Title: Five Years On, Part 2
Author: Emily
L.
Email:
lavennyfic@gmail.com
Category:
Drama
Rating: PG (very little adult
content, some thematic elements)
Het/Gen/Bi: Het
Parts: 2/4
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: None of these characters
belong to me, they belong to Paramount. Don’t sue me - I might cry.
Pairing: LDF/LK, past SF/WM, past SF/CR
Distribution:
I’m keeping my fic on here for now. E-mail me if you have any requests.
Authors Notes: Note the not-so-quiet salute
to the Laverne & Shirley Sing album (and MMK!) in the title.
Setting: California
Summary: The long separation between Laverne and Shirley
will either make or break their friendship, and it is up to Shirley to decide
her own fate.
Lenny spent hours on the couch with
Laverne trying to comfort her and taking her mind off of Shirley, but a steady
flow of tears still poured from Laverne's eyes. As she started to drift off
into a stress-induced sleep in Lenny's arms, Josie came running into the room.
“Mommy, I think Aunt Shirley's back!”
Laverne glanced at Lenny as she
untangled her body from his. A quick glance in the mirror on the way to the
front door verified that she looked like shit, but she really didn't care.
Shirley deserved to see her like this, the way she had acted. She slowly opened
the door to reveal a equally disheveled Shirley Feeney.
“Vernie, I -”
“Yes?”
“I came to apologize. I had no right
to say those things, and God knows I didn't even mean any of it. It's just,
I've...”
Laverne's heart sank as Shirley
began to cry. “Come on in, Shirl...”
She put her arm around Shirley,
leading her into the living room where Lenny sat in silence.
“Len - can ya put Josie to bed? It's
way past her bedtime.”
“Sure, Vernie. I'm gettin' ready to
go to bed, too. Come up when you're ready,” he said, kissing her gently on the
lips before scooping up Josie and flying up the steps. Laverne smiled at the
two of them, even as they disappeared up to the second floor.
“You really do love him,” Shirley
said, shaking her head and chuckling.
“As hard as it may be for you to
believe, yes, I do.”
“Look, Laverne... I am truly sorry I
said all of those things. Lenny really is a wonderful guy, and it doesn't take
a genius to look at the two of you and see how in love you are. I know I've
missed out on a lot, but I'm willing to play catch up. I know I haven't been a
great best friend these past few years... I've been a horrible one in fact. But
I just didn't want you to see how my life really was...”
“Whaddya mean, Shirl? You always
said you were happy and that Walter was a great husband...”
“That's what I said, Laverne. That's
not what I meant.”
Laverne looked at her with complete
confusion, but it was what she expected, deep down. Shirley was never happy
with Walter.
“I always pictured how perfect my
life would be - the colonial house with the white picket fence, the Collie
named Dave, the station wagon, and the doctor husband. Well, I got the doctor,
Laverne. And since I couldn't get a dog, I settled on naming one of my sons
Dave. That's as far as I got into the dream. And that's why I left him.”
“So ya really did leave Walter?!
Why'd ya marry him in the first place if you didn't love him? I mean... I was
really sad that you were leavin' when you married him, but I was at least glad
that you were happy with him. How come ya never told me you were unhappy?”
“Oh, I was happy at first, Laverne.
I thought I had finally snagged a cute doctor who loved me and who would make
the perfect husband. Not only that, but I was almost thirty and still unwed.”
“Well... I was the same age as you
and not married. I wasn't exactly rushin' to the alter.”
“No, Laverne. You already had your
fair share of rushing to the alter. You were probably sick of doing that by
then.”
As Laverne was about to start
shouting, Shirley apologized. “I didn't mean that, either Laverne. The point is
that I was scared that I was becoming too old to get what I really wanted. If I
was smart, maybe I would have stuck around and married Carmine or found a guy
that I was really interested in.”
Carmine. The name struck like a
chord in Laverne's head - so Carmine was part of the trouble. “So
you're still in love with Carmine, eh?” she said with a catch in her voice.
“I never said that, Laverne. What I
meant was that anyone would have been better than Walter. If I had stayed in
California with you, I wouldn't have spent these last five years running around
the world with my so-called husband. I wouldn't have children without friends
or a real sense of what home is. I could have found someone more suited to me -
someone I really loved and cared for.”
“Like Carmine.”
“Oh, Laverne, shut up! I gave up
Carmine years ago, and for all I know, he's in New York with some cheap floozy
that he married in Vegas.”
“Well, if you must know Shirl, yes -
that did happen. But like all cheap floozies, this one ran off with a big
producer of the show Carmine was doin', and he was so depressed that he came
back here to California and is living alone in Los Angeles tryin' to make it
big out there. And believe it or not, he still misses you.”
Shirley gulped, trying to take in
everything that Laverne had just said. “He does? And... he does?!”
Laverne grinned. “Yes, Shirl. When
he came back from New York, he found me and Len and told me everything. I
showed him a few of the postcards and pictures ya sent me, and he said he was
happy for ya, but I could tell how upset he was. He told me to call him if ya
ever came to visit.”
“Well, I don't want to see him,”
Shirley said with an air of finality.
“Yes you do, Shirl.”
“No, I don't Laverne,” she said
grimacing.
“Shirl, why can't ya just live up to
the fact that you still care about him? I mean, ya just spent the past five
years with a man you didn't really love, and practically raising two kids on
your own. Sure, you and Carmine had some bad times and he wasn't ready for
marriage yet - heck, a year before you married Walter, you confessed to Carmine
that you weren't ready to get married either. I don't understand why you all
the sudden act like you hate him, when you two were so close back then.”
“That's it, Laverne. Five years
changes a person.”
“I've noticed,” Laverne replied with
malice.
“You don't understand Laverne.
Carmine and I have too much of a past to even think about each other now. All
of the times he cheated on me back in Milwaukee, all of the times I tried to
forget about him with all the dates I had, and by now we've both been married
and divorced.”
“Just 'cause you two have an
unpleasant past doesn't mean nothin'. You still love him right? Really, Shirl -
I want you to tell me the truth. You still love him, don't ya?”
“I guess deep down I do... but it'd
never work, and I'm not ready to get close to someone again.”
“Shirl, I guarantee it would work.
Len and I got together, didn't we? You don't think we had a bad past? All the
times I let him down when he asked me out... all the times we got in fights...
heck, I turned down about three proposals from him. I mean, it took a long time
to get where we are now, but it's worth it, Shirl. I had so many failed
relationships that I felt like I never even wanted to see a man again. But he
was there for me... maybe that's what you need Carmine for. I know if you two
talked for a while, it would just be like old times. You've both been doin' the
same thing for the past few years... you've been through the same stuff.”
“I married a doctor, Laverne. Not a
cheap floozy.”
Laverne sighed. “She wasn't exactly
a floozy when he met her, Shirl. She was a nice girl named Sarah, and they
seemed very happy together. It was after they got married that she changed.
Sound familiar?”
“A little.”
“So... I don't want you to have any
more pressure on ya, so I'll call Carmine.”
As Laverne jumped up from the couch,
Shirley yanked her arm. “Not so fast, Laverne. I didn't say I wanted to see
him.”
“I don't care, Shirl. This is my
house and I'm inviting him.”
“I'll leave.”
“Oh please, Shirl. Where would ya
go?”
Shirley looked around her to find an
answer but couldn't think of one. “Good point.”
“That's what I thought. Now would
you please let go of me wrist? I gotta guest to invite.”
Laverne bounced out of the room,
leaving Shirley to her own devices. Shirley leaned back into the comfort of the
couch and massaged her temple, mulling over the events of the day so far. She
began to mumble to herself.
“Great. I come her to escape from a
mummy, and I have to deal with a squat dancer.