John/Chelsea - Shock
Title: Shock
Author: iluvroadrunner6
Rating: FRT
Characters: John Benson/Chelsea Carlson, Susan Romero
12_developments Prompt: 9. Spouse/Significant Other
Content Warning: N/A
Summary: Susan sees John with someone she'd never thought she'd see.
Author's Note: For goddess_loki Also for a Fic-a-Day in May and I got it in just under the wire.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of CSI:NY. They're owned by CBS. Susan Romero belongs to goddess_loki. However, I do own Eva and all other original characters, so please don't steal them.
“Did you see Ryan anywhere?” Chelsea frowned, keeping her hand clamped in his as they made their way through the hallways of the theater. Technically they weren’t the cast, so they couldn’t really go backstage, but it was still that point in the running of the show where they were a bit more lax with the security. Right now they were looking for Ryan to go grab lunch, and at the moment, he was nowhere to be found.
“Nope,” he said, shaking his head. “Knowing him he’s probably in costuming, though.”
“This close to the show?”
“You know him-he always throws some kind of fit about his costuming at some point during the course of the show.” She stopped walking, and turned to face him for a minute. “I’ll go and see if he’s on stage, you go check costuming?”
“Sure,” he nodded, before she pushed herself up on her toes to give him a quick kiss. He leaned into the kiss a little more, and she let him pull her closer for a longer kiss before pulling back with a smile, and making her way back into the theater. John turned to start to head towards the back, but stopped in his track when he saw a familiar face staring back at him, and looking absolutely dumbfounded.
“Susan,” he said slowly, cringing slightly. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she said, staring back at him. “You and-Chelsea?”
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh, before sliding his hands in his pockets and still looking rather uncomfortable. Susan was starting to look more concerned than confused. “We’ve been going out for a few months now.”
He knew that she was floored for a reason. She had gone through a lot with the whole Garrett and Chelsea mess, and he knew that she was concerned that Chelsea was going to do the same to him.
“A few months,” she said with a sigh. “Are you sure that you want to-”
“Do this?” he said, finishing the sentence for her. “Yeah, I do.”
“But-Chelsea, she’s-”
“I know she doesn’t exactly have the greatest track record, but-we’ve been friends a long time, Susan. I trust her.”
“Garrett trusted her too,” Susan replied, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “And look where that got him. She just walked out on him.”
“I know, but-”
“And then that whole mess where she just showed up at his place-”
“That was right after Eva died,” John sighed. “You know she didn’t take that well. No one did. She wasn’t thinking straight.”
“I know, I just-I don’t want her to do the same thing to you, John,” she sighed. “I don’t want her to hurt you. You’re my friend, remember? I’m allowed to be protective.”
“I know,” he said with a sigh. “But we’re taking things slow-one day at a time, really. We’re making sure we don’t get in over our heads too quickly. She’s not ready for much anyway.”
“Still, John,” she sighed heavily, running her hand over her face. “If she hurts you, I’ll seriously hurt her. You know that right?”
“I know,” he said with a nod. “And she knows it too.”
“Does she?”
“She does,” he sighed. “She’s not gonna hurt me. I promise.”
“As I said-if she does-”
“There’ll be hell to pay.”
“Good,” Susan said, a worried frown still on her face, but she jerked her thumb back towards the dressing room. “Ryan’s back in costuming, if you’re still looking for him.”
“Yeah, we’re supposed to have lunch. Thanks, Susan,” he said, before giving her a wider smile. “It was good seeing you.”
“Yeah-maybe we can catch up later.”
“Sounds good,” he nodded, before continuing to head back to costuming.
A few minutes later, Chelsea returned to the hallway and, when she saw Susan, she gave her a slightly awkward smile, before moving over to her. “Hey, Susan-have you seen-”
“He went back to costuming to get Ryan,” Susan replied, before looking over at her. “Look, Chelsea, I don’t know what you’re doing with John, and I know it’s none of my business, but if you hurt him-”
“You’ll slice me open and put my innards on a stick?”
“Something to that effect, yes,” Susan replied, before smirking slightly, and Chelsea nodded.
“I’m not going to screw this up. Well, I’m going to try, anyway. I have a penchant for just screwing things up anyway, but-and I know this is going to sound really bad, but John’s different. He’s-my best friend. And don’t get me wrong, I really cared about Garrett-I still do, actually-but we were never meant to work out to begin with. You know that.”
“Just-can I ask you something?”
Chelsea took a deep breath before nodding. “Shoot.”
“Do you regret what happened with you and Garrett? And I mean all of it-including what happened after Eva died.”
Chelsea paused for a minute, before nodding again. “I should have never gone over there. And I should have left before it even got started, but the way my mind was at the time-once I started I just couldn’t stop, and it just kept coming, and coming-kind of like word vomit. Except I didn’t get to say everything and-” She stopped for a minute, before reaching up to scratch the side of her head for a moment, before speaking again. “Okay, I know this is going to sound like total crap, but can you do something for me?”
“What?” Susan frowned, looking slightly skeptical.
“Can you tell him I’m sorry about that night?” she shifted uncomfortably, before starting to play with her fingers. “I’d go tell him myself, but I don’t want to do any more damage than I’ve already done. So-if you could pass that on for me-”
“I’ll try,” Susan nodded, before Chelsea gave her a wider smile and nodded as well.
“Thank you.” They fell into silence for a moment, before Chelsea pointed ahead of her and started to move forward. “I’m gonna go find John.”
“Okay,” Susan nodded.
“It was good seeing you.”
“Yeah, Chelsea. You too.”
Author: iluvroadrunner6
Rating: FRT
Characters: John Benson/Chelsea Carlson, Susan Romero
12_developments Prompt: 9. Spouse/Significant Other
Content Warning: N/A
Summary: Susan sees John with someone she'd never thought she'd see.
Author's Note: For goddess_loki Also for a Fic-a-Day in May and I got it in just under the wire.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of CSI:NY. They're owned by CBS. Susan Romero belongs to goddess_loki. However, I do own Eva and all other original characters, so please don't steal them.
“Did you see Ryan anywhere?” Chelsea frowned, keeping her hand clamped in his as they made their way through the hallways of the theater. Technically they weren’t the cast, so they couldn’t really go backstage, but it was still that point in the running of the show where they were a bit more lax with the security. Right now they were looking for Ryan to go grab lunch, and at the moment, he was nowhere to be found.
“Nope,” he said, shaking his head. “Knowing him he’s probably in costuming, though.”
“This close to the show?”
“You know him-he always throws some kind of fit about his costuming at some point during the course of the show.” She stopped walking, and turned to face him for a minute. “I’ll go and see if he’s on stage, you go check costuming?”
“Sure,” he nodded, before she pushed herself up on her toes to give him a quick kiss. He leaned into the kiss a little more, and she let him pull her closer for a longer kiss before pulling back with a smile, and making her way back into the theater. John turned to start to head towards the back, but stopped in his track when he saw a familiar face staring back at him, and looking absolutely dumbfounded.
“Susan,” he said slowly, cringing slightly. “Hi.”
“Hi,” she said, staring back at him. “You and-Chelsea?”
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh, before sliding his hands in his pockets and still looking rather uncomfortable. Susan was starting to look more concerned than confused. “We’ve been going out for a few months now.”
He knew that she was floored for a reason. She had gone through a lot with the whole Garrett and Chelsea mess, and he knew that she was concerned that Chelsea was going to do the same to him.
“A few months,” she said with a sigh. “Are you sure that you want to-”
“Do this?” he said, finishing the sentence for her. “Yeah, I do.”
“But-Chelsea, she’s-”
“I know she doesn’t exactly have the greatest track record, but-we’ve been friends a long time, Susan. I trust her.”
“Garrett trusted her too,” Susan replied, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “And look where that got him. She just walked out on him.”
“I know, but-”
“And then that whole mess where she just showed up at his place-”
“That was right after Eva died,” John sighed. “You know she didn’t take that well. No one did. She wasn’t thinking straight.”
“I know, I just-I don’t want her to do the same thing to you, John,” she sighed. “I don’t want her to hurt you. You’re my friend, remember? I’m allowed to be protective.”
“I know,” he said with a sigh. “But we’re taking things slow-one day at a time, really. We’re making sure we don’t get in over our heads too quickly. She’s not ready for much anyway.”
“Still, John,” she sighed heavily, running her hand over her face. “If she hurts you, I’ll seriously hurt her. You know that right?”
“I know,” he said with a nod. “And she knows it too.”
“Does she?”
“She does,” he sighed. “She’s not gonna hurt me. I promise.”
“As I said-if she does-”
“There’ll be hell to pay.”
“Good,” Susan said, a worried frown still on her face, but she jerked her thumb back towards the dressing room. “Ryan’s back in costuming, if you’re still looking for him.”
“Yeah, we’re supposed to have lunch. Thanks, Susan,” he said, before giving her a wider smile. “It was good seeing you.”
“Yeah-maybe we can catch up later.”
“Sounds good,” he nodded, before continuing to head back to costuming.
A few minutes later, Chelsea returned to the hallway and, when she saw Susan, she gave her a slightly awkward smile, before moving over to her. “Hey, Susan-have you seen-”
“He went back to costuming to get Ryan,” Susan replied, before looking over at her. “Look, Chelsea, I don’t know what you’re doing with John, and I know it’s none of my business, but if you hurt him-”
“You’ll slice me open and put my innards on a stick?”
“Something to that effect, yes,” Susan replied, before smirking slightly, and Chelsea nodded.
“I’m not going to screw this up. Well, I’m going to try, anyway. I have a penchant for just screwing things up anyway, but-and I know this is going to sound really bad, but John’s different. He’s-my best friend. And don’t get me wrong, I really cared about Garrett-I still do, actually-but we were never meant to work out to begin with. You know that.”
“Just-can I ask you something?”
Chelsea took a deep breath before nodding. “Shoot.”
“Do you regret what happened with you and Garrett? And I mean all of it-including what happened after Eva died.”
Chelsea paused for a minute, before nodding again. “I should have never gone over there. And I should have left before it even got started, but the way my mind was at the time-once I started I just couldn’t stop, and it just kept coming, and coming-kind of like word vomit. Except I didn’t get to say everything and-” She stopped for a minute, before reaching up to scratch the side of her head for a moment, before speaking again. “Okay, I know this is going to sound like total crap, but can you do something for me?”
“What?” Susan frowned, looking slightly skeptical.
“Can you tell him I’m sorry about that night?” she shifted uncomfortably, before starting to play with her fingers. “I’d go tell him myself, but I don’t want to do any more damage than I’ve already done. So-if you could pass that on for me-”
“I’ll try,” Susan nodded, before Chelsea gave her a wider smile and nodded as well.
“Thank you.” They fell into silence for a moment, before Chelsea pointed ahead of her and started to move forward. “I’m gonna go find John.”
“Okay,” Susan nodded.
“It was good seeing you.”
“Yeah, Chelsea. You too.”