#( ch ) owen harper | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

tee1d-2016 · 4 years ago

Text

Hmmm let see if you're talking read in my lifetime so far and not in the last couple of years then it's more than 6 from this list. So here goes @macrolit but don't ask me to give a summary of them as I read them donkeys ago 😅

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen💙

2 Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkein💙

3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte💙

4 Harry Potter series

5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 💙

6 The Bible 💙

7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte 💙

8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell

9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman

10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens 💙

11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott 💙

12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy

13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller

14 Complete Works of Shakespeare 💙

15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier

16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien

17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks

18 Catcher in the Rye

19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffeneger

20 Middlemarch – George Eliot

21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell 💙

22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald 💙

23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens

24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy 💙

25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh

27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll 💙

30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame 💙

31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy

32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens 💙

33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis 💙

34 Emma – Jane Austen 💙

35 Persuasion – Jane Austen 💙

36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis 💙

37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden

40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne

41 Animal Farm – George Orwell

42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown 💙

43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving

45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins

46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery 💙

47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy 💙

48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood

49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding 💙

50 Atonement – Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel

52 Dune – Frank Herbert

53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons

54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen 💙

55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth

56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens 💙

58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon

60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck 💙

62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov

63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt

64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas 💙

66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac

67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy

68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding

69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie

70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville 💙

71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens 💙

72 Dracula – Bram Stoker 💙

73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett 💙

74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson

75 Ulysses – James Joyce 💙

76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath

77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78 Germinal – Emile Zola

79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray

80 Possession – AS Byatt

81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens 💙

82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchel

83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker

84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro

85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert

86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry

87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White 💙

88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom

89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 💙

90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton

91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad

92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks

94 Watership Down – Richard Adams

95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole

96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute

97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas 💙

98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare 💙

99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl 💙

100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo 💙

Now don't ask if I remember any of them or which is my fav because I don't really recall other than Pride & Prejudice and Jane Eyre. I love William Shakespeare but couldn't recite any of his work now either. But a lot of the above were mandatory reading for my A Levels in English Literature and English Language. Good times. I love the poems as well but they're not on here 🤔 Aren't poems also books? 🤔

How many have you read?

The BBC estimates that most people will only read 6 books out of the 100 listed below. Reblog this and bold the titles you’ve read.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 2 Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkein 3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte 4 Harry Potter series 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 6 The Bible 7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte 8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell 9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman 10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens 11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott 12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy 13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller 14 Complete Works of Shakespeare 15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier 16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien 17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks 18 Catcher in the Rye 19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffeneger 20 Middlemarch – George Eliot 21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell 22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald 23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens 24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy 25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams 26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh 27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky 28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck 29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll 30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame 31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy 32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens 33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis 34 Emma – Jane Austen 35 Persuasion – Jane Austen 36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis 37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini 38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres 39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden 40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne 41 Animal Farm – George Orwell 42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown 43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving 45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins 46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery 47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy 48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood 49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding 50 Atonement – Ian McEwan

51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel 52 Dune – Frank Herbert 53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons 54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen 55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth 56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon 57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens 58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley 59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon 60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez 61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck 62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov 63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt 64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold 65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas 66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac 67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy 68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding 69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie 70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville 71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens 72 Dracula – Bram Stoker 73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett 74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson 75 Ulysses – James Joyce 76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath 77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome 78 Germinal – Emile Zola 79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray 80 Possession – AS Byatt 81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens 82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchel 83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker 84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro 85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert 86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry 87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White 88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom 89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton 91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad 92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery 93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks 94 Watership Down – Richard Adams 95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole 96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute 97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas 98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare 99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl 100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

73K notes · View notes

thatbluegibson · 6 years ago

Text

CH 97

Liz watched Dave and her father closely over the top of her red cup as they discussed some DC punk show they had both been at in back in the late eighties while her mother hovered around behind her with Jack and Owen, sneaking them cookies and whatever else she could find from the catering tables before settling them on a blanket in the grass at Liz's feet. She startled a little when Dave's laugh boomed across the tent but settled back in her chair more relaxed than she had been in hours.

Jack had handled the official introductions back on the bus, turning what was potentially an awkward moment into something light-hearted and funny in the way only a seven-year-old could do. And Owen, for his part, clung to Dave like a security blanket, insisting on being picked up and nestling his face into Dave's shoulder the moment he was in his arms. Both boys were enamored with Dave and that apparently erased any hesitations her parents may have had, though a nagging worry still lurked about in the back of Liz's mind. Steve bonded with Dave instantly, just as Liz had hoped, but her mother was more reserved, opting to shake his hand and scrutinize him from a distance before fully welcoming him with open arms.

"How are you, dear?" Nancy sighed and folded herself into the chair next to her daughter.

"Good," Liz replied, keeping her eyes on Dave in case he needed an escape. "How was your flight?" She looked away when her mother didn't immediately answer and was met with a bemused smirk.

"He didn't tell you, did he?"

"Tell me what?" Liz slowly shook her head, wondering what the hell was going on. Travis usually handled all of the travel details and would have let her know if something had gone amiss...

"Oh, darling," her mother clucked her tongue with a knowing smile. "Dave went all out. Private jet for your father and I and another tomorrow for Will, Meghan and the rest. Rented us a house near Disney so we can take all the kids... he and your father were back and forth on the phone most of last week with the details. Doesn't he have an assistant that does all that for him?"

Liz's chest felt like it was collapsing. He had been so busy with last minute festival issues, when the hell did he have time to put all this together? And without her knowing? "I think his manager? But... I didn't know he was doing all that. I just thought..."

"Yes, I was a bit concerned myself," Nancy's gaze drifted towards Dave, then leaned in closer to her daughter. "Are you pregnant?" she whispered urgently. "Did he get you in some kind of trouble? Because I don't care who the hell he is, Nicole Elizabeth. I can get you out of anything, no questions asked."

"No...," Liz shook her head, trying to catch her breath. She hadn't heard her real name in so long that it felt foreign like it belonged to a completely different person. "No, none of those things, Mom."

"You're sure you're not pregnant? When was your last period?" her mother pressed on, blatantly examining Liz's belly hidden under her loose tank top.

"Mom, stop," Liz whined and looked up at Dave just as he glanced back at her. "I'm not pregnant." Even as she whispered it, she automatically went over her calendar in her mind before she remembered the IUD she had placed after Owen was born.

"I'm just saying, dear. If you're planning on having his baby, you better do it now. He's almost fifty, for Pete's sake!"

"So? Mick Jagger has a son younger than Owen!" Liz let out a frustrated sigh, unwilling to even entertain the idea of having Dave's children, especially not while he was less than fifteen feet away. "We're not having any more kids, Mom. We have plenty between us." She was about to update her on the potential surrogacy for Allison and Taylor, but her mother was already way past that.

"But you two are practicing, right? He doesn't need any help in that department?"

"Mom!" Liz gasped so loudly that both her father and Dave spun around.

She giggled and shook her head, unable to keep from teasing her daughter. "All right, fine. As long as he makes you happy, dear."

"Yeah," Liz rubbed her temple a bit, still trying to reconcile what Dave had done for her family. "He really does, Mama."

"Well thank goodness for that," she sighed and readjusted the headphones on Jack's ears to ensure he wasn't listening in. "These two wouldn't stop talking about him the entire trip from Anaheim! Seems like they really love him."

Liz just smiled, her eyes shifting back to Dave. The boys really did adore him and she just hoped they would get along with Violet, Harper, and Ophelia as well.

"They haven't once mentioned their father," Nancy added quietly.

"No kids allowed in the facility," Liz muttered. She hated thinking about it, but Kyle kept breaking the rules at rehab and losing visiting privileges, though from what Travis was telling her wasn't such a bad thing. Recovery had been rough on Kyle and he wasn't looking or acting the way the boys would remember anyway.

More laughter from Dave and her father brought her back to the present and she realized her mother was staring hard at her. "And what's the deal with his ex? Do they still speak?"

"Yeah," Liz stared her down to ensure her mother knew she was perfectly serious. "She's really cool, Mom."

"It doesn't seem just a little too... perfect?"

"Well... it does, but until something catastrophic happens," Again, she thought to herself. "I'm going to just thank my lucky stars."

Nancy chuckled again and shook her head. "You are a lucky star, Nicole."

She just shrugged, uncomfortable under her mother's stare when Dave's hand brushed her shoulder.

"I have to go say hi to Billy. You need anything?"

"No," she smiled up at him and covered his hand with her own when he bent to kiss her. "I'll hassle River if we do, though."

"Good luck with that," he rolled his eyes and tapped the walkie-talkie still clipped to her shorts. "I'm on channel six if you need me, but I'll see you at the stage in a bit. Love you."

"Love you, too," she replied quietly, the feel of her parent's eyes on them just a bit too intense. "Have fun."

"You're right, he is normal," Steve mused as he and Liz slowly made their way towards the main stage where Billy Idol was being introduced.

Liz smiled and squeezed her father's arm, her heart swelling with how well her two favorite men were getting along.

"It's funny," Steve went on. "I feel like I've known him forever."

"He's very good at making people feel at ease," Liz explained. "It makes him nervous when people act like he's some god."

Steve chuckled a little, then as they rounded the last backstage tent cut straight to the point. "Do you love him?" he asked bluntly, stopping both of them short in the shadow of the looming stage.

"Of course I love him," Liz said quietly, but firmly. "I wouldn't get the boys involved if this were... not..." she trailed off, thinking about how she had felt back in Oregon, how impractical and implausible her and Dave seemed back then.

"Sunshine," he sighed and rubbed his forehead with his thumb, the way he always did when he was working up to an uncomfortable subject. "Dave is great. He's really... he's a great guy, but..."

Liz felt her heart plummet. "But what?"

"Why the private plane? Why all the rock star perks? Are you two about to drop some bomb on me? Because if you are... honey, I'd prefer to hear it from you now. I promise I'll act surprised later when-"

"No," Liz threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Daddy, he just wants you to have a good time."

"So... no baby?"

Liz couldn't help it, she laughed at how disappointed he looked. "Nope. No baby."

His arms tight around her and his cheek pressed into the top of her head made her feel like crying, she had missed him so much.

"Just don't let him hurt you like the last one did," he whispered into her hair. "Okay?"

Liz only nodded, knowing there wasn't much more she could say. She was sure her dad knew all about Dave's past, he had followed enough of his career to at least stumble on one or two articles outlining his divorces, but she knew he would give him a pass if his daughter really wanted him to. "He's not Kyle, Daddy," she sighed into his shoulder, ready to change the subject.

Steve chuckled a bit and let her go, continuing down their path towards the stage. "No, darling, he most definitely is not."

A few hours later she was standing with Ally and Josie just off the side of stage left, watching Billy Idol sneer through his set. Her parents had retreated back to their own bus to get dinner for the boys and rest from their day of travel, promising they would join Liz and Dave first thing in the morning so all the kids could meet at breakfast.

Dave stood closer to the stage with Josh and a couple other guys Liz didn't recognize, and she found herself far more interested in him than whatever it was Billy was doing. Biting the straws in her drink, she took the opportunity of a dark backstage spot to just stare. He was just so goddamn handsome... and funny, sweet, thoughtful... and hers. She giggled to herself, lost in the wonderment of how fucking lucky she was that he put up with her when she realized he was staring back at her. A slow grin spread across his face and she gripped the surplus crowd rail at her side to steady herself. Busted. Her eyes darted to her drink in embarrassment and she frowned when she was met with just a couple drops chasing each other in the bottom of her empty cup. How she had managed to polish off an entire rum and coke in record time was a mystery, but with her eyes back on Dave she was suddenly feeling the effects.

He made some excuse to Josh, who turned to give her a toothy grin, then gave one last look at the stage before stalking towards her. He gripped his drink and hopped off the riser, still watching her intently before leaning his elbows on the rail to bring himself just inches from her. Now that he was closer, she could see that he was just as tipsy as she was.

A slight delay began in Liz's mind; what was playing out before her at that moment promptly followed by the very first time they met back in the freezing rain of Seattle.

"Hey," he grinned at her, then the delayed memory of a younger Dave, a 2003 Dave: ... Hey.

"Would you like to come watch with me?" Would you like me to sign that for you?

"Oh... yeah. Please," she cracked a smile, knowing her answers were the same as they were back in 2003 but didn't let him in on what was playing inside her mind.

He watched her a moment, trying to figure out what she was up to before straightening off the rail. "That's a shame," he muttered, looking down at their hands side by side on the bar.

"What is?"

"That you don't have a ring on your finger."

The rum sloshed in her blood and she tilted her head, knowing that there was some significance to what he was saying, but she was still too deep in the memory of Seattle. "You don't have one either..."

His eyes snapped to hers and they stared each other down, the gravity of what they were saying slowly settling around them like the desert dust. She told herself to keep a neutral expression, but her eyebrow raised in a challenge and his jaw dropped to say something, just as Taylor bounded up and landed square on Dave's back.

"Dance party!"

Liz stuck close to Allison at the backstage VIP bar, both of them laughing over a story about some prank Dave and Taylor had pulled on the Royal Blood guys the year before. Josie and Rami were to her left, making out like teenagers while Dave and Taylor were on her right with Chris, Nate and several other musicians, deep in some discussion about studio layouts.

She had walked back from the stage with her hand firmly woven with Dave's, but they hadn't said a word to each other since the rail. The air between them didn't feel tense and every time she would look over to him he would give her that questioning glance, You okay? to which she would smile back, wishing they could just stand a bit closer. The rum was beginning to fade and in its place, a nagging worry that maybe they had moved too fast and made things thorny with even the facetious talk of rings.

"You okay?"

His voice close to her ear surprised her, but she sunk into his side all the same. "Just a little cold," she admitted, looking up into his worried stare. "I'm not used to the desert."

There was a hand on her lower back and then he was gone, leaving her standing there with a frown and a pit in her stomach thinking that maybe things would be weird now, just when they were getting back on track.

Turning back to Ally, she focused on the story of Dave and Taylor filling someone's tour bus with pink balloons and glitter when a soft fabric landed around her shoulders followed by his arms. She wasn't sure if it was the waning effects of the alcohol, everything that had happened that day or just... him, but she had to swallow back her tears as she looked down at his red and black flannel shirt.

"Better?" he asked, squeezing her shoulders tightly.

"Yes, thank you," she kept her eyes downcast fearing a full waterworks display but reached up to touch his cheek.

"Good. Let's get you a drink."

He stood close beside her with an arm around her back as their drinks were poured, though his attention returned to Taylor as he explained the acoustics of their old basement studio in Virginia while Liz went back to laughing with Ally. She felt more at ease now that they were sharing the same square foot of patchy grass and internally rolled her eyes at herself for being so needy all of a sudden.

"Cheers," Dave said quietly, tapping his cup against hers. "We okay?"

"We're good," she tried to smile through her drink, but the bite was so strong that she grimaced. "Whoa. You trying to get me drunk, Grohl?"

His slow smile reappeared as he turned his back on Taylor and the others in favor of angling into her. "Maybe," he murmured against her lips, chuckling when she responded with a shiver.

She kissed him back, savoring the feel of his palm against her cheek and the scratch of his beard on her chin when Josh elbowed through the crowd around them, his face already tinged red with booze. "Dr. G! Iggy's here!"

"Don't care," Dave muttered, dragging his lips up her jaw to her ear.

"Come on, man!" Josh whined, shoving Dave's shoulder a bit to break him away and Liz laughed when he grunted in anger.

She forced herself to step back, but he moved with her, unwilling to let her go unless she made him. "Just bring him back in one piece," she told Josh as he threw Dave's arm around his tall shoulders.

"Come with me," Dave purred in her ear, holding her against him by the back of her neck with his free hand as a last ditch effort.

"No!" she giggled. "Ally and I are gonna stay here and drink all your booze, then we're gonna go make complete asses of ourselves on that dance floor. You," she turned her face just enough that her lips grazed his cheek, "have to work."

She kissed him and waved as Josh dragged him away, then threw back the rest of her drink once they were absorbed into the crowd.

With Dave's shirt hanging loosely around her and the alcohol in her bloodstream now refueled, Liz, Ally, and Josie danced and sang along with the other party goers on the dusty dance floor and Liz was thankful for a moment where she could let go and not care who was watching her every move. Dave had successfully created a backstage where there were no prying eyes or cameras, just friends having a hell of a good time in the middle of the desert.

She had lost track of time, dancing with Josie to her favorite ABBA song when the smirk on her friend's face let her know that Dave was sneaking up on her. His hands landed on her hips and her back flattened against his chest as he moved with her to the music.

"I didn't think you danced, David," she reached back and put her arm around his neck, pulling him down so she could speak over the music.

"Oh, I dance, Elizabeth," he said lowly, spreading his hands along her rib cage as ABBA faded into Arctic Monkeys.

He moved her hips against his to the deep bassline of the song, Have you got color in your cheeks?

Josie whooped her approval when Dave spun Liz around to face him and danced her way to Rami sitting in a drunken haze just off the dance floor. Thrilled that they were now relatively alone, Liz met Dave's kiss halfway, Have you no idea that you're in deep?

She was overwhelmed with him, his forehead pressed against hers, his hair hanging like a curtain around their faces, his hands coasting along her back from her shoulders to her hips, the smell of alcohol, cigarettes, and peppermint gum, and the way he tasted... 'Cause there's this tune I found that makes me think of you somehow...

"This song... it's exactly how I felt about you the night we met," he breathed, searching her eyes for any reaction.

I'm sorry to interrupt, it's just that I'm constantly On the cusp of trying to kiss you I don't know if you feel the same as I do But we could be together, if you wanted to...

She knew the song by heart, could play it on bass, guitar, and drums if she wanted, and up until that moment was fairly indifferent to the lyrics, but now...

Maybe I'm too busy being yours to fall for someone new...

She dragged him back to her, kissing him deeply and slowly running her tongue along his lower lip until he groaned in agony. "Fuck," he whimpered, "If I don't get you alone in the next five minutes, I will fucking die."

There was a fleeting, matched smile between them before they both took off at a hurried pace, managing to clear the wall of the tent when a loud, warbling version of his name drifted after them.

"No!" Dave yelled back and without hesitation, lunged forward to tip Liz over his shoulder, swatting her ass with his palm when she squealed. "I just want ten fucking minutes with you without being-"

"Young Master David!"

Liz craned her neck to see a man comically running in their direction, then laughed even harder when Dave sped up, pretending he didn't hear him. She was wheezing by the time the man caught up with them and Dave spun to face him, leaving Liz draped over his shoulder with her ass in the air.

"Hey, man," Dave said casually.

"Sup, dude," came the man's reply and Liz wiggled a bit in an effort to see who it was, but Dave's hand tightened around her thigh to keep her still. "I just need my girlfriend for a couple minutes."

"I told you earlier that I get her tonight and you get her tomorrow," Dave replied and Liz shifted again when she heard the smile in his voice.

Girlfriend? What the fuck? she thought, then yelped in surprise when Dave rolled her off his shoulder. She stood in a daze at the sudden movement, then looked over her shoulder to Jack Black, who was grinning wildly at her.

"... hello," she said quietly, her eyes darting from Dave to Jack in confusion. Knowing by the look on Dave's face that he would remain infuriatingly silent, she held her hand out to Jack and plastered on a smile.

"Oh, come on," Jack scoffed and dove towards her, wrapping her in a quick, but stifling hug as Dave chuckled and shook his head. "If we're gonna be lovers, we gotta love, baby!"

Liz stared blankly at him, wondering if she was in the middle of one of those elaborate pranks Allison had told her about. "... we're what now?"

Jack let her suffer a few more moments before breaking. "I signed on to the movie you're doing with Murray," he explained. "As your hapless boyfriend."

Her heart picked up speed as she went through the cast list in her mind. "No way," she whispered. Acting opposite Jack would be an absolute dream and his name added star power to their roster. "No fucking way!" she excitedly bounced on her toes and threw her arms back around him, laughing when he copied her giddiness.

"It's gonna be so fucking rad," he gushed. "Murray asked me personally, so my mind was obviously fucking blown and then he said you were on board and I thought, well fuck! That means Dr. G's gonna be on set!"

"Oh my god, I'm so glad we met tonight!" Liz said, back to bouncing on her toes. "Let's go get a drink so we can talk."

"Right on," Jack gave an exaggerated nod and offered his arm to Liz. "This way, my love," he crooned as she slipped her arm through his and he aimed her back towards the party tent.

"Wait..., what?"

Liz heard Dave whimper from behind them and waved him off. "I have to work, honey! I'll meet up with you in a bit!"

Jack threw his head back in a cackle making Liz giggle and she felt, for the very first time since she had become an actress, truly excited to start filming.

For the second time that night, Liz completely lost track of time talking to Jack. She had laughed so hard that her sides were aching and her throat was raw, but there seemed to be no end to the energy and exuberance in her future co-star until Josh sidled up and dragged her under his arm.

"Hey, doll. Your man's about to get cut off."

"Oh, Dr. G," Jack said solemnly and shook his head. "Welp, my love. If I don't see you tomorrow, I'll see you at work!"

Liz hugged him goodbye, a little concerned that Josh wasn't letting her go and let him lead her up to the bar. "What's going on?" she asked over the music, concerned that she couldn't see Dave anywhere.

Josh picked the orange garnish out of his drink and bit it, nodding his head to a point behind Liz with no trace of humor on his usually cheery face. She spun around and scanned the thick crowd at the bar, finally catching a glimpse of Dave's shirt next to a woman in a pink cardigan and pearls.

"Shit," she hissed and darted forward, unsuccessfully trying to pick her way through the crowd when she spotted her only opening. Dropping to the dirt, she crawled on her hands and knees under the bar, keeping as close as she could to the kickplate until Dave's Vans were in front of her.

"Hey!" she chirped cheerfully as she popped up between Dave's knees and steadied herself on his shoulders. He swayed dangerously on his bar stool, sloshing whiskey out of his shot glass and blinked at her in surprise.

"Oh great," her mother grumbled sarcastically. "The fun police is here." She handed her daughter a full shot glass then went to pour another while Liz steadied Dave.

"Oh, babe," she cooed sympathetically and gently took the shot from his hand to place it back on the bar. "You ready to head back?"

He looked around in confusion with glassy eyes. "Where'd you come from?"

Nancy leaned back in with a wide smile, the pearls Liz had given her for Mother's Day swinging around her neck, "You see, when a man and a woman get really drunk at CalJam-"

"Mom! Stop. You've done enough," Liz scolded and tossed Dave's arm around her to help him stand. "We're gonna go back. Please don't give anyone alcohol poisoning tonight, okay?"

"Sure thing, sweetheart," she grinned and tipped back both Liz and Dave's discarded shots with ease, then headed straight for a table containing Iggy Pop, Pat, and several other musicians. Liz just barely caught the surprised look of recognition on Iggy's face when he saw her mother before the crowd closed around them.

"Can you walk?" Liz asked Dave quietly and checked his pockets for the keys to their bus.

"Yeah," he nodded, but didn't move forward. "Gimme a second to remember how to do it though."

"You pick up one foot and then-"

"Yeah okay, smartass," he laughed at her and she wondered if he was remembering that night in Oregon like she was.

They wove through the crowd and ducked out of the tent, pausing a moment to breathe in the cool desert air, a welcome change from the hot, humid party tent behind them. She kept her arm tight around his waist as they headed for their home for the night, both of them giggling when they stumbled a bit over the uneven ground.

Josh's voice calling over the music made Liz look back just as they reached the first line of tour buses. "Hey! You need help, doll?"

"Um...," she giggled a little when Dave let her go and wandered off in a curved line towards the wrong bus. "Yes, please!"

Josh took off after Dave while Liz unlocked their bus and began to gather water out of the fridge and various bottles of painkillers, all the while cursing her mother. Nancy could drink any one of those rock stars under the table and it appeared she had literally done so with Dave, but Liz wasn't as concerned about that as she was her mother's motives. More than once, Kyle had been liquored up then interrogated relentlessly and Liz often wondered if her mother should have been a cop rather than a high school English teacher. Waiting in the driver's seat with a bottle of water and a fist full of ibuprofen, Liz tried to compile a list of potential questions Dave had been subjected to when Josh appeared at the bottom of the steps with him slumped over his shoulder. "Oh shit. Did he pass out?"

"No...," Dave groaned, his voice muffled by Josh's shirt.

"You're gonna want to hose him off before you let him into bed, doll," Josh warned and carried Dave up the steps past her.

"Did you hurl, David?" Liz teased and began to pull towels out of the cabinets while Josh not so gently set him down on the leather couch.

"Yeah," Josh chuckled, "I think he got it all out though."

"Charming," Liz muttered, now completely irritated with her mother. She knew Dave had a show tomorrow and she still got him wasted. "Do you think we should feed him?"

"Yes," Dave moaned pitifully and rolled his face into the back of the couch.

Liz glanced up at Josh as his hand clapped over her shoulder. "Hose him off, I'll go get food."

She smiled her thanks and gave him the key, making sure the door to the bus was shut tight behind him before returning to Dave and throwing her leg over his hips. He grunted under her weight and slid his hands up her bare thighs to the hem of her shorts, but didn't open his eyes when she started to unbutton his shirt.

"Stop it, lady," he slurred, making no effort to shove her off. "You're cute and all, but I have a girlfriend and she's hot."

Liz laughed and moved to his jeans, struggling a little with his belt buckle. "What, that actress?" she scoffed. "I hear she's mean."

"Yeah, super mean. I really like her though," he grinned, opening one eye to peek at her. "I think she's the one."

"Oh yeah?" Liz slid off of him to yank off his shoes and jeans, leaving him in just his boxers and unbuttoned flannel. "You really want to hitch your wagon to that nightmare?"

"Excuse me," Dave laughed a bit when she pulled him upright. "She would say shit show."

"You're right, she would," Liz gently pushed him towards the bathroom, then propped him against the wall of cabinets so she could start the water and grab his toothbrush. "'Kay, Dr. Drunk or whatever it is your friends call you, get in."

"My girlfriend calls me David," he muttered and did what he was told, slumping against the shower wall with his face in the cascading water to start brushing the taste of Crown Royal out of his mouth. "Get in with me."

She sighed loudly at his pleading face and grabbed another towel while shrugging out of his flannel shirt.

"I like that you call me David," he said softly, watching her from the shower.

She didn't answer, just stripped out of the rest of her clothes and closed the door behind them, ducking under the water to face him.

"Your mom got me so drunk," he groaned miserably and leaned his forehead into the cool wall of the shower.

"Yeah, she does that," Liz frowned and combed his hair back with her fingers. "Sit so I can get the whiskey out of your hair."

He dropped to his knees in front of her and held her hips for balance as she gently scrubbed her shampoo through his hair.

"I'm gonna smell so fucking pretty tomorrow," he chuckled.

"We'll find you a nice stick to beat the boys back with," she smiled and spent an extra five minutes just dragging her nails along his scalp and neck, knowing he had a hell of a long day and would probably suffer through another one tomorrow, complete with a hangover thanks to her mother.

"Feels good," he murmured, leaning into her touch.

"Head back," she instructed, switching the shower head to the handheld so she could rinse out the suds. With the water now directed off his face, he began to watch her so intensely that she shivered.

"Your mom said she lost a bet," his voice strained with his throat stretched back, but he never took his eyes off her.

"Oh yeah?" Liz turned her attention to the bottles lined on the shelf next to her, wondering if he'd let her use conditioner.

"She owes your dad a hundred bucks cause I didn't get you pregnant."

Liz's heart picked up speed and she snatched the conditioner bottle off the shelf to examine closer. "Yeah, well... it wasn't for a lack of effort on our part. Thank god for modern science, I guess."

Dave ran his thumbs along the ridge of her hip bones, softly kissing the skin between her Freya tattoo and her navel. "Might be fun...," he whispered so quietly that Liz thought maybe she wasn't supposed to hear it.

With her heart pounding loudly in her ears and her hands shaking, she violently shook the bottle and piled conditioner her in hand before roughly dragging it through his hair again.

"Ow...," he said softly, peering up at her.

"Sorry," she backed off, gently massaging his hair while staring directly at the wall behind him.

He must have sensed her trepidation because they were silent until the water began to run cold and the entire time it took to dry off. She left him at the table to eat the food Josh had dropped off while she got ready for bed, brushing her wet hair out and pulling on one of his shirts to sleep in.

"I bet you're fucking adorable when you're pregnant."

Her head snapped up to find that he had been watching her, leaning against the door frame as he chewed away on his sandwich.

"And, just like my mother, you would lose that bet," she muttered, tossing back the covers on her side of the bed.

"Okay," he grinned at her and discarded the last of his food, crawling up the bed to lay beside her. "Then tell me what you're like when you're knocked up."

Liz snorted a laugh and clicked off the lights. "Have you ever startled an angry raccoon living in a garbage can?" She pulled the covers up over her shoulders as Dave barked a laugh. "I'm fat, I hiss a lot, I only come out at night and all I eat is garbage."

"I bet you're beautiful," he replied, still chuckling from what she had said.

"Dave...," she sighed, knowing he wouldn't drop it until she shut him down. She hated to do it, but it was best to cull that idea before it had a chance to turn into a dream. If she knew anything about Dave, it was that he was excellent at turning dreams into reality.

He shifted around in the dark, a little at first and then just enough so that he was in her arms, taking a shaky breath before speaking in the most heartbreaking tone, "Just tell me it's not a no."

Liz smiled, wondering why her shampoo smelled better on him than it ever did on her and once again scattered the pieces of her life for him.

"Nothing is ever a no with you, David."

#ThatBlueGibson

4 notes · View notes

henrytcasey · 8 years ago

Text

Watch This Wrestling 14 (4/6–12)

But first, about that elephant in the arena...

I want to reaffirm some of the reason behind this weekly roundup. Every week, WWE provide more than enough hours of pro wrestling for most, but there's more. From those wacky Brits in Progress to the insane bastards of New Japan, wrestling isn't just WWE.

This past week, there was as much reason to reiterate the above as ever before. No, not because of the phenomenal match between Kazuchika Okada and Katsuyori Shibata at Sakura Genesis. But because of the big outside-the-ring story of bullying in the WWE making the rounds in major publications such as Sports Illustrated and the New York Post.

Vince's love of fucking with people is no secret, but this has popped up because of speculation that SmackDown Live color commentary announcer, noted veteran, and all-around-cancerous-motherfucker JBL is the reason for the absence of SDL play-by-play announcer Mauro Ranallo. You know, JBL, the guy who thought it'd be OK to goose-step like a Nazi during a show in Germany.

While we haven't heard any stories about what JBL did to Mauro, who has been public about his bipolar diagnosis, and is off-air for what has been reported as stress, nothing would surprise anyone at this stage. It's currently expected that Mauro and WWE will settle in private, and that WWE will address this in some way, as the story has been made too-public to ignore.

If it were up to me, and Mauro were not available to the WWE anymore, the SDL announce team would be Corey Graves, Byron Saxton and Renee Young. Of related note this week was the shamelessly transparent "we're trading the black commentators!" moment where Raw traded Saxton for the useless lump of humanity called David Otunga.

Thankfully, we get a six-week window before Raw Is 3 Hours of Otunga goes into effect, thanks to his commitment to filming a movie where he's playing a lawyer. In that time, Booker T will be filling in, because (again), "LOL BLACK COMMENTATORS, GOTTA HAVE ONE, AND NO MORE THAN ONE!" Assuming Book does well, I'd like to see a Raw team some day that's him, Graves, and Tom Phillips.

As always, a list of what I watched for this week's edition and what I'm planning to watch next week. If I'm missing anything that can be accessed without too much trouble, @ me on twitter: henrytcasey.

What I Watched:

Progress Ch. 46: I Like To Chill Out Here And Shoot Some Dinosaurs, 4/7

NJPW: Genesis, 4/9

Monday Night Raw, 4/10

ROH Wrestling, 4/10

Ethan Page - It's Not Over Yet, EVOLVE, WWN Live, 4/10

SmackDown Live, 4/11

205 Live, 4/11

Talking Smack Live, 4/11

NXT, 4/12

Mini-Doc: Zack Sabre Jr. Can't Make a Mistake, EVOLVE, WWN Live, 4/12

Upcoming Watch List:

PROGRESS Wrestling Presents: Freedom's Road S01E07, 4/13

OTT: Scrappermania III, 4/15

Monday Night Raw, 4/17

ROH Wrestling, 4/17

SmackDown Live, 4/18

205 Live, 4/18

Talking Smack Live, 4/18

NXT, 4/19

Non-WWE Match of the Week:

Kazuchika Okada (C) vs Katsuyori Shibata for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship

NJPW: Genesis, 4/9

Most matches don't get 38 minutes between bells, but that's because few have the conditioning and technical prowess of Okada and Shibata. The former is the crown jewel of New Japan and the latter, well, he would have been on the rise after one hell of a match. More on that in a moment.

The story here is that Shibata enters the match guns ablazin and in a far more passionate state than Okada. The crowd is on board with this, vocally entirely behind Shibata. Okada is entering that mixed-reactions phase of his career most people associate with John Cena and Roman Reigns, and this match cemented it. Felt a bit like Punk/Cena MITB in that way. Except Okada starts taking shortcuts, playing to the boos.

Without spoiling any spots, I'll leave discussion of the good parts of the match at that.

Part of me doesn't want to give the win to the most-talked-about match of the week, but it was the best match outside of the week, despite its serious flaw. And that flaw is so bad that I won't go back and rewatch this match, despite loving (the majority of) it.

While I always suggest people go watch these matches, this one comes with a brutal asterisk. Near the end of this match, which was already going to win MOTW, Shibata leveled Okada with what is now believed to be a shoot-headbutt. As in the skull-to-skill headbutt that split Shibata open was legitimate, despite early reports of it being a work.

As reported by many, including Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer, reports are coming out that Shibata is currently hospitalized, dealing with lingering right-side paralysis. Meltzer noted that Shibata has "some memories of the match" as if to infer that memory loss is involved. After all of this, it is expected that Shibata will never be cleared to wrestle again, ending his young career. Thankfully, it appears he will recover, but we shouldn't have needed to hope for that.

It brings up a question of what kind of stiff work is actively encouraged or at least tacitly endorsed by the New Japan management. Much like WWE with its bullying problem, NJPW needs to take this moment to consider how it does business.

Sakura Genesis is available on NJPW World.

Honorable Mentions:

Moustache Mountain (Trent Seven & Tyler Bate) (c) vs The Hunter Brothers (Jim Hunter & Lee Hunter) for the PROGRESS Tag Team Titles, Progress Ch. 46: I Like To Chill Out Here And Shoot Some Dinosaurs, 4/7

Pete Dunne vs Mark Andrews for the PROGRESS World Title, Progress Ch. 46: I Like To Chill Out Here And Shoot Some Dinosaurs, 4/7

Hirooki Goto vs Zack Sabre Jr., for the NEVER Openweight championship, NJPW: Genesis, 4/9

Curt Stallion vs John Skyler in a 2017 Top Prospects Tournament semi-final match, ROH Wrestling, 4/10

Non-WWE Segment of the Week:

EVOVLE Mini-Doc: Zack Sabre Jr. Can't Make a Mistake

EVOLVE, WWN Live, 4/12

Evolve's mini-docs, which get attributed to Kenny Johnson, are typically great previews or recaps. This one, though, goes further. It tells twin stories of frustration, from the current EVOLVE champ Zack Sabre Jr. and recent signee ACH.

youtube

As the title suggests, the focus of the feature is ZSJ hanging onto his title by a hair. What that means for Zack is that he's getting closer to the "do whatever it takes" mentality that heels use, to cheat to keep his championship.

This, if you're following Sabre Jr. outside of this promotion, is intriguing. In Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG) and New Japan, to name a couple of the other place he pops up, things are different.

Everywhere but EVOLVE, he's called "Zacky Three Belts" because he's crossed over to the dark side, turning heel. So whether he's joining Minoru Suzuki's nefarious Suzuki-Gun faction or tag-teaming with The Villain Marty Scurll as The Leaders of The New School, he's always drawing ire. It's the role that many who see his lanky frame and know-it-all submission style believe he was born to play.

And then we have ACH - who has worked as a friend of Zack's in EVOLVE - who came here to win gold. ACH who should have been a world champion by now, but was passed over. ACH who couldn't get the job done in Orlando, against Sabre Jr. at EVOVLE 80.

ACH who says he doesn't know what comes next. ACH who's been a face all this time and maybe that's not enough.

Of course, this video doesn't hammer home either potential turn all that hard. Gotta keep that surprise going. I love how the focus and zoom fall out of the scene where Michael Elgin cold-cocks Zack Sabre Jr. after basically demanding their match be for the title. And then the brief moments they bring from Elgin/ZSJ definitely paint Sabre Jr. as valorous and Elgin and the prick.

And then the other challengers. Lio Rush, who challenges Sabre Jr. for the title at the next EVOLVE events, and has "no more time to waste." Ethan Page, tired of getting looked over by the booking committee, and more than happy to remind you of his two wins against Zack.

And finally, back to Sabre Jr., who speaks of the weight of the belt on his shoulder. If that doesn't get you buying tickets or a FloSlam subscription, then I'm confused.

Honorable Mentions:

Ricochet addresses Hiromu Takahashi, NJPW: Genesis, 4/9

Ethan Page - It's Not Over Yet, EVOLVE, WWN Live, 4/10

WWE Match of the Week:

AJ Styles vs Sami Zayn vs Baron Corbin in a #1 Contender's match for the United States Championship

SmackDown Live, 4/11

The Superstar Shakeup gave SmackDown Live the kind of roster that everyone wished it had on day 1. Sure, we thought Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt were amazing workers, but that just wasn't happening.

youtube

So this past week saw them add a flurry of talent, with Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens coming over as two marquee acquisitions. Oh, and they're also adding Big E, Xavier Woods, Kofi Kingston (give me New Day singles runs) and Rusev to a show that already had AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Baron Corbin, Tye Dillinger and Luke Harper? So hot, hot damn.

And as if they felt the need to prove themselves, Zayn, Styles and Corbin put together a match worthy of their names. So while Styles is still working through being a good guy, Sami's trying to prove himself against a bully he can hurt (Corbin is no Strowman), and Corbin is showing that he's a fast learner.

This was the closest call for WWE MOTW in a while. While this had to be the winner, I appreciated the work in the other two matches, also worth checking out. This one just had more time and better pacing. Find the full version on Hulu if you have to.

Honorable Mentions:

Jack Gallagher vs TJ Perkins, 205 Live, 4/11

Oney Lorcan vs Drew McIntyre, NXT, 4/12

Note: Both Galloway and Gallagher hit headbutts, no reports have emerged of resultant injuries.

WWE Segment of the Week:

Braun Strowman Savagely Attacks Roman Reigns

Monday Night Raw, 4/10

I'm really confused about what WWE meant to do with this segment, but I loved it so much nonetheless. This isn't the best WWE segment of the year (remember the Festival of Friendship?), but damn it's a close second.

youtube

Sure, he didn't lift the ambulance (hello, it's pro wrestling), but everything else about it was just so damn cool. Braun just rag-dolling Reigns around the backstage area elevates him to the most awesome thing on the Raw roster.

I watched this Raw at a bar with other fans, and this segment became the most amazing moment when consumed with a dozen or so fans screaming their heads off. So I just can't emphasize enough how huge this moment is.

WWE needs to handle this properly on Monday, and keep Roman off TV and let Braun continue to be the next wonder of the world, but not overdo it.

Some notes:

Roman takes a moment to remove his clipped-on microphone, because he's a good employee who treats company property with care.

The segment wins by demonstrating impossible awesomeness by way of camera tricks.

Someone (possibly the WWE) started a god damn online petition to fire Strowman. That, if done outside of the company, is today's version of that time people thought the NWO actually invaded WCW and called the police.

How does this happen the same week as The United Incident?

And about my confusion:

So, this made Strowman cooler than ever for many. Was it supposed to make Roman pitiable? Likable? Is this just to get Roman cool as a vengeful motherfucker?

After Roman Reigns had all the heat last week, are they trying to cool him down? What the hell?

#watchthiswrestling #dontmissthis #wwe #njpw #evolve #Zack Sabre Jr.#aj styles #braun strowman #Kazuchika Okada #roman reigns #katsuyori shibata #sami zayn #raw #baron corbin

1 note · View note