Separate But Together
By Cheshyre

SERIES: Souvenirs
Title: Separate But Together (1/1)
Fandom: LAS
Pairing: none
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own it. I don't make money off of it. I just use it to make other people happy. Suing me will only get you action figures.
Notes: Part of the Souvenirs Universe.
Warnings: Poison ivy is itchy.


Squiggy had really gone out of his way for them. Shirley and Davy slept in his bedroom while he slept on the couch. Shirley had done her best to be helpful, cleaning and cooking, while she was trying to plot her next move. Squiggy was quite and polite and never once made a move on her, which was beginning to disquiet Shirley. The only time he smiled was when he thanked Shirley for her help or on the few occasions he'd played with Davy. And those smiles were sad ones.

Squiggy, just as he had told her on the phone, was gone most of the time. He got up early and left for work, came home for dinner (which he, though always acting very grateful for Shirley making it, barely ate), and usually left again around nine.

At first Shirley suspected he was up to no good, his manners all a ruse. But, she quickly realized that he wasn't. The Squiggy she had last seen, the one with the big dreams and crazy ideas, had been replaced with this new Squiggy that seemed so empty.

Shirley looked across the tiny kitchen table, watching Squiggy push his food around his plate.

They were in the same boat, one that wasn't sinking and wasn't sailing, but was sitting on still, glass-like waters. They were in the same boat, a tiny little life raft that had oars, but they weren't using them. If they'd only pick them up and work together, lean on each other, they'd get to where they needed to be.

She watched Squiggy pick up his plate and take it to the sink. He washed it, dried it, put it away. He thanked Shirley quietly, politely, for the meal, ruffled Davy's hair, and disappeared out the door much earlier than usual.

They were like pieces of a puzzle, Shirley decided as she set Davy down to play and cleared the table. Shirley and Squiggy didn't fit together, but they belonged together. They helped to form a bigger picture, a much grander thing. But the other pieces were missing.

So there was no bigger picture, no grander thing.

Shirley sighed at her own metaphors, scrubbing the dishes cleaner than clean.

Another day gone. Another day adrift in that boat, two puzzle pieces, separate but together.

FIN



To "Right Beside You"
To "Kaleidoscope"