Title: A Night with Affleck, Cusack, Lucy & Roxy (aka - Theresa & Fox's Movie Night)


Author: Sweetwater Gal

Summary: TheRox spend an adventurous night together trying to rent a movie. A Rox friendship and/or shipper story... your choice.

Disclaimer: FF writer don't own characters, movie references, and actors named in this story. I, unfortunately, own one original character named Lucy... and NO, she isn't a Mary Sue... I think.

A/N: This story is a short little ficlet that takes place sometime after TheRox first kiss by the pool and before any other spoiler that has to do w/ a particular "dirty dancing" and "news captured kiss".

I just had to write this to purge... so, R&R, have a good time, and no flames needed. Merci Mahalo.


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"Love, I don't like to see so much pain
So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away
I get so tired of working so hard for our survival
I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive..." (In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel)


"So, what's our mission for tonight, Theresa?" He held the car door open, extended his hand in, and helped her out of the vehicle. They stood together, content smiles on their young faces, especially knowing that they were in great company.

Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald glanced up at one of her best friends, her smile turning reluctant. "Well, according to you, it's to spend one night completely free of all talks of love and of Ethan and your mystery woman."

"Exactly! And in your case, this night shall be called 'Mission Impossible: 3'!" Nicholas Foxworth Crane, aka Fox, beamed a cocky grin at Theresa as he added, "With yours truly taking over for Tom Cruise. A role, might I add, not much of a stretch from reality."

Theresa jokingly swatted his arm. Her eyes sparkling mischievously, "If the stretch is a mile long, then yeah that sounds about right."

He cringed, though still smiling down at her. "Ouch. See if I refer to you as my Penelope Ann Cruz."

Laughing, Theresa hooked her arm around Fox's own. "That's all right by me, Fox. Besides, I see myself more as a Jennifer Lopez than a Penelope Cruz."

Fox's eyes lit up, "Oh! Even better! Next to Cruise, I have thought of myself as Ben Affleck... but a more blonder, sexier version of him." As Theresa's giggles filled the night air, Fox cracked one more joke. He leaned back, making an obvious attempt to check his petite friend's... "And I can definitely see how you could be mistaken for J-Lo."

He added a low growl and a whistle for effect, causing Theresa to gasp and lightly punch him on the arm. Her eyes wide, though obviously enjoying herself. "Fox!"

"What?"

Giving him a mock thoughtful look on her face, "Hmm... I wonder if Matt Damon's available?"

Laughter escaped his lips as Fox lead Theresa into the video store that was around the corner from their L.A. apartment. Tonight was a rare downtime for the duo. Most of their time in Los Angeles was spent scheming and plotting to win the hearts of their beloved.

Both agreed that up until this moment, they never had the time to just hang out in each other's company like before back in Harmony. Now, thanks to Theresa's idea, they had teamed up together to make their intended jealous by pretending to be a couple. It had seemed to work for a few days, mostly on Theresa's end when it came to an already torn Ethan Winthrop. However, it was frustrating for Fox since A) His mystery woman was also Theresa's best friend, Whitney, so letting her in on his plans was out of the question for fear of ruining their friendship; B) Whitney only had eyes for Chad; and C) Whitney wanted Theresa to hook up with Fox. The frustration was beginning to build up in Fox, especially since he was an impatient guy that, when it came to women, always got what he wanted. It was painfully obvious that Whitney was a big exception and it was taking its toll on Fox.

So that's where movie night came to be born. Fox decided that for one night he was to find an activity that allowed him to stay clear of Whitney and this twisted emotion called love. He also missed doing things with Theresa, one-on-one, where Ethan just wasn't a factor. Despite the situation he was in with his former step-mother, Fox surprisingly considered Theresa as one of his dearest and best friends. So movie night, in his opinion, would be incomplete if Theresa wasn't a part of it.

Fox made sure that tonight was reserved just for the two of them. Whitney, more than eager to comply, talked Chad into spending most of the night together away from the apartment. Ethan was at the hospital with his wife, Gwen, so there was no chance of them happening upon Fox and Theresa's night.

Thus they now currently found themselves entering the video store. Both content and already enjoying each other's company that they seemed to have forgotten about Ethan and Whitney.

Fox made a face as he pondered over Theresa's Matt Damon comment. Smirking, while holding the store door for her, "Well, why would you want Private Ryan when you could have Mr. Armageddon? Damnit, I saved the world!"

Theresa's sides were beginning to ache from giggling so hard. "I thought that it was Bruce Willis?"

Feigning seriousness, though his eyes twinkled. "Hey! That meteor was huge, okay? I mean, I never thought I'd make it back home to see your beautiful face, baby, because..." Fox wrapped his arms around a surprised Theresa, picked her up and spun her around as he began singing, "I'm leavin' on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again. Hold me like you'll never let me go!"

"Fox?! Oh my God, put me down!" Her laughter was infectious that soon Fox began laughing himself. When she was back on solid ground, she gave his chest a big smack, though smiling just as badly as he was. "You are such dork, Fox! What would your father say if he caught you, a Crane, behaving this way?"

Giving her a pointed look, "Is there another Julian Crane I was not aware of, Theresa? You are talking about Julian Julian, right?"

She grimaced as she recalled the uneventful times she had caught Julian and Rebecca together while in the midst of their sex games. "Oh... okay, I take that last part back, Fox. Really, I do."

"Hi! Hello! Good eveeening!"

Fox and Theresa's eyes found their way upon a tall raven hair figure standing behind the counter. Her eyes were just as wide and bright as her smile, which seemed to bother Fox just a bit. The young lady at the counter reminded Fox of Sylvester the cat about to attack Tweety.

Theresa seemed mildly amused by the young lady's spirit and Fox's obvious uncomfortableness. She squeezed Fox's hand, leaned over a bit and whispered, "Be nice. She's just doing her job."

Before Fox could retort with "Yeah, and Jaws was just doing the dog paddle." the young clerk began explaining the weekend video rental specials.

"Oh-kay... I, like, just have to say that for this weekend only, we at Frank's Fun Films! are celebrating the release of the latest John Cusack movie! If you rent three of his films, we are giving away a special JC gift. My name is Lucy, but, like, you can call me JC because I am the biggest John Cusack fan and I have seen, like, all of his movies! Even all his cameos and if you have, like, any questions at all about his films, then you can certainly ask me!"

Theresa had gotten this "Let's get out of here now." look from Fox, to which she suppressed a giggle. She gave Lucy a small smile and politely asked, "May I ask what the giveaway is?"

Fox inwardly groaned and rolled his eyes when realizing that Theresa was about to walk into a lion's den despite the fact that there was a lioness already waiting at the mouth of the cave.

Lucy quickly pulled out a binder from under the counter. Fox took an uneasy notice of the binder's cover, which was a major John Cusack collage. He nudged Theresa to take note of it, to which she surprisingly shrugged it off nonchalantly.

"I am sooo glad that you asked that! Y'know, you guys are, like, the first people tonight to ask about it instead of having me explain! Hell, you folks are the first people I'm showing the gift to period." Adding to herself, though loud enough for Fox and Theresa to hear, "Huh, I wonder why?"

Not passing up the chance to mock her, Fox shook his head. "Damn shame! I mean, John Cusack is a damn fine actor, right? Who doesn't love his movies or want to get any JC memorabilia?"

Lucy grinned widely at Fox, "Oh my God, exactly!"

Theresa shook her head at him and gave him a gentle nudge. "Don't tease her, Fox." She whispered.

Ignoring her, "So Lucy, from one JC fan to another, I was just wondering... I've been meaning to get myself a Grosse Pointe Blank bed sheet cover, but they only have it in twin size. Where can I purchase the queen size covers?" Fox had intended it to be a joke, a laugh to be shared between the three of them.

However...

"I would recommend shopping at Cusack Cuddlers [dot] com. They, like, have the biggest selection of John Cusack stuff EVER. That's where I got my queen size High Fidelity bed covers. I was going to get the GPB covers, but instead I opted for their pillow cases."

Both Fox and Theresa thought that she was kidding, but their eyes widened in disbelief as Lucy turned the store's computer monitor towards them and lo and behold... Cusack Cuddlers [dot] com!

She continued, while they looked on in shock. "Oh, and I just have to show you guys this product. I just ordered it two days ago. I, like, sooo fell in love with it the moment I saw it! It's a one of a kind Say Anything Lloyd Dobbler CD boom box! Can you believe it?! Look! On the side of the stereo is a picture of JC himself in his infamous boom box scene!"

"Wow." Was all Fox could muster up, while Theresa just stared.

As Lucy turned the monitor back to its original position, Fox whispered into Theresa's ear, "Okay, can we go now? Before Miss JC psycho woman brings out a replica of the gun that John used in Pointe Blank. Hell, she probably stalked down the original from Ebay."

Finally listening to him, Theresa gave a quick nod then turned towards Lucy. "Y'know, I just remembered that I left the stove on back home! Fox?"

"Yeah!" Fox placed his hands on Theresa's shoulders, already guiding her towards the door. Helping the lie out, "Yeah, and our neighbor is watching our little one so we need to go home quickly before anything happens." To Theresa though loud enough for Lucy to hear, "C'mon honey, our daughter's waiting for us..."

"Yes... yes!" Turning to Lucy, "See, our son, Ethan, is sleeping over at my brother's house, but our daughter..." Theresa met eyes with Fox, both contemplating a name to give for their make-believe child. Their eyes widened as a name seemed to settle upon them.

"Roxy!" They both exclaimed, stunned yet feeling an urge to laugh.

"Oh... kay..." Lucy gave them the same look they had given her earlier.

Fox shrugged, giving Lucy this apologetic smile. "It's a inside joke my beautiful wife came up with, right, darling?"

Giving Lucy the same smile Fox gave her, "Yeah... you had to be there. Uhmm... thank you, Lucy, but maybe next time?"

"Good night!" Fox waved, finally getting himself and Theresa out the door.

Once they were inside the car, once they had driven all the way back home, and once they had gotten in doors did Theresa and Fox collapse into a laughing fit.

"Oh... my... God!" Theresa gasped in between giggles.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, "Did what just happened just happened?"

"Fox, that was completely insane! I mean, I've never laughed so hard since... well, ever!"

"Did you see that web site?! Theresa, there is actually an even bigger John Cusack fan out there than that Lucy chick! How scary is that?"

"I know, Fox!" Theresa wrapped her arms around herself, still shaking from laughter. "Oh! And Roxy? Where did that come from?"

Fox shook his head, a wide smile on his face as he shrugged and fell back on the living room couch. "I honestly don't know, Theresa. I swear..." His eyes twinkled, "I swear on our marriage that I had no idea where Roxy came from."

Theresa fell back on the couch with Fox, leaning her body a bit towards his. "Well, I don't know about you, but..." She stared up at him, "I just combined our names together. Y'know, the R in Theresa with the O-X in Fox, you get Rox. Roxy..." She looked down, her voice soft, "Kinda silly, huh?"

Fox reached over, tilting her head up so that she met eyes with him. Smiling shyly at her, "It's not, Theresa. I think that's what I was thinking too." He leaned down so that their foreheads touched, "Remember what I said a long time ago? You and I, we're two of a kind."

He winked at her as he pulled back, still grinning over that night's event.

Theresa leaned back further into Fox until one of his arms was draped casually and comfortably around her petite body. "So... I guess renting a movie tonight is out of the question..."

"Yep," Fox sighed. He reached his free arm for the television remote, clicking the power on. "We can always catch a movie on cable?"

"That's fine."

Fox clicked the channels and found, to his surprise and amusement, "Well, what do you know... there's a JC movie on tonight!"

"Which one?"

"The Sure Thing starring Mr. Cusack himself. Hey, it's an 80's movie! Feel like watching it, honey?" He smirked, earning a smack on the chest by his "wife."

"Only if you make sure your laugh doesn't wake up the baby, husband of mine."

He brought one of her hands up to his lips, kissed it then replied, "No problem, Theresa. Besides, Roxy's a deep sleeper, remember? Like her daddy."

"Well, daddy... what's this movie about anyway?"

"Oh. I never saw it either, but believe it or not, I did date this girl once who was an 80's films fanatic."

"Was she as bad as Mrs. Lucy Cusack?"

"No, thank God. No, she was a bigger Judd Nelson fan. Anyway, she was trying to coax me into watching this movie. I refused because I had other things in mind besides watching a young Johnny C."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" He grinned coyly at Theresa. Giving a brief kiss on her forehead, "Don't worry, darling. I still love you and our babies. By the way, I'll pick up our son after day care tomorrow. I want to take him by mother's because she's been dying to see him all week."

Theresa giggled despite being reminded of Ivy. Playing along, "Okay, but don't forget this time to get your mother's recipe for her famous strawberry angel food cake. God knows that it certainly puts Grace's tomato soup cake to shame."

That really caused Fox to shake with laughter. Wiping the tears away again, "I'll be sure to tell mother that, sweetheart."

"So about The Sure Thing?"

"Right..." Fox composed himself, if only for a while before the next joke. "She had told me that this movie was about these two people who had to get to California to be with the ones they 'love.' Their 'sure things.' Along the way, they fall in love with each other."

Theresa looked up at Fox, a small smile on her face, "That kinda sounds like us..."

For once since the whole night began did Fox have a pensive look on his face. Hesitant, he asked, "Theresa, if you don't want to watch this movie, I'll understand, I mean..."

"No, Fox, it's okay." She leaned up a bit, giving him a smile. "Besides, you didn't let me finish. I said that it kinda sounds like us... but it isn't. It can't be because our 'sure thing' is the real thing."

Thoughtfully, he added, "They just don't know it yet."

Theresa softly agreed, then leaned her head back against Fox's chest.

He switched the channels to The Sure Thing and made himself comfortable while still holding Theresa within his reach. As the opening credits appeared, Fox kissed the top of her head.

"Theresa, either way, you're real to me."

Fox felt her smile as she softly replied, "I better be, Nicholas Foxworth Crane. You wouldn't have a wife nor mother of two children named Ethan and Roxy if I wasn't real."

Theresa felt him laugh and place another kiss on her head.

"Then thank God you are real, Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald. Thank God."


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A/N: Heh, if you recognize my pen name, yes I am the same writer of the Passions story "A family worth smiling for." For some reason, that little fic bunny is hiding behind a dumb writer's block. IOW that one will be awhile to finish. Oh, FYI - if you don't know by now, there is NO such thing as a web site called Cusack Cuddlers [dot] com. It's totally made up and okay, maybe on some level I wish it was real. And NO, I am not as bad a Cusack fan as "Lucy." And the before mentioned lyrics ("In your eyes") is from the JC movie "Say Anything." Oh, and "The Sure Thing"... a definite Rox movie. *grins* Highly recommended. Thank you for reading my story, and please don't forget to review.