#battling between loyalty and laughter. today i joined my best friend's instagram live so i can be the only one there and heckle comedically

[cookieswriting]

Paddling Out (SSC/Rosvolio Modern!AU)

Set between Migraine and Sugar Water.  

This one was a struggle for some reason, so please forgive any problems or discrepancies.  ((less than 24 hours until these two goofballs grace our screens again!!!!))

“Come on, lazy bums!  We are not wasting half of the day because you wouldn’t get out of bed!”

Rosaline sipped at her coffee with an amused grin on her face, watching her boyfriend over the rim of her mug.  Boyfriend.  Even after three weeks, she couldn’t quite believe that it was real...that she was in a relationship with Benvolio Montague.  Somehow the transition from friends to lovers had been seamless.

And yet, she realized as he winked at her and disappeared down the hall to rouse their friends, maybe it shouldn’t have been a surprise.  Rosaline listened to the groans of protest from Mercutio from the living room, and Romeo and Juliet from her cousin’s room.  Livia was the only one who padded into the kitchen before Benvolio returned, clearly already up and moving before he’d called for them.  

“Morning, Liv,” she greeted warmly.  

“How are you so chipper this morning?” Livia grumbled.  The answering grin on Rosaline’s face spoke for itself as she remembered her own - much more pleasant - wakeup call, and the younger Capulet pretended to gag.  “Ugh, nevermind, spare me the details.”  Both girls started giggling.  

“Care to let me in on the fun?” Benvolio whispered, sliding his arms around her waist from behind and settling his chin on her shoulder.  Rosaline nuzzled her cheek against his, enjoying the scratch of his beard against her skin.  His fingers played with the hem of her tank top and left her wishing that they were still tangled up in her bed.

“Seems like you two are having plenty of your own fun this morning,” Mercutio teased lightly, pouring coffee for himself and Livia who accepted her mug with a grateful kiss to his cheek.  “No Paris today, Ollie?”

“The fact that you gave me coffee is the only reason I’m not smacking you right now...you know how much I hate it when you call me that!  And no, Paris couldn’t get out of some family business stuff today.”

“That sucks, sorry Livia,” Juliet commented.  She and Romeo joined the others in the kitchen, Romeo snatching the mug from Mercutio’s hand with a smirk and Juliet pouring herself a fresh mug.  Rosaline watched her friends slowly come alive as their coffee kicked in.  Mercutio started making mass quantities of eggs and bacon, shooing the other late risers to get showers.  Ben pressed a tender kiss to her temple before joining his best friend.  

“Scoot over, let me help.”  The mop of curly black hair flopped over Mercutio’s forehead when he glanced over, complying without hesitation.  Ben took over preparing the bacon as Mercutio finished the eggs, and Rosaline looked on with an affectionate grin.  They worked around one another effortlessly, a reflection of the depth of their relationship.  Mercutio hip-checked Ben hard, chuckling when the latter snapped a hand out to catch the former’s waist to keep himself upright.  Rosaline shook her head at their antics; Ben’s reaction was practically reflex, so clearly this was something of theirs that she’d been allowed to share in.  

She soaked in anything she could of these moments, the glimpses into the hearts of Benvolio and those he loved most.  For too long she’d not paid attention to them, too caught up in her disdain for their family to see the unconditional love and devotion they shared.  She knew it existed, of course...had heard as much from Juliet when she first met Romeo.  But now, she got to witness that loyalty in action every day, and it comforted her to know that he had never been alone.  

“If my bacon gets burnt, Mercutio, I am holding you entirely responsible...and you do not want to be responsible for burning my bacon.”  Benvolio flashed her a charming smile before resuming his duties.  Mercutio raised a challenging brow, and for an instant Rosaline was unsure if she’d overstepped the boundaries of her somewhat new relationship with her boyfriend’s best friend.  

He silenced her worry, though, with a chuckle and a wink before turning back to Ben.  “It’s about time you found yourself someone who appreciates bacon as much as you do,” he teased.

“And someone who’s not afraid to put you in your place when necessary.  Huge bonus, there,” Benvolio retorted.  Drawn by the heavenly scent of crispy meat Rosaline finally stood to join the boys at the stove.  With a sidelong glance at her, Ben lifted a perfectly-cooked strip of bacon from the skillet and offered it to her.  Rosaline took it gleefully, and immediately tore it in half and held it out for him to take.  He bit into the meat with a hum of appreciation, and then kissed her cheek.

“Oi! There’d better be some left for the rest of us! Don’t think I didn’t see that, Ros!” They glanced back to the doorway to see Romeo, clad only in swim trunks, watching them with accusing eyes.

“Cook’s treat!” Ben insisted.  “There’s plenty anyways, sit down and finish your coffee, it’s not quite ready yet.”  His cousin complied with a grumble, which earned him a strange look when Juliet joined them.  By the time Livia made it out, Mercutio and Ben were ready to serve the meal.  

“Remind me again where we are going?” Mercutio asked once everyone was settled and eating.

“Verona Lake.  It’s got a bunch of streams that you can explore by paddle boards...I figured it would be a good way for everyone to unwind now that finals are done. A day out on the water, close enough to home to be back in time to order pizza and wings for dinner.”  The group mumbled their approval around mouthfuls of food.  

It didn’t take them long to finish up and get loaded up into Rosaline’s SUV, Benvolio at the wheel.  Their fingers tangled together, resting over the gear shifter.  His thumb idly traced over the back of her hand, and she smiled affectionately at him before turning her attention to the back of the vehicle.  Juliet, Mercutio and Romeo were singing along to the latest Bruno Mars, and Livia was recording them on her phone.  Her sister turned the camera towards the front, and Rosaline blew a kiss.

By the time they made it to the lake, the video was uploaded to Instagram and Facebook, and Rosaline’s phone was pinging with notifications every few seconds.  She finally glanced through them while they waited to rent the paddleboards, and rolled her eyes.  “Seriously?  You guys are standing right next to each other.”

“Paris isn’t here,” Livia pointed out with a pout.  Rosaline re-read the comments, and couldn’t help a smile.  The first thing he’d noticed was the lack of his girlfriend in the video, and he’d insisted that they make sure she wasn’t the only one behind the camera during their adventures.

“Okay, I think this one might be a keeper, Liv.”  Ben read through the interaction over her shoulder; his smirk was his own unspoken stamp of approval.  Livia beamed at both of them, and Benvolio swiped a hand out to ruffle her hair affectionately.  The youngest Capulet ducked under his reach, only to shove at his shoulder and dart after the others, now further ahead in the line.  Rosaline chuckled warmly as she looped her arm through Benvolio’s and tugged him to catch up.

Once they were out on the water, the boys got caught up in a battle of who can knock who off their board first.  The girls stayed back at a safe distance, providing commentary and struggling to keep their balance when they would start to laugh so hard they couldn’t stay upright.  Juliet’s laughter cut off abruptly when she realized Romeo had honed in on her.  Despite her attempts to flee, the younger Montague latched onto her paddle and yanked her off-balance before she could let it go.  Rosaline giggled until a hand wrapped around her ankle.

“Shouldn’t let your guard down, Capulet...bound to get you in trouble.”  She looked under her arm to see mischievous blue eyes sparkling up at her.  His free hand was braced against her board, and she knew it would only take the slightest movement to send her into the water.

“Do it, and I’ll make you regret it, Montague.”

The second the words crossed her lips, she knew they were the exact wrong ones to keep her dry.  Benvolio’s eyes darkened, taking on a dangerous gleam, and his fingers tightened for an instant.  “Is that supposed to be a threat, or a promise?”  Rosaline yelped as her world tilted, and sucked in a deep breath just before colliding with the surface of the water.  Ben tugged her ankle, wrapping her leg around his waist and only letting her go when she took his lead and hooked her other leg around him as well.  She felt his strong legs kicking and pulled herself upright with a hand on his shoulder, finally breaking the surface once more.  “Hey,” he breathed, face inches from hers.  Strong arms framed her, his hands keeping a firm hold of her board.  Rosaline settled her elbows alongside his hands, giving her some more leverage, but she did not release his waist.

“Don’t you hey me, mister.  I told you, I’m going to make you regret that.”  She couldn’t say why she was whispering, but she knew her threat was falling utterly flat.  Try as she might, he’d already twisted her words into a tantalizing promise, and she knew it would be useless to try to play it off as anything else.  

“And I’m counting the hours until you do, love.”  She couldn’t smother a grin at his retort, and attempted to cover it up by pressing her lips to his in a wet kiss.  He hummed contentedly against her, and she eased her arms back off of the board so that she could wrap them around his neck.  Her tongue dragged pressed against his lips, which had just parted for her when a shock of cold water left them sputtering and scrambling for the board that was now drifting away.  Benvolio wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her above water until she unhooked her legs and turned herself around in his grasp.  

Mercutio and Livia were perched on their respective boards, the former with a wicked grin and his paddle raised, giving away that he’d just slapped a minor wave of water in their direction.  “If you’re quite finished, the rest of us are going to get to that exploring you promised.  Get on with it, will you?”

“Don’t mind ���Cutio,” Romeo called from further across the lake. “He’s just mad that the guy he tried flirting with ignored him.” Rosaline rolled her eyes at them, but lifted herself back onto her board nonetheless.  Benvolio watched her with a hungry stare, but she shoved him towards his own board with a wink.  Once he finally turned away from her, she pushed to her feet and turned to watch Ben haul himself up, shamelessly appreciating how the water glistened on his toned body.  

“You’ve got a bit of drool, just there,” Juliet teased from beside her.  Rosaline raised a brow at her before gesturing towards Romeo.

“And you have no room to judge, Jules.  I’m not going to apologize for appreciating a pretty view once in awhile.”  Her cousin giggled, unable to argue, and took a moment to appreciate her own boyfriend.  Romeo caught her staring, and immediately began flexing his arms dramatically. While he was distracted, Benvolio paddled up behind him quietly and nudged his cousin’s shoulder with the blade of his paddle.  The wounded look on Romeo’s face as he fell was priceless.  “You should probably watch your back around him now, Montague...he did not look happy.”

“I guess we’d better get on with our exploring!” Ben was quick to paddle out of his cousin’s reach, heading for the nearest inlet to explore.  Livia followed with an amused smile, and their cousins followed suit - Romeo with particular enthusiasm to catch up and get his revenge.  Rosaline hung back for a moment, watching her closest friends and family laugh and tease and play, and was overwhelmed with joy.  For so long, she’d wished desperately for her family to be ‘normal’, to be able to feel the love and support she remembered from her parents before they were ripped away.  She wished for a home, a safe place to land no matter what chaos was going on around her...and she’d found it.  Unconventional as it might be, frowned-upon by her aunt and uncle as it might be, her home was this mess of people who understood and adored one another in spite of everything...it was the security of being wrapped in Ben’s arms, knowing that she could handle anything that came up with his support.

A light tap against her board drew Rosaline from her thoughts, and she looked over to see Mercutio watching her with an uncharacteristically warm smile on his face.  “I wanted to thank you,” he stated.  Rosaline gaped at him for a moment, eyes searching his face for any sign that he was screwing with her.

“F-for what?”

Mercutio chuckled and turned his eyes to Benvolio.  “I’ve known Ben for a long time...and I’ve never seen him as...at peace as he is now.  He...he’s always been good at putting on a brave face, but he always reminded me of a duck.”

“Duck?”

“Calm on the surface, but kicking like crazy to stay afloat under the surface.  Ben...Ben always felt the need to protect us from what his uncle did.  He never admitted it, but I know that he did.”  He looked back over at her, and she felt the weight of his words settle onto her shoulders.  “Ever since you figured out what was going on though...he’s just...settled.  He’s not kicking so frantically anymore.  And since you two got together?” He shook his head with a grin.  “It’s not a front anymore.  It’s like he’s lost this huge burden that Rome and I were never able to help him carry.  I don’t know what it is, why he’s different with you...I just know I’m grateful that you’re in his life.”

Without waiting for her reaction, Mercutio sent her a wink and paddled away, shouting after the others as though he hadn’t just been more serious than she’d ever seen him.  For a moment she remained still, stunned by his admission.  It wasn’t until her name echoed across the water that she was able to shake herself from her thoughts.  Ben waved her over, a hint of concern in his features as she caught up.

“Everything okay? You guys looked like you were having a pretty heavy conversation…”

Rosaline nodded with a tender smile.  “Everything’s perfect...I think we’ve come to a new understanding.”

“Is that so?”  

“Mhm,” she hummed softly, hooking the blade of her paddle into the bungee cord at the front of his board.  Ben chuckled when she pulled their boards together, balancing easily as they rocked.  Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she willed herself to voice what was on her mind.  She needed to get it off her chest...he deserved to hear it.  “He’s always been wary of me when it comes to you...but it seems like we turned a major corner today.  Bonding over someone that you both love tends to help with that.”

Benvolio stilled, and Rosaline worried that she’d crossed a line that he wasn’t ready to cross.  Tears of humiliation burned in her eyes, and she cleared her throat to give herself time to will them away.  “Ros…”

“We uh...we should probably catch up with the others…”

“Capulet,” Ben pressed, reaching for her paddle.  She couldn’t bear to look at him, didn’t want to see the depth of her screwup in his beautiful blue eyes. He managed to snag the end of her paddle, careful not to pull her off-balance as he tried to catch her attention.

“They’re going to get annoyed at us-”

“Rosaline!” Both his tone and the fact that he’d used her full name finally broke through her panic, and she looked up to see an exasperated smile on Ben’s face.  “I told them to go ahead and we’d catch up.”

“I’m sorry, I..I know it was too soon,” she whispered.  Fingers grazed her waist, bringing her fears to a grinding halt.  He held her in place, leaning in as far as he could without tipping over.

“We’ve known each other for years, Ros...you know parts of me that even Romeo and Mercutio don’t.  We may have only started dating a few weeks ago, but you’ve been one of my best friends much longer than that.  Come here,” he murmured.  She bit her lip a sigh, and met him halfway for a tender kiss.  Ben pulled away to press his forehead to hers.  “I love you too, Ros.”