Moonlight and Merlot

The continuing saga of the lives, loves and heartbreaks of the residents of Dion Valley, CA.

As with all the best things in life, this is for adults only.

*****

Phoebe dragged herself out of bed and wobbled her way to the main staircase. It occurred to her that she was a total wreck and maybe she should have brushed her hair or something. It always paid to be pretty. And Zach had never really seen her un-pretty. She wondered if maybe it was a bad idea to go down to him looking the way she did.

The world tilted and Phoebe grasped her throbbing head, panting heavily while she waited for the vertigo to pass. “Fuck that,” she muttered, clutching the banister. Getting pretty would require far too much effort and she was completely not in the mood for any kind of effort this morning. Zach was just going to have to deal.

She stumbled into the living room and offered Zach her most pathetic, woeful face. He would give her the sympathy she deserved. Unlike everyone else in this cursed house. He would make her feel better. Her Zack. He was such a good boyfriend. Maybe she could even get him to carry her back to her bed, help her put her feet up on warm pillows, fix her tea and crackers and feed them to her bit by bit while making soothing noises and paying total attention to her every  need, want, desire and…

“Phoebe?” Zach said, jumping to his feet. He immediately crossed the room and took her into his arms.

“Zach,” she moaned, allowing herself to fall into his embrace, giving over all her weight to him.

“Phoebe, what happened to you?” he asked, holding her close.

He kissed the top of head and stroked her back and Phoebe smiled. This was exactly what she needed. “Oh, Zach, it’s so awful. I’m so miserable.” She sobbed against his shoulder because she was miserable. Her head felt like a marching band was stomping its way around in there and stomach was flipping like a goddamn cheap amusement ride.

“Phoebe, what happened?” he asked again and she knew from the tone of his voice it was time to stop whimpering and tell him something.

“I don’t really know,” she said, looking up at him through her tears. She hadn’t meant to cry, but now that she allowed a few tears to run down her cheeks she saw no reason not to go with it. “The last thing I remember was going to the Diner and then…” She lifted her hand and then let it fall weakly back by her side. “And then nothing.”

“The Diner?” Zach said, his voice dangerously soft.

Phoebe nodded and brushed her tears away. The Diner was unimportant, didn’t he realize that? Why was he caring about the stupid Diner when she was practically dying in his arms? “And now my head is pounding and I feel weak and yucky and –”

Zach gripped her shoulders tightly and Phoebe frowned. Didn’t he realize he should be treating her gently? That she was frail for god’s sake?

“You went to the Diner and then you can’t remember?” Zach paused and Phoebe did not like the look on his face at all. “Did you see Nick?”

“Yeah,” she said. Clearly he was not getting what his role should be in this touching little scene. As usual, she was going to have to spell it out for him. “I –”

“You went to the Diner, saw Nick, and now you can’t remember anything.”

“Yes,” she hissed, completely frustrated with him. What the hell did Nick-fucking-Castle matter when she was in pain? Couldn’t he see that she needed attention? Comfort? Pampering?

“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Zack said.

Phoebe blinked hard trying to grasp the meaning of his words when it hit her with such force and clarity it nearly knocked her off her feet. Zack thought that Nick had…

Phoebe smiled. The morning had suddenly become much more interesting.

[Until next Tuesday…]