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He was caught in a hesitating moment and, in the middle of his driving back home, Cliff did an impressive 180-degree-turn, proper of a professional stuntman in the middle of the avenue redirecting himself towards Rick's house.
He wasn't being able to shake the actor off his mind. And for a very good reason:
He sensed something was going on and it wasn't his usual sadness or his tantrums on his obvious career's problems. In fact, he was quite happy and his eyes shone for a moment when he picked him up from the Lancer set and his eyes haven't shone since his back-to-reality chat with that business fucker, Mr. Shawarma or something.
Is he on fucking drugs? Cliff thought worried. It wasn't that Rick couldn't, but Cliff didn't want him lose what was left of his career because of that.
Besides, he had left his sunglasses on the coffee table, and he can't survive without those.
••••••
The stuntman didn't even knock the door because he knew it was open so he in a quick and silent move, he slide into the house. He remained silent in his sunglasses-searching because he knew that Rick was probably running his lines for tomorrow.
In the moment he approached the coffee table (where his sunglasses actually were) he heard a distant and soft voice coming from the kitchen and he automatically knew it was Rick.
Cliff thought he was just running his lines. Although, he had to admit that that soft voice which he was using to run his lines caught his attention because the actor used to be pretty hard on himself when it came to run lines and he usually ran them pretty violent 'cause he gets frustrated. But now he was calm and so soft that you could practically hear him smile.
Cliff popped his head into the kitchen with all the care in the world, trying to not be seen, which, for him, was easy job. He couldn't help it. He was curious in hearing what Rick was saying. What kind of lines he was running? Because, as Cliff was told, he was playing the heavy so, what kind of soft and calm voice the villain needed to have?
But, as they say, curiosity killed the cat. The one who looks where he shouldn't look, he finds what he doesn't want to find.
As he tuned his ear and peeked a bit, he realised that Rick wasn't running his lines. He was all smily with the phone in his hand and he, surprisingly, didn't have a glass of whisky sour in the other.
He is talking with someone, Cliff and quickly pulled back his head and rested it on the wall from where he was hiding.
"Yeah, I have to admit we're real lucky, aren't we?Pumpkin' puss?" Rick spoke softly, even charming.
He is talking to a goddamn woman, square. No doubts. Cliff figured. His chest started to hurt for the reason he knew goddamn well and he didn't liked it one bit.
He heard some high-pitched voice coming out from the tube that made Rick giggle like a fucking child.
" 'kay, see you tomorrow- what? No, I won't forget them I promise, Mirabella." There was a silence. "Alright, goodnight to you too, sweetheart". He said sweetly and then, he hung up the phone for quickly returning to the living room where Cliff was.
Cliff was caught, again, in another hesitating moment where he didn't know how he was going to left the house without being seen when Rick was practically inches apart from him. He figured he would leave the sunglasses back on the coffee table, pretending to grab them as Rick finishes leaving the kitchen.
Luckily for Cliff, it worked.
"Hey ol' buddy, what happened? Too drunk to fuckin' drive back home, eh?" He let out a giggle and that was a fucking proof, right there that he was on a good mood.
"Er- n-no" Did he just fucking stutter? "I just forgot my sunglasses, bright lights hurt my eyes but ya already know that" Cliff grabbed the goddamn thingy for a second time.
"Sure I do buddy. Listen, would ya like to stay? It's getting pretty late and I don't mind making the guest room's bed for ya." Rick suggested with his usual caring attitude. "Plus, you wouldn't hafta drive all the way down here again to wake my sorry ass up." Cliff hated when Rick offered things like these, because he didn't know how to refuse. It wasn't like he didn't want to, but he had Brandy back home and to be completely honest with himself, he started to feel hopeless for some fucking reason.
"Rick, you know it would be a pleasure, man. But I've got my girl back home waitin' for his daddy" Cliff declined as polite as he could as he started to walk backwards avoiding making eye contact with him.
"Oh, well, we can do our prettty-girls-sleepover some other time. Bring Brandy next time" He laughed softly waiting for Cliff to laugh but he didn't. That didn't catch his attention. What did catch his attention was that Cliff had a different vibe, one really sad. Rick was sensitive, he could feel something was wrong with Cliff. "Hey you're alright? You look kinda rattled, man."
"Yeah. Yeah man, don't even worry. I'm as fine as a rich man's daughter" He said for finally reaching the door. "See ya tomorrow. 7:15 outta house. No knocking" and with those last words he closed the door behind him without giving the actor the chance to say bye.
As soon as he jumped back to the car, he could feel how his world was fucking falling apart. But he saved his sadness for later and he started the car for pressing the gas pedal with such force that when he turned around, the car tilt to the side leaving two wheels on the air, but as quickly as the two wheels met the pavement again, he dissappear from Cielo Drive.
••••••
He stopped somewhere between the city and the little desert that was half a mile away from his home.
He couldn't stop thinking about that conversation. Rick definitely had someone new in his life.
I won't forget them I promise, Mirabella. Cliff recalled in his mind.
"What he promises her he won't forget? Flowers? Shit, this is serious" Cliff said outloud.
Then, he did something he never does: lose his temper.
He hit the driving wheel with frustration for then resting his head back on the seat and run a hand through his blonde hair. He couldn't believe it, he was so close but someone already won the race, but Cliff didn't knew who he was running against. He thought he had the coast clear, so he took his time. Now he regrets it.
You see, Cliff was planning to tell Rick that he was deeply in love with him. He realised after his misadventure with Pussycat and, as strange as this may sound, he was grateful to that hot hippie for showing him that he didn't want anyone else but Rick fuckin' Dalton.
But since he heard that conversation, he was hit with the cruel reality that his actor was never going to feel the same because he heard and he fucking knew him. He knew when he was happy, and this girl, whoever she was, made him happy tonight after Cliff's unsuccessful attempt to make him smile.
"It's all goddamn useless now, isn't it?" He said after a long, thoughtful sigh that he didn't know he was holding thinking that now, he had lost his chance to ever tell him. "Well, better keep going, don't want to lose him as a friend either if I don't show up tomorrow." He said with a certain depression in his voice that he didn't have felt since he got back from the war, and that was a lot to say.
He finally got home. He greeted his lady and went straight to bed but not before doing the food ritual except this time, Cliff didn't eat. He didn't watch the TV, in fact, he turned it off.
••••••
Rick felt good this morning, he felt ready and sure of himself as he gave the last look at himself in the mirror before turning the bathroom's light off.
As he walked out the door, he stopped on his tracks, dispersing from his unusual good thoughts at the sight of Cliff Booth with a bouquet of roses standing in front of him, not smiling and looking rather tired.
"Cliff, what the fuck?" He giggled as a trick to try to hide his confusion. When Cliff didn't replied he spoke again "Thank you old buddy but- "
"Shut the fuck up, just take them" Cliff didn't even look at Rick in the eye.
"What the hell? Why? What-"
"For your special lady, man. I knew you were going to forget them because you're shithead" Cliff's heart was breaking with every word he spoke. But the truth is he would do anything for Rick, even try to help him to completly win that lady.
Rick felt the stiffness in Cliff's voice, and to be honest it felt as heavy as an anvil on the top of his chest. "Woah man, take it fucking easy, what are you talking about? Why are you so upset, man?" Rick wasn't usually this calm but he was having a great morning and he could see, for once, that someone else was upset and that someone was none other than his best friend, so he tried his best. It was like a reverse situation, where Cliff was having a passive- aggressive attitude and Rick was all calm about it.
"I'm not upset, I'm just helping ya." Cliff still had the bouquet on his hands. "You promised her you weren't gonna to forget 'em and I see you just did, so I'm helping ya to not spoil your date today" Cliff said getting kinda irritated on Rick's frowned eyebrows.
"That I won't forget 'em? Forget what? What are you fucking talking about, Cliff?" Rick was honestly confused, he was just lost and he couldn't catch up with what Cliff was telling him, or he should say, scold him for.
"Man I heard you talkin' with ya girl last nite and you promised you won't forget them and I figured you meant flowers so I got flowers for you because I knew you were gonna to forget them" He said, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he regret it. He just openly admitted he heard Rick's phone conversation last nite. But now that he was in a honest mood, he was going to say it all.
"Look, I don't know who she is but she is making you happy and I, well, I'm happy about that and I would do anything to help because I just fucking love you, man, I always have. And if helping you to get the girl breaks my stupid heart, then so let be it." Cliff let it all out in a rage attack, he didn't mean to tell him this like that but he was convinced he wouldn't have another chance, so it was now or never really. "Just, take the goddamn flowers and make your girl happy, you old-fashioned-lover bastard". He still couldn't look at Rick.
And Rick froze, he genuinely froze with his eyes wide open and sort of a trembling limbs. He felt like he couldn't talk or even form a single thought because it was something heavy to process. Not that Cliff heard his conversation, but for confessing that he loved him. Me? Rick Dalton? Jesus fucking Christ! But he-. Cliff-. He still tried to-? Even though if I-? God, he thought that Trudie (Mirabella last night) was my 'Special Lady'? But Cliff loved me? The messiest person on the sweet earth? Rick thought all that in a span of 2 seconds.
"C-cliff... jesus I- "Rick finally took the bouquet and he didn't think twice before sticking his nose and smell them. They were the fancy kind. Rick realized now that, with that confession, the flowers weren't actually for his 'special lady', they were for him and he could tell because they weren't fresh. Sure they were real, but he didn't bought them recently and it was easy to tell because they didn't have the usual water dew on them. A strong blush ran to his cheeks and across his nose too and with that thought, he smiled. Smiled like a child at the sight of his new bicycle. "I- Is true what they said about the b-blondes then, they are dumb..." He giggled between words.
"Watch it, man" Said Cliff defensively.
"Hey.." Rick called softly and that was enough to make Cliff turn his head and look at him, like a fucking obedient dog. "What did you heard? I mean, last nite?"
Cliff just took off his sunglasses and redirected his gaze to the floor "I just heard you being all charmin' with someone on the phone, calling her pet names and stuff." Cliff said. "Look man, I-" But Rick's laugh interrupted him.
"And you were jealous?" Rick joked but for Cliff was the fucking contrary.
"No. I didn't feel jealous, I felt defeated" He said rising up his gaze to meet Rick's and those serious blue eyes made Rick erase the smile from his face realising that Cliff was not joking. Hearing that Cliff felt defeated made his heart ache because Cliff never, ever loses and he didn't think that someone like Cliff Booth will be feel defeated. "You sounded happy and I had to accept that someone else won. Had to accept that I was late, goddamn late." He whispered the last part.
Rick felt like the most retarded person that ever walked on earth. How he didn't see that? How he didn't see that Cliff was in love with him? He looks, the touchy habits, the gestures and everything suddenly became so obvious and he wondered why he didn't noticed it before. It was probably because Rick didn't think that someone like Cliff could ever lay his eyes on someone like him and that self-destructive thought made him ignore all the signs and try to forget that he was hopelessly in love with Cliff Booth.
"Cliff, I-I don't have anyone else" He couldn't help but smile at the whole misunderstanding. "R-remember the little girl that I told you about yesterday? The little s-s-smart-ass?" Rick asked putting a hand on his chest convinced that he would stop stuttering.
"The one that sounded more professional than you?" Cliff teased.
"That's the one, you old bastard. Fucking teasin' me." Rick playfully hit Cliff chest with his free had but still holding the bouquet with the other. Cliff stayed silent waiting for Rick to continue.
"I was going to get something to drink when the fucking brat called me asking if I was learning my lines. I told her that I was, knowing it was a fucking lie and he asked if I wanted to run lines with her. Cliff, I was running my goddamn lines at 10 fucking 45 with a 8 fucking year old child" And that's when Cliff first giggled. "So when w-we finished, she said that we were lucky to have the job we have and I agreed then I said goodnight to her calling her 'pumpkin puss' but she hates that pet name, I said it on purpose because I like teasing her. I promise her that 'I won't forget 'em' meaning my lines."
And that was Cliff's turn to feel stupid and that wasn't so often. He turned and he carried a hand to the bridge of his nose and inhaled deeply and exhaled in the same way.
Rick made the brave move and took Cliff's hand.
"Y-you said you loved me. Are y-you gonna to regret it now, knowing that there's no one else?" Cliff turned his head quickly to find Rick looking at the pavement with a strong blush on his cheek.
"No. I won't."
They didn't need another word. Everything was spoken with their shiny eyes and their smiles full of love. Everything was understood. But even knowing that everything was more than understood, Rick approached Cliff and left a kiss on his cheek and that was enough for now.
"Thanks for the flowers" Rick said softly.
••••••
On their way to Lancer's set, Rick was uneasy about one thing that was going around his mind.
"There's one thing that I don't get" Rick broke the silence
"And what's that?" Cliff replied with his eyes still on the road.
"How you dare callin' me an 'old-fashioned-lover bastard' you fucker? You were the one who fuckin' brought me flowers! And ain't buyin' that you bought them for my 'lady'. I'm not the 'old-fashioned-lover bastard' you are! You are the 'old-fashioned-lover bastard', you bastard" Cliff smiled at two things. 1. Rick said the word 'bastard' so may times that he didn't know what meant anymore. 2. His power of deduction.
Is true, he bought them the day before, it was all part of his plan to confess. It kinda worked out, in a way. And yes, he has to admit it was a very old-fashioned- fifties's way, but Rick seemed to loved it.
"Are ya complainin'?" Cliff purred as he smiled.
"No, 'am not" Rick smiled back for then taking a glance a the bouquet of red roses laying on the back seat through the rear view mirror.
Cliff Booth, soft and romantic. Who could have thought? Rick thought before finally reaching to the set.
END