A/N: This is why I stopped pretending I was done with this. These things come to me, and just insist on being written. Please remember, constructive critique and profuse praise are equally welcome in the forms of reviews!
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"Liz, what on Earth did you do to Rob?" Dan picked up the phone, glancing over at his best mate, who looked like he'd just been told that the world really was flat after all.
" Did Robbie actually put the phone down and walk away? He's impossible. I've asked David to join us on holiday."
" Oh." Dan looked over at Rob again, and shook his head. Typical. Rob was finally getting to see the other side of the coin, and wasn't sure he'd like it -- hopefully he'd be easier on David than Liz was on Rob's girlfriends. But probably not. "It's…serious then?"
" Yes. We're…sharing a hotel room."
" You've slept together?" Dan asked, louder than he intended, surprised at that. Liz had always said she wasn't going to sleep with anyone she couldn't see herself marrying (not that she was waiting for marriage, exactly).
" SHE WHAT?!" Rob apparently hadn't known that little tidbit. Oh, this was going to be a great holiday.
" Yes, we've slept together. And tell Robbie to calm down, it's not as if he hasn't done it himself."
" He…won't see it that way." Dan replied, stretching to keep Rob from grabbing the phone from him. "I have to go, before Rob kills me trying to get to the phone so he can tell you off, I think."
" I've got to get back on set, I'm turning my mobile off. I'll ring him later. Bye."
" Bye!" Dan rung off, and laughed as Rob mumbled curses under his breath. He walked back across the room, and flung himself heavily into a chair. Rob was pouting. It was adorable. In a really, really, funny sort of way.
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Growing Up Chase
by Rebel Yell
Subtitle: Lizzie's Boyfriend
Age: 24
Part One
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Just a week later, in the lobby of a very exclusive resort, a couple stood waiting for the rest of their party. Liz Hughes hadn't been this nervous when she introduced David to her parents the first time. For most people, meeting the parents was the most nerve-wracking part of a relationship -- but she had warned him that her parents were an easy audience compared to her best friends. Especially Robbie. She hoped that Danny and Jen had been able to get Robbie to promise not to be too horrible. He could be really difficult when it suited him.
" You look nervous." David pointed out, as if she didn't know that already.
" I am nervous. I've never introduced anyone to Robbie before."
" Everything will be fine." David assured her, wrapping his arms around her from behind. "I love you. He loves you. We already have something very important in common then. You said he really loves Dan's wife -- what makes you think he'll be different with us?"
" I don't know. I'm just nervous. Please, just remember that…Robbie's not…normal."
" Yes, you've explained his history, at length. I remember. Liz, I love you, but there's only so much of his behavior you can excuse because his childhood was miserable."
" He's a wonderful man. He just…sometimes he doesn't express himself well. I don't want you to think he doesn't like you because he's different with you than with Danny and Jen and I. He's just…shy around new people sometimes."
" Is that them?" David asked, gesturing to the lobby entrance, and Liz looked up anxiously. It was them, and she felt more butterflies in her stomach than she'd had when she had her first major audition. Still, she waved at them, and smiled when Jen saw her and led the two men across the room.
" Liz, you look wonderful!" Jen hugged her first, and Liz giggled happily. Between her genuine joy at the thought of an entire week with just David and her best friends, and nerves at the same thought, she couldn't help the giggling.
" As usual, my wife is right. You look beautiful." Dan pulled her into a giant hug, lifting her bodily from the ground. When he finally set her down, she turned to Robbie, who was hanging back slightly, mostly staring at his feet. Which was odd, because he never did that unless he was nervous or uncomfortable. She'd been expecting the usual hug and kiss from Robbie. He barely even looked at her.
" Robbie?"
" They've said it all. You look…really happy. It's good to see." He said all that still looking at the floor.
" Thank you." She paused, waiting for him to hug her at least, but he didn't, so she smiled as much as she could and made introductions. "David, this is Danny and Jen Kelleher, and Robbie Chase. Everyone, this is David Foster."
" It's wonderful to meet you." Jen pulled him into a hug, and for some reason, Liz felt like half the butterflies left her stomach. If she had Jen on her side, she'd soon enough have Danny. And there wasn't much she and Danny couldn't talk Robbie around on, either.
" You're Lizzie's guy, then. My apologies."
" Danny! Be nice!" Liz laughed, smiling even wider when Danny shook hands with David, smiling genuinely.
" It's good to meet you. But please, only Liz calls me 'Robbie' -- it's just Rob." Robbie even shook his hand, and Lizzie felt the rest of the butterflies disappear.
" Why don't we go sit down, and have lunch? We have a lot of questions for you two!" Jen laughed, gesturing to the café off the resort's lobby. Liz grinned, remembering grilling Jen about her whole life when she first met Danny's new girlfriend, years ago now. Apparently, it was time for her turn to be on the receiving end of it all.
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" Is Robbie mad at me?" Liz asked, pulling Jen aside after lunch. Danny and David were walking ahead of them, headed out towards the beach, while Robbie was ahead of both of them. He'd tried to beg off joining them at the beach, but Liz and Jen had both insisted that he join them.
" Why would he be mad at you?"
" David."
" No, he's not mad." Jen reassured immediately. " I think he's just a bit unsure of things. And he probably feels rather like a fifth wheel. We'll have to be sure we include him in everything so he doesn't feel left out since he's here alone. I told him to invite Colin along, but apparently Colin can't get away this week."
" I don't love Robbie any less or any differently now than I did before I met David. He should know that. All his girls never changed anything between us."
" He does know that. He's just…adjusting."
" He barely spoke during lunch. And he didn't even hug me. In fact, aside from shaking David's hand, he's not touched anyone. It's just odd."
" Sometimes no one can explain Robert Chase, Liz. You know that -- you're the one who told me that."
" I know. Usually I know him so well, I can predict him easily. So it's very odd that I can't now."
" Dan will talk to him, I promise. Come on, let's make sure our men aren't talking about us." Jen grabbed her hand, and pulled her up to catch up to Dan and David, who weren't discussing them at all, but instead were talking about some new importation tax or something. Well, apparently, the two businessmen were going to get along famously. Liz was happy to see that. She was less happy to see Robbie glancing over his shoulder at them occasionally, but keeping himself very much distant from the foursome. Despite Jen's reassurances, she still thought Robbie looked almost angry.
Once they were at the beach, they grabbed a table for four, and borrowed a chair off the table next to them. It wasn't necessary though, as Robbie had quickly charmed his way into a volleyball game, and that left just the four of them to visit around the table. It went well, and Liz was very happy to notice that she had correctly predicted that her boyfriend and her oldest friends would quickly become friends. Robbie checked in with them briefly every once in awhile, having gone up to the rooms to change into his swimsuit, and was now alternating between swimming and various beach games. Liz did not fail to notice that despite his changing activities, he was never far from a particular young woman. She glared at him, hoping he noticed her displeasure. He never did this on holiday. He never picked up random girls when he was out with them all, he knew she hated that he did it at all, and he didn't do it in front of her. Besides, it was rude, to ditch his friends for the company of some random girl he'd sleep with once and then never see again.
" I think I'm ready for a siesta." David's comment finally got her attention, and she looked over at him with a smile.
" Tired already? It's only afternoon yet."
" We had a long trip -- so did everyone. I think a nap might be in order."
" I could definitely nap. I've been rather tired the last few weeks. I think the new job is wearing me out." Jen laughed, snuggling into Dan's side as much as she could, considering they were sitting in different chairs.
" Should we tell Rob we're going upstairs?" David asked, and Liz looked over at the newest volleyball game. Robbie was playing well (he almost always did) and looked to be enjoying himself. She almost didn't want to interrupt. And yet, she really did want to interrupt, hoping he'd leave that random girl alone and spend time with the friends he'd come here to be with.
" I'll tell him. You two go on." Dan volunteered, and Liz found a small smile for him. No doubt, Danny understood her feelings. They'd commiserated many times before about the occasional difficulties of keeping Robbie from doing things he'd regret.
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Liz had waited two full days for Robbie to break out of whatever funk he was in, and to start being social with them. Instead, he'd continued to go off and do his own thing. He spent his days on the beach, near them but rarely with them. He'd spent his nights (at least, she suspected as much) with the girl from the volleyball games, whom he kept meeting up with every day at the beach. He'd taken her surfing, and he'd virtually thrown them off in favor of her. She was pretty, yes, gorgeous even, but Liz wasn't particularly happy that her best friend was ignoring her when she'd specifically invited her boyfriend along so that he could meet said best friend. She was determined to pull Robbie aside after dinner that night, and talk about whatever was clearly bothering him.
Robbie didn't join them for dinner. He'd left both couples a note on their hotel room door, telling them they had a reservation at a restaurant just up the road that evening, and that it was fairly formal place. Liz had been so excited, thinking Robbie was apologizing in his typical non-verbal way for not even bothering to really get to know David yet. She'd asked the concierge for a confirmation of Robbie's directions to the restaurant, and been surprised to find that it was one of the most popular places in the resort community. He must've been rather persuasive to get reservations at such late notice. At least, that's what she had thought until they arrived, met Danny and Jen, and found it was a reservation for four. She had a sinking feeling that Robbie had made the arrangements some time ago, and David was taking his place at the table. It was a lovely dinner nonetheless, and she enjoyed it immensely. Danny and David talked like old friends, mostly bonding over shared business stories, and of course she and Jen really were old friends by this point. They stopped for drinks afterwards, and it was nearly eleven before they returned to the resort hotel. They parted company from Dan and Jen, and skipped the door to Robbie's room before stopping in front of their own.
" I'm going to thank Robbie for the dinner arrangements -- and make sure he ate something himself." Liz decided, struck with a need to make sure Robbie wasn't sitting alone in his hotel room or something.
" Good idea. I'll see you in a bit, I'm going to get ready for bed. Give Rob my thanks as well, it was a great night out."
" I will. Love you."
" Love you too." David responded, smiling at her even as he dropped a gentle kiss on her lips and then went into their room. It was one of her favorite things about David, that he didn't even seem to blink that she was going to another man's hotel room at 11 o'clock. Granted, it was Robbie, not just some man but she wondered how many other men would be so understanding of her relationship with Robbie. She walked to the room next door, and suddenly remembered the random girl. She hoped, desperately, that Robbie wasn't have sex with her or something -- that would be embarrassing and awkward. Still, she knocked, sure that she needed to see Robbie tonight. She must not have interrupted much, because it wasn't very long before the door was opened to reveal Robbie, still dressed, with a soda in hand.
" Come on in, Liz. Unless…you know, you're uncomfortable with coming in. But then, you'd probably not have knocked so…yeah. Come on in." He stepped back from the door, and she wondered why on Earth he might think she'd be uncomfortable in his hotel room. They'd shared a bed quite a few nights, and seen each other in various forms of undress, and never been uncomfortable.
" David and I wanted to thank you for the dinner arrangements. It was lovely."
" I'm glad you had a nice time. Pete recommended it." Robbie replied quietly, dropping lazily onto his bed, and keeping half his attention on the television. Liz glanced at it, and was surprised to see the end of Casablanca playing. Robbie hated Casablanca, she always had to talk him into watching it and generally he still complained. The only film he disliked more was Gone With the Wind, which had been his mother's favorite.
"Why're you watching this?"
" It was on." He shrugged, taking a deep drink of his soda. The bed was still perfectly made, so if he'd had any 'luck' with the girl from the beach, it hadn't been here.
" You hate it."
" I dislike a lot of things that I do anyway."
" Are you going to ignore us all tomorrow as well? It seems to be the pattern to the week thus far."
" I'm not ignoring you." Robbie protested, "I'm giving you space. I thought you'd appreciate it, with David and all. And I couldn't change dinner reservations tonight."
" I missed you."
" No, you didn't. You just said you had a good time. And you seemed to be enjoying this afternoon as well."
" Robbie-"
" It's fine, Liz. I knew…I always knew you'd find a great guy some day, fall in love and I'd have to give up being the most important man in your life. Well, aside from your father, I suppose."
" Aren't you feeling protective of me? At least a little curious about him? He could be…horrid for all you know."
" Do you want me to be protective of you? I mean, I am, I just…don't see why I'd need to worry about David. Dan and Jen will let me know if I have reason, and besides, he's not horrid. He can't be. You love him. So…he must be a great guy."
" Then why don't you actually talk to him?"
" It doesn't matter."
" Yes, it does. To me. I want you to like him, just like you do Jen. And I want David to know and like you."
" What if he doesn't?" Robbie asked, his voice quiet enough that she barely heard it over the television. She grabbed the remote, and turned the film off. It wasn't like he was enjoying it anyway.
" What?"
" What if he doesn't? What if David doesn't like me? I'm a very difficult person to like."
" You are not. Didn't you say you've got the best patient-reviews of anyone at the hospital right now?"
" I'm cute, and the patients don't have to spend more than fifteen minutes in my company. That's easy. Just smile at them. People who have to spend time with me, those are the ones that don't like me. If David gets to know me, he won't like me. And then…"
" Then what?" Liz sighed, and sat next to him on the bed, but facing him rather than the television.
" Then you'll decide you don't like me either. You'll not want to see me."
