We only communicate when we need to fight, but we are best friends... Right?
It's bullshit.
That was the mantra that'd been with Miles since he'd had his little chat with Shane. It's bullshit. And when he'd bought the plane ticket to New York. It's bullshit. And when he'd had to ignore listening to some teenybopper behind him babble to the girl next to her about Zac Efron the entire flight.
It's. Bullshit.Ain't that the ( Read more... )
That was the mantra that'd been with Miles since he'd had his little chat with Shane. It's bullshit. And when he'd bought the plane ticket to New York. It's bullshit. And when he'd had to ignore listening to some teenybopper behind him babble to the girl next to her about Zac Efron the entire flight.
It's. Bullshit.Ain't that the ( Read more... )
What Sasha wanted to know was whether everything that went along with it was also getting the charming little title of 'fucking bullshit'. If things like her trust in him, or her feelings towards her friends, were also, by extension, bullshit.
Wouldn't it be just like Miles to make light of something like that? Just because he had a girlfriend who could tolerate more shit than most. Had he forgotten that most people didn't? That Sasha was one of the few who had stood by him over the years?
That was funny, because the last time she had checked, the best friend title still meant something to Miles.
"Then maybe you shouldn't have tried to rat me out in the first place, you ever think of that?"
It was a fair question. As fair as anything could be between the two of them, especially in this situation. Had he really flown out here to tell her that he was pissed off because he was a better friend than he thought he could be? Because he had done what he was supposed to do?
When you thought of it that way, this whole thing really was as ridiculous as he said it was, but for a reason he wasn't seeing.
Or maybe it was exactly the reason he was seeing, and that was his whole problem.
"But hey, thank you for keeping my secrets. I appreciate that."
Oh, she knew it was mean, but he more than deserved it.
"You don't totally suck as a friend after all."
Reply
That was so fucking wrong he didn't even know where to start with it.
And so, gritting his teeth, he simply glared at her as they shared a long silence. In which a victory may or may not have been conceeded. He wasn't going to say.
He wasn't really saying anything else, either.
He... Sort of didn't know what to say.
"... And what sort of fucking replacement is B for me, anyway?!"
Well. He could say that.
And now, Miles was tempted to turn around, walk right back out again, fly home, and explain to Lorelai that he was done. It would be simpler than to endure anymore talking at this point.
Even though doing so would be a terrible terrible lie. Nothing he hadn't done before.
"Don't look at me like that." He snapped at her, and finally gave in to the beer calling his name, grabbing one out of the cooler and opening. He took a seat, because he didn't intend on going anywhere.
She didn't seem pissed enough to tell him to get out, either. If she was, she was hiding it well.
And if that was true, then being here really was changing her, because normally she couldn't hide anything from him at all.
This whole thing was getting old, fast.
"You don't see me for weeks, I get a motherfucking phonecall. You don't see him for weeks, he gets a motherfucking plane ticket." Sure, he could have bought his own and come out at anytime, but son of a bitch, he wanted to be invited.
"What the hell else do you expect me to think."
Well, really, he hadn't been thinking it until Lorelai had brought it up.
But shhhh.
"And what the hell is this boyfriend thing? Since when do you have boyfriends? And why does it have to be the fabulous Good Friend Peter?"
That? Was disgusting. And could only get worse, as far he could tell.
And he still had to meet this guy.
Oh joy.
Reply
This was better than any alternative she could come up with, so Sasha accepted it as such. She sat down and took a sip of her beer, looking at him exactly the way that he didn't want her to, simply because she could.
She knew didn't like it, but who cared? Miles wasn't going to do anything about it. He never did. Hell, he'd shown up here to admit that he couldn't do anything about it.
Sasha got a little boost from that, but she wasn't going to bring it up again anytime soon. Clearly it was too touchy a subject for them to discuss right now.
"First of all? You need to get out of the apartment more. Lorelai gets way too much satisfaction out of knowing her shit works on you."
Sasha loved her, but that was just the truth. Miles wasn't having these thoughts of being replaced without someone starting them, and Lorelai was the only one who could really get away with it. He took everyone else's opinion with a grain of salt. Hers, well...he tried.
He just never tried hard enough to succeed.
"And second, you know I have boyfriends. Don't even pretend to be surprised about that. You're just pissed because you're out of the loop on this one."
Reply
Technically, that could be called most of it. But who it was? That did surprise him a little. Good Friend Peter was supposed to stay just as is. Or be gone, he would take that too.
But this put him further in her life, and it was weird. He hadn't even met this guy yet, and as far as he was concerned, it was going too fast.
Thankfully, he trusted Sasha not to go too insane with it. God only knew where that could lead.
Marriage number two shouldn't be with a guy like that. He couldn't see it lasting. Marriage number two should be a lot more permanent. Or, at the very least, another drunk one in Vegas that could get annulled without anyone getting hurt.
He didn't see that happening with Good Friend Peter. And that could wind up causing Sasha trouble in the long run. And that's where his concern was.
Then again... Maybe he was taking this all too seriously. Maybe there was nothing wrong. No reason for the red alert, sounding the alarm, and all that. It could be okay. Maybe.
That would be nice.
"Is this all because he's needy?" Well, that's what it'd seemed like to him. The Petrellis needed Sasha. She wouldn't be back here doing all kinds of crazy shit otherwise.
"Is that why you're fucking him and doing this relationship shit?" And if he'd understood right from what he'd read online, it was New York specific. "... How long does something like this last anyway?"
Now, he wasn't pissed so much as curious. Miles had moved into the stage between the two, where he wanted to branch into normal conversation. He'd already worn himself out on a few days of fighting with people anyway.
"I mean seriously, here."
And now, come to think of it...
"Shane know about this yet?"
He hadn't thought to ask about it when he'd seen him, but considering that was likely...
"Have you talked to him about it?" He thought about what he'd just asked, then rolled his eyes and tried again. "Are you ever going to talk to him about it?"
... Third try.
And he couldn't really think of anything.
"Fuck it." He laughed to himself, drinking his beer. "Christ, this is pushing you down all kinds of new and shitty roads, isn't it." Well, he thought it was shitty.
Whether or not Sasha did was another thing entirely.
Reply
Sasha sat back quietly in her chair, her lips in a slight but growing pout, with the expression to match. She didn't have anything to say for herself when it came to telling Shane, because she didn't have the faintest idea about what should be said.
For all anyone knew, Shane didn't give a damn about her having a 'New York Boyfriend' as long as it meant she paid her half of the rent on time and came home often enough to feel like she was making use of the place. She had already made it clear to Peter that she had no intention of leaving Shane, she thought that by doing that, she had taken care of any concerns Shane might have about the situation. That by getting that out of the way, she had kept their current relationship intact.
Her problem was that she just couldn't be sure. Not after the night when he had drunkenly stated that he didn't want her to become another Lorelai for him. Because if Sasha was wrong, and he really was keeping something like that to himself, that's exactly the position she was growing into. Lorelai 2.0, and god, didn't she hate the sound of that?
"Don't be like that," was all she could say, shaking her head at how he seemed to be amused by how what he was saying was affecting her. She couldn't help it that he'd just shown up here, asking all kinds of questions that she didn't know how to answer. If Miles had at least told her what this was going to be about before he'd shown up, she would have been happy to prepare a decent explanation for him. But he hadn't, and he was a real asshole for enjoying it instead of being a friend and being useful.
"You haven't been here. You don't know anything about this. Don't act like you do."
Reply
"No, you're absolutely right." He nodded to her, and rolled his eyes some as he drank, setting the beer down on the table next to him. "I know jack shit. I haven't been here."
Yeah, well, who's fault was that?
"But I do know you. And I know him. As much as anyone can know a guy who runs off to the four corners of the motherfucking Earth at random, and when he doesn't, sticks himself in front of a computer all day."
Hackers were weird.
He looked up at the blue sky above them, and thought to himself about how much he missed New York some days. He knew he'd made the right move by going to L.A., but still.
Which was why his grandmother kept casually tossing in offers to get him an apartment here. Should he and Lorelai ever decide to go ahead and make the jump some day.
Right. Live in the same city as Julia? Are you kidding?
"What the hell though, maybe I'm wrong." He knew it was bad to be amused, but he liked it. No moral dilemmas for him. He'd had plenty of those over the spell he'd been dumped, and had not done well with them at all.
It was her turn now. His turn again soon, most likely. Probably around the time Lorelai decided to start seriously thinking about marriage and stop bringing the idea up every time she wanted to fight him.
And Sasha would laugh then. Now was his time.
"So." He looked towards the house, grabbing the beer off the table again, and Miles eyed the window to the guest room. Where he knew B was right now. "How long's he staying here?"
Potential Replacement.
Pff.
That would be her worst move ever.
"... Oh, and Mom and Dad say hello. They think you've gone way off the fucking deep end. I got articles from Grandma. She asked me point blank if you're on something."
Yeah. That'd been funny too.
Reply
Nice, bitchy, whatever. Sasha usually didn't have any problems with the woman, aside from what she'd thought of them dating. Now that had been a little annoying, especially considering how well Miles' family usually accepted her, but it was over. She wasn't going to hold a grudge, or take the accusations of drug use personally.
His grandmother was a smart lady. If she thought about it, she knew better than this.
"And as far as I know, Bart is staying for the rest of the weekend." She shrugged, wanting to stop there and knowing she'd finish the rest of that thought anyway. "I have work Monday morning."
That didn't necessarily mean that Bart had to leave by then, it just meant that he would have to seek out other forms of entertainment if he decided to stay a little longer. Not that Bart was someone who would have any trouble with this, he was a people person. Making friends was kind of his specialty, which explained how he did so good on the nights he tended bar at the restaurant.
"What did you think of the articles?"
A joke about him taking a break from Playboy was probably in order, but she didn't have the interest in it now that he'd brought some very mean ideas to her attention. Her main concern at the moment was getting an opinion of the 'former model' title.
As likely as that was to happen in the near future, she thought it sounded ridiculously old. Like, Twiggy old.
"Because you know, its not like its a perfect fit. Its not in LA, I'm not all that, okay, I'm not really qualified, but Nathan is a great boss so I'm learning pretty fast. And I can't be a model forever."
Her father had told her that countless times.
"My birthday is next month."
Reply
This didn't change the fact that she never really liked Sasha. So things like this from time to time were something he expected, and just about always laughed off on either side of it.
But when he was laughing at his grandmother... It was never to her face.
Ever.
To the stuff about B he merely muttered things to himself. He wanted the guy gone. If he was going to be here this weekend after not having seen Sasha in weeks, he wanted time with his not actual best friend and no one else.
Such, clearly, was not going to be the case.
Maybe he'd stay for a little while longer. Try and wait him out. He had no obligations. If he needed to write, he had his laptop with him.
Lorelai would be a while before she started to get jealous and he had to fight with her. Right now she was probably self satisfied her idea about B being the Replacement managing to piss Miles off.
Bitch.
"I thought the articles made you sound like you're thirty five. Not twenty three." He said point blank, because he knew that was expected of him. If Sasha didn't want his opinion, she wouldn't have asked.
Then again... He likely would've given it anyway. Because you really can't win with Miles in something like this, can you.
What a schmuck.
"I think, as you probably already guess, that this whole 'romance with the Congressman's brother' is bullshit. I think they're going to wear you the fuck out."
He had to say these last two things. And now, Miles actually portrayed concern, both in face and in voice, although it wasn't in liberal amounts.
Had to come out eventually, didn't it?
"That whole spin control thing is pretty you, though." He smirked. "I will say that much." Credit where credit is due.
"And I know your birthday's next month. So you're getting older, so what? You're not dead. You're still hot. And unless you hate what you were doing..."
In which case... More concern was on the horizon.
"Whatever. Like you said, I don't know jack shit about this." Miles rolled his eyes, drinking his beer.
"But I still think you fell into it all way too fast."
Reply
Sasha couldn't see any harm in admitting that he was right about that one. She had fallen into it fast, but as far as she was concerned, it couldn't be helped. It was like Nathan had told her, the Petrellis were a storm of energy and movement. If you wanted to be in their lives, you had to fall in as fast as you could, or fall behind. They didn't know how to do things any other way. It wasn't anyone's fault, it was just the way things were for them.
What Miles didn't notice, or couldn't notice, was that Peter and Nathan were victims of their lifestyle as much as Sasha or anyone else was. The only difference was that they had no choice but to keep up. There were no outs for the them to take.
"You think we'd be used to it. We grew up here. Isn't this how its supposed to go in New York? Maybe California has softened us up."
Miles would hate that idea, but Sasha figured it was probably true. New Yorkers were known for being mindlessly busy people for no particular reason. Her father had been constantly consumed by work before his passing, and Dylan and Gina weren't really any better. And yes, those three had their reasons, but if they really wanted to, they could have found a way to slow things down, right?
"Maybe if you're here long enough, you learn to fall in line."
Sasha took another long sip of her beer and then set the bottle down on the table. Her last comment was unlikely, but she had to admit that she was balancing things better than she had been last week. Maybe she was improving.
Or something.
"I don't know."
Reply
If that was ever going to happen with Miles, it was too soon to tell. He was the one who was willing to throw an entire movie deal if it meant rewriting a script in a way that compromised the story he intended to tell. No matter how big it was.
And he'd take on just about anything, anywhere, anytime. 'Falling in line' was never an option.
So the expression Sasha's words and tone invoked with him was one that was to be expected. He wasn't pleased. None of this sounded right to him on any level.
"Like I said, we're not fucking dead, Sasha." He couldn't help glaring at that, then decided it was best to get back to drinking.
But when he grabbed the bottle again, and tried to drink, it was gone. Naturally. Cursing under his breath, he put it back on the table, then went and grabbed another one and opened it.
"Look, you know you live your life, I live mine, what the fuck ever. I'm not about to tell you what to do." And he wouldn't. If he did, he suspected the friendship would be over in a hurry.
"So if this is what you want, go for it, whatever." But clearly, don't expect him to like it.
He drank in silence for a few minutes after that, glaring at the first patch of grass that he picked out in front of him from the chair since he didn't really have anything else to say.
And then he bothered to look.
Miles sighed at Sasha, and set the bottle on the table. "I'll be here for a little while." He was still determining inside his head how long that was going to turn out to be.
"So if you want to do something, even if it's with B," Even though he wasn't particularly happy with the guy's existence right now. "I'm in."
He smirked at her, raising his beer in a small toast, then took a sip. "Now, tell me something that'll make me smile so this can stop being so fucking depressing."
Miles was going to find something to laugh at again, so help him God.
Reply
That wasn't something that made Sasha particularly happy, but Miles had long decided that her aunt's relationship with George was hilarious. he didn't seem to care that it also sealed the deal on Sasha being the family slut, with Carter now coming in at a somewhat distant second. Of course this different surprise her, it was Miles. He'd pick amusement over sharing her feelings of disgust over the relationship that should never have been any day of the week.
"She wants me to be a bridesmaid. You can be my date."
Sasha had realized when she'd decided to bring Miles that this was more of something she had to tell him about than something she had to ask him about. He wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to watch something that awkward, and she didn't want to have to go through it alone. If she asked, he'd give her a hard time about it. If she went over his head, asked his girlfriend first, and then informed him about it, things would work out better for her.
At least, that's what she was hoping.
"And I think you should stay for a few more days. Bart's just here for the weekend. You could hang around until the middle of the week."
Now to Sasha, this was an invitation. It might not have qualified for an invitation to Miles, but she still didn't understand why the guy who had a key to her house needed an invitation. In fact, she was a little insulted that he hadn't known to show up sooner.
"Shut me and your family up all in the same trip. It would be totally efficient of you." She smirked, knowing he was just going to love what came next. "I can be out of work by six. You could catch up with the unimportant people during the day, and chill here at night."
Reply
Because Miles carried the sneaking suspicion that those two where what could have been for him and Sasha. If such was the case... They'd made a good move deciding to break up when they did.
Still, they did seem to be happy in their own twisted toxic sort of way. It was impossible to be absolutely sure of what they'd done.
Just the same, he had no intention of going down the road again just so he could be sure. He didn't think he'd survive it. And he was likely very very right.
To the rest of it, he merely listened, keeping his mouth shut for the time being. And while you'd consider this a big deal for someone like Miles, it really wasn't. He had to take the time to analyze the idea, assess, and then decided where he was going to go with it.
And this really didn't take all that long.
"Sure, what the hell."
See?
"I know Grandma wants me to come by again, and I don't want to listen to how much my mother's going to bitch if I'm not there to see her and Dad and Sally..." He still wondered how much damage it was going to do to his little sister after she figured out she was named after the leading lady from Cabaret.
And really, only because his mother had done the part more than once.
He still had yet to find out how he'd gotten his name, and Miles was pretty sure he just didn't want to know.
"By the way, she says hi." Because he'd had the pleasure of talking to her on the phone before he'd come here since she'd been the one to pick up. And she reminded him more than once that he'd sworn he was going to take her somewhere soon.
He'd probably use this week to make good on that one.
"So, yeah, fuck it, why not?"
Reply
Leave a comment