A/N: I am so sorry for the delay in stories and I hope to be forgive. grin Life got in the way and then I had a bit of a writer's block. This chapter is a little more serious then others, and it has some character insight. But, it's over now and I give you: Chapter 9. It's shorter then normal, but I hope it will keep you guys busy till chapter ten.
Disclaimer: It first chapters.
Chapter 9: Sweet Misery
Point Place, Wisconsin
October 26th, 2003
9:18 a.m.
Forman Living Room
The Forman family gathered around the television that Sunday morning in late October to witness an event. Eric had finally caved and gotten digital cable for the living room. Sadly, the basement would have to go without.
Eric turned the television on. "Well, there it is. Over three-hundred channels of viewing pleasure."
Donna looked up from the hand book and made a face. "Plus three of sexual viewing pleasure. Those are blocked, right? Pay-per-view only."
"Yes." Parker muttered sadly. Vista hit him in the ribs. "Vista!" He placed a protective hand over his rib cage. "It doesn't matter anyway, I've got a girlfriend. And she's waiting for me." He stood a little straighter. "Yeah, we're meeting at Waffle House for a late breakfast."
"You crazy kids, you." Eric teased gently. "What will you do next?"
"Well, I could use an extra ten." Parker held out his hand. Eric rolled his eyes and gave his only son a five. "That'll do." He kissed Donna and gave Eric and Vista a wave. "See you guys later." With that said he was out the front door.
"They are so cute." Donna thought out loud. "They remind me of us at that age; we were the perfect couple." She smiled at her husband and gently kissed him on the lips. "And now they are." Eric and Donna exchanged a secret smile.
Vista rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, everyone's in love." She flopped on the couch and turned the television on.
October 26th, 2003
10:43 a.m.
Forman Basement
Holder came charging into the basement and went straight to the couch. He started turning over the blanket and cushions, looking for something. Pez sat in the lawn chair and watched him for a moment before clearing her throat. Holder looked at her, surprised that she was there.
"Pez! Hey, hi. Have you seen my green screen-tee with the truck on it? Emma likes it, so I'm wearing it to the movies. You know, it might help me get some tongue." Holder grinned at Pez. "What are you doing alone down here?"
"Waiting for you. We were supposed to go to the movies. The ten o'clock one! We cannot go now!" Pez jumped out of the lawn chair. "All because you were getting tongue." She pushed past him and to the door. "Good day!"
"Aw, come on Pezzy, I was-"
Pez whirled around and faced him. "I said good day!" With that, she opened the door and stormed out of the basement.
October 26th, 2003
11:05 a.m.
Forman Living Room
Vista sat on the couch, happy to have the living room and the new digital cable all to herself. Finally, she could watch the history channel in peace.
"Hey," Jon said as he walked into the living room from the kitchen and flop down on the couch next to her. He put his feet up on the coffee table and loudly started opening a bag of chips. "what you watching?"
Or maybe not in peace.
Vista rolled her eyes. "A biography of Queen Elizabeth. You wouldn't be interested."
"Wait a second, you have hundreds of channels and you're watching a biography of some woman that died an old virgin?" Jon raised an eyebrow at Vista. He grabbed the remote out of her hand and changed it to FX. "Buffy marathon's on."
Vista gave Jon a look. "I was watching television, Jon."
"Vista, Vista, Vista." He didn't say anything else, he just offered her the bag of chips. Vista sighed and took the bag. She settled in and watched the marathon with Jon.
October 26th, 2003
12:15 p.m.
Forman Kitchen
Chase pasted Parker the mustard, pausing a moment to smile at him. They had been dating only a few weeks and were still in that puppy love stage. It pretty much made everyone around them sick. And every time Parker called Chase 'Muffin', he had to pay Holder a dollar.
Parker smiled at Chase. "Thank you, Muffin."
The door leading to the driveway opened at that moment and Eric and Donna came walking in. The older couple exchanged a private smile when they saw their son and his girlfriend having lunch.
"A romantic lunch?" Eric asked with a goofy grin.
"No." Parker answered. "Chase was hungry."
"Mum forgot to buy food again." Chase explained with a shrug. "Her medication is more important anyways."
"How is your Mom?" Donna asked as she began putting the groceries away. "Feeling better?"
It was common knowledge among everyone that Ms. Abigail Doyle was the victim of a disease, one that was likely to make sure that Abigail didn't live to see her only child graduate college. In fact, the Forman family had taken Chase in a few times during the last ten years while Abigail stayed in the hospital. Currently, Abigail was doing much better, but Donna still worried.
"She's doing okay." Chase answered. Parker put a comforting hand on Chase's arm. "Having Parker around helps."
Donna gave Eric a look. "I told you girls want guys around when they are upset."
"Aw, they're like a mini-us." Eric thought out loud.
Parker and Chase just exchanged a nervous glance.
October 26th, 2003
7:45 p.m.
Kelso Front Porch
Pez let her sneakers slide on the porch as she swung on the porch swing. She had called Holder at six and he had told her that he'd be there at six-thirty. When Pez had arrived at six-thirty three, Holder had been gone. In fact, the whole house was empty. His van was still in the garage, but Holder wasn't at the house. So, Pez, being Pez had waited for over an hour.
She sighed deeply and stopped the swing just as Holder came walking up the drive way. He seemed surprised to see her, but Holder walked up and sat next to her anyway. He said hello cheerful, but she just pouted.
"You are over an hour late." Pez told him emotionlessly. "Where have you been? Tonguing with Emma Palmer?"
Holder nodded. "Yeah, where else? She called at six-ten and we went to the Hub. Make out in front of everyone." He sniffed and smiled proudly.
Pez moved her body to face him. "But, you were supposed to hang out with me. It was Holder/Pez time, not Holder/Emma time. You keep leaving me out."
"But, Pez…man, I've got a serious girlfriend now. And she doesn't like the basement, so I've got to take her to nicer places." Holder explained. "Look, Pez, I'm going to be spending a lot of time with her from now on, so you've got to just get used to it or move on. No dead weight on my train."
Pez shook her head angrily. "No. You've blown me off since you've started dating her and you ignore me at school and you…you are being a loof!" She jumped off the swing and started walking down the drive way. "Good night!"
Holder sighed and laid his head against the wall.
October 26th, 2003
7:50 p.m.
Forman Living Room
Steven and Jackie Hyde entered the Forman living room and saw that Jon and Vista were watching television. Steven and Jackie went to the Lazy-E-boy and watched Jon and Vista for a moment. Finally, Jackie spoke: "Where are Donna and Eric? We were supposed to meet up ten minutes ago."
Jon didn't even look away from the television. "Stalking Parker and Chase."
Vista looked over at her neighbors. "My parents think Parker and Chase are the new them, so…" she trailed off, knowing Hyde and Jackie would get the point.
Hyde nodded. "Right. "The Perfect Couple". Bunch of crap if you ask me."
Jackie nodded in agreement. "I'd rather have problems then be 'the perfect couple', cause then I'd be boring and married to Eric." Hyde patted her back.
"You know," Jon began, turning to face his parents. "they aren't that perfect. Like, last night, they watched CBS, did a cir-thing and then grabbed a burger. That's not perfect, that's boring, man."
Jackie looked at her son and then noticed how closely he and Vista were sitting. Ever since they were little, Jackie had thought that Jon and Vista were perfect for one another. He was softer with her. She was stronger with him. Jackie even figured they'd get married. "Well, just to compare, what did you two do? Something interesting and mysterious?"
"Yeah, if you call sitting on the couch in the basement and fighting interesting and mysterious, then yeah." Jon answered.
Hyde and Jackie exchanged a smile before Hyde said: "We used to do the same thing."
"Huh."
"Yeah."
Vista, who had turned her attention back to the television suddenly said something. "Well see, that could never happen."
Jon looked for Vista to the television. "It's a tv show, Vista."
"I know that, Jon. But, she still would have broken her back."
"She has super powers. We've been over this." Jon told her.
"She still would have broken her back." Vista pressed. "A person's back couldn't handle that."
Jon groaned. "For the last time…"
Hyde and Jackie smiled, before sneaking out of the room.
October 26th, 2003
8:15 p.m.
Forman Driveway
Running from his own parents was something that Parker never thought he'd have to do. Yet, he and Chase had been dodging them since that afternoon. They had even gone as far as hiding at Red and Kitty's. Sure, they had gotten cake out of the deal, but Red had also made them sit on opposite sides of the room. Now, they were back at Parker's and hoping to sneak into the basement for some alone time.
"Hey, it's the new perfect couple." Eric's voice said from the porch. Parker and Chase slowly turned to see Eric and Donna sitting in the lawn chairs-waiting. "Where you two been? Mt. Hump? The Hub?"
"My grandparent's." Parker answered. "And now, we're off to the basement."
"Not so fast, guys. We were hoping to talk." Eric told them. He stood and Donna stood with him.
"How do you guys feel about going out sometime?" Donna asked with a smile.
Parker opened his mouth, but then shut it again. He was a deer in the headlights. Chase would have to save him. "Look, look, this is getting creepy. We're not you guys. Girl next door and goofy neighbor we ain't."
"She's right. I mean, if anything, she's the punk from the wrong side of town, whose had the four stepfathers and whose never meet her real father and whose-" Parker trailed off when he noticed Chase was glaring at him.
He cleared his throat. "You know what I mean. Granted, we have things in common, but we aren't you and we aren't perfect. Besides, we've just started this relationship and there are a lot of things we are still trying to figure out. So, could we save the double dates till later?"
Eric lowered his head sadly. "I guess."
Donna grinned. "We were being creepy weren't we?" Chase and Parker nodded. "Okay. Sorry, I guess we were just so happy to see another couple like us that we went into creepy mode."
"We'll make it up to you two." Eric told the younger couple. "You kids like burgers?" He took his wallet out of his back pocket and handed Parker a ten. "Take your girl out for a classy meal at the Hub."
"Thanks Dad." Parker started to led Chase away, but turned back. "You guys want to come?"
"Are you kidding?" Eric asked with a laugh. "We're adults. We eat at real restaurants."
The teens laughed a little before heading out.
Donna glanced at Eric. "You wanted to go, didn't you?" Eric sadly nodded. "It's okay." She patted his arm. "I'll make you feel better. I'll let you do that thing you've always wanted to do tonight." Eric was suddenly happier.
October 26th, 2003
9:25 p.m.
Fez's House
"Pez? Pezzy? Pezzzzzzzzy?!" Holder screamed at the top of his lungs outside of Fez and Laurie's house that same night. Fez came to the door way and yelled something at him in a strange language. "Fez! Get Pez." Holder chuckled. "Dude, that rhymes." Fez rolled his eyes and disappeared into the house.
A moment later, Pez came walking over to Holder. "What? Why are you screaming outside at a quarter past nine?" She hugged her jacket around herself and wished that they were fighting in the spring or summer.
Holder took a deep breath. "I'm sorry." Pez blinked. "I'm sorry for ignoring you and blowing you off to spend time with Emma. It wasn't right to do those things to you and so, I'm sorry for doing them and for hurting your feelings." Pez blinked again. "Pez?"
"Oh. Oh." She shook her head. The fact that Holder was actually apologetic about what he had done was a shocker. Holder never apologized. Pez was sure that he wouldn't even apology to the Pope and yet he was apologing to her. "Thank you. You're…forgive?."
Holder grinned widely. "We're okay then?"
"Yeah. We are us." Pez laughed softly. "You having a serious girlfriend is not going to make it go away. It'll just change it, that's all." She looked away, slightly embarrassed. "The truth is, I was, am jealous. I am used to having you, basically to myself."
"Yeah. I'd be jealous if you found someone." Holder paused. He was being rather mature and it was kind of new for him. "I guess, the truth is, we spend all our time together and we're going to get jealous. 'Cause the truth is I'm kind of in love with you." He waited for a reaction and the only reaction he got was Pez looking at him again.
"I know." Pez told him softly. "I'm kind of in love with you to." With that said, she fall against him and let him hug her tightly. She breathed him and smiled when she felt his lips on the top of her head.
"I love you, Pezzy." Holder whispered into her ear.
"I love you, Wesley." Pez whispered into his shirt.
They stayed like that for a long while before Laurie came outside and told them to come in for something to warm them up. And even when they went inside, neither let the other out of their site.
October 26th, 2003
11:59 p.m.
Forman Living Room
Vista laid against Jon, her head against his shoulder and her body curled under her. Jon couldn't feel the arm Vista was on, but he didn't mind. He really did like having Vista on him.
Jon watched the end credits to a Buffy episode roll down the screen. He turned the television off. "Vista?" Jon whispered. "It's over." He looked at his watch. "In fact, it's Sunday and my curfew."
Vista moaned sleepily. "That's nice."
Jon smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. "So, I guess I'll just stay here a while longer, then. Good morning, Vista." He kissed her forehead again and settled in comfortably to sleep.
End
A/N cont: Whoa, so what did everyone think? Some character development between some of the others. Sure, I love the Chase/Parker relationship, but I had to explore the Pez/Holder friendship. Those two are so close, and well…you knows what will happen there? And, of course, the relationship-to-be: Vista/Jon. Will those two crazy kids ever get together? Well, Jon has to tell Vista how he feels first! Look for that to happen soon, after all Vista might be heading off to boarding school in less then four months. Jon better get on the ball. smile
Next time: A Halloween chapter, just in time for the holiday. "To Young to Drink, To Old to Tick or Treat" is the name of the tale. The gang sneaks out of the school Halloween dance and into the office, were they read their private recorders, change grades, and of course try and scare each other. Stay tuned and look for the new chapter in October!