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crack_van2010-12-20 09:49 pm
sandystarr88.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2010-12-20 09:49 pm
Entry tags:
So It Goes by Nomad (K+)
Fandom: THE WEST WING
Pairing: Jed/Abbey, Abbey/OMC
Length: 29,270
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nomadicwriter
Author Website: Profile at FF.net
Why this must be read:
There's just something about Jed and Abbey Bartlet, definitely one of TV's greatest married couples and a favorite of mine since I first saw them on screen. It's just so easy to see how they're so in love, watching these two just makes me smile. I love background how-they-got-together stories, what can I say I'm a romantic at heart. So It Goes is a wonderful example of the genre, and has made its way into my personal canon on how Jed and Abbey first met.
The car squealed past him in a flurry of water. Jed would have been soaked, if it wasn't for the fact that the rain had already taken care of that. It was less priestly instinct than a kind of resigned soggy misery that stopped him from flipping off the driver.
It had been raining continuously for... well, he had no idea how long. It had reached the point where it was like trying to push through a vertical block of solid water, and he wouldn't have been able to see his watch face even if he'd dared expose it to this kind of rain to try.
Maybe, Jed conceded, hitching home hadn't been such a hot idea after all. He hadn't realised how quiet this road was until he'd been walking it too far to turn back. Barely a half dozen cars had gone past him, and once the rain had started, they probably hadn't seen him anyway.
Headlights, behind him. He didn't even bother to stop walking, just mechanically thrust out an arm with thumb upraised.
A mud-splattered red pick-up squealed to a halt. He dashed towards it through the rain as the passenger door opened for him.
The instinct to scramble inside was momentarily hijacked by surprise as he saw that the driver was a girl. To be precise, the exact same girl who'd caused him to drop a medical dictionary on himself that morning.
"Hey there, bookstore boy, fancy meeting you here," she smiled.
Jed frowned in concern. "Hey, what are you doing stopping?"
"You were hitching, weren't you?"
"Yeah... you shouldn't pick up strange guys at the side of the road." He shuddered to think what might happen to a pretty young girl picking up hitchhikers in the middle of the night.
"You're only little; I could take you," she quipped confidently.
He scowled. "I could be a psychopath or anything!"
She snorted in dry amusement. "D'you want a ride or not?"
Jed hesitated.
The rain was hammering against his back like a particularly unsuccessful attempt at a vigorous massage.
He got in.
The girl gave a satisfied nod, and restarted the pick-up. "You're going into South Bend, right?" she asked after a moment, eyes on the road as she drove.
"Yeah."
The cab was beginning to steam up with their combined breath, but the water dripping down his back and from his hair was painfully cold. He shifted in the seat, wishing awkwardly there was some way he could stop himself from drenching the upholstery.
"My house is just on the edge of town," the girl nodded. "But I can drop you down by the bookstore if you like - you live round there, right?"
"You don't have to do that," Jed said quickly. She briefly flicked her eyes away from the road to shoot him a look.
"You're kidding, right? You could drown out there."
"I could hitch another ride. I don't want to take you out of your way."
"Oh, and you were doing so well at that before I came along? I'll take you down to the town," she said, in a tone that brooked no argument.
They drove on. Jed fidgeted in his seat, discomfited by the closeness of the small cab and the way the rain outside made it seem smaller.
"You really shouldn't have picked me up," he told her quietly, after a few minutes of silence.
She gave a dryly amused smile that was already becoming quite familiar, but her tone stayed light, perhaps acknowledging his concern for her safety. "If it bothers you that much, why'd you let me pick you up?"
"In case you picked somebody else up along the way, and they really were crazy." He shifted in his seat. "Also, it was raining."
She smiled, and although her eyes were on the road and not on him it was impossible not to smile back. "You got a name, bookstore boy?"
For some reason, the full name he usually introduced himself by didn't trip immediately from his lips. "Jed," he said quickly. "Jed Bartlet."
She nodded to herself. "Abbey Barrington. And I know we're not exactly meeting, but, you know, pleased to... whatever."
He smiled. They drove on into the storm.
So It Goes
Pairing: Jed/Abbey, Abbey/OMC
Length: 29,270
Author on LJ:
nomadicwriterAuthor Website: Profile at FF.net
Why this must be read:
There's just something about Jed and Abbey Bartlet, definitely one of TV's greatest married couples and a favorite of mine since I first saw them on screen. It's just so easy to see how they're so in love, watching these two just makes me smile. I love background how-they-got-together stories, what can I say I'm a romantic at heart. So It Goes is a wonderful example of the genre, and has made its way into my personal canon on how Jed and Abbey first met.
The car squealed past him in a flurry of water. Jed would have been soaked, if it wasn't for the fact that the rain had already taken care of that. It was less priestly instinct than a kind of resigned soggy misery that stopped him from flipping off the driver.
It had been raining continuously for... well, he had no idea how long. It had reached the point where it was like trying to push through a vertical block of solid water, and he wouldn't have been able to see his watch face even if he'd dared expose it to this kind of rain to try.
Maybe, Jed conceded, hitching home hadn't been such a hot idea after all. He hadn't realised how quiet this road was until he'd been walking it too far to turn back. Barely a half dozen cars had gone past him, and once the rain had started, they probably hadn't seen him anyway.
Headlights, behind him. He didn't even bother to stop walking, just mechanically thrust out an arm with thumb upraised.
A mud-splattered red pick-up squealed to a halt. He dashed towards it through the rain as the passenger door opened for him.
The instinct to scramble inside was momentarily hijacked by surprise as he saw that the driver was a girl. To be precise, the exact same girl who'd caused him to drop a medical dictionary on himself that morning.
"Hey there, bookstore boy, fancy meeting you here," she smiled.
Jed frowned in concern. "Hey, what are you doing stopping?"
"You were hitching, weren't you?"
"Yeah... you shouldn't pick up strange guys at the side of the road." He shuddered to think what might happen to a pretty young girl picking up hitchhikers in the middle of the night.
"You're only little; I could take you," she quipped confidently.
He scowled. "I could be a psychopath or anything!"
She snorted in dry amusement. "D'you want a ride or not?"
Jed hesitated.
The rain was hammering against his back like a particularly unsuccessful attempt at a vigorous massage.
He got in.
The girl gave a satisfied nod, and restarted the pick-up. "You're going into South Bend, right?" she asked after a moment, eyes on the road as she drove.
"Yeah."
The cab was beginning to steam up with their combined breath, but the water dripping down his back and from his hair was painfully cold. He shifted in the seat, wishing awkwardly there was some way he could stop himself from drenching the upholstery.
"My house is just on the edge of town," the girl nodded. "But I can drop you down by the bookstore if you like - you live round there, right?"
"You don't have to do that," Jed said quickly. She briefly flicked her eyes away from the road to shoot him a look.
"You're kidding, right? You could drown out there."
"I could hitch another ride. I don't want to take you out of your way."
"Oh, and you were doing so well at that before I came along? I'll take you down to the town," she said, in a tone that brooked no argument.
They drove on. Jed fidgeted in his seat, discomfited by the closeness of the small cab and the way the rain outside made it seem smaller.
"You really shouldn't have picked me up," he told her quietly, after a few minutes of silence.
She gave a dryly amused smile that was already becoming quite familiar, but her tone stayed light, perhaps acknowledging his concern for her safety. "If it bothers you that much, why'd you let me pick you up?"
"In case you picked somebody else up along the way, and they really were crazy." He shifted in his seat. "Also, it was raining."
She smiled, and although her eyes were on the road and not on him it was impossible not to smile back. "You got a name, bookstore boy?"
For some reason, the full name he usually introduced himself by didn't trip immediately from his lips. "Jed," he said quickly. "Jed Bartlet."
She nodded to herself. "Abbey Barrington. And I know we're not exactly meeting, but, you know, pleased to... whatever."
He smiled. They drove on into the storm.
So It Goes