Fouuuur
Title: So You Think You Can Tell (Pt. 4)
Pairing: Casey/OMC, C/Z (past), Stan/Stokes
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Don't own!
Synopsis: Zeke observes "interactions" and wonders what could be done, or IF anything *should* be done.
Seeing the long list of school closings on the television the night before was a mix of joy and uncertainty. This storm had invaded every town within a forty-mile radius of Herrington, including close-by Ravenna. Scrolling in after ‘Gilford Public Schools - CLOSED’ was ‘Grayson’s Academy of Ravenna - CLOSED’, sealing the deal when it came to the guest list of today’s planned snow-frivolities. What had been worse was Jeremy’s decision to make the trip up to Casey’s the night before, which meant that he’d stayed the night at the Connors. Though Zeke had suddenly wished that Casey’s parents were the type to frown-down on having ‘the boyfriend’ spend an overnight, it would’ve looked weird if they’d said no-given that they’d allowed Zeke to have sleepovers with their son, however closely monitored they’d been. Zeke fondly remembered the first time he’d gotten to have Casey in HIS bedroom that very first autumn night he’d spent there. They’d needed to wait until parental units were sound asleep, not that they hadn’t delved into a full two hours of quiet, careful foreplay before they heard Mr. Connor’s snoring. But the ‘fond feeling’ switched to roiling discomfort and angry huffing, now; in less than a half an hour, he’d be meeting up with everyone at the park, and if he saw any distinct, tell-tale, glowing expressions on either Casey’s or Jeremy’s faces, he’d puke.
didn’t sleep a wink last night. Thx a lot. :P Mr. Connor’s text from that morning eased a few of Zeke’s woes, perhaps. But the most astute of parents would get plenty of unpleasant surprises, finding out what had gone on right under their noses when they THOUGHT they’d been watching like hawks. Zeke had texted back, sorry but hey, another day of ‘experimentation’ ahead. I AM a scientist before shoving on every piece of winter wear available and going out to the garage. It’d taken a lot of digging and frustration at things falling down around him, but once he’d cleared a path to the very back of the garage where his father’s old workbench resided, he’d finally found his old, classic-styled toboggan from his childhood. It still looked like new, the finish still glossy. Barely used. He dragged it to the GTO, wedged it into the backseat then set off for the park.
The drive was usually short, but with the foot-and-a-half of snow getting dumped on the whole town, he was driving at a crawl. The sand trucks and plows had been out a few times, at least, taking away the dangers of Zeke fish-tailing into traffic. Other drivers he came across seemed to have sense this time around, taking things slow. He hadn’t realized that he was driving behind Stan’s beat-up sedan until they were both signaling left to get into the park’s lot together. Zeke smiled, crawled along with them then parked in the spot on their right.
“Hey, didn’t you see me waving back at you?” Stokely called once out of the car. Zeke snorted and joined her and Stan, who were standing by his trunk.
“I was more focused on not smashing into guardrails and shit, sorry,” he said.
“Check it out…” Stan said as he opened his trunk and drug out two shiny, dented-up snow-saucers. “…I forgot I had these in the garage, they should be perfect!”
“Brought one of my own, too.”
Stokely smirked and followed Zeke over to the GTO’s back door. As he tugged the toboggan out by its strong rope handle, she said, “Never took you for a snow-sled fun guy.”
“I was once a crazy little kid, too, y’know,” Zeke replied, beaming at her as he stood the sled on its end. “Seats three, maybe even four, if you squash in.”
“Wow, that is nice,” Stokely said, running her mitten-covered hand over the finish.
“So when’s geek-boy and the new guy showing up?” Stan asked as he joined Stokely in the sled-admiring.
“Should be soon. Casey called about an hour ago, asked which lot of the park we’d be meeting at. Told him here, so yeah,” Zeke replied.
“This Jerry guy better pass my sniff test,” Stokely said, making the evil smirk Zeke loved seeing on her.
“Jeremy,” he corrected.
“Whatever. If he shows up with a tricked-out snow-skiier… thing… I’ll-“
“That’s them, right?”
Stan’s question made them both turn back to the park’s entrance. Sure enough, the shining-with-glory gold Audi was making its way over to them. “Yup,” Zeke said.
“How can you stand it, anyway?” Stokely asked in a hiss. He blinked furiously.
“What, seeing them-together, like?” he asked. She nodded; Zeke shrugged and muttered, “Eh,” just as Jeremy parked them on the other side of Stan’s car.
“Hey there!” Stan greeted them cheerfully. Casey exited first, holding his hand up to Stan.
“Hey, man,” he said, smiling broadly as they gave each other a high-five. He looked around at them all, beaming. “So’s you guys know, MORE shit’s coming in tonight. We could be looking at a weekend before the weekend.”
“Sweet,” Stokely said.
Jeremy now joined them, his smile shy. “Hey, you must be Stan,” he said, holding his hand out for a shake. Stan politely took it, then nodded to Stokely who joined his side.
“This here’s Stokely,” he said.
“Nice to meet ya,” Stokely said, sharing in the handshake ritual.
“The same; oh, what’re those?”
Zeke frowned, seeing Jeremy looking down at the saucers Stan held. “These? They’re saucers. Sleds,” Stan said.
“Oh my god, I feel dumb,” Jeremy said, chuckling.
‘You should,’ Zeke thought as he approached, but he did his best to smile politely. “Dug this beaut outta the garage,” he said, showing off the toboggan.
“Oh, hey… that’s a real antique!” Jeremy said, smiling wide. “And how’re you doing, Zeke?”
“I ain’t in school, so… pretty damned good,” he said.
“C’mon, let’s go see if Jer here’s brave enough to take on ‘Deadman’s Hill’,” Stan announced. He took Stokely’s hand and made to walk away, but Casey suddenly darted to the front seat of the car.
“Hold up, hold up… one sec, we wanna get our camera gear together.”
Stokely groaned and chuckled at the same time. “The way you are with that shit, the snow will be melted and gone,” she said.
“Oh, stop. It’d be criminal of us to NOT bring our cams along to get awesome winter shots,” Casey said.
Zeke shrugged and leaned on Stan’s car, all to wait for the pair’s ‘camera conferencing’. It was obvious as to who had the better equipment; Jeremy’s camera bag dwarfed Casey’s, each bit and bob being taken out and attached looking shiny and expensive. But it seemed as if the only one paying that any mind was Zeke. Small discussions between Casey and Jeremy made for a curious observation. From, “This knob won’t budge… ah, there,” to “I got some new filters perfect for winter shots; try a few on your cam, made sure they were compatible for both of us,” it was less shmoopsy-poo-boyfriend behavior and more just two guys really into their craft. It brought Zeke back to the hobby he and Casey did share; not as complex as an art form, but their striking up friendly debates, discussions and examinations about every aspect of the original Star Wars trilogy would get pretty intense. Some of the best times he’d had with Casey involved taking hour-long pauses of the film to go over the most minute story-detail or character examination.
Seeing the same dynamic between Casey and the new guy made some of the resolve to go against them waver a little. While he wasn’t going to call things off with Mr. Connor, not yet, the smiles and mutters he witnessed had some form and meaning. Casey wasn’t an empty-headed moron, so desperate for a boyfriend that he’d take just anybody. Jeremy had to have had something in him to get the smile he was now as they chuckled over something no one else here would understand, even if they’d heard what’d been said. Needing distraction, Zeke drew out his cigarettes and lit one, which made Stokely turn to him, hand extended.
“Gimmee,” she said.
“So fucking polite,” Zeke replied, but per tradition, he gladly handed over what Stokely deemed her ‘weekly cigarette’. Odd that it was always from one of Zeke’s packs, but-sharing was caring.
“Wait, aren’t we waiting for Delilah?” Casey then called out as Jeremy shut the passenger door, finally looking ready to go.
“Hair appointment. She said she might grace us with her presence after,” Stokely said.
“Casey told me that bowing would endear me to this girl,” Jeremy chimed in. The comment made Stokely burst out into rampant chuckles.
“OH yeah. You do that, and you’re insta-besties,” she said with a big grin.
“C’mon, let’s go already,” Zeke said, not liking any sign that Jeremy was about to become likeable-even if he earned it. Somehow.
~*~
“Guys, I… dunno…”
“Just PUNCH it, Stan!” Stokely called out with an evil laugh as Casey, at the head of the toboggan, looked back at his three friends crammed onto the toboggan together.
“This shot’s gonna be epic,” he yelled. Zeke couldn’t help but agree as he kept jerking back and forth, egging Stan on into doing the same all to get the sled closer to the edge of the hill together.
“C’mon, we PUT… your friggin’ girl-FRIEND… in FRONT of you… for a… rea…” he went to say, but stopped when the sled dipped down and started moving on its own.
“Shit, h-hang on!” Casey shouted, grabbing the rope in both hands and leaning back a little. “Oh-m-my-G-God!”
Zeke sat up as high as he could to watch their descent, which also let him see Jeremy at the very bottom of the hill. “KEEP COMING!” the young man hollered up at them, his camera going to his expert eye. Hitting a sudden, sloping area that felt more like a speedbump, the entire group yelped and jostled. Stokely sounded overjoyed with the maniacal laugh she made, while Herrington High’s once brave and heroic star quarterback held onto her with a vice-like grip. Zeke couldn’t help from guffawing at the scene, and neither did Casey, who couldn’t help a quick glance back at them before going back to the job of steering. He didn’t have much to do besides keep hold of the rope and offer some steadiness.
“WATCH OUT!” Casey yelled to Jeremy, who was daring to stay in their path for that ‘epic shot’ he and Casey had plotted out together. Zeke was torn between finding him not-SO-bad so far today enough to hope he hopped to safety, or taking himself out of the game and becoming one with the wood and four teenagers’ worth of weight.
No ambulance needed; at the very last moment, the last flash of Jeremy’s camera went off and he leapt out of their way. He laughed heartily as the group went full-throttle into a bush. No leaves or thorns, thankfully, but all but Zeke were treated with stems and twigs slapping and jabbing into their faces and necks. “Ah!” Casey yelled as he twisted away from the face-full he’d taken, which required him to make a compromising position with Stokely.
“Offa me! OW!” the girl spat.
“Off my girlfriend!” Stan, making his escape when Zeke rolled off and away, outright giggled as he tried pulling Stokely with him by the hood of her coat.
“Au-AGH, Stan, c-can’t bre…” Stokely said, unable to be yanked out from under Casey’s weight.
“DIG US OUT!” Casey cried.
“Oh my god…” Jeremy put his camera into its safe spot in the camera bag, shaking with chuckles as he and Zeke went to the bush to try and shove all the branches up and away from those trapped. Zeke felt a small moment of camaraderie between them-at least, until Jeremy stopped giggling, murmured an, “Aww…” and took Casey’s hand to help him up. He began to help the boy brush snow and stray twigs from his heavy coat.
“Th-That… was awesome!” Casey cheered. “Woo!”
“Everyone okay?” Stan asked. He too was plucking at Stokely’s hair, removing debris.
“I lived!” Casey said. He gave Zeke a big smile and held up his hand for a high-five, which Zeke gave to him gladly. “We gotta do that again!”
“Oh, no…” Stan said.
“Sure, just-not here, where we get eaten by shrubbery,” Stokely said. “Anyway, Jer there needs a turn.”
“Oh, I dunno…” Jeremy said.
“What, you chicken?” Casey said. Giggling, he began jabbing at Jeremy’s sides playfully.
“Hey--!”
“Boc, boc-boc-boc b-o-o-c…”
Zeke couldn’t help rolling his eyes when Jeremy threw his arms around Casey’s slim waist, twirled a few times then dumped them both into the snow. Casey’s kicking and screaming translated to, this is my boyfriend, yay! instead of protest. Zeke looked away, fighting to keep his smirk on as he approached the other two.
“Wanna race on the saucers while those two idiots take the toboggan?” he asked Stan, who hopped up and down and nodded.
“Yeah!”
“What do I ride??” Stokely asked, frowning and lifting her arms.
“Uh… well, make it a threesome with them.” Stan nodded to the playful pair behind Zeke, who were panting, laughing and fighting to stand.
“Well-okay. But I get to steer,” she said as she tromped over to the boys.
“C’mon, race ya to the top,” Stan said.
Zeke grinned and followed the sporty young man best he could; he grunted and fought to get ahead, but Stan hadn’t been a sports’ star due to weakness. He put a few yards of distance between them, reaching level ground with ease. “I win!” he cheered as Zeke, huffing and puffing, reached him.
“Yeah, big… deal… gimmee a m-minute…” Zeke said in panting halts, reaching Stan and slumping to a sit next to the saucers. Looking down at the scene below, he watched as Casey, Stokely and Jeremy fought the sled out from its bushy prison, each of them laughing and saying things he couldn’t hear.
“You doin’ a’right?”
Stan’s question made Zeke turn his head and up to look at him. “Huh? Yeah, just… outta shape and I smoke. Speaking of…”
As Zeke proceeded to light up despite the wheezing not having died down completely, Stan sighed, kicked a saucer right side up and plopped down to a sit into it. He stayed with Zeke however, saying, “Didn’t mean that. I meant… down there.” He nodded to the others-Jeremy and Casey, to be specific, who were pulling the toboggan together by the rope, Stokely by Casey’s opposite side and chatting. Zeke shrugged and looked down to his boots.
“Yeah, I’m good,” he said in a voice that said, it sucks, but I’ll deal. Stan had to have caught it as he nudged Zeke with his elbow and tried giving him a warm smile.
“Stokely had the same issues with Del… for the same reasons,” he said. “But-it’s better now. We can bump into her on accident while on a date without Stokely’s core temperature reaching a boiling point. Casey seems okay, having both of you share the same space with him at the same time.”
“Yeah,” Zeke absently replied before trying to put a smile back on his face. The threesome were now close to the top, Casey and Jeremy working hard to drag the sled behind them.
“Ugh… Zeke, grab this… pull…” Casey all but begged. Zeke sighed, got to his knees and grabbed the curved front of the wood in a strong grip to pull it smoothly up against his lap. Both boys sighed in relief and reached the top together.
“Thanks. Man, this thing’s heavy,” Jeremy said.
“I call the front!” Stokely said, tugging it back around to face the hill. She straddled the front then sank down to a sit. After a few shimmies, she turned to look up at Casey. “C’mon, boy, you’re next.”
The young man dropped down to his knees happily, saying, “You get behind me, Jer.”
“Eh… not… sure,” Jeremy haltingly replied.
“C’mo-o-on! You said you’d give it a try,” Casey said. He threw his most adorable pout up at his boyfriend, who chuckled.
“How about I give you a push, babe?”
Zeke tried his best to not shoot a look at him now. ‘What, don’t wanna get snow on your precious designer jeans?’ he thought. Poor Jeremy probably thought the cuffs getting as snowy and wet as they were was enough to ruin his ‘look’. Again, Zeke didn’t want to read much into things-and the pout proved its worth when Jeremy finally relented, moving to an awkward sit behind Casey. Zeke smirked, noticing the guy’s look of discomfort and how he couldn’t seem to maneuver himself right. “Ugh, s’cold…” he said.
“Snow’s known for that,” Stan joked. If Zeke was reading Stan’s expression right, there was just a hint of, the hell’s HIS deal? behind the half-smirk.
“’K, think I-whoa!”
Casey and Stokely made musical laughs as the jerking from Jeremy managed to get them over the edge; the sled gained speed with every inch it seemed, thankfully for the group going further left, away from the bushes they’d crashed into before. Their path was clear, ensuring its end along the edge of the woods where the snow hadn’t reached. It took some time to get there, especially when Stokely twisted at the rope and pulled them all into a sharp, harder left.
“She’s gonna kill someone, someday,” Stan said. Zeke chortled and shook his head.
“She’s adventurous. That’s good to see in a girl,” he said. The sled then hit a bump, larger than the one from their first-go. They all yelped in unison and bounced-Jeremy’s position at the back and lack of ‘sledding skill’ left him flying from his seat and rolling a few times in the snow. Both Stan and Zeke gasped, gawked then started belly-laughing with a violence together.
“O-Oh, my God!” Stan howled.
“Now I do wish I was into photography…” Zeke said past his mirth, watching as Casey purposefully rolled off the slowing sled, stand and rush over to a white-washed Jeremy. He was laughing as well, all while shouting, “You okay, babe??” His boyfriend finally emerged from the snow he’d buried himself into, spluttering and getting up onto stiff, clumsy legs. Casey helped, holding his arm and still chuckling.
Zeke’s smile dimmed a little as he watched on, seeing Casey’s face go from amused to light concern. While his smile was staying on, it looked like he was fighting for it; he leaned in to say something, all while Jeremy brushed snow from his front and legs in sharp, angry-looking swipes.
“Ut oh… someone might be cranky…” Stan muttered. He held his gloved fist up to his lips and chin, hiding a mischievous grin.
“He’d better chill. He was all about laughing at us when we got bush-fucked,” Zeke replied.
“Mmm…” Stan hummed as Stokely joined the pair now, dragging the toboggan behind her. She had a wide smile on her face, but seemed to be consoling Jeremy for-whatever the moron felt the need to be consoled for. As she patted his arm, helping in the snow-removal along with Casey, Zeke sniffed.
“He woulda laughed his ass off if Casey bit it, instead of him,” he said in a gruff tone. It was back to annoyance, Zeke figured, even when Jeremy finally gave in with a smile and shrug. It didn’t matter. In Zeke’s opinion, this guy had now proven that he couldn’t ‘play nice’.
~*~
It’d been hours out in the snow, and even if they’d left the sledding behind to take a stroll around the shoveled paths throughout the garden area of the park, the entire group had begun caving to the cold eventually. Every mitten and glove had gathered an inch-thick layer of immoveable, stuck-on snow, cheeks, noses and chins were going from pink to hot-red and complaints about not being able to feel one’s toes had replaced the child-like glee they’d arrived with. The only one with a functioning fireplace and a good-sized stack of wood to burn, kitchen full of good things to cook up and no parents around to be a bother was Zeke, of course.
“Not too far from Casey’s, a few blocks,” Zeke told Jeremy through chattering teeth. “Just follow me. Casey can’t give directions for shit.”
Jeremy laughed, while Casey gave Zeke a mean but adorable narrow-eyed smile. “See ya there, assface,” Casey said before shutting the passenger side door, preventing Zeke from making a comeback.
Fifteen minutes later, they were all rushing into Zeke’s house, teeth chattering and shouting every warm-up request they could think of. Zeke was right along with them. “I’ll g-get the fire started, raid the kitchen a-all ya wanna,” he told them. All but Stokely went, the girl wanting both to help Zeke out and get a front-row fireplace seat.
“Zeke! You have cocoa!” Casey yelled as Zeke and Stokely stuffed the square of wood they’d made with balled-up newspaper.
“I said, raid away!”
“No, do you WANT some? Or coffee? Oh… new coffee-maker, I… how do I make coffee with this thing??”
“Lemmee do that…” Stan was saying, chuckling a little.
“Coffee’s fine!” Zeke called back.
It wasn’t long before everyone began settling down into their tasks, the warmth of the house eventually reaching them. Stokely hummed with pleasure as both her’s and Zeke’s matches found the paper and began climbing throughout the structure they’d made. “Can’t remember the last time I got anybody’s fireplace going,” she said. “This is gonna be nice.”
Jeremy arrived then, rubbing his hands together and smiling. “Since you guys treated me to a day out and coming back here, how about I order-up a pizza or something?”
“Oh. I guess-but you don’t have to. There’re a bunch of microwaveable dishes in the freezer, some canned meal stuff… things,” Zeke said. Jeremy smiled wider and waved his hand flippantly.
“N’aw, lemmee do it. What’s the best place in Herrington?”
Zeke sighed, shrugged and stood up. “Keep stoking, Stokes,” he told the girl, who chuckled and grabbed the fire poker, letting Zeke shuffle into the kitchen. “I got a menu for ‘Antonio’s’ tacked on the fridge. They’re my top-choice, myself.” He made his way over to the fridge, which was opened with Stan standing in front of it.
“Looking for the cream…?”
“On the door, top shelf,” Zeke instructed. As the young man ‘ahh’ed and grabbed it, Zeke snatched the menu from the front and handed it off to Jeremy, smiling a little. “I ain’t picky myself. Pick whatever you want-and thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” Jeremy said.
Zeke now wandered to the cabinets just past Casey, who was fixing up a mug for himself. “Smells like God,” Zeke said as he began searching for his favorite mug, making the boy chuckle and look over.
“Oh, yours is set,” he said, motioning to the mug sitting by the sugar canister. Sure enough, Zeke’s hot, lovely drink was there in that very favorite mug of his, faded Garfield print and all. Even better… “You already creamed and sugared it?” he asked as he lifted it to his face.
“Yeah?” Casey smirked and sipped from his mug, lifting one shoulder into a lazy shrug. “I HAVE retained a few memories of hanging out with you, y’know.”
Zeke gave him a wary look but smiled as he took a tentative sip. The warm, strong and perfectly prepared drink made his face heat up. It didn’t help that Casey watched on with an expectant grin, asking, ‘it’s right, right?’ with his pretty blues. “Yup. You most certainly did, boy,” Zeke said, even daring a wink.
“Aim to please.”
“Ew, artichokes?”
Stan’s comment made them both look over. Jeremy put the phone a little to the side, said, “They don’t HAVE any… what the hell?” before returning to finish their pizza ordering.
“He… has specific ‘tastes’ in pizza toppings.” Casey wore a light blush, eyes averted as he continued sipping.
~*~
Jeremy’s only saving grace was that he’d had the sense to have one half of their pizza a basic pepperoni and cheese. The other half was the most unrecognizable mass of toppings Zeke had ever seen. He couldn’t get uppity about it, really; he HAD said he wasn’t picky, and with Jeremy’s platinum Visa taking the hit for them all, anybody who complained would end up looking like a complete dick.
“It’s weird that they didn’t have artichoke, but damned near everything else,” Jeremy said. Stan gazed at the pie with uncertainty, probably regretting his ill-timed trip to the bathroom just as Antonio’s delivery guy rang the doorbell. Stokely, Zeke and Casey had laid claim to the basic side, leaving Stan staring at the only options left.
“That… what’s… this thing, that…”
“Oh, eggplant. It’s delicious, really…”
As Jeremy gave Stan an education, one Zeke himself would title, ‘What NOT to put on a fucking pizza, you douche’, Zeke sank back against the couch, Stokely nestled in the middle. Casey was on the floor, leaning over the coffee table where his plate was, watching with what seemed to be wry amusement at Stan’s empty expressions and dumb nods. “I’d’ve passed on the banana peppers, myself,” he said with a mouthful.
“Those are the best, what’re you talking about? I’ll take a break from the menu my trainer gave me for this kind of pizza, anytime,” Jeremy said.
“Trainer?” Stokely echoed.
‘God, no…’ Zeke thought as Jeremy switched subjects from pizza to his gym, the personal trainer, how great the South Beach diet was… Zeke felt the room start to spin a little, his only focus being on eating. Bite, chew, swallow… bite, chew, swallow…
“Speaking of cheating on diets, has Delilah called?” Stan asked.
“Mmm, nope…” Zeke checked his cell anyway, finding no waiting messages in call or text. “Fuck it, I’ll ring her up.”
As the others continued listening to more of the practical stranger’s wisdom on training, eating and taking over entire conversations to talk of nothing but himself, Zeke stood, went into the hallway and dialed Delilah’s number. The second ring was interrupted by the buzz of a radio playing and Delilah’s, “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Zeke.”
“Oh, hey… was gonna call you. Are you guys still at the park?” she asked.
“No, we’re at my place. Your hair all perfect and shit, or what?”
“Um… of course it’s perfect. And done. I’m actually at the light heading out of the Main Street shops.”
“Cool. See you in a bit, then?”
“Gimmee about fifteen… or actually, twenty. I might make a stop at Taco Bell. Fuck my diet,” she said. “You want anything?”
Zeke perked up. After stealing a look into the living room, finding Jeremy still ‘entertaining’ the group, Zeke shuffled quickly into the kitchen. “Actually… yeah…”
~*~
Stokely couldn’t blame Stan’s excitement to see Delilah walk in the door; he’d made it clear that he had no leftover romantic feelings for the girl enough that Stokely understood his glee was over the giant box full of tacos she’d carried in.
“Oh, I’m… sorry,” she said, looking to the pizza and sighing. “I figured you’d all be starving to death with Zeke’s barely being able to boil water…”
Zeke smirked but said nothing. He’d all but instructed the girl to take a few digs at him, all to cover his telling her the truncated version of the ‘God-Awful Pizza’ story, and how they needed reinforcements. Stan had only gotten halfway through the slice he’d finally said a tentative, “Okay…?” into taking; however rude it may have looked to Jeremy, Stan was too hungry to care, apparently.
“Aw, you got cinnamon twists, too!” he said while unpacking one of the many bags accompanying the main dish of tacos.
“You’re welcome, hon… hey, Stokes, Casey-Wasey,” Delilah greeted them all. She then turned to Jeremy. “And you must be… Jeremy? Jerry?”
“Got it right the first time.” Jeremy got to a stand and took the hand she offered. “Nice to meet you.”
“The same. And-ooh, that’s a good-looking pizza.”
Zeke had to hold back from laughing as she knelt down next to Casey, all to inspect the pie. Leave it to the girl with a diet-obsession to end up being Jeremy’s match in fucked-up food choices. Still, it let Jeremy go on and on, yet again, with pleasure, instead of sending Stan dirty looks for the boy’s obvious disapproval of what he’d offered them all. As promised, Zeke sneaked into the small foyer by the door, slipped two twenties into the girl’s purse then sauntered back in.
Enough was enough. With Jeremy’s flipping back and forth from ‘ain’t so bad’ to ‘dear GOD, just shut your fucking MOUTH, already!’ in Zeke’s mind, a switch of focus was needed. The remote was snatched from the side table and Zeke turned on the set. In the blink of an eye, Jeremy’s chattering was drowned out by Jerry Springer’s hooting and hollering audience, cheering on the two girls dressed in wedding gowns throwing cake at each other. All eyes turned to look.
“Oh, good Christ,” Delilah said. “Can we switch to something else? I can feel my brain cells already drying up and dying…”
“Right??” Jeremy agreed, but Stan began chuckling.
“C’mon, what’re we gonna watch? A PBS documentary? No school today, we’re supposed to numb our brains with junk,” he said.
“It’s trash, but… that’s why I’ll sometimes cave and watch,” Stokely said.
Casey said nothing, just smirked as he watched the ridiculous scene playing out. Zeke made a long sigh and flopped back down on the couch next to Stokely. “We’d all fight over THAT guy, am I right?” he said, pointing lazily at the dumbfounded looking man standing off to the side in a tux that looked five sizes too big on his scrawny frame.
“I like a guy with teeth, fuck you very much,” Delilah said, wrinkling her nose and rolling her eyes.
“He’s got teeth. See, there’s one… is that-yeah, two…” Stan counted, chortling heavily.
“I think that’s a Tic-Tac, actually,” Zeke remarked with a stupid smile.
“Ugh. So gross,” Jeremy said. His eyes dropped to his plate as he shook his head. “What time is it?”
“Almost two,” Casey answered after a look to his watch.
“Aw, we missed ‘AMC’…”
Delilah whipped her head over to stare at the guy. “You watch ‘All My Children’?” she said with interest. At Jeremy’s nod, she sat up straighter and beamed. “I LOVE that soap, I record it every day.”
“Me too!”
Zeke went very still and quiet, watching the sudden exchange developing in front of him. As they discussed the dramas they both enjoyed, involving people with names like ‘Bianca’ and ‘Kendall’, Zeke couldn’t help a glance to Stokely. Her expression was just as awestruck, for all the wrong reasons as she instinctively turned to face him, as well. Their eyes locked, sharing the same exact thought without voicing it: dear God, why are we with these people?
After a few more complaints regarding what was on the TV, Zeke handed off the remote to Delilah. She had saved them with the ‘Bell trip, so he didn’t mind so much. She promised she wouldn’t switch to any later-hour soaps, declaring, “AMC’s the only one worth watching,” gaining a chortle and high-five from her sudden new best friend. Jeremy even moved closer to sit by her, with Casey settling in on his other side. The cozy scene had Zeke get up to fix another coffee for himself; he needed one, anyway.
Stan followed him in, also holding an empty mug. “Thanks for sharing the goods, man,” he said when Zeke finished with his next serving and handed the pot to the boy.
“No prob. It’s nice, having you guys by,” Zeke said. Instead of going back with the others, he leaned on the sink and sipped. Stan put his coffee together slowly, glancing to Zeke a few times.
“Jeremy… seems okay. Nice enough guy. I feel a little bad over the pizza thing.”
“Eh, whether he noticed or not, he didn’t say anything about it,” Zeke replied.
“Yeah, well…” Stan moved in closer to Zeke, a knowing smirk on his lips. “…Del’s nice, too, but I can’t remember a time she’d brought that kinda smorgasbord to a hang-out. Funny that she did THIS time, right after your phone call.”
Zeke’s smile twitched as he tried focusing on his coffee. “Hilarious, yeah.”
“You’ve always had my back, dude,” Stan said, winking and nudging Zeke with his elbow.
~*~
Pairing: Casey/OMC, C/Z (past), Stan/Stokes
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Don't own!
Synopsis: Zeke observes "interactions" and wonders what could be done, or IF anything *should* be done.
Seeing the long list of school closings on the television the night before was a mix of joy and uncertainty. This storm had invaded every town within a forty-mile radius of Herrington, including close-by Ravenna. Scrolling in after ‘Gilford Public Schools - CLOSED’ was ‘Grayson’s Academy of Ravenna - CLOSED’, sealing the deal when it came to the guest list of today’s planned snow-frivolities. What had been worse was Jeremy’s decision to make the trip up to Casey’s the night before, which meant that he’d stayed the night at the Connors. Though Zeke had suddenly wished that Casey’s parents were the type to frown-down on having ‘the boyfriend’ spend an overnight, it would’ve looked weird if they’d said no-given that they’d allowed Zeke to have sleepovers with their son, however closely monitored they’d been. Zeke fondly remembered the first time he’d gotten to have Casey in HIS bedroom that very first autumn night he’d spent there. They’d needed to wait until parental units were sound asleep, not that they hadn’t delved into a full two hours of quiet, careful foreplay before they heard Mr. Connor’s snoring. But the ‘fond feeling’ switched to roiling discomfort and angry huffing, now; in less than a half an hour, he’d be meeting up with everyone at the park, and if he saw any distinct, tell-tale, glowing expressions on either Casey’s or Jeremy’s faces, he’d puke.
didn’t sleep a wink last night. Thx a lot. :P Mr. Connor’s text from that morning eased a few of Zeke’s woes, perhaps. But the most astute of parents would get plenty of unpleasant surprises, finding out what had gone on right under their noses when they THOUGHT they’d been watching like hawks. Zeke had texted back, sorry but hey, another day of ‘experimentation’ ahead. I AM a scientist before shoving on every piece of winter wear available and going out to the garage. It’d taken a lot of digging and frustration at things falling down around him, but once he’d cleared a path to the very back of the garage where his father’s old workbench resided, he’d finally found his old, classic-styled toboggan from his childhood. It still looked like new, the finish still glossy. Barely used. He dragged it to the GTO, wedged it into the backseat then set off for the park.
The drive was usually short, but with the foot-and-a-half of snow getting dumped on the whole town, he was driving at a crawl. The sand trucks and plows had been out a few times, at least, taking away the dangers of Zeke fish-tailing into traffic. Other drivers he came across seemed to have sense this time around, taking things slow. He hadn’t realized that he was driving behind Stan’s beat-up sedan until they were both signaling left to get into the park’s lot together. Zeke smiled, crawled along with them then parked in the spot on their right.
“Hey, didn’t you see me waving back at you?” Stokely called once out of the car. Zeke snorted and joined her and Stan, who were standing by his trunk.
“I was more focused on not smashing into guardrails and shit, sorry,” he said.
“Check it out…” Stan said as he opened his trunk and drug out two shiny, dented-up snow-saucers. “…I forgot I had these in the garage, they should be perfect!”
“Brought one of my own, too.”
Stokely smirked and followed Zeke over to the GTO’s back door. As he tugged the toboggan out by its strong rope handle, she said, “Never took you for a snow-sled fun guy.”
“I was once a crazy little kid, too, y’know,” Zeke replied, beaming at her as he stood the sled on its end. “Seats three, maybe even four, if you squash in.”
“Wow, that is nice,” Stokely said, running her mitten-covered hand over the finish.
“So when’s geek-boy and the new guy showing up?” Stan asked as he joined Stokely in the sled-admiring.
“Should be soon. Casey called about an hour ago, asked which lot of the park we’d be meeting at. Told him here, so yeah,” Zeke replied.
“This Jerry guy better pass my sniff test,” Stokely said, making the evil smirk Zeke loved seeing on her.
“Jeremy,” he corrected.
“Whatever. If he shows up with a tricked-out snow-skiier… thing… I’ll-“
“That’s them, right?”
Stan’s question made them both turn back to the park’s entrance. Sure enough, the shining-with-glory gold Audi was making its way over to them. “Yup,” Zeke said.
“How can you stand it, anyway?” Stokely asked in a hiss. He blinked furiously.
“What, seeing them-together, like?” he asked. She nodded; Zeke shrugged and muttered, “Eh,” just as Jeremy parked them on the other side of Stan’s car.
“Hey there!” Stan greeted them cheerfully. Casey exited first, holding his hand up to Stan.
“Hey, man,” he said, smiling broadly as they gave each other a high-five. He looked around at them all, beaming. “So’s you guys know, MORE shit’s coming in tonight. We could be looking at a weekend before the weekend.”
“Sweet,” Stokely said.
Jeremy now joined them, his smile shy. “Hey, you must be Stan,” he said, holding his hand out for a shake. Stan politely took it, then nodded to Stokely who joined his side.
“This here’s Stokely,” he said.
“Nice to meet ya,” Stokely said, sharing in the handshake ritual.
“The same; oh, what’re those?”
Zeke frowned, seeing Jeremy looking down at the saucers Stan held. “These? They’re saucers. Sleds,” Stan said.
“Oh my god, I feel dumb,” Jeremy said, chuckling.
‘You should,’ Zeke thought as he approached, but he did his best to smile politely. “Dug this beaut outta the garage,” he said, showing off the toboggan.
“Oh, hey… that’s a real antique!” Jeremy said, smiling wide. “And how’re you doing, Zeke?”
“I ain’t in school, so… pretty damned good,” he said.
“C’mon, let’s go see if Jer here’s brave enough to take on ‘Deadman’s Hill’,” Stan announced. He took Stokely’s hand and made to walk away, but Casey suddenly darted to the front seat of the car.
“Hold up, hold up… one sec, we wanna get our camera gear together.”
Stokely groaned and chuckled at the same time. “The way you are with that shit, the snow will be melted and gone,” she said.
“Oh, stop. It’d be criminal of us to NOT bring our cams along to get awesome winter shots,” Casey said.
Zeke shrugged and leaned on Stan’s car, all to wait for the pair’s ‘camera conferencing’. It was obvious as to who had the better equipment; Jeremy’s camera bag dwarfed Casey’s, each bit and bob being taken out and attached looking shiny and expensive. But it seemed as if the only one paying that any mind was Zeke. Small discussions between Casey and Jeremy made for a curious observation. From, “This knob won’t budge… ah, there,” to “I got some new filters perfect for winter shots; try a few on your cam, made sure they were compatible for both of us,” it was less shmoopsy-poo-boyfriend behavior and more just two guys really into their craft. It brought Zeke back to the hobby he and Casey did share; not as complex as an art form, but their striking up friendly debates, discussions and examinations about every aspect of the original Star Wars trilogy would get pretty intense. Some of the best times he’d had with Casey involved taking hour-long pauses of the film to go over the most minute story-detail or character examination.
Seeing the same dynamic between Casey and the new guy made some of the resolve to go against them waver a little. While he wasn’t going to call things off with Mr. Connor, not yet, the smiles and mutters he witnessed had some form and meaning. Casey wasn’t an empty-headed moron, so desperate for a boyfriend that he’d take just anybody. Jeremy had to have had something in him to get the smile he was now as they chuckled over something no one else here would understand, even if they’d heard what’d been said. Needing distraction, Zeke drew out his cigarettes and lit one, which made Stokely turn to him, hand extended.
“Gimmee,” she said.
“So fucking polite,” Zeke replied, but per tradition, he gladly handed over what Stokely deemed her ‘weekly cigarette’. Odd that it was always from one of Zeke’s packs, but-sharing was caring.
“Wait, aren’t we waiting for Delilah?” Casey then called out as Jeremy shut the passenger door, finally looking ready to go.
“Hair appointment. She said she might grace us with her presence after,” Stokely said.
“Casey told me that bowing would endear me to this girl,” Jeremy chimed in. The comment made Stokely burst out into rampant chuckles.
“OH yeah. You do that, and you’re insta-besties,” she said with a big grin.
“C’mon, let’s go already,” Zeke said, not liking any sign that Jeremy was about to become likeable-even if he earned it. Somehow.
~*~
“Guys, I… dunno…”
“Just PUNCH it, Stan!” Stokely called out with an evil laugh as Casey, at the head of the toboggan, looked back at his three friends crammed onto the toboggan together.
“This shot’s gonna be epic,” he yelled. Zeke couldn’t help but agree as he kept jerking back and forth, egging Stan on into doing the same all to get the sled closer to the edge of the hill together.
“C’mon, we PUT… your friggin’ girl-FRIEND… in FRONT of you… for a… rea…” he went to say, but stopped when the sled dipped down and started moving on its own.
“Shit, h-hang on!” Casey shouted, grabbing the rope in both hands and leaning back a little. “Oh-m-my-G-God!”
Zeke sat up as high as he could to watch their descent, which also let him see Jeremy at the very bottom of the hill. “KEEP COMING!” the young man hollered up at them, his camera going to his expert eye. Hitting a sudden, sloping area that felt more like a speedbump, the entire group yelped and jostled. Stokely sounded overjoyed with the maniacal laugh she made, while Herrington High’s once brave and heroic star quarterback held onto her with a vice-like grip. Zeke couldn’t help from guffawing at the scene, and neither did Casey, who couldn’t help a quick glance back at them before going back to the job of steering. He didn’t have much to do besides keep hold of the rope and offer some steadiness.
“WATCH OUT!” Casey yelled to Jeremy, who was daring to stay in their path for that ‘epic shot’ he and Casey had plotted out together. Zeke was torn between finding him not-SO-bad so far today enough to hope he hopped to safety, or taking himself out of the game and becoming one with the wood and four teenagers’ worth of weight.
No ambulance needed; at the very last moment, the last flash of Jeremy’s camera went off and he leapt out of their way. He laughed heartily as the group went full-throttle into a bush. No leaves or thorns, thankfully, but all but Zeke were treated with stems and twigs slapping and jabbing into their faces and necks. “Ah!” Casey yelled as he twisted away from the face-full he’d taken, which required him to make a compromising position with Stokely.
“Offa me! OW!” the girl spat.
“Off my girlfriend!” Stan, making his escape when Zeke rolled off and away, outright giggled as he tried pulling Stokely with him by the hood of her coat.
“Au-AGH, Stan, c-can’t bre…” Stokely said, unable to be yanked out from under Casey’s weight.
“DIG US OUT!” Casey cried.
“Oh my god…” Jeremy put his camera into its safe spot in the camera bag, shaking with chuckles as he and Zeke went to the bush to try and shove all the branches up and away from those trapped. Zeke felt a small moment of camaraderie between them-at least, until Jeremy stopped giggling, murmured an, “Aww…” and took Casey’s hand to help him up. He began to help the boy brush snow and stray twigs from his heavy coat.
“Th-That… was awesome!” Casey cheered. “Woo!”
“Everyone okay?” Stan asked. He too was plucking at Stokely’s hair, removing debris.
“I lived!” Casey said. He gave Zeke a big smile and held up his hand for a high-five, which Zeke gave to him gladly. “We gotta do that again!”
“Oh, no…” Stan said.
“Sure, just-not here, where we get eaten by shrubbery,” Stokely said. “Anyway, Jer there needs a turn.”
“Oh, I dunno…” Jeremy said.
“What, you chicken?” Casey said. Giggling, he began jabbing at Jeremy’s sides playfully.
“Hey--!”
“Boc, boc-boc-boc b-o-o-c…”
Zeke couldn’t help rolling his eyes when Jeremy threw his arms around Casey’s slim waist, twirled a few times then dumped them both into the snow. Casey’s kicking and screaming translated to, this is my boyfriend, yay! instead of protest. Zeke looked away, fighting to keep his smirk on as he approached the other two.
“Wanna race on the saucers while those two idiots take the toboggan?” he asked Stan, who hopped up and down and nodded.
“Yeah!”
“What do I ride??” Stokely asked, frowning and lifting her arms.
“Uh… well, make it a threesome with them.” Stan nodded to the playful pair behind Zeke, who were panting, laughing and fighting to stand.
“Well-okay. But I get to steer,” she said as she tromped over to the boys.
“C’mon, race ya to the top,” Stan said.
Zeke grinned and followed the sporty young man best he could; he grunted and fought to get ahead, but Stan hadn’t been a sports’ star due to weakness. He put a few yards of distance between them, reaching level ground with ease. “I win!” he cheered as Zeke, huffing and puffing, reached him.
“Yeah, big… deal… gimmee a m-minute…” Zeke said in panting halts, reaching Stan and slumping to a sit next to the saucers. Looking down at the scene below, he watched as Casey, Stokely and Jeremy fought the sled out from its bushy prison, each of them laughing and saying things he couldn’t hear.
“You doin’ a’right?”
Stan’s question made Zeke turn his head and up to look at him. “Huh? Yeah, just… outta shape and I smoke. Speaking of…”
As Zeke proceeded to light up despite the wheezing not having died down completely, Stan sighed, kicked a saucer right side up and plopped down to a sit into it. He stayed with Zeke however, saying, “Didn’t mean that. I meant… down there.” He nodded to the others-Jeremy and Casey, to be specific, who were pulling the toboggan together by the rope, Stokely by Casey’s opposite side and chatting. Zeke shrugged and looked down to his boots.
“Yeah, I’m good,” he said in a voice that said, it sucks, but I’ll deal. Stan had to have caught it as he nudged Zeke with his elbow and tried giving him a warm smile.
“Stokely had the same issues with Del… for the same reasons,” he said. “But-it’s better now. We can bump into her on accident while on a date without Stokely’s core temperature reaching a boiling point. Casey seems okay, having both of you share the same space with him at the same time.”
“Yeah,” Zeke absently replied before trying to put a smile back on his face. The threesome were now close to the top, Casey and Jeremy working hard to drag the sled behind them.
“Ugh… Zeke, grab this… pull…” Casey all but begged. Zeke sighed, got to his knees and grabbed the curved front of the wood in a strong grip to pull it smoothly up against his lap. Both boys sighed in relief and reached the top together.
“Thanks. Man, this thing’s heavy,” Jeremy said.
“I call the front!” Stokely said, tugging it back around to face the hill. She straddled the front then sank down to a sit. After a few shimmies, she turned to look up at Casey. “C’mon, boy, you’re next.”
The young man dropped down to his knees happily, saying, “You get behind me, Jer.”
“Eh… not… sure,” Jeremy haltingly replied.
“C’mo-o-on! You said you’d give it a try,” Casey said. He threw his most adorable pout up at his boyfriend, who chuckled.
“How about I give you a push, babe?”
Zeke tried his best to not shoot a look at him now. ‘What, don’t wanna get snow on your precious designer jeans?’ he thought. Poor Jeremy probably thought the cuffs getting as snowy and wet as they were was enough to ruin his ‘look’. Again, Zeke didn’t want to read much into things-and the pout proved its worth when Jeremy finally relented, moving to an awkward sit behind Casey. Zeke smirked, noticing the guy’s look of discomfort and how he couldn’t seem to maneuver himself right. “Ugh, s’cold…” he said.
“Snow’s known for that,” Stan joked. If Zeke was reading Stan’s expression right, there was just a hint of, the hell’s HIS deal? behind the half-smirk.
“’K, think I-whoa!”
Casey and Stokely made musical laughs as the jerking from Jeremy managed to get them over the edge; the sled gained speed with every inch it seemed, thankfully for the group going further left, away from the bushes they’d crashed into before. Their path was clear, ensuring its end along the edge of the woods where the snow hadn’t reached. It took some time to get there, especially when Stokely twisted at the rope and pulled them all into a sharp, harder left.
“She’s gonna kill someone, someday,” Stan said. Zeke chortled and shook his head.
“She’s adventurous. That’s good to see in a girl,” he said. The sled then hit a bump, larger than the one from their first-go. They all yelped in unison and bounced-Jeremy’s position at the back and lack of ‘sledding skill’ left him flying from his seat and rolling a few times in the snow. Both Stan and Zeke gasped, gawked then started belly-laughing with a violence together.
“O-Oh, my God!” Stan howled.
“Now I do wish I was into photography…” Zeke said past his mirth, watching as Casey purposefully rolled off the slowing sled, stand and rush over to a white-washed Jeremy. He was laughing as well, all while shouting, “You okay, babe??” His boyfriend finally emerged from the snow he’d buried himself into, spluttering and getting up onto stiff, clumsy legs. Casey helped, holding his arm and still chuckling.
Zeke’s smile dimmed a little as he watched on, seeing Casey’s face go from amused to light concern. While his smile was staying on, it looked like he was fighting for it; he leaned in to say something, all while Jeremy brushed snow from his front and legs in sharp, angry-looking swipes.
“Ut oh… someone might be cranky…” Stan muttered. He held his gloved fist up to his lips and chin, hiding a mischievous grin.
“He’d better chill. He was all about laughing at us when we got bush-fucked,” Zeke replied.
“Mmm…” Stan hummed as Stokely joined the pair now, dragging the toboggan behind her. She had a wide smile on her face, but seemed to be consoling Jeremy for-whatever the moron felt the need to be consoled for. As she patted his arm, helping in the snow-removal along with Casey, Zeke sniffed.
“He woulda laughed his ass off if Casey bit it, instead of him,” he said in a gruff tone. It was back to annoyance, Zeke figured, even when Jeremy finally gave in with a smile and shrug. It didn’t matter. In Zeke’s opinion, this guy had now proven that he couldn’t ‘play nice’.
~*~
It’d been hours out in the snow, and even if they’d left the sledding behind to take a stroll around the shoveled paths throughout the garden area of the park, the entire group had begun caving to the cold eventually. Every mitten and glove had gathered an inch-thick layer of immoveable, stuck-on snow, cheeks, noses and chins were going from pink to hot-red and complaints about not being able to feel one’s toes had replaced the child-like glee they’d arrived with. The only one with a functioning fireplace and a good-sized stack of wood to burn, kitchen full of good things to cook up and no parents around to be a bother was Zeke, of course.
“Not too far from Casey’s, a few blocks,” Zeke told Jeremy through chattering teeth. “Just follow me. Casey can’t give directions for shit.”
Jeremy laughed, while Casey gave Zeke a mean but adorable narrow-eyed smile. “See ya there, assface,” Casey said before shutting the passenger side door, preventing Zeke from making a comeback.
Fifteen minutes later, they were all rushing into Zeke’s house, teeth chattering and shouting every warm-up request they could think of. Zeke was right along with them. “I’ll g-get the fire started, raid the kitchen a-all ya wanna,” he told them. All but Stokely went, the girl wanting both to help Zeke out and get a front-row fireplace seat.
“Zeke! You have cocoa!” Casey yelled as Zeke and Stokely stuffed the square of wood they’d made with balled-up newspaper.
“I said, raid away!”
“No, do you WANT some? Or coffee? Oh… new coffee-maker, I… how do I make coffee with this thing??”
“Lemmee do that…” Stan was saying, chuckling a little.
“Coffee’s fine!” Zeke called back.
It wasn’t long before everyone began settling down into their tasks, the warmth of the house eventually reaching them. Stokely hummed with pleasure as both her’s and Zeke’s matches found the paper and began climbing throughout the structure they’d made. “Can’t remember the last time I got anybody’s fireplace going,” she said. “This is gonna be nice.”
Jeremy arrived then, rubbing his hands together and smiling. “Since you guys treated me to a day out and coming back here, how about I order-up a pizza or something?”
“Oh. I guess-but you don’t have to. There’re a bunch of microwaveable dishes in the freezer, some canned meal stuff… things,” Zeke said. Jeremy smiled wider and waved his hand flippantly.
“N’aw, lemmee do it. What’s the best place in Herrington?”
Zeke sighed, shrugged and stood up. “Keep stoking, Stokes,” he told the girl, who chuckled and grabbed the fire poker, letting Zeke shuffle into the kitchen. “I got a menu for ‘Antonio’s’ tacked on the fridge. They’re my top-choice, myself.” He made his way over to the fridge, which was opened with Stan standing in front of it.
“Looking for the cream…?”
“On the door, top shelf,” Zeke instructed. As the young man ‘ahh’ed and grabbed it, Zeke snatched the menu from the front and handed it off to Jeremy, smiling a little. “I ain’t picky myself. Pick whatever you want-and thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” Jeremy said.
Zeke now wandered to the cabinets just past Casey, who was fixing up a mug for himself. “Smells like God,” Zeke said as he began searching for his favorite mug, making the boy chuckle and look over.
“Oh, yours is set,” he said, motioning to the mug sitting by the sugar canister. Sure enough, Zeke’s hot, lovely drink was there in that very favorite mug of his, faded Garfield print and all. Even better… “You already creamed and sugared it?” he asked as he lifted it to his face.
“Yeah?” Casey smirked and sipped from his mug, lifting one shoulder into a lazy shrug. “I HAVE retained a few memories of hanging out with you, y’know.”
Zeke gave him a wary look but smiled as he took a tentative sip. The warm, strong and perfectly prepared drink made his face heat up. It didn’t help that Casey watched on with an expectant grin, asking, ‘it’s right, right?’ with his pretty blues. “Yup. You most certainly did, boy,” Zeke said, even daring a wink.
“Aim to please.”
“Ew, artichokes?”
Stan’s comment made them both look over. Jeremy put the phone a little to the side, said, “They don’t HAVE any… what the hell?” before returning to finish their pizza ordering.
“He… has specific ‘tastes’ in pizza toppings.” Casey wore a light blush, eyes averted as he continued sipping.
~*~
Jeremy’s only saving grace was that he’d had the sense to have one half of their pizza a basic pepperoni and cheese. The other half was the most unrecognizable mass of toppings Zeke had ever seen. He couldn’t get uppity about it, really; he HAD said he wasn’t picky, and with Jeremy’s platinum Visa taking the hit for them all, anybody who complained would end up looking like a complete dick.
“It’s weird that they didn’t have artichoke, but damned near everything else,” Jeremy said. Stan gazed at the pie with uncertainty, probably regretting his ill-timed trip to the bathroom just as Antonio’s delivery guy rang the doorbell. Stokely, Zeke and Casey had laid claim to the basic side, leaving Stan staring at the only options left.
“That… what’s… this thing, that…”
“Oh, eggplant. It’s delicious, really…”
As Jeremy gave Stan an education, one Zeke himself would title, ‘What NOT to put on a fucking pizza, you douche’, Zeke sank back against the couch, Stokely nestled in the middle. Casey was on the floor, leaning over the coffee table where his plate was, watching with what seemed to be wry amusement at Stan’s empty expressions and dumb nods. “I’d’ve passed on the banana peppers, myself,” he said with a mouthful.
“Those are the best, what’re you talking about? I’ll take a break from the menu my trainer gave me for this kind of pizza, anytime,” Jeremy said.
“Trainer?” Stokely echoed.
‘God, no…’ Zeke thought as Jeremy switched subjects from pizza to his gym, the personal trainer, how great the South Beach diet was… Zeke felt the room start to spin a little, his only focus being on eating. Bite, chew, swallow… bite, chew, swallow…
“Speaking of cheating on diets, has Delilah called?” Stan asked.
“Mmm, nope…” Zeke checked his cell anyway, finding no waiting messages in call or text. “Fuck it, I’ll ring her up.”
As the others continued listening to more of the practical stranger’s wisdom on training, eating and taking over entire conversations to talk of nothing but himself, Zeke stood, went into the hallway and dialed Delilah’s number. The second ring was interrupted by the buzz of a radio playing and Delilah’s, “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Zeke.”
“Oh, hey… was gonna call you. Are you guys still at the park?” she asked.
“No, we’re at my place. Your hair all perfect and shit, or what?”
“Um… of course it’s perfect. And done. I’m actually at the light heading out of the Main Street shops.”
“Cool. See you in a bit, then?”
“Gimmee about fifteen… or actually, twenty. I might make a stop at Taco Bell. Fuck my diet,” she said. “You want anything?”
Zeke perked up. After stealing a look into the living room, finding Jeremy still ‘entertaining’ the group, Zeke shuffled quickly into the kitchen. “Actually… yeah…”
~*~
Stokely couldn’t blame Stan’s excitement to see Delilah walk in the door; he’d made it clear that he had no leftover romantic feelings for the girl enough that Stokely understood his glee was over the giant box full of tacos she’d carried in.
“Oh, I’m… sorry,” she said, looking to the pizza and sighing. “I figured you’d all be starving to death with Zeke’s barely being able to boil water…”
Zeke smirked but said nothing. He’d all but instructed the girl to take a few digs at him, all to cover his telling her the truncated version of the ‘God-Awful Pizza’ story, and how they needed reinforcements. Stan had only gotten halfway through the slice he’d finally said a tentative, “Okay…?” into taking; however rude it may have looked to Jeremy, Stan was too hungry to care, apparently.
“Aw, you got cinnamon twists, too!” he said while unpacking one of the many bags accompanying the main dish of tacos.
“You’re welcome, hon… hey, Stokes, Casey-Wasey,” Delilah greeted them all. She then turned to Jeremy. “And you must be… Jeremy? Jerry?”
“Got it right the first time.” Jeremy got to a stand and took the hand she offered. “Nice to meet you.”
“The same. And-ooh, that’s a good-looking pizza.”
Zeke had to hold back from laughing as she knelt down next to Casey, all to inspect the pie. Leave it to the girl with a diet-obsession to end up being Jeremy’s match in fucked-up food choices. Still, it let Jeremy go on and on, yet again, with pleasure, instead of sending Stan dirty looks for the boy’s obvious disapproval of what he’d offered them all. As promised, Zeke sneaked into the small foyer by the door, slipped two twenties into the girl’s purse then sauntered back in.
Enough was enough. With Jeremy’s flipping back and forth from ‘ain’t so bad’ to ‘dear GOD, just shut your fucking MOUTH, already!’ in Zeke’s mind, a switch of focus was needed. The remote was snatched from the side table and Zeke turned on the set. In the blink of an eye, Jeremy’s chattering was drowned out by Jerry Springer’s hooting and hollering audience, cheering on the two girls dressed in wedding gowns throwing cake at each other. All eyes turned to look.
“Oh, good Christ,” Delilah said. “Can we switch to something else? I can feel my brain cells already drying up and dying…”
“Right??” Jeremy agreed, but Stan began chuckling.
“C’mon, what’re we gonna watch? A PBS documentary? No school today, we’re supposed to numb our brains with junk,” he said.
“It’s trash, but… that’s why I’ll sometimes cave and watch,” Stokely said.
Casey said nothing, just smirked as he watched the ridiculous scene playing out. Zeke made a long sigh and flopped back down on the couch next to Stokely. “We’d all fight over THAT guy, am I right?” he said, pointing lazily at the dumbfounded looking man standing off to the side in a tux that looked five sizes too big on his scrawny frame.
“I like a guy with teeth, fuck you very much,” Delilah said, wrinkling her nose and rolling her eyes.
“He’s got teeth. See, there’s one… is that-yeah, two…” Stan counted, chortling heavily.
“I think that’s a Tic-Tac, actually,” Zeke remarked with a stupid smile.
“Ugh. So gross,” Jeremy said. His eyes dropped to his plate as he shook his head. “What time is it?”
“Almost two,” Casey answered after a look to his watch.
“Aw, we missed ‘AMC’…”
Delilah whipped her head over to stare at the guy. “You watch ‘All My Children’?” she said with interest. At Jeremy’s nod, she sat up straighter and beamed. “I LOVE that soap, I record it every day.”
“Me too!”
Zeke went very still and quiet, watching the sudden exchange developing in front of him. As they discussed the dramas they both enjoyed, involving people with names like ‘Bianca’ and ‘Kendall’, Zeke couldn’t help a glance to Stokely. Her expression was just as awestruck, for all the wrong reasons as she instinctively turned to face him, as well. Their eyes locked, sharing the same exact thought without voicing it: dear God, why are we with these people?
After a few more complaints regarding what was on the TV, Zeke handed off the remote to Delilah. She had saved them with the ‘Bell trip, so he didn’t mind so much. She promised she wouldn’t switch to any later-hour soaps, declaring, “AMC’s the only one worth watching,” gaining a chortle and high-five from her sudden new best friend. Jeremy even moved closer to sit by her, with Casey settling in on his other side. The cozy scene had Zeke get up to fix another coffee for himself; he needed one, anyway.
Stan followed him in, also holding an empty mug. “Thanks for sharing the goods, man,” he said when Zeke finished with his next serving and handed the pot to the boy.
“No prob. It’s nice, having you guys by,” Zeke said. Instead of going back with the others, he leaned on the sink and sipped. Stan put his coffee together slowly, glancing to Zeke a few times.
“Jeremy… seems okay. Nice enough guy. I feel a little bad over the pizza thing.”
“Eh, whether he noticed or not, he didn’t say anything about it,” Zeke replied.
“Yeah, well…” Stan moved in closer to Zeke, a knowing smirk on his lips. “…Del’s nice, too, but I can’t remember a time she’d brought that kinda smorgasbord to a hang-out. Funny that she did THIS time, right after your phone call.”
Zeke’s smile twitched as he tried focusing on his coffee. “Hilarious, yeah.”
“You’ve always had my back, dude,” Stan said, winking and nudging Zeke with his elbow.
~*~