Cappie was grinning as he descended the stage amid waves of applause, the guitar he’d bought himself a few weeks previously swung across his back by its strap. A couple of down-low performances at Dive’s open mic night had given him the confidence to have a go at playing Lightning Brew’s and, unlike his previous solo outings, he’d actually told some people that he was planning to play this time. Roman was around somewhere - Cappie had already bought him a drink in honor of his birthday - and Rebecca was keeping his seat at one of the tables.
The nerves about performing his own songs in front of an audience of people he knew had turned to adrenaline as soon as he’d taken to the stage and, thanks to the warm reception from the crowd, he was positively buzzing now that it was over. He was glad to see that Rebecca had a beer ready and waiting for him when he sat down again. He’d need it to help him come down from his high.
“Go on, then,” he said, pulling his guitar off from around him and propping it up against the table. “Tell me how awesome I was.”
As much as she enjoyed listening and watching Cappie on stage, Rebecca still rolled her eyes at him when he sat down at their table. She remembered how good he’d been during their fantasyland days, and it was nice that he’d decided to continue that now that they were back to normal.
She waved her hand a bit while she took a sip of her drink. She’d already had a beer but went for something a little more fruity and dainty for her second round. “I guess you were a little awesome,” she said. “Much better than most everyone else who have already been up there tonight before you.”
There was a quirk of a smile before going back to her drink. She caught herself watching him but quickly lowered her eyes to the drink and then looked around the room as if it were nothing. She couldn’t explain it but ever since they’d woken back up in Atlantis, old feelings had started coming back up again. And, if she was being honest, there were new feelings too. She’d tried ignoring them for a while thinking that it would pass, but every time they were around each other lately, those thoughts were there, daring to be blurted out in embarrassing fashion. Looking back at him again, she noticed small drop of sweat on his forehead probably due to his being up on stage, and there was another stirring deep in the pit of her stomach.
Oh god. Rebecca finished off her drink in a couple more long sips. She could feel her leg bouncing beneath the table, and when she looked back at him again, she found herself blurting out a question she had not expected to ask when she had agreed to come hear him tonight. “Do you want to go to Sadie Hawkins with me?”
Cappie’s grin widened, if that was possible, at Rebecca’s compliment. Better than everyone else? That was high praise indeed, coming from her. He had been expecting maybe an ‘it was okay’. He would absolutely take ‘a little awesome’. He picked up his beer, feeling smug, and lifted it to his lips, taking a long, much-needed drink as he sunk back in his seat. He was about to say something about how crowded the Brew was but something about the way Rebecca was sitting stopped him. She looked tense. He could swear he could see her bouncing a little in her seat and, if he’d had to put money on it, he would have guessed her leg was jiggling beneath the table.
“What’s up with you?” he asked, unfortunately speaking just as Rebecca blurted out a question of her own. Cappie’s eyes narrowed in a confused squint as he tried to figure out whether he’d heard her correctly. He thought she’d just asked him out.
“Say that again,” he prompted, his eyebrows rising as his head cocked to one side, with an air of incredulity in his voice.
Why couldn't she have kept her damn mouth shut? Rebecca was known for saying what was on her mind in most circumstances, but she also was known for keeping personal thoughts and feelings to herself. She often bottled those up and secured them away like Fort Knox. It wasn't even that she knew that she had feelings for Cappie. Okay, maybe a little. But it was just physical, right? This dry spell she’d been in had lasted way too long, and she blamed Atlantis for it. She was blaming Atlantis for this conversation too. Whatever this was.
"Forget it," she said, catching his look then averting her eyes. He was looking at her like he was trying to figure her out and not in the 'I'm undressing you in my mind' kind of way that she'd gotten used to when it came to Cappie or 99% of every other male she'd ever met.
"It's stupid and I never should have said anything. Bad idea. Bad." Hadn't she been down this road before? Rebecca knew in the back of her mind where this was going to lead. If he went for it, they'd have a few good months and plenty of hot, amazing sex. Like, really amazing sex, but there was still the matter of the elephant in the room that she didn’t want to compete with only to be trampled on later. Not that it mattered. It was just physical and stupid.
“No, no, no,” Cappie laughed, setting his beer down on the table to show he meant business. He wasn’t going to let her drop the subject that easily.
“You asked me to go to the Testicle with you, didn’t you?” He was sure she had, although he couldn’t deny that he was surprised by it. Rebecca was a gorgeous girl. He was sure she wouldn’t find it at all hard to get herself a date if she wanted to. So why would she want to slum it with him? Could it be linked to the weird looks and glances he’d been noticing her stealing at him lately? If they hadn’t already tried the whole dating thing, multiple times and in multiple realities, he would have sworn she had a crush on him. He remembered how it had felt the first time he’d noticed that look in her eye, when they’d first started hooking up: exciting, nerve racking, electric. But there had been so much water under the bridge since then, where they were concerned. She had made it clear that they were over for good the last time. So why was she asking him out now? And how did he feel about it?
“I don’t know, Becks,” he said, sucking in the air between his teeth as he put his hands behind his head and stretched back in his seat. “You know my views on dancing.” If in doubt, Cappie’s first reaction was to choose humor.
Rebecca knew better than to think he'd let it go. Hell, she wouldn't have if the shoe had been on the other foot. She narrowed her eyes at him and gave him a look at the jokes. Looking down at her empty drink glass, she cursed inwardly at herself for finishing it off already or at least not having a second all ready to go.
“Cute,” she said in her usual annoyed way. It figured he'd make a joke out of it. Even if that wasn't what he was actually doing, and a logical Rebecca might have known that, but logical Rebecca didn't always show up when she was feeling even the slightest bit vulnerable. Ugh. Why couldn't the whole lesbian thing have been more than just a phase? Girls were so much easier to deal with than boys. Usually. Half ignoring his questions, she craned her next to look around the place for a bartender or waiter. “Don't the people here do their jobs?” she mused aloud before finally turning back to Cappie again.
“Yes, okay? Yes, I asked you, but now I'm immediately regretting it. Like I said, forget it. Like I'd want to walk through that door again, and can I get some service over here?!” By mid-sentence she'd already started surveying the room again but only managed to raise the brows of other tables around them instead of catch the attention of an actual employee.
Finally, she made eye contact with Cappie again. “What?”
Cappie couldn’t help but watch Rebecca as she looked everywhere but at him as she simultaneously insulted him and scolded herself. He wasn’t surprised or even that dismayed. It was classic Rebecca behaviour but it did surprise him that she was feeling vulnerable enough to act so affected. It made him start to reconsider his choice of reaction. He’d never liked seeing Rebecca feeling upset or uncomfortable. That had always been one of his weak spots.
When they finally did make eye contact, he felt a little thrill run through him. He ran his tongue over his lips and sat forward again, his expression becoming more serious.
“What if I don’t wanna forget it?” He lifted one eyebrow, challenging her.
The change in reaction made her stop short to look at him more closely. He still had that typical half amused, half interested Cappie look on his face, but it was different than it had been a moment ago. Rebecca didn’t say anything for a several solid seconds but narrowed her eyes again as she sized him up and tried to figure out if he was serious or not.
“You don’t?” A part of her was surprised he’d give it a second thought, but the other part simply caused her to flip her hair back over her shoulder and rest an elbow on the table. “I mean, obviously. Like anyone else here would be a better date than me.” That was half true. Rebecca was used to being the baddest bitch on campus, but competing with girls who had actual magic or super powers had taken some getting used to since she’d gotten here.
Cappie noticed Rebecca’s flippant use of the word date. What was it she was asking him here? Did she want him to go with her so that she didn’t have to go alone and so that he could actually go or was there an underlying meaning?
“I mean it’s not like it’s a date date, right?” he said, trying to sound off-hand.
Rebecca hesitated. She couldn't tell if Cappie expected this to be a date date or if that's what he thought she expected out of this. Trying to act calm and cool about this wasn't working.
“Oh, yeah totally,” she said with probably a little too much pep. The drink in front of her was still empty, but she leaned forward on her elbows and twirled the little straw around in the glass anyway. She could go with Cappie to a stupid Sadie Hawkins dance as a friend. Because they were friends. Friends who had tried dating but failed for whatever reason. She hadn't had any problem being just his friend until recently. What the hell had gotten into her?
“‘Cause, I mean, us going on a date date would pretty weird, right?” She looked at him directly while saying the words, the pep and a lot of her bravado gone. If he wanted this to be casual then fine; she could handle it. She'd get over whatever this was and would probably be safer for it in the long run.
Cappie met Rebecca’s gaze as she spoke, watching the false front of confidence and nonchalance fall away. There was more to her question, a kind of weight to it that had caught him off guard. He knew he needed to reply to her but he got the impression that what he said now was going to have a knock on effect, one way or another. He gulped, his mouth feeling suddenly dry. He hadn’t expected the conversation to go this way. A thousand ‘what if’s ran through his mind in a split second.
“Not weird,” he replied, after a moment (a very long moment). “Maybe just a little masochistic.” The truth was, when it came down to it, Cappie did care about Rebecca and, if they decided to hell with it and went down that road again, he would try to be the kind of boyfriend she wanted (no, deserved) but, ultimately, she would want to feel reassured that he was over Casey and he just didn’t know if he would ever be able to deliver on that.
“But, hey, I’ll brave the pain if it means Cinderella gets to go to the ball,” he added. Just because it was a really fucking stupid idea… it didn’t mean he didn’t want to go.
Most people, people from home anyway, usually thought that Rebecca was a package wrapped up in confidence and bitchiness. Sure, that was a big part of her, but the people who knew her best knew that there was more underneath her brittle layers. Openness and vulnerability had never been her strengths, especially in relationships. It was too easy to get hurt. That had happened once with Cappie and more recently with Evan. God, could she be anymore Casey-like with the bouncing between the two guys? Those particular two guys?
She couldn't explain why she had started feeling like this towards Cappie again. Maybe it was the fake life where they'd been forced back down memory lane. A place where Casey didn't exist, and they'd actually been more functional for a longer period than back home at Cyprus Rhodes. Maybe it was homesickness, and he was a piece of home that she could hold onto. Or maybe it was something else completely. He'd changed since they'd last dated - actually last dated, not fake last dated - and she could see it.
"If going on a date with me is that painful then forget I ever said anything," Rebecca said a bit defensively, not entirely understanding his meaning. Yes, she knew the risks and possible heartache that probably awaited her in the future even if she was probably, kinda sorta trying to ignore it or pretend it wasn't a risk.
“I already told you,” Cappie said, leaning back lazily and crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not forgetting anything. You’ve asked me now: it’s too late. We’re going.” Her defensiveness was just a form of self-preservation, he knew, and he had never been one to let that put him off.
Rebecca narrowed her eyes as she studied Cappie for a moment. She thought she knew him pretty well and better than a lot of others, but there were still many facets about him that she hadn’t unwrapped yet.
“Alright. We’re going,” she repeated, a hint of a smile starting to appear. Who the hell knew what would happen after the dance and the days following, but this was something, at least. “Now how about another drink?” She asked, tapping the straw against her empty glass before sticking the end in her mouth.