This story is AU from the "Experience is the Teacher". Basically think of it as an alternative ending if Mr. Zwick and Co. had the allotted 22 instead of 19 eps. Stupid ABC. Everything remains intact from "Experience is the Teacher".
Disclaimer: This fic is designed for non-profit use only. I own nafink. NAAAAFINK. It's all Mr. Zwick and Co. and the good people at ABC who used to and abused the show mercilessly. Good work ABC, you fickle sods
Thank you for the AWESOME feedback. I appreciate it muchly. And please, I'm extremely needy, so feed my insecurities and review!
This chapter is short….I'll make up for it though. The next chapter is arriving in the next few days.
Karen, my beta extraordinaire, you're AWESOME and you know it! ;)
Chapter Seven
It was an eerily still, humid afternoon, the kind that hung over your head and made the air thick and heavy. The only noise that penetrated the silence was the sound of a SUV pulling into a driveway.
With a sigh Rick exited his car and plodded the familiar path through Karen's front yard, raising a weary arm and rapped gently on her door. Karen ushered him in with a constrained smile as both took a seat in Karen's living room. Rick was clearly uncomfortable, shifting his weight uneasily on Karen's tough wooden chair. He observed environment and wondered when exactly his ex-wife's house became so alien to him.
"So," Rick said with feigned nonchalance. "Going back to work soon?"
"Tomorrow actually," Karen replied flippantly, gazing intently at the papers strewn in front of her.
Rick frowned, irked that she continued to work while he was here. He tapped his fingers against the table impatiently. It caused Karen to look up and register Rick's annoyance. Sighing wearily she put aside her papers and took off her glasses whileperfunctorily offering Rick a drink. He declined and the two of them sat in studious silence.
"I don't know how I feel about this Karen," Rick broke the deadlock cautiously. Karen raised her eye-brows quizzically, although Rick had a feeling she knew what he was alluding to. "We're practically ambushing her when she gets home from school."
"Well," Karen sighed, searching her mind for a rational reason to justify the situation. "This is difficult and as her parents we should be there for her."
"Mm," Rick didn't have the energy to argue. He sagged in his chair wiping sweat from his brow while feeling vaguely embarrassed and guilty. It was Karen who had taken the initiative for the last few days. Her actions made Rick uncomfortable, but he was at a loss for an alternative. He could almost feel the lines on his face deepen, and grey creeping into his hair. He wasn't used to the feeling, this disquieting worry that refused to go away.
"I like what you've done with the colors," Rick said meekly, eager to silence his train of thought. "Did you change the curtains?"
"Rick, don't. The small talk is killing me." Karen said bluntly. They lapsed into silence again.
"God, are we going to talk about this at all?" Karen asked irritably.
"Well," Rick said slowly, shaking his head sadly. "What's to say? It's unbelievable."
Karen mumbled her agreement. Rick swallowed hard and continued. "I mean even with…even when you hear about, you know, gay, kids you never think, I never…it was never Jessie."
"You know what this means?" Karen asked gravely. "We're going to have to set some rules," She saw Rick look at her, a pained expression on his face. She held up a hand to justify herself. "I'm going to be supportive," she said, more confidently than she felt. "But everything has changed, Rick. And the way..."
Before Karen could finish, they heard the front door close. Both instinctively clenched, fear and trepidation making their body stiff and their hearts pound.
Jessie entered the room and immediately sensed their discomfort. It slashed at her, knowledge that she made her parents uncomfortable and embarrassed.
She did not however allow the hurt to surface on her face. To Rick and Karen, she merely looked weary.
"Hi honey," Rick said gently, a hesitant smile creeping onto his face. It reminded Jessie of a pod person.
"Why are you both here?" she asked coldly her eyes shifting from Rick to Karen.
They exchanged a panicked glance. "We just wanted to see how you were sweetie," Karen said gently.
Jessie tugged the strap of her shoulder bag angrily. "Fine," she said monotonously. She started to leave.
"Wait!" Karen called out. Jessie stopped dead in her tracks and sighed.
"We should talk some more," Karen said firmly.
Jessie pushed out an exaggerated sigh. "What more is there?" she asked, turning and facing her parents with her arms wide.
For a moment, her parents were at a loss. Then Karen took a deep breath and launched herself into the conversation. "We were hoping to meet with Katie's parents."
"What? No." Jessie said firmly.
"Excuse me?" Rick snapped, annoyed at Jessie's tone.
Jessie shot Rick a dismissive glance. "You can't do that," she said belligerently. "It's not fair on Katie. Her parents don't know about us and it's not your right to tell them."
Karen and Rick exchanged a look. "You're right," Karen said slowly, her mind ticking over. "Then in that case, for the moment we have to forbid you from going to Katie's house."
"What?" Jessie's voice was shrill.
"Just for a while Jess," Karen rushed to placate her daughter. "Since Katie's parents aren't aware that you're together then proper…precautions won't be in place."
"I cannot believe this," Jessie growled, throwing her head up to the sky. The familiar feeling of anger sprang up again, flooding her veins.
"You're trying to stop us from seeing each other," Jessie seethed, her voice hitching.
"No, no that's not it!" Rick stumbled over his words to reassure his daughter. He opened his eyes up sincerely. The look rang hollow.
"Katie is welcome here any time she wants," Karen said earnestly.
Jessie turned to glare at her mother, her entire body tense as her head pounded with rage. "Katie isn't welcomed here, Mom" she challenged her mother, her face twisting into an angry snarl.
Karen recoiled, jarred by the look of malice on her daughters' face. She opened her mouth to deny Jessie, but found herself unable to lie.
Jessie felt a savage satisfaction from the truth. She sneered then turned to leave the room.
"Have an afternoon snack," it was not a request, it was an order.
"I'm not hungry," Jessie snapped dismissively at Karen.
"Jess," Rick pleaded.
Jessie exhaled, desperate to be rid of their company. She angrily grabbed an apple from a bowl and made an exaggerated show of displaying it to Karen. Throwing her mother one last look of contempt she stormed up the stairs, not bothering to look back.
Karen and Rick stayed in stunned silence. Rick glanced at Karen through his bangs.
"Whoa," he deadpanned.
Karen buried her face in her hands. "She hates me," she mumbled, distraught.
"Karen," Rick sighed and stood up. He walked over and crouched next to his ex-wife. "Don't blame yourself," he whispered hoarsely. He placed a hand on Karen's shoulder. "We're all trying to adjust. Who would have thought Jessie, was, involved with Katie?"
It was that moment when Eli's jaw dropped. He had entered the house moments before, shutting the door quietly behind him. He did a double take, wondering if he had heard his father correctly. He saw his mother shake her head and sniffle as his dad moved to comfort her gently. It was a picture long ago he would have welcomed but now it was worrying, confirming to Eli that there was something amiss. His heart sank.
"Hey," he said, entering the kitchen unable to stand and eavesdrop any more.
Both his parents started, their faces registering fright and confusion. Rick hastily stood up and moved away from Karen.
"Eli," Karen choked. She wiped her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"Slow day at Booklovers." Eli said quietly, his eyes shifting from Karen to Rick suspiciously. They tried to look innocent.
"Going upstairs," Eli said shortly, trying not to let his parents realise what he knew.
"You Ok?" Rick watched his son closely.
"Fine," Eli lied, still reeling from the revelation. He turned at walked away, keenly aware of his parents eyes on his back.
"This is weird," he mumbled. Suddenly, it all fell into place. His father; comforting his mother. The slump in his sister's shoulders and the bags under her eyes. The stilted conversation that emerged whenever Jessie was present.
"Shit," Eli closed his eyes, chastising himself for not realizing earlier. He felt a pang of sympathy for Jessie. He turned and trudged to Jessie's door, shifting hesitantly in front of it. He wanted to go in, to comfort her but he felt hopelessly inadequate. His mind was still reeling, unable to form any thoughts through the haze of denial that seized his mind. He decided that he would hinder rather than help and with a heavy sigh he turned and walked from Jessie's door. But Eli couldn't stay here. Not right now.
His parents were speaking in hushed tones when he re-entered the kitchen. They turned and looked at him, surprised.
"Going out," he said, answering their silent question.
"Where?" Rick asked.
"A music thing. I'll be back by nine," Eli shrugged on his coat and hurried out of the house, relieved to be away from the heavy, uncomfortable atmosphere inside.
The warm air washed over the viewers seated in the park. A sprinkle of fairy lights that were scattered within the trees glowed brightly as the last band for the night was wrapping up, saying their goodbye's over the warm applause from the crowd in the open-aired stage. Eli rose and stretched the cramp from his legs. He made a beeline for the bar, worming his way through the crowd and ignoring the hum of voices around him. He had spent the last hour blissfully alone, separated form the thoughts buzzing in his head. Everything was weird at home, and the strained environment was wearing him down. He wondered how Jessie was doing, but then banished her from his head, rationalizing that he wasn't going to have fun if he spent the entire evening worrying about her.
It was too late however. So immersed he was in his own thoughts that Eli didn't see the gentleman until it was too late. He accidentally knocked the man's shoulder causing him to spill his drink on the grass.
"Shit," the man cursed.
"Oh man!" Eli winced in embarrassment. "I'm so, so sorry sir. Here, let me get that." Eli reached for the empty glass in the man's hand.
"It's alright, kid." The man looked reproachfully at Eli. He cocked an eye-brow. "It was such a croc anyway. I asked for vodka and the jokers here filled my whole cup with ice. How am I gonna relieve my pain without my allotment of alcohol?"
"Uh, that won't be a problem," Eli turned to the bar tender. "Can I have rum and coke and a vodka. No ice." The bar tender smiled as Eli paid then turned to the man beside him.
He was nothing remarkable in Eli's mind. He was average height, with a small pot belly partially hidden under a green sweater. He had slicked back light brown hair flecked with grey and a lined, freckled face. It was his eyes that caught Eli's attention, small, sharp and blue that nimbly took in the young man in front of him.
"Thanks," he said gruffly, taking his drink from the bar tender. He took a sip and sighed contentedly.
"You got a name," he asked between sips.
"Yeah, hi I'm Eli." Eli replied, holding out his hand. The man shook it firmly.
"Benton." The man said easily. He leaned against the bar.
"I hope you don't mind me saying but you look a little young to be ordering vodka," Benton smirked.
"Oh, well, I," Eli stuttered. He grinned a little sheepishly. "I may be, technically, a little, younger than I look."
Benton snickered. "It'll be our little secret."
Both men grinned and took a sip of their drinks.
"You here alone Eli?"
"Well I… yeah."
"It's not the worst place for single person to spend their time. There are concerts like this every week." Benton sipped his drink with relish.
"You go to these a lot?" Eli asked.
A ghost of a smile flickered on Benton's withered face. "A few." He cleared his throat.
"So, now that we're good friends, what you think about tonight's acts?"
Eli shrugged. "For a small concert the acts aren't bad." Eli said a little reluctantly. Benton seemed to catch his tone and raised his eye-brows quizzically.
"That right?" he asked. "Speaking to a few people everyone's loved the show. But no one caught your imagination?"
"If they did I wouldn't gone straight to the bar," Eli joked, surprising himself. Benton was surprised too, he barked out a laugh.
"What about…" Benton reached in and fished out the program from his trousers. "'Virgin Atrophy' the 'next big rock group from Chicago' according to the program?"
"They're ok," Eli shrugged. 'Virgin Atrophy' was the headline act in the concert. "It's just…I dunno. Everyone is talking about how great they were. But I dunno…for like, the whole thirty minutes I was wondering how the hell they put up all these lights rather than listening to the music. I mean, you hear one angry metal group and you've heard them all."
Benton laughed and shook his head. "The whole night sounded like one big waste of time for you," he said.
"Nah, it's been pretty good actually," Eli appreciated the temporary release from his life. He fumbled in his pocket and brought out his own program. "I actually liked "Faded Star' better. They only played for like fifteen minutes but they were the only one with something original."
Benton regarded Eli, his sharp blue darting around furtively. "Huh, I see." He fished in his pockets then produced a card. "Here."
"Huh?" Eli looked at the card. "You're a talent scout?" Eli asked incredulously. He looked at Benton blankly. "You wanna hear my band?"
Benton threw back his head and laughed, his entire body shaking as laughter wracked his body. His bellows were so loud people around them stared. He sounded disconcertingly like a baboon's shrieking.
"So you play in a band," he asked, his eyes twinkling with mirth. "I'm not surprised. You have the rocker-wannabe hair."
Unconsciously Eli reached up and patted his artful coif defensively. This seemed to charm Benton more.
"No. I need an assistant. There are a lot of potential bands in Chicago and I need more staff to try and help me pick the best ones." Benton pointed to his card. "This Tuesday at 8.00 I'm having interviews. Just bring a resume and yourself and we'll see if I have a place for you."
"Are you serious?" Eli spluttered. He nodded his head eagerly. "Thank you so much sir, I mean, Benton thanks a lot!" Eli continued to gush as Benton raised his eye brows in amusement and left.
Eli shook his head, mystified and still shocked. Despite everything, a slow smile crept across his face. "Maybe today isn't so bad after all," he thought then chuckled and turned to leave the park.