(no subject)
Title: Groove ♠ No Obstacles, Only Challenges [1/14]
Pairing: Mark/Addison. For now.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Addison catches him in bed with someone else. Someone she knows pretty well.
Note: Series title is a movie that pretty much does nothing but follow a bunch of ravers and document a San Francisco rave (it’s pretty crazy amazing, you should see it). Chapter titles are tracks from the soundtrack. Cut tags are from various works by Jack Kerouac. Because techno very rarely has discernible lyrics and Kerouac is, well, you know, Kerouac and gives you the most glorious headache at the end of a three-page sentence.
“Well, this unfortunate.” Elizabeth Montgomery coughed and blinked and tried not to smirk as she watched her sister seethe in the doorway and heard Mark scramble somewhere next to her for pants.
“Ellie, what are you doing?”
“I was having sex and then you walked in and now I’m just naked in your boyfriend’s bed.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Oh, okay, so you’re just arbitrarily living with Mark and therefore aren’t ragingly angry that...”
“Shut up.” Addison glared sharply, took a deep breath and hated her younger sister for a little longer than she should have. “Stop.” She pointed at Mark who was trying to sneak out the door and she picked up a shirt and tossed it to her sister who expertly slipped it on over her head without dropping the sheet around her. Had it been any other situation, Addison would have raised an eyebrow at how fluidly Ellie could maneuver otherwise awkward clothing moments and been severely concerned at how comfortable she was being mostly naked in bed with someone else and getting caught. However. “You had sex with my sister, Mark?”
“Yes.” He couldn’t see how he could lie his way out of the situation so didn’t try.
“And you went with this?” She looked at her sister.
“Yes.” She saw the hurt clear on Addison’s face and dropped her usually snappy and sarcastic demeanor. “Addie, I didn’t...”
“Shut up,” Addison repeated and cut her off, holding up an inarguable hand of protest. “I’m gonna take a shower. And when I get out, Elizabeth, you are not going to be here. Mark, get some clothes on and don’t even think about leaving.” She turned and walked calmer than she felt toward the bathroom.
Ellie slipped out of the bed and began collecting her clothes once she heard the shower running. “Mark.” She put a hand on his chest when he walked toward her with an apology on his face. “You and I? We’re done. The only reason I’ve put up with you being a jerk this long is because the sex is good. But tonight? Over the line. Fix this with Addie. And if you hurt her again, if I get wind of you so much as making her think about crying, I’m telling her and Derek that you’ve been trying to get in my pants since I was sixteen.” She stared around the floor of the bedroom and, when she couldn’t find her bra, wondered just how they managed to get her bra off before her shirt.
“El, I was drunk. It was their wedding. I was upset.” He followed her out. “And I didn’t actually know you were sixteen.” He was telling the truth; Ellie Montgomery woke up on her fifteenth birthday looking like she was twenty-one. Addison’s and Derek’s wedding day was the first time he met her and though he knew she was the youngest of the Montgomery children, no one had ever mentioned that she was a surprise five years after her parents thought they were done.
She raised an eyebrow at him. “You being drunk and maybe not knowing how old I was doesn’t change the fact that I barely had my driver's license.” She stopped and picked up her bra somewhere in the kitchen and pulled the shirt over her head to slip the bra back on, too frustrated to spend the energy to wrestle it back on otherwise and too proud to walk out the door without it on. “Mark, I look exactly like her and you wanted a consolation prize and I’ve been that consolation prize for you for the past eight years. You’re an idiot, Mark. You had the actual thing and you went for the smaller trophy anyway. And be happy,” she tugged her shirt on over her head and flipped her hair out, “that I was a little more sober than you eleven years ago next week. Because believe me, where the fuck is my shoe, one of them would’ve found out. And it would not have been pretty.”
“It isn’t pretty now,” he grumbled and handed her the missing shoe.
“And that?” She shrugged off his help and slipped into her coat. “Is your fault.” She grinned at him without any humor at all and slammed the door behind her in typical fashion, not caring about the late hour and neighbors.
Finding himself faced with a reverberating wood door, Mark rested his head against the door and let out with a long whispered string of expletives.
--
“You slept with Ellie?” Addison asked quietly and leaned on the doorway to the kitchen.
Mark blinked out of his reverie watching a bag of popcorn go in circles in the microwave - he needed something to eat and it was easy. He didn’t expect quiet from Addison, not after walking in on him with someone else, not to mention her sister. Her calm voice scared him; she was always more terrifying when she wasn’t shouting. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
The popping slowed and he opened the microwave door and dumped the popcorn into a waiting bowl. “Why did I sleep with someone else or why did I sleep with Ellie?” He looked at her and offered her some.
Addison shook some salt onto the snack and ate a piece. “Ellie. I know why you sleep with other people.” She sighed sadly in the dark and lifted herself onto the counter and tucked her sock-clad feet under her.
“I’m so sorry, Addison.”
“Answer the question, Mark.” She closed her eyes and leaned her head on the wall.
He sighed and leaned against the oven. “It’s what we do when we’re in the same place. She really didn’t know about you and me, Addison.”
“Why didn’t you tell her?”
“Why didn’t you?”
Addison ignored his question. “How long has this been going on?”
“Addison if you can’t care enough about you and me to tell your sister, why the hell do you care how long we’ve had an on-and-off thing?”
Her eyes flew open and she raised her voice. “Because she’s my younger sister, Mark. I don’t particularly want her to get hurt, especially by you.”
“Really, Addison. You think Ellie can’t hold her own? That she needs to be protected from me by you? Of all people, Addison, you are in no position to emotionally protect anyone.”
“You know, for someone who claims to love me, sometimes you’re not very nice to me.” Her voice dropped back down to a whisper.
“You’re still wearing the rings,” he offered by way of explanation.
“No I’m not.” She looked at him. “And I haven’t been for about a week.” Addison swallowed a lump in her throat. “You’ve been going on about it ever since Derek left and when I’m finally ready to take them off, you don’t notice. Do you have any idea how much that says about you?”
His eyes dropped to her left hand and her bare fingers. “I am so sorry, Addie.” He moved to take her hand in his but she pulled it away to grab some popcorn instead.
Surprised at her distance and lack of emotion, Addison looked at him, unblinking, for several seconds. “What are you sorry for?”
“What?”
“You’ve said you’re sorry twice. I want to know what you’re sorry for.”
He knew that his answer could make or break their relationship. Addison knew him too well for him to be able to lie to her, to make up something he thought she wanted to hear. “For hurting you,” he whispered and looked up into her eyes. “I’m sorry for hurting you.”
Addison nodded slowly. “Yeah,” she breathed to herself and tried to determine his sincerity. “Thanks for the popcorn.” She slid off the counter and walked out.
“Addison...” Mark caught up to her as she was putting on her coat. “Addison, I was...”
“I know.” She pushed the final button through its hole and flipped her hair out. “But that doesn’t change that I walked in on you with my sister.”
For the second time that night, Mark found himself faced with his apartment door though it simply clicked shut this time without the angry slam. “Why does that make it worse?”
He stared at the door for a while, half expecting it to open again and Addison to walk back in. After two minutes of no Addison, he sighed and went back to the kitchen and the bowl of now-cold popcorn and he tossed it out before popping open a beer and turning on the TV to flip through Love Boat reruns and Thighmaster infomercials.
♠ Girls Like Us
Pairing: Mark/Addison. For now.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Addison catches him in bed with someone else. Someone she knows pretty well.
Note: Series title is a movie that pretty much does nothing but follow a bunch of ravers and document a San Francisco rave (it’s pretty crazy amazing, you should see it). Chapter titles are tracks from the soundtrack. Cut tags are from various works by Jack Kerouac. Because techno very rarely has discernible lyrics and Kerouac is, well, you know, Kerouac and gives you the most glorious headache at the end of a three-page sentence.
“Well, this unfortunate.” Elizabeth Montgomery coughed and blinked and tried not to smirk as she watched her sister seethe in the doorway and heard Mark scramble somewhere next to her for pants.
“Ellie, what are you doing?”
“I was having sex and then you walked in and now I’m just naked in your boyfriend’s bed.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Oh, okay, so you’re just arbitrarily living with Mark and therefore aren’t ragingly angry that...”
“Shut up.” Addison glared sharply, took a deep breath and hated her younger sister for a little longer than she should have. “Stop.” She pointed at Mark who was trying to sneak out the door and she picked up a shirt and tossed it to her sister who expertly slipped it on over her head without dropping the sheet around her. Had it been any other situation, Addison would have raised an eyebrow at how fluidly Ellie could maneuver otherwise awkward clothing moments and been severely concerned at how comfortable she was being mostly naked in bed with someone else and getting caught. However. “You had sex with my sister, Mark?”
“Yes.” He couldn’t see how he could lie his way out of the situation so didn’t try.
“And you went with this?” She looked at her sister.
“Yes.” She saw the hurt clear on Addison’s face and dropped her usually snappy and sarcastic demeanor. “Addie, I didn’t...”
“Shut up,” Addison repeated and cut her off, holding up an inarguable hand of protest. “I’m gonna take a shower. And when I get out, Elizabeth, you are not going to be here. Mark, get some clothes on and don’t even think about leaving.” She turned and walked calmer than she felt toward the bathroom.
Ellie slipped out of the bed and began collecting her clothes once she heard the shower running. “Mark.” She put a hand on his chest when he walked toward her with an apology on his face. “You and I? We’re done. The only reason I’ve put up with you being a jerk this long is because the sex is good. But tonight? Over the line. Fix this with Addie. And if you hurt her again, if I get wind of you so much as making her think about crying, I’m telling her and Derek that you’ve been trying to get in my pants since I was sixteen.” She stared around the floor of the bedroom and, when she couldn’t find her bra, wondered just how they managed to get her bra off before her shirt.
“El, I was drunk. It was their wedding. I was upset.” He followed her out. “And I didn’t actually know you were sixteen.” He was telling the truth; Ellie Montgomery woke up on her fifteenth birthday looking like she was twenty-one. Addison’s and Derek’s wedding day was the first time he met her and though he knew she was the youngest of the Montgomery children, no one had ever mentioned that she was a surprise five years after her parents thought they were done.
She raised an eyebrow at him. “You being drunk and maybe not knowing how old I was doesn’t change the fact that I barely had my driver's license.” She stopped and picked up her bra somewhere in the kitchen and pulled the shirt over her head to slip the bra back on, too frustrated to spend the energy to wrestle it back on otherwise and too proud to walk out the door without it on. “Mark, I look exactly like her and you wanted a consolation prize and I’ve been that consolation prize for you for the past eight years. You’re an idiot, Mark. You had the actual thing and you went for the smaller trophy anyway. And be happy,” she tugged her shirt on over her head and flipped her hair out, “that I was a little more sober than you eleven years ago next week. Because believe me, where the fuck is my shoe, one of them would’ve found out. And it would not have been pretty.”
“It isn’t pretty now,” he grumbled and handed her the missing shoe.
“And that?” She shrugged off his help and slipped into her coat. “Is your fault.” She grinned at him without any humor at all and slammed the door behind her in typical fashion, not caring about the late hour and neighbors.
Finding himself faced with a reverberating wood door, Mark rested his head against the door and let out with a long whispered string of expletives.
--
“You slept with Ellie?” Addison asked quietly and leaned on the doorway to the kitchen.
Mark blinked out of his reverie watching a bag of popcorn go in circles in the microwave - he needed something to eat and it was easy. He didn’t expect quiet from Addison, not after walking in on him with someone else, not to mention her sister. Her calm voice scared him; she was always more terrifying when she wasn’t shouting. “Yeah.”
“Why?”
The popping slowed and he opened the microwave door and dumped the popcorn into a waiting bowl. “Why did I sleep with someone else or why did I sleep with Ellie?” He looked at her and offered her some.
Addison shook some salt onto the snack and ate a piece. “Ellie. I know why you sleep with other people.” She sighed sadly in the dark and lifted herself onto the counter and tucked her sock-clad feet under her.
“I’m so sorry, Addison.”
“Answer the question, Mark.” She closed her eyes and leaned her head on the wall.
He sighed and leaned against the oven. “It’s what we do when we’re in the same place. She really didn’t know about you and me, Addison.”
“Why didn’t you tell her?”
“Why didn’t you?”
Addison ignored his question. “How long has this been going on?”
“Addison if you can’t care enough about you and me to tell your sister, why the hell do you care how long we’ve had an on-and-off thing?”
Her eyes flew open and she raised her voice. “Because she’s my younger sister, Mark. I don’t particularly want her to get hurt, especially by you.”
“Really, Addison. You think Ellie can’t hold her own? That she needs to be protected from me by you? Of all people, Addison, you are in no position to emotionally protect anyone.”
“You know, for someone who claims to love me, sometimes you’re not very nice to me.” Her voice dropped back down to a whisper.
“You’re still wearing the rings,” he offered by way of explanation.
“No I’m not.” She looked at him. “And I haven’t been for about a week.” Addison swallowed a lump in her throat. “You’ve been going on about it ever since Derek left and when I’m finally ready to take them off, you don’t notice. Do you have any idea how much that says about you?”
His eyes dropped to her left hand and her bare fingers. “I am so sorry, Addie.” He moved to take her hand in his but she pulled it away to grab some popcorn instead.
Surprised at her distance and lack of emotion, Addison looked at him, unblinking, for several seconds. “What are you sorry for?”
“What?”
“You’ve said you’re sorry twice. I want to know what you’re sorry for.”
He knew that his answer could make or break their relationship. Addison knew him too well for him to be able to lie to her, to make up something he thought she wanted to hear. “For hurting you,” he whispered and looked up into her eyes. “I’m sorry for hurting you.”
Addison nodded slowly. “Yeah,” she breathed to herself and tried to determine his sincerity. “Thanks for the popcorn.” She slid off the counter and walked out.
“Addison...” Mark caught up to her as she was putting on her coat. “Addison, I was...”
“I know.” She pushed the final button through its hole and flipped her hair out. “But that doesn’t change that I walked in on you with my sister.”
For the second time that night, Mark found himself faced with his apartment door though it simply clicked shut this time without the angry slam. “Why does that make it worse?”
He stared at the door for a while, half expecting it to open again and Addison to walk back in. After two minutes of no Addison, he sighed and went back to the kitchen and the bowl of now-cold popcorn and he tossed it out before popping open a beer and turning on the TV to flip through Love Boat reruns and Thighmaster infomercials.
♠ Girls Like Us