Hi there!

Another chapter! A long one! Yay!

So, this is the chapter where Sulley visits Sophie and Rex for dinner. I`m pleased with it and find it kinda cute, and I hope you`ll like it too:)

Reflected Darkness asked me whether Boo is going to be in this story, and the answer to that is unfortunately no… The events in my story take place before Mike puts her door back together in the end of Monsters Inc. But I think Boo is one of the reasons for Sulley to care so much for Rex; he reminds him of her.

Thanks for all the feedback on the story so far; I really appreciate it:)

That`s all I have to say for now, I think… It`s your turn once again now; read the chapter and leave behind a review!

Chapter 15: Dinner for Three

Sophie Boggs took one last glance at herself in the mirror to see if she looked alright. She was nervous, and couldn`t remember the last time she had been this worried about her own appearance; she had been self-confident and satisfied with the way she looked most of her life, but today she suddenly felt like a fourteen-year-old again. And she knew the reason for her sudden shyness; someone special was coming over for dinner anytime now, someone she really, truly liked.

Sophie could hardly believe she had first met Sulley less than a month ago; it felt as if she had known him all her life. She felt so safe around him, and the thought of him alone was enough to make her feel warm and secure. Sure, he was ten years younger; but that didn`t matter – Sulley was mature, and the most important thing was that they got along. They were both adults. Age was just a number.

The sound of the door-bell made Sophie jump - her heart started pounding and sweat gathered in her palms. It caused her to curse to herself; she was too old to act like this. She was a grown woman, not a teenage girl. She acted like she`d never had a date before… Despite her attempts to get herself together, the thought of the monster on the other side of the front-door made her heart continue to beat a little faster than usual. In order to get a few extra seconds to calm herself down, she asked the other resident of the house to answer the door;

"Rex, will you get that, honey?"

She drew a deep breath as the sound of her son`s footsteps approached the door; it was now or never.

Sulley felt uncomfortable. He was waiting for Sophie to answer the door and let him in, and he had a bad feeling about this evening. He didn`t view their dinner as a date, but Mike had convinced him that Sophie probably did; and since the furry monster really cared for her, he was afraid of letting her down and break her heart.

He allowed his thoughts to wander over to Randall; Sulley wished he could have spent the evening with him, and the thought of the purple monster made his stomach jump. He could hardly wait for the date - dinner – with him tomorrow…

Sulley pulled himself back to the moment and looked down at the flowers he held in his hand; he had picked out some nice but neutral ones for Sophie, something that didn`t spell out I love you or Please be my girl. The sight of the flowers caused him to start wondering whether he should bring Randall something tomorrow; could he buy flowers for a guy..? Did Randall like flowers? …Did Randall like him..?

Sulley`s thoughts were interrupted when the door swung open and a little orange monster threw himself against him in a squeezing hug;

"Ulley!"

"Hi, Rex! Good to see you!"

He hugged the little one back, and noticed that Rex was dressed up for dinner with a little tux-bow;

"Hey, you look good, kid!"

Rex grinned in reply, exposing all of his teeth, clearly proud of his own appearance. However, it didn`t take him very long to move his focus on to something else;

"Pwetty!"

He pointed to the flowers in Sulley`s hand, and the blue one handed them over as he figured it would be even less romantic if Sophie received them from her son;

"They`re for you and mum! Do you like them?"

"Yeah! Muuuuum!"

Rex ran to the other room to find Sophie, and Sulley entered their hall; he took a look around and noticed that despite the fact that Sophie and Rex had been expecting a visitor, their house wasn`t very tidy. There were toys here and there, a few stains on the carpet and even traces of crayons on the wall. Sulley chuckled; Rex was a handful. But clearly worth it, though.

"Sulley!"

He turned his head and faced Sophie, who greeted him with a hug as usual;

"Thank you so much for the flowers, they`re beautiful; they`re my favourites, how did you know?"

Oh no.

"Lucky guess..! Thanks for inviting me, Sophie!"

"My pleasure!"

The hostess gestured that they could sit down in the living room, but Rex had different plans for their guest;

"Ma woom!"

He took hold of Sulley`s hand and tried his best to pull the big monster up the stairs with him;

"You see ma woom, Ulley! Now!"

"Rex, relax!" Sophie`s voice gained a more serious tone;

"Sulley just arrived here, give him some time to breathe! Perhaps he wants something to drink first, he can see your room later; he`s going to be here all evening, remember, and -"

"Pleeeeeease!"

"Rex, don`t get me started now -"

"It`s okay, Sophie -" Sulley smiled at the slightly stressed out female who was about to lift a warning finger at her son;

"I want to see his room, he`s been waiting for days to show me..!"

Sulley really wanted to see Rex`s room. In fact, he wanted to stay there all night, if that could keep him from being alone with Sophie; he felt insecure, and was afraid of letting her know he wasn`t into her.

"Okay, then..!" Sophie gave in and smiled at the two guys;

"Go ahead and show him, Rex! But have him back for dinner!"

"Yeah!"

Rex let go of Sulley`s hand and ran up the stairs straight away. When he saw that Sulley moved a little slower than him he ran back down again to help him up, and by the time Sulley reached the second floor, Rex had been up and down the stairs five times already.

The first floor in Sophie`s house was tidy compared to the second one. In addition to even more toys, there were laundry, mugs, books, drawings and everything else a single parent could possibly keep in her home. There were more stains and more remains of crayons and paint. However, it was very cosy; Sulley felt as if he had entered someone`s home and not a stand at a fair, and he liked it. Besides, his own apartment wasn`t exactly the tidiest in the world either, so he also felt he didn`t have the right to complain.

Rex`s room was located in the end of the hall, and it reminded Sulley of Boo`s; it held a bed, a nightstand, a closet, a desk and a window that overlooked the garden. The walls were pale blue, and the floor was covered in all kinds of things a three-year-old would consider a treasure; toys, oddly shaped stones, drawings, pictures and books. Sophie smiled from a picture on the wall, and right next to it there was a picture of two monsters that looked similar to Sophie, Randall and Rex.

"That`s gwandma and gwandpa," Rex explained as he noticed Sulley looking at the picture;

"They`we up thewe..!"

He pointed up towards the ceiling, but luckily Sulley understood what he meant;

"They`re in heaven..?"

"Yeah".

Rex waved towards the place he thought his grandparents were now located and started shouting up at them;

"Hello! Ulley, say hello! Hellooooo!"

Sulley raised his hand and waved with Rex, letting out a gentle "hello".

"Ulley`s ma best fweind!" Rex yelled upwards as to explain who his guest was. Then he waited a couple of seconds for a reply, and he obviously got one;

"They like you!" He looked at the big monster with an ear-to-ear grin, before suddenly pointing in a different direction;

"Look, Ulley!"

Sulley turned around to see what the little one wanted to show him now, and his gaze fell on a drawing on the wall. Rex ran over to it and explained what it was;

"That`s when we wewe in the snow! That`s me, that`s you, that`s slesh!"

As Rex pointed the different things out, Sulley was somehow able to see their resemblance; he saw the orange area that was supposed to be Rex, the blue area that resembled himself, and something red at the bottom he guessed was the sledge. He didn`t see anything purple, though; clearly Rex hadn`t bothered drawing the guy he knew as George.

When Rex was done showing Sulley his room, he gave the blue guest a full tour around the rest of the house; which also included the inside of every cabinet and drawer. Sophie stopped them once they got to the laundry-room, and told them dinner was ready; and after a little battle between Sophie and Rex about the importance of hand-wash, all three sat down around the living room-table with spaghetti and sauce. The hostess excused herself;

"I`m afraid it`s nothing fancy..! I had to make something Rex would eat, too!"

"Spaghetti`s fine! I like it!"

Sulley smiled back at her as he tasted the food; it was actually really good, much better than his own cooking. But then again; it didn`t take too much to beat the crap out of that.

Rex clearly enjoyed the food as well, and Sulley looked at him from time to time during the meal; the little monster tried to eat with his fork to begin with, but he finished the bowl of spaghetti using all four of his hands – and at one point, his tail. He missed his mouth at times and dropped food on the floor. He picked it up again and ate it. He wiped his hands on the table-cloth when he thought no one was watching. He sneezed a couple of times and wiped his nose with his hands, only to use them to pick up food again seconds later. He tipped his glass over. He tipped Sophie`s glass over. Sulley couldn`t help it, he had to giggle at the sights; this was truly a dinner and a show.

The dessert was some kind of pudding Rex declared his love for around twenty times as they ate; and this time, the orange monster used his four hands as spoons from the very beginning. Sophie had a couple of attempts to tell him to eat in a nicer way, but it didn`t go through; so eventually she gave up and allowed her son to have a good time and enjoy the dessert in his own way.

After dinner Sulley helped Sophie carry the plates into the kitchen and load the dishwasher, and then it was time for Rex to go to bed. The little one put up a brave fight, but there was no mercy this time; it was far beyond his bedtime. He cheered up a little when Sulley agreed to help him brush his teeth and read him a story (he even went up the stairs to the second floor voluntarily), but his emerald eyes were full of tears; he wanted to stay awake as long as Sulley was there, and the blue monster secretly wished the same.

Sulley had never brushed someone else`s teeth before, but Sophie told him he did well - and Rex seemed happy about the job, too. When they were finished the two adults followed Rex into his bedroom and tucked the little monster in; Sophie gave her son a kiss before leaving the two guys to themselves, and Rex picked out the book he wanted Sulley to read.

It all felt very weird. Weird, but nice; the whole experience brought back memories of Boo, and Sulley could feel himself going all soft as the little monster, who sucked his thumb and clung to an ancient-looking blanket, leaned against him while he read him a bedtime-story.

Eventually Rex`s eyes got heavier, and by the time they`d finished the book the little monster was almost asleep. Sulley tucked him in carefully, and for a moment he wondered whether he should kiss the orange one`s forehead or not. When Rex mumbled "I love you, Ulley", he decided he probably should, and bent over - carefully placing his lips on the little head;

"I love you too, Rex".

Rex barely had the energy to smile in reply before he travelled off to sleep.

Sophie awaited Sulley on the other side of Rex`s door;

"Thanks for being so patient with him… You have no idea what that means to me".

"He`s a great kid, I enjoy spending time with him!"

"He really likes you, too..!" Sophie smiled as she started walking towards the stairs;

"Can I offer you a glass of wine?"

"Sure…thanks..!" Sulley swallowed hard; he had been dreading this. Alone with a woman who appeared to like him, whom he didn`t want as anything more than a friend.

He followed her down the stairs and sat down on the couch while she got a bottle of wine from the fridge. He took a look around the living room; there were toys on the floor and pictures on the walls. Pictures of Sophie and Rex, pictures of Sophie and Randall`s parents, pictures of friends… He noticed there were no pictures of Randall.

Sophie made it back with two glasses and a bottle, and sat down beside Sulley; a little too close for the furry one`s taste. She poured the wine and handed him a glass, and while she started pouring some for herself Sulley asked her a question to keep her from bringing up romantic subjects;

"Why are there no pictures of Randall in your house?"

Sophie looked at him, a little puzzled;

"I… That`s an odd thing to ask..!"

"Not really; he`s your brother, and Rex`s uncle. He`s a part of your family".

"He is, but…he kind of chose not to be…I…It`s a little difficult".

Sophie looked at her guest, who glanced back at her with questioning blue eyes. Their intensity caused her to let out a sigh and take a sip of her wine;

"I love Randall. I always have. I`m sure Rex would have loved him too, if he knew him…But like I told you before, Randall suffers from an inferiority complex, and I think he sees Rex as his rival. He didn`t want us around, and I had to respect that."

She lowered her gaze as she went on;

"But I miss him. I miss him like crazy; he`s my little brother and I love him very much, and I`m worried sick about him – I don`t know how he is, where he is…"

She looked up again, and allowed her brown eyes to connect with Sulley`s;

"I can`t have his picture on the wall, it would drive me insane to see him every day without being able to contact him. But I have pictures of him; they`re in my room, in a box underneath my bed. I look at them from time to time, when I have the energy. And Rex knows he has an uncle Wandall somewhere, whom I`ve told him isn`t around to see us at the moment… But Rex do talk about him, a lot, even though he doesn`t know him -"

Sophie`s face regained its familiar smile;

"…and did you notice that old blanket Rex cuddled up with in bed? That used to be Randall`s. He refused to go to sleep without it when he was a child, and it`s exactly the same with Rex. He and Randall are so alike… Watching Rex grow up…is like watching Randall all over again..!"

Sulley chuckled;

"Did he use to eat with his hands too..?"

"I don`t think he learned to use a fork until he turned five..!"

They shared a laugh, which felt wonderful after the serious atmosphere that had ruled in the living room for a while. Sulley took a sip from his glass and imagined a baby Randall acting like Rex did a couple of hours ago; it made him smile.

"Do you want to see the pictures..?" Sophie got up from the couch;

"I have them upstairs, I`ll go get them!"

She hurried upstairs without another word, and Sulley felt relieved; as long as they had something to talk about, this night was going to be okay.

Sophie came back after a little while, as she had to check on Rex as well. Then the two blue monsters spent a long time looking at all of the pictures of Randall`s life; there were pictures of him as a baby and as a child. There were pictures from the period he had been hospitalized. Pictures from his teenage-years. Pictures of him when he was in college. Pictures from Monsters Inc., pictures of everything. Sophie had to dry her eyes a couple of times;

"I`m sorry… I haven`t watched these with someone before".

"It`s okay…"

Seeing how emotional Sophie got from looking at the pictures instantly reminded Sulley of last week, when Randall broke down after seeing the picture of Sophie. Perhaps the siblings were more similar than he first had guessed…

His eyes rested on the female monster, who eventually noticed she was the centre of attention. She coughed, and her scales changed from blue to a deep shade of pink. It surprised Sulley; he didn`t knew she was able to change her colour, too.

"Thank you for everything, Sulley…" Sophie changed back to her usual shade of blue as she leaned a little closer;

"I have never known someone like you before…"

The hairy monster suddenly felt sweat gathering on his back; Sophie was too close, and she was moving even closer. Their eyes met; Sulley stared into the big brown ones until the owner closed them. The two monsters were only a few inches apart. Sulley could feel her breath against his mouth;

"Randall`s back!"

Sophie opened her eyes as she withdrew herself from Sulley;

"What?!"

The hairy one sat up straight and was relieved by the fact that he had managed to keep Sophie from kissing him. However, he hadn`t planned how he was going to tell her about Randall, and the words escaped his lips in random order;

"Randall got back before I met you, he`s been depressed, he wanted to kill himself, he lived in a shed, his neighbour`s looking after him when I`m not there, I`m there every day, he… I … he…"

The look on Sophie`s face caused him to stop talking and draw a deep breath. Another sip from the wine didn`t hurt either.

"Sophie -" he said eventually, when he had managed to calm himself down;

"Your brother is back in the monster world. It`s a long story. Do you want me to tell you?"

Sophie nodded as tears gathered in her eyes. She refilled their glasses before Sulley started telling her what was going on with her brother.

Sulley told her everything; how Randall got back, how he was doing, that he went over to visit him every day – everything except how he felt about him. Sophie listened without any interruptions; apart from a couple of times when she started crying. When she did, Sulley held her until she calmed down, as he wondered what he had gotten himself into; this was the second time in a couple of weeks he found himself comforting a crying member of the Boggs-family.

When he was done telling Sophie about Randall`s situation, she said nothing for a long time; the new information needed time to sink in. Eventually she got up and headed for the kitchen;

"I could use a cup of tea. How `bout you?"

Sulley agreed and followed her. After a little while they found themselves sitting by the kitchen table, and Sophie finally found the right words;

"I don`t know what to say, Sulley…" Her eyes started to water again, but a big smile stretched across her face; "Thank you..!"

"No biggie…"

"Huge biggie..! You`ve been looking after my brother; do you have any idea what that means to me? What it means to Randall? Sulley, all he has ever wanted is a friend, and you are that friend! You have probably saved his life, do you realize that?"

"I only did what I felt was right…"

"But you did it! Despite what he did to you -" She took hold of his hand; "That shows how big your heart is, Sulley".

They didn`t move for a while, and Sulley was the one to break the silence a few minutes later;

"He wants to see you. I don`t know when he`s ready, but…I guess it`s soon… I`m seeing him tomorrow – are you home tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? Oh, I`m afraid not!" Sophie looked devastated; "I`m going to visit a friend who just got divorced – she`s going through a hard time, and I promised to be there. I`ve even hired a babysitter, I can`t cancel, I`m sorry!"

"It`s okay. We have time. I can talk to Randall and find a day, and we`ll get back to you. Okay?"

"Yes".

After a second cup of tea, it was time to say goodnight. Sophie walked Sulley to the door and gave him a long hug and a kiss on the cheek. He gave her one back; that couldn`t hurt – he kissed his mother on the cheek. After saying goodbye she closed the door and Sulley stepped down from the patio and tripped over one of Rex`s toy cars. He managed to keep his balance and made it to the front gate and onto the sidewalk. He didn`t bother calling a cab. It was a long walk home, but he wanted some fresh air to clean his thoughts.

His heart felt light; it had been a good evening. He still didn`t know exactly where he had Sophie, but he chose not to think about that. He liked her as a friend, and hoped things would stay that way. His thoughts wandered over to Rex; he adored that little guy, and couldn`t wait to see him again.

Then he started thinking about tomorrow and his dinner with Randall. Dinner…or date..? Date. It was a date. He said the little word out loud and smiled to himself. He was really looking forward to it.

Awww..! Did you like it? Please tell me:)

So, I have started the next chapter, which will be about Sulley`s date with Randall..! *holds breath* Are you excited? I know I am!

I`m going on a trip to the mountains next weekend, but I`ll try to get the chapter out before I leave on Friday. If I don`t make it, I will publish it on Sunday.

Everybody take care, and enjoy your week!

And BTW, know what? I pre-ordered my Monsters University DVD the other day! Aaaaaahhh! But sigh; know when the release date in Norway is..? November 20th! Gahhhh, I can`t believe I have to wait another month..!