Even More Deleted Scenes from Beyond the Yellow Brick Road
I've been digging through my enormous trove of scrapped BYBR material here and here. Here are some more. :) Spoilers abound. Don't click if you're not caught up. :)
CHAPTER 27: GRAVITY--SCENE 27.2 B/J AT HOME BEFORE NEW YORK DEALING WITH NEWS OF ALAN'S DEATH
BRIAN'S POV
Justin’s body was warm when you got into bed later that night; he’d gone to bed earlier; you were tying up loose ends in your study. You ran your fingers through his hair as you lay beside him and his eyes opened. “Didn’t mean to wake you,” you told him.
“I wasn’t asleep.”
You stayed there beside him, listening to him breathe. And then he kissed you.
It was slow and tender, his hands moving under the sheets, urging your body on top of his.
“Hey.”
He turned when he heard you, “Hey.”
“You all right?” you asked after tossing your briefcase on your bed, your hand resting on his shoulder.
……
“He was my friend.”
……
“I got the tickets. Our flight is at one p.m. tomorrow,” you told him.
“Thanks.”
“I booked a suite at that place, where we went before.”
“Okay. Zeek knows?” he asked you.
You pulled three one-way tickets to New York City out of your coat and laid them on the table next to him, “Yeah. He knows.”
……
“I’m so pissed right now, I could fucking strangle somebody,” he told you. But it didn’t sound like anger; it sounded like futility.
“Well, then, you and Zeek have a lot in common at the moment.”
……
“I didn’t make anything for dinner,” he admitted.
“No problem. I can manage a sandwich.”
“That’s fine if it comes with a bottle of wine.”
“Of course.”
……
When you came back upstairs with dinner, he was in his studio, digging through some files. You sat the sandwiches and wine on his art table and poured two glasses. “What are looking for?” you asked.
“What kind of sandwich--?”
“Turkey on wheat. I put cheese on yours.”
“I’ll show you when I find it.”
There was a pile of loose file folders fanned around him when he finally found what he was looking for. He spread the contents of the folder on the table and took a bite of his sandwich.
“What are these?” you asked as you looked at the sketches.
“Sketches of Alan.”
You handed him his glass of wine, “Who’s the girl?”
“That’s his sister, Harper. The one I shared studio space with.”
“Harper’s her last name or her first name?” you asked.
“Both.”
“Oh.”
“I’m going to take these with me. Give them to her.”
“They’re good. They remind me of the ones you used to do of Lindsay and Gus. They feel really intimate.”
/end
SCENE 27.3 DANIEL AT THE HOSPITAL WITH HARPER, SAM, AND AMELIA (This is one of my favorite scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor.)
DANIEL CARTWRIGHT'S POV
On your way to Harper’s hospital room, you detoured to check on Amelia at the employee child care center. They were used to drop-ins from visiting staff, and were glad to take her for the day. When you walked past the classroom she was in and saw her, you smiled. She was in heaven, apparently making a magic wand out of tinker toys. She had no idea how much you needed one that day.
You tapped on the door to Harper’s room and Sam answered, telling you she was still asleep, you were relieved. You sat by her bed, and Sam knew just by looking at your face. “He didn’t make it, did he?”
“No.”
“I don’t understand. I thought he was improving. That’s why they operated; they said he was strong enough.”
Although psychiatrists have their share of bad news to deliver to family members, you could think of nothing to say to him, except, “I know. I thought so, too.” It seemed so inadequate given what you were feeling at that moment. Sam’s reaction to the news mirrored almost every man who’d ever sat on your couch, he began to get restless, trying to fight his frustration, “I should check on Amelia. She doesn’t know anybody down there.”
“I just walked by; she’s happy as a clam,” you told him. Sam stood, “Then I’m going to get some air. Will you stay with her for a few minutes?”
“Of course.”
“I can’t fucking believe this,” he mumbled as the door closed behind him. “Fucking murdered him.”
Harper awoke about two hours later. You were outside the door when you heard her crying, heard Sam trying to comfort her, “I know, baby, I know, I’m sorry.” Your pager went off, and you walked down the hall to the nurse’s station. You could still hear Harper sobbing when you turned the corner.
*******************
The call was from the child care center. Amelia was asking for Harper. The director apologized for bothering you, but, “She’s starting to get upset. I told her that Mommy and Daddy were busy right now, and she told me to call ‘Dr. Car-ride.’” “Okay. Thanks. I’ll come down for awhile.” The child care center was on the second floor of the hospital, and when you walked into Amelia’s classroom, she immediately dropped everything she was playing with and ran to you. You could tell she’d been crying. “Dr. Car-ride, I want mommy.”
You picked her up, “I know you do, but Mommy is busy right now. How about if we go have lunch in the cafeteria?”
Her red face lit up, “Can we ride in the evelator?”
“We can ride in the doctor’s elevator. How’s that sound?” Amelia turned in your arms to bid farewell to her playmates, “Bye. I’m going to have macaronis and cheese and chocolate milk in Dr. Car-ride’s evelator.” (Amelia fashioned herself almost-three with a social life of almost thirty.) She wanted to walk once you were outside of the center, so you put her down. At the elevator, she needed a ‘just a little bit of help’ to push the top bottom, and was ecstatic when the elevator arrived. “Amelia, how old are you now?” you asked her as the doors were opening. She looked back over her shoulder to be sure that you were boarding with her, and then once she was convinced, held up two fingers, “Dis many.”
“And how old will you be when it’s your birthday?” She tried to hold up three fingers, but her hand wouldn’t quite cooperate, “Dis many, but it won’t work.”
“How many is that?”
“Free!”
“Guess what floor the cafeteria is on?”
She thought about it, “Um…” You held up three fingers so she could count. “One, two, free?”
“Yep.”
You held her up so she could push the button. “Are you going to have macaronis, Dr. Car-ride?”
“I think I’m going to have a salad,” you told her.
“Lettuce is for rabbits,” she informed you.
“And tricks for kids,” you replied. She gave you a funny look.
*******************
After lunch, you took her back to the center, staying with her until she fell asleep with the other children. She fought the whole concept of a nap until you told her, “Guess who’s going to be here when you wake up?”
“Who?”
“Justin.” Her face brightened, “Coming in the evelator?” “Yes, he’s coming in an airplane, and then the elevator. So go to sleep. He’ll be here when you wake up.”
She was almost asleep when her eyes opened one last time, a confused expression on her face, “Dr. Car-ride?”
“Hmm?”
“How will Waffle know which button I am on the evelator?” “Because I already told him that you’re number two.”
“Yeah, I’m number two,” she said, laying her head back down again. “But pretty soon I’ll be number free.”
/end
SCENE 27.4: B/J IN BED BEFORE LEAVING FOR NEW YORK
JUSTIN'S POV
Being in bed with Brian was like sleeping with a panther...that you weren't afraid of. Sometimes when you couldn't sleep, like that Monday night, you'd lie there facing him, tracing the lines of his body with your finger. At first, when you'd just come back, he'd wake up every time you touched him, but as the weeks went by, it disturbed him less and less. But that night, you wanted to him to wake up. And when he did, you felt instantly guilty.
"What's the matter?" he asked, his voice disappearing into his pillow.
"Nothing."
"Can't sleep?"
You weren't really interested in being interviewed, and when he began to stretch and roll away from you, you wrapped your arm around his waist to keep him where he was. His eyes were barely open when you kissed him, barely open when he took your hand off of his waist and laid it on your pillow. You closed your eyes, and breathed in the heat from his body, relaxing when you felt the pressure between your legs. He kissed the side of your face, his hand letting go of yours and sliding under your head as he fucked you.
That night, after the arrangements had been made, the bags had been packed, and the car service scheduled, you sat on your bed with the folder of sketches you’d dug out of one of your filing cabinets. Brian sat down beside you as you spread them out on the comforter.
“I haven’t looked at these in a really long time,” you told him.
“This is Alan?”
“Yeah, he’s Harper’s brother.” There were several sketches of the two of them together.
“They look a lot alike.”
“Yeah, they do.” You found yourself staring at one of he and Amelia. “He’s the nicest person you’ll ever meet. He’d give you the shirt off his back.” And then you laughed, “Well, mostly, I just gave him mine. He’s a little bit taller than me, but we’re sort of the same size.”
Earlier, over dinner, you told Brian about Alan’s life in the tunnels, about how you met him; you tried to remember everything. “He’s one of those people that you feel like you’ve known forever.”
“You think he provoked these cops?” Brian asked.
“No. If there was such a thing as a poster child for ‘the meek shall inherit the earth,’ he’d be that kid. I don’t think I’ve even seen him squash a bug.”
Brian shrugged, “I’ve never even seen you squash a bug.”
“I know, I’m a big, fat sissy when it comes to bugs. That’s why I married you, so I’d have a big, strong man around to kill imaginary insects.”
He laughed, “I think you’d have to be pretty tough to live in a sewer tunnel. He can’t be that meek.”
“You’ll see when you meet him.”
********************
BRIAN'S POV
The last time a tragedy interfered with Justin’s life, you’d whisked him away from the city. This time you’d be taking him back. The last twenty-four hours had turned your life upside down. You’d spent your day preparing Ted, Cynthia, Gabe, Rube, and Debbie for yet another absence. This one, however, was open-ended, so you compensated them ahead of time and cleared your desk. You left Kinnetik around four p.m. using your time in the car to call your core clients, explain the situation, and reassure them that they’d still be taken care of.
To say that Justin had strong feelings about rogue police officers was an understatement. You came home that night to find him standing in front of his suitcase, flipping through a worn manila folder. When he saw you in the doorway, he tossed the folder into it.
“Hey.”
“What time’s our flight tomorrow?” he asked.
You took three one-way tickets to New York City out of your briefcase and handed them to him. “Little before nine.”
“So Zeek’s coming with us?”
“I don’t think anything could stop him.”
/end
Might have more soon. Not sure yet. :)
~Plum
CHAPTER 27: GRAVITY--SCENE 27.2 B/J AT HOME BEFORE NEW YORK DEALING WITH NEWS OF ALAN'S DEATH
BRIAN'S POV
Justin’s body was warm when you got into bed later that night; he’d gone to bed earlier; you were tying up loose ends in your study. You ran your fingers through his hair as you lay beside him and his eyes opened. “Didn’t mean to wake you,” you told him.
“I wasn’t asleep.”
You stayed there beside him, listening to him breathe. And then he kissed you.
It was slow and tender, his hands moving under the sheets, urging your body on top of his.
“Hey.”
He turned when he heard you, “Hey.”
“You all right?” you asked after tossing your briefcase on your bed, your hand resting on his shoulder.
……
“He was my friend.”
……
“I got the tickets. Our flight is at one p.m. tomorrow,” you told him.
“Thanks.”
“I booked a suite at that place, where we went before.”
“Okay. Zeek knows?” he asked you.
You pulled three one-way tickets to New York City out of your coat and laid them on the table next to him, “Yeah. He knows.”
……
“I’m so pissed right now, I could fucking strangle somebody,” he told you. But it didn’t sound like anger; it sounded like futility.
“Well, then, you and Zeek have a lot in common at the moment.”
……
“I didn’t make anything for dinner,” he admitted.
“No problem. I can manage a sandwich.”
“That’s fine if it comes with a bottle of wine.”
“Of course.”
……
When you came back upstairs with dinner, he was in his studio, digging through some files. You sat the sandwiches and wine on his art table and poured two glasses. “What are looking for?” you asked.
“What kind of sandwich--?”
“Turkey on wheat. I put cheese on yours.”
“I’ll show you when I find it.”
There was a pile of loose file folders fanned around him when he finally found what he was looking for. He spread the contents of the folder on the table and took a bite of his sandwich.
“What are these?” you asked as you looked at the sketches.
“Sketches of Alan.”
You handed him his glass of wine, “Who’s the girl?”
“That’s his sister, Harper. The one I shared studio space with.”
“Harper’s her last name or her first name?” you asked.
“Both.”
“Oh.”
“I’m going to take these with me. Give them to her.”
“They’re good. They remind me of the ones you used to do of Lindsay and Gus. They feel really intimate.”
/end
SCENE 27.3 DANIEL AT THE HOSPITAL WITH HARPER, SAM, AND AMELIA (This is one of my favorite scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor.)
DANIEL CARTWRIGHT'S POV
On your way to Harper’s hospital room, you detoured to check on Amelia at the employee child care center. They were used to drop-ins from visiting staff, and were glad to take her for the day. When you walked past the classroom she was in and saw her, you smiled. She was in heaven, apparently making a magic wand out of tinker toys. She had no idea how much you needed one that day.
You tapped on the door to Harper’s room and Sam answered, telling you she was still asleep, you were relieved. You sat by her bed, and Sam knew just by looking at your face. “He didn’t make it, did he?”
“No.”
“I don’t understand. I thought he was improving. That’s why they operated; they said he was strong enough.”
Although psychiatrists have their share of bad news to deliver to family members, you could think of nothing to say to him, except, “I know. I thought so, too.” It seemed so inadequate given what you were feeling at that moment. Sam’s reaction to the news mirrored almost every man who’d ever sat on your couch, he began to get restless, trying to fight his frustration, “I should check on Amelia. She doesn’t know anybody down there.”
“I just walked by; she’s happy as a clam,” you told him. Sam stood, “Then I’m going to get some air. Will you stay with her for a few minutes?”
“Of course.”
“I can’t fucking believe this,” he mumbled as the door closed behind him. “Fucking murdered him.”
Harper awoke about two hours later. You were outside the door when you heard her crying, heard Sam trying to comfort her, “I know, baby, I know, I’m sorry.” Your pager went off, and you walked down the hall to the nurse’s station. You could still hear Harper sobbing when you turned the corner.
*******************
The call was from the child care center. Amelia was asking for Harper. The director apologized for bothering you, but, “She’s starting to get upset. I told her that Mommy and Daddy were busy right now, and she told me to call ‘Dr. Car-ride.’” “Okay. Thanks. I’ll come down for awhile.” The child care center was on the second floor of the hospital, and when you walked into Amelia’s classroom, she immediately dropped everything she was playing with and ran to you. You could tell she’d been crying. “Dr. Car-ride, I want mommy.”
You picked her up, “I know you do, but Mommy is busy right now. How about if we go have lunch in the cafeteria?”
Her red face lit up, “Can we ride in the evelator?”
“We can ride in the doctor’s elevator. How’s that sound?” Amelia turned in your arms to bid farewell to her playmates, “Bye. I’m going to have macaronis and cheese and chocolate milk in Dr. Car-ride’s evelator.” (Amelia fashioned herself almost-three with a social life of almost thirty.) She wanted to walk once you were outside of the center, so you put her down. At the elevator, she needed a ‘just a little bit of help’ to push the top bottom, and was ecstatic when the elevator arrived. “Amelia, how old are you now?” you asked her as the doors were opening. She looked back over her shoulder to be sure that you were boarding with her, and then once she was convinced, held up two fingers, “Dis many.”
“And how old will you be when it’s your birthday?” She tried to hold up three fingers, but her hand wouldn’t quite cooperate, “Dis many, but it won’t work.”
“How many is that?”
“Free!”
“Guess what floor the cafeteria is on?”
She thought about it, “Um…” You held up three fingers so she could count. “One, two, free?”
“Yep.”
You held her up so she could push the button. “Are you going to have macaronis, Dr. Car-ride?”
“I think I’m going to have a salad,” you told her.
“Lettuce is for rabbits,” she informed you.
“And tricks for kids,” you replied. She gave you a funny look.
*******************
After lunch, you took her back to the center, staying with her until she fell asleep with the other children. She fought the whole concept of a nap until you told her, “Guess who’s going to be here when you wake up?”
“Who?”
“Justin.” Her face brightened, “Coming in the evelator?” “Yes, he’s coming in an airplane, and then the elevator. So go to sleep. He’ll be here when you wake up.”
She was almost asleep when her eyes opened one last time, a confused expression on her face, “Dr. Car-ride?”
“Hmm?”
“How will Waffle know which button I am on the evelator?” “Because I already told him that you’re number two.”
“Yeah, I’m number two,” she said, laying her head back down again. “But pretty soon I’ll be number free.”
/end
SCENE 27.4: B/J IN BED BEFORE LEAVING FOR NEW YORK
JUSTIN'S POV
Being in bed with Brian was like sleeping with a panther...that you weren't afraid of. Sometimes when you couldn't sleep, like that Monday night, you'd lie there facing him, tracing the lines of his body with your finger. At first, when you'd just come back, he'd wake up every time you touched him, but as the weeks went by, it disturbed him less and less. But that night, you wanted to him to wake up. And when he did, you felt instantly guilty.
"What's the matter?" he asked, his voice disappearing into his pillow.
"Nothing."
"Can't sleep?"
You weren't really interested in being interviewed, and when he began to stretch and roll away from you, you wrapped your arm around his waist to keep him where he was. His eyes were barely open when you kissed him, barely open when he took your hand off of his waist and laid it on your pillow. You closed your eyes, and breathed in the heat from his body, relaxing when you felt the pressure between your legs. He kissed the side of your face, his hand letting go of yours and sliding under your head as he fucked you.
That night, after the arrangements had been made, the bags had been packed, and the car service scheduled, you sat on your bed with the folder of sketches you’d dug out of one of your filing cabinets. Brian sat down beside you as you spread them out on the comforter.
“I haven’t looked at these in a really long time,” you told him.
“This is Alan?”
“Yeah, he’s Harper’s brother.” There were several sketches of the two of them together.
“They look a lot alike.”
“Yeah, they do.” You found yourself staring at one of he and Amelia. “He’s the nicest person you’ll ever meet. He’d give you the shirt off his back.” And then you laughed, “Well, mostly, I just gave him mine. He’s a little bit taller than me, but we’re sort of the same size.”
Earlier, over dinner, you told Brian about Alan’s life in the tunnels, about how you met him; you tried to remember everything. “He’s one of those people that you feel like you’ve known forever.”
“You think he provoked these cops?” Brian asked.
“No. If there was such a thing as a poster child for ‘the meek shall inherit the earth,’ he’d be that kid. I don’t think I’ve even seen him squash a bug.”
Brian shrugged, “I’ve never even seen you squash a bug.”
“I know, I’m a big, fat sissy when it comes to bugs. That’s why I married you, so I’d have a big, strong man around to kill imaginary insects.”
He laughed, “I think you’d have to be pretty tough to live in a sewer tunnel. He can’t be that meek.”
“You’ll see when you meet him.”
********************
BRIAN'S POV
The last time a tragedy interfered with Justin’s life, you’d whisked him away from the city. This time you’d be taking him back. The last twenty-four hours had turned your life upside down. You’d spent your day preparing Ted, Cynthia, Gabe, Rube, and Debbie for yet another absence. This one, however, was open-ended, so you compensated them ahead of time and cleared your desk. You left Kinnetik around four p.m. using your time in the car to call your core clients, explain the situation, and reassure them that they’d still be taken care of.
To say that Justin had strong feelings about rogue police officers was an understatement. You came home that night to find him standing in front of his suitcase, flipping through a worn manila folder. When he saw you in the doorway, he tossed the folder into it.
“Hey.”
“What time’s our flight tomorrow?” he asked.
You took three one-way tickets to New York City out of your briefcase and handed them to him. “Little before nine.”
“So Zeek’s coming with us?”
“I don’t think anything could stop him.”
/end
Might have more soon. Not sure yet. :)
~Plum