Everything To Lose
Chapter 2 - I Dare You To Move
A/N: FINALLLY, chapter 2 is herrrrrre!! Let's skip the chit chat, and get to the story. Oh, well, one piece of chit chat: the song in this is 'Dare You to Move' by Switchfoot.
Disclaimer: I don't own the show or characters, or the song used.
Chapter Summary: London sees Cody again for the first time in six months. He has a surprise for her and Skyler.
!#&()+
"I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before"
"Skye, you were supposed to be helping me pack!" London yelled out her bedroom door, before going back to sift through more suitcases. It was Thursday, the day before the trip to Aspen, and London was in a tailspin.
Her daughter soon appeared in the doorway, looking as anxious as London had ever seen her.
"What's got you so riled up?" London asked, concerned for her daughter's mental help.
"Daddy just called! He wants us to meet him at the park!" Skyler replied happily.
"Now? It doesn't have to be now, right?" London wondered tiredly, out of breath from all the excitement of travel preparations.
"Yep, it has to be right now! He said he had a surprise for us!" Skyler answered, causing London to sigh.
She really had a lot to get done before the trip, and Cody wasn't making things any easier for her. She understood that he and Skyler wanted to see each other, but he would always find a way to drop in at the most inopportune moments. London groaned at the thought, but looked at her daughter's hopeful expression.
"Go grab your coat," she decided, watching Skyler skip out of the room happily.
She took the opportunity of her daughter's absence to scurry around her bedroom, pulling clothes out of the closet. She was, after all, going to see her husband who she was now separated from, and she had to look great. She had no idea why she wanted to look perfect for Cody, but she knew it was crucial.
London settled on a white, off-the-shoulder sweater and black dress pants, finishing off her look with black, heeled boots and a wide headband, before pulling her hair up.
She surveyed herself in the mirror, as she often did, and nodded, satisfied.
Skyler's head poked around the door with a knowing smile.
"So, you're excited to see him, too," she teased, crossing her arms. London furrowed her eyebrows.
"I always dress up before going out," London covered mendaciously, grabbing her jacket from the coat rack.
"That's funny. You don't wear stuff like that to the store..." Skyler trailed off, smartly. London shot Skyler a playful glare and instructed her to go get her shoes on.
The walk to the park was paved in snow. Skyler had convinced London that they could walk, as their house was not very far from the infamous Liberty Park.
As they neared the snowy landmark, the sight before their eyes shocked them: there was barely any snow on the ground, as most of it had been scraped up. The purpose of this made itself blatantly clear seconds later, making London become cold and feeble. Her breath caught in her throat and goosebumps rose to her skin.
Scattered across the park as far as the eye could see were dozens of snowmen, each of them having ears like a teddy bear and carrot noses. Skyler squealed in delight, running towards the horde of snowmen. Even London caught herself smiling before realizing Cody was nowhere in sight.
Skyler seemingly approached each of the snowmen, wanting to take in the appearance of every one of them, as if they would soon melt under the heat of the sun.
"I wonder where daddy is," Skyler thought aloud, a bit of sadness in the folds of her voice. She leaned against the large tree in the center of the park, before hearing an odd chuckling noise from its branches. Her head shot up in the direction of the top of the tree, only to have a man with striking blonde hair jump down at her.
"Daddy!" Skyler shouted with glee, running at the man for all she was worth.
"Hi, baby," Cody laughed, happy to see his daughters smiling face.
London also felt the corners of her mouth tug upward, and she soon found herself laughing out loud.
Cody had now chosen to start a tickle fight with Skyler, not acknowledging London's presence at first. He finally caught her eye in a swift motion, momentarily forgetting Skyler was even there when he saw how beautiful London looked. Skyler looked from her mother to her father, her eyes lighting up at the moment between them.
"How've you been?" London asked him politely, trying her best to ignore the fact that he looked quite taken with her.
"You look great," he commented, ignoring her question. London tugged at her coat and grinned sheepishly.
Skyler rolled her eyes at the 'junior high' attitude of both her parents.
"Um, thanks. So do you. So, how was the shoot in Milan?" London asked, just trying to make conversation.
She was referring to Cody's career as a photographer. He traveled to many different countries to photograph the landmarks, the nature and the wildlife. He had spent the month in Milan, Italy, on an important assignment. He hadn't seen Skyler or London since the day he left.
"Oh, it was smooth sailing. I got to eat bugs," Cody joked, throwing a goofy smile at Skyler, who giggled.
"So...how long did this take you?" London thought aloud, bypassing Cody and motioning to all the snowmen.
"Oh, well my flight arrived late last night, so I figured I'd surprise you guys," he replied, picking up Skyler with ease.
"Thank you, daddy," Skyler said sweetly, wrapping her arms around her father's neck.
"Anything for you, princess," Cody told her, planting a kiss on her cheek.
"You always were good at the big romantic gestures," London muttered under her breath, bitterly.
"I was thinking about taking Skyler to Burger Barn," Cody stated, causing London to turn around.
"Okay, that's fine. Just have her home by 7," London replied, looking uneasy.
"Join us?" Cody asked her, catching her off guard. London whipped her head back to meet his eyes, only to see unfeined kindness in them.
"Um, well. I kinda have a lot to do today," London told him, not exactly lying.
"Sorry. I won't take no for an answer," Cody responded, in a mellifluous voice. The dinner date appeared to be peremptory. London, not thinking, smiled at him and nodded. She inwardly screamed at herself for falling for his unequivocal generosity once again. And, damn him for being so sweet and making her do so.
"Great. Just like old times," he broke through her thoughts. And, across London's mind, a glimmer of desperation and longing for those old times he spoke of ripped through her senses. If only happy families could always be happy.
If only it could be assured that loving marriages were perpetual.
"Yeah. Like old times," London said finally, before catching up to Cody and Skyler on their way to the restaurant they often ate at in the past.
"I can't believe they took the Ginormous Mega-burger off the menu," Cody stated, more to himself than London or Skyler.
"A lot of things about Boston have changed since you've been gone," London said, a slightly bitter tone overtaking her voice. There was a slight metaphorical 'stab' in there.
"I noticed," Cody replied, not catching it. London was amused at the way he could be so smart and yet so stupid at the same time.
"I want the usual," Skyler informed them matter-of-factly, trying to sound older than she was.
"Yes ma'am," London teased her daughter, before picking her up and falling behind Cody in the line to order their food.
Doing so was a breeze for London. Her normalcy had grown immeasurably over the years since she'd given birth to Skyler. Eating at fast food restaurants, spending more time at supermarkets than department stores, and wearing more low-key clothing.
"You're not giving her too much fast food, are you?" Cody asked jokingly, only to receive a glare from London.
"Right, I'm going to take nutrition advice from the guy who dared her to eat a dog biscuit," London replied coldly, even though Cody took it as a joke.
"I didn't think she'd really do it!" He chuckled in response.
"Well, she does whatever you tell her. Sometimes, that's not so good," London shot back, finally smiling and joking with him. Cody smiled, before looking down at the floor in mock-shame.
Skyler just grinned as widely as she could, at the comedic exchange between her parents. Maybe things were finally starting to look up.
Their dinner was filled with laughter and reminiscing, and they all enjoyed it, although London wasn't quick to admit it.
"So, how's Jeff?" Cody asked, all fun ceasing the moment he asked that. Cody said it in a tone that indicated he didn't really care about Jeff, but he wanted some sort of sign of his relationship with London. Skyler's face fell at the mention of her mother's new boyfriend. The situation with her parents was very confusing for her at times, but she acted as though she understood it as not to cause too much trouble.
"Oh, he's fine. Still in accounting," London answered in a positive voice, as though she were excited to talk about him. To tell the truth, she was just happy to think about something other than how sweet Cody was and how much she missed him. But, separated couples were supposed to feel that way, right? London guessed so, but wouldn't that mean they'd get back together? London didn't plan on that, even though deep down, she wanted him back. But they'd broken up for a reason, and that was the bottom line.
What was that reason, again? London thought to herself. Oh yeah...
Flashback
"I told you not to take Skyler to your friend Richard's! He's a bad influence on her, and you know that," London yelled at her husband, absent-mindedly picking up toys and placing them neatly in their proper place. Cody rolled his eyes, and readied himself for a fight.
"But no. You couldn't listen to me. That was a bit too complicated for you. My instructions weren't quite your style, so you took her anyway!" London continued, causing Cody to furrow his eyebrows in anger.
"Your instructions? Since when did it become okay for you to slap me with lists of rules?!" Cody blasted off, his hands at his sides firmly.
"I'd like to hit you with something else. But anyway, maybe if I gave you rules a bit more often, our daughter wouldn't grow up acting as immaturely as you do," London retorted, standing akimbo. Cody's jaw dropped.
" I'm acting immature? You're the one who feels the need to tell everyone else what to do. You are the most controlling person I've ever met," Cody said, an irritated chuckled coming at the end of his comeback.
"I don't have a choice but to be controlling. You let our five-year-old daughter do whatever she damn-well pleases!" London shot back.
"She's a kid. She's supposed to enjoy that time in her life. Instead, you just keep her here making her do crossword puzzles while you kick back and relax, as her life is slowly going down the toilet!" Cody scolded her, ignoring the hurt look she gathered.
"I'm...I'm just trying to protect her," London said in a raspy voice, tears springing to her eyes. He was way off base...wasn't he?
"You know, you used to be a fun, outgoing person. Now, you're just driving Skye crazy. And, you're driving me crazy too, for that matter," Cody continued, as though she had not spoken.
"Then leave! No one is holding a gun to your head, making you stay here! In fact, I think we'd all be a lot happier if these little 'arguments' would stop completely. So, by all means, go," London said calmly, watching as he turned away from her and walked out the door.
She'd never let him know how hard she had cried after he left. She didn't really want him to go, she just thought that's what he wanted to hear. And, evidently, it was, because he did leave.
End Flashback
Those memories haunted London everyday of her life. She'd take those words back in a heartbeat if she could, but she knew it was too late for that. They were way better off this way.
Even though London sometimes cried herself to sleep thinking about the fateful day that had ended their relationship. And even though she sometimes kissed Jeff, wishing she was kissing Cody. Because no one had ever kissed her quite like he had. He would kiss her in a way that would assure her that she'd found her soulmate. But obviously, all that 'soulmate' talk was rubbish...right?
The dinner continued without incident, until finally, it was time for London and Skyler to part ways with Cody.
"Well, thanks for the date, ladies. I think it's best that I head back home," Cody said, patting his stomach in a way that made both Skyler and London laugh. The real reason London was laughing was the fact that Cody had referred to their dinner as a date.
This reminded her of how Cody would walways take her on dates, even when they were married. Granted, Jeff took her on dates too...he just wasn't as creative...
"When's the next time I'll see you?" Skyler asked her father, her chin resting on her arms. She was one of the most mature seven-year-olds he'd ever laid eyes on.
"I think next week. I have to go out of town again this week, but I won't be gone for very long," Cody relented, finishing in a promising tone.
"Okay," Skyler said, disappointedly.
Cody didn't want to tell her where he was going, because she'd want to go to, and Cody wasn't sure London would be up for that. He thought it best not to bring it up.
"Well, thank you for inviting me. I had fun," London told Cody in a casual manner, unlike the uptight behavior she'd exhibited before.
"Anytime," Cody replied, getting up from the table, the duo with him following suit. They all slid their coats on and made for the door, before realizing Cody would be going in a different direction.
"Well, I guess I'll see you girls later," Cody announced, in a playful tone.
"Bye, daddy. I love you very much," Skyler concluded in an infantile way, squeezing him as tightly as she could. She significantly stepped aside so Cody and London could say their proper goodbyes, which the young girl hoped would be very affectionate.
Cody and London stared at each other ungainly for a few seconds before taking some short steps towards each other.
Cody approached London with a nervous smile, before kissing her on the cheek sweetly. London ignored the tingling sensation he left on her skin.
"I'll, um, I'll see you next week," London said, trying not to smile as brightly as she was.
"See you then," he said, before stepping outside into the cold weather.
And London watched him walk away, not understanding her feelings for him at that particular moment. He sent her emotions in an uproar whenever he came around. This time was no different. If one dinner made her rethink her decision to end her relationship with him, she couldn't imagine what more time would do. She almost didn't hear Skyler when she spoke next.
"Mommy, we forgot to tell daddy that we're leaving tomorrow with Aunt Maddie for that place with all the snow," Skyler told her mother worriedly.
"It's alright, sweetie. We won't be gone that long. And besides, he's going out of town for a week, too," London said, comfortingly.
If only she knew...
A/N: OMFG, finally!! That chapter was a total bitch to write. Yeah, that's right chapter. I called you a bitch. Anyways, the reason for that being I got so stuck. It became almost depressing to write, because I thought I would never finish it...but YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY, it's finally out of the way. The updates should start getting a bit more frequent. Well, loves you all! Ciao!
xoxo Trishy