Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of it's characters- JK Rowling does
A/N: Still no review yet... If you review I shall give you all the Treacle Tart you'll ever want to eat! (Ok that's a lie, but I still do want the reviews) I felt that this chapter was too long too, so sorry if I bored you to tears, but we need keep our head down and power through (Air five for the Arrested Development quote?). The next chapter is shorter but not by much.
Dinner that night was an extremely appetizing pot roast with a side of mashed potatoes. I thought the dinner was absolutely amazing and helped myself to seconds, while Stan went back for fourths and even fifths. He looked as if he hadn't eaten before in his life. He claimed it was from working on the bus all day but I pointed out he had only been working for a few hours. Mrs. Shunpike scolded him again and again for eating too fast but Abby thought it was the funniest thing in the world. She looked at her older brother in amazement. Being an only child, despite my stepsiblings, had its downsides. It was always quiet in my house; so quiet I could hear my mother cry herself to sleep at night. I had longed for a sibling of some sort. Eventually, I realized my mother had no intentions of marrying again and I had forced her to by me a dog. A car hit it two days after we bought it.
"What are we doing tomorrow?" I asked politely as I rinsed out my plate in the sink and put it in to the dishwasher. I felt Stan come up beside me and rinse his plate out. I cursed my skin for rising in goose bumps as his arm brushed against mine. He noticed my reaction and smiled at me. I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Well, tomorrow I was thinking that we could-" Mrs. Shunpike started but Stan had cut her off.
"Sorry, Mum, tomorrow Brooke and I are going on a date." He smiled that goofy grin towards me. I felt my eyebrows shoot up. But apparently oblivious, he still kept that stupid grin on his face.
"So that's how you're going to ask?" I said nonchalantly, trying to give of the impression that my heart was beating at a normal rate.
"Not good enough?" He asked with the same tone as he leaned against the counter next to me.
"I guess it'll do. But I might be busy. You know I have all these suitors and just not enough time," I said smiling at him. His smile widened and he slipped his hand into mine. I suddenly realized that Mrs. Shunpike was still staring at us. I untangled out hands and looked over at her. She was wearing a huge grin, no doubt picking the band to play at our wedding. I blushed. We weren't getting married! What's with all this "our wedding" business? I suddenly felt a sense of dread. Maybe we were rushing things. I mean we had only known each other for 2 days! Well, of course, I knew we had known each other 2 years before that. But don't you have to start by scratch? I saw Abby miming barfing motions off to the side. I blushed deep red. I could feel my ears turn red and I could sense the coming of a sudden bout of the sweats. "Um… Weren't we supposed to be friends first?" I whispered to Stan when his mother and sister had been consumed in what they were doing before. His smile faded.
"We were friends yesterday and today. Tomorrow will only be a date, not a marriage proposal," He said softly into my ear. I could feel my blush redden. He must be a mind reader. How else could he know what I was thinking all of the time? That goofy smile he always had was replaced by a slight frown. His eyebrows furrowed. "I guess… if you're not comfortable then we could go as just friends…" He trailed off and his eyes begged me to disagree. I looked away.
"Maybe that would be best." I said. After all, I had just gotten out of a serious relationship the day before. Yeah, I felt the power in my conviction now. I looked over to Stan if he felt the same. But he wasn't looking at me; he was looking at the floor. I could feel his sadness rolling off in waves. Was I this pathetic looking when I had gotten on the bus just the day before? My conclusion suddenly burst at the seams.
"It's not like I don't want it to be a date tomorrow," I said truthfully. "But I just got dumped by my boyfriend of a year yesterday and… you know…" I said unsure of how to end my sentence. He looked me in the eyes again but it was my turn to look away.
"I understand. I'll wait however long you want me to, and until then we'll be… friends," He smiled falsely at me. His blue eyes swept over me. I couldn't help but feel as if I was trapped in the middle of the ocean and the waves were crashing above me. "I don't want you to think that I'll get sick of you in the mean time. I waited for you for 6 years and I can go another 6. Hopefully it won't take that long though." He smiled again, and this time for real. I took his hand in mine again.
"I like you too much to screw it up. Make sure that you'll let me give you a chance." I said softly again. Stan suddenly looked up and around to his mother and sister, who had been not so discreetly eavesdropping.
"C'mon," He pulled my hand as he ran up the stairs and into his room. I scrambled after \him. He pulled me close again, my hand still in his. "I can't very well kiss you in front of my mum, can I?" And before I knew what he was doing, he placed his lips on mine. My eyes were wide open and before my brain could process what was happening he pulled back.
"Did you kiss me?" I asked dumbly and put my fingers to my lips. He nodded and smiled again.
"But it doesn't really matter since you know- we're just friends," He smiled even bigger. My face got red suddenly. I absently began pawing at my lips.
"Yeah, friends…" I said agreeing unconsciously.
"So we're on tomorrow?" He asked, opening his door and walking out.
"Uh what? Yeah." I said distracted. He just kissed me! Stan kissed me, Brooke! I squealed mentally. I heard a laugh and saw that Stan was still watching me. I looked at him and blushed again. "I guess I'll just go to bed then," I said awkwardly. My voice came out in a sort of squeak.
"Brooke, it's 7:30." He said and waggled his eyebrows.
"We stayed up late yesterday." I pointed out. He rolled his eyes and came back into the room. He was going to kiss me again! I closed my eyes and puckered my lips.
"What are you doing?" I heard Stan laugh from the other side of the room. I blushed even deeper. He tossed me the pajama pants I was wearing last night and a new shirt of his. "I didn't know I was that good of a kisser. But then again, you are begging for more aren't you?" Stan said grinning. I hit his shoulder. Maybe with my luck his grin would break his head in half. He came closer to me and bent down. He brushed his lips against my cheek. Goose bumps broke out on my skin and I couldn't help the sense of euphoria washing over me. Friends, friends, friends, friends, I chanted to myself. "Good night, Brooke." He said walking out of the room and closing the door.
"Eep!" I squealed as he walked away. I quickly changed into his pajamas, heaven forbid he walked back in. I climbed in to the bed, his bed, and snuggled down.
Being the night owl I was, I stayed up late. I lay on the bed day dreaming about Stan. My 'friends' mantra was slowly fading in my head. I held my breath as I heard the door open and quickly closed my eyes as Stan entered. I did the fake snore I had done this morning, cursing how phony it sounded. I opened my eyes a slit and saw Stan sleepily make his way towards his bed, pulling his shirt off in the process. I tried to hide my gasp as another snore. His chest was covered in scars. The last time I had seen his bare chest, it had been unmarked. I didn't even want to think about what must have happened. I grimaced as thoughts flowed through my mind. He climbed onto his couch and pulled up a blanket.
"Good night, Brooke," He said.
"Good night, Stan," I said before I could stop myself.
I woke up suddenly and abruptly. Why was it still dark? I looked at the clock sitting on Stan's dresser. It was 3 o' clock in the morning. Why would I wake up this early in morning? I couldn't remember a bad dream, or any dream for that matter. And then, I heard it. Stan heaved a great breath in and as he breathed out, I heard the loudest snore I have ever heard. I giggled and quickly pulled the covers up on me again. He would never hear the end of this.
The next time I woke up, sun was streaming into the window above my- no, Stan's bed. I heard a dull roar and realized Stan was still sleeping. I took my pillow and threw it at him. I looked at the clock as Stan stirred and sleepily threw the pillow back at me, not even getting it halfway across the room. It was 8 o' clock.
"Hey, Stan, my main man," I said to him and then blushed. I remembered the kiss from last night.
"Hey Brooke, the girl with the looks," He said. I grimaced.
"There is so many things that rhyme with Brooke, and that's what you pick?" I asked him. He just smiled, looking much more alert.
"Are you ready for our date today?" He asked.
"Yeah. Where are we- Wait, I thought we agreed that it wasn't a date," I said confused. Didn't we already settle this already? He smiled bigger.
"I think you agreed that it was a date last night," He chuckled and I looked around for another pillow to chuck at him.
"Yeah, well don't pretend I didn't hear what you were doing last night." I said smiling. He blushed a shade close to scarlet. I didn't know he was that sensitive about snoring.
"You heard that?" He asked his voice breaking. I nodded and got off from the bed.
"Don't tell my mom." He threatened. I shrugged.
"I should yell it out to the whole house. In fact, I think I will." I said chuckling. He turned brighter red.
"What?" He said, his voice cracked so much that the word wasn't even recognizable.
"You heard me," I grinned at him.
"You wouldn't dare!" He yelled jumping up but before he could reach out to me. I opened his door and took off running about through the house as he had done the morning before.
"STAN SNORES! STAN SNORES!" I yelled bounding down the steps. Stan caught my arm before I had even touched the second one.
"What the hell are you talking about?" He asked and his confusion spread across his face.
"Well, obviously, last night I heard you snoring!" I said pointing out the obvious. Hadn't we had a whole conversation about this?
"I don't care about that! I thought you were talking about something else… is all," He said, blushing deeper read. It was my turn to be confused.
"What are you talking about? What else could you be doing at ni- Oh my God," I said in sudden realization. "Disgusting! You would do that while I'm in the room?" He shook his head.
"It was a dream! I couldn't help it." He said. I shrugged. I guess it's natural. Now that I think about it, when Hunter wasn't shagging his secretary and then shagging me, he sure did have a lot of those dreams. Stan looked suddenly to his right and I followed his gaze. Standing there was his mother. I don't think I had ever seen Stan's face so red. I mean he had blushed deeply earlier and back when I was in school he blushed at the drop of the hat, but this was unreal. His face bordered on purple. Mrs. Shunpike had a slight tint to her face as well. "How long have you been standing there?" Stan croaked out. If his voice cracked anymore I would have thought he was a frog.
"Well, I heard yelling so I came to see what was happening." She said looking at the floor. I knew I should have been embarrassed as well but I felt the need to laugh and before I could stop myself a giggle escaped my lips. Before I knew it, I was leaning against Stan for support. I was barely breathing it was so funny. Tears were forming in my eyes. Mrs. Shunpike gave a grunt and then began to giggle along with me. Stan however remained stony faced.
"If you laugh, she will forget about it," I whispered in his ear and as I had hoped he burst out in to loud earth shaking guffaws. Abby came from her room and I bet we looked silly, laughing like maniacs.
"Why am I related to such freaks?" She asked no one in particular and we all started chuckling again. When the laughter died down and then stopped completely, Mrs. Shunpike gave some more clothes.
"You should go back to your house and bring some of your things over here. Stan didn't tell me how long you are staying, but I'm thinking at least until you guys buy a place of your own, right?" She said, hinting heavily. The long delayed blush crept to my cheeks. Stan just chuckled and kissed his mother's cheek before heading into his room. I took a quick shower and pulled on the clothes Mrs. Shunpike had given me. I put them on and was thankful that they fit my body again. I said a quick incantation under my breath and my hair magically dried itself. Then with the toilet paper roll I had transfigured into a flat iron, I straightened my hair. They didn't put me into Ravenclaw for nothing. I slid from the bathroom after checking myself in the mirror. I walked to Stan's room and found him sitting on his bed in jeans and a t-shirt. I couldn't help but notice the subtle differences from his teen years to now. Instead of the untamed long mess of hair he had had before, it was now trimmed, ending at his ears. The pimples he had had all through the years I had known him had cleared up immensely. His blue eyes though, could be spotted from miles away. He still had his skinny frame, but instead of it being lanky like it had been, it was now broader with muscles. He waved a hello. I sat on the bed next to him.
"I read in a magazine that girls like mini golf," He started nervously. I nodded and motioned him to keep talking. "Anyway, I found this one muggle place where the have mini golf and then afterward there is a pizza place joined with it. Smart, huh? So anyway I was thinking we could eat at the pizza parlor for lunch and then play mini golf." He finished. He got a rather smug look on his face. I smiled.
"Then what are we waiting for?" I asked. I grabbed his hand and we apparated away. We landed with all body parts in tact, no one being splinched. We were outside of a familiar looking place. The sign outside read nothing but "MINI GOLF AND PIZZA" I laughed at the obviousness. "I think I've been here before!" I said excitedly. It suddenly came back to me. "My dad took me here when I was 7 or 8." I remembered how happy I was when we went and then suddenly a different feeling replaced my joy. I remembered the real reason my father had taken me here.
"Honey, I have some great news!" My balding father said excitedly as our pizza was delivered to our table. I tried to look away. I knew what was coming. Whenever Dad said there was good news, it was in fact very bad news; even at 7 years old I knew this.
"Really?" I said disinterested. I picked up a sugar packet and began to read the ingredients. My dad snatched it from my hands and placed it on his side of the table.
"Stacy and I, you remember Stacy, right? We're getting married." He said beaming. I nodded slowly. He looked at me for some sign of emotion.
"But sadly, that means Daddy has to move far away to be with her," He added emphasize on some words and moved his hands as if I didn't get it.
"Oh," I said picking up another sugar package.
"Daddy won't be able to see you that much though." He said, a beaming look still on his face. "But now you'll have a lot more-"
"Brooke?" Stan asked and I realized he had been calling me for some time. He had a concerned look on his face. I blinked a few times until I realized that he was waiting on me to answer.
"You know, we haven't really been on a date." I said to him, taking his arm.
"Of course we have," He protested. I raised my eyebrows at him.
"Let's see, we snogged occasionally at that one park. We were forever chatting on the Knight Bus and when Ernie wasn't looking we would snog then too. But had we been out anywhere?" I said trying to think. I only remembered the very intent snogging sessions in the dark corners of the bus that the rearview mirror couldn't see. I vividly remembered every time I got on the bus in tears.
"I met your mom," He pointed out.
"She didn't like you. Didn't matter though, I moved out within days of her expressing that." I told him, but of course he already knew this. The day I moved out was the last day we saw each other. I frowned at the bad memory. We walked through the double doors and into the cold over air-conditioned building. On one side was a register and menu posted on the dingy counter, on the other side there lay a few putters and a bored looking cashier in between were an array of mix matched tables and chairs. I looked out of the big windows and faced a rather large mini golf course. We ordered our pizza and sat down on one of the cleaner tables. "What are we supposed to talk about? I already know everything about you." I stated. He just grinned.
"Doubt it. What's my middle name?" He challenged.
"Oliver," I answered feigning boredom and picking at my nails. He shrugged.
"That was easy. What is my favorite muggle movie?" He asked, determination to win on his face.
"Sleepless in Seattle," I said with a flip of the hand. He had told how excited he was to see that movie back in the summer of 6th year; it was his first muggle movie. In between snogging sessions he made me quote Meg Ryan as he played Tom Hanks. It was probably one of the more embarrassing things I've done.
"Damn," He cursed. He scrunched up his face in concentration. "Aha! I've got one you'll never get!" He smiled and I smiled back.
"Try me," I dared him.
"Who was my first kiss?" He asked smiling devilishly. Oh this was too easy!
"Molly Wilkins. You were on the playground and she tackled you to the ground and kissed you on the lips as a dare when you were 7." I answered and smiled wickedly and he sat dumbstruck, "Then your lips remained virgin until the met mine and became sullied and impure," I said and we both started laughing.
"When did I tell you this?" He asked surprised.
"A game of truth or dare, summer of my 5th year, the second time we met." I said smiling. He smiled too.
"You must have really been in love with me if you remembered everything from 8 years ago." He said grinning and how could I deny that. It was true after all.
"I forgot to ask. You had any girlfriends since me?" I asked nonchalantly after our pizza was laid down in front of us.
"Yeah, tons of them. The women really want guys who had been under the Imperius curse for almost 2 years." He laughed at his own joke but I could just stare in horror. I had completely forgotten. He noticed my discomfort and quickly changed the subject.
"How about you. Any boyfriends?" He asked. "I know you just got out of a 'serious' relationship but anyone else?" He too pretended to be disinterested in the information. But I knew it affected him. Without realizing it, he had just drowned his piece of pizza in Parmesan cheese. He looked down and continued to eat it as if he meant to put that much cheese on.
"Nope, I was clean for 5 years and then Hunter came along. And wham bam, I'm selling my apartment and moving in after a good shagging session. We were together a year, he was cheating on me for a fourth of our relationship. I don't even think he said he loved me." I shrugged and Stan looked on in horror. His face read anger. "I knew it was coming though. I mean we had no future or anything." He was a beaming red now but instead of being out of embarrassment it was because of anger.
"Do I need to punch him?" He asked roughly. I shook my head jerkily. "No, I don't need your permission. You're to nice, I'll beat the crap out of him anyway." I wasn't even surprised.
"Oh come of it. You don't even know his full name; you don't know what he looks like. Very noble, though. But we don't need you getting arrested for something stupid like that." I said munching on my last piece of pizza and standing up. He stared at me in shock and mumbled something about cursing common sense. "Ready for some mini golf?"