Entry tags:

special delivery

Special Delivery - Greased Lightening

Plaything

Title: Greased Lightening
Author: so_jayded
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2900
Genre: Hancest
Notes: On the days that chapters don't get posted, for now at least, I'll be posting "special deliveries" - a little bit of back story for you. Remember that the events in these take place outside the established time line. :)



Friday, August 15th, 2003
12:45 PM

Taylor

"Goddamnit!" I slammed the door behind me and stalked into the living room, collapsing onto the couch and frowning with my arms crossed. Dad looked up from his paperwork and raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong, Taylor?" he asked.

"My fucking car won't start," I stood back up and started pacing. "I was supposed to meet Ethan twenty minutes ago and he doesn't have a phone so I can't call him and. He's going to be sitting at the stupid deli waiting for me for like another hour and then he's going to go home and call me and." I sighed and collapsed back onto the couch.

"Language," Dad chastised me. "And why don't you just borrow Zac's car?"

"He's out," I mumbled and kicked the coffee table.

Dad frowned and crossed his arms. "Taylor, stop that. Don't take out your anger on the furniture."

"Sorry." I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. "We just haven't seen each other in, like, forever. We were going to go shopping."

Dad sighed and reached into his pocket, producing his own ring of keys and tossing it to me. "I've got stuff to do at four, so I expect you home by then."

I caught them and offered him a smile. "You're a life-saver!" I called over to him as I ran out the door and let it slam behind me again.

***

"You're late," Ethan said as I slid into the booth next to him.

I made a face and nodded. "My car won't start."

"So the shit luck with electronics evolved to shit luck with anything with moving parts?"

He laughed when I stuck out my tongue and picked up the menu. "I had to borrow my Dad's. Not happy about it. And I have to be home by four."

Ethan groaned and went back to his menu. We were silent for a few minutes while we both looked over the choices. Eventually, the waitress came over and he ordered a ham and swiss. I went with chicken salad on rye, pickles on the side, and we both got medium Cokes. She gave me a flirty grin before she walked off, swaying her hips a little more than she should have.

"I don't know how you deal with it," Ethan murmured, shaking his head and tossing the salt shaker between his hands. "I'd gouge my own eyes out if I had to deal with half the shit you deal with."

Grinning, I told him, "I've got Zac right there, though." I sighed happily. "I wouldn't be able to deal with it if it weren't for Zac."

"Sap."

"Loser."

We both smiled at each other as Cindy brought over our drinks. She giggled as she set mine down, squeezing her boobs together almost imperceptibly with her upper arms. I noticed stupid things like that, though, after seven years of dealing with flirty, insane girls. Ethan stuck his straw into his soda and took a giant sip before he looked back up at me. "So what're you going to do about the car?"

I sighed and shrugged. "It's too expensive to get a rental for a week. I'll just have to make Zac drive me around while it's in the shop." Ethan nodded and started scrunching up his straw wrapper. "Something up, Ethan? You're acting all jittery."

"Jake asked me to move in with him." I offered him a grin but he sighed. "I don't know if I want to," he said. "I mean, if I move out I'll have to pay for school and an apartment..." He sighed. "I've already got more on my plate than I can handle with school alone."

Frowning, I took a sip of my soda. "Maybe you could get a new job? One that pays better?"

He shrugged and sighed. "I guess, but I mean... I don't want to get all messed up and dig myself into a hole I can't get out of."

I nodded. "I get that. But, I mean. If you want to make it work you'll figure out a way."

"Says the kid who's got no intention of moving out of his parents' house ever."

"That is so not true. I'm just not going to move out on my own. That's stupid. I don't want to live by myself."

He shrugged and Cindy came back with our sandwiches. I offered her a half-hearted smile and she gave me a huge grin back, leaving the bill folded at the end of the table. "You're so dependent. Next thing you know, you're going to be sobbing if he spends twenty minutes with Gabe."

"I so wouldn't do that," I told him. "He can hang out with Gabe whenever he wants. Or Julie. Or Tom. Or anybody he wants."

Ethan laughed and cut his sandwich down the middle. "But you'll call each other every seven minutes to say I love you, right?"

"We so don't-" My phone vibrated against the wood table and Ethan snatched it up, flipping it open and laughing. "What?" I asked. "What's so funny?"

"I'm so right," he said, snickering. "'Hey, babe, I miss you and I love you. What's up?'" He put the phone down on the table and I snatched it back, tapping out a response really fast before pocketing it so he wouldn't be able to steal it and read any more of my text messages. "You're both pathetic."

"Whatever," I said. "I have the best boyfriend ever and you're jealous."

"Yeah? If my car broke down, Jake would fix it. Bet Zac wouldn't do that."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I bet he would."

"Fifty bucks says he'll pay for the tow to the shop, but won't get under the hood himself."

"You're on, jerkface," I replied as I picked up my sandwich and stared it down before taking a bite.

***

The next morning, I woke up to Zac's alarm clock going off at some obscene hour. I groaned and stuffed my head back into the crook of his neck. "Why is that going off?" I asked sleepily.

"Gabe wanted to do some co-op play online," he murmured, kissing the top of my head. "Before school. Go back to sleep, Tay." He gently pushed me off of him and slid out of bed.

"You so owe me for waking me up," I mumbled. "You should fix my car."

He laughed and kissed me again, on the cheek this time. "I'll get right on that," he said. The alarm beeped when Zac shut it off and the door closed a few seconds later.

For a few more hours, I slept, dreaming about the look on Zac's face yesterday when I brought him home a rainbow cookie from Starbucks and a new game for his PlayStation. Then the door banged open and Mackie shouted directly in my ear. "Taylor! Wake up!"

I pulled my pillow over my head. "Get out of my room," I demanded. "Right now."

"It's Zac's room, idiot. And Zac wants you to come downstairs and help him."

I peeked out from under the pillow. "It's our room, and I'm sure Zac can play video games all by himself."

"He's fixing your stupid car," Mackie said. "And he needs someone to help him."

I sat up then, with a smile on my face. "He's really fixing my car?" Kicking the blankets down, I stumbled out of bed. Mackie groaned about not needing to see me in my underwear while he slammed the door shut behind him. After searching through our drawers, I managed to find something that I wouldn't mind if it got dirty but would still look alright. I gave myself a once-over in the mirror and then hurried down the stairs.

Zac was standing in the kitchen, shirtless, talking to Dad about sending him out to get some part for the car. His face was streaked with grease and his back was filthy, probably from lying on the thingy with wheels that slid under the car - I could never remember the name, but I'd sort of fantasized about dragging Zac out from under the car and doing unspeakable things to him on top of that the last time I'd seen him under a car. Regardless of how gross he was, covered in grease and dirt and muck, I wrapped my arms around him from behind and gave him a little kiss on his jaw. "You're seriously trying to fix it?"

He looked over his shoulder at me and smiled, hooking his fingers around mine. "You asked me to." He brought one of my palms up to his lips and kissed it. "I don't want you to be car-less, and it sounds like it's just your starter. That's easy enough."

I smiled against his neck and kissed him again. "You look good like this. Maybe you should ditch the whole music thing and become a mechanic."

Chuckling, he broke away from me and gave my hands one last squeeze before he headed for the door again. "But you told me you liked to watch me drum yesterday. Make up your mind, babe."

I crossed my arms and blushed, watching him as he closed the door behind him. Dad laughed from the kitchen table, where the newspaper was spread out with the crossword separated out and folded neatly by my seat at the table. "You saved the crossword for me?" I asked, sitting down and picking up the pen that had been thoughtfully left next to it. He shook his head and looked out the window, where he watched Zac pop the hood again and fiddle with something underneath it.

"He set it out for you, before he went out there."

Smiling, I rested my chin on my fist and watched him for a while, just staring at the way his pants clung in all the right places and watching his muscles flex when he leaned down to do whatever he was doing under there. "I love him," I said, and I probably sounded like a lovestruck idiot, but it was true. "I should make him lunch. Or lemonade. Or lemonade and lunch."

Dad shook his head and turned back to the paper. "There's something I'd like to see."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. "I cook all the time!" I still hadn't taken my eyes off of Zac, though, and I wondered if maybe I was drooling a little, because if I wasn't, I had problems. One man should not be allowed to look that damn sexy under the hood of a car.

"Make Zac a steak and we'll start talking."

I scrunched up my nose and made a little gross noise in the back of my throat. "Way to ruin a perfect morning, Dad. I have the best view in the world right now and you had to go talk about nasty steak."

"You eat raw fish almost daily, but cooked beef is disgusting to you?"

I broke my stare away from Zac and glanced over at Dad. "I wear leather. I don't want to, like, eat and wear the same animal."

He shook his head and set the paper down. "You are so bizarre, Taylor."

I pouted and set my pen down. The crossword could wait. Zac's smile if I brought him something delicious and a glass of lemonade would make my day more than solving the Times crossword. The cupboards were well-stocked and I gave everything a quick once-over before finally deciding on making him a few sandwiches. I picked out white bread and mustard, then I went through all the lunch meats and settled on turkey breast, honey ham, and provolone cheese. I was humming and looking out the window as I put a few sandwiches together. Then I shuffled through the cupboards again, looking for the lemonade mix that I knew was up there.

"Are those all for you?" Mom asked as she swept into the room with Zoe hot on her trail. I shook my head and pulled down the lemonade container. I studied the instructions on the back while she clicked her tongue. "You missed breakfast today."

"I was tired," I told her as I scooped out a few scoops into a pitcher and then filled it with water. "Can I have a wooden spoon, please?"

She handed me a spoon and then leaned against the counter, watching me stir the lemonade. "And when, exactly, are you going to eat? It's already noon."

Frowning, I stirred a little more violently than I had to. "I'll eat. Jeeze, it's just one day. I'm not going to die of starvation. I'm not even hungry yet."

"That's the problem, Taylor," she said, putting her hand over mine and stopping me from stirring. "You don't get hungry, so you don't know when to eat. Make yourself a sandwich, please, at least, before twelve thirty?"

"There's no tuna salad left," I told her. "And we don't have anything to make it with, so I can't even make any more."

She sighed and shook her head. "There's a lot of other things to eat in this house, Tay. I just went shopping yesterday."

"I've got to help Zac fix the car. We'll get a pizza or something later."

"I'm not taking no for an answer. You are eating before twelve thirty or-"

I gave her a look. "Or what? I'll figure something out, just let me bring Zac his lunch, please?"

She sighed again and turned back to Zoe, who was watching me curiously from the table. I poured three glasses of lemonade - one for Zac, one for me, and one for Zoe - and I handed her hers before I put the sandwiches and our glasses on the tray and walked over to the screen door. I pushed it open with my butt and walked carefully over to my car and Zac. "I brought you lunch," I told him as I set the tray down carefully on the card table he'd brought outside. I turned the radio down and he looked up from under the hood and flashed me a huge, heart-melting smile.

"Thank you, babe," he said. He wiped his hands off on a rag and came over to me. I offered him a glass of lemonade and he took it, smiling at me again from over the top of the glass and then taking a huge gulp. "Perfect," he murmured, leaning over to kiss me. I leaned forward and met him half way. The kiss was sweet, a contrast to what he looked like at the moment - all rough and tough and fucking gorgeous.

"I want to fuck you on the lawn," I whispered into his ear as I pulled him into a hug. He laughed against my neck and that didn't exactly help the situation. "How close to finished are you?"

"Dad needs to get me a part. I'd go, but I'd mess up my whole interior this greasy."

Pouting, I picked up one of the sandwiches. I had wrapped them up in napkins so he could eat them without getting grease all over them. "I made you sandwiches," I told him. He took one from me and smiled.

I leaned against the front of the car, watching him munch on the sandwich and stop to drink his lemonade every so often. "Did you make yourself anything?" he asked. I shook my head.

"I'm going to scrounge when I go inside. Mom's already on my case, don't get on my back, too."

He set the empty napkin down on the table and sauntered over to me, taking my lemonade away and pressing himself flush against me. "I don't want you to get sick," he murmured into my ear and I let my eyes flutter closed. "You won't be half as much fun with a feeding tube."

I shook my head and cupped his face with both my hands, kissing him softly. "I'll let you get back to work, then," I said with a smile when we separated.

Zac let his hands slide off my hips and nodded. "Go on. Thanks for the food."

"I love you," I said as I pushed off the car and took a second to watch him, the muscles in his shoulders clenching as he gripped onto the car and stared down into the engine.

"I love you, too," he replied, glancing back at me for a second. I retreated back into the house, back to my seat at the table where Mom had set out a salad and a bowl of soup, and I watched him out the window as I ate, sighing happily every few minutes.

When I was done, Dad was back with the part and I did my crossword as he helped Zac install it. I took my phone out. Ethan wasn't home, but the answering machine picked up. "You owe me fifty bucks," I told the machine as Zac closed the hood and did a little whoop when the car started.