After a quick shower and changing into some long cotton pj pants and a t-shirt, Liz returned to the boys. Ben was wrapping up and pulled her into another bear hug like at the hospital and gave her a friendly kiss on the forehead. She smiled and wished him a good night, then carefully crawled over to Todd, sitting next to him Indian style. "So? You need your meds? A shower? Peas?"
She grinned, messing with his hair. He looked so much better, but still could use a bit of cleaning up. She was feeling worn down herself and could have easily snuggled up to him and passed out. But the couch was probably a smarter idea and she could still hear him if he hollered loud enough.
Todd was tired and a little buzzed from the pain meds. He hadn't expected to be up this long, but it had been nice hanging with Ben and enjoying the normalcy. He wouldn't have minded a shower, but figured that he'd just get one in the morning. However, there were some other bathroom duties that he needed to attend to.
"I'll hold off on the shower, Liz," he said, " but I do need to brush my teeth, etc. Do you mind switching out the peas and grabbing me another drink? I have to take a couple of pills before I go to sleep."
"Sure thing," Liz said with a smile. She helped him out of bed and followed behind him as he staggered toward the bathroom Once she saw he was going to make it OK, she let him go in himself. They were close, but not
that
close.
Todd brushed his teeth, then settled in for a "long winter's crap" as Ben liked to call them. There was a stack of reading material, but the top of the pile was full of Liz's never ending supply of "woman" magazines. He'd never understand how someone as smart as her could waste time and money on these $5 advertisements masquerading as journalism. He didn't feel like digging though, so he picked up a recent issue of Vogue and leafed through it, trying to find anything of interest, other than the shots of half naked women. Usually those would have at least appeased him but now the boys were still feeling the effects of being "a-peas-ed." He stopped at one of the inane quizzes these things always had, but this one looked like it had been completed. That was new. Todd flipped to the first page of the thing and started reading.
****
Liz switched out Todd's warm bag of peas for one that was icy and grabbed him another soda can from the fridge. Back in his bedroom, she turned down the blankets and plumped his pillows, then returned to the bathroom door. "Doing okay in there?"
"Huh? Oh...yeah...I'll holler when I'm done!" Came his muffled voice from the other side.
She went to her own room, ruffled up her blankets, grabbed her lap top and took it to the living room. She wasn't proud of the fact that her own bed gave her the creeps after her near violation by Kevin. Partially closing her door, she set herself up in the living room, ready to use the excuse that she had some work to do and wasn't overly tired yet.
Flipping on the TV, she propped her feet up, glancing at the pretty french tipped toes and mentally going over her 'dance routine'. No one could have accused Mary and Hollie for not being creative, that was for sure.
****
More than Friendship Material?: A Vogue Relationship Quiz
Todd began reading through this allegedly helpful set of questions, all with multiple choice answers. The questions ranged from "Does he share your interests" to "Do you like his friends" to "Does he make you tingle in your special places." Yikes. That last one was close to home. Each answer had a different numerical score, and the final tally was supposed to say "Yay" or "Nay" to the prospect. In this case, the answers were a mixed bag, and the final score said "You should probably look elsewhere." Todd felt strangely saddened at that. He went back to the start, and answered the questions himself in regard to him and Liz. At the end, the score merited "Why aren't you together already?"
Liz knocked on the bathroom door and Todd nearly jumped out of his skin. "Did you fall in?"
"Finishing up now, " he answered, spinning the toilet paper roll. I'll be right out."
Todd flushed, washed his hands, and stuck the magazine at the bottom of the stack. He opened the door and Liz was there to escort him back to his bed. She handed him a root beer and a cold pea bag and smiled.
Liz 'tucked' him into bed and smiled. "I'm going to watch a little TV and work on my paper while I have a free moment." God she was tired, she thought to herself. Who thought shaking your ass and dancing could be such a work out. "So if you need anything, holler at me. Even when I go to bed, I should be able to hear you."
****
"Yes Nurse Liz." He teased and watched her light up again, her cheeks turning bright red. A slow grin spread over his lips and he eyed her curiously, "What have you been up to Lizzie? You've always been a terrible liar. At least with me."
"Nothing. Nothing at all, just take your pills and go to sleep. Want me to pop in a movie?"
He groaned slightly, popping the pills into his mouth. "Just put in the new Iron Man. That should lull me to sleep."
She giggled and did just that, then blew him a kiss and left, partially closing the door behind her and going to the couch. With a sigh she settled in, turning down the sound so as to not bother him and switching on her laptop. She didn't have anything to really work on. She had already tackled everything that needed to be done. But she settled it on the coffee table and slid down, resting her head on a pillow and grabbing one of her school books.
****
At a little past 11:30, Ben got home to find his fiancee and her little friend dozing on the couch. An empty wine bottle was on the coffee table. "Wakey wakey ladies. You all need to get to bed."
"Was that a proposition, big boy?" Mary asked.
"Usually, but we all have things to do tomorrow, hon. Hollie, do you want to crash here or have me take you home? You aren't driving."
"I'll just hang here, coach," Hollie said with a smile. " I need to make a couple of calls though. I can find my way to the guest room."
"OK. Let me collect Drinking Beauty here. You have a good night." Ben picked Mary up and carried her off to the bedroom. Hollie gathered her things and headed back to the guest bed she was now used to spending time in. She called Cindy and let her know she was too drunk to drive home. Then she looked at the receipt for the costume purchases from that morning. The X-Mart phone number was on it, and she dialed it.
Someone picked up, "X-Mart. We never close."
****
Mary looped her arms around Ben's neck and pressed her face against his neck as he carried her to bed. She loved how he always made her feel like a bit of a princess. Always looking out for her, opening doors, cooking her breakfast and doing little thoughtful gestures that left her melting. For as tough as she was, her walls were always down where Ben was concerned.
"Have I told you how much I love you lately?" she asked him, giving him a bit of a goofy grin as he peeled her shirt over her head.
Ben chuckled and grinned down back at her. "Nope. I think you have some making up to do."
