crack_van | Serendipity by Arduinna (PG)

Fandom: THE DEAD ZONE
Pairing: None
Author on LJ:

aka_arduinna
Author Website: Arduinna's Propylaeum
Why this must be read:

Johnny spends the morning at the mall trying to find just the right birthday present for Walt. A lovely slice-of-life piece, highlighting the friendship between Johnny and Walt but also detailing the extended family that is Johnny, Bruce, and the Bannermans. It's a cozy fic, and does an excellent job of showing just how the awkward relationships between the characters evolved and grew until they fit together just right.

The real problem, of course, was that this was a big party, with all kinds of people, friends and family from both sides. If it had just been a small gathering -- say, them and Bruce, maybe Rebecca or Dana -- he could have just gone for the sweater. There might have been an odd moment, but Walt would have liked it, and it just would have been one of their weird, extended-family moments that they'd all learned to accept and deal with, and that were slowly getting less weird. Walt would make a joke, Sarah would chide him and tell him to go try it on, Walt would put it on and like the way it looked, and everyone would have cake. Simple.

But in front of everyone, especially now that the truth about him being JJ's biological dad had started to get out... it would just be too strange. He had to find the perfect close-but-not-overly-intimate-friend gift, so no one started getting any hinky ideas about him and Walt and Sarah, but at the same time, he didn't want anyone thinking that he didn't like Walt. Because he did. Like Walt. A whole lot, actually.

And dammit, he deserved something better than a generic bestseller. Johnny kept walking.

Serendipity