[lizzie's] In which Sara-Rose gets a liiiiiiittle too hammered.

[dads_lilhacker]

[Cowritten with gramslilpicasso. James is anyminute_now and Lucky is allin_thename.]

Grandma was babysitting the kids, and Sara-Rose and James were all dressed for an evening out. It had started with dinner at Bubba Gump's, because James insisted. After dinner they walked for a bit and ended up at one of their favorite bars. It was a hole in the wall kind of place with a real mechanical bull, a jukebox that hadn't been changed in some forty years, and most nights- karaoke. It was just a fun place where they could be themselves, and they knew all of the regulars as well as the bartenders and owner.

Sara-Rose hiked herself onto a stool at the bar and looked the colorful bottles over. It had been a stressful couple of weeks and with classes on top of it all, she was worn out. But it was finally Spring Break, and she just wanted to relax. She chewed her lip as she tried to decide what to drink.

"Hey you two," Tony said, walking up to them. "Watcha want tonight?"

"Alcohol. Lots of it," Sara-Rose nodded.

"I'll just have a beer. I'm the responsible one today," James replied as he plopped himself down on the stool next to her. "It's been a long week."

Tony smirked at James and raised a brow to Sara-Rose. "Anything more specific?"

She frowned dramatically. "Tonnnnyyyy, you know I don't drink that much. I don't know. Something strong."

"You want pretty and fruity or strong and direct?"

"Mmmm....pretty and fruity," she nodded. So unlike her, but she wanted something yummy.

James just smirked back at him, before drumming his fingers against the table. "You heard the lady."

"Okay, okay, it's comin'," Tony said, shaking his head and walking off.

Sara-Rose beamed. "I'm fruity."

"Yes, you are," he smirked, before turning to face her. "And the fun kind of fruity."

"I'm glad you think so." She turned to him and looped her fingers through his.

He gave her hand a squeeze before nodding. "How're you doing?"

"I'm fine," she said, emphasizing it.

"Uh-huh," he said with a nod, before moving one hand up to cup her face. "I know you, babe."

She gave him a look. "I'm fine."

"Mmm-hmm," he sighed. "Whatever you say."

"I say...shut up," she grinned, leaning in to kiss him lightly, but completely dodging it and tapping his cheek with her hand. A love pat if you will.

He laughed, holding up his hands as a sign that he was surrendering.

Later Sara-Rose was three drinks in and her forehead was on James' arm on the bar. "Lots of pretty drinks."

"Yup," he said with a smile. "Having fun?"

She turned to look at him and sighed. "I'm trying, but I'm not allowed to."

"Why not?" he asked, resting his cheek against hers.

"Becaaaause, I'm the middle child. I have to be the sane one, and the logical one, and I have to mediate..."

"Well, they're not here right now. It's just you and me."

"Doesn't matter," she muttered.

"Okay, what specifically is the problem here?"

"There is no problem."

"Yes, there is," he said with a bit of a pout. "You’re mopey. I don't want you mopey."

"I just...hate being the middle child sometimes."

"Your sister still giving you trouble?"

"No. She apologized."

"So what's bothering you?"

"She's my big sister. I needed her and...she wasn't there," she said softly.

"Well, you need to go talk this out with her, babe."

"I can't. I'm....not good at that. And she wouldn't listen anyway."

"You don't know that," he said softly. "And if you don't tell her how you feel, she's never going to listen."

"I don't like telling people how I feel," she whined quietly.

"Well, your sister isn't a mind reader. The only way she's going to know how you feel is if you talk."

She looked at him, her bottom lip sticking out. "I should talk to her?"

He nodded. "You should talk to her."

Sara-Rose pulled out her cellphone and looked at the time. "I can go there now."

He blinked. "Now?"

"You said I should talk to her," she said simply.

"Yes, but I didn't think now-now. I was thinking ... later."

She got to her feet, not completely balanced. "No time like the present."

James reached out to steady her before nodding. "Okay. I ... guess."

"It'll be good. We'll talk. And..." She realized she might have been more drunk than she originally thought once she was moving, but that was beside the point. The point was she needed to talk to Lizzie. And they weren't far from her apartment anyway.

"Yes. Talking is good."

Sara-Rose started out the door, not bothering to pay or wait for him. She was on a mission.

James took care of the paying before following her, doing his best to keep close and not let her get too far ahead of herself.

When they got to Lizzie's apartment she turned to James. "I should do this alone."

James looked at her. "Are you sure about that?"

She gave him a hard look.

"Okay, okay. I'll wait outside."

Sara-Rose went inside and up the elevator, then down the hall to Lizzie's door. As any good sister might, Sara-Rose had a key for emergencies. This was an emergency. She tried the knob, then put the key in and turned it.

Lizzie, at the moment, was busy. Very busy. As she tended to be when Lucky was in her apartment. They had both lost their shirts a few minutes ago, and Lucky currently had her up against the wall, his body pressing into hers as his lips traveled down her neck. When she heard the door open however, her cop instincts took over, and her head snapped to the doorway, before gasping when she saw who it was, using Lucky to cover her chest. "Sara-Rose!"

Sara-Rose stopped, startled, and stared. "Um...Lizzie...there's an almost naked man attached to you," she said matter-of-factly.

"Yes," Lizzie sighed. "I noticed. Thank you for stating the obvious." She shifted a bit, before pointing for Lucky. "Can you grab my shirt, please?"

Lucky was in a bit of a daze at the intrusion, but he grabbed her shirt for her quickly, then reached for his own and pulled it over his head. "I can go..." he said slowly.

"Yeah," she said softly, pulling her shirt on before rubbing the back of her neck. "I'll, uh. I'll call you."

"I came at a bad time," Sara-Rose stated. But she didn't go anywhere.

Lucky glanced to Lizzie. "Right...okay." He looked Sara-Rose's way again, wanting to move, but she was blocking the doorway.

"Yes," Lizzie replied, reaching forward and grabbing her sister to yank her out of the way. "Yes, you did. What're you doing here?"

Oh that didn't go well for Sara-Rose. She yelped and lost her balance, her arms flapping in the air as she tried to regain it. "I'm visiting my sister, duhhhh."

Lizzie steadied her, before staring into her eyes. "Are you drunk?"

"Yes. Yes I am."

Lucky slipped out the door quietly, closing it behind himself.

Lizzie sighed, rubbing her forehead lightly, before starting to guide her to the couch. "Okay. Couch time for you."

Sara-Rose went where she was taken and plopped down. "He was pretty. Who was he?"

"His name's Lucky, and if you say anything about him to anyone, people are going to start finding out about you and James really quick."

She frowned and tilted her head. "Lucky? That's really his name? Weirrrrrrd."

"What do you want, Sar? Because I was gonna get laid tonight, but right now, it looks like I'm not. So I'm not exactly happy to see you."

"You didn't tell me you have a boyfriend."

"Well, he's not a boyfriend."

Sara-Rose rolled her eyes. "Of courrrrse not."

"He's not. That still doesn't tell me what you're doing here."

"James said I should talk to you." Sara-Rose leaned back against the couch, closing her eyes.

"Talk to me about what?"

"Feelings."

Lizzie sighed slightly, before slumping back against the couch. "We suck at talking about feelings."

She threw her hands up in the air. "That's what I told him."

"Well, what are these feelings about?"

"Resentment," she sighed. "Being taken for granted."

She frowned. "You feel like I'm taking you for granted?"

"You and Cole both."

Lizzie closed her eyes. "Well, let's stick with what I did."

"I'm not supposed to take care of everyone. Not all the time. But I always have to."

"Is this about what happened with Dad?"

"It's about Dad and about...you and Cole always arguing, and..." She shrugged.

"Yeah, well, me and Cole has nothing to do with you," she said softly, wrapping an arm around her sister's shoulders. "We're just too much alike, that's all."

"I feel stuck in the middle of you two, like you both want me to fix it."

"I don't," she said softly. "Me and Cole can deal with our own problems. Don't worry about fixing things for me."

Sara-Rose was quiet for awhile, just thinking it all over. After a bit she spoke up quietly. "You weren't there."

"I know. I just ... I couldn't be there. I don't know how to explain it."

"But you didn't even...you didn't have to be there. I still needed you."

"I was a phone call away," she said softly, reaching over to brush her sister's hair away from her face. "I'm always a phone call away."

"We tried calling to see where you were, but you didn't pick up. And...and why couldn't you call me? You weren't even worried enough about us."

"I screwed up," she said softly. "I know. I'll do better, okay? I promise."

She still wouldn't look at her sister. She shrugged. "I know I act like I don't need...whatever, but...I do."

Lizzie curled into her, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and pulling her close. "I'll pay better attention."

Sara-Rose nodded and finally let herself relax against her sister slightly.

She let her chin rest on top of her sister's head, before speaking up again. "Did you leave James outside in the cold?"

"Uh huh. He's okay."

She laughed softly, before shaking her head. "Why don't you either call him and have him come upstairs to either sleep in my guest room or take you home?"

"We hafta go home. Grandma's with the dogs."

"Okay. Call him and tell him I'm sending you down."

"Okay." She fumbled with her cell phone and called James to do so.

"Feeling better?" he asked as he sat on the stairs of Lizzie's building.

"I'm tired," she pouted.

"Want me to take you home?"

"Yes."

"Do I need to come up and get you or are you coming down?"

"I'll come down. Is there a pretty half-naked man down there?"

"I didn't see one, no."

"Okay. I'm on my way."

"Okay," he said with a nod, before hanging up the phone. He would ask her about that particular question later.

She turned to her sister. "Sorry I scared away the boy."

"You and me both," she sighed softly, before helping Sara-Rose to her feet. "Be nice to James."

"I always am." She kissed Lizzie's cheek.

"Good," she nodded, before leading her to the door. "I'll talk to you later?"

"Okay." Sara-Rose turned and went down the hallway, heading outside.

James was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, hands in his pockets as he watched her. "Pretty half-naked man?"

She came down the stairs and landed against him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Lizzie had a half-naked man in her apartment."

"Did she now? Naughty, naughty."

"Mmhmm, she threatened my silence."

"Wow. Secret boyfriend, even better."

She pushed him to start walking. "I dunno. She said he isn't her boyfriend."

He did, keeping his arm around her. "Did she know his name?"

"She called him Lucky."

"Okay, I can't rule out a one night stand based on that name."

"She also told him she'd call him, and he left without them exchanging numbers." She was surprisingly astute for a drunk girl.

"Definitely a boyfriend."

"Maybe. Not as good as mine though." She leaned into him more.

He grinned at her, before kissing the top of her head. "Duh."

Her arms wrapped around his waist tightly. "Thank you," she whispered against his neck.

"You're welcome," he said with a nod.