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labyrinth2015) wrote2009-05-22 12:48 pm
Romance Fic 5, Chapter Two: Tell Me I Won't Be Alone
Title: Avalanche, You Can
Rating: PG-13 for language, adult themes.
Pairing: David/David
Summary: The boys, post Manila, romancing via their most romantic verses, which the muse says are two halves of the same song.
Disclaimer: Not-for-profit absolute work of fiction; fair use of any copyright material; no assertions or imputations as to the actual, real-world characters or inclinations of any living individuals intended. Picture, if you will, said individuals as mere actors in this fic. Will remove this without prejudice if a cease and desist notice is issued.
Avalanche, You Can
Show me that good things come to those who wait/I feel alive beside you and all at once I am whole again
Chapter One: In This Rush We Are Crushed
Chapter Two: Tell Me I Won’t Be Alone
Archie’s surprised when he gets off the plane and Cook’s there by himself waiting for him in the arrivals hall, no handlers or anything, wearing these cool aviator shades, jeans and a slightly ratty grey hoodie, which Cook had previously explained was his “incognito” look, whatever.
Of course, Arch would have brought his own people, except that his dad was out of town, and his manager was kind of not speaking to him because he’d insisted that morning on dropping everything for a couple of days to go see Cook play in Ohio.
He had Robin, this one security guy which 19E had told him he needed to travel with, but apart from him, and that one very sweet and motherly stewardess in first class, nobody had approached or stopped him on the plane or in the airport corridors, and he was feeling pretty good about the incognito travelling thing, himself, and could kind of pretend that Robin was just a friend that happened to carry his bag and, um, have protecting him from excitable teenage girls in his job description.
“Gee, Cook, you didn’t have to come get me yourself!”
“What, when I practically begged you on my knees to come out here to see me?” Cook's looking kind of tired, actually, and there are lines on his face under the stubble that Archie doesn’t remember from a couple of weeks ago, and the healthy tan on his skin he'd gotten from the Manila sun seems to have faded, and he looks pale enough to blend into the walls. “C’mere,” he says, and grabs Archie in a fierce one-armed hug.
Robin rolls his eyes; he'd been with them in Manila and he's used to Cook’s handsy ways.
Arch hugs back, and, really, it’s silly he’s so excited to see Cook, because he just spent a whole week with him last month, it’s not like they haven’t seen each other in like a year or something. Although, um, it kind of feels like it's been a year. Or something.
He’s of course hoping Cook won’t ask him how come he'd happened to be surfing the ‘net last night looking for stuff on Cook’s tour performances, because that’s something he’s actually been doing, every night since Manila. Not sure if Cook will understand; he guesses it could come off a bit creepy or something, as if Archie is some crazy teenage fan (come to think of it, though, of course, Archie is actually kind of a teenage fan for Cook, because, Cook's album? All kinds of awesome).
So of course, once they’re done with the airport admin things and are safe in the back seat of Cook’s limo, Robin in the front with Cook’s driver, and they're on their way to some nice restaurant for lunch downtown, this is exactly what Cook asks him. “Hey, how did you read about my little concert mishap, anyway? You checking up on me, Archuleta?”
Arch figures that he should have been more prepared for this question, especially since he’d anticipated it, but he's so not; so he stammers something, he’s not sure what exactly, then stammers something else, and after a while Cook takes off his shades and fixes him with that trademark intense Cook stare, and --
-- “Gosh, you look terrible,” says Archie, before he can stop himself, but really, Cook does look pretty terrible. Red-rimmed eyes, everything, gosh.
Cook stares at him for a beat, and then throws back his head and bursts out laughing. And it’s the sweetest sound.
“Oh my gosh, I so did not say that!” says Archie, but Cook has put his arm around Arch’s neck and pulled him in close to his side in a one-armed headlock, still laughing; “Honestly, Archuleta, you are such a charmer.”
Archie uses the close-up to inspect the rest of Cook’s face, and isn’t particularly happy with what he sees. “Cook, I'm not just messing with you. I think you’re, you know, pushing too hard or something. Just look at you,” he says, and pokes him in the arm a little.
Cook looks down at him in a strange sidelong way, with his tired eyes kind of all scrunchy, and then looks away and lets him go, running a hand through his hair, which looks like it’s gotten even more gold in it from the hot tropical sun.
“So,” he says, finally, “it is beyond cool that you dropped everything and came out to see me because I asked, and because you were worried about me. I, I really appreciate it, you know.”
Archie smiles a little uncertainly because he can’t tell if Cook is making fun at first, but then Cook takes his hand and squeezes it, and then Cook turns to stare out of the car window with the wry face that he makes when he’s trying not to cry, and Arch doesn’t know what to do, so he squeezes back as hard as he can, because, gosh, Cook looking tired and on edge like this and about to cry just from seeing him is doing the strangest thing to his heart.
Finally, Cook turns back to him with too-bright eyes and that crooked half-smile that he knows and loves so much. “I mean it, Archie. Thanks for coming. You always get me on my feet again.”
“Um, no problem?” says Archie, and Cook doesn't let go this time, and they ride the rest of the way to their lunch venue hand in hand.
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Oh jeez, I'm all teary! You write really well :) Yay for updates!
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The line you love echoes (okay, is filched from) Archie's You Can.