lizzie ran up behind him, and grabbed his arm. "Archie…Tammy Felton and Darin Hanson escaped!" she told the scared senseless Archie, as he turned around.
"Whoa…wait…WHAT?" he asked, trying to get Lizzie to slow down a little. "Try saying that again…at human pace, rather than talking like a cheerleader on speed!"
Lizzie scoffed, and slowed down a little. "Ok, one…I don't talk like a cheerleader on speed!" she pushed Archie, and stuck her tongue out. "And two, I have some sorta bad news…and there's no easy way to say it. Archie…Tammy Felton and Darin Hanson escaped…"
Archie's jaw dropped, and his eyes widened. "You're…kidding, right?" he asked, freezing like a deer caught in headlights. "Are they in Vegas?" he looked around, honestly scared. They both knew that Tammy and Darin were out for their blood. They had publicly announced it after their sentencing hearing.
"I think so…we need to be careful, Arch…" she set her hand on his shoulder. "Maybe we should just chill at one of our houses, rather than go out tomorrow. Just to be on the safe side…" she suggested, hoping Archie wouldn't be offended.
Archie agreed. "Yeah, we can still have fun. I'll order Chinese food, and we can watch a movie…" he shrugged, and nodded.
"Not a Death by Donald tape, I hope…" she grinned, as she waved goodbye to Archie, and turned to head back into the building. "Because if it is, then consider this date officially cancelled!"
"Aw! Why?" he joked, watching her walk away. "See you tomorrow, Lizzie…"
"See ya, Arch…" she winked as she closed the door behind her.
Just as the door clicked shut, Archie was pummeled to the ground from behind, and gagged. "Watch it, Johnson!" a familiar female voice came from in front of him. "One wrong move, and I rush in there and grab Little Miss Princess Lizzie, and take her in your place. Got it?"
Archie simply nodded. He looked up to see who his assailant was, only to be overcome by horror to see that it was Tammy Felton. That must have meant that the person who had attacked him to the ground was Darin Hanson. Fear pulsed through Archie's body, as he was led abruptly to a very unfamiliar car. He looked toward his car. They'll know something's wrong when my car is still sitting there, after I've 'gone home.' He reassured himself. Then, they'll come looking for me. I'll be fine! Plus, this place is ridden with security cameras. And Lizzie, being the second most talented person I know with a computer, she'll know what happened. I hope so, anyway.
~~
I'm never shy but this is different.
I can't explain the way I'm feeling tonight.
I'm losing control of my heart.
Tell me what can I do to make you happy?
Nothing I ever say seems to come out right.
I'm losing control of my heart.
And I wish that I could be, Another better part of me,
Can't hear what you're thinking.
Maybe if you just let go, you'd open up your heart.
~~ 'I Can't Read You' – Daniel Bedingfield ~~