Fic: Aren't Memories Supposed To Fade [Cookleta&Dekelly, pg, one-shot]
Title: Aren't Memories Supposed To Fade (What's Wrong With My Heart)
Author: Zach // tinkertoo
Pairing: David Cook/David Archuleta and (not so) subtle and (not really) in the background Lee DeWyze/Aaron Kelly
Rating: pg
Word Count: 1157
Summary: Cook's performance on the top 12 results show brings up memories of the past, especially as he watches two of the current contestants and it reminds him so much of how he and David used to be, he almost can't stand it.
Warnings: angst, quite a lot of it actually for such a short fic.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these boys (trust me, if I did they would not have went a year without seeing each other!) and I'm not making any money from this. It's purely a work of fiction. (And if you googled yourself and found this, you should turn away now, this is not for your eyes). The title &cut text are taken from 'A Little Too Not Over You' by David Archuleta.
A/N: Idek how I got this idea, it sort of randomly hit me while I was in class today and I had to start writing it, and then I couldn't stop and then it was finished before I realized it. My first time writing Lee and Aaron, so let's hope I got them in character.
His eyes don’t linger on the pair. Really. He’s not paying attention to the oh-so-similar interactions, the gazes, the little touches that they probably think mean nothing. And it doesn’t hurt his heart to see that peaceful and content look on the older one’s face when the younger leans into him for a hug for seemingly no reason. He’s trying not to let it hit too close to home, but he can’t help that it does.
“Dave? You ok?” It’s Andy’s voice that makes him realize he’s stopped in his tracks and his eyes are kind of stuck on blissfully unaware Lee and Aaron seated together not too far away from where he’s stopped. It’s all too familiar to him, and no, he’s really not okay when all he can see are sparkling hazel eyes, messy, sticking in every direction black hair and the smile he’ll never forget.
But he doesn’t say that. He simply shakes his head to block out the images and plants an untrue smile across his lips. “Yeah, fine. Sorry.”
Andy looks unconvinced, but he shrugs it off. “Okay...well, we gotta rehearse so, come on.” He follows Andy, but his eyes stay on Lee and Aaron until he turns a corner and they’re out of sight.
Being back on that stage is hard for him. It reminds him of so long ago, the time that he remembers like it was yesterday and wishes so badly that he could rewind to, but that also makes his head spin and his heart doesn’t feel right and it’s almost unbearable to think about, even the good memories seem tainted with the bad and he tries to remember what went wrong and got them to this point. He’s messing up in rehearsal and the band fears a disaster when they finally take the stage.
Yet somehow, he’s pulled himself together by showtime and he’s ready to go sing his face off, “Show these season 9 kids how it’s done,” as Neal put it. He focuses on the performance, the music filling the entire theater, the lyrics he’s belting out, the screaming from the crowd...really anything and everything but the boy on the couch who’s just sneakily moved up a seat, the man he’s now seated beside who’s gaze can’t help but fall to the innocence on his right, and the gorgeous hazel eyes haunting his mind. He belts out the words “it’s alright now” like they’re true because he wants so bad for them to be and maybe if he sings it loud enough they magically will be.
When the song ends, he does not see Aaron reluctantly move back to his place on the couch while he really does pay attention to whatever Ryan’s trying to interview him about. When he brings up ‘not being judged,’ it reminds Cook of when he was facing eliminations and he fights the instinct to look to the couches for the comfort and support he used to find there. Somewhere in his mind, he knows he’ll only see two guys who won’t quit reminding him of the past so he keeps his gaze between Ryan and the cameras and miraculously makes it through the rest of his interview without losing it. But the second the cameras shut off, he bolts off stage without a word.
He’s gotten his composure back (somewhat) when he hears his name in an unfamiliar voice that, when he looks up, he realizes belongs to the scruffier of the pair he’s been trying to not stare at all night. In the next instant, he notices the kid standing only a few feet away, watching with a mix of intimidation and intrigue. He ignores this, or at least attempts to, and puts on his fake smile again. No reason to start any trouble, they aren’t aware of the hell they’re causing his mind. It’s not even really their fault!
He’s about to say some kind of greeting, but Lee doesn’t give him the chance; as soon as he’s got Cook’s attention, he’s complimenting his performance and his album and what he did on the show, saying how big of an inspiration he was, that he was part of the reason Lee decided to audition at all. Cook can barely keep up, yet somehow he manages to hear the hushed laughter filled with admiration coming from behind Lee. He doesn’t have to look to know that the source is Aaron and he doesn’t like how it twists his heart and puts a knot in his throat as he’s reminded of very similar laughter and those sparkling eyes that he can’t get out of his head.
After a few minutes of gushing, Lee has quit talking and is looking at him expectantly. He couldn’t drown out the now dying down laughter and didn’t really comprehend a thing Lee had said, but he can’t be rude and say nothing, and he knows it was all good things anyway, so he responds with a simple “Thank you.” A moment later, he realizes he should add something else, something more, and follows with “You’re good too you know. Keep up what you’re doing and you really could win this whole thing.” He’s not sure he means it, but it makes Lee’s whole face light up and, as if on impulse, he turns and locks eyes with Aaron. Cook can’t miss the spark that passes between them or the way Aaron almost instantly lights up as well. It makes him sort of dizzy as everything else goes blurry and shining, innocent, sweet and perfect hazel eyes cloud his thoughts. He has to get away before their chemistry and his memories crush him. He says something about it being nice talking but he had to go and the commercial break was about over so they should get back on stage. He’s quickly walking away before Lee can get a response out.
Later that night his mind’s already made up that he made a mistake somewhere along the line and he’s mentally kicking himself because it took two near strangers to remind him of all the good times and of all the reasons he not just wanted but needed David in his life.
When his phone goes off around 2:30 in the morning and it’s David’s twitter and it’s about his performance earlier, a million different things go flying through his mind all at once. He saw it. He was watching. Did he see the chemistry too? Or was that just behind the scenes? Is he still thinking about him? (Did he ever stop?)
He decides he’s sick of the distance between them, sick of only having memories, sick of not seeing that brilliant face and hearing that amazing voice every day.
He’s already got his phone in hand, dialing the memorized number, waiting through the rings.
“Hello?” He sounds so distant, distracted, but Cook’s determined to not get discouraged and hang up.
“Hey David.”
Author: Zach // tinkertoo
Pairing: David Cook/David Archuleta and (not so) subtle and (not really) in the background Lee DeWyze/Aaron Kelly
Rating: pg
Word Count: 1157
Summary: Cook's performance on the top 12 results show brings up memories of the past, especially as he watches two of the current contestants and it reminds him so much of how he and David used to be, he almost can't stand it.
Warnings: angst, quite a lot of it actually for such a short fic.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these boys (trust me, if I did they would not have went a year without seeing each other!) and I'm not making any money from this. It's purely a work of fiction. (And if you googled yourself and found this, you should turn away now, this is not for your eyes). The title &cut text are taken from 'A Little Too Not Over You' by David Archuleta.
A/N: Idek how I got this idea, it sort of randomly hit me while I was in class today and I had to start writing it, and then I couldn't stop and then it was finished before I realized it. My first time writing Lee and Aaron, so let's hope I got them in character.
His eyes don’t linger on the pair. Really. He’s not paying attention to the oh-so-similar interactions, the gazes, the little touches that they probably think mean nothing. And it doesn’t hurt his heart to see that peaceful and content look on the older one’s face when the younger leans into him for a hug for seemingly no reason. He’s trying not to let it hit too close to home, but he can’t help that it does.
“Dave? You ok?” It’s Andy’s voice that makes him realize he’s stopped in his tracks and his eyes are kind of stuck on blissfully unaware Lee and Aaron seated together not too far away from where he’s stopped. It’s all too familiar to him, and no, he’s really not okay when all he can see are sparkling hazel eyes, messy, sticking in every direction black hair and the smile he’ll never forget.
But he doesn’t say that. He simply shakes his head to block out the images and plants an untrue smile across his lips. “Yeah, fine. Sorry.”
Andy looks unconvinced, but he shrugs it off. “Okay...well, we gotta rehearse so, come on.” He follows Andy, but his eyes stay on Lee and Aaron until he turns a corner and they’re out of sight.
Being back on that stage is hard for him. It reminds him of so long ago, the time that he remembers like it was yesterday and wishes so badly that he could rewind to, but that also makes his head spin and his heart doesn’t feel right and it’s almost unbearable to think about, even the good memories seem tainted with the bad and he tries to remember what went wrong and got them to this point. He’s messing up in rehearsal and the band fears a disaster when they finally take the stage.
Yet somehow, he’s pulled himself together by showtime and he’s ready to go sing his face off, “Show these season 9 kids how it’s done,” as Neal put it. He focuses on the performance, the music filling the entire theater, the lyrics he’s belting out, the screaming from the crowd...really anything and everything but the boy on the couch who’s just sneakily moved up a seat, the man he’s now seated beside who’s gaze can’t help but fall to the innocence on his right, and the gorgeous hazel eyes haunting his mind. He belts out the words “it’s alright now” like they’re true because he wants so bad for them to be and maybe if he sings it loud enough they magically will be.
When the song ends, he does not see Aaron reluctantly move back to his place on the couch while he really does pay attention to whatever Ryan’s trying to interview him about. When he brings up ‘not being judged,’ it reminds Cook of when he was facing eliminations and he fights the instinct to look to the couches for the comfort and support he used to find there. Somewhere in his mind, he knows he’ll only see two guys who won’t quit reminding him of the past so he keeps his gaze between Ryan and the cameras and miraculously makes it through the rest of his interview without losing it. But the second the cameras shut off, he bolts off stage without a word.
He’s gotten his composure back (somewhat) when he hears his name in an unfamiliar voice that, when he looks up, he realizes belongs to the scruffier of the pair he’s been trying to not stare at all night. In the next instant, he notices the kid standing only a few feet away, watching with a mix of intimidation and intrigue. He ignores this, or at least attempts to, and puts on his fake smile again. No reason to start any trouble, they aren’t aware of the hell they’re causing his mind. It’s not even really their fault!
He’s about to say some kind of greeting, but Lee doesn’t give him the chance; as soon as he’s got Cook’s attention, he’s complimenting his performance and his album and what he did on the show, saying how big of an inspiration he was, that he was part of the reason Lee decided to audition at all. Cook can barely keep up, yet somehow he manages to hear the hushed laughter filled with admiration coming from behind Lee. He doesn’t have to look to know that the source is Aaron and he doesn’t like how it twists his heart and puts a knot in his throat as he’s reminded of very similar laughter and those sparkling eyes that he can’t get out of his head.
After a few minutes of gushing, Lee has quit talking and is looking at him expectantly. He couldn’t drown out the now dying down laughter and didn’t really comprehend a thing Lee had said, but he can’t be rude and say nothing, and he knows it was all good things anyway, so he responds with a simple “Thank you.” A moment later, he realizes he should add something else, something more, and follows with “You’re good too you know. Keep up what you’re doing and you really could win this whole thing.” He’s not sure he means it, but it makes Lee’s whole face light up and, as if on impulse, he turns and locks eyes with Aaron. Cook can’t miss the spark that passes between them or the way Aaron almost instantly lights up as well. It makes him sort of dizzy as everything else goes blurry and shining, innocent, sweet and perfect hazel eyes cloud his thoughts. He has to get away before their chemistry and his memories crush him. He says something about it being nice talking but he had to go and the commercial break was about over so they should get back on stage. He’s quickly walking away before Lee can get a response out.
Later that night his mind’s already made up that he made a mistake somewhere along the line and he’s mentally kicking himself because it took two near strangers to remind him of all the good times and of all the reasons he not just wanted but needed David in his life.
When his phone goes off around 2:30 in the morning and it’s David’s twitter and it’s about his performance earlier, a million different things go flying through his mind all at once. He saw it. He was watching. Did he see the chemistry too? Or was that just behind the scenes? Is he still thinking about him? (Did he ever stop?)
He decides he’s sick of the distance between them, sick of only having memories, sick of not seeing that brilliant face and hearing that amazing voice every day.
He’s already got his phone in hand, dialing the memorized number, waiting through the rings.
“Hello?” He sounds so distant, distracted, but Cook’s determined to not get discouraged and hang up.
“Hey David.”