So, and then.
This started out as a random post in my LJ, whilst that 8 Days of Happy meme was going around. Er, my persistent use of CPSLCK aside, I'm rather a sarcastic and cynical person, so I posted this:
If ANYONE tags me for that christing 8 days of happy meme going around? I will do nothing but write fic where EVERYONE DIES for 8 days. I MAY EVEN KILL PEOPLE IN VIDEOS.
Om, this does not give you the right to tag me. If you do I will write HAPPY THINGS where Matt is happy with Emily and Charlie is banging Reese. I'LL DO IT YOU KNOW I WILL.
To which I received this comment in reply:
Dude, you realize that this is like giving me LICENSE to write it myself, right? It could totally work, and then they meet at a party (oh, man, they could meet at Matt's WEDDING RECEPTION) and...things happen. *handwaves*
*sigh* My LJ is flocked by default, and I planned on polishing up the pieces to make them fit a little better but I just don't have the time right now, not with two other AUs eating my brain, a few vids, and the dsBB. So I'm just going to copy paste, mmkay?
This is not in any of the Matt/Charlie AUs we've currently got going in the comm. This is just...a snippet of moments, I suppose. It was started as comment fic, so I'm encouraging it to continue in such a vein, if any of you care to.
So. By myself and omphale23.
caersmane
Reese and Emily had ben working a case together, kind of friends, so Emily invites her, and Dani, of course, brings Charlie. Not because they're together or anything, but because he's her partner and she was not going alone. Not that going with Crews was that much better.
And Charlie still isn't entirely comfortable around crowds, so he's outside getting some air, and he finds Matt hiding out somewhere, and they just kind of stare at each other for a few minutes, stunned, because Matt's there in his tux, collar open , tie hanging around his neck, smoking, which is the worst kind of habit, but Charlie just wants to stand there and watch him smoke, and Matt forces a guilty smile and takes a long drag. Emily would kill him if she found out, he says, and stubs it out, and Charlie holds out the apple he brought out with him because it could wipe the taste from Matt's mouths, although to be honest, he would rather do that with his own tongue.
omphale23
Matt's hiding out behind the building, where the loading docks are and the ashes of a thousand nervous cigarettes. He's been half-plastered since well before the ceremony ever started, partly because he thinks he should be happier than he is and partly because his father is here, and Matt has always been better able to deal with his father using the crutch of a few shots of vodka and a healthy disregard for propriety. He's standing there with a cigarette to his lips that he lit with one of the complimentary matchbooks the hotel provided for the reception, and Emily is probably looking for him but he needs this moment, a chance to catch his breath and think about what in the hell he did to end up here.
He's pretty sure that he made an unexpected turn along the way, because somehow the whole thing feels forced, as if there's someone he should have met. It's like the world's weirdest deja vu, and Matt's just berating himself for being an idiot and leaning down to stub out his cigarette when he hears the fire door creak open. He looks up, and there's this guy, tall and rangy and perfectly put together in a way that Matt couldn't manage even before he had that last shot and it got too warm in the room.
The guy has got the most ridiculously red hair Matt has ever seen, and he's holding an apple. Matt lights another cigarette using the last match in the pack, and the guy takes a deep breath and Matt really shouldn't be thinking any of the things that he thinks when the guy--and Matt suddenly remembers that his name is Charlie, and he's a cop, the partner of some friend of Emily's from the LAPD--the guy raises an eyebrow and holds out an apple.
Where he got an apple, Matt has no idea. But the symbolism of it doesn't escape him, because eleven years of catholic school leave a mark.
caersmane
It isn't like he intended to come out here and, and offer the groom an apple. In any kind of sense. He'd seen him disappear out the door earlier, and now Reese's friend, the bride, Emily, who really really needed to maybe listen to some of his Zen tapes and breathe, well, she was looking for her husband and Charlie thought, rather than tell her, he would find the groom and tell him. Give him a chance to either hide better or make his own way back.
But stepping out the service door to see him there, smoking in quick, nervous puffs, top few buttons of his shirt undone, tie hanging loose... All he can do is watch as he - Matt, Matt is his name - stubs out the cigarette and hesitates just a moment before pulling out a pack and lighting another one. Charlie takes in a deep breath, completely unprepared for the way Matt looks as he sucks down the smoke, which is a complete health risk, and no one should pollute their body with that, but they way he looks is overpowering, and Charlie can't think, so he raises his eyebrow in an unspoken question, asking why he's hiding, why such nerves? Why, why do you look so good when you're polluting your body?
He plucks his apple out of his pocket because Matt's going to need something to wipe the taste out of his mouth when he goes inside, although Charlie, he really would be happy to volunteer for that task. And as he holds it out, Matt stares at it for a moment before raising his eyes, and Charlie tightens his grip on the apple because that is not the gaze of a man who is happily committed to his marriage. That, that is the gaze of a man who just took an apple to mean something else entirely, and Charlie knows he is not strong enough to resist that temptation.
Matt doesn't move to take the apple. Charlie notices that Matt doesn't move at all for a few minutes, and he's starting to get worried that the man will pass out from lack of oxygen so he steps forward at the same time that Matt exhales a lungful of smoke, right into Charlie's face. He stops in his tracks, eyes wide. Not because of the smoke, which he couldn't care less about right now, but because he finds himself within arms reach of Matt, and he can see the bloodshot eyes, the tired lines around his eyes. He can see Matt's tongue slide out over his lips, they way his brown eyes drop down to Charlie's mouth as he opens it to tell Matt that his wife is looking for him, and that just flies out of his mind, a thought aborted, as the apple slips from his hand.
He reaches for Matt at the same time as Matt's hands close over his upper arms and pull him in and then, god, as if he's been waiting for this his whole life, it feels right, the way Matt's mouth opens under his, the way his tongue slides into Matt's mouth and licks over the taste of smoke and tobacco to vodka and juice and then down to Matt. His hands loosen their grip on Matt's jacket, and slide down to his hips, yanking him closer, and he knows he shouldn't do this, shouldn't be making out with the groom at his reception, but all the Zen in the world can't stop him, can't make him care as he drags Matt over to a wall and shoves him hard against it, makes quick work out of getting his slacks undone.
There's no protest from Matt either, and you'd think that he'd at least offer up a token protest of some kind, but he's just pushing on Charlie's shoulders, and he may have been away from society for a long time, but Charlie hasn't forgotten what that means. He obliges and drops to his knees, and fuck dirt on his suit, fuck someone walking out and catching them. He slides his mouth down around Matt's cock and doesn't bother with anything fancy, just focusses on now now now, and it doesn't take long for Matt to come hard down his throat. Charlie doesn't want to wait for Matt to recover, to gather himself, so he spares one hand to get his own slacks undone and he jacks himself off, a few hard, fast strokes as he's still swallowing Matt's come, and he comes, pulling off Matt, resting his head on his hip as he shudders through his own orgasm.
They stay like that for a few moments, before Charlie rocks back on his heels, spares a glance to make sure he didn't come all over Matt's slacks, and stands, begins trying to fix his own clothes. Matt hurries to do the same, and Charlie notices there isn't any embarrassment on Matt's face, just sadness. It hits him then, what they've done. And he knows he'd do it again if he had the chance, and he'll do it in the future if he ever sees Matt again.
"I'm leaving for my honeymoon in a few hours," Matt say, and he sounds half confused by that.
It's the first time he's really heard Matt say much of anything, and his voice is still low and rough, and Charlie has to clench his fists to stop from reaching out. "Emily's looking for you," he says, surprised at how steady he makes his voice sound.
Matt nods and goes back inside, and less than an hour later, Charlie's watching the couple drive away for their honeymoon.
omphale23
Matt sits next to Emily on the way to the airport, too tipsy to be the one driving and too shaken to make small talk. She talks for both of them, details about the reception and random items from the list that she compiled of places to see in Vancouver and itineraries and the best restaurants that they have to try while they're there.
Matt's not sure if she's happy, or just more nervous than usual. He's still back behind the hotel, the sharp edges of brickwork at the back of his head, Charlie at his feet giving what has got to be the fastest blowjob Matt's ever encountered. He'd be embarrassed if it hadn't been immediately followed by Charlie, coming into his hand while still kneeling there in the gravel. It was the last part that Matt keeps replaying, that he sees in his head when he closes the eyes.
Matt's dizzy and a little sick when they get to the counter to check Emily's extra bags, but he doesn't say anything, just lugs his suitcase through security and stares at his socks while the agent runs a wand over his tux. Emily squints at him when he sits down in the boarding area, but she doesn't say anything until they're in line to board.
When she does finally speak, it's not anything that Matt was expecting.
"I don't think this is a good idea." Emily is staring out the window, watching as their plane pulls up to the jetway. "It was a nice plan, but honestly, who were we kidding? We're going to have to return all those blenders, though."
Matt blinks, and Emily is staring at his reflection in the window. She's not smiling, but she doesn't look angry, either. Just tired and sad and Matt wants to argue with her, reassure her that no, this is fine, they're going to be just fine as soon as they get on the plane, because this is their honeymoon and they're fucking married and he's happy about that. Matt wants to tell her that she's wrong, and he's here, standing next to her, and he'll always be there.
He shakes his head, but then he thinks of apples and he can't say the words that would make her believe it. Instead, he drops his bag and pulls her close, holds Emily and thinks of Charlie and when she takes a shaky breath, pushes him away, Matt doesn't protest. He picks up his bag and his coat, digs through and hands her the car keys, and steps out of the line. Emily squares her shoulders and doesn't look back, even though Matt waits until the plane taxis away.
Two hours later, he's standing outside Charlie's door, trying to decide if he's drunk enough to knock.
He doesn't get the chance. Matt's turning away, ready to go home and sleep it off and start moving all Emily's shit into boxes and then back to her apartment, when the door opens and on the other side is a guy who, from the look on his face, has got to be Charlie's boyfriend. There's definitely a vibe of damn kid, get off my lawn coming off the guy. Matt's not sure why he thought that Charlie was single, other than the part with the kissing and the sex, but this can only end badly.
The guy looks Matt over and sighs. "You must be the groom. Charlie's out back, pointedly ignoring his good intentions and pretending he's calm. You're supposed to be somewhere over Oregon, you know."
Matt shrugs. "She didn't want me there. Can't say that I blame her. And I'm guessing that you don't want me here, so maybe you can call me a cab and I'll leave you guys to domestic bliss?"
The guy rolls his eyes. "Why do people always assume that? I'm his investment manager. I just happen to live here, that's all." Matt's trying to figure out why that makes sense, but he's still working on what investment manager might be code for when the guy grabs his bag and steps back into the hallway. "I'm Ted. If you fuck him over, I'm going to kill you slowly. Just go through the living room and out the door, he's standing next to the pool. He's been out there for an hour, so whatever happened, it's probably something I don't want to hear about later."
Matt slips out of his jacket and Ted takes it, drops everything into the hall closet, and gestures across the room to a glass patio door. He walks across, only fumbling a little at the doorknob, and steps out into the night. Charlie is a dark shadow a few feet away, and he turns his head slightly as he speaks. "Ted, I really don't want to talk about it. It's over, it was a moment, and I don't want to talk about it."
Matt clears his throat. "Well, that makes two of us who don't want to talk about it. Got any better ideas?"
If ANYONE tags me for that christing 8 days of happy meme going around? I will do nothing but write fic where EVERYONE DIES for 8 days. I MAY EVEN KILL PEOPLE IN VIDEOS.
Om, this does not give you the right to tag me. If you do I will write HAPPY THINGS where Matt is happy with Emily and Charlie is banging Reese. I'LL DO IT YOU KNOW I WILL.
To which I received this comment in reply:
Dude, you realize that this is like giving me LICENSE to write it myself, right? It could totally work, and then they meet at a party (oh, man, they could meet at Matt's WEDDING RECEPTION) and...things happen. *handwaves*
*sigh* My LJ is flocked by default, and I planned on polishing up the pieces to make them fit a little better but I just don't have the time right now, not with two other AUs eating my brain, a few vids, and the dsBB. So I'm just going to copy paste, mmkay?
This is not in any of the Matt/Charlie AUs we've currently got going in the comm. This is just...a snippet of moments, I suppose. It was started as comment fic, so I'm encouraging it to continue in such a vein, if any of you care to.
So. By myself and omphale23.
caersmane
Reese and Emily had ben working a case together, kind of friends, so Emily invites her, and Dani, of course, brings Charlie. Not because they're together or anything, but because he's her partner and she was not going alone. Not that going with Crews was that much better.
And Charlie still isn't entirely comfortable around crowds, so he's outside getting some air, and he finds Matt hiding out somewhere, and they just kind of stare at each other for a few minutes, stunned, because Matt's there in his tux, collar open , tie hanging around his neck, smoking, which is the worst kind of habit, but Charlie just wants to stand there and watch him smoke, and Matt forces a guilty smile and takes a long drag. Emily would kill him if she found out, he says, and stubs it out, and Charlie holds out the apple he brought out with him because it could wipe the taste from Matt's mouths, although to be honest, he would rather do that with his own tongue.
omphale23
Matt's hiding out behind the building, where the loading docks are and the ashes of a thousand nervous cigarettes. He's been half-plastered since well before the ceremony ever started, partly because he thinks he should be happier than he is and partly because his father is here, and Matt has always been better able to deal with his father using the crutch of a few shots of vodka and a healthy disregard for propriety. He's standing there with a cigarette to his lips that he lit with one of the complimentary matchbooks the hotel provided for the reception, and Emily is probably looking for him but he needs this moment, a chance to catch his breath and think about what in the hell he did to end up here.
He's pretty sure that he made an unexpected turn along the way, because somehow the whole thing feels forced, as if there's someone he should have met. It's like the world's weirdest deja vu, and Matt's just berating himself for being an idiot and leaning down to stub out his cigarette when he hears the fire door creak open. He looks up, and there's this guy, tall and rangy and perfectly put together in a way that Matt couldn't manage even before he had that last shot and it got too warm in the room.
The guy has got the most ridiculously red hair Matt has ever seen, and he's holding an apple. Matt lights another cigarette using the last match in the pack, and the guy takes a deep breath and Matt really shouldn't be thinking any of the things that he thinks when the guy--and Matt suddenly remembers that his name is Charlie, and he's a cop, the partner of some friend of Emily's from the LAPD--the guy raises an eyebrow and holds out an apple.
Where he got an apple, Matt has no idea. But the symbolism of it doesn't escape him, because eleven years of catholic school leave a mark.
caersmane
It isn't like he intended to come out here and, and offer the groom an apple. In any kind of sense. He'd seen him disappear out the door earlier, and now Reese's friend, the bride, Emily, who really really needed to maybe listen to some of his Zen tapes and breathe, well, she was looking for her husband and Charlie thought, rather than tell her, he would find the groom and tell him. Give him a chance to either hide better or make his own way back.
But stepping out the service door to see him there, smoking in quick, nervous puffs, top few buttons of his shirt undone, tie hanging loose... All he can do is watch as he - Matt, Matt is his name - stubs out the cigarette and hesitates just a moment before pulling out a pack and lighting another one. Charlie takes in a deep breath, completely unprepared for the way Matt looks as he sucks down the smoke, which is a complete health risk, and no one should pollute their body with that, but they way he looks is overpowering, and Charlie can't think, so he raises his eyebrow in an unspoken question, asking why he's hiding, why such nerves? Why, why do you look so good when you're polluting your body?
He plucks his apple out of his pocket because Matt's going to need something to wipe the taste out of his mouth when he goes inside, although Charlie, he really would be happy to volunteer for that task. And as he holds it out, Matt stares at it for a moment before raising his eyes, and Charlie tightens his grip on the apple because that is not the gaze of a man who is happily committed to his marriage. That, that is the gaze of a man who just took an apple to mean something else entirely, and Charlie knows he is not strong enough to resist that temptation.
Matt doesn't move to take the apple. Charlie notices that Matt doesn't move at all for a few minutes, and he's starting to get worried that the man will pass out from lack of oxygen so he steps forward at the same time that Matt exhales a lungful of smoke, right into Charlie's face. He stops in his tracks, eyes wide. Not because of the smoke, which he couldn't care less about right now, but because he finds himself within arms reach of Matt, and he can see the bloodshot eyes, the tired lines around his eyes. He can see Matt's tongue slide out over his lips, they way his brown eyes drop down to Charlie's mouth as he opens it to tell Matt that his wife is looking for him, and that just flies out of his mind, a thought aborted, as the apple slips from his hand.
He reaches for Matt at the same time as Matt's hands close over his upper arms and pull him in and then, god, as if he's been waiting for this his whole life, it feels right, the way Matt's mouth opens under his, the way his tongue slides into Matt's mouth and licks over the taste of smoke and tobacco to vodka and juice and then down to Matt. His hands loosen their grip on Matt's jacket, and slide down to his hips, yanking him closer, and he knows he shouldn't do this, shouldn't be making out with the groom at his reception, but all the Zen in the world can't stop him, can't make him care as he drags Matt over to a wall and shoves him hard against it, makes quick work out of getting his slacks undone.
There's no protest from Matt either, and you'd think that he'd at least offer up a token protest of some kind, but he's just pushing on Charlie's shoulders, and he may have been away from society for a long time, but Charlie hasn't forgotten what that means. He obliges and drops to his knees, and fuck dirt on his suit, fuck someone walking out and catching them. He slides his mouth down around Matt's cock and doesn't bother with anything fancy, just focusses on now now now, and it doesn't take long for Matt to come hard down his throat. Charlie doesn't want to wait for Matt to recover, to gather himself, so he spares one hand to get his own slacks undone and he jacks himself off, a few hard, fast strokes as he's still swallowing Matt's come, and he comes, pulling off Matt, resting his head on his hip as he shudders through his own orgasm.
They stay like that for a few moments, before Charlie rocks back on his heels, spares a glance to make sure he didn't come all over Matt's slacks, and stands, begins trying to fix his own clothes. Matt hurries to do the same, and Charlie notices there isn't any embarrassment on Matt's face, just sadness. It hits him then, what they've done. And he knows he'd do it again if he had the chance, and he'll do it in the future if he ever sees Matt again.
"I'm leaving for my honeymoon in a few hours," Matt say, and he sounds half confused by that.
It's the first time he's really heard Matt say much of anything, and his voice is still low and rough, and Charlie has to clench his fists to stop from reaching out. "Emily's looking for you," he says, surprised at how steady he makes his voice sound.
Matt nods and goes back inside, and less than an hour later, Charlie's watching the couple drive away for their honeymoon.
omphale23
Matt sits next to Emily on the way to the airport, too tipsy to be the one driving and too shaken to make small talk. She talks for both of them, details about the reception and random items from the list that she compiled of places to see in Vancouver and itineraries and the best restaurants that they have to try while they're there.
Matt's not sure if she's happy, or just more nervous than usual. He's still back behind the hotel, the sharp edges of brickwork at the back of his head, Charlie at his feet giving what has got to be the fastest blowjob Matt's ever encountered. He'd be embarrassed if it hadn't been immediately followed by Charlie, coming into his hand while still kneeling there in the gravel. It was the last part that Matt keeps replaying, that he sees in his head when he closes the eyes.
Matt's dizzy and a little sick when they get to the counter to check Emily's extra bags, but he doesn't say anything, just lugs his suitcase through security and stares at his socks while the agent runs a wand over his tux. Emily squints at him when he sits down in the boarding area, but she doesn't say anything until they're in line to board.
When she does finally speak, it's not anything that Matt was expecting.
"I don't think this is a good idea." Emily is staring out the window, watching as their plane pulls up to the jetway. "It was a nice plan, but honestly, who were we kidding? We're going to have to return all those blenders, though."
Matt blinks, and Emily is staring at his reflection in the window. She's not smiling, but she doesn't look angry, either. Just tired and sad and Matt wants to argue with her, reassure her that no, this is fine, they're going to be just fine as soon as they get on the plane, because this is their honeymoon and they're fucking married and he's happy about that. Matt wants to tell her that she's wrong, and he's here, standing next to her, and he'll always be there.
He shakes his head, but then he thinks of apples and he can't say the words that would make her believe it. Instead, he drops his bag and pulls her close, holds Emily and thinks of Charlie and when she takes a shaky breath, pushes him away, Matt doesn't protest. He picks up his bag and his coat, digs through and hands her the car keys, and steps out of the line. Emily squares her shoulders and doesn't look back, even though Matt waits until the plane taxis away.
Two hours later, he's standing outside Charlie's door, trying to decide if he's drunk enough to knock.
He doesn't get the chance. Matt's turning away, ready to go home and sleep it off and start moving all Emily's shit into boxes and then back to her apartment, when the door opens and on the other side is a guy who, from the look on his face, has got to be Charlie's boyfriend. There's definitely a vibe of damn kid, get off my lawn coming off the guy. Matt's not sure why he thought that Charlie was single, other than the part with the kissing and the sex, but this can only end badly.
The guy looks Matt over and sighs. "You must be the groom. Charlie's out back, pointedly ignoring his good intentions and pretending he's calm. You're supposed to be somewhere over Oregon, you know."
Matt shrugs. "She didn't want me there. Can't say that I blame her. And I'm guessing that you don't want me here, so maybe you can call me a cab and I'll leave you guys to domestic bliss?"
The guy rolls his eyes. "Why do people always assume that? I'm his investment manager. I just happen to live here, that's all." Matt's trying to figure out why that makes sense, but he's still working on what investment manager might be code for when the guy grabs his bag and steps back into the hallway. "I'm Ted. If you fuck him over, I'm going to kill you slowly. Just go through the living room and out the door, he's standing next to the pool. He's been out there for an hour, so whatever happened, it's probably something I don't want to hear about later."
Matt slips out of his jacket and Ted takes it, drops everything into the hall closet, and gestures across the room to a glass patio door. He walks across, only fumbling a little at the doorknob, and steps out into the night. Charlie is a dark shadow a few feet away, and he turns his head slightly as he speaks. "Ted, I really don't want to talk about it. It's over, it was a moment, and I don't want to talk about it."
Matt clears his throat. "Well, that makes two of us who don't want to talk about it. Got any better ideas?"