August is Over Chapter 2: Part I: When the Lines Blur, a gallagher girls fanfic

Notes: Gabe Saporta is quite hot. In other words, many thanks to the iantastical (all copyright goes to Kiwi) people who reviewed and favorited and alerted.

Inspiration brought to you by: All Time Low Damned If I Do You (Damned If I Don't) and Matt Nathanson Come On Get Higher (song used throughout the story).

Disclaimer: I keep forgetting to put these things on my stories. So I'm writing it here beforehand. Uh, disclaimed.

Part I – When the Lines Blur

I miss the sound of your voice
And I miss the rush of your skin
And I miss the still of the silence
As you breathe out and I breathe in

It was the first day of summer, and Liz Sutton was spending it in the streets of Paris. No, she wasn't here on a romantic getaway with her beloved, she was here because the CIA wanted her to test out a new scientific theory involving rubber bands, helium, and acid in the headquarters resting in France.

As she looked around at the small bistros, cute boutiques, and couples french kissing (notice the pun) on the well worn streets, she couldn't help but think what it would be like to actually come here with Jonas.

W O N D E R F U L. There was no doubt about it. If she were here with her other half, it would be wonderful.

After letting out a longing sigh, she picked herself up from the chair on which she was sitting, threw away the remnants of the biscotti that she had picked at, and started to walk off, heading away from the tiny café, back into the realm of spies, while leaving behind the mystical world of Paris.

If I could walk on water
If I could tell you what's next
I'd make you believe
I'd make you forget

Summer. It was meant to be spent with your girlfriend. Kissing heatedly in the pool, stealing chaste's wherever and whenever you see her and gazing under the moonlight, using clichéd lines to make her fall even more in love with you. But that didn't seem to be the situation for Preston Winters, who was stuck following the CIA's directions to complete a mission. What makes it worse was the fact that the mission took place in the over romantic city of lights, more commonly known as Paris.

He groaned. It was one thing to spend time away from your significant other, but it was another to see couples basically humping each other on the street. In broad daylight.

Gritting his teeth as he saw yet another couple – this one where the guy, sitting in a chair that was placed next to a table outside of a café, was pulling harshly on his girlfriend's hair as he stuck his tongue down her throat while the girl, legs placed around her boyfriend's hips started moaning and squeezing herself to come closer to the guy – Preston made his way to his hotel suite.

They should at least have the decency to get a room.

His stomach growled and Preston realized that the last thing he had eaten was the bag of overly-salted peanuts that were served on the plane.

On instinct, he headed to the nearest café to get a sandwich to fill him up before he could go to the hotel and consume a real meal.

So come on, get higher, loosen my lips
Faith and desire and the swing of your hips
Just pull me down hard
And drown me in love
So come on, get higher, loosen my lips
Faith and desire and the swing of your hips
Just pull me down hard
And drown me in love

Concentrating on what he would be buying, it was no surprise that he wasn't paying attention (a bad idea, due to the fact that he was a spy) and bumped into a petite blonde on his way in.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," he apologized, looking down at her.

"Preston?" Her eyes glittered as she said his name. He smiled.

"Lizzie! What are you doing here?" His face was contorted into a look of confusion and surprise.

"I'm here on behalf of the CIA," she whispered, and for a moment, her face went glum. But then it reverted back. "I'm testing out a new theory. You?"

"The team sent me here to do a mission."

She nodded. "Macey must've been furious that she couldn't tag along."

"There'll be other trips." Preston grinned. "So. You wanna meet me at my hotel suite? I don't start my mission until tomorrow and I've got some time to kill. Besides, all these kissing couples are making me depressed."

"I know," she replied, eyes wondering over to the window where she noticed the couple kissing passionately. "Yeah," she said a minute after she was done observing them. "I just have to go to the office here for a minute - drop off my report. But I can come by later."

"Great." After jotting down where he was relocating, Liz thanked him and headed out, briefcase in hand, to headquarters.

I miss the sound of your voice
Loudest thing in my head
And I ache to remember
All the violent, sweet
Perfect words that you said

Headquarters, as ridiculous as it may sound, was located in a meat shop. It came equipped with a burly man donning a white apron (that was clearly stained), a huge glassy counter covering the perimeter of the shop, and the stench of raw meat.

As Elizabeth Sutton took in her surroundings – a pale woman asking for some chicken, a man chattering away on his phone while scouring the display of uncooked meats, an African woman standing silently in line – she dutifully crept into the line, patiently waiting so she could get into headquarters.

Seven minutes and thirty-two seconds later, she stepped up to the counter and asked, "Do you sell sausage?"

The butcher, narrowing his eyes, responded, "No, miss. But I am certain that if you look in that closet right over there," he pointed to a door near the spice display, "you can find some nice sausage mix. And there's a shop right across the street that sells it."

After smiling her thanks to the butcher, Liz made her way toward the brass door and rapidly twisted open the knob. One more step and her retinas were scanned into the CIA's laser eye scan, signaling the pantry shelf to slide over.

If I could walk on water
If I could tell you what's next
I'd make you believe
I'd make you forget

Preston was officially bored. He was sitting in his hotel room, one which had four rooms - a kitchen, a living room and two bedrooms (overall, setup wasn't too shabby). But with no one to talk to and nothing to accomplish, all he could do was turn on the television and flip through the channels with a click of his remote.

Finally finding a channel that he was satisfied with, he eased into the pillows of the hotel bed. The next few minutes were spent with Preston watching the TV show eagerly and cracking a grin at the familiar dialogue every once in a while.

Since he was concentrating solely on the show, he didn't hear the soft knock on his door or the sound as it started to creak open. But only once Liz had made her appearance ("Hey Preston – you're door was open, so I thought I'd…") did he sit upright in his bed and make a move to turn off the entertainment system. However, by then, Liz had caught onto what he watching.

"Power Rangers? Really?" She held back a scoff, and only flashed a smile.

Preston chuckled nervously, averting his eyes and bringing his right hand to the nape of his neck. Dubiously, he looked down at the comforter and brought his eyes back to Lizzie. "Yeah. I mean – yeah. When I was a kid, I used to run around in my green Power Ranger costume and watch this show religiously."

His fingers were inching towards the vermilion colored power button on the remote. But before he had a chance to press it, Liz's hand was placed over his, sending tingles through his whole body.

"Well, don't stop on my account," she breathed, stealing the remote from him. "Besides, when I was younger, I always thought the green Power Ranger was cute."

She hopped next to him on the bed, propping the pillows up so she could see the TV screen properly.

Preston stood up from the bed, feeling somewhat awkward. "Uhm… I'll go make some popcorn." With that, he headed toward the microwave located in the kitchen which was one room over.

I feel the weight of your heart
I taste the sparks on your tongue
I see angels and devils
And God, when you come on
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on

Walking into the kitchen, Preston opened up a small cabinet located on the side of the room and took out the Orville Popcorn box. Then he proceeded to rip out the popcorn bag from the plastic and hastily stick it in the microwave while pressing the 'Popcorn' button. Once the bag started to revolve on the plate inside the kitchen gadget, he let his thoughts consume him…

He couldn't believe this. Elizabeth Sutton was sitting in his bed, watching Power Rangers with him. Two weeks ago, if you'd asked him if that was possible, you'd see him cock his eyebrows in incredulity and reply "no" within a heartbeat. Yet, here he was. Truth be told, he'd had a tiny crush on Lizzie for a long time. It wasn't a feeling that developed over time from getting to know her; it was more like the first time he saw her fashioning a lab coat and babbling something really smart that not even he could comprehend, the feelings he had for her… just came to be.

He also couldn't believe that he'd told her about his Power Ranger fetish – something which, if he were being honest with himself, he would've never dared to tell Macey (since he feared she would make some snide remark and use it to somehow blackmail him with it… eventually). With Macey, he always felt as if he needed to hide himself and that he couldn't reveal himself fully. He had felt that for such a long time that Preston just brushed it off and learned to ignore the feeling. Why did he do that?

He shook his head, as if that would just put a rift between him and the crazy things popping into his head.

He loved Macey though. And she loved him. They were meant to be together – and everyone knew it. But with the spicy fashionista, he felt something missing. Some little part that just couldn't be fulfilled. And that was beginning to bother the hell out of him. He just wished it would fuck off.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

As the sound of the microwave pulled Preston back into reality, he started to blink several times. It was as if he'd gone to sleep and now just woke up. Then, searching the room for a bowl to put the popcorn in, he pushed open the door of the microwave, taking out the packet.

Whoosh. And a millisecond later, Preston dropped the bag, the one that'd scorched his whole left hand. "Shit."

He turned on the sink and let the cold water shower over the burn. He was still glaring at the bag of popcorn, scowling at it as if it was the bag's fault that his hand was searing in pain, when the door crooned open.

"Preston? Is the popcorn done?" Liz's voice was bemused as her eyes dilated from Preston's flushed face to his hand being sprinkled with cold water in the sink to the dropped popcorn bag lying dejectedly on the floor.

Connecting the dots, realization hit her. "Omigosh! Are you alright?"

He answered her with a frown. And then, in an impressively short time, Lizzie rushed over to Preston, jumped up on the counter top and opened the freezer and took out two ice cubes, wrapping them around a piece of Bounty tissue paper, turned off the sink and pressed the wrapped up ice pack against Preston's stinging hand – without tripping or hesitation.

He looked at her, awe in his eyes. Noticing this, she crinkled her eyebrows. "What?"

He smiled softly. "Nothing."

The answer made the blonde even more puzzled and Preston just shook his head, thinking about the wondrous Liz, knowing that if Macey had been here, she surely would have laughed at him. He was also thinking that the feeling of her skin on his was a nice one – it made him slightly dizzy, but still.

It's all wrong, it's all wrong
It's all wrong, it's so right
So come on, get higher
So come on and get higher
'Cause everything works, love
Everything works when you're on

Ten minutes and four ice cubes later, the two were seated on the king sized bed, watching re-runs of Scooby Doo. When the duo first came out, Liz carrying the bowl of popcorn and Preston pressing the ice-pack onto his left hand, they were disappointed to find out that the episode of Power Rangers had ended and the credits were already rolling.

As Lizzie shifted to make herself more comfortable on the bed, she giggled, reaching for a handful of popcorn. "I love how Shaggy's the only one cracking jokes when the whole gang is just going through the case."

Preston laughed lightly. "Well, my favorite character has to be Velma. I mean, she's the most important one out of all of them. If it weren't for her, the mystery wouldn't be solved. You've got to love a girl with brains." He looked over at Liz, reaching for the bowl of popcorn.

Instantly, Preston felt Liz's hand in the bowl. His first instinct was to pull away, but then he just let his hand sit there. Touching her hand, but not exactly holding it.

Liz stiffened. His hand was… on hers. And it felt good. She turned slowly to look at him, and as if he'd read her mind, he was already facing her. Not knowing she was doing it, Liz wet her lips with her tongue. This minute detail was, however, seen by Preston as he slowly parted his lips and leaned in. But just before kissing Lizzie, he noticed that her eyes were fluttering to a close.

A/N: Yeah, I know I kind of stretched out the truth a bit with the popcorn thing, but a writer's gotta do what she's gotta do. Credits to Kas for editing!

Things to tell me in a review:

- Thoughts on popcorn scene?

- Questions on Liz/Preston relationship?

- Do you like the Power Rangers and Scooby Doo?

- What's your fetish?

- Thoughts about next chapter?

S.W.I.T.Z

PS - Check out fanfiction(.)com(/)snazzycoolcats. Kas and I have a really good multi-chap coming soon. Yeah.