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Alright, so I wanted to talk to someone else who felt as crappy over something as I do right now. I don't want to talk to Natasha about it. Thanks to Dan, Arianna's in a good place. And Madsen's still in the hospital with a broken leg. Alex seemed like the best choice
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"Yeah, me too." I laughed a little in spite of myself. Yeah, it's crappy. I didn't come here to unload on Alex though, so I'll regin it in. Nothing but the basics, and then I'll move on to something else.
"If you ever need anything, or even just a place to crash for a night, you know you can come here, right?"
"I appreciate it." I said with a small smile, and nodded to her. "Thanks." I wouldn't do anything like that though. It wouldn't feel right. Even if they're pissed at each other, Alex technically is Carly's friend first. At least, when Carly isn't screwing with her life and cutting everyone loose like this.
"It's just... Yeah, an old girlfriend that I thought was dead showed up, and she's... Really different from Carly." Very different. And thensome. "Basically, she wanted to see me. And since I used to care about the girl a lot, this led Carly to 'let's take a break'. I've been feeling like I've been living a bad soap opera." I think that's about the fastest way to condense all that crap down.
Which means I should be moving on. "So anyway, did you see Madsen?" I'm guessing she did. I feel like a jackass for not being there more, but if Alex came by at least one, I think he's fine.
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The infamous dead girlfriend? I've really never heard much about her, I just know that she existed. She's alive? And she showed up? At their door, even? I'm guessing that's what happened, that would give the whole situation that extra little something to make it really feel like a soap opera. I don't blame Sam for wanting to talk to her, if that's what really went down. I mean, he thought she was dead. Now she's not. If I were him, I'd want to ask some questions and clear things up. Too bad for him that Carly had to jump to conclusions right away and push him out the door.
"We should name our soap opera," I sighed. "We could probably sell the stories to some network and make a ton of money. Except they might not think we're trashy enough." Except Jake. He's a whore. But he's a nice whore.
"So anyway, did you see Madsen?"
"Yeah, I've been up to see him a few times. It's not too hard, I can usually stop by after work." If you can call what I've been doing 'seeing' him. There's been a little bit of seeing, and a whole lot of other stuff. "He's doing okay... he's really bored, though."
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"They should give us a chance, we could get trashier." Or we could dramatize it. I think it's a thought. They've put even crappier stuff than this on television, so what the hell. It could work out. "But I see your point." It'd be too weird seeing my life on a screen anyway.
"Yeah, I've been up to see him a few times. It's not too hard, I can usually stop by after work. He's doing okay... he's really bored, though."
"I tried to get him out early, Carly wouldn't do it." Which I should have expected. For Carly to even remotely accept and do anything nice for Madsen would be impossible. But that's not an issue now, obviously, now is it.
Okay Howell, move on. You're supposed to be better, you're good at working that even when you don't feel like it.
"So with the crap she's pulling aside, can I get an official idea of what the deal is as far as you and Madsen?" I've heard just about everything I need to from him, I'd like to know what's going on with Alex. If they're working out in spite of everything, then that's a good thing.
Despite what other people say.
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Why am I not surprised? Carly hates Madsen. Loathes him. Obviously, since that's why she's not talking to me in the first place. Even though she doesn't like him, I still think that's pretty crummy of her, not using her healing powers to help him. She has a gift and she doesn't do a damn thing with it. It would be nice if I didn't have to wait six weeks for Madsen to be up and around like normal -- but of course, that's the opposite of what Carly wants. That would just make things too easy for us, wouldn't it?
"Wish I could say I was shocked."
"So with the crap she's pulling aside, can I get an official idea of what the deal is as far as you and Madsen?"
"I guess I don't really know." We don't do a whole lot of talking when I visit. There's some talking, and some kissing, and a lot of other stuff when we can get away with it. That other stuff would be a lot more fun if he was fully mobile, but to be honest, it still doesn't disappoint. "I like him a lot. I'm spending a lot of time in his hospital room. We had that one date, and it went pretty well. But really, I don't know."
I shook my head and gave Sam a shrug. "He broke his leg on my account, though. That has to count for something, right?"
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That's not as descisive as what I got out of him, but it's sort of warranted, considering what's going on.
"I like him a lot. I'm spending a lot of time in his hospital room. We had that one date, and it went pretty well. But really, I don't know."
Knowing Madsen, I doubt most of the time in the hospital room was about talking, but that's none of my business, and thankfully I'm not the type of guy to ask. I think he'd still talk to her, in general, and it wouldn't be entirely about sex.
Just mostly.
"He broke his leg on my account, though. That has to count for something, right?"
"Since I've never actually seen him stand up for a girl, ever? Yeah, that would count for something." I laughed a little, and jumped when my cellphone rang. "... I have to get a new ring tone." I muttered. It was the one I'd let Carly pick out for my phone. I didn't really like it, but she did, so I let it go.
So after this call, I'll be changing it.
I answered the phone, not having to check who it was. It's either Arianna, Madsen, or Natasha. I doubt it's work around this time in the day. "Hello?"
"Dude! Guess what?"
"Hey, what's up?" He sounds happy, I wonder what's going on.
"My leg is totally fixed."
"... What?"
"Yeah, the Snowflake came by and totally fixed it."
"Carly did what?" Are you kidding me? After all that work to try to get her to do it, she dumps me, and then she decides to do something nice? What the hell is this?
"She totally came by and did the healing thing. And then this dude was with her, but I totally don't think it was like... a dating thing or something, it seemed more like something else. So I'm watching Julia right now, if you want to come around, since she's not going to be back for a couple of hours."
There's a guy? Already? Just because it doesn't seem like a dating thing with Carly, doesn't exactly mean it wasn't. Which means, she's moved on already. Probably to get back at me over Natasha, and despite her best efforts, we haven't fucking done anything.
"Alright, I'll come by." At least I get to see my daughter. Maybe I'll burn the place down and take her with me... No, it's still under my name too, I don't want to deal with the crap and start getting a record for arson.
"Cool. Look, could you tell Alex for me? Since I don't know where she is right now, and I sort of only have her house number."
"I'm with her now." Wait, after what he just saw with Carly, that's not going to sound right to him. "Not like that."
"... Okay dude. Just had to check... 'Cause... Seriously."
"Yeah. I know. But that's not me, you know that."
"Just checking, dude. I'll see you in a bit."
"Later." I hung up, and looked back to Alex. "Carly healed him. I don't know why." I can't believe her. I seriously don't know whether to be happy with this, or get seriously pissed. And I want to know what the guy is about.
"But Madsen's watching Julia right now, so I think I'm going to head over to our-- Her place. Do you want to come with me?"
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Sounds like a Madsen phonecall, I've heard a lot of those start out this way. Wonder what trouble Carly got herself into this time? She's already burned almost all her bridges, so it's hard to imagine what other kinds of trouble she could be causing right now. Well, no, maybe it's not. Maybe she's found herself a new boyfriend already.
I still can't believe she and Sam are broken up. It shouldn't be as hard to believe as it is, they've broken up before... so clearly, it's possible. He went to Europe that time. I hope he doesn't go to Europe this time, I don't like having oceans between me and my friends.
"I'm with her now. ... Not like that."
Okay, obviously talking about me. Wow, is there really even any question about that? Especially if it's Madsen, he should know that would never happen. It defies... physics, or something. Okay, so when I first met Sam, I had a teeny tiny miniscule crush on him, but once I knew he was off-limits, that was over and done with. Now? It would never happen. It would be like kissing an extremely good-looking cousin. ... which is not acceptable in California.
Huh. I'm feeling a bit ADD today. What were Sam and I even talking about before the phone rang?
"Later. ... Carly healed him. I don't know why. But Madsen's watching Julia right now, so I think I'm going to head over to our-- Her place. Do you want to come with me?"
"She did what?" Why would Carly do that? She hates Madsen. Now that she's not with Sam anymore, there's no reason for him to even pretend to tolerate him, and she might even hate him more than usual because of me. So why bother healing him?
I shouldn't keep asking myself these questions. I should just be glad Madsen's leg is in one piece again. That's going to make life so much easier.
"Sure, alright. Just lemme get my jacket."
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"Yeah, I don't get it either."
Whatever, she did a favor. And knowing Madsen, he thanked her in some sort of way, and he's paying her back with the babysitting thing. Which means I get to see my daughter, and if I run into Carly, I don't have to say anything about this.
Although, that still doesn't mean I'm planning to run into Carly. I'll go in, spend some time with Julia, talk to Madsen, and get out of there.
And while I'm at it, I should probably make sure to grab some of my stuff. I wonder if she'll even notice.
"Sure, alright. Just lemme get my jacket."
"Sure." I waited for Alex, then got out the door with her, checking my cellphone to see there was a message from Natasha.
Yeah, I'll ignore that for now.
"My car?" Technically, it's hers. My car's still at the house. And I think I'll have to find a way to get that back too, while I'm at it. Probably sometime tonight, I'll have Natasha drive me over, and I'll just get it.
I'll figure it out.
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I'm not even going to waste my time trying to understand it. Madsen's leg has been healed, that's all that matters. No more uncomfortable hospital beds, no more having to scold Juanita for going into his room with her top three buttons undone all the time. This is a good thing, even if the reasoning behind it is... you know. Nonexistant.
"My car?"
"Yeah, if you don't mind." It's really Carly's car, but this is a good opportunity for him to drop it off, I guess. We can both hitch a ride back with Madsen later on, I'm sure.
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"It's no problem." I got in Natasha's car, and drove us over to our Carly's place. I didn't do much talking, just sort of let the radio take care of everything.
There isn't too much to say that doesn't involve someone neither one of us wants to talk about right now, so it'd be a good idea to not think about talking.
I pulled up in front of the building a little while later, and got out with Alex, heading upstairs. I unlocked the door, and walked in, praying that Madsen hadn't completely screwed up babysitting our my daughter.
"Da da!"
She sounds happy, I think it's okay.
I smiled and turned to see Madsen sitting with her in front of the tv. "Hey Jules." I picked her up when Madsen passed her off too me, and kissed her forehead. "I missed you."
She knows there's something going on too, I'm getting all kinds of baby hugs. Great. I've managed to affect our my daughter with all of this pointless crap.
"It's been totally cool, Sammy. We just watched tv."
"Thanks." I looked back over at Alex, and then to Madsen. "I asked her to come along, I really doubted you'd have a problem with it."
Yeah, he doesn't.
"Hey, how's it going?"
And I'll let them talk, and go be Dad in another room.
"How much time do I have?"
"A couple dude, no worries."
"Cool." I nodded and headed into Julia's room. I wonder if Carly killed the elephant already now that I'm not around. I wouldn't put it past her.
"Come on Jules, you should probably take a nap." She hasn't seen me in a while, she's not going to relax for a bit. I'll play with her, get her to calm down, and then once she's asleep... Maybe I'll hang around a little while longer.
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"Thanks. I asked her to come along, I really doubted you'd have a problem with it."
He'd damn well better not have a problem with it, I rode in uncomfortable near-silence for fifteen minutes to get here. Honestly, this apartment is the last place I want to be right now, but Carly's not here, and plenty of people I'd like to see are.
"Hey, how's it going?"
"Hey... good." Dammit, I can't talk to him while Sam is in the room. I'm used to servicing him talking to him in the privacy of a hospital room. I don't do well with an audience.
"How much time do I have?"
"A couple dude, no worries."
"Cool. Come on Jules, you should probably take a nap."
What?! He's leaving us alone?! He can't leave us alone, I-- What am I saying? I can handle this. I do conversation. It would be nice to be able to do conversation without having to talk too much about Carly, though. I don't see that happening, since she fixed his leg and all, but still. I can handle this.
This just feels weird without having a hospital bed somewhere in the room.
"So how are you feeling?" I asked, helping myself to a seat on the couch. That's a stupid question, of course he's feeling better. His leg isn't in a stupid cast anymore. Whatever, it's good enough.
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Dude... He's leaving with Jules. What the hell is that.
That means me and Alex are alone together. And when we get left alone together, shit happens. But I think it's cool, we can probably get through hanging out and not doing anything while Sammy takes care of Julia.
We did a date. That totally means that we've got self control.
"So how are you feeling?"
Oh shit dude, small talk. We didn't do small talk on the date. I'm totally off when it comes to small talk. I say stuff that isn't small after like... Two sentences.
"Good." Okay, one sentence. Totally need to make the other one good. "Y'know, moving again, doing Carly a favor for what she did for me by doing the babysitting thing."
Two. Dude, now I have to go for three... Wait, got one.
"How're you?"
I know things probably haven't been cool with her and Carly, and since they're best friends, it can't be cool. She's got a way of messing shit up like that, I remember the time me and Sammy fought over her.
She just brings that everywhere.
And she's got no right to be so down on Alex for this. It's not me and Daphne. Me and Daphne? Totally a fluke. And not cool at all. Alex is different.
And I swear, I totally do not care if she buys that. It's not her place to go and mess up all our shit, and then pull this with the one dude who can handle her.
Totally screwed up.
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It's finally hit me just how awesome having sex somewhere other than a hospital bed could be. It's been awhile. That one time we were drunk doesn't count, because that was bad. I don't know if the second time counts, because that time was experimental. Experimental, but good. All the stuff in the hospital room don't really count because they were all really weird albeit oddly successful attempts. So now, it's going to start counting for... something. And it has the potential to be awesome, because now one of us will not be in traction.
Really, I'm kinda excited.
"I'm still kinda surprised she fixed you up. She just showed up at the hospital and did it?" Hard to imagine. She hates hospitals. She's terrified of them. You can't even say the word 'hospital' without her flinching. Whenever she'd meet me for lunch during work, we'd have to meet somewhere at least a block away from the hospital or else she'd have something close to a panic attack.
"Anyway, glad you're feeling better. This definitely beats another four weeks in a stupid hospital room." Except he still missed his competition, which really sucks. He told me not to, but I still feel awful about that.
"How're you?"
Angry. Miserable. Awful.
"Okay." Actually, feeling a little bit better now that he's up and around. That's a little less guilt I have to carry with me everywhere, and one less thing to worry about. I still feel pretty rotten, but at least now not everything is falling apart. Just most things.
"So you know, now that your leg is fixed, I have to jump you as soon as we're somewhere there's no baby around. On principle."
Did I just say that out loud?
I'm still really getting a kick out of this 'being a slut' thing. Well, a mini-slut. What the hell was I doing with that stupid 'sex is for love' mentality the last few years, huh? So much wasted time. There's really something to this here.
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She sorta doesn't sound okay. But no one could really expect her to be. I wish I could do something about that. Carly just needs to totally get over herself, and end this shit before she can't fix any of it.
"So you know, now that your leg is fixed, I have to jump you as soon as we're somewhere there's no baby around. On principle."
...
Dude, seriously? "Really?" Even with the Carly shit, she still wants to? I mean, we haven't done much besides the two times and the hospital, so those weren't as cool as it would be if...
"I could definitely be cool with that." Dude, if she wants to, I'm in. And if there wasn't in a baby and Sammy in the other room, I would totally be in right now.
"I mean, not now, but... You're sure?"
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I have to be honest with myself here. Whatever I do with the Madsen situation is probably just going to screw things up with Carly even more. It's a steady decline at this point. She already doesn't want to have anything to do with me, so how much worse can it possibly get? I've done everything I possibly can to reach out and try to fix things, but she's been completely unresponsive. She's stonewalling me. If that's how things are gonna be, then I might as well enjoy this while I can. Sleeping with Madsen is the reason I'm out a best friend now, so I'd damn well better get the most out of it now.
"Yeah, why not?" Obviously, not right now, but in the very near future, because... Sam. Julia. Carly's couch. It's just not a good mix.
"I could definitely be cool with that. I mean, not now, but... You're sure?"
"Yeah. Did I stutter?" I don't think I did. Come on, Madsen. You broke your leg for me, or at least, that's how I'm going to word it from now on. You can't honestly think there's not going to be some skintime after that. That's totally admirable.
And seriously, he really is still really hot when I'm sober.
"What time do you think you'll be done here? Just come over when you are."
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Well, no. But... Dude. Now I want to leave. If I didn't want to leave Sammy here to face off against Carly, I totally would. But he's my best friend, so it wouldn't be cool to do something like that to him with the way he is right now.
"What time do you think you'll be done here? Just come over when you are."
This is so cool. It's awesome she's not bowing to Carly on this one, that means it's cooler with us than I thought it was. And I like that. Seriously. Which means her being different for me is totally mutual.
Or she's just into the sex. I can totally live with either dude.
"It's like what, three?" I looked at the clock, and shrugged. "I should be out of here by five, if she keeps her word on when she was going to get back and all. I'll totally be there once I'm off babysitting duty."
More than happy to dude. Trust me.
"If that's cool, I mean."
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I sighed and watched Julia starting to fall asleep, then smiled and leaned down, kissing her forehead. "I love you, Jules." And even though your mother's a lunatic, I still love her too.
Once she was asleep, I put more thought into the whole staying around and fighting it out thing. At this rate, she's not going to buy anything I say as far as Natasha.
Natasha who's starting to hint at all sorts of things that she wants. Like I didn't have a general idea of what she wanted the second I opened the door.
I'll tell her no once she finally just comes out with it. Even with Carly pulling this, I still couldn't be with anyone else. And if Natasha doesn't understand that, it'll have to be her problem.
Still, I think I'll get out of her hotel room and stick to seeing her in public places so she doesn't try anything from here on out. Just to be safe.
I walked out of the room to see Madsen and Alex still talking. I'm impressed.
"If that's cool, I mean."
"Sorry to interrupt. I miss something?"
"Everything's cool, Sammy."
"Alright." I nodded, and smiled a little. "Just let me grab my stuff for work, and we'll get out of here if you guys are done." If they're not, I'll give them more time. I've still got a while before Carly gets back, and I want to be sure they get to talk.
If Madsen's got a shot at something with this, I want him to take it. If that means making sure he continues to talk to Alex, even when he starts freaking out because she's different for him and the guy doesn't know how to commit, I'll do that.
I went in the other room and grabbed all the work stuff that I needed, then came back out again.
"Are we set?"
"Yeah dude, we're cool. You good for a place, or do you need to hang over mine?"
"Staying with Natasha's a bad idea. Do you mind me sticking with you for a little bit?"
"Yeah, sure. You still got the key?"
"I've got it. I take it you guys are going to be hanging out, so I'll just let myself in after I let her know we're not staying in the same room."
"Cool."
And once I get to his place, I'll call my sister and deal with her wrath. I smiled a little and looked back to Alex. "Ready to go?"
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