take on me (America <3)

[Deleted]

"Michelle Rogers?"

Michelle inwardly cringed that the sound of the girl's voice that was calling her. Quickly, she slipped off her ring and pocketed it. It wasn't like America was there to see. And anyways, how would he know? She got a better grip of her laundry basket, quickly hiding some of his things and smiled.

"Leslie! Hi!" she faked a smile as the girl approached.

"It's been a while! You weren't at the 5 year reunion"

because I didn't want to deal with being laughed at for my choice of spouse. Michelle shrugged. "Yeah. I was real busy, so--"

"Oh, that's ok! I was just visiting an aunt. But we can catch up now"

God, no. Michelle looked around and sighed. "I don't know. I'm really busy today, and the house is a mess, and--"

"I can wait while you tidy up. I won't take no for an answer, Miss Prom Queen!"

Michelle sighed. "All right. Give me a few." she went inside, locking the door behind her. Oh, she was not looking forward to this! She had been the head cheerleader, the homecoming and prom queen, the one everything worked out for and everyone wanted to be. And she had ended up marrying a loser. But she lover her loser. He had grown on her. But there was no way she could explain that. So, instead, she hid all signs that she could be married. All wedding photos, anything that could hint that she was married were locked in a cupboard with the bleach and chemicals. She even hid America's mail.

Leslie had stuck around for a few hours, before leaving. By the time she did, Michelle had no hope of even doing one load of laundry. Instead, she set to work making dinner. She knew that America would be walking in at any time, assuming he wouldn't be late with his job. That happened more often, now that he had been promoted to Detective. She didn't mind it. She was proud of her loser. He was her lovable, Detective loser.

As she finished the stew that she was making, she could hear the front door being opened. What she failed to realize, was that she had forgotten to pull all of the pictures and things back out, and she had forgotten to put her wedding ring back on.

[America Kennedy]

Ric knew that when he was promoted, that his hours would change. They would become a little more sporadic and there would be even more working late than had happened before. But, it was what he wanted. He didn't give a damn if his hours weren't strict nine to five. That wasn't a problem. He loved his job; always had. There was no one about to call him out on not having passion for what he did or having worked his ass off to be promoted. It just so happened that that meant he wasn't going to wind up home all the time, on time. Today though, he was home at a normal hour. He slipped through the door, immediately removing his coat, gun and badge, leaving them on a table near the door before he walked further inside. He frowned as he looked around, not at first noticing the differences. "I'm back," he called, though half-distractedly as he looked around. The pictures were missing. Even his mail was missing from where he remembered it to be.

It made him instantly suspicious, even if he didn't want to feel that way, he didn't have a choice in the matter. There was no reason for it to disappear. Not unless she had someone over she needed to hide it all from. America wasn't stupid. Maybe people could say a lot about him (and they often did), but stupid shouldn't have been one of them. At least not in his ability to connect the dots. Only, he wasn't quite connecting them correctly here. "So, who the hell was the lucky guy today? Mailman? Water guy?" Yeah, he was making quick assumptions as he walked into the kitchen, already folding his arms over his chest as he looked at her, waiting for an answer and not expecting any of them to add up or be anything that he really wanted to hear. "Or did my existence just start bugging you halfway through the day?"

[Deleted]

"In here!" she called back when she heard her husband. Tasting the stew, she decided it needed some more spices. She enjoyed cooking more than she used to. When she was a teenager, she wouldn't be caught dead in the kitchen. She would much rather be shaking a pair of pom poms and yelling out go team go! A lot had changed since then, though, and it had a lot to do with America. When she fell for him, she suddenly wanted to do everything for him. Cook, clean, iron, be little miss Suzie Homemaker.

She remembered the first time she saw him after graduation. Her car had broken down in the worst part of Toronto imaginable, and some jerks had mugged her. When she went into the station to make the complaint, there he was. He might have been the same loser that he was in high school, but something had changed inside of her. By the time she saw him again, she was no longer as superficial as she had been. Of course, there were still quirks about her. Especially when it came to her old friends knowing that she was married to him. Hell, they didn't know she was married at all.

When she heard the accusation, she turned around, arms folded. Glaring at him, she shook her head. "How dare you?" she snapped. Yes, she had occasionally strayed, but that wasn't what had happened here. "Is this how you work your cases, detective? It's no wonder you haven't caught the Sniper yet." Turning around, she tasted the stew again. It was perfect. Turning the fire down to low, she threw the oven mitt down. "Dinner's ready. Serve your own damn self." And with that, she left the kitchen. She didn't even want to look at him at the moment. Jackass.

[America Kennedy]

School hadn't been among America's best memories. From elementary school, onward, he hadn't been the popular one. He hadn't even been close to that. As a kid, he was the lanky, curly-headed kid with hippy parents and he just seemed to attract bullies straight to him. Then, when it came to other kids that also attracted them, he was one of the quickest to stand up in their defense, even if that meant getting his ass kicked and putting yet another dent into his reputation with the upper hierarchy of childhood. So, like most kids shoved into that situation, he made friends with other kids in his same circle and he clung to them. When he moved up into junior high and high school, it became worse, if only because kids were a little meaner and he didn't suddenly become cool in high school. He was still the same America that he always had been and even if he had been able to, he would have resisted being anywhere near the people with even a semblance of popularity, because they were assholes and his own friends probably would have killed him for it. If he stayed in his circle, he was happy, it was when the other people invaded or he wandered out of it that there were problems.

After high school though, that wasn't something that he expected to continue. He still had no interest in seeing any of the people from high school, because he didn't have any need to be harassed. He might have been twenty-six now, but that didn't mean that they changed that much. From what he gathered, people didn't change that much from high school, not as a whole. When it came to Michelle, she was someone that he wouldn't have even attempted to date back then. And no doubt, it was the same from her side. She was the cheerleader and the prom queen; the kind of girl that he wanted to avoid more than he wanted to be stuck in the same room with. Because girls like that tended to make the high school experience even worse for him. When he met her again after, however, it changed. Of course, he had been ready and willing to be professional with her, because it was his job, but it extended beyond that. And damn it, he fell for the girl that he would have hated in high school. But, it didn't help matters with the friends he kept from back then. He hadn't told all of them, because the reaction of a couple was bad enough and he knew damn well that her friends back then didn't know.

"How dare I?" What was he supposed to think? When she brought up the case, he couldn't help but scoff. "Excuse me?" He shook it off and when she walked away, he followed. The food could wait. "What the hell do you want me to think? Because it's looking pretty damn obvious to me." He retorted, not letting up on his own anger. Sure, he cheated now and then and he knew damn well it happened on both ends. But, it didn't mean he wasn't going to be pissed when it did happen and in this case, he couldn't think of another reason why she'd make sure any evidence of his was missing.

[Deleted]

"You heard me," she spoke up once more, when she heard him say excuse me. She had gone in the living room, where she had a stationery bike to the side. Pulling her hair in a pony tail, she started to turn it on when she realized he followed. She shook her head. Though, upon glancing at the wall, she realized why he was angry. She hadn't taken any of the pictures or mail back out. Still, he didn't need to be yelling at her. Why couldn't he have just fucking asked? But, no. Instead, he had to make assumptions. Listening to him, her own temper rose and she turned to face him.

"Oh, of course! It was the maintenance man. You know, the three-hundred pound one with the beard. Because, I got rid of any standards when I married you!" she yelled back, giving him a shove. "You're unbelievable! And if that's what you think of me, you might as well fucking sleep out here tonight!" Of course, it wasn't completely unthinkable that she would cheat. It had been known to happen. She definitely understood the lonely housewife concept now and then. But when she was innocent, the very accusation could be the worst thing in the world to her. She hadn't done anything today. She had simply had an old friend over who wouldn't give her any other choice. It was completely innocent. But, he wasn't taking the time to ask so he could find that out.

[America Kennedy]

It wasn't some outlandish idea that she might cheat on him. It had happened before! So, to say that it was crazy would have been-- well, crazy. Though, it wasn't as if he could throw stones. It had been known to happen with him too. Hell, barely a day passed where he wasn't flirty with someone else and it didn't take a lot for him to wind up with someone else, especially when she did it too. If she cheated on him, then he would cheat on her. It was as easy as that. Except that sometimes, she didn't do it first. But, that wasn't the point. His indiscretions didn't matter here. This was about her. And to him, it was blatantly obvious that she had done something. Why else would any trace of him be erased from the house? There weren't any other excuses that made sense.

"You only had standards when you married me." He snapped back at her for that comment. He didn't see himself as out of line and he sure as hell didn't want to sleep in the living room for confronting her. It wasn't as if he had done anything. And although he could have asked and could have had a calm discussion about it, America wasn't known for that. He jumped to conclusions and he ran with them. It didn't matter if he didn't put all of his thought into it. "Fuck that. Why don't you explain what the hell you were doing, if you're so innocent." Because, he didn't think she was innocent. He thought the opposite and then some.

[Deleted]

The two did not have a normal, healthy relationship. Anyone who knew the two well knew that the young, married couple's relationship was volatile. There was one time when Michelle learned that Ric had slept with another girl and when he came home, the first thing he was greeted with was a slap across his face. She hadn't even said a word. Because she didn't have to. Neither one of them were very good with words when they were angry, and when they did use them, it always ended up like this. They had the worst fights. So why stay with him? Why not go find someone that she didn't have such nasty fights with?

Because when they weren't fighting, he could be the best guy in the world. He was funny and sweet and yeah, sometimes he could be romantic. And Michelle knew that when they weren't fighting, she was a better person because of him. She was nicer and smarter and everything else. Her whole world had vastly improved because she was with him. To her, it was the best relationship in the world. And she never wanted to give it up. Of course now, hearing his demands, she hated his guts. Sure, she could end the fight here and now by telling him about Leslie. But she didn't think that she should have to.

"No," she countered. "After fucking jumping to conclusions? No. You don't get to know, just like that. Not until you fucking apologize" she knew he wouldn't do it. It was like asking a cat to drive a car. Still, she made her demand slash request and slumped down in the couch, folding her arms and crossing her legs. She was determined to stay sitting right in that spot until he did what he was told--I mean, asked.

[America Kennedy]

America rolled his eyes at her. What he wanted was to strangle her--okay, maybe not strangle, but jesus fucking christ. They weren't the most stable of couples. Ric was never going to admit it out loud, but it was true enough. They were volatile. When they fought, they brought everything into the open. And there was enough infidelity to break most couples up, but he still loved her. Every fight didn't change that. He didn't care how unhealthy the relationship was because he loved her. His life had been better since she had been in it. And sometimes, she was wonderful. Sometimes their lives felt just as wonderful, frankly. But, this wasn't one of those times. She was hiding something. And his automatic assumption was that it was another man. Not his fault, frankly. It was hers.

"Apologize? For fucking what? You started this. Tell me what it is and maybe I'll think about it." No. No, he didn't want to apologize and he didn't think that he had to. He followed her to the living room, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at her expectantly. He had no intention of being the first one to break. Hell no. It wasn't going to happen like that. She needed to tell him and he wasn't going to accept anything else. Why should he apologize anyway?

[Deleted]

Michelle was a very stubborn young woman. It was a quality she picked up from her dad. Nobody could deny that she was her father's daughter. And when she decided that something was worth fighting for, far be it for anyone to stand in her way. There weren't very many occassions when she chose to actually go into a stand-off with her husband. Usually, she gave in and was the first to apologize. So naturally, America had been given entitlement. But not this time, she decided. Today, her husband was going to see her full stubborn potential.

With a scoff, she put a hand up. "No, I don't think I will." He may be the head of this household, but she was the neck. And she could turn the head any way she wanted to. Demonstrating her unmoving position, she sat down on the couch and grabbed the nail filer that was on the end table beside it, picking her foot up to file her toe nails. "Talk to me when you're ready to apologize," she told him without looking at him.