Puh..!

Finally! This chapter was so difficult to write, I have been thinking about it non-stop since Tuesday. But now I`m finally somewhat pleased with it, and I hope you will be, too!

Thanks for the great support on the last chapter, I`m sooo glad you guys liked Rex! As I`ve mentioned before, he will re-appear further out in the story, and I can hardly wait to write about him again!

Someone asked me whether this story is a Sulley X Randall-story, and the answer is YES! Woohoo! I can`t wait for the romance to start, I want to write all the cuddly, fluffy chapters NOW! :D But I believe in a good introduction, and I also want to stay true to the characters – Sulley and Randall are NOT the kind of characters who would fall in love straight away, I need to give them time;)

So what`s there to say about today`s chapter… I really don't know, but it has a lot of dialogue..! And of course, it features Sulley`s first encounter with a Randall who`s not asleep.

I hope you`ll like it, enjoy!

Chapter 6: The Encounter

As the taxi was driving through the centre of Monstropolis, its headlights illuminated the road ahead. Streetlights lit up both sides of the road, but still there was a noticeable darkness all around – no wonder, since the clock was approaching eight in the evening.

Sulley sat in the rear seat of the cab, looking out of the window. All he could see was his own reflection hanging outside the car, and it upset him; did he really look that tired? He closed his eyes and tried to think clear, but his head was exploding with thoughts and questions; less than thirty minutes had passed since he had gotten the shock of his life, and his hands were still shaking – even if he sat on them.

When he had first spotted Randall asleep on the couch in the apartment, he had frozen; completely unable to think or move. He had just stared at his former rival for several minutes, and the image had been so hard to take in;

Randall had looked so exhausted, so thin, so… fragile.

Was this really the same monster who had tried to kill him a month ago? Sulley didn`t really know what made him question; the way Randall looked right now, or the fact that he had Sophie`s story in the back of his head while watching him. Whatever it was, there was something that caused him to look at Randall in a whole new way, and a part of him wanted to reach out a hand and stroke his head - try to brush away his bad memories, maybe;

Randall`s life had been unfair, and nobody had even known – it made Sulley feel guilty. If he had known, a month ago or earlier, he would have tried to help him, no doubt about it. But what was he supposed to do now? Wake Randall up? Call Sophie, maybe?

Sulley had gotten to his senses and decided the best thing would probably be not to touch the sleeping monster – maybe fragile-sleeping-Randall would still be one-month-ago-angry-vengeful-Randall in his waking state; Sulley had confessed to himself that if that was the case, he`d prefer the sleeping-version; he wasn`t in the mood for attempted murder right now.

After looking at the purple monster on the couch for yet a while, Sulley had finally turned around to leave. He had a thousand questions he would have loved to ask Randall, such as how he had gotten back, how long he had been in Monstropolis and so on, but chose to trust his earlier decision of not waking him up. He was sure that was for the best. Although he knew more about Randall now after talking to his sister, he still didn`t see him as a close friend he could really talk to – and he seriously doubted Randall looked at him that way either. No, the best thing would probably be to just leave. And so he did.

But back in the cab, he had started doubting; Randall had looked terrible, was he okay? Should he perhaps have done something more than just look at him? Should he come back? Did anyone else know about the lizard`s return? Did Randall have anyone to turn to? Sophie would have mentioned it if she knew her brother was back, wouldn`t she?

All the questions caused Sulley to moan, and he started to rub his eyes; why was he so upset over Randall? The second top-scarer had never occupied his mind before, was this simply the feeling of guilt taking him over?

His stomach growled – what was the last time he ate; around lunch? Did Randall have any food? He had looked very thin –

"Urgghh."

He had to try not to think any more about Randall tonight – it gave him a headache. Instead, he started thinking about dinner; Sulley was sure that a nice meal would make him feel better and able to think clear. And as the taxi approached his building, he had actually managed (almost) to replace the thoughts of Randall with thoughts of Mike`s slime-burgers.

Monsters Inc.`s CEO was more quiet than usual during dinner. Mike went on and on about everything as usual, but Sulley didn`t respond with his normal "yes"-es and "wow"-s at suitable places in the conversation.

Mike noticed: "Hey, big guy! I just told you Celia hurt her tentacle when she collected her mail today, and you don`t say anything? Don`t you care about her? Don`t you care about me?"

Sulley looked at his friend with an empty expression.

"And you have hardly touched your slime-burger! Come on, I`ve struggled in the kitchen for like two hours, and for what? First; you come home too late. Second; you`re being dull. And third; - Sul, are you even listening? Okay, that`s it – it`s official – you don`t care about me". Mike threw his arms up in the air and leaned back on the chair as he went on;

"I have never mattered to you, have I? What about college, Sulley? Who trained you to be the greatest scarer ever? Have you forgotten? You owe me! Come on Sul, the least you could do is talk to me! What`s eating you?"

"Randall." Sulley didn`t even look up.

"Okay, that`s – wait, what?" Mike stared at Sulley as if he was a stranger who had just showed up at the dinner-table;

"Don`t tell me you`re sitting here thinking about Randall? Sulley, he`s gone! We threw him through a door! He`s history, don`t let his memory spoil our meal!"

"You don`t understand, Mike -" Sulley`s face expressed a level of grief that Mike had hardly ever seen him with before; "I talked to Sophie today, his sister. He`s had a really difficult past, his parents died when he was only eight, he spent a long period of time in hospital, he had a hard time making friends, he -"

"He`s a criminal!" Mike spoke extra clearly, to make sure Sulley got every word he was saying; "He tried to kill us both! And he put me in that… that… thing." Mike still had problems talking about the scream-extractor.

"I think he was really messed up, Mike. You should have heard Sophie; she truly gave me a new impression of him. I don`t – well, I don`t actually think he`s a bad person. I just think he made a lot of bad choices".

"Well, that`s really good, Sulley. Take it from his sister; she`s probably the right person to give you a professional, objective opinion -" Sulley raised his hand to interrupt, but Mike went on; "But unfortunately, as I pointed out before, Randall is not around anymore!"

Mike went back to his dinner, and Sulley tried to do the same. But then there was that other thing that was troubling him…

"Mike?"

"What? You wanna talk about Waternoose now?"

"No, still Randall."

"Yikes Sulley, you`re obsessed!" Mike continued to eat, but Sulley could see that he was eager to hear what he had to say;

"Mike, just listen – I was in his apartment with Sophie today, like I told you at work, and – and I went back later this evening on my own -"

"You did? Jeez Sulley, you are obsessed! What exactly did you do there on your own; lick his toothbrush?"

"I left my wallet there, and went back to get it, but that`s not it!" Sulley leaned forward and started whispering – although he and Mike was alone; "Mike, Randall is back!"

For the first time that day, or maybe that year, Mike fell completely silent. It took several seconds before he was able to speak again;

"What?"

His eye was even wider than usual, and his mouth was open; which was a rather unpleasant sight, since it was full of food; "Why do you say that?"

"I saw him. When I got back there; he was asleep, he didn`t see me, I don`t think he knows that I know, but I don`t know what to do! You should`ve seen him, he looked -"

He didn`t get a change to finish his sentence before Mike was all over the place;

"Randall`s back! Sulley, we have to call someone; The CDA, the police, anyone!"

"Mike, wait -"

"I have to alarm Celia! And my mum! Oh my God, Sulley, what are we going to about my mum?! I have to protect her!"

"Mike -"

"Okay, here`s the deal – you`ll go get my mum, and I`ll alarm Celia – we`ll meet you at the corner of Winslow`s Street in one hour, and then we -"

"MIKE!" Sulley had to raise his voice in order to make his friend listen, but once he had won his attention, he lowered it again;

"I don`t think Randall is after revenge!"

"You don`t? Then why is he here; to pick up his passport?"

"Think about it – if he`s after revenge – why hasn`t he come to get us yet? Nobody knows he`s here, he could just camouflage, walk right into the factory and kill us! But he hasn`t!"

"What if he came back like an hour ago, and just decided to take a nap before he comes for us?"

"I don`t know, Mike. It`s just… After what Sophie told me, I`ve started thinking he`s actually a real sensitive guy, and I`ve felt sorry for him all day..! And sorry for what we did to him…I should have done something else. Anything else."

Mike looked at his best friend for a long time before he said something – by now, his tone was a lot calmer;

"Man, you`re serious; you actually think there`s a different side to Randall..!"

Sulley nodded. He still had a hard time figuring out why he cared – Sophie had told him not to pin anything involving Randall on himself, but he couldn`t help it; he felt guilty for not doing anything to help.

Mike`s look was very serious as he continued;

"So – what are you planning to do, if Randall`s really back, troubled, and not after revenge?"

"I thought about it all the way home, Mike; and… I think… I think I want to try to talk to him".

"Don`t. You can`t talk to Randall".

"Have you ever tried? I mean, have you ever tried to have a normal conversation with him?"

Mike had to admit that he hadn`t;

"But I`m not exactly up for it either, Sul; I don`t see him as the easiest person to talk to. However, I`ll be happy to give you a ride over to his place in my car tomorrow, to let you risk your life and try to have a talk with him – that is, if that`s what it takes to shut you up about this".

"You will? Thanks, Mike, that`s very nice of you!" Sulley smiled for the first time that evening, and Mike gave him one back;

"I just want one tiny thing in return."

"What`s that?"

"Finish your stupid slime-burger! I spent two hours in the kitchen preparing them!"

Sulley looked at his plate; Mike had really done a good job with their dinner. The dessert wasn`t that tempting; the whole seeing-Randall-shock had caused Sulley to forget all about his groceries, and so their dessert that night was going to be slightly expired yoghurt from the fridge; he hadn`t dared to tell Mike yet.

Hardly a word was spoken between the two best friends in Mike`s car the next morning. Mike was nervous for Sulley`s attempted talk with Randall, and Sulley had to admit that he was, too; he had no idea of how his former colleague would react, but what bugged him the most was the fact that he couldn`t come up with a good answer for himself to what exactly he wanted the talk to lead to. Did he want to get to know Randall better as a friend? Get rid of the whole guilt-feeling? Both? Make sure Randall was okay? He didn`t know, and the more he thought about it, the more he started to doubt whether this visit was a good idea or not.

"Here we are". Mike slowed down and stopped the car outside of Randall`s building; "Are you sure about this, Sul?"

"Yeah… I just want to see if he`s okay…"

"Do you want me to wait for you?"

"No, you`ll be late for work. Just go, I`ll walk there later". He stepped out of the car and closed the door. "See you later, Mike".

"I hope so", Mike mumbled as he drove off towards the factory.

Randall was hungry. He had been home for more than 24 hours now, and he still hadn`t been eating. He was on his third or fourth cup of tea, and he realized that he had to get hold of some food soon; but how? It wasn`t like he could go the store, and there was no one he could contact and ask to him bring some.

He had actually thought about calling Sophie, but he had decided she could not be trusted. Not after what she had told Sullivan yesterday.

Just as he started thinking about the idea of sneaking into Mrs Lorenzo`s apartment and rob her fridge, he heard the sound of the front door being unlocked;

Jeez, was Sophie back already? Why? Was she going to go through his personal belongings or something now?

Just the idea of that made Randall want to jump out in front of her and scare her, but he decided it would be safer to just hide again and see what she was up to. So he camouflaged again, turned off the TV and crawled back onto the ceiling, looking at the door and expecting Sophie to come through it any moment; he could hear the sound of footsteps approaching.

When Randall saw who the monster walking through the door to his living room was, he almost fell down to the floor – intentionally; a quick faint right now would have been preferred. Sullivan was here again? Why?

Sullivan looked more insecure than he had done the day before; he had a nervous look on his face, walked slowly, and gazed around the room for every step he took. His eyes fell on the covers on the sofa, and then on the teacups on the table. He touched one of them, and Randall cursed on the inside – that cup was still hot.

Randall wasn`t prepared for the question. Not at all. The first time, he assumed Sullivan was only talking to himself; but as he spoke again, Randall suddenly recognized that the name being spelled out was his own – and a shiver went all the way up his spine:

"Psst! Hey, Randall? Are you in here?"

Randall panicked. How could Sullivan possibly know he was here? Was that the reason he was back today?

"Randall", Sulley spoke up, "Are you in here? I need to talk to you, come on out!"

Randall didn't know how to respond – if he was to respond at all. The idea of letting Sullivan know he was there made him feel terrified, as he had no idea of what the blue monster was planning to do to him. He chose to remain silent.

But Sulley didn`t give up that easy:

"Come on Randall, I know you`re here; I saw you last night! I`m not gonna hurt you or anything, I just need to talk to you! Come on!"

No freaking way.

"Randall!"

At that point, Sulley started searching through the apartment. He looked behind the couch, under the table, in the bedroom, in the bathroom, and as he started looking through the cabinets in the kitchen, Randall couldn`t bear with it anymore;

"For fuck`s sake Sullivan, will you just stop?!"

Sulley stood up and looked around, but couldn`t see Randall anywhere; he was still camouflaged. He did hear him, though;

"Do you really think I`ll fit in there? Are you that stupid? Look at the mess you`re leaving behind! What the hell are you doing in my home, you big, hairy cretin?"

"Okay, now you can might as well re-appear, Randall". Sulley looked in the direction of which he had located the voice.

With a deep sigh, Randall slowly re-appeared in the ceiling – he had a big frown on his face and looked as if he had just lost his faith in monsterkind. He slowly got down to the floor and glared at Sullivan;

"You didn`t answer my question. What are you doing here?"

Sulley looked at Randall. He thought he looked way worse now than he had done the night before; he had big bags underneath his eyes, pale, dry skin and appeared to have lost an unhealthy amount of weight – he looked straight out terrible. What had he been up to in the human world?

"I… just wanted to check on you -" Sulley hadn`t planned what to say, and he regretted that now; "to see if you were okay".

Randall glared in his direction.

"I just… wanted to tell you that I`m sorry".

"Get out."

"What?"

"Get out!" Randall tossed one of the sofa-cushions on Sulley as he yelled; it didn`t have much effect, but Randall`s intent wasn`t to hurt the blue monster – he just wanted him to leave;

"This is my apartment, and I don`t want you here! Get out!"

Clearly, Randall wasn`t in the mood for company today; Sulley turned around to leave, but looked at the other, who stood perfectly still by the sofa and stared back at him - shaking with anger, over his shoulder.

As Randall picked up another sofa-cushion, Sulley knew his time was up. He went out of the living room and into the hall. He took one last look at Randall before he opened the door; the lizard stood in the same place, still with the same expression, with the cushion lifted above his head – his eyes were locked with Sulley`s, and they expressed everything but hospitality.

"I`ll come back when you`re feeling better";

Sulley didn`t know why he said it – he hadn`t planned to. He didn`t even know if it was true; did he really wish to come back?

He opened the door, stepped out into the hallway, and as he closed the door again, he heard the sound of something hitting it – probably another cushion-missile.

The walk to work seemed longer than yesterday. Sulley couldn`t stop thinking about how bad things had turned out in Randall`s apartment, and he felt, if possible, even worse than last night.

He didn`t know what to do now; perhaps he should just leave Randall alone? That was clearly what the other part wanted. But as he thought about the way Randall looked, and thought about Sophie`s story, he decided that he couldn`t just let him be; Randall needed help, and nobody else was going to offer him that – so if Sulley didn`t try, he would probably end up feeling guilty about that, too.

He had to go back. He had to get him to talk.

Randall sat on his couch with a new cup of tea. He was still shaking from his encounter with Sullivan, or maybe it was from the hunger he was feeling – he wasn`t exactly sure, but no matter what had caused it, it made him feel bad all the same.

"I just wanted to check on you…"

"I just wanted to tell you that I`m sorry…"

Randall frowned as he thought about Sullivan`s words; who was he to show up here and suddenly care? It was probably the talk with Sophie that had softened him up, Jeez, why couldn`t she just have kept her mouth shut?

Randall lay down and closed his eyes; he was still tired, and he really didn`t have anything better to do. But he couldn`t sleep – there was something on his mind, something else Sullivan had said;

"I`ll come back when you`re feeling better".

"Then you`ll never have to come back", Randall thought to himself – nothing could possibly make him feel better - ever.

He pulled the bedcovers up over his head and tried to sleep again – the only thing on his mind was the hope that Sullivan hadn`t meant what he had said about coming back.

Well? Your opinions?

As I said, this one was difficult to write – but I`m pleased with my result. I hope you are, too!

What do you think about Sulley and Randall`s encounter? There`s already a kiss in the air, don`t you think? XD At least a pillow-fight..!

The next chapter is in the making, and Sulley`s good intentions will be a bit more successful there than in this one! There`s still no kiss in the air, but maybe friendship..?

I`m going to be home alone for a couple of days now, so I`ll have more time than usual to work on the story; yay! My guess is that I`ll publish the next chapter on Saturday, so make sure you check out the story again around that time!

Have a great day, everyone!