[OOC: Five Times Lionel Fell In Love.]
To be continued from the way old meme.
1. Anne
Anne's nothing like Greg or Val. They're outgoing, popular, loud, fun, all those adjectives that mean people like them. They demand attention from their parents more than Lionel or Anne do, but Lionel gets his fair share of time, too. He can't imagine what Anne feels like, being so much younger than her three siblings, and sometimes Lionel tries to put himself in her shoes.
He thinks she's lonely; he sees it in how quiet she is all the time and keeps to her room after school. He thinks she feel left out; she's still in high school when the three older Thayers take off for college, leaving the baby at home with the parents she never had time with as a child. She's happier than Lionel's ever seen her when he and John visit, moreso than she is during the holidays when the entire family is back home.
Lionel sees this and so much more in Anne, and he realizes with a jolt one Christmas eve that he loves his baby sister more than he really loves Greg or Val. He can only imagine whatever extra weight she's carrying as the invisible child he's overheard Faye call her, and he can see their mother's strength in her, for having stood it all their years.
They won't be best of friends like they are now in a year or so, but Lionel just hugs Anne close, tells her he loves her, and invites her over to his and John's new apartment.
2. Photography
Lionel's ten years old when Ward finally lets him tag along on a movie he's directing for the day, and Lionel's been thrumming with excitement for an entire week. Val got to go the year before, and Lionel's really looking forward to holding this over Greg's head for a year to come. The kids know what their parents do; there are Faye Price movie posters in the rec room, Ward Thayer directing awards scattered right amongst them, and Lionel grew up a kid in love with movies; but there's just some huge difference between knowing what your parents do and seeing what they do, and Lionel's finally going to see it.
He isn't ready for the disappointment that starts to settle in when his buzz at finally stepping onto a movie set starts to wear off. There's so much waiting and watching and people telling him to move out of the way like he's some kind of lowly extra, and he doesn't have the stomach to tell them he's the director's son, and he could have them all fired if he wanted. The actors just hang around and do nothing, film for a few minutes, then do more nothing. It's utterly boring, and Lionel can't help but feel like he's been let down somehow.
He's sitting in his dad's chair and starting to doze when a woman's voice pulls him awake again. She sounds like she's just had five espressos in a row, like she's actually enjoying whatever it is she's doing, and Lionel slides out of the chair (careful not to let it topple over like the first time) and walks to the edge of the set, hiding half behind the camera although he doesn't realize it. All the time the woman's talking, her hands are moving, clutching a camera and taking a shot here, a shot there, instructing the actors how to pose, and he doesn't know exactly what he's seeing, but he knows it's something big.
They're acting, all of them, giving her smiles and frowns and redoing scenes just so she can get pictures of them, and maybe Lionel hears the big swelling orchestra as he has a ten-year-old epiphany or maybe that's just the sound guys messing around in the background, but he doesn't notice. All he sees is the woman with the camera, her total control and command of what's going on, taking pictures and shots of moments of film. There's no waiting with what she's doing, there's no lighting adjustments or gaffers to place or someone to yell Action or Cut.
There's a person, a camera, and a moment, and Lionel wants that.
Ward's back sooner than Lionel wishes, and the camera woman is soon gone, but he can't stop thinking about her, even as he starts to doze on the car ride back home. The next morning, Lionel begs and pleads the way he's seen Val get something out of their parents, and he ends up sacrificing his next month's allowance, but it's okay, because two days later, he has a camera, a few rolls of film, and what feels like the entire world just waiting for him to freeze in a moment forever.
3. John
The first time Lionel falls in love with John, he doesn't realize it.
There's too much to process at the moment -- John's gay, he came out to his parents, maybe it wouldn't be that bad, mom would understand, John's gay and he's still Greg's best friend -- and he's just filled with the kind of relief that floods in when you realize you're not alone and maybe everything will be okay.
He's known John most of their lives, and while Lionel always knew him as Greg's jock best friend, he meets the part of John that's probably the reason he and Greg have stuck together since they were in little league. They go out for an early dinner to one of Lionel's favorite restaurants that opens right out onto the beach, and they talk for what feels like hours and seconds all at the same time. John makes the right jokes, asks the right questions, tells the right childhood stories, and Lionel, for the first time in as long as he can remember, asks John the right questions and tells John his own childhood stories.
Somewhere between the salad and the cake, John and Lionel become best friends.
They pick up a bottle of wine on the way home (there's no more talk of John not moving in), and the night turns into more stories. Lionel makes John tell the story of coming out to his parents again, and John makes Lionel promise he'll come out to his mom at the least. They talk and watch old movies well into the night until the wine bottle is empty and wake up to the sun rising in the living room and static on the television.
John borrows a shirt from Lionel before he heads toward his car with a promise to call if he needs help packing. He gives Lionel a smile before pulling out of the driveway, and Lionel thinks he's never met anyone like John before and probably never will.
1. Anne
Anne's nothing like Greg or Val. They're outgoing, popular, loud, fun, all those adjectives that mean people like them. They demand attention from their parents more than Lionel or Anne do, but Lionel gets his fair share of time, too. He can't imagine what Anne feels like, being so much younger than her three siblings, and sometimes Lionel tries to put himself in her shoes.
He thinks she's lonely; he sees it in how quiet she is all the time and keeps to her room after school. He thinks she feel left out; she's still in high school when the three older Thayers take off for college, leaving the baby at home with the parents she never had time with as a child. She's happier than Lionel's ever seen her when he and John visit, moreso than she is during the holidays when the entire family is back home.
Lionel sees this and so much more in Anne, and he realizes with a jolt one Christmas eve that he loves his baby sister more than he really loves Greg or Val. He can only imagine whatever extra weight she's carrying as the invisible child he's overheard Faye call her, and he can see their mother's strength in her, for having stood it all their years.
They won't be best of friends like they are now in a year or so, but Lionel just hugs Anne close, tells her he loves her, and invites her over to his and John's new apartment.
2. Photography
Lionel's ten years old when Ward finally lets him tag along on a movie he's directing for the day, and Lionel's been thrumming with excitement for an entire week. Val got to go the year before, and Lionel's really looking forward to holding this over Greg's head for a year to come. The kids know what their parents do; there are Faye Price movie posters in the rec room, Ward Thayer directing awards scattered right amongst them, and Lionel grew up a kid in love with movies; but there's just some huge difference between knowing what your parents do and seeing what they do, and Lionel's finally going to see it.
He isn't ready for the disappointment that starts to settle in when his buzz at finally stepping onto a movie set starts to wear off. There's so much waiting and watching and people telling him to move out of the way like he's some kind of lowly extra, and he doesn't have the stomach to tell them he's the director's son, and he could have them all fired if he wanted. The actors just hang around and do nothing, film for a few minutes, then do more nothing. It's utterly boring, and Lionel can't help but feel like he's been let down somehow.
He's sitting in his dad's chair and starting to doze when a woman's voice pulls him awake again. She sounds like she's just had five espressos in a row, like she's actually enjoying whatever it is she's doing, and Lionel slides out of the chair (careful not to let it topple over like the first time) and walks to the edge of the set, hiding half behind the camera although he doesn't realize it. All the time the woman's talking, her hands are moving, clutching a camera and taking a shot here, a shot there, instructing the actors how to pose, and he doesn't know exactly what he's seeing, but he knows it's something big.
They're acting, all of them, giving her smiles and frowns and redoing scenes just so she can get pictures of them, and maybe Lionel hears the big swelling orchestra as he has a ten-year-old epiphany or maybe that's just the sound guys messing around in the background, but he doesn't notice. All he sees is the woman with the camera, her total control and command of what's going on, taking pictures and shots of moments of film. There's no waiting with what she's doing, there's no lighting adjustments or gaffers to place or someone to yell Action or Cut.
There's a person, a camera, and a moment, and Lionel wants that.
Ward's back sooner than Lionel wishes, and the camera woman is soon gone, but he can't stop thinking about her, even as he starts to doze on the car ride back home. The next morning, Lionel begs and pleads the way he's seen Val get something out of their parents, and he ends up sacrificing his next month's allowance, but it's okay, because two days later, he has a camera, a few rolls of film, and what feels like the entire world just waiting for him to freeze in a moment forever.
3. John
The first time Lionel falls in love with John, he doesn't realize it.
There's too much to process at the moment -- John's gay, he came out to his parents, maybe it wouldn't be that bad, mom would understand, John's gay and he's still Greg's best friend -- and he's just filled with the kind of relief that floods in when you realize you're not alone and maybe everything will be okay.
He's known John most of their lives, and while Lionel always knew him as Greg's jock best friend, he meets the part of John that's probably the reason he and Greg have stuck together since they were in little league. They go out for an early dinner to one of Lionel's favorite restaurants that opens right out onto the beach, and they talk for what feels like hours and seconds all at the same time. John makes the right jokes, asks the right questions, tells the right childhood stories, and Lionel, for the first time in as long as he can remember, asks John the right questions and tells John his own childhood stories.
Somewhere between the salad and the cake, John and Lionel become best friends.
They pick up a bottle of wine on the way home (there's no more talk of John not moving in), and the night turns into more stories. Lionel makes John tell the story of coming out to his parents again, and John makes Lionel promise he'll come out to his mom at the least. They talk and watch old movies well into the night until the wine bottle is empty and wake up to the sun rising in the living room and static on the television.
John borrows a shirt from Lionel before he heads toward his car with a promise to call if he needs help packing. He gives Lionel a smile before pulling out of the driveway, and Lionel thinks he's never met anyone like John before and probably never will.