Money Can Buy You Love. And Glitter. Chapter 36.1
Summary: AU set approximately three years after Adam Lambert won Season 8 of American Idol. He has a successful career but after a string of failed relationships, has more or less given up on romance and is focusing on his career to the point of being a workaholic. He still has trouble with inappropriate appearances of the glambulge during performance and still loves glitter. Kris Allen is a singer/guitarist from Arkansas who moved to LA nearly two years ago to try and break into the business and get away from a small town and family life that became uncomfortable after he came out of the closet. He's just about ready to give up hope of making it into the business. He's still wearing plaid.
Rating: This chapter is PG-15.
Ship:: Adam/Kris
Story chapters:
Chapter 1: Meet cute in coffee shop Chapter 2: Car trouble Chapter 3: Geocaching? Chapter 4: Dinner and a picture
Chapter 5: Bring your boyfriend to work day Chapter 6: Date at the museum
Chapter 7: Opening the door Chapter 8: Showing the cracks Chapter 9: Cracked eggs, cracked plaster, cracked plans Chapter 10: Hunger games Chapter 11: Inspired, tested, and almost-dazzled Chapter 12: Define slutty for me
Chapter 13: Decisions, decisions Chapter 14: Of moms and meat Chapter 15: Holding on Chapter 16: Coming clean
Chapter 17: Dusty disguises and dodging the issue Chapter 18: Punked and paint
Chapter 19: This glitter is not meant for internal use Chapter 20: Home improvement
Chapter 21.1: Sharp edges and sweet tongues Chapter 21.2: Sharp edges and sweet tongues SECOND HALF
Chapter 22.1: Holding close and laying out Chapter 22.2: Holding close and laying out SECOND HALF
Chapter 23.1: Messes and make up Chapter 23.2: Messes and make up SECOND HALF
Chapter 24: Taken Chapter 25: Stuffing Chapter 25.2: Stuffing CONTINUED
Chapter 26.1: Feeling full Chapter 26.2: Second entry Chapter 27: Winning Chapter 28: Thirty-eight cents
Chapter 29: When you walked in the joint Chapter 30.1: I could tell you were a man of distinction Chapter 30.2: A real big spender Chapter 30.3: Good looking, so refined Chapter 31: Spend a little time with me
Chapter 32.1: Spend a lotta time with me Chapter 32.2: Chapter 32.3 Chapter 32.4 Chapter 32.5
Chapter 33: Well, I can do the mashed potato. Well, I can do the twist Chapter 34: Leashes, collars and cuffs! Oh my! Chapter 35: On the carpet, off the script, on the table
Warning: This chapter includes a peek at life in Kris' Arkansas. Some readers may be uncomfortable with the ideas expressed. Sadly, the ideas and dialogue are based upon my experience with small town life in a socially conservative area.
Chapter 36.1: Consequences, unintended and otherwise
"The dick pic? Remember?" Adam asked. "It seemed like the worst moment of my life, but now? Just a dim memory. Just like finding out that boyfriend of mine was an asshole -- same story, different kind of sex. That will happen to you too, Dani. The dim memory, I mean."
"It's totally different! I'll never forgive myself -- how can I?" Danielle whispered, looking down at the salad she'd done more picking at than eating. "That dick pic -- yeah, you were super embarrassed, but you didn't involve other people in your mistake."
"Didn't I?" Adam shook his head and nudged Dani's hand back to her fork. She'd given up that stupid grapefruit diet, but had stopped eating when she began her millionth apology several minutes ago. "I became paranoid and distrustful. I know I hurt people or at least made their lives more difficult. And what's worse is that I'm ... well, I'm not sure how long I would have stayed that way, if that response wouldn't have become a bad habit and then grown into bitterness, if the universe didn't decide to right the wrong and send Kris into Starbucks that day. And -- I'm making it all about me, so suffice to say, honey, we all make mistakes." Adam curled his hand around Danielle's and lifted it up. "Everyone. That's a lesson I had to learn a few years ago -- no matter how smart or careful we are, we all make mistakes. And here's another lesson -- the hardest person to forgive is yourself for your own bad judgment."
Dani nodded. Adam had gotten over his suspiciousness and moved forward. If he could do it, so could she. She had to. "I... guess so. I just wish... I'm so sorry. And Kris... poor Kris, he had to be in the spotlight to do damage control on his own reputation. He was totally innocent of anything except being in my circle of friends. I know how much he hates being the center of gossip and he had to go on the Oscars red carpet! Is he ever going to forgive me?"
"He doesn't think there's anything to forgive you for! He's pissed at Brian, not you. Don't forget that. And you know what..." Adam squeezed Dani's hand. "Kris was a nervous wreck beforehand, but he was fanfreakingtastic on the red carpet. I think it gave him confidence, helped him learn about how to overcome fears, and to walk proud despite rumormongering -- a lesson I've had to learn too. He probably won't admit it, but he had a great time. I know I had a great time. What with all the talk of turkey basters."
A giggle escaped Dani's lips, the first time she'd laughed since Adam had broken the news of Brian's perfidy to her. "That was funny. I thought Kris was going to pee his pants when you brought up the turkey basters and the moist meat."
"So did I. Additionally, our run down the red carpet seems to have made Brian go back into the hole he apparently crawled out of. That red carpet experience did nothing but yield positive results. Proving that sometimes something bad can lead to something good."
"I hope..." Dani sighed and picked up her fork, stabbing it hard into a cherry tomato. She smiled as her tine penetrated the skin and juice squirted out.
Poke
Poke
Poking her index finger at the power button of her lap top in impatience, Kim Allen sat down hard on her kitchen chair. She looked at the clock, then over her shoulder. Screw it. She'd had enough this week of hearing from every fool in town about those red carpet interviews and she was going to watch for herself and make her own mind up, thankyouverymuch, Pearline and Darla and Tucker and Pastor and yes, Neil Allen.
Jumping as a swirl of blue cotton candy hair popped up over the back of a mound of bright red peppers, Kim Allen covered her hand with her mouth and bit back a swear word. "Pearline?"
"I found you."
"Oh lord, save me..." Kim whispered. "Give me strength."
"I knew it! You're praying in the produce! That's gettin' way too close to tree worship. On top of everything else! You need help. Let me help you!" Pearline smiled as she walked around the display.
"I'd like your help in getting my teeth as white as yours..." Kim said absently. Pearline had the whitest, biggest teeth... Like a... wolf! A wolf in cotton candy, what with the blue hair and pink polyester pant suit. Where did she find a pink polyester pant suit anyway?
"I sell a kit in my shop. Y'all should come over some time and I kin fix you raaht up." Pearline smiled and patted the top of her hair. "And we can talk about how Rahab and David can assist you in your time of need."
"You named your snakes Rahab and David?"
"Perfect, ain't it?" Pearline nodded. "They were both warriors, although we don't rightly know much about Rahab since she was a woman and we need to hide our lights under the bushel."
Kim blinked. Since when did hiding one's light under a bushel include blue hair -- blue hair that she was sure glowed in the dark. The church prohibited alcohol, but surely an exception might be made for days that included Pearline and her snakes. And that hair! Why people commented on the blue streak that Kris'....boyfriend occasionally put in his hair, when there were way worse hair styles right here in Conway... well, that didn't seem quite fair. "Thanks for the offer, Pearline. Truly, but--" Kim gasped when Pearline slapped her hand on Kim's arm and squeezed tightly.
"Don't you want your son on the path to righteousness? Wouldn't you do anything to bring him back home? Has anything you tried worked? No!" Pearline crowed. "Y'all come to me. They all end up coming to me. My snakes can suck the venom outta him right quick. We start with the arm." She squeezed Kim's arm again.
Staring at the bottle of cooking wine in her hand, Kim licked her lips. She wondered how much she'd have to drink to forget about Rahab and David and the image of their fangs in Kris' arm. Putting the bottle back in her cart, she realized there probably wasn't enough alcohol in the world. She shuddered and looked back up at the peppers. She still needed one. But maybe a red pepper was just too... common.
"Kim." The pastor patted Kim Allen on the shoulder and stood waiting.
"Yes, Pastor?" Kim looked up from the mound of red peppers and looked quizzically at her pastor.
"If you have any need to see me pastorally, please don't hesitate to call."
"I... well, thank you, but..." Kim paused. If her pastor was telling her bad news, why would he do so in the Piggly Wiggly produce department? "Is there something I should know? Is Neil alright? Or Daniel?"
"No, no, they're fine. It's about the sheep that has gotten lost away from his flock."
"Kristopher." Kim took a deep breath. Even after four years, the pain of loss still cut through her chest. Why wasn't it getting better? Was this pain telling her something? "Is there some specific reason you're bringing him up today?"
"Those interviews. On the red carpet at the Oscars. The Oscars are watched worldwide, so I can only imagine your distress at knowing your son's sin is being known on such a scale."
"Oh." Kim grabbed a pepper and inspected it carefully, while debating what to say. She hadn't seen those interviews, although Cale had told her about them on Sunday night. Apparently someone in their circle of friends had proved to be a blackmailing backstabber and Kris and...boyfriend had gone on the offensive via the red carpet. Cale had told her it was a good strategy and she might alsoo want to look at those interviews to see how Kris and his .... boyfriend interacted. Neil had exploded that they didn't need to see their son's perversions and had insisted they not watch either the Oscars red carpet or any of the entertainment shows. Cale had later texted her with links to websites. She hadn't looked them up, but she hadn't deleted the texts either. Given how many people were commenting on them since Sunday, Kim had to admit she was growing more curious by the second. "I take it you saw his interviews on the red carpet."
"I did. I've watched them all, including the full-length versions on the various web sites. You must know you did the right thing. Your faith was strong, but you needed proof. Proof found in those interviews, I'm sure. And yet I know how deeply you must be distressed."
"Well. I don't pay attention to gossip since you're always rightfully sermonizing against it, but bless your heart for being so concerned that you'd bring it up amongst the peppers." Kim glared. She knew she was glaring. She also knew she didn't care that she was glaring. So much for her desire to avoid being a center of gossip -- when even the pastor felt the need to bring it up in public, why bother worrying? Was this... one of those moments of clarity Oprah talked about? "And amongst other parishioners. I'm sure they must feel gratified that you care so deeply about your flock that you seek them out in public."
"You are distressed."
"I... am in a hurry. Pardon me, Pastor, but I need to do my shopping and get home to make dinner. Another time?" Kim smiled and turned away, plowing her cart ahead. She probably should have apologized, but she was sick of people acting as if Kris were the worst sinner to ever walk the streets of Conway. Wasn't everyone a sinner who needed to repent in some way?
"I'm sorry."
"Excuse me?" Kim Allen narrowed her eyes at Darla as they both waited for coffee to brew in the breakroom at work.
"I'm so sorry, Kim...." Darla patted Kim's arm.
"About what?"
"You know..." Darla looked from left to right, then back at Kim. "About Kris."
"What about Kris?"
"We saw him on Entertainment Tonight with that...what do those people call their... well, the people they do their perverted acts with?"
"Your husband?" Kim smirked, then smoothed out her face. Damn, that had been unkind. Everyone knew how Darla's husband spent most of his free time at Selective Video in Little Rock. Everyone pretended they didn't know -- to Darla's face. Behind her back... lots of snickering, which is what she'd wanted to avoid, desperately wanted to avoid, with Kris.
"Excuse me?" Darla blinked. "I must have misheard..."
"You must have. So you saw Kris on the Oscars red carpet with his boyfriend?" Kim asked loudly, then winced. Boyfriend. That was the first time she'd said the word out loud. Boyfriend. Boyfriend. "I haven't seen the interview, but Cale tells me that Kris was on the Oscar red carpet with his boyfriend. Boyfriend is the word you're looking for."
"Nope." Darla shook her head and her ponytail swayed from side to side. "My Deanna has a boyfriend. You remember -- she was head cheerleader and he was the football receiver. That's her boyfriend. Kris has... well, something else."
"Something else..." Yeah, Kris has an employed boyfriend who hasn't spent the last year sitting on his girlfriend's couch drinking Budweiser when he's not out catting around with other women, Kim thought but refrained from saying. Surely that made her a better person. At least her child wasn't involved with some man-slut... Oh. That assumed that Kris's boyfriend, yes, there she thought it again, wasn't catting around either, which homosexuals were supposedly likely to do. But really... Kim mused as she watched Darla smugly pour her coffee, although how one could smugly pour coffee she didn't know...
But what did she know about anything lately? She'd thought Kris would come home, tail between his legs, repentent and willing to live according to their rules, the rules she'd thought were right... but Cale said he wasn't coming home, that he had a new... Kim swallowed hard and almost pushed Darla out of the way to get her coffee so she'd have something to swallow. She took a gulp and winced at the heat. That Kris had a new family. That he was happy, really happy. She touched her hot throat wondering if this was another painful moment of epiphany. "Well, now, if Deanna is happy with that boyfriend of hers, then that's all that matters. And bless your heart, thank you for your concern. But my family is doing fine...Now, I'm sorry, but I have to get back to work."
"I hear tell your Kris and his rock star boyfriend were on Fashion Police on E! News last night," Tucker said as he bagged up a take-out order from Chik-Fil-A.
"You watch Fashion Police?" Kim asked, raising an eyebrow. "A good ol' boy like you? That's fascinatin'."
"No, of course not. I'm a man!" Tucker laughed nervously. "I'm married and all. But my wife may have mentioned it. She likes watching it after she gets home from visiting her daddy at the pokey on Fridays."
"Do tell." Kim hurriedly scanned her debit card through the machine and tried her best not to tap her fingers on the tiny formica counter next to it as she stared at the screen, wishing it would. Hurry. Up. Already. Everyone was staring, no doubt thinking about Kris, whispering behind their paper napkins and... half of them had skeletons in their family's armoires, but why was Kris the scariest skeleton of all? Although Tucker didn't have a mean bone in his body, so he probably wasn't saying anything mean. Maybe she was getting paranoid. Or maybe the problem was that she'd been paranoid. And that couldn't be a good idea, even if... She looked over her shoulder and yup, people were looking at her. No mistake.
"Miz Allen--" Tucker tapped the screen. "You need to sign right there. I do have to say that -- according to my wife -- Kris was laughing, having a fine time, looked good. She said he had a damn fine jacket on. Which makes sense 'cause I hear those gays know their fashion." He handed her the plastic bag. "We were glad to know he's doin' good, to tell the truth, ma'am."
"Kris looked good? He was laughing?" Kim froze, her hands clenching around the plastic handles of the take-out bag.
Looking down at her hands, still tight with tension, Kim looked up when she heard her son's voice over the computer speakers once again. For the last hour, she'd been poking around the internet, reading, working herself up to these interviews. And now.. She could hear the laughter in his voice. So... he wasn't stricken with guilt, hiding, unhappy, he was... She gaped. He looked tan and healthy and happy. He even looked to have some faint laugh lines around his mouth, a sign that he laughed often. He... he wasn't a young man any more. He was... a man now. And that was a damn fine jacket that... Kris couldn't have changed enough to be able to pick out a fashionable jacket like that. No way. She raised her hand to the mouse and moved the progress bar back to listen again. Oh. His boyfriend had picked out the jacket. That made sense. Kris thought plaid was the height of fashion since it was a pattern. Smiling, she replayed the interview with the blond lady with the pretty name and then froze. Had... Kris mentioned a baby? She gasped. Oh no, oh no, she was losing--
"Where is he?"
Kim jumped again, her hand on her chest. "You startled me!"
"Where's Kris? I heard his voice--" Neil Allen began, then stopped as he saw the open laptop in front of his wife. "What the hell..."
"I...Everyone was talking about those interviews and I decided to watch them for myself. Be informed. And..." Kim sat up straight. "Kris is happy. He's in love and he's happy. Look at him."
"Ha. Well, sinners often think they're happy."
"But if you think you're happy, aren't you happy?" Kim asked.
"He lied to us for years. What makes you think he's not lying now?"
"Lying about what?" Kim asked, confused, looking from the image of Kris laughing on her computer screen to her husband's red face.
"Being happy and in love. That's just... wrong. He can't really be happy being...that!" Neil twisted his mouth and pointed toward Kim's computer screen which was paused on an interview from the red carpet, in a scene where that tall freak was hugging Kris. Thank god he'd come home early from a guy's night out so he could discover that his wife had lost her damn mind. He knew that to be true because she was smiling, actually smiling, while watching their son announce to the world that he was a sinner. As if Conway wasn't bad enough. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing. I was thinking..." Kim rubbed the back of her neck.
"Why? You already know he's wrong in what he's doing!"
"Everybody was telling me about these interviews and sympathizing with me like he was a convicted murderer! Even Darla whose entire family...Argh! But my son is the monster?" She shook her head. "And Cale--"
"Him!" Neil scoffed. "He's being led down the path of destruction too with all his talk of moving to LA!"
"Did you just interrupt me?" Kim snapped, her emotions raw from having spent the last hour watching footage, seeing photographs and reading accounts of Adam Lambert's fans meeting Kris. And read an occasional comment about "poor Kris" and his "horrible" family. She had realized with the sort of wrenching shock that only a mirror could provide that strangers knew far more about her son and his life than she did. How could that be right? How?
"He's obviously happy. Not just saying he is. But really. Look at him." Kim Allen pointed toward her computer monitor. "Look at his face. He's--"
"He's a liar," Neil repeated.
"Miz Allen? Mr. Allen?" Cale's voice called out. "The front door was open..."
"Kinda like my son's legs..." Neil muttered as he stomped towards the front door and pointed his finger at Cale's chest as he walked toward him. "You. You're almost as bad as Kris. Who used to be my son. And is now a liar and---"
"He didn't lie. He just didn't tell all the whole truth. It wasn't like he dated some girl and pretended to be straight," Cale retorted. Damn. He had hoped that Mrs. Allen's interest in seeing what Lane would call "the intel" on Kris might be a turning point, but damndamndamn Mr. Allen had gotten to her before he did. He glared at Kris' father. Kris would still be here if not for him or he might not have gotten so lost for so long. Then again, as this moment proved, Kris was way better off out in California. "He didn't tell the whole truth and we all know why -- because he was afraid of --"
"Real men aren't afraid. Which goes to prove my point-- if you take it up the ass, you're not a real man."
"You need to put away your booty," Adam suggested, his fingers trailing down Kris' bare back.
"Are my shorts falling down?" Kris asked, twisting around and pulling up on his swim shorts at the same time.
"Tragically, no. Just like the amount of glitter in life, there's not enough of your bare ass." Adam grinned and pointed at Kris' backpack, stashed at the back of the canvas beach cabana the hotel provided. "No, I meant your doubloons. They're falling out of your backpack."
"Oh!" Kris laughed and bent over to stuff the Dollar Store doubloons back inside and pulled out the books they'd brought along for what Adam had called a 'quiet day at the beach unless the paps show up.' He zipped the backpack up and tossed it aside, handing Adam his book. "Did you have a good time geocaching today?"
"Yes. Even if we didn't talk about fetishes." Adam set his book aside. He'd much rather talk to Kris, which gave him a good reason to look at Kris. A Kris who was now mostly naked. Yup, a good day. Thank the gods for an unseasonably hot day in March.
"We can so talk about fetishes!" Kris sat down next to Adam on the blanket and grinned at him. Poking him in the stomach -- the tee-shirt-covered-stomach, Kris ordered, "You start." Like with your fetish for covering up, Kris thought silently.
"I don't have any. I"m totally vanilla."
Kris snorted. "Yeah, if it's vanilla with nuts on top."
"Ooh ice cream!" Adam groaned and rubbed his stomach. "I could go for some ice cream. It's been so long..."
"I can go get you some at the stand," Kris offered instantly. If Adam was actually willing to forget about his stupid diet, he'd race for the ice cream.
"Later...." Adam stroked Kris' hand, his fingertips gently brushing down Kris' middle finger. "Don't forget Lane's rule for us. No--"
"Ice cream in public," Kris finished, then blushed as he remembered a day on the beach on the island of Capri that involved dripping ice cream and damp shorts. And Tommy's amused face and Lane's furious one.
"Then again..." Adam bent his head and licked the tip of Kris' finger. When he felt the instant trembling in Kris' hand, he looked back up. "Lane's not here, is she?"
"Ha! No, she's not. I'll be right back!" Kris jumped up and ran toward the refreshment stand.
Next chapter: Chapter 36.2: Consequences, unintended and otherwise