Secrets of a Monkee
Summary: Micky meets his best friends during his darkest hour. Years later, his past comes back to haunt him. Can his friends help pull him back again?
Author's note: I'm cranking these out faster than I thought I would. Hopefully I can keep up the pace. I'm just having so much fun doing this, and the reviews keep me motivated to keep doing more!
Chapter 5: Reunion
Micky awoke with a slight headache. Climbing out of bed, he looked at the clock. It was nearly noon, but that didn't surprise him, since he had stayed out till nearly 3 with his girlfriend Linda. What surprised him is that his friends let him sleep in this late. It had been 4 years since he had met the other three men. They had been through a lot in that time. They had fought spies and gangsters; they had saved a circus and a horse. They had been to Vegas, New York, England and even Texas to visit Mike's family. Micky loved his new friends. They were like the brothers he never had.
He pulled on a shirt, but left it unbuttoned as he made his way downstairs in his sweatpants. He found Mike sitting at the table, strumming on his guitar. Peter was sitting in the stage area, looking over some music. Davy was nowhere to be found, however. No one said anything as Micky entered the kitchen and opened the fridge. This was rather odd, since Micky had slept so late. He expected Mike, at the very least, to berate him for sleeping so late, or even for how late he had sauntered in the night before.
"Hey, Mike," Micky said as he reached in the fridge to grab some orange juice. "Hey, Pete."
"Mmmm," Mike and Peter both responded clearly lost in their own worlds.
"So, what's going on?" Micky tried again, now grabbing a box of corn flakes, a bowl and a spoon.
"Mmmm," they both responded again. Micky chuckled a little.
"So, I decided to marry Linda last night," Micky lied, just trying to get a human response out of one of them. "We are going to run off and get hitched today."
"That's nice," Peter said absently. Micky thought harder for something more outrageous to try and snap them into the real world.
"We are going to adopt a little orphaned circus child we met last night with his pet elephant."
"That's great, Mick," Mike mumbled.
"Think I'll let the elephant stay down here."
"Sure thing," Peter said absently. What in the world had happened to these guys to get them so lost in their own worlds? Micky gave up and poured his cereal into the bowl, adding orange juice instead of milk. When he sat down at the table to eat it, Davy walked in.
"Are you eating that gross mess again?" Davy asked, sitting at the table.
"Haha," Micky said with his mouth full.
"You Americans have such horrible table manners."
"Yeah, I've seen you cut your salad into little tiny squares," Micky said after swallowing. "Hey, check out the zombies." Micky indicated Mike and Peter. "So I think I'm going to train that elephant to play drums."
"Sure," Mike said, just as absently as before. Micky smiled and ate his cereal.
"Elephant?" Davy said.
"I made up this story about marrying Linda, adopting a kid and letting his elephant move in here to see if the zombies would say anything." Davy laughed and poked Mike in the arm.
"Hey!" Mike said, finally snapping out of his haze. Micky took Davy's cue and threw a pillow from the couch at Peter.
"What!?" Peter jumped up in fright.
"Good morning, zombies," Micky laughed.
"Micky said you've both been out of it and ignoring him," Davy offered at their confused looks. "Even made up something about an elephant playing drums."
"That would be something I'd like to see," Peter laughed walking over to the table with the other three.
"Sorry, Micky, I was just thinking about this beautiful woman I met last night," Mike said putting down his guitar. He turned up his nose when he noticed what Micky was eating though. "That's gross."
"You met a girl last night?" Peter asked. "So did I. The most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes upon."
"I met a picture of beauty myself just now," Davy said. Micky was the only one tied to anyone at that time, so he had to laugh at their love struck faces.
"Really?" Micky asked. "Did any of you ask this beautiful girl you met out?"
"No," they all replied at once.
"I met her in the park," Peter said. "She was handing out sandwiches to the homeless people. I asked if I could help."
"I met her at the store," Mike said. "She accidentally bumped into me and dropped the basket of food she had. Milk spilled everywhere, so of course I helped her clean it up."
"I met her at the music store," Davy added. "She was trying to pick out a guitar. We talked about the differences for a while and I told her about our band."
"But none of you asked the girl out?" Micky asked. He could see Peter being too shy, but Davy at least was usually really good with the girls.
"She wore a purple dress," Mike said, clearly not listening again.
"She had the most beautiful green eyes," Davy said.
"She had long, beautiful red hair that smelled like sunshine," Peter added.
"Sunshine?" Micky laughed. "What does sunshine smell like, exactly?"
"That's odd," Mike said, now looking at Davy and Peter. "The girl I met had red hair and green eyes, too."
"Yeah, and the girl I met was wearing a purple dress," Peter said, also getting slightly confused.
"Well, mine was wearing a purple shirt and jeans," Davy added, "but she did have red hair." Micky had a sinking feeling he knew where this was going. He stood up and put his now empty bowl in the sink and pushed himself up to sit on the counter, far away from the table.
"So, uh, what is her name?" Micky asked, but he thought he already knew how they were going to answer.
"Lily," they all said in unison. Micky cringed. He was right; they had all fallen for the same girl. Again. They all stared at each other, daring another to say something else.
"Ok!" Micky said, trying to break the tension, "So we agreed once before that if more than one of us got hung up on the same girl we wouldn't fight."
"Who's fighting?" Mike asked standing up. "She gave me her phone number."
"She told me to come back to the park tonight to help out again," Peter said, also standing up, trying to square off with Mike.
"She invited me to come to the park to listen to her play guitar tonight!" Davy said, also standing up, but with his height, he didn't look near as intimidating as Mike or Peter. Micky knew he'd have to jump in between them to prevent the fight that was sure to ensue, despite the pledge they'd taken when they'd all fallen for the Laundromat girl. Despite fearing injury himself, he jumped down and moved towards the table.
"Guys," he started, trying to diffuse the situation. "Calm down, ok. We have an audition in a few hours, so we need to just forget about this Lily and move on."
"I'm still going to the park tonight," Peter said.
"Me too," Davy added.
"Well then I'm going, too!" Mike said. Micky hung his head. This was going to be bad. Very bad.
"Let's practice!" Micky said, trying to get their minds off her at least, and on the audition. It worked temporarily. They played well during the practice, but no one said anything on the drive to the audition. The tension in the car was almost too much for Micky to bear and was thankful when they pulled into a parking space in front of a large dance club. They walked into the club in silence, but as soon as they got backstage where they were directed to wait, Mike, Davy and Peter began arguing. Micky sat there and tried to think of something to say to stop this nonsense, but he couldn't think of anything before Mike suddenly went rigid.
"It's her," he squeaked out. Micky lowered his head in his hands in despair. It was all over now.
"It is," Peter agreed.
"What is she doing here?" Davy asked.
"She's going on stage," Mike said. "Why?"
"She must be auditioning," Davy said. "That's why she was looking for that guitar this morning."
"I'm gonna watch her," Peter said. Before Micky could stop him, Peter walked over to the wings to watch the girl perform. Mike and Davy joined him.
"Guys, this is a bad idea," Micky said, also walking over to them. But then she began singing and he stopped dead in his tracks.
"Wow," Mike breathed.
"She can sing," Davy said.
"Voice of an angel," Peter added. Micky groaned. He would know that voice anywhere. He forced himself over to where the others stood watching her and got his first glimpse of the girl the other three had fallen so deeply for. Sure enough, there she stood. Red hair halfway down her back. Green eyes glittering. Pale skin shining. A picture of pure beauty. But why did the guys say her name was "Lily"? But then Micky remembered; her first name was Lily. He had always called her by her middle name. She finished her song and several people in the audience clapped.
"Lily, darling," came another familiar voice, and Micky's stomach dropped to the floor at the sound of it. "That was beautiful, but you can't sing at your own party."
"Darling?" Mike squeaked out.
"Please tell me that's not her boyfriend," Davy added.
"I know, Daddy," she said, and the three boys let out a sigh of relief. "But I wanted to show these guys how to do it." With a giggle she began walking backstage again. There was only one other band back here with Micky and the others, but they were soon directed on stage, leaving just Micky backstage.
"Hi, Lily!" he heard Peter say. Was Lily coming backstage? Micky quickly grabbed a newspaper and sat down, shoving it in front of his face, hoping to completely obscure himself behind it and become invisible.
"Peter, Davy, Mike," she said. "It's so nice to see you again. I didn't realize you all knew each other. This is your band, Davy?" Sure enough, her voice was getting closer.
"Well, it's not really his band," Mike said with a slightly annoyed laugh. "It's OUR band."
"We're the Monkees," Peter added. Micky rolled his eyes. He couldn't let this happen. He couldn't let ANY of his friends get involved with her. "I play bass, Davy plays percussion, Mike plays guitar and Micky plays…" Peter trailed off. "Where is Micky?"
"Hiding behind that paper for some reason," Mike offered. 'NO!' Micky's mind screamed.
"Oh!" Peter laughed.
"He plays drums," Davy said. "Which really isn't all that hard. I tried it once, but found it very boring."
"Yeah, cause shaking a tambourine on stage is very challenging," Mike snipped. "The guitar is incredibly difficult, as I'm sure you know."
"Well, I had a good teacher when I was in school," Lily replied. "He made it fun, which makes it easier, in my opinion." Micky rolled his eyes.
"I play the piano and the banjo, too!" Peter offered, trying to one-up Mike. "And I wrote some of our songs."
"Micky wrote some, too," Davy said, trying to burst Peter's bubble. It killed Micky to hear them trying to impress her, but he was too afraid to come out from behind the paper.
"I've begun writing a few myself," Mike said slyly.
"I think mine are better," Peter said. "Tell her, Micky!" Micky saw Peter's hand come in front of the paper, trying to pull it down, but Micky just jerked it away from him.
"Micky, why are you hiding behind that?" Davy asked.
"I guess he's just really shy around such pretty girls," Mike offered.
"He has a girlfriend," Davy retorted. "Micky, will you stop being rude and say hello to Lily?"
"I like your boots, Micky," Lily said, trying to coax him out. Micky fought back the retort he had building in his head that would have told her where he could put them if she liked them so much.
"Come on, Micky," Peter pleaded. "You're never shy like this."
"Oh, just leave him," Mike said. "Lily, you have an absolutely angelic voice."
"Thank you, Mike," she said sweetly. Micky felt his teeth grind together in anger.
"Micky, you're being really rude," Davy said. He quickly grabbed the paper away from Micky before Micky could stop him and found himself face to face with Lily.
"Well!" She snorted. "You know, I have to agree with Davy. It's not very polite to hide in front of a pretty lady."
"Well, if you see any pretty ladies around here, be sure to point them out," Micky snapped.
"MICKY!" Davy, Peter and Mike all yelled at him. But Micky smiled and stood up. That had felt really good.
"I see," Lily said. "But didn't Davy say you already had a girlfriend? You wouldn't be looking to play the field, now would you?"
"Of course not, I merely wanted to insult you," Micky snapped back. The other three quickly moved to surround Micky, clearly trying to make him stop talking, but Micky took a step forward, eluding their grasps. "You on the other hand seem to be doing a great job of stringing along three innocent boys at once."
"Stringing them on? It's not my fault they find me attractive. I never gave the inclination that I wanted to date any of them."
"But you are enjoying watching them trip over themselves to try and praise you," Micky now glared at her.
"Micky, stop," Mike said behind him. "She's not leading any of us on."
"Yeah, you're being very mean, Micky," Peter said, sounding rather upset. But Micky didn't care. He wasn't going to let her toy with his friends. Not now that he wasn't hiding behind a newspaper like a coward. He'd remember to thank Davy later.
"Yes, Micky, you are being very mean," Lily said with a sneer.
"Oh, sorry," Micky said. "Can the little desert flower not take the heat?"
"You know, it is a little hot in here." She grabbed a large pitcher of water sitting on the table and moved to pour herself a drink. With one swift movement, however, she moved toward Micky and dumped it all over him. The other three jumped back and Micky gasped in shock as the cold water flowed all down his body.
"What was THAT for?!" he sputtered.
"You are a horrible little man, Micky," she sneered. "You deserve that."
"Oh, and you're such a saint? You are a truly evil person, you know that?" Micky spat back.
"Go rot!" Lily said as she turned on her heel and left. Micky tried to dry himself off, but it was no use.
"What were you thinking!?" Mike asked, stepping around to face Micky. "Now we're not going to get this gig!"
"We were never gonna get this gig," Micky replied, grabbing his drumsticks and leaving himself.
"What do you mean by that?" Peter asked, following him after grabbing his bass. But Micky didn't answer him. Peter pestered him all the way out to the car.
"Just forget it!" Micky yelled, whirling upon Peter in anger when they had all reached the car. He saw the shocked faces of Davy, Mike and Peter staring back at him, but his anger overwhelmed his guilt. "Forget it! Forget her, forget the gig, forget it! It's over!" They drove the rest of the way in silence. Micky couldn't even bring himself to look at his friends, but knew they were angry at him for yelling at them.
When they got back to the pad, Micky said he was going to change into some clean clothes and disappeared into his room. He could hear the others talking below as he leaned against the door.
"You think he got mad because we were all fawning over the same girl?" Peter asked. He sounded very guilt-ridden.
"Maybe," Mike said. "He had a point earlier. We did promise each other not to do that."
"And we said some pretty mean things about each other just to try and impress her," Davy added.
"We'll apologize to him later," Mike said. "For now, let's give him space." Micky sighed with a sudden wave of guilt crippling him. He wasn't mad at them, and he didn't want them to think that. They didn't know what he and Lily had really been fighting about. They didn't know that he and Lily even knew each other. Micky would have to tell them the truth, but he knew it was best if he waited until he calmed down more. He'd tell them in the morning after he'd have a chance to sleep it off.
The next morning Micky woke up at a much more decent hour. He'd stayed locked up in his room the rest of the day yesterday and hadn't seen the others at all. But he'd had nightmares from his guilt and was drenched in sweat. He decided to take a shower before he talked to them. Getting out of bed, he crossed over to his closet to grab some clothes, but didn't find any. He'd forgotten to do laundry the night before. He'd just have to ask Mike or Peter to borrow something and do it today. But none of them were in the living room when he went down. Micky just shrugged and made his way to the bathroom.
The shower felt good. He didn't realize how tense he was. He took a long shower to let the hot water massage his sore muscles slightly. When the water started getting cold, he shut it off and got out. He heard voices coming from the living room, and realized the boys must have come out of their rooms. He wrapped the towel around his waist and opened the door.
"Hey, Mike, Peter," he said, walking into the living room, "I didn't do laundry and I am out of clothes so I was wondering if I could borrow something…." He stopped dead in his tracks when he realized Mike, Peter and Davy weren't alone in the kitchen.
"Rose!" he sputtered out instinctively. Davy, Micky and Peter all suddenly looked confused and mouth "Rose?" to each other. "What are you doing here?!" He suddenly realized the only thing he was wearing was a towel. She must have realized it too, because he saw her blush. He couldn't help notice her eyes travel up and down his body, though.
"I….uh…." she stumbled over her words, staring at his bare chest. "I wanted to apologize."
"Okay. Thanks. Bye!"
"Well, wait, I wanted to talk about it." Rose protested. Micky sighed. He really didn't want to talk about anything with her. Especially naked.
"Can I at least go put some pants on?" Micky asked.
"Um….I kind of told my…..ummm…..fiancé I'd be a minute,"
"FIANCE!?" Micky sputtered.
"Yes, that's what you were auditioning for. My wedding reception."
"Well, then I'm glad I walked out."
"Look, I was out of line with the water," Rose said, looking at his face now. "I was angry, and I got carried away."
"You know, you really could have called to say all this." Micky said, still feeling very uncomfortable, especially knowing her fiancé was just outside.
"No. I felt I owed it to you in person. And I know of another audition, and signed you guys up. I felt bad for ruining yesterdays, and despite how I feel about you, it's not fair to your friends."
"I really don't think we would have gotten the gig, even if we had stayed. The moment your father saw me, he would have kicked us off the stage and all the way to China. If he didn't pound my face into the stage, that is."
"He wouldn't have done that."
"Yeah, right."
"No, really. I didn't tell him what happened. He doesn't know what happened."
"What? Why didn't you tell him?"
"I really don't want to talk about it. Just be here tomorrow." She slipped a piece of paper into his hand, and Micky shivered at her touch. It took her a moment to pull away from him, too. Before he could say anything else, she left.
"What just happened?" Mike asked. Micky suddenly remembered his three friends.
"I thought her name was Lily?" Peter asked.
"That's the only thing you're confused about?" Davy asked bewildered.
"Look, guys, sit down," Micky said. "Actually, Mike, can I borrow some pants first?"
"Sure," Mike said before ducking into his room. Micky began walking up the stairs to his room to grab some boxers. When he was halfway up, Mike re-emerged with a pair of sweats that Micky had worn his first day in the house. Mike threw them up the stairs, and Micky caught them.
Moments later, he walked back down the stairs, this time with pants on. The three were sitting at the kitchen table waiting for him.
"Let's start by making a rule," Micky said, sitting down. "If there's a girl in the house, we announce it very loudly, especially if one of us is in the shower."
"Sorry about that," Mike said. "I really didn't think you'd walk out naked."
"At least you were wearing the towel," Peter offered, and they all laughed.
"Ok, talk to us," Mike said.
"First off, her name is Lily Rose Larson," Micky said. "She went by Rose the whole time I knew her. Not sure why she's suddenly going by Lily."
"How do you know her?" Davy asked.
"Remember when I said that I wrote 'I'm a Believer' and 'Sometime in the Morning' for a specific girl? That girl is Rose. Lily. Whatever."
"Oh," Mike said.
"Yeah, it was her picture that you guys found on the floor of my room when I was uhh….drunk that night. She and I dated for most of high school and just after moving down here, she broke up with me."
"She's the reason you stopped playing?" Davy asked.
"Yeah."
"Why did she break up with you?" Peter asked. Micky sighed, not really wanting to answer, but knowing he owed it to them.
"She thought I was cheating on her."
"Why would she think that?" Mike asked. "You didn't, did you?"
"Of course not! I don't know where she got the idea, but she said he had proof. She never told me what it was, though."
"Oh, wow," Davy said. "I'm so sorry."
"Yeah, if we had known, we never would have fawned over her," Mike added.
"How could you guys have known?" Micky said. "I never told you."
"Yeah, but," Peter started, but Micky stood up and cut him off.
"No more," he said with a sigh. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. It's over; we don't have to deal with her anymore, so can we please move on?"
"Sure," Mike said. "What time is the audition tomorrow?"
"5," Micky said looking at the note in his hand. He handed it to Mike so he didn't have to touch it anymore. "Here's the address. You hang on to it so we don't lose it. I'm meeting Linda again tonight, so I'll be heading out in a few hours."
"Sure, but don't stay out too late," Mike said. They spent the rest of the day the way they normally would. A little music practice or some tweaking of music and a lot of goofing off. But Micky was mostly putting on a front for his friends. He found his thoughts frequently drifting back to Rose, even though he knew he shouldn't for fear of going down that dark road again.