For on_thecouch - 4.2 Justify Your Actions
[Related to THIS, THIS and THIS]
Tab listened to Benny’s yawn, and glanced over to look at him. He was rubbing his eye with one hand as the other stayed on the steering wheel. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugged, and flicked off the radio so he could concentrate on her. “I get it. It’s your brother. You have to be with him, but… Tab, can I ask you something without you going all Courtney Love on me?”
“Of course you can.” Tab had known Benny for years, and she’d never heard him preface anything he was about to say with a comment like that. Usually he didn’t give a shit about offending her. Unless it was about her songs.
“What the fuck are you playing at?”
She frowned, totally confused. “Huh?”
Benny cleared his throat and spared a brief look at her while they paused at a stop signal. “With CW. What the fuck are you doing telling him you love him and coming back to New York, then going back to Princeton and fucking with his head!”
Tab stared at her best friend, and tried to work out what response she was supposed to give. She let out a squeak, and nothing else.
Benny shook his head as he put the van into gear with a lurch and a threatening noise from the back. “Yeah, see that’s not really going to fly with me. CW is my best friend, and so are you, but you two start screwing with the dynamic and I’m fucking Shaggy stuck with Velma and Scooby.”
“What the fuck does that even mean?”
“Why do you think Daphne and Fred never got together for real? Because what happens to the show when they go off and get married?”
“We’re not getting married! I don’t even know if he loves me, or if I’ve fucked things up for good. Jesus, Benny. I think your Scooby gang is safe for some time.”
“Do you?”
“Yes. We’re not going to stop being friends.”
Benny sighed. “I didn’t mean that. I meant do you really love him?”
Tab turned to look back out the window. Her eyes filled with tears, and she cursed the fact that she’d spent far too much time crying over the past week. “Yes, but my brother needs me.”
Benny frowned. “Who do you need?”
Tab wiped at her cheeks and tried to curl up in the passenger seat. “Both of them. Riley and Walker”
The blond drummer made a noise that seemed to say ‘Figures’ but he didn’t say anything and just kept driving.
***
Tab tried her best not to run through the hospital. The petite redhead was moving as fast as she could without getting yelled at by any of the nurses. Last time she’d gone into anything resembling a run some nurse named Brenda had hissed at her. She found room 203, and stopped outside to catch her breath.
She did need them both. She needed her brother and she needed Walker. But in order to have her brother she first had to be the one to take care of him. She pushed open the door to his room and peered inside.
Riley was asleep with an IV hooked up to him, and heart rate monitor. The thing that most surprised her was the sight of Beth asleep next to him. They looked right together, like they had always been meant for each other. Tab felt a pang in her heart, and wondered if she and Walker had ever looked like that. She dropped her bag onto the floor and pulled a chair up to his bedside. Tab took Riley’s hand and curled up in the chair.
Tabitha London Browne
Original Character
Words: 609
rckrbybaby, pullmysteth, prvdsrhythm, phtgrphcscot used with mun permission.
Tab listened to Benny’s yawn, and glanced over to look at him. He was rubbing his eye with one hand as the other stayed on the steering wheel. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugged, and flicked off the radio so he could concentrate on her. “I get it. It’s your brother. You have to be with him, but… Tab, can I ask you something without you going all Courtney Love on me?”
“Of course you can.” Tab had known Benny for years, and she’d never heard him preface anything he was about to say with a comment like that. Usually he didn’t give a shit about offending her. Unless it was about her songs.
“What the fuck are you playing at?”
She frowned, totally confused. “Huh?”
Benny cleared his throat and spared a brief look at her while they paused at a stop signal. “With CW. What the fuck are you doing telling him you love him and coming back to New York, then going back to Princeton and fucking with his head!”
Tab stared at her best friend, and tried to work out what response she was supposed to give. She let out a squeak, and nothing else.
Benny shook his head as he put the van into gear with a lurch and a threatening noise from the back. “Yeah, see that’s not really going to fly with me. CW is my best friend, and so are you, but you two start screwing with the dynamic and I’m fucking Shaggy stuck with Velma and Scooby.”
“What the fuck does that even mean?”
“Why do you think Daphne and Fred never got together for real? Because what happens to the show when they go off and get married?”
“We’re not getting married! I don’t even know if he loves me, or if I’ve fucked things up for good. Jesus, Benny. I think your Scooby gang is safe for some time.”
“Do you?”
“Yes. We’re not going to stop being friends.”
Benny sighed. “I didn’t mean that. I meant do you really love him?”
Tab turned to look back out the window. Her eyes filled with tears, and she cursed the fact that she’d spent far too much time crying over the past week. “Yes, but my brother needs me.”
Benny frowned. “Who do you need?”
Tab wiped at her cheeks and tried to curl up in the passenger seat. “Both of them. Riley and Walker”
The blond drummer made a noise that seemed to say ‘Figures’ but he didn’t say anything and just kept driving.
***
Tab tried her best not to run through the hospital. The petite redhead was moving as fast as she could without getting yelled at by any of the nurses. Last time she’d gone into anything resembling a run some nurse named Brenda had hissed at her. She found room 203, and stopped outside to catch her breath.
She did need them both. She needed her brother and she needed Walker. But in order to have her brother she first had to be the one to take care of him. She pushed open the door to his room and peered inside.
Riley was asleep with an IV hooked up to him, and heart rate monitor. The thing that most surprised her was the sight of Beth asleep next to him. They looked right together, like they had always been meant for each other. Tab felt a pang in her heart, and wondered if she and Walker had ever looked like that. She dropped her bag onto the floor and pulled a chair up to his bedside. Tab took Riley’s hand and curled up in the chair.
Tabitha London Browne
Original Character
Words: 609
rckrbybaby, pullmysteth, prvdsrhythm, phtgrphcscot used with mun permission.