Bennett Neely Bale (bennett_bale) wrote in btvsal, @ 2010-02-01 12:51:00 |
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Entry tags: | neely bale, place: la, rachelle martin-bale |
Ultimatum
Who: Neely and Rachelle
Where: Rachelle’s apartment
When: Friday, January 29th
Neely felt like she was pushing her luck by coming here, in all honesty, but if she didn’t come... how was she supposed to fix things? With a small box tucked under one arm, she gave her traditional knock to Rachelle’s door, hoping that it wouldn’t go ignored. She looked a hell of a lot more presentable after Ben got to her, she was wearing tight-fitting hip-hugging jeans, black docs and a tight, white dress shirt. She sucked her lip between her teeth and shifted awkwardly from foot-to-foot. Maybe she should have called first...
"Yo." She called through the door, not bothering to get up off of the sofa she was sitting on, watching a hockey game. She was dressed in baggy, low-slung Chicago Blackhawks PJ bottoms, and a clingy white tanktop, her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. As one could tell, she could not have cared what she looked like right now. "Who is it?"
The blonde placed her free hand against the door and rested her forehead next to it, inhaling slowly. Rachelle had never asked who was there before... was this really as far as she was going to get? "Neely," she called back, trying to control the tremor in her voice.
"Oh. Good. Great." Just what she needed right now. She was scared off her ASS, and now had relationship drama to deal with. "Neely..." she sighed, shaking her head. "Why are you here?"
"I wanted to see you," Neely replied. She tried the door only to realise it was locked. Rachelle never locked the door. "But... talking to the door’s good too," she joked weakly. "It’s a good, solid door." Not that she couldn’t break it down, if she wanted to...
"It ain't you... I got SO many fucking reasons now to lock that door..." She grumbled, thinking back to her meeting with Ethan.
She got up, unlocking the door, and sat back down. "If you got somethin' to say, come on in and say it. Just don't be too loud, I'm trying to see if the Flyers suck so bad it actually makes a sound."
"I think it’s one of those tree falling in the woods things..." Neely murmured as she made her way inside, flipping the lock behind her again. She sat down on the floor and leaned back against the sofa, setting the box down beside her. After a minute she asked: "Why else do you need to lock the door?"
"Trust me... right now? It's bad enough I'm not good enough for you... I don’t need you thinking I'm crazy too." She shook her head and sighed, pulling her knees up to her chest.
That got Neely’s attention, she turned to face Rachelle, a frown on her face. "Don’t say that. Tell me why you locked the door." She was more than concerned now. Did she have to wolf-out on someone’s ass?
"Because there's things out there, Neely. Things I didn't think existed. And I'm gonna shut up right now. So tell me why yer here already." If she sounded curt, it's because she didn't want to cry again already.
Neely’s jaw set in frustration, but soon let out a brief laugh and shook her head, because: "I wanted to tell you about something... that most people don’t think exists. But if you’re locking the door, maybe it’s not the best time."
"Neely? In the span of a week, I lost the love of my life and almost got attacked by motherfucking VAMPIRES. Vampires, Neely! Laugh allll ya want but I'm serious. And this awesomely cute guy that saved me went on to explain that not only do THEY exist, but so do werewolves, and demons, and evvvvvvverything else. So yeah. The door? Gets locked."
Neely looked away, and her face flushed red with anger. "Almost," she repeated. "You didn’t get bitten?" She asked, turning to look at Rachelle’s neck. As for the other stuff: "Yeah, about that."
"No, as I said... Awesome-Dude saved my ass." She caught that last part. "About that... what? You don’t exactly sound surprised."
"Well, I kinda always knew about that stuff," Neely replied, completely going over the part about the awesome dude. That just didn’t sit well with her. She shifted awkwardly, but decided, why beat around the bush? Heh. She reached into the box and pulled out a few VCR tapes. An American Werewolf in Paris, Ginger Snaps, The WolfMan... kinda themed, and plopped them on the sofa next to Rachelle. "They’re... not entirely accurate. Not in my case, anyway."
"Wait... in YOUR case?" Chelle asked with a raise of an eyebrow. "What's going on, Neely?"
"I’m sorry I never told you. I was kinda ... afraid you wouldn’t like it, but," big breathe, "I’m a lycan. ...Werewolf," the blonde clarified. "Born and bred."
"You...." Rachelle started laughing, then. Snorting, almost. "Is... ok, Neely? Yes, that was funny. But it's gonna take more than jokes to heal this."
Neely was happy to see Rachelle laugh, even if it was at her own expense. She smiled faintly and lowered her eyes to the ground. She expected to get thrown out, not laughed at. "You ever wonder how I got to be so strong?" She asked, keeping her eyes on the ground. This was Neely opening up here. She never told anyone what she was, before.
Then? She sobered up. Fast. The strength? Ohhh yeah. It all made sense now. "Oh. Fantastic. I've been chased by vampires and laid by a werewolf."
"Well, at least you can honestly say you were eaten out by a werewolf with no, y’know, ill-effects," Neely joked, smirking slightly. “So... yeah. Wanted to tell you that.”
"Jesus. Jesus fucking Christ on a goddamn popsicle stick. Maybe next I'll find out the Easter Bunny is real, too. Fuck." She sat back, letting this all process.
"Not that I know of... Unless he’s a demon," Neely murmured thoughtfully, "Actually, Santa’s a demon. Snatches children... or maybe Ben just told me that so I wouldn’t sneak out of bed Christmas Eve. Seems like something he’d do."
"I just... ok, you know what? Fuck vampires, fuck werewolves... right now? I just want to figure out what the hell's going on in my life. And you still haven't answered my question, I don’t think." Rachelle sat back a little, watching the TV. "Unless you just popped by to say 'oh by the way Im a werewolf', what are you here for?"
"You. I’m here for you," Neely replied, looking away again. "I just... there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. We don’t have to talk, if you don’t want to. I could just... be here."
"Neely... I...." UGH. Rachelle really was NOT ready for this, especially after the vampires and now this. "Nothing's changed. I love you. But I can't do this. Not until I know you're willing to be mine. ONLY mine. And not just willing... you have to WANT it. Not for me, but for US."
"I do want it," Neely replied defensively, but she could certainly take a hint. She got up to her feet and frowned. She could have said a lot of things there, but she didn’t. Instead, she met Rachelle’s eyes.
"I love you so much it hurts, Neels. I think about you. Hear your name, even, and I start crying." Rachelle let herself get a little teary-eyed there, although she really didn't want to. "But I can't live my life wondering if every time I leave for a while, if you're gonna go find Meeghan, like she's some fucking form of crack or something."
"Then I’ll just... have to show you that that won’t happen," Neely replied, voice a little unsteady.
"Remember, Neely. Its not gonna happen because you want to make me happy." She was just being honest here. For both their sakes. "This has to be something YOU want. Or it'll never, ever work. And all you'll do is hurt me even worse than I am right now."
Neely knelt down on the ground beside Rachelle, resting her elbows on the couch, and looked Rachelle deeply in the eyes. "I want. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life." Sure, it might have looked and sounded cheesy, but the conviction in her voice almost made it sweet.
"Fine. Then there's a few things you need to do first." Rachelle looked into the other girl's eyes, trying not to cry. "First thing: I want you to go home. I want you to listen to that song I wrote you. I want you to really LISTEN to the words, to the emotion in my voice... to how much I meant every word... and think about why I felt that way. And think about what you can do to change that."
"I will," Neely murmured after a moment, her voice croaking at those two words. She pursed her lips together and nodded, ready to hear what else Rachelle had to say. Ben had mentioned that she might not like some things, but if it meant she’d get Rachelle back? Then she’d do it. She’d do it and mean it.
"After that..." She gave a long, shaky sigh as she started to speak again. "You need to make a decision. I never want to give ultimatums. And I'm sorry that I have to do it now. But it's me or her. You can be her 'friend', or my girlfriend. You can't have both, Neels... Not anymore."
Neely sighed and pressed her check against the armrest of the sofa, and nodded slowly. She knew it would come to this, and if she had to make the choice… well, it was obvious. "Okay," she murmured. She reached out to touch Rachelle’s cheek, but caught herself mid-action, and drew her hand back.
"If you can get to where she's not a temptation anymore... then maybe things can change." She didn't want Neely near Meegs again. Ever. But she also knew that unfortunately, the girl made Neely happy.
"Okay," Neely murmured again. She honestly didn’t think Meeghan was a temptation anymore... but she could appreciate that being away from her was what she needed to do. What she wanted to do. To make things right. She swallowed down the lump in her throat and nodded again.
"If you can do those things... and WANT to do those things... Then there's hope for us. I'm not giving up on us, Neely... But you need to make sure this is what you want. Everyone makes mistakes, but if we try this again, and you crap on my trust again..." She swallowed roughly, eyes closing. "Then I swear, I'll never speak to you again."
While Rachelle’s eyes were closed Neely studied her face and realised, as she did when she was first dating Rachelle, that this was the point where she needed to speak. She cleared her throat. "I love you, 'Chelle. More than I thought I could ever love anyone and I want us to work." She sucked her lip between her teeth, "'Always', remember?"
"Yeah." Rachelle smiled there, a sad but resigned smile. "Always. Just... regain my trust. Show me you want this as much as you say you do."
"Every day." Neely met Rachelle’s eyes. It was difficult not to touch her in some way, as she always did when she was near Rachelle, but somehow, she managed to rein it in. "I’ll show you every day."
"I hope so." The redhead felt her voice crack a little there. "Because I don't think I could live any happy kind of life without you anymore. I'm hooked on you, dammit."
Neely bit her lip and leaned back on her haunches. "I just wish it took something else for me to realise how much you mean to me." She admitted.
"Just... do what I asked. Go home. Think about everything. Make sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I'm what you want." She finally reached out and placed a palm on Neely's cheek. "And if I am? Then come back to me."
She leaned into Rachelle’s palm, "Okay, baby." She placed a tiny kiss to Rachelle’s palm and slowly got to her feet. She didn’t want to leave, honestly, but... Rachelle was right. She needed to think. About everything.