Break-up Advice - Chapter 5
by Kadi
Rated: T
"Sharon."
"I know."
Rusty was standing beside her. The two of them were staring. Her head was tilted, just slightly, and there was an almost glazed look in her eyes. He nudged her again, with his elbow. "Sharon."
"I know."
They looked at each other, and then faced forward again. Rusty rubbed a hand across his forehead and peered at her from the corner of his eye. "You didn't see it before?"
"Do you think I'd have left?" She slanted a look at him, questioning for the first time, in a very long time, if he knew her at all.
"Good point." Rusty tilted his own head. "He never mentioned that?"
"Obviously not," she said drily. Sharon pressed her fingers against her lips and hummed. "This is…"
"Ginormous?" Rusty squinted at her.
"Use your words, dear." She was having trouble finding her own.
"Massive?" He ventured. "Enormous? Strangely obsessive?" Rusty had to nudge her again. "Sharon."
"Don't be unkind." She sighed, if he didn't stop, she was going to have to rethink all this unconditional adoration she had for the boy. Well, no, she wouldn't, but she would think of something. "Rusty, please."
"Sorry." He shrugged. "You look a little weird. I'm just trying to make sure you keep breathing. Every few minutes, your lips turn blue." Rusty smirked at her, suddenly gleeful. "You know, Sharon, it is just a closet."
She cut a look at him. "Someday, when you understand that there is more to life than jeans and hoodies, you'll understand."
Rusty leaned toward her, voice pitched low. "His ties are color coordinated."
"So are my pumps," she murmured back.
"Well, I never said you weren't weird." Rusty turned and walked away.
Sharon looked skyward and took a deep breath. "Rusty, I love you, but…"
"You'll ground me until I'm thirty if I don't mind my 'tude. I know." He leaned against the open doorway and smirked at her. "You are a little weird. You can't ground me for telling the truth. You're standing there drooling over a closet."
Sharon had stopped at Andy's bungalow on the way home to pick up the ball cap and tickets that Andy needed for the weekend. Since he was coming from the opposite side of town, and picking up dinner, she was making the stop for him and would meet him at the condo. It was an old, 1930s California Avalon, a mixture of wood, brick, and cement. She had been there before, but was obviously far too occupied to pay much attention to the layout or the rooms. It was a beautiful structure, but at some point, one of the three bedrooms had been remodeled. Probably when the old house was modernized, if the kitchen and bathrooms were anything to go by. All of the plumbing had been replaced, and the appliances updated. The room next to Andy's had been turned into an office, and half the space sacrificed to enlarge the closet into what was now a massive walk-in with built in shelving.
Rusty, bored with waiting, had followed her. He found her staring, and honestly if he understood he wouldn't be able to blame her. It was easily three times the size of her own closet, and as they made their way back toward the front of the house, she marveled at the well kept hardwood floors. The house was nestled back from the road, on a corner lot of an older, quiet neighborhood. She recalled Andy mentioning that he'd bought it at auction after his divorce. He hardly spent anytime there at all now, and she could count on one hand the number of times she had been in the house.
Sharon followed Rusty out and used the key Andy had given her for just this purpose to lock the door behind them. It was moderately sized, but the rooms were large and airy. The kitchen looked out over the back yard with wide, mostly unadorned windows. At the front of the house was the living room and a formal dining that stood empty for lack of need. The garage was detached from the house, but there was a covered walkway between it and the side door which lead into the laundry room behind the living room.
Rusty shook his head, where he stood waiting beside the car. "You've got that look. You're thinking about something. You know, Sharon, move in with a guy because you like him. Not his closet," he teased.
"Rusty." Her eyes narrowed. "I understand that you're still flying high from graduation, and you think that you're all grown up now, but I can still make your summer incredibly—"
"Boring and unbearable," he said. "Yes I know." He rounded the car and got in on the passenger side. When she joined him, and thrust the ball cap into his hands, he sighed. "It's baseball."
"It's a graduation gift," she reminded him. "You're going to be gracious, polite, and you'll have fun whether you like it or not." Sharon glanced at him and pulled the car away from the curb in front of Andy's house. "You need to enjoy normal things. Life isn't all about chess and music videos."
"How come you're not going then," he tilted her head at him.
"The tickets are for you, Andy, and Lieutenant Provenza. The gift is from them, and, they're doing it as a guys thing." She waved a hand dismissively at him. "It isn't about me, they did it for you. They're sharing something they enjoy. So you'll be nice about it."
Rusty rolled his eyes in that way that only teenagers could. "Of course I'll be nice about it, but it's baseball." He leaned his head back against the seat. "Why couldn't they like hockey."
Sharon smiled, but shook her head at him. "Rusty."
"I know." He heaved a sigh. "I'll be gracious, polite, and I'll enjoy myself whether I want to or not."
"Good." She turned her attention back on driving. "And the only thing I was thinking was whether or not the condo association would allow me to expand my closet into your room so that it looked like that."
This time when he rolled his eyes, it was in disbelief. "Right. Of course you were."
"Well, you have to admit," she laughed. "That was—"
"I'm sticking with strangely obsessive," he said.
"Rusty."
He laughed. "You really are a little weird."
"Wait until you see what Gavin got you for graduation." She smiled, altogether too gleefully.
"Sharon." Rusty sank down in his seat with a groan. Suddenly, baseball wasn't looking so bad. "Why is it, that I'm suddenly having visions of being the only college freshman whose dorm room is decorated in Burberry." The evil chuckle it drew out of her didn't make him feel any more secure.
"Gavin wouldn't do that to you," she promised. "It would be Vera Wang at the very least." He groaned and she laughed.
Rusty's gaze shifted to the passenger side window. He watched the neighborhood sliding away as they headed toward downtown. Graduation had come and gone, and it wasn't as bad as he had feared. It wasn't the edge of a chasm that he was going to drop off of. He still had time to decide whether or not he wanted to live in the dorm, but it wasn't seeming like such a horrible thing anymore. He was starting to look forward to it. That change had come when Sharon had given him her gift. The envelope had waited on his bed when he returned the next morning, from all the various celebrations and parties with his friends. It had contained the title to the car, the one she kept for her kids when they visited, the one that he'd driven these past several months, except now she told him they were more than capable of finding their own transportation. She didn't want any excuses out of him about visiting, or how he'd get home each break and holiday. So she had given him the car.
There had also been adoption papers, dated to last summer, after everyone found out about the letters. She told him she'd done it to stop Emma from having him taken from her, although they hadn't been filed. They hadn't needed to. It was up to him now. He could file them if he liked, he was an adult now. If he didn't, it changed nothing for her. She would still think of him as her son, and he would always have a home with her. When or if he was ready to try again, they'd find his mother, if that's what he still wanted - with or without any papers. She knew that she wasn't a replacement. Rusty had laughed at that, not in cruelty, but he had looked at her and chuckled. "No," he had said. "You're here." She saved him, protected him, and put up with all his crap even when he was being especially terrible, and he knew that he had been terrible. He was absolutely horrible to her in the beginning. He pushed, and he pushed, and he tried to make her leave, but she stayed. His mother couldn't even get on a bus, but Sharon broke down a door in her bare feet. His mother had never broken down a door for him. She'd locked a few of them in his face, however.
Sharon wasn't his mother, she was nothing like his mother. That was a good thing.
He knew that she wasn't trying to replace her, they were way beyond that. No, that wasn't what the adoption papers were about. That was Sharon protecting him, again. Now it was her giving him a home. Because she knew that he felt all awkward and uncertain about leaving, even if it was just to the dorm for a few months. He'd be back at Christmas, then off again for a few more months. He'd live with her during the summer months, but there would come a time when he wouldn't. It wasn't an abstract, she was giving him something tangible to hold on to in a future that could go in any direction. She gave them to him because he needed them. It was about him, not her.
Rusty had given them to Gavin. His eighteenth birthday had changed things, and the forms which were needed. The lawyer had giggled like a child as he worked up the necessary changes and gave them to him. Rusty had given those to Sharon. It wasn't for him. It was for her. "I know where my home is," he told her. "You might forget." That was a week ago. Nothing had really changed, save having a tangible security blanket that made the future a lot less scary.
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "You know," he said finally. "If you love the closet that much…" The look she aimed at him made him laugh. "I'm just saying."
"I think you've said enough on the topic," Sharon informed him, but it was an indulgent smile that graced her lips.
"Just trying to be supportive," he smirked at her.
"No, you're fishing for information that you know I won't give you," She replied.
"Fine." He squinted at the road in front of them. "I'll ask Flynn."
"Rusty." Sharon sighed. "Even if I ground you, you're still going with Gavin."
His shoulders slumped. "It was worth a try."
She laughed at him. "Yes, but you will be polite, you will be gracious, and…"
"I will enjoy myself whether I want to or not," he intoned with her, while rolling his eyes. "I got it."
"Good." She glanced at him and shook her head. "Then I'll take you back and we'll exchange what you really do not like. Don't worry, I've already had a very long talk with Gavin. Just… call me if he takes you anywhere near Dior, and I'll come get you."
Rusty giggled. "Sharon, if he takes me anywhere near Dior, I'll make a run for it."
"See," she pointed out. "It won't be as bad as you think, and I can trust you to think sensibly."
"Did you remember to call Shannon back," He changed the subject.
"I did," she nodded. "Her father has been calling her again. Now that the divorce is final, he's wanting to, I don't even know. I'm not even sure that Jack knows. It's not important, because Shannon isn't going to talk to him, but it's hard for her. She feels disconnected, she's on the other side of the country, so everything she's heard has come second and third-hand. It's nothing to worry about," she assured him. "Shannon was feeling a bit dramatic about the entire thing, but she's settled down now."
He nodded slowly. Things calmed back down after Jack showed up, but it had still turned out to be an interesting few months. "So, Ricky tells me that I should join a fraternity. He says I'll be guaranteed parties and girls… he doesn't know that I—"
"Not if you haven't told him," Sharon replied. "It isn't my place, Rusty." She smiled gently at him. "Honestly, I don't feel that its anyone's business but yours. It's up to you whether or not you tell anyone."
"Doctor Joe said that you'd say that," he smiled. After the hearing, and once all of that was over, he'd gone back to see the psychiatrist. They'd kept up with sessions for a few weeks, at least until Rusty felt steady on his feet again.
"I'm sure he did." She skirted around downtown, not wanting to face that traffic this time of day. "Rusty, what have you told people about my relationships?"
"I haven't," he said knowingly. "Because it isn't any of my business. It's up to you whether or not you tell anyone." He rolled his eyes at her. "You're so predictable, Sharon."
"Yes, I know." She smirked.
Rusty leaned back and sighed. "So, about this game…"
She shook her head and braced herself. "Yes?"
"They're not going to make me wear a hat are they?"
Sharon glanced over at him, and there was such concern in his gaze that she laughed. "No, they won't make you wear a hat. I'll draw the line there for you. Your hair is safe."
"Thank god!" He heaved a sigh of relief that was greatly exaggerated.
Sharon glanced over at him and laughed again. He could be such a normal teenager that it made her heart swell. He had come so far.
Much later, after dinner had been consumed, Rusty sat at the bar idly drumming his fingers. "I have to ask the question."
Sharon glanced at her lover and shook her head. Here we go, the look said.
"What is with all of the color coordinated ties?" He turned on his stool and fixed the Lieutenant with a look. "You have to admit, that's weird."
"So are your color coordinated hoodies," He pointed out, not even bothering to look away from the report he was paging through.
"That's not my fault." He pointed at Sharon. "Clashing is apparently evil and must be avoided."
"Don't pull me into this." She got up and walked into the kitchen with her tea cup. "You're the one that has issues with it. I thought it was fine."
"Well, you're weird too." Rusty got up and walked toward his room. "I can't imagine why anyone would need that many shoes, much less enough to keep them coordinated."
"He's still young," she observed. "I try not to hold it against him."
"You're doing remarkably well," Andy remarked. "Personally, I think the kid spends too much time with Provenza. He's starting to sound like him."
Sharon snorted. "I hadn't noticed. It's not as if he's actually seen the inside of my closet, so—"
"That just sent me to a horrifying mental place." Andy tossed the case file onto the coffee table and leaned back, loosening his tie. When she walked past the sofa, he snatched her arm and tugged her down. He pulled her legs into his lap and slipped his hands down to begin rubbing her feet. "What's with the fascination with my ties?"
"Rusty." She rolled her eyes. "It's more about a fascination with your closet. You understand that it isn't normal for a single man your age." Her brow arched. "Now, a single man Gavin's age…"
Andy snorted. "Trust me, the house came like that. The only thing I messed with was the kitchen. The couple that had it before spent too much on remodeling, when the guy lost his job, they couldn't make the mortgage, and obviously couldn't afford to finish the remodeling project. Their loss, my gain. I finished the kitchen, left the rest as it was."
"You're all heart, Andy Flynn." She shook her head at him.
"I know." His fingers traced the delicate lines of her ankle. "So what about it? It's just a closet." He arched a brow at her.
Sharon laughed. "Now that sounds more like you." She shook her head. "Nothing, we were just struck by the enormity of it." She rested her elbow against the back of the couch and propped her head in her hand. He stopped rubbing and she flexed her feet against his hands.
"Demanding witch," he teased and began digging his thumbs into the ball of her foot again. "I suppose it is a bit absurd. Just means it's got plenty of room." His brows bobbed at her. "Maybe instead of leaving my ties all over your closet, it's time you left your shoes all over mine."
"Hm." Her lips pursed. "Yes, but then I'd hate for them to feel abandoned. You're never there." Her fingers combed casually through her hair. "You're always here. I'm always here. It would be an awfully long way to go just to pick up a pair of shoes before work."
He cut his eyes toward her and shook his head. His lips pursed in amusement. "I suppose you have a point. I'd never be able to make it through the day knowing that I had deprived myself of those little, beige stilettos. It would be horrible. I'm feeling mildly panicked just thinking about it," he droned out.
Sharon snickered. "Yes, I can see that." She dropped her hand and leaned her head against the side of the sofa. "It would end up being quite the ordeal for you. Not nearly as bad, I think, as if it were, say, the black ones." She snapped her fingers at him when his hands stopped, and wriggled her foot again. "Uh uh, rubbing. You get the benefit of my wearing the Jimmy Choos, I get the benefit of the foot rub. We had a deal."
"Yeah, I'm rubbing, I'm rubbing." His fingers danced up the inside of her foot, causing her leg to jerk and drawing a giggle out of her. "See what you made me do. Patience." Andy tilted his head at her. "You know, I could think of solution to our little problem."
"Oh?" She leaned back and pushed a throw pillow beneath her head, reclining against the side of the sofa. "What did you have in mind? I thought it was fairly straight forward. You rub, I benefit. I'm not seeing problem there." Her lips pressed together, he shot another glare at her and it was all she could do not to laugh. She wasn't trying to be purposefully obtuse, but he was such an easy target at times. So adorable in how he huffed and shook his head, or tugged on his ear if he was particularly perturbed at her.
"It occurs to me," He looked straight ahead. "You really can be a pain in my—"
"Now Andy…" She grinned at him. "That isn't new." Sharon's eyes sparkled with mischief and amusement. "I'm sorry, honey, what's your solution?" She sat up and curled her hand around his wrist, stilling his hand for the moment. Her other lay against his thigh, stroking gently. "Hm?"
His eyes narrowed. "I don't think I want to tell you now." He sniffed, but when she pouted, he looked skyward and sighed. "I take it back. Troublesome demanding witch." Her brows went up and she shrugged playfully, causing him to shake his head. "My partner warned me about girls like you."
Sharon laughed. "Actually, I think your partner warned you about me, period." She moved closer, and inched into his lap. "Good thing you didn't listen."
"I'm starting to wonder about that," He said drily, teasing. His hand settled against her hip when she moved into his lap. "It's a simple solution," he told her. "Move in. The shoes will love it." He watched her eyes widened, and just as easily as she had settled across his lap, she was out of it. Andy leaned forward and let his arms rest against his knees. She was going to pace now. He was probably going to end up dizzy. Yes, his partner warned him. This should be interesting.
All joking aside, it wasn't what she expected from him. The thought had occurred, along the opposite side of that coin, he was at the condo all the time anyway. She didn't mind, she rather liked the idea, but oddly enough the idea of moving in with him gave her pause. Sharon paced the length of the living room, in font of the sofa. The fingers of one hand rubbed across her brow, while the other flexed and relaxed in a constant rhythm in time with her steps. "Did your partner mention any warnings about recently divorced women?" When his brows simply lifted, she huffed.
"You tapin' our conversations now?" Andy's gaze followed her. "Are you tryin' to tell me that this," he gestured between them, "had not even the slightest thing to do with you getting divorced? You can try, but I'm not sure that I'm going to buy it. You were still a married woman when it started. You might be willing scratch an itch or two, Sharon, but I know you. You weren't going to get involved while you were married." Her head whipped around and his eyes rolled. "You're not an oak. You feel, you want. There's not a damned thing wrong with that. You weren't looking for a casual fling. Well, neither was I. Unless you've changed your mind?"
"Of course not!" She flung a hand in his direction. "But let's be logical about this. We shouldn't go rushing in to anything." Sharon chewed on her bottom lip. She wondered if Rusty had put him up to this. No, that was absurd. She supposed, the writing was just on the wall. It was rather obvious, one of them was going to have to move in somewhere.
"Rushing?" Andy ran a hand over his face. "Babe, I've been trying to get you into bed for over a year. I don't think rushing is anywhere near the equation." He simply smirked back at her when she glowered.
Rusty came to an abrupt halt at the end of the hall. His face screwed up. "Ew." Two heads turned toward him, and both sets of eyes widened. "Seriously? Come on, we had this talk. Somethings should not be spoken in public. The living room is public." He wrinkled his nose again, but pointed at Sharon. "She okay? She's turning a little purple."
"She'll be fine," Flynn leaned back on the sofa. "She's going to pace for a while. Sorry kid."
"What did you do?" She was looking oddly agitated, Rusty had to admit. He edged toward the kitchen and took the apple that he had come to fetch out of the crisper.
Flynn shrugged. "Asked her to move in. Don't worry about it, it's a process." His head leaned back.
"Huh." Rusty tilted his head at her and took a bite of the apple. "You're really weirded out about that aren't you? What's the big deal?"
"Oh no," Sharon pointed at both of them. "You do not get to gang up on me."
Teenager and man looked at each other and shrugged. Rusty walked over and dropped into a chair, deciding that this concerned him, and it was amusing to watch. "Who's ganging up? I Just asked a question. It's just a house." He leaned over the side of the chair to look past where she stood between them at Flynn. "Unless there was a ring too? Because she is looking seriously weird."
"Do I look like an amateur to you?" Flynn rolled his eyes at the kid. "Get her moved in first, nice and comfortable, and then spring the rest on her. Kid, you're killin' me here." He leaned forward again, hands falling between his knees and shook his head.
"What? You broke her, I was just trying to figure out how bad." Rusty took another bite of apple.
"She's not broken," Andy said, with some amount of frustration creeping in. "It's a process. Just, be patient."
"Like you?" Rusty snorted.
"Oh hush, both of you," Sharon tossed her head and started pacing again. "You've lost your mind," she pointed at Andy, "and you, don't talk and chew," she told Rusty. Her teeth drug across her bottom lip.
"It's really more about the space," Andy said calmly. "I mean, I could move in here, but I've got Nicole and the boys. You've got Rusty, Shannon, and Ricky… this isn't that big a space. What are going to do when the brat—I mean, Rusty visits?"
"Hey." He frowned at him.
Andy shot a look at him and motioned him to be quiet. "The part you're missing, is that my garage has a loft over it. Big enough for a small apartment space. I use it for storage, but most of that crap probably needs to be thrown out anyway. God only knows how long it's been up there. The kid comes to stay and he doesn't have to worry about walking in to uncomfortable conversations. Then there's the yard. We toss the rugrats out the back when they get on our nerves, everyone's happy."
"You're really all heart, Andy." Sharon stopped pacing and planted her hands on her hips. "It might escape your notice, but mine are a little old to be tossing into the yard," she hooked a thumb at Rusty.
"I was talking about Nicole's dancing duo, but you know, that's the beauty of it. He'll have his own place above the garage. We toss him out the front and not the back," Andy said. When she folded her arms across her chest and began to look mildly relaxed, he smiled at her. "Then there's the closet. Explain to me how we're going to get all our stuff in here? We're not getting rid of any of your shoes. I wouldn't survive it."
"Again with the ew," Rusty made a face at him. "Dude. Really?"
"Dude," Andy replied, just as sarcastically. "You helping or not?"
"Okay," Rusty leaned back and waved a hand, motioning him to carry on.
Sharon whirled on him. "Rusty."
"What? He had me at garage apartment." Rusty tilted his head and smirked at her. "You knew I could be bribed. Why is this news to you? Why is this news to her," he asked Flynn.
"False sense of security, you don't know your own strength," he deadpanned.
"Sharon, what is the big deal," Rusty asked again. "Either you go there or he comes here. It's going to happen. Everyone knows that it's going to happen. I've got twenty bucks riding on it happening before I move in to the dorm at the end of August," he said. "Ricky is expecting you to hold out until the holidays. Shannon has you pegged by Halloween. Frankly, I think I should get home field advantage."
"Not a good move," Andy pointed out. "But the kid gets points for using game lingo."
"What?" Sharon ran a hand through her hair. "You've talked about this with Ricky and Shannon?" Rusty had her attention now. "When did that happen?"
"We email," He shrugged. "You wanted us to get along. Don't make a thing out of it now. So what's it going to be?"
"Rusty." She sighed. "I don't think this is a conversation that you should—"
"Nope." He pointed at her with the hand holding his apple. "Thirty day agreement was never rescinded. Besides, if we're moving, I think that pretty much, automatically, makes it a family conversation." He nodded. "Mmhm, yep."
"Suit yourself," Andy shrugged. "I was about to tell her about the shower. The couple who had it before me put in this big, double glass thing, but there's this bench on one side just great for—"
"I'm out of here." Rusty moved hastily down the hall.
Sharon watched him go, brow raised. "Well played."
Andy stood up and dug into his pocket and pulled out a coin. He tossed it to her. "Flip it," he said.
Sharon caught it, on instinct, but stared at him as though he'd grown a second head. "What?"
"Flip the coin," he said more slowly. "You heard the kid. Here or there. Makes no difference to me, it really doesn't." He moved to stand in front of her. "I got what I want."
She chewed on the corner of her lip. "It is a nice closet," she said slowly. "And that built-in shelving on the east side…"
"Shoe heaven," he said with a shrug. "Here or there," he asked again.
She supposed that it was only a matter of logistics. It really wasn't going to be easy to combine two households into her condo, and then there was the combination of two families. That was quite a lot of people, then add their friends into the picture. The condo was already feeling overcrowded just thinking about it. It had been perfect when it was just her, or her and Rusty. Sharon reached for his tie and tugged him toward her. "And if I flip the coin and it's here?"
"We'll go a little crazy trying to make it all fit, but we'll get there." His hands moved to her waist, and he held her loosely. She tossed the coin onto the coffee table and shook her head at him. "You had me with the closet, you know that right?"
"You are vain and materialistic," he nodded. "Why do you think I had you drop by there today? I was going to ask you eventually. My own forgetfulness just helped the cause and the timing works out great for Rusty."
"Hm." Her arms slid around his neck. "My own children are conspiring against me."
"Yeah," He shrugged. "It was bound to happen. You wanted them to get along," he teased.
"Oh shut up," she leaned up and kissed him.
"If it helps," he mumbled against her mouth. "Provenza has twenty on it never happening." He smirked when she scoffed.
"Poor thing, he's going to be so disappointed," she said, sounding not in the least sympathetic.
"You have no idea, he probably hasn't cracked that wallet open in over six months," Andy drawled. "It will be the squeak heard around the world."
Sharon snickered. "You are horrible." She leaned back from him. "You understand I have to go yell at my kids now."
He stepped back and gestured down the hall. "By all means. Enjoy."
"Hold that thought," she kissed him one final time and started down the hall. "Rusty!"
Andy chuckled and moved to lean against the back of the couch, legs crossed at the ankles. He'd make it up to the kid later, since he'd helped out. She was never boring, that was another thing he could add to all the little facets of her personality he had learned. Deliberate, predictable, but never boring.