Effort, Part 5
Title: Effort, Part 5Author: amemeisameme
Rating: R (for violence)
Pairing/Focus: John Cooper/Ben Sherman
Warnings: hurt/comfort, violence
Summary: The important things in life take a lot of effort.
Author's note: I was thrown a bit when an idea I had written to myself popped up in one of the episodes - that of Tammy's putting a certain app on Sammy's iPhone. But, embarrassed as I was, I left it in still.
I have no claim to the copyright on SouthLAnd, I'm just a playin', and hope you have fun.
(this is a REPOSTING to my own journal)
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A week or so later, things returned to their grindingly awkward normalcy (in that awkwardness was the norm as of late.) The shift was over for the day, and in the parking lot, Ben was leaning against John's car, iPhone in hand when John walked up.
"Am I interrupting anything, little girl?" he asked sarcastically.
Ben looked up and smirked. He typed for another moment, then stood up.
"Hey, um -" he paused, seeming a bit sheepish. "Can I bum a ride home from you?"
It was Cooper's turn to smirk. "What's a' matter? Bird crap on your bike and you have to have it detailed?"
Ben rolled his eyes, and said, "No, it's just in the shop. Can you help me out? I can just go ask Chickie if it's a problem." He started to walk away.
John sighed, "Shut up and get in." He grunted as he slowly lowered himself into the driver's seat.
Ben grabbed his duffle bag and jumped into the car.
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After a quiet car ride home, they pulled up in front of Ben's place. John, still looking forward, asked, "Need a ride in the morning?"
Ben reached down and rummaged in his bag, and said, "Nah, I'll have it back in the morning. No problem, thanks."
While his hand rummaged in his duffel bag, he slipped his iPhone under John's passenger seat. It tucked neatly between the carpet of the car and the back floor mat. John didn't notice him do it, and before John said anything else, Ben had zipped his bag closed and opened the door.
"See you, then," John said after Ben closed the door. WIthout waiting for a word from Sherman, he sped off.
Ben watched him recede into the distance, then walked toward his house with purpose.
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Ben sat on the porch of his place, sipping a beer and watching the sun go down. Later in the evening, Ben pulled out his laptop. With it resting on his knees, he started it up, and signed on to Apple's "me.com". Once on, he used the "Find-my-phone" application to pull up the location of his phone on a map. After a moment, the application showed it was at a location near Rowena and Hyperion Avenue. He stared at it for a moment, and then pulled up Google Maps. He found the intersection. With the street view application he started looking around the intersection for things that might stand out. There were two gay bars in the area of that intersection, and at this time of night was where John might be as well.
He got up, put the laptop into a bag, and walked around the corner to his car. He smiled sadly to himself when he thought about John not asking him why he didn't take his car to work if his motorcycle was in the shop. He unlocked it, got inside, started the car, and headed off to the northeast part of LA.