Ficlets: Friday Night Lights, Gossip Girl, Pushing Daisies, The OC, Veronica Mars
I was bored the other day, and asked everything_inme for some prompts and then wrote a few others. I'll say in the cut text which spoilers are where. All of these were beta'd by starxd_sparrow, but at this point all mistakes are my own.
-*-
The OC
His world spins, but not like it usually does; this is too fast, too chaotic for him, but he doesn’t know why it happens now. Life is good-impossibly good-and he doesn’t want this to draw her away.
She’s beside him, gentle hand against his back, watching him as his breath labors in and out. He tries to slow his breathing down, but the room keeps spinning, and he can’t stop the dread rising in his chest.
It’s been three weeks since they became official, and it is good. School is tolerable for him-her air of nonchalance in the halls lets her blow off the taunts from Luke and the other water polo players. He knows that things will crash soon-some party where Ryan will lash out against Luke or someone else. It creeps into his stomach-the impending doom of his best friend being forced out of the house and his girlfriend leaving when she realizes how uncool he really is.
All of this keeps building in him-it doesn’t stop when he sleeps or eats. He can’t tell anyone, because no one wants to believe his imagination still runs wild.
He feels her hands rubbing his back, trying to be a comfort, and all he wishes for in that moment is solitude. He likes it-misses it actually-if she gave him that, he’d be fine.
-*-
Gossip Girl
She came to him just as if he’d dreamt her. He knew that she’d been dreading this day-any other day would have been fine-but he could tell that dinner with Daddy had gone horribly.
He watched as she pushed past his hand at the door, heading straight to the bar. The clink of ice against Waterford told him that she wanted to forget everything about tonight.
“Let me get that,” he intoned while walking to her.
“Don’t patronize me,” she insisted, pulling the glass and vodka away from him.
“I’m not,” he replied before placing a kiss against her skin. His hand ghosted against her dress, unsure of the next move.
“It was horrible,” she choked out between sips of her drink as he looked at her with disbelief.
He’d never seen her so broken-not even after she found out about Serena and Nate-she was always composed in public. He’d never been one to comfort his girlfriend in distress-in point of fact, he’d never had a serious girlfriend; he’d never practiced this.
He brushed her hair away from her face before speaking again. “Why don’t we start over tomorrow? Forever that dinner tonight happened, and just be. You and me-together.”
He watched the expression on her face change ever so slowly into a smile.
Tomorrow had more than enough promise now.
-*-
Veronica Mars
She hears the beating on the front door over her parents’ latest screaming match. Wanting to avoid that part of her life, she quickly walks to the door and opens it to see Logan on the other side.
His eyes are sunken in-like hers-and she knows he hasn’t dealt well with Lilly’s death either.
“Looks like things are just rosy around here,” he spits out.
“Yeah, just great.” She’s not sure what he’s doing here, and she’s not sure how to ask. She can’t tell if they’re still friends now that everyone in town knows that her dad doesn’t believe Jake Kane’s story.
“Your bed, Mars,” he replies before turning around to leave.
“What do you want, Logan?”
He looks back quickly, before turning back to where he started. “Just wanted to let you know-we’re done.”
“Huh?” she asks, confused by the simple words coming out of his mouth.
“We’re not friends anymore. I,” he stutters. “I just can’t deal with you right now.”
“But...”
“Look, I know what it feels like, but if you can’t believe Jake, then I can’t believe you.”
She watches as he walks away, back into the dark of the street in front of her.
As she walks back to her room, she realizes that everything she could have counted on tomorrow at school is gone. Logan’s disapproval seals the death of her status as an 09er.
-*-
Pushing Daisies
After knitting three sweater vests for himself, Emerson Cod needed a new knitting mission.
His investigation into new and exciting knitting challenges left him with a new task: a lampshade.
With renewed vigor, Emerson sat at his desk after another exhausting trip to the morgue with Ned and Chuck to calm himself. The pattern was easy enough to follow, and after yet another taxing day spent with Charlotte Charles, Emerson knit.
Days later, Emerson presented his partner in non-crime with a gift.
“For you,” he said, while he passed the knitted object to the Pie Maker.
"Thanks." Ned said. "What is it?"
“A damn lampshade. That girl grates on my nerves-this is the result.”
“That’s so... sweet, Emerson. I didn’t know you cared.”
“I don't, but I needed an outlet.”
The Pie Maker just smiled at his partner before looking back longingly at Chuck as she baked a new batch of cup pies.
-*-
Friday Night Lights
It normally took Julie ages to open up to someone new she met, except for him. The moment she walked into his room to avoid Matt and “the Cheerleader”, Julie felt at home.
She couldn’t quite figure out why she felt like this-maybe it was his face, or the fact that he’d gotten the hell out of Dillon for a few years that made her spill the entire contents of her brain-but that didn’t really matter at the moment.
He was easier to talk to than her parents, or Lois’ mom, or anyone else older in Dillon. She wanted to talk to him more-which she hadn’t wanted to do with anyone except Tyra since the Swede left again (not that they talked too much.)
At least something in Dillon didn’t suck so much right now.
-*-
The OC
As the car rolled over the hills towards the road again-she thought about life again. She hadn’t done it much since he first showed up.
She never thought something like this would happen. Life had been perfect. Luke adored her, her parents loved her, and she had plenty of friends. Now all she felt was the pain in her chest, aching as he carried her away from his graduation present.
She thought back to when he showed up, and she lost focus. Or maybe it wasn’t focus she lost, but focus she found-he’d saved her that first night and he kept trying to save her after. He looked at her like no one else had-trying to figure out how and why she did everything she did. As she tried to fix her eyes on his, she remembered why she’d impulsively kissed him on that Ferris wheel and why she loved their first time together.
His constant looks kept her from her usual outlets-the handle of Stoli seemed less appealing when she knew he was watching from the house next door. It hurt ever more to realize that after all the time she ran away from destruction, it never left her: Oliver, Trey, Volchuk (especially) kept her from him.
Instead of pushing away her pain-she lay motionless and thought about her life. It had all been perfect, and the few days told her how fleeting perfection was.
-*-
Feedback is appreciated.
-*-
The OC
His world spins, but not like it usually does; this is too fast, too chaotic for him, but he doesn’t know why it happens now. Life is good-impossibly good-and he doesn’t want this to draw her away.
She’s beside him, gentle hand against his back, watching him as his breath labors in and out. He tries to slow his breathing down, but the room keeps spinning, and he can’t stop the dread rising in his chest.
It’s been three weeks since they became official, and it is good. School is tolerable for him-her air of nonchalance in the halls lets her blow off the taunts from Luke and the other water polo players. He knows that things will crash soon-some party where Ryan will lash out against Luke or someone else. It creeps into his stomach-the impending doom of his best friend being forced out of the house and his girlfriend leaving when she realizes how uncool he really is.
All of this keeps building in him-it doesn’t stop when he sleeps or eats. He can’t tell anyone, because no one wants to believe his imagination still runs wild.
He feels her hands rubbing his back, trying to be a comfort, and all he wishes for in that moment is solitude. He likes it-misses it actually-if she gave him that, he’d be fine.
-*-
Gossip Girl
She came to him just as if he’d dreamt her. He knew that she’d been dreading this day-any other day would have been fine-but he could tell that dinner with Daddy had gone horribly.
He watched as she pushed past his hand at the door, heading straight to the bar. The clink of ice against Waterford told him that she wanted to forget everything about tonight.
“Let me get that,” he intoned while walking to her.
“Don’t patronize me,” she insisted, pulling the glass and vodka away from him.
“I’m not,” he replied before placing a kiss against her skin. His hand ghosted against her dress, unsure of the next move.
“It was horrible,” she choked out between sips of her drink as he looked at her with disbelief.
He’d never seen her so broken-not even after she found out about Serena and Nate-she was always composed in public. He’d never been one to comfort his girlfriend in distress-in point of fact, he’d never had a serious girlfriend; he’d never practiced this.
He brushed her hair away from her face before speaking again. “Why don’t we start over tomorrow? Forever that dinner tonight happened, and just be. You and me-together.”
He watched the expression on her face change ever so slowly into a smile.
Tomorrow had more than enough promise now.
-*-
Veronica Mars
She hears the beating on the front door over her parents’ latest screaming match. Wanting to avoid that part of her life, she quickly walks to the door and opens it to see Logan on the other side.
His eyes are sunken in-like hers-and she knows he hasn’t dealt well with Lilly’s death either.
“Looks like things are just rosy around here,” he spits out.
“Yeah, just great.” She’s not sure what he’s doing here, and she’s not sure how to ask. She can’t tell if they’re still friends now that everyone in town knows that her dad doesn’t believe Jake Kane’s story.
“Your bed, Mars,” he replies before turning around to leave.
“What do you want, Logan?”
He looks back quickly, before turning back to where he started. “Just wanted to let you know-we’re done.”
“Huh?” she asks, confused by the simple words coming out of his mouth.
“We’re not friends anymore. I,” he stutters. “I just can’t deal with you right now.”
“But...”
“Look, I know what it feels like, but if you can’t believe Jake, then I can’t believe you.”
She watches as he walks away, back into the dark of the street in front of her.
As she walks back to her room, she realizes that everything she could have counted on tomorrow at school is gone. Logan’s disapproval seals the death of her status as an 09er.
-*-
Pushing Daisies
After knitting three sweater vests for himself, Emerson Cod needed a new knitting mission.
His investigation into new and exciting knitting challenges left him with a new task: a lampshade.
With renewed vigor, Emerson sat at his desk after another exhausting trip to the morgue with Ned and Chuck to calm himself. The pattern was easy enough to follow, and after yet another taxing day spent with Charlotte Charles, Emerson knit.
Days later, Emerson presented his partner in non-crime with a gift.
“For you,” he said, while he passed the knitted object to the Pie Maker.
"Thanks." Ned said. "What is it?"
“A damn lampshade. That girl grates on my nerves-this is the result.”
“That’s so... sweet, Emerson. I didn’t know you cared.”
“I don't, but I needed an outlet.”
The Pie Maker just smiled at his partner before looking back longingly at Chuck as she baked a new batch of cup pies.
-*-
Friday Night Lights
It normally took Julie ages to open up to someone new she met, except for him. The moment she walked into his room to avoid Matt and “the Cheerleader”, Julie felt at home.
She couldn’t quite figure out why she felt like this-maybe it was his face, or the fact that he’d gotten the hell out of Dillon for a few years that made her spill the entire contents of her brain-but that didn’t really matter at the moment.
He was easier to talk to than her parents, or Lois’ mom, or anyone else older in Dillon. She wanted to talk to him more-which she hadn’t wanted to do with anyone except Tyra since the Swede left again (not that they talked too much.)
At least something in Dillon didn’t suck so much right now.
-*-
The OC
As the car rolled over the hills towards the road again-she thought about life again. She hadn’t done it much since he first showed up.
She never thought something like this would happen. Life had been perfect. Luke adored her, her parents loved her, and she had plenty of friends. Now all she felt was the pain in her chest, aching as he carried her away from his graduation present.
She thought back to when he showed up, and she lost focus. Or maybe it wasn’t focus she lost, but focus she found-he’d saved her that first night and he kept trying to save her after. He looked at her like no one else had-trying to figure out how and why she did everything she did. As she tried to fix her eyes on his, she remembered why she’d impulsively kissed him on that Ferris wheel and why she loved their first time together.
His constant looks kept her from her usual outlets-the handle of Stoli seemed less appealing when she knew he was watching from the house next door. It hurt ever more to realize that after all the time she ran away from destruction, it never left her: Oliver, Trey, Volchuk (especially) kept her from him.
Instead of pushing away her pain-she lay motionless and thought about her life. It had all been perfect, and the few days told her how fleeting perfection was.
-*-
Feedback is appreciated.