bottles, boyfriends, and bobby bradford
rating: g
characters: casey, alex
a/n: i spiraled because someone talked to me about alex and i ended up with some happy father-daughter bonding time because i am a sucker for that kind of thing. clearly took some liberties with canon in relation to alex's backstory but since she really has none other than pie slinger and college graduate and spawn of casey, i feel it's okay. no spoilers less you count revealing that alex is spawn of casey. in which case, i apologize. also, believe it or not...THERE'S NO ANGST OR CRYING OR ANYTHING. so be go on. be happy.
summary: it's not every day you tell your dad you played spin the bottle at your friend's birthday party and kissed your first boyfriend (that you kneed below the belt three months later).
“Do I really want to know about this?”
He tries to glare and make his voice sound intimidating, except it doesn’t quite work because Alex starts to laugh and shoves his arm from across the table. She gets a genuine smile from him in return and her own couldn’t be bigger. It hasn’t been that long but it’s long enough to learn to her call her father’s bluff when she sees it. “Come on,” she teases, “what kind of father doesn’t want to know about his only daughter’s first boyfriend?”
Casey’s back to seething with his arms folded across his chest with his jaw clenching. In the middle of their dinner at a fancy restaurant, it makes him look more petulant than anything - and in a suit, at that.
“The kind that doesn’t want his only daughter dating,” he huffs. Somehow Casey taking her out for dinner to celebrate her graduation leads to a conversation about Alex’s dating life and he makes it more than obvious he’d rather talk about anything other than this.
It makes her happy to see him acting so fatherly, though. She’s gone so long without him, she didn’t realize how much she misses this when she was growing up. For the sake of her dates, she’s glad he wasn’t.
“Well, I’m telling you anyways.”
Alex is determined when she speaks and her tone books no argument, something Casey attributes to himself. Despite his supposed anger, he feels the smile tugging at his lips starting to win.
He wants to say something about how he would rather brave some life or death situation instead of hearing her utter another syllable about this Bobby Bradford. Instead he bucks up and takes another bite of his steak. The right amount of juices that blend so well together in his mouth is enough to distract him from the glaring fact that he can’t exactly say no to Alex - it’s something he still refuses to admit daily.
In light of his best efforts at keeping that fact unknown to the general public, the glint in Alex’s eyes are enough to deem his efforts null. If her smile is indicative of anything, it’s that she knows he’s wrapped tightly around her little finger.
When she nudges Casey a little bit before she starts again, he decides he’s not really mad and gives her a nod to continue.
“So,” she starts, “I was at Lucy Kinkade’s thirteenth birthday party over the summer and this was like, one of the first parties her parents let people stay late and it was a sleepover.”
On instinct, Casey’s eyes narrow and he sits up a little bit straighter. Alex notices his hands tightening their grip around his pointy utensils so she places her own on top of his, squeezing lightly in reassurance.
“Daddy, relax, okay? Her parents made the boys go home at midnight. They didn’t sleepover, too.”
The growl he looses makes her concerned for a moment but when his hands slowly relax underneath hers, she takes it as a sign that she’s tempered the situation enough to keep going.
“Anyways, some time after pizza and before the movie, we played spin the bottle for a bit.” She pauses for a moment, grimacing at the sight of her father’s face after she mentions the game and vows to make it as short a story as possible to avoid any incident.
“Bobby sat across from me and I didn’t think twice about it but when the it was my turn, the bottle landed on him. After that we didn’t talk too much, maybe a ‘hi’ or something in the hallways but when homecoming came around, he asked me to be his date. It was pretty much downhill from there.”
They sit in silence for a little while, after she finishes her story.
Casey hasn’t done much more than continue eating his steak and periodically drinking his wine. His face is a picture of neutrality, though the force he uses to cut his steak is probably unnecessary.
Alex does the same in kind, letting her father process the little information she’s thrown at him. She’s not exactly sure how fathers are supposed to act when their daughters first get boyfriends but Alex is sure this is well within range, even for Casey. She eats patiently, waiting for him to say something.
Finally, after the plates have been cleared and dessert is ordered, he blurts out “so what happened to this…Bobby?” and it takes Casey nearly every ounce of self control to use the boy’s name instead of a number of possible substitutions.
“It didn't last long," she offers, with a shrug. "I found him under the bleachers kissing one of the cheerleaders from our rival school at a football game. I ditched practice to watch his game so I was kind of mad about that."
When Alex mentions that she broke up with him that instant via kneeing him in the groin, he doesn't think he could be any prouder of her than right now. Casey’s grin is almost literally from ear to ear when the waiter brings out their dessert.
He hasn’t stopped looking at Alex like she’s the single most greatest thing on earth he’s ever seen. This rare moment is probably something to cherish, Alex knows, but it doesn’t stop her from having a laughing fit at the sight. She should have known that the ending to the Bobby Bradford story would make him happy and it’s a testament to how much so when he starts laughing, too.
The mood lifts again while they're finishing up dinner, the rest of the time is spent in good nature talking about nonsense with smiles on both their faces and laughter as a constant.
Later, as they leave the restaurant, Casey wraps his jacket around her shoulders before slinging an arm over, pulling her close. His cheek brushes the top of her head and she swears that his lips leave a small kiss before pulling away. Before Casey can completely untangle himself when they reach the car, Alex quickly wraps her arms firmly around his waist, burying her head into his chest.
When she mumbles “thanks for dinner, daddy,” into him because she won't let go, he forgoes a grunt and whispers, “I owe you a lot more,” as he hugs her tighter. She nods aimlessly, readjusting herself, but as she settles in his arms, she thinks that just having him now - like this - is more than enough.
characters: casey, alex
a/n: i spiraled because someone talked to me about alex and i ended up with some happy father-daughter bonding time because i am a sucker for that kind of thing. clearly took some liberties with canon in relation to alex's backstory but since she really has none other than pie slinger and college graduate and spawn of casey, i feel it's okay. no spoilers less you count revealing that alex is spawn of casey. in which case, i apologize. also, believe it or not...THERE'S NO ANGST OR CRYING OR ANYTHING. so be go on. be happy.
summary: it's not every day you tell your dad you played spin the bottle at your friend's birthday party and kissed your first boyfriend (that you kneed below the belt three months later).
“Do I really want to know about this?”
He tries to glare and make his voice sound intimidating, except it doesn’t quite work because Alex starts to laugh and shoves his arm from across the table. She gets a genuine smile from him in return and her own couldn’t be bigger. It hasn’t been that long but it’s long enough to learn to her call her father’s bluff when she sees it. “Come on,” she teases, “what kind of father doesn’t want to know about his only daughter’s first boyfriend?”
Casey’s back to seething with his arms folded across his chest with his jaw clenching. In the middle of their dinner at a fancy restaurant, it makes him look more petulant than anything - and in a suit, at that.
“The kind that doesn’t want his only daughter dating,” he huffs. Somehow Casey taking her out for dinner to celebrate her graduation leads to a conversation about Alex’s dating life and he makes it more than obvious he’d rather talk about anything other than this.
It makes her happy to see him acting so fatherly, though. She’s gone so long without him, she didn’t realize how much she misses this when she was growing up. For the sake of her dates, she’s glad he wasn’t.
“Well, I’m telling you anyways.”
Alex is determined when she speaks and her tone books no argument, something Casey attributes to himself. Despite his supposed anger, he feels the smile tugging at his lips starting to win.
He wants to say something about how he would rather brave some life or death situation instead of hearing her utter another syllable about this Bobby Bradford. Instead he bucks up and takes another bite of his steak. The right amount of juices that blend so well together in his mouth is enough to distract him from the glaring fact that he can’t exactly say no to Alex - it’s something he still refuses to admit daily.
In light of his best efforts at keeping that fact unknown to the general public, the glint in Alex’s eyes are enough to deem his efforts null. If her smile is indicative of anything, it’s that she knows he’s wrapped tightly around her little finger.
When she nudges Casey a little bit before she starts again, he decides he’s not really mad and gives her a nod to continue.
“So,” she starts, “I was at Lucy Kinkade’s thirteenth birthday party over the summer and this was like, one of the first parties her parents let people stay late and it was a sleepover.”
On instinct, Casey’s eyes narrow and he sits up a little bit straighter. Alex notices his hands tightening their grip around his pointy utensils so she places her own on top of his, squeezing lightly in reassurance.
“Daddy, relax, okay? Her parents made the boys go home at midnight. They didn’t sleepover, too.”
The growl he looses makes her concerned for a moment but when his hands slowly relax underneath hers, she takes it as a sign that she’s tempered the situation enough to keep going.
“Anyways, some time after pizza and before the movie, we played spin the bottle for a bit.” She pauses for a moment, grimacing at the sight of her father’s face after she mentions the game and vows to make it as short a story as possible to avoid any incident.
“Bobby sat across from me and I didn’t think twice about it but when the it was my turn, the bottle landed on him. After that we didn’t talk too much, maybe a ‘hi’ or something in the hallways but when homecoming came around, he asked me to be his date. It was pretty much downhill from there.”
They sit in silence for a little while, after she finishes her story.
Casey hasn’t done much more than continue eating his steak and periodically drinking his wine. His face is a picture of neutrality, though the force he uses to cut his steak is probably unnecessary.
Alex does the same in kind, letting her father process the little information she’s thrown at him. She’s not exactly sure how fathers are supposed to act when their daughters first get boyfriends but Alex is sure this is well within range, even for Casey. She eats patiently, waiting for him to say something.
Finally, after the plates have been cleared and dessert is ordered, he blurts out “so what happened to this…Bobby?” and it takes Casey nearly every ounce of self control to use the boy’s name instead of a number of possible substitutions.
“It didn't last long," she offers, with a shrug. "I found him under the bleachers kissing one of the cheerleaders from our rival school at a football game. I ditched practice to watch his game so I was kind of mad about that."
When Alex mentions that she broke up with him that instant via kneeing him in the groin, he doesn't think he could be any prouder of her than right now. Casey’s grin is almost literally from ear to ear when the waiter brings out their dessert.
He hasn’t stopped looking at Alex like she’s the single most greatest thing on earth he’s ever seen. This rare moment is probably something to cherish, Alex knows, but it doesn’t stop her from having a laughing fit at the sight. She should have known that the ending to the Bobby Bradford story would make him happy and it’s a testament to how much so when he starts laughing, too.
The mood lifts again while they're finishing up dinner, the rest of the time is spent in good nature talking about nonsense with smiles on both their faces and laughter as a constant.
Later, as they leave the restaurant, Casey wraps his jacket around her shoulders before slinging an arm over, pulling her close. His cheek brushes the top of her head and she swears that his lips leave a small kiss before pulling away. Before Casey can completely untangle himself when they reach the car, Alex quickly wraps her arms firmly around his waist, burying her head into his chest.
When she mumbles “thanks for dinner, daddy,” into him because she won't let go, he forgoes a grunt and whispers, “I owe you a lot more,” as he hugs her tighter. She nods aimlessly, readjusting herself, but as she settles in his arms, she thinks that just having him now - like this - is more than enough.