Fic: Gathered Together, 1/7, Rated R
Hi! I decided to try my hand at some Cookleta fic. This is an answer to the June challenge for a fic that centers around a wedding. I know the deadline is June 30th, but I figured since it's so freaking long I might need to post it early so someone could actually finish it before June ends, lol. Anyway, this is my first attempt at this fandom so comments and criticisms are happily accepted.
Title: Gathered Together
Author: Courtney
Email: css576@yahoo.com
Rating: R
Word Count: 16,232. Yeah, I know, I understand if you can't set aside a month to read it, lol. What can I say? I'm a description whore. I need to see it and in order to see it I need a lot of details. So, since that's what I like to read, that's also what I like to write.
Disclaimer: Not mine, not real, whatever.
Summary: The former idols meet up to celebrate a wedding.
Notes: Written for the "Wedding Challenge" over at Cookleta community. I haven’t written any AI fanfic before and haven’t written fanfic of any kind in a while so sorry if it sucks. Also, with so many people named David, I hope I have delineated them enough to ease a little of the confusion. Comments and criticisms are welcomed, flames will be ignored.
Thank yous: Props to everyone who beta’d this for me. I really appreciate it. A huge round of applause for transparent_x, ewin235 and iruvradcliffe for all of your help. And a standing ovation to mrs_viola_swamp for spending half the weekend going over this story with me and making it so much more than it would have been otherwise. You rock!! Thanks for making me sound smarter :)
The snow was already coming down pretty hard as David Cook approached the Mystic Mountain Lodge. It was only mid-January, but apparently Colorado had already seen its fair share of powder for the year.
'Great, we'll all probably get snowed in,' he thought. The truth was that a weekend of being inaccessible to the world at large sounded like a pretty good idea to him at that moment.
Downtime was something that the former Idol champ could barely even remember anymore. In the five years since he'd won the crown, he'd put out three albums and done four tours; three in North America, and one that included dates in Europe. It had been a whirlwind, with his last tour having wrapped only two days before in New York, and he was still reeling from the fact that he had sold out Madison Square Garden. By the time he'd gotten back to his home in Los Angeles the day before, he'd had time for a few hours of sleep, then he'd hit the road to drive to Colorado.
The drive had taken nearly fifteen hours and he was exhausted, but he was still glad that he'd decided against getting back on a plane instead. For one thing, he had needed the time to unwind alone and clear his head after the craziness of his last tour. Not to mention the fact that he didn't want to take the chance on someone finding out where he was for the next four days. This was about them, the family they'd all made for themselves half a decade before, and he wanted to keep it that way. He'd already turned off his phone before he saw the sign for the resort.
Bypassing the main lodge, he continued on according to the directions Brooke had texted him that morning and found a space close to the number seven cabin. He wondered idly if they'd specifically requested that number or if had just been a random coincidence.
There were several other cars nearby and none of the other cabins were close enough to see, so he knew that at least some of his friends had arrived before him. His boots crunched through the fresh layer of snow on the walk as he approached the door. Having no more than entered the house, Cook found himself wrapped in the arms of a squealing girl whom he recognized as Syesha Mercado.
"Well, hello to you, too. Glad to see we'll all be keeping our distance this trip," he quipped as he returned the girl's enthusiastic hug.
Pulling back in his arms, Syesha looked up at Cook and grinned broadly. "I'm so glad you made it."
"Like I'd miss this," was his reply. "Besides, I knew my ass was grass if I didn't show."
"You got that right, brother," said Jason Castro. He'd been standing to the side in the foyer, watching the two, but now moved forward to wrap Cook in a friendly hug. "Good to see you, man."
"Yeah, you too, Jase. It's been way too long," he said. Then, looking back at Syesha as she stood beside Jason, his arm falling easily across her shoulders and hers snaking around his waist as if they belonged there, Cook's grin widened. Syesha looked much the same as he remembered her, all smiles and bright eyes and long legs, save for one minor detail. The belly, now that was new.
Jason caught the direction of Cook's eyes before he could comment and smiled his usual sunny smile. "Yeah," he said as he rubbed Syesha distended tummy, and as if reading Cook’s thoughts, offered, "Some things have changed, I guess."
Cook gave him a 'no shit' look, then returned the wide grins of the couple. "I should have known you two would end up together," he said. "How much longer?" he asked, gesturing to Syesha's swollen belly.
She laid her hand over Jason's, still resting on her tummy, and replied, "About six weeks."
"That soon, huh? I only heard the news a couple of months ago."
"Dude, Mikey told you FIVE months ago," Jason replied. "He called me right after he left you a message."
"Oh yeah . . . I guess old age is catching up with me," Cook said with a smirk.
"Well, you are *30* now," Jason laughed.
Cook shrugged and said, "Sometimes I feel older, actually. So," he began as they all moved into the living room and sat down, himself in an oversized chair and Syesha and Jason on the matching sofa, "Boy or girl? I know Johns never told me that."
"Three of each," Jason said, maintaining a serious expression for a total of two seconds before Syesha’s squawk of surprise and Cook’s eyes going to double their normal size had him laughing. "Man, the look on your face," he said to Cook. "Nah man, just one . . . a baby girl; Elizabeth Raquel Mercado Castro." The pride and love that shown in his eyes as he said the name was enough to prove to Cook that his two friends had each finally found their soul mate.
"I'm really happy for you guys," he said sincerely. "So, uh, any chance we're gonna have a double wedding this weekend?"
"No way," Syesha said definitively.
Jason shrugged. "I tried, but she says no go. Not while she's hu--" he stopped short of the word he'd been about to say, thinking better of it and amending, "Not until after Bethy gets here."
Syesha quirked her brows at him, fixing him with a look that said she'd caught exactly what he'd almost said, then tugging on one of his dreads to let him know she wasn't too pissed about it. "I just don't want to feel like we got married because we had to. It's just a ring and a piece of paper. I don't need that to know that I love him," she said. Jason didn't say anything, but the way that his face lit up told Cook that he obviously agreed. The younger man pulled his girlfriend tighter against him and kissed her temple reverently.
"I may never get over how cute you two are," Cook said affectionately. "So, where’s everyone else? Brooke had texted me earlier that she was already here. Has the happy couple bothered to show up yet?”
Syesha shook her head, now resting against Jason's shoulder. "No, they called to say they were running late. Rami got here about a half an hour ago, but she just left with Brooke and Dave to the store to stock up on food for the weekend."
"Anyone heard from Archie?" he asked, a note of hopefulness creeping into his voice. He and David Archuleta still kept in touch, but they were both so busy that they rarely seemed to see each other anymore. Cook knew he was wrapping a tour in Australia pretty soon and that there was a good chance he wouldn’t make it for the weekend, but he’d secretly been hoping that somehow things would work out.
"Nah, not yet. Little man might still make it, though,” Jason offered.
“Yeah,” Cook replied. “I know it depended on how the tour wrapped.”
“Have you talked to him recently?” Syesha asked.
“Yeah, here and there. We try to keep in touch, but you know how it goes. I don’t think we’ve actually been in the same city at the same time since Seacrest’s Christmas party over a year ago.”
“Well, it’s still early. You never know,” Syesha said with a pat to his knee. Cook gave her his infamous half grin and nodded.
The three talked for a bit more, catching up on each other’s lives, before Jason and Cook both noticed that Syesha seemed to have dropped her end of the conversation. She was curled against Jason’s side, her head resting on his shoulder, sound asleep. Jason looked down at the woman in his arms and sighed. "I think my girl is worn out," he said softly. "We had to get up early to catch a plane from Miami and she hasn't been sleeping well lately," he confided. To Syesha, he said softly, "Baby, why don't we go lay down before the rest of the gang arrives?” She barely stirred in reply. Turning back to Cook, he asked, “S'okay if we ditch you for a while, man?"
"Yeah, of course," he replied with a wave of his hand. "You need some help getting her to the room?"
"Nah," Jason answered as he rose, lifting Syesha easily into his arms. She mumbled something, wrapping her arms around Jason's shoulders and burying her face against his neck. Cook watched as the two entered one of the downstairs bedrooms, closing the door behind them.
Once he was alone, Cook's own fatigue began to tug at him, reminding him that he'd barely caught a few hours of sleep before getting up just after midnight to start his drive. He yawned and decided that maybe he'd take a nap himself before the rest of the cavalry arrived.
* * * * *
Part Two
Title: Gathered Together
Author: Courtney
Email: css576@yahoo.com
Rating: R
Word Count: 16,232. Yeah, I know, I understand if you can't set aside a month to read it, lol. What can I say? I'm a description whore. I need to see it and in order to see it I need a lot of details. So, since that's what I like to read, that's also what I like to write.
Disclaimer: Not mine, not real, whatever.
Summary: The former idols meet up to celebrate a wedding.
Notes: Written for the "Wedding Challenge" over at Cookleta community. I haven’t written any AI fanfic before and haven’t written fanfic of any kind in a while so sorry if it sucks. Also, with so many people named David, I hope I have delineated them enough to ease a little of the confusion. Comments and criticisms are welcomed, flames will be ignored.
Thank yous: Props to everyone who beta’d this for me. I really appreciate it. A huge round of applause for transparent_x, ewin235 and iruvradcliffe for all of your help. And a standing ovation to mrs_viola_swamp for spending half the weekend going over this story with me and making it so much more than it would have been otherwise. You rock!! Thanks for making me sound smarter :)
The snow was already coming down pretty hard as David Cook approached the Mystic Mountain Lodge. It was only mid-January, but apparently Colorado had already seen its fair share of powder for the year.
'Great, we'll all probably get snowed in,' he thought. The truth was that a weekend of being inaccessible to the world at large sounded like a pretty good idea to him at that moment.
Downtime was something that the former Idol champ could barely even remember anymore. In the five years since he'd won the crown, he'd put out three albums and done four tours; three in North America, and one that included dates in Europe. It had been a whirlwind, with his last tour having wrapped only two days before in New York, and he was still reeling from the fact that he had sold out Madison Square Garden. By the time he'd gotten back to his home in Los Angeles the day before, he'd had time for a few hours of sleep, then he'd hit the road to drive to Colorado.
The drive had taken nearly fifteen hours and he was exhausted, but he was still glad that he'd decided against getting back on a plane instead. For one thing, he had needed the time to unwind alone and clear his head after the craziness of his last tour. Not to mention the fact that he didn't want to take the chance on someone finding out where he was for the next four days. This was about them, the family they'd all made for themselves half a decade before, and he wanted to keep it that way. He'd already turned off his phone before he saw the sign for the resort.
Bypassing the main lodge, he continued on according to the directions Brooke had texted him that morning and found a space close to the number seven cabin. He wondered idly if they'd specifically requested that number or if had just been a random coincidence.
There were several other cars nearby and none of the other cabins were close enough to see, so he knew that at least some of his friends had arrived before him. His boots crunched through the fresh layer of snow on the walk as he approached the door. Having no more than entered the house, Cook found himself wrapped in the arms of a squealing girl whom he recognized as Syesha Mercado.
"Well, hello to you, too. Glad to see we'll all be keeping our distance this trip," he quipped as he returned the girl's enthusiastic hug.
Pulling back in his arms, Syesha looked up at Cook and grinned broadly. "I'm so glad you made it."
"Like I'd miss this," was his reply. "Besides, I knew my ass was grass if I didn't show."
"You got that right, brother," said Jason Castro. He'd been standing to the side in the foyer, watching the two, but now moved forward to wrap Cook in a friendly hug. "Good to see you, man."
"Yeah, you too, Jase. It's been way too long," he said. Then, looking back at Syesha as she stood beside Jason, his arm falling easily across her shoulders and hers snaking around his waist as if they belonged there, Cook's grin widened. Syesha looked much the same as he remembered her, all smiles and bright eyes and long legs, save for one minor detail. The belly, now that was new.
Jason caught the direction of Cook's eyes before he could comment and smiled his usual sunny smile. "Yeah," he said as he rubbed Syesha distended tummy, and as if reading Cook’s thoughts, offered, "Some things have changed, I guess."
Cook gave him a 'no shit' look, then returned the wide grins of the couple. "I should have known you two would end up together," he said. "How much longer?" he asked, gesturing to Syesha's swollen belly.
She laid her hand over Jason's, still resting on her tummy, and replied, "About six weeks."
"That soon, huh? I only heard the news a couple of months ago."
"Dude, Mikey told you FIVE months ago," Jason replied. "He called me right after he left you a message."
"Oh yeah . . . I guess old age is catching up with me," Cook said with a smirk.
"Well, you are *30* now," Jason laughed.
Cook shrugged and said, "Sometimes I feel older, actually. So," he began as they all moved into the living room and sat down, himself in an oversized chair and Syesha and Jason on the matching sofa, "Boy or girl? I know Johns never told me that."
"Three of each," Jason said, maintaining a serious expression for a total of two seconds before Syesha’s squawk of surprise and Cook’s eyes going to double their normal size had him laughing. "Man, the look on your face," he said to Cook. "Nah man, just one . . . a baby girl; Elizabeth Raquel Mercado Castro." The pride and love that shown in his eyes as he said the name was enough to prove to Cook that his two friends had each finally found their soul mate.
"I'm really happy for you guys," he said sincerely. "So, uh, any chance we're gonna have a double wedding this weekend?"
"No way," Syesha said definitively.
Jason shrugged. "I tried, but she says no go. Not while she's hu--" he stopped short of the word he'd been about to say, thinking better of it and amending, "Not until after Bethy gets here."
Syesha quirked her brows at him, fixing him with a look that said she'd caught exactly what he'd almost said, then tugging on one of his dreads to let him know she wasn't too pissed about it. "I just don't want to feel like we got married because we had to. It's just a ring and a piece of paper. I don't need that to know that I love him," she said. Jason didn't say anything, but the way that his face lit up told Cook that he obviously agreed. The younger man pulled his girlfriend tighter against him and kissed her temple reverently.
"I may never get over how cute you two are," Cook said affectionately. "So, where’s everyone else? Brooke had texted me earlier that she was already here. Has the happy couple bothered to show up yet?”
Syesha shook her head, now resting against Jason's shoulder. "No, they called to say they were running late. Rami got here about a half an hour ago, but she just left with Brooke and Dave to the store to stock up on food for the weekend."
"Anyone heard from Archie?" he asked, a note of hopefulness creeping into his voice. He and David Archuleta still kept in touch, but they were both so busy that they rarely seemed to see each other anymore. Cook knew he was wrapping a tour in Australia pretty soon and that there was a good chance he wouldn’t make it for the weekend, but he’d secretly been hoping that somehow things would work out.
"Nah, not yet. Little man might still make it, though,” Jason offered.
“Yeah,” Cook replied. “I know it depended on how the tour wrapped.”
“Have you talked to him recently?” Syesha asked.
“Yeah, here and there. We try to keep in touch, but you know how it goes. I don’t think we’ve actually been in the same city at the same time since Seacrest’s Christmas party over a year ago.”
“Well, it’s still early. You never know,” Syesha said with a pat to his knee. Cook gave her his infamous half grin and nodded.
The three talked for a bit more, catching up on each other’s lives, before Jason and Cook both noticed that Syesha seemed to have dropped her end of the conversation. She was curled against Jason’s side, her head resting on his shoulder, sound asleep. Jason looked down at the woman in his arms and sighed. "I think my girl is worn out," he said softly. "We had to get up early to catch a plane from Miami and she hasn't been sleeping well lately," he confided. To Syesha, he said softly, "Baby, why don't we go lay down before the rest of the gang arrives?” She barely stirred in reply. Turning back to Cook, he asked, “S'okay if we ditch you for a while, man?"
"Yeah, of course," he replied with a wave of his hand. "You need some help getting her to the room?"
"Nah," Jason answered as he rose, lifting Syesha easily into his arms. She mumbled something, wrapping her arms around Jason's shoulders and burying her face against his neck. Cook watched as the two entered one of the downstairs bedrooms, closing the door behind them.
Once he was alone, Cook's own fatigue began to tug at him, reminding him that he'd barely caught a few hours of sleep before getting up just after midnight to start his drive. He yawned and decided that maybe he'd take a nap himself before the rest of the cavalry arrived.
* * * * *
Part Two