TV Night

by Amy (keridwel)

Knocking briefly on the door, Brian Belden and his best friend, Jim Frayne, walked into the crowded dorm room without waiting for the "Come in!" yelled by three distracted female voices.

"What are you girls up to?"  he asked, glancing from the three girls lounging on one bed with a bowl of popcorn, half of which seemed to be scattered on the floor in front of the television, to his brother Mart, who lounged on the other bed, bouncing a ball off the ceiling. 

"We're watching Miss Nonsense of America," Trixie answered around a mouthful of popcorn.  At that minute, Honey and Di both groaned and tossed a handful of popcorn at the television. 

Carefully navigating through the piles of popcorn, Jim and Brian made their way over to Mart.  "Miss Nonsense of America?" Jim asked, one eyebrow raised in question.

Mart snorted as he sat up reluctantly to make room for his friend.  "They're watching 'The Bachelor'.  They claim to have no respect for these self-centered women, but they still support them by watching the show every week.  Then they hide the remote and won't let me have any popcorn.  I swear, I'm going to find another girlfriend for Friday nights."

"Is it almost over?"  Brian asked hopefully, as another loud groan came from the girls, along with three handfuls of popcorn directed this time at the three guys.

Mart shook his head.  "Just started, my man, just started. And believe me, it only gets worse."

"It gets better," Honey contradicted.  "Just wait for the rose ceremony--you'd love it."

"Rose Ceremony?"  Brian repeated in disbelief.  "Honey, Trix, I think we'll be back later."  He glanced at Jim, who nodded and jumped to his feet.

"Not so fast, boys," Trixie called warningly.  "Mart, didn't you tell them the rules?"  A commercial had started, and the three girls sat up on the bed, watching their boyfriends with strangely gleeful expressions. 

"Rule number one: the popcorn is for girls only," Honey announced, smiling sweetly at Brian, whose stomach was growling loudly. 

"Rule number two: if you come in during the show, you have to stay until it's over," Di continued.

Trixie quickly jumped in, saying, "Rule number three: you have to watch the show if you're here and it's on, with no complaining."

"Remind me never to come over on a Friday again," Brian muttered under his breath.

"Mart, don't you want to tell them rule number four?"  Honey asked innocently.

Mart rolled his eyes but answered in a monotone voice.  "Rule number four: Break any of the rules and no... 'splorin for a week."

Groaning in unison, Jim and Brian slumped onto the bed, resigned to their fate.  As the show progressed, Jim focused on one petite, curly blond that looked surprisingly like Trixie.  Man, she'd kill me if I ever told her that, he thought, glancing at his girlfriend, whose expression mingled amusement and scorn as she watched the bevy of women vie for the affections of the supple, redheaded bachelor.  With a sigh, he focused on the show.

The redhead bachelor approached the curly blond for their date.  She smiled dazzlingly as she took his arm, and chatted animatedly as they walked to the waiting carriage.  She gave her date a sweet smile as she commented on the romance of the conveyance, earning her another groan and popcorn toss from the girls.  The carriage meandered through a maze of twisting trails, surrounded by a thicket of trees that arched over the path, filtering the moonlight to a dim glow that revealed little of the surrounding area.  This looks like the preserve, Jim thought absently, watching as the carriage suddenly reached a small clearing at the edge of a lake.

The redhead had a quick word with the driver as he stepped out of the carriage, then turned to help his companion, only to find that she'd already jumped down and made her way over the the dock.

"The Water Witch?" she asked curiously.  "I wonder who that name."  Without waiting for an answer, she quickly stepped in and took a seat.  He followed her, taking the oars as he rowed the boat swiftly to a secluded cove across the lake.  Locking the oars, he left the boat drift as he smiled up at the beautiful woman seated opposite him. 

Clearing his throat nervously, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box.  "I know I'm supposed to wait, but I want you to have this," he said softly.  He flipped open the lid of the box to reveal a glittering diamond ring in an antique setting.

He watched in disbelief as she took the ring out of his hand and looked at it curiously.  "Is this really a diamond?" she questioned, holding it out over the water to view it in the reflection of the moonlight.  

"Of course it is," he protested.  "It's my great aunt's engagement ring, you know that."

"But you aren't allowed to propose on the first date," she reminded him absently, turning the ring in the light.  Suddenly she snapped her fingers.  "I've got it!  This is some kind of test and if I take the ring I'm off the show.  Right?"  She had now pulled a flashlight and a magnifying glass out of her purse and was carefully examining the ring.

"No!"  He was almost shouting now, his green eyes bright with emotion.  "I just want you to take the ring.  I talked to the producers and we're doing to do a surprise ending to the show.  As soon as I saw you I knew there was no point in going on, and why would I want to lead on all of those other women?"  Suddenly focusing on what she was doing, he frowned.  "Bea, why on earth do you keep a magnifying glass and a flashlight in your purse?"

She flushed.  "Well, I was a little suspicious about one of the other girls and I talked one of the camera guys into letting me have these.  But now you have to be all honorable all over the place and I won't get a chance to finish investigating her."  She squinted as she peered at the ring through the magnifying glass.  "This certainly looks genuine, but it's hard to tell since it's so tiny.  Maddy could tell me for sure."

"Small?" he repeated incredulously.  "Small?  That's a very valuable antique diamond ring.  It's not huge, but it's certainly not so small that you need to look at it under a magnifying glass.  If your answer is no, then just say so.  Don't blame the ring."  As he reached forward to snatch the ring out of her hand, he leaned too far and fell over the side of the boat into the water with a splash.  Bea leaned over the water, calling his name anxiously.

Jim sputtered as the water sloshed over his face and down his shirt.  The other five were standing around him, Trixie, Honey and Di giggling while Brian and Mart tried to cover their laughter with sympathetic expressions.  "What was that for?" Jim demanded.  "Did I break secret rule number five?"

"You broke rule number three," Trixie informed him, setting down the glass of water she had just poured over his head.  "Sleeping does not count as watching the show."

"But I was watching," he insisted.  "James just proposed to Bea and she didn't believe him.  She was inspecting the ring with a magnifying glass because she didn't like it, and he fell into the water trying to get it back from her."

Honey and Di's giggles became shouts of laughter, while Trixie blushed hotly, refusing to meet his eyes.  Mart handed Jim a towel to try his face and patted him on the back.  "You fell asleep, man.  Missed the rose ceremony and everything.  Trixie will probably never forgive you.  Oh well, time for the two of us that did our manly duty to go out.  The rewards for putting up with Nonsense are amazing."  Grabbing Di's hand, he pulled her out of the room, followed by Brian and Honey.

Jim glanced over at Trixie, who was pulling on her coat while still refusing to meet his eyes.  He dropped the towel in the hamper and walked over to her, silently helping her button the coat.  As he reached the last button, he glanced up.  She was still blushing, but the corners of her mouth quirked into a teasing smile.  "I guess you can come with us," she muttered, her eyes fixed on her shoes.

Lifting Trixie's chin so that she was looking into his eyes, Jim smiled.  "Good.  I'd hate to think I'd driven all the way here from Boston for nothing."  Before she could respond, he tugged gently on "his" curl.  "And Trix?  When the time comes... you'll love the ring.  I promise."

Trixie opened her mouth , then closed it as Honey burst back into the room.  "I forgot my umbrella," the golden-haired girl babbled, grabbing a black one from the closet.  "It's pouring, you'd better get yours too."

As Jim and Trixie stepped into the hallway a minute later, having found a bright blue umbrella behind the desk, Trixie turned to the supple redhead.  "Jim?"  she said softly.  "I'm sure I will."