Hers Chapter 9
Title: Hers
Pairing(s): David Cook/David Archuleta
Rating: PG to NC-17
Genre: AU
Disclaimer: The real-life characters do not belong to me, and the story is fictional.
Summary: David falls in love with someone he can't have, but what happens when that person wants him back?
Author's Notes: This fic was originally posted at cookleta from July 2008 to September 2008. :)
9
I. David Archuleta.
“What is going on?” Mom asked, setting down the knife she’d been using to cut the cake for dessert.
Cook and I had rushed into the house after Jaidyn. She was standing by the island, still seething and glaring menacingly at the two of us.
“Jaidyn, what’s wrong?” Dad got up from the table. Everyone’s gaze moved curiously from her to me and Cook, wondering what had crashed the pleasant mood from dinner.
“Ask them,” Jaidyn spat, pointing her forefinger at the two of us. “No, why don’t you ask my brother? He seems to have a lot to explain.”
“David? Honey, what is she talking about?”
“Explain to everyone here what I heard, Dave!” Jaidyn demanded angrily, almost screaming.
“I… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I said, my lips quivering at the dread following what had been inevitable.
“How could you do something so terrible behind my back? What’s worse, you acted like nothing was wrong! I never knew you could be such a two-faced -”
“Jaidyn, stop,” Cook cut in, “This isn’t his fault.”
“Are you defending him over me? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I’m giving you the truth. All of this happened because of me.”
“You’re damn right it did. You lied to me this entire time. You played me! And while I was trying to figure out why you were acting so differently since you got here, you were off in your own little world, weren’t you? Falling in love with my brother, David? How could you betray me like this?”
“Wait, what?” Claudia sputtered.
“Amber and Jazzy go upstairs.”
“But -”
“Upstairs.” Mom’s tone was firm. “Okay,” she said when she came back into the kitchen after making sure that they’d done as they were told. “Jaidyn, what are you saying?”
“Talk to your sweet and innocent son,” Sarcasm dripped from every word. “He’s not as naïve as you think.” With that, she turned and left the room. We could hear her footsteps on the hardwood floor and the sound of her bedroom door closing even more clearly.
“David?”
“Mama, I…” My throat closed up as soon as I opened my mouth. I darted my eyes, unable to look at her.
“Lupe,” Cook jumped in again. “There is no easy way to say this but… I am… in love with your son.”
“What?” my parents said almost simultaneously. I saw Dad’s hands roll into tight fists.
“I met Archie back in February at my concert and… couldn’t stop thinking about him. When I met Jaidyn later in New York I… She reminded me of him, and -”
“How dare you?” Dad’s low voice was threatening. “How dare you use my daughter and corrupt my son? How dare you ruin our family?”
“Dad, please…” I begged. The tears stung at my eyes and blurred my vision, but I could tell from the silence that everyone was shocked beyond belief, as they had every right to be.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Dad scolded me. “Didn’t your mom and I teach you anything? What made you so thoughtless?”
“… I wasn’t being thoughtless.”
“What?”
“Most of the time the pain was so bad I thought I would die,” I said, sobbing now. “Knowing… Knowing what I was doing. But I couldn’t stop myself, no matter how much I tried. For awhile I wanted nothing more than to change myself. I would’ve given anything… I’ve finally realized that it’s useless… I’m in love with Cook.”
When I let out the last sentence I felt an untimely sense of relief. What I had kept from my family for over a year was finally thrown into the open. I was aware of my choice. The most important thing was that I knew in the bottom of my heart that I’d made the right one.
Dad didn’t say anything. He just stared back at me with an expression mixed with confusion and disappointment. After a moment, he too, like Jaidyn, turned to leave. The rest of us were silent. The only sound came from Dan’s jeans rustling as he shifted his balance from one foot to another, looking just as baffled as Dad had been.
“Dave,” Mom called softly. “I think you and David should, um, go somewhere else until… things die down a little.”
“I understand.” The tears started to fall again.
“Oh, sweetie.” In seconds, Mom had me in her arms, her hand rubbing slow circles on my back.
“Please don’t hate me,” I cried into her shoulder. “Please, Mama, don’t hate me.”
“Nonsense,” she soothed. “I’m a mother, which means my love is unconditional.” Chuckling, she pulled away to turn to Cook. “For the record,” she said to him. “I don’t hate you either.”
Cook smiled. I knew how much those words meant to him. Mom walked to the highchair over which she’d hung her jacket and reached into the pocket. She handed the object in her hand to Cook. They were her keys.
“Take my car. Stay at a hotel close by until some of the problems get sorted out.”
“Thank you, Lupe.”
“It’s the only thing I can do at this point. Now go get your things before anyone raises a voice again, hmm? The younger ones don’t need to hear any more fighting today.”
It took the two of us less than fifteen minutes to pack. Luckily for me, there was no school on Monday since it was coincidentally a teacher work day, but I grabbed by backpack since I was unsure when I would be back.
Claudia and Dan were standing next to the door along with Mom when we walked downstairs.
“I’m sorry Claudia. Dan.”
“We’ll work things out,” Claudia answered, not exactly accepting my apology but sympathetic nonetheless.
“Don’t go too far, guys,” Dan mumbled. “I’ll call you,” he said to me.
I started to tremble as soon as I left the doorstep. Cook wrapped an arm around my shoulders to steady me, and I leaned against him as we headed to the car, grateful that I wasn’t alone.
II. David Cook.
It was a half an hour drive to the Sheraton in Salt Lake City. The lobby was empty except for a few guests and the employees were too tired to pay attention to the people checking in so we were able to get a room without a fuss. We walked to the elevators relieved, our bodies tired from the emotional toll.
“I need to make a phone call but I’ll be right back,” I told David.
“I’ll be here,” he replied, sitting down on the king-size bed. His smile was forced but I didn’t expect anything more, especially with everything he’d been through in one day.
+
“Hey,” I called ten minutes later, poking my head back into the hotel room.
“Hey.” He looked up from tracing patterns on the sheets. I walked over to sit down next to him.
“Guess what, Arch?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m staying another week.”
“What? How did you pull that off?”
“I promised my manager that I wouldn’t complain anymore about long recording hours. Oh, and he gets my first-born child.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Your first-born child?”
“Fine, just the first part is true. Either way, I wasn’t going to leave you here alone.”
“Either way,” he repeated, looking down at his hands, “I’m glad you are staying… I mean, I’m really scared, Cook - about everything…”
“I know,” I whispered, kissing his forehead. “I’ll be here with you.”
III. David Archuleta.
I couldn’t remember falling asleep but slept soundly until ten o’clock the next morning. I still felt a little lightheaded but thankfully the throbbing pain that had been bothering me was gone.
“Cook?” I mumbled, sitting up against the headboard.
There was no reply. My gaze focused on a table in the middle of the room, draped in a crisp, white cloth and holding up several covered plates. As my empty stomach ordered me to move closer to the food, the door opened with a click and Cook sauntered in.
“Hey when did you get up?” He walked over to give me a kiss.
“Just now. I was wondering where you were.”
“Well, I ordered omelets for you from the hotel menu, and then realized that I wasn’t sure if you even liked omelets. So I ran down to Starbucks to pick up some other things.”
I eyed the large paper bag that he had in his hand. “Cook, did you buy everything they had there?”
He shrugged. “I may have gotten a few more scones than necessary.”
“And no one wanted to know what David Cook was doing in Salt Lake?”
“Nah. I think they thought I was crazy though because I was wearing my sunglasses indoors. That and going, ‘Yes, I’ll have a breakfast sandwich… and a scone… and a toffee bar… and a parfait…’”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“Why, thank you. A man does what he can to feed the family. I hope you’re hungry.”
“I am.”
“Awesome.”
Cook rolled the table closer and joined me at the foot of our bed.
“Gosh Cook, I could get used to this,” I said, reaching for the toffee bar. “You know, eating all of Starbucks every morning.”
He chuckled. “Speaking of breakfast, what do you want to do afterwards?”
“Hmm. Maybe we could stay here for a bit?”
“That sounds good. We could go out for dinner or something later if you and your stomach are up for it.”
“Dinner? We have enough food to last us until this time tomorrow.”
“I can’t let you eat Starbucks all day, Archie.”
“We can’t just waste the food Cook,” I reasoned, sulking a little when Cook burst out laughing and teased me about being a goody two shoes. I opened my mouth to protest but he told me that he loved me more because of it, and I knew that I’d lost the argument.
“Cook?”
“Yeah, Arch?”
I tilted my face up to kiss him, tasting a hint of the parfait on his lips.
“I love you,” I whispered, the sound of my own heartbeat ringing in my ears.
“I love you too,” Cook replied, his voice slightly rough. “More than you know.”
Pairing(s): David Cook/David Archuleta
Rating: PG to NC-17
Genre: AU
Disclaimer: The real-life characters do not belong to me, and the story is fictional.
Summary: David falls in love with someone he can't have, but what happens when that person wants him back?
Author's Notes: This fic was originally posted at cookleta from July 2008 to September 2008. :)
9
I. David Archuleta.
“What is going on?” Mom asked, setting down the knife she’d been using to cut the cake for dessert.
Cook and I had rushed into the house after Jaidyn. She was standing by the island, still seething and glaring menacingly at the two of us.
“Jaidyn, what’s wrong?” Dad got up from the table. Everyone’s gaze moved curiously from her to me and Cook, wondering what had crashed the pleasant mood from dinner.
“Ask them,” Jaidyn spat, pointing her forefinger at the two of us. “No, why don’t you ask my brother? He seems to have a lot to explain.”
“David? Honey, what is she talking about?”
“Explain to everyone here what I heard, Dave!” Jaidyn demanded angrily, almost screaming.
“I… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I said, my lips quivering at the dread following what had been inevitable.
“How could you do something so terrible behind my back? What’s worse, you acted like nothing was wrong! I never knew you could be such a two-faced -”
“Jaidyn, stop,” Cook cut in, “This isn’t his fault.”
“Are you defending him over me? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“I’m giving you the truth. All of this happened because of me.”
“You’re damn right it did. You lied to me this entire time. You played me! And while I was trying to figure out why you were acting so differently since you got here, you were off in your own little world, weren’t you? Falling in love with my brother, David? How could you betray me like this?”
“Wait, what?” Claudia sputtered.
“Amber and Jazzy go upstairs.”
“But -”
“Upstairs.” Mom’s tone was firm. “Okay,” she said when she came back into the kitchen after making sure that they’d done as they were told. “Jaidyn, what are you saying?”
“Talk to your sweet and innocent son,” Sarcasm dripped from every word. “He’s not as naïve as you think.” With that, she turned and left the room. We could hear her footsteps on the hardwood floor and the sound of her bedroom door closing even more clearly.
“David?”
“Mama, I…” My throat closed up as soon as I opened my mouth. I darted my eyes, unable to look at her.
“Lupe,” Cook jumped in again. “There is no easy way to say this but… I am… in love with your son.”
“What?” my parents said almost simultaneously. I saw Dad’s hands roll into tight fists.
“I met Archie back in February at my concert and… couldn’t stop thinking about him. When I met Jaidyn later in New York I… She reminded me of him, and -”
“How dare you?” Dad’s low voice was threatening. “How dare you use my daughter and corrupt my son? How dare you ruin our family?”
“Dad, please…” I begged. The tears stung at my eyes and blurred my vision, but I could tell from the silence that everyone was shocked beyond belief, as they had every right to be.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Dad scolded me. “Didn’t your mom and I teach you anything? What made you so thoughtless?”
“… I wasn’t being thoughtless.”
“What?”
“Most of the time the pain was so bad I thought I would die,” I said, sobbing now. “Knowing… Knowing what I was doing. But I couldn’t stop myself, no matter how much I tried. For awhile I wanted nothing more than to change myself. I would’ve given anything… I’ve finally realized that it’s useless… I’m in love with Cook.”
When I let out the last sentence I felt an untimely sense of relief. What I had kept from my family for over a year was finally thrown into the open. I was aware of my choice. The most important thing was that I knew in the bottom of my heart that I’d made the right one.
Dad didn’t say anything. He just stared back at me with an expression mixed with confusion and disappointment. After a moment, he too, like Jaidyn, turned to leave. The rest of us were silent. The only sound came from Dan’s jeans rustling as he shifted his balance from one foot to another, looking just as baffled as Dad had been.
“Dave,” Mom called softly. “I think you and David should, um, go somewhere else until… things die down a little.”
“I understand.” The tears started to fall again.
“Oh, sweetie.” In seconds, Mom had me in her arms, her hand rubbing slow circles on my back.
“Please don’t hate me,” I cried into her shoulder. “Please, Mama, don’t hate me.”
“Nonsense,” she soothed. “I’m a mother, which means my love is unconditional.” Chuckling, she pulled away to turn to Cook. “For the record,” she said to him. “I don’t hate you either.”
Cook smiled. I knew how much those words meant to him. Mom walked to the highchair over which she’d hung her jacket and reached into the pocket. She handed the object in her hand to Cook. They were her keys.
“Take my car. Stay at a hotel close by until some of the problems get sorted out.”
“Thank you, Lupe.”
“It’s the only thing I can do at this point. Now go get your things before anyone raises a voice again, hmm? The younger ones don’t need to hear any more fighting today.”
It took the two of us less than fifteen minutes to pack. Luckily for me, there was no school on Monday since it was coincidentally a teacher work day, but I grabbed by backpack since I was unsure when I would be back.
Claudia and Dan were standing next to the door along with Mom when we walked downstairs.
“I’m sorry Claudia. Dan.”
“We’ll work things out,” Claudia answered, not exactly accepting my apology but sympathetic nonetheless.
“Don’t go too far, guys,” Dan mumbled. “I’ll call you,” he said to me.
I started to tremble as soon as I left the doorstep. Cook wrapped an arm around my shoulders to steady me, and I leaned against him as we headed to the car, grateful that I wasn’t alone.
II. David Cook.
It was a half an hour drive to the Sheraton in Salt Lake City. The lobby was empty except for a few guests and the employees were too tired to pay attention to the people checking in so we were able to get a room without a fuss. We walked to the elevators relieved, our bodies tired from the emotional toll.
“I need to make a phone call but I’ll be right back,” I told David.
“I’ll be here,” he replied, sitting down on the king-size bed. His smile was forced but I didn’t expect anything more, especially with everything he’d been through in one day.
+
“Hey,” I called ten minutes later, poking my head back into the hotel room.
“Hey.” He looked up from tracing patterns on the sheets. I walked over to sit down next to him.
“Guess what, Arch?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m staying another week.”
“What? How did you pull that off?”
“I promised my manager that I wouldn’t complain anymore about long recording hours. Oh, and he gets my first-born child.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Your first-born child?”
“Fine, just the first part is true. Either way, I wasn’t going to leave you here alone.”
“Either way,” he repeated, looking down at his hands, “I’m glad you are staying… I mean, I’m really scared, Cook - about everything…”
“I know,” I whispered, kissing his forehead. “I’ll be here with you.”
III. David Archuleta.
I couldn’t remember falling asleep but slept soundly until ten o’clock the next morning. I still felt a little lightheaded but thankfully the throbbing pain that had been bothering me was gone.
“Cook?” I mumbled, sitting up against the headboard.
There was no reply. My gaze focused on a table in the middle of the room, draped in a crisp, white cloth and holding up several covered plates. As my empty stomach ordered me to move closer to the food, the door opened with a click and Cook sauntered in.
“Hey when did you get up?” He walked over to give me a kiss.
“Just now. I was wondering where you were.”
“Well, I ordered omelets for you from the hotel menu, and then realized that I wasn’t sure if you even liked omelets. So I ran down to Starbucks to pick up some other things.”
I eyed the large paper bag that he had in his hand. “Cook, did you buy everything they had there?”
He shrugged. “I may have gotten a few more scones than necessary.”
“And no one wanted to know what David Cook was doing in Salt Lake?”
“Nah. I think they thought I was crazy though because I was wearing my sunglasses indoors. That and going, ‘Yes, I’ll have a breakfast sandwich… and a scone… and a toffee bar… and a parfait…’”
“You’re unbelievable.”
“Why, thank you. A man does what he can to feed the family. I hope you’re hungry.”
“I am.”
“Awesome.”
Cook rolled the table closer and joined me at the foot of our bed.
“Gosh Cook, I could get used to this,” I said, reaching for the toffee bar. “You know, eating all of Starbucks every morning.”
He chuckled. “Speaking of breakfast, what do you want to do afterwards?”
“Hmm. Maybe we could stay here for a bit?”
“That sounds good. We could go out for dinner or something later if you and your stomach are up for it.”
“Dinner? We have enough food to last us until this time tomorrow.”
“I can’t let you eat Starbucks all day, Archie.”
“We can’t just waste the food Cook,” I reasoned, sulking a little when Cook burst out laughing and teased me about being a goody two shoes. I opened my mouth to protest but he told me that he loved me more because of it, and I knew that I’d lost the argument.
“Cook?”
“Yeah, Arch?”
I tilted my face up to kiss him, tasting a hint of the parfait on his lips.
“I love you,” I whispered, the sound of my own heartbeat ringing in my ears.
“I love you too,” Cook replied, his voice slightly rough. “More than you know.”