"Where did you learn how to do hair?" Terri asked.
She and Larry had been sitting on his couch one lazy Sunday afternoon when Larry had gotten the sudden, random urge to braid her hair. So, for the past 15 minutes, that's what he'd been doing. Terri enjoyed feeling his fingers working through her hair and Larry loved manipulating her long, blonde locks until they twisted into a silky braid running down the length of her back. Both of them found this activity to be soothing.
"I'm the middle child of four older siblings and four younger ones. So when you've got three younger sisters, well, let's just say it comes with the territory." Larry laughed softly as he continued to work through her hair.
Terri smiled to herself as she pictured Larry doing Diane's hair like this when she was little.
"Okay, there you go! All done!" Larry said proudly. Terri turned to face him on the couch, her face lighting up.
"How does it look?" Terri asked him, lightly shaking her head from side to side. Terri had started to stand up, wanting to go look into the bathroom mirror so she could see for herself. She stopped in mid stand when Larry reached up to stroke her cheek with his thumb.
"You look so pretty." He sighed happily, smiling up at her with great admiration. "Beautiful, adorable, sexy..."
"I meant for you to tell me how the braid looks!" Terri laughed, blushing hotly at the attention.
"Pretty good, if I do say so myself." Larry smirked at her.
Terri sat back down on the couch next to Larry. She leaned forward and kissed him softly.
"Thanks for the hairdo." Terri muttered sweetly against his lips.
"It was my pleasure!" Larry smiled into the kiss. "And speaking of pleasure..."
Terri smirked as she deepened the kiss. She braced both hands on his chest and gently pushed him down onto his back and ended up straddling him.
"Shall I assume the position, Miss Alden?" Larry grinned up at her playfully. He nodded his head over into the direction of the bedroom.
"And just what position would that be?" Terri asked him curiously, tilting her head. The smile was evident in her tone.
"Oh, you know..." Larry bit his lip, his eyes sparkling naughtily. "Me flat on my back, you on top of me. Kind of like what we're doing now, only in bed."
Terri blushed and snickered, covering her mouth with her hand at Larry's bluntness. It was so true...she was always on top.
Larry laughed quietly at Terri's reaction, grinning up at her adoringly. He began running his hands up her body.
After the initial amusement at Larry's statement wore off, Terri's face fell the more she thought about it. She began feeling guilty as well as a little self conscious. She tensed up for a moment before pushing herself off of Larry. Larry arched an eyebrow in confusion and sat up.
"Terri?" Larry was concerned at her sudden change in mood. "Are you okay?"
Rather than answering his question, Terri decided to ask him one of her own.
"Larry, do you think I'm controlling, you know, in...bed?" Terri asked him with great difficulty. Talking about sexual matters was always hard and uncomfortable for her, despite being a nurse. It always made her feel awkward. She had trouble meeting his gaze.
Larry burst into laughter. He put an arm around her and gave her a reassuring squeeze in an attempt to comfort her.
"Oh, sweetheart..." He kissed her temple. "I was just kidding. I'm sorry if I made you feel badly..."
Terri sighed, her thin shoulders slumping slightly.
"You're dominant. You like to be on top...it's no big deal." Larry stated as a matter of fact. "I'm like a sexual chameleon...I adjust to whoever I'm with. Honestly, it doesn't bother me at all."
"But you're not getting bored? Don't you think it's a little unfair? Wouldn't you like to be on top sometimes?" Terri asked him anxiously.
"Terri, I'm just over the moon thrilled with being able to have sex with you at all!" Larry laughed, shrugging. "I'm okay."
"Really?" Terri asked him disbelievingly.
"Really." Larry smiled brightly.
The two of them sat together in silence for a few moments. Larry's relaxed and cheerful demeanor seemed to have little affect on putting Terri at ease...he could feel the tension building in her slender frame. After rubbing her back soothingly for a few seconds, Larry then started to say something else but then was interrupted by Terri.
"Larry, I have to tell you something." Terri said grimly.
Larry was a bit startled at her seriousness, but did his best to keep the mood light.
"Sure, Terri." Larry smiled, albeit a bit nervously. "Go ahead."
"A few years ago, I had this boyfriend named David and...well...he was not very nice to me." Terri spoke up hesitantly.
Larry's smile faded into a frown.
"Sex was always how he wanted it and when he wanted it. It was always on his terms, what he preferred and I had no say in the matter, no choice at all. I was too afraid to stand up to him." Terri's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Terri..." Larry gasped, horrified.
"The guy was a complete sadist in every way. He humiliated, tortured and brutalized me in ways that I am still trying to come to terms with. The more he hurt me, the more pleasure he seemed to get from it." Terri quietly confessed.
Larry stared at her, unable to say anything at the moment.
"It didn't start off that way, though. He worked his way up to that point." Terri shook her head, a bitter tone in her voice. "At first it was just rude comments on my appearance and weight and hurtful nicknames. Then it was controlling what I ate, what I wore, who I talked to, what I did in my free time. I still remember the shock I felt when he first threw a drink in my face...that really seemed to open up the floodgates to more violence."
Terri shuddered, her hands balling into fists as she talked. Recalling just how much control she allowed the sick bastard to have over her made her embarrassed, furious and nauseous. Larry reached over and placed one of his hands over hers, giving her a gentle squeeze.
"The truth is..." Terri sighed, her voice shaking with emotion. "I've been slapped, punched, choked, dragged upstairs by my hair, slammed into walls..."
"Jesus Christ..." Larry breathed, his voice heavy with despair. He started to shake with anger and he felt like throwing up.
The two of them sat silently. Both were trying to hold back tears. After a while, Larry spoke up.
"He broke your knee, didn't he?" Larry asked softly.
"What?" Terri looked at him.
"A few months ago, you told me that you broke your knee as a cheerleader in high school." Larry sighed, his voice low and shaky. "But it was him that did that to you, wasn't it?"
"No, I really did break my knee in cheerleading practice." Terri willed herself to smile half heartedly as she reassured him.
Larry almost let out a sigh of relief, but what Terri said next made his blood run cold.
"But he did break my wrist once. He told me he'd never do it again, and he did keep the promise technically..." Terri continued wearily. "Because the next time he broke something on me, it was my whole arm rather than just my wrist."
Larry shrunk in on himself, feeling like he'd been punched in the stomach. He squeezed his eyes shut, which sent a few tears rolling down his face. He angrily brushed them away with his hand.
"After three years, my friends held an intervention and finally got me away from him. It took me four years of therapy to realize that I deserved better and that love wasn't supposed to hurt. To this day, my family doesn't know the half of what he did to me...they just think he was bossy and controlling. I ended up taking self defense classes and I made a promise to myself that no one was ever going to treat me like that again. I was never going to be anyone's punching bag ever again." Terri's posture straightened a little bit when she mentioned learning the art of self defense and she managed a small smile, feeling a tiny bit proud of herself.
"That's good..." Larry sniffled, smiling weakly.
Terri paused here, and her face fell. All faint traces she had fleetingly felt of pride were washed away with what she said next.
"The thing is, Jack had this stupid fake mustache one time...he looked so much like David. I was falling all over myself, trying to do anything I could to please him...just like the bad old days. Janet and Jack thought up a plan in order to get me to fall out of love with Jack by getting him to treat me like dirt, because I am seemingly so independent and strong and everything. Well, it backfired because they had no idea just how badly that bastard had twisted my mind, how badly he'd screwed me up. Needless to say, thank God it was just Jack underneath that mustache and not David. I was totally helpless and completely under his spell once again. Had that actually been David, I just might have gone crawling back to him like an abused dog...and that really scares me." Terri laughed bitterly to herself, disgusted with her own weakness. "You should have seen me, Larry. I was so pathetic and so sick, even after all of this time."
"Terri..." Larry shook his head, gently grasping for her hand. "You are one of the strongest people I've ever met. I know you and I know that when push came to shove, you would have put that asshole in his place. But if you ever feel weak, just lean on me a little. And as for the sex, we can go as slow as you want...take all of the time you need to, really. In fact, if you want to be on top for the rest of our lives, go right ahead...I'm fine with that."
The two of them laughed tearfully at that.
"But seriously..." Larry said. "I don't want you doing something because you feel like you have to, but because you want to...okay? Your pleasure is just as important as mine."
Terri merely nodded. It was almost as if he had read her mind. She was relieved to know that her lack of comfort when it came to a variety of sexual activities didn't seem to put him off. If he had the patience to put up with her, than she could see herself eventually pushing herself to become more adventurous in order to please him more...a sort of meeting in a middle ground.
Larry racked his brain, trying to recall the mustache incident that Terri was talking about. He vaguely remembered himself and Jack using fake mustaches in order to attract women, but he couldn't remember anything about Terri from that week. After a while, he faintly recalled seeing her eating a burger at the Reagle Beagle with Jack and Janet, but that was all. Larry felt digusted with himself, realizing that he had been too busy chasing tail to notice that Terri had a problem.
His mind began replaying the night that he and Jack pulled mean pranks on Terri in order to stop her from moving in. Jack wanted her out because, due to a series of misunderstandings, he had completely misread her character and had wrongly thought that she was making fun of him. Larry had a different motive. Although he had thought that Terri was very beautiful, he wanted to get his current main squeeze into Jack and Janet's apartment instead of Terri because of pure selfishness. He tried to make it look like he was standing up for his buddy, but it was only somewhat true. His motives were not entirely noble.
He and Jack humiliated Terri that night in front of a huge crowd of people at Cindy's going away party. Hand buzzers, trick glasses that left dark smudges under her eyes, squirting ink onto her dress with a trick camera. She was driven to the point of nearly being in tears. Larry remembered that look of pure hurt that Terri had on her face and remembered, with utter disgust, how he was willing to keep on harassing her (including dousing her with water in order to "clean the spot out") even when Jack had the good sense to realize they had gone too far and to apologize. The knowledge of what Terri had already been through when he had treated her like that was almost too much for Larry to handle. Larry hung his head, feeling shame and self hatred, as well as hatred for David. He felt no better than her abuser. It occurred to him just how amazing Terri was in order to give him a chance at all.
Larry felt lower than dirt.
"Terri..." Larry croaked, the tears coming fast and hard now. "I am so sorry."
"What are you apologizing for?" Terri asked him, her eyes welling up as she tried to blink away her own tears. "Wait a minute, if this is about the ink fiasco...you've already apologized for that. Several times, actually."
Larry leaned forward and wrapped both of his arms around her, holding her close to him. He buried his face into her shoulder. His body shook with huge, racking sobs.
"I'm sorry about what I did to you at Cindy's party, I'm sorry about tricking you into flirting with Jack, I'm sorry about what that evil bastard did to you...I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry! You didn't deserve any of that!"
Terri returned his embrace and the two of them spent hours comforting each other and crying it out on the couch together. Terri relished in the feeling of finally being able to open up to someone about her nightmare with David and of finally letting herself cry over it in front of somebody other than her therapist. Meanwhile, with bitter and angry tears streaming down his face, Larry made a vow that day...actually, he made two. He made a promise to himself to love Terri the way she deserved to be loved...
And he vowed to kill David.
To be continued...
A/N: Gross. I felt horrible writing that. I wrote this because some things about Terri and Larry's characters just didn't sit well with or make any sense to me. I don't get why Terri would let a guy walk all over her and treat her like crap the way she let David in her past and the way she just lapped it up from Jack in Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow. It didn't make sense for her usually strong, tough as nails character, so...I made her the victim of domestic violence. :/
As for Larry, I hated how he treated Terri in Jack Bares All. Personally, I can't see Larry being that mean to anyone, especially a beautiful woman. Can you get any more OOC? So, I am sorry for the over the top emotion from Larry but I wanted this to be a moment of repentance.