Bridging the Gap, a Romance fanfic

Introduction

Sobriety was a form of control not many have the capability of mastering. Especially if those said people had this belief that the coincidence of twenty-four beers in a case coincided with our twenty-four hours in a day.

It was a common knowledge that breaking up a deeply rooted relationship was not a very nice occurrence in one’s life. So, most often then not, people usually try to forget anything pertaining to the said topic but end up in complete and utter failure. Thus, the prospect of befuddlement brought on by intoxication due to liquor. Confused yet? Well, let me enlighten you then.

Dean Patterson was one very decent guy. Taking up a year away from studies, he started his life in college at the fresh age of twenty without having a serious goal in life. Now at twenty three, he was very much near his graduation date as a double major in music and was currently having internship under the wings of Brandon Lar, a very well-known record producer. Though fond of paperwork, Dean was often recommended by Brandon in sound tech related work which had led him to meet many famous singers in person, much to the amusement of his friends. He was quite shy and did not take too closely to the life of the rich and famous. The young Patterson would rather go through mic testing alone than have a talk with a distinguished singer face-to-face. A fault his boss vowed to remove one day.

On to my point.

Let us rewind a little shall we? Back in eighth grade, Dean had his first girlfriend, Holly Hewitt. They claimed they liked each other very deeply but three months through the relationship, Holly had called it off saying that they were still too young to get too serious, which Dean was getting. To this day though, they remained close friends.

Sophomore year, high school. Adrienne Bethany Collins, Dean’s second girlfriend. She was his first love, as he once declared. Their relationship ended the day before vacation, junior year. Adrienne, like his first girlfriend, had broken up with him. Education was her excuse. Unlike Holly though, Dean failed to keep in contact with her.

On to the present, the reason for his current depression, Diane Smith. Like the previous two, she called quits on the pretense of rekindled feelings towards her high school sweet heart. In defense to the woman, she was not all that bad. Profusely did she apologize to Dean about the situation and found that breaking up was the most logical choice before things could get even more complicated. Being the ever-forgiving man that he was, Dean acquiesced to her cause and maintained being her friend.

Though the outcome was peaceful, the predicament was nothing but. The relationship with Diane lasted for eight months. In fact, it would have gone longer if her ex hadn’t shown himself so suddenly. Dean’s mental well being was in turmoil and he had longed to get out of his antsy stupor for a while now.

In an attempt to help him, one of his friends, Seth, brought him to the bar near the university dorms and persuaded him to buy a drink saying that it would help him a great deal. After more encouragement from his friend, Dean finally bought a glass of Baileys but refused to have a taste of the beverage saying it was only eleven in the morning. That justification aside, Seth knew that he wouldn’t drink it anyway. Dean was not a fan of liquor.

"You don’t want to drink but you want to forget," Seth said with a yawn. Eleven was still quite early for him. "So, what are you planning to do then?"

Dean shrugged as he slumped further down on his cushioned seat. "Go straight home I guess," he replied flippantly. Being that he only lived twenty minutes away from the university he was attending, Dean didn’t bother to get a dorm room like his friend did.

Grinning lazily, Seth brushed aside some rebellious black curls that were covering his left eye and drawled, "Which home?"

Hearing his teasing tone, Dean rolled his eyes. No answer was needed from him for his friend to know that he wasn’t going straight home as he claimed. Rather, he was going to his next door neighbor’s, the Curtis household. Specifically, he was going to see his longest friend, and understandably, the closest, Maron Curtis.

"Haven’t you seriously thought about it though?" asked Seth suddenly after taking a sip from the purchased drink his friend had been ignoring. "She’s pretty enough, isn’t she? I know her fairly well to decide she’d be a great girlfriend."

"Being pretty is not something I look for in a girlfriend," returned Dean nonchalantly.

Seth shrugged. "But, you do admit, right? Maron is pretty, right?" he persisted.

Sighing, he answered, "Yes, she is."

And she was. Brunette hair that reached the bottom of her shoulder blades was slightly wavy in the ends, oddly enough. People who didn’t know her might deduce that her tendrils were always curled every morning but having known her since she was three, Dean knew otherwise. Maron’s eyes were cat-like and jade in color. There was no other way to describe it. Her cheekbones were high and nose prominent while her lips were small but full. Maron stood four inches shorter than Dean with the height of five, nine, another bonus point in Seth’s opinion.

"Then, what’s stopping you?"

Again, Dean sighed. "We’re friends. Isn’t that enough?"

"What? You afraid of ruining your friendship?"

He was about to say yes but thought about it more carefully. Dean had met Maron when she was three. Being shy and new to the neighborhood, she stood behind her mother’s legs while he peered at her curiously.

"Dean, what will you say?" inquired his mother, Vera, with a smile.

"Do you want to play?" he addressed the little girl as shyly as she might have felt towards him.

Maron, knowing the word play, reluctantly agreed and went with him while the parents moved the boxes inside the neighboring house.

There was nothing monumental about that meeting, really. But Dean remembered it anyway. Along with that, he recalled the times when Maron would sleep over his house and snuggle beside him. With Dean being five years older than she, it was so easy to treat her as his little sister. When she was five, he was ten. When she was entering her teenage years at thirteen, he was already eighteen by then. Now, with her being seventeen, almost eighteen, and him twenty-three, the age gap didn’t seem that huge anymore.

And she was pretty.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he caught himself. Seth was playing with his sanity again. "She’s five years younger than me," Dean reasoned in a matter-of-fact way.

Seth narrowed his eyes at him. "My mom’s eight years younger than my dad. You’re fighting a losing battle here. I need a more concrete answer."

He delved into his brain for one. "Incest?" was the only explanation he could give.

The man before him grinned. "So, you haven’t thought about it then." He paused. "Well, you should."

"Why should I?" he questioned with no interest at all.

Seth leaned over and rested his elbow on the table and leaned his chin on his palm. "In all seriousness, you’d be perfect for each other."

Him saying that with all sincerity was a big step for Seth Pollard seeing that he was rarely serious most of the time. The last time he was, he said that Diane was on the rebound from something and that Dean and her weren’t compatible with each other. Sure enough, the outcome proved his hypothesis.

Glancing at his wristwatch, Dean stood up and raked fingers through his black mane. "I have to go."

His friend absentmindedly waved him off and said nothing more.

Mrs. Curtis, or plainly Edith, had answered the door when Dean arrived. In her hands was the two year old Marcus, the little addition to the Curtis household.

"Din!" exclaimed the boy with a joyous clap that made the older boy smile.

Edith brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed the permanent visitor before her on the cheek. It had become a customary greeting throughout the years.

"Dean, do come in. Maron is out though so you’d have to wait a while," she explained as she was readjusting her son’s position on her hip.

"Oh?" he said and stepped inside the very familiar house. "Where is she?"

They entered the living room and Dean took it upon himself in getting Marcus from Edith to let her relax a bit. After thanking him, she explained the whereabouts of her daughter, "I asked her to buy some stuff from the grocery. She left just a little while ago so I don’t expect her anytime soon. It’s quite a list."

Dean chuckled. "I’ll just wait for her, if you don’t mind."

Smiling kindly at him, she waved off his comment. "Of course not."

"I’ll also take Marcus off your hands for a while."

"You are such a godsend," after she said that, she went off to her garden outside in the backyard, her place of relaxation.

It took forty-five minutes of playtime with Marcus before Maron arrived and when she did, Dean was a bit startled by her bedraggled appearance. Carrying the little boy with his left arm, he approached his friend with mild concern.

"What happened to you?" he queried worriedly as he helped in getting the grocery bags from her car.

"So," she started as she heaved two bags from the trunk, "tired and sleepy."

Dean hastily put back the bag he was holding and grabbed Maron’s shoulder to stop her from going anywhere. When she glanced at him, he took the bags in her arms and placed them back in the trunk. She raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"Listen," he said, "Take Marcus inside and I’ll take care of these."

Maron knew better than to argue with him. With a smile of gratitude, she took her little brother from him. Before she could go inside the house though, she tip toed and pecked Dean on his right cheek while he in turn kissed hers.

The first time Seth saw that he was confused. Though both assured him it was a gesture of friendship, he decided it appeared rather intimate even though he had seen other people do it. It was just odd seeing Dean that way with her. He was a modest kind of fellow and was not at all a fan of PDA. Kissing her cheek was something he did so routinely that Seth couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to these two than they were letting on. He concluded that there was. Of course he didn’t tell them of his opinion.

Upon hearing her daughter’s arrival, Edith stepped inside the house again and took Marcus from Maron, which the younger lady Curtis was very thankful for. Her arms were getting rather numb.

With sluggish steps, Maron went into the living room and lied down on the sofa carelessly. A few minutes later, Dean came in as well and approached her form.

"Find somewhere else to sit, I’m too lazy to move," she mumbled.

Not unkindly, he tugged at her arm until Maron was sitting down with his assistance. Deftly, he took a seat and carefully laid her head down on his lap. "Better?" he asked with a concerned smile. She nodded.

Sensing something was not right with her friend, Maron looked at his face skeptically. "Is there something wrong?"

Glancing down at her, he almost told her about what happened with Diane but refrained. She looked so exhausted. "Nothing. Don’t worry about it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Why so tired?"

She groaned and rubbed her face with her hands. "I’ve been baby-sitting for the little devil and doing some projects at the same time. Whoever said being a senior was a cinch must have been inebriated at that time."

Dean chuckled before he absentmindedly twirled a strand of her hair on his finger. "Just take a nap. I won’t move a muscle."

"I take long naps."

Shrugging, he replied, "I have something set up on the DVD player," he gestured towards the television in front of them.

With a smile, Maron closed her eyes. "Good."

That dismissed, he let her sleep. When Seth said they were perfect for each other, Dean couldn’t see it. Looking down at his lap, he was still dubious about it. Brushing it aside, he turned on the television and played the movie on the DVD player.

Since when did he listen to Seth anyway?

A/N:

This is not originally mine. This was a story my friend wrote years back. I think it was still in 2001 but she took it down. I found it rather nice and couldn't help but writeit. With her permission of course.

Tell me if you want me to continue this. I surely wouldn't mind. Though, I think it would only last ten chapters or less.

P.S.

Brandon Lar is my character as well as the others. If the use of these names are the same with people you know, dead or otherwise, I asure you it is completely coincidental.

Disclaimer:

Anything branded, not mine...