Disclaimer: I do not own Static Shock. I am not making profit from this story so no one sue me, please. Any characters whom are not from Static Shock are rightfully owned by me.
Summary: Virgil and Richie haven't been friends for nearly 20 years. They have gone their separate ways and lived their successful live through work. However, how have their personal lives suffered since their failed friendship?
"You know, Virgil, I really think you should quit smoking," Richie certified, shifting uncomfortably in the passenger seat. "I know it seems like the easiest solution for your stress, but I promise it's not. It just makes kissing you feel like kissing an ashtray."
Virgil sighed and rolled his eyes—his smoking was a conversation he had had way too many times. "I've tried quitting already. I've tried seven times. It always ends in something triggering my stress and I go back to it." Shrugging, Virgil glanced at Richie only long enough to note the look of absolute understanding and acceptance on Richie's gentle features. Smiling softly, Virgil turned his attention back to the road.
"Well, what did you try?" Richie asked gently.
Virgil sighed and bit the side of his lower lip. "Um…" he mumbled and sighed again. After a couple minutes, Virgil finally answered Richie's question. "The first time I tried quitting, I tried to cut back gradually." Pausing, Virgil gave an airy laugh and then added: "I found out later that doesn't work.
"I've tried things like nicotine gum and the patch. I just… they didn't work, because I'm also addicted to the actual act," Virgil said with emphasis, "of smoking. I'm not just addicted to nicotine—I'm addicted to the smoke being in my lungs." Sighing, Virgil glanced down momentarily and shrugged. "That's probably weird, isn't it?"
Richie shook his head gently and placed a hand on Virgil's back. "That's not weird at all. We all like what we like, Virgil," he said understandingly.
"Maybe you could just try going cold turkey," Richie offered. "How much money do you spend on cigarettes a month?"
"Normally five or ten dollars," Virgil said. Clearing his throat, he then said, "I don't know if I could go cold turkey, Richie. I… I like smoking," he said, wincing at the words, realizing how bad it probably sounded to Richie.
Richie just nodded understandingly. "I understand," he said and rubbed small, gentle circles on Virgil's back. "You do know smoking decreases your life expectancy, right?" Richie said gently.
"Of course I know that. I know all that stuff about smoking, Richie," Virgil said and sighed. "I know how bad it is for you."
Richie smiled and nodded, pulling his hand back to his lap. Crossing his legs and his arms, Richie glanced at Virgil and said, "Well, don't you want to be around to see your daughter graduate high school? Graduate college? Get married?
"Not to mention, I don't really plan to go anywhere anytime soon, so I'd like it if you stuck around awhile," Richie said ending with a supportive pat on Virgil's back. He hadn't been attempting to guilt trip Virgil, but rather to help him put things in perspective.
Just as Virgil pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store, his entire body became riddled with goose bumps. Finding a parking spot and shutting off the car, Virgil leaned back into his seat and covered his eyes with the back of his hands. Rubbing his eyes, he cleared his throat and let his hands fall to his lap. Virgil had always known smoking could decrease his life expectancy, but he had never really taken into consideration he may not be able to be around for his daughter. The last thing he wanted to do was not be around to walk his daughter down the aisle. Not see her make big accomplishments.
Biting his upper lip, Virgil pressed his hand to his forehead and looked at Richie, tears beginning to well in his eyes. He would have tried to hide them, but Richie had seen him cry before, so any attempt seemed futile at best.
"I…" Virgil began, trailing off when he realized the words weren't going to come as easily as he hoped.
"I'll help you, Virgil," Richie assured. Wiping the tears from Virgil's face with the back of his pointer finger, Richie smiled and said, "You don't have to do it alone," he said softly and pulled his hand back into his lap.
There were a few minutes of silence. Then, as Virgil took off his seatbelt, he turned to Richie and challenged, "Why do you want to help me?"
Richie shrugged and smiled. His thoughts retreated to the previous night; the memories of Virgil's angelic singing, and the way it had put him to sleep, helping him sleep in a way nothing else had. It was the absolute best night of sleep Richie had ever had, and a large part of him wanted Virgil to stick around long enough to do that every night for the rest of his life. Richie wanted to help Virgil because he loved him, and the thought of him dying young absolutely tore apart his heart and made him nauseous.
How much do I really not trust Virgil? Richie heard himself thinking. Exhaling gently, he shook the thoughts from his mind and answered Virgil.
"You helped me fall asleep last night. The least I could do is return the favor and help you stop smoking."
Virgil smiled and nodded. Finally turning away from Richie, he looked down at his hands and fiddled with his thumbnail, a few thoughts skirting through his mind. The most prominent thought being that, maybe, the idea of talking to Angelica wasn't as stressful as Virgil had made it out to be an hour earlier. He was still convinced it wasn't going to turn out well, but if Richie wanted him to apologize, he would give it a try.
And, maybe, he would get to see his daughter more, but it didn't take long for Virgil to realize how unlikely that was, and he banished the thought from his mind.
Then another thought came to Virgil's mind that made him grin. Turning back to Richie, practically beaming, he said, "So… this kissing me thing…" Virgil said as he pointed at himself, "…will that be a frequent occurrence, or… What should I be expecting here?"
Richie laughed and rolled his eyes, burying his face in his hands as his face turned bright red. "Will you just get out of the car so we can go shopping?" he mumbled through his hands, the embarrassment he felt permeating in his voice. And he became vaguely aware of Virgil laughing as the car door opened.
Even twenty years of pain, tears, anger, and betrayal would never be powerful enough to come between a friendship like Virgil and Richie's. It was a realization of which they were both becoming exceptionally aware.
"So, what all are you after?" Richie asked after Virgil grabbed a grocery cart. After a few feet of arrhythmic walking, their steps finally harmonized and they were walking side-by-side, their strides similar. "This is for dinner tonight, right?"
Virgil nodded. "That, and there's some stuff I need get for Chloé. I always send her home with stuff like Nutella and pretzels." Halting in front of a shelf full of cans, Virgil glanced over the small selection of caramelized condensed milk. Grabbing one, he tossed it in the cart and continued on through the store.
"You didn't answer my question," Richie said as Virgil stopped again. "What are you after? What are you making for dinner?"
Glancing at Richie, he tossed the contents in his hands into the cart and said, "Fried chicken." He then turned away and continued a couple feet down the aisle where he knocked a few cans of green beans into his cart without stopping. It was obviously something he had done before.
Before Richie had the chance to say anything, the sound of his name being called made him come to a halt. Virgil, too, turned around to find out who was calling after Richie.
It was Charlotte. "Hi, Professor Foley!" she called out to him, making speedy work of closing the gap between them. When she was no more than six inches away from Richie, she said, "Fancy seeing you here."
Richie smiled and shoved his hands into the pockets of his trench coat. "Hi, Charlotte," he said politely. "I didn't know you worked here."
Charlotte shrugged. "Eh, it pays for my education," she said with a laugh. "I'm only working here until I graduate. Or until I find an internship." Rolling her eyes, she added: "I'm almost afraid I'll never find an internship, though."
"Have you been working with your adviser?"
Shrugging again, Charlotte shifted awkwardly on her heels and said, "My adviser is sort of… spacey." Rolling her eyes, she added: "I'm even really sure how she got the job, honestly; she has no idea what's she's doing. I've been to her office a dozen and a half times and she insists," she said with emphasis, "there are no internships to be had in all fields of physics."
Richie laughed and rolled his eyes. "Somehow, I highly doubt that's true; especially for someone with a grade point average as solid as yours."
Charlotte shrugged. "Eh, I'll find one," she said, smiling knowingly. "For now, this is a fine job."
Standing behind Richie, Virgil loudly cleared his throat causing Richie to jump and jerk his attention to Virgil. When Virgil was positive he had Richie's attention, he said, "So… are you going introduce me?"
Richie rolled his eyes. Turning his attention to Charlotte, he said, "Charlotte, this is Virgil. Virgil, this one of my students at Dakota University: Charlotte."
"Nice to meet you, Virgil," Charlotte said stretching out her hand.
Virgil nodded his response and shook Charlotte's hand. "Nice to meet you, too, Charlotte."
"How do you know Professor Foley?" Charlotte asked politely, laying her hand back down at her side.
"Oh," Virgil said, looking around, as if the answer to the question could be found somewhere in the room. "Um… we're… um…" he stammered, looking for the proper term to describe what they were. They certainly weren't boyfriends—much to Virgil's dismay—and Virgil wasn't sure if Richie was ready to really be friends with him. And they most certainly weren't enemies. What were they?
"Charlotte," Richie interrupted, "Virgil is my best friend," he said, fully aware of the shocked look he was receiving from Virgil, even if Richie wasn't looking at him.
"Oh!" Charlotte exclaimed. "I remember you," she said to Virgil. "You're the man in the picture on Professor Foley's desk," she said and turned to Richie. "The one taken after you graduated college. That's Virgil in the picture, right?"
Richie nodded. "Yeah, that was him," he said, pointing his thumb at Virgil.
With a raised eyebrow, Charlotte said, "I thought you said you weren't friends anymore," confusion ringing in her tone.
"I did," Richie said with a nod. "We… um… ran into each other on Monday, I think it was, and we've been catching up," he said with a smile.
Charlotte returned the smile. "Well, you seem a lot happier," she pointed out. "You usually seem so down in the dumps," she said and crossed her arms. Glancing down at her watch, she sighed when she realized her break was almost over.
Looking back up at Richie, she said, "Well, I'm glad you found one another again, because you seem a lot happier," she reiterated. "Maybe now being in your class will be as fun as I know it could be."
Richie knitted his eyebrows, narrowed his eyes, and cocked his head slightly to the right. "What do you mean? I thought… I thought I made my class fun."
"Oh, no, don't get me wrong, your class is really fun; everybody who takes it enjoys it and learns a lot," Charlotte said, nodding as she spoke to get her point across. "It's just… most of the time… you seemed really miserable..." She paused, twisting his lips as she thought for a minute. "You seem happier now.
"Alright, well, my break is over. I need to get back to work, but it was nice seeing you, and I'll see you in class on the fourth," Charlotte said to Richie, smiling. Turning to Virgil, she said, "Nice to meet you, Virgil."
Virgil smiled and nodded. "Nice to meet you, too, Charlotte."
Once Charlotte was gone, Virgil turned back to the shelf, looking for a box of breading. He had no idea when Angelica was going to bring Chloé back to his apartment, so he wanted to make quick work of getting out of the store.
Richie, on the other hand, stood paralyzed as he watched Virgil stand in front of the shelf with his hands on his hips. Closing his eyes, Richie sighed as his mind whirled. Was he really that much happier being with Virgil that other people recognized it? He supposed it made sense, considering how desperately he wanted to be Virgil's boyfriend.
Why don't I just do it? Just get it over with and tell Virgil you'll go out with him. Unrequited love never got anyone anywhere, anyway, and obviously he wants to go out with me. I should just stop wanting so much from him; I should just say forget it about trusting him more, because obviously I already do, so I'm not sure who I'm kidding, and obviously Virgil is willing to take this slow.
He still needed Virgil to talk to Angelica. That was the one thing he wasn't going to let up on; the one thing that absolutely needed to happen. He would even work with Virgil's smoking while they dated, because he knew that one was going to take a while.
Sighing, Richie banished the thoughts from his head altogether. In a grocery store was not the apt time to be worrying about something like whether or not he should go out with his best friend. Especially when he was in the grocery store with said best friend, and said best friend probably wasn't comfortable being publically open about his sexuality, anyway, which would explain the fact that Virgil hadn't commented about Charlotte telling Richie he seemed happier with him around.
Think about something else, damn it, Richie commanded himself.
Racing after Virgil who had begun go toward another aisle, Richie said, "So, Virgil, why do you have fried chicken for Christmas?" while standing alongside Virgil. "Don't most people just have ham?"
With all the seriousness in the world, Virgil glanced at Richie and said, "It's because I'm black," while nodding.
For several moments, Virgil continued pushing the cart, the same serious look on his face. During that time, Richie just stared at Virgil, standing a step and a half behind his best friend. Richie's expression remained a mixture between surprise and utter amusement, and he remained unsure if he should take Virgil seriously or not.
Coming to a sudden halt, Virgil turned to face Richie, the same serious look on his face. Then, gradually, a smile separated Virgil's lips into a toothy grin, causing his nose to wrinkle and his eyes to twinkle.
"Richie, I totally was kidding," Virgil he said, covering his mouth with his right hand as he broke into fits of laughter. Through his hands, he said, while laughing, "Your expre—your expression was fun—n—ny though."
Covering his eyes with his hands, Richie's face went strawberry red as he, too, burst into a fit of laughter. "I—I really thought you were… serious."
"Tha—that's… that's why it's funny…"
Virgil began laughing so hard that his voice squeaked which only made him laugh harder. Clutching his stomach, Virgil bent his knees and bent over, attempting to grab the cart for support. When the cart pushed forward, Virgil feel to his knees, continuing to laugh. On his knees, Virgil clutched is stomach firmer and squeezed his eyes shut when his head began swimming.
"Do you need help up?" Richie asked, still laughing, but not nearly as much as Virgil. "Are you going to be okay? Was it really that funny?"
"Ye—yes to all thr—three," Virgil said, pinching his forehead between his pointer fingers.
Virgil had begun to try calming himself down when he noticed Richie holding out a hand to him. Clearing his throat, and breathing heavily, he grasped Richie's hand and pulled himself up, all while still having spurts of giggle fits, mostly using Richie as support from falling over again that to actually stand up.
When he was stable, he took in a few deep, purifying breaths and eventually sighed contentedly when he had taken control of his laughter. He allowed himself to look at Richie, whose face had turned bright read. Almost at the same moment, the two realized that they were still holding hands and abruptly let go. They took a large step away from one another, not knowing what to do, and Virgil looked around the isle briefly, making sure no one had seen the two of them holding hands.
For a time, they avoided eye contact, embarrassment rising in their cheeks, but for entirely different reasons. Richie's embarrassment was simply due to the fact it had happened, but Virgil's was undeviatingly related to the fact he wasn't ready to be publically out about his sexuality. For the most part he had come to terms with it, but three days was far from enough time to be that comfortable with it.
"Um… Thank you for the help up," Virgil finally said and flashed a warm smile to Richie, who returned the smile with the same warmth.
Grasping the handle of the grocery cart, they continued through the grocery store, in search of ingredients to make Christmas dinner. For a time, neither of them spoke—being still too embarrassed from the occurrence of holding hands, but they periodically shared glances of amusement and, every so often, Virgil would snort and end up suppressing a laugh that would make Richie grin.
A/N: Alright, let's just be perfectly honest here, guys. This is, by far and large, the absolute best chapter of this story. There are so many amazing Virgil/Richie feels in this chapter that it makes me squea with love. I just want them to get together as bad as you all. TRUST ME I DO. But Richie is stubborn as a fucking mule, guys! STUBBORN. AS. A. MULE. He won't budge until Virgil apologizes to Angelica! I've tried to make him change his mind, but he won't! So, let me just say... patience is a virtue here. XD
You like how I brought Charlotte back and what I used her for? I mean, obviously Virgil isn't going to notice a change in Richie's mood, because he only sees how Richie is when he's around Virgil. And that's happy (well, most of the time, but you get the idea). With Charlotte coming in and being like "you look happier," Virgil now has something to compare to. Compare what, exactly? I dunno. Stuff, I guess.
AND I'M SORRY BUT THE JOKE ABOUT FRIED WAS FUNNY. IT WAS FUNNY, DAMN IT. And it is TOTALLY something Virgil would say! Perhaps the most in character part of this entire story, eh? XD In an effort to avoid plagiarism, I want to say thanks to Aintzane411 for helping me perfect that part and making me more relevant to the story line. You're the best. Srsly.
Sorry about two long chapters in a row? (Who am I kidding, you all don't mind. XD) Oh, and, fuck yeah. My chapters have a scroll bar now, guys! (XD I have no idea why I'm excited about this... but I am...)
Anyway. I'm going to end this ridiculously long author's note! I hope you liked this chapter! Please review!