More Than Friendship Material Pt. 01

"I don't care, Mary. Any help you can give would be great," Hollie said, " but Liz may feel differently."

"No. It's cool, " Liz said with a sigh. "Do what you need to do. I trust you. Just use headphones OK? I don't want to hear it."

"Deal.," Mary agreed. She pulled some headphones out of her purse and watched the video while Hollie and Liz continued with the folding and clean-up. After a few minutes, Mary pulled off the headphones and said, "I think I have an idea."

"What?" Both Hollie and Liz answered at the same time.

"OK, ladies. Nice work by the way, " Mary said with a wink. Both of the other girls blushed. "Anyway, one good thing is that the microphone wasn't very strong. So, it couldn't pick up what you were saying to each other."

Thinking of Hollie's revelation of her secret, Liz breathed a sigh of relief. Mary continued."The only voice that could be heard well the whole time was Dickweed. Hollie, sometimes you talked to him and that got picked up."

"I remember that," Hollie said."One other thing is that Kevin never ever referred to you by name Lizzy. He used some insults and some pseudo complimentary terms, but never your actual name. Hollie, he did use yours a couple of times. But it was obvious you were being coerced, and Liz was tied up. That means that if the video got out to the general public, Liz has some plausible deniability that it was even her."

"Well that's good," Hollie said. "I already have kind of a reputation, so I'll live. Liz doesn't."

"But that's not fair, to you Hollie" Liz exclaimed.

"None of this is fair, sweetie," Hollie answered. "This is about trying to get past it, and I think that'll help you."

"And," Mary interjected, " I have another idea that I think will help Liz on that front. The last thing about the camera was that it was static and Hollie hid Liz's face a lot of the time. I have a similar reputation Hollie, and we've already been together anyway. Liz and I have the same hair color and similar bodies. I could say it was me. You know me, I don't care if people know I enjoy a little girl time, and I flash my tits all the damn time. Ben may not be thrilled but he'll understand."

Hollie smiled. "That may just work. I'm glad you use your powers for good not evil."

"You two are crazy!" Liz cried. "I'm not a china doll and I don't want you taking the hit for me."

"That's what friends do, hun," Mary said. "The guys fought, Hollie did her part. This is mine."

Liz couldn't believe her ears, touched by how they were both trying to protect her. Especially Hollie who hadn't been around the group for very long. Tears stung her eyes and she grabbed them both into big hugs, "You guys are the greatest! I owe you both!"

They hugged and smiled, finishing up with the details in the apartment. The idea of moving sounded more appealing, but at least things felt as though they were slowly getting back to normal. "Now, shouldn't we visit the cop shop?"

Hollie sighed, "Well, if we don't go to them, they'll come to us, so we may as well."

Liz pointed to the computer, "What about that? Isn't that crucial evidence of what happened? As much as I don't like the idea of anyone else seeing the footage, shouldn't we show it to them?"

Mary pursed her lips in thought, "It would help us out and it's clear that you two aren't doing this out of your own will...between being tied down and him barking orders. We can still do damage control here - the cops aren't going to leak any sort of information and we're not about to share anything. It's our word against the jerks...after Kevin gets his ass locked up for a long time, his credibility will go down the drain in a hurry."

"Okay then. Bring it. Lets go."

***

"You're a lucky man, Mr. Farmer," the doctor said. " Aside from some residual swelling, it looks like your testicles aren't going to have any lasting damage."

"Thank God," Todd said with a sigh of relief. "I had hoped to be able to have kids later, and maybe some other use for them in the short term. Oh crap, I'm sorry, doc. The meds still have me a little loopy."

The doctor laughed. "It's no problem. I've heard a lot worse, and I saw the little group that came to visit earlier. I don't know if any of them was your significant other, but if any of them were, you are, I repeat, a lucky man"

Todd grinned. "I've been dating the blonde. The taller redhead is my roommate, and the other redhead is my best friend's fiance. But, you're right. I am lucky."

An orderly wheeled Todd back to his room and helped him back into bed. The room wasn't spinning like it had been earlier, and the buzz from the pain meds was pleasant. He settled in and turned on the TV. If this place had better food, it would almost be like a vacation from the weirdness that had surrounded them all the past few days. Sometime soon he's have to deal with Liz's feelings. She was in love with him. He was sure of it now, and he didn't know how to manage that. He was still Joey, she was still Monica, and he knew he loved her more than any other woman other than his mom. It just hadn't been the same way. Liz wasn't a relative but she was family.

The smell of her perfume as she slept in his arms came back to him, the feel of her warm body against him, the feel of her nipple in his mouth."OWWWW!" Little Todd obviously still worked, but the blood rushing to the area brought a sharp ache that snapped Todd from his daydream. He flipped through some channels, stopping on CMT. He wasn't much on country music as a general rule, but he saw Def Leppard performing. Strangely enough, though, they were performing with Taylor Swift. Wouldn't have guessed that one, he thought. Still, the music wasn't so bad, and he continued watching the concert till he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 13

The trip to the police station was a headache, but they had made it. Hollie and Liz had been questioned together, apart and by different cops. The wording had been changed and repeated and both girls left feeling drained. Mary had handed over the laptop and explained everything as well and in the end, everything left feeling a little more beaten than when they had arrived. Still, there was hope and a lot of evidence to put Kevin and a couple of the other goons away for a bit. In any event, they wouldn't be allowed near the group or the school until they were too old to care.

"Are you sure that you want to stay alone tonight? Seriously, you can stay with Ben and me, or Hollie can stay." Mary said, giving Liz a hug.

"I'm fine guys. I just want to take a couple of pills, lock up and pass out. I've already called in to work. They've given me a little time. So I'm fine, really. You guys go rest up. Text me later or something, 'kay?"

Although the other girls weren't completely convinced that Liz would be fine, they agreed to give her a little space. Liz gave them one last hug and left in Todd's car. She drove in the direction of their home, but half way there, turned right around and headed for the hospital. She wanted time with him alone. Even if it meant just watching TV.

Swinging by the nearest fast food joint, she ordered both of them some food for dinner and turned up the radio to drown out her own thoughts.

***

Ben arrived at the hospital to check on Todd. He had swung by the police station for his grilling after he got out of his lab that morning. Fortunately, his questioning hadn't taken that long. From what Mary had just told him when he called to check in, the girls had gone through a much longer interrogation. When he found Todd's room, his friend was still asleep, apparently zonked on pain meds. The TV was on CMT for god knows what reason. Maybe that beating in the head had awoken Todd's inner redneck.

Ben thought about waking his friend up, but decided against it. He settled into a guest chair in case Todd woke up, and changed the channel to ESPN, since Monday Night Football was going to be on soon. Todd would just have to deal with the lack of his twanging music. He stayed for about twenty minutes, but Todd didn't stir much. For some reason, though, he kept singing something in his sleep. It was quiet, and Todd couldn't carry a tune with a forklift, but Ben could swear it was that blonde girl that looked like she was twelve;Taylor Swift?

Finally, he wrote a quick note and left it on the nightstand to let Todd know he had stopped by. Then Ben headed out. As luck would have it, when the elevator door opened, Liz stepped out and she was alone,

carrying 2 bags full of Wendy's food.

She wasn't entirely surprised to see Ben. He smiled and pulled her into a big hug, feeling good, solid, warm and strong where she felt like crumbling. "How is he?" She asked softly as they pulled away.

"He's sleeping. Hasn't moved since I got here. I just left him a note, figured he needed the rest."

Liz glanced down at the food and back at Ben who looked about as tired as she felt. "Yeah, guess so. Maybe I shouldn't bug him."

Ben let out a little snort and shook his head. "I doubt that could happen, but that food does smell good. Hate for it to go bad because sleeping beauty is in drug lala land."

Liz's lip twitched a little, getting Ben's hint. "Yeah. I'm pretty hungry too actually. Wanna eat together? I didn't really want to hang with the girls. They act like I'm going to fall apart or something if I'm left alone for a minute. I just needed some breathing room."

"I promise to respect your personal bubble." Ben teased and relieved her of a bag, gently steering her back into the elevator. "They have patio tables downstairs in this little garden. It's kinda nice. Lets eat there."

A few minutes later, Liz bit into the juicy burger and moaned softly, "Oh yeah...that's good." She chewed and eyed Ben who was digging into his own food. "I feel kinda bad. I totally blew Hollie off earlier. She and I were supposed to go out to dinner and a movie. There's just too much rolling around in my head."

Ben kicked back, propping his foot up on a neighboring chair. "She'll live. I'm surprised you two are getting along so famously."

"Well, kinda like I put it to her, she's sorta like Todd, in girl form."

Ben choked on a sip of his drink and pounded on his chest, gasping for a breath. "Fuck! Warn a guy before you say shit like that."

She giggled and grinned.

"So you're saying that Todd is messing around with the girl version of himself. Ha! That's twisted."

Liz rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying she's easy for me to get along with. And she makes me do things out of my comfort level, which Todd has always done. And, she has a sweet side, caring and giving. You think she's your typical bimbo, but she's a lot deeper than that."

"I dunno, I always thought Todd was a bit of a bimbo."

Liz let out a snort and hit him with the tip of her toes. "You're such a smartass."

"Thank you, always better than being a dumbass." He wiggled his eyebrows, making her laugh again.

She sighed and gazed at him, remembering why she had always had a small thing for Ben. Mary was lucky to have him, that was for sure. He was sweet and loyal and always around to lend a shoulder or an ear, to make someone laugh. "Do you think I'm being stupid?" She found herself asking him.

Ben gave her a curious look, "Not sure I follow."

She let out a bit of an exasperated sigh, chewing on her bottom lip. "I should just get over myself, right? Let Todd and Hollie just be together and be happy for them and yet, every time I smell her on him or they kiss, I feel jealous. I don't know why it took me this long to open my eyes, but now I feel like everything is falling apart." Her eyes filled with tears as she thought of possibilities of losing her best friend. "I don't want to lose him, Ben. "

"Ah Lizzie...don't cry." Ben shoved his foot aside and slid into the chair next to hers, pulling her into his arms. She snuggled close, pressing her face to his shoulder. "Come on, that's like my Kryptonite."

She laughed wetly against his shirt and sucked in a breath. "Sorry, just so much shit going on."

"Language young lady! You've been hanging with Mary too much."

Liz pulled away slightly and sniffed, wiping at her eyes. Ben smiled gently and cupped her face.

"Hey..." his baby blues held hers. "Listen to me 'cause I can only do serious for so long. You won't lose him. You guys have been best friends for 15 years babe. It would take a hell of a lot to make him run the other way."

She nodded slightly, knowing that he was making sense. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently. "I'm not going to tell you what to do here, but I think for tonight, you should rest up. Go home, get some sleep. Lock and bolt your door, take a sleeping pill and knock your ass out."

Liz drew in a trembling breath and nodded again. "Yeah, you're right. I just wanted to make sure he was truly all right."

Ben let out a snort and grinned, "He has his Captain Crunch and cute nurses, the man is in heaven right now."

***

Driving Hollie back to campus, Mary smiled and turned down the music the radio. "OK, before you take off, Blondie, same offer I made Liz. If you want, feel free to come back and crash at our place again."

"That's OK, Mary. " Hollie replied. "I have practice shortly, and Cindy should be around to keep me company, even if Liz did stand me up for our date tonight."

"Whoa. Date? Maybe Liz liked being tied up with you more than I thought."

Hollie burst out laughing. "Well, not that I don't have mad skills and all, as you well know. But, it was just dinner or a movie or something. We have some things in common that I'd like to talk about, and she really needs to loosen up."

"From your lips to God's ears. She has always been wound tighter than Kim Kardashian's gym shorts. I had noticed that you two seemed to be hitting it off, despite her being so skittish around other girls. She took a while to warm up to me. Of course, that's probably because she had a thing for Ben back in the day."

"Really? I didn't know that."

"Well, she never admitted it, but I could tell by her body language and things she didn't say. Plus, don't think I didn't notice that we looked a lot alike. Ben wasn't subtle either."

"Did you ever ask him why they didn't hook up. Liz is all kinds of hot when you get her to accept that naughty librarian inside of her."

"Lord no. That would just have made him uncomfortable, but not in a good way. You know as well as I do why that never happened, though."

"Yep. Todd. Guys are so predictable."

Mary nodded. "It would have been like dating his best friend's sister, and that would have had 'Danger Will Robinson' written all over it. Oh, by the way, you can ask me."

Hollie looked startled. "Ask you what?"

"Liz isn't the only one who I can read subtext with. You want to know more about her and Todd."

"Well, of course I do," Hollie agreed, "but maybe not just for the reason you think."

"I assumed that it was just because you're into him. What's the other reason?"

"Well, Liz said something that surprised me the other day. I thought she was going to stay stand-offish with me. You know, friendly but distant. But she warmed up pretty quickly, and said I was 'like Todd in girl form.' Does that sound weird to you?"

"Hmmmm." Mary pondered for a bit. "It probably would have struck me as a little odd before I saw how protective and caring you are. For a cheerleader, you have a lot of layers. No offense."

Hollie smiled. "None taken. I know the stereotype isn't always inaccurate. That helps, and I really appreciate it."

"Anytime, " Mary replied, then added a leer. " Just do a split for me sometime"

Hollie grinned and undid her safety belt and flipped into the back seat ending in a perfect split. "How's that?"

"Impressive flexibility but not quite what I meant," Mary laughed. "Damn girl, the guy who finally lands you will have a hard time leaving the house."

"The guy? So no one we know, huh?"

Mary coughed. "Oh God. I was just making a joke, Hollie. I didn't mean to imply anything about Todd or anything..."

"Relax," Hollie said, flipping back into the front seat just as easily. "I was just yanking your chain. I like Todd a lot, but I'm not putting down roots or ready to play house just yet. Plus, I know about Liz. You don't have to hide it."

"Oh my God! She told you? That's not like her. And I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to hide anything I was just..."

"Being a good friend," Hollie said reassuringly. "So, it seems everyone knows except the guy who actually needs to."

Mary looked at the pretty blonde. "The resemblance is growing on me. Start eating Captain Crunch and I think I may see twins. You know Liz loves him and you're still taking care of her. You realize that we girls are supposed to be locked in eternal combat for the available males of the species, right?"

"You can nominate me for sainthood later," Hollie sighed. "Seriously though, competing with Liz wouldn't get me anywhere and she's essentially mortified anyway. I like her a lot, but she's already said she has no interest in sharing, and I don't know if I do either. I've known Todd for a week. She's known him for 15 years. She's smart, she's sexy, she's humble, and they know all, well almost, all each other's secrets and habits. They already love each other and take care of each other. Now she's taken the next step. If Todd wants to take that step, there's not a damn thing I could do sexually or otherwise that would outdo their history."

"Wow, Hollie," Mary said admiringly, "you must dye that hair because you're so much more than blonde.

"You know better than that, Mary," Hollie laughed. "You've seen the rest of it. But I appreciate the compliment."

"So what are you going to do."

"Well, I have an idea. Wanna help me?"

"Ooooo," Mary answered. "Intrigue. Mama likes."

Hollie grinned and launched into the idea she had brewing in her mind. Mary listened with apt interest until her little friend finished off with flair and left her sitting there pondering. "You're insane, you know that? Not that I can't appreciate that, but definitely insane."

"Maybe," Hollie admitted, "but do you think you can do it?"

"Oh hellz yeah I can do it. The hard part will be getting them to play along."

"True. But they will both be kinda doped up. I don't know what sleeping pills Liz is on, but Todd will be zonked out I'm sure."

"And in Vicodin, veritas." Mary laughed.

" I hope it works, and that if it doesn't they won't be too mad."

"I doubt that'll be too much of a problem. Ben and Todd are always saying that knowing is half the battle. This is all about knowing."

"How about Liz? Does she say that?"

"No, but she's the great brain. Always out to discover the mysteries of life and such. This is just like that, research. The hardest part will be yours".

"Yeah. Boy I hope that her stuff is strong. You know, Mary, I kinda feel like we're in an I Love Lucy episode."

"OK, but I get to be Lucy. You have to be Ethel."

Chapter 13

Liz said goodbye to Ben, feeling a little lighter and more rational than before. She knew he was right. It would take a lot to destroy the bond she shared with Todd and all she needed was some rest. The trip home was short and thankfully uneventful. Walking into their spotless apartment eased her nerves just a little and after grabbing a coke and some of her pills, she decided to take a shower before crashing for the evening.

The warm shower felt like heaven on her tired body. The pelting water eased her sore shoulder muscles, rinsing the suds off her soft skin and silky hair. She stood until the water began to chill and stepped out, feeling much more relaxed. Enjoying the mundane and simple tasks of brushing her teeth and hair, slathering on lotion and changing, Liz padded out to the living room and sat on the sofa, kicking up her feet after grabbing her cell.