Title- Honestly Okay
Author- Shobhna Guerin (shobhnathebest@yahoo.com)
Disclaimer- If I owned them, then Liz wouldn't go with the bastard aka Max. So yeah, not mine.
Category- Sean/Liz, TEEN
Spoilers- Heart of Mine
Summary- Sean and Liz learn to have fun together, and talk. Lame, no?
Notes- Once upon a time, I had started a story called "Honestly Okay" but unfortunately had to give it up. Well, another idea came to me, and I decided to name it the same thing because, well, Ella just made such a gorgeous banner for it, that I just didn't want it to go to waste. Lol. So here it is. It's pretty fluffy actually, the end becoming a *little* on the serious side. Still, I hope you like.
Liz walked up to the door of the DeLuca house and knocked. She jumped anxiously on her toes and hoped that Maria wouldn't open the door. And better yet, wouldn't be at home either.
Luckily, it was just the person she wanted to talk to. Sean walked up to the door and opened it, a surprised yet pleased smile on his face on seeing that it was Liz. He reminded himself that she was probably here to see Maria. Dumbass, he chastised himself.
"Hey.. Liz," he greeted her, leaning on the wall. "What's... up?" he asked, praying to God that he didn't sound like the total moron he thought he did.
"Hey Sean," Liz said, nodding her face repeatedly. Was she nervous, Sean wondered incredulously. Nah. What was there to be nervous about? "Nothing much. You?"
"Same old, same old." He smirked at her. What the hell was she getting at?
She nodded again and waited for a few seconds before sighing exasperatedly and saying, "Well..."
"Well?"
"So it's true. You have no manners." She smiled.
"What the hell...." he realized what she was talking about. "Jesus Christ, I'm so sorry." He moved away from the pathway. "Come on in."
"Thanks." She smiled and entered. He led her to the den and sprawled down on the couch, on which a blanket already lay. He got under the blanket and grabbed the remote kept on the arm of the couch, starting to flip channels at an alarming speed. He looked up at her, smirking. "Sorry. You kinda disturbed my daily morning ritual."
She smiled, shaking her head. "Right." she seated herself at one of the chairs and tried to get comfortable.
"So, what are you doing here? Maria's not here. She's out."
"Out? Out where? I know she doesn't have a shift at Crashdown."
"Yeah, well.. neither does little Guerin."
Liz smiled. Yeah, she totally understood the whole sarcastic tone that Sean was using. All families were the same.
"Yeah. And neither do I. Hmm, how weird is that?"
"Not too. So, well, that rules out two places that Evans might be. Here and the Crashdown. Hmm, where else could he be? The library?" he said in an animated tone.
Liz picked up the pillow from behind her and hurled it at Sean. "Shut up."
"About what?" he said, easily dodging the hurling weapon.
"About Max. Everything in my life is not about him."
"Really. Coulda fooled me."
"Shut up, Sean." She just wanted him to stop talking about Max. At the mere mention of Max, all she could think of was the kiss between him and Tess that she had seen. The memory of it was still too painful.
"So..." she said, scurrying to change the subject, "Are you really gonna laze around here all day?"
"That was the plan."
"Well, change of plans." She said, getting up. She took hold of his hand and pulled him up off the couch.
"What are you talking about, Parker?"
"I am talking about having fun, DeLuca."
"Yeah, cause you know just how to have fun."
"I do."
Sean snorted.
"I do!!" she asserted indignantly. "Come on, I'll show you."
"Wait, where the hell are you taking me?" he objected as she handed him his jacket and dragged him out the front door.
"To forget..." she said, turning to him, her tone suddenly all serious. "And to just... forget and enjoy life for once, okay?"
Sean nodded, not completely understanding her. But hey, if she wanted to forget and whatever with him, who was he to object?
----------
"All right, pardon me for being so wrong, but this is supposed to be fun?" Sean asked Liz.
"What, you don't like this?" she demanded.
"No.. I mean, I like it.... but it's still not fun fun."
Now it was Liz's turn to snort. Yeah, she knew what was fun for him. Anything that involved breaking and entering.
They had barely driven up to the community center building that Sean had started to whine. Community service? Was she really going to make do community service?
No, she wasn't. It was worse. Much worse.
She took to him to a pottery class. A stupid pottery class. What the hell, Parker?
He wouldn't admit it to her, but this was actually kind of fun. In a weird, paranoid way. It was nice to get all messy and dirty but then make something as delicate and fragile as pots. It was nice.
Whoa, did he just think that? That's it. He'd been hanging around Maria and Amy way too much. When were all his buddies when he needed them?
He looked around the room. Nope, none of them around here. The only few men who were here were so engrossed in their wheels that Sean didn't even want to know them. Oh yeah, great fun they'd be.
Not that he was complaining of his present company. He enjoyed it with Liz. He did, he wasn't going to deny that. His teenage crush on his cousin's best friend had become more than just that by now. It had blossomed into a full blown, head over heels love. He was so whipped.
As he shared a wheel with Liz, their hands quite often touched. And at one point, Liz placed her hands on his and directed him as to how to do the job. That had been his favorite part. Touch of her skin on his. Screw the fact that there were layers of clay between, he could still feel her skin, and he was freaking mesmerized. What the hell was it about this girl that got to him this much? The innocence. Yeah, it was probably that. The damn innocence drove him nuts.
After a busy two hours, Liz and Sean had each made one pot, if they could be called that. Whatever. They came out of the building freaking proud of themselves, both holding onto their prized pots. Oh yeah, this was definitely going on the coffee table.
----------
"So?"
"So?"
"Are we having fun yet?"
Sean smiled. "Oh yeah."
Liz smiled back. She used to enjoy talking over ice-cream with Maria, but it was good with Sean too. Yup, they were having fun.
"So, you wanna tell me what this whole day was about?"
"What do you mean?" Liz asked, not meeting his eyes.
"Oh, come on, Parker. Don't mess with me. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. What makes you think something's wrong?"
"Well... the fact that you wanted nothing to do with me up until two days ago and the fact that you just spent the entire day with me. What's up with that?"
Liz sighed. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"C'mon Liz. You have other friends. Maria, Alex... why'd you hang out with me?"
"I just... I just wanted to relax," she confessed.
"And you don't relax with Maria, Alex and the rest of the group that you guys have?"
"Not particularly," Liz said. Sean didn't really know anything. The group barely did anything together these days that was 'fun' and 'relaxing'. They had all thought Vegas would be a good chance, but that one was a stinker, to say the least.
"You're not telling me much, are you?"
Liz shook her head. "Look, I'm sorry Sean..."
Sean help up his hand which held a spoon. "It's okay. I'm used to people being discreet, don't worry."
They silently ate for a while. She looked around. The Crashdown had closed hours ago. Liz and Sean had sneaked in some ice-cream and were sitting on the bar in the café.
"Do you believe in aliens, Sean?"
Sean looked up in surprise. "Uh, yeah, I guess. I mean, it's mighty stupid of us to think we're the only ones."
Liz nodded. "All right, so say there are aliens. How different do you think they are from us?"
"Different in terms of what?"
"Oh, you know. Are they like humans, you know, feeling and acting the way we do? Having the same kind of urges..." she trailed off. "I'm not making sense, am I?" she giggled.
Sean smiled. "Not too much. What's all this about?"
"I just... forget it." She waved a hand dismissively.
"What happened between you and Max?" Sean asked suddenly.
Liz shot her head up. "What makes you think something happened between me and Max?" she asked slowly.
"Oh, just that you haven't talked about him all day. And that's an accomplishment for you."
"Right." she shook her head. "I'd rather not talk about it," she confessed.
"Why not?" he asked, completely serious.
Liz looked up at him, and realized that he was actually paying attention. He actually wanted to listen to what she had to say. Wow, that was a first. No one had ever cared about what she had to say.
"It.... it's painful. It hurts."
"Liz, did he do something to you?" Sean asked cautiously. If that was the case, he was gonna kick Evans' ass.
"No! No, nothing like that. He.. he..." she stumbled on the words, tears threatening to fall.
"He what?" he asked softly.
"He... betrayed me."
"Betrayed how?"
"Forget it. Not important." Liz was usually not so comfortable talking to people.
"Right. So, he betrayed you. Now what?"
Liz sighed. "I don't know." She looked up at Sean. "I love him, Sean. I do, I love him." She paused.
"But..." he prompted.
"But, I don't think it's enough. He's hurt me too much. I think that right now, love just isn't enough, you know?"
Sean nodded, not knowing what to say. For him, his love for Liz was everything. Of course, love was enough. What was she getting at?
Liz shook her head, clearing her head. "Anyway!"
"Right," Sean said, softly, lost in his own thoughts. "It's gonna be okay, Liz, you know? Honestly. It's gonna be fine."
Liz nodded, understanding the truth in his words. He was right. It was gonna be fine. Life was gonna be okay.
Liz got up, retrieving both their empty cans of ice-cream. Sean walked with her to the backroom. "I should be going," he said as she went into the kitchen.
Liz came back out and smiled, nodding. "You should."
Sean was starting to leave, when Liz walked up to him and hugged him. "Thank you, Sean."
Sean smiled, hugging her back. Liz in his arms. Hadn't he dreamt about this moment too many times for it to normal?
"Sure." She stepped back and he went towards the door. Opening it, he turned to her. "Same time next week?"
Liz smiled, her smile reaching the eyes. "It's a date," she said, softly.
The End.
18th January, 2004.