Just To Be With You (4/9)
Title: Just To Be With You (4/9)
Word Count: 3,127
Summary: Babe makes a big mistake that sends the one he loves into the arms of another. Now he has to chase him across the globe to tell him how he feels before it's too late. Seriously AU. Various pairings
Disclaimer: I’m not making any money off of writing this story. It’s entirely fictional and based on the performances given in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and not the actual soldiers. I don’t own anything….so please don’t sue me. I wrote it for your enjoyment so…enjoy!
To say that he was nervous would be a vast understatement. The truth was- Gene hadn’t been this nauseous since the first grade, when he’d thrown up on his teacher during the pledge of allegiance.
In his defense he’d been telling the senile old woman that he’d been feeling ill all morning. Plus…he had only been six.
This was of course an entirely different kind of nauseous feeling. The kind you get when you just know something bad is going to happen and all you can do is sit around and wait for it. Although that didn’t make any sense. Or did it?
He was afraid…afraid that she would say no.
He didn’t know if he could handle Renee’s rejection on top of Babe’s. He didn’t know what he would do if he was alone, with no one by his side and all the time in the world to think about what and who he didn’t have.
Not for the first time he wondered if he was doing this for the right reasons. Or if he was just being selfish.
The day had been slowly progressing to the point he was at right now. Standing in the middle of a busy sidewalk in Paris and contemplating.
First he had spent two hours showering and getting dressed, 30 minutes checking his hair, 30 minutes picking out the perfect flowers for Renee, and now here he was standing at the bottom of the steps that led up to her parents Parisian apartment. And here he had been, for the past 15 minutes, just thinking.
He had convinced himself at the hotel that he was ready. He had even told Dick he felt it was the right decision.
“You should do something. Soon.” said Dick, who had decided at the last minute that both he and Lipton should accompany him for moral support. He nudged Gene slightly with his elbow while Lipton smiled politely at the bypassers that gave them curious looks.
“This is ridiculous.” Carwood muttered and jogged up the steps to buzz the doorbell. He turned around and smirked at Gene, “There you go.”
Gene gaped at him, how exactly was that helpful or morally supportive in any sense of the phrase!? He rushed up the steps and smacked his friend on the arm. “Lip what the fuck! Oh….bonjour.”
The door had swung open to reveal a middle aged man with brown hair and glasses. He was looking at Lipton curiously and at Gene as if he had seen him before. Gene assumed that he probably had, because he himself instantly recognized the man as Renee’s father.
Gene smiled at the man as he slipped into his incredibly rusty French. “Mon nom est Gène. Je suis un ami de Renee. J'étais espérant moi pourrais la voir.”
The man smiled back at him slightly, as he sized him up, as well as quirking an eyebrow at his French. “Je peux parler anglais.”
“Oh thank God.” Gene sighed and smiled at the man again.
“And you are more than her friend as I recall.”
Gene blushed slightly and nodded. Renee’s father continued to speak. “I am sorry to say that she is not here. She is in Belgium with her Aunt and Uncle.”
Gene couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“What is it?” Lipton hissed from behind him but Gene just held his hand up to silence his friend. Lipton scooted closer to try and hear what was being said.
“Why? When will she be back?”
Renee’s father paused for a moment. “She missed you too much. She felt she needed to- get away. But I think we both know what she really needs is you. I can get you her address. Just give me a moment.”
“Thank you.” Gene nodded and the man went back into the house for a few minutes and came back out with an envelope.
He handed it to Gene and then said something too quiet for Lipton to hear. Gene nodded and thanked him. After a few more moments he turned to walk slowly down the steps.
“Um…what just happened?” Dick asked as they hailed a taxi. “What’s going on?” Lipton just shrugged as Gene wrung his hands together.
Gene was silently gazing at the envelope that Renee’s father had given him. “We’re going to Belgium.”
“While I DO feel better already, and despite my having sworn off liquor like-yesterday, isn’t this exactly what we promised NOT to do with our money?” Babe asked as he sipped at some more….brown looking…stuff. He was already starting to feel incredibly woozy. “And what am I drinking?”
Nixon waved an arm at him, “Pipe down and keep drinking. We’re brainstorming over here.”
How freaking rude….Babe decided that giving the finger had worked well lately and did it again. “I’m not a child you douche. And another thing! Just who is Speirs on the phone with?”
All those presently seated at the table looked down to the end of the bar where Speirs was talking on a payphone. Bill shrugged, “His parole officer? How the fuck should I know Babe? Damn I hate that guy.”
Nixon nodded slowly and took a drink from his glass before poking the purple skin on Bill’s jaw. “Judging from that shiner, I’d say he hates you back.”
“Yeah I think he may have cracked my rib.”
Babe’s jaw dropped as he looked at him, “Don’t you want to go to a hospital?”
“This is the hospital Babe. Now give me a shot of that green stuff.”
Nixon laughed and handed Bill a shot glass. Looking around he frowned for a moment. “Hey…where is Luz?”
“Alright then. Loser buys the next drinks.”
“That sounds fair. I’ll be sure to order something really expensive.”
“It’s not my business how you spend your money.”
“Cute.”
“Cheeky really.”
“Just shoot already.”
“Meow!”
What he was about to attempt required absolute concentration. Which is why Babe’s timing could not have been worse.
“LUZ!”
“Shit!” The dart slipped from his hand and smacked an older man directly in the shoulder. Luz
silently mouthed an apology to him as he angrily flung the dart back.
Luz’s new friend just laughed as Babe rushed over to them. Luz glared at the tall blonde beside him.
“We are NOT counting that.”
“Oh don’t worry Luz. I’m sure you can make a comeback.”
“Asshole.”
When Babe finally got there he realized that he wasn’t really surprised that Luz had found a new drinking buddy. After all Luz was a people person. Well really he was more like a people’s person. Sure Luz liked people, but people liked Luz more. If that made any sense. It probably didn’t. Babe should probably drink some water.
Instead he just waved at the handsome man beside Luz. Tall, blonde, blue eyes, red lips, blues eyes. Wait... never mind. One of the more interesting looking people Babe had ever seen.
Huh…he’d never described someone’s looks as interesting looking before. But that was the best way he could describe…uh...
“…Who are you?”
The man scratched the top of his nose and looked at Luz who just smirked at him and said, “He’s really drunk it would seem.”
“Yeah…um…the name’s Buck. Buck Compton.” He gave Babe a firm handshake as Luz decided to step in.
“Buck this is Babe. He’s the really pathetic one that I’ve been telling you about.”
Babe made his now favorite hand gesture. Luz just stared.
“Did you just flick me off with your pointer finger?”
“I heard about your problem, kid. Tough break.” The man, Buck, said before he turned his attention back to Luz. “Can he play as well as you?”
“Oh God no. He sucks.”
“That’s too bad. Well Babe why don’t you take a seat and watch your friend and I make some easy money.”
And that’s exactly what they did.
Apparently Buck and Luz had been suckering a bunch of drunken men into betting on games of darts. Buck would play left handed in order to coax them into betting on a game and then he brought out his actual skill for it.
Babe smiled as a couple of tourists reluctantly parted with their money. “Cool.”
Bill tapped his fingers on the table as he thought.
Nixon had been little help as far as figuring out a way to get to Paris was concerned. He’d become more occupied with building some sort of structure out of his many empty shot glasses. And of course his favorite past time, talking about Dick.
“I just don’t know why he did this. I mean…he should know how much I hate being without him. I mean, Gene’s cool and all but- what about MY happiness? He’s probably off in Paris getting felt up by some slimy French scumbag, while I’m sitting here drowning-”
Bill couldn’t take this bullshit for much longer, he was starting to wonder if he and Luz were the only sane people in this group. And when he had to start categorizing Luz as sane, things were not good.
Drowning out Nixon’s one man pity party he took up one of his own fun hobbies, thinking about how much he hated Speirs. He glared at said man as Speirs whispered something to the bartender and propelled himself away from the counter.
When it came down to it, Bill disliked Speirs for one major reason. He had put a friend of his through pain. That was it. Of course the man also seemed to think he was above the laws of society, that he could do anything he wanted whenever he wanted. Plus, he was a fucking jerk off and Bill just despised him. He shouldn’t feel it was necessary to explain his hatred. It just was. To be honest he hadn’t felt that much intense anything towards anyone in awhile. Anyway- screw Ronald Speirs. He was trouble…nothing more.
Now that he was thinking about it, Doc was slowly inching his way onto the Guarnere shit list as well. Babe was Bill’s closest friend and he couldn’t help but be protective. Overly so, if his presence in Europe was to be any indication. And he hadn’t seen Babe this out of sorts ever before. So yeah…Doc wasn’t one of his favorite people either.
However Bill chose to revel in his immense dislike of Speirs as the man took a series of ridiculously smooth strides towards their table. Only when he stopped and cleared his throat did Nixon shut the fuck up and regard him.
“You’ll be glad to know that I found us a ride to France.” He stated simply before tossing something small at Nixon, who watched as it hit his chest and fell to his lap.
“That’s a new battery for your phone. That way you won’t have the same problem Dick had. Hopefully he’ll try and call again soon. I suggest you use it sparingly and don’t ask me where I got it.”
The two seated men just stared.
Speirs held their gaze for a moment before looking at the somewhat abandoned table. “Where’d they go?”
‘WHY did you have to leave and GO AWAAAY??????? I’ve been used to HAV-ing someone to LEAN on, now I’m ALONE….baby I’m ALONE!’
Buck looked on in horror as the drunk red head bellowed out “Have You Seen Her” from the top of a bar room table. An intrigued crowd had gathered to watch the young man make a fool of himself.
Buck cast a glance at the brunette he’d somehow managed to spend his whole evening with. “He’s really quite awful.”
Luz just nodded at his assessment, “Plus I think he got some of the words wrong.”
“We should put a stop to this.”
“I agree.”
……………..
“You’re not doing anything.”
“Neither are you.”
“By ‘we’, I meant you…smart ass.”
“I can’t. I’m too enthralled in watching what can only be called a cry for help.”
Buck just laughed. George Luz really was something else. And if Babe was any indication, so were his friends.
“Is he SINGING?” Nixon asked as he squinted above the crowd at Babe, who was hollering into a beer bottle with his eyes closed.
Bill just stared, “If you call that singing.”
Speirs frowned and shook his head as he started towards the table, Bill right behind him.
Ron just quietly elbowed his way through people, while Bill took a more direct approach.
“EVERYBODY MOVE! Show’s over, get on with your lives ya bunch of enablers.” He growled as they cleared a path to Babe.
All of a sudden Babe took a dive off the table, where, thankfully, Luz and his new friend caught him and steadied him.
“Luz! What the hell is the matter with you? Letting him go on like that?” Bill growled as Speirs gently took Babe’s arm.
“Me? I was letting him vent. There is nothing the matter with me.” Luz defended with a smirk.
Nixon had made his way over to them as he fiddled with his new phone battery. Looking up he gave Buck a critical look. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” he asked.
Buck just stared at him before shaking his head, “I don’t think so.”
Nixon kept staring as he chewed his fingernail, “Huh.”
“Alright then. No one knows each other. Let’s go.” Speirs ordered trying to maneuver Babe in front of him. However Babe threw out an arm to knock Speirs away.
“Cut it out. I’m having a good time! Although…my stomach’s not feeling so good.” He argued drawing people’s attention back to him once more.
Ron, looking frustrated, grabbed his shoulder, “You’re leaving with us NOW, whether I have to drag you out by your-”
However he was cut off as Babe spun around and spewed vomit down the front of his shirt. Speirs just closed his eyes and tilted his head back as he muttered to himself. Not for the first time, Luz thought he might kill someone.
Babe just coughed and rested his head on Ron’s shoulder. “I feel better now.”
Luz couldn’t help it. He laughed.
After passing Babe off to a highly amused Bill, Ron stripped off his shirt, to the pleasure of many of the bars occupants, who chose to whistle at him. Speirs just glared at the whole bar in general before flinging his shirt at Luz’s head.
“Yuck! Alright I’m sorry I laughed. Gross.” Luz complained as he tossed the disgusting shirt in the garbage.
Turning to Buck he cracked a smirk, “When guys start taking their clothes off and the people around you start puking it’s definitely been a successful night. Unfortunately it’s also my cue to leave, so thanks for the extra cash! Maybe I’ll see you around?”
Buck smiled brightly back at him, and Luz couldn’t help but think he looked great, “Sure. You can count on it.”
Luz just nodded, confused, as Nixon shoved at him to keep moving all while still giving Buck strange looks.
By the time they had gotten outside, Bill had taken unexpected pity on Speirs and given him his jacket. Speirs looked at him strangely as he slipped it on, “Thank you.”
Bill looked away and coughed into his hand, “Don’t mention it.”
Nixon looked back at the bar, “I swear I know that guy!”
Luz just rolled his eyes as he pulled one of Babe’s arms around his shoulders, “Let it go man.”
“Guys I think I’m gonna barf again.”
…………
“He doesn’t drink again. EVER.”
Buck watched with a smile as Luz and his friends left the bar. Luz had told him what they were doing in Europe. How they had accidently wound up in Amsterdam. He had to admit, it was a more interesting tale than his own. He had simply decided to take a solo vacation, just to piss off his family. They had insisted that he transfer from UCLA and to a school in Virginia that they hoped more suitable for a future lawyer. He was just hoping to blow as much of their money on booze, sex, and cards before the summer was over.
But now there was Luz. Maybe he could put his summer to better use.
As he went to exit the bar his cell phone suddenly rang. Cursing the person’s, whomever it was, timing, he answered.
“Hello?” Buck spoke quickly as he looked to the exit. However the unexpected voice on the other line got his attention. “Hey! Man you haven’t called me in a while now.”
Smiling he looked down at his watch, “What time is it over there? 5 pm? Shouldn’t you be rescuing a little girl from a well or something?...What do you mean you’re in Europe? Look me up man! I told you I was vacationing here…huh. Paris? Well I’m in Amsterdam right now. What the hell are you doing in Paris?”
Buck listened to his ex-boyfriend tell him just why he’d unexpectedly gone to Paris. Buck couldn’t believe his ears. “Really? That sounds kind of familiar. Do you by chance have a friend named George Luz?”
The hotel was, if Bill was being frank, a shit hole. It was a truck stop motel that he was pretty certain doubled as a whore house.
But it would have to do. He grimaced as he steered Babe to one of the twin beds and let him fall on top of it with a thud. Luz clapped his hands together, “So who wants to bunk with the never ending barf machine?”
“I’ll take the couch,” Nixon announced as he jerked a thumb at the beat up piece of furniture in the corner. Luz looked at Speirs.
Ron just growled at him, “He threw UP on me already. As a matter of fact, I’m going to go shower. And you all better get some sleep because I’m waking your asses up early tomorrow.”
That said he tossed Bill his jacket and went into the bathroom.
Luz looked between the two beds, “Dibs on Babe. Lesser of two evils.” That decided he threw his bag down next to the nightstand.
“Bullshit you can’t make me share a bed with that maniac. He probably breaks people’s arms in his sleep or something!” Bill protested.
Luz just shook his head, “Dude, I already called dibs. You’re just going to have to learn to like it.”
“Luz you chickenshi-”
However he was cut off by a loud banging on the door. “Open this door! This is the police. We have cause to search this room!”
“Oh…shit.”
A/N:Also Babe puking on Speirs is totally inspired by a scene in the movie Memphis Belle. Which is an awesome (and slashy) WWII movie that should be seen if you haven’t seen it yet!
Word Count: 3,127
Summary: Babe makes a big mistake that sends the one he loves into the arms of another. Now he has to chase him across the globe to tell him how he feels before it's too late. Seriously AU. Various pairings
Disclaimer: I’m not making any money off of writing this story. It’s entirely fictional and based on the performances given in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and not the actual soldiers. I don’t own anything….so please don’t sue me. I wrote it for your enjoyment so…enjoy!
To say that he was nervous would be a vast understatement. The truth was- Gene hadn’t been this nauseous since the first grade, when he’d thrown up on his teacher during the pledge of allegiance.
In his defense he’d been telling the senile old woman that he’d been feeling ill all morning. Plus…he had only been six.
This was of course an entirely different kind of nauseous feeling. The kind you get when you just know something bad is going to happen and all you can do is sit around and wait for it. Although that didn’t make any sense. Or did it?
He was afraid…afraid that she would say no.
He didn’t know if he could handle Renee’s rejection on top of Babe’s. He didn’t know what he would do if he was alone, with no one by his side and all the time in the world to think about what and who he didn’t have.
Not for the first time he wondered if he was doing this for the right reasons. Or if he was just being selfish.
The day had been slowly progressing to the point he was at right now. Standing in the middle of a busy sidewalk in Paris and contemplating.
First he had spent two hours showering and getting dressed, 30 minutes checking his hair, 30 minutes picking out the perfect flowers for Renee, and now here he was standing at the bottom of the steps that led up to her parents Parisian apartment. And here he had been, for the past 15 minutes, just thinking.
He had convinced himself at the hotel that he was ready. He had even told Dick he felt it was the right decision.
“You should do something. Soon.” said Dick, who had decided at the last minute that both he and Lipton should accompany him for moral support. He nudged Gene slightly with his elbow while Lipton smiled politely at the bypassers that gave them curious looks.
“This is ridiculous.” Carwood muttered and jogged up the steps to buzz the doorbell. He turned around and smirked at Gene, “There you go.”
Gene gaped at him, how exactly was that helpful or morally supportive in any sense of the phrase!? He rushed up the steps and smacked his friend on the arm. “Lip what the fuck! Oh….bonjour.”
The door had swung open to reveal a middle aged man with brown hair and glasses. He was looking at Lipton curiously and at Gene as if he had seen him before. Gene assumed that he probably had, because he himself instantly recognized the man as Renee’s father.
Gene smiled at the man as he slipped into his incredibly rusty French. “Mon nom est Gène. Je suis un ami de Renee. J'étais espérant moi pourrais la voir.”
The man smiled back at him slightly, as he sized him up, as well as quirking an eyebrow at his French. “Je peux parler anglais.”
“Oh thank God.” Gene sighed and smiled at the man again.
“And you are more than her friend as I recall.”
Gene blushed slightly and nodded. Renee’s father continued to speak. “I am sorry to say that she is not here. She is in Belgium with her Aunt and Uncle.”
Gene couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“What is it?” Lipton hissed from behind him but Gene just held his hand up to silence his friend. Lipton scooted closer to try and hear what was being said.
“Why? When will she be back?”
Renee’s father paused for a moment. “She missed you too much. She felt she needed to- get away. But I think we both know what she really needs is you. I can get you her address. Just give me a moment.”
“Thank you.” Gene nodded and the man went back into the house for a few minutes and came back out with an envelope.
He handed it to Gene and then said something too quiet for Lipton to hear. Gene nodded and thanked him. After a few more moments he turned to walk slowly down the steps.
“Um…what just happened?” Dick asked as they hailed a taxi. “What’s going on?” Lipton just shrugged as Gene wrung his hands together.
Gene was silently gazing at the envelope that Renee’s father had given him. “We’re going to Belgium.”
“While I DO feel better already, and despite my having sworn off liquor like-yesterday, isn’t this exactly what we promised NOT to do with our money?” Babe asked as he sipped at some more….brown looking…stuff. He was already starting to feel incredibly woozy. “And what am I drinking?”
Nixon waved an arm at him, “Pipe down and keep drinking. We’re brainstorming over here.”
How freaking rude….Babe decided that giving the finger had worked well lately and did it again. “I’m not a child you douche. And another thing! Just who is Speirs on the phone with?”
All those presently seated at the table looked down to the end of the bar where Speirs was talking on a payphone. Bill shrugged, “His parole officer? How the fuck should I know Babe? Damn I hate that guy.”
Nixon nodded slowly and took a drink from his glass before poking the purple skin on Bill’s jaw. “Judging from that shiner, I’d say he hates you back.”
“Yeah I think he may have cracked my rib.”
Babe’s jaw dropped as he looked at him, “Don’t you want to go to a hospital?”
“This is the hospital Babe. Now give me a shot of that green stuff.”
Nixon laughed and handed Bill a shot glass. Looking around he frowned for a moment. “Hey…where is Luz?”
“Alright then. Loser buys the next drinks.”
“That sounds fair. I’ll be sure to order something really expensive.”
“It’s not my business how you spend your money.”
“Cute.”
“Cheeky really.”
“Just shoot already.”
“Meow!”
What he was about to attempt required absolute concentration. Which is why Babe’s timing could not have been worse.
“LUZ!”
“Shit!” The dart slipped from his hand and smacked an older man directly in the shoulder. Luz
silently mouthed an apology to him as he angrily flung the dart back.
Luz’s new friend just laughed as Babe rushed over to them. Luz glared at the tall blonde beside him.
“We are NOT counting that.”
“Oh don’t worry Luz. I’m sure you can make a comeback.”
“Asshole.”
When Babe finally got there he realized that he wasn’t really surprised that Luz had found a new drinking buddy. After all Luz was a people person. Well really he was more like a people’s person. Sure Luz liked people, but people liked Luz more. If that made any sense. It probably didn’t. Babe should probably drink some water.
Instead he just waved at the handsome man beside Luz. Tall, blonde, blue eyes, red lips, blues eyes. Wait... never mind. One of the more interesting looking people Babe had ever seen.
Huh…he’d never described someone’s looks as interesting looking before. But that was the best way he could describe…uh...
“…Who are you?”
The man scratched the top of his nose and looked at Luz who just smirked at him and said, “He’s really drunk it would seem.”
“Yeah…um…the name’s Buck. Buck Compton.” He gave Babe a firm handshake as Luz decided to step in.
“Buck this is Babe. He’s the really pathetic one that I’ve been telling you about.”
Babe made his now favorite hand gesture. Luz just stared.
“Did you just flick me off with your pointer finger?”
“I heard about your problem, kid. Tough break.” The man, Buck, said before he turned his attention back to Luz. “Can he play as well as you?”
“Oh God no. He sucks.”
“That’s too bad. Well Babe why don’t you take a seat and watch your friend and I make some easy money.”
And that’s exactly what they did.
Apparently Buck and Luz had been suckering a bunch of drunken men into betting on games of darts. Buck would play left handed in order to coax them into betting on a game and then he brought out his actual skill for it.
Babe smiled as a couple of tourists reluctantly parted with their money. “Cool.”
Bill tapped his fingers on the table as he thought.
Nixon had been little help as far as figuring out a way to get to Paris was concerned. He’d become more occupied with building some sort of structure out of his many empty shot glasses. And of course his favorite past time, talking about Dick.
“I just don’t know why he did this. I mean…he should know how much I hate being without him. I mean, Gene’s cool and all but- what about MY happiness? He’s probably off in Paris getting felt up by some slimy French scumbag, while I’m sitting here drowning-”
Bill couldn’t take this bullshit for much longer, he was starting to wonder if he and Luz were the only sane people in this group. And when he had to start categorizing Luz as sane, things were not good.
Drowning out Nixon’s one man pity party he took up one of his own fun hobbies, thinking about how much he hated Speirs. He glared at said man as Speirs whispered something to the bartender and propelled himself away from the counter.
When it came down to it, Bill disliked Speirs for one major reason. He had put a friend of his through pain. That was it. Of course the man also seemed to think he was above the laws of society, that he could do anything he wanted whenever he wanted. Plus, he was a fucking jerk off and Bill just despised him. He shouldn’t feel it was necessary to explain his hatred. It just was. To be honest he hadn’t felt that much intense anything towards anyone in awhile. Anyway- screw Ronald Speirs. He was trouble…nothing more.
Now that he was thinking about it, Doc was slowly inching his way onto the Guarnere shit list as well. Babe was Bill’s closest friend and he couldn’t help but be protective. Overly so, if his presence in Europe was to be any indication. And he hadn’t seen Babe this out of sorts ever before. So yeah…Doc wasn’t one of his favorite people either.
However Bill chose to revel in his immense dislike of Speirs as the man took a series of ridiculously smooth strides towards their table. Only when he stopped and cleared his throat did Nixon shut the fuck up and regard him.
“You’ll be glad to know that I found us a ride to France.” He stated simply before tossing something small at Nixon, who watched as it hit his chest and fell to his lap.
“That’s a new battery for your phone. That way you won’t have the same problem Dick had. Hopefully he’ll try and call again soon. I suggest you use it sparingly and don’t ask me where I got it.”
The two seated men just stared.
Speirs held their gaze for a moment before looking at the somewhat abandoned table. “Where’d they go?”
‘WHY did you have to leave and GO AWAAAY??????? I’ve been used to HAV-ing someone to LEAN on, now I’m ALONE….baby I’m ALONE!’
Buck looked on in horror as the drunk red head bellowed out “Have You Seen Her” from the top of a bar room table. An intrigued crowd had gathered to watch the young man make a fool of himself.
Buck cast a glance at the brunette he’d somehow managed to spend his whole evening with. “He’s really quite awful.”
Luz just nodded at his assessment, “Plus I think he got some of the words wrong.”
“We should put a stop to this.”
“I agree.”
……………..
“You’re not doing anything.”
“Neither are you.”
“By ‘we’, I meant you…smart ass.”
“I can’t. I’m too enthralled in watching what can only be called a cry for help.”
Buck just laughed. George Luz really was something else. And if Babe was any indication, so were his friends.
“Is he SINGING?” Nixon asked as he squinted above the crowd at Babe, who was hollering into a beer bottle with his eyes closed.
Bill just stared, “If you call that singing.”
Speirs frowned and shook his head as he started towards the table, Bill right behind him.
Ron just quietly elbowed his way through people, while Bill took a more direct approach.
“EVERYBODY MOVE! Show’s over, get on with your lives ya bunch of enablers.” He growled as they cleared a path to Babe.
All of a sudden Babe took a dive off the table, where, thankfully, Luz and his new friend caught him and steadied him.
“Luz! What the hell is the matter with you? Letting him go on like that?” Bill growled as Speirs gently took Babe’s arm.
“Me? I was letting him vent. There is nothing the matter with me.” Luz defended with a smirk.
Nixon had made his way over to them as he fiddled with his new phone battery. Looking up he gave Buck a critical look. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” he asked.
Buck just stared at him before shaking his head, “I don’t think so.”
Nixon kept staring as he chewed his fingernail, “Huh.”
“Alright then. No one knows each other. Let’s go.” Speirs ordered trying to maneuver Babe in front of him. However Babe threw out an arm to knock Speirs away.
“Cut it out. I’m having a good time! Although…my stomach’s not feeling so good.” He argued drawing people’s attention back to him once more.
Ron, looking frustrated, grabbed his shoulder, “You’re leaving with us NOW, whether I have to drag you out by your-”
However he was cut off as Babe spun around and spewed vomit down the front of his shirt. Speirs just closed his eyes and tilted his head back as he muttered to himself. Not for the first time, Luz thought he might kill someone.
Babe just coughed and rested his head on Ron’s shoulder. “I feel better now.”
Luz couldn’t help it. He laughed.
After passing Babe off to a highly amused Bill, Ron stripped off his shirt, to the pleasure of many of the bars occupants, who chose to whistle at him. Speirs just glared at the whole bar in general before flinging his shirt at Luz’s head.
“Yuck! Alright I’m sorry I laughed. Gross.” Luz complained as he tossed the disgusting shirt in the garbage.
Turning to Buck he cracked a smirk, “When guys start taking their clothes off and the people around you start puking it’s definitely been a successful night. Unfortunately it’s also my cue to leave, so thanks for the extra cash! Maybe I’ll see you around?”
Buck smiled brightly back at him, and Luz couldn’t help but think he looked great, “Sure. You can count on it.”
Luz just nodded, confused, as Nixon shoved at him to keep moving all while still giving Buck strange looks.
By the time they had gotten outside, Bill had taken unexpected pity on Speirs and given him his jacket. Speirs looked at him strangely as he slipped it on, “Thank you.”
Bill looked away and coughed into his hand, “Don’t mention it.”
Nixon looked back at the bar, “I swear I know that guy!”
Luz just rolled his eyes as he pulled one of Babe’s arms around his shoulders, “Let it go man.”
“Guys I think I’m gonna barf again.”
…………
“He doesn’t drink again. EVER.”
Buck watched with a smile as Luz and his friends left the bar. Luz had told him what they were doing in Europe. How they had accidently wound up in Amsterdam. He had to admit, it was a more interesting tale than his own. He had simply decided to take a solo vacation, just to piss off his family. They had insisted that he transfer from UCLA and to a school in Virginia that they hoped more suitable for a future lawyer. He was just hoping to blow as much of their money on booze, sex, and cards before the summer was over.
But now there was Luz. Maybe he could put his summer to better use.
As he went to exit the bar his cell phone suddenly rang. Cursing the person’s, whomever it was, timing, he answered.
“Hello?” Buck spoke quickly as he looked to the exit. However the unexpected voice on the other line got his attention. “Hey! Man you haven’t called me in a while now.”
Smiling he looked down at his watch, “What time is it over there? 5 pm? Shouldn’t you be rescuing a little girl from a well or something?...What do you mean you’re in Europe? Look me up man! I told you I was vacationing here…huh. Paris? Well I’m in Amsterdam right now. What the hell are you doing in Paris?”
Buck listened to his ex-boyfriend tell him just why he’d unexpectedly gone to Paris. Buck couldn’t believe his ears. “Really? That sounds kind of familiar. Do you by chance have a friend named George Luz?”
The hotel was, if Bill was being frank, a shit hole. It was a truck stop motel that he was pretty certain doubled as a whore house.
But it would have to do. He grimaced as he steered Babe to one of the twin beds and let him fall on top of it with a thud. Luz clapped his hands together, “So who wants to bunk with the never ending barf machine?”
“I’ll take the couch,” Nixon announced as he jerked a thumb at the beat up piece of furniture in the corner. Luz looked at Speirs.
Ron just growled at him, “He threw UP on me already. As a matter of fact, I’m going to go shower. And you all better get some sleep because I’m waking your asses up early tomorrow.”
That said he tossed Bill his jacket and went into the bathroom.
Luz looked between the two beds, “Dibs on Babe. Lesser of two evils.” That decided he threw his bag down next to the nightstand.
“Bullshit you can’t make me share a bed with that maniac. He probably breaks people’s arms in his sleep or something!” Bill protested.
Luz just shook his head, “Dude, I already called dibs. You’re just going to have to learn to like it.”
“Luz you chickenshi-”
However he was cut off by a loud banging on the door. “Open this door! This is the police. We have cause to search this room!”
“Oh…shit.”
A/N:Also Babe puking on Speirs is totally inspired by a scene in the movie Memphis Belle. Which is an awesome (and slashy) WWII movie that should be seen if you haven’t seen it yet!