musesandlyrics | 4.13 Ugly Betty quote
4.13. "Daniel, The Times called wanting a quote, Dr. Phil called offering his services, and E! called wanting to do a reality show about your family."
Ugly Betty
Co-written with lovesguinness
[Follows THIS]
Euan had never been so relieved something was over in his life. Except maybe that threesome with the two chicks who wanted to burn him and stick kitchen utensils up his arse. Quickest ever threesome in his fucking life, that was for sure. But there was no bare titties in sight with this, even if he did pound a flight attendant in the bathroom after he pinched her arse on her way back to the place flight attendants bugger off to when they weren't giving drinks or doing the safety demonstration. The good fuck didn't really make up for the fact he was stuck on the flight. He had never been much of a fan of flying, and he spent most of the journey wondering what the fuck he was doing.
But it was over now. He had submitted to Vee's not-so-subtle nudging for him to fly to London to see her. The devious bitch even sent him a fully paid ticket so all he had to do was get on the plane at the right time. Even then, he nearly didn't do it. London was just not a place he ever wanted to go to again in his life. It was just fucking bad karma that she was creaming her lacy knickers over a friggen Londoner cop. It was a conspiracy, Euan was sure of it. And the thing was, if Euan thought for a minute she hadn't gone mental and would actually come back to New York, he wouldn't be here. But every time he spoke to her, he got a more and more discontent feeling that she really would move here for the fucker, and that meant, of course, it was time for Euan to mark his territory and see this bloke's agenda for himself. That was the only reason he rocked up at JFK Airport with his passport and boarded the flight to Heathrow in London. Any other reason, he would deny vehemently. He hated London. Why else would he want to be anywhere near the place that stole his parents but for making sure Vee didn't end up in a straight jacket and a padded cell? He hadn't even told her he was coming. If she wanted to play games, he could play them right back.
With his back pack slung over his shoulder, Euan sauntered up the tunnel from the plane and stretched the muscles in his back a little as he exited into the terminal. Fucking pissy little seats in the shit plane. He was already jet-lagged and had a headache from too much booze on the plane. Now he had to try and get a cab to the city centre and find a hotel. Getting a cab in London at rush hour was just dogs balls.
Vee couldn't deny she'd been worrying about Euan coming to London since the night before. She was surprised Matt hadn't kicked her out after she'd spent most of the night tossing and turning. In fact, he'd wound up just pulling her into his arms and they watched a really bad late night movie together until she'd fallen asleep again. Maybe they were still working on finding a rhythm, but she couldn't fault the comfort side of him. He seemed to know just what to do when she was stressing, just like she'd somehow managed to know what to do when he was sick.
She'd gotten to the airport an hour early, and Vee had spent most of that time walking around and around and around as she felt her stomach churn. There was a close call when she was sure she was going to vomit from nerves. She hadn't ever been so scared of something in her life. Euan meant the world to her, even if he probably thought the opposite after she'd left him in the lurch and then had the gaul to ask him to come to London.
When his plane was due, she went to camp outside of the gate, her gifts for him in both her coat pockets. She wasn't going to pull them out until she saw him, and she was also sure she was about to chew a hole in her lip with how much she was biting it. Vee shifted her weight from foot to foot, blue eyes fixed on the crowd on people starting to pour off the plane. She finally saw him, and she couldn't help herself when she started to run towards him and threw her arms around him in a hug. It had felt like months since she'd last seen him. She pulled back for a moment and smirked at him. "So, I have a can of Guinness in one pocket and a bottle of water and aspirin in the other. What do you need first?"
Euan raised his eyebrows. She had to go and be all girly girl when he had a fucker of a headache, didn't she? Since when did she squeeze so tight when she hugged. "Should drag your fucking arse to the nearest ticket desk and get you to pay my return ticket on the next plane, first class," he told her, looking her over suspiciously. "Give me the aspirin and the Guinness. Fuck water. You're lucky I have have harboured just enough energy to manage a good belt in the face if I hate the bloke. Just thought I should warn you."
Vee grinned, and even kissed his cheek before she pulled out the Guinness and aspirin to hand it to him. She'd make up for the girliness later. She was also sorely tempted to do more than kiss him on the cheek, but that was just an old habit. She sniffed him briefly as she frowned. "You smell like stewardess. Does that mean your tray table was locked and in the upright position most of the flight? And I never doubted your energy levels, and I promise I'll buy you a ticket back soon. Just give me a day at least. Maybe two. You don't even have to spend any time in the city streets."
"Nope, that was just my cock," Euan returned, taking the can and cracking it open. He look a long gulp of it and then swallowed the aspirin. If anyone wanted to say something to him about boozing in the airport, he would gladly introduce their fucking face to the nearest wall. "Jealous I'm getting some and you're not?" he asked with a smirk and adjusted the bag strap over his shoulder. "Thought you said he lived in the city? Meaning you're shacked up in the city. How do you expect me not to spend time in the streets? Fly? Magic Carpet? Got Scotty on speed dial to beam me up?"
"Sure do, just let me get my communicator out and give him a buzz. He might not have enough power, though. Your cock's too much weight to beam up." Vee watched him, and then shrugged. "Well, besides the cab ride to the apartment and back. You can stay inside the rest of the time, and we can even keep the windows shut and the TV off. And I'm not jealous. I get to pig out on chocolate and sleep naked with a hot detective."
Euan scratched at his forehead with his thumb, the beer still clutched expertly in his other fingers. "Vee, quit it. No amount of airy fairy Kansas Wizard of Oz shite is going to take away the fact this is London, and this is where my parents died. Alright? So just, quit the delusions or you'll piss me off. Ain't no way I'm sticking around in some dude's apartment I don't know while you play happy family housewives. I'm here because you asked me to come, but it doesn't change the fact I hate the place."
Vee nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry. I just... Thank you. I really did miss you, U. I'll put you up somewhere if you want, but I promise you don't have to watch anything. I'm not playing happy family housewives. We're just... working on a transition period."
"Maybe I'm just hungover or whatever the fuck, but I don't even know what that means, so I hope you fucking do," Euan returned wryly as they made their way through the busy airport. "Not like there is a rule book for this sort of shit. I still can't believe you just... up and fucking left with barely a word. You're mental. You'll be lucky to walk back into the job you know, but I'm doubting you even have any intentions of. I get the feeling you dragged me here to convince yourself there might be a chance I'll follow you so you won't wear any guilt of pissing off from New York."
Virginia ruffled her blonde locks as they walked, and huffed out a breath. "Don't you ever find yourself at work wondering what the fuck the job's become? What New York's become? I don't even recognise the City half the time, and I loved that City. It's been my home since I was born. It's in my blood. But I just find myself staring at the guys we bring down, and the crime scenes we enter and wonder what the fuck's happened. I'm always going to care about the victims, how could I not? I just... I don't know. I was talking to Matt about these uniforms and a perp they were chasing the other day when I went to the store. I don't miss being a rookie, but there's just something about what they were doing that was triggering something in me. Something's changed, U. And I think it changed a while ago."
Euan just shook his head and rolled his eyes. "You just tapped into it when your international fuck was balls deep in you, did you?" he snorted. "Funny how you never once mentioned it before. Not once. All of a sudden you hate New York and you hate being a copper there. Funny that." He just couldn't buy it. If he did, it meant they were even further apart than he was even anticipating these days. It meant she hadn't spoken to him about it, and that kinda sucked. "May as well get your head out of the clouds. You can't be a copper here, no matter how nice you think you would look policing the streets of this fucking shit hole alongside your piece of arse. V, I have no fucking clue what to say to you, or what you want me to say. To give you my blessing? Why do you fucking need it? The lines are drawn here. You come here, you won't be there. Plain and simple."
"What do you want me to say?" Vee asked in turn. "I'm trying to get you to understand, but you think I'm crazy, or you think I have my head in the clouds. I know I've fucked up, okay? But what else am I supposed to do? I have a chance at something here. I can feel it. I know I can't be a police officer here. I know I've turned things in New York to shit, but I just... Fuck it, U. What if this happened to you? And forget for a moment your cock spends more time inside women, than out. Just... I don't know. Just imagine this was you and you had the chance to fuck the most amazing woman ever for the rest of your life. But she lived in... Australia. I don't want your blessing, I just want to know we're still friends. That you're still my best friend."
Jet-lagged and she wanted a deep-n-meaningful? Euan rubbed his head again. "When did you turn into such a fucking sap? I'm starting to wonder if you're menopausal or pregnant." There was no real bite in his words, just tiredness. The fact every second sign told him he was in London wasn't helping and he was feeling faintly nauseated by it. "It wouldn't happen to me, so don't even bother. I don't believe in soul mates shit or having one person that belongs to you. I certainly don't fucking believe one woman is the most awesome fuck of my life. You can believe what you like. Australia? Please? You really are mental. Not all of us trawl the net for a lay. We're happy to settle for the prospects in, you know, the biggest fucking city in the world." He stopped walking and just looked at her. Now she was doing the whole friendship thing. "I'm here, aren't I? What do you want, a fucking friendship bracelet?"
"I was more thinking one of those necklaces that form a heart. One half each," Vee responded with a smirk. She reached up to brush her fingers through his hair and nodded. "Yeah, you're here. And I don't think I can ever thank you enough. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being such a menopausal bitch. I'll get back to normal. Promise. I just... I can't explain it. I've never believed in that soulmate shit either, but me and Matt... It was like you and me when we first met."
Euan just flipped her the bird. The necklace thing deserved no further reciprocation. "That supposed to make me feel better? We had it once, but then we got over it. You're not exactly convincing me of this soul mate bollocks." He reached up and squeezed his fingers around his head. He wasn't going to have an anxiety attack about this place, he wasn't going to let it fucking win. "How do you even know any of this is going to give you the sudden answer to self-enlightenment and fulfilment? You decided you aren't cut out for being a cop. A lot of your life to just fucking turf away like that."
Vee slipped her arm around him, and tucked herself against his side. She still had no problem being close to him, the barriers broken down a long time ago. He could just fucking suck it up and deal if he didn't like it. Since Vee didn't know what to say to him to help keep him calm, she tried to do it through actions. "I don't want to get over it with Matt," she admitted. "And yeah, I know, okay? I know... I've fucked up with being a cop. And now I have to work on fixing it, but first I have three months to get through. Although is it still long service when you risk being terminated?"
Euan raised an eyebrow. "Risk? Sounds to me like you want to be terminated," he noted. He was feeling a little warm in the large airport so he unzipped his leather jacket. He didn't have any baggage to claim, just settling on one small bag so he didn't have to think much about anything. "A random online fuck doesn't exactly entitle you to rush off like Wonder Woman to save his arse. Boss was ropeable. Not like you can expect any less. I'd be ropeable if one of my team fucked off without notice and then wanted three months off, too."
Vee looked down, watching her boots as they continued to walk through the airport. She'd forgotten already how big it was, and she'd also forgotten that there was anything to go back to in New York besides Euan. Nothing she was doing was purely because of Matt. She was just finding that she liked being in London more and more. And getting an Irishman that really was all her own was just a nice bonus. She never would have set foot outside of New York if it hadn't been for meeting him. "You still came," she reminded him.
"You didn't give me much choice. Last ditch effort to convince you that you're being mental and I'd be tempted to slap some sense into you if this place didn't make me feel so sick," Euan admitted and swallowed down another mouthful of the Guinness. "What did you mean by that comment before? That whatever it is you're doing was like what we used to be?"
Vee really wanted to make some gloating comment, but she knew it wouldn't be taken well. She also knew that Euan was starting to look genuinely green around the gills. "Can I do anything?" She looked forward as they approached the exit, and held onto him a little tighter in preparation for the cold London air. "Do you remember when we first met? How we couldn't exactly wait to fuck before the day was even out?"
The cold didn't bother Euan after growing up in Ireland. He was weathered to it, and in fact welcomed it right now after being trapped on the stuffy plane for so long. The exterior of Heathrow Airport. He remembered the last time he was here, to come meet his sister with his brother so they could identify their parents bodies. He knew in an instant he was going to need to feel worse before he could feel better and face this. It was stirring up memories and they weren't mixing well with the booze. Suddenly four years didn't seem all that long. He pushed away from her and got far enough away from the crowds to find a gutter to lean over and throw up in. Tension relief didn't always come in the form of a good fuck. It was a few minutes that he battled with some disjointed images of his parents in his head before he managed to get himself back on track. He stood back up again, sucking in a deep breath of chilled air through his nose as the nausea started to ease back into the background. "So, how do you know any of this isn't just nothing more than good fucking?" he asked, picking the conversation up where it left off, though his voice was hoarse and a little strained.
Vee watched him, her face tight as she realised he didn't want her helping him, or comforting him while he dealt with the tension relief. And it was also what made her realise she knew the answer. "Because he lets me take care of him. And I want to take care of him. We're friends... and partners, and we've always taken care of each other on some level, but this is a different kind of trust."
It wasn't that Euan didn't want it, he just didn't know how to receive it. He never asked for it, and probably never would. He took a few steps away and had to sit down on the edge of the sidewalk for a few moments to take some weight off his tired legs. He looked down at the concrete in front of him, drawing in another deep breath and swallowing back the horrible taste in his mouth. "So, why did you ask me here?" he finally asked, eyes still planted on the ground.
Vee dropped down to her knees beside him and after a moment she slipped her arm around him. "Because I can't do this without you. And I know it's selfish, and I know I'm a horrible bitch, but I'm still scared. I still need my best friend to tell me I'm crazy, and threaten to beat up my... whatever he is. And because I don't want to say goodbye."
"Hate to break it to you, Vee, but you managed alright with the whole thing without me. Can't exactly remember one point where you listened to anything I said. You move to another country and goodbyes are inevitable," Euan told her, the usual abrasiveness of his speech gone in favour of a heavy exhaustion setting in. If he didn't think he would get banged up in the nearest sells for looking like a bum, he would curl up on the sidewalk and happily pass out right then.
Vee gave him a crooked smile before she leaned in to kiss his forehead. "I listen. I might not always act on what you say, but I do always listen. Now will you please just let me get you back to the apartment so you can sleep? We can think about getting you a motel room once the jet-lag wears off. Just... thank you. Thank you for coming. I love you."
Euan nodded and pulled himself up, even if he stumbled a little. He didn't care where he slept right now, he just wanted to crash. "Do me a favour? Take a route well away from the tube station near Liverpool Street," he mumbled and finished off the Guinness, despite his churning gut. He tossed the can into a nearby bin. "Not into sightseeing in that area..."
Words: 3457 | mattdevlin referred to with permission
Ugly Betty
Co-written with lovesguinness
[Follows THIS]
Euan had never been so relieved something was over in his life. Except maybe that threesome with the two chicks who wanted to burn him and stick kitchen utensils up his arse. Quickest ever threesome in his fucking life, that was for sure. But there was no bare titties in sight with this, even if he did pound a flight attendant in the bathroom after he pinched her arse on her way back to the place flight attendants bugger off to when they weren't giving drinks or doing the safety demonstration. The good fuck didn't really make up for the fact he was stuck on the flight. He had never been much of a fan of flying, and he spent most of the journey wondering what the fuck he was doing.
But it was over now. He had submitted to Vee's not-so-subtle nudging for him to fly to London to see her. The devious bitch even sent him a fully paid ticket so all he had to do was get on the plane at the right time. Even then, he nearly didn't do it. London was just not a place he ever wanted to go to again in his life. It was just fucking bad karma that she was creaming her lacy knickers over a friggen Londoner cop. It was a conspiracy, Euan was sure of it. And the thing was, if Euan thought for a minute she hadn't gone mental and would actually come back to New York, he wouldn't be here. But every time he spoke to her, he got a more and more discontent feeling that she really would move here for the fucker, and that meant, of course, it was time for Euan to mark his territory and see this bloke's agenda for himself. That was the only reason he rocked up at JFK Airport with his passport and boarded the flight to Heathrow in London. Any other reason, he would deny vehemently. He hated London. Why else would he want to be anywhere near the place that stole his parents but for making sure Vee didn't end up in a straight jacket and a padded cell? He hadn't even told her he was coming. If she wanted to play games, he could play them right back.
With his back pack slung over his shoulder, Euan sauntered up the tunnel from the plane and stretched the muscles in his back a little as he exited into the terminal. Fucking pissy little seats in the shit plane. He was already jet-lagged and had a headache from too much booze on the plane. Now he had to try and get a cab to the city centre and find a hotel. Getting a cab in London at rush hour was just dogs balls.
Vee couldn't deny she'd been worrying about Euan coming to London since the night before. She was surprised Matt hadn't kicked her out after she'd spent most of the night tossing and turning. In fact, he'd wound up just pulling her into his arms and they watched a really bad late night movie together until she'd fallen asleep again. Maybe they were still working on finding a rhythm, but she couldn't fault the comfort side of him. He seemed to know just what to do when she was stressing, just like she'd somehow managed to know what to do when he was sick.
She'd gotten to the airport an hour early, and Vee had spent most of that time walking around and around and around as she felt her stomach churn. There was a close call when she was sure she was going to vomit from nerves. She hadn't ever been so scared of something in her life. Euan meant the world to her, even if he probably thought the opposite after she'd left him in the lurch and then had the gaul to ask him to come to London.
When his plane was due, she went to camp outside of the gate, her gifts for him in both her coat pockets. She wasn't going to pull them out until she saw him, and she was also sure she was about to chew a hole in her lip with how much she was biting it. Vee shifted her weight from foot to foot, blue eyes fixed on the crowd on people starting to pour off the plane. She finally saw him, and she couldn't help herself when she started to run towards him and threw her arms around him in a hug. It had felt like months since she'd last seen him. She pulled back for a moment and smirked at him. "So, I have a can of Guinness in one pocket and a bottle of water and aspirin in the other. What do you need first?"
Euan raised his eyebrows. She had to go and be all girly girl when he had a fucker of a headache, didn't she? Since when did she squeeze so tight when she hugged. "Should drag your fucking arse to the nearest ticket desk and get you to pay my return ticket on the next plane, first class," he told her, looking her over suspiciously. "Give me the aspirin and the Guinness. Fuck water. You're lucky I have have harboured just enough energy to manage a good belt in the face if I hate the bloke. Just thought I should warn you."
Vee grinned, and even kissed his cheek before she pulled out the Guinness and aspirin to hand it to him. She'd make up for the girliness later. She was also sorely tempted to do more than kiss him on the cheek, but that was just an old habit. She sniffed him briefly as she frowned. "You smell like stewardess. Does that mean your tray table was locked and in the upright position most of the flight? And I never doubted your energy levels, and I promise I'll buy you a ticket back soon. Just give me a day at least. Maybe two. You don't even have to spend any time in the city streets."
"Nope, that was just my cock," Euan returned, taking the can and cracking it open. He look a long gulp of it and then swallowed the aspirin. If anyone wanted to say something to him about boozing in the airport, he would gladly introduce their fucking face to the nearest wall. "Jealous I'm getting some and you're not?" he asked with a smirk and adjusted the bag strap over his shoulder. "Thought you said he lived in the city? Meaning you're shacked up in the city. How do you expect me not to spend time in the streets? Fly? Magic Carpet? Got Scotty on speed dial to beam me up?"
"Sure do, just let me get my communicator out and give him a buzz. He might not have enough power, though. Your cock's too much weight to beam up." Vee watched him, and then shrugged. "Well, besides the cab ride to the apartment and back. You can stay inside the rest of the time, and we can even keep the windows shut and the TV off. And I'm not jealous. I get to pig out on chocolate and sleep naked with a hot detective."
Euan scratched at his forehead with his thumb, the beer still clutched expertly in his other fingers. "Vee, quit it. No amount of airy fairy Kansas Wizard of Oz shite is going to take away the fact this is London, and this is where my parents died. Alright? So just, quit the delusions or you'll piss me off. Ain't no way I'm sticking around in some dude's apartment I don't know while you play happy family housewives. I'm here because you asked me to come, but it doesn't change the fact I hate the place."
Vee nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry. I just... Thank you. I really did miss you, U. I'll put you up somewhere if you want, but I promise you don't have to watch anything. I'm not playing happy family housewives. We're just... working on a transition period."
"Maybe I'm just hungover or whatever the fuck, but I don't even know what that means, so I hope you fucking do," Euan returned wryly as they made their way through the busy airport. "Not like there is a rule book for this sort of shit. I still can't believe you just... up and fucking left with barely a word. You're mental. You'll be lucky to walk back into the job you know, but I'm doubting you even have any intentions of. I get the feeling you dragged me here to convince yourself there might be a chance I'll follow you so you won't wear any guilt of pissing off from New York."
Virginia ruffled her blonde locks as they walked, and huffed out a breath. "Don't you ever find yourself at work wondering what the fuck the job's become? What New York's become? I don't even recognise the City half the time, and I loved that City. It's been my home since I was born. It's in my blood. But I just find myself staring at the guys we bring down, and the crime scenes we enter and wonder what the fuck's happened. I'm always going to care about the victims, how could I not? I just... I don't know. I was talking to Matt about these uniforms and a perp they were chasing the other day when I went to the store. I don't miss being a rookie, but there's just something about what they were doing that was triggering something in me. Something's changed, U. And I think it changed a while ago."
Euan just shook his head and rolled his eyes. "You just tapped into it when your international fuck was balls deep in you, did you?" he snorted. "Funny how you never once mentioned it before. Not once. All of a sudden you hate New York and you hate being a copper there. Funny that." He just couldn't buy it. If he did, it meant they were even further apart than he was even anticipating these days. It meant she hadn't spoken to him about it, and that kinda sucked. "May as well get your head out of the clouds. You can't be a copper here, no matter how nice you think you would look policing the streets of this fucking shit hole alongside your piece of arse. V, I have no fucking clue what to say to you, or what you want me to say. To give you my blessing? Why do you fucking need it? The lines are drawn here. You come here, you won't be there. Plain and simple."
"What do you want me to say?" Vee asked in turn. "I'm trying to get you to understand, but you think I'm crazy, or you think I have my head in the clouds. I know I've fucked up, okay? But what else am I supposed to do? I have a chance at something here. I can feel it. I know I can't be a police officer here. I know I've turned things in New York to shit, but I just... Fuck it, U. What if this happened to you? And forget for a moment your cock spends more time inside women, than out. Just... I don't know. Just imagine this was you and you had the chance to fuck the most amazing woman ever for the rest of your life. But she lived in... Australia. I don't want your blessing, I just want to know we're still friends. That you're still my best friend."
Jet-lagged and she wanted a deep-n-meaningful? Euan rubbed his head again. "When did you turn into such a fucking sap? I'm starting to wonder if you're menopausal or pregnant." There was no real bite in his words, just tiredness. The fact every second sign told him he was in London wasn't helping and he was feeling faintly nauseated by it. "It wouldn't happen to me, so don't even bother. I don't believe in soul mates shit or having one person that belongs to you. I certainly don't fucking believe one woman is the most awesome fuck of my life. You can believe what you like. Australia? Please? You really are mental. Not all of us trawl the net for a lay. We're happy to settle for the prospects in, you know, the biggest fucking city in the world." He stopped walking and just looked at her. Now she was doing the whole friendship thing. "I'm here, aren't I? What do you want, a fucking friendship bracelet?"
"I was more thinking one of those necklaces that form a heart. One half each," Vee responded with a smirk. She reached up to brush her fingers through his hair and nodded. "Yeah, you're here. And I don't think I can ever thank you enough. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being such a menopausal bitch. I'll get back to normal. Promise. I just... I can't explain it. I've never believed in that soulmate shit either, but me and Matt... It was like you and me when we first met."
Euan just flipped her the bird. The necklace thing deserved no further reciprocation. "That supposed to make me feel better? We had it once, but then we got over it. You're not exactly convincing me of this soul mate bollocks." He reached up and squeezed his fingers around his head. He wasn't going to have an anxiety attack about this place, he wasn't going to let it fucking win. "How do you even know any of this is going to give you the sudden answer to self-enlightenment and fulfilment? You decided you aren't cut out for being a cop. A lot of your life to just fucking turf away like that."
Vee slipped her arm around him, and tucked herself against his side. She still had no problem being close to him, the barriers broken down a long time ago. He could just fucking suck it up and deal if he didn't like it. Since Vee didn't know what to say to him to help keep him calm, she tried to do it through actions. "I don't want to get over it with Matt," she admitted. "And yeah, I know, okay? I know... I've fucked up with being a cop. And now I have to work on fixing it, but first I have three months to get through. Although is it still long service when you risk being terminated?"
Euan raised an eyebrow. "Risk? Sounds to me like you want to be terminated," he noted. He was feeling a little warm in the large airport so he unzipped his leather jacket. He didn't have any baggage to claim, just settling on one small bag so he didn't have to think much about anything. "A random online fuck doesn't exactly entitle you to rush off like Wonder Woman to save his arse. Boss was ropeable. Not like you can expect any less. I'd be ropeable if one of my team fucked off without notice and then wanted three months off, too."
Vee looked down, watching her boots as they continued to walk through the airport. She'd forgotten already how big it was, and she'd also forgotten that there was anything to go back to in New York besides Euan. Nothing she was doing was purely because of Matt. She was just finding that she liked being in London more and more. And getting an Irishman that really was all her own was just a nice bonus. She never would have set foot outside of New York if it hadn't been for meeting him. "You still came," she reminded him.
"You didn't give me much choice. Last ditch effort to convince you that you're being mental and I'd be tempted to slap some sense into you if this place didn't make me feel so sick," Euan admitted and swallowed down another mouthful of the Guinness. "What did you mean by that comment before? That whatever it is you're doing was like what we used to be?"
Vee really wanted to make some gloating comment, but she knew it wouldn't be taken well. She also knew that Euan was starting to look genuinely green around the gills. "Can I do anything?" She looked forward as they approached the exit, and held onto him a little tighter in preparation for the cold London air. "Do you remember when we first met? How we couldn't exactly wait to fuck before the day was even out?"
The cold didn't bother Euan after growing up in Ireland. He was weathered to it, and in fact welcomed it right now after being trapped on the stuffy plane for so long. The exterior of Heathrow Airport. He remembered the last time he was here, to come meet his sister with his brother so they could identify their parents bodies. He knew in an instant he was going to need to feel worse before he could feel better and face this. It was stirring up memories and they weren't mixing well with the booze. Suddenly four years didn't seem all that long. He pushed away from her and got far enough away from the crowds to find a gutter to lean over and throw up in. Tension relief didn't always come in the form of a good fuck. It was a few minutes that he battled with some disjointed images of his parents in his head before he managed to get himself back on track. He stood back up again, sucking in a deep breath of chilled air through his nose as the nausea started to ease back into the background. "So, how do you know any of this isn't just nothing more than good fucking?" he asked, picking the conversation up where it left off, though his voice was hoarse and a little strained.
Vee watched him, her face tight as she realised he didn't want her helping him, or comforting him while he dealt with the tension relief. And it was also what made her realise she knew the answer. "Because he lets me take care of him. And I want to take care of him. We're friends... and partners, and we've always taken care of each other on some level, but this is a different kind of trust."
It wasn't that Euan didn't want it, he just didn't know how to receive it. He never asked for it, and probably never would. He took a few steps away and had to sit down on the edge of the sidewalk for a few moments to take some weight off his tired legs. He looked down at the concrete in front of him, drawing in another deep breath and swallowing back the horrible taste in his mouth. "So, why did you ask me here?" he finally asked, eyes still planted on the ground.
Vee dropped down to her knees beside him and after a moment she slipped her arm around him. "Because I can't do this without you. And I know it's selfish, and I know I'm a horrible bitch, but I'm still scared. I still need my best friend to tell me I'm crazy, and threaten to beat up my... whatever he is. And because I don't want to say goodbye."
"Hate to break it to you, Vee, but you managed alright with the whole thing without me. Can't exactly remember one point where you listened to anything I said. You move to another country and goodbyes are inevitable," Euan told her, the usual abrasiveness of his speech gone in favour of a heavy exhaustion setting in. If he didn't think he would get banged up in the nearest sells for looking like a bum, he would curl up on the sidewalk and happily pass out right then.
Vee gave him a crooked smile before she leaned in to kiss his forehead. "I listen. I might not always act on what you say, but I do always listen. Now will you please just let me get you back to the apartment so you can sleep? We can think about getting you a motel room once the jet-lag wears off. Just... thank you. Thank you for coming. I love you."
Euan nodded and pulled himself up, even if he stumbled a little. He didn't care where he slept right now, he just wanted to crash. "Do me a favour? Take a route well away from the tube station near Liverpool Street," he mumbled and finished off the Guinness, despite his churning gut. He tossed the can into a nearby bin. "Not into sightseeing in that area..."
Words: 3457 | mattdevlin referred to with permission